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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly on Tuesday resumed its 10th emergency special session on the issue of Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with member states deliberating a draft resolution introduced by the State of Palestine. Introducing the draft resolution demanding an end of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land within 12 months, Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, said the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has fulfilled its mandate by unequivocally identifying the legal consequences for Israel, urging the General Assembly to uphold its mandate. "Delayed justice is denied justice," he said, calling for the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He stressed that the Palestinian people have been steadfast in the pursuit of their inalienable rights, just like all other citizens worldwide who seek self-determination. "The Palestinians want to live, not survive -- they want to be safe in their homes, they want their children to go to school without fear. They want to be free in reality as they are in spirit." Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, addresses a meeting of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) discussing the U.S. veto on Gaza in the Security Council the previous month, at the UN headquarters in New York, Jan. 9, 2024. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) The General Assembly is expected to vote on the draft resolution, which was co-sponsored by more than two dozen nations, on Wednesday. Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, said the draft ignored the truth and did not mention Hamas, and the process to table it "has been politicized." "This resolution is diplomatic terrorism," he said, adding that more than 150 resolutions have been adopted at the United Nations against Israel. "Perhaps you have forgotten, but we did not start this war -- nor did we choose it," he said. In his remarks, General Assembly President Philemon Yang said "it is incumbent on the General Assembly and the Security Council to bring to an end the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." Lebanese Ambassador Hadi Hachem said his delegation is at the "top of the list" supporting the draft resolution and the State of Palestine. The historic ICJ decision stresses the unlawful nature of Israel's occupation and the need to put an end to the illegal presence in Palestinian territory, he said. The 10th emergency special session of the General Assembly was convened for the first time in April 1997. The session has resumed multiple times since then, including shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the current ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) A Starship and Super Heavy blasts off from SpaceXs Starbase launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, on June 6, 2024. (Courtesy SpaceX/TNS) Courtesy SpaceX/TNS The second flight test of a fully integrated Starship lifts off from SpaceX Starbase at Boca Chica, TX, on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer After catching a catfish, Kevin Daly of Michigan recasts his fishing pole while spending Tuesday afternoon, June 18, 2024, at Boca Chica Beach near SpaceXs Orbital Launch Site. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News People watch a test of the fire suppression system from the base of SpaceX's Starship on the launch pad from a distance after being drawn to SpaceX Starbase at Boca Chica, TX, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, for the second launch of SpaceX's Starship on Saturday morning. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off in a heavy haze for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Eric Gay/Associated Press SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off in a heavy haze for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Eric Gay/Associated Press An egret walks through a tidal area as the sun sets along State Highway 4 near SpaceXs Starbase facility on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Environmentalists continue to warn of the impacts of SpaceX operations on the beach that is home to multiple endangered species and serves as a waypoint for migratory birds from across the Western Hemisphere. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Elon Musk is accusing regulators of engaging in lawfare. The SpaceX CEO tweeted the term and a threat to sue Tuesday in response to the latest in a recent string of fines for the companys alleged violations of environmental and other rules in launches from South Texas and Florida. Musks tweet was just the commercial space companys latest broadside against state and federal regulators. Last week, it posted a statement on its website complaining that government red tape is hurting its business by slowing development of its Starship rocket in South Texas. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Its a return to a well-worn page in Musks playbook of using public pressure on regulators to expedite approvals for his projects. Now, hes trying to speed up federal OKs for vastly increasing the number of Starship launches from South Texas and a plan to return the mega-rockets booster to land at Starbase after flights. Since August, state and federal agencies have fined the commercial space company more than $152,000 for multiple environmental violations stemming from operations at the facility near Boca Chica Beach, including a 2022 liquid oxygen spill and illegally dumping wastewater into protected wetlands without the proper permit since July 2023. On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed a $633,000 fine for safety violations during two rocket launches last year from Florida. SpaceX has downplayed its culpability in the Texas violations which have led to delays in the FAA approvals needed for more launches with its nearly 2,000-word statement characterizing the environmental trouble as little more than disagreements over paperwork. It said the FAAs licensing process for Starships fifth flight now expected in late November repeatedly has been derailed by issues ranging from the frivolous to the patently absurd. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Regulators state and federal disagree with the companys claims. Unpermitted Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency fined SpaceX $148,378 for using its launch pad deluge system which sprays more than 100,000 gallons of water to dampen Starships heat, noise and vibrations without the proper permit for the wastewater it produces. That action came a few weeks after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality fined the company $3,750 for the same issue with the system, also known as a flame deflector. During a recent conference, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied the company is emitting wastewater. We didnt know there was a permit needed for zero-harm freshwater being on the ground in a place where fresh water falls from the sky all the time, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In its statement, the company denied operating the system without a permit, saying it was operating in good faith under supervision of the TCEQ with a Stormwater Multi-Sector General Permit. Such a permit, however, doesnt apply to the deluge system and regulators have said they notified the company of the permit requirement ahead of the systems operation. According to TCEQ, Stormwater Multi-Sector General permits are issued to control discharges of stormwater associated with industrial activity and are not for discharges of wastewater like that from the launch pads deluge system. Its water is exposed to the extreme heat of the rocket engines and chemicals from exhaust and around the launch site. Despite receiving warnings, the company illegally operated the deluge system seven times between July 28, 2023, and June 6, spraying between 114,000 gallons and 194,500 gallons of fresh water each time, according to the EPAs complaint this week. The EPA also cited a July 11, 2022, spill of 36,000 gallons of liquid oxygen, which is used to fuel Starship. A TCEQ spokesman wouldnt comment about SpaceXs claim it was working under the supervision of the agency. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But SpaceX still lacks the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit the TCEQ says is required. It applied for the permit in July but the approval process can take more than 330 days, the state regulator said, because of the detailed technical reviews required. SpaceX also said TCEQ officials were physically present at the first testing of the deluge system and given the opportunity to observe operations around launch a statement the state agency declined to confirm. Adverse effects SpaceX also said the TCEQ, FAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service each evaluated the use of the deluge system before its first use and during tests and launch, and determined it would not cause environmental harm. Neither TCEQ nor FAA would confirm that claim. But the Fish and Wildlife Service said its environmental consultation with the FAA determined that there were likely adverse effects of operating the deluge and detonation suppression system. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In November, the service issued an opinion that the adverse impacts could affect endangered shorebirds piping plovers and red knots by creating new visual disturbances that will likely flush individual birds that may be nearest to the (launch site) immediately prior to an engine ignition. Additionally, it found increased traffic from truck hauling water along Texas 4 may endanger coast jaguarundis and ocelots. It also estimated that each use of the deluge system during a Starship launch discharges 71,000 gallons of chlorinated water and as much as 190 pounds of metals including chromium, nickel and iron from ablation of the launch pad infrastructure. SpaceX is pushing for the FAA to approve its request to launch Starship from Starbase as many as 25 times a year. The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that operating the deluge system at such a pace would discharge more than 2.1 million gallons of water and 1,900 pounds of metals over a half mile outside SpaceXs launch site. It also would add 2,190 additional truck trips to the launch site, about 1% of the total truck traffic supporting Starship. The agency added that effects of metal contamination on land around rocket launch sites are poorly studied and the best available comparable information suggests negative effects on ecological communities near the (launch site) are unlikely. Licensing slowdown As evidenced by the public pressure campaign, the financial impact of the fines levied against SpaceX in Texas pales in comparison with the delays the new information about Starships environmental impact are having on the program. Despite the violations, the EPA has delegated the permitting process to TCEQ. The state environmental regulators agreed order with SpaceX says the company can resume using its deluge system once the order becomes effective as long as the discharge doesnt exceed published limitations for chemical oxygen demand and oil and grease content. The order is awaiting review by the TCEQ commission and EPA comments. Though any delays are a business concern for SpaceX, which is counting on Starship to step up deployment of its Starlink network of communication satellites, its also a worry for NASA, which has made it a key link in its Artemis program to return man to the moon. As it awaits permission to launch its next Starship by the end of the year, SpaceX contends the fines are entirely tied to disagreements over paperwork and says it fundamentally disagrees with the allegations. Related delays in the FAAs launch approval process were not based on a new safety concern, but instead driven by superfluous environmental analysis. The FAA disagrees. It has been reviewing the companys request to return the booster to land at its Starbase launch tower, a complex and risky maneuver that hasnt been attempted before. Though SpaceX said it expected to have received necessary approvals by now, the FAA said it has revised its target to late November based on new information from SpaceX. A growing campaign is calling on government to reinvest tax revenue from small-scale mining into the very communities affected by mining operations. The Reinvest Royalties campaign is gaining traction as it advocates for these funds to be used for vital infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals, and environmental protection in mining regions. The campaign argues that by redirecting a portion of the royalties back to mining communities, the government can increase the number of those who mine legally and also help build local wealth and reduce dependency on "galamsey." Community-Driven Solutions to Combat Illegal Mining The Reinvest Royalties campaign is working alongside community leaders in Bole and Amansie West, with support from local radio programming and social media initiatives to spread the message. According to the campaign team, the content on social media has received millions of engagements, with many messages supporting the idea of royalties. The campaign is further backed by the UK Ghana programme in collaboration and a number of civil society organisations, including Natural Resource Governance Institute, KASA, CEDA, Institute For Energy Security, Arocha Ghana and SYND which have united under the banner of the Shared Prosperity Initiative. Together, they advocate for a shift in the approach to mining regulation, emphasising the need to work with mining communities to end illegal mining, rather than relying solely on enforcement. According to Dr. Steve Manteaw, Technical Advisor for UKGGP, the campaigns central message is clear: If we want to end galamsey, we must empower our mining communities. By giving communities a stake in the royalties generated from mining, they will have a vested interest in welcoming regulated mining operations while rejecting illegal ones. He further stated that, investing in these communities will not only boost local economies but also strengthen local development opportunities. Environmental Protection Through Royalties In addition to improving infrastructure, the campaign highlights that mining royalties can be channelled towards safeguarding the environment. These funds could cover the costs of geological surveys, ensuring more precise and less destructive mining practices. They could also support the development of less harmful extraction methods and fund the reclamation of sites once mines have closed. Billions Lost Due to Illegal Mining Ghana is losing billions of dollars each year due to illegal mining and gold smuggling. The Reinvest Royalties campaign believes that better regulation can keep this money within the country and support Ghanaian citizens. However, the campaign stresses that forced regulation is not the solution; instead, the government must create an environment where mining communities actively seek regulation by ensuring they benefit from it. Better Regulation, More Royalties, Stronger Communities The campaign insists that better mining regulation will result in more revenue for Ghana, and a portion of this should be reinvested in the communities where the mining occurs. This model, they argue, would create a positive cycle of royalties driving an increase in regulation, which in turn further increases the amount of royalties earned by communities. By ensuring that mining communities benefit directly from the tax on regulated mining, the campaign states these communities will become less tolerant of illegal mining activities on their lands. Reinvesting mining royalties in the communities where mining takes place will foster sustainable development, strengthen local economies, and help put an end to illegal mining once and for all. Source: Alex Ofei-Kwayisi/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 parts of ongoing efforts to decentralize the Minerals Commission, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP has commissioned an Ultra modern office equipped with the latest technology at Bibiani to oversee in the Bibiani/Anhwiaso/Bekwai Municipality of the Western North Region. The newly-constructed office which is a further validation of the governments commitment to decentralization of the Minerals Commission will see the commission provide effective oversight in the Western North Region and beyond. Addressing a gathering of traditional authorities, management and staff of the Minerals Commission and residents of the district, the Minister underscored the importance of a magnificent building to the efficient regulation of mining activities in the Western North Region. He outlined specific features of the new office that makes an ideal hub for mining related activities in the area and charged the staff of the commission in the area to live up to the set expectations of the commission. Despite the importance of this Office to the mining industry, it has been accommodated in a very small rented chamber and hall office space for more than thirty (30) years. This, obviously, impeded the recruitment of new staff to augment the work of the office. The inadequacy of the Office became even more apparent following the internal restructuring of the Minerals Commission, which necessitated increasing services at the Regional and District Offices, such as cartography, survey, community relations, environmental protection, among others. "Nananom, Ladies and Gentlemen, with three (3) large scale mining operations within this Municipality at Awaso, Bibiani and Chirano, it became necessary to secure a more conducive working space for the Commission to effectively regulate mining operations in this area, and to provide the full spectrum of mining related monitoring services, not just for small scale mining, but, also, large scale mining operations, and ensure the successful implementation of the minerals diversification policy through the promotion of economic and industrial minerals. With two Satellite Offices in Nkwawie and Juaboso, I have no doubt that this Office will live up to its mandate he said. Hon. Jinapor used the opportunity to reiterate governments zero tolerance for illegal small scale mining, noting that the government has made commitments to rid the mining space of any illegality, particularly mining activities that happens close to forest reserves and river bodies. I want to use this opportunity to reaffirm Governments unflinching commitment to the fight against this canker, which, undoubtedly, threatens our very existence. This commitment, we have demonstrated through several initiatives such as the declaration of water bodies as Red Zones for mining, the suspension of reconnaissance, prospecting, and/or exploration in Forest Reserves, except in exceptional circumstances, the introduction of Operation Halt II with the mandate to decommission equipment used in illegal mining, the ban on the manufacture, sale or dealing in changfans, the introduction of mercury-free Gold Katchas, retooling of the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission, introduction of the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme (NAELP), and the training of judges to ensure strict enforcement of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by Act 995. Despite these measures, some nation-wreckers, motivated by their own selfish interests, continue to destroy our water bodies and Forest Reserves. We are aware that what we are dealing with is money, and the cartels involved will, always, try to find ways of outwitting us. But we will not relent on our efforts, we will continue to adopt the necessary measures to protect our water bodies, environment and Forest Reserves. We welcome the various concerns that have been raised by several groups of people, as well as their recommendations for dealing with this matter. The President of the Republic has constituted an Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee, under the Chairmanship of the Minister for National Security, to engage all stakeholders, and to find a common ground to fight this menace. Yesterday, the Committee met with organised labour, and in the coming days, we will engage with other groups of people to ensure that we come to grips with this matter. The Chairperson of the Commission, Hon. Barbara Oteng-Gyasi in her remarks noted that the state of the art edifice is expected to address service delivery challenges that small-scale miners within the Bibiani-Anhwiaso Bekwai Municipality face as well as facilitating the monitoring and compliance role of the Commission. Hon. Barbara, alluded a number of interventions being made by government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to sanitise and streamline mining operations particularly in the small-scale mining which includes Community Mining Scheme, Gold Katcha among others. Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II, Paramount Chief of Sehwi Anhwiaso Traditional area and President of the National House of Chiefs commended government for its effort in addressing illegal small scale mining in the country. He urged traditional authorities across the country to rise up and help save the countrys mining resources from the harmful activities of illegal miners The Bibiani Minerals Commission office has become third modernized office unveiled within the last four months. Works are ongoing for the construction of offices in Kumasi, Tamale and Bole with expectations rife that they will be completed by November 2024. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman/peacefmomline.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 In a dedicated effort to address the educational resource gap in Ghana, Strong Woman Changemaker Africa, in collaboration with Nana Esi Oduma I, has launched the Nsuekyir Educational Empowerment Initiative. This program aims to provide much-needed educational resources to students in Nsuekyir, Winneba in the Central Region, empowering them to succeed academically and become future leaders. The Nsuekyir Educational Empowerment Initiative also seeks to equip students with essential learning materials such as books, school supplies, and other resources that will enable them to thrive. Ms. Lamisi Adene, CEO of the foundation, explained the motivation behind the initiative: This dream has been with me since childhood. I saw that many students in our communities lack the basic educational support they need, and I made it my personal mission to step in and help .Having started in Bolgatanga three years ago, Strong Woman Changemaker Africa has already made a significant impact, providing resources and support to students across Ghana. The launch in Winneba represents the next step in expanding these efforts to more regions, with a focus on fostering academic growth and personal development among young people. Through this program, the foundation hopes to inspire and empower the next generation of leaders and innovators in Ghana. Ms. Adene extended her heartfelt thanks to the Queen Mother of the Effutu Traditional Area, Nana Oduma I, for her unwavering support in making the initiative a reality. She also called on parents to take an active role in their childrens education, encouraging them to ensure that their wards remain focused and determined to excel in school. Nana Oduma I, the Odikrohemaa and Kyidomhemaa of Simpa, echoed this sentiment, urging students to prioritize their education. At your age, your most important task is to focus on your studies. Education is the key to becoming good leaders in your community, she advised. Solomon Sackey Sampa, Assembly Member for the Nsuekyir Electoral Area, pledged his full support for the program, emphasizing his commitment to promoting education in his constituency. I am ready to assist in any way possible to improve the quality of education in this municipality, he affirmed. As the program takes off, Strong Woman Changemaker Africa is calling on individuals, organizations, and corporate bodies to join in supporting this critical initiative. Contributions in the form of books, educational supplies, or financial donations are welcomed to help ensure that every child in Nsuekyir has the opportunity to receive a quality education. This collective effort will not only transform lives but also contribute to the long-term development of the community. 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 Telecel Ghana continues to reward loyalty and engagement through its fan-favorite Dream Car Promo. In an exciting conclusion to the 11th cycle, Ezekiel Tetteh Nartey, a long-time participant, drove home a brand-new Suzuki Swift, and nine other lucky winners received brand new iPhone 14. Ezekiel, Head of Academics at Press Academy in Sunyani, has been part of Telecels promotional games for over four years. His dedication first earned him a car in an earlier Telecel, Graphic Communications promotion in 2021, and this year, his persistence paid off once again with a second vehicle. For Ezekiel, the win was nothing short of surreal. When I got the call, I was in disbelief, he said. Ive been participating in the promo for years, and though Ive won before, there were times when I was told to be cautious of such promotions. But this time, it was real, and Im beyond excited. Im incredibly grateful to Telecel for this opportunity. Telecels Dream Car Promo allows participants to subscribe for GHS 1.00 per day, answering five general knowledge questions to earn points. Dedicated players can opt for additional questions to boost their chances of winning at 0.20 pesewas. David Umoh, Director of Consumer Business at Telecel Ghana, commended Ezekiels resilience. "The Dream Car Promo is more than just a game. It is a chance for customers to win life-changing rewards while having fun and Ezekiel success shows whats possible when you stay engaged. The 11th cycle, which ran for nine months, also saw Bolu Janpheri, one of the iphone 14 winners, celebrate his second Telecel trivia win. I was hoping to win a car this time, but Im happy with the brand-new iPhone 14, Janpheri said with a smile. Even when I faced challenges in the promo, I kept playing, and Im excited to be a two-time winner. Echoing his sentiments, Aneth Muga, Head of Customer Value Management, Products & Services at Telecel Ghana, highlighted the integrity of the promotion, Theres often skepticism around such campaigns, but we ensure everything is conducted with the highest level of transparency. We want all participants to feel confident that they have a fair shot at winning, just like Ezekiel and Bolu. Were excited to keep bringing more promotions to our customers in the future. As we look forward to the next cycle, were introducing even bigger prizes and more engaging ways to participate.", she added. Following the success of the 11th cycle, Telecel Ghana has unveiled the 12th cycle of the Dream Car Promo with and increased subscription fee of GHS 2.00 and the following enhanced features: Grand Prize Upgrade: Moving from the Suzuki Swift winning prize, the brand-new Hyundai Creta is now up for grabs Weekly Cash Prizes: 11 participants can win up to GHS 2000 every week within the 12th cycle. Buy Points Feature: Purchase additional points to boost winning chances Enhanced Rewards for Extra Questions: GHS 2.00 for daily subscription, and 0.50 pesewas per extra trivia question. Despite these new features, the core mechanics remain unchanged, with participants earning 100 points for correct answers and 25 points for wrong answers. The 12th cycle, which started on August 1, 2024, will run for six months till 31st January 2025. To join, customers can subscribe by dialing *2018#. With bigger rewards and new opportunities on the horizon, Telecels Dream Car Promo continues to be a hit among its loyal customer base. For more information, visit https://telecel.com.gh Source: King Edward Ambrose/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 Electoral Commission has told the National Democratic Congress(NDC) that compilation of the final voters register is still underway, hence the need for patience and calm as the Commission diligently produces a credible register. The statement from the EC, signed by the Deputy Chairperson, Operations, was in response to the demonstration embarked on by the largest opposition party, NDC, to register their displeasure and call for a forensic audit following some discrepancies detected during the last voter exhibition exercise. During the demonstration on 17th September 2024, the NDC made several demands including releasing the results in the custody of the Electoral Commission. This, the NDC explained, will help the party reconcile it to the provisional one they have so all anomalies can be resolved amicably before 7th December when the general elections are going to be held for a new President to be elected. However, excerpts of the Commission's letter read, "The Commission will review the petition and provide its response in the coming days. The Commission wishes to assure the General Public that the process of producing the final Register is in its early stages." The Electoral Commission further urged Ghanaians and all electoral stakeholders to remain calm as the Commission is committed to ensuring a credible, free, transparent, and verifiable election through the release of a credible and robust voters register ahead of the December 7 general elections. 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 National Democratic Congress September 17 Demonstration was largely peaceful until an alleged shooting incident occurred at Kumasi, resulting in the injury of a police officer who was on duty ensuring the safety of the demonstrators. In a quick response, the Ghana Police Service has announced that it has commenced investigations into the shooting incident. Reports gathered by Peacefmonline.com revealed some public outbursts when the police, in an attempt to disperse the fiery crowd, deployed teargas. The National Democratic Congress embarked on a nationwide demonstration to express its discontent on how the Electoral Commission was handling matters of the voters register, which is a major document for ensuring a credible election come December 7. However, during the Kumasi edition of the Enough is Enough Demo, some errant youth clashed with the police force in an attempt to invade the premises of the Electoral Commission. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the police said, The demonstration ended peacefully in all locations except an isolated incident at Kumasi in the Ashanti region. In Kumasi, contrary to the arrangements agreed between the Police and the organisers, the demonstrators attempted to push their way into the premises of the Electoral Commission and pelted the Police with stones. The Police managed to bring the situation under control and calm was restored. However, one Police officer was injured during the incident and he is receiving medical attention. The Inspector-General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has reached out to him via a telephone call and wished him well. The Police have since commenced investigation into the incident. The Inspector-General of Police and the entire leadership of the Police Service would like to express their profound gratitude to all Police officers across the country for their continuous patriotic dedication and commitment to security, law, and order in our beloved country, it added as a way of expressing appreciation to stakeholders. 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 NPP National Organizer, Henry Nana Boakye has fired shots at the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over their protest against the EC. The National Democratic Congress today, September 17, embarked on a demonstration against the Electoral Commission accusing the institution of possessing a voters register inflated with irregularities. The NDC believes the EC has ulterior motive against them in what they claim the Commission wants to rig the upcoming elections in favor of the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) and their flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. The Police approved the partys protest march dubbed "Enough Is Enough" held across the 16 Regions. The opposition party demands a forensic audit of the register by an independent authority and another exhibition before the election. Some of the placards during the protest said No Clean Register, No Peace. Reacting to this protest during Peace FMs 'Kokrokoo' show, Henry Nana Boakye found it extremely needless that the NDC would take such nationwide action. For me, this is one of the most useless demonstrations ever, he stated. Nana B, as hes affectionately called, issued a stern warning to the Electoral Commission not to employ the service of a foreign entity to audit the register in an attempt to heed the NDCs call. We, in the NPP, we will not allow any foreign interference. We will not any whatever name independent body to come and sit on a constitutionally created body, mandated, well-established, having districts and offices. To say we should employ the services of another independent body, I mean what has happened? Whats the issue? We will not allow it and any attempt from the Electoral Commission to go for another body to conduct a forensic audit, we will resist it fiercely. In fact, the NDCs demonstration will be the least, he warned. Watch video below Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video NPP National Youth Organizer, Salam Mustapha says Dr. Bawumia is the preferred candidate of all well meaning Ghanaians. Salam Mustapha believes Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has distinguished himself to Ghanaians with ideas to transform Ghana. "We have a presidential candidate who is sympathetic and empathetic towards the plight of Ghanaians. He is knowledgeable and full of ideas to address the concerns of Ghanaians, Salam Mustapha advanced. He made this comment while campaigning in the Kpandai constituency. The National Youth Organiser thus urged the youth to campaign actively for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. "You are the young people who can help us win the election. We need to go all out and leave no stone unturned," Salam Mustapha asked the youth. The commander of the NPP youth wing further urged the youth to vote for their parliamentary candidates. In Kpandai, he campaigned actively for Matthew Nyindam who was voted out in 2020 to be re-elected. Salam Mustapha stressed that Matthew Nyindam was only voted out because of disagreements between party faithful but has outperformed his successor, the NDC MP. He thus asked the youth to vote massively for Matthew Nyindam. He noted that the partys victory in the 2024 polls is hinged on the actions of party faithful. According to him, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) does not pose any threat to the NPP as far as the polls are concerned. "The only thing that is going to stop the NPP from winning the election in December is the NPP. The election we are going into, the NDC is not our problem," he said. "The NDC is not stronger than us, they are not better than us and they cannot use force to take it from us," he added. "In the very unlikely event that we lose, we are going to suffer the most. Because we are the very same people who are going to work and chase power again." Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] 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 National Organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye has described the opposition National Democratic Congress call on the Electoral Commission for a forensic audit, as unwarranted and empty. Nana B was reacting to NDCs Enough is Enough demonstration where they placed a demand on the Electoral Commission to have an independent forensic audit of the voter's register following the discrepancies detected during the voter exhibition exercise conducted by the Electoral Commission from August 20 to through August 27, 2024. The NDC posits that the earlier the Electoral Commission makes the register readily available for forensic audit to build public trust in the Commissions quest to ensure a credible and robust voter register ahead of the December 7, 2024 elections. To register their displeasure, the Electoral Commission embarked on a nationwide demonstration to deepen the call for a forensic audit of the register. However, in a Facebook post, dated September 17, 2024, Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as the Nana B, stated that the demonstration and the call for a forensic audit were unwarranted and, thus, should be rejected by all and sundry. Nana B said, the NDC failed to provide any legal basis for its unwarranted call for the Electoral Commission to cede its constitutional mandate regarding the voter register to some third party." Quoting Article 45 of the 1992 constitution, and section 2 of the Electoral Commission Act, 1993 (Act 451), Nana B opines that, the EC is conferred with exclusive right to compile electoral register and to supervise all elections. He said, In pursuance of this mandate, Article 46 of the Constitution and Section 3 of Act 451 expressly guarantees the independence of the Commission in the performance of its functions and make it not subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority. The Supreme Court, in several cases including Philip Kwaku Apaloo, (2010), Ransford France (2012), Abu Ramadan Series (No. 1 and 2) and NDC v AG (2020) has upheld the independence of the EC and affirmed that where multiple choices avail the EC in the performance of its functions, the EC has the sole discretion to choose one and nobody, not even the Courts can compel otherwise except the decision is unconstitutional. The present choice of the EC in working with the parties to address any concerns has been the practice throughout the 4th Republic and successfully resulted in five (5) elections. The insistence of the NDC in controlling the EC by compelling the introduction of a 3rd party into the execution of the ECs constitutional mandate is a breach of its independence. More so, when the EC throughout its processes has constantly engaged parties at IPAC and actively worked to resolve any concerns. Nana B further stated, The NDC should know, that while the EC may engage stakeholders in the performance of its functions, that cannot be construed as conferring a right to decide what choices the EC makes in the execution of its constitutional mandate. 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 Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), under the leadership of its Chairperson, Jean Mensa, has rejected a demand by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for an independent audit of the voters register for the pending 2024 general elections. The NDC, pointing to some errors it found in the provisional voters register for the election during the recent exhibition, has said that the audit is necessary to ensure the country goes into the election with a clean and credible register. But the EC has been insisting that the register is credible, saying that it has worked on the issues the NDC found in it and that the voters register exhibition exercise is meant to get rid of such errors. Despite calls from many notable Ghanaian entities and individuals for the EC to heed the demand of the NDC, it did not, leading the party to embark on its Enough is Enough Demonstration across the length and breadth of Ghana, which gained international traction. Reports on Jean Mensas position on the auditing of the voters register when she was the Executive Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) are now re-emerging. Jean Mensa, when she was the boss of IEA in 2015, signed a communique urging the then Electoral Commission, led by Charlotte Osei, to show proactiveness and leadership by engaging the services of a competent, credible, and external organisation to audit the electoral roll. The communique indicated that even though the EC is independent, it must be accountable to the people of Ghana. Though Article 46 of the National Constitution protects the EC from direction or control, it is nevertheless accountable to the citizens because it is a public organization which draws its funds from the Consolidated Fund, the communique said. It said that there were irregularities with the then voters register, which it said, All stakeholders must work towards a consensus position on addressing these irregularities. It added, What is critical is that the final output of this exercise must be a Voters Register with an acceptable margin of error. The then-IEA boss also indicated that the cost of managing a national crisis resulting from a flawed electoral process would be potentially higher than that of having an acceptable register. Her positions, as can be gleaned from above, are sharply different today, when she is now the head of the EC. 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 Tupperware, the company that revolutionized food storage decades ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It plans to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings. Garrett Cheen/AP The logo for Tupperware Brands appears on a monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Last year, the company warned investors that it was at risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. It received an additional noncompliance notice from the NYSE for failing to file its annual results with the SEC earlier this year. Richard Drew/AP NEW YORK Tupperware Brands, the company that revolutionized food storage decades ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Orlando, Fla.-based Tupperware plans to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings, it said just before midnight Tuesday. It added that it will seek court approval for a sale, in order to protect its iconic brand. The move comes as it struggles to revitalize its business. Tupperware sales growth improved some during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but overall sales have been in steady decline since 2018 due to rising competition. And financial troubles have continued to pile up for the company. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Doubts about Tupperwares future have floated around for some time. Last year, the company sought additional financing as it warned investors about its ability to stay in business and its risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The company received an additional noncompliance notice from the NYSE for failing to file its annual results with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. And Tupperware had continued to warn about its ability to stay afloat in more recent months, with an August securities filing pointing to significant liquidity challenges. In its bankruptcy petition, Tupperware reported more than $1.2 billion in total debts and $679.5 million in total assets. Shares for the company have fallen 75% this year and closed Tuesday at about 50 cents apiece. The reality is that the decline at Tupperware is not new, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. It is very difficult to see how the brand can get back to its glory days." Saunders explained that many consumers have been migrating to cheaper home storage brands noting that competition has intensified over years, particularly with the rise of online platforms like Temu and retailers like Target also beefing up their own home storage and kichenware brands. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Tupperwares roots date back to 1946. According to the companys website, shortly after the Great Depression, chemist Earl Tupper found inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory setting out on a mission to create an airtight seal for a plastic container, similar to that on a paint can, to help families save money on food waste. The brand experienced explosive growth in the mid-20th century particularly with the rise of Tupperware parties, first held in 1948. Tupperware parties notably gave many women a chance to run their own businesses out of their homes, selling the products within social circles. The system worked so well that Tupperware eventually removed its products from stores. In the bankruptcy announcement, the company said there were no current changes to Tupperwares independent sales consultant agreements. According to court documents, Tupperware currently employs more than 5,450 employees across 41 countries and additionally partners with global sales force of over 465,000 consultants who sell products on a freelance basis in nearly 70 countries. There are just over a half-dozen independent representatives listed in the San Antonio area, according to its website. The announcement also pointed to aims to further advance Tupperwares transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company, possibly signaling a move toward increased reliance of sales on the brands website or perhaps more online-focused marketing, although the company did not provide exact specifics. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a statement, Tupperware President and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman acknowledged Tupperwares recent financial struggles and said the bankruptcy process is meant to provide essential flexibility as the company pursues this transformation. She also maintained that the brand wasnt going anywhere. Whether you are a dedicated member of our Tupperware team, sell, cook with, or simply love our Tupperware products, you are a part of our Tupperware family, Goldman said in a statement. We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process. The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, during a recent campaign tour of the Central Region, chastised people in the region for voting against his party despite getting prominent positions in the NDC. In a video shared on TikTok, Asiedu Nketiah, addressing a crowd at an NDC event in the Central Region, reproached them for not rewarding the party with votes during elections despite the party consistently selecting its flagbearer or running mate from the region. "Today, I have come to look directly into the faces of you, residents of the Central Region, and speak the truth. What I want you people to know is that you are royals in the NDC, but you are behaving like people who don't value their worth. This party was founded by celebrated personalities from the Central Region, including Kwamena Ahwoi, Kwesi Botchwey, Ato Ahwoi, and others. "In our first election, we chose someone (K.N. Arkaah) from the Central Region as our running mate. In our second election, we selected Prof. Mills as our running mate, and in our third election, Prof. Mills became our flagbearer. In our fourth and fifth elections, Prof. Mills was our flagbearer. He won and became President. "When he died, John Mahama took over and selected someone (P.K. Amissah-Arthur) from the Central Region to be Vice President. After Amissah-Arthur, today, we have Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang from the Central Region as our running mate and soon-to-be Vice President," said the former Deputy Minister for Agriculture during the Rawlings regime. He continued, "So, you have a lot of valuable assets, but you are discarding them. Why are you throwing out your intestines and replacing them with rubbish? There are regions in Ghana where the flagbearer of a party comes from, and ever since, the people of those regions have consistently voted for that party. But you, the people of the Central Region, who helped form the NDC, in all eight elections held in this Fourth Republic, there has not been one in which a person from the Central Region wasn't a flagbearer or running mate. Yet, during elections, you vote against the NDC. Think about this carefully. If you don't make it to Heaven, don't blame Jesus." 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 National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Bono Region has reiterated the partys call for an audit of the voters register by the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure a free, fair, and transparent election. Taking part in the nationwide demonstration to back calls for a credible voter register, the party indicated that they have identified various infractions in the voters register which should serve as the basis for an audit. The party cites illegal transfers in the Tain and Banda Constituencies, bloating of the voters register in the Sunyani East Constituency by 2,644 voters, duplicate entries in the absentee voters register and main voters register, missing names in the special voters register, unaccounted additional voters and inconsistencies in the special voters register as some of the irregularities in the voters register. Speaking to the media at the demonstration in Sunyani after presenting a petition to the Electoral Commission, the Bono Regional Director of Elections and IT, George Ayaaba indicated that the various infractions identified in the region cast doubt on the credibility of the December polls. We did our audit of the register and realized some irregularities in the register. For example, an audit of the register in the Jaman North Constituency showed that some votes were illegally transferred to the Tain Constituency plus several other irregularities in the region that is why we are embarking on this demonstration to compel the EC to conduct an audit to correct any anomaly for a credible election. Way forward Per portions of the petition presented to the Electoral Commission in the Bono Region, the party avers that the only way to make the voters register credible is for the EC to among other things rectify the duplicate entries identified, conduct an international forensic audit of the register, and a reconciliation of the inconsistencies. Given the issues identified, we recommend the following actions: Immediate Rectification of Duplicate Entries and International Forensic Audit of the Register: The EC should promptly remove all duplicate entries from either the Absentee Voters List or the Main Voters Register to prevent any election-day complications. Again, give Political Parties the Voter Register Codebook now, the petition reads in part. 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 founder and Leader of the United Front Party (UFP), Nana Agyenim Boateng, popularly known as "Gyataba", has thrown his support behind the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of the December 7 polls. The outspoken youth leader announced his support for the Vice Presidents candidature at a press conference organized in Kumasi on Wednesday. According to him, his decision is based on the national interest and his willingness to see the consolidation of the gains the country has made over the last 7 years. Surrounded by his party executives and more than 1000 of his supporters, Nana Agyenim Boateng boldly confessed that there is no point challenging the ruling party and the Vice President in the upcoming contest, considering the huge performance of the current government. According to the UFP Leader, he came to a firm conclusion after visiting the nook and cranny of this country to gather signatures for his presidential ambition that no government in recent times has performed more than President Akufo Addo and Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia. Gyataba, who was once a strong critic of the NPP and President Akufo-Addo, having resigned from the party to form the UFP in 2012, stated that he was surprised at the unprecedented achievements in the areas of roads infrastructure, schools and other social interventions dotted across the country under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. I have gone around the country and I have seen that there is no point contesting this years elections because its a forgone conclusion for the NPP and Dr. Bawumia, he stated. Cautioning that any attempt to change the course of leadership could spell doom for Ghana, the UFP Leader urged Ghanaians not to allow the NDC and former President Mahama to hoodwink them into thinking that this government has not performed well. I have come to the firm conclusion that there is no point contesting this elections because truly speaking this administration has really performed a lot in the areas of social and economic development, he emphasized. Gyataba averred that the NPP will have itself to blame if it fails to communicate its achievements and show the good people of Ghana all the numerous things they have done since they assumed office in 2017. Meanwhile, the founder of the UFP has asked all his supporters across the country to channel their energies towards working for the Vice President and the NPP. 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 Kwamena Duncan has lambasted former President John Dramani Mahama over his recent verbal assault on religious and traditional leaders in the country. The former President, at a campaign event, rebuked the Chiefs, Imams and Christian leaders for what he says they are pampering the Vice President and NPP flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and the ruling party instead of reprimanding them. He said; We have Pastors, Imams, Chiefs and civil society groups in this country who instead of rebuking the NPP, rather support them. When NDC says something, it is like we are the bad ones. They must rather joining forces with us to tell the government that, due to your wickedness towards Ghanaians, it is time for you to go. But you will see Chiefs commending them (NPP) that they have done good jobs." In the churches, you see pastors praying for him (Bawumia) that the government has done a good job; we bless you and may God give you victory. He goes to the traditionalists and they pour wine to their shrines and ask their ancestors to guide him (Bawumia). He averred that they are hypocrites but stressed I am confident that the NDC will win. In reply, the former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan described the former President's comments as disrespectful. To him, it has become Mahama's stock-in-trade to disparage the nation's leaders but for him to graduate to raining insults on Chiefs, Pastors and Imams is absolutely unacceptable and distasteful. "It is quite shameful!", he exclaimed while making his submissions on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/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 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: An artist's illustration of the longest black hole jet system ever observed. Nicknamed Porphyrion after a mythological Greek giant, these jets span roughly 7 megaparsecs, or 23 million light-years. That is equivalent to lining up 140 Milky Way galaxies back-to-back. Porphyrion dates back to a time when our universe was less than half its present age. During this early epoch, the wispy filaments that connect and feed galaxies, known as the cosmic web, were closer together than they are now. Consequently, this colossal jet pair extended across a larger portion of the cosmic web compared to similar jets in our nearby universe. Porphyrion's discovery thus implies that jets in the early universe may have influenced the formation of galaxies to a greater extent than previously believed. Credit: E. Wernquist / D. Nelson (IllustrisTNG Collaboration) / M. Oei Astronomers have spotted the biggest pair of black hole jets ever seen, spanning 23 million light-years in total length. That's equivalent to lining up 140 Milky Way galaxies back to back. "This pair is not just the size of a solar system, or a Milky Way; we are talking about 140 Milky Way diameters in total," says Martijn Oei, a Caltech postdoctoral scholar and lead author of a Nature paper reporting the findings. "The Milky Way would be a little dot in these two giant eruptions." The jet megastructure, nicknamed Porphyrion after a giant in Greek mythology, dates to a time when our universe was 6.3 billion years old, or less than half its present age of 13.8 billion years. These fierce outflowswith a total power output equivalent to trillions of sunsshoot out from above and below a supermassive black hole at the heart of a remote galaxy. Prior to Porphyrion's discovery, the largest confirmed jet system was Alcyoneus, also named after a giant in Greek mythology. Alcyoneus, which was discovered in 2022 by the same team that found Porphyrion, spans the equivalent of around 100 Milky Ways. For comparison, the well-known Centaurus A jets, the closest major jet system to Earth, spans 10 Milky Ways. The latest finding suggests that these giant jet systems may have had a larger influence on the formation of galaxies in the young universe than previously believed. Porphyrion existed during an early epoch when the wispy filaments that connect and feed galaxies, known as the cosmic web, were closer together than they are now. That means enormous jets like Porphyrion reached across a greater portion of the cosmic web compared to jets in the local universe. Credit: S. Landis & K. Rappaport (Science Communication Lab) "Astronomers believe that galaxies and their central black holes co-evolve, and one key aspect of this is that jets can spread huge amounts of energy that affect the growth of their host galaxies and other galaxies near them," says co-author George Djorgovski, professor of astronomy and data science at Caltech. "This discovery shows that their effects can extend much farther out than we thought." Unveiling a vast population The Porphyrion jet system is the biggest found so far during a sky survey that has revealed a shocking number of the faint megastructures: more than 10,000. This massive population of gargantuan jets was found using Europe's LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) radio telescope. While hundreds of large jet systems were known before the LOFAR observations, they were thought to be rare and on average smaller in size than the thousands of systems uncovered by the radio telescope. "Giant jets were known before we started the campaign, but we had no idea that there would turn out to be so many," says Martin Hardcastle, second author of the study and a professor of astrophysics at the University of Hertfordshire in England. "Usually when we get a new observational capability, such as LOFAR's combination of wide field of view and very high sensitivity to extended structures, we find something new, but it was still very exciting to see so many of these objects emerging." Back in 2018, Oei and his colleagues began using LOFAR to study not black hole jets but the cosmic web of wispy filaments that crisscrosses the space between galaxies. As the team inspected the radio images for the faint filaments, they began to notice several strikingly long jet systems. "When we first found the giant jets, we were quite surprised," says Oei, who is also affiliated with Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands. "We had no idea that there were this many." The bipolar jets drill their way through the surrounding intergalactic medium. Where the ends of the jets hit this medium, a hotspot forms, surrounded by a shock wave. The core of the jet system is the host galaxy containing the supermassive black hole. The backflow consists of material from the hotspot that has decelerated and flowed back toward the host galaxy. Credit: S. Landis & K. Rappaport (Science Communication Lab) To systematically search for more hidden jets, the team inspected the radio images by eye, used machine-learning tools to scan the images for signs of the looming jets, and enlisted the help of citizen scientists around the globe to eyeball the images further. A paper describing their most recent batch of giant outflows, containing more than 8,000 jet pairs, has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Lurking in the past To find the galaxy from which Porphyrion originated, the team used the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope(GMRT) in India along with ancillary data from a project called Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument(DESI), which operates from Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. The observations pinpointed the home of the jets to a hefty galaxy about 10 times more massive than our Milky Way. The team then used the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawai'i to show that Porphyrion is 7.5 billion light-years from Earth. "Up until now, these giant jet systems appeared to be a phenomenon of the recent universe," Oei says. "If distant jets like these can reach the scale of the cosmic web, then every place in the universe may have been affected by black hole activity at some point in cosmic time," Oei says. The observations from Keck also revealed that Porphyrion emerged from what is called a radiative-mode active black hole, as opposed to one that is in a jet-mode state. When supermassive black holes become activein other words, when their immense forces of gravity tug on and heat up surrounding materialthey are thought to either emit energy in the form of radiation or jets. Radiative-mode black holes were more common in the young, or distant, universe, while jet-mode ones are more common in the present-day universe. The fact that Porphyrion came from a radiative-mode black hole came as a surprise because astronomers did not know this mode could produce such huge and powerful jets. What is more, because Porphyrion lies in the distant universe where radiative-mode black holes abound, the finding implies there may be a lot more colossal jets left to be found. "We may be looking at the tip of the iceberg," Oei says. "Our LOFAR survey only covered 15% of the sky. And most of these giant jets are likely difficult to spot, so we believe there are many more of these behemoths out there." Ongoing mysteries How the jets can extend so far beyond their host galaxies without destabilizing is still unclear. "Martijn's work has shown us that there isn't anything particularly special about the environments of these giant sources that causes them to reach those large sizes," says Hardcastle, who is an expert in the physics of black hole jets. "My interpretation is that we need an unusually long-lived and stable accretion event around the central, supermassive black hole to allow it to be active for so longabout a billion yearsand to ensure that the jets keep pointing in the same direction over all of that time. What we're learning from the large number of giants is that this must be a relatively common occurrence." As a next step, Oei wants to better understand how these megastructures influence their surroundings. The jets spread cosmic rays, heat, heavy atoms, and magnetic fields throughout the space between galaxies. Oei is specifically interested in finding out the extent to which giant jets spread magnetism. "The magnetism on our planet allows life to thrive, so we want to understand how it came to be," he says. "We know magnetism pervades the cosmic web, then makes its way into galaxies and stars, and eventually to planets, but the question is: Where does it start? Have these giant jets spread magnetism through the cosmos?" 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: Lionfish are severely altering local ecosystems and have caused multiple damage to the Mediterranean's native fauna. Credit: Pixabay. A new study from the Institut de Ciencies del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has demonstrated that public interest in the lionfish (Pterois miles), an invasive species native to the Indo-Pacific, is aiding in monitoring its spread nearly in real time. The study, published recently in the journal Biological Invasions, analyzed Google search volumes, highlighting that digital data is a valuable tool for improving regional conservation and management strategies. Recent studies confirm that the lionfish is solidifyieng its presence in the eastern Mediterranean, and is now even being detected in colder waters where it was initially not expected to thrive. Consequently, in recent years, it has garnered public attention across the Mediterranean basin, where it is severely disrupting local ecosystems and has caused significant damage to native fauna. "Our study demonstrates that it is possible to monitor the spread of invasive species by observing how and when society shows interest in them through the analysis of publicly available digital data. This could transform how we approach the conservation and management of these species," explains Lara Fazzari (ICM-CSIC), the study's lead author. The importance of public perception It has been known that invasive species like the lionfish have significant ecological and socio-economic impacts, and that public perception of these species can vary over time and between countries. However, analyzing digital data to understand public interest and social responses to these ecological issues, particularly in marine environments, has been a relatively unexplored area. The lionfish is a clear example of biological invasion in the Mediterranean, having arrived primarily through the Suez Canal, a phenomenon known as Lessepsian migration. Due to its predatory nature, this species threatens marine biodiversity by preying on native species. The methodology employed in this study falls within emerging research fields such as conservation culturomics and iEcology, which use digital data to study interactions between humans and nature. This approach has proven useful not only in the Mediterranean but also in other regions with invasive species, such as Japan and the United States. "The use of Google search volumes as an indicator of public interest is relatively new, but its potential is enormous. It allows us to quickly access large amounts of spatial and temporal data generated by internet users, facilitating the understanding of social responses to biological invasions and helping to guide conservation efforts at both local and regional levels," says Valerio Sbragaglia, the research coordinator. The study concludes that countries affected by the lionfish invasion show greater public interest compared to those where the species has not yet arrived. However, attention patterns do not always align with the exact timing of the species' arrival, suggesting that socio-political and cultural factors also influence public perception and response to these invasions. In summary, this work opens new possibilities for monitoring and managing invasive species through digital tools: "The ability to track public attention in real time could represent a paradigm shift in the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems globally," conclude the authors. More information: Lara Fazzari et al, Spatiotemporal patterns of public attention to invasive species across an invasion front: a case study of lionfish (Pterois miles) from the Mediterranean Sea, Biological Invasions (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10530-024-03420-4 Journal information: Biological Invasions 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 The idea of a "right to disconnect" from work is gaining traction worldwide, with countries like France and Spain enacting laws to protect workers from the demands of the digital age. The UK government has also indicated it will do the same. In Australia, recent legislation aims to give employees in large- or medium-sized businesses the right to switch off from attempts to contact them outside work hours. And the same law will be applied to small businesses (fewer than 15 employees) in August 2025. But is it enough? We conducted a research study into how employees perceive and respond to the demands of constant connectivity. We focused on academics from Australia, using in-depth interviews about their experiences. Our findings reveal that our ability to disconnect from work is complicated, and depends on our psychology. The way workers perceive constant connectivity significantly influences their ability to disengage. Among our participants, we found three distinct models of thinking about constant connectivity. These models affected how workers felt about making themselves available to work, and as such had a bearing on how good they were at unplugging. This suggests that being able to disconnect goes beyond just work demands. Our psychology plays a big part too. Three perceptions of constant connectivity 1. Constant connectivity as a resource A number of employees perceive constant connectivity as a tool that empowers them, making it easier to collaborate with colleagues, respond quickly to work tasks, access real-time data, and work flexibly from different locations. 2. Constant connectivity as a challenge Others view constant connectivity as a burden, leading to increased workload, pressure to respond immediately and a sense of being overwhelmed by the need to always be available. 3. Constant connectivity as a balance This group recognises both the benefits and drawbacks. They mainly experience the mental challenge of balancing the advantages of flexibility and access with the struggles of distraction and overload. However, they often find it difficult to maintain this balance. Managing the boundaries The model that you most closely align with significantly influences how you manage the boundaries between work and personal life. The first group, which perceives constant connectivity as a resource, reported that they can manage it by regulating their availability. By setting personal boundaries and being disciplined about when and how they connect, they are able to maintain productivity without letting work overwhelm their personal time. However, there's still a risk of work-life conflict if they don't uphold the boundaries. The second group, which views it as a challenge, may experience stress and anxiety. They may feel unable to escape work demands. This group feels that the system itself and the unwritten norms put pressure on them to remain connected outside work hours. Such pressure can make people feel obliged to be constantly available. This makes it even more challenging for workers to disengage and maintain a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives. The third group faces a unique struggle, navigating the tension between the benefits and drawbacks of constant connectivity. While they may recognise the importance of setting boundaries, they often find it challenging to maintain them. Strategies like turning off notifications at home or setting specific times for checking emails are helpful, but the underlying pressure to stay connected can make these difficult to stick to. This pressure is often reinforced by workplace norms and expectations, which can make employees feel guilty or anxious about disconnecting, even outside of work hours. These findings have important implications for the right-to-disconnect movement. While legislation is a crucial step, it's not a silver bullet. The right to disconnect is essential, but simply implementing policies and laws isn't enough to change entrenched behavior and unwritten norms. For meaningful change, companies must encourage a culture that supports and enforces these rules, ensuring that employees feel that it's acceptable to set boundaries without fear of repercussions. This means valuing work-life balance and supporting employees in setting boundaries for themselves. It also means providing training not only for employees but also for managers, who can play a big part in influencing unwritten norms. And it involves providing resources, like contingency cover for when someone is off or flexible working if they have an unforeseen domestic situation, for example. The right to disconnect is not just about legal protections. It's about changing managers' mindsets and empowering employees to take control of their work-life boundaries. By understanding the complexities of constant connectivity, organizations can create a healthier and more sustainable work environment for everyone. More information: Farveh Farivar et al, Constant connectivity and boundary management behaviors: the role of human agency, The International Journal of Human Resource Management (2023). DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2023.2271835 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: Ethanol biosynthesis and ethanol-based biomanufacturing. Credit: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02546-w In a recent review published in Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, a research team led by Associated Professor Wang Peng from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Dr. Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro from Imperial College London, provided a comprehensive overview of ethanol as a renewable carbon source for producing various high-value products, offering new perspectives for the development of eco-friendly industrial biotechnology processes. Industrial biotechnology often relies on microbes to convert carbohydrate substrates from sugar- or starch-rich crops to valuable products. However, this reliance poses challenges as the global population grows and food scarcity worsens. Therefore, it is urgent to explore renewable carbon sources that do not compete with food supplies for sustainable bioprocessing. Researchers presented a comprehensive analysis in this study, revealing the unique advantages of ethanol as a renewable substrate, summarizing microbial ethanol metabolism pathways and ethanol tolerance mechanisms, which provided a theoretical foundation for engineering industrial strains. The study also reviewed the latest advancements in ethanol biosynthesis and ethanol-based biomanufacturing, including the production of high-value chemicals such as bioplastics, pharmaceutical precursors, and organic acids. The researchers also discussed the potential challenges and outlined future research directions of ethanol-based biomanufacturing. This research offers an alternative solution to the resource challenges faced by the biomanufacturing industry, contributing to reducing resource pressures and advancing sustainable, green development. More information: Manman Sun et al, Microbial conversion of ethanol to high-value products: progress and challenges, Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02546-w 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: Rubbish from samples taken in Adventfjorden in Svalbard in September 2023. Credit: SINTEF Sampling reveals that there is an incredible amount of rubbish lying on the seabed. This is because many people are still flushing all sorts of things down the toilet, believing that they will simply disappear. But, of course, this is not the case. Both wet wipes and chemical substances have a negative impact on the biology of marine animals. This is also true of many other products that are branded as "natural." "Even if a product is branded as 'natural,' this doesn't mean that it simply dissolves away when released into the natural environment," says Senior Research Scientist Ida Beathe verjordet at SINTEF. "Such products still have very long decomposition times and should not be flushed down the toilet, even if they're labeled as biodegradable," she says. This fact may confuse consumers, who do not understand that even so-called natural products may have a major negative impact on the marine environment if they are flushed down the toilet. "I've reviewed the literature," says verjordet. "The decomposition time for wet wipes branded as 'natural' products may be up to 200 years and is even longer for those that contain plastic," she says. This information has now become part of a public awareness campaign recently launched in Svalbard in connection with a research project called CLIMAREST. The campaign is attempting to make both residents and visitors aware of what they should and should not be flushing down the toilet. "This rubbish suffocates the seabed environment around the outflow points because it interferes with biological processes taking place in the sediments." Enormous volumes of rubbish end up in the sea via our toilets There is no easy way to measure how much rubbish is being flushed down our toilets. However, in Longyearbyen in Svalbard, which has 2,500 inhabitants, the local authority is currently measuring the amount of rubbish collected using gratings placed across the outflow points. Results indicate that as much as 80 kilograms of rubbish passes through the town's wastewater system every week. We can only imagine how a figure like this translates to the world's largest cities. Here is a list of the top five rubbish items that we flush down the toilet: Q-tips Contact lenses Condoms Sanitary pads/tampons Wet wipes verjordet explains that the rubbish discharged into the sea forms a carpet on the seabed and interferes with the sedimentary deposits and the animals that depend on them. "This rubbish suffocates the seabed environment around the outflow points because it interferes with the biological processes taking place in the sediments," she says. "Moreover, marine animals may eat degraded rubbish items from the carpet, eventually making them part of the human food chain," says verjordet. Inadequate wastewater treatment The idea of "out of sight, out of mind" does not applyneither to your toilet, nor to mine. Because even if we like to think that our wastewater plants capture everything that we flush away before the water is released into the sea, this simply isn't the case. A large proportion of our wastewater plants, including those in Norway, and especially along the coast, are primitive facilities that capture only a small proportion of the rubbish that should be prevented from entering the marine environment. "Today, 10% of Norwegian wastewater systems operate with no form of water treatment," says Hanne Kvitsand, who is a Research Manager at SINTEF. "This means that wastewater is discharged untreated into the marine environment," she says. While there are strict requirements for discharges into bodies of freshwater, regulations governing the release of wastewater into the sea are much less stringent. "This is partly because we as humans observe the impacts of freshwater pollution much sooner than we do in the sea where they are much less visible," says Kvitsand. Medicines are also 'rubbish' It isn't just material rubbish that interferes with marine ecosystems. Human drugs and medications also have a negative impact. They pass through our bodies before ending up in our urine and feces. Wastewater plants are unable to filter out such substances. "These substances have the same effects on the natural environment as they do on people," says verjordet. "Drugs such as paracetamol may affect male sex hormones in many organisms, and can interfere with reproductive ability and the future survival of a variety of animals," she says. "But we still have to take our medications, and we still have to go to the toilet," says verjordet. "The key is to be aware of our behavior and do the right thing where and when we can. One idea is always to have a rubbish bin in the bathroom. This will help to remove the temptation to flush stuff down the toilet," she says. Both Kvitsand and verjordet explain that effective wastewater treatment technologies have already been developed but, as always, implementation lags behind because of commercial interests. "In time, requirements to implement wastewater plant upgrades will be put in place," says Kvitsand. "However, the most effective approach now is to address the problem at its rootsto take responsibility and throw our rubbish in a bin and not down the toilet," she says. 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: Every year, humpback whales travel from breeding grounds in Antarctica to the balmy waters of French Polynesia. A giant whale stole the show at the Summer Olympic Games, shooting out of the water as athletes competed in women's surfing semi-finals on the French Pacific island of Tahiti last month. It is for spectacular scenes like this that many tourists travel each year to French Polynesia, one of the world's prime destinations to go whale-watching and even swim with the huge mammals. But even if the French overseas territory seeks to promote eco-friendly tourism, environmentalists and some scientists warn that growing numbers of travelers present a threat to the majestic species. Every year, between July and November, humpback whales travel from their breeding grounds in Antarctica to the balmy waters of French Polynesia to mate and give birth, covering the extraordinary distance of roughly 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles). Located in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean and consisting of 118 islands, the picture-perfect territory known for its crystal-clear waters, stunning beaches and lush landscapes is one of the few places on Earth where tourists can swim with the whales. "We're lucky to have humpback whales that come close to the reefs in search of rest and calm," said Julien Anton, a guide for Tahiti Dive Management, a government-approved operator offering whale-watching tours. "The females try to escape the males, so they come to protect themselves and swim regularly along the reefs." Whale-watching and whale-swimming cruises are booming in French Polynesia. Whale song Humpback whales were decimated by commercial whaling in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Due to conservation efforts and a moratorium on commercial whaling adopted in 1986, the population has increased to around 80,000 individuals. Humpback whales are known for their aerial displays known as breaching as well as elaborate songs with which males court females. Adult females average 15 meters in length and weigh up to 40 tons, while adult males are slightly smaller. For many Indigenous peoples across Polynesia, the marine animals are sacred. In March, Indigenous leaders from across Polynesia including Tahiti, Tonga, Hawaii, New Zealand and the Cook Islands signed a declaration recognising whales as legal persons with inherent rights. They hope that the move would strengthen the protection of the species, which is under threat from climate change, ship strikes and whale watch harassment, among other risks. Whale-watching is an important source of income for French Polynesia. Whale-watching is an important source of income for French Polynesia, and authorities have taken steps to promote responsible tourism to protect the cetaceans. In April, regulations imposed a safety distance of 100 meters between the animal and authorized boats, while swimmers must stay 15 meters away. "This is one of the last places on the planet where we are allowed to observe them at such close quarters," said Anton. 'Do it with love' However, environmental associations and some scientists have criticized the boom in whale-watching activities. The Polynesian association Mata Tohora, which works to protect marine mammals, says there are far too many boats on the water. "We need to limit the number of boats around the whales and dolphins. It's a question of managing the activity, which needs to be done quickly," said Agnes Benet, a biologist and founder of the association. Humpback whales are under threat from climate change, ship strikes and whale watching harassment, among other risks. "You can swim with the whales without disturbing them," she added. "It's possible if you take the time, if you're patient and if you do it with love." Her association is campaigning for the introduction of a "no whale-watching" period, from 2:00 pm onwards, to allow them to rest. A study carried out in the South Pacific island nation of Tonga and published in the journal PLOS One in 2019 pointed to "detrimental effects" on the whales targeted by swimming activities, especially mother-calf pairs. The study said that both observing and swimming activities cause "avoidance responses" from humpback whales, with mothers diving for longer periods of time in the presence of vessels and swimmers. The risks are not limited to the animals. In 2020, a 29-year-old female swimmer was seriously injured off the coast of Western Australia after becoming trapped between two whales. 2024 AFP Army Veteran, Ty Cobb, shops for CBD gummies which he says helps reduce his anxiety at Rock and Roll It Vape Shop on Saturday February 25,2023 in Houston, TX. a Edibles enable me to process and understand my emotions and high levels of anxiety. I have a better quality of life and am not so uptight and intense.a He said. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Cans of hi Seltzer are seen Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at a Spec's Wine, Spirits & Finer Foods store in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Washington Ho & Tony Buzbee launch HoBuzz, Texas Sober Delta-8 THC seltzer. The Texas Sober seltzer is now available by the 6-pack at hobuzzco.com, with shipping nationwide, and will debut in Houston at the 8th Wonder Brewery taproom (2022 Dallas St.) and other select locations beginning Monday, Sept. 4. Christina Griffin, Courtesy of HoBuzz Veterans Chris Luna, Carl and Christina Arnold and their friend Jenn Totten, who is also married to a Veteran, talk beside a Delta 8 vending machine located in the Tomball VFW Post 2427 during a steak night hosted for Veterans and their families on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 in Houston, TX. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer The Texas Supreme Court will soon decide whether a state agency can wipe out a multibillion-dollar industry with a pen stroke. The case over cannabis carries enormous political baggage, with drug prohibitionists and medical marijuana producers on one side and farmers and hemp sellers on the other. The elected justices must decide if a political appointee can act even after the Legislature punts on the same issue. It all comes down to how high is too high. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Hemp and marijuana both come from the cannabis plant. Under federal and state law, the difference is the amount of psychoactive THC, with hemp defined as containing less than 0.3% dry weight. Hemp became legal under the 2018 federal Farm Bill and in 2019 under Texas House Bill 1325. Cannabis chemistry is far more complicated than the law suggests. Two forms of THC are at issue here: the naturally occurring delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol from marijuana, which can make you high, and the hemp-derived delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol, which makes you not so high. Delta-9 can land you in jail, while delta-8 is legal. When Texas legalized hemp, farmers planted thousands of acres, and entrepreneurs set about making rope, clothes, tinctures, beauty products and gummies, with some even selling hemp flowers for smoking. The problem is that police cant tell the difference between hemp and marijuana, and only careful and expensive tests can determine whats legal. Some big-city district attorneys and police departments stopped prosecuting low-level cases because it was too expensive and time-consuming. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Today, lax enforcement has led some smoke shops to sell high-THC products. Texas Monthly declared that the hemp law essentially legalized marijuana because many products they found in smoke shops exceeded 0.3% THC. Conservative lawmakers are appalled, and the states medical marijuana companies are frustrated. The Republicans dont want people to get high, even a little bit, and the prescription drug guys cant compete with retail marijuana, so they are losing market share and money. Veterans groups, though, have fought to keep delta-8 legal, declaring that the mild mood enhancer helps with PTSD and anxiety. After lawmakers failed to outlaw delta-8 in 2021, the Texas Department of State Health Services stepped in. DSHS first banned the manufacturing of smokeable hemp products within the state, and the Texas Supreme Court upheld this decision. When DSHS declared in October 2021 that delta-8 was illegal, Austin-based producer Hometown Hero won an injunction against the state. The Texas Supreme Court will soon decide if DSHS has that authority. Texas hemp industry argues that delta-8s high is minimal, and the state should not punish it because bad actors exploit law enforcements confusion. A Hemp Industries Association study in 2022 found the sector employed 50,000 Texans and generated $8 billion in revenue, and a delta-8 ban would wipe out $6.8 billion of it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A hemp-derived cannabinoid can be psychoactive, Cynthia Cabrera, chief strategy officer of Hometown Hero, told me. It doesnt mean that its some evil drug, because then we should be outlawing caffeine, and we should be outlawing sugar if were going to go after things that are psychoactive. Legalizing all THC products, if done thoughtfully, could solve these problems. The Food and Drug Administration could oversee testing and labeling and protect against contaminants. I stress thoughtfully because recreational marijuana legalization in other states has shown mixed results, sometimes boosting the illicit trade when overtaxed and underregulated. Im a fan of how Uruguay became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to legalize pot. When I visited, only citizens could grow at home, buy THC from a pharmacy or join cannabis-growing clubs. Headshops with big green leaves in the windows are illegal, its more of a hobby than an industry. Our nations entrepreneurial spirit will never allow that kind of restraint. According to the nonpartisan Texas Lyceum, 73% of Texans agree we should stop ruining peoples lives and wasting valuable law enforcement resources and harassing people for using pot. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Texas Supreme Courts decision, though, will likely come down to politics. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and his Christian nationalist allies want to ban delta-8; the all-Republican court will likely help him. Texas justices, though, should instead take a cue from conservative U.S. Supreme Court rulings that reduced the power of government agencies to impose regulations not explicitly authorized by elected lawmakers. 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 In the field of nonlinear optics (NLO), deep-ultraviolet (DUV) NLO crystals have garnered attention due to their crucial role in all-solid-state lasers. With ongoing research, the demand for these DUV NLO crystals continues to grow. Currently, DUV NLO crystals that simultaneously exhibit a large optical band gap and strong second harmonic generation (SHG) response are mainly found in carbonates, borates, and nitrates containing -conjugated elements. In contrast, sulfates and phosphates, without -conjugated functions, typically struggle to achieve similar performance due to their smaller microscopic second-order polarizability. Most DUV NLO phosphates having SHG responses struggle to exceed the performance limit of 3 KDP. A research group led by Prof. Zhu Qilong and Prof. Lin Hua from Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a "polar-axial-symmetry screening" strategy to overcome this challenge. The study was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Researchers discovered a magnesium-based phosphate compound, Mg 2 PO 4 Cl, among more than 10,000 phosphates. This compound exhibited the highest SHG response (5.2 KDP) among DUV NLO crystals containing non--conjugated elements, with a cutoff edge estimated at 179 nm and a birefringence of 0.046@1064 nm according to hybrid functional calculations. The characterizations of Mg 2 PO 4 Cl: (a) SEM image and corresponding elemental mapping analysis and (b) EDX results. Credit: Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2024). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202413276 First-principles calculations indicated that the excellent NLO performance of Mg 2 PO 4 Cl primarily arose from the effective stacking of three functional motifs, [PO 4 ], [MgO 5 Cl], and [MgO 4 Cl 2 ], along the polar axis [001], where non-bonding electrons of O-2p and Cl-3p were preferentially aligned in the same direction. Berry phase analysis revealed the role of the hybridization degree of PO bonds in enhancing the SHG response. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the structure-property relationships of other advanced DUV NLO compounds containing non--conjugated elements further validated the effectiveness of this polar-axial-symmetry screening strategy. The findings of this study not only demonstrated the immense potential of phosphate compounds in the DUV NLO crystal field, but also provided insights for future crystal design. The polar-axial-symmetry screening strategy will help deepen the understanding of structure-property relationships and promote the development of NLO crystal materials. More information: Jia-Xiang Zhang et al, Screening Strategy Identifies an Overlooked DeepUltraviolet Transparent Nonlinear Optical Crystal, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2024). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202413276 Journal information: Angewandte Chemie International Edition 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 The Australian Government wants to ban kids from social mediabut will it work and is it a good idea? Teaching children to use technology appropriately is not a new challenge for parenting. However, what has changed over the last two decades is the explosion of social media that aim to hook children into dopamine-fueled cycles of scrolling and sharing. While the jury is out on the precise nature of the danger, at a minimum, children are at risk of spending their precious years on apps that do little to aid their development. The government believes the danger is so acute that it is proposing drastic measures: social media platforms would be banned from serving children. Instead, social media platforms must use "age-assurance" technologies to keep kids out. So what is the proposed "age assurance technology"? Well, the government is yet to disclose details, but is set to run a trial later this year, and has mentioned face identification as one possible tool. This lack of detail is unsurprising. Computer scientists have yet to develop any age assurance technology that is simultaneously private, accurate and reliable. The best computer programs for age detection use AI. If you give the best of these programs a picture of someone's face it will make a guess that is, on average, within about five years of someone's true age. So your 13-year-old, it might guess, is 18 or vice-versa: denying access to an adult, while permitting access to a child. These errors would be routine, making the tech not fit for purpose. OK, so let's rule out age detection as it isn't accurate enoughwhat about asking for ID? The government has made multiple announcements recently about digital IDs. But the fact remains that there exists no digital ID platform available to children in Australia. The only reliable identity documents children usually have are birth certificates. Requiring teens to upload their birth certificates to access social media raises significant data security and privacy concerns. On top of this, it would require parents or other responsible adults to also upload their IDs so that platforms can be sure of the people they are serving. In the wake of the massive Optus and Medibank data breaches of 2022, giving away more of our data is unlikely to appeal to adults and kids may not be aware of the risks. Another option is for sites to require you to log in via something similar to myGovID , but this would let the government know every site you accessa privacy nightmare. Fancier techniques that (in theory) could hide a portion of your details create far more risks than rewards. But even if we had a workable way to prevent children from accessing social media, is that even a good idea? Think about queer or trans 13-year-olds growing up in regional Australia. Social media allows these kids to connect with their peers across the country, providing a lifeline for this community that is all too often marginalized. Finally, at a time when school teachers are reporting that boys are being targeted and indoctrinated by misogynist influencers at alarming rates, banning them from mainstream social media risks pushing an impressionable group onto even less reputable platformswhere they are more likely to be exposed to toxic content and ideas. So instead of blanket bans, we should be encouraging tech companies to develop better tools to help parents educate their children. We should arm parents with information for them to filter and curate the content their children see. Social media is not going away. The path forward is to engage with technology in a way that makes our lives, and our childrens' lives, more fulfilling, safe and diverse. 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: Marvin Collins, BS 22, presenting at a workshop with high school teachers who were among the first to try out CRISPRkit. Credit: Stanley Qi CRISPR, the gene-editing technology, has been one of the major breakthroughs in biology in the last two decades. And while students learn about the capability to cut, paste, and alter genes, it's rare that they get the chance to understand the technology by using it themselves. Enter CRISPRkit. The Stanford-made invention contains all the materials needed to conduct a CRISPR experiment in the classroom at about $2 per kit (or approximately $40 for materials for an entire classroom). The results can be analyzed solely with a smartphone camera and the CRISPRkit website. While it's still a distance from being available across the nation, a recent paper published in Nature Communications authored by Stanley Qi, associate professor of bioengineering in the schools of Engineering and Medicine, Qi lab members Matthew Lau and Marvin Collins, and others brought attention to the potential of CRISPRkit to bring modern biology advances to the classroom. "Our goal is to democratize biology," said Lau. "The demand is therethis could serve as a model to bring these kinds of opportunities to classrooms." Starting early Matthew Lau, who is a co-first author on the paper, began working in the Qi lab while he was still a high schooler, after he attended a summer camp at Stanford. In 2018, Qi took him to a biotech conference in New York, where Lau saw a poster regarding an educational kit, which was expensive. That was the spark for making a DIY kitsomething that could engage the community and bring science into the hands of students. The team focused on CRISPR because it was already a major part of Qi's lab research. Marvin Collins, who was a sophomore when they began working on this project, said, "We wanted to make it as accessible as possible, so kids from all different socioeconomic backgrounds could get exposure to exciting technologies that are making waves in bioengineering and medicineand hands-on experiments give them experience in what science is all about." The team planned to make a kit that utilized chromoproteinsproteins that are colorful in regular visible lightto form pigments. Then, the experiment would be to see if users could turn off the chromoproteins using CRISPR. Team members were excited to experiment with the visual aspect, which could pique interest, and to potentially make kits where color mixing was a possibility. But before all of that could become a reality, they had to overcome the barriers stopping CRISPR from being in classrooms already. CRISPR is typically done with specialized equipment and biohazardous chemicals that need specific disposal methods, and it's expensiveeven the pipettes alone can cost $500. Qi said, "We asked ourselves, how can we get rid of these barriers to make something so cheap and so safe that someone could do this experiment in their kitchen?" Try, try, try again For Lau and Collins, the answer was to do a lot of experimentation. The first plan was for the kit to use CRISPR to edit pigment in a test tube: If the experiment was effective, the color would go from red to transparent. The first summer, Lau said, was frustrating at times. "There was about two weeks where we couldn't get the pigment to turn off, so we were troubleshooting a lot. There was a lot of optimizing. I did maybe 50 separate experiments to make it work." Collins also worked on the wet lab experimentation and spent much of their time under the hood. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Stanford established remote learning. Lau flew back to Hong Kong but was able to continue computational work remotely; he developed CRISPectra, the website that allows users of the kits to upload photos of their results and receive quantitative data from them. For Collins, though, returning to their family's place in Alabama meant that they no longer had access to lab equipment. "That situation of not having access to a lab and living in Alabama made me have the same use case we were designing the kits around," said Collins. "So, I used that as an opportunity to leverage the low-tech environment." Collins was able to obtain materials by mail, which let them continue to experiment and helped highlight potential problems and workarounds. The concept and design of accessible CRISPRkit for high school education. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50767-2 Testing with teachers Once the team returned to campus in 2021, they were ready to try out the kit in the classroom. By working with teachers and students at Los Altos High School and Menlo High School, they continued to optimize the kit. For example, they switched the pipettes to inoculation loopsinstruments tipped with a small loop for samplingafter a failed run of the tests. Qi, Lau, and Collins all recall how exciting it was to be in the classrooms and to see students actually using their project, being passionate and curious about the research. "I was nervous about getting the kit in the classroom and wondering, "Is this actually going to work in students' hands?'" said Qi. "Out of the 17 groups, 15 got it to work, which made me so happy. One high schooler even went beyond to do a pressure test, repeating the experiment many times to see the consistency of results. I was genuinely moved by that student's dedication in helping us." "There was a direct impact of our research on the kids, where you could see their enjoyment and investment," said Collins. "It kind of reminded me that I wouldn't have ended up as a scientist myself if I hadn't had teachers and mentors who were enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge and inspiring meand now it's cool that I get to be on the other side of that." Buoyed by that excitement, the team redoubled their efforts to make the kit truly accessiblewhich meant thinking about the cost. Qi said that this continues to be a challenge, as some of the key reagents for the experiment make up about 80% of the cost of the kit. Happily, Qi was able to collaborate with Michael Jewett, a Stanford professor of bioengineering whose lab works with one of the key reagents. Jewett's lab produces their own reagents through bacteria, so Collins and Brenda Wang, a member of the Jewett lab, were able to make it in-house and reduce the cost. As the team brainstorms other potential uses and variations of the kit, they keep affordability in mind. The future of CRISPRkit Though Collins has since graduated Stanford, they continue to be involved in the project. They're currently applying to Ph.D. programs and intend to focus on accessibility research, which has been important to them from the start as a Black nonbinary scientist who has been historically underrepresented. Collins said, "Bioengineering is really exciting from an accessibility perspective and if we do it properly and bring different perspectives to it, it has the potential to tackle problems that are important to different communities all around the world." Qi transitioned from studying physics to synthetic biology because he saw the immense positive impact that this field could have on people's lives. "These technologies usually stay in papers that experts read. And even with something like gene editing, it can take upward of five years for the public to hear about itup to ten years for students to learn about it," said Qi. "As researchers, we can bury our heads in the sand, but outreach is hugely important. It's a training process for future scientists, policymakers, and leaders." Qi also highlighted how important it was to have undergraduate researchers like Lau and Collins involved. "For a project like this, a grad student might think it would be hard to publish a top-tier paper, so they might be reluctant to commit their time. But the undergraduates were like mavericksthey dared to try something new and were willing to devote their efforts because of their passion. Our goal is to make the CRISPRkit accessible to students across the nation." Lau is entering his final year as an undergraduate at Stanford. He and Qi have presented at conferences and workshops, showing that projects like these, especially in the field of biology, have huge demand. Lau especially recognizes the importance for students, even though he's a few years out from his time as a high schooler. "As a high schooler, there's a huge gap between what you learn in a textbook and the theoretical work that goes into an experiment. But once you're in a lab and you get to do something yourself, it's completely different," he said. "This kit that we have perfectly represents the capabilities of CRISPR for the classroom. And this is just the first step," said Lau. He intends to keep working to democratize biology and hopes that other scientists will also pursue accessible outreach for their research. "This kit is a major opportunity to teach something about biology in a way students can work with and understandand I hope this serves as a model for what could happen in the future." More information: Marvin Collins et al, A frugal CRISPR kit for equitable and accessible education in gene editing and synthetic biology, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50767-2 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: Depiction of the "bullets" being deployed in a lunar crater. Credit: NASA Americans are famously fond of their guns. So it should come as no surprise that a team of NASA scientists has devised a way to "shoot" a modified type of sensor into the soil of an otherworldly body and determine what it is made out of. That is precisely what Sang Choi and Robert Moses from NASA's Langley Research Center did, though their bullets are miniaturized spectrometers rather than hollow metal casings. First, let's look at the miniaturized spectrometers. Spectrometers have been a workhorse of space exploration for decades. They analyze everything from the surface of Enceladus to stars. However, they almost all use a type of spectroscopy known as Fraunhofer diffraction. Drs. Choi and Moses decided to use a different physical phenomenon in their invention, known as Fresnel's diffraction. In Fresnel diffraction, a spectral graph becomes very clear at much smaller distances than those created by Fraunhofer diffraction. Since the necessary distance between a "grating" and the sensor required by a spectrometer using Fraunhofer diffraction is one of the system's design constraints, most spectrometers in use today are prohibitively large. Fraser discusses the importance of the lunar south polewhich includes many permanently shadowed craters. Credit: Universe Today Fresnel diffraction, however, allows for the creation of much smaller spectrometers. In the case of Dr. Choi and Moses's invention, all of the necessary power, signaling, and analysis electronics can fit into a small cylindrical tube only slightly larger than a traditional bullet. That was likely where the idea for shooting these sensors into the ground came from. If the "micro-spectrometers" were surrounded by regolith, whether the moon, an asteroid's, or Mars's, it would allow quick analysis of the composition of the soil wherever it is embedded. Since these sensors are easily deployed, if multiple of them were spread throughout a lunar crater, a single astronaut (or rover) could characterize the soil makeup of an entire area without hand-digging a space for each sample area. This is where the "gun" comes ina rover, or even an astronaut, could be fitted with a tube that "fires" the cylindrical micro-spectrometer into the ground, embedding it where it can do the best science. A single rover or astronaut could then distribute enough of these to collect data on an entire area, such as the permanently shadowed regions of a lunar crater. Image of a prototype micro-spectrometer. Credit: Choi and Moses Such a system could also be used on asteroids from an orbiter or even Mars. It could use telemetry back to a central connection pointpotentially also carried by the astronaut or rover. Unfortunately, at least in the current iteration, it couldn't be reused, though that could change in new designs. This invention, which NASA has patented, could also be used on Earth if a mining or petroleum company wants to quickly sample an area's geological makeup. But it is also useful in spaceso much so that we might someday find astronauts shooting what look to be bullets but are actually miniaturized sensors directly into the ground. 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: Graphic showing the estimated quantities of mismanaged macroplastics in the water, according to OECD data. In the form of bottles, tires, packaging and piping, millions of tons of plastic waste are dumped every year in the world's waterways, often ending up in the oceans. And their amount could almost double by 2060, unless strong measures are taken against the pollution, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warns. Due to mass production of the material from the 1950s to 2019, 140 million tons have already accumulated in the rivers, lakes and oceans, the OECD said in a 2023 report. Some 22 percent of this forms a "plastic soup" in the oceans and 78 percent is found in freshwater ecosystems. Poor waste management Plastic burned in open pits or tossed in uncontrolled or unauthorized dumpsites is the main source of pollution of the aquatic environment. Most of this plastic waste ends up in freshwaters, with a large part, including bottles and plastic used in the construction sector, sinking in waterways and lakes. The rest, including food packaging and closed bottles, floats for "years, even decades", before ending up in the oceans, the OECD says. Waste from shipping activity, including nets and fishing gear, is to a much lesser extent another source of plastic waste in the oceans, as well as so-called microplastics, pieces of plastic which measure less than five millimeters. A so-called macroplastic, which is bigger than five millimeters, has an average life cycle of six months to 35 years and slowly decomposes to become microplastic, which is "more likely to be ingested by aquatic species", the OECD says. Graphic showing the quantities of plastic at different stages of its life cycle per year worldwide according to OECD data. Asia's rivers The risk of plastic moving from land to the waterways, and then into the sea, differs from location to location. Out of some 100,000 waterways, only 1,000 are responsible for four-fifths of the macroplastic waste in the oceans, according to a 2021 study by researchers for NGO Ocean Cleanup published in the Science Advances journal. The remaining fifth comes from 30,000 other rivers. Out of the 50 main rivers carrying plastic to the oceans, including small urban waterways, 44 are in Asia, "due to population density and bad waste management", Laurent Lebreton, Ocean Cleanup's director of research, told AFP. The Philippines, which has thousands of islands, dumps the most plastic into the sea. Its Pasig River, which flows into Manila Bay, is "the most (plastic) polluted" in the world. With the Philippines' Tullahan and Meycauayan Rivers, India's Ulhas River and Malaysia's Klang River, it is one of the top five carrying plastic into the oceans. Gloomy forecast Driven by rising population and economic growth, the global use of plastics should almost triple between 2019 and 2060, to 1,231 million tons (Mt) per year, according to the OECD. That is a gloomy outlook for the aquatic environment where 493 Mt of plastic could pile up by 2060, of which more than half from sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, and other developing Asian countries, it says. In Europe and the United States, on the contrary, plastic industrial waste in the aquatic environment should decrease, due to improved waste management, the OECD forecasts. 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: Jamestown Knight's tombstone. Credit: Jamestown Rediscovery (Preservation Virginia) in International Journal of Historical Archaeology (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10761-024-00756-4 Jamestown, Virginia, was founded in 1607 and was the first English permanent settlement in America. It has been the subject of many archaeological and historical analyses, including a recent study by Prof. Markus M. Key and Rebecca K. Rossi, which set out to determine the provenance of Jamestown's black "marble" knight's tombstone. What they determined was unexpected, says Prof. Key. "For the past decade, I have been interested in determining the provenance of lithic artifacts using fossils contained within them. While working on the following project, determining the provenance of colonial black 'marble' tombstones from the Chesapeake Bay region, U.S. "We found that the oldest tombstone was the knight's tombstone in Jamestown from 1627. The particular historical archaeological question we were trying to answer was: How extensive was the trade network in the Chesapeake Bay during colonial times? "Little did we realize that colonists were ordering black marble tombstones from Belgium like we order items from Amazon, just a lot slower." During the 17th century, affluent English colonists often memorialized themselves and their wealth with impressive tombstones. In the Chesapeake Bay region, these were often black "marble" tombstones. The Jamestown knight's tombstone was one such example. Placed in the Jamestown Church in 1627, it remained in situ until it was relocated in the 1640s due to construction at the southern entrance. In 1907, the broken tombstone was rediscovered, repaired and placed in the present-day Memorial Church chancel. Despite its name, the tombstone was not made of marble but rather of black limestone. In historical documents, any stone capable of being polished was often referred to as "marble." The tombstone had carved depressions, indicating it had once held brass inlays. These were likely destroyed during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. The inlays included a shield, which may have depicted a family crest, an unfurled scroll, and an armored man standing upon a pedestal, which may have once featured inscriptions. To the right and left of the man's body were protrusions that may have indicated a sword hilt and shield, respectively. This led to the interpretation that the tombstone belonged to a knight. Only two knights died in Jamestown during the life of the second Jamestown church (16171637). One was Sir Thomas West, the first resident governor of the colony. He died in 1618 during a transatlantic voyage to Jamestown. No historical or archaeological evidence could link the tombstone to Sir Thomas West. The second knight was Sir George Yeardley. His step-grandson, Adam Thorowgood II, made a request for his own black "marble" tombstone in the 1680s, asking that it be engraved with the crest of Sir George Yeardley and the same inscription as the one on the "broken tomb." This indicated that the knight's tombstone was already broken in the 17th century, prior to its discovery in 1901. If the tombstone was indeed Yeardley's, as the familial evidence suggests, this would make it the oldest surviving tombstone in North America. Sadly, no DNA testing could be undertaken to confirm if the bones at the original tombstone site had belonged to Yeardley, "The part of the Jamestown Church where the knight's tomb was found has already been completely excavated by archaeologists. Unfortunately, no bones with recoverable DNA were preserved to independently test for the connection to Sir George Yeardley." George Yeardley was born in 1588 in Southwark, England. He first came to Jamestown in 1610 after initially being shipwrecked on Bermuda. He served as captain of Lt. Governor Sir Thomas Gates's guard and later as Lt. Governor of Virginia. He returned to England in 1617, a year after which he was appointed governor of Virginia and knighted by King James I. He returned to Jamestown and remained in his position until 1621, until a few years later, he returned to England, only to be reappointed as Lord Governor in 1626. He returned to Jamestown once more and died the following year in 1627. For his grave, a tombstone was commissioned, but where it had come from remained a mystery. According to Prof. Key, "A 'tombstone' is a dimension stone cut (and typically engraved) for use to mark a burial site. "Native Americans undoubtedly had earlier grave markers (perhaps made of wood that did not survive), but they were not made of carved stone. Nor did the English settlers have the technology and skills to cut and engrave tombstones; that is why they imported them." Furthermore, Prof. Key says, "The main cost of dimension stone is typically transportation costs as the stone itself is relatively low cost, and they weigh a lot. Therefore, most dimension stone is sourced locally. Thus, one would expect the source of the knight's tombstone to be local (our first hypothesis). "Unfortunately, Jamestown is on the coastal plain physiographic province, which lacks rocks. Therefore, the stone had to be transported to Jamestown." To determine the provenance of the tombstone, researchers studied and identified the enclosed fossils within it. Prof. Key elaborates on why this method was chosen, "Due to the evolutionary process, biological species are much more unique through time and space than chemical elements or isotopic ratios." The results, based on the microfossils identified (Omphalotis minima and Paraarchaediscus angulatus, and P. concavus), indicated that the tombstone had to have come from either Ireland or Belgium, as none of these species were ever found in North America. Historical evidence suggests Belgium is the likely source, as Belgium has been the most common source of the Lower Carboniferous "black" marble for centuries, from Roman times through to the present. It was particularly popular among the wealthy in England during Yeardley's life. He and other Virginian colonists would have been very aware of the latest fashions in England and would likely try to replicate them in the colonies. The research, published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology, provides new insights into the extent of trade networks at Chesapeake Bay during colonial times and into the lengths some colonists went to in order to obtain goods and materials not available to them in their new homes. More information: M. M. Key et al, Sourcing the Early Colonial Knight's Black "Marble" Tombstone at Jamestown, Virginia, USA, International Journal of Historical Archaeology (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10761-024-00756-4 2024 Science X Network 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: Food Chemistry (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139057 University of Queensland research has confirmed antioxidant properties in an Australian bushfood used by Indigenous people for generations. Dr. Oladipupo Adiamo from UQ's Center for Nutrition and Food Sciences is investigating the safety and efficacy of powdered Kakadu plum as a food ingredient. His work is published in the journal Food Chemistry. "Kakadu plum has been eaten and used for generations by Indigenous communities to treat headaches, colds and flu, and as an antiseptic," Dr. Adiamo said. "But before the food industry can use it, they need scientific data to confirm what the fruit contains and what it does." Dr. Adiamo says beyond its well-studied high vitamin C content, the fruit has polyphenolic compounds that give it antioxidant properties to prevent or delay cell damage. "Polyphenolic compounds are found naturally in plant-based foods and can help lower risk for certain diseases," he said. "We wanted to see how these polyphenols behave when we consume Kakadu plum powder. "We found that when those big compounds are broken into smaller compounds by microbiota in the gut, they have even higher antioxidant properties and are easier for the body to absorb. "Our digestive microbiota plays a crucial role in helping us benefit from Kakadu plum and proves we can confidently use the powder in food products." Dr. Adiamo said the results were promising and backed up Indigenous knowledge, but further work was needed. "There are some things we didn't cover in our research, such as the mechanism responsible for changing the big compounds to small compounds," he said. "Another challenge is fruit supply because it is wild harvested. "I'm hoping that when the health benefits are proven, there will be more demand for Kakadu plum, leading to business opportunities for Indigenous communities to grow and add value to their harvest." More information: Oladipupo Q. Adiamo et al, In-vitro colonic fermentation of Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) fruit powder: Microbial biotransformation of phenolic compounds and cytotoxicity, Food Chemistry (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139057 Journal information: Food Chemistry 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: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of Escherichia coli, grown in culture and adhered to a cover slip. Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections often occur in patients with chronic inflammatory intestinal conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, and in patients who have taken antibiotics for a long time. Gram-negative bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae are a common cause of these infections and have few treatment options. Fecal microbiota transplants have shown promise to curb some of these infections, but their composition varies between batches and they aren't always successful. Researchers at Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have isolated 18 bacterial strains from stool from healthy people that could potentially be a more effective treatment. The team found that these strains suppress the growth of Enterobacteriaceae and alleviate inflammation in the guts of mice by competing with the harmful bacteria for carbohydrates and preventing them from colonizing the intestine. The findings, which appear today in Nature, could lead to the development of a microbial transplant for patients that manages antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a more targeted way and with fewer side effects than current treatments. "Despite two decades of microbiome research, we are just beginning to understand how to define health-promoting features of the gut microbiome," said Marie-Madlen Pust, a computational postdoctoral researcher at Broad and co-first author on the paper. "Part of the challenge is that each person's microbiome is unique. This collaborative effort allowed us to functionally characterize the different mechanisms of action these bacteria use to reduce pathogen load and gut inflammation," she said. "Microbiome studies can often consist of analyzing collections of genetic sequences, without understanding what each gene does or why certain microbes are beneficial," said Ramnik Xavier, co-senior author on the study and a core institute member at Broad. "Trying to uncover that function is the next frontier, and this is a nice first step towards figuring out how microbial metabolites influence health and inflammation." Pust is in the lab of Xavier, who is co-director of its Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program. Xavier is the Kurt J. Isselbacher Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; director of the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH); and co-director of the Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics at MIT. Kenya Honda of the Keio University School of Medicine is co-senior author of the study. Munehiro Furuichi, Takaaki Kawaguchi, and Keiko Yasuma-Mitobe, all researchers at Keio University, are co-first authors. In this work, the Honda lab used specialized culture techniques and animal models to analyze bacterial infections, while the Xavier lab developed software to analyze unknown microbial metabolites. Bacterial balances Antibiotic-resistant Enterobacteriaceae such as E. coli and Klebsiella bacteria are common in hospitals, where they can proliferate in the gut of patients and cause dangerous systemic infections that are difficult to treat. Some research suggests that Enterobacteriaceae also perpetuates inflammation in the intestine and infection by other microbes. Honda, Xavier, and their colleagues wanted to understand which specific bacteria in fecal microbiota transplants could help protect the intestinal microbiome against Enterobacteriaceae. Honda's team isolated about 40 strains of bacteria from each stool sample from five healthy donors and used them to treat mice infected with E. coli or Klebsiella. They tested different combinations of strains and identified a group of 18 strains that suppressed the Enterobacteriaceae the most. The Keio University researchers found that in Klebsiella-infected mice treated with the 18 beneficial strains, Klebsiella altered the expression of genes involved in carbohydrate uptake and metabolism. This included downregulating gluconate kinase and transporter genesindicating increased competition among the gut microbes for nutrients. Xavier's team wanted to study samples from patients with and without gut inflammation. In partnership with the Broad's Metabolomics Platform, led by senior director and study co-author Clary Clish, they analyzed samples from pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis, looking for the presence of alternate gluconate pathway genes of gut microbes and fecal gluconate levels. They found higher levels of gluconate linked to more gluconate-consuming Enterobacteriaceae in samples from pediatric patients with ongoing inflammation, indicated by high levels of the protein calprotectin. Together, the findings suggest that Enterobacteriaceae processes gluconate as a key nutrient and contributes to inflammation in patients. But when a gut microbiome includes the 18 helpful strains, they likely compete with Enterobacteriaceae for gluconate and other nutrient sources, limiting the proliferation of the harmful bacteria. The 18 strains also did not disrupt the growth of other healthy bacteria in animals with gut microbes from patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, further underscoring their therapeutic promise. Although more work will be needed to shed light on the precise mechanisms underlying how different bacteria compete with each other, the findings suggest that microbial therapeutics could be used to tweak the ecology of the gut and suppress harmful bacterial infections with fewer negative side effects than typical antibiotic treatments. In the meantime, the team aims to uncover the identity and function of unknown metabolites that contribute to gut health and inflammation. More information: Kenya Honda, Commensal consortia decolonize Enterobacteriaceae via ecological control, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07960-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07960-6 Journal information: Nature 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: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory, Atmospheric Imaging Assembly In September 1859, the same year that Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," telegraph systems across Europe and North America stopped working and started sparking, leading to fires in some cases. Just hours before, researchers had observed the first ever confirmed solar flarean intense burst of radiation emitted from the sun. It was a warning something big was about to hit our planet. Most of the northern and southern skies lit up with brilliant auroras (northern and southern lights) signaling that a massive solar storm was underway. This storm, later named the Carrington event, was one of the strongest in documented history. However, in a recent article in Nature, we have shown that in the not-so-distant past, the Earth was battered by much more extreme solar storms. Evidence of these storms has come, in particular, from analyzing levels of radioactive carbonknown as radiocarbon, or carbon-14in tree rings. Solar storms cause disturbances in the Earth's magnetic shield, or magnetosphere. One frequent way they are caused is by coronal mass ejectionsoutpourings of charged particles from the sunthat make their way to Earth and penetrate the magnetosphere. Extreme solar storms could spell disaster for our highly technological society because they have the potential to damage satellites and bring down communications networks and global electricity grids. The strength of some past extreme solar storms detected in tree rings suggest they would have played havoc with our technological infrastructure on a scale never seen before. One extreme solar storm known to have occurred in AD774, for example, would have dwarfed the Carrington event. Measuring radiocarbon Radiocarbon, or carbon dating, has been widely used for decades to age objects that were once alive, such as bone, wood and leather. When plants and animals die, the radiocarbon inside them decays at a predictable rate. So by measuring how much radiocarbon is left in an object such as bone, scientists can estimate how long ago the organism died. However, in the last decade, scientists have discovered that extreme solar storms can affect the amount of radiocarbon absorbed into living organisms such as trees. This provides researchers with the opportunity to search for extreme solar events not recorded by the history books and to precisely date them. The amount of radiocarbon in the atmosphere varies over time, which can make radiocarbon dating give misleading ages. There have therefore been extensive efforts over the years to "calibrate" the radiocarbon record to make it more accurate. This means relating it to other material of known age. These might be trees which can be dated through their growth rings, or stalagmites and corals which have been dated using other methods. When combined with the science of determining ages from tree rings (dendrochronology), the radiocarbon signature of an extreme solar storm can provide a reference point to the exact year. This could help make radiocarbon dating even more accurate. By reviewing the available evidence for these extreme solar storms, we can now try to figure out how often these events occur. The evidence tells us many things about the global carbon cycle, ocean and atmospheric circulation (how heat is redistributed over the Earth's surface), and the workings of the sun. Solar storms change radiocarbon in trees In 2012, a team led by Fusa Miyake, at Nagoya University in Japan, discovered that extreme solar storms could produce abrupt changes in the radiocarbon concentrations found within tree rings. Before this, radiocarbon production rates were not thought to vary substantially over short time periods and so annual measurements of past radiocarbon were unlikely to be of particular interest. They identified the massive spike in radiocarbon production in the atmosphere associated with the AD774 extreme storm. Other extreme events have since been confirmed to have occurred in AD993, 660BC, 5259BC and 7176BC. The most extreme solar storm we have detected in the radiocarbon record took place around 14,370 years ago, towards the end of the last ice age. We do not yet know if these events are simply larger-scale versions of regular solar stormsso-called "Black Swan" eventsor if they are caused by distinct physical phenomena. As more extreme solar storms are identified from the radiocarbon record, they will add to our knowledge of physical processes occurring in our parent star. One of the biggest threats from a large solar storm is its potential to instantly kill the entire satellite fleet (except for those low-altitude satellites that are permanently protected by the geomagnetic field), as well as to bring down power grids. Being able to forecast these events and give advance warning to grid operators is vital. In coming years, the radiocarbon record could well reveal more extreme solar storms. The scientific community is racing to analyze old trees from different regions of the world with the goal of strengthening existing evidence and discovering new extreme solar storms of the past. Enhancing our understanding of these extreme events is not only important for precise radiocarbon dating but also for understanding processes happening on the sun and on our own planet. It can also assist us in preparing for the next extreme solar storm. We can't yet forecast when it will happen, but new insights into the past tell us that there will be one sooner or later. 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: Managing climate-change refugia on the basis of refugia-promoting processes. Credit: Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.05.002 A team of international scientists alarmed by the loss of biodiversity across the world due to climate change has proposed a new approach to managing vulnerable landscapes, focusing on sites that are least impacted by changing weather. Known as climate change-refugia, these places experience weather conditions that are the most favorable for their survival and could hold the key to reducing species extinctions, ecologists say. In a new paper authored by scientists from Australia, Canada, the United States and Hungary, the researchers have laid out a framework to identify, protect and restore refugia from climate change. The paper, published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, calls for an alternative to traditional conservation efforts, which have focused on creating static protected areas. Conservation biologist and lead author, Associate Professor Gunnar Keppel from the University of South Australia, says the speed and scale at which climate change is progressing demands a new approach. "Our planet is changing rapidly," Assoc. Prof. Keppel says. "Events like the large-scale dieback of trees, mass bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef, unprecedented heat waves, rapid thawing of glaciers and more frequent fires highlight the potential for major changes in biodiversity and ecosystems. "The speed and scale of this change is challenging traditional approaches to conservation. For example, traditional protected areas may not shield threatened ecosystems from extreme droughts," he says. Instead, vulnerable ecosystems should be assessed along more practical lines to identify the places least impacted by drought stress, for example. It is here that species will have the best chance of resisting climate change, the authors argue. "However, without support, species in these least impacted places may also struggle to survive as climate change progresses. Support for species could be in various forms, such as providing limited watering to trees in a valley during an extreme drought. "The degree of management intervention required will depend on how well refugia can resist climate change impacts and on how severely they are affected by other disturbances. Refugia could potentially help to prevent the extinction of numerous species." A rendering shows a project the family behind Terry Blacks Barbecue plans to develop along Broadway. Chioco Design LLC A rendering shows a project the family behind Terry Blacks Barbecue plans to develop along Broadway. Chioco Design LLC A rendering shows a project the family behind Terry Blacks Barbecue plans to develop along Broadway. Chioco Design LLC A rendering shows a project the family behind Terry Blacks Barbecue plans to develop along Broadway. Chioco Design LLC A rendering shows a project the family behind Terry Blacks Barbecue plans to develop along Broadway. Chioco Design LLC A rendering shows an office building the San Antonio River Authority plans to build along Sheridan Street. Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, RVK Architecture and Lake Flato Architects A rendering shows an office building the San Antonio River Authority plans to build along Sheridan Street. Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, RVK Architecture and Lake Flato Architects A city panel gave the final green light to a well-known Texas barbecue chains plan to build a restaurant near Pearl and the San Antonio River Authoritys proposal to build offices near the Lone Star and Southtown neighborhoods. The Historic and Design Review Commission on Wednesday approved designs for a restaurant, dining courtyard, pit house and parking at 2101 Broadway proposed by the family behind Terry Blacks Barbecue. The project in front of Alamo Colleges Districts headquarters also will include a second, non-barbecue restaurant and a hotel, but those components were not part of the request. Mark Black, who runs the business with his family members, said he hopes to begin construction on the Terry Blacks restaurant and parking early next year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Terry Blacks has locations in Austin, Dallas, Lockhart and Waco. The Broadway restaurant would be its first in San Antonio. The family bought the 1.4-acre property, which is mostly vacant, through a limited liability company in 2021. Were really excited, Black said. Commissioners also gave the go-ahead to the river authoritys plan to raze three buildings and erect a two-story office building at 201 W. Sheridan St. near H-E-Bs headquarters. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Designs show courtyards, an outdoor classroom and parking. The organization bought the property in 2019 from Alamo Colleges, which previously had its headquarters there. 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 South Africa is a water-scarce country. In other words, it has an excess of demand over available supply. It also has low water securitythe ability to ensure sustainable access to good quality water. The country's economic hub and biggest population center, Gauteng province, has suffered sequential water crises that have been a blend of both factors, combined with some others, such as a lack of maintenance. Caroline Southey from The Conversation Africa put questions to Craig Sheridan, the director of the Centre in Water Research and Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, about the creation of a new platform, or dashboard, that features up-to-date information about the Integrated Vaal River System, which feeds the region. The aim is to keep residents informed and authorities accountable. What's behind Gauteng's ongoing water crises? There are four main pressure points that are affecting water security in Gauteng. They are: The water losses through reticulation systems. Too much wateraround 46% in Gauteng is lost through failing infrastructure or theft. The very hot, dry weather experienced in Gauteng every year just before the rains start (September to mid-October). This drives up normal demand substantially. Rand Water (the bulk water service provider for Gauteng), has implemented water restrictions. But these can only reduce consumption if they are followed. The increasing number of people living in Gauteng. If water treatment and reticulation infrastructure is not upgraded, it will not be able to cope with increased demand. This can result in reservoirs running empty. Rand Water has been conducting system upgrades across the province and Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project has commenced, which will increase water supply by 2028. The impact of climate change. It is getting hotter. This places increased demands on the supply of water. Also, water stored in the dams evaporates far more quickly. How will the 'dashboard' improve water management? The "water dashboard" has been developed to provide meaningful, reliable, up-to-date information so that residents can make informed decisions about their personal water use. And the information for all cities in the province can be found in one place. A similar approach was used by the City of Cape Town to avert a serious water shortage crisis during the five-year drought, which ended in 2018 following some of the driest years recorded. The provision of regular information (weekly in that case) helped the residents understand just how bad things were, without the engineering jargon. It certainly helped to inform society, and that helped to prevent "day zero"the point where there is no further water available for extraction in the storage systemsfrom happening. Similarly, in Gauteng the idea is to inform people. The hope is that they will reduce water consumption when faced with evidence that storage levels have dropped. If people know how bad things are, they can use lessand avoid the day-zero type crisis. The dashboard considers the entire province, rather than focusing on one city. In my view, it should be welcomed as a serious intervention because it has the potential to provide residents with accurate information. This is particularly useful, given that they are currently in the middle of severe water outages. How will it work? For now, the dashboard is static. But the aim is to make it interactive, which will allow users to drill down for more detailed information. The dashboard starts with a table describing overall water consumption for the major metropolitan areas in Gauteng. It also details the difference between the target and actual consumption. For example, for this week, the target for the province was exceeded by 12%, and Johannesburg by 24%. This is a warning to the metro and users that consumption is too high. These targets are set by the national government. (Rand Water is granted an abstraction license of 4,385 million liters per day and divides this up between the metros and other users.) The trends for the metros are presented in a graph which highlights this information. Very importantly, the dashboard shows the status of the whole Integrated Vaal River Systemand not just the Vaal Dam, which tends to be the focus of attention. But the Vaal Dam is only a part of the Integrated Vaal River System. While it can be low, it doesn't mean that the entire storage system is low. It is far more useful to look at the Integrated Vaal River System and to understand water usage or shortage within the system than to look at one component of the system in isolation. Currently the Integrated Vaal River System is running at moderately low to low in terms of water available in the storage system. There is also a section that helps residents understand the status of reported leaks across the main metros. The metros have been requested to supply this information. If repair backlogs grow too large, or if the metros are not providing the data, civil society can apply pressure on them. There is a further section showing residents the water distribution systems. This means that residents can now see which pump stations and reservoirs they get their water from. And finally, there is a neat infographic which explains why higher suburbs lose water pressure and go dry when demand is too high (as is happening across large parts of Johannesburg and Tshwane). Additionally, non-revenue water is shown and the metros are compared. This is a positive metric to display because residents can ask their metros why their non-revenue water statistics are worse (or better) than others. While the new dashboard is not perfect, comments and improvements are being solicited. More importantly, it reflects a willingness on the part of the Department of Water and Sanitation to be more transparent and to give the public the data (and information) affecting their water systems. There are still major challenges faced by the sector. This intervention is one of many that will play a part towards Gauteng becoming water secure. For that to happen, municipal infrastructure must be repaired, upgraded and replaced where necessary. Large water leaks that are left unchecked undermine the efforts made by the public to help with water conservation. Is this a unique approach? Has it been done elsewhere? There are instances of dashboards locally and globally. The City of Cape Town developed one to help stave off the day-zero crisis. Other dashboards are available globally, such as the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, which also gives closely detailed information at various resolutions. The US Geological Survey also has an online dashboard, which is interactive. 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: Painting of the dicynodont made by the San in the early 1800s. Credit: Julien Benoit, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) A mysterious tusked animal depicted in South African rock art might portray an ancient species preserved as fossils in the same region, according to a study published September 18, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Julien Benoit of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The Horned Serpent panel is a section of rock wall featuring artwork of animals and other cultural elements associated with the San people of South Africa, originally painted between 1821 and 1835. Among the painted figures is a long-bodied animal with downward-turned tusks which doesn't match any known modern species in the area. As the San people are known to have included various aspects of their surroundings into art, including fossils, Benoit suggests the tusked creature might have been inspired by an extinct species. The Karoo Basin of South Africa is famous for abundant well-preserved fossils, including tusked animals called dicynodonts, which are often found eroding out of the ground. Benoit revisited the Horned Serpent panel and found the tusked figure comparable with dicynodont fossils, an interpretation that is also supported by San myths of large animals that once roamed the region but are now extinct. If the tusked figure is in fact an artistic interpretation of a dicynodont, a species which went extinct before dinosaurs appeared and were long extinct when humans appeared in Africa, it would predate the first scientific description of these ancient animals by at least 10 years. The Horned Serpent panel. A, general view of the Horned Serpent panel photographed in 2024 by the author. B, close up of the section figured in Stow and Bleek's plate 39. C, close up of the tusked animal. D, close up of the warriors painted below the Horned Serpent panel. E, close up of the warriors painted to the right of the panel. Credit: Julien Benoit, 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) There is archaeological evidence that the San people might have collected fossils and incorporated them into their artwork, but the extent of Indigenous knowledge of paleontology is poorly understood across Africa. Further research into Indigenous cultures might shed more light on how humans around the world have incorporated fossils into their culture. Julien Benoit adds, "The painting was made in 1835 at the latest, which means this dicynodont was depicted at least ten years before the western scientific discovery and naming of the first dicynodont by Richard Owen in 1845. This work supports [the fact] that the first inhabitants of southern Africa, the San hunter-gatherers, discovered fossils, interpreted them and integrated them in their rock art and belief system." More information: A possible later stone age painting of a dicynodont (Synapsida) from the South African Karoo, PLoS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309908 Journal information: PLoS ONE 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 map of the JWST spacecraft at its SEL2 orbital point in space. Currently there can be no servicing missions to this point, but NASA engineers are studying ways to make them happen. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Billions of dollars of observatory spacecraft orbit around Earth or in the same orbit as our planet. When something wears out or goes wrong, it would be good to be able to fix those missions "in situ." So far, only the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has enjoyed regular visits for servicing. What if we could work on other telescopes "on orbit?" Such "fixit" missions to other facilities are the subject of a new NASA paper investigating optimal orbits and trajectories for making service calls on telescopes far beyond Earth. Some of the most productive orbiting telescopes operate at the sun-Earth Lagrange points L1 and L2. Currently, those positions afford us some very incredible science. What they can't afford is easy access for repairs and servicing. That limits the expected lifetime of facilities such as JWST to about 10 to 15 years. In the future, more missions will be deployed a Lagrange points. These include the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, ESA's PLATO and ARIEL missions, and the Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR). These observatories need propellants for attitude thrusters to help them stay "in place" during their observations. There's only so much "gas" you can send along with these observatories. In addition, components wear out, as they did with HST. So, people are looking at ways to extend their lifetimes through servicing missions. If failing components can be replaced and propellant delivered, the lifetimes of these observatories should be extended quite a bit, giving astronomers more bang for the observational buck. Planning future spacecraft servicing missions Researchers at the Satellite Servicing Capability Office (SSCO) at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) investigated the possibilities for servicing missions to distant space telescopes. In a recently published paper in Acta Astronautica, they focus on the feasibility of on-orbit refueling missions for space telescopes orbiting at sun-Earth Lagrange 2 (SEL2). There are many challenges. For one thing, present-day launch technologies are (at this writing) inadequate to do that kind of mission at such distances. Clearly, the technology has to advance for servicing visits to take place. In addition, it's important to remember that current telescopes, such as Gaia and JWST, weren't designed for such access. However, future telescopes can be fitted with servicing ports, etc. to enable servicing. Finally, there are the challenges of actually getting the servicing missions to the observatories. The Goddard team focused on this final issue by computing models of various launch and orbital solutions for such missions. Not only did they take into account the launch trajectories themselves, but also sun-Earth-Lagrange point dynamics, plus the relative positions of observatories at SEL2. In addition, the team considered the stability of the observatories during and after rendezvous and attachment. All of these factors count when planning whether or not a servicing vehicle can be launched at a reasonable cost to extend the lifetime of the observatory enough to make the effort worth the time and expense. Getting a spacecraft refueling mission underway The team created models for a theoretical mission for on-orbit fueling at SEL2. That's where JWST and Gaia are sitting, for example, along with WMAP, Planck, and others. The paper examines robotic refueling missions out to SEL2 for modeling purposes. To do that, however, there must be an optimal trajectory for the robotic spacecraft to take out to SEL2. They need to be able to perform autonomous navigation to the correct point in space. Once at the target observatory, the refueling robot would then need to make a careful approach for its docking maneuvers. That requires on-orbit assessment of the target's motion in space with respect to the sun as well as its position in its SEL2 orbit. Docking itself can affect the observatory's position and motion and the robot needs to take that into account, as well. The idea is to keep the observatory in the same position after docking. However, the big question is: How do we get it out there inexpensively, fast and safely? The Goddard team primarily investigated the best and most efficient trajectories to get to SEL2. In particular, they looked at the best approaches to get to the Gaia spacecraft, which will run out of its propellant sometime in the next year. They also examined JWST as a possible target for such a mission. If such a mission was possible today, those observatories would gain years of "point and shoot" access to the universe. How to get there In their paper, the team looks at two approaches to the SEL2 refueling mission. One is a direct launch trajectory from Earth and the other is a spacecraft leaving from a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). They assumed that the point of the mission was the fastest possible restoration of telescope operation. That dictates the shortest and safest possible trajectory along which the spacecraft can maintain constant thrust. The Goddard team created a "forward design" approach for computing low-energy and low-thrust transfers from an Earth departure orbit to a space telescope orbiting the SEL2 point. Then they did the same for a servicing spacecraft leaving from a point in geostationary space. Essentially, either an Earth-departure or GTO-centric departure will work. Once the robotic servicing mission leaves Earth orbit, it travels at low thrust during a spiraling transit to SEL2. Once there, it does a rendezvous with the target, matches its motion in space, and then "locks on" to perform its delivery mission. It's important to remember that a launch from Earth or GTO is part of several solutions to SEL2 servicing missions. The team's analysis resulted in a simplified process of generating possible orbits and trajectories for such activities. More information: Alex Pascarella et al, Mission design for space telescope servicing at SunEarth L2, Acta Astronautica (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.08.031 Journal information: Acta Astronautica 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: Morphology and high-quality genome assembly of the Sinojackia xylocarpa. a Flowering and fruiting branches of S. xylocarpa. b Genome features across 12 chromosomes of S. xylocarpa. From the outermost to innermost circles are chromosome ideograms, gene density (from blue to red), GC content, TE (transposable elements) density (from blue to red), and collinear genomic blocks. Credit: Horticulture Research (2024). DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhae166 The Jacktree (Sinojackia xylocarpa), native to China, is renowned for its unique spindle-shaped fruits and ornamental appeal. However, its survival is threatened by factors such as limited population size, fragmented habitats, and low germination rates caused by tough, lignified pericarps. Addressing these challenges requires in-depth genetic research to develop effective conservation measures. Scientists from Nanjing Forestry University and Nanjing Agricultural University published a study in the journal Horticulture Research on June 18, 2024. This research presents the first chromosome-scale genome assembly of the Jacktree, revealing genetic insights into its endangered status and identifying key factors behind its germination barriers. The study integrates genome sequencing, population genomics, and molecular biology to address the conservation challenges of this valuable plant. The study links the Jacktree's population decline to genetic bottlenecks following the last glacial period. Genomic analysis showed that the tree's fruit pericarps accumulate high levels of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose, forming a rigid structure that inhibits seed germination. Elevated expression of key lignin biosynthesis genes contributes to the hardening of the pericarps. The findings emphasize the critical role of lignin in restricting seed growth, highlighting the need for targeted conservation strategies, including genetic diversity enhancement through artificial breeding and environmental adjustments, such as increased soil moisture, to support germination. These insights offer a roadmap for better management and restoration of this endangered species. Dr. Jia-Yu Xue, senior researcher, emphasized, "This study provides vital genetic insights into the factors limiting Jacktree germination and conservation. By identifying the genetic basis of lignified pericarps, we can devise targeted strategies to improve germination rates and promote the sustainable recovery of this endangered species." The study's findings have far-reaching implications for conserving the Jacktree and similar endangered ornamental plants. By understanding the genetic basis of lignified pericarps, conservation efforts can focus on breeding new cultivars with reduced lignin content. Additionally, environmental management, such as optimizing soil moisture and enhancing beneficial microbial interactions, could further boost germination and restoration efforts for this valuable species. More information: Sheng Zhu et al, The jacktree genome and population genomics provides insights for the mechanisms of the germination obstacle and the conservation of endangered ornamental plants, Horticulture Research (2024). DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhae166 Journal information: Horticulture Research Provided by TranSpread ATLANTIC CITY Meghan Connors spent part of her life as a victim of human trafficking and believes when law enforcement and advocates are properly trained on how to deal with situations like hers, survivors have a chance to live a good life. I was trafficked for many years, said Connors, now an advocate with the Human Trafficking Training Center. I tried to get out in numerous ways, and when I did leave the life, I was homeless and on the run for 2 years, falling through gaps in the system. I had at least 20 interactions with law enforcement and 15 interactions with health care, but none of them were positive. If you have people, youre going to have trafficking. We dont see it for what it is, and its not because people dont want to help, its because they are not equipped to help. These survivors are the most resilient people youll ever meet, and with the right resources, they can have a very effective life. About 150 law enforcement personnel from 28 agencies across the state packed the Palladium Ballroom in Caesars Atlantic City on Wednesday for the second day of a human trafficking training seminar hosted by the In His Image Justice Coalition and the Human Trafficking Training Center. Its huge to see officers who are passionate about doing this the right way and advocates who want to know how to partner and support survivors the way they need to, Connors said. Throughout the eight-hour-long session, attendees learned how to conduct operations in hotels, casinos, buses, trains and truck stops as well as how to contact victims. On the first day, participants learned how to obtain evidence and interview victims and suspects. Were starting from the beginning on everything law enforcement officers need to identify a trafficking victim and how to build a case on a trafficker, so we can arrest them and hopefully put them in prison, said Dan Nash, founder of the Human Trafficking Training Center, who led the session. None of us can expect our officers to go arrest traffickers if they dont know what to look for. We have to give them the proper tools. 5 years after her disappearance, social media groups are still searching for Dulce Maria Alavez Five years after the disappearance of then 5-year-old Bridgeton resident Dulce Maria Alavez, several social media groups are still doing what they can to search for the missing child. Human trafficking cases have increased in recent years as 133,943 victims were identified globally in 2023, up from 115,324 the year before, according to the U.S. Department of States Trafficking in Persons Report. Judi Worgess, president of the In His Image Justice Coalition, said human trafficking is the second-fastest growing crime in the nation, and only 8% of law enforcement is trained to recognize and report it. If only 8% are trained, 92% dont have the skills needed to stop human trafficking, Worgess said. Thats why it is increasing at an alarming rate and they are predicting that in 2030, it will overtake the drug industry as the largest crime in the world. In His Image, which is based in South Jersey, was founded in 2016 with the goal of educating law enforcement and the community on how to combat human trafficking. This is the second year the organization has hosted the training. Worgess said many of the officers from last years event have applied what they learned. Dan (Nash) stays in contact with these detectives and helps them plan operations, Worgess said. Were building this team, and its really exciting. Nash, who spent 27 years as a Missouri state trooper working to solve human trafficking cases, said hes trained more than 4,000 officers across the country this year and more than 300 victims have been found since. They literally left our training and located 372 trafficking victims, Nash said. The quickest was four hours and 15 minutes. This is what we want, and this is exactly what law enforcement will do once they have the proper tools. GALLERY: Human trafficking training seminar in Atlantic City Voters in Middle and Dennis townships were clearly in no mood to spend more money this year, denying funding referendums in both communities by wide margins. Dennis Township crushed a request to spend $2.2 million by a margin of more than 80%, spending that school district officials described as necessary to maintain programs and staff. That vote was 1,853 against, 432 in favor, according to results posted to the Cape May County election site. We were greatly disappointed to learn the results of the defeated referendum which was put forth to return Dennis Township Schools to Thorough and Efficient status, Dennis Township Superintendent Susan Speirs wrote in an emailed response to a request for comment. We appreciate our Board of Education and dedicated staff who work diligently every day to provide our students with an optimal education. As we go forward, we will continue to research the best options for the future of Dennis Township Schools. New Jerseys Constitution requires the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient free public school system. In Middle Township, a request to spend $26.5 million on building additions, renovations and other efforts did a little better but still went down with about 65% of voters saying no. Out of 3,428 votes in Middle Township, 2,259 said no and 1,169 said yes. The additional spending would have cost the average homeowner about $165 more a year, according to estimates from district officials. Middle Township to vote on $26.5 million school referendum Tuesday Voters in Middle Township will have their say Tuesday on the future of their school district, with a referendum on $26.5 million in spending on building additions, renovations and other efforts. We are disappointed in the outcome but respect the voters decision and thank them for taking the time to cast their ballots, Middle Township Superintendent David Salvo said Wednesday. Our students needs motivated us to hold a referendum, and those needs remain. As we move forward, we will stay focused on providing the best possible education for our students. The district expected an additional $3 million in state funds to go toward the projects, which included an addition at Elementary #1 for a full-day pre-K program and more classroom space. Also proposed were an addition and renovations at Elementary #2, a multisport artificial turf field at Memorial Field and new bleachers, along with new HVAC equipment. In Dennis Township, school officials say state aid has been dropping steadily for years, draining millions of dollars from the district budget. Further tightening the belt, state caps on budget increases had prevented the district from making up the difference through tax-rate increases. Last year, Dennis voters denied a request to increase funding above the state cap. This year, the state allowed more leeway for budget increases, up to 9.9% without a referendum, instead of the typical 2% cap. The Board of Education in Dennis approved a budget that reached that limit, and asked voters to OK an additional $2.2 million. Without the additional money, the district projected cuts to after-school programs, transportation and more students per class. The owner of a home in Dennis Township assessed at $200,000 will see an increase in school taxes of $223.61 under the approved budget. If voters had approved the referendum Tuesday, it would have meant a total increase of $707.95, according to data posted by the district, for a total tax bill of $3,192.18, in addition to township and county taxes. Police have arrested a second person in relation to a July shooting at Northpark Mall. Ricardo Horne, 29, Rock Island, faces charges of intimidation with dangerous weapon, willful injury causing bodily injury and dominion/control of a firearm/offensive weapon by a felon, according to Scott County court records. The shooting happened about 4:23 p.m. on July 22, according to the Davenport Police Department. An off-duty police officer reported gunfire inside the mall. The shooting left two people wounded, one of them the other alleged gunman. Authorities allege Horne had a black handgun while inside the mall and fired it once at a group of people, records state. The bullet struck a person in the right leg. Horne has a prior, drug-related felony conviction in Wisconsin, court records state. The first person arrested was 16-year-old Tramond Lewis Jr., also of Rock Island, according to court records. Authorities have charged him as an adult. As of Wednesday, he faces charges of intimidation with a dangerous weapon and dominion/control of a firearm/offensive weapon by a felon, according to court records. Authorities allege Lewis had a 9mm pistol while inside the mall and engaged in a gunfight with another person, records state. They contend Lewis fired multiple shots into a group of people, striking a bystander in the ankle. Court records state that investigators recovered camera footage of the fight. Police found the wounded bystander when they arrived at the mall to investigate the shooting, according to the department. Authorities did not consider the bystanders injury life threatening. A short time later, police learned of a second injured person identified as Lewis taken by private vehicle to an area hospital, the department said. His injury was also not considered life threatening. The court records for Horne do not identify by name the person authorities say Horne shot. The Scott County Sheriffs Office booked Horne into the Scott County Jail on the charges on Tuesday afternoon, according to the jail website. He remained in custody Wednesday on a $10,000 bond. On Aug. 20, District Court Judge Tom Reidel set Lewis bond at $20,000 cash only, court records state. The jail website did not list Lewis, but juveniles are housed separately from adults. Scott County has its own juvenile detention center. Horne and Lewis both have appearances set for Sept. 27, court records state. Photos: Historic Downtown Davenport Sarah Zenaida Gould, executive director of the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute, with items from the institutes growing archive, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. She has served as the interim director for just over a year but was named the permanent director recently. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News After only five years of diligent work, the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute announced last week that it was closer to an extraordinary goal: Establishing the nations first museum dedicated to the study, archival and preservation of U.S. Mexican American civil rights history and its role in U.S. democracy. Theres no more crucial time for it. It was really no surprise that MACRIs board and staff, made up of some of the citys most influential Latino leaders, got this far so fast. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The museum will be built not only in the most Mexican of U.S. cities but in the Mexican American cultural capital of the United States and on the West Side, the cradle of Mexican American civil rights. It was also no surprise that a feasibility study led to five potential sites in the epicenter of a place that helped birth national Mexican American civil rights movements. The citys historic West Side, which encompasses an area just west of downtown and includes downtowns western edge, is where so many leaders, organizations and causes were born or came to reside. What happened in San Antonio then influenced other Mexican American figures and groups nationally. One of MACRIs leading benefactors, former Mayor Henry Cisneros, has long said that San Antonio is to Mexican American civil rights what Atlanta is to the Black civil rights movement. MACRIs site feasibility study found five viable locations, starting with an area around its visitors center on Buena Vista Street. Four others lie eastward toward the western edge of downtown. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The overall goal: a location for the museum for the next 100 years. No pressure. We kept coming back to the corridor running along Commerce and Buena Vista streets, said Nathan Perez, an architect principal from the prestigious firm of Ford, Powell & Carson. The feasibility study, which sought community input, stretched east to San Pedro Creek to include a gateway area connecting the West Side to downtown; an institutional spot near UTSA Downtown; a cultural zone around Milam Park and Market Square; and an area along San Pedro Creek. Each spot has its pros and cons, and a lot depends on the money MACRI will raise thus how much can be spent on land acquisition. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As quickly as MACRIs leadership worked, several noted a Mexican American civil rights museum is long overdue. There was a lot of hope in the room despite the hard work ahead, including site selection, land acquisition, planning, design, fundraising and construction. Mayor Ron Nirenberg thanked former District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval for her contributions during the earliest stages of planning. He noted the importance of recognizing the story of Mexican American civil rights as an American story. Residents and visitors alike will see in the museum the importance of what took place here and what continues to take place here in our ongoing march to justice. U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro said the museums role is critical given the states inadequate history curriculum, which includes too few Mexican American figures and historical milestones. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If people dont understand your contributions, then they only see your deficits, Castro said. And youre not defined by your contributions and by your positives but instead by your stereotypes. Erika Prosper, the first lady of San Antonio who serves on MACRIs National Advisory Council and whos always the most dynamic speaker in any room, got to the heart of the work ahead. ELAINE AYALA: Hispanas Unidas reunite after 40 years San Antonio has staked its claim in being the leader of so many risks, she said. The risk of settling here to begin with, the risk of combining cultures over the centuries, the risk of having our nations leaders to San Antonio to have an open discussion of how Latinos were not treated equally, a nod to the historic U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hearings held in San Antonio in 1968. Every single time that we have gambled on ourselves, we have advanced our community. But, most importantly, we have advanced our country. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Hispanics are 20% of the U.S. population, one out of every five, Prosper added. Of those 20%, more than 60% self-identify as a Mexican American or of Mexican heritage. In the grand scheme of things, what were doing here is risky only because we have not been allowed to be openly proud of our contributions, she said, especially for Latino children and those beginning to identify as multicultural. Prosper wrapped up her comments with the task at hand. I would not be doing my job if I didnt say, Yall give us money at some point or the other. Indeed, supporting this project is important. Its important to San Antonio. Its important for the nation and important for a democracy still facing risks. For those reasons, the nations first Mexican American civil rights museum and archive will preserve a legacy for the next 100 years. Someday, those who see the Alamo, the Riverwalk and the missions will come west for what Cisneros called an obligatory stop on the West Side. Iowa voters will not only cast their votes for candidates in the upcoming general election, but will also have the opportunity to decide if two measures are added to the state constitution. Its one of the few opportunities Iowa voters have to weigh in directly on statewide public policy. In many states, voters will make decisions on ballot issues that were initiated by voter petitions, bypassing the state legislature. Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2024, ballot initiatives related to abortion access have played a prominent role in many states that moved to restrict the procedure. Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion and reproductive rights in 2023, and states like Kentucky and Kansas saw initiatives to restrict the medical procedure fail during the 2022 midterm elections. Several states, including Iowas neighboring states of Nebraska, Missouri and South Dakota, will consider ballot measures to restrict or protect abortion access in the upcoming election. Additionally, multiple states will weigh in on other high-profile issues through ballot initiatives like non-citizen voting, marijuana legalization and their states minimum wage. In many of these cases, these subjects were brought onto the 2024 ballot through a petition system, where statutes or constitutional amendments can be brought to voters following a successful signature drive. Iowa does not have this system. Instead, the only statewide ballot initiatives Iowa voters will see are constitutional amendments that have been passed as resolutions through two consecutive general assemblies. Voter approval in a general election through a simple majority is the final step needed to amend the Iowa state constitution. This year, Iowans will consider two amendment proposals, making the final decision on whether they will be enshrined in the state constitution. Heres what to know: Gubernatorial line of succession One of the constitutional amendments Iowans will vote on this year is about the states gubernatorial line of succession. Iowans will vote on whether whether to repeal and replace a section of the Iowa constitution dealing with what happens if an Iowa governor resigns, dies or is removed from office. The proposed new language would clarify that in these circumstances, the lieutenant governor will take over the position of governor until the end of the elected term. The measure also clarifies that this change will create a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor, allowing the new governor to appoint a new lieutenant governor to fill the position. The amendment would change Article IV, Section 17 of the Iowa State Constitution to be: Lieutenant governor or lieutenant governor-elect to become or act as governor or governor-elect. If there is a temporary disability of the governor, the lieutenant governor shall act as governor until the disability is removed, or the governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office. In case of the death, resignation, or removal from office of the governor, the lieutenant governor shall become governor for the remainder of the term, which shall create a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor. This section shall also apply, as appropriate, to the governor-elect and the lieutenant governor-elect. This issue came up after Gov. Kim Reynolds formerly lieutenant governor under former Gov. Terry Branstad took the top office when Branstad resigned to join former President Donald Trumps administration as U.S. ambassador to China. While Reynolds became governor, former Attorney General Tom Miller issued a legal opinion in 2017 that stated Reynolds had technically not vacated the position of lieutenant governor, and could not formally appoint someone to the position. Reynolds appointed former Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg to the position in May 2017. However, until he and Reynolds won reelection in 2018, the person to fill the office of governor if Reynolds left would have been then-Senate President Jack Whitver. The measure received bipartisan support when it passed through the Legislature, but some Democrats voted against the proposed amendment while asking for legislative approval to be added to the appointment process. Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, said in 2023 that he believed the lieutenant governor should be confirmed by the Iowa Senate, similar to how Senate approval is needed when the governor appoints heads of state agencies. My concern is the lack of oversight from the Legislature on who would be chosen for this position, Zabner said. For a position as important as lieutenant governor, I think its very important that the Legislature have a say in at least confirming the appointment and making sure that it is a reasonable person. Discussion about the amendment has also recently been driven by Greggs resignation as lieutenant governor earlier in September. Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, said there has been some confusion over the language because of questions about who will fill the new vacancy in the lieutenant governors office. The coincidence of timing is why there is that added level of confusion, Matson said in an interview with the Iowa Capital Dispatch. But the amendment only applies to when someone is lieutenant governor and becomes governor, because the person who was governor has stepped down or left office for some particular reason. Reynolds is currently able to appoint a person to serve as her lieutenant governor without stipulations or legislative approval and has said she plans to make an appointment for the position later this fall. The person appointed will serve for the remaining term of office, until the next gubernatorial election in this case, until 2026. The problem that arose in 2017 came about because of the attorney generals ruling that Reynolds had not officially vacated the office of lieutenant governor after succeeding Branstad. The constitutional amendment is only meant to address circumstances where the Iowa governor leaves their position, and will not have an impact on Reynolds ability to fill Greggs position. Voting age, citizenship language Another proposed constitutional amendment would would repeal and replace Article II, Section 1 of the Iowa State Constitution to read: Only a citizen of the United States of the age of eighteen years, who shall have been a resident of this state for such period of time as shall be provided by law and of the county in which the citizen claims the citizens vote for such period of time as shall be provided by law, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which are authorized by law. However, for purposes of a primary election, a United States citizen must be at least eighteen years of age as of the next general election following the primary election. The required periods of residence shall not exceed six months in this state and sixty days in the county. The change would codify in the state constitution that 17-year-olds are allowed to vote in primary elections if they will be age 18 by the general election, in addition to modifying the voting age from 21 to 18. These voting age regulations are already in practice under state law, but would simply be added to the state constitution if voters approve the measure in the general election. The amendment also includes a language change, replacing the wording that every citizen of the United States who meets voter requirements can participate in the states elections to instead state only a citizen of the United States with needed qualifications can vote. The amendment passed through the legislative process with unanimous support in all four votes. What constitutional amendments could Iowans see on future ballots? Though Iowans will only cast their votes for two measures during the 2024 general election, there are other proposals working through the legislative process that may appear on the ballot in future years. Iowa Republican lawmakers, who hold a majority in the House and supermajority in the Senate, passed two proposed constitutional amendments related to taxes during the 2024 legislative session. House Joint Resolution 2006 would amend the state constitution to require a two-thirds majority vote of legislators for passing increases to individual or corporate income tax rates. Another proposal, Senate Joint Resolution 2004, would enshrine a flat individual income tax rate in the state constitution. Democrats argued during session that these proposed constitutional amendments would hurt the states ability to respond to financial problems, and could mean that future lawmakers are forced to pursue taxes that disproportionately impact lower- and middle-income families, like increased sales or grocery taxes. However, Republicans including Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, said these policies are in place in many Democrat-led states constitutions, and that the sky did not fall, every example of dystopian future did not happen. These measures passed largely along party lines in the Iowa House and Senate during the session. However, theres still time before Iowans will see the tax proposals on a general election ballot. First, the measures must be approved during the next general assembly that will begin after the 2024 election. Judges, attorneys and other court officials are not the only people who must successfully navigate the requirements of the new Pretrial Fairness Act. The people accused of crimes also have responsibilities under the act. In September 2023, the PFA took effect and, for the most part, eliminated monetary bail in Illinois. Instead, the law requires contested court hearings designed to determine if someone should be detained before trial and later to evaluate that detention. The law has also given authorities conditions they can impose on defendants to encourage their good behavior when they are freed on pretrial release. The most basic of these include showing up for court and not breaking laws, but they can also be more restrictive. Depending on circumstances, a defendant could be placed on electronic monitoring or home arrest. Rock Island County is still compiling data on the laws impact, but the majority of defendants appear to be complying with the conditions imposed upon them, many county court officials said. The community of people that we deal with in the criminal justice system is like any other community made up of individuals, and they are all unique, Judge Frank Fuhr, one of the judges who oversees felony court, said. So each defendant reacts differently to the conditions, but overall, as in most populations, the majority comply. The new law has also given the courts the power to penalize defendants who fail to meet those conditions, including by failing to appear for court or by being accused of new crimes. These penalties can include more restrictive conditions or jail time. A review of a handful of Rock Island County felony cases show people accused of crimes interacting with the new requirements in a variety of ways. Failures to appear Ashley Koehlers case exemplifies some of the mechanisms in place in the event a defendant is accused of failing to appear for court. On July 31, Koehler, 37, Cedar Rapids, appeared before Judge Clayton R. Lee for a hearing. Koehler's charges possession of a stolen motor vehicle and possession of a controlled substance did not fall into a detainable category, and she had been on pretrial release since September 2023. Prosecutors, though, wanted to modify her conditions of pretrial release, arguing Koehler had not been showing up for court in her criminal case. Depending on Lees decision, she faced up to 30 days in the Rock Island County Jail. Tiffany Davison, the assistant public defender representing Koehler, contended her clients missing court was not willful and recommended the court reject the states petition for sanctions or incarcerate Koehler for a shorter period. Her arguments included that living in Cedar Rapids had created challenges for Koehler getting to court. Koehler, though, had recently returned to Rock Island, putting her in a better position to appear for hearings, Davison said. After hearing the arguments, Lee ordered Koehler held until her next court date on Aug. 8, after which she would again be released. The criminal case against Koehler began on Aug. 16, 2023. After her arrest, she remained in custody on a $50,000 bail. To be released under the cash system, she needed a $5,000 bond. Koehler was one of the first people Rock Island County authorities released when they began applying the new law on Sept. 18, 2023. Once the new law became active, the charges against Koehler fell into the non-detainable category, court records state. To remain free, she had to comply with conditions, including showing up for court hearings, records state. In the following months, she failed to appear for court five times, prosecutors contend. The first four allegations led to her first sanctions hearing in May and a judge jailing her for two days until her next hearing. The fifth time she failed to appear led to the July 31 hearing. Records state that Koehler entered a plea agreement with prosecutors at her Aug. 8 hearing. The agreement requires her to serve 30 months of probation. There was also a jail sentence, but if she abides by the plea deal, she will avoid that incarceration. To successfully serve her sentence, Koehler must again meet conditions, including not breaking any laws and refraining from using alcohol or drugs. Charged with a crime while on pretrial release Tyrell Coopers cases are an example of someone on pretrial release being accused of a new crime. When Cooper, 27, of Rock Island, allegedly shot someone in March 2024 in Rock Island, he had been on pretrial release for about four days on a weapons case, according to court records. The victim was shot in the foot, records state. Cooper subsequently faced several charges, including aggravated battery. The weapons case involved charges of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and possession of a stolen weapon, records state. Authorities allege he had a stolen handgun. The charges in the weapon case were detainable but court records show that prosecutors had not filed a petition to detain him. The records did not specify why the state chose not to at that time. Conditions for Cooper remaining free included not having a firearm, showing up for court and not breaking any laws. After they charged him with aggravated battery, prosecutors petitioned to detain him and won, records state. He remained in custody until July. Authorities released him on July 10 after he successfully appealed on the grounds that his detention hearing occurred outside the 48-hour deadline required in his case, records state. The court imposed a number of conditions upon Cooper, including no contact with the person authorities accuse him of shooting, GPS monitoring and home detention. Since his release, no new criminal cases have been filed against him in Rock Island or Scott counties, court records show. Only one court appearance for both cases has happened since his release, and Cooper appeared for it. Both cases remained pending as of Sept. 8, records state. Detention hearings and reviews Napoleon Jacksons case shows the decisions made both at a detention hearing and at a recent re-evaluation of the detention status in a murder case. At issue in both hearings is whether he could be released on conditions or should remain in custody. On Aug. 29, Judge Frank Fuhr had to decide whether Jacksons detention status should change. Authorities allege Jackson, now 18, of Rock Island, killed Danny Taylor on April 14, 2023, in Taylors Milan home. Jackson faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder. In a detention petition filed just before the Pretrial Fairness Act became active, prosecutors argued Jackson should be detained because he posed a threat to the community and was a flight risk. His case was opened before Sept. 18, 2023, but attorneys were able to apply the Pretrial Fairness Act to older cases on an individual basis. Jacksons was among the first detention hearings held in Rock Island County in 2023 and the court ruled in the prosecutors favor, records state. He appealed but the appellate court upheld the decision to detain him. Before the new law, Jackson was held on a $1 million bail. To be released, he would have had to post the entire amount. He has remained in custody since his arrest, first at Mary Davis Detention Home as a juvenile, and now in the Rock Island County Jail as an adult. During the Aug. 29 hearing, Assistant Public Defender Tiffany Davison argued for her clients pretrial release. Those arguments included that Jackson had been in custody a significant amount of time. He had family in the area that could help him comply with release conditions imposed by the court, Davison said. She argued he had done well on GPS monitoring in the past and asked that he be released with monitoring as a condition. Assistant States Attorney Steven Cichon argued against Jacksons release, resting on arguments prosecutors had already made as to why he should be detained. The Aug. 29 hearing on Jacksons detention happened during the morning felony call, just after his regular pretrial conference. During pretrial conferences, attorneys update the court on the progress of a case toward resolution. The attorneys stood before Fuhr while Jackson waited at the defense counsels table nearby. Once hed heard the arguments Fuhr ruled that Jackson should remain in custody. The entire exchange took only a few minutes and when it was done, staff led Jackson back out of the court room to the jail. A snapshot of other defendants interactions with the law A handful of felony cases filed just after the PFAs launch provide further examples of different interactions between the people charged and the laws requirements as of the middle of August. Of the 17 cases reviewed, the records for one were unclear as to whether the defendant had any failures to appear, but the defendant had no new criminal cases listed against them in either Rock Island or Scott counties. Six others showed no failures to appear or new criminal cases filed against the defendants. All six either were either free on a notice to appear or were initially detained then later released on notice. A seventh defendant was detained and the case record showed no new cases filed against the defendant. The records for nine other cases had at least one failure to appear or at least one new criminal case filed against them in either Rock Island County or Scott County. Some of the nine had both. Of the six new criminal cases filed against defendants in this group, three were felonies and three were misdemeanors and almost all them were filed in Scott County. Of these: Two cases listed a single failure to appear but no new criminal cases. Two had no failures to appear but had a new criminal case opened. Two had more than one failure to appear but no criminal cases One had more than one new criminal case opened against the defendant but no failures to appear. One had a single failure to appear and a new criminal case opened. One had multiple failures to appear and a single new criminal case opened. Though these cases show some of the ways people with pending cases have reacted with the Pretrial Fairness Act active, there have been hundreds of felony cases filed since the law took effect. The county was still gathering data on the laws performance at the time of publication, so a more detailed, overall look was not yet available. Photos: Looking back at J.I. Case in the Q-C Health officials warn that the new COVID variant XEC, rapidly spreading in Europe, could become the predominant strain in the U.S. this winter. Melissa Phillip/AP A new coronavirus variant is rapidly gaining in Europe and could soon spread across the United States. Following a sustained summer swell of COVID-19, driven by the omicron KP family, health officials anticipate that a more contagious offshoot, named XEC, may become the predominant strain stateside during the expected winter surge. At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next, Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla and a leading COVID-19 researcher, wrote in a social media post on Sunday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad His analysis aligns with a recent update from Andrea Garcia, vice president at the American Medical Association, who described the variant as something to keep an eye on. XEC could surpass KP.3.1.1 in the coming weeks, she noted, referring to the strain responsible for about 53% of infections in the U.S. Scientists remain on alert as XEC carries a mutation that is hypothesized to confer it superpowers, said Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California San Francisco. While it is unlikely to cause a spike in hospitalizations and deaths, it is expected to infect more people. With these new transmissible variants, they will likely infect people who were otherwise not going to get infected, Chin-Hong said. First identified in Germany in June, XEC has since spread rapidly to other countries worldwide. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There is no evidence suggesting that XEC a hybrid of KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 is more virulent than its predecessors. Because it is part of the omicron family, which has been driving the COVID-19 pandemic since 2021, and a member of the XBB branch that has dominated throughout 2023, its symptoms are similar to those of previous variants, including fever or chills, cough, fatigue, muscle aches, sore throat, congestion and gastrointestinal issues. XEC has tighter binding cells that may make it potentially more evasive and transmissible than earlier omicron strains, according to Chin-Hong. However, since it is an offshoot of currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains, the updated fall vaccines are expected to be effective against it. I have full confidence in the vaccine, Chin-Hong said. Particularly for serious disease prevention in those most likely to be hospitalized after infection, such as older folks who did not get a vaccine in a year or more and very immunocompromised folks. A box of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. XEC has tighter binding cells that may make it potentially more immune-evasive than earlier omicron strains. But this years vaccine should still offer protection against serious illness and its now available. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle He added that the vaccines would likely provide people with a buffer of six to eight weeks, reducing the chance of infection and the risk of long COVID. The new Pfizer and Moderna shots were formulated to target the KP.2 strain, while the Novavax vaccine aimed for JN.1. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The catch is that you actually have to get vaccinated to reap the benefits, Chin-Hong said. He recommends getting the updated shots between late September and October, just before the flu season intensifies with colder weather. People in immediate need can get a vaccine sooner, especially if they are planning to travel during the fall. This summers COVID wave is on the decline now, California state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said last week during a briefing with medical providers. She noted that hospitalizations and deaths are trending down and wastewater surveillance mirrors those declines. Wastewater figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show an especially sharp downturn in the western region of the United States. But every year since COVID began in 2020, infections have surged each winter, alongside RSV and influenza. The violent attack of a local woman was captured on camera. The perpetrator, Timothy Upton, 34, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for aggravated assault on his wife. According to the press release from the Pennington County States Attorneys Office, law enforcement responded to a report of an assault in August 2023. Through the victims testimony and security camera footage, Upton is seen throwing the victim around and strangling her. Major Crimes Unit Senior Deputy States Attorney Roxanne Hammond told the court not only did this violent assault happen, but it happened while children were in the home. Aside from the mental, emotional and physical trauma on the victim in an abusive relationship, the implications of children being exposed to this type of abuse are far-reaching. Mr. Upton is setting the children back years in their emotional development and setting them up for failure based upon his example, Hammond said. In an unrelated incident that reportedly happened a year earlier, Upton was charged with rape. In an agreement with the state, Upton pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and the state dismissed the rape charge. The maximum sentence for aggravated assault in South Dakota is 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. Due to the nature of the crime, Seventh Circuit Judge Robert Gusinsky sentenced Upton to 15 years in prison with three years suspended. Liz Teitz covers environmental news and the Hill Country for the San Antonio Express-News. She writes about the San Antonio Water System, news in New Braunfels and Comal County and water issues around Central Texas. She can be reached at liz.teitz@express-news.net. Liz joined the Express-News in June 2023. She has been a reporter for eight years, covering housing, government, education and other topics for the Ouray County Plaindealer, Hearst Connecticut Media Group and the Beaumont Enterprise. Liz grew up in Rhode Island and graduated from Georgetown University. IFT fines Mexicos Telcel for restricting consumer options Mexico City, Mexico The Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) has fined telephone giant Telcel for restricting its consumers options. The phone company Telcel (Radiomovil Dipsa) was fined more than 90.6 million pesos for monopolistic practices by displacing competition in three states. Telcel was fined by the Instituto Federal de las Telecomunicaciones (IFT) for engaging in what the IFT has called a monopolistic practice by offering incentives and benefits to a distributor so that it would not promote the cell phone packages and telephone services of its competitors. The IFT, who regulates telecommunications practices in Mexico, exposed the way in which Telcel restricted consumers options to acquire mobile terminal equipment and SIM card packages as well as to make recharges in department stores in Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco. The company has reacted to the IFTs statement and expressed its disagreement with the IFTs investigation since, according to Telcel, it is based on statements from its competitor, and announced that it will challenge the multimillion-dollar fine. Radiomovil Dipsa (Telcel) is a company that is part of the America Movil conglomerate, a company owned by Carlos Slim Helu, who according to Forbes magazine, was worth $102 billion USD in 2024. In the introduction to Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis uses the image of a hall leading to various rooms to explain the relationship of the various Christian communions and traditions with one another and with the fundamental and indispensable commitments that define the contours of Christianity. The hall, according to Lewis, is the entryway to the faith defined by the ecumenical creeds. The rooms astride the hall represent the Anglicans, the Roman Catholics, and the Methodists. These rooms are where there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall, according to Lewis, is a place to wait in not a place to live in. That illustration is one that was probably quite tidy in a place with relative cultural and social homogeneity like England when Lewis made the observation. American Christianity has always been complex and more diverse in ways that are foreign to Europeans, especially the English. From its inception as a nation, America has lacked an established church, so unlicensed shamans and holy men and evangelists and cult leaders have thrived in the U.S. in ways that would be impossible in the Old World. As a result, Lewis hall, at least in America, has become a tent city. There are abandoned lean-tos, burned-out campfires, and assorted refuse scattered among tents that are often mistaken for rooms. There is not much order in the hall, and many of the campers appear not to know very much about why they are there, not to mention where any of the doors lead. Enter now Megan Bashams controversial book Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda. Bashams work has landed in the tent city like a bomb, and the reactions to the book could not be more polarized. The book has elicited impassioned screeds that cannot be taken seriously, but equally unserious hagiographic tributes disguised as reviews. I am not, for the sake of this essay or otherwise, chasing Bashams footnotes. I dont have any basis to form an authoritative opinion as to whether she is a real journalist. All of that was taken up elsewhere at Religion & Liberty Online. What I do know is that she gives voice to many valid critiques of evangelicalism that are intuitively obvious to any honest observerthe political, social, and theological left has more influence in evangelicalism today than it did 20 or 30 years ago. And even those who most vociferously defend themselves cannot escape the fact that they did say the things she claims, even if they want to argue about context. Are there conspiracies? Maybe. Read the book and follow the footnotes. Are there bad-faith actors inside of evangelical churches and institutions? Almost certainly, but againread the book and follow the footnotes. My concern is that Basham has not really struck at the root of the problem with evangelicalism. In many ways, it is like a firefighter entering a burning home, only to be horrified that the plaid on the throw pillows clashes with the floral sofa. Those who are praised and the people who are critiqued in the book share more in common with one another in terms of their approach to ecclesiology, authority, and personal piety than they will ever admit. They just differ with regard to their postures toward and positions on social and political issues. In Bashams defense, a definition of evangelicalism has proved to be elusive. This is because evangelical has morphed from being a descriptor of groups within Lewis various rooms to being a pseudo-tradition in itself that is squatting in the hall. It lacks the doctrinal or confessional substance to be itself a tradition. At best, evangelical is a label that describes the cultural character of a church rather than the content of anything that members believe. This includes worship styles and music, but also things like vocabulary and lingo. A church that calls a Sunday service a mass probably has little in common culturally with one that calls their service The Gathering, with the t stylized as a cross. I run the risk of oversimplification to make the claim that evangelicalism is the first expression of Christianity that is neither doctrinally nor ethnically driven. While other expressions of Christianity have been influenced by various aspects of modernism, evangelicalism itself is the modernist expression of Christianity. People moved from asking, How do we respond to what we know to be true? to asking, How do we know what is true? The shift from metaphysics to epistemology as the first philosophy that marks modernism has led to a lot of subjectivity in the interpretation of Scripture, theological method, and the dynamics of personal faith. The Christian testimony up until yesterday was Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come againalong with the implicit or explicit acknowledgement that the confessor was part of the community awaiting his coming again. But starting today, that testimony is the recounting of a subjective experience unique to each person. Please note: I am a fan of discerning the plain meaning of Scripture, but a Jesus, me, and the Bible approach to theology simply will not produce a durable, reliable, and consistent theology. The Christian faith is about conformity to Christlikeness in thought, word, and deed, and not inner peace, personal confirmation in our heart of hearts, or any other appeal to a subjective feeling or impression. Subjective feelings and impressions are subject to all types of influences, but the virtues that are defined by Christs example are stable and fixed. When I say that evangelicalism has not been a doctrinally driven expression of the faith, I mean that it would be difficult or impossible for a worshipper to tell much difference between an evangelical Baptist, Methodist, or nondenominational church by character, culture, or vibe. Many of these churches that are a part of a denomination started dropping that from their names more than a decade ago. The churches of the Reformation led by Calvin and Luther split (or were expelled) from the western Church because of doctrinal disagreements. This is not the case with evangelicalism writ large. There are evangelical groups and inflection points in evangelical history that have beendoctrinally driven, but these events do not define evangelicalism. They define a group of Christians (like the Fundamentalists or the Modernists of Presbyterianism in the 1920s) who may or may not eventually adopt an evangelical ethos. Also, evangelicalism is not tied to a particular people in the way that Polish or Italian Catholicism or Bulgarian Orthodoxy is. The Poles, Serbs, Bulgarians, Italians, and English have all been shaped by and in turn shaped the practice of specific and unique expressions of Christianity. Evangelicals have also adopted a whiggish approach to church historyan understanding of history in which the church started out great and has just been getting better and will continue to do so until the return of Christ. The next trend, the next song, the next experience is going to be better and more relevant than the last. The Christian tradition or, more broadly, salvation history becomes a crescendo that culminates in me. After all, like a rose trampled on the ground, [He] took the fall and thought of me, above all. However, the tradition as previously understood is something that each generation inherits as trustees, participates in as the church militant, and leaves to the next generation that has hopefully been catechized to receive it. Given these weaknesses, it is not a surprise that evangelicalism would be vulnerable to absorbing the Zeitgeist. If Methodists and Baptists can build churches with indistinguishable cultures and worship styles, why is it a surprise to find churches with identical cultures and worship styles that celebrate Pride Month or buy carbon credits for mission trips? If groups properly described as evangelical can wildly disagree on things like baptism and predestination, why not on cultural issues, too? Evangelical self-identification, it seems, has little to do with doctrinal content beyond what is already in the hall and everything to do with the culture internal to the faith community, which is, in turn, influenced by the culture of the larger community. Even adopting Bebbingtons Quadrilateral as the classic definition of evangelicalism, the two marks of evangelicalism that are most clearly doctrinalthe authority of the Bible and the centrality of the crossare applicable to many types of churches that can accurately be described as evangelical no matter how they come down on social and political issues like environmentalism, or even theological issues like the mode of baptism. Without the creeds that form the walls, floor, and ceiling of the hallway, none of the Bebington markers mean anything. One cannot properly access the creeds without appeal to tradition. And tradition means absolutely nothing if the final arbiter of faith is subjective personal experience. The creeds, of course, are not scripture. They were written by men, so any appeal to them is an appeal to a traditional, historical interpretation of the faith and an implicit subjugation to an external authority. These are the primary reasons that American evangelicals are simply unable to build institutions in the way that other traditions have built them. Serbs owe their ethnic identity to the Serbian Orthodox Church more than to any other institution. The modern political borders of the German-speaking people were influenced by 500-year-old tensions between German Catholics and German Lutherans. And French and Italian ethnic identities are rooted in unique expressions of Catholicism that are compatible but different in important ways. This makes holy sites, holidays, and institutions important from generation to generation in particular places and even in diaspora communities. But evangelicals with beards and smoke machines laugh at the quaint naivete of evangelicals who wear suits, celebrate Freedom Sunday on the Fourth of July, and wear choir robes, even though those evangelical churches are where many of them were born and raised. There is no evangelical Notre Dame (cathedral or university), and there never will be. Vulnerability to the winds of culture simply does not create fertile ground for anything to grow that requires generational solidarity, which itself requires a conscious, sustained effort to pass on knowledgecatechetical and confessional knowledgeand not merely worship style or experience from one generation to the next. Basham has named names and provided copious footnotes detailing public comments, tweets (or now posts), and other bits of the record. She goes after powerful and popular figures like Tim Keller, J.D. Greear, and Rick Warren. I really have no reason to believe, however, that any of it is done in bad faith, despite accusations to the contrary. I have every reason to believe that she cares about Christian witness and the translation of the faith into a faithful response to the challenges of the world. But as it stands, her critiques are not all that helpful in terms of calling American Christians into a posture that truly allows them to be a durable and sustainable force for the preservation of civilization. This is not to say that non-evangelical expressions of Christianity marked by some sort of church order or hierarchy of accountability are without problems. There are myriad problems within those rooms that open from the hall. But they are very different problems. One of the clearest examples of methodological and theological difference that I have ever witnessed was a conversation between a notable Episcopal bishop paired with an evangelical who were both defending same-sex marriage. The bishops arguments consisted of claims about the Christian tradition and the interpretation of Scripture with which, to be sure, I did not agree. But the evangelical reached the same conclusion without any reference to Scripture or tradition. He only cited his subjective beliefs with no accompanying evidence about what a loving God would or would not do. Manipulation of tradition by progressive Christians is hugely problematic, but the solution is not to do ethical analysis by subjective intuition. For American Christianity to exemplify the illuminating power of light and the preserving power of salt, the tent city must go. Charlatans, those most likely to be willing to name a price, are much more likely to thrive in the hall than in a roomany room. While there are certainly arrogant priests, Mark Driscoll could never have been a priest because he could never have submitted himself to the authority of a bishop or an order. While there are active and ongoing examples of clergy abuse in the Anglican church, Robert Morris failures would never have inflicted as much personal or institutional damage had he been subject to an ecclesiastical tribunal like an Anglican priest or bishop would have been. After all, there are no statutes of limitations in ecclesiastical courts, so some sort of justice would still be within reach for his victim. A large part of the outrage regarding clergy abuse in the Roman Catholic and Anglican worlds is that the ecclesial institutions that were designed to avoid or address these abuses failed. One admonition that Lewis gives is that those who are in the rooms should be kind and charitable to those still in the hall, and that is wise advice. And there are many individuals in the hall who are pious, sincere, and faithful. But Christianity that is potent enough to preserve and cultivate civilization requires institutions and leaders, not merely individual believers, who are subject to authority, rightly understand tradition, and are marked by genuine humility and an openness to being wrong. While many ordinary evangelicals and evangelical leaders fit that description personally, the institutions they attempt to build simply do not. So Megan Basham may very well be right about a lot of things, but it just isnt clear to me why anyone should be all that concerned about the deck chairs on the Titanic. Across the country, local election directors are beefing up their security in advance of Election Day to keep their workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures wont be tampered with Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Annasofia Scheve covers trending news for the Express-News. She can be reached at Annasofia.Scheve@express-news.net. Annasofia has bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Missouri. She is an Ohio native, and wrote for Cincinnati Magazine and the Cincinnati Enquirer before joining the Express-News in 2023. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on Tuesday were investigating the origin of suspicious packages that have been sent to or received by elections officials in more than 15 states, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or that any of the packages contained hazardous material. The latest packages were sent to elections officials in Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Rhode Island. Mississippi authorities reported a package was delivered there Monday, and the Connecticut Secretary of State's office said the FBI alerted it of a package that was intercepted. The FBI is collecting the packages, some of which contained an unknown substance, agency spokesperson Kristen Setera in Boston said in a statement. We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters, she said. As this is an ongoing matter we will not be commenting further on the investigation, but the public can be assured safety is our top priority. Its the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple states. The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices, causing disruption in an already tense voting season. Local election directors are beefing up security to keep workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures wont be tampered with. The National Association of Secretaries of State condemned what it described as a disturbing trend of threats to election workers leading up to Nov. 5, as well as the second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. This must stop, period, the group said. "Our democracy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind. The Colorado Secretary of States Office said a package containing white powder and with the sender listed as U.S. Traitor Elimination Army was intercepted at a mail facility. It said the package was similar to those sent to other states and that early indications suggest the powder was harmless. On Tuesday, the FBI notified the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealths office that postal service investigators had identified a suspicious envelope delivered to a building housing state offices. The package was intercepted. Packages also were sent to secretaries of state and election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming this week. The packages forced evacuations in Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Hazmat crews quickly determined the material was harmless. The Mississippi Secretary of States Elections Division said it received a package similar to those sent to other states and that the state Department of Homeland Security was testing it. The division said it has notified county election officials to be on the lookout. Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour. We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines. A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement. Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees were exposed to it and were being monitored. In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said. Testing determined the substance was flour. State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home Monday pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of states office. Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections. One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nations most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting. The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone. Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase security amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged. LeBlanc reported from Boston. Christina Almeida Cassidy in Atlanta; Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York; Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut; Jim Salter in OFallon, Missouri; Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan; Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report. The Society of Animal Artists will be featuring the works of 118 members at the Sioux City Public Museum, 607 Fourth St., until Nov. 30. The artwork ranges in style, media, size and technique, said the Museum's History Curator Matt Anderson. The Society of Animal Artists traces its origins back to the 1950s, when a group of metro New York artists began meeting at the Bronx Zoo to paint the animals there. In 1958, they staged an exhibition of their artwork at New York's Burr Galleries. The enthusiastic response led directly to the formation of the Society of Animal Artists (SAA) two years later. The SAA's original 22 members opened their first annual exhibition, "Art and the Animal," at Burr Galleries before moving on to other New York galleries. It has been a traveling show since 1981. "Art and the Animal" has been hosted by dozens of galleries and museums across the United States and Canada for the past 43 years. The Sioux City Public Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information on museum exhibits and programming, call 712-279-6174 or visit siouxcitymuseum.org. Pay Dirt is Slates money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Athena, Kristin, and Ilyce here. (Its anonymous!) Dear Pay Dirt, Im not a big pet fan. I do like animals, but in small doses and only when I dont have to take care of them. I bought my first home a few years ago and the tiebreaker between it and another house was the adorable neighbor dog. Shortly after I moved in, a freak accident caused the fence between my house and the dog owners house to fall. It was technically their fence, but they didnt have the money to replace it as it was incredibly nice looking and they didnt want something cheaper. They were worried about the dog coming into my yard. I told them that as long as the dog didnt make a huge mess, I was fine with it. The set up was great, their dog would come have breakfast with me outside in the morning and I was able to play with her throughout the day. The issue has come up recently when the wife approached me about paying some of the bills for the dog. She knew I really liked the arrangement and felt like I was being able to take advantage of the dog without taking any of the responsibility. I reminded her that I bought the very specific, expensive, treats they had asked for and that I had trained their dog to stop doing certain things they hated. She did not like that. She told me that until they put a fence up, she was going to put the dog out on a long wire that stopped just short of my yard and that I was no longer welcome on their property. I told her she was being petty, but she just walked off with a haughty look on her face. She did follow through with her threat, but I could hear her frustration increasing every day over having to put the dog on the wire. So what did I do? I put in a fence, a cheap one that the neighbors specifically told me they didnt like. I was telling this to a group of friends and some of them think Im being petty, that I should have offered to chip in, and it wouldnt be that big of a deal to chip in a bit, especially if the couple is struggling financially. I agree about the last part, but we live in an upper middle class neighborhood and the neighbors just bought new luxury cars. Im more inclined to think they are mismanaging their money rather than struggling and I know for a fact that they are both still employed in their high-salary jobs, but what my friends said has been bothering me. Do you think I am wrong or being petty? Good Fences Dont Make Good Neighbors Dear Good Fences, Since you asked, it sounds like both you and your neighbor are being a little petty. Maybe theres more to the story here, but it was bold of your neighbor to ask you to pitch in for her dogs bills, especially when youve already allowed the dog in your yard and are helping take care of it. Its one thing for her to askthats inappropriate enoughbut its quite another for her to respond with such hostility when you rightfully refuse. Its not your dog! It might be a different story if she approached you asking for a favor, but it doesnt sound like that was the case. It seems she felt you owed her the money. When you declined, she should have politely accepted your answer. But then, you went out of your way to upset her by putting in the fence you knew she didnt like. Youre both not being ideal neighbors right now. Whether you agree with that or not, Id try to mend the relationship as best you can. I dont know how long you plan on staying in your home, but this woman could be your neighbor for years. Do you really want to spend that time avoiding her? Or worse, embroiled in more of these petty disputes? The damage is done, but give it a week or so to see if she confronts you. If she does, extend your regrets and tell her you want to move past this. That doesnt mean you have to apologize (and you certainly dont have to give her money), but you can at least acknowledge that the situation has gotten ugly and you dont want things to get worse. See what she says. If she keeps bringing up the dog situation you can politely tell her that youve made your decision and its not up for debate, but you have no hard feelings toward her and you hope she feels the same way. You probably wont have a friendly relationship again, but you can at least keep things cordial. For now, thats probably the best you can do to avoid minimizing any neighborhood drama down the road. This is a good reminder that boundaries are important. In your case, thats literal. Need Friendship Advice From Pay Dirt? Not sure how to talk about money with your friends? Or how to split those group vacation costs? For a special feature, submit your questions about money in your friendships to Pay Dirt! Send it in now. Dear Pay Dirt, My son is 26 so will be losing access to my health and dental insurance next year and my HSA, which has been pretty clutch in the past. Ive never made him pay me back but he only uses it when he cant swing a bill on his own. Son also works in a trade where its pretty common to hop around a lot in the early years to different small owner operated companies (its difficult to get a raise and every year of experience gets you a lot more at a new place because youve not killed yourself on the jobespecially if you have all your fingers) and those places are generally exempt from having to offer any kind of health insurance plan. The corporate places hes tried do have good insurance but bad workplace culture. I make middle class money for my area and my partner (not Sons dad) makes more than my salary just in bonuses most years. Its feasible for me to help out some without endangering my mortgage (or relationship, as long as Son doesnt need DUI bail money or whatever hes good to help) and I have no other debt. Figuring out a reasonable offer is proving difficult. He recently split with a girlfriend of four years right after renewing their lease she is no longer paying toward so money will be tight for several more months. And hes upset enough that hes gotten a therapist and psychiatrist (finally, never could get him to get medicated, bless the ex for that much!). So thats an added medical expenses. My impulse is to swoop in and be really overbearing about fixing my baby boys problems in the way I think they should be fixed but that didnt even work out well when he was 6 and I dont think it will go over any better now. Do you think, Hey, lets go over the options for insurance to cover what you need and Ill pay the premiums for 2025 while you get your situation sorted? is too interfering? Too much to offer? Not enough? I spent years eating ramen so he could have fresh vegetables but hes not a kid anymore and I dont want to default to that kind of sacrifice. I also want him to feel safe coming to me and accepting what help I can give as a proactive measure. In the past, I asked my parents for $1,500 to hire a bankruptcy attorney because I was ashamed to ask for anything before thenId like to avoid him repeating that history. (Its off my record now, and didnt stop me from buying a house.) How Can I Handle Letting Him Handle It? Dear Handling It, Its a hard balance to strike, isnt it? Its difficult to know when we should support our children versus allow them to learn things on their own. It sounds like your gut is telling you something, though. You mention you have a tendency to swoop in and fix his problems and that this hasnt worked well in the past. To me, it seems like your gut is telling you to let him figure it out, and theres a solid case to be made for that. Giving him a chance to make these difficult decisions on his ownhow to afford healthcare expenses, or whether or not he should stay at a jobwill allow him to experience the world for himself and feel a little more independent in it. Pushing him out of the proverbial nest might be difficult in the short term, but there are long-term benefits. When challenges arise in the future, hell be more prepared to deal with them. Hell have a greater sense of control over his life. It might seem almost cruel to force your child to navigate a broken healthcare system, but these are the kinds of lessons we all learn, and they make us stronger, more resourceful, and more capable of navigating the world on our own. Life is hard, and we cant protect our children from all of it. You could offer to pay his premiums for the next year or so, but what would it look like if you shortened that time frame? For example, could you agree to pay the premiums for the next few months, then revisit the situation at that time? You could agree to pay his costs for the next quarter, and then maybe schedule a time to meet with him to talk about where to go from there. It might help to have a hard cut-off date, but checking in every few months could give himand youa chance to ease into the decision. Itll also give you more time to think about what you want to do without committing to one choice or another. Your kid is old enough that you can discuss these issues with him, too. Tell him your concerns and give him a chance to weigh in, but let him know that youre going to make the decision that you think is best for him, even if its hard. Some might say youre being too hard on him, and others might say youre being too soft. But ultimately, all that matters is how you feel about the situation. We all want to do right by our children, but the right thing doesnt always feel good. Want more Pay Dirt every week? Slate Plus members get an additional column each week. Sign up for Slate Plus now. Dear Pay Dirt, Im 38 and married with two kids from a previous relationship and a stepdaughter in college. My ex recently bought me out of my share of the home we purchased together years ago, for around $50,000, and we are unsure how to use it. My wife and I are paying off a tax bill of about $4,000, we have around $10,000 in credit card debt and I have about $20,000 in student loans. We also just bought a new car with $600 monthly payments and I have about $9,000 in 401(k) loans that Ive been paying back out of my paycheck. Along with paying down these debts, wed like to try to save some of the money for our kids college expenses and put some into a Roth IRA to bolster our retirement savings. Obviously, there isnt enough to do all of these things. How do we pick where to start? Nice Problem to Have Dear Nice Problem, Firstly, you want to prioritize that tax bill. Thats an expense that could snowball and get you into big trouble. Beyond that, prioritize the high-interest debt. In this case, thats probably going to be your credit cards, 401(k) loan, and car loan. As it stands, youre likely throwing away hundreds of dollars on interest every month. Its tempting to save the money instead but think about it this way: With those debts gone, you now have hundreds of dollars a month freed up to save for your kids college expenses. The amount owed on some of these debts (your car loan, perhaps) might be quite high, so I would understand not wanting to pay them off entirely. It would be nice to have something left over to save, after all. But at least consider paying a hefty lump sum amount toward the principal. (And if you do, make sure the lender knows that your extra payment is intended to go toward the principal, not your future monthly paymentsthat goes for any loan or debt.) This would bring down your debt to a more manageable level and free up some of the money youre throwing away on interest. Ultimately, you have more debt than you do windfall. So if you do want some money left over to save, consider a percentagesay, 10%to put in a savings account. Keep in mind, all of this assumes you already have a healthy emergency fund, which should always be a top priority. Its easy to feel like youre wasting this windfall on debt, but again, theres another way to look at it. Youre buying yourself a little more financial freedom. Kristin Classic Prudie My fiance and I are planning a destination wedding in Italy. A few years ago my fiance started a business with his brother. His brother lied on the business documents, forced my fiance out of the business, never paid him back what he put into it, and then lied to family and friends to try and make himself look better. Needless to say, he hasnt been a part of our lives since then. My soon-to-be MIL has been trying to force the brothers back together because she just wants the family to get back to normal. It hasnt worked. This week, ProPublica reported on the story of Amber Thurman, a young mother from Georgia, whose death after being denied abortion care is heartbreaking and enraging and was completely preventable. As an emergency physician and a human rights attorney working to create access to quality reproductive health care, we know that this unnecessary tragedy is a direct result of banning abortion. According to ProPublicas in-depth coverage, in 2022 Thurman arrived at a Georgia emergency department seeking medical care shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion. She was experiencing a rare but life-threatening miscarriage complicationretained products of conception. This complication can occur after any pregnancy loss. Because Georgias abortion ban had gone into effect after the Dobbs ruling, Thurman, a single mother of a 6-year-old son, had traveled to North Carolina, where she received medication to legally terminate her pregnancy. After complications arose, she was unable to travel the distance back to the North Carolina clinic, so she sought care in her home state. On presentation to the emergency department, according to the time line in the article, she exhibited low blood pressure, a tender abdomen, and foul-smelling discharge during a pelvic examall evidence of abdominal infection. Doctors started her on fluids and antibiotics and called for an OB-GYN consult. They noted the possibility of a dilation and curettage, the procedure that would remove the source of her infection and is standard best medical practice to reverse the potentially fatal infection that was ravaging her body. Advertisement Although the medical care Thurman needed is not new or controversial, timely delivery is critical to success. In emergency medicine, as soon as we identify a solvable problem, we must initiate that solution. An OB-GYN was called early in her care, but it took nearly a day for Thurman to get to the operating room for intervention. By that point, it was too late. Now, two years later, the state of Georgia review board on maternal mortality has ruled her death preventable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Georgia HB 481, the anti-abortion law that was initially passed in 2019 and enacted in 2022, became enforceable once SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade and eviscerated federal protection for abortion rights. This law bans all abortions after six weeks and includes an exception that any such act shall not be considered an abortion if the act is performed with the purpose of Removing a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion. That exception was apparently not enough for doctors to save Amber Thurmans life. Advertisement Related From Slate Well, This Letter From a Billionaire Conservative Kingmaker Is Downright Chilling! Read More The question about Georgias ban becomes: When and how is it legal to intervene to save a womans life if her abortion was induced versus her having a spontaneous abortion? Was this distinction what contributed to Thurmans preventable death? According to ProPublica, Thurman obtained medication abortion legally in a neighboring state and returned to her home state of Georgia to be with her family and complete her miscarriage. Lifesaving medical treatment for a patient who has had a miscarriage is the same regardless of what initiated it. In the Georgia abortion ban, the insertion of the medically unnecessary word spontaneous may be confusing physicians and delaying care that would otherwise be protected under the life of the mother exceptions that exist in every U.S. state. Advertisement The lethal implications of patients lack of access to abortion follow-up care are real. This relates not only to elective terminations but also to terminations for fetal anomalies or a new cancer diagnosis. Thurmans story needs to be a clarion call to physicians to act on behalf of our patients, no matter where they live. We must pledge that we will not restrict lifesaving care for specific patients that we would provide to others. It is crucial that lawyers and hospital administrators, meanwhile, support clinicians in offering necessary medical care and refusing to work in an atmosphere where they fear for their job and even liberty. When care providers operate under confusing or vague laws, it is ultimately patients who are the most harmed. Legislators and courts have repeatedly ruled that it is on doctors, as experts, to deliver the care patients need. Its time for them to support us in doing that. It is too late for Thurmans family, but there are many more patients who seek emergency care, whose very lives will depend on it. In the Texas womens prison where I am serving a 50-year sentence, those of us assigned to live in solitary confinement undergo many routine indignities, but one is particularly horrifying: We are typically strip-searched four times before the clock strikes noon. One such recent episode stands out in my memory for entirely different reasons. A year ago, after an hour of walking in small circles in a cage outside as part of our weekly allowance of outdoor exercise, four of us, nude and in separate cages, waited to endure the strip search required each time we return to our cells. Two guards barked orders at us to separate our buttocks, squat, and cough. Flaca was in the cage to my left and proudly announced to the guards: This is the last time youll get to see me strip! The next time Im naked, its because I wanna be! Flaca was leaving prison, and I was happy for her upcoming release and envious that she would get to choose who could see and touch her body. Ive learned during my 17 years of incarceration that once my friends are released, they seldom contact those of us still behind bars unless they want something. When I received a letter from Flaca, a few months after she was released, it was no exception. Her letter began with complaints about the mandatory religious meetings in the halfway house where parole officers had assigned her to live. She described it as a place of constant proselytizing and overzealous sin policing. She said the lack of privacy mirrored prisonfor example, they open all incoming mail. Finally, Flaca got to the point. While working as a maid in a motel, she was sexually violated by a guest. Since Im a former nurse, Flaca mistakenly thought I could help. What can I drink to get it out of me? she pleaded. Flaca didnt want to be pregnant. I thought this was a one-off letter asking for health advice. But she wasnt alone. Since then, Ive received eight more notes from other released women needing abortion care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the country debates if women should have agency over their own bodies, the national conversation has left out the most at-risk marginalized group: women under mandatory supervision. These are folks out on bail, parole, or probation wearing GPS electronic ankle monitors as a government stipulation. Although people in states with strict abortion bans can sometimes receive abortion medication in the mail or travel across state lines for reproductive health care, women on supervised release have no such options. Related From Slate The Ohio Supreme Court Just Greenlit an Egregious Fraud Upon the Voters Read More In Texas, S.B. 8 prohibits abortion after the detection of fetal cardiac activity, or around six weeks of gestation (two weeks after a first missed period), unless the pregnant patients death is imminent. This draconian ban forces women to cross state lines to access care. More than 171,000 American women are estimated to have traveled across state lines to get an abortion last year. Thats double the number who traveled out of state for an abortion in 2019, and it accounted for nearly a fifth of recorded abortions, according to the New York Times. Again, this option is unavailable to women on supervised release. Advertisement Since the Dobbs decision, women like Kate Cox, a Dallas mother with a planned pregnancy, have drawn national attention by revealing how far Texas will go to enforce abortion laws. The state Supreme Court prevented Cox from terminating her nonviable pregnancy in Texas, forcing her to leave the state for care. If Texas behaves that way to women like Cox, then women like Flacawho cant leave the stateendure even greater risks. Texas, like most states, explicitly prohibits people on parole and bail from traveling out of state without permission. The consequences of violating this law are usually incarceration. Another route to prison is to ask the parole or probation officer permission to leave the state to break the states law. A Johns Hopkins study using publicly available state birth counts found that 10,000 additional live births occurred in Texas in the year following the passage of S.B. 8. As one young woman who had recently been released from prison wrote in a letter to me, I cant even sneak over to New Mexico or Colorado to get help with this snitch on my ankle. Advertisement Advertisement The other option for women seeking abortion care in states with bans are medical abortions using medication received through the mail. This is the most common way women terminate unintentional pregnancies in states with bans. A surreptitious telehealth visit and an inconspicuous package arriving in the mail containing abortion pills is a private, safe way for women in anti-abortion states to have agency over their bodies. But this optionused by 60 percent of womenisnt accessible for the majority of women released living in what the state calls faith-based alternative housing. The prisons Parole Division Alternate Housing Resource list is filled with these faith-based halfway houses. Few non-faith-based places exist. Often, in these alternative houses, mail is opened, and attending evangelical religious meetings is a requirement of living there. Advertisement Girls and women are the fastest-growing demographic filling United States prisons, with roughly 191,000 women and girls currently behind bars. In the country, womens mass incarceration has grown at a rate twice that of mens, according to the Sentencing Project. The majority of women enter prison still in their reproductive years, according to the AMA Journal of Ethics. Formerly incarcerated women in Texas should have the same ability to travel out of state for abortion care and receive abortion pills in the mail unopened as other women. The war for womens rights must also protect the marginalized. If we care about half the populations bodily autonomy, we must do more to secure these rights for returning citizens. Women on mandatory supervision arent asking for special treatment, just equal access to obtain the same treatment. John Yeates, 39, faces a charge of deadly conduct in connection to the U.S. Highway 87 shootout. Edward Gomez, 36, a car lot employee, died of injuries he sustained in the fatal crash that happened after the shootout. During the perp walk Tuesday, Yeates denied culpability. Bexar County Sheriff's Office There's been an arrest in connection with an illegal trash dumping incident at a San Antonio car lot last week that led to a shootout and fatal crash. John Yeates, 39, was arrested Tuesday. He's facing a deadly conduct charge, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said. According to the Texas Penal Code, felony deadly conduct is when a person "knowingly discharges a firearm at or in the direction of one or more individuals." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Bexar County Sheriff's Office said John Yeates, pictured during a perp walk Tuesday, was in a shootout with Edward Gomez about a week ago on U.S. Highway 87. Gomez died after the shootout from injuries sustained during a car crash. Yeates denied culpability during the perp walk. Raul Trey Lopez The incident started on Sept. 11 as a report of illegal dumping at a car dealership lot off U.S. Highway 181 South in Southeast Bexar County. Edward George Gomez, a 36-year-old employee at ChevyFord Motorplex, and another employee, confronted Yeates and another man who were dumping trash on the property. John Yeates and another man are accused of illegally dumping trash at a car dealership lot on Sept. 11. Employees at the car lot chased them and a shootout followed. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said Gomez died from injuries sustained during a car crash. Bexar County Sheriff's Office The man and Yeates left the property in an orange Dodge Ram pickup truck. Yeates was a passenger. Gomez and the other employee followed them in separate vehicles. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said John Yeates, 39, was arrested Tuesday and charged with deadly conduct in connection to the Sept. 11 highway shooting on U.S. Highway 87. Raul Trey Lopez As the chase continued onto U.S. Highway 87 near China Grove, Gomez fired shots at the pickup truck through his windshield, Salazar said. The sheriff's office said it's unknown if Yeates or the driver fired back at Gomez during the incident. "Gomez was firing through his own windshield while pursuing them, and the evidence that we found on Gomezs car is consistent with that. Now, whether or not they shot back at Gomez is a distinct possibility," Salazar said. ALSO READ: Medical examiner identifies man killed in San Antonio car crash after chase over alleged trash dumping at car lot Advertisement Article continues below this ad After the chase, the other car lot employee saw Gomez's vehicle, which had crashed into a wooded area off U.S. 181. The sheriffs office said Gomez lost control of his vehicle and spun off the highway. He was later pronounced dead. Gomez, 36, died fro m a blunt-force injury to the neck from injuries sustained in the car crash, the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office said. Gomez suffered a broken neck and back during the fatal crash. He also suffered a heart attack, but it's unclear if it happened before, during or after the crash, Salazar said. Salazar said Yeates truck had multiple bullet holes from the shooting. One of the bullets caused a flat tire. Yeates and the other man left the truck off Loop 1604 between South Abbott Road and FM 1346 and set out to get a new tire. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Bullet holes are shown on the orange Dodge Ram pickup truck that John Yeates was a passenger in. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said Yeates was in a shootout with Edward Gomez on U.S. Highway 87. Gomez died after the shootout from injuries sustained during a car crash. Bexar County Sheriff's Office Bullet holes are shown on the orange Dodge Ram pickup truck that John Yeates was a passenger in. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said Yeates was in a shootout with Edward Gomez on U.S. Highway 87. Gomez died after the shootout from injuries sustained during a car crash. Bexar County Sheriff's Office When a sergeant patrol deputy saw the Dodge Ram with a flat tire, there with two people there. Salazar did not identify them, but said they had been questioned and are considered witnesses. Soon, Yeates and the other man returned with a spare tire. However, when they saw deputies in the area, they left. Nearly a week later, Yeates and the other man were taken into custody for questioning. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The man driving the Dodge Ram in which Yeates was a passenger will not face charges because he did not shoot, Salazar said. Had Gomez survived the crash, he would have faced felony charges for the highway shooting, Salazar said. Yeates could face an additional charge for illegally dumping trash. During a perp walk Tuesday afternoon, Yeates said he was innocent. Israels remote-controlled bombing of thousands of pagers held by members of the terrorist group Hezbollah across Lebanonfollowed the next day by an explosion of hundreds of the groups walkie-talkieswas an elaborate, even ingenious intelligence operation. But what strategic purpose did it serve? And what effect is it likely to have on the various conflicts in the region? First, a few misapprehensions should be cleared away. This was not, as some have charged, a mass killing or a terrorist attack. In many ways, it was the opposite. It is hard to imagine a more discretely targeted attacki.e., one aimed at just the objects of the assault, minimizing the chances of harming anybody else. Advertisement Nor was it a cyberattack. That is, nobody digitally hacked into a certain brand of pager widely used by ordinary consumers. Rather, specific batches of pagerswhich had been ordered by Hezbollahwere intercepted somewhere between the manufacturer and their destination in Lebanon. Technical teams, probably run by Israeli intelligence, then opened the pagers and inserted small explosive devices, which could be triggered remotely. Members of Hezbollah had ordered the pagers for their personnel after realizing that the GPS tracking on their cellphones made it easy for Israel to determine the groups locations. The hidden explosives were very small, 3 grams (about a tenth of an ounce), minimizing the chances of injuring anyone except the people carrying the pagers. Initial news reports said nine people were killed. Hezbollah spokesmen said that six of those were Hezbollah fightersmeaning that the simultaneous explosions killed just three civilians. (The death toll has since risen to 12, but it is unclear how many of those were fighters.) About 2,800 people are said to be injured, but it is not known how many of those are Hezbollahor how serious the injuries are. Two of those killed are said to be children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The operation tampered with about 5,000 pagers, though a smaller number, still in the thousands, blew up. Some of the others might have malfunctioned or not been turned on. Then, on Wednesday morning, a wave of blasts occurred in Lebanon, as Hezbollah walkie-talkies suddenly exploded. According to Lebanese officials, at least nine people were killed and 300 were injured. The walkie-talkie explosions suggest that Israeli agents had tampered with the supply lines of those devices too. Hezbollah fighters must now wonder if any means of communication is safewhich will further break down their organizations discipline and their ability to coordinate a defense. The back-to-back attacks have left Hezbollah, as well as some of the groups allies, weakened and embarrassed. Irans ambassador to Lebanon was among those injured in Tuesdays assault, raising eyebrows that an official of that level, enjoying diplomatic immunity, would own a Hezbollah-supplied pager. Advertisement Many details about the operation are not yet and may never be known; Israeli agencies have not publicly acknowledged the operation, though they did inform U.S. officials afterward. (The U.S. officials who leaked this fact say they did not know about the operation ahead of time.*) Advertisement So, what was it all for? It seems unlikely that Israel would go to all this trouble simply to injure a lot of Hezbollah fighters. One potential explanation is that blowing up the pagers would be the prelude to a larger Israeli military operationcertainly airstrikes, and perhaps a ground incursionto clear all Hezbollah sites in the southernmost part of Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces has been training for a large-scale action across the northern border for a while now. (A 2006 U.N. security resolution ordered Hezbollah to disarm south of the Litani River, which is 10 miles north of Lebanons border with Israel. The group failed to do so and, since Oct. 7, has fired thousands of rockets into Israeli territory, forcing tens of thousands of Israeli residents to relocate.) Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate The Key Reason Why Were Not Close to a Cease-Fire Read More According to the Times of Israel, setting off the bombs indeed was to have been the first stage of a military action. It would have not only taken a large number of Hezbollah fighters off the battlefield, at least temporarily, but also disrupted its communications. But someone in Hezbollah recently detected the explosive device and sent out an alert, warning members to throw the pagers away. Israelis intercepted this message and had to decide whether to set off the bombs immediately or abandon the entire planto use them or lose them. They decided to use them. Advertisement Advertisement What happens now? Will Hezbollah fighters escalate the assaults or back off, figuring that Israel has them outgunned in more ways than theyd imagined? Advertisement Hezbollahs spokesmen have vowed to avenge the attacks, and it is possible the rocket exchanges between the militants and Israel will intensify. If so, many Israelis may shrug it off, figuring that the rocket attacks have been intensifying over the past year and was bound to ramp up in the near future. A U.S. special envoy has been trying to ease tensions on Israels northern border, talking with Israelis, Hezbollah leaders, and, indirectly, Iranians, from a nation that has long been Hezbollahs main ally and supplier. It is widely believed that none of the partiesnot Israel, Hezbollah, or Iranwants a full-scale war. Hezbollah has as many as 150,000 rockets, a stock that could devastate Tel Aviv if the militant group decided to launch a large fraction of them. However, Israel is much more heavily armed and could obliterate southern Lebanon in response. (And this is to say nothing of Israels arsenal of some 200 atomic weapons, which certainly make Iran hesitant to intervene directly or dramatically.) Advertisement Advertisement None of this means that a wider, deeper war is impossible. According to an IDF statement, top Israeli military officers met Tuesday evening to discuss readiness for offensive action and defense in all arenas. Invading southern Lebanon, however well reasoned or cleverly planned, is no picnic. When Israeli troops invaded southern Lebanon in 1982 to push out the Palestine Liberation Organization, the radical militant group of the time, they ended up staying there for 18 years. The activity taking place in a bottle of burciak can cause internal September storms. The offer of burciak, slightly fermented grape juice, is a specialty offered at grape harvest festivities in Slovakia. (Source: TASR) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share For those of us who love autumn (jesen) above all other seasons, Slovakia gives us another reason to celebrate (oslavovat) the arrival of September - burciak (immature wine) in all its yeasty, good-humoured splendour. I first drank burciak 32 years ago this month, urged by students (who else?) to sample a light-brown, still-fermenting broth. I've since then over-indulged, sworn off it, helped to pick the grapes (hrozna) that are its main ingredient, and then been cheated out of the yield. Burciak is the first result of Slovakia's wine crop, here and in the Czech Republic being a traditional admixture of the juice (must) from freshly picked grapes (usually white) mixed with sugar (cukor) and yeast (kvasnice). After about a week, or less in a warmer cellar (pivnica), you get a frothy (speneny) mixture said to be only slightly alcoholic. If, however, you drink more than a litre of burciak, you'll know you've been drinking, and so will those around you. Members of Dunajcik club cherish Danube, family atmosphere. A sad view on the boathouse of the Dunajcik canoe club from the flood barrier. (Source: Courtesy of VK Dunajcik) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Just a week after Bratislava canoe club Dunajcik celebrated its centenary, its members are now waiting for flood waters to recede so they begin to try and save it. We didnt expect to be saving the boathouse just a week after the 100th anniversary celebrations, Martin Misik from the clubs leadership told The Slovak Spectator. The whole weekend we were preparing the boathouse for the floods. The clubs boathouse, which sit on the banks of the Danube, were flooded last weekend as Slovakia, along with much of central Europe, was hit by storm Boris that brought heavy rainfall, swelling rivers and driving floods that claimed 23 lives across the region of central Europe. Read in this article -History of the Dunajcik canoe club -What its members value most -When its new boathouse will be built VK Dunajcik canoe club launched in 1924 located on the Petrzalka embankment close to the Apollo bridge (Klokocova cesta 5) the current boathouse was built in 1946 info@dunajcik.sk FB account Facebook Misik and other club members had been following the forecasts and spent the weekend getting the clubs equipment and furniture to safety. By the time the boathouse, a former military barracks, was flooded on Monday, they had saved all its boats three could still be seen earlier this week bobbing about a few metres from the building on the surface of the swollen river, tied safely to a tree. The rest had been moved up onto the roof of the boathouse. When Misik spoke to The Spectator at the start of this week, the water stood at around one metre inside the building. Related article Minister Simkovicova seems intent on continually finding reasons to justify director Kusas dismissal. In the photo, from left: the interim head of the Slovak National Gallery Anton Bittner, Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova, and the ministers chief of staff Lukas Machala, during a press conference on the current situation concerning the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava on September 17, 2024. (Source: TASR) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Heavy rain has seeped into the National Gallery (SNG) in Bratislava, situated on the Danube riverbank, where water levels reached an unusual 9.8 metres. Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova, a nominee of the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), blamed the leaks on Alexandra Kusa, the former director under whose tenure the gallery underwent reconstruction. Simkovicova dismissed Kusa in August. Earlier this week, the minister ironically described her as a managerial marvel. The decision to dismiss Kusa sparked mass protests after the minister failed to provide a convincing explanation for her decision. At a press conference on September 17, Simkovicova appeared alongside the gallerys interim director, Anton Bittner, an instructor in Tao healing, and Lukas Machala, the ministers chief of staff, widely considered to be the ministrys real decision-maker. Several other senior ministry officials were also present. The Culture Ministry and the current SNG leadership claimed that the gallerys renovation had failed to resolve the issue of groundwater seepage, a problem exacerbated by the gallerys location in a flood zone. We now find ourselves in a situation where not only is rainwater leaking in, but groundwater is pushing up, Simkovicova stated. The SNG underwent a comprehensive renovation from 2016 to 2022 and was reopened to the public in December 2022. A renovated section of the gallery, known as The Bridge (Premostenie), located on the Danubes embankment, had been closed since 2001 due to previous water leaks. Kusa, still a curator at the gallery, dismissed the allegations as part of a calculated smear campaign. I cannot shake the feeling that this is an awkward, deliberate attempt by the current interim director, who has spent two months searching for a crisis within the gallery, Kusa told Dennik N. She and other staff maintain that the gallery is not in a state of crisis. While the gallery remains closed due to the leaks, Kusa claims the damage is minimal, and there is no need for its closure. Bittner, however, told reporters that staff are dealing with leaks from the roofs and pumping water from the basement. Were currently pumping groundwater at a rate of 25,000 litres per hour, with round-the-clock operations, Bittner said on Tuesday. https://sk.frame.mapy.cz/s/cubunoroce Two construction companies responsible for the gallerys renovation, Hornex and Strabag, decided to inspect the critical areas on Monday. They attributed the leaks to a combination of extreme rainfall and strong winds, which caused a seal failure at the junction between the roof and a side wall. We apologise to the SNG and the public for the leaks, and we will rectify the issue shortly, the companies said in a statement to SME. The companies also noted that they had warned the gallery during the project that the proposed solutions would not ensure complete waterproofing of the basement, especially during periods of extreme Danube water levels. This had been accepted by the gallery. In contrast, Bittner accused the previous gallery leadership of ignoring expert reports highlighting inadequate waterproofing measures. Neither the construction firms nor Kusa acknowledge any such reports. Kusa countered by calling Bittners claim disinformation, insisting that the basement is equipped with drainage channels to handle groundwater, a normal controlled process. Kusa further explained that the reconstruction project was designed with the citys flood protection measures in mind, accounting for extremes. All areas housing artworks are located above ground level. Crucially, no artworks were damaged during the recent extreme weather, as the gallerys storage begins on the second floor. Should the Danube overflow, the most vulnerable part of the gallery would be the library, located in the courtyard basement of the Water Barracks. video //www.youtube.com/embed/pP83d7vONiA Bittner also detailed the damage caused by water to several properties under the management of the National Gallery. At Strazky Manor, groundwater has seeped in, while the Ludovit Fulla Gallery in Ruzomberok has suffered leaks on the upper floor. According to Bittner, both structural engineers and health inspectors have prohibited entry to the building due to the presence of mould. At Zvolen Castle, part of the roof is leaking. Shaubmars Mill in Pezinok was closed earlier this year due to an infestation of woodworm. If approved, Slovakias new book VAT will be among highest in Europe. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share On Tuesday afternoon, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky announced a significant increase in the value-added tax on books from 10 to 23 percent. Books, as we have analysed, are primarily purchased by wealthier segments of the population, so they will be taxed at the basic rate, PM Robert Ficos minister said. This measure is part of a broader plan to raise VAT across various sectors, with a few exceptions such as medicines, textbooks, and food. The increase aims to address Slovakias excessive public deficit, which has drawn criticism from the European Commission. The proposed VAT hike on books, in particular, has sparked widespread public discontent, with many mocking Kamenickys comment. Memes and videos have emerged, showcasing peoples wealth through their home libraries. Related article Related article Its a must: How PM Fico plans to fix Slovakias public finances Read more Kamenicky aims to raise 50 million in 2025 through this particular VAT increase. His justification is based on an analysis by the Financial Policy Institute, which falls under the Finance Ministry. Today, books (excluding e-books) are subject to a 10 percent tax rate. The government approved the consolidation measures on September 18, including amendments. However, even members of the ruling coalition have voiced their objections. Roman Michelko of the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), who chairs the parliaments culture and media committee, criticised the proposed 23 percent rate on books. Books. You want to buy books? Cheaply. Without VAT. The image compares the planned higher VAT on books to the communist era in Czechoslovakia, when so-called black market traders (vekslaci) would buy or sell foreign currencies or vouchers that people could use in Tuzex shops, which sold Western goods. I strongly disagree with the idea that only wealthy individuals buy books. Perhaps only spiritually wealthy. I see this as a proposal, not a fact, Michelko remarked. Im a big fan of airport coffee. In the so-bad-its-good sort of way, like watching The Room or Birdemic. Once you level set your expectations accordingly, you can really appreciate a good cup of bad airport coffee. But you know whats even better than bad airport coffee? Good airport coffee. And in Philadelphia, thats what Elixr Coffee Roasters is brewing up, who have just opened a new cafe inside the Philadelphia International Airport. Their latest cafe, opened between Terminals B and C, is the seventh retail location for Elixr, and like with the others they will be serving classic and specialty coffee drinksthink espresso-based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos as well as filter optionsalongside pastries and other light fare sourced from area bakeries. The PHL location was brought to fruition in collaboration with Jackmont Hospitality, a hospitality and restaurant management group that focusses on retail outlets inside airports. Elixr joins other in-airport coffee companies managed by Jackmont like Green Beans Coffee, though they are the first specialty-focused brand in the portfolio. Since Elixr started in Philly, were particularly proud to expand with our newest location at PHL, one of the regions busiest locations, said [Elixr co-founder Evan] Inatome. We are travelers ourselves and know the comfort and importance of a great cup of coffee away from home. Elixr now joins fellow Philadelphia-native specialty coffee brand La Colombe with locations inside PHL. Which seems a bit unfair frankly. While most international airports arent even able to muster up a single halfway decent coffee shop, PHL has multiple. This is normally where Id take a swipe at the Iggles, as is my duty as a Cowboys fan, but Ill instead say that I now anxiously await my next opportunity to visit the City of Brotherly Love. The coffee scene is great, the food as well, and the underground music scene is maybe one of the best in the country. And now with really good airport coffee, a trip to Philly can get started off right from the jump. Or it can help hasten your departure after you accidentally make a Yuengling-fueled disparaging remark or two about how trash Jalen Hurts is. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240917/north-korea-allegedly-launches-ballistic-missiles---reports-1120184090.html North Korea Allegedly Launches Ballistic Missiles - Reports North Korea Allegedly Launches Ballistic Missiles - Reports Sputnik International North Korea fired two ballistic missiles that fell into the sea, the Japanese Coast Guard reported early Wednesday morning. 2024-09-17T22:52+0000 2024-09-17T22:52+0000 2024-09-17T22:52+0000 asia north korea pyongyang newsfeed japan coast guard japanese defense ministry sputnik https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/04/17/1118068310_0:47:900:553_1920x0_80_0_0_f2a4f752c2574afccc264301786ca7df.jpg Initially, it was reported that North Korea had fired one missile. Later, the Japanese Coast guard said that a second missile was fired. Both missiles apparently fell into the sea, the report added on Wednesday. Last week, the Japanese Defense Ministry said that Pyongyang launched several ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan. That was North Korea's first ballistic missile launch since July 1.This article will be updated as more information becomes available. north korea pyongyang 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 north korean missile test, ballistic missiles in north korea https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/air-defense-repelling-massive-drones-attack-over-russias-toropets---authorities-1120184711.html Air Defense Repelling Massive Drones Attack Over Russias Toropets - Authorities Air Defense Repelling Massive Drones Attack Over Russias Toropets - Authorities Sputnik International Local authorities partially evacuated the local region after a massive drone attack on the town of Toropets in the Tver Region. The attack reportedly started a fire. 2024-09-18T03:18+0000 2024-09-18T03:18+0000 2024-09-18T03:18+0000 russia tver region russia newsfeed drone attack ukraine https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/01/1119211006_0:173:3025:1875_1920x0_80_0_0_da8604db882a151fae9070b52fb86252.jpg Earlier on Wednesday, the regional government said that a fire broke out in Toropets after air defense forces shot down drones. In addition, it was decided to partially evacuate the population from areas where the air defense is working and firefighting is underway. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240910/nine-year-old-child-killed-in-nighttime-drone-attack-in-moscow-region---governor-1120092467.html tver region russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International toropets attack, drone attack inside russia, tver region attacked https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/brics-nations-have-unique-opportunity-to-share-urban-solutions---ex-toronto-mayoral-candidate-1120190824.html BRICS Nations Have Unique Opportunity to Share Urban Solutions - ex-Toronto Mayoral Candidate BRICS Nations Have Unique Opportunity to Share Urban Solutions - ex-Toronto Mayoral Candidate Sputnik International The 2024 Cloud City Forum is taking place in Moscow on September 18-19, gathering leaders, entrepreneurs, urban planners, and experts from over 30 countries. The forum focuses on discussing the future of BRICS megacities and promoting collaboration on urban development strategies. 2024-09-18T11:35+0000 2024-09-18T11:35+0000 2024-09-18T17:46+0000 russia moscow brics russia china brazil south africa https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/09/12/1120190906_0:232:1280:952_1920x0_80_0_0_a70ba66d36c19a03491f7f8c2710a9ff.jpg "I think in the future we need cities to collaborate much more, to help each other, to share, to be more generous so that we learn what works and adapt it," Gil Penalosa, former Toronto mayoral candidate and influential urbanist, tells Sputnik on the sidelines of the 2024 Cloud City BRICS International Innovation Forum currently taking place in Moscow. Penalosa also praises Moscow for its public spaces, the quality of sidewalks, plazas, and parks, noting that cities can learn valuable lessons from one anothers successes. He highlights the diversity of urban development within BRICS nations. While cities in countries like Russia and China have advanced infrastructure and public services, others, like Brazil and South Africa, are working to address challenges related to inequality. Sputnik is the forums general information partner. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/moscow-hosts-brics-urban-future-forum-1120185417.html moscow russia china brazil south africa 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 2024 cloud city forum, brics urban future forum, new brics events, brics enlargement, brics expansion, ethiopia joins brics, ethiopia in bricks, ethiopia becomes brics member, what countries are in brics, new brics members, what's brics, what does brics do, brics currency, brics payment system, brics summit, russian presidency over brics, russias presidency at brics https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/french-interior-minister-declines-to-back-governments-tax-increase-plans-1120191660.html French Interior Minister Declines to Back Governments Tax Hike Plan French Interior Minister Declines to Back Governments Tax Hike Plan Sputnik International French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday that he would not support or join the new government if it intended to increase taxes. 2024-09-18T12:59+0000 2024-09-18T12:59+0000 2024-09-18T13:27+0000 world gerald darmanin michel barnier emmanuel macron france europe national assembly european union (eu) https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/105289/03/1052890314_0:87:1921:1167_1920x0_80_0_0_4a1b61fc80cdc07b01a67007a5043fe9.jpg Earlier this month, French media reported that Frances new Prime Minister Michel Barnier had hinted at possible tax raises, including the imposition of higher taxes on wealthier individuals. "There is no chance that we could join the government or provide our support in the National Assembly to a government that raises taxes," Darmanin told the France 2 broadcaster. The minister expressed support for the policy of tax cuts implemented in France in recent years, which he said had led to a reduction in unemployment and contributed to France's attractiveness. In his election debates, French President Emmanuel Macron repeatedly promised not to raise taxes, despite the country's economic struggles and growing public debt. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240907/new-french-prime-minister-says-will-revisit-pension-reform-1120064949.html france 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 french tax increase, tax increase plans in france, french tax policy, french tax system Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts on the Express-News Crime Team. She can be reached at ezavala@express-news.net. Born and reared in San Antonio, she graduated from Fox Tech High School in 1981 and has been a newspaper journalist since she graduated from Texas Womans University at Denton in 1985. She has worked at five daily newspapers in Texas, including The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Denton Record-Chronicle. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/hezbollah-pledges-response-to-israel-for-mass-pager-blasts-in-lebanon-1120185226.html Hezbollah Warns Israel to Expect Response for Wave of Lebanon Pager Blasts Hezbollah Warns Israel to Expect Response for Wave of Lebanon Pager Blasts Sputnik International Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah said on Wednesday that it will respond to Israel for the mass detonation of pagers that left thousands of Lebanese injured. 2024-09-18T05:53+0000 2024-09-18T05:53+0000 2024-09-18T07:33+0000 world middle east lebanon hezbollah israel https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/09/11/1120181808_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_9faa83297467f03679d910a6fb70a0bb.jpg "The Islamic resistance in Lebanon will continue its operations in support of Gaza as before this is not a continuous process, but separate from the harsh response that the enemy must expect in response to the massacre it inflicted on the Lebanese people on Tuesday. Paying the bill is inevitable," the movement said in a statement. More than 4,000 people were injured and at least 11, including a child, died on Tuesday as a result of the mass detonation of pagers in different parts of Lebanon, according to the country's health minister, Firass Abiad. The Lebanese government and the Hezbollah movement blamed the explosions on Israel. The media reported that pagers were used by Hezbollah as a closed communication system least susceptible to hacking and eavesdropping.Israel has not yet commented on the pager explosions. lebanon israel 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 hezbollah, israel, lebanon pager blasts, hezbollah pager explosions https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/israel-and-us-behind-two-waves-of-blasts-in-lebanon-to-divert-attention-from-gaza-genocide---expert-1120194799.html Israel and US Behind Two Waves of Blasts in Lebanon to Divert Attention From Gaza Genocide - Expert Israel and US Behind Two Waves of Blasts in Lebanon to Divert Attention From Gaza Genocide - Expert Sputnik International After a massive pager detonation, Lebanon faced another wave of blasts on September 18. 2024-09-18T18:13+0000 2024-09-18T18:13+0000 2024-09-18T18:13+0000 world middle east israel lebanon palestine hezbollah edward snowden opinion terror attack terrorist attack https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/0f/1119774903_0:319:3074:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_059d12146e3a96dfb114e385f1d91624.jpg Earlier in the day, a Lebanese source told Sputnik that devices other than pagers had exploded in different parts of the country on Wednesday. Lebanese Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram called the blasts "a deliberate crime and a terrorist act" by Israel in an interview with Sputnik.The second critical issue is related to Israel's intelligence failures on October 7, 2023, Rakipoglu continued. Speaking to Sputnik on Tuesday, military analyst Alexei Leonkov alleged that US intelligence services could be behind the explosions, referring to their advanced surveillance tools and ability to remotely interfere with the work of communication devices. The US has been developing this capability since the 1960s, when it kicked off the Echelon spying program, the expert noted. In 2013, ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden shed light on new instruments employed by American spooks. Rakipoglu echoes Leonkov by saying that the US could have had a hand in the recent sabotage attack against Lebanon and Shiite movement Hezbollah. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240917/from-echelon-to-prism-us-intel-services-could-be-behind-hezbollah-pager-detonation---expert--1120180857.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/lebanese-labor-minister-calls-explosion-of-pagers-terrorist-attack-committed-by-israel-1120191335.html israel lebanon palestine gaza strip Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova 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 Ekaterina Blinova blasts in lebanon, new series of explosions in lebanon, hezbollah, lebanon accuses israel of massive pager detonations in the country, us could be involved in massive devices detonation in lebanon, lebanese officials slammed israel for deliberate terror attack https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/israeli-defense-minister-says-new-phase-of-war-begins-military-efforts-shifted-to-north-1120193777.html Israeli Defense Minister Says New Phase of War Begins, Military Efforts Shifted to North Israeli Defense Minister Says New Phase of War Begins, Military Efforts Shifted to North Sputnik International Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that a new phase of the war has begun and that the center of gravity of the military effort has shifted to the northern front. 2024-09-18T17:48+0000 2024-09-18T17:48+0000 2024-09-18T17:48+0000 world middle east yoav gallant israel israel defense forces (idf) mossad palestine-israel conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/06/17/1119071620_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_cf97e43bb95353aa437839d1cded35bc.jpg We are at the beginning of a new phase of the war. We are transferring forces, resources and energy to the north ... The operation [in the north] is being carried out by all bodies, and it has a clear and simple task to return the residents of the settlements in the north safely to their homes," Gallant said as broadcast by Israeli broadcasters. The minister also noted the "impressive results" the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Security Agency and Israeli intelligence agency Mossad have achieved.On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. In addition, Hamas fighters infiltrated the border areas, opened fire on the military and civilians and took hostages. Israeli authorities say that about 1,200 people were killed during the raid. The IDF launched Operation Iron Swords in the Gaza Strip and announced a complete blockade of the enclave. The enclave's health ministry says that the death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7 has exceeded 41,000. israel 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, gaza peace talks, gaza ceasefire talks https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/people-do-not-feel-safe-beiruts-vice-mayor-condemns-terrorist-attack-1120193436.html 'People Do Not Feel Safe': Beirut's Vice Mayor Condemns Terrorist Attack 'People Do Not Feel Safe': Beirut's Vice Mayor Condemns Terrorist Attack Sputnik International Paging devices detonated nearly simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, leaving at least 12 people dead and up to 2,800 others wounded. 2024-09-18T17:44+0000 2024-09-18T17:44+0000 2024-09-18T17:44+0000 world middle east beirut lebanon moscow hezbollah https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/09/11/1120178758_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_b02b212096b47de25fc99d65268f1d30.jpg Mohamed Said Fatha, Beirut's vice mayor, expressed deep sorrow over the recent pager detonations in the Lebanese capital, emphasizing the human toll of the tragedy."Unfortunately, it's bad news. We have been shocked by this event and hope that all the injured will recover and [may those killed] rest in peace," Fatha told Sputnik on the sidelines of the BRICS Urban Future Forum in Moscow.Every day, the people of Beirut face uncertainty and the threat of violence. "People do not feel safe and they are not relaxed," he added, acknowledging the struggles of ordinary citizens.Fatha reassured the public that the city is doing everything it can to help those affected, offering aid and shelter to those in need. "We are ready to provide them with houses if they do not feel safe. That's what we can do."The vice mayor condemned the attack as an act of terrorism, noting that it targeted not just Hezbollah members but innocent civilians as well. "Some baby, some woman" were among the injured, adding a poignant reminder of the human cost of such violence.Sputnik is the forums general information partner. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/blast-sounds-similar-to-recent-pager-detonations-heard-in-some-areas-lebanon-1120192225.html beirut lebanon moscow 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 pager explosions in lebanon, communication devices explode in lebanon, who's behind pagers exploding in lebanon, why did pagers explode in lebanon https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/russian-national-guards-says-destroyed-starlink-satellite-system-in-chernigov-region-1120190375.html Russian National Guard Destroys Ukraine's Starlink Station in Chernigov Region Strike Russian National Guard Destroys Ukraine's Starlink Station in Chernigov Region Strike Sputnik International A Starlink satellite communication station used by the armed forces of Ukraine militants in the Chernigov Region has been destroyed, the Russian National Guard said on Wednesday. 2024-09-18T10:10+0000 2024-09-18T10:10+0000 2024-09-18T12:25+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russian national guard ukraine chernigov national guard starlink https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/09/12/1120190162_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_792030087cc6255b1d6c17e6bc648c8f.jpg "The Russian Guards destroyed the Starlink satellite communication station used by the armed forces of Ukraine militants in the Chernigov region," the statement read. UAV operators carried out a targeted strike using a drone with incendiary ammunition, the National Guard said, adding that as a result of a direct hit, the stronghold of the Ukrainian nationalists caught fire, and then further complete burning out of the enemy's territory and the Starlink satellite communication station. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240524/russia-muting-musks-starlink-satellites-using-sophisticated-electronic-warfare-tools-1118614899.html ukraine chernigov Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian special military operation, ukraine, ukrainian conflict, ukrainian crisis, war in ukraine, chernihiv, starlink, russian national guard https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/russophobe-and-hypocrite-who-is-going-to-become-eus-new-chief-diplomat-1120193507.html Russophobe and Hypocrite: Who is Going to Become EU's New Chief Diplomat Russophobe and Hypocrite: Who is Going to Become EU's New Chief Diplomat Sputnik International Estonias former prime minister Kaja Kallas is poised to become the European Unions newest High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and succeed Josep Borrell, a diplomat who famously called for resolving the Ukrainian conflict on the battlefield rather than at the negotiating table. 2024-09-18T17:39+0000 2024-09-18T17:39+0000 2024-09-18T17:39+0000 world europe estonia european union (eu) diplomacy https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/06/19/1119121508_0:0:2048:1153_1920x0_80_0_0_af85ce4e9fa09c9c2734d6d528d2e9cb.jpg Here are some facts about the blocs future top diplomat and her accomplishments.Kaja Kallas became the first female prime minister in Estonias brief history in 2021 when the collapse of the previous cabinet necessitated the creation of a coalition government with the Reform Party she was leading at the time. She cemented her position in 2023 with the Reform Partys triumph at the parliamentary election.Whatever statesmanship skill Kallas possesses apparently was not enough to fix the serious economic problems Estonia has been facing in recent years, with the budget deficit this year being expected to reach 3.8% of the country GDP while Estonias debt is poised to reach 23% of GDP (as per the IMF estimates).Kallas is an outspoken Russophobe whose antagonistic stance towards Russia earned her the new Iron Lady moniker in Western media a reference to the late Margaret Thatcher who was at some point referred to as the Iron Lady. She is an active advocate of military support for Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions.Despite that, in August 2023 local media revealed that Kallas husband Arvo Hallik had a stake in a logistic company that kept doing business with Russia. While Hallik was quick to promise to sell his share, Kallas simply insisted that she was not aware of the companys ties to Russia. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240606/estonia-to-reduce-ukraine-aid-by-10-due-to-difficult-circumstances---foreign-ministry-1118819835.html estonia 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 eu diplomacy, eu high representative for foreign affairs, kaja kallas https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/switzerland-dumps-neutrality-as-senate-rejects-ban-on-joining-nato-drills-1120191488.html Switzerland Dumps Neutrality as Senate Rejects Ban on Joining NATO Drills Switzerland Dumps Neutrality as Senate Rejects Ban on Joining NATO Drills Sputnik International The Swiss Council of States, the upper house of the parliament, said on Wednesday that it had voted against the participation of its military in joint NATO drills. 2024-09-18T13:13+0000 2024-09-18T13:13+0000 2024-09-18T14:06+0000 military switzerland nato european union (eu) neutral policy neutrality https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/1e/1119961365_0:207:2904:1841_1920x0_80_0_0_75dd6bb49fc2c034166c7d3af0fce50d.jpg "The participation of Switzerland in joint defense exercises with NATO must not be banned. The Council of States rejected a motion from the National Council to this effect on Wednesday by 29 votes to 12 and after a lively debate," the upper house said in a statement.Swiss senators believe that in case of an attack on the country, its neutral status will disappear, so Switzerland's army needs to be ready to defend itself. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240830/swiss-parliament-rejects-proposal-to-ban-countrys-army-from-participating-in-nato-drills-1119961277.html switzerland 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 why is switzerland neutral, swiss neutral status, is switzerland part of nato, is switzerland in eu, does switzerland take part in military drills, does switzerland take part in nato exercises https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/trump-says-he-will-meet-with-indias-prime-minister-modi-next-week-1120184960.html Trump Announces Meeting With Indian PM Modi Set for Next Week Trump Announces Meeting With Indian PM Modi Set for Next Week Sputnik International US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week. 2024-09-18T03:58+0000 2024-09-18T03:58+0000 2024-09-18T07:31+0000 world donald trump narendra modi viktor orban michigan nato newsfeed india us hungary https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107803/18/1078031832_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_ab9dd788a58027eb89a3999b4033dc41.jpg He happens to be coming to meet me next week, Trump said at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday. And Modi hes fantastic.Modi is not the first world leader to meet with Trump during his campaign. In July, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban travelled to Mar-a-Lago to visit Trump after the NATO summit in Washington DC. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240711/hungarys-orban-to-meet-with-trump-in-florida-this-evening---source-1119343936.html michigan hungary 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 modi and trump, trump meets with world leaders, india and trump https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/ukraine-planned-to-use-nato-arms-for-attack-on-railway-in-kursk-region---pow-1120193924.html Ukraine Planned to Use NATO Arms For Attack on Railway in Kursk Region - PoW Ukraine Planned to Use NATO Arms For Attack on Railway in Kursk Region - PoW Sputnik International Ukraine planned to use weapons from NATO countries to carry out a terrorist attack on the railway in Russia's Kursk Region, Ukrainian captured soldier Alexander Gusak told Sputnik. 2024-09-18T17:55+0000 2024-09-18T17:55+0000 2024-09-18T17:55+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine kursk ukraine russia nato ukrainian armed forces russian troops russian army https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/1a/1119913751_0:35:1587:928_1920x0_80_0_0_9effdc419cb9f4bf0e5073c1a490210d.jpg The Ukrainian Armed Forces planned to shell a passenger train in the Kursk Region with machine guns and grenade launchers, Gusak said. "There were either German or US [made] two machine guns," Gusak said. All the assault rifles, except for one Kalashnikov, were NATO-made, the PoW added.Early on August 6, Ukrainian forces crossed the border into Russia and launched an offensive in the Kursk Region. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the move a large-scale provocation that aimed at civilians and vowed a proper response. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240914/attack-on-kursk-region-can-be-considered-as-prerequisite-for-nuclear-strike---medvedev-1120146132.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 ukraine attacks russia, ukraine attacks russian region, kursk incursion, kursk under attack, ukraine breaks into russia, whats happening in kursk, russian regions attacked by ukraine, ukrainian aggression in russia https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/venezuela-sends-protest-note-to-eu-over-borrells-statements---foreign-ministry-1120185078.html Venezuela Sends Protest Note to EU Over Borrell's Statements Venezuela Sends Protest Note to EU Over Borrell's Statements Sputnik International The Venezuelan government sent a note of protest to the EU against the interference of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in the affairs of Venezuela. 2024-09-18T04:02+0000 2024-09-18T04:02+0000 2024-09-18T08:18+0000 americas josep borrell nicolas maduro venezuela spain european union (eu) venezuelan foreign ministry newsfeed https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/01/1119589875_0:0:3075:1731_1920x0_80_0_0_f97baff73ab1a86586657ce39fb7cdbb.jpg "I handed a note of protest to the head of the European Union delegation, Rachel Roumet, after the ongoing interventionist statements of High Representative Josep Borrell. Venezuela respects itself, we will no longer tolerate interference in our country, the European Union must address its problems, [and] its plans against our democracy have failed as always," Godoy said on X on Tuesday. On Sunday, Borrell called the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a dictatorship and authoritarian regime. On Thursday, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles described at a public event Maduro's government as a "dictatorship," claiming that it had caused mass migration from the Latin American country. In response to that, Venezuela recalled its ambassador to Spain and summoned the head of the Spanish diplomatic mission in Venezuela. Meanwhile, Venezuelan parliamentary speaker Jorge Rodriguez called on lawmakers to pass a resolution to immediately sever diplomatic and trade relations with Spain after the Spanish congress urged the government to recognize former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the Venezuelan president. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240903/us-arrest-of-maduros-plane-shows-disregard-for-international-norms---moscow-1120002752.html americas venezuela spain 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 maduro presidency, maduro vs the eu, who has condemned maduro, venezuela sends letter to eu Letter from Lhasa: "Granary of Xizang" embraces the pulse of modern harvest 09:26, September 18, 2024 By Liu Zhoupeng ( Xinhua LHASA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Under the blazing sun, golden fields of highland barley swayed like waves in the wind as 39-year-old farmer Lhapa Tenzin drove his harvester through, gathering the ripe grain into piles. The scenes unfolded in Xigaze, a city in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region known as the "Granary of Xizang." In Bainang County, a major grain production base, farmers have begun their autumn harvest. I stepped into a pile of highland barley, the stalks prickling beneath my feet. Despite the altitude of over 4,000 meters, the crops were plump and full. Highland barley has been one of the region's most important grain crops for millennia, serving as the key ingredient in traditional Tibetan foods like tsampa, as well as in wine and tea. Lhapa Tenzin told me that over 20 years ago, local farmers endured the midday heat by taking shelter in temporary field tents. Some would spend the night in the tents, too, if their homes were too far away. "Back then, it took our family of seven an entire month to harvest the highland barley with sickles," he recalled. Now, he and his wife can harvest over 30 mu (2 hectares) in less than a week. The sight of all family members toiling in the fields is a thing of the past. Mechanized harvesting has brought ease and efficiency, transforming the once labor-intensive tradition into a smoother, faster process. "Our children can focus on their studies nowadays," Lhapa Tenzin said with a smile. In the past, the children had to stop their study at school to help with the harvest. As we spoke, the autumn wind swept by, carrying the fragrance of sun-dried highland barley and the hum of agricultural machinery. In 2014, Paltsal Township here established a cooperative with a comprehensive array of agricultural machinery, including 36 pieces of equipment such as large tractors, seeders and combine harvesters, according to Wang Yaoqing, the director of the county's agricultural and rural bureau. The cooperative has benefited 846 households in the township. This year, the cooperative sold 1,581 tonnes of high-quality highland barley seeds, generating 11.4 million yuan (about 1.6 million U.S. dollars) in revenue, a 40 percent increase from the previous year. Farmers receive thousands of yuan in dividends each year, with the subsidy for purchasing agricultural machinery in the county totalling 2.5 million yuan this year. As our conversation continued, Wang handed me a stalk of highland barley, its plump grains gently tickling my palm. He noted that having worked here for over 20 years, he has seen how the highland barley varieties have gradually evolved. The one in my hand is called "Zangqing 2000." Other new varieties have also been planted in the fields, with assistance from the regional academy of agricultural and animal husbandry sciences. These high-quality highland barley varieties are not only popular in the region but also sold to other provinces such as Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan. While highland barley has ventured beyond the plateau, college students are returning home after completing their studies. Dorje Tseten, a recent graduate from Xizang University in Lhasa, has been especially busy this year. Back in Xigaze, he guides farmers in using drones to spray pesticides on highland barley fields. I was told that five villagers in the township had successfully obtained licenses to operate the drones. "I remember that when I was a child, it took over 30 farmers, organized by the township, to line up and manually spray pesticides," Dorje Tseten said. Today, just two advanced drones can easily handle pest control across thousands of mu of highland barley fields. The modern autumn harvest in the county reflects the broader transformation of agricultural modernization taking root across the plateau. In 2023, Xizang's highland barley production reached 843,600 tonnes. The comprehensive mechanization rate for sowing, cultivating and harvesting of major grain crops has exceeded 71 percent, according to the regional agricultural and rural department. Dorje Tseten said their lives, much like the highland barley of the plateau, are becoming increasingly fulfilling, adorned with prosperity. Following his lead, I chewed on a grain of barley. It was firm, but its rich, lingering aftertaste spoke of the land's enduring strength. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Police Chief William McManus listens to questions from City Council members during a meeting of City Council's Public Safety Committee at City Hall on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Michael Smith, UTSA criminology and criminal justice professor, presents research to City Council's Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News District 1 Councilperson Sukh Kaur asks a question about data presented during a meeting of City Council's Public Safety Committee at City Hall on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Police Chief William McManus addresses City Council's Public Safety Committee during a meeting at City Hall on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News District 7 Councilperson Marina Alderete Gavito seeks clarification regarding a question she had during a meeting of City Council's Public Safety Committee at City Hall on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Michael Smith, UTSA criminology and criminal justice professor, presents a graph illustrating a decrease in violent crime to City Council's Public Safety Committee meeting on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Michael Smith, UTSA criminology and criminal justice professor, presents research to City Council's Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Deputy City Manager Maria Villagomez takes notes during a City Council Public Safety Committee meeting at City Hall on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News District 6 Councilperson Melissa Cabello Havrda asks a question during a meeting of City Council's Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News District 10 Councilperson Mark Whyte raises a concern during a meeting of City Council's Public Safety Committee at City Hall on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez poses a question during a meeting of City Council's Public Safety Committee at City Hall on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Police Chief William McManus, left, and UTSA Criminology and Criminal Justice Professor Michael Smith, right, listen to discussion by City Council's Public Safety Committee at City Hall on Tuesday. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Crime throughout San Antonio dropped 3% in the first eight months of the year, a decline city officials said could be due to ongoing efforts to increase police presence in areas where violent crime is high. The San Antonio Police Department launched the three year violent crime reduction plan, which is in collaboration with criminologists from the University of Texas at San Antonio, in January 2023. Since then, the department has reported several decreases in both overall crime and crimes against persons, which includes homicides, assaults, human trafficking, kidnappings and sexual assaults. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "I think it's probably a number of things," Police Chief William McManus told City Council's Public Safety Committee Tuesday. "It depends on the number of people we arrest. It depends on how long they're held in jail pretrial. It depends on how they're sentenced, if they're sentenced at all." "The criminal justice system, I think, is the bigger determinant of whether crime is down or whether crime is up," the chief added. "Is the system working together that helps (bring) crime down?" While UTSA criminologists and Deputy City Manager Maria Villagomez were similarly wary of attributing causation, they seemed cautiously optimistic that the crime reduction plan was working. "I think the fact that we are being proactive with this crime reduction plan has shown results," Villagomez said, also crediting a separate department effort to more aggressively investigate property crimes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad READ MORE: Violent crime falls citywide as crime reduction plan nears 2nd phase McManus reported decreases in three main categories: crimes against persons, property crimes and crimes against society, which includes animal cruelty, drug, gambling, pornography, prostitution and weapon violations. During the first eight months of the year, crimes against persons decreased nearly 2 percent, property crimes decreased a little over 3 percent and crimes against society decreased 2 percent, McManus said. Homicides in particular dropped by 25 percent. There were 85 homicides reported during the first eight months of this year, compared to 113 during the same time period last year, the department said. Michael Smith, a criminologist with UTSA who helped implement the plan, said the decreases in crime were even more significant in the areas where "hot-spot policing" was deployed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad During periods of high crime, officers from SAPDs street crime, patrol and community policing units sit in marked patrol cars with their lights on for 15-minute stretches, only leaving their vehicle if they witness a crime or an emergency. The effort is concentrated in 28 hot spots 100-meter-by-100-meter grids of the city experiencing high levels of violent crime. The second phase of the plan, which began in June, involves combating the underlying conditions that give rise to crime at certain locations. The strategy is first being employed at the Rosemont at Highland Park Apartments in the 1300 block of Rigsby Avenue on the East Side. Police chose that location based on a 2-year-analysis of violent crime. It found that the apartments ranked fourth in violent crime incidents and fourth in violence-related calls for service. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Department heads from SAPD and the citys Metropolitan Health District, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Neighborhood and Housing Services have identified a number of issues they plan to target at the Rosemont apartments to try to decrease crime there. That includes improving resident engagement with property management, addressing trespassing a nearby homeless encampment and decreasing the number of abandoned vehicles, stray animals and trash nearby. "The working group has designed solutions and interventions aimed to address every one of these issues," Smith said. "That work is underway now. We'll have full impact results on that for you in January." Maria Vargas-Yates, public safety outcomes coordinator with the City of San Antonio, said city staff are also engaging with residents about resources that might be available to them, such as SNAP, WIC or parenting classes. They're also hosting events, such as seminars about renters' rights. "There's not a week that goes by that some city department is not there at Rosemont, either engaging with the property management or engaging with residents," Vargas-Yates said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Police are still discussing the third phase of the plan: a suspect-based strategy aimed at breaking the cycle of violence among a small number of repeat and high-risk offenders. Members of City Council's Public Safety committee expressed hope in light of the statistics, but they also requested more data to determine if the decrease in crime could be attributed to other causes. "I would like to see any data we have going back further," District 6 Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda said. District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez agreed that additional data is needed. He also noted that crime across the U.S. is down. Lady Cafe Au Lait shined in her first start in the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Series, succeeding in the fifth leg and Woodbine Mohawk Park Tuesday evening nightcap with a 4-1/2-length triumph in 1:53.2. Borth pulled off the gate with the Victor Puddy student, but kept her in the mix as the field rounded the turn in her $20,000 division. He took her into fourth along the pylons briefly as the quarter clicked :27, but quickly moved her forward to take command. Lady Cafe Au Lait brushed to the top, tripped the half in :56.2 and three-quarters in 1:25.2, then took off to win by 4-1/2 lengths in 1:53.2. Stellrmanipulation (Bob McClure) came from tenth to take second and Side Effects (Louis-Philippe Roy) completed the triactor. Lady Cafe Au Lait (Big Jim-Lady Latte) is owned by her trainer Victor Puddy, 10462217 Canada Inc., and Lloyd Stone. She moved her career record to 2-1-3 in 10 starts with $43,244 earned. Sent off at 7-5 odds as the favourite, she returned $4.90 to win. Wicked Cruizer proved to be the best in the first division full of 10 starters. Jody Jamieson was in the bike for Gabriella Sasso as they lined up in post three on the gate. Jamieson eased the filly from the gate and landed in fifth through the :27.2 opening quarter and :57.3 half. Windsun Charlotte (Louis-Philippe Roy) was the first to make a move to the outside and Wicked Cruizer followed her cover through the three-quarters in 1:25.4. The pair of fillies battled home and overtook the mile pacesetter, Dee (Sylvain Filion), down the lane. Wicked Cruizer had enough left in the tank to go on to win by a half length in 1:53.4. Windsun Charlotte was second and Dee saved show. Wicked Cruizer (McWicked-Cruzin Tothe Dance) is owned by Jeffrey Courchesne, Martwest Racing Lp and Tony Aarts. She won her second race from seven career starts and her bankroll now stands at $35,186. Her OSS Grassroots tally shows two wins and a fourth in three legs. She returned $5.70 to win as the 2-1 second choice. The Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Series concludes with the consolation on Sept. 27 and final on Sept. 28, both at Mohawk. To view Tuesday's harness racing results, click the following link: Tuesday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park. (Standardbred Canada) A pair of $20,270 trots headed the Tuesday (Sept. 17) afternoon card at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania after the races took a short break for the tracks Oktoberfest celebration. Driver Jim Pantaleano won both contests with second choices recording their second straight wins, but using decidedly-different tactics. In a claiming handicap event, the Il Sogno Dream mare I Da Princess got away no better than sixth, and when Pantaleano moved her to the outside, she could find no cover. But the sharp distaff grinded away at the pacesetter, made the lead in the stretch, and then held off a big late kick by Jive Ninety Five by a head in 1:55.3. Kevin Reynolds Jr. trains the recent Tioga shipper, and he co-owns her with Kevin Reynolds. The other feature was for up-and-coming horses, and the Wheeling N Dealin sophomore gelding Pay The Price fits that description, as in his last two starts he has tripled his lifetime victory total, this time lowering his mark to 1:55.1. Pay The Price was sent directly to command, may have been aided when the race favorite broke early, but may not have needed the help, coming home in :57 - :28.1 while defeating pocketsitting Mischievous G by two lengths. Eric Irving conditions the developing youngster for Elite Harness Racing LLC. Tyler Buter had three winners at Pocono Tuesday, two for trainer Ron Burke, the only trainers to have two winners. But there were plenty of doubling drivers right behind Buter: Braxten Boyd, Matt Kakaley, Marcus Miller, Anthony Napolitano, and Jim Pantaleano (as described). Pocono will now resume its late summer-fall schedule of Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, with the races starting at 1 p.m. A well-matched fast-class field has been assembled for the $18,500 USD featured pace on Saturday (Sept. 21); there also will be a carryover into the first race Superfecta. (PHHA / Pocono) The fifth leg of the Prospect Series for two-year-old pacing males was contested in two $8,000 parts on Tuesday (Sept. 17) evening at Flamboro Downs with divisions taken by Silverwalls and Bozak. Silverwalls won his first career race in the first division with Scott Coulter piloting the winning drive. Silverwalls idled in third through the first quarter in :28.3 before sweeping to the top and taking control of the timer. He maintained his lead through the half in :58.1 and three-quarters in 1:27.2. Opening up down the stretch, Silverwalls was home free by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:56.2. Five Star Lou (Travis Henry) finished second with Babbling Billy (Samuel Fillion) third. Silverwalls (Betterthancheddar - Redwalls) is owned by Dale Hunter and trained by Dennis Morissey. He paid $6.00 to win from 2-1 odds. Bozak made his first start under trainer Brenda Lane a winning one with Brett MacDonald in the bike. The pair left from post four, set the fractions in :29.4, :59.2, and 1:28.3 and then continued on to win by a half length in 1:57.3. Winchester Phoenix (Austin Sorrie) closed sharply, but was unable to catch the leader while Bobby Bone Breaker (Travis Henry) took the show spot. Brenda, Mark, and Anthony Lane co-own the Dancin Lou - Miss Mittzie Bee gelding. He has three wins in nine starts, winning his last three straight races. From 3-1 odds, he paid $7.60 to win. To view Tuesday's harness racing results, click the following link: Tuesday Results - Flamboro Downs. (Standardbred Canada) New Brunswick's Woodstock Raceway was the target of theft on Monday night, Sept. 16. Horse Racing New Brunswick (HRNB) has confirmed with Trot Insider that the starting gate was stolen on Monday night from the grounds at Connell Park. The theft has been reported to local police. No other property was reported stolen or damaged. Races will proceed safely and fairly as planned this Saturday, Sept. 21 as a starting gate previously sold by HRNB to Charles Gaudreault will be borrowed for the card. The racetrack has been the target of mischief this summer with vandals cutting and removing six feet of the cable line under the grandstand during Old Home Week racing. HRNB officials would like to extend a huge thank you to Gaudreault for the use of the starting gate this weekend. (Standardbred Canada) The Ontario Harness Horse Association (OHHA) has announced that its annual membership meeting will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The meeting will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Forest Room at the Flamborough Baptist Church, located at 41 Concession 5 Road East in Waterdown, Ont. (Standardbred Canada) Officer Holvin Perez, an SAPD officer assigned to the Bike Patrol Unit, was seen during his usual patrol in downtown on August 2. The City Council will vote to approve its new budget on Thursday, deciding whether to fund $6.3 million to hire 65 more San Antonio police officers Christopher Lee / Staff Photographer City Council is poised to approve hiring 65 more patrol officers when it votes on a new city budget Thursday. Here are five things to know about the plan. It's part of a long-term expansion The boost in patrol officers would bring the total number of officers to 2,775 in fiscal year 2025. It's step two of a multi-year plan to bolster the police force by 360 patrol officers through fiscal year 2028. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The plan was set in motion in September 2023. That's when council members approved an $8.6 million increase in police funding for the 2024 fiscal year, the largest increase since 2009. Crime is down, for now Although four recent violent deaths downtown could leave a contrary impression, the crime rate in San Antonio has dropped. On Tuesday, Police Chief William McManus told the council's Public Safety Committee that in the first eight months of the year, homicides were down 255 and that other categories of crime declined 3%. McManus and city leaders were cautious attributing the decrease to a three-year violent crime reduction plan launched in January 2023 in collaboration with criminologists from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Chief William McManus introduces a presentation on SAPDs Violent Crime Reduction Plan during a Public Safety Committee meeting held at City Hall in April. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News As part of the effort, during periods of high crime, officers from SAPDs street crime, patrol and community policing units sit in marked patrol cars with their lights on for 15-minute stretches, leaving their vehicles only if they witness a crime or an emergency. San Antonio is growing San Antonio's population keeps increasing and is now more than 1.43 million. Between 2022 and 2023, the city gained 22,000 residents, more than any other large U.S. city, the Census Bureau reported last week. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Danny Diaz, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association, said that's one reason San Antonio needs more cops. The number one thing we learn at the academy is, 'What's the best thing to do to fight crime?'" he said. "Well, it's visibility. When officers are visible, people tend not to do crime. But we're so short-staffed that you don't see officers as much as you used to. That's because we're going from call to call to call. Diaz pointed to the city of Dallas, which has a population slightly smaller than San Antonio's and which covers a smaller geographic area. Dallas has more police officers than San Antonio and is set to add 120 by the end of fiscal year 2025, bringing the total to 3,222 officers, according to a memo by the city manager. But determining the appropriate size for a police department is not a matter of simply comparing numbers with other large cities. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a 2023 Police Executive Research Forum report about police recruitment and retention, Jeremy Wilson, a professor at Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice, said departments should base their staffing levels on workload and performance benchmarks. Its helpful to think about this from a systems perspective and to think not just about the number of staff we need, but what theyre doing and how theyre doing it," he said. "We need to think about what it is that the community needs, whats the service style of the organization, and then assess the workload. A lot of agencies compare themselves to peer organizations and say, 'Heres a community that has a similar size or similar crime rate, so we need to benchmark our staffing based on them.' But thats a very dangerous proposition . . . because that doesnt say anything about the nature of policing or the circumstances or even whether (the other agency) has the right number of officers." Council members want results During last year's City Council discussions, District 6 Council member Melissa Cabello Havrda said conversations about SAPD staffing levels should focus on response times, calls for service and crime levels. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At a budget work session on Sept. 3, District 2 Council Member Jalen McKee-Rodriguez expressed concern that response times for 911 calls and non-emergency calls "have not improved and have gotten slightly worse, despite a nearly 5% increase in police staffing. In fiscal year 2020, non-emergency response times averaged 17 minutes and 6 seconds. That has increased one minute per year since then. Average response times for emergency calls have held steady. McManus asked for more time to show results. He said the department hasn't seen the effect of the first round of hiring because those cadets are still in training at the San Antonio Police Academy. The first group will not go out on patrol until November. My speculation is that our response times will get better as we see the full cadre of those officers hit the streets, he said. McKee-Rodriguez said he "expects that any further increases to the budget be heavily scrutinized and that the department achieves the faster response times, greater visibility, and the proactivity that the community expects." San Antonians like police and want more The community anywhere we go theyre wanting police presence, Diaz said. The help is coming, and I understand its not fast enough, but were going through that process currently. Overall, San Antonio residents are supportive of officers, ranking police services as the second highest priority in the most recent budget priority and satisfaction survey. In addition, satisfaction ratings for overall quality of police services increased to 81 % in 2024 a 9 % increase compared to a similar 2022 survey. Diaz said adding more officers would lead to more arrests of repeat offenders wanted for violent crimes. In addition, detectives would have more time to work cases and focus on the city's high rate of auto theft, and patrol officers could do more to fight property crime, 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 On Sept. 12, OpenAI announced a new ChatGPT model that the company says is substantially better at math and science than previous versions, which struggled with reasoning. An earlier model scored just 13% on the qualifying exam for the International Mathematical Olympiad (the top high school math competition). The new model, called "o1," raised that score to 83%. Niloofar Mireshghallah, a University of Washington postdoctoral scholar in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, studies the privacy and societal implications of large language models, such as ChatGPT. UW News spoke with her about why math and reasoning have so challenged these artificial intelligence models and what the public should know about OpenAI's new release. ChatGPT and other LLMs work by predicting what word comes next with great fluency. Why has math and reasoning been so hard for LLMs? There are two main reasons. One is that it is hard to "figure out" rules and principles when the model does next-word prediction. You need to go back and forth a bit and deduce to do math. Regarding more logical or commonsense reasoning, another reason for difficulty is that, as my advisor Yejin Choi says, commonsense is like dark matter. It's there, but we don't see it or say it. We know that the door to the fridge shouldn't be left open, but there is little text saying that. If there is no text for something, models won't pick it up. The same goes for social norms or other forms of reasoning! Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI's chief scientist, told the New York Times: 'This model can take its time. It can think through the problemin Englishand try to break it down and look for angles in an effort to provide the best answer.' Is this a big shift? Is this new model doing something closer to 'thinking?' This whole "take its time" is a simplification of what is happening, which we call "test-time computation." Up until now, big companies would scale models by sizing up both the models and training data. But the companies might have reached a saturation thereas in, there is not more pre-training data, and sizing up models may not help us much more. This investment in test time helps the model do internal reasoning, so it can try to decompose problems and do multiple iterations. This is called chain-of-thought reasoning, which is like showing your work in a math problem, but for language and thinking tasks. Instead of just giving a final answer, the AI works step by step, writing down each step of its reasoning process. Imagine you're asked to solve a word problem: "If Sally has 3 apples and gives 2 to her friend, how many does she have left?" A normal AI response might just say, "1 apple." But with chain-of-thought reasoning, it would look more like this: Sally starts with 3 apples She gives away 2 apples To find out how many are left, we subtract: 32 = 1 Therefore, Sally has 1 apple left This step-by-step process helps in a few ways: It makes the AI's reasoning more transparent, so we can see how it arrived at its answer and, in the case of a mistake, potentially spot where things went wrong. Chain-of-thought reasoning is especially useful for more complicated tasks, such as answering multi-step questions, solving math problems or analyzing situations that require several logical steps. In a sense, the model can test its own response, as opposed to just doing next-word prediction. One problem before was that if a model predicted one word wrong, it kind of had to commit, and it would get derailed because all its following predictions are based in part on that wrong prediction. This form of chain-of-thought reasoning and response generation is the closest procedure we have to human thinking so far. We are not entirely sure how this internal reasoning fully works, but now the model can take the time to test its own response. Researchers have shown models finding their own mistakes and ranking their own responses when offered multiple choices. For instance, in a recent paper [posted to the arXiv preprint server], we showed that LLMs would spoil birthday surprises when generating a response, but when asked if their response is appropriate, they would realize the mistake. So this self-testing can help the model come up with a more logical response. What should people know and pay attention to when companies announce new AI models like this? I think one thing that people should be careful with is to still fact-check the model outputs, and not get fooled by the model "thinking" and taking its time. Yes, we are getting better responses, but there are still failure modes. More information: Niloofar Mireshghallah et al, Can LLMs Keep a Secret? Testing Privacy Implications of Language Models via Contextual Integrity Theory, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2310.17884 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: Brazil Judge Alexandre de Moraes has repeatedly clashed with Elon Musk after making it his mission to crack down on disinformation. Elon Musk's X social network carried out an automatic update overnight on phone applications that allowed it to bypass a ban in Brazil, an association of internet providers said Wednesday. Some Brazilian users were surprised to have access again to the platform, formerly Twitter, from their phones after a Supreme Court judge last month ordered its shutdown in a bitter legal standoff with Musk. The Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers (ABRINT) explained that the return of X was due to an update of the app to Cloudflare software that uses constantly changing IP addresses. The previous system used specific IPs, which act like a home address for servers or computers and could more easily be blocked. The changes "make blocking the app much more complicated," said ABRINT. Many of the dynamic IPs "are shared with other legitimate services, such as banks and large internet platforms, making it impossible to block an IP without affecting other services," the group said. "Internet providers are in a delicate position," and awaiting technical analysis and instructions from Brazil's telecommunications agency, said ABRINT. Brazil's shutdown of X infuriated Musk and has fueled a fierce debate on freedom of expression and the limits of social networks, both inside and outside the country. The social media platform has more than 22 million users in Brazil. The hashtag "Twitter is back" was one of the most used on Wednesday in Brazil. Ongoing feud Judge Alexandre de Moraes last month ordered X to be banned after Musk refused to remove dozens of right-wing accounts and then failed to name a new legal representative in the country as ordered. Moraes has repeatedly clashed with the South African-born billionaire after making it his mission to crack down on disinformation. Last week he ordered the transfer of some $3 million from Musk's companies to pay fines incurred by X. Moraes also froze the assets of X and Starlink, which has been operating in Brazil since 2022especially in remote communities in the Amazonto ensure payment of fines imposed on X for its failure to follow court orders. Musk reacted angrily to the suspension, calling Moraes a "dictator" and repeatedly targeting the judge in posts to his 198 million followers on X. Moraes also ordered that those using "technological subterfuges" such as virtual private networks (VPNs) to access the blocked site could be fined up to $9,000. "Judge Alexandre de Moraes: I didn't use a VPN to get in here, I just opened the app... and saw that it worked," wrote one user on X Wednesday. Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had hailed the ban. His far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro was staunchly against it, and welcomed the technical tweak which brought X back online. "I congratulate all those who have pushed to defend democracy in Brazil," he wrote on the platform. 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: HEXEL modules snap together for a large-stroke muscle and a multi-modal array. Credit: Zachary Yoder / MPI-IS Ellen Rumley / MPI-IS Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed hexagon-shaped robotic components, called modules, that can be snapped together LEGO-style into high-speed robots that can be rearranged for different capabilities. The team of researchers from the Robotic Materials Department at MPI-IS, led by Christoph Keplinger, integrated artificial muscles into hexagonal exoskeletons that are embedded with magnets, allowing for quick mechanical and electrical connections. The team's work, "Hexagonal electrohydraulic modules for rapidly reconfigurable high-speed robots" was published in Science Robotics on September 18, 2024. Six lightweight rigid plates made from glass fiber serve as the exoskeleton of each HEXEL module. The inner joints of the hexagons are driven by hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) artificial muscles. Applying a high voltage to the module causes the muscle to activate, rotating the joints of the hexagon and changing its shape from long and narrow to wide and flat. Credit: Zachary Yoder / MPI-IS Ellen Rumley / MPI-IS "Combining soft and rigid components in this way enables high strokes and high speeds. By connecting several modules, we can create new robot geometries and repurpose them for changing needs," says Ellen Rumley, a visiting researcher from the University of Colorado Boulder. She and Zachary Yoder, who are both Ph.D. students working in the Robotic Materials Department, are co-first authors of the publication. In a video, the team shows the many behaviors that can be created with HEXEL modules. A group of modules crawls through a narrow gap, while a single module actuates so fast that it can leap into the air. Multiple modules are connected into larger structures that produce different motions depending on how the modules are attached. For instance, the team combined several modules into a robot which rapidly rolls. Individual HEXEL modules combine soft artificial muscles with rigid components for fast and large motions. Credit: Zachary Yoder / MPI-IS Ellen Rumley / MPI-IS HEXEL modules drive a robot which rolls through sand. Credit: Zachary Yoder / MPI-IS Ellen Rumley / MPI-IS A chain of HEXEL modules with Ellen Rumley left and Zach Yoder right. Credit: MPI-IS / Wolfram Scheible Fast-moving HEXEL module. Credit: MPI-IS / Wolfram Scheible "In general, it makes a lot of sense to develop robots with reconfigurable capabilities. It's a sustainable design optioninstead of buying five different robots for five different purposes, we can build many different robots by using the same components. Robots made from reconfigurable modules could be rearranged on demand to provide more versatility than specialized systems, which could be beneficial in resource-limited environments," Yoder concludes. More information: Christoph Keplinger et al, Hexagonal electrohydraulic modules for rapidly reconfigurable high-speed robots, Science Robotics (2024). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adl3546. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.adl3546 Journal information: Science Robotics 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 An EU court on Wednesday largely upheld an antitrust fine against US chipmaking giant Qualcomm but reduced the penalty slightly to 238.7 million euros ($265 million). The European Union hit Qualcomm with a fine of 242 million euros in 2019 after it found the company had engaged in "predatory pricing" in a bid to eliminate a competitor. The dispute dates back to 2009 when British company Icerasince acquired by chip titan Nvidiaaccused Qualcomm of anti-competitive practices. The Luxembourg-based General Court rejected Qualcomm's appeal against the fine, noting it had made a "detailed examination of all the pleas" it put forward. But the judge made an "exception of a plea concerning the calculation of the amount of the fine, which it finds to be well founded in part". The company reiterated Wednesday that it had complied with EU antitrust law. "Qualcomm respectfully disagrees with the judgment and the commission's decision and believes that we have always remained in compliance with European competition law," the company said in a statement. 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: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain As the government's plan to increase speed limits begins to roll out, a group of local and international road safety and health experts has warned the move will lead to more death and injury, and disputed claims higher speed limits will bring economic gains. The group's open letter echoes concerns raised since the policy was announcedthat roads will become less predictable to use, less efficient and significantly more dangerous, particularly for children and other vulnerable people. Evidence suggests the changes are also unlikely to improve commutes or boost economic growth and productivity, as Transport Minister Simeon Brown has argued. Nor will raising some open road limits from 100 kilometers per hour to 110km per hour, and increasing urban speed limits, magically clear congestion. It will simply change the number on the sign while cars continue to inch forward in traffic. On less congested roads, higher speed limits can make commutes less predictable by increasing the likelihood of sudden braking, risky lane changes and other hazardous maneuvers, while also reducing reaction times. As speeds increase, the probability of crashes also rises sharply. Research shows even a 5km per hour increase in speed can double the risk of a fatal crash in urban areas. Traffic crashes carry an enormous financial burden, with a social cost of nearly NZ$12 billion in 2022 alone, and almost $225 billion since 2001. Studies of New Zealand roads have shown increasing speeds leads to disproportionate increases in fuel consumption. For example, on long routes, reducing maximum speeds from 100km per hour to 80km per hour reduced fuel consumption by about 15%much higher savings than the corresponding reduction in travel time. Higher speeds often result in increased costs rather than improved efficiency. Overall, as the expert group has argued, the rationale for increasing speed limits goes against the evidence. Children at risk Proponents argue even marginal time savings for some drivers justify the changes. But at what cost? Those small time gains for a few come at the expense of safety for many, particularly children. Take Auckland's Tyndale Park Christian School and Te Uho o te Nikau Primary School, for example. Both are near a single intersection in Flat Bush and are a microcosm of the wider negative impacts of higher speed limits. The limit on Murphy's Road in front of Tyndale Park will jump from 60 to 80km per hour, while Flat Bush Road outside Te Uho o te Nikau will see limits rise from 30 to 50km per hour. Since 2020, Murphy's Road and Flat Bush Road have had more lanes added, making both roads twice as wide. Faster speeds will make it more difficult and potentially dangerous for children to cross. Car crashes are the leading cause of accidental death of New Zealand children, and the country already ranks among the worst in the developed world for fatal crashes involving children. Children aged four and under are most at risk of being struck by a vehicle. While many child passengers killed in crashes weren't properly restrained, higher speeds only add more risk. The government argues variable speed limits around schools during pick-up and drop-off times will mitigate those risks. But this fails to address the fundamental issue: roads must be safe for all users at all times. A child doesn't stop being vulnerable outside school hours, and the danger posed by higher speeds is constant. These streets are where children play, visit friends and head to sports. Cities elsewhere are slowing down Overseas experience and evidence shows how safer speeds can save both lives and money. In 2019, Oslo in Norway achieved zero pedestrian or cyclist deaths thanks to its Vision Zero policy, which prioritizes safety over speed. Helsinki in Finland saw similar success, with only three traffic deaths that year. Closer to home, Hobart recently lowered speed limits in its central areas to 40km per hour, aligning with global trends to improve road safety. Specific results are still pending, but evidence from Edinburgh in Scotland shows lowering speed limits to 20 miles per hour (32km per hour) across most of the city in 2018, particularly near schools, has far exceeded expectations. Three years later, traffic casualties had fallen by 20% and collisions were reduced by 22%. These statistics represent lives saved and injuries prevented, outstripping what experts predicted from speed changes alone. A Vision Zero strategy in the US city of Portlandvery similar to Auckland in size and urban planning challengestargets the elimination of traffic deaths and severe injuries, and is already showing promise. Recent research by the World Bank has also debunked the idea that higher speeds drive economic growth. On the contrary, it shows slower speeds reduce the massive costs of road crashesnot just obvious ones like ambulance rides and hospital bills, but hidden ones such as rising insurance premiums and productivity losses. f Ultimately, when we slow down, our streets become more than just roads. They transform into places people want to walk, bike and spend time, all of which boosts the local economy. Cities around the world are figuring this outNew Zealand should also prioritize safety and livability over the false promises of speed. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: cottonbro studio from Pexels US officials on Wednesday announced plans for a global AI safety summit in November, as authorities strive to keep pace with rapidly developing technology. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will co-host the first gathering of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes on November 20-21 in San Francisco. "With AI evolving at a rapid pace, we... are pulling every lever," Raimondo said in a statement. "That includes close, thoughtful coordination with our allies and like-minded partners," she said. The network's initial members include Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Secretary Raimondo established the group during the AI Seoul Summit in May, aiming to prepare participating countries to develop better regulation of the sector and coordinate policy. The initiative follows the explosive popularity of ChatGPT after its 2022 release, which sparked a global AI race with tech companies investing billions in generative AI models capable of producing human-like content from simple prompts. While proponents tout AI's potential to improve lives and businesses, critics warn of misuse risks, leading to calls for international standards to govern AI development and usage. 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: Josep Jornet is a Northeastern professor of electrical and computer engineering and the associate director for the universitys Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things. Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Thousands of pagers used by members of the militant group Hezbollah simultaneously exploded in parts of Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 2,700. Reuters reported Tuesday night that Israel's Mossad spy agency placed small amounts of explosives inside the pagers. Hezbollah purchased the pagers from Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese manufacturer. Tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have escalated since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and sparked the Israel-Hamas war. The two sides have been exchanging fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the war began. The Associated Press reported that the pagers had recently been acquired by Hezbollah after its leadership told members to stop using cellphones out of concern they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence. Josep Jornet is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and the associate director for the Northeastern's Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things. Northeastern Global News interviewed him about how such an attack might have been carried out. His answers have been edited and condensed for clarity. This situation is still evolving, but what do you believe are some key takeaways so far? Usually this type of hardware has a failsafe, which means if something fails, the device turns off. Here, the failsafe didn't act, which means that it was disabled. Who disabled it? Where did they get [these pagers] from? Who manufactured them? Who had access to them? It could be the manufacturer that caused the problem. It could have been a third party who intercepted the pagers and did firmware edits. It's been reported that explosives were placed inside the pagers. What additional insights can we make about this situation? What it means is that somewhere between the manufacturer and the user someone had access to these pagers. And they did not just modify the software, they would make it react in the presence of a specific message. They also added a tiny explosive next to the battery, so that the reaction would not just be a battery blowing up, it would be the actual pagers exploding. Do you know of any other situations like this one happening in the past? No, I cannot think of any right now. This is new. Do you suspect situations like this happening more in the future as the world gets increasingly more connected? These things can happen, for sure. That's why in places like Northeastern there is much research going on in cybersecurity. What I want to emphasize is that cybersecurity is needed not just to protect your identity and your bank account. It's needed to protect your physical integrity. This story is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu. A shootout outside Shops at Rivercenter mall that began as a car burglary on Tuesday evening left a car burglar with a gunshot wound to face, San Antonio police said. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images A robbery that began as a vehicle burglary near the Shops at Rivercenter mall ended in gunfire, leaving one of the robbers with a gunshot wound to the face, San Antonio police say. Around 5 p.m. Tuesday, a family walking out of the shopping center found a 35-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman burglarizing their vehicle. The burglars pointed guns at the family, according to a police report. The familys husband and son, who were also armed, fired their guns at the two burglars several times, police said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad ALSO READ: San Antonio man accused of trying to hit DPS agent with vehicle has been arrested The 35-year-old man who was breaking into the car suffered a gunshot wound to the face. The suspected thieves drove away shortly after the shooting. They were dropped off at the hospital by other people, according to the report. The 28-year-old woman was arrested on outstanding misdemeanor warrants. San Antonio police did not confirm if the wounded man has been arrested. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 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: Snap boss Evan Spiegel speaks at the group's annual conference on September 17, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. Snapchat, the popular teen-focused social network, is positioning itself as a healthier alternative to platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which have faced criticism for their impact on youth mental health. However, not everyone is convinced. At parent company Snap's annual conference in Santa Monica on Tuesday, CEO Evan Spiegel emphasized the platform's unique approach. "When we started Snapchat, we wanted something different, and we didn't like the way that social media made us feel," Spiegel said. Snapchat is often seen as a better alternative by authorities, associations and parents concerned about the harmful effects of social networking on young people. And its reputation as a "safer" social media option has been bolstered by recent research. A University of Amsterdam study, cited by Spiegel, found that while time spent on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube negatively impacted mental health, Snapchat use showed positive effects on friendships and well-being. That said, critics like Matthew Bergman, founder of an organization representing social media victims, argue that the ephemeral nature of Snapchatwhere stories disappear after 24 hoursfacilitates criminal activities. "In particular, the disappearing message serves to provide an open air drug market for drug dealers to sell drugs," he said. People attend Snap's annual conference on September 17, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. Bergman's group represents 180 parents whose children allegedly died from fentanyl poisoning after purchasing drugs via the app. Whether Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat, "all are based on the same business model, which is maximizing engagement over and above safety," he added. Industry analyst Jasmine Enberg of Emarketer noted the challenges facing Snapchat. "At the end of the day, Snapchat like Meta is a business and so one of the biggest challenges is balancing the privacy, safety and security of its users, especially young users, with generating revenue," she said. Despite the platform's successes, it remains unprofitable and struggles to compete for crucial advertiser dollars with tech giants Meta, Google and TikTok. 'Least worst' Snapchat remains popular among youths, with three-quarters of 13-to-34-year-olds using the app in more than 25 countries. The platform pioneered vertical videos and in 2013, created "Stories" that disappear in 24 hours, a feature that has been widely copied since. Snapchat pioneered vertical videos and in 2013, created 'Stories' that disappear in 24 hours. "No likes or comments, so you can share your perspective without social pressure... and it's working," Spiegel said. He added that the app boasts an impressive 850 million monthly active users and continues to grow. Fourteen-year-old user Lily (who declined to give her last name) told AFP she prefers Snapchat for casual communication, appreciating its lower-pressure environment compared to text messaging. "You can also just kind of send photos back and forth," she said. She also loves augmented reality filters and games, and brushes aside the problem of malicious actors. "People do try to add you and talk to you and try to get you to do stuff, but I always just block them," she said. Content creator Adriana Vecchioli praised Snapchat's approach at the conference, noting that its disappearing messages feature "gives more freedom" and reduces pressure on users, particularly young women. It's the "least worst" of the platforms, she said. 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: Emily Keller, a doctoral student in robotics at the Locomotor Control Systems Lab, University of Michigan, demonstrates the knee exoskeletons on the steps outside of the Ford Robotics Building at U-M. Credit: Jose Montes-Perez, Robotics, University of Michigan A set of knee exoskeletons, built with commercially available knee braces and drone motors at the University of Michigan, has been shown to help counteract fatigue in lifting and carrying tasks. They helped users maintain a better lifting posture even when tired, a key factor in defending against on-the-job injuries, say the researchers of a new paper published in the journal Science Robotics. "Rather than directly bracing the back and giving up on proper lifting form, we strengthen the legs to maintain it," said Robert Gregg, U-M professor of robotics and corresponding author of the study. "This differs from what's more commonly done in industry." Already, workers who lift regularly, such as in construction and manufacturing, may use back braces. Back exoskeletons, which use springs or motors to help with lifting, are an emerging technology. But devices supporting the back assume unsafe lifting, or stooping, and back exoskeletons tend to be cumbersome devices that must be deactivated to allow motions that aren't part of the lifting task, Gregg said. The Michigan team says their knee exoskeletons are the first to support the quadriceps muscles instead, which provide the bulk of the force in safe squat lifting, as a less intrusive way to help protect workers from back injuries. Study participants tested them out with lifting and carrying tasks using a 20-pound kettlebell. The tasks included lifting the weight off the ground and setting it down again, and lifting and carrying the weight on flat ground, up and down an incline, and up and down stairs. The study found that after becoming fatigued, the participants kept better posture with the help of the exoskeleton, and they also lifted fasterjust 1% slower than their pre-fatigued paces, versus 44% slower without the aid of the exoskeletons. "This is especially important when a worker has to keep up with a conveyor belt. Usually, when a worker is fatigued, they'll keep up with that rate, but with a compromised posture. They'll bend their back more, and that's when injuries are most likely," said Nikhil Divekar, a postdoctoral research fellow in robotics at U-M and first author of the study. The participants felt the benefit, toothey mainly said they were quite or very satisfied, with the exception of walking on level ground, with which they were more or less satisfied. This tracks with the small amount of assistance required by the quadriceps during this relatively easy task; Gregg described it as just enough support to counteract the weight of the exoskeleton. One of the keys to making the exoskeleton so wearable is the motors and the way that they are geared, which enables users to swing their knees freely for a natural gait. The other is the software, which predicts what kind of assistance the user needs by measuring the angle of the knee joint, the orientations of the thigh and lower leg, and the force picked up by a sensor in the user's shoe. With these three measurements from both legs, it's possible to work out what motion the user is trying to make, and how much assistance to give. These measurements were taken 150 times per second, enabling the exoskeletons to move seamlessly between activities. This approach is in contrast to many exoskeleton controllers, which follow predefined patterns for a limited set of tasks. Switching tasks can be a problem for these controllers, and they may need a full second to figure out what the user is trying to do, Gregg said. "If your exo is trying to walk upstairs, and you're trying to walk downstairs, that could be a problem, right?" he said. The new controller also pairs a physics model with machine learning, which prevents the exoskeleton from making unexpected moves if the user begins behaving differently than any activity included in the controller's training data. The lab prototypes cost about $4,000 per pair, so Gregg anticipates that if the exoskeletons were produced at scale, they might cost about $2,000 per pair. The 10 study participants, five women and five men, did all the tasks on two different days, one day fresh and the other fatigued. To induce fatigue, each participant performed a series of squat lifts with the kettlebell until they couldn't continue without a long break between repetitions. All participants had experience with proper squat lifting techniques. The team has applied for patent protection with the assistance of U-M Innovation Partnerships and is seeking partners to bring the technology to market. More information: Nikhil Divekar et al, A Versatile Knee Exoskeleton Mitigates Quadriceps Fatigue in Lifting, Lowering, and Carrying Tasks, Science Robotics (2024). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adr8282. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.adr8282 Journal information: Science Robotics 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 The clock is ticking for TikTok, and questions of freedom of speech and national security are on the line. This week, representatives for the popular video-sharing app are arguing in a federal appeals court for its ability to operate in the United States. A federal law, which goes into effect in January, would ban the app for U.S. users in the name of national security concerns. Chinese company, ByteDance, owns TikTok. Virginia Tech communications experts Megan Duncan, Jimmy Ivory, and Cayce Myers explain what this case means for social media's role in public perception and political opinion. "While we might think of TikTok as mostly fun dance videos and people sharing their beauty routines, this federal law and subsequent court hearings demonstrate that social media is political," Duncan said. "Because it is a place where public opinion can be influenced and because it is a company that controls substantial money and power, social media is political. "Platforms such as TikTok and others have been shown to influence public opinion relating to what topics users think are important and worth paying attention to," Duncan said. "They can also influence a user's perception of the balance of public opinion on an issue." The case has wide implications in the United States, given TikTok's expansive following, Myers said. "Interestingly, while the case involves discussion about national security and the potential for espionage, U.S. use of TikTok has proliferated with the platform having more than 170 million users that includes individuals, businesses, and even major U.S. politicians," he said. The case spotlights the role that social media plays in free speech and what regulation means. "The ban of TikTok is significant because of the First Amendment implications for both TikTok and its users," Myers said. "TikTok argues that the forced divestment creates a double standard under the First Amendment for their platform, which ultimately violates free speech." Ivory said it could be a while until there is a resolution in the case. "The case will set a precedent about the extent to which regulating software applications' ownership is a First Amendment issue for their users," Ivory said. "I would not expect resolution any time soon. We are likely to see this case appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States regardless of how this appeal goes." This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The map shows all electricity generation and transmission assets of the Ukrainian electricity system as of February 2022 and military attacks until 6 June 2023. In February 2022, the entire power system of mainland Ukraine comprised over 1,500 generation plants in seven regional power systems totalling 59 GW of generation capacity. 49 percent of the capacity was operated on fossil fuels, i.e. coal and/or gas. 23 percent was covered by nuclear power stations, with the remaining quarter made up of solar energy (13%), hydropower (11%), wind energy (3%), biomass and biogas (<1%). Credit: ETH Zurich, ISTP, PLUS / Cell Press One of the main targets of Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine is the energy infrastructure. The extent of the destruction is enormous. "One year after the start of the war in February 2022, 76% of thermal power plants had been destroyed; now the figure is 95%," says Ukrainian scientist Iryna Doronina. "And all the large hydroelectric power plants have also failed." The breaching of the Kakhovka dam proved to be particularly devastating. The huge outflow of waterthe reservoir covered an area 1.5 times bigger than the canton of Zurichdestroyed thousands of homes and left the reservoir a desert. Before the war, Doronina was a lecturer at the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics; in 2022, she came to ETH Zurich as an SNSF Scholar at Risk. This Swiss National Science Foundation program provides Swiss universities with financial support so they can give temporary employment to researchers at risk. That's how Doronina ended up as a Senior Researcher at the ETH Institute of Science, Technology and Policy (ISPT) until 2024. Today, she continues her research at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). In Zurich, she worked closely with the groups led by Adrienne Gret-Regamey, Professor of Planning Landscape and Urban Systems (PLUS), and by Tobias Schmidt, Professor of Energy and Technology Policy and Head of the ISTP. Together they looked into why renewables should take center stage in the reconstruction of the Ukrainian electricity system. The corresponding findings, to which researchers from the Technical University of Munich and the University of Bayreuth also made valuable contributions, have now been published in Joule. "We've established that practically all Ukraine's large, centralized power plants have been attacked since February 2022. This has reduced the total electricity generation capacity to around one-third of the pre-war level," Schmidt says. "The grid has also been considerably weakened by attacks on transmission lines and substations, particularly in the east of the country." Capacity reserves are key to survival In their study, the researchers combined geospatial and public policy analyses. "Our study presents the first comprehensive, geospatial mapping of Ukraine's electricity system as it was in February 2022 and its subsequent destruction in the war," Gret-Regamey says. "We also show Ukraine's renewables potential, and we identify the policy and regulatory conditions needed to facilitate investment." First, the researchers created a detailed map of Ukraine's energy infrastructure before 2022. "We wanted to understand the scope of installed power generation capacity, so we mapped 1,626 sites," Doronina says. "This information on plants and their locations, output, production and consumption serves as the basis for further analysis." With 59 gigawatts of installed capacity, Ukraine was one of Europe's biggest electricity producers before 2022. The country itself required 22 gigawatts. "That means Ukraine had considerable capacity reserves, which have helped it to survive during the war," Doronina states. Nuclear power plays a significant role. The Zaporizhzhia plant in southwest Ukraine, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, was occupied by Russian troops and hasn't supplied electricity since September 2022. However, a further three nuclear power plants with seven reactors between them remain operational in the east and south and continue to supply Ukraine with electricity. However, Russia's repeated attacks on the distribution grid lead to hours-long power cuts, including in the capital city of Kyiv. "That's why Ukraine should develop a distributed power supply system," Doronina says. A centralized system is easier to attack, whereas independent systems are more resistant to war and crisis. Moving to a decentralized energy system Renewable power plants that harness solar or wind energy are particularly suitable for distributed infrastructure and can be installed much more quickly than centralized conventional plants. "However, municipalities must be able to produce enough renewable energy locally to meet their power needs," Doronina says. The researchers created high-resolution maps of Ukraine's various regions, showing the areas in which power generation from solar and wind energy is most favorable. The team took into account several criteria such as altitude and topography, population density as well as distance to settlements and to power grids. "We meticulously considered protected areas and state agricultural land, ensuring full compliance with the requirements and limitations of Ukrainian legislation," Doronina says. Huge potential for solar and wind energy Next, the researchers estimated energy output by region. This technical potential is enormous. The researchers estimate that the potential for wind energy is around 180 gigawatts, while for solar energy it's around 39 gigawatts. A total capacity of 219 gigawatts would vastly exceed the generation capacity of 59 gigawatts that Ukraine had at the start of the war. Finally, the researchers found that in all the regional power grids, the potential for renewables far surpasses the power generation capacity destroyed during the war. The researchers use the technical potential at regional level together with socio-political, economic, environmental and technological factors to determine which regions are most suitable for Ukraine's transition to renewable energy systems. From a regional perspective, the greatest potential for solar and wind energy lies in the south and east of the country. Supporting a well-governed new energy system Until now, Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been monopolized by one or two oligarchs. "They had control over the national energy market and worked together with Russia. It was also a breeding ground for corruption," explains Vasyl Doronin, head of the NGO Ukrainian Hydrogen Association and co-author of the study. "The transparency of our results reduces the risk of corruption, as the proposed approaches to prioritize the areas with greater potential and those that urgently need to be redeveloped are scientifically sound and balanced," Doronina says. "The maps and databases we developed support policymaking and are the fastest way to meet people's basic energy needs." In addition, this work improves the quality of project preparation and reduces risk for investors once the investment requirements have been clarified. "This study, a trailblazer in its field, was among the first to consider the requirements of the Renewable Energy Directive III of the EU (RED III), identifying renewable accelerating areas," Vasyl Doronin says. The results were presented to the European Commission at its Joint Research Center in the Netherlands. "We want to go back to live in Ukraine again, and we hope our results will help in the country's further development," Doronina says. She wants her research to serve as the basis for a manual that will enable Ukrainian communities to switch their energy supply. Her aim is to create an "atlas of the potential for transforming the energy sector." Information for the Swiss authorities What Ukraine is going through might also offer valuable insights for Swiss civil protection. For example, Doronina provided the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) with detailed information not only on Ukraine's energy infrastructure and its destruction, but also on war damage to the agricultural and education sectors, including schools and kindergartens. "We showed how the war has affected civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, so that the Swiss can see what it actually looks like there and what might happen elsewhere," Doronina says. Furthermore, Doronina and her colleagues also presented their research at the event "Re-Thinking Energy Infrastructure: Empowering DecarbonisationMoving from Strategy to Implementation" which ETH Zurich co-organized last January in the House of Switzerland at the WEF in Davos. More information: Doronina, I. et al. Why renewables should be at the center of rebuilding the Ukrainian electricity system, Joule (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2024.08.014. www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(24)00393-3 Journal information: Joule Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,170,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the August 15th total of 7,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.9% of the companys shares are short sold. Insider Transactions at Archer-Daniels-Midland In other Archer-Daniels-Midland news, CEO Juan R. Luciano sold 170,194 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.51, for a total value of $10,298,438.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 265,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,047,857.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Juan R. Luciano sold 170,194 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.51, for a total transaction of $10,298,438.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 265,210 shares in the company, valued at $16,047,857.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Juan R. Luciano sold 3,683 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $224,663.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 265,210 shares in the company, valued at $16,177,810. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 219,348 shares of company stock worth $13,296,833. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Get Archer-Daniels-Midland alerts: Institutional Trading of Archer-Daniels-Midland Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts have commented on ADM shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $65.62. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Archer-Daniels-Midland Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance NYSE:ADM traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.46. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,836,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,532,915. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a fifty-two week low of $50.72 and a fifty-two week high of $80.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $29.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.72. The firms 50 day moving average is $60.92 and its 200-day moving average is $60.86. Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.19). Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $22.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio is presently 35.09%. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Profile (Get Free Report) Archer-Daniels-Midland Company engages in the procurement, transportation, storage, processing, and merchandising of agricultural commodities, ingredients, flavors, and solutions in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Archer-Daniels-Midland Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Archer-Daniels-Midland and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR Get Free Report) major shareholder Genetic Disorder L.P. Kkr sold 5,800,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.75, for a total transaction of $149,350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,260,971 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $650,470,003.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a companys stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC. KKR & Co. Inc. Price Performance Shares of KKR traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $127.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,376,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,609,075. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.72 and a 12-month high of $128.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.18. The company has a market capitalization of $113.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.62. Get KKR & Co. Inc. alerts: KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 5.05%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Research analysts expect that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year. KKR & Co. Inc. Dividend Announcement Institutional Inflows and Outflows The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. KKR & Co. Inc.s payout ratio is 15.70%. Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 622.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 253 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 371.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 264 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank increased its position in KKR & Co. Inc. by 202.6% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 351 shares of the asset managers stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. acquired a new position in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.26% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms have issued reports on KKR. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on KKR & Co. Inc. in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities lifted their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KKR & Co. Inc. has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $126.86. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on KKR About KKR & Co. Inc. (Get Free Report) KKR & Co Inc is a private equity and real estate investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. It specializes in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, credit special situations, growth equity, mature, mezzanine, distressed, turnaround, lower middle market and middle market investments. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for KKR & Co. Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KKR & Co. Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. JPMorgan European Growth & Income (LON:JEGI Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of GBX 1.20 ($0.02) per share on Friday, November 1st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. The official announcement can be viewed at this link. JPMorgan European Growth & Income Stock Performance LON:JEGI remained flat at GBX 103 ($1.36) during mid-day trading on Tuesday. 471,204 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 513,027. JPMorgan European Growth & Income has a 1 year low of GBX 84.80 ($1.12) and a 1 year high of GBX 110.50 ($1.46). The firms fifty day moving average price is GBX 103.46 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 104.38. The stock has a market cap of 440.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 607.06 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 20.49, a current ratio of 17.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.34. Get JPMorgan European Growth & Income alerts: About JPMorgan European Growth & Income (Get Free Report) Featured Articles JPMorgan European Growth & Income plc Ordinary Shares is an open-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by JPMorgan Funds Limited. The fund is co-managed by JPMorgan Asset Management (UK) Limited. It invests in the public equity markets in Europe. The fund primarily invests its portfolio in the financial sector. Receive News & Ratings for JPMorgan European Growth & Income Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JPMorgan European Growth & Income and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Petro Matad Limited (LON:MATD Get Free Report)s stock price traded up 7.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 2.45 ($0.03) and last traded at GBX 2.45 ($0.03). 10,990,052 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 9% from the average session volume of 12,082,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2.28 ($0.03). Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Shore Capital restated a house stock rating on shares of Petro Matad in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Get Petro Matad alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MATD Petro Matad Stock Up 7.7 % About Petro Matad The businesss 50-day moving average is GBX 2.76 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 3.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 16.91 and a current ratio of 13.92. The firm has a market cap of 36.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.50 and a beta of 2.24. (Get Free Report) Petro Matad Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil in Mongolia. It holds 100% interests in production sharing contract blocks, including Ongi Block V that covers an area of approximately 7,937 square kilometers; and Matad Block XX that consists of an area of approximately 214 square kilometers in Mongolia. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Petro Matad Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Petro Matad and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. FILE - A ground operations crew member walks past a Southwest Airlines jet sitting at a gate, Dec. 28, 2022, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. The federal government may be preparing to penalize Southwest Airlines for thousands of flight cancellations that affected more than 2 million travelers last December. Southwest disclosed the potential fine on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023 and said it couldn't estimate how large it might be. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) Matt York/Associated Press The city of San Antonio and Southwest Airlines are locked in a fight that, if not resolved soon, could damage both sides. Southwest is refusing to sign a long-term lease agreement with the airport unless it gets 10 gates the Dallas-based airline said it was promised in a new terminal that'll be built under the city's $2.5 billion airport expansion plan. The terminal, which will take up more square footage than the existing Terminals A and B combined, is scheduled to open in 2028. The airport said it never guaranteed Southwest gates in the new terminal and that there is no chance it will be moved into the new facility. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and several international carriers are slated to take up the planned terminal's 17 gates. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A Southwest Airlines 737-7H4 holds short of the 13L-31R runway at Dallas Love Field. (Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News/TNS) Smiley N. Pool/TNS The City Council, after only a few minutes of discussion, approved an airline use and lease agreement last week that locks Southwest into Terminal A, the oldest, narrowest terminal at the airport. The current agreement expires Sept. 30, but airlines can sign the new long-term lease deal after it kicks in next month. Because Southwest has refused to sign a long-term lease and will likely operate at the airport under series of month-to-month agreements it will rack up higher fees to fly out of San Antonio and its gates could be shifted frequently. The fallout for San Antonio could be severe, too. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Southwest flies nearly 40 percent of all passengers at San Antonio International, making it the airport's dominant airline. American accounts for 22% of all passengers at the facility, and Delta 15%. Last year, Southwest carried more than 3.7 million of the airports customers. A Southwest Airlines plane takes off from San Antonio International Airport. Sam Owens/Staff file photo Without a long-term lease agreement, the airline could leave San Antonio at any time. While Southwest officials have said they wont pack up if they are denied space in the new terminal, they likely would shelve growth plans for the airport because of Terminal A's cramped conditions. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The outcome of the standoff is hard to predict. Fights over lease agreements and gate assignments dont usually bubble over this late in the process, said Keith Debbage, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who studies regional economic development and tourism. It could end up being a storm in the teacup if last-minute negotiations work out, or it could be a real gunfight at the O.K. Corral because it is an unusual and tense time for the airport, Debbage said, referring to the city's expansion plans. He said the city's decision to put American, Delta and other carriers in the new terminal highlights the airport's focus on increasing its share of business travelers and long-haul and international flights. But it's a risky move for officials to prioritize American and Delta over Southwest, which doesn't court business-class passengers but has been the backbone airline at San Antonio International. You do that at your peril if youre kind of stifling your essentially more blue-collar market that is a proven passenger-demand generator, Debbage said. If Southwest cant grow in San Antonio because of space constraints, the company will likely shift its focus to adding flights in other markets, said Ahmed Abdelghany, associate dean of research at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Universitys college of business in Daytona Beach, Fla. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mayor Ron Nirenberg was unshaken by Southwests threat not to sign a long-term lease agreement, though he added he's hopeful the city and airline could reach an agreement soon. He said if Southwest ultimately leaves the city or slows its expansion at San Antonio's airport, it would hurt the companys bottom line. If they do, it would be a business decision and based on our market and air service growth, it would be a poor one to make, Nirenberg said. Dueling accounts of lease talks As the dominant airline in San Antonio, Southwest played a key role over the past two years in negotiating the terms of the airline use and lease agreement that City Council approved last week. It chaired a committee of airlines and major shipping companies that bargained with airport officials over the agreement. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The seven other committee members American, Delta, United, Spirit, Viva Aerobus, FedEx and UPS have pledged to sign the new lease agreement, which includes an option to renew for an additional five years. The airport expects the usage fees established in the agreement to generate $3.2 billion over the next 15 years. Carriers who sign the agreement get a say in how those dollars will be spent. Since several of them will have gates in the new terminal, much of the money will go into its construction. The airlines will split what's left after the bills are paid. If Southwest doesnt sign on, it will spend an extra $6 million on higher fees to operate at the airport next year alone and lose out on $4 million in shared revenue. Sherri Hull, Southwests director of governmental affairs, said the terms the airlines helped hammer out were agreed to under the promise that Southwest would receive 10 gates in the new terminal a boost from the six it currently occupies in Terminal A. In other words, Southwest would have negotiated different terms if it knew it would be stuck in Terminal A. Hull said the airport pulled the rug out from under the airline in June, announcing Southwest would remain in Terminal A so the airport could have room in the new terminal for airlines that plan to build and operate lounges for business-class travelers. The city has made a decision to pursue, frankly, a more elite subset of passengers and lounge experiences and the largest airline, its hard-working employees and our customers were going to be relegated to the smaller space that didnt fit, Hull said. Currently, United Airlines, which operates out of Terminal B, owns the airport's only lounge. Terminal B is set to undergo $100 million in renovations under the newly adopted agreement. Delta's and Americans commitment to build lounges in the new terminals mezzanine space did play into the airports decision to award the airlines gates, but Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle said that wasnt the only factor. Coyle said Delta had a leg up because it brings in international travelers. The new terminal will have several international gates made for larger aircraft used for long-haul flights, and it will be closer to the new U.S. Customs processing center. Southwest's only international service out of San Antonio is a seasonal flight to Cancun, Mexico. Though the agreement sets aside $200 million for Terminal A renovations, Hull said that wont be enough to meet Southwest's needs. The airport has proposed several upgrades to Terminal A and said it could reduce gates from 17 to 10 to create larger wait areas and reduce crowding that often chokes the terminals narrow concourse. Also, the walls in a few key areas could be pushed back. But Hull said the 75-foot-wide concourse is the real problem. She said the airline needs the 120-foot-wide concourse that's planned for the new terminal in order to grow as planned. The airline had hoped to eventually accommodate 50% of the airports travelers before it was told it was staying in Terminal A. You cant put more sardines in the can, Hull said. Coyle said Southwest made a last-minute request to add $150 million for Terminal A renovations to the agreement, skipping over the committee of airlines and going directly to airport officials with the request. The city turned the airline down and said if they need more funding for Terminal A improvements in the future, the agreement can be amended to set aside more money if all airlines agree. Southwest spokesman Chris Perry said the airline never tried going around the committee, knowing the other airlines would have to agree to their request for more dollars. Before City Council voted last week, Southwest switched from asking for more money to insisting on being placed in the new terminal. But Perry said that as the airline continues negotiating with airport officials, the request for more money could resurface. There are major issues with the customer flow, Perry said. The concourse is just too narrow in Terminal A. That $200 million placeholder thats kind of lipstick on a pig. Debbage said the airports decision to put Southwest in the oldest, smallest terminal, despite its status as the airport's main carrier, struck him as being a slap in the face to the airline. The airline, for its part, might be threatening not to sign the lease to wrest more money for Terminal A renovations, he added. Turbulence The standoff in San Antonio is playing out amid a major shakeup at the top of Southwest. The airline's chairman, Gary Kelly, is set to retire next year and six board directors are leaving in November in a bid to appease hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, which has been pushing for changes in Southwest's executive ranks in pursuit of bigger profits and a higher stock price. The carrier posted a profit of $137 million in the first six months of 2024, down 74 percent from the same period the year before. Southwest's share price has plunged by more than half since April 2021. The hedge fund claims Southwest leaders aren't adapting to changes in customer preferences, and that its failure to modernize its information technology systems led to the December 2022 debacle in which thousands of flights were cancelled. Abdelghany, the Embry-Riddle professor, said Southwest couldn't leave San Antonio even if it wanted to because of the board shake-up. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (NYSE:WMS Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,680,000 shares, a growth of 15.1% from the August 15th total of 1,460,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 553,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMS. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Advanced Drainage Systems by 319.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 151 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Drainage Systems by 1,472.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 173 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 175 shares of the construction companys stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Advanced Drainage Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Advanced Drainage Systems by 29.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 273 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Advanced Drainage Systems alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $192.00 target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Advanced Drainage Systems from $200.00 to $187.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Advanced Drainage Systems from $188.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Advanced Drainage Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $190.14. Advanced Drainage Systems Price Performance NYSE WMS traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $149.92. The companys stock had a trading volume of 766,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 499,066. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.89. The companys 50-day moving average is $156.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.93. Advanced Drainage Systems has a fifty-two week low of $102.32 and a fifty-two week high of $184.27. The stock has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.53. Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE:WMS Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.08. Advanced Drainage Systems had a net margin of 17.09% and a return on equity of 43.60%. The business had revenue of $815.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $828.00 million. Analysts forecast that Advanced Drainage Systems will post 6.95 EPS for the current year. Advanced Drainage Systems Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Advanced Drainage Systemss payout ratio is currently 9.94%. About Advanced Drainage Systems (Get Free Report) Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets thermoplastic corrugated pipes and related water management products, and drainage solutions for use in the construction and agriculture marketplaces in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through Pipe, International, Infiltrator, and Allied Products & Other segments. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Advanced Drainage Systems Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Advanced Drainage Systems and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSE:AEM Get Free Report) (NYSE:AEM) have received a consensus rating of Buy from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$105.14. AEM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Agnico Eagle Mines from C$105.00 to C$118.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. National Bankshares set a C$104.00 price target on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Agnico Eagle Mines to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Cormark boosted their target price on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from C$110.00 to C$115.00 in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Eight Capital raised their price target on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from C$105.00 to C$115.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Get Agnico Eagle Mines alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on Agnico Eagle Mines Insider Buying and Selling at Agnico Eagle Mines Agnico Eagle Mines Stock Performance In other Agnico Eagle Mines news, Director John Merfyn Roberts sold 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$89.27, for a total transaction of C$89,267.00. In related news, Director John Merfyn Roberts sold 1,000 shares of Agnico Eagle Mines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.27, for a total transaction of C$89,267.00. Also, Senior Officer Carol-Ann Plummer-Theriault sold 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$101.85, for a total value of C$2,546,250.00. Insiders have sold a total of 101,000 shares of company stock worth $10,906,117 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders. Agnico Eagle Mines has a fifty-two week low of C$59.36 and a fifty-two week high of C$113.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$105.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$92.14. The stock has a market capitalization of C$56.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.53, a PEG ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 1.10. Agnico Eagle Mines (TSE:AEM Get Free Report) (NYSE:AEM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported C$1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.27 by C$0.19. The business had revenue of C$2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.36 billion. Agnico Eagle Mines had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 3.10%. On average, equities analysts predict that Agnico Eagle Mines will post 5.3998976 EPS for the current year. Agnico Eagle Mines Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.547 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from Agnico Eagle Miness previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of . Agnico Eagle Miness dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 139.10%. About Agnico Eagle Mines (Get Free Report Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, a gold mining company, exploration, development, and production of precious metals. It explores for gold. The company's mines are located in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico, with exploration and development activities in Canada, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Agnico Eagle Mines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Agnico Eagle Mines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Amalgamated Bank cut its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Free Report) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,794 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 1,639 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Banks holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $29,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GS. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth GS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $496.44. Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group In other news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,450 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock. The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.0 % GS opened at $485.39 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $517.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $490.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $452.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. Analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.5 EPS for the current year. The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Groups previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The Goldman Sachs Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 46.86%. About The Goldman Sachs Group (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. See Also 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. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER Free Report) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 442,087 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Amalgamated Banks holdings in Uber Technologies were worth $32,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UBER. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Uber Technologies by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 167,629,367 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $10,320,940,000 after buying an additional 43,275,830 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC acquired a new position in Uber Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $783,401,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Uber Technologies by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,425,981 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $2,804,437,000 after buying an additional 9,996,508 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Uber Technologies by 74.1% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 22,423,451 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $1,726,381,000 after buying an additional 9,541,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Uber Technologies by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 36,928,116 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $2,273,669,000 after buying an additional 8,164,816 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.24% of the companys stock. Get Uber Technologies alerts: Uber Technologies Stock Performance Shares of UBER stock opened at $72.78 on Wednesday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $69.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $152.08 billion, a PE ratio of 117.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. Uber Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.09 and a 12 month high of $82.14. Insider Transactions at Uber Technologies Uber Technologies ( NYSE:UBER Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $10.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.57 billion. Uber Technologies had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Uber Technologies, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year. In other Uber Technologies news, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sold 500,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.91, for a total transaction 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 $91,046,257.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes UBER has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Uber Technologies in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. They set a hold rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Uber Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Uber Technologies has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $87.60. Read Our Latest Stock Report on UBER Uber Technologies Company Profile (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 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. Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $239.96. AVY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Avery Dennison from $253.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. UBS Group lowered shares of Avery Dennison from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $262.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a buy rating and a $274.60 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Get Avery Dennison alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on Avery Dennison Insider Transactions at Avery Dennison Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avery Dennison In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 10,000 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.75, for a total value of $2,137,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 304,114 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $65,004,367.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 10,000 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.75, for a total transaction of $2,137,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,004,367.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Also, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.76, for a total value of $617,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 304,114 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $62,574,496.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold a total of 59,108 shares of company stock valued at $12,545,087 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVY. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the 1st quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 936.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 311 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Avery Dennison Stock Performance AVY stock opened at $220.20 on Friday. Avery Dennison has a 1 year low of $165.21 and a 1 year high of $233.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stocks fifty day moving average is $215.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.92. Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.16. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 33.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. Avery Dennisons quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Avery Dennison will post 9.41 EPS for the current year. Avery Dennison Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Avery Dennisons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.39%. Avery Dennison Company Profile (Get Free Report Avery Dennison Corporation operates as a materials science and digital identification solutions company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Latin, America, and internationally. It provides pressure-sensitive materials comprising papers, plastic films, metal foils, and fabrics; performance tapes products, including tapes for wire harnessing, as well as cable wrapping for automotive, electrical, and general industrial applications; mechanical fasteners, which are precision-extruded and injection-molded plastic devices used in various automotive, general industrial, and retail applications; and other pressure-sensitive adhesive-based materials and converted products under the Fasson, JAC, Yongle, and Avery Dennison brands. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Avery Dennison Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Avery Dennison and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR Get Free Report) and Talen Energy (OTCMKTS:TLNE Get Free Report) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability. Profitability This table compares Portland General Electric and Talen Energys net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get Portland General Electric alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Portland General Electric 9.24% 9.15% 2.76% Talen Energy N/A 1.87% 0.67% Analyst Ratings This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Portland General Electric and Talen Energy, as provided by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Portland General Electric 1 2 4 0 2.43 Talen Energy 0 0 3 0 3.00 Insider and Institutional Ownership Portland General Electric presently has a consensus price target of $45.43, indicating a potential downside of 6.97%. Talen Energy has a consensus price target of $101.00, indicating a potential upside of . Given Talen Energys stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Talen Energy is more favorable than Portland General Electric. 0.4% of Talen Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Portland General Electric shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Earnings and Valuation This table compares Portland General Electric and Talen Energys gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Portland General Electric $2.92 billion 1.72 $228.00 million $2.61 18.71 Talen Energy $2.55 billion 0.00 $613.00 million N/A N/A Talen Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Portland General Electric. Summary Portland General Electric beats Talen Energy on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks. About Portland General Electric (Get Free Report) Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,254 circuit miles, including 287 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 554 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 934 thousand retail customers in 51 cities. It also has 28,868 circuit miles of distribution lines. Portland General Electric Company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. About Talen Energy (Get Free Report) Talen Energy Corporation, an independent power producer and infrastructure company, produces and sells electricity, capacity, and ancillary services into wholesale power markets in the United States. The company operates nuclear, fossil, solar, and coal power plants. It is also developing battery storage projects. The company owns and operates approximately 10.7 GW of power infrastructure. Talen Energy Corporation is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Receive News & Ratings for Portland General Electric Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Portland General Electric and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Andrew Peller (TSE:ADW Get Free Report) Director Lori Constance Covert sold 7,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.87, for a total transaction of C$27,090.00. Lori Constance Covert also recently made the following trade(s): Get Andrew Peller alerts: On Friday, August 23rd, Lori Constance Covert sold 20,000 shares of Andrew Peller stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.85, for a total transaction of C$77,000.00. On Tuesday, July 16th, Lori Constance Covert sold 10,000 shares of Andrew Peller stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$4.07, for a total transaction of C$40,682.00. On Wednesday, July 3rd, Lori Constance Covert sold 10,000 shares of Andrew Peller stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$3.89, for a total transaction of C$38,900.00. Andrew Peller Stock Performance Andrew Peller has a 12 month low of C$10.40 and a 12 month high of C$19.04. Andrew Peller Dividend Announcement Andrew Peller ( TSE:ADW Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported C($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$99.47 million for the quarter. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.062 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of . Andrew Peller Company Profile (Get Free Report) Andrew Peller Ltd is a Canada-based company, which produces and markets wine and wine related products. The Companys brands include Peller Estates, Trius, Thirty Bench, Wayne Gretzky, Sandhill, Conviction, Red Rooster, Peller Estates French Cross, Peller Estates Proprietors Reserve, Copper Moon, Black Cellar, XOXO, skinnygrape, Hochtaler, Domaine DOr, Schloss Laderheim, Royal and Sommet. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Andrew Peller Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Andrew Peller and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Aristotle Pacific Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:JNK Free Report) by 8.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 695,691 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after buying an additional 52,972 shares during the period. SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF makes up approximately 21.5% of Aristotle Pacific Capital LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Aristotle Pacific Capital LLCs holdings in SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF were worth $65,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF by 223.6% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,545,240 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $242,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758,741 shares during the last quarter. Arch Capital Group LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF in the 1st quarter worth $100,794,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,737,137 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $259,047,000 after buying an additional 550,840 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,519,000. Finally, Toews Corp ADV raised its stake in SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF by 65.9% in the second quarter. Toews Corp ADV now owns 1,112,000 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $104,828,000 after buying an additional 441,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.54% of the companys stock. Get SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF alerts: SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF Stock Performance Shares of JNK stock opened at $97.33 on Wednesday. SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF has a fifty-two week low of $87.79 and a fifty-two week high of $97.41. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $95.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.78. About SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (the Fund), formerly SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF, seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital High Yield Very Liquid Index (the Index). The Index includes publicly issued United States dollar denominated, non-investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of at least one year, regardless of optionality, are rated high-yield using the middle rating of Moodys, S&P, and Fitch, respectively, and have $600 million or more of outstanding face value. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:JNK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 63,010 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the companys stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Altria Group alerts: Altria Group Stock Down 2.3 % Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $86.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The companys 50-day moving average price is $51.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.64. Altria Group Increases Dividend Altria Group ( NYSE:MO Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Groups revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is 85.36%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised Altria Group to a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $49.67. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Altria Group Altria Group Profile (Free Report) Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Baloise Holding AG (OTCMKTS:BLHEF Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 162,800 shares, a decline of 10.5% from the August 15th total of 181,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently days. Baloise Price Performance BLHEF stock opened at $172.19 on Wednesday. Baloise has a 1-year low of $142.29 and a 1-year high of $174.14. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $172.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.34. Get Baloise alerts: About Baloise (Get Free Report) Featured Articles Baloise Holding AG, together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the insurance and banking businesses in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg. It operates through Non-Life, Life, Asset Management & Banking, and Other Activities segments. The company offers various non-life insurance products, including accident, health, general liability, motor, fire and other property, marine, credit protection, and legal expenses insurance. Receive News & Ratings for Baloise Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Baloise and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. An above-ground valve continues to burn three days after after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck the site, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in La Porte. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer The evacuation order has been lifted in the area surrounding the pipeline fire near Deer Park and La Porte as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to Deer Park city officials. Residents are free to return to their homes. Diane Hutto, describes witnessing the resulting fire when a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve yards from her familys home, resulting in a massive pipeline fire, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Huttos home, which was doused by firefighters to protect it due to the close proximity to the fire, had water and smoke damage, while her back yard suffered damage from the intense heat. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Steve Hutto reacts as he takes the damage to his property after residents of Deer Park and La Porte were permitted to return to their homes three days after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve, resulting in a massive pipeline fire, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Huttos home, which was doused by firefighters to protect it due to the close proximity to the fire, had water and smoke damage, while his back yard suffered damage from the intense heat. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A small shed stand partially melted by the year of a pipeline fire that burned for three days after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve, resulting in a massive pipeline fire, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A melted license plate cover and paint is seen on a truck after a pipeline fire burned for three days, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Sophie Flores takes in the damage to her neighborhood where homes stood mere feet from a large pipeline fire that burned for the past three days, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A melted license plate cover is seen on a truck after a pipeline fire burned for three days, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Damage to the second floor of Steve and Diane Huttos home is seen after residents of Deer Park and La Porte were permitted to return to their homes three days after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve, resulting in a massive pipeline fire, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Huttos home, which was doused by firefighters to protect it due to the close proximity to the fire, had water and smoke damage, while their back yard suffered damage from the intense heat. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Steve Hutto, right, takes in a moment alongside his wife, Diane, as he describes the damage to his property after residents of Deer Park and La Porte were permitted to return to their homes three days after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve, resulting in a massive pipeline fire, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Huttos home, which was doused by firefighters to protect it due to the close proximity to the fire, had water and smoke damage, while his back yard suffered damage from the intense heat. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Damage to the second floor of Steve and Diane Huttos home is seen after residents of Deer Park and La Porte were permitted to return to their homes three days after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve, resulting in a massive pipeline fire, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Deer Park. Huttos home, which was doused by firefighters to protect it due to the close proximity to the fire, had water and smoke damage, while their back yard suffered damage from the intense heat. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer An above-ground valve continues to burn three days after after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck the site, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in La Porte. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Large vehicles make their way from a make-shift road between utility lines toward East Pasadena Boulevard as an above-ground valve continues to burn three days after after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck the site, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in La Porte. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Utility work continues electrical lines along the westbound portion of Spencer Highway near the site of pipeline exposition, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in La Porte. The explosion began on Monday, Sept. 16, after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer The fire is not fully extinguished, but officials said they expect repairs to be fully complete by 6 p.m. Thursday. Once the repairs are made, the fire should take roughly two to three hours to die down, according to a news release. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Spencer Highway between Luella Avenue and East/Canada Boulevard will remain closed as crews work to extinguish the fire. Air quality monitoring will also continue until an all-clear is given. The natural gas pipeline owned by Energy Transfer is located near the border between Deer Park, La Porte and Pasadena. The pipeline was used to transport Y grade natural gas liquids a highly flammable hydrocarbon mixture used to process plants separating components, such as ethane, propane, butane, isobutane and pentane plus. Officials reported on Monday that four people were injured. Two of the injuries were caused by the fire and two were heat-related. A Pasadena firefighter was one of the people who experienced heat stress and was treated with fluids and rested, Fire Chief Lanny Armstrong said in an email. The firefighter remained at the scene. Energy Transfer said it was utilizing air monitoring equipment in the area alongside Harris County's Pollution Control Services Department. Crews were working to manage and fix a pipeline leak Wednesday by installing stopples, which are used to temporarily block the flow in a pipeline section, according to a news release. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Initial assessments conducted by local authorities and Energy Transfer revealed a pressure drop at the affected pipeline section," the release reads. "In response, the company immediately shut down the offsite flaring process and initiated procedures to isolate the leak." The company deployed crews to both the north and south ends of the pipeline to rush the stopple installation process, which is expected to take roughly three hours per side. Once installed, Energy Transfer will redirect the flares to a location in front of the stopple to create "a vacuum at the leak source" to diminish the current flame. How the pipeline fire has affected the community Local law enforcement will be present in the area to direct traffic and ensure the safety of the public. CenterPoint Energy assured customers that power would be restored to all eligible homes and businesses by the end of Wednesday, according to the news release. Thirty customers were without power in the La Porte and Deer Park area as of Wednesday afternoon, La Porte OEM officials said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Harris County Pollution Control Services has monitored air quality surrounding the pipeline since the fire broke out. The department found no dangerous levels of leaked chemicals, and said particulate matter the visible and invisible soot created by the fire was the "pollutant of concern" for the incident. On Monday, the department detected only moderate levels of soot that were not an immediate risk for healthy people. By Tuesday evening, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Pollution Control "started seeing a few isolated readings" that were above the threshold of concern; all but two were within the area that officials evacuated. Hidalgo said people in the area with health risks, including seniors and children, should stay indoors. In high concentrations particulate pollution can worsen existing lung conditions and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as irritating the eyes, nose and throat. Air Alliance Houston, a nonprofit focused on industrial pollution, said in a Wednesday press statement that residents should limit outdoor activity to "err on the side of caution" since authorities did not yet have a full understanding of air quality impacts. In the statement, the group pointed to the ITC fire in 2019, during which Deer Park residents unknowingly breathed contaminants in for weeks after shelter-in-place orders were lifted. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As evacuations continued, several residents were still waiting for the all-clear to reenter their homes early Wednesday. Impacted residents hadn't returned as of Wednesday, according to city spokesperson Maria Lawler. The area still impacted includes Willow Springs Bayou, extending from Fernrock Drive to Somerton Drive, and Spencer Highway, Canada Road and Oakhaven Road/Eagle Run Street. In an update Tuesday afternoon, Deer Park city officials said Harris County Hazmat teams were preparing to test the air quality of homes close to the pipeline fire. After the hazmat teams, the Deer Park Volunteer Fire Department planned to enter the East Meadow subdivision to perform an initial search of the homes followed by a second, more thorough, inspection, according to city officials. Traffic is diverted away from Spencer Highway west of East Boulevard near the site of pipeline exposition, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in La Porte. The explosion began on Monday, Sept. 16, after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer What happens next after the pipeline fire is extinguished? Expert weighs in After the pipeline fire is completely extinguished and the area has begun to rebuild, investigative and legal processes will just be getting started, experts said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "These things often take several years, because of the investigations that need to happen and because of the exchange of documents and interviews of witnesses," said Lauren Brogdon, an attorney who leads Haynes Boone's crisis management practice group. Brogdon said she expects some neighbors are already gearing up to sue Energy Transfer, hoping to prove that the company breached its duty to the public. She expects those lawsuits to argue that the company was negligent with their security to allow a stray vehicle to cause such damage, but said their cases will be made difficult by the fact that the fire was likely triggered by a third party. CAN YOU SEE IT?: NASA astronaut snaps photo of Deer Park pipeline fire from International Space Station "The standard of proof is really high," Brogdon said, adding that companies in Energy Transfer's situation would typically "argue that they had all the appropriate safeguards in place and that this is just a freak accident." Meanwhile, as law enforcement probes continue from local police and the FBI, oil and gas regulators are ready to begin their own inspections. "Once emergency officials have deemed the scene to be safe, Railroad Commission inspectors will enter the site and begin their investigation," the state agency said Tuesday. The Energy Transfer pipeline falls under the Texas Railroad Commission's jurisdiction, and the regulatory agency will have the option to levy fines or take other enforcement actions if their investigation finds any fault with the company. Beck Bode LLC bought a new position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,917 shares of the technology companys stock, valued at approximately $587,000. Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the first quarter worth $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Fortive alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,030,281.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,135.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,030,281.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.01% of the companys stock. Fortive Stock Up 1.4 % Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $74.79 on Wednesday. The firms fifty day moving average is $72.32 and its 200 day moving average is $76.29. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $63.05 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. Fortive (NYSE:FTV Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.57 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year. Fortive Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Fortives payout ratio is 12.65%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research firms have commented on FTV. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Fortive from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an overweight rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen upgraded Fortive from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised Fortive from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $86.23. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on FTV Fortive Profile (Free Report) Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FTV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Fortive Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fortive and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its stake in BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ Free Report) by 42.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 513,154 shares of the companys stock after selling 383,523 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.39% of BJs Wholesale Club worth $45,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJ. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BJs Wholesale Club during the second quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BJs Wholesale Club during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in BJs Wholesale Club during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in BJs Wholesale Club by 103.6% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 745 shares of the companys stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in BJs Wholesale Club during the second quarter worth about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the companys stock. Get BJ's Wholesale Club alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other BJs Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total value of $873,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 445,792 shares in the company, valued at $35,395,884.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other BJs Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJs Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total value of $873,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 445,792 shares in the company, valued at $35,395,884.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total transaction of $83,570.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,566 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,133,710.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,438 shares of company stock worth $6,980,938 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders. BJs Wholesale Club Stock Down 0.9 % BJ stock opened at $79.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.08 and a twelve month high of $92.37. The companys 50 day moving average is $84.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.85. BJs Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. BJs Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 36.12%. BJs Wholesale Clubs revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Research analysts expect that BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BJ. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of BJs Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised BJs Wholesale Club from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on BJs Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on BJs Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BJs Wholesale Club from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BJs Wholesale Club has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $86.07. Read Our Latest Research Report on BJs Wholesale Club BJs Wholesale Club Profile (Free Report) BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates warehouse clubs on the eastern half of the United States. It provides groceries, general merchandise, gasoline and other ancillary services, coupon books, and promotions. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, and Wellsleyfarms.com, as well as the mobile app. See Also Receive News & Ratings for BJ's Wholesale Club Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BJ's Wholesale Club and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH Free Report) by 11.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 510,530 shares of the business services providers stock after purchasing an additional 54,170 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.39% of Booz Allen Hamilton worth $78,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BAH. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 295,447 shares of the business services providers stock worth $43,856,000 after acquiring an additional 18,815 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,044,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 142.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,615 shares of the business services providers stock worth $4,248,000 after buying an additional 16,815 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 47.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 168,377 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $24,995,000 after acquiring an additional 54,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 149,998 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $22,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,264 shares during the period. 91.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Booz Allen Hamilton alerts: Insider Activity In related news, Director Melody C. Barnes sold 1,041 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.31, for a total value of $149,185.71. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,123 shares in the company, valued at $2,597,207.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.59% of the companys stock. Booz Allen Hamilton Price Performance Booz Allen Hamilton stock opened at $155.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The companys 50 day moving average price is $152.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.56. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. has a 52 week low of $106.90 and a 52 week high of $164.43. Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.14). Booz Allen Hamilton had a return on equity of 65.80% and a net margin of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.92 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year. Booz Allen Hamilton Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. Booz Allen Hamiltons payout ratio is 44.35%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BAH shares. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Booz Allen Hamilton from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Booz Allen Hamilton from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Booz Allen Hamilton from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $153.00 to $142.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $159.33. View Our Latest Report on Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton Profile (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. Recommended Stories 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. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG Free Report) by 4,780.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,286,275 shares of the restaurant operators stock after acquiring an additional 2,239,425 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.17% of Chipotle Mexican Grill worth $143,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,732.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,177,309 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $1,264,109,000 after purchasing an additional 19,759,754 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5,930.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,310,132 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $645,930,000 after buying an additional 10,139,174 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,816.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,356,173 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $523,514,000 after buying an additional 8,186,198 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,565.8% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,078,767 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $318,185,000 after buying an additional 4,969,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 3,304.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,078,100 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $318,143,000 after buying an additional 4,928,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.31% of the companys stock. Get Chipotle Mexican Grill alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other news, insider Curtis E. Garner sold 17,394 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.68, for a total transaction of $951,103.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 358,300 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $19,591,844. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Curtis E. Garner sold 17,394 shares of the firms stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 358,300 shares of the companys stock, valued at $19,591,844. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robin S. Hickenlooper sold 1,790 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.38, for a total value of $100,920.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,510 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,340,333.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,934 shares of company stock worth $1,918,589 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities analysts have issued reports on CMG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 4th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $54.50 to $55.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $62.50 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $74.00 to $62.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $62.36. Read Our Latest Stock Report on Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 1.5 % CMG stock opened at $58.50 on Wednesday. The companys 50-day moving average price is $54.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.15. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.37 and a 52 week high of $69.26. The company has a market cap of $80.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.25. Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.94 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 13.23%. Chipotle Mexican Grills revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $12.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current year. Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile (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. Further Reading 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 Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP Free Report) (TSE:BIP.UN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday. Separately, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $37.56. Get Brookfield Infrastructure Partners alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on BIP Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance Shares of NYSE BIP opened at $32.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 1-year low of $21.03 and a 1-year high of $33.83. The stocks 50-day moving average is $31.36 and its 200 day moving average is $29.65. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP Get Free Report) (TSE:BIP.UN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.91 billion. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 0.51%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partnerss dividend payout ratio is currently 522.58%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BIP. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $182,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 558,181.8% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 61,411 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 61,400 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,233 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 2,296 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,328 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. About Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (Get Free Report) Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 2,900 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 8.1 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 0.6 million long-term contracted sub-metering services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Deutsche Wohnen SE (OTCMKTS:DWHHF Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,200 shares, a decline of 8.8% from the August 15th total of 5,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 0 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently days. Deutsche Wohnen Stock Performance Deutsche Wohnen stock remained flat at $18.93 during trading hours on Tuesday. The firms fifty day moving average price is $18.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.62. Deutsche Wohnen has a 1 year low of $18.24 and a 1 year high of $25.14. Get Deutsche Wohnen alerts: Deutsche Wohnen Company Profile (Get Free Report) See Also Deutsche Wohnen SE develops and manages residential properties in Germany. The company operates through Rental, Value-add, Recurring Sales, Development, and Care segment. The Rental segment offers value-enhancing management to residential real estate portfolio. The Value- add segment engages in the core business of letting. Receive News & Ratings for Deutsche Wohnen Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Deutsche Wohnen and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,211 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $4,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMJ Financial Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,324 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 804 shares of the companys stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the companys stock. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LLY shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $885.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI raised Eli Lilly and Company to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $977.35. Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 9,671 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $902.67, for a total value of $8,729,721.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,574,139 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $88,077,248,051.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 451,900 shares of company stock valued at $418,732,178. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance NYSE:LLY opened at $906.17 on Wednesday. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52 week low of $516.57 and a 52 week high of $972.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $861.23 billion, a PE ratio of 133.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $896.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $835.96. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.28. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 67.52% and a net margin of 18.86%. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 16.49 EPS for the current fiscal year. Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Eli Lilly and Companys dividend payout ratio is presently 76.58%. About Eli Lilly and Company (Free Report) Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; Jardiance, Mounjaro, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes; and Zepbound for obesity. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LLY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SkyOak Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,977 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,578 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company comprises 4.2% of SkyOak Wealth LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. SkyOak Wealth LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $18,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 48 shares of the companys stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 188.2% during the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 49 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 82.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 1.9 % NYSE:LLY opened at $906.17 on Wednesday. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12-month low of $516.57 and a 12-month high of $972.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $896.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $835.96. The firm has a market cap of $861.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.46, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement Eli Lilly and Company ( NYSE:LLY Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $1.28. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.83 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 18.86% and a return on equity of 67.52%. Equities analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 16.49 EPS for the current year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Eli Lilly and Companys payout ratio is currently 76.58%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 210,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $939.82, for a total value of $197,362,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,943,810 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $91,109,731,514.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 451,900 shares of company stock worth $418,732,178. Company insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have recently issued reports on LLY. Evercore ISI raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $725.00 to $1,025.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and set a $1,000.00 target price (up previously from $892.00) on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $884.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $913.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $977.35. Get Our Latest Stock Report on LLY Eli Lilly and Company Profile (Free Report) Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; Jardiance, Mounjaro, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes; and Zepbound for obesity. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LLY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. FedEx (NYSE:FDX Get Free Report) is scheduled to release its earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, September 19th. Analysts expect FedEx to post earnings of $5.02 per share for the quarter. FedEx has set its FY25 guidance at $20.00-22.00 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 20.000-22.000 EPS.Investors that wish to listen to the companys conference call can do so using this link. FedEx (NYSE:FDX Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. FedExs revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect FedEx to post $21 EPS for the current fiscal year and $23 EPS for the next fiscal year. Get FedEx alerts: FedEx Stock Performance Shares of FDX opened at $297.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $73.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.17. FedEx has a 1 year low of $224.69 and a 1 year high of $313.84. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $293.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.45. FedEx Announces Dividend Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. FedExs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.04%. A number of brokerages recently commented on FDX. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. StockNews.com lowered FedEx from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded FedEx from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FedEx presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $314.67. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on FDX Insider Buying and Selling In other news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total value of $2,611,688.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,246 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,797,974.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other FedEx news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total value of $4,714,624.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,884 shares in the company, valued at $17,634,640.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total transaction of $2,611,688.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,797,974.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,944 shares of company stock worth $9,882,355 in the last quarter. 8.73% of the stock is owned by insiders. About FedEx (Get Free Report) FedEx Corporation provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services in the United States and internationally. It operates through FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services segments. The FedEx Express segment offers express transportation, small-package ground delivery, and freight transportation services; and time-critical transportation services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for FedEx Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for FedEx and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX Free Report) by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,269 shares of the natural resource companys stock after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at about $224,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 67.9% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 52,580 shares of the natural resource companys stock valued at $2,555,000 after acquiring an additional 21,270 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.7% during the second quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 69,365 shares of the natural resource companys stock valued at $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 4,975 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,760.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,198,233 shares of the natural resource companys stock valued at $58,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173,578 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Freeport-McMoRan alerts: Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.6 % Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $43.13 on Wednesday. The companys fifty day moving average is $44.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.40. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89. Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend Freeport-McMoRan ( NYSE:FCX Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRans quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Freeport-McMoRans dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades FCX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. BNP Paribas raised Freeport-McMoRan to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Freeport-McMoRan from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $49.50 to $62.00 in a report on Friday, June 21st. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $53.07. Read Our Latest Report on FCX About Freeport-McMoRan (Free Report) Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FCX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Freeport-McMoRan Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Freeport-McMoRan and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hezbollah fighters carry one of the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Bilal Hussein/AP Hezbollah fighters salute as they stand next to the coffins of four victims who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Bilal Hussein/AP Lebanese soldiers and firefighters gather outside a mobile shop after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Mohammad Zaatari/AP This video grab, shows a walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. AP A Lebanese army bomb disposal specialist wearing a protective gear prepares, with his comrade, to detonate a walkie-talkie that was found at the parking of the American University Hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Hassan Ammar/AP A partly damaged car after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Mohammad Zaatari/AP A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Hussein Malla/AP Lebanese soldiers stand guard at a street that leads to the American University hospital where they bring wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Hassan Ammar/AP Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Johnson Lai/AP This photo shows a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Denes Erdos/AP People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploded handheld pagers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Bassam Masri/AP Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. STR/AP Families of victims who were injured on Monday by their exploding handheld pagers, wait at the emergency entrance of the American University hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Hussein Malla/AP Lebanese Red Cross ambulance passes next of the families of victims who were injured on Monday by their exploding handheld pagers, at the emergency entrance of the American University hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Hussein Malla/AP This shows a sign featuring the names of several companies on the door of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Denes Erdos/AP Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. STR/AP A Civil Defense first-responder carries a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Hussein Malla/AP Mourners carry the coffins of victims who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Bilal Hussein/AP BEIRUT (AP) Walkie-talkies exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in a second wave of attacks targeting devices a day after pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and officials for the militant group said. At least 20 people were killed and more than 450 wounded in the second wave, the Health Ministry said. The attacks which were widely believed to be carried out by Israel targeting Hezbollah but have also killed civilians have hiked fears that the two sides' simmering conflict could escalate into all-out war. Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance. He made no mention of the exploding devices but praised the work of Israels army and security agencies, saying the results are very impressive. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In Wednesday's attacks, several blasts were heard at a funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them. The state news agency reported home solar energy system blowing up in several locations, but experts cast doubt on whether those incidents were connected, saying they may have been coincidental accidents. The new blasts hit a country still roiling with confusion and anger after Tuesdays pager bombings, which killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,800 others. The second wave also deepens concern over the potentially indiscriminate casualties caused in the attacks, in which hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby. While the pagers were used by Hezbollah members, there was no guarantee who was holding the device at the time it was detonated. Also, many of the casualties were not Hezbollah fighters, but members of the groups extensive civilian operations mainly serving Lebanons Shiite community. At least two health workers were among those killed Tuesday. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, charity workers, teachers and office administrators work for Hezbollah-linked organizations, and an unknown number had pagers. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mary Ellen OConnell, a professor of law and international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, said booby-traps are banned under international law. "Weaponizing an object used by civilians is strictly prohibited, she said. The U.N. human rights chief, Volker Turk, called for an independent investigation into the mass explosions, saying, The fear and terror unleashed is profound. The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the explosions in Lebanon on Friday afternoon at the request of Algeria, the Arab representative on the powerful 15-member body. Iran-backed Hezbollah Lebanon's strongest armed force has exchanged fire with Israel's military almost daily since Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Since then, hundreds have been killed in strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced. Hezbollah said its strikes are in support of its ally, Hamas. Hezbollah announced three strikes on parts of northern Israel Wednesday, at least one of which took place after the latest round of explosions in Lebanon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must stop the exchange of fire to allow people to return to homes near the border. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. In his comments, Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top security officials at Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the country's army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah. Israeli media say the government has not yet decided whether to launch a major offensive in Lebanon. Hezbollahs leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is expected to deliver a major speech on Thursday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is still assessing how the attacks in Lebanon could affect efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The pager bombings appeared to be a complex operation months in the making, with many experts believing Israel infiltrated the supply chain and rigged hundreds of pagers with explosives before they were imported to Lebanon. But little evidence has emerged so far. Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm, said it authorized a Hungary-based company, BAC Consulting KFT, to use its name on devices delivered to Hezbollah. But a Hungarian government spokesman said Wednesday the pagers delivered to Hezbollah were never in Hungary and that BAC Consultants merely acted as an intermediary. Hungarian national security services were cooperating with international partners, the Hungarian spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, posted Wednesday on X. Wednesday's new bombings came as Lebanese were mourning the dead from the day before. Two explosions went off at the edges of the funeral of two fighters, a young boy and a paramedic in southern Beirut. As ambulances screeched to the scene, the ceremony continued, with a senior Hezbollah official, Hashem Safieddine, telling mourners that Israels aggression will face its special punishment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Israeli drones buzzed overhead as they do often over Beirut and many parts of Lebanon as thousands of mourners marched in a procession with the four coffins to a cemetery. We will not despair and we will not surrender. We will continue as long as blood circulates in our veins, said one woman, who identified herself as Um Hussein, as she stood outside the cemetery with her four children. In the village of Nabi Sheet in the Bekaa Valley, dozens gathered to mourn 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah, another victim of the pagers. Her mother, wearing black and donning a yellow Hezbollah scarf, wept alongside other women and children as they gathered around the little girls coffin before her burial. ___ This story has been updated to correct the age of one of the children killed. She was 9, not 8. ___ Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P increased its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG Free Report) by 4,900.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,750 shares of the restaurant operators stock after purchasing an additional 23,275 shares during the period. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L Ps holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CMG. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 225.0% during the first quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 13 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the first quarter valued at $44,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.31% of the companys stock. Get Chipotle Mexican Grill alerts: Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance Shares of CMG stock opened at $58.50 on Wednesday. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.37 and a 1-year high of $69.26. The firm has a market cap of $80.34 billion, a PE ratio of 62.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.15. Insider Transactions at Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill ( NYSE:CMG Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $12.65 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year. In related news, Director Robin S. Hickenlooper sold 1,790 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.38, for a total value of $100,920.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,333.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, Director Robin S. Hickenlooper sold 1,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.38, for a total transaction of $100,920.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,333.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Curtis E. Garner sold 17,394 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.68, for a total transaction of $951,103.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 358,300 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $19,591,844. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,934 shares of company stock worth $1,918,589 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.02% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms recently commented on CMG. Raymond James dropped their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $62.50 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $59.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $62.36. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile (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 Stories 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. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD Free Report) by 24.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,347,247 shares of the aerospace companys stock after buying an additional 262,164 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.49% of General Dynamics worth $391,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the companys stock. Get General Dynamics alerts: General Dynamics Trading Down 1.2 % NYSE GD opened at $303.85 on Wednesday. The companys fifty day moving average price is $293.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.56. The company has a market capitalization of $83.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $214.53 and a 12 month high of $309.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics Dividend Announcement General Dynamics ( NYSE:GD Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamicss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a buy rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $315.06. Get Our Latest Analysis on General Dynamics About General Dynamics (Free Report) General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for General Dynamics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for General Dynamics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sun Life Financial Inc. decreased its position in iShares MSCI France ETF (NYSEARCA:EWQ Free Report) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,550 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 1,050 shares during the period. iShares MSCI France ETF comprises 0.1% of Sun Life Financial Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Sun Life Financial Inc.s holdings in iShares MSCI France ETF were worth $2,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet North America Advisors SA boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI France ETF by 186.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 184,380 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $6,966,000 after purchasing an additional 120,016 shares in the last quarter. Idaho Trust Bank acquired a new position in iShares MSCI France ETF during the second quarter worth $2,070,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in iShares MSCI France ETF by 12.7% in the second quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 235,268 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 26,478 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI France ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at about $848,000. Finally, Donald L. Hagan LLC acquired a new position in iShares MSCI France ETF during the second quarter worth $250,000. Get iShares MSCI France ETF alerts: iShares MSCI France ETF Price Performance Shares of EWQ opened at $39.32 on Wednesday. iShares MSCI France ETF has a 1-year low of $33.66 and a 1-year high of $42.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.92. The stock has a market cap of $613.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 0.85. iShares MSCI France ETF Company Profile iShares MSCI France ETF, formerly iShares MSCI France Index Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the French market, as measured by the MSCI France Index (the Index). The Index seeks to measure the performance of the French equity market. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EWQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI France ETF (NYSEARCA:EWQ Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI France ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI France ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE Free Report) by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,065 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 33,831 shares during the quarter. CBRE Group comprises approximately 0.3% of Lingotto Investment Management LLPs holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Lingotto Investment Management LLPs holdings in CBRE Group were worth $8,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in shares of CBRE Group by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 16,005,141 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,489,919,000 after acquiring an additional 683,225 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CBRE Group by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,146,749 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $636,847,000 after acquiring an additional 210,004 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of CBRE Group by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,087,070 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $542,419,000 after acquiring an additional 53,142 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in CBRE Group by 164.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,505,177 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $419,387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799,097 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in CBRE Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,164,000. Institutional investors own 98.41% of the companys stock. Get CBRE Group alerts: Insider Transactions at CBRE Group In other news, CFO Emma E. Giamartino sold 3,311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.89, for a total value of $360,534.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 71,969 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,836,704.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Vikramaditya Kohli sold 1,074 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.89, for a total transaction of $116,947.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,226 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,538,019.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Emma E. Giamartino sold 3,311 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.89, for a total value of $360,534.79. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 71,969 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,836,704.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,232 shares of company stock valued at $3,058,787. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded CBRE Group to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CBRE Group from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on CBRE Group in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. They set an equal weight rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on CBRE Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on CBRE Group from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $110.29. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CBRE CBRE Group Price Performance Shares of CBRE stock opened at $118.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $109.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. CBRE Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.63 and a 12 month high of $120.79. The company has a market capitalization of $36.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.81 and a beta of 1.40. CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.12. CBRE Group had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 2.79%. The company had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CBRE Group, Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current year. CBRE Group Profile (Free Report) CBRE Group, Inc operates as a commercial real estate services and investment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The Advisory Services segment offers strategic advice and execution to owners, investors, and occupiers of real estate in connection with leasing of offices, and industrial and retail space; clients fully integrated property sales services under the CBRE Capital Markets brand; clients commercial mortgage and structured financing services; originates and sells commercial mortgage loans; property management services, such as marketing, building engineering, accounting, and financial services on a contractual basis for owners of and investors in office, industrial, and retail properties; and valuation services that include market value appraisals, litigation support, discounted cash flow analyses, and feasibility studies, as well as consulting services, such as property condition reports, hotel advisory, and environmental consulting. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CBRE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for CBRE Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CBRE Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF (NYSEARCA:KSA Free Report) by 67.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 595,693 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 239,021 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD owned 3.19% of iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF worth $25,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 12,654 shares of the companys stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,225 shares of the companys stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Vanderbilt University boosted its stake in iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 121,974 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 124,490 shares of the companys stock worth $5,497,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Get iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF Price Performance Shares of NYSEARCA:KSA opened at $41.37 on Wednesday. iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF has a 1 year low of $36.21 and a 1 year high of $45.10. The company has a market cap of $773.62 million, a P/E ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 0.58. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $41.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.24. iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF Company Profile The iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF (KSA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Saudi Arabia IMI 25-50 index, a market-cap-weighted index of Saudi Arabian firms covering 99% of the market cap spectrum. KSA was launched on Sep 16, 2015 and is managed by BlackRock. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KSA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF (NYSEARCA:KSA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,082 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 5,694 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,233,911 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $73,282,000 after acquiring an additional 237,400 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 712.9% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 160,380 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $9,525,000 after purchasing an additional 140,650 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 6.7% during the second quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 7,401 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,848,290 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,178,591,000 after buying an additional 831,975 shares during the period. Finally, Black Diamond Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $229,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the companys stock. Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms have issued reports on WFC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Wells Fargo & Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $60.29. Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.4 % Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $54.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $190.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.39 and a 200-day moving average of $57.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $38.38 and a one year high of $62.55. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Companys previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Companys payout ratio is presently 32.85%. About Wells Fargo & Company (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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of New Concept Energy (NYSE:GBR Free Report) in a report issued on Saturday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the stock. New Concept Energy Stock Down 1.7 % NYSE GBR opened at $1.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.05 million, a P/E ratio of -39.34 and a beta of 0.30. New Concept Energy has a twelve month low of $0.95 and a twelve month high of $1.82. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $1.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.33. Get New Concept Energy alerts: New Concept Energy (NYSE:GBR Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. New Concept Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 18.62%. The business had revenue of $0.04 million for the quarter. Insider Activity Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Concept Energy In other news, major shareholder Realty Advisors Inc sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.30, for a total value of $325,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,144,934 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,488,414.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website . Insiders own 2.10% of the companys stock. A hedge fund recently raised its stake in New Concept Energy stock. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of New Concept Energy, Inc. (NYSE:GBR Free Report) by 69.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,600 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 62,400 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC owned 2.97% of New Concept Energy worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. New Concept Energy Company Profile (Get Free Report) New Concept Energy, Inc engages in real estate rental business. The company owns approximately 190 acres of land located in Parkersburg West Virginia. It also provides advisory and management services for an independent oil and gas company. The company was formerly known as CabelTel International Corporation and changed its name to New Concept Energy, Inc in May 2008. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for New Concept Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for New Concept Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lifted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW Free Report) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,730 shares of the industrial products companys stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Incs holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,148,051 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,167,913,000 after buying an additional 169,897 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $571,042,000 after buying an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $392,470,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 360,026 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $324,841,000 after buying an additional 17,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth about $281,104,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get W.W. Grainger alerts: W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.6 % Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,013.92 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $674.41 and a 12-month high of $1,034.18. The company has a market cap of $49.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The companys 50-day moving average price is $961.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $954.95. W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend W.W. Grainger ( NYSE:GWW Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $9.58 by $0.18. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 53.25%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. W.W. Graingers payout ratio is currently 22.64%. Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total value of $467,667.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,848 shares in the company, valued at $1,691,289.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.50% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the stock from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an equal weight rating and a $990.00 price objective on the stock. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $1,014.11. View Our Latest Report on GWW About W.W. Grainger (Free Report) W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GWW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for W.W. Grainger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for W.W. Grainger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA Free Report) by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,820 shares of the aircraft producers stock after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.s holdings in Boeing were worth $513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Boeing by 15,039.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 967,383 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $176,073,000 after acquiring an additional 960,993 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Boeing by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 31,252 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $5,688,000 after purchasing an additional 3,101 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Boeing by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,289 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $232,479,000 after purchasing an additional 98,973 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Boeing by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,619,126 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $1,386,757,000 after purchasing an additional 106,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keene & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boeing by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 2,313 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.82% of the companys stock. Get Boeing alerts: Boeing Trading Up 0.5 % Shares of NYSE:BA opened at $156.38 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.05 and a beta of 1.57. The Boeing Company has a 1-year low of $154.02 and a 1-year high of $267.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $172.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.39. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Boeing ( NYSE:BA Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The aircraft producer reported ($2.90) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($1.00) by ($1.90). The firm had revenue of $16.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.35 billion. Boeings revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.82) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Boeing Company will post -4.26 EPS for the current year. BA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a buy rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Boeing in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Boeing from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Boeing from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Boeing from $222.00 to $207.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Boeing from $300.00 to $240.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $211.29. Read Our Latest Report on Boeing Boeing Company Profile (Free Report) The Boeing Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services worldwide. The company operates through Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; and Global Services segments. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Boeing Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boeing and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Primecap Management Co. CA decreased its stake in shares of MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL Free Report) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,285,960 shares of the semiconductor companys stock after selling 61,140 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 2.75% of MaxLinear worth $46,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 19,283 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,304 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,000 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 152,973 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $2,856,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 65,248 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $1,218,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.79% of the companys stock. Get MaxLinear alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In MXL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Northland Securities cut their price objective on shares of MaxLinear from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of MaxLinear from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on shares of MaxLinear from $38.00 to $28.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of MaxLinear from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of MaxLinear from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $24.67. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, CEO Kishore Seendripu acquired 108,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.94 per share, for a total transaction of $1,401,440.82. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 531,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,883,264.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. MaxLinear Price Performance Shares of NYSE:MXL opened at $14.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.37 and a 200-day moving average of $18.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of -7.52 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. MaxLinear, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.08 and a 12 month high of $26.59. MaxLinear (NYSE:MXL Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $92.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.25 million. MaxLinear had a negative return on equity of 12.39% and a negative net margin of 42.38%. MaxLinears revenue for the quarter was down 50.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MaxLinear, Inc. will post -1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year. MaxLinear Company Profile (Free Report) MaxLinear, Inc provides communications systems-on-chip solutions worldwide. Its products integrate various portions of a high-speed communication system, including radio frequency, high-performance analog, mixed-signal, digital signal processing, security engines, data compression and networking layers, and power management. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for MaxLinear Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MaxLinear and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Edward McKinley reports on Texas state government and politics from the Hearst Bureau in Austin for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, with a particular focus on education issues. He can be reached at edward.mckinley@houstonchronicle.com. He is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and Georgetowns Masters in American Government program. He previously reported for The Albany Times Union and the Kansas City Star newspapers, and he originally hails from the great state of Minnesota. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $262.24 and last traded at $261.73, with a volume of 14986 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $258.51. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $251.00 to $248.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $280.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on RenaissanceRe from $257.00 to $240.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $262.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $272.60. Get RenaissanceRe alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on RNR RenaissanceRe Stock Performance The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $239.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.27. The firm has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a PE ratio of 5.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $12.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $10.88 by $1.53. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 25.38% and a return on equity of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Research analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 39.01 earnings per share for the current year. RenaissanceRe Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. RenaissanceRes dividend payout ratio is presently 3.45%. Insider Activity at RenaissanceRe In other RenaissanceRe news, CFO Robert Qutub sold 2,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.56, for a total transaction of $561,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,915 shares in the company, valued at $16,598,352.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other RenaissanceRe news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,675,120. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Qutub sold 2,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.56, for a total transaction of $561,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,915 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $16,598,352.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in RenaissanceRe by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 8.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 610 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in RenaissanceRe by 0.9% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 5,714 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank lifted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 400 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 342 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.97% of the companys stock. RenaissanceRe Company Profile (Get Free Report) RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Property, and Casualty and Specialty segments. The Property segment writes property catastrophe excess of loss reinsurance and excess of loss reinsurance to insure insurance and reinsurance companies against natural and man-made catastrophes, including hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis, as well as winter storms, freezes, floods, fires, windstorms, tornadoes, explosions, and acts of terrorism; and other property class of products, such as proportional reinsurance, property per risk, property reinsurance, binding facilities, and regional U.S. See Also Receive News & Ratings for RenaissanceRe Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for RenaissanceRe and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Phoenix Footwear Group (OTCMKTS:PXFG Get Free Report) and Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK Get Free Report) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and dividends. Institutional and Insider Ownership 19.9% of Birkenstock shares are held by institutional investors. 29.7% of Phoenix Footwear Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Get Phoenix Footwear Group alerts: Profitability This table compares Phoenix Footwear Group and Birkenstocks net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Phoenix Footwear Group N/A N/A N/A Birkenstock 6.26% 5.79% 2.99% Analyst Ratings Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Phoenix Footwear Group 0 0 0 0 N/A Birkenstock 0 4 15 0 2.79 This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Phoenix Footwear Group and Birkenstock, as reported by MarketBeat. Birkenstock has a consensus price target of $62.23, indicating a potential upside of 29.00%. Given Birkenstocks higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Birkenstock is more favorable than Phoenix Footwear Group. Earnings and Valuation This table compares Phoenix Footwear Group and Birkenstocks top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Phoenix Footwear Group N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Birkenstock $1.72 billion 5.26 $80.18 million N/A N/A Birkenstock has higher revenue and earnings than Phoenix Footwear Group. Summary Birkenstock beats Phoenix Footwear Group on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks. About Phoenix Footwear Group (Get Free Report) Phoenix Footwear Group, Inc. designs, develops, markets, and sells women's footwear primarily in the United States. The company offers its products under the Trotters and SoftWalk brand names. It distributes its products through department stores, specialty and independent retail stores, mail order catalogues, and Internet retailers, as well as directly to consumers through SoftWalkshoes.com and trotters.com Websites. Phoenix Footwear Group, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California. About Birkenstock (Get Free Report) Birkenstock Holding plc manufactures and sells footwear products. It also offers sandals, shoes, closed-toe silhouettes, skincare products, and accessories. The company sells its products through e-commerce sites and a network of owned retail stores, as well as business-to-business channels. It operates in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Europe, APMA, and internationally. Birkenstock Holding plc was founded in 1774 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. Birkenstock Holding plc is a subsidiary of BK LC Lux MidCo S.a r.l. Receive News & Ratings for Phoenix Footwear Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Phoenix Footwear Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sagil Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Suzano S.A. (NYSE:SUZ Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 615,739 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,324,000. Suzano comprises 3.2% of Sagil Capital LLPs investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Suzano by 44.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 647,950 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,278,000 after buying an additional 198,068 shares during the period. Deltec Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Suzano in the second quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Suzano in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,640,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Suzano in the second quarter worth $103,000. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Suzano by 23.2% in the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 278,290 shares of the companys stock worth $2,858,000 after buying an additional 52,334 shares during the last quarter. 2.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Suzano alerts: Suzano Price Performance Shares of Suzano stock opened at $9.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.99. Suzano S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.78 and a 1-year high of $12.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Suzano Profile Suzano ( NYSE:SUZ Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter. Suzano had a net margin of 1.05% and a return on equity of 0.98%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Suzano S.A. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year. (Free Report) Suzano SA produces and sells eucalyptus pulp and paper products in Brazil and internationally. It operates through Pulp and Paper segments. The company offers coated and uncoated printing and writing papers, paperboards, tissue papers, and market and fluff pulps; and lignin. It also engages in the research, development, and production of biofuel; operation of port terminals; power generation and distribution business; commercialization of equipment and parts; industrialization, commercialization, and exporting of pulp and standing wood; road freight transport; biotechnology research and development; and commercialization of paper and computer materials. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Suzano Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Suzano and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shah Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of China Yuchai International Limited (NYSE:CYD Free Report) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,221,152 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 28,380 shares during the period. China Yuchai International accounts for about 8.3% of Shah Capital Managements portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Shah Capital Management owned approximately 1,563.39% of China Yuchai International worth $38,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Separately, Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of China Yuchai International during the first quarter worth approximately $175,000. Get China Yuchai International alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of China Yuchai International in a research report on Friday, August 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. China Yuchai International Stock Performance CYD opened at $12.20 on Wednesday. China Yuchai International Limited has a fifty-two week low of $7.83 and a fifty-two week high of $12.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.59. The companys 50-day moving average is $10.40 and its 200 day moving average is $9.23. China Yuchai International Increases Dividend The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This is a positive change from China Yuchai Internationals previous annual dividend of $0.28. China Yuchai International Profile (Free Report) China Yuchai International Limited, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, assembles, and sells diesel and natural gas engines for trucks, buses and passenger vehicles, marine, industrial, construction, agriculture, and generator set applications in the People's Republic of China and internationally. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for China Yuchai International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Yuchai International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Caledonia Mining Co. Plc (NYSEAMERICAN:CMCL Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 151,400 shares, a decline of 14.3% from the August 15th total of 176,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 86,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Caledonia Mining Trading Down 1.0 % Shares of Caledonia Mining stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.38. 2,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,129. Caledonia Mining has a fifty-two week low of $8.91 and a fifty-two week high of $14.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $171.67 million, a P/E ratio of 193.14 and a beta of 0.72. Get Caledonia Mining alerts: Caledonia Mining (NYSEAMERICAN:CMCL Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $50.11 million for the quarter. Caledonia Mining had a return on equity of 8.30% and a net margin of 7.07%. Caledonia Mining Announces Dividend Institutional Inflows and Outflows The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 12th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 12th. Caledonia Minings dividend payout ratio is presently 800.00%. A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMCL. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caledonia Mining by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 170,117 shares of the companys stock worth $2,075,000 after acquiring an additional 7,960 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Caledonia Mining by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 678,674 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,513,000 after purchasing an additional 26,946 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Caledonia Mining by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,954 shares of the companys stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Caledonia Mining by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,508 shares of the companys stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 3,642 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Caledonia Mining by 144.7% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,239 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.78% of the companys stock. Caledonia Mining Company Profile (Get Free Report) Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc primarily operates a gold mine. It also engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties for precious metals. The company holds a 64% interest in the Blanket Mine, a gold mine located in Zimbabwe. It also owns 100% interests in the Maligreen project, a brownfield gold exploration project located in the Gweru mining district in the Zimbabwe Midlands; the Bilboes, a gold deposit located to the north of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; and the Motapa, a gold exploration property located in Southern Zimbabwe. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Caledonia Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Caledonia Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Jiangsu Expressway Company Limited (OTCMKTS:JEXYY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,000 shares, a decrease of 9.1% from the August 15th total of 1,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Jiangsu Expressway Trading Up 2.8 % OTCMKTS:JEXYY traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.45. 712 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,742. Jiangsu Expressway has a 1 year low of $17.21 and a 1 year high of $22.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.31. Get Jiangsu Expressway alerts: Jiangsu Expressway Cuts Dividend The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were issued a $1.1461 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. About Jiangsu Expressway Jiangsu Expressway Company Limited engages in investment, construction, operation, and management of toll roads and bridges in the People's Republic of China. The company operates the Jiangsu section of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, Ningchang Expressway, Zhenli Expressway, Guangjing Expressway, Xicheng Expressway, Xiyi Expressway, Zhendan Expressway, Yanjiang Expressway, Jiangyin Bridge, Sujiahang Expressway, Changyi Expressway, Yichang Expressway, and Wufengshan Bridge. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Jiangsu Expressway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Jiangsu Expressway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. MSCI (NYSE:MSCI Get Free Report) and Singapore Exchange (OTCMKTS:SPXCF Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations. Profitability This table compares MSCI and Singapore Exchanges net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get MSCI alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets MSCI 43.86% -143.09% 21.30% Singapore Exchange N/A N/A N/A Earnings and Valuation This table compares MSCI and Singapore Exchanges top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio MSCI $2.70 billion 16.30 $1.15 billion $14.65 37.98 Singapore Exchange N/A N/A N/A $0.30 29.78 Institutional & Insider Ownership MSCI has higher revenue and earnings than Singapore Exchange. Singapore Exchange is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MSCI, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. 90.0% of MSCI shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.6% of Singapore Exchange shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of MSCI shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Dividends MSCI pays an annual dividend of $6.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Singapore Exchange pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. MSCI pays out 43.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Singapore Exchange pays out 94.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for MSCI and Singapore Exchange, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score MSCI 0 6 9 0 2.60 Singapore Exchange 1 0 0 0 1.00 MSCI presently has a consensus price target of $591.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.22%. Given MSCIs stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe MSCI is more favorable than Singapore Exchange. Summary MSCI beats Singapore Exchange on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks. About MSCI (Get Free Report) MSCI Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct. The Analytics segment offers risk management, performance attribution and portfolio management content, application, an integrated view of risk and return service, and an analysis of market, credit, liquidity, counterparty, and climate risk across asset classes; managed services, including consolidation of client portfolio data, review and reconciliation of input data and results, and customized reporting; and HedgePlatform to measure, evaluate, and monitor the risk of hedge fund investments. The ESG and Climate segment provides products and services that help institutional investors understand how ESG impacts the long-term risk and return of their portfolio and individual security-level investments; and data, ratings, research, and tools to help investors navigate increasing regulation. The All Other Private Assets segment includes real estate and infrastructure data, benchmarks, return-analytics, climate assessments and market insights; business intelligence to real estate owners, managers, developers, and brokers; and offers investment decision support tools for private capital. The Private Capital Solutions segment offers tools to help private asset investors across mission-critical workflows, such as sourcing terms and conditions, evaluating operating performance, managing risk and other activities supporting private capital investing. MSCI Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in New York, New York. About Singapore Exchange (Get Free Report) Singapore Exchange Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated securities and derivatives exchange, and related clearing houses in Singapore. It operates through Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities; Equities; and Data, Connectivity, and Indices segments. The Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities segment offers fixed income issuer, trading and clearing, and collateral management services. The Equities segment provides issuer, securities trading and clearing, securities settlement and depository management, derivatives trading and clearing, and collateral management services. The Data, Connectivity, and Indices segment offers market data, connectivity, and indices services. The company offers counterparty guarantee, and depository and related services for securities and derivatives transactions; bond trading services; front-line regulatory functions; and computer and software maintenance services. It also provides an electronic foreign exchange trading solutions and platform; electronic communication network; FX platform and support services; and management consultancy services for index activities. In addition, the company offers membership and management services to related corporations; distributes bulk freight market indices and information; and operates an electricity market, as well as provides administration services for index calculation, risk analyses, and financial research. Singapore Exchange Limited was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Singapore. Receive News & Ratings for MSCI Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MSCI and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SIR Royalty Income Fund (TSE:SRV.UN Get Free Report) declared a monthly dividend on Friday, September 20th, TickerTech reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.095 per share on Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. SIR Royalty Income Fund Stock Performance Shares of TSE SRV.UN opened at C$12.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of C$100.73 million, a PE ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 2.52. SIR Royalty Income Fund has a fifty-two week low of C$11.40 and a fifty-two week high of C$17.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$12.56 and a 200-day moving average of C$13.24. Get SIR Royalty Income Fund alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other SIR Royalty Income Fund news, insider Lembit Janes bought 2,700 shares of SIR Royalty Income Fund stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$11.50 per share, for a total transaction of C$31,050.00. 28.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders. About SIR Royalty Income Fund SIR Royalty Income Fund, through SIR Royalty Limited Partnership, owns SIR's restaurants in Canada. The company operates concept restaurants under the Jack Astor's Bar and Grill, Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar, and Canyon Creek Chop House; and signature restaurant brands under the Reds Wine Tavern, Reds Midtown Tavern, Reds Square One, and The Loose Moose brands. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for SIR Royalty Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SIR Royalty Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Springfield Properties PLC (LON:SPR Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of GBX 1 ($0.01) per share on Thursday, December 12th. This represents a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. The official announcement can be viewed at this link. Springfield Properties Stock Performance Shares of SPR stock opened at GBX 108.69 ($1.44) on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 7.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.40. Springfield Properties has a 52 week low of GBX 50 ($0.66) and a 52 week high of GBX 108.75 ($1.44). The stock has a market capitalization of 129.07 million, a PE ratio of 1,500.00 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of GBX 100.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 96.71. Get Springfield Properties alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Springfield Properties In other Springfield Properties news, insider Sandy Adam sold 125,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 94 ($1.24), for a total value of 117,500 ($155,217.97). 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Springfield Properties Company Profile Springfield Properties PLC, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the house building business in the United Kingdom. The company offers in private, contract, and affordable housing. It is also involved in hiring plants and machineries, property development, buying and selling real estate, manufacturing timber kit, and management services. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Springfield Properties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Springfield Properties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,699 shares of the companys stock after selling 6,835 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises approximately 1.1% of SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the companys stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the companys stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the companys stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,269 shares of the companys stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 9,794 shares of the companys stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Altria Group alerts: Altria Group Price Performance Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $51.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. Altria Group Increases Dividend Altria Group ( NYSE:MO Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The businesss revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $49.67. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MO Altria Group Profile (Free Report) Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Senator Ted Cruz speaks as he hosted a law enforcement and public safety rally with law enforcement leaders at King's Bierhaus on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday led the effort to block a bill by Senate Democrats that they said would protect in-vitro fertilization in America. But on the Senate floor, Cruz blasted the Democratic bill as a cynical show vote, saying it was less about protecting IVF treatments than creating political fodder for TV commercials ahead of the November election. Today, unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are staging an empty show vote, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad READ MORE: Houston fertility clinic knowingly gave damaged embryos to patients, lawsuit alleges Cruz is facing a challenge from Democrat Colin Allred, a Dallas-area congressman who is campaigning heavily on protecting abortion rights. The debate over IVF has grown after Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022 amid concerns that abortion bans could threaten the procedure. The bill up for debate Tuesday would mandate insurance providers cover IVF treatments, among other things. Schumer acknowledged in a letter to Democrats days earlier that he was forcing a vote because former President Donald Trump said last month that he wants to make IVF treatments free or force insurance companies to cover the costs. His running mate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, voted against the Democratic bill to do that earlier this year. Vance was not in the Senate for Tuesdays vote. The American people deserve another chance to see if Senate Republicans will back up their words and vote for access to IVF or vote against it. Its that simple, Schumer said in the letter. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Several Republicans spoke against the measure on Tuesday, including Texas' other U.S. Senator John Cornyn, but Cruz was among the most vocal. He said Democrats loaded the legislation up with poison pills that they knew Republicans could not support because they wanted Republicans to vote "no" so they could falsely accuse Republicans of wanting to end the popular treatment that millions of Americans use to have children. Cruz said the legislation was a backdoor to expand abortion rights, something most Republicans in the U.S. Senate oppose. After Cruzs speech, most Senate Republicans joined together to block Democrats from getting the 60 votes they needed to bring the "Right to IVF" legislation up for a full vote. Cruz said he and Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican, have a more serious bill that would have punished any state that tried to bar IVF treatments. But when Cruz tried to bring that vote up for a vote, Democrats, who control the majority in the Senate, blocked it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Democrats dont want to protect IVF because if we pass this law, you know what, they cant run misleading campaign commercials, Cruz said after Democrats refused to give it a vote on Tuesday. But U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the Cruz-Britt bill was missing important elements to assure the right to IVF was in fact protected. Specifically, she said the Cruz-Britt bill was silent on whether embryos should be treated the same as living breathing people and whether fertility clinics could dispose of unused embryos. It would still allow states to regulate IVF out of existence, she argued. Earlier this year, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos used in IVF should be considered children, raising questions about how clinics could handle them and prompting several to pause services. Alabama state lawmakers later passed temporary legal projections to keep IVF providers operating in that state despite their strict abortion ban that triggered the Alabama court ruling. Advertisement Article continues below this ad For Cruz, the issue has already been a part of his re-election campaign against Allred. On Tuesday, the Dallas Democrat quickly declared he would have voted for the Democratic bill Cruz helped block. I proudly support this bill, and in the Senate, I will always fight to protect IVF, he said in a statement to reporters. Cruz insisted he too supports IVF treatments, despite his opposition to the Democratic bill. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC decreased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Free Report) by 39.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 43,947 shares of the companys stock after selling 29,106 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.4% of SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $6,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,173 shares of the companys stock worth $2,364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares in the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 39,362 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,753,000 after buying an additional 4,189 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 157.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,847 shares of the companys stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 2,961 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 98,318 shares of the companys stock valued at $14,370,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 217.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 333 shares of the companys stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the companys stock. Get Johnson & Johnson alerts: Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.0 % JNJ opened at $167.07 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $402.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The companys 50 day moving average price is $160.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.01. Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement Johnson & Johnson ( NYSE:JNJ Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnsons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%. Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms have commented on JNJ. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $173.21. View Our Latest Stock Report on Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson Company Profile (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. See Also 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. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR Free Report) by 635.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,613 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after buying an additional 7,442 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs holdings in Extra Space Storage were worth $1,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXR. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Extra Space Storage in the 4th quarter worth $242,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Extra Space Storage by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new position in Extra Space Storage in the 4th quarter worth $301,000. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Extra Space Storage by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,336 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Extra Space Storage by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 10,225 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares during the period. 99.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Extra Space Storage alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In EXR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Extra Space Storage from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Extra Space Storage from $168.00 to $160.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Extra Space Storage from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Extra Space Storage from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Extra Space Storage from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Extra Space Storage currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $168.57. Extra Space Storage Price Performance Shares of NYSE EXR opened at $179.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $37.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.86. The businesss 50 day moving average is $168.68 and its 200-day moving average is $154.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Extra Space Storage Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.19 and a 1-year high of $179.42. Extra Space Storage Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Extra Space Storages dividend payout ratio is currently 144.32%. Insider Activity In other Extra Space Storage news, CEO Joseph D. Margolis sold 7,500 shares of Extra Space Storage stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.58, for a total value of $1,144,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 31,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,835,260.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP William N. Springer sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.33, for a total value of $350,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,089,758.27. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph D. Margolis sold 7,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.58, for a total transaction of $1,144,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,690 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,835,260.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,970 shares of company stock valued at $3,172,757. 1.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Extra Space Storage Profile (Free Report) Extra Space Storage Inc, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a self-administered and self-managed REIT and a member of the S&P 500. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and/or operated 3,714 self-storage stores in 42 states and Washington, DC The Company's stores comprise approximately 2.6 million units and approximately 283.0 million square feet of rentable space operating under the Extra Space, Life Storage and Storage Express brands. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EXR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Extra Space Storage Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Extra Space Storage and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT Free Report) by 13.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,630 shares of the retailers stock after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.s holdings in Target were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Target by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 178 shares of the retailers stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Target by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 10,773 shares of the retailers stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailers stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailers stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,130 shares of the retailers stock worth $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Target alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research firms have weighed in on TGT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $179.68. Target Stock Performance Shares of TGT opened at $151.97 on Wednesday. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The stock has a market cap of $70.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $148.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.05. Target (NYSE:TGT Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.53 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Activity at Target In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Target Profile (Free Report) Target Corporation operates as a general merchandise retailer in the United States. The company offers apparel for women, men, boys, girls, toddlers, and infants and newborns, as well as jewelry, accessories, and shoes; and beauty and personal care, baby gear, cleaning, paper products, and pet supplies. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TGT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Target Co. (NYSE:TGT Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Target Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Target and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tredje AP fonden boosted its position in Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV Free Report) by 4.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 97,027 shares of the industrial products companys stock after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden owned approximately 0.07% of Dover worth $17,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Dover by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,689,136 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $567,426,000 after acquiring an additional 492,577 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Dover by 153.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,633,453 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $466,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595,611 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Dover by 4.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,505,749 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $271,702,000 after purchasing an additional 60,912 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Dover by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,231,606 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $189,433,000 after buying an additional 414,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Dover in the 4th quarter worth approximately $175,275,000. 84.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Dover alerts: Dover Stock Performance Shares of DOV opened at $188.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.00. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.22. Dover Co. has a 12-month low of $127.25 and a 12-month high of $192.31. Dover Increases Dividend Dover ( NYSE:DOV Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.15 billion. Dover had a net margin of 17.58% and a return on equity of 24.94%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dover Co. will post 9.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. This is a positive change from Dovers previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Dovers payout ratio is 19.79%. Insider Transactions at Dover In related news, SVP Ivonne M. Cabrera sold 1,220 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $225,700.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,060 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,706,100. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Richard J. Tobin sold 25,004 shares of Dover stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.96, for a total value of $4,549,727.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 182,928 shares in the company, valued at $33,285,578.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Ivonne M. Cabrera sold 1,220 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $225,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,060 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,706,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 45,383 shares of company stock worth $8,169,883. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research firms have issued reports on DOV. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Dover from $192.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Dover from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $208.00 target price on shares of Dover in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $192.63. Read Our Latest Analysis on DOV Dover Profile (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. Featured Stories 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. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its stake in Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL Free Report) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,254 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. owned about 0.09% of Travel + Leisure worth $2,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Travel + Leisure in the second quarter worth $27,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 2,759.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 629 shares of the companys stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Travel + Leisure in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Travel + Leisure during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Travel + Leisure during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.54% of the companys stock. Get Travel + Leisure alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other news, insider Amandine Robin-Caplan sold 3,246 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total value of $135,812.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,024,703.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.02% of the stock is owned by insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Travel + Leisure from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Travel + Leisure from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Travel + Leisure from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Travel + Leisure from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $56.63. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on TNL Travel + Leisure Price Performance NYSE TNL opened at $42.63 on Wednesday. The businesss fifty day moving average is $44.11 and its 200-day moving average is $44.74. Travel + Leisure Co. has a one year low of $32.10 and a one year high of $49.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.62. Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.13. Travel + Leisure had a negative return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $985.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $987.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Travel + Leisure Co. will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year. Travel + Leisure Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Travel + Leisures dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.83%. About Travel + Leisure (Free Report) Travel + Leisure Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides hospitality services and travel products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Vacation Ownership; and Travel and Membership. The Vacation Ownership segment develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests (VOIs) to individual consumers, as well as provides consumer financing in connection with the sale of VOIs; and property management services at resorts. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TNL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Travel + Leisure Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Travel + Leisure and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Xinyuan Real Estate (NYSE:XIN Free Report) in a research note released on Sunday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock. Xinyuan Real Estate Stock Performance XIN opened at $2.73 on Friday. Xinyuan Real Estate has a twelve month low of $1.92 and a twelve month high of $4.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.85, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.82. Get Xinyuan Real Estate alerts: About Xinyuan Real Estate (Get Free Report) Read More Xinyuan Real Estate Co, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in residential real estate development and construction in the People's Republic of China, the United States, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. The company develops residential projects, such as multi-layer apartment buildings, sub-high-rise apartment buildings, high-rise apartment buildings; auxiliary services and amenities, such as retail outlets, leisure and health facilities, kindergartens, and schools, as well as office, mixed-use, and commercial properties. Receive News & Ratings for Xinyuan Real Estate Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Xinyuan Real Estate and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. 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. Dianne Dannhaus is a Lake Jackson resident, wife and mother of two grown sons who has a passion for writing and interior design. She started a private Facebook group Sharing Secrets, which has more than 6,000 followers. Direct comments and questions to bliving@thefacts.com. At least eight people were killed and 2,800 more members of Hezbollah were reportedly injured when the pagers they use to communicate simultaneously exploded on Tuesday. Lebanon's state-run news agency said the blasts targeted people across Beiruit. Others were injured in Syria. A Hezbollah official told the National News Agency that it was the "biggest security breach yet" targeting the Iran-backed group, according to Reuters. One of the blasts was caught on camera at a market. Iranian Ambassador Lebanon Mojtaba Amani is among the injured, the Times of Israel reported. Israel has been battling Hezbollah for months. It did not immediately take credit for the attacks. But earlier in the day it said that halting Hezbollah's attacks in the country's north is now an official war goal. Israeli officials have threatened to take heavier military action against the armed group. While the focus of the war has been on Gaza, the unabating exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon have forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes. "The political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war this evening, so that they include the following section: the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement. Not formally declared as a war, the exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah have killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side, the AFP reported. Carol Bishop Mills is the co-director of Political Communication and Public Opinion Lab at Florida Atlantic University. She wrote this for The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. The Hargis House Womans Club continues to make improvements to the historic Hargis House at West Second Street and Lincoln Avenue. To keep its renovation fund healthy, the club needs to have fundraisers. The latest will be Friday, when people can have a portrait taken at the home in exchange for a $100 donation. The exclusive portrait sessions are meant for small families, couples and individuals, possibly including executives. Photos will be taken by Grand Island photographer Hollie Klimek. Appointments must be made in advance. Slots are still available on Friday afternoon. To make a reservation, call 308-382-9331 or 308-379-6121. That is just one of several projects underway at the Hargis House. Twenty-six custom-made windows have been installed on the homes third floor. The windows were built by C&C Millwork of Grand Island. A grant from the Kaufmann-Cummings Foundation paid for the windows, which cost $650 each. A big change next month will catch the attention of passing pedestrians and motorists. The house will be restored to its original colors. A siding project will leave the majority of the house green, with the fascia and soffits white. The house, built in 1898 by Andrew Hargis, was originally olive green and white. The composite siding doesnt actually come in a true olive. But its as close to the color as we could get, said Sherry Moore, president of the Hargis House Womans Club. The work will pretty much return the house to its initial look, she said. The composite siding will be installed in October by Compass Roofing. The contract is for $94,000. We paid $50,0000 down and we are now seeking help from the public to raise the remaining $50,000, Moore said. The cost will probably exceed $94,000 because repairs need to be done, and parts of the house will require painting. Nothings been done on the house for a number of years and so theres a lot of projects that need to be done and paid for, Moore said. The Hargis House will have its third annual craft show on Oct. 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For the second year, the house will sponsor the Holiday Tour of Homes on Dec. 7. Tickets for the Tour of Homes will be available at the craft show. The Hargis House group is working very diligently trying to raise funds, Moore said. The club is applying for grants. But group members would love to get support from people who love old historic homes, she said. In May, the house received a visit from Eric Coats and his wife, who live in South Carolina. Coats ancestors were the second owners of the house. Later, the couple mailed a $10,000 donation to the Hargis House Womans Club. If someone from South Carolina trusts us enough they could donate $10,000 for the renovation, were hoping that several people from Grand Island would trust us in the same way and donate $10,000, Moore said. But theyd be happy to receive smaller gits. Any size donation is very much appreciated, Moore said. Donations may be mailed to the Hargis House at 1109 W. Second St., Grand Island NE 68801. Because the mailbox on the Hargis House porch is locked, supporters can also just drop in a contribution. The club is a 501 (3) organization, so donations are tax-deductible. Moore said club members are so appreciative of Compass Roofing, which last year gave the house a new roof free of charge. Budget season has arrived once again as the fiscal year for school districts in Nebraska runs from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31. Our 2024-25 school year has started strong and we are looking to carry that momentum through with a renewed focus on setting our students up for success. The beginning of a fiscal year is always marked with the approval of a budget and the setting of a tax request to support that budget. Part of the process is the annual budget workshop. Our Grand Island Public Schools district will hold a budget workshop this week on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Kneale Administration Building. What is the Annual Budget Workshop? Board of Education members participate in a public budget workshop to review and give feedback on the proposed budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. The community is invited to attend the budget workshop to hear that discussion (a public comment period is always offered during Board meetings). The Board also hosts a public hearing to take public comments concerning the proposed fiscal year 2024-25 budget. The hearing is immediately following the budget workshop at approximately 6:30 p.m. In preparing for the budget workshop, GIPS will be sharing with the Board and the community a few key highlights for our tax payers. After a year of financial reductions, our general fund budget has firm footing. Much of our 2023-24 school year was dedicated to re-shaping finances in our district. In order to fund anticipated future increases in the costs of goods and services, as well as increases in salaries and wages, the GIPS district needed to reduce General Fund budgetary costs by an estimated $4,250,000. Why? Among many contributing factors, the main motivations for the necessary budget reductions included: Federal Covid dollars going away at the end of the 2024 summer. Continuing our commitment to compensating our teachers and staff in a competitive fashion. Better preparing for the fluctuating school funding model by the state. While the process of reducing our spending was a painful process, we learned a lot about our district and each other throughout the year. Our school leaders and staff came together to identify solutions we felt were sustainable while minimizing the impact of the classroom experience for our PK-12th Grade students. We can confidently say that GIPS is poised to be in a more financially sustainable position going forward. Tax levy We are lowering our tax levy for the second-straight year. In virtually unprecedented fashion, GIPS will be lowering the tax levy two years in a row. Last year (2023-24) we were able to alleviate some of the taxpayer burden by decreasing our overall levy by nine cents. For the 2024-25 school year, we anticipate being able to lower our levy by an additional 1.7 cents while maintaining what we need to fund our district and support our students and staff. Over the last two fiscal years the 10.7 cent levy reduction equates to $5,194,000 savings to the Grand Island Public Schools patron at todays assessed valuation level. In our combined effort with the community to shape the education and the future of our students, we hold a responsibility to recognize the taxpayers burden. We are grateful for every opportunity we have to lighten the load for our community even if only a little bit. Rebuilding cash reserves is still a long-term focus GIPS is continuing to make strategic investments in order to take care of todays needs and plan for the future. This includes rebuilding necessary cash reserves to improve our financial position and to maintain our AA-/Stable Bond rating (Affirmed by S&P Global Ratings on 09/06/2024) . This also helps us lower the cost of our bond debt and keeps us from having to borrow money. Simply put, we want to ensure our districts financial position remains strong. It makes good business sense to continue doing what we can to rebuild cash reserves. We are committed to operating [and spending] within our means to provide the best educational experience possible for our students. Find more resources at www.GIPS.org/Budget. Be sure to explore our budget resources on our district website. Available on-demand to you is a podcast episode featuring a conversation with Chief Financial Officer Virgil Harden and myself sharing a deeper look into this years budget. You will also be able to find a snapshot of our financial overview from the last three years through our Annual Report publications. We will update the www.GIPS.org/Budget page with more resources and frequently asked questions as the year progresses. Our echoing message at GIPS and within the Grand Island community is we are doing this work together. We are unified in our goal to provide every opportunity possible for our staff to inspire todays students so they may have better tomorrows. We, our students and staff, appreciate your trust and your partnership as we continue doing all we can to ensure our mission of Every Student, Every Day, A Success is lived in each of our classrooms. PHOTOS: Illuminate the way at the third annual Light the Luminaries for Paws The Good Life Rescue hosts its third annual Light the Luminaries for Paws at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. All proceeds from the event benefit the non-profit rescue organization. Light the Luminaries for Paws A handmade sign for the Light the Luminaries for Paws event sits behind two luminaries at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. Signs for the event Light the Luminaries for Paws Karen Grabowski and her dog, Sophie, look at a luminary she made for her other dog, Bailey, during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Light the Luminaries for Paws Several people participate in a raffle during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. Along with the raffl Light the Luminaries for Paws Sherri Hiatt, left, makes a luminary with her granddaughter, Mariyah Blair, during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Light the Luminaries for Paws Garth Edwardson pets his dog, Hannah, during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. Edwardson adopted Han Light the Luminaries for Paws Left: Becca Cummins, left, and Angela Gillam take a picture of the luminaries during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park o Light the Luminaries for Paws Case Morse and his dog, Lugnut, during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. Morse came to support the e Light the Luminaries for Paws People play a round a Treat Trott during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. The winner of the round w Light the Luminaries for Paws Kelly Cabarcas gets a balloon shaped like a flower during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. Cabarcas Light the Luminaries for Paws Annaliese Coaker dances for the Treat Trott during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. Coaker was tryi Light the Luminaries for Paws Tracy Jewell and his dog, Frankie, look at the luminaries during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. A Light the Luminaries for Paws Megan Senff, left, and Haylie Zima look at treats during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. Zima was Light the Luminaries for Paws Several people walk down the luminary trail during the Light the Luminaries for Paws event at Stolley Park on Friday, Sept. 6. The event laste Independent Athlete of the Week: Grand Island Central Catholic's Graham Stava Athlete of the Week: Grand Island Central Catholic junior Graham Stava had seven catches for 146 yards and scored four touchdowns during the C A former law enforcement officer is accused of choking his 18-year-old daughter, according to an Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office warrant. LaCra Sharod Jenkins, 46, of Eutawville, is charged with unlawful conduct toward a child. He says hes innocent, according to his attorney. His daughter told deputies Jenkins choked her for 10 seconds during a July 12 incident, according to a sheriffs office report. She said she never lost consciousness while Jenkins allegedly choked her, but she had difficulty breathing. A deputy noted that he didnt see any definitive physical evidence that corroborated the accusations. There was a faint red mark on the accusers chest below her right collarbone, near her clavicle notch. Jenkins denied choking or attempting to choke his daughter. He told deputies that he was having a heated conversation with his daughter about her behavior. She was allegedly disrespecting him and struck him across the bridge of his nose, Jenkins told deputies. He told deputies that he restrained her by grabbing her shoulders and pinning her against the back cushion of the couch in an upright seated position. The accusers mother and another witness intervened during the incident, separating the two. The witness claimed Jenkins did not choke his accuser, the report said. Jenkins turned himself in at the Orangeburg County Law Enforcement Complex on Tuesday. A bond hearing was held. During the hearing, the mother of the accuser said, Her father committed something very, very traumatic to her. Shell live with this for the rest of her life. He spoke the words he was going to do to her and he did that act, the accusers mother claims. She described Jenkins as an angry person, adding that hes a danger to the community. Attorney Samantha Farlow-Moyd, who represents Jenkins, told the court that he has a criminal record but no criminal history of violence. She added that Jenkins was released from federal prison a year ago. Hes on probation. Farlow-Moyd noted that Jenkins has a total of four daughters and he takes care of each of them. She said that Jenkins works at a home improvement store and requested that the court grant him a personal recognizance bond so he wouldnt need to put up any money to get out of jail. Farlow-Moyd said that Jenkins maintains his innocence. Orangeburg County Magistrate Meree Williamson set Jenkins bond at $2,000 cash or surety. If convicted, Jenkins faces up to 10 years in prison. In October 2015, the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office fired Jenkins, who was head of its road patrol division, as the S.C. Law Enforcement Division investigated allegations against him. SLED charged him with misconduct in office in 2017. He was accused of withholding money from his fellow deputies when they performed off-duty assignments. Jenkins completed the pretrial intervention program. Upon completion of the program, the charge was dropped and his record was cleared. Jenkins is currently on probation after he pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2019 to conspiracy to violate federal law, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and two counts of visa fraud. Undercover FBI agents recruited some local law enforcement officers to guard supposed cocaine transports and freight, including proceeds from drug trades. Officers were also involved in the fabrication of documents that allowed some foreigners to remain in the United States longer than otherwise allowed. Nine people pleaded guilty to participating in at least one of the schemes. Jenkins was Springfield police chief at the time. He was sentenced to five years in federal prison and 200 hours of community service work. The Federal Bureau of Prisons states he was released on March 1, 2024. A 46-year-old Orangeburg man admitted he shot a gun at an occupied vehicle. Demetrius Meatball Lamont Walley, of Tudon Road, pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, although he was originally charged with attempted murder. Circuit Judge Matie Murphy sentenced him to time served of 1,080 days in jail. Walley was also charged with attempted murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, but those charges were dismissed. Walley was accused of trying to kill the same man twice last year. The man claimed that Walley shot at him on March 1, 2023. The man was in his vehicle in a Magnolia Street parking lot in Orangeburg at the time. The man wasnt physically injured, but a bullet damaged his car. The same man accused Walley of shooting at him again on June 22, 2023. The man was driving when he spotted Walley drive by his vehicle. He attempted to avoid an altercation by pulling into a St. Matthews Road parking lot, but Walley allegedly fired a bullet that struck his vehicle. Like in the first incident, the man wasnt physically injured, but his car was damaged. The man claims Walley was upset with him about a woman. In other recent guilty pleas at the Orangeburg County Courthouse: Jason F. Page, 39, of 6804 Ebury Court, Liverpool, New York, pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic violence, shoplifting $2,000 or less, wounding a police officer while resisting arrest and public disorderly conduct. Murphy sentenced Page to time served of 206 days in jail. Page was charged with violation a court order of protection, but that charge was dismissed. Audreyanna Diamond Murph, 22, of 203 Quasar Street, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence. Murphy sentenced her to jail under the Youthful Offender Act, suspended to probation for 18 months. She gave Murph credit for serving two days in jail. Murph is required to undergo random drug/alcohol testing. She was charged with first-degree domestic violence, but it was dismissed. Alneesah Shareefa Oates, 42, of 2481 Landsdowne Road, Bowman, pleaded guilty to first-offense possession of a controlled substance. Murphy ordered her to pay a $100 fine or report to jail for 90 days. Selena Annette Rivers, 39, of 322 Mill Creek Road, Vance, pleaded guilty to shoplifting valued at $2,000 with enhancement. Murphy sentenced her to time served of 150 days in jail. Montrevious Zymir Robinson, 21, of 803 Elko Street, Williston, pleaded guilty to non-violent second-degree burglary. Murphy sentenced him under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed six years, suspended to probation for two years. Robinson is required to pay restitution, obtain his GED and undergo random drug/alcohol testing. He was charged with petit larceny valued at $2,000 or less, but it was dismissed. Whitney Nicole Robinson, 35, of 114 Terry Street, Cordova, pleaded guilty to first-offense possession of a controlled substance. Murphy sentenced her to jail for six months, suspended to probation for 18 months. Murphy gave her credit for serving 60 days in jail. Robinson is required to obtain her GED, enroll with the S.C. Vocational Rehabilitation Department or Job Corps, complete substance abuse counseling and undergo random drug/alcohol testing. Cristian de la Cruz Roblero, 32, of 1328 Hamilton Road, Manning, pleaded guilty to first-offense possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. Murphy sentenced him to prison for one year, suspended to probation for 18 months. She gave him credit for serving 14 days in jail. Roblero is required to complete substance abuse counseling and undergo random drug/alcohol testing. He faced the following charges, but they were dismissed: use of license plate other than for which vehicle issued, first-offense driving without a license, giving false information to law enforcement, open container of beer/wine in motor vehicle, transporting alcohol with a broken seal in a motor vehicle, first-offense possession of a narcotic drug and first-offense unlawful use of license. Tyliek Raquan Seabrooks, 25, of 952 Craven Lane, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and battery. Murphy sentenced him to prison for three years, suspended to probation for two years. She gave Seabrooks credit for serving 146 days in jail. Seabrooks is required to enroll with the S.C. Vocational Rehabilitation Department or Job Corps and undergo random drug/alcohol testing. Johnathan Mark Sprinkle, 40, of 11 Geiger Road, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence. Murphy sentenced him to jail for 90 days, suspended to probation for two years. She gave Sprinkle credit for serving six days in jail. Hes required to complete substance abuse counseling and undergo random drug/alcohol testing. Ronald Walker, 57, of 2017 Apple Valley Road Apt. A, Columbia, pleaded guilty to breaking into a motor vehicle and financial transaction card fraud valued $500 or less in a six-month period. Murphy sentenced him to jail for one year. Walker was given credit for already serving 331 days. His probation was revoked. Walker faced an additional count of financial transaction card fraud valued at $500 or less in a six-month period, but it was dismissed. Eutawville could enhance its mosquito control efforts for $2.31 a month per household, Councilman James Nutt said during the town councils monthly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10. Mosquitoes are more than just a nuisance, Nutt said. They can spread diseases that endanger the public health and safety. He proposed increasing the monthly base water rate by $2.31 per customer in town and by $2.67 per customer out of town. That would generate approximately $8,000 per year that would be used exclusively for this purpose of mosquito control, such as buying chemicals and maintaining the sprayer, he said. Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. Nutt volunteered to use his personal truck to spray the pesticide twice a month from mid-May to mid-September the peak mosquito breeding season throughout the area served by the towns water system. Councilman Richard Chaz Miller requested more detail, so the council voted to discuss the proposal further at a work session meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. in the community center, 419 Porcher Ave. Clash of steel on steel: Event commemorates Orangeburg County battle History buffs gather to commemorate the 243rd anniversary of the Battle of Eutaw Springs, honoring those who fought for liberty during the American Revolutionary War. Mayor Brandon Weatherford reported that the property at 109 Porcher Ave. the Historic Church of the Epiphanys Parish House is zoned commercial general because a restaurant was operated there at one point in time. AK-style rifle stolen in Eutawville Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office A Columbia man reported on Thursday that someone stole his AK-style rifle that he kept at his mothers home on County Line Road near Eutawville. Now the property is for sale and the prospective buyer has asked town officials to sign a letter of support for a portion of the parcel to be rezoned as residential, the mayor added. EUTAWVILLE TOWN COUNCIL: Officials looking at technology to expand law enforcement Faced with police shortage, Eutawville Town Council considers technology solution with Flock Safety for surveillance. Next meeting on Aug. 27. Miller noted that rezoning can affect a propertys value and sales price. He asked if town officials asked the current owner whether he is in favor of the rezoning request. Only the current owner can request a rezoning. The council voted to discuss the matter further at the Sept. 24 work session meeting. Miller recently returned from a lengthy overseas active-duty military deployment and has resumed his council duties with renewed vigor. UPDATED: Eutawville crash victim identified; man charged with hit-and-run One person was killed and two others were injured in a collision in Eutawville at 5:13 p.m. Thursday, according to Cpl. Nick Pye of the S.C. Highway Patrol. He reported that he scheduled a meeting with Orangeburg County Emergency Services Director Billy Staley to learn more about the Palmetto EOC program that could help the town recover from hurricanes and other disasters. He also proposed showing an outdoors movie using the towns recently purchased but little-used projector and screen on the same evening as this years Trunk-or-Treat, possibly on Oct. 26. And, during the previous council meeting on Aug. 13, he urged the mayor and council to consider increasing Eutawvilles investment in law enforcement technology. He said that Flock Safety a company that sells and maintains live-streaming video cameras, license plate recorders, and gunshot detectors agreed to make a presentation at the councils work session on Aug. 27. But the Aug. 27 work session was not held. Flocks presentation was on the agenda for the Sept. 10 council meeting and sales representative Taylor Ellison of Charlotte, North Carolina, was in attendance. We have to turn to technology, Miller insisted. But, to Millers obvious disappointment, the mayor and the rest of the council members voted to remove the presentation from the agenda. It remains to be seen whether the proposal is discussed at the Sept. 24 work session. In other business on Sept. 10, auditor Lori Salley of McGregor & Company said Eutawville got an unmodified opinion which is the best possible result in its most recent annual independent audit of the towns financial records. Three material weaknesses were identified in the previous audit. Now two of them have been eliminated, Salley said. She proposed a way to eliminate the final remaining weakness. Also during the Sept. 10 meeting: The council voted to declare that council members are town employees for the purpose of participation in the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority. Councilman Harry Lee Brown said he is seeking volunteers to help pick up litter along Sanibel and perhaps other streets, possibly on Oct. 12 or Oct. 26. Councilman Roger Adkins reported that the water system distributed 1,358,969 gallons in August. Three leaks have been found and will be repaired. Nutt reported that the police department issued 22 citations in August. Miller reported that the fire department responded to 23 calls in August. Weatherford reported that he asked Butler Tree Care for prices on cutting two trees one in the park and the other behind the IGA supermarket. He said hed like to compare Butlers prices with those of other tree companies. Weatherford said the Municipal Association of South Carolina advised him that the council is not required to approve its agenda at the beginning of each meeting, so that practice will be discontinued. Weatherford asked attendees to observe a moment of silence for the lives lost in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. During public comments, a man said he saw a woman slip and fall on the bridge in the community park on a morning when it was wet with dew. The mayor said the town is seeking penny tax money to replace the bridge. He added that he will find out what can be done to make the bridge safer in the meantime. Rachael Jenkins expressed her concerns about the maintenance of the gazebo base and the memorial brick walkway at the park. She offered to clean those areas periodically and her offer was accepted. Jenkins also invited everyone to participate in the annual breast cancer awareness walk and program. This year its scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5, in the community park. After the Sept. 24 work session, the councils next monthly meeting is set for Tuesday, Oct. 8. Both meetings are open to the public. Both will begin at 6 p.m. in the Community Center at 419 Porcher Ave. Contact Town Clerk Casey Hill at 803-492-3374 for more information. Work appears to be stopped on a high-rise building Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A residential tower under construction is visible adjacent to the Childrens Museum Monday, May 6, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer A residential tower under construction is visible in the museum district on La Branch St. near Binz St. Monday, May 6, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer A rendering of the 33-story coliving tower is expected to open in the third quarter of 2024 at 5501 La Branch Street in Houston's Museum District. The X Company Roughly a year after construction stalled on a 33-story skyscraper in Houston's Museum District, its developer has secured $27.9 million in financing, documents show, and contractors say they are preparing to resume work on the project. Contractors had almost reached the top level of the tower, known as X Houston, when work abruptly halted on last fall on the 750,000-square-foot project at 5501 La Branch. The partially built tower and a massive crane jutting from the site have loomed over the Museum District skyline since then, leaving neighbors wondering about the fate of the co-living building that was supposed to be completed later this year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At one point, contractors thought work would resume in June, but it took longer to work through financing and resolve liens tied to the property than expected, contractors said. The intent now is to resume construction in early November, although the timeline is still an estimate, said Brady Johnson, senior vice president with Hoar Construction, the projects general contractor. Im certainly hopeful, Johnson said. Its very good for all of us that live and us breathe (the project)." Harris County deed records show XSC Houston Investments, a subsidiary of the developer, took out a $27.9 million loan tied to the property from New York-based lender Raven Capital Management on Sept. 6. It wasnt immediately clear what role the loan played in the project, or what the financial status was of the Chicago-based developer of the project, X Co. Neither the X Co. nor Raven Capital responded to requests for comment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The full extent of Raven Capital's relationship with the X Co. wasn't immediately clear. Up until this year, the X Co.'s CEO Noah Gottlieb was listed as a managing member in Texas Secretary of State documents of XSC Houston Investments. But Golliteb's name was removed in secretary state documents in July. Raven Capital Chief Operating Officer Noah Himmel was added as an authorized person for XSC Houston Investments, according to state records. Harris County deed records filed recently list XSC Houston's corporate office in New York, at the same location as Raven Capital's New York office. The Houston project was initially estimated to cost about $107 million, according to early state permit filings, though that could have changed. After the project stalled, subcontractors, suppliers and contractors filed liens against X Co. for unpaid work, supplies and services that at one point tallied more than $67 million, according to Harris County deed records. Contractors and subcontractors have now been paid back, including Hoar Construction, Johnson said. Hoar had filed $38 million in liens tied to the project, according to Harris County deed records. Advertisement Article continues below this ad One subcontractor, Ranger Specialized Glass, confirmed it was preparing for a November restart after settling liens. It seems like the general contractor Hoar is really on top of things; I see this is a positive thing, said Christian Hiltibrand, a project manager at Houston-based Ranger. X Houston is expected to be among the citys biggest ground-up co-living projects, with a total of 646 beds spread across 475 proposed units. Co-living is a form of professionally managed, shared housing in which residents rent rooms, while sharing common spaces with roommates. Often residents can get more flexible lease arrangements while the landlord handles things such as cleaning, bill splitting and stocking the units with basic supplies. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While co-living is sometimes a more affordable option, X Co.s projects are pitched as more luxurious living with upscale amenities and a social club catering to affluent young professionals. Houston isnt the only place where X Co. postponed projects. Last September, the X Co. also abruptly halted work on the second phase of X Phoenix, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. Contractors for that project have filed several liens and lawsuits against the X Co. since then, it reported in July 2024. However, construction of a separate X Co. tower in downtown Phoenix is progressing. The company has also reportedly faced financial hurdles and liens at finished co-living project in Denver, where it closed a club tied to the project in late 2023, the Business Den reported. X Co. has built co-living projects in Chicago and Denver, and in early 2023 said it had about 5,300 co-living units in its pipeline. (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. MUFG EMEA has announced the appointment of Yoshi Katsuda as Regional Head for Middle East. Katsuda will be responsible for all operations from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch in Dubai as MUFG continues to service clients across the Middle East with a focus on innovation, sustainability and bespoke financing solutions, tailored to requirements of this region. His appointment is effective from September 20, 2024 and he will report into Hidefumi Yamamura, Regional Executive, MUFG EMEA. Having joined MUFG 25 years ago, Katsuda is a highly respected and experienced leader, having held a number of senior positions across client-facing, product and planning roles in Japan and EMEA. Rich experience Most recently, Katsuda was Head of the Global Corporate Banking Office in the GCIB Planning Division in Tokyo and prior to this spent three years as Head of Business Strategy Management in the DIFC Branch from 2018 to 2021. Katsuda replaces Yohsuke Ricky Takahashi who successfully led the operations within the Middle East region since July 2023. Hidefumi Yamamura, Regional Executive, MUFG EMEA, commented: I am delighted to have Yoshi take up this post to lead the team in Mena. This region remains a globally important centre of client business and I am sure he will continue to strengthen and grow our success there. Katsuda said: It is an honour to step up into this role after having spent the past three years of my career getting to know this region. I believe we can go from strength to strength as we develop and nurture the client relationships we currently have as well as expanding and cultivating new ones.--TradeArabia News Service eWTP Arabia Capital, the first international private equity firm to establish an Asia-Saudi cross border investment platform, has rebranded as ewpartners as it celebrates seven years in the kingdom. Since it was launched in Riyadh in 2017, ewpartners has raised and fully deployed $400 million for its Fund I and is targeting $1 billion for Fund II as a result of strong investor interest. Backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), ewpartners has 18 portfolio investments and has created more than 6,500 jobs for a Saudi workforce which is young, skilled, and poised to drive the Kingdoms economy. Spectrum of investments Through its funds, ewpartners invests across the spectrum of Infrastructure & Logistics, Fintech, Technology/ICT, Tourism, Gaming/Esports, New Energy, Healthcare, Consumer, and Agriculture all with a focus on technological and digital upgrading. By establishing and maintaining the kingdoms position at the forefront of technological excellence, and through its contribution to building a high-performing, growing workforce, ewpartners has been a key contributor in bolstering the Saudi economy, helping ensure the future of the country is driven by its own people. The rebrand now symbolises a broadening out of its initial focus to include investments into the wider region. The east west wording incorporated into ewpartners symbolises the transfer of knowledge and investment that the company facilitates between Asia and the Middle East. Speaking at an event held at ewpartners offices in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) to celebrate the new brand, ewpartners Founder and Managing Partner Jessica Wong said: We were the first crossborder investment platform to establish ourselves in Saudi Arabia and our first-mover advantage has meant the last seven years has been a period of great success for us. Thanks to ongoing support from our investors, we have been able to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and opportunity between Asia and Saudi - the sharing between East and West - and make significant strides in fostering economic growth in the kingdom through strategic investments across a range of industries. Pipeline of opportunities As we launch our new brand here in the KAFD we are excited to renew our commitment to the kingdom, as well as signal our intention towards the wider Middle East. We have already identified a pipeline of opportunities and we look forward to acting on that as we contribute towards the regions vision of connectivity, growth, and global prominence. Also at the event, held to celebrate the rebrand, was Talal Albakr, CEO of SCCC (Saudi Cloud Computing Company), a portfolio company of ewpartners and a joint venture with stc Group, Alibaba Cloud, SCAI (Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence), and SITE (Saudi Information Technology Company). We are pleased to celebrate ewpartners' rebranding and their seven-year milestone in Saudi Arabia. Our partnership with ewpartners has been a valuable aspect of our journey, enabling us to leverage strategic investments and collaborative opportunities. Together with industry leaders like stc Group, Alibaba Cloud, SCAI, and SITE, SCCC has been able to advance our mission of providing secure and innovative cloud computing solutions. We look forward to continuing our collaboration to support Saudi Arabias economic diversification and digital transformation, said Albakr. He was joined by Steven Chou, Chairman at Sahm Capital, also a portfolio company, on a panel on the importance of identifying and fostering technological talent and innovation in the kingdom. Sahm Capital is the first international online brokerage firm to provide services in KSA and a registered member of the Saudi Exchange. Premier partner Chou commented: From day one of Sahm Capital's establishment, ewpartners has stood as our premier partner. Today, Sahm Capital stands as the fastest-growing brokerage in Saudi Arabia, embarking on exploring an infinite future alongside ewpartners. We firmly believe that in the promising Saudi market, we can create long-term growth. ewpartners is focused on developing the Mena region as a future hub of innovation and growth. The importance of the region is not lost on Asian investors, with a growing number intent on seeking opportunities in the Gulf and foreign direct investment increasing ten-fold between 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, the visit of Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China, to Riyadh last week to discuss trade agreements demonstrates the intention for China and the GCC to collaborate in several sectors including energy, investment and trade.--TradeArabia News Service Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced a new milestone in sustainable development with Al Rayan Masjid becoming the first place of worship in the world to achieve the prestigious LEED Zero certification. Located in Hatta, this mosque sets a new benchmark for green architecture in religious structures, showcasing Dubai's commitment to innovation and environmental stewardship, said a statement. Al Rayan Masjid is a shining example of sustainable development, generating at least 150% of its annual energy needs through high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) panels installed on the parking structure and ablution area. This excess energy not only meets the mosques total annual consumption, including lighting, air conditioning systems, and other electrical needs, but also contributes surplus power back to the grid, embodying the principles of net positive energy, it said. Previously recognised when inaugurated in 2021 as the worlds first mosque to achieve the prestigious LEED v4 Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council (USGBC), with a score of 83 points, Al Rayan Masjid has now received the distinguished LEED Zero Energy certification, further cementing its status as a leader in sustainable architecture. Spread across an area of 1,050 sq m, Hattas Green Mosque can accommodate more than 600 worshippers and meets the highest environmental sustainability standards. The mosque features a 25-m-high minaret, parking for cars and motorcycles, facilities for people of determination, and a green charger station for electric vehicles. Solar photovoltaic panels have been installed alongside a water treatment unit to reuse water for irrigation and cleaning. Dewa adhered to the highest international standards to ensure air quality by using a highly efficient air purification device to provide a sustainable and healthy environment inside the mosque, with recycled materials used for construction. Al Rayan Masjid supports the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. The mosque also supports the comprehensive and sustainable development plan for Hatta, meeting the needs of its social, economic, and environmental growth," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA. "We are immensely proud of Al Rayan Masjid's achievement as a LEED ZERO building. This milestone underscores our commitment to sustainability and innovation, demonstrating that our religious and community spaces can be designed and operated in harmony with the environment, supporting our efforts to reach Net-Zero by 2050," he said. Al Rayan Masjids accomplishment aligns with Dubai's vision to be a global hub for clean energy and green economy. Dewa remains committed to implementing innovative solutions that promote energy efficiency, reduce carbon footprints, and enhance the quality of life in the emirate, it said. - TradeArabia News Service IDdesign, a pioneer in innovative, high-concept modern Scandinavian design, has announced the launch of Al Daayira a members-only commission programme exclusively for Omans top interior designers, architects, and contractors. The programme is designed to foster stronger relationships between IDdesign and the local design community, driving creativity, collaboration, and loyalty while enhancing customer experience. Over the last two decades, IDdesign has established itself as one of the leading European furniture brands in the sultanate, blending elegance, comfort, and innovation into every piece. With a philosophy rooted in the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship, IDdesigns furniture and home accessories are handpicked and designed with meticulous Scandinavian attention to detail. The brands unique use of materials and high production standards ensure that each item is a lasting companion for modern living. A connection platform IDdesigns Al Daayira is more than just an incentive - it is a platform that connects the nations most talented designers, architects, and contractors, encouraging collaboration and excellence. Through this initiative, IDdesign aims to strengthen its ties with the design community, providing a space where creativity thrives, and ensuring customers receive exceptional, innovative interior solutions. To celebrate the launch, IDdesign hosted a special meet-and-greet event IDdesigns Al Daayira is more than just an incentive - it is a platform that connects the nations most talented designers, architects, and contractors, encouraging collaboration and excellence. Through this initiative, IDdesign aims to strengthen its ties with the design community, providing a space where creativity thrives, and ensuring customers receive exceptional, innovative interior solutions. The panel included prominent industry experts such as Ricardo Rubio Perea, Senior Architect, MME Design Solutions - Eng Asara Nasser Alhashimi, CEO, Level Interiors and Rawan Said Alshidhani, MD, Interiors by Rawan. Sanjay Yadav, General Manager of IDdesign Oman, said: Al Daayira is our way of giving back to the incredibly talented design community in Oman. We have been fortunate to receive immense love and support over the years, and now, with this programme, we hope to foster deeper relationships with the people who inspire us daily. This initiative will enable us to push the boundaries of design together and provide our customers with a truly unique experience.--TradeArabia News Service Bahrain has advanced its position in eGovernment Development by 36 spots to achieve the 18th place globally, revealed a survey published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Undesa). The United Nations E-Government Survey 2024 shows significant progress in Bahrains eGovernment Development Index (EDGI), driven by advanced technical infrastructure and high performance across various sub-indices. The kingdom ranked 10th globally in the Telecommunications Infrastructure Index (TII), a rise of 55 spots from 2022, thanks to telecom liberalisation and enhanced broadband and fiber internet services. It advanced to the 18th place in the E-Participation Index, improving by 47 positions, and secured 23rd place globally in the Online Service Index (OSI), a jump of 31 positions, highlighting Bahrains advanced technical infrastructure and unified platform for comprehensive eServices and overall digital transformation. In the Human Capital Index, it reached 32nd place, advancing by 33 positions. This reflects the improvement made in human capital data by the Information & eGovernment Authority, in cooperation with Ministry of Education, as well as the training and certification initiatives by the iGA, including the Technical Development Program launched by the iGA in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour. Additionally, Manama ranked 13th globally among 193 cities, advancing by 12 positions. The survey showcased Bahrain's progress in the Online Services Index. This achievement highlights the iGA's continuous efforts to enhance the National Portal, bahrain.bh, and other digital channels, as well as to improve and expand eServices and enrich the user experience. The United Nations E-Government Survey 2024 serves as a roadmap for Bahrain to advance and strengthen its infrastructure, communications, information technology, and human capital, a statement said. TradeArabia News Service RAK Ports has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jianhua Holdings Group for the establishment of an AED100 million ($27.23 million) state-of-the-art concrete piles facility in RAK Maritime City Free Zone. Jianhua Holdings Group is finalising Phase 1 plans to set up a manufacturing facility in RAK Maritime City Free Zone which will specialise in the production of prestressed high-strength concrete piles, catering to the increasing demand for high-quality materials in the GCC and Asian markets. The MoU, which was signed in Shenzhen, China, on September 11, highlights the shared vision of RAK Ports and Jianhua to drive economic development, boost local manufacturing and contribute to the UAEs industrial diversification strategy. Pivotal moment This partnership marks a pivotal moment in expanding Jianhuas capabilities in the region while supporting Ras Al Khaimahs strategic goals for industrial growth, in alignment with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. Roy Cummins, RAK Ports CEO, stated: RAK Ports is excited to collaborate with Jianhua, a strategic partner that shares our commitment to innovation and excellence. This new manufacturing facility will not only enable us to meet the growing demand for construction materials in the region but also solidify our position as a key contributor to the UAEs industrial sector. Xu Jingxin, Founder and Chairman of Jianhua Holdings Group, added: With over 30 years of expertise in precast concrete products and technology, Jianhua is committed to long-term investment and sustainable growth. We anticipate contributing to the robust economic growth of Ras Al Khaimah and the UAE through our strategic partnership with RAK Ports and our local partner.--TradeArabia News Service India's opposition leader Kejriwal resigns as Delhi's Chief Minister Xinhua) 09:37, September 18, 2024 NEW DELHI, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Indian opposition leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tendered his resignation on Tuesday and picked his colleague and local minister Atishi to replace him. Kejriwal's resignation came days after getting bail from India's top court in a corruption case. He was arrested in March and spent five months in jail in connection with Delhi excise policy case. Officials said Kejriwal met Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena at his residence earlier in the day to submit his resignation. Kejriwal, a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate -- the Indian government's financial crime-fighting agency -- in March on charges of corruption related to the direct involvement in the formulation of the excise policy favoring specific individuals. Investigations into the case began in August 2022 when India's key probing agency Central Bureau of Investigation accused the Delhi government of using the policy to favour certain liquor dealers who had allegedly paid bribes. The policy was subsequently scrapped. The Aam Aadmi Party rejected any wrongdoing, saying their leaders have been "falsely arrested" in a "fabricated case". The party accuses Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of political interference, a charge denied by the ruling party. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) A guest from the 2023 La Petite Maison Gala inspects a dollhouse before the auction begins. Jenny Antill This dollhouse was created by Courtnay Elias's Creative Tonic with Andrea Condara for the 2022 La Petite Maison Gala. Courtesy of La Petite Maison Julie Dodson of Dodson Interiors created this room from her dollhouse for the 2022 La Petite Maison Gala. Courtesy of La Petite Maison Sisters-in-law Natalie Steen and Illa Gaunt stand beside their retro and cheeky dollhouse from the 2023 La Petite Maison Gala. Jenny Antill La Petite Maison Gala designer Amanda Medgser of Medgser Studios had painted the terracotta floors of her dollhouse by hand. Jenny Antill A skeleton of co-chair and 2024 La Petite Maison Gala designer Lauren Mills Grover's home is on display. Daniel Ortiz Interior designer and founder of the La Petite Maison Gala Alexandra Killion poses in her Barbie best at the 2023 event. Jenny Antill Bailey McCarthy poses with her winning dollhouse from the 2023 La Petite Maison Gala. Jenny Antill Scenes from the 2024 La Petite Maison Gala Announcement party. Daniel Ortiz Antiques dealer Lily Barfield (right) poses with her mother Traciet Aguillard (left) at the 2023 La Petite Maison Gala. Jenny Antill La Petite Maison Gala caught the Barbie-mania bug last year. Fitting, as Instagram posts of an interior designer decorating her daughter's Barbie dream house during the tail-end of the COVID pandemic is what inspired Alexandra Killion to create a charitable dollhouse auction in the first place. "At the time I didn't have a child old enough to do that. And I wasn't at the point in my career where I could do a Kips Bay (Decorator Show House)," she says. "I wanted a way to give back to the community at a time when we weren't doing any community involvement. Houston's design community is kind of disconnected from other industries in the city." What she didn't expect was such a overwhelming response. Hundreds of women, dressed in their Barbie best, poured into the Junior League of Houston. Dozens of panicked text messages and emails "How do I get into this party?!" had flooded organizers' inboxes for days. The venue wouldn't budge: 525 guests maximum or they'd shut the event down. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Leslie Pitts, Pete and Bailey McCarthy, and Kate Upton dressed in-theme for the 2023 La Petite Maison Gala. Jenny Antill Kate Upton, the super model wife of Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, was there; this time, to cheer on Bailey McCarthy, owner of Goodnight Hospitality and designer of a 2023 La Petite Maison dollhouse. Lily Barfield, the prolific antiquer behind @LilysVintageFinds and proprietor of the Marlene Inn coming soon to historic Avondale, slinked around her own dollhouse in an on-brand vintage gown she'd unearthed from an estate sale. Amanda Medgser of Medgser Studios had painted the terracotta floors of her dollhouse by hand. Her petite maison weighed roughly 1,000 pounds and featured plastered, reclaimed wood on the stairs. Sisters-in-law Natalie Steen and Illa Gaunt went retro and cheeky; their design had Missoni carpet with teeny-tiny cigarettes and martinis strewn about. Sisters-in-law Natalie Steen and Illa Gaunt went retro and cheeky; their design had Missoni flooring with teeny-tiny cigarettes and martinis strewn about. Jenny Antill The ballroom was packed, but there was a problem. Killion has opted to switch from a live auctioneer to a digital marketplace and the Wi-Fi wasn't cooperating. Guests became frustrated and left before placing bids. Participating designers bemoaned their respective dollhouse's lower-than-anticipated selling price. Bailey McCarthy's husband, Paul, paid the most, $14,250, for his wife's creation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "I had such a reality check, because I was so pumped for the second year, thinking we weren't going to sell anything less than $10,000. I left just kind of disgruntled," Killion recalls. "Sitting at dinner at the (Houston) Racquet Club the next night, I overheard the next table talking about the event, and they were shocked that these dollhouses were selling for $5,000." She always thought they would go for much, much more. The previous year, hers sold for $18,100. A good opportunity Killion is the CEO and creative director of an eponymous interior designer firm. She and her husband, who works in construction, recently began building spec houses together. And they have two young children. Arguably, Killion is best-known for the La Petite Maison Gala dollhouses. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The event raised $150,000 in 2022 and $200,000 in 2023, after expenses, benefiting A Shelter for Cancer Families. This year's goal is $300,000 for Family Houston, one of the city's longest-running non-profit organizations. Last month, Courtnay Elias Tartt of Creative Tonic hosted a cocktail party at her Tanglewood home to announce the 2024 La Petite Maison Gala designers. Representatives from Family Houston were on hand to explain their mission. Lauren Wills Grover and Alexandra Killion chat with Courtnay Elias Tartt and the Family Houston team during the 2024 La Petite Maison Gala announcement party. Daniel Ortiz "They're the oldest charity in Houston, besides religious organizations, and celebrating their 125th anniversary. They focus on mental health, veteran support, and home and job placement. Really a resource for anyone and anything family related," Killion says. "They approached us and it felt like a good opportunity." The skeleton of Lauren Wills Grover's dollhouse was on display, which Tartt used as a sweets station. Adair Homes constructs the blueprint before the Reagan & Andre architecture firm designs them. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 2022, philanthropist Joan Schnitzer Levy and influencer Carrie Colbert landed in a bidding war after Colbert's daughter fell in love Tartt's fruit salad-themed dollhouse. "Courtnay was like, 'I can't let this little girl go home without a house'," Killion shares. "So Courtnay felt bad and made a duplicate." They sold for $6,000 each. The incident made La Petite Maison Gala a must-have ticket overnight. The gala world Killion is proud of what she's built. That first year, her initial goal was to raise $50,000. Now she's upping the ante and refining the run-of-show. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "I did not grow up in the society world or gala world asking people for money," she says. "It's been a crazy experience the past two years, learning about the different dynamics." There's a pre-gala Dollhouse Tour scheduled for Nov. 19 through Dec. 3 where supporters can get an up close inspection of each completed design ahead of the auction. Participating sponsors include Moreau Houston in River Oaks District, Valobra Jewelers and Back Row Home. Killion says die-hards load up their children or hire vans to visit all eight stops of the tour on the first day. This year's participating designers include Grover, of Wills Design Associates, who is also an event co-chair; Elizabeth Garrett of Elizabeth Garrett Interiors; Amy Kummer of Amy Kummer Interiors; Jennifer Barron of Jennifer Barron Interiors; Courtney Barton of Shop Courtney Barton; Jean Liu of Jean Liu Design of Dallas; Kristen Leigh of Kristen Leigh Studio; and Avery Cox of Avery Cox Design of Austin. Daniel Ortiz Participating designers include Grover, of Wills Design Associates, who is also an event co-chair; Elizabeth Garrett of Elizabeth Garrett Interiors; Amy Kummer of Amy Kummer Interiors; Jennifer Barron of Jennifer Barron Interiors; Courtney Barton of Shop Courtney Barton; Jean Liu of Jean Liu Design of Dallas; Kristen Leigh of Kristen Leigh Studio; and Avery Cox of Avery Cox Design of Austin. Killion estimates they will each spend between $5,000-10,000 designing their respective dollhouses. "People keep asking us to franchise it out in Atlanta," she says. The main event will take place Hotel ZaZa in the Museum District on Dec. 4. This year's theme is apres-ski, and in an effort to encourage more men to bid, there will be an Old Fashioneds lounge. Killion has also reverted to an old school, live auction and is considering Johnny Bravo to incite more bidding wars, with any luck. The opening of Saudi Maritime & Logistics Congress (SMLC) saw Bahri CEO Eng Ahmed Alsubaey exhorting participants to dream big and achieve bigger. Addressing a packed audience on day 1 of the two-day conference and exhibition which takes place at Dhahran Exhibition Centre, Dammam, until September 19, Eng Alsubaey asked attendees to use the event to continue the dialogue and business activity that is driving our nation and our industry forward at such an impressive pace. This is an opportunity to catalyse growth, stimulate new ideas and continue the sharing of best practice in so many areas. Im encouraged to see so many key topics under the spotlight over the next two days, in particular, the ever-growing importance of our energy transition to a greener future; and the celebration of our industrys greatest asset its people. Fifth edition The fifth edition of SMLC is sponsored by the Minister of Transport and Logistic Services, Eng Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser and held with Founding Partners, Bahri and Seatrade Maritime; main partners, The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) and the Transport General Authority (TGA), as well as strategic partners, Saudi Aramco and IMI. In attendance were Dr Rumaih Al Rumaih, Vice Minister of Transport & Logistic Services (on behalf of Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport & Logistic Services); Fahad Al Jubeir, Mayor, Eastern Province Municipality and Omar Hariri, President, Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) who officially opened the show. Highlights from the first day included a special award presented on stage to Gu Jinshan Chairman of the Board of Shanghai International Ports Group and the President of Chinas Association of Ports and Harbours. He was awarded the prestigious Seatrade Maritime Lifetime Achievement Award as part of Seatrade Maritimes global awards programme. Seatrade awards Seatrade Maritime Chairman Emeritus, Chris Hayman, said: With the emergence of Saudi Arabia as a key global industry player, we felt it was timely to bring the Seatrade Awards to this event, with the presentation of two of its most prestigious categories. Citing some examples of Jinshans leadership, Hayman said: Under his leadership, the group has developed green, low carbon initiatives such as the equipping of every one of its container terminals with shore power facilities. It is one of the few ports in the world offering both LNG and green methanol bunkering. Its self-developed command centre enables remote loading and unloading and its use of blockchain technology has reduced the handling time for import documents from 48 hours to just four hours. The first of many MoUs due to be signed at the event was also witnessed by the packed conference audience: An agreement between Transport General Authority & the Eastern Province Municipality exploring developments in coastal transport for the Eastern Province. Day 2 Looking ahead to Day 2, the conference programme starts with the presentation of the Seatrade Maritime Global Performer Award and moves on to discuss: 'The Digitalisation of Maritime: Adoption of AI and machine learning' a panel which is sure to draw a large audience; whilst the midday session is focused on Offshore Safety; The importance of maintaining world-class safety standards. The afternoon on Day 2 also looks at Energy Transition for a sustainable future, followed by Workforce Development. The showfloor the largest in the events history boasts around 200 exhibitors with regional and international players including: Damen Shipyards, Integrated Marine Solutions, Hydwin Robotics, Faisal M Higgi & Associates, Port of Salalah, Eastern Experts, Saudi Arabia Railways and Zenitel Norway.--TradeArabia News Service Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the worlds largest smelter on one site, has announced that the board members have given the go-ahead for the Lines 4-5 Creep Up Project at a capital expenditure of $30 million. Once completed, it will enhance Albas metal production by an additional 8,000 metric tonnes per year. The announcement came during the third quarterly Board of Directors meeting today (September 18), said Alba in its report. Presiding over the meeting, Chairman of the Board Khalid Al Rumaihi first welcomed the recently announced partnership with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), marking the initiation of due diligence for a potential business combination involving segments of Maadens aluminium strategic business unit. He also emphasised the company's dedication to operational excellence and cost efficiency amid the volatile economic landscape and expressed confidence for a strong finish to the year, it stated. He also welcomed Hisham Al Kooheji as the new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to the C-Suite of Alba and wished him all success in his new role. At the meeting, CEO Ali Al Baqali said: "As we continue to position Alba at the forefront of the global aluminium industry, I am delighted to welcome Al Kooheji to our Executive team as Chief Marketing Officer. His expertise and strategic vision will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in driving our growth and market leadership." During the meeting, the Board reviewed and approved the minutes of the meeting held last month and received comprehensive updates from the Executive and ESG Committee, Board Audit Committee, and Nomination, Remuneration, and Corporate Governance Committee on strategic matters to include progress of Power Station 5 (PS5) Block 4 Project, the Companys operational, financial and sales performance to-date, the ongoing feasibility study for the New Replacement Line (Class 3), Pillar Two and Bahrain Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax, amongst others, said the report from Alba. Al Rumaihi later inaugurated the new Data Command Centre by welcoming members of the Board. The Data Command Centre, a state-of-the-art facility, will serve as a centralised hub for overseeing and managing Albas operations. On the importance of Alba's Data Command Centre, the Chairman said: "Our Data Command Centre will empower us to monitor, control, and coordinate our activities with unprecedented precision, enabling us to navigate challenges with agility. As we enter the final quarter of 2024, we look forward to celebrating the successful commercial operation of Power Station 5 Block 4 Project."-TradeArabia News Service The Future AI Economy will take centre stage as over 3,500 of the worlds most prestigious brands investing in AI solutions will converge at the Dubai World Trade Centre, for the worlds largest tech and start-up event, Gitex Global 2024. The powerhouse exhibition and conference, from October 14 to 18, will bring together the biggest tech community in the world, from experts, founders, and investors to government leaders and senior executives, to showcase their breakthrough AI technologies, discuss mutual synergies, and forge key collaborations to catalyse future advancements in the industry. The global surge in AI investments propelled by the increased demand in rising digital industries, from digital health and future finance to cybersecurity and public services, has ignited a race among businesses to secure specialised talents, sustain the relentless pace of their tech innovations, and their position among the early adopters of AI. Global investment in AI Goldman Sachs research has forecast that global investment into AI could reach $200 billion by 2025, while Bloomberg reported that the generative AI alone could have a $1.3 trillion market value by 2032. This growth is driven by a widespread acknowledgement amongst global leaders that AI solutions are an increasingly vital tool for driving enhanced productivity and higher growth. As Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Abu Dhabi-based AI enterprise Presight, recently told the GITEX Tech Waves podcast: Today youll see companies applying AI and AI evolving - in five, ten years time, it will get smarter, and when it gets smarter, youll get more efficiency and shorter routes to answers for difficult and complex questions. In return, that will be to the betterment of society and the world we live in. The landmark event will spotlight the opportunities and challenges surrounding the AI global economy, including ethical development, quantum computing, large language models (LLM), policies and regulations, real implications of AI in edtech, health, and finance, and the future of work and employment. The rapid AI emergence still impacts the job market according to recent studies. In 2022, Deloitte estimated that there were only 22,000 AI specialists in the world while, last year, it was predicted that only half of all AI-related jobs could be filled. UAEs bold steps in creating the worlds future AI economy Leapfrogging several global markets, the response of the UAE, which has been increasingly successful as a global hub for the AI industry, consists of a robust long-term government agenda to harness the full potential of AI to empower individuals, communities, and organisations. Aligned with the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence and a clear vision to become the world leader in AI by 2031, the country has invested in integrating AI into public services, energy, tourism, and education. In Dubai, the leadership has shown profound commitment to making the emirate the worlds fastest, most agile, and future-ready city by launching the Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence. This highly strategic annual plan aims to accelerate the adoption of AI applications, looking at achieving the targets of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 by adding AED100 billion ($27.2 billion), yearly to the emirates economy and boosting productivity by 50% through the adoption of digital solutions. A powerful platform for AI experts and leaders As the worlds largest tech and start-up event, Gitex Global is firmly aligned with the widely recognised UAE AI-driven economy, with Dubai as the fastest-growing international hub for AI experts, leaders, academics, and top voices in the industry. Headliners include the most powerful tech giants driving AI dynamics globally, such as Adobe, Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Builder AI, Dell, G42, Google, HPE, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Open AI, and Oracle, among many others. Middle Easts premier companies and organisations advancing AI and projecting the regions native tech to the world, such as Presight, e&, Technology Innovation Institute (TII), and Khazna, will also present their products and innovations at the show. A premier lineup of international speakers will join the stage for thought-provoking discussions in AI, featuring names such as Isabell Gradert, VP of Central Research and Technology at Airbus (Germany), Michael Spranger, President of Sony AI (Japan), Axel Voss, Member of the European Parliament (Belgium), Stephen Ibaraki, Founder of the UN/ITU AI for Good (Canada), Jong-Soo Choi, CTO of Samsung (South Korea), and Dr Priya Singhal, EVP of Biogen (USA).--TradeArabia News Service The UAEs growing reputation as a burgeoning tech hub is fuelling interest among tech workers across the region, with nearly half (45%) of a survey respondents expressing a willingness to relocate to the country for work. The UAE thus out-ranks countries like Germany (38%) and Hong Kong (20%) as popular relocation destinations. The survey conducted by Capital.com, a global trading platform, polled 1,000 respondents across Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and India, and found that 81% of Asian tech professionals view the UAE as a growing tech hub. A further 76% of respondents say the UAE provides a conducive environment for the tech industry. This places the UAE in close competition with other prominent destinations such as Singapore (46%), the UK (57%), and the US (52%) as preferred locations for relocation among tech professionals. Gaining momentum Tarik Chebib, CEO, Capital.com, Middle East, said: With 8 in 10 respondents from our recent survey recognising the UAE as a competitive tech hub, it's clear that the region is gaining momentum as a favourable destination for tech talent. Asias tech professionals have traditionally gravitated to cities in the UK, the US and Singapore to further their careers, so its encouraging to see the UAE stand shoulder-to-shoulder with this cohort and get the recognition it deserves as an attractive location to live and work. Government support is the key factor contributing to UAEs growing reputation as a tech hub and relocation destination of choice. Of those surveyed, 93% think it is important to have a government that is supportive of the tech industry, highlighting the UAEs concentrated push to develop the country as a hotspot for international tech talent. The majority of those surveyed (74%) cite the UAEs banking, visa, special healthcare/health insurance packages, and real estate services for qualified tech professionals, as factors. More broadly, respondents also say that a high quality of life (60%), attractive remuneration (54%) and the UAEs strategic location (52%) also feed into their decision to relocate. Supporting and growing the tech sector As a leading partner of the UAEs NextGenFDI initiative, we have seen first-hand the governments commitment to support and grow the tech sector. The UAEs business-friendly environment, forward-thinking policies, investment in innovation, and position as a gateway to the Middle East, Africa and Asia, makes it an ideal location for companies and talent alike. Capital.com is proud to contribute to the sectors growth and innovation in the UAE, said Chebib. While all respondents indicated a willingness to relocate for work, 47% indicated that they are actively looking to relocate, highlighting the huge potential for the UAE to attract and retain tech talent. As a company operating in the UAE that is licensed by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), we need to draw on an exceptional pool of talent to meet our exacting business and regulatory needs. This means searching for the best talent, from anywhere in the world. Given the UAEs pro-talent stance and growing appeal as a tech destination for professionals, we have had no problem recruiting talent from as far afield as the UK, Europe and Australia. Employees are eager to relocate to a country that not only supports their personal needs but also provides fertile ground for further development within the tech sector, added Chebib.--TradeArabia News Service Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) has published a report titled The Future of Progress, making the case for a new global measurement of national success that goes beyond the traditional concept of gross domestic product (GDP). DFF had previously raised the notion of new definitions of success in the Future Opportunities Report: The Global 50, launched earlier in 2023, delving deeper to enable a more nuanced and comprehensive conversation about the future measures of national progress. The report explores possible scenarios and pathways for the transition beyond GDP as a foundation for global dialogue. The report aims to contribute to the many significant global efforts that have already been achieved as there is still no internationally agreed standard for moving beyond GDP. National success based on GDP GDP has been the primary indicator of national progress since it was first adopted nearly 80 years ago. It is based on the value of goods and services produced and consumed, savings and investments, government expenditure, tax revenue and net exports. It is considered the global standard for determining national progress and development; but swift advances in technology and the emergence of global imperatives such as climate change and social development needs have exposed limitations in GDP as a measure of prosperity. Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation, stated that the rapid economic shifts seen across governments and nations today call for a rethink of the concept of GDP. Al Gergawi said: There is a growing need to expand the parameters of GDP to include broader indicators such as quality of life, education, health, employment, well-being, research and innovation, safety, energy, sustainability, among others. Global dialogue He added: "This report aims to launch a global dialogue on a highly promising opportunity to develop new frameworks for evaluating national growth and economic progress. By working with governments and international organisations, we can explore a range of recommendations and future scenarios that incorporate new indicators beyond the traditional GDP measure." The Future of Progress report analyses the barriers to moving beyond GDP, presents a roadmap for the global transition beyond GDP, offers global recommendations, and highlights future scenarios to establish a unified global narrative on moving beyond GDP. The four scenarios are based on five main assumptions: the first assumption is that there will be no predetermined perspective on whether the future of beyond GDP will include GDP. The second is that progress measurement and reporting will remain a national priority. The third is that the global transition beyond GDP will have at least two tiers: global, national and possibly in some contexts regional. The fourth assumption is that some dimensions will differ across contexts and will change over time, while the fifth is that technology including AI and automation will enable, and not hinder, the transition beyond GDP. Global definition of progress The four global recommendations outlined in the report include proposing a global definition for progress, establishing a global working group to co-design a preliminary framework for a new measure, agreeing principles of progress, and selecting pilot sites around the world to test, assess and refine each dimension. As part of the research, DFF has covered 18 key country-level approaches to moving beyond GDP and 21 global indices looking at progress beyond the economy. In addition, DFF engaged with global experts, many of whom are part of significant efforts and initiatives on transitioning beyond GDP. These include experts from the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the United Nations Development Programme, the African Economic Research Consortium, Wellbeing Economic Alliance, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, University of Cambridge, Peking University, the University of Birmingham and the University College London amongst others.--TradeArabia News Service Siemens Energy has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure to collaborate on driving the future of green and clean energy in the UAE. Siemens Energy is a German energy technology company formed through the spin-off of the former Gas and Power division of Siemens. It also includes full ownership of Siemens Gamesa. The company is involved in the development, production, sale and installation of multi-megawatt wind turbines, gas turbines, gas engines, steam turbines and complete systems. As per the deal, both sides will collaborate on mitigating future challenges related to grid infrastructure, enhancing sustainable development and climate action, and exploring potential tech opportunities for robust energy transition and reliable grid operation. The MoU was signed by Sharif Al Olama, the Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs at MoEI; and Khalid bin Hadi, the Managing Director of Siemens Energy in the UAE, on the sidelines of World Utilities Congress, hosted by Taqa. Collaboration areas, under the MoU, include exchanging knowledge through technical workshops and brainstorming sessions, presenting innovative solutions for challenges related to grid expansion and reliability, enhancing industrial development, exploring synergies with local universities and research institutions regarding energy transition, and honing youth skills and expertise in clean energy. Moreover, the MoU seeks to evaluate the current grid infrastructure to integrate renewable energy and factor in sustainable energy transition strategies and analyse the hydrogen value chain, including large-scale hydrogen production and storage and its impact on the UAEs energy landscape and industrial economy.-TradeArabia News Service The regions hospitality and tourism industry is checking into tech in a big way. From revolutionising the guest experience to smart energy management systems, innovation today is the key to the industrys success of tomorrow and beyond. Technology and innovation will be under the spotlight at Future Hospitality Summit FHS World, with a host of dedicated presentations, debates and features, including the semi-finals of the UN Tourism Women In Tech Start Up competition. With just two weeks before the regions largest, most influential industry event gets under way, industry leaders -- Nicolas Nasra, Head of Hotel Advisory, Hospitality & Tourism, Colliers in MENA; Tjalling van den Burger, Vice President Enterprise Sales, Adyen; Piergiorgio Schirru, Executive Vice-President, Blastness, and Amit Sharda, Chief Operating Officer, Prologic First - share their thoughts on how tech is driving the sector forward: Weve all heard of Artificial Intelligence (AI) but theres a new wave coming: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which is so advanced that it is being compared to human intelligence. According to Nicolas Nasra, Head of Hotel Advisory, Hospitality & Tourism, Colliers in MENA, while AI excels at specific tasks like personalising guest experiences and optimising operations, it is limited to predefined functions. AGI will be capable of understanding and learning across a broad range of tasks, rather like humans. In hospitality, AGI could revolutionise operations by autonomously managing everything from dynamic pricing to real-time guest interactions. It could predict maintenance needs before issues arise and offer personalised travel advice that adapts with each interaction. Investing in AI today sets the stage for AGI to transform hospitality into a truly intelligent and adaptive experience, he said. But its not just all about AI and AGI. The Internet of Things is transforming hotels into smart environments, where room settings adapt to each guests preferences, enhancing comfort and satisfaction. Contactless technology has become essential, offering secure and seamless interactions through mobile check-ins and biometric payments. As sustainability gains importance, technologies that support eco-friendly practices, such as energy management systems, are critical for attracting environmentally conscious travellers. And, cloud computing is centralising operations, enabling hotels to scale efficiently while maintaining data security. These technologies are not just enhancing operationsthey are all redefining the guest experience, added Nasra. Piergiorgio Schirru, Executive Vice-President of Italian tech company, Blastness, says that today, more than ever, Revenue Management Systems (RMS) and Bid Management Systems (BMS) powered by AI and real-time market data are the secret to success for total revenue and direct bookings. With an RMS that suggests and implements real-time price adjustments based on demand fluctuations and hotel performance, hotels can stay competitive and consistently secure the best market price. Using a BMS system in digital marketing instead of manually bring the RM concept of dynamic pricing, setting a digital marketing dynamic budget that optimizes bids for each auction based on estimated conversions, market opportunities and hotel performance, he said. However, the optimal results of total revenue and direct bookings share can only be achieved if digital marketing and revenue management systems and strategies are close are perfectly orchestrated. Having a unique integrated software is the fundamental starting point. Amit Sharda, Chief Operating Officer, Prologic First, says that in todays fast-paced world, technology is the backbone of hospitality. Incredible innovations are centre stage. AI is revolutionizing how we connect with guests; cloud-based Property Management Systems are game-changers, streamlining operations and bringing everything together under one roof, he said. Contactless techthink mobile check-ins and digital keys make travel smoother and safer. And lets not forget the impact of the Internet of Things, which is quietly working behind the scenes to save energy and keep everything running smoothly. Experts also shared their views on the investments in technology that stakeholders are or should be making now and in the future, and how they can ensure that they are using the right tools to enhance operations, the guest experience and workforce happiness. In Nasras experience, strategic technology investments are crucial for staying ahead in the fast-paced hospitality industry. Property Management Systems and mobile technology are foundational tools that streamline operations and personalise guest experiences essential for delivering seamless service. Embracing AI and contactless technology are also key. The future of hospitality is smart, secure, and seamless. Its important to align technology investments with your strategic goals to ensure you are using the right tools. The right technology doesnt just streamline operationsit elevates the entire hospitality experience, said Nasra. One of the main challenges facing the hospitality industry today is the fragmentation of software providers, from PMS and PoS systems to OTAs and channel management, according to Tjalling van den Burger of Adyen, which brings all these platforms together, offering a unique, fully integrated unified commerce experience. Its wise to focus investment efforts on unifying these systems, he said. Traditionally, the hospitality sector has lagged in technology adoption compared to other industries, often relying on third-party products instead of developing in-house solutions. Legacy providers dominate the landscape with outdated technology, leading to manual processes that are prone to human error. Additionally, operations are often fragmented, with hotel groups in different regions relying on multiple providers, further complicating the management process. Prologic Firsts Amit Sharda believes that when it comes to investing in the future of hospitality, its all about making choices that blend innovation with practicality. Cloud-based systems should be at the top of the list because they offer the flexibility and real-time insights that modern hotels need. AI is another big one, as it helps us to understand guest preferences and optimize everything from pricing to operations. And we must not overlook sustainability. Investing in energy-efficient technologies and eco-friendly practices is more than just a trend; its a smart business move that resonates with todays environmentally conscious travellers. By focusing on these areas and staying adaptable, owners and investors can ensure their properties are not just keeping up but leading the way, he said. With hotel systems generating huge amounts of data, how can technology assist with analytics, and how can data drive innovation in hotels? Technology is transforming how hotels leverage big data, turning vast amounts of information into actionable insights that drive innovation. By integrating data from reservation systems, CRM platforms and guest feedback into a centralised system, hotels gain a comprehensive view of operations and guest behaviour, says Nicolas Nasra of Colliers. Advanced analytics and AI enable the processing of this data to uncover trends, optimise pricing, and enhance personalization, offering tailored experiences that boost guest satisfaction. Adyens Tjalling van den Burger says that guests are constantly making payments throughout their stay, whether it's for spa treatments, dining, or ordering beverages by the pool. Each interaction generates valuable payment data, but without a proper platform to unify these insights, capturing and leveraging this data becomes challenging. A platform capable of generating a token for each guest and monitoring their journey at the hotel provides a comprehensive view of their interests and preferences, in turn allowing hotels to personalise experiences for each guest. According to Piergiorgio Schirru from Blastness, there are three connected challenges when it comes to data gathering and analytics: collection, extracting information and turning that information into action. Gathering vast amount of data from different sources and successfully linking them together is a significant challenge, which can only be overcome through a scalable, multi-source DWH and BI system. With large volumes of data, extracting meaningful information is far more complex than before. To do this quickly, its essential to fully leverage the opportunities provided by AI algorithms. Information is crucial, but to unlock and capitalize on its value, it must be transformed into actionable strategies in revenue management and digital marketing. To achieve this, RMS and BMS must be coordinated and synchronized with BI, powered by AI algorithms to take the best data-driven decisions. While the industry has made huge strides in tech and innovation, bottlenecks remain. Den Burger says hotels often face significant challenges when adopting new technology, largely due to the limitations imposed by legacy payment systems. While hotel tech partners are quick to innovate and introduce new solutions, outdated payment technology can hinder advancements. Sharda acknowledges that innovation in hospitality has its challenges, but technology is helping to clear the roadblocks. One of the biggest hurdles is getting different systems to talk to each othersomething cloud-based solutions and APIs are starting to solve by enabling smooth integration. Another is helping staff adapt to new technologies, but with user-friendly designs and ongoing training, the transition can be smooth, he said. FHS World takes place at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai from September 30 to October 2. Check out all the tech-related features and the rest of the agenda at https://www.futurehospitality.com/world/agenda The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) has announced the return of Tanween 2024, Saudi Arabias leading design and creativity conference from October 31 to November 6 at the Ithra Theater in Dhahran. Themed Fail Forward, the seventh edition of Tanween will push the boundaries of design by celebrating the innovative mindset and perseverance of designers and artists after facing unexpected challenges in their creative process. With a rich and engaging programme of panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions and immersive experiences, Tanween 2024 is a unique platform for global industry experts and emerging talents to exchange, discuss, and foster innovation through cross-cultural dialogue and knowledge sharing. Some of this years programme highlights include: Panel discussions and keynote speeches by leading figures in the arts and creative industries, such as world-renowned artist Ross Lovegrove, whose works are exhibited at MoMA in New York and The Pompidou Center in Paris, will address and present on some of the most important design considerations of today. Masterclasses and Workshops: led by thought leaders and design experts, such as tech designer and public artist Sebastian Errazuriz and Dubai Design Week curator Rana Salam will offer exclusive insights into their creative journeys. Preview of flagship design exhibitions: Showcases of new cutting-edge design installations developed during Ithra residency programmes and open call initiatives, including the recent Tanween Challenges and Mega Challenge. International Exhibit 2024: Following the success of the Tanween 2023 international exhibition Routes to Roots, this years edition will also reveal the latest exhibition, titled Behind the Curtains: Scenes of Craft, born out of the creative collaboration between Ithra and Italian design platform Isola. This Tanween edition will also offer a space dedicated to exhibitions of cutting-edge design pieces, as well as products developed through Ithras Creative Solutions Residency Program and Tanween Challenges. Tanween is a catalyst for design innovation in the Kingdom and beyond, engaging the wider design community - from experts, practitioners, students, and passionate visitors - to expand their creative horizons and advance design practices for the enrichment of our society as a whole. Ithra is proud to act as the nexus and meeting point for innovators from all over the world during the Tanween creativity conference to facilitate not only a fruitful exchange of ideas but also the development of constructive, impactful design solutions. said Shahad Alwazani, Program Lead: Tanween. Over the years Tanween has become Saudi Arabias most important design and creativity conference fostering cross-cultural dialogue between emerging creatives and international experts and institutions, acting as a key global platform for innovative design incubation. - TradeArabia News Service The travel and tourism sectors in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are experiencing rapid growth, with significant investments and developments driving this expansion. It was recently revealed that the UAE is the sixth highest earner from international tourism, proving it is a prime destination for inbound travel. Equally, Saudi Arabia as part of its Vision 2030, has undertaken a series of projects to upscale its position as a leading tourism destination with the developments such as AlUla and the Red Sea Project, says a report by Collinson International. The Middle Eastern Travel & Tourism sector has grown by more than 25% in 2023, reaching almost $460 billion. For Saudi Arabia, the sector has surpassed all records, achieving a 32% growth in 2023, contributing SR444.3 billion ($118.4 billion), representing 11.5% of the entire economy. The kingdom also welcomed over 100 million visitors in 2023, surpassing its 2030 tourism target seven years ahead of schedule. It is expected that 2024 will continue to see impressive numbers. Hyper-personalised travel But what makes KSA and UAE travellers tick? Research by YouGov reveals that 61% of UAE and 62% of KSA residents want hyper-personalised and exclusive travel experiences. The power of personalised journeys lies in providing the right travel rewards and benefits, which are crucial for meeting the needs of travellers. In todays competitive market, consumer demand for tailored travel experiences is higher than ever, making it essential to get it right. Collinson International is at the forefront of this evolution in travel, providing innovative and customised services the consumer truly desires. However, the destination also plays a crucial role in this new era of demand. According to The Future Laboratory, a significant 82% of UAE travellers and 77% from KSA have already embarked on slow holidays where they stay longer in one place to fully immerse themselves in the surroundings and culture of the destination. Additionally, solo holidays are also on the rise with 75% of UAE respondents having embarked on a solo trip within the past year, and 61% considering taking one within the next three years. Sustainable travel Travellers out of the UAE are more often opting for sustainable travel choices when travelling now, and a significant portion of travellers, 45% from the UAE and 42% from KSA, conscientiously consider the environmental impact of their travel plans on most or every trip. It remains essential that the airport experience meets the needs of the highly demanding traveller. Collinson International found that when consumers in the UAE decided to sign up for a payment card, almost half cited travel-related benefits, such as airport lounge access, as highly influential factors. UAE consumers also prefer bringing a guest when accessing lounges to enjoy pre-flight benefits such as food and beverage services, a quiet place to wait for their flight, and amenities like sleeping pods, which are available at airports including DXB International. To summarise, the travel landscape in the UAE & KSA has evolved significantly and will continue to gain strength in the future. Saudi Arabias record-breaking growth in tourism highlights its rising prominence, while UAE travellers demonstrate a strong preference for tailored rewards and sustainable travel options. Ever-evolving requirements As travellers from both regions continue to demonstrate their ever-evolving requirements, the travel sector must be ready to meet these challenges with loyalty programmes leading the charge in enhancing the travel experience. Priority Pass, owned and operated by Collinson International, stands as the industry leader for this transformation. By offering access to a vast network of airport lounges and travel experiences worldwide, Priority Pass meets the diverse needs of todays travellers, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable journey from start to finish and beyond the airport.--TradeArabia News Service Several restaurants are opening their doors in northwest Houston as the fall season nears. From a new pub and grill to a gelato shop, there are plenty of new restaurant openings in Cy-Fair and around the suburbs. Here are six restaurants that have recently opened or plan to open in Cy-Fair: Advertisement Article continues below this ad Maks Pub & Grill Maks Pub & Grill has opened in Cypress this month located at 9818 Fry Road. This new venue offers bar style menu items that offers several dishes to go along with your beers or favorite cocktails, with giant pretzels, boudin balls, chicken strips and potato skins. SHEILA JACKSON LEE: Spring ISD to honor Sheila Jackson Lee by renaming family and community center after congresswoman Gelato & Co Gelato & Co. plans to open a new location in Cy-Fair on Oct.1 in Bridgeland Central, according to the companys website. This ice cream shop first opened in Katy before expanding to Bridgeland. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Gelato & Co. is known for traditional Italian gelato with classic and signature flavors such as hazelnut, coffee, vanilla, cookies, and Oreo. Blaze Pizza Blaze Pizza is now open in Cy-Fair, and 1,000 residents had a chance to get a free taste of Blaze Pizza. Submitted by Blaze Pizza Blaze Pizza is now open in Cy-Fair, and more than 1,000 residents had a chance to get a free taste. Were happy with the local residents, they have shown a strong support for the small family business, and weve gotten a very good turnout from the residents and high school in front of us. Blaze Pizza owner Baryalay Razi said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Razi gave away around 1,300 free pizzas as the pizzeria opened a new location on Fry Road. Blaze Pizza is known for their 11-inch pizzas and the choice of several toppings along with meats. The lines were very long and the feedback I got from every guest and the locals was that they really showed appreciation for what Blaze Pizza was doing, said Razi. Tim Hortons Tim Hortons will open a location in Cypress by 2025, according to a new licensing filing with the state of Texas. Tim Hortons Tim Hortons will open a location in Cypress by 2025, according to a new licensing filing with the state of Texas. Tim Hortons is a Canadian coffee franchise that plans to expand throughout Houston that serves coffee and breakfast items also such as sandwiches and wraps. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Tacos Frontera Tacos Frontera is planning to open a new location in Cypress. Tacos Frontera offers Tijuana style tacos made with fresh tortillas. The restaurant has a deep menu of options such as burritos, quesadillas, fries, and tortas. Juanita's Mexican Restaurant Juanita's Mexican Restaurant will open a new location in the Cypress area this fall on Louetta Road. The Mexican cuisine is known for enchilada packs that come with rice, beans chile con queso, chips and salsa. Along with enchiladas, Juanitas also offers tacos, soups & salads, tamales, burritos, quesadillas and seafood. Now you C it, now you dont. The Natrona County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted to amend a 2022 county zoning document, effectively prohibiting mining in areas zoned Mountain Residential, or MR1. The change means a proposed gravel mine on Coates Road that appears unlikely to proceed without a court fight, as it now puts the county at odds with both the operator of the proposed mine and the state which owns the land the mine would be built on. A proposal from Kyle True, CEO of Prism Logistics the company that intends to build the gravel mine has not been submitted to the county, but Prism has leased an MR1-zoned section of School Trust lands for mining exploration and the plan has received a go-ahead from the State Lands and Investment Board. Public outcry over the states approval of the exploratory lease on Coates Road has been widespread . At issue was one C, or conditional use, on a table in the 2022 zoning regulations. The C indicated that a conditional use permit for mining could be pursued in the MR1 zone. By removing the conditional use, mining is no longer allowed in the MR1 zone. In voting to approve the text change, some commissioners acknowledged that the use didnt appear in previous regulations and was probably included without proper notice and public comment. Commissioners undoubtedly sensed the weariness and stress expressed by opponents of the proposed gravel mine. Applicant Gregg Werger, who lives on Coates Road, said his request was reasonable. Do we all understand that Im not asking for something new? Werger asked. That C didnt exist. Mining was prohibited in MR1 zoning, and MR1 zoning is in fact about 30 miles wide and two miles deep on the face of the mountain. You cant put a restaurant, Werger said. You cant put these yurts that Teton County has that people are moving in, glamping or whatever theyre calling them. You cant do that up there. You cant do any of that. Werger mentioned that a contractor in the county was ordered to remove heavy equipment from his own property because it was zoned MR1. He has a business, a contracting business. He started hauling equipment up there and storing it. Somebody went to the board and and he was cited and asked to remove that equipment. Commissioner Dallas Laird asked Werger if he expected to get a fair hearing. Werger said no, but wouldnt say who on the board might be unfair. When Carolyn Griffith, a driving force behind the Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance, spoke to the board after Werger, Laird asked her the same question. Did she expect to be treated fairly? Were being asked to trust a process thats already failed us. And thats hard for me to say because Im telling you Im a kid from a military family that has a lot of faith in our government, and Ive worked for the government my whole career. And I know what people put into it, she said tearfully. I pray every day we do, she said. And I have. I have to believe that. And as naive as that may be. ... But I know people are people. I trust people. And thats maybe doofus, frankly. After convening an executive session to receive legal advice, the commissioners returned to hear from more advocates of the Remove the C measure. Resident Fred Kuck said he believes True is a man of his word and appreciates the same things about the county others do, but Kuck worries what might happen if an already approved mining operation was sold to someone out of state. True said he considers amending the zoning to be a property rights taking, and said others who live in MR1 that want to develop their property would also be prohibited from doing so. Board chairman Pete Nicolaysen addressed True specifically, and didnt hold back. I think that theres gonna be a lot of people and a lot of property owners that would be impacted by this decision to remove the C, Nicolaysen said. And really what the big problem is, is Mr. True, and you and your proposal are the big problem and why were here and why what they say in the law, bad facts make make bad law. Youre being noncommittal and vague, and all these things in the public has really struck the fear of these people and, and 18,000 more people. So I, I think its been handled by you very poorly. And I think that the best thing would be for you to decide and make a public announcement that youre not gonna pursue this in this location, but you havent done that. And so here we are being asked to make a decision that I dont think is going to be particularly good for the long term. State land While the countys action may block mine construction on privately held land, the Office of State Lands and Investments, which is responsible for the State Trust Land at the base of Casper Mountain, contends that the county doesnt have legal standing to impose its own zoning and regulatory codes on the land. In a sign of possible things to come, Teton County has appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court in a dispute over a glamping hotel on State Trust Land near Teton Village. After Teton County sought to inspect the operation, the state sued to block that action, according to WyoFile. The countys initial suit to impose local zoning on the operation failed. Science graduate students at the University of Wyoming could soon see more communication training after an assistant professor completes her research. Bethann Garramon Merkle is the lead researcher on a collaborative project that was recently awarded $1 million from the National Science Foundation. Our research on [science communication] training will help graduate programs to ensure early-career scientists are capable of doing and sharing science in ways that meet the needs of society and foster public trust in and use of science, Merkle said. Merkle said that this type of training is lacking in many university settings, including Wyoming. Over $742,000 will go directly to the University of Wyoming. The remaining funds will be split between the collaborators. The grant is funded through an Innovations in Graduate Education award. This marks the first time that the National Science Foundation has awarded this type of grant to the university. The five-year grant will allow Merkle to conduct a nationwide survey, test training innovations and assess how to support instructors. THE topic of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley being replaced as political leader of the Peoples National Movement (PNM) is not an issue currently up for consideration, said Foster Cummings, Member of Parliament (MP) for La Horquetta/Talparo yesterday. There are strong processes in the PNM. There is a leader in office in the PNM. That is the leader that we support and who will take us into the next general election, he said. Hyatt farse and outta place. The audacity of them. Saying that in this country they are not Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz has started to make changes to the almost 6,000-person department, promoting Thomas Hardin to be his second-in-command. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Little more than a month after taking over as Houstons police chief, Noe Diaz has started to make changes to the almost 6,000-person department, promoting Thomas Hardin to be his second-in-command. Diaz named him executive chief starting Sept. 7, according to Shay Awosiyan, spokesman for the department. The executive chief position had been unfilled since Matt Slinkard retired from the agency in 2023. MORE FROM HOUSTON CHRONICLE: HPDs Chicano Squad reflects on the changes they made to policing Advertisement Article continues below this ad Slinkard was one of the citys highest-paid employees at the time of his retirement, earning about $240,000 per year, according to a Chronicle investigation. He had worked for the department since 1994, according to his LinkedIn biography. He was named executive chief in 2021, when former Chief Troy Finner became the permanent chief following Art Acevedos departure. I am truly humbled by the promotion and honored to work for the men and women of the Houston Police Department in this role, Hardin wrote in a statement about his promotion. I look forward to playing my part in moving the department toward the vision and goals of Mayor (John) Whitmire and Chief Diaz. The Houston police veteran and son of the high-profile Houston attorney Rusty Hardin previously served as the assistant chief in charge of homeland security command. Awosiyan didnt immediately have biographical details for Thomas Hardin, but the chiefs LinkedIn page says he previously served as assistant chief from January 2022 until September and was a commander in special operations and narcotics divisions from 2020 until he became assistant chief. Department to see title changes Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, also confirmed Diaz is in negotiations with the union to change the rank of commander back to captain a move Griffith said he has no issue with. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It was that way for the first 100 years of the department, Griffith said. It doesnt affect us at all, its just a word. The position that is now commander was previously known as captain, according to Gregory Fremin, a retired captain at the Houston Police Department. Acevedo converted the rank in 2018. The department has around 40 commanders in its ranks. Griffith said department leaders were also eyeing a study of department efficiencies that might help them compensate for a lack of staffing in some areas. The union president also expected the department might soon revamp its policies surrounding internal affairs investigations. The changes come as department leaders gear up for the next round of collective bargaining, which is set for sometime this fall, according to Aaron Suder, general counsel for the union. Lots of changes, lots of high morale, Mayor John Whitmire said of Diazs tenure as chief. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Whitmire this month also announced the first pay bump for police cadets in almost 10 years. The raise, which will take cadets from $42,000 per year to $52,000 per year, is intended to help HPD address staffing concerns amid an increasingly competitive market. A one-time incentive payment of $5,000 is also guaranteed for officers who graduate and receive their certification, bringing their total compensation to $57,000. These are some weapons-grade dad jokes. Handle with care. 14 All the fraternities in my college rejected me because I was circumcised Apparently you need to be a complete dick to get in. 13 My girlfriend is the square root of negative 100. Shes a perfect 10, but also imaginary Our relationship is complex. 12 I told my date I didnt like her talking about her late boyfriend She told me shed stop whenever I start showing up on time. 11 I told my wife, I drew the entire Himalayan mountain range from memory Her: Is it to scale? Me: No its to look at. Advertisement Advertisement 10 Called my wife to tell her Id pick up Fish and Chips on my way home from work, but she hung up on me Shes still pissed about letting me name our kids. 9 My girlfriend always said that the male genitalia is not attractive, so I decided to cover my balls in mascara, eyeshadow and glitter. Im pretty sure she liked it As soon as she saw them she said, Wow, thats pretty nuts. Advertisement Advertisement 8 My wife said I was a fucking idiot for betting all our money on discovery of extra terrestrial life by the end of 2024 Who's the idiot now?! I cant wait to show her this letter Ive just received from the government saying theyve found evidence of a lien on your property. 7 How does the potion master please his girlfriend? Elixir Advertisement Advertisement 6 I told my husband he was awful at directions He got so mad that he packed his bags and right. 5 A man walked into a Mens Warehouse, and an employee asked if he needed any help trying on suits. He said, No thanks The employee said, Suit yourself. Advertisement Advertisement 4 I never understood why childbirth is called delivery It should have been called takeout instead. 3 My wife said she would leave me if didnt stop making jokes about European cities Im determined not Toulouse her. Advertisement Advertisement 2 Two nuns were riding their bicycles in the back streets and alleys of Rome. One turns to the other and says, Ive never come this way before! The other replied, Its the cobblestones! The phrase struck me as perfect when a Tucson police sergeant mentioned it Tuesday. Report it dont repost it. Thats what Sgt. Richard Gradillas recommended in response to the wave of online threats that have hit schools in the Tucson area and across the country. The threats thrive on and are amplified by our anxious forwarding to friends and acquaintances. As a result, thousands of kids have stayed home, or have headed to school with heavy anxiety that in almost every case was undue. In reality, this is kids who are creating these posts because they dont want to go to school, Gradillas said. I dont think these kids are understanding what theyre doing, the hysteria theyre creating. Many have used the same photo of a gun used in threats elsewhere in the country but they are adapted to each new area where the photo is used. So, for example, a threat investigated by Tucson police listed nine area schools some district schools, some charters as being targeted tmr (tomorrow) at 11 to 2. Schools all over town have been affected by young people using the same template to make new threats. Reacting to these, day after day, is no way to live, study and work, but it doesnt have to be this way at least not for long. On Saturday, Oro Valley police arrested a 15-year-old who was behind a threat directed at Canada del Oro High School. Tucson police have arrested three different youths accused of posting threats one 11, one 13, and the other 15. Not one of these kids actually planned to carry out an attack on the schools they threatened. In that sense, theyre commonly spoken of as hoaxes. But thats probably the wrong word for these threats, because they cause real-life disorder and fear. TUSD parent Milta Ortiz told me she learned about the threats being shared among text groups that included her 11-year-old daughter. In sharing the threat, the kids were saying things like, It was nice to have known you, in case we dont see each other again, Ortiz said. Of course, it sounds overly dramatic and it was in this case but these kids know mass shootings have happened at schools all around the country. Its happened in a lot of communities, so it could potentially happen. Its something that we live with now, Ortiz said. As to her daughter, Before this, it was not in her forefront. It was not something she actively thought about. Now I think its going to be something she thinks about, more than in the past. So, sharing an internet threat is robbing some kids of innocence, introducing them to a new form of anxiety. Of course, it wouldnt have that effect except for the conditions of the country we live in. Our violence is real, and public conflict is heightened as we head into a presidential election. We dont want to take this lightly, but by the same token, we dont want to disrupt the flow of schools, said Dustin Williams, the Pima County Superintendent of Public Schools. Theyre just massive distractions, especially when were already in a vulnerable area when it comes to gun violence. Its hard for parents not to take the threats seriously. I know that last year, when I had a child at Tucson High, I was happy to see Tucson police respond overwhelmingly to a report of a student with a gun that turned out to be false. At the Vail School District, Superintendent John Carruth has spent the last couple of weekends chasing down threats. They were vague threats that didnt mention a Vail school, he said, but still led to absenteeism and disruption. Im completely sensitive to the disruptive nature of these posts and the way it makes staff, parents and kids feel, Carruth said. Its also critical to remember that schools, statistically are among the safest places to be, in large part because so many adults are there monitoring. While attacks on schools have occurred, we have to take some responsibility for being internet literate and proportional in our own responses. The threat I saw, which named nine different middle and high schools, makes no sense at all when you think about it. Nine different schools attacked on the same day between 11 and 2? Come on. The same is true of the unrealistic alternative-intelligence-generated photos that older people pass all over the internet, thinking theyre real. The same is true of allegations that Haitian migrants in Ohio were eating pets. The people making the ridiculous posts shouldnt have done so, but we should be smarter and more skeptical than to repost them. We shouldnt believe, we shouldnt share. The same is true of these threats: We should report them to police or the schools, not repost them, not pass them on to all our friends. Reporting is having an effect: Students have been arrested all over the country for making these threats. That could well become a deterrent. But we also need not to overreact ourselves in order to keep our communitys children focused. These things just hold us down like an anchor, Williams noted. Once you have a distracted mind, you dont have a learning mind. PHOENIX The Arizona Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether nearly 100,000 registered voters will be allowed to cast ballots in upcoming state and local elections. A pair of lawsuits ask the justices to decide how the state and counties must deal with the fact there isnt evidence due to a state accounting glitch that close to one out of every 45 registered voters provided the legally required documented proof of citizenship. That makes them legally ineligible to vote a full ballot under terms of a state law that took effect Jan. 24, 2005. Most are between ages 45 and 60 and the lions share are Republicans, officials said. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed the first lawsuit Tuesday. He wants the court to declare that unless the affected individuals provide citizenship proof, they will be able to vote this year only on federal races. Unlike Arizona law, federal statutes have no such proof-of-citizenship requirement to cast a ballot for president, U.S. Senate or U.S. House. I understand that these voters have done nothing wrong, he said. But Richer, a Republican who was just defeated in the GOP primary for another term, said they do not fall into any existing exemptions. Without evidence of satisfactory proof of citizenship, they should not be allowed to vote on statewide, legislative and local candidates as well as on ballot propositions, he said. But Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes intends to file legal papers Wednesday proposing that they all be allowed to vote in all elections. He said there is no reason to believe that virtually all of these people, many of whom have been voting for years, are not citizens even if the paperwork is missing. I am unwilling to disenfranchise this many voters by limiting them, suddenly, and with little notice, to a federal-only ballot when none of them had actual notice of or blame for this issue, he said. Richer and Fontes do share a common goal: Get a clear decision from the Supreme Court perhaps by the end of the week. Speed is crucial. Overseas ballots are supposed to go out by Friday, and early ballots are due to be mailed Oct. 9. The discovery Whats behind the last-minute scramble is that a check of records by Richers office found that someone who was presumed registered to vote in all elections had never provided the documented proof of citizenship required under the 2005 law. Fontes said that discovery led his own agency to take a closer look at others on the voter rolls. His staff found something close to 98,000 who are in a similar situation, he said. The secretary of state stressed the situation wasnt intentional, saying many of these people have been voting for years and their ballots have been accepted under the premise they were in compliance with the law. Still, it is likely to rekindle complaints by some who insist the states election rolls are packed with people who are ineligible. Those include a federal court lawsuit by a conservative group accusing all 15 county recorders of failing to do their jobs to ensure that only citizens are voting. This has already spurred new conspiracy theories about this election, Fontes said Tuesday. But those conspiracy theories are just as good as all the other conspiracy theories are, he said, calling any evidence that non-citizens are voting here or elsewhere vanishingly rare. This issue starts with the 2005 voter-approved law that imposed the states first-ever requirement for proof of citizenship to register. Thats a requirement that exists nowhere else in the country That law also says anyone registering from that point forward who already had a drivers license issued after Oct. 1, 1996 is presumed to be legally registered. Thats the effective date of a law signed by Republican then-Gov. Jan Brewer saying individuals needed to prove legal presence to get a license. The same law essentially grandfathered in as presumed to be a citizen anyone whose license is older than that, without having to provide new citizenship proof. By party affiliation Breakdown from the Arizona Secretary of State's Office of registered voters it says lack evidence in the state's files of proof of citizenship: Republican 36,539 Democratic 26,878 Libertarian 745 No Labels 429 Green 63 Independent 3,169 Party not designated 28,592 Other 1,513 Total 97,928 Source: Secretary of State's Office Who is affected The problem involves those who registered to vote after the 2005 effective date but whose drivers licenses predate 1996. As new registrants, they are supposed to provide documentary proof of citizenship, regardless of the age of their license. Ditto those who move to another county and reregister to vote there. That normally triggers a check of Motor Vehicle Division records, Fontes said. Richer said the problem is that some people who have pre-1996 licenses the ones without proof of citizenship have gone to MVD for a duplicate license or to change their address. The MVD, however, put the date it issued the revised license into its database as the date the license was originally issued. That meant the database reflected they have a post-1996 license meaning they had provided proof of citizenship when, in fact, they never had. County election officials, relying on those MVD records when facing someone trying to register to vote after 2004, never asked for any citizenship proof. The problem only came to light earlier this month when Maricopa County was checking the citizenship of one person who had one of those older licenses who was updating his voter registration. It turned out that this person was a lawfully permanent resident entitled to an Arizona license under the 1996 law but not a citizen, with the issue being the MVD coding. Fontes said despite the registration, that person never cast a ballot. Now aware of the problem, Fontes said further checks were made across the system. He thinks there are about 98,000 whose records reflect the lack of submission of documentary proof of citizenship. We dont have any reason to believe that anyone in this gap is not an eligible voter, Fontes said. We dont have any reason to believe that theyre not eligible citizens in spite of the fact that we did find one, he continued. All we know is they fit into this category and all of this requires more research. But with time running out, the plan was hatched for the dual lawsuits to get a definitive decision as soon as possible from the Supreme Court as to whether they can cast a full ballot or only vote for federal candidates. Whats next For the moment, theres nothing those who think they are affected can do other than wait. Fontes said if the justices conclude they are entitled to vote only in federal races, there will be an outreach effort to let them know. There also are plans to set up a website where individuals can upload legally required proof of citizenship such as copies of a birth certificate, passport, naturalization documents or tribal enrollment cards. Those same documents can be presented right through 7 p.m. on Election Day. None of that satisfied Merissa Hamilton, co-founder of Strong Communities Foundation, the group that filed the lawsuit against all county recorders contending they are not doing what is required to purge their voter rolls of non-citizens. She took a swat at Richer for failing to be proactive once he learned of the problem last week. He should also send out letters, Hamilton said. Thats irresponsible. But Fontes said it would be premature of any recorder to do that ahead of a Supreme Court ruling. Not everyone with a pre-1996 license falls into this questionable category, regardless of whether they updated or changed their voter registration. Fontes said many people who already had a pre-1996 license have since applied for a Real ID. That is an enhanced drivers license that, among other things, will be required starting next year to board a commercial aircraft. More to the point, an applicant for a Real ID has to provide proof of citizenship such as a passport, meaning they are and remain eligible to vote in all elections. Fontes also said none of this has any legal effect on prior elections, even if it turns out that someone without the required proof of citizenship voted on a statewide race. He said courts presume there has to be finality to elections. He said that, given this largely affects those who first registered before 1996, most of those affected are in the 45- to 60-year age range. He also said that demographic is far more likely to be Republican. 15% from Pima County A court ruling limiting them to a federal-only ballot could have an effect on closely contested legislative races. Fontes office also says about 55% of those affected are from Maricopa County, with 15% from Pima County, close to 9% from Pinal County, about 5% from Yavapai County and the remainder in proportion to the remaining counties. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said she has fixed what she called an administrative error dating back to 2004. As soon as I became aware of the problem, I directed MVD to aggressively develop and implement a solution, she said Monday night in a written statement. Hobbs also said she will be implementing an independent audit to ensure that MVD systems are functioning as necessary to support voter registration. Editor's Note Happy birthday Tulsa, which turns 126 today. On Jan. 18, 1898, Tulsa was incorporated. Attorney Harry Campbell wrote the incorporation papers by hand with his law partner Lewis M. Poe. Attorney Edward Calkins served as the city's first mayor. The following column originally published in February 2023: Editor's Note: In a series connecting Tulsa's present to its past, former Tulsa World Staff Writer Michael Overall tells the story of the city's founding. Nobody knew why the cat did it. Maybe it had rabies. Maybe, as some people speculated at the time, it got too close to a bottle of turpentine. But one morning in early January 1895, a drug store owners cute little pet suddenly began attacking customers. The cat fought so ferociously that eight or 10 grown men stood on top of chairs to get away from it and somebody went to fetch Tom Stufflebeam, the town marshal. But Stufflebeam couldnt subdue the cat either. The marshal might have been able to face off against outlaws like the Dalton gang, but when it comes to a mad cat he gets his anatomy on top of the most convenient counter in much shorter time than it takes to tell the story, according to a newspaper report from the time. Stufflebeam was not, of course, a real marshal. Tulsa had not yet been incorporated as a city and had no municipal government that could officially hire a law enforcement officer. Instead, Stufflebeam got his paycheck from an unofficial group called the Vigilance Committee, which basically made him a private security guard for the towns business owners. Another word for it might be vigilante. Early Tulsa was a dusty little frontier community, one of the last bastions of the Wild West, where cattle drives came through the middle of town and rowdy cowboys used windows for target practice, according to an early newspaper known as the Indian Republican. It is not safe at night to light up a store or residence without having that light shot out, the Republican said. Bands of outlaws roam the hills on every side of town. Stufflebeam seems to have played a vital role in bringing law and order to Tulsa, but not the way he might have supposed, according to the Republican. He allegedly got drunk one day, fell in the river and nearly drowned before he was pulled out of the water by another Tulsa pioneer, whose name was recorded for posterity as Burrel Cox. This rather embarrassing incident, highlighting the need for more professional law enforcement, helped convince attorney Harry Campbell and other leading citizens to begin drawing up papers of incorporation. A delegation from Tulsa took the paperwork to Muskogee, where Judge William Springer interrupted a murder trial to sign them on Jan. 18, 1898 the date often regarded as the citys birthday, as noted by a recent Facebook post from modern-day Mayor G.T. Bynum. As for Stufflebeam, he was not entirely out of job. The new City Council continued to pay him $10 a week as a night watchman, according to the archives of the Tulsa World. Police take a suspect into custody as they investigate the scene of where a police officer was shot responding to an alleged home invasion, in the 7100 block of Alderney Drive on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. According to Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz, two men knocked on the door of a home and rushed in as soon as the homeowner opened it. A nearby neighbor immediately called 911. As officers approached the right side of the home, police said a suspect in a hoodie shot at one of the officers in his "lower extremities." The officer returned fire, Diaz said. The officer was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Two suspects have been taken into custody. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Three men on Wednesday morning were charged with felonies in connection to a northwest Houston robbery that left a police officer wounded, according to Harris County Court records. Raymond Perez, 35, Michael Perez, 38, and Brian Garcia Chavez, 18, were all charged with aggravated robbery in connection to the Tuesday morning break-in at a home in the 7100 block of Alderney Drive. MORE ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Deer Park pipeline fire enters third day as evacuated residents wait for all-clear Advertisement Article continues below this ad Raymond Perez was also charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer and unlawful carry of a weapon, according to court records. Police investigate the scene where a police officer was shot responding to an alleged home invasion, in the 7100 block of Alderney Drive on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. According to Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz, two men knocked on the door of a home and rushed in as soon as the homeowner opened it. A nearby neighbor immediately called 911. As officers approached the right side of the home, police said a suspect in a hoodie shot at one of the officers in his "lower extremities." The officer returned fire, Diaz said. The officer was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Two suspects have been taken into custody. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer The three men are accused of breaking into a home and holding a woman and her two young children at gunpoint while they committed a robbery, according to police. A neighbor witnessed the break-in and called police soon after the men entered the home, Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said Tuesday. When two police officers arrived and entered the home, one of the alleged robbers opened fire, striking officer Scott Durfee in the leg, police said. The shooter ran from the home. Durfee's partner detained Michael Perez, who had remained inside the house, before applying a tourniquet to the wounded officer, police said Advertisement Article continues below this ad Durfee was released from the hospital on Tuesday, according to police. The Raymond Perez was arrested by other officers not far from the home, police said. Later Tuesday, Garcia Chavez was arrested at a home in northwest Houston, according to police Garcia Chavez is accused of being a getaway driver and lookout during the robbery, according to court records. Garcia Chavez and Michael Perez were scheduled to make preliminary court appearances on Wednesday morning. Raymond Perez's first court appearance is scheduled for Thursday morning. Garcia Chavez doesn't have a criminal history in Harris County, according to court records. Michael Perez and Raymond Perez have arrest records dating back to 2017, and were previously convicted of robbery and aggravated assault, respectively, according to court records. It's not clear if the men are related. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Michael Perez and Raymond Perez were arrested in May over a single incident. Michael Perez was charged with burglarizing a car, and Raymond Perez was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and evading arrest, according to court records. Both men were released on bond after being charged in May. Prosecutors have asked for hearing to deny Michael Perez and Raymond Perez's bonds after the latest charge, according to court records. None of the men had defense attorneys as of Wednesday afternoon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Steve Metzer Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer Follow Steve Metzer 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 OKLAHOMA CITY Several state lawmakers have called for embattled Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett to either recuse himself or be disqualified from taking part in commission business. Republican Reps. Tom Gann of Inola, Kevin West of Moore and Rick West of Heavener asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court this week to issue an order prohibiting Hiett from casting votes. Another Republican, Rep. Justin Humphrey of Lane, has previously called on Hiett to resign. House Democrats have asked Gov. Kevin Stitt to call a special session to impeach Hiett. Hiett, 57, a former speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, was first elected to the Corporation Commission in 2015. The Republican has been accused of public drunkenness and unseemly behavior, including groping a man in a hotel bar while attending a professional conference earlier this summer in Minnesota. Hiett has also faced fierce criticism and a call to resign from fellow Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered Hiett to respond by Sept. 27 to the petition for writ of prohibition filed by Gann and the two Wests. In their petition to the court, the three lawmakers claimed that Hietts impartiality has been unquestionably tainted by the allegations. According to witness reports of the incident in Minnesota, the man allegedly groped by Hiett is a lawyer who represents a utility company regulated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Corporation Commissioner Todd Hietts admission of public drunkenness, alleged sexual assault, alleged harassment and his alleged drunk driving should be enough for any decent individual to disqualify himself from cases at the OCC involving the victims or witnesses to his alleged crimes, Gann and Rep. Kevin West said in a joint statement. Multiple news articles report that these complaints include employees and representatives, including attorneys, of public utility companies the OCC regulates. The lawmakers said they were particularly troubled that Hiett cast a vote in a Corporation Commission meeting on Aug. 27 supporting a $31 million rate increase for customers of Oklahoma Natural Gas. The Corporation Commission has hired an Oklahoma City law firm to conduct an independent investigation of any misconduct that might impact commission employees or others who do business with the commission. The Tulsa World is where your story lives Regan Killackey was goofing around with his son and daughter in a party supply store in September 2019, snapping photos. His daughter put on a mask of Donald Trump. His son held up a silver plastic sword, and Killackey grimaced. Killackey, a high school teacher, posted the family photos to his personal Instagram. Five years later, in the days following the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally, an anonymous tipster sent a screenshot of the Trump mask photo to the Oklahoma State Department of Education with a description: Posted picture on personal Instagram account of the fictitious stabbing of fake presidential candidate mask. Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters administration filed to take away Killackeys teacher certification the harshest discipline OSDE can take against an educator. The proceedings are typically reserved for serious offenses such as child abuse, predatory behavior or criminal charges. The Killackey case presents a way for Walters to score political points while attempting to build this profile of a patriotic American wrapped in a flag, said Ryan Kiesel, a civil rights attorney and former state representative. For Killackey, a 20-year veteran educator, the department has taken first steps in the process to remove his license, but he remains certified. He teaches AP English at Edmond Public Schools. Targeted after challenging state law Summer Boismier, who taught English at Norman High School, knows what it means to catch Ryan Walters attention. In a demonstration against House Bill 1775, a state law prohibiting certain classroom conversations about race and gender, Boismier in 2022 covered her bookshelves with red paper. A sign noted they were books the state doesnt want you to read. Walters, then secretary of education, called for the board to revoke her license. There is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom, he said. As superintendent, he continued to pursue revocation, even though she resigned and moved out of state. Walters and the board rejected a hearing officers recommendation that Boismier keep her teaching license and, even though her certification expired this summer, voted in August to revoke it. OSDE did not make Boismiers revocation order public until a federal judge ordered an explanation into whether the board violated an injunction that postponed enforcement of parts of HB 1775. In the response filed Sept. 12, OSDE said Boismiers certificate was revoked because she violated three rules requiring teachers to meet certain professional performance and conduct standards and to protect the student from conditions harmful to learning or to health and safety. Killackey is among plaintiffs suing the state over HB 1775 because, he said, the law inhibits his ability to teach. After the law passed in 2021, Killackey said school officials advised teachers to avoid books by non-white and female authors. Send a message loud and clear In a July 31 meeting, Walters did not name any specific teacher but alluded to the Instagram-inspired complaint about Killackey. We want to make sure to send a message loud and clear: No one will be able to teach in the state of Oklahoma if they advocate for the assassination of President Trump, or any elected official, he said. Walters posted the soundbite to X and tagged Libs of TikTok, its founder Chaya Raichik, and former President Trump. The tip about Killackey had come two weeks earlier from an IP address that Oklahoma Watch traced to the City Hall in New York City. OSDE has delayed multiple requests by Oklahoma Watch for a copy of the application to revoke Killackeys certificate, which includes a summary of the allegations and a statement of facts. A request made Aug. 6 under the Oklahoma Open Records Act is pending. In August, the department amended its complaint against Killackey by adding a video clip its investigator found online. In the video, posted in 2021, Killackey heckles a street vendor selling Trump merchandise, asking through the window whether he has any Al-Qaeda or Taliban hats. In response to questions about Killackey, OSDE spokesman Dan Isett said: Just like in many other professions, Oklahoma teachers are bound by professional conduct standards which set a high bar for teachers behavior both in and out of the classroom. Courts, though, have upheld public employees constitutional right to free speech. One exception is when the comments are an extension of their job, said Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University, but the state would have to show the teachers comments made as part of their professional duties, not as private citizens. Killackey found out the state was seeking revocation when his name appeared on the July 31 board agenda. The Department didnt mail its application to revoke until Aug. 22, weeks past the statutory deadline of three days. Revocation is a legal process and the teacher holds the right to have a hearing, bring witnesses and obtain legal representation. At its core is due process and the right to know the nature of the charges and evidence. Due process rights exist to protect citizens from unfair or improper government intrusion. Teacher certification, which requires a bachelors degree in education, passing scores on two competency exams, is legally a property right, said Brent Rowland, an attorney at the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice in Tulsa. Thats why there are rules and processes limiting when certification can be revoked. If you think about the investment this represents for a teacher, not only education, training and, in a lot of cases, years of service, there have to be protections around an administrative agency or any government action wiping those out, Rowland said. About Oklahoma Watch This story was edited for length. An unabridged version may be found at oklahomawatch.org. Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state. The Tulsa World is where your story lives The administration of Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam on Tuesday approved the establishment of a five-company consortium which will be responsible for developing a 294ha urban area project in the provincial city of Bien Hoa, with a total investment of over VND72 trillion (US$2.9 billion). These five investors include Lan Anh - Phu Quoc Co. Ltd., Sun Group Corporation, Ha Long Sun Co. Ltd., Sun Group Property JSC, and Phu Quoc Beautiful Beach Investment Co. Ltd.. Located on Cu Lao Pho, an island of Bien Hoa City, the Hiep Hoa urban area is projected to accommodate some 31,600 residents. Of the total investment, more than VND10.8 trillion ($438 million) will be contributed by the five investors, while the remaining amount of over VND61.4 trillion ($2.48 billion) will be mobilized from other sources. The project will be implemented in six phases from 2023 to 2035. Cu Lao Pho is encircled by the Dong Nai and Cai Rivers and is considered a prime location at the gateway to Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: A.Loc / Tuoi Tre In March last year, the provincial administration approved the project in principle, with the aim of developing a modern, vibrant urban area complex with a low construction density. The project is designed to promote sustainable tourism development, provide various housing types, and feature commercial centers, public services, and tourism facilities. The urban area will feature bustling commercial streets that meet the business and accommodation needs. Regarding Cu Lao Pho, it spans nearly 700 hectares and is encircled by the Dong Nai and Cai Rivers. Located at the gateway to Bien Hoa, Cu Lao Pho is considered a prime location in the city. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A tourism complex in Da Nang City, central Vietnam is taking bold steps by investing in a US$15,000 robot to assist guests, potentially becoming one of the first in the country to implement this advanced technology. Andre Pierre, general director of the Furama - Ariyana Danang International Tourism Complex, announced the investment during the press briefing for the Exhibition & Forum on Technology and Innovation in the Hospitality Industry, named 'HORECFEX Vietnam 2024,' on Tuesday afternoon. Pierre revealed that the $15,000 robot, purchased abroad, is currently en route to Da Nang. This robot, the first of its kind in the city, is set to showcase its capabilities in serving and interacting with guests at the Furama resort in the coming days. Pierre noted that this purchase matches the goals of HORECFEX Vietnam 2024, set to take place at Ariyana Convention Center in Da Nang from September 23 to 24. Andre Pierre, general director of the Furama - Ariyana Danang International Tourism Complex, speaks at a press briefing for HORECFEX Vietnam 2024 in Da Nang City, central Vietnam, September 17, 2024. Photo: Nguyen Tin / Tuoi Tre Organized by the Vietnam Hotel Association and Ariyana, the event aims to foster innovation and growth within the accommodation, restaurant, and catering sectors. HORECFEX Vietnam 2024 will connect businesses with suppliers of cutting-edge solutions and technologies in the tourism industry, promoting digital transformation and innovation. The organizers have confirmed the event will offer free admission to all visitors. The event will feature an exhibition showcasing 50 technology booths and tourism products, and a forum focused on the application of new technologies and hotel management strategies in the modern era. Attendees can look forward to insights from 55 domestic and international speakers from leading tech firms, including Microsoft, Oracle, and FPT. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! In today's globalized world, the swift development of key industries that align with international trends is essential for Vietnam. Recognizing this, Vietnam has partnered with the United States to advance the semiconductor sector, aiming to make it one of the nation's core industries. With the aim of boosting the semiconductor industry in Vietnam, representatives from the United States organized ITSI Semiconductor ATP Workforce Accelerator Kick-Off Session in Ho Chi Minh City from September 16 to 18. At the opening of the session on Monday, representatives from the U.S. International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund and the U.S. Department of State introduced the collaboration, marking the first anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the United States. The Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam shared its vision for workforce development in the semiconductor sector through 2030 and into 2050. Over the three days, five workshops were held. The first one, titled Crafting Vietnams Semiconductor ATP Workforce Strategy, outlined a strategy for building a high-quality workforce aligned with the goals and needs of Vietnams semiconductor industry. Several panel discussions were held to provide supplementary content for the main workshops. Subsequent workshops focused on issues surrounding the training of high-quality personnel for the sector. Alongside partnerships with various Vietnamese ministries, the U.S. has also engaged with top local universities. A discussion between educational institutions was moderated by Jeffrey Goss, Associate Vice Provost and ITSI Principal Investigator. Some of the schools selected for this project include Cao Thang Technical College in partnership with Intel (ATP), Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), and Lac Hong University in collaboration with Onsemi (ATP). One notable workshop, Adapting Global Semiconductor Talent Cultivation Practices to Vietnam, facilitated international cooperation on defining workforce skills and designing training programs tailored to Vietnam's needs. It also covered areas like modernizing curricula and enhancing practical experience within companies. The workshops Advancing Semiconductor ATP Strategy for Vietnam - Addressing Workforce Challenges and Future Hiring Needs and Discussing Current State Challenges and Future State Hiring Needs of Semiconductor ATP Workforce in Vietnam were also organized on the same day. These sessions provided a clearer strategy for addressing Vietnams semiconductor workforce challenges, equipping participants with crucial knowledge about skills, needs, and strategies to tackle the countrys talent shortage. As the global semiconductor industry rapidly evolves, Vietnam has made strategic moves to foster its workforce development in this field. The kick-off event was attended by leaders from various ministries, representatives from top educational institutions, and renowned global technology companies. Representatives from all parties expressed their hope for cooperation and joint development, advancing Vietnam's growth on the international stage. The ITSI Fund, launched last week in Hanoi, will begin its implementation in Vietnam starting this month. By 2025, it aims to train 120 instructors and 4,000 students from 20 leading universities. The fund will also support universities in building training programs on chip packaging and testing according to U.S. standards. U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper emphasized the importance of the programs in connecting institutions from both nations. "The United States is proud to invest in Vietnam's future through workforce development programs, fostering long-term partnerships, Knapper stated. Together, we are building relationships between organizations that will shape the semiconductor industry for years to come. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance (UEF) signed a partnership deal with DOL English, a prominent English language center chain, on Wednesday to equip UEF students with advanced English skills, helping them meet global language standards and improving their employment prospects. The signing ceremony, held at UEFs headquarters, was attended by Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, president of UEF, and Le Dinh Luc, CEO and founder of DOL English. Through this partnership, UEF seeks to help students meet the universitys English language requirements specifically, an IELTS score of 5.5 or higher in a streamlined and efficient manner. As per the agreement, DOL English will provide high-quality IELTS training programs, supply qualified teaching staff, and ensure that students achieve the required language proficiency. Le Dinh Luc (sitting, left), founder and CEO of DOL English, and Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, president of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance, sign a partnership agreement between the two institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, September 18, 2024. The collaboration will also make use of cutting-edge technology to track students' progress and manage course enrollment. The exclusive teaching methodology from DOL English will enable students to easily attain their IELTS certification, said Luc. The program is designed to not only help students meet graduation requirements but also secure impressive scores for those pursuing higher academic levels, such as master's or doctoral degrees. UEF students will sharpen their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, which will not only boost their confidence in academic subjects taught in English but also give them a competitive edge when seeking jobs at prominent multinational corporations. Le Dinh Luc, founder and CEO of DOL English, speaks at the ceremony to sign a partnership agreement between his company and the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance in Ho Chi Minh City, September 18, 2024. A key benefit of the collaboration is the convenience for students, who will be able to study on campus with the same high-quality IELTS preparation offered by DOL English, saving them time and travel. Students will also have access to DOLs unique Linearthinking method, which promotes logical thinking and structured learning, and benefit from modern technology platforms that make the learning process more efficient. At the ceremony, Luc expressed his excitement about the collaboration. "We hope that through this partnership, DOL English and our exclusive Linearthinking method, which has been recognized by the Intellectual Property Office, will play a vital role in refining students' English skills, he said. In this era of artificial intelligence, English proficiency and soft skills are critical to competing in the global job market." Dr. Do Huu Nguyen Loc, UEFs vice-president and president of the Ho Chi Minh City TESOL Association, emphasized the strategic importance of university-business collaboration. Even leading universities worldwide often partner with businesses to provide specialized language training for their students," he said. "At UEF, 50 percent of our curriculum is taught in English, and some programs are delivered entirely in English, requiring an IELTS score of 6.0 to 6.5. English is essential for our students, especially as the government has called for improving foreign language proficiency in schools." Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, president of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance, speaks at the ceremony to sign a partnership agreement between his school and DOL English in Ho Chi Minh City, September 18, 2024. Loc added that integrating technology into education is crucial. Technology allows for more accurate and reliable assessments of students progress, enabling teachers to tailor their instruction to individual needs, he said. This collaboration with DOL English will streamline the learning process, making it faster and more effective. Luc also highlighted the benefits of technology-driven English learning. "For students, having access to digital learning materials and real-time feedback means they can study at their own pace, even at odd hours. This flexibility accelerates the learning process and enhances engagement, he said. Through this partnership, UEF aims to provide students with the skills they need to succeed in both their academic and professional careers, positioning them to thrive in an increasingly competitive global environment. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! WROCLAW, Poland/OSTRAVA, Czech Republic -- Volunteers and emergency workers raced to secure river banks in Poland's historic city of Wroclaw on Tuesday, as nearby municipalities advised residents to evacuate and authorities across central Europe tallied the cost of floods that have wreaked havoc and killed at least 22 people. The deluge has left a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland. While waters were receding in many areas, others were nervously waiting for rivers to burst their banks. Areas along the Czech-Polish border were among the worst-hit since the weekend, as gushing, debris-filled rivers devastated historic towns, collapsing bridges and destroying houses. A person walks through floodwater, in an area flooded by the Nysa Klodzka river, following heavy rainfalls, in Lewin Brzeski, Poland, September 17, 2024. Photo: Reuters Flooding has killed seven people in Romania, where waters have receded since the weekend. Seven were dead in Poland, five in Austria, and three in the Czech Republic. Tens of thousands of Czech and Polish households remained without power or fresh water. Wroclaw, Poland's third-largest city, prepared for peaking water along the Oder and Bystrzyca rivers. Authorities in the Katy Wroclawskie district, southwest of Wroclaw, recommended that residents of several of the district's municipalities evacuate. In a northern suburb, 44-year-old IT programmer Michal Nakiewicz was among dozens of volunteers helping emergency services pile up sandbags on the bank of the Bystrzyca. "I saw that both parents and children were helping to pour sand. I even saw 5-, 6-year olds, so quite a gathering," he said. "Every pair of hands helps." Wroclaw zoo called for volunteers to help pack sandbags to protect animal enclosures, while employees and volunteers began to move some of the 450,000 books from the city's main church archive to higher floors of the Archdiocesan Archives building. In Lewin Brzeski, around 60 km (37 miles) south of Wroclaw, flood waters had already arrived and continued to rise. Residents waded through waist-high water in some places, while emergency services boats moved others to safety through flooded streets. Marek Karas, 63, said the authorities should have done more to protect the area since a severe deluge in 1997. "In 27 years they haven't done much in this section." Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said coming days would be critical. "These are the most important ones ahead of us, you know, the most important two, three days," Tusk said during a meeting of the flood crisis team in Wroclaw. He also said that the government at the moment had 2 billion zlotys ($520 million) available for its efforts Rescuers help to evacuate people, in an area flooded by the Nysa Klodzka river, following heavy rainfalls, in Lewin Brzeski, Poland September 17, 2024. Photo: Reuters 'Combat Conditions' Overnight, volunteers helped rescue workers heave sandbags to build up the broken embankment around Nysa, a city of more than 40,000 in southwestern Poland. Some residents returned to check their homes after evacuations on Monday, despite Tusk's assurances that authorities would act "ruthlessly" against looters. "We are already hearing that looters have become active," Nysa resident Sabina Jakubowska, 45, told Reuters. In neighbouring Czech Republic, Governor Josef Belica said 15,000 people had been evacuated in the northeastern Moravia-Silesia region, one of two badly affected. Helicopters were delivering aid to areas cut off by floodwaters. Soldiers and civilian volunteers fill sandbags in Wroclaw, Poland, September 17, 2024. Photo: Reuters Michal Marianek, director of an old people's home in the regional capital Ostrava, told Reuters staff had moved residents to a higher floor for two nights and cared for them without electricity. "In those combat conditions we managed, provisional menus and so on," he said. Credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS estimated losses from flooding across central Europe could exceed 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion). Belica said damage in his region alone would reach tens of billions of crowns (over $1 billion). The Czech Insurance Association said the first estimate of the cost of flood damage on insured property was 17 billion crowns ($753 million). A drone view shows the flood-affected area following heavy rainfall in Ostrava, Czech Republic, September 17, 2024. Photo: Reuters In Hungary, in the towns of Visegrad and Szentendre, north of Budapest, authorities have deployed mobile dams to limit flooding from the Danube. Budapest is preparing for waters peaking near record levels, and has closed Margaret Island, a recreational area with hotels and restaurants. In Slovakia, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba said the Danube had peaked at nearly 10 m (32.81 ft)overnight and water levels would now slowly fall. He said damage caused by floods throughout the country was estimated at 20 million euros. ($1 = 3.8432 zlotys) French aircraft manufacturer Airbus has provided Vietnam with satellite images of some of the areas most severely affected by typhoon Yagi in northern Vietnam, with a view to supporting rescue and relief efforts as well as assisting in assessing damage, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. General director of Airbus Vietnam Hoang Tri Mai handed Pleiades optical satellite images and TerraSAR-X radar satellite images to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang at a meeting on Tuesday with French Ambassador to Vietnam Olivier Brochet. These satellite images show the most submerged areas in Hanoi and the provinces of Yen Bai, Bac Giang, Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho, and Thai Nguyen. The satellite images will aid in effectively deploying rescue and relief operations, accurately assessing the losses caused by the typhoon, and optimizing the use of mobilized resources, according to Airbus. The images will assist emergency response teams and disaster relief organizations in creating detailed maps and concrete plans for reaching affected areas, especially those inaccessible by road and posing safety risks to rescuers or relief workers. Deputy Minister Hang expressed her appreciation and gratitude for the timely support from the French government and business communities, including Airbus, as well as other international partners. She commended their assistance in helping Vietnam overcome the severe consequences of the typhoon, along with the resulting floods and landslides. Hang commented that the Vietnam-France strategic partnership has developed successfully, especially in science, technology, and aerospace, with the active contribution of Airbus. She believed the two countries would continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation and contribute to the common effort to respond to global challenges, especially climate change. French Ambassador Brochet highly praised the efforts of the Vietnamese government and people in responding to the aftermath of Yagi, which made landfall in northern Vietnam on September 7. Emphasizing the need for international cooperation in response to natural disasters and extreme weather patterns caused by climate change, the diplomat affirmed that France would support Vietnam in remediating the consequences of the typhoon. Headquartered in Frances Toulouse, Airbus is the largest aeronautics and space company in Europe, and also one of the biggest aircraft manufacturers in the world. The partnership between Airbus and Vietnam dates back nearly 30 years, and many of the groups products, such as helicopters and civil and transport aircraft, operate safely in Vietnam. One of the important milestones in the cooperation between the two sides came on May 7, 2013, when Vietnam's first earth observation satellite VNREDSat-1, provided by Airbus, was successfully launched into orbit. At a conference held last year to mark the 10th anniversary of the VNREDSat-1 launch, delegates said that the satellite was still stable and providing high-quality images of the earth. 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 -- Party General Secretary and State President of Vietnam To Lam on Tuesday hosted a reception for Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam He Wei, who came to present his credentials to the top Vietnamese leader. Society -- A fast-moving tropical depression is traveling toward the coast of Quang Binh Province and Da Nang City in central Vietnam and could intensify into a storm in the next 24 hours, bringing heavy rainfall of 100-300mm to the central region from Wednesday to Friday, said the national weather agency on Wednesday morning. -- Authorities in Binh Dinh and Phu Yen Provinces, south-central Vietnam have taken action in response to the tropical depression, informing vessel owners, captains, and operators of hydropower reservoirs of the systems path, urging them to prepare for a possible storm. Business -- Vietravel Airlines on Tuesday announced the appointment of Dao Duc Vu as its CEO, effective from September 4, following the resignation of former CEO Nguyen Minh Hai due to personal reasons. -- The administration of Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam on Tuesday approved the establishment of a five-company consortium which will be responsible for developing the 294-ha Hiep Hoa urban area project in the provincial city of Bien Hoa, with a total investment of over VND72 trillion (US$2.9 billion). -- The Furama - Ariyana Da Nang tourism complex in Da Nang City, central Vietnam has purchased a robot at $15,000 from overseas to serve its guests. The robot is being transported to the city and will be showcased at the Furama Resort in the next few days, Andre Pierre, general manager of the complex, revealed on Tuesday. World news -- Militant group Hezbollah promised to retaliate against Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others who included fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut, Reuters reported. -- Reuters cited wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe as saying on Tuesday that this country plans to cull 200 elephants to feed communities facing acute hunger after the worst drought in four decades. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A tropical depression is traveling toward the coast between Quang Binh Province and Da Nang City in central Vietnam and could intensify into a storm in the next 24 hours, bringing heavy rainfall of 100-300mm to the central region from Wednesday to Friday, said the national weather agency. At 7:00 am on Wednesday, the tropical depression was spotted some 220 kilometers east of Vietnams Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago in the East Vietnam Sea, packing maximum sustained winds of over 60 kilometers per hour near its center and traveling westward at approximately 15 kilometers per hour. The system is expected to march west-southwest at around 20 kilometers per hour in the following 24 hours and pick up strength to become the fourth storm to hit the East Vietnam Sea this year. By 7:00 am on Thursday, it may be located some 210 kilometers east-southeast of Quang Tri Province and about 120 kilometers east of Da Nang. The storm may move west-northwest at some 15 kilometers, making landfall in central Vietnam until weakening as it approaches the Vietnam - Laos border area at 7:00 am on Friday. Between Wednesday and Friday, the central region of Vietnam may experience heavy rainfall of 100-300mm, with several places seeing more than 500mm of precipitation due to the impact of the tropical depression, according to the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting. During the same period, rainfall of 40-80mm is forecast to hit the Central Highlands and the southern part of the country, mostly in the afternoon and evening. The national weather agency noted that strong winds and waves of 2-4 meters will likely hit the northern part of the East Vietnam Sea, the waters off the coast between Nghe An and Quang Ngai Provinces. Fishing boats and vessels operating in these areas could be impacted by thunderstorms, whirlwinds, powerful winds, and high waves. The coastal provinces running from Quang Binh to Quang Nam Provinces need to stay alert to high tides and waves that could cause sea dike erosion and flooding in low-lying locations. The agency warned that wind gusts may reach 102 kilometers per hour along the coast from Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai Provinces throughout Thursday. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Robert Roberson III. Texas' highest criminal court has given a reprieve to Roberson, who was set for execution next week for the slaying of his 2-year-old daughter 14 years ago. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP) Texas Department of Criminal Justice Lawyers and supporters are making a frantic, final push to save the life of Robert Roberson with a month left before his planned execution. More than 80 Texas lawmakers gathered in the state Capitol on Tuesday to bring new pressure and attention to what they say is the wrongful murder conviction of Roberson in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. "We shouldn't be executing someone when there's this much doubt about whether a crime was even committed," said Rep. Joe Moody, who joined the bipartisan majority of the Texas House to advocate for Roberson. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Last week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Robersons petition for a stay of execution. According to Robersons lawyer, Gretchen Sims Sween, the court said the paperwork failed to meet procedural requirements "despite new medical and scientific evidence, unavailable" when a previous petition for his release was made in 2016. A jury convicted Roberson of murder more than 20 years ago after doctors testified that the infant may have died from shaken baby syndrome, a serious or even fatal brain injury resulting from forcefully shaking an infant or toddler. Since then, multiple medical professionals have disproved the shaken baby syndrome diagnosis in the case. Robersons legal team contends the courts have not been willing to consider three new reports showing severe pneumonia caused the child's death. Sween filed a petition Tuesday asking Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for a reprieve for Roberson, who she described as a good, sweet and gentle soul. FIGHT ON: Lawyers file stay of execution for Texas man convicted of killing daughter The State of Texas is preparing, in essence, to execute Forrest Gump, Sween said of the lovable movie character who bumbles through history. Robert is a sweet man who has a lifelong developmental disability, autism spectrum disorder. Even before he was wrongfully accused in reliance on a now discredited shaken baby syndrome diagnosis, he was immediately prejudged as suspicious because of a symptom of his autism. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Disputing shaken baby syndrome Roberson, who has been on death row for 20 years, has maintained his innocence. In July, a judge set his execution date for Oct. 17. Based on new information, Robersons attorneys allege the child died of severe viral and bacterial pneumonia that progressed to sepsis and then septic shock, not homicide. His lawyers said Roberson would mark the first person in the United States executed based on the discredited shaken baby hypothesis. Best-selling legal mystery author John Grisham has thrown his support behind Roberson. A former lawyer and Mississippi state legislator, Grisham said Robersons case is different. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I never thought about wrongful convictions until much later in life when I started writing about them," Grisham said. "And when you get into wrongful convictions and you realize how many innocent people are in prison and how we could stop it if we had the political gumption to do so, then these cases really keep me awake at night. Grisham said his next book is about wrongful convictions, due in part to cases like Roberson's. "I cant let these things go, he said. The medical examiner in the original case has continued to defend her conclusion on shaken baby syndrome. But the former lead detective, Brian Wharton, said he made a mistake in missing Robertson's autism. Im embarrassed about myself that I did not see him as he (was) back then, he said. It mightve changed something. I dont know. Advertisement Article continues below this ad For the first time, Wharton said, the 57-year-old man deserves justice and a "fair hearing." A way forward Wharton has become a regular visitor of Roberson in prison. Despite the fact he helped put Roberson on death row, the inmate welcomes him with genuine warmth. What stands between Robert and actual justice ... is people caring about justice and listening to him, Wharton said. When you put somebody in a white uniform and call them a convict, you steal from them their humanity and you lord it over them and stop listening. And its not just Robert, its everybody in the system theyre not people anymore, theyre something else. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A collection of supporters including 34 doctors and scientists, 84 Texas legislators, eight advocates for parental rights and eight organizations advocating for people with autism and their families are pinning their hopes on the governor saving Robersons life. The governor has not said what he plans to do. The Embassy of Ireland has announced 250,000 ($278,130) in funding to support UNICEF in providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to vulnerable children and families affected by typhoon Yagi in response to the devastating impact of the disaster across northern Vietnam. After conducting a rapid needs assessment in collaboration with UN agencies and collecting data through sector coordination mechanisms, the Vietnamese government and UNICEF have identified urgent gaps in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services as top priorities for the initial emergency response. According to a press release from the Embassy of Ireland on Tuesday, the 250,000 contribution will directly support these efforts, ensuring that families receive immediate assistance via clean water and access to sanitation facilities including water tanks, water filters, soap, hand sanitizers, and water purification tablets. "Ireland is committed to supporting Vietnam during this time of great need," said Ambassador of Ireland to Vietnam Deirdre Ni Fhalluin. "Our contribution of 250,000 reflects our solidarity with the people of Vietnam and our commitment to addressing the most urgent needs of those affected. By working with UNICEF, we are ensuring that our support reaches the most vulnerable -- particularly children -- by providing access to clean water and sanitation, which are crucial for preventing disease and safeguarding health. "We offer our heartfelt condolences to those who have lost family members, and our thoughts are with those who have lost their homes and livelihoods." Representatives at a signing ceremony between the Embassy of Ireland in Vietnam and UNICEF Vietnam to provide humanitarian relief toward the impact of typhoon Yagi. Photo: UNICEF Vietnam UNICEF representative in Vietnam Silvia Danailov acknowledged the Embassy of Irelands contribution, stating, When emergencies hit, children are the most affected and they are our first priority. "Through the support of the Embassy of Ireland, we will be able to provide clean water and sanitation to the most affected families to help them cope with the effects of the flooding. We are grateful for the strong support from the Embassy of Ireland, which is aligned with the priorities identified by the government of Vietnam." The recent floods have severely disrupted access to safe water and sanitation, which are essential for the health and well-being of children and families. Thanks to Irelands support, UNICEF can now accelerate its response, ensuring that affected communities receive the clean water, hygiene supplies, and sanitation services they desperately need, she emphasized. This contribution reflects Irelands long-standing commitment to humanitarian aid and disaster response, in line with both countries' shared focus on strengthening climate resilience and ensuring timely, coordinated action in the face of natural disasters. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A heavy downpour pounded Da Nang City, the capital of central Vietnam, on Wednesday morning, leaving tens of houses waterlogged. Several houses along Ha Thi Than Street in An Hai Tay Ward, Son Tra District were inundated with dark, polluted water following the heavy rainfall. The combination of rainwater and blackish run-off from sewers caused flooding in homes situated down the narrow alleys along the street during the downpour. A man uses a plastic bucket to scoop rainwater out of his house in Da Nang City, central Vietnam, September 18, 2024. Photo: Doan Nhan / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Duc Phuc, a 37-year-old resident of the ward, hurriedly entered his mothers house at 6:00 am the same day to help her combat the flooding and take her to a safer place. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tinh, a 50-year-old local, said that she had to clean her house right after the rainwater began receding, lamenting that many furniture items inside were drenched in dirty water. Many people in the residential area quickly moved their furniture and valuables to higher ground due to concerns over flooding when it started to rain. Some locals bemoaned that though they reside in the heart of the city, they are tired of facing flooding following each downpour. They have faced severe floods after rains since last year. Nguyen Van Huu, vice-chairman of the An Hai Tay Ward Peoples Committee, noted that following abnormal flooding in these alleys in May, the ward took proactive measures by inspecting and dredging the sewers and canals on Ha Thi Than and Tran Hung Dao Streets to remove mud and debris. Despite these efforts, households continue to experience flooding after heavy rainfall, he added. The ward has deployed teams to assist affected households in managing the ongoing flooding. A house is inundated after heavy rain in An Hai Tay Ward, Son Tra District, Da Nang City, central Vietnam, September 18, 2024. Photo: Doan Nhan / Tuoi Tre A house is flooded after heavy rain in Da Nang City, central Vietnam, September 18, 2024. Photo: Doan Nhan / Tuoi Tre Bed sheets, blankets, and an electric fan are elevated to higher ground as a house becomes submerged following heavy rain in Da Nang City, central Vietnam, September 18, 2024. Photo: Doan Nhan / Tuoi Tre A house is in a mess after floodwater receded in Da Nang City, central Vietnam, September 18, 2024. Photo: Doan Nhan / Tuoi Tre A man cleans his house as blackish water soaks his residence in Da Nang City, central Vietnam, September 18, 2024. Photo: Doan Nhan / Tuoi Tre A blockage was built a few days ago to prevent inundation after heavy rain in Da Nang City, central Vietnam, September 18, 2024. Photo: Doan Nhan / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Van Huu (L), vice-chairman of the An Hai Tay Ward Peoples Committee in Son Tra District, Da Nang City, central Vietnam visits a flood-hit household. Photo: Doan Nhan / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Typhoon Yagi and subsequent heavy rain, floods, and landslides have claimed the lives of 52 students, children, and three teachers as of Saturday last week, according to a Ministry of Education and Training report released on Monday. Eight students sustained injuries in the wake of Yagi, which made landfall in northern Vietnam on September 7, while one teacher and three students remain unaccounted for. Among them, the deceased students and children were residents of Cao Bang (6), Lao Cai (35), Yen Bai (9), and Thai Nguyen (2), all in northern Vietnam. The eight injured students are from Quang Ninh, Cao Bang, and Lao Cai Provinces. Two kindergarten students and a fifth grader remain missing after landslides in Lao Cai, while the deceased and missing teachers are from Cao Bang and Yen Bai. The Ministry of Education and Training also reported significant damage to educational infrastructure, with numerous schools in northeastern Vietnam submerged. Classrooms were destroyed and learning materials were swept away by floodwaters as a result of the typhoon. The affected localities have been urged by the ministry to assess and report the extent of the damage to relevant authorities to request financial aid for recovery efforts. According to the latest figures from the ministry, nearly 20,000 students in Yen Bai lost or had their textbooks ruined, with replacement costs estimated at over VND9 billion ($363,900). Despite cleanup efforts to resume classes this week, 99 schools across six provinces, including Lao Cai, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, and Tuyen Quang, remain unable to reopen as floodwaters have yet to recede. On September 11, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Vietnam Education Union launched a fundraising campaign to assist those affected by the typhoon, raising over VND8 billion ($323,300) in cash and VND3.5 billion ($141,400) in supplies. Following a meeting with the ministry on September 13, UNICEF Vietnam and international organizations such as Save the Children, Plan International, and ActionAid pledged at least $4.05 million to provide food, water, textbooks, and school supplies for affected students. Local publishers have also stepped in, donating 2,000 sets of textbooks and committing to print an additional 10 million copies to support students in flood-hit areas. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Torrential rains in Laos and Thailand over recent days, combined with the opening of spillway gates at upstream hydropower plants, are expected to raise water levels in the Mekong River, leading to earlier-than-forecast flooding in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, according to a local expert. Prof. Dr. Tran Ba Hoang, head of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday that the water flow from typhoon Yagi could cause flooding in the Mekong Delta between September 21 and 27 -- seven to ten days earlier than the previously predicted dates of October 3 and 7. The super storm made landfall in northern Vietnam on September 7 and has since left massive destruction in its wake. Water levels at Tan Chau Station on the Tien River in An Giang Province are expected to reach 3.2-3.4 meters during this period. Meanwhile, the highest water levels this year at Can Tho Station in Can Tho City and My Thuan Station in Vinh Long Province are predicted to be 2.05-2.15 meters and 1.95-2.05 meters, respectively, with peak levels recorded from October 17 to 21. Hoang noted that the institute is actively monitoring the water levels in the Mekong Delta to provide timely recommendations in response to the aftermath of typhoon Yagi. Prof. Dr. Tran Ba Hoang, head of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research under Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Photo: H.T.Dung / Tuoi Tre With current irrigation systems in the delta, the region can be divided into upstream, middle, and coastal areas. In the upstream area, irrigation and electric pump systems can deal with floodwater levels of 4-4.3 meters. The middle area, with low-lying terrain, may experience floods in the event of heavy rains and high tides, especially in Hau Giang Province; My Tu, Nga Nam, and Thanh Tri Districts in Soc Trang Province; and part of Hong Dan District in Bac Lieu Province. Meanwhile, most of the coastal areas can respond to high floodwater levels, except for the farmland along large rivers, the sea, and islets which will be hit by high tides. Hoang said that the Mekong Delta can ensure safety for the autumn-winter rice crop this year. Rice for the autumn-winter crop is sown in July, August, and September, and harvested in October, November, and December. Although the region was forecast to experience moderate floods in 2024, locals should still take precautionary measures, Hoang advised. Local authorities need to intensify the inspection of dikes, particularly in flood-prone areas, develop comprehensive flood response plans, and stay informed with timely weather forecasts to manage irrigation systems effectively. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Gina Chick returns to Tasmania for Great Australian Walks. This week she is crisscrossing Bruny Island to meet locals who reveal how Indigenous people and native species were ravaged to the brink of extinction but are now experiencing renewal and regeneration. On the ferry ride across DEntrecasteaux Channel named after French explorer Bruni dEntrecasteaux, who discovered the water passage between here and the Tasmanian mainland in 1792 Gina reveals shes travelling with a companion: an e-bike! This will help her traverse from north to south Bruny. Her first stop is The Neck, a sliver of sand that joins the two islands. At a lookout atop a steep set of steps, that she learns the story of Truganini, a powerful Nuenonne woman who witnessed the murder of her mother by sailors and the kidnapping of her two older sisters by a sealer. She then walks barefoot along the white sands of Adventure Bays azure waters. Wandering deep in the forest she then finds Ramit Singal, an avid birdwatcher originally from Delhi who shows her the gadgets he uses to listen to birdsong. Some of the birds can only be found in Tasmania. Its like a symphony, says Gina, a self-described twitcher. 7:30pm Thursday on SBS. Princess Pictures has appointed Katie Shortland to the new role of Commercial Director. She has held senior roles in the business affairs and legal departments of independent production companies for more than 20 years, including The Wiggles, Flying Bark Productions and, most recently, as the Head of Business Affairs and Strategy for the CJZ Group across Australia and New Zealand. Shortland has worked across all genres of film and TV and financed and domestic and international deals across every major territory in the world, supporting original content from early development, through production and distribution. Emma Fitzsimons, Managing Director of Princess Pictures, welcomed Katie to the company saying: We are beyond thrilled to be welcoming Katie, who brings so much experience and ambition to the Princess team at what is an exciting, boundary-pushing time for the company. Katie Shortland said: To be joining an established production company that is ready, willing and able to keep evolving and adapting to the industry is incredibly exciting. The entire team at Princess Pictures, under the leadership of Laura and Emma, strive for unique storytelling and have delivered for more than 20 years. I cannot wait to join the team in Melbourne and contribute to Princess Pictures ongoing success. Her appointment follows Christopher Casanova joining recently as Head of Content, as Princess Pictures continues to expand its production footprint into feature films, animation and premium drama. The company now has an animation studio in Melbourne as well as the recent acquisition of the Irish animation studio Boulder Media and is about to commence filming on its first live action feature in more than a decade. EXCLUSIVE: Big Brother is never far from controversy. this time it is behind the scenes. Plans to return Big Brother in 2025 caught Seven by surprise this week, especially given it still has a hold back on the format until mid 2025. A hold back effectively prevents negotiations commencing with another broadcaster, until the day after the hold back finishes. You cant start production in the middle. You cant be casting, you cant be announcing hosts. You cant be announcing deals, an industry source said. TV Tonight understands a legal letter has now been sent by Seven Network to production company Endemol Shine Australia after the surprise inclusion at this weeks Network 10 Upfront. On Monday 10 announced the show would return home to the network where it all began in Q4 2025 with new host Mel Tracina. It was such a well-kept secret because the agreement had only been finalised in the days leading up to the event. It grabbed everybodys attention, especially media and the loyal fan-base. Seven Network last screened the series in December 2023 but while it no longer has an option on the show it does have a hold back on the format until mid 2025. There is no suggestion of wrong-intent on anybodys part, nor any suggestion Seven is trying to prevent 10s broadcast of Big Brother. At this stage there is also no change to 10s plans to proceed with the format. But questions are being asked around rights for a show that costs upwards of $20m and the hold back that is supposed to come with it. Endemol Shine Australia, Seven and Network 10 have all been contacted for comment. Should Australian dramas be aiming for universal appeal if they want to sell to international audiences, or is it better to be culturally specific and highlighting their Australian-ness? That was a question raised last week at the Australian Content in the Streaming Era Symposium at ACMI. But there was a range of views on the topic. Sam Lingham from Havent You Done Well? productions, whose Aunty Donnas Big Ol House of Fun series was filmed in the USA for Netflix said, I think any story can really travel genuinely if its done well enough. Its a strange question coming from Australia, considering were so used to consuming media from countries from all over the world. Its just something we do quite universally. Lingham argues that local references (ie. place names, lingo, brands) were the main area for consideration but said there would always be a place for content that talks specifically about Australian issues for Australians. But I think for the most part, most stories should be able to travel. Maybe its a matter of broadly-American audiences getting more-used to watching stuff from other countries. But Im pretty optimistic that everything will travel and fly. Andy Barclay, Manager of Business & Legal Affairs at Screen Producers Australia, said the streaming platforms had made Australian stories more accessible to international audiences. Its becoming more normalised for them to listen to Australian accents and hear those without wanting it to be dubbed into American, as was very much the case, even only a few years ago. So thats thats a big positive. But Louise Cocks, Online Investment and Development Manager at Screen Australia said, I think that actually, the more specific something is, the more it will travel, because its more true to the story and the characters and the world. The streamers have opened that up, with all the different types of content you watch on Netflix or Stan, or whatever, now that you wouldnt have necessarily watched 10 years ago. I think that content does travel really well because it is so specific and in that world. So I dont think that Australian content does need to be more broad to travel. I think actually that the secret is in the specific and being true to those characters in the world that you are portraying. Photo: Bryan Tang. TCN News In a significant development, the Supreme Court of India onSeptember 17 issued a nationwide stay on bulldozer demolitions until October 1, 2024. The order came in response to a batch of petitions highlighting concerns about alleged misuse of demolition drives and bulldozer justice. Support TwoCircles The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JuH) are among the petitioners, seeking pan-India guidelines to ensure due process, prevention of arbitrary actions and securing justice for victims of bulldozer demolitions. These guidelines aim to standardise procedures and safeguard against the alleged misuse of executive power. We successfully intervened in the Supreme Court to pause nationwide bulldozer demolitions, targeting marginalised communities. Victims like Rashid Khan from Udaipur and Mohammad Hussain from Jaora have bravely highlighted the misuse of executive power, pointing out that these punitive demolitions were carried out based on mere allegations, the APCR said in a statement. JuH President Maulana Mahmood Madani too welcomed the apex courts decision, highlighting the significance of the ruling in addressing concerns about executive overreach and protecting vulnerable populations. An environment has been created where bulldozers are perceived as symbols of justice, violating constitutional rights and judicial processes, the JuH said in a press release. We commend the Court for taking notice of irresponsible statements made by government ministers, and we demand that such statements be immediately halted to uphold the rule of law and prevent the misuse of authority. It further added a civilised nation cannot allow entire communities to be punished under any circumstances. Even in general cases, bulldozers come and demolish houses where elderly and bedridden people live. They are entirely punished; and after that, the narrative is built that criminals have been punished through statements from BJP ministers and the media. The Supreme Courts ruling stipulates that demolitions may only proceed if they involve public roads, water bodies or railway lines and must be authorised by the court. The court has emphasised that detailed directives on the legal framework and procedures for property demolitions under municipal laws will be provided soon. The Supreme Courts intervention follows recent high-profile cases where municipal authorities used bulldozers to demolish properties allegedly connected to criminal activities or legal disputes. A notable case involved a threat from municipal authorities in Gujarat to demolish a familys home linked to an FIR, which has drawn significant attention and criticism. Last week, the SC bench comprising justices Hrishikesh Roy, Sudhanshu Dhulia and SVN Bhatti condemned the practice of bulldozer justice, emphasising that such actions undermine the rule of law and the principles of justice. The courts decision underscores its commitment to ensuring that demolitions are conducted in accordance with legal norms and protections. John Lomax V is an intern for the Houston Chronicle. A recent graduate of the University of Houston and a lifelong resident of the city, John is passionate about government watchdog reporting and driven by the mission of digging deep to find out information people want to know. He is the son of renowned Houston journalist John Nova Lomax, who wrote for numerous publications and was a former senior editor at Texas Monthly. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Mayhem across Lebanon after simultaneous pager blasts Hospitals have been flooded by dead and wounded as people are exploding on roads after simultaneous pager blasts in Lebanon bordering Israel Wednesday September 18, 2024 11:31 AM , ummid.com News Network Beirut: Hospitals have been flooded by dead and wounded as people are exploding on roads and in markets after simultaneous pager blasts in Lebanon bordering Israel. At least 9 people, including a girl child, have died. Over 2,800 others have been injured. At least 200 of those injured are in critical conditions, according to Irans ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, who is also among those injured. The 8-year-old girl, who is among the dead, has been identified as Fatima Jafar Abdullah. Video footage and clips shared on social media showed the wounded being taken to hospitals in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Many were seen assembling in front of hospitals and health centers to assist the injured. Lebanon has blamed Israel for first of its kind blasts where a handheld device manufactured for common use has been used as warfare. Watch Video Media reports said people who were carrying pagers noticed them heating up before the explosions took place. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said the pagers belonged to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions and confirmed the deaths of eight fighters, BBC reported. The group blamed Israel for what it called this criminal aggression and vowed that it would get just retribution. The Israeli military declined to comment. But, a U.S. official said Israel briefed the U.S. on the operation in which small amounts of explosive secreted in the pagers were detonated on Tuesday after it was concluded, according to Associated Press. Gold Apollo Pagers The pagers were manufactured by Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, but they were tampered with before reaching Lebanon, some of the officials claimed. Most of the pagers were the companys AP924 model, though three other Gold Apollo models were also in the shipment, according to the report. As little as 3 to 6 grams of explosive material was implanted next to the battery in each pager, two of the sources said, while a detonator was also embedded that could be triggered remotely. According to media reporters, most of those dead and injured are members of Hezbollah. Media reports said Israel managed to intercept the cargo of pagers and weaponise them. It compromised one of the devices components somewhere in the supply chain. Israel targeted the microprocessors and overloaded them, causing the battery to blow up, Al Jazeera reported. Meanwhile, the Lebanese health ministry has asked all its medical workers in Beirut and southern Lebanon to remain on alert and respond to all emergency medical cases. The ministry has also urged all pager owners to dispose of their devices with immediate effect, Press TV reported. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Proposals on One Nation, One Election Get Cabinet Nod Key Highlights The union government in New Delhi Wednesday accepted the recommendations made by the high level committee headed by former President of India Ram Nath Kovind on One Nation, One Election or onoe Wednesday September 18, 2024 7:28 PM , ummid.com News Network New Delhi: The union government in New Delhi Wednesday accepted the recommendations made by the high level committee headed by former President of India Ram Nath Kovind on One Nation, One Election or onoe. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections under the chairmanship of former President Shri Ram Nath Kovind, the PMO said. The idea of "One Nation, One Election" refers to holding the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections simultaneously across the country. The government had announced the formation of the high-level panel headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to study the proposal of One Nation, One Election on September 01, 2023 . Some of the observations made by the committee on simultaneous elections are: Elections have been held simultaneously between 1951 and 1967. Law Commission: 170th report (1999): One election to Lok Sabha and all Legislative Assemblies in five years. Parliamentary Committee 79th Report (2015): suggest methods for simultaneous elections in two phases. High Level Committee chaired by Shri Ram Nath Kovind extensively consulted a broad spectrum of stakeholders including political parties and experts. Some of the recommendations of the committee on simultaneous elections are: Implement elections in two phases. In first phase: conduct Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously. In second phase: Conduct local body elections (panchayat and municipalities) within 100 days of general elections. Common electoral roll for all elections. Will initiate detailed discussions throughout the country. Constitute an implementation group. The members of the committee are: Chairman Ram Nath Kovind (Former President of India) Secretary of the Committee Dr. Niten Chandra Members Amit Shah (Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation) Arjun Ram Meghwal (Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Law and Justice) Ghulam Nabi Azad (Former Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha) N. K. Singh (Former Chairman, 15th Finance Commission) Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap (Former Secretary General, Lok Sabha) Sanjay Kothari (Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner) Harish Salve (Senior Advocate and Supreme Court Lawyer) Key Highlights The 322-page report in PDF is available on the website "onoe.gov.in". The Committee worked on the subject for 191 days and submitted its report in a little over one year after its constitution on September 01, 2023. The committee received responses from 47 political parties. Of them 15 political parties opposed the idea whereas, the remaining 32 political parties favoured the system of simultaneous elections. parties opposed the idea whereas, the remaining 32 political parties favoured the system of simultaneous elections. Four Former Chief Justices of India, as well as a Former Judge of the Supreme Court, who were invited for consultation supported simultaneous elections. "Based on the suggestions received from political parties, experts, and other stakeholders, the Committee was of the unanimous view that simultaneous elections will bring fundamental transformation in the electoral process and overall governance", the report said. "It will result in optimising scarce resources and also encourage voters to participate in the electoral process in larger numbers. "Disruptions to governance and policy paralysis resulting from the application of the Model Code of Conduct and its adverse impact on economic growth will be mitigated", it added. Reactions on One Nation, One Election Prime Minister Modi has hailed the committee report and called the idea a step towards making the Indian democracy more vibrant. "I compliment our former President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders. This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative", he said. The Congress Party however called the idea of holding simultaneous elections BJP's attempt to divert attention from the key issues. The Congress also said the move is against the constitution. "This is against the constitution. This is against democracy, This is against federalism", Congress President Malikarjun Kharge said. "The country will never accept this", he added. A Bill on One Nation, One Election is likely to be tabled in the upcoming Parliament session. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home UN vote to end Israeli Occupation of Palestine The UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted today i.e. Wednesday September 18, 2024 a historic resolution that calls Israel to end the occupation of the Palestinian lands. Wednesday September 18, 2024 9:36 PM , ummid.com News Network United Nations: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted today i.e. Wednesday September 18, 2024 a historic resolution that calls Israel to end the occupation of the Palestinian lands. "General Assembly overwhelmingly passes resolution demanding end to Palestine occupation", the UN said. The UN earlier said the General Assembly will vote today on the draft resolution seeking to end the Israeli occupation. . Member States to vote on a draft resolution that would end Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory within one year today i.e. Wednesday September 18, 2024, the UN said. The resolution was adopted by 124 members in favour, 14 against and 43 abstention. "By the newly adopted resolution, the General Assembly demands that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution, the UN said. The resolution comes in the wake of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) terming the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands, including West Bank and East Jerusalem, illegal. The ICJ in its historic ruling on July 19, 2024 also said Israeli occupation of Palestine must end earlier than later. The UN Court in its order also said the Palestinians living under the foreign occupation have right to self-determination. The UNs highest legal body for hearing disputes between states issued its advisory opinion in response to a 2022 request from the General Assembly . The UN General Assembly in its 79th Session, is debating a draft resolution seeking end of the Israeli occupation of the Palestine and illegal settlements. The UN is set to vote on the resolution after a while today. The significant UN resolution on Israeli occupations comes about a week after the "State of Palestine" was allotted a seat with full member states . The UN Resolution The UN draft resolution on Israel is listed under Agenda item 5 of the 10th emergency special session is titled "Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory." The resolution is moved and sponsored by Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Chile, Colombia, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Egypt, Guyana, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Turkiye, Uganda, Yemen and State of Palestine. The 8-page UN resolution demands that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility, and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution. The resolution also calls upon the United Nations, and its bodies and organs, to respect and act in a manner consistent with the determinations made by the International Court of Justice, including in relation to all relevant maps, statements and reports, as well as in their respective programmes and actions. The resolution strongly deplores the continued and total disregard and breaches by the "Government of Israel" of its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions, and stresses that such breaches seriously threaten regional and international peace and security. The resolution also said that Israel must be held to account for any violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including any violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and that it must bear the legal consequences of all its internationally wrongful acts, including by making reparation for the injury, including any damage, caused by such act. "There is an urgent need to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law through appropriate, fair and independent investigations and prosecutions at the national or international level, and to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes", the resolution said. Israel must end Gaza War The delegations while supporting the UN resolution about the legality of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian lands also called for immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Ambassador Mohamed Issa Abushahab of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while participating in the debate said the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza must be addressed through unimpeded access to those in need, a ceasefire deal and the full implementation of all related Security Council resolutions. "A credible peace process must be relaunched to work towards a two-State solution to diffuse this conflict, he said, expressing support for the State of Palestine's full statehood and UN membership", he said. "The time has come to end the suffering," he added. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. The conference brought together leading industry experts, including Dr. Tang Ha Nam Anh, Director of the Hoan My Orthopaedics and Spine Centre and President of the Vietnam Arthroplasty and Arthroscopy Association (VAAS), who has more than 30 years of experience in orthopaedics. He was joined by expert Matthieu Guyard, a specialist surgeon in Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery at Saint Joseph Saint Luc Hospital and one of the foremost experts in general surgery, orthopaedics, trauma, and arthroscopy in France. They were accompanied by other experts and doctors from the Hoan My Medical Group. Optimal surgical solutions for hip replacement patients Artificial hip replacement techniques have been performed by experts and doctors for more than 100 years worldwide and for over 40 years in Vietnam. Currently, for patients indicated for hip replacement, the dual mobile acetabulum is considered the optimal choice to limit the risk of dislocation of the artificial joint and the need for replacement after surgery. According to expert surgeon Matthieu Guyard, the advantage of this technique is its ability to increase the range of hip movement. This is a crucial factor for young patients with high mobility needs, as it increases pressure on the hip area, leading to a higher risk of dislocation and injury after surgery. This method is also applied to patients undergoing a second hip replacement. Typically, patients having a hip replacement for a second time face a higher risk of hip dislocation and complications post-surgery. However, with the dual mobile acetabulum technique, patients can maintain joint stability and reduce these risks. He emphasised: "Performing hip replacement with a dual mobile acetabulum requires a high level of skill from the surgeons. They must be able to accurately identify the cause of hip joint damage, assess the risk of embolism, predict limb stability and balance, and master their preferred incisions and joint placement techniques before proceeding with the official procedure." Dr. Tang Ha Nam Anh, Director of the Hoan My Orthopaedic and Spine Centre, also shared his knowledge and experience in optimising hip stability in complex hip replacement cases after more than 30 years in the field. Dr. Nam Anh stressed: "For difficult hip replacement cases with high rates of dislocation, optimising hip joint stability is one of the top criteria that surgeons need to focus on." In addition to the exchange of expertise, Dr. Anh and a team of doctors from the Hoan My Orthopaedic and Spine Centre demonstrated surgery in the operating room of Hoan My Saigon Hospital, supported by internationally renowned machines and equipment. International cooperation contributes to raising the level of Vietnam's orthopedics industry Hip replacement is a complex technique that requires surgeons to constantly update their knowledge of innovations from around the world, as well as master state-of-the-art machinery and equipment to increase success rates and reduce complications for patients. Dr Nam Anh said: "This conference is an opportunity for doctors at the Hoan My Orthopaedic and Spine Centre to acquire new knowledge from many countries around the world, thereby improving professionalism. Ultimately, we aim to become the optimal choice for Vietnamese patients seeking to enhance their quality of life." The Hoan My Orthopaedic and Spine Centre is expected to sign a cooperation contract to transfer technology and techniques through the training of surgeons for hip and knee replacement surgery with Saint Joseph Saint Luc Hospital in Lyon. At the seminar, Mr Richard Joan, a representative of XNOV company from Switzerland, also shared insights about the new generation of knee joints. These joints feature a rotating design that more closely resembles a natural knee joint, which helps patients by mimicking the functions of their natural knee. At the Hoan My Orthopaedic and Spine Centre, hip replacement cases are performed by a team of highly qualified and experienced doctors, using advanced machinery systems. Surgeries are completed effectively, shortening recovery times and improving quality of life. In addition to its outstanding achievements in the field of hip replacement, the Hoan My Orthopaedic and Spine Centre is also a prestigious institution for knee replacement and treatment. Here, highly experienced doctors have successfully performed a series of joint replacement surgeries using modern equipment and advanced techniques, including total and partial knee replacement. As a result, many patients have regained flexible mobility. For information about the Conference, please contact: HOAN MY SPINE AND ORTHOPAEDIC CENTER - Address: 60-60A (New number 295) Phan Xich Long, Ward 1, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City (Floor M) - Phone number: 0283 995 9862 or 0909 940 669 - Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/chanthuongchinhhinhhoanmy/ HA NOI Viet Nam needs to consider the development of battery energy storage system (BESS) while the country is on a path towards promoting renewable energies to ensure energy security and sustainable development, experts have said. According to the Institute of Energy, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Viet Nams power system needs BESS at both renewable energy generators and the national power grid. The eighth National Power Development Plan (PDP8) has taken into account the high integration rate of renewable energy into the power system with a goal that Viet Nams power system will have 2,700 MW storage of energy by 2030, including 2,400MW of pumped-storage hydropower and 300MW of battery energy storage. Among 2,400 MW storage of pumped-storage hydropower, currently there is only one plant Bac Ai with a capacity of 1,200 MW and that is under construction, while no other projects are on the horizon, meaning that they, if any, are unlikely to be operational by 2030. Thus, BESS with convenience and flexibility might be an alternative to make up for the shortage of pumped-storage hydropower. BESS does not generate electricity but only stores it and realises it when needed. The Institute of Energy reported that countries including the US, Thailand, China and India are preparing legal frameworks and technical regulations so that BESS can participate in their power systems at different levels. According to the National Power System and Market Operation One Member Limited Liability (NSMO), under the current power system, when the capacity of renewable energies (including hydropower) reaches 44 per cent of maximum power (Pmax) during normal days and 88 per cent of Pmax during holidays, the system is at high risk. A study of Ha Noi University of Technology showed that the cost for BESS is much lower than mobilising power from sources such as gas turbine engines or diesel. Deputy director of Vu Phong Energy Group, Pham ang An, said BESS would play an important role in optimising and stabilising renewable energy sources. The storage system would not only help reduce pressure on the national grid but also ensure continuous and stable power supply. It was necessary to raise policies in terms of financial support and technical standards to promote the development of the energy storage system, ensure its quality and safety, An said. According to Ha Duong Minh, a researcher at the International Centre for Development and Environment (CIRED) in France, the BESS installation and operation is a significant barrier to applying this technology. It is estimated that the electricity price in Viet Nam must be more than US$0.18 per kWh, around two times higher than the current rate, to be profitable with investment in BESS. However, he pointed out that the cost for BESS was dropping sharply and was expected to fall from $578 per kWh to $264 per kWh by 2030. BESS would bring significant benefits, including improving performance, reliability, power management and grid stability, he said. Minh pointed out that until now, there was no BESS system in operation in Viet Nam, except a 700 kW/2 MWh of Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 (PECC2) and under-construction Bac Ai pumped-storage hydropower plant. Under PDP8, BESS is expected at 300 MW while the renewable energies will develop rapidly, including 21 GW onshore power, 7 GW offshore power and 18-20 GW solar power, raising concerns about whether it is enough to offset the volatility of renewable energy sources, according to Duong. The prospect of BESS in Viet Nam appears modest in the near future but the long-term outlook paints a completely different picture, he said. The PDP8 targets that the capacity of pumped-storage hydropower and battery storage will reach about 30,650-45,550 MW by 2050 to catch up with the high proportion of renewable energy. With appropriate policies and investments, BESS might transform Viet Nams energy landscape, making it more sustainable, stable and reliable, Minh said. The flexibility of BESS makes it suitable for a wide range of scales and businesses, from Viet Nam Electricity to renewable energy developers as well as electricity consumers, he said. To ensure efficiency in implementation, Minh said an integrated approach for all relevant parties is needed, in which the Government must take the leading role in establishing a policy framework that includes clear guidance and market mechanism that align interests of the private sector and market demand. According to energy expert ao Nhat inh, it is necessary to raise incentive policies to promote the development of BESS. First, BESS should be developed at projects of EVN. Later, when the retail electricity prices are higher, private investors should be encouraged to invest in BESS and participate in the power market. According to Siemens Energy, energy storage is critical to decarbonising the power system and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its also essential to build resilient, reliable and affordable electricity grids that can handle the variable nature of renewable energy sources. VNS HA NOI To promote green innovation in agriculture, Viet Nam needs to build a flexible market mechanism to encourage and support the development of environmental agricultural products. This was the recommendation of Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, at a conference on promoting green innovation in agriculture in Ha Noi on September 17. Agriculture now accounts for about 12 per cent of Viet Nam's GDP and about 30 per cent of the workforce, according to Ngoc. However, this sector faces major challenges including climate change. For instance, the Mekong Delta - the country's largest rice producer - is forecast to lose from 500,000ha to one million ha of agricultural land by 2050 due to rising sea levels, causing annual losses of up to three per cent of GDP. The challenges are forcing agricultural production towards a more sustainable development and lower emissions. Green innovation is a core factor that helps agriculture respond to those challenges. At present, many Vietnamese enterprises have applied green technologies in agriculture, from drip irrigation systems to smart greenhouse technology and the use of renewable energy in production, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. These models have helped them reduce carbon emissions, save water by up to 50 per cent and increase crop yields by 20-30 per cent. Viet Nam also aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nine per cent by 2030 and commits to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. To achieve those goals, green innovation in the agricultural sector plays a key role. However, it also faces many challenges. One of them is human resources, especially high-quality human resources, which are still limited with Viet Nam lacking experts in agriculture and trained rural workers. Farmers need to be trained in advanced farming methods, sustainable land management and efficient use of resources. In addition, they need access to green technologies, new crop varieties and green credit sources. Green agriculture start-ups also face difficulties in connecting with experts, accessing markets and expanding production scale. Lack of infrastructure and resources is also a major barrier that needs to be addressed to promote the development of these enterprises. Discussions were taking place at the event held at the National Innovation Centre (NIC) hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment in coordination with the Vietnamese Australian Scholars and Experts Association (VASEA). The market mechanism played an essential role in implementing green innovation in agriculture, said Todd Sanderson, Social Systems Research Programme Manager of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). This mechanism would help this sector increase productivity and reduce emissions and if it is not applied, it would affect the interests of small enterprises and farmers. At the conference, participants gave suggestions on financial incentives for farmers to carry out green production in the rice sector and details of the costs and benefits of farmers when applying low-emission farming techniques. There were also details on carbon credit certification and guidance for farmers and businesses on the process of converting from applying low-emission farming techniques into tradable credits. Dr Nguyen Thi Hai from the Australian National University said that the carbon credit market would open up new opportunities for farmers. The application of advanced farming techniques would not only bring high-quality rice products, but also bring a significant amount of carbon credits and the world's demand for this type of credit was increasing. Meanwhile, Associate Professor Chu Hoang Long from the Australian National University said that technical solutions, supportive policies and also economic and social factors would have a great impact on green production. Rice producers needed to be economically incentivised to apply low-emission techniques. Overall rice producers would incur costs to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. So, producers should be compensated for reducing GHG emissions and market mechanisms were generally considered an efficient way to compensate, i.e., the reduction in emissions to be compensated via trading carbon credits. However, the market mechanisms would require a certification process and should be designed in line with national goals, Long said. VNS HA NOI Just as the forestry sector has tapped into the carbon credit market, the aquaculture sector, particularly seaweed farming, is emerging as a promising avenue with the potential to store up to 1,500 tonnes of greenhouse gas per square kilometre. Viet Nam has identified 800 species of seaweed, of which 90 have economic value. Currently, the country has large-scale seaweed farming areas, which are often integrated with other seafood and marine products like oysters, pearls and abalones. inh Xuan Lap, Deputy Director of the International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS) under the Viet Nam Fisheries Society, said that both domestic and international scientists had proven that seaweed can absorb CO2 two to five times more effectively than forests of the same area. Some species, including kelp with broad fronds, can absorb CO2 up to 20 times more efficiently than trees. Expanding seaweed farming will therefore create massive carbon storage capability for the seafood industry. We are collaborating with businesses to develop the Blue Ocean-Blue Foods programme to grow Viet Nams seaweed areas, turning them into CO2 absorption reservoirs, Lap said. The goal is to develop large-scale seaweed farming to mitigate the effects of climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve the marine environment and enhance community livelihoods. Meanwhile, companies are now producing biodegradable plastic cups from seaweed. Viet Nams seaweed also has an advantage in pharmaceuticals compared to countries like Japan and South Korea. "Seaweed from Viet Nam can be processed into various compounds used in dentistry or the food industry, such as in dairy products to create thickness and blend in milk. The extract yields are much higher than those from seaweed we tested from Japan and South Korea," Nguyen Thi Sam, CEO of Wineco Viet Nam JSC, stated. Moreover, after being processed for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, the residue from some seaweed species can be used as animal feed, helping to reduce methane emissions from livestock. The agricultural sector has identified seaweed as a green resource that helps clean the seas and the atmosphere while providing a good income for farmers, given the relatively low investment costs. In large seafood farming areas, including Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Kien Giang, seaweed farmers can earn billions of VN annually, providing a livelihood that helps many households escape poverty. According to a report by the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Viet Nams potential seaweed farming area could reach around one million hectares, yielding 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of dry seaweed annually. Currently, Viet Nams seaweed production stands at around 150,000 tonnes per year. Tran inh Luan, Director of the Directorate of Fisheries, believes that once seaweed farming reaches a certain scale, Viet Nam will collaborate with international organisations to enable seaweed farmers to sell carbon credits. Globally, carbon credits from seaweed farms have already been discussed. In Viet Nam, selling carbon credits from seaweed is also very feasible, he said. With countries committing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, carbon credits represent a highly promising market, expected to reach up to $100 billion by 2030. In Viet Nam, forest carbon credits have already been successfully transferred at $5 per credit. The World Bank has committed to paying $10 per credit for rice carbon credits. Meanwhile, some international organisations have expressed interest in purchasing carbon credits at prices of $20-30 per credit. According to the latest draft of the Carbon Market Development Scheme in Viet Nam, from 2025-2028, the carbon market will be piloted nationwide. From 2029 onwards, the market will be officially operational nationwide. By expanding seaweed cultivation to its full potential of around one million hectares, the aquaculture sector can unlock a vast source of blue carbon credits. Once the carbon market is operational, seaweed carbon reservoirs will become a new resource, helping Vietnamese fishermen increase their income. VNS Parents with safety questions surround a giant question board at Edison Middle School on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Houston, as HISD held a town hall for community members on the proposal in the $4.4 billion school bond to co-locate Edison Middle School and Franklin Elementary Schools. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Houston ISD held its first community meeting Tuesday on the proposals to co-locate 15 campuses if voters approve the $4.4 billion school bond in November. HISD leaders began hosting a series of meetings for school communities on their plans to move, or co-locate, students at eight schools to seven existing campuses if the bond passes. Under the proposal, the district aims to spend $580 million to renovate or rebuild seven campuses around the district to accommodate the additional students. Dr. Daniel Solis speaks at Edison Middle School on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Houston, as HISD held a town hall for community members on the proposal in the $4.4 billion school bond to co-locate Edison Middle School and Franklin Elementary Schools. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Macrona Rodriguez writes a question in on the giant transportation question board at Edison Middle School on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Houston, as HISD held a town hall for community members on the proposal in the $4.4 billion school bond to co-locate Edison Middle School and Franklin Elementary Schools. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Najah Callander, deputy chief of community and family partnership with HISD, speaks as she shows slides at Edison Middle School on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Houston, as HISD held a town hall for community members on the proposal in the $4.4 billion school bond to co-locate Edison Middle School and Franklin Elementary Schools. Karen Warren/Staff photographer The co-locations aim to address the districts declining enrollment and financial challenges by reducing the total number of HISD campuses, but several HISD parents and other community members have expressed concern that moving to another facility will present challenges for students and staff and flatten their school's sense of community. Advertisement Article continues below this ad During the meeting, HISD administrators shared the details of the projects, plans for future community engagement and the logistics of co-locations. After the 30-minute presentation, the district asked attendees to share their questions about co-locations related to safety, transportation, academics and other topics on sticky notes placed around the cafeteria. According to HISD, co-located schools would operate independently of each other and retain their own staff while sharing larger communal areas, such as cafeterias and gymnasiums. Najah Callander, HISDs senior executive director for external engagement, said during Tuesdays meeting that the new school would likely not be ready until at least August 2028. We want to make sure that we are providing continuity for students in the student experience and disrupting the learning environment as little as possible, said Daniel Soliz, HISDs senior executive director of support. We want to do everything we can to ensure that our families and our students are receiving the best education possible, and ... keep our students within HISD. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Callander said the district is holding these meetings to inform the community and educate parents about the bond. She said they will provide an opportunity for the district to start the conversation and get input from the families who would be affected by the measure before the vote. We are trying really hard to engage with these communities multiple times so that we can make sure that people are hearing (about the bond) and getting opportunities to give their input and provide feedback, Callander said. HISD declined to publicly disclose the location or time of the future community meetings, Parents listen to HISD representatives discuss plans at Edison Middle School on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Houston, as HISD held a town hall for community members on the proposal in the $4.4 billion school bond to co-locate Edison Middle School and Franklin Elementary Schools. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Several dozen parents and students attended the first session at Edison Middle School, which would be co-located with Franklin Elementary School if the bond passed. Multiple attendees said they had not heard about any of the details of the HISDs bond proposal, including co-locations, until the meeting began, and they remained unsure about the measure after hearing the districts presentation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Along with co-locations, the bond would allocate about $2 billion for rebuilding and renovating schools and $1.35 billion for lead abatement, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning improvements, and security upgrades. It would also spend $1 billion to expand pre-kindergarten, build three new career and technical education centers and make technology upgrades. It makes me worried for my kids, being in a school combined with another school, said Elizabeth Coli, who has two children at Edison MS. For the time being, I feel like they wouldnt get the experience they're supposed to experience in middle school, but at the same time, I know the community needs to improve schools. Kelley Ramirez, the mother of two students at Edison Middle and three at Franklin Elementary, said while she knows HISD already has 12 co-located campuses, she believes its not the right move for her childrens schools. She said shes worried about middle school students bullying the younger students and the districts ability to accommodate all the students on one campus. Sylvia Hernandez and her daughter Stephany, 11, look at an HISD brochure at Edison Middle School on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Houston, as HISD held a town hall for community members on the proposal in the $4.4 billion school bond to co-locate Edison Middle School and Franklin Elementary Schools. Karen Warren/Staff photographer My main concern is combining the schools, Ramirez said. I don't understand how they're going to get all these kids into separate (rooms.) For other families and parents, they might feel like it's a good thing, but I don't know. I feel like it's a little too much because you got so many kids in there. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Callander said the district is expecting to have several more meetings to solicit feedback from families who would be affected by the co-locations if the bond passes, including opportunities for PTOs and PTAs to organize meetings between HISD and parents. HA NOI Although there are positive signs, experts say that the steel industry is currently facing difficulties, particularly due to weak domestic demand. A significant recovery may not be expected until 2025, leading to swift movements of funds within this sector. From the start of August, foreign investors have collectively sold over 100 million of Hoa Phats (HPG) shares, amounting to nearly VN2.5 trillion - a record figure for HPG in recent years. Over the past month, no stock on the exchange has seen a more significant net sell-off by foreign investors than HPG. The relentless selling pressure from foreign investors has driven HPG shares to their lowest levels since the beginning of the year. Compared to the peak in mid-June, the stock price has plummeted by almost 15 per cent. This decline has led its market capitalisation to below VN160 trillion, causing the national leading steel producer to lose its position among the top ten most valuable companies on the Vietnamese stock exchange. With the highest number of outstanding shares in the non-financial category (approximately 6.4 billion units) and a high free float ratio, HPG has long been regarded as a 'national stock' with active trading. However, foreign investors have recently found the leading steel stock to be less attractive. Indeed, it's not just HPG shares feeling the pressure. Even HSG shares of the Hoa Sen Group are facing a similar situation due to foreign selling. In August, Dragon Capital sold over 11 million HSG shares, reducing its ownership from 5.43 per cent to 4.86 per cent, and is now no longer a major shareholder of Hoa Sen Group. Since February, the fund has sold around 40 million HSG shares. Previously, news of European Union and Indian anti-dumping investigations on Vietnamese steel hit the market hard, with HPG falling by nearly 14 per cent in a quarter, HSG down by 8.5 per cent and Nam Kin Group (NKG) down by 17.4 per cent. These prices now match or even dip below early-year levels. Experts note these as relatively low compared to the steel stocks' true value. While signs of a mild industry recovery emerge, prompting foreign investors to buy in and lift stock prices, challenges persist, particularly weak domestic demand. A solid rebound may only materialise by 2025. When will the 'ice age' end? In fact, the global steel sector remains entrenched in an 'ice age,' a predicament that impacts Hoa Phat and other local steel manufacturers. Rebar steel futures have slumped to around CNY3,000 per tonne, the lowest level in 8 years since 2016. Similarly, hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have descended to a 4-year low, dropping below $700 a tonne. Global steel prices saw a fleeting recovery only to sharply regress following China's official manufacturing PMI unexpectedly plunging to 49.1 in August, representing the most substantial decline this year. China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that construction PMI also dipped to 50.6, signalling the feeblest activity growth since data collection commenced in 2020. Against this backdrop, domestic steel firms like Hoa Phat are anticipating rulings from the Ministry of Industry and Trade concerning anti-dumping investigations. Such measures are hoped to alleviate some pressure on the domestic market. These investigations primarily target imported HRC from China and India, alongside galvanised steel imports from China and South Korea. However, during this interim period, the Vietnamese steel industry has received successive unfavourable updates as both the European Commission (EC) and India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) have instigated anti-dumping enquiries into specific hot-rolled coil steel products originating from or shipped from Viet Nam. KBSV Securities predicts a significant drop in China's steel exports to key markets such as the US and EU due to increasing trade protection measures. They anticipate Hoa Sen Group's profit margins to decline in the upcoming financial quarter due to inventory provisions. Vietcap Securities (VCSC), on the other hand, has reduced the target price for HPG shares by 5 per cent based on a projected 5 per cent net profit decrease for 2024-2028 and a 21 per cent price-to-earning (P/E) ratio drop for 2024-2025. Despite this, VCSC maintains a target P/E of 18.0 to reflect Hoa Phat's robust growth during 2024-2025. It also expects a 5 per cent lower net profit for 2024-2028, with reduced forecasts for 2024-2026 due to cautious views on the steel market amidst weak Chinese demand. This is partly offset by increased forecasts for 2027-2028, driven by Dung Quat 2's second blast furnace impacting HRC sales. On the stock market, HPG, HSG and NKG shares all closed lower on Monday, down 0.6 per cent, 1.75 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam will host the 2025 International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) World Congress (FWC 2025), according to the Viet Nam Logistics Business Association (VLA). The hosting of the event has been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade with support from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, it said. The congress is scheduled to take place at the National Convention Centre in Ha Noi from October 6-10, 2025. The event, considered the Olympics of logistics, is expected to see the presence of about 1,000 delegates and have a positive impact on various socio-economic aspects of Viet Nam. VLA Chairman ao Trong Khoa will receive the Talking Stick from the FWC 2024 leadership at the closing session of the 2024 FIATA World Congress taking place in Panama from September 23 to 29. For almost 100 years, FIATA has been gathering industry leaders and innovators in logistics at its flagship FIATA World Congress to discuss industry challenges and trends, hear perspectives from top industry leaders and their solutions, and exchange and network with supply chain actors from different parts of the logistics industry from all around the world. This annual event, which takes place around September or October, brings together around 700 to 1,000 participants from the logistics, transport, and cargo industries, as well as observers from other sectors and a number of institutional attendees. VNS HCM CITY Viet Nam's cybersecurity landscape improved in the second quarter of 2024 compared to a year earlier, but unrelenting vigilance should be a priority to prevent threats, according to global cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky. It said it blocked 4.8 million web-borne threats on computers of Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) participants in Viet Nam between April and June 2024, down from 7.7 million in Q2 last year. But nearly one in five Vietnamese users is still exposed to web-borne threats, it said. When it comes to attack methods via browsers, cybercriminals continued to use two methods to spread malicious programmes, primarily exploiting vulnerabilities in browsers and plugins (drive-by download) and social engineering. Drive-by download attacks occur when users unknowingly visit infected websites, while social engineering involves deceiving users into downloading malicious files disguised as legitimate programmes. Threat actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often obfuscating malicious code to bypass static analysis and emulation. While web threats have shown a decline, attacks by malware spread via removable USB drives, CDs and DVDs (local threats) remain a concern. This highlights the ongoing need for comprehensive security measures. Firewalls, anti-rootkit functionality and control over removable devices are essential to protect against offline infection methods. The growing concern surrounding threat sources is further highlighted by Kaspersky's data, which shows a slight increase in the share of incidents caused by servers hosted in Viet Nam from 0.05 per cent in Q2 2023 to 0.06 per cent in Q2 2024. Yeo Siang Tiong, the companys general manager for Southeast Asia, said: "The positive improvement in Viet Nams overall cybersecurity landscape is a testament to the successful collaboration between the Vietnamese Government and Kaspersky. The joint initiatives, exemplified by the successful Vietnam Business Defense event organised in partnership with the Authoritative Information Security, have been instrumental in bolstering the nation's cyberdefence capabilities, he said. Viet Nams digital landscape is undergoing a period of remarkable growth, fuelled by advancements in cloud computing, IoT, AI, blockchain, big data, data analytics, and the metaverse. But Yeo warned: "These blossoming opportunities for development, on which the near future of production and business will depend heavily on, must be accompanied by a clear understanding of the evolving security challenges. Implementing comprehensive security solutions will be vital to ensuring the safe and sustainable growth of Viet Nam's digital future." The company shared some tips for businesses to safeguard against cyber threats: backing up important data regularly to an external source or the cloud, keeping all devices, software and applications up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates and regularly updating knowledge to stay ahead of emerging threats. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed establishing natural disaster warning maps after assessing results of the response to Typhoon Yagi. It also proposed building flash flood and landslide protection systems in risk-prone areas as well as automatic flash flood warning stations. According to the ministry, Typhoon Yagi and its subsequent floods and landslides have caused such severe damage to people, businesses and agricultural production that it is impossible to tally. There were many shortcomings in the response to Typhoon Yagi, said the ministry, adding that warnings of damage risks due to storms and floods were not specific. People were not made fully aware of the huge potential for damage when the typhoon made landfall or of the devastation afterwards, resulting in negligent behaviour. Some people did not seriously follow authorities instructions and recommendations in preventing or controlling damage from the typhoon, leading to tragic human losses. Forecasting and giving early warnings that are accurate and specific, especially warnings about rain, floods, flash floods and landslides, play an important role in responding to natural disasters, according to the ministry. Maps have never been made to highlight landslide and flash flood risks for every village and hamlet for public awareness and for relocation, resettlement or response purposes. The operation of inter-reservoirs in the Hong (Red) - Thai Binh river basin has some shortcomings in terms of flood season and regulations on early water storage, leading to the flood control capacity of reservoirs not meeting the requirements of flood reduction for downstream areas. The ministry proposed strengthening forecasting and warnings to minimise damage caused by flash floods and landslides. It proposed improving the quality of quantitative rainfall forecasting for flash flood and landslide warnings and making disaster warning maps, especially detailed flash flood and landslide risk zoning maps, down to the village and hamlet level. The ministry recommended upgrading river and sea dikes to ensure they can withstand extremely strong storms and historic river floods. In a related move, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development suggested the Government issue a resolution on supporting farmers to recover production as Typhoon Yagi devastated the livestock, fishery and poultry sectors, Deputy Minister Phung uc Tien said. Tien said farming households across the nation lost tens to hundreds of billions of Vietnamese ong due to the typhoon, highlighting the large investment in livestock and fishery farming systems. The deputy minister would have meetings with localities, enterprises and business associations on support measures regarding breeding animals, production materials and animal food, among other topics. Tien added that the ministry had proposed the Government extend debt payment deadlines, provide specific assistance for typhoon-hit businesses, cooperatives and households, and handle insurance issues so that production can be recovered at the earliest to ensure a sufficient supply of food for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival. According to Tien, Typhoon Yagi and its subsequent downpours and floods cost the fishery sector some VN2.5 trillion (US$101.7 million), and the livestock sector around VN2 trillion. The Ministry of Planning and Investment estimated agricultural growth might decrease by 0.33 per cent this year. VNS HA NOI Vietnamese photographer Ho Trung Lam has won the Grand Prize at the ASEAN SX Photo Contest 2024 which was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Accordingly, through his outstanding work Suc Song Thien Nhien Giua Long Pho Bien (Natural Vitality In The Heart Of the Coastal City), Lam brought home the highest prize of the competition and pocketed US$2,860 in the process, Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported. The competition ran with the theme of ASEAN Biodiversity and attracted the participation of photographers from 10 ASEAN countries such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam, with all entries being judged by an international panel of renowned photographers. Established by the Thai Beverage Public Company in collaboration with the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand (RPST), the ASEAN SX Photo Contest aims to socially and environmentally inspire people from ASEAN countries to live sustainably, bring balance to their lives, and create a better world. All of the winning photos will be exhibited from September 27 to October 6 at SUSTAINABILITY EXPO 2024, the largest sustainability EXPO in ASEAN, located at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC) in Bangkok in Thailand. Born in Nha Trang city in the southcentral coastal province of Khanh Hoa, Lam has taught literature at Tran Hung ao High School in Cam Ranh City for 13 years. He is currently working at the Nha Trang citys Department of Education and Training and is also a member of the Viet Nam Association of Photographic Artists. The Vietnamese photographer also won a number of prizes, including gold prizes at the ninth Taichung 2020 International Exhibition of Photography and Magic Dof 2022. VNA/VNS The European Commission (EC) inspection team will visit Viet Nam for the fifth time in October this year. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung uc Tien spoke with Vietnam News Agency about the immediate tasks that need to be carried out to ensure the best outcome from the EC inspection, with the aim of lifting the 'yellow card' warning related to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Could you provide an update on how Viet Nam has improved since the previous EC inspections? Compared to the four previous inspections, Viet Nam has made relatively positive progress. Regarding the legal framework, the country already has the 2017 Fisheries Law and relevant decrees and circulars have been fully issued. Notably, the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have recently revised two decrees and corresponding circulars to comprehensively manage the fishing fleet. In addition, the export documentation for seafood to the EU now largely meets the requirements for both domestically caught and imported products. Electronic traceability has been implemented at over 70 fishing ports. The handling of law violations has been more stringent, with relevant agencies and local authorities prosecuting and trying 11 criminal cases. These actions have reinforced the law and served as a deterrent to those who continue to violate regulations, including sending workers to fish in foreign waters. In recent years, the Party and the State have strengthened their directive efforts on this issue. Following Document No 81-CV/TW issued on March 20, 2020 on enhancing leadership and guidance for the effective prevention of IUU fishing, the Party Secretariat issued Directive No 32-CT/TW on April 10, 2024 regarding strengthening the Party's leadership in combating IUU fishing and promoting sustainable development in the fisheries sector. Additionally, the Government passed Resolution No 52/NQ-CP on April 22, 2024 to implement the action programme and plan in response to Directive No 32-CT/TW. The Supreme People's Court also issued Resolution 04/2024/NQ-HTP, which provides guidelines on applying certain provisions of the Penal Code related to the prosecution of illegal fishing, trading and transportation of seafood. Since October 23, 2017, 13 conferences chaired by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, along with 11 official documents, directives and communications, have shown that over the past seven years, the Party, Government, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister head of the national IUU steering committee have been very resolute in addressing this issue. Thus, effective implementation remains the key to lifting the IUU 'yellow card'. However, certain issues persist in Viet Nams fisheries sector despite the EC's recommendations. These include the management and monitoring of fishing vessels and administrative enforcement, which have yet to achieve the desired results. What role should local authorities play in this critical period? During the four previous inspections by the EC, they confirmed that at the central level, the legal framework has been established and meets the requirements to lift the card. However, the challenge lies in the implementation and the lack of strong commitment from local Party committees and local leaders. Documents such as No 81-CV/TW and Directive No 32-CT/TW analyse both the achievements and shortcomings, identifying the causes and solutions. The Governments Resolution No 52/NQ-CP also clearly outlines the tasks that need to be addressed. Recently, the Prime Minister held a meeting with the Party secretaries and chairpersons of the Peoples Committees from 28 coastal provinces and cities, issuing firm directives and emphasising the responsibility of local leaders. The involvement of local authorities from now until the ECs fifth inspection is crucial and will be decisive in removing the 'yellow card'. What plans does the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have to support local authorities in combating IUU fishing? The ministry has conducted numerous working groups, with some fishing ports being inspected up to five times. Each inspection involves reviewing the fishing logs in detail and identifying areas where improvements are needed, but the implementation has been limited. Since the issuance of Directive No 32-CT/TW, each inspection group has included the participation of the provincial Party Standing Committees and after each visit, official reports have been sent to the Standing Committee, the Party secretary and the provincial leaders for follow-up action. When announcing Resolution No 04/2024/NQ-HTP, Supreme Peoples Court Chief Justice (now Deputy Prime Minister) Nguyen Hoa Binh emphasised that the resolution was not aimed at fishermen, but at those who violate the law and deliberately involve fishermen in illegal fishing in foreign waters. Communication and education, combined with administrative enforcement, will be essential for implementing Directive No 32-CT/TW. Alongside directing state management and law enforcement agencies, Viet Nam must continue raising awareness among fishermen, helping them understand that as the country integrates into the global economy and exports products to nearly 180 countries and territories, so it must comply with the principles and regulations set by the markets. This is not just a requirement of the EU but also of countries like Japan and the United States. VNS HA NOI Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme, who is also Climate Envoy, and some officials of the Netherlands have agreed to enhance cooperation with Viet Nam in climate change response while receiving Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang. At the September 17 meetings, Prince Parme, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit Steven Collet, and Water Envoy Meike van Ginneken noted with pleasure the positive development of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries. Parme extended his deep sympathies to Viet Nam over great losses caused by Typhoon Yagi. Hang affirmed that the Netherlands is Viet Nam's biggest investor and leading trade partner in the European Union (EU), saying this year marks the 5th anniversary of the bilateral comprehensive partnership, and the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership on sustainable agriculture and food security. The two countries will celebrate the 15th anniversary of their strategic partnership on climate change adaptation and water management next year. The official suggested the Netherlands continue helping Viet Nam, one of the countries heavily affected by climate change, in improving its response and forecasting capacity, flood and landslide prevention, sustainable water management, green and smart agriculture development, energy transformation, and green transition. She also thanked the Netherlands, one of the key partners of the P4G Summit, for its support to Viet Nam as the host of the fourth P4G Summit in 2025, and called for its continued coordination in the preparation and organisation work. The Dutch side also consented to effectively implement the outcomes of the 8th meeting of the Viet Nam-Netherlands Inter-Governmental Committee on climate change adaptation and water management held in The Hague in June. Collet said Dutch firms are interested in the Vietnamese market, and plan to expand operations in the country. He also suggested the two countries step up cooperation in such areas as high-tech, semiconductors, and renewable energy, and facilitate the exchange of business delegations. Ginneken noted that hosting the 2025 summit demonstrates Viet Nam's efforts and responsible contributions to addressing urgent global issues, and pledged to support the country in the organisation. VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son had a phone conversation with Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Badr Abdelatty on September 17. Abdelatty extended deep condolences to the Government and people of Viet Nam over the severe consequences of the typhoon Yagi, affirming that Egypt always stands by, unites with and supports Viet Nam as repeatedly affirmed by leaders of the two sides. He reiterated that Viet Nam is an important partner of Egypt in the region, emphasising that there is plenty of room for the two sides to boost cooperation, especially in economy, investment, and people-to-people exchange. Egypt is ready to create the most favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses and investors in Egypt, he stated. As Egypt has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), Arab and Africa, Vietnamese enterprises can take advantage of these FTAs to increase the export of goods to these strong markets which have a combined two billion population, he said. Son thanked Abdelatty for his sympathies over the damage caused by typhoon Yagi, affirming that Egypt's timely sharing and encouragement during Viet Nam's difficult times is a clear demonstration of the traditional friendship and close relationship between the two countries. To promote all-round cooperation between the two countries, Son suggested that the two sides maintain meetings and delegation exchanges at all levels, and continue to coordinate with and support each other at multilateral forums, especially the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement. He proposed that the two sides work closely together to promote each others cooperation with organisations and regions in which the other is a member such as the Arab League and ASEAN. The two sides pledged to coordinate closely together and prepare for high meetings between the two sides while bolstering connections among localities and businesses of the two countries, and enhancing the efficiency of bilateral cooperation mechanisms. They vowed to continue to strengthen close cooperation between the two countries' Foreign Ministries, contributing to further promoting the traditional friendship and multifaceted collaboration between Viet Nam and Egypt. On the occasion, Son invited Abdelatty to visit Viet Nam at an appropriate time. The Egyptian official accepted the invitation and promised to arrange the visit as soon as possible. VNS VIENTIANE The Meeting of Governors and Mayors of ASEAN Capitals (MGMAC) and the ASEAN Mayors Forum (AMF) officially opened in Vientiane, Laos, on September 18. The event gathered representatives from ASEAN capitals and cities, including ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn. The Vietnamese delegation was led by Tran Sy Thanh, Chairman of the Ha Noi Peoples Committee. In his opening remarks, Atsaphangthong Siphandone, Mayor of Vientiane, highlighted that since their inception in 2012, MGMAC and AMF have served as important platforms for local leaders to engage, exchange ideas, and strengthen cooperation among ASEAN capitals and cities. They provide the venues for discussions on solutions to shared challenges and strategies to benefit both individual cities and the region as a whole. The 2024 MGMAC, under the theme "Strengthening Connectivity and Resilience for Sustainable Development in ASEAN Cities," focused on five key areas: livable and sustainable cities, green tourism, sustainable economic development, environmentally sustainable cities, and climate change resilience. On this occasion, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone praised the event as a vital opportunity for ASEAN mayors to follow through on commitments from previous meetings. He emphasised the significance of fostering modern, livable, and sustainable urban development. The meeting is expected to play a crucial role in promoting urban development, facilitating the exchange of best practices, and implementing action plans to enhance connectivity and resilience in ASEAN capitals and cities. VNA/VNS Sayra Ayala wipes tears as she and her daughter, Yanelis Ayala walked away from Bellaire High School on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Bellaire, after the school was placed in a secure mode due to bomb threats. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Parents tearfully reunited with students in front of Bellaire High School Wednesday afternoon, after a bomb threat investigation put the school into secure mode for around two hours. Students sat in the dark awaiting updates as Houston ISD police investigated the threat, sophomore Jael Santos said. It wasnt until an email was sent out to the schools community minutes later that students knew of the potential bomb threat, student Yanelis Alaya said. Alaya was in fourth period when the school entered secure mode and said she immediately reached out to her parents before she and other students were asked to turn off their phones. (I was) very scared and tried to get out as fast as possible because I knew my parents were out here, Ayala said. Blanca Oregon wipes tears as she walks Joel Santos, a sophomore, away from Bellaire High School on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Bellaire, after the school was placed in a secure mode due to bomb threats. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Yanelis Ayala hugs her mother, Sayra Ayala as they walked away from Bellaire High School on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Bellaire, after the school was placed in a secure mode due to bomb threats. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Blanca Oregon wipes tears as she walks Joel Santos, a sophomore, away from Bellaire High School on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Bellaire, after the school was placed in a secure mode due to bomb threats. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Advertisement Article continues below this ad Parents line up to pick up their children in front of Bellaire High School on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Bellaire, after the school was placed in a secure mode due to bomb threats. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Parent Britkne Washington considered pulling her daughter, a recent transfer from Jones High School, permanently from the school as she waited to pick her up with dozens of other parents Wednesday afternoon. Washington said she feared for her daughters safety after the string of recent scares. Its all nerves and panicking because you cant get to your kids, and thats the worst thing ever, Washington said. And were putting them in their hands. The school began a staged student pickup at around 2:20 p.m. Wednesday. Classes will continue until 4 p.m. dismissal, spokesperson Richard Guerra said. The school was placed in "secure mode" at approximately 12:15 p.m. as HISD police investigated a bomb threat made to the campus, Niggli wrote to parents Wednesday afternoon. "During a secure status, students remain in their classrooms, and classes proceed as usual, though movement within the school is restricted. We assure you that we take all threats seriously as the safety of our students and staff is always our top priority," Niggli wrote. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Earlier in the afternoon, the district spokesperson commented parents should not come to campus until "secure mode" is lifted. "Administrators at the school are giving parents on the campus updates in real time," a district spokesperson wrote. "The campus remains in secure (mode) while law enforcement completes its investigation. Once secure mode is lifted there will be a staged release of students to their parent or guardian." A young woman gets a hug from her dad as they walked away from Bellaire High School on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Bellaire, after the school was placed in a secure mode due to bomb threats. Karen Warren/Staff photographer This reported bomb threat comes amid "a statewide situation" where online posts suggested multiple Texas public schools were targets of violence, HISD said in a Thursday statement. However, HISD said in that statement that it had confirmed no "direct threats" against its campuses. An HISD student was arrested "regarding one of these social media threats," Houston ISD Chief of Police Shamara Garner said in a video published Tuesday. Garner said HISD police, with other law enforcement and federal partners, was still investigating claims. Advertisement Article continues below this ad VIENTIANE A delegation of Ha Noi led by Tran Sy Thanh, member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee, has separate meetings with leaders of Vientiane capital, Laos. The Ha Noi delegation was in Laos from September 17-19 for the Meeting of Governors and Mayors of ASEAN Capitals (MGMAC) and the ASEAN Mayors Forum (AMF) 2024 and a working visit to Vientiane. Receiving the Ha Noi delegation, Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee, and Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Peoples Council of Vientiane Anouphap Tounalom affirmed that the delegation's visit would contribute to fostering the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two capitals in particular and the two countries in general. He added that the visit is of great significance as the Vientiane Party Committee is focusing on implementing the Resolution of the 11th National Party Congress and the Resolution of the 17th Party Congress of the capital city. He briefed the guests of outstanding results of the citys Party organisation-related activities, political, socio-economic development and the implementation of a national programme addressing economic and financial issues to promote industrial production and handicrafts, generate revenue and boost domestic production as well as improve the quality of goods. He hoped for the two sides' closer, substantive cooperation, towards a comprehensive cooperative relationship, and a model in locality-to-locality cooperation between Laos and Viet Nam. Thanh highlighted the Ha Noi-Vientiane relationship's unceasing development, saying the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Party Committees and administrations of Ha Noi and Vientiane for the 2022-25 period has been implemented effectively with their nine specialised agencies engaging in cooperation and exchanges. The Ha Noi leader said that Viet Nam in general, and Ha Noi in particular, always wish to promote cooperation with the Party, the State of Laos and the capital Vientiane in all fields. Ha Noi will continue to pay attention and give priority to strengthening cooperation with Vientiane, contributing to the two capitals' development. The Ha Noi delegation also had a meeting with its Vientiane counterpart and Mayor of Vientiane Atsaphangthong Siphandone, during which they informed each other about the socio-economic development of the two capital cities, and exchanged experience in building and developing Ha Noi and Vientiane. VNA/VNS HA NOI Viet Nam's cutting-edge technology and affordable healthcare costs have made it an attractive option for overseas cancer patients seeking robotic surgery. One such patient is N.C., a 72-year-old Vietnamese-American diagnosed with prostate cancer, who has returned to Viet Nam for robotic surgery at Binh Dan Hospital in HCM City. During a one-hour operation, Binh Dan Hospital's Deputy Director Nguyen Ngoc Chau skillfully manoeuvred the robotic arms to remove his cancerous tumour and reconnect the bladder and urethra, allowing him to resume normal urinary function. Another patient is L.M.T., 68, who opted for robotic surgery to remove a lung tumour. After considering various surgical methods, including open surgery and conventional laparoscopy, he chose robotic surgery to ensure maximum preservation of lung function. Robotic surgery offers numerous benefits, including enhanced accuracy, reduced pain and faster recovery. The procedure is less invasive than traditional methods, resulting in less blood loss and quicker healing. Chau explained that robotic surgery could access areas that conventional laparoscopy cannot, providing sharper 3D imaging that allows for more precision, while saving up to 40 per cent of the time compared to classic operations. According to Nguyen Van Viet Thanh, a specialist in thoracic surgery, robotic surgery provides unparalleled precision, allowing surgeons to observe tumours and blood vessels clearly. This heightened visibility and the robots advanced functionality give surgeons greater confidence during complex and extended surgeries. Binh Dan Hospital performs about three robotic surgeries every day and demand is rising. More patients from countries such as Switzerland, France and Cambodia are coming to Viet Nam to take advantage of the countrys high-quality medical procedures at lower costs. Robotic surgery in Viet Nam costs between VN130 million (US$5,300) to VN150 million ($6,100), significantly cheaper than in many other countries, such as Singapore, where it can cost up to VN1 billion ($40,700). Binh Dan Hospital has become a regional training centre for robotic surgery. The hospital's surgeons are sought after internationally to share their expertise. With comparable surgical outcomes at a significantly lower cost, it is attracting a growing number of international patients. "Viet Nams surgical techniques are on par with international standards, but the lower costs are a key factor attracting foreign patients for robotic surgery," said Chau. VNS AK LAK The number of dengue fever and measles cases in the central highland province of ak Lak has been increasing dramatically, raising concerns about potential overcrowding in hospitals in the province. HYen Nie, a resident of Cu Ebur Commune in Buon Ma Thuot City, is currently caring for her three year old child, who is being treated for measles in the isolation ward of the Paediatric Department at Buon Ma Thuot General Hospital. Four days ago, her child developed a fever and she bought medicine from a pharmacy, but the toddler's condition didnt improve. When he started having nosebleeds, she rushed him to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed measles with pneumonia complications, requiring oxygen support. When we first got to the hospital, my child was in serious condition, lying down all day, not eating or drinking anything. The next day, he managed to drink a small glass of milk. He also needed oxygen and nebuliser treatments, she said. According to Dr. Cao Hoang Phong, head of the Paediatric Department at Buon Ma Thuot General Hospital, over the past month, measles cases have surged, with 32 patients currently being treated. Alongside measles, the department is also handling a significant number of dengue cases, having treated over 200 children since the beginning of the year. In recent weeks, the influx of patients has overwhelmed the hospitals capacity, forcing them to add beds in the hallways and reassign medical staff from other departments to help. The number of children admitted to the hospital has caused significant overcrowding recently, especially with bed shortages in our department. Weve had to place beds in the hallways and even our medical staff is stretched thin. We've had to bring in personnel from other departments to assist with treatment, Phong said. At the Central Highlands General Hospital, the number of admissions of children has also surged. In the Infectious Diseases Department, there have been 100 inpatients over the past two months, with half of them suffering from dengue fever. The departments maximum capacity, including hallway beds, is 170. According to Dr. Tran Thi Thuy Minh from the General Paediatrics Department, since early September, the hospital has admitted 50 measles cases, while at the peak of the dengue outbreak, the department was treating as many as 60 cases. According to statistics from the ak Lak Provincial Health Department, as of September 12, over 3,100 dengue cases and 115 measles cases have been reported. The numbers peaked in September, with more than 2,000 cases of dengue and over 100 cases of measles recorded. Hoang Nguyen Duy, Deputy Director of the ak Lak Health Department, warned that the situation was likely to worsen in the coming weeks, putting further strain on hospitals. To prevent an outbreak, the department had issued multiple directives and held meetings to prepare response plans. It had also intensified public awareness campaigns on dengue prevention and urged parents to vaccinate their children against measles. Currently, the outbreaks are under control, but the situation could escalate soon," Duy said. "Weve instructed Buon Ma Thuot General Hospital to prepare accordingly. In a mild outbreak, they should have 30 beds in the isolation ward, 60 beds for a moderate outbreak and up to 100 beds in case of a severe situation. VNS CAO BANG The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) on September 17 handed over 456 plastic water storage tanks to seven impoverished districts in the northeastern mountainous province of Cao Bang, one of the localities worst impacted by Typhoon Yagi and subsequent flooding and landslides. As part of a project funded by the Japanese government to enhance disaster resilience and climate change adaptation for children, they are among the 850 tanks worth approximately VN1.8 billion (US$72,977) allocated to Cao Bang and the neighbouring province of Lang Son. The donation targets areas severely impacted by natural disasters and poor communities with a high ethnic minority population, with beneficiaries including households with limited access to clean water, those with small children, female-headed ones, and those of ethnic minorities, as well as schools and health centres. Nguyen Van Tien, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments Viet Nam Disaster and Dike Management Authority, highlighted the severe damage caused by Typhoon Yagi to northern mountainous provinces. In response, the department and the ministry collaborated with UNICEF to aid affected communities in overcoming these challenges. Maharajan Muthu, Head of UNICEF Viet Nam's Child Survival and Development Programme, stressed the ongoing cooperation between UNICEF and the ministry has contributed significantly to Viet Nams development work, sustainable new-style rural building, and natural disaster prevention and control. He noted past efforts, including providing water tanks to drought-affected areas in the Mekong Delta in 2019-2020 and supplying water filtration systems to three provinces of Ca Mau, Soc Trang, and Bac Lieu in 2023 to address drought and saltwater intrusion. This year, UNICEF will continue to provide support by procuring additional water tanks for disaster-prone regions. As of September 16, Cao Bang reported 55 fatalities, two missing persons, and widespread landslides and disrupted transport due to the impact of Typhoon Yagi. UNICEFs timely assistance is expected to help residents store water for daily use in case of future disasters. VNS BA RIA - VUNG TAU Coast Guard Region No. 3 Command on Monday (September 16) launched its I love national sea and islands contest for secondary school students in HCM City, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Thuan provinces. The contest is expected to attract the participation of 28,929 students from 33 secondary schools in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province's Ba Ria city, Binh Thuan Province's Tuy Phong District, and HCM Citys Nha Be District. The contest aims to spread basic knowledge about the countrys sea and islands, the Viet Nam Peoples Army, the Viet Nam Coast Guard, regulations of Vietnamese law and international treaties related to the sea and islands, and the history of the nations and local peoples traditions of building and defending the country. It will be implemented from September 16 to 28, and is divided into two rounds. The first round will be an online competition from September 16 to 20. In the second round, 100 outstanding students will be selected to compete in person on September 24, 26 and 28. Speaking at the contest launching ceremony, Colonel Le Van Tu, Political Commissar of the Coast Guard Region 3 Command, said the contest is designed to have a powerful social impact and provide a healthy, useful, effective and practical playground for students. The students will be equipped with practical knowledge to foster love for the country's sea and islands and then spread this love to their relatives and families, contributing to the cause of building and defending the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, he said. He asked the schools board of directors and teachers to clearly announce the contest's rules and create favourable conditions for students to participate in the contest. He also asked the contests organising committee to regularly monitor the contest to ensure it is conducted accurately, objectively, and fairly. Since the beginning of 2024, the Coast Guard Region No. 3 Command has organised four contests at 38 secondary schools in southern provinces and cities with the participation of 35,000 students, and awarded 210 scholarships and 65 bicycles to students in difficult circumstances. VNS HA NOI The Embassy of Ireland in Viet Nam on September 18 has announced funding of 250,000 to support UNICEF in providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene support to vulnerable children and families affected by the typhoon Yagi in northern region of Viet Nam. Following a rapid needs assessment, conducted by the Government of Viet Nam in collaboration with resident UN agencies, and data collected through sector coordination mechanisms, UNICEF has identified critical gaps in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services as top priorities for the initial emergency response. Ireland's 250,000 contribution will directly support these efforts, ensuring that families receive immediate assistance in the form of clean water and access to sanitation facilities. This will include water tanks, water filters, soap, hand sanitisers and water purification tablets. Ambassador of Ireland to Viet Nam Deirdre Ni Fhalluin, said that "Ireland is committed to supporting Viet Nam during this time of great need. Our contribution of 250,000 reflects our solidarity with the people of Viet Nam and our commitment to addressing the most urgent needs of those affected." "By working with UNICEF, we are ensuring that our support reaches the most vulnerableparticularly childrenby providing access to clean water and sanitation, which are crucial for preventing disease and safeguarding health. We offer our heartfelt condolences to those who have lost family members, and our thoughts are with those who have lost their homes and livelihoods." UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam Silvia Danailov, acknowledged the Embassy of Irelands contribution, stating that "When emergencies hit, children are the most affected and they are our first priority. Through the support of the Embassy of Ireland, we will be able to provide clean water and sanitation to the most affected families to help them cope with the effects of the flooding. We are grateful for the strong support from the Embassy of Ireland, which is aligned to the priorities identified by the Government of Viet Nam." "The recent floods have severely disrupted access to safe water and sanitation, which are essential for the health and well-being of children and families. Thanks to Irelands support, UNICEF can now accelerate its response, ensuring that affected communities receive the clean water, hygiene supplies, and sanitation services they desperately need," she added. This contribution is part of Irelands longstanding commitment to humanitarian aid and disaster response, further strengthening the partnership between Ireland and Viet Nam. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development received emergency aid on Wednesday for those affected by Typhoon Yagi, with contributions from various international organisations and governments. During the ceremony, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep acknowledged the widespread impact and significant devastation caused by the typhoon. Despite a proactive response from the government and relevant ministries, extensive damage from the storm has resulted in severe consequences, with initial loss estimates ranging from $2 billion to $2.5 billion. The economic losses are considerable, but this is just the beginning, as it does not account for the long-term impacts that money cannot compensate, including the grief experienced by the children and families who lost loved ones, the Deputy Minister said. In the past few days, Viet Nam has received emergency supplies from numerous organisations and countries. The swift and precise response from embassies, foreign governments and international organisations is crucial for Viet Nam. We are currently assessing the needs of the affected areas to ensure that aid is effectively coordinated, he added. Deputy Minister Hiep highlighted that Viet Nams top priority is economic recovery. Many families that had previously made efforts to escape poverty are now back in impoverished conditions due to the storm. Consequently, Viet Nam is seeking sustained support in the future, including assistance with livelihoods and disaster preparedness. Pauline Tamesis, the UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam, reported that the UN has organised assessment teams to evaluate the damage from Typhoon Yagi across eight sectors, including water, sanitation, health, education, food assistance and shelter. She pledged to continue strengthening capacity and mobilising resources to help Viet Nam through this challenging period. "We are committed that the UN, as leaders of the sector, is ready to produce a joint response plan that will allow us to mobilise the support of the donors and, in particular, ensure coordination of our efforts so that we fully support the most vulnerable populations, she said. Ambassador Iain Frew of the UK noted that recovery after a disaster takes time, and the UK government hopes to assist Viet Nam during the recovery and reconstruction phases. During the ceremony, US Ambassador Marc Knapper emphasised that the US will stand with Viet Nam during this difficult time and respond as effectively as possible to support affected citizens. We commend the hard work of Viet Nam's government officials, security officers and military personnel for their efforts to address the needs of those who have suffered, he remarked. Indian Ambassador Sandeep Arya expressed satisfaction that emergency aid from the Indian government and people has been promptly delivered to those impacted by the floods, noting that the Indian business community and residents in Viet Nam are also extending support individually in coordination with local authorities. In closing the ceremony, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep extended heartfelt gratitude for the support from various countries and international organisations in helping Viet Nam recover from the impacts of Typhoon Yagi, expressing a desire for continued assistance during the reconstruction phase. To date, preliminary estimates show that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other stakeholders, has mobilised over $13 million in commitments and received 200 tonnes of relief supplies from the governments of Australia, Switzerland, India, Japan (JICA), the ASEAN AHA Centre and various UN agencies (UNDP, UNICEF), as well as Samaritans Purse. The ministry has efficiently coordinated the distribution of aid to affected areas, including to Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang and Lang Son. On the same day, according to information from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Irish Embassy announced a grant of 250,000 (approximately VN6.8 billion) to respond to the severe impacts of the typhoon. This funding, provided through UNICEF, aims to supply clean water and sanitation materials to ensure the health of children and vulnerable households affected by the disaster. VNS HA NOI The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) will help Viet Nam and many other developing countries realise their net-zero emissions targets by 2050, and shift to the use of clean energy, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long said at a working session with Norwegian Ambassador to Viet Nam Hilde Solbakken in Ha Noi on Wednesday. Long said, to effectively carrying out the JETP, the Ministry of Industry and Trade established eight working groups focusing on developing offshore wind power, renewable energy centre, and smart power grid, providing training to improve energy transition capacity, and developing green hydrogen, among others. The groups have contributed initiatives to implementing National Power Development Plan VIII, as well as bolstering the development of renewable energy in Vietnam, he said. Regarding Norways energy investment projects in Viet Nam, the official said as the projects are under the development plan, they will enjoy preferences and support from JETPs partners, adding the ministry stands ready to join hands with the embassy and localities to accompany Norwegian enterprises. He highlighted the close Viet Nam Norway relations, and expressed his belief that Norway, which boasts strengths in key industrial sectors, will assist Vietnam in developing its economy and energy sector. Solbakken, for her part, spoke highly of the ministrys programmes and actions in implementing the JETP, saying the establishment of the working groups is a vivid demonstration for its resolve in energy transition. The ambassador affirmed that supporting Viet Nam in the process is among the priorities of Norway as a partner of the JETP. VNS The interchange will cost an estimated $63.24 million, including compensation and site clearance costs of about $32.52 million. The central government will cover construction costs and half of the compensation and land clearance expenses (approximately $46.96 million) for the project, while Ba Ria-Vung Tau will cover the remaining 50 per cent of the compensation and land clearance costs (about $16.28 million). If approved, the interchange will be implemented from 2025 to 2026. The Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway Ba Ria-Vung Tau is planning to improve its connections with National Highway No.51, National Highway No.56, the Cai Mep-Thi Vai inter-port road, Phuoc An Bridge, Provincial Road No.765, Provincial Road No.328, Provincial Road No.329, and links to Binh Thuan province. Once completed, the interchange is expected to significantly enhance the transportation of goods and passengers between the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port area, Phu My's industrial zones, Long Thanh International Airport outside Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai-Binh Thuan province. Ba Ria-Vung Tau People's Committee highlighted the significance of the interchange connecting the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway with DT.991 road in the Phu My urban area. The interchange is 7.7km from its junction with PDt.992 road and 6.6km from the Tan Hiep interchange, and it meets all national technical and design standards for expressways. Ba Ria-Vung Tau to become a global logistics hub The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has implemented solutions to modernise its seaports and logistics infrastructure, as well as improve its investment climate by streamlining its administrative procedures in the hope of attracting further investment. Ba Ria-Vung Tau steps up FDI attraction The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is emerging as a prime investment destination in Vietnam, driven by a favourable investment climate and ambitious development plans. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with Can Tho Peoples Committee and The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit firm providing environmental engineering solutions, launched an initiative on September 18 called, 'Green Heroes, Clean Tech' that focusses on collecting rubbish from the Can Tho River. The launch was attended by representatives from Can Tho authorities, local students and residents. Dzeneta Mulabegovic, strategic advisor, UNDP Vietnam "This campaign has been an important influence and created change for the entire community," said Duong Tan Hien, Deputy Chairman of Can Tho Peoples Committee. "Activities include rubbish collection on rivers and canals and tree planting. We have been initiating schemes to collect, classify, and treat household waste and plastic waste at the source, while also disseminating environmental protection laws." In 2021, Vietnam generated approximately 2.93 million tonnes of domestic solid waste annually, with 70,000 tonnes (around 2.5 per cent) leaking into waterways. Studies have indicated that rivers contribute the most to ocean plastic pollution. According to figures from 2019, Can Tho city produced 650 tonnes of waste each day. Despite a high collection rate of 85 per cent, the city still struggles to manage waste leakage into waterways, such as floating markets, rivers, and lakes. Floating rubbish in the Can Tho river is quite common, affecting the city's tourism industry and related livelihoods. "Therefore, addressing this issue requires short-term and long-term solutions," said Dzeneta Mulabegovic, strategic advisor for UNDP Vietnam. According to Mulabegovic, the deployment of automated systems that collect waste from the river, when it can then be processed by city waste management systems, is vital for the prevention of plastic-based ocean pollution. "Can Tho has already witnessed one such promising initiatives, 'The Interceptor 003' from The Ocean Cleanup," she said. The Inceptor 003 is an automatic waste collecting machine in the Can Tho river and is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the worlds oceans via its rivers. The Interceptor 003, at its optimal capacity, can collect up to 50 tonnes of waste per day. Can Tho is the first city in the Mekong Delta region and one of 15 global locations applying advanced technology to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean on rivers through the installation of waste interceptors and river barriers. "We would like to call for the participation of communities, individuals, and organisations to join our 'Green Heroes, Clean Tech' initiative as we work towards cleaner rivers, canals, and lakes in our cities," said Mulabegovic. "Each individual can contribute to stopping plastic pollution at its source. Small efforts can lead to significant transformations, and everyone can be a hero in fighting plastic pollution," she added. Korean Energy Agency seeks investment opportunities in Can Tho Ha Vu Son, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, on July 18 received a delegation of the Korean Energy Agency (KEA) led by its President Lee Sang-hoon who came to seek investment opportunities in the city. Seminars on livestock biosecurity to be held in Can Tho and Hanoi Seminars on sustainable production methods and biosecurity in the livestock industry, supported by the Embassy of Ireland in Vietnam, will be held in Can Tho on July 24 and in Hanoi on July 26. 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. The ministry (MoT) is seeking comments from other ministries on a draft decree regulating emissions inspection services for motorcycles and scooters at emissions inspection centres. Under it, motorcycles and mopeds must be granted a stamp certifying that they meet emission standards before they can participate in traffic. Motorcycle emission inspection facilities will be the location to conduct the inspection and issue the stamp. There are at least 7.7 million motorbikes in Hanoi and closer to nine million in Ho Chi Minh City, Photo Le Toan Regarding emission testing fees, according to calculations by the MoT, people may only have to pay VND35,000 ($1.40) per year. Organisations with certificates proving their eligibility to operate emissions inspection services for motorcycles and scooters will be allowed to conduct inspections. Nguyen Van Thanh, former chairman of the Vietnam Transport Association, said that urban environmental pollution is currently at an alarming level. Along with greenhouse gas emissions, emissions from motor vehicles, including motorbikes, are one of the main causes of urban environmental pollution. To reduce this situation, it is necessary to apply regulations on emission inspection for motorbikes. However, the drafting agency needs to stipulate the implementation roadmap. To control emissions, the agencies need to have policies to support and convert to newer vehicles, he said. Nguyen To An, deputy director of the Vietnam Register, explained that the new Law on Traffic and Safety will take effect from January 1, 2025, but that does not mean that all motorbikes and scooters nationwide will have to have their emissions inspected from that date. Specifically, the law provides regulations, but the implementation time depends on the implementation roadmap issued by the government, An said. He added that this roadmap would be developed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in coordination with the MoT, and submitted to the government. The decision will issue a complete roadmap, applicable standards, and implementation methods. However, the general spirit is that newly imported and assembled vehicles are already being controlled for emissions. Only old vehicles participating in traffic are not yet controlled, An said. Currently, emission standards for road motor vehicles are only applied to newly manufactured, assembled, imported two-wheeled cars and motorbikes, cars in traffic and imported used cars. They are not yet applied to motorbikes in traffic because the 2008 Road Traffic Law has not regulated them. Nguyen Xuan Thuy, an urban traffic expert, said that although emissions from vehicles are polluting the urban air environment, it is not necessary to force all motorbikes in circulation to undergo periodic emission inspections. Hanoi has over 7.7 million motorbikes and Ho Chi Minh City has about nine million motorbikes, and so it is not realistic to inspect all of them. In addition, motorbike inspections also need to be put in the context of each locality, and it is impossible to issue a general regulation for the whole country to implement, Thuy said. Inspections should only be conducted in cities with high population density. For example, cities with a population of 300,000-500,000 people or more can implement the policy, he added. Vietnam currently has over 60 million motorbikes, accounting for over 90 per cent of all vehicles. According to statistics from the Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers, in the first half of 2024, more than 1.2 million motorbikes were sold nationwide. Vietnam is the country with the second-largest number of motorbikes in the Southeast Asian region, following Indonesia. The collaboration will, "explore the implementation and promotion of smart technologies in Vietnams real estate sector, leveraging the combined strengths of both Keppel and Samsung, to create innovative, sustainable solutions that enhance the quality of life for residents and tenants," according to a statement made by Keppel. Keppel will partner Samsung in implementing new smart technologies in Keppel and its affiliates commercial and residential developments in Vietnam. Samsung will bring its cutting-edge technology to the table, along with its technical expertise, extensive research, and development capabilities to support Keppel and its affiliates. This includes providing technical support, training, and workshops, as well as contributing manpower, equipment, and devices for feasibility studies and implementation. According to Joseph Low, president, Real Estate (Vietnam) of Keppel, the company is pleased to partner with Samsung to bring smart technology solutions to its projects in Vietnam. "This collaboration will bolster our real estate offerings which integrate people and AI-driven technology and processes to enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and valuation of real estate assets. We look forward to working closely with Samsung to harness new technologies that will further strengthen our smart and sustainable real estate solutions for Vietnam," Low said. President and CEO of Samsung Vina Electronics Lee Chung Lyong said that this collaboration with Keppel will enable the company to introduce advanced smart and innovative solutions in scale to Vietnams real estate sector. "Moving forward, we plan to continue leveraging our technology and expertise to drive innovation and sustainability, enhancing the quality of life for residents and tenants, and contributing to the growth of the industry," said Lee. Keppel is renowned in Vietnam for its quality residential developments, such as Estella Heights, The Infiniti, and Celesta Rise, as well as Grade A commercial developments like the Saigon Centre in Ho Chi Minh City. Krungsri organised its flagship event, the Krungsri ASEAN LINK Forum, under the theme GO ASEAN with Krungsri' on September 17. Continuing its journey to become a leading regional bank, Krungsri said it will leverage its ASEAN-wide network to help business clients seize opportunities and expand growth. The forum effectively showcased Krungsri ASEAN LINKs expertise and capabilities in cross-border business advisory. At the forum, Krungsri offered in-depth insights into business trends and consumer behaviour in ASEAN, highlighting the opportunities and challenges ahead. The event featured distinguished speakers, including representatives from the public and private sectors, as well as partner banks across ASEAN. They shared their perspectives and intelligence and provided valuable insights for expanding business into Vietnam, the rising star of ASEAN. On this occasion, Krungsri and Japanese parent firm Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) signed an MoU with three partner banks: VietinBank in Vietnam, Bank Danamon in Indonesia, and Security Bank in the Philippines. This MoU facilitates coordination across various areas to support Thai customers looking to expand their businesses into other ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines. Kenichi Yamato, Krungsri president and CEO, said, As a leading regional bank, we recognise that ASEAN is at a pivotal moment of opportunity. Both now and in the near future, ASEAN offers vast economic and investment prospects, brimming with potential and sustained growth. Krungsri aims to seize this moment by sharing our values and leveraging over ten years of experience and expertise to help clients expand internationally. We've strengthened Krungsri ASEAN LINK, our cross-border business advisory service, to meet the growing demands of our clients. The ASEAN LINK collaboration model will serve as a blueprint for our partner banks, facilitating ASEAN LINK desks in various countries, working together to support clients in expanding businesses. The key to Krungsri ASEAN LINK is connectivity; bringing together the most robust business networks of Krungsri, MUFG, and our partner banks to create an ecosystem that supports and promotes everyone's business, Yamato added, underscoring Krungsri's key strengths. Bunsei Okubo, Krungsri head of Japanese corporate and multinational corporate banking, said, With our aspiration to be the first call business partner and platformer for society and environment, we are dedicated to continuously improving our capabilities to help businesses seize high-potential opportunities for growth without limits leveraging our global and domestic networks. We have extensive experience and expertise in supporting clients with international business expansion through multiple solutions. The MoU signed with MUFG and the three partner banks will propel us towards becoming a leading regional bank, Okubo added. Vietnam in a stronger spot for Thai bankers Thai financiers are forging a stronger partnership in Vietnams alluring demographics to scale their businesses further, particularly with the increasing assistance from deep-pocketed Thai banks. Thai bank Krungsri expands footprint in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam Thailands Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri Bank) is signalling interest in expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. On August 28, Nguyen Toan Thang, director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, confirmed that according to the draft, land prices in many areas of the city are expected to increase by up to 50 times. Land price adjustments reflect the governments efforts to build a more transparent environment, photo Le Toan The new land price list is expected to be implemented from the beginning of October to the end of the year. After that, the list will be reviewed again, to be applied for 2025. After that, the list will be adjusted every year under the force of the revised Land Law 2024. However, Thang noted that these prices would still only reflect about 70 per cent of the market value. The new land valuation will help prevent real estate brokers from purchasing land at low prices and then inflating them to make large profits. This will protect home buyers rights and create a more transparent market, driving sustainable development in the real estate sector, Thang said. Le Thi Binh, a resident of Cu Chi district on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, expressed concern that the draft price list will increase land prices by an average of 5-10 fold. In some suburban and peripheral areas, prices are expected to rise by as much as 50 times, creating significant pressure on those with agricultural land. I own more than five hectares of long-term cropland in Cu Chi district. If the new land price list is applied, I will have to spend billions to transfer it to residential land, Binh said. Similarly concerned, Nguyen Minh in Binh Chanh district said he is currently in the process of transferring his land to residential use. I havent yet calculated the total taxes and fees Ill have to pay under the new price, but Im afraid it will be too much, and I wont be able to handle it, Minh said. Nguyen Minh Hoa from Go Vap district is also anxious as she plans to buy an apartment for VND4 billion ($166,000) after years of saving and borrowing from the bank. However, the seller has decided to halt the sale, anticipating that the apartment price will rise significantly if the new land price list is applied. Finding an apartment for our three-generational family has been difficult enough. Now, our dream of owning a home feels even further away, and we dont know when we will be able to achieve it, she said. According to lawyer Le Thu Thao from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, the adjustment of the land price list is not only a significant policy change but also reflects the governments effort to create a more sustainable investment and development environment. Despite differing opinions and objections from the community, it is crucial that the implementation of this policy is carried out transparently and with adequate preparation to ensure the rights and stability of all parties involved, Thao said. She emphasised that implementing a major policy like the new land price list, which has such a profound impact on people, must be carried out with clear communication to avoid unnecessary confusion. The authorities need to study the land price increases with a clear roadmap, divided into multiple stages, to reduce the shock for businesses and residents, especially in outskirts districts where land conversion procedures are more volatile, and livelihoods remain challenging, Thao said. Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee is currently considering issuing the new land price list in accordance with the provisions of the 2024 Land Law. The land price list has undergone drafting, public consultation, and review conferences. Once all opinions have been considered and revisions made, it will be submitted to the committee for approval. Ensuring land prices on market principles The removal of the land price framework is seen as a step forward to help determine land prices close to the market and facilitate the work of compensation for site clearance and limit land speculation. Land price framework removal can aid infrastructure At the end of August, Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee issued a new regulation on the land price adjustment coefficient (so-called K index) which is assessed closely to the reality of the current real estate market. Besides that, the content of removing the land price framework is also being proposed in the draft amended Land Law. Strict evaluation can ensure land law implementation To ensure the 2024 Land Law be implemented smoothly, it is necessary to carefully review, analyse, and evaluate the contents of draft decrees detailing some articles on implementation and on land prices. The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported that in the first eight months of 2023, Vietnams exports to the US reached $62.3 billion, down 19.1 per cent on-year due to economic challenges and US technical barriers. Total trade between the two nations stood at $71.6 billion, with Vietnams imports falling by 6.6 per cent as compared to the same period last year. However, the situation has improved this year, with Vietnams exports to the US in the first eight months of 2024 rising to $77.9 billion, solidifying the US as Vietnams largest export market, followed by China, the EU, ASEAN, South Korea, and Japan (see chart). Total trade reached $87.7 billion, with US exports growing by 6.9 per cent on-year to $9.8 billion. Key Vietnamese exports to the US include high-tech products such as consumer electronics and smartphones, as well as textiles and garments, footwear, and agricultural products. According to the GSO and the US Embassy to Vietnam, this rebound reflects the strengthening trade relationship between the two countries, following the elevation of their bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in September 2023, during US President Joe Bidens historic state visit to Vietnam. The potential in the US-Vietnam trade and investment relationship has never been brighter. The distance we have covered in nearly three decades since establishing diplomatic relations is remarkable, said US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper. The level of bilateral goods trade between the United States and Vietnam now stands at $124 billion annually, approximately 300 times greater than it was in 1995. This relationship is further energised by substantial foreign direct investment into Vietnam. US Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Alexis Taylor last week led the largest agricultural trade delegation ever to Vietnam, bringing representatives from 50 US businesses and nine states departments of agriculture to mark the first anniversary of the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (see article below). In June, Ambassador Knapper led a record-breaking delegation of 65 Vietnamese businesses to the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C., with a record number of female executives in attendance. In a joint leaders statement on the comprehensive strategic partnership, the two nations reaffirmed the importance of economic, trade, and investment cooperation, highlighting innovation-driven inclusive growth as key drivers of the bilateral relationship. Both sides pledged to create favourable conditions and facilitate the further opening of markets for each others goods and services, support trade and economic policy, and regulatory measures to achieve this aim; and to address issues such as market access barriers via the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the statement read. Market opportunities One contributing factor to the increase in bilateral trade, particularly in Vietnamese exports, is the US offering stronger conditions for Vietnamese goods. In late August, Vietnams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the US Department of Commerce reached a cooperation agreement on agricultural trade. This included a meeting between Vietnams Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Trung and US Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jason Hafemeister, which celebrated the approval of US peaches and nectarines for export to Vietnam, marking a significant milestone in agricultural trade between the two nations. Progress has also been made on other fruit exports, with Vietnam agreeing on technical standards for its passion fruit and advancing discussions on market access for US mandarins. Further discussions have focused on Vietnamese fruits such as seedless limes, guavas, and jackfruit. In August, Vietnam approved the import of California nectarines and peaches to Vietnam. The two nations also agreed on pest control measures and the next steps for US mandarins, plums, lemons, pomegranates, and others. At present, Vietnam is exporting eight types of fruit to the US including dragon fruit, mango, longan, litchi, rambutan, star apple, pomelo, and coconut. Technical procedures have been handled satisfactorily, and we hope Vietnams passion fruit will soon be exported to the US, said Hoang Trung. He also noted that paperwork for other fruits, including seedless limes, jackfruit, and guava, has been processed, with negotiations ongoing. At the same meeting, an MoU was signed between Cargill US and Vietnams Khai Anh Binh Thuan company to import 500,000 tonnes of corn and cornmeal for animal feed production, aiming to balance bilateral trade. Vietnam has become one of Americas fastest growing trading partners and we expect this positive trend to continue, said Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi. The US is now Vietnams largest agro-fishery export market, with $8.58 billion worth of goods exported in the first eight months of this year, a 23.5 per cent increase on-year and accounting for 21.4 per cent of Vietnams total agro-fishery-aquatic export turnover. Last year, this figure stood at $10.96 billion, responsible for 20.7 per cent. Meanwhile, investigations by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) in late 2023 concluded that certain Vietnamese steel pipe products and stainless steel round wire had not evaded anti-dumping and countervailing duties, leading to the termination of further investigations. Also last November, the US Department of the Treasury continued not to list Vietnam as a currency manipulator in its semi-annual report on the macro-economic and foreign exchange policies of major trading partners of the US. Emerging risks Despite the positive trade outlook, concerns are growing over potential challenges that could arise if Donald Trump is re-elected as US president in November. Trump has pledged to reinstate his trade policies, which could include a 60 per cent tariff on imports from China and a 10 per cent tariff on imports from other nations. Recently, Trump hinted at the possibility of imposing tariffs of up to 20 per cent on most imports, citing the need to protect American jobs, raise revenue, and penalise what he describes as unfair trading practices. If Trumps tariffs are reinstated, it could create big difficulties for Vietnams exports, especially those products with components imported from China, which may face anti-dumping duties from the US, said economic expert Nguyen Tri Hieu. Aquatic products, textiles, garments, footwear, and wood products could be among the most affected. In order to promote Vietnamese products into the US, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung has indicated that the DOC will provide appropriate opinions during consultations on trade remedies concerning Vietnamese products. In the joint statement on the comprehensive strategic partnership, the US commended Vietnams efforts to modernise its monetary policy and exchange rate management framework, which have helped promote macroeconomic stability and ensure the soundness of the banking system. Both nations have also supported increasing US investments into Vietnam, further boosting trade between the two countries. Cumulatively as of August 31, the US was Vietnams 11th largest foreign investor, with total registered capital of over $11.94 billion across nearly 1,400 projects. In the first eight months of 2024, total newly registered and additional capital from US investors in Vietnam reached $135.8 million, a 27.5 per cent increase on-year. Vietnam - US trade relations Along with sound political relations, economic-trade ties have been one of the most successful endeavours within Vietnam-US relations. The US is currently one of Vietnams largest trading partners. Vietnam, US strengthen trade relations Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang had a meeting with Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative (USTR) for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Sarah Elleman, within the framework of Vice State President Vo Thi Anh Xuans recent working visit to the US. On September 16, the ride-hailing company will exit Vietnam after six years of operation. GoTo Group, Gojeks parent company, decided to withdraw after reassessing its market presence to optimise growth. This move reflects a shift in the business environment across Southeast Asia, where profitability and sustainability now take precedence over expansion at any cost. Tran Trinh Minh Huyen, international business advisory unit, Dezan Shira & Associates Despite aggressive efforts, including promotions and localisation strategies, Gojek struggled to achieve profitability in Vietnam. The companys revenue from Vietnam reportedly accounted for less than 1 per cent of its total group revenue, a stark contrast to its dominant position in Indonesia. Gojeks shrinking market share negatively impacted its financial performance. In 2023, the companys revenue dropped to around $8.15 million, while competitors earned upwards of a thousand billion. Gojeks accumulated losses over the past six years exceeded $272 million. While both Grab and Gojek have incurred substantial losses, Grab turned a profit of over $40.7 million in 2023, showcasing a more favourable financial position. Notably, Xanh SM, Vingroups electric vehicle ride-hailing company, achieved nearly five times Gojeks revenue shortly after entering the market. With Ubers exit from the market in 2018 (in exchange for a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab), Indonesias Gojek saw an opportunity to expand. At the time, Vietnam seemed like a logical choice for Southeast Asian expansion, with a population of 100 million, half of whom are under 30, and a strong motorcycle culture. Vietnam became Gojeks first expansion market as it sought to capitalise on Ubers departure and appeal to investors. Following its launch in Vietnam, Gojek expanded to Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, with only Singapore remaining today. Between 2020 and 2022, Gojek gained traction in ride-hailing, food delivery, and logistics, and rapidly expanded in major cities through aggressive promotions and discounts. However, the company struggled to maintain its market position as unsustainable price wars with Grab drained resources without securing a lasting market share. Gojeks exit is largely due to fierce competition from established players like Grab, Be, and Xanh SM. With its dominant market position and extensive service network, Grab created a network effect that hindered Gojeks efforts to grow its user base, allowing Grab to dominate 42 per cent of Vietnams ride-hailing market. Local companies Be and Xanh SM follow closely with 32 and 19 per cent market shares, respectively. Both local competitors are gaining ground and offer drivers a more favourable revenue share than Grab. Gojeks departure from Vietnam presents a significant opportunity for existing ride-hailing companies. Local firms like Be are showing resilience by offering services tailored to Vietnamese consumer preferences. Meanwhile, Xanh SMs all-electric fleet aligns with growing concerns over air pollution and sustainability, attracting environmentally conscious customers. While Grab maintains its lead, it faces pressure to turn a profit. With Gojek gone, Grab has an opportunity to consolidate its position, but it will need more aggressive strategies to fend off new entrants and fully capitalise on the market. Gojeks exit provides valuable lessons for other players in Vietnam. Success in this market requires businesses to adapt their strategies and operations to meet the unique demands of Vietnamese consumers. A one-size-fits-all approach that works elsewhere is unlikely to succeed in Vietnam. Companies must develop a deep understanding of local consumer behaviour, regulatory frameworks, and the competitive landscape. This may require a slower, more sustainable growth model compared to rapid expansion. Source: Vietdata Despite the challenges, Vietnam offers significant opportunities, particularly in areas such as digital payments, logistics, and green technology. However, companies must be prepared to navigate complex regulations and potential market saturation in certain sectors. Gojek features GoFood on-demand delivery offering on MoMo On July 31, Gojek announced that its on-demand food delivery feature, GoFood, is now available on the MoMo platform, a partnership that continues to leverage the extensive and comprehensive synergies between the two brands. Gojek partners with Selex Motors to expand e-bike scheme Gojek has announced a partnership with Selex Motors, a pioneering Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) startup, to pilot the use of Selex's Camel e-bikes across Gojeks transport, food-delivery, and logistics services in Vietnam. Ride-hailing company Gojek to exit Vietnam Gojek, the on-demand, multiservice mobile platform, will close its Vietnam business effective September 16, according to an announcement made by its parent company GoTo Group on September 4. In August, Dien Bien Green Taxi (under Phan Hai 89 Co., Ltd.) signed a contract to purchase and lease 300 electric cars from Vingroups Green and Smart Mobility (GSM). The agreement brings the implementation of an electric taxi service into the markets of the northern provinces of Dien Bien and Lai Chau. Ride-hailing companies gear up for the green transition, illustration photo All cars delivered to Dien Bien Green Taxi will be the VF5 Plus, an economical electric vehicle (EV) model for the passenger transport business. This conversion not only helps to reduce air and noise pollution but also brings economic efficiency by saving up to 30 per cent of fuel and vehicle operating costs. Tran Thanh Quan, director of Phan Hai 89, said, Dien Bien Green Taxi will join GSM to bring green vehicles closer to the local driver and customer community, popularise convenient travel experiences, and raise awareness in rural and mountainous areas about environmental protection. Hopefully, with the development of Dien Bien Green Taxi, we will witness positive changes in transportation in the northwestern provinces. Nearly two years after GSM launched in Vietnam, the green taxi brand is present in 55 cities and provinces, including Dien Bien and Lai Chau. Around a dozen businesses and partners are cooperating with GSM to switch to EVs, continuously expanding the electric taxi network of brands across the country. The government has outlined the goal of having half of public transport vehicles become electric by 2030, and achieving 100 per cent of EVs by 2050. In this context, GSMs establishment aligns with the nations vision and strategy and cannot deviate from it, according to Nguyen Van Thanh, CEO of GSM. From the outset, GSM has positioned its brand as a pioneering step in green transportation, in line with global trends and the Vietnamese governments commitment to net-zero by 2050, Thanh said. GSM aims to create substantial value for customers and partners. Therefore, after one year of operation, we have more than 33 partners, and 50,000 EVs across 40 cities and provinces. Regarding environmental impact, GSM has helped reduce 52 million kilogrammes of CO2, equivalent to a forest of 860 hectares, with 2.6 million photosynthesising trees within a year. Vietnamese people are very concerned about the environment. Evidence of this is that in just one year, GSM has served 50 million customer trips, an impressive number for a startup in the EV sector. Additionally, foreigners are interested in environmental issues and strongly support GSM. We have received many positive reviews from international tourists using our services for their trips, Thanh emphasised. He assesses the EV market as highly promising and forecasts that it will continue to grow at this rate for over 20 years. GSM aims not only to expand within Vietnam, but also to enter other countries. In the next two years, GSM plans to be present in seven international markets. Last year, Be Group and GSM signed an agreement to bring EVs and motorbikes into operation in transport services in Vietnam. Under the deal, Be Group will receive direct investment from GSM to become a multiservice consumer platform and provide a modern tech transportation service in the country. Through financial partners, GSM will also support Bes drivers to switch from petrol vehicles to EVs. In the first phase of the cooperation, the two will partner with VPBank to offer exclusive policy deals to Be drivers to rent or purchase VinFast EVs and motorbikes. Meanwhile, as Vietnam gradually embraces the era of EVs, Grab Vietnam is implementing a series of pilot programmes to thoroughly evaluate the advantages and challenges associated with utilising environmentally friendly transport. Collaboration with EV manufacturers and partners to enhance the experience of our esteemed drivers is a pivotal facet of Grabs strategic framework. Presently, Grab is engaging in pilot programmes with partners for the Grab Express service, meticulously devising comprehensive plans to find innovative ways to increase the adoption of EVs in our ecosystem, CEO of Grab Vietnam Alejandro Osorio said. Grab Vietnam is currently engrossed in an experimental phase of adoption, an integral component of our long-term strategy. This judicious approach enables Grab to amass invaluable data and fine-tune our plans to ensure a sustainable transition towards EVs. The Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment stated that the government has introduced a policy to waive registration fees for battery EVs for three years to encourage the use of EVs and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions domestically. Additionally, in the following two years, the registration fee will be only half of the standard fee applied to petrol vehicles with similar seating capacity. Australian firms show interest in Vietnams green transition Further cooperation and investment in science, technology, trade promotion, innovation, digitalisation, and the green transition were all topics that were discussed during an Australian business delegation's visit to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) on June 4. Investment in green energy transition vital for Vietnam The Vietnam Energy Outlook Report - Pathways to Net Zero (EOR-NZ) has noted that to achieve its 2050 target, Vietnam's CO2 emissions may peak by 2030, so the pace of its green energy transition needs to pick up. Green i-Park honoured for its green transformation strategies Green i-Park, the investor of Lien Ha Thai Industrial Park (Green iP1), has been praised for its green transformation strategies at the Vietnam Industrial Property Forum's special awards event. The workshop on English-learning strategies and cyber-etiquette was held at Gia Phu Secondary School in the northern province of Ninh Binh in August. The event was aimed at providing children with effective learning methods and educating them about network safety and was attended by mentors from The Dream School project, as well as several students from grades 6 to 8 at Gia Phu Secondary School. Chau Anh, president of The Dream School, led a session on effective English learning strategies. Drawing from her own experiences and her journey to achieve high scores in international English exams, Chau Anh shared valuable tips with the students on mastering English proficiency. Her advice covered a range of topics, from effective vocabulary learning techniques to creating more informative mind maps. Chau Anh, president, The Dream School In addition to Chau Anhs session, students were made more aware of online risks through a presentation by Minh Bui, vice president of The Dream School. Using vivid examples and engaging role-playing activities, Minh Bui guided students in understanding how to stay safe online and avoid cyberbullying. Minh Bui, vice president, The Dream School To boost student engagement, the workshop was packed with dynamic activities such as collaborative group study sessions, traditional folk games, exciting game shows, and a prize ceremony to cap off the event. Scholarships totalling VND50 million ($2,000) were awarded to 80 outstanding students from Ninh Binh to celebrate the start of the new school year, including 10 scholarships specifically for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Students from Gia Phu Secondary School participating in keo co (tug of war), a traditional folk game Minh Nguyen, founder of The Dream School, said, "These scholarships will enable students to pursue their education and strengthen the bond between The Dream School, Sunshine School, and Gia Phu Secondary School. These schools share a commitment to academic excellence and a dedication to contributing to the growth of the province, nation, and society." Minh Nguyen, founder, The Dream School "The experience of working on this project has been truly transformative for me. It has helped me hone my interpersonal skills and allowed me to discover new strengths and areas for growth," he said, adding, "Seeing the smiles on the children's faces and knowing that I had a positive impact on their lives was incredibly rewarding. The memories I made during this project will stay with me for a lifetime, and I have been inspired to continue seeking opportunities to make a difference in my community." So far this year, The Dream School has been involved in organising workshops to teach children English learning methods and online safety, as well as providing gifts and financial support to children who demonstrate outstanding achievements or come from challenging family backgrounds. The Dream School, established in 2023, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring inclusive and equitable education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for future generations. The project is supported by Nadine West, BM Window, Sunshine School, IDP Kun, Red Square Vietnam, and The Vietnam Foundation. Until now, the project has provided books and funding for facilities at four schools in Binh Dinh, Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, and Ninh Binh, with the amount of scholarship support and gifts up to VND150 million ($6,000). Shinhan Life Vietnam organises career orientation programme for school students On March 1, Korean-backed insurer Shinhan Life Vietnam launched the S-Career programme for high school students in collaboration with the career education company SIF Career in Dong Thap province. Discovering educational excellence at upcoming IB PYP Math with ISHCMC Students event International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) was the first international school in Ho Chi Minh City, and the first IB World School in Vietnam. The expo will showcase cutting-edge printing machinery, packaging technologies, and materials to propel the development of Vietnam's printing and packaging industry. Exhibitors will also unveil their latest innovations in digital corrugated printing and sustainable packaging solutions, highlighting the global shift towards eco-friendly and efficient production practices. VietnamPrintPack 2024 covers 19,850 square metres of exhibition space, and an estimated 900 booths. Exhibitors are coming from Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Some renowned global companies expected to attend include Heidelberger Druckmaschinen from Germany, Thai KK Industry from Thailand, and Ching Feng Machinery from Taiwan. They will be joined by several renowned Chinese firms, including Sansin, UPG, Pulisi, SEE, Weigang, Fengchi, Zhongte, and DGM. Weigang will display their intermittent offset printing machine, while Fengchi will feature their full servo high-speed flute laminator alongside their automatic glue-flute laminating machine. Vietnamese companies will also have a strong presence at the event, underscoring the dynamic growth of the printing and packaging industry here. Specifically, Cuu Long Trading is set to introduce its latest offset printing machine, while HPack Vietnam are to unveil their new high-speed printing machine. Another company, Trung My A, is set to feature the most advanced machinery and technology available today. Nguyen Van Dong, chairman of the Vietnam Printing Association, said, "Despite the recent challenges, Vietnam's printing and packaging industry is developing well. Vietnam has one of the four most-developed printing industries in Southeast Asia, and we hope that exhibitors will showcase new technologies to further unlock the potential of the market here." Organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, VINEXAD National Trade Fair & Advertising JSC, and Yorkers Trade & Marketing Service Co., Ltd., this year's event is expected to be a landmark gathering for industry professionals, showcasing the latest trends and technologies in printing and packaging. $15 million Australia packaging factory opens Hoang Ha Label Co., Ltd. (HHLC-QLM Vietnam) on December 12 inaugurated its new factory, located in the Vinh Loc Industrial Zone, Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese plastic firms to cash in on global demand Vietnamese plastics firms are availing of the mounting opportunities to develop their business amid a spike in global demand for plastic resins. On September 14, under the witness of provincial leaders, members of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC), and regional business leaders, Vietnam SuperPorta joint venture between YCH Group (Singapore) and T&T Group (Vietnam)hosted the "Envisioning the Future of Vietnam SuperPort" event. The event featured prominent figures, including Tran Duy Dong, Chairman of Vinh Phuc Peoples Committee, Jaya Ratnam, Singapores Ambassador to Vietnam, Oudet Souvannavong, chairman of ASEAN BAC, Robert Yap, executive chairman of YCH Group, and Nguyen Ngoc Nghi, member of the Board of Directors and deputy general director of T&T Group, among others. Launch ceremony of Vietnam SuperPort in Vinh Phuc province Enhancing supply chain connectivity across China and Southeast Asia Attendees were introduced to the innovative 'Park within a Park' concept through the Apple Vision Pro, a cutting-edge spatial computer. This VR experience showcased how the integration of road, rail, air, and sea supply chain services into a single logistics hub improves efficiency and connectivity. This approach positions Vietnam SuperPort as a key player in the regional logistics landscape. Yap Kwong Weng, CEO of Vietnam SuperPort, shared the new vision and development plans for Southeast Asias first SuperPort. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and innovative logistics solutions, we are enhancing the flow of goods across the region and setting a new standard for sustainable, future-ready logistics ports. Vietnam SuperPort is well-positioned to drive Vietnams economic growth and strengthen regional ties through world-class infrastructure," he said. Strategically located along the Northern Economic Corridor, Vietnam SuperPort connects 20 industrial parks to major seaports and airports, including Haiphong and Noi Bai, extending its reach to Yunnan and Kunming in China. Vietnam SuperPort leverages YCH Groups nearly 70 years of logistics experience, benefiting from connections to global supply centres across Asia, including China, India, and Southeast Asia. Yap Kwong Weng, CEO of Vietnam SuperPort Asias first net-zero multimodal logistics port by 2040 "In alignment with Vietnams commitment to net-zero by 2050, Vietnam SuperPort has embedded advanced sustainability solutions into its core operations. We are committed to achieving Net Zero by 2040, strengthening Vietnams leadership in sustainable development," Yap said. Vietnam SuperPort's roadmap to achieving net-zero includes assessing current emissions, upgrading infrastructure with AI and Internet of Things technologies, adopting renewable energy systems, and transitioning to an electric fleet by 2030. Residual emissions will be offset through the purchase of renewable energy credits and carbon offsets. Interview with Yap Kwong Weng, CEO of Vietnam SuperPort The port is also committed to developing a highly skilled workforce. In collaboration with YCH Group and the Singapore Supply Chain and Logistics Academy, it will train 500 next-generation logistics professionals through a nine-month talent development programme in Singapore. This initiative aims to prepare Vietnams workforce to meet the growing demand for high-quality, tech-savvy talent in logistics, as the country continues to develop as a key electronics manufacturing and research and development hub. YCH Group, Singapores leading end-to-end supply chain solutions provider, partners with some of the worlds largest companies across more than 100 cities in the Asia-Pacific. YCH focuses on boosting productivity and sustainability for customers in industries such as fast-moving consumer goods, electronics, chemicals, healthcare, cold chain logistics, and e-commerce. Vietnam SuperPort, located in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, spans 83 hectares and serves as a multi-modal logistics hub. The strategic joint venture between YCH Group and T&T Group, one of Vietnams top 10 largest multi-sector private economic corporations, aims to reshape the regions logistics landscape. ASEAN Smart Logistics Network launched Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, via videoconference, witnessed on November 14 the launch of the ASEAN Smart Logistics Network (ASLN) with the Vinh Phuc ICD Logistics Centre (SuperPort) its first project. 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. The SpaceX Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft stand in the evening light on June 5, 2024. It took its fourth flight on June 6, 2024, from Boca Chica. Brandon Lingle Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, speaks during a Starship update press conference Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, at a SpaceX facility in Boca Chica. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer This image provided by SpaceX on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, shows a view of Earth and the Dragon capsule's Skywalker spacewalk platform shortly after the Polaris Dawn crew launched into an orbit. (SpaceX via AP) Associated Press Over the past decade SpaceXs launch site on South Texass Gulf Coast has developed from a novelty to arguably the future of U.S. space operations, as engineers conduct test launches on their next generation rocket Starship. Now, the site stands to get a lot busier. Elon Musks space company is seeking to step up launches from five to 25 times a year to meet its goal of taking astronauts back to the moon and eventually Mars. LATEST LAUNCH: SpaceX reaches new milestones in its fourth Starship launch from South Texas Advertisement Article continues below this ad But Musks success has brought increasing scrutiny from federal regulators, who are weighing the risk SpaceX and other rapidly advancing commercial space operations pose to the environment and the general public against the desire to return the U.S. space program to its past glory. These are not only the largest rockets known to mankind but they tend to explode, said Jared Margolis, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, part a coalition of environmental groups suing the Federal Aviation Administration to block SpaceX launches. And theyre launching next to a very environmentally sensitive area with no buffer around the launch site. The FAA, which licenses commercial space flight, was supposed to clear SpaceX for its fifth test launch of its Starship rocket this month, but delayed another two months while it conducts further environmental reviews, according to SpaceX. The agency also cancelled a series of public meetings in Port Isabel that would have allowed residents to weigh in on the company's plans to ramp up Starship launches. In a hearing in the House Committee on Science Space and Technology last week, Kevin Coleman, associate administrator for commercial space transportation at the FAA, testified the delays were caused by changes SpaceXs own changes to its mission and equipment. It is the company that is pushing mission-by-mission approvals. Thats what the pace is about, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad SpaceX blamed the hold up on superfluous environmental analysis in a post on its website last week entitled "Starships are Meant to Fly." The post marks the company's latest move to publicly pressure the FAA into speeding up its launch schedule. At the House hearing, the company's Republican allies pushed the idea of amending federal law to force the FAA to accelerate its reviews. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Woodville, argued delays in getting Starship approved for more launches threaten to put the United States behind other nations seeking to establish a foothold in space. With nations like China seeking to leapfrog our accomplishments in space, it is even more imperative that we streamline our processes, Babin said at a U.S. House hearing last week. The national security implications posed by FAAs regulations are very concerning, as our goal of returning humans to the Moon could be unnecessarily delayed. Democrats pushed back against the notion as dangerous. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We dont like red tape, but theres environmental reasons behind taking a look at these launches, said Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a ranking member on the committee. We are in competition with China, but the Chinese government hasnt shown much concern about polluting their air and water. We care more about the American people." RELATED: Environmentalists say SpaceX launch damaged shorebird nests in Boca Chica Boca Chica, where SpaceX has been operating since 2014, is a collection of beaches, wetlands and tidal flats that serve as a habitat and migratory path for a variety of birds like the endangered piping plover, as well as federally protected species like ocelots, jaguarundi and a variety of sea turtles. Last week the Environmental Protection Agency fined SpaceX more than $148,000 for polluting the wetlands around its launch site with wastewater discharged during rocket launches. That followed on from an almost $4,000 fine this summer from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the same problem. SpaceX maintains the wastewater contains negligible traces of contaminants and meet all federal and state water standards. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Over the past two years researchers studying the launch area have noted a marked population decline in some species, cataloging numerous instances of birds being killed and their habitat ravaged by explosions and the heat of hundreds of thousands of pounds of rocket fuel being ignited at launch, said David Newstead, a director at the non profit Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program. Three years ago, Manuel Perez, who manages Boca Chica and the surrounding wilderness areas for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, cautioned the FAA that the SpaceX launches were already cutting off access to the beach for a local population "with limited income and few options to recreate" and presented a risk to protected sea turtles and birds. "Current activities, such as large explosions and falling debris from SpaceX flight test activities, the appearance of significantly increased highway traffic 24 hours per day all week, and extensive construction, have not been adequately analyzed nor addressed," he wrote. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The controversy around SpaceXs South Texas operation comes amid a larger debate in Washington about the latitude commercial space operations should be allowed. Space technology has evolved rapidly over the past decade, and now other operators like Blue Origin and Rocket Lab are seeking to build on SpaceXs success. So far, the Biden administration and Democratic allies in Congress are reluctant to allow the industry to move too fast, even as China and to a lesser extent Russia seek to surpass the United States position in outer space. The FAA has been working to streamline the licensing process, but so far they have struggled to keep up, said David French, a consultant to space firms We had single digit numbers of licensed launches in the late 2000s early 2010s, and now were at over 100 launches a year, he said. Plus, this is an inherently dangerous business, and a whole bunch of stuff is still in the experimental phase. Thats an incredible change to put on an agency. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A former Tennessee prison official and a former executive at a private contractor have been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and commit perjury after they were accused of rigging a bid on a $123 million contract, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday. In a lawsuit filed in 2020, Tennessee-based prison contractor Corizon claimed the Tennessee Department of Correction's former chief financial officer, Wesley Landers, sent internal emails related to the behavioral health care contract to former Vice President Jeffrey Wells of rival company Centurion of Tennessee. Centurion won the contract, and Landers got a cushy job with a Centurion affiliate in Georgia, according to the lawsuit, which was settled in 2022. A statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced on Tuesday criminal charges against Landers and Wells. Neither immediately responded to emails seeking comment. Although the statement does not name Centurion and Corizon, it refers to the same accusations in Corizon's lawsuit. Corizon's lawsuit accused Landers of sending internal Tennessee Department of Correction communications to a home Gmail account and then forwarding them to Wells, including a draft of the request for proposals for the new contract that had not been made public. Meanwhile, the performance bond on the behavioral health contract was increased from $1 million to $118 million, effectively putting the contract out of reach of the smaller Corizon, which had won the two previous bids. The lawsuit also accused state officials of increasing the contract award to $123 million after Centurion secured it because the cost of obtaining a $118 million performance bond was so high it would eat into Centurions profits. Behavioral health services includes psychiatric and addiction services. Centurion fired Wells and Landers in February 2021, according to the lawsuit. In the Tuesday statement, federal prosecutors said Landers and Wells conspired to cover up their collusion after Corizon sued and issued subpoenas for communications between the two. Landers used a special program to delete emails, and both obtained new cellphones to discuss how to hide information and lied in their depositions, according to the statement. If convicted, both men face up to five years in federal prison. OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (AP) A Missouri man is now facing a murder charge for the police chase that led to the death of an officer. Christopher Aaron Bishop Wehmeyer, 23, was originally charged with aggravated fleeing a stop or detention resulting in death after the chase on Aug. 31. Prosecutors on Tuesday added a charge of second-degree murder. Wehmeyer fled when an Osage Beach officer tried to stop him for speeding on U.S. 54, police said. Another Osage Beach officer, 33-year-old Phylicia Carson, joined the pursuit before skidding off the road into a tree. Her squad car burst into flames. Carson, a mother of six, died from her injuries. A statement from Wehmeyer's lawyer, Branden Twibell, said Wehmeyer will plead not guilty. We are waiting to receive and review the evidence from the prosecutors office and have begun our own investigation, the statement read. Chinese envoy urges Israel to immediately end unlawful presence in occupied Palestinian territory Xinhua) 09:44, September 18, 2024 UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Tuesday urged Israel to heed the strong call of the international community by immediately ending its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. In remarks at the UN General Assembly emergency special session on the Palestinian question, Fu said decades of occupation and oppression have inflicted untold sufferings on the Palestinian people, and made the long-cherished dream of independent statehood ever more elusive. "Ending the occupation is not an option, but a legal obligation for Israel," he stressed. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its advisory opinion issued on July 19, unequivocally concluded that Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is a violation of international law, and that Israel is under an obligation to immediately bring to an end its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, the ambassador said, adding that the ICJ's advisory opinion affirms the long-standing consensus of the international community and pinpoints the crux of the Palestinian question. "We urge Israel to heed the strong call of the international community by immediately ending its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory," he said. Fu noted that ending the occupation is to redress historical injustice and, more importantly, lay the foundation for peace. Underscoring that independent statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people as a nation, the ambassador said the prolonged illegal occupation has hindered the realization of self-determination of the Palestinian people and given Israel an exclusive veto over Palestine. "This is unacceptable." Only a complete end to the occupation and the establishment of the Independent State of Palestine will truly make it possible for Palestine and Israel to live side by side in peace, for the two peoples to live together in peace and tranquility, and for lasting peace to be achieved in the Middle East, he said. Fu emphasized that the implementation of the two-State solution is the only viable way to resolve the question of Palestine, and is the broad consensus of the international community. He called on the international community to make greater efforts and demand that Israel implement the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, cease its military operations in Gaza, and stop its illegal settlement activities in the West Bank. "China advocates the convening of a more broad-based and effective international peace conference to revitalize the political prospects of the two-State solution and to work out a timetable and a roadmap for its implementation," he said. "Today is a historic moment," Fu said, noting that the State of Palestine has taken a seat among UN member states and introduced a draft resolution to the General Assembly that focuses on the implementation of the advisory opinion of the ICJ. He said China will vote in favor of the draft resolution, and hopes the resolution will give new impetus to ending the occupation, implementing the two-State solution, and advancing the Middle East peace process. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) A voter leaves after voting Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at West Gray Multiservice Center in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Early voting in the 2024 elections will start on Oct. 21 in Texas and run through Nov. 1, ahead of a Nov. 5 Election Day. Harris County has not yet published its full list of voting sites for this election. As of Sept. 17, there are 88 early voting sites confirmed, and voters can cast ballots at any of the sites during that two-week period. Voters will pick candidates for president, the U.S. Senate, Congress and a slew of state and county races. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is seeking reelection against Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, and Houston voters will select a replacement for the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Here's what to know. When is the deadline to register to vote? You can check whether you're registered to vote online at VoteTexas.gov. The deadline to register is Monday, Oct. 7. When can I vote early? Early voting begins on Monday, Oct. 21, and runs through Friday, Nov. 1. The voting sites typically are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Where can I vote early? Head to Harris County's website here to view a running list and interactive map of the voting centers. What do I need to vote early? Plan to bring one of the seven accepted forms of identification, including a Texas driver's license, passport, or military ID. Phones are not allowed in the voting booth, so remember to bring hand-written notes if needed. When is the deadline to request a mail ballot? The deadline to request a mail ballot is Oct. 25. In Texas, voters need to meet certain criteria to vote by mail, including being 65 years old or older, having an eligible disability, expecting to give birth within three weeks of Election Day, or expecting to be out of the county during the voting period. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Fill out an application here and mail it to the county clerk's office. When is Election Day? Houston Mayor John Whitmire, right, talks with William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer In his first State of the City address on Tuesday, Mayor John Whitmire mostly stuck to the past, whether it be his accomplishments on his road to becoming Houston's mayor or the perceived failures of the past administration. The mayor spent the first 30 minutes of his nearly 45-minute chat in front of more than 1,600 audience members at Hilton Americas taking questions about his time prior to being Houston mayor. Moderator William F. McKeon, the president and CEO of Texas Medical Center, flashed photos from the mayors childhood, his hometown of Hillsboro and some during his time as dean of the Texas Senate on the screen, at one point asking Whitmire to identify the shape of inkblots to prove the mayor was speaking off the cuff, before finally asking a question on city and county collaboration. Whitmire took questions about some of the biggest top-of-mind issues surrounding the changes has made in his eight months in office so far after the address. Advertisement Article continues below this ad His administration has said repeatedly it inherited a bevy of issues when he took over this past January. Eduardo Antonio Trevino performs with the Mariachi Origen Y Tradicion during Houston Mayor John Whitmires State of the City at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, smiles as Houston Mayor John Whitmire shares a story about his elementary school years at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire talks about his childhood with William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, as a family photo is displayed at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire claps for performers before his State of the City talk at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Whitmire's team made a gamut of changes to fix some of those issues. The mayor made due on his promise to the fire union and settled the more than $1.5 billion deal, and he proposed and passed a new budget that included no tax hikes for city residents or extra fees. Yet as financial concerns rise, the mayor in his Tuesday talk did not address topics surrounding the impact of his changes like how his administration will pay the $1.5 billion fire settlement or plans to potentially raise taxes to offset damages incurred from Hurricane Beryl, among others. One upcoming change he teased out in his talk and elaborated on to reporters after the event was a plan to open navigation centers around the city with Housing Director Mike Nichols and homeland security director Larry Satterwhite to help get the citys unsheltered population off the streets. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A quote from Houston Mayor John Whitmire is displayed while he talks with William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer He also reiterated that he wasnt going to raise taxes until his administration had done the best it could to eliminate waste, duplication and corruption. Property taxes right now is not on my agenda, Whitmire said. Property tax increase is not something I have scheduled because, quite frankly, you have to look at the totality of the picture with the HISD bond, with the Harris County drainage maintenance fee. And as far as his next four months go, he said the city needs to work on resilience and building its public safety sectors, as well as dealing with its water supply. The mayor did not give a timeline for when he would roll out a plan to address city finances, but the deadline to make any change is Oct. 28. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We got some time, Whitmire told reporters. Attendees watch as Houston Mayor John Whitmire talks with William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Addressing predecessors When he got to speaking about city politics, Whitmire hammered on how he was working to foster collaboration not just with the sectors of public safety in the city, but also with state and county leaders. He said, before he took office, it became so personal between leaders in different political parties that it led the city to suffer, with Whitmire citing Hurricane Harvey dollars not coming because of a beef between city and state leaders as an example. I will work with anyone if its improving peoples lives, Whitmire said, then thanked Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for taking heat from his party for making him the chair of the criminal justice committee during his time in the Texas Senate. Advertisement Article continues below this ad On the same collaboration note, Whitmire also hit on the citys preparedness, despite what he said were reports of the contrary, for the two storms his administration has had to handle so far Hurricane Beryl and the derecho. Houston Mayor John Whitmire talks with William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, while a slide shows different storms that have hit the Houston area at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer He called Commissioners Adrian Garcia, Lesley Briones and Tom Ramsey full-time partners and mentioned how he was working on rolling out a new multi-service center in Memorial Park with Briones and had worked on debris clean up with Ramsey. While Whitmire said he didnt want to waste time on what he inherited, he told the crowd he wanted to move the city forward, and part of the improvement would come down to collaboration with the citys institutions. Well deal with the finances, Whitmire said.Im working through the collaboration to deal with the finances. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Whitmire said he was prepared to give the city eight years of some of the best years left of his life. I love the challenge, Whitmire said. Connections, collaboration and spirits matter. And I look forward to going to work. I've never worked harder in my life. When three thousand gadgets exploded at the same time, it was obvious that the manufacturing process had been interfered with. Although there is a 1/1000 chance that a hacked gadget will ignite the battery due to overheating, most compromised devices just shut down and or smoulder, but you would know the battery is going out before an explosion Then we have icing on the cake It sounds like a shipment of pagers that were sold on the open market in Syria and Lebanon after being booby-trapped with tiny amounts of explosive. Next, the Western media fabricates the story to suggest that it is merely an assault on Hezbollah. Now there are being brought up in the news accounts of analogous detonations in Damascus https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/exploding-pagers-lebanon-israel-syria-b2614470.html Lebanon & Syria and now you see why you only buy non-western items, especially electronics. Basically never buy anything from the terrorist states of the West. Food can be poisoned, chemicals altered, electronics mined, anything you can think of It is what a dying Empire would, does and has done in past, present and future WtR The detonations of pagers in Lebanon were probably caused by malicious messages, Lebanese information security expert Khalil Sehnaoui told RIA Novosti. Dozens of people were injured when pagers detonated in a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Such devices are still used by members of the Hezbollah movement in a closed communication system. It is not yet known what caused the simultaneous detonation. Either the devices were pre-hacked before they were shipped to Lebanon to create a vulnerability that was later activated or they had information about the make and model of devices used by Hezbollah, making it easier to create a message that would cause the devices software to overheat the hardware As previously reported by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than 2.8 thousand people were injured as a result of detonation of pagers in the country. Hospitals in Beirut, Saida and Tyre are overflowing with victims. According to a number of media outlets, pagers are used by members of the Hezbollah movement as a closed communication system that is least susceptible to hacking and eavesdropping. *** Well you only get one try and now they shot that moment for minor stuff. Looks like Israel is getting desperate If you own anything like an iPhone, better dump it. Boom WtR A former Juneau County judge who was murdered in 2022 by a man he sentenced to prison 17 years earlier was remembered last week at the county courthouse that bears his name. John Roemer, also known as Jack, who served from 2004 to 2017 on the bench, was killed at his town of Lisbon home on June 3, 2022 by Douglas Uhde, whom he sentenced to a six-year prison term, along with nine years of extended supervision, in 2005 for armed burglary and other weapons offenses. Roemer was 68. Current Juneau County District Court Judge Paul Curran, who served on the court with Roemer from 2008 to 2017, led the Sept. 12 ceremony at the Honorable John Pier Roemer Justice Center on Sept. 12. Curran said he refuses to speak Uhdes name and referred to him as a disgruntled litigant, which is also how he is referred to on a plaque unveiled at the ceremony honoring Roemer. Authorities discovered Roemers body zip-tied to a chair. Curran said Roemer was tortured prior to being shot and killed. Uhde, 56, committed suicide after murdering Roemer, authorities said in 2022. He also had targeted other officials, including Gov. Tony Evers, according to the Associated Press. In September of that year, the county renamed the Juneau County Justice Center in honor of Roemer. A portrait of Roemer hangs in the courtroom where he sat before current Judge Stacy Smith took over for him. Two of Roemers sons, Jordan and Mark, attended the ceremony. Prior to serving as Juneau County Circuit Court judge, Roemer worked as a public defender, assistant district attorney in Juneau County, and in private practice. His tenure as a public defender was the most rewarding time of his life, according to Curran. From 2004 to 2008, Roemer was the lone judge in Juneau County. I really cant imagine what thats like, or how he did it, especially with no help, Curran said of Roemers time alone on the county bench. County Board Chair Tim Cottingham also spoke at the ceremony, saying Roemer would sometimes ride in Juneau County Sheriffs Office squad cars during night shifts to get a closer look at deputies experiences. During his 30-year tenure with the Sheriffs Office, Cottingham worked as a bailiff on cases over which Roemer presided. Roemer retired in July 2017 to take care of his wife, Vivian, who was battling cancer before her death in 2018. Smith, who replaced Roemer, also spoke at the ceremony, and played a recording of Wish You Were Here by British rock band Pink Floyd in honor of his predecessor. He reminds me how to be a good judge, said Smith, who had known Roemer since 2003, served in other similar capacities, enjoyed the same types of music, and shared religious faith. Prior to his law career, Roemer was a military veteran, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel ranking in the U.S. Army Reserves. He also was involved with St. Pauls Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mauston. After he told me he was resigning, he just slipped out the back door, Curran said of Roemers lack of desire for attention. A public memorial service will be held Tuesday for local businessman Tom Dolan who passed away last week at age 75. The service starts at 11 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, followed by a reception at The Reno Ballroom 401 N. Center Street. All Dolan Auto Group locations will be closed. --- ORIGINAL STORY: Tom Dolan, the owner and founder of the Dolan Auto Group in Reno, passed away at 75 on Thursday, September 12. Born in Albert Lea, Minnesota and the youngest of eight children, Tom settled in Reno in 1969 and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1972. His automotive career started at Reno Dodge working for Don Weir Sr. where he learned alongside his former college roommate and friend Don Weir Jr. Tom quickly advanced in the business. From 1975-1982, he moved from Sales to Finance Manager to Sales Manager and then to General Manager at Carson City Dodge-Chrysler and Reno Dodge. In 1982, he became the General Manager and Vice President of Reno Toyota. Tom later purchased the dealership, which became Reno Toyota and eventually Dolan Toyota. In a post on Facebook, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam says, "Tom always believed in giving back to our community. There was no area within our community that Tom didnt help, whether it was our youth, education, first responders, or the university - he stepped in wherever and whenever the need arose. A dedicated and philanthropic member of our community, Tom will always be remembered for the lasting mark he made on Washoe County." Meta is now taking further action against Russian state-backed media sites that post on their social media platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram. In fact, Meta has announced that it has banned several Russian state-backed media outlets. Howver, this ban has yet to take effect as of press time as it will take a few days before they are permanently unable to access these platforms and share with the public. Meta's latest decision comes after previous bans and restrictions Meta has imposed against Russia, more popularly during the early parts of its invasion of Ukraine. Russia's State-Backed Media Outlets Now Banned on Facebook, Instagram Reuters shared the latest briefing materials from Meta, which announced its ban on Russian state-backed media outlets because of their "foreign interference activity." This latest move by Meta adds to its earlier restrictions against these Russian government-supported news sources after finding new evidence in their online activities. According to Meta, these Russian state-backed media entities, which include RT, Rossiya Segodnya, and more, are not going to stop sharing propaganda and misinformation on social media, hence the ban. This comes after the White House called out RT for its massive propaganda and disinformation content shared online, justifying Russia's Ukraine invasion. Read Also: Microsoft Reports Russian Hackers Accessed Thousands of Customers, Staff Emails Meta Claims That These Russian Websites Are 'Deceptive' According to Meta, its ban against these Russian news websites is due to the fact that the company believes that these "deceptive practices" will continue. It was Meta who drew first blood against Russia in its previous restriction, but it led to a judge ruling against Facebook and Instagram's operations in the country and has since seen turmoil between both sides. Meta clarified that this ban against Russia's state-backed news outlets will take effect in the upcoming days. Meta and Its Fight Against Russia The back-and-forth clash between Meta and Russia has not yet come to an end, and this originally started when the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company blocked Russian state-backed media from sharing content on its platforms. This was applied on both Facebook and Instagram, and these Russian state-sponsored accounts has seen limitations and restrictions for two years already. Unsurprisingly, Russia did not take these bans lightly as it imposed its own ban on Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms in 2022, and this was revealed to be because of "extremist" activity. Despite this, Russia did not ban instant messaging app WhatsApp, which Meta also owns. There seems to be no end to Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and significant restrictions are still imposed against the transcontinental country, particularly sanctions imposed by the United States. This latest Meta ban against Russian state-backed media entities adds to the restrictions they face online, preventing its propaganda and deceptive information from proliferating on Facebook and Instagram. Related Article: US Officials, Allies Take Down Thousands of Disinformation Bot Accounts on X In the presidential battleground state of Wisconsin, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are neck and neck among likely voters, with Harris up 1 percentage point, according to an exclusive AARP poll released Wednesday. Forty-nine percent of likely voters favor Harris while 48 percent support Trump in a head-to-head matchup. When the lens shifts to voters 50-plus, former President Trump takes a 3-percentage-point lead over Vice President Harris, according to the poll. Fifty percent of older voters prefer Trump, while 47 percent favor Harris. The latest presidential poll results, which are within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent for likely voters and plus or minus 3.5 percent for older voters, show a shift from an AARP Wisconsin poll taken in late June and early July when voters were asked about a matchup between Democratic President Joe Biden and GOP candidate Trump. In that summer poll, Trump was 5 percentage points ahead of Biden among all voters, and he led Biden by 9 points among voters 50-plus. Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee Aug. 5 after Biden announced he was ending his reelection campaign. The new data shows its a completely different race, says Bob Ward, a partner with Fabrizio Ward, which conducted the bipartisan AARP-commissioned survey along with Impact Research. Pollsters interviewed 1,052 likely Wisconsin voters about candidates and top issues from Sept. 11-14, starting a day after Harris and Trump debated. Asked who won the debate, 55 percent of all voters say Harris while 23 percent choose Trump, according to the poll. AARP (Source: Getty images) Wisconsin provides 10 electoral votes toward the 270 total needed to win the presidency. In 2020, Biden won Wisconsin with a margin of just 0.63 percentage points. Overall, the new polling data is in many ways more normal, Ward says. For example, the poll shows there is almost lockstep unity among Democrats behind Harris as opposed to the summer poll when younger voters showed dissatisfaction with Biden, Ward says. The poll shows 4 percent of voters say they will support a third-party candidate compared with 13 percent over the summer, Ward says. 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 In a significant affirmation of its market leadership, ABP Network has emerged as the dominant force in the digital news landscape of India. Recent weekly YouTube viewership data (including Video-on-demand (VODs) and Live Stream views) released by Data Beings highlights that ABP News, ABP Majha, and ABP Ananda are leading their respective segments - Hindi, Marathi, and Bengali, capturing the trust of millions of viewers across the country. ABP News has claimed the top position in the highly competitive Hindi news sector with an impressive 17% market share for the week of September 6-13. This achievement puts it ahead of major competitors. This remarkable performance not only underscores ABP News' extensive reach but also reflects its commitment to delivering timely and relevant content that resonates with viewers. In the Marathi news space, ABP Majha continues to shine with a commanding 34% market share for the week of September 7-13. Outpacing competition, ABP Majha's consistent leadership maintaining its No. #1 position over three consecutive weeks highlights its strong connection with Marathi-speaking audiences who rely on it for credible news coverage. Notably, this period of success coincided with Ganesh Chaturthi, Maharashtras most celebrated festival, further establishing ABP Majhas versatility in meeting diverse consumer demand. Furthermore, ABP Ananda has solidified its position in the Bengali Market, achieving a substantial 33% market share for the week of September 7-13. By surpassing competitors, ABP Ananda has fortified its role as a trusted source for quality journalism in Bengal. Consistently ranking as the No. #1 platform for several weeks, ABP Ananda remains the go-to choice for breaking news, further reinforcing the trust viewers place in it during crucial news events. The network's consistent performance across these key markets is a testament to its innovative content strategy and dedication to journalistic integrity. ABP Network remains dedicated to delivering high-quality journalism and pioneering content across Indias diverse linguistic landscape, ensuring it continues to be the preferred news source for millions. Also Read: Rajnish Ahuja replaces Sant Prasad Rai at ABP Network Airtel Payments Bank today announced the appointment of Amar Kumar Kakarlapudi as its new Chief Compliance Officer. In this role, Amar will play a crucial part in further strengthening the Banks compliance framework and ensuring seamless alignment with regulatory and statutory requirements. As Chief Compliance Officer, Amar will serve as a key partner for the Bank in meeting core and non-core compliance requirements, be a significant interface between the bank and regulatory authorities, while establishing a strong compliance and regulatory framework. He will work directly with Anubrata Biswas, Managing Director and CEO of Airtel Payments Bank to advance the Banks commitment to regulatory excellence and governance. Speaking about the appointment, Anubrata Biswas, MD and CEO of Airtel Payments Bank, said We are delighted to welcome Amar to our team. His extensive experience in regulatory compliance and leadership will be instrumental in shaping our approach to navigating the evolving regulatory landscape. Amars proven track record will help us continue to foster trust with our customers and partners, upholding the highest standards of regulatory excellence. Amar Kumar, Chief Compliance officer at Airtel Payments Bank, said I am thrilled to join Airtel Payments Bank at such a transformative time. Compliance is fundamental to building trust, and I look forward to working with the team to enhance our compliance framework. My goal is to contribute to the Banks mission of advancing digital financial inclusion across India while upholding the highest standards of regulatory integrity. With over 24 years of experience in the banking sector, Amar brings a wealth of knowledge to his new role. He has held prominent positions at institutions including Canara Bank, Axis Bank, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, JP Morgan Chase & State Bank of India. In his last role, Amar served as Vice President - Compliance at Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, where he led various strategic compliance initiatives. Prior to his banking career, Amar served in the Indian Air Force for six years, further enriching his leadership and discipline. Known for his deep expertise in compliance, regulatory reporting, AML/KYC, and data protection, Amar holds a postgraduate degree from SMU and a host of professional certifications, including CBCP, CAMS, CFE, CAIIB, ISO 27001, FIP, CIPP(E/US), CIPM, and DCPP. These accomplishments will enable him to drive the Banks compliance efforts to new heights. Also Read: Airtel Digital TVs New Plan Offers Amazon Prime Benefits to Customers Amazon has announced that Samir Kumar, a veteran with 25 years of experience at the company, will take over as the Country Manager for Amazon's consumer business in India. This change follows the decision of current Country Manager Manish Tiwary to pursue an opportunity outside of Amazon. In an internal email, Amit Agarwal, Amazon's SVP for Emerging Markets, highlighted Samir's significant contributions, noting that he was part of the original team that launched Amazon.in in 2013. With this transition, the existing leadership team for Amazon.inincluding Saurabh Srivastava (Categories), Harsh Goyal (Everyday Essentials), Amit Nanda (Marketplace), and Aastha Jain (Growth Initiatives)will now report directly to Samir. Kishore Thota (Emerging Markets Shopping Experience) will report to Amit. Samir is currently collaborating with Manish Tiwary to ensure a smooth transition and will officially assume operational responsibilities for India starting in October. In his message, Amit Agarwal expressed gratitude for Manish's leadership in establishing Amazon.in as a leading platform for online shopping in India, wishing him well in his future endeavors. Amit emphasized India's importance to Amazon's strategy, expressing optimism about the future under Samir's leadership and the strong local team in place as they work to enhance customer experiences and drive business growth in the region. Also Read: Airtel Digital TVs New Plan Offers Amazon Prime Benefits to Customers Bata India has unveiled the limited-edition Emily in Paris collection featuring Bollywoods favourite fashionista, Sharvari as the face of the campaign. Launched in collaboration with Viacom 18, the limited edition drop arrives just in time for the release of the latest Emily in Paris episodes! The collection is available at 260 select stores and online at Bata.com. The limited-edition pieces are reimagined by meticulous design details like Eiffel Tower trims, subtle accents and gold buckles across styles like the Cherry Red Mules, Metallic heels, Powder Blue & Pink Pastel ballerinas and more - A dash of Emily Coopers signature style, starting at just INR 1,999. Deepika Deepti, Head of Marketing, Bata India shares, Were beyond excited to launch this iconic collaboration. By partnering with Sharvari, a style icon in her own right, were able to let our customers step into the shoes of Emily Cooper, quite literally! Reimagined keeping in mind the global fashion trends, this collaboration embodies dreamy pastels and bold cherry red designsperfect for all the fans & for those looking to make a statement. Speaking on the collaboration, Sharvari said, I'm absolutely thrilled to be associated with Bata for their exclusive limited-edition Emily in Paris collection. I can't wait for fashion enthusiasts to experience this collection and feel like they're walking the streets of Paris! From classy mules to it-girl platform sandals and the years trendiest ballerina flats, the line-up marries fashion with versatility to keep you in Vogue! Grab yours at your nearest Bata store and online at bata.com. Also Read: We want to democratize fitness technology: Deepika Deepti, Marketing Head, Bata India The highly anticipated antitrust trial against Google, initiated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), marks one of the most significant antitrust cases in the tech industry in decades. The DOJ alleges that Google has unlawfully maintained its dominance in the $200 billion digital advertising market through a series of strategic acquisitions and anti-competitive practices. This case could reshape the way digital advertising operates and alter how information is disseminated across the internet. The Allegations At the core of the DOJs case is Googles control over the entire advertising technology (adtech) ecosystem. Prosecutors argue that Google has monopolized key components of the adtech stack, creating an unfair market advantage. The DOJ claims Google dominates: Ad Network: Google controls much of the advertiser-facing network. Google controls much of the advertiser-facing network. Ad Server: The company has near-total control over publisher ad servers. The company has near-total control over publisher ad servers. Ad Exchange:Google runs the exchange that connects advertisers and publishers. By controlling these critical elements of the digital advertising supply chain, the DOJ contends that Google has stifled competition and manipulated pricing to its advantage. Googles Defense Google firmly denies the allegations, arguing that the DOJs definition of the market is skewed to make the company appear overly dominant. Googles defence hinges on the argument that the digital ad market remains competitive, citing the presence of other major players like Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and TikTok. The tech giant also points to its lower-than-average fees, challenging claims of monopolistic behaviour. Googles 2011 acquisition of AdMeld, an ad technology provider, has become a focal point in the antitrust trial. The US Department of Justice claims this purchase was a strategic killer acquisition aimed at eliminating competition and maintaining Googles dominance in the advertising technology market. The DOJ alleges that Google bought AdMeld to neutralize a potential threat to its online display ad strategy. This acquisition followed Googles 2008 purchase of DoubleClick, a leading ad server, and Invite Media, solidifying Google's position in the ad-tech space. Google purchased AdMeld for over $400 million, integrating its technology into the companys ecosystem and shutting down the product two years later. Neal Mohan, now YouTubes CEO and a key figure in Googles display ad division at the time, played a central role in the decision to buy AdMeld. Mohan denied that the acquisition was meant to eliminate competition, describing AdMeld as a necessary complement to Googles advertising exchange. He argued that AdMeld filled a gap in Googles ad-tech portfolio and catered to publishers hesitant to fully adopt Googles products. He said Google did everything for the best of the industry and consumers. The DOJ, however, claims Googles tactics were designed to stifle innovation and prevent rivals from gaining ground in the online advertising world. Trial Developments The trial has already seen testimony from several high-profile industry figures. Key witnesses include: Stephanie Layser , former advertising executive at News Corp, who testified that Googles ad tools leave publishers feeling trapped, limiting their ability to negotiate with other adtech providers. , former advertising executive at News Corp, who testified that Googles ad tools leave publishers feeling trapped, limiting their ability to negotiate with other adtech providers. Jay Friedman , CEO of the Goodway Group, criticized Googles ad pricing practices, accusing the company of gaming the system with unpredictable fees. , CEO of the Goodway Group, criticized Googles ad pricing practices, accusing the company of gaming the system with unpredictable fees. Eisar Lipkovitz, a former Google vice president of engineering, provided insight into Googles internal practices, describing the companys ad auction processes as lacking transparency and fairness. These testimonies have intensified the focus on Googles influence over digital advertising, with critics emphasizing the need for greater transparency in the industry. Potential Consequences If the court rules against Google, the company could face sweeping consequences, including the potential breakup of its adtech business. Industry analysts speculate that Google may be forced to spin off parts of its advertising arm, such as its sell-side ad business or ad server operations. Additionally, Google could be liable for up to $100 billion in damages from advertisers if it is found to have abused its market position. The outcome of this trial could set a precedent for other big tech companies, as regulators and lawmakers are closely watching the proceedings. The trial could signal a new era of regulatory scrutiny over how tech giants manage their businesses and their influence on digital markets. Broader Industry Impact The global advertising industry is watching the trial closely, anticipating a potential seismic shift in the online advertising ecosystem. Should the court rule in favour of the DOJ, it may open the door for other legal challenges and increased regulatory actions aimed at curbing the power of dominant tech firms. The decision could also spark greater competition in the adtech space, reshaping the way digital ads are bought, sold, and distributed. With the future of digital advertising at stake, this trial could lead to lasting changes that redefine the power dynamics of the online world. Also Read: Killer Jeans moves Bombay HC against Netflix for Killer Soup series Mirato Media Solution has set new benchmarks with the success of Mountain Dews regional campaign, Darr Nu Daraa 2.0. This powerful film, designed to celebrate the resilient and fearless Punjabi spirit, has resonated with audiences far and wide, garnering 70.6 million views across platforms. Watch the film here: Akankshaa Dalal, Associate Director Marketing, PepsiCo India, praised the agencys role, stating, Mirato Media Solutions brought an authentic, fresh perspective to our campaign. Their innovative approach, combined with a deep understanding of local culture, allowed us to connect with audiences on an emotional level. The scale and impact of the film have exceeded our expectations. Karan Walia, Founder and CEO of Mirato Media Solutions, emphasised the agencys commitment to delivering a meaningful and culturally resonant campaign. Our objective was to create a story that truly reflected the Punjabi spirit without resorting to cliches. The execution, from script to screen, was key, and our teams deep involvement from the inception of the idea ensured we could deliver on our vision. This cohesiveness enabled us to achieve the scale and impact the film has now reached. Commenting on the creative process behind the campaign, Mirato Media Solutions Creative Director & Scriptwriter, Arshpreet Kaur Biji shared, Crafting the script for DarrNu Daraa 2.0 required an intricate balance between staying true to the product's ethos andstriking the right emotional chord. From the very beginning of the ideation process, we knew the script had to connect deeply with the Punjabi audience while ensuring it maintained thebrand's core message of conquering fear. It wasnt just about creating a story, but about embodying a mindsetunderstanding how Punjabis perceive fear, which isnt as an obstacle, but as something to be overcome with courage and grit. We wanted to weave thiscultural insight into every layer of the campaign, from the tone of the dialogue to the underlying message in the song. The lyrics were crafted to reflect the true Punjabi spirit, where fear is not feared, but confronted head-on. From conceptualisation to on-ground execution and post-production, Darr Nu Daraa 2.0 showcases Mirato Media Solutions' expertise in handling large-scale campaigns with precision. The filmssuccess sets a new standard for regional advertising and demonstrates the impact that culturally nuanced content can achieve when done with passion and insight. Neha Phale, formerly with Huhtamaki India Limited joins VVF India Limited as the Head of Corporate Communications. In this role, Neha Phale will lead corporate communication efforts, with a focus on driving transformation, refreshing the brand, and implementing strategic communications to adapt to the evolving landscape. She will play a key role in enhancing the companys communication strategies, ensuring they align with VVFs objectives, and strengthening its presence within the industry. Speaking about Nehas appointment, Delna Joshi, Chief Transformation Officer, VVF India Limited, said, Neha brings a wealth of experience in strategic communications that will be instrumental as we drive transformation and brand evolution at VVF. Her expertise will be key in enhancing our communication strategies, refreshing our brand, and strengthening our presence in the global market. We are excited to have Neha lead our corporate communications efforts and support our growth journey at this pivotal time. Speaking about her appointment at VVF India Limited, Neha said, I am thrilled to join VVF at such a transformative time. I look forward to driving the companys communication strategies, refreshing the brand, and supporting its growth journey. Neha has over 15 years of experience in communications and public affairs. Prior to joining VVF, she held the position of Head of Internal Communications APAC at Huhtamaki, where she played a key role in strengthening internal communications across the region. Before that, she served as Head of Public Affairs at Huhtamaki India, shaping the companys external engagement strategies. Neha has also held senior communications roles at companies like Welspun India Limited, Huntsman International, and Dow Chemical. In anticipation of Netflixs Emily in Paris, Tint Cosmetics launched an exclusive "Emily in Paris" collection. Their stunning collection includes liquid lipsticks, lip and cheek tints, lipgloss, hydrating mists, liquid eyeliners, and reusable under-eye patches. Made especially for women who want to slay every day, the collection offers hydrating mists, to keep the skin fresh and glowing, 18-hour lasting, smudge-proof, and transfer-proof liquid eyeliners to give you those dramatic eyes, high-impact shine, and rich-hued lip gloss to keep your pouts nourished and moisturized, beautiful under eye patches to tackle the day and look fresh the next morning, and so much more. Arshia Vijan, co-founder of Tint Cosmetics, shared her excitement, I related to Emilys character a lot. The intention behind launching this collection was to offer customers a product range that makes them feel super fashionable and confident. Our lip tints and glosses are highly pigmented and moisturizing. The collection exudes chic glamour, perfectly capturing the essence of the show. The packaging circles around the show, capturing elements like little hearts, croissants, airplanes, and the Eiffel Tower, the biggest symbol of anything Parisian. The color scheme also has soft pastel pinks, elegant beige, crisp white hues, and greens symbolizing love, which is the show's main plot. And if one dives into the deep detailing, the pimple patches are made into little postcards with stamps of the Eiffel Tower! They have also used the same fonts as the show to give their customers the best experience. Harshwarrdhan Singh, the Co-Founder, shared his thoughts on the collection saying, Coming up with this collection was a strategic move to tap into the current trends. We believe there is synergy between the show and Tint. Each product in the collection radiates a sleek, feminine vibe. The packaging is thoughtfully crafted to transport users to the heart of Parisian fashion, making them feel glamorous with every use. Tint Cosmetics entered the beauty industry to simplify makeup, by making it hassle-free and fun. From 20+ lip glosses and lip oils to unique product categories like 4-in-1 makeup pens, and whipped soaps, Tint Cosmetics offers a wide range of products that cater to users looking for everyday glam. Tonic Worldwide has appointed Kiran Mandrawadkar as Business Head South. Mandrawadkar will be based out of the agencys Bangalore office. In this pivotal role, he will spearhead business growth initiatives and strengthen key alliances across the region. With over 20 years of experience in the digital and marketing industry, Mandrawadkar brings a wealth of expertise to his new position. Prior to Tonic Worldwide, he led the South business division for Ethinos Digital, and has held key roles at prominent agencies, including Beehive Publicis, Dentsu Isobar, WPP GroupM Maxus (now Wavemaker), Disha Communications, and Network18. His comprehensive experience spans business development, client management, and strategic growth. Throughout his career, Mandrawadkar has worked with a diverse portfolio of brands, such as ABB, 3M, L'Oreal, Panasonic, TVS, Max Fashion, Digit Insurance, Royal Sundaram, and Decathlon, making significant contributions to their success. Speaking on the appointment, Chetan Asher, Founder & CEO, Tonic Worldwide, said, We are delighted to have Kiran Mandrawadkar join the Tonic Worldwide family. His deep industry experience and proven ability to drive business growth will be invaluable as we continue to scale our operations in the South. We look forward to working with him as we continue to deliver innovative solutions for our clients. Commenting on his new role, Kiran Mandrawadkar said, "Im excited to join Tonic Worldwide, a company I have long admired for its pioneering work. I look forward to collaborating with the founders and senior leadership team to create impactful work while driving business growth and success. Leveraging my experience and skill set, I am eager to contribute to the ongoing expansion of the business. Beyond his professional achievements, Mandrawadkar is an active guest lecturer at business schools and is passionate about travel, always seeking new perspectives and inspiration. Zaakpay, a payment gateway by MobiKwik, has announced a strategic integration with Meta to simplify conversational commerce, providing an embedded payment experience on WhatsApp that is designed to empower businesses and consumers alike. The integration of Zaakpay and WhatsApp offers users a wide range of payment modes, including Credit Card, Debit Card, UPI, and Wallet payments. Users also have the option to make payments using MobiKwik Wallet, ZIP, and Pocket UPI, providing flexibility and convenience to suit their payment preferences. This integration allows MSMEs to reach a larger customer base through WhatsApps vast user network, especially in Tier 2 and 3 cities. It also provides access to advanced fintech solutions, enabling seamless and secure payments directly within chats, enhancing both customer convenience and business efficiency. Harvinder Singh Chadha, Business Head, ZaakPay, said, As India advances towards a digital-first economy, we believe the integration of Zaakpay and WhatsApp will be a welcome addition to the payment landscape. By combining Zaakpays secure payment gateway, with WhatsApps vast user base, we aim to unlock immense potential in Indias hinterlands. We are forging an ecosystem where shopping, payments, and business engagement happen seamlessly in one place. This collaboration is a powerful testament to our commitment to driving financial inclusion and empowering millions of Indian citizens. Ravi Garg, Director, Business Messaging, Meta in India, said "WhatsApp is where people and businesses connect and want to connect and get things done. This integration with Zaakpay is another step in building a more seamless purchase experience, allowing people to make payments using their preferred payment method for a product or service they want to buy from a business right within their WhatsApp chat." Zaakpays payment gateway, within a single chat window, enhances security for its users by centralizing all transactions in one secure interface. By integrating advanced encryption protocols, Zaakpay ensures customer convenience and transaction safety, This integration highlights the growing significance of digital and conversational commerce by seamlessly integrating payments into everyday conversations. It not only simplifies transactions but also drives financial inclusion and supports businesses of various scales. This will likely change the way people transact, ensuring that digital payments are simple, secure, and accessible for all. If you follow along with my stories on AL.com, you know Im familiar with just about every roadside attraction in Alabama. So, I was surprised to learn that one of my beloved roadside oddities was reported as Gone But Not Forgotten. The website RoadsideAmerica.com said, at the time of this writing, 16-Foot-Long Dental Tools (Gone). Stainless steel sculpture of a giant dental pick and mirror titled Piknmera outside the office of dentist Barry Booth Reported gone in 2023. Ive visited the Spanish Fort attraction in the past but, because the town is a long drive from my house in north Alabama, I picked up the phone and called Dr. Booth. Much to my relief, he informed me the giant sculpture of dental tools is still outside his office at 475 Spanish Fort Boulevard. Its staying right where it is, he said. Its not going anywhere The sculpture has been at Booths office for about 25 years, he said, adding, I have people come by and take pictures of it all the time. The funky attraction features a 16-foot-long, 8-foot-wide dental pick, along with an oversized version of the familiar dental mirror. The stainless-steel sculpture honors the faculty and staff of the University of Alabama School of Dentistry, where Booth attended after taking undergraduate classes at Auburn University. READ MORE: Heres why theres a giant dental pick in south Alabama The sculpture has not been certified by Guinness World Records, but if I had to guess, Id say these are the worlds largest dental instruments. I mean, how could they not be? Although my research yall dont want to see my search history did lead me to a 40-foot tooth sculpture made from 80,000 toothbrushes that is certified by Guinness. See it here. In addition to the dental tools, Booth commissioned a symbol for the City of Spanish Fort, which was incorporated in 1993. He decided on a 14-foot-tall blue paperclip to symbolize the city is open for business, he said. The carbon steel sculpture is located on Spanish Fort Boulevard/U.S. Highway 31 at Old Spanish Trail/U.S. Highway 98. The sculpture was fabricated by artist Casey Downing Jr. Mobile mourned Jimmy Buffett in September 2023. It also strutted, sashayed and danced down Dauphin Street in a celebration that grew from an impromptu notion into something unexpectedly momentous. Now its time to add another verse to that song: On Saturday, Sept. 21, Mobile will follow up with the inaugural Son of a Sailor Fest, a free, family-friendly street festival that will feature a second-line parade and an afternoon of music in Cathedral Square. The program is straightforward. Want to be in the parade? People are welcome to gather in the courtyard of the Riverview Plaza hotel as early as 10 a.m.; the Blow House Band will lead the procession to Cathedral Square at 11:15. Music on the main stage in the square starts with Street Folks at noon followed by Vibe Irie at 1:30 p.m. Buffett collaborator and native Mobilian Will Kimbrough will take the stage at 3:30 to share Songs and Stories from the Studio. At 5:30 p.m. A1A, billed as the official Jimmy Buffett tribute band, begins its headlining performance. Therell be more music at a SouthSounds Showcase Stage set up in Dauphin Street at the Joachim Street intersection. Disco Lemonade plays at 2 p.m. followed by Laurie Anne Nix at 3:30 and Eric Salter & The Sunday Sinners at 5 p.m. (Details on all the performers, and a wealth of other information including details on lodging, dining and VIP options, can be found at the event website) It promises to be a festive occasion. And it well should be, given that backers include the city, the county, Visit Mobile, the Downtown Mobile Alliance, and an array of business partners not to mention that Lucy Buffett, one of Jimmys sisters, also is among the sponsors. And with any luck, itll still have some of the spontaneous vibe that made 2023s parade feel so special. That spontaneity was the element that raised the biggest questions for Joseph Brennan, the Buffett fan whose grassroots efforts (with help from many eager supporters) snowballed into the 2023 event. He said the discussion about carrying on with a potential annual event began almost immediately afterward. Visit Mobile has been a huge partner in this and David Clark and his team met with me probably last October and November, Brennan said. And they said, How can we make this happen? And to be honest with you at that time, I was looking back at them saying, You tell me, I dont know. Im a freelance videographer, what do I know? He did have some thoughts, however. There had to be a second-line parade and it had to be free, he said. It needed to still be a community-energized event. Because what was magical about last year was that sort of grassroots, egalitarian approach. As much as we can try to maintain that magic, we should. Joseph Brennan, a Mobile filmmaker whose idea for an open foot parade honoring Jimmy Buffett, smiles as he takes in the huge turnout on Sept. 10, 2023.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com The 2023 event was lightning in a bottle, Brennan said. That couldnt be planned. But what we can do is, we can take what was special about that day and use that as our sort of north star -- our principles of magic, fun, spontaneity and color, joy, and say, OK, well, thesell be the pillars of what this event is about. Even if youre not a huge parrothead, its a day of like concentrated Gulf Coast fun and laissez faire joy of life. And that sort of became, like I said, our north star, Brennan said. You know, as much as I am a huge fan of Jimmy Buffett, I knew that it couldnt singularly be a memorial. It had to be larger. And where we kind of landed was, what did he represent? He was a Gulf Coast kid who embodied that Gulf Coast lifestyle and thats what were doing. And I see him as sort of our patron saint of the festival. Buffetts Coral Reefer Band recently conducted a brief tour to pay tribute to Buffett and to explore its future without its longtime bandleader. One of the striking things about those shows was the sense of community: Fans werent there just for the music or for the nostalgia, they were there for the shared communal experience. Brennan said he hopes to see the same kind of vibe at Son of a Sailor Fest. And life in Mobile offers a conspicuous precedent, he said. RELATED: Jimmy Buffetts Coral Reefer Band sets sail in search of its future: We found it in the songs Its kind of like Mardi Gras, he said. Everybody makes Mardi Gras. Its not just the floats going by, its the people around you on barricades. And thats what a Coral Reefer shows like. And thats what Son of a Sailor Fest is, and what last year was. You make the festival. The costumes, the camaraderie, its like a big family union for a lot of these fans. And even if youre not a fan, who doesnt love throwing on a costume and jumping in the street? You have permission. To that point, there may be some synergy in play on the day of the parade and fest. South Alabama Comic Con will be going on at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center, so there could be a lot of costumed visitors from, shall we say, other worlds roaming downtown. There is something so perfectly serendipitous about this, said Brennan. I mean, lets be real. Its like, its two different types of cosplay. You know, its adults that like to dress up like pirates and parrots and cheeseburgers and whatever. And, you know, other adults that like to dress up like Sailor Moon or Dragonball Z. There is an intersection and the potential imagine if there was like a Gundam in the second line, he said. Even though that in no way relates to parrothead imagery, its just magic. Its just creating magic and there would just be something so fun about that. Brennan said that the section of Dauphin Street between Cathedral Square and the SouthSounds stage will be blocked off. Organizers hope is that patrons will enjoy a street festival vibe, patronizing local restaurants as well as the food trucks that will be on hand. Perhaps in the future, Son of a Sailor Fest will grow to become an annual, ticketed event, a magnet for fans of Buffetts legacy. VIP patrons will get a taste of that this year: A VIP welcome reception held in The Admiral Hotel where Buffett played some of his earliest gigs in the Admirals Corner bar will feature a Q&A with Milton Brown and John Edd Thompson, who were involved in Buffetts earliest studio recordings. For now its about enjoying the moment. A moment that, as Brennan puts it, should be a little bit of Mardi Gras, a little bit of beach, a little bit of escapism, and a whole lot of joy for life. Festival FAQs can be found at https://www.sos-fest.com/about. Among the guidelines: Beach chairs, bag chairs, small personal coolers, leashed and well-behaved pets are welcome, while large coolers, beach umbrellas and unleashed pets are not. Updates can be found on social media channels including the events Facebook page. An east Alabama woman has pleaded guilty to abuse charges of her stepdaughter, who had more than 50 signs of trauma covering her body and whose head had been shaved when she died three years ago. Haley Dee Metz, 33, this week entered a blind plea to aggravated child abuse of 3-year-old Aydah DiMaso. A blind plea means that there is no previously agreed upon sentence as part of the deal and a judge will decide her fate. Sentencing has been set for November. Metzs husband, 25-year-old Nikilas DiMaso, pleaded guilty earlier this year to capital murder and conspiracy to commit child abuse. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to charging documents, Aydah was killed with DiMasos hands and/or fists in October 2021. She was found unresponsive in the bathtub after family members asked police to go to the DiMaso home on Crestview Drive Monday that afternoon for a welfare check. Family said DiMaso got custody of Aydah less than eight months before her death, despite her maternal grandparents fight to have her in their care. Aydah DiMaso was killed Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. Her father is charged with capital murder. (GoFundMe) Attorneys for Aydahs family filed a lawsuit last year against the Alabama Department of Human Resources and individual caseworkers for their alleged roles in the girls death. The lawsuit, filed by Birmingham attorneys Tommy James of Tommy James Law and Jeremy Knowles of Morris Haynes, alleges multiple failures by DHR and caseworkers to protect Aydah from ongoing abuse and neglect. According to the lawsuit, Aydahs filthy living conditions included animal feces and urine throughout the home, reports of DiMasos drug use, particularly a heroin addiction, and observations of Ayda exhibiting sudden behavior changes. The suit alleges systematic failings and neglect that allowed the young child to remain in a severely harmful environment despite clear indications she was in danger. This case represents an egregious failure of the system that is supposed to protect our most vulnerable children, James said. Aydahs death could and should have been prevented. We are seeking justice for Aydah and accountability for those whose conduct resulted in her tragic death. Aydah was described in a 2021 GoFundMe as a sweet soul with an infectious giggle who was loved by her grandparents who had been fighting for custody of her. We can honestly say that this outcome brings us immense relief and comfort, knowing that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars, haunted by the reality of what he has done, Aydahs grandmother, Shundra Powe Davis, said after DiMasos plea in June. We are thankful that we were able to bring some semblance of closure to part of Aydahs case. These have been a long three years, and every moment reminds us of the love that was taken away from us, Davis said. Priscilla Dunn of Bessemer, a career educator who served 24 years in the Alabama Legislature and inspired other Black women who followed her into politics, has died. Dunn was 80. Dunn served in the Alabama House from 1998 until 2009, when she defeated seven Democratic opponents to win a vacant seat in the state Senate. Voters reelected Dunn to the Senate three times. She missed much of her final term because of an illness and did not run for reelection in 2022. I and many other women stand on the shoulders of Senator Priscilla Dunn, said Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, who succeeded Dunn in Senate District 19. She was a towering figure in our legislative history, a champion for women, children, the homeless and public education whose impact will be felt for generations. For me, she was more than a mentor and friend; she was a mother figure and the epitome of strength, grace, and compassion. A deeply godly woman, she loved her church, her husband Grover, her daughter Karen, and her son-in-law Eric, who passed away last year. She took immense joy in doting on her grandsons, Brock and Blake. And she loved the City of Bessemer and the constituents that she represented. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, said Dunns public service was an inspiration. I join in expressing my sincerest condolences for the passing of former Alabama State Senator Priscilla Dunn. She was a grand dame whose footsteps we Black women elected officials are blessed to have followed. pic.twitter.com/NgFuxrcOU0 Rep. Terri A. Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) September 17, 2024 Dunn had a bachelors degree in education from Alabama State University and a masters degree in education from the University of Montevallo. Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed said Dunn was warm and compassionate toward her fellow senators and the people she represented. Senator Dunn served her district with distinction and honor, and I will remember her most for the kindness and grace she showed her constituents and colleagues, Reed said. When I entered the Alabama Senate as a freshman member back in 2011, Senator Dunn was one of the first members to welcome me. She was a good friend to me, and I enjoyed serving with her on the Jefferson County delegation for many years. Our prayers are with her family and friends as they grieve her loss. A masked gunman who survived a gunshot wound to the head during a reported Birmingham robbery has been charged in the death of his alleged accomplice. Ladarrion Raemon Copes, 29, is charged with felony murder in the June 21 shooting death of 34-year-old Rufus Brock. He is also charged with attempted murder in the wounding of the robbery victim. Authorities said Copes and Brock who also was wearing a nylon mask were trying to rob another man of drugs when the exchange of gunfire happened at an Avondale apartment building. The robbery victim was not charged with any crime. The Jefferson County District Attorneys Office ruled he was justified in the fatal shooting of his assailant. Copes, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and was initially reported dead by police shortly after the shooting, has been held in the Jefferson County Jail since his release from UAB Hospital in late July. Copes is charged under the states felony murder law which allows a person to be charged with murder if they are participating in a felony crime that results in death, whether or not that person actually fired the fatal shot. Wearing a protective helmet, Copes appeared before Jefferson County District Judge William Bell Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. When it ended, Bell ruled there was enough probable cause to forward the case to a grand jury for indictment consideration. The judge also refused to reduce Copes bond, over the objection of his attorney who said the jail is not equipped to care for Copes medical needs, which she said are still life-threatening. The shootout happened about 11 a.m. that Friday in the parking lot of Oak Tree Apartments in the 4400 block of Fifth Avenue South. Brock was pronounced dead on the scene, still wearing a mask, on the ground near the tire of a work truck. Copes was taken to UAB Hospital where authorities initially said he died. Officials later said medical staff was able to revive Copes. The robbery victim was also wounded in the shootout. His injuries were not life-threatening. Birmingham homicide Det. Jarvelius Tolliver was the lone witness in Wednesdays hearing. He testified that part of the incident was captured on a neighbors surveillance video. Tolliver testified that according to the video and evidence, the robbery victim who lived at the apartment building pulled into his parking lot that morning and backed into a parking space which was next to a white work van. As the robbery victim exited his Nissan SUV, a Ford Explorer pulled in front of the Nissan and stopped. A masked man wearing all black which Tolliver said was Copes got out of the Explorer and approached the victim. You could hear yelling and then shots being fired, Tolliver said. A second masked man later identified as Brock got out of the Explorer about 15 seconds later and more shots were fired. The robbery victim got his gun and returned fire, police said. Brock, shot in the face and neck, collapsed in front of the work truck where he died. Copes, shot in the head and pelvis, was rushed to UAB Hospital. The deadly shooting happened about 11 a.m. Friday in the 4300 block of Fifth Avenue South.(Carol Robinson) The Explorer fled the scene, leaving Copes and Brock behind. Tolliver testified that the Explorer was a rented vehicle, and did not say if investigators ever identified, or arrested, the driver. The robbery victim wounded in both legs - was found near the roadway, alongside keys and a gun, and also taken to the hospital. Police found vacuum-sealed marijuana both inside and outside of the victims Nissan. The victim told investigators that the two masked men were trying to rob him. Authorities have not said whether Brock and Copes knew the robbery victim. Authorities recovered three guns from the crime scene, including a rife that Tolliver said Brock had brandished and fired. Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Charissa Henrich said it was clear that Brock was killed during a robbery attempt in which he and Copes were carrying out. Copes attorney, Catelyn Swindall of the Jefferson County Public Defenders Office, said she did not believe prosecutors proved their case against her client and asked the cases to be dismissed. Based on all the testimony Ive heard today, I am going to bind the cases over, the judge said. Copes has been held in county jail since July 25 on bonds totaling $310,000. Swindall asked that the bond be reduced to $30,000. He had a severe traumatic brain injury, and he also had an injury to his abdomen, Swindall said, noting the helmet he is required to wear because his head is still unprotected. The defense attorney said jail officials told her they cannot provide the intensive care and therapy that Copes needs. She said he needs such intensive care that he should be in a skilled nursing facility. Mr. Copes is unable to take care of himself, Swindall said. He is unable to even go to the bathroom on his own. He needs around-the-clock care, which she said his family was willing to provide. Henrich objected to a bond reduction, citing Copes criminal history which includes a capital murder acquittal in 2018, and said he has open criminal cases in the Bessemer Cutoff and has previous failure to appear charges. I understand he did suffer an injury, Henrich said, but he wouldnt have been shot if he didnt engage in a robbery. I think he would be a danger to any skilled nursing facility, she said. Bell said after considering several factors including previous convictions and the seriousness of his new charges the bond for Copes will remain at $310,000. The jail is going to have to figure out how to take care of you, he said. A Montgomery hospital went on lockdown Wednesday morning following a phoned threat to shoot staff, authorities said. Montgomery VA Hospital Police Chief David Agee said the hospitals suicide prevention coordinators received a call shortly after 9:30 a.m. from a man who said he was going to come to the hospital, shott VA staff and then himself. He said he was armed with an AR-15 and a .45-caliber handgun. The Perry Road facility went into immediate lockdown while police tried to keep everyone at the hospital safe and determine the safety and well-being of the caller, Agee said. Montgomery police, Montgomery County sheriffs deputies and State Bureau of Investigation agents also responded to the scene. At noon, the chief said, investigators determined the caller was at his home. He was taken into custody and to an undisclosed medical facility for further evaluation. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency officials late Wednesday night identified the suspect 61-year-old Michael Barnett of Camp Hill. Barnett is charged with making a terroristic threat and rendering false alarm to a hospital. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail with bond set at $18,000. Hospital Chief of Staff Dr. Kittra Owens described the suspect as a humanitarian, who at some point had previously been seen at the hospital. Our priority here is to evaluate and treat veterans but it does not mean from time to time a veteran may come to our facility and they may have a family member within that needs aid, Owens said. We may also have an individual who walks in and presents to our emergency room in medical crisis or an individual who served in military but did not meet criteria on active duty to be deemed as a veteran, she said. They are designated as humanitarians. Were a part of this community, Owens said. Our intent is to not turn our backs on anyone who is need in of aid. She did not elaborate. Multiple news reports surfaced early of an active shooting at the hospital. A short time later, City of Montgomery Chief of Staff Chip Hill said he had spoken with police leadership and they assured him that no one on site was found with a gun. No one is injured. No one was shot. MPD is supporting their federal counterparts who are still following up on the initial reports, Hill said. There was a heavy police presence at the hospital for a time. But police left the entrances to the hospital by about noon, allowing traffic freely into and out of the campus. Robbyn Duncan started hearing the rumors in August. The agent for the new College Park housing development in Childersburg, Duncan has been the on-site agent for the community, which is taking shape with dozens of homes off U.S. 280. Floor plans offered include three and four-bedroom homes, some with two stories, and attached garages. But another message was getting out into the surrounding area. One woman in the community said, I heard illegal immigrants are going to be living out here, coming off a plane, Duncan said. Another said this was Section Eight housing. Another said it was apartments. (People) were saying the illegal immigrants were going to move out here because theres not enough people to move out here. The homes, however, are open to anyone who can purchase one - whether they are first-time homebuyers, those wishing to upgrade, or others. Duncan said she had no idea where the stories got started. The Talladega County area is the latest in Alabama to be overtaken by concerns over Haitian immigrants, with residents demanding answers from elected officials, urged on by stories shared on social media and elsewhere. But as with other Alabama communities seeing Haitian immigration, the stories dont link up with reality. One city council member told Fox News Digital that residents fear their town is becoming another Springfield - which has been a flashpoint in the 2024 presidential election because of wild stories about Haitian immigrants, since discredited, shared by former President Donald Trump and running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. City officials estimate there are as many as 60 Haitians in the city - nowhere near the 15,000 now estimated to live in Springfield, Ohio, a mostly white, blue-collar city of about 59,000. The 2023 Census puts Sylacaugas total population at a little more than 12,000; about 64% of its residents are white. Residents asked questions about Haitian immigrants at a meeting earlier this month of the Sylacauga City Council. That meeting adjourned after only 20 minutes when several speakers angrily demanded to know details. Some of that same sentiment was on display Tuesday night, when the council met again, and faced other residents wanting to know how many Haitians were in Sylacauga, and what brought them there. One man who spoke at the meeting wanted to know how much money city officials were getting from the federal government to ignore this problem, or be complicit and enable it. Theyre not like immigrants of the past, he said. Theyre immigrants that are coming in here getting free houses, free phones, free healthcare, and not having to do a damn thing for it, because its like an invasion. Another man who addressed the council saw a different reason for the concern. The bottom line is you mad because they brought some Black people into Sylacauga, Greg Patterson said. Theres been a lot of confusion in this community Police and school officials in Sylacauga have said large numbers of Haitians are not showing up in their police reports, or affecting enrollment in huge numbers. Sylacauga School Superintendent Michele Eller said the system has only seen one Haitian student added in the system this year - out of nearly 2,000 students in four schools. By contrast, the system added about 20 Hispanic students last year, bringing its overall total to about 40. There is also a student who speaks Mandarin Chinese. Dr. Rick Patrick, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Sylacauga, heard another pastor say the rumor was that a church brought in two busloads of Haitians. Its more a diaspora, he said. It was a car here, a van here. The city didnt do it. The government didnt do it. Patrick remembers a mission trip his church took to Haiti more than a decade ago, as church members helped those affected by a disastrous 2010 earthquake from which the Caribbean Island nation has still not yet fully recovered. Haitians began immigrating to the U.S. in larger numbers earlier this year following unrest and gang violence. See also: Haitian immigrants fleeing unrest and facing exploitation find Alabama is the best place to live Our people came back, their lives forever changed, Patrick said of the mission trip. Its one of the poorest nations on earth. Patrick said he began seeing Haitians turn up at church services. Despite the fact that many do not speak English, they sing when we sing, they pray when we pray. Theres been a lot of confusion in this community, he said. A lot of misinformation. Not all the reaction locally has been negative, he said. Other churches have called to offer assistance. An interpreter has been located. Some congregations are talking about establishing a service in Creole. Some people have pledged money to help. (The Haitians) havent asked us for anything, he said. Weve offered to give them transportation. Were willing to do much more. People have offered jobs, assistance. Patrick said First Baptist is hosting two events this month - a general information meeting next Tuesday at 6 p.m., where state and federal officials are scheduled to attend to answer questions from residents about the legality of Haitian immigrants and any concerns they might have. A meeting on Sept. 29, called Welcoming the Sojourner, will offer residents information on Haitian culture, what immigrants experience going to another country, and other issues aimed at sharing Christianity with immigrants. Theres talk of launching an English language course for those coming to the area. If you cant stop it, then were going to have to stop it Patrick said he hopes the two-pronged approach will help Sylacauga residents, and Haitian newcomers. Theres the citizenship aspect, and theres ministering to them with the message of Christ, and in a loving way, he said. City Councilman Ashton Fowler, who attends Patricks church, first saw the Haitians show up for services about two months ago, with attendance rising from two to about 10, he said. Not long after, he began seeing the stories circulating on social media. City Council President Tiffany Nix said she met with some Haitians in Sylacauga last Sunday. She spoke with them for about two hours through an interpreter - a Birmingham pastor who speaks Creole. She wanted to know, like the residents who speak at council meetings, who the people were and how they got to Sylacauga. For a few, it was a bus - a Greyhound. She said when she began asking questions, they began gathering their immigration papers to show they were in the country legally. Nix and Fowler said the Haitians theyve spoken with are in the U.S. throughon 18-to-24 month work visas through a federal program allowing Haitian immigrants to enter if they have a sponsor, meet certain guidelines and undergo a vetting. The Haitians, she said, are employed by a temp service and migrate from city to city as work is available. Nix said the stories of hundreds of Haitians flooding the area are an exaggeration. The people who are here today may be gone tomorrow, because theyre just searching for work, she said. The reason theyre visible now is because the work assignments they have are ended. They dont want to be bothered. They just want to work. Fowler said residents have every right to ask questions about immigration. I think the frustration is when we say we dont know, they think we know more than we do, and thats just not the case at the local level, he said. Were being perceived as having secret meetings, Nix said. Were perceived as being untruthful by certain people. Theyre spreading lies and gossip on social media, so its not really helping. When we get information, we relay it to the public. Sylacauga got attention in the immigration debate after video of its last city council meeting was shared through several national and state media outlets. Tuesdays meeting drew about 50 people, many of whom were there not because of immigration, but discussion over a comp time policy for city employees. The general business of government went on. The budget was passed. Members asked what could be done about a flooding problem in the police department. But the time for questions from the public was again dominated by the immigrant question. An 86-year-old woman said theres no way these people are paying their own rent. I hate my tax money is being spent in this kind of way, she said. My money is doing it, and Im tired of it. The man who accused council members of taking money linked Haitian immigration with stories of gang takeovers of apartment complexes in Colorado - which officials there have said have been overstated. We did not consent to this, he said. When you start having hotels and apartment complexes taken over by like-minded individuals, what are you going to do? Are you going to stop that? If you cant stop it, then were going to have to stop it. You understand? Patterson, the resident who said stories about Haitians are racially motivated, noted other immigrant populations in recent years - Croatians, Mexicans, citizens of Middle Eastern nations - havent faced similar questions. Its amazing to me that such a small group of people is creating such disorder in this town, Greg Patterson said. Wheres all this conspiracy about a few people who want to work coming from?...Give me a break. These people are here just to get some work. The executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the nation, on Tuesday voted to sell its Nashville headquarters. The sale of the building, located at 901 Commerce St. ... is expected to provide the executive committee a much-needed cash infusion, The Tennessean reported. As those expenditures increase, which recently is due to legal expenses that emerged from a sexual abuse investigation, there is also decreased revenue. See also: According to the Baptist Press, much of the $12.1 million spent on legal fees between 2020 and July 2024 involved the cases of former SBC president Johnny Hunt and former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor David Sills. To meet the ECs operational and legal expenses, the Executive Committee has authorized the president to execute a loan secured by the building and place the SBC building on the market, Chairman Philip Robertson said, according to the Baptist Press. The Guidepost Report into sexual abuse found an allegation that Hunt sexually assaulted another pastors wife in 2010 to be credible. His lawsuit cost the denomination $3.1 million, The Tennesseans Liam Adams tweeted. Sills was accused in an Alabama defamation suit of sexual abuse by a former student. It was not immediately clear how much went toward legal costs related to that case. The sale of the building has been discussed for years but the decision was made public near the end of the executive committee meeting today. Public records list the buildings appraised value at $31.7 million. A 40-year-old man is behind bars following a road rage shooting in east Alabama. Gadsden police responded at 3:17 p.m. Tuesday to reports of a shooting at the intersection of Rainbow Drive and Lakewood Drive. They arrived to find a woman wounded. Her injuries were not life-threatening. Investigators learned that the suspect later identified as Tommy Junior Smith of Oxford fired at the victim from his Jeep. He then fled in the direction of Interstate I-755. A lookout bulletin was issued to surrounding law enforcement agencies. The vehicle was later spotted by Rainbow City police. Officers there made a traffic stop and took Smith into custody. He is charged with first-degree assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle. Police said the shooting was an isolated road rage incident and there was no ongoing threat to public safety. The Etowah County Sheriffs Office, the Southside Police Department, the Attalla Police Department, and the Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit assisted. Smith remains held in the Etowah County Jail. Birmingham police are searching for a missing 75-year-old man who hasnt been seen or heard from by his family for nearly three weeks. Willie James Washington was reported missing Sept. 11 but has not been seen or heard from since Aug. 29, police said Tuesday. Washington was last known location was the 1300 block of 4th Terrace West in Birmingham. He may be suffering from undiagnosed dementia and may be trying to travel to St. Louis, police said. Washington was described as 6-feet tall, 195 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. Anyone with information on Washingtons whereabouts was asked to call Birmingham police at 205-328-9311. This is a guest opinion column Alabamas labor force is becoming increasingly dominated by government employees, including federal, state, and local workers. The bottom line is that all levels of government continue to grow, not only in Washington, D.C., but here in Alabama as well, and taxpayers are paying for that expansion. According to June numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2024 government employees made up 17.9% of Alabamas workforce, 4.2% higher than the national average. Of the approximately 2.25 million citizens working in Alabama today, more than 405,000 of those are working for some form of government, nearly one in every five employees. The Federal Reserve estimates that around 58,400 (14.4%) of those employees work for the federal government, an increase of more than 3,000 workers since 2020. From a historical perspective, the percentage of government workers in Alabama has remained relatively constant over the past 35 years. In 1990, approximately 18.4% of employees worked for some form of government. That percentage grew to 20.4% in 2010, before declining to its current level. However, in terms of the actual number of Alabamians employed by some level of government, the total has increased by 84,500 employees since 1990. In seven of the past 10 years, the state has increased overall government employment, a total growth of 8.0%. Why should you care that more Alabamians than ever before are employed by the government? There are several reasons. First, anyone who pays federal, state, or local taxes is directly fueling the expansion of government. As the public sector becomes larger so does its influence and encroachment into activities that should be performed by the private sector. Instead of investing more money into the government, lawmakers should be looking for policy solutions that spur additional private sector growth. Second, public sector spending growth cannot happen without increases in tax revenue and/or increases in debt. Over the past 20 years, nominal federal spending has grown by more than 167%, peaking at $6.8 trillion in 2021 amid the federal governments response to the COVID-19 pandemic, before declining to $6.1 trillion in 2023. Over the same period, federal tax revenues increased by 136.1%. Increases in federal spending have been accompanied by substantial increases in annual federal deficits as well as cumulative debt. The last time that the federal government had a budget surplus was in 2000. Since then, annual federal deficits have ranged from $32.4 billion in 2001 to a peak of $3.1 trillion in 2020. Last year the federal government spent about $1.7 trillion more than it collected from taxpayers. In just the past 10 years federal debt held by the public has increased by more than 105%, reaching $26.2 trillion in 2023. According to the Heritage Foundation, a child born in 2024 will assume $82,590 in federal debt, with that number projected to grow 2.5 times by the time they reach the age of 30. Eventually all Americans will pay the price for unsustainable spending, whether that be in the form of significant tax increases or a severe downturn in the U.S. economy. Thankfully, the Alabama Constitution requires the state to have a balanced budget each year. However, that does not mean that taxes and spending have not increased here as well. In the past 10 years combined state General Fund and Education Trust Fund spending has grown by 47%, not including supplemental appropriations approved by the Legislature. Over the same period, combined revenues grew by nearly 81%. With each new dollar spent by federal, state, or local governments, dependency on those governments increases. In 2023 alone, the federal government funneled over $64 billion through direct payments, contracts, grants, and other forms of financial assistance to Alabama, making our state one of the most federally dependent states in the nation. The more money that Alabamas state and local governments take from Washington, D.C., the less control our elected officials have over how that money, as well as state and local funds that are required to match federal funding, can be spent, forcing Alabama values to bend to whichever political party controls the federal government at any given time. Any level of government should be as unobtrusive as possible, allowing the citizens that it serves and the private sector to flourish. Its objective should not be to raise and spend as much money as possible to ensure continued growth and dependency. Alabama has added 84,500 government employees at all levels in the past 35 years. This is one symptom of the disease that is government expansion across the United States. In the long run, it means less freedom and opportunity for Alabamians. Justin Bogie is senior director of fiscal policy, Alabama Policy Institute. This is a guest opinion column The last words Kenneth Street spoke to Redemption Earned Registered Nurse, Felicia Hall-Grace, were: Miss Felicia, please get me out of here before I die. One week later, in early June, his heart stopped, and he breathed his last breath. Time ran out. ..Time ran out before the Redemption Earned staff was able to extricate Mr. Street from the unsafe conditions of the Alabama Department of Corrections. He was honorably discharged from the US Army where he served as a HAWK missile team crewmember and was awarded the Army Achievement Medal for his outstanding service. After serving his country for more than 8 years, Mr. Street was violently assaulted and robbed in Virginia. The unprovoked attack led to a traumatic brain injury that left him in a coma for three months and ultimately in a wheelchair. Sadly, his victimization and the resulting impairment to his brain and body caused him to commit a terrible crime. During an argument in 2015, his fianceewhom hed met in the militarythrew boiling water on him, and he horribly overreacted and shot her. Thanks to Houston County District Attorney, Doug Valeska, he was convicted of manslaughter, and with the aid of his wheelchair and walker, he entered an Alabama prison, where he was forgotten. Gone was his unselfish service to his nation; gone was the fact that he had been a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen; gone was the reality that he was a victim of a horrific crime. The only thing that mattered was punishment and imprisonment of a permanently brain-damaged man, another notch in the DAs proverbial belt. Thank goodness Valeska is no longer DA in Houston and Henry Counties. There is no way to quantify the number of people who were inappropriately or excessively punished during his tenure. While behind prison walls, Kenneth Street was a model prisoner, yet he was denied parole in 2022. Why? Because to some, like our Parole Board Chair, Leigh Gwathney, who has voted against medical parole for all but one of Redemption Earneds aged and infirmed clients, health does not matter. Alabama taxpayers should also ask AL Attorney General Steve Marshall why he orders his staff to oppose EVERY medical parole sought by Redemption Earned. It would appear that the only concept that matters to these two Alabama public officials is punishment - NOT a risk to public safety or deteriorating health, no, just pure, unadulterated punishment. When Redemption Earned seeks medical parole for people like Mr. Street, public safety remains a top priority. We try our best to approach each case with great sensitivity to victims losses, to ensure that victims do not feel overlooked or insulted or that their concerns have been cast aside. Unlike Leigh Gwathney and Steve Marshall, we try to understand the full picture of each case and each client that comes before us. Time passes, people change, and in many cases, victims or their families choose a path other than pure retribution. Many choose closure or otherwise aim to protect their peace, and some even choose forgiveness. For Kenneth Street, however, time ran out. Redemption Earned attorneys and staff, including a social worker and RN, were not able to get a deserving veterans medical parole in front of the AL Pardons and Parole Board, where 2 of 3 board members have consistently followed their Oaths of Office by granting parole to individuals who have been adequately punished and are physically unable to harm anyone. They are doing the right thing, the reasonable thing, the humane thing. Board members Darryl Littleton and Gabrelle Simmons (Simmons joined the board in 2023) are refusing to follow Chairman Gwathneys path of vengeance and are granting medical parole to the aged, infirmed, sick, and dying incarcerated adults who come before them, saving Alabamians tax dollars. We urge every caring Alabamian, every person of faith, to express to the Governor and Legislative Leadership that the person who holds the chairmanship of the Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles should, at a bare minimum, believe in parole and feel compelled to follow the law. Leigh Gwathney needs to go, before time runs out for many more Kenneth Streets. Rest in Peace, Mr. Street. Please forgive us. All of us. Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb is the founder of Redemption Earned. Her previous role as executive director has been filled by former Judge Teresa Pulliam. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., on Wednesday led three of her Republican colleagues in attempting to expedite border and fracking bills --- issues that Vice President Kamala Harris has changed her views on since launching her presidential campaign -- that ultimately were blocked by Democrats. When we look at how Vice President Harris is running, its obviously very different than the way she served, Britt said on the Senate floor as she led an effort to get a series of bills passed through unanimous consent. Britt pointed out that Harris, as a senator in 2020, called then-President Trumps proposal to build a wall on the southern border a complete waste of taxpayer money that wont make us any safer while Harris called on her Democratic Senate colleagues to reject the plan. Alabamas junior senator noted that Democrats who blocked border wall funding on Wednesday signaled that they are not aligned with Harris presidential campaign positions. Britt claimed Harris current positions are disingenuous. Heres the deal: you cant have it both ways. Kamala Harris either wants to secure our border, which shes had ample time to do ... or she doesnt, which is what weve seen throughout her tenure both in the Senate and as vice president, she said. But yet now shes campaigning as something totally different ... what we saw here today that her newfound support of the border wall is not supported by her Democratic colleagues here in the Senate, Britt said, and I look forward to hearing more about what weve seen on the campaign trail versus in actuality where she stands. Britt hinted that she and her Republican colleagues would continue to point a spotlight on Harris changing positions. Its clear that her flip-flops arent real, and theres much more to dig into and discuss as this campaign moves forward, the senator said. The tactics used by Britt and Sens. Markwayne Mullin and James Lankford of Oklahoma and Mike Lee of Utah have also been deployed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who put up a bill on Tuesday that would have protected in vitro fertilization procedures legal nationwide. Democrats blocked the legislation and then attempted to advance their Right to IVF Act, but that, too, failed to move forward. In arguing for her legislation, Britt said it safeguards religious liberty because it does not compel facilities to offer IVF while offering nationwide certainty and peace of mind that IVF will remain legal. It also would bar states from receiving federal Medicaid dollars if they ban the procedure. Both parties bills were inspired by the Alabama Supreme Court decision finding that frozen embryos have the same rights as children. The ruling led several IVF providers in Alabama to cut services amid fear of lawsuits before the state Legislature shielded the clinics from legal liability. The political back-and-forth comes as reproductive rights, the border and energy policiesare key issues in the 2024 election as both sides make their cases to voters. Kamala Harris' recent boasts about her tough-on-crime record as California Attorney General have brought back into the spotlight her arrest and prosecution of single black mother Cheree Peoples in 2013, a tragedy I recount in my new short documentary, Arrested by Kamala: A Black Mother's Story. There is a three minutes only version of the interview on You Tube as well, Arrested by Kamala. The story is also told in a riveting rap song of the same name: Arrested by Kamala. In no small part, Harris ascended to power on the backs of minority women, women like Cheree Peoples, a victim of Harriss crackdown on truancy. At the time, Harris was not shy about explaining the rationale for the crackdown. California schools are funded according to average daily attendance, at the time about $30 per student per day. Harris, whose supporters included teachers unions, spoke openly about the need to increase school attendance in order to obtain more money from the state and federal governments. In addressing this issue, Kamala once declared on camera, I want money! Harris instituted a program in San Francisco beginning in 2007 to threaten parents with arrest and a year in jail if their children missed school. When she became California State Attorney General in 2010, Harris took her arrest the parents program statewide. She openly laughed on camera about mailing parents letters that threatened jail time, and boasted about sending her most vicious prosecutors from gang and homicide units to intimidate and prosecute parents who had been arrested. Cheree Peoples paid little attention when the crackdown was announced. Although her daughter Shayla missed considerable school time, Shayla was handicapped. She was born with the debilitating disease Sickle Cell Anemia. She spent many painful days in the hospital receiving blood transfusions and frequent emergency medical care to manage her pain. Then too, all of Shayla's absences were excused by her school by way of doctors letters from Childrens Hospital. In addition, Cheree Peoples had a 504 Agreement with the school district which excused Shayla's absences due to her severe handicap and frequent hospitalizations. Despite Shaylas well-documented condition and documentation received by her school, Cheree Peoples was suddenly arrested on orders of Kamala Harris at her home in Buena Park, California, on April 18th, 2013. Among the charges was contributing to the delinquency of a minor and others that made Shayla out to be a gang member. The media, tipped off in advance, photographed Cheree being humiliated as she was perp walked in handcuffs to a police car to be booked and fingerprinted at the Santa Anna police station. The degrading photo of the arrest appeared in the local newspaper. Cheree spent the next two years in court resisting Harris's crack prosecutors who pressured her to plead guilty. She could not afford a year in jail with Shayla in need of constant care. However, due to the constant court appearances, Cheree could not take care of Shayla and maintain a job. As a result, she lost her apartment and became homeless, moving into a motel with Shayla. Under all the duress of her mothers prosecution, Shayla suffered a stroke at only 12 years of age, resulting in permanent paralysis of her right arm and right leg. Because Cheree bravely fought the charges and refused to plead guilty, Kamal Harris's prosecutors finally just dropped the case against Cheree in 2015. In 2018, the California Supreme Court ruled that Kamala Harriss policy of arresting parents for truancy was unconstitutional and her abusive program was ended. In 2019, in her aborted run for the presidency, Harris tried to disown the truancy crackdown, falsely claiming that she had few arrests and no one was jailed. Cheree was appalled when she heard this. The pain and suffering of two years in court and the humiliation of her arrest are a constant reminder of Harris soullessness. Will Kamala Harris apologize to Cheree and so many other women of color for arresting and prosecuting them? Cheree is not holding her breath. In Arrested by Kamala, Cheree calls out Harris's hypocrisy and declares, I am not a political person. But I want people to know what Kamala Harris did to me. If she does it to me, she will abuse anyone if you give her the power. My message to all Americans, especially black Americans is, do not trust Kamala Harris! Hollywood film director Joel Gilbert is president of Highway 61 Entertainment. Among his many films are political documentaries including The Climate According to AI Al Gore, The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America; Trump: The Art of the Insult; There's No Place Like Utopia; Dreams from My Real Father; Atomic Jihad; and Farewell Israel: Bush, Iran and the Revolt of Islam and the new film and book Michelle Obama 2024: Her Real Life Story and Plan for Power. Image: Screen shot from Joel Gilbert documentary, by permission If youve been following the antics of the leftward half of Americas political class, then youll notice pretty quickly that, ever since Kamala Harris got nominated for president, an upbeat mood has prevailed. To the left, Harris is a champion of normalcy, decency, democracy, and the rule of law. Indeed, she is the perfect person for the moment the person whos answering her countrys call to vindicate American values and banish Trumpistry for good. So its only natural that Democrats were pleased with the outcome of last Tuesdays debate. As with most political debates, it was easy for both sides to claim victory. Trump supporters got to hear their candidate say the same things that hes been saying for years. Immigration, abortion, tariffs, energy, the economy, the Russia-Ukraine war Donald Trumps voters know where he stands on the issues, and when he opens his mouth, they like what they hear. Harriss people, on the other hand, got to hear their candidate say things. This was also a win because the man whom Harris replaced is a man who cant finish his sentences. Obviously, Harriss positions arent consistent quite often, theyre the opposite of what she believed back in 201920, the years of Peak Woke. Should we be enforcing the border? Is being a prosecutor an embarrassment or something to be proud of? Is it a good idea to ban fracking? Some things havent changed. Harris still wants price controls on groceries as if no one could remember what happened when our country tried that with gasoline in the 1970s. (Would you prefer to buy your bread on even-numbered or odd-numbered days?) And shes against free speech. (In 2019, she told CNN that social media companies are directly speaking to millions and millions of people without any level of oversight or regulation, and it has to stop.) And yet, in the most essential things i.e., being awake for most of the day and having plans of some sort for the future Harris is clearly a big step upward from Biden. If I were a Democrat, I would definitely have felt the optimism, too, when her candidacy was announced, and I would have breathed a sigh of relief that democracy and the rule of law (since this is what her party is claiming to stand for now) might survive. One must remember that Kamala Harris wasnt the Democrat partys first choice. Nominating her was a last resort. The original plan was to just hide Bidens cognitive decline until after the election. All throughout winter and spring, the media and the whole administration tried to cover it up. As if in lockstep, dozens of prominent Democrats said he was sharp as a tack. When videos came out of him wandering off aimlessly at diplomatic conferences and having to be steered back by his aides, his apologists baselessly insisted that he was actually trying to talk to people outside the frame. And then came the June 27 debate, when everyone got to see just how often Biden was losing his train of thought (raped by their brothers and sisters, we finally beat Medicare, Putin told Trump to invade Ukraine, and all that.) And then, when it was obvious that a Biden nomination would end in defeat, and after a month of handwringing and soul-searching and arm-twisting, Democrat party insiders finally got Biden to step aside after all the voting in the primaries was finished. They could have done this six months earlier and let their partys base pick the next nominee. But they didnt. What is the important takeaway here? Whenever the Democrat party does something reasonable, its usually as a last resort. Nominate a presidential candidate who doesnt have dementia? A backup play, something to do in a rush when the first option, the just lie about it option, is obviously blown. Drop your anti-fracking stance? Something to be done when running for nationwide office, when its necessary, not when running for Senator for California, when it isnt. (Though, of course, mining and drilling are more easily blocked by judges than by presidents, and, as Ive written about before, any Democrat president, even one whose personal views are moderate, will pick judges well to the left of the average American.) Democrats newfound pro-cop stance (remember that Black Lives Matter got only a few shout-outs at the convention, and Democrats are trying a lot harder to respect law enforcement now than in 2020) is likewise mercenary. It really started with January 6, since if youre going to call your opponent an insurrectionist, you have to position yourselves as the law and order party. But beneath this facade, there is no real respect for police, nor any real belief that, even if George Floyd was an innocent victim, its still an injustice to respond to his death by burning down hundreds of random businesses. Likewise, the American flags, which were waving by the thousands at the Democratic National Convention last month, arent a regular fixture of that partys events, as anyone whos been around for a few years will remember. Democrats just realized, at some point, that patriotism was popular and changed their messaging rather than risk more defeats at the ballot box. The trend should be clear to see. Democrats want to look like the party of normalcy, decency, democracy, and the rule of law. Theyve learned the hard way that they dont want to be the party whose candidate calls the other sides voters deplorables, or brags about putting coal miners out of work. (Theyre still stuck with the candidate who helped set up a bail fund for the people who set fire to Minneapolis during the Floyd riots, but since the media are on their side, that seldom gets talked about honestly.) And yet, everything the Democrats have done to earn this normalcy image turns out to have been a sort of last resort, something done only when they had exhausted their other options. Not running a dementia patient for president? A last resort, something to be done only when the medias attempts to hide Joe Bidens true condition had hopelessly failed. Respecting the police? A last resort. Flying the flag? Renouncing fracking bans? Stripping the platform of lengthy prattle about racial guilt? The Democrats were spooked into doing these things by their awful poll numbers, which until the end of July were even lower then when they got trounced in 2016. None of these rebrandings is likely to influence how liberal politicians behave once in office. And then there is the wild hypocrisy around abortion. Nowadays, Democrats love to talk about how theyve won every state-level abortion referendum in the last two years (which means the common people are on their side, which means their cause it just, and so forth). And left-leaning sites like the Huffington Post run headlines about Republicans attempting to keep abortion off the ballot. This is a reference to the lawsuits that always surround ballot initiatives, in which the referendums opponents will claim that the ballot measure didnt get enough signatures, or is described on the ballot inaccurately. Both parties file suits like this, so you cant really accuse either of being undemocratic on this count and in any case, elected legislatures (which our countrys founders trusted more than they trusted direct democracy anyway) are still free to legislate for either side. But of course the reason its so baldly hypocritical for the Huffington Post to run this headline is that of course Democrats believe that abortion should be kept off the ballot. They themselves kept it off the ballot for 49 years thats what Roe v. Wade was all about and for all that time, the Democrats never questioned the unworthiness of ordinary Americans to determine the legality of abortion through their votes. The partys newfound commitment to democracy on this issue like their newfound commitments to democracy, patriotism, and the rule of law in general is yet another thing they do only when theyve tried everything else and failed. And if America gives Kamala Harris and her party the big win at the ballot box that theyre expecting, then all of these facades will go down as quickly as they went up. Then, when the excitement has died down from Novembers elections, Americans will find themselves ruled by the same old Deep State progressives who were supposed to have gotten the boot back in 2016. Twilight Patriot is the pen name for a young American who lives in South Carolina, where he is currently working toward a graduate degree. You can read more of his writings at his Substack. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. After four years of the Biden/Harris administrations feeble foreign policy, the redefining of the United States redlines should begin in our own backyard: Latin America and the Caribbean. After all, the value of renovating one's house is limited if the neighborhood is in shambles. To create a healthy neighborhood, it helps if neighbors share similar values, such as democracy, fair elections, and civil liberties. Fortunately, many of America's neighboring nations do. But there is one country whose owner is ruining the neighborhood, even though its people do value those ideals: Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro's stranglehold on his country has been a blight on the Western Hemisphere for far too long. His regime has multiple negative effects on the United States, including massive illegal immigration, drug smuggling and human trafficking. In fact, Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism by the U.S. government. According to the Department of Justice, Maduro deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon... in order to undermine the health and well-being of our nation. In addition, over the last 25 years Maduro and his mentor, Hugo Chavez, have partnered with Cuba, whose agents assist in intelligence collection and sharpening the repressive state apparatus, to bring Americas top global antagonists to our doorstep -- Russia, China, and Iran. This is the same axis of evil that have now joined forces to undermine global U.S. leadership since the current administrations disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Their economic and military aid allow Maduro to cling to power as 90% of his countrymen sink into poverty. Venezuelan women are trafficked and forced into prostitution to survive. Young men join gangs, many of which are now active in the U.S., terrorizing Americans. Almost eight million Venezuelans have fled their country since 2014, of whom 615,000 have entered the U.S. in the past two years alone. The Biden/Harris administration flew 100,000 of them directly to American territory. Along with Iranian proxies such as Hezballah, these global challengers collaborate with local Latin American terrorist groups harbored by Maduro, such as Colombias FARC and ELN, which in turn join forces with shady transnational criminal organizations. Together they not only undermine democracy in neighboring countries, such as Colombia and Ecuador, but run arms, drug, and human trafficking cartels through the Mexican border -- a border that has become all but nonexistent thanks to failure of Joe Biden's border czar -- presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Another Stolen Election Venezuelans, a freedom-seeking people, have just been robbed of another election on July 28th. This time, the opposition, led by the charismatic Maria Corina Machado, has substantial proof of Nicolas Maduro's theft. As a result, the tyrant has stepped up repression with the aid of his Cuban and Russian cronies -- murder, massive arrests, torture, and a siege of the Argentinian embassy where six opposition leaders have taken refuge. The 75-year-old president-elect, Edmundo Gonzalez, who stood in for Machado after she was disqualified by the regime, has fled to Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Maria Corina Machado, a truly valiant feminine leader, has been forced into hiding after being charged with insurrection. An inspiring speaker, the Yale-educated firebrand emerged to fire up crowds at mass protests in August before being whisked away on a motorcycle. She continues to orchestrate worldwide demonstrations from her hideaway. In 2012, she confronted the late strongman Hugo Chavez in the National Assembly calling him a thief for expropriating businesses, adding that: A decent Venezuela wants a profound transformation: it wants respect for property, a Venezuela of solidarity, a Venezuela of justice, a Venezuela of progress and it is time to face this historic challenge that lies ahead with seriousness and responsibility. Chavez died of cancer the following year, but his hand-picked successor Nicolas Maduro has made things worse. The stakes are high for Latin America and the United States. Emigration is projected to increase by 17% due to the fraudulent election. Russia has sent Wagner mercenaries to aid in the repression. If there are no repercussions, the axis of evil will conclude that they have a free hand in the Western Hemisphere. How Donald Trump Should Address Foreign Policy in 2024 Donald Trump should consider giving another focused foreign policy speech like the one he gave as a candidate in April of 2016. One that will strengthen his credentials as a defender of democracy and help him win the Hispanic vote. Trump should explain why his foreign policy will focus first on Americas backyard: how we got here, his solution, strategy and why the reconstruction of Venezuela will not be a burden on American taxpayers. The Problem The Biden/Harris weakness in both domestic and foreign policy has undermined the security of Americans in an unprecedented way. Their policy of easing oil sanctions on Venezuela without any concrete progress towards democratic order has allowed the Maduro regime and its criminal network aligned with Russia, Iran, Cuba, and others to continue intervening in our hemisphere. By abandoning our southern border, the current administration has allowed gangs like Tren de Aragua, whose origin is in Venezuela, to expand throughout the U.S., putting Americans at risk. The solution Upon election, Trump will close the border and expel dangerous illegal immigrants. Beyond that, it is an America First priority to secure the Western Hemisphere -- particularly Latin American and the Caribbean. Bad players, whether nations, terror organizations, or transnational criminal syndicates must understand that they have no place in the Western Hemisphere if they continue to undermine the United States. That means backing Maria Corina Machado, whose valor and tenacity demonstrate what true feminine leadership is, and the democratic forces in Venezuela. Strategy In stark contrast to Biden/Harris policies, Donald Trump needs to use tough tactics with the Venezuelan strongman. Just as the Iranians released the U.S. embassy hostages on January 20th, 1981, minutes after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. Trump, the candidate, should let Nicolas Maduro know that his time is up. Officially, Maduros current presidential term ends January 10th, 2025, just ten days before Donald Trump, if elected, will be sworn into office. January 10th would be a propitious time for the dictator to give up power and go into exile. If he clings to power after January 20th, candidate Trump should make clear that not only will he restore oil sanctions, but very forceful methods will be brought to bear. The toppling of the Maduro dictatorship, if negotiations and sanctions fail, wont require U.S. troops. Miami-based journalist Jaime Bayly recently reported that defense subcontractor Eric Prince of Blackwater is prepared to use his hired soldiers to bring the leaders of the regime to justice, adding that Prince is contact with Donald Trump. The message is clear: Democratic presidents like Carter and Biden are weak. Republicans like Reagan and Trump are not afraid to stand up to terrorism and tyranny. Reconstruction Trump should make it clear that the U.S. is no longer in the nation-building business. Unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, Venezuela was once a democracy. The country also has the worlds largest oil reserves. Its democratic leadership, along with wealthy Venezuelan exiles and business leaders, will begin to rebuild the country. Finally, Donald Trump should announce that when elected, he will appoint Marco Rubio as secretary of state, a man with great foreign policy credentials who as a son of Cuban exiles that fled communism understands our hemisphere better than anyone else. Image: Kremlin.ru Tell us how you really feel Don! I try to avoid writing about Don Lemon because he bores me (and no doubt a reader too), and because someone like Lemon, who is apparently such a non-event that even the failing CNN didnt want him, doesnt deserve attentionwe conservatives have bigger fish to frybut this one I couldnt resist, because its just so repugnant, and serves as the perfect illustration of why black Americans are rejecting the progressive Democrats. Yesterday, Lemon appeared on Joy Reids MSDNC show for a gab session, during which time Reid asked Lemon about a man-on-the-street type interview he conducted in August, which had revealed that a number of black men were intending to vote for President Donald Trump this November. Below is the question Reid posed, and Lemons answer, via a report at Breitbart: Reid asked, What do you make of that? What do you make of black men, as disdainful as Trump is to black people? Lemon said, I think youll agree as a journalist, as an American, you should have some knowledge before you say youre going to vote for them before you go into the polling place. A lot of them said I liked him because he gave me the stimulus check. I am like, that did not come from Donald Trump. His name was on it. It came from a Democratic Congress and Nancy Pelosi. I do think that some of it is bravado. I also think that it is aspirational. Donald Trump, devil may care, is flying around in airplanes, on gold toilets, beautiful women and all those things. I think maybe men who dont have an agency that white men have in society, maybe it is aspirational to them, and they want to be like him, and therefore they say they will vote for him. The narrative according to Lemon, in other words: black men who arent enslaved to progressivism, are the losers of society with no agency, only resonating with welfare handouts, gaudiness, and bravado, so thats why theyre voting Trump. Its not about knowledge because as everyone knows, a black man who supports Orange Man Bad cannot possibly be educated like college-indoctrinated Lemon! (I mean, clearly hes the pinnacle of intellect with his bachelors degree and career as a less-than-mediocre journalist for a fake news network.) A black man who votes for Trump is about as low as it gets on the social totem pole, so it only makes sense that he would aspire to feel like he mattered to those at the top. Is this the most offensive and bigoted take ever? Id say so! Could it possibly be that these men are simply using the context of their own lived experiences? Under Trump, things were better for black Americans. There was record low unemployment, and record low poverty; Trump, who made huge strides in unburdening the economy from heavy regulation and government interference, was the tide lifting all boats. Its well known that blacks are disproportionately affected by illegal immigrationwhen millions of illegal aliens flood into the U.S. welcomed by an administration, they take the jobs which are largely staffed by black Americans. Maybe, just maybe, Donald Trump actually does care about black Americans, both as a community and as a whole, and blacks arent as stuid as Lemon suggests, but instead are perceiving accurately Trumps very genuine affections for them. Maybe that explains their massive support for him? Just a thought. Now, the clip that Joy ran showed one man accusing black Trump supporters of just wanting handouts, but we arent actually clear as to where he stands on the electionfor all we know, he could be a Trump hater denigrating those he might call Uncle Toms or race traitors, still chained in the Democrat slave trade. Secondly, and this is worth addressing for the mockery, but the stimulus checks were Trump checks for any conservative arguing principle, this is certainly a blackmark on his recordbecause he signed the CARES Act, which funded the checks. Lemon wants to give credit to Pelosi? Shes the one who ridiculed the handouts as crumbs because they were coming from Trump! (Nevermind the fact that she wanted to give out less.) Maybe its men like Lemon who have no agency in this world. I mean, after losing his gig at CNN, he now approaches political differences like a bratty child approaches a parental rebuke; here he is, filming himself emulating a teenage girl with a major attitude, rolling his eyes and huffing and puffing for effect, mad at the logic and reason coming from the other side: Don Lemon is such a piece of He mocks and demeans women continuously. @MELANIATRUMP nearly lost husband and deserves answers and hes going to roll his eyes. #assassination #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/fAAv6cGUPf Doreen (@Doreenv1) September 12, 2024 (Just because youre gay doesnt mean you have to act like an obnoxious female.) He didnt offer an intelligent retort, uttering not a wordhe simply ramped up the drama! Im embarrassed for him. Now, apparently theres an audience so mindless that this sort of propaganda appeals to and theyre voting. The Democrat elites really do hate us when we vote in their own self-interest (less government), but they hate when the blacks do it even more; as the Democrats see it, theyre entitled to the black vote. These blacks are owned by the Democrat party! Who told them they could leave? No one said these blacks could start thinking for themselves! Well, the Democrats are losing their grip, because it wasnt just black men, but black women too: Don Lemon (@donlemon) struggles to understand why so many Black voters choose TRUMP! pic.twitter.com/9I9pdES6KM CartierFamily (@cartierfamilyZ) August 28, 2024 Image: YouTube video screen grab. In America, an inordinate number of so-called scientific studies are subject to whats called the replication (or reproducibility) crisis. If someone publishes a study that feeds into leftist shibboleths, no matter how poorly done the study is (small sampling, foolish assumptions, bad math, etc.), the results are widely trumpeted and become embedded in the popular consciousness. That the study cannot be replicated (run again from scratch) or reproduced (subject to a new analysis of the studys data)and often nobody even tries to do these thingsis irrelevant. The narrative overrides the scientific method. A classic example of the scientific lie getting halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on was a 2020 study claiming that black babies were much more likely to die under a white doctors care. The studys results were understood to mean that the white doctors were so racist that they were killing babies. However, that study recently got the rigorous analysis it deserved, revealing that it was completely wrong. By then, though, it was already part of the popular racial consciousness. The worst area for the crisis is in the faux science area of psychology, where science often boils down to biased observation. However, the purportedly hard science of medicine isnt much better. With that background, here are the tweets, which Ive run through the Thread Reader for easier viewing (including removing duplicate images): 1) Remember when the neo-segregationist left told you that white doctors were killing black babies? Turns out they were either incapable of analyzing their own data or outright lying to you. A new study demolishes the failings and falsehoods in that first study. We unpack it: 2) The original study claimed black newborns had lower mortality rates when cared for by black physicians. This got a lot of attention and influenced legal discourse, despite its, ahem, limitations. Classic 2020: it was as if they wanted you to think black people and white people couldn't live together. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1913405117 3) The study was so influential it was even cited (with clumsy inaccuracies) by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in her dissent in the 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case, demonstrating how far-reaching its conclusions became. https://archive.is/iWTz1#selection-457.1-457.24 4) A new analysis of the "white doctors kill black babies" study points out a crucial omitted factor: very low birth weight (< 1500g) of the neonates in question. This led to a major misinterpretation/misrepresentation of what the data actually say. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409264121 5) Very low birth weight, more common in black newborns (3.3%) than white (1.2%), accounts for 81% of black neonatal deaths and 66% of white. Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) this critical factor wasn't accounted for in the original analysis. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409264121 6) When the new researchers, G. Borjas and @RAVerBruggen, included very low birth weight, the apparent benefit of racial concordance became statistically insignificant. This suggests birth weight, not physician race, may be the more influential factor in newborn survival rates. 7) The new study also found that white doctors were more likely to care for black newborns with very low birth weights: 3.4% of their black patients vs 1.4% for black doctors. This important distribution wasn't considered, for inexplicable reasons, in the original study. 8) By omitting to mention this disparity, the initial research incorrectly attributed higher mortality rates to lack of "racial concordance" between baby and doctor, rather than to increased incidence of very low birth weight cases among the black patients of white doctors. 9) Borjas and VerBruggen conclude that reducing very low birth weights among black newborns may be more crucial in narrowing the black-white infant mortality gap than focusing on physician-patient racial matching, a dramatically different prescription from the original study. 10) The new study underscores the importance of controlling for all relevant factors in medical studies (who woulda thought?), esp. when findings can influence policies and public perceptions of the very possibility of a multiracial society. Sloppy/misleading analyses can lead to dangerous and racially inflammatory conclusions about healthcare disparities. Read the new study here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409264121 Just because leftists say its a scientific study, that doesnt mean it is. The funding goes to people who come out with results that advance the goals of pharmaceutical manufacturers and political activists. As the Free Black Thought warns, we owe it to ourselves and to society as a whole not to accept any study at face value unless we have an assurance that its passed replication and, if at all possible, reproducibility. Image made using AI and a photo from DC Studio. They call it "El tren de Aragua" or literally the train of Aragua, a region of Venezuela. And they've turned into a multinational crime organization. You may have heard about them in the stories of apartments in Aurora or New York City. There are also allegations of killing people and fentanyl distribution. In other words, theyve gotten around. Enter Texas. On Monday, Governor Greg Abbott made an announcement in Texas: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced the state is going to target a Venezuelan gang that he said was notorious for brutal violence and murder and posed a threat to Texans safety. At a press conference in Houston, Abbott signed a proclamation that declares the Tren de Aragua gang a foreign terrorist organization, and directed the Department of Public Safety to create new strike teams of highway patrol officers, SWAT teams, helicopters, canines and Texas Rangers to target areas with known TDA activity. We will bring the full weight of the government against the TDA by declaring TDA a foreign terrorist organization, Abbott said before signing the proclamation. Texas will use the courts to halt their operations, use civil asset forfeiture to take their property, use enhanced criminal penalties to keep them in jail, behind bars for longer periods of time. The governor singled out El Paso as a hotbed for recent criminal activity by suspected members of Tren de Aragua. He said residents there had recently been concerned about criminal activity in a local hotel where 20 suspected Venezuelan gang members were arrested. Well done, Governor. Good to see that someone is taking the matter of crime seriously in the country. I'm curious if the Biden DoJ will challenge Texas' authority to jump into international crime. My guess is that Texas would win in the Supreme Court, but who knows when that happens. The larger point is that this organization has literally walked into the country thanks to open border. "Tren" has also benefitted from operating in Democrat jurisdictions where they have not met anything like what Governor Abbott will unleash in Texas. Last, but not least, we are watching Governor Abbott lead, a rare talent these days in the political class. P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. Image: Gage Skidmore Our radicalized, leftist media is avoiding reporting on how close we may be to World War III, which could very well be nuclear. The Biden/Harris administration provoked the war that rages on in Ukraine, the continuation of the Obama coup of 2014. Peace could have been negotiated before the current battles began, but no, our ever-powerful military-industrial complex wanted war. It is how they all get fabulously wealthy. Biden knew that threatening Putin with admitting Ukraine into NATO would be a line the Russian leader would see as a bridge too far. But Biden seemingly had no intention of actually welcoming Ukraine into NATO; it was a ruse to get the war going. It would not have happened had Trump been in office. Now it drags on, perhaps as many as a million dead on both sides and for what? Sure, Blackrock plans to get even richer by rebuilding Ukraine but no one believes Ukraine can win. That was a no-brainer from the start. Now the Biden/Harris administration has apparently approved Ukraine launching American-made missiles deep inside Russia, even Moscow! This would be an irresponsible escalation. Do they actually want to start a nuclear war? It would seem so. And if this misbegotten war intensifies in that way, you can be sure, if Harris wins the election, that our young people will be drafted by the tens of thousands. The House has not only voted to reinstate the draft, the Democrats want to draft women as well. That is who the Democrats are gender is a social construct, people can choose their gender, nuclear families are a destructive institution, transgenderism is a wonderful thing, Hamas good, Israel evil, etc. Their swan songs of the 1960s about no more wars, and LBJ, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today, are the words of a party that no longer exists. (They were protesting the draft, not the war.) The Democrat party of today is thoroughly Marxist, anti-Israel, pro-criminal, pro-open border to the point of the annihilation of American sovereignty. Kamala Harris is on board with all the destruction the Biden administration has wrought upon America. She is a communist and would govern as one. Communist governments are totalitarian and assign no value to an individual beyond ones membership in a class, group or serf. Ask Tim Walz. He is so enamored of communist China, hes made thirty visits there on the CCP dime. He cant wait to be a part of the complete transformation of America into a communist country that Obama began in earnest. Walz would love to send our young people off to war. His kids wont go. but yours and ours will. The mainstream media is doing everything in its power to downplay just how close we may well be to a nuclear confrontation with Russia. The Biden/Harris administration just might be planning for something, hoping for anything even war to interfere with the November election. The two attempts on Trumps life having failed, they are indeed desperate. While they will try, we have to hope that they cannot get away with stealing yet another election. Given this administrations abject cluelessness regarding all things military, one has to wonder if they think war is some kind of game. In the debate with Trump, Harris seemed not to know that we have troops in some forty countries around the world, all of them potential combat zones. Her administration has capitulated to the Houthis, a ragtag group of terrorists in Yemen that has taken over the Red Sea without resistance from the U.S. The level of her ignorance about all things foreign policy is not only shocking but extremely dangerous. As Trump reminded during the debate, she met with Zelensky in 2022, presumably to prevent war; war began three days later. And to this day, she is proud of her part, however incidental, in the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the worst military miscalculation in U.S. history. As commander-in-chief, she would be a veritable nightmare, especially for our draft-age young people. So, to all the never-Trumpers who feel oh, so virtuous and smug, who dont like mean tweets or a great economy, if you have kids in their teens or twenties, you might want to reconsider your vote in November. A vote for Harris is a vote for endless wars, here, there and everywhere. Why do you think the Cheneys have endorsed her? War is their business and business is good! Incompetent stewards of our national security like Blinken, Sullivan, Susan Rice and whomever else is calling the shots will most assuredly propel us into a long war of attrition. They will get rich, thousands of those young people will die needless deaths, that is unless we are all extinct thanks to bungling but power-mad boneheads that have been running the show these past three-plus years. The Biden/Harris presidency has been a moral and mortal wound on America. The influx of ten to fifteen million migrants from 165 nations, most of them third world countries like Haiti, has forever altered the demography of the U.S. We may never recover the America we had, that we took for granted. Now our cities are no longer safe, our elections cannot be trusted given the numerous ways the left has found to cheat. And yet the warmongers still want to go to war or at least to let war happen. This Democrat party must be stopped. America is, at this moment in time, suffering an open wound inflicted by the Biden/Harris regime. Moral wounds have this peculiarity - they may be hidden, but they never close; always painful, always ready to bleed when touched, they remain fresh and open in the heart. Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo Image: National Archives, via Picryl // no known restrictions The results are ina majority of Democrats are evil. Well, I guess those results were in a long time ago, so maybe this is more like a reminder (as if we needed one), but according to a new poll from Scott Rasmussen of RMG Research, only a minority (48%) of Democrats could bring themselves to say that it was a good thing that neither of the assassination attempts on Trumps life were successful. You know what that means? It means that the other 52% (or a majority) of them revealed that they either believed things would be better off if Trump had been killed, or were unsure about what murdering their political opponent would mean for social civility and our nations fabric. (Not only are they evil, theyre dumb too.) Heres what Rasmussen posted to X: 28% of Democrats say America would have been better off if @RealDonaldTrump had been assassinated. Another 24% are not sure. Fewer than half (48%) of Democrats could bring themselves to say that America would not be better off if the opposing party's candidate had been Scott Rasmussen (@ScottWRasmussen) September 18, 2024 These survey results were deemed alarming by the Napolitan News Service, which wrote this: The desensitization of some Americans following the second assassination of former President Trump is alarming. Seventeen percent (17%) of voters believe America would have been better off if former President Trump had been killed in last weeks attempted assassination. That figure includes 28% of Democrats who say that America would have been better off if Trump had been assassinated. Another 24% of Democrats were not sure. Fewer than half (48%) of Democrats could bring themselves to say that America would not be better off if the opposing partys candidate for president had been assassinated. I wonder what could possibly account for the desensitization of certain factions of the American public: A German magazine cover one of my friends sent me,translates to essentially "his struggle. Neonazis, KKK, and racism. How Donald trump fueled hatred in America" Germany doesnt play games with ANYTHING involving 1936-1945, so they are NOT fooling around right now#BunkerTrump pic.twitter.com/5hLDPo4V77 Rice Friski (@RiceFriski) June 1, 2020 This Magazine Cover Of Donald Trump With A Hitler Mustache Has People Talkinghttps://t.co/RyRzdPrT78 pic.twitter.com/sDO37Pjg6g BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 30, 2016 Weeks before Trump's assassination attempt, this was in the cover of The New Republic Magazine. When you keep portraying him as Hitler, what did the Leftists and Liberals expect? They all wanted him dead, but he survived! pic.twitter.com/wBwMHJYwW4 Arun Pudur (@arunpudur) July 14, 2024 | EE.UU | Asi es la portada de la revista The Atlantic que presenta a Trump como un tirano que marcha hacia La Casa Blanca. pic.twitter.com/FEou0fAg2f Sagitarius.. (@CamachoPatra) September 11, 2024 This German magazines cover shows Donald Trump beheading the Statue of Liberty https://t.co/JYOQT6tVkq pic.twitter.com/V1T3ENZGZO BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) February 3, 2017 German magazine cover shows Trump wearing a KKK hood https://t.co/rs8DuFAVlS pic.twitter.com/gHWjedQprm The Hill (@thehill) August 18, 2017 But what else would you expect from these people? These voters are the same ones who are supporting a party that actually makes baby dismemberment, the mutilation of childrens sex organs, and flouting immigration law leading policies on their platform. Even more telling though is that according to the data, around half of polled Democrats (49%) suspected Trump was involved with the assassination attempt: Forty-nine percent (49%) of Democrats think its at least somewhat likely that Trump himself or the Trump campaign was involved with the assassination attempt, with 21% saying it was very likely. Fifty-two percent (52%) of Republicans think its at least somewhat likely that the Democratic Party or the Harris campaign was involved, with 28% saying its very likely. With this wording, I cant tell if that implies a false flag involvement, or suggests that these voters blame Trump for the attempts like his rhetoric is the problemeither way, these people are hopelessly stupid, entirely unable to accept responsibility, and wicked to the core. Image generated by AI. It is a common historical myth that Rome fell in 476 A.D. after Odoacer, King of the Goths, sacked the capital city and forced Romulus Augustus to abdicate his throne. The historical reality is rather different. Over the course of nearly a century, Germanic tribes fleeing everything from war, famine and tribal politics moved, unimpeded, into Roman territory. And the Empire died not by traditional invasion but by unchecked mass migration. During this period, Rome was ruled by a disaffected elite. Rather than send out a legion or two to kick some culus and take nomen, they decided it would be easier and cheaper to just wave them in and grant them citizenship. In return for citizenship and farmland, entire clans of Angles, Burgundians, Franks, Ostrogoths, Vandals and Visigoths agreed to serve in Romes military forces. The fact that this upended centuries of Roman law and practice regarding citizenship didnt cause the upper echelons of Roman society to get their subligaculum in a bunch. They figured, now that the barbares were citizens, theyd just start acting like Romans. That was overly optimistic thinking on the part of the Romans. Assimilation tends to occur when people enter a new culture, in small numbers, and experience social pressure to blend into their new communities. Assimilation tends to make it easier to get along in ones newly adopted homeland because it eliminates barriers to economic success, like being unable to speak the local lingua franca. But Rome admitted too many Germanic tribesmen, too quickly. Suddenly Romes elite found themselves trying to persuade guys with names like Giselric the Plunderer or Hairuwulf the Skull-Crusher to slap on a toga and eat stuffed grape leaves while daintily reclining on a Roman lounge chair. As you may have guessed, that didnt work out so well. In the end, unchecked mass migration, bulk amnesty and pay-for-citizenship schemes didnt rescue Rome, they killed it. Following about three centuries of political confusion, the remnants of the society spawned by the Eternal City morphed into a distinctly Germanic simulacrum of the Empire called the Holy Roman Empire. If youre reading this and thinking to yourself, Gee, that sounds kind of like the U.S. today! you may be onto something. Over the last four years, the United States has experienced an unprecedented infusion of at least 10 million, mainly Spanish-speaking migrants. Theyre fleeing the same general conditions of civil strife that drove the Germanic tribes across Romes borders. And theyre seeking the modern equivalent of Roman farmland access to the American economy. Moreover, theyre showing no signs of wanting to assimilate but seem to feel quite comfortable telling us how we should run things in our country. The parallels with Rome in its dying phase are stunning. Caravans of uninvited migrants keep showing up at our border, pouring across the Rio Grande, the same way the Goths attempted to cross the Danube into Roman territory. American politicians have suggested that we give foreign lawbreakers (a.k.a.: invaders) a path to citizenship through military service. Anyone who opposes the elites plans to welcome uninvited foreign guests is branded as a racist (notwithstanding the fact that immigrants arent a race). And assimilation is derided as being impolite to immigrants who bring valuable diversity to the United States. Meanwhile, the daily news reads like contemporary accounts from Romans who witnessed the slow-motion invasion by the German tribes. Migrants have been brawling with police in Manhattan. The Tren de Aragua gang has been on a crime spree across the country. An unanticipated influx of Haitian migrants has strained city resources to the breaking point in Springfield, Ohio, prompting the states Attorney General to remark that, The problem is not migrants, it is way, way too many migrants in a short period of time. In his Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson once asked, Suppose 20 millions of republican Americans thrown all of a sudden into France, what would be the condition of that kingdom? If it would be more turbulent, less happy, less strong, we may believe that the addition of half a million of foreigners to our present numbers would produce a similar effect here. Jeffersons 20 millions of foreigners have now arrived. And our nation is rapidly becoming more turbulent, less happy and less strong. So, all Americans should be asking themselves, is the U.S. on its way to becoming the next Rome? Or will we do what Rome failed to eject uninvited foreigners, insist that those who came here lawfully assimilate to our culture, and refuse to allow U.S. citizenship to be purchased? If we dont wake up and stop fiddling while Rome burns, we may soon find ourselves fondly looking back on what America was like before her decline and fall. Matt OBrien is the Director of Investigations at the Immigration Reform Law Institute and the co-host of IRLIs podcast No Border, No Country. Immediately prior to working for IRLI he served as an immigration judge. He has nearly 30 years of experience in immigration law and policy, having held numerous positions within the Department of Homeland Security. Image: Wikimedia Commons, via Picryl / public domain President Trump understands that his oath of office required him to enforce laws Congress passed, which includes Democrats in Congress. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden seemed to think that they didn't have to enforce those laws, so they effectively opened the border and allowed a massive number of illegals to pour in, including criminals and terrorists. The Democrats, including most of the media, don't seem to care about the more than 300,000 children who have been "lost" by Department of Homeland Security because they never talk about it. Trump wants to end lawless sanctuary cities and states because he believes they should follow the law and cooperate with ICE. Democrats support cities and states refusing to abide by federal laws even as they falsely claim no one is above the law. Trump cares about the small town of Springfield, Ohio which had a population of around 58,000 before it was overwhelmed by migrants because Joe and Kamala have let over 15,000 Haitians invade their town. Trump cares about Aurora, Colorado where armed Venezuelan gang members are terrorizing the people. I don't believe Joe or Kamala, or most of the media said a word about these dangerous situations until stories about animals came out because they didn't care. But when Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, sent a mere 50 illegal immigrants to the very wealthy sanctuary city of Martha's Vineyard, the media and other Democrats had a collective cow. There was endless reporting about how terrible this was and how hard it was on the people. The community wasn't prepared for such an influx. There were no stories about how they were just there to get jobs and how valuable they were. But the town bragged about how well they took care of those illegals for one day before they got rid of them. Somehow, the media and other Democrats haven't said a word about a small town in Pennsylvania being overwhelmed by Haitians. According to ZeroHedge: Watch: Resident Of PA Manufacturing Town Exposes Reality Of Haitian 'Great Job Replacement' Ahead of Trump spotlighting the Haitian surge in the tiny blue-collar town of Charleroi during a rally last week in Arizona, we cited the think tank America 2100, which first revealed that the town's population of Haitian migrants exploded by 2,000% over the past two years. The public is told that the Haitians are here legally, but it is not by an act of Congress. The Biden-Harris autocracy has decided that a mass invasion, (530,000 so far) by people from Haiti, Nicauragua, Cuba, and Venezuela, with little to no vetting, is welcome. They clearly don't care about the massive harm to towns and our country that these actions have caused. According to Bob Hoge, writing at RedState: We write about illegal immigration plenty here at RedState, and how the Biden-Harris regime has laid a virtual welcome mat at our southern border. But there is also legal migration, and Fox News reports Tuesday that new stats from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveal that nearly 530,000 migrants flew into the U.S. and were paroled into the country as part of Bidens controversial mass parole program. They're coming from Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela. So if you want a president who cares about the law and small cities, vote for Trump. If you want a person who doesn't care about laws or small cities but cares deeply about Obama and other rich people in Martha's Vineyard, vote for Kamala. The media says it is baseless to say that people are eating animals in Springfield but the reports are not baseless because people have actually reported that. What is baseless are lies that the media and other Democrats spread endlessly. Here is a small sample. Guards "whipping" Haitians illegally crossing in: The purpose of this lie, with no evidence, by the media, Biden, Harris, Garland and others was to destroy the reputation of Border Patrol. Russian collusion: The purpose of this lie, which has survived eight years, is to tell the public that Trump is a stooge of Putin and that he was never a legitimate president. Charlottesville story: The purpose of Biden, Harris, and others to continue this lie for seven years is to gin up racial hate and division while they pretend they want to unite the country and claim that Trump is the divisive one. That the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation: The purpose of the media, the FBI, former intelligence officers, Biden and others spreading this lie was to bury the truth about the massive Biden family corruption as they interfered in the 2020 election. The lie worked because Biden won as he was hidden in the basement. The Wuhan lab as source of COVID story was called a disproven conspiracy: When Trump and others wanted the Wuhan lab investigated as the source of COVID, the media, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and others colluded to spread the lie that it was already a disproven conspiracy. The purpose of this lie was to protect China, WHO, NIH, CDC, Dr. Fauci and others from having people look into their culpability about the development of the virus. It was certainly not to get to the truth or to protect public health. People should be criminally charged for blocking a timely investigation. And the most baseless lie of all is spread every day: That humans, CO2, and our use of oil, coal, and natural gas cause global temperatures to rise. Temperatures have risen and fallen for significant periods of time during the last 160 years as our use of natural resources has risen exponentially. There is no correlation, so there can be no causation. That is science. The purpose of these lies is to get government control over the people. So when will the media and other Democrats care about small towns, and the rest of us, for the damage their policies cause? The answer is 'never' because all they care about is electing Kamala, no matter what she says, and more important to them, destroying Trump. Image: Screen shot from Department of Homeland Security video // government work, public domain Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The authorities in Kenya have expressed commitment to advancing economic and governance reforms which are crucial for fostering sustainable and inclusive growth that benefits all Kenyans, according to a statement issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Apple has recently launched the iPhone 16 series, with some models featuring A18 and A18 Pro chips. While the iPhone 16 lineup is all over the news, it seems Apple is taking a giant step forward to achieve the countrys goal of becoming self-sufficient in chip production. According to an independent reporter, Tim Culpan, Apples A16 chips are now being manufactured in TSMCs Fab 21 facility in Arizona, United States. For the very first time, TSMCs US-based facility is manufacturing Apples A16 chip To catch you up, Apple first introduced the A16 Bionic chip in the Pro models of the iPhone 14 series. Last year, the company launched the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus with the same chipset. Interestingly, the Apple chip manufactured in the US uses the same 4nm process as TSMC uses for units produced in Taiwan. To clear the confusion, many refer 4nm process interchangeably with N4P or 5nm. However, its part of the extensive 5nm process family. Culpan also mentioned that TSMC often refers to it as an enhanced version of 5nm. Therefore, you can say whatever youd like. Its worth noting that Apples A16 chips are being manufactured in small, but significant numbers. Culpan further adds that his sources mentioned this is the stage one production. Once it is over, the production might ramp up. If everything falls in place, the Fab 21 is likely to hit the production target by the first half of 2025. The chip might feature in one of the upcoming iPads as well as the iPhone SE 4 Having that said, theres no surety about which Apple device will use these US-manufactured A16 chips. Though, it is possible, Apple might use it to power one of the upcoming iPads. However, the reporter believes these A16 chips arent likely to power the iPad Mini since Mark Gurman has already ruled out the possibility of Apple launching it this October. Apple might also use these A16 chips in the next-gen iPhone SE 4 which could launch early next year. At present, TSMCs facility in Arizona is somewhat behind the Taiwan-based plant in achieving production targets. However, the progress is encouraging and moving quite rapidly. Therefore, Culpan expects the US-based plant to reach yield parity with Taiwan in just a few months. In a major ruling, the EUs second-top court has upheld Qualcomms antitrust fine. The court has largely confirmed Qualcomms antitrust fine, but with a minor reduction. The EU hit the chip maker with a fine of 242 million way back in 2019 for predatory pricing. After Qualcomm filed an appeal, the Luxembourg-based general court rejected the tech giants plea. Qualcomms antitrust fine is largely confirmed, with a minor reduction in fines In the significant ruling, the general court of the EU has confirmed Qualcomms antitrust fine for the 2019 case. The court upheld the previous decision by conducting a thorough examination of Qualcomms arguments. The judges found that Qualcomms appeal is without merit. Notably, the court determined that Qualcomms predatory pricing tactics had a significant impact on the market. It hindered the competition by excluding rivals. Qualcomm has received a minor relief in the antitrust fine case. The company will now have to pay 238.7 million, down from 242 million Euros. The court made an exception of a plea concerning the calculation of the amount of the fine, which it finds to be well founded in part. However, all the other aspects of the plea have been rejected in their entirety. What was the antitrust case? The EU fined Qualcomm in 2019 for selling its chipsets below cost between 2009 and 2011. The case said it was a predatory pricing strategy to thwart British phone software maker Icera. Qualcomm had argued that the chipsets singled out in the case accounted for just 0.7% of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) market. So the fine was not justified as the brand couldnt possibly exclude rivals from the market. While the EU has confirmed Qualcomms antitrust fine, it can appeal to the EU Court of Justice, Europes highest court. However, the brands chances of success on a new appeal appear slim, given strong evidence against its actions. The chipset giant didnt immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters. Today, Eve Systems, a leading manufacturer of smart home devices, has launched the popular Eve Light Switch with Matter support. If you are an existing user with a third-generation switch, youll be able to upgrade the device with full Matter support through a firmware update available in the coming days on the Eve app. The popular Eve Light Switch launches with Matter support As far as design is concerned, the Eve Light Switch flaunts a minimalist design. Talking of benefits, the Matter version of the smart switch offers the convenience of connected lighting without having to change a single bulb. Thats not all, it is compatible with either a single-pole or a 3-way switch. Now that the Eve Light Switch comes with Matter support, it can communicate with multiple smart home devices and can be controlled through multiple hub platforms. The company states that the Matter-over-Thread technology ensures ease of use, enhanced security, and access for everyone in the family. If you are running iOS 18 or later on the iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 series, you wouldnt require a hub to locally control the Matter version of Eve Light Switch. The same applies to devices running on Android 8.1 or later. This saves you from shelling out an additional budget to buy another gadget to access the on-device schedules. However, youll still need to add a home hub to your setup to expand access to other functionalities. Worth noting that you can control the upgraded smart switch using voice commands via Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant. Here are the specs and availability of the smart switch The Matter version of the Eve Light Switch measures 4.7 x 2.9 x 1.7 inches in size. It handles up to 15-amp, incandescent, and tungsten lighting loads up to 600 watts. Additionally, it can handle 15-amp resistive loads up to 1800 watts. Besides, the switch requires a neutral wire to replace a single-pole or a 3-way switch. However, you should only use it with copper or copper-clad wire for dry and indoor locations. Jerome Gackel, CEO of Eve lauds the Matter version of the smart switch. He adds Everything that makes a smart light switch is combined here: A timeless design, future-proof Matter and Thread technology, and the choice between smart and conventional operation at any time. The upgraded switch with Matter support is now available on Amazon for $49.95. Moreover, the retail package comes with a wall plate, mounting materials, and the Eve Light Switch. So, if you are looking for one, make sure to check it out. The ongoing antitrust trial between the Justice Department and Google has revealed significant internal discussions within the tech giant regarding its longstanding practice of charging publishers a 20% fee for ad transactions. This fee, which has been a cornerstone of Googles ad business for years, is now being scrutinized by the DOJ as a sign of the companys alleged monopoly over online advertising. The trial, which began last week, aims to determine whether Google used its dominant position in the market to unfairly charge higher fees, placing an undue burden on publishers. Testimony from former Google executives has highlighted growing internal discomfort with the high rate, even as the company continued to charge it. Internal concerns over Googles practices The revelation that Google charging publishers 20% for ad transactions was a matter of concern among its own executives has drawn attention. Emails presented during the trial revealed that Google executives privately acknowledged that the 20% fee was not long-term defensible. In 2018, former Google ad executive Jonathan Bellack admitted that the fee was significantly higher than market rates. Despite this internal awareness, the fee persisted, largely because of Googles control over a massive advertiser base. Google executives, including Chris LaSala, pointed out that the companys access to this demand through its AdX exchange made it difficult for publishers to avoid using the platform, giving Google the leverage to maintain its high rates. The Justice Department uses Googles internal communications and testimonies to argue that the company designed its ad practices to maintain a monopoly. The DOJ claims Google charged publishers high fees due to its dominant market position. This control left publishers with little choice but to comply. Brian OKelley, founder of AppNexus, testified that Googles 20% take rate was dramatically higher than competitors. The DOJ is using his testimony and internal Google emails to argue that Google deliberately tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange. This, they claim, helped the company maintain its dominance in the market. According to the DOJ, Googles market control prevented real pricing competition. While other ad exchanges charged lower fees, the companys ability to link its tools with its large advertiser base made it difficult for publishers to seek alternatives. This alleged lack of competition, the DOJ argues, is a clear sign of Googles monopoly over the online ad industry. Googles defense over habits of charging publishers In response to the DOJs accusations, Google has maintained that its fees are transparent and in line with industry standards. The company has argued that publishers keep the majority of ad revenue, with Google charging only a small percentage for the use of its tools. A Google spokesperson defended the companys practices, stating, Publishers keep the vast majority of the revenue when they use Googles advertising technology, and our fees are transparent and in line with industry rates. Google highlights that publishers retain about 70% of the revenue, even when they use its tools to both buy and sell ads. Despite Googles defense, internal documents presented at trial show that executives within the company were aware of growing dissatisfaction among publishers regarding the 20% fee. LaSala, in a 2019 email, noted the continued call from buyers and publishers for transparency, acknowledging that the fee might not be reasonable long term. As the trial continues, the DOJ is expected to present more evidence of Google charging publishers excessively through its ad practices. The government will argue that Googles behavior was anti-competitive and harmed both publishers and consumers by inflating costs and stifling market competition. The trial will also see testimony from key Google executives, including YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, who was involved in Googles ad business during the period in question. The tech giant will have the opportunity to counter the DOJs claims and argue that its practices benefit the entire online ad ecosystem. Google continues to work on making Gemini more useful and powerful. Over the past few months, the assistant has been getting new extensions that allow it to work across more apps and services. Now, Google is bringing support for the Keep and Tasks extensions to the web version of Gemini. The extensions feature is free, so you dont need a Gemini Advanced subscription to enjoy it. Gemini web gets support for Google Tasks and Keep extensions With the Pixel 9 series, Google officially introduced the Keep and Tasks extensions for Gemini. Like other extensions, they let you access the key features of the apps through the AI-powered voice assistant. So, on Keep, you can now create notes, add and edit existing notes, or search for information within them. Likewise, from Tasks, you can create new tasks and reminders, modify existing ones, or just show them. On phones, you can find both extensions as part of the main Google Workspace one. That said, Gemini users on browsers can now take advantage of the power of the Keep and Tasks extensions as well. As usual, Google provides a series of example prompts to facilitate your initial steps. Regarding Keep, if you want to create new notes, you can use prompts like Create a note called [note name] or Create a list called [list name] with [item 1, item 2, ]. You can also create notes based on your current conversation with Gemini about any topic. For example, you can say something like Tell me what steps I need to take to [goal or task]. Then create a list in Keep. Another example suggested by Google reads Find a recipe for [dish] and create a list of the ingredients in Keep. Similarly, you can add new content to existing notes using Gemini. You can do so using prompts like Add [item 1, item 2, ] to my list called [list name]. If you want to know how to search for content in your Keep notes using Gemini, Google makes it easy. To do so, you can use prompts like Do I have any notes related to [topic]?, Find my [list name] list, or Show all my lists about [task, event, goal, ]. Extensions available only in English for now For Tasks, you can use prompts like Remind me on [date] at [time] to [task], Remind me at [time] to call [name], or Add [task] in my to-dos. Showing your pending tasks is as easy as saying What are my upcoming tasks?, What are my to-dos for [time, date]?, or What are my tasks related to [topic, activity, event]?. To update existing tasks, you can use Change the date of [task name] task to [date], Mark [task name] as done in Tasks, or Change the name of task [task name] to [ task name]. At present, both extensions only work in English, but more languages will follow. You can check out all of Googles suggested prompt structures from the official support page for Geminis Keep and Tasks extensions. After a period of disinterest, the smart glasses segment has experienced a boom in recent years. Products such as Snapchat Spectacles and Meta Ray-Ban glasses had a lot to do with it. A recent report revealed that Google wanted to steal Ray-Ban from Mark Zuckerbergs company. Now, Meta has secured a new long-term deal with Ray-Ban to guarantee its exclusivity. Previous reports suggested that Google was attempting to hijack the negotiations between Meta and Ray-Ban. The Mountain View giant wanted to rely on the brands experience in the segment to launch Gemini smart glasses. Sources previously stated that the advanced negotiations between Meta and the glasses brand were unlikely to collapse. That said, Facebooks parent company has put an end to the story by reaching a new deal. Meta reaches new long-term deal with Ray-Ban parent company After the Google Glass project failed, many may be surprised to learn that the search engine company wants to try again in the segment. Moreover, the burgeoning niche appears to have established its key players. However, the tech industry has undergone significant changes over the last decade. The public has become more open to this type of product due to the growing need to share content on social platforms. Additionally, Google has developed a powerful tool, Gemini, which it could integrate into its glasses. The company even showed Project Astra, a multimodal assistant ideal for this type of product. Theres no confirmation on how long the deal will last EssilorLuxottica, the company behind Ray-Ban, confirmed the new deal with Meta. Both companies have been working together since 2019 on similar products. The latest launch in the lineup features built-in speakers and Meta AI-powered smart features. The leaked Apple Glass is even said to be similar to Meta Ray-Bans product after scrapping AR glasses. There are no specific details on how long the new long-term agreement will last. However, EssilorLuxottica stated that it will allow them to collaborate with Meta in the next decade. Meanwhile, Google and Samsung are still working on their VR platform for headsets. Some speculate that this collaboration will eventually lead to the creation of smart glasses. For now, Google will have to find a new partner for its alleged Gemini smart glasses. Another lawsuit against Google for possible antitrust practices is currently underway. The DOJ accuses it of, among other things, buying up potential competitors to get rid of threats in the market. They also say that Google is involved in all the main parts of the adtech stack. However, YouTubes CEO defends Google from the accusations by offering his perspective on the facts. If you arent aware, the states lawsuit against Google is based on acquisitions of competitors that would have allowed it to obtain its current dominant position. The lawsuit touches on acquisitions of companies such as DoubleClick and Admeld. The DOJ claims that Google used a policy of buying and parking to get them out of the way. As a result, Google would have taken over the three main parts of the adtech stack. The latter is the collection of technologies and tools designed to place ads on websites. YouTubes CEO sides with Google in AdTech antitrust case However, Neal Mohan, the CEO of YouTube, says that things are different than what the DOJ thinks. The lawsuit cites the term parking from an email exchange concerning the acquisition of Admeld, a company that facilitated simultaneous demand analysis across various ad exchanges for publishers. One way to make sure we dont get further behind in the market is picking up the [company] with the most traction and parking it somewhere, a Google executive stated in the emails. So, the plaintiffs allege that parking refers to buying up competitors and shutting down their operations. However, according to Mohan, the term parking actually refers to acquiring a company and letting it continue to operate while integrating into Googles structure. Mohan compares the process to changing the engines on a plane while continuing to fly it. Today, Admeld technologies are part of Googles AdX platform. The YouTube CEO also defends Googles approach to taking over the main components of the adtech stack. These include the underlying system for using and offering ads, the system for buying and placing ads, and the exchange where all ad-related transactions occur. Mohan says that controlling all parts of the process is essential to ensuring an effective ad system. He asserts that this enables oversight of the placement of ads on appropriate websites and optimizes the process. US government would seek less control from Google over the adtech stack The US government does not like Googles total control approach over its main AdTech services. They believe that linking all of Googles services together offers an advantage that no one else can access. The lawsuit also alleges that Googles dominance has led to a situation where it is virtually impossible for publishers to leave the platform. Plus, publishers have complained that Googles advertising products have stagnated. The latter is generally a product of a lack of competition. The trial will take a few more weeks before reaching a conclusion. Judge Leonie Brinkemas verdict could set a precedent that will change the online ads industry forever. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. It's important to seek medical attention immediately if you see blood in your urine, but a worrying number of men will put it off. (Getty Images) (Getty Images) Research has shown that men are less likely than women to seek medical help or advice. But new figures show that a worryingly high proportion of men would delay seeing a doctor even if they saw blood in their urine. A survey of 2,000 men in the UK, commissioned by The Urology Foundation, revealed that seven in 10 men wouldnt go straight to a GP if they see blood in their urine, with most looking to self-manage instead. More than a quarter (26%) said they would turn to the internet for more information and advice, while nearly half (41%) said they would simply drink more water to try and treat the symptom. Over half said they would only speak to a healthcare professional if it happened regularly - putting their lives at risk by delaying investigation. The survey found that men in Scotland were least likely to book an appointment, while men in London were most likely to do so despite being the least worried about the symptom. Blood in urine can be a sign of a number of health conditions, from urinary tract infections to kidney stones. However, it could also be a sign of bladder cancer, which more than 10,500 people are diagnosed with each year in the UK. Rebecca Porta, chief executive of The Urology Foundation, said: "The fact that less than one in three men would speak to a healthcare professional immediately if they saw blood in pee just once is deeply concerning and means they could potentially put their lives at risk. "A lot of excellent work has been done in recent years to raise awareness of bladder cancer but this data shows there is much more to do. "We need to break the stigma around mens health and encourage men to take the time to be health aware and take action. Early detection can save lives and can offer better outcomes - recognising that blood in pee always needs investigation is crucial." Bladder cancer is the 11th most common cancer in the UK, rising to the 7th most common cancer among men. One in 55 UK males will be diagnosed with bladder cancer in their lifetime, compared to one in 130 UK females, according to Cancer Research UK. Why do men delay getting medical help? Men are less likely to seek medical help than women, despite being more prone to adverse health outcomes. (Getty Images) (Getty Images) Medical professionals have long highlighted the issue of men putting off doctors visits and seeking help. Previous research shows that men are up to 50% less likely than women to seek medical attention, and 65% say they avoid doing so for as long as possible. 5 common reasons that men give for avoiding seeing their GP: According to Nuffield Health, there are five common reasons that men give for avoiding seeing their GP. These include: 1. Believing men shouldnt talk about their health Dr Asif Naseem of Nuffield Health says 41% of men recall being told that "men dont complain about health issues" and "boys dont cry" as children, which can make them less likely to admit when theres a problem. "By encouraging male friends and family members to open up and talk in a safe space, we start to challenge these outdated stereotypes and help more men feel comfortable getting help when they need it." 2. Believing things will get better on their own One study found that more than half (58%) of men have ignored a medical issue in hopes it would resolve itself without having to seek medical attention. However, experts warn that ignoring a symptom that concerns you can mean missing the opportunity to catch something potentially serious early on. 3. Believing they are wasting their doctors time Dr Naseem points out that, although many people in the UK are concerned their symptoms dont warrant attention from their GP if it isnt getting worse or life-threatening, the "purpose of healthcare is to treat health problems". "The bottom line is that its important to access healthcare when you need it, as ignoring symptoms or putting off getting help can mean you eventually require more attention further down the line." 4. Believing they dont have time One of the top reasons men give for not going to their doctor is that they are too busy. Between work and family life, it can feel like health comes last, but this really shouldnt be the case. Instead, making sure regular checkups are part of your routine, particularly as you get older, can help you make time for your health. 5. Believing they will go through embarrassing examinations For many men, just the idea of going through prostate, testicular and rectal examinations can feel "invasive" or "embarrassing". However, these are vital checks to make sure everything is ticking along. "The reality is that your doctor is a professional who has done your test many times before," Dr Naseem reassures. "Theyll know that some people feel embarrassed or apprehensive, and so theyll do their best to make you feel comfortable and at ease." Read more about men's health: Anthony Joshua wants to showcase his gladiatorial spirit in Saturdays IBF world-title bout against Daniel Dubois. Joshua took part in a public workout at Wembley Arena on Wednesday as he bids to become a three-time world champion. The Watford man looked in terrific shape ahead of his Wembley homecoming. Saturday will mark Joshuas first Wembley bout since his 2018 stoppage victory over Alexander Povetkin. Speaking to Sky Sports, Joshua said: I feel like Im ready for my fight, the canvas is good, the size is good, I just need to get my wraps and my gloves on and I can fight today. Theres no emotions, Im just here. Im expecting more media, more talking, more training most importantly and walking into the ring showing 96,000 people my gladiatorial spirit. Joshua was accompanied in the ring by members of his first amateur boxing club Finchley ABC. It means everything, its what its about, opening doors for people like people did for me too, Joshua said when asked about the importance of giving back to the next generation. This is being on the big stage, theyre the boys and girls from my club, were a local town and so I thought Id bring them down. Joshua (right) with members of the Finchley Boxing Club (Bradley Collyer/PA) Dubois appeared heavier on fight week than he did in his previous victory over Croatian Filip Hrgovic. The 27-year-old, who was handed Oleksandr Usyks vacated IBF belt in the summer, will look to defend the title in what appears to be a heavy-hitting match-up in front of a sold-out crowd. Speaking after his workout, Dubois told Sky Sports: Its great, Im ready to fight and Im in a good place at the moment. This is all part of the pre-fight ritual, Im going through the motions and just building up my energy for Saturday. I know I need to go to another level, my very best and I cant wait for the challenge on Saturday. Im ready to fight. Wednesdays workouts gave a chance for the likes of Hamzah Sheeraz, Joshua Buatsi, Tyler Denny and Josh Kelly to showcase their ability to supporters ahead of this weekends fights. Riyadh Season hosted a handful of small-rounded bouts following the public workouts. Chris Kongo was among those victorious when he eased to a 59-55 win over Jacob Quinn. When asked what it was like to be part of Joshua v Dubois, the London man said: Its history, how can I not say yes to an opportunity like this? Im happy because this is what I do. I want a big fight next, I want a European, interim or world title shot. Bacteria found in a flagship Glasgow hospital within a couple of years of its opening were not normal, an inquiry has heard. The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry took evidence on Wednesday from Kathleen Harvey-Wood, who worked as a clinical scientist in the microbiology unit of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) from 2015 to her retirement in 2023. She told the inquiry infections started to climb from the hospitals opening in 2015. She said rates of positive blood cultures blood tests that showed the presence of bacteria among the haematology-oncology patients she was responsible for increased year on year. The inquiry was shown graphs depicting an upward trend in positive blood culture rates, with peaks of 26.7% in April 2017 and 26% in March 2018. She said this was a striking difference from a rate of about 9% at the former Yorkhill hospital, where she worked before moving to QEUH, and the target rate of around 5%. As well as the number of positive blood cultures, the scientist described the variety of organisms that were being found in blood cultures as a concern. She told the inquiry there was an increase in the number of cultures containing more than one organism, and that they were finding more gram negative organisms originating in the hospital environment. She explained in her written statement: My concern was that we were seeing mixed bacteria, two or three different bacteria in a blood culture. That means that if a patient has three or four different bacteria in their circulatory bloodstream then its from their (intravenous) line infection. She added that some of the gram negative organisms being discovered were unusual, and staff were having to look them up as it was the first time they had encountered them. The experienced scientist explained: Some of them I hadnt heard of before in all my experience in microbiology, it was the first time Id come across these gram negatives. So theres a few of them even I had to look at the literature and do some research on. The inquiry heard one of the organisms found in three patients, called Elizabethkingia miricola, was originally identified in the International Space Station and comes from environmental water. Ms Harvey-Wood said when she and other colleagues in the microbiology team tried to raise concerns about the organisms they were finding, managers tried to play it down. She recounted one meeting on August 14, 2019 where she was told by a senior colleague that what we were seeing was normal. She continued: Ive used the word normal very often just generally, but I was told by someone that 40 positive blood cultures a month was normal, and I said, but what about the diversity of these organisms, that is not normal? For me, it sounded like we were being told, no we dont have a problem, so we dont need to fix it. I was concerned they did not want to admit they had a problem and take action, because if you change and make corrective actions then youre admitting theres an issue. The inquiry is currently investigating the construction of the QEUH campus, which includes the Royal Hospital for Children. It was launched in the wake of deaths linked to infections, including that of 10-year-old Milly Main. An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) spokesman said: These matters are to be explored in the ongoing inquiry and while NHSGGC continues to co-operate with the inquiry, it would be inappropriate to comment on this at this time. The inquiry continues. A day of celebration has been hailed in Londonderry with the signing of a multimillion-pound city and growth deal. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, First Minister Michelle ONeill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly were among those in Derry for the signing of the deal on Wednesday. Derry City and Strabane mayor Lilian Seenoi-Barr described the sense of pride of the council working with government and partners to see the deal delivered. It comes amid uncertainty around funding for two other deals covering Causeway Coast and Glens and the Mid South West after it emerged last week that the cash was to be paused amid a spending review. The whole of Northern Ireland is covered by four city and growth deals worth a total of 1.7 billion. A Westminster Government decision to pause funding until its upcoming spending review was met with widespread anger from local politicians when it was announced late on Friday. Over the weekend it was clarified that two of the deals, Belfast regions, and Derry City and Strabane, will not be affected by the suspension. However, the remaining two deals are still subject to the funding pause. The Derry City and Strabane deal was signed during an event at the Guildhall on Wednesday morning. Watch: Emily Maitlis 'horrified and speechless' at Huw Edwards scandal What did you miss? Emily Maitlis has admitted to being "horrified and speechless" at discovering former BBC colleague Huw Edwards' crimes. The former Newsnight presenter told Good Morning Britain of her horror at hearing ex BBC News anchor Edwards had admitted to making indecent images of children. He was given a six-month suspended sentence earlier this week. Maitlis also spoke about Prime Video drama A Very Royal Scandal, the latest adaptation of her bombshell interview with Prince Andrew, and why she thought it was worth revisiting. What, how, and why? Huw Edwards' court case over making indecent images of children, including receiving videos of a child aged between seven and nine being abused, has sent shockwaves through many of his former BBC colleagues. When ex-Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis appeared on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, she shared her horror at the case with another former BBC News employee, Susanna Reid, who now hosts ITV's GMB. Emily Maitlis spoke of her shock at Huw Edwards' crimes. (ITV screengrab) Reid asked: "What are your reflections on Huw today in this huge week?" Maitlis replied: "I'm horrified, I think we're all horrified. I worked with Huw on elections, I'd say hi to him, he was a colleague who would do the 10 o'clock finish and I'd do Newsnight so he was somebody I'd say hi to." She was left struggling for words as she added: "I was absolutely...I'm speechless." Huw Edwards was given a suspended sentence. (Future Publishing via Getty Images) (Wiktor Szymanowicz via Getty Images) Reid said: "It leaves you speechless, doesn't it, that someone you've worked with could be responsible for something like that." "Yeah, I think it's a real deep breath moment, isn't it?" said Maitlis, as Reid replied: "Isn't it just." Edwards was given a six-month suspended sentence when he appeared in court on Monday. What else did Emily Maitlis say on Good Morning Britain? Maitlis was in the GMB studio to talk about A Very Royal Scandal, the new Prime Video dramatisation of her bombshell 2019 Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew about his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. It lead to Prince Andrew being forced to step back from royal duties and has previously been made into another TV drama, the Netflix film Scoop, earlier this year. Emily Maitlis' Prince Andrew interview has got another drama adaptation. (PA Images via Getty Images) (Ian West - PA Images via Getty Images) Asked whether she thought it was time to leave the story now after two screen adaptations, Maitlis said: "I don't think it's in our hands what happens next. We made a drama because we wanted to try and put in context everything that had happened. Not just the interview itself. The interview has been watched by 10m people, you can go back and have a look and I hope it will send more people to have a look at the interview itself. "But actually we felt it was important to put the interview right at the centre of these three hours of television and say this is going to be a story about consequences as well. This is going to be a story about fall out, reverberations and repercussions. That's what we're trying to do here, to take a moment to stand back. "It's nearly five years. We've got the perspective now that we didn't have when we finished the interview and I think we're learning things about the monarchy, about our own relationship with the monarchy as a result of this. Maybe it was a process that it kickstarted." Good Morning Britain airs on ITV1 at 6am on weekdays. Read more: Huw Edwards This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/emily-maitlis-bbc-huw-edwards-good-morning-britain-100635777.html The Foreign Office has urged calm heads and de-escalation after hundreds of pagers exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria. At least nine people were killed and thousands wounded on Tuesday in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack. An FCDO spokesperson said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time. Members of the militant group Hezbollah, the Iranian ambassador and thousands of other people were among the wounded. Civil Defence first responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded (STR/AP) A Hezbollah official speaking anonymously told the Associated Press that Israel had targeted the devices. The Israeli military declined to comment. The Foreign Office also updated its travel advice to include information on the explosion of communication devices, saying British nationals in Lebanon should exercise caution and that hospitals may be very busy. Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Britons to leave Lebanon several weeks ago, saying that they risk becoming trapped in a warzone if they fail to do so. Tensions have been rising between Lebanon and Israel, with clashes almost daily between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces since the war between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas began in Gaza. Hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel have been killed in the clashes, which have also displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. Hezbollah legislator Ali Ammar (Bilal Hussein/AP) Speaking to the AP after his son, Mahdi, was killed on Tuesday, prominent Hezbollah politician Ali Ammar said: This is a new Israeli aggression against Lebanon. The resistance will retaliate in a suitable way at the suitable time. Israel said on Tuesday that stopping Hezbollahs attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official goal. Lufthansa suspended all flights to Tel Aviv and Tehran in response to the explosions. The airline said all flights to and from those airports would be cancelled and routes would bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace up to and including September 19. Decisions to restrict hospital visits during the pandemic in Northern Ireland were taken as the least worst option, the former chief nursing officer (CNO) for the region has said. Professor Charlotte McArdle also said vacancy levels in nursing immediately before the pandemic were at their highest levels in recent years. She told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Wednesday that Northern Ireland led the way in ensuring visitor restrictions were carried out in a person-centred way. Prof McArdle, who had the responsibility of leading the development of visitor guidance throughout the early stages of the pandemic, said no NI-specific visitation policy for pandemics was in place at the time. She said an existing manual on infection protection and control dealt with normal outbreaks. The former CNO said visitor restrictions are a normal process in infection prevention and control. At times, exceptions were put in place for women in active labour, palliative care patients, children and people with additional needs. Responding to questioning from counsel to the inquiry Nick Scott, Prof McArdle said the ground was shifting on a very frequent basis and restrictions were changed in response to surges in infections as well as evidence on virus control measures. Prof McArdle, who left the position in October 2021, said the primary functions of the CNO in Northern Ireland are to advise ministers and senior civil servants on matters that affect nursing and midwifery as well as to lead areas of policy development. She said the operational responsibility for the delivery for care sits with the five integrated health and social care trusts across Northern Ireland. Prof McArdle, currently deputy chief nursing officer at NHS England, said she regularly met directors of nursing sometimes several times a day on any issues with the restrictions and any possible changes that could be implemented. She said they were very conscious of the impact on families. On April 9, 2020, a decision was made to end intensive care and general hospital visiting across Northern Ireland. Prof McArdle said: I deeply regret that we had to make that decision but we were in the peak of the first wave. We were expanding our capacity for ICU, we had additional intensive care beds in most intensive care units some of which had limited space and you will appreciate that an intensive care bed comes with a lot of kit and a lot of staffing requirements. She said it was not possible at the time to enable staff to allow additional people into ICUs: It would be extra people in an already very confined space where our staff were extremely stretched at that point. Asked by Mr Scott if the strictness of the measure was associated with the belief the surge would last only a couple of weeks, she said: We were between a rock and a hard place, there was nowhere else to go with this. It wasnt a decision that I wanted to make or have any family experience but it was a balance of risk between protecting patients, staff and the public. Prof McArdle, who said she had her own personal experience of not being able to visit her mother when she died in hospital, explained that the restrictions were reviewed in mid-April because of the toll it was taking on families. She added that, where possible, hospital staff could have facilitated visits for end-of-life patients even in the extremest parts of the wave. The Covid-19 inquiry heard from former chief nursing officer Prof Charlotte McArdle (Liam McBurney/PA) The former CNO said visiting was an issue at forefront of everyones mind and the health officials wanted to be as flexible as we could and extend the opportunities for people to visit. Asked if there was anything more she could have done, she replied: I think that we did our best in the circumstances. We tried to be flexible in the guidance as new evidence became available, as we became aware of particular difficulties. Im not sure I could have personally done more, or my team. It was a very difficult time and decisions were the least worst option. Peter Wilcock, a representative for Covid Bereaved Families, asked if there had been a view among some members of the public about an inconsistent implementation of visitor guidelines at some hospitals. Prof McArdle agreed that it had been confusing, distressing and frustrating at times for families, but added that it had been a complex area subject to local transmission rates of the virus. Elsewhere, she told the inquiry that she had a strong connection with nurses on the front line throughout the pandemic and said they had plenty of opportunities to raise their concerns. She said that the non-availability of the nursing workforce was around 20-25% in the first wave of the pandemic. Prof McArdle said the vacancy rate for registered nursing and midwifery was 11% at the end of December 2019, right before the pandemic. She said this was the highest vacancy rate during pre-pandemic years and stemmed back to workforce planning around undergraduate commissions between 2009-2012. Prof McArdle said: That would be a significant level of vacancy. Ideal terms, in my view, you would like a vacancy rate of around 4% which allows for natural turnover of retirements, moving etc. It was significantly higher. That coupled with the impact of sickness and self-isolation really meant, in reality, the non-availability of the nursing workforce would have been closer to 20-25%. So that was very stretching. She added that those effective vacancy rates were higher during other peaks in the pandemic. Mr Scott asked if there would have been nurses to staff an desired doubling of critical care beds during the pandemic. Prof McArdle said: It would have been extremely challenging, it would have meant reducing the ratios significantly and further action to reduce other services. She said that Northern Ireland had requested additional nursing staff from England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland during a surge in October 2020, but no other nation was able to provide any. Asked if she felt the stretched numbers impacted on patient care, she said: I dont think we have the evidence to say it impacted on someones outcome but it certainly impacted on the experience of both staff and patients. Scottish comedian Janey Godley has cancelled her forthcoming tour amid ongoing treatment for terminal ovarian cancer. Godley, 63, from Glasgow, who was due to embark on UK tour Why Is She Still Here? this autumn, was advised to stop working for the foreseeable future while in hospital being treated for sepsis. A statement to the PA news agency said: It is with huge sadness that we must announce the cancellation of Janey Godleys autumn 2024 tour. Janey has been living with stage four ovarian cancer for the past few years and the treatment from the wonderful Scottish NHS has kept the disease at bay, but sadly in the last few weeks the cancer has returned and there have been a few added complications. Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon chairs an event with comedian Janey Godley at the Aye Write book festival at the Royal Concert Hall (Robert Perry/PA) Her doctors have now advised her that she must stop work for the foreseeable future. Janey is devastated to let down her thousands of loyal fans, and the wonderful venues, she has played many times over the years. She would like to thank everyone for their love and support at this difficult time. In a video posted to social media Godley revealed that she was in hospital where she had been treated for the life-threatening condition which causes the body to respond improperly to an infection. Hi everybody, as youll see in the news today weve had to cancel the tour, she said. Im really sorry. We sold thousands and thousands of tickets and theres so many people employed and my poor bloody agent Chris has been magnificent. Im in the hospital. Ive been here for eight days, I had sepis as well, and my cancer team has advised me not to work again, just to try and get better. She added: The sepsis is under control but the cancer is spreading so theyve told me not to work. NEWS I have to cancel my upcoming tour, Im sorry but the cancer has spread and the Beatson cancer team have advised me to stop work. I am currently in hospital with sepsis ( its under control) pls contact your theatre for a refund Im sorry everyone watch please pic.twitter.com/vMPSqwfl6b Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) September 18, 2024 Godley thanked NHS Scotland and end of life charity Marie Curie and apologised to those who had bought tickets to her shows. Godley, who found viral fame with her dubbed pastiches of Nicola Sturgeons coronavirus news briefings during the pandemic, revealed she had ovarian cancer in November 2021. In 2022 the comedian was given the all-clear and said in a post to X that a scan showed no evidence of disease. However, she later announced that another scan had shown signs of the disease in her abdomen but added that she would continue with her tour in February and March 2023. Godley told ITVs Lorraine that fellow comedian Jimmy Carr played a key role in convincing her to continue her tour despite her diagnosis. She said: I decided to cancel the tour, and my mate Jimmy Carr said, Is your mouth not working?. I went, Yeah, my mouth works and he said, Well get back on tour.' Janey Godley arrives for the Pride of Scotland awards at Hopetoun House in South Queensferry (Andrew Milligan/PA) In a video she posted to social media last year, Godley said she had received scan results that showed the treatment she was on was keeping her terminal and incurable ovarian cancer at bay. Earlier in the year, Godley performed dates across the country in towns and cities including Bristol, Epsom, Norwich and Milton Keynes. Born in poverty in Glasgow in 1961, Godley went on to become a regular co-presenter on BBC Radio 4s Loose Ends, as well as fronting BBC Radio 4 series The C Bomb. In 2023 the comedian became the winner of the inaugural Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. She faced controversy in 2021 after Scottish Government coronavirus adverts she featured in were pulled after offensive tweets by her came to light following an investigation by the Daily Beast website. Godley profusely apologised for the tweets and donated the fee she was paid (12,000) to charity. Basalt rocks made into national flag carried by Chang'e-6 probe 10:05, September 18, 2024 By Yuan Taoxiong, Zhang Tengyang ( People's Daily A Chinese national flag carried by the lander of Chang'e-6 probe unfurls on the moon's far side, June 4. (Photo from the China National Space Administration) On June 4 this year, a national flag carried by the lander of China's Chang'e-6 probe unfurled on the moon's far side, becoming the first national flag of any nation to be shown on the lunar far side. The flag weighs only 11.3 grams, lighter than two 1-yuan coins. The threads used in it were made from a new high-performance material called basalt fiber. The fiber was produced by crushing natural basalt rocks, melting them and then drawing them into fibers. These fibers are only 1/3 the diameter of a human hair. "Basalt fiber is lightweight, strong, corrosion-resistant, and environmentally friendly with a low carbon footprint. It can withstand temperatures ranging from -269 to 700 degrees Celsius, which further highlights its unique value," said Liu Jiaqi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and former director of the CAS Institute of Geology and Geophysics. According to Liu, basalt rocks, in their natural form, are in a columnar shape, roughly as tall as a person. "They are abundant in China," he said. Basalt deposits vary significantly, making it challenging to homogenize the raw material for fiber production. For over a decade, Zhu Zhaochun, head of a basalt mining company in Yuxian county, north China's Hebei province, has been working to tackle this technical challenge and improve the homogenization of the raw material. The basalt used for the flag carried by the Chang'e-6 probe was sourced from Zhu's company. The company processes about 100,000 tons of basalt annually, but only 1/10 of this can be used to produce basalt fiber. The average price of this high-quality basalt is 600 yuan ($84.25) per ton, three times the price of basalt used for road construction. How are rocks turned into fiber? Photo shows a basalt mine in Yuxian county. (Photo/Geng Hui) Traveling about 1,000 kilometers south from Yuxian county, People's Daily reporters arrived in Xiangyang, Hubei province, where Huierjie New Material Technology Co., Ltd. (Huierjie), the company that produced the basalt fiber on the national flag carried by the Chang'e-6 is located. In the furnace, basalt rocks are melted into lava at high temperatures ranging from 1,450 to 1,500 degrees Celsius. The lava is then drawn through a platinum-rhodium alloy bushing, where high-speed drawing machines pull it into hundreds of fine, gold-brown threads, which are wound into strands. Temperature control is a key technical challenge in the basalt fiber drawing process. After years of technological development, Huierjie can now produce basalt fiber with a diameter of just 5 microns, and each fiber can be drawn to a length of tens of thousands of meters. An executive of the company told People's Daily that standard basalt fiber sells for 15,000 yuan per ton, while the new 5-micron basalt fiber product commands a price of 60,000 to 70,000 yuan per ton. Basalt fiber has excellent insulation and radiation-resistant properties, but as an inorganic fiber, it has a smooth surface and is brittle, making it difficult to weave. To address this, Wuhan Yudahua Textile and Garment Group Co., Ltd. (Yudahua) collaborated with Wuhan Textile University to study how basalt fiber could be blended with viscose fiber and other materials, overcoming several key challenges in producing basalt fine yarn. After delivering a prototype of the national flag on the Chang'e-6 probe in October 2023, the research team began seeking ways to bring their technological achievements to the market, aiming to further advance the high-performance fiber industry. Yudahua developed a flame-retardant, high-temperature-resistant basalt fiber fabric. The material feels like pure cotton denim, but when exposed to an open flame, it won't be burned. An employee works in a workshop of a basalt fiber technology company in southwest China's Sichuan province. (People's Daily Online/Deng Liangkui) "Basalt fiber is attracting attention not only in the textile industry but also in the automotive, aerospace, and medical fields," said Cao Genyang, a professor at Wuhan Textile University and a member of the development team of the national flag carried by the Chang'e-6 probe. The potential applications of basalt fiber are expanding. On the sea, marine net cages made of the material used in eco-friendly oyster farms can withstand typhoons up to force 12; in the vast desert, basalt fiber is made into wind turbine blades and photovoltaic brackets to make them more endurable. Besides, basalt fiber is also made into composite rebar and protective layers for cables. In April this year, China's leading automaker FAW Group released a new vehicle model featuring interior components made from basalt fiber composites. These materials reduce the weight of the components by over 20 percent while maintaining their original performance and offering the added benefit of low odor. Industry experts estimated that by 2030, the automotive sector's demand for basalt fiber could reach 320,000 tons, with an output value of 8.4 billion yuan, potentially supporting a downstream parts market worth over 47 billion yuan. Today, China has become the largest producer of basalt fiber in the world. In 2023, China's basalt fiber production reached approximately 30,000 tons, accounting for about 75 percent of the global output, with 9,000 tons exported. As of September 2023, over 13,000 applications for basalt fiber patents were filed globally, more than 8,600, or 66 percent, were from China. Innovation knows no bounds. At an extraterrestrial fiber laboratory of Donghua University in Shanghai, fibers are being drawn under simulated lunar conditions - without oxygen, in microgravity, and at low pressure - using lunar soil samples brought back by the Chang'e-5 mission. "Lunar soil and basalt have similar chemical compositions. By adapting basalt fiber production techniques, fibers drawn from lunar soil could become construction materials for future lunar bases, meeting the needs for in-situ resource utilization," said Zhu Meifang, an academician of the CAS and dean of the College of Materials Science and Engineering at Donghua University. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) Blog Archive: Oct 2024 (35) 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) A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to import a six-figure sum of cannabis through a UK airport. The 33-year-old was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers shortly after 8am on Wednesday in Gourock, Inverclyde, following an investigation supported by Police Scotland. He has now been taken to Carlisle for questioning. The NCA says the 600,000 stash was being smuggled through Stansted Airport on September 2. Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok, Thailand. Two women aged 28 and 32 were arrested, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates Court and were bailed to appear before Chelmsford Crown Court on October 1. NCA senior investigating officer David Phillips said: The NCA continues to work with partners like Border Force to target those involved in drug smuggling that includes both the couriers and the organisers. We would appeal to anyone who is approached to engage in any kind of smuggling to think very carefully about the likely consequences of their actions, and the potentially life-changing risks they will be taking. It comes after the NCA issued a warning to travellers arriving into the UK from Thailand, Canada and the United States that they face jail sentences if caught attempting to bring cannabis into the country, after a huge upsurge in arrests. So far this year, the agency says the amount of cannabis seized is more than three times that in 2023. The NCA also said drug couriers often report being told by their superiors they only risk a fine if caught, when in reality the maximum sentence for smuggling cannabis into the UK is 14 years behind bars. A teenager who kicked a door during efforts to storm a pub wrongly believed to contain English Defence League members has been handed a 20-month custodial term. Haris Ghaffar knew that others within a mob wearing balaclavas which surrounded Birminghams Clumsy Swan pub were armed with knives, the citys Crown Court was told. CCTV captured the 19-year-old, of Thornhill Road, Handsworth, being the first of several youths to kick a wooden door which had been barricaded from inside using furniture, as terrified customers sheltered inside. Damage at the Clumsy Swan pub in Birmingham (Jacob King/PA) The footage showed dozens of protesters, some carrying Palestinian flags, gather near the pub in the Yardley area on the night of August 5, before a drinker standing outside was punched and kicked. Prosecutor Mark Phillips told the court on Wednesday how the pub attack occurred against a background of unrest caused by false rumours that members of the English Defence League were planning to target the Muslim community in the Alum Rock and Bordesley Green areas. Mr Phillips said: He (Ghaffar) says he thought the EDL were actually in the pub because people kept saying it. An unauthorised protest involving a large number of men and youngsters began outside an Islamic centre at about 4pm, the court heard, and moved to a roundabout on Belchers Lane, before a car and a bus were attacked and boarded by those involved in disorder. The court was told staff at the Clumsy Swan had removed stools from an outside area after being alerted that a march was heading towards the pub. CCTV footage of attempts to gain access to the pub showed offenders taking flying kicks at glass doors and repeatedly kicking a wooden side door. Inviting the court to pass a suspended sentence, defence barrister Jonathan Barker said: He (Ghaffar) had just turned 19 and he got swept up in the emotions that were high on that particular day. Without thinking, he made the decision to kick the door to the public house on, it seems, four or five occasions. He at no stage engaged in the violence which occurred (with the drinker who was outside the pub). Ghaffar pleaded guilty to violent disorder at a previous hearing. Sentencing Ghaffar, the Recorder of Birmingham Judge Melbourne Inman KC said that although no one inside the pub was hurt, serious fear and distress was caused, while ambulances were diverted away from the citys Heartlands Hospital. The judge said: Sadly, this is another of a number of cases the court has had to deal with which arose from civil unrest following the tragic events that occurred in Southport. In this case, as is clear, there was rumour, wholly inaccurate as it transpired, that an extreme right-wing movement were intending to gather in areas where, as is well known, there is a significant multicultural community including many Muslims. Sadly in this case, as with many others, the social media information on various chat groups and websites was utter rubbish. There was no such protest. The judge said of CCTV of the pub attack: It was a depressing sight utterly mindless violence and mob violence against a public house that had nothing to do with anything with people inside who were just out enjoying themselves and no doubt from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. He told Ghaffar: You and others acted as a mob. One man tried to stand up he got punched. Others charged in trying to kick the door. You went out looking for trouble, put a mask or a disguise on and intended, if you could, to get away with it. The EDL, founded in 2009, is now widely considered to be defunct. Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the UK Government of sending mixed messages over its support for Israel and undermining the countrys right to self-defence. Israels prime minister criticised the new Labour administration for suspending around 30 arms exports to Israel amid concerns they could be used in violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also dropped the previous Conservative governments plan to challenge the International Criminal Courts (ICC) application for an arrest warrant against Mr Netanyahu. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Justin Tallis/PA) Both decisions have caused diplomatic tensions with Israel, which launched a counter-attack in Gaza after Hamas-led militants broke into Israel and killed around 1,200 people and abducted around 250 others. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the counter-attack, according to the territorys Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Tensions in the Middle East have been heightened in recent days by detonations of electronic devices in Lebanon, including those used by Hezbollah. The militant group has blamed Israel for what appeared to be a remote attack. Mr Netanyahu, speaking to the Daily Mail, said: After the October 7 Hamas massacre, the previous British government was clear in its support. Unfortunately, the current Government is sending mixed messages. They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but they undermine our ability to exercise that right both by reversing Britains position on the absurd allegations made by the ICC prosecutor against Israel and by blocking weapons sales to Israel as we fight against the genocidal terrorist organisation that carried out the October 7 massacre. Mr Netanyahu said Israel is waging a just war with just means and claimed it is taking unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harms way and comporting fully with international law. He also told the newspaper: Most recently, the new UK government suspended 30 arms licences to Israel, days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, sending a horrible message to Hamas. These misguided decisions will not change Israels determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people, including five British hostages. Just as Britains heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defeating barbarism, so too will history judge Israels stand against Hamas and Irans axis of terror. Israel will win this war and secure our common future. Mr Netanyahu also said the UK is witnessing shameless antisemitism on its campuses, at its city centres and in many parts of the country, adding: It is worrisome. I trust and expect that the UK leadership will take the necessary steps to root out this scourge. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: We have been absolutely clear that when taking military action to support its legitimate right to self-defence, Israel must adhere to international humanitarian law. The UK has raised concerns about these issues over many months, and so have other allies. Regrettably, these concerns have not been satisfactorily addressed. Our priority remains achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, the hostages released, civilians protected and aid flood in. There is no place in Britain for antisemitism, and we will not relent in our work to root out hatred in all forms. This Government is committed to multi-year funding for the Community Security Trust, and working with the Jewish community and police to ensure that everyone feels safe on our streets. Ehsan Hussain, 25, called for disorder and incited racial violence in the wake of the Southport stabbings - West Midlands Police An Asian man who stirred up racial hatred against Muslims after posing as a far-Right hooligan online during the summer riots has been jailed for more than two years. Ehsan Hussain, 25, used the fake identity of a white person called Chris Nolan calling for disorder in Birmingham as riots spread across Britain. The chef posted numerous vile messages on the messaging app Telegram in a group chat with more than 12,000 members just hours before violence erupted in the city. A court heard he called for disorder in the Alum Rock and Bordesley Green areas and incited racial violence in the wake of the Southport stabbings. He urged people to conquer Alum Rock and wrote Birmingham first! We need to take back whats ours as well as we doing p--- bashing. In a separate chat with someone else, Hussain appeared to admit what he had done and encouraged them to fool the extreme Right by using a white name to become part of the group and that he would be surprised how thick they are. Hussain, of Yardley, Birmingham, previously admitted distributing threatening and abusive material intended to stir up racial hatred. Rag Chand, defending, said that Hussain had shown a colossal collapse of common sense that demonstrated an immaturity below his actual age. But sentencing him to two years and four months in prison, Judge Melbourne Inman KC said: Sadly this is one of a number of cases that the courts have had to deal with arising from the civil unrest following the very tragic events of Southport that occurred on July 29. A number of people used that tragedy as an opportunity to sow hatred which lead to towns and cities up and down the country to be disfigured by racist violence, intimidation and damage. He said Hussain had used a chat group, which was populated by those who held extreme Right-wing and racist views whose purpose was to encourage hatred. The judge added that during his posts Hussain had used vile racist language and it was at a time when people were using copycat excuses for violence. Peter Grieves-Smith KC, prosecuting, told the court: On August 5 this year police became aware of a series of screen shots obtained from a Telegram chat group that was called Southport Wake Up. The purpose of the chat site was to try and incite organised violence in the West Midlands area, focusing on the Alum Rock area of Birmingham. He said there was also focus on the Bordesley Green area and that was because they both had a high Muslim population. Mr Grieves-Smith said the chat group used by Hussain had 12,500 members and there had been about 4,600 people online at the time, which he would have been aware of. At one point during the messaging, in which he referred to smelly scum bags, Hussain said: It is all about the kids. We are doing it for the kids. Mr Grieves-Smith said: This is the defendant with others stirring the pot. On Aug 5, there was widespread disorder in the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham. Males wearing balaclavas and surgical masks gathered outside an Islamic centre. Later, some of the mob moved on to Heartlands Hospital where doctors surgeries were forced to close. At one point a bus was stormed with a group running up the stairs. At about 8pm, there was also an unprovoked attack on a Skoda which had its windows broken, the court heard. After the hearing, Chief Supt Richard North, from West Midlands Police, said: This has been an excellent but complex investigation. We would like to thank members of the public for alerting us to these posts which was crucial at a time when we were seeing lots of rumour, speculation and misinformation online; we know this can be extremely harmful to all of our communities. We do not tolerate violence in our towns and cities, or tolerate those who use social media to encourage such violence. The Australian government has been accused by pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups alike of gutless fence-sitting after it abstained on a UN vote on the need to urgently end the Israeli occupation. The resolution was adopted by a 124-14 margin at the UN general assembly in New York early on Thursday, but the issue splintered western countries as the US joined Israel in outright opposition whereas New Zealand, France and Ireland voted yes. Australia was among 43 countries to abstain after failing to secure support in negotiations to amend aspects of the resolution that it argued went beyond the scope of a recent landmark ruling by the international court of justice. The eight-page resolution focused on the need for Israel to comply with the ICJ ruling, but also included much broader demands for all states to implement sanctions and take other actions consistent with their obligations under international law. Related: UN members back resolution directing Israel to leave occupied territories Sources familiar with the diplomatic negotiations said Australia had argued the resolution mischaracterised a prescriptive list of policy demands as legal obligations on all countries. Australia was already taking many of those steps, such as imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers, but argued it was doing so as a matter of considered policy and not because it was legally required to do so, the sources said. During the negotiations, Australia also raised concerns that the resolution included demands on matters that had historically been regarded as final-status issues to be negotiated between the Israeli and Palestinian sides. The resolution demanded that Israel allow all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their original place of residence. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said the government should have voted with the United States to oppose the resolution. Dutton told 2GB the government was damaging our relationship very significantly with Israel, with the United States and with like-minded partners, even though Australia stood with the UK, Germany and South Korea in abstaining. The president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, Nasser Mashni, said Australia missed a significant opportunity to take a leadership role in ending the occupation of Palestine and ending the Gaza genocide. The deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, said the Labor government had shown itself to be gutless fence-sitters and voters would not forgive and forget. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said Israel was once again under a ferocious multi-front attack and the UN resolution was an invitation to endless war and bloodshed. [Australia] should have voted no instead of taking the morally cowardly way out and abstaining, the ECAJ co-chief executive, Peter Wertheim, said. The Zionist Federation of Australia said the government should have stood with Israel in this critical moment. But the Jewish Council of Australia, a relatively new group of Jewish Australians who are critical of the Israeli government, said Australia can and should be doing more to hold Israel accountable for its unlawful presence in Palestinian territories. The New Israel Fund Australia, which supports a two-state solution and opposes the occupation, backed Australias decision to abstain. It urged Australia to work with allies towards ending the occupation on a feasible timeline, to help build a viable future for Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinian-drafted resolution demanded that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and do so no later than 12 months from now. The UNs highest judicial body said in an advisory opinion in July that Israels sustained abuse of its position as an occupying power had rendered its presence in the territories it seized in the six-day war in 1967 East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza as unlawful. Despite casting an abstain vote, the Australian ambassador to the UN, James Larsen, said Australia supports many of the principles of this resolution and was a resolute defender of international law. That is why we abstained with great disappointment, Larsen said. We are concerned that, by making demands of the entire UN membership that go beyond the scope of the advisory opinion, the resolution distracts from what the world needs Israel to do. The wording included a call for all countries to implement sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against natural and legal persons engaged in the maintenance of Israels unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The resolution also called on countries to cease the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel, the occupying power, in all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Larsen said the occupation must be brought to an end, such that we see security for Palestinians, for Israel, and for the region. He said Israel must cease settlement activity. Australia, he said, had sanctioned extremist Israeli settlers because they must be held to account for their violence. Larsen said Australia now saw recognition of Palestinian statehood as an integral part of a peace process. Its a matter of when, not if. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told ABC Radio National that Australia would have liked to have been in a position to vote for a resolution that more directly reflected the ICJ advisory opinion. When asked about Israels claim that the resolution rewarded Hamas for its attacks, Wong said: Our position is that the October 7 attacks were an atrocity. What we also have said is that we want to see a ceasefire: 10,000 Palestinian children have been killed in this conflict. Related: Gaza publishes identities of 34,344 Palestinians killed in war with Israel The executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, Rawan Arraf, said the actions listed in the resolution were incumbent on states in fulfilling their obligations and to ensure compliance with international law. Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, said the governments comments that it wished it could have supported the resolution were unusual. They certainly reflect a general Australian position that it wishes to give support to the July ICJ advisory opinion, he said. Rothwell said the resolution addressed the advisory opinion, but also went further on sanctions and establishing a UN mechanism for reparations. A Ukrainian drone attack on a large Russian weapons depot caused a blast that was picked up by earthquake monitoring stations, in one of the biggest strikes on Moscows military arsenal since the war began. Pro-Russian military bloggers said Ukraine struck an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets, a historic town more than 300 miles north of Ukraine and about 230 miles west of Moscow. Videos and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame rising high into the night sky and detonations thundering across a lake, in a region not far from the border with Belarus. The strike was part of a broader Ukrainian drone campaign targeting Russian oil refineries, power plants, airfields and military factories, and highlights Kyivs enhanced long-range drone capabilities. Earthquake monitoring stations registered what sensors thought was a minor earthquake in the area. Ukrainian Pravda reported that the operation was conducted by the Ukrainian security service together with the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and the Special Operations Force. An unnamed official at the Ukrainian security service said the weapons warehouse contained long-range Russian missiles and guided bombs known as KABs. Russias defence ministry said 54 Ukrainian drones targeted five western Russian regions overnight and that all of them were destroyed. But in a tacit admission of the strike, Igor Rudenya, the governor of Russias Tver region, said firefighters there were trying to contain a fire and that some residents were being evacuated from their homes. Rudenya said wreckage from a destroyed Ukrainian drone had sparked a fire, but did not say what was burning. Russian state media reported that nurseries and schools in the Zapadnodvinsk district, bordering the Toropetsk district in the Tver region, were closed on Wednesday. Some pro-war Russian war bloggers expressed anger over how Ukrainian drones could trigger such large explosions at what was thought to be a highly fortified facility. In a scathing statement on Telegram, Anastasia Kashevarova, a well-connected and influential blogger, blamed the Russian defence ministry and authorities for allowing Ukraine to blow up a massive military depot. She wrote: How many more mistakes can they make It is the third year of the special military operation but the idiocy continues. Ukraines strike using domestically produced drones comes amid Volodymyr Zelenskiys ongoing efforts to persuade his allies to permit Kyiv to use western-supplied missiles against airbases and weapons dumps on Russian territory, to curb Moscows steady advances in eastern Ukraine. Related: If they dont die, our infantry will: Ukraines pivotal battle for Donetsk Kyivs allies, including the US and Britain, are discussing whether to authorise Kyiv to strike deep inside Russian territory using missiles including the long-range US Atacms and Anglo-French Storm Shadows, known in France as Scalp. The Kremlin has said such a move would imply direct western involvement in the conflict and would result in consequences, with some officials close to Vladimir Putin suggesting Moscow could respond with nuclear weapons. Since the start of this year, Russian forces have made continuous advances in eastern Ukraine, steadily approaching the key city of Pokrovsk. Earlier on Wednesday, Russias military claimed to have captured the town of Ukrainsk, which lies in between Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, another Ukrainian military stronghold. Jagtar Singh Johal was bundled into a car by police in 2017 and tortured, according to Reprieve. Photograph: Family handout/PA Delhis high court has denied bail to the British activist Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been imprisoned in India for nearly seven years, in seven cases brought against him by the countrys National Investigations Agency. The ruling has shocked family and supporters who claim it should jolt the British government into recognising that Johal is not receiving justice at the hands of the Indian legal system. The court acknowledged that his trials have been severely delayed but ruled this was not sufficient grounds to grant bail, according to Reprieve, the human rights organisation that has been fighting against his long detention without trail. Johal, 37, from Dumbarton in Scotland, was arrested in connection with targeted killing cases in Punjab in 2016 and 2017. It is alleged that these offences were part of a conspiracy by the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), an organisationthe Indian police allege Johal was a member of. Johal had previously been bailed in two cases. In March 2022, the high court of Punjab and Haryana granted bail on the basis that Johal had been imprisoned without trial for five years and that this violated his right to access to justice. In August 2023, in an appeal filed by the National Investigations Agency to the March 2022 order, Indias supreme court challenged prosecutors to present credible evidence against him, and as they were unable to do so, upheld the lower courts order granting bail. As a result, Wednesdays ruling appears to be directly at odds with the supreme courts 2023 order, meaning the latest high court ruling could be subject to challenge in the supreme court. Reprieve has insisted the cases against Johal are based on one false confession he gave after being tortured with electricity by police, who brought petrol into the cell and threatened to burn him alive. Prosecutors have now had almost seven years and have presented no physical evidence, no email trail, no CCTV footage, no record of a bank transfer, and no recordings of telephone calls linking Jagtar to the supposed conspiracy, Reprieve said. The officer who arrested Johal in 2017 admitted in court that there was no evidence against him when cross-examined under oath, Reprieve said. United Nations legal experts have recognised that he is arbitrarily detained and is being targeted for his human rights activism. His brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, said: My brother should not be in prison. All he ever did was stand up for human rights, as we have said from day one. Prosecutors cant come up with any evidence against him because there isnt any. Todays ruling is a harsh reminder that the system is stacked against him. Prosecutors are able to drag out the case, potentially for decades, to deny him justice. Even these simple bail applications have taken more than a year to be considered because the prosecution has sought so many needless adjournments. Harriet McCulloch, of Reprieve, said: These bail rulings should shock the UK government into action. To deny Jagtar bail when there is no end in sight to his trials and no credible evidence has been presented is clearly unjust. India is keeping a British human rights activist in arbitrary detention while his government stands by. Terrorist funerals the Lebanese way: Hezbollah bury four of their dead - WAEL HAMZEH/Shutterstock Robbed of its moral bearings, bereft of any sense of right and wrong, incapable of distinguishing heroes from villains, the West can no longer celebrate when good triumphs over evil. Israels brilliantly audacious booby-trapping of thousands of Hezbollah pagers, followed by the blowing up of the terror groups walkie-talkies, is a stunning fillip for the forces of civilisation worldwide. A tiny nation of just 9.3 million, of which 7.2 million are Jewish, living in a country the size of Wales, reeling from the worst anti-Semitic pogroms since the Holocaust, Israel is leading the war against barbarism, its young conscripts doing a job that would once have required intervention by a Western coalition acting as global policeman. The fact that so many in Britain, Europe and America, especially the young, no longer take Israels side in this existential combat exemplifies our cultural, intellectual and ethical degeneration. The Biden administration is obsessed with preventing escalation, even though that is what is required if Iran is to be stopped from gaining the means to wage a nuclear World War III. All too predictably, America, seemingly determined to ensure the survival of every regional terror group, appeared upset at the successful attack on Hezbollah. David Lammy, our foreign secretary, is delivering speeches claiming climate change is a worse threat than terrorism; in a rational world, Lammy would be privately congratulating his Israeli counterparts for the most successful surgical operation ever conducted against a terrorist organisation, with few civilian casualties, and pledging Britains help. Instead, Keir Starmer has turned against Israel, banning the sales of some weapons a policy that Germany appears intent on following and refusing to oppose lawsuits against the Jewish state, in an unforgivable moral inversion. Labour has placed Britain on the side of those nihilists masquerading as human rights lawyers who negate the essential distinction between victims and aggressors, between rule-bound, democracies desperate to minimise civilian casualties, and bloodthirsty dictatorships for whom their people are pawns to be sacrificed. Hezbollah is funded and controlled by the Iranian regime, an obscurantist, fascistic, millenarian tyranny that persecutes minorities, women and dissidents. Violating human rights and plotting war crimes is Hezbollahs raison detre: its 150,000 missiles point towards civilian centres and, like Hamas and Iran itself, it seeks Israels liquidation, guaranteeing the massacre, expulsion or subjugation of Jews. Hezbollah has forced some 63,473 Israelis to flee their homes since October 7. This is unsustainable and explains why a major Israeli response is looming; obscenely, this will trigger widespread condemnation of the Jewish state. Western foreign policy is a mishmash of cowardice, delusion and contradictions. Iran is a threat to the world; its alliance with Russia is deepening. Turkey, led by the despot Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has threatened Israel with invasion, yet remains part of Nato. Qatar, which puts up senior Hamas terrorists in luxury hotels, is a major non-Nato ally of the US, home to a crucial Western military base and a major investor in London. Egypt, a recipient of US aid, has tolerated myriad tunnels to southern Gaza, refused to let in any Palestinians and, bizarrely, is not held responsible for supplying Gaza with provisions, that task falling to Israel. None of the three latter regimes face sanctions: global ire is reserved for Israel. One reason Western elites have become so Israelophobic is that, infected by wokery, they increasingly loathe Europes and Americas history and traditions, and view the Jewish state as a standout example of a Western model they reject. Winston Churchill would be convicted for crimes against humanity today, as would Franklin D Roosevelt and Harry Truman. D-Day would be ruled illegitimate because so many French civilians died during the Battle of Normandy. Democracies might as well not bother with nuclear weapons, for detonating one, even in retaliation for an unprovoked attack, would be deemed a war crime. Im in favour of much stricter rules than those governing World War II, of doing everything possible to protect civilians, but this is madness. The Just War is a foundational principle. States have the right to defend themselves. Every civilian life lost as collateral damage is a tragedy, but pacifism is a deluded utopia that fails to grasp the reality of the human condition. It is madness to criminalise all warfare, and despicable to focus on that conducted by democracies and ignore that advanced by our enemies. It is equally stupid to entrust so much power to legal activists. Much historic anti-Semitism has been ratified by kangaroo courts, including during the 1930s. The Trial of the Talmud took place in France in 1240, with rabbis forced to defend religious texts against trumped-up accusations of blasphemy and obscenity. Other bigot-fests masquerading as ordinary trials include the Disputations of Barcelona and Tortosa, the Damascus Affair, the Dreyfus affair that prompted Emile Zolas seminal Jaccuse, and the trial of Mendel Beilis in Ukraine in 1913. It is a well-established model that hasnt gone out of fashion in far-Left quarters. They no longer explicitly single out religious beliefs or individuals but leverage lawfare to delegitimise what just happens to be the only Jewish state. The fact that the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have the trappings of a legitimate legal setting does not mean they necessarily embody justice. The fact that their rulings are deemed legitimate by Left-wing elites doesnt automatically make them such. The fact that todays blood libels take on the language of human rights doesnt make them less monstrous. The fact that it is possible for a country as unjustly governed as South Africa to lead a genocide case against Israel proves that the entire system is rotten. The case is backed by Iran, Brazils far-Left president, Ireland and Egypt: we must have been transported into an alternative, Kafkaesque universe. Israel is the supreme embodiment of law-bound national, democratic sovereignty, of peoplehood, of matching a nation to a state, of post-imperialism, of capitalism and technology, and of the continued relevance of the monotheistic religions. If you tear down Israel, you destroy the very ideas that underpin the West, the international order implodes and the autocracies triumph. The stakes are thus unbelievably high. We must support Israel, and allow it to finish the job of annihilating Hamas and defeating Hezbollah. Delta Air Lines passengers had to return to Salt Lake City after the cabin pressure problem Passengers were left with bleeding eardrums, headaches and bloody noses after a Delta Air Lines flight suffered cabin pressure issues. The flight was travelling from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon, on Sunday when the pilots of the five-year-old Boeing 737-900ER aircraft noticed a pressurization problem and made an emergency landing back in Utahs capital, according to the flight log. The incident is now being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Passengers told television station KSL they noticed people bleeding as the plane decreased in elevation over the Great Salt Lake. Pilots announced they were returning to the airport but did not explain why, passenger Caryn Allen said. Oxygen masks did not deploy. Ms Allen described watching her husband cover his ears in pain while other passengers tried to help a man on the other side of the aisle who had an uncontrollable bloody nose. Another passenger, Jaci Purser, told KSL it felt like someone was stabbing her inner ear. I grabbed my ear, and I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it, she said. Paramedics met passengers at the gate and identified at least 10 people out of the 140 on the flight who required medical attention. They recommended that anyone who was bleeding go to the hospital for further evaluation, and Delta offered to cover those transportation costs, the airline said. We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on flight 1203 on Sept. 15, Delta said in a statement. The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC where our teams on the ground supported our customers with their immediate needs. The airline said the plane was taken out of service on Sunday and went back into service the next day after technicians resolved an issue that had made the plane unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet, Delta said. High-profile incidents Boeing is in the midst of one of the biggest crises in its history following a number of high-profile incidents involving its planes. The company agreed to pay out billions in damages and criminal penalties earlier this year after its short-haul 737 Max jet was involved in two crashes one in Indonesia in 2018 and the other in Ethiopia in 2019 that left 346 people dead. The plane was later grounded for 20 months after investigators discovered the incidents were linked to a new flight stabilisation feature Boeing had installed. In January, the company made headlines when the door plug of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines fell off at 16,000 feet. Passengers saw their bags and possessions sucked out of the plane as the cabin rapidly depressurised. Many of those on board claimed they had suffered trauma with three people filing a lawsuit requesting $1 billion in damages. Just a week later, a 737 flying between the Japanese cities of Sapporo and Toyama was forced to land when a crack was discovered on a cockpit window. The following week, a 747-8 was forced to make an emergency landing in Miami after it was reported to be on fire in mid-air. The incidents preceded reports of a 737 Max that slid off a runway while landing in Houston, a 737-900 that was forced to land after flames were spotted coming out of its engine and a tyre that fell off a 777 in San Francisco. More recently, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner nose-dived during a flight from Sydney to Auckland, injuring dozens of passengers, while there were reports of a 737-800 that arrived at Portland International Airport with part of an underside panel missing. Following the January plane door incident, Dave Calhoun, president and CEO of Boeing, released a statement saying that the company has taken a hard look at its operations to ensure safety. After the Jan. 5 accident involving a 737 airplane, we took immediate containment and mitigation actions to ensure airplane safety, he said. We also made the decision to slow production as we took a hard look across every facet of our operations. The company has since released an 11-page summary of its Product Safety and Quality Plan, which described steps the company is taking, including increased inspections and tighter controls over suppliers. The document also outlines how Boeing will measure its improvement. Workers at Wrocaw zoo, close to the Oder River, build flood reinforcements on Wednesday. Photograph: Maciej Kulczynski/EPA Soldiers, emergency workers and volunteers battled through the night to reinforce defences around Wrocaw, Polands third biggest city, as the EU said flooding in central Europe happening simultaneously alongside wildfires in Portugal showed climate breakdown in action. More than five times the average rainfall for the whole of September has fallen in five days on swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, triggering devastating flooding that has killed 23 people in four countries. In Portugal, the government declared a state of calamity late on Tuesday night as dozens of wildfires continued to burn across northern parts of the country. The wildfires have killed at least seven people, destroyed dozens of houses and torn through tens of thousands of hectares of forest and scrubland. Visiting Wrocaw, a city of 600,000 people where the level of the Odra (Oder) River is not due to peak until Thursday, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, told a crisis meeting that a lot happened overnight but more needed to be done. Sandbags were passed along lines of residents and civil protection workers to fortify riverbanks and buildings, helped by some of the 14,000 soldiers sent to the worst-hit areas. Army helicopters dumped more bags to strengthen emergency dams. We are concentrating on keeping the Oder within its banks, said the Polish interior minister, Tomasz Siemoniak. We have a very difficult dozen or so hours ahead of us. Finance minister Andrzej Domanski said 2bn zotys (395m) had been set aside for dealing with the aftermath of the floods, which have destroyed roads and bridges, submerged whole neighbourhoods and caused billions of euros of damage. Austria has tripled its federal disaster fund to 1bn (840m), the chancellor, Karl Nehammer, said on Wednesday, describing the past few days as enormously challenging and causing great suffering and unimaginable destruction. Seven people have died in Poland, seven in Romania, five in Austria and four in the Czech Republic, officials said on Wednesday, with several reported missing, as Storm Boris moved steadily westward to start threatening northern Italy. Czech media reported the latest victim there was a 70-year-old woman from a village near the north-eastern town of Jesenik who was found 20 metres from her house after leaving an evacuation centre on Sunday to return to her home. The Polish defence ministry said more than 14,000 soldiers had been deployed to flood-hit regions, with the armed forces using helicopters to evacuate people and strengthen flood defences, while drones monitored the situation from above. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, would travel to Wrocaw on Thursday to meet the political leaders of Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, the commission said on Wednesday. In Hungary, authorities opened a dam in the countrys north-west to direct water from the Lajta River into an emergency reservoir to protect the town of Mosonmagyarovar and continued to shore up flood defences in the capital, Budapest. Authorities said the Danube River was expected to peak around or slightly above 8.5 metres, probably on Friday or Saturday. Due to heavy rains and floods, the situation is critical all across central Europe, the prime minister, Viktor Orban, said. According to the latest forecasts, the crucial time for Hungary begins on Wednesday, so flood protection is going full steam ahead. Elswehere, notably in the Czech Republic, waters were mostly receding, leaving an estimated 4bn of damage. In Strasbourg, the EUs crisis management commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, said the flooding in central Europe, combined with this weeks deadly forest fires in Portugal, were joint proof of climate breakdown. Make no mistake. This tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our shared future, Lenarcic told MEPs. Europe is the fastest warming continent globally and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. Beyond the human cost, member states were also struggling to cope with mounting damage repair bills and the lengthy recovery periods from disaster, he said. The average cost of disasters in the 1980s was 8bn. More recently, in 2021 and in 2022, the damage passed 50bn a year, so the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of action. Brussels faces growing opposition in many member states to costly measures to combat global heating. Critics say the blocs plan to become climate neutral by 2050 is unrealistic and too expensive, with populist and far-right parties leading the attack. But Lenarcic said people only needed to follow the news to understand the urgency issue. We face a Europe that is simultaneously flooding and burning. These extreme weather events ... are now an almost annual occurrence, he said. The global reality of the climate breakdown has moved into the everyday lives of Europeans. More than 5,000 firefighters tackled more than 100 separate wildfires in Portugal on Wednesday as Spain, France and Italy each sent two waterbombing aircraft in efforts to extinguish the blazes. Were in a stressful situation, at the limit of our capabilities, said the head of the Portuguese civil protection authority, Duarte Costa, adding that the reinforcements would allow for some rotation of exhausted Portuguese firefighters. Portugals prime minister, Luis Montenegro, paid tribute to three firefighters who died. My deepest condolences to the families and the firefighters who died. Three heroes who gave their lives defending Portugal and the Portuguese people. The greatest tribute we can pay them is to continue fighting, as they did, he said. Montenegro also said the people suspected of starting some of the fires would feel the full force of the law, adding that he would spare no effort in repressive action when it came to such crimes. More than 90,000 hectares (347 sq miles) in Portugal have been burned by large-scale wildfires since Saturday, taking the total this year to at least 124,000 hectares. The burned area is the largest since 2017, when the country suffered two devastating wildfires that killed more than 100 people. Italys national civil protection service has issued nearly 50 yellow alerts for Wednesday, warning of a risk of storms, landslides and floods in the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions, which could face two months of rainfall in the next three days. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report The woman was sailing around the Canary Islands on the British-registered Dalliance Chichester A German tourist has died after a shark bit off her leg in the Atlantic south of the Canary Islands, the first death caused by a shark attack in the waters around the islands in history. Spanish authorities dispatched an air force helicopter to rescue the woman, but she died while on board as it travelled to one of the archipelagos hospitals. The 30-year-old woman, who has not been named, was on a cruise on a British-registered pleasure boat when the attack happened shortly before 4pm on Monday. It has not been reported how it took place, but shark-related incidents off the coast of north-west Africa and near the Canary Islands are extremely rare. The crew of the Dalliance Chichester catamaran reported the emergency to Spains coastguard at 3.55pm on Monday. At the time, the vessel was situated about 300 miles south of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and just over 100 miles from Dakhla, Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony over which Morocco claims to have sovereignty. Spains coastguard asked Morocco if its rescue services were available to offer assistance, but the Moroccan coastguard said it did not have resources in the area. The Spanish coastguard also issued an alert to all shipping in the area near the Dalliance Chichester, with one vessel responding by taking medical supplies to the catamaran. Authorities in the Canary Islands decided to send a Spanish air force search and rescue helicopter, with a military plane supporting the mission. The helicopter came from Gran Canaria and took the injured woman on board at around 8.05pm. The woman, who had one of her legs severed by the shark, reportedly suffered a fatal cardiac arrest during the rescue flight. The crew of the Dalliance Chichester catamaran reported the emergency to Spains coastguard at 3.55pm on Monday - A/NPZ/SM According to online maritime traffic monitoring navigators, the Dalliance Chichester had left Las Palmas de Gran Canarias port last Saturday and headed south. The International Shark Attack File, compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History, said Mondays attack was the first confirmed incident involving a shark in waters near the Canary Islands that had resulted in death. The file mentions six confirmed incidents in the area since records began in the 16th century, with a seventh considered probable. No shark incident had previously been documented in the area where Mondays attack took place. The closest, apart from those in the Canary Islands, was reported in the African archipelago of Cape Verde. The secret review of the military justice system has been tabled in parliament after it was published in error, according to the government. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP The royal commission on defence and veteran suicide has explained its publication of a previously secret report on military justice, arguing the government made no demand that it be kept confidential. The report recommending an overhaul of the military justice system first came to light on Tuesday when the Greens senator David Shoebridge found it on the website of the recently concluded royal commission into defence and veterans suicide. He and independent senator Jacqui Lambie who has been campaigning for its release tried to table it in the Senate but the government blocked the move. On Wednesday morning, Shoebridge and Lambie distributed the review of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force which contains 51 recommendations including re-establishing the IGADF under new legislation. The federal government later published the report after Shoebridge found it among other exhibits tendered to the royal commission into veteran suicide. Labor frontbencher Malarndirri McCarthy told the Senate on Wednesday the report had been published on the royal commission website in error after being provided on a confidential basis. I am advised the office of the royal commission removed the document from its website after becoming aware of the error, but it is now public as Ive just tabled it, McCarthy said. But in a statement issued late on Wednesday, the royal commission secretariat said the review had been tendered into evidence in May this year and that the commonwealths lawyers were advised in advance. The Commonwealth Governments lawyers made no confidentiality claims over the redacted version of that document which was relied upon as evidence and referenced in the Royal Commissions Final Report, the royal commissions statement said. The Commonwealth Governments lawyers did request the Solicitors Assisting the Royal Commission to carefully consider use of the Report, including any publication, pending the Governments review. The statement also said the report had been inadvertently published among other exhibits on its website last month but that publication was not in keeping with its standard process of not publishing reports to government until they had been publicly released. When this was discovered on Tuesday, it said, the report was taken down. Lambie had previously urged the government to publish the document a review of the first 20 years of operations of the Office of Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force. Lambie told the Senate on Wednesday that the governments handling of the issue had been disgraceful. The truths already there, Lambie said of the military justice system, before the government tabled the review. Have you not been watching the royal commission? Sure you have. People from the department have been there every day I am sick of the cover-up. You say you want to make changes, you say you want the culture to change, you say you want to reduce veterans suicide. But you are part of the problem. You are not holding them accountable. Related: Dozens arrested around Australia as federal police target secret app allegedly used for criminal communications The review says a statutory overhaul would secure the appearance of independence, as well as its fact to help rebuild broken trust with defence force personnel. It proposes establishing an independent ADF director of military prosecutions and a registrar of courts martial. The review recommends that whistleblower protection be widened to cover more military justice issues. It also says special guidance should be issued to commanders and those in pre-command training to discourage any tendency to conceal potential military justice problems from higher authority. Conducted by former federal court judge and former Keating government attorney general Duncan Kerr, the review states the IGADF should be given the resources and authority to conduct more frequent and detailed investigations and that its remit should be expanded to investigate any death of a former member of the ADF permanent or reserve force when it occurs within two years of them having served. It also recommends the creation of an offence of taking reprisal action against any person because they have or are suspected to have made a complaint to the IGADF. After Shoebridge and Lambie raised the issue on Tuesday, the report was removed from the royal commissions website, prompting the senators to demand the government explain who ordered it be taken down. The government yesterday, in another appalling example of their addiction to secrecy, sought by hook and by crook to prevent this coming out in a timely fashion, Shoebridge said on Wednesday. The opposition Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, said the government needed to explain the reports handling. The chaos and the mishandling and the on-again, off-again responses from the government and the accidental publication of the report all deserve to be explained, he said. A spokesperson for the defence minister, Richard Marles, declined to comment on the handling of the report. The review is complete and is currently being considered by the deputy prime minister [Marles] in the context of the royal commission recommendations to ensure a holistic and pragmatic approach to any proposed reform, the spokesperson said. To respond to one report in isolation of the other would be impractical and ineffective. The deputy prime minister has said the government will agree to implement the thrust of the recommendations of the royal commission, of which reform to the IGADF and military justice system forms a large part. Washerwoman by Shannon Alonzo, 2018 - Steven Pocock/Wellcome An exhibition about labour exploitation and its health impacts might sound a bit eat your greens: important but unappealing. So it should be to the credit of the Wellcome Collection, and independent curator Cindy Sissokho, that its latest offering actually goes down quite nicely. Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights pulls together a mix of artworks and artefacts, from the 18th century to the present day, that are by turns intellectually engaging, emotionally affecting, and even beautiful. This is not a comprehensive overview of the topic. There is nothing on the rise of what David Graeber called bulls--- jobs (middle management, receptionists, corporate lawyers etc), for instance, when this is a phenomenon that causes plenty of harm. But then again, the show only gets one floor of the Wellcomes exhibitions space. Perhaps wisely, it focuses instead on three specific terrains where undervalued work has taken place over a long period of time: the plantation, the street, and the home. Within these categories, connections between different types of work and effects on health are made. In the first section, the forced labour of enslaved people on agricultural farms in colonies is linked not only to the dangerous working conditions on modern plantations (theres a horrific set of photos showing the injuries of workers on a tea plantation in Bangladesh) but also prison labour. As one 1976 activist poster on display puts it: Jail is just a kind of warehouse for poor people. One of the strangest and most troubling artefacts in the show is a 19th-century slide rule designed to calculate treadwheel labour a painful form of punishment for prisoners that came with the side effect of generating energy for milling corn or pumping water. Cleaner No.01 by Kelly OBrien, 2022 Not everything is so depressing, though. The second section, on sanitation and sex workers, makes the case for the dignity of any work thats undertaken consensually and the power of resistance when conditions are unsafe or unfair. A highlight is Lindsey Mendicks newly commissioned installation Money Makes The World Go Round, inspired by the historic occupations of churches in Lyon and London by sex workers protesting against police mistreatment in the 1970s and 80s. A church-like structure is filled with an array of unapologetically brash ceramic money-boxes that allude to the oldest profession: my favourites were the pink piggy banks with police bobby hats. Money Makes the World Go Round (2023-4), Lindsey Mendick - Steven Pocock/Wellcome The final section joins the dots between unpaid care and housework, most often done by mothers, and the experiences of migrant domestic workers. Material from the Wages for Housework campaign archive is interesting, though it pales in comparison to the serious exploitation and abuse recounted in Our Journey (2019), a harrowing video featuring the stories of women who were brought to the UK with non-transferable visas as domestic workers in private households. Thankfully, the exhibition ends on a more uplifting note, with a video and audio installation by the artist Moi Tran featuring members of an advocacy group called the Voice of Domestic Workers, clapping in rhythmic unison to the blues-y sounds of a cello and trombone a moment of joyful respite from hard graft. From 19 September 2024 until 27 April 2025. Tickets: https://wellcomecollection.org/ Bernadette Spofforth denied she was the first to post the message, saying she had simply made the mistake of repeating it A housewife accused of sparking the Southport riots is no longer being investigated by the police. Bernadette Spofforth was alleged to be one of the first people to share the incorrect name of the suspected knifeman in the attack, in which three young girls killed. She said she was arrested on Aug 8 on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communications. The 55-year-old businesswoman had wrongly claimed on X, formerly Twitter, that the suspect in the killing of three girls outside a Taylor Swift dance class was an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in the UK by boat. The false accusation, promoted across social media by far-Right accounts and Russian bots, was blamed for sparking the riots that spread across the country. Mrs Spofforth, who lives in a million-pound farmhouse near Chester, denied she was the first to post the message, saying she had simply made the mistake of repeating it. A spokesman for Cheshire Constabulary said: A woman who was arrested in relation to an inaccurate social media post has been released without charge. Following a thorough investigation, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken due to insufficient evidence. In a video posted on X on Wednesday, Mrs Spofforth said she had not posted on social media since her arrest as her bail conditions forbade her from doing so. "IF THIS IS TRUE" - I am Bernadette Spofforth you know me as Bernie. And this is the story of how the State silenced an ordinary citizen, through arrest and bail conditions, to ensure only State truth was heard. With special thanks to @sdavieslaw @speechUnion pic.twitter.com/p7ouXnl6qR Bernie (@Artemisfornow) September 18, 2024 She said: Firstly, thank you for all of your messages, and Im so sorry I havent responded or replied to any of you, but I couldnt. I would have been locked up in a cell again for breaching bail conditions if I had. I want to let you know, though, that on Sep 5, the police issued whats called an NFA, and that means no further action and no charges because I hadnt done anything illegal. Mrs Spofforth said she had just copied and pasted a name and unusually for her did not check the source of the information. The post she tweeted read: Ali Al-Shakati was the suspect. He was an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list. She added: If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose. Would not make something up She said she deleted the post when she realised the name was incorrect and claimed that, despite doing so, police arrived at her house mob handed to arrest her on Aug 8. Instead of a simple voluntary interview, they searched me, arrested me and held me for 36 hours in a concrete cell with a concrete bed, like a terrorist. Now, I deleted that post because I found out it was incorrect. Keir Starmer said just a few years ago that if people make social media posts an error and then delete them that should be the end of the matter but it seems thats no longer the case. She said she had not, and would not, make something up. Picked up by far-Right figures The false claim in Mrs Spofforths tweet was picked up by Russia-linked Channel3 Now, a website that masquerades as a legitimate American news outlet but acts as an aggregator for fake viral claims as well as real news stories. The claim was then boosted by thousands of other Russia-linked accounts before being repeated by Russian state media, which cited Channel3 Now in its reporting. It was also picked up by far-Right figures such as Tommy Robinson whose real name is Stphen Yaxley-Lennon and Andrew Tate, whose posts about Al-Shakati garnered millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes. Axel Rudakubana, an 18-year-old born in Cardiff, has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder over the Southport attack. Dungeness beach, where many refugees have landed, after crossing the Channel from France. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer A child refugee who fled Iraq has won a three-year legal battle to prove he was only 16 when he arrived undocumented in the UK, not eight to 10 years older, as British officials claimed, citing his facial hair and broad shoulders. The Kurd, now 19, fled Iraq with his family in 2021 after death threats from Shia militia, who came into his home area around Kirkuk after the fall of Islamic State in northern Iraq and Syria. But he was separated from his parents and sister while changing vessels on a treacherous sea journey and, after landing by boat in Britain in the middle of the night, he was treated as an adult with an estimated age of 24 to 26 by the Home Office and the London Borough of Greenwich. It meant that as well as being separated from his loved ones, he was allocated accommodation with adult asylum seekers and he claimed to be suicidal and threatened to kill himself during one age assessment. He won his case against the councils decision to treat him as an adult in the upper tribunal immigration and asylum chamber in February, when the judge found his claim of his age credible and that his father, who had worked for Saddam Husseins Sunni-dominated regime, would plausibly have attracted an adverse interest from Shia militias. The boy also claimed he had his leg broken by the militia. In July the borough was refused leave to appeal against the ruling on his age. His lawyers have now spoken out about his case, which means he will now have access to social services support until he is at least 21. Sadly, this is also not an isolated case and I cannot help but think that it is sometimes seen by local authorities with limited resources as a way to wriggle out of, or at least put off, providing the support and accommodation they are obliged to give child refugees, said Edward Taylor, a partner at the law firm Osbornes, whorepresented the boy, who cannot be named. While Judge Norton-Taylor found the refugee was indeed the age he claimed, he was probably aware that being a child required the authorities to provide accommodation and support. Last year the number of unaccompanied children arriving in the UK and seeking asylum hit the highest level in at least 14 years, according to Home Office figures, with 7,373 cases considered, of which 1,475 were refused. Home Office guidance published this year tells officials to give the benefit of the doubt and to treat uncertain cases as children pending further consideration of their age. The boy told the tribunal that he had an identity card in Iraq and it said he was born on 15 January 2005 making him 16 when he arrived. But when his age was assessed by officials on arrival in Kent, they found he had a deep voice, broad shoulders, a pronounced Adams apple, frown lines and significant facial hair. His appearance, they concluded was so obvious in terms of age, that there is no doubt about his adulthood. The council reckoned he was probably aged 24 to 26. The tribunal found his looks did not justify the councils assessment. Another age check by trained Kent county council assessors in 2022 highlighted his gentleman and adult-like behaviour, showing courtesy which can rarely be displayed by children younger in age. The judge was asked to consider his charm, charisma and forceful, argumentative demeanour. But he found this was often an unreliable indicator of age. The boy now a young man has been learning English at Croydon College in south London and was discharged from child and adolescent mental health services in July 2022. The judge found that his threat to kill himself was more likely to have been a result of emotional dysregulation and impulsive frustration rather than manipulative intent. His application for asylum has, meanwhile, been refused and he is appealing against the decision. A spokesperson for the Royal Borough of Greenwich said: We take our duties to children and those seeking asylum very seriously and we are proud to be recognised as a borough of sanctuary for all the work that we do. Although we cannot comment on individual cases, we have accepted the upper tier tribunals decision that was made on 13 February 2024 and have complied with and continue to comply with the decision. The headline on this article was amended on 18 September 2024 because the original version inaccurately said the refugee was from Iran, rather than Iraq Israel has declared a new phase of war after it was accused of being behind a second wave of remote-controlled explosions in Lebanon. Hundreds of walkie-talkie radios and other electronic devices began exploding in Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon during the funeral for Hezbollah fighters killed in a near-identical attack on pagers the previous day. Lebanons health ministry said 20 people had been confirmed killed and a further 450 wounded. Hezbollah fired 20 rockets into Israel following the blasts, Israeli officials said. All were intercepted. Shortly after the explosions, Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, said that the country was shifting its military focus to the north towards the Lebanese border for a new phase of the 11-month war that has raged since the Hamas attacks on October 7 last year. Mr Gallant said: The centre of gravity is shifting to the north, by diverting resources and forces [there]. We are at the onset of a new phase in the war. It requires courage, determination and perseverance from us. The remarks will raise fears of a full-scale Israeli assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Experts cautioned, however, that the US would resist any such invasion, which would also have a high political cost in Israel. Israel this week said that returning about 60,000 evacuees to their homes in the north of the country was an official war aim. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, did not directly address the attacks or the prospect of war in televised remarks on Wednesday. I already said that we would return the residents of the north securely to their homes and that is exactly what we will do, he said. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollahs leader, is expected to deliver a televised address in response to the attacks on Thursday. Seyed Hashem Safiuddin, the head of Hezbollahs executive council, said on Wednesday that the injured fighters would soon go back to the battlefields. These attacks will certainly be uniquely punished, Safiuddin warned. Revenge is inevitable. Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border after Israel attacked Gaza in response to the Hamas massacre of October 7. Israel has responded with air strikes in a tit-for-tat conflict that has so far not escalated into full-scale war. Wednesdays remote-controlled explosions saw radios, security doors and home solar power systems simultaneously detonated across Lebanon in the second such attack in as many days. A security source told Lebanese news outlet LOrient Today that devices were detonated inside cars, residential apartments and shops. Footage from Beirut showed cars and motorcycles burning in the street. One explosion went off in the crowd at the funeral of a Hezbollah member killed in the previous attack on Tuesday. Lebanons state news agency reported that three people were confirmed killed in the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country. The countrys health ministry later revised that figure down to one. It came 24 hours after thousands of hand-held pagers used by members of Hezbollah simultaneously detonated on Tuesday afternoon, plunging Lebanon into chaos. That attack killed at least 12 people, including two children, and injured nearly 3,000. Israel has refused to comment on allegations that it is behind the attacks, in line with its long-standing policy of neither confirming nor denying covert operations. Reports suggest the attacks in Beirut were the product of a months-long operation by Mossad, the Israeli overseas intelligence agency. The supply chain attack appears to have involved a small explosive charge being hidden in thousands of pagers and other electronic devices ordered by the terror group. The Telegraph understands a number of Hezbollah operatives raised suspicions about the devices shortly before the attack, which may have prompted the Israelis to launch the operation prematurely. It was a use it or lose it moment, one US official told the Axios website. Some reports suggested the explosives were originally intended to be used only in the event of an all-out war, and that Israel might feel compelled to launch a ground invasion to cripple Hezbollah before the shock of the attack dissipates. The Telegraph could not immediately confirm those claims. On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces deployed its elite 98th division from Gaza to the countrys northern border with Lebanon. Troops in Israels northern command conducted two exercises this week focusing on readiness for terrain in the north, including simulating operations in enemy territory, and evacuating wounded from the field under fire. Maj Gen Ori Gordin, the head of northern command, said on Wednesday that his troops were at peak readiness and were determined to change the security reality as soon as possible. Hezbollah is generally considered a more formidable opponent for Israel than Hamas. The Iranian-backed Shia group is believed to have amassed between 100,000 and 150,000 rockets that it could fire into Israel in the event of an all-out war. Israels 2006 ground invasion of Lebanon to root out Hezbollah lasted 32 days and ended inconclusively. Danny Yatom, a former Mossad chief, refused to discuss attribution for Wednesdays attacks but told The Telegraph that whoever was behind it would have had to put their hands on the devices before they arrived in Lebanon. He added that the number of wounded Hezbollah members was more significant than the damage done to its communications network. That should worry Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The main problem for Hezbollah is not a different communication system but how many terrorists are injured, Mr Yatom said. If they (Hezbollah members) are severely injured they wont be able to operate as terrorists. The move has alarmed Israels closest allies, with both the United States and Britain urging restraint. On Tuesday, Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, expressed frustration that the explosions in Lebanon could derail efforts to conclude a ceasefire in Gaza. Time and again when the US and other mediators believed they were making progress on a ceasefire deal, weve seen an event that ... threatens to slow it, stop it, derail it, he said when asked about the explosions in Lebanon. The British Government said de-escalation was a priority and urged its citizens to leave Lebanon. On Wednesday night, Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sir Keir Starmer was sending a horrible message to Hamas by imposing a partial arms ban on Israel. The Israeli prime minister accused the Government of mixed messages by suspending some arms exports just days after six hostages were murdered by the militants. He also compared Israels war against Hamas to Britains heroic stand against the Nazis, adding: Israel will win this war and secure our common future. Israel is waging a just war with just means, taking unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harms way and comporting fully with international law, Mr Netanyahu told the Daily Mail. Most recently, the new UK government suspended 30 arms licences to Israel, days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, sending a horrible message to Hamas. These misguided decisions will not change Israels determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people, including five British hostages. A Foreign Office spokesman said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and are concerned by the rising tensions and civilian casualties in Lebanon. The UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. We urge calm heads at this critical time and a focus on a negotiated settlement. The booby-trap attacks have also drawn criticism for putting civilians at risk. At least two children were killed in the first attack on Tuesday afternoon. The family of Fatima Abdallah, 10, said she had been killed when her fathers pager exploded. Funeral-goers hold a picture of Fatima Abdallah, 10, who died in one of the pager explosions - Anadolu Josep Borrell, the European Unions top diplomat, suggested the attack was legally questionable, given the collateral damage caused, as well as warning it violated Lebanons national sovereignty and risked regional escalation in the Middle East. Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians: several children are among the victims, he said after talks with Abdallah Bou Habib, Lebanons foreign minister. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the United Nations special co-ordinator for Lebanon, also raised concerns about the legality of the attack, adding: Even one civilian casualty is one too many. Petra De Sutter, Belgiums deputy prime minister, went as far as to describe the sabotage plot as a terror attack. CCTV footage showed at least one of the rigged pagers exploding in a crowded greengrocers store. International humanitarian law largely prohibits the use of booby traps. The UNs convention on certain conventional weapons rules that it is prohibited in all circumstances to use any booby trap in the form of an apparently harmless portable object which is specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material. The UKs rules of engagement also put a ban on items designed to contain explosives resembling harmless items. The US law of war manual gives examples of rigged watches, cameras and toys to be avoided to prevent the production of large quantities of dangerous objects that can be scattered around and are likely to be attractive to civilians, especially children. However, Washingtons rules only specifically ban booby traps when they are intentionally designed to look harmless. Hezbollah has vowed revenge for an unprecedented and deadly attack in Lebanon, with Israel accused of carrying out the operation by planting explosives inside thousands of pagers imported by the group months earlier. Thousands of pagers detonated across Lebanon and in Syria, killing 12 people and wounding almost 3,000 others, including the groups fighters and Irans envoy to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani. Lebanons health minister, Firass Abiad, said a young girl was among the dead, and that more than 200 people had critical injuries. A senior Lebanese security source and a second source told Reuters that Israels spy agency, the Mossad, which has a long history of pulling off complex attacks on foreign soil, planted explosives inside the pagers. The claim was mirrored by American officials cited in US media. Related: Exploding pager attack in Lebanon is another blow for US peace hopes Amid growing anger in the region about the attack, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the US had not been forewarned and that it was imperative all sides avoid escalation. Jordans foreign minister said Israel was pushing the Middle East to the brink of regional conflict by maintaining a dangerous escalation on several fronts. In remarks after an Islamic and Arab ministerial contact group meeting in Amman to lobby for a Gaza ceasefire, Ayman Safadi said peace would not prevail without a two-state solution. Hezbollahs leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is expected to give a speech on Thursday when the groups response to the attacks is likely to be made clear. According to unverified reports, the decision to detonate the pagers which had reportedly been planned for the opening of a major Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, was brought forward after suspicions emerged about the devices. Hezbollah said it was carrying out a security and scientific investigation into the causes of the blasts and that Israel would receive its fair punishment. The Lebanese information minister, Ziad Makary, condemned the attack as an Israeli aggression. Quickly emerging details on the source of the pagers Hezbollah bought has traced a trail from Taiwan to Hungary. The attack has further raised the prospect of another full-scale war in the Middle East between the Iran-backed group and its arch-foe. It emerged on Wednesday that the Israeli army had moved its 98th division, until recently deployed in the Gaza Strip, to northern Israel after a cabinet decision to shift most of the militarys capabilities to the region. The Israeli military has not commented directly on the blasts but said senior commanders had held a situational assessment focusing on readiness in both offence and defence in all arenas. The Taiwanese manufacturer linked to the pagers that exploded said the devices were made by a company in Europe. Images of the pagers emerged in the aftermath with stickers on the back that appeared consistent with pagers made by the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, according to Reuters analysis. On Wednesday, the companys founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, denied it had made the pagers, saying they were manufactured by a company in Europe that had the right to use its brand. The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it, he said. We are a responsible company. This is very embarrassing. The blasts appeared to exploit the low-tech pagers that Hezbollah has adopted to prevent the targeted assassinations of its members, who could be tracked by mobile phone signals. A Hezbollah source said they believed the attack was in response to an alleged assassination attempt by the Shia militia of the former Israeli defence minister Moshe Yaalon last year in a failed bomb attack. Hospitals across Lebanon were overwhelmed with patients, and a field hospital was set up in the southern city of Tyre to accommodate wounded people. The sound of ambulance sirens was constant in Lebanons capital city more than three hours after the attack. US officials are trying to de-escalate tensions between the two sides and are concerned that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, could order a ground invasion of Lebanon. The pager attack came hours after Israel announced it was broadening its aims in the war to include its fight against Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon. Related: Hezbollah pagers: what do we know about how the attack happened? Hezbollah confirmed in an earlier statement that the deaths included at least two of its fighters and a young girl. Later media reports said the son of the Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar also died in the explosions. The pagers exploded in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa Valley, all Hezbollah strongholds. One Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation was the groups biggest security breach since the Gaza conflict erupted on 7 October, when Hamas launched attacks in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. Jonathan Panikoff, the US governments former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East, said: This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades. The apparent sabotage attack follows months of targeted assassinations by Israel against senior Hezbollah leaders and has ratcheted up tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. An uneasy calm had prevailed in the past three weeks when both parties had appeared to step back from the brink of a regional war after a limited Hezbollah response in late August to Israels assassination of its top military commander, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut. The attack also threatens to derail US efforts to prevent Iran, which backs Hezbollah, from retaliating against Israel for the July bombing in Tehran that killed the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The US state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said it was too early to say how the attack would affect Gaza ceasefire talks. He told a briefing the US was not involved and did not know who was responsible. Hamas described the attack as an escalation that would lead to Israels defeat. Mark Rowley said: We are working hard to reform but are doing so in a context where our budget is heading off a cliff. Photograph: Tayfun Salc/Zuma Press/Shutterstock Scotland Yard needs hundreds of millions of pounds in new funding to drag itself out of crisis as its budget is heading off a cliff, its commissioner has said. Sir Mark Rowley said half of the Metropolitan polices premises were so dilapidated that they faced closure within a decade, and sky-high demand on policing had not been met by an increase in money. Rowley used his first big speech since Labour came to power to attack successive governments for failing to come up with a plan for law enforcement to keep up with a changing world. He also launched a thinly veiled attack on the Conservative former home secretary Suella Braverman, who vehemently criticised the Mets handling of pro-Palestinian protests, accusing the Mets critics of emboldening thugs. Rowley was giving the Police Foundations annual John Harris lecture, and the speech also acted as a report card on his first two years as commissioner of the Met, which is still in special measures because it is judged by the official inspectorate to be failing so badly. We are working hard to reform but are doing so in a context where our budget is heading off a cliff, Rowley said. Given the financial pressures of the past decade, commissioners and mayors have understandably pulled every lever possible to balance the books. We can do that no longer. He claimed the Met has made all the large efficiency savings it could and sold off buildings and closed police stations to save money. We have funding to refurbish the existing stations believe it or not every 120 years. If nothing else changes, within the next decade or so we expect to have to close up to half our current buildings due to them being no longer habitable or legally compliant. He added: So not only are we left with the damage to repair but also a cliff-edge budget for next year of hundreds of millions deficit on current assumptions. Behind the scenes, Sadiq Khan, the capitals mayor, is pressing the government for extra money for the Greater London force. The Labour government has told policing not to expect any new money for three years at least. Nationally, chiefs claims a 3bn shortfall, and some senior figures in policing will see Rowleys speech as an attempt by the Met to grab money for itself despite being the best-funded police force in the country. Rowleys speech contained little or no analysis of how the Met helped worsen the problems it faces. Austerity imposed by the Conservatives led to big cuts, and Rowley said successive governments had failed to plan for policing to keep up with a changing world. For almost 15 years the only central strategy for policing seems to have been to employ as many officers as possible, despite dwindling financial resources, he said. Operationally, the long-term effects of no plan to keep pace with the world around us are most heavily felt by the frontline. There was huge tension with the Conservative government when Braverman, while home secretary, attacked the Mets handling of protests against Israels military action in Gaza after the 7 October massacre. Rowley said criticism of the force, often online, emboldened criminals. Ill tell you whats shameful: the abuse of our officers and the silence of many in authority. We should be very clear: when people, be they politicians or the public, throw accusations and slurs at the police, they put them in danger by emboldening thugs. He praised his officers and vowed to root out bad ones. The Home Office said continued international cooperation was critical to increasing removals. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian The Home Office has been accused of cynical and unethical behaviour after offering millions of pounds to refugee charities to help settle newly deported people. A government contract put out to tender earlier this month offers to pay 15m over three years to NGOs who work with people being removed from the UK to 11 countries, including Ethiopia, Iraq and Zimbabwe. In August, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announced a plan to increase removals of those who have had their asylum claims rejected to 2018 levels over the next six months, meaning more than 14,000 deportations by the end of the year. The contract, entitled Home Office Reintegration Programme, asks for bidders from non-statutory sector organisations that are charities and non-profit making organisations to help with temporary accommodation, food, and cash assistance once they arrive in their country of origin. Other countries covered by the contract will be Albania, Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam. Cooper has been sent a letter signed by more than 30 NGO officials from the UK and overseas rejecting the contract. We stand united against this attempt to make us complicit in the departments harmful and divisive anti-migrant agenda, the joint letter said. We know that policies of deterrence do not work rather, have been shown time and time again to be divisive and dangerous. The letter raises concerns about the safety of people removed to countries such as Ethiopia. It says that nearly four in every five Ethiopian asylum applicants 79% in the UK in 2023 were granted at first application. Pursuing an agenda of removals and deportations will tear communities apart, in the face of overwhelming evidence that a new approach is needed. Many people at risk of removal have lived in the UK for years or even decades, and have put down roots here, the letter said. The list also includes countries whose nationals have a high rate of having their asylum claims treated as withdrawn. More than half of Albanian people seeking sanctuary in the UK had their asylum claims treated as withdrawn in 2023, meaning they have not had their claims decided under the UK asylum system. Many NGOs have worked closely with the Home Office and applied for government contracts in the past. Charity executives said that on this occasion, they cannot agree with the practice of working with people who have been removed from the UK. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) accused the government of attempting to bribe NGOs. Mary Atkinson, campaigns and networks manager at the JCWI, said: Migrants rights organisations like ours, and the other signatories to this letter, struggle to get enough funding. In this context, offering charities millions of pounds to become part of the system putting our clients at risk is cynical and deeply unethical. Other signatories include Refugee Action, Safe Passage International, Praxis and Migrant Voice. After dropping the Conservative governments plan to deport people to Rwanda, which cost 700m, Keir Starmers government has said it will rapidly increase removals of people who have had their asylum claims rejected. The Home Office plans to increase detention capacity with 290 beds at two immigration removal centres, Campsfield in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire. It has also emerged that the government has agreed to just one of 33 recommendations made to prevent a repeat of the abuse experienced by people in the Brook House immigration removal centre scandal, the inquiry chair has told the BBC. Kate Eves said the government was failing to listen to her proposals for urgent change, a year on from the public inquirys final report. A Home Office spokesperson said: The new government has begun delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced. Continued international cooperation with partner nations plays a critical role in this, and we will be working closely with a number of countries across the globe. Nicola Sturgeon, who remains an MSP but has faced criticism for her lack of activity at Holyrood, has previously said Brexit made a united Ireland more likely - Jane Barlow/PA Nicola Sturgeon has predicted a united Ireland as part of a wider shake-up of the UK that will also see Scottish independence. The former first minister appeared to endorse the idea of Irish unification, saying it would be part of a very healthy realignment of how the nations of the British Isles are governed and cooperate together. Ms Sturgeon, who remains an MSP but has faced criticism for her lack of activity at Holyrood, was speaking to the BBC to mark the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum. I believe that, perhaps as part of a wider shake-up of UK governance, the reunification of Ireland, perhaps, more autonomy in Wales, that I think we will see Scotland become an independent country, she said. Ill certainly campaign and advocate for that for as long as Ive got breath in my body. Ms Sturgeon refused to say whether she believed Irish reunification would come before Scottish independence, but added: I do think that will happen. I think we will see over the next number of years, Im not going to sit here and put a figure on that, what I would describe as a very healthy realignment of how the nations of the British Isles are governed and cooperate together. Independence suffered election setback In 2021, while she was still in office, Ms Sturgeon said she believed Brexit made a united Ireland more likely than it was before but stopped short of predicting that it would happen or endorsing it. In May 2022, 10 months before she stepped down as first minister, Ms Sturgeon held talks with Michelle ONeill, now Northern Irelands First Minister, at her official Bute House residence. The meeting came two weeks after Ms ONeills party, Sinn Fein, which supports a United Ireland and was previously regarded as the political wing of the IRA, emerged as the largest party in the Stormont elections. The prospects of Scottish independence suffered a major setback at the general election, when Labour won a landslide victory north of the border and the SNPs seat tally fell from 48 MPs to just nine. The SNP had gone into the election claiming winning a majority of Scotlands 57 seats would deliver a fresh independence mandate, but fell catastrophically short of the target. Tide and pattern of debates is moving However, John Swinney, the First Minister, has defied calls to put independence on the back burner, instead insisting he will launch a fresh campaign to persuade Scots it is the solution to their problems. Asked whether he supported Ms Sturgeons predictions about an independent Scotland and a united Ireland, Mr Swinney said: Do I think theyll both happen? Yes, I do. So I agree with that point very much. I think the tide and the pattern of those debates is moving decisively and emphatically in that direction. At a rally in Edinburgh on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the referendum, Mr Swinney claimed that Scotland was now closer to independence than it was in 2014. Despite his partys dramatic loss of support over recent years, he claimed new powers that came to Holyrood after Scots voted No meant separation had moved closer. People can see as a consequence of the pressure to get more powers here in Scotland we have added to the achievements and the strengths we have already put in place, he claimed. People can see the positive impact of decisions being taken here in Scotland. Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservative chairman, said: Nicola Sturgeon simply cannot help herself. Not only is she still pushing Scottish independence at every turn, she has now decided to weigh in on the divisive issue of a border poll in Ireland too. Rather than constantly talking about the break-up of the United Kingdom, the former SNP leader should be focused on the real priorities of the people in Glasgow Southside. She should stop being a part-time MSP and stand up for what really matters to her constituents like record NHS waiting times, good local jobs and keeping communities safe from crime. It may be years before the full story is told of how the coordinated explosions of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah were orchestrated. But, even without Israel publicly admitting responsibility, it is clear that the attack must have been carefully planned however uncertain its consequences. Experts generally believe a small mount of stable explosive was carefully implanted into each sabotaged device. Alan Woodward, a professor of cybersecurity at Surrey University, said: There wouldnt need to be much explosive, as proximity to a human body means it would cause injury even if it was a few grams. The first wave of explosions which occurred from about 3.30pm local time on Tuesday appear to have been triggered by a special message from Hezbollah leadership, implying, Woodward argued, a specific modification of the pagers embedded software. This meant it would trigger an explosion when the appropriate message was sent. It may have been a default setting on the pagers, but the trigger message came with a cynical twist. Eyewitnesses say the pager bleeped, then paused, then detonated giving enough time for them to be brought closer to the owners face which is why Lebanese doctors reported treating multiple hand and eye injuries after the blast. Twelve people were killed and about 2,800 injured in Tuesdays explosions, and 14 died in a second wave of blasts that followed on Wednesday when walkie-talkies starting blowing up. This suggests the attacks amounted to a concerted attempt to disrupt Hezbollahs communications the kind of activity that could be a prelude to a bombing raid of south Lebanon or other conventional military attack. Sabotaging the pagers is not a trivial undertaking, and amounts to a compromise of the supply chain, said Oleg Brodt, a director at Ben-Gurion Universitys Cyber Labs. It may even have required either the cooperation of the manufacturers, or for Israels Mossad spy agency or whoever carried out the attacks in Lebanon to have manufactured the doctored pagers themselves, though this is speculative. The pagers bore the logo of an apparently hapless Taiwanese manufacturer, Gold Apollo. Its founder, Hsu Ching-Kuang, said his company had subcontracted the manufacture of the AR-924 model involved in the attack to the little-known Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT, a deal he said had been struck three years ago. From here the trail goes strange, then cold. BAC Consulting was registered in Hungary in 2022 and provided a Budapest address on its website, the same address used by multiple companies. Its chief executive is Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, according to her profile on LinkedIn, and she is described as a graduate of the London School of Economics (LSE) and a native speaker of both Hungarian and Italian. When the Guardian called, Barsony-Arcidiacono asked how the reporter had got the number and then hung up. However, she confirmed to NBC that her company worked with Gold Apollo. Asked about the pagers and the explosions, Barsony-Arcidiacono said: I dont make the pagers. I am just the intermediate [sic]. I think you got it wrong. Later, Hungarian officials also said the pagers had not been made in the country. BAC Consultings website went down on Wednesday, but internet archives of the site were full of generic pictures of coastlines and vague descriptions of its work without any reference to pager manufacture. Previous posts by Barsony-Arcidiacono on LinkedIn feature pro-Russian, anti-Ukraine comments and a complaint how does it make no one says anything about US colonization? Making the deadly booby-trapped pagers is only half the story, however. Whoever did so had a good intelligence picture inside Hezbollah an understanding that the Mossad and Israels other security agencies did not have of Hamas prior to 7 October. They knew that Hezbollah had placed an order for about 5,000 pagers, after the groups leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, had warned in February against using mobile phones. Your phone is their agent, the Hezbollah secretary general warned at the time, not anticipating that his groups enemies would be willing to plant explosives inside pagers instead. The assailants also knew who would be supplying the sabotaged devices to Hezbollah, and had a way of ensuring they could control their delivery to the militant group as well as their manufacture or compromise. Related: Sophisticated evil: Beirut medics and civilians horrified by pager attacks The scale, destruction and precision of the attack suggests a sophisticated operation months in the making, reasoned Virpratap Vikram Singh and Emile Hokayem from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in an analysis piece. Though Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, few doubt its security forces were behind the effort extraordinary because it involved thousands of devices rather than a single booby-trapped phone of the type used to assassinate the Hamas leader Yahya Ayyash in 1996. Yoav Gallant, the countrys defence minister, called Lloyd Austin, his US counterpart, several minutes before the pagers began exploding to tell him that an operation in Lebanon was coming, according to the Axios website. No specifics were shared, and the state department said the US had not been forewarned of the attack plan though Gallants phone call comes close to an acknowledgment of responsibility. But however sophisticated the planning, the reality is that many civilians were harmed as the pagers exploded. One video captured a pager exploding in a grocery store; others showed adults and children in hospital with severe penetrating traumatic injuries to their heads, bodies and limbs. Human Rights Watch, a monitoring group, said human rights law prohibits the use of booby traps precisely to avoid putting civilians at grave risk. In the immediate aftermath, Yossi Melman, a co-author of Spies Against Armageddon and other books on Israeli intelligence, asked why would you waste a valuable intelligence asset that could be used in a more urgent time? amid fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah. But it appears Israel has been wanting to step up its attack on the militant group, two days after its security cabinet said allowing 60,000 displaced people to return safely to their homes in the north of the country was now a war aim. Singh and Hokayem also argued that the pager operation, followed now by the walkie-talkie attack, represents a humiliating blow and a major operational security failure for Hezbollah, already reeling from the assassination by airstrike of its top military commander in July. The large number of casualties and their distribution across the country have had a deep impact on Lebanese society and on Hezbollahs constituency, he concluded. But it is also likely to risk retaliation, and an intensification of hostilities, as both sides teeter on the brink of war. Additional reporting by Michael Safi This article was amended on 20 September 2024 to make clear that the comments from the International Institute for Strategic Studies came from an analysis piece written by both Virpratap Vikram Singh and Emile Hokayem. Trump makes a campaign stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP In recent weeks, racist conspiracy theories about immigrants have dominated the election cycle. High-ranking Republicans have doubled down on unsubstantiated rumors about Black and brown migrants, tapping into anxieties that immigrants are responsible for increased crime in US cities. During last weeks presidential debate, Donald Trump echoed a baseless claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets. In Springfield, theyre eating the dogs. The people that came in. Theyre eating the cats. Theyre eating theyre eating the pets of the people that live there, the Republican nominee said. And in response to a question about high costs of living, Trump alluded to viral rumors that members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were taking over a Colorado apartment complex. You look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. Theyre taking over buildings. Theyre going in violently. Both claims are completely untrue. Experts argue that the spread of such disinformation amplifies existing xenophobic beliefs within the American psyche as a means of political gain. Its so dangerous when people with a platform are repeating these very fabricated rumors, said Gladis Ibarra, co-executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. These are very much part of a large coordinated strategy to continue to demonize our immigrant neighbors. Its undermining the values of our nation and historically what people have said this nation stands for. Misinformation (inaccurate information that is spread unknowingly) and disinformation (false information that is meant to mislead) are widely shared via social media platforms, despite a push for fact checking and accuracy since the 2016 presidential election. The phenomenon of inaccurate news still occurs at alarming rates as peoples online algorithms are largely driven by their political biases, according to Jeffrey Layne Blevins, a journalism professor at the University of Cincinnati. [The algorithm] is merely designed to keep users engaged, Blevins said, referring to metrics such as how long a person looks at content or shares it in their feed. And what tends to engage most people? Things that outrage them or piss them off. Blevins added that rightwing figures share disinformation in hopes of outraging people on the political right, especially during an election cycle. Such content is accepted as truth by those online who already share rightwing beliefs themselves. It creates an echo chamber of sorts, he said. When public figures who share your political beliefs post content like this people are more likely to accept it at face value. Related: JD Vance admits he is willing to create stories to get media attention Republicans at all levels of government have linked immigrants to instances of violent crime, including drug smuggling and assault. During his campaign for the 2016 presidential election, Trump claimed Mexicans crossing the US southern border were rapists, bringing drugs, bringing crime. He began the construction of a wall along the border among other anti-immigrant policies to deter large sacks of drugs [from being thrown] over. During this election cycle, Trump has said that undocumented people are animals who are poisoning the blood of our country, despite immigrants being significantly less likely to commit crimes than US-born citizens. The demonization of immigrants is a repeated move by lawmakers to secure votes, said German Cadenas, an associate professor at Rutgers University who specializes in the psychology of immigration. Immigration is really not as divisive as some politicians are trying to make it out to be, he said, as 64% of Americans believe immigration is beneficial for the country. Its a tactic that has been used historically to mobilize voters who feel threatened. For centuries, Cadenas said, politicians built policy around the stereotype that immigrants are a threat to US identity and safety. Anti-immigration laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the 1924 Immigration Act were among the first to curtail US immigration based on nationality. The Chinese Exclusion Act came largely after high-ranking union members warned of a Chinese invasion that would steal white, American jobs. Similarly, US senators advised their fellow legislators to shut the door on immigrants as a migrating population would encroach upon the reserve and virgin resources of the US, before the passage of the 1924 Immigration Act. Fast forward to the early 2000s, as states such as Arizona passed laws allowing local law enforcement to target anyone they believed was in the country without documentation. Arizona Republicans called arriving undocumented people an invasion that must be stopped and a national security threat, a political tactic to encourage support of the controversial bill. Politicians also attempt to etch out a voting bloc by passing anti-immigrant policies. Historically, these stereotypes, these falsehoods, have [then] been used to mobilize voters to elect policymakers who are going to make anti-immigrant laws and policies. Even as most Americans have a positive view of immigration, Cadenas said: Racism and xenophobia are deeply embedded in our society and our psychology. A study by Cadenas and Elizabeth Kiehne found that white US adults are most susceptible to the core stereotype of Latino immigrants being a threat. The anti-immigrant rhetoric is less about convincing than about amplifying and strengthening beliefs that are already held, Cadenas said. It takes large efforts to unlearn these problematic beliefs and biases. Related: A very old political trope: the racist US history behind Trumps Haitian pet eater claim Disinformation about immigrants has consequences, Cadenas and Ibarra said. Across the nation, a number of states have an anti-immigrant policy climate, Cadenas said, meaning those states pass laws that make the lives of immigrants harder. A small minority of folks who are threatened by immigration are electing policymakers who are crafting policies that are negative towards immigrants, he added These policies trickle down to housing. They trickle down to the way that authorities deal with immigration at the local level. These policies trickle down to healthcare and the kinds of access to health and mental health that immigrants have. In Aurora, Venezuelan residents of the aforementioned apartment complex have said they feel unsafe after the rumors of a gang takeover and they fear being stereotyped as criminals. Springfield has received more than 33 bomb threats since Trumps statements at the debate. Its city hall was evacuated, along with some local schools. Springfield hospitals are also on alert, and Haitian immigrants say they have received several threats. People that are hardworking, contributing to our communities, are not the danger, Ibarra said. The danger is all of these violent ideologies that are being fueled by the people that repeat these lies, by the people that go on social media and on TV and continue to repeat them. A photograph taken in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Nearly 24 hours after the simultaneous detonation of hundreds of pagers imported by the Lebanese group Hezbollah, followed by more explosions on Wednesday targeting walkie-talkies across Lebanon, in an attack attributed to Israel, political commentators and analysts were grappling with questions about the timing and what the consequences might be for the conflict on the Lebanese border. The blasts occurred shortly after the Israeli security cabinet had approved a decision to expand the goals of the war in Gaza to include the return of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from towns in the north that have been damaged by rockets fired by Hezbollah. That move potentially hands the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a casus belli if he decides to launch a ground invasion into Lebanon. Writing for the news website Ynet on Wednesday, the Israeli journalist and political commentator Avi Issacharoff asked: What is the purpose of such a war against Hezbollah? What are the achievable goals? Will it be possible to restore peace to the northern border and keep the activists of the Shia organisation away from the border? These are questions that the government will have to ask itself, and soon, Issacharoff wrote. This action attributed to Israel will not lead Hezbollah to stop its offensive activity against the northern settlements, but to escalation, he added. Israel has a longstanding history of conducting advanced remote operations in countries deemed enemies, ranging from cyber-attacks to remote-controlled firearms aimed at individuals in drive-by shootings. It rarely comments on or accepts responsibility for such operations. Tuesdays blasts caught most political observers off-guard. Since October, Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas in Gaza, has traded almost daily fire with Israeli troops along the Lebanon-Israel border. Not formally declared as a war, the clashes on the Lebanon front have killed hundreds in Lebanon, mostly fighters, and dozens, including soldiers, on the Israeli side. They have also forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes. Prof Eyal Zisser, the vice-rector of Tel Aviv University and an expert on Lebanon and Arab-Israeli relations, said he struggled to see how Tuesdays attack could help the goal of returning evacuated Israelis to their homes. Since 8 October both sides, each for its own reasons, have accepted limitations at what depth and distance from the border they launched their attacks and at what targets, Zisser said. But for the Israelis who were evacuated from their homes, this is a total war, and the same is true for Lebanese who were forced to leave their homes. An editorial in the Jerusalem Post congratulated any force operating against the evil that is Hezbollah, but also raised concerns about the consequences for Israeli citizens in the north. The paper said: There is one thing we cannot forget, however, and it is the residents of Israels north that have faced the brunt of the war with Hezbollah and taken hit after hit. Related: Exploding pager attack in Lebanon is another blow for US peace hopes While this new advancement gives Israel an advantage it is undeniable: Hezbollah will retaliate, and Israels north will suffer the consequences. To whoever devised yesterdays cunning attack, good job but always bear in mind that broad repercussions are inevitable. In an analysis for the Haaretz newspaper, Amos Harel said the attack had exposed Hezbollahs weakness and humiliated its leaders, but wondered if the timing was appropriate. At a time when Netanyahu was promising the Israeli public until not very long ago that we are just a small step from total victory over Hamas, now it seems we are closer than ever to a large-scale war with Hezbollah, too, Harel wrote. The victory, on all fronts, is still nowhere on the horizon. So far, the only response of the Israeli ministry of defence was reportedly to move the 98th division, whose forces have been fighting until recently in the Gaza Strip, to the northern region of the country. In addition, the IDF decided on a limited recruitment of reserve personnel to be deployed in the north, including air defence, home front command and medical corps personnel. The 98th division will join the 36th division, which has been deployed in northern Israel for several months. On Wednesday, Maj Gen Uri Gordin, head of the IDFs northern command, visited a drill carried out by reservists of the IDFs 179th brigade, which is simulating fighting in Lebanon, including manoeuvring in enemy territory. The mission is clear; we are determined to change the security reality as soon as possible. The commitment of the commanders and the troops here is complete, with peak readiness for any task that will be required, Gordin said in a statement provided by the IDF. Some opposition politicians accused Netanyahu of losing sight of the goals of the war in Gaza. The former IDF deputy chief of staff and leader of the Democrats party, Yair Golan, told Israeli radio: If Israel is indeed responsible for the beeper attack, then this is a capability that should be used as part of an overall campaign, for example on the eve of a ground campaign. When such a capability is activated without any strategic context, this is a puzzling move. At the same time, and I dont know, it could be that there was a situation where there was no choice, a situation where they had to activate this tool immediately. Avner Avraham served in Mossad for 28 years and now advises on films about the services history - ZUMA Press Inc The exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon is a story of spycraft so terrifying and improbable that no movie would dare commit it to screen. Yet the evidence is all too real, in the gruesome images and footage emerging, of men and women in Lebanon maimed while going about their daily lives, as thousands of communication devices spontaneously exploded on Tuesday. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, which has claimed at least twelve lives and injured at least 3,000, many of them seriously. But there is no mistaking the sophistication and creativity of the operation, which bears all the hallmarks of Israels spy agencies, in particular the fearsome Mossad the countrys foreign intelligence service. The fact that we benefit from the results does not mean that we are behind [the attack], says Avner Avraham, who served in Mossad for 28 years 10 of them abroad and now advises on Hollywood films about Mossads history. The problem is that this operation is so fascinating, so creative and so out-of-the-box, that only the CIA, MI6 or Mossad could do something like this. You need a government backing, a lot of connections, and money, to do something crazy like this. Avraham was recruited into Mossad after his regular military service. Its prestigious, of course, he says. But you cannot share it, even with your parents. Its not James Bond, its a very grey life. Mossad has two key strengths, he says, compared to other national spy agencies. The first is that Jewish people came from all over the world, he says. They grew up in different places, they look different, they can speak different languages. My family came from Iraq, I can speak Arabic and we look Iraqi-Arab, so I worked with Mossad undercover in Lebanon. He adds that their security services have also been honed by years of conflict. The other reason we are so good is we have had to fight all these years to live in our country, he says. We didnt ask for this. Like the KGB, CIA and British agencies in their Cold War heyday, over the decades Israels forces have won a reputation for ingenuity, finding unexpected ways to get to their targets, who are often highly secretive and security-conscious. But the latest attacks have surpassed even the highest estimations of their capability. Everything starts with identifying an opportunity, says one former officer in Unit 81, the secret Israeli weapons division. Here, that was Hezbollahs request to purchase pagers because they wanted to avoid using cellular mobiles because they can all be hacked and traced. But the pager is a device that we can easily control basically you know how to get into the network and transmit whatever you want to transmit. So when we saw the order for the pagers, they said: OK, we now have an opportunity to put something that we want inside those pagers. Operation-wise you need to think about how to control the whole process. And we know that those pagers came out of a factory in Hungary, but it might be that those pagers left the factory in their original condition. But then maybe the customs diverted it, a delay for a couple of days because of customs issues, and then the [operations team] took care of [inserting the boobytrapped devices]. It might be that the European company is an innocent company. The use of pagers would have taken months of planning inserting explosives into each pager - Shutterstock How do you boobytrap the devices? There are two ways. Basically, you get the schematics, diagrams of the device which can be easily sourced, and you can buy a few of them in the open market. Then you have a couple of weeks to see how you open one, how you modify it and how you close it. The ex-Unit 81 officer dismisses a theory that the pagers may have exploded as a result of remote hacking by Israeli intelligence officers, causing their batteries to overheat. Instead, he says, an explosive substance will have been inserted into each device. I dont think that the battery was primed to overheat and explode, as has been suggested. No, no. The PETN [pentaerythritol tetranitrate] explosive, which it seems was used, by the way, is specifically hard to detect by sniffer dogs. There would have been other requirements, too: it needed to explode only once when the command was given; not before; only on command. In such scenarios, says the former officer, if it proves too difficult to gain access to the original device due to be delivered to the intended target of the assassination, you just copy it, make new ones, and replace the originals, one by one. We must make sure that it is our new beepers that get delivered. And that is possible because we can know everything down to the serial numbers, the packaging, everything. With a few thousand units you can swap one shipping pallet for another. Who looks after those pallets? You think there was a Hezbollah guy escorting it the whole way? No. If the scale and detail are extraordinary, this is not the only time Mossad have exploited everyday technology, phones in particular. In 1972, Mossad agents seeking revenge for the Munich Olympic killings snuck into the Paris apartment where Mahmoud Hamshari, the Palestine Liberation Organisations (PLO) representative there, was living. While he was out being interviewed by an agent pretending to be an Italian journalist, other agents replaced the base of his phone with explosives. On December 8 they rang him, confirmed he was there and detonated the bomb. He never recovered from his injuries and died a month later. As a reprisal for the 1972 Black September attacks, the Mossad spent 15 years tracking down and assassinating its organisers - Getty Images In 1996, Yahya Ayyash, the chief bombmaker for Hamas, was assassinated by Shin Bet, Israels domestic security agency, using a booby-trapped mobile phone. They had persuaded Kamil Hamad, the uncle of Ayyashs childhood friend, Osama Hamad, to work for Shin Bet knowing that Ayyash often borrowed Osamas phones. They gave Kamil phones that had been tampered with, which were passed on to Osama, who passed it on to Ayyash. Early in the morning of January 5, Ayyashs father rang him. An Israeli spy plane picked up the conversation and relayed it to Shin Bet, who detonated the device, killing Ayyash instantly. Israel had been looking for him for a long time, says Amit Assa, who was serving in Shin Bet during the 1996 assassination. The operation took months of planning. It was a very big operation and youre waiting for the right moment. Everyone is working night and day, not sleeping. It was a unique success, but the feeling is one of relief, not joy. It was a relief to have this terrorist off the table because he was killing a lot of Israelis. But its killing a person. The assassination of Yahya Ayyash is another famous example of Mossads use of mobile communications devices to conduct its operations - David Silverman Phones are particularly appealing because they can be used to keep tabs on the targets in the weeks or months leading up to the attacks before transforming into bombs at the critical moment. Hezbollah and all the other terrorists know that if you are holding a cellular phone, its very easy to locate you by GPS, Assa says. Pagers were thought to be more secure, because they can only receive, rather than broadcast. The Hezbollah connections did not count on the Israeli forces somehow tampering with thousands of devices, booby-trapping on an industrial scale. This looks to be what we call a supply chain attack, says Jonathan Spyer, an author and advisor who served in an Israeli tank regiment, which is where a company either started by Israel or acting on Israels behalf supplied the devices to Hezbollah. The ex-Unit 81 officer says that some recruits to Israels technical units are spotted while still at school and doubts that the pager plan came out of the top military ranks. It will have been a 25-year-old saying, look at these beepers. Dont you think there is something we can do with that? Israel has not exclusively used communication devices for such attacks, says Spyer. In February 2008, Imad Mughniyeh, the Hezbollah number two, was killed by a car bomb, allegedly a joint CIA-Mossad effort after years of attempted assassinations. So somebody responsible for the maintenance of his car had acted. The first appeal of this kind of operation is that it doesnt leave any fingerprints, he says. Everyone kind of knows who was responsible, but there isnt an obvious signature where you can say this was an act of war. Second, its cost-free in that it doesnt involve risking the lives of the home countrys citizens. Services much prefer not to endanger their own personnel. This is also to do with advances in technology. The notion you could have your own cloak-and-dagger operatives wandering around is much more difficult to achieve. Services tend to employ technological means, as we have just seen, or they pay small amounts of money to local people. David Barnea became director of the Mossad in 2021 - AFP Mossads fearsome reputation has long been a source of pride to Israelis. Just as the Special Air Service (SAS) has been a source of pride to postwar Britain, the activities of Israels intelligence services speak to Israelis national sense of self. Israelis take pride in seeing themselves as people who are very good at creative thinking and improvisation and not following rules, but quickly coming up with inspired solutions, Spyer adds. The high-tech industries have been a receptacle of that pride in recent years, but the security services and the military see themselves in that way, too. After the calamitous intelligence failure of October 7, this operation, as with other recent high-profile cases, such as the rescue of hostages from Gaza, is a chance for Israelis services to restore their reputation. What is arguably less clear is the long-term benefit of these kinds of actions, as spectacular as they are. For something like this you need good cooperation but you also need luck, says Dr Ahron Bregman, a political scientist at Kings College who served in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). The Israelis are very proud; this is a James Bond operation. The big question is: whats the purpose? Have you wasted something amazing, just in order to impress? What Israel has done, above all, is humiliate Hezbollah. The assassination of Ayyash, he points out, led to terrible reprisal suicide bombings in Tel Aviv. Now, everyone is waiting to see what Hezbollahs response will be. It might lead to war. While Hezbollah tends to its wounded and the rest of the world looks on, shocked at Israels terrifying technological mastery, the civilians in Israel, Lebanon and further afield will wonder where it might lead. Vonshefs borosilicate glass containers can withstand thermal shock, so shouldnt crack even if you take them straight from the freezer to the oven Founded by Earl Tupper in 1946, the Tupperware Plastics company may have reached the end of the line. Now trading as Tupperware Brands, it filed for bankruptcy yesterday citing the challenging macroeconomic environment believed to include rising raw material and wage costs, coupled with slowing demand. For many, the word Tupperware has long since slipped its association with the Florida-based company and has become a catch-all term for food storage containers. Despite its popularity in the UK in the 70s and 80s, Tupperware actually ceased operations here in 2003 and, aside from an ill-fated 2011 relaunch attempt, never returned. In its place, myriad options have sprung up offering different speciality functions, from locking tops to glass pots for easy reheating. Though the original Tupperware has seen better days, demand for food containers is greater than ever - Alamy Meal prepping has seen an enormous surge in popularity for a range of reasons: increasing costs of living, awareness of the environmental impact of single-use packaging and food waste, as well as the rise in health-conscious consumers, says Dan Black, co-founder of UK-based sustainable food container brand Black + Blum, whose products are microwaveable and plastic free. He continues, sales of lunch boxes have increased 131 per cent over the last 12 months and weve seen great interest in bento boxes with the rise of consumers wanting variety in their lunches and an emphasis on aesthetically pleasing meals. If your Tupperware is looking a little on the shabby side, check out our guide to buying, cleaning, and storing your food containers. Here are our picks for the best products you can buy right now Vonshef glass storage containers Best for value These containers are made with borosilicate glass which is naturally stain resistant and can withstand thermal shock, meaning it shouldnt crack even if you take it straight from the freezer to the oven. They also have a BPA-free silicone lid with snap locks which ensures they are air-tight. They are only available in 5 or 10-unit multipacks, but for 24.99 or 34.99 respectively, theyre good value (IKEA has a similar price but on a per-unit basis these are cheaper.) 34.99 for a ten-piece set, VonHaus Black+Blum Stainless Steel Bento Box Best bento-style box Containing two 500ml stainless steel leak-proof containers and a sliding divider to keep your curry separate from your rice, this premium bento box is something special. The bamboo lid conceals a handy fork and doubles as a chopping board or plate. This one isnt microwaveable but its freezer-safe and comes with a 2-year guarantee. Stylistically, Mr Tuppers creations could scarcely hold a candle to this, though it is at the pricier end of the spectrum at 49.95. 49.95 for two 500ml containers, Black + Blum LocknLock Top Class range Best for reheating Made from heat-resistant glass with a BPA-free Tritan lid, Japanese brand LocknLocks Top Class range can withstand temperatures up to 400C without issue so its ideal for reheating foods in the oven or air fryer. The glass can also be cooled to -20C making it suitable for freezing too. Although the boxes come in many sizes, the full range hasnt made its way to the UK yet so your only option is the 1L container for 16.67 from Amazon. 16.67 for a 1l container, Amazon OXO Good Grips Silicone Reusable Bags Best for space saving For those who batch-cook soups and stews and want to avoid filling up their fridges with clunky plastic boxes, OXO has the compact solution in the form of these neat stand-up bags. Made from food-grade silicon with a simple press seal, theyll keep your leftovers fresh with no leaks. Theyre also dishwasher and microwave-safe. From 12 for a 335ml bag. 12 for a 355ml bag, John Lewis Sistema Ultra Best for kitchen organisation In many ways, Sistema has picked up Tupperwares mantle as the go-to plastic food storage solution, with a vast collection of lunch boxes, containers and tubs. The Ultra collection, made from shatterproof plastic, has a modular design so different sizes can be stacked on top of each other ideal for larder cupboards and drawers. 7 for a 460ml container, Ocado Pyrex Cook&Heat collection Best for microwaving With a unique pair of steam valves in the sealed lid, these microwavable pots from Pyrex are ideal for those who want to heat their food on the go. The glass dish ensures an even heat distribution and the valves prevent it from turning to mush in the process. As with all Pyrex products, this one comes with a 10-year guarantee and the glass can withstand temperatures of up to 300C. 11.90 for a 400ml container, Pyrex Joseph Joseph Lock 5-piece Multicolour Container Set Best for lunchboxes Colourful and cute, this nesting set from Joseph Joseph has five containers of different sizes that can fit inside each other for easy storage when not in use. Made of lightweight plastic, theyre ideal for carrying to and from work or school and the airtight lids snap on in four places to ensure they stay locked even in the rough and tumble of your bag. 40 for a five-piece set, Joseph Joseph Women want the confidence boost of dressing up when they go into work, according to stylists Smart office wear is making a comeback as women are tired of working from home in casual clothing, data suggest. Sales of tailored trousers have increased by 63 per cent in the past six months, with woven tops, including waistcoats, up 163 per cent, according to the retailer John Lewis. While the office trainer remains popular, sales of proper shoes, including loafers, Mary Janes and ballet pumps, have doubled over the last year. Mary Janes, flat shoes with a strap across the top of the foot that is fastened with a buckle or a button, are particularly popular. John Lewis said it had sold enough of its 59 version of the cult classic to line the 1.2-mile-long Oxford Street three times over. Sarah Jessica Parkers Mary Jane shoes cost 310 at John Lewis Laura Schofield, of the independent shoe brand Otto and Ivy, said the demand for Mary Janes and loafers was so high that she couldnt make them fast enough. As many as 44 per cent of British workers worked remotely at some point in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics. The flexible week, where people head into the office on a few days, led to workers wanting to make more of an effort on the days they get to dress up smartly. Gigi Vakilzadeh, a personal stylist, said that her clients were investing in tailored clothing made to last, and wanted the confidence boost of dressing up when they were going into work. Smarter, more elevated look People are tired of working from home in their comfy clothes, so when they go into the office, they choose smarter outfits for a confidence boost and to break away from the constant casualness of home working, she said. Lindsay Edwards, a personal stylist, said that while office workers were making more effort, they werent prepared to entirely give up work-from-home comforts. She said: Three years post UK lockdown and theres a definite shift in our style. Whilst many of us are keen to transition back to a smarter, more elevated look, we definitely arent ready to give up on comfort. Abbey Booth, a stylist at Stories With Clothes, said: Lots of businesses have had a real drive to encourage workers back into the office and a lot of people are also sick of wearing cosy clothes they want to feel the distinction between work and home. Yet these looks also lend themselves to dress-down and smart casual weekend attire, or suiting with trainers, Mary Janes with easy skirts and dresses. Sick of wearing trainers The stylist said she had also seen senior clients deciding to dress more smartly to lead from the front. I styled a tech chief executive last week for an elevated workwear wardrobe centred around smarter shoes as she is sick of wearing trainers, she said. But high heels have not returned, with 80 per cent of pairs of high-heeled shoes sold featuring lower heels, such as kitten heels. A John Lewis spokesman said: While trainers are still our most popular shoes, theres no doubt our customers are looking to up their office fashion game, with sales of smart flats having nearly doubled over the last year. People arent necessarily suited and booted in the same way they were pre-pandemic and instead are looking for new ways to hold on to casual comfort without compromising on style. The Spanish sea rescue service, the Salvamento Maritimo, attended the scene of the attack. Photograph: Antonio Siwiak/Alamy A court in Spain has opened an investigation into the death of a German woman who died after being attacked by a shark while sailing 270 nautical miles (500km) off the Canary Islands on Tuesday. According to the countrys maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, the 30-year-old woman was travelling on the British-flagged catamaran Dalliance Chichester about 110 miles west of the Western Saharan city of Dakhla when the attack happened just before 4pm local time. The boats crew made an emergency call to the Spanish rescue service, which shares responsibility for the zone with the its Moroccan counterpart. The Moroccan authorities asked Salvamento Maritimo to lead the operation effort as it had no rescue craft in the area. A Spanish air force search-and-rescue helicopter was scrambled from Gran Canaria, which reached the woman at 20.05 on Thursday. Salvamento Maritimo also contacted nearby boats, one of which managed to offer assistance while the helicopter was on the way. The woman, who had lost a leg in the attack, suffered cardiorespiratory failure on the helicopter flight and was pronounced dead at the Doctor Negrin hospital in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. A spokesperson for the Canaries courts service confirmed that a court in Las Palmas had begun an investigation into the incident, as it does in the case of any accidental death. They said no one had been called to testify. The Guardia Civil police force also said it was looking into the matter, and referred the Guardian to the courts. According to the boat-tracking website VesselFinder, the Dalliance Chichester left the port of Las Palmas on 14 September. Meanwhile, Salvamento Maritimo crews helped rescue 122 people who were trying to reach the Canary Islands on the perilous Atlantic route from west Africa. So far this year, 26,758 people including children have reached the Canary Islands by sea 12,304 more than last year once again placing a huge strain in the archipelagos reception infrastructure. The Spanish migration NGO Caminando Fronteras estimated that more than 5,000 people died trying to reach Spain by sea in the first five months of this year, the overwhelming majority of them on the Atlantic route. People wait in line ahead of a Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song concert at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on Tuesday. Photograph: Mike Stewart/AP Former president Jimmy Carters 100th birthday is on 1 October. His supporters didnt want to wait that long to throw a party. A parade of Georgia luminaries on Tuesday lit up the venerable Fox Theater on Peachtree Street. In a city that boasts new, swanky modern glass and steel venues like the Cobb Energy performing arts center or the Eastern befitting the citys rising prominence, organizers chose Atlantas oldest concert hall to celebrate Carters centennial. Jimmy Carter is four years older than the Fox Theater. Not everyone gets 100 years, said Jason Carter, the former presidents grandson and 2014 nominee for governor of Georgia. But when someone does and uses that time to good, its worth celebrating. The event was almost entirely devoid of maudlin sentiment. Video testimonials by Jon Stewart, Bob Dylan and others, were splashed across a screen, interspersed by images of famous musicians of the period visiting the White House. Every living president except Trump sent a message of congratulations and well-wishing. Headliners included five-time Grammy award winner Angelique Kidjo of Benin, BeBe Winans and Carlene Carter no relation to the former president. Carter, a Democrat, was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, and is the longest-lived US president. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel peace prize for what the committee said was his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development. When my mother, June Carter, and her husband, Johnny Cash, went to visit him at the White House, I was pretty jealous, as I thought so highly of him even back then, said Carlene Carter, 68. Both he and June had suggested more than once that we were, in fact, kin, and the fact that both he and mom had that Carter sparkle makes me think that they were related. When Jimmy Carter was our president, it was evident to me that he only wanted the best for our country and for all humankind. I look at him as a very special, spiritual soul, so when people ask if were related, I always respond, I hope so. In his video message, Stewart said: He has these ideals, and he executes them. Personally. Its a lesson in living your life with intention. Dave Matthews in a happy birthday message played on the screen, said: You were definitely the first rocknroll president. With the choice of The Road Home in the first refrain by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestras choral performance, presenters quietly acknowledged the heartbreak usually avoided in polite conversation around here: that the end of Carters life is imminent. Carter is in hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, and has been since February 2023, 578 days ago. A National Institutes of Health analysis noted that the average stay in hospice is about 17 days. Carters wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, died last year after a few days in hospice. Last month, he told his grandson Jason Carter, Im only trying to make it to vote for Kamala. As Im sure you know, my grandfather wishes he could be here tonight, Jason Carter said on Tuesday. Georgia Public Broadcasting plans to play the concert on Jimmy Carters birthday in a couple of weeks. I will guarantee to you that he will be in front of the TV, watching, the younger Carter said. Many of the performing artists, including rock group Drive-By Truckers, Allman Brothers member Chuck Leavell, and The B-52s have Georgia ties. The B-52s formed in Athens, Georgia, while Carter was campaigning for president in 1976. He was 52. Vocalist Fred Schneider was 25. The B-52s held their farewell concert last January at the Fox. The event raised money for the Carter Center in Atlanta, which promotes health and advocates for democracy around the world. Most recently, the Carter Center, in conjunction with other advocacy organizations for international democracy, released a set of models for genuine elections a set of specific steps that government leaders and democracy advocates can take to help strengthen democracy. Jimmy Carter founded the Carter Center 42 years ago. Homes are being evacuated in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna as Storm Boris, which has killed at least 24 people in central and eastern Europe since last week, swept into the country, causing severe flooding and landslides. Pounding rain hit Emilia-Romagna late on Wednesday afternoon and the situation rapidly worsened as night fell. Related: Storm Boris batters central Europe in pictures Jader Dardi, the mayor of Modigliana, a town in Forli-Cesena province that was also hit badly by devastating regional flooding in May 2023, said the river had exploded. The situation is very dramatic, he told Sky TG 24. It is worse than in 2023. Water surged downstream, causing floods in the hamlet of Marzeno in Brisighella. A sudden and large wave is arriving from Modigliana, passing through the hamlet of Marzeno, according to a message on the social media page of Brisighellas town hall urging people in the affected areas to evacuate their homes. Displaced people would be accommodated in a school, the post added. Luca Della Godenza, the mayor of Castel Bolognese, said the situation was well beyond the worst forecasts. Related: Weather tracker: Storm Boris brings catastrophic flooding to central Europe The situation is getting worse and its getting worse more rapidly, he wrote on Facebook. The river level is constantly being monitored and has reached 6.19 metres in Tebano. The fire brigade and local police have been mobilised and will be using megaphones to warn citizens of the serious situation were experiencing. He urged residents in the area to ascend to the higher floors of their homes. The Savena river in Bologna was also rising rapidly, the town hall warned on Wednesday night. Officials have ordered the evacuation of ground floor and basement homes in the affected areas. Some roads have also been blocked due to landslides. Severe weather warnings are in place in Emilia-Romagna and neighbouring Marche for the next 24-36 hours. Schools will be closed on Thursday and people have been advised to avoid travel and, where possible, to work from home. Related: Floods in Poland and wildfires in Portugal show reality of climate breakdown, says EU The flooding in Emilia-Romagna in May 2023 claimed 17 lives and caused 8.5bn (7.2bn) worth of damage. Since last week Storm Boris has brought widespread flooding and torrential rain in the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and Austria. The death toll rose to at least 24 on Wednesday as the Czech Republic reported its fourth and fifth victims. Scientists say that extreme rainfall and flooding have become increasingly common and more intense because of human-caused climate breakdown. The EUs crisis management commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, said on Wednesday that flooding in central Europe and deadly forest fires in Portugal were joint proof of the climate crisis. Make no mistake. This tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our shared future, Lenarcic told MEPs. Europe is the fastest warming continent globally and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. Sue Grays salary is higher than any other special adviser, according to published data. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy Sue Gray has been given a salary of 170,000 as Keir Starmers chief of staff more than the prime minister prompting fury among Labour colleagues who have taken lower pay since entering government. Gray was given a pay rise after the election despite other political special advisers being unhappy that their salary was reduced compared with their previous jobs at the Labour party. The BBC first reported that Gray was paid 3,000 more than Starmers salary of 166,786. One source told the broadcaster: It was suggested that she might want to go for a few thousand pounds less than the prime minister to avoid this very story. She declined. Government sources, however, disputed that claim. One said: This allegation is categorically untrue. Sue Gray had no involvement in any decision on her pay. She was informed of her salary after this had been set. The revelation triggered a backlash among Labour advisers, many of whom also blame Gray for restrictions on pay and conditions for special advisers. Some have unionised in response to the terms, which include enforcing three-month probation periods. After the disclosure of Grays pay, one Labour source said it was hard to put in words how much anger this has created, saying the story had prompted gasps in a room of their colleagues. Another said Gray had micromanaged every appointment of special advisers and many blamed her for their lower pay compared with Conservative-era aides. Earlier this month, it emerged special advisers were unionising over concerns about their pay and terms, with briefings that a number of aides believed Gray was denting morale among their peers because of the difference in pay between the two governments. Conservatives immediately seized on the news, with Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick saying on X: 20,000 a year pay rise for Sue Gray. 600 cuts for some pensioners on as little as 13,000 a year. Starmers hypocrisy reeks. Grays salary is higher than any previous special adviser, according to published data relating to former administrations. Her predecessor in the chief of staff job for Rishi Sunak, Liam Booth-Smith, was paid 140,000-145,000 a year. Gray took a job with Starmer after working in the civil service at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, where her salary band was 150,000-155,000. The prime minister signed off a rebanding of the salaries for special advisers shortly after taking office. No 10 is now likely to face questions over who exactly approved an increase in the banding for pay for the most senior special advisers. The BBC reported that a Whitehall committee of civil servants responsible for special adviser pay and terms had also been attended by Gray, and No 10s director of political strategy, Morgan McSweeney. Government sources said she had been present only in an advisory role at the meetings. The government had no comment on individual pay, but a Cabinet Office spokesperson said: It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay. Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials, not political appointees. As set out publicly, special advisers cannot authorise expenditure of public funds or have responsibility for budgets. Downing Street denied this week that there was a nest of vipers within No 10 after tensions between supporters of Gray and allies of McSweeney. Some senior Labour sources are frustrated with Gray for what they see as her blocking access to the prime minister and slowing down decision-making by making sure everything goes through her. Over the weekend, Starmer downplayed the reports about Gray, saying: Im not going to talk behind her back and Im not going to talk about individual members of staff, whether its Sue Gray or any other member of staff. All I can say about the stories is most of them are wildly wrong. A Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer was satisfied that the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, was not behind the leaks. The Sussexes are not endorsing a candidate in the US presidential election but urge citizens to cast their votes - Jordan Pettitt/PA The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will remain publicly neutral in the upcoming US presidential election after a public spat with Donald Trump in 2020, The Telegraph understands. The couples Archewell Foundation issued its first statement on the forthcoming contest on Tuesday night, revealing that its staff had been sending out personalised letters to unregistered voters and insisting that every voice matters. But it stopped short of endorsing a candidate. The statement said: Voting is not just a right; its a fundamental way to influence the fate of our communities. At The Archewell Foundation, we recognise that civic engagement, no matter ones political party, is at the heart of a more just and equitable world. In September 2020, Trump said that he was no fan of the Duchess after the couple released a video urging American voters to reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity. That message, spoken directly to camera, prompted accusations that they had breached UK protocol demanding political neutrality from members of the Royal family. The comments were considered by some to be an endorsement of Joe Biden. Their latest statement marking Voter Registration Day described their efforts to support and empower our communities but left little room for political interpretation. Unlike last time, it was released through the Archewell Foundation rather than via the couples private office or in the form of a personal statement. As the Sussexes urged Americans to use their vote in 2020, the Duchess described the presidential race between Democrat Joe Biden and the incumbent Republican president Donald Trump, as the most important election of our lifetime. The Duke said: This election I am not able to vote in the US. But many of you may not know that I havent been able to vote in the UK my entire life. As we approach this November, its vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity. At the time, Trump had been repeatedly criticised for using inflammatory language. The previous month, a post by Trump on Facebook was removed for violating its policy against the spread of misinformation about coronavirus. Days earlier, feminist activist Gloria Steinem announced that Meghan had joined her in cold-calling Americans urging them to vote. Donald Trump said he was no fan of the Duchess of Sussex - Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Ms Steinem also revealed that the Duchess had said she was so excited to see a mixed-race vice-presidential candidate in Kamala Harris, who was on the Democratic ticket. Before marrying into the Royal family, Meghan made her views about Trump known, describing him as misogynistic and divisive. In response to the 2020 video, Trump stated that he was no fan of hers and wished a lot of luck to Harry because hes going to need it. While Ms Harris is now directly up against Trump in the race for the White House, Meghan has so far kept her counsel. Both the Duke and the Duchess are expected to remain non-partisan ahead of the Nov 5 election and will not make any official endorsement. In 2020, Buckingham Palace distanced itself from the Dukes comments, insisting that he was no longer a working member of the Royal family and was therefore speaking in a personal capacity. However, one palace insider was said to have claimed he had crossed the line. A source close to the Duke insisted at the time that he was not referring to Trump or any other candidate but was talking about the febrile tone of the debate in the run-up to the election. He is building on a lot of stuff that hes said before about online communities, how we engage with each other online, rather than specifically making any political points, they said. In simply urging Americans to vote, the Sussexes are on safe ground. In 2003, while opening the second term of the Welsh parliament, Elizabeth II voiced concern at the low turnout in recent elections, saying: I share your concerns that we must encourage all our people to exercise their right to vote. Over 97 wines were tasted to find Tescos finest A classy chardonnay from one of the hottest producers in Argentina? An atmospheric Brunello di Montalcino, drinking nicely now and perfect for pairing with a rib of beef? No, were not in a smart wine merchant but looking at the new wines in Tesco. The supermarket has just conducted the biggest review of its wine range in more than 15 years, launching 130 new products (and removing a similar number from its shelves, to make space) and some of them are really good. A key focus of the range change has been premium wines, over 10, says product development manager Graham Nash, who looks after Tescos wines from Australia, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. Many of the switches have involved swapping, say one French red for another French red, but, says Nash, We have given South American whites a bit more space because we felt there were some really good wines and they deserved a bit more attention. This week I tasted a long line-up of 97 of the new Tesco wines alongside some new vintages from bottles that have been in the range for a while. There were good wines from all over the globe and I found clusters of particularly impressive new additions from South Africa, Bordeaux, Australia and Spain as well as a couple of excellent South American reds. Ive listed nine of the best new wines below but kick off with one thats not new, because its such a great budget buy. 10 bottles to buy Three to avoid Follow Victoria on Instagram @how_to_drink Dame Lesley Lawsons look came to define the 1960s, often wearing scandalously short hemlines - Cecil Beaton Twiggy, the Swinging Sixties fashion model, has suggested she is hanging up her miniskirts ahead of turning 75. Dame Lesley Lawson, also known as Twiggy, came to define the 1960s with her cropped haircut, graphic make-up and rebellious fashion sense, wearing scandalously short hemlines. The model and designer, who turns 75 on Thursday, suggested the time has come to trade her miniskirts for longer attire. Speaking to My Weekly magazine, she said: When it comes to fashion, I dont like all these age labels all that you should only wear certain things when youre 20, 30 or whatever. But I do make an exception when it comes to miniskirts and hot pants. The only time I wear shorts is when Im on holiday and theyre proper shorts not hot pants. Comfort factors important Dame Lesley added that she now wants to think about what suits her. Youve got to think about what suits you and what you look - and feel - good in. The comfort factors important, too, she said. However, she urged: I think you should be brave, though. Mix it up a bit and dont be afraid to experiment and have fun. Dame Lesley, who was named the face of 1966 by the Daily Express at the age of 16, was well known for popularising Mary Quants miniskirts, which have been described by the V&A Museum as the most era-defining look of the 1960s in an exhibition about the designer. Discussing her birthday milestone, the British grandmother of five said the secret to staying fit is eating well and not overindulging. She said she does not believe in retirement, saying that if you want to continue working, you should and that older people add more to society. Foreign postgraduates account for 57.7 per cent of the Royal College of Arts income - Colin Underhill /Alamy Universities are so reliant on fees from foreign postgraduates that they account for up to half their entire income, a Telegraph investigation has found. The surge in foreign postgraduate income now worth 6.2 billion has put some universities at greater risk of financial collapse because of the Governments crackdown on postgraduate visas, say higher education experts. The Governments immigration curbs have led to a fall of 16 per cent or 20,000 in the number of overseas postgraduates, according to the Telegraph analysis of official data. That would be equivalent to the loss of 1 billion in fee income in one year following the visa restrictions, which barred postgraduates from bringing dependants into the UK unless they were doing PhD research. Postgraduates now account for 6 billion worth of UK universities income. That is an eighth (13.1 per cent) of their total funding and nearly triple the 2.2 billion just seven years ago. Fifteen universities including Bradford, East London, Hertfordshire and Coventry have brought in so many foreign postgraduates that the students now account for between 25 per cent and 55 per cent of their entire income including all fee, research and sponsorship funds, according to the analysis. Nick Hillman, a former government adviser and director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said some universities would collapse without the funding. International students used to be the icing on the cake when it came to university finances. They now serve as the very foundations holding up our university sector, he said. In some instances, universities would go bust without them. In others, a big cut in international students would see some institutions plummet down the global league tables. Cuts in income mean a worse education for all students, less research and development and universities playing a smaller role in our national life. Sir David Bell, the former permanent secretary at the Department for Education and now vice-chancellor of Sunderland University, where 27 per cent of its income is derived from foreign postgraduates, said the last governments visa restrictions and rhetoric on immigration had damaged universities. While the changes introduced by the previous government such as the removal of the right of international students to bring dependants with them and increased visa costs were understandable, there is no doubt that they had an adverse impact on universities across the UK, he said. In addition, the language used by previous ministers did not present a welcoming tone and, indeed, suggested that the UK was closed for business. Reversing the declining numbers of international students coming into the country must be a national priority if Britain is to retain its position as a global leader in higher education. The exclusive analysis of public data by the Telegraph comes just a day after universities appealed to the Government to raise tuition fees on domestic students to avoid financial disaster despite the massive increase in funds from overseas postgraduates and undergraduates. Labour has retained the postgraduate visa restrictions introduced by the Tories which have seen the number of dependants brought in by the mature students plummet by 77 per cent from 68,100 to 13,100. It follows seven years of successive growth in postgraduate income from 2.2 billion in 2016/17, when it accounted for just 6.2 per cent of universities overall income, to 6.2 billion where it accounts for 13.1 per cent. Fee income from undergraduate foreign students, who pay more than domestic UK students, has also increased from 3 billion, or 8.7 per cent of the total income, to 5 billion, 10.1 per cent. This means that income from foreign postgraduate and undergraduate students now accounts for almost a quarter (23.3 per cent) of universities entire incomes inclusive of grants and other financial support. This is up from 15.9 per cent in 2016/17. Two premier institutions the Royal College of Art and London Business School are the most heavily reliant on foreign postgraduates who account for 57.7 per cent and 46.9 per cent of their total income, respectively. They are followed by the universities of Bradford (34.5 per cent), East London (32.5 per cent), Hertfordshire (31.2 per cent), Coventry (31 per cent), Roehampton (29.6 per cent), LSE (29.4 per cent), Sunderland (27.4 per cent), Teesside (26.9 per cent), Bedfordshire (26.7 per cent), SOAS (26.6 per cent), Robert Gordon (25.8 per cent), Glasgow Caledonian (25.5 per cent) and Goldsmiths College (25.2 per cent). The Department for Education said Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, had refocused the watchdog Office for Students on key areas such as monitoring financial health to ensure universities can secure their financial health in the longer term. A spokesman added: We have inherited a 22 billion black hole in the public finances and changes will take time. By bringing economic stability and growth, we can fix the foundations of our economy, strengthen our higher education system and rebuild Britain. Prof Shirley Congdon, the vice chancellor of the University of Bradford, said the funding model for universities was not working. Only 16 per cent of a university degree was paid for by the Government, yet every 1 of that generated 14 in graduate economic activity. We call on the Government to take urgent action to support the sector through a review of the funding model that recognises the true costs and benefits of higher education, she said. An ambulance arrives at the American University of Beirut Medical Center after the wireless devices exploded The audacious attack on the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah is likely to have effectively halted their operations, at least temporarily, crippled their command and control networks, and injured many of their fighters. Those of us who have fought Al Qaeda and Isis in Afghanistan and Iraq are all too familiar with the jihadists use of mobile phones and pagers to detonate bombs, which have claimed the lives of many British soldiers. It brings a measure of satisfaction to see the terrorists receive a taste of their own medicine. This operation exemplifies what is known in military strategy as the indirect approach. Coined by British tank commander B. H. Liddell Hart after World War I, this strategy seeks to reduce high casualty rates in conflict zones characterised by dense forces, such as the Western Front. In this case, it targets a fleeting and elusive enemy that hides among civilians, making them difficult to strike without causing extensive collateral damage, as we have seen in Gaza. As the great General Bill Slim aptly put it, Hit the other fellow as quickly as you can, as hard as you can, where it hurts him most, when he aint lookin. This principle appears to have guided what was likely a Mossad operation against Hezbollah. However, this was not a hasty operation. It must have been months in the making. Terrorist leaders quickly realised that their mobile phones were leading Israeli precision-guided weapons straight to their hideouts, resulting in the deaths of several senior commanders in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. In an attempt to counter this, they reverted to lower-tech modes of communication, like pagers. Yet, the Israelis appear to have been one step ahead. In a remarkable operation, an order for 5,000 pagers was intercepted and discreetly embedded a small amount of explosive material in each device. The volatile lithium batteries powering these pagers required only a minor accelerant to ignite. At a predetermined moment, the attack team sent a simple alphanumeric code to each pager, triggering a series of explosions. While this method may seem like something out of a James Bond film, it is now a reality in the war against terror. Similar tactics have been used in the past; during operations in Afghanistan, we often targeted Taliban push-to-talk radios that operated on the same basic principles. There was always a dilemma: should we disrupt their networks to prevent communication or keep them intact to eavesdrop on their plans? I anticipate there will be much gnashing of teeth and wailing from those who, while rightly advocating for Palestinian peace, inadvertently support Iranian proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. But this attack also serves as a significant embarrassment to the Iranian regime, already humiliated by their failed missile strikes on Israel, compounded by the revelation of their ambassador in Beirut being caught in a scandal involving Hezbollah. So it should be welcomed. We must hope that this impressive operation, which has sent shockwaves through the terrorist world, serves as a catalyst for bringing all parties to the negotiating table. This situation underscores the imperative for Iran to impose peace on its proxies in the Middle East or risk facing devastating consequences that could destabilise their entire regime. Titan Footage of the moment the wreckage of the Titan submersible was found has been released as part of a public hearing into the deaths of the five people on board. The search for the vessel, operated by US diving company OceanGate, ended with no survivors being found after it disappeared during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic in June last year. The video, released by the US Coast Guard, shows the Titans wrecked tail cone on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean. Fragments of debris and a knot of wires can also be seen close to the wreckage in the footage, which was captured by recovery crews. The Titan imploded about two hours into its descent to the Titanic, with intense ocean pressure causing it to collapse in on itself off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The five people killed were Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of the vessels operator, Hamish Harding, a British explorer, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French diver, and Shahzada Dawood, a British-Pakistani businessman, and his 19-year-old son Suleman. The five who died onboard Titan: Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman - AFP An inquiry into the doomed final descent, held in South Carolina, is expected to last two weeks. Among the last words heard from the crew were all good here, it emerged on Monday. The crew lost radio contact with a support team on the surface after an exchange of texts about the submersibles depth and weight. The disappearance prompted a deep-sea search amid immediate fears for oxygen levels and the safety of the five people on board. The US Coast Guard had estimated that if the Titan was not breached the oxygen in the submersible was likely to last from 70 to 96 hours. The exact cause of the implosion is still under investigation, but there has been intense scrutiny of Seattle-based OceanGates past legal and regulatory battles. David Lochridge, the companys former director of marine operations, was sacked in 2018 and subsequently sued by the company after he became a whistleblower over safety concerns about the Titan. On Tuesday, Mr Lochridge told the inquiry that the tragedy could have been prevented if US safety authorities had listened to his warnings. He also criticised OceanGates company culture as being obsessed with making money and offering very little in the way of science. Vladimir Putin has used social media to spread misinformation about the war in Ukraine - Alexander Kazakov/Reuters As the November 5 presidential elections near, big tech has finally taken a firm stand against Russian election interference. Meta announced that it would ban RT and Rossiya Segodnya, which runs Sputnik and RIA Novosti, from its apps. Metas decision reflects the hardening of US official policy towards Russian state media. The US Department of State recently warned that RT has morphed from being a media outlet into an entity with cyber capabilities. The US Department of Treasury also sanctioned RT for funneling cash to Right-wing outlet Tenet Media, which ensnared conservative influencers Benny Johnson and Dave Rubin. These decisive measures are a small step towards restoring public trust in the integrity of the US elections. Donald Trumps 2016 triumph was tarred by Russias interference on his behalf against Hillary Clinton, while Trumps unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud cast shadows on Joe Bidens legitimacy. Limiting the reach of Russian disinformation to the American electorate, which is widely assumed to benefit Republicans more than Democrats, could help the country accept Trumps legitimacy if he prevails in November. Mitigating post-election divisiveness is a good thing but will Metas crackdown on RT also impact voting patterns? The answer is a qualified yes. RTs ability to reach American voters has declined drastically since the 2016 election cycle. RTs registration as a foreign agent in November 2017 prevented it from obscuring its patronage from the Kremlin. In March 2022, RT America was shuttered over Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine and YouTube blocked RT and Sputnik from sharing videos on its platform. Die-hard fans of RTs programming can still access it on Rumble and pro-Kremlin commentators, such as self-professed Maga communist Jackson Hinkle and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, can still spread their views on X. But Metas crackdown will limit the reach of Russian propaganda to audiences who wouldnt normally seek it out. In an election that is likely to be decided by tens of thousands of votes in a handful of battleground states, restricting RT could have an outsized impact. Cracking down on RT is only a small victory in the broader struggle against authoritarian influence in American political life. While Russian state media is no longer able to present the case against Ukraine to large audiences, it may not need to. An April 2024 CBS/YouGov poll showed that 61 per cent of Republicans, 50 per cent of Independents and 26 per cent of Democrats oppose sending military aid to Ukraine. Amongst Republicans, 56 per cent trust Ukraine-sceptic conservative media outlets as information sources about the war, while only 33 per cent trust war correspondents and 27 per cent trust the State Department. Toxic partisanship has triggered a cultish devotion to conspiracy theories like QAnon and eroded trust in democratic institutions. This helps Russia discredit liberal democracy at home and abroad, which is a much more important goal than backing a particular candidate. RT chief Margarita Simonyans claim that the US government fears its own people is a dog-whistle to Americans who fear their opposing party more than their external adversaries. Even without Russias propaganda bullhorns, the Kremlins narratives are being organically furthered by hyper-partisan Americans. The US has also been disappointingly passive in its response to Irans election interference efforts. From hacking Trumps campaign to erecting fake websites, Iran has circumvented seemingly airtight sanctions on the IRGC and surpassed Russia as the meddler-in-chief in the 2024 election cycle. An FBI investigation is underway but concrete measures to restrict Irans disinformation or punish enablers of Tehrans agenda are few and far between. Metas crackdown on RT is a belated triumph for champions of election integrity in America. The hardest battles against authoritarian influence still lie ahead. A businesswoman who was arrested after sharing a fake name for the Southport attacker online will face no further action. Bernadette Spofforth, 55, was arrested on August 8 after reposting the fake name, commenting that if it were true there would be hell to pay. She later deleted the post and apologised after realising the information was wrong. Ms Spofforth said: My crime was sharing a tweet which I deleted and apologised for sharing as soon I realised it contained inaccurate information. As has now been shown, the idea that one single tweet could be the catalyst for the riots which followed the atrocities in Southport is simply not true. Yet, despite repeatedly insisting Id done nothing illegal, the police dragged me from my home and held me for 36 hours in a cell. IF THIS IS TRUE I am Bernadette Spofforth you know me as Bernie. And this is the story of how the State silenced an ordinary citizen, through arrest and bail conditions, to ensure only State truth was heard. With special thanks to @sdavieslaw @speechUnion pic.twitter.com/p7ouXnl6qR Bernie (@Artemisfornow) September 18, 2024 What Ive experienced over the past few weeks is nothing in comparison to the suffering of the tragic victims in Southport. And Im not trying to compare the two. But I am just an ordinary person with ordinary opinions and I think its important that the public should know how ordinary people can be treated. The nightmare my family and I have lived through over the past month could happen to anyone. And in Britain in 2024 thats unacceptable. In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, she said that five police officers had arrived mob-handed to arrest her. She protested that she would not have made the information up, and claimed that activists didnt actually care about the truth. I explained my post was political, as almost all of my posts are, and my post was aimed at the Government and its failing policies. I had not and would not make something up, but perhaps the authorities and the activists didnt actually care about the truth. Anti-immigration protesters faced off against police near the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire amid misplaced anger over the Southport attacks (Danny Lawson/PA) The fake name for the attacker, and the false claim that he is a Muslim refugee who had arrived by boat in the country in the past year, was spread online by a number of far-right commentators. This appeared to stoke anti-immigration hostility, with unrest breaking out in locations across the country, despite the fact that the rumour was not true. The information appeared to originate from a news website called Channel3 Now, and the sites editor-in-chief later apologised. Pakistani web developer Farhan Asif, 32, has since been charged with cyberterrorism. Ms Spofforth regularly posts political comments on X on subjects including net zero, gender issues, the pandemic and freedom of speech. Users including actor Laurence Fox and broadcasters Dan Wootton and Julia Hartley-Brewer all expressed support for her after the news that she would face no charges. Cheshire Police did not name Ms Spofforth but confirmed that a 55-year-old woman from near Chester would face no further action. A spokesman said: A woman who was arrested in relation to an inaccurate social media post has been released without charge. The 55-year-old woman from near Chester was arrested on Thursday August 8 following allegations in relation to a social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders. Following a thorough investigation, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken due to insufficient evidence. The police watchdog will assess a claim by Sex Education actor Reece Richards that he was sprayed with an incapacitating liquid during an unlawful arrest by the Metropolitan Police. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it received a complaint from the West End star on Thursday and will decide if any further action is required from us after Richards said he was only stopped because he was black. Richards claimed he was thrown to the ground and kicked by officers in Fulham, west London, earlier this month after being mistaken for a suspect, and claimed he didnt fit the description of the suspects. Warning: this video contains offensive language An IOPC spokesperson said: We have received a voluntary complaint referral this afternoon from Met Police following an incident on Fulham Palace Road, west London, on September 4, where a man was arrested and Pava sprayed by police officers before he was de-arrested at the scene. We understand the man received minor injuries. The man complained about use of force and the false arrest and also alleges that he was only stopped because he was black, and he didnt fit the description of the suspects. We will now assess the referral and decide if any further action is required from us. The actor said he made the complaint because he is asking for accountability and to raise awareness that incidents like this are still happening. Richards, who plays Eugene in the hit Netflix series, said the incident happened just yards from my front door after he had finished performing in a production of Hairspray The Musical. Loose Women star Brenda Edwards, who is the director of the show, alleged he was racially profiled and violated in an Instagram post. In an Instagram post, Richards said: I had just finished performing in Hairspray The Musical when a car crashed near me. Richards explained that two men jumped out of the vehicle so he pointed out to the police the direction in which they had fled. The officer then shouted to Richards that he was under arrest and demanded he get to the ground, according to the actor. I was confused, unable to understand why I was suddenly being treated like a criminal, he said. Calmly, I explained that I was a performer returning from a show, but one officer yelled, Get to the floor or Ill pepper spray you. Moments later, three more officers ran at me. They pepper sprayed me, kicked my legs out from under me, threw me to the ground and handcuffed me. In a flash, I was face-down on the pavement with multiple officers holding me down, forcing my head into the ground. I was already injured from the show, but having four officers on top of me worsened my injuries to my back, ribs and stomach. He added: I couldnt see anything, but I could hear my mum nearby, screaming and crying, begging them to let me go. Richards said his mother called Edwards, who is a family friend, and she arrived around 20 minutes later. After reviewing bodycam footage, they (the police officers) agreed to release me, he said. The arrest took place on September 4 between 12.38am and 2.30am, according to Richards. A video, shared by Richards and Edwards, appears to show a number of police officers holding an individual to the floor. The Metropolitan Police had previously confirmed a complaint had been received in relation to Richards arrest. Rachel Reeves has said she intends to use her position as the first female Chancellor to improve life for women, as she set out plans to support women in business. Ms Reeves said it is a huge responsibility to head the Treasury and she is aiming to close the gender pay gap, strengthen rights at work and invest in childcare. Announcing the Governments support for the Invest in Women Taskforce, which aims to increase investment funding pools for female founders, the Chancellor vowed to improve the economic opportunities available to women. The taskforce is aiming to create a funding pool of more than 250 million for female-founded businesses through private capital, making it one of the worlds largest investment funding pools aimed solely at female founders. The Rose Review, an independent review of female entrepreneurship led by Dame Alison Rose, found that if the UK were to have the same share of female entrepreneurs as similar countries, 200 billion of value would be added to the economy. Ms Reeves is expected to take an active role in steering the taskforces priorities and objectives. She said: It is a huge responsibility to sit in the Treasury as the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer and be able to use my position to improve life for women across the UK one that I dont take lightly. That includes ending the gender pay gap, strengthening rights at work and investing in childcare. And by backing the Invest in Women Taskforce we can establish one of the worlds largest dedicated investment funding pools for female-powered businesses, helping grow our economy. This event gathers together some very powerful women, but the truth is everyone can do something for womens equality whether thats supporting the women and girls in their lives with their ambitions or making their workplace a fairer playing field. On Wednesday, which is International Equal Pay Day, the Chancellor is hosting a reception in Number 11 Downing Street for female business leaders from various sectors, such as financial services, technology and the creative industry. Astronomers say they have discovered the longest pair of black hole jets ever seen in the sky coming from a galaxy far, far away. The record-breaking eruptions span 23 million light years from end to end, which is equivalent to lining up 140 Milky Way galaxies back to back, according to the researchers. Named Porphyrion, after a giant in Greek mythology, these gigantic outflows which shoot out from above and below a supermassive black hole formed when the universe was a mere 6.3 billion years old, less than half its present age of nearly 14 billion years. Understanding more about these colossal jets could help provide clues about magnetism a phenomenon that is essential for life to thrive on Earth, the researchers said. Although these are the largest jets from a black hole reported to date, scientists said jumbo jet systems may not be as rare as previously thought, with more than 10,000 megastructures discovered to date. The Porphyrion jet system was discovered around 7.5 billion light years from Earth (LOFAR Collaboration/WISE/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Martijn Oei/PA) Dr Martijn Oei, a researcher at the California Institute of Technology in the US, said: When we first found the giant jets, we were quite surprised. We had no idea that there were this many. The fierce jets, which originate around 7.5 billion light years away, have a combined power output equivalent to trillions of suns, the researchers said. They come from a hefty galaxy about 10 times more massive than the Milky Way, they added. Before Porphyrion, the largest confirmed jet system was Alcyoneus, also named after a giant in Greek mythology, which spans the equivalent of around 100 Milky Ways. Researchers said their findings, published in the journal Nature, suggest these giant jet systems may have played a bigger role in the formation of ancient galaxies than previously believed. Porphyrion existed during a time when the strands that connect and feed galaxies, known as the cosmic web, were closer together than they are now. The main LOw Frequency ARray radio telescope antenna network is in the Netherlands (Astron/PA) It means enormous jets like Porphyrion reached across a greater portion of the cosmic web than thought, the researchers said. Porphyrion and other massive jets were found using Europes LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) radio telescopes which are located across seven countries in Europe, with the main antenna network in the Netherlands. The team used machine-learning tools to scan the images for signs of these jets, with extra help from citizen scientists around the globe. But they believe there may be a lot more colossal jets left to be found. Dr Oei said: We may be looking at the tip of the iceberg. Our LOFAR survey only covered 15% of the sky. Most of these giant jets are likely difficult to spot, so we believe there are many more of these behemoths out there. Dr Martijn Oei, a postdoctoral researcher at California Institute of Technology, was involved in the research (CalTech/PA) The researchers said it is not clear why the jets are so long but Martin Hardcastle, professor of astrophysics at the University of Hertfordshire, said it could be because the accretion the process by which black holes consume surrounding material would have been long and stable, allowing the jets to point in the same direction for billions of years. He said: If you think of these jets as blasting their way out through all of this material that is around them, then the more powerful the jet is, the faster they expand. You need the combination of high power and long life to get to these very large sizes. As a next step, Dr Oei wants to better understand how these gigantic jets spread magnetism a force of nature produced by moving electric charges that also protects the Earth from radiation. He said: The magnetism on our planet allows life to thrive, so we want to understand how it came to be. We know magnetism pervades the cosmic web, then makes its way into galaxies and stars, and eventually to planets, but the question is: Where does it start? Have these giant jets spread magnetism through the cosmos? The research was funded by the Dutch Research Council, the European Research Council, the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, the UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship, and the European Union. Maro Itoje has rejected Eddie Jones negative assessment of his leadership as the wrong diagnosis after being entrusted with the Saracens captaincy for the new season. Itoje has been appointed as Owen Farrells successor at the north London club three years after his former England head coach Jones was scathing of his prospects of ever leading the national side. Jones, writing in his book Leadership, viewed the Lions second row as inward-looking, adding that he drives himself rather than anyone else. He doesnt usually influence people off the field. Jones opinion has since been proved wrong as Itoje took over from Jamie George as England skipper when his Saracens team-mate left the field on the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand. Feeling very humbled and honoured to be asked to captain @Saracens !! I am very grateful for the opportunity. It is an incredibly exciting and dynamic team to be apart of! Ive been at Saracens for nearly 16 years and its a club that I have a lot of love in my heart for. pic.twitter.com/G4sIWe0LlO Maro Itoje (@maroitoje) August 26, 2024 The comments made by the Australian, who was sacked in 2022, raised eyebrows at the time given he was still in charge at Twickenham and for Itoje it was a mistaken characterisation. I felt that was a wrong diagnosis of who I am. Most people who know me and most people who read those comments who knew me, would say that was an inaccurate conclusion to who I am as a person, Itoje said. I guess it was unfortunate that your coach would say something like that about you, but in life not everyone is going to see the things the way you see it. For me it wasnt necessarily about over-reacting to that sort of thing. I just wanted to stay consistent to who I believed I was. England head coach Eddie Jones made unflattering comments about Maro Itojes leadership credentials (Andrew Matthews/PA) For me, reflection is a really important part of what I try to do. I like to think I have a pretty accurate assessment of how I am, what I like, what makes me tick. Jones claimed to have sent Itoje to acting classes to draw out his internal fire, but the Saracens forward denies these took place. I was not waltzing across a stage and practising my Shakespearean prose, he said. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, and Muhammad Ali are appreciated as heroic leaders by Itoje, but closer to home the Arsenal fan admires the influence Patrick Vieira had on the Gunners. During the 2000s, Patrick Viera was in his prime and in his pomp. He was a big hero of mine. He was tough. Extremely tough, he said. Maro Itoje admires former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira (Rebecca Naden/PA) He was a no-nonsense player, he was elegant. I loved his spats with Roy Keane in the tunnel. He was graceful, he didnt seem like the loudest man in the room but he had a presence about him. He knew he had the respect of his team-mates and he was a winner. He was captain of Arsenal during their most successful period whats not to like? When Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall asked Itoje to be skipper during the summer he accepted immediately. The England captaincy is not on his radar, however. That position is held by my friend and team-mate Jamie George. So Im not commenting on another mans job. Ive barely started this one. I want to give my best to this and see where we go, he said. I want to try and be as authentically myself as possible. I want to lead in ways that are natural to me. I dont want to deviate too much from what has made me the man/player I am today. To be a good leader you have to lead by example. People definitely wont follow you if you are not walking the walk and thats how I envisage going about my business. Radio star Scott Mills has said he is speechless after winning the BBCs Celebrity Race Across The World alongside his husband Sam Vaughan. The pair beat Ted Lasso actor Kola Bokinni and his cousin Mary Ellen Moriarty to the base camp of the Osorno Volcano in Frutillar, Chile, after racing almost 7,800 miles from the Amazon Rainforest. Broadcaster Jeff Brazier and his son Freddy, and model Kelly Brook and her husband Jeremy Parisi finished the race the day after, coming third and fourth respectively. Mills and Vaughan at the base camp of the Osorno Volcano in Frutillar, Chile (BBC/PA) Mills and Vaughan realised they had won when they opened the guest book in Frutillar, leading them to jump up and down and shout oh my god, we did it. Speaking of the victory, Mills said: Speechless, when you open that book, and there are no other names in it theres no other feeling like it. I can confirm its the best feeling ever. Its been exhilarating, its been tough, its been so frustrating at times, but weve been there for each other, the good, the bad, the ups and downs. It just proves were a great team a winning team. The pair began the final leg in third place but with just 39 minutes between the teams, the competition was wide open. They decided to toss a coin to decide which route they would travel across the Andes to reach the finish line, with tails making them continue down through Argentina to San Salvador, and onwards to Mendoza. Vaughan, who works as a producer, added: Im just glad we flipped the coin. To have a great experience and win, its just the best. During a ride in a cable car up San Cristobal Hill in Chile, Mills told Vaughan, who was his fiance at the time, that he had been quite caught up with work at the start of the show and had now learned to spend more time for just you and me, before adding I dont want it to be over now. Following Mills and Vaughan to the guest book, Bokinni and Moriarty said they were pleased to come second. Reaching the top of the volcano, Bokinni said: We came second Mary, Im so pleased with that, this has been one of the best experiences of my life. Following up in third alongside his father, Freddy Brazier said: We didnt come first, we didnt need to come first. We finished the race and weve done it together, father and son, I mean what a duo. Brook, who finished in fourth place with her husband, added: It means everything to finish, Jeremy wanted to win, I just wanted to finish. To be honest we came last so I feel like we should have had a jolly from day one, it wouldnt have made any difference. Stripped of all mod-cons and luxuries including smartphones and bank cards, competitors had to rely on their skills, hard work and the kindness of strangers to succeed with a limited budget. The journey saw the pairs race across the length of South America, through the likes of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. The Health Secretary has vowed to take on the left and the right to reform the health of the nation, warning that the nations economic prosperity is at risk without change. But Wes Streeting insisted that he would make changes with people and not to people when asked about nanny state concerns, saying he is not the fun police. He said that sticking plasters wont cut it and said the Government was going to make big changes. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that he expects loud opposition to reforming the NHS (Aaron Chown/PA) Speaking at an event for the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Mr Streeting said he expects loud opposition to reform. But he warned of a rising tide of pressure facing the NHS and highlighted a report of the IPPRs Commission on Health and Prosperity, which concluded that Britain is the sick man of Europe when it comes to health. If we dont act now, ever-increasing demands for healthcare threaten to overwhelm and bankrupt the NHS, he said. Our sick society is also holding back our economy. He highlighted how a drop in productivity due to ill health has cost our economy 25 billion since 2018 and how 900,000 more people are off work than would have been on pre-pandemic trends. Thats more people than Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda employ put together, Mr Streeting said. Fail to act and by the end of this parliament, 4.3 million people could be off work sick. Millions of people left behind, the welfare bill will balloon, and growth will be hampered. To build a healthy economy, we need a healthier society. To achieve that, we need reform of the health service and public health reform, too. Lord Darzi, co-chairman of the IPPR Commission, said in his report that the NHS was in serious trouble (Aaron Chown/PA) The IPPR Commission is co-chaired by Lord Darzi who recently led a hard-hitting review into the state of the NHS for the Government and Englands former chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies. Lord Darzis report, published last week, concluded that the NHS is in serious trouble and has prompted Labour to promise widespread reform of the health service. Mr Streeting added: The great thing about the Darzi report it is not a left-wing or a right-wing view of the NHS. It told hard truths to both sides of the debate. And it forces me to now take on both left and right-wing orthodoxies. The lesson from the Darzi report is clear- the Tories did neither; this government has got to do both. Unless we do public health reform, the right will have to accept higher costs for healthcare, paid for by higher taxes. I dont think thats a price working people can afford to pay. The left has to accept health service reform, or there will be no health service. At least not as we currently recognise it. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will face down opposition to reform (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Reform always has opponents, often vocal and powerful opponents. The Prime Minister and I will face down that opposition because it is in the interest of patients, the health service, and taxpayers in this country. It really is reform or die, and we choose reform. Mr Streeting said that the Government would set out its plans for reform in the early part of next year which will deliver three big shifts in the focus of the NHS: from analogue to digital, hospital to community and sickness to prevention. Asked about nanny state concerns over reform, Mr Streeting said: I have not banned cake in the Department of Health. In fact, I was at NHS England the other day and saw an abundance of sugary treats I have not reported them to the Chief Medical Officer yet. Im really not interested in being the fun police or telling people how to live their lives, and people certainly wont have to worry about closing their curtains at night in case Im peering through the window and looking at what theyre eating, drinking or smoking. We do take this issue of chronic disease seriously and the impact is having on our lives our life expectancy, our ability to live our lives to the fullest extent for the longest time possible. I think we are in this appalling situation when we are living longer, but becoming sick sooner thats terrible for the quality of life, its also terrible for the economy, for the labour market and for the financial sustainability of our health and care services. So when it comes to having some cake or going down the pub, everything in moderation. The Health Secretary has said that we are living longer but becoming sicker sooner as he pledges to reform the NHS for patients (Jordan Pettitt/PA) And crucially, when it comes to measures we are considering, especially where this involves legislation, I dont believe in doing things to people, I believe in doing things with people we want to change the national conversation about our health and our wellbeing and the types of reforms that we might want to see. Smoking is at the easier end of the spectrum frankly, it is still the biggest killer. It is uniquely harmful, it is uniquely addictive and there are unquestionably harms that occur through second-hand smoking and passive smoking, weve got to take that seriously, But were going to consult, were going to engage and we are going to enjoy the national debate in the process. Mr Streeting also said that concerns over maternity care keep him awake at night. He said: When it comes to the crisis in our maternity services across the country, it is one of the biggest issues that keeps me awake at night worrying about the quality of care being delivered today at the risk of disaster greeting women in labour tomorrow. I think that what we have seen, in the case of specific trusts, are problems and risk factors that exist right across maternity services across the country. And were keen to make sure that when it comes to the work that Donna Ockenden has already done, we make sure that those lessons are applied, not just in the case of those specific trusts, actually right across the country. We are determined to get this right. Emily Thornberry has warned of repercussions in the Middle East after what appeared to be an Israeli-linked attack in Lebanon and Syria killed nine people, including members of the militant group Hezbollah, and injured nearly 3,000 others. The Labour MP, recently elected as chairwoman of the UKs Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said she expected Israels allies to be asking the country What on earth are you doing? after hundreds of pagers exploded on Tuesday afternoon. The pagers had reportedly been acquired by Hezbollah in an attempt to evade Israeli intelligence. Those injured include the Iranian ambassador, officials said. An eight-year-old girl was also killed during the explosions. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel for what seemed to be a sophisticated remote operation. The UK Foreign Office urged calm heads and de-escalation after the incident. An FCDO spokesperson said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time. Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday morning, Ms Thornberry said: We are really concerned about what is happening now in Lebanon. I think the big question is: why? Why is this happening now? And what will the result of that be? It seems to be yet another escalation of the conflict which is happening in the Middle East, which will affect all of us. And it is very worrying indeed, of course it is, and what the response will be? And is this the first step, and what will Israel do next? Is it part of a larger plan? It is very worrying and I would certainly be expecting Israels friends to be speaking very seriously to them, and saying: What on earth are you doing? Why is this happening now? Ms Thornberry was elected as chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee (Maja Smiejkowska/PA) Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as in all the past days as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza. In August, Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged UK nationals in Lebanon to leave the country amid growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, in the wake of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel on October 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counter-offensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes on an almost daily basis, killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, and displacing tens of thousands on each side of the border. The pagers targeted in the attack had been acquired by Hezbollah after the groups leader told members in February to stop using mobile phones, according to Associated Press. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said it had authorised its brand on the pagers, but they were manufactured by a company based in Budapest. The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungarys capital, according to a statement by Gold Apollo. It said: According to the co-operation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC. PHILADELPHIA Vice President Harris sat for an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday, fielding a host of questions on matters of domestic and foreign policy as well as her appeal to Black voters. Harris spoke of obstacles impeding the ability of Black Americans to build generational wealth, whether she would institute any policy changes regarding Israel and the war in Gaza and condemned former President Trumps rhetoric when it came to elevating false claims. The interview with Politicos Eugene Daniels, TheGrios Gerren Gaynor and WHYYs Tonya Mosley follows a controversial interview the association held with Trump in July that became contentious from the start when the GOP nominee took issue with the questions he was being asked. Here are five takeaways from Harriss interview Tuesday. Appeals to Black voters Daniels asked Harris about polls showing a growing number of Black men supporting Trump, and as a result, what her message may be to Black men who are growing disillusioned with the Democratic Party. Harris at first sought to dissect the construction of the inquiry. I think its very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybodys pocket, Harris responded. Black men are like any other voting group. You gotta earn their vote. So Im working to earn the vote, not assuming Im going to have it because I am Black. She added that she plans to address the economic barriers preventing Black Americans from building wealth. Later, Gaynor asked Harris how she plans to move H.R. 40 forward if she becomes president. The legislation, which Harris supported as a senator, would create a commission to study the history of slavery and reparations. Advocates including former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) have pressed President Biden to take executive action on the matter. Harris refused to say if she would take executive action but instead said Congress ultimately must do the work. But Harris did speak to attempts to limit the teaching of certain aspects of Black history in her response. We need to speak truth about the generational impact of our history, in terms of the generational impact of slavery, the generational impact of redlining, of Jim Crow law I could go on and on and on, Harris said. She added that issues that disproportionately affect Black Americans such as student loan debt, medical debt, bias in home appraisals, and maternal mortality must be addressed now as part of looking into reparations. Harris pressed on Gaza The moderators pressed Harris about her policy on Israel as it relates to the war in Gaza and how that squares with her backing of a cease-fire deal and a two-state solution. Harris was careful in her answers not to stray from what she has said in recent weeks since replacing Biden atop the ticket. She stressed that Israel has a right to defend itself, but that Palestinians deserve dignity and a right to self-determination. And she called for the war to end immediately and for all hostages to be released. But the vice president also offered that she was supportive of the White Houses decision to temporarily pause the shipment of 2,000 pound bombs to Israel in May as Israel was making plans for an assault on Rafah, a city that was housing millions of people who had fled their homes in other parts of the territory. Asked what she would say to frustrated voters who worry she would not implement policies any differently than Biden, whose approach to the war has splintered Democrats and cost him thousands of primary votes, Harris argued officials are working to pressure all sides to come to the table and get a cease-fire deal done. Right now, the thing we need to get done is this hostage deal and this cease-fire deal. We need a cease-fire. We need a hostage deal, she said. Harris weighs in on Springfield controversy Harris ridiculed Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), for amplifying false claims in recent weeks about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Its a crying shame, literally, whats happening to those families, those children in that community, said Harris. Schools in Springfield have faced more than 30 bomb threats since last weeks presidential debate, when Trump elevated false claims about migrants and pets, which local police say has no merit. Still, Harris added, such rhetoric is not new. This is not new in terms of these tropes; this is not new in terms of where its coming from. Whether it is refusing to rent to Black families, whether it is taking out a full page ad in The New York Times against five innocent Black and Latino teenagers the Central Park Five and calling for their execution, whether it is referring to the first Black president of the United States with a lie, the American people deserve more and better. She concluded with a direct message to Trump. I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio, and its got to stop. And weve got to say that you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the President of the United States of America engaging in that hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country, she added. Harris on gun ownership, curbing handgun use Mosley noted that Harris has said publicly that she is a gun owner while then segueing into a question about how to curb the proliferation of handguns, noting their use in crimes in Philadelphia. Harris was adamant in noting that she and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) were not trying to take anybodys gun away from them. Harris then largely leaned on the work of the Biden administration and called for congressional action to curb gun violence when questioned on what she would do to restrict the use of handguns. Harris in her answer called for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks, which Biden has long called for, but such legislation would need a wide Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress to pass. When moderators stressed that they wanted to know a plan for handguns specifically, Harris said universal background checks apply to handguns and stressed the need to close the gun show loophole that the Biden administration has worked to eliminate. We must take it seriously, in every way, understanding its not just about a sound bite, its about a comprehensive approach that deals with the tragedy of everyday gun violence in America, she said. Harris argues voters are better off without Trump The first question Harris faced was whether voters are better off economically than they were four years ago. The vice president sought to make the case that they are, and that they should look to turn the page on Trump for good in November. Harris laid out what she has branded as her opportunity economy agenda, which includes an expanded child tax credit, help for first-time homebuyers and a federal ban on price gouging. She also cited the Biden administrations works to bring down the cost of prescription drugs and get the economy back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic. The vice president more broadly presented her pitch to voters as one of optimism and a chance to move on from Trump, who she argued has been a divisive figure whom she blamed for state-level abortion bans in GOP states across the country. Is the price of groceries still too high? Yes. Do we have more work to do? Yes, Harris said. I do believe that I offer a new generation of leadership for our country that is about, in particular, turning the page on an era that sadly has shown us attempts by some to incite fear, to create division in our country, and to do the work that is about bringing about some level of optimism and dare I say ambition, about what I know is possible in our country, she added. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will welcome United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the White House on Monday for talks on issues ranging from the war in Gaza, Sudan and responsible artificial intelligence development. White House spokesperson John Kirby said the visit would be the first-ever by a president of the Gulf Arab country to Washington, adding that Vice President Kamala Harris would meet separately with the UAE leader. The United States has been increasingly concerned about the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries becoming a conduit for advanced U.S. AI technology reaching China, which it fears could use the technology to bolster its military. Last year, the Biden administration imposed sweeping new curbs on AI chip exports in a bid to cut off more avenues for China to obtain them, slapping a licensing requirement on their shipment to the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries. But Microsoft's $1.5 billion investment, announced in April, in UAE-based artificial intelligence firm G42 has fueled concerns among China hardliners in Congress as to whether those controls go far enough. Republican lawmakers asked the Biden administration for an intelligence assessment of the deal over concerns the U.S. company planned to export the otherwise severely restricted AI semiconductor chips to train models as well as AI model weights. G42 said in February it divested its investments in China and was accepting constraints imposed on it by the United States to work with U.S. companies. Currently, nothing is stopping U.S. AI giants from selling AI model weights to almost anyone in the world without government oversight, though Reuters reported in May that the Commerce Department was considering rules to restrict the export of proprietary or closed-source AI. The meetings would also focus on climate, clean energy and UAE's role as a partner in the Group of Seven's global infrastructure partnership, Kirby told reporters. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, writing by Andrea Shalal;Editing by Alistair Bell) FILE - Trees stand in wooded areas alongside Interstate 75 near Livingston, Ky., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, as police search for a suspect in a shooting Saturday along the Interstate. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File) FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) A body found in rural southeastern Kentucky is believed to be the man suspected of shooting and wounding five people on an interstate highway, authorities said Wednesday night. The search ended with two private sleuths joining in the dramatic discovery. Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said the body located earlier in the day was believed to be Joseph Couch, of Woodbine. Authorities hoped the discovery signaled the conclusion of an intense, nearly two-week search that had area residents on edge. People have been in fear, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said. Thats not the normal here in Laurel County. So now that this has been discovered, I hope that our county can get back to whats normal. A dozen vehicles were hit and five people wounded in the Sept. 7 shooting on Interstate 75 near London, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Lexington. Burnett said Wednesday night that accessories found with the body led authorities to conclude it was Couch. He had no details on the cause of death, saying that would be determined in an autopsy, but he said a weapon was found at the site. He didn't know how long the body had been there. We are very confident this brings the closure to the search for Joseph Couch, Burnett said. Root said the discovery of the body wasn't the outcome authorities wanted. I dont think nobody on this stage wished that we would have found him in the condition that we found, Root said at a news conference in London. Id rather hed been alive and he could have paid for what hes done. The body was found following an exhaustive search of the rugged and hilly terrain in the area where the attack happened. Teams combed 28,000 acres (11,331 hectares) in the search. But it is a private couple who will reap a $25,000 reward for their part in the discovery. YouTube streamers Fred and Sheila McCoy from Kentucky said they searched the area for about six days and were looking for signs of vultures in the air. Fred McCoy said he saw some near the I-75 exit Wednesday, and they followed the rough terrain down a valley. They then picked up on a bad smell. Hey guys, you wont believe it, we found him, oh my goodness gracious, Sheila McCoy said while filming the search. Now this little area (London) can rest. State police troopers had searched the area all day and also noticed vultures hovering above and then detected a strong odor, Burnett said Wednesday night. While moving through the woods to locate the odor, the troopers heard voices, identified themselves and asked the others to do so, he said. It turned out to be the McCoys, who told the troopers they also were searching for Couch. Almost immediately after that interaction between troopers and the McCoys, the troopers and the McCoys stumbled upon an unidentified body, Burnett said. The highway shootings led some schools to shut down and shift to virtual learning for several days as authorities warned residents to be extra vigilant. Schools reopened Tuesday with bolstered police security in the county where the shooting happened. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called the shootings an act of violence and evil. Authorities said the shooter fired 20 to 30 rounds, creating a chaotic scene. The five victims survived, but some suffered serious injuries. After sending the text message vowing to kill a lot of people to a woman before the attack, Couch sent another saying, Ill kill myself afterwards, investigators said in an affidavit. The document did not describe the relationship between Couch and the woman. However, the two have a child together but were never married, according to an attorney who handled the custody arrangement for their son, born in 2016. Early in the search, authorities found Couchs abandoned vehicle near the crime scene and a semi-automatic weapon that investigators believe was used in the shooting. An Army-style duffel bag that was found had Couch handwritten in marker, and a phone believed to be Couchs was found without a battery. Authorities said he purchased the AR-15 weapon and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition at a London gun store hours before the shooting. Couch had a military background in the Army Reserve. The U.S. Army said he served from 2013 to 2019 as a combat engineer. He was a private when he left and had no deployments. The search focused on a densely wooded area about 8 miles (13 kilometers) north of London that a state police official described as walking in a jungle. Aided by helicopters and drones, search teams on the ground contended with cliffs, sinkholes, caves, waterways and thick brush. When the ground search was suspended at night, specially trained officers were deployed in strategic locations to prevent the gunman from slipping out of the area. On Tuesday, authorities said they were pulling searchers from the woods to bolster patrols in nearby communities in hopes of calming fears among residents. As the mystery of Couch's whereabouts appeared to be solved Wednesday, the sheriff urged prayers for the shooting victims and for the suspect's family, who he said have cooperated with authorities. The family cannot be blamed for the misfortune that this guys caused, Root said. ___ Associated Press writer Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report. The recent decision by a judge to move the trial of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, to a venue outside of Latah County did not come as much of a surprise. Nor did the Idaho Supreme Courts next decision: to move the trial to the Ada County Courthouse in Boise. Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the students fatal stabbings at an off-campus home in Moscow. The victims were Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, both 20, and Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21. Moving the trial out of Latah County, over concerns about logistics and jury bias, means Ada County will host its third high-profile trial in as many years that have been moved from other counties. The murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell and the death penalty trial of her husband, Chad Daybell, were moved from Fremont County, where the couple buried Lori Vallow Daybells two children after killing them. They were found guilty of various other crimes. Both trials drew extensive national attention, and the Kohberger trial likely will receive even more. It seems every time theres a high-profile trial in Idaho, the automatic solution is to move it to Ada County. It raises the question, Is that fair? Is it fair to burden the residents of Idahos most populous county with such high-profile trials and with the responsibility of having to come up with a jury pool to consider these cases? First, as set by state law, costs incurred by Ada County are reimbursed by the county from which the trial was moved. In the Lori Vallow Daybell trial, Ada County billed Fremont County $67,750, and the bill for Chad Daybell was $119,180, according to Fremont County Clerk Abbie Mace. As for the judge, the trial has been handed over to 4th Judicial District Judge Stephen Hippler. Judges are paid by the state, though, so no local costs would be incurred, according to Nate Poppino, court communications manager for the state. We are sure there are other, intangible costs associated with hosting such trials, but what better county to handle those incidentals? Ada County has a large courthouse, in front of which national media were able to stage their live shots for the day in the previous two cases, and Ada County has the capability to livestream and provide overflow rooms as needed. Plus, after hosting two such trials, Ada County has the practice and a proven track record in its ability to hold the Kohberger trial here. The Trial Court Administrator and the Fourth Judicial District Court, in collaboration with multiple county departments and offices, do an outstanding job coordinating the vast logistical, security and media issues related to high profile cases in Ada County, the Ada County Board of Commissioners said in an emailed statement to the Idaho Statesman. We are confident they will do the same on this high-profile case as well. As to the jury pool, Ada County has the potential there to draw from about 450,000 people, according to Sandra Barrios, trial court administrator for the 4th Judicial District Court. By comparison, Latah County has about 24,000 eligible jurors, according to a motion filed by Kohbergers defense lawyers. Ada County, population about 550,000, is by far the largest county in Idaho, with more than twice the population of Canyon County and five times the size of Bonneville, Twin Falls and Bannock counties. Given the publicity of the Kohberger case, the best chance of finding impartial jurors will be in Ada County. So fair or not for the county itself, its just that simple and logical when it comes to making a venue change decision. We are sensitive to the concerns and pleas from the families of the victims, some of whom asked the judge to keep the trial in Latah County, as did the prosecuting attorney in the case. But we must remember that the system of a fair and speedy trial in the United States is meant to also protect the rights of the accused, a hallmark of what makes our country great, compared with the treatment of citizens in countries such as China and Russia. The victims families will get their day in court. It just wont be in Latah County. Moving the trial to Ada County made the most sense and ultimately was the right thing to do. Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesmans editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members Greg Lanting, Terri Schorzman and Garry Wenske. Families of two murder victims lashed out at the convicted killer in court as he was sentenced to 50 years in prison. A Dallas County judge handed down two 50-year prison sentences to Kevin Sheffield for the 2022 killings of 65-year-old Joseph Syas and 64-year-old Mohamed Kamara. The sentences will run at the same time. In May 2022, Sheffield drove past Syas as he was walking home from the store in Northeast Dallas, turned around and shot and killed him. Kamara was killed outside his apartment complex. Sheffield was expressionless during the plea hearing on Monday as he learned his fate and then faced the families of his victims. At the hearing on Monday, Syass brother, Anthony Syas, blasted Sheffield for the killing, Fox4News reported. Anthony Syas (pictured) blasted Kevin Sheffield for killing his brother Joseph Syas in 2022 and delivered harsh words as the killer was sentenced to five decades behind bars. (Fox4News Dallas) Two years, I waited for this day just to see you. What you did to my brother, you didnt kill him; you murdered my brother, he said pointing at the killer. You shot my brother, went down the street and came back and shot my brother again and watched my brother die. I wish theyd given you two years because I promise to God Id blow your f----- head off! he added. Im not going to touch him. Im gone. I hate you. I pray you never see daylight again. I hate you, Syas sister Ceola Syas told Sheffield. I dont know what your mind is going through. I dont even know what type of animal you are, but you didnt have to kill my brother. Detectives connected Sheffield to the murder after license plate readers led them to his parents apartment and ballistics from a handgun found inside the home linked to another murder from one month before Kamara. Kamara, who moved to North Texas from Sierra Leone, West Africa, lived across the street from Sheffield, was killed outside his home while leaving for work. At the hearing, Kamaras cousin told the court that he was in search of greener pastures for his wife and three kids as he prepared for retirement. Yet, he does not see remorse from Sheffield, he said. In May 2022, Sheffield shot and killed Joseph Syas as he walked home from the store (Johnson Funeral Home) Thats what Im struggling with, he added. Police say there was seemingly no motive in the murders. But Judge Brandon Birmingham said at the hearing that Sheffield may be connected to other cases. Sheffield will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years. By SA Commercial Prop News A police officer arrests a looter inside a Cambridge Food store in Vosloorus on July 12 2021. Following this weekends spate of unrest across the country, the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) strongly condemns the incidents of looting and malicious damage to retail property centers. Violence and looting continued in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal on Monday, despite President Cyril Ramaphosa warning that those behind the violent protests and anarchy would be arrested and prosecuted. Maponya Mall and Jabulani Mall were looted today, and the Dobsonville Centre yesterday. All these centres are not far from police stations. SAPOA further points out that this maliciousness and damage to infrastructure and other property, is only going to further exacerbate the countrys socio-economic challenges, the broader financial impact of the looting and property destruction undermines the countrys economic confidence and will in all likelihood result in a greater economic downturn. Its deplorable, say SAPAO CEO, Neil Gopal, whilst people have the right to protest, they do not have the right to destroy property and steal. We recognise and respect the rights of every South African to protest peacefully and freely express their views on any matter of concern, our constitution affords us that right. However, these protesters must respect the rights of others. Clearly our police services are being overwhelmed and are ill equipped to deal with the magnitude, scale and nature of the violence and destruction that is happening around us. We are pleased that the Presidency has deployed the South African National Defence Force to help curb the situation, and for those who have been arrested to feel the full might of the law and be given punitive jail sentences that reflect our societys disdain of this criminal behaviour. South Africa violence spreads in wake of Zuma jailing Shops were looted overnight, a section of highway was closed and stick-wielding protesters marched through Johannesburg on Sunday, as sporadic violence following the jailing of former South African President Jacob Zuma spread. The unrest had mainly been concentrated in Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where he started serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court on Wednesday night. Zuma's sentencing and imprisonment have been seen as a test of the post-apartheid nation's ability to enforce the law fairly - even against powerful politicians - 27 years after the African National Congress (ANC) ousted white minority rulers to usher in democracy. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Everyone is bound to have bad breath in the mornings. Its when the stench lingers post-teeth brushing and into the day that it becomes a concern. Taking care of the issue boils down to finding your bad breaths root cause, of which there are many, says Jossen Gastelum, D.M.D., a general and cosmetic dentist in Scottsdale, Arizona. Meet the Experts: Jossen Gastelum, D.M.D., a general and cosmetic dentist in Scottsdale, Arizona and Ilona Casellini, D.M.D., a dentist at Swiss Quality Smile in Los Angeles. There are many things that can lead to bad breath, from the foods you eat to the bacteria present in your mouth and digestive system, he explains. In most cases, however, the smell is released from an overload of bacteria and its sulfur-based byproducts, which, to be more direct, are basically bacterial poop, he says. Yikes. Below, experts share the causes of bad breath, plus how to get rid of it for good. Bad breath causes Medically, bad breath is known as halitosis, says Dr. Gastelum. Its fine if it crops up after in the mornings or after eating a garlic- or onion-heavy dish, but otherwise, it means something is up, like: Poor oral hygiene More often than not, chronic bad breath is the result of poor oral hygiene, says Dr. Gastelum. Even if you brush your teeth twice a day, you may not be doing it well enough to kick the stink. Not brushing and flossing regularly allows food particles to remain in the mouth, promoting bacterial growth. This bacteria produces those foul-smelling sulfur compounds, adds Ilona Casellini, D.M.D., a dentist at Swiss Quality Smile in Los Angeles. Tooth infections, cavities, or gum disease Aforementioned poor oral hygiene can lead to dental health problems like cavities, tooth infections, and gum disease, all of which can worsen chronic bad breath by harboring excess bacteria, Dr. Casellini and Dr. Gastelum explain. Tonsillitis or tonsil stones can also worsen bad breath, Dr. Casellini adds. Dry mouth A dry mouth, be it from dehydration or a medical condition like hypothyroidism, makes bad breath more likely because when there isnt enough saliva, bacteria cannot be flushed away from the teeth, says Dr. Casellini. Dentures, retainers, or braces If youve worn any of these mouth hardwares, you know how tricky it can be to feel squeaky cleanthats because they trap food particles and bacteria, leading to bad breath, Dr. Casellini explains. Smoking Smoking and chewing tobacco can also leave an unpleasant odor in the mouth and can contribute to gum disease, which can worsen bad breath, Dr. Casellini says. Other health conditions If you have acid reflux, diabetes, liver disease, or kidney disease, you may be more susceptible to bad breath, Dr. Casellini says, because those conditions tend to create an environment in which bacteria thrives. Bad breath treatment Bad breath is almost always preventable and treatable, says Dr. Gastelum. In addition to twice-daily brushing and flossing and keeping mints on-hand, heres how to stay on top of it: Dont skip the dentist Coming in for regularly scheduled cleanings and keeping good oral hygiene at home can be the easiest way to prevent bad breath, says Dr. Gastelum. During these checkups, your dentist can also rule out gum disease or infection, or set up a treatment plan if those are present. Try a new mouthwash In addition to brushing and flossing, mouthwash is the safety net that really ensures all bacteria is swished away. For particularly stubborn particles, Dr. Casellini recommends rinsing with a bit of hydrogen peroxide, or asking your dentist about chlorohexidine prescription mouthwash, which is a great antibacterial mouthwash, she says. At the very least, Dr. Gastelum recommends avoiding alcohol-based rinses, he says, because they can dry your mouth out and can cause bad breath to become worse throughout the day. Keep your dry mouth moisturized If your bad breath stems from dry mouth specifically, there are products on the market designed to help re-moisten the environment throughout the day including gum, rinses, sprays, and gels. When to see a doctor about bad breath If you are chronically experiencing bad breath then it is absolutely time to address it, says Dr. Gastelum. Severe gum disease is linked to several health conditions like Alzheimers, heart disease, diabetes, and even erectile dysfunction. Chronic bad breath is always a sign of underlying things that are important to address for whole body health. You Might Also Like Venezuelan migrants wait in line for food from a food truck at a migrant processing center in Denver in 2023. Five months after launching an ambitious plan designed to help newly arrived migrants transition into more stable lives through temporary housing, job training and other supports, Denver officials said this week that the city will not continue the program next year. City officials said the Biden administrations border policies have greatly reduced the number of migrants coming into the U.S. in recent months, thereby making it unnecessary to maintain the Denver Asylum Seekers Program and other services Denver had put in place to support what had once been an influx of new residents. The program had marked a shift in Denvers strategy of housing migrants in massive temporary shelters to providing individual resources. When touting the program earlier this year, officials also said it was intended to help fill a worker shortage by preparing migrants for jobs in in-demand industries. About 860 people are currently part of the program, which offers six months of housing, job training, language instruction and legal support in filing asylum claims, according to city officials. In addition to ending the program, the city is closing its remaining migrant shelter at the end of the month, Jon Ewing, a city spokesperson who manages communications for Denvers newcomer response, said Tuesday. Denver, Chicago and New York have had to adapt over the past two years as their migrant populations have grown since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing thousands of migrants to Democratic cities in 2022. The cities have scrambled to assemble social safety nets without devastating their budgets. Chicago and New York, for instance, put stricter limits on how long people can stay in shelters. Although about 42,000 have arrived in Denver since 2022, Ewing said the city has not received a bus since June 10 and that only about 30 migrants arrived last week. The large decrease in numbers means that migrants who come to the city can now find a place to stay within the citys traditional shelter system, which is no longer overburdened as it was when thousands of migrants were coming in. Its simply not needed in this current form in 2025. Thats a good thing, Ewing said, referring to the asylum program and additional supports. Ewing said the program will continue as it was intended for the more than 800 migrants currently participating, and the city is still trying to determine what elements of the asylum-seeker program may be carried over into the new year. The six-month program, Ewing said, came as a response to the situation on the ground when the city was trying to assist thousands of migrants who had been living in temporary shelters find housing and work. The current program not only got us out of the current situation, it stabilized the lives of around 860 people, he said. Its going to give local employers a huge, huge lift when theyre finished and have their work authorization, he said. So were super proud of it. But at the same time, we need to see what makes actual sense for 2025. But the immigration landscape has largely changed over recent months, due to an executive action President Joe Biden signed in June that drastically reduced the number of migrants who could come into the United States. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Monday that since the Biden administrations policy was announced in early June, encounters between ports of entry at the border have decreased by more than 50%. The agency said that in August, Border Patrol recorded about 58,000 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border, which is 68% lower than August 2023. Those numbers are keeping the Border Patrol on track to record the lowest number of annual apprehensions along the southwest border since fiscal year 2020, and lower than the monthly average for fiscal year 2019, the last comparable full fiscal year prior to the pandemic, the agency said. Denver had previously announced a $90 million budget for addressing new arrivals in 2024, but as of now, about $22 million will go back into the general fund for 2025, Ewing said. The 2025 budget will be slashed to $12.5 million, which Ewing said should primarily come from unspent dollars in 2024. Ewing said Denver is enormously proud of its asylum-seeker resource program and its broader migrant response. The recent changes from the Biden administration have been a big thing locally that has helped stabilize the situation, he said. The city has an emergency plan ready should another surge of arrivals begin, but the goal is to never get there, he said. In 1998, Mathias Schilling and Thomas Gieselmann left Germany for California, searching for venture capital. "We came out to California to scratch an itch, a personal itch," Gieselmann tells me more than 25 years later. "We wanted to learn about this venture capital thing, which apparently involved providing capital to young people who didnt have assets or co-signers. You just give them money for some share of a company!" Gieselmann deadpans this before breaking into chuckles, getting at one of my favorite things about venture capitalthat stripped down to the most basic terms, VC is a wacky proposition. But is it any wackier than chasing an idea across the world? Schilling and Gieselmann at the time were in their 20s and had met working at AOL in Cologne, Germany. When the two Kumpel touched down and explored Sand Hill Road in the 1990s, they found it wasnt what they had imaginedboth aesthetically dour and increasingly crowded. So, they started to ask: Well, where else could we set up shop? "We flew to Santa Barbara, and you kind of land, and it looks like the movie Casablanca," said Schilling. "We thought, this is the place. Its between LA and Silicon Valley, and we didnt want to be the 1000th firm on Sand Hill Road. Not because that hasnt worked for others or theres anything wrong with it, but it was very intuitive about what might work for us." So, Schilling and Gieselmann started Headline (the firm was called e.ventures until 2021) in Santa Barbara. Their first office sat atop a Mexican restaurant where a Mariachi band played every afternoon, and their first investor was German conglomerate Bertelsmann. Its an exceedingly appropriate beginning for a firm thats strategy has been global from the start. Headlines winners of the last two decades-plus include U.S.-based Appfolio, Europe-based Farfetch, and Brazil-based Pismo. The firm is now doubling down on its global focus: Headline has raised $865 million to invest in growth-stage companies, Fortune can exclusively report. It represents an increased emphasis on growth for Headline moving forward. Its a high-stakes move for Headline: One long-standing LP Fortune spoke with sees this fund as an inflection point for the firm, as it vies for the chance to write bigger checks for bigger names. The fund will be deployed in North America and internationally, including in Europe and Brazil, looking to leverage the footprints that Headline has been building in those marketplaces. "I don't know if its the only, but this has to be one of the few growth funds that has people literally on the ground, in the local zip code, living the local language and culture," said Romero Rodrigues, Headline's managing partner in Brazil, where the venture market is nascent but has already produced winners (like Headline-backed Pismo, which last year sold to Visa for $1 billion). To lead this new fund, Headline hired Shalini Rao, most recently of TCV, and Raos been building a non-hierarchical, title-less team of investors with credentials from Bond, Sound Ventures, and Insight Partners. The first time I meet Rao, shes clear with meshes keen on developing a concentrated portfolio, where every single decision matters. "Because we're a new fund, every incremental dollar means the world to us," said Rao. "Thats coupled with the fact that we're not going to push founders to take more, and then push them to grow, because we're trying to optimize for something. Its such a luxury to have. I cant think of many other situations where you have this perfect size for a growth fund." Raos previous growth wins include Toast and Gustoby all accounts, Schilling and Gieselmann pursued her extensively for this gigbut she also fits the Headline non-mold. The granddaughter of a fisherman and the daughter of a DJ-slash-aerobics instructor, Rao grew up in Newfoundland, Canada with no connection to finance whatsoever. VC found her, and it has stuck. "This job in particular, which Im completely obsessed with, is this unique combination of research," said Rao. "You can be analytical as part of a team, or you can go deep by yourself. Its also a massive sales role where youre both trying to get to the right answer, and pitching yourself. Its looking at long lists of companies, doing outbound by leveraging these internal tools that we have." Freeze frame: My visit to Headlines office in San Franciscos Presidio marked the first time a firm showed me the internal tool that it uses to source deals. And its a feat of data-gathering. Headlines internal database, which is Gieselmanns brain child that he first attempted to build in the early 2000s, is essentially a massive narrow-down machine. The database tracks and standardizes private company data from about eight million startups worldwide, filtering those millions down to 100,000 that fit their investment criteria. Today, Gieselmann talks about the technology as an "accelerant" and, by the way he talks about it, hes seemingly still chasing somethinglike getting that 100,000 down to a few thousand. Its a notably tough time in venture, and Schilling is candid about it with me. We talk about how the industry is bifurcating into the haves and have-nots, and he believes that generational succession in venture right now has perhaps "never been this hard." But for Headline to make its global thesis work, the data is nice, but it comes down to the people. "We also try to understand the context of people and be in it," said Schilling. "Not just be a helicopter in and out of these different countries, but really live in it, experience it, fail in it, trying to be as good of a long-term partner as we can be. And it takes time, right? The full fruition of this, thoughand I think it will be hardbut were really building this for the long-term." See you tomorrow, Allie Garfinkle Twitter: @agarfinks Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here. Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of todays newsletter. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com United Auto Workers members march through downtown Detroit in September 2023. Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP One of Americas biggest carmakers, Stellantis, could face fresh strikes after the United Auto Workers (UAW) announced plans for members to vote on authorizing a walkout. The UAW president, Shawn Fain, accused executives at the automotive giant of being out of control on Tuesday evening. The company wants you to be scared, he told his unions members, but we are 100% within our rights and within our power to take strike action if necessary. The UAW, one of the most powerful trade unions in the US, conducted a wave of strikes against top auto manufacturers last year. After 44 days of action at Stellantis, it announced a tentative agreement with the company. Its deal with Stellantis, the Jeep maker, included significant wage increases, as well as a commitment to bringing back and creating additional jobs at Stellantiss Belvidere plant in Illinois, which the company had shuttered earlier in the year, resulting in more than 1,300 layoffs. The contract also stipulated that Stellantis would add a battery plant in the complex and produce the Ram Dakota at the plant, creating thousands of additional jobs. This week, however, the UAW filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, including charges filed by 28 UAW locals representing thousands of Stellantis workers, accusing the company of refusing to provide information to the union about the product commitments it made in the 2023 contract. Related: Shawn Fain, president of the UAW: Workers realized theyve been getting screwed for decades In a live stream, Fain announced that the UAW will be convening its Stellantis council in Detroit and holding strike authorization votes at one or more UAW locals. Were here to save the company from themselves, and to save our communities from the war on the working class, Fain said, pausing during his speech to drink from a coffee mug with Bosss tears labeled on it. The problem isnt that Stellantis workers are making too much. The problem is that no amount of profit for Stellantis executives like [CEO] Carlos Tavares will ever be enough. Stellantis recently announced a decision to lay off workers at its Warren truck assembly plant in Michigan, potentially cutting as many as 2,500 jobs. The UAW has also alleged that Stellantis reneged on the deal to reopen and expand production at Belvidere, and accused the company of attempting to offshore production of the Dodge Durango, in violation of their agreement. A Stellantis spokesperson said in an email: Shawn Fain continues to allege that the company has violated the contract, but to date has provided no data or information to back up his claims. Instead, he continues to willfully damage the reputation of the company with his public attacks which is helpful to no one including his members. We would all be better served if these issues were addressed across the table with productive, respectful and forward-looking dialogue. A strike does not benefit anyone our customers, our dealers, the community and, most importantly, our employees. The company has previously denied violating the contract and claimed it has delayed reopening the Belvidere plant due to market conditions, but still plans on fulfilling the deal, beginning in 2027. Fain criticized that explanation, citing backlash toward Stellantis from the companys own shareholders and car dealers. Either we allow an out-of-control CEO and his billionaire backers who have enjoyed years of record profits to close plant after plant and are continuing to destroy our country, he said, or we stand up, fight back and we rally the American working class to take on corporate greed. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Two years after revealing her breakup from Zach Braff, Florence Pugh confirmed to British Vogue that she is in a new relationship. She told the outlet in September 2024, Okay, so something that I resonate with is that I believe that if magic is real, then its falling in love. And I am someone that loves falling in love. I love looking after people. I love caring for people. I love the feeling of someone being there. I love knowing that someone is thinking about me and someone cares for me in the same way that Im thinking about caring for them. I think in this portion of my life, Im trying to make sure that Im making all the right decisions so that I can have the thing that I wantwhich is safety, family, a home and security. She didnt name her partner, but spoke about the fluid nature of their relationship: We are figuring what we actually are. And I think for the first time, Im not allowing myself to go on a roller coaster. Im allowing myself to take time to let something evolve and let it be completely real to its core, as opposed to racing into that. Of this early-stage romance, she added, Falling is the most amazing feeling, but unfortunately if thats the only thing that you know in a relationship, then thats the thing that you chase. Thats not gonna last. Pughs remarks come after The Sun reported on September 4 that she is secretly dating 28-year-old Peaky Blinders actor Finn Cole. Cole and Pugh were photographed leaving The Perfect Couples London premiere after-party together the day before. A guest claimed to Daily Mail, I saw them holding hands at the after-party at The Hoxton hotel. While the two actors have not confirmed their romantic relationship, they have been publicly supportive friends for years. In light of Pughs new interview and their recent sighting, get to know Cole and his connection to the British actress. Dave Benett - Getty Images Pugh has been open about how she is looking for someone with whom she can start a family someday. Pugh spoke to British Vogue about how working on We Live in Time changed the way she approached her love life. I was at the right age for this movie to land, she said. I was going through a lot of weird stuff with relationships last year, and I think part of the story is to not be passive, is not to let things wash over you. I want to go and find love, and I want to have babies. She clarified that she has wanted children for a long time: Oh, Ive always been thinking about starting a family, she said. Ive wanted to have kids since I was a child myself. I love the idea of a big family. I come from a big family. I love kids. I love hanging out with kids. If ever theres a dinner party, I go straight to the kids to chat to them. So much easier. I love the honesty. I love how bored they can get. Ive never stopped knowing that I want to have kids. Its just figuring out when. Pugh revealed she isnt planning on discussing her love life publicly. While Pugh spoke a little about her relationship with her ex Zach Braff, she told British Vogue that she prefers to keep her private life just that. I think for anyone Im with, I want to protect them, she said. Its not nice knowing that people are saying the worst things Ive ever read about someone that I love. So that was necessary. I needed to talk about it [Braff]. I think any relationship in this limelight is going to be stressed. The Sun claimed that Pugh and Cole were secretly dating in early September. A source spoke to the British tabloid and alleged that Cole and Pugh had struck up a romance that they were trying to keep under the radar. A source told The Sun that Pugh and Cole were at The Perfect Couples London premiere after-party on September 3. Florence and Finn appeared to be very much together, and they were having a great time, the insider claimed. They kept a low profile at the premiere and party, and left out of the back door together and got into the same car. They were there to support friends in the film and seemed keen not to be pictured or seen. Florence and Finn seemed very happy together. But they made a quick exit when the event was wrapping up, and slipped away. Daily Mail ran photos of them there and wrote that they left in the same car. DeuxMoi received multiple submissions about Cole and Pugh being sighted together. Unverified celebrity gossip outlet published multiple submissions from people saying they saw Cole and Pugh together in London on September 15. One person wrote, She was gazing into his eyes [and] looked very in love. Pugh and Cole have been friends since 2017. Pugh has been publicly supportive of Cole for years. She first started liking his Instagrams in June 2017. Instagram She most recently liked and commented on his latest Instagram, shared on July 17. Cole and WhatsOnStage did a collaboration post revealing the first look of him in Red Speedo (where Coles abs were on display as he wore a red speedo). Pugh wrote, Oh my gosh this is unbelievably exciting! She added a second comment, adding, Granny Pat wants to come.. #obvi. Instagram Cole, for his part, has also liked many of Pughs Instagrams. He most recently gave some love to her post shared on September 9. Instagram Cole and Pugh were photographed together with friends at Glastonbury this summer. Cole is a 28-year-old British actor most famous for his roles on Peaky Blinders and Animal Kingdom. Coles breakout role was as Michael Gray on Peaky Blinders. His older brother, Joe Cole, plays Grays cousin John Shelby on the show and helped get Cole the part. As Cole explained to Interview magazine in June 2016, My first real experience of acting was Peaky Blinders. That was the most intense experience. In those situations you learn so quickly, and I did. My brother had the script for the second seasonthey had already done the firstand he said there was a great part for me. One thing led to another and I found myself in the audition room with Colm McCarthy, Shaheen Baig, and Laurie Borg. I had a confidence about me because there was no pressure; there was no feeling that I had to get it. I was so pessimistic about actually getting the role. Dave Benett - Getty Images Cole grew up in South West Londons Kingston and got into acting as a teenager. Cole told Interview in 2016, I first became interested [in acting] when I was in school. I was surrounded by people who were into acting. I had a teacher who I got along with, one of my favorite teachers, and he got me into it. Trying to entertain was something I always got a kick from. It excited me quite a lot. Growing up, it was a hobby, always something I did with friendswed put on shows. Then I joined the National Youth Theatre when I was 17, which was great cause we its a bunch of young people like myself. He was also very into rugby, he told Gentlemens Journal in late 2017. Id love to still be playing, he said. But if you try to play it safely then youre actually more likely to give yourself a bad injury. The British actor is a Scorpio born in 1995. Cole was born on Nov. 9, 1995 in Kingston, London, making him a Scorpio. Pugh is a Capricorn, born on Jan. 3, 1996 in Oxford, England. Scorpios and Capricorns are both business-savvy signs, the AstroTwins wrote for ELLE, with incredible potential if they swear off secrecy. They are masters of underhanded power plays that could topple this merger fast, the AstroTwins detailed. As you grow closer, learn and practice direct communication. Master that, and the rest is a cakewalk. Cole said fame hadnt really affected his daily life in 2017. While Cole had already gotten high-profile roles, the actor told Gentlemens Journal in its November/December 2017 issue that he can still fly under the radar. Although there has been the odd time Ive been sitting in a restaurant and someones been looking at me for a very long period of time and I wonder if [they might recognize me], he conceded. I never say anything. Cole acted alongside Margot Robbie in Dreamland and credited her for making him a better actor. Cole has shared the screen with A-listers such as Anya Taylor-Joy in Peaky Blinders and Margot Robbie in 2019s Dreamland. He spoke to Variety in November 2020 about what it was like working with the Australian actress: When I was on the train going in for my audition in London to meet Margot, I was very nervous, he said. I had prepared as much as I could, but I worried I was going to forget the lines. Thats credit to how impressive I thought Margot was, because I dont usually get like that. As soon as she walked into the room and we got to know each other, that immediately dropped. Shes got a welcoming personality and from day one I felt like we were collaborating together. She listened to everything I had to say. I learned so much from her. I believe she made me a stronger actor. Cole admitted that he is drawn to playing sociopaths onscreen because he is intrigued by their psychology. Variety asked him about his roles as Peaky Blinders Michael and Animal Kingdoms J, as both characters were seduced into the world of crime. Cole explained, Im fascinated by personalities that succeed in that way of life and those that fail in that way of life. Im really intrigued about why and what makes someone be able to make these decisions and not feel remorse or guilt. I like to look into what makes a human being take that path. Maybe that makes me slightly sociopathic, I dont know. You dont hear many stories about people who grow up, have normal lives, pay taxes and pay bills, have mortgages and have kids. You hear stories about Billy the Kid for a reason. He contrasted the two characters in his 2016 Interview discussion. Michael is definitely a far more intense, slightly sociopathic character, which is quite exhausting, but Im in fewer scenes, he said. With J, hes a survivor in this animal kingdom, as it were. Hes gotten good at is not giving anything away and avoiding showing his emotions and his plans. Its very difficult to read someone like J. Theyre two very different characters, but they have their similaritiestheyre young and new to these families and these lives and these gangs. Theyre different in how they deal with situations and where they find themselves. J is trying to find himself and where he belongs; hes not a predator at this stage. Michael is a predator. He wants to be at the top and hell do anything to get there. To get into them is always very fun, he continued. I stay in an American accent all day when Im playing J just to keep my focus. The immaturity is important as well. I dont stay in Michaels accent. I might do that next time because my accent is not great. With both characters, and all characters I play, they are parts of me that Ive always wanted to explore, theyre pieces of me. Finding that and getting into that is always quite easy for me because its always something Ive felt. The way they react is sometimes how Id react to situations. They have thoughts that Ive definitely had. Its something that I take from myself and push a little bit further. You Might Also Like Former Memphis police officer Demetrius Haley, left, leaves the federal courthouse after the first day of jury selection of the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) A former Memphis police officer charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols sent his ex-girlfriend a photo of the badly injured man on the night he was punched, kicked and hit with a police baton following a traffic stop, according to trial testimony Wednesday. Brittany Leake, a Memphis officer and Demetrius Haleys former girlfriend, testified during the criminal trial that she was on the phone with Haley when officers pulled Nichols over for a traffic stop. She said she heard a commotion, including verbal orders for someone to give officers his hands. The call ended, but Haley later texted the photo in a group chat comprising Haley, Leake and her godsister, she testified. Prosecutors displayed the photo for the jury. It showed Nichols with his eyes closed, on the ground with what appeared to be blood near his mouth and his hands behind his back. Leake said that when she saw the photo, her reaction was: Oh my God, he definitely needs to go to the Med. The Med is shorthand for Memphis trauma hospital. Haley, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith are on trial after pleading not guilty to charges that they deprived Nichols of his civil rights through excessive force and failure to intervene, and obstructed justice through witness tampering. The Memphis Police Department fired the three men, along with Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., after Nichols death. The beating was caught on police video, which was released publicly. The officers were later indicted on the federal charges. Martin and Mills have taken plea deals. During her testimony Wednesday, Leake said she deleted the photo after she saw it and that sending such a photo is against police policy. I wasnt offended, but it was difficult to look at, she said. Leake said Haley had sent her photos before of drugs, and of a person who had been injured in a car accident. Earlier Wednesday, Martin was on the witness stand for a third day. Defense attorneys tried to show inconsistencies between Martins statements to investigators and his court testimony. Martin acknowledged lying about what happened to Memphis Police Department internal investigators, to try to cover up and justify what I did. But Martin said he told the truth to FBI investigators after he pleaded guilty in August, including statements about feeling pressure on his duty belt where his gun was located during the traffic stop, but not being able to see if Nichols was trying to get his gun. Martin has testified that he said let go of my gun during the traffic stop. Martin Zummach, the attorney for Justin Smith, asked Martin if he knew of any reasons why Nichols did not simply say, I give up. Hes out of it, Martin said. Disoriented. Martin testified that the situation escalated quickly when Haley pulled his gun and violently yanked Nichols from his car, using expletives and failing to tell Nichols why he had been pulled over and removed from the vehicle. He never got a chance to comply, Martin said. Nichols, who was Black, was pepper sprayed and hit with a stun gun during the traffic stop, but ran away, police video shows. The five officers, who also are Black, then beat him about a block from his home, as he called out for his mother. Video shows the officers milling about and talking as Nichols struggled with his injuries. Nichols died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. An autopsy report shows Nichols the father of a boy who is now 7 died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, and cuts and bruises on his head and elsewhere on his body. Jesse Guy testified that he was working as a paramedic for the Memphis Fire Department the night of the beating. He arrived at the location after two emergency medical technicians, Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge. Guy said he was not told about the medical problems Nichols had experienced before he arrived, and that Nichols was injured, seated on the ground and unresponsive. Nichols had no pulse and was not breathing, and it felt like he was lifeless, Guy said. In the ambulance, Guy performed CPR and provided mechanical ventilation, and Nichols had a pulse by the time he arrived at the hospital, the paramedic said. Guy said Long and Sandridge did not say if they had checked Nichols pulse and heart rate, and they did not report if they had given him oxygen. When asked by one of Beans lawyers whether that information would have been helpful in treating Nichols, Guy said yes. Long and Sandridge were fired for violating fire department policies after Nichols died. They have not been criminally charged. The five officers also have been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date in state court has not been set. ___ Associated Press reporter Jonathan Mattise contributed from Nashville, Tennessee. Against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol at dusk, freed American Paul Whelan, who just completed a government resettlement program in Texas following his return from wrongful detainment in Russia, thanked the lawmakers who worked to help secure his release. Whelan praised a "bipartisan effort that brought me home" after spending the day meeting with lawmakers who took up his case from his home state of Michigan and elsewhere. "The Michigan delegation brought me home here," he said. "You know, it was five years, seven months and five days," he added of his time in Russian custody. "I counted each one of them." The former Marine revealed he spent the final five days in the Russian prison in solitary confinement. "I couldnt leave my cell," he said, "but I made it home." PHOTO: President Joe Biden embraces Paul Whelan, who was released from detention in Russia, upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Md., Aug. 1, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Reuters) MORE: Renowned ballet dancer and mom die within 1 day of each other Whelan wouldn't preview what's next for him -- offering only that he needs a new car and that suddenly he's in a place with electric and driverless vehicles -- but said he's involved in discussions over how to support other wrongfully detained Americans around the world. "We're coming for you," Whelan said to those Americans. "The United States is not going to let people like me, Marc [Fogel], Trevor [Reed], Brittney [Griner, who was released in December 2022] languish in foreign prisons. It might take time, but we're coming for them and everybody else." Whelan acknowledged the reporters he recognized by name or face, recalling the precise month he spoke with them via a smuggled phone from prison. He thanked them for reporting on his case. He also thanked "all of the people that work for agencies that I will never meet, people that I will never know, their staff members, everyone that's been involved at every level." Rep. Haley Stevens, who represents Whelan's district in Congress, told ABC News she expects to lean on him for the complex policymaking to mitigate foreign detentions like his. "Well, he might not know it, but I plan to be in touch with him for a very long time to come, as long as he'll welcome it, because there's a lot to learn from his experience," she said. PHOTO: President Joe Biden, right, places his American flag pin on Paul Whelan at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., following Whelan's release as part of a 24-person prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, Aug. 1, 2024. (Alex Brandon/AP) MORE: Schools reopen as search for suspect in Kentucky interstate shooting enters 11th day She noted that Whelan's case was "the first one" of a series of high-profile detentions in Russia, including Griner and Evan Gershkovich, and it "certainly changed the relationship that the United States had with Russia, even before the war in Ukraine began." "Our message to Russia is that when it comes to your shenanigans and your illegal and unjust and unlawful behavior, we, as the United States of America, are united. We will fight for our people," she said. "We will bring them home, and we will win." Whelan returned to the United States on Aug. 2 after five and a half years in a Russian penal colony. Russian authorities released Whelan, as well as American journalists Gershkovic and Alsu Kurmasheva, in a multi-country deal that freed eight Russian prisoners abroad. The 26-person swap was the largest between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War. US President Joe Biden, right, watches as Vice President Kamala Harris greets former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (PHOTO: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images) (Bloomberg via Getty Images) Whelan was arrested in Moscow in 2019 on charges of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan, who frequently visited the city, was deemed as wrongfully detained by the U.S. Department of State. The former Marine wasnt the only former Russian captive on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British national whose release was secured by the U.S., met with lawmakers. Kara-Murza was imprisoned in Russia for two years for his opposition to Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine. Freed American Paul Whelan thanks lawmakers for bringing him home during Capitol Hill visit originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Macollvie Neel, editor of the Haitian Times, was ready to start her workday from home on Monday when her doorbell rang. What she thought might be a delivery turned out to be more than a half-dozen police officers. I looked and there were police cruisers outside my house, Neel recalled Tuesday in an interview with CNN. When she opened the door, Neel said officers explained that someone had emailed an [organization] saying they had killed their wife for being racist toward Haitians at my address. The hoax report that sent officers rushing to her home, known as a type of swatting, left Neel feeling alarmed and worried for her safety as well as for the staff of The Haitian Times, where she serves as executive editor. But Mondays incident is just the latest example of the threats and attacks she and her colleagues have faced since former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance amplified debunked conspiracy theories about Haitian immigrants in Ohio. The Haitian Times, an online publication, has covered Haiti and the Haitian diaspora around the world since it was founded in 1999. With a newsroom of about 20 staffers and freelancers, the outlet has documented the flow of Haitians across the United States, beyond the traditional enclaves of New York, South Florida and Massachusetts. Springfield, Ohio, was already on the Haitian Times radar well before the conspiracy theories began. The town had been depressed for years, with a shrinking population until new manufacturing plants began opening up. But locals werent filling the thousands of jobs created, so the town became a magnet for legal Haitian immigrants who came seeking work and a place to raise their families. While the newcomers have been largely welcomed by the community, some longtime residents have voiced concern about strained local resources and safety, issues the Haitian Times has covered for its readership. Other issues have been more sinister. Last month, a small group of masked white supremacists, part of a neo-Nazi group, marched through downtown Springfield in what they called an anti-Haitian Immigration march. Then, last week, Vance posted about a viral false claim that Haitian immigrants were eating pets in the community, and Trump mentioned the conspiracy theory on the debate stage. The Haitian Times covered the comments aggressively describing them as racist and false. Neel said she and other Haitians had already been the subject of harassment. But after Vances post and the debate, the issue exploded. People who are anti-Haitian, anti-immigrant, just felt like they had carte blanche to just call or email or go on peoples Facebook pages and just ratchet up the harassment, Neel said. Reports began pouring into the publications newsroom of Haitian immigrants receiving harassing phone calls and children and teens bullied. Parents were fearful to send their children to school. Dozens of bomb threats later shut down schools and municipal buildings in Springfield following Trumps promotion of the false claims. The day after the debate, The Haitian Times published an article reporting that Haitian immigrant families in Ohio were under attack amid the intense swirl of false claims. And Neel herself said she was the target of some of the most direct racism shes experienced in her life. Within the past week, Neel said she received an email with a subject line that was just N-word thats literally what the subject line was. This was the first time in my life that someone had been explicitly that racist to my face, she added. Other prominent Haitians have also been the target of police swatting attempts, Neel said. The message is pretty clear that they know where we live. They can get to us if they really want to, Neel said. Its just an intimidation, fascist tactic to silence people. After the neo-Nazi march in August, the Haitian Times planned to hold one of its regular town-hall style community conversations in Springfield for September. With the national spotlight on the community, the issue became even more paramount. But what was supposed to be an in-person gathering to discuss, reflect and support one another had to be moved to a virtual conversation due to ongoing threats targeting the community. Springfields city manager told the publication that it could not guarantee the safety of its staff, Haitian Times founder Garry Pierre-Pierre told CNN. Im angered but were very much resolved, Pierre-Pierre said in the wake of the attacks. We left Haiti under a fascist dictatorship, so we wont let a fascist minority silence us. We will cover this story, we will take precautions, but we will not be silenced. Neel said the outlet had reached out to the Trump campaign following the debate for comment but isnt planning to ask for an interview. Unless its an apology and a retraction, which I dont think is ever going to happen, I personally dont even want to hear it, she said. We already know what theyre going to say in a lot of ways, so we have to just prioritize getting whats important out for our community to help us actually fight back, which is what we have to do, and we have to do it in a very sophisticated way. Neel said they are now urgently focusing on ways to protect the outlets staff both online and in person, including raising funds to help support security for their staff a prospect she once considered unimaginable. This is America, Neel said. This is where were supposed to have the freedom to pursue liberty, justice and happiness. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com With less than two weeks until a partial government shutdown, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill today that combines a must-pass spending bill with tighter voting rules, which will have little to no chance of success in the Democratic-majority Senate. Congress must pass spending legislation before the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1 to avoid furloughing thousands of federal workers and reducing federal services just weeks before the Nov. 5 election. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky doesnt want a political battle, saying his party would likely be blamed if Congress allows the government to shut down shortly before the election. Im for whatever avoids a government shutdown, he told reporters on Tuesday. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walk from McConnell's office to a lunch meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on November 29, 2023. What happens to federal workers during a government shutdown? Federal agencies classify their workers as essential or nonessential. Essential employees continue to work but might not get paid right away. Nonessential employees are furloughed, meaning they cant work or get paid until the government reopens, according to a breakdown compiled by Reuters. During the longest shutdown in U.S. history in 2018-2019, 800,000 federal employees went without pay for 35 days. What happens to Social Security and Medicare? Retirement and disability benefits from Social Security will proceed without interruption. Medicare and Medicaid benefits will also continue, though some delays may occur. A view of the U.S. Capitol dome, as Congress faces a deadline on Friday, March 22, to extend funding or face a partial shutdown of the federal government, in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2024. More: Is a government shutdown avoidable? Congress has to clear this contentious hurdle first. What about Veterans Benefits and Food Assistance? Military veterans will continue to receive their benefits and medical care. Food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will also continue, though there could be minor disruptions. What about the military? The 2 million active-duty U.S. military personnel will stay on the job. However, about half of the Pentagons 800,000 civilian employees will face furloughs. The National Nuclear Security Administration will continue to oversee nuclear weapons. Law Enforcement Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, and prison staff, will remain operational. The Secret Service and Coast Guard will continue their duties. National Parks National parks, monuments, and other sites will close to the public, with rangers furloughed and facilities shut down. Some states may temporarily fund park operations, as seen during the 2018-2019 shutdown. Migrants walk along the Mexico-U.S. border wall in El Paso, Texas on March 19, 2024. More: More polls show Harris leading Trump, but Nate Silver sees popular, electoral vote split Borders and Homeland Security Border Patrol and immigration enforcement agents will continue working. However, local governments will not receive new aid for migrant shelters. Transportation Airport security screeners and air-traffic controllers will remain on duty, but new hires and some major infrastructure projects could face delays. Absenteeism, as seen in previous shutdowns, might impact airport operations. Congressional Pay Lawmakers will continue to receive paychecks during a shutdown, while staffers will be furloughed, though essential personnel will still work. Impact on the White House During past shutdowns, the White House furloughed a significant portion of its staff. Essential offices, like the National Security Council, will continue operating, while others will be scaled back. The presidents salary remains unaffected by a shutdown. Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story. Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at JYurow@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter @JeremyYurow This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What happens if government shuts down? The impact will be swift. Local authorities in Massachusetts allowed an illegal migrant accused of raping a pre-teen child to walk free on bail and never called immigration authorities, according to a shocking report from ICE. Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, 28, was charged on July 26 on the wealthy island of Nantucket with one count of rape of a child with a 10-year age difference and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, authorities said. Three days later, he was released on bail by Nantucket District Court. ICE officers ultimately arrested Aldana-Arevalo on Sept. 10 after tracking him down. He is currently in federal custody awaiting his day in immigration court. ICE Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons called Aldana-Arevalos alleged crimes both detestable and disturbing. He represents a significant danger to the children of our Massachusetts communities. ERO [ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations] Boston will not tolerate such a threat to the most vulnerable of our population. We will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from our New England neighborhoods, said Lyons. Aldana-Arevalo made his way to the island of Nantucket after sneaking into the US from El Salvador. Officers from ICEs office in Boston arrest Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo Sept. 10 in Nantucket. ICE The number of migrants who have evaded apprehension by Border agents often referred to as gotaways has skyrocketed under the Biden-Harris administration. More than 1.7 million migrant gotaways are known to have entered during this administration, but more likely came across without sensors alerting border authorities. After sneaking his way into the US, Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo settled in the liberal enclave of Nantucket, where he went on to allegedly rape a young child. Corbis via Getty Images Nantucket is not explicitly a sanctuary jurisdiction but like most places in Massachusetts, local officials typically do not report migrants accused of crimes to immigration authorities. And this is not the first time migrants accused have been released into the community after facing charges of sexual violence. It happened earlier this month in the upmarket liberal enclave of Marthas Vineyard. ICE was able to arrest Brazilian national Warley Neto, 24, but it wasnt until after he was later indicted on five counts of raping a Massachusetts minor and five counts of enticing a minor under 16 earlier this year, according to agency officials. ICE Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said Aldana-Arevalo significant danger to the children of our Massachusetts communities. The Washington Post via Getty Images In early September, ICE officers arrested migrant gotaway Jorge Luis Castro-Alvarado, 28, who was charged with rape in Lynn, Massachusetts just a month earlier. ICE had lodged a detainer for the Guatemalan nationals arrest on Feb. 9 under a separate charge of assault and battery on a family or household member. Castro-Alvarado was convicted by the Lynn District Court and sentenced to 18 months in prison, which was shortened to six months. He was then arraigned in April for two counts of rape, and indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 years old but he was let go on bail without ICE knowing. ICE eventually hunted him down and caught him in September. Haitian national Cory Alvarez, 26, was arrested by ICE in August on charges for raping a 15-year-old girl at a Massachusetts migrant shelter. He was first admitted into the US last year through the Biden-Harris administrations signature migrant flight parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Months later, he allegedly went on to rape the child, but he was released on $500 bail in March without local authorities notifying ICE. Naida Rutherford ORANGEBURG, S.C. South Carolina State Universitys 2024 Fall Convocation was full of encouraging words from Richland Countys coroner. Coroner Naida Rutherford spoke to students at SC States Fall Convocation on Thursday, Sept. 12, at Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium. Her speech was to motivate students. She emphasized that if students are struggling, they ask for help. She described her speech as a full-circle moment. To be able to give the convocation speech at an HBCU when I didnt even think I would ever go to college is just a full-circle moment for me. Rutherford said. I think this gives students an opportunity to see someone like them, who comes from a place like where they came from. Emphasizing You belong here, she informed freshmen that adversity gives them tools to think creatively and critically. No matter where you come from, it doesnt determine what your future may be, Rutherford said. The annual Fall Convocation is intended to welcome freshmen to the SC State campus and to prepare them for their collegiate experience. Kameron Sutton and Jordin Oglesby introduced themselves as the 2024-25 freshman class president and vice president. I didnt know that anything about a keynote speaker, and I didnt know that I would shake hands with the mayor today, but I am thankful for it all, Sutton said. It was an amazing experience. I got to learn my Alma Mater, I got to meet some amazing people, and I got to meet my Board, so out of everything, it's an experience I would recommend every freshman to have. The freshman class president said one of his biggest takeaways was something similar to what his father told him growing up: Its not about where you come from or who you are, it's about what you can make yourself to be and where you want to go in life. Oglesby said what she got most from Rutherford's speech is, Your story does not define you. About Naida Rutherford. Rutherfords journey from homelessness to becoming a history-making public official is a testament to resilience, service, and determination. In 2020, she was elected to serve as the coroner of Richland County, South Carolina home to the states capital. Her victory made her the first woman, first medical professional, and first African American to hold this position in the offices 173-year history. Rutherford quickly gained national recognition, not just for her role as a Coroner but also as an inspiring motivational speaker. Featured in USA Today, she has cultivated a strong social media presence, especially after launching innovative youth programs designed to introduce young people to unconventional career paths, like investigating causes of death. Rutherford enjoys bringing popular crime shows like "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators" to life for her audiences, offering a glimpse into the real-world side of forensic science. Based in Columbia, Rutherford is also a nationally board-certified nurse practitioner, dedicating her medical expertise to serving underserved communities. Through her "ASK A DOCTOR" series, she bridges the gap between medical professionals and community needs, providing crucial resources and information. Whether dealing with natural or unnatural deaths, Rutherford approaches her work with compassion, guiding families through the shock and sorrow of loss. She believes that every individuals passing carries a unique story that deserves to be told with dignity, empathy, and justice. Her lifes work is driven by the belief that no matter the circumstances surrounding someones death, their truth is vital and worthy of being heard. Rutherfords journey from adversity to leadership is a powerful example of how determination and a commitment to serve can transform livesnot just her own, but those of the people she serves every day. marci beckerman photo + design "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Ive always known I had a high risk of getting skin cancer. I have a family history of melanoma, and Im very fair-skinnedmy childhood nickname was Casper. So, 13 years ago, when an unusual spot appeared on my wrist, I was quick to point it out to my dermatologist, who promptly told me he was unconcerned. The answer was the same when I asked about it the following year: Its nothing, he insisted. Before the third annual scan came around, my young daughter noticed the conspicuous mark. Chocolate! Chocolate! Mommy, chocolate! she exclaimed, pointing at the blob, which was about the size of a pencil eraser and, in her defense, the darkest spot on my bodytwo signs we now know as tell-tale of melanoma. My stomach sank, because it wasnt chocolate. And at my appointment, after my doctor said, once again, that it was fine, I requested its removal, right then and there. It made me uncomfortable and suspicious, and I wanted it off. During the removal, he reiterated: Im telling you, its nothing. It wasnt nothing A few days later, I opened a voicemail from my dermatologist. Im so sorry, he said. I was wrong. Its melanoma. At the time, I was 33 and had two young kids at home, so the diagnosis really threw me for a loop. I was lucky that it was caught earlyI had Clark Level stage two melanoma, meaning it had begun to penetrate my dermis, below the skins surfaceand the removal sufficed as treatment. Back then, there were virtually no options for treating advanced stages of the disease. In fact, when I contemplated a lymph node biopsy to ensure the cancer couldnt spread, one doctor told me that there was no point, because if it did spread, there was nothing they could do, which was really frightening. The Melanoma Research Alliance helped me with self-advocacy Shortly after my diagnosis, I came across a panel from the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the worlds largest private nonprofit funder of melanoma research. Working with them through advocacy and eventually, as a member of the board of directors, helped me channel my anxiety and helplessness into making change and taking charge of my personal health. Since the MRA formed, it has supported the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval of 17 new melanoma therapies and made huge strides in the treatment of stage four melanoma. Now, I always go with my gut When I was told my melanoma was nothing, I really trusted my senior clinician who insisted, with total confidence, that I ignore my my own suspicions. And I have since learned that self-identified spots have a much higher likelihood of being missed or skipped over by doctors. At the time of my diagnosis, I was a fairly young woman, and, frankly, didnt feel comfortable pushing my doctor harder. After the diagnosis, I was really frustrated and upset. Thats when I started to realize I needed to be proactive in all aspects of my health, including who I was choosing to work with. Now, I see two different dermatologists (neither of whom are the one who misdiagnosed me), and they provide multiple opinions on my skin scans. I realize that having two derms may or may not be accessible for all, especially depending on insurance coverage, however, for me and my known health risks, it was necessary. With some trial and error, I have chosen to work with people who, I think, take a moderate approachI once went to a doctor who was always taking nine or 10 marks off when I went. That was causing a lot of fear, and maybe wasnt done for the right reasons. There were also doctors who didnt take enough time with my skin scans. Ive found a team that I feel really good about. It sounds obvious, but I want a doctor who takes their time and goes slowly during skin checks. As a woman, I also decided I felt more comfortable seeing a doctor who is also a woman, because I want them to look in all of the uncomfortable places, because people get spots there. And most importantly, I want to feel listened to. What I tell my doctors now is, Look, I have four children. I dont care if I look like Swiss cheese. If something makes you uncomfortable, take it off. For me, I would much rather have a scar and peace of mind. About melanoma and how to protect yourself There are about 100,000 new cases of melanoma in the United States each year, says Marc Hurlbert, Ph.D., a pharmacologist and chief executive officer of the MRA. If its caught early, it can be treated surgically and typically have good outcomes, he adds. If its not, the cancer can spread throughout the body and become life-threatening. Melanoma mostly occurs on the sun-exposed parts of the skin (i.e. those that show when you wear a bathing suit) including your head, neck, back, shoulders, and arms, but Hurlbert stresses that a melanoma subtype called acral melanoma can occur on the palms and soles of the feetparticularly in people with medium to deep skin tones. Below are the MRAs tips for preventing skin cancer. Know your body Pay attention to the location, size, and number of freckles and spots you have from head to toe. If you find something new or a spot thats changing, you should visit your doctor. Skin scans Get annual skin scans by your dermatologist and dont be afraid to ask questions or get a second opinion. Use SPF daily Eilian and Hurlbert want people to know that theres no such thing as a healthy tanthat any change in skin tone after sun exposure reflects damage. Thats why its critical to wear sunscreen daily, even if you work indoors, during winter, or when the sky is overcast. The MRA recommends using SPF 30 or higher anywhere that is exposed to the sun and reapply every two hoursespecially if youre outside and sweating. Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 Shop Now Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 sephora.com $48.00 AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 Shop Now AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 amazon.com $14.99 UV transparent Face SPF 50+ Shop Now UV transparent Face SPF 50+ amazon.com $35.00 (Re)setting 100% Mineral Powder SPF 35 Shop Now (Re)setting 100% Mineral Powder SPF 35 sephora.com $35.00 You Might Also Like Newsweek Romania war reporter Remus Cernea interviewed Ryan Wesley Routh in 2022 two years before he would be arrested in connection to an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. "I viewed him as an idealistic person," Cernea said. The two met in Kyiv as Cernea was covering the war in Ukraine. Cernea said Routh told him he tried to fight alongside Ukrainians, but was rejected by the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine because he had no military experience. Since he couldn't fight, Cernea said Routh was trying to find other ways to get fighters into the country. RELATED STORY | Secret Service: Suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt didn't fire weapon "He asked, even me, to facilitate the transit visa for some fighters from Asian countries to come to Ukraine," Cernea said. The journalist said that's when he distanced himself from Routh. However, Cernea said he saw Routh again in 2023. He recalled Routh being in "very bad condition." "I thought that he had a lot of financial problems, but not only, it was summer and he seemed to let's say skip the shower for many days," Cernea said. "And this worried me, and from that time, that moment, I tried to kind of keep a distance from him." Despite his personal concerns, Cernea said he was surprised when he learned Routh was arrested in connection to the apparent assassination attempt of Trump. RELATED STORY | Trump: Law enforcement was 'absolutely outstanding' responding to gunman "I thought he was a gentle person, more like a hippie guy," Cernea said. "And I didn't know he used guns." Routh is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. If convicted, Routh could face up to 15 years in prison for the first charge and five years for the second. Watch the video above to see Cernea's full interview. A Taiwanese electronics manufacturer has said that a tiny European company made the pagers linked to the deadly attack targeting Hezbollah members in Lebanon on Tuesday, as a fresh wave of walkie-talkie explosions rocked parts of the country on Wednesday and questions swirled over how the devices made it there. At the non-descript offices of Gold Apollo on the outskirts of the Taiwanese capital on Wednesday, the founder of the company, Hsu Ching-kuang, vehemently denied making the pagers bearing its brand name that were used in Tuesdays massive assault later pointing, without evidence, to the Budapest-registered BAC Consulting firm. The design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, a Gold Apollo statement said. Hsu said that his firm had established a relationship with the Hungarian company about three years ago. The allegations raise further questions as to who manufactured the devices and just how they made their way into Hezbollahs pockets. Hungarian authorities denied Gold Apollos suggestion late Wednesday, saying that the Budapest-registered company is a trading intermediary with no manufacturing sites in the country. The referenced devices have never been in Hungary, Hungarys State Secretary for International Communication Zoltan Kovacs said. CNN has attempted to reach BAC through the website that Gold Apollo gave to reporters, and at the address listed for its office, located in a residential area of Budapest. On Wednesday morning, a receptionist working at the building told CNN that BAC Consulting rents a space at the address but has never physically been to the building. A woman living in an upstairs apartment said that she hardly sees anyone coming to the building to work. Plainclothes police arrived on site when CNN was there. Kovacs said that an investigation had been opened and that Hungary was cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organizations. CNN also reached out to BAC Consulting chief executive Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono through an email address and phone number listed for her, but has not received a response. NBC News reported that Barsony-Arcidiacono had confirmed in a phone call that her company worked with Gold Apollo, but denied making the pagers, saying, I am just the intermediate. CNN could not confirm her statement. Meanwhile, scrutiny remains on Gold Apollo as multiple photos from the Tuesday attacks appear to show the damaged devices bearing the companys trademark. CNN has learned that the audacious attack, which has heightened tensions in a region already on edge even further, was a joint operation between Israels intelligence service, the Mossad, and the Israeli military. The Lebanese government condemned the attack as criminal Israeli aggression. The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources, that Israel hid explosives inside the devices and added a switch in each one, which was later used to detonate them remotely. The production of pagers is highly regulated in Taiwan due to their transmission functions, with authorities conducting regular inspections, a senior Taiwanese security official told CNN on Wednesday. Gold Apollos pagers had met all standards and nothing unusual was found, according to the official, who did not provide further details about the inspection. Gold Apollo has been making a wide range of devices from pagers wireless devices that can send messages without an internet connection commonly used by emergency services and hospitals to buzzers used by restaurants since its 1995 founding, according to the companys website. It works with distributors around the world to sell its products, the firm said in a previous media report, once touting itself as one of the largest suppliers of walkie-talkies and pagers in the US and Europe and counting intelligence agencies and emergency services among its clients. Hsu talks about the Taiwanese company's communication products at its office in New Taipei City, Taiwan on September 18. - Johnson Lai/AP Exploding pagers According to social media images from Lebanon, at least one pager shown at the scene was identified as the Gold Apollo AR924 model, billed as a compact waterproof device which uses a rechargeable lithium battery, according to product information on the companys website. Gold Apollo claimed in its statement that the AR924 pager was produced and sold by BAC, which was covered by a licensing agreement. The company has declined to show the contract to CNN. Hsu said that early in its relationship, the European partner only imported the Taiwanese companys pager and communication products. Later, BAC told Gold Apollo it wished to make its own pagers and asked for the right to use its brand, he added. Hsu said Gold Apollo had encountered at least one anomaly in its dealings with the Hungarian company, citing a wire transfer that took a long time to clear. We may not be a large company, but we are a responsible one, he said. This is very embarrassing. On BAC Consultings website, it describes Bridging Technology and Innovation from Asia, as one of several projects it is working on. We develop international technology cooperation among countries for the sale of telecommunication products. This cooperation entails scaling up a business from Asia to new markets e.g. developing countries, it states. BAC Consulting was founded in 2022, according to company records from the Hungarian Ministry of Justice. The company, which says it has worked with clients from a range of sectors, saw its total assets increase nearly tenfold from 2022 to 2023, rising from $36,466 to $322,670 in just a year, according to the same records. Gold Apollo shipped about 260,000 pagers from the island, mostly to the United States and Australia, between the start of 2022 to August 2024, according to Taiwans Ministry of Economic Affairs. Taipei has no record of Gold Apollo pagers being shipped to Lebanon, the ministry said in a statement, adding it will continue to investigate. The logo of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo is seen outside its office in New Taipei City on September 18. - Yan Zhao/AFP/Getty Images Low-tech devices The AR924 model is not available for sale in Taiwan, according to the senior Taiwanese security official. Taiwans telecom companies ended pager services in 2011, due to a sharp decline in usage amid the growing popularity of mobile phones. The AR924 is not available in the United States either, a representative at the companys US distributor told CNN. The low-tech nature of pagers seemed to be a selling point to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon. At the start of the year, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on members and their families in the south of the country, where fighting with Israeli forces across the border has raged, to dump their cellphones, believing Israel could track the movement of the Iran-backed terror network through those devices. Hsu founded Gold Apollo with 100 million New Taiwan dollars ($3.1 million) in capital in 1995, according to Taiwans corporate registry. At the time, pagers known locally as BB call were trending on the island. But phone companies termination of pager services prompted the firm to shift its focus from the domestic market to overseas, he told Taiwans Commonwealth Magazine in an interview in 2011. Gold Apollo soon dominated pager markets in Western countries, the magazine reported. Most of the demand for its pagers came from intelligence agencies, firefighting services and defense departments in the US and Europe, including the FBI, the report said. Editors Note: This story has been updated to include new developments. Gianluca Mezzofiore, Tamara Qiblawi, Pallabi Munsi, Oren Liebermann and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com BRIGANTINE, N.J. (AP) Opponents of offshore wind around the U.S. are pelting projects with lawsuits seeking to cancel them or tie them up for years in costly litigation. The court cases represent another hurdle the nascent industry must overcome, particularly along the East Coast where opposition to offshore wind farms is vocal and well-organized. They add another pressure point for an industry already struggling with escalating prices, shaky supply chains, and a handful of highly publicized turbine failures that opponents are seizing on as proof that the structures are unreliable and unsafe, something the industry denies. There are 13 cases pending in federal courts targeting offshore wind projects, according to the American Clean Power Association, an offshore wind trade group. An undetermined number of additional lawsuits are active in state courts, they said. Robin Shaffer is president of Protect Our Coast NJ, a citizens group that has filed numerous lawsuits in New Jersey against two offshore projects currently or previously proposed. Shaffer said his group was at least partly responsible for scuttling two New Jersey wind farms proposed by Orsted that the Danish wind giant scrapped last October, saying they were no longer financially workable. An ancillary benefit of our legal strategy is to give pause or doubt in the minds of investors in the big corporations that are undertaking these projects, he said. Last year, we saw Orsted leave its commitment to build Ocean Wind off the southern New Jersey coast amidst the uncertainty of two lawsuits we filed, as well as another filed by Cape May County. Opponents cite altered views of the horizon from wind turbines and concerns about what the structures might do to marine life. They also cite rising projected prices for electricity generated from the wind farms, and point to recent turbine collapses off Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts and at Doggers Bank off the English coast as proof the technology is risky. Supporters say offshore wind is necessary to combat climate change, which they call the principal threat to the ocean and its inhabitants. Offshore wind projects undergo rigorous environmental reviews and permitting processes, in addition to a lengthy public comment period," said Jason Ryan, a spokesman for the Clean Power Association. "The current slate of U.S. offshore wind projects under construction and development are among the most carefully planned and analyzed infrastructure projects in U.S. history; we are confident their permits will withstand legal scrutiny. Paulina O'Connor, executive director of the New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance, said offshore wind is needed to combat climate change. On the heels of one of the hottest summers on record, it is disappointing to see another frivolous lawsuit filed by those with opposing views," she said of the most recent lawsuit. That action was filed Friday by Save LBI, another New Jersey citizen group. It claims that Atlantic Shores, the New Jersey project furthest along its state's approval path, would violate noise ordinances during pile driving and operation of hundreds of wind turbines. The group says it has several other lawsuits on the way. Atlantic Shores declined to comment. Other litigation in New Jersey challenged Orsted's now-scrapped wind farm plan, a state tax break the company would have received, and even the placement of a power cable that would bring electricity from the project onshore. A group of Jersey Shore towns sued Atlantic Shores, and fishing and environmental groups sued two federal agencies overseeing offshore wind projects. They are appealing the dismissal of their suit after a judge ruled they had no legal standing to sue. Offshore wind foes in other states are also turning to the courts. In March, The National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group in Virginia, sued Dominion Energy and the federal government hoping to block a wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach. Dominion called the suit meritless and said it employs multiple layers of protection for the marine environment. Last year, a Rhode Island nonprofit known for its seaside mansions sued the federal government challenging the permitting process for offshore wind energy projects off Marthas Vineyard in Massachusetts. The Preservation Society of Newport County said the presence of hundreds of wind turbines off the New England coast would ruin ocean views from several of its historic properties. Also in Rhode Island, the anti-wind group Green Oceans sued the federal government in April, saying it illegally gave Orsted permits for its South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind projects. Orsted declined comment on the lawsuit but noted that South Fork is fully operational and Revolution recently installed its first turbine. On the West Coast, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians in Oregon, whose culture reveres the ocean, sued the federal government Tuesday over plans to hold an offshore wind energy auction next month. And in March, fishermen sued California over plans for three floating wind farms. ___ Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Lily Collins put a chic Parisian spin on the little black dress as she stepped out for an Emily in Paris event in New York City. The actor was photographed arriving at the the Paley Center for Media in Manhattan in a satin minidress from Versaces latest Fall/Winter collection. The sophisticated boat-neck mini featured a see-through chiffon panel at the chest and long sleeves, while the sharp shoulders were accented with matte black panels. Underneath, Collins wore a statement-making black Versace bra in floral lace, with embellished bead straps, to match. It was the perfect pop of hot for the sophisticated ensemble. Collins capped off the all-black look with pointy Versace Slice pumps with crystal-adorned ankle straps. Certainly inspired by her Parisian TV character, the actor she wore her sleek dark brown bob down and had on natural makeup. James Devaney - Getty Images Collins changed into her party fit after making an appearance at The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, for which she wore a totally different black dress. That one was an asymmetric jersey midi dress with a cutout detail at the shoulder and one long sleeve. The piece hailed from the Versace Resort 2025 collection, and Collins wore it with transparent black tights and glossy black heels. NBC - Getty Images Collins and her Emily in Paris co-stars are celebrating the success of their shows season fourwhich was released in two parts this summeras well as the exciting news that the cheeky Netflix series has been renewed for season five! For everything we know about the upcoming season, see here. You Might Also Like Attorneys for Marcellus Williams are using a prosecutors testimony to try and reopen proceedings before his execution next week by the state of Missouri. During an evidentiary hearing on Aug. 28, Keith Larner, who was the prosecutor on Williams murder case in St. Louis County, said he struck a potential juror because he was a young Black man with glasses. I thought they looked like they were brothers, Larner said of Williams and the prospective juror. Familial brothers, he continued. I dont mean Black people. Williams, 55, was found guilty in the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle in St. Louis County. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Sept. 24. His attorneys argue that Larner violated his constitutional rights jurors cannot be excluded solely on their race. Racism is anathema to justice, the motion said. It has reared its ugly head here. Williams legal team filed a motion in federal court Tuesday. It also raised other issues with jury selection. Larner kept notes during the process, but they later went missing from the case file. The state ended up rejecting six of the seven potential Black jurors. The final jury was comprised of 11 white people and one Black person. And, the motion said, Larner questioned prospective Black and non-Black jurors differently, leaving Black jurors more susceptible to providing answers that would have disqualified them. The motion is the latest attempt to spare Williams life. He faced execution dates in January 2015 and August 2017, but those were halted to conduct further investigation and DNA testing. No forensic evidence ties Williams to the crime. He was convicted primarily on the word of two witnesses who testified against him and who have since died. In January, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell filed a motion in support of vacating Williams conviction. Larners testimony came in a hearing related to that motion. Last week, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton denied Bells case and upheld Williams death sentence. The St. Louis County Prosecutors Office said they plan to appeal Hiltons decision. Williams legal team filed a motion to stay his execution until the appeal is resolved. Williams also has a clemency application before Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. The application and Tuesdays motion note that Gayles family want the case to be finalized, but do not support going through with the death penalty. Multiple passengers on a Delta Airlines flight out of Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday reportedly suffered ruptured eardrums and bloody noses after the aircraft encountered pressurization issues 10,000 feet in the air. I grabbed my ear, and then I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it, passenger Jaci Purser told KSL TV of the stabbing pain in her ear. She told the outlet she felt her ear pop from the pressure in the cabin, then bubble. Flight passenger Jaci Purser said she felt her ear pop from the pressure in the cabin before it started bleeding. KLS The Boeing aircraft was carrying 140 passengers en route to Portland, Oregon when the plane was unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet and oxygen masks did not deploy, a spokesperson for the airline told People. I looked over at my husband, and he had both of his hands over his ears, you know, kind of leaning forward, passenger Caryn Allen told KSL. At least 10 individuals required medical evaluation or treatment following the flight. Bloomberg via Getty Images I looked about a row behind me, over on the other side of the aisle, and there was a gentleman that clearly had a very bad bloody nose, and people were trying to help him, Allen told the outlet. Passengers told KSL they also felt the plane dip before it was rerouted back to Salt Lake International Airport, where at least 10 people required medical evaluation or treatment, according to the airline. No serious injuries were reported. We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on flight 1203 on Sept. 15, a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. The Federal Aviation Administration said the pressurization issues is under investigation. AFP via Getty Images The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC where our teams on the ground supported our customers with their immediate needs. Passengers were accommodated on another flight and Delta technicians fixed the pressurization issue on the aircraft, the airline said. The plane was returned to service the following day, the outlets reported. The Federal Aviation Administration said the matter is under investigation. DeMille, who also wrote The Cuban Affair,' died on Sept. 17, his family confirmed Patrick McMullan via Getty Nelson DeMille in 2023 Bestselling author Nelson DeMille has died. The writer died on Sept. 17 from esophageal cancer, his family confirmed to CBS News and theNew York Post. "Nelson fought a valiant nine-month battle with esophageal cancer. True to form, he faced this ordeal with courage, grace, and good humor, his family said in a statement to CBS News. "We are grieving, but also celebrating his wonderful life and his lasting legacy as a father, friend, and storyteller. DeMille was born on Aug. 23, 1943 in New York City. Per his website, he was enrolled at Hofstra University for three years before leaving to join the U.S. Army. DeMille earned a Bronze Star serving in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader with the First Cavalry Division before he returned to Hofstra University to earn his bachelors degree in Political Science and History. Craig Barritt/Getty Nelson DeMille in 2022 DeMille published his debut novel, By the Rivers of Babylon, in 1978. During his career, he published 23 novels, 17 of which were bestsellers. He primarily wrote suspense adventure stories, and many of his books, including Plum Island (1997), The Lions Game (2000), Night Fall (2004) and Wild Fire (2006), featured the character of former homicide detective John Corey. Related: Alice Munro, Nobel Prize-Winning Writer, Dies at 92 His other novels included Cathedral (1981), The Gold Coast (1990) and The Cuban Affair (2017). His 1992 novel The Generals Daughter was adapted into a 1999 film starring John Travolta, and his books Mayday (1979), written with Thomas Block, and Word of Honor (1985) were also adapted into television movies. He co-authored the novels The Deserter (2019) and Blood Lines (2023) with his son Alex. DeMille was also an Honorary Trustee of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association and held honorary doctorates from Hofstra University, Long Island University and Dowling College. Duffy-Marie Arnoult/WireImage Nelson DeMille in 2008 Related: Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2024 His warmth, generosity and kindness touched everyone who knew him, and will leave as much of a lasting legacy as his novels, DeMilles children wrote on Sept. 18 on the authors official X account. We grieve, but we also celebrate a life lived to its fullest. We love you Dad, and you will be with us always. 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. In a previous interview with January Magazine, the author looked back on his prolific writing career and success. Some people want to be writers and you ask if they've written anything. 'No I haven't.' You want to be a writer? Sit down and write. There's nothing stopping you. All you need is a typewriter, DeMille said. I've had a good career. DeMille was preceded in death by his wife, Sandra, in 2018, and is survived by his children Lauren, Alex and James. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. The Biden administrations efforts to secure a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas via shuttle diplomacy continued Tuesday as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to fly to Egypt in another attempt to "establish broader regional security." The U.S., in coordination with Egypt and Qatar, has been leading indirect negotiations in the pursuit of ending the deadly war in Gaza, which has persisted for nearly a year following the horrific Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas which saw the death of 1,139 people along with the abduction of 251 people from Israel. However, hopes of finding an end to the war remain unlikely during Blinkens latest visit, which is the 10th trip he has taken to the Middle East since the October 2023 terrorist attacks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks after arriving at El-Alamein, Egypt, on Aug. 20, 2024. ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER TELLS US ONLY MILITARY ACTION CAN RETURN PEOPLE TO HOMES AMID HEZBOLLAH THREAT State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters Monday amid U.S. envoy Amos Hochsteins trip to Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, that there is "no timeline" for a deal. "We are working expeditiously to try to develop that proposal, [to] try to find something that would bring both the parties to say yes," he added. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP A cease-fire deal, which the Biden administration appeared hopeful they were close to achieving last month, appears to have reached an impasse as both Hamas and Israel have made stipulations over access to the Philadelphi Corridor, a non-negotiable issue for both sides. Blinkens latest trip is not expected to result in any major breakthroughs and comes just one day after Israels security cabinet updated its war aims against not only Hamas, but Hezbollah. The goals, which already included the elimination of Hamas' military and government bodies in Gaza, the return of all hostages and ensuring a safe environment for Israelis living along the southern border, now also includes the safe return of some 60,000 Israeli citizens to their homes in the north. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, right, meets Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cairo on Aug. 20, 2024. HEZBOLLAH RELIES ON 'SOPHISTICATED' TUNNEL SYSTEM BACKED BY IRAN, NORTH KOREA IN FIGHT AGAINST ISRAEL Following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, more than 65,000 Israelis were evacuated from their homes along the northern border with Lebanon over concerns that Hezbollah could carry out a similar Hamas-style attack. Despite the devastating effects Hamas achieved in its gruesome attack last year, security experts have long warned that Hezbollah which is financially and militarily stronger than Hamas poses a greater threat to Israeli security. In a late-night statement Monday, Netanyahus office said, "Israel will continue to take active measures" to achieve its new "goal" in returning citizens to their northern homes. Israeli soldiers evacuate an injured man following a cross-border attack from Lebanon into Israel, on the Israeli side of the border, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on Sept. 1, 2024. The statement followed comments made by both the prime minister and the defense minister on Monday that said Israel is looking to change its force posture along its northern border. Neither Netanyahu nor Gallant have detailed what these security changes will entail, but both have looked to make clear to the U.S. that Israel will do what it believes is best for its security. Fox News' Yonat Friling contributed to this article. Original article source: Blinken travels to Egypt for cease-fire talks as Israel adds new war goal BEIJING (Reuters) - China announced steps against nine U.S. military-linked firms on Wednesday over U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan, freezing their property within China, in the latest move to put added pressure on the United States to halt its arms sales to the island. China has repeatedly called on the White House, an important international backer and arms supplier for democratically-governed Taiwan, to refrain from formal dealings with the island's leadership. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory. The steps taken against the firms, including Sierra Nevada Corporation and Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC, became effective on Wednesday and will freeze their property within China, according to a foreign ministry statement. It described the actions as countermeasures and said they also applied to Cubic Corporation, S3 Aerospace, TCOM Ltd Partnership, TextOre, Planate Management Group, ACT1 Federal and Exovera, the ministry said. Organisations and individuals within China are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the firms, the statement said. A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry on Wednesday urged the United States "to immediately stop the dangerous trend of arming Taiwan."Stop conniving and supporting Taiwan independence, and stop undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," said ministry spokesperson Lin Jian at a regular press briefing. China previously sanctioned and banned firms, including Lockheed Martin units, for selling arms to Taiwan. China had said it was strongly opposed to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and urged Washington to withdraw them immediately. The defence ministry also previously lodged a complaint to the United States over the matter. China has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects. (This story has been corrected to remove the stock symbol of Alantra Partners, which is not involved) (Reporting by Liz Lee and Beijing newsroom; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Editing by William Maclean) Nashiba Boyd ORANGEBURG, S.C. South Carolina State University President Alexander Conyers has appointed experienced corporate attorney Nashiba Boyd as the universitys general counsel. Ms. Boyd brings to SC State demonstrated capability in civil law as both an expert advisor in legal matters and as a successful litigator, Conyers said. Given the complexities of our missions in education, research and outreach, her experience and knowledge are essential assets for the university. The SC State Office of the General Counsel (OGC) provides legal advice to the universitys Board of Trustees, administrators, faculty, and staff regarding legal matters affecting or involving the university. The office also aids the SC State administration in the formulation of university policies. The OGC also handles all requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), background checks from federal agents, and subpoenas. I am thrilled to be joining South Carolina State University as General Counsel. It is an honor to join an institution that is committed to academic excellence, innovation, and community engagement, Boyd said. In my role, I look forward to using my 20 years of experience to provide strategic legal guidance that supports the university's mission and values. Boyd said her primary goals include: Enhancing legal compliance: She aims to ensure that SC State operates within the legal framework while fostering a culture of compliance and ethical conduct. Facilitating collaborative partnerships: She intends to work closely with faculty, staff, and students to address legal issues proactively, fostering collaboration across the university. Navigating emerging legal challenges: As higher education faces evolving legal landscapes, she is committed to staying ahead of trends to protect the university's interests and mission. I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to contributing to South Carolina State Universitys continued success, Boyd said. Thank you to everyone who has supported me along this journey. Together, I believe we can navigate the complexities of higher education law and further enhance the university's legacy. About Nashiba Boyd With two decades of legal expertise, Boyd is a seasoned attorney who specialized in civil litigation and business law. A trusted advocate for corporate clients, she built a reputation for delivering comprehensive legal strategies in complex commercial disputes, tort defense, and contract negotiations Boyd successfully represented a diverse range of clients -- including retailers, manufacturers, and service-based companies -- in matters involving product liability, premises liability, employment law, and commercial litigation. In addition to her litigation experience, Boyd also provided proactive counsel on regulatory compliance, workplace investigations, and risk management, as she helped clients navigate the complexities of todays legal environment. Whether defending against claims or guiding clients through contract negotiations, she offered practical solutions aligned with each client's objectives. Boyd is a graduate of Clemson University and Howard University School of Law. She is a member of the South Carolina Bar and the National Bar Association and currently serves as a Board Member for the South Carolina Bar Foundation. She is AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, reflecting the highest standard of professional excellence and ethical practice. She was recently named one of the states Legal Elite. Boyd is an active part of her community, serving as a member of Jack and Jill of America Inc. and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. She is married to Roland Boyd Jr., and they have two children, Ivy and Roland. A depraved Connecticut middle school guidance counselor, who allegedly sent nudes and gave lap dances to a 13-year-old student, was pictured for the first time since her July arrest Tuesday as she left court. Luisa Melchionne, 47, is facing multiple charges for an alleged sexual relationship with the just-teenage student that was uncovered by authorities months after a male friend of Melchionne found raunchy messages that appeared sexual in nature on her phone, according to an arrest warrant affidavit reported on by the Norwalk Hour. Depraved married mother of three Luisa Melchionne leaving Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford following a hearing on Tuesday with her attorney, Mark Sherman. Douglas Healey for NY Post The messages also included explicit photos of Melchionne, a married mother of three, and money transactions, according to the police document. When reached by police, the teen told investigators he received nude photos from Melchionne and payments for Uber rides, food and $100 around Christmas last year, according to the affidavit also reported on by NBC Connecticut. The student also said the teacher performed lap dances and other sexual acts with him, the affidavit states, according to the two outlets. The teen claimed he received payments for Uber rides, food and $100 around Christmas last year from Melchionne. Douglas Healey for NY Post The New Canaan resident was pictured leaving Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford following a hearing on Tuesday with her attorney, Mark Sherman, who refused to comment for The Post. The former Nathan Hale Middle School staffer was arrested on July 11 and charged with second-degree sexual assault and two counts of risk of injury to a minor, Norwalk police said. She resigned from Norwalk Public Schools on June 14, according to a district spokesperson. Melchionnes attorney had no comment following the court hearing. Douglas Healey for NY Post Now-former middle school guidance counselor Luisa Melchionne, 47, is facing multiple charges for an alleged sexual relationship with a 13-year-old student. Norwalk Police Department The safety of our students is our first concern. Luisa Melchionne is no longer employed by Norwalk Public Schools, the school system said in a statement in July, according to NBC CT. Norwalk Public Schools is cooperating with the Norwalk Police Departments investigation and has no further comment. Sherman, a criminal defense lawyer based in Stamford, told The Post following the arrest that Melchionne is still very much entitled to the presumption of innocence. The alleged abuse occurred within Melchionnes office at Nathan Hale Middle School in Norwalk, Conn. Google Maps These are just accusations. What we do know is that these charges are being filed against a devoted wife and mother who has dedicated over 21 years to her profession, and its going to take some time to investigate this case, Sherman said. Melchionne is under house arrest and prohibited from having unsupervised contact with minors except for her three kids. She posted a $500,000 bond following her arraignment in July. A U.S. Postal service mailbox in 2022 in Houston. The FBI is warning election offices to be on the lookout after threatening letters containing suspicious substances were sent to the offices of multiple secretaries of state throughout the country. A senior law enforcement official confirms elections officials in at least six states received packages on Monday, but so far none of the packages have been found to contain any actual hazardous material. Secretaries of state, attorney general offices and state election offices in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma were targeted. The return address identified the sender as the U.S.T.E.A. US Traitor Elimination Army. In Kansas, the Secretary of States office was evacuated yesterday, as were offices in Iowa and Oklahoma. In a statement, the FBI said it was "working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters. As this is an ongoing matter we will not be commenting further on the investigation, but the public can be assured safety is our top priority. In a joint memo Monday obtained by NBC News, the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service said, "Law enforcement is working diligently to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered." "The election community should remain vigilant and exercise caution when handling the mail," the memo said. "All suspicious substances should be treated as potentially hazardous and must be handled in accordance with established safety protocols." The FBI, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and state and local law enforcement partners are investigating multiple letters containing suspicious substances which have been mailed to Secretary of State's offices. There were no reports of injuries and the substances appeared to be non-harmful after testing, but the envelopes caused some of the offices to have to be evacuated, including Memorial Hall in Topeka, Kansas. In Lincoln, Nebraska, the "unopened envelope was isolated in a separate area in our office in accordance with established protocols," the secretary of state's office said in a statement. Those protocols included a multi-agency response involving the Nebraska State Patrol, Lincoln Fire and Rescue and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department. "During their investigation authorities identified a substance in the envelope, which was tested and found to be non-hazardous," the statement said. Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen said, The situation was quickly and safely resolved thanks to the swift action taken by our staff members, law enforcement and other first responders. The Wyoming Secretary of State's office confirmed it received "a white substance in the mail" on Monday. "We take this very seriously," Secretary of State Chuck Gray said. "We will continue to work with law enforcement in monitoring this situation." The Oklahoma State Election Board in a statement said it received a "suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powder substance." The substance was tested by a HazMat team and determined to be flour," the board said. In a statement, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate confirmed that his office also received a suspicious package and that first responders "determined there was no threat to our staff or the public." He added, "We have now reopened our office and will continue to conduct normal business operations." The office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett also received a "suspicious envelope containing a powder," said Doug Kufner, a spokesperson for Hargett. "Law enforcement and first responders assessed the situation. It was later determined that no threat to the staff or public existed, and the substance tested negative for hazardous materials." The mailings come as election officials around the country have complained of increased threats to their offices, with some pointing to false claims from former President Donald Trump and his allies that the 2020 election was rigged as the cause of the spike. The envelopes sent out Monday went to offices in states Trump is expected to win in November. The incident is also the second time in the past year that threats have hit multiple state election offices simultaneously. In November, officials in California, Georgia, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state all reported suspicious letters addressed to election officers or workers that contained a suspicious powder. In at least one of those incidents, the substance was tested and determined to be fentanyl, but no injuries were reported by the workers. In a post on the social media platform X on Monday, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, cited the envelopes that had been sent to her colleagues. "We cannot tolerate threats to election officials and public servants," she wrote. Griswold's office said they had not received any similar packages in the last 48 hours. In an unconventional alliance, Republican North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell spoke at a discussion forum Tuesday held by progressive U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the high cost in the United States of popular weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Saxenda. The State Health Plan voted in January to no longer cover Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist medications for weight loss starting in April. This left thousands of state employees without access to these popular and effective medications. The SHP has cited unsustainable costs as the reason for the cut. Sanders said Novo Nordisk the Danish manufacturer of GLP-1 drugs Wegovy, Saxenda and Ozempic charges Americans with Type 2 diabetes $969 a month for Ozempic. In contrast, the same drug can be purchased for $59 in Germany, $71 in France, $122 in Denmark and $155 in Canada, Sanders said during an expert roundtable event on Capitol Hill, which was live-streamed on his social media. GLP-1 drugs approved for weight loss by the Food and Drug Administration include Wegovy, Saxenda and Zepbound. Ozempic and Mounjaro are also GLP-1s, but these are prescribed for diabetes and remain covered under North Carolinas health plan. As for people who use GLP-1s for weight loss, Novo charges $1,349 a month in the United States for Wegovy, while it charges far less in other countries, Sanders said. Eli Lilly and Co., a U.S. company also known as Lilly, manufactures Zepbound and Mounjaro. The list price of Zepbound is $1,059.87 per fill and for Mounjaro its $1,069.08 per fill, according to the Lilly website. Sanders was speaking about the list price and not the net price, or the final price of a product after discounts, all taxes and other costs have been taken into consideration. The federal government can also negotiate with drug companies the prices that Medicare will pay for certain high-expenditure drugs. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and insurance companies negotiate with drug manufacturers for discounts on drugs. The states health plan contracts with a PBM, CVS Caremark, to negotiate discounts. The state pays out the full price of drugs and later gets back a percentage of these costs based on rebates negotiated by the PBM. As important and groundbreaking as these drugs may be, they will not do any good for the millions of people who cannot afford a drug, Sanders said. Speaking on the financial implications, Sanders said that if half of the adults with obesity in the U.S. took these weight-loss drugs at the current price point, estimates suggest that it would cost the country $411 billion per year, or $5 billion more than what Americans spent on all retail prescription drugs in 2022. In other words, the outrageously high cost of these drugs could bankrupt Medicare, while gradually increasing insurance premiums to absolutely unaffordable rates, he said. Novo Nordisk spokesperson Stacy Beard said in an email that the net price of Ozempic has declined by 40% since launch in the US and Wegovy is following a similar trajectory. Moreover, 99 percent of commercial plans cover Ozempic, and over 80 percent of Americans with insurance only pay $25 or less per month. Unfortunately, even when we lower our prices, too often patients in the United States dont receive the savings - this is a problem, said Beard. We appreciate that it is frustrating that each country has its own healthcare system but making isolated and limited comparisons ignores this fundamental fact. What remains constant is the indisputable value and cost savings Novo Nordisk medicines bring to patients, healthcare systems and society, she wrote in an email. We have and will continue to cooperate with policymakers on real solutions and are proud of the benefit our discoveries have brought to treat and defeat chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity. A Lilly spokesperson, Antoinette Forbes, wrote that breakthrough medicines like Mounjaro and Zepbound dont just happen and required tireless work and an investment of tremendous resources over two decades. She said that since 2017 for these medicines the company had designed, funded, and conducted 37 studies and trials and in the last four years, invested over $18 billion in new manufacturing facilities. She also said that Lilly has led the way on access and affordability, having launched Zepbound at a list price 20% lower than our competitor, and last month we launched single-dose vials for self-pay patients priced at a 50% or greater discount compared to the list price of all other incretin (GLP-1) medicines for obesity. Generic versions Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, also said that he had learned through a series of conversations with the CEOs of major generic pharmaceutical companies that they could sell a generic version of Ozempic for less than $100 a month. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly (the U.S. manufacturer of Mounjaro and Zepbound) own patents for GLP-1s. There are off-brand versions of these weight loss drugs made by compounding pharmacies, but these are not FDA-approved. Folwell said that this is not a Republican, Democrat, unaffiliated, Libertarian issue but a moral issue when people cannot afford the drug they need to take advantage of this. Folwell is a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor. He is capping off his last year as the states treasurer. We never questioned the efficacy of this drug. Were simply questioning what were having to pay for it, he said, adding that if the SHP had continued covering these drugs, it would have had to double the individual premiums on state employees. He also cited the recent coverage by Medicaid of these drugs, saying that hes asked them what theyre paying for it, and no one will tell me what theyre paying for it NC Medicaid started covering FDA-approved obesity management medications for beneficiaries 12 and older on Aug 1. For the added Medicaid coverage, a public notice posted July 10 on DHHS website says that the change will cost the state more than $21 million in 2025 and over $15 million in 2026. Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen will testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next week. This committee is chaired by Sanders. 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. LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's hydrological services agency has warned of potential flooding in 11 states after neighbouring Cameroon said it was starting to release water from one of its largest dams following recent heavy rainfall in West and Central Africa. The warning comes as Nigeria is already grappling with severe floods in northeastern Borno state where a dam burst its walls after heavy rains that have also caused floods in Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Niger - all part of Africa's Sahel region that usually receives little rain. The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) said it had been notified by authorities in Cameroon on Tuesday that they had started controlled water releases from Lagdo dam. Cameroon has several dams on the Benue River, which flows downstream to Nigeria. A spokesperson for Cameroon's utility ENEO, which manages the dam, told Reuters there was a possibility that the dam could be flooded, but the reservoirs had not been opened on Wednesday morning. The NIHSA said Lagdo dam managers would gradually release water in a way not to exceed the capacity of the Benue river downstream to prevent flooding. But 11 states, including Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi in the food producing central belt region and southern oil producing states of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers were at risk, said NIHSA. It urged federal and state authorities in Nigeria "to step up vigilance and deploy adequate preparedness measures to reduce possible impacts of flooding that may occur as a result of increase in flow levels of our major rivers at this period". In 2022, Nigeria lost more than 600 people and farmlands to the worst flooding in a decade following heavy rain and after Cameroon released water from Lagdo dam. Experts said then that Nigeria's failure to complete a dam of its own that was supposed to backstop the Cameroonian one worsened the disaster. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, is prone to flooding but critics say defective infrastructure and poor planning worsen the situation. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Additional reporting by Amindeh Blaise Atabong in Yaounde; Editing by Mark Potter) By Hyonhee Shin and Kantaro Komiya SEOUL/TOKYO -North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday toward its east coast, South Korea and Japan said, days after Pyongyang unveiled a uranium enrichment facility and vowed to beef up its nuclear arsenal. The missiles lifted off from Kaechon, north of the capital Pyongyang, at around 6:50 a.m. (2150 GMT Tuesday) in a northeast direction and flew about 400 km (249 miles), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, without specifying how many were fired and where they landed. "We strongly condemn North Korea's missile launch as a clear provocation that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula," the JSC said in a statement, vowing overwhelming responses to any further provocations. About 30 minutes after its first missile notice, Japan's coast guard said North Korea fired another ballistic missile.Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said at least one of the missiles fell near the North's eastern inland coast and that the launches "cannot be tolerated." The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on X that it was aware of the launches and consulting closely with Seoul and Tokyo. The North fired several short-range ballistic missiles last Thursday, the first such launch in more than two months, which it later described as a test of a new 600-mm multiple launch rocket system. South Korea's JCS has said the launch might have been to test the weapons for export to Russia, amid intensifying military cooperation between the two countries. The United States, South Korea and Ukraine, among other countries, have accused Pyongyang of supplying rockets and missiles to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine, in return for economic and other military assistance. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, who is visiting Russia this week to attend conferences, met her counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday and discussed ways to promote bilateral ties, the Russian foreign ministry said on its website. Wednesday's missile launches also came days after the isolated country for the first time showed images of centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs, as leader Kim Jong Un visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for more weapons-grade material to boost the arsenal. (Reporting by Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; Editing by Ed Davies and Michael Perry) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says hes prepared to do what is necessary to address the disastrous gang and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Haiti once there is agreement between the Haitian government and the U.N. Security Council on the next steps to take. But he still doesnt understand why there is no money to support the current Kenya-led armed mission, which was launched as an informal security mission that operates only on voluntary contributions from the international community. We see crises, wars, arms proliferation, Guterres said, theres always billions and billions of dollars available to do what needs to be done. However, when it comes to just a small operation in Haiti, where all it takes is just a few hundred millions of dollars in order to guarantee the presence of this mission, theres no money for that, and thats something I cant accept. And then, we say, Well, since theres no money, lets bring in a peacekeeping operation, because then we have mandatory contributions for that. But I must say, for me, its a moral issue. If the Security Council and the Haitian government are agreeable and theres no other solution, then in that case, we are prepared to work in line with the mandate of the Security Council, Guterres added. The United States, which is the largest contributor of the current Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti, is seeking to transform the current mostly police-led mission into a formal U.N. peacekeeping operation. That designation would open the door to adding more military troops to the effort and perhaps more important - guaranteed financial support from U.N. member states and standard equipment like helicopters, which the current MSS mission doesnt have. The push for a peacekeeping elevation comes as the mission struggles to help the Haitian national police make significant strides against armed gangs and a funding shortfall that has led to a lack of equipment and security personnel in Haiti. Of the 2,500 security personnel envisioned for the mission, there are currently just over 400 in Haiti including 25 Caribbean soldiers and police officers who arrived last week to join just under 400 Kenyan police officers who began deploying in June. Currently, Washington relies on voluntary contributions to a U.N. controlled Trust Fund, which has only generated a little more than $84 million. The U.S. itself has provided more than $300 million for the operation, which the State Department said needs around $400 million a year to operate. The Kenyans have estimated a much higher budget of $600 million a year. Guterres has been a leading support of an armed international response to the situation in Haiti, which he described as one of the most disastrous humanitarian situations in the whole world. I must say that its really quite difficult to understand the fact that weve got to the point where were talking about a peacekeeping operation where theres no peace to be maintained, no peace to keep there, in a situation where its impossible to find the money required for one of the most disastrous humanitarian situations in the whole world, to be perfectly honest ... for me, this is something that Im really struggling to understand, he said. In addition to armed gangs that have taken over much of Haitis capital, the country has more than 5 million people who are struggling to find food. The U.N. said this week that a $674 million appeal for humanitarian appeal has received less than $300 million with just 39% funding. Meanwhile, a fresh wave of violence in Cite Soleil, the capitals biggest shantytown by rival gangs, has forced another 2,000 people from their homes, bringing the total number of displaced in Port-au-Prince alone to 173,000. Overall there are nearly 600,000 people displaced throughout the country by the ongoing gang violence. Ahead of last Octobers vote by the U.N. Security Council to approve the deployment of the Kenya-led MSS mission for a year, Guterres traveled to both Port-au-Prince and Trinidad to lobby for support both in terms of funding, equipment and security personnel. Addressing the press ahead of next weeks Summit of the Future during the ongoing 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly high-level debate in New York, he said he is personally struggling to support the lack of financial response to the Haitian crisis. This is something thats been going on for over a century, and what would be good would be if the countries could assume the responsibility of properly funding the ongoing operation in Haiti, he said. I must say that for me, its absolutely incomprehensible when people tell me that there isnt enough money. If you take a bank thats close to here thats at risk of going bankrupt, he said as an example, billions and billions and billions of dollars will be mobilized to save that bank. Both Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille and Edgard Leblanc Fils, the head of the nine-member Transitional Presidential Council, will be in New York next week where the United States and Canada are expected to also host separate events aimed at galvanizing support for both the current mission, and a peacekeeping operation. Robert Rae, Canadas ambassador to the U.N. and newly elected president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, will host a meeting from 10 a.m. to noon on Monday, co-chaired by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conille. Guterres is among the speakers. Earlier this month, the U.S. and Ecuador floated a draft resolution among Security Council members asking for a years extension on the current Kenya-led mission until October 2025 and to begin planning for a peacekeeping operation. It remains unclear if the resolution, which was under a tight hold, will maintain the peacekeeping language given the uncertainty around China and Russia, which have veto power, and the rapidly approaching Oct. 2 deadline for the end of the current missions mandate. As the world gathers in New York to discuss the many conflicts circling the globe and the threats posed by climate change, high debt and artificial intelligence, Guterres said he also wants them to see Haiti as a human tragedy with a very well known history and with a sense of responsibility. This is something thats been going on for over a century, and what would be good would be if the countries could assume the responsibility of properly funding the ongoing operation in Haiti, he said. I must say that for me, its absolutely incomprehensible when people tell me that there isnt enough money. Omid Djalili gets fired up in his new stand-up show, Namaste' (Omid Djalili) Im so sorry Im late I just had to stop at the side of the road to piss in a bottle. Its quite the introduction to comedian and actor Omid Djalili, who arrives at Soho House to meet me in a whirlwind of energy and apologies. He is indeed 20 minutes late; but its hard to stay mad at someone when theyve made you burst out laughing within the first 20 seconds of meeting. The bottle incident was necessitated after he got snarled up in a traffic jam on the way into London from Ipswich, and it was exacerbated by onlookers recognising The Mummy star mid-flow. They started filming me taking a piss! he continues indignantly. So then I had to beg them not to put it on the internet if I agreed to pose for a selfie On that note, he dashes off to find the bathroom to finish what he started to squeeze the last bit out leaving me in no doubt that, however this interview goes, its not going to be boring. Being filmed while pissing in a bottle is unfortunately an occupational hazard when youre as instantly recognisable a character as Djalili. While you may not immediately be familiar with his name, you likely will be with his striking, expressive face. The 58-year-old Iranian-British performer has managed to sneak into an impressive number of blockbuster films over the past 25 years, alongside his steady stand-up comedy career and stellar TV credits including His Dark Materials (playing a diplomatic witches consul)and Dickensian (as the taxidermist from Our Mutual Friend). He was in the first instalment of the lucrative Mummy franchise as warden Gad Hassan back in 1999, and has since popped up in a slew of big-budget movies, including Gladiator, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Sex and the City 2, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The World Is Not Enough and Spy Game. He has particularly fond memories of this last role, filmed in 2000 and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Ill tell you a story that is possibly the greatest moment of my life. I had just one scene with [Redford and Pitt] I had no lines, I was just cleaning my glasses and had to look at the two of them. I said, do I even need to be in this scene?, but the director said I did. When we were done, they shouted, OK, thats a wrap on Omid, Brad and Robert. They were filming in Casablanca, Morocco, at the time. The three actors were told to make their way through a marketplace in single file to get to their cars Omid behind two of the worlds biggest movie stars, topped-and-tailed by security, walking quickly so they didnt get mobbed by fans. OK, so here it is, Djalili recounts excitedly. Were walking fast, and we can see this group of Arabs and they look at Robert Redford, clearly thinking, Ive seen him before, but before they realise who he is, its too late. Hes gone. Then they see Brad Pitt, and you can see them thinking, Is that the guy from Thelma and Louise?. But its too late, hes gone. And then they see me and they immediately recognise me. We had to stop walking because I was surrounded by people asking for autographs. One of those faces: Omid Djalili is instantly recognisable (Omid Djalili) As it turned out, The Mummy had been playing on Moroccan terrestrial television that week on a non-stop loop six times a day, every day. It was a great moment, says Djalili, a wistful glint in his eye. That was one of the most momentous days in my life. Theres a photo of me signing autographs, with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt as blurry shapes in the background I can just picture the scene Pitt and Redford, visibly confused by being passed over in favour of the significantly less starry Djalili. And yet Im not all that surprised by this story. As I say, hes inherently recognisable. And hes always had a knack for scene-stealing performances, even when hes only on screen for brief snatches of time. In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, for instance, the scenes in which he appears as a Greek ferry official are some of the most memorable in the entire movie thanks to his impeccable comic timing and arsenal of facial expressions. It harks back to the old cliche that, in this case, holds more than a grain of truth: There are no small parts, only small actors. More recent on-screen roles have seen him take centre stage though, from one of the wise men in live-action Christmas musical film Journey to Bethlehem which features Antonio Banderas as Herod and is described by Djalili as Glee does baby Jesus to last years The Change, a Channel 4 comedy series about the menopause in which he stars as comedian Bridget Christies useless husband. Bridget and her [now ex] husband, Stewart Lee, approached me together to say were looking for someone to play Stewart, he tells me. They said, youre hairy, like him. And youre quite overweight. There was one additional criterion for casting: [Bridget] said, do you fart much? And I said, I can do it on call. During filming, there was a moment when he simply looked at her and broke wind which was too close to home, according to Christie. Its crazy calling for a ceasefire can get you into trouble It was a lovely piece about the menopause, Djalili recalls fondly. But it was also about the manual labour of women that goes completely unnoticed. [In The Change] she has a ledger where she shows me and I see shes kept all these books: putting the kids to bed, 20 minutes; cleaning the lampshades, three minutes; sex with husband, one minute 20 seconds. I go, it wasnt that long! Djalili has a talent for this segueing seamlessly between discussing serious issues and making bawdy jokes or flippant asides. It is this mental and comedic dexterity, perhaps along with his Persian heritage that puts him in a unique position, enabling him to share his opinions on some of the most polarising and inflammatory topics. He has been particularly vocal about the Israel-Palestine conflict (even when it felt like career suicide to do so) to the point that one of his shows had to be cancelled in autumn last year following threats to his safety. Demand a ceasefire now! END THE GENOCIDE ON GAZA, read one of a number of social media posts he wrote at the time arguing for peace. Its crazy, yeah calling for a ceasefire can get you into trouble, he tells me now. Not that security concerns stopped him from speaking out. I think weve all been tipped over the edge with the whole Israel-Palestine thing, he says. The rest of the world cant just stand by. Whatever war it is, you cant wash blood away with more blood. I think thats a universal truth that weve all come to understand. Theres an anger that fuels Djalilis words just as there was when he publicly stood by the women in Iran as they fought to keep hold of hard-won rights but its measured, controlled. Thats the big theme of his latest stand-up show, Namaste, in which hell peacefully and joyfully control that rage and unleash a torrent of comedic vitriol upon the current state of this dangerously messed up planet (according to the blurb, at least). Omid Djalilis big movie break was in The Mummy' (Universal Pictures) Taking on everything from climate change and terrorism to financial instability, oceanic pollution and depletion of natural resources, hes aiming to transform fury into funny. If youre going to use stand-up comedy to make sense of things with a hopeful lens, you have to really control your anger, argues Djalili. Youve got to be fuelled by it. But dont be controlled by it. As much as comedy can be used as a tool to help people engage with the worlds big issues, the goal of the comedian is always to make people laugh. Once you make people laugh, if there are messages that get them to act afterwards, or get them to shift perspective, thats great. Thats fantastic, he says. But the main thing is getting the laugh in the first place. Though he has no fear of being cancelled and no topic is off limits, Djalili does have two stipulations: he would never use humour to make fun of human suffering; and, at the end of the day, the joke has to be funny. Otherwise youve failed. Whenever we talk about cancel culture, and we talk about comedians offending people the end goal is that we always want to make people laugh. Theres no question about that. If theyre not laughing, youve got it wrong. Theres a difference between a good joke and a lazy joke. And just because you think of it, doesnt mean it has to said The biggest comedy fails hes personally witnessed are when stand-ups try to make a joke about a sensitive subject such as 9/11 but the joke isnt funny enough. Theres a difference between a good joke and a lazy joke, he says. And just because you think of it, doesnt mean it has to be said. As for Djalili, his three now adult children (with wife Annabel Knight) have always been the arbiter of taste when it comes to his work. In the week I interview him, one of his two sons had instructed him to take down an Instagram post hed shared because it was off brand. Its a critiquing process that started early. He tells a story about them coming to see one of his stand-up gigs when they were still kids. In the car on the way home, all three were silent. I said to them, you havent said a word about the show. If you dont say something, Im going to drop you off at the next station, and you can make your own way home. A whispered conference started in the back seat; his daughter, the eldest, was nominated to give the official feedback. We have a question for you. If you go to a Michelin-starred restaurant, and youre given a lovely plate of food, but theres a little bit of human faeces on the corner of the plate, what would you do? Would you send it back? Thats how we feel about your comedy. Its a lovely meal. But there are little bits of s*** ruining it. Oof. Brutal. Djalilis latest stand-up show uses anger at the worlds injustices to fuel his humour (Omid Djalili) He adds: Im always guided by my kids. It helps that he works with them; theyre in the business too. His daughter, Isabella, is an editor and producer; his elder son, Louis, is an award-winning director; his son-in-law, Ara, is also a producer and director. Theyve even got a production company together, Tiny Speck Productions. Keeping it in the family is clearly working for him. Im very lucky. When I say I work with my kids, they pick me up on things. Its not about me developing them. Its about me learning from them. Learning, growing, evolving its likely the secret to how hes stayed relevant in a notoriously fickle industry for more than 20 years. After 9/11, when xenophobic discrimination towards people who looked like Djalili was at its height and his name was being pulled from gig lineups up and down the comedy circuit, he thought his career was toast. Two decades on, hes hailing this period as his fabulous second act. The world doesnt belong to 17- to 27-year-olds, he says confidently. Its very possible to have a fantastic second act. And Im living mine right now. And with that hes off, onto the next thing, with the same amount of head-spinning gusto whether its another interview, a scene-stealing cameo, or, indeed, a roadside piss in a bottle. See Omid Djalili: Namaste in the UK as part of his world tour from 10 October 2024 to 27 June 2025. For tickets and more information visit omidnoagenda.com Ohio man's advice for swing state voters - seek truth As the 2024 election approaches, the consensus is that this is going to be a very tight race, and who becomes the next President of the United States is going to be decided in seven key states. As someone who lives in a state other than one of those seven battleground states, my vote will have no impact on the election result. I am writing to encourage those who are empowered by living in one of these states to embrace this responsibility. Our current dependence on social media invites and encourages disinformation and misinformation through both deliberate and unwitting falsehoods promoted on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X, Truth, and other platforms by friends, coworkers, family members, influencers, bots, candidates, and strangers, and from watching cable "news" primetime shows where the "talent" is paid tens of millions of dollars by their networks, and ostensibly by their advertisers, to appease and exploit viewers. These "news entertainers" cherry-pick 20-second sound bites from a rally or debate and then spin, recontextualize, and distort that clip for the remainder of the show, catering to the perceived whims of their network audience. In an election that both sides stress is critical in determining the type of country to which we aspire, I hope that we can look beyond the social media posts and reposts, the opinion show artistry, and our preconceived assumptions, and watch the debates, rallies, interviews in their entirety to get a more accurate and personal appreciation of the candidates' values, temperament, policies, and world-view and then vote for the candidate you believe will best lead our great country going forward. Thank you for your citizenship. David Stanforth, Cincinnati, Ohio Why has U.S. abandoned efforts to balance the budget? It seems curious that there is so much discussion about taxation and who gets increases and who gets cuts. Perhaps if there was a connection between what the government took in and what was spent it would make more sense. A popular theme recently has been to tax the corporations more. However, any accountant will point out to you that most corporations do not generously take it on the chin, but just pass it to the end-user. The customer just does not see it directly come out of their income. Every so often, talk of a balanced budget amendment used to surface. This has gone from DOA status to "DBA" (Dead Before Arrival). Why bother with this when you can borrow and print without limits? As a population, we seem to believe that we can have everything for nothing. One of the recent speakers at the Jefferson Educational Society referred to a book by Cullen Murphy called "Are We Rome?" There are too many similarities to today for this to be comfortable reading. We need our bread and circuses. When my father was teaching economics, I suspect that he would run his lessons by me to see if even this blockhead could understand them. One thing I remember from 60-plus years ago are that there is money in and money out. Everything else is commentary, but the two have to match. Bill Ulrich, Girard Cash bail creates inequities, why doesn't Sen. Laughlin address that? Are state Sen. Dan Laughlin, of Millcreek, R-49th Dist., and the folks running the ads about cash bail actually against the most fundamental principle of our justice system? That is, you are innocent until proven guilty. After all, bail is for those awaiting trial. We need look no further than our own backyard to find studies conducted in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that reveal that cash bail disproportionately adversely affects minorities and the poor while allowing the wealthy to purchase their freedom. This is a file photo of the Erie Count Prison. Jon D. Noel in his letter says lawmakers should try to address the inequities created by the cash bail system. These same studies show that cash bail is actually ineffective in getting people to appear in court. The U.S. has more people detained awaiting trial than most countries have in their entire prison population. Also, as the beacon of democracy, I don't like the idea that we are compared to the only other nation that has cash bail, the Philippines. If Laughlin is truly interested in the well-being of our communities and in working across the aisle, perhaps, instead of the usual Republican fearmongering, he could find ways to address the inequities in the bail system. Jon D. Noel, Erie U.S. businesses, world leaders must stand up to China I just finished watching CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday, Sept. 15th. The report by western journalists aboard a Philippine Coast Guard boat made my blood boil. It's bad enough that the world was duped over the past 30 years into thinking China was heading toward democracy and being a friend to the world, but everything being reported from the South China Sea proves they were just building an economy capable of financing their imperialistic expansion goals. Now they are just a school-yard bully, asserting claims to the South China Sea that ignore accepted international maritime laws and norms. Ramming and overpowering Philippine Coast Guard ships, destroying and stealing their equipment and injuring Philippine Coast guardsmen? Other southeast Asian countries surrounding the South China Sea are also being bullied by China. Where the heck is the rest of the world in this? Where's the U.N.? I'd like to call for a boycott of Chinese goods, but we have become so dependent on goods made in China either by Chinese government-sponsored or government-owned companies, or by American companies making their goods in China, that a boycott would fail because no alternative supply chains exist for so many goods. Those American companies have been enablers of the bully and, in my view, it's treasonous that American companies continue to do business with China despite Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. Remember, the U.S. has a defense pact with the Philippines. History shows that the world needs to stand up to bullies such as China before it is too late. Joe Olszewski, Erie This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Letters to the editor on China, Dan Laughlin, cash bail, social media Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Tuesday that unsubstantiated comments from former President Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), about Haitian migrants eating household pets are not helpful and very hurtful to the people of Springfield. DeWine, who supports the Republican presidential ticket, was asked in an interview on NewsNations Cuomo what his advice would be to Trump and Vance about what to do with these allegations about eating pets in Springfield that they keep repeating. Theyre very hurtful. Its very hurtful to people, DeWine told anchor Chris Cuomo. Its hurtful to the people in Springfield, hurtful to the Haitians who are working every day. DeWine said he hosted a breakfast with employers of local Haitian migrants, and they said they work very hard. Theyre very focused. Theyre family oriented. Its hurtful for them, very, very much, and some of them are afraid, he continued. The GOP governor stressed he was not interested in advising the Trump-Vance campaign. He added, though, he thinks the Republican nominees are smart to talk about the border, but he cautioned against letting that discussion devolve into fabricated rumors that can hurt a particular community. Look, if you ask for advice, I dont usually tell people how to run a campaign, DeWine said. I just think that the border is a huge issue. Its a very legitimate issue. Its something where I think the Biden administration has not done well and has failed. And I think talking about that makes a lot of sense, and I think that people want to hear about that. But this whole thing about eating dogs and cats and, you know, its just, its very hurtful, he added. Its not helpful, not helpful to people in Springfield. Trump mentioned the city during the presidential debate last week, when he repeated false claims about Haitian migrants eating peoples pets. Vance was first to bring the rumors to the mainstream political discourse, and he has since doubled down on his allegations. DeWine has become vocal in refuting the claims, giving interviews in the last few days to numerous media outlets. But he has largely avoided criticizing the Republican presidential ticket, instead stressing that the comments are untrue but that they are right to criticize the Biden administration on its border policy. The Buckeye State governor has also said the community of Springfield faces serious challenges and strains on its resources, given the influx of Haitian migrants in recent years. But he has maintained the unsubstantiated rumors circulating have only added to the challenges the community faces. The mayor says theres no evidence. Chief of police says theres no evidence. City manager says there was no evidence, he said Tuesday. Theres no evidence, just no evidence of this at all. The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for a response. NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) -The latest trial over claims that the discontinued heartburn drug Zantac causes cancer ended with a hung jury on Wednesday, as jurors in Chicago were unable to agree on whether Boehringer Ingelheim must pay damages to an Illinois man who said he developed prostate cancer as a result of taking the drug, according to the man's lawyer. It was the second time a jury failed to reach a verdict at trial during the ongoing wave of litigation over the now-discontinued drug. "We appreciate the jury's careful consideration," Eric Olson, a lawyer for plaintiff Ronald Kimbrow, said in an email. "Boehringer Ingelheim has now twice failed to convince a jury that Zantac was safe." He said the case would go to trial again. "We are pleased that, once again, plaintiffs have failed to convince another jury of the merits of their baseless claims regarding Zantac," Boehringer Ingelheim said in a statement. The privately held German drugmaker was the only defendant at the trial in Cook County Circuit Court, after plaintiff Ronald Kimbrow settled with others including GSK, which originally developed the drug, and Pfizer. Kimbrow, 73, said he took Zantac from 1995 to 2019. Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Pfizer and Sanofi all sold brand name Zantac at various times since it was approved in 1983, and have been named in tens of thousands of lawsuits over the alleged cancer link. The litigation began after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2020 asked manufacturers to pull the drug off the market over concerns that its active ingredient, ranitidine, could degrade into NDMA, a carcinogen, over time or when exposed to heat. Three lawsuits over Zantac had previously gone to trial, all in Illinois, with two ending in verdicts for the defense and one with a hung jury. The drugmakers won a significant victory in 2022, when a federal judge in Florida rejected the plaintiffs' expert witnesses for about 50,000 cases that had been centralized in her court on the grounds that they did not use reliable scientific methods. Without those witnesses, the cases could not go forward, though some plaintiffs are appealing. The Delaware Supreme Court last month said it would consider drugmakers' bid to keep similar expert testimony out of court in that state, where more than 70,000 lawsuits - the vast majority of the remaining litigation - have been brought. A lower court judge refused to exclude the experts, allowing the cases to go forward. Sanofi has agreed to settle about 4,000 cases against it, while Pfizer has reportedly agreed to settle more than 10,000. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Marguerita Choy) Five people were injured in string of shootings in Antioch since Labor Day, police say. Authorities believe the incidents could be related to the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man on Labor Day. Getty Images Antioch Police are searching for potential suspects in almost a dozen shootings that could possibly be connected to the death of a 20-year-old man on Labor Day, officials said Tuesday. Elijah Scales was shot and killed on Sept. 2 in the 2100 block of Peppertree Way, authorities said. Since that shooting, officers have responded to 11 other shootings, which have injured at least five people across the city, police said. At this time, authorities said potential suspects are unknown. On Monday, separate shootings left two men in critical condition. At 4:54 p.m., at least 30 bullets were fired at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, injuring a man. That shooting is being investigated by the Contra Costa County Sheriffs Office. Less than three hours later, a 58-year-old man was shot at a memorial gathering for Scales taking place on the 1800 block of Cavallo Road, police said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There were two other shootings Monday in which police did not report injuries. This spate of violence will not be tolerated, said Brian Addington, Antiochs interim chief of police. Addington said the department had beefed up police presence in the Sycamore Corridor, a neighborhood in Antioch where several of the shootings have occurred. This effort aims to reduce gun violence and provide a sense of safety to the community and local businesses, Addington said. The other shootings include one on the evening of Sept. 3, a day after Scales was shot and killed, when a 31-year-old man was shot in the leg as at least 32 bullets were fired on the 2100 block of Peppertree Way. Police did not provide further information regarding his condition. On Sept. 7, a 52-year-old woman was shot in the leg when at least 29 bullets were fired from guns on Sycamore Drive at Peppertree Way. Police did not provide an update on her condition. The fifth victim suffered a minor neck injury when he was grazed by a stray bullet during a shooting on the 2100 block of Lemontree Way and didnt require additional medical aid, police said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the shootings where no injuries have been reported, bullets struck nearby businesses, homes and a car, police said. Hundreds of pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon blew up nearly simultaneously on Tuesday in an unprecedented attack that surpasses a series of covert assassinations and cyber-attacks in the region over recent years in its scope and execution. The Iran-backed militant group said the wireless devices began to explode around 3:30 p.m. local time in a targeted Israeli attack on Hezbollah operatives. CNN learned that Israel was behind the attack, which was a joint operation between Israels intelligence service, the Mossad, and the Israeli military. The Lebanese government condemned the attack as criminal Israeli aggression. Israels military, which has engaged in tit-for-tat strikes with Hezbollah since the start of the war with Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza last year, has refused to comment publicly on the explosions. The pagers that exploded were new and had been purchased by Hezbollah in recent months, a Lebanese security source told CNN. A Taiwanese manufacturer said on Wednesday the pagers, which bore the companys mark, had been made by a European distributor. The Lebanese source did not provide any information on the exact date the pagers were bought or their model. Experts say the explosions, unprecedented in their scale and nature, underscore Hezbollahs vulnerability as its communication network was compromised to deadly effect. Who was affected? Several areas of the country were affected, particularly Beiruts southern suburbs, a populous area that is a Hezbollah stronghold. Footage showed shoppers and pedestrians collapsing in the street following the blasts. The blood-soaked injured bore flesh wounds, clips showed, including lost fingers, damaged eyes, and abdominal lacerations. At least nine people were killed, including a child, and about 2,800 people were wounded, overwhelming Lebanese hospitals. An image of a damaged pager circulating on social media. CNN could not geolocate the image, but has verified it was published Tuesday, the same day as the explosions. - From X Why was Hezbollah using pagers? Hezbollah has long touted secrecy as a cornerstone of its military strategy, forgoing high-tech devices to avoid infiltration from Israeli and US spyware. Unlike other non-state actors in the Middle East, Hezbollah units are believed to communicate through an internal communications network. This is considered one of the key building blocks of the powerful group that has long been accused of operating as a state-within-a-state. At the start of the year, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on members and their families in southern Lebanon, where fighting with Israeli forces across the border has raged, to dump their cellphones, believing Israel could track the movement of the Iran-backed terror network through those devices. Shut it off, bury it, put it in an iron chest and lock it up, he said in February. The collaborator (with the Israelis) is the cell phone in your hands, and those of your wife and your children. This cell phone is the collaborator and the killer. Hezbollah instead went low-tech by turning to pagers, according to Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and Middle East analyst. The pagers would have prompted Hezbollah members to contact one another through those phone lines. But even that option was not without risk. Hezbollah regressed back to these devices thinking [they] would be safer for its combatants to use instead of phones which could be GPS targeted, Melamed said. These very low-tech devices were used against them and very possibly deepening the stress and embarrassment on its leaders. How did the pagers explode? As Lebanon reels from the attack, speculation has mounted on how low-tech wireless communication devices could have been exploited. Citing American and other officials briefed on the operation, the New York Times reported Tuesday that Israel hid explosives inside a batch of pagers ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo and destined for Hezbollah. A switch was embedded to detonate them remotely, it added. Multiple photos from Lebanon on social media appear to show damaged Gold Apollo pagers. CNN cannot geolocate the images from social media but has verified they were published on Tuesday, the same day as the explosions. At least one pager shown in the images was a Gold Apollo AR924 model. Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-kuang said its European distributor, a Hungary-based company called BAC Consulting, established a relationship with the Taiwanese firm about three years ago. At first, BAC only imported Gold Apollos pager and communication products, he said. Later, the company told Gold Apollo they wished to make their own pager and asked for the right to use the Taiwanese firms brand, he said. Hsu said Gold Apollo had encountered at least one anomaly in its dealings with the distributor, citing a wire transfer that took a long time to clear. The AR294 model is produced and sold by BAC. We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product, Gold Apollo said in its statement. CNN has reached out to BAC Consulting and its founder for comment. Budapest-based BACs website describes the company as agents of change with a network of consultants, finding innovative solutions on international relations, the environment, and development and innovation. Gold Apollo shipped about 260,000 pagers from Taiwan between January 2022 and August 2024 but there is no record of the devices being sent to Lebanon or the Middle East, a senior Taiwanese security official told CNN on Wednesday. David Kennedy, a former US National Security Agency intelligence analyst, told CNN the explosions seen in videos shared online appear to be too large for this to be a remote and direct hack that would overload the pager and cause a lithium battery explosion. Human operatives inside Hezbollah would have been key to the operation, he added. This is one of the most widescale and coordinated attacks that Ive personally ever seen. The complexity needed to pull this off is incredible, he said. It would have required many different intelligence components and execution. Human intelligence (HUMINT) would be the main method used to pull this off, along with intercepting the supply chain in order to make modifications to the pagers. What is the purpose of the attacks? At least part of the message to Hezbollah is clear: We can reach you anywhere, anytime, at the day and moment of our choosing and we can do it at the press of a button, according to CNNs Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller. The operation was also likely designed to create a high-level of paranoia among Hezbollah members, degrade their ability to recruit people, and erode confidence in the leadership of Hezbollah and their ability to secure their operations and people. Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence and one of the countrys leading strategic experts, said the Israeli attack displayed very impressive penetration capabilities, technology and intelligence. He speculated on X that Israel could have been sending a warning to Nasrallah. It seems the goal was to pass a message that sharpens the dilemma of Nasrallah: how much is he willing to pay for continuing to attack Israel and backing [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar? Yadlin wrote. The organization, which prides itself on secrecy and a high level of security, found itself penetrated and exposed. Asked why Israel might have launched such an attack, Kim Ghattas, a Lebanese journalist and contributing writer to The Atlantic magazine, told CNN that it could be an attempt to cow Hezbollah into submission, and make clear that an increase of their attacks against Israel will be met with even further violence. Or it could be a prelude to an Israeli large-scale campaign against [Lebanon], at a time when Hezbollah is facing the chaos of this latest very science-fiction-like attack against its operatives. An ambulance takes injured people to the hospital in Sidon, Lebanon on September 17, 2024. - Ahmad Kaddoura/Anadolu/Getty Images Why would Israel want to target Hezbollah? Israel, which has yet to publicly comment on the deadly incident, leads the list of actors with the intent to degrade Hezbollah, experts say. It is also one in a small group of countries with the technological ability to infiltrate a supply chain in such a way. What intelligence service has the demonstrative capability to pull an operation like this off? Thats a very short list with Israel at the top, said Miller, the CNN analyst. Israel has been linked to, or accused of, previous remote attacks in the region. Experts believe Israel and the United States were responsible for deploying a complex computer virus called stuxnet that destroyed centrifuges at an Iranian nuclear facility in 2009 and 2010. In 2020, an Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated in Tehran by a remote-controlled machine gun operating out of a car that was reportedly using facial recognition. This year, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed with an explosive device covertly hidden in the guest house where he was staying in the Iranian capital, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Iran blamed Israel for the assassinations. Tuesdays attack raises tensions in the already inflamed region. Hostilities are at an all-time high between Israel and Hezbollah following Hamas October 7 attack on Israel. Hezbollah, which has a formidable arsenal of weapons, has said its attacks on Israel are in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza. Global leaders have been scrambling to prevent an escalation. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke twice with his Israeli counterpart, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to two US defense officials. The official would not specify when the calls took place. Though the two are in regular contact, its uncommon to schedule two calls in one day and shows how seriously the US views the current situation. CNNs Christian Edwards, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Jeremy Diamond, Sabrina Shulman, Wayne Chang, Eric Cheung and Jessie Yeung contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com New research looks into the role of amyloid-beta in developing Alzheimers. Westend61/Getty Images This article originally appeared on Medical News Today A main theory behind the cause of Alzheimers disease is the build-up of the protein amyloid-beta in the brain. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati provide evidence suggesting its the lessening of amyloid-beta in the brain that is behind cognitive decline. Scientists believe that boosting brain protein amounts may offer cognitive benefits. While scientists still do not fully know what causes Alzheimers disease, the current theories include the build-up of a protein called amyloid-beta in the brain. Now, researchers from the University of Cincinnati provide evidence suggesting its the lessening of amyloid-beta in the brain that is behind cognitive decline and boosting brain protein amounts may offer cognitive benefits. We observed that most of those in the population with amyloid plaques do not develop Alzheimers, Alberto Espay, MD, professor of neurology in the UC College of Medicine and director and endowed chair of the James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Center for Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorders at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati, and lead author of this study explained to Medical News Today. By the age of 85 years, only one fifth of those with amyloid plaques develop Alzheimers disease. We discovered that what keeps people with amyloid plaques cognitively normal is (not) the level of the plaques in the brain but the extent to which individuals are able to produce enough A42, an important protein for brain health, to keep those levels within a normal range, he said. The study was recently published in the journal Brain. Focusing on monoclonal antibody treatments For this study, researchers analyzed data from about 26,000 people enrolled in 24 randomized clinical trials for new monoclonal antibody treatments that have been approved for treating Alzheimers disease. Espay and his team decided to focus on these new treatments as they noticed they were unintentionally increasing levels of A42 in the brain. A42 is a protein that reacts to a variety of toxic and infectious exposures, in the process of defending the brain, Espay explained. In that process, A42 transforms into amyloid plaques and ceases to function. The plaques can be viewed as the tombstones of A42. I wanted to find out if any cognitive benefits could be explained by the increases in A42 as much as by the decreases in amyloid plaques, he continued. The data was ready to be harvested from the supplementary material of all the monoclonal antibody trial reports. Higher amyloid-beta levels linked to slower cognitive impairment After analyzing the study data, researchers discovered that higher levels of A42 after monoclonal antibody treatment were independently associated with slower cognitive impairment and clinical decline. I was not surprised by this finding since prior studies from our group have shown that cerebrospinal fluid A42 levels above a certain threshold of compensation are associated with normal cognition no matter how high the levels of amyloid plaques are, Espay said. Even in those with genetic forms of Alzheimers disease, higher baseline A42 levels predict a lower progression to dementia. Alzheimers is a process of loss (of A42) not of gain (of amyloid), he continued. The brain does not swell but continues to undergo atrophy no matter how many plaques it has. Future medications should aim at increasing A42 directly, not indirectly such as what these antibodies do. We are evaluating therapies that have the potential to increase A42 as a form of rescue therapies. Important to look beyond amyloid for Alzheimers causes After reviewing this study, David Merrill, MD, PhD, a board certified geriatric psychiatrist at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, and Singleton Endowed Chair in Integrative Brain Health, told MNT it seems as reasonable as anything that an increase in A42 explains the marginal benefit of the new drugs. Perhaps more important is to start looking above and beyond amyloid for causes of Alzheimers disease, Merrill continued. The processing of amyloid precursor protein into both soluble and non-soluble fragments of amyloid depends on many modifiable health factors. Thanks to the work of hundreds of research groups cited by the Lancet Commission on Alzheimers disease, including our own showing that exercise slows brain atrophy, we now know that at least 14 modifiable factors contribute to causing at least 45% of all cases, he continued. Adopting healthful habits and addressing modifiable risk factors may also lower plaque loads in the brain while increasing soluble A42 while improving cognitive function over time. For the next steps in this research, Merrill said it would be great to see more support of research elucidating the mechanisms of modifiable risks known to decrease dementia risk. Does soluble A42 increase with treatment of hearing and vision loss? he detailed. With treatment of diabetes and hypertension? What non drug approaches could give the same benefits without risking brain bleeding and swelling as seen with the new drugs? A major change from currently accepted theory MNT also spoke with Karen D. Sullivan, PhD, ABPP, a board-certified neuropsychologist, owner of I CARE FOR YOUR BRAIN, and Reid Healthcare Transformation Fellow at FirstHealth of the Carolinas in Pinehurst, NC, about this study. Their findings are a sea-change from the currently accepted theory that Alzheimers disease is caused by an accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques, Sullivan said. The authors are asking us to consider that the complete opposite of this prevailing belief may be true in that increased levels of amyloid-beta results in less cognitive decline. To consider that an increase in amyloid-beta plaques levels as an unintended effect of the new anti-monoclonal antibody class of drugs may actually be part of the helpful mechanism of action will be a shock to most in the neuroscience community, she continued. It will be interesting to see the response of the Alzheimers community to this study. It has the potential to spark some very heated discussions. View the original article on Medical News Today Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Peach State voters are making up their minds, and a new poll suggests they might be coming back home to Donald Trump, bringing 16 electoral votes into his column with a higher-than-average number of black voters still undecided. The Republican won the state in 2016 before losing by the narrowest of margins in 2020. The survey the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released Wednesday morning (conducted by the University of Georgias School of Public and International Affairs) shows the former president ahead of Kamala Harris 47% to 44%, with 7% of respondents undecided. The lead is just within the +/- 3.1% margin of error. And if these numbers hold, the spectacle of a defeated Trump in 2020 trying to find votes after the election wont recur this November. The latest polling shows Donald Trump stretching his lead against Kamala Harris in the swing state of Georgia. Getty Images While Georgia polls (and surveys everywhere else) have shown some volatility during this campaign cycle, the AJC survey may bear more significance given that voters minds are more or less made up. The data show fewer than 3% of voters who are committed to a candidate expect to potentially choose differently. Harris did improve on the Democratic position in a previous AJC poll. Trump led Biden 51% to 46% back in June, when the president was still the candidate, and during a ballot test between him and Harris, he led by the same amount. Part of the veeps problem is shes still underperforming with important subgroups. She has only 86% support inside her own party and 77% support among black voters, a group she has made an aggressive play for, including with an Atlanta rally in July featuring rapper Megan Thee Stallion, in which the musician delivered X-rated rhymes and Harris claimed the momentum is shifting in the race. Notably, 12% of black voters are undecided, suggesting Trumps attempts to appeal to that cohort may be paying off as the campaign enters the final stretch. Part of the veeps problem is shes still underperforming with important subgroups. AP In the wake of the much-publicized rapprochement between Trump and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, the former president appears to be consolidating his base. More than 90% of GOP registrants support Trump, who also has supermajority support among white voters and a majority of senior citizens. But there are positives here for Harris too, including the perception even among some Trump supporters that shell win. A plurality of poll respondents (48%) predict a Democratic victory, and that number includes 14% of Republicans 8% of Democrats believe Trump will prevail. The RealClearPolitics average shows a much closer race, with Trump up by 0.2%, though that metric doesnt include this fresh AJC poll. By David Shepardson and Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday filed a civil claim seeking $103 million from the two Singaporean companies that owned and operated the container ship that in March toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, killing six people and paralyzing a major transportation artery for the U.S. Northeast. The department is seeking to recover from Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited the money the U.S. government spent in responding to the disaster and for clearing the wreck of the Dali ship and bridge debris from the Port of Baltimore so the waterway could reopen in June. "This was an entirely avoidable catastrophe, resulting from a series of eminently foreseeable errors made by the owner and operator of the Dali," Brian Boynton, who heads the Justice Department's Civil Division, said in a statement. The department also is seeking an unspecified sum in punitive damages, accusing the two companies of negligence. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said in May that the Dali lost electrical power several times before it crashed into the bridge in the Patapsco River in the early morning of March 26. The FBI in April opened a criminal investigation probe into the disaster. "By court order, all persons alleging claims against the owner and manager of the Dali must file their claim on or before September 24th. Accordingly, the filing of (Wednesday's) claim was anticipated. The owner and manager will have no further comment on the merits of any claim at this time, but we do look forward to our day in court to set the record straight," according to a statement provided on behalf of the companies. The Justice Department's lawsuit was brought as part of a legal action initiated by Grace Ocean and Synergy to limit their liability for the crash to $44 million, a sum department officials called "woefully inadequate." Brawner Builders, the construction company that employed all six workers who died in the collapse while working on the bridge and one who was injured, also filed a civil claim against Grace Ocean and Synergy on Wednesday. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified sum in damages for the deaths of its workers and loss of construction vehicles and equipment on the bridge. The ship slammed into a support pylon, sending the bridge plunging into the river. Justice Department official Benjamin Mizer told reporters that the ship's owner and operator were aware of longstanding issues with the Dali's electrical and mechanical systems and failed to correct them "out of negligence, mismanagement, and, at times, a desire to cut costs." "As a result, when the Dali lost power, a cascading set of failures led to disaster," Mizer said. The reopening required the removal of 50,000 tons of debris. More than 1,500 individual responders, along with 500 specialists from around the world, operated a fleet of boats during the operation, which involved 56 federal, state, and local agencies. The state of Maryland estimates that it will cost $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion to rebuild the bridge and anticipates completion by fall 2028. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Will Dunham and Aurora Ellis) The weight-loss market is heating up as a number of companies are looking for a way to upend the dominance of market leaders Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (LLY) by introducing GLP-1 pills. New data revealed last week from Roche (RHHBY), Novo, and a smaller biotech prove that an oral option could be as effective as injectables, but Wall Street is waiting to see whether or not patients will prefer a daily pill to a weekly or monthly injectable. Roche provided early Phase 1 clinical trial data last week that showed its pill provided 6.1% weight loss over four weeks. The sample size of the study was small, just 12 patients, which is typical of early-stage trials. This is why experts remain vigilant and await later-stage trial data to prove market potential. Roche's data is about the same as others already in the oral GLP-1 race, including Pfizer (PFE), Novo, and Lilly. Pfizer recently revealed Phase 2 clinical trial data for its once daily danuglipron showing up to 11.7% weight loss at 32 weeks. The frontrunner is Lilly's orforglipron, which showed up to 14.7% weight loss in Phase 2 trials at 36 weeks. It has set the bar for other contenders and gives investors confidence in the current injectable market leader's ability to capture market share. "As we consider major innovations in the obesity market, we continue to see much of this coming from LLY and Novo with many newer potential entrants to the space offering limited differentiation from programs already being advanced by the market leaders," JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott wrote in a note to clients last week. New data One key way that companies can differentiate themselves is by providing fewer unpleasant side effects. Despite the positive news of its weight loss results, Roche's stock took a hit last week down 5.4% in the week after concerns about the pill's side effects were revealed. But all GLP-1s, including the current batch of injectables, have side effects like nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. The concern that began when injectables were entering the market is spilling over into trials for pills. "It is important to keep in mind that in 28-day trials, in order to maximize time on treatment at the full dose level, doses are titrated much more quickly than they would be in real-world use and in longer-term Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials, so we expect tolerability profiles to improve," said to BMO Capital Markets' analyst Etzer Darout in a note last week to clients. But the higher prevalence of negative side effects using lower dosages in Roche's trial appears to be a reason for greater concern. Especially since it trails other contenders, like Lilly's orforglipron, which is now in Phase 3. It's why JPM's Schott expressed concerns about Roche. "We see a limited role for this asset with an efficacy/tolerability profile that is likely to come in below that of orforglipron and a potential market entry in the 2029-2031 timeframe (i.e. 3+ years after orforglipron)," Schott wrote. Closeup of the big three injectable prescription weight loss medicines: Ozempic, Victoza, and Wegovy. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (UCG via Getty Images) Room for competition? Meanwhile, Novo and a biotech, Terns Pharmaceuticals, also released data last week for their oral GLP-1 candidates. Novo's oral candidate looks promising with data showing it beats the company's own injectable weight-loss drug Wegovy. Patients showed 13.1% weight loss after 12 weeks on the pill, compared to 6% after 12 weeks in Wegovy's early trial. Terns showed its early-stage candidate caused 4.9% weight loss over four weeks, in line with competitors, but the company said it would start the second phase of trials next year. That puts its timeline even further behind other, more well-resourced pharmaceutical companies. Still, its efforts add more choice to what some doctors hope will be a competitive space. With so many similar products flooding the market and investors heavily favoring current market leaders, the question of what value new entrants add has been raised. Dr. Michael Weintraub, an endocrinologist and obesity medicine specialist at NYU Langone Health in New York City, says that competition is necessary because all patients are not the same. He expects that each new drug will prove itself to be more useful in treating other disease related to obesity such as heart disease, sleep apnea, and liver disease which is an area the pharmaceutical companies are already exploring with their GLP-1 candidates. "No single patient responds the same way. Right now, we can't subdivide these patients into groups yet and which medication is going to work for our particular patient. So ... in that sense, the more options the better," Weintraub told Yahoo Finance. Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. That includes GLP-1s, of course. Follow Anjalee on most social media platforms @AnjKhem. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest health industry news and events impacting stock prices Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have dropped his third-party presidential bid, but his name will remain on the ballot in some battleground states in November. The independent announced last month he was suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Trump after a failed bid to compete in 50 states. He said at the time he would withdraw from state ballots most likely to decide the election but would stay on in the deep-red and deep-blue places unlikely to sway the outcome. But Kennedy has faced persistent legal challenges while trying to remove himself and could inadvertently hurt the GOP candidate hes vowed to support. Heres where Kennedy stands in seven swing states: Arizona Kennedys time on the Arizona ballot was among the shortest he spent as an official candidate in any state. He filed to get off the ballot one day after he qualified for it. His decision to withdraw there came just before he publicly backed Trump and was seen as an indicator his campaign was coming to an end. Kennedys team needed to move quickly because the Arizona secretary of state was set to print the ballots soon after. But he was able to be removed without difficulty. Kennedy departing the ballot may end up being critical in the Grand Canyon State with polls currently the race is neck and neck. Trump and Vice President Harris are tied in the average from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill at 48 percent. They also were nearly even before Kennedy suspended his campaign. Georgia Kennedy seemed poised to get on the ballot in the Peach State a few months ago. But the issue of Kennedys residence became an obstacle for him in August after a New York judge blocked him from appearing on the ballot for falsely claiming to reside in the state on his nominating petition. Kennedy argued that he only temporarily moved to California but always considered New York his home. The same issue later emerged in Georgia, after Kennedy ended his candidacy, when a judge there blocked him on the same grounds. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had the final say on the issue, and his office has confirmed Kennedy will not appear on the ballot. Trump currently has a razor-thin 0.3-point lead over Harris in the DDHQ/The Hill average. It had been at 1 point when Kennedy left the race. Michigan Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson rejected Kennedys request to remove his name from the ballot, pointing to a law that prevents candidates from minor parties from withdrawing after qualifying. Kennedy received the nomination of the Natural Law Party in the state. After Kennedy sued, the state Supreme Court sided with Benson, keeping Kennedys name on the ballot. Harris has a 1-point lead over Trump, 45 percent to 44 percent, with Kennedy included. Nevada Kennedy missed the deadline to drop his name from the Nevada ballot, but he ultimately received help in a lawsuit from the state Democratic Party seeking to block him. The two sides agreed in a settlement that the lawsuit would be dropped and Kennedys name would be removed. This came after an extensive legal battle over the validity of his signatures after he initially gathered them without naming a running mate, as required by state law. Harris leads Trump by just more than 1 point in the DDHQ/The Hill average. North Carolina Kennedys long and complicated effort to remove himself from the North Carolina ballot has had a direct impact on 2024s newest battleground. A recent ruling finding Kennedy didnt need to remain on the ballot in the Tar Heel state has delayed the start of early voting there. The State Board of Elections noted a delay in disseminating ballots for early and absentee voting because the courts were waiting to decide on whether Kennedy would show up on the materials to be mailed out. Polls show an unexpected tie between Trump and Harris, according to the latest average of 24 state polls taken throughout the cycle and aggregated by DDHQ/The Hill, with each candidate earning 48 percent of support. Pennsylvania Kennedy no longer will be a wild card on the ballot in one swing state this cycle. Pennsylvanias top election official approved Harris and Trumps names for ballot submissions and did not include Kennedy. Polls show a tight contest between the Republican and Democratic nominees, and election forecasters predict it will be one of the most consequential in deciding the outcome. Kennedys omission from the ballot takes away what both parties saw as a potential threat in the tied race, which finds Harris and Trump both at 48 percent. Wisconsin On Monday, a circuit judge in Dane County ruled against Kennedys plea to have himself taken off the ballot, citing a provision that lists death as the only reason to be removed. That decision could pose a potential danger for Trump because polls have shown Kennedy mainly taking away his support. A DDHQ/The Hill aggregate of polls of a three-way race between the candidates show Harris leading Trump 47 percent to 41 percent. Kennedy holds 5 percent. Without Kennedy on the ballot, Harris leads Trump 50 percent to 47 percent. Wisconsin awards 10 electoral votes to the winner and is seen as one of the central states in Democrats blue wall. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. On the western edge of the battleground state of North Carolina cuts the Nantahala River and an unlikely spot for an experiment in reconciliation. About 30 Americans went there to navigate the Nantahala on rafts while probing the limits of political estrangement. They are liberals and conservatives, independents and libertarians sure to oppose one another on all manner of ideas and issues. But they're also willing to talk and paddle together toward something deeper. Ken Powley, an experienced rafter who worries deeply about American alienation, organized the trip as part of R.A.F.T. for America, a movement that brings people who have different perspectives together on rafting trips. Its parent organization, Team Democracy, was co-founded by Powley with the aim of countering political polarization and encouraging civility. "As Americans we really are in the same boat together," Powley said. "I'm the guy that always thought of democracy like the air you breathe. It's always gonna be there." Powley set about this work the day after the Capitol insurrection, when he decided to devote his retirement years to binding our political wounds or at least trying to. The essence of the experiment? "Bringing people together with different points of view has become difficult. What we're finding is what unites us is a lot more powerful than what separates us," Powley said. The Rev. Rodney Sadler, a self-described liberal from Charlotte who's "not fond of Trump at all," came along for the ride. He landed in the same boat as conservative Lance Moseley, a traveling public relations professional who lives out of an RV. "I don't understand why everybody's so afraid of Trump. He's better for the country. That's my view," Moseley said. Lance and Sadler found things chilly at first, and so did everyone on their boat. The rafts made their way down the rapids of the Nantahala with teamwork and enthusiasm. Along the way, attitudes found new ways around the rocks and turbulence, both real and metaphorical. "Everybody's closer to each other than we think," Moseley said. Sadler responded, "No matter who we might vote for or anything else, I think this is a great first step." Near the end, choppy waters tossed one rafter harmlessly overboard. A day on the river ended up bringing Sadler and Moseley closer together. "I think we are so divided that we don't get to spend the time to get to know people as human beings," Sadler said. "By the end of the trip we were finally talking deeper politics," Moseley said. Perhaps cynics will find this all a bit too tidy, but Powley says, "This is not about unity." "This is not about changing people's positions, trying to get them to agree. It's about managing those differences in a reasonably responsible way," Powley said. "This isn't really about rafting. The point of it is when we play together, it allows us to form relationships we would otherwise never even consider." For Powley, a river runs through that noble pursuit. "It does touch me, because it's so crystal clear that we are so much better than what we're showing," he said. World War I memorial unveiled in Washington, D.C. North Carolina rafting trip seeks to bridge divides Pennsylvania struggling with low energy prices amid 2024 fracking focus Credit - Getty Images On November 5, voters across the country will head to the pollsand then wait as the ballots are counted to determine the next President of the United States. But theres a good chance Americans will go to sleep that night without knowing the winner. If, as expected, the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is close, experts say the delay in counting mail-in ballots means that there might not be a clear winner on election night. The closer the election is, the less likely we will be able to know on election night, says Andrew Hall, Professor of Political Economy at Stanford University. Counting mail-in ballots takes longer because the process involves additional layers of processing and verification that in some states cant begin until Election Day. There's a much more complicated process that election offices go through in terms of getting those ballots and confirming that they are from registered voters, says Jen Leighley, Professor of Political Science at American University. The ballots themselves have to be unsealed, and verification sometimes involves matching up a signature or photo ID. Read More: Your Questions About Early Voting, Answered In 2020, mail-in ballots made up 46% of the vote as voters turned to the option during the pandemic. President Joe Biden wasnt officially declared the winner until Saturday, Nov. 7, more than three days after Election Day. There have been delays in statewide races, too: In Arizona, a battleground state in the 2024 contest, the vote count for the 2022 gubernatorial election went on for days after the election after the state received a last-minute flurry of mail-in ballots. In some states, including Florida and Georgia, mail-in ballots are processed ahead of Election Day. In other key states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, processing doesnt begin until Election Day, which can lead to delays in a tight race. In roughly half of the states, voters are able to cure their ballots in the case of minor errors, such as a missing signature or photo. In some cases, voters are able to cure their ballot a few days after Election Day, which can further drag out the count. Some states have made efforts to expedite the ballot counting process. In June, Nevada moved to allow the counting of early voting returns and mail ballot returns to begin at 8 AM on Election Day, rather than after the polls close. Georgia and Michigan have also moved up their vote counting timelines. Read More: Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar As more voters turned to mail-in voting during the pandemic, the shift was visible as the results trickled in. Democrats voted by mail at significantly higher rates than Republicans, says Hall. The early counts tended to favor the Republicans. And then as the hours and days went by and the mail ballots were being counted, you saw this big shift back towards the Democrats. In 2020, Trump was quick to blame his loss on the delay from mail-in ballots, calling the system corrupt. (Courts found no significant instances of fraud in the 2020 election.) Hall says that any delays might open the door for more post-election litigation, which could slow down results even further. [Theres] a tail risk of a period of genuine uncertainty over who has won the election and who's going to get certified that we haven't really experienced before, he says. So when might the election be called? The answer hinges, Hall says, on when the most contested, most crucial battleground states finish counting. And that, experts say, is not likely to happen on Nov. 5. Write to Simmone Shah at simmone.shah@time.com. A York County man died at a hospital after a motorcycle crash Saturday on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, according to Maryland State Police. Jason Irizarry, 40, of Dover, Pennsylvania was pronounced deceased at ChristianaCare Christiana Hospital, a news release states. State police say the crash happened before 5:30 p.m. Saturday and involved two BMW motorcycles on westbound U.S. Route 50 in Worchester County. The other driver, Andrew Strube, 49, of Columbia, Pennsylvania, was injured. He was taken to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional for treatment. Irizarry and Strube were traveling together, the release states. State police say Irizarry was passing another vehicle on Route 50 when for unknown reasons he lost control of his motorcycle, and it struck a guardrail. Strube also lost control of his motorcycle, state police said. Irizarry was taken by ambulance to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional and then was transferred to ChristianaCare Christiana Hospital, state police said. Route 50 was closed for about four hours as troopers investigated the crash, the release states. The crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the fatal crash may contact the Berlin Barrack at (410) 641-3101. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Dover man dies after motorcycle crash on Route 50 in Maryland: state police 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. A bicyclist cycles past a pro-Palestinian tent encampment on White Plaza at Stanford University on April 30. Officials issued new rules on Tuesday prohibiting unauthorized tents on campus but affirming freedom of expression. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Stanfords year of tolerance toward student encampments came to an end Tuesday when campus leaders issued new rules prohibiting unauthorized tents and requiring students to remove identity-concealing face coverings if asked to by an official. Although similar rules were on the books last term, they were largely ignored. Campus officials even posted the written regulations adjacent to the dozens of tents pro-Palestinian students had set up in the universitys White Plaza to protest the Israel-Hamas war. The protesters had camped there, off and on, since Israel launched its war in Gaza following the Hamas invasion of Israel on Oct. 7. But this year, Stanford will enforce those rules and be as clear as we can about the rules, the universitys new president, Jonathan Levin, told the Chronicle two weeks ago, before the rules were issued. Advertisement Article continues below this ad On Tuesday, Provost Jenny Martinez sent a message to the campus introducing a Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom website that lays out the rules and highlights whats new, including the camping prohibition and regulations around campus disruption, among other issues. How universities navigate the right of students and employees to express themselves while protecting others from discrimination and even physical harm has emerged as a national concern not only on campuses but in Congress and across civil rights organizations. Pro-Palestinian students camped out on Stanfords White Plaza last school year to protest the Israel-Hamas war. This year, Stanford will enforce rules against encampments and be as clear as we can about them, says new president Jonathan Levin. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Polarization among students on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian debate has escalated throughout the Israel-Hamas war, and some universities, including Stanford, have issued major reports detailing incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia on their campuses. Students involved in pro-Palestinian protests found much to criticize in the new rules. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A senior named Emily, who, like many protesters declined to reveal her last name for fear of campus retaliation, said the policies appear meant to prevent the student body from protesting the universitys complicity in the Zionist entitys genocide of Palestinians. Requiring faculty, staff, students and visitors to show identification when asked can easily be used to single out individuals in a discriminatory fashion simply by seeming suspicious to a campus official, she added. Martinez also sent a link to a second website Tuesday that gives students a more streamlined way of reporting discrimination and receiving updates about existing claims, in compliance with the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title VI. The freedom to explore and present new, unconventional, and even unpopular ideas is essential to the academic mission of the university; therefore, Stanford shall promote the widest possible freedom of expression, Martinez said in her message to the campus. Accordingly, university policies must not censor individuals speech based on the content of what is expressed, except in narrow circumstances. The Nancy Savage Skinner 79 Director is responsible for ensuring that The Prior Performing Arts Center is a vibrant, cultural, and intellectual hub, offering robust programming for the Holy Cross community that reflects the needs and interests of Holy Cross faculty, staff, students and academic programs as well as the community at large. The College of the Holy Cross has engaged Management Consultants for the Arts to lead the search, and interested candidates may apply for this position by visiting this link: https://www.mcaonline.com/searches/prior-pac-director Organizational Profile The Prior serves as a catalyst for an integrative, cross-disciplinary liberal arts education, centering the creative and performing arts within the development of Holy Cross students. The Prior is also a venue for extraordinary performances, events, and residencies by visiting artists; and for creative use by students, faculty, staff, and the greater Worcester community. Finally, it serves as a means to attract diverse perspectives to the College, as a point of pride for alumni and families, and as a vehicle for new forms of engagement between the campus and the city of Worcester. It carries the Colleges ambition for Holy Cross to become a regional arts destination, a goal encouraged by the world-class design of the building. The 84,000-square-foot facility was designed by architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, whose other cultural projects include the High Line, The Shed, Lincoln Centers Alice Tully Hall, the UC Berkeley Art Museum, and the ICA Boston. Destined to be a focal point on campus in the years to come, the ambitious and comprehensive Prior Performing Arts Center includes two theaters, the Iris B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, dedicated spaces for the fine and performing arts, as well as spaces and technology to support creative interactions between the arts and other disciplines. More about Prior Performing Arts Center can be found at https://www.mcaonline.com/searches/prior-pac-director. In yesterday's action in Lebanon, apparently harmless objects turned out to be powerful weapons. The NGO that works in 28 countries to remove mines left behind by conflicts calls for an urgent response to the rise of autonomous weapons, part of a broader "phenomenon of miniaturisation of explosive devices and their use in micro drones. Increasingly, demands are being made for a new ban treaty, like the one with landmines. Beirut (AsiaNews) Yesterday's attack in Lebanon (and Syria) against members of the Hezbollah movement killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 2,800, in what was most likely an operation carried out by Israel. The operation shows, once again, how devastating new technologies and artificial intelligence can be in conflicts. According to the HALO Trust, apparently harmless objects, like pagers, have been turned into powerful and lethal devices such as anti-personnel mines, hitting not only pro-Iranian militiamen, but also innocent civilians. For James Cowan, a former British army officer and now CEO of the HALO Trust, yesterday's operation in the Middle East shows an urgent need to deal with the rise of autonomous weapons powered by artificial intelligence. The expert notes that pagers turned into weapons "may be a one-off, but the operation points to a much broader "phenomenon associated with the miniaturisation of explosive devices [and] their use in micro drones. The HALO (Hazardous Area Life-support Organisation) Trust is a humanitarian non-governmental organisation that has worked for years, mainly to remove unexploded landmines and other explosive devices left behind by conflicts. The NGO operates in 28 countries with over 10,000 staff worldwide, presently focusing on Afghanistan, where it continues to operate even under the control of the Taliban regime that took power in August 2021. Yesterday's atypical attack by Israel against Lebanons Hezbollah is a "fast-moving situation", James Cowan said. The jury is still out on how these devices were made to explode, he added. There may have been small amounts of explosive involved and an element of autonomy, or the batteries could have been made to super-heat, and therefore ignite, through radio messages sent by human hand. In any case, legislation along the lines of the land mine ban is urgently necessary to catch up with this technology." HALO's success in tackling landmines is linked in part to the Ban Treaty signed in Ottawa in 1997, a few months after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the main supporter of the ban. At the end of this year, the signatories of the treaty will meet in Cambodia to assess the progress made and the issues still unresolved. For the NGO, The campaign to remove the threat of landmines from the world was, and remains, a singular example of international cooperation to control a class of weapons. The world now urgently needs to replicate this example with a new treaty to control autonomous explosive devices. We do not have long to do this. Today's news: Taiwan's Gold Apollo company defends itself against accusations of manufacturing the devices that exploded in Lebanon; A Chinese aircraft carrier enters Japanese waters for the first time; West Bengal police chief removed after August rape protests; US urges Vietnam not to support Chinese submarine links. ISRAEL - LEBANON Hezbollah vowed to retaliate after blaming Israel for the explosion of pagers that killed at least nine people and wounded 2,750 others, including many of the group's fighters. The Lebanese Information Minister, Ziad Makary, condemned the detonation as Israeli aggression. For one Hezbollah official, the attack was the biggest security breach the group has suffered in almost a year of conflict with Israel. There is great concern about the possible repercussions of this in Lebanon. TAIWAN After an initial accusation, the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said today that the pagers used in the detonations in Lebanon were not its products, but those of a company called BAC, which has a licence to use its trademark. Images of the destroyed pagers, analysed by Reuters, showed a format and stickers on the back compatible with the pagers produced by Gold Apollo. The company said in a statement that the AR-924 model was manufactured and sold under its licence by BAC, a Hungarian company. CHINA - JAPAN NHK has learned that a Chinese aircraft carrier briefly entered Japanese waters this morning. According to sources, the Liaoning sailed between two islands, Yonaguni and Iriomote, in Okinawa Prefecture, southwestern Japan. This is the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier has sailed in the contiguous zone of Japan. Under international law, ships from other countries are allowed. But the law states that the coastal state can take the necessary measures to prevent illegal acts in its territorial waters. INDIA West Bengal has agreed to remove the police chief of its capital, Kolkata, following a meeting with doctors protesting the rape and murder of one of their colleagues in early August. Two other senior officials - the director of medical education and the director of health services - will also be removed, said Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee. The protests that started on 9 August continue. VIETNAM - CHINA - USA The US is urging Vietnam not to support Chinese cable-laying firm HMN Technologies and other Chinese companies in its plans to build 10 new submarine links by 2030. Vietnam's five main outdated undersea connections, which link it to the global internet, have suffered repeated failures, making the new cables a top government priority. Since January, US officials and companies have held at least half a dozen meetings. RUSSIA According to Novaja Gazeta Evropa's calculations, 93 minors were declared terrorists and extremists in Russia in 2024, a record for the past six years, 20 of whom were placed on the list before the age of 16, including Egor Lauskis of St. Petersburg, who was 14 at the time of his arrest in February for setting fire to a railway switch. GEORGIA The leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party have declared that after their election victory they will ask forgiveness from the brothers and sisters of South Ossetia for the 2008 five-day war, and will set up a Nuremberg tribunal for the culprits, the then president Saakasvili now in prison and his cronies, the opponents of the National Movement. On the anniversary of the 1931 Munken Incident, a 10-year-old boy was attacked by a man 200 metres from his school in the high-tech city. In June, a Chinese woman was killed trying to stop a similar attack. Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya says that Japan wants to work with Chinese authorities to "protect Japanese citizens. Rome (AsiaNews) A knife-wielding, 44 -year-old Chinese man attacked a 10-year-old Japanese boy around 8 am Wednesday, about 200 metres from his elementary school in Shenzhen, Guangdong province (southern China). Chinese authorities report that the victim, who was immediately taken to hospital, is in stable conditions, and Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya confirmed that his attacker was in police custody. Following the incident, the Japanese embassy in China issued an advisory, noting that attacks of this kind are becoming increasingly common in the country; it urges Japanese citizens to be cautious with suspicious people. The incident happened on the 93rd anniversary of the Munken Incident, which started Japans invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The latest is not an isolated incident. This kind of violence has to be seen against the background of rising Chinese nationalism fuelled by unresolved hostilities between the two countries that have continued long after World War II, which include current territorial claims. Last June, a 54-year-old bus driver, Hu Youping, died in a knife attack in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, as she tried to stop a man who was attacking a Japanese woman and her preschooler at a bus stop. The two survived with only minor injuries. On behalf of the Japanese government and people, I would like to express my deepest respect and sincere condolences for [the womans] courageous action, Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi told reporters at the time. He went on to stress that Japan needed to work with local authorities to ensure the safety of its citizens in China. Relations between the two countries have soured over the past year amid raising xenophobic tensions, in the wake of Chinas decision to ban imports of Japanese seafood, after Japan released filtered cooling water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. This reflects rising Chinese nationalist rhetoric, despite the lack of scientific evidence that seafood from the release area is harmful to human health. Bans like this have also significantly impacted trade between the two countries: in 2022, the value of Japanese products sent to China was over 0 million. This situation has unsettled and alarmed Japanese nationals living in China, especially in places where they are in high numbers, like Shenzhen, home to Japanese high-tech companies. It is no coincidence that the latest incident comes at a time of remembrance for the Manchuria invasion, which is still very much alive for many in China, constantly fuelling Chinese nationalism. Meanwhile, spokesman Moriya at a press conference this morning said: To protect Japanese citizens, we requested the Chinese authorities to take preventive measures and share detailed information. Feature: Chinese victims of Japanese germ warfare in WWII granted new lease of life Xinhua) 10:25, September 18, 2024 HANGZHOU, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ye Chunjiang, a dedicated burns surgeon, made the 50-minute drive one Thursday afternoon from his hospital in the city of Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, to the home of local villager Wu Fagui, to examine his foot. It is a journey that Ye has made many times over the past several years. Now in his 80s, Wu's left foot bears the indelible marks of a bygone era. A stark, gruesome lesion stretches from his foot to his calf, with a pink, delicate center that speaks of the fragility of new skin. His affliction is believed to be the direct consequence of the germ warfare waged by Japan in Zhejiang over eight decades ago. During the early 1940s, the Japanese military conducted multiple instances of germ warfare in the province, employing tactics such as the aerial dispersal of bacteria-tainted grain and fleas, contaminating local well water, and distributing infected foodstuffs. These actions led to outbreaks of plague, typhoid, cholera and anthrax among the local populace. While historical records vary in terms of the exact death toll, it is widely agreed that the atrocities claimed over 50,000 lives in Quzhou alone, where Wu's hometown is located, according to local museum data. When untreated, the plague can swiftly claim lives, but anthrax inflicts a chronic, tormenting ordeal, characterized by persistent skin ulcers -- a plight shared by Wu and many other survivors of this heinous war crime throughout most of their existence. "The leg was constantly bleeding, emitting a foul odor. People refrained from visiting, and my father avoided going out," Wu Xiaorong, Wu Fagui's son, recounted, describing his father's previous state. Historical accounts also reveal that many locals, like Wu Fagui, who were exposed to anthrax, suffered from enduring foot sores and unbearable odors, leading to psychological trauma and social ostracism, with many never marrying. However, Wu Fagui's fortunes began to improve with the start of a free treatment program by Zhejiang Quhua Hospital in 2015, supported by charitable foundations. The program identified over 80 victims and performed skin-graft operations on the majority, with only a few deemed unsuitable due to advanced age or health conditions. "My father's condition is vastly improved," Wu Xiaorong said. "Before the surgery, he had multiple, sizable sores. Now that he's better, he can go outside and socialize with other seniors." "My old man is indeed fortunate," the son added. Ye, the visiting burns surgeon, has been volunteering within this program alongside his colleagues at the hospital. They visit anthrax victims who have undergone surgery and monitor their recovery. "Many doctors are involved in the program out of sheer passion, without concern for personal gain or loss," the doctor added with conviction. Accompanying Ye was Wu Jianping, the curator of a museum in Quzhou commemorating the victims of Japan's germ warfare. Wu Jianping, who lost his young uncle and aunt to the warfare, played a pivotal role in nurturing the program and identifying eligible patients for treatment. He expressed immense pride in his work for the victims. "Seeing their smiles as they leave the hospital after treatment, I feel something indescribable," he said. "They've suffered for a lifetime, and finally, they've been relieved of their pain. What a feeling!" he added. During his visit, Wu Jianping displayed the warmth of a playful family friend. "You used to stink! Keep away!" he jested with Wu Fagui, reminiscing about the changes in life post-surgery. Due to his advanced age, Wu Fagui has long given up storytelling, and he normally wears a stoic, blank expression. However, at Wu Jianping's jest, he laughed for the first time, his teary eyes gleaming with joy. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Under California law, police agencies are forbidden from dangling disability pensions as an inducement to rid themselves of problem officers. John Blanchard and Sophie DAmato/The Chronicle Few jobs are as dangerous as that of a police officer. Acknowledging this, California offers generous disability pensions to those who are so severely injured that they can no longer wear the badge. But an investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle and UC Berkeley's Investigative Reporting Program found that law enforcement agencies have, in many cases, doled out tax-free pensions as an expedient way to get rid of a problem employee not because they acknowledge a grievous on-the-job injury. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Dozens of police departments and sheriffs offices have used the disability retirement system to essentially pension off officers who are accused of misconduct. Some city and county leaders even admit to encouraging officers to leave by offering this financial lifeline. And this lifeline is funded in part by taxpayers. Pension payments for the majority of the officers identified in this investigation are paid by the California Public Employees Retirement System (aka CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the country. Many employee disability records are exempt from disclosure. To document the payment of pensions to officers who faced misconduct allegations, reporters conducted dozens of interviews and gathered an array of public records, including pension payment documents, workers compensation claims, internal affairs files, misconduct records and employee separation deals known as clean record agreements. Here are the main takeaways from the investigation: At least 49 police officers and deputies who were on the verge of being ousted for misconduct were allowed to leave their agencies with their wrongdoing buried and disability pensions approved. Attorneys who handle police misconduct cases believe the number of officers who were accused of misconduct prior to reporting injuries, but are now collecting these pensions, is far higher. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Five of these 49 officers later returned to law enforcement while still collecting disability pensions. Thirteen more went on to obtain private security jobs, also while collecting their pensions. These 49 officers have collected more than $23.5 million in disability pensions, most of it tax-free. California officers approved for disability retirements are entitled to at least half of their final salaries, tax-free, every year for the rest of their lives. The pension payouts occurred despite laws prohibiting California agencies from using disability retirements as a substitute for the disciplinary process. State judges have repeatedly ruled that officers who claim injuries after they commit wrongdoing are not eligible to collect these pensions. CalPERS, which administers pension payments to most law enforcement retirees in California, has known for decades that many departments get rid of problem officers by agreeing to certify that the officers are eligible for disability pensions. Since 2017, CalPERS has asked agencies to provide more information about the disciplinary history of officers who apply for disability pensions. Yet a spokesperson for the agency said CalPERS does not typically take any other actions on work-related disability pension applications because it assumes agencies are acting in good faith. In the general audience held today in St Peter's Square, Francis retraced the stages of the apostolic journey that in recent days has taken him to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. "I met living communities that grow by attraction. It gladdened my heart to be able to spend some time with the missionaries and catechists of today. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In thinking about the Church we are still too Eurocentric. In reality, the Church is much larger than Rome and the West and more alive. This was said today by Pope Francis addressing the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square for the Wednesday general audience. As usual - in the first appointment following his apostolic journeys - Pope Francis wanted to take stock of the twelve days spent in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He stressed the specific character of these visits, which are journeys to bring the word of the Lord, to make him known, and also to get to know the souls of the peoples, which is a very beautiful experience. He also said he reconnected on this trip to Paul VI, who in 1970 was the first pontiff to fly to the rising sun, visiting several Asian countries and going as far as the Samoa Islands. I tried to follow his example, he commented, but, with a few years on him, I limited myself to four countries. I thank the Lord, who allowed me to do as an old Pope what I would have liked to do as a young Jesuit, to go as a missionary there'. But above all, Francis underlined the vitality of the Churches he met: I experienced it in an emotional way, he said, meeting those communities, listening to the testimonies of priests, nuns, lay people, especially catechists. Churches that do not proselytise, but grow by attraction. In Indonesia,' he said, I have had confirmation of how compassion is the road on which Christians can and must walk to bear witness to Christ the Saviour and at the same time encounter the great religious and cultural traditions. Recalling the tunnel of friendship that connects the cathedral and the mosque, he commented: There I saw that fraternity is the future, it is the answer to anti-civility, to the diabolic plots of hatred, war and even sectarianism. Of Papua New Guinea he cited the beauty of a missionary, outgoing Church. Citing the more than eight hundred languages spoken, he described them as an ideal environment for the Holy Spirit, who loves to make the message of Love resound in the symphony of languages. It gladdened my heart to be able to spend some time with today's missionaries and catechists, he added, citing his visit to Vanimo, where missionaries are between the forest and the sea and go to seek out even the most hidden tribes. He relaunched the challenge of a true encounter with these peoples because faith must be inculturated and cultures must be evangelised. On East Timor, he recalled how in this country the Church has shared the process of independence with all the people, always orienting it towards peace and reconciliation. It is not a question of an ideologisation of faith, no, it is faith that becomes culture and at the same time enlightens, purifies and elevates it. But above all, the Pope said he was struck by the beauty of that people: a people tried but joyful, a people wise in suffering. A people that not only generates many children, but teaches them to smile. And this is a guarantee for the future. In East Timor I breathed the air of spring'. Finally Singapore, a country very different from the other three: a city-state, very modern, the economic and financial hub of Asia and beyond. Where Christians are a minority, but still form a living Church, committed to generating harmony and fraternity among the different ethnic groups, cultures and religions.' 'Even in wealthy Singapore there are the little ones, the Pontiff observed, who follow the Gospel and become salt and light, witnesses of a hope greater than that which economic gains can guarantee. Renewing his thanks for the welcome received, Francis asked God to bless these peoples and guide them on the path of peace and fraternity. The Pontiff then once again called everyone to prayer for peace during his greetings to Italian-speaking pilgrims: Let us not forget that war is a defeat, he said, Let us not forget Palestine, Israel, the tormented Ukraine, Myanmar and so many places where there are ugly wars. May the Lord give us all a heart that seeks peace. Francis also recalled the World Day for Alzheimer's sufferers, which will be celebrated on Saturday 21 September: Let us pray that medical science will soon be able to offer prospects for a cure for this disease and that more and more interventions will be activated to support sufferers and their families. Earlier - before starting his speech - he had called two of the Vatican employees who had read the translations into the different languages to introduce themselves to the pilgrims and announced that they would be getting married next Saturday. It is beautiful to see when love brings us forward to make a new family, he had commented, I wanted to present them to thank the Lord. About 2.3 million voters cast their ballots for 24 of the 90 members of the Legislative Assembly. The poll is the first since the regions special status was repealed in 2019. The turnout should be high, but results are expected to show a fragmented political landscape. Srinagar - (AsiaNews) About 2.3 million voters were called to the polls today to pick 24 members in the first round for the local legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, the Muslim-majority region at the centre of a dispute between India and Pakistan. After today's, the second and third rounds will be held on 25 September and 1 October, while the results are expected to be made public on 8 October. At 5 pm (local time), an hour before polling stations closed, the turnout was just above 58 per cent. In total, almost nine million voters are registered to elect 90 members of the Legislative Assembly, from hundreds of candidates. This is the first election since 2014, when 11 of the 24 seats up for grabs today were won by the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party, led by former governor Mehbooba Mufti, once an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Hindu ultranationalist party that leads the national government. These elections are also the first since the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped the states special constitutional status in 2019, separating it from Ladakh and making it a Union Territory (like Delhi, the Andaman Islands, and Lakshadweep) under the control of the central government. The BJP has also redrawn constituency boundaries, adding six seats to the Jammu division, where the population is mostly Hindu, and only one to Kashmir, which today has 47. In 2014, the BJP won 25 out of 37 seats (now 43) in Jammu. During the election campaign, the BJP clashed with the Indian National Congress (INC), the main opposition party allied with the main local political party, the National Conference. One of the issues in the campaign was the return of Kashmiri Pandits, Hindus who left the Kashmir Valley for Jammu during the violence by Islamic extremists in the 1990s. The BJP has pledged to bring them back. The INC slammed the administration imposed by the BJP starting in 2019 as a failure, focusing its campaign on youth unemployment in the region, which now tops 18 per cent, according to government data released in July, twice the national average. In the past, armed groups seeking union with Pakistan (which fought several wars for control of the region after partition in 1947) targeted polling stations, while pro-independence candidates, including those of the Jamaat-e-Islami, boycotted the elections. In Indias Union elections in April and May (when BJP won 24 per cent of the vote in Kashmir), the turnout rate was almost 60 per cent, the highest ever recorded in the last 35 years. Even though he was in prison (bail was granted a week ago) on charges of financing terrorism, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, of the Awami Ittehad Party (which is allied with the Jamaat-e-Islami), was elected in June to the Lok Sabha for the Baramulla constituency, defeating Omar Abdullah, a former governor and leader of the National Conference. Against this political backdrop, commentators expect a high turnout, and results that will be difficult to interpret given the high number of candidates running as independents. This election might actually give people a sense of power at local level after having been subjected to continuous disempowerment since 2019, said a local political observer, who preferred to remain anonymous. However, after the repeal of Article 370 that gave Jammu and Kashmir its special status, the new administration will have limited powers over several issues, including education and taxation. We know this Assembly will not have much power, said a fruit grower speaking to local media. But what if our vote compels New Delhi to rethink its strategy and grant us statehood? Groundwater levels have fallen dramatically in the Tule sub-basin in the San Joaquin Valley. David McNew/Getty Images Groundwater levels have fallen dramatically in the Tule sub-basin in the San Joaquin Valley. David McNew/Getty Images As Californias groundwater supplies face a furious decline, state regulators on Tuesday assumed oversight of pumping in a farm region accused of taking too much water from the ground. The states crackdown on the Tule sub-basin in the southern San Joaquin Valley marks increasing enforcement of Californias landmark groundwater law, which seeks to shore up declining aquifers despite a few legal hiccups recently. In the Tule sub-basin, where groundwater levels have dropped an average of 2 feet a year because of overpumping, most water users will be required to install meters on pumps, report groundwater draws and pay pumping fees as a result of the state intervention. If the situation doesnt improve, the state could set hard limits on pumping. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The region is the second to be put on probation under the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, and at least four others are being considered for probation. More could follow. I sense an urgency here to act, said Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board after Tuesdays nine-hour hearing on the Tule sub-basin. Its essential that people in the Tule region continue to refine and implement plans for the long-term management of a resource of such local importance. Water managers in the sub-basin widely opposed the states move. Dozens of farmers commenting at the hearing said oversight would drive up expenses and could ultimately lead to losses in crop production. Many have already fallowed land because of water shortages. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is Californias first effort to regulate groundwater, which unlike water in rivers and streams, has not been subject to restrictions. In many parts of the state, aquifers have run low, wells have run dry and the ground has sunk because of overpumping. Under the decade-old law, newly formed groundwater agencies are being given 25 years to restore their aquifers. The local agencies are encouraged to do so on their own, but they must meet certain milestones toward sustainability or state water regulators are required to step in. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The state water board agreed unanimously Tuesday that the Tule sub-basins plan for improving groundwater reserves was insufficient. Essentially, it allowed for continued overpumping, officials said. Until the sub-basin can chart a workable course to groundwater recovery, the district will remain under state oversight and potentially face pumping restrictions after a year on probation. The 744-square mile hydrological region sits between Fresno and Bakersfield and includes a handful of rural communities, such as Porterville in Tulare County. Agriculture is the dominant industry, using more than 90% of the areas groundwater. At one site near the town of Tipton, so much water has been pumped that the ground has dropped 7 feet since 2015, according to the state Department of Water Resources. Land also has sunk beneath the 152-mile Friant-Kern Canal, causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to the aqueduct carrying federally managed water. Additionally, many farmworker communities in the sub-basin have seen wells go dry. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Tuesdays decision to intervene partially excluded two water agencies in the region, the Delano Earlimart Irrigation District and Kern-Tulare Water District, because they had shown progress in improving aquifer conditions. The states plan to oversee noncompliant groundwater districts, though, hasnt worked out as well as officials had hoped so far, anyway. The neighboring Tulare Lake sub-basin was the first to be put on probation, but farmers there fought back and recently got a judge to put state sanctions on hold. In granting a preliminary injunction against the state water board, Kings County Superior Court Judge Kathy Ciuffini supported the agricultural communitys claims that intervention was too burdensome. The issue is expected to be taken up at a future trial. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He seemed to respond to Bakus latest accusations that Yerevan is not complying it with a relevant provision of the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. It requires the Armenian side to guarantee the security of transport links between Nakhichevan and the rest of Azerbaijan passing through Armenias Syunik province. An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman said earlier this week that Baku will use Iranian territory for that purpose if Yerevan continues to oppose the opening of such a corridor. Iran has already served as the main transit for Azerbaijan-Nakhichevan traffic for over three decades. Last October, Azerbaijani and Iranian officials broke ground on a new Iranian transit road bypassing Armenia. Pashinian said that Armenia is ready to open such transport links for Nakhichevan under the same conditions as the Islamic Republic of Iran gives Azerbaijan. Moreover, we do not rule out certain simplifications of [border] procedures, he told an Armenia-Diaspora conference held in Yerevan. The premier stressed that this must not compromise Armenias sovereignty or territorial integrity in any way. Pashinian said on August 31 that his government is ready to let a foreign company provide additional security along the would-be transport links for Nakhichevan. His foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, clarified afterwards that the company would escort passengers or cargo, rather than replace Armenian border and customs officers. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry indicated that such an arrangement would not satisfy Baku. Azerbaijani officials have said that traffic through the Zangezur corridor should be exempt from Armenian border controls. Syunik is the only Armenian region bordering Iran. The latter is strongly opposed to the opening of the extraterritorial corridor sought by Azerbaijan as well as Turkey, fearing a loss of its common border with Armenia. 18 September 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Azerbaijan, which is progressively enhancing its global influence, is now prioritizing the implementation of "green energy" initiatives and the export of "green energy" to international markets within its energy policy. In a bold stride towards cementing its position on the global stage, Azerbaijan is channeling its energy towards a transformative vision: integrating "green energy" initiatives with pioneering digital infrastructure. A key component of this initiative is the Trans-Caspian energy cable line project. As Azerbaijan leads the charge in marrying green energy with digital innovation, the Trans-Caspian energy cable project marks a significant milestone in its quest to become a central player in both realms. During the meeting of Central Asian and German leaders in Astana, the President of Kazakhstan, Kasim-Jomart Tokayev, discussed the project. President Tokayev mentioned that Germany could participate in the line through the Caspian Sea, a project being undertaken by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. "Our country, along with Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, is working on a project to build a line for transmitting 'green energy' through the Caspian Sea to European countries. We invite our German partners to consider participating in this strategic project," he said. Economic and strategic benefits: Germany's involvement in Caspian Green Energy Project If Germany participates in the project to build a "green energy" transmission line through the Caspian Sea, several potential outcomes could arise: Strengthened Energy Security: Germany would diversify its energy sources, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and increasing the share of renewable energy in its portfolio. Economic Growth: Participation could create job opportunities and stimulate economic activity in both Germany and the partner countries. It could lead to investments in technology and infrastructure. International Cooperation: This collaboration could enhance diplomatic relations between Germany and the Central Asian countries involved, fostering stronger ties in trade and technology exchange. Environmental Impact: A successful green energy project could significantly reduce carbon emissions, contributing to global climate goals and promoting sustainable development. Innovation and Technology Transfer: Germany, known for its engineering and renewable energy technology, could play a key role in developing advanced solutions for energy transmission, potentially benefiting local industries. Market Opportunities: German companies could access new markets for their renewable energy technologies and services, bolstering their international presence. Geopolitical Dynamics: The project might influence the geopolitical landscape in the region, attracting interest from other countries and potentially affecting relationships with existing energy suppliers. Project Overview: Caspian Green Energy Transmission Line Objective: To establish a sustainable energy corridor that facilitates the transmission of renewable energy from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan to European markets. Location: The transmission line will run beneath the Caspian Sea, connecting the energy-rich regions of Central Asia with Europe. Renewable Energy Sources: The project will utilize solar, wind, and hydropower from the participating countries, promoting clean energy generation. Capacity: The transmission line is expected to have a significant capacity to support Europes growing demand for renewable energy, enhancing energy security. Technological Innovations: The project will incorporate advanced technologies for energy transmission and conversion, ensuring efficient and reliable delivery of electricity. Environmental Impact: The initiative aims to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable development, aligning with global climate goals. Economic Benefits: The project is anticipated to create jobs, stimulate local economies, and foster technology transfer between participating countries and Germany. International Collaboration: By inviting German partners, the project seeks to leverage expertise in renewable energy technology and enhance diplomatic relations. Timeline: Preliminary phases include feasibility studies and environmental assessments, with construction expected to commence in the coming years. Regional Integration: Azerbaijans Role in connecting Europe and Asia through green energy infrastructure Azerbaijan is strategically positioned at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, making it a pivotal player in regional integration efforts, particularly in the green energy sector. The country is increasingly focusing on developing renewable energy resources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower, to diversify its energy portfolio and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Azerbaijan's geographical location allows it to serve as a vital transit hub for green energy, facilitating the transfer of electricity from Central Asia to European markets. The ongoing development of energy infrastructure, including the Caspian Green Energy Transmission Line, is a key initiative that underscores Azerbaijan's commitment to sustainability and cooperation with neighboring countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. By enhancing interconnectivity through this green energy infrastructure, Azerbaijan aims to strengthen regional ties and promote energy security for both itself and its partners. The project not only addresses Europes growing demand for renewable energy but also positions Azerbaijan as a leader in the transition to a more sustainable energy future. Furthermore, Azerbaijan's collaboration with international partners, including Germany, fosters technology transfer and investment, bolstering the countrys capabilities in renewable energy production and distribution. This initiative not only benefits Azerbaijan economically but also contributes to the broader goals of reducing carbon emissions and combatting climate change. In conclusion, Azerbaijan's push towards green energy is exemplified by the Trans-Caspian Energy cable project, which will create a new digital corridor between Europe and Asia. This initiative, involving Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and potentially Germany, aims to enhance connectivity, drive economic growth, and foster regional cooperation. Slated for completion by 2025, the project underscores Azerbaijan's growing role as a central digital hub and a key player in the global green energy market. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 10:21 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more On September 18, the third meeting of the Management Board of the Loss and Damage Fund began its work in Baku, Azernews reports. Although the decision to establish the Fund, aimed at assisting developing countriesespecially those vulnerable to the negative effects of climate changewas adopted at COP27, and the decision to launch it was made at COP28, the Fund has not yet commenced its practical activities. Azerbaijan's hosting of the third meeting of the Board of Directors, just ahead of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), is historically significant for the Fund's practical initiation. This also reflects the trust and confidence placed in our country, as well as the importance we attach to combating climate change and our attention to developing countries, including small island states. Organizing this event in our country enhances Azerbaijan's geopolitical significance as a global player and strengthens its position. During the three-day meeting of the Board of Directors, important decisions are anticipated regarding the Fund's acquisition of status as a financial entity within the World Bank system and the commencement of full practical activities. The appointment of the Fund's Executive Director is also planned for the meeting. Additionally, significant discussions will take place regarding the High-Level Dialogue on Financial Mechanisms for Loss and Damage, which is expected to be officially launched in our country during the Climate Action Summit of World Leaders at COP29. In his opening speech, the designated President of COP29, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev, emphasized the importance of global solidarity and heightened efforts in the fight against climate change, as well as the necessity to commence the Fund's practical activities. It is noteworthy that approximately 200 representatives from developed and developing countries, the UN and other international organizations, the World Bank, international NGOs, and like-minded groups participated in the meeting. Minister Babayev remarked that both COP27 and COP28 participants sought ways to combat climate change, and the 29th session of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change, to be held in Baku in November of this year, will serve similar goals. "At COP29, we will seek to make progress on all points of the Paris Agreement, building on the successes of previous COPs and aiding the implementation of the outcomes of the UAE Consensus. We must also make advancements on loss and damage, as the devastation caused by climate change is already affecting many people. Building on the successes of COP27 and COP28, we must fully activate the Fund to address loss and damage. We are often reminded of how urgent this task is. These events also entail significant economic costs, frequently borne by those least able to pay and those most vulnerable to climate change. As we announced, we will host dialogues at the leadership level to advance work in this area. We will continue to support coordination within the overall loss and damage landscape. We hope to take steps toward the full implementation of the Fund in the near future to mitigate loss and damage. We have only 54 days until the start of COP29. Communities around the world depend on us to make progress. Let's move forward urgently and decisively together," added M. Babayev. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 12:04 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Ukraine is set to play a crucial role in the Middle Corridor following the restoration of ferry connections with Georgia, according to Yuriy Gusev, Ukraine's Ambassador to Azerbaijan, at the opening of the "Black and Caspian Freight Forum 2024," Azernews reports. "Transportation and logistics are of great importance for countries, especially for Ukraine. We anticipate the restoration of ferry connections between Ukraine and Georgia soon. This will enable our country to become a vital part of the global Middle Corridor and transit route. We hope this meeting in Baku will foster logistics relations between China and the EU market, as well as between the Caucasus, Turkiye, and Ukraine," he stated. The Middle Corridor connects container railway cargo transportation between China and the European Union through Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkiye, and Eastern Europe. This multimodal transport infrastructure links ferry terminals on the Caspian and Black seas with the railway systems of China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkiye, Ukraine, and Poland. The Middle Corridor enhances the flow of cargo from China to Turkiye and European countries while facilitating transportation in the opposite direction. Trains operating on this corridor deliver goods from China to Europe in an average of 20-25 days, which is a significant advantage of this transport route. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 13:23 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Today, Azerbaijan is actively working to improve environmental health and the ecological condition of polluted areas. Umayra Taghiyeva, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, made this statement during her speech at the Caspian Energy Forum, Azernews reports. She emphasized that the government places great importance on addressing environmental issues and is taking practical steps in this direction. "Today, Azerbaijan is one of the main participants in the 'green transition,' which the world considers a top priority," she said. The deputy minister highlighted that achieving carbon neutrality in the territories freed from occupation is a key goal set for the next 30 years. Taghiyeva also noted the significant responsibility of hosting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the highest platform for addressing global climate changes. "The entire country is preparing for this prestigious event. During our chairmanship of COP29, we aim to reach an agreement on climate finance, an issue that has remained unresolved in the global climate agenda for many years. While there are sufficient financial resources available, a major challenge lies in directing these funds effectively to tackle climate issues on a global scale and ensuring they are spent wisely." --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Local officers and California Highway Patrol move in to remove students protesting in support of Gaza from occupied Anna Head Hall in Berkeley on May 16. UC police are seeking to further bulk up their stores of weapons and ammunition. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Update: On Sept. 19 the regents approved the weapons and ammunition requests from campus police over the objections of some students, whose protest briefly shut down the meeting at UCLA. University of California police, who clashed with student protesters on several campuses last term, will ask the UC regents this week to let them buy drones, robots, pepper balls, projectile launchers and sponge bullets to bulk up their supplies of weapons and ammunition. The regents will vote Thursday at UCLA on whether to approve requests for military equipment from five campuses: UC Berkeley, UCSF, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Such requests are not new. But in the aftermath of last years tensions, students and some other observers say they are concerned about the militarization of campus law enforcement and what the requests could mean for protests this year. All law enforcement agencies in the state have had to publicly request approval for new weapons and ammunition since September 2021, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB481 into law. In spite of the military references in the law and the request to the regents, however, UC officials say their campus police are requesting no equipment that is military grade or designed for military use. This equipment provides UC police officers with non-lethal alternatives to standard-issue firearms, enabling them to de-escalate situations and respond without the use of deadly force, said Stett Holbrook, a spokesperson for UC President Michael Drake. Still, the heightened attention on this years weapons requests comes after law enforcement clashed with pro-Palestinian student protesters at several campuses and counterprotesters at UCLA. Students have been calling on Israel to end its war in Gaza, which it launched after Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7. Campuses that saw large numbers of arrests this spring were UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The UC Student Association strongly opposes these weapons requests and we are troubled to see campuses invest money in weapons, rather than student basic needs, said Aditi Hariharan, a UC Davis senior and president of the UC-wide undergraduate student government. Citing issues of police violence on students last year, Hariharan urged the regents to vote no on the requests and said the student government would rather see the weapons budget spent on helping students facing extreme housing crises, food insecurity, and other basic needs shortages. UC spent $79,163 on weapons and ammunition last year, according to the request, which doesnt say how much the equipment would cost this year. UCLA and UC Berkeley police are asking for more of those materials this year than they did in 2023. The largest request comes from UCLA, which replaced its police chief after the departments botched handling of a sustained, violent attack by counterprotesters on a pro-Palestinian student encampment in April. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The campus is asking for 3,000 rounds of pepper bullets, 300 rounds of tear gas, 100 rounds of sponge projectiles, eight launchers to fire the ammunition, and three drones. Last year UCLA police asked only for 80 sponge bullets to augment their supply. All these tools are meant to provide officers with the ability to de-escalate or overcome self-destructive, dangerous or combative individuals without having to resort to deadly force, according to the requesting document. These tools are not used indiscriminately but with caution to protect the lives of UC community members/visitors and UC officers when bringing an incident to a conclusion with the least amount of force. UC Berkeley, which asked for no new equipment last year, is now requesting four drones, a hazardous devices robot to replace the one it has had for 20 years, and a breaching tool to break through barriers such as barricaded doors. UCSF, which is under investigation by House Republicans who accused the medical school last month of pervasive acts of antisemitic harassment and intimidation, is asking for three drones. It made no request last year. UC Santa Cruz where police arrested at least 110 pro-Palestinian demonstrators in May and banished them temporarily from campus is requesting a pair of drones. The campus received permission last year to buy the drones for research purposes but never did so. This years request doesnt use the word research. Advertisement Article continues below this ad UC Merced received permission last year to purchase 100 rounds of sponge bullets and five launchers but didnt buy them. The school said that this year it will. The University of California just announced a list of military weaponry it wants in order to escalate its warfare on its students, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a Los Angeles group that opposes police surveillance, posted Friday on a social media site. The post was shared more than 3,300 times and received at least 100 mostly supportive comments. Capt. Sabrina Reich of the UC Berkeley police, where campus officials negotiated a peaceful end to a 200-tent protest encampment in May, disputed the coalitions characterization. The equipment requests are intended to modernize security measures, not escalate tensions, Reich said, adding that the goal is to improve public safety. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At UC Berkeley last term, police clashed only minimally with pro-Palestinian protesters. Instead, they tackled an unrelated active shooter at the Clark Kerr campus last month and sent hundreds of officers to surround Peoples Park and ward off anti-development activists in January. Nowhere does the requesting document from UC police mention student protesters. It says the equipment is needed because critical incidents are unpredictable, often fluid, and dynamic in nature. In May, when at least a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters took over an abandoned building at UC Berkeley in May, dozens of officers arrived and arrested them. They brought sponge bullets and launchers but didnt fire them, Reich said. 18 September 2024 15:41 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Cooperation relations between the energy systems of Azerbaijan and Italy were discussed, Azernews reports citing AzerEnergy. Chairman Balababa Rzayev met with Italian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Luca di Gianfrancesco. They discussed cooperation in energy, President Ilham Aliyev's recent visit to Italy, and its contributions to the energy sector. The participation of Italian company "Ansaldo Energia" and other firms in ongoing and future energy projects in Azerbaijan was also addressed. It should be noted that the relationship between the parties is characterized by a mutually beneficial partnership based on respect for each other's interests. Azerbaijan and Italy have long-standing traditions of cooperation, particularly in the economic field, and their relations are currently at a high level. The recent visit of the head of state is an indicator of the strengthening economic and political ties. One of the main aspects of economic relations between Azerbaijan and Italy is trade. With a mutual trade turnover exceeding $6 billion, Italy is one of Azerbaijans key trade partners. Cooperation in energy has reached a particularly high level. Since gaining independence, Italy has invested over $770 million in Azerbaijan's economy, while Azerbaijan has invested $1.7 billion in Italy, reflecting successful investment cooperation. Notably, traditional energy trade is a significant component of their relationship. Both countries are successfully implementing major projects in the oil and gas sector, with Italy becoming the largest trading partner for Azerbaijan's crude oil and oil products. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 12:53 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more The 12th International Caspian Energy Forum has officially kicked off in Baku, organized by the Caspian Energy Club. The forum brings together key figures from Azerbaijan's energy sector and international companies to discuss vital topics surrounding the region's energy landscape, Azernews reports. Among the notable speakers are Orkhan Zeynalov, Azerbaijans Deputy Minister of Energy, Umayra Taghiyeva, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, and Javid Abdullayev, Head of the State Agency for Renewable Energy Sources. Representatives from companies such as Masdar, Acwa Power, and SOCAR are also contributing to the discussions. During the event Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) CJSC Emil Mammadov highlighted that Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) and China are discussing increasing the number of railway services to Europe. "You know that for the past year we have been engaged in the maintenance issues of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) corridor. We have completed the work, focusing on the main operational and maintenance aspects, and the main link has been restored, which will operate from June 2024. Thanks to this, the transmission capacity of the line has increased from 1 million tons to 5 million tons," he noted. According to him, currently, BTK is the shortest and most convenient route for cargo transportation from Central Asian countries to Europe or Africa. "In terms of the connections between Azerbaijan and the Central Asian region of Turkey, this is the shortest land route, which enables not only traditional cargo transportation, but also continental rail supply. Also, we are discussing with our Chinese partners to increase the number of rail routes to Europe so that this will create an additional opportunity for China to enter the European market," he added. In his online address to the forum participants, European Union Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, confirmed the EUs commitment: "The European Union will provide financial and technical support to the implementation of 'green' energy corridor projects from the South Caucasus and Central Asia." He emphasized the importance of these regions in implementing the energy and transport corridors that are crucial for the EU: "The European Union will provide financial and technical support to the implementation of 'green' energy corridor projects from these regions, and at the same time, it will support the development of the Middle Corridor within the framework of the European Union's TEN-T strategy." Varhelyi also stressed the importance of increasing Azerbaijan's gas supply to Europe, in light of declining supplies from Russia, and shared his high expectations for the upcoming COP29 summit in Baku, noting that "this climate summit will help to make progress on clean and renewable energy projects." It's noteworthy that last year Tbilisi (Georgia) hosted the 11th Caspian Energy Investment Forum on February 20, 2023, jointly organized by the Caspian Energy Club and Caspian Energy Georgia. The official support for the event was provided by the embassies of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Georgia and Georgia in Azerbaijan. Assistant Tour was the golden sponsor of the forum. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 16:43 (UTC+04:00) Elnur Enveroglu Read more Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan touched on the issue of the Zangazur Corridor during the discussion of foreign and internal security issues at the II World Armenian Summit. He again tried to draw attention with his ambitious statements. Approaching from the perspective of Armenia, he called the Zangazur road, which connects the territories of Azerbaijan, a "crossroads of the world" project and noted that Armenia is ready to open all roads passing through its territory. The Armenian Prime Minister also emphasised the importance of ensuring the security of his country once the roads are opened. "In Syunik, Tavush, Gegharkunik, and Vayots Dzor, we are ready to give our way to all possible places," added Pashinyan. It is interesting that when Pashinyan talks about the "Crossroads of the World" project, what does he mean by mentioning the security of the territorial integrity of his country? Pashinyan puts forward a question on what principles the roads should protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction of Armenia without detours and damage, that is, as in all countries of the world as a priority. The answer is as follows: only one principle plays a key role here - ending the blockade of Nakhchivan, which is the territory of Azerbaijan, and opening the Zangazur corridor, which will ensure the connection of the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, without reservation and unconditionally. Nikol Pashinyan touched on the current situation of Azerbaijan's communication lines with Iran as an alternative and noted that he would gratefully offer Azerbaijan simpler conditions. If Pashinyan is talking about the jurisdiction of the territory of Armenia, then the prime minister is advised to look carefully at history. His speech about the opening of communications under "conditions" comes from the fact that Armenia still regards the Almaty agreement as a sacred reference. Although the Almaty agreement reached between the countries in 1991 that left the Soviet Union also exists between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the mentioned document does not indicate exact figures about the territorial dimensions of either Azerbaijan or Armenia. The reason is that Armenia hides many authentic documents related to the territories of both countries. Armenia does not want to look back on its conventional borders with Azerbaijan since 1974. This shows Armenia as a suspicious party in its behaviour. There is no need to doubt it. If we just look at 1929, it is enough to say that until Migri (Mehri), which is the main segment of the Zangazur corridor, as well as Syunik, Tavush, Gegharkunik, and Vayots Dzord territories, which Pashinyan emphasised in his speech, were gifted to the Armenians by Levon Mirzoyan, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, it was present in the maps of 1923. Although Armenia has erased this history from its page, Pashinyan, who has repeatedly said that he recognises the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, avoids these facts and never touches on this issue in his speeches. However, the truth is that those territories and the routes that cross through them, which were formerly Azerbaijani territories and whose names were changed, are being presented to Azerbaijan on the basis of "simplified conditions". --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 09:13 (UTC+04:00) A delegation consisting of diplomats accredited in Azerbaijan, including military attaches and heads of international organizations, arrived in Sugovushan village of Aghdara region, Azernews reports. Further to the information, more than 60 diplomats, including 20 ambassadors, accompanied by Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, are participating in the visit. During the visit, the diplomats and military attaches had the opportunity to get acquainted with the restoration and reconstruction projects implemented in Sugovushan. The delegation visited the main infrastructure facilities, including the Sugovushan and Sarsang reservoirs, as well as the Yukhari Vang hydropower plant, which plays an important role in the recovery of the economy of the liberated territories and energy supply. The visit of the representatives of the diplomatic corps made it possible to evaluate the scope of the works carried out and the prospects of the region, as well as the efforts of our country in the direction of ensuring sustainable development and peaceful integration of the lands freed from occupation. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 16:38 (UTC+04:00) On September 18, the "Kapanak" (Butterfly) kindergarten, a newly built preschool educational institution, was officially opened in Baku's Narimanov district. Leyla Aliyeva, Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, participated in the opening ceremony, Azernews reports. Yuliya Aliyeva, director of the "Kapanak" (Butterfly) preschool educational institution, informed Leyla Aliyeva about the kindergarten's mission, which is to foster both academic and social-emotional development in children while ensuring a smooth transition to the school environment. The "Kapanak" (Butterfly) kindergarten will cater to children aged 3-6, with separate groups for ages 3-4, 4-5, and 5-6. In addition to providing high-quality education, the kindergarten will focus on the comprehensive development of children and their participation in social events. Extracurricular activities will also be offered to promote both mental and creative growth. During the visit, Leyla Aliyeva toured the two-story facility and provided valuable recommendations regarding the children's education. The kindergarten also emphasized the importance of staff professional development, planning to follow educational trends and participate in online trainings, including the Cambridge program. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 16:58 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more On September 18, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov met with a delegation led by Joshua Haq, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Azernews reports. The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that bilateral and multilateral cooperation issues between Azerbaijan and the United States, as well as the regional situation in the post-conflict period and the prospects for the normalisation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, were discussed at the meeting. Azerbaijan-US cooperation was highly appreciated within the framework of preparations for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will be hosted by Azerbaijan this year. Despite efforts to create positive dynamics in bilateral relations and define cooperation prospects, it was noted that the biased opinions of some US officials negatively impact bilateral relations. In this regard, on September 16, it was referenced that statements made by Isobel Coleman, the deputy administrator of the International Development Agency, against Azerbaijan at the Armenian embassy in the United States disrespected the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, as well as the anti-terrorist measures that ended the illegal presence of Armenian armed forces in the sovereign territories of our country. It was emphasised that such statements aim to distort the facts. During the meeting, the other side was informed about the situation in the region in the post-conflict period, including the normalisation process and peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It was mentioned that Azerbaijan, as the initiator of the main elements of the peace process, is committed to establishing peace and stability in the region. The threats posed by mines in the region were noted, and possible cooperation in this area was discussed. Despite significant progress in the negotiations on the peace agreement, it was emphasised that the most serious obstacle to signing the final peace agreement is the continuation of territorial claims against Azerbaijan in several legal and political documents of Armenia, especially its Constitution. Additionally, it was stated that Armenia's policy of militarisation does not serve peace and stability in the region. During the meeting, views were exchanged on other bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 20:16 (UTC+04:00) Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, visited the family of Mubariz Ibrahimov, a National Hero of Azerbaijan, in the Aliabad village of Bilasuvar district, Azernews reports. During her visit, Leyla Aliyeva toured the house museum dedicated to Mubariz Ibrahimov, designed to instill a sense of patriotism and heroism in the younger generation. She reviewed Mubariz Ibrahimov's personal belongings and exhibits that showcase his life and achievements. Leyla Aliyeva also visited the family home, where she spoke with the parents of the National Hero. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 18:55 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more In early 2026, flying taxis will launch in Dubai, UAE, as announced by Khalid Al Awadi, director of the transport technologies department at the Dubai Transport and Highways Authority (RTA), Azernews reports. "We plan to launch the flying taxi service in the first quarter of 2026. We are currently testing and certifying the vehicles with US company Joby Aviation, while designing a vertical port station with UK firm Skyports," he said. Two out of four planned vertical airports will open in early 2026, complete with monitoring and security services for air taxis. Additionally, unmanned taxis developed with General Motors are expected to operate in Dubai by 2025, currently in the testing phase. "By 2035, we aim for all taxis in Dubai to be electric, and by 2050, the entire bus fleet will be electric," Al Awadi added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 September 2024 19:21 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more Budapest will soon be deprived of a share of its EU funds for refusing to pay the fine imposed by the European Court of Justice, Azernews reports. The European Commission has triggered a special procedure to deduct the 200 million fine that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has imposed on Hungary over the country's long-standing restrictions on the right to asylum. The fine has to be paid as a lump sum to the European Commission. Budapest missed the first deadline in late August, prompting the executive to send a second payment request with a deadline of 17 September. Since this second request was also ignored, the Commission said on Wednesday it would activate the so-called "offsetting procedure" to subtract the 200 million fine from Hungary's allocated share of the EU budget. The mechanism will look into various financial envelopes expected to be disbursed to Hungary in the coming weeks. Around 21 billion of cohesion and recovery funds earmarked for Hungary remain frozen due to rule-of-law decline. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A former Pittsburg police officer was sentenced to three months in prison after admitting to taking part in a college-degree scam in an effort to raise his pay. Seng Kui Lim/Getty Images A former Pittsburg police officer was sentenced Tuesday to three months in prison for taking part in a college-degree scam that bumped his pay and defrauded the East Bay city. Ernesto Mejia-Orozco broke down in tears as he apologized for his crimes moments before he was sentenced to prison and three years of supervised release. You couldnt fathom what this has done to me and my family, he told U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White at the federal courthouse in Oakland, adding that he accepted responsibility for his participation in the scheme. Advertisement Article continues below this ad More than a dozen supporters of Mejia-Orozco sat in the audience during the hearing. Prosecutors asked for a six-month term, saying it was important to send a message to the public and other officers that no one is above the law. Defense attorney Steven Kalar pushed for probation, saying in part that the media attention the case received and the fact that the crimes ended Mejia-Orozcos career sent a message strong enough to deter similar crimes. Mejia-Orozco paid then-fellow Pittsburg police officer Patrick Berhans romantic partner to complete online classes from December 2020 to March 2021 for a bachelors degree in criminal justice from California Coast University. The degree led to a pay bump of $6,800 and a reimbursement of $4,600 as part of an incentive program the city offers employees with college degrees. Five other former Pittsubrg and Antioch police officers who prosecutors said participated in the scheme were charged along with Mejia-Orozco. Mejia-Orozco, who was hired in 2014, resigned in 2022. Around the time he resigned, he wrote the city a check for about $9,500 as a form of reimbursement. Advertisement Article continues below this ad On Tuesday, he was ordered to pay the city about $11,500 in restitution, with credit for the funds already paid. White also instructed him to turn himself in on Jan. 6 to serve his term in prison. In an unrelated case in Contra Costa Superior Court, Mejia-Orozco and other officers were charged with criminal conspiracy, with prosecutors alleging they schemed to void traffic tickets in exchange for bribes. He is set to plead guilty in the case next week. In May, Mejia-Orozco was sued in Contra Costa Superior Court by a man, Ashton Porter, who claimed Mejia-Orozco used excessive force when the former officer shot him in February after a 20-hour standoff at a hotel. Police said Porter emerged from a hotel room with a knife. Porter's lawsuit said he was experiencing a mental health crisis. The federal case that cracked down on the college-degree scam was one of four that came as a result of a two-year investigation that rocked the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments. A total of 10 former Antioch and Pittsburg police officers were charged with various crimes. The other charges included excessive force and distribution of steroids, a controlled substance that requires a prescription under federal law. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mad Fritz Brewing has opened a new taproom in Napa Valley. Erik Castro/Special To The Chronicle Harvest is often touted as the best season to visit Wine Country, but its not the only reason to plan a trip among the vines this fall. Another draw is Rutherford's Bella Union, arguably the most anticipated winery opening of the year, which just unveiled its posh, millennial and Gen Z-inspired digs complete with a floating, glass-walled tasting room. The new industrial-chic River Club Napa specializes in lighter, easy-drinking wines and is the only Napa Valley tasting room with a riverfront view, while nearby Apero offers Mommenpop spritzes, Italian wines and bites from Bay Area standout A16, including a pesto flight. On weekends, lines often form around the block for Stateline Road Smokehouse, a Kansas City barbecue joint from a former fine dining chef, which opened inside a former Napa auto shop in August. New top restaurant guide: Best desserts in the Bay Area Advertisement Article continues below this ad Other additions to Napa Valley include the wine regions first soul food restaurant they had us at fried lobster bites plus a lakeside wine tasting experience and another with a pizza pairing. But Sonoma County is calling, too, with a whimsical brunch spot and a fancy Mexican restaurant in Healdsburg; a natural wine hot spot in Sonoma; an oyster takeout window; and a plant-based restaurant that benefits rescued goats. Read on for the scoop on 10 exciting developments in Napa and Sonoma counties. Check out the last installment here. Cult Napa brewery opens a mini taproom Mad Fritz, the locally famous brewery from longtime Napa winemaker Nile Zerlache, has opened a tiny taphouse next door to the Jessup Cellars tasting room in Yountville. For 10 years, Mad Fritz has specialized in uber-craft beers made like wine and focused on terroir. Zacherle sources most of his water, hops and wheat locally as opposed to from the large commercial operations that supply most breweries and even malts his barley in-house. His serious and often pricey bottlings have been difficult to find, typically sold to only a handful of Napa Valley restaurants. But now, anyone can swing by the taproom (open Thursday-Sunday) to sample and purchase Mad Fritz brews. Seating is available indoors and out. 6720 Washington St., Yountville. madfritz.com Advertisement Article continues below this ad New boathouse pavilions at Cuvaison Winery in Napa. Provided by Cuvaison Winery The most peaceful wine tasting ever One of Napa Valleys most beautiful wineries featuring a glass-walled tasting room in the middle of 200 acres of vineyards has upped the ante. Cuvaison Winery, set in Napas hilly Carneros region, added a pair of boathouse-inspired pavilions next to its serene pond, where ducks, owls and fish can often be spotted. Groups of up to six people can book a private boathouse tasting ($150 per person) including a diverse flight of six wines and four food pairings, like crudites with green goddess dressing, a pork tostada and an espresso panna cotta. The experience also kicks off with a tour of the vineyard and cellar. 1221 Duhig Road, Napa. cuvaison.com Dos' Bar, a natural wine tasting room in Sonoma. Jess Lander/The Chronicle Sonoma gets another natural wine hot spot Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wine Countrys quiet natural wine scene is growing with Dos Bar in downtown Sonoma, just a few streets over from natural wine-loving restaurant Valley Bar + Bottle. Yet while Dos is designed like a casual bar with a minimalist and homey feel and operates like one, offering wine by the glass or bottle, its really a popup tasting room for a handful of small wine and cider producers from Sonoma County, such as Marioni, Caleb Leisure and Fresco. Taste a modern-day White Zinfandel thats not sickly sweet; a skin-contact Falanghina; or even a wine made from hybrid grape varieties. (Hybrids are the product of grapevines genetically crossed with two different grape species.) Many of the winemakers host more formal tastings at Dos with advance booking, and theres also a bottle shop so you can take wines to go. 521 Broadway, Suite A, Sonoma. dosbar.com Vegan fare that saves the animals A new plant-based restaurant in Sebastopol is donating 100% of its proceeds to a farm animal sanctuary. Named Goatlandia Kitchen, the restaurant has, ironically, opened in a former barbecue spot, serving meatless plates like mushroom ceviche with leche de tigre ($15) and a gochujang tofu sandwich ($21). Theres even a fully vegan cheese board ($26) and desserts such as carrot cake ($13) and a peanut butter chocolate parfait ($13). Owner Deborah Blum started the restaurant which has a large, rustic outdoor patio, plus a weekend happy hour with $5 beers and $10 glasses of wine to support her goat rescue of the same name. 6811 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol. goatlandia.org Advertisement Article continues below this ad Tiramisu French toast from Acorn Cafe in Healdsburg. Provided by Acorn Cafe A buzzy brunch spot lands in Healdsburg Last year, the famed Oakville Grocery closed its Healdsburg location after 25 years. Its replacement, Acorn Cafe, is offering something the glitzy Wine Country city has arguably been lacking: a good brunch spot thats not too fancy. Inspired by Australias cafe culture, Acorn serves classic brunch fare such as avocado toast ($15) and huevos rancheros ($17). Some dishes come with a fun and unexpected twist, like Tiramisu French toast ($16); a sesame bagel topped with peanut butter, honey and bruleed bananas ($12); and Green Eggs & Ham, consisting of poached eggs, herbed yogurt and grilled ham on sourdough ($18). For drinks, choose from brunch cocktails (zero-proof options available), a smoothie, juice or fancy coffee like peach matcha tea or a rose cardamom espresso. Reservations are only available for parties of 8 or more, so go early to snag a table. 124 Matheson St., Healdsburg. acornhealdsburg.com Bay Area seafood star expands Advertisement Article continues below this ad Hog Island Oyster Co. has added a new Wine Country location, but it looks very different from its outposts at the San Francisco Ferry Building, Marin Country Mart and Napas Oxbow Public Market. The companys latest spot is a grab-and-go window on Petalumas First Street offering raw seafood like oysters, mussels, spot prawns, abalone and fish. The window also sells Hog Island merch, oyster shucking tools and condiments, including its Hogwash mignonette, cocktail sauce and flavored oyster butters. The catch and were not talking fish is that its only open 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday-Friday, and you must place your order online in advance. 419 First St., Suite B, Petaluma. hogislandoysters.com Silver Trident is pairing wine with pizza in Yountville. Provided by Silver Trident Winery A not-so-stuffy wine and food pairing Food pairings are a dime a dozen at wineries these days, but few are as fun as Silver Tridents new pizza pairing ($80), featuring a flight of five wines and five pizzettes strips of Detroit-style pizza like raclette and king trumpet mushroom; braised short rib with fennel; and butternut squash with feta and hot honey. The experience is offered in downtown Yountville at a new and larger location for Silver Trident, which doubles as a Ralph Lauren Home Collection showroom and even has a treat flight for dogs. 6484 Washington St., Suite G, Yountville. silvertridentwinery.com A snazzy new paradise for Pinot lovers For over 20 years, the Kanzler family has sold grapes to noted California Pinot Noir producers such as Kosta Browne, Flowers, Gary Farrell and Rivers-Marie, the brand from revered wine consultant Thomas Rivers Brown. This summer, after a seven-year permitting and construction process, the Kanzlers finally opened a splashy new tasting room at their Sebastopol property a former apple orchard set just 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean to showcase their own wines. Sophisticated and minimalistic, the Kanzler Vineyards tasting room features striking art and furnishings. Natural light shines through massive windows and an expansive deck overlooks 20 acres of Pinot Noir vines. Private tastings ($75) include a flight of five wines: a rose, Chardonnay and three Pinots. The family also rents out a four-bedroom guest house if you want to say overnight. 2109 Sanders Road, Sebastopol. kanzlervineyards.com Oysters topped with mango leche de tigre at Arandas. Provided by Nick Winn/Arandas Wine Country empire expands again The latest development from billionaire Bill Foley, who owns many Wine Country wineries, hotels and restaurants, is a fancy Mexican restaurant in Healdsburg. Arandas, which replaced Chalkboard at Hotel Les Mars, embodies a moody and highbrow hacienda with dark tones, snakeskin wallpaper and woven accents. Dishes include oysters (3 for $14, 6 for $28) topped with brightly colored mango leche de tigre; papas with avocado crema and trout roe ($28, or $120 with sturgeon caviar); green chorizo tacos with an artichoke-white bean salsa ($32); and a New York Strip steak paired with a beet and carrot mole ($80). Add a clarified margarita ($20) or the Dillicioso, a gin cocktail with an heirloom tomato-dill shrub ($16). 29 North St., Healdsburg. arandashealdsburg.com Soul food fills a void in Napa Two cousins recently opened Napa Valleys first dedicated soul food restaurant specializing in Louisiana staples like shrimp and grits, fried catfish, oxtails in gravy and, on Sundays only, seafood gumbo. Other crowd pleasers at Lil Sistas Goodys Soul Food are fried lobster bites and a deviled eggs flight featuring fancy toppings of smoked salmon, crab and caviar. On Saturday and Sundays, Lil Sistas offers brunch and dinner buffets ($35-$75 per person). Dont miss Momma Barbs 7-Up pound cake with lemon icing for dessert. CommonSpirit Vascular Surgery Penrose, a clinic located inside Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo., was forced to close after an "abrupt departure of all medical providers," The Denver Gazette reported Sept. 18. The clinic permanently closed Sept. 6, according to the report, and letters have been sent out informing patients of the situation. The vascular clinic had employed two surgeons, along with two physician assistants and one nurse practitioner. The report did not include information as to why the providers suddenly left, but one patient interviewed indicated that the clinic had been given no notice of the closure and that his upcoming appointment to review tests and schedule a surgery was canceled. Here I am, I can barely walk, and Penrose has done nothing to reach out other than to tell me I need to start the scheduling process over again. They gave me six phone numbers of other doctors, and five were in Denver," former patient Richard Rauschkolb said. He was a patient at the vascular clinic for eight years. The Chicago-based, Catholic-affiliated CommonSpirit Health finalized an agreement in August 2023 to take over 15 of the 20 hospitals that had previously been under the Centura Health system for 27 years in Colorado and western Kansas. This included the clinic at Penrose Hospital. "CommonSpirit Penrose Hospital is grateful to Dr. William Chambers and Dr. William Fry for their decades-long service to our patients in the Colorado Springs community," spokesperson for the hospital system Lindsay Radford said in a statement to the Gazette. "We are disappointed they chose to leave the hospital, and we recognize the inconvenience this causes their patients." CommonSpirit also said that it is "actively working to connect these patients with high-quality medical care" and that they would be welcoming new vascular surgeons in the coming months. On Oct. 14, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will hold a public hearing for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptists certificate-of-need application to open a new ASC, the Winston-Salem Journal reported Sept. 18. Atrium submitted a certificate-of-need application for the $25.06 million ASC in August. The plan includes shifting two operating rooms from Baptist's Ardmore campus to the proposed ASC. Written comments may be submitted to the health department's Healthcare Planning and Certificate of Need Section by Oct. 1. The ASC is projected to open in May 2026, with the operating rooms following in July 2026, according to the report. The 242,000-square-foot location would serve ophthalmology, otolaryngology and plastic surgery patients and would be led by Craig Greven, MD, chairman of the medical schools ophthalmology department. The ASC would have two non-licensed minor procedure rooms, a LASIK procedure room, 20 recovery rooms and nurse stations, operating room support spaces and a reception and business area, the report said. Elkins Park, Pa.-based Salus University is removing the dean of its Pennsylvania College of Optometry as the university moves forward on a merger with Philadelphia-based Drexel University, according to a Sept. 13 report from The Philadelphia Inquirer. Michael Mittelman, president of the small private health sciences university and Provost Gerard OSullivan, made the decision to remove Dr. Melissa Trego, OD, who served as dean for the last eight years. Faculty in the optometry college approved a vote of no confidence for Mr. Park and Mr. O'Sullivan following Dr. Trego's removal. "Dr. Mittelman's decision to remove Dr. Melissa Trego, the current dean, who has been an outstanding leader for the past eight years, has created widespread concern and discontent among faculty, staff, students, and alumni," faculty wrote in a letter, noting that 55 of 62 eligible faculty voted in favor of the no-confidence measure, according to the report. More than 360 students also approved a no-confidence vote in Salus leaders, they wrote in a letter to Drexel leadership. In a statement, Salus said that Dr. Trego "stepped down." She was offered an opportunity to remain on the faculty, according to the report. Salus claims it is making the leadership change following a decline in the academic performance of the optometry program, according to the report. An interim dean is expected to be appointed in the coming days. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education has already approved the merger between Salus and Drexel, but Salus will run independently until the U.S. Department of Education gives its approval, which is likely next summer. Ms. Trego was told the Salus administration was concerned that students' first-time pass rates were falling below the national average over the past few years. Faculty say it's unfair to blame the dean and assert that the school has continued to meet accreditation standards that require that 80% of students pass all three parts within six years of matriculation. Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation has launched a campaign to raise $1 billion, the largest fundraising effort ever undertaken by a health system in New Jersey. Edison-based Hackensack Meridian Health raised more than $10 million at its annual gala on Sept. 14, bringing its foundation's fundraising total to over $608 million. The "Be The Difference" campaign is built upon four pillars designed to support Hackensack Meridian Health's vision for New Jersey: Better delivery of patient care. Revolutionizing medical education and supporting the nursing profession. Accelerating research and discovery. Ensuring more equitable access to advanced care. "This initiative marks a transformative moment in our healthcare journey, aiming to revolutionize the delivery of patient care, elevate community health and advance medical education and research," Robert Garrett, CEO of the health system, said in a Sept. 17 news release. "The impact of this campaign will resonate far beyond the walls of our hospitals and facilities, improving the health and lives of everyone in New Jersey." Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has warned that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans sometimes deny enrollees' requests for essential services they need.1 2 In response to these findings, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a 2024 rule to clarify clinical criteria guidelines to ensure people with MA receive access to the same medically necessary care they would receive in traditional Medicare.3 Unfortunately, providers report little improvement since the rule became effective in January. Inappropriate denials continue to cause poor outcomes for patients, hospital readmissions and increased waste of taxpayer dollars. Inpatient Rehab Denials The 2024 MA rule did not help U.S. Air Force veteran and Pearl River, LA resident George Carrigan. After complications from diabetes required an amputation of his leg, Humana denied his doctors recommendation for care at an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF), despite Medicare rules listing amputation as a condition requiring such services.4 Humanas two denial letters said he did not need supervision from a rehab physician or interdisciplinary care team, even though these clinicians would have helped control his diabetes, monitored the healing of his wound, managed his medications, and prepared him to return home independently. The services you need can be provided safely in other settings, wrote Humana, before sending him to a less expensive setting where his condition deteriorated. Carrigans daughter and family caregiver, Colleen Fickle, said her dad slipped in the nursing homes shower and now needs wound care on the amputated limb. Poor catheter maintenance also caused him to be readmitted to the hospital with sepsis. Fickle, who works full time while also caring for her child with a brain injury, said her father is now bedbound at home and dependent on family. She believes none of these complications would have happened and that her father would be walking today if Humana had permitted him to receive close medical supervision at an IRF.5 Mandeville resident William Sercovich, also a U.S. Air Force veteran, suffered two strokes and faced multiple denials before Humana approved his request for IRF services. Both Humana denial letters repeated Medicares rehab criteria without explaining why Sercovich did not need a rehab doctor, intensive team or three hours of therapy per day. We were in the hospital for two weeks longer than we should have been because of denials from the insurance company, said his daughter, Sondra Sercovich. I hope people take action, so it doesn't take so many denials to get the proper medical care." The OIG estimated a difference of more than $8,500 in average payments per stay between IRFs and nursing homes for 2018.6 OIG has also warned that MA plans may deny needed care to in an attempt to increase their profits, misusing funds that CMS paid for peoples healthcare.7 In 2022, OIG physicians audited MA care denials for IRF services and found that in some cases patients met admission criteria, needed higher-level care and alternatives were insufficient to meet their needs.8 Studies have found that MA enrollees are more likely to enter lower-quality nursing homes compared to fee-for-service enrollees.9 When used appropriately, prior authorization can limit low-value services, but healthcare providers also caution that cost containment provisions that do not have proper medical justification can put patient outcomes in jeopardy.10 A recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study comparing MA plans found that prior authorization requests were most common for Humana plans.11 Humana did not respond to requests for comments on its prior authorization practices under new federal rules. This year, CMS warned MA plans they may not deny a hospital patients request for discharge to an IRF or redirect care to a different setting if a physician orders these services and the patient qualifies under Medicare coverage rules.12 Yet, plans have significant leeway in how they interpret this directive, and families often lack the time to appeal when the patient is ready to leave the hospital. Fickle said her father needed intensive therapy at Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital in Lacombe, LA. Speaking of the value of IRF care, the hospitals CEO Laurel Dupont said one single hospital readmission would cost [MA plans] as much if not more than the entire rehab stay. Northshore Rehab had zero readmissions of an amputee patient during all of 2023. A study by Dobson DaVanzo & Associates comparing IRF and skilled nursing facility patients found that IRF patients returned home earlier and remained there longer, with lower mortality rates, emergency room visits and hospital readmissions.13 Several providers report concerning automatic denials for IRF services. In recent months, TIRR Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston reported receiving automatic MA denials for 90% of prior authorization requests. If they give us a denial, theyll say you can go to [a peer-to-peer call with our physician] or you can go ahead and discharge to a nursing home, and Ill give you that approval now, said financial clearance manager Courtney Roberson, adding that these automatic denials often keep a patient in the hospital for four to five days longer, taking weekends into account. Patients also stay in the hospital longer because MA plans are not required to include IRFs in their provider networks, even though IRF services are a Medicare covered benefit. Its not right for Medicare beneficiaries to not have access to this level of care, said TIRR Memorial Hermann CEO Rhonda M. Abbott. It doesnt make sense to eliminate a whole level of care. Last year during a congressional hearing, the American Hospital Association (AHA) described how MA plans financially benefit from these post-acute care delays, explaining that the plan has already paid the hospital a flat rate for care and is either delaying or attempting to avoid discharging the patient to the next site of care, which would require a separate, additional reimbursement. AHA claims data analysis reflects that length of stay in the referring hospital is typically longer for MA beneficiaries than traditional Medicare beneficiaries being discharged to a post-acute setting.14 These transfer delays also contribute to the overcrowding of emergency departments. An example is a patient who is on a regular floor bed who needs to go to post-acute care, said Baton Rouge emergency physician Dr. John Jones. I need that bed for my next congestive heart failure patient whos in the emergency department, and I can't put them in there because it's being occupied by somebody who's waiting three days over the weekend to get placed. Cardiology and Cancer Care MA plans also deny care for patients who need high-quality, Medicare-covered cardiology and cancer care services. Cardiologist Dr. Joe Deumite, in Baton Rouge, offered two examples. In one case, Humana twice denied care to a man who needed a pacemaker. He had 73 episodes where his heart paused for more than three seconds and several episodes where his heart paused for up to 5.2 seconds, he said, adding that the care was finally approved by an independent review entity. In another instance, Dr. Deumite said a woman who suffers from irregular heart rhythms has had to go to the emergency room and take medications because Humana denied her appeals to receive a cardiac ablation. There are several heart rhythms that respond to ablation, where you just slide up a catheter and cauterize a circuit, and its curative. In April, Baton Rouge medical oncologist Dr. Gerald Miletello recorded a social media video testimonial where he described a dangerous care delay for one of his lung cancer patients.15 A six-week delay is not following the guidelines because you can easily die with stage four cancer in six weeks, he said. Radiation oncologist Dr. William Russell, in Baton Rouge, said his patients have faced delays when they need to start concurrent chemotherapy with radiation. He also criticized MA plans requirement that he conduct a CT scan before they will approve a PET scan. You have to do diagnostic tests that are not going to be as relevant as the one that you wanted, he said. It costs the payers more money to go through that process. The 2024 MA rule prohibits this practice of step therapy for non-drug services. Medical oncologist Dr. Michael Castine, in Baton Rouge, said MA plan documentation requests require him to factor in 10 days between planning and implementation of a patients cancer treatment. He mentioned risks for patients with small cell lung cancer, aggressive lymphomas or risks of brain metastasis, warning that a delay of treatment by a week or two might actually change the whole plan. Peer to Peer Frustrations Physicians also criticized the quality of communication they received from MA plan physicians when they call to appeal a patient-care denial. Theyre making it up as they go along, said physical medicine and rehabilitation physician Dr. Adam Carter, who serves as medical director of ClearSky Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Flower Mound, Texas. I see them as constrained by their employer. You can almost tell by the first 10 seconds into your conversation whether it's going to work or not, because you can tell whether that physician is reasonable, said Dr. Deumite. They're looking at year-and-a-half old guidelines. Policy Solutions for Improving Medicare Advantage Federal leaders have designed a broad range of solutions to help hold MA plans more accountable. Some changes will not begin until 2026, and stakeholders want additional timeliness and transparency requirements for meaningful patient-care improvements. Timeliness Today, MA plans must make a prior authorization decision within 14 business days for standard requests and 72 hours for expedited or emergency requests. In 2026, the deadline for standard requests will become seven business days. Stakeholders have called for a 24-hour deadline for emergency requests; pending federal legislation would suggest, but not require, CMS to institute such an expedited timeline.16 17 Reporting In 2026, MA plans must begin publicly reporting aggregate contract-level prior authorization metrics, including denial rates and timeliness. Much of this information already exists today. According to KFF, MA plans denied 3.4 million prior authorization requests in 2022. Only one in ten denials were appealed, but more than 8 out of 10 appeals resulted in overturning the denial. With limited data, its not possible to determine the initial reasons for these improper care delays. A study by Premier found that MA denials are more common for higher cost treatments, and that hospitals average administrative cost to fight these denials is nearly $20 billion a year.18 Federal leaders, including Louisianas U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, and multiple provider groups have asked CMS to require MA companies to report more specific and meaningful data.19 20 KFF researchers found that substantial data gaps remain that limit the ability of policymakers and researchers to conduct oversight and assess the programs performance, and for Medicare beneficiaries to compare Medicare Advantage plans offered in their area.21 KFF also found that without plan-level data, by type of service, it will not be possible to determine whether plans are complying with the 2024 MA rule. KFF also reported that MA companies do not report the reasons for prior authorization denials to CMS. If most denials of prior authorization requests are because the service was not deemed medically necessary, efforts to increase transparency of the coverage criteria, such as those recently included in a final rule, may be more likely to have an impact. KFF has also pointed to a lack of transparency related to decisions from the independent review entity that considers appeals after an MA physician denies a request.22 CMS opted against requiring plan-level data in 2026, saying it did not want to overwhelm consumers and that it wanted to limit plan burden.23 The agency will consider more detailed reporting requirements during future rulemaking. Internal MA Plan Monitoring CMS now requires all MA plans to establish a Utilization Management Committee to review prior authorization policies annually and ensure compliance with traditional Medicares national and local coverage guidelines.24 The AHA urged the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to monitor whether these committees will have authority to overturn harmful policies, writing that many providers fear that these committees will serve as little more than a rubber stamp for plan policies.25 During the public comment period on the 2024 MA final rule, health insurance companies argued that forcing them to follow traditional Medicares clinical criteria would lead to fewer affordable, high-quality plan choices for beneficiaries and adverse health impacts. CMS in the rule does give MA plans certain limited sets of circumstances where they can use their own internal coverage criteria when traditional Medicare criteria is not fully established, said Michelle Millerick, AHA director for health insurance coverage and policy. Some MA plans are over-extending that limited flexibility, and there's not necessarily a clear definition of exactly when Medicare criteria is fully established, especially for level of care determinations. Stronger enforcement of these provisions from the 2024 MA final rule is needed to ensure plans do not continue to use more restrictive criteria than Medicare. Denial Letter Language Beginning in 2026, CMS said the prior authorization denial letters must be sufficiently specific to enable a provider to understand why a prior authorization has been denied and what actions must be taken to resubmit or appeal. The agency said the MA plans reason for denial could include a variety of explanations, such as how documentation did not support a plan of care for the therapy or service or specifically, why the service is not deemed necessary. Experts say they are cautiously optimistic, but that it remains to be seen how effectively CMS will enforce this policy for patients like Carrigan and Sercovich. Targeted Auditing/Aggressive Enforcement This year, CMS said it will conduct routine and focused audits to assess compliance with the 2024 MA rule. In a statement, the agency said that it may issue compliance and enforcement actions, including civil monetary penalties to MA organizations who fail to comply with our regulations. Providers may send complaints with specific examples of MA plans noncompliance to part_c_part_d_audit@cms.hhs.gov. The OIG recently announced plans to audit MA IRF denials and will issue a report in 2026.26 I can tell you with great certainty that you will see us expanding our oversight of Medicare Advantage in the coming months and years, said HHS Inspector General Christi A. Grimm during a recent speech to MA company leaders. We want Medicare Advantage to be successful. OIGs work helps ensure that the program works as intended for Medicare enrollees and for taxpayers.27 In a statement for this article, OIG said providers may email specific concerns to the agency at Public.Affairs@oig.hhs.gov. Input from health care providers about managed care practices are regularly sent to relevant subject matter experts, including in our agencys leadership, for their awareness and to inform our work, wrote OIG. Last year, the federal government paid MA plans more than $454 billion to provide high-quality care to more than 30 million people.28 KFF reports that nearly 60 percent of Louisianas Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in an MA plan this year.29 Providers have applauded the OIG for exposing dangerous care denials and for calling on MA corporate leaders to provide better value to patients and taxpayers.30 The Medicare Advantage plans aren't going to change until their board of directors at the company understands as a matter of corporate policy that this isn't the way to go, said Dr. Carter. [1] https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-09-16-00410.asp [2] https://oig.hhs.gov/reports-and-publications/all-reports-and-publications/some-medicare-advantage-organization-denials-of-prior-authorization-requests-raise-concerns-about-beneficiary-access-to-medically-necessary-care/ [3] https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2024-medicare-advantage-and-part-d-final-rule-cms-4201-f [4] https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/InpatientRehabFacPPS/downloads/fs1classreq.pdf [5] https://www.facebook.com/LAHospitals/videos/252495247935007 [6] https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/evaluation/3150/OEI-09-18-00260-Complete%20Report.pdf [7] https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-09-16-00410.pdf [8] https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/evaluation/3150/OEI-09-18-00260-Complete%20Report.pdf [9] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29309215/ [10] https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/principles-with-signatory-page-for-slsc.pdf [11] https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/use-of-prior-authorization-in-medicare-advantage-exceeded-46-million-requests-in-2022 [12] https://www.aha.org/system/files/media/file/2024/02/faqs-related-to-coverage-criteria-and-utilization-management-requirements-in-cms-final-rule-cms-4201-f.pdf [13] https://amrpa.org/portals/0/dobson%20davanzo%20final%20report%20-%20patient%20outcomes%20of%20irf%20v_%20snf%20-%207_10_14%20redated.pdf [14] https://www.aha.org/testimony/2023-05-17-aha-statement-senate-subcommittee-medicare-advantage-delays-and-denials [15] https://www.facebook.com/LAHospitals/videos/1156382158614094 [16] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4532/text [17] https://amrpa.org/Portals/0/AMRPA%20Comments%20on%20MA%20Data%20RFI%20May%202024_Final.pdf [18] https://premierinc.com/newsroom/blog/trend-alert-private-payers-retain-profits-by-refusing-or-delaying-legitimate-medical-claims [19] https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-warren-blackburn-cortez-masto-call-for-better-medicare-advantage-data-collection-reporting/ [20] https://www.aha.org/lettercomment/2024-05-29-aha-rfi-response-cms-medicare-advantage-data-and-oversight [21] https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/gaps-in-medicare-advantage-data-remain-despite-cms-actions-to-increase-transparency/ [22] https://www.kff.org/private-insurance/issue-brief/final-prior-authorization-rules-look-to-streamline-the-process-but-issues-remain/ [23] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-02-08/pdf/2024-00895.pdf [24] https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-B/part-422/subpart-C/section-422.137 [25] https://www.aha.org/lettercomment/2023-11-30-aha-urges-medpac-examine-medicare-advantage-denials-hospital-market-basket [26] https://oig.hhs.gov/reports-and-publications/workplan/summary/wp-summary-0000873.asp [27] https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/speeches/1106/IG-Grimm-RISE-transcript.pdf [28] https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-advantage-in-2024-enrollment-update-and-key-trends [29] https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-advantage-in-2024-enrollment-update-and-key-trends/ [30] https://youtu.be/fDzAb-6aog8?si=KIuiXj23d2yr8eoP The Association of American Medical Colleges has awarded UChicago Medicine and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine with the 2024 Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Engagement. AAMC presents the award annually to one medical school or teaching hospital that demonstrates a strong, ongoing commitment to working with its community to identify and address health needs. UChicago Medicine received the honor for its efforts to prioritize community engagement through medical education, research and clinical care, according to a Sept. 18 news release. In early 2024, Pritzker School of Medicine launched a new curriculum that empowers medical students to serve as patient advocates and integrates self-directed learning, research, clinical experience and community engagement from the outset. Students gain real-world experience addressing health inequities by volunteering at student-run clinics and participating in street-medicine outreach programs. UChicago Medicine also runs a Graduate Medical Education Community Champions program, which trains about 30 residents from 12 departments annually to address the needs of communities on Chicago's South Side that face a high burden of chronic and serious conditions. Tara Floyd, BSN, RN, is now the inaugural vice president and association chief nursing officer at Children's National Hospital. Since joining the Washington, D.C.-based hospital in 2003, Ms. Floyd has served in leadership roles in intensive care units and the neonatal transport team, according to a Sept. 18 news release from Children's National. Dustin McFarland, MSN, RN, has been tapped as CEO of Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Middletown (Del.). Mr. McFarland joined the hospital in 2018 as a nursing manager and became CEO in August, according to a Sept. 18 system news release shared with Becker's. Encompass Health is a 165-hospital system based in Birmingham, Ala. As president and CEO of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, one of the largest nonprofit, faith-based health systems in the nation, Mike Slubowski regularly navigates critical operational and strategic decisions. Mr. Slubowski, who helms a 101-hospital system with 120,000 employees across 27 states, is quick to point out that there is no most significant decision, but rather many decisions leaders make after considering a range of factors. As he puts it, "A good leader doesn't bet the farm on one critical decision." In a conversation with Becker's, Mr. Slubowski discussed one of those decisions: establishing a community division focused on expanding outpatient care. This includes urgent care, medical groups, freestanding ambulatory services and the PACE program, a comprehensive, community-based healthcare initiative designed to help older adults receive personalized care while remaining at home. He said that, like most organizations, Trinity Health was already on a path to diversify community-based services. However, efforts accelerated about two and a half years ago with the appointment of Daniel Roth, MD, chief clinical and community division operations officer, who now leads those initiatives. "You have to view where healthcare is going outside of an acute care lens," Mr. Slubowski said. "Those structures can get in the way of strategy. If you're structured around the hospital being the center of the universe, it's hard to get people, processes, technology and culture pointed in a new direction." As a result of that appointment, Trinity Health which includes 26 continuing care locations and 136 urgent care locations saw year-to-year growth in those community services of 10% or greater. Now, Trinity Health aims to continue this growth, particularly with its medical groups. "We have some markets with very large and well-developed medical groups, like in Michigan, Ohio and Boise, Idaho, but we have other markets that are less developed, like in Maryland, for example," Mr. Slubowski said. He said Trinity Health also wants to take advantage of opportunities for transactions related to ambulatory surgery initiatives. In April, Nampa, Idaho-based Saltzer Health, a physician group, sold three facilities to Boise-based Saint Alphonsus Health System, part of Trinity Health. "We have measures around growth, net promoter scores, efficiency and profitability for each of the community-based services," Mr. Slubowski said. "It's important to have the right leadership, the right measures in place, and to pay attention to all four aspects of change: people, processes, technology and culture to support the strategy." He added that regarding those aspects of change, "you can identify best practices, and there are technologies to help support changes in practice. But the hardest part for any leader is how it affects people and how it changes the culture." He advised his peers to put equal emphasis on all four aspects of change as they evaluate options and reach any significant decision. "We tend to underestimate the time it takes to engage people in change and change the culture," Mr. Slubowski said. "If you don't put equal emphasis on all four aspects of change, you're going to do rework." His recommendation: "Focus on a shorter list of essential, high-priority objectives and do them very well. If you spread yourself too thin, you won't be as effective." Swanson Vineyards is one of five Vintage Wine Estates wineries and brands that billionaire Bill Foley bid on for $15 million. Michael Short/Special to The Chronicle Nearly two months after filing for bankruptcy, major wine corporation Vintage Wine Estates has agreed to sell most of its California wineries. Napa Valleys Clos Pegase and Girard, and Sonoma Countys B.R. Cohn and Kunde are among more than 20 U.S. wineries and brands that were bid on through bankruptcy proceedings, which included an auction on Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware. The assets, , which wont cover all of the companys debts, were largely split between two major buyers, both billionaires: serial winery buyer Bill Foley and A. Jayson Adair, the CEO of online car auction company Copart, court filings show. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The bankruptcy court still needs to grant final approval to the successful bids. A Primary Sale Hearing is scheduled for Sept. 27. Vintage Wine Estates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 24, citing over $400 million in liabilities. Founded in 2009 by former CEO Pat Roney, the company quickly amassed over 30 wine and spirits brands and eventually produced 2 million cases of wine per year. Vintage went public in June 2021, but its stock dropped 40% the next year due to inventory issues and never recovered, dipping in value to under $1 in 2023. In the last year, the company, which at the time of the bankruptcy filing had more than 400 employees, had multiple rounds of layoffs. The day after the bankruptcy announcement, Vintage filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice with California authorities, which detailed its plans to eliminate 377 positions across four Bay Area counties. Its possible new owners could maintain some of those jobs. Wine and NHL mogul Bill Foley is one of two major bidders in the Vintage Wine Estates bankruptcy case. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle With final approval, Bill Foleys Foley Family Wines will acquire five wineries and brands from Vintage Calistogas Swanson Vineyards, Bodega Bays Sonoma Coast Vineyards, Napas Cosentino and the Cherry Pie and Bar Dog brands for $15 million, according to court filings. (While the Swanson and Sonoma Coast deals include tasting rooms, Cosentinos tasting room was sold separately to vintner Brion Wise.) Foleys offer was a stalking horse bid, which sets the threshold for bidding in a bankruptcy case. It appears that no higher bids were submitted, as these assets were not included in Tuesdays auction. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Adairs company Adair Winery Inc. has agreed to purchase Calistogas Clos Pegase and Girard, Kenwoods B.R. Cohn and Kunde and Sonomas Viansa for $85 million, court filings show. Ace Cider founder Jeffrey House was unsuccessful in his attempt to buy back the Sebastopol cider company he launched in 1993 and sold to Vintage in 2021 for a reported $47.4 million. House initially submitted a $3.6 million stalking horse bid in partnership with equity funder Playa Capital Partnersand went up to $7.2 million, but was ultimately outbid by two companies, according to court filings. Cider Leasing, LLC & Ace Cider I, LLC won the rights to purchase Ace for more than double Houses initial offer: $7.6 million. Cider Leasing is owned by Mordechai Lipton, the president of R.L. Lipton, an Ohio-based alcohol distribution company. House told the Chronicle that his intention was to protect the legacy of the brand that he built. Court filings show that investment firm founder Ejnar Knudsen was the successful bidder for Vintages Laetitia Vineyard & Winery in San Luis Obispo County, Washingtons Owen Roe and two others for $9.3 million. Layer Cake, a value-priced brand founded by noted Napa vintner Jayson Woodbridge, is folded into a multi-brand deal from South Carolina company Vino.com. Other successful bidders on Vintages assets are wine and spirits portfolio Integrated Beverage Group; contract distiller Bartow Ethanol of Florida; and brand acquisition and management firm Full Glass Licensing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Employee monitoring is generally liked by employers and disliked by employees. However, there are approaches that can minimize potential concerns, The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 14. About 71% of employees are digitally monitored, compared to 30% before the pandemic, according to Gartner. Research has shown that monitoring is not highly effective and causes employees stress, according to the article's author, Andrew Brodsky, PhD, an assistant professor of management at the University of Texas at Austin. If monitoring is to be used, the following strategies could improve employees' perceptions of the process and their employers, Dr. Brodsky wrote. 1. Be transparent It is a mistake to monitor employees without letting them know first, according to Dr. Brodsky. Informing employees that it is happening and sharing why is a better approach. For example, one study showed that employees at university call centers who thought the explanation for monitoring was adequate felt greater job satisfaction and trust in their manager. 2. Share the data Employees will be more comfortable and less suspicious of organizations that give employees access to the information that is gathered about them, Dr. Brodsky said. 3. Present it in the right way In one telecommunications organization, employees felt greater satisfaction when they felt the monitoring systems were contributing to their growth, the article said. One example of how leaders can implement this is by showing employees how the data can help them improve, such as how their time is split up throughout the day. 4. Let employees choose Attitude and performance of employees can be negatively affected when they have less control over the monitoring process. This was seen in one experiment, in which workers completing data-entry tasks saw an average of 22% accuracy improvements compared to those who could not control monitoring, according to Dr. Brodsky. Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine in Hagerstown, Md., has opened enrollment for the fall 2025 semester. The school, affiliated with Meritus Health, received conditional approval from the Maryland Higher Education Commission to operate as an in-state degree-granting institution and pre-accreditation from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, according to a Sept. 18 news release. It will be the first new medical school in the state in more than 100 years, joining Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, both of which are based in Baltimore. "We started on this path to fill the critical shortage of physicians in our community, the state and the nation," Maulik Joshi, DrPH, Meritus president and CEO, said in the release. "Now, we've taken the steps that will create generational change." The Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine will be a four-year school with 90 medical students in its first class, according to Meritus. Future classes will have 180 students. The D.M. Bowman Academic Hall, a 200,000-square-foot, five-story building and the school's main building, is scheduled for completion by December. The school will be on Meritus Medical Center's campus and include student housing adjacent to the campus. More information about the school is available here. After a six-year legal battle, Beaufort (S.C.) Memorial Hospital has withdrawn its certificate of need for a planned hospital in Bluffton, S.C., the hospital confirmed in a statement shared with Becker's. Instead, the hospital plans to build a medical office building on the available space, featuring a freestanding emergency department, an ambulatory surgery center and room to add services in the future, the statement said. State officials approved the certificate of need for the microhospital in July 2018. Beaufort Memorial said it had hopes of opening the 20-bed Bluffton facility in 2022. The $44 million project was initially supposed to be built and operated through a joint venture between Beaufort Memorial and Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina. For the sake of a more streamlined process, MUSC Health eventually opted out of the project, Beaufort Memorial CEO Patrick Cawley said, according to The Post and Courier. The planned facility faced opposition from area hospitals, which, in 2018, appealed the state's decision to award a certificate of need for the project in court, questioning the need for the project and its financial feasibility, the newspaper reported. Meanwhile, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a certificate of need repeal in 2023. This prompted one of the contesting hospitals, Candler Hospital in Savannah, Ga., to drop its legal challenge that year, according to The Post and Courier. Still, legal challenges from other area hospitals, including Hilton Head (S.C.) Hospital and Hardeeville, S.C.-based Coastal Carolina Hospital, remained ongoing, the report said. The Hilton Head and Hardeeville hospitals are among three Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health acquired from Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare in February. "Over the last six years, Beaufort Memorial has spent time battling opposition to the planned facility in court, and it's very possible that without a shift in planning, that battle and subsequent timeline delays could continue," Beaufort Memorial said in its statement. "We cannot wait any longer or risk any further delay of this project as growth in southern Beaufort County has continued to expand the need for more access to healthcare." Beaufort Memorial withdrew its certificate of need for its planned hospital in Bluffton on Sept. 10. Ralph de la Torre, MD, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Steward Health Care is invoking his Fifth Amendment right ahead of a Senate committee's contempt vote. Dr. de la Torre's attorney reasserted in a Sept. 18 letter to Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee that the CEO "lacks the authority to speak on behalf of Steward with respect to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and he is prohibited by a federal court order from doing so." The letter comes after Dr. de la Torre defied a congressional subpoena and failed to attend a Sept. 12 hearing. The attorney alleged in his letter that the hearing "was seemingly designed as a vehicle to violate Dr. de la Torres constitutional rights." "The U.S. Constitution affords Dr. de la Torre inalienable rights against being compelled by the government to provide sworn testimony that is specifically (yet baselessly) sought to frame Dr. de la Torre as a criminal scapegoat for the systemic failures in Massachusetts' health care system," the letter said. "Accordingly, on the advice of counsel, Dr. de la Torre invokes his procedural and substantive rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, including the privilege to refrain from testifying at the committees hearing. Steward sought Chapter 11 protection May 6 and has since been working to offload the remainder of its 31 hospitals. Dr. de la Torre's absence from the hearing came as he has faced criticism the past few months for lavish vacations and ownership of two multimillion-dollar yachts while the for-profit health system's hospitals struggle. The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee will vote Sept. 19 on two resolution adoptions. The first will be for civil enforcement and the second will be "for certification to the United States Attorney for criminal contempt." "If passed by the committee, both resolutions will be advanced to the full Senate for a vote," according to a Sept. 12 new release from the committee. "The resolution for civil enforcement of the subpoena instructs Senate Legal Counsel to bring a civil suit in the District Court for the District of Columbia to require Dr. de la Torres compliance with the subpoena and his testimony before the HELP Committee. The criminal contempt resolution would refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute Dr. de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena." The American Association of Retired Persons recognized five nurses for their work to end health disparities and improve healthcare. The AARP Center for Health Equity Through Nursing and the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action initiative helped sponsor the Equity-Minded Nurse Awards. The awards honor nurses who promoted health equity through nursing practice, research, education or leadership. Here are the five 2024 award recipients and their work: Wei-Ti Chen, PhD, RN, UCLA School of Nursing (Los Angeles): Dr. Chen developed tools to improve healthcare and quality of life for underserved groups, such as people with HIV/AIDs, Tourette Syndrome and mobile populations. She is one of the first nurse scientists to conduct HIV intervention research with Asians both in the U.S. and in Asia. Selena Gilles, DNP, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing (New York City): Dr. Giles is a prelicensure nursing education expert who has researched the value of including reproductive justice in nursing curricula, the role of nurses in educating patients about opioid overdose harm prevention and using community-based models to increase vaccination rates in marginalized communities. Sabrina Jamal-Eddine, PhD, RN, University of Illinois, Chicago: Dr. Jamal-Eddine's research explored the use of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism and disability justice in healthcare. Her long-term goal is to found an interdisciplinary, applied public-humanities, community-engaged healthcare equity center in a university. Robert Lucero, PhD, RN, UCLA School of Nursing (Los Angeles): Dr. Lucero's research focused on improving health outcomes of vulnerable populations, such as older adults and LGBTQ+ populations, using innovative health systems and informatic approaches. His research is informing development for data-driven knowledge generation that can be used to improve quality of care for hospitalized older adults. M. Rebecca OConnor, PhD, RN, University of Washington School of Nursing (Seattle): Dr. O'Connor's research focuses on addressing bias in nursing. She collaboratively designed and led a program to develop bias-interrupting habits in future nurses. She also provides bias training to health science students, faculty and research teams. AI chatbots could help fight the loneliness endemic, Julian De Freitas, PhD, assistant professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, wrote in an article for The Wall Street Journal. Loneliness affects about 33% of adults globally and is increasing. Loneliness is known to cause depression and anxiety as well as contribute to physical problems. "Because we arent doing well as a society on loneliness, we should at least keep an open mind on any tool that helps at all," Dr. De Freitas said. Dr. De Freitas and his colleagues at the Wharton School studied whether AI companion apps could reduce loneliness. They analyzed 50,000 app reviews to find the five most popular AI companion apps. In the first part of the study, about 1,100 online participants were asked to rate their loneliness on a scale of one to 100 every day. One group interacted with an AI companion app while others didn't. Those who used the AI companion reported significantly less loneliness, with an average reduction of 16 percentage points over the course of a week. Participants who used the AI app also experienced 14 percentage points less loneliness on average from day to day compared to those who did not use a companion app. In a follow-up study of 600 online participants, people were either asked to interact with an AI companion or with a real person, to browse YouTube videos online or do nothing. They were asked to rate loneliness levels both before and after interacting with their assigned method of reducing loneliness for 15 minutes. Only those who interacted with a real person or AI companion saw a reduction in loneliness, with an average drop of 19 percentage points for those who interacted with a real person and 20 percentage points for those who used an AI companion. Here were two additional findings: Once Ozempic's exclusivity ends, drug manufacturers could sell generic versions for less than $100 per month, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sept. 17. Before insurance, the brand-name drug costs $969 per month in the U.S. At a meeting he hosted, Mr. Sanders said CEOs of major generic drugmakers told him their companies which supply hundreds of millions of prescriptions for tens of millions of Americans can sell the medicine for less than 10% of the current price. Semaglutide is the active pharmaceutical ingredient of Wegovy, a weight loss drug, and Ozempic, a Type 2 diabetes medication. Novo Nordisk is expected to lose its exclusivity on semaglutide in 2031, according to one study; compounded versions are already available in the U.S. because FDA allows drugs in shortage to be compounded. On Sept. 24, a Senate committee chaired by Mr. Sanders will hold a hearing on Novo Nordisk's list prices for Wegovy and Ozempic. He said the current costs are "outrageous." Novo Nordisk told Becker's the net price of Ozempic has fallen 40% since launching in the U.S., more than 99% of commercial plans cover Ozempic, and 80% of insured Americans pay $25 or less each month. "Unfortunately, even when we lower our prices, too often patients in the United States don't receive the savings this is a problem," the company said. "We appreciate that it is frustrating that each country has its own healthcare system, but making isolated and limited comparisons ignores this fundamental fact. What remains constant is the indisputable value and cost savings Novo Nordisk medicines bring to patients, healthcare systems and society." Novo Nordisk scientists deserve credit for developing these drugs, Mr. Sanders said, "but, as important and groundbreaking as these drugs may be, they will not do any good for the millions of people who cannot afford them. A drug, no matter how great it may be, does not mean a thing if you cannot afford to buy the product." Other things to know about Ozempic and Wegovy costs: An emerging COVID-19 strain, XEC, has been detected in 12 U.S. states and at least 15 countries, according to Scripps Research's Outbreak.info. The variant was first reported in late June, and as of Sept. 3, 95 sequences of the XEC lineage have been detected, according to Scripps. Experts told USA Today they expect XEC and another variant, MV.1, to become dominant strains. Both are already in the U.S. but are not on the CDC's COVID-19 variant proportions tracker as of Sept. 17. The 12 states are Arizona, California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Washington. The CDC has not reported whether XEC and MV.1 are more severe than other variants, but scientists told the Los Angeles Times that XEC could eventually surpass KP.3.1.1, which, the CDC reports, accounts for 52.7% of infections. XEC "is just getting started now around the world and here," Eric Topol, MD, PhD, director of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., told the LA Times. "And that's going to take many weeks, a couple months, before it really takes hold and starts to cause a wave." Peter Chin-Hong, MD, told the San Francisco Chronicle that XEC likely won't cause a spike in hospitalizations and deaths. He predicts the variant will infect more people, though, because of its transmissibility. "With these new transmissible variants, they will likely infect people who were otherwise not going to get infected," said Dr. Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF in San Francisco. The Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of HHS, announced it will award $100 million to organizations including medical schools and state health departments to address healthcare workforce shortages, according to a Sept. 17 news release from HHS. With a shortage of 100,000 healthcare workers expected nationwide by 2028, some health systems have focused on nurse faculty shortages, such as New Bedford, Mass.-based Southcoast Health. Faculty shortages have led to a limited number of students accepted into some programs. Others have addressed nursing shortages through technology, such as Omaha, Neb.-based CHI Health and Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health's virtual nursing program, which pairs bedside nurses with virtual nurses who can review charts and process discharges, allowing in-person nurses more time to provide hands-on care. HHS said more than $19 million will go to five organizations over the next four years to boost the nursing workforce in underserved areas. Recipients in underserved areas are: Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University Stockton, Calif.-based University of Pacific Flint-based Regents of the University of Michigan Macon-based Technical System College of Georgia Griffin, Ga.-based Southern Crescent Technical College Nearly $12 million will fund medical education for three medical schools in areas of undermet physician workforce needs, according to HHS. The recipient schools are: Phoenix-based University of Arizona Stratford, N.J.-based Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine Las Vegas-based Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education More than $63 million will be distributed among 32 institutional recipients over four years to aid families affected by opioid use disorders. The remaining funding will provide more than $4 million to 27 institutions to broaden access to pediatric behavioral care. Some healthcare companies are dedicated to providing urgent care for a range of injuries. But more practices and health systems are capitalizing on in-house orthopedic-specific walk-in services. This year Durham, N.C.-based EmergeOrtho; The Orthopedic Clinic in Daytona, Fla., and Chillicothe, Ohio-based Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute opened locations dedicated to walk-in services. Common services across these locations include imaging, casting and bracing. Hospitals and health systems such as Cleveland-based University Hospitals, Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham have also opened locations with dedicated orthopedic urgent care. A changing economic landscape has made orthopedic urgent care more desirable, Michael Boblitz, CEO of Tallahassee (Fla.) Orthopedic Clinic, told Becker's. "The evolution of the High Deductible Plan has changed the traditional patient into a consumer seeking affordable care. At the same time the payers have implemented expansive policy changes in response to employer frustrations to direct patients into lower cost settings of care." The practice has two orthopedic urgent care clinics both dubbed TOC Now in Florida, according to its website. Mr. Boblitz said the clinics have lower patient copays and offer the majority of orthopedic services that an emergency room would. "It goes without saying the cost of TOC Now is a fraction of the cost compared to a hospital emergency room visit," Mr. Boblitz said. "Looking beyond reducing cost of care, the patient experience of visiting our private TOC Now compared to an ER is night and day difference. TOC also has plans to open additional urgent care clinics in Florida and Georgia. The UKs cybersecurity agency has urged firms to protect their devices from a China-backed botnet of compromised devices which it warned could be used for malicious purposes. Spacious and contemporary home close to Co Down coast on the market for 750,000 The former chief nursing officer (CNO) for Northern Ireland has told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry there was a lack of nurses here to care for patients during the pandemic. The latest sitting of the inquiry heard evidence from former NI CNO Professor Charlotte McArdle, who was questioned on control and communication between the Department of Health and local health trusts. The third module of the inquiry is focusing on the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems across the UK. Professor McArdle was the head of the nursing and midwifery professions in NI during the pandemic. She left the position in October 2021. One major problem she highlighted, when it came to caring for patients throughout that period, was a lack of nurses here. We didnt have the capacity to do what we needed to do, she said during Wednesdays hearing. In October 2020, Prof McArdle had asked chief nurses in the rest of the UK and Ireland if they could provide Northern Ireland with staff, but no one was able to help. At that time we had challenges, particularly in relation to intensive care, she said. In 2020, the Department of Health launched the HSC Workforce Appeal, which encouraged people from across all staff groups in healthcare, including retirees, to come forward in response to the outbreak of Covid-19 to manage the urgent recruitment of temporary staff across health and social care. Prof McArdle said that not all of the applicants had the particular set of skills needed for frontline services, or had very rigid rotas that couldnt be facilitated, whilst others wanted permanent roles that werent going to be provided through the HSC Workforce Appeal. Counsel to the inquiry Nick Scott asked if anyone had made an application through the Workforce Appeal during the second wave of Covid: Did you make available use of everybody who expressed an interest? Prof McArdle replied that the individual health trusts would be better placed to answer that, as she wasnt directly involved in the appeal. Again, this is one thing that we hear frequently, said Mr Scott. The trusts are better placed to answer that, in terms of management of the Nightingale, of the Workforce Appeal. Is there not a lack of control from the Department of Health, where these issues are then passed on to the trust? Prof McArdle responded: I dont believe so. I think the Department of Health has a very specific role in overseeing the health and social care system. During the pandemic, we became closer to that system. I was very involved operationally, but in terms of the response to the Workforce Appeal, it was managed by HR and the workforce policy director. What Im saying is that Im not close enough to know the details of that. A large part of Wednesdays hearing also focused on visiting restrictions placed on hospitals across NI during the pandemic. On March 26, 2020, all general hospital visits across Northern Ireland had stopped, with exception to critical care and pregnant women in labour. On April 9, 2020, an update stated that, with immediate effect, all intensive care and general hospital visiting across Northern Ireland has now stopped. Although palliative [end-of-life] care outside of intensive care was listed as an exception, there was no exception for those patients receiving end-of-life care within intensive care units. Prof McArdle said: I deeply regret that we had to make that decision, but we were in the peak of the first wave. She also noted that, at the time, the department thought the wave would only last for a couple of weeks. I felt, at the time, we were between a rock and a hard place. There was nowhere else to go with this. It wasn't a decision that I either wanted to make or would have wanted anybodys family to have to experience, but it was the balance of risk between protecting patients, staff and the public, and I really do understand the implementations of having to take that decision. I have my own personal experiences, having not been able to visit my own mother when she died in hospital, so I do understand. Prof McArdle said that, even in extremist parts of the wave, if staff could have facilitated a visit [to end-of-life patients] in any way, they would have done so. Mr Scott said that reports show that only two out of Northern Irelands seven intensive care units facilitated end-of-life visits. Prof McArdle said a number of circumstances had to be considered and that she is absolutely certain that, where possible, staff would have tried to accommodate even a short visit where they knew a patient was at the end of life. She added that a small number of reports were received when nursing staff could not facilitate this, and that they documented reasons as to why guidance pertaining to specific exceptions was not followed in these cases. Police at the scene in east Belfast last weekend. Picture: Pacemaker The sister of east Belfast murder victim Rachel Simpson has said she was loved by everyone who knew her in an emotional online tribute. Cher Simpson posted an appeal for prayers and love on her Facebook page as she paid tribute to the 43-year-old. "My beautiful kind-hearted sister Rachel Simpson died on Friday. We mourn a daughter, a sister and a cherished mother of three children, she said. Loved by everyone who knew her. Heartache is not a feeling I have known until now. We ask for prayers and love as we navigate this as a Simpson family. It comes after Ms Simpsons family released an image of the mother-of-three, who was found dead in her home on Friday. Her family also shared details of a service of love and remembrance for her. The service will be held on September 25 at Orangefield Presbyterian Church on Castlereagh Road in Belfast at 3pm. It will be followed by a short service at Roselawn and then refreshments at La Mon Country House. Her sister said all who loved Rachel and the entire Simpson family are invited to attend and prayers are welcomed at this time. "In true Rach style we ask you all to wear some leopard print, she added. Ms Simpsons body was discovered at Castlereagh Road on Friday, September 13. Police had been called to a house and discovered the victim in the garage of the property. Police at the scene in east Belfast last weekend. Picture: Pacemaker Her 21-year-old son Nathan Simpson, with an address given as Castlereagh Road, has been charged with her murder. He appeared in court on Monday, with the defence solicitor telling the court he had only been released from prison a week earlier. He entered the dock wearing a grey custody tracksuit. When asked if he understood the allegations against him, Simpson replied: Yes, your honour. As other members of the victims family watched on from the public gallery, an investigating detective sergeant said he could connect the accused to the murder charge. There was no application for bail, with the court told that there was no available bail address for the accused, who the court was told was released from custody seven days previously. No further details about the circumstances surrounding the alleged killing were disclosed during the brief hearing. Defence solicitor Chris McCann did not question the detective or seek bail for his client due to the lack of any suitable address. Womens Aid NI expressed their sincere condolences to the family of the 43-year-old last week the third woman to be killed in a month in Northern Ireland. "Rachel is the 23rd woman to be killed in Northern Ireland since 2020. She is the third woman killed in Northern Ireland within the past four weeks, said a spokesperson for Womens Aid NI. The news was horrific, they added, and called for anyone with any information to contact the PSNI. If you have any information, no matter how small it may seem, that could assist the police with their investigation, please contact the PSNI by dialling 101. Even the smallest detail could be important to the case. The accused was remanded in custody to appear again via videolink on October 14. News Catch Up - Tuesday 17th September A large fire at a derelict building close to Belfasts city centre was started deliberately, according to the fire service. The fire, at the location of the now-defunct Forster Green Hospital, started on Wednesday morning and was battled by 40 firefighters. The site spreads across 47 acres in the south of the city. A Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) Spokesperson said on Wednesday afternoon: A large fire on the ground floor of a three-storey derelict building on the Saintfield Road area of Belfast has now ended. NIFRS received the initial call at 2.56am this morning, Wednesday September 18 2024. At the height of the incident, approximately 40 Firefighters were involved in the operational response with fire appliances from Central Fire Station, Knock Fire Station, Cadogan Fire Station, Carryduff Fire Station, Downpatrick Fire Station and Whitla Fire Station. The aerial appliance from Knock Fire Station and the Command Support Unit were also in attendance. The cause of the fire is thought to be deliberate ignition. Firefighters left the scene at 11.08am today. A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service said earlier that the incident has been scaled back, however two Fire Appliances and an Aerial Appliance remained at the incident. News Catch Up - Tuesday 17th September Sibling of contract killing victim says its well-known in Claudy area who was behind murder and his family now deserves justice Patrick Devine (inset) and the scene from his murder. The brother of a man murdered 20 years ago by a suspected contract killer has now put up a 100,000 reward for information. Sheep farmer and part-time nurse Patrick Devine (51) was shot dead in his home in Claudy on September 13, 2004. Despite an extensive police investigation and the arrest of five people, no one has ever been charged with his murder. The 100,000 reward is in addition to 20,000 offered by Crimestoppers during a police appeal on the 20th anniversary of his death last week. Its also double the amount the family offered on the 10th anniversary of the murder. It was previously reported police believe professional jealousy led to a group of farmers paying for an INLA gunman to kill Mr Devine. The scene of Patrick Devine's murder in 2004 (Picture: Photopress) Aiden Devine says his family deserve justice. Although its been 20 years, it seems like only yesterday at the same time, he told Derry Now. Over the years we have done multiple appeals, including Crimewatch and a reconstruction on TG4 that we assisted with, none of them were easy and when you feel theyve done no good its disheartening. Both my parents died without justice or closure and two of my sisters one was an obvious broken heart. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Gibson said last week: It is now 20 years since Patricks life was taken from him in a brutal and calculated manner, and his familys wait for justice has gone on for far too long. Mr Devine was well-known in the area, especially for his farming activities, and also for his work as a nurse. We believe that some people resented his success. It is still the view of police that Patrick was the victim of a contract killing carried out by an organised crime group with paramilitary links against a background of rumours of alleged sheep stealing and land disputes, although Mr Devine himself had a clear criminal record. Aiden Devine On this, the 20th anniversary of his murder, we are appealing to the community for their assistance and help. I am asking people to think about what happened to Patrick 20 years ago and the brutal circumstances of his death: he was shot several times in the head and chest. The individuals who did this are dangerous, ruthless and unfortunately have never been held accountable. I am appealing to anyone who knows anything about Patricks murder to come forward, talk to us and help us end the pain which his family has endured for all these years. In the 20 years since Patricks murder, circumstances and allegiances may have changed. If anyone now feels they are able to talk to us, we are here and ready to listen, and you can contact us on the 101 number. Crimestoppers, who are independent of police, are offering a reward of up to 20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Patricks murder. The reward is only payable for information passed directly to Crimestoppers, rather than to police. With Crimestoppers, computer IP addresses are never traced, telephone calls are never recorded, there is no caller line display, and no 1471 facility. Contact crimestoppers-uk.org or call the charitys 24/7 Contact Centre on 0800 555 111. News Catch Up - Tuesday 17th September A 30-year-old man has been extradited from Hungary to Northern Ireland, wanted to stand trial for possession of indecent photographs of a child. The man will face ten charges in connection with the offences, which took place in Dungannon in July 2021. He fled the jurisdiction while on bail in October 2021. The man was initially arrested in Hungary on June 27 2024 and on Tuesday completed the extradition proceedings with his successful return to Northern Ireland. He is expected to appear before Dungannon Magistrates Court today. Sergeant Davey from the International Policing Unit said, This case demonstrates our continued and effective working with our international partners to track down wanted persons and bring offenders to justice. In this case we worked closely with the National Crime Agency and authorities in Hungary to locate, arrest and extradite this suspect. PSNI will continue to pursue those who leave Northern Ireland to avoid the consequences of their actions. News Catch Up - Tuesday 17th September Police at the scene of a previous alert at the ground. Police at the scene of a security alert following the discovery of a suspicious object at playing fields in the Church Road area of east Belfast on 18 September. Image: Pacemaker A second security alert in east Belfast has come to an end after a suspicious object was examined and declared a hoax. Its after an incident at the playing fields on Church Road, the home of East Belfast GAA just hours after another security alert at the same location had ended. The alert began after a report was made to police shortly after 1pm on Wednesday afternoon of a suspicious object. A public safety operation was implemented, which involved closing Church Road between Manse Road and the Ballygowan Road. Ammunition Technical Officers attended and examinations were carried out on the object, which has now been declared a hoax and taken away for further forensic examination. Church Road has fully re-opened. Inspector David McKinley said: We understand the disruption this incident caused and I want to thank everyone impacted for their patience and co-operation while the scene was made safe. An investigation is underway and I would appeal to anyone with any information in relation to this incident to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 764 18/09/24." A report can be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/ The previous alert was earlier declared to be nothing untoward. In an earlier statement, police said: Police received a report at around 4:05pm on Tuesday 17th September, of a suspicious object located at playing fields in the area. Officers attended alongside ATO, and the object, which has been declared as nothing untoward, has been removed. The playing fields and a number of roads were closed. Officers have now left the scene, the roads have fully re-opened and police would like to thank the local community for their understanding. Enquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and anyone with any information is asked to contact Police on 101, quoting reference number 1158 17/09/24. A report can also be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/ . A local councillor earlier described a concerted campaign against the club as utterly depressing with numerous security alerts since it was formed in 2020. Green Party councillor Brian Smyth said its utterly depressing" that the club is being targeted by a person or group of people. Its having a massive impact on the area, he said, theres an integrated school and an integrated nursery and people that live around there. It is hugely disruptive. The vast majority of people in Belfast and east Belfast want nothing to do with those who are responsible. He explained that the council is planning on increasing security measures by installing CCTV cameras and increased lighting. Im hopeful that when it happens it will put an end to this. The club has every right to stay there, this is up at Henry Jones and out of the way, not slap bang in the middle of the Newtownards Road. Its literally at the top of a very windy hill in the Castlereagh area. A lot of people back the club and the CCTV is planned for this month so we hope it will now end it for good. Sinn Fein MLA Deirdre Hargey also strongly condemned the latest appalling security alert. I am appalled at yet another disgraceful security alert at Henry Jones Playing Fields, which are used by East Belfast GAA, the South Belfast MLA said. Every one of these appalling incidents are an attack on the entire community, and are not welcome in todays modern, inclusive Belfast. Gaelic Games is flourishing in all corners of our city and at every level of society, we will not allow a minority to drag us back and bring our community down. I would call on all community and political leaders to make it clear that there is absolutely no place for this kind of behaviour. News Catch Up - Tuesday 17th September Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris answers questions during a moderated conversation with members of the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Win McNamee/TNS PHILADELPHIA Kamala Harris, who has avoided framing her presidential campaign about the barriers she would break if elected, talked about race and racism in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday with the National Association of Black Journalists. The interview was arguably the most she has discussed being Black and identity issues since beginning her campaign in July. She repeatedly declined to provide additional information about her policy agenda, however, sticking to talking points about her economic agenda, the Israel-Hamas war and abortion access. The hosts of the event previously had a contentious interview with former President Donald Trump, who spoke at the groups annual conference July 31 in Chicago, fewer than two weeks after President Joe Biden ended his campaign and Harris began hers. Early in that interview, Trump falsely claimed Harris happened to turn Black. (She has long publicly identified as both South Asian and Black.) Advertisement Article continues below this ad NABJ President Ken Lemon said it was the first time in 24 years that both partys nominees had spoken to the group. Trumps interview audience was rowdier (and larger) than Harris on Tuesday. While her audience of 180 was largely quiet and polite, the audience for Trump jeered, laughed and shouted at him something journalists rarely do in order to avoid the appearance of bias. Interviews with the media have historically been one of Harris weaknesses. She is not as concise and it takes her longer to get to the narrative that is ultimately conveying her point, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Public Policy Center, previously told the Chronicle. Harris campaign appeared pleased with her performance Tuesday, however, and posted several clips from the interview to social media after. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Harris addressed her efforts to court Black male voters a group viewed as key to her election success. Its very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybodys pocket. Black men are like any other voting group, you gotta earn that vote. So, Im working to earn the vote, not assuming Im going to have it because I am Black, she said. On one of the most controversial issues involving the treatment of Black Americans whether descendants of slavery should be paid reparations she did not make waves. Harris declined to commit to taking executive action to create a commission to study the history of slavery and reparations. As a senator, she co-sponsored a bill to establish such a commission. Speaking the truth about the generational impact of our history is important, but Congress ultimately will have the ability to do this work, Harris said. If youre going to talk about it in any substantial way, there will be hearings, there will be a level of public education and dialogue. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Harris also addressed the racist conspiracy theories about Haitian immigrants eating pet cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. The citys schools have received dozens of bomb threats since Trump amplified the conspiracy theory during last weeks presidential debate. Its a crying shame, literally, whats happening to those families, those children in that community, Harris said. When you have these positions, when you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a very deep level how much your words have meaning. Later, when asked whether she felt safe after the two apparent assassination attempts on Trump, she said she did, but pivoted back to Ohio. Not everybody has Secret Service, and there are far too many people in our country right now who are not feeling safe, she said. Harris didnt break with Biden in any significant way during the interview something that was especially notable when it came to the Israel-Hamas war. She was asked several times about Israels actions in the war and the U.S. role in ending it but didnt directly address the questions. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Harris said she has been working with Israeli and Arab officials on a day-after scenario where we participate in ensuring those exact goals that I outlined, including that there be no reoccupation of Gaza, that there be no changing of the territorial lines in Gaza (and) that there be an ability to have security in the region for all concerned. She avoided answering whether there were policy changes that she or Biden could make to help end the war. Instead, she said, We need to get this deal done and we need to get it done immediately and that is my position and that is my policy. Exclusive | Top NI civil servant privately lobbied against bill which could see ministers or officials jailed for RHI-type behaviour Pyper used meetings with key DUP and Sinn Fein figures to repeatedly push against tough legislation. But after failing to stop it becoming law, she then used it to try to halt leaks Jenny Pyper giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Sam McBride Wed 18 Sep 2024 at 18:51 A former head of the Civil Service privately lobbied against legislation that could have meant jail terms for the behaviour exposed in the RHI scandal, it can be revealed. A new Troubles legacy commission could have dealt with the Pat Finucane murder case but such a move may have caused a problem with the Irish government, the bodys chief commissioner has said. Sir Declan Morgan told a Stormont Assembly committee that it would have been within the competence of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to investigate the collusion-linked loyalist paramilitary murder of the Belfast solicitor in 1989. The UK government ordered a public inquiry into the murder last week following a long campaign by the Finucane family. The Government has turned down requests for public inquiries in other Troubles killings, such as that of murdered GAA official Sean Brown in 1997, arguing that those cases should be dealt with by the ICRIR. Pat Finucane was shot dead by loyalists in his family home in north Belfast in February 1989 (PA) Explaining the rationale, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the Finucane case was exceptional because the UK had committed to holding a public inquiry into the circumstances of the murder as part of an international agreement with the Irish government more than 20 years ago. On Wednesday, Sir Declan told members of the Executive Office committee that failing to order a public inquiry could have undermined the principle of international law. However, he made clear that his commission would have been capable of taking on the case. He said he was not aware of any other significant reason, other than the international agreement, that made the case exceptional in the context of Troubles investigations. Sir Declan, who is Northern Irelands former lord chief justice, also challenged the suggestion that public inquiries had more powers than the ICRIR to disclose classified information, highlighting that the Government effectively retained a veto on disclosure in regard to both. The Secretary of State can give a ministerial direction as to what is to be disclosed and what isnt (in a public inquiry), he said. Thats the point about a public inquiry it doesnt do what it says on the tin. And sometimes what happens is that people go and create expectations with families about things that are going to happen, that cant happen, and its not fair to the families for that to happen. In regard to the Finucane case, he added: The commitment to a public inquiry in relation to Mr Finucane was made about 20 years ago between the two governments. It is an intergovernmental commitment. The delivery of that commitment represents an adherence to the concept of the rule of law on an international basis, and if that commitment hadnt been honoured, then I think it might well have been undermining of the approach to the rule of law. But when two governments make a commitment to each other, the expectation is that they will do what they say. The ICRIR was created by the Conservative governments Legacy Act which halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths. It has powers to look into more than 3,500 killings and can accept requests for the next five years. It has had more than 100 approaches from families since it was set up and has moved into the information recovery stage with eight cases to date. The new Labour government has vowed to repeal the most contentious aspect of the Legacy Act, the offer of conditional immunity from prosecution for perpetrators, but it has pledged to retain the ICRIR. Prior to the general election, the Irish Government brought an interstate legal case against the UK, claiming the Legacy Act breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The case remains active, with the Dublin administration awaiting the new UK government to follow through with its repeal pledge before dropping it. Sir Declan suggested that case was likely a factor in the UKs considerations ahead of ordering the Finucane public inquiry. The ICRIR, in my view, could have dealt with the Finucane case in terms of its competence to do it, he told the committee. I have no doubt about that. But I can certainly see that from the point of view of the Irish government, who are challenging the Act and implicitly the commission that for the Secretary of State to refer the matter to us might have been a problem. TUV committee member Timothy Gaston asked Sir Declan whether he viewed the Finucane case as exceptional. Apart from the fact that there was an intergovernmental agreement, Im not aware of any other significant feature of the Finucane case that springs to mind, he replied. A boss of the Kinahan organised crime group and two of his key members have admitted a ruse to create an arms cache to help him secure a lighter prison sentence. Irish national Thomas Kavanagh, 57, was said by the National Crime Agency to be a high-ranking member of the Irish network involved in drugs supply, firearms and money laundering, and acted as the figurehead of the organisation in the UK. He lived with his family in a fortified mansion, complete with reinforced doors and bulletproof glass, in Tamworth, Staffordshire, from where he ran his criminal empire, the NCA has said. In 2020 he had been in custody facing a lengthy jail term for trafficking cocaine and cannabis into the UK. He hatched a plot to fool the NCA and secure a reduced sentence by pretending to help them uncover an illicit stash of weapons. He enlisted others, including his brother-in-law, Liam Byrne, 44, from Dublin, and Shaun Kent, 38, from Liverpool, to help. The Grand Hall of the Central Criminal Court also known as the Old Bailey, in central London (John Stillwell/PA) They amassed a haul of 11 firearms, including three Skorpion submachine guns, three Heckler and Koch, an Uzi submachine gun and ammunition from the UK, the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland. Kavanagh had hoped the ruse would lead the NCA to commend him for helping them and look favourable to the court. But the plan was foiled after French police smashed the secure encrypted EncroChat communications system in April 2020, and passed information on to the NCA. Kavanagh had first approached the NCA in December 2020. He went on to claim in an interview in April 2021 that he had intelligence about an arms cache of between 10 and 20 weapons, said to have come from Holland. Through his solicitor, he provided a map with instructions and X marking the spot in Newry, Northern Ireland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland, assisting the NCA operation, went to a farmers field, and up a bank, where they found buried, just beneath the surface, two holdalls containing the guns and ammunition. At the time, the NCA said the guns were in good condition and ready for use. Having reviewed the EncroChat data in greater detail, the NCA concluded Kavanaghs tip-off was a put-up job and withdrew its co-operation. In March 2022, Kavanagh was sentenced to 21 years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court. NCA investigators had linked Kavanagh and others to large scale drug shipments worth around 30 million at UK street value, as well as movements of cash and firearms. Kavanagh, Byrne and Kent were about to face trial at the Old Bailey, but pleaded guilty to a string of charges at the 11th hour on Wednesday. All three admitted two charges of conspiring to possess a prohibited weapon, and two charges of conspiring to possess prohibited ammunition, between January 9 2020 and June 3 2021. Kavanagh and Kent also admitted conspiring with others to pervert the course of justice. The charge said that they plotted to possess firearms and thereafter to hide them and then reveal their whereabouts to the National Crime Agency to enable Thomas Kavanagh to receive a reduced sentence on Operation Hornstay with intent to pervert the course of justice. Judge Philip Katz KC said he would sentence the men on October 21 and remanded them into custody. The issue of Scottish independence is not resolved, an expert has said (Yui Mok/PA) It would be foolish to assume Scottish independence is over and done with, despite there not being another clear path to a referendum, a pollster and analyst has said. Speaking ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the vote on September 18, Mark Diffley said that as things stand it is unlikely the SNP would be able to form a government after the next Holyrood election in 2026. Wednesday will mark a decade since Scots went to the polls to decide the countrys constitutional future. On a record turnout, voters were asked to decide on the proposition, Should Scotland be an independent country? with No taking 55% of the vote and Yes 45%. There was a landslide win for Nicola Sturgeons SNP in 2015 (John Stillwell/PA) Mr Diffley told the PA news agency the debates around the independence referendum have shaped almost all of Scottish politics since then. The former director of Ipsos Mori in Scotland said the assumption in Scottish Labour at the time had been that the No vote in 2014 would bring everything back to normal and put an end to the SNPs surge. Instead, the SNP won over the coalition of Yes voters as well as some No voters to take all but three of Scotlands seats in the 2015 general election. Mr Diffley said: What happened was (the referendum) went on to dominate how we voted in pretty much every form of election, I would argue, until this year. The latest general election saw a shift in voters priorities, Mr Diffley said (PA Graphics) Since SNPs landslide general election win in 2015, the party has lost more than a third of its vote and fell to nine seats at the last general election. Two events in the decade following the referendum pushed support for independence to just beyond 50%, he said, these being the Brexit vote and Nicola Sturgeons response to the Covid pandemic. However, economic and public service concerns seem to have displaced independence as the main concern for many voters, he said, adding: Satisfaction with the NHS has gone down. Satisfaction with the school system has gone down. Over time, these issues have replaced the constitutional question as the real barometer around which people will decide how to vote. As voters understanding of devolution has increased, he said the incumbent Scottish Government is now more likely to carry the can for any perceived policy failures. Mr Diffley said: The fact that weve still got 45% and upwards supporting independence suggests this is not an issue thats dealt with in the long term. There currently is no vehicle for achieving a second referendum either legally or politically, because the SNP is weak. Its likely, I would say at this stage to be voted out of government. Youve got a UK Government that has no interest in re-litigating this issue. But still nearly half the population would vote for it. If the SNP is able to mend itself it is perfectly feasible that independence could be back on the table, he said. He added: The sense of flux in the political world is greater than Ive ever seen it. You be a fool to think thats a done deal anything with that level of support is something that should have red lights flashing for unionist parties. So absolutely not over and done with. Pockets of rioting erupted across England after three girls were murdered in Southport while at a summer holiday club (Owen Humprheys/PA) A businesswoman who was arrested after sharing a fake name for the Southport attacker online will face no further action. Bernadette Spofforth, 55, was arrested on August 8 after reposting the fake name, commenting that if it were true there would be hell to pay. She later deleted the post and apologised after realising the information was wrong. Ms Spofforth said: My crime was sharing a tweet which I deleted and apologised for sharing as soon I realised it contained inaccurate information. As has now been shown, the idea that one single tweet could be the catalyst for the riots which followed the atrocities in Southport is simply not true. Yet, despite repeatedly insisting Id done nothing illegal, the police dragged me from my home and held me for 36 hours in a cell. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content What Ive experienced over the past few weeks is nothing in comparison to the suffering of the tragic victims in Southport. And Im not trying to compare the two. But I am just an ordinary person with ordinary opinions and I think its important that the public should know how ordinary people can be treated. The nightmare my family and I have lived through over the past month could happen to anyone. And in Britain in 2024 thats unacceptable. In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, she said that five police officers had arrived mob-handed to arrest her. She protested that she would not have made the information up, and claimed that activists didnt actually care about the truth. I explained my post was political, as almost all of my posts are, and my post was aimed at the Government and its failing policies. I had not and would not make something up, but perhaps the authorities and the activists didnt actually care about the truth. Anti-immigration protesters faced off against police near the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire amid misplaced anger over the Southport attacks (Danny Lawson/PA) The fake name for the attacker, and the false claim that he is a Muslim refugee who had arrived by boat in the country in the past year, was spread online by a number of far-right commentators. This appeared to stoke anti-immigration hostility, with unrest breaking out in locations across the country, despite the fact that the rumour was not true. The information appeared to originate from a news website called Channel3 Now, and the sites editor-in-chief later apologised. Pakistani web developer Farhan Asif, 32, has since been charged with cyberterrorism. Ms Spofforth regularly posts political comments on X on subjects including net zero, gender issues, the pandemic and freedom of speech. Users including actor Laurence Fox and broadcasters Dan Wootton and Julia Hartley-Brewer all expressed support for her after the news that she would face no charges. Cheshire Police did not name Ms Spofforth but confirmed that a 55-year-old woman from near Chester would face no further action. A spokesman said: A woman who was arrested in relation to an inaccurate social media post has been released without charge. The 55-year-old woman from near Chester was arrested on Thursday August 8 following allegations in relation to a social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders. Following a thorough investigation, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken due to insufficient evidence. It is the longest black hole jet system ever observed (E Wernquist/D Nelson/IllustrisTNG Collaboration/M Oei/CalTech/PA) Astronomers say they have discovered the longest pair of black hole jets ever seen in the sky coming from a galaxy far, far away. The record-breaking eruptions span 23 million light years from end to end, which is equivalent to lining up 140 Milky Way galaxies back to back, according to the researchers. Named Porphyrion, after a giant in Greek mythology, these gigantic outflows which shoot out from above and below a supermassive black hole formed when the universe was a mere 6.3 billion years old, less than half its present age of nearly 14 billion years. Understanding more about these colossal jets could help provide clues about magnetism a phenomenon that is essential for life to thrive on Earth, the researchers said. Although these are the largest jets from a black hole reported to date, scientists said jumbo jet systems may not be as rare as previously thought, with more than 10,000 megastructures discovered to date. The Porphyrion jet system was discovered around 7.5 billion light years from Earth (LOFAR Collaboration/WISE/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Martijn Oei/PA) Dr Martijn Oei, a researcher at the California Institute of Technology in the US, said: When we first found the giant jets, we were quite surprised. We had no idea that there were this many. The fierce jets, which originate around 7.5 billion light years away, have a combined power output equivalent to trillions of suns, the researchers said. They come from a hefty galaxy about 10 times more massive than the Milky Way, they added. Before Porphyrion, the largest confirmed jet system was Alcyoneus, also named after a giant in Greek mythology, which spans the equivalent of around 100 Milky Ways. Researchers said their findings, published in the journal Nature, suggest these giant jet systems may have played a bigger role in the formation of ancient galaxies than previously believed. Porphyrion existed during a time when the strands that connect and feed galaxies, known as the cosmic web, were closer together than they are now. The main LOw Frequency ARray radio telescope antenna network is in the Netherlands (Astron/PA) It means enormous jets like Porphyrion reached across a greater portion of the cosmic web than thought, the researchers said. Porphyrion and other massive jets were found using Europes LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) radio telescopes which are located across seven countries in Europe, with the main antenna network in the Netherlands. The team used machine-learning tools to scan the images for signs of these jets, with extra help from citizen scientists around the globe. But they believe there may be a lot more colossal jets left to be found. Dr Oei said: We may be looking at the tip of the iceberg. Our LOFAR survey only covered 15% of the sky. Most of these giant jets are likely difficult to spot, so we believe there are many more of these behemoths out there. Dr Martijn Oei, a postdoctoral researcher at California Institute of Technology, was involved in the research (CalTech/PA) The researchers said it is not clear why the jets are so long but Martin Hardcastle, professor of astrophysics at the University of Hertfordshire, said it could be because the accretion the process by which black holes consume surrounding material would have been long and stable, allowing the jets to point in the same direction for billions of years. He said: If you think of these jets as blasting their way out through all of this material that is around them, then the more powerful the jet is, the faster they expand. You need the combination of high power and long life to get to these very large sizes. As a next step, Dr Oei wants to better understand how these gigantic jets spread magnetism a force of nature produced by moving electric charges that also protects the Earth from radiation. He said: The magnetism on our planet allows life to thrive, so we want to understand how it came to be. We know magnetism pervades the cosmic web, then makes its way into galaxies and stars, and eventually to planets, but the question is: Where does it start? Have these giant jets spread magnetism through the cosmos? The research was funded by the Dutch Research Council, the European Research Council, the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, the UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship, and the European Union. Hezbollah fighters carry the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed on Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) Explosions went off in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon in an apparent second wave of detonations of electronic devices, Hezbollah officials and state media said on Wednesday, reporting that walkie-talkies and even solar equipment being targeted a day after hundreds of pagers blew up. At least nine people were killed and 300 were wounded, the health ministry said. Several blasts were heard at the funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. In the wake of the explosions, Israels defence minister declared the start of a new phase of the war as Israel turns its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. People wait outside the hospital as an ambulance brings in a casualty wounded by an exploding pager on Tuesday (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Yoav Gallant made no mention of the mysterious explosions of electronic devices in Lebanon in recent days. But he praised the work of Israels army and security agencies, saying the results are very impressive. He said that after months of war against Hamas militants in Gaza, the centre of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces. We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance, he said. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them. People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploding handheld pagers in Beirut (AP Photo/Bassam Masri) A Hezbollah official told the AP that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. Lebanons official news agency reported that solar energy systems exploded in homes in several areas of Beirut and in southern Lebanon, wounding at least one girl. The new blasts hit a country still thrown into confusion and anger after Tuesdays pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members that caused civilian casualties, too. At least 12 people were killed, including two children, and about 2,800 people wounded as hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members began detonating wherever they happened to be: in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes. Lebanese soldiers and firefighters gather outside a mobile shop which is believed to have been damaged when a walkie-talkie exploded in the southern port city of Sidon (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari) In the first wave of bombings, it appeared that small amounts of explosives had been hidden in the thousands of pagers delivered to Hezbollah and remotely detonated. The reports of further electronic devices exploding suggested even greater infiltration of boobytraps into Lebanons supply chain. It also deepens concerns over the attacks in which hundreds of blasts went off in public areas, often with many bystanders, with no certainty of who was holding the rigged devices. New details on the operation began to emerge. The pagers were made by a company based in Hungary, another firm said on Wednesday. An American official said Israel briefed the United States after the attack, in which small amounts of explosive had been hidden in the pagers. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the information publicly. The attack, which Israel has not commented on, renewed fears that the simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could escalate into all-out war. Secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the US is still assessing how the attack could affect efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged fire almost daily since October 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel triggered the war. Since then, hundreds have been killed in the strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced. Hamas and Hezbollah are allies and both are supported by Iran. Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must put a stop to the exchanges to allow people to return to homes near the border. The AR-924 pagers used in Tuesdays attack were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, which is based in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, according to a statement released by Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm that authorised the use of its brand on the pagers. Gold Apollos chair, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists on Wednesday the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years. The attack in Lebanon started on Tuesday afternoon, when pagers in their owners hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that most of those hit were members or linked to members of Hezbollah whether fighters or civilians but it was not immediately clear if people with no ties to Hezbollah were also hit. The Health Ministry said health care workers and two children were among those killed. Lebanon health minister Firas Abiad told journalists during a tour of hospitals on Wednesday morning that many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes, and others had limbs amputated. Journalists were not allowed to enter hospital rooms or film patients. Dresden in Germany was among the places hit by flooding this week (Robert Michael/dpa via AP) Devastating floods through much of Central Europe and deadly wildfires in Portugal are joint proof of a climate breakdown that will become the norm unless drastic action is taken, the European Unions head office has said. Make no mistake. This tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our shared future, said EU crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic. The worst flooding in years moved across a broad swathe of Central Europe on Tuesday, taking lives and destroying homes. At the other end of the 27-nation EU, raging fires through northern Portugal have killed at last six people. Europe is the fastest warming continent globally and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events like the one we are discussing today. We could not return to a safer past, Mr Lenarcic told EU politicians in Strasbourg, France. He warned that beyond the human cost, nations are also struggling to cope with mounting bills for repairing the damage from emergencies and the lengthy recovery from disaster. The average cost of disasters in the 1980s was eight billion euros per year. More recently in 2021 and in 2022, the damage has surpassed 50 billion euros per year, meaning the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of action, he said. Terry Reintke, president of the Greens group in the European Parliament, said the cost for the EU since the 1980s was estimated at 650 billion euros. The EU is struggling to move quickly with measures to counter climate change and has run into political opposition in many member states, where the political climate is turning against environmental issues and measures ranging from home heating to farm pollution. Portugal has been hit by wildfires (Bruno Fonseca/AP) Our success will depend on how determined we are to combat climate change together in order to reduce emissions, Ms Reintke said, adding that EU members must back its Green Deal. The vast EU plan to become climate neutral by 2050 has come under increasing pressure from critics who call it unrealistic and too expensive. Populist and far-right parties have made it a key point of attack on the blocs institutions. Mr Lenarcic said people only needed to follow the daily news to understand the urgency of the issue. We face a Europe that is simultaneously flooding and burning. These extreme weather events are now an almost annual occurrence, he said. The global reality of the climate breakdown has moved into the everyday lives of Europeans. A Palestinian child walks with a bicycle by the rubble of a building after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike (Fatima Shbair/AP) The UN General Assembly will vote on Wednesday on a Palestinian resolution demanding that Israel end its unlawful presence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year, withdraw its military forces and evacuate all settlers. The resolution is being put to a vote in the 193-member assembly as Israels war against Hamas in Gaza approaches its first anniversary and as violence in the West Bank reaches new heights. The war was triggered by Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7. Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour opened the assembly meeting on Tuesday by saying Palestinians face an existential threat and claiming Israel has held them in shackles. He demanded an end to Israels decades-long occupation and for Palestinians to be able to return home to live in peace and freedom. FILE Palestinians line up to receive meals at Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, (Mahmoud Essa/AP) Israels ambassador to the UN Danny Danon urged member nations to reject the resolution, describing it as an attempt to destroy Israel through diplomatic terrorism that never mentions Hamas atrocities and ignores the truth, twists the facts and replaces reality with fiction. Instead of a resolution condemning the rape and massacre committed by Hamas on October 7, we gather here to watch the Palestinians UN circus, he said. If adopted, the resolution would not be legally binding, but the extent of its support would reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the General Assembly, unlike in the 15-member Security Council. The resolution is a response to a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israels presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end. In the sweeping condemnation of Israels rule over the lands it captured during the 1967 war, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel had no right to sovereignty over the Palestinian territories and was violating international laws against acquiring the lands by force. The courts opinion also is not legally binding. Nonetheless, the Palestinians drafted the resolution to try to implement the ruling, saying Israels abuse of its status as the occupying power renders its presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful. Mr Mansour stressed that any country that thinks the Palestinian people will accept a life of servitude or that claims peace is possible without a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not being realistic. The solution remains an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side in peace and security with Israel, he said. US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield told reporters that the resolution goes beyond the ICJ ruling. It also does not recognise that Hamas is a terrorist organisation in control of Gaza and that Israel has a right to defend itself, she said. In our view, the resolution does not bring about tangible benefits across the board for the Palestinian people, Ms Thomas-Greenfield said. Mourners carry the body of Khalil Ziada, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, as they leave a hospital morgue during his funeral (Maya Alleruzzo/AP) I think it could complicate the situation on the ground, complicate what were trying to do to end the conflict, and I think it impedes reinvigorating steps toward a two-state solution. The resolution calls for Israel to pay reparations to Palestinians for the damage caused by its occupation and urges countries to take steps to prevent trade or investments that maintain Israels presence in the territories. It also demands that Israel be held accountable for any violations of international law, that sanctions be imposed on those responsible for maintaining Israels presence in the territories, and that countries halt arms exports to Israel if they are suspected of being used there. Mr Mansour said an initial Palestinian draft demanded Israel end its occupation within six months but that it was revised in response to concerns of some countries to increase the time frame to within a year. Most likely, he said, Israel will ignore the resolution. Allison Morris reports on feud fears as Oglaigh na hEireann splits into two factions Oglaigh na hEireann members pose with pistols and 3D printed guns after the dissident republican group split It was originally used to translate the name of the Irish Volunteers into Irish and has been used by every manifestation of the IRA since, including the Provisionals. The Republic of Irelands Defence Forces also use it. There are now fears that the struggle to claim the title and its history could spill over into violence in Belfast. The dissident republican group known as Oglaigh na hEireann or ONH has split into rival factions with each side making bitter accusations against the other. With gunmen linked to the ONH thought to be responsible for eight unsolved murders in Belfast alone, there are fears this split could result in violence. In recent weeks, graffiti and posters have appeared, along with social media messages making allegations, some of a personal nature. Belfast Telegraph security correspondent Allison Morris joins Ciaran Dunbar to explain. Members of Norwalk City Council voted to extend a moratorium on emergency shelters and supportive housing during their meeting on Tuesday. Norwalk City Council/YouTube A Southern California city is doubling down on its crackdown against the poor and the unhoused, even after Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to sue the city over its actions. Newsom chastised Norwalk, a city of 103,000 residents located 15 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, for passing an emergency measure that takes an extreme approach to homelessness: It bans new homeless shelters, temporary housing, supportive housing and single-room occupancy hotels. Read also: Gavin Newsom signs bills aimed at forcing California cities to approve new housing Advertisement Article continues below this ad A day after the threat from Newsom who himself has taken a hard line against street encampments the city on Tuesday voted to extend the ban for another 10 months. But Norwalks measure is even more far-reaching than the states condemnations let on. On top of banning new shelters, the ordinance bans a whole host of other types of businesses that service low-income clientele, including liquor stores, discount stores, payday loan establishments, car washes and laundromats. The tension over the ban underscores the states challenge as it works to address a crippling housing and homelessness crisis, along with anger over tent and RV camps. Over the past decade, state lawmakers have passed a number of measures aimed at removing local governments ability to reject new housing or shelter options. It sounds like what the city is trying to do is zone out extremely poor people in every way they can, by not just saying there can be no homeless shelters but there are also going to be no businesses that provide services to poor people, said Chris Elmendorf, a professor at UC Davis School of Law who focuses on California land use and housing policy. Its not clear how the city settled on the types of businesses singled out in the measure. The citys mayor and City Council didnt discuss the decision during the Aug. 6 meeting when they approved the initial 45-day freeze. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The ordinance itself cites a state code that allows cities seeking to protect the public safety, health, and welfare to adopt as an urgency measure an interim ordinance prohibiting any uses that may be in conflict with a contemplated general plan, specific plan, or zoning proposal that the legislative body, planning commission, or the planning department is considering or studying or intends to study within a reasonable time. At the Tuesday meeting in which the Council voted to extend the ban, resident Christina Sanchez urged officials to reconsider, because I dont think it makes Norwalk safer. For many years I worked in the hotel industry and so many of our coworkers have experienced homelessness at one time or another. Many people are only living one paycheck away from sleeping in their cars, from couch-surfing and housing insecurity, Sanchez said. The city needs to think creatively about addressing the housing crisis. Norwalk Mayor Margarita Rios did not respond to a question from the Chronicle about why the ordinance singles out certain types of businesses and housing, but said in an emailed statement that Newsom should recognize the work the city has done to address homelessness and offer more state resources to combat the issue. Governor Newsoms threats of a lawsuit overlook Norwalks long-standing and effective efforts to address homelessness. The city has made significant strides, including opening affordable housing for homeless veterans, supporting L.A. Countys Homekey project, funding its own homelessness engagement teams, and being one of the few cities in L.A. County with a dedicated Social Services Department to assist people experiencing homelessness, Rios said. We urge Governor Newsom to recognize Norwalks proactive measures and provide direct resources to support its ongoing efforts. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Though Norwalks measure passed unanimously, not every local official thinks its the right approach. A spokesperson for Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Norwalk, urged the council members at the Aug. 6 meeting to back local efforts to open new facilities serving the homeless. We wont be able to address our homelessness crisis in a meaningful way without our cities helping us. I want to work with the city of Norwalk to address their concerns because we have a plan right now to house people living along the 105 (freeway) in Norwalk and we wont be able to help these people if this ordinance is approved, Liz Odendahl, a spokesperson for Hahn, told the Chronicle. The state Department of Housing and Community Development wrote Monday in a warning to the city that the measure violates numerous state housing laws. By specifically targeting emergency shelters, SRO housing, supportive housing, and transitional housing for a moratorium, the City is prohibiting and appears to be discriminating against housing because of the method of financing and/or the intended occupants, the letter says. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The letter denounces the fact that the measure explicitly lumps housing for low-income people with liquor stores as having a detrimental impact on the City. Elmendorf said the provisions of the measure that target shelter and housing options appear to be illegal. They cant ban homeless shelters completely, because theyre required to zone for some amount of shelters under their housing element, he said, referring to the state-mandated plans cities must submit to the state laying out their plans to accommodate new and existing residents. If the state does ultimately sue, Elmendorf said, the litigation will probably result in the measure being deemed preempted by state law, at least insofar as it prevents a city from doing what it has to do to adopt a compliant housing element. 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. BENNINGTON A physical altercation at a Bennington group home for troubled teens between a minor and a staff member culminated in several felony charges, including assault and cruelty to a child after the staff member allegedly grabbed the teen by the throat after the teen jabbed the staff member with a chair. Burton Snow III, 44, of Bennington, was arraigned on the additional count of Felony Cruelty to a child on Monday after being arraigned in July on two assault counts, one a felony aggravated assault, stemming from the May 2024 incident. A fourth charge - cruelty to a child with death or serious bodily injury - was dismissed after a Bennington Judge found no probable cause for that count. According to a police affidavit in the case, Snow, an overnight staff member at the Seall, Inc. residential treatment group home for troubled youth on Depot Street, grabbed a sixteen-year-old male by the throat in the early morning hours of May 17, after the youth refused to obey orders to come down from a washing machine, cursed, then picked up a chair and jabbed one of the legs into Snows abdomen. In a video observed of the incident, police say Snow then grabs the youth and takes him to the floor as another staff member tries to intervene. It should be noted that, according to the affidavit, Snow recently had surgery in the area where the youth struck him with the chair. The affidavit also reported that Snow was working out of his typical shift and is not experienced in handling juveniles in situations such as this. Seall Inc. is a small not-for-profit organization that has operated four different community programs, one at 204 Depot Street, since 1971. The State of Vermont Administration of Human Services and the Department for Children and Families contract with Seall Inc. to provide residential program services to troubled youth. After the incident, the minor was taken to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center for treatment for neck pain. Police note that the youth did not have any visible injuries. The incident was reported to the Department of Children and Families hotline by police. Snow faces a possible eighteen years behind bars if he is found guilty on all counts. Snow does not have a criminal history in Vermont. After the arraignment, Snow was released without bail with conditions he have no contact with the victim or enter the Seall, Inc. group home facility. Snow has pleaded not guilty on all counts. San Francisco Mayor London Breed has proposed eliminating fees businesses pay when they move into former industrial sites if their operations wont result in additional infrastructure needs from the city. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Mayor London Breed is pushing to remove costly fees for businesses opening in former industrial sites across San Francisco, a move she said will spur small business growth and bring back old industrial sections of the city. Right now, businesses must pay fees when a property in some neighborhoods changes from industrial or manufacturing to another kind of business. The fees are meant to offset increased demand on public services like roads, sewers and water. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But businesses moving into former industrial sites often must pay the fees an average of $50,000 according to a recent study, though they can run as high as $100,000 despite not significantly impacting public infrastructure. Breeds plan would remove fees in these cases. San Francisco has built a reputation for creating red-tape issues, making it extremely difficult to do business here, especially for our small businesses, said Breed, who unveiled the proposal Tuesday. We are taking a critical look at every fee we charge to change that. Lower startup costs will result in greater investment in San Franciscos economy. Breeds legislation is part of a broader strategy to cut red tape and spur business growth as San Francisco continues to weather a difficult economic recovery since the pandemic. She is running for re-election in a highly contested race against challengers who blame her for the citys struggles. Breed will introduce the legislation to the Board of Supervisors, which must approve it for it to take effect. Breed said her plan will make it easier to start and grow a business in San Francisco. In August, she introduced legislation to simplify the permitting process for businesses opening in existing structures that dont require new construction. Her office said that legislation will save businesses an average of $10,000. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Li Sun, CEO and Founder of Shennon Biotechnologies, said in a news release from the mayors office that he paid a fee of nearly $15,000 to open his lab. We opened our lab in the American Industrial Center in Dogpatch to research immunotherapies and find treatments for cancer, Sun said.The many fees and hoops to jump through to open in San Francisco were frustrating and we are very supportive of efforts to reduce them. Todd Masonis, owner of Dandelion Chocolate, said he had to pay $85,000 in impact fees to open the companys two Mission District locations. We actually manufacture all of our chocolate right here in San Francisco and these surprise fees were a big obstacle for us building our factory in the city, Masonis said. I think this legislation is a step in the right direction for helping small businesses make things here. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Every morning the sun rises and glitters though the burnished trees. Only sporadically do birds call, a far cry from the spring cacophony. Chickadees, nuthatches and goldfinches. A migrating flicker shrieks. Not to be outshone, the resident Carolina wren invariably pops up to center stage and performs solo for a few minutes. I put on my plastic boot and, using the tiresome crutches, I limp onto the front porch. Fracturing a fibula was never on my bucket list! With my morning walk forestalled for another month or so, I spend days sorting through the many books that have accumulated for winter reading. Buried in the natural history pile is Ten Birds that Changed the World (Basic Books, 2023) by one of my favorite authors, Stephen Moss, the British ornithologist and naturalist. The concept, or perhaps conceit, of an author organizing a wealth of knowledge into a comprehensive explanation of world history has been done many times before, sometimes successfully, and, at other times, in a more scattershot, but entertaining, manner. One of the first books like this I read was excellent: Seeds of Change: Five Plants that Transformed Mankind, by Henry Hobhouse. In this book, Mr. Hobhouse presents each of the plants sugar, tea, cotton, potato and cinchona and describes the plants history: the organizing, producing and distributing crops that required usurping land, colonizing countries and enslaving workers. No matter how objective an author is, choosing 10, 12 or 50 items or events to explain how these items caused major changes in human history and how they have affected modern times, will, for the most part, be subjective. But back to birds! Hmmm, food for thought what 10 birds would I choose? Definitely the chicken domesticating the chicken has provided the global community with a major source of protein from meat and eggs for thousands of years. Canaries in mines? Then I think, what other species? Moss explains that in his book, he tells the story of this long relationship of birds and man spanning the whole of world history featuring species whose lives and their interactions with us havein one way or anotherchanged the course of history. To illustrate his thesis, Moss has chosen: raven, pigeon, wild turkey, dodo, Darwins finches, Guanay cormorant, snowy egret, bald eagle, tree sparrow and emperor penguin. What an odd selection! But reading the book is intriguing, finding out why he chose this eclectic group. Ravens have been revered the world over from the time of ancient civilizations. Apollo used them as messengers. They are clever, resourceful, adaptable and crafty. The raven appears in widely diverse cultures from the American indigenous people, to the Celts and the Norse. They show up in classical literature (Edgar Allen Poe) and remain important in popular culture. (Game of Thrones). Pigeons were not only domesticated for food (squab), but also were true messengers. Trained homing pigeons told of military movements, not quite as good as the modern day spy drones though. The wild turkey is more important for becoming domesticated along with chickens, geese, ducks, and occasionally swans and providing a source of food and feathers. The snowy egret, senselessly killed for its feathers, led to the passage of bird protection acts both in America and Europe. The dodo, a surprise entry, since this bird is extinct. The species, discovered in Mauritius in 1598, became extinct by 1665. Moss points out that finally scientists learned that when more seamen landed on these islands, mammals were released that destroyed many terrestrial species including the flightless dodo. The same happened in New Zealand when the Maoris arrived. We now know introduced species can become the death knell for other species. This is how the dodo changed history, their own for the worse. Darwins finches were a living, breathing examples of the theory of evolution. Guanay cormorants nesting on arid islands created guano-covered rocks. Guano, filled with nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, could be used to make gunpowder. Eventually the Europeans discovered it was an excellent fertilizer. Greed exploited this unique bird product. The bald eagle, the national bird of more than thirteen nations, represents power and supremacy even though the bird survives more on kleptoparasitism and scavenging. More importantly, this species nearly became extinct from the DDT debacle as did the osprey. From a low of 412 pairs in the lower 48 in 1952, we now have over 71,400 pairs in the wild. In Alaska, there are 30,000 pairs thriving. The tree sparrow, as ubiquitous as the house sparrow, was one of the four pests that Mao declared war on, in China, in 1972. The Chinese killed millions and millions of sparrows only to be subjected to unintended consequences. With the birds exterminated, insects flourished and destroyed all of that years rice crop. Millions of Chinese passed away from starvation. Lastly, emperor penguins, living and breeding in a unique habitat, have become the canaries in the mine for us. Climate change is destroying their habitat and these birds are specialists, i.e. requiring a very specific habit in which to dwell, unlike ravens and pigeons that can survive in many different climates and habitats. This penguin warns us of the oncoming global climate crisis. History is stories we tell ourselves, so there are as many stories as species of birds! This is a book of some of those stories. North Adams firefighters were challenged by a lack of water and water pressure with Williamstown, Clarksburg, Pownal, Vt., and Bennington, Vt., fire departments all pumping and trucking water to the scene from a pond at Spruces Park in Wiliamstown and from the Hoosic River, some 1,300 feet away. This Story in History is selected from the archives by Jeannie Maschino, The Berkshire Eagle. DALTON For Dalton Select Board member Joe Diver, a career opportunity in Brockton was a chance to return to his childhood home. Diver, a former chair and vice chair who has served on the board since 2019, announced last week his plan to step down from the towns governing body effective Oct. 1. He is leaving the board, and eventually the community, to pursue a position as vice president, chief information officer for Signature Healthcare in Brockton. Diver began working with the organization earlier this year during the transition period after another administrator left the system, and was recently offered the position full-time. He previously worked as the chief information officer at Holyoke Medical Center. Diver has attended several of the Select Boards meetings remotely in recent months, as he continues balancing the new position with his duties on the board. In an interview with The Eagle, Diver said that the town needs somebody there that can be physically present to engage on the issues, noting that he did not want to a disservice to the town residents who elected him. Its a little emotional for me I love what the board does, I love the town of Dalton, Diver said. But I also think its the right thing for the town to understand where my focus needs to be. I just didnt feel like I could give 110 percent back through this transition. The Select Board will decide at its next meeting on Sept. 23 whether to hold a special election for Divers seat or to simply function with four members until his term expires in May. After his announcement, several members thanked him for his work in the post, including Select Board member John Boyle. I know weve had our differences of opinion, but you were a great contributor to the board, Boyle said during the meeting. Youve handled some very difficult situations over the last four years this is nothing now compared to what it was four years ago. In an interview, Select Board Chair Bob Bishop said that one of Divers biggest strengths was his thoroughness in getting to the bottom of things and finding the truth for town residents. Bishop said that he was also friends with Diver outside the board, and he will miss his companionship as much as his town-oriented work as an elected official. Im going to miss his presence on the board, big time, Bishop said. Diver grew up in Brockton for the first 12 years of his life. He then lived in a few communities on the eastern side of the state, before moving to Dalton about 20 years ago. Diver never saw himself in town politics he fell into it, he said, after appearing before the Central Berkshire Regional School District for bullying prevention, then was approached by an outgoing member of the Select Board to gauge his interest in a position. Hes not sure how or when it might happen, but Diver plans to continue working in local politics in his next town. After his election, Diver joined the board at a time when it was really focused on accountability particularly in proceedings surrounding the towns police department and former Chief Jeffrey Coe, who mutually parted ways with the department in July 2020 amid a review of his conduct. Diver also chaired the police chief replacement committee after Coes departure, which resulted in the hiring of current Chief Deanna Strout, who has served in the role since February 2021. The whole police department organization, culture-wise, teamwork-wise, has changed for the better, Diver said, since Strout was hired. Diver also championed efforts for town residents, including the installation of a new traffic light configuration at the corner of South Street and Main Street that would have been an (unwanted) roundabout if proposals from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation had stuck. He summarized his tenure on the board by saying that town residents were now more involved and engaged than when he started a trend that he hopes to see continue going forward. Although Im sad to step down, Im excited to see who will replace me and I hope whoever that is continues that path of engaging residents on these big town decisions, Diver said. Weve got a lot of issues ahead of us. All was calm at Pittsfield High School on Monday afternoon. Pittsfield police and school officials say there were no specific credible threats made against school buildings among threats posted online earlier by juveniles. PITTSFIELD All but three towns in Berkshire County are at moderate risk for West Nile virus, as of Tuesday but what does that actually mean? Chris Horton, superintendent for the Berkshire County Mosquito Control Project, said that positive samples of the virus have been found this year in seven of the member towns Pittsfield, Richmond, Sheffield, Hinsdale, Otis, Clarksburg and Becket under the projects purview. That landed the towns on the moderate risk list from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, meaning that infection with [West Nile virus] is likely or has already occurred. Neighboring communities also were designated after the positive results, Horton said, hence the advisory covering nearly the entire county. Only Windsor, Savoy and Florida are currently listed as having a low risk of exposure but Horton said theres not much rhyme or reason to the increase in West Nile detections, which vary widely from year to year. Depending on whats going on in the natural environment, thats whats setting the risk level, Horton said. Were moderate this year, and weve been at high risk in the past. West Nile virus is transmitted to mosquitoes when they feed on infected birds most commonly crows or jays, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, though 110 species of bird are capable of carrying the virus. The virus can cause symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea and a swelling of the lymph glands, although roughly 80 percent of people who have the virus will be asymptomatic, according to the Department of Public Health. Less than 1 percent of those infected will develop a serious illness as a result, including encephalitis or meningitis. There have been no reported human cases of West Nile virus in the Berkshires thus far. In the past decade, the commonwealth has had 131 reported cases of West Nile, resulting in eight fatalities as of 2023. There have been 11 human cases of West Nile Virus reported in the state so far this year. Positive samples in the northern part of the county have driven the increase this year, with all of last years positive samples coming from communities in the central and southern Berkshires. More than half the communities in Berkshire County were under moderate risk advisory as of Sept. 11, 2023. Pretty much, its a given that its going to show up every year somewhere, Horton said. But where it goes is our concern. Some years you dont get that interaction between mosquitoes and birds and it doesnt get bigger in the environment. Other years, it does. The mosquito control project closely monitors the amount of Culex restuans and "Culex pipiens mosquitoes in the area those are the two most common carriers of West Nile, Horton said. Despite recording massive numbers of mosquitoes coming out of a fairly wet spring the project recorded 500 in a single trap one night early on he said the population has been more manageable as the summer has gotten drier. Last year, flooding conditions made it more difficult to control the population due to the amount of available standing water for mosquitoes to breed in. Horton urged residents to follow the guidance as laid out by the city of Pittsfield for personal protection namely, wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants while outside, avoiding outdoor exposure during peak mosquito hours between dusk and dawn, and using mosquito repellent and DEET. The city also recommends removing standing water from around your home to avoid mosquito proliferation. Horton said that mosquitoes would begin reducing in number as the weather got colder, but cautioned that residents should maintain precautions until then. Its not really over until we get a hard frost, Horton said in other words, when the temperature remains at or below 28 degrees for several hours. SHEFFIELD Two bridge shutdowns and one detour road makes for more wear and tear on a third bridge over the Housatonic River: the one that spans Maple Avenue. And that bridge was rated by the state in February as fair, which sits between poor and good. Town officials are now are worried about a new batch of detour traffic crossing that Maple Avenue span beginning Friday when the Kellogg Road bridge is closed, said Town Administrator Rhonda LaBombard. They dont want a third bridge to go. They plan to hold a meeting with the towns highway department about the still-open Maple Avenue bridge, LaBombard said, as well as with state Department of Transportation officials. LaBombard said there also would be conversations about what they say is a dangerous intersection on this detour. Were asking people to use caution at the intersection of Boardman and Maple, she added. Its a very busy road and Hewins Street [connects] into it. The town is considering new signage there. It already has ordered the detour signs for the Kellogg shutdown. The Select Board announced on Monday that it would be closing the Kellogg Road bridge indefinitely at 8 a.m. Friday based on a DOT inspection and rating that found corrosion in girders on its east end. The state recommended the bridge be closed unless certain repairs were made, LaBombard said. She noted that a quick estimate by engineers placed the cost of the repairs at between $400,000 and $500,000. The bridges decking had been patched last summer, she added, but has had no other repairs or maintenance that she knows of. A statement by the town on Monday said that closing the bridge and providing the DOT with a preliminary engineering study would help raise the priority of the bridge project on the DOTs list of projects it is paying for in concert with federal money. State Rep. William Smitty Pignatelli, D-Lenox, said that this is yet another situation where, in general, towns are ignoring inspection reports at their peril. This is almost like a come to Jesus moment, he said of the larger pattern of long-deferred maintenance as bridges age out at the same time and are shut down. Towns have to take it more seriously. MORE DETOUR PAIN Motorists who would take Route 7 to Kellogg Road will be rerouted 2.7 miles south to Maple Avenue, where they can access the eastern side of the river. This includes the Brush Hill and Brookside roads neighborhoods, as well as the homes, businesses and farms to the south. It is the second bridge in South County to be shut down since May. It was on May 2 that the Brookside Road bridge in Great Barrington was closed after an inspection found it was badly corroded. Now the steel girder bridge on Maple, which was built in 1952, will absorb not just detour traffic from the Brookside Road bridge shutdown in May, but soon, also from the Kellogg bridge that is 2.5 miles downstream. Traffic that will now cross the Maple Avenue bridge includes trucks and tractor-trailers, farm equipment and school buses. Multiple businesses rely on the bridge. The Kellogg shutdown is worrying Melissa Kushi, who lives and runs her business off Boardman Street. Kushi is an importer of pink sea salt from a remote region in Pakistan, and delivers it to 2,500 retailers across the U.S. Trucks are key to her business, HimalaSalt, Kushi said. She built a loading dock for this reason. She has to accommodate 53-foot-long tractor-trailers. We have five to seven trucks a week, Kushi said. The tractor-trailers pick up pallets from her headquarters, then head back to Route 7 and double back north to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Now, the trucks also will have to navigate that V-shaped intersection at Maple Avenue that town officials are worried about. I worry that the trucking companies are going to push back, Kushi said of the extra distance. This is my entire livelihood. I am deeply concerned. Kushi is also worried about the stress on the Maple Avenue bridge, as well as the impact on property values. Patrick McBride, owner and creative director at Tillett Textiles, also lives and works off Boardman Street in the same complex as HimalaSalt. McBride has many of the same concerns, and wonders why the bridge was allowed to fall into such disrepair, especially given the revenue from the town's cannabis businesses. McBride, who moved here from Hillsdale, N.Y., to be closer to work, is trying to rent out 8,000 square feet of his factory space, and worries that the detour is going to hinder that. I used to be able to say were 3 miles to Guidos [Fresh Marketplace], McBride said, noting that, for now, is no longer a valid selling point. Enrollment and infrastructure challenges continue to put pressure on the 65,000-student, five-campus University of Massachusetts, where enrollment gains over the last 20 years have pretty much evaporated. During a UMass Board of Trustees Administration and Finance Committee on Wednesday, university officials said enrollment is up this year by a scant 0.1 percent across its campuses and acknowledged a big gap in funding for needed infrastructure repairs and upgrades. Over the past 20 years, the average annual enrollment growth rate at UMass has steadily declined. From fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2010, it was 3.5 percent. It dropped to 2.3 percent for fiscal years 2011-2015, and 1.2 percent for fiscal 2016-2020. And while annual enrollment is up a smidgen this year, average enrollment is estimated to drop by 0.3 percent for the fiscal 2021-2025 period, according to slides presented at the meeting. "As we cross into the new fiscal year, enrollment continues to be a top risk for university," committee Chair Michael O'Brien, a 1988 UMass Amherst graduate, said. "I'd be remiss if I did not say we need to take advantage of our system-ness and continue to innovate on enrollment strategies to preserve our market share." UMass President Marty Meehan said the demand for a UMass education "remains strong" but noted the significant demographic challenges facing universities across the nation as the population of high school graduates continues to decline, "especially in the Northeast." "We've seen it not only with the non-elite privates, we've also seen it with the community colleges enrollment is down significant over the last decade, as well as the state universities. At UMass, we've done much better, but like every university we're looking at these challenges, and if those challenges are left unmanaged, they'd have the potential to challenge our university as well." University officials expressed optimism about an "admissions sharing" pilot program in which students who are unable to be admitted at UMass Amherst are steered toward possible admission at the Dartmouth or Lowell campuses. "It's a lot of work behind the scenes," said UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes, applauding the program and noting the many phone calls and emails associated with applications and admissions. Enrollment figures presented Wednesday showed 30,460 full-time students at UMass Amherst. Enrollment at UMass Boston has risen since fiscal 2022 and stands at 13,085, while enrollment at UMass Lowell has declined over the same period to 13,521. UMass Dartmouth has 6,604 students enrolled this fiscal year, and there are 1,425 students enrolled at the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester. At a UMass Committee on Academic and Student Affairs meeting, also held Wednesday, Meehan gave a presentation on enrollment that mainly touched on the diversity of the incoming class of 2028. "Despite the United States Supreme Court decision last year overturning affirmative action in college admissions, UMass continues to educate a student body that is increasingly reflecting the diversity of our commonwealth. In fact, the class of 2028 is the most diverse in our university's history," he said. Exactly half of the incoming class are students of color, up from 48 percent in fall 2023, according to UMass. At UMass Boston, the most diverse of the system's campuses, 73 percent of class of 2028 members are students of color. UMass Chan Medical School is accepting far more women than men with 70 percent of its incoming class identifying as women. In 2023, UMass identified a $4.8 billion backlog of deferred maintenance needs at its facilities and buildings, with $3.6 billion of that backlog assigned to academic buildings. The university did not receive any income surtax funding in the most recent cycle to address building needs and a top official said Wednesday that current spending rates won't be enough. "That's a 10-year backlog number that we will not be able to address without support from the state," Lisa Calise, senior vice president for administration and finance at UMass, told the Administration and Finance Committee. Calise said the UMass president's office and the UMass Building Authority are participating in a state higher education capital working group to assess future funding options for deferred maintenance at UMass and across the state's public higher education network. The university's current capital plan includes 128 projects totaling $1.8 billion. Administration and Finance Committee member Robert Epstein mentioned other area colleges that earned high rankings recently. "We've got to try to improve the product itself" at UMass, Epstein said. Meehan defended the product, which is more affordable than other colleges, and said UMass doesn't have the same amounts of money to invest in campuses that universities may have when they charge students $80,000 or $90,000 per year. UMass has a $4.3 billion budget. It received a $760 million appropriation in the new state budget. Student-sourced revenues account for 34 percent of university revenues, with the state appropriation at 27 percent, and grants at 19 percent. Its fiscal 2025 budget covers nearly 16,000 full-time equivalent employees, according to slides presented Wednesday. Iranian FM condemns deadly pager blasts in Lebanon Xinhua) 10:27, September 18, 2024 TEHRAN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi has strongly condemned the targeting of Lebanese citizens in simultaneous pager explosions in the Arab state, calling it a "terrorist action by Israel." He made the remarks during a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib on Tuesday, after pagers simultaneously blew up earlier in the day across Lebanon, killing at least eight people and wounding over 2,800 others, including Hezbollah members, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Araghchi expressed solidarity and extended condolences to Lebanon, voicing Iran's readiness to provide assistance to treat the injured or transfer them to Tehran. He pointed to the injury sustained by Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani in the incident and thanked the Lebanese government for its immediate measures to treat the Iranian envoy. The Lebanese foreign minister emphasized that his government would pursue and investigate the "terrorist" incident. Lebanon's Elnashra news website accused the Israeli military of targeting the batteries of the pagers, leading to their explosions across Lebanon. It added that the injured were transferred to hospitals. The Iranian Red Crescent Society announced on Tuesday that it is prepared to send emergency treatment teams to Lebanon to assist those injured in the simultaneous explosions. After the explosions, Hezbollah declared it was "at the highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon and its people," blaming Israel for the "criminal attack" and vowing to retaliate. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Mark Farrell, a former interim mayor and supervisor, has unveiled a long list of proposals he would seek to roll out in his first 100 days if he defeats Mayor London Breed and three other major challengers in November. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Mark Farrell, a former interim mayor and supervisor, unveiled a long list of proposals Wednesday he would seek to roll out in his first 100 days if he defeats Mayor London Breed and three other major challengers in November. The plans include naming a new police chief and transportation director, replacing most members of the San Francisco Police Departments oversight commission if a ballot measure passes and conducting an ambitious clearing of homeless tents. Farrell also vowed to cut funding for some drug harm-reduction efforts and reallocate the money to treatment programs. He said he would launch a series of town halls in all 11 supervisorial districts to hear directly from residents about their concerns. The proposals come as Farrell, who appears to be a top contender according to recent polls, faces blistering critiques from rivals over his ethics, both in the current campaign and during his past tenure in City Hall. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mayoral debate: On Sept. 19, the Chronicle and KQED are hosting an S.F. mayoral debate with the leading candidates. Click here to register for the livestream. Those include allegations that hes intentionally circumventing campaign finance restrictions by pooling expenses between his mayoral campaign and a committee he established to support a ballot measure, Proposition D, that seeks to reform City Hall governance. A Chronicle investigation this month found that Farrell often steered money to a favored nonprofit from companies trying to influence him at City Hall an action he took far more often than his colleagues. Breed is facing her own controversy after investigations by the Chronicle and the San Francisco Standard into alleged mismanagement of her signature program, the Dream Keeper Initiative. The department head in charge of the program resigned under pressure and one of Breeds opponents, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, plans to hold a public hearing in an effort to directly question the mayor about the program. Farrell, meanwhile, has called for a federal investigation. Farrell released his 100-day plan one day before he was set to face off Thursday evening against Breed, Daniel Lurie, Peskin and Supervisor Ahsha Safai at a mayoral debate hosted by the Chronicle and KQED. We are going to hit the ground running aggressively as soon as we get into office, Farrell said in an interview. I believe its what San Francisco needs right now, and I really want to make sure that the residents of San Francisco know that they will have an active mayor on my first day in office. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mark Farrell, shown in July, appears to be a top contender to win the election for mayor of San Francisco, according to recent polls. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Overall, the ideas in Farrells 100-day plan are continuations of proposals he has put forth throughout his campaign this year. He entered the mayors race in February partly on a promise to fire Police Chief Bill Scott, arguing that new leadership was necessary in light of voters concerns about public safety in the city. Now, Farrell is specifying that he wants Scotts replacement to come from SFPDs existing ranks instead of an outside agency. Farrells promise to appoint a new majority on the Police Commission is contingent on the passage of Prop. D, which would allow the mayor to appoint five of the oversight bodys seven members without needing approval from the Board of Supervisors, as is currently the case. Farrell said his effort to clear homeless encampments would be led by a Stop the Spread encampment team focused on removing tents from the streets and preventing unhoused people from setting up new camps in other neighborhoods after theyve been displaced. Its not clear how Farrells team would differ from the citys existing Healthy Streets Operations Center, or HSOC, which leads encampment-clearing efforts. Mayor Breed has not been effective in dealing with tent encampments on our city streets, period, Farrell said. No matter what internal organization she has tasked with this duty, the mayor has failed on homelessness. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In another attempt to address homelessness and public drug use in his first three months on the job, Farrell said he would identify a site to serve as a 24/7 intake center where first responders could take unhoused people to connect them with services, shelter and treatment. He also said he would try to expand funding for homeless shelters by tapping into unspent funds intended for supportive housing. And he would introduce legislation to further reduce the citys affordable-housing mandates for new developments in a bid to jumpstart construction. Joe Arellano, a spokesperson for Breeds reelection campaign, accused Farrell of trying to deflect from the more serious concerns about his candidacy. Mark Farrell is trying to change the narrative away from his daily ethics scandals by repackaging all his bad ideas into the concepts of a plan, Arellano said, quoting a phrase former President Donald Trump used in his recent debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. Arellano also took issue with the proposed name of Farrells encampment-clearing team, comparing it to the Stop the Steal slogan embraced by Trump supporters who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Farrells latest policy announcement comes on the heels of a rebuke from the San Francisco Democratic Partys governing board over his use of the local partys logo in a mailer from his Prop. D committee. In a Saturday letter to Farrell, party Chair Nancy Tung cited concern that the use of the logo, and its proximity to Farrell describing himself as a Democrat and former interim mayor, could confuse voters into believing that the party had endorsed him. The party has endorsed only Breed in the mayors race. Tung in her letter warned Farrell and his Prop. D committee to exercise greater oversight over the design of any future mailer, warning that future missteps could result in the party rescinding its endorsement of Prop. D. Farrell told the Chronicle that all of his campaign activities were fully vetted and cleared by our attorneys. The reality is, all of these comments are simply distractions from the real issues in the race, and the fact that none of my opponents can match my experience, my competence and my vision for the city, he said. Immigration continues to be a major issue to many Americans. Conversations and arguments often happen around ideas of illegal or undocumented immigrants, refugees, and the proper process regarding people who want to move to the US, specifically along the southern border. Along with Americans, immigration has become a heated topic in Europe. With wars and violent conflicts arising in that area of the world, EU nations must again look at their policies and how to handle the influx of people. The immigration discussion balances legality and compassion, and seeking the best route forward becomes murky when individuals and organizations on both sides of the political spectrum use fear tactics, call names, and demonize groups, no matter who they are. For Christians, how should we engage with this discussion? God calls us to Kingdom principles, which includes both respect for the law and radical compassion. Whatever the political solution, the Father clearly expects us to show love to everyone, not least of which is the immigrant, as the Bible expresses. Here then are five Bible verses about loving immigrants. Photo credit: Getty Images/bymuratdeniz BillOReilly.com is not available in this country. We apologize for any inconvenience. To create dialogues and foster collaborations between leading healthcare companies of the two countries Business France India hosted the 2024 edition of the Indo-French Healthcare Conference, a landmark event highlighting the expertise and scope of the French and the Indian healthcare sectors, on 17th September 2024, at the Embassy of France in India. Organised in partnership with the French Institute in India (IFI) and Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) as knowledge partner, this conference was inaugurated by the Ambassador of France to India, Thierry Mathou along with Dr Vinod K. Paul, member of NITI Aayog, as esteemed chief guest of the event. Dr Vinod K. Paul highlighted the importance of the Indo-French partnership in healthcare and potential ways of collaboration. This event saw the participation of about 85 attendees and had the support of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IFCCI), CEFIPRA, Invest India, the French Healthcare association and APHP. The Indo-French Healthcare Conference, which brought together healthcare professionals, medical experts and industry leaders from both France and India, aimed to create dialogues and foster collaborations between leading healthcare companies of the two countries. This conference included diverse topics of discussion ranging from new age technologies to medical research and development as well as opportunities for the growing Indian healthcare industry and areas of cooperation in this field between the two nations. CEOs of medical devices companies, Indian hospitals, prominent researchers practitioners from France and India gathered and discussed topics such as Emerging healthcare opportunities in India; New areas for healthcare R&D between France and India; Innovations in pharma and biotech- Manufacturing and Retail; and How global MedTech companies and hospitals are transforming healthcare innovation & skill development in India. Participating companies seeking to enter the Indian market included 2PS, Inlog S.A.S, Dagard, and F2D Medical. The event also saw the participation of prominent French subsidiaries in India namely Peters Surgical, Vygon, BioMerieux, Air Liquide Medical Systems, and Eradicus. The "Pink Cube" breast cancer awareness campaign is coming to the wine market in Lucerne on September 20 and 21. (archive picture) Keystone After its launch in Bern, the so-called "Pink Cube" is coming to the wine market in Lucerne on September 20 and 21. As part of the campaign, women of all ages can find out about breast cancer free of charge and also have an examination. SDA The examination will be carried out by gynecologists from the Breast Center of the Lucerne Cantonal Hospital, as Pink Cube announced on Wednesday. The doctors will also demonstrate how to palpate the breasts themselves and how to detect changes. According to Pink Cube, Lucerne is one of eight cantons that do not yet offer an organized early detection programme for breast cancer. This means that women aged 50 and over are not yet automatically invited to mammograms without a franchise, as is the case in other cantons. Last week saw the start of the Pink Cube awareness campaign in Bern. On Friday and Saturday, the "pink cube" will be at the Lucerne wine market. Fridays from 1pm to 7pm, Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. The following week, from September 26 to 28, the Pink Cube will travel to Zurich, from October 18 to 19 to Baden and from October 25 to 26 to Chur. The campaign is organized by the Swiss Cancer League and Europa Donna Switzerland. https://pinkcube-testyourbreast.ch/ SDA James Robinson, left, on July 10, after his family found him in San Francisco after discovering he was alive, three years after he had been declared dead. His family held a memorial for him, right, outside the Dahlia Hotel on Turk Street in May 2021, shortly after medical examiner officials told the family he died of an overdose in the hotel. Courtesy of Kylie Robinson For three years, Kylie Robinson mourned her fathers death. James Robinson had died on May 7, 2021, from an accidental drug overdose while in a Tenderloin hotel room, San Franciscos medical examiner had told her. She held a funeral in a Solano County veterans hall. She had him cremated. She spread some of his ashes in Hawaii. Other ashes were placed in custom-made jewelry. She erected a shrine in her living room with his decorative urn, got his name tattooed on her arm and named her son after him. She got married without her father walking her down the aisle. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Then, two months ago, Kylie said, a family friend was visiting San Francisco. Walking down Market Street, he saw something extraordinary: James Robinson. He called his mother and handed the phone to Robinson: Oh my goodness, Jimbo, your family thinks youre dead, the woman told him. In a phone call a short while later, the mother told Kylie there was no doubt about the mans identity. I promise, the friend said. Im 1,000% sure. Me and my sisters are thinking, Are we delusional? Kylie recalled. But after a few phone calls to the medical examiners office, and a review of photos of the man whod died in 2021, Kylie was sure: Her father was very much alive. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The ashes Kylie Robinson doted over belonged to a stranger. On Tuesday afternoon, the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner acknowledged to the Chronicle that it had misidentified the dead man. An OCME investigation misidentified a decedent as James Robinson in 2021, and we understand this is deeply troubling for his family, said Angela Yip, a spokesperson with the medical examiners office. This does not reflect the high standards of our office, nor the level of service the people of San Francisco expect and deserve. We are committed to continuing to implement measures that ensure the integrity of our work. Learning their father was alive, Kylie and her family went looking for him. They found him on Market Street and had a tearful reunion. They also quickly learned that the coroners mistake had profound consequences. Since 2021, James Robinson had lost his sole income monthly $900 disability payments because his daughter, as next of kin, reported his death to the Social Security Administration. For three years, without what had been frequent visits from family, Robinsons health and addiction deteriorated, along with his opportunity to heal and find housing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Worst of all, Kylie said, he became addicted to fentanyl. My dad didnt have as severe an addiction before this mistake, Kylie said. Theres been a significant decline in his health over the three years. Despite promising his family hed go into rehab after this summers reunion, James Robinson disappeared again and now they cant find him. Then there is the matter of the man who died on May 7, 2021. Who was he? Since the medical examiners acknowledgement, the death certificate for Robinson has been amended. The deceased is now John Doe. A medical examiner investigator came to her home and collected the remaining ashes and a ring shed had made. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Shortly after San Francisco medical examiner officials told Kylie Robinson that her father died in 2021, she bought an urn and ring to hold his ashes. Provided by Kylie Robinson A slide into homelessness James Robinson was Kylies sole guardian up until age 12. She said her mother was in and out of her life. Kylies two younger sisters were born when the couple reunited, but then they split again. Kylie stayed with her father, and her sisters lived with their mother and grandparents. He was the only parent that took care of me, Kylie said. The only one I trusted. They moved around the Antioch area, and he worked laying floors. He had long battled severe depression, Kylie said. His parents had died when he was a teen, and his only family was his brother. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Her fathers turning point came in 2017 after Kylie had moved out, she said, when he allowed an acquaintance to spend the night on his couch. The next morning, when he asked him to leave, the man turned hostile and shot Robinson in the chest, Kylie said. He spent nearly a month in the hospital and lost his government-subsidized housing, she said. He spent a year living in his car and couch-surfed at friends houses. By 2019, he moved to San Francisco, living on the streets. His addiction intensified, Kylie said, and he slid into homelessness. Through it all, Kylie continued her relationship with him. Wed go every few weekends and spend lunch together, and when it was time to go wed always try and bring him home with us, Kylie said of visits with her family and a younger sister. Hed tell her he was OK and that he was staying with a friend, and refuse to leave the city, she said. He was very much trying to hide he was living in the Tenderloin, she said. In March 2021, Kylie spent a day with him, celebrating his 50th birthday. They ate dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on Pier 39. She returned in April, and they grabbed lunch. Three weeks later, on May 9, 2021, she received a strange voicemail on her cell phone from a San Francisco phone number. The voice said there was an emergency involving her father; she needed to return the call. When she did, she reached the medical examiners office and her heart sank. I immediately went into shock, Kylie recalled. Much of the call was a blur, she said, but she remembered a medical examiner investigator explaining how her father had died alone in the Dahlia Hotel, a single room occupancy hotel for the formerly homeless, or SRO, on Turk Street. No foul play was suspected, she was told. Authorities believed it was an accidental overdose because they found a small baggie of suspected drugs at the scene. The medical examiner official explained to Kylie how, as next of kin, she was responsible for the handling of his remains. It would cost approximately $4,000 to have his body cremated and his ashes returned to her. She didnt have the money and asked for a couple days to come up with it. She asked whether she could view the body to say her goodbyes, but with the cremation option, that was not possible, she said she was told. On May 12, she launched a GoFundMe campaign online to raise money for her fathers funeral. She posted a photo of him, with the slightest of smiles, holding a jar of his favorite barbecue sauce, and explained how he had unexpectedly passed away and that the family needed financial assistance for his funeral. Sunday May 9th we got the hardest call we could ever imagine saying our father James Robinson had passed away, Kylie wrote. Since it has been really hard on us and we just want to give him a proper funeral to celebrate his life and all the wonderful memories we shared with him. He will be forever loved and missed. Twenty-two people donated a total of $1,655 to help the family. Kylie paid for the cremation and, about a week later, received the ashes at her house in the mail. She was told she would receive the autopsy report, but none was sent. She thought about pushing for the record, but decided she didnt want to know the details of her fathers final moments. We had zero suspicion. We put our faith in the medical examiner. We had never heard of something where they didnt properly identify a body, Kylie said. At the time, Kylie had just turned 21. Her younger sisters were 18 and 14. When Kylie received her fathers death certificate, she said she was told she was legally obligated to contact the Social Security Administration to stop his disability payments. Days after the notification, Kylie, along with her sister, husband and daughter, drove to the Dahlia Hotel and held a memorial on the sidewalk replete with flowers, balloons and candles. On two poster boards adorned with photos, the family left messages: Fly High in the Sky and In Loving Memory of James Robinson You Will Be Missed Dad. She spoke to a hotel employee who recalled her father as always being friendly and trustworthy in paying his bill. The employee said Robinson would occasionally spend a night at the SRO. The employee showed them her fathers signature and a California drivers license number from his check-in. The worker said Robinson and a male friend booked a room together one night and the pair left the next morning. Robinson returned the next day and spent another night, he said. The next day, he never checked out. And when staff entered the room, they found the body. Kylie Robinson, 25 (left) and sister Khloe Robinson, 17, sit in the living room of Kylies home for a portrait in Solano County on Thursday. For three years, Kylie mourned her fathers death. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle The autopsy report On May 31, 2021, James Robinsons family held his funeral in a banquet hall of a Solano County veterans hall. His family released balloons, displayed photos, watched a slideshow and shared memories. One daughter flew in from Idaho, and Robinsons brother and his family came from Arizona. His ashes were held in a blue-and-silver urn. The family had bits of his remains set in jewelry for keepsakes. Kylie had a ring custom-made. In September, Kylie and her family traveled to Maui for a rest and to spread some of his ashes near Lahaina. As they grieved, the medical examiners office completed the autopsy and toxicology reports for the man theyd identified as James Robinson. The Chronicle obtained the 12-page report that ruled the overdose accidental and concluded the cause of death was mixed drug toxicity (fentanyl and methamphetamine). The man had died just before 11 p.m. Had Kylie seen the report on Case #2021-0622 that year, she would have immediately found details that did not match her father. The doctor who performed the autopsy indicated the body had scars on one arm and was missing the tip of the right index finger; neither matched Robinson. The deceased weighed 127 pounds and stood 5 feet 4; Robinson was taller and heavier. The man had tattoos on his arms and upper back. But there was no mention of the Angela tattoo that James Robinson has on his neck to honor Kylies mother. Or of a bullet scar Kylie said he has on his chest from the 2017 shooting. San Francisco police also had a chance to correct the situation. Kylie said she learned that her father had been arrested in November 2022 and when police tried to book him into jail, his fingerprints indicated he was dead. Police released him, she said. In addition, Kylie said the medical examiners office would later tell her that paramedics at one point checked the welfare of Robinson, and when he gave them his ID number he came up dead. Kylie Robinson holds a card that was used in the memorial for her father James funeral. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle The discovery When James Robinson was on the phone with the family friends mother, he pleaded with her to reach out to his daughter. His attempts had all failed. Kylie had moved and gotten a new cell phone, and he did not have the new number. Robinson said he had trouble purchasing a new phone because when he provided his ID he came up dead and vendors thought he was trying to commit identity theft. When he does get a new phone, it is often stolen. After talking to the friend, a stunned Kylie dug through her file of documents related to her fathers death. Stapled to his death certificate was a business card for the medical examiners office. She called the next morning and spoke to a dismissive medical examiner employee, she said. Each body is positively identified by fingerprints, the employee explained. Kylie asked the employee to check for the Angela tattoo, but the worker only found different tattoos on other parts of the body. And there was no indication of the bullet wound. The medical examiner official asked her to send a photo of her father. Kylie said she emailed, of all photos, his obituary picture. Hours later, a medical examiner investigator called. Now they were second-guessing, Kylie recalled. The investigator asked whether she could send Kylie some photos of the body to positively identify. The official stayed on the phone as Kylie opened the photo files. She viewed a strangers face, and knew immediately, by the light skin complexion alone, that this was not her father. No, thats not my dad, Kylie told the investigator. The investigator explained that the mistake was probably due to the department being overtaxed by the COVID pandemic at the time. She said the investigator confirmed that no fingerprints or dental records were taken in the case. Kylie said she felt a lack of compassion. Kylie Robinson (in blue shirt) sits on her fathers lap as a child. Provided by Kylie Robinson When she hung up, she immediately began planning her trip to San Francisco. It was a huge relief. I had so many mixed emotions, Kylie said. I was kind of scared. What condition is my dad in? On July 10, Kylie and her family parked in downtown San Francisco and started their search for her father. They started on Market Street in the spot where he had been spotted. They walked up and down the downtown and Tenderloin, showing other homeless people his photo and asking whether theyd seen Jimbo. It was nearing 8 p.m. After walking 10 miles over 12 hours, they were headed back to their car. As they neared, they spotted one of their dads friends. Jimbos right over there! he said. At Market and Fifth streets, daughter and father hugged. And cried. Oh my God, Dad, we held a funeral for you, she told him. His health had deteriorated in the three years since shed seen him, she thought. Wearing a dark gray hoodie over his brown hair and whitening goatee, Robinson bent over and gave his granddaughter a hug. Robinson and the family agreed he needed to go directly to rehab. But there was so much to process, Kylie said her father told them that he needed another day. She bought him a hotel room for the night. The next day, she met him outside the hotel, but he said he needed another day. She had to work the next two days, so she told him shed get him a room for Thursday and Friday and pick him up Saturday morning. It was the last time she saw him. When she showed up on July 13, he was nowhere to be found. Im sure on the street you get used to that lifestyle, she said. The family returned to San Francisco three or four times over the next two months and searched unsuccessfully. You get there and youre searching and theres so many homeless it feels almost impossible, Kylie said. Often, she would bend down to scan the faces of men bent over in whats known as a fentanyl fold. On Aug. 7, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner officially acknowledged its mistake in a letter to Kylie with the subject line: Erroneous Death Letter James Robinson. The San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner wrote a letter on Aug. 7 confirming its mistaken identity of James Robinson. Provided by Kylie Robinson She filed a claim with the city that week. Shes mulling a lawsuit. Theyre telling us they are trying to make it right by our family, Kylie said. So, Im kind of just waiting to see what they are going to do before I go down that path. Meanwhile, the medical examiner said its office is trying to identify the man who died through his DNA. In a couple weekends, she will return to San Francisco to resume her search. She plans to post missing flyers and include a small reward. Shes researching treatment facilities outside the city to take her father. Shes started a GoFundMe to help get him off the streets. Were taking it day by day, but were devastated, she said. People say that its a miracle hes still alive, but Liban : 9 morts et plus de 300 blesses dans les explosions de mercredi-ministere Liban : 9 morts et plus de 300 blesses dans les explosions de mercredi-ministere BEYROUTH, 18 septembre (Reuters) - Les explosions mercredi de centaines de radios portables appartenant a des membres du Hezbollah ont fait neuf morts et plus de 300 blesses, a declare le ministere de la Sante. (Redaction de Beyrouth) Johnny Marr has said he turned down the chance of a reunion tour with The Smiths. The guitarist and co-songwriter also said he stepped in to protect the legacy of the bands name in a trademark row as he denied claims made by the bands frontman Morrissey. Advertisement In a statement released on Tuesday by Marrs management team, the 60-year-old said: To prevent third parties from profiting from the bands name, it was left to me protect the legacy. This I have done on behalf of both myself and my former bandmates. As for the offer to tour, I didnt ignore the offer I said no. Advertisement Morrissey (Andy Butterton/PA) The comments came in a response headlined Recent statements by Morrissey on his website regarding the trademark of The Smiths name are incorrect. The Manchester band had a string of hits in the 1980s with songs including Heaven Knows Im Miserable Now, This Charming Man and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, and split in 1987. Morrissey, 65, said in August that Marr had turned down a reunion tour. Advertisement Claims were also made that the guitarist had successfully applied for 100% trademark rights without any consultation with Morrissey. Marrs management said: In 2018, following an attempt by a third party to use The Smiths name and upon discovery that the trademark was not owned by the band Marr reached out to Morrissey, via his representatives, to work together in protecting The Smiths name. A failure to respond led Marr to register the trademark himself. It was subsequently agreed with Morrisseys lawyers that this trademark was held for the mutual benefit of Morrissey and Marr. Advertisement As a gesture of goodwill, in January 2024, Marr signed an assignment of joint ownership to Morrissey. Execution of this document still requires Morrissey to sign. In the statement, Marr denied speculation that a tour is planned with a different frontman for The Smiths, saying: There are no such plans. He also confirmed that he turned down the chance of doing another greatest hits compilation with Warner Music Group, saying there are already a number in existence. An officer from the Sheriffs Department stands outside a unit at Potrero Annex while other officers attempt to evict a tenant in San Francisco on Aug. 28. Dozens of families are being evicted from Potrero Annex, after finding out they were paying rent to a landlord who didnt have permission to rent and was pocketing their money. Juliana Yamada/Special to The Chronicle The San Francisco Housing Authority got the go-ahead Tuesday from federal officials to raze about a dozen public housing buildings that are now at the center of multiple city investigations focused on a former property manager who was illegally renting out units that should have been left vacant as part of a larger redevelopment plan. The City Attorneys Office has confirmed that it is investigating allegations that Lance Whittenberg a former property manager hired to oversee the Housing Authoritys Potrero Terrace-Annex public housing site filled and collected rent for units that were considered to be vacant and earmarked for demolition under the long-planned HOPE SF rebuild of the property. A spokesperson declined to comment on the scope of the civil investigation. Multiple individuals familiar with the matter said that the District Attorneys office is also investigating, though a spokesperson for that department neither confirmed nor denied the existence of a criminal investigation last week. Advertisement Article continues below this ad During a special hearing on Friday, the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission approved a construction license agreement with master developer BRIDGE Housing that paves the way for the demolition of a portion of the Potrero Hill site located between Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, 25th and 22nd streets. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) signed off on the plan on Tuesday, according to Housing Authority Director Tonia Lediju. Housing Authority officials described a pressing need to expedite the planned demolitions, given the sites recent issues with unauthorized tenancies. Now that approvals are in place, Lediju said that the earliest the vacant units will realistically be demolished is toward the end of this year. But, there are active demands to relocate the unauthorized tenants of the complex and for a review of the Housing Authoritys oversight of Eugene Burger Management Corporation, or EBMC the property management firm that employed Whittenberg. There also questions about whether the larger redevelopment project, which proposes roughly 800 affordable homes mixed with about 800 new, market-rate units, can advance as envisioned, given the downturn in the housing market that has prevented project stakeholders from securing a market-rate developer. The market-rate housings development timeline is not dictated by current agreements related to the project, and BRIDGE Housing officials said Friday that, given the challenging market post-pandemic, it is unclear when that component of the project could move forward. As the master developer, BRIDGE is required to prepare requests for proposals and manage a selection process to identify developers willing to purchase the sites planned market-rate parcels, and build the housing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Theres nothing happening on the market-rate side, and not just in San Francisco, but across the Bay Area, said Smitha Seshadri, a senior vice president of development at BRIDGE, at Fridays hearing. Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) spokesperson Anne Stanley indicated that changes to the redevelopment plan are possible. She said that BRIDGE has conducted an analysis of the projects market-rate component, which will, in part inform any adjustments to the current ratio of affordable to market rate housing. There may be a larger policy discussion to be had here, but until those conversations progress and any formal changes to the Master Plan are proposed, we are moving forward with the plan as is, Stanley said. From the start, Hope SF has been on the vanguard of a national movement to rethink how public housing is built and operated. Rather than isolated clusters of generic buildings with dead-end streets and little in the way of green space or services, Hope SF sought to integrate public housing into a broader neighborhood street grid with a mix of income-levels, health centers, community meeting places, spaces for kids to play and parents to shop. The program calls for the replacement of dilapidated World War II-era housing with modern buildings at four public housing developments Alice Griffith, Hunters View, Sunnydale and Potrero Terrace and Annex where legal tenants in good standing are guaranteed a home in the new construction. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Eventually, Hope SF will replace 1,900 public housing units with 5,300 apartments, some of which are slated to be market-rate. So far at Potrero, a 72-unit building has been completed which houses 53 households that were previously living in the older public housing. Among the four Hope SF projects, the Potrero rebuild was seen initially as the one with the best odds of achieving the mixed-income community that housing leaders promised. The plan called for the rebuilding of 619 public housing units, plus another 200 affordable units and 800 market-rate homes. With spectacular views of the bay, a quaint shopping district on 18th Street, and a median home sales price well over $1 million, Potrero Hill seemed likely to attract market rate developers. But progress has been glacial. Eight years into what was pitched as a 15-year plan, just 72 of the affordable units have been completed the first building opened in 2019 and the other 157-unit building is expected to be delivered in the middle of 2025. Of these, 117 will be replacement units for existing residents. Meanwhile, none of the old housing stock, much of it barely habitable, has been demolished, creating opportunities for squatting at a time when the city is in the midst of a desperate housing shortage. Its very hard to ensure that those units, on a day-to-day basis, are not infiltrated, are not broken back into after you board them up, after you secure them, Lediju said. You can do that each and every day, and the next day you come back, those units, oftentimes, are re-entered. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Fridays vote greenlighting the demolition comes as 40 eviction cases, pertaining to squatters at the site, work their way through the legal process. Some households have already been evicted and are staying in vehicles or shelters while others are waiting for trial dates. The Housing Authority has said that not a single lease-holding resident at the Potrero Hill site is facing eviction, and that all unauthorized individuals have been offered relocation services and assistance through the MOHCD. For many obvious reasons, we cannot allow illegal individuals to reside on Authority properties, Lediju said. HUD, which provides more than 95% of our funding, wont allow it. It is not safe or fair to our lease-holding residents. But advocates and attorneys working with the unauthorized tenants say that some of the people that are currently being forced out were, officially or unofficially, paying rent to Whittenberg, and should be considered victims of fraud. The mass evictions are ongoing: Residents who didnt respond to the lawsuits in time are being locked out of their homes by the Sheriffs Office, cases are heading to trial, and the city has not provided anywhere for these long-term residents to go, said Jessica Santillo, an attorney with the Eviction Defense Collaborative. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a statement issued earlier this month, the attorneys demanded that the Housing Authority stop evictions at the complex, dismiss the pending lawsuits and meet with each household to ensure that the families are placed in alternative housing. The coalition of attorneys also demanded that the Housing Authority terminate its contract with EBMC, the property management company. As of Tuesday, EDC said that the Authority had not responded to its letter of demands. City officials blame the situation on a rogue employee. On Friday, Joaquin Torres, President of the Housing Authority Commission, described Whittenbergs actions as shameful and called EBMCs response, which was to fire him once the allegations came to light earlier this year, as laudatory. But elected officials and advocates say that the fact that the illicit rental scheme was allowed to persist in plain view raises questions about whether the Housing Authority and its contracted property manager were providing adequate oversight at the development. District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton said he believes that both the management company and the Housing Authority have been derelict in their duties. He said Tuesday that he plans to call a hearing on the matter. Eugene Burger should be gone, said Walton, whose district includes Potrero Hill. My hope is the Housing Authority does its job. A representative from EBMC did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. EBMC entered into an agreement to manage the Sunnydale and Potrero Hill low-income communities on a five-year-contract in October 2020, but did not start its work in earnest until January 2021 because of the pandemic. Lediju said that agreement expires on Jan. 31, 2025. The UK's police watchdog will assess a claim by Sex Education actor Reece Richards that he was sprayed with an incapacitating liquid during an unlawful arrest in London. The UK Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it received a complaint from the West End theatre star on Thursday and will decide if any further action is required from us after Richards said he was only stopped because he was black. Advertisement Richards claimed he was thrown to the ground and kicked by officers in Fulham, west London, earlier this month after being mistaken for a suspect, and claimed he didnt fit the description of the suspects. An IOPC spokesperson said: We have received a voluntary complaint referral this afternoon from Met Police following an incident on Fulham Palace Road, west London, on September 4, where a man was arrested and Pava sprayed by police officers before he was de-arrested at the scene. We understand the man received minor injuries. Advertisement The man complained about use of force and the false arrest and also alleges that he was only stopped because he was black, and he didnt fit the description of the suspects. We will now assess the referral and decide if any further action is required from us. The actor said he made the complaint because he is asking for accountability and to raise awareness that incidents like this are still happening. Richards, who plays Eugene in the hit Netflix series, said the incident happened just yards from my front door after he had finished performing in a production of Hairspray The Musical. Advertisement Loose Women star Brenda Edwards, who is the director of the show, alleged he was racially profiled and violated in an Instagram post. In an Instagram post, Richards said: I had just finished performing in Hairspray The Musical when a car crashed near me. Richards explained that two men jumped out of the vehicle so he pointed out to the police the direction in which they had fled. The officer then shouted to Richards that he was under arrest and demanded he get to the ground, according to the actor. Advertisement I was confused, unable to understand why I was suddenly being treated like a criminal, he said. Calmly, I explained that I was a performer returning from a show, but one officer yelled, Get to the floor or Ill pepper spray you. Moments later, three more officers ran at me. They pepper sprayed me, kicked my legs out from under me, threw me to the ground and handcuffed me. In a flash, I was face-down on the pavement with multiple officers holding me down, forcing my head into the ground. I was already injured from the show, but having four officers on top of me worsened my injuries to my back, ribs and stomach. He added: I couldnt see anything, but I could hear my mum nearby, screaming and crying, begging them to let me go. Richards said his mother called Edwards, who is a family friend, and she arrived around 20 minutes later. After reviewing bodycam footage, they (the police officers) agreed to release me, he said. The arrest took place on September 4th between 12.38am and 2.30am, according to Richards. A video, shared by Richards and Edwards, appears to show a number of police officers holding an individual to the floor. London's Metropolitan Police had previously confirmed a complaint had been received in relation to Richards arrest. The Central Bank is suggesting that around 52,000 new homes could be needed a year up to 2050, to meet pent-up demand and a growing population. This equates to a 20,000 unit increase relative to the current supply in 2023. Advertisement They said these estimates rely on assumptions and are subject to uncertainty, as was evident for example in the faster than expected population growth since the last set of population projections in 2018. The analysis is part of the Central Bank's quarterly bulletin for Q3 where they said the capacity of housing supply to meet underlying demographic needs is a key driver of sustainable growth in living standards. They said following the financial crisis, the Irish housing market has been subject to more than a decade of under-supply. Over this period, house price and rental growth have outstripped income growth, stretching affordability. While these challenges have a global dimension, housing output as a share of national income here has been significantly below the euro area average for a prolonged period. Advertisement The bulletin said "At its core, the underlying challenge relates to the housing systems ability to produce viable housing projects at the required scale. "Viability refers to producing housing units at sale or rental prices that are consistent both with the costs of production and within the reach of Irish households, given income levels. "Sustainably bridging the gap between purchaser affordability and viability for the construction sector is a priority for public policy, with increasing economic implications both now and into the future, if not achieved." Policy has already responded to this challenge. From a fiscal perspective, the State has increased spending on housing from an estimated 1 billion to 6.5 billion per year over the past decade, with around three quarters now devoted to capital and one quarter to current spending. Advertisement Housing supply Irish government housing expenditure is now the second highest proportionately in the EU, and close to its 2007 peak. They said housing supply has increased meaningfully in recent years. In 2023, levels of housing completions were broadly in-line with previous estimates of underlying demand embedded in the Governments housing plans. However, population growth has exceeded previous expectations in recent years, meaning that previous estimates must be revised upwards. The under-delivery of homes relative to underlying demand over more than a decade has meant that significant pent-up demand has accumulated. Advertisement They said there are three overlapping dimensions that will have a bearing on construction viability and the ability of the market to deliver additional housing supply to the scale envisaged in this report: The first of these is planning and building regulations. They said a complex and protracted planning environment, alongside issues relating to the size and specifications of housing units, add to the costs of delivering housing. Capacity to deliver the necessary enabling infrastructure, as well as zoned land, in areas where demand is highest also remains a source of uncertainty. The second is around the construction sector itself. They said the financial crisis has left long-lasting scars on the construction sector. Its productivity is low, both by historical and cross-country standards. Advertisement In part, this relates to an over-reliance on small enterprises, not able to benefit from economies of scale and suffering from over a decade of relative under-investment in machinery, equipment and more widespread adoption of modern technologies. Finally, the third issue is access to development finance: delivery of circa 50,000 units per annum would require sustainable access to financing of sufficient scale. Their analysis suggests that an estimated 6.5 billion to 7 billion of additional development finance over and above the maintenance of existing levels would be required to fund 20,000 additional homes per annum. The additional finance would require a diverse set of domestic and international sources. A judge has ruled that a student charged with the attempted abduction of a young boy from a Dublin apartment building should be named. Visak Rajesh Leela, 25, who is originally from India, was arrested following a party on Saturday and was refused bail on Wednesday. Advertisement He was allegedly seen walking out with the five-year-old "under his arm". Judge Alan Mitchell heard a jury would have to decide if "it was extremely misguided, foolish horseplay by a drunk man or something more sinister". "We are absolutely adamant that it was the former", defence solicitor Michael Kelleher told Cloverhill District Court. Mr Leela, a postgraduate student who has lived in south Dublin for ten months, made no bail application at Dublin District Court on Monday. At that stage, another judge had ordered the media not to name him after gardai cited the "sensitivity" of the case "in the current climate". Advertisement However, when the case resumed at Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday, Judge Mitchell lifted the restrictions that prevented the accused being named in the press earlier in the week. John Freeman BL, for various news outlets, submitted legal authorities and argued that the order went against the media's rights, and he pointed out that the Children's Act already protected the anonymity of child witnesses in the case. State solicitor Niamh McKernan informed the judge that the only concern was about the children being identified, but the defendant could be named "like in any other case". Detective Sergeant Basil Grimes explained that the initial Garda application on Monday was based on a concern that the injured party would be inadvertently identified. However, he added, "We have received all the information and that is not the case". Advertisement Judge Mitchell noted the accused did not live near the apartment block and had no connection to that area. He held that the media could name him but must exercise caution and not identify any children involved in the case. Following exchanges with Mr Kelleher, he ordered that Mr Leela's specific address not be reported due to the current climate, "fuelled by social media". Objecting to bail, Detective Sergeant Grime alleged that the accused was at the building and interacted with the young boy and his older sister, aged ten, at the door. The defendant followed them in and emerged with the boy under his arm, and there was CCTV evidence. Advertisement The girl followed them, and they returned to the outside of the door. The children went inside, and the accused left. Mr Leela, who appeared via video link, did not address the court or need an interpreter. His reply to the charge earlier was: "I was not taking the child anywhere. I'm not a person like that. I do not have any intention with a child. I do not have any bad or unwanted intentions with a child." The court heard gardai would recommend to the DPP that the case go to the Circuit Court, where the offence can attract a maximum seven-year sentence. Advertisement The bail objection was rooted in fears the accused had no ties to the jurisdiction and would evade justice if released on bail. Defence solicitor Michael Kelleher said his client was applying for bail. Recently, he contended, there has been a "lazy presumption" that foreigners were flight risks. He said his client was studying in Ireland, had no warrant history, and hoped to extend his visa so he could work here after his course. The court heard he was intoxicated and unfit to be interviewed for several hours. However, he handed over passwords for gardai to access his devices to check them, and he was adamant that there was "no sinister intent in all of this". The solicitor was concerned about safety issues from publishing his client's address, and he referred to public order incidents outside the Taoiseach's home. Mr Kelleher also submitted that people accused of other offences that carry lengthier sentences are frequently granted bail. However, Judge Mitchell held he was a flight risk, refused bail and remanded Mr Leela in continuing custody to appear again on October 2nd pending directions from the DPP. Online posters have claimed that Enoch Burke has been arrested and jailed for refusing to use a transgender pupils preferred pronouns. One person wrote: Irish Christian teacher arrested for refusing to endorse and affirm transgender ideology. Advertisement Another, who is a German Member of the European Parliament, said: In Ireland, a teacher is being jailed for the third time because he refused to address a #Transgender student with the pronoun they. Madness in the #EU, the sick work of gender ideologues trying to abolish biology! Evaluation The teacher Enoch Burke has been repeatedly sent to prison for failing to comply with a restraining order which banned him from entering the school at which he had previously worked. He had been suspended and later dismissed from the school. The suspension followed his disruptive behaviour after being asked to refer to a pupil as they. The facts The school Advertisement Enoch Burke was suspended as a teacher of history and German at Wilsons Hospital School in Co Westmeath in August 2022. After being asked by the school principal to refer to one pupil as they, Mr Burke interrupted a staff meeting in an agitated manner to speak about the request which he objected to and later interrupted a religious service. He also twice interrupted the principal when she was speaking to guests of the school and interacted with her in a manner which she and others who were present considered inappropriate, according to a court document. Mr Burke was suspended with pay by the schools board and dismissed in January 2023, a decision which he appealed against. Advertisement The courts Mr Burke was ordered to stay away from the school premises by a judge in August 2022 and in a second ruling in September that year. He was jailed in September 2022 for failing to comply with the first order. A ruling on his continued imprisonment in December that year stated that Mr Burke has consistently refused to agree to stay away from the school. Advertisement As part of the ruling it was ordered he be released from prison. The judge thought Mr Burke was exploiting his imprisonment for his own ends and he had become a household name. That ruling was clear that the prison sentence was not made because he refused to use the childs preferred pronouns, but rather over his repeated attempts to go to the school: Mr Burke asserts that his religious beliefs prevent him from describing transgender people as they, and projects his imprisonment as some sort of punishment visited upon him because he has stood up for these beliefs. He is incorrect in this as his jailing was brought about by his own decision to attend the school when he knew that he had been ordered not to do so. Shortly after his release, on January 5th and 6th, 2023, Mr Burke again attended the school, in defiance of a court order. A new court order issued that month said he should be fined 700 for every day that passed until he started to comply. Advertisement On July 19th, 2023, Mr Burke was banned from entering or trespassing on premises at the school without permission but again he did not comply. In September 2023, he was jailed for a second time until he purges his contempt of the court order. Between then and June 2024 there were six subsequent occasions when Mr Burke was given the opportunity to say he would comply with the court order. He declined to give the undertakings sought. He was released from prison on June 28th, 2024. The following month, a judge said of the restraining order: It is for repeated breach of this order, and for no other reason, that Mr Burke has been imprisoned. The court added: It is not open to Mr Burke to conclude unilaterally that the order of the court breaches his constitutional rights and is thus void ab initio (void from the beginning), such that he does not have to comply with it. On September 2nd, 2024, Mr Burke attended Wilsons Hospital School and was arrested by gardai, a video released by his family to the media showed. Following a High Court hearing, he was sent to prison for a third time, media reports showed. Links Post on Facebook (archived) Post on X (archived) Wilsons Hospital School and Enoch Burke Judgment delivered on July 19, 2024 (archived) Wilsons Hospital School and Enoch Burke Judgment delivered on December 21, 2022 (archived) Enoch Burke and Mediahuis Ireland and others Judgment delivered June 13, 2024 (archived) Daily Mail family release video of arrest Sky News Enoch Burke jailed for third time for breaking court order RTE Enoch Burke jailed for third time for breaking court order Wilsons Hospital School and Enoch Birke Judgment delivered on May 19, 2023 (archived) Five men remain in Garda custody following a major cocaine seizure Further arrests are expected following the multi-million euro haul. Advertisement The cocaine was found in a rural farming area in Wexford on Monday and is part of an international operation targeting drug traffickers. The drugs are estimated to be worth between 6 and 8 million. Follow-up searches were carried out in Wexford and Dublin, where a large amount of cash was also seized. In total, five men have been detained and further arrests are expected. The investigation is targeting drug traffickers who have been using encrypted messaging apps to communicate globally. A multimillion pound city and growth deal for Derry and Strabane has been officially signed off, while the Northern Secretary has promised to argue for two further deals. It comes after disappointment and frustration for Northern politicians on Friday after it emerged the funding for four city and growth deals in the region worth 1.7 billion (2 billion) was to be paused amid a spending review. Advertisement Over the weekend it was clarified that two of the deals, Belfast regions and Derry City and Strabane, will not be affected by the suspension. However, the remaining two deals covering Causeway Coast and Glens and the Mid South West are still subject to the funding pause. Derry City and Strabane mayor Lilian Seenoi-Barr hosted Secretary of State Hilary Benn with First Minister Michelle ONeill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald at the Guildhall on Wednesday for the signing of the financial agreement for that regions deal. Advertisement The Derry City and Strabane deal will see investment in the Ulster University in Derry, including a School of Medicine and an innovation centre, as well as the regeneration of Strabane town centre and a new museum on the Ebrington site. The deal will be worth almost 300 million, with a 105 million total commitment from the British government, matched funded by the Northern Ireland Executive with contributions from Derry City and Strabane District Council and its project partners of 83 million. Ms Seenoi-Barr described the councils sense of pride at working with the UK government and partners to see the deal delivered, and said it could create more than 6,000 new jobs. This is a momentous day for the Derry and Strabane region. Advertisement Thanks to cross-party political support, private sector backing and unprecedented levels of collaboration from all the partners, weve succeeded in securing this significant, long-term commitment to transforming the NI economy in the sectors where we have the potential to become world leaders, she said. Ms ONeill said she was delighted to see such a positive day for Derry, describing a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It does mark a significant moment of progress and despite all the uncertainty and confusion over recent days, I am glad that we are here now, she said. Advertisement First Minister Michelle ONeill at the signing of the Derry City and Strabane city and growth deal (Rebecca Black/PA) The decision to pause the city deals was ill-judged and shouldnt have happened. But we remain focused on this city deal and the other city deals and ensure that we get them all over the line. Ms Little-Pengelly hailed a wonderful day celebrating the deal getting to this stage. Its often said that it is darkest before the dawn, and I think weve all felt that over the last number of days, but fortunately for this deal, it wasnt the sunset and indeed it is moving forward and we celebrate that, she said. Today is all about this city and this region looking forward to what I believe is an incredibly bright and optimistic future. Speaking at the event, Mr Benn emphasised he was there to think about the future, not the past, and said the British government is committed to the Derry City and Strabane deal, describing it as a huge opportunity for the region. Mr Benn blamed the previous UK government for leaving 22 billion of spending commitments that it had not identified any funding for in the current spending review. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn at the Guildhall in Derry on Wednesday (Rebecca Black/PA) He said the Causeway Coast and Glens and the Mid South West deals are at a much earlier stage than the other two, and said he would argue their case. One has signed heads of terms, the other has not yet done so. Theyre a year or more away from the stage we are at today, and what the government has had to do on a whole range of spending commitments for which there was no money, we need to look at them, he said. Those two deals are now in the spending review, we will find out more when the Chancellor makes her budget statement at the end of October. Thats how were taking it forward. You can rest assured that as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, I will be arguing in support of those two deals because I know, everyone in Northern Ireland knows, how important they are to future economic growth in all parts of Northern Ireland. A Dublin-based Chinese businessman accused of money laundering connected to an international 9.7 million "zombie" iPhone fraud is to appeal his refusal of bail. Chengwen Guo (41), of Ivy Exchange, Parnell Street, Dublin 1, was arrested at his home on September 11th, following a three-year investigation by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation into an illegal counterfeit Apple phone trade. Advertisement He was refused bail on Saturday and faced his second hearing when he appeared before Judge Alan Mitchell at Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday. Judge Mitchell noted it was "early days" in the case, and gardai needed further time to obtain directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions about possible additional charges. The accused, who appeared via video link, consented to be remanded in continuing custody to appear again in two weeks. Mr Guo consulted with this solicitor, Conor Ruane, who said his client would be preparing a High Court bail application for bail. Advertisement Judge Mitchell noted he intended to appeal Saturday's ruling on bail, and remanded him in continuing custody to appear again on October 2nd. Mr Guo is accused of three offences under section seven of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 for possessing crime proceeds totalling 170,460 following searches at three locations in Dublin in January 2022. The offence carries a maximum 14-year sentence. The father of four, who was believed to be running a chain of phone shops since moving to Ireland in 2012, allegedly had 143,245 at his home, 20,700 at Murray Mobile, 15 Main Street, Dundrum, Dublin 14, and 6,515 in a 2019-reg Audi Q2 car at Shanowen Road, Dublin 9. His contested bail hearing on Saturday was told that fake Chinese Apple phones were allegedly dispatched to Ireland and swapped for genuine iPhones sent to China. Advertisement Gardai believed he was a "central figure in the complex deception that was undertaken to defraud Apple". Detective Garda Conor Cadogan said Mr Guo "made no reply" to the charges, and the officer objected to bail, citing flight risk and witness interference fears. The GNBCI probe opened in December 2021 following a report from tech giant Apple about product warranty fraud. "It was suspected that an international organised crime gang (OCG) are involved in procuring counterfeit products and sending them to members of the OCG in Ireland for processing," Detective Garda Cadogan said. Advertisement He claimed that in July 2021, customs officers intercepted a package "full with counterfeit items and Apple products" destined for the Murray Mobile phone company at 15 Main Street, Dundrum. The court heard a different name was on the package, but it also had the same address and mobile phone number as the accused. Gardai believed the accused controlled eight Murray Mobile stores in Dublin and Kildare. Ten searches under warrant were carried out on January 10th, 2022, and gardai found the cash at the three locations named in court and on the charges. Advertisement Detective Garda Cadogan said the investigation team froze 14 bank accounts connected to Murray Mobile, the accused, and his wife. He told Judge McHugh there was a total of 168,902 in them. The officer explained that the probe focused on genuine and unique IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers applied to counterfeit Apple phones. Known as "zombie phones", the court heard, they were allegedly supplied to Mr Guo and subsequently used to defraud Apple. This activity involved the phones being brought to a specific phone repair shop. Some 10,685 were submitted for repair from 2019 to 2021, and 9,761 have been allegedly confirmed to be counterfeit zombie phones. It was estimated that the accused and his associates made approximately 9.7 million from executing this fraud. Mr Ruane said the accused has the presumption of innocence, the wait for further charges would increase his client's time in custody more than normal, and he was entitled to bail with terms. Human rights lawyer, Noeline, a member of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, has said that the general public has a role to play in combating growing levels of human trafficking. Some 53 victims of human trafficking, including five children, were officially identified in Ireland in 2023, while a stark increase in female victims was also recorded, according to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commissions third National Anti-Human Trafficking report which noted an overall 26 per cent increase in victims from 2022. Advertisement The thing that strikes me about this is that ten years ago, absolutely nobody was talking about this. Now, all over Europe, people are talking about it. And there is a way in which all of us can be vigilant, Ms Blackwell told RTE radios Morning Ireland. The vigilance of the Gardai and the Department of Justice have brought these cases to attention. Ms Blackwell urged people who work in the hospitality industry to report any incidents where they see a colleague or a girl remaining in a room for a long time. Staff are now being trained in how to maybe identify that there's a problem there in trafficking. So we can all see it in places, like, if we are getting our nails done or in construction, if you see a colleague who is clearly under pressure from somebody else. But it's not just the general public who have their role, the state also has a bigger role to play. Advertisement The conditions for exploitation were if a person was not being treated properly, if they were not registered, were not getting their holidays or their pay. Their accommodation was typically very, very poor, she said. They can't complain to anybody. They are threatened. Their families at home may be threatened as though the way in which they are treated is akin to some form of modern slavery. "This is so true of all forms of exploitation. And one of the newer forms that has come up this year for the first time in our report is trafficking for criminal purposes. So people are literally brought in to commit crimes. For the number of cases at least another 40 percent have not been detected, she warned. It's a Europe-wide problem. People are moved all over Europe, people are moved to Ireland. It's a destination country, as they call it. A new Troubles legacy commission could have dealt with the Pat Finucane murder case but such a move may have caused a problem with the Irish government, the bodys chief commissioner has said. Sir Declan Morgan told a Stormont Assembly committee that it would have been within the competence of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to investigate the collusion-linked loyalist paramilitary murder of the Belfast solicitor in 1989. Advertisement The UK government ordered a public inquiry into the murder last week following a long campaign by the Finucane family. The UK government has turned down requests for public inquiries in other Troubles killings, such as that of murdered GAA official Sean Brown in 1997, arguing that those cases should be dealt with by the ICRIR. Pat Finucane was shot dead by loyalists in his family home in north Belfast in February 1989. Photo: PA. Advertisement Explaining the rationale, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the Finucane case was exceptional because the UK had committed to holding a public inquiry into the circumstances of the murder as part of an international agreement with the Irish government more than 20 years ago. On Wednesday, Sir Declan told members of the Executive Office committee that failing to order a public inquiry could have undermined the principle of international law. However, he made clear that his commission would have been capable of taking on the case. He said he was not aware of any other significant reason, other than the international agreement, that made the case exceptional in the context of Troubles investigations. Advertisement Sir Declan, who is Northern Irelands former lord chief justice, also challenged the suggestion that public inquiries had more powers than the ICRIR to disclose classified information, highlighting that the Government effectively retained a veto on disclosure in regard to both. The Secretary of State can give a ministerial direction as to what is to be disclosed and what isnt (in a public inquiry), he said. Thats the point about a public inquiry it doesnt do what it says on the tin. And sometimes what happens is that people go and create expectations with families about things that are going to happen, that cant happen, and its not fair to the families for that to happen. Advertisement In regard to the Finucane case, he added: The commitment to a public inquiry in relation to Mr Finucane was made about 20 years ago between the two governments. It is an intergovernmental commitment. The delivery of that commitment represents an adherence to the concept of the rule of law on an international basis, and if that commitment hadnt been honoured, then I think it might well have been undermining of the approach to the rule of law. But when two governments make a commitment to each other, the expectation is that they will do what they say. The ICRIR was created by the Conservative governments Legacy Act which halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths. Advertisement It has powers to look into more than 3,500 killings and can accept requests for the next five years. It has had more than 100 approaches from families since it was set up and has moved into the information recovery stage with eight cases to date. The new Labour government has vowed to repeal the most contentious aspect of the Legacy Act, the offer of conditional immunity from prosecution for perpetrators, but it has pledged to retain the ICRIR. Prior to the general election, the Irish Government brought an interstate legal case against the UK, claiming the Legacy Act breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The case remains active, with the Dublin administration awaiting the new UK government to follow through with its repeal pledge before dropping it. Sir Declan suggested that case was likely a factor in the UKs considerations ahead of ordering the Finucane public inquiry. The ICRIR, in my view, could have dealt with the Finucane case in terms of its competence to do it, he told the committee. I have no doubt about that. But I can certainly see that from the point of view of the Irish government, who are challenging the Act and implicitly the commission that for the Secretary of State to refer the matter to us might have been a problem. TUV committee member Timothy Gaston asked Sir Declan whether he viewed the Finucane case as exceptional. Apart from the fact that there was an intergovernmental agreement, Im not aware of any other significant feature of the Finucane case that springs to mind, he replied. Thousands of activists and leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) rallied on Tuesday to demand an election after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. The supporters gathered in front of BNP headquarters, Bangladeshs current shadow government, in the capital Dhaka where they chanted slogans demanding a new election. Advertisement The interim government, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has rolled out a number of plans to reform various sectors of the country from the Election Commission to financial institutions. But major political parties including the BNP, which is headed by former prime minister Khaleda Zia want the new election sometime soon. Mr Yunus took the helm after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country during a mass uprising last month, ending a 15-year stint in power. Bangladeshs former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 2014 (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP) Advertisement The protests began in July and morphed into an anti-government movement. Ms Hasina has been living in India since. The countrys powerful military is playing a crucial role in running the administration, which faces a number of challenges including worker unrest in its garment industry sector, unstable law and order, and an uncertain economy. Advertisement In his recent speeches, Mr Yunus has not outlined when a new national election would be held and said they would stay in power as long as the people want them to stay. A team of newspaper editors recently said that Mr Yunus should complete crucial reforms first and stay in power for at least two years. The BNP initially demanded an election in three months, but later said it wants to allow the interim government time for reforms. The countrys main Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, which was once officially an alliance partner under Ms Zias party, also wants to give the Yunus-led government more time before an election. Advertisement Tarique Rahman, heir apparent to Ms Zia and the BNPs acting chairman, spoke online from London where he has been living in exile since 2008. Supporters of the BNP during the rally (Rajib Dhar/AP) He said on Tuesday that his party supported the interim governments plans for reforms, but such changes would only be sustained if the people have their say in the process. Advertisement He did not specify when a new election should be held but said any reforms must be endorsed in the next parliament. Only a free and fair election can ensure the political empowerment of the people, he said. He said that reforms by the Yunus-led government should focus on installing an elected parliament and a new government that would empower the people politically. To ensure such an election, reforms must be made in the Election Commission, public administration and security agencies, enabling them to perform effectively, Mr Rahman said. Pedestrians walk past the Samuels Clock outside 856 Market St. in San Francisco. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle A plaque about the Samuels Clock is seen on the street clock outside 856 Market St. in San Francisco. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle A can sits on top of the column of the Samuels Clock outside 856 Market St. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle When Karin Flood took over managing her familys landmark office building next to the cable car turnaround in downtown San Francisco four years ago, a thick file folder came with the job. Inside it were newspaper clippings, photographs, city filings and letters that tell the story of the historic clock towering over the sidewalk next to the building. For nearly three decades, Floods family has been the guardian of this historic clock, though its actually owned by the Flood Buildings neighbor. The timepiece has fallen into disrepair and Flood has been unable to fix it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Samuels Clock a blue and gold landmark installed in 1915 is covered in graffiti. Its hands are permanently stuck at six minutes to 11 and the panes of glass at the bottom of the clock protecting part of its inner mechanisms are cracked or broken. Its always smashed, Flood said. And it never tells the right time. Its such a shame. Whether its the Ferry Building, the Transamerica Pyramid or the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco invests in its high-profile landmarks. But this little-known artifact doesnt get that kind of love. Karin Flood, right, co-owner the Flood Building, looks over the Samuels Clock outside 856 Market St. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle Now Flood and others are wondering: Can the clock be brought back to life? It has been getting its butt kicked every 10 years or so, it seems, said Woody LaBounty, president of San Francisco Heritage. Its kind of like an orphaned clock in need of a guardian. Floods family has taken responsibility for the clock, but the owner is actually a giant German company Union Investment Real Estate GmbH thats the landlord for the neighboring 856 Market St. building. She needs Union Investments permission to access the clocks mechanism from under the sidewalk and make necessary repairs, but has been unable to reach company officials. Advertisement Article continues below this ad She found a key inside the thick folder that her father for years used to access the glass panes at the bottom of the clock but she recently discovered it doesnt work anymore. Union Investment hasnt made necessary repairs to the clock in years, preservationists and city officials said. The company did not return a call from the Chronicle. Special place in S.F. history A giant spherical head with four clock faces atop a fluted Corinthian column, the towering timepiece was designed and installed by Albert Samuels for his jewelry store, which was then across the street from the Flood Building. The watchmaker and jeweler also designed the historic Beaux Arts clocks inside City Hall. The Samuels Clock stands near the corner of Powell and Market streets in downtown San Francisco with the Flood Building in the background. The photo was taken before the clock was moved to its current location next door to the Flood Building. Provided by the Museum of History and Industry/Courtesy of MOHAI The Samuels clock was installed in the midst of the Panama Pacific Exhibition, and since then, it has been a quiet witness to some key moments in San Francisco history. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Only a year after it was installed, the clock played a role as part of a defendants alibi in the trial of the two men convicted in the worst terrorist incident in the citys history, according to a Herb Caen column. The 1916 Preparedness Day bombing killed 10 and wounded 40. The defense presented a photo of the defendant taken before the bombing, with the clock in the background, showing him far from the scene of the crime. In the 1930s, writer Dashiell Hammett briefly worked at Samuels Jewelers and mentioned the clock in stories of hard-boiled private detective Sam Spade. Samuels moved the clock to its current location in 1943. The clock appears to have stopped working about a year later in September 1944 after 29 years of operation due to a stripped gear, according to a Chronicle article from the time. A few months later the clock was badly vandalized during the notorious victory over Japan peace riots in 1945. The clock met another challenge during the highly disruptive BART construction on Market Street between 1967 and 1970. Samuels paid to remove, store and reinstall it. The jeweler died in 1973, and the clock became a San Francisco landmark in 1975. The clock again stopped working in 1980, prompting then-Supervisors Quentin Kopp and Louise Renne to begin negotiations for the city to acquire it. Legislation was drafted and the clock was fixed but supervisors apparently never passed the bill. I made the proposal because it was not only historical, but it was attention-getting, Kopp told the Chronicle in an interview. However, I dont remember us voting on it. By 1990, the timepiece had stopped working again but a Market Street Railway worker, Jack Wittenmyer, discovered the clock in the early 1990s and set out to save it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A push to restore it Pedestrians walk past the base of the Samuels Clock outside 856 Market St., where part of the mechanism is seen behind a pane of broken glass. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Wittenmyer obsessively wrote letters to city officials and departments, the Flood family and other clock enthusiasts to warn them that the clock was broken. In 1996, he formed the Market Street Timekeepers and wrote an eight-page plan to restore and maintain the Samuels Clock. He reached out to James Flood, Karins father, and the Samuels family, which had given up ownership of 856 Market St. in the 1970s. Both families agreed that if Wittenmyer could provide the labor, they would pay for the supplies and materials. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A Chronicle article from the time about dilapidated landmarks said Wittenmyers goal was that commuters hurrying to downtown transit stations could once again rely on it for the correct time. Restoring the clock didnt come cheap: Karin Floods father had paid nearly $10,000 for materials in 2000. After Wittenmyer and other volunteers painstakingly restored the clock, then-Mayor Willie Brown and other city officials attended a ceremony to celebrate its overhaul in 2000. Jack was the key person working to restore the clock, said Flood, whose folder includes Wittenmyers letters to her father. Wittenmyer fell ill in 2022 and passed away in April 2023. Since then, the clock has fallen back into disrepair. LaBounty said that as the city seeks to revitalize downtown including plans to spend millions on nearby Powell Street hes surprised people cant find some money or some entity to step up and take it on. Maybe every generation you need a steward to keep up this little icon of Market Street and get it running again, LaBounty said. The way forward Part of the mechanism for the Samuels Clock is seen behind a broken glass pane. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle Flood isnt the only one whos been fretting recently about the future of the clock. Peter Samuels, a grandson of Albert S. Samuels who now lives in Palm Springs, said the clock represents the last vestige of his familys history in San Francisco. He maintains that the city should take care of it. San Franciscans wouldnt want to have Coit Tower disgraced, or the bridges disgraced, Samuels said. The clock shouldnt be left like this. Renne, the former supervisor, told the Chronicle she also wants to see the city buy the clock and place a marker next to it denoting its storied history. Its always been regarded for its historic significance, Renne said. Im sorry to hear that its in such a bad state. Meanwhile, Kopp wants the Floods, the Union Square Alliance and other groups to buy the clock and preserve it by raising money. City officials, such as Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, also want to figure out how to fix the Samuels Clock. Though theres still no clear plan to fix the mechanism, there is some hope to repair the broken glass at the bottom of the clock. After the Chronicle inquired with San Francisco Public Works about the clock, it learned the department has a working key. Spokesperson Rachel Gordon said that city workers changed the locks after the clock was vandalized last year. That came as good news to Flood, who last week tried to get inside the clock to fix a broken pane of glass but couldnt access it with her key. US secretary of state Antony Blinken has expressed frustration at surprise escalations that he said threaten to derail efforts to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He said the US is still assessing the previous days deadly pager explosions, linked to Israel, in Lebanon. Advertisement Mr Blinken spoke in Egypt, where he travelled for talks on the Gaza ceasefire negotiations and US-Egyptian relations. The United States and international partners, including Egypt, are working to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and to reduce tensions as Israeli leaders threaten to step up military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Advertisement Speaking in answer to a question about the previous days explosions in Lebanon, Mr Blinken said time and again when the US and other international mediators believe themselves to be making progress in a ceasefire deal for the war in Gaza weve seen an event that makes the process more difficult, might derail it. Explosive attacks using personal pagers used by members of the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon killed at least 12 people on Tuesday. Israel has not publicly spoken on whether it was responsible. Mr Blinken spoke of Hamas killing earlier this month of six of the several dozen hostages that Hamas-led militants have held in Gaza since capturing them on October 7, in the attack in Israel that launched the war. Advertisement At the time news came of the six hostages killing, negotiators had been making progress on the timing and other details of a swap that would have freed hostages in exchange for a freeing of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, Mr Blinken said. Mr Blinken on Wednesday repeated administration statements that the US was still gathering information on the circumstances of the pager attacks, and declined more specific comment on them. Mr Blinken also said the most dire need in the talks for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza was for both sides to show they actually wanted a deal. The most important thing in this moment is to see a demonstration of political will, Mr Blinken said. Advertisement He was speaking on his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began. The trip was billed in part as a chance to consult with Egypt on refining terms of a final proposal to present to Israel and Hamas. A company based in Hungary was responsible for manufacturing the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria in an apparent Israeli operation targeting Hezbollahs communications network, another firm whose brand was used on the devices has said. Pagers used by militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously on Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 12 people, including two children, and wounding nearly 3,000. Advertisement Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. An American official said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the conclusion of the operation, in which small amounts of explosive concealed in the pagers were detonated. Advertisement Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged fire nearly daily since October 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counter-offensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, hundreds have been killed in the strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced. Tuesdays attack and the fact that Hezbollah blamed Israel renewed fears of an all-out war between the two foes. Advertisement Despite periodic cycles of escalation, the two have carefully avoided that so far, but Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might escalate operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to one official. The AR-924 pagers used in the attack were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, according to a statement released by Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm that authorised the use of its brand on the pagers. BAC appeared to be a shell company. Advertisement Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the companys products (Johnson Lai/AP) According to the co-operation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, Gold Apollo said in a statement. The companys chairman, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists on Wednesday that the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years. Advertisement BAC Consulting Kft, a limited liability company, was registered in May 2022, according to company records. At the headquarters in a building in a residential neighbourhood of Budapest, Associated Press journalists saw the names of multiple companies, including BAC Consulting, posted on pieces of paper on a window. A woman who emerged from the building and declined to give her name, said the site provides headquarter addresses to various companies. BAC is registered to Cristiana Rosaria Barsony-Arcidiacono, who on her LinkedIn page describes herself as a strategic adviser and business developer. A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon (Hussein Malla/AP) Among other positions, Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono says on the page that she has served on the board of directors of the Earth Child Institute, a sustainability group. The group does not list Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono as among its board members on its website. The AP has attempted to reach Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono via her LinkedIn page and has been unable to establish a connection between her or BAC and the exploding pagers. The attack in Lebanon started on Tuesday afternoon, when pagers in their owners hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that most of those hit were members or linked to members of Hezbollah whether fighters or civilians but it was not immediately clear if people with no ties to Hezbollah were also hit. The health ministry said healthcare workers and two children were among those killed. In the village of Nadi Sheet in the Bekaa Valley, dozens gathered to mourn the death of one of the children, nine-year-old Fatima Abdullah. Her mother, wearing black and donning a yellow Hezbollah scarf, wept alongside other women and children as they gathered around the little girls coffin before her burial. Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza. A sign featuring the names of several companies on the door of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon is headquartered in Budapest (Denes Erdos/AP) This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday, it said. This is another reckoning that will come, God willing. At hospitals in Beirut on Wednesday, the chaos of the night before had largely subsided, but relatives of the wounded continued to wait. Lebanon health minister Firas Abiad told journalists during a tour of hospitals on Wednesday morning that many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes, and others had limbs amputated. Journalists were not allowed to enter hospital rooms or film patients. Mr Abiad said that the wounded had been sent to various hospitals to avoid any single facility being overloaded and added that Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt offered to help treat the patients. Earlier on Wednesday, an Iraqi military plane landed in Beirut carrying medicine and medical equipment, he said. Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery. The AR-924 pager, advertised as being rugged, contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications advertised on Gold Apollos website before they were removed after the attack. Police officers inspect a car inside which a hand-held pager exploded (Hussein Malla/AP) It claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them. For Hezbollah, the pagers also provided a means to sidestep what is believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon. The phone that we have in our hands I do not have a phone in my hand is a listening device, warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a speech in February. Taiwans Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon. Sex Education actor Reece Richards has claimed he was pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground in an unlawful arrest when he was mistakenly detained during a police chase. The actor, who plays Eugene in the hit Netflix series, said the incident took place in Fulham, west London, just yards from my front door after he had finished performing in a production of Hairspray The Musical. Advertisement Loose Women star Brenda Edwards, who is the director of the show, has alleged he was racially profiled and violated. In an Instagram post, Richards said: I had just finished performing in Hairspray the Musical when a car crashed near me. Richards explained that two men jumped out of the vehicle so he pointed out to the police the direction in which they had fled. Advertisement The officer then shouted to Richards that he was under arrest and demanded he get to the ground, according to the actor. I was confused, unable to understand why I was suddenly being treated like a criminal, he said. Calmly, I explained that I was a performer returning from a show, but one officer yelled, Get to the floor or Ill pepper spray you. Moments later, three more officers ran at me. They pepper sprayed me, kicked my legs out from under me, threw me to the ground and handcuffed me. Advertisement In a flash, I was face-down on the pavement with multiple officers holding me down, forcing my head into the ground. Advertisement I was already injured from the show, but having four officers on top of me worsened my injuries to my back, ribs and stomach. He added: I couldnt see anything, but I could hear my mum nearby, screaming and crying, begging them to let me go. Richards said his mother called Edwards, who is a family friend, and she arrived around 20 minutes later. After reviewing bodycam footage, they (the police officers) agreed to release me, he said. That feeling of helplessness will never leave me. Tanisha Edwards and Brenda Edwards (Aaron Chown/PA) Ive been stopped and searched before, but never have I been arrested or treated like this. Witnesses have since told me that the culprits were also handcuffed but were not pepper sprayed. Richards said he was FaceTiming his Hairspray cast members when the arrest took place. It has left me questioning everything I thought I knew about justice, he said. Suddenly, my understanding of right and wrong feels completely upended. The arrest took place on September 4 between 12.38am and 2.30am, according to Richards. A video, shared by Richards and Edwards, appears to show a number of police officers holding an individual to the floor. The actor said he has lodged formal complaints with the Metropolitan Police and Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and added that he is asking for accountability and to raise awareness that incidents like this are still happening. He added: The whole experience was embarrassing, deeply upsetting, and exhausting. I do everything I can to avoid interactions with the police, yet this experience has made it painfully clear that racial profiling remains a significant issue. Being surrounded by armed police for no reason is a terrifying and traumatic experience. In an Instagram statement, Edwards said: @reecejrichards who is currently playing one of the leads in my @hairsprayuktour production and has never been in trouble with the law, was racially profiled and violated, just after getting back to London from me watching him and the fabulous cast in Milton Keynes. He told the Police that he had just performed in Milton Keynes so it couldnt be him and the fact he had a massive suitcase with him and the cast on FaceTime was totally ignored!!! This was such a distressing experience to witness. Conversations sadly still need to be had. The Metropolitan Police said a complaint has been received in relation to Richards arrest and is being assessed. A force spokesperson said: We are aware of a video circulating on social media of a man being detained in the Fulham area. Officers often find themselves in dynamic, challenging situations and have to make split-second judgements on which course of action to take. Officers had been pursuing three men who had run out of a car that had crashed in Fulham Palace Road after it failed to stop for police. It is clear the man shown in the footage was an innocent bystander and he was de-arrested as soon as this was established by officers at the scene. All officers know any use of force must be proportionate and reasonable and they understand their actions will be scrutinised. None of the officers involved are subject to restrictions at this time. Former president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when Mr Modi visits the US next week. Mr Modi is scheduled to be in the United States this weekend, along with the leaders of Australia and Japan, for a summit of the so-called Quad hosted by President Joe Biden in his Wilmington hometown in Delaware. Advertisement The group is formally called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, and it began as a partnership after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The popular and polarising Indian prime minister has advanced Hindu nationalism in his decade-long tenure. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (Evan Vucci/AP) Advertisement The meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Trump had not been previously reported. The Republican presidential nominee referenced it for the first time while speaking at an unrelated event in Michigan. Earlier this year, Mr Trump met with other foreign leaders, including Hungarys nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban, whom he regularly mentions in speeches. He also met with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who once proposed naming a military base in his country Fort Trump. Advertisement Mr Trump has also met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. Foreign leaders have argued that meetings with Mr Trump are part of standard encounters they have with opposition figures. The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond to the Associated Press request for comment on Tuesday night. Ukrainian drones have struck a large military depot in a town deep inside Russia, causing a huge blaze and prompting the evacuation of some local residents, a Ukrainian official and Russian news reports said. Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed Russian military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russias Tver region about 240 miles north-west of Moscow and about 300 miles from the border with Ukraine. Advertisement The attack was carried out by Ukraines Security Service, along with Ukraines Intelligence and Special Operations Forces, a Kyiv security official told the Associated Press. According to the official, the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs and artillery shells. He said the facility caught fire in the strike and was burning across an area four miles wide. Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking the approval from western nations for Ukraine to use the sophisticated weapons they are providing to hit targets inside Russia (Leon Neal/Pool via AP) Advertisement Among the destroyed ammunition were North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, another official, in Ukraines Intelligence Office, told AP. He did not provide evidence to support his claim. Russia and North Korea signed a landmark pact last June that envisioned mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang. More than 100 domestically produced kamikaze drones were deployed in the attack on the depot, the Ukrainian Intelligence Office official added. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted regional authorities as saying air defence systems were working to repel a massive drone attack on Toropets, which has a population of around 11,000. The agency also reported a fire and the evacuation of some local residents. Advertisement The health ministry said 13 people were taken to hospital in the region after the attack, while Tver regional governor Igor Rudenya later said all evacuees could return home. Successful Ukrainian strikes on targets deep inside Russia have become more common as the war has progressed and Kyiv developed its drone technology. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also seeking the approval from western nations for Ukraine to use the sophisticated weapons they are providing to hit targets inside Russia. Some western leaders have baulked at that possibility, fearing they could be dragged into the conflict. Ukraines targeting of Russian military equipment, ammunition and infrastructure deep inside Russia, as well as making Russian civilians feel some of the consequences of the war that is being fought largely inside Ukraine, is part of Kyivs strategy. Advertisement Tver regional governor Igor Rudenya arrives to attend a meeting in Toropets (Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia via AP) The swift push by Ukrainian forces into Russias Kursk border region last month fits into that plan, which apparently seeks to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down. Mr Putin, however, has shown no signs of backing down, and has been trying to grind down Ukraines resolve through attritional warfare and also sap the Wests support for Kyiv by drawing out the conflict. Advertisement That has come at a price, however, as the UK Ministry of Defence estimates that the war has probably killed and wounded more than 600,000 Russian troops. On Tuesday, Mr Putin ordered the countrys military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million by December 1. Mr Zelensky last month said his plan for victory includes not only battlefield goals but also diplomatic and economic wins. The plan has been kept under wraps but the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during a news conference on Tuesday that Washington officials have seen it. We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work, she said, adding that the United States will bring it up with other world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York next week. Billionaire Elon Musk has endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump in the race for the White House, but employees at his collection of companies are largely donating to Mr Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris. Workers at Tesla have contributed $42,824 (38,497) to Ms Harris' presidential campaign versus $24,840 (22,330) to Mr Trump's campaign, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks US campaign contributions and lobbying data. Advertisement Employees at Mr Musk's rocket company SpaceX have donated $34,5264 (31,038) to Ms Harris versus $7,652 (6,879) to Mr Trump. Employees at the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, have donated $13,213 (11,878) to Ms Harris versus less than $500 (449) to Mr Trump. While the figures are relatively small for campaign fundraising, they indicate political leanings at odds with Mr Musk's own. The world's richest man, Mr Musk has boosted Mr Trump on X and dismissed left-leaning ideas as a "woke-mind virus". Mr Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He backed president Joe Biden in 2020 but has tacked rightward since then. Mr Trump has said that if he wins the November 5th election, he will appoint Mr Musk to lead a government efficiency commission. The OpenSecrets data includes donations from company employees and owners and those individuals' immediate family members. Campaign finance laws prohibit companies themselves from donating to federal campaigns. Advertisement Many of Mr Musk's employees are based in California, a Democratic stronghold, said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, which is a Tesla shareholder. Mr Gerber is also an investor in X. In July, Mr Musk said he would move X and SpaceX headquarters to Texas from California because of a California gender-identity law he called the "last straw". Mr Gerber said such a move would mean "losing out on a lot of potential talent" in California. Two years ago, still wearing a honeymoon glow, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese followed his address to the Business Council of Australias annual dinner by offering a few lucky CEOs a ride on his private plane Toto One to Canberra for the governments jobs and skills summit. Times have changed now a politically battered Albo is stumbling toward an election, big business is a lot crankier with federal Labor, and the BCA is facing questions about whether its influence has become too anaemic. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives at the Business Council of Australia Annual Dinner at the Hyatt Regency with BCA president Geoff Culbert (centre) and chief executive Bran Black. Credit: Wolter Peeters Fresh from getting roasted by the Minerals Council last week, the PM copped it again from BCA chief Bran Black, whose speech about Australia losing its way because of workplace relations laws was dropped to the media ahead of time. A fairly lukewarm address, truth be told, but somehow hot enough to trigger the fire alarm, which went off as Black wound up. The two smiled and made nice for the cameras once the PM made his red carpet arrival. But Albanese had little time for small talk on arrival, hurriedly whisked through the throng of well-wishers into the Hyatt Regencys Maritime Ballroom. The quiet, academically gifted man was arrested at his parents home in Narwee, in the citys south-west, at 5am on Tuesday after AFP officers shattered the suburban peace with flash bangs. He was marched out of the brick home in handcuffs and a hoodie before being taken to AFP headquarters in the city for a day of questioning and charges. Neighbours reported the sounds of banging early in the morning. I thought it was gunshots because I didnt know what I was hearing, said one neighbour. It made sense after, when we realised that it was possibly a flash grenade or something like that. AFP commanders, at a press conference on Wednesday morning, alleged Jung was a geek and driven by profit. AFP at the Narwee home of Jung as the raid continues on Wednesday. Credit: Sam Mooy From his perspective it was marketed as an unhackable network and I think there was a degree of confidence and trust involved, Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said. Court documents allege Jung supported a criminal organisation by providing material support and resources aiding a serious offence. He also allegedly dealt with more than $100,000 in suspected proceeds of indictable crime and cryptocurrency offences. Jung is expected to remain in custody as his legal team, headed by Jason Pham, consider their options. His time in prison will probably be spent in protective custody safe from the men rounded up on serious charges thanks to intelligence hacked from Ghost. Loading Ghost was infiltrated in March through Jungs computers, the AFP said. Ghost unwittingly forwarded more than 120,000 messages to law enforcement before 700 police raided homes on Tuesday. Carefully guarded plots of organised crime were exposed through the breach, including a false terror plot involving high-powered weapons, massive drug importations and threats to dozens of lives. Accused drug lord Guy Habkouk allegedly used Ghost to plot to acquire machine guns, bombs, hand grenades, rocket launchers and flags with terrorist insignia. Habkouk was allegedly using the Ghost phone from a high-security prison where he is awaiting trial for allegedly importing a massive amount of heroin. His goal, police will allege, was to source the dangerous weapons and enlist others in a terror plot. Habkouk would then alert authorities, cutting a deal for a shorter sentence or even freedom, in exchange for the capture of the weapons, AFP sources say. At the same time, police claim, he was trying to import 42 kilograms of cocaine into Sydney. Ghost intelligence led border force to the importations, authorities say. Habkouk and an associate were charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice. He was also charged over the attempted cocaine importation. The AFP also revealed it was forced to intervene in about 50 threats to life since the breached messages began hitting its data teams in March this year. We could see [on Ghost] an image of a person who had a firearm to their head, Assistant Commissioner Kirsty Schofield said at the press conference. We had an hour in which to respond to that threat. The AFP arrested two of the eight alleged resellers of Ghost phones the only people who Jung allegedly trusted to enlist new buyers. The phones were only sold through word of mouth among the underworld, the police claim. One of those resellers was a 24-year-old man from Mortlake who allegedly sold 157 Ghost phones. Another was a Dulwich Hill man, 31, who is also accused of being a major financial backer of drug plots in Sydney. The AFPs asset confiscation team also seized two residential properties and cryptocurrency which they allege belonged to a Perth-based man using Ghost. Two major roads on either side of the Brisbane River have been identified as the citys worst traffic accident black spots. Insurer AAMI analysed 10 years worth of claims data from January 2014 to December 2023 to determine Queenslands worst roads for crashes, with the Bruce Highway taking out eight of the top 10 spots. The two other worst hotspots were Gympie Road at Chermside, in Brisbanes north, and Logan Road at Mount Gravatt, in the citys south. Car insurer AAMI has revealed Queenslands crash hot spots over the past 10 years. Credit: AAMI The insurer did not identify specific crash hotspots on Gympie or Logan roads and could not say which sections were the most dangerous. Old telecommunications cables on the bottom of Lake Tahoe will soon be removed by AT&T under a new settlement agreement. Courtesy California Sportfishing Protection Alliance / Marine Taxonomic Services AT&T will remove about 107,000 pounds of lead from Lake Tahoe that some locals worry has been leaching toxins into the water for decades, according to a settlement agreement announced Wednesday. Roughly 6 miles of antiquated underwater telecommunications cables sheathed in lead belong to the company and extend along the lakes West Shore between Rubicon Bay and Emerald Bay. Under the settlement agreement, AT&T is expected to remove them before June, according to Chris Shutes, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, which had sued AT&T over the issue. This is a monumental win for the environment, the communities who drink Lake Tahoe water, the people with lake-dependent livelihoods, and the millions of annual visitors, Shutes said in a Wednesday news release. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At the urging of concerned Tahoe residents, the sportfishing alliance sued AT&T in 2021 in an effort to remove the cables, claiming they were discharging lead and represented a public health risk. In a settlement agreement reached in 2022, AT&T agreed to remove the cables, but then withdrew from that commitment a year later, effectively reopening litigation over the issue. About 6 miles of defunct and abandoned lead-lined telephone cables are sitting on the bottom of Lake Tahoes West Shore. Tahoe Lead Removal Project In the meantime, a grassroots group of residents called the Tahoe Lead Removal Project emerged to raise awareness and procure the necessary permits and funding to extract the cables. On Wednesday, the leader of that group, West Shore resident Evan Dreyer, said he was encouraged by the recent settlement agreement and that his groups work would continue as long as the cables remained in the lake. In a statement issued Wednesday, AT&T President-California Marc Blakeman reiterated the companys claim that the cables in question are safe and pose no threat to public health or the environment while confirming that the removal process would move ahead. With the litigation behind us, we are fulfilling our original commitment to remove the cables in Lake Tahoe, Blakeman said in the statement. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The company said it will work with the League to Save Lake Tahoe, the nonprofit group behind the Keep Tahoe Blue campaign, to facilitate the removal. A Supreme Court judge has described as startling the Victorian governments claims that there are no documents recording the specific decision to demolish and redevelop Melbournes public housing towers. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard a bid by residents of public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington to force Homes Victoria to produce documents, and its reasons for demolishing three towers, via the discovery process, which the governments lawyers resisted. Barry Berih, a public tenant at the North Melbourne public housing estate, is the lead plaintiff in a class action against the state government. Credit: Wayne Taylor Before he stepped down as premier last year, Daniel Andrews announced a 30-year plan to retire all 44 public housing high-rises across Melbourne weeks as part of a major housing strategy. In resisting the summons to produce documents showing how Homes Victoria decided to demolish the towers after cabinet sign-off, counsel for the government Liam Brown, SC, said there were no documents. Snapchat chief executive Evan Spiegel has weighed into Australias planned social-media age ban, declaring that parents are best placed to manage their childrens screen time, and already have the tools to do so. Speaking exclusively to this masthead before Snaps partner event in Los Angeles, Spiegel who has three children with Australian model and businesswoman Miranda Kerr said he and Kerr used options built into iPhones and iPads to control what their own children can access. Parents have already got these tools today: Snapchats global chief executive and co-founder Evan Spiegel, with wife Miranda Kerr, weighs into Australias planned social media age ban. Credit: AP Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses announcement this month has kicked off a wave of debate over the merits and pitfalls of banning children and teenagers from social media, and raised questions about whether such a ban would be technically possible, given similar plans have failed overseas. Meta Platforms owner of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp announced on Tuesday that it would roll out special accounts with new privacy settings for teenaged Instagram users in some countries, including Australia, as part of its efforts to limit the exposure of young people to harmful content. The tour style promises a slower pace and cultural experiences, and this tour certainly delivers. Our first stop is the sacred Maya pyramid of Chichen Itza, where we meet guide Alfredo Mendez. Alfredo explains theories around Maya civilisations rise and decline, and the mysterious snake shadow that appears on the pyramid in the autumn and spring equinox. Alfredo walks us through the stone pok-ta-pok stadium, and the carved story scenes depicting one captain losing his head. At lunch, we eschew the mass-tourist restaurants and contrived performances, instead pulling up to a village house. G Adventures supports many small-scale local businesses and helped Claudia and Beto Noh Balam set up an in-home restaurant. In their dining room, we feast on delicious cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork), refried beans, guacamole and salsas. With Lola translating, Claudia tells me the company has changed her life. The Sian Kaan biosphere near Tulum is a place of extraordinary natural and cultural values. My husband and I were working every day, 16-hour days, sometimes more because were working in the kitchens and seeing very little income, Claudia says. We make enough money now that our children can continue their studies, and perhaps even go to university. For me, this connection with local people is priceless, a lasting travel memory. The company seeks to tread lightly on the planet, too. Avoiding single-use plastic bottles and their impact on communities, Lola always finds ways for us to safely fill our reusable drink bottles, often from a restaurants large dispenser. A bulk dispenser even travels with us in the bus. None of this responsible travel comes at the expense of fun, and on each Geluxe tour, theres an OMG day where guests choose their own adventure. On our tour, one group visits the less-touristy Maya ruins of Uxmal while mine joins a mangrove kayak in the Ria Celestun Biosphere Reserve. Gliding through a mangrove tunnel past a city of aerial roots, guide Alexander Cruz casually whispers that theres a crocodile ahead. I anticipate something small, but suddenly Im facing a 2.5-metre Morelets crocodile with two babies. Alexander says that in all his experience, they are not dangerous. After our paddle, we laugh as we discover Alexander is a mere 17 years old. His experience with crocodiles is not particularly extensive. Alexander shows us the community rehabilitation project that is repairing mangroves obliterated in 1988 by Hurricane Gilbert. Theres a petrified forest, where salty water has preserved the dead trees and a pink lake filled with shrimp that give colour to flamingos that visit here seasonally. But the mangroves are supporting more than just birds and fish. Small-scale mangrove ecotourism, and visitors like us, provide career options for people like Alexander. Thats why I really appreciate this place, Alexander says, as we pile into a fleet of waiting tuk-tuks to return to our bus. Its where I started to learn English, and now Im going for French. Its very comfortable to be a local guide. Each tour also features an OMG stay, and ours is the Hacienda Sotuta de Peon, near Merida. Were accommodated in modern bungalows featuring traditional tiles, a soaring thatched roof and private plunge pool all in an agave plantation dating to 1858. Cooking cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork) underground at Hacienda Sotuta de Peon. There are cultural lessons here, and some are not pretty. Ivan Fuentes guides us through hacienda history, explaining that initially, haciendas were cattle ranches. Agave plants became more lucrative, with the fibres called sisal woven primarily for rope for the shipping industry. The industry prospered through indescribable cruelty and slavery. Today were seated on the deck of a mule-drawn carriage that runs along train tracks, the original sisal transport. Our destination is the propertys private cenote, where we descend steps into an underground cavern for a surreal swimming experience. Emerging from the cenote, we find mezcal margaritas, made from agave and served from an old hacienda carriage. Aside from sunset tipples for travellers, there are other benefits to this hacienda. In the surrounding village of 300 people, jobs are scarce and many live in tough conditions. About 70 per cent of the men had migrated to find work in Cancun, Ivan says. When this place opened for tourism, many of those men were able to return. So it created a reunion. A spider monkey in Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve. Credit: iStockphoto Our cultural exploration continues at the hacienda by diving into the Yucatan food scene. Accepting the offer to help, Im soon up to my wrists in a vibrant red marinade of achiote (annatto seeds) and bitter orange, coating 40 kilograms of pork slabs to prepare cochinita pibil. The pork is wrapped in banana leaves and placed in a metal box. Its then lowered into an outdoor pit, smouldering with red-hot coals, before more coals and oak leaves are loaded on top. Perhaps even more culturally significant are the ubiquitous corn tortillas. Back at Xooch cenote, guide Ricardo had explained that corn is sacred and has a god. The first Maya man and woman were created when the god blew on the corn dough and turned it into people, Ricardo said. We watch as Maria, the specialist tortilla cook, rolls the circular tortillas from a bowl of fresh corn dough, tossing them on a giant hot plate. Their taste is incomparable to what we buy as tortillas in Australian supermarkets, and when served with the eight-hour roasted cochinita pibil, plus pickled onions, guacamole and punchy habanero salsa, its a meal fit for a king, or hacienda boss. On our final day, were touring the Sian Kaan biosphere near Tulum, a place of extraordinary natural and cultural values. Our ecotourism guide, Gilberto Che, works for a collective of 20 Maya families, the traditional owners of this place. Their grandparents were living here, hunting fish and animals in the jungle, he says. They had a tree log for a boat, a pole and a paddle. Although were in a faster vessel, our motorboat is soon following in the Mayas canoe wake, crossing the turquoise Muyil Lagoon before entering a narrow mangrove-lined canal. This canal was cut centuries ago by the Maya its a shortcut trading route to the sea, Gilberto says. Hacienda de Sotuta de Peon offers a restful stay. The canal opens out to the vast Chunyaxche Lagoon, and we skim across to a second canal. This one extends for kilometres to the sea, but were exploring the first kilometre using a different method. Leaving the boat, Im stepping through the armholes of an upside-down lifejacket and into the canal itself. Drifting with the current in an oversized nappy is new for me, but this trip has delivered many mind-blowing experiences that would be difficult to achieve independently. Along the way, weve benefited not only ourselves, but the communities weve visited. I gaze up at the cobalt Mexican sky, floating slowly through Maya history. The writer travelled as a guest of G Adventures. The details Tour Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula, Mayan Ruins and Cenotes is an eight-day tour from Playa del Carmen to Tulum. From $4289 a person twin share, including all accommodation and activities, seven breakfasts, six lunches and five dinners. See Gadventures.com Fly Kibbutz Hanita, Israel: Dishes are still on the kitchen table and the fridge has a few jars on the shelves. The stairway up to the first floor is full of broken glass, and what used to be the bedroom is in ruins. The bedrooms glass door lies in the middle of the room. Theres dust everywhere but above us blue skies where the roof used to be. Luckily, the old couple that lived here had already been evacuated from their home in Kibbutz Hanita when it took a direct hit from a rocket fired by Hezbollah. An Israeli soldier in a house damaged by an Hezbollah anti-tank missile near the Lebanon border in Kibbutz Hanita, northern Israel. Credit: Bloomberg But their son, Erez, stayed behind and has been protecting the kibbutz since Hezbollah began launching daily anti-tank missiles, rockets and drones in support of Hamas. More than 9000 such attacks have been detected since October 8 last year. Although rent is relatively low at $630 per month, it consumes 34.15% of the average income. Combined with high public transport costs of $197.35 per month, residents can only save around $72 per month, making it the most challenging city for prospective home buyers. Anne Wojcicki, CEO and co-founder of 23andMe, said she was surprised and disappointed following the abrupt resignation of all seven independent directors from the genetic testing company on Tuesday. Michael Macor/The Chronicle Anne Wojcicki, CEO and co-founder of 23andMe, said she was surprised and disappointed following the abrupt resignation of all seven independent directors from the genetic testing company on Tuesday. The exodus marks a significant setback for Wojcickis plan to take the Bay Area company private. Despite the directors departures, Wojcicki remains committed to her strategy. 23andMe, which she co-founded in 2006, went public in 2021 through a special purpose acquisition company at $10 per share but has since seen its stock plummet to below $1 per share since December. In March, the board formed a special committee to explore alternatives for the company. Wojcickis proposal in July to take 23andMe private was rejected by the committee. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The headquarters of the biotechnology company 23andMe in Sunnyvale. Laura Morton/Special to The Chronicle The directors, in their resignation letter, stated, After months of work, we have yet to receive from you a fully financed, fully diligenced, actionable proposal that is in the best interests of the non-affiliated shareholders. We believe the Special Committee and the Board have provided ample time for you to submit such a proposal. Included among the resigning directors were notable venture capitalists Sequoia Capitals Roelof Botha and Xfunds Patrick Chung. They cited a lack of progress over the past five months, adding it is also clear that we differ on the strategic direction for the Company going forward as reasons for their immediate resignation. The company, based in South San Francisco, experienced a financial loss of $69.4 million while generating revenue of $40.4 million in the quarter ending June 30. This mass resignation leaves Wojcicki as the sole remaining board member. However, in an employee memo obtained by CNBC, Wojcicki asserted that privatization represents the best opportunity for long-term success. She also announced that a search for new independent directors would begin this week. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Last week, 23andMe agreed to a $30 million settlement, plus three years of security monitoring, to resolve a lawsuit over a data breach affecting 6.9 million customers. The breach targeted primarily customers of Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry and led to the sale of their data on the dark web, according to the claim. 23andMe described the settlement as fair, adequate and reasonable in a court filing. The company, citing extremely uncertain financial conditions, also requested that the judge pause arbitrations for tens of thousands of class members until the settlement is approved or they opt out. In its statement, 23andMe said it anticipates that approximately $25 million of the total cost will be covered by cyber insurance. Wojcickis resolve comes after her sister, former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, died last month after a two-year battle with cancer. This loss came less than six months after Susan Wojcickis 19-year-old son, Marco Troper, died of an accidental overdose in a UC Berkeley dormitory. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Anne Wojcicki, CEO and co-founder of 23andMe, said she was surprised and disappointed following the abrupt resignation of all seven independent directors from the genetic testing company on Tuesday. Michael Macor/The Chronicle Here is the full text of Wojcicikis memo: Team 23, We wanted to let you know that the 23andMe Board issued a press release this afternoon stating that all of the independent directors have resigned from the Board, effective immediately. I am surprised and disappointed by the decision of the directors to resign. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I have been committed to the mission of 23andMe for the last 18 years and believe strongly in the potential for genetic information to transform healthcare and the therapeutic discovery process. I remain committed to our customers, my employees and to our stockholders to achieve our goals. I continue to believe that we will be better positioned to achieve our mission and goals outside of the short term pressures of the public markets and that taking 23andMe private will be the best opportunity for long term success. We will immediately begin identifying independent directors to join the board. I want to thank the directors for their service to the company and its stockholders. I dont have additional information to share at this time, but we will update as we can at Thursdays Feisty. Anne The death of 26-year-old Chartered Accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil is "tragic" and an "irreparable loss" for EY India, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. They added that the consultancy has provided "all the assistance" to the family. Perayil's death was brought to light after a letter by her mother, Anita Augustine, to EY India chairman Rajiv Memani went viral on the internet. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp In the letter, Augustine wrote that Perayil passed away after the company "burdened her with backbreaking work". While she did not mention the exact reason of Anna's death, sources suggest she passed away due to a cardiac arrest. The mother also alleged that no one from the company attended her funeral. "Anna would return to her room utterly exhausted, sometimes collapsing on the bed without even changing her clothes, only to be bombarded with messages asking for more reports. She was putting in her best efforts, working very hard to meet the deadlines," Augustine wrote in the letter. "She was a fighter to the core, not someone to give up easily. We told her to quit, but she wanted to learn and gain new exposure. However, the overwhelming pressure proved too much even for her," she added. In the statement, EY India said that Anna was a part of the audit team at SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune. She joined the firm on March 18, 2024. According to her mother's letter, she passed away on July 20. The Big Four firm said they were "deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024" and extended "our deepest condolences to the bereaved family". "That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us," the statement read. "While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so," it added. "We are taking the familys correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India," the statement further said. In recent months, several cases of employees complaining about high work pressure have emerged across top consultancies and investment banks globally. A report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Boston Consulting Group, released earlier this month, pointed out that 58 per cent of Indians experience burnout and workplace exhaustion, much higher than the global average of 48 per cent. A similar incident took place in February this year, when Saurabh Kumar Laddha, a 25-year-old consultant at McKinsey & Company, died by suicide reportedly due to work pressure. "We have also come across a few messages in which he is talking about work pressure," said the police. Earlier, in January, the former head of recruitment at Goldman Sachs sued the investment bank for over 1 million pounds, alleging that they demanded he work "unreasonable and excessive hours", which led to "physical and psychiatric injuries" and "wanting to take his own life". In the viral letter, Anna's mother wrote that she wished she had been able to protect her, to tell her that her health and well-being mattered more than anything else. "But it is too late for my Anna," the letter read. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the NPS (National Pension Scheme) Vatsalya Scheme on Wednesday that will allow parents to save for their childrens future by investing in a pension account. (Photo: PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said India is standing out globally in terms of economic growth and will continue to do so in the next few years. We are much better off than many other countries; even advanced countries are struggling to grow. We are standing out as an economy growing at the fastest rate in the last few years, this year, and in the next few years as well, for which we can make predictions, Sitharaman said while launching the NPS (National Pension Scheme) Vatsalya Scheme, which will allow parents to save for their childrens future by investing in a pension account. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Sitharamans comment came at a time when Goldman Sachs and Citigroup cut Chinas 2024 growth forecast to 4.7 per cent, against the Chinese governments target of 5 per cent growth. Indias exports to China contracted by 22.4 per cent in August. The Indian economy grew at 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. The Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament in July projected the economy to clock 6.5-7 per cent growth this financial year (2024-25/FY25). Through NPS Vatsalya, Sitharaman said, children will benefit from the kind of returns that regular NPS funds generate over the long term. My appeal to all parents is that when you attend a childs birthday party, you can take cakes or other gifts, but money to invest in NPS Vatsalya will also be a form of gift. It will be a lifelong contribution to the childs future," she added. NPS Vatsalya was announced in the FY25 Budget presented in July. Parents can subscribe to NPS Vatsalya online or by visiting a bank or post office. The minimum contribution to open a Vatsalya account is Rs 1,000. Subscribers will have to contribute Rs 1,000 annually thereafter. The scheme is an extension of the already existing NPS for children. In the past 10 years, NPS has 18.6 million subscribers with assets under management of Rs 13 trillion. Children below the age of 18 years can open an NPS Vatsalya account, which will automatically be converted into a regular NPS account upon reaching 18 years of age. Pension will come from the account only upon attaining 60 years of age. Many lenders, including ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, have joined hands with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority to launch NPS Vatsalya. ICICI Bank inaugurated the schemes commencement in Mumbai at its service centre by registering a few childrens accounts under NPS Vatsalya. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Department of Financial Services Secretary Nagaraju Maddirala, said the government will be receptive to subscriber feedback and improve the pension scheme accordingly. Ever since we announced the proposed launch of the Vatsalya scheme, we have been getting feedback and suggestions to improve the scheme. As we proceed and implement the Vatsalya scheme, we will strive to address the concerns expressed over the last week," Maddirala said. Ahead of the upcoming Haryana state Assembly polls on October 5, the Congress party on Wednesday (Sept 18) released its manifesto, guaranteeing seven promises for the state. The party has placed a strong emphasis on women empowerment and children's welfare. The manifesto promises Rs 2,000 per month to every woman above 18 years as well as LPG gas cylinders in Rs 500. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Among the other major commitments, it has promised 300 units of free electricity for households, and a pension of Rs 6,000 for widows and disabled individuals. On pension, the party has also promised a return of the hotly contested Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in the state. To tackle unemployment, Congress has pledged to fill two lakh government positions. Additionally, the manifesto highlights the partys intent to make Haryana a drug-free state and provide free healthcare coverage of up to Rs 25 lakh. Moreover, the manifesto stated that the Congress government would provide 100 yards of plots to poor families for building homes. The party has also assured the public of conducting a caste survey and offering a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers produce. Congress seat sharing in Haryana The Congress, after its performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections, is focused on displacing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Haryana elections, despite being unable to finalise an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Congress is set to contest 89 seats, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] will field a candidate in the Bhiwani constituency. Initially aiming to avoid a vote split, Congress had hinted at a possible joint effort with the AAP. However, the alliance talks fell through as the two INDIA bloc partners couldnt agree on seat distribution. The AAP, with no stronghold in Haryana, demanded double-digit seats, while Congress preferred offering single-digit seats, with some reports indicating the figure might have been around five. Despite the unsuccessful negotiations, several Congress leaders have dismissed its potential impact, pointing out that AAP lacks a foothold in Haryana. In the 2019 state elections, AAP contested 46 seats but garnered less than 1 per cent of the vote, and it did not participate in the 2014 elections. The elections in Haryana will be conducted in a single phase across 90 constituencies on October 5, and the results will be announced on October 8. Over 20 million eligible voters will cast their ballots, with 10.78 million men, 9.57 million women, and 467 transgender voters registered. Since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect on August 16 ahead of next months Haryana Assembly elections , law enforcement agencies have seized illegal drugs, liquor, and unaccounted cash worth Rs 26.82 crore. Haryanas Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal confirmed on Tuesday that the Election Commission of Indias (ECI) guidelines, alongside the MCC, are being strictly adhered to to ensure transparent elections on October 5. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp The Election Commission has taken a firm stand to prevent any form of voter inducement. Multiple agencies, including the Haryana Police, have been closely tracking the illegal movement of liquor, narcotics, and unaccounted cash across the state. From August 16 to September 16, authorities confiscated Rs 26.82 crore worth of illegal substances and cash, with the Haryana Police and other agencies maintaining continuous surveillance. The various departments involved, such as the police, Income Tax Department, and Narcotics Control Bureau, have made significant seizures. These include over 326,017 litres of illegal liquor valued at more than Rs 9.82 crore and over 2,339 kg of narcotics worth Rs 6.76 crore. Additionally, precious metals like gold and silver, valued at over Rs 3.10 crore (totalling 48,908 grams), have been seized, along with other items worth over Rs 2.41 crore, according to PTI. BJP faces stiff competition in upcoming election The upcoming assembly elections in Haryana present a complex battle for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the party is aiming for a consecutive term, it faces challenges from anti-incumbency and a rejuvenated Congress party. The Congress, seeking a return to power, is contending against several political families from Haryana, adding to the intensity of the race. A total of 1,031 candidates are participating in the October 5 elections, including several relatives of the states political heavyweights like Bansi Lal, Devi Lal, and Bhajan Lal. Other notable parties fielding candidates are the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in alliance with Azad Samaj Party, and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in partnership with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Key candidates in Haryana Assembly elections Among the key figures are BJPs Nayab Singh Saini from Ladwa, Anil Vij from Ambala Cantt, and Congresss Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi. Also in the race are JJPs Dushyant Chautala, INLDs Abhay Singh Chautala, and AAPs Anurag Dhanda. Over two crore eligible voters will cast their ballots on October 5, with 10,775,957 men, 9,577,926 women, and 467 transgender voters registered. The elections will be conducted in a single phase across 90 constituencies, and the results will be announced on October 8. (With inputs from agencies) A turnout of about 59 per cent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully. However, he said the figures are tentative and there might be a fractional increase after the final reports are received from the remote pockets and postal ballots. The first phase of polls covered 24 seats across seven districts. Briefing mediapersons here after polling ended at 6 pm, Pole said the elections ended peacefully without any untoward incident. There are reports of some minor incidents of scuffle or argument from a few polling stations but "no serious incident" occurred that could have forced a repoll, he said. "The polling per centage of 59 per cent is highest in the past seven elections -- four Lok Sabha polls and three assembly elections," he said, attributing the increase in the voter turnout to various factors including improved security situation, active participation of political parties and candidates and a campaign by the department. He said Kishtwar district recorder the highest 77 per cent turnout, while Pulwama district witnessed the lowest 46 per cent. Pole expressed hope that the remaining two phases on September 25 and October 1 will also see high polling per centage. Amid the ongoing voting for the first phase of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir today, officials said that approximately 58.19 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5:00 pm. Voters were seen queuing up at polling stations amid heavy security measures across all 24 Assembly constituencies. The Assembly elections are the first to be held in 10 years in Jammu and Kashmir. Opposition parties, led by the Congress, voiced strong disapproval of the central governments decision to approve the One Nation, One Election proposal on Wednesday. The Union Cabinets endorsement followed the recommendation of a panel chaired by former president Ram Nath Kovind. Congress and 14 other opposition parties are opposing the move, arguing it is impractical and unrealistic. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Congress objections to the proposal Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the proposal, describing it as a distraction. This is not going to succeed... the people will not accept it, he said during the launch of the partys manifesto for Haryanas assembly elections. Kharge believes the government is trying to shift attention from pressing public concerns. Kharge further stated that simultaneous elections are incompatible with a democratic system, as elections should be held when necessary to uphold democratic values. He expressed concerns over the long-term implications of the proposal on Indias democratic framework. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw countered these claims, asserting that many political parties support the initiative. Our government believes in building consensus on matters that impact democracy in the long term. This initiative will strengthen our nation, Vaishnaw said. Reacting to Kharges remarks, Vaishnaw suggested that opposition parties may face internal pressure as public sentiment appears favourable towards the proposal. He claimed that over 80 per cent of respondents in a consultation process had expressed support for One Nation, One Election. AIMIMs Owaisis concerns over the proposal AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi also opposed the proposal, stating that it undermines federalism and compromises democracy. In a post on X, Owaisi claimed that the central governments drive for simultaneous elections is unnecessary and detrimental. Multiple elections arent a problem for anyone except Modi and Shah. Just because they have a compulsive need to campaign in even municipal and local body elections does not mean that we need simultaneous polls. Frequent and periodic elections improve democratic accountability, Owaisi remarked. Legal and practical barriers Rajasthan Congress President Govind Singh Dotasra highlighted the legal challenges to implementing One Nation, One Election, noting that constitutional amendments would be required, which the ruling party lacks the majority to pass. Dotasra argued that the government is using the proposal as a diversion from its failures, similar to how the womens reservation bill was handled. The panels report, according to PTI, calls for 18 constitutional amendments, although most would not need ratification by state assemblies. Nevertheless, certain bills would need to be passed in Parliament for the plan to proceed. Congress leader KC Venugopal reiterated that the proposal is not practical for India, accusing the government of attempting to divert attention from more pressing issues. In a strategic development with potential military implications, China is building a new heliport 20 kilometers east of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the highly sensitive Fishtails region of Arunachal Pradesh. The construction is expected to strengthen Chinas capacity to swiftly deploy military assets to the remote and underdeveloped Indo-Chinese frontier, heightening security concerns for India in the region, NDTV reported. The heliport, located on the banks of the Gongrigabu Qu river in the Nyingchi Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, is within undisputed Chinese territory. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Satellite imagery from EOS Data Analytics confirms that no construction was visible at the site as of December 1, 2023. However, by December 31, land clearance activities had begun, and by September 16, 2024, high-resolution images from Maxar showed that the heliport is nearing completion. Experts, including geospatial intelligence analyst Damien Symon, emphasise that the heliport could enhance the Peoples Liberation Armys (PLA) intelligence-gathering and surveillance capabilities in the rugged, densely forested region. Although this terrain has historically posed logistical challenges for military operations, the new facility is anticipated to significantly boost troop mobility and patrol efficiency in these remote areas. Strategic military enhancement Military sources monitoring the construction suggest that the heliport will serve both military and civilian purposes, facilitating swift troop deployment and enhancing Chinas defensive and offensive capabilities along the LAC. This heliport strengthens their reaction capabilities and enables a rapid build-up of troops during any contingency, the sources said. The Fishtails area, comprising Fishtail 1 in the Dibang Valley and Fishtail 2 in the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh, is considered particularly sensitive due to differing perceptions of the LAC between India and China. Significant threat assessment Retired Lt General Pravin Bakshi, former commander of the Indian Armys Eastern Command, voiced concern about the heliport, describing it as a threat to Indias interests in the region. He also urged a robust response in coordination with the Indian Air Force to counter potential Chinese grey-zone warfare a conflict that falls short of conventional war but aims to alter boundary dynamics through coercive measures. The heliports infrastructure includes a 600-metre runway designed for rolling helicopter take-offs, a critical feature for high-altitude operations. Although the heliport is at a relatively lower altitude than much of the Tibetan plateau, which improves helicopter payload capacity, it still represents a significant strategic asset for China in this region. Growing military threat along LAC In addition to the runway, the facility includes hangars, a large apron area for helicopters, and air traffic control infrastructure. The heliports construction aligns with China's broader efforts to fortify its frontier with India, including the establishment of Xiaokang villages dual-use settlements that serve both civilian and military purposes. Such developments have raised concerns about Chinas long-term strategy of incrementally extending its territorial control, a tactic often referred to as salami slicing. Brahma Chellaney, a prominent strategic affairs expert, notes that Chinas growing military infrastructure along the LAC presents a challenge for India. The ongoing efforts to defuse the military standoff raise questions about what can be achieved in light of the new military realities China has created since 2020, Chellaney said. Countering infrastructure gaps India, for its part, has responded to Chinas aggressive border strategy by launching the Rs 4,800 crore Vibrant Villages project, which aims to develop 3,000 villages across four Northeastern states, including Arunachal Pradesh. The initiative seeks to improve infrastructure and connectivity in these border regions. Additionally, a 2,400-kilometre trans-Arunachal highway is under construction, drastically reducing travel times and improving access to Army posts in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh. However, despite these efforts, Lt General Bakshi warns that the easternmost parts of Arunachal Pradesh remain underdeveloped, particularly in comparison to Chinas rapid infrastructure build-up. The construction of this heliport opens up a new vista of challenges, he said, highlighting the need for India to stay vigilant and prepared. The Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Wednesday approved a new liquor policy for the state, allowing retail sale by private players, availability of cheaper select brands, and expecting to generate revenue of Rs 2,000 crore a year. The policy reverses the liquor approach pursued by the previous YSR Congress Party-led state government. A white paper that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu released earlier claimed that the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP governments liquor policy caused a revenue loss of Rs 18,860.51 crore to the state from 2019 to 2024. The previous policy, the white paper alleged, led to the non-availability of popular Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) brands, which in turn caused an increase in sales of poor-quality brands and spurious substances. The Reddy-led YSRCP had promised prohibition in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, a promise made during the Assembly elections to women in rural areas. However, it later imposed restrictions on the liquor trade instead of complete prohibition. The doctors demanded immediate notification of the chief secretary-headed task force in medical colleges which was promised at the meeting at Banerjee's residence on Monday | (PHOTO: PTI) Junior doctors continued their 'cease work' stir in hospitals and sit-in near Swasthya Bhavan, the state health department headquarters, on Wednesday morning demanding justice for the medic raped and murdered at Kar Medical College and Hospital and removal of Health Secretary. The sit-in agitation outside the Swasthya Bhavan entered its ninth day while the 'cease work' stir in hospitals continued for the 40th day on Wednesday. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp "The removal of Health Secretary N S Nigam and the elimination of the threat culture in state-run hospitals are crucial for rebuilding the collapsed healthcare system. We have requested another meeting with the Chief Minister," said one of the protesting doctors from the agitation site. The removal of the Health Secretary is one of the key points in their five-point demand. According to a statement issued following the conclusion of their general body meeting, which had started around 6.30 pm on Tuesday and went on till well past midnight, the protestors called the state's administrative measures "only partial victory" of their movement. The doctors said they will send an email to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant seeking an appointment with the CM for another meeting later in the day. They also demanded discussions on the safety and security of doctors inside hospital premises and a thorough rundown on how the government wants to spend the Rs 100 crore it has allocated for tightening doctors' safety in state-run hospitals. "No effective security measures can be implemented in hospitals without a thorough overhaul of public healthcare delivery mechanism including streamlining of the referral system, the appointment of health workers and professional patient counsellors, plugging of admission corruption and ensuring availability of life-saving drugs," the statement read. The doctors demanded immediate notification of the chief secretary-headed task force in medical colleges which was promised at the meeting at Banerjee's residence on Monday. They also demanded that student body elections be held and adequate representation of junior doctors in the highest policy-making bodies of those institutions be ensured. On Tuesday the state government appointed Manoj Kumar Verma as the new commissioner of Kolkata Police, replacing Vineet Goyal, a day after Banerjee held a meeting with the agitating junior doctors and agreed to their demands, in a bid to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the Kar hospital incident. Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak and Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police's North Division Abhishek Gupta were also removed as promised by Banerjee during the meeting. Deputies strive to heed, meet people's needs 11:06, September 18, 2024 By Cao Yin ( China Daily Upon hearing the recent story of an elderly couple having to climb 17 stories in the sweltering heat after the elevator in their apartment building broke down in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, local lawmaker Jiang Yuqin sprang into action. Jiang, along with concerned colleagues and maintenance workers, visited the property in the Zoujiajiao community on Aug 28 and discovered that the elevator was old and damaged. Repair and maintenance work was immediately ordered for all elevators in the community, and Jiang visited the couple, who are both almost in their 80s, to seek their suggestions on how to better improve the safety of various community facilities. "This is all part of my routine in serving the community, and also my duty as a deputy to the Suzhou People's Congress," said the 47-year-old. In China's political system, the people exercise State power through the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, and people's congresses at provincial, city, county, and township levels, ensuring that their interests are reflected in the decision-making process. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the NPC. Data released by Xinhua News Agency in March showed that there were over 2.7 million people serving as deputies across the five levels of people's congresses in China, including nearly 3,000 deputies to the NPC. Deputies in China's people's congress system are tasked with engaging and interacting with local people and communities to best understand their needs, and seek their suggestions on a range of issues so that the deputies can present their views in the congress. This format of governance is referred to as whole-process people's democracy. This engagement with people and communities is ever expanding with the use of online services as well as face-to-face interaction, Jiang said. Enriching the ways of connecting deputies with the people was called for by President Xi Jinping while he was delivering an important speech on Saturday at a meeting to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the NPC. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that people's congresses at all levels should support deputies in performing their duties and helping them enrich the ways they connect with the people. Noting that the people's congress system is an important institutional guarantee for realizing whole-process people's democracy, Xi urged people's congresses to put the people first, maintain close ties with the people, and listen to their suggestions and opinions. He also called on deputies to fully exercise their duties, better serving as the bridge between the people and the country. For a deputy like Jiang, the major obligation is to listen to people's ideas, provide a voice for them, and help them solve difficulties in their work and life. "I came from the people and was elected by the people," said Jiang. To provide some 10,000 people in the residential area with more convenient channels to raise their problems and submit advice, she has posted QR codes at the gates of each apartment building. By scanning the code, people can access an online platform where they can report any challenges they encounter, including broken lights in corridors or leaking pipes at home. Jiang and her colleagues are dedicated to tackling the problems within a few hours. Although these online services have contributed a lot to her work efficiency, Jiang said that visiting households and moving around the community must be continued, as face-to-face conversations are always conducive to understanding more about the opinions of the people and figuring out the roots of their difficulties. Simple or minor matters in the community can be addressed directly by Jiang and her team. But for complex issues beyond her capacity, she said that she will conduct surveys and submit suggestions to Suzhou's people's congress, and the city's legislature, to solve them through joint efforts or optimizing relevant regulations. For example, after receiving complaints about the haphazard parking of electric scooters posing safety risks, Jiang quickly invited some residents' representatives and property staff to select locations within the community for organized parking of the vehicles, with the installation of additional charging facilities. In another case, when she decided to assist stay-at-home mothers in seeking jobs after their children start school during the day, she said that this required a great deal of study and research. "I need to know what time the women are available and what kind of work they are capable of. I also need to communicate with businesses around our community and find out if they are willing to provide opportunities for flexible employment," she said. As she conducted her research, she realized that it is not just a minority of young mothers who want to reenter the workforce, so she is planning to solicit ideas and opinions from more women and employers, in order to form a suggestion on the issue and submit it to the city's legislature. She said that the process has shown how the people's congress system works, since its sound operation is an important means to realizing whole-process people's democracy and also a key to guaranteeing the running of the country by the people. Even as the ways of collecting people's opinions have become more diverse with the rapid development of internet technologies, Tang Renqing, 72, another deputy to the Suzhou people's congress, said that the principle of serving the people has never changed since the establishment of the system, nor can it be changed. "Deputies, regardless of their profession or age, should be with the people, listen to their opinions, and help them solve problems through the system," he added. "Only in this way can we meet people's aspirations for a better life, and ensure that the people are the masters of the country." Key channel for voices The system is designed to include people from various backgrounds and cover a diverse cross-section of society. Working in a part-time capacity, deputies at each level are key channels for people's voices. They are both entitled and obliged to stand for the people's interests and express their views. Since September 1954, when about 1,200 deputies elected by universal suffrage gathered in Beijing to attend the first session of the first NPC, the people's congress system has provided an important institutional guarantee that has allowed the CPC to lead the people in realizing fast economic development and long-term social stability. In recent years, Chinese lawmakers have also stepped up efforts to further uphold and improve the system by amending the Legislation Law and rules for members of the NPC Standing Committee, with the adoption of a decision on increasing reviews of normative documents to ensure that they are consistent with the Constitution. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Aurobindo Pharma shares decline: Shares of the pharmaceutical company, Shares of the pharmaceutical company, Aurobindo Pharma , dropped 2.09 per cent to Rs 1519.55 on the BSE during the intraday deals on Wednesday. The company's stock price fell following the news that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) for the new injectable facility of Eugia Steriles, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eugia Pharma Specialities and a step-down subsidiary of the company. "The United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) had conducted a Pre-Approval Inspection (PAI) of the new injectable facility of Eugia Steriles Private Limited (a 100 per cent subsidiary of Eugia Pharma Specialities and a step-down subsidiary of the Company), situated at Parawada Mandal, Anakapalli District, Andhra Pradesh, from March 28, 2024 to April 05, 2024," said Aurobindo Pharma in the regulatory filing to the exchanges. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Aurobindo Pharma is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in India. A fully integrated pharma company, Aurobindo Pharma features among the top 2 companies in India in terms of consolidated revenues. Aurobindo exports to over 150 countries across the globe with more than 90 percent of its revenues derived from international operations. The company has a market capitalisation of Rs 89,455.25 crore on the BSE, as of September 18, 2024. The pharma company is a constituent of the BSE 200 index. The shares of the pharma company have jumped 41.11 per cent year to date. The company's shares have a 52-week range of Rs 1,592.55 - 834.90 on the BSE. At around 2:30 pm on Wednesday, Aurobindo Pharma shares were quoted trading at Rs 1,523.70, down 1.83 per cent from their previous close of Rs 1,552.05. Roughly 5.04 million shares of Aurobindo Pharma, worth around Rs 77.54 crore, changed hands on the NSE and the BSE on Wednesday. The company's shares are currently 4.32 per cent lower than its 52-week high of Rs 1,592.55, scaled on Friday, September 13, 2024, on the BSE. Quantum Mutual Fund has filed an appeal in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Delhi (NCLAT), against the delisting of ICICI Securities Ltd. Dismissing objections raised by minority shareholders, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai had, on August 21, approved the delisting of ICICI Securities Ltd from the stock exchanges. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp ICICI Securities shareholders will receive 67 ICICI Bank Ltd shares for every 100 shares they hold, as per the approved scheme. Justice Virendra Singh G Bisht and technical member Prabhat Kumar dismissed the applications of Quantum Mutual Fund and investor Manu Rishi Guptha, who objected to the proposed delisting of ICICI Securities. ICICI Securities told the tribunal that those opposing the delisting have no locus standi, as the proviso to Section 230(4) of the Companies Act states that any objection to a scheme of arrangement under Section 230 shall be made only by persons holding at least 10 per cent of equity or 5 per cent of the total outstanding debt as per the latest audited financial statement. Quantum Mutual Fund and Guptha hold 0.08 per cent and 0.002 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital of ICICI Securities, respectively. ICICI Securities, an affiliate of ICICI Bank, argued that the two applications should be dismissed as they were against the principle of shareholder democracy. It said that the delisting proposal had been approved by 93.82 per cent in value of equity shareholders of ICICI Securities. Minority shareholders told the tribunal in Delhi that ICICI Securities had breached shareholder privacy and administration rules by sharing shareholder details with ICICI Bank. They alleged that employees of ICICI Bank called and misled shareholders to vote in a particular way in the name of "spreading awareness." NSE sets Nov 2 as record date for 4-for-1 bonus The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has set November 2 as the record date to determine eligible shareholders for bonus issuance. Its board had declared a four-for-one bonus issuance in May. Currently, NSE shares trade at close to Rs 6,000 apiece in the unlisted market. The stock price will drop to Rs 1,500 after bonus issuance. Despite not being publicly listed, NSE has over 15,000 shareholders, with 12,000 being retail investors. Manu Rishi Guptha had earlier told Business Standard, "We will appeal and won't allow the injustice to fester." Market observers view the bonus issuance as a precursor to NSEs highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The recent disposal of proceedings by the Sebi in the co-location case has potentially cleared the path for NSEs IPO. The NSE has submitted an application to the Sebi for a no-objection certificate (NOC) to file its draft red herring prospectus. Western Carriers IPO booked 13.88 times Northern Arc Capital IPO subscribed 20.15x The Rs 493-crore initial share sale of logistics company Western Carriers (India) Ltd got subscribed 13.88 times on Wednesday. The initial public offering received bids for 28,96,23,957 shares against 2,08,68,467 shares on offer, according to NSE data. The initial public offering of non-bank financial institution Northern Arc Capital Ltd received 20.15 times subscription on the third day of bidding on Wednesday. The share sale received bids for 43,27,38,471 shares against 2,14,78,290 shares on offer, according to NSE data. (With inputs from PTI) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) expects the assets under management of real estate investment trusts (Reits) to surge manifold in the coming years, underpinned by regulatory reforms, transparency in the valuations and enhanced performance metrics, whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia said on Wednesday. He was speaking at the launch of Data Benchmarking Institutions (DBIs) by the Indian Reits Association (IRA). These platforms managed each by financial firms CareEdge, CAMS, and KFintech will provide investors with comparative analysis and information on the performance, valuation standards, and disclosures of Indian Reits. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Reits in India have seen remarkable growth. We have seen a vibrant industry unfold before our eyes. The total assets under management (AUM) of Reits currently stand at Rs 1.4 trillion (but) there is potential for much more, Bhatia said. Sebi has taken several measures to boost investor confidence, ease of capital raising, and further refining primary market framework to allow investors to be a part of the decision making, he said. The Sebi official said that the benchmarking will bring about accuracy, efficiency, and more customers into the Reit fold. Currently, there are four publicly listed Reits in India with the first listing in 2019. The market regulator has also opened the doors for fractional ownership platforms in real estate to register as small and medium Reits. DBI will help investors in understanding valuations of Reits assets and the impact of various assumptions and understand the risks and rewards associated. This will bring a lot of transparency and will also help take away any noise on Reits, Bhatia added. Reits will lead to the financialisation of the assets. It also takes away the risks from the banking system and makes investments in the markets more transparent, he added. Rahul Gandhi talks about SC, ST, OBC, tribal and minority people. That is why BJP people do not like his words. This is the reason why they are threatening him, he said | (Photo: PTI) The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling NDA targeting Rahul Gandhi. The party alleged that the statements were aimed at jeopardising the safety and security of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and to disturb peace throughout the country, especially in view of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp In the complaint submitted to the SHO of the Tughlaq Road police station by AICC treasurer and general secretary Ajay Maken, the Congress cited the recent remarks by BJP leaders Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Raghuraj Singh, as well as that of Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad. Maken sought registration of FIRs against the leaders. Speaking with the media after filing the complaint, Maken said, We all know that late Indira Gandhi ji and late Rajiv ji have sacrificed their lives for the country. Even after that, they are giving such threats. Politics in India cannot stoop to a lower level than this, he said. Not just one BJP leader, but many leaders have said such things, but BJP did not take any action, he said. Rahul Gandhi talks about SC, ST, OBC, tribal and minority people. That is why BJP people do not like his words. This is the reason why they are threatening him, he said But let me tell you -- This is the Congress party and we are not going to be scared or cowed down, Maken said. In the police complaint, Maken said, "On September 11, Marwah in a BJP event openly issued assassination threat against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, wherein he said that 'Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja, nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua (you better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother)'". It also cited Sena MLA Gaikwad's announcement of a bounty of Rs 11 lakh for anyone who will cut the tongue of the Leader of Opposition. The complaint cited Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu's remarks, calling the Leader of Opposition the "number one terrorist of the country". "Bittu deliberately made the statement to provoke public hatred and outrage against Mr Gandhi, with the aim to incite violence and breach of peace. The said statement was widely publicised on TV channels and social media," the complaint said. It cited Uttar Pradesh government minister Raghuraj Singh's remarks that Gandhi was the "number one terrorist of India". "The above statements/ threats issued by various BJP Leaders and its allies, calling for assassination and/or bodily injury onto Rahul Gandhi and also calling the Leader of Opposition of the country a terrorist, exhibits personal hatred by the BJP/NDA alliance partners against Gandhi, and such utterances are made only with the aim to cause unrest among the general masses to provoke rioting, breach of peace etc. through the hate-filled remarks," the Congress said in its complaint. Gandhi has been continuously raising issues pertaining to deprived sections of the society such as women, youth, Dalits and other marginalised sections and the failure of the BJP to address such public-centric issues, the Congress said. However, the same has not gone down well with the BJP and its allies, therefore the above-named people have been deputed to make such hate-filled comments on the Leader of Opposition of India, the Congress alleged. "Further, through the said events, the leaders of BJP/its allies, intend to jeopardise the safety and security of the Leader of Opposition, as well as, seek to disturb public peace throughout the country, especially in view of the ongoing elections in state of Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana," the complaint read. Not only have the leaders made the statements but also played an active role, through their associates, in spreading the same among the general public through social media and other means, in order to deliberately incite public aggression or outage against Gandhi and supporters or members of the Congress on basis of false, untrue, motivated and hate-filled statements, it said. "Hence, it is imperative that an FIR under relevant provisions of the BNS, 2023 be registered immediately, without any delay," the party said. "In addition to the above, it is also stated that calling the Leader of Opposition of India, a 'terrorist', 'number one terrorist' etc. not only undermines the public office he holds but the above-named persons deliberately seek to obstruct Rahul Gandhi in discharge of his public duties," the party said. "The above intentional and well-thought acts of criminal intimidation, public mischief are deliberate attempts by BJP/NDA Leaders to create enmity, breach of peace, incite aggression, hatred and ill-will among the general public against Rahul Gandhi, the Congress and its leaders on the instructions of top bosses of the BJP/NDA, the complaint said. "In view of the above, the above-named persons, all connected with a common threat to the ruling BJP, hatched a well-planned criminal conspiracy, with other known/ unknown associates to commit the above acts. Accordingly, I request you to register an FIR, inter-alia, u/s 351, 352, 353, 61 of BNS, at the earliest, against the above-named persons and their associates," the complaint by Maken said. Outgoing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will give up all government facilities, including security, and move out of his official residence in 15 days to live like a commoner, AAP said on Wednesday, a day after he tendered his resignation. The first thing Kejriwal talked about after submitting his resignation was his decision to leave the official residence of the Delhi chief minister, senior party leader and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said at a press conference here. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp While Singh had said that Kejriwal would vacate the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow in a week, AAP later clarified that the outgoing chief minister and his family would do so in 15 days. A search is on for suitable accommodation for Arvind Kejriwal and his family, Singh had said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said in a post on its official X handle, "Setting an example of honesty and sacrifice Arvind Kejriwal will leave the CM residence and also give up the government security." Singh said Kejriwal would give up all the facilities provided to him as the Delhi chief minister, including the official residence, vehicles and security, and live like a "common man". Kejriwal used to travel in an old blue Wagon R car even when he became the Delhi chief minister for the first time in 2013. The AAP leader said there are concerns about Arvind Kejriwal's security as well and he was "attacked several times" in the past. "He has old parents, his wife, and his children. We are all worried about their safety. We tried to explain to him that his security was at risk. Still, he has decided to move out," Singh said. "Kejriwal said he was in jail for six months among dreaded criminals and God protected him and will continue to do so," Singh added. The AAP MP said the BJP has been levelling "false allegations" of corruption against Kejriwal to defame him. "Had Kejriwal been a 'typical thick-skinned' leader, he would not have bothered about it and continued to occupy the chair. We know the condition of other leaders. If they get any facility, they continue to enjoy them for years after resignation and fight for keeping official residence but Kejriwal has decided that he will vacate his house," he said. Now the people of Delhi have to give their verdict on Kejriwal's honesty, Singh said. "Arvind Kejriwal is the first leader in the history of India who is saying with pride that 'if I am honest, vote for me, else not'," he asserted. Kejriwal on Tuesday submitted his resignation from the Delhi chief minister's post and his successor Atishi staked claim to form a new government. Elon Musk s brain-chip company, Neuralink, announced on Tuesday that its experimental implant designed to restore vision has received the US Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) breakthrough device designation. This significant milestone marks a crucial step forward in the development of Neuralinks cutting-edge technology aimed at treating severe medical conditions. The FDA awards the breakthrough device designation to medical innovations that provide diagnosis or treatment for life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating conditions. The goal is to accelerate the development and review process of these devices, offering hope for patients facing limited treatment options. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Neuralinks vision-restoring device, named Blindsight, is designed to allow individuals who have lost both eyes and their optic nerves to regain sight. Musk, in a post on social platform X (formerly Twitter), said Blindsight will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see. Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time. To set expectations correctly, the vision pic.twitter.com/RAenDpd3fx The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see.Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time.To set expectations correctly, the vision https://t.co/MYLHNcPrw6 September 17, 2024 However, the company has yet to disclose when Blindsight will enter human trials, and the FDA has not provided further comment. Founded by Musk and a team of engineers in 2016, Neuralink is developing a brain-chip interface that can be implanted within the skull. The company claims this technology has the potential to help patients with disabilities move, communicate, and now, restore their vision. The chip processes and transmits neural signals, which can be sent to external devices like computers or smartphones. Mind control tech advances In parallel, Neuralink is testing another implant aimed at giving paralysed patients the ability to control digital devices using their thoughts. This innovative technology could be transformative for those with spinal cord injuries. A trial is set to evaluate the devices effectiveness with three patients over several years, according to the US governments clinical trials database. Earlier this year, Neuralink successfully implanted its brain-chip in a second patient, who is now using it to play video games and learn 3D design offering a glimpse into the future of brain-computer interfaces. [With agency inputs] In recent months, the foldable market has seen new products such as the upgraded Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and OnePlus Open. Huawei rolled out the first tri-fold smartphone, the Mate XT, earlier this month. The competition appears to be pushing Samsung to release its rollable smartphone in 2025. If launched, it will be the first rollable smartphone available for purchase. South Korean company LG was reportedly close to launching a rollable device but shut down its mobile division in 2021 before it could be released. OPPO showcased a rollable prototype in 2021, and Motorola presented the concept Rizr rollable in 2023. TECNO unveiled the Phantom Ultimate with a rollable display last year. However, none of these devices have become commercially available. In recent news, Samsung has started the pre-reservation process for its upcoming flagship Galaxy Tab S10 series. Customers can secure their device by paying a token fee of Rs 1,000 and can receive benefits of up to Rs 3,499 on the new Galaxy Tab S10 tablets. EQS-Ad-hoc: alstria office REIT-AG / Key word(s): Squeeze Out/Agreement alstria office REIT-AG: squeeze-out demand regarding the shares of minority shareholders, amendment to investment agreement, loss of REIT-status at year-end 2024 18-Sep-2024 / 19:11 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 notification pursuant to Articles 17 MAR Squeeze-out demand regarding the shares of the minority shareholders of alstria office REIT-AG by the majority shareholder; alstria office REIT-AG enters into an amendment agreement to the investment agreement with its majority shareholder; loss of the REIT-status at year-end 2024 Hamburg, September 18, 2024 alstria office REIT-AG (symbol: AOX, ISIN: DE000A0LD2U1) (alstria or the Company) announces that, today, the management board of alstria received a demand from BPG Holdings Bermuda Limited, a subsidiary of Brookfield Corporation (the "Majority Shareholder"), pursuant to Sections 327a et seq. of the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz, AktG). Accordingly, the general meeting of alstria shall resolve to transfer the shares of all other shareholders to BPG Holdings Bermuda Limited or one of its subsidiaries in return for an appropriate cash compensation (Squeeze-Out under Stock Corporation Law). The amount of the cash compensation will be communicated with a specific request as soon as it has been determined and published separately. The general meeting, which is to resolve on the transfer resolution, can subsequently be convened. The general meeting is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2025. The Squeeze-Out under Stock Corporation Law only becomes effective with the approval of the general meeting and entry in the commercial register. The Majority Shareholder does not directly hold any shares in alstria. By adding shares held by other shareholders, the arithmetical total shareholding of the Majority Shareholder amounts to 95.37%. Further, the Company announces that, as of today, it has entered into an amendment agreement with Alexandrite Lake Lux Holdings S.a r.l. and BSREP IV Alexandrite Pooling L.P. (Bermuda), each controlled by the Majority Shareholder, to the investment agreement (the Investment Agreement) signed in connection with the voluntary public takeover offer in November 2021 (the Amendment Agreement). The Amendment Agreement allows the Majority Shareholder or one of its subsidiaries to initiate a squeeze-out before the end of the term of the Investment Agreement in February 2025. In return, Alexandrite Lake Lux Holdings S.a r.l. and BSREP IV Alexandrite Pooling L.P. undertake to indemnify the Company against the potential negative cash consequences for alstria of the compensation payments that could result from the Company's obligation under Article 20 para. 1 of the Companys Articles of Association to compensate minority shareholders in the event of termination of the tax exemption upon the loss of the Company's REIT-status. In light of the Squeeze-Out under Stock Corporation Law, alstria will not be compliant with the requirements under the Act on German Real Estate Stock Corporations with Listed Shares (REIT-Gesetz, REITG) and is therefore expected to lose its status as a REIT stock corporation on December 31, 2024, as the Squeeze Out excludes any alternative option of restoring the distribution of shares of at least 15% in free float required for a REIT stock corporation (Sections 11 para. 1, 18 para. 3 REITG). Pursuant to Article 20 of the Companys Articles of Association, shareholders who hold less than 3 % of the Company's voting rights at the time of termination of the tax exemption, will be entitled to a compensation which shall be the disadvantage if any in terms of distributions that results from the termination of the tax exemption pursuant to Section 18 para. 3 REITG considering the tax benefits of the shareholders on a lumpsum basis and shall be determined with binding effect for the shareholders by an auditor determined by the Institute of Auditors in Germany e.V. (IDW). Upon application by the management board, the IDW has already appointed the auditor for the evaluation process. The main financial impact of the loss of the REIT-status is related to the booking of non-cash deferred tax liability on its balance sheet at the next reporting date. This will lead to an equivalent non-cash loss on the Companys profit and loss accounts. Based on the current information available to the company this is expected to range from around EUR 150 million (assuming full trade tax relief) up to around EUR 400 million (assuming no relief from trade tax). The final value of the deferred tax liability for financial year 2024, will only be known precisely following the valuation of alstrias assets at the balance sheet date. Additional information regarding the loss of the REIT-status on alstrias financials can be found in alstrias 2024 HY financial result as a contingent liability disclosure (page 24 of the half-year financial statement as of June 30, 2024, available at https://alstria.com/investor/#reports). Contact: Ralf Dibbern Head of Finance, Controlling & Reporting Steinstr. 7 20095 Hamburg +49 (0) 40 226 341-329 rdibbern@alstria.de Further information: www.alstria.de www.beehive.work www.linkedin.com/company/alstria-office-reit-ag About alstria alstria office REIT AG is the leading real-estate operator focusing solely on German office property in selected German markets. Our strategy is based on the ownership and an active management of our properties throughout their entire life cycle, strong added-value services to our customers and deep knowledge of the markets in which we operate. alstria strives for sustainable long-term value creation while taking advantage of short-term arbitrage of inefficiencies in the real estate markets. Disclaimer This release constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any shares. As far as this press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the business, financial condition and results of operations of alstria office REIT-AG (alstria), these statements are based on current expectations or beliefs of alstrias management. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those reflected in such forward-looking statements. Apart from other factors not mentioned here, differences could occur as a result of changes in the overall economic situation and the competitive environment especially in the core business segments and markets of alstria. Also, the development of the financial markets and changes in national as well as international provisions particularly in the field of tax legislation and financial reporting standards could have an effect. Terrorist attacks and their consequences could increase the likelihood and the extent of differences. alstria undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Japans long-standing efforts to elevate women into senior roles in business have been dealt a setback, with a new survey revealing that only 13 chief executives (CEOs) at the countrys top companies are female. This equates to a mere 0.8 per cent of the 1,643 firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchanges top-tier prime market, according to a survey by Kyodo news agency, which analysed financial statements from FY23. The findings underscore Japans sluggish progress in achieving gender diversity in corporate leadership, a long-standing issue the government has been working to address. With a goal of having women in at least 30 per cent of executive positions by the decade's end, the current figures indicate a challenging path forward. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Even when using a broader definition of executive, which includes corporate officers, directors, auditors, and executive officers, the proportion of women in senior positions remains critically low. This has become a persistent challenge for Japan, a decade after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to create a society in which all women shine. Japan lags behind in global gender rankings Japan continues to perform poorly in international gender diversity rankings. According to a 2022 survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), women held just 15.5 per cent of executive roles in Japan, far behind countries like Britain (40.9 per cent) and France (45.2 per cent). Only China and South Korea fared worse. A similar pattern emerges from other studies. Last year, The Economist ranked Japan 27th out of 29 developed economies in its glass ceiling index, which tracks barriers to womens advancement in business. However, there have been signs of progress. In January, Mitsuko Tottori became the first female president of Japan Airlines, and in July, Naomi Unemoto was appointed as the countrys first female prosecutor-general. Additionally, the number of female board members has more than doubled over the past five years, now exceeding 3,000. Meanwhile, political dynamics may also be shifting. Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi is one of three candidates vying for leadership of the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a vote scheduled for September 27. If successful, she could become Japans first female prime minister, although her conservative views on same-sex marriage and separate surnames for married couples have divided opinions within the party. India faces similar challenges in gender gap Japans slow pace in advancing gender equality mirrors trends observed in other major economies, including India. A study released in March by Fortune India and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research highlighted a similar gender gap in leadership across Indian industries. The study found that just 1.6 per cent of companies in the Fortune India 500 had female CEOs, with the figure rising slightly to 5 per cent for the Fortune India Next 500. A major challenge identified was the leaky pipeline, where women exit the workforce during middle management due to familial responsibilities, including maternity leave and caregiving duties. Over 30 to 40 per cent of women leave the workforce by the time they reach middle management, according to the study. Biases in hiring practices and corporate culture further hinder womens advancement, particularly in profit-and-loss (P&L) roles, where organisations are hesitant to appoint women due to stereotypes about their commitment and mobility. Meyer Burger Technology AG / Key word(s): Restructure of Company/Personnel Meyer Burger announces initial measures for strategic realignment and changes in management team 18-Sep-2024 / 06:40 CET/CEST Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR Thun, Switzerland September 18, 2024 Meyer Burger announces initial measures for strategic realignment and changes in management team Focus on production and technology to ensure return to profitability Streamlining of group structure and reduction in workforce planned CEO Gunter Erfurt leaves the company and hands over to Franz Richter Departure of CFO Markus Nikles and downsizing of management board Meyer Burger Technology AG has announced the immediate initiation of a restructuring program aimed at enabling a return to profitability. The projected revenue of approximately CHF 350 to CHF 400 million and an EBITDA in the mid-double-digit million range from 2026 onwards is largely based on the existing production capacity and long-term supply agreements with key customers. In addition to focusing on production facilities in Thalheim (Germany, cells) and Goodyear (USA, modules), the company's technological capabilities in Hohenstein-Ernstthal (Germany) will be maintained in order to further develop the technology in the future. The significant streamlining of the group structure, particularly across the organization, will result in a reduction of the global workforce from currently approximately 1,050 employees to around 850 by the end of 2025. This disproportionate reduction in Europe will be offset by an increase in the U.S. to achieve full production capacity in Goodyear. Furthermore, Meyer Burger is exploring the potential to generate additional revenue and contribution margins through the sale of technology and equipment to strategic customers in the areas of solar cell production and module technology. Liquidity in the operational business will continue to be supported through sales of solar modules from existing inventories and additionally through the sale of other assets. Various options are currently being analyzed to close the remaining financing gap. Gunter Erfurt hands over to Franz Richter Gunter Erfurt is stepping down as CEO and will leave the company. He will continue to advise the board during a transition period, leveraging his extensive industry network and expertise in the international solar industry. Gunter Erfurt has played a decisive role in shaping Meyer Burger as CEO and CTO in recent years, overseeing the transition from an equipment supplier to a manufacturer of solar cells and modules in a challenging environment. Through his relentless dedication to Meyer Burger and the European and U.S. solar industry, he has become a renowned advocate for the industry worldwide, said Franz Richter, Chairman of the Board of Meyer Burger. Franz Richter will take over immediately as Executive Chairman, assuming the role of CEO at Meyer Burger, bringing his extensive experience in restructuring industrial companies. He has previously held operational mandates at Suss MicroTec AG and Dr. Honle AG, where he currently serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. CFO Markus Nikles will also leave the company, in his case effective by the end of September 2024. Markus Nikles has always represented Meyer Burger with great commitment and loyalty during his time with the company we are truly grateful to him for that, said Andreas Herzog, member of Meyer Burger's board. The responsibilities for finance and controlling will be assumed by Ralf Hermkens (U.S.) and Frank Zimmermann (Europe), who will report directly to the Executive Chairman until further notice. Both are already serving as Executive Vice Presidents within the company. The management board, now reduced to three members, will initially focus on achieving profitability as quickly as possible. In addition to his existing duties, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Daniel Menzel will take on responsibility for sales. Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) Katja Tavernaro will focus significantly on the legal and personnel aspects of the restructuring. Media contacts: Meyer Burger Technology AG Anne Schneider Head Corporate Communications M. +49 174 349 17 90 anne.schneider@meyerburger.com Alexandre Muller Investor Relations M. +41 43 268 3231 alexandre.mueller@meyerburger.com Hezbollah is in shock after their fighters' communication devices, the pagers, became targets of coordinated mini-explosions, resulting in deaths of 9 people with over 2700 others injured. In the statement, Hezbollah claimed that the pagers used by the members working for the group started exploding mysteriously at around 3.30 pm (1230 GMT). The Iranian-backed militant group blamed Israel for rigging the devices of its members with explosives. However, no official statement has been issued so far. Israel is also silent over the allegations. According to Lebanese press, the Israeli intelligence agencies are behind the coordinated attack triggering the blasts in pagers across the country, many of whom included the civilians. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp The wave of blasts, many captured on CCTVs across multiple locations in the country, created a hue and cry, prompting global condemnations and shock. The attacks were straight science fiction stuff, claimed the social media users. Many wondered why the ages-old communication devices, the pagers, were still in use. What are pagers? Pagers, also known as beepers, are wireless communication devices, first patented in 1949 by Alfred J. Gross. The basic functions of the devices are to receive and display alphanumeric or voice messages via radio frequencies from a base station or a central dispatch. The messages generally aim to alert the users. These devices were widely used in the 1980s, but thereon a massive decline was witnessed in its use across the world. However, some groups and organisations are still using this device across the world. Hezbollah also relied on these devices for their internal communication because of their less traceable nature as compared to cell phones. Also Read: Pager explosions in Lebanon: How attack was planned over 6 months ago These small-sized devices emit a tone, beep or vibration to notify users about incoming messages which is useful in noisy environments where silence is preferred, like hospitals, explaining why some medical professionals still use them. Why are pagers still being used to communicate? Developed in the 1950s, pagers were widely used for communication in the 1980s. It witnessed a sharp decline in the 21st century, due to the widespread availability of mobile phones for texting or calling, massively affecting the pager industry. Nevertheless, these devices are still in use by emergency services or public safety personnel as modern pager system coverage provides reliable and quick service. The terrestrial-based cellular networks can shut down in some cases, such as during natural or man-made disasters, making them unreliable in certain circumstances. It led public safety professionals to adopt pagers over cellular and other commercial services for critical messages. Why does Hezbollah use pagers? Being a paramilitary group, Hezbollah uses pagers for communication to protect against any security lapses as these are less traceable than mobiles. Pagers leave a small electronic footprint for communication making it less vulnerable to hacking or surveillance. These devices are simple to use and able to transmit basic messages without Internet or cellular networks, reducing risks. Pagers are even good to work in areas where there is poor mobile coverage, making them an ideal choice for Hezbollah's operational needs. It is very unlikely that a pager could explode, however, any electronic device with a battery has a slight chance of exploding for different reasons like manufacturing defects, battery failure, or exposure to extreme conditions (like overheating or physical damage). According to reports, these incidents causing serious injuries to Hezbollah members, involve modified or tampered devices than standard commercial pagers. How do pagers operate technically? Pagers work in dedicated radio frequencies designed to send and receive messages over these frequencies. The range of pagers depends on the frequency band used and the coverage area of the paging network. Unlike mobile phones, pagers have longer battery life and last for several days on a single charge making it a key reason to use them in certain professional settings. What could be the probable cause of the Lebanon pager explosion? According to an anonymous Hezbollah official while talking to news agency Associated Press, mentioned that the explosions were the result of a security operation targeting the devices. Without sharing detailed insights, the official claimed that the enemy (Israel) was behind this attack". He also said that the lithium batteries used in the pager are most likely the reason behind the explosions. Lithium batteries when overheated produce smoke, melt and even catch fire. Commonly used electronic devices, these batteries burn when reaching up to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (590 degrees Celsius). However, as now confirmed by an NYT report, the devices with Hezbollah had hidden explosives implanted in them. The batch of pagers destined for use by the militant group had reportedly been intercepted by Israeli agencies, to allow them to attach explosives to be detonated using a signal as a trigger. Patel Brothers News Summary In a historic celebration of Indian culture, Dallas became the site of the largest Garba event ever held in the United States with the Star performer Kinjal Dave, with a record-breaking crowd of over 11,000 attendees. The spectacular event took place outdoors at the iconic Southfork Ranch. This unprecedented gathering was made possible through the generous sponsorship of Patel Brothers, a household name for Indian groceries in America. Diligent, a leading GRC SaaS company, today announced the launch of its new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act Toolkits, designed to help corporate secretaries, legal and compliance teams, chief technology officers, chief information security officers and audit teams navigate the increasing complexity of AI governance and AI regulatory compliance. The Toolkits empower businesses operating inside and outside the European Union (EU) to understand and comply with the requirements of the EU's AI Act, and to integrate a responsible and ethical approach to AI adoption that builds trust in new technologies and adheres to global standards for AI governance. As the AI landscape evolves, organizations are challenged to balance innovation with regulatory compliance and ethical considerations, said Keith Fenner, Senior Vice President & General Manager, International at Diligent. The EU's AI Act represents a significant regulatory milestone to ensure AI systems are safe, transparent, and respect fundamental rights. Were thrilled to offer a solution that helps customers identify and map regulatory obligations, implement best practice controls, and govern AI responsibly. This ensures compliance with evolving global regulations while accelerating the adoption of AI technology and delivering value. There are three toolkits available within the Diligent One Platform: AI Discovery and Risk Classification Toolkit This toolkit helps customers identify their AI systems and perform the required risk classification exercise. It also provides access to an extensive library of AI literacy and best practice governance resources for the board, senior management and employees to accelerate organizational readiness and elevate AI governance. The toolkit is available to all Diligent One Platform customers. AI Act IT Compliance Toolkit This toolkit helps organizations understand regulatory requirements, map them against suggested controls, and document compliance. It offers suggested control mapping to the AI Acts regulatory requirements, gap identification, a dashboard summary for control assessment, a remediation summary and notifications to key stakeholders. AI Act Risk Management Toolkit This comprehensive risk management toolkit supports a complete AI governance program. It features a risk heatmap for reviewing and prioritizing risks, a dashboard summarizing AI systems by risk level, a pre-configured AI threat library, and tools for continuous monitoring to ensure policy adherence and compliance. In a world where, according to surveys, 78% of employees bring their own AI tools to work and 86% of businesses use some form of AI without the boards awareness, Diligent's AI Act Toolkits are designed to support compliance, governance and risk management efforts. The Toolkits help customers to identify their AI systems and models, apply a risk-based classification, understand their obligations as providers and deployers under the AI Act, build an AI governance framework and monitor ongoing compliance. This helps to ensure that AI systems are implemented responsibly and ethically, and in a manner that documents compliance efforts in accordance with customer, partner, employee and regulator expectations. Diligents Toolkits provide a robust framework for assessing and managing the risks associated with AI systems, helping organizations incorporate ethical considerations into their AI development, and supporting ongoing compliance with the EUs AI Act. As AI becomes increasingly integral to business strategy, the Toolkits reflect Diligent's dedication to supporting ethical AI practices and helping its customers stay ahead of regulatory changes. To learn more about the AI Act Toolkits from Diligent, visit: https://www.diligent.com/lp/eu-ai-act-compliance About Diligent Diligent is the leading GRC SaaS company, empowering more than 1 million users and 700,000 board members and leaders to make better decisions, faster. The Diligent One Platform helps organizations connect their entire GRC practice including governance, risk, compliance, audit and ESG to bring clarity to complex risk, stay ahead of regulatory changes and deliver impactful insights, in one consolidated view. Learn more at diligent.com. Follow Diligent on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918400561/en/ Hgen, a company that makes clean hydrogen to decarbonize heavy industry, today announced the close of a $5M seed financing round. The raise was led by Seven Seven Six, with participation from Founders Fund and Fontinalis Partners. Hgen will use this funding to accelerate the commercial deployment of its technology at customer sites. Nearly 100 million metric tons of fossil-fuel derived hydrogen are produced every year for use in industrial and chemical processes. Founded in 2021, Hgen seeks to decarbonize this $100B+ market by producing clean hydrogen from water and electricity via its alkaline electrolyzers a class of electrolyzer technology with the lowest cost floor and therefore best positioned to achieve clean hydrogens cost targets. Hgen has developed an alkaline electrolyzer with 20x higher volumetric power density compared to conventional alkaline electrolyzers resulting in a 20x smaller system that can produce the same amount of hydrogen. This high power density is unlocked by Hgens hydrogen-generating cells, which are 9% more efficient and 6x thinner than standard alkaline cells. This translates to a more compact and lower cost electrolyzer. "Electrolyzer installations today look like custom petrochemical construction projects bespoke and costly. Our pre-assembled modules include the balance of plant, avoiding the custom design and on-site construction that balloons the cost of hydrogen projects today, says Hgens CEO, Molly Yang. With early support from Breakthrough Energy Fellows, Hgen scaled its technology from a benchtop prototype to an industrial scale demonstration running at its Hawthorne facility. The company is now focused on deploying its technology at customer sites. Seven Seven Six founder and general partner Alexis Ohanian says, Hgen assembled an incredible strike team from SpaceX and Tesla, whove previously developed complex technologies better than incumbents on rapid time scales and are now making breakthroughs in alkaline electrolysis. Hgens commercial traction validates the superior performance of their technology, and were excited to support them on this journey, says Seven Seven Six founding partner Katelin Holloway. Hgen is hiring for roles in Los Angeles. About Hgen: Hgen makes clean hydrogen to decarbonize heavy industry. Its higher-efficiency alkaline electrolyzer converts water and electricity into clean hydrogen, which is used as feedstock in industrial processes like chemicals and steel production. Learn more at www.hgen.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240910460744/en/ Percona, a global leader in enterprise-grade open source database software and services, today announced that its groundbreaking new database platform, Percona Everest, is now generally available to the public. Percona Everest is an open source, cloud-native database platform designed to deliver similar core capabilities and conveniences provided by database-as-a-service (DBaaS) offerings but without the burden of vendor lock-in and associated challenges. Percona Everest facilitates the work of developers, QA engineers, DevOps engineers, database administrators, and anyone who could benefit from self-serve deployment and management of MySQL, PostgreSQL and MongoDB on Kubernetes. Percona Everest simplifies database management and enables database deployment standardization across multiple clouds and environments. Percona Everest helps enterprises accelerate business operations through its reliable, scalable, and secure cloud-native database infrastructure architecture. Percona Everest represents a paradigm shift in the management of cloud-native databases on Kubernetes, said Ann Schlemmer, CEO at Percona. After several years of significant growth in the public DBaaS market, organizations are pushing back against public DBaaS solutions that actively cultivate lock-in, limiting flexibility and driving up costs for customers. We developed Percona Everest to counter these issues, providing our customers with the conveniences of the leading public DBaaS offerings but without the limitations. As organizations look to build more products and services in the cloud, many are beginning to discover a host of hidden costs associated with popular public DBaaS offerings. Even when compared to other types of proprietary, as-a-service solutions, public DBaaS offerings can be particularly effective in cultivating vendor lock-in, making it exceedingly difficult for customers to maintain control over data access, database configurations, and cloud costs. Percona Everest was designed with these very issues in mind. Unlike traditional DBaaS offerings, Percona Everest does not function as hosted infrastructure. Instead, Percona Everest allows organizations to self-serve provision and manage highly performant, open source database clusters on Kubernetes using the infrastructure they controlwhether it be a cloud of their choosing, on-premises, or both. As a result, users of Percona Everest maintain control over mission-critical matters, including data access, database configuration, and costs associated with running databases in the cloud. Percona Everest extends the benefits of platform engineering to database provisioning and management. Multi-Database, Multi-Cluster, Comprehensive Capabilities Combined with Expert Support Percona Everest brings together the automated provisioning and management of multiple databases across different environments, all within a single, intuitive, multi-cloud user interface. By leveraging automation, users can create enterprise-ready database instances of MySQL, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL in minutes. Percona Everest enables the creation of databases pre-configured with optimal parameters and settings for available resources. Key features include: Multi-Database Support : Manage various database technologies, including MySQL, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL, within a unified platform. : Manage various database technologies, including MySQL, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL, within a unified platform. Kubernetes-Based Deployments: Run both development environments and databases on Kubernetes to automate database management and provisioning, simplifying and accelerating application development. Run both development environments and databases on Kubernetes to automate database management and provisioning, simplifying and accelerating application development. Multi-Cloud and On-Premise Deployments : Deploy databases across multiple clouds or on-premises infrastructure, including OpenShift, to ensure redundancy, high availability, and data sovereignty. : Deploy databases across multiple clouds or on-premises infrastructure, including OpenShift, to ensure redundancy, high availability, and data sovereignty. Private and Custom Deployments : Maintain the privacy and security of the database environment with private deployments, enabling customization of every aspect of the database setup. : Maintain the privacy and security of the database environment with private deployments, enabling customization of every aspect of the database setup. Intuitive User Interface: Simplify administrative tasks with the ability to add and manage storage locations, monitoring endpoints, storage classes, and other default configurations from a central interface. Simplify administrative tasks with the ability to add and manage storage locations, monitoring endpoints, storage classes, and other default configurations from a central interface. Comprehensive Monitoring: Gain insights into performance metrics, query analysis, and more with the integrated Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM) tool. Gain insights into performance metrics, query analysis, and more with the integrated Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM) tool. Single Sign-On (SSO) Integration: Centralize user authentication, simplify access, and enhance security across your database deployments. Centralize user authentication, simplify access, and enhance security across your database deployments. Disaster Recovery: Maintain business continuity with tools that support high availability and disaster recovery. Percona offers enterprise-grade support for Percona Everest users and all their database deployments. In keeping with Perconas spirit of flexibility and choice, Percona Everest users can opt to manage their cloud-native database platform independently or with the help and support of Percona's team of database performance experts. The Percona team is always available to support any organization making the transition to Kubernetes-based deployments. Early Adopters Benefit From, Build With Percona Everest Percona introduced Everest to a select group of customers earlier this year. Adoption has been growing steadily, and users are extolling the platforms benefits. In designing our DBaaS service for customers, we knew that companies would want the benefits of technologies like Kubernetes and cloud-native services while avoiding the costly and extremely challenging aspects of running this themselves, said Handoyo Sutanto, CEO and Co-Founder of Lyrid. With Percona Everest, we have built a fully managed, flexible database service for our customers which we can provide without the levels of lock-in and expense associated with other cloud providers. Gifford Holmquist from Samaritan's Purse stated, "We migrated to Percona Everest from the Public Cloud in order to control our own data, reduce costs, and avoid vendor lock-in wherever possible. Weve met each of these objectives, and were very happy with the move. It's been a very successful decision. Learn more about Percona Everest by visiting the Documentation section of the Percona website. About Percona Percona is a world-class open source database software, support, and services company. The organization is dedicated to helping businesses ensure their databases and the applications that depend on them are secure, compliant, performant, and highly available. Through a unique combination of database expertise and enterprise-grade open source software, Percona empowers organizations with the freedom to choose, the freedom to create, and the freedom to innovate with speed as they grow. For more information, visit www.percona.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240917948450/en/ September 17, 2024: Iran is disturbed and unnerved by the continuing assassinations of Iran backed Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. This is in addition to the numerous key scientists, engineers and managers associated with the Iranian effort to build a nuclear bomb. Meanwhile, Iran is trying to salvage something from the losses Hamas is suffering in Gaza and, to a lesser extent, the West Bank. So far this year, the Israeli government has only pretended to try eliminating Hamas in Gaza. Its problem is purely political and self-inflicted. Israeli officials cant agree on how to rule Gaza after eliminating Hamas. Israeli choices are all bad, worse and horrible. Israel is slow rolling the elimination of Hamas. This dithering has caused many problems in and for the United States, and for Israel in the United Nations. Most Palestinians live in or immediately adjacent to Israel. Two million of Israels 9.8 million population are Palestinians. The Gaza Strip contains 365 square kilometers of territory and 2.1 million Palestinians. The West Bank contains 5,655 square kilometers and 4.1 million Palestinians. Gaza has had many rulers over the last century. A century ago Gaza was administered by British officials and occupied by British troops. After 1945 Gaza was ruled by Egyptian officials. In 1956 a war between several Arab states and Israel was won by the Israelis, who also captured Gaza but then withdrew. The 1967 Arab Israeli war saw Gaza once more captured by the Israelis and administered by them until 2005 when, after an 11 year process, Israeli forces withdrew and a local Palestinian government, initially Al Fatah, which also ruled the West Bank, took over Gaza. In 2006 Hamas, a radical Palestinian group that had taken refuge in Egypt, won Palestinian elections for a united Palestinian government. The West Bank Palestinian leaders refused to accept Hamas rule and there was fighting between Fatah and Hamas factions. Israel did not want this violence to spread into Israel and blockaded Gaza, only letting people in or out who were unarmed and had a good reason, like medical care or visiting relatives the Israeli knew about. Hamas continued to recruit Palestinian men to join their force. Hamas armed these new recruits with weapons from Iran, via Egyptian smugglers who could get the guns into Gaza, for a price. Hamas completely took over in Gaza in 2007 while Fatah remained in control of the West Bank. By 2023 Hamas forces in Gaza had ground to about 30,000 men though there were also other rival armed Palestinian and non-Palestinian terrorist groups, and there had been several mini-wars between Hamas and Israel since 2007. In October 2023, 3000 of the armed Hamas fighters, and an equal number of Gaza civilians and non-Hamas terrorists, attacked Israel. About half of the 3,000 attacking Hamas fighters were killed while attacking Israeli forces. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) lost 376 troops while 767 civilians died as well. As of early September, 97 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, or are dead. Israel has to take Hamass word for it that any of these hostages are still alive. Surviving Hamas gunmen stayed in Gaza because they failed to advance. In Gaza Hamas waged a guerilla war against the IDF. Hamas also took 251 Israeli civilians and soldiers captive and is trying to bargain with Israel to get thousands of imprisoned Palestinians freed in return for their Israeli captives. So far Israel is not willing to release thousands of convicted Hamas and other Palestinian killers to get 251 soldiers and civilians back. Instead IDF forces have been searching for the hostages and fighting Hamas gunmen who are guarding them. Hamas has been much less of a problem in the West Bank where Fatah security forces, with some assistance from the IDF, have kept most Hamas fighters out. Hamas leaders, especially Ismail Haniyeh, have lived in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar for several years and control $11 billion dollars donated to Hamas by various western and charitable groups and Arab governments as well several hundred million dollars a year from Iran. In theory this money should be used to make life easier, or at least bearable, for Palestinians living in Gaza. That does not happen because Hamas steals the money as well as foreign aid from Western countries. Israel sends food aid, accompanied by a military escort that fights armed Hamas members seeking to steal the aid. As of mid-2024, this remains the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. TELUS Digital Experience (TELUS Digital) (NYSE and TSX: TIXT) officially launched its global rebrand today, transitioning from TELUS International to TELUS Digital. The new name reflects the companys commitment to providing a digital-first experience across every service it delivers to clients, ensuring a seamless integration of digital, AI-powered and human interactions that optimize customer journeys and employee experiences. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918815547/en/ TELUS Digitals rebrand follows the leadership appointments of Jason Macdonnell to Acting CEO, TELUS Digital and President, TELUS Digital Customer Experience, and Tobias Dengel to President, TELUS Digital Solutions, announced on August 2. Their closely-aligned roles took effect on September 3, with Jason overseeing client care, loyalty, cost efficiency and digital transformation excellence, and Tobias progressing the companys digital and generative AI (GenAI) strategy to deliver best-in-class solutions across digital, GenAI and AI modeling business streams. Since our companys inception in 2005, and throughout its evolution to TELUS Digital, we have advanced our leadership in the global customer experience industry and become a trusted partner to the worlds largest and most disruptive brands on the strength of our technology capabilities and expertise, and the grit and dedication of our team, said Jason Macdonnell, President, TELUS Digital Customer Experience. Todays official rebrand to TELUS Digital aligns our company name even closer with our full spectrum of innovative solutions, both existing and prospective, which elevate end-to-end customer journeys, solve business challenges, mitigate risks, safeguard individuals, and drive continuous progress. TELUS Digital poised to seize the momentum in AI-related revenue growth TELUS Digital's strategy remains solidly rooted in proactively embracing the latest technologies. The company continues to expand its AI-related business, which contributed approximately 15% to its overall revenue in the first half of 2024, growing 13% year-over-year. The companys offerings include AI data solutions to train, test, validate and fine-tune machine learning, natural language processing and computer vision algorithms; front-end digital design to reimagine UX/UI and digital consulting services to advance cutting-edge AI use cases from whiteboards to working prototypes. In April, the company launched Fuel iX, an advanced GenAI engine designed to accelerate digital transformation to drive impactful results while providing enhanced operational efficiency, scalability, and valuable insights. The subsequent July launch of Fuel EX, an employee productivity and knowledge search application powered by Fuel iX, further underscores the companys ability to continuously create state-of-the-art solutions to meet the evolving needs of modern businesses. "We have a unique edge in the CX industry because of our highly-curated and integrated capabilities across digital design and development, AI data services and human-centered CX experiences, which can be tailored to client specifications and woven together across the entire customer journey," said Tobias Dengel, President of TELUS Digital Solutions. "Importantly, as a conscientious leader in the digital economy, we recognize that we must consider the broader, enduring impact of our work with AI and other transformational technologies beyond the scope of our business. We know that how we work is just as important as what we do, and our company has prioritized the implementation of robust governance practices. These are the shared responsibility of our team members and help ensure our decisions are human-centered and our actions reflect the caring culture that remains a core element of our companys DNA. As part of todays rebrand to TELUS Digital, the company also unveiled its Humanity-in-the-loop principles. The principles provide a robust foundation for the company and its team members to guide its responsible approach to AI design, implementation, deployment and governance, while remaining flexible in order to adapt to the ongoing evolution of AI, its emerging use cases and how it is legislated around the world. A legacy of distinguished awards and global recognition TELUS Digital has received numerous awards, rankings and third-party recognition to help solidify its position as a top global industry leader over the years. Most recently the company was: The rebrand to TELUS Digital will not include a change to the companys legal name or trading symbol (TIXT). To learn more about TELUS Digital and to connect about its scope of services and solutions, please visit: telusdigital.com. About TELUS Digital TELUS Digital (NYSE & TSX: TIXT) crafts unique and enduring experiences for customers and employees, and creates future-focused digital transformations that stand the test of time. We are the brand behind the brands. Our global team members are both passionate ambassadors of our clients products and services, and visionary technology experts resolute in our pursuit to elevate their end customer journeys, solve business challenges, mitigate risks, and drive continuous innovation. Our portfolio of capabilities spans digital customer experience and digital solutions, including digital IT services, such as cloud solutions and AI-fueled automation, trust and safety services, AI data solutions, including expertise in computer vision, and front-end digital design and consulting services. Fuel iX is TELUS Digitals proprietary GenAI engine at the heart of our innovation, helping enterprises advance their GenAI pilots to working prototypes and production at scale, quickly, securely and responsibly across multiple environments, applications and clouds. Powered by purpose, TELUS Digital leverages technology, human ingenuity and compassion to fuel remarkable outcomes and create inclusive, thriving communities in the regions where we operate around the world. Guided by our Humanity-in-the-loop principles, we take a responsible approach to the transformational technologies we develop and deploy by proactively considering and addressing the broader impacts of our work. Learn more at: telusdigital.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918815547/en/ The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing durable, sustainable and innovative fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, has announced the publication of its third annual Sustainability Update and its abridged Global Sustainability Scorecard for fiscal year 2023. These documents detail the company's progress toward achieving its 2030 sustainability goals. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918461246/en/ The LYCRA Company has published its third annual Sustainability Update and its abridged Global Sustainability Scorecard for fiscal year 2023. These documents detail the company's progress toward achieving its 2030 sustainability goals. (Photo: Business Wire) The LYCRA Companys sustainability framework, known as Planet Agenda, encompasses every aspect of its business and includes three pillars: product sustainability, manufacturing excellence, and corporate responsibility. The sustainability goals outlined in these documents are structured around these pillars and are aligned with five of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our latest sustainability update demonstrates our long-term commitment towards a more sustainable future, said Steve Stewart, chief brand and innovation officer of The LYCRA Company. Delivering on our ambitions to drive meaningful change as we make progress against our 2030 goals inspired this years theme, Turning Ambition into Impact. Highlights of the 2023 Sustainability Update include advances on the commercialization of bio-derived LYCRA fiber made with QIRA, the introduction of industrial compostable LYCRA fiber for the personal care segment, the extension of technologies that add durability to the LYCRA ADAPTIV fiber portfolio, and a 26% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from the previous year. This announcement follows the companys recent Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approval of its near-term science-based emissions reduction targets. The LYCRA Company has committed to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50 percent by 2030 from a 2021 base year. In addition, the company will reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions by 25 percent within the same timeframe. To download a copy of the 2023 Sustainability Update or Global Sustainability Scorecard, visit lycra.com/update. About The LYCRA Company The LYCRA Company is a leading global fiber and technology solutions provider to the apparel and personal care industries committed to offering sustainable products using renewable, pre-, and post-consumer recycled ingredients that reduce waste and help set the stage for circularity. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, it owns the LYCRA, LYCRA HyFit, LYCRA T400, COOLMAX, THERMOLITE, ELASPAN, SUPPLEX and TACTEL brands. The LYCRA Company adds value to its customers products by offering unique innovations that meet the consumers need for comfort and lasting performance. Learn more at lycra.com. LYCRA is a trademark of The LYCRA Company. QIRA is a trademark of Qore. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918461246/en/ September 18, 2024: Ukraine has shown the world how effective drones are and is now selling some of those it produces to export customers. The income from export sales to NATO countries finances continued Ukrainian production. This year Ukraine is on track to produce three million drones. These consist of armed and unarmed models of many different designs. To deal with Russian air attacks on drone manufacturing facilities, the government encourages individuals or small groups of Ukrainians to build drones in their homes or rented commercial spaces. As a result there are over 400 locations where drones are being produced. For traditional weapons and equipment Ukraine still needs factories producing armored and unarmored vehicles as well as artillery and small arms. This is aided by the extensive use of 3-D printing devices which in turn enables dispersed industrial production. Components for larger weapons can be manufactured at many small workshops and moved by private automobiles to the final assembly area. This use of personal vehicles was soon discovered by the Russians who now attack many cars carrying civilians, rather than weapons components. This only happens within ten or twenty kilometers of the front line. That is the range of most reconnaissance drones both sides use. Other nations, especially NATO members, China and India have noted the drone revolution in Ukraine and are seeking to equip their own forces with drones and drone technology. This is what the Ukrainians export to countries that support them. China has to get Ukrainian-produced drones and drone tech from its ally Russia. A TULLOW man who pleaded guilty to a plethora of charges was given a nine-month prison sentence when he appeared before Carlow District Court last week. Dale Rooney, 20 Park Avenue, Tullow was sentenced to prison on a charge of threatening to kill, while he also pleaded guilty to multiple other charges, all occurring in March, June and July 2022. The charges include two counts of threatening to kill two people and assaulting one of them at Tesco car park, Tullow on 15 July 2022; assaulting a person, causing them harm on 6 July 2022 at Chapel Lane, Tullow; trespassing at Tullow Community School, Tullow on 6 March 2022; being intoxicated and engaging in threatening behaviour at the same location on 24 March; and threatening to endanger life at Shillelagh, Co Wicklow on 25 March 2022. Solicitor Joe Farrell said that the court had previously told Mr Rooney to knuckle down and stay out of trouble, which he has done for some time. He asked Judge Geraldine Carthy for leniency, but she iterated the litany of charges to which 21-year-old Mr Rooney had pleaded guilty, including the threat to kill someone as well as assault charges, public order charges and a trespass charge. She said that although it may be claimed that the threat to kill someone could be a throwaway remark, the law says that it could be a real threat to the other person. She continued that while she must take into consideration Mr Rooneys remorse, his probation report and his guilty pleas, it was the plethora of matters that cant be ignored. She then convicted him on all charges, imposing a nine-month prison sentence for the threat to kill charge. Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal. By Emily Pennink, PA Old Bailey Correspondent A boss of the Kinahan organised crime group and two of his key members have admitted a ruse to create an arms cache to help him secure a lighter prison sentence. Thomas "Bomber" Kavanagh (57) was said by the UK National Crime Agency to be a high-ranking member of the network involved in drugs supply, firearms and money laundering, and acted as the figurehead of the organisation in the UK. He lived with his family in a fortified mansion, complete with reinforced doors and bulletproof glass, in Tamworth, England, from where he ran his criminal empire, the NCA has said. In 2020 he had been in custody facing a lengthy jail term for trafficking cocaine and cannabis into the UK. He hatched a plot to fool the NCA and secure a reduced sentence by pretending to help them uncover an illicit stash of weapons. He enlisted others, including his brother-in-law Liam Byrne (44) from Dublin, and Shaun Kent (38) from Liverpool, to help. They amassed a haul of 11 firearms, including three Skorpion submachine guns, three Heckler and Koch, an Uzi submachine gun and ammunition from the UK, the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland. Kavanagh had hoped the ruse would lead the NCA to commend him for helping them and look favourable to the court. But the plan was foiled after French police smashed the secure encrypted EncroChat communications system in April 2020, and passed information on to the NCA. Kavanagh had first approached the NCA in December 2020. He went on to claim in an interview in April 2021 that he had intelligence about an arms cache of between 10 and 20 weapons, said to have come from Holland. Through his solicitor, he provided a map with instructions and X marking the spot in Newry, Co Down. The Police Service of Northern Ireland went to a farmers field, and up a bank, where they found buried, just beneath the surface, two holdalls containing the guns and ammunition. Having reviewed the EncroChat data in greater detail, the NCA concluded Kavanaghs tip-off was a put-up job and withdrew its co-operation. In March 2022, Kavanagh was sentenced to 21 years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court in England. Kavanagh, Byrne and Kent were about to face trial at England's Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, but pleaded guilty to a string of charges at the 11th hour on Wednesday. All three admitted two charges of conspiring to possess a prohibited weapon, and two charges of conspiring to possess prohibited ammunition, between January 9th, 2020 and June 3rd, 2021. Kavanagh and Kent also admitted conspiring with others to pervert the course of justice. The charge said that they plotted to possess firearms and thereafter to hide them and then reveal their whereabouts to the National Crime Agency to enable Thomas Kavanagh to receive a reduced sentence on Operation Hornstay with intent to pervert the course of justice. Judge Philip Katz KC said he would sentence the men on October 21st and remanded them into custody. September 18, 2024: India has long maintained friendly relations with most nations. One major exception is China, which has several territorial disputes with India and in the last decade has revived many claims that have been dormant for decades. Once India realized they were on the receiving end of major Chinese threats, they sought help from allies. Russia has long been a provider of weapons for India as well as a major trading partner. This chummy Cold War era relationship dissolved as Russia invaded Ukraine while China pressed its many border disputes with India. India needed more allies and the Americans were available. To make clear their alliance with the United States, Indian officials openly backed Ukraine and even visited Ukraine as a demonstration of support. This could lead to Indian military aid for Ukraine and/or India purchasing Ukrainian drones. This process began in the 1990s when India finally realized that its socialist economic policies were not working and something new was needed. India noted that China in the 1980s had ditched socialism for a free market economy. This paid off in a spectacular fashion for China. India sought trade opportunities from the United States. During the Cold War India considered the United States an imperialist power and avoided any economic or military links with the Americans. Now China had become a major threat to India and the Americans were willing to help. The U.S. was facing a Chinese naval threat in the Pacific and Chinese naval forces were increasingly showing up throughout the Indian Ocean region. China was also selling warships, especially submarines, to many of Indias neighbors. India needed a similarly powerful ally and the Americans were willing to engage. Meanwhile, the ongoing border disputes remain unresolved. There has been some violence, and deaths. Conventional weapons were not used. Both sides relied on soldiers armed with clubs, rocks and righteous fists. Both sides want to avoid a shooting war. These disputes got going again back in 2020 when China revived the border war over Pangong Lake, which is largely in Tibet and patrolled by a small Chinese naval force. This is the longest lake in Asia and part of the 134-kilometer long lake extends 45 kilometers into the Indian Ladakh region. China is using its usual sneak and stay tactics to slowly move the border into territory long occupied by India. The portion of the lakeshore in dispute has no native population. The only people who visit the area are soldiers from India or China. China and India both have had small armed boats patrolling their portions of the 4,200-meter high lake, except for the few months when the entire lake is frozen over. In the last decade, China has been building roads into remote and formerly inaccessible (via vehicle) portions of the lake coastline. China has built some of these roads into areas claimed by India but not regularly patrolled because special mountain troops must be employed to get into these areas without coming in by boat or on foot over the ice. India admits that the Chinese aggression along its northern border is active again and the Chinese are now actually taking control of Indian territory and apparently plan to continue doing so. Despite Indian nuclear weapons, China believes it can get away with gradually gaining control over more than 100,000 square kilometers of Indian territory it claims. This will be done by grabbing a few square kilometers at a time without triggering a nuclear exchange. Fortune favors the bold, even in slow motion. China and India have already fought a war, back in 1962. In a month of fighting (starting on 20 October) India lost 7,000 troops (57 percent prisoners, the rest dead or missing) compared to 722 Chinese dead. China declared a ceasefire that India accepted. China actually advanced in two areas, a thousand kilometers apart and ended up taking 43,000 square kilometers of Indian territory. The source of the 1962 war and current border tension goes back a century and heated up when China resumed control over Tibet in the 1950s. From the end of the Chinese empire in 1912 up until 1949, Tibet had been independent. But when the communists took over China in 1949, they sought to reassert control over their lost province of Tibet. This began slowly, but once all of Tibet was under Chinese control in 1959, China had a border with India and there was immediately a disagreement about exactly where the border should be. Thats because, in 1914, the newly independent government of Tibet worked out a border called the McMahon line with the British who controlled India. China considers this border agreement illegal and wants 90,000 square kilometers back. India refused, especially since this would mean losing much of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India and some bits elsewhere there and all along the new northern border. India, as a democracy with a free press, has a public discussion of Chinese tactics and possible Indian responses. China also tries to take advantage of Indian media freedom by buying favorable coverage in the Indian press. This is done via bribes, offers of investments and loans as well as economic concessions within China. Military strategy in China, since ancient times, has placed emphasis on having a powerful military but using it mainly as a threat and giving enemies an incentive to accept bribes and allow China to get what they want. Yet India has rarely been seen as an enemy of China. There is nothing valuable on their mutual border which for thousands of years has been along high mountains and thinly populated lowland jungles. Neither India nor China had any incentive to use large armies to threaten each other. Because of this background, the border disputes of the last 60 years are seen by Indians as inexplicable and by Chinese as overdue restitution for centuries of humiliations inflicted by Western invaders. India, ever since it emerged from centuries of British colonial rule in 1947, insisted that India and China shared a background of oppression by the West. China sees India as trying to perpetuate Western crimes against China. To most Chinese Indians look and sound like Westerners so therefore India must be an enemy of China. India has come to accept that the Chinese are obsessed with making India pay for real or imagined wrongs inflicted by Western imperialists and see nothing wrong with using ancient Chinese imperialist methods to get their way. Suddenly British imperialism is not the worst thing that could ever happen to India. China is seeking to provide something much worse and much closer. India seeks new allies with mutual interests in the region and the United States proved to be an ideal nation to fulfill this role. By PA Reporter Wednesday's front pages focus on a range of stories from Hizbullah vowing revenge after at least nine people were killed after pagers exploded to gardai arresting five men over a major drug operation. The Irish Times reports at least nine people were killed, and 2,750 wounded, many seriously, on Tuesday afternoon, when pagers carried by Hizbullah militants exploded across Lebanon and Syria. The Irish Examiner lead with a piece about one of Irelands biggest drug trafficking networks being hit by Gardai as part of an international operation targeting the use of encrypted phones by organised crime groups to order murders and drug shipments. The Echo reports that over 6 million has been paid out by Cork County Council due to injuries from footpaths. Good morning, here's the front page of today's Irish Independent pic.twitter.com/Pj5ABedqZm Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) September 18, 2024 Read all this and lots more in Wednesday's Irish Daily Mail. pic.twitter.com/YFKNPZs1NK The Irish Daily Mail (@irishdailymail) September 18, 2024 Today's front page of The Irish Sun pic.twitter.com/wCysMMpXoQ The Irish Sun (@IrishSunOnline) September 18, 2024 Morning, readers Here's the front page of today's Belfast Telegraph Stick with us for all of today's breaking news.https://t.co/ZFlfbJQwqj pic.twitter.com/eE9nuuSriC Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) September 18, 2024 In the UK, a wave of exploding pagers in Lebanon and Syria dominates the front pages of Wednesdays newspapers. The Times says the simultaneous detonations maim thousands of militia fighters while The Daily Telegraph reports the explosions rocked Hezbollah with 3,000 people injured and nine killed. Wednesday's TIMES: Exploding pagers wreak havoc among Hezbollah#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/rHiRafBEjJ Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) September 17, 2024 The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'Thousands of pager bombs rock Hezbollah'#TomorrowsPapersToday Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4OoUh6 pic.twitter.com/6SoE6k16js The Telegraph (@Telegraph) September 17, 2024 The attack is labelled a cyberhit by The Independent while the Financial Times says a child is among the dead from the explosions of low-tech pagers. Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Wednesday 18 September https://t.co/KioQBD38lf pic.twitter.com/Drik6ltoqQ Financial Times (@FT) September 17, 2024 The Guardian says Hezbollah has vowed to strike back at Israel, who have been blamed for the attacks, while the Daily Mail reports the explosions have put the Middle East on the brink. Wednesday's GUARDIAN: Hezbollah vows to strike back at Israel after deadly pager attacks#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/jGSSVZae3R Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) September 17, 2024 Wednesday's DAILY MAIL: 'Israel's' exploding pagers put Middle East on the brink#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/THhyEnr0Vb Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) September 17, 2024 Exploding pager hell is the headline in the Daily Mirror, which splits its front page between Lebanon and an interview with a young man at the centre of the Huw Edwards case after the former newsreader was spared a jail term for three counts of making indecent images of children. Wednesday's front page: Exploding pager hell as 2,800 hurt in bizarre attack https://t.co/OsxTNV2Rlt#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/T26nEqg0a0 The Mirror (@DailyMirror) September 17, 2024 Elsewhere, the Daily Express says 1.7 million households will not turn on their heating this winter to save money. Wednesday's DAILY EXPRESS: 1.7m will not heat homes this winter to save money#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/MZLowvWKc9 Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) September 17, 2024 The Metro concentrates on the bravery of Hannah Hunt as Kyle Clifford, the ex-boyfriend of her sister Louise Hunt, faces court accused of killing Hannah, her mother, Carol, and sister, Louise. Tomorrow's Paper Today COURAGE OF CROSSBOW CARNAGE VICTIM Bravery revealed as murder suspect appears in court #tomorrowspapertoday pic.twitter.com/UqmJ1H3U6l Metro (@MetroUK) September 17, 2024 And the Daily Star reports that a scientific discovery could result in a real-life zombie incident with the deceased coming back to life. AFTER almost seven decades, a treasured Oak Park House artefact from the Bruen era is back where it belongs. This summer saw the return to Oak Park House of books which graced the library there in the time of the Bruen family and were auctioned with the contents of the house in 1957. The last Henry Bruen (the fourth) had died in 1954 and the estate was sold to an English farming syndicate. The furniture, paintings and books were scattered all over Ireland and beyond, never to grace this fine stately home again. Or so it seemed. Paddy Keenan of Oak Park Road, Carlow bought a set of travel books at this auction as well as The Annals of the Four Masters, which was printed especially for Henry Bruen. While the annals book was subsequently sold to an English buyer, Michael Keenan, Paddys son, preserved the two travel books, which are dated from 1793 and 1813. Beautifully bound, these books were in the care of the Keenan family for 67 years. At the recent Oak Park open day, Michael Keenan visited the stately house and saw that Teagasc has endeavoured to acquire and preserve items that originally belonged there. Then, in consultation with the rest of his family, he decided to donate the books back where they belonged. This was arranged through John Hogan, retired farm manager of Oak Park farm who, along with Frank OMara, director and John Spink, head of environment, crops and land use, hosted Michael, his wife Teresa and his sister Colette to a lunch, where the presentation was made. Claimants still want civil cases brought against Lafarge Syria ICR Newsroom By 18 September 2024 A report in The Guardian newspaper suggests that the US$778m fine imposed on Lafarge by the Justice Department over the payments the cement producer made to IS in Syria, so that it could keep trading, is likely to throw open the doors to still more legal trouble. Amal Clooney and other lawyers in the US are suing Lafarge for its aid to IS. However, prosecuting multinational corporations for war crimes is extremely difficult as to the extent of what they knew and their collaboration, while Lafarge has already evaded many appeals and counter-appeals since 2016 on its Syrian involvement with IS at its Jalabiya cement factory in 2013-14. None of the US$778m fine imposed on Lafarge by the Justice Department went to any of the victims, said a lawyer in one of the suits. In addition, Lafarge still faces a criminal case from dozens of former employees in Syria. Two non-profit organisations, Sherpa and European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, have accused Lafarge of complicity in crimes against humanity, reports The Guardian. Published under JK Cement plans to invest INR30bn in capacity expansion ICR Newsroom By 18 September 2024 India-based building materials manufacturer, JK Cement, has announced plans to invest INR30bn (US$358.4m) to increase its capacity by 25 per cent, from 24Mta to 30Mta by the end of FY25-26. Nearly INR8bn of the investment has already been made, with work on the brownfield expansion in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, and the greenfield grinding unit in Buxar, Bihar, underway. At Panna, the investment includes clinker capacity expansion, costing approximately INR24bn, while the greenfield unit in Bihar is expected to require around INR5.5bn. Work on the Panna site has begun, and orders for main plant components and equipment have already been placed. The company expects the facility to be operational by the 3QFY25-26. Additionally, JK Cement has started acquiring land and securing the necessary approvals for the Bihar grinding unit. Work on the site is expected to commence after the regions monsoon season. Raghavpat Singhania, managing director of JK Cement, stated that the expansion is being funded through a mix of debt and equity. He said, Post the expansion by March 2026, we will have a net debt in the INR3600-3700 crore [INR36bn-37bn] range. Our net debt to EBITDA will remain below two. For the period ending 30 June 2024 (1QFY25), the company had a gross debt of INR45.2bn and a net debt of INR28.3bn. In recent quarters, JK Cement has significantly expanded its operations in central and east India. The company has commissioned new capacities, including a unit in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, and a clinker facility in Panna, Madhya Pradesh. These additions are part of JK Cement's broader strategic growth initiative aimed at enhancing its production footprint and meeting rising market demand in these key regions. This ongoing expansion supports the companys long-term goal of increasing its overall capacity. Published under Australia's space industry is being shaken by news of the Hypersonix Launch Systems announcement of a partnership with Southern Launch. The DART hypersonic spaceplane promised to fly at speeds five times faster than sound, and it will take off early in 2025 from one of the two Southern Launch spaceport sites. With bold plans to revolutionize the world of space travel, Hypersonix is preparing to test its breakthrough scramjet technology for the first time, promising thrilling new opportunities in defense and commercial ventures. DART Spaceplane to Take Off from Southern Australia's Coast The DART spaceplane will be launched from either the Eyre Peninsula or the Koonibba Test Range, two strategic sites managed by Southern Launch on Australia's southern coast. The first flight planned for the first quarter of 2025 will demonstrate Hypersonix's ability to push further than anyone else in aerospace innovation. The launching sequence would be a rocket launching the spaceplane into the atmosphere and then separating from it, allowing it to light its scramjet engines. According to The Sun, this will propel the spaceplane at hypersonic speeds, between Mach 5 and Mach 7, where DART would be one of the fastest aircraft being designed and constructed. "The intensity of hypersonic testing is set to rise rapidly and there are a huge number of both emerging technology companies and large aerospace companies that need hypersonic flight heritage for their products," Hypersonix CEO Matt Hill said in a statement. He added that this testbed would allow other companies to qualify their technology for flight at much lower costs than possible. Read Also: Iran Unveils New Hypersonic Missile: What Are Its Capabilities? Hypersonix to Test Advanced Technologies at Hypersonic Speeds Hypersonix will strap multiple devices onto the DART spaceplane in future missions to test them in extreme conditions. Australia's Role in Hypersonic Innovation Though its aerospace sector is relatively minor compared to global players, Australia is rapidly emerging as a leader in hypersonic technology. According to experts in the field, Australia is at the forefront of developing innovative propulsion systems, such as scramjets, that will make the country the vanguard in this industry. From Hypersonix alone, the U.S. Department of Defense has witnessed enough, as they signed a deal with the Brisbane-based company to provide DART spaceplanes. The executives of Hypersonix had been insistent that the vehicle could reach up to Mach 7 and would most definitely be an integral part of Australia's future in terms of advanced hypersonic systems. Joint Ventures with Global Defense Forces Apart from this partnership with the U.S., Hypersonix has just recently announced a significant 1 billion deal with the UK Ministry of Defence to support developing hypersonic missiles. These agreements spell out the immense demand for Hypersonix's advanced technology globally, as defense groups are now looking to find a share of its offerings for future hypersonic weapons and systems. The Future of Hypersonic Travel While defense applications are a vital focus, Hypersonix has even greater ambitions for commercial space travel. According to Southern Launch, "Hypersonix's long-term ambition is to bring aircraft-like operations to the affordability of accessing space, flying to the edge of space to deploy spacecraft and landing like an airplane.". This may bring hypersonic engines one step closer to powering the world's passenger aircraft considerably decreasing travel time. Travel may take mere hours between Adelaide and London, an hour and a half or even two hours from one city to another - a possible revolution in air travel. Meanwhile, US aerospace firm Hermeus unveils the new hypersonic jet dubbed Halcyon. This aircraft could take you from New York City to London in just 90 minutes. Related Article: Chinese Scientists Build Radar Capable of Tracking 10 Hypersonic Missiles: What Else Can It Do? Upgrading to the latest Apple Watch model can be pretty exciting, but for an American customer switchover from the Series 6 to the Series 10, there has been a glaring omission: loss of blood oxygen measurement feature. It is one of the features offered by earlier versions which a new watch sold in America would lose as well as due to the patent infringement over Masimo, a health technology company. Here's a short glimpse of what happened and how it impacts Apple's customers seeking for a good smartwatch. Apple Watch Blood Oxygen Ban: What Happened? If you bought an Apple Watch Series 6, 7, 8, or 9 before Jan. 18, your watch came with a blood oxygen sensor. Many people found this really helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the Series 10 and Ultra 2 watches won't have this feature anymore. Do you know why? It's because of a long legal fight between Apple and Masimo. Masimo is a company that creates advanced pulse oximeters used in hospitals around the world. Now, according to The Verge, Masimo is bringing the now-removed feature to Google and Qualcomm in the latest deal. The legal battle started when Masimo alleged the iPhone maker of infringing its blood oxygen sensor patents. Apparently, in 2013, Apple approached Masimo for an opportunity to collaborate. However, Masimo claimed that the opportunity was used by Apple to lure some of Masimo's key employees, including its chief medical officer, for expertise to procure for its health tech developments. Masimo, however, claims that Apple simply included its patented blood oxygen technology in the Apple Watch without permission. It's because of this reason, ITC deemed that Apple should delete the blood oxygen feature in its new sales and replace stock amounts of watches sold in the United States by January 18, 2023. The stock already in existence with this feature remained intact but consumers looking forward to upgrading to the Series 10 would not have this feature in place. Read Also: Apple Watch 2024 Lineup Might Undergo Rework: What to Expect? Impact on Apple and Customers Interestingly, the ITC decision has been very super restrictive, allowing only existing users of Apple Watches to retain the blood oxygen feature. The same renders new buyers frustrated since those who may want to upgrade to the Series 10 have to decide between losing a critical health tool that, in most fitness trackers, has become standard. One tech review online says that it's disappointing that Apple didn't include blood oxygen sensing in the Series 10, especially after almost every other fitness tracker on the market has included it. Many users truly appreciated it, even if they did not make a habit of using it daily, during the height of the pandemic. Indeed, the removal of this feature is humiliating for Apple and frustrating to consumers, who increasingly have grown to expect that every new addition brings some new promises of progress and perfection. Instead of adding capability, Series 10 buyers are losing functionality that has become deeply woven into the fabric of the appeal of the Apple Watch. Can Apple Bring Back the Blood Oxygen Feature? According to 9to5Mac, one potential solution would be for Apple to license the technology from Masimo while continuing its appeal on the legal front. Masimo has said that it's not interested in licensing the tech, but that could be an effort at negotiation, and in the context of this kind of deal, it would benefit both companies. That way, the company will be allowed to reintroduce the blood oxygen feature in future watches, so that the customers aren't saddled with a diminished product experience. Licensing would also save reviewers from criticizing the Series 10 for lacking certain features that are now ubiquitous in other smartphones. On the brighter side, it will help Apple maintain its reputation of being at the edge of innovation. Though Apple may assume that it has done nothing wrong, common sense dictates preventing further customer dissatisfaction. What Should Apple Do in the Future? Apple has a history of never retreating in patent wars, and it seems patently obvious that the company believes it is doing the right thing in this case. But negotiating a temporary licensing agreement with Masimo would prevent further disruption for Apple's customers and allow the brand to stay on its game without losing some key features that put it ahead. Now, Apple can carry on with its litigation battle while at the same time ensuring that the blood oxygen sensor is offered in new watches. And if Apple wins the battle, they can ask Masimo for a refund of all the patent royalties paid to Masimo up until now. Meanwhile, people still can upgrade to the latest model without sacrificing some functionality. Such lost features could prove damaging to the loyalty of the customers and perceptions of a brand in the technological fast world of the future. Apple can win this battle in a way that will allow all parties to benefit, especially the most important of those customers, who depend on the health functionalities that make the Apple Watch different. Related Article: Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2 US Ban Starts Again Today, What are the Affected Devices? David Lebron Thompson was part of the Greatest Generation and has lived to tell about his experiences. The World War II veteran is celebrating his 100th birthday today. Mr. Thompson was born in Flintstone, Ga., and graduated from Chattanooga Valley High School. When his country called, a young Thompson served in the United States Army. PFC Thompson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy during WWII in the European African Middle Eastern Theater of operations. Mr. Thompson often talked about sleeping in the snow in the war and one time he nearly died. While he was in Africa, the young soldier got malaria; an officer saw his condition and ordered he be taken to get immediate medical attention. Mr. Thompson told his friends he chose funeral service as a career after seeing so many bodies during the war. In the late 1940s Mr. Thompson got a job at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Home and went through the apprentice program before receiving his license. He was 29. Mr. Thompson also worked for Wann and Turner Funeral Homes before joining the staff at Chattanooga Funeral Home in May, 1963. He is now CFHs oldest employee. CFH President Gene Pike said Mr. Thompson has dedicated his life to service. Mr. Pike said, He answered his countrys call, was involved in his church, belonged to the Alhambra Shrine supporting Shriners Childrens hospital and has a lifetime of funeral service to families of the greater Chattanooga Area. His decades of service were a calling. Gail and I wish David a very happy 100th birthday." Rev. Brent Smith served as Mr. Thompsons pastor for 20 plus years. He said, We all called him Lebron at the church and he was one of the most faithful members that we had. He rarely missed a service. If the church doors were open, he was normally there unless he was physically or providentially hindered. Sometimes Lebron would come into the church and he would ask me if I thought we would have to bring chairs out because of the great crowd of people we were going to have in the service. We would both get a chuckle out of it, but I always appreciated his optimism and we prayed that people would come to church. Mr. Thompson has been a member of Flintstone Baptist Church most of his life. He worked at the Chattanooga Funeral Home for many many years and was one of the earliest funeral home workers in the entire state of Tennessee. I forget what his number was, but he would pull out his card and show me. I have great memories of Lebron, and he was always an encouragement to me as his pastor. His dear wife, Betty, was one of the sweetest ladies I have known as well. Lebron always took care of Betty, who was partially blind, until he was physically not able to continue to do so. Betty worked for years at Miller Brothers Department Store. They both loved the Lord and our church. Mr. Thompson was married to his wife Betty (also from North Georgia) for 75 years and they have two sons, Rick and the late Les Thompson. CFH East Chapel Manager Mike Blevins said, Ive known David for 35 years. Hes mentored and he taught me a lot about funeral service. His entire life has been about helping people and taking care of somebody. David would often mention driving an ambulance up Lookout Mountain in ice and snow to help someone in distress. David is one of my favorite people and a pleasure to be around. Our entire staff thanks David for his decades of service and we wish him a happy 100th. His son Rick said, Dad didnt have any hobbies but my parents enjoyed traveling around eating at various restaurants. His favorites were Park Place in Fort Oglethorpe and Epicurean in East Ridge. "Dad enjoyed vacations each year either at Panama City or Daytona Beach in Florida. My dads enjoyment in life came from being with the families he served and there were thousands. Family and friends gathered Tuesday at the Life Care Center of Ooltewah to wish David Lebron Thompson a happy 100th birthday and enjoy his birthday cake. A gang specialist at the Chattanooga Police Department said he turned on his computer just in time to catch almost the entirety of a Facebook Live by four youths, who now face first-degree murder charges for a killing a short time later. Sgt. Josh May said three of those in the car could be seen wielding handguns and another had a rifle. Tremaine Dillard and Tyqurerio Jazzkem Malone are currently being tried in the courtroom of Criminal Court Judge Amanda Dunn. The case of Montrell Franklin is on the docket for Nov. 6, and that of Eric Sims for next April 7. They are charged in a shooting at the 9 Brothers convenience store at W. 38th Street and Central Avenue on June 22, 2020. Robert Dowdy was killed and Brandon Rakestraw was badly injured. Sgt. May said it was a case of one gang against another - the Bloods that mainly hang out on the Southside and the Crips that are headquartered in areas like East Chattanooga and East Lake. He said he and other detectives had gone that day to the funeral of gang member Derrick "Donkey" McKinney, noting that sometimes violence breaks out on such occasions. He said he got back a little earlier than the others and caught the Facebook Live just as it was starting. He recorded it using Snagit software, and it was played for the jury. The witness said the live broadcast from a silver Nissan Rogue showed the gang members "displaying guns and making threats." Sgt. May told the jury, "The vast majority of gun violence is gang-related." Authorities believe that Franklin drove the Nissan to the territory of the Bloods, where a number of Blood members were standing outside the convenience store, including the two victims. The shooting was caught on video, the state said. The jury was shown several photos of the suspects dressed in gang colors and displaying gang signs. The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution urges Americans to reflect on the United States Constitution during this months annual observance in honor this foundational document of national governance. The DAR initiated the observance in 1955, when the service organization petitioned the U.S. Congress to dedicate Sept. 1723 of each year to the commemoration of Constitution Week. Congress adopted the resolution, and on Aug. 2, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into Public Law #915. The celebrations goals are threefold: to encourage the study of the historical events that led to the framing of the Constitution in September 1787; to remind the public that the Constitution is the basis of Americas great heritage and the foundation for its way of life; and to emphasize U.S. citizens responsibility to protect, defend and preserve the U.S. Constitution. We are so proud DAR led the way in making Constitution Week an official commemoration and our members enthusiastically promote the celebration annually in communities across the country by erecting community displays, sponsoring municipal proclamations, ringing bells and staging programs to raise awareness of the Constitutions tenets and importance, said DAR President General Pamela Rouse Wright. We encourage all citizens to join us in celebrating this powerful document that is so important to American history and to reflect on the impact the Constitution has had on the lives of American citizens past and present. In Chattanooga, the five DAR Chapter Regents are members of the Chattanooga Regent Council. The Chattanooga Regent Council started Constitution Week with a proclamation from Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp. The Constitution Week Proclamation was presented to the downtown library and will be publicly displayed. DAR has been the foremost advocate for the awareness, promotion and celebration of Constitution Week, said officials. The annual observance provides opportunities for educational initiatives and community outreach, two mission areas of crucial importance to the National Society. By fostering knowledge of, and appreciation for, the Constitution and the inalienable rights it affords to all Americans, DAR helps to keep alive the memory of the men and women who secured our nations foundational liberties, said officials. I believe gun deaths and violence should be a leading issue in the upcoming campaigns. Recently I attended a 9-11 memorial service and heard stories of the horrible deaths of our citizens. I did think of the fact that more Americans are killed each month by guns in America than the 2,900 lost in 9-11. In 2023 we lost more than 4,300 to gun violence. America has a tremendous problem. America has always been able to solve its problems and needs to now. The main purpose in our preamble to the Constitution is to keep its citizens safe. While at the 9-11 memorial I was with many political leaders. I know most of them and they are all good, patriotic people who are deeply concerned with their country and community. However somehow on this issue of gun violence we have lost our way. I recently heard Riley Gaines speak on another issue and she made the statement, "How is this happening? How did we get here?" I think the answer on both accounts is we have ignored the problem. We should be talking about the problems of gun violence and how to fix it. Have these candidates on both sides give their opinions. This is not a political issue, its a crime prevention issue. Start with the premise that good people should have the right to a weapon, but admit that there are many others that should not. I have big concerns that our Legislature up till now has pretty much ignored the gun violence and instead has passed pro-gun laws at the encouragement of lobbyists for the gun industry. Some of those are the open carry law (which police hate); the silencer law; and the most recent threat to withhold money to the city of Memphis because they were trying to pass laws to restrict the easy access to guns. It seems they are controlled by a small group, led by the leaders of both the House and Senate. They make excuses like its mental illness or the internet that causes all this but even though some of that is true nothing could happen without the weapon. They also say thats its the Illegal aliens that cause these shooting crimes when in truth its our citizens. All the school shootings, the country music festival; the night club shootings and mall shootings have all been done by American citizens. American citizens who should not have easy access to these high powered automatic weapons that shoot many rounds. We should discuss why are machine guns are illegal to possess but AKs are not. In Tennessee the violence has been by citizens who should had never had easy access to these weapons. The Nashville school shooting where the killer was able to go to five different stores and purchase seven automatic weapons without a background check. The young lady in the Nashville park and the nurse shot in her car, both by people who should have never been able to possess a gun. And locally, the young Baylor grad gunned down on our streets by a convicted felon living in free government housing. We have lost our way and each of these candidates need to answer, will you take gun PAC money contributions? Will you support background checks? Red flag laws? Laws that will restrict the possession of high powered weapons? Will you agree to discuss these issues on the Legislative floor? Some politicians have simply said I support the 2nd Amendment. Thats a cop out. We all do but all amendments have limitations. Free speech and freedom of expression. Their freedom ends where our citizens right to live peacefully begins. So it is my hope that communities and the press will ask these questions to the candidates and vote according to the answers. Russell Bean * * * On the subject of gun violence being a campaign issue there are many factors as to why we have the levels of gun crime that we are seeing. One of the most glaring statistic is the revolving door for criminals who receive minimum punishment for their crime and do not fear jail sentences knowing they can plea down to lower levels and be free in short time for even the most heinous of crimes. If you dont believe it just follow the arrest reports right here in Chattanooga. Some of these folks are well beyond repeated offenders. Felons, drug dealers and others with guns over and over again. All the kids recently making the 20+ school threats need to spend a few years in a juvenile prison, not a slap on the wrist and go back to mommy. I dont care if they are 12, 14 or whatever as a minor. With the judicial system so lax its no wonder why crime and shootings are as they are. Also, Mr. Bean stated that the Nashville shooter obtained multiple weapons without a background check. I do not believe that for one minute. I have never, nor do I know anyone, who has purchased any pistol or rifle from a dealer without a background check in the state of Tennessee. Any firearms dealer who did not comply with the requirements of a background check would be out of business or at least in serious trouble with the ATF. The second amendment was not created for hunting but to protect our citizens from a tyrannical government. Restrictions on weapons are plenty already as only licensed individuals can own a fully automatic machine gun and other weapons of war as they are called. What is wrong with our country are the lunatics that use a gun for violence not the gun. Using that logic we should blame the automobile for drunk driving. Memphis is one of the most dangerous cities in America and due to the leadership in that city and county surrounding Memphis there is the problem with Memphis. Much of the problem is in reality the breakdown of society and the family. When I was growing up we had guns in our trucks at school and no one ever got shot. How long ago has it been now since schools banned Bible classes? With all the lack of morals and respect in todays society, no wonder why there is gun violence. Criminals do not fear the law and these deranged youth mass shooters know they will have their short lived day of fame. Arch Ron Tinker * * * I wish we would stop referring to violence where guns are involved as gun violence. Guns cannot commit any crime/violence. It takes a person using the gun to commit the crime/violence. Remember that the first recorded murder was committed with a rock. I have a plethora of respect for Russell Bean and the fine job he did as a judge for the City Court of Chattanooga. He was very fair because he knew the law and followed it. That said, he should also know that we cannot legislate morality, nor enforce all immorality. The deterioration of the family, as well as man's propensity for "self-satisfaction" is the root cause of the problem. My goodness, just yesterday, in this publication, the city Policy Department told us that most of the violent crimes are being committed by the bloods and the crips, and where they are located. They don't walk into a gun store, as I would, and purchase a gun. In fact, most of the guns they use are stolen. Wisdom needs to be the order of the day, not more legislation. The preamble of our Constitution is not "law", rather an enacting document, written by the framers of our Constitution, to explain why we are enacting a Constitution. The preamble alone has no teeth, rather it explains that "We the People" have the teeth and the Constitution provides a way for the states to be united under one form, along with its three branches, as the Constitution is concerned. The framers knew that it would take only 9 states to ratify the Constitution, so the preamble was included as a setup. It may be of interest to know that the preamble was not written first, but the framers knew that the states would need a "Cliffs Notes" version to lay out its purpose. We have a good state legislature, and they work hard to provide for this state. That said, they will never be able to solve the problem of immorality. That starts with each of us and our homes. J. Pat Williams The Rhea County Commission at its September meeting tabled any action on the proposed Our Fathers House Drug Rehabilitation Center. Fourth District Commissioner Leo Stephens had requested at the agenda meeting last week to resend the lease agreement between the county and Our Fathers House for a location of county property on Landfill Road, At the past three meetings, a large contingent of both pro and con parties have attended the meeting with a large number at the August meeting voicing their concerns for the center being placed in a rural residential area. At this meeting there were only three of the residents and two members of Our Fathers House that showed up. No one signed up to speak in front of the commission. Commissioner Stephens made a motion to table the matter until the Commission could get more knowledge and information" on the matter. Commission Chairman Jim Reed spoke to the commission advising that he was setting up a committee of Commissioners Phillip Dunn, Mark Cashman, Billy Thedford and Commissioner Stephens as chairman of the group to vet those applying for the Opioid Abatement funds from the county. Chairman Reed said this committee will be separate from the committee that County Executive Jim Vincent is setting up as required by the Opioid Abatement Settlement. The commission made its annual selection for chairman and vice chairman as well as set budget and finance committees. Nomination was made by Commissioner Billy Thedford for Jim Reed to serve as chairman for the next year. There were no other nominations. All commissioners voted for Chairman Reed. Motion was then made by Commissioner Stephens and seconded by Commissioner Nick Welch to make District Three Commissioner Phillip Dunn vice-chCairman. There were no other nominations. Commissioner Dunn was elected with all commissioners voting for him. This makes Chairman Reeds eighth year term as chairman of the commission. He currently, besides commissioner Sandy Francisco is one of the longest serving members of the commission. Commissioners then voted for selection to the budget and finance committees. Commissioner Mark Cashman made a motion to keep the budget and finance committees as they currently are. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Thedford. Chairman Reed explained since they were putting two items on the agenda as one motion it would require five votes or more on the motion. It passed with all nine commissioners voting for the measure. In a rare move, Commissioner Sandy Francisco was ill and participated in the commission meeting by phone. This measure was enacted by the commissioners to allow them during illness or other conditions to still be present in the meeting. Commissioners voted to approve a change in some of the language in the PILOT agreement that Rhea County and the city of Dayton have with the Nokian Tyres Corporation. County Executive Jim Vincent said they requested a change in some of the verbiage of the contract and not with the terms. He said that County Attorney Carol Barron, along with City Attorney Susan Arnold, have signed off on the changes and its been okayed by both the Dayton and Rhea County Industrial Development Boards. Ms. Barron said the changes were not significant. County Finance Director Ralph Beck advised the commission that he, along with County Executive Vincent and Karmen Sutton, have met with Konica Minolta about doing some options with the IT system of Rhea County. Mr. Beck said that there is a need for a seamless solution with not only the offices in the courthouse annex but the commission room as well. Mr. Beck said nothing has been agreed on as of yet and they are still exploring options at this time. Once something is concrete, he will report back to the commission. The Highway 60 Convenience Center took one step further to completion with the approval of a $73,260 grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for the purchase of two trash compactors and two receivers for the center. Rhea County will have to provide a matching amount of $18,314 toward the purchase. Commissioner Nick Welch, whos 8th District the Center will be in said that the project is almost complete and will be ready to go when the compactors and receivers are installed. All threats must be treated as credible. To ensure school safety, we must foster strong student-educator relationships and implement security measures such as bulletproof materials, security badges with panic buttons, metal detectors, and clear backpack mandates. These actions aim to prevent violence and ensure the safety of students and staff. These measures must be constantly reviewed to ensure the highest level of protection, making schools generally safe. Technology has revolutionized the American education system, making it more accessible than ever. However, the emergence of various social media platforms has also introduced new vulnerabilities and security challenges within schools. In the U.S., threats stemming from social media are increasingly impacting schools and school districts. It's crucial to understand that while schools are generally safe, the misuse of technology can pose serious threats. The juvenile court must also place a threatening student in a secure facility for up to 72 hours, with the state covering the cost. The state could bill parents to recapture costs. In Tennessee, we are facing an unprecedented wave of threats. Even jokes can lead to felony charges, as false threats waste significant resources and create frustration among law enforcement and school officials. This is a serious issue that demands our immediate attention and action. We cannot afford to wait or be complacent. We must act now to ensure the safety of our schools and communities. With the increased volume of school threats across Tennessee, the Tennessee Sheriffs Association sent a statewide letter to parents, parents, students, and citizens that we will not tolerate anyone making threats and inciting fear within our schools and community. Those responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Making a fake threat of violence is not a joke. It is a severe criminal offense that can lead to imprisonment. Whether communicated verbally, through text, written messages, or social media posts, students who issue threats face severe consequences. Even if intended as a joke, such false threats can be prosecuted under state and federal laws. This is a fact that everyone should be aware of and take seriously, as the consequences are severe and can have a lasting impact on the lives of those involved. The surge in fake threats has become a critical issue, prompting schools to partner closely with law enforcement to inform students and parents about the profound implications of these hoaxes and to work toward prevention. This partnership ensures that every threat is taken seriously, as authorities cannot differentiate between real and false threats. It's a collective effort, and your vigilance is crucial in maintaining a strong safety net for the community. Each incident requires significant investigative resources, disrupts the school day, and incurs costs to taxpayers. Moreover, fake threats can negatively affect attendance and have long-term repercussions on a student's future. All threats must be considered credible until law enforcement can confirm otherwise, ensuring the safety of the community, students, and staff. Many such threats ultimately prove to be baseless, often originating from jokes or pranks by students. Regardless of their validity, a single threat can incite misinformation and lead to similar threats in the area, resulting in event cancellations and additional strain on community resources. This cycle, coupled with an actual rise in school violence, adversely impacts students' mental health, frequently contributing to issues such as depression and anxiety. False threats strain resources, with most rumors of violence unfounded and part of a more significant trend of misinformation spread on social media. Experts note that threats can originate from students or outsiders and often lead to lockdowns, diverting police from real emergencies. Schools are adopting threat assessment teams and monitoring social media to identify genuine threats. Everyday distractions such as medical emergencies, student altercations, unauthorized visitors, suspicious activity, and especially threats can disrupt learning and challenge the dedication of educators and school staff. We need to be proactive on this subject to keep all students and adults safe in our schools. JC Bowman Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee Armored vehicles run on eight-shaped road China Military Online) 11:16, September 18, 2024 Armored vehicles attached to a brigade under the Chinese PLA 71st Group Army run on an eight-shaped road during a driving training exercise on August 19, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Hu Qingfeng) Armored vehicles attached to a brigade under the Chinese PLA 71st Group Army run on an eight-shaped road during a driving training exercise on August 19, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Hu Qingfeng) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) A recently screened documentary on state-run Chinese television gives an idea about the possible military strategy for an amphibious assault on Taiwan. The broadcast reveals how the People's Liberation Army (PLA) would carry out a coordinated attack by means of ground forces, naval units, and advanced rocket brigades. Helicopter Air Assault and Drone Reconnaissance The documentary is a part of the Quenching series, demonstrating how PLA forces would conduct an amphibious landing on Taiwan. The South China Morning Post reports that the major part of the film consisted of the large-scale helicopter air assault. Aviation troops of the land forces would engage drones on reconnaissance and attack any enemy positions discovered when searching and assaulting enemy positions, thus clearing the troops to land. Drones were essential tools in the exercise, being used as high-altitude surveillance elements that supported helicopters in landing forces close to shore. The unmanned aerial vehicles would at times also attack enemy air defense systems, including man-portable air defense missiles (MANPADS), such as the FIM-92 Stinger missile provided by the United States and obtained by Taiwan. "As man-portable air defence weapons are widely used in battlefields, helicopters face significant threats [from being hit]. We must find new ways to win in real battles," a PLA officer said in the video. Read Also: China's Invasion Could Result to Sudden Shutoff of Chip Machines in Taiwan, Tech Minister Says Amphibious Landing and Defensive Maneuvers The documentary explained how the PLA approached the completion of its amphibious landing while countering the enemy's defense. PLA helicopters were attacked with simulation attacks by Taiwanese defenses while frogmen swam ashore to secure the beachhead. The PLA countered these defenses with the use of infrared decoys and avoidance maneuvers to nullify the incoming threats. Besides, the video simulated how PLA forces launched missile strikes against enemy air defense to show the extent of tactical interaction, which would occur during an attack. Maritime Operations: China's Advanced Destroyers In the naval segment, it was China's turn with its Type 055 destroyer, the 12,000-ton Yanan. Equipped with air defense, anti-missile, anti-submarine, and electronic warfare capabilities, the destroyer had been put to use as a sentinel during an electronic warfare exercise. The documentary emphasizes Yanan detecting electromagnetic interference and calls to J-15 jet fighters to investigate and repel enemy electronic warfare aircraft. It is the role of Yanan, which reflects Chinese interest in having naval supremacy, especially when regarding waters around Taiwan as strategically significant. Rocket Brigade and Long-Range Strikes The most important disclosure by the broadcast regarding China's PCL-191 long-range MLRS was done here. It can fire rockets that are 370mm in range up to a distance of 350 kilometers and ballistic missiles up to 500 kilometers, which might strike Taiwan's western coastline positions on the mainland. The "Long Fire" brigade of the PLA showed how quickly it could be turned out to screen bomber and warship approaches during an invasion, conducting an evening exercise in which truck-mounted rockets were fired in rapid succession, all moving to short reaction times. Related Article: AI Can Help US in Developing War Plans Says Experts Amidst China-Taiwan Tension Home News Baptist congressman: Texas' plan for Bible-based school curriculum 'unconstitutional' Dem. Rep. Talarico claims teaching Christianity's impact on history is tantamount to 'Christian nationalism' A Texas congressman and seminary student says he opposes a plan to infuse state teaching curriculum with Bible concepts because it violates the U.S. Constitution. Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, says he equates a proposal to incorporate Bible references into the public school curriculum with Christian nationalism, which, in the congressmans view, equates to elevating our religion over others dominating our neighbors instead of loving them as ourselves. Talarico gave his comments on the heels of a State Board of Education (SBOE) series of public hearings last week in Austin on the proposed curriculum which provides instructional guidelines for K-5 teachers that include historical references to the Bible. 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 Inspired by House Bill 1605, which established a revised process by which SBOE approves high-quality instructional materials, the draft curriculum has spurred controversy over the inclusion of references to the Christian Bible, the Gospel narrative of Jesus being born in a manger, and defining the word Messiah as a savior sent by God. When asked whether he opposes the sharing of the Christian faith in the public square, Talarico told CP via email: Christian activism is not Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism is elevating our religion over others dominating our neighbors instead of loving them as ourselves. There is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism. It is the worship of power social power, economic power, political power in the name of Christ. And it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth. And its incumbent upon all Christians to confront this heresy and denounce it. During a House Public Education Committee meeting in August that began with testimony from Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath, Talarico raised concerns about what he described as the separation between church and state and what he views as a bias toward Christianity in school curriculum materials. One of those concerns, says Talarico, is what he sees as a distinction between preaching and teaching. I think kids should learn about the major world religions in school, including Christianity, he told CP. They need it to understand the world, understand literature, understand their own culture and other cultures. But when the state usurps the role of the church preaching Christianity instead of teaching it the government violates the constitutional separation of church and state found in our First Amendment. Talarico added that he believes the authors of HB 1605 themselves were concerned enough to insert a provision into law which, he says, provides immunity to teachers for violating the Establishment Clause in our First Amendment while teaching this curriculum. The curriculum, which features Bible references, including a lesson titled Christianity and the Roman Empire, with a stated reading objective for students to explain how Jesus of Nazareths life impacted the Roman Empire, is part of a batch of documents released earlier this year ahead of November, when the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will adopt new Texas Open Resource Materials for the 2025-26 school year. When CP asked whether the curriculum marks any significant deviation from previous school years, a spokesman for Morath said Texas Open Education Resources (OER) differ from other commercially available offerings in that they are a knowledge coherence product, with an emphasis on building background knowledge and conceptual depth over time. For example, kindergarten students learn about the five senses and understand the purpose and makeup of the eyes in an age-appropriate way, the spokesman added. In first grade, they learn that the eyes are organs in the body and begin to use more technical vocabulary related to body systems. The same methodology is incorporated throughout the product, including mentions of history and social sciences. But for Talarico and other opponents of the proposed curriculum, it all comes down to how the state defines religious terms, which he believes could lead to the exclusion of other faith traditions. For example, said Talarico, the definition of messiah as a savior predicted by ancient Hebrews and believed by Christians to be Jesus was included in the original curriculum and is what he defines as teaching. I support its inclusion in our public school curriculum, he said. But the new curriculum simply defined messiah as a savior sent by God. Thats preaching. For the 35-year-old former teacher, who previously called the inclusion of the Ten Commandments in classrooms as deeply un-Christian, defining the word messiah as a Heaven-sent Savior is likewise dangerous and un-Christian. Christians understand that it's dangerous for the government to define our religious teachings for us and that it is un-Christian to exclude our neighbors with different religious beliefs, he explained. TEA has until Oct. 14 to complete any revisions to its new Bible-infused Bluebonnet Learning program before the board votes in November on a final list of approved materials. Home News Megachurch leader weeps after worship pastor caught recording inside gender-neutral bathroom Tony Johnson, lead pastor of the multi-campus 2|42 Community Church in Michigan, said he and his staff wept for days after learning that their former worship pastor had violated their trust by setting up a hidden camera inside a unisex bathroom at one of their seven campuses. This has been a violation of our trust. It's a violation of the call that God has upon us to help people take next steps with God. This is an assault upon the entire church. It's a betrayal of the trust that I put in him. And it's a betrayal of the trust that you put in us, Johnson said in a message to his congregation Sunday. Over the past 20 or 48 hours. Myself (sic), along with our staff have shed more tears than we thought possible. We have prayed harder and more fervently than we ever have because you deserve better. Will Johnson, 37, the former worship pastor director of the Brighton campus of 2|42 Community Church, was arrested Friday after reportedly placing the camera inside the gender-neutral bathroom in the church's backstage area. 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 Johnson was arraigned on Sunday in the 53rd District Court on charges of surveilling an unclothed person, destruction of evidence, and use of a computer to commit a crime. He is being held on a $250,000 cash bond pending his next court hearing on Sept. 24. The investigation remains ongoing but Craig Ryan, chairman of 2|42 Community Churchs leadership advisory team, also known as their elder board, told members that after the hidden video camera was found in the unisex bathroom, Johnson confessed that the camera belonged to him, and he was fired immediately. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we must share with you some very disturbing news. On Friday, September 13th, Church leadership was informed that a staff member here at 2|42 Community Church discovered a hidden video camera located inside a unisex bathroom in the backstage area of our Brighton campus, Ryan revealed. Will Johnson, our former worship pastor director, confessed to church leadership that he placed the camera in that location, and he was immediately terminated. Church leadership quickly notified the Livingston County Sheriff's Office who arrested Johnson Friday evening. At this time, we're not aware of the full scope of this crime, but we are fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation. Ryan said the church searched their facilities for other hidden recording devices after Johnsons confession and plans to use a professional service to continue doing sweeps, but there is no indication that Johnson was recording anywhere else except the unisex bathroom. Just like you, we're shocked, and we're deeply saddened by this situation as the protection, safety and privacy of every person who enters our church is our priority. Our commitment to you is to be fully transparent and care for all the victims of this crime, Ryan said. It was unclear Wednesday if the church only has one gender-neutral bathroom, and why they have one since, according to the Kaempf Law Firm PC, churches have a First Amendment right not to have a gender-neutral bathroom. Officials at the church did not immediately respond to The Christian Post when asked for comment on their bathroom policy Wednesday. Pastor Tony Johnson apologized profusely to his congregation Sunday for the evil that visited the church and described it as an attack from the enemy. I am heartbroken. I am saddened. And I am infuriated. I love this church. It is my job and the job of our staff to protect not just the church but every individual that walks through these doors, he said. Your families deserve better. Your community deserves better. I have seen firsthand how the Holy Spirit has been on the move at 2|42. How lives have changed and transformed how things have happened that we have stood back and looked and said that this had nothing to do with staff. It was because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, he said. Because God is on the move at 2|42 and when God is on the move, the enemy attacks. We knew this. We were prepared for this. We just did not know the attack would be like this. Home News Texas AG sues county for mailing out thousands of voter registration forms to unverified recipients Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is waging a legal battle over a county program that he says unlawfully mailed thousands of voter registration applications to unverified residents. Earlier this month, officials in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio and surrounding areas, voted to send registration forms to county residents despite a threat from Paxton to shut down the effort. On Sept. 3, members of the Bexar County Commissioners Court voted 3-1 to approve the $393,000 outreach contract with Civic Government Solutions, an outside firm, according to The Texas Tribune. 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 commission held the vote just one day after Paxton warned the Bexar County Commissioners Court about the proposed plan to employ "a third-party vendor to mail voter registration forms to individuals regardless of the eligibility of the recipients," which Paxton said "would violate the law." "It is unlawful and reckless for counties to use taxpayer dollars to indiscriminately send voter registration forms with no consideration of the recipients' eligibility and without any statutory authority to do so," Paxton warned. "These counties' attempts to do so after the Biden-Harris Administration has allowed millions of illegal aliens to enter the country are especially troubling." After county officials approved the plan the following day, Paxton filed suit against Bexar County. When the Attorney General's office tried to schedule a hearing for a temporary restraining order, Bexar County said it needed additional time to prepare for the lawsuit, according to Paxton. Judge Toni Arteaga denied Paxton's request for a temporary restraining order on Monday because the forms were already sent out to residents. In response, Paxton's office appealed the ruling Monday and "will continue seeking appropriate remedies." "In a display of bad faith, Bexar County engaged in dirty tricks to avoid appropriate judicial review of a clearly unlawful program that invites voter fraud," Paxton said in a statement. "These actions demonstrate that Bexar County knew what they were doing was wrong, yet expedited the mailout of unsolicited registration forms before the issue could be argued in court. "I will fight every step of the way to hold them accountable." In 2020, over 58% of voters in Bexar County cast their ballot for President Joe Biden, a Democrat, compared with just over 40% for former President Donald Trump, a Republican who ultimately went on to win the state of Texas by a 52-46% margin. Last month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced election officials have removed over 1 million people from the state's voter rolls since 2021, including 457,000 "deceased people" and 6,500 "potential noncitizens." "Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated," Abbott said in a statement. "We will continue to actively safeguard Texans' sacred right to vote while also aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting." Home Opinion Christian friend, Israels ultimate enemy is your ultimate enemy too Speaking to a Joint Session of Congress on July 25, Prime Minister Netanyahu underscored that when Israel is waging war against Hamas, Iran, and other radical Islamic powers, they are fighting Americas enemies too. Thats why the slogan of Yemens Houthis rebels states, God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam. America and Israel are deeply intertwined. As Prime Minister Netanyahu said in his speech, Thats why the mobs in Tehran chant Death to Israel before they chant Death to America. For Iran Israel is first, America is next. So, when Israel fights Hamas, were fighting Iran. When we fight Hezbollah, were fighting Iran. When we fight the Houthis, were fighting Iran. And when we fight Iran, were fighting the most radical and murderous enemy of the United States of America. And one more thing. When Israel acts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons that could destroy Israel and threaten every American city, every city that you come from, were not only protecting ourselves. Were protecting you. 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 Indeed, he emphasized, My friends, if you remember one thing, one thing from this speech, remember this: Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory. I agree with his words and sentiments, but they only provide the natural parallel to the spiritual point I want to make here. And so, if you remember one thing and one thing only from this article, remember this: Israels greatest enemy, the devil himself, is out to destroy you too. That means that the same, special, focused hatred he has toward Israel, Gods firstborn son according to the Old Testament (Exodus 4:22), is the same hatred he has toward you as a follower of Jesus (and, therefore, now a spiritual son or daughter of God). Satan is out to destroy Gods family, and that includes both His spiritual and natural children. You might say, Who doesnt know that Satan is a murderer and liar? What else should we expect from him? Allow me, then, to explain myself more clearly. Israel is Gods unique witness nation on the Earth, for better or for worse (see, for example, Isaiah 43:10, 12; 44:8). On the one hand, Israel is called to testify to the Lords faithfulness, just like a witness in court. But in another sense, the very existence of Israel bears testimony to the faithfulness of God, the holiness of God, the justice of God, and the mercy of God. Israel (by which I mean here the Jewish people as a whole and the State of Israel itself) only exists because the Lord is faithful and good. If it were up to our own faithfulness and goodness (I write as a Jewish person myself), we would have perished long ago. On the other hand, the fact that the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and that we have spent so many centuries in exile is a testimony to the holiness and justice of God. He did not tolerate our sin but judged us in a public, concrete way that the whole world can see, just as He laid out in the Scriptures. Whether we like it or not, as a people, the Jewish people and nation bear witness to the character of God and to the truth of His Word. Not only so, but Israel also provides a window into the hearts of humanity itself whereby people take out their hatred towards God on the Jewish people. Put another way, the world hates the fact that the Lord brought us back to the Land and restored our national sovereignty, with nation and nation slandering and attacking Jews worldwide and some even actively trying to wipe out our country. Is this all because of the Jews themselves, without any supernatural cause? Perish the thought. It is because we have been chosen by God for a mission, and Satan wants to derail it. Now, look for a moment at the murderous, barbaric, demented evil of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Look at the bullet ridden bodies of the children and babies slaughtered in their own beds and cribs. (Ive seen the actual footage, and it is sickening.) Look at the victims charred beyond recognition. Look at the female corpses shot in the groin. Look at the twisted remains of an Israeli ambulance, obliterated by a Hamas RPG, allowing grieving parents only to recognize their children by the few remaining teeth or a DNA match with their childs spleen. That is a picture of the devil at work. And it is a reminder of his intense, murderous hatred for every one of us who acknowledges Jesus-Yeshua as Lord. So, as you see antisemitism rising worldwide and the assault on Israel intensifying, remember: this is a graphic, earthly picture of the spiritual forces arrayed against us. Then, be vigilant. Be alert. And recognize that Israel and the Church, in a unique and sovereign way, are joined at the hip. Let us stand together against our common enemy, the devil. Home News Expatriate UK cleric Calvin Robinson issues dire warning to Americans: 'Don't just sit back' British Catholic cleric Calvin Robinson, who recently settled in the United States after taking a parish in Michigan, warned Americans to avoid the same mistakes that he claims are leading to the destruction of his mother country. "Please don't do what we did," he pleaded to Americans during an interview with The Christian Post. "Please don't just sit back and let the liberals deteriorate the rest of everything that you know and love." 'Lost its common sense' 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 Robinson described his recent choice to resettle in western Michigan as more of a calling than a decision, though he said he's glad to be gone from the U.K. as it spiritually collapses. "I got called to a parish out here, full-time parish ministry," he told CP. "I'm just very pleased that it's happened at a time when the U.K. seems to have imploded and entirely lost its common sense." During a previous interview with CP last month, Robinson warned that the U.K. is "on the cusp of civil war" amid simmering tensions in the country. Riots between largely white, anti-immigration protesters and Muslim militia roiled England and Northern Ireland after Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a second-generation Rwandan immigrant, fatally stabbed three young British girls aged 6, 7, and 9, and attempted to kill 10 others in Southport, England. In his most recent interview with CP, Robinson noted how many criminals have been released from prisons in England and Wales this month to ease overcrowding, even as the government threatens to lock up citizens for social media posts. He is intensely critical of the authorities, claiming they have allowed foreign-born "grooming gangs" to prey on young British girls with impunity for years. "One example that both Labour and the Conservatives have been complicit in is the Pakistani Muslim rape gangs, or 'grooming gangs,' as they call them: large demographics of Pakistani Muslim men who are grooming, raping and sometimes even murdering young British girls because they see them as lesser than human," he said. "And this has been going on for decades now. The reports are out, the evidence is all out. However, they get away with it, because the liberals in the establishment don't want to rock the boat of a potential race riot which would never happen anyway because they put diversity as an idol above everything else," he continued. "Diversity and multiculturalism must succeed, even at the cost of young British white girls," he added. A crumbling house Robinson went on to note that the spiritual forces destroying the U.K. are active in the other countries of the Western world as they reject their Christian roots. "What we now call the 'West,' we used to call Christendom, because it was built on Christian foundations," he said, adding that secularist intellectuals have been trying to pry Christ from the center of Western civilization since the Enlightenment. "Essentially, they tried to remove Christ from Christendom," he said. "And, of course, when you take out the foundation, the house will eventually crumble. And this is what we're seeing in the West at the moment." Robinson warned that Western countries have been "coasting on the tails of Christendom for a while," but that those fumes are running out. "We're starting to see the bad fruits of that," he said. "And so, without our Christian moral compass, without our Christian values, without our Christian ethics, without any of that, we are grasping at straws. And this is why we're seeing some woke ideologies temporarily take the place of what used to be Christian." 'A great shame' Robinson said Christian faith in the U.K. began its downward trajectory at the beginning of the 20th century around the time of World War I and never recovered. The Church of England contributes to the decline each time it capitulates on key doctrinal issues, he noted. Robinson, who joined the Old Catholic Church after claiming his ordination in the Church of England was blocked because of his conservative theological views, has been openly critical of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. He rebuked him last month as an "apostate" as well as "anti-British, anti-working class and pro-Mohammedan" after Welby penned an op-ed in The Guardian torching those protesting unrestrained immigration as "unchristian." "The Church of England has become very liberal in terms of divorce, sex outside marriage, same-sex relationships, transgenderism," Robinson told CP. "And every time the Church tries to be more inclusive, it actually becomes more exclusive to Christianity and to Christian values, and more inclusive to worldly values and just further plummets that downward trajectory." "It's a great shame," he added. Robinson noted that while American Christians seem to him much less ashamed of speaking openly about their faith, he fears the U.S. is typically about 10 years behind the destructive spiritual and political trends that manifest in Europe. He noted that traditional "British values" have given way in his country to a nebulous multiculturalism that insists there is no such thing as British values, and that "we just need to keep importing other people's." He is warning Americans to do what they can to prevent the same mistakes. "These kinds of trends are happening in the States, too, I think," he said. "Be careful. American culture is a fantastic culture. Hold on to it, promote it, encourage it. If you want to become multicultural and let other cultures in, that's something you have to consider. But do not give it up to the detriment of your own." 'I don't despair at all' Despite his sobering assessment of the U.K. and the world, Robinson remains hopeful. "I don't despair at all," he said. "Despair is a sin. There's no sense in despairing. As I say, empires rise and fall. So as this empire the British Empire, or Western civilization as it falls, it's our duty to think big picture and remember that God has a plan, and He only permits things for a reason." "And so, it may very well be that it is time for this season to come to an end, but there will be another season," he continued. "And so we have to be a part of that. We have to be part of the rebuilding. Our hope is in the eternal, so of course our sight is set on the everlasting Kingdom to come." "But in the here and now, we still have to work on advancing that Kingdom as best we can do," he added. Home News Hillary Clinton calls for Americans to be criminally charged for spreading 'propaganda' Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested earlier this week that Americans who promulgate allegedly Russian-backed "propaganda" should be civilly and even criminally charged. Speaking to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Monday, just a day after a second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, Clinton described her former political opponent as a "very dangerous man" and urged Americans to be outraged by him. "We can't go back and give this very dangerous man another chance to do harm to our country and the world," she said. 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 Now, Hillary wants to JAIL anyone who disagrees with her. She's jumped the shark. Shame on MSNBC for hosting such despicable nonsense. pic.twitter.com/RZIHfCQUoq Trish Regan (@trish_regan) September 17, 2024 Clinton made an apparent reference to a recent U.S. Justice Department allegation that Russian state media producers funneled nearly $10 million to a company later revealed to be Tenet Media, which reportedly offered large sums to pro-Trump commentators such as Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, Benny Johnson and others, according to CNN. Claiming some Americans both wittingly and unwittingly share such "propaganda," Clinton floated the idea that those who do so should in some cases be criminally punished, which could presumably include potential jail time. "But I also think there are Americans who are engaged in this kind of propaganda," she said. "And whether they should be civilly or even in some cases criminally charged is something that would be a better deterrence because the Russians are unlikely, except in a very few cases, to ever stand trial in the United States." Clinton has been on a media blitz and conducting a national tour to promote her new book Something Lost, Something Gained, published on Sept. 17. Clinton's sentiment echoes some of the rhetoric from other leading Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris and her 2024 vice presidential running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Walz, whose government threatened 90-day jail sentences for lockdown violators and set up a hotline that allowed Minnesota residents to report their neighbors for alleged violations, maintained during a December 2022 interview on "The Reid Out" that there is no guarantee to free speech if it impinges upon elections. Earlier in the interview, Walz pinpointed "misinformation" about COVID-19 and the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as particularly concerning. "There's no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy," he said. "Tell the truth, where the voting places are, who can vote, who's able to be there. Watching some states continue to weaken the protections around the ballot, I think, is what is inspiring us to lean into this." During a 2019 interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper following a Democratic primary debate, Harris suggested the right to free speech on social media platforms such as X is a privilege and that Trump had lost his privilege and should be suspended for his alleged "witness intimidation" and "attempt to obstruct justice." "He has lost his privileges, and it should be taken down," she said of Trump's Twitter account at the time. "The bottom line is that you can't say that you have one rule for Facebook, and you have a different rule for Twitter." "The same rule has to apply, which is that there has to be a responsibility that is placed on these social media sites to understand their power. They are directly speaking to millions and millions of people without any level of oversight or regulation, and that has to stop," she added. Trump's Twitter account was suspended in the wake of the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. However, it was subsequently reinstated after Elon Musk purchased the company and renamed it X. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed in a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee last month that the Biden administration pressured his company to effectively "censor" Facebook content related to COVID-19 and Hunter Biden's laptop. Home News Sen. Josh Hawley introduces bill banning kids younger than 16 from using social media Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has introduced a bill that seeks to protect children online by requiring social media companies to prohibit anyone age 16 and younger from using their platforms. Introduced by Hawley on Tuesday, the bill, Known as the Making Age-Verification Technology Uniform, Robust, and Effective (MATURE) Act, states: ... beginning on the date that is 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the operator of a social media platform shall not allow an individual to create an account on the platform unless the individual is age 16 or older, as verified by the platform using an age verification process. Social media platforms would be required users to provide their full legal name, date of birth and government-issued identification before being able to create an account and use the app. However, the bill exempts any social media accounts created before the bill gets enacted. 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 bill adds that social media platforms would also be banned from selling, transferring or using "any information collected from an individual for the purpose of verifying the individuals identity and age for any other purpose." Hawley also introduced a second bill, the Federal Social Media Research Act, that would commission a study that tracks the harmful effects of social media on children for a span of 10 years. Children suffer every day from the effects of social media. At best, Big Tech companies are neglecting our childrens health and monetizing their personal information. At worst, they are complicit in their exploitation and manipulation. Its time to give parents the weapons they need to strike back, said Hawley in a statement shared with The Christian Post. That starts with an age restriction for social media. And its long past time for well-funded research on the scale of the problem. We must set the precedent that these companies can no longer take advantage of our children. When it was first launched in 2004, Facebook initially required users to be college students. Later, it expanded membership to include high school students and presently allows youth as young as 13 to have accounts. Twitter and TikTok both allow accounts to be opened by 13-year-olds. Recently, efforts have been launched to hold social media websites and apps accountable for the potential harm they inflict on minors, be it through cyberbullying or sexual predation. On Monday, Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Maxie Hirono of Hawaii introduced the Clean Slate for Kids Online Act. If enacted, their bill would give Americans the right to demand that internet companies delete all personal information collected from them when they were aged 13 and younger. Internet companies too often seek to profit from collecting reams of personal data on Americans, including children, stated Durbin. Its time to put in place some tougher rules of the road especially when it comes to our kids, who do not fully understand the consequences of their online use. Home News MorningStar Ministries defends itself after ex-volunteer accused of sexual abuse Officials at Rick Joyners MorningStar Ministries in South Carolina suggested they shouldn't be blamed for the sexual abuse former volunteer and ex-police officer Erickson Douglas Lee allegedly committed against multiple young boys who participated in one of its youth programs, as two more alleged victims filed lawsuits against the ministry. We are aware that several young men have filed lawsuits against the ministry. While we dont know at this point what more we could have done to have vetted Officer Lee in advance to ensure that he would not have taken advantage of these young men, we hold no malice or anger towards the young men or their parents who have chosen to file suit, reads a statement the ministry provided to The Christian Post. Some of these families remained active in our church even for months after Officer Lee's arrest, and they are always welcome at MorningStar. 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 Lee was sentenced to nine years in prison on Sept. 6 after he pleaded guilty under an Alford plea to second and third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child, first-degree assault and battery, dissemination of obscene material to a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, The Herald reported. In a 40-page lawsuit filed in August, one of Lees victims, John Doe No. 1, and his parents accused Joyner, along with several top officials of the organization and multiple other staff members, of gross negligence for allegedly engaging in the cover-up of multiple incidences of sexual abuse in the ministry. The lawsuit named Joyner, MorningStar Fellowship Church, Joyner's second in command, David Yarns; the former volunteer; the volunteer's father and MorningStar Fellowship Church's head of security, Douglas Lee; Erickson Douglas Lee's assistant, Chase Portello; along with unidentified defendants James Smith 1-10 (any other agents and/or employees of the ministry associated with the complaint). John Doe No. 2 made similar allegations in a lawsuit filed on Sept. 3, while John Doe No. 3 filed a similar lawsuit against the defendants on Sept. 5 regarding the abuse that took place from August 2021 through January 2023. Randy Hood and Chad McGowan of the law firm McGowan, Hood, Felder, and Phillips represent the plaintiffs. They said in a statement to CP that they identified the victims as John Does to protect their identities. At least one of the victims was just 13 years old when Lee allegedly started to abuse him. John Doe No. 1s lawsuit alleges that before Lee sexually assaulted him and the other minor boys, MorningStar Fellowship Church swept other sexual abuse and exploitation cases under the rug and never reported them to law enforcement. Lawyers for the victims further alleged in the filing that several defendants witnessed Lees misconduct firsthand and did nothing to stop it. Chase Portello, who assisted Lee in the youth program, allegedly helped Lee threaten and intimidate his victims. The simple fact is that the leaders of MorningStar Fellowship Church not only failed to protect these young victims, they enabled and protected their abuser even after witnessing much of the abuse firsthand, said Hood in his statement to CP. They had the chance to do the right thing on multiple occasions but, instead, tried to sweep it under the rug with at least one of them trying to help Lee try and intimidate his young victims. MorningStar Ministries officials claim they had no reason to suspect Lee, 25, was a child sex predator. One of the reasons that this matter is so shocking to us is that the former volunteer, who has been convicted, is a former police officer. Because of his status as a police officer, we had no reason to believe that Officer Lee would lead any young men into illegal activity, either through illegal sexual activities or illegally furnishing alcohol to minors, the ministry told CP. We believed his status as a police officer meant that he would be a protector of these young men rather than one who would impose illegal acts upon them. As we have often asked ourselves in the aftermath, if we cant trust a police officer as a youth worker, who can we trust? MorningStar Ministries officials further noted that Lee went through several background checks before working with the ministry including the military and those checks still werent enough. Based on our internal review of the matter, we believe that at least three separate background checks were run on the volunteer, including one by the United States Military, a second by the Cornelius Police Department, and one run internally by our ministry, using a private background-check company. We believe Officer Lee held a national security clearance by the United States Marine Corps, meaning he was most likely subject to an elevated background check, the ministry said. We relied on these checks, which raised no reasons for us to be concerned about Officer Lee. We felt confident at the time in his perceived stability and reliability partly because of his status as a police officer. MorningStar Ministries also alleged that Lee lived at the home of one of the victims where the abuse occurred, and they had no knowledge of his living arrangement at the time. We have since learned that the address reflected in the warrants as the site of any criminal activity was where the accused, Officer Lee, apparently lived on the same property as one of the victim's families, MorningStar Ministries said. It is our understanding that Officer Lee moved into a garage apartment, which was attached to the home occupied by one of the victim's families, had apparently been invited to live there without the church knowing about it, and lived with one of the victim's families, apparently at the family's invitation, for some time. Home News Murder of man accused of blasphemy send shockwaves among Christians in Pakistan Police officer shoots man dead while in custody LAHORE, Pakistan Church leaders and rights activists in Pakistan condemned the killing on Thursday of a Muslim in custody on charges of blasphemy. The alleged assassination of Abdul Ali by a constable identified in news reports as Saad (or Syed) Khan Sarhadi at the Cantonment police station in Quetta, capital of Balochistan Province, shocked citizens across the country, including Christians still reeling from the May 25 lynching of 75-year-old Nazeer Masih Gill on a false blasphemy accusation. Ali was arrested on Sept. 11 after he allegedly posted a video on social media deemed disrespectful to Islams prophet Muhammad. A raging mob led by members of Muslim extremist religio-political parties Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) stormed the Kharotabad police station shortly after the case was filed under Section 295-C of the blasphemy law, demanding that police hand him over. 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 protesters also lobbed a grenade into the police station, but no one was injured, according to media reports. Sensing Alis life was in danger, police had reportedly moved him to the heavily fortified Cantonment police station, where Sarhadi allegedly shot and killed him with his personal pistol, according to news reports. Police reportedly said they had arrested a policeman and charged him with murder but did not name him. Sarhadi was reportedly arrested on the spot, but TLP and JUI-F activists exalted the crime, calling him a Ghazi (victorious warrior). Media reports indicated local residents began visiting Sarhadis home, offering their support and presenting flowers to his parents. The alleged murder was reminiscent of the Jan. 4, 2011, assassination of former Punjab Province Gov. Salmaan Taseer by his police bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri, who opposed his criticism of blasphemy laws. Qadri was later convicted and executed. The TLP has made headlines for controversial and radical statements and for blasphemy-related violence in recent years, including attacks on multiple churches and homes of Christians in Jaranwala on Aug. 16, 2023, and the lynching of Masih Gill in Sialkot in May. Church of Pakistan President Bishop Azad Marshall said the manner in which Islamist groups and the general public supported the alleged assassination showed how deeply extremism has become rooted in Pakistani society. The societal approval of extrajudicial actions not only undermines the judicial process but also fuels a cycle of violence where accusations of blasphemy can lead to immediate and deadly consequences, bypassing due process, Marshall told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. Such incidents have become routine, but despite repeated appeals for action, the government has done nothing to stop such senseless violence, he said. Marshall said glorification of murderers would encourage more abuse of the blasphemy laws. This is very dangerous situation for all Pakistanis, especially Christians, as we are already a very vulnerable community, he said. U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) condemned the killing and urged the Pakistani government to take strict measures against all those responsible for such acts and to curb the misuse of the blasphemy laws. Regardless of the accusations against him [Ali], it was the duty of the police to protect him, and thus it is extremely worrying that he was shot and killed while in custody, CSW President Mervyn Thomas said in a Sept. 12 statement. Who will ensure the safety of such victims when the police itself is involved in such acts of violence? The continued criminalization of blasphemy is wholly incompatible with Pakistans national and international commitments to freedom of religion or belief, and a dangerous driver of religious extremism in the country. Samson Salamat, chairman of the Rwadari Tehreek (Movement for Equality), called for enacting and enforcing comprehensive laws that address all aspects of violent extremism. However, it should be ensured that the legislation upholds human rights and civil liberties to avoid alienating communities, he told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. Salamat said that an affiliate of the Rwadari Tehreek, the Center for Human Rights Education, has prepared a policy paper that contained recommendations and strategies to counter religiously-motivated violence. Turning violent trends into nonviolence requires a concerted effort across multiple sectors, including education, community engagement, legal reforms, media and governance, he said. By implementing recommendations in the policy paper, Pakistan can gradually transition toward a more peaceful and inclusive society where conflicts are resolved through dialogue and cooperation rather than violence and coercion, he added. In Muslim-majority Pakistan, mere accusations of blasphemy, which is punishable by death in the country, have led to street lynchings. Human rights groups say Pakistans harsh blasphemy laws are often misused to settle personal scores. At least seven persons accused of blasphemy have been killed by individuals or mobs over blasphemy allegations across Pakistan since January, according to the Lahore-based Center for Social Justice (CSJ). A total of 94 people accused of blasphemy were killed in mob attacks between 1994 and 2023. 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. Originally published at Christian Daily InternationalMorning Star News Home News Society of St. Andrew celebrates 1 billion pounds of food shared The Society of St. Andrew, a Virginia-based Christian charity, has recently passed the milestone of providing 1 billion pounds of food to the needy. The Society, founded in 1979 and began distributing food to those in need in 1983, announced that, earlier this month, they reached the 1 billion pound milestone. Meg Spears-Newsome, a spokesperson for the Society, told The Christian Post via email on Tuesday that her organization was so grateful for all our partnerships that have made this possible. 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 Every pound of food represents the generosity of farmers, volunteers, donors and every pound of food feeds families who would not otherwise have enough to eat, said Spears-Newsome. Thus far this year, the food distribution ministry has given 12.7 million pounds of food to the less fortunate, according to Spears-Newsome, with the products going to more than 1,300 food pantries and other organizations throughout the United States. Christians are called to love, not just in words, but in deeds and in truth, she said. We provide opportunities for others to serve, fostering renewal in peoples lives, congregations and the communities in which we serve. Every pound of food rescued and shared with people in need is an example of God's abundance. There is more than enough for all of us! God has provided enough. Let us all be faithful in sharing that abundance. Spears-Newsome noted that one of the Bible verses that inspires her organization is 1 John 3:18, My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. Sharing 1 billion pounds of food is only possible through the deep commitment of local farmers, volunteers who glean and distribute produce, generous donors to fund the mission, and community partners who strengthen this grassroots network daily, said The Society's Executive Director Lynette Johnson in a statement emailed to CP. According to its website, The Society seeks to bring people together to harvest and share healthy food, reduce food waste, and build caring communities by offering nourishment to hungry neighbors. The organization draws inspiration from Old Testament law, which called on farmers harvesting their land not to harvest the corners of their property or to go over a field more than once so that whatever was left could go to the poor. Home News TikTok removes Pornhub within hours of being contacted by sexual exploitation watchdog TikTok has become the latest company to disassociate with Pornhub following a series of allegations that the website has posted and profited off of pornographic content involving children and other content posted without the consent of the victims featured. The social media website owned by the China-based company ByteDance booted Pornhub not long after receiving a complaint that one of the world's largest porn websites had joined the platform, according to a statement released by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Monday. Anti-sexual exploitation advocate Laila Mickelwait retweeted Pornhub's Nov. 23 tweet celebrating that it had joined TikTok, a platform popular among children and young adults. NCOSE claims that the social media website removed Pornhub within hours of the group reaching out. 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 TikTok told The Christian Post that the account was removed for violating its community guidelines. Lina Nealon, NCOSE's director of corporate and strategic initiatives, told CP that the social media website also considers a platform's offline behavior when deciding whether to allow them to post content. "We know that Pornhub has extensive evidence of child sex abuse material, videos of rape, sex trafficking images, sexual abuse and several other corporations have cut ties, including Instagram," Nealon said. "And furthermore, TikTok, as we know, is extremely popular with young people. And having a predatory, exploitative enterprise like Pornhub available to young people is normalizing this type of the industry and serving as implicit advertising." A spokesperson for the nonprofit said NCOSE's contacts at TikTok said Pornhub had repeatedly violated the platform's community guidelines. The contacts confirmed that the pornography website would not be allowed back on TikTok. Pornhub and its parent company, MindGeek, have been hit with class-action lawsuits in recent years. A lawsuit filed in July 2021 against MindGeek involves two child sex abuse survivors claiming that the company distributed videos depicting their rape without verifying their ages or if they consented to the videos being uploaded. Another $500 million lawsuit was filed earlier this year by a Canadian woman claiming she was featured in pornographic videos uploaded online without her consent. Nealon contends the presence of Pornhub on TikTok would have led children to the "criminal content" on the site. She expressed gratitude to TikTok for recognizing that young people should not be exposed to a "predatory" enterprise like Pornhub. NCOSE has pressured social media platforms and other mainstream companies to do more to safeguard children from Pornhub. Nealon said Pornhub and MindGeek rely on several mainstream partners to "thrive," whether through advertising, credit card companies or social media. NCOSE runs a "Dismantle Pornhub" campaign to call on companies to cut ties with the pornography website. While TikTok has removed Pornhub, Nealon said that Twitter, Youtube and Discord must follow suit. "No mainstream corporation should be partnering with a platform like Pornhub," she said. "They are, in fact, very likely helping Pornhub monetize the child sex abuse material, rape videos and non-consensual material." In 2020, both Visa and Mastercard suspended the ability for their cards to be used on Pornhub after a 2020 New York Times expose reported that the company profited from sexual abuse. In a 2021 blog post, Mastercard released new rules that required banks to ensure pornography websites verify the age and identity of individuals featured in videos or images. In addition, banks need to verify the content was posted with the consent of the individual displayed. As The Christian Post reported, Visa re-established its relationship with Pornhub and NCOSE accused the company of failing "to follow the example of Mastercard in requiring that sites hosting sexually explicit material implement common-sense measures to prevent and remove illegal content." In July, Serene Fleites filed a lawsuit against MindGeek in the U.S. District Court Central District of California. Fleites alleged that Pornhub hosted a sexually explicit video of her 13-year-old self in 2014, which her boyfriend posted online without her consent. The video garnered over 400,000 views, and the lawsuit alleges that MindGeek profited from the advertisements included in the video. The lawsuit also listed Visa as a defendant. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney denied Visa's motion for dismissal, stating that the company knew MindGeek contained child pornography and had failed to take it down. In September, NCOSE praised another social media platform, Instagram, for suspending Pornhub's account. Pornhub's account had 13 million followers and over 6,200 posts at the time of the suspension. While Porbhub's Instagram page did not expose users to pornographic content, it encouraged them to become pornography performers. "Instagram was right to remove Pornhub from its platform for violating its community standards given the increasing reports of Pornhub hosting child sexual abuse material, sex trafficking, filmed rape, and non-consensual videos and images," NCOSE CEO Dawn Hawkins said in a September statement to CP. "Instagram served as a distribution partner with this criminal enterprise, helping to push millions to their website, including children. We are grateful that Instagram has heard the voices of sexual abuse survivors who have been personally harmed by Pornhub's insatiable appetite for profit." Home Opinion CP docu-podcast season 4: Gender ideology meets resistance When The Christian Post leadership asked me to co-produce a documentary podcast about gender ideology in the fall of 2022, I had no idea what it would yield. Fast forward two years later and here we are pleased to announce that we have returned for season 4. This set of installments follows season 2, which was the audiobook of an e-book I co-authored called Exposing The Gender Lie and a bonus episode about an indie documentary film in which I briefly appeared called Dead Name"; and season 3, which covered even more ground than season 1. This docu-podcast has also won two Evangelical Press Association Excellence in Journalism awards. In the upcoming five episodes (and a likely bonus episode) of our ongoing series "Generation Indoctrination: Inside the Transgender Battle", we will continue our exploration into these issues that, when we started, were still largely misunderstood. Yet in light of the cultural developments in 2023 particularly with the legislative revolt at the state level as 17 states implemented restrictions on trans-ing minors in that year alone the landscape has substantially shifted and the national conversation has changed. 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 For decades, what we have come to know as gender ideology seemed to be confined to esoteric areas of study in niche academic departments in universities. But the ideology soon stealthily began taking the world by storm until it reached a social eruption over the past decade one that has destroyed families and threatened the very fabric of society. Today, the devastating havoc that transgenderism has wrought on countless children, teenagers, young adults, families, and on society at large is no longer hidden, and a reckoning is underway both at home and abroad. But what can be done? What can average citizens who see whats at stake do to address this effectively? Beginning Friday, September 20th, we will be highlighting the work of action-oriented people who decided that, although they never imagined this being a part of their lives, they must resist the onslaught. Well speak to those working in public policy, in politically conservative, liberal, and swing states. Well engage those advocating for detransitioners the victims of the mass medical experiment known as gender-affirming care. And well speak to those who are helping shattered families and devastated moms and dads, some of whom are still forced to resist from the shadows and whose lives have been disrupted. These parents will tell you they are only now starting to be heard. The issue of radical gender ideology has crept up on the American people unaware. They are shocked as they find out more about it and just how radical it is. Perhaps the most offensive thing is the attempt to mutilate minor children who have no idea of the consequences and the radical ideology behind it, said Dr. Richard Land, Executive Editor of The Christian Post, in an interview Monday about CPs ongoing coverage of these issues. Parents all across the country must be made aware of this and how they can protect their children and every American citizen must be made aware of so they can protect the nations children, he added. In times of reckoning when one can see growing resistance and an emergence of public advocacy on these issues, its also worthwhile to revisit the history. As it turns out, there were voices on the scene who foresaw and predicted the rise of this ideology before anyone was paying attention. Additionally, well engage what lies ahead. Are there other ideological developments presently brewing in the shadows that are related to the current morass? Is transgenderism the on-ramp to something even more bizarre and nefarious? Some prescient voices we interview in this season say yes and are already raising the alarm. Tune in to "Generation Indoctrination: Inside the Transgender Battle" on our landing page and or wherever you get your podcasts. If youre in the DC area on October 6th, The Christian Post will be presenting its second public discussion of these issues called Unmasking Gender Ideology at Burke Community Church in Burke, Virginia at 6 p.m. ET. All but one of our featured panelists were featured in season 3. Tickets are available at our events page and pastors will be admitted for free. Home Opinion Lausanne Congress 2024: Non-negotiables, secondary issues, and global church unity In Colossians 3:10-11 (NLT) the apostle Paul encourages believers to, Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesnt matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Our new nature a new life Christ is all that matters. This opinion piece is born out of a tumult of conversation already emerging in anticipation of the fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization being held in Incheon, South Korea, popularly known as Lausanne 4 (L4). For the uninitiated, the name of the congress was fixed when the first congress was held in Lausanne Switzerland. 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 first gathering was convened by Billy Graham but with other Evangelical Protestant luminaries such as John Stott (Langham), and Clyde Taylor and Waldron Scott (World Evangelical Alliance) involved. Many other leaders participated, both Western and non-Western. While numerous conversation spaces exist in the Protestant world, those convened by the Lausanne movement have arguably been the most influential for grass-roots Evangelical Christians throughout the world. Evangelical essentials Among the values I appreciate about world Evangelicalism is that it embraces a great deal of diversity yet holds to a small set of non-negotiables. We can argue about what is actually non-negotiable, but we agree that the most important are: Father, Son and Spirit, the whole Bible, the whole Gospel, and activity by the whole Church that blesses the whole world. When Evangelicals of different kinds come together, however, it is what our British friends would call a bun fight. Strong voices can vie for their perspective to be accepted as a universally orthodox Evangelical position. Out of these intersecting tensions of difference emerged some quite spectacular position statements: the Lausanne Covenant (L1, 1974), the Manila Manifesto (L2, 1989), and the Cape Town Commitment (L3, 2010). Fifty years after the first congress, the Seoul Statement (L4, 2024) will emerge, currently drafted but not yet debated. Creative tensions It would be rare to find a participant of previous Lausanne events fully satisfied with the official outcome. Some participants may have been more influential than others, but ultimately what emerged as the historic record was something of a tempered compromise. The written artifacts became reference tools to guide future generations of Evangelical students. The Covenant and the Manifesto were central to my undergraduate missionary training. I was not present for the conversation in Cape Town, but the writing of the Commitment was guided by my friend Christopher J H Wright (of Langham at the time), one of my MA in missions professors. L4 will be the first opportunity for me to actively participate in some small way in what will emerge as the Seoul Statement. As the convenors have stated, it is a once in a generation event. The opportunity excites me. Not because of the huge amount of content that the Lausanne Movement has already produced to prime us for the conversation, potentially constraining what can be discussed, but because of the many conversations that will emerge during and around the program which, for the first time, will be both in-person and online. When World Christianity of the Evangelical kind gathers there needs to be room for robust debate on issues of contemporary importance, whether or not they happen to be on the official agenda. What cannot happen is the imposition or dominance of one cultural perspective over another. While the subject matter discussed will be more conceptual than contextual, it is an opportunity for a unique co-creation to emerge from a meeting of hearts and minds from different parts of the world toward healthier global Evangelical unity. After all, the principles found in the three previous declarations did just that. In the essentials, unity There will always be non-negotiables for some that are not accepted by others. In missions circles we call these doctrinal preferences secondary issues, taking care to not let our different convictions spoil the unity of the whole. As champion of the Moravian movement, Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, is quoted as saying, In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity (likely quoting Rupertus Meldenius). While we all hold to a central commitment to the resurrected Lord Jesus, Protestantism has fragmented World Christianity according to cultural convictions that, while biblically defensible, are largely interpretations of scripture from within particular contexts. The conclusions may be fine for their context, or for the context in which they were first developed, but not necessarily applicable to another where the same texts are seen from a different vantage point. And we need to remain committed to extending liberty on these secondary issues. A Maori example The fractured lenses of our culturally-informed Christianities were no more evident to me than in some queries I received in response to the widely televised farewell to our Maori king and the coronation of his daughter, a young new Maori queen (27 years old). A Christian presence was publicly visible. Most expressions of faith in Jesus were represented during the week-long tangihanga (funeral). Some Evangelical friends wanted to know which denomination the Maori royal line belonged to. My answer, all of them, did not compute. For most Maori followers of Jesus such a question is irrelevant. The role of the royal family is to hold and promote "kotahitanga" (unity) among the confederation of Maori tribes. Their faith in Jesus makes room for all expressions of faith as they guard and promote the well-being of our people in all of our diversity. I am not advocating for a kind of universalism here, this unity is more sociological than theological an expression of full religious freedom. When the Gospel first came to our lands in the early-mid 19th century, Protestant denominationalism among the first missionaries was very perplexing to Maori. On the one hand they were told of Jesus, the great equalizer and peacemaker for all peoples, yet at the same time Jesus followers among the British and Europeans were separated into quite distinct faith traditions. Which of them was the true faith? Maori followers of Jesus (by a recent accounting 90% of the population by the 1850s) tended to align with the denomination of whichever missionary worked among them, but such commitments were always secondary to inter-tribal relationships as Maori followers of Jesus. Where there was once brutal tribal warfare, in Christ it abruptly ceased. Denominationalism was not going to create it again. Present your offering to God When Maori gather, the Gospel can be freely shared, but as an offering, alongside other faiths present, narratives of the old gods, and stories of the accomplishments of famous ancestors all accepted as non-fiction, with all participants learning in some way from one anothers convictions. This is what religious freedom looks like in a religiously pluralistic context. The very large turning to Christ by Maori was in no small way due to the fact that the biblical narrative of Jesus was tested and proved more powerful than the other stories. When it comes to power encounters, the debate ends. Our God reigns, Jesus reigns. A Maori paradigm would assume that whether as a family (local church or ministry), clan (regional organization), or tribe (national or global organization), groups are free to love and serve the Lord in ways most meaningful for their contexts. When different tribes gather together, as they did to farewell the king and welcome the queen, or as 10,000 or so of us will do for Lausanne 4, it is respectful to hold our distinct convictions lightly in favor of wider common commitments. We can offer our convictions into the mix, but the co-created outcome should represent a wide agreement on a matter the leading of the Holy Spirit in the unity of the Son for the glory of the Father. Co-creating new creation At L4 some prior agreement on our communal Evangelical consensus may be open for adjustment to match the knowledge we have now and the times we live in, but the focus should never drift too far from our common unity. Whereas common interests for Maori are typically genealogical heritage and issues of self-determination, our well-being as a colonized people, for Evangelical Christians it is our love for Jesus, our oneness in Christ, and our desire for the whole world to have an opportunity to enjoy the blessings of reconciliation with God and one another through Christ a mutual flourishing. In my opinion, our commitment should be focused on how we can co-create new creation in any given context the tangible transforming evidence of Jesus reign, Gods Kingdom in the world. This is something we can only hope to do in part on this side of eternity, but we do it with the assurance of fullness to come with Christs return. Our efforts to this end are our witness to the world as Jesus family. By demonstration and proclamation, we aim for a propagation of the Gospel that transforms our broken worlds with the love of Christ more often than not, requiring power encounters. Transformed in loving diversity Regardless of who we are, or what we think we should do, it is only Christ that matters. His life lived out in and through us makes all the difference as we meaningfully influence our contexts for Gods glory. Our new life in him transforms, elevates, enhances, our uniqueness as a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free, British or Maori, Chinese or American, Palestinian or Israeli, Zulu or Afrikaner, Rohingya or Burmese, North or South Korean. Through the cross, Jesus has broken down all walls of hostility created by laws that separate, whether Mosaic or from other backgrounds. In Jesus we mature in such a way that hostilities cease. Instead, we bring the best of who we are to positively influence one another toward the full stature of Christ. As 5,000 Evangelical leaders gather in Incheon, and potentially the same number again online, it will benefit us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and completer of our faith, even as we wrestle with problems that beset our worlds and hinder the demonstrative spread of the Gospel. Through all the robust debate, may we aspire to love one another and treat each other with the upmost respect. God be gracious to us all. Originally published at Christian Daily. 25-hour event uniting Christians in prayer and worship across continents A global Christian event made possible by new technology hopes to connect Christians across multiple countries for an unprecedented international gathering of believers in prayer. Gather25, made possible through the collaboration of organisations including YouVersion, The Bible Project, illumiNations, 24-7 Prayer International, Global 2033 and many others, will be hosted in-person and virtually across six continents. Running over a 25-hour period, Gather25 will use television broadcasts, radio, and live streams, to enable Christians anywhere in the world to take part - from their homes, theatres, and local churches or in person at a live broadcast site. The event will kick off in the US at 01:00 UTC on Saturday 1 March 2025, before moving around the world and coming to an end in Peru at 02:00 UTC, Sunday 2 March 2025 Over the course of its continuous broadcast, it will seek to engage Christians using stories and testimonies of God's hand at work around the world, inspiring believers to reach out to the 5.5 billion people who have yet to discover what having a relationship with Jesus truly means. Each of the host countries will deliver their own session, offering stories, teaching, and worship from multiple locations, as well as sharing new stories from the ongoing work of the underground church. The event promises to deliver a compelling list of speakers and worship leaders, with the full line-up to be announced later this year. "God has been doing amazing things in the global Church, and repentance and prayers are critical in this season," said Sarah Breuel, Executive Director of Revive Europe and Lausanne Movement board member. "Delighted that we share this conviction in Gather25. Let's prepare the way!" Over the past few months, the Gather25 team has hosted local summits in order to rally church leaders from every continent to support the event and help make it a reality. Events in Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, Rwanda, Romania and North America have given local representatives a chance to share the amazing work God is doing in their nation, helping to form a vision for the content that will be featured at Gather25. Understanding that local engagement will be the key to the success of the event, organisers are seeking to encourage grassroots participation, encouraging believers to take part in as much of the 25 hour period as they can. To help make this possible, they are calling on local Christians and churches to help by forming 'Gather Groups' to help their community to experience Gather25, coming together in person in all sorts of locationsincluding church buildings, living rooms, stadiums, or community spaces. "It won't be a gathering of the global Church without you," Jennie Allen, founder of Gather25, said. "We are inviting you to bravely step out and invite your church, neighbours, and community to experience Gather25 together in your place. "For 25 hours we will pray, worship, and dream about how God wants to use each of us to reach the world. We'll provide everything you need, we just need your 'Yes!'" Speaking earlier this year, Dr. Charles Mugisha, Co-Founder of Africa New Life Ministries and lead pastor of New Life Bible Church Rwanda, said, "Gather25 is an opportunity for God's people to become one, with Christ at the center. For 25 hours we'll be hearing stories of God's power across the earth and worshipping with our great family of Jesus followers. "There are billions of people and many people groups, who don't know the love of God my prayer is that Gather25 would ignite a new commissioning of the church under the power of the Holy Spirit so that every soul would be reached with the love of God." Ancient Christian mosaic containing one of the earliest references to Jesus' divinity unveiled (CP) The Megiddo Mosaic, which decorated one of the oldest Christian prayer halls, is now on display at the Museum of the Bible as part of an exhibition that runs through July 2025. The mosaic bears images of a fish, a symbol of early Christianity, and a Greek inscription that reads "To God Jesus Christ." Israeli archeologists discovered the mosaic in 2005 during a salvage excavation conducted as part of the planned expansion of the Megiddo Prison. The showing at the Museum of the Bible is the first public presentation of the mosaic, as due to its location on prison grounds, the mosaic was not accessible to the public. In addition to the inscription recognizing Jesus as God, the Megiddo Mosaic memorializes the names of five women, perhaps highlighting the role women played in early Christian communities. The mosaic also features the name of the Roman officer who paid for it to be made. During a reception celebrating the exhibit's Sunday opening, Museum of the Bible CEO Carlos Campo said the staff believes the mosaic conveys the "transformative power of the Bible." He urged people attending the exhibit's opening to "take a step back" and see the mosaic. "Because as I step back, I learn more about the power of this object and what it's trying to say to me about ancient history, about the history of Christianity, about the place there at Megiddo in Israel, and so much more," Campo said. "And so, that's what we've come together today to celebrate, that this object really is a way for us to come together, a way for us to see that these tiny little tesserae, these tiny little chips, these beautiful pieces, when placed together, they tell a remarkable story of unity," the Museum of the Bible CEO continued. " "A remarkable story of a place that brought people in from many different areas, and yet they shared enough in common to understand that they were people who could celebrate, worship, and come together in peace," he said. "And it's what we come together to celebrate today." During an interview with The Christian Post, Campo said the museum partnered with the Israel Antiquities Authority to bring the mosaic to the U.S. The process of moving the mosaic involved separating parts of the tiles without damaging the composition. Experts put the pieces of the mosaic together within a few weeks of its arrival. According to Campo, anywhere from 50 to 75 staff worked on piecing the mosaic together; however, he acknowledged that there are countless others who worked on the project in an ancillary fashion. The Museum of the Bible dedicated an exhibit to the Megiddo Mosaic because it's one of the earliest artifacts that refer to Jesus as divine, according to Campo. He also noted that the mosaic appears to indicate that many converts to Christianity were present after Jesus' death, highlighting the names of the five women and the Roman soldier featured on the mosaic. "Some people would posit that, well, after Jesus died, there was this dark phase where almost no one was following Christ," he said. "Well, this mosaic says that that's not true, that there were people even under persecution, which they certainly had, who were faithful followers of Jesus Christ." The Christian Post Christian army veteran stands trial over silent prayer in abortion clinic buffer zone The trial into an army veteran's silent prayer near an abortion clinic has begun at Poole Magistrates' Court. Adam Smith-Connor was issued with a fixed penalty notice on 13 December 2022 after allegedly being in breach of an abortion clinic "buffer zone" in Bournemouth the previous month. He told officers he had been "praying for his deceased son" who was aborted by an ex-girlfriend, a decision he now regrets. Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council filed charges against Smith-Connor for praying within the boundaries of the buffer zone. The buffer zone bans a number of pro-life activities including prayer and offers of help to women experiencing crisis pregnancies. The three-day trial is due to conclude on Thursday. Speaking ahead of the hearing, Smith-Connor said that opinions or beliefs held in people's minds should not be a crime. "Nobody should be prosecuted for silent prayer. It is unfathomable that in an apparently free society, I am being criminally charged on the basis of my silent thoughts, in the privacy of my own mind. It's not different than being tried for a thoughtcrime," he said. "I served for 20 years in the army reserves, including a tour in Afghanistan, to protect the fundamental freedoms that this country is built upon. I continue that spirit of service as a health care professional and church volunteer. It troubles me greatly to see our freedoms eroded to the extent that thoughtcrimes are now being prosecuted in the UK." Smith-Connor is being supported by the Alliance Defending Freedom UK (ADF UK), which said the case revealed confusion among Britain's police officers about where the law stands on silent prayer. Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, said, "In various other circumstances, the police and the courts have made it clear that silent prayer is not a criminal act. And yet, BCP Council, which has already conceded that presence is not in itself an offence, has introduced a rights-restricting censorship zone, which they now argue extends to a ban on silent prayer. "In permitting the prosecution of silent prayer, we are sailing into dangerous waters regarding human rights protections in the UK. Censorship zones are inherently wrong and engender unhelpful legal confusion regarding the right to free thought. Both domestic and international law have long established freedom of thought as an absolute right that must not ever be interfered with by the state. "The Telegraph recently reported that Ministers are considering naming 'silent prayer' as a crime in their 'buffer zones' guidance to do so would not only be a legal error, it could open up the floodgates to human rights violations similar to those experienced by Adam Smith-Connor." Seeing the crisis in the NHS through a Christian lens Last week, Professor Lord Darzi published his shocking independent report on the state of the NHS in England. He warned that the NHS is in a "critical condition" after a decade of austerity, a prolonged lack of capital investment and the impact of Covid. In addition, many healthcare workers are disillusioned, burnt out and still traumatized from the pandemic, whilst our society is becoming sicker, and demand is growing faster than it can be met. But the NHS already spends a huge amount of public money. This year its budget is an eye watering 165 billion and Keir Starmer has made clear that more funding will not simply be poured in without reform. He has identified the importance of going digital, moving more care out of hospitals into local communities, and focusing on prevention of poor health as well as treatment. In the words of the King's Fund think tank, "the task is not simply to prop the NHS back up. It is to create a new approach to health and care in this country." In the UK we take pride in a system that is taxpayer funded, free at the point of use and based on need rather than ability to pay. The NHS is supposed to be there for everyone, and there is a real desire for it to be pulled back to its feet. But the challenges we face severely test our ability to balance our duty to care for others with responsible stewardship of the nation's resources, in this case our taxes. How might we view these challenges through a Christian lens? Christians have often been distinctive in their approaches. In Roman times they were noticed because they cared for the sick and dying from other communities, not just their own. And more recently, it was Christians who started the hospice movement to provide palliative care for those nearing the end of their lives. Our deep desire should be to ensure that everyone healthcare staff as well as patients is treated with deep compassion, personal attention and the dignity that comes of being made in the image of God. Every single individual incredibly, unchangeably valuable beyond our comprehension. This means that we also need to tackle 'sticky' issues such as social care, which successive governments have deemed too difficult to address, but which mean that more and more people are struggling to afford or access the services they need to live with long-term illnesses such as dementia. But healthcare is not just about treating the sick. In the words of theologian Jurgen Moltmann, good health is about ensuring people have "the strength to be human". Human value is often talked about in economic terms: ensuring that people are well enough to work and be 'productive' members of society. The Office for National Statistics estimates that nearly 3 million people of working age are 'economically inactive' due to long-term physical or mental sickness. Lord Darzi has rightly pointed out that the nation's health is affected by wider social and economic problems such as poverty, poor nutrition, family breakdown, insecurity in employment and housing. The report says: "Many of the social determinants of health ... have moved in the wrong direction over the past 15 years with the result that the NHS has faced rising demand for healthcare from a society in distress." The Beveridge Report of 1942 that was instrumental in the creation of Britain's welfare state laid out five giants that stalked the land: want, disease, ignorance, squalor, and idleness. Though the language is now out of date, the problems are not. So when we think about the NHS we must also consider how we tackle these other factors, which may all be covered by different governmental departments and some by none. And then there's that gut-wrenching phrase, "a society in distress". It can be hard to read these government reports without despairing for our nation. Grim statistics and bar charts trending towards misery soon become too much to bear. There is a deep spiritual reality to the brokenness around us which we must take to God in prayer. Like the persistent widow to the judge in Jesus' parable in Luke 18, or indeed like some of the passionate lobbyists who fill my inbox, we should not back down, nor be disheartened in our prayers. Countless people are feeling hopeless, lonely, and hungry. We know that the Church has a vital role to play in providing counter-culturally selfless love in community, but also in pointing them to the joy and hope that is found in the Gospel. Tim Farron has been the Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005, and served as the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party from 2015 to 2017. Tim is also the host of Premier's A Mucky Business' podcast, which unpacks the murky world of politics and encourages believers around the UK to engage prayerfully. He is the author of A Mucky Business: Why Christians should get involved in politics. Why Labour will not back down on its conversion therapy ban Orthodox Christians should expect no compromise from the Labour government on its planned conversion therapy ban or on any other aspect of its LGBT agenda. The Christian Institute has said that the U-turns on conversion therapy bans in Scotland, Ireland and Sweden show that it is possible to persuade politicians of the problems with such proposals. The CI had threatened to seek a judicial review into the Scottish government's "deeply repressive" plans. But unfortunately the reason why the Westminster government led by Sir Keir Starmer, wielding a huge parliamentary majority, will not back down on outlawing conversion therapy, including a full trans-inclusive ban, is because of its rigid ideological commitments. In an article for The Daily Mail in 2022, Peter Hitchens, a former Marxist, now an Anglican Christian, argued that Starmer's "revolutionary past" gives the lie to the notion that he is a moderate socialist. Hitchens wrote two years before Starmer led the Labour Party to victory after 14 years out of power in July's General Election: "Well, long, long ago in the sunny 1960s, I was myself a revolutionary Marxist, out on the dangerous edge of politics. Later, I was mixed up in the strange wild world of London's Labour Party ...There I learned the codes and symbols of the Left, which most journalists do not know. "That ignorance is one of the many reasons why Sir Keir Starmer has risen to the top of the Labour Party without anyone really noticing what he is. You are about to find out. But why don't you know already?" Hitchens showed that, despite his image as a Labour moderate, Starmer has never disowned his revolutionary past. In an interview for the left-wing New Statesman magazine in 2020, he was asked about his radicalism in the 1980s, when he was known as 'red-green'. "Starmer's replies were anything but embarrassed," Hitchens wrote. "The 'red-green' label combines social radicalism and identity politics with green zealotry. It explains Sir Keir's studied hesitancy when asked about whether a woman can have a penis." Starmer could not have been clearer about his commitment to LGBT ideology when he said: "The big issue we were grappling with then (in the 1980s) was how the Labour Party, or the Left generally, bound together the wider movement and its strands of equality feminist politics, green politics, LGBT which I thought was incredibly exciting, incredibly important." Hitchens concluded: "The British public have been given little reason to doubt the official story that Sir Keir is a respectable 'moderate' who will do nothing radical. The Tory Party think they can risk letting him into Downing Street. "Well, you just wait." The neo-Marxist ideology driving Starmer's government is also the reason why Christians should not expect any real reversal of Labour's transgender agenda, despite the Cass Review in April into NHS treatment for children and young people with gender dysphoria. The review by Dr Hilary Cass warned of the dangers of doctors prescribing puberty blockers for children: "The rationale for early puberty suppression remains unclear, with weak evidence regarding the impact on gender dysphoria, mental or psychosocial health. The effect on cognitive and psychosexual development remains unknown." But the Cass Review has not stopped NHS England from continuing to roll out new "specialist gender centres for children and young people". In August, it announced: "NHS England will roll out up to six new specialist regional centres by 2026 to provide tailored gender services for children and young people, based on recommendations in the Cass Review." Though NHS England announced in March, just before the Cass Review was published, that doctors would stop "routinely" supplying puberty blockers to children, they are not banned from prescribing them to under-18s as part of "clinical research" at gender centres. In August, Labour's Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting expressed his commitment to the transgender agenda: "As well as rolling out new services, NHS England is setting up a clinical trial to establish the evidence on puberty blockers, because children's healthcare should always be led by evidence. "I want trans people in our country to feel safe, accepted, and able to live with freedom and dignity." Pro-family campaign group CitizenGo has warned: "The Labour government is planning to experiment on vulnerable children. In January, the NHS will start puberty blockers clinical trials that will damage the health of thousands of children. "We can't let Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting push their harmful agenda. Using vulnerable children to test and legitimise these drugs is disgraceful." CitizenGo has launched a petition against the government's plans. But the unfortunate reality is that Labour's unassailable majority in the House of Commons means there is nothing CitizenGo or any other campaign group can do to stop the government from further entrenching LGBT ideology and practices. Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire. 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. Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. When Donald Trump brought up debunked claims about immigrants eating dogs and cats in the Ohio city of Springfield, at last weeks presidential debate, Ohio-based reporters were not nearly as surprised as the rest of the country. In fact, theyd been bracing for it. That was the big question for us going into the night: Was Trump gonna go there? said Darrel Rowland, a veteran political reporter with the Columbus-based WSYX6 and FOX 28. And yes, he did. The fuse had been lit. Rowland and his colleagues across the state had already been tracking worrisome rhetoric about the thousands of Haitian migrants who made Springfield their home in recent yearsa move welcomed, at least until recently, by businesses and town officials who saw the city of sixty thousand as badly in need of revitalization. In July, J.D. Vance, now the Republican vice presidential nominee, had given the story a boost when he began sharing allegations that hospitals and schools were being overwhelmed by a surge in immigrants. The Saturday before the debate, Vance added fuel to the fire when he tweeted out unfounded reports that Haitians were abducting local pets and eating them. Contrary to previous rumblings, Trump has no plans to make a campaign stop in Springfield, according to a source familiar with the former presidents travel. But his decision to mention the city in the debate heightened tensions in town. Within a week, at least thirty-three bomb threats would lead to the evacuation of buildings, the closure of schools, and the cancellation of numerous events around the city. This weeks been a disaster, said Jeremy P. Kelley, the editor of the Springfield News-Sun, when first reached at the peak of last weeks frenzy. The small paper was busy accounting for all of the incoming threats, providing updates on elementary school evacuations, and documenting the local universitys plans to move to online-only instruction. It has also led much of the coverage tackling misinformation about the town. Jessica Orozco, a News-Sun staffer, was the first to reportwithin a half hour of Vances Saturday post on Xthat local police couldnt find any recent evidence of pets being stolen or eaten. Shes since written nearly two dozen articles for the paper, including one on how local leaders have responded to the situation by rejecting falsehoods and urging residents to focus on actual challenges presented by the population influx, such as increased competition for housing, school funding, and healthcare. Sign up for CJRs daily email By this Tuesday, Kelley finally had a moment to reflect. The biggest challenge of covering the story has been trying to stay on top of near-constant developments for over a week, Kelley said in an email. When youre twenty seconds into a news meeting over Teams, and you find out City Halls being evacuated because of the very first bomb threat, you drop the news meeting and run down the street to interview the city manager. That doesnt help with your planning process. As things settle down, Kelley added, he hopes to shift the papers focus to deeper coverage of the larger underlying issues of how Haitian immigration affects Springfieldand how the community will recover once the media circus leaves town. One article posted over the weekend asked twenty residents about their hopes for the future. Several of the Ohio-based reporters who have been covering the story in recent months say they worry about the same thing: whether the intense media coverage has made things worse for the townand if the efforts to fact-check have made much of a difference, in the face of a brazen onslaught of falsehoods. Especially among people who are more supportive of the immigrants, nobody wants this attention, said Jake Zuckerman, a politics reporter for Cleveland.com who reported from Springfield at the outset of the immigration uproar. Nobody asked for this. Nobody said we want to be the center point of a presidential election. This is the first time Ive felt like Im just up against a wave of misinformation, said Sarah Donaldson, a reporter for Ohios Statehouse News and the states NPR and PBS affiliates, who was in Springfield last weekend. Its been a long week and its been a challenging week, and I have only been to Springfield once this week, she said. So Im thinking about my fellow reporters who have been on the ground every day, because I think you are seeing a lot of backlash at the media when, of course, the media is not a monolith. Rowland, the veteran political reporter, said he sometimes finds himself wondering, Is our very presence in that town making things worse? And part of you comes away with not a great feeling, he said. Because you think, on the one hand, I want to get the truth, and I can tell folks are reluctant to be interviewed. Youre saying that the national media are not depicting your community accurately, but if you dont talk, where else is the story going to come from? He went on: What were seeing in little Springfield, Ohio, is kind of a microcosm of this whole issue of claims of truth, claims of untruth, and how we do our jobs as journalists. Its like, What is our responsibility? How vociferously do we point out that these are falsehoods? Jake Lahut is a campaign reporter based in New York. He covered the 2024 GOP primary from New Hampshire for The Daily Beast and authored the Trail Mix newsletter. He previously worked at Business Insider and the Keene Sentinel. Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. To the uninitiated, the National Catholic Reporter might sound like a newspaper run by the Catholic Church. In actuality, its an outlet that has long provided in-depth, independent coverage of one of the worlds most powerful institutions. Almost twenty years before the Boston Globe made a scandal about sexual abuse in the Church into major mainstream newsand thirty or so before Spotlight immortalized it in Hollywoodthe Reporter broke open the broader story. The paper continues to cover the Church and its constituents, including around LGBTQ inclusion, climate change, racial justice, and international Catholic news. Of course, as a paper devoted to covering religious practice, it has its idiosyncrasies, such as its Global Sisters Report: an initiative for news on nuns. The intersection of Catholicism and politics is an evergreen story, one that the paper has consistently covered. Now the Reporter has a new leader to help it navigate this terrain: James Grimaldi, who was announced as editor in chief last week. Grimaldi brings a long and illustrious investigative career to the Reporter; he won Pulitizers for his investigative work at the Washington Post and, most recently, at the Wall Street Journal. Hes taking over in the throes of an election cycle, at a moment when many Christian voters steadfastly support Donald Trump and Catholicism as a driving political force is making headlines, especially among young people on the right. (J.D. Vance, Trumps running mate, converted to Catholicism in 2019.) Last week, I spoke with Grimaldi about fostering more investigative work at the Reporter, the less obvious ways in which Catholic beliefs and Republican policies clash, and creating more coverage around the Church. Our interview has been edited for clarity and length. FM: How would you describe the National Catholic Reporter? How would you describe its relationship with the Church? JG: The National Catholic Reporter was founded sixty years ago by lay Catholics [the unordained, ordinary constituents of the Church] as a direct response to Vatican II [the council of Church leaders formed in the sixties to modernize the Churchs practice]. One of the goals of Vatican II was to have more laypeople involved and engaged in the Church. Our mission is not to promote the Church; there are other Catholic media organizations where they believe that is their mission. Our mission is to cover Church activities from an independent point of view. The purpose of our coverage of the Church and the wider religious, political, and social forces shaping public policies is to add to the public debate and general welfare of every human being. Were Catholics writing about the Church, although we have non-Catholic writers as well. Throughout our history, its been a voice for the disadvantaged, the marginalized, those forced to live in the shadows. We hold authority accountable to the Churchs own values, morals, and ethics. What does the landscape of Catholic media look like, and where does the Reporter fit in? Sign up for CJRs daily email Forty percent of Catholic diocesan papers have closed since 2005, and the US bishops, in addition to that, have turned the operations of the Catholic News Service [the news agency formerly operated by the US Conference of Bishops] over to Our Sunday Visitor [a Catholic publishing company with a wire service], whose mission is to champion the Catholic Church. Were not championing anything; we were not founded by an order, as some of the other Catholic media organizations were. For example, Eternal Word Television Network, which is much more conservative, was founded in a monastery in the south of the United States. [In 2019, NCR reporter Heidi Schlumpf reported a four-part series about EWTNs massive media empire.] Theres a lot that we can do to fill in the gaps and answer questions that might not be answered, not only because theres less Catholic media, but because many of these small and metro-size newspapers no longer have religion reporters. They dont have the money for it. Many of these communities can barely cover the city council. If theyre not covering the city council or the school board as well as they were before, you can rest assured theyre probably not covering the local Catholic diocese. I think that many of the dioceses are not as transparent as they could be when they do things like close churches or end programs. There was a diocese recently that ended its immigration program [an initiative to welcome new arrivals to the US] out west; people in that diocese were very upset, and it wasnt clear to me what the reasons were behind it. I think that asking those questions and finding those answers is very important for our readers, and for the public. You cant apply a Freedom of Information Act to a diocese. You have to use old-fashioned investigative techniques in order to figure out whats going on. How are you planning to foster more investigative work at the Reporter? Its done a lot of very good investigative work over the years. We had a great story just a month or so ago about allegations against a parish priest who had an alleged sexual assault that happened. I also see us as having the potential to do investigative stories about systemic issues or big institutions where there could be either financial irregularities or ethical problems or questionable activities. We have several reporters who have already done quite a bit of it. Weve got a couple of reporters who have done some deep exploration of the connections between money and conservative Catholics, and funding for political activities and support of the Trump candidacy, for example. Thats an old-fashioned money-in-politics story thats been the bread and butter of my career. And I admire those stories, and think there are ways we can continue that coverage. I also plan to bring in training. Im a longtime trainer with Investigative Reporters and Editors. We will be doing training on the Freedom of Information Act, how to use court records, how to examine bankruptcy records. We have many dioceses in bankruptcy because of the sexual assault scandals, and I think we need expertise in covering bankruptcies. Coming from the Wall Street Journal, I certainly know a lot of people who could help train on that. How does the NCR approach its political coverage? Whats on your mind for election coverage, and what do you think your audience needs at this moment? In terms of money and politics, I dont think I need to come and add to that, because weve got a reporter whos already doing that really well. I say that as a reader, and now Ill be his editor. We have an excellent national columnist, Michael Sean Winters, who writes about the campaign. It seems like every day his column is widely read; hes very popular, hes very smart, and he has an elegant way of marrying up political commentary with the ethos of Catholic social teaching. Theres also Brian Fraga and Heidi Schlumpf, who have done stories on this over the past couple of years; they did a pretty interesting piece about the funding behind what is now the Catholic Prayer Breakfast [a conference-type event that is advertised as nonpartisan but hosts organizers and speakers with conservative Republican credentials, as described by the Reporter], which is different from the National Prayer Breakfast. They followed this organization, the Napa Institute [a conservative Catholic group], and its funding. I dont want to give anything away, but I do have some ideas on how we can provide useful information not only to Catholic readers, but to political readers. We have a Republican vice presidential candidate who is a recent convert to the faith. We have two candidates [Vance and Tim Walz] who have crossed paths with the Catholic faith; thats worth exploring. Also, there are many issues that are very prominent for the election coming this fall. A big one is immigration. We have one candidate [Trump] whos made immigration a major element of his campaign, and the Catholic Church has very strong feelings about welcoming immigrants and deportation. So thats something that were interested in and will cover. How do you plan to reach more people outside of the Reporters audience? A lot of our readers are on the progressive side of the political spectrum. I think they come to us for reliable coverage of issues that they care about. And it is a bit of a foil to some of the more traditionalist and conservative media, some of which is better-funded; not that we dont have good funding, but theres definitely, it seems to me, a lot of funding on the conservative side of that reporting. Were a relatively small organization; we have forty people, but they arent all reporters. I plan to explore collaborations with nonprofit news organizations. There are some great ones out there that cover justice and healthcare and investigative reporting or local news. I could see us partnering with a local news outlet, be it the Baltimore Banner or the Houston Landing or the Voice of San Diego. I think we will have stories that they would be interested in collaborating on. Thats the way to leverage our readership and expand our portfolio. Other notable stories: Yesterday, hundreds of simultaneous explosions occurred in parts of Lebanon where the militant group Hezbollah is known to have a strong presence, killing at least eleven people and wounding thousands more, according to Lebanese officials. The explosions seemed to have been caused by the remote detonation of pagers used by members of Hezbollah. Israel was quickly suspected of coordinating the attack; initially, confusion reigned as to how, but overnight, news outlets reported, citing anonymous officials, that Israel hid explosives in the pagers after Hezbollah ordered them from a Taiwanese firm. Israel has yet to comment on the attack; the Taiwanese company said that the pagers were made by a Hungarian firm under license, though, contacted by NBC, that company also denied having manufactured the pagers, calling itself just the intermediate. Over the weekend, Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak, of the Times, published a blockbuster story revealing, based in part on private notes and interviews with insiders, the highly influential role that Chief Justice John Roberts played in shaping a trio of Supreme Court rulings that ended up benefiting Trump and his allies in cases related to January 6. Now Slates Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern argue that the story gives lie to the image of Roberts as an affable centrist steward of the courts reputational interests, one created largely in the press and played to the hilt by him. The pair also reassessed how some of their own past coverage contributed to the construction of this impression. In surprising media-business news, the parent company of The Guardian, in the UK, revealed that it is in talks to sell The Observerits Sunday sister paper, which it acquired in 1993to Tortoise Media, a startup founded by a former BBC news director and a former US ambassador to the UK. The CEO of The Guardian said that a sale would allow it to focus on its growth strategy to be more global, more digital and more reader-funded; Tortoise, for its part, pledged to continue publishing The Observer on Sundays while building out its digital brand and making significant financial investment. And Slate is out with a new season of its hit narrative history podcast Slow Burn, focused on the period between 2000 and 2004 when Fox News first surged to power and a whole bunch of people rose up to try and stop it. When Fox launched, in 1996, critics called it disorganized, incompetent, and laughably inept, a preview for the first episode says. But it wouldnt be a joke for long. During the 2000 election, Fox News would captivate the nationand just maybe change the fate of American democracy. ICYMI: In Austin, a movement journalist named Kit OConnell covers the trans communityand many othersas major outlets dont. Feven Merid is CJRs staff writer and Senior Delacorte Fellow. Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. Over the past few years, the energy around saving and strengthening local news has amped up. State-level policies to support local journalism have passed in New York, California, Illinois, and elsewhere thanks to efforts by groups like Rebuild Local News; new digital-native outlets are coming online with clear formulas for success and sustainability; and a critical mass of funders has come around to the idea that supporting local news and information is as vital as putting money toward schools and libraries. Press Forward, the national coalition of philanthropies announced in 2023, has established more than twenty locals, as their state-level counterparts are called. The Press Forward Locals are groups of place-based organizations that agree to contribute to and champion local journalism in their state or region. While they receive support and guidance from national, theycruciallyare made up of community and neighborhood organizations with organic and authentic relationships on the ground. For example, the New Jersey Press Forward Local, announced in February 2024, is led by the New Jersey Civic Information Consortiumitself a first-in-the-nation, state-level public funding effort that seeds and supports hyperlocal news and information initiatives across the state. The Consortium is, in turn, supported by the Center for Cooperative Mediaa journalism support organization where I was research director for more than seven years. This coalition has deep knowledge of the journalism landscape in New Jersey, which is impossible to simulate. Creating place-based coalitions to raise funds and do the work of supporting journalism on the ground was a stroke of genius on the part of Press Forward, and has shown how much energy can be generated for the vital work of bringing local journalism in this country into the twenty-first century. It is a model that can be translated into the research space. I have come to believe that it is only by partnering with local organizations that research efforts to accurately and faithfully map the national journalism landscape can be accomplished. In my new position at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, I am building a research program to do just this: partner with local journalism-relevant organizations across the country to build a registry of local news organizations. Why is this needed? Since roughly 2015, as the crisis for local journalism in the US was becoming clear, dozensperhaps hundredsof local journalism support organizations, research institutes, media policy shops, and philanthropists have undertaken efforts to better understand the provision of local journalism at the community level, in order to make effective interventions. For many years before that, clearinghouses that included national lists of journalism providersused primarily by PR practitioners but occasionally by academicshad sufficed as national registries of news outlets. But with the advent of digital-native hyperlocals and the rapid churn that accompanied the dissolution of the broadcast era business model, those registries became impossible to maintain, and our understanding of the local journalism landscape has suffered accordingly. In 2016, journalist turned academic Penny Abernathy published the first national survey of local news providers, focusing on newspapers and on a practice gaining salience at the time, in which private investment companies were making huge profits by buying local papers then selling them for parts, creating hundreds of local news deserts across the country. Later reports included digital outlets, public broadcasting, and ethnic media; the most recentAbernathys sixthwas published in November 2023. The report and accompanying online maps were and continue to be widely citedby the news industry, researchers, and policymakersin the US and abroad. This is the case in part because the reports were meticulously researched, but also partly because they were, and remain, the only national-level census of local news. Despite its many strengths, the project also has well-documented weaknesses, and is in a moment of transition since Abernathy retired, in early 2024. Perhaps its most fundamental weakness is that its data is gathered from the top down, relying on lists of newspapers from state press associations, and lists of digital outlets from national membership organizations. It seems clear that the time has come for a national registry that is generated from the ground level up. Our registry will provide a new model for understanding the local journalism landscape nationally, based on collaboration and tapping the experience and expertise of community-based organizations that know their communities best. I will draw on my experience mapping the local news landscape of New Jersey to implement definitions and protocols that reflect the lived experience of communities, for example by mapping news outlets based on their coverage area instead of where their front offices are located (if they even have a front office). By partnering with local organizations, civic news of all shapes and sizes will be recognized for the vital sources of communication they are; we know that newspapers and televisions are no longer the dominant ways that journalism is distributed. The end result will be a resource, in the form of a national census of local news providers, that can inform myriad efforts, from journalism support organizations seeking to understand where to invest resources to policymakers who need accurate, detailed data on underserved communities. Sarah Stonbely is a research fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. She can be reached at sas2230@columbia.edu. The U.S. sued the owner and the operator of a Singapore-flagged ship that rammed into a Baltimore bridge in March, the most aggressive action to date in response to a disaster that killed six workers and threw the regions transportation network into chaos. The Justice Department is seeking more than $100 million to cover costs the U.S. incurred after the cargo ship Dali destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge and brought operations at the Port of Baltimore to a standstill. Related: Potential Claims Impacts Resulting from the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse The civil lawsuit alleges the corporations Grace Ocean Pte. Ltd. and Synergy Marine Pte. Ltd. sent an ill-prepared crew on an abjectly unseaworthy vessel to navigate the United States waterways. The Dali container vessel after striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024. They did so to reap the benefit of conducting business in American ports, according to the 53-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland. Yet they cut corners in ways that risked lives and infrastructure. Those responsible for the vessel must be held fully accountable for the catastrophic harm they caused, and punitive damages should be imposed to deter such misconduct. Related: U.S. Studying If Other Bridges at Risk After Baltimore Collapse U.S. lawyers representing the companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the early morning of March 26, video footage showed the vessel hit the bridge, forcing the collapse of the structure. In the aftermath, authorities said six people were killed. The U.S. government cleared the wreck and bridge debris from the water channel in order to reopen the Port of Baltimore and is seeking to be reimbursed for those costs, according to the lawsuit. The companies have sought to limit their liability to about $43.7 million. They claimed in a joint petition filed in April that the collapse of the bridge was not due to any fault, neglect, or want of care of the companies and that they shouldnt be held liable for any loss or damage from the disaster. Top photo: The Dali container vessel after striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024. Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Cities from Budapest to Wroclaw in Poland are racing to build up their defenses as floodwaters peak over the coming days. The floods that unleashed destruction across central Europe are receding in many places after the torrential rain from Storm Boris passed, but towns and villages downstream are braced for rising river levels. More than 20 people have died across the region. Drawing on the lessons learned from massive floods in 1997, countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic have invested in control systems and retention reservoirs. Thats curbing some of the worst flood impacts, though the situation in Austria is complicated by meltwater after as much as 150 centimeters (59 inches) of snow fell in parts of the Alps over the past week. Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, including violent storms. Slow-moving Storm Boris dumped record rainfall in places like Lower Austria after cold air from the north collided with moisture drawn from the Mediterranean Sea, which had been heated to record levels over the summer. Europe is the fastest warming continent, with temperatures rising at around twice the global rate. That makes it particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events, from the floods in central Europe to the wildfires still burning in northern Portugal and Greece. We have a Europe that is simultaneously flooding and burning, said the European Unions crisis commissioner, Janez Lenarcic. This tragedy is not an anomaly. Its fast become a norm for our shared future. Europe must step up its response after the annual cost of disasters surpassed 50 billion ($56 billion) in 2021 and 2022, more than six times the average in the 1980s, Lenarcic told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Czech Republic has requested support through the EUs crisis mechanism, while an offer has also been made to Slovenia. ING Bank put the preliminary estimate of the total damage in the Czech Republic alone at around 0.5% of gross domestic product, or about 40 billion koruna ($1.8 billion). The floods have triggered emergency measures in Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania, after thousands of people were evacuated. In Lower Austria, 24 towns are still difficult or impossible to access via road. St Poelten, the capital of Lower Austria, had 409 millimeters (16 inches) of rain over five days, almost double the previous five-day record, according to weather service data going back to 1937. This is a modal window.The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported. While many parts of the region start clean-up efforts, Budapest is preparing for peak flows in the Danube, which may only come as late as Friday. Authorities have closed sections of road and rail tracks along the river. Further downstream, Romanian authorities are also monitoring the Danube, with flows expected to double by early next week. The death toll in Poland rose to seven as the rising Oder river threatens Wroclaw, the countrys third largest city and the epicenter of massive floods 27 years ago. Prime Minister Donald Tusks government announced on Wednesday it will provide financial assistance for 12 months to mortgage-holders who lost their property. It has also consulted banks about the suspension of loan repayments for other types of loans. The Czech Interior Ministry said three people have been confirmed dead, while seven more are still missing. Some roads and railways remain closed but water levels have begun to recede in many of the worst-hit areas. The army has deployed soldiers and heavy machinery to help with clean-up works. Top photo: Residents remove furniture damaged by floodwaters following heavy rainfall in Nysa, southwestern Poland, on Sept. 17. Photographer: Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg. Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. WASHINGTON New advisories from the U.S. State Department warn that if you are traveling to Europe, you should exercise increased caution in some countries for fear of terrorist activity. The State Department issued a warning on Tuesday, Sept., 17, for Denmark, cautioning that terrorist groups continue to plan attacks there. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas, the advisory cautions. The advisory is a Level Two warning that calls for exercising increased caution. Level Three (Reconsider Travel) and Level Four (Do Not Travel) advisories are the two more serious levels. This advisory also covers Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which are part of the kingdom of Denmark. That advisory comes on the heels of a similar warning for travelers to Italy. Like the warnings about Denmark, that Level Two advisory, issued Thursday, Sept. 12, cautions travelers about possible terrorism actions. Terrorist attacks are possible in Italy. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, the advisory said. The warnings for European travelers are the second and third posted since May. Thats when the State Department cautioned that terrorist attacks in Germany were a possibility. The only more serious warnings issued in the last year for European travel were for countries impacted by the war in Ukraine. Do-not-travel warnings were issued for Ukraine (May 2023), Belarus (July 2023) and Russia (September 2023) in connection with the fighting. If youre traveling to any of these European countries, the State Department recommends you take the following precautions: Be aware of your surroundings when traveling to tourist locations and crowded public venues. Follow instructions of local authorities. Monitor local media for breaking events and adjust plans based on new information. Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program STEP ) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency. Review the State Departments Country Security Report for the countries. Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention online to learn the latest Travel Health Information related to your travel. Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the State Departments Travelers Checklist Travelers may also want to follow the State Department on Facebook and Twitter for any updates, the advisory states. New Delhi, Sep 18 (UNI) As many as seven people have been rescued, and several are feared to be trapped under the debris after a two-story house collapsed in central Delhis Karol Bagh area on Wednesday. We received the information about the incident at 9:11 AM and immediately dispatched five fire tenders to the spot at Bapa Nagar in Karol Bagh. The rescue operation is still underway, Delhi Fire Services officials told UNI. No causalities have been reported in the incident so far. Terming the incident as unfortunate, Delhi Chief Minister designate Atishi ordered the District Magistrate to provide all possible help to the victims and called for an inquiry into the incident. In a social media post on X, Atishi said, This incident of house collapse in Karol Bagh area is very sad. I have ordered the District Magistrate to provide all possible help to the people living there and the victims; if anyone is injured, get him treated and find out the reasons for this accident. I have also spoken to the Municipal Corporation Mayor regarding the accident, she said. Highlighting that there has been a lot of rain this year, Atishi further asked people to inform the administration and the corporation if they get in contact with any accident related to construction and said that the government will immediately help you. UNI-PSP GNK Tehran, Sep 18 (UNI) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will depart for New York on Sunday to attend and deliver a speech at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 79), the official news agency IRNA reported Tuesday. His speech is scheduled for September. 24, the first day of the high-level General Debate, during which he will expound on the Iranian people's viewpoints, IRNA said. During his stay in New York, Pezeshkian is expected to meet with Iranian nationals living in the United States, media and think tank directors, high-ranking officials from other countries, and religious leaders, it said. The president told a press conference in Tehran on Monday that his participation in the UNGA 79 would be aimed at defending the rights, attitudes, and beliefs of Iranians. Pezeshkian was sworn in as Iran's ninth president on July 30, replacing Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. UNI/XINHUA ARN RC Tunisian Prez Kais Saied re-elected: Preliminary results 08 Oct 2024 | 8:22 AM Tunis, Oct 8 (UNI) Preliminary results showed that Tunisian President Kais Saied has been re-elected for a second term, after winning 90.69 percent of the vote in Sunday's presidential election, the country's Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) said here Monday. see more.. Brazil: 200 feared trapped under debris after landslide at port 08 Oct 2024 | 8:10 AM Rio de Janeiro, Oct 8 (UNI) Some 200 people are feared buried under debris of a landslide that occurred on Monday in a port area of Manacapuru, Brazil's Amazonas state, according to official sources. see more.. Jordan evacuates 44 nationals from Lebanon 08 Oct 2024 | 7:52 AM Amman, Oct 8 (UNI) A group of 44 Jordanians was evacuated from Lebanon on Monday aboard a plane from Jordan's military forces. see more.. Hezbollah fires 5 rockets at central Israel: Army 08 Oct 2024 | 7:52 AM Jerusalem/Beirut, Oct 8 (UNI) Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon fired about five rockets at central Israel on Monday night, setting off sirens around Tel Aviv but causing no casualties, according to Israeli authorities. see more.. Nigerian troops kill 4 bandits, rescue 20 hostages in anti-terror operations Abuja, Sep 18 (UNI) At least four bandits were killed and 20 hostages rescued by Nigerian troops during separate anti-terror raids in the northwestern state of Kaduna early Tuesday, local authorities said. The troops combed thick bushes suspected to be the hideouts of some bandits in Birnin Gwari and Giwa local government area to carry out the "successful operations" on Tuesday, Samuel Aruwan, the commissioner for internal security and home affairs in Kaduna, told reporters. Citing credible intelligence by the military ahead of the operations, the official said a special clearance raid was held in one of the locations, and an ambush was carried out along a withdrawal route of bandits in another location. Pyongyang, Sep 18 (UNI) North Korea has fired a second missile that appears to have already fallen into the sea, the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Japan Coast Guard. At the same time, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, citing the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the latest launch by Pyongyang included several short-range ballistic missiles. Earlier in the day, the Kyodo news agency reported that North Korea launched what appears to be a ballistic missile that fell into the sea outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. On Thursday, the Japanese Defense Ministry said that Pyongyang launched several ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan. That was North Korea's first ballistic missile launch since July 1. UNI/SPUTNIK AKS A tugboat pushes a barge near the United States Steel Corp. Clairton Coke Works facility in Clairton, Pennsylvania, US, on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. A national security committee reviewing Nippon Steel's bid for U.S. Stee l granted a request by the companies to refile their bid for approval of the deal, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, giving the Biden administration until after the U.S. presidential election to make a decision about whether to block the deal. CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, needs more time to understand the impact of national security and engage with the parties, the person added. Refiling sets a new 90-day clock to review the proposed tie-up and make a decision. President Joe Biden, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump have said they want U.S. Steel to remain in American hands. CFIUS, U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris addresses members of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 17, 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday laid out how her economic proposals could specifically help young Black men, a key Democratic voting bloc that polls show Republican former President Donald Trump gaining ground with in this election cycle. "I think it's very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody's pocket," Harris said in a sit-down interview with a panel from the National Association of Black Journalists. "I'm working to earn the vote, not assuming I'm going to have it because I am Black." A new poll by the civil rights group NAACP released Friday found that more than a quarter of Black men under 50 years old support Trump over Harris. To win those votes, Harris is focused on an economic argument. At NABJ, she described embarking on an "economic opportunity tour focused on Black men" earlier this year, before she was a candidate for president. She also pointed to her work "getting billions more dollars" into community banks to expand access to startup capital. "We have so many entrepreneurs in the community who do not have access to capital, but they've got great ideas, an incredible work ethic, the ambition, the aspiration, the dream ... but don't have the relationships, necessarily" to get financing or grow a small business, Harris said. The Democratic presidential nominee cited proposals like a $50,000 small business tax deduction and the elimination of medical debt from credit scores both of which she believes would target historic economic disparities within Black communities. "When they do better economically, we all do better," said Harris. Proposals like these could help Harris address two distinct vulnerabilities for the Democratic party in this election cycle: public perceptions of the economy, and young Black men who lean toward voting for Trump. At Salesforce 's annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, CEO Marc Benioff told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday about the real-life use cases for his company's new artificial intelligence product, "Agentforce," saying the technology can help overworked medical professionals. "Our doctors and our nurses are just way burnt out after the pandemic," Benioff said. "We were able to do the scheduling and other aspects of the patient interaction, and we're going to resolve this doctor burnout issue." Agentforce is a platform meant to automate certain functions, and Benioff has previously described how it helps clients like ADP , OpenTable, Wyndham and Wiley . For example, Benioff explained that Agentforce allowed publisher Wiley to complete extra work during its back to school busy season instead of having to hire temporary employees. Benioff said Agentforce can schedule MRIs and visits and answer basic questions about lab results, freeing up doctors' time to focus on less menial tasks. Benioff claimed that Agentforce's capabilities are more advanced than other automated customer services functions that can lead to frustration. "We can make those customers successful with their customers in these incredible new ways," he said. "And it's so much more than just go away with the 'hit one for sales, hit two for service, hit three for marketing.' It's not about that." Google-parent Alphabet has long been an investor favorite among tech stocks, but one portfolio manager says he's now steering clear. "We've been big fans of Alphabet's Google now for many years. However, we think with the introduction of AI, SearchGPT has become a direct competitor to Google['s] search business," Jordan Cvetanovski, from Sydney-headquartered Pella Funds, said, adding that its advertising business is also under threat. SearchGPT is a prototype developed by the Microsoft -backed OpenAI which combines traditional features of a search engine with generative AI. Speaking to CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Monday, Cvetanovski, Pella Funds' founder, chief investment officer and portfolio manager, said that Alphabet had seemingly "dropped the ball on AI over the years." He foresees challenges for the company as many users access Google's search engine through Apple devices, but OpenAI announced in June that it would be integrating ChatGPT into Apple products as part of a new partnership. "We're wondering how that kind of plays out as well, and even if [Google] were able to fend off some of these threats, we think the cost will go up. So then there's question marks about the margins of the company going forward," Cvetanovski added. Another concern he has is a potential break-up of the company in the future and what that would entail if it happens. "There's considerable question marks over Google. It's done well over the last several years. The valuation is really not cheap to cover these risks at this stage for us ... So, after many years, we've decided to exit this company," Cvetanovski added. His comments come even as Alphabet's second-quarter results met Wall Street's expectations with earnings per share coming in at $1.89 compared to $1.84 expected while revenue was $84.74 billion, vs. $84.19 billion penciled. Shares in Alphabet are up around 13% year-to-date and trade around 20.6 times forward earnings, according to FactSet data. GOOGL YTD mountain Year-to-date shares in Alphabet Unlike Cvetanovski, the majority of analysts remain bullish on the stock. According to FactSet data, of the 64 analysts covering the stock, 50 give it a buy or overweight rating, while just 14 have a hold rating. Analysts' average price target is $203.13, giving it 28.5% potential upside. 'Core investments' Beyond Alphabet, Cvetanovski remains bullish on other tech stocks, naming Nvidia , Vertiv , ASML , Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Schneider Electric as his "core investments." Touching on Nvidia, the chief investment officer said the chipmaker will "continue to be at the forefront" of the industry, and benefit from an investment wave into hardware. The artificial intelligence darling continues to make headlines, with the stock up over 135% over the year to date, despite falling around 10% over the last three months. NVDA YTD mountain Year-to-date shares in Nvidia There is "a lot of concentration" in the stock, Cvetanovski said, and flagged how markets are now reacting whenever there's news pertaining to the chipmaker. "There's a lot kind of riding on how well Nvidia does ... If Nvidia does slip up, it could bring trouble for markets in the short-term," he added. Still, Cvetanovski says the stock has some "very attractive opportunities." "If you look at the chart of Nvidia, [it] does make you concerned, but you really have to think about what's underlying that kind of valuation," he said. Nvidia is trading at over 41 times forward earnings, according to FactSet data. Of the 63 analysts covering the stock, 59 give it a buy or overweight rating, while just four have a hold rating. Analysts' average price target is $149.49, giving it 28% potential upside, FactSet data shows. "Nvidia is one to watch, and that will drive flow, and it will drive the markets in the short term, but medium term, I think it's looking okay," Cvetanovski added. CNBC's Jennifer Elias contributed to this report. Technopark maintains ISO certifications for quality, environment, and safety management 07 Oct 2024 | 8:50 PM Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 7 (UNI) In a significant achievement, Technopark reaffirms its adherence to globally recognised ISO standards. see more.. JSW Ventures invests USD 1 8 mln in Aereos Series B to boost drone-driven AI solutions 07 Oct 2024 | 8:31 PM New Delhi, Oct 7 (UNI) JSW Ventures, an early-stage institutional venture capital fund sponsored by the family office of the diversified conglomerate JSW Group, on Monday announced that it has invested USD 1.8 million in Aereo, an aerial intelligence platform, as part of its Series B funding round. see more.. Amazon launches ambulance service for delivery associates 07 Oct 2024 | 7:37 PM New Delhi, Oct 7 (UNI) Online retail major Amazon India on Monday launched ambulance services for delivery associates in partnership with Dial 4242. see more.. Kottayam-Kochi Rubber Market rates 07 Oct 2024 | 6:47 PM Kottayam, Oct 7 (UNI) Following were the Rubber Market rates announced by the Rubber Board here on Monday per quintal. see more.. A Google logo displays on a smartphone screen and the European flag on a computer screen. The European Union's second-highest court on Wednesday said a 1.5 billion euro ($1.7 billion) fine imposed on Google by regulators should be annulled, siding with the U.S. tech giant after it challenged the ruling. The case stems from 2019 when the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Alphabet owned Google had abused its market dominance in relation to a product called AdSense for Search. This product allowed website owners to deliver ads into the search results on their own pages. Google acts as an intermediary allowing advertisers to serve ads via search on third-party websites. But the commission alleged that Google abused its market dominance by imposing a number of restrictive clauses in contracts with third-party websites, which ultimately prevented rivals from placing their search ads on these websites. The commission fined Google 1.49 billion euros at the time. Google appealed, sending the case to the EU's General Court. While top executives from Alphabet , Meta and Microsoft headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a hearing on election threats, Elon Musk's X did not participate, according the office of the Senate Intelligence Committee chair. A representative for Sen. Mark R. Warner, the Democratic chair, said in an emailed statement that X "declined to send an appropriate witness." No further details were provided. A spokesperson for X told CNBC that the company's invited witness was Nick Pickles, who had been the head of global affairs but "resigned on September 6." Warner's office said X declined to send a replacement after Pickles' departure. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is being represented by Kent Walker, the president and chief legal officer, while Meta's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, represents the social networking company. Microsoft President Brad Smith is representing the software giant. The hearing, which is being led by Warner, of Virginia, and committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is centered around lawmakers' concerns over foreign entities that are attempting to influence the outcome of the presidential elections in November using the biggest tech platforms. Alphabet and Microsoft recently published research into the efforts by Iranian and Russian hacking groups to influence or attack officials linked to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The hackers have used various tactics including spear phishing. The Biden administration said on Sept. 4 that it's targeting Russian government-sponsored attempts to affect U.S. public opinion. "We will be relentlessly aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by Russia, Iran, as well as China or any other foreign malign actor" attempting to "interfere in elections and undermine our members," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement at the time. X's absence from the Wednesday hearing follows a streak of divisive posts by Musk, the world's richest person, on the app, formerly known as Twitter, which he acquired in 2022. Musk has nearly 200 million listed followers. After a second apparent assassination attempt against Republican former Trump on Sunday, Musk shared and then deleted a post in which he wondered why "no one" was making assassination threats against Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Biden and Harris have both received assassination threats while in office. European news agencies reported this week that Musk has previously shared content on X that had been created by the Social Design Agency, which led a propaganda campaign at the Kremlin's direction, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. On Wednesday, Musk shared a false story on X that claimed explosives were found in a car near a planned Trump rally in Long Island, New York. According to a statement from Nassau County police, a civilian near the site of the rally had falsely reported explosives being found. In the early stages of the meeting Wednesday afternoon, Warner said "it's a shame" that no one from X appeared. He said that, prior to Musk's takeover, the company was a "collaborator." "Under X, they are absent and some of the most egregious activity has taken place" on the platform, Warner said. WATCH: SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach Hand-held radios used by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon's south, further stoking tensions with Israel a day after similar explosions hit the group's pagers. Lebanon's health ministry said 14 people were killed and about 450 injured on Wednesday in Beirut's suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, while the death toll from Tuesday's explosions rose to 12, including two children, with nearly 3,000 injured. Israeli officials have not commented on the blasts, but security sources said Israel's spy agency Mossad was responsible. One Hezbollah official said the episode was the biggest security breach in the group's history. The operations, which appeared to throw Hezbollah into disarray, played out alongside Israel's 11-month-old war in Gaza and heightened fears of an escalation on its Lebanese border and the risk of a full-blown regional war. "We are opening a new phase in the war. It requires courage, determination and perseverance from us," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in remarks at an air force base. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation on many fronts. The U.S., which denied any involvement in the blasts, said it was involved in intensive diplomacy to avert an escalation of the conflict. At least one of Wednesday's blasts in Lebanon took place near a funeral organized by Iran-backed Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of the group's pagers exploded across the country and wounded many of its fighters. A Reuters reporter in the southern suburbs of Beirut said he saw Hezbollah members frantically taking batteries out of any walkie-talkies that had not exploded, tossing the parts in metal barrels. Hezbollah turned to pagers and other low-tech communications devices in an attempt to evade Israeli surveillance of mobile phones. Lebanon's Red Cross said on X that it was responding with 30 ambulance teams to multiple explosions in different areas, including the south of Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Images of the exploded walkie-talkies showed labels with "ICOM" and "made in Japan." According to its website, ICOM, which did not immediately reply to a request for comment, is a Japan-based radio communications and telephone company. The company has said that production of model IC-V82, which appeared to be the model in the images, was phased out in 2014. The hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time as the pagers, a security source said. In Tuesday's explosions, sources said Israeli spies remotely detonated explosives they planted in a Hezbollah order of 5,000 pagers before they entered the country. The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday over the pager blasts after a request by Arab states. Iran will follow up on an attack targeting its ambassador in Lebanon, the Iranian envoy to the United Nations said in a letter, saying it "reserves its rights under international law to take required measures deemed necessary to respond." A Lebanese army soldier gestures to an ambulance rushing wounded people to a hospital in Beirut on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters. A Taiwanese pager maker denied on Wednesday that it had produced devices that wounded thousands of Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon when they exploded, an audacious attack that raised the prospect of a full-scale war between the Iran-backed group and arch-foe Israel. Gold Apollo said the devices were made by under licence by a company called BAC, based in Hungary's capital Budapest. Israel's spy agency Mossad, which has a long history of pulling off sophisticated attacks on foreign soil, planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters. The death toll rose to 12, including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said on Wednesday. The attack wounded nearly 3,000 people, including many of the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October, fuelling fears of a wider Middle East conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation on many fronts. "Hezbollah wants to avoid an all-out war. It still wants to avoid one. But given the scale, the impact on families, on civilians, there will be pressure for a stronger response," said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center. Hezbollah, Iran's most powerful proxy in the Middle East, said in a statement it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should await a response to the pager "massacre" which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalized or dead. One Hezbollah official said the detonation was the group's "biggest security breach" in its history. Japan commemorated its "Respect for the Aged Day" earlier this week, with the national holiday underscoring a somewhat problematic fact the country has a record number of elderly citizens to celebrate. Government data released ahead of the event showed that Japan's population aged 65 and over had risen to an all-time high of 36.25 million. While the country's overall population has been declining, the segment of those aged 65 and above has grown to 29.3% of the population, the highest share of any country, according to the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. According to Robert Feldman, senior advisor at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, the data fuels further concerns about demographic shifts and a labor crunch in the country. A survey from Teikoku Databank last month showed that 51% of companies across sectors in Japan feel there is a shortage of full-time employees. "The labor shortage is just as bad as ever," said Feldman, noting that it's especially felt in labor-intensive industries such as food service. Meanwhile, 2023 saw the number of Japan's workers aged 65 and over rise for a 20th consecutive year to reach a record 9.14 million, Statistics Bureau data showed. Feldman warned that as these elderly workers begin to retire from the workforce, there won't be the same number of young workers stepping up to replace them. JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon gestures as he speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on Wall Street firms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2023. JPMorgan Chase has created a new global role overseeing all junior bankers in an effort to better manage their workload after the death of a Bank of America associate in May forced Wall Street to examine how it treats its youngest employees. The firm named Ryland McClendon its global investment banking associate and analyst leader in a memo sent this month, CNBC has learned. Associates and analysts are on the two lowest rungs in Wall Street's hierarchy for investment banking and trading; recent college graduates flock to the roles for the high pay and opportunities they can provide. The memo specifically stated that McClendon, a 14-year JPMorgan veteran and former banker who was previously head of talent and career development, would support the "well-being and success" of junior bankers. The move shows how JPMorgan, the biggest American investment bank by revenue, is responding to the latest untimely death on Wall Street. In May, Bank of America's Leo Lukenas III died after reportedly working 100-hour weeks on a bank merger. Later that month, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said his bank was examining what it could learn from the tragedy. Then, starting in August, JPMorgan's senior managers instructed their investment banking teams that junior bankers should typically work no more than 80 hours, part of a renewed focus to track their workload, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Exceptions can be made for live deals, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about the internal policy. A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. Taiwanese pager manufacturer Gold Apollo rejected reports that it produced the devices at the center of deadly attacks in Lebanon that killed at least 12 people and injured nearly 3,000 others. Thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members around Lebanon simultaneously exploded on Tuesday evening, sending local emergency services into overdrive as hospitals filled up with wounded patients. Lebanese security sources have been reported as saying that the devices contained explosives planted by Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. "The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," Hsu Ching-kuang, founder and president of Gold Apollo, told reporters in the Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday, according to Reuters. He then said that the devices a model called the AR-924 were made by a company called BAC Consulting, based in Budapest, Hungary. Gold Apollo said in a statement cited by Reuters that it had authorized BAC "to use our brand trademark for product sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC." BAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC. Iran-backed Hezbollah, a militant and political organization that wields significant power in Lebanon, said it distributed the pagers to its members, many of whom had stopped using cell phones to evade Israeli surveillance. Hezbollah called the act an "Israeli aggression"; Israel, meanwhile, has not commented on the blasts. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those injured, while a son of a Hezbollah member of parliament was killed in the attack. The Lebanese group, which has near-daily exchanges of fire with Israel to its south, has vowed retaliation, raising fears of all-out war in a region already ravaged by conflict. Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets into Israel in the nearly 12 months since the latter began its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 7. Tens of thousands of people in both Lebanon and Israel have been evacuated from their homes. Hezbollah's leadership has previously said it does not seek a wider war, but would fight if provoked by Israel. Just hours before the mass pager detonation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his government's aim to return its citizens those displaced by Hezbollah attacks to their homes in Israel's north. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with former U.S. President Donald Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. Republican nominee Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week. Speaking at his first public appearance following Sunday's apparent assassination attempt, Trump said Modi is "fantastic" but also called India a "very big abuser" as he criticized several countries for their trade policies with the U.S. "So when India, which is a very big abuser- he happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic, man," Trump said at at town hall in Flint, Michigan. "These, a lot of these leaders are fantastic ... You know the expression, they're at the top of their game, and they use it against us. But India is very tough." Trump did not provide further details on the meeting. The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. As president, Trump visited India in 2020, vowing to boost trade ties between the two countries. The U.S. is currently India's second-largest trading partner, behind China. Modi is scheduled to visit the U.S. from Sept. 21 to 23, and will partake in the fourth Quad Leaders' Summit in Wilmington, Delaware hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. The Indian prime minister is also slated to attend and speak before the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This will be Modi's first visit to the U.S. since he won a historic third term in office in June. Here are Wednesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Stifel initiates Penumbra as buy Stifel said it is bullish on shares of the medical device company. "We also believe PEN is well-positioned as one of few MedTech companies with positive free cash flow and high growth." HSBC initiates KKR as buy HSBC said the private equity company is well positioned. "We initiate coverage on KKR & Co with a Buy rating and TP of USD148, as we think the market under-appreciates its significant earnings growth prospects." Bernstein reiterates Apple as outperform Bernstein urged investors to calm following concerns about weaker iPhone demand for Apple. "There has been some investor concern about weaker lead/wait times for new iPhones, and potentially lower associated order volumes." Bank of America reiterates FedEx as buy Bank of America lowered its price target to $345 per share from $347 but said it is bullish heading into earnings next week. " FedEx is set to report F1Q25 results on Thursday (Sept 19)." Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said Tesla remains a top pick at the firm. "The growth of global data center emissions feeds the Tesla Energy bull case while highlighting existential compliance risk to auto OEMs [original equipment manufacturers]." BTIG upgrades GE HealthCare to buy from neutral BTIG said the setup is improving for shares of the medical solutions and systems company. "After a tough 1H24 where dynamics within China hampered results, we think the set-up for GEHC is improved." UBS initiates Talen Energy as buy UBS said the energy company has "underappreciated upside potential." "We initiate TLN with a Buy rating." JPMorgan initiates Civitas Resources as overweight JPMorgan said the carbon energy producer has significant buyback potential. "We are initiating coverage of Civitas Resources (CIVI) with an Overweight rating and a Dec-25 price target of $67." Wells Fargo reiterates Micron as overweight Wells Fargo lowered its price target on the stock to $175 per share from $190 but says it is standing by the stock ahead of earnings next week. "We de-risk our forward MU ests, but view concerns we're entering a 1H25 DRAM down-cycle as overdone." Barclays upgrades VF Corporation to overweight from equal weight Barclays said the owner of brands such as Vans is too attractive to ignore. "We are upgrading shares of VFC to Overweight from Equal Weight as we believe the risk-reward is attractive at current levels." Barclays upgrades Victoria's Secret to equal weight from underweight Barclays said it sees a more balanced risk/reward. "We are upgrading shares of VSCO as we see balanced risk vs. reward given: 1) new leadership with greater impact on CY25; 2) sufficiently low 2H24 consensus expectations." Wolfe downgrades ResMed to underperform from peer perform Wolfe said in its downgrade of the sleep apnea company that it sees too many risks for ResMed. "We believe Lilly's launch of an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) indication for its GLP-1 medication tirzepatide poses significant patient funnel disruption/distortion risks." Bank of America reiterates TJX Companies, Burlington and Ross as buy Bank of America said the off-price retailers are best positioned for younger generations. "We remain Buy-rated on BURL , ROST, and TJX as we think these share shifts indicate a long runway for market share gains." Bank of America reiterates Starbucks as buy The firm said it is standing by shares of the coffee giant. "We raise our PO [price offering] to $118 vs $112 prior as we apply a higher relative multiple to reflect our greater confidence in SBUX execution." Goldman Sachs initiates Marriott as buy Goldman Sachs said the hotel company is a high-quality compounder. " MAR' s higher indexing to US full-service, luxury and urban hotels (which equals high end business and group travel) manifests as a more back-end loaded recovery vs. leisure which led the recovery this time. As such, though leisure trends have been stagnating a little, business is still in recovery-mode." Needham initiates Super Micro Computer as buy Needham called the data center artificial intelligence company the "coolest kid in AI town." "We are initiating coverage of Supermicro (SMCI) with a Buy rating and $600 PT." Guggenheim upgrades Sirius XM to buy from neutral Guggenheim said it is bullish on shares of Sirius XM. "Looking Through Near-Term Technical Headwinds to a Robust FCF Outlook, Capital Returns, and Stabilizing Subscriber Picture." Bank of America reiterates Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and Uber as buy Bank of America said the internet tech companies are the best way for "more defensive positioning." We highlight Google, Meta , Amazon , and Uber as potential beneficiaries in the sector during the downturn phase of the economic cycle for more defensive positioning." William Blair initiates Nvidia as outperform William Blair said the company is a "leader in parallel computing." " Nvidia has a long and storied history of designing parallel computing systems to handle complex processing tasks." William Blair initiates Broadcom as outperform William Blair said in its initiation of the stock that it has plenty more room to run. "We see room for continued steady growth going into fiscal 2025 and 2026 driven by increasing custom chip demand, improved software monetization, recovery in non- AI semis, and accelerating growth of Ethernet AI network fabrics built on top of Broadcom's networking solutionsEthernet is just starting to displace InfiniBand as the solution of choice for AI networks." JPMorgan reiterates Roku as overweight JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock to $90 per share from $80 following a series of investor meetings. " Roku could not have been more clear that its top priority is Platform monetization, with mgmt reiterating its expectation for Platform revenue growth to accelerate in 4Q/2025 driven by third- party DSP [demand side platforms] partnerships, home screen changes, and subscriptions." William Blair reiterates Arm as outperform The firm said it has "best-in-class financials." "Arm provides critical computing IP that underpins more than $200 billion in chip value across the mobile, automotive, IoT, and data center markets." NSE Tata Consultancy Services on Wednesday, September 18, said it has inked a deal with McDonald's Philippines to modernise its IT landscapes across its over 760 outlets.The company signed the agreement with the George Yang-led Golden Arches Development Corporation (GADC), the master franchise holder of McDonald's in the Philippines. This partnership is TCS' first with the fast food chain in the APAC region and it aims to standardise and digitise the IT operations at its outlets in the Philippines, the company said.TCS will implement an advanced upgrade of McDonald's current systems in the Philippines to the cloud (SAP S/4HANA on RISE), the company said. By harnessing its deep industry expertise and contextual knowledge in SAP-led business systems transformation, TCS will upgrade the IT infrastructure of the franchise holder, resulting in better insights, improved decision making and optimised operational performance, it added."The implementation of SAP S/4HANA on RISE will provide us greater agility through data-driven insights, enabling us to continuously improve our customer and employee experience," Margot Torres, the managing director of GADC, said.TCS said it will also future-proof GADC's processes to support its growth plan. Through the SAP business technology platform (BTP), TCS will provide development of integration services encompassing app development, automation, data analystics and artificial intelligence, the company said."By leveraging the advanced capabilities of SAP S/4HANA and the innovative potential of SAP BTP, we aim to enhance McDonald's operational efficiency and customer experience, for business innovation and excellence," Shiju Varghese, the country head at TCS Philippines, said.TCS said it will also integrate other SAP capabilities to ensure comprehensive data management and automation solutions tailored to GADC's needs. These integrations will significantly enhance the fast food chain's proficiency in financial management, material management, enterprise asset management, project management, sales and distribution, user interface, and master data management, it added."Implementing SAP S/4HANA on RISE will empower them with cutting-edge technology, ensuring McDonald's stays ahead in the fast-evolving food service industry," Rudy Abrahams, the president and managing director at SAP Philippines, said.TCS has been operating in Philippines since 2008 and has more than 5,000 employees in the country. The company said it supports customers across sectors such as telecom, finance, banking, real estate and airlines. It added that it has also been recognised as a top employer in the Philippines from 2017 to 2024.TCS shares were trading 3.12% lower at 4,365 apiece at 12.15 pm on Wednesday, September 16. The stock has gained 14.5% this year, so far and 21.02% in the last 12 months. Chinese automaker Changan debuts premium EV brand AVATR in Thailand Xinhua) 13:06, September 18, 2024 BANGKOK, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese automaker Changan Automobile officially launched its premium electric vehicle (EV) brand AVATR in Thailand on Tuesday in a move to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian country's upscale automotive market. The event showcased the debut of the AVATR 11, an SUV coupe that marks Changan's fourth model introduction in Thailand, following the launches of the Deepal L07 and S07 last year and the Lumin L earlier this year. Available in both standard and long-range variants, the AVATR 11 features a modern, luxurious design, state-of-the-art battery technology, and advanced driving assistance systems, positioning it as a strong contender in the luxury EV segment. "AVATR is committed to leading in the development of EVs, meeting current needs, and moving toward a future of smart automotive solutions connected to daily life," said Shen Xinghua, managing director of Changan Auto Southeast Asia. Together with its major partners, China's leading battery manufacturer CATL and technology giant Huawei, Changan has developed cutting-edge automotive innovations, signifying a new era of intelligent driving where technology and convenience are seamlessly integrated, Shen told the launch event. In his opening speech, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Pirapan Salirathavibhaga highlighted the importance of investments from Chinese carmakers in stimulating the economy and aiding the development of Thailand's industrial sector. Last year, Changan announced an investment of 8.86 billion baht (about 265 million U.S. dollars) to construct its first overseas EV production plant in Thailand, which is scheduled to start operation in 2025 with an initial capacity of 100,000 units per year. Thailand has long been a regional automotive manufacturing and export hub. With the government's investment promotion efforts, the nation aims to convert 30 percent of its annual auto production into EVs by 2030. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) University of Texas at Austin police arrested Nicholas Clisby, a McCombs School of Business human resources employee, this month for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender in the state. Clisby, a registered sex offender in Oregon, was required by law to register within seven days of moving to Texas but reportedly did not, despite living in the state since 2023, according to The Daily Texan, the university's student newspaper. He started his position at the university in June. He is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 27. Clisby, previously convicted in 2014 in Oregon for "using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct," claimed his conviction was "overturned" and he didn't need to register in Texas. However, Oregon officials told the outlet that there is no record of an appeal. University spokesperson Mike Rosen told The Daily Texan that Clisbys employment was terminated after the school learned of his sex offender status and failure to register. The University conducted a background check before hiring him, but it did not reveal his complete criminal history. Clisby is registered as a level-two sex offender in Oregon, though this level does not appear in the public database. The first drinking game was invented in the year 3500 B.C., when people at a party ran out of things to talk about. Weve continued these games ever since. The issue isnt that we need an excuse to drink. Wed drink regardless. We just believe that drinking is more fun sometimes with codified rules. Except for those times when the rules end up being not fun at all. 5 The Contest That Lost Guam Guam was in a strange position in the 19th century, when a bunch of Spaniards were walking around like they owned the place. Into this setting, we have the account of Captain Anderson, a Scottish man posted to the island along with a bunch of other British officers. Anderson cozied up to the islands governor (possibly Pablo Perez, who had the official title of Governor of the Spanish Mariana Islands). By getting the man thoroughly drunk, Anderson was able to physically expel him from the governors home and let in his own men, who now controlled the armory, and with it, the whole island. Don't Miss Now, the British had to decide among themselves which of them would replace the ousted governor as Guams chief dignitary. The most meritocratic way to choose this was for all the men to drink. At any time during this contest, a man could decide hed hit his capacity and withdraw, and the last man standing would win the title. Louis Le Breton Its a good system. It ensures a strong leader, and no special interests have a say. None of them formally did win the title. Instead, they all got so drunk that the Spanish were easily able to retake the house and bind the men, hand and foot. As punishment, the organizers of the coup were put on a raft and exiled. This raft very soon bounced right back to shore, whereupon the governor pardoned the men, figuring theyd done no long-term harm. 4 Stalins Game of Guess-the-Temperature When you hear the phrase the party of Stalin, you probably think about the Communist Party, and something about millions dying. But Stalin was also known for his dinner parties, held in his personal residence in Moscow once World War II ended. First, you would receive an invitation, and when the time for the soiree approached, armed guards would arrive to escort you there. Declining the invite wasnt an option. The chief of the secret police, Lavrenty Beria, would always be present and would report guests who didnt drink enough. Guests didnt want to get drunk, for fear of what mistakes they might make once their inhibitions fell away, but drinking was mandatory. Stalin, meanwhile, diluted his own drinks or skipped drinking altogether, following instructions from his doctor. Advertisement A. Oshurkov A leader who doesnt drink is a leader you cannot trust. One time, guests had to play a game in which each of them had to guess the rooms temperature. For every degree they were off, they had to drink one shot of vodka. Beria himself missed the right temperature by three degrees then claimed to have done so on purpose, because thats how much vodka he wanted to drink. Other guests apparently werent such fans of the festivities because they excused themselves and hid in the bathroom to wait it out. Beria then retrieved them from there and brought them out to face Stalins wrath. 3 Alexander the Great Tried a Funeral Drinking Game. Most Died Advertisement Alexander the Great had an adviser named Kalanos, who liked getting naked. Kalanos was a thinker from India who believed that clothes got in the way of thinking. The Greeks had a name for such wise men: gymnosophists, which means naked philosophers. When Kalanos first met Alexander, he insisted they both get naked, to better communicate. The two men went on to share a fine friendship, until 73-year-old Kalanos one day set himself on fire and died. Jean Baptiste de Champaigne Heres Alex receiving the news. Disrespectfully, everyone is wearing clothes. For Kalanos funeral, Alex held a wine drinking contest, in which the winner would get a gold crown. This winner was a man named Promachus, who drank four pitchers. That sounds impressive even before you learn that these pitchers held about three quarts each. That means he drank about 15 bottles of wine. Advertisement You might not be surprised then to learn that Promachus died within three days. Sadly, he wasnt the only one. Forty-one other participants died, and the chills they suffered along the way suggest that something was wrong with that wine even without drinking three gallons of the stuff. Wed ask Kalanos what he thinks about this, but he could not be reached for comment. Advertisement 2 Eighth-Century Punching We dont have historical accounts of this next game. What we do have is a 14-sided artifact, dating back to the eighth century and uncovered in 1975 during an archaeological dig. Normally, when we find some ancient object like this, we can only theorize about what purpose it served. We found a bunch of 12-sided Roman artifacts over the years, for example, and we still dont know what theyre for. But this object from Gyeongju, South Korea, had text written all over it, letting us know quite clearly what it is. Drink three glasses of liquor at one time, says one side. Finish an entire cup while interlocking arms with a companion, says another. This object is a 14-sided die, and people must have rolled it as part of a drinking game. Advertisement Historical and Traditional Games The artifact is top-left. The other pictures show each of the objects faces. Those prompts sound fun enough. So does one that reads, Sing the song Weolgyeong. (Weolgyeong, we assume, was a major K-pop hit in the year 760. Were a little less sure about one that says, Drink from a cup without removing the dirty thing floating in it, with no elaboration. And you better hope that the die didnt land on , which read, Have your nose struck by many companions. Advertisement You can construct yourself a replica of that die today, but you cant roll the original. The archivists messed up when they were trying to preserve it, and they ended up destroying it. This is probably for the best, as this artifact was too powerful for humans to possess. Is the Japanese voice cast a passable impersonation of the real thing, or does Texan not translate well? King of the Hill is a big hit in Japan, but its localization in the Land of the Rising Sun has its controversies and not just because of everything Cotton said about and did to the Tojos. American nerds, cinephiles and animation enthusiasts have long fawned over the many amazing cultural exports from Japan. From samurai movies to sushi, everything that Americans consider stereotypically Japanese has a huge fan base over in the States, but in todays America, perhaps no corner of Japanese culture is more popular than imported anime and manga. And within the American anime community, there is one enduring debate in which no single Naruto, One Piece or Berserk fan is on the fence the war between watching these anime with English subtitles with original Japanese audio versus an English dub that erases the work of the original voice actors. The question of subs vs. dubs can be unique to each anime, but never is the answer as simple and uncontroversial as either or. Don't Miss It may surprise American weeaboos to learn that, just as they obsess over every frame of an episode of Kaiju No. 8, Japanese animation fans are equally as fond of a few special American series, with King of the Hill holding a particular place in their hearts despite Cottons hard feelings over the loss of his lower legs. However, just as we Americans debate the best way to translate anime, the Japanese King of the Hill fandom still cant decide if subs beat dubs or vice versa: As an admittedly unilingual American, its hard to listen to the Japanese voice actors for Bobby and Hank and hear them as anything other than poor impressionists. Hanks voice is a little too high for such a stern, serious, red-blooded Texan man, and while the Japanese Bobby does capture the curious childishness of Pamela Adlons performance, shes decidedly missing Adlons signature rasp, especially in a scene centered around smoking. Advertisement Advertisement The Japanese dub also struggles to deal with the unique issue of other characters in King of the Hill being deliberately incomprehensible. Even though Boomhauer is speaking Japanese in this clip, the Japanese voice actor is almost more coherent than Mike Judges performance of Boomhauer to my American ears: However, on the other side of the debate, the most crucial element of comedy is timing, and its hard to get a sense of the distinct, slow rhythm of King of the Hill while quickly scanning kanji at the bottom of the screen. So, some Japanese King of the Hill fans may feel that, even with ill-fitting performances from the Japanese voice cast, hearing the jokes will always be better than reading them. Advertisement Advertisement At the end of the day, though, its hard to hear the Japanese Hank read the lines straight without any of the character's signature ad-libs even Junichiro knew how do deliver a decent Bwah! The Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida is looking to increase its control over the selection process for university presidents as three state institutions begin their searches for new leadership. Currently, university search committees are responsible for selecting a list of finalists for campus visits, which is then presented to the university's board of trustees. A proposed rule change would require the Board of Governors Chair Brian Lamb to approve that list of finalists before it goes to the trustees. Another proposed change would allow the Board of Governors chair to appoint two members to a university's presidential search committee, up from the current one, News From The States reported. Three state universities are currently searching for new leadership: Florida Atlantic University, the University of Florida and Florida A&M University. Florida Atlantic's search has been stalled for months due to "alleged board missteps," Inside Higher Ed reported. Meanwhile, former UF President Ben Sasse resigned in July to focus on his family after his wife's epilepsy diagnosis. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has called for an investigation into the former Nebraska senator's spending following reports that he funneled millions of dollars to his GOP allies. FAMU President Larry Robinson also resigned in July amid an investigation into a multimillion dollar donation blunder. Days after announcing a controversial $237 million gift from a Texas-based hemp farm during the May 4 graduation ceremony, the president said the donation had ceased. Robinson, who led the state's only public historically Black university for seven years, later took responsibility for not properly vetting the donor and the gift's legitimacy. His interim successor, Timothy Beard has since called for the immediate resignations of the entire senior leadership at the school. The Board of Governors is scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss the proposed presidential search rule. While sometimes adding a new character is the worst thing that can happen to a sitcom (looking at you new kids and babies), other times it elevates a show to a whole new level of hilarity. Just imagine how much less trouble the Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia gang would have gotten into without Frank Reynolds bankrolling them? Or how many fewer times the word literally would have been uttered on Parks and Recreation if Rob Lowe never joined the cast? Its literally frightening to imagine it. So instead, check out this list of great sitcom characters who didnt arrive until their shows second season. 4 Michael Harris on Newhart After the success of The Bob Newhart Show, Bob Newharts second sitcom, Newhart struggled to find its footing in Season One. The show was about New Yorkers Dick and Joanna Louden (Newhart and Mary Frann) buying a quiet inn in Vermont, and originally, Leslie Vanderkellen, played by Jennifer Holmes, served as the inns maid. Leslie was a wealthy heiress who took the job to get some real-life experience, but she was so kind and friendly she never really generated any laughs. Don't Miss In Season Two, Leslie was replaced by her bratty, entitled and much funnier cousin Stephanie (Julia Duffy), who had appeared in one episode of the first season (hence her exclusion from this list). Stephanie re-energized the show along with her shallow yuppie boyfriend Michael Harris (Peter Scolari), a TV producer who dotes on her constantly. Because they were a young couple, many of the shows big episodes centered on their relationship, like their breakup, their wedding and the birth of their child. Scolari was also a wonderful foil for Newhart, as Newharts character was endlessly exasperated with him. And Michael, because he was a TV producer, brought in a whole new opportunity for comedy with Dick Louden hosting a local morning show. Advertisement Without that wrinkle, its hard to imagine Newhart would have lasted eight seasons with just the antics around the inn. 3 Ben Cafferty and Kent Davison on Veep Veep started out with a big cast, but it got even bigger (and better) when Kevin Dunn and Gary Cole joined in Season Two as two veteran political advisors for Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Cole played Kent Davison, a cool, cold, numbers-obsessed pollster who seemed to lack regular human emotions. Dunn played Ben Cafferty, a burnt-out advisor who inspired some of the shows most quotable lines, like when Selina asked him how hed feel if he had to choose between his cock and his balls, and Ben replied, I could lose em both. I mean, at this stage theyre purely decorative. Advertisement Advertisement 2 Ben Wyatt and Chris Traeger on Parks and Recreation Advertisement Parks & Recreation was another show that took a minute to find itself. Amy Poehler was great as Leslie Knope from the start, but her love interest (Paul Schneider as Mark Brendanawicz) had very little going for him. At the very end of Season Two, Mark left, and in came Indiana state auditors Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) and Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe). Ben was hilariously nerdy he dressed up as Batman and created a truly terrible board game and his romance with Leslie was one we all could root for. As for Lowe, his cheery, neurotic energy and his clipped way of speaking quickly made him one of the shows funniest characters. Advertisement Advertisement Unless youre a highly sensitive member of the talking cow community, there really arent too many offensive Far Side cartoons. But back in 1987, Gary Larson published a comic that almost got him sued. The Far Side in question depicted a female chimpanzee accusing her partner of cavorting with that tramp Jane Goodall. As Larson later recounted, a few days after the cartoon hit the papers, his syndicate received a very indigent letter from someone working at the Jane Goodall Institute. The letter called the cartoon inexcusable and absolutely stupid. A similar letter, likely from the same employee, was sent to the editor of the Arizona Daily Star, complaining that the cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgement of running such an atrocity. According to Larson, the letter had a vague implication that litigation over this cartoon might be around the corner (it was later revealed to have been drafted by a lawyer). All of which was very upsetting to Larson, not because he was afraid of a lawsuit, but because of his deep respect for Jane Goodall and her well-known contributions to primatology. Don't Miss The last thing in the world I would have intentionally done was offend Dr. Goodall in any way, Larson wrote in The Prehistory of The Far Side. As he was preparing his apology letter, the Far Sides syndicate received a request from The National Geographic Society to reprint the cartoon in their magazine. Larsons people declined, citing the controversy, but the folks at National Geographic told Larsons editor: That doesnt sound like the Jane Goodall we know. Advertisement Per Goodall, she knew nothing of the cartoon when it was first published, as she was in Tanzania at the time. When she came to the U.S. for a lecture tour, her irate executive director showed her the cartoon which they had denounced on her behalf. But Goodalls reaction was to exclaim: Wow! Fantastic! Real fame at last! Fancy being in a Gary Larson cartoon! Advertisement As Goodall described in her foreword to The Far Side Gallery 5, she and Larson became quite friendly after this incident. He allowed his cartoon to be printed on a Jane Goodall Institute T-shirt, which turned out to be one of their hottest numbers. And, in 1988, Larson journeyed to Goodalls Gombe Stream Research Centre in Tanzania, along with his wife, and Jack Lemmon for some reason. Advertisement The trip wasnt without its near-fatal hiccups, however. One evening, as Goodall and Larson were going for a walk, a chimp named Frodo charged at them. Goodall remained calm, but was secretly terrified as the bully chimp pulled and pushed and hit her illustrious visitor. Frodo eventually gave up, leaving Larson with only a few bruises and scratches. And things easily could have gone way worse. Just a year after Larsons visit, Frodo reportedly nearly broke Goodalls neck. After this incident, she refused to enter Frodo's territory without a pair of bodyguards along for protection. All of which is pretty exciting for the life of a cartoonist. Like, I doubt that a chimp ever came close to ripping the face off of Jim Davis. You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time youre reading this). Research indicates that an infostealer malware infection is often a precursor to a ransomware attack SpyCloud, the leader in Cybercrime Analytics, today announced new cybersecurity research highlighting the growing and alarming threat of infostealers a type of malware designed to exfiltrate digital identity data, login credentials, and session cookies from infected devices. SpyClouds latest findings reveal the staggering scale of identity exposure caused by infostealers, the influence this type of malware has had on the surge in ransomware incidents, and the profound implications for businesses worldwide. Massive scale of identity exposure creates new risks According to SpyCloud, 61% of all data breaches in the past year were malware-related, with infostealers responsible for the theft of 343.78 million credentials. These stolen credentials are then sold in criminal communities for use in further attacks. The research also found that one in five individuals has been a victim of an infostealer infection. Each infection, on average, exposes 10-25 third-party business application credentials, creating fertile ground for further access and exploitation, particularly by ransomware operators. Our latest findings reveal a critical shift in the cybersecurity landscape, said Damon Fleury, chief product officer at SpyCloud. Infostealers have become the go-to tool for cybercriminals, with their ability to exfiltrate valuable data in a matter of seconds, creating a runway for cyberattacks like ransomware off the vast amounts of stolen access to SSO, VPN, admin panels, and other critical applications. Infostealers: The precursor to ransomware attacks The link between infostealers and ransomware is becoming increasingly evident. Through deep analysis of recaptured infostealer logs, SpyCloud discovered a worrying trend: companies with employees and contractors who are infected with infostealer malware are significantly more likely to experience a ransomware attack. In fact, nearly one-third of companies that suffered a ransomware attack last year had previously experienced an infostealer infection. According to the report, this is based on publicly known incidents and confirmed ransomware events. The true exposure is potentially even higher as not all ransomware incidents are made publicly available. The correlation between infostealer infections and subsequent ransomware attacks is a wake-up call for businesses, said Trevor Hilligoss, vice president of SpyCloud Labs, SpyCloud. However, this field is incredibly complex and fast-moving. This year, were seeing new infostealers families that make use of expanded capabilities such as advanced encryption to stay stealthy or the ability to restore expired authentication cookies for more persistent access. The rise of Malware-as-a-Service and account takeover attacks The infostealer threat is further exacerbated by the rise of Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS). This off-the-shelf model allows even low-skilled cybercriminals to purchase and deploy sophisticated malware, including infostealers, with ease. Through MaaS, these criminals can acquire fresh and accurate identity data in bulk, fueling the cycle of cybercrime. SpyClouds findings also shed light on the evolution of account takeover (ATO) attacks, powered by infostealers. Unlike traditional ATO, which relies on stolen credentials (username and password combinations), next-generation ATO leverages stolen session cookies to sidestep traditional authentication methods in what is known as session hijacking. By taking over these already-authenticated sessions, cybercriminals can mimic legitimate users and infiltrate networks undetected. This method significantly increases the success rate of attacks and poses a severe threat to organizational security. The sheer volume of credentials and session cookies being siphoned by infostealers is staggering, said Hilligoss. In the last 90 days alone, SpyCloud has recaptured over 5.4 billion stolen cookie records with an average of nearly 2,000 exposed records per infected device. This vast trove of data is increasingly used by ransomware operators and initial access brokers to facilitate their attacks, highlighting the need for advanced defense strategies. Antivirus, MFA and traditional defenses are no longer enough At least 54% of devices infected with infostealers in the first half of 2024 had antivirus or endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions installed, underscoring the limitations of traditional cybersecurity measures in combating the techniques used by modern cybercriminals. Furthermore, infostealers and session hijacking attacks render multi-factor authentication (MFA) and passwordless authentication methods like passkeys ineffective. By hijacking already-authenticated sessions, cybercriminals can impersonate legitimate users and side-step even the most robust authentication methods. The call for next-generation cybersecurity The findings from SpyCloud make it clear: traditional malware mitigation is no longer sufficient and ignoring the problem only exacerbates the impact on businesses. Organizations must move beyond merely removing infections and focus on remediating the long-term risks posed by exposed data. This includes resetting compromised application credentials and invalidating session cookies siphoned by infostealers. By understanding the risks posed by infostealers and working to mitigate the data that has been exfiltrated, organizations are able to limit the likelihood of devastating cyberattacks such as ransomware that stem from this stolen data. SpyCloud remains committed to helping organizations navigate these challenges and safeguard their digital assets. Readers can download the full 2024 Malware and Ransomware Defense Report. To learn more about how SpyCloud helps organizations defend against ransomware, readers can visit https://spycloud.com/use-case/ransomware-prevention/. About the SpyCloud 2024 Malware and Ransomware Defense Report For this fourth annual report, SpyCloud surveyed 510 individuals in active cybersecurity roles within organizations in the US and the UK with at least 500 employees. The report examines the top concerns and real-life impacts of ransomware, including popular entry points, ransom payments, and the cumulative costs of these attacks to the business. It also highlights key cyber threat prevention strategies and future security priorities identified by these experts. About SpyCloud SpyCloud transforms recaptured darknet data to disrupt cybercrime. Its automated identity threat protection solutions leverage advanced analytics to proactively prevent ransomware and account takeover, safeguard employee and consumer accounts, and accelerate cybercrime investigations. SpyClouds data from breaches, malware-infected devices, and successful phishes also powers many popular dark web monitoring and identity theft protection offerings. Customers include more than half of the Fortune 10, along with hundreds of global enterprises, mid-sized companies, and government agencies worldwide. Headquartered in Austin, TX, SpyCloud is home to more than 200 cybersecurity experts whose mission is to protect businesses and consumers from the stolen identity data criminals are using to target them now. To learn more and see insights on their companys exposed data, readers can visit spycloud.com Contact EVP, Public Relations Katie Hanusik REQ on behalf of SpyCloud spycloud@req.co Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos Getty Images; Courtesy retailer. I recently got rid of an Ikea cube storage unit Id had for nearly a decade by participating in a time-honored New York tradition: I left it in my building lobby. By that evening, someone had taken it. Who among us hasnt rescued a stray LACK end table or an Ikea stacking stool from a street corner at some point in our lives? For the slightly more enterprising, theres always Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, where an Ikea item with a little more life in it might actually be worth it to someone to hop on the subway and lug it home. And so the cycle continues (at least until the piece falls apart). In the secondhand-furniture ecosystem of New York, theres the rarefied tier of antiques and vintage furniture, with designer pedigrees and period markings, and then theres the one where most of us operate, looking for something workable, decent, and free of bedbugs. This is where used Ikea shows up, even if a lot of the stuff doesnt seem built to last. But in terms of sheer volume, theres probably a lot of it out there after all, if Ikea sells a BILLY bookcase every five seconds, how many used ones are going to the curb? Now it looks like rather than letting this informal market churn along on other platforms, Ikea itself wants to be part of the mix, launching a new program called Ikea Preowned. How it works, according to the website: Just like shopping on Ikea.com, browse items, add them to your bag, and check out with no additional fee. So far, so normal. Then comes the twist: Agree on a place and time to pick up your preowned item and welcome it home. Huh? Seems like the customer is still doing most of the work. Currently, Ikea Preowned is a pilot program thats only live in Oslo and Madrid, but there are plans to roll it out globally by the end of the year. Its almost certainly an improvement over the companys Buy Back and Resell option, which the chain has offered since 2021. It requires customers to get a quote and bring their items into the store to be resold as is. (Right now, the Red Hook location has an as-is TUSSOY king-size mattress topper listed for $169, down from $269, if youre willing to take a gamble.) As someone who has bought and given away multiple Ikea pieces, Im not fundamentally opposed to the Preowned concept. Sustainability! Cheap furniture! But I have questions. Such as why? And why now? Is this just Facebook Marketplace by another name? The only notable difference is that the platform makes it easier to fill in detailed product descriptions and add assembly guides (the annoying part about listing all the items yourself), and, for now, Ikea Preowned offers sellers the option of a gift card equal to the value of the item sold plus a 15 percent bonus (think of the free meatballs!), though they can also choose cash. But why would someone switch, especially when Facebook Marketplace does the job and does it rather well? In a cursory search on the platform, I found dozens of Ikea bookcases, tables, and cabinets most of them priced under $50, and many of them free so long as youre willing to handle pickup from a fourth-floor walk-up (always from a fourth-floor walk-up). You also get the benefit of messaging sellers, asking for specific details about the condition of the piece, and assessing any damage before you hand over your money. It works, especially if you want to furnish your apartment for peanuts. There are a couple of benefits I can think of for Ikea offhand: First, it can make some profit if people go shopping to cash in on their gift cards and add more items to their carts (you know youll never emerge from Ikea with a single item). According to Fast Company, the company may also introduce a humble fee for listings in the future. According to Nellie Cohen, founder of circularity consulting firm Baleen, the fee is actually a good thing; Ikea should think about how its sustainability efforts can help its bottom line. The real marker of circularity success, she says, is that it adds a revenue stream that isnt just dependent on making and selling new items, and it makes reuse a meaningful part of the business model. Ideally, that slice of the pie gets bigger so they can start to bring down production. What I really think is that Ikea wants a sustainability gold star. The company has publicly shared plans to become a fully circular business by 2030. We aim to use only renewable or recycled materials and to provide new solutions for our customers to prolong the life of products and materials, its 2023 sustainability report states. Its definitely part of a broader trend, and one that Ikea would benefit from by joining early. Cohen, who built the popular Patagonia Worn Wear initiative for that brands secondhand items and has worked on similar programs for Doen and Levis, thinks mass brands like Ikea should get in on the secondhand market sooner rather than later. We have to make sure that resale is not just for luxury or aspirational brands where theres a big margin to play with, she says. Keeping more existing products in circulation is an admirable goal for Ikea. But to shift that responsibility back onto your consumers (by enticing them with a gift card) feels like a cop-out. And for this goal to hold water, Ikea needs to follow through in making its products last longer; as anyone whos bought a BILLY bookcase knows, it will last through approximately zero to one apartment moves. Still, for Alisa Bovino, a New Jerseybased interior designer and Facebook Marketplace enthusiast, quality isnt the primary concern. Instead, she wants to make sure the prices are competitive. The thing about Ikea is if I am looking for it secondhand, I am looking for it at a major discount, Bovino tells me. Otherwise, I will just go to the store and buy it because its already so cheap. She also doesnt foresee die-hard Facebook Marketplace users abandoning their go-to platform for one tailored to a specific brand especially once their algorithm has them figured out. The thing about Marketplace is people are already on Facebook. Its convenient, Bovino says. People just want to stick to one or two platforms. Cohen, on the other hand, sees potential in a company-owned and -operated platform. Not only is the brand standing by its products longevity, she says, but usually, if you have a problem, they still have a process for handling a customer complaint, she notes. Aurora Stromberg, a marketing manager based in Portland, Maine, shares Cohens opinion that this is a good thing. The resale market for Ikea furniture here is wild because the closest one is two hours away, she says. Theres actually a local couple whose business is taking Ikea orders, driving down, and purchasing for people for a fee. Although Stromberg is not on the hunt for anything Ikea at the moment (My style has changed to a more old-fashioned, classic look), she frequently uses Facebook Marketplace for these purchases and likes that the company wants to cut down on waste, and she sees the Preowned platform as a potential treasure trove for college students. Ikea did not ask me, but one area I can potentially see Ikea Preowned having a lot of success is with its vintage items. Theres a real, unironic demand for vintage Ikea from its Ettore Sottsassinspired Memphis era to its vivid Scandi items. Ive succumbed myself: During peak pandemic times, I bought two circa-1999 squiggle mirrors off of a now-defunct vintage dealer on Instagram. The company is of course aware of the interest surrounding older pieces, reissuing several collections inspired by decades past. In 2023, it came out with the Nytillverkad line of products, inspired by items from the 1950s to the 1980s. But the name itself Swedish for newly manufactured chips away at the appeal. Plus, producing them again defeats the idea of recirculating what already exists. Hear me out, Ikea: What about a dedicated pre-owned release (think J.Crews curated vintage collections)? Leave the endless stream of wobbly BILLY bookshelves to the street trade. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps 164 Coffey Street, in Red Hook, had been boarded up as long as neighbors could remember. The three-story red-brick box with a little blue door was built in the 1860s as workforce housing by the Atlantic Dock Company, which once ran the wharf nearby. By the 1970s, the city repossessed it. And in 2010, when Matt and Jessie Sheehan bought the place for $925,000, neighbors all wanted to know what was inside. Not much, as it turned out. You literally opened the front door and saw sky, Jessie said. Which is what they wanted. The building in 2010. Photo: Rafe Churchill The Sheehans had just finished renovating a townhouse in Fort Greene, preserving every last finicky detail, then selling. This time around, they wanted room to invent. At the time, Matt was a teacher and environmental coordinator for a Brooklyn school, and he wanted electric appliances powered by solar. Jessie, an ex-lawyer who had pivoted to writing cookbooks, wanted a kitchen that matched how seriously she took her new line of work: convection ovens, induction burners, and an oversize pantry. Visits to a friend in Red Hook had convinced them on the neighborhood, and they saw Coffey Street as the best block, where chunky cobblestones ended at a park with views of the Statue of Liberty and a key-lime pie stand. They hired Rafe Churchill, an architect based in Connecticut whose portfolio was thick with New England country houses, minimal and luxe. Ive got this thing for the Shakers, Churchill said. For their use of raw wood, plaster walls, and their gesture for creating something a little more playful through a sense of color. When Churchill first toured 164 Coffey, he was in love. There were no layers to peel away. There was nothing about the house that would send you off, trying to solve problems. All the problems were already removed. And there were opportunities. With a ladder, he climbed to the top floor and punched holes in the plywood, finding harbor views and a whiff of salty air. Great light, but no roof in 2010. Rafe Churchill. Great light, but no roof in 2010. Rafe Churchill. The Sheehans liked the idea of putting their kitchen, living room, and dining room on the top floor a layout that meant Jessie, when hard at work at the stove, could look out and see the sea. It also meant the family was more likely to bring coffees and cocktails up to the roof-deck and that a skylight they created would flood their living areas with sun. Details: Price: $4.5 million ($791 monthly taxes) Specs: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms Extras: Private roof-deck, laundry room, two offices, finished basement with rec room, home gym, and storage space. A separate one-bedroom rental unit with private access to the 47-by-25-foot backyard. 10-minute walking radius: Louis Valentino Jr. Park and Pier, Steves Authentic Key Lime Pie, Sunnys, Food Bazaar Listed by: Greg McHale, Compass Churchill built up the walls with plaster, to give a sense of history. Simple Shaker-style moldings were painted with colors that added funk and frivolity but did not feel out of place. In the living room, a burnt orange pulls out the color of the neighboring brick buildings at sunset. In the bedrooms, molding painted in seafoam and slate nod to the harbor. A foyer off the entrance is lined in a red that nods to the brick facade. Matt, who grew up in Massachusetts roving flea markets with his mother, pounced on antiques that played up a vaguely nautical theme, like a chandelier that he thought looked like it belonged on a pirate ship. I like interiors to have a narrative, even if Im the only one who can interpret it, he said. It makes spacing out on the couch a lot more fun. Jessie insisted on an open kitchen making it easier to be with their two kids when she was working or just cleaning up. And they seemed to constantly have friends over who didnt mind taste-testing peppermint-chocolate whoopie pies and buttery biscuits flavored with Old Bay. I give them all the treats Im making, and they tell me whats good, or what I need to change, she said. That process, and the space itself, have helped her write cookbooks here. But the boys are now grown. And the fourth cookbook comes out next week. It feels like a special bond I have to the space. The restored facade (left) has a striking blue door, a nod to the color that architect Rafe Churchill pulled from the abandoned house (right). The gut remodel aimed to clean up the building without adding fuss. "We wanted it to feel understated and to actually be understated," Churchill said. From left: Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Photo: Rafe Churchill The restored facade (left) has a striking blue door, a nod to the color that architect Rafe Churchill pulled from the abandoned house (right). The gut... more The restored facade (left) has a striking blue door, a nod to the color that architect Rafe Churchill pulled from the abandoned house (right). The gut remodel aimed to clean up the building without adding fuss. "We wanted it to feel understated and to actually be understated," Churchill said. From top: Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Photo: Rafe Churchill The blue door opens into a vestibule with an antique bust whose subject is a mystery, said Matt Sheehan, a flea-market buff. A door on the right opens to a hall that leads to the owners suite upstairs. Another door, not shown, opens to a rental one-bedroom with private access to a huge backyard. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Floors throughout are 19th-century Heart Pine either salvaged from the original 1860 building or sourced from a dealer who had saved the framing of the old Rockaway Boardwalk. Shelving in the mudroom (right) was built from the thick wooden joists of the abandoned building. Walls throughout are basecoat plaster. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Follow the stairs to the top floor, and youll land in an airy, loftlike living space. Off to one side is the dining table with a painting that Matt Sheehan was told came from a New Orleans bar. The chandelier reminded him of what might hang in a pirate ship. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps The whole floor looks over New York Harbor, the view that convinced the family to flip the house and put their living spaces up here. What I was struck by, over the entire house, is how well its laid out how practical it is, said their broker, Greg McHale. Its a really, really smart house. No nonsense. Photo: Joel Pitra /DD Reps Built-ins and a wood stove make the space feel cozy. Rafe Churchill, the architect, suggested double-hung windows so that they would get a full blast of sea air. The air rushes through that building, front to back, and on certain days theres a real smell of salt, he said. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Orange trim might seem audacious, but it mirrors views of Red Hook's brick at sunset. From left: Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Photo: Rafe Churchill Orange trim might seem audacious, but it mirrors views of Red Hook's brick at sunset. From top: Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Photo: Rafe Churchill A professional baker and cookbook author, Jessie Sheehan wanted thick marble slabs cool enough to roll dough and induction burners and convection ovens, which are easier to control. There are actually three ovens, but this kitchen looks like a normal, residential kitchen because two are hidden away in a pantry area, where theyre stacked in a wall, which means Sheehan doesnt have to bend down to check them. Photo: Joel Pitra /DD Reps Past the kitchen (left) is a pantry and through it is a small office, painted pink, where Jessie Sheehan wrote four cookbooks. Behind the fish painting is a large office (not pictured) where the kids did homework and Matt had a desk. Between the two offices and under the stairs is what the family called a secret room, a space where the kids could hide or get some quiet. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps A Sheehan dinner party starts with cocktails up here, but the roof is also practical. A massive skylight helps light the living space downstairs, and solar (not visible) offsets electric bills. When Matt Sheehan lived here, he made the switch from working as an environmental coordinator at a school to founding an urban farm, Edgemere, on an abandoned lot in Rockaway. Photo: Joel Pitra /DD Reps One level down are four bedrooms, each sized about the same but with moldings painted a different shade of blue or green. Its all very democratic, observed Greg McHale, their broker. Jessie Sheehan loved that observation, but had a simpler explanation: Were not lounge-around-the-bedroom people, she said. I do not know how to nap. Photo: Joel Pitra /DD Reps Through the primary suite is a walk-through closet with storage made of the reclaimed joists and, past it, a bathroom with double sinks and the same Heart Pine flooring. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps A free-standing tub over the same tile as a shower (right) means anyone can take a soak, then rinse off without dripping on the wooden floors. Everything is simple and elegant, said Greg McHale, the broker. Nothing is overbuilt and overdone. Its really really subtle. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps The bedrooms for the couples two sons are almost identical and look over the same view of the backyard, but have different color trim. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps The second kids bedroom. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Next to the primary suite is a guest bedroom. The trunk was a gift from Matt Sheehans mother on his 16th birthday. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps A laundry room sits next to the guest bedroom. Architect Rafe Churchill pointed out laundry is more practical on the bedroom level to avoid carrying loads up and down stairs. To me, that was like a revelation, said Jessie Sheehan. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps The basement is instead devoted to what was once a playroom, then became a space where the kids did art projects and practiced drums. Its now staged with their old toys. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps The basement is also home to a gym. Maybe its because I have to eat sugar and butter all day, but Im a Peloton person, said Jessie Sheehan. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps Off the vestibule is a one-bedroom apartment with the same Heart Pine flooring as the rest of the house. Broker Greg McHale suggests that it could remain a rental, or a future owner might use it for visitors or even combine it with the rest of the house upstairs. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps The rental units kitchen, with marble countertops. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps The bedroom in the rental unit looks out onto a private backyard. Photo: Joel Pitra/DD Reps by Derek Neal I was in Toronto the other day to see Paul Schraders newest film, Oh, Canada, which was screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This was my first time seeing a movie at a festival, and the experience was quite different from seeing a movie at a cinema: we had to line up in advance, the location was not a cinema but a theatre (in this case, the Princess of Wales Theater, a beautiful venue with orchestra seating, a balcony, and plush red carpeting), and there was a buzz in the air, as everyone in attendance had made a special effort to see a movie they wouldnt be able to see elsewhere. As I stood in line with the other ticket holders, I noticed that there was a clear difference between the type of person in my line, for those with advance tickets, and the rush line, for those without tickets and who would be allowed in only in the case of no shows: in my line, the attendees were older, often in couples, and had the air of Money and Culture about them; in the rush line, the hopeful attendees were younger, often male, and solitary. In other words, those in the rush line, the ones who couldnt get their shit together to buy a ticket in time, could have been typical Schrader protagonists: a man in a room, trying, yet frequently failing, to live a meaningful life, to keep it together, to be the type of person who buys a ticket in advance, and invites his wife, too. Yet there I was, in the advance ticket line: a man, relatively young, and someone who spends a good deal of time by himself. Id invited my partner of 10 years, but she didnt come because she doesnt like Paul Schrader films, and who can blame her? Theyre not for everyone. Perhaps my presence in the advance ticket line, but my understanding of and identification with those in the other line, helps explain my deep attraction to Schraders films: I know his characters, and in the right circumstances, I could become one of his characters. We made our way into the theatre and found our seats. Id put some thought into my choice of assigned seat. It was one of the cheapest seats, but it was also the final row of the dress circle, just below the balcony, and it was almost at the end of the aisle. I thought this would give me a good view of the screen while also allowing for easy entry to and exit from my seat, avoiding the need to stand up to let people pass while also removing the need for me to squeeze by people in my row. However, as the usher showed me to my seat, I realized I had not, in fact, made a good choice. Rather than being at the end of a row of seats, my place was next to a wall that jutted out in front of me and entered my peripheral vision. The seats that I thought would be next to me, that I had seen as greyed out on the Ticketmaster website, were actually those in the balcony above me. I could still see the full screen, but if I shifted just a little to the right, or leaned back, the wall began to obstruct the screen. I realized, with some dismay, that those in the rush line, should they gain entry, would certainly end up with better seats than me, and that the categorization Id made in my head of possible Schrader protagonist fuck ups, on one hand, and people who have it all figured out, on the other, was false. The smug self-satisfaction I felt disappeared as quickly as it had comewhile I had successfully infiltrated the advance ticket holder line, I was an imposter, and my misguided seat choice had revealed my true identity. After an interminable number of messages from the corporate sponsors of TIFFRBC, Rogers, Visa, Dysonand a Land Acknowledgement that mentioned being grateful to work on the lands now known as Canada, as if the land had been peaceably gifted, rather than violently seized, the film began. The screen lit up with a credit sequence showing a film crew setting up cameras, lighting, and microphones in a room of Leonard Fifes (played by Richard Gere) house. In the movie, Fife is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker who is known for exposing sordid political truthsthe testing of Agent Orange by the American military in Canada, the residential school system, some sort of fishing or hunting scandal. The details of his career are not fleshed out, but the message is clear: Fife is a truth teller and a political darling. Now his former students have come to make a documentary about him, the final flourish in a remarkable career and a sort of hagiography. In the room next to where the documentary will be shot, we see Fife in bed. He is old and sick, and the image of Geres face is shocking, ravaged by cancer and chemotherapy. As I sat watching these images, I was intrigued: Schrader seemed to be creating a film within a film, and hed turned Geres image on its headno longer the sex symbol created by American Gigolo, but the bedridden old man, who needs a personal support worker to wipe him after he uses the bathroom. However, I was also slightly perplexed. Behind these images played a sort of uplifting, folk-pop music that sounded kitsch and twee, the kind of music one might expect in a Hallmark movie, but not in an emotionally complex Schrader film. The film within a film begins and we soon learn that Fife has decided to use the occasion as an opportunity to finally tell the truth about his life, much to the surprise of the filmmakers and his wife, Emma, who is played by Uma Thurman. Fife, it turns out, is not the morally upright man hes claimed to be all these years, but rather a man who has run away from responsibility at every turn. Thus begins a series of flashbacks and voiceover that make up a large part of the film. We see Gere in his wheelchair; we hear him talk; and then we go back in time to the events of his life. In these flashbacks, Fife is played by Jacob Elordi, except that sometimes he isnt, sometimes Gere himself is in the flashback, looking much better than in the present, but still playing a supposedly 22-year-old man. There are no technological tricks here of the sort used in The Irishman; instead, the point seems to be that we are seeing Fifes memories, and in his memory, he may be imagining himself as he is now, but in the events of the past. The effect is destabilizing on the viewer, but as a representation of a persons memory, it works, and it drives home the point that we cannot trust anything Fife says: what if his attempt to destroy his reputation is based on a fabrication, rather than the honest confessions of a dying man, or what if he is simply too sick to remember things coherently? Scenes occasionally repeat themselves or contradict one another. Fife claims that he dropped out of college and went to Cuba, then that he never made it to Cuba, but instead met a woman and possibly impregnated her. Why he was interested in Cuba in the first place is unclear. He then meets another woman, leaves the first woman, then leaves the second woman and somehow gets a teaching job at the University of Virginia (even though he may have dropped out of college). He then gets married and has a child, but decides he wants to move to Vermont and teach there, instead. The womens names all start with A. Are they the same woman? Who knows? Elordi enters a cafe in Vermont, then later, Gere enters the same cafe in his memory. All the people from his past appear on the barstools next to him. None of this makes any logical sense, which is fine. Schrader seems to be attempting to communicate the story of Fife on a psychological level rather than a realist one. The attempt is admirable, and one feels that Schrader has taken a big swing here, but he doesnt connect. In other examples of films that play with memory and timeIm thinking of Tarkovsky and Antonionione also struggles to coherently summarize the events of the film, but the experience of viewing the film is its own reward, and even if we cant explain what the film means, it speaks to us on an intuitive level. That doesnt happen in Oh, Canada. In addition to the muddled plot, the stylistic choices are also experimental, but without any underlying coherence. The shots in the present are done in 4:3 aspect ratio, which immediately signals that we are in the presence of an auteur, while the shots in the past are in widescreen. This works to formally distinguish the two timelines, but then Schrader pushes things further: when we are in the past of the past timeline, meaning when Fife is in college, the scenes are in black and white, and even though it is meant to be the 60s, it feels as if we are watching a film from the 40s. The intended effect, apart from confusion, is unclear. Combined with all this is the recurring pop-folk soundtrack, which creates a feeling of cheap sentimentality. There is also the use of voiceover, but whereas in past Schrader films voiceover has served to give the film a guiding moral consciousness, here we have two different characters providing voiceover, both Fife and his estranged adult son. Schrader has often talked about his philosophy of screenwriting, which is to take a personal problem he has and create a metaphor that represents the problem. The making of the film then solves his problem. Schrader has also said that his biggest failures have come when he fails to distance the material enough from himself, when he doesnt create a metaphor but simply treats the problem itself as the material of the film. That seems to be the case here. Leonard Fife is an old filmmaker who knows he doesnt have much time left, and it pains me to say this, but the same is true of Schrader. So, wheres the metaphor? It would seem to be in the story of the young Fife and his escape to Canada. We learn that Fife is viewed as a hero in Canada because he crossed the border to escape being drafted in the Vietnam War, but Fife tells us that this is false. Instead, while in Vermont, he learns that his wife in Virginia has miscarried. He also sees the deterioration of his friends marriage, and he feels the pressure of his father-in-law, who has asked him to take over the family business, but whom he plans to turn down. All these responsibilities seem to be too much for Fife; he simply crosses into Canada to start a new life and to escape his old one. Canada, then, becomes an extension of the United States in the American imagination, an addition to the frontier; when one can no longer go West, one goes North to reinvent oneself and to make a buck. Here is the metaphor, and if this were the movie, it might have been a good one. Schraders successful films, such as First Reformed, Light Sleeper, or Affliction, are small films. They are about one man, with one job, in one place. A film about Fifes deteriorating marriage, or his struggles as a professor, and his subsequent journey to Canada as means of escape, would have been a recognizable Schrader film. But this film is too unwieldy for him to control. With all the characters, timelines, and plot points, the film has no center and no unity. After the screening was over, I sat in my seat until the lights came up and the ushers asked the remaining patrons to leave. Then I loitered in the lobby for a while, wondering what to do with myself. Id expected so much, and now I was disoriented, confused as to how Schrader could have misfired so badly. I decided to go to my favourite bar in Toronto, which is modeled on a Japanese listening bar, meaning it has an extremely high-quality sound system, vinyl records, and dark wood paneling. This one even has paper sliding doors. I sat at the bar by myself, ordered a highball, and began typing this essay in the Notes app on my iPhone. Summer Madness by Kool & the Gang wafted out from the speakers, and the mixture of sound and candlelight created a warm, expectant atmosphere. It wasnt crowded. After a while, the owner came by and dropped off a dish of wasabi roasted green peas for me to munch on. I sipped my highball, popped the peas into my mouth, and tapped away. When I finished the highball, I looked up from my phone and noticed the bar had begun to fill up. It wasnt late yet, but the energy had begun to change. There were groups of people rather than couples, and the music had gone from the deep ambience of Kool & the Gang to something more upbeat. Soon, there would be dancing, and I thought about ordering another highball, losing myself in the music, seeing where the night would take me. I had other concernsthe fact that I had to drive home, the fact that someone was waiting for mebut the atmosphere of the bar had begun to make me lose sight of that, the way the best bars and clubs do, by acting as a sort of portal to another dimension where another life, another existence is possible. What would Willem Defoe in Light Sleeper do, I wondered. What would Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver do? What would Oscar Isaac in The Card Counter do? What would the men in the rush line do? The waitress came over and asked me if I wanted another, but I asked for the bill instead, left a good tip, then went outside and walked around the block for a while to clear my head and reacclimate myself to the city rather than the alternate universe of the Japanese bar. I got in my car and drove home. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now. COXSACKIE The Village of Coxsackie is preparing for the much-anticipated return of the What a Hoot! Festival, culminating in an auction on Sept. 29. The What a Hoot! Festival has been a cherished tradition in Coxsackie since 2017, celebrating the villages 150th anniversary. After a brief hiatus and due to COVID-19, the festival is returning with 39 decorated owls up for auction this year which have been on display throughout the town since Memorial Day. Organized by What a Hoot! and sponsored by the Village of Coxsackie, the event showcases public art exhibits and offers bidders the opportunity to take home unique owl-themed artwork, all while supporting local charities, artists, and the community. Tommy Prasenski, chairperson and organizer of What a Hoot!, expressed pride in the festivals long-standing support for the community. The native word for Coxsackie translates to hoot of the owl, which is why we bring together talented artists, local businesses, and the community to work on these fiberglass owls, Prasenski said. Weve been hosting the What a Hoot! Festival since 2017, and we hold it every other year to keep the event special and unique. This year, our collection of owl-themed artworks was on display throughout the summer. Now, as we approach September, were preparing to take them down for the much-anticipated auction on September 29. This biennial tradition not only celebrates local artistry but also supports our community. The profits from the auction of these owls are reinvested into the community. Although our community is relatively small, the funds raised this year will support local food pantries. Additionally, we are promoting the Greene County YMCA and the Greene County Womens League, further extending the impact of giving back to the community. This event features numerous sponsors and local businesses and has a history of dedication to the people of Coxsackie. It highlights the work of painters and artists. Organizer and artist Lesley Carr explains that the artists who work on the owls also create the Catskill Cats artwork due to the similarity and timing of the events. This is advantageous because many of these artists pursue their craft as a hobby. Despite this, the quality of this years artwork is exceptional. For many of the artists involved, this work is a hobby, Carr said. However, despite being a pastime, their artistry remains significant. This year, the artwork is particularly spectacular and exceptional. I personally worked on a few pieces myself, including an American-themed owl and an ice cream-themed owl, which are quite distinct from one another. Carr said that these owls are special, and added that their significance lies in their infrequent appearanceoccurring only once every other year, which adds to their uniqueness. The auction can generate substantial amounts of money, Carr said. One year an owl sold for $4,000. While such high figures are not the norm, the quality of this years artwork is exceptional. Im eagerly anticipating the auction to see how much the pieces will be. Carr also explained the collaborative nature of the project, noting that artists work closely with sponsors. Nowadays, in the small community artists typically work closely with sponsors, who often select artists based on their previous work, Carr said. This mutual exchange strengthens the overall connection we establish through these projects. Its rewarding to witness the cultural impact and enduring nature of initiatives like this, as people are eager to collaborate. Owls will be auctioned off on Sept. 29 from 1-4 p.m. at The Wire Event Center in Coxsackie. Tickets to the auction along with a full list of artists and their artwork can be found at https://www.coxsackieowls.com/. - When the Japanese Navy Air Service bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, their goal was to knock out America's air power in the Pacific and prevent Uncle Sam from joining the Second World War. They achieved precisely the opposite. Roused to indignant fury, the American public were instantly committed to the Allied cause and Japan found itself facing a new and mighty enemy. In yesterday's devastating attack on thousands of pagers operated by Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon, I fear we have witnessed the Pearl Harbor of the 21st century. The operation was of course spectacular on its own merits with at least nine dead and more than 3,000 injured, reportedly including Iran's ambassador to Lebanon. Yet its wider significance is certain to resonate in the months and years to come. In yesterday's devastating attack on thousands of pagers operated by Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon, did we witness the Pearl Harbor of the 21st century? If Israel, like Imperial Japan before it, thought this massive attack would serve to dissuade Hezbollah's fighters from entering a full-scale war with the Jewish state, I fear they will be disappointed. Already the Islamists will be plotting their revenge and last night, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was said to be locked in talks at his defence ministry's HQ in Tel Aviv over how to respond to a potential escalation. So how did Israel actually achieve this? There are several competing theories. One security expert suggested that the Israelis could have planted 'old-fashioned explosive booby traps' in the thousands of pagers which are said to have been delivered to Hezbollah fighters only in recent days. Another theory, more convincing to me, was that the pagers were pre-loaded with a sophisticated computer virus that caused them to overheat, resulting in their lithium batteries catching fire. This is a known risk of the batteries used in many electronic devices and is part of the reason why airlines refuse to let passengers carry laptops in their checked luggage. However Israel carried out the operation, it's ironic that Hezbollah's militants only recently swapped mobile phones for pagers in the belief that they were more secure. Famously, mobiles carry GPS software that allows the devices and therefore their users to be tracked anywhere in the world. Six weeks ago, Hamas's political chief Ismail Haniyeh was hunted to a guesthouse in the Iranian capital of Tehran and eliminated. Experts believe his assassination was possible only because his phone was being tracked. The truth is that Israel excels at precisely this kind of warfare. Decades of facing down hostile neighbours that vastly outnumber its own citizens has led the embattled Middle Eastern democracy to develop a fearsome array of sophisticated military tools, from nuclear missiles and tanks to cyber-weapons. Combined with this is the ruthlessness of its famed secret intelligence agency, Mossad, in tracking down and eliminating its enemies, from the perpetrators of the Munich Olympics massacre onwards. As we have seen, Mossad always gets its man or men in the end. So what next? If reports are right, and one in 30 of Hezbollah's 60,000 fighters have indeed been put out of action thanks to the pager attack, that will present a severe impediment to the group's operations. The leadership will also be asking searching questions about how to communicate securely with its fighters in future. How long before Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping works out how to make millions of iPhones around the world burst into flames in the pockets of their foes? With Hezbollah's military organisation disrupted, the Israelis might decide to invade a portion of southern Lebanon to create a 'buffer zone' that could protect civilians in northern Israel from rocket attacks. I have my concerns about this 'contained' approach. For all the brutal ingeniousness of the pager attack, the consequences for regional security could be dire. Instead, the pager operation is far more likely to be the prelude to another all-out Israel-Lebanon War with grim consequences for world peace. Hezbollah's allies, Iran and Syria, will inevitably be worrying that Israeli intelligence could do the same to them. But even those Arab countries with diplomatic relations with Israel, such as Egypt and Jordan, must now be asking themselves how safe they really are and whether or not their communication networks are secure. This will weaken Israel's ability to build friendships in the region. And there could be consequences for us, too. Western democracies will already be assessing what this novel form of warfare means for them and how they might be able to copy Israel's methods. History teaches us that no new military technique remains a monopoly of its inventor for long. How long before Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping works out how to make millions of iPhones around the world burst into flames in the pockets of their foes? Britain's decline as a global power over eight decades is encapsulated by the gulf in political stature between Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his post-war predecessor Ernie Bevin. Where Lammy exudes a hyperactive shallowness, Bevin had an air of massive solidity. Where Lammy is consumed by fashionable wokery, what mattered to Bevin was the defence of British national interests. Where Lammy produces clouds of jargon-filled, incoherent verbiage, Bevin had a clear vision of the fight to defend liberty. Like Lammy, Bevin had a tough upbringing, having been born into rural poverty as the illegitimate son of a midwife, and begun his working life as a farm labourer. But any similarity between the two men ends there. Worrying In the turbulent world after the cataclysm of the Second World War, Bevin was a titanic, reassuring figure who presided over a string of epic achievements, including the creation of the NATO alliance and Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. But Lammy, who has taken charge at the Foreign Office against perhaps the most dangerous strategic backdrop since the 1940s, has nothing like Bevin's authority or sense of purpose. Intriguingly, a parallel with Blairism can also be found in Lammy's foreign policy, for which he had coined a doctrine called 'progressive realism'. (David Lammy pictured outside the BBC) Where Lammy exudes a hyperactive shallowness, Bevin (pictured) had an air of massive solidity Tensions in the Middle East increased dramatically when Israel's military was blamed after pagers used by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah all exploded. (Pictured, the moment of detonation at a supermarket) Indeed there is a real danger that, far from acting as a bulwark for Britain in troubled times, he could become a national embarrassment. He has been in post for little more than two months, but has already displayed a worrying gift for provoking confusion, controversy and contempt. This was perfectly illustrated in an unimpressive speech he made yesterday his first major address as Foreign Secretary in which he claimed that, despite all the conflicts raging around the world, the greatest menace our country faces is climate change. 'The scale of the threat', he said, is 'more systemic, pervasive and accelerating towards us' than the actions of terrorists or autocratic regimes. So 'action on the climate and nature crisis will be central to all the Foreign Office does'. Of course climate change is a serious issue and deserves our attention. But this doom-laden rhetoric about environmental catastrophe at the very moment we appear to be heading towards global conflict is, quite simply, a lesson in virtue-signalling puerility. It is also typical of Labour, illustrating how far the Left has been captured by eco-zealots. It is no coincidence that, just as Lammy was giving his address, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband was making a similar speech in which he emphasised the absolute priority that the Labour Government will attach to green policies. Posing as a mighty warrior who will 'take on the blockers, the delayers and the obstructionists', Miliband declared Labour's 'clean energy spirit is the national security, energy security and economic justice fight of our time'. With its mix of self-righteous zeal and hostility towards tradition, Miliband's speech carried an echo of Tony Blair's notorious conference address in 1999 when he raged against 'the forces of conservatism' holding back Britain. Intriguingly, a parallel with Blairism can also be found in Lammy's foreign policy, for which he had coined a doctrine called 'progressive realism'. Before the election, Lammy defined this concept as 'a progressive belief in this country's capacity to champion multi-lateral causes, build institutions, defend democracy, stand up for the rule of law, combat poverty and fight climate change'. It is no coincidence that, just as Lammy was giving his address, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (pictured) was making a similar speech in which he emphasised the absolute priority that the Labour Government will attach to green policies With its mix of self-righteous zeal and hostility towards tradition, Miliband's speech carried an echo of Tony Blair's notorious conference address in 1999. (Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband visits Tiln Farm Solar Park) Which sounds all too similar to the 'ethical foreign policy' Blair adopted when he came to power in 1997. It was a philosophy that insisted on an 'ethical dimension' to foreign policy, putting human rights and democracy at its heart. That ethical foreign policy ended up with the disaster of the Iraq invasion in 2003 as he and US President Bush pledged to 'set free' the country's people from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. Lammy's 'progressive realism' is equally dangerous. It is treating the public as fools to pretend climate change is a greater threat to our society than tyrants and terrorists. Yesterday, tensions in the Middle East increased dramatically when Israel's military was blamed after pagers used by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah all exploded, injuring 3,000 people and killing at least 11. Bloody wars now grip Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, while tensions are mounting in Asia, made all the more chilling by advances in military technology. As Lord Robertson, the former Labour Defence Secretary and head of NATO, warned in July, Britain is now confronted by a 'deadly quartet increasingly working together', made up of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Only last week, just days after firing several short-range ballistic missiles into the seas between the Korean peninsula and Japan, North Korea's despot Kim Jong Un unveiled both a uranium enrichment facility and a 12-axle mobile launcher which could unleash a long-range missile at the US. Alienate Lammy failed to properly address these momentous issues yesterday. Extraordinarily for such a relentless critic of the British Empire, he instead puffed himself up as some sort of grandiose eco-imperialist, talking of Britain taking the lead in the construction of a new Global Clean Power Alliance to mobilise vast amounts of money to help other countries abandon fossil fuels. I feel certain we would prefer him to mobilise funds to secure our national security but no one is holding their breath. Labour has committed to increasing spending on defence to 2.5 per cent but still has not given us any timeframe for doing so. Lammy has managed to alienate Israel, one of our closest allies, with his ban of some British arms sales. (Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu) For all his displays of warmth towards President Zelensky (pictured), Lammy has failed to persuade his own Government or that of the US to supply Ukraine with the weaponry it needs to take the fight to Russia Lammy's record since taking office has hardly been impressive. He has managed to alienate Israel, one of our closest allies, with his ban of some British arms sales to the country, supposedly because they might be used in breach of international law. The timing of his decision could not have been worse, coming just days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages taken in the grotesque assault of October 7 last year. Nor has Lammy been decisive in his support of Ukraine. For all his displays of warmth towards President Zelensky, he has failed to persuade his own Government or that of the US to supply Ukraine with the weaponry it needs to take the fight to Russia. Formidable Could part of the problem be that Lammy is so distracted by the environmental agenda he has lost his focus? Yet that agenda in itself is undermining our own security. Britain is fortunate in having a rich variety of energy sources, but Labour's obsession with renewables such as wind farms and solar panels means we are throwing away our practical advantages for the sake of an ideology. We should be exploiting our large reserves of oil and gas in the North Sea for cheap energy, but Labour refuses to sanction new licences. So at far higher cost to the taxpayer we will end up reliant on imports of both. Just as damaging to our economy and security is the way the Government's myopia over fossil fuels has boosted the influence in Britain of China, which dominates the global market in electric vehicles and the production of solar panels that we are using in ever greater numbers. None of this, of course, was mentioned by David Lammy yesterday. He is in many ways an admirable man who overcame the deprivations of his north London background to win a scholarship to a public school, attend Harvard University and secure one of the three great offices of state. He has cited Ernie Bevin as an inspiration and in January described him as 'one of our greatest statesmen'. The great pity is that he has learnt so little from Bevin's own formidable qualities of leadership. An American woman living in Europe has shared why she thinks everyone should pack up and move overseas. Alyssa, who is originally from San Francisco, has been living abroad since 2021, and is currently living in Belgium. The Brunette beauty initially moved to Dubai and lived there for almost two years before moving to Europe with her now-husband. 'I was just tired of America,' the travel blogger explained in a clip posted to TikTok, adding there are '20,000 reasons' why she is 'over America.' Alyssa, who is originally from San Francisco, has shared why she thinks everyone should pack up and move overseas In a now-viral clip, Alyssa shared why Americans should consider moving abroad. The first was vacation time, pointing out the stark difference between the average number of holiday days between the two countries. 'The average American gets 10 days paid vacation and public holidays, while European average get 25 days paid vacation and public holidays,' Alyssa explained. Next, she listed healthcare as a reason she left the States, pointing out 'nearly all' European countries have universal healthcare. 'America has the worst healthcare system in the world,' she declared. Alyssa claims that Europe is the safest continent in the world, with the lowest crime rate, according to the Global Peace Index. The Belgium-based-woman said living in Europe is better for pregnant woman. 'Maternity polices in Europe are ranked the best in the world, up to 58 weeks paid,' she boasted. Alyssa (pictured with her husband) first moved overseas to Dubai in 2021 where she met her now-husband Alyssa has made several video's showing the difference between the USA and Europe and what she likes about it Quality of life was also important to the California-raised woman, who also listed healthy foods as another reason she's loving her European life. 'There are hundreds of food that sold in the US that are banned in Europe because of all the health issues it causes,' she said. Lastly, the American slammed the USA's 'toxic work culture,' describing the mentality in Europe as 'work to live no live to work.' Many American expats - and native Europeans - agreed with Alyssa's video. 'This. I didn't believe it at first but when I went to Europe for vacation? They're all laid back and just living their best life as much as they can,' a user commented. 'These are all SO TRUE !! Went to Europe for a month. I couldn't believe how different LIFE WAS 'So true! I actually lost weight while I was in Sweden for eight days. Food is fresh and clean,' enthused another. In another clip, she pointed out was the packing for cigarettes, which in the European country show the possible side effects from smoking, which are grotesque and often confronting Alyssa often shares her life abroad to her TikTok page, with another popular clip showing her grocery shopping in Belgium, slamming the sugar 'American' section and gushing over the bread selection Many American expats - and native Europeans - agreed with Alyssa's video Alyssa often shares her life abroad to her TikTok page, with another popular clip showing her grocery shopping in Belgium. The first thing she pointed out was the packing for cigarettes, which in the European country show the possible side effects from smoking, which are grotesque and often confronting. The next difference was the quality of bread, which Alyssa gushed is 'amazing.' 'The bread is so fresh with no preservatives and fillers like American food,' she marveled, adding she eats it everyday and hasn't gained any weight. She compared it to the 'American aisle' of the supermarket, which was filled with sugary foods. 'I was so excited because I thought I would see some familiar things,' she explained. 'Everything on this shelf is full of sugar.' Since The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered earlier this month on Hulu, it has taken the world by storm - not only because of the juicy drama, but also because of the unique way they get Botox. The smash-hit show follows a group of TikTok famous, Mormon mom influencers living in Utah, including Taylor Frankie Paul, who outed the clique for 'soft swinging' with each other and their husbands in 2022. During the third episode of the eight-part series, some of the ladies went to get Botox together, and they were immediately offered laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, before the treatment. 'It's a party,' cast member Whitney Leavitt proclaimed during the episode. She was later asked by producers whether or not they come for the Botox or for the laughing gas - to which she admitted she comes 'for both.' Since The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered earlier this month on Hulu, it has taken the world by storm - not only because of their juicy drama, but also because of the interesting way they get Botox The cast caught attention after it was revealed that they use laughing gas while getting Botox injections Another cast member, Mayci Neely, told the audience, 'I would low-key never get laughing gas with Botox, but I'll do it today just for fun. Am I not gonna get high for free? It's not against the rules.' In the Mormon religion, it's against the rules to drink or do drugs - although some admitted to doing Ketamine therapy - but the nitrous oxide is something that slides. Nitrous oxide is a sedative that is commonly used during medical or dental procedures, per Cleveland Clinic. You inhale it through a mouthpiece, and it's short-acting, lasting only a few minutes before it wears off. You are awake during the entire process. While many viewers were shocked when they saw the wives taking the sedative during the show, it turns out that it's actually offered at more places than you may think - and it's safe, according to multiple plastic surgeons who spoke to DailyMail.com. On the show, the women got their Botox done at the Rise Rejuvenation Center, a medical spa in Murray, Utah. Founder and nurse practitioner Traci Andreason told DailyMail.com that their priority is 'providing an elevated and comfortable experience for every patient.' 'While laughing gas might seem unconventional for aesthetic treatments to some, it's an incredibly safe and optional comfort measure our patients love,' Andreason said. At both the Shafer Clinic and Dr. Edward S. Kwak's office on Manhattan's Upper East Side, you can get treated with Pro-Nox during your Botox injections It can be an especially helpful tool for people who have phobias of needles or pain, Dr. Shafer said (stock image) They use Pro-Nox, an FDA-cleared mix of half nitrous oxide and half oxygen - which is also being offered in New York City's hottest, most expensive plastic surgery offices. At both the Shafer Clinic and Dr. Edward S. Kwak's office on Manhattan's Upper East Side, you can get treated with Pro-Nox during your Botox injections. According to double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. David Shafer of the elite Shafer Clinic, nitrous oxide during Botox extremely safe when administered by a medical professional. It can be an especially helpful tool for people who have phobias of needles or pain. New York City-based plastic surgeon Dr. Charles Pierce, of Rowe Plastic Surgery, agreed that laughing gas is safe during Botox 'For most people the nitrous gas is not necessary as Botox is a quick and relatively pain free experience,' Dr. Shafer explained to DailyMail.com. 'However, for people with pain phobias, those that are nervous or just to have a more pleasant experience, the nitrous oxide can take the edge off.' Dr. Shafer explained that nitrous oxide has a 'short half life,' which means it wears off quickly - the effects leave your body about five to ten minutes after inhaling it. Pro-Nox is a self-administered device that allows you to control the amount of nitrous oxide you're getting during your procedure while monitored by a physician. Dr. Kwak has had it in his office for around six years, but admits he has only a small amount of patients who use it. Another New York City-based plastic surgeon, Dr. Charles Pierce, of Rowe Plastic Surgery, agreed with Dr. Shafer that laughing gas is safe during Botox, as long as it is 'administered by the appropriate person in a controlled medical setting.' 'It does not put you fully to sleep but does have a calming or relaxing effect,' Dr. Pierce said. 'Many people say their body feels warm or heavy.' However, like any medical treatment, it's important to understand the risks that come with nitrous oxide. 'Patients with underlying lung issues, vitamin B12 deficiencies, glaucoma, or underlying psychiatric issues may need to avoid it,' Dr. Pierce said. It's also important to go to a doctor you trust. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives caught some attention as the cast members used nitrous oxide while getting their Botox injections On the show, the women got it done at the Rise Rejuvenation Center, a medical spa in Murray, Utah, who told DailyMail.com that their priority is 'providing an elevated and comfortable experience for every patient' Dr. Kwak shared with DailyMail.com that it's important to get the treatment done with a licensed physician, especially in case of emergency. 'If, for example, someone gets lightheaded and they feel [like they're going to] pass out, get this vasovagal reaction to it, dizziness, we want to at least be able to monitor them, so we have basic equipment necessary,' the doctor said. In case of any emergency, Dr. Kwak's office has an accredited operating room, complete with a crash cart, which contains emergency medical equipment, due to the fact that they give general anesthesia for other procedures in-office. However, it's something that he recommends looking out for when choosing a provider, as well as a basic resuscitation kit. If you're not interested in having something like Pro-Nox but are still apprehensive about the pain, there are other options, too. You can get numbing creams or even a vibration treatment with a small vibrating tool that's placed on your face during your Botox to distract from the pain. There are also newer, thinner needles that can be used for Botox injections, according to Dr. Kwak. 'The vast majority of patients do all of those combination treatments,' he shared. The Norwegian royal family is currently under the microscope after Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son was arrested when 'a night of alcohol and cocaine' allegedly ended in violence and destruction. The popular princess' eldest, common-born son, Marius Borg Hiby, was first arrested on August 4 after he was reported for violence, threats and vandalism. He has since been arrested over further claims which include death threats and harassment as well as a breach of a restraining order. The 27-year-old released a statement on his arrest via his lawyer Braitlin, which was shared with Norwegian outlet NRK, where he admits to struggling with drugs and mental health. 'I have several mental disorders which mean that throughout my upbringing and adult life, I have had, and still have, challenges. I have struggled with substance abuse for a long time, something I have been in treatment for in the past. I will now resume this treatment and take it very seriously,' he said. He said he wanted to be 'responsible for what he had done' and 'explain himself truthfully to police'. 'Something happened that should never have happened. I committed bodily harm and destroyed objects in an apartment in the intoxication of alcohol and cocaine after an argument,' he said. According to Oslo police two former girlfriends have also pressed charges against the future King of Norway's step-son. The Norwegian royal family are currently under the microscope after Crown Princess Mette-Marit 's son was arrested when 'a night of alcohol and cocaine' allegedly ended in violence and destruction The Crown Prince and Princess of Norway are close with Queen Mary and King Frederik 'The charge against Hiby has been extended. As of now, there are four victims in the case. The Oslo police district is investigating the case with high priority,' a statement from police read. 'For the victim in the incident at Frogner, the charges have been extended to also include reckless behavior and breach of a restraining order, in addition to one further case of bodily harm from earlier.' 'For victim Juliane Snekkestad and victim Nora Haukland, the charges each include a case of abuse in close relationships.' Hiby is also charged with threats directed at a further person. The report in this case has been created by the police. He spent 30 hours in police custody after the original altercation on 4th August, and local media claimed to have photos that showed a knife stuck in the wall of the apartment. The popular princess' eldest, common-born son, Marius Borg Hiby was first arrested on August 4 after he was reported for violence, threats and vandalism Hiby is no stranger to scandal and 'walked away' from official royal duties at 20 following a string of scandals. His mother appeared to skip her trip to the Paris Olympics to stay with her son, who she had before she married into the royal family. She has previously described her first-born son as a 'vital member' of the family. 'He has always had a public role that has been very difficult to define,' she added. While Crown Prince Haakon told media it is a serious matter but he would not be going into the details of the case. It is 'unusual' for someone in the royal family to be involved in a scandal like this, experts claim Hiby is no stranger to scandal and 'walked away' from official royal duties at 20 following a string of scandals Hiby was on a hunting trip with friends when he was arrested for allegedly breaking the restraining order on one of his victims. Danish lawyer Mette Grith Stage spoke to tabloid B.T about the case and said it is unusual for members of any royal family to be involved with such matters. 'It is clear that if this continues, it may become relevant to remand, as it is the only way to keep him at bay.' Max Alexander, an 8-year-old fashion prodigy that holds the Guinness World Record for Youngest Runway Fashion Designer, has just created his first produced garment. His mother, Sherri Madison, tells Daily Mail that only 300 pieces will be made of this design. 'He was very particular about the vest, it took eight months to make because he wanted every detail to be exactly like his design,' she said. The incredibly soft, plush brown vest features a standing collar and beaded angel wings across the back. It will be available for pre-order in October. Max recently showcased the piece during New York Fashion Week at a special meet-and-greet for fans and media at the Conrad New York Downtown. 'Pretty and cool' is how the young superstar describes his designs to Daily Mail. Max Alexander, an 8-year-old fashion prodigy that holds the Guinness World Record for Youngest Runway Fashion Designer, has just created his first produced garment Along with the vest were several other impressive designs on display, including two gowns made of burlap coffee bean sacks. The first dress, made of a traditional brown sack, features 3/4 sleeves and an asymmetrical hem with a fringe trim. The other frock is mint green, sleeveless, and boasts an A-line silhouette. Behind a black velvet rope stood a colorful gown embellished with silk 3-D flowers. 'This is my favorite,' said Max about the mind-blowing piece. 'It's made out of a recycled wedding dress and the flowers are from M&S Schmalberg a flower company that's really old.' Another dress was made entirely of recycled ties, with several spread out like a fan at the bodice and many weaved together to form a skirt. For the special event, the adorable designer donned a light grey short suit and a white button-down shirt. He accessorized with a Gucci necklace and sandals by the Italian label. Attendees received swag bags which included a 'Max Alexander' t-shirt. His mother, Sherri Madison, tells Daily Mail that only 300 vests will be made Along with the vest were several other impressive designs on display, including two gowns made of burlap coffee bean sacks Max showcased several of his mind-blowing designs during New York Fashion Week at the Conrad New York Downtown A dress made of burlap coffee bean sacks features 3/4 sleeves and an asymmetrical hem 'This is my favorite,' said Max. 'It's made out of a recycled wedding dress and the silk flowers are from M&S Schmalberg a flower company that's really old' Max was spotted sitting front row at several New York Fashion Week shows with his mentor and NYFW creator Fern Mallis (pictured) Another dress was made entirely of recycled men's ties, with several spread out like a fan at the bodice and others weaved together to form a skirt Max's journey began at just 4 years old when he declared that he was a dressmaker and needed a mannequin. Despite having no formal fashion training at the time, Max soon began sewing, and at the age of 5 began taking sewing classes. Committed to his craft, he spends hours sketching, designing, and sewing, and his ability to produce couture-level work has impressed experienced designers and celebrities alike. Sharon Stone and Deborah Messing have both commissioned jackets from him. His ability to produce couture-level work has impressed experienced designers and celebrities alike, including actress Sharon Stone and Deborah Messing Max has gained international attention (and a massive social following) for his remarkable talent and entertaining personality. His Instagram account couture.to.the.max has amassed a whopping 3.1 million followers. His first runway show took place in Los Angeles, California, in the summer of 2021. This season, he was spotted sitting front row at several New York Fashion Week shows with his mentor and NYFW creator Fern Mallis, including eveningwear brand Pamella Roland. 'I feel happy and excited when watching fashion shows,' he told Daily Mail. Max predicts he'll show a collection at New York Fashion Week by age 10 or 12. We believe him. Kmart Australia products are going on sale from 19 September Kmart is set to slash the prices of its most popular products - including a set of hard-shell suitcases, Finish dishwashing tablets and water filter jugs. The sale will be on OnePass for four says, with the prices of thousands of products reduced across the site. It will run from Thursday 19 September until Sunday 22 September. You need to be a OnePass member to access the sale, and new members can get 50 per cent off their first year of an annual membership at just $20. The membership is usually $4-per-month or $40-per-year and will return to that price following the flash sale. Aussies are itching to get their hands on the discounted 110-pack of Finish Powerball dishwashing tablets for $15, down from $26. The tablets have consistently been named one of the top dishwasher tablets in Australia by consumers - with thousands praising their value for money and efficacy. A top wellness standout is the Handheld Physio massage gun ($49 down from $119.95). Australian bargain shoppers are in for a treat this weekend as Kmart slashes the prices of its most popular products A top wellness standout is the Handheld Physio massage gun ($49 down from $119.95) The device has five attachments designed to help you improve flexibility and delay muscle stiffness. Its design also makes it easier to target hard-to-reach muscles. Travellers will be delighted to find a two-piece luggage set on sale for $99. The navy hard case set includes a medium and carry-on suitcases you can use together for longer trips during the summer holidays - or individually for weekends away up the coast. Aussies who love to meal prep are sure to jet straight for the 10 piece Sistema storage set ($22, down from $45). The containers are leak-proof, stackable, and come in sets of five different sizes. OnePass is launching an unmissable four-day sale with the prices of thousands of products being slashed. Shoppers looking to spruce up their kitchens will find the De'Longhi Icona kettle on sale for only $79 - while the high-end appliance retails for $179. The kettle's sleek silver design will add class to any kitchen. Other kitchen upgrades also include the NutriBullet 600 Series blender ($69, down from $99) you can use to make delicious smoothies that boost your immune system. Thousands have been searching for a bargain water jug and filter and the Brita 2.4l jug is down to only $19 from its original $38. Thousands have been searching for a bargain water jug and filter and the Brita 2.4l jug is down to only $19 from its original $38 Its excellent technology filters impurities from herbicides, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals and reduces chlorine, limescale, lead, and copper. You can keep the jug by your bedside table and be assured the water you're drinking is in its purest and healthiest form. And it's not just 'Kmart addicts' who benefit - the OnePass subscription allows shoppers access to unlimited deliveries from Priceline, Bunnings, Catch.com.au, Target and Officeworks too. The internet has been left furious over HBO's shocking new docuseries Chimp Crazy, which follows a woman who goes to extreme lengths to evade authorities and animal rights groups while keeping a monkey hidden in her basement. The series, which premiered last month, focuses on Tonia Haddix, a former nurse and animal broker who took over the Missouri Primate Foundation in 2018, a facility that housed seven chimps used in showbusiness. The most famous was a monkey named Tonka, who starred in a slew of movies over the years including Buddy, with Alan Cumming, George of the Jungle, and Babe: Pig in the City. Things took a wild turn after Tonia was ordered to give up her chimpanzees to an animal sanctuary - and when authorities showed up to take the monkeys, Tonka was missing. Tonia sensationally claimed that Tonka had died, only for him to be found alive in a cage in her basement nearly a year later. The internet is furious over HBO's new docuseries Chimp Crazy, which follows a woman who goes to extreme lengths to evade authorities while keeping a monkey hidden in her basement For months, she told law enforcement officials that the monkey had passed away - even going as far as showing what appeared to be his ashes to a judge, only for her to confess on camera while making the docuseries that she was lying about the entire thing, and hiding Tonka in her home. Eventually, her web of lies was uncovered after the filmmakers opted to contact PETA, who had the chimp transferred to an animal sanctuary, where it is now thriving. While it seems as though the docuseries had a happy ending, many viewers were left extremely uncomfortable - and were unimpressed that Tonia didn't receive any jail time for her actions. Many people took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their frustrations, with one person branding her as 'absolutely delusional' and another calling her a 'lunatic' who should be 'locked up.' 'Tonia is the height of narcissism, cloaking her abuse under the guise of love, committed to her own glory at the expense of whatever animal has to suffer in order for her to feel she's being worshipped enough,' one person wrote on X. 'I just watched episode four of Chimp Crazy and I cannot believe Tonia really thought she could have given Tonka a better life than the incredible sanctuary he was finally rescued to. She is absolutely delusional,' added another. 'Chimp Crazy was a wild ride but it's disappointing not seeing Tonia behind bars or that there's still no federal law banning people from owning chimps,' said someone else. 'These people all deserve jail time. I am happy to learn Tonka is living his best life though.' The series focuses on Tonia Haddix, a former nurse and animal broker who took over the Missouri Primate Foundation in 2018, a facility that housed seven chimps used in showbusiness The most famous was a monkey named Tonka, who starred in a slew of movies over the years including Buddy, with Alan Cumming (seen), George of the Jungle, and Babe: Pig in the City Things took a wild turn after Tonia was ordered to give up her chimpanzees to an animal sanctuary - and when authorities showed up to take the monkeys, Tonka was missing 'I don't think I've detested someone's existence as much as I do this dumb, ugly a** Tonia Haddix woman on Chimp Crazy,' professed a different user. 'How is that lunatic Tonia not locked up? She lied to the court, defied court orders, tortured Tonka for an additional year and no jail time?' read a fifth tweet. 'These people abusing animals are lonely, pitiful and mentally ill.' Earlier this month, Rolling Stone reported that PETA had sent a letter to the court 'urging a judge to consider bringing perjury charges against' Tonia following the premiere of the docuseries. The court previously decided not to charge Tonia, claiming it 'lacked sufficient evidence to prove that the chimpanzee who was removed from her home on June 5, 2022 was actually Tonka.' But now, PETA is arguing that there is 'incontrovertible proof' that the monkey she was holding was Tonka, thanks to the docuseries. Tonia sensationally claimed that Tonka had died, only for him to be found alive in a cage in her basement nearly a year later Many people took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their frustrations, with one person branding her as 'absolutely delusional' While Tonka was ultimately discovered and sent to a sanctuary, many viewers were left unamused that Tonia didn't receive any jail time for her actions 'Now that Tonia Haddix's blatant and unapologetic perjury is being broadcast around the world, the United States must prosecute her, both to punish her and to deter future defendants from lying in federal court and expecting to get away with it,' the organization said in a statement to Rolling Stone. 'Just as PETA never stopped fighting for Tonka, it won't stop pushing authorities until Haddix and her co-conspirators are held responsible for their crimes.' Tonia was previously ordered to pay PETA $240,000 'for the organization's expenses and attorney fees in bringing the case against her.' The publication reported that she could face up to five years in prison if she is charged. 'Am I shocked? No. Am I sad and wish that people would just leave me alone? Yes,' Tonia told Rolling Stone in response to PETA's letter. 'But PETA is not going to stop. Theyre relentless. I'm just worn out.' For some 10 million pupils it is back-to-school month. But for a growing minority the lazy days of the summer holidays are set to continue. In the glass-fronted wellbeing centre at an all-girls state secondary school in a wealthy Midlands suburb, no expense has been spared to create a relaxed, calming atmosphere. The walls are painted in mood-enhancing shades. Pupils lounge on sofas with plush cushions, snacks and drinks on hand. Nothing as exhausting as school work is going on. The teenagers are listening to music on their headphones or scrolling through mobile phones, chatting and laughing. They say they are suffering mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. 'A girl has only to mention she's feeling a little anxious and staff send them to the wellbeing centre,' Joanna, a middle-aged teacher at the school, explains. 'I am horrified at the speed with which they pull pupils out of lessons.' At lunchtime, the staff take trays of food from the canteen to them 'so they don't even engage with queuing up and getting lunch'. If the adults around them do not get them back into school, children's anxiety and depression take hold Some parents express concern that their daughters are doing nothing all day. But centre staff not qualified teachers and often only a few years older than the pupils warn any pressure might cause the child to stop eating or self-harm, so they back off. For Joanna, the 'softly, softly' approach is why the number of troubled girls is ballooning at the school. Chloe, one of Joanna's star pupils, is a case in point. Bright and full of potential, she began to skip lessons in the year before her GCSEs and soon found her way to the centre. Chloe explained to Joanna with a chuckle: 'I just say I am anxious and I can come here,' to which Joanna replied: 'Chloe, be smart. This is not working towards your future.' Joanna went to the centre to plead with the young staff there: 'I know there's only a small window of time when you can rescue the situation and get them back into school.' But they rolled their eyes, accusing her of being 'abusive', she says. 'It happened so fast. In January it was all a bit of a laugh for Chloe. By June she could not leave home,' says Joanna. 'What had started as a joke had become a reality as she missed more and more school. The adults around her connived with her. It was almost as if they talked her anxiety into existence. No one said pack your bag and get into school.' Joanna sighs: 'That is a really talented, lovely girl lost.' Tess Bailey-Sayer, child and adolescent analytic psychotherapist, explains: 'When young children are sick, the illness spikes quickly. It is not dissimilar with mental health. When they drop out of school, their mental wellbeing deteriorates fast. 'They lose touch with their friends and confidence in their educational ability. If the adults around them do not get them back into school, their anxiety and depression take hold.' Unfortunately, some schools' approach is encouraging this. The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities states girls are twice as likely to say they are unhappy with their mental health as boys. A report by The Children's Society charity, finds that the decline in happiness among 15-year-old girls in the seven years to 2022 is one of the steepest in Europe. Many schools have some sort of wellbeing centre. But they vary. Joanna's school decided to put significant resources into theirs. Yet at a state school in east London, its centre is just one small, basic room, though pupils still lie around on bean bags, scrolling on their phones. A teaching assistant says, 'It used to be called the exclusion centre. It may have changed name but it's still the same faces. Only now they do no work.' The Centre For Social Justice (CSJ) think tank was the first to raise the issue of children absent from school, known as 'ghost children'. Figures, for autumn 2023 show 142,487 missed 50 per cent or more school time more than double pre-pandemic levels, and are the highest for any autumn term. One in five children, nearly 1.5 million, are still missing the equivalent of an afternoon a week. So what is going on? Chloe and many of her peers are victims of lockdown. The repercussions have been widespread, unforeseen and disastrous. Lockdown has affected children at all ages from babies with anxious new mothers stripped of health visitors, GPs, friends or family, to teenagers confined to their rooms with just the malign influence of social media for company and nothing but 'dead time' stretching ahead. As a 13-year-old told me: 'I was scared I'd lost myself for ever and become a different version of myself.' Now, children and teens affected by lockdown are growing up. 'Disengagement from school is baked in,' says Iain MacRitchie, founder of MCR Pathways, a nationwide mentoring programme. Instead of punishing absent pupils, schools hope to encourage their return by catering to their wishes. The impact of the pandemic is being compounded by our failure to bring people back into school 'The young people are getting their timetable reduced with the most challenging subjects filtered out,' he says. One boy explained to me his school told him he need only come in for half a day and that time would not have a maths or an English lesson. 'My mum went mental when she found out,' the boy said. Absent pupils are much more likely to end up in the 'NEET' cohort not engaged in education, employment or training. Centre for Social Justice analysis revealed that persistently absent pupils are about three times more likely than their peers to commit a crime within two years of leaving school. Children on free school meals are three times more likely to be severely absent than more affluent classmates, but it is by no means a problem for disadvantaged pupils alone, as Chloe's experience shows. Nor can lockdown be held solely responsible for the continuing crisis of mental health in young people. It only accelerated an existing trend what Jonathan Haidt, the US social psychologist described in his book, The Anxious Generation, as the transition from a play-based to a phone-based childhood. He says: 'The mass migration of childhood into the virtual world has disrupted social and neurological development' which has caused 'social anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction'. The impact of the pandemic is being compounded by our failure to bring people back into school. Ben, 13, tells what happened to his best friend Will, the son of well-meaning, middle-class parents. Over lockdown, Will, like many young people, retreated into the virtual world. 'At night we'd text till late, all this deep, personal stuff. But when he finally came into school, he could barely say a word to me. 'He's meant to be my best friend but he can only communicate online where he's got all these friends he's never met.' Will finally dropped out of school, citing anxiety and depression. His parents took him to Wales for a fresh start. Ben asks: 'Why didn't his parents make him go back to school?' He was horrified by the change in his friend. 'He's like this ghost. I said to my dad: 'You would have pinned me down and forced my uniform on, wouldn't you?' Will's parents urge him to take up activities. 'But online is where he's got his friends and interests. He's not in the real world now.' The onslaught of lockdown and social media combined with the misguided indulgence of many schools explains why the expected recovery in school attendance is not happening. It is getting worse. The repercussions will not just hit school children but society as a whole as these young people move on to the next stage of life. Catherine, a 17-year-old accountancy student, found this out for herself. Of the 28 who began her sixth-form course last September, only she remains. Her peers 'have either been kicked off because they weren't keeping up with the tests or dropped out'. The college has closed the course down and Catherine studies in the next town. She says: 'It was hard seeing my friends flaking out and the year group get smaller and smaller.' Many cited their mental health as a reason for quitting, something that Catherine says her Croatian father, who started his own building business, would never have countenanced. It's an upbringing she's thankful for, as she sees her old classmates at their 'nice homes', but 'most of them have no lives and no future'. The dropout rate among young people comes with a cost not just to themselves but also society. More than 730,000 under-18s are now the subject of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) a tax-free benefit for parents who need help caring for their children. This is up a startling 40 per cent since November 2019, according to Department for Work and Pensions figures. The number of parents claiming DLA is expected to hit 948,000 by 2028-29 more than double pre-pandemic levels and equal to about one in 14 children. Andy King, a former official at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the Government's tax and spending watchdog, said: 'Many children receiving disability benefits continue to do so as young adults, and relatively few of those will be in work... [storing up] challenges ahead for both the economy and the public finances.' Now thousands of students go straight from university on to long-term sickness due to poor mental health, says an NHS Confederation and Boston Consulting Group report out last week. Tess Bailey-Sayer, child and adolescent analytic psychotherapist, says: 'When children drop out of school, their mental wellbeing deteriorates fast' Worklessness hit a 13-year high in the three months to June, with 9.5 million adults now neither in work nor looking for a job. The cost of this inactivity is eye watering. Sickness benefits will surge to 64billion by the end of this parliament, up 30billion from before the pandemic. The surge is unique to the UK. In Britain one in every 15 people of working age is now off owing to long-term illness, a rate 69 per cent higher than Germany. Anne, a vet running an animal sanctuary with a link to a nearby secondary school, has witnessed the fallout first-hand. Since the pandemic, she has seen more pupils mainly girls spend time in her sanctuary ostensibly for therapeutic reasons. Anne brands them 'pampered'. She said the parents, some quite wealthy, would 'pull up in their expensive cars. I don't know if the mothers work or not but they seem to be able to tend full-time to their girls' mental health needs'. The school had tried everything to re-engage their pupils, even paying for individual tutors. One girl, Emily, who wanted to be a vet, insisted she was taught in Anne's small office. 'She found the school building too traumatising,' says Anne. Safe-guarding meant a team of two had to be with the girl. As Anne says: 'You can imagine the cost.' 'Emily was very smart and very sad. But the tutor and I could never identify why Emily was traumatised. The school couldn't tell us. Neither could Emily!' Now 17, this bright girl has not a single qualification. Anne says: 'I asked her how she thought she could afford her parents' lifestyle when she was older. What would she live on? She might just about get a job in the local B&Q and that's it. She looked quite surprised.' It is not just disadvantaged youngsters who are dropping out but also those who could have become professionals, depriving society of accountants, vets and more. As one teacher put it: 'Don't expect Generation Z to pay your pensions.' McDonald's customers can get their hands on $1 cheeseburgers across Australia today as the popular fast-food restaurant celebrates the end of the footy season. The $1 cheeseburger deal kicks off today, for National Cheeseburger Day, and is the start of 19 days of deals from the chain. McDonald's is keeping quiet about the deals they will have on offer, but they will finish on October 6 with a small McCafe coffee for $1. Tobi Fukushima, National Marketing Manager for McDonald's Australia told FEMAIL there is 'something for every fan'. 'Customers can look forward to a number of deals, featuring everyone's favourites - from the McChicken to Chicken McNuggets and much more - including unmissable offers on the days of the AFL and NRL grand finals. 'Customers will also earn Monopoly tickets on select menu items, as well as MyMacca's reward points when they purchase all deals on the roster, which can be redeemed for some of our most popular menu items. 'The Footy Finals Deals is just another way we are showing customers that value means more at Macca's, by rewarding them for their loyalty while offering some of their favourite menu items for less.' McDonald's customers can get their hands on $1 cheeseburgers across Australia today as the popular fast-food restaurant celebrates the end of the footy season The $1 Cheeseburger offer will be available between 12:01am and 11.59pm on Wednesday, September 18 in all McDonald's restaurants nationwide, via drive thru, kiosk and front counter, as well as via the MyMacca's app and McDelivery. The $1 Small Coffee from McCafe lands in restaurants on Tuesday, October 1 and will be available between 12:01am and 11:59pm. The deal includes selected hot and cold beverages. Offers across the Footy Finals Deals will be available each day in the MyMacca's app from midnight and are limited to one redemption per customer. The news that cult kitchen brand Tupperware might be heading for the great storage container in the sky has sparked a wave of nostalgia-tinged mourning on social media. The iconic American brand known the world over for its plastic food containers, is on the brink of bankruptcy, with spiralling debts of more than $700 million, according to Bloomberg. The 78-year-old company has been battling for years to revive its fortunes - and despite a surge in sales during Covid, as people were forced to cook at home - it looks like the writing could be on the wall for the company as soon as this week. A near 80-year love affair with Tupperware could come to an end this week as the US brand looks set to file for bankruptcy after a trying few years The brand became a cultural phenomenon in the 1950s thanks to its Tupperware parties, where a host would invite housewives around to show off new products While new generations - particularly Gen Z - have fully embraced the storage concept, they've often plumped for more affordable copycats; the market is saturated with cheaper versions. Environmental concerns regarding the over-use of plastic hasn't helped the company's fortunes either. In its heyday, Tupperware was the original food storage pioneer; it first burst onto the scene in the mid-1940s and soon became famous for its 'Tupperware parties', where housewives would gather in the evening with a glass of wine, while a host would present the company's latest products. What's more, the brand famously also had a fan in the late Queen - who was said to use their products everyday. Younger generations appreciate the kitchen storage brand, including vintage looks re-released in recent years - but cheaper copycats have meant Tupperware is no longer the go-to For many hearing the news of the brand's potential demise this week, it triggered memories of family members holding or attending parties - with some suggesting vintage Tupperware might even become family heirlooms. One wrote: 'Our mothers are going to become inconsolable. Wills will need to be updated. Those Tupperware in her cupboard is your inheritance now. Finally, we will have generational wealth.' Another added: 'Sad to hear Tupperware has gone into liquidation. Memories of mum at New year getting out the three-tier Party Susan and filling it with diced cheeses, pineapple, ham and pickles etc. Happy days!' Elsewhere on X, there was insight into exactly why the brand has failed to continue to dominate the market in the way that it once did. Said one: 'Tupperware is just far too expensive compared to other brands. Like this isnt the 1950s anymore where you could probably buy Tupperware for maybe 10 dollars.' Another added: 'Cheaper alternative brands are making a lot of money. Tupperware is just too expensive relative to the cheaper brand, that's why they losing money.' Last Friday, Tupperware disclosed it has 'substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern' in the face of a cash crunch and pressure from creditors, after errors in its financial statements left it unable to timely file an annual report. Meanwhile, experts have now said that financial missteps, the demise of the direct-sales model in the age of e-commerce, and the rise of cheap alternatives - including re-useable containers from food deliveries - have all also played a role in Tupperware's downfall. Here FEMAIL takes a look back at company's glory days - as consumers prepare to say goodbye to Tupperware. Mr Tupper and Mrs Wise: How a single mother became the glamorous face of the emerging brand Brownie Wise (pictured) was a divorced single mother when she discovered Tupperware products in the late 1940s. She took the brand worldwide by coming up with their 'Tupperware parties' In 1946, Earl Tupper, from New Hampshire, created his first range of polyethylene kitchenware. At the time, the US was still reeling from the Great Depression and the chemist wanted to create a product that could help with food waste. The aspiring product developer was inspired by the airtight seal on paint cans and used this as the basis for the 'Wonderbowl' - which hit shelves the following year. A 1947 House Beautiful review of the Wonderbowl labelled it 'fine art for 39 cents'. However, the vacuum-sealed plastic container was so innovative that shoppers were wary at first - and required demonstrations on how to use it. Undated photo of Earl Tupper and Brownie Wise. The founder hired the single mother as his Vice President of Marketing in 1951 A group of unspecified women attend a Tupperware party, some wearing hats fashioned from Tupperware products in 1955 According to History.com, confused customers kept returning the air-tight lids to shops as they believed they didn't fit. In a bid to boost sales, Earl Tupper hired divorced secretary Brownie Wise to be his Vice President of Marketing in 1951. A few years before, a travelling salesman tried to sell the single mother the products on her doorstep. According to Bob Kealing's 2016 biography Life Of the Party, Brownie was so unimpressed with his pitch that she decided to try selling Tupperware herself. In order to make some extra money, the single mother started hosting 'Tupperware Patio Parties' at her home. She later said: 'I needed the money for me and my kid. So I got out there and made it.' Brownie Wise, vice president and general manager of the Tupperware Home Parties, receives award from Boston Sales Executives Club in 1956 At the time, she had been working at Stanley Home Products and became one of the chain's managers in Michigan - before the founder told her: 'Management is no place for a woman.' Although Tupperware had been well received by the press, it was still struggling to shift products in store. As Brownie was outselling major department stores between 1949 and 1950, she was offered exclusive rights to sell Tupperware in Florida. From 1951-1958, she headed up sales at Tupperware and she's credited with spurring the company's growth by becoming the glamorous face of the brand, which was targeting other housewives. As well as being the first woman to ever appear on the cover of BusinessWeek, Brownie also gave demonstrations to editors at Vogue and Glamour. Show and tell...then buy: Rise of the Tupperware Party Pictured: UK residents attend a Tupperware party in 1963. The brand had come to the UK just two years before Tupperware adverts from the 1950s, urging housewives to throw their own parties to buy and sell the products Women attend a Tupperware party, hosted to market the new brand of plastic containers, in 1955 Just like Avon Ladies in the UK, Tupperware began offering housewives the chance to become 'consultants' and sell the products to local families in the 1950s. In her role as Vice President of Marketing, Brownie even wrote her own 'manual' for recruits - including the 'urgent musts' of any successful Tupperware party. According to the New York Post, Brownie wrote that the atmosphere of the party should be 'relaxing' because the 'social spirit of a party tends to lower sales resistance of those present'. Wise went on to write that 'it is a proven fact that you will sell more to a group of 15 women than you will sell to them individually'. In the 1950s and 1960s, Tupperware Parties were the only way in which shoppers could purchase the food storage containers. An 1950s magazine advert for the parties read: 'There's nothing quite like Tupperware for refrigerator, freezer, cupboard or table. An advert urging housewives to host Tupperware parties which appeared in a US magazine in the 1960s 'Only Tupperware has the patented Tupper Seal - keeps stored foods so fresh, so long... and yet it looks so attractive on your table, too! 'Millions of women each year are introduced to Tuperware's work-saving wonder-world by the popular home party plan. 'Invite your friends over for a Tupperware party and receive a lovely gift just for being a hostess!' At the time, hostesses would receive free products based on how much they had sold at their event. Writing for the Emporia Gazette in 1960, columnist Irene Corbally Kuhn described a Tupperware party she attended in Queens, New York. She said: 'The evening started with games, and all the women taking a night off from husbands, housework and children, got right into the spirit of the occasion. 'Only soft drinks and cookies were served this is an unwritten law so that no one is tempted to overreach herself socially or financially. Pictured: a 1965 advert for Tupperware. In the 1950s and 1960s, Tupperware Parties were the only way in which shoppers could purchase the food storage containers 'Mrs Stegmaier showed the new things, discussed new ways of using them. The party lasted two hours, and when it was over, the women ordered what they needed. One of the guests announced shed like to be a hostess next month.' In her 1999 book Tupperware: The Promise Of Plastic In 1950s America, Dr Alison Clarke wrote: 'There was a strong philosophy in Tupperware of women being totally supportive to women. It was like a big sisterhood.' The popularity of Tupperware parties waned as the number of housewives fell dramatically and women entered the workforce in droves. Suddenly, eating out was easier than home cooking and Tupperware was no longer needed to store leftovers in. Global reach: How Tupperware became storage go-to In 1961, the first Tupperware party was hosted in the UK. Four years later, the company had launched in Japan, Australia and Singapore. Speaking to the BBC, Dr Alison Clarke discussed the international appeal of the range of food storage containers - which was being developed in different shapes, sizes and colours. Shopper in Target's San Bruno store in California browses the Tupperware aisle and inspects the new launches A 1980 advert for Tupperware with the taglinge 'where work and pleasure come together'. In this period, the popularity of Tupperware parties had waned Ups and downs of the tubs that were more than just kitchenware 1946: A year after the end of WWII, when women had to leave jobs for returning heroes, Earl Tupper launches Tupperware in the U.S. 1951: Single mother Brownie Wise joined the company and the Tupperware party was born. 1960: Tupperware parties arrive in the UK. 1970s: The Equal Pay Act of 1970 and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 sees women enter the workforce in significant numbers. 1996: As women struggle with the pressures of family life and work, Tupperware now sells in more than 100 countries. 2003: The first, newly-empowered Millennial women enter the workforce. After years of falling sales, Tupperware axes parties in the UK. Instead, Ann Summers parties are in favour. 2020: The global pandemic sees women confined to their homes, and the fortunes of Tupperware soar once more. 2023: Tupperware teeters on the brink of collapse. 2024: Filing for bankruptcy looks likely Advertisement She explained: 'The Tupperware parties glamourised dull housework, and you could only buy it if you knew someone who sold it, so it was exclusive, and social, and about relationships with other women. 'I started off thinking it was an exploitative capitalist conspiracy against women, and then I met all of these women who had a fantastic life because of it and saw how it was empowering for them.' In 1965, the influential fashion magazine, Queen, gave Tupperware its seal of approval, lauding it as 'the greatest revolution in household consumer goods since the Phoenicians invented glass'. In 2007, the brand was still going strong and even inspired a Broadway musical about Tupperware's origins. What's more, the firm was said to have an army of saleswoman in post-Soviet Russia- with many of them said to be earning more than 50,000 a year. A royal fan in the late Queen After launching in the UK in the 1960s, Tupperware also gained a surprising fan in the late Queen. In 2003, it was revealed by an undercover reporter that the monarch - who passed away at the age of 96 last September - was said to store all of her various breakfast cereals in the brand's containers to keep them fresh. What's more, Her Majesty's former chef Darren McGrady revealed these weren't the only Tupperware products she owned. Speaking to Marie Claire in 2016, the ex-employee - who worked for the Queen from 1982 to 1993 - explained: 'People always say, "Oh, the Queen must eat off gold plates with gold knives and forks." In 2003, an undercover journalist reported that the Queen used Tupperware to store her cereals - prompting sales to surge by 80 per cent 'Yes, sometimes...but at Balmoral she'd eat fruit from a plastic yellow tupperware container.' As a result of the royal revelation, retail sales surged - increasing by a reported 80 per cent. Trying times: Where it all went wrong Tupperware has seen its market dominance threatened by competition from other popular brands including Rubbermaid, Glad, Pyrex and Oxo Professor Gary Mortimer, a business and retail expert at the Queensland University of Technology, has said the company has failed to innovate or appeal to younger customers Tupperware CEO Miguel Fernandez said the company has 'embarked on a journey to turn around our operations' What happened to Earl Tupper and Brownie Wise? In 1958, Earl Tupper abruptly sacked Brownie, declaring that she had betrayed the company ethos and endangered its reputation. He said she had been observed using a Tupperware dish as a dog bowl in her luxury home. It went against his ethos of the product as a hygienic way to store food. Later that year, he sold the company in 1958 to the Rexall Drug Company for $16 million and moved to Costa Rica to avoid tax. He died a broken man in 1983 after his later inventions including a laundry device for travelling salesmen failed to take off. The same year, Tupperware became the world's biggest direct seller with annual sales of 620 million. Advertisement Over the years, the direct sales model has generally suffered with the rise of e-commerce, and companies that rely on an army of individual neighborhood sellers have been forced to re-think their business model. The Covid-19 pandemic provided a boost in Tupperware sales as families stayed indoors and cooked more meals at home. Tupperware warned in March its business may not survive due to waning demand for its plastic containers and mounting debt. Then in June it announced that it is closing its last US factory and laying off 150 workers. It is moving the work to Mexico to take advantage of cheaper wages there. The factory in the small town of Hemingway in South Carolina has produced billions of the kitchen-cabinet staples since it opened 48 years ago. The closure - which will take effect later this year - is a huge blow to the 148 workers at the Williamsburg County plant. Production will be moved to Lerma in Mexico, where the company says it already makes items for the US and Canada. As Wetherspoons continues to put a number of its pubs up for sale across the UK, regulars can breathe easy knowing that one captivating venue, described by fans as a 'work of art,' is staying firmly in place. While the affordable pub chain has enjoyed sales growth of nearly 8 per cent in the 12 months leading up to July, the company has been slimming down its portfolio, selling or surrendering the lease on 30 pubs this year after closing 41 last year. Despite ten of the chain's pubs currently listed on the market, including prominent buildings in Cardiff, Swindon, and Felixstowe, the future of one particularly breathtaking venue is secure. The Palladium, a Grade II listed building in Llandudno, North Wales, has earned rave reviews from impressed punters over the years. Originally opened in the 1920s and designed by Arthur Hewitt, The Palladium has a rich history, with much of its original interior still intact. The Palladium, a Grade II listed building in Llandudno, North Wales, has earnt rave reviews from impressed punters over the years (stock image) Originally opened in the 1920s and designed by Arthur Hewitt, The Palladium has a rich history, with much of its original interior still intact (stock image) The building once boasted seating on three levels - stalls, dress circle, and balcony -and was used as a theatre and music hall before transitioning into a bingo hall and 600-seat cinema in the 1970s, according to Wales' Daily Post. After closing its doors in 1999, Wetherspoons gave the historic venue a new lease on life in 2001. Now a Grade II listed building, The Palladium recently underwent a 1 million restoration project, preserving its historic charm while ensuring the space remains functional for future guests. The restoration work included repairs and redecorations to the original ceiling, as well as the restoration of many of the balconies and intricate decorative details that make the venue unique. Jason Connor, the pub's manager, spoke to the Daily Post about the transformation. He said: 'Wetherspoon has spent approximately 1million on the pub, providing further substantial investment into the local area. 'The work has ensured that the pub is safe, whilst also ensuring the preservation and restoration of this beautiful heritage ceiling so that many people can appreciate it for years to come.' The venue has drawn praise from visitors, with many taking to TripAdvisor and Facebook to rave about the stunning interior. The Palladium recently underwent a 1 million restoration project, preserving its historic charm while ensuring the space remains functional for future guests (stock image) After closing its doors in 1999, Wetherspoons gave the historic venue a new lease on life in 2001 The building once boasted seating on three levels - stalls, dress circle, and balcony -and was used as a theatre and music hall before transitioning into a bingo hall and 600-seat cinema in the 1970 The restoration work included repairs and redecorations to the original ceiling, as well as the restoration of many of the balconies and intricate decorative details The venue has drawn praise from visitors, with many taking to TripAdvisor and Facebook to rave about the stunning interior One person wrote, 'This is a stunning building, full of history. The inside really is a great environment to share a meal,' while another gushed, 'This has got to be the best Wetherspoons ever!!!' A third said: 'The recently fully renovated restaurant is a work of art. The interior is wonderful, still retaining the original seating in the circle and upper circle.' In June, Wetherspoons threatened to sue a controversial Welsh pub after they started trading as 'Wetherspoons Ltd' - highlighting how rap group Goldie Lookin Chain have namechecked the bargain bar chain. The Bridge Head in Abergele, Denbighshire, previously faced controversy after a name change from the traditional Welsh Pen-y-Bont. But now the nationwide JD Wetherspoon chain has hit them with a legal claim after they added 'Wetherspoons Limited' to their sign. Netflix has revealed its most watched shows of the year - with British-made series leading the way. Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive of Netflix, said Fool Me Once, Baby Reindeer, Bridgerton and The Gentleman have been the four top-watched shows globally. The shows have attracted a combined 360 million views in the first six months of this year. Speaking at the Royal Television Society conference, he said: 'It's why Netflix invests more here than any other country outside the U.S. 'Since 2020, we've invested $6 billion (4.53 billion) in the UK creative community - and worked with over 30,000 cast and crew.' Fool Me Once, which is based on the novel by Harlan Coben and stars the former Coronation Street actor Michelle Keegan alongside Joanna Lumley, is the most popular show on Netflix this year with 108 million views. Netflix has revealed that British-made shows have proved to be the most popular in 2024, with Fool Me Once, starring Michelle Keegan (pictured), taking the top spot with 108 million views Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive of Netflix, said Fool Me Once, Baby Reindeer, Bridgerton and The Gentleman have been the four top-watched shows globally, with Bridgerton drawing in 92 million views alone Next up is Bridgerton, which drew in 92 million views. Baby Reindeer, which picked up six Emmy awards on Sunday night, had 88 million people tuning in. Finally, the drama series The Gentleman, which stars Theo James, had an impressive 76 million viewers. Sarandos added: 'I've seen the scope and ambition of these British-made shows and films first-hand. This wealth of talent is a Great British success story. Because it didn't happen by accident. 'Filming here in Britain is always a privilege, and never a sacrifice. In other words, Britain became one of the best countries in the world for TV and film because you made it happen.' Elsewhere, Sarandos went on to defend Baby Reindeer by claiming the hit series is a 'drama, not a documentary' after the streaming service was hit with legal action from a woman who claims to be the real stalker Martha. He said the series is the personal account of its creator Richard Gadd, who also plays the lead role of comedian Donny Dunn, and his own experience with a stalker. Fiona Harvey came forward claiming to be the inspiration behind Martha, alleging the story was inaccurate, and filed a lawsuit against Netflix. At the beginning of the first episode, text appears on the screen which says: 'This is a true story.' Baby Reindeer, which picked up six Emmy awards on Sunday night, had 88 million people tuning in Finally the drama series The Gentleman, which stars Theo James, had an impressive 76 million viewers Reflecting on his own struggles and battle with mental health issues, after accepting his Emmy award Richard Gadd said: 'Look, ten years ago, I was down and out, right? I never ever thought I would get my life together. I never thought I would be able to rectify myself and get myself back on my feet again.' 'We are facilitating storytellers to tell their stories,' said Sarandos. 'Baby Reindeer is his [Gadd's] story, he told his story, it is not a documentary.' 'There are elements of the story that are dramatised,' said Sarandos. 'It is abundantly clear that there is dramatisation involved. This debate [about Baby Reindeer's status as a true story] is not happening anywhere else in the world. Just the UK.' Gadd, in his Emmy awards acceptance speech on Sunday, urged aspiring writers to take risks. 'The only constant across any success in television is good storytelling,' he told the audience. 'Good storytelling speaks to our times take risks, push boundaries, explore the uncomfortable, dare to fail in order to achieve.' The Oxford English Dictionary has announced the new slang terms that have been added to their ranks - from 'beery' to 'boozeroo'. The OED - which dates back to 1884 and is one of the famous dictionaries in the world - introduces a new selection of words every three months. This year, the editorial team has included a range of words inspired by Oktoberfest, the beer festival that originated in Munich and will be celebrated around the world from next week. From today, the term 'beery' - which means to be 'affected or influenced by beer' - has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. The team also listed some of the ways in which the word could be used - including 'beery-faced', 'beery-breathed' and 'beery-smelling'. The OED is updated quarterly with new words to reflect changes in the way they are used and to include terms relating to new events and trends. Stock image In keeping with this year's theme, the Oxford English Dictionary also added 'beerhouse', 'beer parlour', 'beer stall', 'beer-cellar', 'beer-off', 'boozeroo' and 'bierkeller' - which are ways of describing establishments that serve alcohol. On top of this, the update also included the Australian slang 'beer-up', which means a 'heavy drinking session' and 'beer slinger' (a bartender) to the ranks. Meanwhile, the term 'cheap date' is now included in the OED and means 'someone who has inexpensive tastes with regard to alcoholic drinks' or has a 'low tolerance for alcohol'. What's more, the OED update also includes 'beer bombard' and 'beer hound', which are terms used to describe people who drink to excess. The team have featured the term 'beer boep', which is South African slang for someone with a 'beer belly' from over-drinking. The figurative terms 'beer coat' or 'beer blanket' have also appeared in the update and relate to the 'supposed imperviousness to cold conditions which is attributed to the desensitizing effects of drinking alcohol and likened to a notional garment or blanket'. In addition, the OED has also included 'beerage' in their update - which is a play on peers in the House of Lords and is used to describe influential people in the brewing industry. Beyond the Oktoberfest theme, the Oxford English Dictionary has introduced the expression 'ych a fi' - which is a Welsh interjection of disgust or disdain - to their ranks. Words including 'beery' and 'towel' have been enshrined in the Oxford English Dictionary in the latest update Although 'towel' is an everyday word for most, it also doubles up as Guyanese slang for a one-thousand-dollar bill - which now appears in the OED's update. 'Rolex' has also made the cut this year, which relates to a Ugandan street food staple that is a playful twist on rolled eggs. Earlier this year, the Oxford English Dictionary announced that 'wokery', 'safe word' and 'swear jar' were being added to their listings. The OED is updated quarterly with new words to reflect changes in the way they are used and to include terms relating to new events and trends. In November 2020, the editorial team updated its entry for 'woman' so that it is defined as a 'person's' wife, girlfriend or lover as opposed to only a man's following a gender review. The publisher has altered dozens of terms including 'woman', 'man', 'housework' and 'high-maintenance' following a gender diversity review. It was prompted by a 30,000-strong petition, led by PR consultant Maria Beatrice Giovanardi, which claimed that the dictionary was sexist. The Spanish queen attended the course opening at Professional School Queen Letizia of Spain cut an elegant figure as she inaugurated a course in Castro Urdiales on Wednesday. The mother-of-two, 51, opted for smart business attire as she attended the course opening at Professional School in the northern Spanish town. The royal wore a blue-and-white striped shirt with a trendy cut out feature across the chest for today's engagement. The mother-of-two paired the shirt with a pair of black cigarette trousers and classic heeled sandals. Letizia opted for her signature bouncy blow-dry and completed her sophisticated ensemble with diamond encrusted earrings. Queen Letizia of Spain was elegant in smart business attire as she attended a course opening in Castro Urdiales The royal also kept her makeup minimal and wore a brown smokey eye and rosy-toned lip gloss. During the event, the royal posed for photographs next to a sign that read: 'Her Majesty the Queen inaugurates the 2024-25 Professional Training Course at the IES Doctor Jose Zapatero Dominguez'. The courses, called FP (Formacion Profesional) refers to vocational study that prepares students for specific occupations. It comes after Queen Letizia enjoyed a family holiday to Majorca. King Felipe, Letizia and their two daughters were joined by Queen Sofia for the sun-soaked getaway. The trip came after a challenging few months for Letizia, who has been plagued by rumours of alleged infidelity. In December, Letizia's ex-brother-in-law shared a selfie of the Queen on Spain, which he claimed she had sent to him while they were having an 'affair'. Just weeks before this, Jamie Del Burgo had contributed to a tell-all book about the Spanish royal, where he makes the far-fetched claim they were still romantically involved after Letizia's 2004 wedding to King Felipe. The entrepreneur - who claims he was dating Letizia when she met King Felipe - shared an undated selfie the Queen took in a bathroom mirror during one of her pregnancies as 'evidence' of their relationship on X. The Spanish queen looked ready for business as she returned to royal duties following her family trip to Majorca The mother-of-two, 51, wore black leather sandals and went without a handbag for the occasion Letizia stood next to a sign that read: 'Her Majesty the Queen inaugurates the 2024-25 Professional Training Course at the IES Doctor Jose Zapatero Dominguez' The mother-of-two appeared in high spirits as she greeted individuals at the course opening In the selfie, the royal can be seen wearing a black pashmina - which Jaime claims belonged to him - and he also typed out a message, supposedly sent to him by the Spanish Queen. It read: 'Love. I wear your pashmina. It's like feeling you by my side. It takes care of me. 'It protects me. I count the hours until we see each other again. Love you. Get out of here. Yours,' After sharing the image, other X users questioned the validity of Jaime's claims - given there is no evidence that Letizia sent him the photo or accompanying message. The businessman has since deleted his X account. A spokesperson for the Spanish Royal Family told FEMAIL: 'We have no comment to make about this.' It comes just weeks after Jaime - who was married to Letizia's sister Telma from 2012-2014 - made a series of shocking allegations about his relationship with the Queen in the new book 'Letizia & I' by journalist Jaime Penafiel. Letizia, who has recently faced infidelity rumours, chatted with attendees at the event in Castro Urdiales The mother-of-two styled her brunette tresses in a bouncy curls for the opening ceremony She appeared in great spirits as she arrived at the the course opening at Professional School The Spanish royal opted for her typically glowing make-up and sported diamond encrusted earrings The royal, who is married to King Felipe of Spain, looked focused as she met individuals at the opening ceremony Speaking to El Cierre Digitial, the author, 91, said Letizia was Jaime del Burgo's 'great love' and the pair's relationship turned into a 'great friendship' after she became romantically involved with King Felipe. The businessman told the author that he met Letizia before 2000 and their relationship began on a romantic trip to Venice, years before she met King Felipe. Jaime - who is the son of the former politician Jaime Ignacio del Burgo - claims he was planning to propose to Letizia when she announced that she was dating a mysterious 'diplomat' over dinner at the Ritz hotel in Madrid in 2002. Describing how 'serious and significant' their relationship was, the author made the unlikely claim that Jaime was 'carrying an engagement ring his his pocket' that evening. Ready to elevate your Halloween game this year? Heinz has partnered with one of the UK's favourite crisp brands to release a limited edition sauce just in time for the spooky season. In a collaboration with Walkers, Heinz has launched the Heinz [Scarily] Good Monster Munch Mayo, a tangy new sauce that blends the iconic Pickled Onion flavour of Monster Munch with the creamy, rich texture of Heinz Mayo. Available from this Friday, a limited run of 1,000 bottles will be sold exclusively through the Heinz to Home website, before hitting retailers in the UK throughout September and October. Shoppers will first spot the product on Iceland shelves starting 24 September, before it rolls out nationwide in major supermarkets from October onwards. According to a recent survey on Talker, Halloween parties continue to grow in popularity among Gen Z, with 42 per cent reportedly taking their spooky gatherings 'very seriously,' the launch is perfectly timed. Heinz and Walkers have launched [Scarily] Good Monster Munch Mayo, a tangy new sauce that blends the iconic Pickled Onion flavour of Monster Munch with the creamy, rich texture of Mayo With 61 per cent of Gen Z considering food one of the top three essentials for a great Halloween party, this mayo promises to be a must-have for loaded fries, burgers, nachos, and sandwiches. Thiago Rapp, Director of Taste Elevation at Kraft Heinz, shared his excitement about the collaboration: 'We're thrilled to be partnering with Walkers to bring Heinz [Scarily] Good Monster Munch Mayo to life. With Halloween just around the corner, we wanted to create something truly special.' He added: 'Following on from the success of Heinz Black Garlic Mayo last Halloween, we were blown away by the excitement people felt around these limited-edition products for spooky season. 'Monster Munch, with the iconic claw, was the perfect partner for mayo this Halloween, providing a scarily good twist on the classic.' Wayne Newton, Walkers Senior Marketing Director added: 'Teaming up with Heinz this Halloween to launch the [Scarily] Good Monster Munch Mayo is an extremely exciting time for us. 'With our own 'Scarily Giant' campaign running for the first-time last year, we're no strangers to Halloween. 'This year we've taken it a step or claw further by partnering with Heinz to create the ultimate spooky sauce.' With 61 per cent of Gen Z considering food one of the top three essentials for a great Halloween party, this mayo promises to be a must-have for loaded fries, burgers and nachos It comes after Heinz and Walkers teamed up last month to launch three new flavours of crisps which are inspired by classic sauces we often dress our sandwiches with. The limited-edition snacks will equally feature flavours derived from typically British sandwich fillings - and all three varieties have already proven to be a hit among crisp fans who are itching to get their hands on them. Foodies will be able to try the new range as all three flavours are now available at 12 major retailers across the nation. The first of the dynamic new Walkers flavours is the Sausage Sarnie, which is combined with Heinz Tomato Ketchup for a fresh take on the meaty breakfast sandwich. Another new addition is the Cheese Toastie, combined with a classic Heinz Beanz flavour as a unique concept of the gooey, savoury breakfast dish. She's the granddaughter of Grace Kelly, the niece of the reigning Prince Albert of Monaco and is worth an estimated $30million - and yet Charlotte Casiraghi has seemingly tried to distance herself from the notion that she's lived a gilded life. Speaking to The Telegraph to promote the Literary Rendezvous she hosts in her role as a Chanel ambassador, the eleventh in line to the Monegasque throne explained how she studied at 'normal' schools while growing up in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. 'Never private schools, but schools with a lot of different social backgrounds. I wasnt at a privileged school at all,' she told the publication. The mother-of-two - who announced in February that she and her film producer husband Dimitri Rassam, son of actress Carole Bouquet, were divorcing - said dealing with her 'background' at the time was 'always difficult'. Charlotte, 38, alongside her mother Princess Caroline of Monaco, and her two brothers, Andrea, now 40, and Pierre, 36, moved to France from the principality after the death of her father Stefano Casiraghi, who died in a powerboat accident in 1990. Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlotte Casiraghi attend the 15th international Monte-Carlo Jumping on July 2, 2021 As well as attending 'normal' schools, the royal explained how she previously took part in work experience at The Independent. 'I wanted to be normal, I wanted to experience that harshness where people dont give you any interest or any help and youre on your own,' she said. Elsewhere, Charlotte made it clear that she craves 'freedom' and doesn't enjoy 'officially representing' the Monaco Royal Family - despite joining her loved ones for various important events. 'But this brings pressure, people judge you and expect a lot from you when you have official status. I prefer to be free,' she explained, adding: 'I always try to detach myself from this royal status.' Charlotte - who counted Karl Lagerfeld as a family friend, is pals with model Naomi Campbell and is often seen on the front row of fashion shows alongside celebrities - also insisted that she 'doesn't understand why my private life should be of interest'. The former equestrian, who now lives in Monaco, where she also organises health seminars at the principality's hospital, said that being on the 'outside' of the Royal Family - with no official role or title - 'allows more complexity and diversity'. She noted how she often invites people to speak at her events who she doesn't agree with as she wants to try and 'confront ideas'. In March, it was revealed Charlotte had moved on with a French writer, two months after splitting from her husband. Charlotte, Karl Lagerfeld and Princess Caroline of Hanover attend the Rose Ball 2015 Charlotte rides a horse on the runway during the Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2022 show as part of Paris Fashion Week Charlotte was spotted enjoying a day out with novelist Nicolas Mathieu, 46, a father-of-one and a winner of France's prestigious Goncourt Prize. Dressed in casual attire, the pair strolled the streets of Paris with baguettes in hand before sitting on the terrace of a local cafe for coffee. The pictures, released exclusively by Paris Match, come two months after Charlotte split from her French film producer husband Dimitri Rassam after four years of marriage, according to Voici. Following the marriage breakdown, Charlotte has reportedly formed a close bond with author Nicolas. The pair 'never leave each other. Nor do they hide to be happy,' according to the Paris Match. Unlike Charlotte, Nicolas comes from humble beginnings, and was born in the northeastern French commune of Epinal, according to Hachette. '[Nicolas] at first glance did not have the profile to seduce a member of the Monegasque court,' wrote Paris Match via Madame Figaro. The piece continued: 'And yet, the magic worked between them.' Nicolas left Epinal to study history and cinema before moving to Paris, where he worked in various creative roles, from a scriptwriter to a news editor and private tutor. He has since relocated to Nancy and established himself as a successful author. His first novel, Of Fangs And Talons, was adapted into a six-part television series in France. Riley Keough, Charlotte, Penelope Cruz and Camila Morrone attend the Chanel Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2024 fashion show in October 2023 Charlotte, Francois-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek at the Saint Laurent show in 2019 Nicolas addressed his roots in a interview with Residents: 'In my reading, my yearning to write, and my academic career, I had always been eager to distance myself from my origin story in lower-middle-class provincial France.' However, he 'realized that my work should also reflect the people I had grown up with' He added: 'I wanted to write about the places I knew, the bodies I was familiar with, and the lifestyles that had once been my own, all of which were underrepresented in contemporary literature.' Originally published in 2022, Nicolas' fourth novel, Connemara, follows the story of two 40-year-olds trying to recapture their youths in a love affair. His love of literature is a trait shared with Charlotte, who declared her love of reading in a 2021 interview with Chanel where she outlined her top reads. Paris Match claimed that the pair often meet in Paris, before returning to their respective children. While Charlotte is mother to Raphael, 11, and Balthazar, five, Nicolas is father to Oscar, 11. Charlotte wed French film producer Dimitri, 42, at the Prince's Palace of Monaco on June 1, 2019. But the couple separated at the end of January, according to French magazine Voici, who printed a story with the headline 'It's Over'. Charlotte requested they part ways in December as the couple 'had been going through a crisis for some time', the publication claimed. Dimitri and Charlotte arrive at the Rose Ball 2018 at Sporting Monte-Carlo on March 24, 2018 Acclaimed author Nicolas Mathieu was reportedly spotted enjoying Charlotte's company in Paris. Seen in October 2019 MailOnline contacted the Prince's Palace of Monaco who declined to comment at the time. Dimitri, who is the son of actress Carole Bouquet and Franco-Lebanese film producer Jean-Pierre Rassam, is a film producer who has worked on The Little Prince and Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan. He frequently travels for work and has recently spent time in Paris and Los Angeles. However, Charlotte is said to have criticised her husband's demanding schedule, claiming he did not spend enough time with his family. In December 2023, Charlotte stepped out solo to attend the Chanel Metiers D'Art Show in Manchester. One month earlier, she celebrated Monaco National Day with her children, uncle Albert and aunt Princess Charlene - with Dimitri seemingly absent. Charlotte and Dimitri were last seen attending the 60th AMADE Anniversary Dinner at Monte Carlo Opera Garnier in October in Monaco, where they posed with solemn expressions on the red carpet. Prior to this outing, the duo appeared in high spirits as they enjoyed the traditional Monaco picnic in September, with their two sons. Charlotte pictured in January 2024 at the Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week The couple also attended a host of events at Cannes Film Festival last May, including a glamorous premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon. Dimitri popped the question during a ski trip in March 2018 and Charlotte subsequently attended Monaco's Rose Ball wearing a diamond ring. The duo decided to postpone their wedding until after the birth of their son, Balthazar, who is now five. Balthazar is Charlotte's second child - she also shares Raphael, 11, with Moroccan-Canadian comedian Gad Elmaleh, who she dated between 2011 and 2015. Dimitri was previously married to Russian model Masha Novoselova. Charlotte and Dimitri tied the knot in a civil ceremony at the Prince's Palace of Monaco on June 1, 2019, followed by a reception at Villa La Vigie, an exclusive property with views across the Mediterranean, in Roquebrune. They later enjoyed a religious ceremony at the Abbey of Sainte-Marie de Pierredon, outside Saint-Remy-de-Provence, on June 29, 2019. The bride stunned in a custom ivory Giambattista Valli gown, featuring sheer lace sleeves and flouncy chiffon ruffles, while the groom chose an off-white suit. Charlotte, who is a keen equestrian and model, is the second child of Caroline, Princess of Hanover, and Stefano Casiraghi. Her maternal grandparents were Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and American actress Grace Kelly. She has two brothers, Andrea and Pierre, as well as a half-sister, Princess Alexandra of Hanover, 25. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looked typically stylish as she stepped out for a presentation in Rotterdam today. The 53-year-old royal cut an elegant figure in a bottle green dress as she headed to an education presentation at secondary vocational education school, Albeda. The mother-of-three oozed confidence in the chic sleeveless gown which featured a feathered hem. She accessorised with matching green heels and an elegant shawl which she draped over her shoulders, enhancing her sophisticated look. Her blonde locks were styled in a chic side parting, with Maxima opting for a glamorous makeup look. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looked typically stylish as she stepped out for a presentation in Rotterdam today To finish her look, the Dutch royal added three bracelets, a statement ring and green floral earrings. Albeda is a regional educational institute for secondary vocational education and adult education, which offers 120 courses. It's been a busy few weeks for Maxima, on Friday, she attended a Netherlands war commemoration event in Mesch. The royal donned a dusty pink dress for the occasion with a statement belt feature. She accompanied the outfit with a matching floral fascinator and a pair of brown suede heeled shoes. The celebrations marked the country's 80th anniversary of liberation from Nazi occupation. King Willem-Alexander accompanied Maxima for the occasion and looked dapper in a navy suit and light blue tie. The royal couple greeted World War II veteran Kenneth Thayer, 99, at the event and joined him a jeep. The mother-of-three oozed confidence in the chic sleeveless gown which featured a feathered hem She accessorised with matching green heels and a stylish shawl which she draped over her shoulders, enhancing her sophisticated look Her blonde locks were styled in a straight side parting and Maxima opted for a glamorous makeup look The Dutch Queen beamed at the education presentation at Albeda in Rotterdam on Wednesday Children lined the area waving Dutch flags as the royals and Kenneth entered the remembrance event in an army jeep. Maxima held onto a colourful bouquet of flowers as she walked arm-in-arm with Kenneth. Her long, blonde tresses were styled into a sleek updo, and Maxima opted for a glamorous make-up look that accentuated her eyes. Walking arm-in-arm with the Dutch queen, American World War II veteran Kenneth Thayer returned on Thursday to the tiny Dutch village that he and others in the 30th Infantry Division liberated from Nazi occupation exactly 80 years ago. Thayer, now 99, visited Mesch, a tiny village of about 350 people in the hills close to the Dutch borders with Belgium and Germany, and was greeted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima for a ceremony beginning nearly a year of events marking the anniversary of the country's liberation. After Thayer and the king and queen were driven in a vintage military truck into the village along a mud track through orchards and fields, Maxima reached out and gave a hand of support to Thayer as he walked to his seat to watch the ceremony paying tribute to the American liberators. Maxima appeared in great spirits as she chatted to people at the education event at Albeda The 53-year-old wore her signature smokey eye shadow, which she paired with pink lipstick American troops from the 30th Infantry Division, known as Old Hickory, were among Allied forces that liberated parts of Belgium and the southern Netherlands from German occupation in September 1944. Thayer still recalls the day. He said he was sent out on a reconnaissance mission the night before the liberation and saw no Germans. 'And so we went up the next day and we found that I had accidentally crossed the border and, we didn't think anything of it, you know, it was just another day on the front line,' he said. Maxima took the opportunity to make her own speech at the event in front of a room full of officials Queen Maxima posed for a slew of snaps before the event with local officials While Thayer was one of the guests of honor at the event, he paid tribute to his comrades who didn't make it through the war and said he was representing them. 'It wasn't just me and there (are) hundreds and hundreds of guys who didn't make it. They're not here, you know,' he said. Residents of Mesch were among the first Dutch citizens to taste postwar freedom, at about 10 a.m. on Sept. 12, 1944, when Thayer and other American infantry troops crossed the border from Belgium. A day later, they reached Maastricht, the provincial capital of Limburg and the first Dutch city to be liberated. It would take several months more for the whole country to finally be freed. The fighting in Belgium, the Netherlands and into Germany took a heavy toll on American forces. An American cemetery in the nearby village of Margraten holds the graves of 8,288 servicemen and women. In an enduring symbol of Dutch gratitude to their liberators, local people have 'adopted ' all the graves, visiting them regularly and bringing flowers on birthdays and other special days. A Very Royal Scandal has recreated the moment Prince Andrew denied allegations of sexual assault by way of a Pizza Express alibi. In a clip shared exclusively with Femail, the Duke of York, played by Michael Sheen, says he could not have had sex with Virginia Roberts - who claims she slept with the royal in 2001 - because he was out with Princess Beatrice at the pizzeria in Woking. The Amazon Prime Video series, released tomorrow, follows actress Ruth Wilson, 42, who plays former Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis, 54, in a retelling of the car crash interview involving Prince Andrew back in November 2019. He was quizzed about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein which threatened to damage the reputation of the entire royal family. Andrew has always strenuously denied the claims he sexually assaulted Roberts and in 2022 paid millions to her to settle a civil case out of court, saying he never met her. The three-part show has not claimed to be fully factually accurate. An exclusive clip from the new Amazon series A Very Royal Scandal recalls the moment Prince Andrew denied allegations of sexual assault by way of a Pizza Express alibi In an exclusive video ahead of the show's release, actor Michael portrays Prince Andrew during the moment he denied the claim that he had been in the nightclub, Tramps, with a 17-year-old Virginia Roberts, now Giuffre. The clip sees Ruth's Emily asking Michael's Duke if he remembers meeting Virginia, who claimed she had sex with Andrew when she was just 17, to which the prince claimed he had no recollection. 'I have no recollection of ever meeting her, in fact I'm convinced I was never in Tramps. There are a number of things wrong with that story, one of which is that I don't know where the bar is in Tramps. 'I don't drink, I don't think I've ever a bought a drink when I've been in Tramps,' says Andrew in the clip. Emily then asks the prince if he recalls the night, to which he tells her he was in Pizza Express. 'On that particular day, to which we now understand is the date that is 10th March, I was at home, I was with the children. I'd taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking for a party at around 4pm or 5pm in the afternoon.' The clip also shows the famous moment when Andrew explains why he remembers that particular occasion. In the new programme, the disgraced Duke of York is portrayed by Michael Sheen (pictured), 55, alongside The Affair's, Ruth Wilson, as Emily Maitlis The clips sees Emily asking the duke if he remembers meeting Virginia, who claimed she had sex with Andrew when she was just 17, to which the prince claimed he had no recollection The scene also shows moments from the behind the scenes, when BBC producers worried that viewers would notice when Emily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, in the piecing together of the interview 'Because going to Pizza Express in Woking, is an unusual thing for me to do. A very unusual thing for me to do. I've never been,' he says. The scene also shows moments from the behind the scenes, when BBC producers worried that viewers would notice when Emily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, in the piecing together of the interview. In the clip, Emily asks, 'Can you tell?' to which Sam McAllister reassures her 'you can't tell'. The miniseries will be released tomorrow following Netflix's version of the interview in the film, Scoop, which was released on April 5, 2024. Also starring in the show is Joanna Scanlan (After Love, Notes on a Scandal) as Amanda Thirsk, Alex Jennings (Your Christmas or Mine?) as Sir Edward Young, Eanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) as Stewart Maclean and Claire Rushbrook (Secrets & Lies) as Sarah Ferguson. Netflix's Scoop first recalled the tale from the perspective of the BBC producer, Sam McAllister, portrayed by a near unrecognisable, Billie Piper. In Amazon's take on the infamous interview, the role will be taken by Clare Calbraith. The first version of the story also starred Rufus Sewell of A Knight's Tale, playing the disgraced Prince, while Sex Education's Gillian Anderson assumed the role of Emily. According to pre-release views, the new series has been praised by critics for leaving Scoop - a Netflix drama released earlier this year about the same interview - 'in the dust' According to pre-release views, the new series has been praised by critics for leaving Scoop - the Netflix drama released earlier this year about the same interview - 'in the dust'. Others publications branded it a 'thrilling' drama that Prince Andrew will 'struggle to recover from'. The Times wrote: 'Is the series self-admiring? Yes, inevitably. But there is much to admire. 'It is also complex, touching on Maitlis's guilt at the hurt caused to Beatrice and Eugenie and the fact that the conversation wasn't about Jeffrey Epstein's victims but about dismantling the Queen's second son. 'It is not perfect, but it is highly entertaining and, in my opinion, a better piece of television than.' Meanwhile The Spectator gave a damning verdict for Prince Andrew suggesting he will 'struggle to recover' from the show. Of the scandal they wrote: 'Only the most generous, or blinkered, would not suggest that the wider royal family lives with the embarrassment every day.' The upcoming series by Amazon MGM Studios will focus far more on Emily - 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.' Emily and Ruth are pictured at a NYC screening for the series on Monday night A press released added: 'A Very Royal Scandal follows the action of Emily 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. The three part series will premiere on 19 September exclusively on Prime Video in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Zara Tindall looked in her element today as she trotted along with her horse at the start of the Blenheim Palace Horse Trials. The daughter of Princess Anne, who is also an Olympic silver medallist, looked barely out of puff while she led her gelding, Class Affair, to a veterinary inspection. Equestrian Zara, 43, wore a navy jacket, dark blue skinny jeans and trainers as she guided her horse. The King's niece had her blonde locks tied in a neat up do and accessorised with a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses. The Blenheim Palace Horse Trials, which take place at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, officially begin tomorrow and will end on Sunday. Zara Tindall looked in her element today as she trotted along with her horse at the start of the Blenheim Palace Horse Trials Zara, who won a silver medal during the London 2012 Olympics as part of the British Equestrian team, will be competing in the event over the next few days. Earlier this month, Zara hailed her mother for teaching her the importance of 'good quality clothing' as she unveiled her very own collection of raincoats. The 43-year-old, who is often named the most fashionable royal, has worked in collaboration with Musto and Fairfax & Favor to create a collection of jackets, which range in price from 350 to 450. The collection, named Odyssey, includes 'very versatile' styles, including both longline and shorter styles to suit every outdoor activity this autumn and winter. Zara, the daughter of Princess Anne, said the jackets combine the strongest parts of two of her favourite brands. She said: 'Combining Musto's technical prowess and Fairfax & Favor's quintessentially British style has resulted in a collection of coats I'm looking forward to wearing this winter.' The mother-of-three also told The Telegraph that her mother, the Princess Royal, has influenced what she values most when choosing her clothing. She said: 'Mum taught me the importance of having good quality clothing that keeps you warm and comfortable outdoors. The daughter of Princess Anne, who is also an Olympic silver medallist, looked barely out of puff while she led her gelding, Class Affair, to a veterinary inspection Equestrian Zara, 43, wore a navy jacket, dark blue skinny jeans and trainers as she guided her horse The King's niece had her blonde locks tied in a neat up do and accessorised with a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses The Blenheim Palace Horse Trials, which take place at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, officially begin tomorrow and will end on Sunday 'As a sportswoman who spends most of my time in nature, this is more important than ever to help me stay at my best.' The jackets created by Zara include the longline Odyssey Waterproof Coat, which comes in dark navy or forest green, and includes a removable hood. The coat retails for 395, but also comes in a shorter jacket form for 350. There's also the padded Pertex Primaloft coat - in both long and short styles - which retails for 450 and 380 respectively. It comes after Zara revealed she has an in-house wardrobe adviser to help her pick out accessories for her chic outfits - her husband Mike. The royal, who is known for her incredible style, admitted her former rugby player husband often weighs in on which shoes or accessories she should go with. The King's niece is known for her equestrian achievements and is regularly spotted in her jodhpurs and riding boots, however she can also pull off sophisticated, timeless fashion pieces. Jewellery may be the smallest part of your outfit, but it has an outsize impact on how the world views you. Having worked as an editor at Vogue, where I was jewellery director for 25 years, chasing the latest jewels to sprinkle over the pages of the magazine, I know every trend has a long history, yet also offers an extremely personal form of self-expression. And while you could easily spend thousands on the finest gems, you can make an equally vivid statement shopping on the high street. You just need to work out what your statement piece is really saying about you. Ive decoded the six key jewellery trends for autumn, and selected pieces glittering with hope, possibility and novelty to see you through the winter season ahead... Jewellery may be the smallest part of your outfit, but it has an outsize impact on how the world views you REALLY WILD RINGS L-r: Snake ring, 180, thomassabo.com; Sacred scarab, 80, mariejune.com Leopard ring, 14, riverisland.com This season the jewellery world is looking back to Victoriana, with nature symbols such as flowers, insects, swallows and serpents everywhere - especially on motif rings. JW Andersons autumn/winter show featured tiny doves painted onto signet rings, and snake motifs shone at Chloe. The trend for animals on jewels now is identity-led pick an animal whose characteristics you admire or aspire to align with. Thomas Sabo has a gold-plated snake ring at 180 or River Islands leopard ring is 14. RETURN OF THE CHOKER A fashion season covers many looks, so while Im recommending long pendant necklaces, Im also flagging a trend for short, tight chokers. L-r: Heirloom necklace, 450, monicavinader.com; Mariner glass link, 110, sandralexandra.com Chokers have often been described as colliers de chien, a fashion kickstarted in the mid-19th century when Hermes created a leather collar with studs for a clients bulldog. On the catwalks, Gucci featured circlets of metal dog collars; Chanel had ropes of pearls interspersed with chunky chains and heart-shaped pendants. Marla Aarons necklaces have a series of twisting locks which attach chains together. Sandralexandra has the perfect choker for those who like the chain look, featuring glass handcrafted in Spain (110), and you can get matching earrings for 43. SUMPTUOUS CHANDELIERS L-r: Elena earrings, 285, sorujewellery.com; Diamante drop earrings, 19, karenmillen.com Mesmera chandelier, 350, swarovski.com Chandelier earrings are back, which is great news because they throw a flattering light on the face as the dark days of winter approach making them a far better investment than Botox in my opinion. The original chandelier drops were designed to mimic Georgian candelabra, reflecting light as a woman danced around a candlelit room. Ballrooms are in short supply these days, but the importance of light never diminishes. Dolce & Gabbanas diamond chandeliers are stunning, but a cascade of crystal or semi-precious stones does the job nicely, too like Swarovskis mixed crystal (350). A more affordable choice is lab-grown crystals such as Lovisas earrings (18, seen on model). Theres no need to go as far as shoulder skimmers as shown on the catwalks, and if chandeliers feel too flashy for your daytime, then pop them in your bag and bring them out to sparkle after dark just like they do in Bridgerton. SUPERHERO CUFFS L-r: Boucle cuff, 445, goossens-paris.com; Wavy cuff, 48, anthropologie.com; HD x TG bangle, 350, hotdiamonds.co.uk During the 1970s, every stylish wrist boasted a sculptural bangle after Tiffany & Co released its bestselling Bone Cuff, designed by Italian ex-model Elsa Peretti. Now there is a resurgence in decorated wrists but this time, you need something on each arm. Costume pieces by Goossens are a classic the brands founder, Parisian jeweller Robert Goossens, made styles for Coco Chanels runway shows. To keep things more affordable, look for pieces fashioned in glossy non-precious metals, resin, wood or leather, such as this wide, wavy bracelet by Anthropologie at 48. ROMANTIC PENDANTS Necklaces with a drop pendant were prominent on the autumn/winter catwalks at Tom Ford, Bottega Veneta and Gabriela Hearst. Long, loose and swaying, they ranged from polished stones to abstract metal shapes and charms, and some swung from leather ropes. L-r: Malachite necklace, 105, missoma.com; Amalfi turquoise pendant, 49, ottoman hands.com Pick a pendant thats meaningful to you, or add your own special coin or charm, and the necklace becomes a personal talisman. Or try beads because the 1970s vibe is back. Sienna Miller, the boho poster girl, was seen wearing a green malachite pendant on a Missoma chain (105). A more affordable option is Ottoman Hands its gold-plated turqouise pendant is 49. PERFECT HOOPS This season, jumbo-sized hoops are back, either in gold or chunky silver look for volume which is also lightweight. Im not a fan of the new asymmetric hoop look, however. L-r: Chubby hoops, 16, bettyandbiddy.com; Waterfall pearl hoops, 295, dowerandhall.com Wearing one giant and one petite on the opposite ear just looks like youve put the wrong pair together. Jennifer Fisher is the hoop queen of Manhattan, and makes every size and variety you could wish for, starting at 93 for her flat huggies (jenniferfisher.com), while Dower & Hall offer beautifully embellished pearl hoop earrings (295). For chic affordability, look to Betty & Biddy its striking Chubby hoops are just 16. Model was hospitalised after having allergic reaction to antibiotics WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURES A glamorous swimsuit model says her life has been destroyed after she had an extreme allergic reaction to an antibiotic. Sasinan Chuenlosang, 31, complained of a sore throat and had bloodshot eyes before visiting a hospital in Bangkok on June 18. The Thai model, who works in IT, was diagnosed with tonsillitis and given Ceftriaxone - a type of antibiotic - to kill the infection. But the symptoms worsened and three days later she returned to hospital after experiencing chest tightness, a body rash, a swollen mouth, blurred vision and an inability to walk properly. Sasinan said she was given another dose of the same medicine and was diagnosed with chicken pox. Her condition worsened, the rash spread and caused blindness in her left eye. 'This condition has shattered my dreams. It's destroyed the life I had before,' she said. 'The hospital would not listen to my complaints. They are so powerful, so I contacted a charity to help with my case.' Model and IT worker Sasinan Chuenlosang, 31, (pictured) was had an allergic reaction to antibiotics, leaving her in hospital for months She was diagnosed with tonsillitis and given Ceftriaxone - a type of antibiotic - to kill the infection 'This condition has shattered my dreams. It's destroyed the life I had before,' she said After the reaction to the medicine, she was sent to the ICU where doctors gave her a third shot of Ceftriaxone. Sasinan said she felt dizzy and her right eye became blurry and numb. She stayed in the ICU for one week. The model was transferred to Phyathai Phaholyothin Hospital where she was diagnosed with severe Stevens-Johnson syndrome - a rare skin and mucous membrane disorder that's usually caused by adverse reactions to antibiotics. The syndrome usually begins with flu-like symptoms before a painful rash develops and spreads, causing the skin to peel off. Three months later on September 16 she was still bedridden and had cut her luscious long hair to let the rashes heal. She has wounds around her eyes, forehead, cheeks, and mouth, while her neck is covered in gauze to seep the blood and pus that trickled down her face. After the reaction to the medicine, she was sent to the ICU where doctors gave her a third shot of Ceftriaxone. Sasinan said she felt dizzy and her right eye became blurry and numb. She stayed in the ICU for one week The model was transferred to Phyathai Phaholyothin Hospital where she was diagnosed with severe Stevens-Johnson syndrome - a rare skin and mucous membrane disorder that's usually caused by adverse reactions to antibiotics Three months later on September 16 she was still bedridden and had cut her luscious long hair to let the rashes heal Sasinan said: 'The pain was so bad that I really felt like I was going to die. It was intense. 'My entire body was burning and sore. There are no words strong enough to describe how it felt. 'Before this, I was employed at an IT company and I was online model in my spare time. 'Like most girls my age, I spent time and money on health products taking care of my appearance.' Sasinan was hospitalised for a month and a half before being transferred back to the hospital that gave her the first dose of the antibiotic. Sasinan said: 'The pain was so bad that I really felt like I was going to die. It was intense. My entire body was burning and sore. There are no words strong enough to describe how it felt' Minister of Public Health Assistant Thanakrit Jitareerat said that the government is now investigating the horrific ordeal. He said: 'We accepted the plea to investigate whether the medicine was up to standard and if the treatment adhered to medical practices.' The health ministry assistant said that he would review Sasinan's medical history and treatment to explore options for compensation. The majority of men worry about it. And while there's not much they can do naturally to make their penises bigger, there are several health conditions and lifestyle factors that can make them smaller. In fact, the length of a man's penis can decrease by up to an inch or so for various reasons. Smoking, for example, may contribute to shrinkage by damaging blood vessels crucial for maintaining an erection, meaning men get less big during sex. But having too much sex can also decrease the size of one's member over time due to a build-up of scar tissue. Experts have revealed that certain health conditions like heart disease and obesity can reduce blood flow to the penis, making it appear smaller Dr Mary Samplaski, a urologist and director of male infertility at the University of Southern California, told Men's Health that age and chronic disease could cause the penis to lose a consistent level of tumescence. Tumescence is the penis' ability to swell and become erect when a man is aroused. Over time, this can lead to about an inch of loss. However, it's difficult to measure. She said: 'Theres not really a medical tool for measuring penis shrinkage. What we do know is that smoking and age can cause a decline in testosterone production.' Testosterone, a male sex hormone, is essential for maintaining sex drive and erections. Smoking, for example, has been shown to damage blood vessels throughout the body, causing them to narrow and prevent blood from flowing to the penis. This can lead to weaker erections or the inability to hold an erection. Penile shrinkage and erectile dysfunction may also be a sign of America's number one killer - heart disease. Similar to smoking, heart disease leads to narrow blood vessels and reduced blood flow to the penis, which can lead to shrinkage over time. Heart disease also causes plaque to build up in the arteries, reducing blood flow to the penis. Dr Samplaski also pointed to obesity as a culprit of penile shrinkage. This is because fat contains enzymes that convert testosterone to estrogen - a female sex hormone. Without enough testosterone, the penis may shrink or shrivel up. In some cases where the penis appears smaller, it might not actually be shrinking. LowER abdominal fat can pull the organ inward or envelope the shaft, which makes it look smaller. Therefore, losing weight can help pull the penis out more and make it seem larger. And oddly enough, having too much sex could lead to small amounts of shrinkage, as sex could lead to small injuries around the penis. However, it's difficult to quantify how much is too much. This causes scar tissue to build up, decreasing elasticity of the penile tissues and reducing the size of both a flaccid and erect penis. Additionally, exposure to cold temperatures could divert blood flow away from the penis to vital organs, leading to shrinkage. This has been dubbed 'winter penis,' which experts note is just a 'normal physiological response to the cold.' However, the size goes back to normal once temperatures warm up. While lifestyle factors can play a role in penis size, shrinkage can be inevitable for some men as they age. The penis and testicles tend to get smaller with age, largely due to poor blood flow from blood vessels naturally stiffening. Age also increases the risk of erectile dysfunction, which affects half of men ages 40 to 70 at some point and as many as one in six chronically. Sustained periods of erectile dysfunction have been shown to slightly reduce penis size, as tissues in the penis gradually become weaker and lose elasticity. This means that during an erection, the penis might not stretch out as far, making it look shorter. Not all shrinkage may be preventable, but Dr Leslie Deane, professor and chief of urology at Howard University, told Men's Health that consistent exercise can help boost testosterone levels needed to sustain erections and prevent size losses. A young mom has revealed how a 'red patch' spreading up her right leg was a warning sign she had a dangerous blood clot. Hanah Thornton, a 23-year-old mother-of-one from Willow Springs, Missouri, began to feel a pain in her leg but blamed it on her gym session. Several days later, however, it was so bad she could barely walk, and a 'hot' red patch running from her groin to the back of her knee had emerged, prompting her to rush to the emergency department. Scans showed she had deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, a condition where a blood clot has formed. Doctors said it was just 0.4 inches from entering a major vein that could have taken it to the lungs, where it may have blocked a major artery and been fatal. Ms Thornton took blood thinners to make the clot dissolve, and must now keep taking them four times a day for the next three months to ensure the DVT doesn't return. Hanah Thornton, 23, was rushed to the hospital after she was struggling to walk. Doctors revealed she had a blood clot in her leg The above image shows the red swelling in her leg that was caused by the blood clot in her vein She says that doctors told her it was caused by the combined contraceptive pill, which contains the female sex hormones progesterone and estrogen. This pill can raise the levels of clotting factors in the blood and, in turn, raise the risk of suffering from a blood clot, doctors say. About one in 1,000 users of this pill suffer from the complication every year. Describing the mark, Ms Thornton said: 'Over the weekend, I noticed that my leg was getting very tender. 'I'm a pretty active person and I do a lot of walking and go to the gym so I thought it was just muscle pain so I didn't think too much into it. 'I then started to think that I hadn't been to the gym or gone walking over the weekend to make it tender.' She added: 'Later that day, I got home and a red patch had started to go up my leg and it was very hot to touch and very tender to the point that I could barely walk on it. It was my right leg. 'It was about two inches long and it traveled from under my knee all the way up my thigh. I'd say it was at least 23 inches and it was up the whole vein.' The dental assistant is revealing her story to warn others of some of the potential dangers of taking contraceptives. She said doctors told her that the clot was caused by her combined contraceptive (pictured), which can boost clotting factors in the blood and raise the risk of clots She added online: 'I never thought this would happen to me, but here we are now at 23 having to be on a blood thinner. Be aware and educate yourself on the birth control you take!' The first time she visited the doctor earlier this month, she was told she had cellulitis and was discharged. But after the pain worsened she went to another hospital, where scans were taken before the blood clot was revealed. Ms Thornton went on birth control for the first time three years ago after becoming a mom and giving birth to her daughter Henslee in September 2021. Originally, she was prescribed the mini contraceptive pill, but when this caused her to have irregular periods she switched to the combined pill a year ago, sold under the brand name Eliquis. At first, she had no issues on the new pill and thought it was a good preventative method to stop her from getting pregnant again. DVT is suffered by as many as 900,000 Americans every year, but these individuals normally are 60 years and older and have another underlying condition like heart disease. Warning signs include swelling in the legs or arms, pain or tenderness in the area, and skin that has turned red or discolored. Doctors say veins that are near the surface may also be larger than normal. Besides blood thinners, patients may also be asked to wear compression stockings to improve or completely get rid of leg swelling. Doctors warn that some patients may have swollen legs for the rest of their lives because the blockage can cause damage to veins in the area. Family doctors are risking patient safety by relying on AI to help with diagnoses, a study has warned. One in five GPs admitted using programmes such as ChatGPT and Bing AI during clinical practice, despite no official guidance on how to work with them. Experts warned problems such as 'algorithm biases' could lead to misdiagnoses and that patient data could also be in danger of being compromised. They said doctors must be made aware of the risks and called for legislation to cover their use in healthcare settings. Researchers sent the survey to a thousand GPs using, the largest professional network for UK doctors currently registered with the General Medical Council. The medics were asked if they had ever used any of the following in any aspect of their clinical practice: ChatGPT; Bing AI; Google's Bard; or 'Other'. More than half of the respondents (54 per cent) were aged 46 or older. One in five GPs are using AI to help with diagnoses, a study has found (file photo) One in five (20 per cent) reported using generative AI tools in their clinical practice. Of these, almost one in three (29 per cent) reported using these tools to generate documentation after patient appointments. A similar number (28 per cent) said they used them to suggest a differential diagnosis, according to the findings published in the BMJ. One in four (25 per cent) said they used the tools to suggest treatment options, such as potential medicines or referrals. The researchers which included scientists from Uppsala University, Sweden, and the University of Zurich said that while AI can be useful for assisting with documentation, they are 'prone to creating erroneous information'. They write: 'We caution that these tools have limitations since they can embed subtle errors and biases. 'They may also risk harm and undermine patient privacy since it is not clear how the internet companies behind generative AI use the information they gather.' While chatbots are increasingly the target of regulatory efforts, it 'remains unclear' how the legislation will intersect in a practical way with these tools in clinical practice, they added. Researchers say that while helpful for assisting with documentation, AI is 'prone to creating erroneous information' (file photo) Doctors and medical trainees need to be fully informed about the pros and cons of AI, especially because of the 'inherent risks' it poses, they conclude. Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, agreed the use of AI 'is not without potential risks' and called for its implementation in general practice to be closely regulated to guarantee patient safety and the security of their data. She said: 'Technology will always need to work alongside and complement the work of doctors and other healthcare professionals, and it can never be seen as a replacement for the expertise of a qualified medical professional. 'Clearly there is potential for the use of generative AI in general practice but it's vital that it is carefully implemented and closely regulated in the interest of patient safety.' THE WOMEN BEHIND THE DOOR By Roddy Doyle (Jonathan Cape 20, 272pp) The Woman Behind the Door is available now from The Mail Bookshop PAULA SPENCER, star of two previous Doyle novels, is now 66. And, as her pal Mary has it, she's living her best life - her violently abusive husband, Charlo, is long dead, and her alcoholic blackouts a thing of the past. She has a job, companionship in the form of a man with whom she sometimes shares a bed, and she's even riding out the Covid storm. But then, as she's savouring the elation of her first vaccination, her 46-year-old daughter Nicola arrives on her doorstep, having walked out on her own family. For decades, it was Nicola who mothered the incapacitated Paula; now, she has the opportunity to be a parent at last. This is an incredibly affecting third act that brilliantly captures Paula's internal weather, a light-and-shade of devastation and normality - even, thanks to Mary, hilarity. The past will never be past for Paula, but as the reckonings come, it is beginning to be accommodated at last. ENTITLEMENT By Rumaan Alam (Bloomsbury 16.99, 288pp) Entitlement is available now from The Mail Bookshop AT 33, beautiful Black Manhattanite Brooke is entering her 'Jesus year'. And she's in the business of good works, having been employed by octogenarian white billionaire Asher Jaffee to dispose of his fortune (true altruism? Tax dodge? Whim? All three?) But with her proximity to Asher's fabulous riches, and egged on by his gospel of asking for more, Brooke starts making free with the company credit card and then there's the real estate she has her eye on... Alam is best known for his fantastic, apocalyptic Leave The World Behind (recently made into a rather less fantastic Netflix Show). This is a different beast - an uneasy, intriguing probing of want, need, freedom and race. Brooke is both an enigma and, in her urgent desire for self-determination, painfully plausible, reacting to life's inequities in a way that's as logical as it is outrageous. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT YOU By Eric Chacour (Gallic Books 9.99, 256pp) What I Know About You is available now from the The Mail Bookshop THE 'you' of the title is Tarek, a Cairo-born doctor who, in the 1960s, founds a clinic to tend to slum dwellers. Newly married, his future seems bright - but then he meets handsome male prostitute Ali, and a kiss turns his world upside down. The 'I' is Tarek's teenage son who, some three decades later, sets out to tell the story of the father who fled to Canada before he was born. In the first part of the novel, he fills in the silences that surround Tarek to imagine his life; in the second, he enacts his daring plan to track his missing parent down. Newly translated into English, this international bestseller scooped one of France's top book prizes in 2023, and deservedly. An absorbing, affecting novel of grief and love, it's so assured and deftly executed that it's hard to believe it's a debut. MURDER IN CONSTANTINOPLE by A. E. Goldin (Pushkin Vertigo 16.99, 352pp) Murder in Constantinople is available now from the Mail Bookshop A STRANGE serial killer, a mercurial love interest and vividly described locations - from poor and posh London to the palaces and harems of Constantinople - set the scene for a rip-roaring adventure in the company of rapscallion Ben Canaan. It's 1854 and smart, streetwise Ben is bored. Fed up with working in his father's tailoring business in the East End, he and his gang of ne'er-do-well friends have taken to some low-level criminality, which lands him in the bad books of a gangster. Needing to escape, and haunted by the memories of a love affair with the mysterious Elizabeth de Varney, Ben sets sail for the Ottoman Empire on her trail and becomes embroiled in a zip-along plot, packed full of political machinations, strange deaths and ruinous romance. SMALL BOMB AT DIMPERLEY by Lissa Evans (Doubleday 18.99, 320pp) Small Bomb At Dimperley is available now at the Mail Bookshop THE war is over and reluctant heir Corporal Valentine Vere-Thissett is heading back to his down-at-the-heel stately home, Dimperley. Saddled with debt and riddled with damp and architecturally awkward, dilapidated Dimperley seems doomed. Its eccentric inhabitants are equally impractical. Valentine can't compete with the charisma of his dashing, departed brother; their spitfire of a mother, Lady Irene, is irate and unreasonable; Uncle Alaric is uselessly engaged in writing a history of the house and wistful widow Lady Barbara, her clothing 'trailing or askew', is entirely ineffectual. Hope for the house and the family appears in the shape of Zena Baxter, Alaric's enterprising secretary, who longs to rescue Dimperley from the doldrums in this perfectly pitched, funny tale, sprinkled with peppery observations and speckled with a poignant bitter-sweetness. THE GLASSMAKER by Tracy Chevalier (Borough Press 20, 400pp) The Glassmaker is available now from the Mail Bookshop THERE'S a liquid charm to Tracy Chevalier's latest novel, which has its flaws - like the glass that Orsola Rosso attempts to make in her brother's workshop on the Venetian island of Murano. It opens in 1486, and wings its way across some 500 years, while the characters age much more slowly. Orsola is a fiery, recalcitrant child at the start of this inventive tale, but only in her late 60s when the novel ends in the present day, explained by a nod to magic realism and the suggestion that Venice and its islands 'have always felt frozen in time'. It's a distraction to the real heart of the story - Orsola and her resourcefulness as she refines her skills in a male-dominated profession, alongside her lively interactions with her family and a lingering love. The Serial Killer Next Door by Emma Kenny (Sphere 22, 304pp) The Serial Killer Next Door is available now from the Mail Bookshop A strong constitution is needed for this book, where you'll meet Richard Trenton Chase, whose fridge contained human brains, and Tamara Samsonova who ate the body parts of her victim - police alleged 'she had a particular liking for lungs'. Robert Hansen abducted 37 women in Alaska. He'd strip them naked and release them in a forest, where 'they would be forced to run for their lives as he hunted them like animals with his rifles and bows and arrows'. Ted Bundy, who in the Seventies killed more than 30 women, mainly college students, and who was sent to the electric chair, aged 42, in 1989, would put his arm in a sling and pretend he needed assistance. He'd then smash his victim with a crowbar, strangle them with a nylon stocking and cut off their heads. 'You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body,' he explained to the court. 'You're looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God.' Serial killers like to think of themselves as all-powerful, devoid of mercy. Israel Keyes, who located his victims in parks, campgrounds and walking trails, took pleasure in the agonising struggle of his prey as they lost consciousness. He'd photograph them as if they were still alive, and send ransom notes and texts to the families, tormenting them with false hope. For serial killer David Parker Ray, 'cries of pain, pleas for mercy - they were music to his ears'. He raped and humiliated women, whipped them and used electric shocks, before dismembering the bodies and discarding them in rivers and ravines. Killing boosts esteem because, without exception, as we learn from Emma Kenny's book, mass murderers are all inadequate loners, nondescript, bullied at school, socially awkward, often with speech impediments or acne, with a deep-seated 'fear of rejection'. They enjoy the power 'gained through the infliction of physical and psychological pain and humiliation'. More than this, when Kenny, therapist and agony aunt on ITV's This Morning, investigates the matter, she can see with serial killers there is always a horrendous background - a lack of maternal love and comfort in earliest childhood, characterised by cruel or absent parents; wicked stepfathers who were abusive and violent drunks; being taken into care and terrorised by barbaric nuns; exposure to extreme pornography; cruelty to animals, such as torturing frogs or burning cats. The first female serial killer: Aileen Wuornos As Kenny concludes, 'skewed emotional development leads to insecure and muddled attachments', with people incapable of tender feelings, who show no remorse: hurt people who hurt people. A prime example is Aileen Wuornos, who killed seven men. In 2003, she was played by Charlize Theron in the Oscar-winning Monster. Aged nine she was trading sex acts for cigarettes. She attempted suicide six times, and was raped multiple times by family members. Wuornos, now thought of as the first female serial killer, received no legal representation and her execution was a sort of suicide. 'I deserve to die,' was all she said. Kenny controversially argues the death penalty can be a kindness. British killer Robert Maudsley 'sadistically tortured' one of his victims over nine hours. Maudsley has spent 45 years in solitary confinement in Wakefield Prison, with no amenities or visits - 'a damning indictment of a system that boasts humanity by banning the death penalty while inflicting decades of suffering and torment on an incarcerated prisoner it does not know what to do with'. This book, taking us into 'the darkest corners of the human psyche', is emphatically not for the fainthearted. Yet, as the ghoulishness mounts, the reader does get to be desensitised - as the killers themselves get to be desensitised. And what hard work, being a serial killer - to do it repeatedly, ritualistically, out-manoeuvring the authorities, though that is often not difficult. The police, in Kenny's accounts, are all too often useless, disbelieving the victims who managed to escape, assuming they are fantasists or high on drugs. Meanwhile, juries find their testimony 'unbelievable', because they are so extreme. Killers are then released on bail to re-offend, or given lenient sentences. When locked up, there is scant psychiatric care or understanding. Even if Ted Bundy has been played on screen by Mark Harmon, Cary Elwes and Zac Efron, my view is that, outside the imagination of Hollywood, there has never been a good-looking mass murderer. They are sexually frustrated, bottled-up. They are potato-faced nerds and dweebs who never got kissed, never got noticed. Israel Keyes was 'quiet and introspective...The unassuming man who might have waved hello as you fetched your morning paper'. David Parker Ray was known in his community as 'a polite man who held down a full-time job'. That's the mystery at the core of The Serial Killer Next Door: the coexistence of banality and brutality. Sing Like Fish by Amorina Kingdon (Scribe 16.99, 336pp) Sing Like Fish is available now from the Mail Bookshop Have you ever wondered about the hearing abilities of fish? No, me neither. But science writer Amorina Kingdon has. In fact she's devoted years to thinking about all aspects of marine sound. Many of us assume that sound doesn't really work under water - like when you duck your head in a pool, sounds are distorted and faint. But the sea is actually alive with noise; it's just that our ears aren't built to hear it. As Kingdon explains, sound travels further and faster in water. Fish can hear and marine creatures make sounds. Sound is critical to breeding, feeding and communication for many underwater animals. Even at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, the sound of shipping is audible and the ever-increasing noise created by humans is interfering with the natural sounds of the ocean. Interest in the qualities of sound in water has a surprisingly long history. The Greek philosopher Aristotle, writing around 350BC, remarked that sound is heard less distinctly in water and that whales and several types of fish make sounds. Leonardo da Vinci observed that sailors who put their ear to along tube lowered into the water were able to hear ships a considerable distance away. Kingdon traces the development of technology to submarines in the First World War and on to top secret underwater hydrophones - special microphones designed to work in the water - along the east coast of the US linked to onshore listening stations. SOSUS (Sound Observation and Surveillance Undersea Network) was operational throughout the Cold War and when its existence was finally declassified, its archive yielded the first recordings of humpback whale song and other marine sounds. This portrait of the underwater sonic world, Kingdon's first book, is crammed with similarly quirky and fascinating facts. In the mid-1980s, houseboat owners in Sausalito, California, complained about a mysterious hum that kept them awake at nights. Was it aliens? Military experiments? No, it was the mating call of the male plainfin midshipman, a type of fish. The song of a humpback whale can last between 8 and 20 minutes One humpback whale can learn the song of another. A song might last eight to 20 minutes and when the whale finishes, it starts it all over again. A recital can last more than 24 hours. Why do they do it? We don't know but most biologists accept that humpback whales have something that could be loosely termed 'culture'. The book is undoubtedly niche and it does get very 'sciencey' in parts. I feel Kingdon may have overestimated the lay reader's interest in the physical mechanics of how the bottlenose dolphin echolocates. Occasionally the writing is clumsy. Of a previous meeting with one of her interviewees, she writes: 'He was younger then.' No kidding. But on the whole, I really enjoyed this deep dive into the subaquatic soundscape. A sinister voice cloning scam is on the rise and millions of people could be at risk of getting caught out. Fraudsters are using AI technology to replicate the voices of their unassuming victim's friends or family members and using them to extort money. Over a quarter of people say they have been targeted by AI voice cloning scams at least once in the past year, a survey of 3,000 people from Starling Bank shows. Yet, nearly half of people have never heard of this type of scam. New scam alert: Fraudsters are using AI voice cloning techniques to tirck their victims into sending money Financial fraud across the board is on the rise, with the average UK adult targeted by a scam five times in the past 12 months. But AI is giving criminals new ways to target people for money. What is AI voice cloning scam and how does it work? An AI voice cloning scam is a sophisticated type of scam where fraudsters use voice cloning technology to replicate a person's voice from a short clip of audio. Fraudsters can cheaply and easily capture and make an audio deepfake online in just a few minutes. Deepfakes are audio clips, videos and photographs that mimic a real person. The audio clips used in AI voice cloning scams can easily be captured from a video someone has uploaded online or to social media or even from a voicemail message. Lisa Grahame, chief information security officer at Starling Bank, said: 'Scammers only need three seconds of audio to clone your voice.' Scammers can then identify their victim's family members and use the cloned voice to stage a phone call, voice message or voicemail to them, asking for money that is needed urgently, for example due to being in an accident or to pay rent. Starling Bank found that nearly one in 10 people say they would send whatever the person calling needed in this situation, even if they thought the call seemed strange - meaning millions of people could be at risk of falling victim to this scam. How to spot and avoid AI voice cloning scams Only three in 10 people say they would know what to look out for if they were being targeted with a voice cloning scam. Voice cloning can be highly convincing because it uses the voice of someone familiar to you but scammers are able to manipulate them with technology to say whatever they want. You should listen out for any unnatural pauses or robotic-sounding speech if you are being asked to send money to someone saying they are a friend or family member who needs money on the phone. One of the main ways to avoid falling for this scam is to agree on a password with your family that is easy to remember and not public information. That way, when a family member calls you with an urgent request for money you can ask them for the password. If they can't give it to you, then it could be a warning that a scammer is on the end of the line. In response to the rise of AI voice cloning scams, Starling Bank has launched a Safe Phrases campaign, in support of the government's fraud campaign. It is encouraging people to agree a 'safe phrase' or password with their close friends and family that no one else knows, to allow them to verify that they are really speaking to them when they call asking for money to be sent. Lisa Grahame adds: 'People regularly post content online which has recordings of their voice, without ever imagining it's making them more vulnerable to fraudsters. 'It would only take a few minutes with your family and friends to create a safe phrase to thwart them. 'So it's more important than ever for people to be aware of these types of scams being perpetuated by fraudsters, and how to protect themselves and their loved ones from falling victim. 'It is a quick and easy way to ensure you can verify who is on the other end of the phone.' Landlords are bracing for another onslaught of regulation, fees and restrictions which could eat into profits and strangle their investments with red tape. The Government's new Renters' Rights Bill is expected to become law by next summer and is likely to be the final straw for many of Britain's 2.3 million landlords. On top of that, next month's Budget statement could make buy-to-let even tougher. Money Mail trawls through the small print to unearth what the bill will mean for landlords and everything you need to know to make sure you are ready when it comes into force. Hairy tennants: The incoming Renters' Rights Bill will mean landlords will not be able to refuse 'reasonable' demands from tenants to have a pet in their property Why are they so worried? Polly Neate, head of housing charity Shelter, describes the bill as a 'watershed moment for England's 11 million renters'. It is designed to increase rights for tenants, for example by banning no-fault evictions and discrimination against tenants with children or who are receiving government benefits. However, landlords warn that unintended consequences could leave them and tenants worse off. Jonathan Rolande, co-founder of the National Association Of Property Buyers, warns that costs for tenants will only increase as landlords deal with more red tape and many exit the market. 'Because there will be the same demand for rentals but a smaller supply of landlords there will be, say, 12 people looking at every property instead of ten,' he says. 'Rents will go up because of this.' A survey from Simply Business, which provides landlord insurance, said 59 per cent are considering selling in the next 12 months due to the new legislation. 'It goes without saying that landlord/tenant relationships should be transparent and fair, but it's clear from our data that the increased costs associated with new regulations are forcing many to consider whether they'll be able to continue letting property,' says Bea Montoya, chief operating officer of Simply Business. Greg Tsuman, lettings director of Martyn Gerrard Estate Agents and former president of ARLA Propertymark, a trade association for lettings agents, adds: 'There's quite a lot of thought going into this legislation, although it is very clearly weighed in tenants' favour. 'The perception is that over the past several decades, the scales have tipped the other way [in favour of landlords]. I think that's a perception rather than reality and the unintended consequence of this new legislation is that tenants will end up paying higher rents, not lower ones. 'In reality, there's just not enough supply of rental property and the Government is putting a Band-Aid on a massive wound that was formed over decades.' So what are the key changes upsetting landlords? End of no-fault evictions One of the key changes will be a ban of Section 21 evictions. At present, landlords are permitted to give tenants two months' notice to exit without giving a reason. Although this element of the bill has been given the most attention, Bea Montoya at Simply Business says that for most landlords other elements of it are likely to be more concerning. As many as 70 per cent of landlords have never used the rule to evict a tenant. Key change: Under the new bill, landlords will be required to give tenants four months' notice instead of two when they want to sell or move into their own property Jonathan Rolande, from Worthing, whose company has a number of properties in West Sussex, Stoke-on-Trent and London, agrees. 'How many landlords are throwing out tenants with a Section 21 when they're good at paying and they're at roughly the market rate? I would say almost none. Why would they?' Rolande is more concerned about another element. Under the new bill, landlords will be required to give tenants four months' notice instead of two when they want to sell or move into their own property. However, tenants need only give two months' notice. 'In the property market four months is a massive chunk of time, so things can change,' says Rolande. 'You can decide to sell in August, for example, and then you get an empty property at Christmas, when the property market is at its worst and you struggle to sell for months.' Fixed-term tenancies will also be banned. That means tenants will be able to stay indefinitely until they decide to end the tenancy by giving two months' notice. Landlords will still be able to go to court to evict tenants if they do not pay their rent, but they must wait until three months of arrears have built up, rather than the two required currently. It is still unclear whether the fixed-term tenancies ban will apply to student housing, where contracts may be only for term time or for fixed lengths. If it does, it could have a huge impact on rental prices, says Graham Hayward, head of rental guarantor service Housing Hand. 'This would have a major impact on occupancy rates for these types of providers. That could have a knock-on effect on prices and payment terms that sends a shockwave across the entire rental sector.' Landlords can't ban pets The bill will mean landlords will not be able to refuse 'reasonable' demands from tenants to have a pet in their property. They will, though, be able to request that tenants take out insurance against damage caused by animals they keep in it. Rolande says he 'feels a bit sorry for neighbours' when it comes to tenants having pets. 'Potentially where tenants are able to force the issue and get a dog into a flat or something like that, that may disturb neighbours, so there's going to be issues around that. But, in my experience, most tenants are sensible.' If tenants feel they have been unreasonably denied a pet they can take their case to a new free ombudsman or to court. Landlords cannot discriminate against those on benefits or with children. The Government says landlords will still 'have the final say' on who they let their property to and can ask for references. But they must do this based on affordability, not on the basis that the prospective tenant has children or is in receipt of benefits. How will I choose who to rent to? Dog lover: but Neel Patel is concerned that he won't be able to refuse pets Neel Patel, who has 15 properties in London, calls the rental act 'scary'. 'Landlords are seen as social pariahs now,' says Neel, 39. 'I understand there are some bad landlords out there and something needs to be done.' He is concerned by several issues in the bill, including the stipulation that he cannot unreasonably refuse pets. 'I love dogs, but I don't believe a dog should be in a studio flat upstairs.' Neel is also worried that, because of the extreme demand for property, anyone who he does not rent to might have a claim for discrimination. 'At the moment when I put a two-bedroom flat on the market I might get 100 calls in 24 hours. People can't bid so how can I decide who to rent to? Someone's going to have a claim and they're going to bring this new ombudsman into play which, on the face of it, seems great but how much is this going to cost us?' The father of two is also concerned at properties being left empty because of having to give long notice periods before selling. 'Who pays the mortgage at that point? Why would anyone want to be a landlord now?' he asks. 'Everyone is selling and then what will happen?' Changes on how to set rents Landlords will only be able to increase rent once a year and they will have to give two months' notice. They can only increase it to the 'market rate' the price that the property would achieve if it was newly advertised to let. Landlords will also no longer be able to write rent review clauses into tenancy contracts that set out when bills will rise and by how much. Landlords will also be banned from accepting offers above the advertised rent. If they are not happy, tenants will be able to challenge rent increases for free at a First-Tier Tribunal if they believe they are above the market rate. New rules on maintenance The Decent Homes Standard, which applies to social housing, means that kitchens cannot be more than 20 years old and that properties must have adequate insulation. These standards will also apply to private rentals when the bill becomes law. Landlords will also be bound by Awaab's Law, which means that any health hazards in a private rental property must be investigated within 14 days. Rising cost of red tape While the new ombudsman will be free for tenants, landlords fear they will end up paying extra for this service as well as extra fees for compliance with other rules within the Renters' Reform Bill. Greg Tsuman, from Martyn Gerrard, said the way lettings agents charge their clients will 'radically change', with costs rising, which will in turn push up rents. 'The more regulation and legislation is introduced, the more pressure there is on the rents to go up,' he says. 'And as landlords exit the market because they haven't got the confidence to keep in the business and new landlords are dissuaded from entering the market the prices will continue to rise, as that is what supply and demand will dictate.' Rent rises: Landlords fear the extra fees and costs they face from the Renters' Reform Bill will force them to hike rents Councils will have greater power to fine landlords who flout the rules, with minor offences incurring a 7,000 fine and serious ones attracting penalties of up to 40,000 or criminal prosecution. Property experts are also concerned that the bill will create a backlog in court as landlords are forced to use more formal methods to evict tenants. There are already court delays in this area, and though Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has pledged to 'invest in additional court and tribunal capacity to handle any extra hearings generated by these reforms', Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, says that there are still concerns. 'There must be a commitment to ensure the court system and grounds for possession are robust and fit for purpose,' he says. Other things to Make life harder Experts warn there are other changes that may make being a landlord less attractive and rents more expensive. These include a requirement for rented properties to be more energy efficient, with an energy performance certificate rated C or above by 2030 as part of the Warm Homes Plan. This could require landlords to make homes more energy efficient by, for example, changing the windows or boiler or installing insulation. Speculation is also mounting that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce an increase in capital gains tax. Currently landlords pay CGT of 18 per cent or 24 per cent on profit they make on selling a property, depending on whether they are a basic or higher-rate taxpayer. But the Government could raise the rates in line with income tax, meaning landlords would face paying 20 per cent, 40 per cent or 45 per cent on capital gains depending on their income tax band. moneymail@dailymail.co.uk Americans love their Star-Spangled Banner, the French are obsessed with national pride but we Brits have a problem with patriotism. A recent poll showed that only 20 per cent of us feel really proud of our country, with numbers falling even further among the young. Reluctance to recognise our strengths has extended to the UK stock market. Prices are cheap, yet many savers continue to put their money elsewhere, while pension funds allocate less than 5 per cent of their cash to home-grown stocks. A quick glance at valuations highlights the chasm between here and the US. Financial professionals pore over data showing how much investors are prepared to pay for stocks in different parts of the globe but, in a nutshell, US stocks are dear and ours are cheap. American markets have defied gravity in recent years, sent skywards by the so-called Magnificent Seven - Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebooks Meta, Googles Alphabet, AI specialist Nvidia and Elon Musks baby, Tesla. Now, however, sentiment may be shifting. US technology stocks are wobbling and forward-thinking investors are beginning to appreciate what UK markets have to offer. The FTSE All Share index - which covers more than 600 London-listed stocks - is trading at an all-time high. Its better-known cousin, the FTSE 100, comprising Britains biggest listed firms, has also been scaling new heights this year. Their steady growth reflects a growing belief in the power of UK plc, led by a cadre of top businesses whose innovation and drive are increasingly recognised here and overseas. On drugs Drugs giant AstraZeneca tops the list. Now the largest company on the London market, AstraZeneca is valued at almost 200billion, with each share changing hands at more than 120. Formed 25 years ago from the merger of Swedish Astra with UK firm Zeneca, the company has come into its own under chief executive Pascal Soriot. When Soriot took the helm in 2012, AstraZeneca shares were 30. Two drugs accounted for around a third of sales and patents were soon to expire. Sensing the firms vulnerability, US rival Pfizer pounced with a 55-a-share bid. The approach was rebuffed but many shareholders were unhappy, worried that Soriot would be unable to go it alone. They were wrong. The stock has soared since then and Soriot hopes almost to double sales from $45billion (35billion) last year to $80billion (60billion) by 2030. This ambition is fuelled by a pipeline of treatments for conditions from obesity to prostate cancer, buttressed by robust demand for existing medicines, including diabetic pill Farxiga, which single-handedly generated revenues of almost $6billion last year. Creating new drugs is not easy, however and stock market reaction can be punitive when trials go awry. Disappointing results for a potential lung cancer medicine proved the point this month, sending AstraZeneca shares down more than 6 per cent in a matter of days. The stock could rebound, if Soriot achieves his stretching targets. But there are almost certainly bigger bargains to be had on the UK market. Rolling up Rolls-Royce is a very different beast but its shares are also around an all-time high. following a turbocharged reboot under chair Dame Anita Frew and chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic. Not to be confused with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, owned by BMW, Rolls-Royce plc is an engineering group, specialising in aeroplane engines, military defence and energy. Customers span the world but the group went through a long period of underperformance and, when Erginbilgic joined in January 2023, the shares were less than 1. Having described the business as a burning platform in need of radical surgery, Erginbilgic embarked on an energetic programme to put Rolls back on track. Rolls-Royce is a very different beast but its shares are also around an all-time high. following a turbocharged reboot under chair Dame Anita Frew and chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic The shares have soared to close to 5 and there are high hopes for the future. The group expects to deliver profits of more than 2.1billion this year, a fourfold increase in just two years. There are even plans to reinstate dividends, which were flat for years and suspended entirely in 2020. The question now is whether there is still more mileage in the stock. Erginbilgic has plenty more to deliver over the next two to three years and his turnaround programme has been given extra ballast by a rebound in the travel business, as Rolls-Royce makes and maintains engines for long-haul planes. Its lucrative work but highly complex and slip-ups can arise. Earlier this month, a part failed on a Cathay Pacific flight, prompting the airline to call for replacements, with Singapore Airlines adding that it was inspecting planes as a precaution. Rolls shares fell on the news, then recovered but the incident underlined the challenges that Erginbilgic faces. If he achieves his aims, the shares should deliver further gains. Any further problems and the stock could suffer. Drugs and engines can be risky but several other UK stalwarts are at all-time highs, including retailer Next, online car dealer Auto Trader and Haleon, which makes healthcare products from Sensodyne toothpaste to Day Nurse. Still in fashion A Next model. The group has outpaced trendier competitors and managed to hold its own in the fickle world of fashion Next is an extraordinary business. Under long-standing boss Simon Wolfson, the retailer has consistently delivered the goods, keeping customers happy, staying ahead of trends and driving profits higher. When Wolfson took the top job in 2001, the shares were around 8. Today, they are close to 105 each. Resolutely middle-of-the-road, the group has outpaced trendier competitors and managed to hold its own in the fickle world of fashion. Constant investment in e-commerce has certainly helped, making Next one of the UKs biggest online retailers. With strong half-year results expected this month - and more to follow in 2025 - Next shares should continue to deliver long-term, steady growth. The open road Auto Trader dominates the online car market. Ten times larger than its nearest competitor, the company can trace its roots back to 1973 but joined the stock market in 2015 at 2.35 a share. Today, the price tops 8.80 and several City analysts believe it has further to go. Last year alone, Auto Trader sold more than seven million used cars and another two million new ones, despite challenges in both sectors. Longer-term, chief executive Nathan Coe is confident of further growth, as the company broadens its range, invests in technology and expands its customer base. Gains not pains Haleon is something of a stock market newcomer. Spun out of drugs group GSK in July 2022, the firm caters for everyday healthcare needs and its brands are among the best known in the world. Voltarol for back pain, Panadol for headaches, Tums for indigestion and a whole suite of vitamins and supplements that cater to the wellbeing movement. Priced at 3.30 when they split from GSK, Haleon shares had a rocky market debut but have been storming ahead over the summer to almost 4, spurred by an upbeat statement from boss Brian McNamara last month, decent dividends and growing confidence among investors about future growth. There have been worries that consumers will try to save their pennies by trading down from top brands to cheaper alternatives, but Haleon is proving its resilience and benefits from a worldwide presence across more than 100 countries. Huge sums are spent on research each year as well, to ensure the groups top-selling products deserve their premium pricing. Data and defence LSEG, formerly known as the London Stock Exchange, is another UK winner. Once focused on listing UK stocks, the firm has been transformed into a global provider of data and infrastructure to the financial services industry. The shares have delivered huge gains along the way, soaring from 3 to more than 100 in the past 20 years. Many investors associate LSEG with the Stock Exchange, which has suffered from a dearth of new companies listing in London. LSEGs business stretches far beyond the London market however and today, the company has more than 40,000 customers in 70 countries. While the shares may be out of reach for many investors, LSEG is banging the drum for Britain and highlights the way that a firm can adapt, evolve and reinvent itself to keep ahead in a fast-moving world. An RAF Eurofighter Typhoon made by BAE Systems. The group's shares have long-term appeal BAE Systems is also making waves across the globe, proving its mettle as a top producer of defence equipment and vehicles, designed to keep soldiers and citizens safe. Russias invasion of Ukraine put defence in the spotlight, forcing the UK and other governments to reassess their priorities. Middle East tension and Chinese muscle-flexing have underlined the need to spend big on defence and orders at BAE are soaring. The British Armed Forces are a major customer but the groups sophisticated kit has gained international renown and the shares have gone from strength to strength. At 3.89 during the pandemic, they have soared to more than 13. Future growth will almost certainly be more muted but, in a dangerous world, BAE shares have long-term appeal. Household favourites Back in consumer land, Tesco and Marks & Spencer have not yet breached their all-time highs but they are heading in the right direction. Both have battled with increased competition, changing consumer habits and tough economic conditions. They have lost their way at various times but staged a strong recovery over the past two years. Tesco shares are up nearly 80 per cent to 3.73. M&S has more than tripled to 3.66 since 2022. Both have benefited from keen-eyed bosses who have focused on working out what the customer wants and striving to provide it, both in store and online. Recent results have been encouraging but there should be more to come. Tesco is the largest UK grocer by a long way and M&S is a household name, still beloved by millions here and overseas. Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods is about as British as it is possible to be. Exceedingly good cakes aside, the groups brands include Ambrosia, Bisto and Angel Delight, Batchelors soups and Sharwoods sauces. Once a solid and reliable business, Premier came a cropper when it bought Hovis-maker RHM for 2billion back in 2006, a disastrous deal which sent the shares plunging. Recovery has been steered by food industry veteran Alex Whitehouse, on whose watch profits have tripled and the group has showed it can move with the times, acquiring Indian food specialist the Spice Tailor and launching plant-based division Plantastic. Dividends have been reintroduced, recent updates have been encouraging and the shares have soared from 24p in 2020 to 1.83. with more upside likely over the next few years. A good yarn Bloomsbury is another great British winner, whose long-standing boss regularly exceeds expectations. Nigel Newton co-founded the publisher in 1986 and remains in situ to this day. Most chief executives last less than five years but no one is complaining about Newton, whose team has an enviable track record for best-sellers. While Harry Potter is Bloomsburys best-known find, the group has numerous money-spinners in its stable, from Paul Hollywoods Bake to romantic fantasist Sarah J Maas, beloved by the Tik Tok generation. The demise of reading for pleasure has long been predicted but book sales soared during the pandemic and interest persists. Newton has added online academic publishing to the business, as well, broadening its appeal here and abroad. Even as the FTSE All Share has been forging ahead, its junior cousin, Aim, continues to struggle. The Aim index has slumped more than 40 per cent in the past three years, hit by slowing economic growth and a frustrating lack of investor interest in smaller companies. There are some spectacular outliers however, led by small business energy supplier Yu Group and sophisticated communications firm Filtronic, once dismissed as a basket case. Both firms have risen more than seven-fold since 2021 and remain committed to delivering growth. Stock market winners come in all shapes and sizes but they share certain key features. Led by shrewd bosses, they retain an eagle-eyed focus on customers, a close grip on the financials and a determination to keep abreast and, ideally, ahead of the times. Many UK firms display all these characteristics and more. As they attract the attention they deserve, our markets should start to recover from years of neglect. About time too. Food fight: ITV boss Carolyn McCall has hit out against the move to ban on junk food advertisements before 9pm ITVs boss has warned the Governments ban on junk food advertisements before 9pm could cost the broadcaster millions of pounds. Carolyn McCall has hit out against the move as ministers pledged to press ahead with the policy, despite complaints about nanny state curbs and their impact on broadcasters. The move is intended to tackle childhood obesity amid alarm that a third of youngsters are overweight by the end of secondary school. The Government has announced that the restrictions will not take effect until October next year. But McCall, speaking at the Royal Television Society convention in London, said Labours measures would be ineffective and ultimately damage the UKs television production industry. Weve done loads of research to show this is not going to make a dent on childhood obesity, she said, stating the move would cost the maker of Love Island millions of pounds. Shares in ITV gained 0.6 per cent, or 0.45p, to 81.1p yesterday. Pret A Manger global sales jumped to above 1billion last year as it pursued international expansion. The UK-based coffee and sandwich chain said 1 in every 4 spent by customers now came from outside the UK as sales shot up 22 per cent in 2023. A total of 81 shops opened up abroad including in India and Canada, as well as in Greece and Spain. Sales boost: Pret A Manger said 1 in every 4 spent by customers now came from outside the UK as sales shot up 22% in 2023 Privately-owned Pret said it had opened more shops in 2023 than any year in its history, including 15 shops in India. These stores have helped the group, founded by Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham in 1986, to double in size, three years ahead of its target. And profits jumped 12 per cent to 166million last year. Pret A Manger chief executive Pano Christou said: We set ourselves some tough targets to get Pret going again after the pandemic, and we have delivered. The fact that 1 in every 4 is now spent outside the UK is both an achievement and an opportunity for our business. It shows how big the appetite is from customers all over the world for Prets menu. Looking to the future, our recipe for success is to focus on doing what Pret does best: creating delicious, freshly made food for our customers, only using the high-quality ingredients that were proud to have in our kitchens. He said it had been investing more into new recipes such as bespoke soya and coconut satay and shawarma sauces. Some 87 per cent of openings have been outside London since January 2023. Many office workers in the UK and beyond continue to spend part of the week at home, which is hitting demand in Prets city and town centre outlets. Since the pandemic, the business has been expanding into other areas, such as suburbia, that are not as dependent on white collar workers. But there are signs of this customer base returning to their office hubs. And New York is now Prets overseas capital, having the highest sales after London. The company signed a deal with a new franchise partner, Dallas International, in February. This has helped to fast track growth across the US, with ten shops planned on the East Coast by 2026. Six shops across Scotland will open in the medium term. But sales growth has slowed over the first half of 2024, from 3 per cent compared to 15 per cent last year. Clive Black, an analyst at investment group Shore Capital, said the update was no doubt seeking [to] raise awareness that the firm is alive & kicking, maybe ahead of some wider capital event or organisation change, lets see. Pret operates more than 690 shops and employs around 12,500 people globally. It has a 9,000-strong workforce in the UK. Troubled THG failed to stave off a share sell-off yesterday despite announcing plans to spin off its technology arm. The beauty and nutrition group, formerly known as The Hut Group, said it was progressing options to demerge its Ingenuity business a move that will help shore up its finances. But the announcement came alongside dire financial results which led analysts to downgrade their profit forecasts. Losing its shine: Beauty and nutrition retailer THG tumbled 12% after analysts downgraded their profit forecasts Shares fell 12.4 per cent, or 7.95p, to 56.3p yesterday. They are down by 24.7 per cent for the year to date. Chief executive Matt Moulding said that the company was looking to spin off Ingenuity after extensive discussions with shareholders over the past 12 months. That will leave THG to focus on its highly profitable and cash generative global beauty and nutrition businesses he added. Appropriate tax clearances had been received and necessary separation work has previously been undertaken. The retailer operates brands such as LookFantastic and MyProtein. Its Ingenuity arm offers logistics services to other companies. Yesterday, it said annual profits would be towards the lower end of analysts expectations for 133.8million and 156.5million. This was down to poor trading in its nutrition arm, including MyProtein, which sells powder and shakes. Sales fell 7.5 per cent to 299million over the first half of 2024. Under pressure: THG chief exec Matt Moulding This triggered analysts at Jefferies to cut annual profit estimates from 150million to 131million. They said the nutrition arm was offsetting much of the progress elsewhere. But the same note said an Ingenuity demerger could unlock meaningful value for shareholders. And the update was also picked apart by Panmure Liberum, which dubbed the nutrition unit disappointing and downgraded profit forecasts by 14 per cent. The demerger was potentially very good news but analysts would await further details on financing before making a definitive verdict, Panmure Liberum said. Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at broker AJ Bell, said: Until we get more information, the market will focus more on the day-to-day business and the latest results arent great, hence the negative share price reaction. But the market welcomed THGs update that it would transfer to a new category of London stock market listing. This means the shares would be up for addition into the FTSE 250 as soon as December. M&C Saatchi scored stronger earnings in the first half of 2024 after closing loss-making divisions amid tough times for the advertising industry. The London-listed advertising agency reported like-for-like operating profit growth of 40 per cent to 17.1million in the six months ending June. On a statutory basis, the London-based company swung from a 3.6million loss to a 14.1million profit, primarily due to cutting employee costs by over 12million. Good performance: Advertising agency M&C Saatchi reported its like-for-like operating profits jumped by 40 per cent to 17.1million in the six months ending June This followed the group enacting significant back-office cost savings and shutting down or selling unprofitable and non-core operations, including its Swiss, Swedish and Hong Kong businesses. But its advertising arm drove profitability growth, having endured difficult conditions last year when the volume of new business wins was slowing. The segment nearly tripled its operating profits to 5.1million on the back of revenue growth in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. By comparison, M&C Saatchi's non-advertising specialisms largely bolstered like-for-like sales, which rose by 4 per cent to 211.5million, following robust demand from security and government organisations. The firm gained repeat business from around three-quarters of its 2023 clients and won major customers such as fast food giant McDonald's, Ikea, Ford, Danone, and Sony Pictures. Zaid Al-Qassab, chief executive of M&C Saatchi, said: 'We continue to make great progress in building a strong platform to deliver sustainable organic growth through our self-help initiatives and wider transformation. 'Our increasingly diversified revenue provides greater resilience against macro volatility, and our higher-margin businesses continue to be our highest growth contributors.' Al-Qassab joined as CEO in May after spending five years as Channel 4's chief marketing officer, having also worked at BT Group and Procter & Gamble. He succeeded Moray MacLennan, who joined the firm as its UK chief executive when it was set up in 1995. MacLennan became its worldwide CEO in 2020 just as M&C Saatchi was undergoing the fallout from an accounting scandal involving the business overstating profits by 14million over many years. His term as worldwide CEO coincided with the advertising sector suffering a massive global downturn when the Covid-19 pandemic led to companies slashing their marketing budgets. Later on, M&C Saatchi was the target of failed takeover approaches from marketing consultancy Next 15 Communications and Vin Murria's investment vehicle, Advanced AdvT. Well-known for its longstanding association with the Conservative Party, M&C Saatchi's clients comprise some of the most prominent corporate names, including Diageo, Amazon, Google, and Foot Locker. M&C Saatchi shares rose 2.9 per cent to 197p on Wednesday morning, taking their gains over the past year to around 44 per cent. Mohsin Issa is to step down as chief executive of the struggling supermarket giant Asda as it looks to turn around its fortunes. The British billionaire, who made his fortune with younger brother Zuber Issa through their Euro Garages petrol station empire, had bought a majority stake in the firm with his sibling in 2020. It comes months after Zuber sold his stake in Asda amid an apparent rift between the brothers following Mohsin's decision to leave his wife of 30 years for a glamorous high-flying accountant. Things have been less than rosy at the firm itself, with sales falling and its market share dropping from 13.1 per cent to 11.8 per cent over the last year, with Mr Issa saying he was carrying out a 'reset' at the grocer. The supermarket's woes also drew criticism from Lord Stuart Rose, the currently chairman of the firm who will take the reins, who slammed its 'embarrassing' decline and said he planned to take a more active role in the business earlier this year. Mohsin (left) and Zuber (right) Issa purchased Asda in 2020. However, the pair have since gone their separate ways in the business, with Zuber selling his share of the firm earlier this year Retail veteran Lord Stuart Rose (pictured) is set to take the reins at the firm after Mohsin Issa announced he would step back from the role of CEO The supermarket group said Mr Issa will leave his executive role this week to concentrate on his recently announced move to become sole chief executive of the petrol station forecourts business, EG Group. Mr Issa will remain a non-executive on the board and co-owner of the chain, alongside private equity backer TDR Capital. It comes as debt-laden Asda continues its hunt for a chief executive to lead the firm, with the group set to provide an update 'in due course'. Former Marks & Spencer chief executive Lord Rose will take on Mr Issa's executive responsibilities at Asda on an interim basis, alongside TDR partner Rob Hattrell and the supermarket's existing management team. Mr Issa said: 'I have decided now is the right time for me to step back from my oversight role at Asda to focus on EG Group as sole chief executive. 'It is a very exciting time for EG Group, and I am looking forward to focusing on the business while supporting Stuart, Rob and the leadership team in my capacity as a shareholder of Asda'. Lord Rose, who was M&S boss for four years until 2010, said: 'We respect Mohsin's decision to move on from his role at Asda where his work is complete to be the sole chief executive of EG Group. 'We are very grateful to Mohsin for the role he has played in overseeing Asda.' Zuber (left) and Mohsi (right) Issa bought Asda from Walmart in 2020, bringing the supermarket back under British control Asda has seen its market share fall over the last year with sales also declining, while Mr Issa said he was carrying out a 'reset' of the company It comes just over a month after Lord Rose said he was 'embarrassed' by the supermarket's performance. He told The Telegraph in August: 'I've been in this industry for a long time and I am slightly embarrassed. I won't deny that. 'I don't like being second, third or fourth. And if you look honestly now at the comparative numbers of Kantar or whatever index, we are not performing as well as should be. And I don't like that.' The billionaire Issa brothers and the rise and rise of EG Group 1970s - Mohsin and Zuber Issa's parents arrive to the UK from Gujarat, India, and the brothers are born not long afterwards in Blackburn, Lancashire. They work at their parents' petrol station before it closes. 2001 - The brothers buy their first filling station in Bury, Greater Manchester. 2015 - Private equity firm TDR Capital acquire a 50 per cent stake in their Euro Garages chain. 2017 - Euro Garages buys EFR Group, a Dutch-based forecourt operator, and is renamed EG Group. The new company buys 1,000 garages from Esso in Germany. 2018 - EG Group announces it will buy 800 Kroger convenience stores in the US before buying 1,200 sites in Italy from Esso. Later that year it buys 97 fuel stations in the Netherlands and 540 from the Australian retailer Woolworths. 2019 - In another US expansion, EG buys 54 Fastrac sites in the US and 69 from Certified Oil. 2020 - EG becomes KFC's largest franchisee in Europe after buying 145 KFC outlets in the UK & Ireland. 2021 - The Issa brothers buy Asda from Walmart for 6.8billion, bringing the supermarket back under British control. 2024 - Zuber Issa sells his shares in Asda and steps down as co-chief executive of EG Group. He uses some of the proceeds to buy EG Group's UK forecourt business and some food service sites. He added he would urge Mr Issa to step back from the day-to-day running of the business, saying: 'I wouldn't encourage him to [intervene in operations], and I am the chairman.' He added that Mr Issa's work was 'in the nicest possible way, largely complete', while the man himself had already signalled in March that he planned to hand over the daily running of the chain. He said at the time that he was carrying out a 'reset' of the company before hiring a new chief. Brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa bought Asda from Walmart in 2020, in a 6.8billion deal with the backing of TDR Capital. However, the pair have gone their separate ways in recent months with Zuber selling his stake in Asda TDR Capital in June and also stepping down as co-chief executive of EG Group after reaching an agreement to buy its remaining UK forecourt business and some food service sites for 228million. Walmart still has a 10 per cent holding in the supermarket group, while TDR Capital owns a 67.5 per cent stake and Mr Issa the remaining 22.5 per cent. The decision by Zuber to sell his stake came after Mohsin left his wife of 30 years and began a relationship with a high-flying accountant. Mohsin went public with Victoria Price, a partner at 'Big Four' accountancy firm EY earlier this year. The pair had met while she was hosting EY's Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in November 2018 and in February were reportedly living in an 18million home in Yorkshire. Sources say that the two brothers' families previously lived side by side in grand homes inside a gated compound in Blackburn. Mohsin previously dismissed rumours of disagreements, telling the BBC the pair 'get on exceptionally well'. Mohsin Issa (right), billionaire co-owner of Asda, left his wife of thirty years and is engaged to high-flying accountant Victoria Price (left) who used to work at the grocer's auditor Ms Price left EY last July the day after the firm resigned as Asda's auditor. She recently took up a high-powered job with management consultants Alvarez & Marsal, posting on LinkedIn this week that she was on an induction course in Florida. The brothers holding trophies at an awards ceremony in London in 2018, which saw them named EY Entrepreneur of the Year Speaking about his brother's divestment from Asda, Mohsin said: 'I want to add my personal support and best wishes for Zuber's plans as we continue our successful family partnership, working as partners on our personal co-investments, family office philanthropy and Issa Foundation projects.' Zuber said: 'With the divestment of my Asda shares, I will now turn my attention towards leading and managing the remaining EG UK forecourt sites that I have personally acquired and spend more time on my charitable endeavours.' Since the acquisition of Asda, Mr Issa has been involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm, with a source saying he was 'focusing on the separation from Walmart'. Asda is Britain's third-largest supermarket but has been losing market share to Aldi and Lidl. The business revealed last month that its sales dropped further over the latest quarter as it lost more customers to its largest rivals. It saw total revenues, excluding fuel, rise 2 per cent for the first half of 2024, although like-for-like sales slipped by 2.1 per cent. Revenues in the second quarter of the year were down 2.2 per cent, with a 5.3 per cent like-for-like decline, as its sales slump accelerated. Saddled with debts of over 4billion, it has spent nearly two years looking for a chief executive after Roger Burnley quit following the brothers' buyout. The disgraced Max Factor heir who was convicted of 86 counts of drugging and raping unconscious women in 2003 is set to be released early after his crimes were reclassified as 'non-violent' under a 2016 law change masterminded by Kamala Harris, DailyMail.com can reveal. Andrew Luster, now 60, infamously fled to Mexico during his rape trial only to be tracked down by Dog the Bounty Hunter and hauled back to the US in chains. Now one of his victims has bravely come forward in an exclusive interview to talk about her fears at his imminent freedom. Tonja Balden, 51, who was just 23 when she was drugged and raped by Luster after a night out in Santa Barbara, told DailyMail.com. 'I'm afraid that when he is released he may continue the same crimes. He just turned 60. That's not very old. 'It is so psychopathic to set up this type of thing where you find a woman, drug her, and then she's an unconscious body and to do all of these things to her while you're videotaping it. That is a real sadistic way of thinking that I don't know if that can be fixed.' Initially handed 124 years in prison, depraved Luster's sentence was revised down to 50 years in 2013 on appeal. And now the serial rapist will walk free from Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, California, in a few months' time after being granted parole in August, having served just half his sentence. Convicted rapist Andrew Luster,60, is now set to walk free after serving just half his 50-year sentence after being granted parole in August, DailyMail.com can reveal Tonja Balden, 51, who was among the women drugged and raped while unconscious during Luster's reign of terror, said she's appalled by the decision to release her attacker early, while speaking to DailyMail.com from her Ventura, California home Luster is eligible for parole thanks to Proposition 57 a criminal law amendment written by Harris during her term as California's Attorney General that gives offenders deemed non-violent automatic parole after serving half their sentence. Balden is hurt and angry that drugging and raping an unconscious person was ever reclassified as a 'non-violent' crime. She was just 23 when she was drugged and raped by Luster one night in October, 1996 in Santa Barbara, California. She had no idea of what had happened to her until, four years later, she was shown a horrifying video by police that showed her completely unconscious and being raped and sodomized by Luster on the night they met. She told DailyMail.com: 'I was completely confident it wasn't me until I saw [the tape]. But it was me I was laying on his bed completely unconscious. 'I actually looked like a dead body, but I was fully clothed and I was wearing the outfit that I wore, that I was wearing the very first night that I had met him. 'That's how I knew when it happened. It happened within hours of meeting him. I cannot tell you how surreal it was to see yourself like that and then to have to watch the entire thing.' With her voice cracking, she added: 'I don't want to go as far as saying that it was like watching yourself be murdered, but there was that feeling of watching yourself totally incapacitated and completely vulnerable.' Balden is one of three women police were able to identify from Luster's collection of rape tapes and she was one of the key witnesses at his January 2003 criminal trial which descended into a circus after he went on the lam. Luster, the great-grandson of cosmetics magnate Max Factor Sr, was convicted of 86 counts of drugging and raping unconscious women in 2003 Luster fled to Mexico after jumping $1million bail and was convicted in absentia, but was eventually captured months later The 60-year-old heir, pictured in June 2003 after his capture, lured women to his beachfront home in Mussel Shoals, California and raped them after spiking their drinks with gamma hydroxybutyrate - or GHB While Luster lurked at a hotel in Puerto Vallarta writing a retaliation list that included her name, Balden had to take the stand and endure the humiliation of the video of her rape played in open court. Although Luster was convicted in absentia, it wasn't until June 2003 that he was finally captured and handed over to the FBI. Chillingly, along with his retaliation list, Mexican authorities also found a camera and tripod set up in his room strongly suggesting he would have continued his crime spree had he not been caught. Despite having her life turned upside down by Luster, Balden says she supported his initial sentence of 124 years being reduced to 50 but did so in the belief he would serve the full term which would have resulted in his release at the age of 86. Now, she says she is appalled that he is being let out after just 21 years and says she doesn't feel justice has been done in her case. She said: 'I had a little compassion for him and I wrote a letter in support of that reduced sentence. 'At that time, the 50 years was going to be 50 years, but then when Prop 57 passed in 2016, it changed his crimes to non-violent, which means they're no longer felonies at this point.' Balden said California State]Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil had told her that carjacking is considered a worse offense in California than what Andrew Luster did. 'It just makes absolutely no sense at all,' she said. At the heart of the matter is Proposition 57 which was written by Harris and intended to reduce the pressure on California's prison system by mandating the automatic release of non-violent prisoners at the halfway point of their sentence. It wasn't until June 2003 that Luster was finally captured by Duane, 'Dog the Bounty Hunter,' Chapman, and handed over to the FBI. Chapman is pictured speaking to the press after Luster's capture Luster was initially sentenced to 124 years in prison before having it reduced to 50 years on appeal in 2013. He has since been granted parole thanks to Proposition 57 Luster is currently behind bars at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, California, where he has served 21 years But due to what was described at the time as sloppy wording, the definition of non-violent was expanded to include rapists who drug their victims which has now teed up Luster for release. Although Harris never publicly declared her support for Proposition 57, the issue arose repeatedly during her 2016 Senate run with her opponent Rep. Loretta Sanchez pointing out that the now Vice-President's definition of 'non-violent' crimes included the rape of an unconscious person and human trafficking. Balden had supported the decision to reduce Luster's original sentence to 50 years believing he would serve the full term In a statement released at the time, Sanchez, a Democrat, said: 'The ballot title and summary, written by Attorney General Kamala Harris, calls serious violent crimes 'non-violent,' including crimes such as rape by intoxication of an unconscious person, human trafficking involving a sex act with minors. 'Proposition 57 is the misleading and dangerous ballot initiative that would allow serious, violent criminals out on early release without completing their sentences.' The Luster case was also featured in a brochure highlighting the dangers of Proposition 57 but then-Governor Jerry Brown insisted that it would not apply to him because he committed sex crimes. Despite the warnings, the proposition was passed in November 2016 and Sanchez's worst fears have now been realized with Luster set to regain his freedom in a matter of months in spite the assurances of both Harris and Brown. Balden described Harris's authorship of Proposition 57 as 'disappointing', adding that the Vice-President should have heeded the warnings and been 'well-aware' that drugging and raping an unconscious person is a violent crime. She said: 'I'm just really taken aback that she was made aware that was being omitted as a violent crime and that she was okay with that. 'I am hurt actually.' Luster is eligible for parole thanks to Proposition 57 a criminal law amendment written by Harris while she was California's Attorney General that gives offenders deemed non-violent automatic parole after serving half their sentence Balden has now thrown her weight behind a new state senate bill called SB268 brought by California State Senator Marie Alvarado Gil (pictured) which aims to reclassify the rape of an unconscious person as a violent crime Luster is now serving out the final months of his sentence and could be out as soon as December. Although it cannot be applied to the Luster case, Balden has now thrown her weight behind a new California Senate bill called SB268 which was brought by Senator Alvarado-Gil. Alvarado-Gil, who was elected as a Democrat but crossed the floor to join the Republicans last month, says the new legislation has cross-party support and would, once again, reclassify the rape of an unconscious person as a violent crime attracting stiff penalties and, crucially, remove their right to early release. The bill is currently awaiting the signature of on the desk of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Balden has a simple message for him: sign it. 'I don't see any reason why he wouldn't,' she told DailyMail.cm. 'I understand that California doesn't want to keep people in prison who don't actually need to be there. Our prisons are overrun, and I get it, but if they're truly violent, criminals should stay in. 'People who go out of their way to drug somebody to the point of unconsciousness and rape them, that, in my opinion, is more violent in some ways than traditional rape 'All rape is violent but to torture then have sex with and sodomize an unconscious body is really sick. And I hope that Gavin Newsom will agree and sign this.' Tearfully Balden added: 'I'm so grateful for [Alvarado-Gil] and so proud of her hard work, and it's been a privilege to work with her on it. 'If this gets passed, I just feel like I'm going to cry. It'll make me feel like I did something good out of all of this.' When Mark Latham posted a sexually explicit tweet about a gay MP, it sparked a political firestorm - descending into a flurry of panicked texts and vile voicemails that left the victim too afraid to go outside. Alex Greenwich, the independent state MP for Sydney, successfully sued Latham, the former NSW One Nation leader, for defamation in the Federal Court in May over a tweet which implied he 'engages in disgusting sexual activities'. The high stakes battle began in March 2023 when about 250 of Latham's supporters attacked police and about 15 protesters outside a church where he was addressing a forum during the NSW election campaign. Greenwich then called Latham a 'disgusting human being' who would damage the state if elected. Latham responded with the inflammatory tweet: 'Disgusting? How does that compare with sticking your d**k up a bloke's a**e and covering it with s**t?' The appalling tweet was deleted about three hours later, but he then doubled down on his comments in a statement to News Corp, saying: 'Sometimes in public life when you throw out insults they come back at you harder and truer ... So boo-hoo Alex. 'When he calls someone a disgusting human being for attending a meeting in a church hall, maybe attention will turn to some of his habits.' Last week, Mr Greenwich was awarded $140,000 for the defamatory tweet and comments. Now, a tranche of documents and audio files released by the court show the true extent of the fallout from Latham's tweet, and how it unleashed a torrent of homophobic abuse. Alexander Greenwich is pictured, left, with his husband Victor Hoeld on March 30, 2023 - just hours after Latham's tweet A number of unhinged voicemails reveal the vitriolic nature of the hatred directed at Mr Greenwich. One woman suggested that he hurt 'thousands of people' and urged him not to abscond overseas because some might want to sue him. 'You won't always be untouchable, you might be in the parliament, you might be now because of your character, but not always,' she said. A man said: 'Alex, you poor little f****t,' one man said. He then started faux crying, while saying: 'Mark Latham made me cry, you f**king piece of s**t. F**k off, you c***sucker.' Another said: 'You are a disgusting human being and your actions are even more disgusting. How dare you represent Sydney. Are you f**king serious? Go bury your head in shame.' The tweet According to Mr Greenwich's affidavits, Latham wrote a series of tweets and Facebook posts 'targeting me, targeting my sexuality, and implying I was a danger to children' a few weeks before the offending tweet was published. One of those posts, tendered to the court, compared an image of Mr Greenwich to Count Dracula. The photo was taken to celebrate Sydney World Pride and was hanging in Sydney's Queen Victoria Building in February 2023. Mark Latham is pictured, right, leaving the Federal Court in Sydney during defamation proceedings in May Mark Latham is pictured, left, with broadcaster Alan Jones, middle, and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, right Latham wrote: 'Even worse, Greenwich's Bela Lugosi image is hanging in the Queen Victoria Building. 'Children are running away screaming, their parents worried about nightmares tonight.' Days later, Mr Greenwich's office started getting abusive messages from members of the public. In one instance, one of his electoral office staffers got a call from someone who said: 'Tell Alex we're coming to get him.' Mr Greenwich said he didn't see the offending tweet, posted on March 30, 2023, until his media manager sent him a text because Channel Ten had asked if he wanted to make a statement. 'When I saw the content of the tweet, I felt offended, shocked, humiliated, and horrified,' he said in his affidavit. He attended a work function that evening with his husband, Victor Hoeld, and felt confronted when people kept asking him about Latham's tweet - to the point where got home and burst into tears. 'For the first time in my political and public life, I had been attacked based on my sexuality, in the most grotesque way, and had been reduced to a sex act,' his affidavit read. Political fallout In the days following, he received a number of calls from friends and colleagues who were concerned for his welfare, including now-former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, NSW MPs Jenny Leong and Michael Regan. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson made a public statement condemning Latham's comments, before he was removed from the party. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who swore an affidavit in the defamation case, had also texted Mr Greenwich on the day the tweet was published, saying: 'F***ing hell. Latham is a disgusting human being. I'm so sorry. Hope you're ok xxxxx'. Greens MP Sarah Hanson-Young sent Mr Greenwich messages of support after the Latham tweet Ms Hanson-Young said: 'F***ing hell. Latham is a disgusting human being. I'm so sorry. Hope you're ok xxxxx' In her affidavit, she said her immediate reaction to the tweet was 'quite visceral' and she felt bad for thinking that way. 'I felt nauseous and sick to my stomach. I thought the Primary Tweet was extremely homophobic and graphic, and felt that it painted Alex in an unsavoury, disgusting light,' she said. 'I had visions of penises covered in faeces and violent sex involving faeces. 'I felt awful because I don't like thinking about such perverted activities. My knowledge and understanding of Alex's relationship is one of love and care and affection, not one of violent erotica or dirty sexual practices.' Ms Hanson-Young said his ordeal was reminiscent of her own experiences in Parliament, 'being erroneously (and maliciously) labelled a misandrist and a woman who indiscriminately sleeps with men'. In 2019, a Federal Court judge found former senator David Leyonhjelm had wrongly portrayed Ms Hanson-Young as a hypocrite and misandrist during media interviews about a 2018 confrontation in the Senate. During a Senate debate about women's safety, he had interjected and said she should 'stop shagging men'. Ms Hanson-Young said she feared Latham's tweet gave others permission to abuse Mr Greenwich - which is exactly what happened. Alex Greenwich is pictured, centre, outside the Federal Court in Sydney during defamation proceedings in May Pictured: The photo of Alex Greenwich that Latham compared to an image of Count Dracula The abuse Mr Greenwich started receiving homophobic abuse soon after Mr Latham's tweet was first published, first by way of comments on Latham's original tweet and subsequent posts, and later as standalone commentary by members of the public on social media. A number of comments falsely accused Mr Greenwich of being a paedophile and grooming children. Electoral office staffer Alexander Graham swore an affidavit saying he fielded a lot of the threats and hate mail directed at Mr Greenwich, which began on April 1 - two days after Latham published the tweet. He said a number of letters, emails and calls received by the office between April and July 2023 were 'hateful and threatening towards Alex and gay men generally'. The volume of emails meant the office created a separate folder in Outlook called 'Latham hate'. 'I remember witnessing or receiving about 70 emails, five letters by post and what felt like countless phone calls and voicemail messages which contained hateful, abusive, homophobic, and sometimes threatening content,' he said. The abusive phone calls largely came from private numbers, which the office stopped answering, while others were from outside NSW - which Mr Graham said was uncommon because Mr Greenwich was a NSW state MP. He said: 'The threatening and violent nature of some of the letters and calls we received were so troubling that I was genuinely concerned that these people would seek to harm me or my colleagues by sending a dangerous substance through the mail.' In May, two police officers visited the office and showed staff how to handle suspicious letters. The process involved wearing gloves when touching the paper and storing the letter in a separate folder. Mr Graham also recalled fielding a number of phone calls from people who said, 'Mark just told the truth on how f****ts have sex', while another said, 'Leave Mark alone' and suggested LGBTQI people were responsible for the situation. He said the constant and threatening nature of the abuse meant Mr Greenwich eventually told staff to lock the office door. Alex Greenwich is pictured, right, campaigning for Sydney mayor Clover Moore Private life Mr Greenwich's husband Victor Hoeld said in his affidavit that he became aware of Latham's tweet during a phone call the day it was published. 'I was shocked. I could not believe that anyone let alone a politician like Mr Latham would publish such comments,' he said. 'I was hurt because I love Alex and I could see and hear how it was negatively affecting him. I was also hurt and offended because it was extremely offensive, disgusting and disparaging attack on homosexual men generally.' He said Mr Greenwich was constantly approached by members of the public who wanted to talk about Latham's tweet, so he started getting up before sun rise to avoid them in the street. After Latham's 'Boo-hoo' article in the Daily Telegraph, he recalled Mr Greenwich saying: 'Latham just keeps going, and getting worse. 'What disturbs me the most is that Latham went from describing me as a sex act, to saying that I'm a sexual threat to children.' From March 31, the day after the tweet was published, Mr Hoeld said they started leaving Sydney on weekends as much as possible. Four months later, Mr Greenwich disconnected from social media during a trip to see family in Europe. Mr Hoeld recalled his husband saying: 'It's been nice not being called a groomer or a paedophile for a whole week.' The defamation case Mr Greenwich won his defamation case in the Federal Court last week, with Justice David O'Callaghan ordering Latham to pay him $100,000 in damages and a further $40,000 in aggravated damages. During a two-day trial in June, the judge heard the post unleashed a torrent of abuse against Mr Greenwich while also lowering his standing with those sympathetic to him. In his defence, Latham claimed the post was his honest opinion and a response to provocation started by Mr Greenwich. He admitted the tweet was crass, offensive and vulgar but denied it defamed the independent MP or ruined his reputation. The matter will return to court on September 25. The 2024 presidential election could be one of the closest in history. Polls show former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck-and-neck during one of the most unprecedented campaigns in recent memory. The race has been dominated by assassination attempts, two drama-filled debates and President Joe Biden making the monumental decision to forgo a chance at a second term by dropping out of the race. Every day there are dramatic twists and turns that are shaping the biggest conversation in the nation: Who will be the next president? As the United States races toward Election Day on November 5, DailyMail.com is launching its first politics newsletter to keep you up to date with the most important developments. Enter your email below to get the latest breaking politics news straight to your inbox: Every afternoon, our political team in Washington, D.C., will send our loyal readers the top stories of the day. Our polls will reveal who is ahead and reveal what voters think about the biggest issues that will be on their minds at the ballot box. We will share our interviews with candidates as our correspondents travel across the country. Your browser does not support iframes. Polls show former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck-and-neck during one of the most unprecedented campaigns in recent memory In August, we travelled to Mar-a-Lago for a wide-ranging interview with Donald Trump and exclusively revealed where his 18-year-old son Barron would be attending college. There will be close looks at the seven battleground states that will likely decide the election and analysis of policy announcements from Republicans and Democrats. Our reports from Congress will delve into how the balance of power could shift, with consequential Senate and House races also taking place in November. We will also report on the lives of politicians taking center stage, including the biggest scandals in their inner circles. More than a third of voters believe that Haitian immigrants are eating cats, geese and other pets in America, according to an exclusive poll for DailyMail.com. The claims have been widely debunked yet have still taken on a life of their own, fanned by former President Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, who says that they highlight disruption caused by unchecked immigrationeven if the details of the stories may not be true. The White House has condemned the rumors as 'dangerous' misinformation. But the poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted by J.L. Partners reveals just how the lurid tales have been swallowed by the American public. Some 17 percent of respondents said they 'definitely' believed the stories to be true, with another 19 percent saying they thought they were 'probably' true. J.L. Partners polled 1000 likely voters to get their views on fake claims that Haitians were eating pets. The results carry a 3 percent margin of error The numbers go down, however, as the questions become more local. Overall only 10 percent thought Haitian immigrants were 'definitely' eating pets in their state. And that number declines to seven percent when voters were asked whether it was happening in their local area. The data set was too small to tease out state-by-state results across the country. But in those states with enough respondents all but one had a plurality of people saying they did not think Haitian immigrants were eating pets there. The exception was Georgia, where 51 percent said they believed it was happening there. Republicans are more likely to believe the claims. Some 58 percent said they thought the reports were true. James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners, said: 'The fact that fewer than half of voters think the story is false speaks volumes: Misinformation can sow doubt, especially when it comes from a voice that half of Americans trust in former President Trump. 'We could say the same for statements from Harris too, for example saying that Trump supports a federal abortion ban.' Donald Trump was baited into delivering wild claims about immigrants during his debate with Kamala Harris last weekend, including that they were eating pets Trump's Hispanic support crashed after the debate, according to our poll results But he added that Trump's switch from attacking the issue of immigration to apparently attacking immigrants themselves could be hurting him. The overall poll of voter intentions showed that Harris had overtaken him for the first time fueled in part by a 17-point dip in Hispanic support. 'Trump managed to pull in many Hispanic voters in 2020 who were repelled by his message in 2016: which seemed to criticize immigrants themselves rather than immigration,' he said. 'Looking at the decline of Hispanic support in our poll, we have to ask whether those concerns are coming back to the surface in 2024.' The idea that immigrants are eating pets is not a new American urban legend. But it appeared to explode back into view with a Facebook post made by a resident of Springfield, Ohio. She posted about her neighbor's missing cat, linking the disappearance to Haitian immigrants. A photograph of a man holding a goose in Columbus, Ohio, further excited interest. Police and local authorities said there was no truth in the rumors, but Vance, who is U.S. Senator for Ohio, took things to another level. Springfield, Ohio, has been in the spotlight for the past week after the wild claims emerged The image of the man has been used to fuel claims that migrants in the state have been eating wild animals and pets Despite the claims being unconfirmed, Ohio senator and VP candidate JD Vance has repeated rumors that Haitian migrants have been eating people's pets 'Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country,' he posted on X last week. Trump then repeated the claim on primetime TV during his debate with Kamala Harris. 'In Springfield, they're eating the dogs,' he said. 'The people that came in. Theyre eating the cats.' Vance brushed off multiple fact checks and denials. 'The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,' he told CNN on Sunday. 'If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.' Zeve Sanderson, executive director of the Center for Social Media and Politics at New York University, said the partisan divide over who believed the claims showed a classic pattern in the spread of fake information. Trump supporters have shared AI generated memes of the former president An AI-generated Trump hugs a duck and cat 'There are both supply and demand-side dynamics that occur with the spread of false claims,' he said. 'Elites with strong credibility within their party spread claims, which are believed at higher rates by party members due, in part, to their partisan identity; elites are then incentivized to further spread those false narratives that generate positive signals.' It happens on both sides of the political divide, he added, shown by the number of Democrats who believed stories about Vance and a couch. This time there are real world effects. The spread of the rumors has instilled fear in Haitian-Americans who say it is the latest part in a long-running history of slurs On Tuesday, state troopers were deployed to protect the schools in Springfield where the claims originated after a string of bomb threats. 'J.D. Vance's deliberate creation of false and inflammatory claims has had severe and dangerous consequences for Haitian migrants, who are now facing hateful speech and physical threats,' posted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the only Haitian-American in Congress. 'We refuse to overlook thisour country deserves better.' When Republicans vote on Wednesday to tie a stopgap spending bill to new requirements for voters to provide proof of citizenship they will have the backing of Americans, according to a new poll for DailyMail.com. It found that 48 percent of likely voters believe that noncitizens are voting in American elections, and that 45 percent feel strongly enough that they would support a government shutdown over the issue. In contrast, 27 percent said they would oppose a shutdown on those grounds. The results come in a poll of 1000 voters, conduced by J.L. Partners, which delved into one of the major dividing lines in the 2024 election. Republicans insist that legislation is required to protect the legitimacy of the vote after years of unprecedented illegal immigration at the southern border. J.L. Partners polled 1000 likely voters for their views on noncitizens voting. Some 45 percent said the issue was important enough to justify a government shutdown However, it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections and there is no evidence that it is a significant problem. Yet Republican lawmakers are putting their weight behind the issue. House Speaker Mike Johnson has now linked it to a temporary spending bill to keep the government open beyond Oct. 1. 'I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserveprevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections,' he said Tuesday, a day before the vote. Even if it passes the House it sets up a clash with the Senate, where Democrats control the chamber and are opposed to linking a spending bill to voter requirements. They say it amounts to voter suppression. The poll results suggest the Republican messaging is resonating with voters. Some 34 percent said they believed noncitizens were voting in their state (18 percent said they thought it was definitely true, and 16 percent probably true) and the same proportion said they believed it was happening in their local area (17 percent definitely and 27 percent probably). Even 30 percent of people planning to vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris said it was enough of a problem to justify a government shutdown. Republicans insist that legislation is required to protect the legitimacy of the vote after years of unprecedented illegal immigration at the southern border House Speaker Mike Johnson has paired a stopgap funding bill with new voting restrictions aimed at preventing noncitizens from voting (even though they are already banned) 'The idea of non-citizens voting gets an instinctive reaction from most Americans: no way,' said James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners. 'Voters think it probably happens, and they strongly dislike the idea. So much so that likely voters even support a government shutdown over the issue. 'With Speaker Mike Johnson bringing the issue to a vote in Congress, he may not get the votes needed in the Housebut he and other representatives can take heart from the fact that Americans are on his side.' Americans in general are strongly opposed to noncitizens voting. In total, 66 percent said they should not be allowed to vote. However, as it often does, Gen Z breaks against the consensus. Some 45 percent said they were in favor of noncitizens voting, compared with 29 percent opposed. The results carry a three percent margin of error. The issue has been pushed repeatedly by former President Donald Trump He posted recently that election security should be tied to bills to fund the government Complicating the issue is former President Donald Trump, who has been outspoken in pushing the idea of using a shutdown as leverage to push through the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. 'I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don't get it,' he said recently. It would require anyone signing up to vote to provide proof of citizenship and force states to purge suspected noncitizens from voter rolls. Johnson traveled to Florida on Sunday to discuss the issue with Trump. Emily Maitlis has revealed she was terrified of being sacked by the BBC for the famous Prince Andrew interview. The infamous 2019 interview was widely branded as being a 'car crash' for the Duke of York, who spoke about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The News Agents presenter also said it made it more difficult to get interviews afterwards as it scared people off. And at the time, she was scared of losing her job if the interview went south. Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew following the BBC Newsnight interview in November 2019 (left); and Gillian Anderson as Maitlis and Rufus Sewell as Andrew in Netflix film Scoop (right) Prince Andrew spoke about his links to Jeffrey Epstein in an interview with Maitlis in 2019 She said: 'You don't go into an interview with the royal family without thinking you could lose your job. 'But you know, that's almost a very real possibility - the stakes are high. 'We knew that if the tone had been wrong, if the facts had been wrong, if the questioning had been wrong - that would have been the end of me and the team at the BBC. 'As it turned out, the ramifications were different. But we were highly aware of it.' The interview was recently dramatised in the Netflix film Scoop, which looks at the story behind the journalist's Newsnight interview. But Maitlis, who is played by Gillian Anderson, said she was not involved 'because I think the last thing they want is me peeking around the edges' offering her views. It was an adaptation of a book by Sam McAlister, the producer who sealed the interview. Meanwhile, Matilis is continuing work on her own version of the story for Amazon called A Very Royal Scandal. Gillian Anderson (left) stars as Emily Maitlis (right) in the Netflix film Scoop Rufus Sewell (left) plays Prince Andrew (right) in Scoop which came out on Netflix McAlister has also spoken out about Scoop, and was asked by Hello! on the red carpet whether she had received contact from Buckingham Palace. Laughing, she replied: 'I'm still waiting on my CBE but I'm not sure it's going to happen.' However, Maitlis did reveal that Prince Andrew actually wanted to spend even more time talking about sweating and Pizza Express. Of Prince Andrew's request, she said: 'Once we'd finished the interview, I said as a courtesy, ' Is there anything that didn't get included that you wanted to discuss?' and Prince Andrew said, 'Well actually, there were a couple of things. You didn't include my alibi'. 'He wanted to talk about the fact that he'd been at Pizza Express on the night in question. Emily Maitlis revealed the awkward request she received from prince Andrew after their notorious Newsnight interview ended 'And it was a very complicated moment for us because, on the one hand, I knew that if he included some of the stuff that he wanted to talk about, for example the sweating and the Pizza Express alibi, it was not going to help his case, in fact, it was actually going to make it look worse.' Emily added: 'I felt kind of a responsibility to not let him walk into that, but on the other hand, I also felt a responsibility to include the things that he had said were important to him to say.' The News Agents presenter went on to reveal how it was more difficult to get interviews afterwards as it scared people off. 'It's a curious thing actually, on the one hand, you'd think it might make it really easy to get people to do interviews with you because they've seen your interview and they've heard of you, ' she said. 'And on the other hand, nobody wants to do an interview with you because they've seen your interview and they've heard of you! 'So, I think it's slightly double-edged. Some people come towards you, and some run a mile.' Newly-released search warrants offer disturbing details of Asha Degree's final moments - as the nine-year-old was allegedly 'pulled into' a car before vanishing in 2000. The young girl packed her book bag and snuck out of her North Carolina home during a ferocious storm in the early hours of February 14, and began walking down Highway 18 in Shelby. Degree was later seen 'being pulled into' a green vehicle, suggesting she was not taken willingly, according to search warrants obtained by WBTV. Investigators now say Degree was killed and her body was concealed. Court documents noting that hairs found in her bookbag belonged to to AnnaLee Dedmon, who was 13 at the time, and a man named Russell Underhill, who has since died. Asha Degree, 9, mysteriously disappeared on Valentine's Day 2000 She was later seen 'being pulled into' a green vehicle, suggesting she was not taken willingly, according to search warrants. A similar car was towed from a home close to where Degree disappeared Police have also seized a vintage green sedan, similar to the one they believe she was pulled into, from AnnaLee Dedmon's home - located less than four miles from where Degree was last seen. In 2016, the FBI and Cleveland County Sheriff's Office announced that a dark green car was a 'vehicle of interest.' They described it at the time as a 1970s era green Ford Thunderbird or Lincoln Mark IV. The vehicle last week was an AMC Rambler. Investigators have not said whether they believe the car could have been the one Degree was forced into. Another search at a rest home operated by Dedmon's parents, Roy and Connie, led to the seizure of a gray Jaguar, but it is unclear whether Degree may have ever been in the vehicle. Police previously announced that a dark green car was a 'vehicle of interest' in Degree's disappearance Other items seized during the investigation include computers, laptops, cellphones and records, as well as a human tooth - according to search documents. But police say they have still not been able to locate Degree's remains, and have been unable to determine who may have killed the young girl. Cops have instead said that because AnnaLee Dedmon was just 13 at the time of Degree's disappearance suggests she may have had adult help if she were involved in Degree's disappearance. She had two sisters aged 15 and 16, with cops saying AnnaLee's parents Connie and Roy Dedmon as possible accomplices. They said Roy Dedmon used his older daughters to 'transport patients in an unreliable vehicle' to and from Broughton Hospital in nearby Morganton. Investigators say that at the time of Degree's disappearance, Highway 18 was the 'most logical route to travel.' Yet it remains unclear if AnnaLee and her sisters knew the nine year old, whose decision to leave her home on a stormy winter's night is the detail that has most puzzled investigators and crime sleuths in the 24 years since the little girl vanished. Investigators now say Degree was killed and her body was concealed Law enforcement executed search warrants at multiple properties including an address in Shelby, an assisted living facility in Vale, and a home in Charlotte A variety of computers, laptops, cellphones and records were also recovered from the home, as well as a human tooth - according to search documents Russell Underhill, the second DNA match, also lived in at least two facilities owned by the couple at the time Degree disappeared, according to officials. He died in 2004. The connection between Underhill and the family remains unclear but investigators say he 'knew and associated with Roy Dedmon'. 'Roy Dedmon and Connie Dedmon are the two common links between the [DNA] profiles of Russel Underhill and [the Dedmons' daughter] collected and identified from Asha's undershirt and the trash bag which contained Asha Degree's bookbag,' search warrants say. Additionally, at a third property the Dedmons own, a neighbor reported seeing 'Roy Dedmon digging a chest-deep hole' several years ago, the Atlanta Black Star reports. The neighbor also said that three rooms at the property were padlocked, which were said to contain Dedmon's personal property. Police have since seized cameras, journals, a black trash bag, children's clothing and a rifle from that home, according to the Black Star. Authorities have been unable to recover Degree's body But at a press conference last week, attorney David R. Teddy, who is representing Roy Dedmon, denied any connection between his client with Degree's disappearance. The attorney confirmed that the properties belong to Dedmon, who is in his 80s, and asked the local community to jump to any conclusions. Teddy seemed to allude to Underhill saying that he might be the one who knows what happened to the young girl. Authorities have reportedly interviewed the elder Dedmon and have not made any arrests in connection with the case. The ritzy Massachusetts island of Nantucket has been rocked after an illegal migrant was arrested over his 'detestable and disturbing rape' of a child. Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, 28, a Salvadorian national, was taken into custody on September 10 over an alleged incident that occurred on July 11 involving a 12-year-old, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office announced Monday. He faces one count of rape of a child with a 10-year age difference and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, according to the agency. Aldana-Arevalo pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on July 26 and was held in custody on a $20,000 bail. On July 29 he was released after bail was posted. 'Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo stands accused of some detestable and disturbing crimes against a Nantucket child,' ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said. This comes just months after two men were charged with the murder Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, who was found dead floating in a creak near her Houston home in June. Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, 28, (pictured) a Salvadorian national, was taken into custody on September 10 over an alleged incident that occurred on July 11 in Nantucket The Nantucket Police Department was contacted by the NYPD after a mother took her 12-year-old child to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn and reported a sexual assault that occurred on the small island while they visited family Nungaray made national headlines and has been at the forefront of the Presidential debate as it was later revealed that the two Venezuelan migrants, Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, were released into the country despite being intercepted by border agents. Both men were charged with capital murder and in July it was confirmed that Nungaray was raped before being murdered by the two illegal immigrants, police said. They are accused of luring the girl underneath a bridge where they stayed with her for two hours before the men emerged alone. Her body was found the next morning after she had been strangled, bound and thrown in a bayou. She was naked from the waist down. Last Tuesday, Aldana-Arevalo was served with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and remains in custody as of Monday morning, officials said. On July 11, the Nantucket Police Department was contacted by the NYPD after a mother took her 12-year-old child to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn and reported a sexual assault, Nantucket Current reported. This comes just months after two men were charged with the murder Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, who was found dead floating in a creak near her Houston home in June Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, (left) and Johan Jose Rangel-Martinez, 21, (right) were charged with capital murder and in July it was confirmed that they raped Nungaray The incident allegedly occurred while the mother and daughter visited family in Nantucket. A social worker then contacted NYPD detectives about the assault before the Nantucket Police Department interviewed the minor about the incident involving Aldana-Arevalo - a relative of the child, according to the outlet. 'He represents a significant danger to the children of our Massachusetts communities. ERO Boston will not tolerate such a threat to the most vulnerable of our population,' Lyons said of Aldana-Arevalo. 'We will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from our New England neighborhoods.' The illegal migrant 'unlawfully entered the U.S. on an unknown date, at an unknown location' and was not 'inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official,' according to the agency. His attorney, Rob Moriarty, argued for a $2,500 bail for Aldana-Arevalo, stating that was what his client 'could afford,' the outlet reported. A second illegal migrant was arrested by ICE agents on September 11 on the small island and was identified Tuesday as Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, 31 (pictured) Moriarty added that Aldana-Arevalo, who has lived on the island for three years, should not face bail because he remained in Nantucket during the investigation. 'The purpose of the bail is not to punish the defendant but to ensure his appearance in court,' Moriarty stated. Nantucket District Court Judge James Sullivan concluded that due to the severity of the charges, the $20,000 cash bail would remain but could be revised in court on a later date, according to Nantucket Current. A second illegal migrant was arrested by ICE agents on September 11 on the small island and was identified Tuesday as Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, 31. Belafronte was charged with indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years or older, ERO Boston said. The alleged incident occurred on April 13, 2021 and according to the police report, obtained by Nantucket Current, Belefronte allegedly approached the victim, grabbed her, pushed her to the ground and climbed on top of her. The alleged incident involving Belafronte occurred on April 13, 2021, where he allegedly approached the victim, grabbed her, pushed her to the ground and climbed on top of her During the alleged assault, he told the female victim 'I will rape you,' while 'he licked her lips.' An arraignment for Belafronte was scheduled for June 9, but he never showed. Because of that, the Nantucket District Court issued a default warrant for his arrest which saw him arrested again. He was released on bail later that day. The Brazilian national lawfully entered the U.S. on October 8, 2018, but after violating the terms of his admission he 'voluntarily departed' the country on April 18, 2021 - five days after the alleged incident took place, the agency reported. On an unknown date and location, 'without being inspected, admitted or paroled' by an ICE official, Belafronte re-entered the U.S. On March 12, 2024 he was arrested again and at 3pm that day he was arraigned on the indecent assault and battery charge. Belafronte was then released on $500 cash bail. The Oklahoma State Department of Education is trying to revoke an educator's teaching certificate over an unearthed Facebook photo. Edmond Memorial High School English teacher Regan Killackey may lose his license after an anonymous tipster sent a photo from his private social media account to the department of education. A copy of the photo obtained by Oklahoma Watch shows Killackey and his children posing with plastic swords pointed at a person in a Donald Trump mask from September 2019. The photo was used as evidence in an application to revoke his license and at an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on July 31 the department announced they are moving forward with process to take away his certification. 'Well number one, I was shocked. And number two, I thought it was some sort of mistake or some prank or something like that,' Killackey told KFOR. Teacher Regan Killackey may lose his license over a picture with his children posing with plastic swords pointed at a person in a Donald Trump mask from September 2019 An anonymous tipster sent in the photo of the Edmond Memorial High School (pictured) English teacher in the days after the attempted assassination of Trump in July 'My entire career has been in the state of Oklahoma and I've been teaching for 21 years. I have been fortunate and blessed to have this career.' The tipster submitted the photo in the days following the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. 'Posted picture on personal Instagram account of the fictitious stabbing of fake presidential candidate mask,' the tipster said according to records obtained by Oklahoma Watch. 'I am a tax pay (sic) and will NOT condone this type of indoctrination of our youth. Please look into this matter.' The revocation process is a legal procedure that gives educators the right to have a hearing that allows witnesses and legal representation, according to the department of education. Killackey said he learned the state was seeking to revoke his teaching certificate when his name appeared on the agenda for the July 31 meeting. Killackey said he was shocked to learn the department is trying to revoke his certificate and thought it was a joke at first Killackey found out they department was looking to revoke his license when his named appeared on the agenda for an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on July 31 'No one in Oklahoma education system will support the assassination of . It will not be tolerated. Ever!,' Republican State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said on X. Walters is a former public school teacher who was elected to his post in 2022, and ran on a platform of fighting 'woke ideology,' banning books from school libraries and getting rid of 'radical leftists' who he claims are indoctrinating children in classrooms. He previously made headlines for ordering teachers to incorporate the Bible into lessons and keep a copy of the holy book in every classroom. The Oklahoma Supreme Court shut down his efforts to allow the state Board of Education to determine what books are available in public school libraries in June. The board, led by Walters, had recommended the suburban school district remove two books - 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini and 'The Glass Castle' by Jeannette Walls - after new rules were approved in June 2023 that banned resources that contain pornographic and sexualized content. Republican State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters (pictured) admonished the photo and ran on a campaign of removing 'radical leftists' from the classroom In April, Walters ordered schools to 'completely ignore' Joe Biden 's new rules promoting children's LGBTQ rights. Walters slammed the President's Title IX overhaul as 'the most devastating attack on women's rights in our country's history.' 'In Oklahoma, we don't bend to the senseless will of Biden and his posse eradicating women's rights and putting women in danger 'This is why I've instructed every superintendent in my state to completely ignore Biden's new Title IX changes that allow males to roam in female locker rooms, dorms, and bathrooms places where women should feel safe.' The cause of death for an elderly California couple who disappeared from a nudist resort has been revealed. Daniel Menard, 79, and his wife Stephanie, 73, both died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the San Bernardino County Coroner. Both deaths have been ruled as homicides. The findings come two weeks after the couples remains were found in a concrete bunker underneath their neighbors home at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Colton, California. The couple's neighbor, Michael Sparks, 62, has since been charged with two counts of murder and two special circumstance allegations in connection with their deaths. Daniel Menard, 79, and his wife, Stephanie Menard, 73, both died from blunt force trauma to the head, the San Bernardino County Coroner revealed The couple's neighbor, Michael Sparks, 62, was charged with two counts of murder and two special circumstance allegations in connection with their deaths The couples remains were found in a concrete bunker underneath their neighbors home at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Colton, California A family member told officers that Sparks had admitted to killing two people prior to his arrest, the Redlands Police Chief Rachel Tolber says. It was while our teams were on site that the police dispatcher received information from an individual identified as a family member indicating that [Sparks] was involved in the disappearance and had admitted to killing two people and was threatening suicide, said Tolber. The motive for the killings remains unclear but onlookers have said there was some tension between Sparks and the Menards. Neighbor, Tammie Wilkerson, said Sparks had an ongoing dispute with the Menards. He didn't like them. He hated them, and he told me many times, Wilkerson told CBS News. It's such a stupid reason. They had a tree that was on their property line and Dan used to go trim the limbs and he hated that. That formed his hatred towards them. The couple was last seen on Saturday, August 24, at their home at nudist resort before a close friend reported the couple missing the following day after the pair failed to show up to church The motive for the killings remains unclear, but neighbors said there was some tension between Sparks and the Menards The couple was last seen on Saturday, August 24, at their home before a close friend reported the couple missing the following day after the pair failed to show up to church. Days after a search for the couple ensued a tip led officers to Sparks home. We suspect that there may have been foul play, Redlands spokesperson Carl Baker told ABC7.com. 'While we were here, knocking on doors and canvassing the area, we got information that a person who is potentially involved in the disappearance of the couple was here. An hours-long standoff would follow, leveling Sparks home in an attempt to coax him out of the building - eventually revealing his homemade bunker. He did have a rifle and he did attempt to kill himself when police discovered him, but the rifle misfired, Baker said. The following morning police dogs found human remains, later determined to be the Menards, along with bags of evidence. Sparks has pleaded not guilty and is expected to appear in court again on October 18. Prince Andrew, set for a further fall in public esteem with tomorrow's screening of A Very Royal Scandal, should brace himself for more reputational damage. Ben Macintyre's account of the 1980SAS storming of the Iranian Embassy recounts 20-year-old Andrew's excitement at the TV coverage of the siege. Then second in line to the throne, he ordered his protection unit officer to contact siege police commander John Dellow, adding that HRH 'would like to visit for lunch'. Macintyre writes: 'The last thing Dellow needed, at this delicate moment, was a princeling and his entourage in the building standing around asking questions and eating sandwiches... The young royal wished to be where the action was. And he was used to getting what he wanted.' Not this time. His request was denied. Prince Andrew should be braced for more reputational damage with tomorrow's screening of A Very Royal Scandal Ben Macintyre (pictured)'s account of the 1980SAS storming of the Iranian Embassy recounts 20-year-old Andrew's excitement at the TV coverage of the siege. Royal Al fresco eating standards have slipped Kate's 'I'm getting better' video, featuring a flunkey free picnic, indicates how royal al fresco eating standards have slipped. Kate's 'I'm getting better' video shows how royal al fresco eating standards have slipped Princess Margaret, recalling one Hampton Court picnic, with liveried staff serving salmon mousse, salads, cold meats and cheeses with a Niagara of alcohol from fine china, cutlery and glassware, sighed: 'In my opinion, picnics should always be eaten up at table, sitting on a chair.' Tracey's cat assists with painting Tracey Emin, set to launch her latest show at London's White Cube gallery, says she lets her cat Pancake assist with painting. 'He watches every brushstroke and some of my paintings have his pawmarks on them,' explains Tracey, pictured, whose work Like A Cloud Of Blood fetched 2.3million at auction. She recalls one purchaser querying Pancake's contribution. 'I told him the pawmark shows it is authentic and he is very lucky to have it there.' Jumbo Whiskas for Pancake! Hancock's removal woes Bespoke removal man Anthony Ward Thomas describes former MP Matt Hancock as his worst customer, booking his third furniture shift at the last minute. '[Normally] you book a parking suspension with the council,' Ward Thomas recalls. 'We didn't have time so duly we got a parking ticket. We paid for it and sent it to him.' Later it transpired that Hancock had claimed for the 78 fine on his parliamentary expenses. Surely hell hath no fury like a disgruntled relocation operative! Former minister Matt Hancock was described by removal man Anthony Ward Thompson as his worst customer Harris's dedicated Savoy suite slammed by his son Almost 22 years since Richard Harris left his adopted home London's Savoy hotel his actor son Jared takes exception to the suite dedicated to him. 'It was a lovely room when he was there... now it just looks like... anything. I'm sorry, but that painting of him on the wall is awful.' Richard Harris in London in August 1973. His son has criticised the suite dedicated to the actor in the Savoy hotel As awful as his dying dad's quip while being carried out on a stretcher? He sat up, telling startled guests in the lobby: 'It's the food.' Jilly Cooper's 'raunchiness' recreated on screen Dominic Treadwell-Collins, screenwriter for Disney's adaptation of Jilly Cooper's Rivals, was determined to recreate the author's raunchiness. 'We've been equal opportunities in our nudity,' he says. 'There's a willy for every pair of tits.' A woman's shocking discovery of squatters in her father's home has sparked a debate over home ownership in Australia - as outspoken writer Clementine Ford backs squatters' right to occupy unused properties. Victorian woman Carol called into ABC Melbourne Mornings to seek some advice on what she could do to get the squatters out. 'I had a terrible thing happen to me on the weekend and I don't know what to do,' Carol, from Westmeadows in the city's northwest, said on Tuesday. 'I turned up at my father's house, which has been mostly vacant for the last 12 to 15 years, and my key didn't work. 'I've been a carer of my mother for the last 12 years and was renovating the house prior to that. My mother passed away and I'd not been to the house for nine weeks. 'Someone broke in, changed all the locks, they removed absolutely everything that was in the house - furniture, clothing, personal belongings, toiletries, everything in the kitchen, everything in the garage.' Carol became emotional as she said items taken by the intruders including sentimental reminders of her late father. 'The police attended, I proved I owned the house, they talked to my neighbours who said, 'Yes it's Carol's house', and they called a locksmith who broke in,' she said. Writer Clementine Ford (pictured) defended a squatter for taking up residence in a woman's late father's home after it was left vacant for nine weeks Carol said the locks at her home had been changed by the squatters and all her personal possessions had been cleared out - including those belonging to her late parents (stock photo) '[The squatters] weren't in there but they had moved furniture in - they'd moved a fridge in, they'd moved a washing machine. '...I don't know who these people are.' Lawyer David Whiting recommended Carol hire a security guard to challenge anyone arriving at the property and to confront the squatters when they return. He also recommended she 'make an appointment' for the squatters to return and remove all their possessions from the home and then change the locks. Outspoken left-wing commentator Clementine Ford weighed in on the debate after hearing Carol's story on the radio. 'I was just listening to the ABC and a woman called up with a "very distressing story", in her words,' Ms Ford wrote. 'I do understand why she felt upset - but the story also illustrates some huge failures with rental rights in this country.' Ms Ford sympathised with Carol's bereavement but did not agree with her wanting the squatters ousted. Homelessness has been on the rise in Australia with the number of older women seeking help services increasing by 40 per cent in the last decade (stock) WHAT RIGHTS DO SQUATTERS HAVE IN AUSTRALIA? Squatters could have the right to claim an abandoned property as their own under 'adverse possession', so long as they've been living there long enough. The required length of time is 12 years in all states except Victoria, where it's 15 years. 'Adverse possession requires proof of actual, open and exclusive, and unauthorised possession of land for a continuous period of 15 years,' lawyers Jack Nevile and Anna-Nikol Vladimirova from Nevile and Co. advised. 'This possession must not be by force, but it is irrelevant whether the rightful owner was aware of it happening. 'The squatter must demonstrate they intended to possess the land. This intention element is determined based on the circumstances of each case. 'Paying rates and fencing the land are strong indicators, as are building on the land, planting trees or crops, or running livestock.' Advertisement 'I understand why someone who has lost both parents - and who has probably given a lot of her adult life to caring for them - feels upset and violated to have her things interfered with like this,' she said. 'But this is the problem with the dire rental market and absence of renters' rights here.' The right of squatters to take over private properties if unoccupied had been spearheaded by Jordan van den Berg, best known by his social media handle 'Purplepingers'. Mr van den Berg encourages squatters to move into empty properties he lists on his social media platforms. Ms Ford said the commentator had done 'an amazing job of exposing' the brutal reality of Australia's rental market. 'We are all f***ed as renters - even as absurd numbers of people are competing to pay other people's mortgages on overpriced, mould-ridden s***holes, there are empty houses all over this country that are being used as either crash pads for rarely-there owners or tax loopholes. 'It's disgusting. So why shouldn't a house that has been mostly empty for 15 years be used to actually house people?' Ms Ford said property should not be regarded as an investment but as a basic right, and thereby reduce or eliminate homelessness - particularly among older women. The 'revolution' of Australia's attitude towards property has been spearheaded by far-left commentator Jordan 'Purplepingers' van den Berg (pictured) The government's Specialist Homelessness Services Annual Report 202223 found there had been a drastic rise in the number of older women seeking help for homelessness in the past decade. 'The experience of homelessness has become increasingly widespread among older women, growing by almost 40 per cent between 2011 and 2021 to about 7,300 older women,' it said. 'While the shortage of affordable housing and the ageing population has contributed to the rising number of older people experiencing homelessness generally, lower lifetime earnings and savings is especially relevant to many older women's experiences of homelessness. 'Given women are more likely to take leave from the workforce and return to paid employment on a part-time or casual basis, the amount of wealth accumulated is generally lower compared to men.' Ms Ford noted she could be left without a stable home in her elderly years due to her inability to secure a home loan. 'The idea of investment properties is grotesque anyway, but in a country where renters essentially have no rights, it's foul that property owners are catered to as if their 'investment' isn't the same as any other kind of high-stakes gamble,' she said. Ms Ford (pictured) described the notion of investment and/or vacant properties as 'grotesque' 'I have been paying rent for 25 years but because I don't have a 'stable' job nor any inheritance coming my way, I am probably never going to be able to buy a place of my own. 'Even if I could one day have enough to get a deposit for a small flat, what bank will give a close to 50-year-old woman with non-reliable sources of income a loan? 'Meanwhile, how many other people's houses and flats have I helped to purchase so they can have their retirement plan?' Ms Ford said Australia's property was in 'crisis' and called for investors to face harsher laws to ensure no homes sit vacant. 'We have a crisis in homelessness among women over 65 in particular, but the government response to all of this is to throw some band-aid policy solution at the wall and do absolutely nothing to curb the insane rights handed out to property investors,' she said. 'If you own multiple properties - and I mean two or more - you should be required by law to offer fixed-term rental leases with an option of long-term leases of 10 years or more.' A woman who sold everything to embark on a $350,000 dream cruise around the world has claimed she has been banned from the ship after her private WhatsApp messages were leaked. Jenny Phenix, a divorced mother-of-two from Florida, is one of the unlucky passengers whose three-year voyage across Europe, Asia and the Americas has been scuppered by major delays. Some of those on board the ill-fated Villa Vie Odyssey have even turned to Vitamin D tablets as they await a new departure date after being left stranded in Belfast for three months. The cruise has suffered multiple delays delayed because of problems renovating the ship, which the company bought in 2023 ahead of offering the landmark three-and-a-half year cruise. Life at Sea Cruises is not covering food, accommodation or other costs for those waiting to board and many have returned to their home countries because of the cost of remaining in Northern Ireland. Jenny Phenix, 68, says she was banned from the Villa Vie Odyssey after her WhatsApp messages leaked Ms Phenix, 68, sold her possessions to join the trip of a lifetime and was planning to stop off in Miami along the way to pick up belongings for the rest of the cruise. But amid ongoing delays, she vented to fellow passengers in a WhatsApp group that the ship would no longer be docking in Miami. She also voiced her concerns that refurbishment work on the massive ship may continue even after it departs Belfast and that she would have to use a temporary cabin because the one she had booked was still being used by the crew. Those messages were apparently leaked to the owners of Villa Vie Residences. They then told her her contract for the voyage had been cancelled for 'behavior impacting community morale.' The Odyssey cruise ship was anchored at the dry dock in Belfast for several months, undergoing repairs (Pictured: The passengers at a reception with the lord mayor of Belfast Micky Hurray) The Telegraph reports that Chief Operating Officer Kathy Villalba told her: 'We have received over a dozen formal complaints from residents regarding your continuous complaints and negativity. This behavior has significantly impacted the morale and well-being of other passengers. 'Given the overwhelming feedback, we must cancel your contract permanently to uphold the well-being and satisfaction of our community,' Villalba wrote, according to the Telegraph. Ms Phenix said she was left stunned by the notice. 'I was never rude or disrespectful and I never participated in personal attacks,' she insisted. 'These were private conversations - I posted nothing on social media platforms.' She added that she was not the only one upset as the maiden voyage kept getting pushed back. 'The frustration among the residents grew after every delay,' Ms Phenix said. 'I tended to be one of the most outspoken in asking important questions.' 'Many of the residents thanked me privately for speaking up for the entire group.' Holly Hennessy, 67, also from sunny Florida, is travelling with her cat Captain. She previously told how she'd turned to Vitamin D tablets after being unable to bask in the tropical sunshine She paid an initial deposit on the world voyage, and had planned to decide once on board whether to purchase a cabin or join the company's Endless Horizon program - which allows passengers to cruise for the rest of their lives The luxury cruise liner includes cabins that are worth between $92,000 and $920,000 Passengers can also enjoy pools, a golf simulator, fine dining experiences and more while on board Amenities including onboard the ship include access to a swimming pool, a theatre and a gourmet restaurant Passengers, some of whom had sold their homes to go on the trip, have previously spoken about their struggles while the ship was docked in Belfast. Holly Hennessy, 67, who is also from Florida, is travelling with her cat Captain and doing her best to adapt to the new surroundings. 'It hasn't felt like summer. It has been winter as far as I'm concerned. I'm used to the Florida sunshine. I had to go out and buy vitamin D tablets,' she previously told the Telegraph. For Ms Phenix, she had pinned all of her plans on the three-year cruise after another residential ship scheme, Florida-based Life at Sea, filed for bankruptcy - and owed her $30,000. She waited for Villa Vie to buy the former Fred. Olsen ship Braemar before signing up. Ms Phenix then paid an initial deposit on the world voyage, and had planned to decide once on board whether to spend up between $120,000 to over $350,000 for a cabin or join the company's Endless Horizon program - which allows passengers to cruise for the rest of their lives starting at $300,000. She then flew to Southampton, England in May to embark on the journey to 425 destinations in 147 countries. 'We had been notified of one short delay, but nothing seemed critical and, of course, travel plans and hotel reservations had been made months in advance,' Ms Phenix said. But the cruise line then announced it was moving the ship's departure to Belfast on May 30, and more problems were discovered during a dry dock at the Harland & Wolff shipbuilding yard - which is infamous for building the doomed Titanic. The ship has been docked in Belfast, Ireland for months as it underwent multiple repairs All passengers have access to the onboard restaurants, pools, hot tubs, spa and fitness center Villa Vie Residences CEO Mikael Petterson said the company aims to 'empower travelers to make the world their home' The ship will circle the world every three and a half years visiting more than 420 ports in 147 countries The vessel was left idle for four years during the pandemic, its certifications expired and instead of being able to simply renew them, Villa Vie had to start from scratch. CEO Mike Petterson explained to CNN that the issues arose when DNV - the company conducting certification - asked for documentation on past repairs to the ship, which Fred. Olsen did not provide. He claimed that other work was recommended in the past, but was never completed - including a replacement to a bearing that DNV will not let Villa Vie sail without changing, even though the ship has been recertified multiple times since the recommendation was first made in 2003. And because Villa Vie does not have documentation of a 2007 repair to an engine, a new repair had to be undertaken and documented. Amid these repairs, eager passengers were left stranded in Belfast, while Ms Phenix has recently returned to her home state after joining the last leg of another world cruise - the Royal Caribbean's four-month voyage on Serenade of the Seas. Phenix said she could not understand why she was kicked off the ship She said her deposit for the Odyssey has been partially refunded, but is still struggling to understand what happened. 'I cannot even begin to explain the emotional devastation and the physical toll this has taken on me,' Ms Phenix said. 'It was weeks before I cold talk about the situation and could even explain it to my children. 'It is still very hard for me to discuss, as I had the same dream everyone else on that ship does, and they took that from me, seemingly without a thought. 'I will have to stay with my daughter until I figure out a whole new plan for my life,' she added. But Mr Petterson said Ms Phenix 'broke multiple terms and conditions, and signed a non-disclosure agreement. 'The founding residents voted an agreed to uphold her suspension and we plan on respecting that decision,' he said. 'We have nothing else to comment on the ongoing dispute.' It is now set to set sail as soon as next week, after successfully completing two sea trials Those other residents are now set to set sail as soon as next week after the Odyssey held sea trials, which Mr Petterson sent went well. 'Everything was good. We passed everything,' he told CNN. He said the company was given 'a couple of takeaways' of 'adjustments' to be made, including to staff training, but those issues would not impede certification and the departure of the ship. 'Any outstanding items will be done over the weekend,' Mr Petterson said, noting the final stage is to get coastguard clearance, which he hopes will happen in the coming days. In the meantime, the company has announced it would stop paying residents' $501,300 monthly hotel bills, saying the expense was becoming 'unsustainable' after spending more than $2million over four months. The residents will then be compensated with onboard credit of up to $200 each day, Mr Petterson said. A woman has died after being attacked by a shark on a British-flagged catamaran as she was rushed to a hospital in the Canary Islands. The 30-year-old German lost her fight for life in a Spanish Air Force helicopter as she was being evacuated to a Gran Canaria hospital. She was officially pronounced dead after arriving at Doctor Negrin Hospital in the Gran Canaria capital, Las Palmas, on Monday night. She is said to have had her leg bitten off by the shark as she was on a catamaran in international waters 278 miles south-west of Gran Canarias airport and around 110 miles east of the city of Dakhla in the disputed territory of Western Sahara which is currently occupied by Morocco. The catamaran she was a crew member of has been named as British-flagged vessel Dalliance Chichester, which had left the Spanish holiday island on September 14. The 30-year-old German lost her fight for life in a Spanish Air Force helicopter as she was being evacuated to a Gran Canaria hospital (File image of a Gran Canaria beach) She was officially pronounced dead after arriving at Doctor Negrin Hospital in the Gran Canaria capital, Las Palmas (File image of Las Palmas) Spanish Coastguards are said to have informed their Moroccan counterparts as well as UK coastguards because of the origin of the catamaran. But according to local reports Moroccan authorities refused to transfer the injured woman to Rabat for emergency medical treatment. The unnamed woman was pronounced dead yesterday just after 11pm after going into cardiac arrest in the Spanish military chopper The shark attack is understood to have happened around 4pm the same day. The catamaran is said to have sent a Mayday around 3.55pm yesterday. Spanish Coastguards reacted by alerting nearby vessels about the emergency and one ended up approaching Dalliance Chichester to give other crew members medicines for the injured woman. She boarded the Spanish Air Force helicopter just after 8pm. It was not immediately clear this evening how the attack occurred. There have been no documented previous shark attacks in the area where yesterdays incident took place. Dalliance Chichester is a 17 metre-long, eight metre-wide pleasure craft. An outraged homebuyer has let loose on real estate agents who put low price guides on properties with no intention of selling at that amount. Chris Sassine and his partner have been looking to buy a property in Sydney and have been frustrated by dishonest real estate agents. 'If anyone that follows me is a real estate agent,' Mr Sassine said in a TikTok video before spitting at the camera. 'What do you think about that?' Mr Sassine explained the price guide for countless properties had been greatly undervalued by hundreds of thousands of dollars. 'Don't put $800,000 guide if it's going for $1.3million or $1.4million, brother. Put it at $1.2 to $1.3 million guide,' he said. He admitted estimates were not always going to be accurate and that there was some wiggle room between the price guide and final price of the home. 'If it's $900,000-$950,000 if it goes for $1million all right, whatever,' he said. TikTokker Chris Sassine (pictured) unleashed on real estate agents who underestimate property price guides 'When it goes for $16 million?! It's got one bathroom cuz!' Mr Sassine explained that he went to six auctions in a single day and each property sold far above the price guide. 'Every single auction went for over $300,000 off the guide they have given online cuz,' he said. 'Why? Why? That's lying!' He then spoke of the emotional impact the false price guides have on him and his wife. 'Not only do you waste my time, you waste my missus' time, then she gets annoyed, then she takes it out on me!' he said. 'Cuz why?' Agents routinely pitch their advertised asking price lower than what they intend to accept in order to get more people to look at it, and hope buyers spend more than they had budgeted. Many TikTok users agreed with Mr Sassine revealing they had experienced the same issue. 'It's an absolute joke honestly,' one wrote. 'As an agent. I 1000 per cent agree with you. under quoting is a big problem in our industry. very frustrating,' another wrote. Mr Sassine replied: 'I appreciate the honesty mate.' '100 per cent should be illegal all these agents low balling the price,' another TikTok user wrote. Mr Sassine said he went to six auctions in one day and the sale price at each one was $300,000 over the price guide (stock image) Another added: '100 per cent bro... buyers guide $1m... sold for $1.4m... suckers us in bro.' However some commenters disagreed with Mr Sassine, arguing real estate agents should not be blamed. 'How is it the agents fault if people are fighting to buy it and want to pay more to get it?' one wrote. Mr Sassine replied: 'It's the guide that is soo off.' Real estate agent Veronica Morgan told Good Deeds some may deliberately underquote a property to draw in a deeper pool of buyers. 'But if they quote it too high, then buyers wont react well and they wont generate the interest that they need to run a competitive auction,' she said. In July, property guru Andrew Winter told realestate.com.au it was the 'Great Australian Scam'. Some states have laws that require agents to accept any auction bid that is within a given percentage of the advertised price, but Mr Winter said it was difficult to make any sense of the contradictory rules that apply across the country. 'The path to a fairer and more transparent property market is simple,' he wrote. 'All we need is to allow sellers to ask for the price they want and for buyers to make sure that price works for them.' VP hopeful J.D. Vance says Kamala Harris is trying to silence an American community overwhelmed by illegal immigrants by downplaying concerns over reports of migrants eating residents' pets. The unusual story has dominated the news cycle ever since wild complaints emerged from Springfield, Ohio, that migrants, mostly from Haiti, are catching and eating pet cats and ducks. Former President Donald Trump even brought it up in the debate last week, claiming migrants are 'eating dogs' in the town. But Vice President Harris went farther, claiming in an interview on Tuesday that Vance and Trump's 'hateful rhetoric' is what led to a surge of over 30 bomb threats at schools in the same community. DailyMail.com asked Vance during a campaign rally on Tuesday to respond to Harris' accusations - as boos and jeers broke out among the Wisconsin crowd. Vance, who is from Ohio, replied that Harris is 'disgraceful' for downplaying the reports and claims he and Trump have heard from hundreds of residents who make the same claims. VP hopeful J.D. Vance says Kamala Harris is trying to silence an American community overwhelmed by illegal immigrants Your browser does not support iframes. As the story gained national prominence, the Ohio town was faced with somewhere between 35 and 40 bomb threats. Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said this week, however, that the threats are 'hoaxes' and all are coming from 'foreign countries.' 'Vice President Harris said again today that the 'hateful rhetoric' over migrants eating pets is what caused the bomb threats to Springfield. Can you respond to the latest?' DailyMail.com asked Vance during a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on Tuesday. Upon hearing the Democratic VP's name, the pro-MAGA crowd became excitable with jeers. 'That's basically my response,' Vance said. 'Just put that in the paper loud boos and two thumbs down. That's my response on what Kamala Harris said.' 'Look, you guys are going to get me all fired up again. I was ready to leave,' he said when winding down the final campaign stop on Tuesday after a visit to Sparta, Michigan earlier in the day. The unusual story has dominated the news cycle ever since complaints emerged from Springfield, Ohio , that migrants, mostly from Haiti, are catching and eating pet cats and ducks Vance then answered more seriously, telling DailyMail.com in front of several hundred rally goers: 'What happened in Springfield is not just disgraceful because it's made people's lives worse.' 'What's happened is disgraceful because of the way Kamala Harris and her media allies have tried to silence the people from daring to complain that life has gotten worse in their own community in their own country.' 'Think about this, the argument was that because Donald Trump and I and the many, many hundreds of residents of Springfield that we've talked to in the last few weeks because we dared to point out that life has gotten worse for those citizens, we are somehow to blame because a psychopath called in a bomb threat,' Vance went on. He alleged: 'The media is laundering literal foreign disinformation in an effort to silence the citizens of their own country from participating in an American election. It it despicable and it has to stop.' Harris was asked about the growing controversy in Springfield as she attended a question and answer forum held by the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia. 'It's a crying shame. I mean my heart breaks for this community,' she said, recalling that the schools were closed on 'school photo day.' Harris recalled being a child in school on 'picture day' expressing further sadness that the event was disrupted. Harris was asked about the growing controversy in Springfield as she attended a question and answer forum held by the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia 'You remember what that's like?' Harris asked, demonstrating what it was like to get dressed up for a special occasion by swaying her shoulders back and forth. 'Going to school on picture day? Dressed up in their best, got all ready, knew what they were going to wear the night before?' The controversy in Springfield was sparked after former President Donald Trump claimed during the presidential debate last week that some migrants were 'eating the dogs,' 'cats,' and 'pets' in the community. Trump was accused of making 'baseless' accusations after the claims when viral on social media, even as his supporters portrayed him as a champion of protecting their pets by sharing cat memes generated by AI. Harris blamed Trump for the bomb threats, even though Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine described them as not credible and came mostly from overseas. 'They had to be evacuated. Children. Children,' she lamented. 'A whole community put in fear.' Chinese urban air mobility tech firm to conduct trial flights in Brazil, boosting low-altitude cooperation 13:14, September 18, 2024 By Tu Lei and Chen Qingrui ( Global Times 2024 CIFTIS attendees from Cologne, Germany take a look at the eVTOL aircraft developed by Chinese urban air mobility technology platform company EHang on September 12, 2024. (Photo: Chu Daye/GT) EHang Holdings, one of the urban air mobility technology platform companies, announced on Monday that its EH216-S pilotless electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft system has obtained an experimental flight authorization certificate from Brazil's regulator. It is the latest example of improving bilateral civil aviation cooperation, and a Chinese expert said that such cooperation will also benefit the market and enterprises in the low-altitude economy. EHang and its local partner and operator Gohobby will conduct comprehensive EH216-S test and trial flight campaigns in Brazil in close collaboration with Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency and Brazil's Airspace Control Department. These initiatives aim to advance research and development (R&D) of concepts of operations and unmanned aircraft traffic management (UAM) systems and services, ensuring safe and efficient UAM deployments across Brazil. Brazil is a vast country with a big demand for logistics and personnel transportation, a market that offers huge potential in the field of low-altitude transportation, Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday. China's unmanned transportation technology is mainly driven by private enterprises, which conduct R&D based on technical feasibility and economic benefits. China has advantages in this field. Therefore, we have the ability to participate in market competition, and the market also needs Chinese companies to participate in the competition and provide effective solutions, Zhou added. Brazil and China have signed agreements to strengthen the partnership between the two countries in civil aviation, advancing safety, efficiency, and sustainability in airworthiness certification processes. In August 2024, the civil regulators of the two countries subscribed to a revised version of airworthiness implementation procedures for the mutual validation of aircraft, facilitating the approval process for civil aviation products as well as their imports and exports between each other. Both parties agreed upon a roadmap to promote and deepen cooperation in airworthiness certification, aiming to deepen exchanges and cooperation in new technology aircraft certification, airworthiness certification legislation, and airworthiness certification training. EHang is in close contact with civil aviation authorities around the world. In an earlier interview, He Tianxing, a vice president of EHang Holdings, told the Global Times that the company has received many eVTOL orders and pre-orders from customers in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and other countries. The main application scenarios include serving as a new mode of aerial manned transportation, providing aerial sightseeing tours, and emergency rescue. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) The grass may not always be greener on the other side. But that does not stop a huge number of employees regretting their decision to stay in their job, a survey has suggested. Two in five workers have suffered career FOMO the fear of missing out after refusing to quit their post in search of better opportunities, according to the research. A total of 43 per cent of UK adults reported suffering anxiety after bypassing a great career opportunity by being too hesitant to leave their current post. The poll of 5,000 workers revealed a knock-on to the hiring market, with almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of those who have regretted a move in the past now more hesitant about seeking new opportunities. Two in five Brits are suffering from career FOMO (the fear of missing out), according to a new study Among reasons for being hesitant to jump ship include sacrificing work/life balance, losing current flexibility levels and learning new processes elsewhere FEAR OF MISSING OUT (FOMO) Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a unique term introduced in 2004 to describe a phenomenon observed on social networking sites. FOMO includes two processes - firstly, a perception of missing out on a positive experience, followed up with a compulsive behaviour to maintain these social connections. FOMO is linked with negative life experiences and feelings, as well as a problematic attachment to social media. Source: Gupta et al. (2021) Advertisement Some of the top reasons for worker hesitancy include sacrificing work/life balance (29 per cent), losing current levels of flexibility (26 per cent) and getting to grips with new processes somewhere else (18 per cent). Doug Rode, from recruiter Michael Page, which commissioned the research, said: Its concerning to see that millions of British workers are experiencing regret over missed career opportunities. 'Nervousness around changing jobs is understandable, but dont let it hold you back from career growth, higher salaries, and more fulfilling job experiences. For those who are considering a move but not yet taking the steps to do so, I would urge action sooner rather than later. Our research indicates a shift in mindset with many preparing to make bold moves. Economic predictability and a demand for new skills are driving a renewed sense of optimism. Theres pent-up demand in the marketplace due to organisations not backfilling positions in the past year, which could result in a wider selection of opportunities coming to market in the not-too-distant future. Candidates that put in the groundwork today will reap the rewards and avoid missed opportunities. This video is no longer available This video is no longer available Two top politicians have been left red-faced after a woman hit them with a question about using their mobile phones in Parliament. The audience member on ABC's Q+A asked MP Barnaby Joyce and Senator Tim Ayres why the majority of politicians are on their phones in the Chamber, when kids are banned from using them in class. 'Surely for the hour that we get to watch you on TV, you could put your phones on mute or alternatively be made to leave them at the door like the school children have to do?' After a round of laughter from the audience, they both admitted guilt before host Patricia Karvelas joked 'my 12-year-old went to Parliament and said they're playing Candy Crush'. Mr Joyce responded to the questioner by saying, 'you are dead right'. 'It's a discussion that people have had and they have banned them in the past and maybe after this program they might be moving in that direction.' Mr Ayres confessed that when looking at your phone, 'you hope you don't get caught by the President of the Senate'. 'But you're quite often getting messages from the office and responding and doing a little bit of work,' he said. Two top politicians have been left red-faced after a woman (pictured) hit them a question about using their mobile phones in Parliament Assistant trade minister Tim Ayres and member for New England Barnaby Joyce on ABC's Q+A Social media users erupted at the double standard and questioned why there are different rules for politicians than for regular workers. 'Do that in any other job and you'd get fired,' one person said. Another wrote: 'If children aren't allowed phones in classrooms I can't see why these adults making the rules can't do the same.' Starting at the end of last year, children in New South Wales have not been allowed to carry their phone during class, recess and lunch. The rule was implemented after children were found to be spending excessive amounts of time on social media apps, impacting their ability to learn. All states apart from the ACT and Tasmania have already banned the use of mobile phones in state schools but no such ban exists for private schools. Pauline Hanson has called on other political leaders and ordinary Australians to follow her example and turn their backs at Welcome to Country ceremonies. Senator Hanson's comments follows fresh controversy over the ceremonies sparked by the address given by Sydney Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council member Brendan Kerin before an AFL semifinal last weekend. Before the match Mr Kerin stated Indigenous people have been doing Welcome to Country for 250,000 years - despite there being no evidence of Aboriginal people being on the continent that long ago - and that such ceremonies were not 'invented to cater for white people'. Addressing the Senate on Tuesday, the One Nation leader said Mr Kerin's address had left footy fans 'scratching their heads'. 'If they (Welcome to Country ceremonies) are not to cater to white people than why are white people constantly subjected to them?' she asked. 'These welcomes are based on lies that Australia is not our home. 'So many people tell me they are just over it.' Senator Hanson said Welcome to Countries were 'divisive' and had been allowed to 'fester for too long' and demanded an end to their use at nearly all public events. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has given a fiery speech in parliament calling for public leaders and ordinary Australians to follow her example and turn their back on Welcome to Country ceremonies The Senator said everyone who opposes the ceremony to follow her lead and turn their backs on them. 'I stand and turn my back on Welcome to Country performances in Parliament and in public,' she said. 'I strongly encourage other Australians to do the same.' She had particularly scathing words about it being practiced in schools. 'Welcome to Country is just racial antagonism disguised as racial reconciliation, imposed on children before they even get to school and in school,' she said. 'Placing their hands on the ground is just indoctrination.' Senator Hanson argued the ceremony implied Australia was not home to non-Indigenous people. 'We dont need or want to be welcomed to our own home,' she said. 'We have shed blood, sweat and tears to build our home, and defend our home. 'We have as much right to live in our home as anyone else. Brendan Kerin (pictured), a cultural educator with Sydney 's Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, divided fans with a very pointed Welcome to Country address on Saturday night 'If you hand over my home to someone else, I have nothing to fight for. 'If you hand over Australia, I will not defend it and neither will my children.' Ms Hanson said that someone being an Indigenous Elder doesn't 'obligate her respect'. 'Respect is earned, not given away to racial exceptionalism,' she said. 'Being Aboriginal does not make someone exceptional. 'Being an Australian is what makes you exceptional.' Serial killer Peter Tobin was suffering from cancer at the time of his death, which had gone undiagnosed for years as he refused medical tests, a fatal accident inquiry heard. Tobin, 76, died on October 8 2022 in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, a month after a fall in his jail cell in HMP Edinburgh where he was serving three life sentences for the murders of young women who vanished between 1991 and 2006. The death occurred 16 years and a day after his first appearance in Glasgow Sheriff Court on October 9 2006, for the murder of Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, whose body was hidden under St Patrick's Church in Glasgow, where convicted sex offended Tobin worked as a handyman. Tobin was also convicted of the murders of 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton and 18-year-old Dinah McNicol, whose remains were found under the patio of his former home in Margate, Kent, in November of 2007. Miss Hamilton was last seen on 10 February 1991 as she waited for a bus home to Redding, near Falkirk, from Bathgate, West Lothian. Serial killer Peter Tobin was suffering from cancer at the time of his death, an inquiry heard Tobin's confirmed victims were (left to right) Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol Tobin, 76, died on October 8 2022 in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, a month after a fall in his jail cell in HMP Edinburgh (pictured) Miss McNicol disappeared in 1991 after leaving a rave in the Home Counties. A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into Tobin's death in custody, heard that he was diagnosed with dementia in December 2020, and suffered from a litany of health problems, including strokes, dizziness and chest pains. He used a walking stick and wheelchair. The court heard that cancer had been suggested as long ago as 2016 but Tobin was 'unwilling to undergo testing'. Procurator fiscal depute Richard Brown said: 'On September 8 2022, Mr Tobin was being held in HMP Edinburgh, his cell was opened by a prison officer to allow him to collect medication. 'Mr Tobin had taken steps without a walking stick, he was reminded he didn't have a walking stick, and he fell and landed on his side. 'The prison officer reported he was in pain but okay, and a nurse and prison officer helped him onto his bed.' Tobin was admitted to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and, the following day, underwent surgery for a fractured right hip. Tests also established he was suffering from metastatic prostate cancer and delirium, as well as hospital-acquired pneumonia. Peter Tobin is taken from Dundee High Court on December 2, 2008 in Dundee, Scotland A knife found buried with Vicky Hamilton's remains, which was vital forensic evidence at trial Tobin was admitted to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and underwent surgery for a fractured right hip Tobin was warned he was unlikely to survive and died less than a month after the operation. GeoAmey staff reported that he was speaking incoherently shortly before his death which was confirmed at 5.45am on October 8. Mr Brown said: 'Mr Tobin was seen by the palliative care team and effort was made to make his condition comfortable. 'Mr Tobin was told it was unlikely he would be discharged from hospital. 'He had a Do Not Resuscitate Order which meant medical staff could not restart his heart. 'He was monitored at all times by officers from GeoAmey.' He added: 'Mr Tobin was in bed and was described as breathing heavily in the early hours. He was speaking incoherently.' An officer guarding Tobin went to alert a nurse due to concerns at about 4.35am and death was confirmed an hour later. On October 12 2022, a post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of death as bronchial pneumonia in a man with a fractured right neck of femur (surgically treated on September 9 2022), generalised vascular disease and prostate cancer.' A review was carried out to see if areas of 'learning' could be established. Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss said: 'I will be issuing my determination as soon as possible.' Domestic abuse is rife amongst police officers - with complainants often being ignored or facing malicious counter-allegations, a new study claims. Researchers from the Centre for Women's Justice (CWJ) unearthed 'shocking' levels of abuse by serving officers and found that forces are failing to properly investigate. The women's charity also discovered instances of officers who were promoted to roles with responsibility for policing rape and domestic abuse while facing allegations of abuse themselves. The charity said that, since submitting a 'super-complaint' about police failure to tackle domestic abuse in March 2020, it has been contacted by more than 200 victims of abuse by police officers. Some 45 per cent of the women who came forward are themselves police officers or staff, the CWJ said. They report being victimised and even forced out of jobs after they reported a fellow officer. Domestic abuse is rife among police officers, with complainants often ignored, a new study has found (file photo) Wayne Couzens was sentenced to die in prison for killing 33-year-old Sarah Everard (pictured), The murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens in 2022 eroded faith in policing. Instances were discovered of officers who were promoted to roles with responsibility for policing rape and domestic abuse while facing allegations of abuse themselves (file photo) Researchers said: 'A number of the women who spoke to us were subject to counter-allegations from their police partners it appears that their partners' allegations were treated more seriously and investigated more rigorously than their own allegations of abuse.' It comes after a slew of recent cases, including the murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens in 2022, which have eroded faith in policing. Researchers found that one police officer, Sally, was told 'that's not harassment, we don't need to record this as a crime' when she reported frequent abusive messages from an ex-partner. In another case, Mary had to transfer out of her police force after reporting domestic abuse by her husband, while he was promoted to a role policing violence against women and girls. Elsewhere, the report adds: 'Lorraine's abuser was promoted to the rank of Chief Inspector, despite having two entirely separate rape allegations against him from two people who had no prior knowledge of one another.' The CWJ has made a series of recommendations to police forces, including that all reports of abuse by a serving officers are examined by an outside force or the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Harriet Wistrich, CWJ director, said: 'There are entrenched cultures within policing that are resistant to change and without energetic intervention they will continue to harbour misogyny and cover up wrongdoing. 'The police and those investigating and recommending change must listen to the voices of victim/survivors in order to understand the extent of harm and failure, if they ever hope to restore trust. 'Our report proposes a series of recommendations for reform but it may be that something more radical needs to happen to the institution of policing to tackle the scale of problems we have seen from the ground.' Disturbing video captured the moment an 81-year-old woman was randomly punched in the head by a stranger on a New York City street as she walked her dog. The woman, only identified as Gloria, was outside on West 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue when she was hit just after 7pm on Friday. Surveillance footage captured the twisted act of a man wearing black pants and shirt striking Gloria as her dog sniffed along the building. He delivered one powerful blow to the side of her head, knocking her against the nearby wall before she fell to the ground. Onlookers rushed to help and Gloria was quickly rushed to hospital, suffering from a concussion and numerous injuries. 'My neck was almost as fat as my face. My nose is broken, you can see the swelling,' Gloria told FOX 5 NY. A woman, only identified as Gloria, was walking her dog outside of her Upper West Side apartment when a stranger attacked her He knocked Gloria over with the punch and walked away as she laid still on the ground 'When he knocked me, I hit my nose [on the wall] and then I fell down,' Gloria said. At first, the attacker walked past Gloria who had her back to him as she tended to her dog. But he turned around and made his way back to her to inflict the heartless act of violence. 'That's the scary part, [it happened] in front of my building,' she said. 'I didn't want to see the tape and maybe because I feel so lucky, because he could have had a knife.' The woman was left with purple and yellow bruises across her face and upper body, but said she wants her attacker to get mental health help and not jail time. 'It was not against me. He is sick and he did not really rob me. He did not take anything. He just hit me for no good reason,' she said. This incident is the latest in a growing number of assaults across the Big Apple. The suspect (pictured) wearing black pants and shirt walked past Gloria at first The 81-year-old woman was covered in bruises from numerous injuries and suffered a concussion Felony assault is up 4.8 percent year-to-date and misdemeanor assault is up 9 percent, according to New York Police Department data. Earlier this year, a string of women reported getting hit by random strangers on the streets across the city. Two men were charged in separate incidents in March that were the subject of recent TikTok videos in which female victims said they were randomly struck. On March 27, cops arrested 40-year-old Skiboky Stora, a fringe, failed gubernatorial candidate who they say assaulted TikTok influencer Halley Kate Mcgookin near West 16th Street and Seventh on March 25. The next day, cops arrested Mallik Miah, a 30-year-old Brooklyn man charged with assaulting TikToker Mikayla Toninato in Greenwich Village on March 25. The 27-year-old student at the Parsons School of Design was near Fifth Avenue and East 12th when she was struck at about 2pm. Toninato, as several other alleged victims have, posted a video to the social media platform right after being punched. Cops arrested a failed gubernatorial candidate who they say assaulted TikTok influencer Halley Kate Mcgookin (pictured) near West 16th Street and Seventh on March 25 On March 17 at 11:48 am at Kenmare and Mulberry Streets, 25-year-old TikToker Olivia Brand said she was struck by a man who initially apologized to her. 'He goes "sorry" and punches me in the head,' she says in a video posted that day. 'What the hell is happening?' A 36-year-old woman was then punched in the back on March 25 at 10:15am, while walking at Rivington and Chrystie Streets on the Lower East Side, cops said. The next day, around noon, a 24-year-old woman was attacked by a man who slammed the left side of her head with his elbow while she traversed Seventh Avenue near 39th Street, the NYPD confirmed. That same day, a 24-year-old woman was hit in the head by a stranger in the Flatiron District, police said. A wicked mother was arrested after running over her eight-year-old daughter while playing a sick game with her children. Jasmine White, 27, from South Bend, Indiana, was arrested on September 11 after allegedly speeding away in her Chevy Equinox while the girl held on to the car door handle on August 29 at Cedar Glen Apartments. The twisted game, that White frequently plays with her kids, involves her racing her children to the car, locking the doors and driving away, pretending to leave them behind. At the time, White's other daughter, six, said their mother was driving faster than usual, leading her sister to get her foot caught on the back tire of the car - going an estimated 15-20 mph - before her head slammed on the ground. The eight-year-old was taken to the hospital in critical condition after she suffered severe head injuries, lost five teeth, and was left with a large gash on her face that exposed the front of her skull, according to court documents reviewed by WNDU. Jasmine White, 27, from South Bend, Indiana , was arrested on September 11 after allegedly speeding away in her Chevy Equinox while her eight-year-old held on to the door handle and slammed to the ground Her daughter was taken to the hospital in critical condition after she suffered severe head injuries, lost five teeth, and was left with a large gash on her face that exposed the front of her skull Alarming video footage reportedly captured the moment White sped away in her silver SUV while her young child hung on the front passenger door handle, according to charging documents. Authorities determined that White was driving at an estimated 15-20 mph at the time of the brutal incident. Her injured daughter spent several days in the hospital where she was intubated and had to receive IV sedation. She has since been released. The eight-year-old has been diagnosed with skull and orbital fractures and various abrasions, including the large laceration on her face. White has been charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury and neglect of a dependent resulting in a dangerous situation. At the time, White's other daughter, six, said their mother was driving faster than usual, leading her sister to get her foot caught on the back tire of the car. (pictured: Police looking at the rear tire) The horrific incident occurred on August 29 at Cedar Glen Apartments (pictured) in South Bend, Indiana According to arrest records, she has been released on $5,000 cash bond. White is expected to appear in court on September 27. On June 6 an Indiana mother was left shocked and scared after thinking her seven-day-old baby girl was kidnapped outside of daycare. Sabriya Miles had just dropped off her four-year-old son at a daycare in Evansville, Indiana and left her newborn Adrian in the backseat of her gold Chevy when she noticed a stranger got in her vehicle and sped away. But in a stunning twist, the car was actually being repossessed - and police say the repo man was unaware there was an infant inside the car when he took it. Miles, who has two other children, said she watched in horror as the stranger drove off with her car, worried that her newborn was being kidnapped. The twisted game, that White frequently plays with her kids, involves her racing her children to the car and locking the doors before driving away and pretending to leave them behind She and another mother then chased the car down the street, but to no avail, leaving the new mother in a panic as she reported a possible kidnapping to the local police. For several minutes, Miles said she was at a loss of words as she and another mother tried to chase down the vehicle. 'I couldn't talk, I was just too frustrated and I was crying,' Miles recounted to WFIE. 'I carried my baby for nine months and now I lost her?' She claims she had no warning that her car was going to be repossessed before the repo man sped off with her newborn daughter. Fortunately, after driving just a few miles, the unidentified driver pulled over and noticed the newborn before calling the police to retrieve the child. Israeli spies were behind the pager bomb attack that killed nine, including two young girls, and left more than 2,750 people wounded across Lebanon. More than 300 people were rushed to hospital in a critical condition after pagers used by proscribed terror group Hezbollah detonated over a period of an hour yesterday afternoon. Widespread panic and chaotic scenes were seen across Beirut's southern suburbs, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, while in neighbouring Syria 14 people were injured by the blasts, according to Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Victims were seen writhing in agony with hideous injuries to their faces, abdomens and even their groins in harrowing images and videos shared to social media and published on Lebanese networks. Among those reportedly killed were two girls, aged eight aged eight and ten, and the son of a Lebanese MP. Iran said its ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, also sustained injuries to his face and hand. The New York Times reported that Hezbollah's pagers were compromised in a joint operation between Mossad, Israel's shadowy intelligence agency, and the IDF. The security service and military are said to have filled the pagers ordered by Hezbollah with one or two ounces of explosive material along with a detonating switch prior to their delivery. At least nine people have been killed in the pager bombings Thousands of people, Hezbollah members and civilians alike, were injured The pagers are believed to have been packed with explosives by Mossad The pagers were seen detonating across Lebanon The detonators activated at around 3.30pm local time (1.45pm UK time) on Tuesday after receiving a message that purported to be from Hezbollah's top brass. But instead, the message activated the explosives. Video footage from inside a Beirut supermarket appears to show the moment Israel sent out its deadly message. A Hezbollah attacker was seen confusedly lifting his shirt up at a supermarket after getting a message on his pager, which lit up. He stared at it for a second before it detonated, collapsing him in an instant as supermarket workers and fellow shoppers panicked and fled. Though Israel may have intended to take out Hezbollah fighters, nearly 3,000 people, many of whom are civilians, were grievously injured in the spate of explosions. Harrowing video footage taken inside medical institutes in the country's capital, Beirut, has revealed the severe consequences of the simultaneous explosions, which Hezbollah and Lebanon's government have blamed Israel for. The stunning incident saw scores of Hezbollah members severely injured throughout southern Lebanon and in its capital Beirut A part of this man's abdomen was missing following the attack An image grab taken from a UGC video posted on social media on September 17, 2024, shows men covered in blood in Beirut's southern suburbs after dozens of Hezbollah group members were injured when their pagers exploded Hospitals in Lebanon have been overwhelmed by the explosions A person is carried on a stretcher outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded and killed when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon One horrifying video opened with a man, covered head to toe in his own blood, with four of his fingers and his right eye missing. The video then pans over to another man sitting in a wheelchair with several fingers missing and blood across his face. The video then shows a man lying on a gurney with a large chunk of his abdomen missing, before showing a man carrying an unconscious child through the hospital. Another video showed patients writhing on the floor in agony as medical staff try desperately to treat them. White bandages can be seen wrapped around the limbs of people inside a hospital, with doctors' white coats covered in blood as they try to get through the throng of people inside the medical institution. Men, women and children can be heard howling in agony, while doctors and nurses try to shout over the noise to communicate with each other. One man, barely conscious, was seen being carried by two others through the hospital, as paramedics bring through another set of patients to treat. Lebanese citizens have swarmed around hospitals for hours following the incident Friends and relatives of injured people arrive at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) after an incident involving Hezbollah members' wireless devices in Beirut, Lebanon Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Both Hezbollah and Lebanon's government have squarely blamed Israel for the attack. Though Israel has not yet commented on the matter, allies including the United States sought to distance themselves from the attack. Lebanons prime minister Najib Mikati condemned criminal Israeli aggression and called the attack a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty. Hezbollah says that Israel is 'fully responsible' for the simultaneous explosion, warning that the nation would be punished. 'We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression,' the group said in a statement, adding that Israel 'will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression'. The terror group said in a second statement: 'After examining all the facts, current data, and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that targeted civilians too.' It added it would continue to support 'Palestinian resistance' and that the 'treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly be punished for this aggressive act.' Lebanon's crisis operations centre, which is run by the health ministry, asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help cope with the massive numbers of wounded coming in for urgent care A man donates blood under a tent in Beirut's southern suburb on September 17, 2024 following the series of explosions across Lebanon The Lebanese government, meanwhile, condemned the pager explosions as 'criminal Israeli aggression.' Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a cabinet meeting today, following the incidents, that the attack was 'criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.' There was no word last night from Israel but reports from Sky News Arabia suggested Mossad intercepted the pagers for Hezbollah five months ago and loaded them with explosives. Retired IDF Brigadier General Amir Avivi, founder of Israels Defense and Security Forum, warned: While Israel hasnt confirmed it was behind the beeper attack, it has Mossads fingerprints all over it. Hezbollah certainly got the message. War between Israel and Hezbollah is imminent. Lebanon's health minister Firas Abiad told the BBC that most of the injuries suffered were to people's hands and faces. Most 'appear to be to the face and especially to the eyes, and also the hand with some amputations, whether it's in the hands or the fingers,' he said adding that the 'vast majority' of people in Lebanon's emergency rooms were in civilian clothing. Though this does not necessarily mean they are not Hezbollah, he admitted it made it 'very difficult to discern whether they belong to a certain entity like Hezbollah or others. People gather outside a hospital, as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024 Civil Defence first-responders carry a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 'But we are seeing among them people who are old or people who are very young, like the child who unfortunately died, and there are some of them who are health care workers.' A senior Hezbollah official admitted it was the terror groups biggest security breach yet. Although the groups leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was unharmed, Hezbollah vowed Israel would get its fair punishment for this blatant aggression. Shocking footage captured on mobile phones showed groaning and wounded men being helped from cars. There were scenes of pandemonium in hospital wards as blood-soaked men with mangled limbs were stretchered in. A man on a scooter was pictured leaning against a car, his torso ripped open. Another had been sitting at a street stall when his pager was detonated, blowing his hand off. Civilians in the Lebanese capital Beirut described seeing smoke coming from peoples pockets followed by a blast like a firework. The Lebanon-based group, which has been conducting almost daily attacks over Israels northern border since the war in Gaza broke out, had switched their communications to old-fashioned-style radio pagers to stop mobile phone calls being intercepted. The small devices receive but do not transmit signals, and were viewed as more secure than mobile phones. Last night Iranian state media suggested the US knew of the plan but the US State Department said it was not involved. As mass panic spread across Beirut yesterday, civilians became terrified to answer calls. Khadijeh Fouani, who was preparing winter food supplies when the attack began, answered her phone by screaming: Please hang up! Hang up! Ahmad Ayoud, a butcher, said he saw a bleeding man tumble off a motorbike. We all thought he got wounded from a random shooting, he said. Then, a few minutes later, we started hearing of other cases. All were carrying pagers. Mohammed Awada, 52, said: My son went crazy and started to scream when he saw a mans hand flying away from him. Some of the pagers exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus, reportedly injuring at least 14. Israel has been known to use phone bombs against its enemies. It assassinated Hamass military commander Yahya Ayyash in 1996 with an explosive-laden mobile, and killed another Palestinian militant in the West Bank by rigging a payphone he often used. It came amid reports that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been preparing to sack his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, ahead of a major operation in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has been staging attacks. Israel and Hezbollah have been edging closer to war, with both sides intensifying strikes that have forced tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese to flee border towns. A senior Israeli official told the Mail: Hezbollah has been attacking Israel for 11 months, causing 70,000 Israeli civilians to leave their homes and become refugees. This situation is unbearable. Its equivalent to Manhattan being emptied of its residents. No country would tolerate such a situation. It is Israels duty to protect its citizens from Hezbollahs aggression. Last night the world held its breath amid speculation the pager operation was a prelude to a larger Israeli offensive. Lebanons foreign minister said his country was bracing for a major retaliation by Hezbollah. The father of a woman accused of murdering her two sons had 'no idea' his daughter had mental health issues, and he is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. Trish Smith, 42, has been charged with murdering her sons Russell, 11, and Ben, nine, at their Faulconbridge home, in NSW's Blue Mountains on September 10. The boys' lifeless bodies were found by their father; Ms Smith's estranged husband Nick. Ms Smith was also found with self-inflected injuries and remains in custody. Her father Geoff Densmore has shared his distress over the deaths of his two grandsons. 'We really don't know what happened. We had no idea she was unwell. Many prayers and private masses have been said for her,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'The kids, they were special kids, so special. I have to put them under the ground. I still can't understand Ben Russell. They're gone.' Mr Densmore, a real estate valuer, harboured no anger towards his daughter, adding he and his wife Linda, a retired primary school teacher, did not know she had any mental health issues. Trish Smith (right) has been charged with murdering her sons Russell, 11, and Ben, nine, (pictured together with their father Nick) at their Faulconbridge home, in NSW's Blue Mountains on September 10 'Linda, she's not good, she's very religious. She's praying. I think I might crack one day but I'm trying not to. I'm trying to be strong for everyone,' he said. Mr Densmore has not spoken to his daughter since the alleged murders. He and son-in-law Nick, who he described as being in a 'bad way', now have the grim task of arranging the funeral for Russell and Ben. Solicitor Paul McGirr earlier told Daily Mail Australia that Ms Smith had texted her estranged husband the night before the boys' alleged murders, telling him she loved him. 'The kids were obviously in bed and she was going to bed and she sent him a message saying ''I love you'',' Mr McGirr said. 'He sent her a message saying he loved her. 'He wasn't living in the house but I think it was a very amicable split and he was still very hands-on and they were raising the kids together.' The two boys were found dead by their father Nick last Tuesday Mr McGirr did not know how long the couple had been separated but said until last week's horrific events much of the parenting was shared and had continued as normal. 'He was very close to the boys, they'd go on outings, he'd cook meals for them,' Mr McGirr said. 'They were just raising the kids in a separated fashion but very amicably. That's why it's so important that everyone in the entire family is given support. 'The whole family on both sides, her family and his family, have been extremely supportive of her.' In January 2020, Smith was dismissed from her NSW government job as a Senior Land Services Officer in Greater Sydney after becoming unable to fulfil her duties due to complications from post natal depression and anxiety. She launched a two-year court battle against her employer for unfair dismissal, which she ultimately lost in November 2023. The mother had claimed she was fired due to 'workplace-related injuries' after she experienced anxiety due to discrimination and bullying. However, the Fair Work Commission ruled her mental health issues originated at home following the birth of her second child. According to court documents, she had been employed by Land Services since 2005 and had no issues until she returned to work in 2016. After giving birth to second son in 2015, she developed post-natal depression and started to experience a shift in her feelings towards work, which had previously been a 'big part of her identity'. Smith's father said he had no idea she had been struggling with her mental health In June 2017, she was diagnosed with anxiety, with a psychologist noting after a session: 'lost confidence after maternity leave finished', 'teary - since having kids', and 'been feeling this way since youngest born.' The following month, on July 27, she made a workers compensation claim for psychological injury after she had a panic attack due to a matter at work. Her employer initially rejected the claim, before arrangements were later made to pay her a backdated weekly compensation for a period of six months and additional medical expenses. Two years later, she made a further two claims - in July and November 2019. In the first, she claimed she was experiencing 'reactive anxiety' and a 'flare in her symptoms' after an annual career development meeting with a manager. Fourth months later, she launched another claim after she was given a letter from her employer proposing she take medical retirement. Both claims were initially denied before it was later settled she would receive weekly compensation for a period of 10 months as well as medical reimbursements. The British pint could be under threat as scientists are urging boozers to downsize their glasses amid a battle to reduce the country's alcohol intake. Beer-bashing boffins axed full-sized drinks in a study of drinkers - and found they bought 10 per cent less when they were served measures that were two thirds of the size they are used to. And the analytical killjoys now want the scheme to be rolled out across the country as part of licensing legislation, as they say the effects would have a meaningful impact on public health on a population level. Brits drink beer through one of the largest standard serving sizes in the world, with the imperial pint almost a third bigger than its American cousin. At 568ml, the trusty pint also outweighs the standard serving size in Belgium (250ml), France (330ml) and even Germany (500ml). Beer-bashing boffins axed full-sized drinks in a study of drinkers - and found they bought 10 per cent less when they were served measures that were two thirds of the size they are used to. Pictured: File image Researchers found that by swapping out the 568ml imperial pint for a smaller 379ml two-third pint serving, pub-goers drank 10 per cent less beer than they otherwise would have. Although, slightly more wine was sold than before Your browser does not support iframes. But fears of the affect alcohol may be having on the UK has sparked fears for health experts - with the Institute for Public Policy Research suggesting that UK deaths attributable to alcohol have risen by seven per cent in five years. Latest NHS figures show that 23 per cent of women aged 55-64 drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week the amount known to dramatically increase cancer risk, and chances of developing dependency. Lead researcher Professor Theresa Marteau, director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit, told MailOnline: 'Alcohol harms health, increasing the risk of over 200 different diseases and injuries including bowel, breast and liver cancers. 'In England it is the fifth largest contributor to early death, disease and disability, and the leading risk factor for those aged 15 to 49.' The study, which took place over four weeks, saw a dozen UK pubs and bars selling their beers in two thirds of a pint. The price punters paid was proportionate to the reduced size. But - as less than one per cent of approached pubs agreed to take part in the experiment - Professor Dame Marteau added that the measures 'would need to be part of licensing regulation' to make sure people complied. Since increasing the price of drinks or placing restrictions on beer sales would prove extremely unpopular, concerned scientists are keen to find other ways of slowing drinkers down. The idea of the scheme is that, since people tend to have a set number of drinks rather than a specific volume of beer, making those drinks smaller should encourage people to drink less. Your browser does not support iframes. Data gathered by the World Health Organization and compiled by Oxford University-backed platform Our World in Data, found that the UK's beer consumption has been steadily falling since the 1980s. Researchers think further reductions could help ease the health impacts of alcohol consumption The study took place over three four-week periods, first selling pints as normal, then switching to smaller servings, and finally returning to business as usual. And, as the researchers had predicted, the mean volume of beer sold fell noticeably in the four weeks when pints weren't available. On average, the 12 venues in the study sold just under five fewer pints (2.77 litres) of beer and cider per day when pint glasses were removed. While the researchers had anticipated that customers would be extremely hostile to the change, the venues involved reported very few complaints. The amount of wine sold during the trial period did increase slightly, rising by 7.2 per cent on average, but almost half of this increase was from one venue which also acted as a restaurant. Professor Marteau and her co-authors write: 'Removing the offer of pints in 13 licensed premises for 4 weeks reduced the volume of beer sold. 'This is in keeping with the emerging literature showing that smaller serving sizes help us drink less and presents a novel way of reducing alcohol consumption and improving population health.' While the researchers argue that this could be an effective way of reducing the health impacts of drinking, they acknowledge that pubs are unlikely to be keen on the idea. Despite being offered 3,000 to compensate for the losses and all of the smaller glasses needed, less than one per cent of venues contacted about the trial agreed to participate. During the trial period, the venue's mean daily revenue fell by five per cent due to the drop in beer sales The total drop in weekly revenue varied from just 3.70 to 146.60 depending on the venue. And, when the trial was complete, none of the bars involved kept their maximum serving size at two-thirds. Since pubs are unlikely to adopt this measure voluntarily, the researchers therefore suggest that the regulation would be needed to ban the pint. Professor Marteau says: 'Removing the one pint serving size would need to be enforced by changes to alcohol licensing regulations which stipulate the sizes in which alcohol is served.' However, with many pubs struggling to stay open, many may be concerned about any legislation designed to bring down sales. A spokesperson for the British Beer and Pub Association told MailOnline: 'Measures to reduce alcohol consumption must be carefully thought through as this study showed a decrease in beer volume was accompanied by a slight increase in the purchase of higher strength alcoholic drinks.' Ash Corbett Collines, vice-chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), told MailOnline: 'With less than 1% of venues approached for the study agreed to trial the smaller measure, and none of the 12 pubs who did take part choosing to keep the change, the on-trade's verdict is clear. 'The removal of the British Pint from pubs would not encourage drinkers to embrace the sociable and supervised environment of the pub, which fosters moderate drinking. Instead, it would push people toward drinking at home.' Likewise, Andy Slee, chief executive of the Society of Independent Brewers, told MailOnline: 'It should be down to publicans, brewers and beer drinkers to decide the best way to enjoy a local beer.' However, despite the obvious resistance to the introduction of the policy, the researchers maintain that their findings should be included in consideration for new regulations. Professor Marteau says: 'There is a trade-off to be made between improving population health by reducing alcohol consumption through effective alcohol control policies and the health of the alcohol industry.' Chinese pandas have been snapped recreating the cutest Goldilocks scene ever as they ate bamboo shoots around a tiny picnic table. Four adorable pandas, named Shuangshuang, Chongchong, Xixi and Qingqing, gathered around a wooden table, peeling and eating fresh bamboo shoots. Some of the giant bears were even perched on small chairs, before they gleefully went headfirst down a slide. The treat for the bears at Chongqing Zoo in southwest China was a part of celebrations for the (human) Mid-Autumn Festival. Chinese pandas have been snapped recreating the cutest goldilocks scene ever as they ate bamboo shoots around a tiny picnic table while reclining on wooden chairs Four adorable pandas, named Shuangshuang, Chongchong, Xixi and Qingqing, gathered around a wooden table, peeling and eating fresh bamboo shoots The pandas enjoyed a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet made of bamboo and fruits Some of the giant bears were even perched on small chairs, before they gleefully went headfirst down a slide, like giant panda Yu Ai One of the pandas waddled towards a bunch of bamboo shoots which were laid out on a swing. It then flopped down on the ground to eat before another panda approached, initially sitting on the ground before climbing onto the swing. The amazing behaviour enraptured visitors as it mimicked the Goldilocks and the Three Bears fairytale. The zoo - which has 23 pandas - is no stranger to odd behaviour entrancing visitors. Last year, some animal fans become convinced that the pandas were no more than humans in cuddly suits. A video filmed at Chongqing Zoo showed three pandas gathering around a wooden table and chairs to eat food left out for them. As the trio sit down, a fourth panda enters the fray, before each panda stands on its hind legs to eat food from the table. Male twins named Shuangshuang and Chongchong and a pair of female twins named Xixi and Qingqing, enjoy Mid-Autumn Festival banquet Giant pandas Yu Ke and Yu Ai eat a meal at Chongqing Zo by a tyre swing iant panda Yu Ai eats a meal at Chongqing Zoo in Chongqing, China Some of the pandas like Yu Ke and Yu Ai decided to play instead of snack Giant panda Yu Bei eats bamboo leaves at Chongqing Zoo But giant panda Xing Xing decided they needed to rest after the excitement of the festivities After the video was posted to X, formerly Twitter, users were split over whether the bears are real pandas or humans masquerading as the black and white bamboo lovers. Some believed the animals were genuine, though plenty of others weren't so sure. One said: 'That's pretty damn good sitting at the end of the clip, [it] does it exactly how bears do. It would be hard for a man to sit back like that.' A second added: 'I wouldn't even be mad if it was someone in a suit. At least that's another bear free.' Another questioned: 'Sure it isn't someone in panda suits?' A fourth joked: 'This video just reinforces my theory that pandas are actually humans in panda suits. That's not a real animal.' EXCLUSIVE The estranged father of a 12-year-old girl who took her own life after allegedly being bullied at a Sydney private school was released from prison about 18 months ago after serving more than seven years for a violent crime. Charlotte O'Brien had recently learned of her biological fathers criminal past and told fellow students at Santa Sabina College at Strathfield about what he had done. Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to publish details about those offences. Charlotte's mother Kelly claims staff at Santa Sabina were aware her daughter was being harassed by other Year 7 girls before she took her own life on September 9. Emails released by Kelly on Wednesday show she had been in frequent contact with staff members about Charlotte's bullying and mental health for two years before the tragedy. In one email, sent in August 2022, Kelly said she was shattered to learn that Charlotte had told friends about her father's past after looking him up on Google. 'I was devastated to hear what she said to her friends,' her mother told one staff member. 'The thought that someone else's actions are still plaguing my baby years later is very hard. Charlotte O'Brien, 12, (pictured) took her own life earlier this month after allegedly being bullied at school 'But I understand that she is significantly older and now may feel the need to confide and trust in her friends.' She added: 'I have done everything I can to shelter and nurture Charlotte and regularly check on her emotional well-being and thoughts on the subject. 'And she repeatedly told me it wasn't an issue. 'So I took this as reassurance, probably because it was what I wanted to hear and made peace with it.' Daily Mail Australia understands Charlotte's father is now living in the community with a new partner. His sister made an emotional tribute to her niece on Instagram last week, saying she would be 'forever an angel'. 'I always have and always will love you,' she wrote. 'I hope you are at peace now sweet girl and I hope you know how much you are loved by us.' The tragedy was revealed when her family spoke out in a bid, they said, to stop their daughter's alleged bullying from being 'swept under the carpet' by the school. In the discussions with the school, Kelly noted Charlotte had been left 'distressed' due to 'friendship issues' and arrangements were made for her to see a counsellor. Kelly remained in contact with staff about her daughter's welfare over the past two years, with the most recent exchange occurring in August. On Monday, the school said some claims made about the circumstances that led to Charlotte's death are 'new to the College' and 'not consistent with our records'. Charlotte's family don't want her alleged bullying 'swept under the carpet' In a statement to 2GB's Ben Fordham earlier this week, Kelly and her partner said Charlotte's death with 'haunt us for the rest of our lives'. They said Charlotte had left a note specifically mentioning the bullying she was suffering at school. 'No words can ever describe what it's like for us, and it will never be the same again,' they said. 'When the most recent case of bullying was raised, the school simply said it was investigated and the girls denied it. That's it. Case closed. Move on. 'Well my beautiful daughter's life won't move on and I'll never get to say goodbye. 'These issues cannot be swept under the carpet. I will not let my daughter's memory be swept under the carpet either.' Charlotte's death came just weeks before her mother is due to marry her long-term partner in October. Just days before the tragedy, Charlotte and Kelly went shopping to pick out their dresses for the wedding. 'Charlotte picked a pink dress and Kelly picked a blue dress,' a source close to the family told Daily Mail Australia. 'Charlotte used to love looking out for pink and blue colours because her mum's favourite colour is blue and Charlotte loved pink. Pictured: Santa Sabina College at Strathfield, in Sydney's inner west In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Santa Sabina College said some of the claims made about the circumstances surrounding Charlotte's death were 'inconsistent' with their records and that their focus was on helping students in the wake of the tragedy. 'In the outpouring of grief as everyone rightly questions how this could have happened, the College asks the media to take immense care in reporting so that further issues are not created for other vulnerable young people in our community and beyond,' the statement read. 'The main priority of the College at the moment is to support and care for our students, their families and our staff as well as support for this grieving family. 'While the College supports the idea of raising awareness of mental health challenges, we have to take into account that children are involved and this situation needs to be carefully navigated.' Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (24 hours/7 days) Crisis Supporter on 13 11 14 (24 hours/7 days) Text Lifeline on 0477 13 11 14 (6pm midnight, 7 nights) Chat online at www.lifeline.org.au (7pm midnight, 7 nights) Elon Musk has weighed in on Huw Edwards's sentence as he accused Britain of having 'misplaced priorities' after the BBC star was spared jail for child sex offences. The billionaire business mogul, 53, retweeted a post branding the former news anchor's sentence as 'unbelievable', just weeks after he dubbed the Prime Minister 'two-tier Keir' in the wake of riots following the Southport attacks. Disgraced newsreader Edwards was sentenced by a magistrate to six months in prison suspended for two years earlier this week after admitting three charges of 'making' indecent photographs. Many have questioned the choice not to hand him jail time - saying it could suggest child sex crimes are taken less seriously than inflammatory posts made on social media. And sharing the post made by freelance Swedish journalist Peter Imanuelsen, Musk suggested that there were 'misplaced priorities' in the British judiciary system. Posting on Twitter, now X, Imanuelsen wrote: 'UNBELIEVABLE. A BBC presenter just AVOIDED jail time for buying ped*phile images. Musk, 53, retweeted a post branding the former news anchor's sentence as 'unbelievable', just weeks after he dubbed the Prime Minister 'two-tier Keir' in the wake of riots following the Southport attacks Disgraced newsreader Edwards was sentenced by a magistrate to six months in prison suspended for two years earlier this week after admitting three charges of 'making' indecent photographs And sharing the post made by freelance Swedish journalist Peter Imanuelsen, Musk suggested that there were 'misplaced priorities' in the British judiciary system 'Meanwhile Britain sent a man to 38 months prison for a satirical post on X about the riots. WHAT'S HAPPENING???' It appears to reference Tyler Kay, The Telegraph reports, who called for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set alight - and was jailed for 38 months for stirring up racial hatred. Musk has previously faced controversy after wading into British politics, falling out with the Prime Minister after dozens of thugs were arrested for spreading conspiracy theories and racist comments on X, following the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport at the end of July. Amid the chaos in the UK's towns and cities, Mr Musk used the hashtag #TwoTierKeir on his social media site, in reference to allegations of 'two tier policing' in Britain. He also said 'civil war is inevitable' in the wake of the chaos, and was left red-faced as he pushed false claims about the PM setting up detainment camps in the Falklands. The Government has promised a 'very robust approach' to social media bosses after online misinformation helped whip up the riots. Sir Keir blamed them for the riots escalating, saying: 'Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder was clearly whipped up online.' 'Our focus is on working with the social media companies to ensure that what is illegal offline is illegal online, as it should be.' But Downing Street refused to engage directly with Mr Musk's remarks, with a No10 spokeswoman saying: 'I'm not proposing to get into back-and-forth on individual comments. Musk has previously faced controversy after wading into British politics, falling out with the Prime Minister after dozens of thugs were arrested for spreading conspiracy theories and racist comments on X, following the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport at the end of July Anti-migration protesters riot outside of the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, which is being used as an asylum hotel, on August 4, 2024 in Rotherham Hundreds of far-right wing extremists riot and attack anti-fascists, police and a Holiday Inn Express hotel accommodating asylum seekers 'Our focus is on working with the social media companies to ensure that what is illegal offline is illegal online, as it should be.' Edwards, who announced the Queen's death and commentated for the BBC over both her funeral and that of her husband, Prince Philip, was sentenced to six months suspended sentence earlier this week. The chief magistrate, district judge Paul Goldspring, said: 'Perhaps it does not need saying but you are of previous good character, I accept positive exemplary character, having enjoyed a very successful career in the media. 'It is obvious that until now you were very highly regarded by the public for your dedication and professionalism, you were perhaps the most recognised news reader/journalist in the UK. 'It is not an exaggeration to say your long-earned reputation is in tatters.' The judge also said that the financial and reputational damage Edwards suffered was 'the natural consequence of your behaviour which you brought upon yourself'. He told the court: 'I make clear that the loss of your distinguished career and the financial and reputational damage caused are not, in my view, significant mitigating factors, but rather natural consequences of your behaviour which you brought upon yourself.' Judge Goldspring said it is 'obvious that these are extremely serious offences', quoting the author of the pre-sentence report who wrote: 'The continued distribution of child abuse images perpetuates a cycle of abuse to fulfil the demand for the sexualisation of children. Edwards leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court with his legal team following his sentencing What does 'making' indecent images mean? Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of 'making' indecent images of children in July. The Crown Prosecution Service says it can include: opening an email attachment containing an image downloading an image from a website to a screen storing an image on a computer accessing a pornographic website in which an image appears in an automatic 'pop-up' window receiving an image via social media, even if unsolicited and even if part of a group or live-streaming images of children A court must also decide whether an offence calls into the category of possession, distribution or production. Advertisement 'Victims may be aware that their images may be or are still circulating on the internet, and this can lead to feelings of on-going traumatisation. 'The impact of child sexual abuse involving imagery can be severe and lifelong, with the potential for children to be re-victimised each time images are viewed. They may feel guilt, shame, and self-blame, and be vulnerable to further sexual abuse.' He highlighted the young ages of children involved in two of the Category A images, in which one child is aged around seven to nine, as a 'significant aggravating feature'. The judge accepted that Edwards did not make payments in order to pay for images to be sent. 'I agree with the prosecution analysis, this appears to be by way of an apparent 'thank you', but not 'purchasing' images in a way more often seen in such cases,' he said. The chief magistrate said the medical evidence appears to confirm that Edwards had no memory of viewing any particular image because of his mental health at the time, and accepted that the former broadcaster did not store or send the images or gain any gratification from them. The court was taken through details of Edwards's mental health history, with reference made to one report by a consultant psychiatrist and neuropsychiatrist that recorded Edwards took two months of sick leave 'following an anonymous denunciation' in 2018. The same psychiatrist concluded Edwards was at 'considerable risk of harm from others' and the risk of taking his own life was 'high and significant' if he was imprisoned. Another medical report, by a forensic psychosexual therapist, said: 'The feelings of being desirable and unseen alongside Mr Edwards's unresolved sexual orientation created a perfect storm where he engaged in sexual infidelities and became vulnerable to people blackmailing him.' A court sketch of Edwards in the dock at Westminster Crown Court listening to his sentence The judge said he believed the former broadcaster's remorse was genuine and that his mental health at the time of the offences could have impaired his decision-making. On Edwards's risk of reoffending, the judge said: 'I am of the clear view that you do not present a risk or danger to the public at large, specifically to children. There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.' He declined to make a sexual harm prevention order against Edwards. Lawyers have since told MailOnline that his mental health may have been a key factor that kept him out of prison. The disgraced BBC News star's remorse and prison overcrowding could also have been considerations that counted in his favour. Liam Kotrie, a criminal defence solicitor at Mary Monson Solicitors who has dealt with 'hundreds' of sex abuse image cases, said first time offenders were very rarely jailed. However, he said it was 'very rare' for someone like Edwards who had received a Category A image - the most serious category - not be sentenced in crown court or receive a sexual harm prevention order. 'I've never heard of a case of possession of category A images that stayed in magistrates court for sentencing, it's very unusual. I've never had that and I've done hundreds of them,' he told MailOnline. Liam Kotrie, a criminal defence solicitor at Mary Monson Solicitors who has dealt with 'hundreds' of sex abuse image cases, said first time offenders were very rarely jailed Huw Edwards's remorse and prison overcrowding may also have been factors that counted in his favour, lawyers suggested today 'And the fact that he didn't receive a sexual harm prevention order is very rare. 'I had a case where someone had a handful of Category C images where someone managed to convince a judge not to give them a sexual harm prevention order, but they are almost always given for these cases. 'I can't say why this case stayed in magistrates court. But the only difference I can see to the vast majority of cases is Huw Edwards's celebrity.' There has been criticism in some quarters over the decision not to hand Edwards a prison sentence when many people involved in recent far-right rioting had been jailed. But Mr Kotrie said the jailing of rioters was a response to a 'national crisis' that required courts to 'set an example' to deter further unrest and said first-time offenders for sex abuse image possession offences were very rarely jailed. 'I've never had a client who has gone to prison on the first occasion,' he said. 'Most of the time these cases involve middle age or older men who are suffering from some kind of mental health condition, often depression, who find themselves committing these offences, and don't do it again. 'The reason is rehabilitation is key and it works. When someone is caught for this offence it's very unlikely to reoffend. 'The rioting was a national crisis and had to be nipped in the bud immediately. And it was done so by fast tracking cases and handing immediate prison sentences. Maria Karaiskos KC, criminal barrister at Church Court Chambers, said the judge would have taken into account Edwards's mental health struggles before passing sentence 'This was within days of those offences taking place. These cases of possession of indecent images take years to get to court and aren't nearly as good a chance to set an example. 'That was an almost unique, or very rare situation, where there was a societal breakdown in certain towns.' Maria Karaiskos KC, criminal barrister at Church Court Chambers, said the judge would have taken into account various factors when deciding Edwards's sentence. 'The Court will have considered whether Edwards has a history of similar or repeat offending and whether he poses a risk of similar behaviour in the future,' she said. 'Balanced with this are mitigating factors such as remorse, lack of previous convictions, and Edwards's evident mental health struggles. Prison overcrowding is also a factor the Court must now take into account, given recent concerns over capacity. 'Some have noted the sentencing of recent rioters in light of today's news. In Edwards's case, the Court has followed the applicable Sentencing Guidelines, taking into account the appropriate mitigating factors. His guilty plea at the first hearing was also a factor in this decision.' Alan Collins, partner at the sex abuse team at Hugh James law firm, pointed out that many rioters had 'little mitigation'. He told MailOnline: 'Edwards's defence argued the case for his ill mental health, alongside the fact he did not go on and distribute the images himself. Had it not been for this mitigation, he would have gone to prison immediately.' Nicola Bruce, senior associate at Olliers Solicitors, said Edwards's sentence was 'standard' and what she would 'expect to see'. 'In reaching its decision, the court would have taken into account the credit for Edwards's early guilty pleas, which reduces a sentence by one-third, his remorse, previous good character and the recommendation provided by the Probation Service in the Pre-Sentence Report,' she said. 'The sentence received by Edwards is standard and what I would expect to see considering the facts and circumstances of his case, namely the number of offences and his background. 'Following his guilty plea, Edwards would have automatically been made subject to notification requirements as part of the Sex Offender Registration for seven years (this is mandatory). 'Whilst he is a public figure, this should not be compared to the sentence passed to the rioters, whose sentences were subjected to uplifts due to the racial aggravation and targeting of emergency workers.' Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed Kamala Harris on Tuesday night for not having children of her own, an insult that comes after pop star Taylor Swift joined the childless cat lady brigade supporting the Democratic nominee. The Arkansas governor, speaking to a crowd in Detroit ahead of a townhall with Donald Trump, said that 'the most important job I have; the greatest title I have is that of being a mom.' 'My kids serve as a permanent reminder of everything that is at stake in the country,' said Huckabee who has three children. 'Not only do my kids serve as a permanent reminder of what is important they keep me humble,' she added. 'My kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble.' Harris does not have biological children but is stepmother to husband Doug Emhoff's two children Ella and Cole from his previous marriage. The children call her 'Momala' and she and Emhoff have a good relationship with Emhoff's ex-wife when it comes to their blended family. Sarah Huckabee Sanders: 'My kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble.' The status of Harris' family returned to the spotlight after Trump named J.D. Vance as his running mate and an old interview from 2021 resurfaced where Vance lamented that the United States was being run by 'childless cat ladies' like Harris, women who he claimed had no 'direct stake' in the country's future. Several women were outraged and formed 'childless cat ladies' for Harris groups. Christine Pelosi, a political consultant and daughter of Nancy Pelosi, and Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic party, hosted a massive zoom gathering of 'cat ladies' for Harris. Women rushed to Harris' defense, including the mother of her stepchildren. 'For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,' Kerstin Emhoff said in a statement. 'She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.' Ella Emhoff also defended her stepmom, writing in an instagram post: 'How can you be 'childless' when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?' Harris married Emhoff in 2014, when Cole and Ella were teenagers. Swift, who is childless but has three cats, joined their ranks last week when she announced her endorsement of Harris. She included in her announcement a photo of herself and her ragdoll cat Benjamin Button. She signed it 'Childless Cat Lady.' In her post, she also urged her millions of fans to register to vote. She noted that 'I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman's right to her own body for decades.' 'I've done my research, and I've made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it's much easier to vote early. I'll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story,' she wrote. In return, Vance called Swift 'fundamentally disconnected.' 'We admire Taylor Swift's music but I don't think most Americans, whether they like her music or are fans of her or not, are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity,' he told Fox News. Kamala Harris is stepmom to two children from her husband Doug Emhoff's first marriage, they call her 'momala' Taylor Swift labeled herself a childless cat lady when she endorsed Kamala Harris Pets have played an unusual role in this year's election. Vance also spread a false rumor that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were eating neighbors' pets. Trump repeated the charge last week in his debate with Harris. 'In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there,' Trump said. The town has dealt with bomb threats in the aftermath. Even President Joe Biden weighed in on the matter, calling the Trump charge racist against immigrants. Shocking video footage has been released which appears to show cows being beaten and stabbed at a flagship farm used in Marks and Spencer adverts. A two-year investigation was launched after vegan activist Joey Carbstrong secretly put cameras in place at a dairy farm owned by Charlie Langmead, which has been an RSPCA Assured facility since 2022. Footage posted online appears to show workers smacking calves in the face, kicking cows, hitting the animals on the back and with a metal floor scraper. In one instance, an employee can be seen running at a cow and angrily shouting 'You're f***ng r*****ed', before appearing to stab it with a sharp object. Mr Carbstrong, an ex-gang member who went vegan in 2013, claimed M&S had previously used the farm in its advertising. A promotional video featuring Mr Langmead is included in the M&S video, where the farmer says: 'All farmers and all M&S dairy farmers have a real connection with their animals.' Our 2 year investigation at this RSPCA Assured M&S select flagship farm uncovered horrific abuse of cows. M&S have previously used this horror farm in their promotional videos and advertisements. If this is the best of the best and the highest welfare dairy in the UK, that pic.twitter.com/PuI5HGgBtS Joey Carbstrong (@JoeyCarbstrong) September 16, 2024 Footage appears to show one of the employees kicking a cow on the dairy farm Workers were also seen apparently smacking calves in the face, kicking cows, hitting the animals on the back and with a metal floor scraper Writing on 'X', formerly known as Twitter, Mr Carbstrong said: 'Our 2 year investigation at this RSPCA Assured M&S select flagship farm uncovered horrific abuse of cows. 'M&S have previously used this horror farm in their promotional videos and advertisements. 'If this is the best of the best and the 'highest welfare' dairy in the UK, that should tell you everything you need to know. Footage was taken in 2022 and 2024.' Responding to the distressing footage, M&S said the alleged behaviour fell 'well below the standards' expected of the supermarket and that it had immediately suspended the farm after being showed the video. Vegan activist Joey Carbstrong secretly put cameras in place at a dairy farm owned by Charlie Langmead A spokesperson for M&S said: 'This footage is completely unacceptable, and the treatment of the animals is a disgrace. 'As soon as we found out about this, we immediately removed this farm from our supply chain and have launched a full investigation with the RSPCA, which independently assures our farm standards. 'We care deeply about animal welfare and are doing everything possible to ensure behaviours like this is never repeated.' Businesswoman Deborah Meaden shared the video and said: 'We don't deserve this planet and they don't deserve this cruelty and M&S need to be better or they don't deserve our custom.' The youngster who sparked Huw Edwards's fall from grace by revealing the shamed BBC star paid him for X-rated photos says he 'should be in jail'. When he was 17, the boy was being paid 2,000 at a time - amounting to the whopping sum of 35,000 - by the 63-year-old news anchor. He previously didn't see anything wrong with this, and told his mother and stepfather it was their favourite presenter who was giving him extravagant amounts of cash. Now 21, he feels 'groomed' by the older man and blasted the judge who handled Edwards's indecent images case for not imprisoning him. The Welshman, who was previously the BBC's glittering star presenter, smiled as he was spared jail at Westminster Magistrates' Court having previously admitted three charges of 'making' indecent photographs. He was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams over WhatsApp but was handed six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years. His punishment has been criticised by lawyers and activists as being too lenient, with one child sex abuse campaigner branding the justice system 'ludicrous, absurd and embarrassing' as a result. Edwards, 63, was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court having admitted having 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him by a paedophile He made no comment as he walked into the modern courthouse The young man told The Mirror it's 'disgusting that people like this get to roam the streets while others are in jail for petty theft, and more minor crimes'. He said: 'He's free to walk around and do whatever he wants. He could easily do it again, who knows? 'They said he couldn't go to prison because of his mental health and I just thought, what a load of rubbish.' Westminster Magistrates' Court heard Edwards begged convicted paedophile Alex Williams to 'go on' when asked if he wanted 'naughty pics and vids' of somebody described as 'yng (sic)'. The court also heard Edwards paid Williams hundreds of pounds after he sent him pornographic images, but his defence barrister Philip Evans KC said the broadcaster did not make payments to Williams in order to receive indecent images of children. The prosecution said Williams asked Edwards for a 'Christmas gift after all the hot videos'. Prosecutor Ian Hope said: 'Alex Williams says he wants some Air Force 1 trainers that cost around 100, and Mr Edwards offers to send him 200.' Of the indecent images he received, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15, but one was aged between seven and nine. The teenager who spoke out about how Edwards victimised him said he felt 'sick' learning about the full extent of the charges, and that Edwards was messaging Williams at the same time. A mocked up version of a reported Instagram message exchange between the BBC star and the teenager Edwards was previously anchor of News at Ten and one of Britain's most prominent newsreaders One payment from the BBC presenter was transferred with a message which said simply: 'Be Loyal.' The young man also told The Mirror that he and Edwards did actually meet up in person in Cardiff, and Edwards 'didn't care who saw him with me'. The Met and South Wales Police said they found no evidence of criminal offences in relation to his relationship with Edwards. His furious mother also said she wanted Edwards to be locked up and slammed the police for missing the chance to look through his phone. The disappointed mother told The Sun: 'I'm devastated Edwards hasn't gone to prison for the things he did. He's exploited young children for his own sick ends and should have been jailed. 'People have been jailed for years for rioting yet paedophiles sharing pictures of young children being sexually abused somehow doesn't warrant the same punishment?' She also slammed the police for being slow to act and missing the chance to examine Edwards's phone and laptop. She said: 'It's shocking that police didn't recover the phone he was using to receive the child abuse images. It makes me think, how many more victims are there?' Her son's stepfather has written to his MP demanding to meet Tim Davie in person, too. He said: 'The BBC should have put him on suspension without pay from day one. The police should have done something a lot quicker. They missed a chance to look at his phone and laptop then.' The teen was allegedly asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement and said he felt 'groomed' by the disgraced presenter. Welsh police uncovered the broadcaster's crimes during a separate probe into a sex offender in Wales. Edwards is pictured in court The young man, who actively defended Edwards at the time, later claimed he was in a 'troubled state of mind' when he first reached out to the ex News at Ten anchor. It all came crashing down when the then teenager's mother found the messages between the pair for a rendezvous at Cardiff train station. Texts would seesaw drastically from love hearts and kisses, calling the teenager a 'good boy' and saying 'hey beautiful,' to aggressive swearing such as 'You are an ungrateful f***. You f****g disaster' and asking him: 'You think my life revolves around you? Get f*****g real.' Other messages included 'you've disappointed me. I regret helping you so much' and a chilling Instagram direct message telling the boy: 'I'm with my family stop being a pain'. The young man's mother and stepfather were worried about their previously 'happy' boy when he would act so differently to his normal demeanour it was like he had a 'twin'. They told The Sun's documentary 'Huw Edwards: Unmasked' that he would buy clothing and stay out all night partying when he had no money that they knew of. But they became aware of bank transfers of up to 2,000 at a time and asked his cousin if he knew where the cash was coming from. To his mother's horror, he said it was an 'old man with grey hair'. She told The Sun: 'I couldn't believe it. A grey haired man was sending money to my 17-year-old-son - I felt sick.' When they asked the teenager directly, he confessed it was the BBC's Number One golden boy Huw Edwards - a fellow Welshman. His stepfather admitted to The Sun his disbelief that this national treasure could be responsible. 'He said it was Huw and we didn't believe him - I didn't believe him. I knew he was getting the money from somewhere but I didn't believe it was a BBC news reader.' He described how the boy tried to prove it by phoning Edwards as he was live on air, and his parents could see his reaction to what seemed to be his phone ringing in his pocket. Italian divers are reportedly racing to retrieve Mike Lynch's stashed hard-drives from the wreck of the Bayesian superyacht before foreign intelligence services can get their hands on them. Seven people were killed when the Bayesian, a 30million superyacht owned by the Darktrace founder, sank last month in just 16 minutes after it was hit by a violent downburst. Mr Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter lost their lives alongside Morgan Stanley International president Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judith, as well a New York lawyer Chris Morvillo and his partner Neda and of the chef Recaldo Thomas. No personal items have yet been recovered from the shipwreck, according to investigators from Palermo. But The Telegraph reported Italian special force divers have allegedly brought up crucial video equipment which could explain how the Bayesian sank. Mike Lynch (pictured) who was killed alongside his daughter when the Bayesian sank last month Italian divers are reportedly racing to retrieve Mike Lynch's stashed hard-drives from the wreck of the superyacht According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Mr Lynch kept two encrypted hard-drives in a safe because he did not trust the cloud with controversial documents. The media outlet also reported some of his clients included MI5, the US National Security Agency and the Israeli secret service. Sources close to Mr Lynch's family have suggested there was no evidence he had access to intelligence material. Mr Lynch co-founded the cybersecurity company Darktrace, which employed intelligence officers, which has prompted speculation that the company still had ties to spying agencies. However, Mr Lynch had not been involved in the running of the company for several years, The Telegraph reported. Mr Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter lost their lives when the yacht sank in a storm Rescue personnel pictured as they prepare to resume inspections of the Bayesian yacht's wreck on August 23 Post-mortem examinations were carried out on the victims over recent days in Sicily, with preliminary results suggesting all but one had been trapped below deck when they died. Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew survived the wrecking of Bayesian last month by clambering on to an inflatable life raft. Autopsies carried out on victims at Palermo's Policlinico hospital earlier this month revealed that they had no water in their lungs, Italian media reported, adding to fears that they may have been conscious as the yacht sank. While their bodies have now been returned home, doctors in Palermo are continuing to investigate whether their deaths were caused by drowning or lack of oxygen in the cabin. All the victims in the disaster were passengers except for the yacht's chef Recaldo Thomas. The desperate search continues for a 14-year-old girl last seen four days ago. The teenager was last seen at a home on Cathcart Street in Deception Bay, 30km north of Brisbane's CBD, at about 11am on Saturday. Queensland Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday morning the girl had not been found. 'Police and family have serious concerns for her welfare due to her young age and health reasons,' police said in a statement. The 14-year-old is described as Caucasian and approximately 170cm tall with blonde hair and hazel eyes. Anyone who sees the young girl has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers. Rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs will have to serve time in a New York City prison once described as 'Hell on Earth' after being plagued by suicides and murders after a judge denied his bail on Tuesday. Combs, 54, was remanded into federal custody as he awaits trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, and will now be serving pretrial detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The jail has become the Big Apple's primary federal detention center since 2021, when the Bureau of Prisons shuttered its sister facility in Manhattan - where child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein died - over its appalling conditions. But the Brooklyn facility - which previously housed fellow disgraced rapper R. Kelly Ghislaine Maxwell , Martin Shkreli, Allison Mack and Billy McFarland - has similarly been plagued by chronic understaffing, constant lockdowns, outbreaks of violence and a rash of suicides and deaths. Sean 'Diddy' Combs, 54, was remanded into federal custody on Tuesday as he awaits trial for sex trafficking and racketeering charges Combs' lawyers even acknowledged the deplorable conditions in a motion for bail on Tuesday, noting that 'several courts in this District have recognized that the conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center are not fit for pre-trial detention.' 'Just earlier this summer, an inmate was murdered,' the hip hop mogul's defense attorneys wrote, according to the Daily Beast. 'At least four inmates have died by suicide there in the past three years.' The attorneys were referencing the June 7 death of Uriel Whyte, who had been awaiting trial on gun charges for more than two years when he was stabbed to death. The prison was put into a lockdown in the aftermath, 'where essentially, we come out of our cell every three days for a 15-minute shower,' one inmate told NY 1 at the time. 'You're literally in solitary confinement when you shouldn't be,' he said. But just over one month later, another inmate, Edwin Cordero, died after being injured in a prison fight. His attorney called his death 'senseless and completely preventable' and said Cordero was 'another victim of MDC Brooklyn, an overcrowded, understaffed and neglected federal jail that is Hell on Earth,' according to the New York Times. He will now be serving pretrial detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn Inmates and their lawyers have also claimed they found cockroaches on their food and mold in the showers, and in a number of recent legal cases, conditions at the prison were describes as 'dreadful,' 'longstanding,' 'dirty,' 'inhuman' and an 'ongoing tragedy,' Combs' attorneys argued. The issues apparently began in February 2019, a fire cut off power and heat to parts of the jail and inmates had to suffer in near freezing temperatures and in darkness after the sun went down. Inmates inside the jail at the time included Nxivm sex-cult leader Keith Raniere and accused jewelry thief mastermind Damir Pejcinovic, as well as MS-13 gang members and mafiosos. At the time, Deirdre von Dornum, who oversees the Federal Defenders' Brooklyn team said that inmates had wrapped themselves 'head to toe in towels and blankets'. The crisis came to a head with protesters rallying outside the facility, where inmates banged on the walls of the jail and flashed nightlights in a plea for help. A class action lawsuit over the outage was settled last year for roughly $10million, the Daily Beast reports. Inmates Uriel Whyte (left) and Edwin Cordero (right) were both killed at the prison this year But conditions continued to deteriorate during the pandemic, with US District Judge Colleen McMahon bemoaning in 2021 her 'complete and utter inability to do anything meaningful' about the situation at New York City jails like the MDC - which she said were 'run by morons.' Renewed attention to the conditions inside the prison came as celebrities spoke out about what they had to endure. Ghislaine Maxwell, for example, had been held at the facility in 2021 and while behind bars her lawyers complained she was underfed, losing her hair, given meals with plastic melted into the food, having to drink contaminated water and could smell overflowing toilets. She also claimed that correctional officers were physically abusing her, holding her in 'defacto solitary confinement,' keeping her awake with flashlights and subjected her to constant humiliating searches. Ghislaine Maxwell's attorneys complained she was underfed, losing her hair, given meals with plastic melted into the food, having to drink contaminated water and could smell overflowing toilets while she spent time at the prison Rapper R Kelly had his lawyers sued the prison after he claimed they placed him on suicide watch as a punishment In a letter seen by Insider, her attorney Bobbi C. Sternheim wrote: 'Cockroaches and rodents are plentiful and glue tracks have been placed in Ms. Maxwell's day area to help remediate the problem.' 'The worst part is there's no real outdoors space. It's just a place to warehouse human beings.' Insider also reported that lawyers are often left waiting for hours to see their clients who are inside the jail. Maxwell has since been moved to a facility in Tallahassee, Florida known for its yoga program and inmate talent show, after being sentenced to 20 years behind bars in June 2022. Previous inmate R Kelly also had his lawyers sued the prison after he claimed they placed him on suicide watch as a punishment. In July of 2022 after he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking and abusing young girls, his attorney said officers had violated his rights. Jennifer Bonjean said Kelly had been in 'fine form' after being held at the prison but she believed he had been put on suicide watch for 'punitive reasons'. Judge Gary Brown threatened to vacate an elderly man's nine-month sentence if he were sent to the prison, citing its 'dangerous, barbaric conditions' At least three judges have now refused to order defendants to the jail in recent years due to its conditions, and others would often reduce sentences at the prison due to its abhorrent conditions. In August, Judge Gary Brown even threatened to vacate an elderly man's nine-month sentence if he were sent to the MDC, citing its 'dangerous, barbaric conditions.' He referenced both Whyte and Cordero's deaths, writing that they 'demonstrate a woeful lack of supervision over the facility, a breakdown of order and an environment of lawlessness within its confines that constitute unacceptable, reprehensible and deadly mismanagement,' according to the New York Daily News. The prison has since stopped accepting any inmates serving out their sentences, the Daily News reported over the weekend. No formal explanation was given for the change, but one law enforcement source told the newspaper: 'I think it's kind of in response to what Judge Brown did.' There are currently only 42 individuals serving out their sentence at the prison. The rest are being detained ahead of criminal trials, like Diddy. 'They know this place should be shut down, and it is impossible, nearly impossible, for you to fight a case from MDC Brooklyn,' an inmate only identified as Eli told NY 1. 'Forget about your constitutional rights - human rights here are a problem.' In this courtroom sketch, Sean Combs, center, is flanked by his defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, left, and Teny Garagos, in Manhattan Federal Court Tuesday In court on Tuesday, Combs' attorneys, Marc Agnifilo and Teny R Geragos, urged a federal judge to accept a $50million bond tied to Combs' Miami residence to let the rapper walk free before his trial. They argued that his 'extraordinary' decision to fly to New York, where he was staying at the Park Hyatt ahead of his arrest on Monday, was proof of his 'trustworthiness and lack of flight risk.' 'These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court,' the attorneys said, according to the Times. But prosecutors argued that Combs is still a threat to his alleged victims and witnesses, with one characterizing him as a 'serial abuser and a serial obstructer,' Rolling Stone reports. They also pointed out that after Dawn Richard, the most recent person to come forward with sexual abuse accusations against Combs, sued the rapper earlier this month, he contacted a former bandmate 128 times - including calling her 58 times over four days - until she put out a statement supporting him. US Judge Robyn Tarnofsky eventually sided with the prosecution, citing a potential flight risk, Combs' anger issues and past substance abuse. 'My concern is that this is a crime that happens behind closed doors,' she said. Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution charges Diddy has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution charges, and following the hearing on Tuesday, his attorney promised to appeal Tarnofsky's decision to deny bail. 'Mr Combs is a fighter - he will fight this until the end. He is innocent. He came to New York to establish his innocence. He is not afraid - he is not afraid of the charges,' Agnifilo said. 'He has been looking forward to clearing his name and he is going to clear his name. We believe in him whole heartedly. He didn't do these things.' But if convicted on the racketeering charges, Combs faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a sex trafficking conviction would carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years behind bars. A landlord has been slammed after asking prospective tenants to pay more than $260 a week to share a tiny 'slum-room' with another person. The owner used Facebook to advertise the room in an apartment located opposite Southern Cross Station in Melbourne's CBD. 'Looking for a male, who can live from September 20. You are going to share a room with one Japanese male,' the listing read. The rent, which is worth $264.50 a week, covers the bills for utility expenses. The prospective tenant must also fork out $265 in bond before they move in. A photo of the room showed a single bed covered in a doona squeezed into a narrow space with both sides of the mattress touching the walls. The apartment included access to a shared bathroom, laundry and kitchen while the building had a gym, pool, sauna and barbecue area. The rent for the small room (pictured) is worth $264.50 a week and the payment covers the bills for utilities expenses Reddit users were appalled at how the ad exposed the dire state of the rental market in the Melbourne, which has become one of the most expensive in the world to rent in. 'Damn didn't realise Melbourne was becoming New York City,' one wrote. 'Some of these slum-room rents are almost [worth] as much as an entire house,' another wrote. Others were left stunned by the bizarre request to rent out the tiny space while it's already being used by another tenant. 'What is left to share?' one wrote. Some said there is an upside to renting small rooms in apartments in the city even though they admitted this listing was an 'extreme example'. '[It] means you don't have to pay for a car or public transport, which saves you a ton [and] you've got super quick access to everything you need,' one wrote. Commenters on social media were left outraged with some claiming that the city has become more unaffordable to live in than some of the major global cities (stock image of Melbourne) The latest figures from PropTrack reveal the median price for an apartment in Melbourne is $609,000. Sydney remains the most expensive capital city in Australia to buy an apartment with the median price of units at $819,000. Furious passengers have erupted after their bus driver stopped for '10 minutes' to pick up a takeaway coffee. Video of the bizarre episode shows the Kinetic employee on the Gold Coast strolling back onto the stalled vehicle after stepping off at a Southport cafe. Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate slammed the bus driver as 'selfish' for putting his personal caffeine hit before his job. 'Buy an urn, make some coffee at home and have it available so you don't inconvenience your passengers,' he told 7News. 'It's about service... and that's what I'd say to the bus driver. It's a matter for the state government because that's who runs the buses, but... you're there to serve, not to (convenience yourself) and inconvenience others. 'You can just take a sip when you finish your shift or in between but it's the ultimate rudeness, really.' However some social media users were sympathetic towards the driver and hit back at the Mayor. 'What would Tom prefer a driver taking a break or a fatigue driver crashing a bus?' one person asked. The driver can be seen entering back onto the bus after stopping to get a coffee Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate was unhappy with the driver's actions Another said: 'After seeing how bus drivers (especially bus drivers on the Gold Coast) are treated, let the man have his coffee!' Kinetic told Daily Mail Australia no official complaint had been received and that an internal inquiry is currently underway. 'Bus drivers are provided breaks during their shift and while no complaint has been received, Kinetic is investigating this incident,' the company said. A local council has been blasted for commissioning a series of art installations reportedly costing an eye-watering $22million - including an eight-metre high statue of a kangaroo sitting on a chair. Five separate art projects created by New Zealand Maori artist Michael Parekowhai are set to be revealed in Southbank, in Melbourne's inner city, by the end of 2027. The City of Melbourne Council had initially commissioned the first art installation of the kangaroo sitting on a chair and wrapped in fairy lights in 2018 for $2million. But it's understood the project has now expanded to include four more art installations across Dodds Street, increasing the bill to upwards of $20million, according to council documents seen by The Age. The art installations have been described by the council as 'the most transformational public art commission ever undertaken in Australasia'. But outspoken commentator Prue MacSween blasted it as a 'joke' and said councillors were 'woke w**kers'. 'They're just delusional,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'How can anyone believe that an eight-metre high kangaroo was ''transformational'' public art. I mean it's just astounding that anybody would find this inspiring or reflective or what Melbourne stands for.' The City of Melbourne Council has been blasted for commissioning a series of art installations reportedly costing $22million - including an eight-metre high statue of a kangaroo sitting on a chair (pictured is artist impression) Outspoken commentator Prue MacSween (pictured) said the kangaroo statue is a 'joke' MacSween questioned how using the money towards art installations was benefitting the people of Melbourne, as well as the fact an Australian artist wasn't chosen. 'And when you look at Melbourne and how it's lost so much during Covid, businesses have gone broke and cultural aspects have been lost and have never recovered,' she continued. 'You don't want to go there, it's just a shell of what it was and for councils to waste this kind of money instead of trying to energise or revitalise the city is mindboggling.' The kangaroo statue is titled Yesterday with Mr Parekowhai creating four other projects named Tomorrow, Seal and Pleiades, Knowledge, and Intention. Tomorrow is another bronze statue reportedly costing $4.3million, Seal and Pleiades is a 30metre light installation with a bronze seal balancing the Pleiades star constellation on its nose, and has a price tag of $2million. The Knowledge artwork is a $2.8million 50m neon rainbow and Intention is a 5m neon sign of Greek goddess Themis, reportedly costing $2.6million. Another $2.9million for storage and installation and $5.4million for landscaping is also on the council's bill, The Age reported. The City of Melbourne Council have rejected the total cost is $22million but wouldn't clarify the price. It's understood the kangaroo statue was commissioned with additional funding to come from public and private contributors. The council expects for every $1million of commissioned public artwork, $4million of tourism will be generated. Five separate art projects created by New Zealand Maori artist Michael Parekowhai are set to be revealed in Southbank, in Melbourne 's inner city, by the end of 2027 'Public art drives visitation to Melbourne and strengthens our cultural fabric and that's good for business and our economy,' a council spokesperson said. 'The Southbank public art commission is one of the biggest public art undertakings and we will deliver it in the heart of Melbourne's growing arts precinct by the end of 2027. 'We recently opened the new-look linear park to the local community providing residents, workers, students and visitors a great new place to come together.' Melbourne City councillor and lord mayoral candidate Jamal Hakim defended the art installations on 3AW's Tony Jones on Wednesday morning, claiming philanthropists were partly funding the projects. 'If you think about public art installations all around the world, people come from everywhere to see that work and this is no different,' he said. 'So public art is something people want to see and come and enjoy so it becomes a global tourist attraction.' Jones pointed out that a statue of a kangaroo wouldn't stack up to other global tourist attractions like the Statue of Liberty. 'I'm not at liberty to speak about the actual works because of contractual obligations,' Mr Hakim said. 'This work has been commissioned by multiple councils along with philanthropists and will be something that will get people talking all around the world and certainly coming to see.' A 12-year-old boy slayed a 200-pound bear to save his fathers life during a family outing gone horribly wrong. Owen Beierman, 12, shot-and-killed the black bear before it could fatally maul his dad, Ryan, who became pinned under the monstrous beast when shots fired to kill it missed. My left cheek was sliced open and blood was oozing out of the flap. There were two fang marks in my forehead and my face was smattered with blood, Ryan told the Star Tribune. The bear was fighting for its life, and I was fighting for mine, he continued. The father-and-son duo, of River Falls, Wisconsin, left school and work early for a hunting trip - something the two often did together - when Owen made the heroic save. The business agent, 43, said he probably wouldnt have survived the mauling if not for his son as the near-death encounter left him with a gruesome facial gash and fang punctures to his forehead, right arm and leg. Owen Beierman, 12, shot-and-killed the black bear before it could fatally maul his father, Ryan Beierman The two were deep in the western Wisconsin woods, near the familys vacation cabin, when Owen first spotted the woodland beast. Pictured: Owen on a hunting trip November 2022 Owen, a regular hunter, was prepared for an event like this, firing off his rifle and killing the bear that would eventually roll off of his father. Pictured: Owen wears hunted birds around his neck on a hunting trip October 2023 The two were deep in the western Wisconsin woods, near the familys vacation cabin, when Owen first spotted the woodland beast. Armed with a 350 Legend hunting rifle, he shot and hit the bear, missing the ideal kill zone and causing the bear to flee. The pair continued tracking the then-wounded bear, hoping for reminisces of blood or other tracking markers. Not long after their failed search efforts, a neighbor who heard the initial gunshots, offered up his tracking dog to help with the search. Just after dark, the chocolate Labrador spotted the bear, prompting Ryan to reach for his rifle and fire off eight bullets from a 6-foot range. Unable to get the gun high enough to use its sights, missing all eight shots, the bear then lunged at Ryan, pinning him on his back. I started pistol whipping him and it felt like I was striking a brick wall. I remember thinking. You have to do something different. I tried hitting him between the ear and mouth with a blunt edge of the pistol, Ryan recalled. Faced with monstrous claws and teeth, Ryan nestled his arm between his face and the bears attack - hearing a crunch and convinced the bear had broken his arm. The whole thing might have lasted only 45 seconds or more, I cant really remember. But it was as if he was attacking in slow motion, Ryan said. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Dustin Gabrielson confirmed the event noting: Everything about the father-son hunt on September 6 was legal. Pictured: Owen and his brother, Landon, with a hunted turkey from April 2022 Ryan, 43, received 23 stitches in his cheek along with seven puncture wounds to his arm and another cut in need of stitching following the near-fatal bear attack. Pictured: Ryan with a hunted turkey from a April 2022 hunting trip Owen, a regular hunter, was prepared for an event like this, firing off his rifle and killing the bear as it eventually rolled off of his father. The 43-year-old called on his son to alert their family and emergency response teams before the two took off to a hospital, with help of a neighbor. 'Thank you to all the neighbors who helped me out tonight, in a time of need! Derek Jaskolka, Randy Thomas, Jeff Stager, Joel Schollmeier, Dillon Mattson and anyone else who helped out!' Ryan posted to Facebook days after the attack. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Dustin Gabrielson confirmed the event noting: Everything about the father-son hunt on September 6 was legal. Department of Natural Resources officials acknowledged Beierman as a generous supporter of the agencys learn-to-hunt programs. I was flat on my back and could feel the bullet going through the bear. Owen was a hero. He shot that bear and killed it on top of me, the father said of his son. Ryan received 23 stitches in his cheek along with seven puncture wounds to his arm and another cut in need of stitching. When the duo eventually returned home, Ryan told his wife he was done bear hunting. 'I am officially done bear hunting! Yeah I did get mauled by a bear tonight, and yes I survived!' Ryan's post to Facebook continued. The 35-year-old said he has never been more fulfilled A high-flying corporate worker has revealed he has no regrets after ditching his career with $500,000-a-year job offers to pursue a career in comedy. Kurt Sterling, 35, said he felt more fulfilled than ever before despite earning significantly less money than when he was a management consultant. 'It's just so much better. It's just fantastic. I really enjoy it. I probably work as hard but I'm doing it because I want to,' he told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Sterling was pulling 18-hour long days with a company that was set up so that he would be available to them 24/7. The 35-year-old admitted there were perks - such as travelling the globe and living in a luxurious Sydney apartment that had 270 degree views of the cityscape. Mr Sterling claimed the paychecks were simply not enough with the unrelenting lifestyle straining his relationships and leaving him with a sense of disconnect. 'I describe it as a deal with the devil. I give you all the time that I have and in exchange you show me the world,' he said. Mr Sterling grew up in NSW's Central Coast region and didn't know what he wanted to do with his life as a teenager. Kurt Sterling, 35, quit his globe-trotting corporate career, rejecting $500,000 salary job offers, to pursue his passion in comedy His management consulting role saw him travel to 15 different countries and live in a Sydney apartment with 270 degree views of the city In high school, he excelled in math and economics and landed himself a scholarship in actuarial studies at the University of New South Wales. However, while interning, Kurt found the job 'boring' as he would go 'weeks and weeks' without talking to people. Mr Sterling made the transition to a management consultant job on 'pure spontaneity'. 'I found this job in management consulting after the firm came to the campus and were talking to students there,' he said. 'I didn't really understand what it was, but I understood that it was an office job where you get to solve big problems, work for big companies, travel and talk to people. 'I wanted to do business stuff, whatever that meant, and I knew I wanted to talk to people all day'. Mr Sterling said the role was 'all encompassing' and often felt like he was 'stuck in a washing machine' with working and traveling to work becoming his whole life. After 12 years, Mr Sterling had the realisation that he was not in the industry he truly wanted to be in. 'Covid hit which meant that the travel was gone, and so all the kind of cool stuff, and the things that made you feel good about was gone and all of a sudden, it's a bad deal for me,' he said. 'I felt disconnected and dissatisfied. I didn't want office speak, I really missed real human interaction. 'I also felt like I had no common experiences with friends or family and my twenties were given over to a corporate world.' In 2022, Mr Sterling made the bold move of quitting his high-paying job to pursue his dream in comedy. He made his Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut with his stand-up show, 'Corporate Chronicles'. The comedian has now brought the show back to his home shores for Sydney Fringe Comedy - which runs between September 18 to 20. Kurt told Daily Mail Australia he feels the most fulfilled in his life and gigs almost every night Mr Sterling said the move was a 'very strategic decision' and argued that stand-up comedy and consulting were 'the same thing'. 'We would do strategy projects for companies and we'd say to them, "here's what we think your strengths are, and therefore, here's what we think you should do",' he said. 'When I thought about it, I realised I had three things. I've got a lot of stories, because I've done so much travelling. I feel very comfortable speaking in front of people, because I've done it every day for the last 12 years. 'I'm also good with like formulas and patterns, things like that, because of my master degree. 'I think when you combine those three things, the only answer is stand-up comedy. That's the only thing I can think of that combines all three of them.' Now, Kurt explained he has found a career path that is truly fulfilling and would never go back to the job he once had. 'I'm doing it because I'm excited about the new joke, or I'm excited about getting on stage, or I'm excited about creating something,' he said. 'I really enjoy every day, and to the point where I feel like I've lost track of days. 'I have found success in entertaining and making people laugh, and this is what makes me truly happy. Any pressure is internal ambition instead of outside stress.' Meteorologist Steve Raleigh will not face charges after a wild video captured his son in a violent parking lot confrontation with an elderly couple. Prosecutors determined Monday that the veteran Ohio weatherman did not break the law during the road rage incident at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse parking lot on June 22 in Cincinnati. Raleigh, a forecaster for WCPO TV, was with sons Kyle and Carter when their Cadillac Escalade plowed into a Ford F-150 after failing to yield to oncoming traffic. Moments later the Ford driver, Douglas Morrow, 79, was on the ground next to his wife Lois, 76, who suffered a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a detached retina. Pressure quickly grew on the Cincinnati Police Department to explain why there were no arrests since the incident, but now, Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Tekulve said Raleigh has been cleared from the investigation. WCPO TV Meteorologist Steve Raleigh will not face charges after a wild video captured his son in a violent parking lot confrontation with an elderly couple Prosecutors determined that the veteran Ohio weatherman (far left) did not break the law during the road rage incident at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse parking lot on June 22 in Cincinnati 'During the course of this investigation, it has been determined that criminal charges are not warranted against Mr. Steve Raleigh, as there is no evidence that he violated any criminal law. Accordingly, as to Mr. Steve Raleigh, this investigation is closed,' Tekulve. Prosecutors are expected to present evidence to the Hamilton County Grand Jury regarding the other individuals involved in the violent incident, Tekulve noted. The Cadillac involved in the confrontation is owned by the weatherman's father-in-law, former Hamilton County sheriff and attorney Simon L Leis, Jr. Carter, 28, is thought to have been driving his grandfather's car when it hit the Morrows' car that day. Stacey, the elderly couple's daughter, previously said the famous family became enraged when her father decided to call police because he smelled alcohol and suspected they had been drinking. 'These were locally famous people and in my opinion believe they are above the law,' Stacey, who posted video of the incident, wrote online. The Ford driver, Douglas Morrow, 79, was on the ground next to his wife Lois, 76, who suffered a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a detached retina. (pictured: The Morrow couple) 'I 100 per cent believe one more hit would have killed her,' she said in regard to her mother Lois. During the clash Red Sox legend Kevin Youkilis was seen intervening. The grainy footage showed a woman repeatedly calling 'Stop!' before Raleigh, dressed in a red Hawaiian shirt, pushed someone away. 'Someone call 911 please,' the woman pleaded as the camera panned across the prostrate 79-year-old clutching his head. His unconscious wife then came into frame as a male voice was heard yelling: 'That is f***ing ridiculous.' A man thought to be Raleigh was then seen over the floored pensioner before saying: 'Kevin listen to me, f*** that, f*** that.' Youkilis then bent over Lois to check on her condition as another voice was heard yelling: 'Dude are you serious he hit a f***ing woman. She's pouring blood.' 'You're an embarrassment to that f***ing Red Sox brand,' someone shouted. 'Go back to Boston.' In her Facebook post, Stacey said her mother 'took the brunt of the injuries' during the scuffle. 'My mom took the brunt of the injuries that night. She was in UC hospital for a few days and is still continuing to be treated. 'She was knocked unconscious and had a concussion, fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, contusion on the back of her head that was stapled shut and the lens that was put in her eye was detached and needs to be replaced. She had lots of cuts and bruises to her arms and legs. Raleigh is seen arguing with Youkilis in the video, urging him to 'f*** that' while Lois laid on the ground Lois was left unconscious with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a detached retina after the incident 'My dad also had a concussion and was knocked unconscious. I am not gonna say who was responsible until they are arrested and charged as I don't want to hurt the case. 'I just want all the witnesses to come forward and any videos that were made because there were lots of witnesses,' she said. After, Youkilis took to Facebook to deny rumors he had been with the Raleigh's that evening after he was recognized in the footage, insisting he simply chanced across the incident while in town to broadcast a Red Sox-Reds game. 'Unfortunately, I was a little too late and saw a horrible chain of events unfold,' he explained. 'My intentions after what I witnessed was to help the two individuals on the ground and to protect anyone else from being harmed. 'I snapped a little bit after what I saw and used some colorful language in the video.' In a Facebook update, Stacy thanked Youkilis for his intervention on behalf of her parents. 'There were at least 50 people in the lot when this happened because it was at closing of the restaurant,' she wrote. 'Only one, Kevin Youkilis, saved my mom and stopped this attack. 'He was definitely her guardian angel that night. I also believe he was there with them but was ready to fight for her!' Raleigh was confronted in the video by Red Sox legend Kevin Youkilis (in blue) who had been dining at the same restaurant before the car crash that sparked the incident Douglas and Lois were treated for their injuries at UC hospital, according to their daughter The Morrows claimed that Raleigh tried to convince them not to call the police, but when they said they would, one of his son's attacked their son Troy, the couple told WKRC. 'Seconds later I hear from a distance, "No ones going to hit my dad!" I look this way [left], someone coming from this way [right] clocks me in the side of the head; I stagger back; he dives on me; he was on my throat with both hands choking me,' Troy said in a press conference shortly after the incident. The couple said they then tried to get Raleigh's son off of theirs, and that is when they were thrown to the pavement. On July 12 WCPO vice president and general manager Jeff Brogan said the station was 'aware of the incident involving Steve Raleigh's family.' 'Steve shared his side of the incident with our leadership. His account is consistent with the police report, which does not name him, and with what we have reviewed on video.' he added in a statement. 'The video does not show the incident from start to finish. We will continue to monitor official findings.' Raleigh, pictured with wife Julie Leis and sons Kyle (left) and Carter (right) After it was announced that Raleigh would not face charges, he said he 'appreciates the validation.' 'I appreciate the validation regarding my involvement. I want to thank family, friends, colleagues, and viewers for their patience and support. I look forward to returning to work soon,' he said. After the incident Raleigh deleted his social media and vanished from the screens, but WCPO said he will soon return to his role as chief meteorologist. An attorney for the Morrow family said: 'We never suspected that Steve Raleigh committed a crime. Steve exercised poor judgment and may have committed civil wrongs, but not crimes.' Stacey told FOX 19 she is not pleased about the decision to not charge Raleigh, and that she hopes his son will face consequences. Over $10 million worth of cannabis products were found hiding in an unassuming New York City party shop as authorities work to crackdown on illegal weed operations across the city. The NYC Sheriff's Office raided the Making Your Dreams Reality Event space at 88-08 Little Neck Pkwy in Queens Tuesday night and discovered hundreds of boxes filled with unregulated weed, reported WABC. The warehouse was lined with packages containing illegal goods including THC filled cartridges, marijuana flowers and edible cannabis products. They also found filthy hot plate stations with brown liquid splattered on walls. State officials have been working to crack down on marijuana dispensaries operating without a license and bringing in unregulated product, after the first legal ones opened in December 2022. 'We are definitely looking into warehouses in the New York City area and we will come and seize whatever products needed,' said Detective Sgt. Veronica Robels. The NYC Sheriff's Office raided 88-08 Little Neck Pkwy in the Bellerose section of Queens Police seized $10 million worth of cannabis products from a New York City warehouse The warehouse was packed with hundreds of boxes filled with illegal goods 'What comes to mind is the children because you have very vibrant packaging, very colorful packaging you saw downstairs. 'It attracts the eye. When you are a kid, you are attracted to bright colors and the packaging that they use they are very familiar with. It can look like a Skittles package, they think its Skittles but it's really not.' Mayor Eric Adams announced Operation Padlock to Protect in May, an initiative to shut down unlicensed smoke and cannabis shops in the city. It gives law enforcement the ability to inspect smoke and cannabis shops and padlock those caught unlawfully selling cannabis. 'Our administration is delivering on a promise to shut down unlicensed smoke and cannabis shops, protect our young people, and ensure that the future of legal cannabis burns bright in New York City,' Adams said. In July, the sheriff's office said it has shuttered around 700 illegal stores since new state regulations passed earlier this year. Officials estimated there were some 2,900 unlicensed vendors throughout New York City compared to around 60 licensed dispensaries currently operating. The walls were lined with brightly colored packages of unregulated cannabis products Authorities found massive bags of marijuana flowers and pre-rolled joints They found filthy hot plate stations with brown liquid splattered on walls Detective Sgt. Veronica Robels said they are cracking down on unlicensed distributors because they often have packaged goods marketed towards children A federal judge refused to halt the city's crackdown measures after 27 sellers accused the city of causing irreparable harm by unilaterally closing shops, including for non-cannabis products, based on an assumption they were unlicensed. State officials announced last year that more than 2.7 million New Yorkers consumer marijuana at least once a month - and most are still buying it illegally. That's more than one in eight adult New Yorkers. Separate statistics show one-fifth of New York adults smoke weed at least once a year, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. New York legalized marijuana in 2021, with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo claiming it would be a boon to the economy, bringing in an estimated $1.3billion. Youtuber MrBeast is being sued by former contestants of his upcoming gameshow over allegations of 'chronic mistreatment' including sexual harassment. The 26-year-old, real name Jimmy Donaldson, is the target of a class action lawsuit, along with Amazon, which picked up the show. Five participants of the forthcoming Beast Games are suing the internet personality, alleging 'unreasonable, unsafe and unlawful employment conditions'. They claim production teams maintained 'the strictest control' over them, including removing their belongings and withholding food, water and medical care to the extent that several contestants were hospitalized for dehydration. They also accuse the Youtuber of fostering a 'toxic and hostile' work environment, particularly for female participants, as a result of 'boys-will-be-boys working conditions seemingly promoted by Mr Donaldson,' per the filing. Youtuber MrBeast is being sued by contestants on his upcoming gameshow over allegations of 'chronic mistreatment' including sexual harassment 'I wanted to join because I was a fan of MrBeast and his videos made me smile during the COVID-19 pandemic,' one female said. 'I expected to be challenged, but I didn't think I would be treated like nothing less than nothing. 'And as one of the women, I can say it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us. We honestly could not have been respected less as people, much less employees if they tried.' In one example, the filings cite instructions from a handbook said to be used by Donaldson's company titled, 'How to Success in MrBeast Production'. The alleged document encourages staffers to 'empower the boys' by looking the other way on inappropriate behavior. 'If talent wants to draw a dick on the white board in the video or do something stupid, let them Really do everything you can to empower the boys when filming and help them make content. Help them be idiots,' the alleged handbook states. The Beast Games were marketed as a competition of 1,000 competitors for a $5 million cash prize - billed as the largest ever in TV and streaming history. But the plaintiffs allege unpaid wages and expenses, arguing that they were intentionally misclassified to circumvent California's employment laws. The 26-year-old, real name Jimmy Donaldson, is the target of a class action lawsuit, along with Amazon, which picked up the show Five anonymous competitors say they were subjected to a toxic working environment, which included unchecked sexual harassment against female contestants Additional claims include that they were denied proper meal or rest breaks and that contestants suffered emotional distress as well as physical injuries. 'The Contestants were exposed to dangerous circumstances and conditions as a condition of their employment,' the lawsuit states. 'As local news reported, 'many contestants, found it was the poor set conditions, rather than the challenges themselves, that proved to be the main difficulty'.' The filing states they competitors were 'penned into enclosed spaces with, under conditions where they were underfed, overtired, and competing in stressful and exhausting challenges for a cash prize that could change their lives'. Beast Games was announced back in March with candidates asked to submit applications. The release date has not yet been made public. 'While participants knew upon signing the contract at the production's inception that they were facing a potentially long and challenging competition, they allege getting a lot more than they bargained for,' attorneys for the anonymous 'Beast Games' contestants said in a statement about the lawsuit. MrBeast's company is also accused of withholding food, water, medical supplies and hygiene products during production 'Several contestants ending up hospitalized, while others reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic mistreatment, degradation and, for the female contestants, hostile working conditions.' The lawsuit was filed on the same day Rolling Stone published an investigation in which former contestants described hazardous work conditions which echoed many of the lawsuit's claims. The filing alleges that 'Beast Games production was so void of standards of reasonable care that MrBeast allegedly offered to cover the contestants' therapy'. The document demands that Donaldson's company pay the alleged unpaid expenses and wages as well as an unspecified amount of damages. DailyMail.com has contacted MrBeast and Amazon for comment. A man who murdered his partner after she tried to hide in a bathroom has been sentenced to more than two decades in jail. Manthana Khantharat hid in a bathroom in an attempt to escape an intense and fatal assault by her jealous and controlling boyfriend, a court has heard. The 37-year-old's killer, Natthawut Tammajanta, was on Wednesday sentenced to up to 23 years and four months in jail after pleading guilty to her murder. The pair, both originally from Thailand, met while working at the Siam Kingdom restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Newington and started a relationship. But after an argument on December 18, 2022, Tammajanta assaulted Ms Khantharat at their home in Albion Park Rail, south of Wollongong, so severely that he killed her. The attack included choking and striking her repeatedly to the face and body. In her sentencing remarks, Justice Natalie Adams said police who arrived at the scene observed Tammajanta's hands to be lacerated and swollen from his repeated assaults on Ms Khantharat. 'At one stage, the deceased had locked herself in the bathroom to escape the assault, but the offender was able to break down the door to continue his attack,' she told the NSW Supreme Court. Tammajanta described himself as a 'jealous person' who felt insecure in the relationship and was suspicious that his partner was dishonest or too close with other men. Manthana Khantharat (pictured) hid in a bathroom in an attempt to escape an intense and fatal assault by her jealous and controlling boyfriend, a court has heard 'The deceased was killed in her own home by an intimate partner,' Justice Adams said. 'The dominant feature of the relatively short relationship was the offender's intense irrational jealousy and his desire to control the deceased's behaviour.' Earlier the court had heard from Ms Khantharat's younger sister, Rudeemas Khuntaras, who spoke on behalf of the family. 'The sudden death has been devastating,' Ms Khuntaras told the court, reported the Illawarra Star. 'She was a huge part of our lives. We are all struggling with the intense grief and we are all struggling to deal with her being gone. 'She was the older sister of three, she was an exceptional sister and she was a gatekeeper who provided us protection.' The 37-year-old's killer, Natthawut Tammajanta, was on Wednesday sentenced to up to 23 years and four months in jail after pleading guilty to her murder Ms Khuntaras spoke of her life-changing grief after she'd been informed by police of the discovery of her sister's body. 'I couldn't understand what had happened,' she said. 'It is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I had to call my mother in Thailand and tell her her daughter was dead. 'I was crying every day for months we miss her every day and I don't think that feeling will ever go away.' Tammajanta was given a non-parole period of 16 years and four months. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 An increase in Russian military planes and vessels near American territory has pressured the US to relocate 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in Alaska. Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels - including two submarines - have come close to the 'last frontier' in the past week as Russia and China have conducted joint military drills, beginning on September 10. A Pentagon spokesperson said there was no cause for alarm as the aircrafts have yet to breach U.S. airspace. It's not the first time that we've seen the Russians and the Chinese flying in the vicinity and that's something that we obviously closely monitor,' Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference. 'It's also something that we're prepared to respond to, he added. Russia and China began the military exercises in the Pacific and Arctic oceans on September 10. As part of a 'force projection exercise' to Shemya Island U.S. Army soldiers board Air Force C-17 Globemaster III U.S. Army soldiers maneuver through the thick terrain of desolate island As part of a force projection operation, the U.S. Army sent soldiers to Shemya Island - some 1,200 miles southwest of the Alaskan capitol - on September 12. The soldiers brought two HIMARS to the derelict island and the U.S. military deployed a guided missile destroyer and a Coast Guard vessel. The North American Aerospace Defense Command tracked and detected Russian military planes operating off Alaska over a four-day span with two planes each day beginning on September 11. The planes operated in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone - a zone beyond U.S. sovereign airspace - but within which the U.S. expects aircraft to identify themselves. The Russian Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The number of such invasions have fluctuated yearly, NORAD reports. The average was six to seven interceptions a year though last year, 26 Russian planes came into the Alaska zone and so far this year there have been 25. In such encounters it is common for the U.S. military to provide photos of the Russian warplanes being escorted by either U.S. or Canadian planes. U.S. fighter jets intercept a Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (right) shadows a Russian submarine about 57 miles northwest of Point Hope, Alaska on September 15 However none were released in the past week and a NORAD spokeswoman, Canadian Maj. Jennie Derenzis, declined to say whether jets were scrambled to intercept the Russian planes. The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday its homeland security vessel - the 418-foot Stratton - was on routine patrol in the Chukchi Sea when it tracked four Russian Federation Navy vessels about 60 miles northwest of Point Hope, Alaska. The Russian vessels, which included two submarines, a frigate and a tugboat, had crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, which is permitted under international rules and customs. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan called for a larger military presence in the Aleutians while advocating for the U.S. to respond with strength to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the past two years, weve seen joint Russian-Chinese air and naval exercises off our shores and a Chinese spy balloon floating over our communities, Sullivan said in a statement. These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the U.S., Russia, and China. Sullivan said the U.S. Navy should reopen its shuttered base at Adak, located in the Aleutians. Naval Air Facility Adak was closed in 1997. Buffer zones outside abortion clinics in England and Wales will come into force at the end of October - including a ban on people holding silent prayer vigils outside. The move comes more than a year since MPs voted to bring in legislation seeking to ensure women do not face harassment outside clinics. Delays on implementation under the previous Conservative government centred around the issue of silent prayer, with the new Labour administration now scrapping draft guidance which would have allowed it within proposed 'safe access zones'. Campaigners supporting the new measures had raised concerns the law would be watered down in practice if silent prayer was not also banned. Anti-abortion groups argued that doing so would threaten their rights to freedom of expression and religious belief. Buffer zones outside abortion clinics in England and Wales will come into force at the end of October - pro-life campaigners are pictured at a protest in London on September 7 this year Silent prayer vigils outside abortion clinics are set to be outlawed - supporters are seen here mounting a demonstration in support of pro-life activists in Birmingham in February 2023 A pro-life demonstrator with rosary beads is pictured outside the Marie Stopes Clinic in Belfast in January 2016 The new law prohibits protests within 150m of clinics or hospitals providing abortion services in the two nations as part of the Public Order Act, which received royal assent on May 2 last year. The Home Office has said the zones will come into effect from October 31. The law will make it illegal for a person to do anything deemed to intentionally or recklessly influence someone's decision to use abortion services, obstructs them, or causes harassment or distress to someone using or working at such premises. It is understood silent prayer could come within this scope, while the police will be given discretion to decide whether behaviour meets the threshold for prosecution which carries the maximum penalty of an unlimited fine. Guidance will be published in the coming weeks by the College of Policing and Crown Prosecution Service to 'ensure there is clarity and consistency with the enforcement of the new offence', the Home Office said. Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said: 'The right to access abortion services is a fundamental right for women in this country, and no one should feel unsafe when they seek to access this. 'We will not sit back and tolerate harassment, abuse and intimidation as people exercise their legal right to healthcare, which is why we have fast-tracked this measure to get it up and running without further delay. 'For too long abortion clinics have been without these vital protections, and this Government is determined to do all we can do to make this country a safer place for women.' Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips (pictured) said: 'The right to access abortion services is a fundamental right for women in this country, and no-one should feel unsafe when they seek to access this' Women's health minister Baroness Merron said: 'The safety and wellbeing of women accessing abortion services remains our priority. 'No women should feel scared or threatened when accessing these services, and it is only right they are protected from any abuse or harassment. 'This Government will continue to work closely with NHS England, abortion providers and the wider sector to ensure that women have access to safe, high quality abortion services.' Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said she was 'hopeful' that concerns around silent prayer have been recognised. She added: 'For the safety, dignity, and wellbeing of women accessing healthcare, we must ensure that all forms of harassment are prohibited outside abortion clinics.' Louise McCudden, from MSI Reproductive Choices, said the new zones would protect women and frontline healthcare workers. She said: 'Whatever your personal views are on abortion, nobody should be harassed while accessing healthcare.' But Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said the zones threatened to remove 'vital practical support provided by volunteers outside abortion clinics, which helps to provide a genuine choice, and offers help to women who may be undergoing coercion'. And Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for faith-based advocacy group ADF International, branded the new laws 'disproportionate and ill-defined'. He said: 'Already, three individuals have been prosecuted within the last two years for nothing more than praying silently in their minds near an abortion clinic. 'We all stand strongly against harassment, but the ban on "influencing" mandated by the Government is open to abuse. 'Unless there is clarity that there is a protected human right to freedom of thought, and to engage in consensual conversation, innocent people could be wrongly criminalised.' Legislation creating buffer zones around abortion clinics in Scotland, banning any protests or vigils there, is due to come into force next Tuesday. In Northern Ireland, safe access zones at health service locations which offer abortion and birth control services came into effect last September. A Christian charity volunteer was last month awarded a 13,000 payout and an apology from police after being arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce issued a claim against West Midlands Police for two wrongful arrests and false imprisonments; assault and battery in relation to an intrusive search of her person; and for a breach of her human rights in 2022 and 2023. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a Christian charity volunteer, was last month awarded 13,000 and an apology from police after being arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic Ms Vaughan-Spruce was first arrested in November 2022 for praying in a 'buffer zone' outside the BPAS Robert Clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham. Just weeks after she was found not guilty by Birmingham Magistrates Court, she was arrested a second time for silently praying outside the same clinic in February 2023. Officers from West Midlands Police told her at the time that 'engaging in prayer' was 'the offence' after she insisted she was 'not protesting'. But police later said there would be 'no further investigation' into the incident and apologised to her. EXCLUSIVE Andrew O'Keefe shocked his TV co-stars by embarking on a brazen, drug-fuelled bender at a Logie Awards night barely 72 hours after his 'deeply devout' firebrand father died. Daily Mail Australia can reveal the notorious episode - well-known within the industry - marked the start of the self-destructive behaviour that eventually ended the former Seven star's career, marriage and relationship with his children. Close friends fear the one-time TV golden boy has now descended so far into 'the grip of an addiction he can't beat' he would be better off behind bars for his own safety. One concerned colleague, who worked alongside O'Keefe for more than a decade at Seven, said the unravelling entertainer had confided that he harboured a deep-seated resentment against his father right up to his dying days. He said O'Keefe - affectionately known as AOK among friends - told him he endured a 'traumatic childhood' and blamed his strict Supreme Court judge dad for failing to support him through his troubles as a young boy. 'AOK told me he had a really f***ed-up childhood,' the colleague told Daily Mail Australia. 'A lot of his trauma relates to the emotional abuse inflicted by his father - there was never anything physical - but he absolutely ignored the pain Andrew was going through. Andrew O'Keefe arrives at Rose Bay police station on Monday following his latest run-in with the law The former Seven star was once TV's golden boy and a regular fixture at the Logie Awards, which he attended, alongside his then wife Eleanor Campbell, in 2012 Colleagues claim O'Keefe was 'off his head' and 'out of control' at the awards night in 2014 - just three days after his Supreme Court judge dad Barry O'Keefe died in Sydney 'From what he told me, his dad was this deranged Mel Gibson-type religious zealot and he would hold his own private Catholic masses in their home. 'He never forgave him for neglecting him in his time of need and never learned how to properly deal with all that pent-up rage. 'Now he's in the grip of an addiction he can't beat, and he's pouring through the money he made [while at Seven] and what he got from the sale of his properties. 'He's cut many of us out of his life and surrounded himself with a new circle of friends who are happy to get high with him, supply him with drugs and bleed him dry. 'It's f***ing tragic - maybe going to jail will be the best thing for him, I don't know - we're all just really worried about him and how this will all end.' O'Keefe was at the height of his powers - and raking in about $800,000 a year for his dual roles hosting Seven's hit game show The Chase Australia and the Weekend Sunrise breakfast news program - when his father died on April 24, 2014. Barry O'Keefe had been a respected Supreme Court justice for more than a decade in NSW and was an influential member of Australia's Roman Catholic community. He played a key role in organising the church's response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and remained chairman of the church's Truth, Justice and Healing Council until his death. O'Keefe was at the height of his powers - and earning $800,000 a year as the host of Seven's The Chase Australia and Weekend Sunrise - when his father died in 2014 Barry O'Keefe was a respected former Supreme Court judge and influential figure within Australia's Roman Catholic community In recognition of his service to the Holy See and Catholic Church, Pope Francis made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great two days before he died at the age of 80. Although Barry O'Keefe was widely revered in the eyes of his local community, the same could not be said for those of his television star son. Three days after his father's death, Andrew O'Keefe shocked colleagues by rocking up to the TV Week Logie Awards at Crown casino in Melbourne, where they recall him being 'completely off his head' and 'out of control'. Daily Mail Australia has spoken with a number of TV personalities who confessed they did drugs with the tortured star that night - though, they were quick to add they had been totally unaware of his already deteriorating mental state at the time. 'Andrew already had a reputation for being a bit of a party animal by that stage - he was the bloke to see if you wanted to have a good time,' one Seven star said. 'But he was just completely brazen that night - when you went up to him, he opened up his suit jacket unprompted, and pointed to various pockets [containing different drugs], saying, "Well, what do you want?" 'Next thing, we are in the disabled toilets doing lines of coke and MDMA. 'It wasn't a secret - everyone knew what was going on. And it wasn't just me, it was other people from Seven, people from Nine, everywhere. He was the go-to guy.' O'Keefe and his ex-wife Eleanor in happier times before they eventually split in late 2017 Another Logie attendee, who revealed she had also done drugs with O'Keefe that night, said his behaviour was so overt it had become industry-wide legend. 'He was really cutting loose - and he was sorting everyone out,' she said. 'It's not like he was dealing drugs or anything, he was just constantly racking stuff up and taking people to the toilets with him. 'But it's TV and it's the Logie Awards - so of course no one's going to say anything.' The infamous episode marked the beginning of the end for O'Keefe and, as he started to spiral, it wasn't long before the cracks began to show publicly. In May 2017, worried viewers noted he looked 'tired and emotional' while fronting Weekend Sunrise's live coverage as convicted Bali drug mule Schapelle Corby returned to Australia. The lawyer-turned-TV-presenter appeared to slur his speech throughout the broadcast, slouched in his chair and occasionally burst into random fits of laughter. At one point, O'Keefe's co-host, Angela Cox, joked his behaviour was 'confusing' her, while at another he was seen blatantly checking his mobile phone during a live cross with one of the program's reporters. O'Keefe's bizarre behaviour began attracting unwanted public attention in early 2017 By the end of the year, O'Keefe confirmed the inevitable amid growing speculation his bizarre conduct was fuelling tension on the set of Weekend Sunrise. After 12 years in the hot seat, he was leaving the program - but would remain host of Seven's weeknight game show The Chase Australia. O'Keefe told viewers he had made the difficult decision to step away from Sunrise so he could spend more time with his 'real family' - then wife Eleanor Campbell and their three children, Barnaby, Rory and Olivia. What he did not reveal until much later was that, by that stage, he had already split from the mother of his three children. Any chance of reconciliation ended the following September after a series of scandalous images of O'Keefe in compromising positions with young women were leaked to the public. In one video Woman's Day posted online, O'Keefe was seen closing his eyes as he kissed an unnamed 21-year-old student in Hobart, with the magazine claiming it was captured while he had been 'partying for 48 hours'. The magazine also published photos of O'Keefe posing with a scantily-clad young woman at a separate party in Cairns. In one of the photos, the curly-haired woman lifts up her crop top to reveal her breast, while Andrew presses his bare nipple against hers. O'Keefe told the Herald Sun at the time he felt disappointed and betrayed that the images had been made public. 'I am not the only person in the world who has gone out and had a big night and done things that in the light of day look a little silly, so I don't carry any shame around that at all,' he said. 'But it is embarrassing when your kids have to see that kind of thing, of course it is.' O'Keefe made the first of his now regular, high-profile court appearances six months later, in March 2019, when he pleaded guilty to driving an unregistered convertible belonging to his estranged wife in Sydney's eastern suburbs. The relatively unremarkable charge was overshadowed by his bizarre behaviour outside court where he was accused of swearing and physically lashing out at a photographer. At work, his progressively offbeat antics were also coming under scrutiny. His TV bosses even stumped up for a security guard chaperone to ferry him to and from ITV studios in Melbourne - and keep him out of trouble - while filming episodes of The Chase Australia; only for one to complain he had caught O'Keefe smoking ice in the back seat. Although O'Keefe denied that allegation, Seven ended up paying for him to take an extended leave of absence from The Chase Australia and check into a mental health facility for two months in April 2019 to address his 'emotional exhaustion'. After returning to work in June, O'Keefe admitted he had found himself 'questioning what [life] is all about' and hinted that he had been self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. 'In life, we have several choices on how to deal with things, and some people work their way through their pain, or turn to alcohol or drugs or eating,' he said. 'And I feel very lucky that in this country, we have these institutions and the expertise to be able to deal with those things and get on top of it.' His improved outlook didn't last long. Andrew O'Keefe leaves a Sydney rehabilitation clinic after one of his many stints in treatment In February 2020, Seven was again forced to hit pause on the production of The Chase Australia 'for a couple of months' to give O'Keefe time to deal with his 'health issues'. Game show colleagues claimed he had been behaving aggressively, turning up late to meetings and having drugs delivered to the studio - all allegations he has denied. The following January he was dumped from the program entirely after he was charged over allegations he had slapped, kicked and spat on his new girlfriend during a row about an ice pipe she claimed he was carrying at a friend's party. Two of the charges were dismissed on mental health grounds - although his lawyers indicated he would have otherwise pleaded guilty to them - while a third assault charge was withdrawn by prosecutors. Since then, O'Keefe has become a regular fixture at court, spent months in jail on remand, and undergone extensive - and expensive - stints in first-class rehab centres. O'Keefe sold off his Art Deco flat in this boutique building in Sydney's Paddington for $731,000 Later the former Seven star also parted with his sprawling North Bondi home for $6million O'Keefe previously shared the two-storey home with ex-wife Eleanor and their three children He was forced to sell his apartment in Sydney's trendy Paddington for $731,000 and later his palatial North Bondi home for $6million to help fund his ongoing treatment. The 52-year-old now leads a far more modest life, and resides in an 'old school' block of flats in nearby Vaucluse, where he pays $800 a week in rent. But friends worry about what will happen when his money - or luck - runs out. Their concerns are understandable. O'Keefe's hard-partying rock and roll uncle Johnny O'Keefe battled similar demons before dying of a drug overdose in Sydney in October 1978. And last Saturday, Andrew O'Keefe almost suffered the same fate after overdosing on heroin in his eastern Sydney apartment. Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge says O'Keefe's case is 'absolutely tragic' and 'absolutely sad' Paramedics managed to save his life before rushing him to St Vincent's Hospital in nearby Darlinghurst in the early hours of the morning. After being released, he was arrested and charged with drug possession and breach of bail. He was not present in court when his matter was heard on Tuesday and his lawyer did not apply for bail, meaning O'Keefe will have to remain in custody on remand. But magistrate Jacqueline Milledge's message to the fallen TV star was blunt: 'He's lucky to be alive...if he wants to stay alive (staying in jail) is the best thing to do.' 'God help him, and it's a shame he doesn't have an epiphany.' O'Keefe will spend the next three weeks in custody. What happens after that will be decided when he returns to court once more on October 10. BBC boss Tim Davie has admitted TV stars have been allowed to get away with 'certain behaviours' in the wake of the recent Huw Edwards scandal. The broadcaster's director-general says it is a 'constant work in progress' when asked if their highly paid stars are 'indulged and excused'. The admission came on the back of ex-newsreader Edwards' sentencing for child sex crimes in which he was sent 41 sick videos by convicted paedophile Alex Williams. The 63-year-old walked out of Westminster magistrates' court this week with his 'life in tatters' having been handed a suspended jail term. Mr Davie told the BBC's Amol Rajan during an interview at the Royal Television Society that the Edwards scandal would impact the corporation's reputation but said they would not be removing footage of the former news anchor from its archive. BBC boss Tim Davie has admitted TV stars have got away with 'certain behaviours' in the wake of the recent Huw Edwards scandal The admission came on the back of ex-newsreader Edwards' sentencing for child sex crimes in which he was sent 41 sick videos by convicted paedophile Alex Williams The BBC has been hit with a raft of other scandals in the last year. The once touted future Match of the Day presenter Jermaine Jenas, 41, was sacked last month for sending 'inappropriate messages' to two female colleagues. The married father-of-four later admitted it left him feeling ashamed. While Strictly Come Dancing's milestone 20th anniversary series has been marred by abuse claims. Italian dancer Graziano Di Prima was sacked in July for 'kicking' his partner, Love Island star Zara McDermott. It came after actress Amanda Abbington unexpectedly quit the show last October before claiming her partner Giovanni Pernice was abusive towards her. Pernice denies the claims. A BBC review into the claims is yet to be published with the show returning to television screens last Saturday. Mr Davie was asked whether there was 'one rule for famous people and one rule for young members of staff', reported the Telegraph. Although he insisted the corporation had 'moved on enormously' in the last three decades, he admitted: 'There is still something about businesses where you've got these people we often say that a person is creatively brilliant but it comes with certain behaviours. The once touted future Match of the Day presenter Jermaine Jenas , 41, was sacked last month for sending 'inappropriate messages' to two female colleagues. Actress Amanda Abbington unexpectedly quit Strictly Come Dancing last October before claiming her partner Giovanni Pernice was abusive towards her. Pernice denies the claims Strictly's Italian dancer Graziano Di Prima was sacked in July for 'kicking' his partner, Love Island star Zara McDermott 'One of the things I want to do in the next stage of this voyage as director-general I really would love to be at a point where we really get beyond this. You use crisis to move yourself on.' Pressed again on the perception that bad behaviour has been 'indulged and excused' he said: 'It's a constant work in progress.' He said it was 'not a difficult decision' to say Edwards would never return to the BBC again having been convicted 'of appalling crimes'. 'The secret life this guy was leading what we've seen is shocking,' Mr Davie said, before adding: 'There is no doubt that an affair like this impacts our reputation. We're very mindful that people's trust in the BBC is absolutely essential.' Edwards' BBC ex-colleagues were said to be disgusted by his crimes and believe he should have been sent to prison and forced to give back the 200,000 he was paid by their bosses after his arrest. He was spared jail after admitting three charges of 'making' indecent photographs of children, some as young as seven. Edwards sent hundreds of pounds to Williams as a 'thank you' after he sent him the vile photos and videos, some of which he called 'amazing'. The disgraced broadcaster had also told the convicted paedophile 'go on' when asked if he wanted 'naughty pics and vids' of somebody described as young. Edwards also wrote 'yes xxx' when he was asked by Williams if he wanted sexual images of a person whose 'age could be discerned as being between 14 and 16'. He was also sent two pornographic videos of a child aged between seven and nine-years-old. A BBC spokesperson said after its former broadcaster Edwards was sentenced: 'We are appalled by his crimes. He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him.' A mugshot released of the presenter by Scotland Yard showed him staring at the camera The former news anchor leaves court with his life and career in tatters Edwards held his hands together and steadied himself as Chief Magistrate, district judge Paul Goldspring, spared him jail Huw Edwards leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court after being spared jail Edwards was previously anchor of News at Ten and one of Britain's most prominent newsreaders One former colleague told MailOnline this week: 'He should be in prison. He was chatting with a paedo for four years who then sent him child porn. And he didn't go to the police. Yet he's in court trying to suggest he is a victim. It would be laughable if it wasn't so abhorrent'. Another insider said that Edwards' crimes were 'so sick'. Edwards, who resigned from the BBC in April, has been asked to repay the 200,000 salary he has received since his arrest. He has so far refused. And will also keep his pension. BBC staff have described being 'warned' about 'thin-skinned' Edwards when they started working there - and said that he should be put in prison for what he has done. Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall said that when she joined the corporation, she was given specific advice about how to handle the disgraced newsreader. 'You can be funny', they said. 'But don't be funnier than Huw',', adding: 'You can be clever, but don't be too clever',' Ms Razzall revealed. The BBC recently announced it had commissioned an independent review into workplace culture after Edwards was charged with the offences. A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: 'We remain concerned about the potential for inappropriate workplace behaviour, particularly in creative and editorial environments. 'Whilst challenges related to power imbalances in the workplace are a challenge for multiple employers, the BBC must hold itself to the highest standards. 'The BBC has clearly articulated values and a strong code of conduct and there has been much progress in recent years. 'That said, the Board will commission an independent review that will make recommendations on practical steps that could strengthen a workplace culture in line with BBC Values. 'The review will include work already being undertaken within the BBC, as well as working with the rest of the industry as appropriate. We will set out terms of reference and leadership of this review in early September. 'The review will report to the Board within months, and will be published.' A man who briefly went missing on a charity walk from Darwin to Perth has been revealed as having been convicted of multiple fraud offences in Queensland. A supporter of Zac Chapman, 29, contacted the police last week when they became concerned for his welfare. The police searched for him on a remote section of the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley region of WA and found his abandoned trolley and water around midday near the Durack River Crossing in 40C heat. They then found Chapman less than an hour later at Ellenbrae station, 25km away, and brought him to Kununurra, the West Australian reported. It has since emerged that in August 2020 Chapman was jailed for two years after pleading guilty in Cairns Magistrate Court to 31 fraud-related charges. He had used the online trading site Gumtree to make false advertisements about goods for sale and then took deposits and payments for items that were never supplied. Police estimated that Chapman made tens of thousands of dollars from the scam. At the time he was charged, Detective Acting Inspector Jason Smith alleged that one of Chapman's 'methods of operation' was that he would respond to people that wanted to buy a product. Zac Chapman, who briefly went missing on a charity walk from Darwin to Perth, has been revealed as having been convicted of multiple fraud offences in Queensland 'He would make contact and say that he had that item for sale. Once they sent payment the fictitious item was never sent,' the inspector told the Cairns Post. When he went missing last week, Chapman was trying to walk from Darwin to Perth on his own to raise money for the Black Dog Institute, a mental health charity. The charity said he is a registered fundraiser who had raised $32,450 as of September 11, but on Monday Chapman posted on Facebook that 'I do stand by my decision to no longer walk'. 'Not because I'm giving up or anything as such, a few things happened, a few things you know about and a few things you don't. 'I simply just want to be on my own and to focus on myself which is something I haven't done for a VERY long time.' In another post Chapman discussed his past convictions for fraud saying: 'I have no shame in speaking about my past. 'I made significant leaps and bounds to be the best version of myself that I can be.' On Wednesday afternoon, he posted that he was 'gonna go live on here soon have a chat with you all and explain this f***** situation'. Chapman halted his attempt to walk from Melbourne to Perth earlier this year due to 'personal health reasons,' a Black Dog Institute spokesperson told The Kimberley Echo. In August 2020 Chapman was jailed for two years after pleading guilty in Cairns Magistrate Court to 31 fraud-related charges Chapman had a do-it-yourself funding-raising page allowing people to develop their own challenges to raise money for the charity. 'All funds through this platform are directly donated to the Black Dog Institute,' the spokesperson said. Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Chapman defrauded or is suspected of defrauding any donors in relation to his abandoned fundraising. Chapman and the Black Dog Institute have been contacted for further comment. Advertisement Hezbollah's leader has today accused Israel of making a 'declaration of war' after two days of deadly explosions to pagers, walkie-talkies and solar panels which has killed dozens of people and left thousands injured in Lebanon. Hassan Nasrallah made a televised address to the nation in which he said women and children were targeted in an operation designed to kill thousands 'in minutes'. It comes as Israel 's defence minister Yoav Gallant declared a 'new phase' of war after nearly a year of cross-border fighting with Hezbollah. Israel has been accused of orchestrating the sophisticated operation to blow up devices but has so far not claimed responsibility. Our live coverage has now ended but for a full recap see below A pager bomb attack that left roughly 2,800 Hezbollah members and civilians injured and 12 dead in Lebanon and Syria yesterday was authored by Israel's Mossad spy agency and the IDF, several security sources claim. The Lebanese group earlier this year ordered thousands of pagers to conduct communications after leader Hassan Nasrallah declared smartphones would be more susceptible to cyber attacks by Israeli forces. Israeli military and intelligence personnel managed to access 5,000 pagers 'at the production level' and insert a small amount of high explosives months before they were imported to Lebanon, according to several security sources who spoke to Reuters. 'The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner,' a Lebanese security source said. The source claimed Hezbollah ordered the pagers from a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo, but executives there said the devices were actually manufactured and sold under licence by BAC Consulting in Budapest, Hungary. Elijah J. Magnier, a Brussels-based senior political risk analyst, later said he spoke with Hezbollah members who had examined pagers that failed to explode. The pagers appeared to receive a coded error message sent to all the devices that caused them to vibrate and beep for some 10 seconds. When the user pressed the pager's button to cancel the alert, the explosives were detonated - a design that would ensure the pager was being held by the user at the time of the blast to inflict maximum damage. The months-long operation by Mossad and the IDF represents an unprecedented security breach for Hezbollah, which vowed to exact revenge on Israel and continue its support for ally Hamas amid the ongoing war in Gaza. 'The resistance will continue today, like any other day, its operations to support Gaza, its people and its resistance which is a separate path from the harsh punishment that the criminal enemy (Israel) should await in response to Tuesday's massacre,' a statement read. A US security official today said that the attack was planned for a later date as part of an 'all-out offensive' against Hezbollah, but Israel chose to detonate the devices early amid concerns the Lebanese group had become aware of the plan. 'It was a use it or lose it moment,' the source told Axios on condition of anonymity. Pagers used by Hezbollah members for vital communications exploded yesterday, injuring thousands A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 The stunning incident saw scores of Hezbollah members severely injured throughout southern Lebanon and in its capital Beirut Chaotic scenes inside hospitals in Lebanon are seen yesterday evening following blasts A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded on September 17, 2024 This security footage shows the moment a man's pager blew up in a supermarket Hsu Ching-kuang (L), head of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, speaks to the media outside the company's office in New Taipei City on September 18, 2024. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo on September 18 denied a report that it had produced thousands of explosive-packed pagers The string of detonations, which began around 3:30pm local time yesterday and continued for roughly an hour, gave way to widespread panic and chaos across Beirut's southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and even in neighbouring Syria. Shocking video footage showed how unsuspecting targets reached for their pagers, only to be blown off their feet by an unexpected and violent explosion. Victims were seen writhing in agony with hideous injuries to their faces, abdomens and even their groins in harrowing images and videos shared to social media and published on Lebanese networks. Among the 12 people reportedly killed were two girls, aged eight and ten, and several Hezbollah fighters, as well as the son of a Lebanese MP. Iran later confirmed its ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, sustained injuries to his face and hand. More than 2,800 people were ultimately injured in the blasts, 300 of whom were rushed to hospital in critical condition. Early speculation in the wake of the blasts suggested an Israeli hack could have overloaded the lithium ion batteries powering the pagers, which can burn up to 590 degrees celsius (1,100 F) when ignited. But a slew of security sources and experts have since determined the detonations were caused by an Israeli operation that disrupted the supply chain and inserted explosives into the pagers that were subsequently remotely activated by the coded error message. A former British Army bomb disposal officer explained that an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge. 'A pager has three of those already,' explained the ex-officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he now works as a consultant with clients on the Middle East. 'You would only need to add the detonator and the charge.' By the time of the attack, 'the battery was probably half-explosive and half-actual battery,' said Carlos Perez, director of security intelligence at TrustedSec. Security camera footage shared to social media yesterday appeared to show the moment on Israel sent out its deadly message. A Hezbollah member was seen confusedly lifting his shirt up at a supermarket after his pager, concealed just above his hip, began beeping and lighting up. The device suddenly exploded, crumpling him to the floor as supermarket workers and fellow shoppers panicked and fled. 'Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge,' said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert. This signals involvement of a state actor, Moorhouse said. He added that Israel's foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, is the most obvious suspect to have the resources to carry out such an attack. A Hezbollah statement said: 'After examining all the facts, current data, and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that targeted civilians too.' Israel has declined to comment on the explosions. The head office of the BAC Consulting KFT company is pictured on September 18, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Ambulances arrive to American University of Beirut Medical Centre (AUBMC) yesterday A man donates blood as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source A man donates blood under a tent in Beirut's southern suburb on September 17, 2024 following the series of explosions across Lebanon Lebanon's crisis operations centre, which is run by the health ministry, asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help cope with the massive numbers of wounded coming in for urgent care In February, Hezbollah drew up a war plan that aimed to address gaps in the group's intelligence infrastructure. Around 170 fighters had already been killed in targeted Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including one senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut. In a televised speech on February 13, the group's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah sternly warned supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, saying they should break, bury or lock them in an iron box. Instead, the group opted to distribute pagers to Hezbollah members across the group's various branches - from fighters to medics working in its relief services. Initial reports suggested the pagers ordered by Hezbollah were supplied by a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo. But executives this morning said the company had only authorised its brand on the devices, and that they were manufactured and sold by Hungary's BAC Consulting KFT. 'Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorisation and regional agency cooperation with BAC,' a statement read. 'According to the agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for production sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.' Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists this morning that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. The CEO of BAC Consulting, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, says on her LinkedIn profile that she has worked as an advisor for various organisations including UNESCO. She was contacted by NBC and confirmed her company worked with Gold Apollo, but added cryptically: 'I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong,' before hanging up. The AR-924 pager ordered by Hezbollah, advertised as being 'rugged,' contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo's website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive text messages of up to 100 characters. It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life - a crucial factor in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common as the tiny nation on the Mediterranean Sea has faced years of economic collapse. Yesterday's shocking incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for more than 11 months against the backdrop of war between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza. The clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. On Tuesday, Israel said that halting Hezbollah's attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal. Israel has killed Hamas militants in the past with booby trapped cellphones and it's widely believed to have been behind the Stuxnet computer virus attack on Iran's nuclear program in 2010. The sudden and unexpected detonations gave way to widespread panic and chaotic scenes in images shared on social media and broadcast by Lebanese and Israeli outlets Civil Defence first-responders carry a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Ambulances arrive to American University of Beirut Medical Centre in the wake of the explosions Doctors and bystanders await the arrival of victims injured by exploding pagers People gather outside a hospital, as more than 3,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024 Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the village of Blida in southern Lebanon, as seen from an undisclosed location in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 17 September 2024 The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept an attack from Lebanon over the Galilee region, near Kiryat Shmona, as seen from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 BREAKING via Reuters Hundreds of members of Hezbollah were seriously wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded. Here is one video of one of the pager explosions. pic.twitter.com/UDepHvkkEe Yashar Ali (@yashar) September 17, 2024 The sudden explosions across southern Lebanon Tuesday afternoon came hours after an Israeli strike on Lebanon killed three people, the health ministry said. Israeli forces have traded near-daily fire with the Iran-backed Lebanese group since its ally Hamas launched the October 7 attacks on Israel, triggering the war in Gaza. The health ministry said an 'Israeli enemy strike' on the border village of Blida killed 'three people and wounded two', without specifying if they were fighters or civilians. Israel's military said its air force 'eliminated three terrorists' from Hezbollah who were at a 'terrorist infrastructure site' in the Blida area. Hezbollah did not immediately announce any fighters had been killed, but claimed a series of attacks on Israeli troops and positions near the border on Tuesday. The NNA reported several Israeli attacks in the south of the country. The latest deaths came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the political-security cabinet had 'updated the goals of the war' to include 'the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes'. Almost a year of cross-border violence has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that 'military action' was the 'only way left to ensure the return of Israel's northern communities'. The violence has killed some 627 people in Lebanon, including at least 141 civilians. On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians. Hezbollah has repeatedly said that only a ceasefire in Gaza will put an end to its attacks, and diplomatic activity in recent months has sought to avert all-out war. Lucy Letby told the mother of a premature baby boy that she thought he was going to die - moments after she injected him with air to murder him. The woman, herself a GP, had been woken in the middle of a night by panicked nurses after her son, known as Baby C, unexpectedly collapsed. She was rushed into the neo-natal unit where doctors were frantically trying to resuscitate the infant and asked by a nurse, who she had never seen before: 'Would you like me to call a priest?' 'Even though I was faced with a situation where my son was having CPR, I was still quite confused and disorientated as to what was going on, and until I was asked that question, it really didn't hit me that there was a chance he was going to die,' she told the public inquiry into Letby's crimes at the Countess of Chester Hospital. The mother said: 'I asked her. I said, you know, 'Do you think he's going to die?' And she said, 'Yes, I think so.' And at the time - you know, as I say, I didn't know this nurse's name, I hadn't seen her before, but I believe this was Lucy Letby.' Lucy Letby (pictured) is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims Her son was the second baby boy murdered by Letby, 34, in the space of a week, in June 2015. He had been born 10 weeks premature, weighing just 1lbs 12oz, by Caesarean section following a difficult pregnancy where his growth was restricted in the womb. Although he was small, the inquiry was told he wasn't expected to die and medics were baffled by his sudden collapse and death. Letby killed him when he was four days old by injecting air into stomach via his feeding tube and compromising his breathing. Also at the inquiry yesterday, the mother of another baby murdered by Letby was praised by a judge for 'never giving up' trying to find out why her daughter died. Lady Justice Thirlwall told the sobbing woman she had 'done everything' for her child. Lady Justice Thirlwall, pictured last Monday, is chairing the inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall A court artist's sketch of Lucy Letby giving evidence at Manchester Crown Court on July 24 Known as Baby D, she was the third tot murdered by the neo-natal nurse at the hospital in two weeks. During three hours of emotional testimony yesterday the mother, who cannot be named, said she contemplated suicide and thought she was 'losing her mind' because 'nothing made sense' about her baby's sudden death in June 2015. She fought to access her daughter's medical notes, rejected doctor's explanations for her cause of death and demanded an inquest. The mother even hired a solicitor and suggested police be called in, but was initially told it was not a criminal matter. Lady Justice Thirlwall, who is heading an inquiry into Letby's crimes, told her: 'At great personal cost you have never given up and your evidence to the inquiry leaves everyone listening in no doubt of your determination and persistence on behalf of your daughter and for you and your husband. 'You have done everything you could.' Lady Justice Thirlwall at Liverpool Town Hall on Monday last week ahead of the hearings Body worn camera footage from Cheshire Constabulary of the arrest of Lucy Letby in 2018 The hearing in Liverpool was told that Baby D was born three weeks early, weighing 6lbs 14oz. She was being treated on the unit for an infection when Letby attacked her three times in a single night shift, finally killing her with an injection of air. The mother also said CCTV inside the hospital nursery could have prevented the murder. Every hospital in England with a neo-natal unit has been asked as part of the inquiry if they have considered installing CCTV in the wake of Letby's killing spree. Baby D's mother said she never had a conversation with Letby, but described feeling 'very uneasy' in her presence and that she 'stood out' as 'odd'. On the night her daughter died, she remembered Letby 'doing nothing useful' as medics fought desperately to save her baby, adding: 'She was just looking at us crumbling and crying.' The investigation at Liverpool Town Hall (pictured last week) is examining how Letby was able to attack babies on the Countess and Chester Hospital's neo-natal unit in 2015 and 2016 She also described how the doctor trying to revive her daughter had a phone to his ear while he was performing CPR and she later found out that staff had mistakenly believed it was another victim, Baby B, who had collapsed, not Baby D, and the other child's mother had been called in error. Letby had attacked twins Baby A and Baby B a week earlier, killing Baby A. Baby D's mother suggested the confusion was created 'maliciously' by Letby. Baby D's mother said that after her daughter died, things just 'didn't add up'. Doctors had said the child was responding to antibiotics, but the official cause of death was given as an overwhelming infection. 'I just didn't know if what I was doing was right but I kept thinking, 'this is my daughter's voice, I can't give up here, so I will carry on even if I am on my own'.' She accused the hospital of hiding information from the coroner. The inquiry has heard that a report carried out by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health that was sent to parents in April 2017 had sections relating to Letby removed. Baby D's mother said that if she had known suspicions about a member of staff had been raised, she would have gone to the police herself. She added: 'If I wasn't failed in the first place by the Countess, my daughter wouldn't have ended up in intensive care, I wouldn't have ended up poorly and destroyed, and she wouldn't have been in a place where someone was preying on babies.' A huge mushroom cloud billowed high above an 'indestructible' arms depot in Russia as Ukraine launched a devastating kamikaze drone strike overnight. Shocking footage showed the extent of damage as an explosion ripped through two missile and ammunition hubs some 235 miles west of Moscow. Repeated fireball explosions followed the initial strikes as Putin lost tens of millions of pounds worth of materiel to be funnelled into his war effort in Ukraine. A mass evacuation of residents in Toropets and nearby villages was underway this morning after facilities containing up to 30,000 tons of munitions were hit. Russia claimed to have destroyed 54 drones launched early on Wednesday towards five western Russian regions. No information on casualties was given. Flames shot into the sky early Wednesday as Ukrainian drones pummelled the site in Toropets Russian state media reported that the site was home to a major munition hub used for the war Fires spread after kamikaze drones hit the missile and ammunition site in Toropets According to an RIA state news agency report from 2018, Russia was building an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets, a 1,000-year-old town, which has a population of just over 11,000. Upon completion, Putin's deputy defence minister General Dmitry Bulgakov vowed that 'it protects missiles and munitions from outside impact and ensures proper upkeep. It is explosion and fire proof.' Bulgakov has since been arrested in a Putin purge of top defence ministry officials amid wide-ranging corruption allegations. NASA satellites picked up several sources emanating from the site in early Wednesday hours and earthquake monitoring stations picked up what sensors thought was a minor earthquake in the area. Fire fighters were trying to contain the fire, Igor Rudenya, the governor of the Tver region, said in a post on the Telegram. He did not say what was burning. He initially wrote: 'air defence forces continue to repel a massive drone attack in the sky above [Toropets].' Later his regional government said that 'in order to ensure the safety of residents, the governor decided to partially evacuate the population from the territory where air defence forces are working and the fire is being localised'. Schools and kindergartens in the area were also ordered to close today due to ongoing explosions and toxic smoke. Residents of the town complained no alerts sounded about incoming kamikaze drones. As well as the main inferno after the mushroom cloud explosion, there were several more fires following the drone onslaught, according to satellite data and local footage. The fires then spread. Multiple depots containing up to 240 tons of missiles, ammunition and explosives were built in Toropets. Ukrainian war journalist Denis Kazansky said: 'The scale of the detonation of the warehouse in the Tver region is impressive. 'The 107th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Federation is on fire.' The depots 'stored rockets for MLRS, mortar mines and anti-aircraft missiles', he said. 'In total, the volume of stockpiles is estimated at 30,000 tons.' It is possible that North Korean and Iranian missiles were among those that exploded and incinerated. Bulgakov had boasted that the arsenal 'will hide missiles, munitions and explosives in concrete and rapidly assembled warehouses. 'It will ease the overload on existing facilities, minimise terrorist threat and improve the environment in the storage area'. Kindergartens had to be closed on Wednesday as toxic smoke plumed above the town Residents of the town complained no alerts sounded about incoming kamikaze drones Fire fighters were trying to contain the fire, the regional governor admitted on Wednesday The facility is some 285 miles from the Ukrainian border. As usual in such strikes, Russian officials explained the detonations as being due to falling drone debris after air defences hit incoming UAVs. In reality, these are usually direct hits by Ukraine evading air defences. Russian officials rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks. As Ukraine has ramped up its domestic drone production over the past two years, it has increased attacks on Russian territory. Ukraine's biggest-ever drone attack struck the Russian capital in September, killing at least one, wrecking homes and disrupting flights at Moscow's airports. The sentence given to disgraced BBC star Huw Edwards cannot be reviewed or increased despite a barrage of complaints calling it too lenient. The former news presenter received a six-month suspended sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to possessing indecent images of children as young as seven. The outcome sparked outrage from campaign groups, who said it was 'ludicrous, absurd and embarrassing' that he was allowed to walk out of court instead of being sent immediately to prison. Lord Richard Hermer KC, who is the Attorney General and the government's top legal advisor, is understood to have received multiple complaints from members of the public and politicians, including Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat, urging him to refer the case to the Court of Appeal. However, current rules mean that Edwards' case cannot be referred to appeal court judges, sparking calls for them to be changed. Huw Edwards, pictured here looking gaunt in his police mugshot, received a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years on Monday The former news presenter, pictured here leaving court after his sentencing on Monday, has pleaded guilty to possessing 41 indecent images of children The former BBC star, pictured here at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday in a court sketch, breathed a sigh of relieve when told he wouldn't be sent to prison immediately When cases are referred to the Court of Appeal, judges can increase sentences if they believe they have been unduly lenient. But, according to the Attorney General's office, only sentences handed down by Crown Courts can be looked at under the scheme. As the married father-of-five was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court, this means his case is ineligible to be referred. It has sparked more fury among victims campaigners, with Dame Vera Baird, the former Labour solicitor general, telling The Telegraph: 'It seems odd that there is a workable scheme for unduly lenient sentences in the Crown Court which the public can ask the Attorney General to consider. 'Yet, there is nothing that could help a member of the public who was a victim of what could be a very serious assault or sexual abuse or any interested party to make a formal application on a sentence in the magistrates' court.' Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, told the paper that the 'pathetic sentence' meant there could be grounds for a retrial. He said: 'I believe the Crown Prosecution Service or Attorney General can ask for retrial by Crown Court judge acting as District Judge since it was wrongly allocated to magistrates' court under section 66 of Courts Act 2003. If not then rules must be changed. Should never have been dealt with at such a low court.' An analysis of official data by the paper found that more than 7,000 people caught with child sex abuse images have avoided prison in the last three years, with fewer than 20 per cent of those convicted being put behind bars with the rest given suspended or community sentences. Huw Edwards leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court with his legal team following his sentencing on Monday Alex Williams, pictured here as a teenager on a family trip to a Welsh beauty spot, shared indecent images with Huw Edwards that led to the newsreader's downfall In a letter to Lord Hermer, Tom Tugendhat called for the Attorney General to consider reviewing the case Last night shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat wrote to Lord Hermer to raise concerns about how the former television anchor was able to escape an immediate custodial sentence. What does 'making' indecent images mean? Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of 'making' indecent images of children in July. The Crown Prosecution Service says it can include: opening an email attachment containing an image downloading an image from a website to a screen storing an image on a computer accessing a pornographic website in which an image appears in an automatic 'pop-up' window receiving an image via social media, even if unsolicited and even if part of a group or live-streaming images of children A court must also decide whether an offence calls into the category of possession, distribution or production. Advertisement He said the decision appeared to be 'inconsistent' with the guidelines for Edwards' offence, which usually carries custodial time. 'It is crucial that sentences serve as a deterrent and reflect the serious nature of these crimes,' he said. 'As a national household name, the country have been shocked by the criminal activities of Mr Edwards. I am sure that they will be looking to the Government to lead by example and ensure that heinous crimes are punished swiftly and appropriately,' he added. 'I urge you to formally review this case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. A reassessment would not only address public concern but also reinforce our commitment to protecting vulnerable individuals and upholding justice.' Edwards had faced a potential prison sentence on Monday as he appeared in court after being sent 41 indecent images of children by convicted paedophile Alex Williams. The 63-year-old had wired thousands of pounds to Williams, who sent him porn, some of which he called 'amazing'. The disgraced broadcaster had also told the convicted paedophile 'go on' when asked if he wanted 'naughty pics and vids' of somebody described as young. Edwards wrote 'yes xxx' when he was asked by Williams if he wanted sexual images of a person whose 'age could be discerned as being between 14 and 16'. He was also sent two pornographic videos of a child aged between seven and nine-years-old. Shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat, pictured at BBC Broadcasting House on September 8, has called for the sentence to be reviewed Attorney General Lord Hermer, pictured arriving at Downing Street yesterday, is being urged to review the decision under the Unduly Lenient Sentences scheme At Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, Edwards held his hands together and leaned forward throughout his sentencing hearing. He then let out a 'small sigh' as he was handed six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years. Edwards smiled broadly as he left the courtroom accompanied by a member of his legal team - carrying the same small suitcase he had brought with him, possibly in anticipation of being jailed. He later walked onto the street with his legal team before being driven away in a black Mercedes. A mugshot released of the presenter showed him staring at the camera - dead eyed and gaunt - with silver stubble across his face. There was also criticism from victims' groups, with Emma-Jane Taylor, who founded the Not My Shame social media movement last year, claimed the sentence Edwards' received could encourage other abusers. She told Good Morning Britain: 'This potentially green lights another more serious situation for a child. It puts children at risks because abusers will look at this and think ''actually, this guy's got off, he's gone home, I'll give it a go''. 'The justice system in the UK is ludicrous. It's absurd, embarrassing and it's not going to protect children.' Huw Edwards, pictured here leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, has not paid back any of his 200,000 salary received from the BBC since his arrest Edwards' former BBC colleagues are also disgusted by his crimes and believe he should have been sent to prison, MailOnline previously revealed. One former colleague told MailOnline: 'He should be in prison. He was chatting with a paedo for four years who then sent him child porn. And he didn't go to the police. Yet he's in court trying to suggest he is a victim. It would be laughable if it wasn't so abhorrent'. Edwards, who resigned from the BBC in April, has been asked to repay the 200,000 salary he has received since his arrest. He has so far refused. And will also keep his pension. MailOnline can reveal there is great animosity towards him at the Beeb, who have been rocked by yet another child sex scandal after Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris. One BBC staffer said: 'He still hasn't repaid his salary and dragged us through the mud again. 'Many at the BBC want him to pay for what he has done. He has played the system'. A former colleague said: 'Huw had huge talent and presence but has always been very prickly and thin-skinned'. A BBC spokesperson said after its former broadcaster Huw Edwards was sentenced: 'We are appalled by his crimes. He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him.' Teachers may be granted permission to work from home under Labour plans to tackle the recruitment crisis in schools. Headteachers will be told they can let their staff do marking and lesson preparation from the comfort of their own home. Teaching staff already have time set aside for marking homework and planning lessons and Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, intends to put measures in place to make it more convenient for them to work from home during these periods. Phillipson hopes the move will help women stay in the profession after having children as from 2022 to 2023 a staggering 32,000 stopped working in the industry. Teachers may be granted permission to work from home under Labour plans to tackle the recruitment crisis in schools. Headteachers will be told they can let their staff do marking and lesson preparation from the comfort of their own home The plan would give teachers the option to take their free periods in blocks at the end or the beginning of the day, enabling them to work from home while looking after children, or to complete the school run. Pepe DiIasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told MailOnline today: We support anything which helps to make teaching more flexible and improves the attractiveness of the profession as a career choice amidst an ongoing recruitment and retention crisis. There will be a lot of detail that needs working out on this proposal and we look forward to discussing this with the government. This initiative may help to a certain extent but it is important to understand that it will not be enough to solve the problem of teacher shortages. The only way to do that is to improve pay and conditions. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) also supported the plan. 'Many schools already allow their teachers to undertake lesson planning and preparation time at home, and these proposals would simply firm up what has been in place for years. 'Crucially, this wont impact pupils at all, as it only applies to the 10% of a teacher's teaching week that is specifically set aside for planning, preparation, and assessment. 'We are currently working through the most severe recruitment and retention crisis in living memory. 'Given the opportunities for flexible working in other professions, teaching needs to find ways to compete if it is to solve the recruitment and retention crisis,' he told MailOnline. The new plan follows a successful trial of the scheme in an academy chain, the Dixons Academies Trust, which runs a number of schools in northern England and says it is working towards a nine-day fortnight for teachers. A government spokesperson said it is taking the recruitment and retention of teachers 'seriously' and is implementing changes that keep staff in the teaching profession longer, reported The Telegraph. 'Unlike its predecessor, this Government is taking the recruitment and retention of teachers seriously, which is why were making common-sense changes that enable great teachers to stay in our classrooms. 'These changes are part of a wider reset of the relationship between government and teaching staff to ensure we drive high and rising standards across our schools and deliver better life chances for our children,' they said. It comes as Labour has defended plans to give British workers French-style rights including thee right to 'switch off' and ignore their bosses while working from home, claiming the reforms will boost productivity. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will publish an employment rights bill next month which, if passed, will give British workers more protections from day one, ban 'exploitative' zero-hours contracts and make flexible working a default right. While businesses up and down the country have raised serious concerns over the proposals, Reynolds insisted they would be a net benefit. He told The Times: 'It does contribute to productivity, it does contribute to [staff] resilience, their ability to stay working for an employer. 'Good employers understand that their workforce, to keep them motivated and resilient, they do need to judge people on outcomes and not a culture of presenteeism.' He claimed that businesses had responded well to the proposals. 'These are popular changes, both with the public and actually with businesses themselves. 'Every time we have a session with business where we are able to talk candidly, they are reassured by what we are saying and actually they support it,' he said. Meanwhile Amazon is cracking down on hybrid working and has told all its staff to return to the office five days a week next year. In a memo to employees, chief executive Andy Jassy said the company expected people to be in the office full time outside of extenuating circumstances from January 2. The plan would give teachers the option to take their free periods in blocks at the end or the beginning of the day, enabling them to work from home while looking after children, or to complete the school run Amazon made it mandatory in 2023 for corporate staff to be in the office three days a week, a significant change after the Covid pandemic engendered a shift towards remote and hybrid working. Other businesses are also trying to discourage staff from working from home as Spanish-owned Santander told its 10,000 UK office workers that they must be in the office at least 12 days a month by the end of 2024. Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, intends to put measures in place to make it more convenient for teachers to work from home. She hopes this will keep them in the profession longer Tesco also told its admin staff in July that from September they would be required to work from the office a minimum of three days a week. And prestigious big city firms are tracking the location of their staff to make sure they're not logging in from abroad. Consulting giant Deloitte has been accessing the data of some Work From Home (WFH) staff to see if they are actually doing their jobs from abroad without permission - and it's not the only one. Deloitte doesn't track its employees but is notified when the firm's data is accessed outside of the UK. Their location can then be pinpointed using their IP address - a string of numbers assigned to devices such as work phones and laptops connected to the internet. It is thought that more than six million plan to use flexible working to do their jobs while on holiday - with some shamelessly boasting about it on TikTok. However, people grasping the opportunity to travel abroad and do their job at the same time could find themselves in hot water. One Deloitte consultant told The Telegraph the policy is not 'unreasonable'. They said the company is 'hugely accommodating' when it comes to flexible working but if staff are 'abroad without permission, I think that is a breach of the trust'. A missing capybara called Cinnamon who is 'living her best life' after escaping from a zoo has been sighted in the wild. Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World's 'beloved' capybara, considered the world's largest rodent, escaped from her enclosure in Telford, Shropshire on Friday. Zoo owner Will Dorrell said he believed Cinnamon had made it to the Humber Brook river, where she is 'probably living her best life'. But a mass search on Tuesday evening yielded results as the huge rodent was seen just 200metres from her enclosure via a drone. Now the family-run zoo is preparing to return Cinnamon to her family. Mr Dorrell said: 'We're hoping that we will have her back here soon. We've got a group of dedicated keepers who have been working all through the night.' A younger Cinnamon pictured at Hoo Zoo, where she lives with her parents and brother Cinnamon, pictured with her brother Churro, fled her habitat at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World in Telford on Friday Zoo bosses confirmed she escaped on Friday and entered woodlands within the zoo grounds before getting beyond the perimeter fence. 'We've got live traps out for her which are cages that if she walks into it will shut behind, so hopefully we can bring her back with the least amount of stress and as quickly as possible,' he continued. Zoo chiefs are hoping to return to the location where she was spotted yesterday to capture her and return her back safe and sound. Mr Dorrell said yesterday that the species - which recently went viral on TikTok due to their 'cute' appearance - are 'so good at hiding'. He joked that she is 'probably living her best life'. What is a capybara? The capybara is a giant cavy rodent native to South America. Twice the size of a beaver, it is the largest rodent on earth. These impressive semi-aquatic mammals are closely related to guinea pigs and rock cavies, and more distantly related to chinchillas and agouti. Like beavers, capybaras are strong swimmers due to their pig-shaped bodies and partially webbed toes, suitable for paddling around in wetlands. However, they are often hunted by jaguars and pumas for dinner. Advertisement In an update yesterday, the zoo wrote on social media: 'We'd like to thank everyone for their support and kind comments at this difficult time. 'Despite searching throughout the night there were no sightings of Cinnamon. 'However, we have received some very useful information from local residents and now believe that Cinnamon is likely living in and around the Humber Brook on our northern border. 'As a result of this new information, we will be conducting a mass search of the area this evening with the help of a local thermal camera drone operator and the keepers from Exotic Zoo who have kindly volunteered their help. 'We are getting lots of offers of help from local residents and we would like to ask you to keep you eyes peeled. 'Cinnamon is very timid and any attempt to capture her by untrained individuals could result in driving her further away from her home - which we want to avoid. 'Cinnamon is greatly loved and missed by her keepers who are continuing to give extra care to her parents and brother who remain at Hoo Zoo.' Mr Dorrell added yesterday: 'She hasn't been found yet unfortunately, we've got an idea where she is, but they're so good at hiding and fantastic swimmers, you'd have to step on her to know where she is. 'We're setting out on a big search party tonight with a thermal drone.' A baby Cinnamon and Churro pictured at the zoo with their mother He said the zoo had a few tips on where Cinnamon might be from members of the public that 'sounded plausible'. 'We still think she hasn't moved that far, that she is close to the zoo,' he added. 'She will be more active at night than during the day, she's going to hunker down and stay hidden, we're hoping she's going to stick her head up this evening.' Asked how he believes Cinnamon is doing out of the zoo on her own, Mr Dorrell said he thinks she's 'probably living her best life'. He said: 'The area, unfortunately for us, where the zoo is, there's lots of watercourses, lots of food, all the things that capybaras love to eat and they love to swim. 'They're relatively hardy animals, [we've got] absolutely no welfare concerns about her, she's going to be out there loving it, but we'd rather have her back so we can make sure she's ok.' Capybaras are native to South America and are the largest living rodents in the world, belonging to the same family as guinea pigs and rock cavies. They are semi-aquatic and spend most of their time grazing or swimming in the nearest water they can find. Adults can grow up to 106-134 cm (3.4ft-4.4ft) in length, stand 50 to 62cms (20ins to 24 ins) tall and typically weigh between five-ten stone (35kg to 66kg). Ricky Gervais has been accused of bullying by his former comedy pal and touring partner Robin Ince - who also fell out with the After Life star over anti-trans jokes. Ince, who was Gervais' support act for stand-up gigs in 2004 and 2007 and also appeared in The Office, has gone public with criticism of his fellow comedian. The 55-year-old has told of how Gervais's backstage jeers at him took a physical toll on his health when they toured together. He has also condemned Gervais for stand-up comedy material about transgender people which he says ended their friendship. Gervais, 63, came under fire for allegedly transphobic gags in his 2022 Netflix special for which he was reportedly paid 30million to go with 2018 show Humanity. Ricky Gervais (left) and Robin Ince (right) are fellow comedians and former touring partners - but the latter has now accused his ex-friend of bullying Ince, 55, previously criticised Gervais for his comedy material about transgender people Ricky Gervais told a series of allegedly transphobic jokes in 2022 Netflix special SuperNature His routines included saying: 'You cant predict what will be offensive in the future. You dont know who the dominant mob will be. 'Like, the worst thing you can say today, get you cancelled on Twitter, death threats, the worst thing you can say today is, "Women dont have penises", right? 'Now, no one saw that coming. You wont find a ten-year-old tweet of someone saying, "Women dont have penises". You know why? We didnt think we f***ing had to!' He also told his audience: 'Full disclosure - in real life of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights and trans rights are human rights. 'Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel that you are. But meet me halfway, ladies - lose the c**k, that's all Im saying.' Ince wrote a blog post on his personal website in 2022 criticising Gervais for his material about transgender people, saying: 'It is easy to forget the collateral damage of jokes. 'Anti-trans punchlines seem to have become highly profitable and it ignores the dehumanising effect on a swathe of already marginalised people. 'I think Ricky believes it is just him being a "naughty boy". I believe it makes him a pin-up and role model for the alt-right.' Now he has spoken of their time touring together, saying that Gervais's backstage jeers at him took a physical toll on his health. Ince told podcast The Starting Line: 'I look back now, and I think it is bullying, really it is. I'm very good at sometimes just acclimatising to things, in which you go, "Actually, this is really weird". Ricky Gervais (left) and Robin Ince (right) toured together in 2004 and 2007 Robin Ince wrote a blog post on his personal website in 2022 criticising Gervais for his material about transgender people Ricky Gervais, seen here hosting the Golden Globes which he has done five times, was reportedly paid 30million for his Netflix specials Humanity in 2018 and SuperNature in 2022 'But people who knew me did not like the way that relationship worked. I am not saying it is a traumatic experience, but after two weeks I came out in red lumps that my doctor said were a stress rash - I think my hair is coming out in clumps.' He claimed that Gervais's 'bullying' became so bad his co-star in The Office Mackenzie Crook stepped in and confronted him about it, saying: 'Rick, can you stop doing it please?' Ince added: 'I would go through it, but people who knew me did not like the way that relationship worked.' He says he remained friends with Gervais until he wrote the blog post criticising the jokes about transgender people. He added: 'We were what I would call gag friends. We'd ring each other up a lot and we'd talk to each other a lot. 'I found it very difficult when I saw some of his recent material, the trans jokes in particular.' He told the podcast his 'gentle' blog post provoked a 'really vicious' response from some of Gervais's fans and the pair have not spoken since. Ince announced his retirement in 2015, saying he was 'starting to go mad' with self-doubt, insomnia and regret over not spending enough time with his family. Gervais responded to criticism of his 2022 SuperNature show for its trans content when he told the Spectator in an interview in May that year: 'My target wasnt trans folk, but trans activist ideology. I've always confronted dogma that oppresses people and limits freedom of expression. 'It was probably the most current, most talked about, taboo subject of the last couple of years. I deal in taboo subjects and have to confront the elephant in the room.' The collaborations between Ricky Gervais and Robin Ince include appearances by the latter on Gervais's video podcasts and also a cameo appearance in an episode of BBC sitcom The Office Ince also co-presents BBC Radio 4 science show The Infinite Monkey Cage with Prof Brian Cox Ricky Gervais won the Best Comedy prize for his series After Life at the 2022 National Television Awards at the OVO Arena Wembley in London in October 2022 MailOnline has contacted for comment representatives for Ince and for Gervais, who is currently touring the UK with a 'Work In Progress' show. Ince made a cameo appearance in one episode of BBC sitcom The Office, co-written by Gervais and Stephen Merchant - playing a rejected job interview candidate - while he has also appeared on Gervais's video podcasts. His other work has included co-presenting the Sony award-winning Radio 4 science show The Infinity Monkey Cage alongside the physicist Prof Brian Cox. Gervais has featured in films such as Night At The Museum and Muppets Most Wanted, hosted the Golden Globes five times and written and starred in comedy series including After Life and Derek. A black student claims he was assaulted by a police officer after being mistaken for a drug dealer when he stopped to hand a homeless man some change. A video of the incident appears to show Samuel Ackon, 22 - being punched several times as he is arrested. The physical education student said he was 'treated like an animal' and accused the Northamptonshire officer of 'police brutality'. He said he 'didn't want to play the race card' but has questioned if he would have 'been treated the way I was treated if I wasn't of ethnic minority'. The force said it is reviewing the footage after Samuel was released without charge. A video of the incident appears to show Samuel Ackon, 22, - being punched several times as he is arrested He said he 'didn't want to play the race card' but has questioned if he would have 'been treated the way I was treated if I wasn't of ethnic minority' Samuel, a second year student in Wolverhampton, was visiting family in Northampton when the incident happened. He said he was walking home after visiting a local shop and had given money to a homeless man when he noticed the plain clothes officer approaching him. He said he initially ran out of fear but stopped when he heard the command, 'Police stop'. CCTV footage of the incident shows Samuel running from the officer before he catches up with and slams him into a gate and drags him to the ground. The officer appears to punch him while he is lying on the ground before handcuffing him. Nine officers in uniform then appear in the scene. In a video posted online Samuel said he was 'beaten up by police because they said I was drug dealing in my local area because they have seen me give change to a local beggar who I always give change to.' He said he suffered a grazed knee and bruised ribs. Samuel said he was taken to a police station where officers accused him of being part of a county lines drug dealing network. He said he was told to 'squat' to prove he hadn't hidden any drugs leaving him feeling 'degraded'. He said he had 'never dealt drugs in his life'. Samuel said he 'couldn't believe I was the victim of such brutality from a police officer' The student said he initially ran out of fear but stopped when he heard the command, 'Police stop' Samuel said he was taken to a police station where officers accused him of being part of a county lines drug dealing network The physical education student said he was 'treated like an animal' and accused the Northamptonshire officer of 'police brutality' He has instructed a solicitor and made a formal complaint to the force, asking for the officer to be disciplined. Samuel said: 'As I was walking off, I just felt something walking towards me. It was a white man in a black hoodie. 'I admit, I did run, but I stopped because I realised it was a policeman and apologised. 'So I'm thinking I'm just going to be arrested or whatever, but I was hit, and hit, and hit, and I was thinking 'this is unbelievable'.' He said he was 'smashed towards a wooden gate' before losing his balance and falling to the floor, where he alleged he was beaten up. He said he would have stopped immediately had the officer been in uniform but had 'no idea' who was chasing him. He said he immediately apologised for running when the officer did identify himself but was ignored. The incident happened as he was walking along Northampton's Barrack Road on August 8. Samuel said: 'I've hired a solicitor, Miriam Altaf, she's working very hard to bring me some kind of justice. 'We've filed a complaint against Northamptonshire Police and we've also contacted the IOPC [Independent Office for Police Conduct]. 'I was complying with the officer, I didn't commit any crimes. 'I couldn't believe I was the victim of such brutality from a police officer,' Samuel added. 'I asked myself if I would have been treated the way I was treated if I wasn't of ethnic minority.' In a video posted online Samuel said he was 'beaten up by police because they said I was drug dealing in my local area because they have seen me give change to a local beggar who I always give change to.' Northamptonshire Police said the man was questioned in relation to drug supply offences but was released without charge. The force said it was aware of the CCTV footage and was talking to Samuel to discuss his concerns. A spokesman said the incident was being reviewed internally, including assessments of officers' body-worn cameras. They said the stop was made after a person was seen to exchange a package, which was suspected to be related to potential drugs supply offences. Solicitor Ms Altaf told Mail Online: 'The video has shocked and outraged many of those who have seen it. 'My client who is a university student with no previous convictions, did not know that the undercover officer, who started chasing him just after he had given money to a homeless man, was a police officer, which is why he ran away in the first instance. When he heard the male chasing him identify himself as a police officer, he stopped running immediately. 'Despite this, the undercover officer was clearly seen to be repeatedly striking the upper body of a defenceless young male, whilst restraining him, who was laying face down on the floor, not resisting arrest. 'This type of force cannot be excused or justified and was completely unnecessary. 'We want to raise awareness about this incident to deter officers from using unreasonable force, work with the relevant agencies to ensure that this incident is properly investigated and push for disciplinary action against the officer involved. 'I am liaising with Northamptonshire police in relation to a formal complaint. This matter will also be referred to the IOPC.' Samuel has instructed a solicitor and made a formal complaint to the force, asking for the officer to be disciplined A Northamptonshire Police spokesperson said: 'Northamptonshire Police is aware of the online circulation of a CCTV clip which shows part of a stop search made in Barrack Road, Northampton, on August 8 this year. 'The stop was made after an individual was seen to exchange a package, which was suspected to be related to potential drugs supply offences. 'When officers approached to conduct a stop search the man ran off, resulting in a short pursuit before he was apprehended and taken to police premises for the purposes of an enhanced search. 'Following a negative search the man was released with no further action. 'We appreciate there may be concern around the short clip that has been shared online and are liaising with the man involved to discuss his concerns. 'The Force can confirm the incident is being reviewed internally, including assessment of officers' body-worn video.' A British student nurse who became trapped under a quad bike after driving off a cliff in Corfu is warning holidaymakers to steer clear of the 'death trap' vehicles. Maddy Morris was visiting family on the Greek island last month when she and her friend suffered a horrific accident just one day into the trip, on her birthday. The 24-year-old was knocked unconscious when she veered off the side of a cliff and tumbled nearly 10 feet before the rental bike landed on them, knocking her out. The student nurse, who lives near Manchester, says she has no idea why the vehicle suddenly deviated off-track - blaming a mechanical fault or uneven terrain. 'I thought I was going to die,' she said in a stark warning to others. 'I was seeing visions of people I loved as I was falling.' Maddy fractured her scapula and was left battered and bruised after the crash on her birthday The 24-year-old was knocked unconscious when she veered off the side of a cliff Maddy shared the extent of her injuries after the bike veered off a cliff and landed on her Maddy Morris said she was out with a friend on her birthday when the rental bike crashed After the incident, Maddy and her friend were picked up off the side of the road by passers-by and rushed to hospital with multiple injuries. Maddy said she feels 'lucky to be alive' after the accident - and is urging other youngsters to steer clear of quad bikes on holiday. Maddy said: 'We were only driving 20mph so we weren't going fast or anything. 'I was driving and my friend was on the back. 'The day of the accident was actually my birthday,' she said. 'We were around an hour and a half into the drive and were up quite high, but far away from the edge. She said the road was fairly busy so they kept at a slow pace. 'We just unexpectedly went off the edge of the cliff. Luckily we landed on a ledge as the cliff went down to the sea.' Maddy said she had used a quad bike before and knew how to drive. 'It was very unexpected,' she said. 'We were flown off and went down a 7ft drop then the quad bike ended up on top of us both. 'We don't know if it was a faulty bike or dodgy terrain or lost control of the steering. Maddy and her friend were pinned underneath the quad bike for a few minutes until some passers-by were able to lift the vehicle from on top of them. Maddy said: 'You never think something like this is going to happen to you. I must've blacked out because I remember waking up on the ground - it was very scary. 'The wheels were still running when it was on top of us so I think that's why I got so many injuries on my left side. 'I managed to squeeze out a bit through a gap as we were both pinned underneath it. We were pinned for a few minutes. 'Luckily there were people driving behind us who were able to push the quad bike from on top of us. We could've easily fallen further. 'I'm so glad I was wearing my helmet.' Maddy was left battered and bruised after the accident - suffering a fractured scapula as well as other superficial injuries. Now, the student is warning others to stay away from quad bikes after nearly losing her life last month. The 24-year-old was on holiday with her friend and family in Corfu before the accident Maddy shared a video of the severity of her injuries in a warning to other holidaymakers 'You never think something like this is going to happen to you,' Maddy said after the crash Maddy and her friend were pinned underneath the quad bike for a few minutes Maddy said she had used a quad bike before and knew how to drive 'We were only driving 20mph so we weren't going fast or anything,' she said Maddy said: 'I thought I'd broken the whole left side of my body because I couldn't feel anything. 'I didn't have insurance so I've learned my lesson there - we had to pay for treatment. 'We self-charged because we wanted to enjoy the rest of the week. It had ruined my birthday. 'I'll never go on a quad bike again. I thought I would be fine because I'd been on quad bikes before - and it's just the norm out there, everyone drives one. I thought I was safe. 'I wouldn't advise renting a quad bike to anyone. They're deathtraps. My helmet definitely saved my life.' New deep sea-footage has been released showing the discovery of the Titan submersible's tail cone after its fatal implosion last June. The eerie underwater video, which was released by the US Coast Guard, shows the wreckage of the submersible on the seabed after it imploded less than two hours into its descent towards the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five people onboard. The release came as a key employee - who deemed the vessel unsafe ahead of its last voyage - testified on Tuesday that the tragedy could have been prevented if a federal safety agency had investigated his complaint. Earlier this week, the same on-going hearing revealed that one of the final messages from the crew aboard the Titan was 'all good here'. The new footage came as David Lochridge, OceanGate's former operations director, said he felt let down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's decision not to follow through on the complaint. 'I believe that if OSHA had attempted to investigate the seriousness of the concerns I raised on multiple occasions, this tragedy may have been prevented,' he said while speaking before the commission that is seeking answers to the tragedy. U.S. Coast Guard releases footage of the Titan submersible's tail cone Former OceanGate's Director of Marine Operations, David Lochridge, center, stands during his testimony, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, in North Charleston, S.C. Picture of the OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic, which imploded last year while on its way to the wreckage of the Titanic 'As a seafarer, I feel deeply disappointed by the system that is meant to protect not only seafarers but the general public as well.' Lochridge said during testimony that eight months after he filed an OSHA complaint, a caseworker told him the agency had not begun investigating it yet and there were 11 cases ahead of his. By then, OceanGate was suing Lochridge and he had filed a countersuit. About 10 months after he filed the complaint, he decided to walk away. The case was closed and both lawsuits were dropped. 'I gave them nothing, they gave me nothing,' he said of OceanGate. OSHA officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Lochridge said he frequently clashed with the company's co-founder and felt the company was committed only to making money. Lochridge was one of the most anticipated witnesses to appear before a commission. His testimony echoed that of other former employees Monday, one of whom described OceanGate head Stockton Rush as volatile and difficult to work with. 'The whole idea behind the company was to make money,' Lochridge said. 'There was very little in the way of science.' Footage shows remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration Rush was among the five people who died in the implosion. OceanGate owned the Titan and brought it on several dives to the Titanic going back to 2021. Lochridge's testimony began a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration. Lochridge joined the company in the mid-2010s as a veteran engineer and submersible pilot and said he quickly came to feel he was being used to lend the company scientific credibility. He said he felt the company was selling him as part of the project 'for people to come up and pay money,' and that did not sit well with him. 'I was, I felt, a show pony,' he said. 'I was made by the company to stand up there and do talks. It was difficult. I had to go up and do presentations. All of it.' Lochridge referenced a 2018 report in which he raised safety issues about OceanGate operations. He said with all of the safety issues he saw 'there was no way I was signing off on this.' Asked whether he had confidence in the way the Titan was being built, he said: 'No confidence whatsoever.' Employee turnover was very high at the time, said Lochridge, and leadership dismissed his concerns because they were more focused on 'bad engineering decisions' and a desire to get to the Titanic as quickly as possible and start making money. He eventually was fired after raising the safety concerns, he said. 'I didn't want to lose my job. I wanted to do the Titanic. But to dive it safely. It was on my bucket list, too,' he said. David Lochridge said he had raised safety concerns back in 2018 Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John's, Newfoundland, June 28, 2023 US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick speaks to reporters about the search efforts for the Titan submersible on June 21 last year OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. Also, on Monday, OceanGate's former engineering director Tony Nissen said he '100 per cent' felt pressue to get the submarine into the water. He also said he refused to pilot the Titan years ago because he didn't trust the operations staff, and that he stopped the submersible from going to the Titanic in 2019. Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan's unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community. During the submersible's final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan's depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display. When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John's, Newfoundland. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said. Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. Tony Nissen, head engineer for OceanGate, leaves after his testimony at the US coastguard hearing yesterday Pictured: Stockton Rush, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of OceanGate, who was killed in the disaster Pictured: Businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman who died on the vessel Among those not on the hearing witness list is Rush's widow, Wendy Rush, the company's communications director. Lochridge said Wendy Rush had an active role in the company when he was there. Asked about Wendy Rush's absence, Leake said the Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations. She said it's common for a Marine Board of Investigation to 'hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases.' OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement. The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard's commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation. Do YOU know more? An investigation has been launched into the death of a German woman who was killed in a shark attack off the Canary Islands. Spanish officials are expected to interview the crew of the British-flagged pleasure boat the 30-year-old was on when the beast bit her leg off. Her death is not thought to be suspicious at this stage and unconfirmed reports suggest the woman was attacked while enjoying a swim in the sea. Court of Instruction Number Six, which operates out of the Gran Canaria capital Las Palmas, has reportedly been placed in charge of the investigation. The investigating judge is unlikely to make any comment while the probe is ongoing. The 30-year-old, who has not been named, was rushed to hospital by a Spanish Air Force helicopter after the attack. Do YOU know more? Email: olivia.christie@mailonline.co.uk Pictured: The Dalliance Chichester catamaran that the woman was sailing on Spanish officials are expected to interview the crew of the British-flagged pleasure boat the 30-year-old was on when the beast bit her leg off (file image of the Spanish coastguard) She was officially pronounced dead on arrival at Doctor Negrin Hospital in Las Palmas on Monday night. She is said to have had her leg bitten off by the shark in international waters 278 miles south-west of Gran Canaria's airport and around 110 miles east of the city of Dakhla. The boat called Dalliance Chichester left Gran Canaria on Saturday for what has been described as a 'leisure trip'. It then sent a Mayday signal at around 3.55pm on Monday. Spanish Coastguards alerted nearby boats about the emergency and one approached the catamaran to give its crew medicines for the injured woman. They also informed their Moroccan counterparts as well as UK coastguards because the catamaran, a 17 metre-long, eight metre-wide pleasure craft, sails under a UK flag. According to local reports Moroccan authorities declined to transfer the injured woman to the city of Rabat for emergency medical treatment, asking Spanish coastguards to take responsibility because they didn't have the 'required resources.' There have been no documented previous shark attacks in the area where yesterday's incident took place. The 30-year-old German lost her fight for life in a Spanish Air Force helicopter as she was being evacuated to a Gran Canaria hospital (File image of a Gran Canaria beach) She was officially pronounced dead after arriving at Doctor Negrin Hospital in the Gran Canaria capital, Las Palmas (File image of Las Palmas) In June holiday beaches on Gran Canaria's east coast were closed following shark sightings. Local police subsequently confirmed through a drone sighting one of the sharks spotted was a 10ft-long hammerhead. Most hammerhead species are considered harmless to humans and few attacks have been recorded, but they are aggressive hunters and their size and fierceness make them potentially dangerous. They can grow up to 20 feet in length and weigh up to 1,000lbs. Former Newsnight host Emily Maitlis has said she was left 'absolutely speechless' by shamed BBC News presenter Huw Edwards' child abuse image offences. Edwards, 63, avoided jail on Monday after being given a suspended six-month prison sentence, after he admitted to having 41 indecent images of children. The vile picture collection included seven category A images, the most serious classification, with two involving a child aged around seven to nine. Maitlis, 54, who worked with Edwards at the BBC, said she was 'horrified' at his crimes. 'I'm horrified. I think we're all horrified. I worked with Huw on elections,' she told Good Morning Britain on Wednesday. 'I'd say hi to him. He'd do the 10 O'Clock News finish, I'd do Newsnight. I was absolutely... speechless. I think it's a real deep breath moment.' Former Newsnight host Emily Maitlis has said she was left 'horrified' by shamed BBC News presenter Huw Edwards ' child-abuse crimes Edwards, 63, avoided jail on Monday after being given a suspended six-month prison sentence, after he admitted to having 41 indecent images of children Maitlis, who worked for the BBC for more than two decades, has previously been critical about the corporation's handling of claims against Edwards. She said allegations against him from staff should have been reported to HR 'rather than turned' into a news story. Her comments came after Newsnight reported that one current and former BBC employee said they received 'inappropriate messages' from Edwards with 'some late at night and signed off with kisses'. 'There is something a bit distasteful,' Maitlis said on The News Agents podcast. 'If you know this stuff about a colleague, why isnt your first duty to then go to HR or a senior manager... or to say I think this is going on...rather than to turn it into a news story.' Jon Sopel previously defended his former BBC colleague Edwards after he was named as the presenter who allegedly paid a young person, over 18, for sexually explicit images. 'Look I think it's been a brutal time for him,' Sopel told LBC in July last year. 'There was no criminality and if there was no criminality, which we have had confirmed by the Metropolitan Police, what are you left with?' Disgraced BBC News presenter Edwards was spared jail on Monday, receiving six months in prison suspended for two years- to the anger of many. He sent more than 1,000 to Alex Williams, who in turn sent him porn, some of which he called 'amazing'. University graduate Williams, 25, was living with his mother and step-father at a housing association property in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, at the time of his arrest. He later pleaded guilty to seven offences of possessing and distributing indecent offences but escaped with a 12-month suspended sentence. Edwards told Williams 'go on' when asked if he wanted 'naughty pics and vids' of somebody described as young. The former newsreader also wrote 'yes xxx' when he was asked by the convicted paedophile if he wanted sexual images of a person whose 'age could be discerned as being between 14 and 16'. He was also sent two pornographic videos of a child aged between seven and nine-years-old. Edwards, who resigned from the BBC in April, has been asked to repay the 200,000 salary he has received since his arrest. He has so far refused and will also keep his pension. BBC boss Tim Davie defended the decision to continue paying him after his arrest but confirmed the shamed presenter will not work for the broadcaster again following his appalling child-abuse crimes. Mr Davie claimed the reason Edwards was not sacked upon being arrested was due to BBC guidelines. The former newsreader, 63, avoided jail on Monday after being given a suspended six-month prison sentence, after he admitted to having 41 indecent images of children Westminster Magistrates' Court heard on Monday how Huw Edwards had replied 'yes xxx' when asked if he wanted a set of indecent images of children (note: This is not the actual text message exchange) It was also told that Edwards had told Williams that ages 'can be deceptive' when told one of the subjects in an image was 'quite yng looking', before asking if he had 'any more? (note: This is not the actual text message exchange) 'We wrestled with this - it was an extremely tough decision,' he said. 'We decided that, you know, pay continues until somebody's charged. No one knew that gap was going to be so long.' He added it was the 'right decision' but said the organisation would continue to pursue Edwards to pay back the money paid while he was suspended. Mr Davie was immediately asked about the Edwards affair during his 25-minute discussion with BBC journalist Amol Rajan at the Royal Television Society (RTS) London conference. Wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt and trainers, he said: There's no doubt that an affair like this impacts our reputation. I think people are smart, and they'll make their judgments. I think, overall, there's no doubt about that - these things impact your reputation, but you can maintain trust by doing the right thing. Asked if Edwards would work for the BBC again, Mr Davie said: I can't see that for obvious reasons. Pushed to expand, he added: This man has just been convicted of appalling crimes. It's pretty straightforward in my mind - its not a difficult question. Mr Davie said: The secret life this guy was leading was shocking. Edwards was ordered to pay 3,000 in prosecution costs. It remains unclear whether he will have to pay back the 200,000 he was paid by the BBC between his arrest and his resignation in April. Corporation director general Mr Davie confirmed that a formal request for the money to be returned has been made to Edwards, who was in a pay bracket of between 475,000 and 479,999 for 2023/24. Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court Edwards made his way through the media melee before being driven away in a black Mercedes when at court on July 31 Mr Davie told the conference: We want the money back and we've asked for it back, and we're waiting to hear back. There are discussions between the legal teams. The BBC said in a statement that Edwards had betrayed not just the corporation but millions of viewers who had put their trust in him. Edwards' offending came to light after South Wales police seized Williams' phone and discovered his WhatsApp conversations with the former BBC anchorman. He was arrested on November 8 last year. The investigation was unrelated to allegations reported in July 2023 that Edwards had paid a teenager more than 35,000 for sexual images. Mr Davie said that victims' families are the primary concern and said that young people who raised concerns over Edwards were taken seriously at the time allegations were made. He said: We're just shocked, and there's a lot of upset because across the BBC, we've got great teams, good people and they feel deeply, deeply let down. The Middle East is on the brink after a mass attack on Hezbollah saw thousands of its militants' pagers explode - just hours after Israel's prime minister vowed to step up military action against Lebanon. While Israel has not confirmed that it was behind the pager blasts - which left some 2,800 Hezbollah members and civilians injured and nine dead in Lebanon and Syria - several security sources have blamed the IDF and Mossad spy agency for the attack. Hostile rhetoric on both sides was building even before the blasts amid ongoing cross-border fire between Lebanon and Israel over the past year, as Hezbollah continues to pummel Israel in a show of support to its allies Hamas in Gaza. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to sack his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who is widely seen as the most vocal government minister pushing for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza to free Israeli hostages. This means that the prospect of a ceasefire in Gaza appears evermore distant at the same time as tensions on Israel's northern border are spiking, with Netanyahu seemingly pushing ahead for broader escalation. Reports have emerged that Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to sack his defence minister, Yoav Gallant Ambulances arrive to American University of Beirut Medical Centre (AUBMC) yesterday Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the village of Blida in southern Lebanon, as seen from an undisclosed location in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 17 September The sudden and unexpected detonations gave way to widespread panic and chaotic scenes in images shared on social media and broadcast by Lebanese and Israeli outlets Over the weekend, Israel's premier called for a 'change in the balance of forces on our northern border,' amid the near-daily attacks by Hezbollah, while pledging to do 'whatever is necessary' to return evacuated residents to their homes. Israel has been ramping up preparations for a war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, taking on the Iran-backed militant group to improve security in its northern region. Netanyahu frames it as an existential war for Israel and has argued that now is not the time to show weakness, defying calls for restraint and compromise, including from within his war cabinet. The PM's office has been putting out the message that while he is pushing for greater confrontation with Hezbollah, retired military general Gallant is against it, according to Israeli outlet Haaertz. Michael Milshtein, a leading Palestinian studies scholar at Tel Aviv University, said that Gallant 'doesn't want a broad escalation', but that Netanyahu is 'considering' it. In an expansion of Israel's official war goals on Tuesday, Netanyahu announced that his forces would now aim to halt Hezbollah's attacks in the north to allow tens of thousands of residents to return to their homes along the border. As news of the plans emerged, Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to the Biden administration warned Netanyahu against initiating a wider war against Lebanon, sources told Axios. On the same day, Gallant told the United States military envoy visiting the region that 'military action' is the 'only way left to ensure the return of Israel's northern communities.' Netanyahu's office has been putting out the message that while he is pushing for greater confrontation with Hezbollah, retired military general Gallant is against it, according to reports Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for more than 11 months, with the clashes killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, as well as displacing tens of thousands on both sides of the border. Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem has insisted that his group has 'no intention of going to war', but warned that if Israel were to 'unleash' one, 'there will be large losses on both sides'. He added that is Israel did expand its 'aggression', rather than enabling the roughly 100,000 displaced people to return home, it should 'prepare to deal with hundreds of thousands more displaced'. Tensions have since mounted even further following Tuesday's pager blasts, with the militant group vowing to exact revenge and warning its arch-foe that it should 'await in response to the massacre'. The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept an attack from Lebanon over the Galilee region, near Kiryat Shmona, as seen from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Fawaz Gerges, Professor of International Relations at LSE, described it as 'one of the greatest security breaches' to ever hit Hezbollah, who he said would now be plotting its revenge. 'I don't think we can expect any major retaliation in the next hours or days, Hezbollah will take its time, assess the implications. 'My take on it is that Hezbollah faces a huge strategic dilemma. Because while Hezbollah feels bound to retaliate, it does not really want to trigger all-out war.' But, he said, Israel is more prepared to expand the conflict. 'This is the first shot in Israel's all-out war against Hezbollah,' he said. Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 The remnants of what is believed to be a pager carried by a Lebanese militant that detonated earlier today 'Israel has really been provoking Hezbollah, has been pushing Hezbollah, and this attack is really not just a psychological attack, this is a major, catastrophic security attack on Hezbollah. He added that he doubted that Hezbollah would target any civilians in Israel, despite the rising rhetoric. 'The strategic overarching aim of Hezbollah is to avoid all-out war, because both Iran and Hezbollah believe that Israel is trying to drive them to all-out war, not only against Israel but against its western allies who have an extraordinary armada.' Meanwhile the US and Britain have called for de-escalation in the tinder box region. 'We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region,' the foreign office said in a statement. 'The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time.' 'I didn't say anything, I didn't scream. I just got up, went to the sink and washed it off.' This is the harrowing account of Victoria Derbyshire's childhood abuse, when her violent father would throw scalding soup over her as a youngster. The broadcaster, who has previously battled breast cancer, has revealed the horrific extent of the trauma she suffered at the hands of her father, Anthony, which included her being beaten with a wooden spoon and hit with a belt. Derbyshire described her reaction while being covered in scalding soup, saying: 'I just looked at him with contempt in my eyes and he could see it.' When she and her siblings heard their father's key in the door as he returned home from work, they would hide in their bedrooms and shut the door. After having scolding soup thrown over her: 'I didn't say anything, I didn't scream. I just got up, went to the sink and washed it off' The broadcaster has spoken of the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, Anthony (pictured) Derbyshire said that despite the abuse she would try not to flinch when her father, Anthony (pictured), struck her In an interview with The Independent, Derbyshire said that despite the abuse she would try not to flinch when her bullying father struck her. 'It was my way of showing him that I couldn't be riled,' she said. The Newsnight host spoke of her father putting his hands around her neck and pinning her against the pantry door in front of her screaming best friend. Anthony would also inflict abuse on Derbyshire's mother, leaving her with a broken rib amid a terrifying campaign of violence. However, when the injury was reported, a doctor's note simply described it as 'husband trouble'. The former BBC Radio 5 Live host, also recalled that even something as mundane as not making him a cup of tea would set her father off in a rage. And when the kettle was boiling her father would get angry and shout until someone switched it off for him. Derbyshire said it was her mother's love and her bond with her siblings which allowed them to maintain a sense of normality amid the abuse they faced. While they tried to briefly live with their mother's sister, the inconvenience, and the need to attend school and look after their pets, eventually drew them back home. Her father, who died in 2020, denied hitting his children but has previously admitted striking his ex-wife, claiming she was aggressive to him. Victoria Derbyshire (pictured) was praised for sharing a domestic abuse helpline while presenting BBC News A family photograph of Victoria Derbyshire as an infant with her father Anthony The Derbyshire family: Her brother Nichalas, Victoria, mother Pauline and sister Alexandra (left to right) A young Victoria Derbyshire at the funfair with her mother Pauline and father Anthony Victoria (right) pictured with her mother Pauline and brother Nicholas on a family holiday Derbyshire acknowledged much progress has been made since then and how domestic abuse is handled by the police. The broadcaster tied the knot with her long-term partner Mark Sandell in an intimate autumn ceremony back in 2018, after surviving her battle with cancer She decided to spontaneously propose to her now husband Mark the day after her diagnosis in 2015. The TV star found out she may have had breast cancer after she Googled 'inverted nipple' after noticing her right breast was about two inches lower than her left. The couple had been together 15 years before Derbyshire decided that they should get married, she candidly revealed during an interview in 2017. At the time, she said: 'My first official day of living with cancer was August 1, 2015. 'So I got up and went downstairs and announced to Mark that we had been together for 15 years and we should get married. Hes been married before and he said with a straight face, I think marriage is overrated to be honest. She was diagnosed with stage 2 lobular breast cancer, which means it develops in the lobes of the breast and spreads to surrounding tissue - some 10 per cent of breast cancers are this type. While on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2020, Derbyshire candidly opened up about her gruelling cancer battle during a chat with campmate Jessica Plummer. Family photo of Pauline, Victoria, Alexandra and Nicholas Derbyshire (left to right) Derbyshire alongside her husband Mark Sandell who she married after surviving her battle with breast cancer The broadcaster's son Oliver melted hearts when he shared a snap of his mother at her 2018 wedding She decided to spontaneously propose to her now husband Mark Sandell (right) the day after her diagnosis in 2015 The star detailed how she reacted to finding out she had cancer, revealing that she could 'barely speak' to her husband from the shock. She said: 'We could barely speak, you know. We could barely speak to each other. We are talkers, we are open, we are you know, and we just had no words because honestly all I was thinking was I'm going to die. 'Seriously, I'm going to die. And then, I thought I'm not going to see my boys grow up, I'm not going to grow old with Mark, I mean it was just, I just thought my luck's run out, you know.' Derbyshire started her journalist, newsreader and broadcaster career as a reporter for BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, before working at BBC GMR Radio. She went on to join BBC Radio 5 Live in 1998 at first deputizing for Jane Garvey and then as a regular co-presenter with Julian Worricker. In 2004, after a period of maternity leave, she took over the morning news programme. Her final Radio 5 Live show was broadcast on 5 September 2014. Derbyshire began presenting BBC's Newsnight in 2013, which she is now joint lead presenter alongside Kirsty Wark. Her Bafta-winning BBC2 show, Victoria Derbyshire, was axed in 2020, the same year it was announced she would take part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!. Since then, Derbyshire has presented from 9am to 11am on BBC Two, BBC News Channel and BBC World News. Throughout her career, she has been a vocal campaigner against domestic abuse. In 2020, she was praised when she hosted the BBC News while having the domestic abuse helpline on her hand. She told the newspaper telling her story 'doesn't bring up trauma' and said domestic abuse can happen to anyone. 'And it's nothing to do with class or your job or money. If it helps to talk about it, then absolutely, I'll talk.' The interview was granted to newspaper to raise awareness of a new campaign called Brick By Brick that aims to raise 300,000 for a new type of Refuge to help those fleeing domestic violence. Two Brits were among four people rescued after spending four days at sea on a sinking boat, it has been reported. The men, who were suffering from dehydration, were found by Spanish authorities around 60 miles north of Tenerife. They were winched to safety by helicopter after making a Mayday call when the stricken boat started sinking. A Panamanian-flagged ship, named locally as Green Power, is said to have responded by heading to the area along with the Spanish coastguard. The four men were taken by helicopter to Tenerife South airport where they were then transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment. The four men were taken by helicopter to Tenerife South airport where they were then transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment (file picture of the coast off Tenerife) They were winched to safety by helicopter after making a Mayday call when the stricken boat started sinking (file picture of Spanish coastguard) It is not currently clear what the men were doing at sea and why they got into difficulty. Police and the Spanish coastguard are yet to make any official comment. Iconic global tupperware company Tupperware Brand Corporation and some of its subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy, citing declining sales. In a statement, the company confirmed they had entered the proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Tupperware was known for its colourful, airtight plastic containers primarily useful for food storage. Despite a short-lived jump during the Covid-19 pandemic, the company revealed it was seeking court approval to facilitate a sale process for the business. 'Tupperware will seek Court approval to continue operating during the proceedings and remains focused on providing its customers with its award-winning, innovative products through Tupperware sales consultants, retail partners and online,' Laurie Ann Goldman, president and chief executive of Tupperware, said. First founded in the 1940s by chemist Earl S. Tupper in Massachusetts, the brand became famous throughout the 1950s and 60s when sales representatives held Tupperware parties to drive the sale of new merchandise. Last year, the company revealed it was in a 'challenging financial condition', noting in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would miss its deadline to file an annual report. Tupperware appointed a new management team and strategic plan to modernise operations, claiming it had made 'significant progress'. Tupperware Brand Corp and some of its subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, the company announced on Wednesday. Picture: AFP The recent filing followed a period of declining sales for Tupperware. Picture: AFP It follows a period of declining sales during 'the challenging macroeconomic environment' which impacted their financial position. 'As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward,' Ms Goldman said. 'This process is meant to provide us with essential flexibility as we pursue strategic alternatives to support our transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company better positioned to serve our stakeholders.' Ms Goldman said numerous strategic options were explored before the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was decided on. 'Whether you are a dedicated member of our Tupperware team, sell, cook with, or simply love our Tupperware products, you are a part of our Tupperware family,' she said. 'We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process.' Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Professor Gary Mortimer, a business and retail expert at the Queensland University of Technology, said the company has failed to innovate or appeal to younger customers. He explained that fewer people are home than in the 1960s, and with women working outside of the home, there is less appeal for Tupperware parties, the traditional method of sale where consultants would come to a host's house to sell the range to friends and neighbours. Over the years, the direct sales model has generally suffered with the rise of e-commerce, and demographic changes that have seen smaller household sizes and the convenience of individual meals which mean people are cooking in bulk less. Tupperware has seen its market dominance threatened by competition from other popular brands including Rubbermaid, Glad, Pyrex and Oxo 'Tupperware is over 75 years old as a brand. It grew in the 50s, 60s, and 70s through product innovation and creating innovative solutions for kitchenware,' Professor Mortimer explained. 'But today, there are significant ranges of competing products in the marketplace, and there is only so much innovation you can take in food storage.' He said due to the durability of the product, meaning many Aussies held onto their Tupperware for years. 'Part of the issue is the durability and life expectancy of the product itself,' he said. 'It's positioned as a high-quality product, not the type of thing you'd regularly buy every year or so. I'm sure there's many kitchens are around Australia with a couple of pieces of Tupperware in it.' He said that people tend to cook less for big groups and instead opt for easy delivery options, meaning there is less demand for storage containers. 'Australian bureau of statistics data shows that we're having smaller families too, and we're more likely to be living in smaller households, which means less batch cooking,' Professor Mortimer said. 'People don't make big meals anymore and store them, and opt for more convivence around single serve portion control meals and consume it throw packaging away'. Professor Mortimer added that the consumers the brand first attracted in the 1960s and 1970s are now in their eighties and nineties, with the brand not resonating in the same way with others. He explained that the brand doesn't advertise on TV or social media, and customer won't spot it in stores meaning it's not reaching younger audiences, while similar products are popular on the shelves of supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths, which people tend to opt for instead. 'When it started out, it was supported through a party plan business model, and it worked really well through network selling. 'But now, mums and dads are at work, party plan business model has decreased. Mums aren't at home anymore, they're working.' More than 80 per cent of MailOnline readers are against Tesco plans to use Clubcard data to warn them off from buying too much fatty foods. The supermarket's CEO Ken Murphy has come under fierce criticism today from Good Morning Britain co-host Richard Madeley who said he doesn't need to be told how many ready meals he has bought because he is 'clever'. The Tesco boss revealed yesterday he was hoping to use artificial intelligence to help customers make healthier choices by alerting them when they go over their daily recommended allowance. Mr Murphy said the 'nudge' alert was 'very simple stuff' which could 'really improve people's daily lives'. But the majority of MailOnline readers agree with Madeley's sentiments that it is another example of the nanny state. Tesco's Ken Murphy (pictured) said the nudge policy was 'very simple stuff' which could 'really improve people's daily lives' The Tesco boss revealed he was hoping to use artificial intelligence to help customers make healthier choices by alerting them when they go over their daily recommended allowance Mr Murphy said the 'nudge' alert was 'very simple stuff' which could 'really improve people's daily lives'. Poll How do you feel about the 'nudge' policy? I don't mind it it helps me make healthier choices I don't like it - Tesco has not right to monitor what I choose to buy I neither like it nor dislike it How do you feel about the 'nudge' policy? I don't mind it it helps me make healthier choices 105 votes I don't like it - Tesco has not right to monitor what I choose to buy 857 votes I neither like it nor dislike it 70 votes Now share your opinion But the majority of MailOnline readers agree with Madeley's sentiments it is another example of the nanny state. Of those who have so far answered our poll, 82 per cent said they do not think it is right that Tesco has the right to monitor what they choose to buy. Only 11 per cent said they did not mind if it helped them make healthier choices at the checkout, with the remaining seven percent neither liking or disliking the idea. Madeley this morning went as far to claim Andy Warhol's 1962 Campbell's soup masterpieces would never have been created if the health scheme was in place at the time. Shoppers could in the future be told they are buying too many fatty foods, but the majority of MailOnline readers who have answered our poll are not in favour of the policy Richard Madeley has this morning blasted Tesco 's 'infuriating' plan to use Clubcard data to warn shoppers off buying too much fatty food Madeley went as far to claim Andy Warhol's 1962 Campbell's soup masterpieces would never have been created if the health scheme was in place at the time 'Because he bought that and had that for his lunch every day for twenty years,' he said. He says he doesn't need to be told he has bought six ready meals for the week ahead because he knows what he has done as he is 'clever'. 'Can you imagine the annoying factor?' he said. 'Ping, "Richard you have bought too many packets of crisps"... Yeah I know, I'm having a party for the kids. 'Ping. "Richard you have bought far too much booze today"... argh. It's infuriating.' But Mr Murphy yesterday told the Telegraph he can see the health alert 'nudging you, saying: 'look, I've noticed over time that in your shopping basket your sodium salt content is 250pc of your daily recommended allowance. I would recommend you substitute this, this and this for lower sodium products to improve your heart health".' The council has increased the salary three times One of the most isolated councils in Australia is looking for a new CEO to lead the town towards financial prosperity. Administrators of the Coober Pedy council, in South Australia, have offered anyone who is prepared to lead the town a maximum salary of $274,437. The council had previously offered prospective CEOs $234,437 a year - but when that did not work, the state's Remuneration Tribunal lobbed another $40,000 on top. This will be the third time the council has increased the salary for the job, which started at $197,600 a year. The CEO of Coober Pedy's council will earn the same amount as other council leaders in the state, such as those in Yankalilla, Tumby Bay, Clare and Gilbert Valleys and Berri Barmera. For comparison, the state's largest local government boss Michael Sedgman. who leads Adelaide City Council, receives $425,000 each year. The tribunal hired a recruitment specialist to help find a new CEO but they said that salary limitations represented a 'major recruitment impediment'. It is 'highly unlikely' that any candidates with the level of experience required for the job would be attracted to apply without the 'financial incentive to relocate to such a remote location', the specialist also noted. Administrators of the Coober Pedy council, in South Australia , offered a maximum salary of $274,437 for anyone who is prepared to lead the town on September 11 In a gazettal notice from the Remuneration Tribunal said it was important to find the right candidate for the job despite the time it is taking to do so. 'Furthermore, to place a candidate with lesser experience in the role would be challenging and a risk to council and the community,' the tribunal said, reports the Advertiser. 'To attract a candidate that could adequately lead and manage the council would require additional financial inducements. 'The Tribunal has recognised that the District Council of Coober Pedy faces unique regional and locational challenges together with additional responsibilities which are not generally associated with local government functions. 'Such challenges increase the level of complexity of the CEO role and the degree of risk associated with the recruitment decision.' The council had previously offered prospective CEOs $234,437 but when that did not work the state's Remuneration Tribunal added another $40,000 on top The District Council of Coober Pedy has been a 'defaulting council' since January 2019 and since then administrators have been overseeing its functions. The Tribunal made special note of the careful balance that needs to be struck between 'a commercially sustainable rate and responsible expenditure' for the role. Applications for the job are still open on the council's website and hopeful candidates are encouraged to contact the Coober Pedy council directly. The Post Office's chief executive, Nick Read, is set to step down from the role in March, the company has said. The embattled CEO had taken a step back from his role in July to give his 'entire attention' to preparing for the next stage of the Horizon IT inquiry. He had become CEO in 2019, succeeding former boss Paula Vennells, who this year forfeited her CBE following public anger over her handling of the Horizon scandal. The departing chief executive said in a statement it had been a 'great privilege' to have worked as Post Office chief executive in an 'extraordinarily challenging time for the business and for postmasters'. But leading sub-postmaster campaigner Sir Alan Bates said that Mr Read 'hasn't achieved anything' for those wronged in the Horizon scandal during his time as CEO. Nick Read pictured at Portcullis House in Westminster as he faced questions from MPs over the Horizon scandal in January 2024 Mr Read, pictured here giving evidence to MPs about the Horizon scandal in January this year, had faced calls to quit over a letter in which he said the Post Office would stand by the prosecution of some sub-postmasters Mr Read had replaced Paula Vennells as CEO of the Post Office in 2019. Pictured: Vennells at the Horizon IT inquiry in London in May this year The firm, which is set to announce current interim chief operating officer Neil Brocklehurst as acting CEO, confirmed Mr Read's departure this morning. Nigel Railton, the interim chair of the embattled organisation, praised Mr Read for 'beginning the important process of cultural change' as the Post Office continues to deal with the fallout of the Horizon scandal. Following the announcement that he is stepping down from his role, Mr Read said: 'It has been a great privilege to work with colleagues and postmasters during the past five years in what has been an extraordinarily challenging time for the business and for postmasters. 'There remains much to be done for this great UK institution but the journey to reset the relationship with postmasters is well under way and our work to support justice and redress for postmasters will continue.' His decision to step down in March next year comes during the continuing fallout from the Horizon scandal - which included MPs expressing a lack of confidence in his leadership at the business and trade committee in February. More than 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted and jailed for theft, false accounting and other offences between 1999 and 2015 in cases brought by the Post Office using flawed data. Lead campaigner and former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates said Nick Read 'hasn't achieved anything' during his time as chief executive. Reacting to his decision to step down from the role in March next year, Sir Alan told the PA news agency: 'Do you know, I predicted that. 'It's funny that because when I knew he'd taken seven weeks' leave - in theory to prepare for the inquiry - I thought he'd taken seven weeks off to find a new job. 'Honestly, that was my first thought.' Former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates said that Mr Read 'hasn't achieved anything' during his time as CEO The former Army officer, pictured here in a publicity photo, became CEO of the Post Office in 2019 Asked for reflections on his five-year tenure, Sir Alan said: 'Well, he really hasn't achieved anything, has he? Read calls time on Post Office job Post Office boss Nick Read joined long after the events which eventually sparked the Horizon scandal, but his tenure has been dominated by the crisis. Mr Read, 59, said on Wednesday that it was a 'great privilege' to have worked as chief executive, as the company announced that he would leave in March 2025. A former army officer, Mr Read was boss of Nisa Retail and of now-defunct energy supplier Extra Energy before joining the Post Office in 2019. Then, litigation between a group of 555 subpostmasters and the Post Office was just coming to a head, in which the company agreed to pay 58 million in compensation. In the intervening years the inquiry has heard evidence of how more than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted for stealing, based on incorrect information from the Horizon IT system. While Mr Read has not faced the same level of public anger as his predecessor, Paula Vennells, who this year forfeited her CBE over her handling of the crisis, he has had significant controversy. That included accusations from the former HR director of the Post Office that he was 'obsessed with his pay', and that he repeatedly made threats to resign over the issue. Mr Read was also the subject of an investigation by an independent barrister, who looked into allegations against the chief executive including accusations of 'bullying' by former chairman Henry Staunton. But the Post Office later said the review 'exonerated' him of misconduct claims, and that he had the full backing of the board to continue to lead the business. That also came after the Business and Trade Select Committee of MPs expressed a lack of confidence in his leadership, accusing him of giving misleading evidence. Mr Read said in July that he would temporarily step back from the chief executive role to give his 'entire attention' to the next stage of the Horizon IT inquiry. He is set to give evidence to the inquiry in October. He said on Wednesday that there 'remains much to be done for this great UK institution but the journey to reset the relationship with postmasters is well under way'. Advertisement 'He certainly hasn't done anything for the victims in all of this. I mean, I'm lost for words.' On what he wanted from Mr Read's successor, Sir Alan told PA: 'It needs somebody just to actually resolve and get everything out of the way - get all the misdemeanours that have gone on in the past, get them out in the open and to drive this whole issue, this whole scandal, and all aspects of it, out. 'And get rid of so many of these people who have been involved over the years who just seem to be shuffled around within Post Office. 'Someone's got to come in with one big sweeping brush and clear the whole thing out.' Mr Read had faced calls to quit over a letter in which he said the Post Office would stand by the prosecution of more than half of the sub-postmasters convicted during the Horizon scandal. During his tenure he also faced claims of misconduct, with the firm's former chairman Henry Staunton accusing him of bullying and sexism. Mr Staunton claimed that the former Army officer had threatened to resign four times over his 'too low' 400,000 salary after being 'badgered' over it by MPs during a marathon MP committee session in February. The Post Office's latest accounts suggest Mr Read's pay for the 2022 to 2023 financial year totalled 570,000. In the previous year, he was paid 816,000 including salary and bonuses. Mr Staunton added that the firm's former HR director had reportedly given a detailed account into his alleged behaviour. In the letter to the Commons business committee, Mr Staunton said: 'As the only woman in the senior management team... she felt that she was being treated by Read and his henchmen as a 'pain in the a**e' for focusing on tackling the toxic culture rather than prioritising Read's salary.' The Post Office claimed that Mr Staunton's claims contained 'inaccuracies and falsehoods', while Mr Read told staff at the firm he 'absolutely refutes' bullying claims. He was later exonerated of 'all misconduct allegations' in an external report compiled by barrister Marianne Tutin of Devereux Chambers. In June this year he was forced to apologise after the Post Office published the home addresses of 555 wronged postmasters in what he called a 'truly terrible error'. He said he could 'only apologise' after the firm published a dossier of people involved in a High court action in 2019. The document, marked 'confidential', included a list of names and home addresses with postcodes. Ex-postmaster Christopher Head, tweeted a letter he sent Mr Read and Post Office chairman Nigel Railton, telling them: 'There are many who hadn't shared details with their own families and others who are extremely traumatised by this whole scandal even today and this has further impacted them.' He said Mr Read replied, saying: 'This is a truly terrible error and one for which at this stage I can only apologise.' A 'disciple' of the Monster of Avignon accused of rape alongside him has begun giving evidence. Jean Pierre Marechal, 63, is said to have drugged his own wife after taking advice from Dominque Pelicot, who was in the witness box with him. Pelicot, 73, is charged with raping his wife Gisele, who has waived her right to anonymity and arranging for at least 50 other men to abuse her while she was drugged. Marechal, dressed in a beige shirt, stood next to Pelicot, who had arrived at the court in Avignon in a wheelchair and sat listening intently as his co-accused spoke. In the sordid case which has attracted global attention, Marechal, said to be 'a good husband and father', is accused of raping his own wife and offering her to Pelicot. He is not accused of raping Gisele. A sketch of Pelicot in court with the co-accused in Avignon, France on September 17 Gisele Pelicot arrives at court in Avignon France on Wednesday Dominique Pelicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over 10yrs Gisele Pelicot, flanked by her lawyer Stephane Babonneau arrives at the courtroom on September 18 In his bombshell testimony earlier his week, Pelicot admitted he was a rapist adding 'just like the other 50 men' in the courtroom. He also said he had carried out the decade long abuse of Gisele out of 'idle boredom' after retiring from his job as an electrician. Marechal drugged his wife, 53, at least a dozen times between 2015 and 2020 after meeting Pelicot on a now closed sex website called Coco.gg While she was asleep both men then raped her before she woke and saw a man with a torch running out of the bedroom. Marechal is said to have told his wife Pelicot wanted to 'see her in her underwear' and she later told investigators she had no idea she had been drugged. Police were able to trace Marechal after examining computer equipment they had seized from Pelicot's home when he was arrested in late 2020. Retired truck driver and father of five Marechal has admitted the offences and unlike Gisele, his wife has stood by her husband and not divorced him 'for the sake of the children'. Like Pelicot, Marechal blamed his actions on an sexual abuse he suffered as a child including his own father who made him carry out sex acts on him. Marechal said: 'My mother tried to protect us but she drank every day, all the time. We saw her die of cirrhosis of the liver. A sketch of Pelicot in court in Avignon, France on September 17 Pelicot, 73, is charged with raping his wife Gisele, who has waived her right to anonymity Gisele Pelicot's daughter Caroline Darian arrives flanked by her mother Gisele Pelicot at the Avignon courthouse on Tuesday Gisele Pelicot (2-R), her daughter Caroline Darian (R) and her lawyers Stephane Babonneau (2-L) and Antoine Camus (L) walk towards the criminal court on September 17 Gisele pictured arriving at court in Avignon, France with her daughter Ms Pelicot arrives on Tuesday for the trial that has shocked the country, and raised new awareness about sexual violence 'She knew she was going to die, she prepared us for it. Even after, I didn't blame my father, I always thought it was normal. 'I know today that it is atrocious. Like what I did to my wife.' Marechal continued: 'I regret my actions, I love my wife, I am in prison I deserve it but will do my best to get better. 'I was a rapist, a criminal, I committed criminal acts.' He added: 'I have attended sessions on domestic violence, we owe respect to women, a woman deserves respect.' Marechal told the court he had begun watching violent porn in 2013 following the death of his mother and to 'relive the attacks' carried out on her. When asked who had the idea of targeting his own wife, Marechal replied: 'I'm not going to deny it but I'm not going to blame him (Pelicot) for everything. I didn't refuse it.' Marechal also told the court that he and his wife had a normal sex life but it had 'calmed down with age'. He added: 'We got along very well. My wife was at home with the children, I was working. Before I committed these despicable acts, I never forced her but we had no problems as a couple.' Gisele was unknowingly given a mix of sleeping pills and tranquillisers by her husband Dominique Abuse took place in the town of Mazan, south of France, and was only uncovered after the man was caught up-skirting women in a local supermarket, prompting officers to search his home Gisele Pelicot (C), flanked by her lawyers, receives flowers from a member of the public during her former husband's rape trial, at the criminal court in Avignon on September 17 Beatrice Zavarro (R), lawyer of Dominique Pelicot, speaks to the press on Tuesday Gisele has attended every day of the trial since it began earlier this month Marechal told the court that Pelicot had visited his house 'around a dozen times' with tranquillizers to give his wife but they had only worked 'four or five times'. Underlining evil Pelicot's role he added:' Without him, I would never have taken this action, he was reassuring and imposing.' But he denied raping Pelioct's wife Gisele, and said: 'No, I couldn't, I couldn't rape anyone other than my wife but he shared videos of her with me.' When asked about Marechal's testimony, Pelicot told the court 'what he said is true' adding: 'What did worry me was being caught by the children and once we almost were when they came back earlier than expected from a nightclub.' The court than heard a series of text messages exchanged between Pelicot and Marechal underlining their cosy relationship. In a flurry of missives sent after Marechal's wife woke up, Pelicot warned him: 'If the cops question you, you don't know me,' adding a laughing emoji. Marechal replied: 'We will try again in three months,' but Pelicot warned: 'No, it's too dangerous.' As he spoke Gisele, who has attended court every day since the trial began listened from the opposite side with her daughter next to her. Several of Pelicot and Marechal's co-accused were also in court and all filed in wearing masks, caps and hoodies so as to avoid being identified. The offences are said to have taken place over a decade long period that began in 2011 in the village of Mazan where the Pelicot's lived. Prosecutors expect the trial to last until December and if convicted Pelicot could be jailed for 20 years. Angela Rayner will hold fresh talks with trade unions and business bosses today as she bids to push through Labour's controversial overhaul of workers' rights. The Deputy Prime Minister and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will stage the latest in a series of meetings over the Government's reforms. They will discuss their plans this afternoon with general secretaries from Britain's major trade unions, as well as top figures from the Confederation of British Industry and Federation of Small Businesses. The talks are set to focus on Labour's vow to end 'exploitative' zero-hours contracts, which is part of the Government's planned 'New Deal for Working People'. Wide-ranging reforms are expected to be included in an Employment Rights Bill, to be introduced within the party's first 100 days in office. But there are fears the package will hammer the economy with the Tories having blasted Labour's 'French-style' proposals. The Government's plans also include giving staff a 'right to switch off' from bosses' messages outside working hours, banning 'fire and rehire' practices, and bolstering the power of trade unions. Amid a backlash from businesses, critics have warned against burdening firms with more red tape and stunting economic growth. Angela Rayner will hold fresh talks with trade unions and business bosses today as she bids to push through Labour 's controversial overhaul of workers' rights The Deputy Prime Minister and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will stage the latest in a series of meetings over the Government's reforms Ahead of the general election, Labour's manifesto committed to banning 'exploitative zero-hours contracts' as part of its wider 'Make Work Pay' agenda. But the party also said it would consult businesses and unions on its plans before passing legislation, a process which began last month. Those attending today's meeting include TUC general secretary Paul Nowak, the general secretaries of the unions Unison, Usdaw, NASUWT and Community, CBI chief executive Rain Newton-Smith, and FSB policy and advocacy chair Tina McKenzie. A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: 'This Government has set out an ambitious agenda to update workers' rights to fit the modern economy and make work pay. 'This includes ensuring those who want to work flexibly can, while ending one-sided flexibility and exploitative zero-hours contracts. 'We will work together with businesses to ensure workers have a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work while allowing them to remain on a zero hours contract if they decide this is what suits their needs.' Around one million people in the UK are thought to be on zero-hours contracts, according to the Office for National Statistics, equivalent to 3.1 per cent of those in employment. In August, a TUC survey suggested most workers on zero-hours contracts wanted to switch to regular hours. Today's meeting is not expected to result in a major announcement. Earlier this week, it emerged that Ms Rayner and Mr Reynolds are split over plans to hand workers full employment rights on their first day in the job. The pair were reported to have clashed over the issue of probation periods for new staff. A Harley Street cosmetic surgeon, who gave Katie Price her first two boob jobs, has been given a written warning after he put his hand over a patient's mouth to stop her speaking during a consultation. Dr Jeya Prakash, 74, held his hand across the woman's lips claiming he wanted her to 'calm down' after she began complaining that her breast augmentation procedure was taking too long to heal. During the encounter the patient claimed the father-of-two held her lips together 'like a vice' and said she was reduced to tears as a result. She then fled his practice The Professional Cosmetic Surgery in Harley Street, in London, and told her husband who was waiting in a car outside. Prakash admitted placing his hand over the woman's mouth but was cleared of holding her lips together at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal hearing. A Harley Street cosmetic surgeon has been given a written warning after he put his hand over a patient's mouth to stop her speaking during a consultation During the encounter the patient claimed the father-of-two held her lips together 'like a vice' and said she was reduced to tears as a result Dr Jeya Prakash, 74, who gave Katie Price her first two boob jobs, held his hand across a patient's lips claiming he wanted her to 'calm down' after she began complaining that her breast augmentation procedure was taking too long to heal. Pictured Katie Price in 1999 after her second boob job The woman, referred to as Patient A, initially went back for further consultations with Prakash 'like an idiot' but she decided to walk away which 'took a lot of guts and nerve.' She went to her GP's surgery and saw a nurse who was said to be 'horrified' by the state of the wound and advised not to go back to Prakash. On the advice of the nurse Patient A made a complaint to the General Medical Council in November 2021. In a statement the woman said: 'As soon as the doctor did this, I burst into tears and couldn't speak. 'It happened quite quickly and he released me within a few seconds but that was enough. I got up as soon as I could and said very firmly, "How dare for you to touch me like that?" I was humiliated.' At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, Prakash who once claimed his surgery had uncovered the 'secret of eternal youth' was found guilty of a charge of 'physically controlling behaviour' towards Patient A. The Manchester hearing was told Patient A underwent a bilateral breast reduction under Prakash in September 2020 at the London Welbeck Hospital. The surgery went well but there were complications during the woman's recovery, with delayed wound healing and she saw Prakash for 30 follow up appointments between 20 October 2020 and 13 October 2021. In her evidence Patient A said: 'I was lying on the examination bed with my breasts exposed and doctor was standing on the right side of the bed. 'He asked me how the wound was and I said that I was fed up with travelling to see him and all the breast discomfort and the ugly hole in my new breast. 'Before I could even draw breath to finish my sentence, he grabbed my lips with his right hand and twisted them really hard together like they were in a vice. He did this with force and to shut me up. It really hurt. Prakash admitted placing his hand over the woman's mouth but was cleared of holding her lips together at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal hearing Katie Price 's latest 10,000 facelift could reportedly leave her with serious side effects including the appearance of a stroke. Pictured: Price attending a court hearing last month 'I got dressed and the doctor apologised profusely just saying he was sorry but I didn't want to listen and fled the room half-dressed and in tears. 'I went to the toilet and got myself together and then left the clinic. My husband was waiting in the car for me and saw how upset I was. He was furious and told me never to return.' Prakash, who lives in Ascot, Berkshire, questioned whether Patient A was as 'hurt, humiliated and afraid of him' as she said she was, because she attended further consultations after the incident. He said he believed that the reason why Patient A reported him to the GMC was because she did not want to pay for the tests and not because he had done anything untoward. The former glamour model jetted off to Turkey for her sixth facelift after being turned down in 2022 by her former surgeon Dr Jeya Prakash amid fears she was addicted to cosmetic surgery (right, in 1995) Prakash claimed he had been 'generous' with his time and had spent his own finances on consumables and medical equipment. He stated that he had trusted Patient A and 'felt betrayed' that she had turned against him. The surgeon added: 'The patient was very stressed about the healing. While I was trying to calm her down, I put my hand onto her mouth and was explaining to her about the nature of the healing. 'She was upset that I used my hand to settle her down. I apologised a few times. She accepted the apology and had the dressing for two tiny spots and left quietly. 'My pure intention was to calm her down, not to be aggressive or disrespectful. If this were my nature, I would not have apologised immediately after seeing her response. 'The patient accepted my apology, dressed, drank some water, and made another appointment. I deeply regret that my actions were misinterpreted.' The tribunal was shown a text exchange in which Patient A told Prakash's PA: ' Hi I feel very upset the way he manhandled me! How much does he want me to pay for the PRP injection? 'I feel it should be free after a year of my post op trauma. Don't tell him I said this but my husband doesn't want me to go back to him.' Prakash's PA said: 'I remember Patient A saying was not healing fast enough and was expressing her frustration to me about this. Her demeanour was agitated. The doctor kept telling Patient A to calm down, but she continued to express her frustrations. Whilst he was examining Patient A's breast wound he was repeatedly saying to her that it will take time and that it had already improved a lot. 'I briefly saw that he put one hand over Patient A's mouth telling her to calm down. Patient A was annoyed. Everything happened so fast and his hand was only there for a split second. 'I remember the doctor repeatedly saying, I am sorry. I am sorry a few times to Patient A before she left the consultation. 'I believe we treated Patient A with utter respect, kindness, and care. The doctor cares about Patient A and showed this throughout her long journey with us.' For the GMC counsel Ms Amy Rollings said: 'This was unwanted touching, it was inappropriate and had the effect of preventing her from speaking. 'His misconduct demonstrated a propensity to act in such a way that placed future patients at an unwarranted risk of harm.' MPTS chairman Mrs Remi Alabi said Prakash's fitness to practise medicine was not impaired. She said: 'Dr Jeyapragash was not being malicious and while his intention may have been to stop Patient A from speaking for a moment in attempting to calm her down, whilst this was ill judged, there was nothing malicious in his actions. 'The tribunal considered there to have been an immediate recognition by Dr Jeyapragash at the time that he had upset Patient A and apologised to her. The Tribunal determined that the risk of repetition was therefore very low..' But she added: 'Whilst there was no twisting or holding together of the lips but his physical act of putting his hand on Patient A's mouth had the practical effect of controlling her ability to speak. His action amounted to a single episode of 'physically controlling behaviour'. Prakash has known glamour model Price since 1996 when he performed her first and second breast augmentations, before she returned for even bigger breasts. He said he turned down her request for a facelift amid fears she was addicted to cosmetic surgery. Recalling her visiting his office in 2022 he told The Mirror: 'I said she doesn't need a facelift. Then she went to other places where people didn't look after her health, they looked after her image. Health is very important.' 'I said no, because she seemed to have an addiction to surgery with what she wanted to do. 'She's a small, petite lady. I always tell her that a squirrel shouldn't have elephant breasts.' But Price jetted off to Turkey in July for her sixth facelift and there are reportedly fears the 10,000 procedure could leave her with serious side effects including the appearance of a stroke. Almost 3,000 people were injured and at least 12 killed in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday when pagers belonging to members of Hezbollah exploded in a shocking, co-ordinated attack of unprecedented scope and scale. The crippling security breach is believed to be the result of a shady operation stretching from Hungary to Taiwan that was masterminded by Israel's foreign spy agency. It is alleged that Mossad, working in collaboration with elements of Israel's Defence Forces (IDF), managed to infiltrate the supply chain and plant a small quantity of high explosives inside the communication devices before they were delivered to Lebanon some time this spring. These rigged devices were subsequently distributed to thousands of unsuspecting members across the political, military, operational and medical branches of Hezbollah before they were eventually detonated on Tuesday afternoon. Officials in Jerusalem have thus far declined to comment on the incident, but Hezbollah has placed the blame squarely on Israel and has vowed to punish it. An American official speaking on condition of anonymity said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the attack, but gave no more details. Meanwhile, a slew of security sources, regional analysts and munitions experts concur that Mossad and the IDF are the only entities capable of pulling off such an operation. Now, as Hezbollah reels from the extraordinary attack and Lebanese officials work fervently to uncover the details, MailOnline breaks down what we know so far. Why was Hezbollah using pagers? Just one day after Hamas' October 7 attacks that triggered the war in Gaza, Lebanon's Hezbollah entered the fray in support of its ally and began trading strikes with Israel along their shared border. Since then, hundreds of the group's operatives have been killed in targeted Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including several senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut. Fearing that the phones used by Hezbollah members to communicate presented a massive security risk, Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in February declared the devices were 'more dangerous than Israeli spies' and his officials began drawing up plans to address gaps in the group's intelligence infrastructure. In a televised speech on February 13, Nasrallah sternly ordered his followers and supporters to break, bury or lock their phones in an iron box. The group opted to replace the phones its members had previously used to communicate with pagers - one way receivers that are more secure than smartphones and do not operate on the same network. They also have an extremely long battery life, with some models able to last up to three months on one charge - a key advantage given Lebanon's economic crisis and unreliable electricity supply. Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in February declared phones were 'more dangerous than Israeli spies' and ordered followers to break, bury or lock them away The stunning incident saw scores of Hezbollah members severely injured throughout southern Lebanon and in its capital Beirut A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded on September 17, 2024 The timeline A Lebanese security source confirmed to Reuters that Hezbollah placed an order for thousands of pagers in February with a Taiwan-based company called Gold Apollo. The AR-924 pager ordered by Hezbollah is advertised a 'rugged' device allowing users to securely communicate in messages of 100 characters. But Gold Apollo said in a statement on Wednesday that it did not manufacture the devices delivered to Lebanon, claiming instead they were manufactured by in Budapest, Hungary, by another entity called BAC Consulting Kft under a brand licensing deal. Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang said: 'The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,' with an official statement from the company adding: 'Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorisation and regional agency cooperation with BAC... but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.' An executive of BAC Consulting Kft confirmed to NBC in a phonecall that the company worked with Gold Apollo but said 'I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediary', before hanging up. This is where the trail has gone cold - for now. The limited liability company was registered in May 2022, with records showing it had revenue of $725,768 in 2022 and $593,972 in 2023. Reporters located the registered address of BAC Consulting in Budapest, but a person at the building speaking on condition of anonymity said the company did not have a physical presence there. Thousands were injured when pagers across Syria and Lebanon exploded on Tuesday A street procession was held on Wednesday for the 10-year-old victim of the attack Hsu Ching-kuang (L), head of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, speaks to the media outside the company's office in New Taipei City on September 18, 2024. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo on September 18 denied a report that it had produced thousands of explosive-packed pagers The head office of the BAC Consulting KFT company is pictured on September 18, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary How were the pagers sabotaged? The exact method by which the pagers were sabotaged remains unverified. But a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that it appeared the booby-trapped devices distributed to thousands of Hezbollah members had been modified 'at the production level.' 'The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner,' the source said. Another security source said that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone 'undetected' by Hezbollah for months. How were the pagers detonated? The source said 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives. Early speculation in the wake of the blasts suggested an Israeli hack could have overloaded the lithium ion batteries powering the pagers, which can burn up to 590 degrees celsius (1,100 F) when ignited. But munitions experts reviewing examples of the blasts caught by security cameras determined the pagers were detonated by an explosive charge, given the sudden and uniform nature of the explosions and the kind of injuries sustained by the victims. A former British Army bomb disposal officer explained that an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge. 'A pager has three of those already,' explained the ex-officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he now works as a consultant with clients on the Middle East. 'You would only need to add the detonator and the charge.' 'Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge,' said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert. Pagers used by Hezbollah members for vital communications exploded yesterday, injuring thousands This security footage shows the moment a man's pager blew up in a supermarket A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location Mossad 'most likely culprit' Security experts, regional analysts and military officials have almost unanimously pointed fingers at Mossad and elements of the Israeli military, arguing that no other actor has the capability nor the motive to carry out such an attack. Former Israeli Intelligence official and regional analyst Avi Melamed told MailOnline: 'Hezbollah regressed back to these devices thinking that these devices would be safer for its combatants to use instead of phones which could be GPS targeted. 'In one sweeping attack, with both significant operational and psychological ramifications, these very low-tech devices were used against them, deepening the stress and embarrassment on its leaders. 'The characteristics of the incident indicate the use of advanced technologies for disruption, communication system takeovers, and remote operations with an exceptionally high level of synchronisation. 'The accumulating evidence suggests that the devices were handled in advance, not through malicious software. While Israel has not taken, and is unlikely to take, responsibility for the attack, there is no doubt in regional discourse that Israel is behind it.' Relatives mourn Fatima Abdallah, a 10-year-old girl among those killed in the pager explosions Chaotic scenes inside hospitals in Lebanon are seen Tuesday evening following blasts Professor Andreas Krieg, Middle East expert, senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King's College London, said: 'Regardless of how they sourced it or how they procured this device, Israel has been able to infiltrate and compromise the supply chain. 'Tampering with a physical device that then was rolled out across the network of Hezbollah is quite extraordinary because it requires coordination, and it likely requires someone on the inside who is cooperating. 'If you look at the wider picture that's emerging over the last couple of months, it seems like the Israelis have been been fairly successful on the intelligence front in compromising their foes, given who they've targeted and how precisely they have been able to do so. If you look at the way that they killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, for example, it suggests Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranians are heavily infiltrated - there may also be are certain people who cooperate with the Israelis.' Mossad has a reputation for carrying out sophisticated operations. It is blamed for a spate of cyber attacks and is suspected of being behind the assassination of a top Iranian scientist with a remote-controlled machinegun. But the pager attack would constitute one of the agency's most complex and daring operations, and represents 'easily the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades' according to Jonathan Panikoff, the US government's former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East. Victoria state MP Moira Deeming told the Federal Court on Wednesday that it is not controversial to say women do not have penises and 'no man has a vagina'. Protest leaders made those observations at the controversial Let Women Speak rally outside state parliament in March 2023, which Ms Deeming, who was then a Liberal MP, attended. Ms Deeming was giving evidence at her defamation trial against Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto over comments he made about her attending the rally. She alleges Mr Pesutto falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathiser after she spoke at the rally, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Mr Pesutto's barrister Dr Matthew Collins KC asked Ms Deeming if remarks made at the rally by British transgender-critical activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull 'about how women can't have a penis' were provocative and controversial. 'It's completely uncontroversial that at the Let Women Speak rally, those things were said. That's literally what we all came to say,' Ms Deeming replied. Dr Collins was also questioned over the rally's potential links to neo-Nazi groups. She said commentary by keyboard warriors labelling her a Nazi or fascist did little to deter her from attending the women's rights rally. Independent MP Moira Deeming (centre, in blue top) arrives to the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne, Wednesday, September 18, 2024 Victorian opposition leader, John Pesutto (left) and his wife Betty arrive to the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne, Wednesday, September 18, 2024 Ms Deeming acknowledged receiving numerous critical comments following her tweet promoting the event that questioned her rubbing shoulders with 'brownshirts', another term for Nazis or fascists. But she viewed the derogatory comments as attempts to provoke her rather than genuine concerns about her association with rally attendees. Footage of the rally, which included a line of black-clad men repeatedly performing Nazi salutes on parliament steps, and numerous tweets about the event were shown to the court. Ms Deeming said she had 'never seen that footage' of the Nazi salutes and questioned why the group wasn't arrested by police. 'I hadn't seen that before, that just proves they aren't with us,' Ms Deeming said on Wednesday. Following the rally, she received a text message from deputy Liberal leader David Southwick stating she needed to denounce the attendance of the neo-Nazis. But Ms Deeming said she wasn't equipped to send out a press statement on her own, because she was new to parliament and thought something like that would need to be approved by the party. Instead she made a statement on social media. Earlier, Justice David O'Callaghan opened the hearing by refusing Ms Deeming's application to subpoena Mr Southwick for communications or recordings. The application followed a secret recording of a Liberal leadership meeting in March 2023, played to the court on Tuesday. Ms Deeming said despite her involvement, she tried to avoid being a divisive member of the Liberal Party after she was shocked by an internal fallout over duck hunting. 'I'd never seen anything like that with adults,' she told the Federal Court hearing of a fiery exchange within the party room. As a result, she asked Mr Pesutto to help her advocate on women's rights without creating a similar situation. She said the 'very warm' Mr Pesutto told her 'it shows me you won't be that kind of person'. Ms Deeming said she wanted to meet Mr Pesutto for more advice about the rally, but that never eventuated. Mr Collins suggested Ms Deeming failed to tell Mr Pesutto of her full involvement in the rally because she knew it would be controversial. 'I knew it was controversial. I'm not denying any of those things,' Ms Deeming told the court. 'I just considered that I had consulted with my leader and he knew what I was doing.' When asked if she thought the rally could become violent, Ms Deeming said threats from counter protesters made her 'more determined to be brave'. Ms Deeming will continue to be questioned on Thursday. British transgender-critical activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull speaks on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne on March 18, 2023. Victorian MP Moira Deeming is pictured to her right Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell is seen at the Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne on Saturday, March 18, 2023 High-profile Liberals are set to give evidence over the three-week trial including federal Senator Sarah Henderson, Mr Southwick and former MP Matt Bach who now lives in the UK. Mr Pesutto has denied wrongdoing. Ms Deeming has been an independent MP since she was expelled from the Liberal Party. Mr Pesutto previously reached settlements with anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull and Angela Jones, issuing both a public apology over their involvement in the rally. This is the moment a brazen key-less car 'thief' tries to steal 130,000 Aston Martin from a driveway in the middle of the night. A man wearing all black and a balaclava over his face was captured on the owner's Ring security camera at around 5am on September 10 holding an antenna up above his head near the house. The antenna is used to pick up a signal from the owner's key, which includes a code for disarming the car's security system and is relayed to the vehicle. If successful, the cloned signal convinces the car that the key is nearby and allows the engine to start. However, the man leaves empty handed as the one minute and 32 second CCTV footage comes to an end and the silver 202mph Aston Martin Vantage remains on the drive at the home in Southgate, north London. A man wearing all black and a balaclava over his face was captured on the owner's Ring security camera The man stands next to the 130,000 Aston Martin with an antenna which is used to pick up a signal from the owner's key inside the home Your browser does not support iframes. In a key-less car theft last year, a 350,000 Rolls-Royce was stolen in just 30 seconds. According the Sun, a friend of the owner said the victim was 'stunned and devastated' that their luxury SUV was stolen from outside their door. Earlier this year, a car thief revealed how he can steal any vehicle in seconds using a 15,000 'readily available kit' which is legal to buy in the UK. Former dirt racer Mark McCann hired a real life car thief to show him how he would steal a 60,000 Range Rover SVR from a Tesco's car park in an alarming video that lifts the lid on how the criminals operate. In the video, posted to his YouTube channel with more than 240,000 subscribers, Mark meets a man dressed in a black balaclava who demonstrates how to use the 'state of the art' equipment to steal the four by four. Car thieves are known to use a keyless 'relay' device to fool cars into thinking that their real keys are nearby - a feature of high-end cars that allow doors to be unlocked and cars to be started without using the key. However this new technique seems much more risk averse, with thieves not needing to be in the vicinity of the vehicle in order to steal it, nor do they need to imitate the owner's key in order to gain access. Instead, it requires a kit that the video claims can be bought from the dark web for 15,000. To demonstrate how the kit works, Mark hires a car thief to steal his mother's car as part of a staged routine. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Cars are often stolen to order and are shipped in containers which prevent trackers from locating them while they are sent overseas to be either sold whole or traded for parts. Another tactic used involves jamming the lock signal as the owner presses the button and walks away thinking their car is secure. Motorists are advised to keep keys in secure pouches or locked away in a box to block hackers' signals. The devices can be purchased for as little as 80 each, according to experts. The Met Police declined to comment on the alleged attempted theft of the Aston Martin. John Swinney vowed that the SNP would keep pushing for Scottish independence today as the party held a bizarre commemoration of its defeat in the 2014 referendum. Scotland's First Minister insisted that independence was 'closer than ever' after addressing a gathering in Edinburgh, 10 years after Scots voted 55 per cent to 45 per cent to stay in the UK. With his nationalist government struggling in the polls he lashed out at the Tories and the new Labour government, accusing them of both being the cause of Scotland's problems - despite the SNP being in power at Holyrood since 2011. He told the event: 'The problem for Scotland is not a just an incredibly damaging Westminster Tory Government. We now have an incredibly damaging Westminster Labour Government. 'And there is a pattern here. The problem for Scotland is government from Westminster. The SNP's job is to get on with setting out the better alternative.' However, his speech came as a new poll suggested that support for independence is now lower than it was 10 years ago. Scotland's First Minister insisted that independence was 'closer than ever' after addressing a gathering in Edinburgh, 10 years after Scots voted 55 per cent to 45 per cent to stay in the UK. Your browser does not support iframes. The YouGov survey found 56 per cent of Scots would now vote No, with only 44 per cent saying they would vote Yes. It means the margin in favour of the Union has grown since 2014, when there was a 55-45 split. The poll comes as opposition politicians said a 'decade of division' must now come to an end in order to let Scotland heal. Pro-Union parties also said the next Holyrood election gives voters the chance to get rid of the SNP from power and 'close the book on this divisive period in our politics'. Since the SNP's landslide general election win in 2015, the party has lost more than a third of its vote and fell to nine seats at the last general election. Alastair Cameron, chairman of Scotland in Union, said: 'Ten years on, what is clearer than anything is Scots want to move on. 'This has been reflected in polling repeatedly, and was reflected at the ballot box in July. 'This anniversary would be the ideal opportunity for the SNP government to put the constitution to one side and, for once, focus on people's priorities. 'Almost every area of public service delivery has suffered because of the nationalists' obsession to break up Britain.' YouGov's latest poll of 1,063 people, carried out between August 29 and September 3 and published yesterday, found that Opposition to independence has increased by two percentage points since its last survey in June. The survey also found that 51 per cent of voters said there should not be another referendum in the next five years, compared with 37 per cent who said there should be another vote in that timescale. Only 10 per cent of respondents thought Scotland was likely to become independent in the next five years, compared with 80 per cent who said this was unlikely. Scotland's top pollster, Professor Sir John Curtice, yesterday said the independence vote led to a longer-term bounce in support for Yes. But he added: 'Some people say the argument about independence is dead. I think a more accurate characterisation is to say it is stuck in neutral and the challenge to those on the Nationalist side is to begin to get it into gear once more.' A businesswoman 'dragged from her home' and 'locked up for 36 hours' for allegedly spreading a false name for the Southport dance class knifeman spoke of her 'nightmare' today after being told she faced no further police action. Bernadette Spofforth, 55, was held on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred as part of a crackdown on those accused of whipping up tensions online following the shocking killing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed event in July. False information that the suspect was 'an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list' spread rapidly around social media, with anti-immigration riots breaking out across the country. After being confronted last month at her 1.5million farmhouse in Cheshire by MailOnline as to why she was apparently the first person to publish the false name on X formerly Twitter - the middle-aged woman said she had done a 'really stupid thing' which had 'literally destroyed me'. Today she returned to social media to say that four weeks after police 'dragged me from my home and held me for 36 hours in a cell' she had been told she would face no further action. Bernadette Spofforth says she was 'dragged from her home' and 'locked up for 36 hours' by police after allegedly spreading a false name for the Southport dance class knifeman The 55-year-old was held on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred, but claims police have now told her no action will be taken against her Ms Spofforth alleged that five officers turned up mob-handed and held me for 36 hours in a concrete cell with a concrete bed, like a terrorist. She also told her 54,000 social media followers she had been punished as an example. Insisting that her supposed 'crime' had been 'sharing a tweet' which she deleted after being told it was inaccurate, she said: 'What I've experienced over the past few weeks is nothing in comparison to the suffering of the tragic victims in Southport. 'And I'm not trying to compare the two. 'But I am just an ordinary person with ordinary opinions and I think it's important that the public should know how ordinary people can be treated. 'The nightmare my family and I have lived through over the past month could happen to anyone. And in Britain in 2024 that's unacceptable.' Ms Spofforth claimed she had been a victim of efforts to silence her and ban dissent. Ms Spofforth was not handcuffed or physically held by officers when she was escorted to a police van, Mail Online understands. She was arrested rather than being invited for interview as her digital devices needed to be seized for examination, sources said today. The former anti-lockdown campaigner posted the false name just hours after Bebe King, six, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed on July 29. Before the victims had been identified, she posted: 'Ali Al-Shakati was the suspect, he was an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list. 'If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose.' The false name was further spread in an article published by the Russian-linked Channel 3 Now website which was extensively retweeted. Channel 3 Now later removed the article and apologised. Responding at the time to the mass rioting that took place in the days that followed, Ms Spofforth told MailOnline: 'I'm mortified that I'm being accused of this. I did not make it up. 'I first received this information from somebody in Southport.' MailOnline was able to establish her identity after conducting an extensive trawl of X posts featuring the name Ali Al-Shakti which suggested that hers was the first. When challenged, Ms Spofforth claimed that she had seen someone else post the name on X but was unable to provide any evidence. She added: 'My post had nothing to do with the violence we've seen across the country. 'But I acknowledge that it may have been the source for the information used by a Russian news website.' Ms Spofforth is the managing director of a clothing company and lives in a 1.5million farmhouse in Cheshire with her husband. Bernadette Spofforth had posted on social media that the name of the alleged knifeman was Ali Al-Shakati, something that later turned out to be false A police van set on fire buy rioters during a protest in Southport on July 31 this year in the wake of the killing of three girls by a knifeman Police in riot gear stand in the road in front of a burning vehicle in Southport on July 30 this year Police brandishing riot shields and helmets gather in the road to hold back protesters near a burning vehicle in Southport on July 30 She is a prominent campaigner against lockdowns and net-zero climate schemes and had tens of thousands of followers on X before she deleted her account. Ms Spofforth later told The Times: 'Yes I did [post it] It was a spur of the moment ridiculous thing to do, which has literally destroyed me. 'It was just a mistake. I did a really stupid stupid thing, I copied and pasted it from what I saw, and I added the line 'if this is true'. She added: 'I think it is very easy for a situation which is very emotional and very heightened, so you can end up believing what you're seeing. 'People should be very careful about putting what they think is true without doing the research.' Her post was deleted an hour after it appeared, but by then the false information had been widely repeated by far-right social media activists such as Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate. In a statement today following the end of the police probe against her, Ms Spofforth said: 'I've been unable to comment on this until now because, under the terms of my bail conditions, I faced being rearrested and locked up in a cell again if I used social media. 'My crime was sharing a tweet which I deleted and apologised for sharing as soon I realised it contained inaccurate information. 'As has now been shown, the idea that one single tweet could be the catalyst for the riots which followed the atrocities in Southport is simply not true. 'Yet, despite repeatedly insisting I'd done nothing illegal, the police dragged me from my home and held me for 36 hours in a cell.' She explained: I had expressed my own views on the state of the country and its failure to protect innocent citizens, and that is still legal, but its very clear that a vocal part of our society wants the opinions of ordinary people like you and like me suppressed. They say they support free speech, but they mean only the speech they agree with.' Ms Spofforth claimed it was easier to ban dissent, and that way you can stop the public spreading unapproved news amongst ourselves.' She added: Without free speech, there is no democracy, and without democracy, there really is only tyranny. She had been supported by the Free Speech Union, of which she is a member. Today its director Toby Young said: 'We're delighted the police have decided to take no further action against Bernie, who's a member of the Free Speech Union. 'Had she been prosecuted, we would have arranged for a crack team of lawyers to defend her and paid all their costs. 'She never should have been arrested in the first place, let alone held in custody for 36 hours. 'Yes, she misidentified the Southport attacker on social media, but it was an innocent mistake. She added the caveat 'if this is true' and deleted the post when she discovered it wasn't. 'As Keir Starmer said when he was Director of Public Prosecutions, in cases such as these 'a swift apology and removal of the offending tweet' should be enough. The riots broke out after Bebe King (left), Elsie Dot Stancombe (centre) and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (right) were killed by a knifeman at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29, this year Axel Rudakubana, 18, has since been charged with three counts of murder and 10 attempted murders 'The police should not be wasting their time investigating law-abiding citizens because they've said something politically incorrect on social media. 'It's little wonder that not a single burglary was solved in nearly half the regions in England last year the police are too busy policing our tweets to police our streets. 'They need to rethink their priorities.' Last month Cheshire Police said they had arrested an unnamed woman 'in relation to social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders'. The force said she was being questioned on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communications. At the time, Chief Superintendent Alison Ross added: 'We have all seen the violent disorder that has taken place across the UK over the past week, much of which has been fuelled by malicious and inaccurate communications online. 'It's a stark reminder of the dangers of posting information on social media platforms without checking the accuracy. 'It also acts as a warning that we are all accountable for our actions, whether that be online or in person.' Today the force said: 'A woman who was arrested in relation to an inaccurate social media post has been released without charge. 'The 55-year-old woman from near Chester was arrested on Thursday 8 August following allegations in relation social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders. 'Following a thorough investigation, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken due to insufficient evidence.' Axel Rudakubana, 18, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents but was living in the village of Banks, Lancashire, is awaiting trial for three counts of murder, ten counts of attempted murder, and possession of a bladed article. A rookie police officer accused of having an illicit relationship with a drugs kingpin has had charges dropped by prosecutors. Caitlin Howarth, 24, allegedly failed to report the man's underworld links to superiors at West Yorkshire Police, where she worked as a student officer. Glamorous Howarth, then aged 21, was suspended by the force in November 2021 when its anti-corruption unit suspected links between Howarth and the criminal, reportedly now in jail for dealing heroin. She was due to face a trial in York next year charged with misconduct in a public office. But yesterday, the Crown Prosecution Service said criminal proceedings had been halted and that no evidence would be offered. Rookie police officer Caitlin Howarth, 24, (pictured here leaving York magistrates' court in March) was accused of having an illicit relationship with a drugs kingpin but has had charges dropped by prosecutors Glamorous Howarth, then aged 21, was suspended by the force in November 2021 when its anti-corruption unit suspected links between Howarth and the criminal, reportedly now in jail for dealing heroin But yesterday, the Crown Prosecution Service said criminal proceedings had been halted and that no evidence would be offered. A family friend of Howarth previously claimed that the rookie cop, who lives with her parents in a 300,000 home in Bingley, was 'devastated' after being suspended. The friend suggested that she had been on just one date with the drugs boss and had no idea about his criminality. The pal said: 'It's nonsense that she was in a relationship with a drugs kingpin. 'She went on a single date with him and that was it. It was a long, long time ago and she had absolutely no idea about any involvement in drugs. 'She was never in a relationship with him and she's been left quite upset about it all.' Howarth, who is no longer a police officer after resigning from her role, remains the subject of misconduct proceedings brought by West Yorkshire Police The investigation by the force's Professional Standards Directorate also uncovered a suspected affair between Howarth and her married commanding officer, Chief Superintendent Daniel Greenwood, 41 (pictured) Howarth, who is no longer a police officer after resigning from her role, remains the subject of misconduct proceedings brought by West Yorkshire Police. The investigation by the force's Professional Standards Directorate also uncovered a suspected affair between Howarth and her married commanding officer, Chief Superintendent Daniel Greenwood, 41. He was also suspended from duty. The police chief faces losing his job this week if found guilty of misconduct at a disciplinary hearing at West Yorkshire Police's headquarters in Wakefield. Keir Starmer will not be claiming an official allowance to help cover costs of the PM's clothing and other living expenses. Downing Street sources say Sir Keir will not be taking advantage of the 20,000 tax deduction - although he has refused to rule out accepting more freebies from donors. The little-known perk has been around since 1947, although no premier is thought to have accepted it since David Cameron in the coalition years. The level of the allowance - which is actually a portion of salary paid tax-free - is set by the top civil servant at the Treasury based on expenses they believe are 'wholly, exclusively and necessarily' to the PM's duties. It is underpinned by the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003. The cash value of the benefit would depend on the PM's wider income. It is understood Keir Starmer (pictured at a post-Olympics receptions last night) will not be claiming the PM's official allowance to help cover costs of clothing and other living expenses The situation emerged as Sir Keir was urged to 'come clean' over who paid for a series of statement dresses worn by his wife Victoria. As the 'Wardrobegate' backlash raged, the Tories said the PM 'owes it to pensioners' to be honest about who is funding the outfits. No10 has refused to say who had bought a number of Lady Starmer's dresses, although it insisted that everything has been declared as required. Sir Keir said before the election that his wife 'doesn't want to push herself into the limelight', but she has worn a number of designer dresses at high-profile events in recent weeks. Some items were loaned to her, but No 10 yesterday refused to clarify whether the other outfits were part of a 5,000 gift of high-end clothes from Labour donor Lord Alli. Sir Keir, who earns more than 166,000 a year as PM, was accused of failing to declare on time the donation from Lord Alli, the former chairman of the online fashion retailer ASOS. Lord Alli has also given Sir Keir suits and spectacles worth some 18,000. Speaking to reporters on a visit to Italy earlier this week, the PM insisted there was a 'massive difference between declarations and corruption' as he faced questions over his alleged failure to register clothing given to Lady Starmer by the multimillionaire businessman within a designated time limit. The situation emerged as Sir Keir was urged to 'come clean' over who paid for a series of statement dresses worn by his wife Victoria (pictured at a London Fashion Week event in an outfit thought to have been loaned) The Tories have demanded a probe by Parliament's watchdog, but according to No10 this has been rejected. Sir Keir argues that he 'proactively' inquired whether he should register the donations. Although Sir Keir is not accepting the PM expenses allowance, the Starmers are set to be insulated from the impact of energy bill hikes as pensioners lose winter fuel allowance. The PM and Chancellor only pay a taxable benefit on running costs at the grace-and-favour apartments in Downing Street - capped at 10 per cent of their ministerial salaries. It means that they contribute around 3,000 to cover all utilities and other expenses, and the sum will not go up when the Ofgem cap increases by 10 per cent next month. Gay men are being targeted by thugs on dating apps who lure their victims into vulnerable situations before ambushing them. WA Police has warned men to practice caution on dating apps after several people were beaten up by in Perth. The victims were 'surrounded and assaulted by several males while being subjected to homophobic slurs' after being lured into areas under the pretence of a date. Legitimate dating accounts are being used by the perpetrators, only for their victims to find out upon meeting up that they have been catfished. Police are warning any men in the city who identify as sexually or gender diverse to be extremely careful when meeting up with strangers they meet online. 'In each instance, the male victims who believe they have been speaking to legitimate users have agreed to meet someone they have connected with on a dating app earlier,' a police spokeswoman said. Videos of the attacks have also began appearing on social media, police confirmed. The police spokeswoman added that some of the victims even had their cars damaged as they attempt to escape their attackers. WA Police have warned men to practice caution on dating apps after several people were beaten up by violent groups in Perth An investigation has been launched into the attacks and detectives have spoken to a number of victims already. WA Police Detective Inspector Matt Froude confirmed that his unit is 'working tirelessly to track down these offenders and hold them to account'. 'We take this behaviour extremely seriously and there is no place for this kind of targeted violence in our community,' he said. 'While incidents of this nature are rare, we treat them with the utmost seriousness and we encourage victims to come forward so we can investigate.' Detective Froude added that the attackers 'should be expecting WA Police officers to come through their door'. Police are warning any men in the city who identify as sexually or gender diverse to be extremely careful when meeting up with strangers they meet online The standing advice given to any gender diverse men who might be meeting up with someone from a dating app is to do so in a public and well-lit area. Police also suggest that these men should inform their family and friends about where they are going and who they are meeting before they do so. 'Some of these apps have built-in safety features that allow you to share your live location with trusted contacts for added security during meet-ups,' Detective Froude said. WA Police are urging any other victims of similar attacks to come forward contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. This is the astonishing moment a grandmother was found alive after enduring a terrifying four-hour suffocation attack by a 13ft-long python. Arrom Arunroj, 64, was washing dishes in her outdoor kitchen in Samut Prakan, Thailand, when she felt a sudden stab of pain in her right thigh. She looked down thinking it was a monitor lizard that had bitten her - only to see a massive 13ft python snaking up her leg. Arrom said she panicked and tried to yank the python's head away from her. However, she fell over, which allowed the 45lbs snake to wrap itself tightly around her torso. Arrom Arunroj, 64, was found with the snake wrapped around her torso on September 17 Arrom (pictured) was washing dishes in her outdoor kitchen in Samut Prakan, Thailand, when she felt a sudden stab of pain in her right thigh Dramatic footage shows an injured Arrom sitting helplessly on the ground following the attack on September 17 The widow said she struggled for more than two hours before her screams were finally heard by a neighbour who then called the police. Dramatic footage shows an injured Arrom sitting helplessly on the ground following the attack on September 17. Her arms had gone pale and numb and she had wounds on her leg from where the python had bitten her. Arrom was rushed to a hospital for treatment. She said: 'I work as a housekeeper at a children's hospital in Bangkok. I had been renting this room with my husband for many years, but he passed away last year. I have been living alone since then. 'I didn't notice the snake until it had bit me. I looked down and it was coiling around my leg. 'I was scared that the python would kill me, so I screamed at the top of my lungs until a passer-by heard me. I have never been so terrified in my life. 'The snake just would not let go of me. I'm sure it was waiting for me to die so it could eat me. So I just prayed and did my best to stay alive.' She had wounds on her leg from where the python had bitten her (pictured) The house in Thailand where the snake attack took place on September 17 Arrom received first aid and was taken to hospital for treatment Police Sergeant Major Anusorn Wongmalee, commander of the Crime Prevention and Suppression Unit of the Phra Samut Chedi Police Station, said cops received the report at 10pm. He said: 'The scene of the incident was a single-storey rental apartment with five rooms built next to each other. In the fourth room where the victim lived, the door was locked. 'The police and rescue workers could hear her weak cries from inside so we broke down the door to rescue her. What we saw shocked us. 'The elderly woman was being squeezed by a huge python that must have weighed more than 45lbs. 'We used whatever tools we could to try to pry her free from it. It took more than 30 minutes to remove the snake. It was then released back into the forest behind the room. Pythons are found throughout Thailand but it is rare for them to attack humans. They are non-venomous but kill their prey by stunning them with a bite before wrapping around them and crushing them to death. The widow said she struggled for more than two hours before her screams were finally heard by a neighbour who then called the police Israel carried out a pager bomb attack that left roughly 2,800 people injured and 12 dead in Lebanon and Syria yesterday fearing that Hezbollah was on the cusp of foiling their deadly plot, a new report has claimed. Pager devices recently introduced by the group to beef up security exploded en masse yesterday, causing chaotic scenes and devastation in Lebanese hospitals. Israel is believed to have orchestrated the attack but has not claimed responsibility. Security sources believe Mossad, Israel's spy agency, intercepted devices en route to Lebanon months ago and embedded explosives to be remotely detonated as part of a plan to cripple the Iranian proxy group. Still, questions remain as to why the attack was carried out on Tuesday. One American official told Axios it was 'a use it or lose it moment' as Hezbollah were understood to be getting close to uncovering Israeli espionage. Israel's domestic security agency said only on Tuesday that it had recently foiled a plot by Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior defence official in the coming days. Thousands were injured when pagers across Syria and Lebanon exploded on Tuesday Pagers used by Hezbollah members for vital communications exploded yesterday, injuring thousands A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded on September 17, 2024 Three US officials told Axios that Israel decided to blow up the pager devices carried by Hezbollah members on Tuesday as they feared the group was close to uncovering their operation. A security source told Reuters that up to three grams of explosives had been hidden in the new pagers and had gone 'undetected' by Hezbollah for months. One senior Lebanese security source told the news agency he believes the devices had been modified by Mossad 'at the production level' before arriving in Lebanon. 'The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means,' the source said. Hezbollah earlier this year ordered thousands of pagers to conduct communications after leader Hassan Nasrallah declared smartphones would be more susceptible to cyber attacks by Israeli forces. As many as 5,000 devices are believed to have affected, though not all went off on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese source. The source claimed Hezbollah ordered the pagers from a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo, but executives there said the devices were actually manufactured and sold under licence by BAC Consulting in Budapest, Hungary. Elijah J. Magnier, a Brussels-based senior political risk analyst, later said he spoke with Hezbollah members who had examined pagers that failed to explode. The pagers appeared to receive a coded error message sent to all the devices that caused them to vibrate and beep for some 10 seconds. When the user pressed the pager's button to cancel the alert, the explosives were detonated - a design that would ensure the pager was being held by the user at the time of the blast to inflict maximum damage. The months-long operation by Mossad and the IDF represents an unprecedented security breach for Hezbollah, which vowed to exact revenge on Israel and continue its support for ally Hamas amid the ongoing war in Gaza. 'The resistance will continue today, like any other day, its operations to support Gaza, its people and its resistance which is a separate path from the harsh punishment that the criminal enemy (Israel) should await in response to Tuesday's massacre,' a statement read. A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 The stunning incident saw scores of Hezbollah members severely injured throughout southern Lebanon and in its capital Beirut Chaotic scenes inside hospitals in Lebanon are seen yesterday evening following blasts This security footage shows the moment a man's pager blew up in a supermarket Hsu Ching-kuang (L), head of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, speaks to the media outside the company's office in New Taipei City on September 18, 2024. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo on September 18 denied a report that it had produced thousands of explosive-packed pagers The string of detonations, which began around 3:30pm local time yesterday and continued for roughly an hour, gave way to widespread panic and chaos across Beirut's southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and even in neighbouring Syria. Shocking video footage showed how unsuspecting targets reached for their pagers, only to be blown off their feet by an unexpected and violent explosion. Victims were seen writhing in agony with hideous injuries to their faces, abdomens and even their groins in harrowing images and videos shared to social media and published on Lebanese networks. Among the 12 people reportedly killed were two girls, aged eight and ten, and several Hezbollah fighters, as well as the son of a Lebanese MP. Iran later confirmed its ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, sustained injuries to his face and hand. More than 2,800 people were ultimately injured in the blasts, 300 of whom were rushed to hospital in critical condition. Early speculation in the wake of the blasts suggested an Israeli hack could have overloaded the lithium ion batteries powering the pagers, which can burn up to 590 degrees celsius (1,100 F) when ignited. But a slew of security sources and experts have since determined the detonations were caused by an Israeli operation that disrupted the supply chain and inserted explosives into the pagers that were subsequently remotely activated by the coded error message. A former British Army bomb disposal officer explained that an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge. 'A pager has three of those already,' explained the ex-officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he now works as a consultant with clients on the Middle East. 'You would only need to add the detonator and the charge.' By the time of the attack, 'the battery was probably half-explosive and half-actual battery,' said Carlos Perez, director of security intelligence at TrustedSec. Security camera footage shared to social media yesterday appeared to show the moment on Israel sent out its deadly message. A Hezbollah member was seen confusedly lifting his shirt up at a supermarket after his pager, concealed just above his hip, began beeping and lighting up. The device suddenly exploded, crumpling him to the floor as supermarket workers and fellow shoppers panicked and fled. 'Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge,' said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert. This signals involvement of a state actor, Moorhouse said. He added that Israel's foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, is the most obvious suspect to have the resources to carry out such an attack. A Hezbollah statement said: 'After examining all the facts, current data, and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that targeted civilians too.' Israel has declined to comment on the explosions. The head office of the BAC Consulting KFT company is pictured on September 18, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Ambulances arrive to American University of Beirut Medical Centre (AUBMC) yesterday A man donates blood as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source A man donates blood under a tent in Beirut's southern suburb on September 17, 2024 following the series of explosions across Lebanon Lebanon's crisis operations centre, which is run by the health ministry, asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help cope with the massive numbers of wounded coming in for urgent care In February, Hezbollah drew up a war plan that aimed to address gaps in the group's intelligence infrastructure. Around 170 fighters had already been killed in targeted Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including one senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut. In a televised speech on February 13, the group's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah sternly warned supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, saying they should break, bury or lock them in an iron box. Instead, the group opted to distribute pagers to Hezbollah members across the group's various branches - from fighters to medics working in its relief services. Initial reports suggested the pagers ordered by Hezbollah were supplied by a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo. But executives this morning said the company had only authorised its brand on the devices, and that they were manufactured and sold by Hungary's BAC Consulting KFT. 'Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorisation and regional agency cooperation with BAC,' a statement read. 'According to the agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for production sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.' Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists this morning that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. The CEO of BAC Consulting, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, says on her LinkedIn profile that she has worked as an advisor for various organisations including UNESCO. She was contacted by NBC and confirmed her company worked with Gold Apollo, but added cryptically: 'I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong,' before hanging up. The AR-924 pager ordered by Hezbollah, advertised as being 'rugged,' contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo's website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive text messages of up to 100 characters. It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life - a crucial factor in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common as the tiny nation on the Mediterranean Sea has faced years of economic collapse. Yesterday's shocking incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for more than 11 months against the backdrop of war between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza. The clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. On Tuesday, Israel said that halting Hezbollah's attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal. Israel has killed Hamas militants in the past with booby trapped cellphones and it's widely believed to have been behind the Stuxnet computer virus attack on Iran's nuclear program in 2010. The sudden and unexpected detonations gave way to widespread panic and chaotic scenes in images shared on social media and broadcast by Lebanese and Israeli outlets Civil Defence first-responders carry a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Ambulances arrive to American University of Beirut Medical Centre in the wake of the explosions Doctors and bystanders await the arrival of victims injured by exploding pagers People gather outside a hospital, as more than 3,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024 Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the village of Blida in southern Lebanon, as seen from an undisclosed location in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 17 September 2024 The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept an attack from Lebanon over the Galilee region, near Kiryat Shmona, as seen from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 BREAKING via Reuters Hundreds of members of Hezbollah were seriously wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded. Here is one video of one of the pager explosions. pic.twitter.com/UDepHvkkEe Yashar Ali (@yashar) September 17, 2024 The sudden explosions across southern Lebanon Tuesday afternoon came hours after an Israeli strike on Lebanon killed three people, the health ministry said. Israeli forces have traded near-daily fire with the Iran-backed Lebanese group since its ally Hamas launched the October 7 attacks on Israel, triggering the war in Gaza. The health ministry said an 'Israeli enemy strike' on the border village of Blida killed 'three people and wounded two', without specifying if they were fighters or civilians. Israel's military said its air force 'eliminated three terrorists' from Hezbollah who were at a 'terrorist infrastructure site' in the Blida area. Hezbollah did not immediately announce any fighters had been killed, but claimed a series of attacks on Israeli troops and positions near the border on Tuesday. The NNA reported several Israeli attacks in the south of the country. The latest deaths came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the political-security cabinet had 'updated the goals of the war' to include 'the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes'. Almost a year of cross-border violence has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that 'military action' was the 'only way left to ensure the return of Israel's northern communities'. The violence has killed some 627 people in Lebanon, including at least 141 civilians. On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians. Hezbollah has repeatedly said that only a ceasefire in Gaza will put an end to its attacks, and diplomatic activity in recent months has sought to avert all-out war. An ITV boss has vowed never to repeat letting Home Secretary Yvette Cooper be interviewed on Good Morning Britain by her own husband Ed Balls. The broadcaster's chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall made the promise as media watchdog Ofcom announced it would not pursue an investigation. Thousands of people made official complaints to the regulator about the episode of the breakfast show on August 5 which included Ms Cooper being questioned over the Labour government's handling of last month's UK-wide riots. Her husband Mr Balls - a former Labour MP and Education Secretary- was presenting the programme alongside Kate Garraway on the morning his wife was interviewed. Dame Carolyn today said: 'Would we do it again? No. Was it impartial, fair and balanced? And did they behave professionally? Yes.' Thousands of people complained to media watchdog Ofcom after Ed Balls and Kate Garraway interviewed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (right) on Good Morning Britain on August 5 Yvette Cooper and Ed Balls, pictured outside their London home in November 2016, married in 1998 and have three children together ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall has defended the broadcast amid complaints about a potential confict of interest but admitted the channel would not do the same again Mr Balls is now a regular GMB host after losing his seat in 2015 and pursuing a media career - including being a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing the following year. He and Ms Balls, who became Home Secretary after Labour won the general election on July 4, have been married since 1998. Many critics raised concerns about an apparent conflict of interest when the August 5 was broadcast live - with some suggesting Mr Balls should have stepped aside. Ofcom today said it 'carefully' considered that issue, but would not pursue action. A spokeperson said: 'Taking into account that their relationship was made clear twice, that a range of views about Labour's handling of the riots were included in the programme as a whole, and given the vast majority of the interview was conducted by co-presenter, Kate Garraway, we will not be pursuing further.' But Ofcom added it had given ITV a warning 'to take particular care over the compliance of such interviews in future to ensure due impartiality'. Now Dame Carolyn has responded, defending her organisation's handling despite making that vow not to allow such an interview to recur. The ITV boss was replying to a question from presenter Amol Rajan at the Royal Television Society London Conference, when he asked about the incident: 'How can anyone take ITV seriously on impartiality?' Mr Balls is now a regular GMB host after losing his seat in 2015 and pursuing a media career - including being a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing the following year His wife Yvette Cooper has been Home Secretary since Labour won the July 4 general election Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper have long been seen as one of the Labour Party's 'power couples' Dame Carolyn said: 'It was a very, very tricky morning - there was a national emergency almost being called and so we got very short notice that the Home Secretary was coming on the show. 'She was doing a whole round, but it was unexpected, and we believe that it was fair and impartial. 'And actually Ofcom just ruled, but amazingly no one has picked up on the fact, that Ofcom are not pursuing these complaints because they believe it's fair, balanced and impartial. 'So would we do it again? No. Was it impartial, fair and balanced? And did they behave professionally? Yes. 'I mean, he asked her a few questions, but I think Kate was leading on that, wasn't she? 'And so I do think you've just got to say, if Ofcom have looked at it and they're not pursuing this any further because they thought it was fair, balanced and impartial, you know, that's it.' The episode had been branded 'embarrassing to the extreme' by viewers concerned about the potential conflict of interest. Mr Balls asked his wife during the programme whether officers had policed protests by far-right activists and pro-Palestine demonstrators differently. ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall, pictured here addressing a Commons select committee in June last year, today insisted the August 5 GMB episode was 'fair and impartial' Yvette Cooper was questioned on the programme about the government's response to the UK-wide riots which broke out in July and August following the Southport stabbings Ed Balls, who lost his Commons seat at the 2015 general election, has become one of the rotating hosts of ITV's Good Morning Britain - pictured here with co-presenter Susanna Reid Ms Cooper, who has three children with him, responded by saying police had to operate 'without fear or favour, whatever the kinds of crimes it is that they face'. He also asked her whether there had been a 'two-tier approach' to policing, and if police have been 'softer and more cautious' when policing the Gaza demonstrations compared with a 'tougher' approach over the previous week. Before the interview, Mr Balls told viewers he had 'genuine questions' for Ms Cooper, as he has 'rarely seen her at all in the last week' because of the recent disorder. Complaints were also made to Ofcom about an exchange on the same show with Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana. She had accused host Mr Balls of 'sneering contempt' after a discussion about whether the riots should be deemed Islamophobic became heated. Ms Sultana said she was going to wait for the presenters to finish their question before he interrupted to say: 'If you want to answer the questions, you can, but you don't have to.' Mr Balls continued to interrupt her as she replied to an earlier question by his co-presenter about why the MP wanted politicians to call out Islamophobia. Ms Sultana then asked him 'if she can finish', and criticised an article that he wrote about immigration. The same August 5 programme in which Ed Balls and Kate Garraway interviewed Yvette Cooper also featured fractious exchanges with Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana Viewers also complained to Ofcom about the interview with Zarah Sultana (pictured) The Coventry South MP later posted on X, formerly Twitter, about how she felt she was treated Mr Balls, a Labour MP from 2005 to 2015, defended his 2010 Guardian opinion column headlined: 'We were wrong to allow so many eastern Europeans into Britain'. Later, Ms Sultana posted on X: 'The sneering contempt of "journalists" will never stop me from calling out racism and Islamophobic hate.' Ofcom said today: 'We will not be pursuing complaints about an interview with Zarah Sultana MP on this programme. 'In our view, Ms Sultana was given ample opportunity to express her views and respond to the questions put to her, while we consider the robust line of questioning would be consistent with regular viewers' expectations of interviews with political figures on this programme.' The mother-of-one was visiting Llanberis as part of an organised walking group Amy Hurst, 56, says she was 'astounded' by anti-English hatred in North Wales Distressed holidaymakers have vowed never to return to North Wales again after experiencing an 'astounding' anti-English attitude from local residents. The group of seven English women, aged between 55 and 70, travelled from Lancashire on a four-day walking holiday to enjoy the natural beauty of Llanberis, but claim they were met with anti-English jibes in the street. They also said they were snubbed in pubs and restaurants and found it hard to get served. Amy Hurst, 56, from Clitheroe, who is a member of Women That Walk, a local group set up to encourage them to get out and about in nature, said they encountered 'astounding hatred for the English' at every turn. The mother-of-one said: 'The hatred for the English in North Wales is astounding, we will not be returning.' Distressed holidaymakers have vowed never to return to North Wales again after experiencing an 'astounding' anti-English attitude from local residents The group of seven English women, aged between 55 and 70, travelled from Lancashire to enjoy the natural beauty of Llanberis, but claim they were met with anti-English jibes Despite Llanberis' natural beauty, the women have vowed never to return again to the area The women claim they were treated differently while on holiday in Llanberis, North Wales Ms Hurst, who runs a flower business, says the group first noticed something was awry when they arrived at their Airbnb accommodation on August 30. She said: 'When we first arrived there, we were walking down the street when one of us remarked on there being a funeral care place. 'A guy walking past overheard us and said: "It's free for the English!" It was a bit strange.' The following night, Ms Hurst claims the group entered a pub where a punter said: 'Let's not bother with these they're bloody English.' The shocked florist said: 'We had to tell them to leave us alone. 'We ended up leaving the pub and one of our group challenged the man and asked him why he felt the way he did - he turned into a cowering little boy! 'We felt a bit scared, it just felt very threatening.' Ms Hurst claims he group visited a restaurant the following day and everyone was served apart from them - though she admits it could have just been bad luck. 'The vibe was awful all round - we were all shocked at how bad it was. 'I've been to Wales a few times - but this was really anti-English and probably anti-women too - I will not be going back.' She said despite their experience with the locals, the walk up Snowdonia was 'incredible', but she was left surprised by how they were treated. One of the group said they encountered 'astounding hatred for the English' at every turn 'It's hardly Barcelona where they want the tourists out because there are too many,' she said. 'I wouldn't recommend going there to anybody. 'It's such a beautiful place, but the people were just off - we basically just got abused.' One said: 'The hatred for the English in North Wales is astounding, we will not be returning' Llanberis, located at the base of Mount Snowdon, is a popular destination for hikers (file pic) On the group's final night, Ms Hurst claims the group visited a pub and when last orders were called a member of the group went to get drinks - only for the pub workers to turn all the lights out. She added: 'They clearly wanted us out as well. I've never had an experience which has made me feel like this before.' MailOnline has contacted the Welsh Government's tourism office for comment. Doug Emhoff's ex-wife is coming to Kamala Harris' defense after another Republican attack line emerged on Tuesday night slamming the vice president for never bearing any biological children. Kerstin Emhoff has two children with the second gentleman and slammed Sarah Huckabee Sanders for claiming at a town hall with Donald Trump on Tuesday that Harris is not 'humble' because she doesn't have kids. It perpetuates the highly-criticized comments from Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance from 2021 when he said the country is being run by Democrat 'childless cat ladies.' Emhoff has often publicly praised Harris for excelling in her role as step mom to her children Cole, 30, and Ella, 25, when the VP joined their blended family in 2014. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff's ex-wife jumped to Kamala Harris' defense after another Republican attack on Tuesday night over the vice president not having any biological children 'Cole and Ella keep us inspired to make the world a better place,' she posted to X. 'I do it through storytelling. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families.' 'That keeps you pretty humble,' she said. Sanders, who served as Trump's White House press secretary before becoming governor of Arkansas, slammed Harris for not having children of her own before Trump joined her on stage during a town hall in Detroit on Tuesday. The insult comes after pop star Taylor Swift joined the childless cat lady brigade when she endorsed Harris' candidacy after the debate on September 10. 'The most important job I have; the greatest title I have is that of being a mom,' she told the crowd in the swing state of Michigan. 'My kids serve as a permanent reminder of everything that is at stake in the country,' said the mother-of-three. 'Not only do my kids serve as a permanent reminder of what is important, they keep me humble,' Sanders went on. 'My kids keep me humble.' 'Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble,' she concluded. While Harris has no biological kids, she is the stepmother to Doug and Kerstin's two children Cole, 30, and Ella, 25, who lovingly refer to her as 'Momala' The latest attack was made on stage by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders before a town hall with Donald Trump in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday night Even though Harris does not have biological children, her two stepkids often lovingly refer to her as 'Momala.' Harris' family status became a hotly discussed topic among Republican circles after Trump named Ohio Sen. Vance as his running mate earlier this summer. An interview from 2021 with Tucker Carlson resurfaced where Vance said the United States was being run by 'childless cat ladies' who he claimed had no 'direct stake' in the country's future. Women rushed to Harris' defense at the time, including the mother of her stepchildren. Ahead of a town hall with Donald Trump on Tuesday in Detroit, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: 'Not only do my kids serve as a permanent reminder of what is important, they keep me humble... Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble' 'For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,' Kerstin said in a statement. 'She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.' Ella also defended her stepmom in an instagram post where she wrote: 'How can you be 'childless' when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?' Harris and Doug Emhoff married in 2014, when Cole and Ella were teenagers, after they met on a blind date in 2013 setup by Disney exec Dana Walden and her husband Matt, who has been friends with the second gentleman for decades. Two cats have had their testicles tied up using rubber bands in horrific acts of animal cruelty. The cats' testicles were tied using rubber bands in two separate attacks in Canberra, which RSPCA ACT chief executive Michelle Robertson described as 'gruesome'. 'We are aware of two separate incidents where male cats' testicles have been very tightly bound at the base with rubber bands,' Ms Robertson told the ABC. 'It's incredibly painful, incredibly cruel.' One of the cats was brought to the RSPCA's ACT shelter in late August and treated by vets. 'We were able to assist that kitty take care of any inflammation, and kitty is healthy and doing really well,' Ms Robertson said. 'But it shouldn't have happened.' It happened again last week, when another cat who was similarly attacked was brought into a local vet. 'It's just very concerning to us that there are two separate incidents with a very similar gruesome situation,' Ms Robertson said. Two cats were subjected to horrific cruelty in Canberra's north in recent weeks, with the RSPCA appealing for information to help solve the crimes. One of the cats is pictured 'Animals feel pain. You can imagine what it would feel like if this was done to a human.' The ACT RSPCA said both cats had been attacked in the Charnwood area, in Canberra's Belconnen region. The organisation is investigating the potential motive for such cruelty being inflicted on the cats. 'It could have been misinformation, it could have been people who were just really desperate that wanted to stop their cat reproducing,' she said. 'It could have just been maliciousness.' If whoever did this to the cats is found, they could face penalties for aggravated animal cruelty. 'I'm really sad to report that we do see terrible things and I hope to be able to live in a world where we don't see these terrible things,' Ms Robertson said. The RSPCA urged pet owners to go to vets for medical procedures and said it did not condone rubber band docking in any species except for medical reasons. A Metropolitan Police officer caught with more than 100 extreme pornographic images on his phone, including people having sex with dogs, has been spared jail. George Patmore, 32, part of the force's North East Command Unit, was arrested in July 2022 over alleged sexual images of children which were found in his possession. The officer admitted publishing an obscene article relating to the sexual abuse of dogs. But he was cleared by a jury of three counts of making an indecent image of a child after a trial at Southwark Crown Court. Patmore was given a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. Metropolitan Police officer George Patmore, 32, who was caught with more than 100 extreme pornographic images on his phone, including people having sex with dogs, has been spared jail The officer admitted publishing an obscene article relating to the sexual abuse of dogs. But he was cleared by a jury of three counts of making an indecent image of a child after a trial at Southwark Crown Court (pictured) Giving evidence he said had descended to a dark place looking at adult porn and images of bestiality. Patmore insisted he never went searching for underage sexual images and he was cleared of three counts of making an indecent image of a child. He wept as he said he had no idea how 24 indecent images of children ended up in his possession. The officer had refused to give police the PIN to his iPhone following his arrest due to the bestial material on his phone. Patmore also told the court he had children of his own and said he felt f****** terrible. He said the search term teen was popular while accessing pornography websites and he insisted all the material hosted on those sites is legal. Terence Woods, prosecuting, told the court that 123 extreme pornographic images were found on Patmores phone. Officers also found the Kik messenger app on his mobile and it became clear that Patmore had participated in group chats with people who shared his interest in extreme porn and in bestiality. On a number of occasions in the group chats, the defendant sent to members of the group extreme pornographic images featuring humans and dogs engaging in sexual activity of various types,' Mr Woods said. Officers found the Kik messenger app on his mobile and it became clear that Patmore participated in group chats with people who shared his interest in extreme porn and bestiality This was often preceded or followed by conversations between participants in the group about their desire to engage in sexual activity with dogs in particular, and there were exchanges in the group about engaging in sexual activity with one members dog. Rebecca Hadgett, defending, said: He is genuinely remorseful. That is something that probation officers agreed with in their analysis. The defendant has reflected on his behaviour. He has genuinely understood and accepted the profound impact that this offending can have. Patmore was cleared of having 24 indecent images, including 10 in category A - the most serious classification. Sentencing Patmore, Judge Gregory Perrins said: This offence is plainly aggravated by the fact that you were at the time a serving police officer. It goes without saying that the public are entitled to expect the highest standards and integrity from police officers, to expect police officers to live law-abiding lives and frankly not to engage in the kind of depravity involved in distributing material of this nature. This undermines public confidence in the police, and you must have known that. Patmore has been attending Sex Addicts Anonymous for two years, the court heard. The judge accepted he suffers from PTSD and anxiety, but added: There is no evidence to suggest that these conditions had any bearing on your decision to behave the way that you did. He will have to take part in the Horizon programme aimed at reducing the risk of reoffending. The officer will also have to complete 35 days of a rehabilitation requirement. He was ordered to pay 900 in prosecution costs within the next 18 months. Judge Perrins added: Were this offence committed while you were on duty, or had it been in any way connected to your work, I would have had no hesitation in passing an immediate custodial sentence. That is not the case here and I accept that. Patmore, from Edgware, northwest London, denied and was cleared of three charges of making indecent images of children. He had admitted publishing an obscene article namely messages relating to the sexual abuse of dogs. A pair of neighboring California cities are at war over the renaming of a local airport that has left passengers confused and accidentally showing up at the wrong departure location. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed a preliminary motion on Tuesday against the Oakland airport, which recently changed its name, for trademark infringement over similarities between the new name and that of San Francisco's airport. The Oakland airport, which has kept its original call letters of OAK, recently changed its name from Oakland International Airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. The name change has caused some travelers confusion, as right across the bay sits San Francisco International Airport, which has the call letters SFO. The rebrand has resulted in 'multiple incidents,' including passengers showing up to the wrong airport, according to SFO Airport Director Ivar C. Satero. 'We are already seeing traveler confusion around the use of Oakland's new name,' Chiu said in a statement. 'This was entirely predictable and preventable. We tried to reason with Oakland officials to avoid litigation and come up with alternative names that would work for all of us. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed a preliminary motion on Tuesday against the Oakland airport, which recently changed its name, for trademark infringement over similarities between the new name and that of San Francisco's airport The Oakland airport, which has kept its original call letters of OAK, recently changed its name from Oakland International Airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport The two airports sit right across the San Francisco Bay from one another 'Unfortunately, those efforts were not productive, and we have no choice but to ask the court to step in and protect our trademark.' Chiu argues that Oakland is trying to ape SFO's 'world-class' status. 'We have built an incredible brand that we must protect,' Chiu said. 'Oakland has a trademark for Oakland International Airport. It should use that and stay away from San Francisco's brand.' Oakland has defended the name change, saying it was necessary to let travelers - especially tourists - know that SFO isn't the only option to get to San Francisco. 'Nobody owns the San Francisco Bay,' the Port of Oakland's Board of Commissioners Second Vice President, Barbara Leslie, told ABC 7. 'The port operates and is the steward for 20 miles of land along the San Francisco Bay.' The Port of Oakland has claimed Chiu's actions are an 'attempt to stifle competition and travel choices by Bay Area residents and position SFO as the only airport that serves the San Francisco Bay Area.' 'It is not [the only airport], and OAK will continue to aggressively fight for its position on the San Francisco Bay,' a spokesperson told ABC 7. The name change has caused some travelers confusion, as right across the bay sits San Francisco International Airport. The rebrand has resulted in 'multiple incidents,' including passengers showing up to the wrong airport. Chiu argues that Oakland is trying to ape SFO's 'world-class' status: 'Oakland has a trademark for Oakland International Airport. It should use that and stay away from San Francisco's brand' (pictured: SFO) 'It's about bringing awareness to travelers about the choices they have when traveling to and from the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area,' Port attorney Mary Richardson told ABC 7. Oakland hopes the rebrand will lead to more foot traffic in the airport, which could bring more nonstop options for passengers. The name change was approved by the Oakland Board of Commissioners in May, and SFO filed a federal lawsuit against the rival airport in May. Oakland has since filed a counterclaim against SFO, but has 'not yet received a response,' according to Richardson. Unlike SFO's lawsuit, Chiu's petition, if approved, would immediately stop Oakland from being able to use the new name. Easy Bay resident Paolo Sambrano, who grew up in Oakland, believes the airport should go back to its roots. 'I think it really erodes a lot of Oakland's identity,' he told ABC 7. 'I was born and raised in Oakland and I think it's a real slap in the face.' Pam Geffinger, a tourist from Nevada, said she didn't understand why they would even change the name. 'San Francisco is San Francisco, Oakland's Oakland,' he said. 'I can't imagine why they think they need to put San Francisco on the name of their airport.' SF Gate found two reports of Spirit Airline passengers showing up to SFO, which does not host the airline, when they should have gone to Oakland. An X user advised those traveling to and from San Francisco by plane to 'double check your airport's three letter code before heading off.' Many criticized that adding San Francisco to the name was 'insanely stupid.' 'I cannot fathom how absolutely derelict the board was for making this decision,' one user wrote on the platform. 'Oakland International Airport has the 5th most traffic of all Class C airports in the United States, and has more traffic than Portland, San Antonio, and Indianapolis. 'Oakland has a higher usage airport than any airport in the State of Oregon, but leadership wants to lean on SF. Incredible!' 'Just use Oakland Airport, it's been that for almost a century.' another wrote. Another criticized the city's safety standards, writing: 'The name change doesn't do anything to wash away the crime that makes Oakland unsafe, and causes MANY of the businesses near the Oakland airport to shut down.' The glamorous CEO of a company accused of manufacturing the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and injured thousands in one of the most audacious attacks ever launched by Israel on Hezbollah has been pictured. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, who studied in London and lists 'disaster management' as one of her skills, is listed as the Chief Executive of the Hungarian-based company BAC Consulting said to have supplied the devices to the Lebanese group. She has denied any involvement with the pagers and told a US TV station:' I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.' Barsony-Arcidiacono, who is in her 40s, has an impressive list of qualifications from among others the London School of Economics. She is understood to have lived in Gospel Oak, North London, during the 13 years studying at UK universities. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, who studied in London and lists 'disaster management' as one of her skills, is listed as the Chief Executive of the Hungarian-based company BAC Consulting said to have supplied the devices to the Lebanese group The head office of the BAC Consulting KFT company is pictured on September 18, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on September 17 The stunning incident saw scores of Hezbollah members severely injured throughout southern Lebanon and in its capital Beirut Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Barsony-Arcidiacono lists her expertise as International Relations and Business Development with her main achievements contributing to a Nobel Peace award and strategic work on climate and conflict issues. Her CV also claims she speaks seven languages, including Russian and Italian. From 2015-2017 she studied for a diploma in politics at the London School of Economics having previously spent four years at the School of Oriental and African studies where her final thesis was on the risk of climate change in Guinea Conakry. Prior to that she was at University College in London from 2002-2006 while studying or a PhD in Physics. On a website for scientists called Research Gate she lists her skills as 'Quantum Mechanics' and 'Disaster Management.' On the CV posted to BAC Consulting website she describes herself as a scientist writing: 'I am a scientist using my very diverse background to work on interdisciplinary projects for strategic decision-making (water&climate policy, investments). 'With excellent analytical, language, and interpersonal skills, I enjoy working and leading in a multicultural environment where diversity, integrity, and... humor are valued. Before becoming the Chief Executive of BAC Consulting, she listed her last employment as a project manager working on a Hydrological Programme in Paris for UNESCO. Thousands were injured when pagers across Syria and Lebanon exploded on Tuesday A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Hsu Ching-kuang (L), head of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, speaks to the media outside the company's office in New Taipei City on September 18, 2024. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo on September 18 denied a report that it had produced thousands of explosive-packed pagers Initial reports suggested the pagers ordered by Hezbollah were supplied by a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo. But executives this morning said the company had only authorised its brand on the devices, and that they were manufactured and sold by BAC Consulting KFT. 'Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorisation and regional agency cooperation with BAC,' a statement read. 'According to the agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for production sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.' Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists this morning that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. He also said he negotiated the licensing agreement in Europe with a Taiwanese woman whom he believed was a regional representative of BAC. 'She had already flown several times to Europe,' he said, claiming the woman called herself Teresa. 'From beginning to end, they never mentioned Lebanon.' BAC Consulting Kft, a limited liability company, was registered in May 2022 with records showing it had revenue of $725,768 in 2022 and $593,972 in 2023. Reporters located the registered address of BAC Consulting in Budapest, but a person at the building speaking on condition of anonymity said the company did not have a physical presence there. BAC Consulting's website, which has now been taken down, said the company worked with telecommunications companies to 'bridge technologies in Asia'. Sir Keir Starmer's top aide Sue Gray is paid more than the Prime Minister, it was revealed today amid more signs of a fight for power in No10. In the latest leak from inside Downing Street sources said that Ms Gray, a former civil servant, was being paid 170,000 as chief of staff, compared to the 166,786 earned by Sir Keir. Her Tory predecessor Liam Smith-Booth - now Lord Smith-Booth - was paid between 140,000 and 145,000. In an astonishing briefing to the BBC they also accused Ms Gray of acting 'increasingly grand' and acting as the only conduit for access to the PM. '[She] considers herself to be the Deputy Prime Minister, hence the salary and no other voice for the Prime Minister to hear as everything gets run through Sue,' they told the broadcaster. Another added: 'It was suggested that she might want to go for a few thousand pounds less than the Prime Minister to avoid this very story. She declined.' Ms Gray, a former publican whose son is a Labour MP, has been the subject of repeated briefings about her hold on power within No10. In the latest leak from inside Downing Street sources said that Ms Gray, a former civil servant, was being paid 170,000 as chief of staff, compared to the 166,000 earned by Sir Keir. In an astonishing briefing to the BBC they also accused Ms Gray of acting 'increasingly grand' and acting as the only conduit for access to the PM. She accompanied the PM on recent trips to Washington and Rome in an indication of how central she is to his administration. It has also emerged she will attend his weekly national security council audience with the heads of MI6, MI5, GCHQ, the joint intelligence committee and Armed Forces. The Cabinet Office did not deny Ms Gray earned more than the PM but said she had no power to set her own salary. Sir Keir attempted to defend Ms Gray at the weekend by saying that 'most' of the stories about her are 'wildly wrong' following reports of rifts in No10. A Cabinet Office spokesman said: 'It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay. 'Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials not political appointees. As set out publicly, special advisers cannot authorise expenditure of public funds or have responsibility for budgets.' Advertisement Donald Trump spoke at his first rally just days after the second assassination attempt in front of a huge crowd in Long Island, New York, on Wednesday night. The former president said 'we are going to win' the state that has been staunchly Democrat for decades and thanked God for sparing his life. 'What the hell do you have to lose?' he asked the audience when suggesting he could flip the Empire State. The Republican nominee also told the hyped-up audience to buy wife's Melania upcoming memoir, which is due out next week. Follow all the updates in our U.S. politics live blog Britons are enjoying the welcome return of summery weather this week as temperatures soar, making the UK warmer than European holiday hotspots. Following a cold and wet start to autumn for many, conditions have become sunnier and settled in recent days thanks to high pressure dominating the weather. And the mercury is set to reach 26C (79F) in London tomorrow - hotter than Ibiza and Rome (both 23C/73F), Corfu (24C/75F), Mallorca and Istanbul (both 25C/77F). It would be the first time a temperature of 26C has been recorded in the UK in nearly a fortnight since Aviemore in the Highlands hit 26.2C (79.1F) on September 7. And less than a week ago, England and South Wales both recorded their earliest frost in September since 2019 as temperatures fell to -2.7C (27.F1F) last Friday. Pedestrians walk across Westminster Bridge in the warm autumn sunshine this afternoon A woman enjoys the warm September weather at St James's Park in London this afternoon People enjoying the autumnal sunshine by the River Thames in London this afternoon Pedestrians walk along London's South Bank in the warm autumn sunshine this afternoon People enjoy the autumnal sunshine by Tower Bridge in London this afternoon Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said today: 'The settled weather should last for another day or so - it is going to turn more unsettled across more southern areas from Friday and into the weekend, however. 'But for the time being high pressure is dominating our weather. Still quite a lot of cloud around across many southern areas of the UK, the east coast in particular - that's because an area of high pressure is bringing an easterly wind. 'But we'll continue to see the influence of that high pressure through Wednesday and Thursday, particularly across more northern areas. A risk of showers starting to develop across the South by Friday.' Warm conditions are set to stay in place this week with a high of 25C (77F) today in the South East of England, 19C (66F) in the North and 20C (68F) in Scotland. These temperatures are around 3C above average for the time of year in the South and up to 6C above average in Scotland - but around average for the North. Cloud in the East and South lifted this morning, leaving a bright afternoon today with plenty of sunny spells but breezy in southern areas. Later, cloud will come in from the East overnight with clear skies in the North and West - but some mist and fog could form under clear skies. Tomorrow, the mercury will rise further, getting up to 26C (79F) in the South, 20C (68F) in the North and 18C (64F) in Scotland. A dog walker heads out on a sunny and cloudy morning at Dunsden in Oxfordshire today A cruise ship on the North Sea arrives at dawn at the mouth of the River Tyne this morning Mist and fog should again quickly lift in the morning, leaving a mostly dry day which will be warm with plenty of sunshine but still breezy. By Friday, highs of 22C (72F) are expected in the South, 19C (66F) in the North and 17C (63F) in Scotland. The day is expected to be largely dry in the North with sunny spells, but showers or heavy rain could edge in from the South, with thunder possible. A maximum of 24C (75F) is then forecast in London on Saturday, and 22C (72F) on Sunday - before falling to 20C (68F) by next Monday. A transport worker has been stabbed by a teenager inside a shopping centre. The 60-year-old bus security officer was patrolling bus stops at Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast when was stabbed in the hip at about 1pm on Wednesday. Paramedics treated the man inside the shopping centre before taking him to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition. The man's wounds were described as non-life-threatening. There was heavy police presence on Wednesday afternoon with numerous cops and detectives inside the centre and blue curtains blocked shoppers from the scene. A police spokesperson said officers arrived at the shopping centre at about 1pm to find the man but initial investigations suggested the offender had fled. Investigations into the incident continue. Police are reportedly investigating whether the attacker had followed the 60-year-old into a corridor between the car park and the shopping centre, where the staff toilet facilities are located. A 60-year-old bus security officer was stabbed in the hip at a Gold Coast shopping centre It's understood the safety officer was on his way to the bathroom while on a break. The shopping centre described the zone as a 'non-public' area. Witnesses reportedly described how a young teen male allegedly attacked the man before fleeing. Executive General Manager for South East Queensland and Tweed Heads Kinetic buses, Martin Hall said the incident was 'deeply distressing'. 'Kinetic is providing full support to (the Queensland Police) and our team members following the assault of a Network Officer at Robina Town Centre,' he said to the Gold Coast Bulletin. 'This is a deeply distressing incident, everyone has the right to be safe at work and the wellbeing of the Network Officer involved is our absolute priority.' Police blocked off a corridor in the shopping centre with blue curtains to further investigate The incident is the second serious attack ono a bus worker in five months. In May, a 68-year-old Kinetic bus driver was assaulted in the Gold Coast and left with a fractured ankle. Three teenagers were charged as a result of the incident. Hundreds of plaster face casts of transgender, non binary and gender non-conforming people which will disintegrate over time have gone on display on Trafalgar Square's famed fourth plinth. Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles features 726 faces and weighs a hefty 3.3 metric tons, or just over 7,000lbs. Over the next 18 months, the faces will be naturally weathered by the wind and rain and fade away, leaving a 'kind of anti-monument', the artist previously told The Guardian. Margolles, who trained as a forensic pathologist and once worked in a morgue, is known for creating works using blood and material from crime scenes to explore death and conflict. At the beginning of her career she was given a stillborn fetus by a mother which she encased in cement and was known for smuggling blood and grease from autopsies to use in her sculptures. Hundreds of plaster face casts of transgender , non binary and gender non-conforming people which will disintegrate over time have gone on display on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth Mexican artist Teresa Margolles (centre) looks on as her artwork Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) was unveiled in London today A member of the public takes in the new artwork, which will be naturally weathered by the wind and rain and fade away over the next 18 months While her latest work is not quite as morbid, the new sculpture evokes a Tzompantli, a rack used in Mesoamerican civilizations to display the skulls of captured enemies and sacrifice victims. Teresa Margolles: The Mexican forensic pathologist-turned artist who encased a fetus in cement and smuggled blood from murder scenes to use in sculptures Teresa Margolles, 58, is a Mexican conceptual artist, photographer, videographer, and performance artist who originally trained as a forensic pathologist. Her work focuses on death and the causes and consequences of it and she spends time at various morgues across Mexico making observations. The art she creates is usually in the form of 'sensory experiences' in actual morgues. She believes morgues reflect society, particularly Mexican urban experience, where drug-related crime, poverty, political upheaval, and military action result in violence and death. Her work is often rather morbid and she was once given a stillborn fetus by a mother which she encased in cement as an artwork. And in 2009 she invited the relatives of victims who had been killed in gang violence in Juarez to mop the floor of the palazzo at the Venice International Art Exhibition with water that she had poured blood from murder sites into. She also created her own version of a Mexican flag created from fabric she had doused in the same blood. Margolles first started her art career while working with dead bodies as a forensic pathologist in a morgue in Mexico City in the 1990s and started an artists' collective titled SEMEFO, which is an anagram for the Mexican coroner's office. She took pictures of the autopsy process and smuggled blood and grease from autopsy trays to use in sculptures. In 2012 she won the Artes Mundi prize by displaying bloody floor tiles she took from the building where a friend was murdered. Also on display was water used to clean bodies in a morgue, dripping and sizzling on hotplates. That same year she was also given the Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands. Advertisement It pays tribute to one of the artist's friends, a transgender woman named Karla who was killed in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in 2015. The crime remains unsolved. 'We pay this tribute to her and to all the other people who were killed for reasons of hate,' the artist said. 'But, above all, to those who live on, to the new generations who will defend the power to freely choose to live with dignity.' Organisers of the project say the work will 'naturally age' while on display, with the detail of the faces slowly fading as the plaster is exposed to the elements. One of London's main gathering spots for tourists and protesters, Trafalgar Square was named for Admiral Horatio Nelson's 1805 victory over the French and Spanish fleets. A statue of the one-armed admiral stands atop Nelson's Column at the center of the square, and statues of other 19th-century military leaders are nearby. The fourth plinth - a 24-foot (7-meter) high stone pedestal - was erected in 1841 for a never-completed statue of William IV, but money ran out. It remained empty until 1999, when an initiative was put forward for a revolving series of artworks to occupy the plinth. Previous artworks included a giant bronze thumb, a sculpture of a giant swirl of whipped cream topped with a cherry, a fly and a drone, and 2,400 members of the public who each stood atop the plinth for an hour over the course of 100 days. Despite repeated calls for one of the late Elizabeth II, there are as yet no plans for one to be erected and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has maintained the fourth plinth will be for revolving artworks, not permanent statues. The most recent Fourth Plinth artwork was created by Malawi-born artist Samson Kambalu. His sculpture Antelope depicted a 1914 photograph of Baptist preacher John Chilembwe and European missionary John Chorley. The original picture his artwork is based on 'looks ordinary' at a first glance, Kambalu previously said. 'But when you research the photograph, you find that actually there's subversion there, because at that time in 1914 it was forbidden for Africans to wear hats before white people,' he said. The picture shows the two men opening a church. Kambalu said: 'For me, the Fourth Plinth and my proposals were always going to be a litmus test for how much I belong to British society as an African and as a cosmopolitan, and so this fills me with joy and excitement. 'It's a big commission, probably the biggest I will ever do, unless we have another commission on Mars.' Margolles was selected by the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group after nearly 17,500 members of the public voted for their favourite designs. Margolles, who trained as a forensic pathologist, is known for creating works using blood and material from crime scenes to explore death and conflict At the time of voting, activists on X encouraged their followers to vote for Margolles as a way to 'outrage' the 'usual snowflakes'. One wrote: 'Can you imagine the outrage from the usual snowflakes if Teresa Margolles' artwork wins? That's motivation enough to vote for it!' While another said: 'Let's give the trans community more visibility by commissioning Teresa Margolles' 850 Improntas to be displayed on Trafalgar Square next year. Vote now!' And LGBT+ History Month said: 'We could be biased but we would like to suggest you vote for Improntas (Imprint), by Teresa Margolles, which features casts of the faces of 850 trans people, most of whom are sex workers.' In March it was revealed that a sculpture which pays homage to a young, metropolitan woman of colour and a life-sized person on a horse cast in slime-green resin will feature on the Fourth Plinth in 2026 and 2028 respectively. Artists Tschabalala Self and Andra Ursuta will join an illustrious list of renowned artists, including Sir Antony Gormley and Dame Rachel Whiteread who have previously exhibited their work in the capital. US artist Tschabalala Self's artwork entitled 'Lady in Blue' is one of two artworks chosen to be displayed on the Fourth Plinth of Trafalgar Square Romanian-American artist Andra Ursuta's artwork 'Untitled', pictured, will be displayed on the Fourth Plinth in 2028 New York-born artist Self's Lady In Blue sculpture will be installed in 2026. Her bronze artwork is inspired by a contemporary 'everywoman', patinated with Lapis Lazuli blue - a rare and refined pigment that has been used since antiquity with global historical significance. 'My work "Lady In Blue" will bring to Trafalgar Square a woman that many can relate to,' Self said. 'She is not an idol to venerate or a historic figurehead to commemorate. 'She is a woman striding forward into our collective future with ambition and purpose. 'She is a Londoner, who represents the city's spirit.' Self said the city of London has 'supported my artistic development' and she is 'beyond thrilled' to be giving back to the visual landscape with the commission. Calls had been made for a statue of Queen Elizbeth II to be erected in Trafalgar Square. Pictured: A Statue of the Queen in Gravesend, Kent 'London is the best possible home for such a powerful figure as Lady In Blue,' she added. Meanwhile Untitled by Romanian-born Ursuta will be installed in 2028. The hollow equestrian statue covered in a shroud embodies multiple histories of public sculpture, during an increasing debate about the use of public space. 'My work deals with history; history makes sense of us as we try to make sense of it,' she said. 'Trafalgar Square is a place where multiple histories face one another in an open-ended standoff. 'It will never be finished. This is such a crucial, and beautiful, accident.' The pair were selected from a seven-strong shortlist including Liverpool-born Chila Kumari Singh Burman; Argentinian Gabriel Chaile; Scottish Ruth Ewan; London-born Thomas J Price and Montserrat-born Veronica Ryan. In the wake of his dramatic arrest in Manhattan and subsequent sex crimes charges, Sean 'Diddy' Combs is facing the prospect of losing his staggering fortune. As a rapper, music producer and entrepreneur involved in a variety of companies from broadcasting to alcohol, Diddy's net worth topped out in 2019 at $740 million - and he was well on his way toward billionaire status. But his empire began crumbling in November last year when his ex-girlfriend Cassie accused him of sexual assault and physical abuse, which triggered at least nine others to launch similar lawsuits against him. He's now estimated to be worth $400 million, according to Forbes, but faces the fight of his life to hold on to his freedom and his fortune. And while those suits threaten to bleed the rapper dry, the loss of Diddy's revenue streams - including the collapse of his lucrative brand deals with liquor giant Diageo - could make funding his legal battle even more expensive. Now, after it emerged that Diddy tried and failed to float his $48 million Miami mansion as bail collateral in court, DailyMail.com looks at the assets that the disgraced mogul could be set to forfeit. Diddy's $48 million Miami mansion (pictured), which was raided by federal authorities earlier this year and was floated as collateral as criminal proceedings against the mogul were brought in New York in September During his heyday Diddy was known for extravagant purchases, eye-catching bling and throwing lavish parties, as his net worth peaked at over $740 million How Diddy's wealth soared - and his extravagant purchases When he rose to fame in the 1990s, Combs made no secret of his growing wealth as he became notorious for wearing eye-catching bling and throwing lavish parties. Following the success of his record label, Bad Boy Records, which catapulted Diddy into stardom through film appearances in hits such as Get Him To The Greek, the mogul's fortune soared. In the two decades before his arrest, Forbes reports that Diddy made almost a billion dollars, as he branched out into ventures including a fashion label, fragrance lines, and founding the Revolt TV network. In 2003, he purchased a sprawling Miami mansion for $14.5 million, at a time when he was celebrating his studio album, The Saga Continues, going platinum. Diddy, seen splashing the cash at a nightclub in Magic City, Atlanta, used to boast that he was a 'billionaire' as he became a hip-hop icon Among Diddy's exorbitant purchases included a $39 million Los Angeles mansion in 2014 (pictured) which was later raided by federal authorities In a bid to avoid jail ahead of his trial, Diddy offered a $50 million package that included putting his Miami mansion and mother's $2 million apartment (pictured) up as collateral That home is now worth upwards of $48 million, according to Diddy's legal team who put the mansion up as collateral in a failed bid to have him bailed out ahead of trial. The bail package also included putting Diddy's mother's $2 million Miami apartment up as collateral, but this was rejected by a judge. It was part of a wave of purchases and expenses that became routine for Diddy as his stock soared, which also included splurging $60 million on a private jet that he dubbed 'Combs Air.' Over the years, Diddy seemed to enjoy raising eyebrows by splashing the cash, such as wearing a 30-carat diamond pinky ring to the 2022 Oscars, owning a revolving fleet of 20 sportscars, and even an art collection with works by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. In 2014, the producer made another huge purchase, a huge Los Angeles mansion that he snapped up for a reported $39 million - one of his many assets that look to be vulnerable as he faces jail. The rap mogul, pictured arriving at the New York City premiere of Bad Boys II in one of his sportscars, became notorious for showing his wealth Diddy seen attending the 2022 Oscars, where he raised eyebrows by wearing a 30-carat diamond pinky ring Embattled star's fortune dips Diddy and his team would frequently say he was a billionaire, although he does not appear to have ever quite reached the lofty status. Forbes listed Diddy's peak personal fortune at $740 million in 2019, the highest it ever reached before a series of controversies and business stumbles saw it tumble. In June, the outlet conservatively reduced his net worth to $400 million - a number that experts say is set to continue to plummet as he hires a battalion of lawyers to fight the criminal charges he faces. Regardless of whether he's convicted or cleared, Diddy will almost certainly also face a slew of civil suits from his alleged victims that will further drain his fortune. One of the biggest loss of Diddy's revenue streams may have nothing to do with allegations of abuse and sexual assault, however, as the collapse of his liquor ventures could cost hundreds of millions. Diddy previously enjoyed a highly lucrative partnership between his vodka brand Ciroc and Diageo, one of the largest alcohol conglomerates in the world. But the rapper went to war with Diageo in May 2023 with a lawsuit claiming the company was 'unwilling to treat its Black partners equally', alleging his brands were underprioritized compared to others under the Diageo umbrella, such as Don Julio tequila. Diddy raked in $66 million per year from 2007 to 2023 through his Ciroc vodka partnership with Diageo, and the venture made up a huge chunk of his net worth before it collapsed in 2023 Diageo countered by severing all ties with Diddy by June 2023, and claimed that 'despite having made nearly a billion dollars over the course of our 15-year relationship, Mr. Combs contributed a total of $1,000 and refused to honor his commitments.' From 2007 to 2023, the mogul reportedly earned $66 million every year through the partnership, meaning the loss of the deal came as a huge hit to Diddy's finances - with Forbes noting that a large chunk of his peak $740 million net worth in 2019 came from his partnership with Diageo. Diddy also sold his 50 percent stake in Revolt TV in June after sexual assault allegations were brought against him, which reaped almost $200 million, a fraction of what his shares were once worth. And while his fashion line, Sean John, once brought in over $400 million in annual sales, the line has since been dumped by Macy's in a move that has been compared to Adidas dropping Kanye West's Yeezy line after his controversial remarks last year. Diddy seen during his heyday at a Fourth of July party in the Hamptons in New York, with one of his 20-strong luxury vehicles Future civil suits could bleed him dry As he faces the fallout of a decades-long career in the limelight, Diddy appears to be in a desperate scramble to cash in and stay afloat. The week before his indictment in New York, Diddy put his Los Angeles mansion on the market for $61.5 million, hoping to make a $12.5 million profit on his investment. His attorney said he had been 'anticipating' the charges against him before he made the move, evidencing Diddy's dash to prop up his legal fights. Alongside facing sickening sex crime charges in New York, Diddy has also been slapped with 10 civil lawsuits from alleged victims. Fighting these ongoing cases could cost Diddy dearly, with one already costing him a staggering $100 million. Diddy will have to pay lawyers fees - and also faces having to pay victims any settlements handed down by judgements, as well as their legal fees. This month, in the days before he was indicted in New York, Michigan prison inmate Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith was granted $100 million by default after Diddy failed to appear nor answer the suit against him. Cardello-Smith alleged that Diddy drugged and sexually assaulted him at a party in Detroit in 1997, however the rapper's attorney says he plans to appeal the huge judgement against him. At least two people have been killed in a botched raid after the estranged husband of Russia's richest woman stormed her firm's HQ with gunmen during a takeover row. Shocking footage shared on social media shows the moment attackers opened fire in Wildberries' Moscow offices today, allegedly led by Vladislav Bakalchuk. Gunfire lasted some 12 seconds as screams ran out through the corridors while people tried to hide in the elevators. Russia's richest woman, Tatyana Bakalchuk, claimed her husband was trying to seize the headquarters of the e-commerce giant - a Russian equivalent of Amazon. Vladislav claimed on Telegram that 'unknown people... provoked an armed conflict' as he arrived at the offices for planned negotiations - denying carrying weapons. People hid in an elevator entrance as gunmen swept through the Wildberries Moscow HQ Two people were reported to have died after chaos unfolded at the Moscow offices today Contrary to his account, Wildberries told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the armed men accompanying Mr Bakalchuk were the first to fire. They said he and his men had tried to illegally enter Wildberries offices. 'Police officers and business center security officers were injured by the actions of the people accompanying Vladislav Bakalchuk,' a shared statement read. 'The illegal entry attempt was carried out at two company addresses at once, which proves that no negotiations were planned.' They added that Mr Bakalchuk does not have access to the offices as he is not an employee of the company. He is a co-founder of the company, but owns just one per cent - allowing the company to create subsidiaries within Russian law. Mr Bakalchuk had bizarrely appeared in a video with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in July alleging that his wife 'is doing business with a strange company under the guise of a merger that takes the business away and withdraws assets'. Mrs Bakalchuk, who announced the couple were divorcing the same month, appealed for law enforcement to 'take control of this situation' after her husband's gunmen allegedly fired upon staff today. 'Today a group of people led by Vladislav Bakalchuk, Sergei Anufriev and Vladimir Bakin attempted to seize Wildberries offices in Moscow,' she wrote on Telegram. 'Three people were wounded, we are clarifying their condition.' Police vehicles attended the scene and the offices were sealed off with tape. As many as ten people have since been detained in connection with the incident, RIA reported. The agency reported that a security guard had initially been killed in the attacking, citing a company source. It later added that a second security guard had also died. Vladislav denied that he and his men were armed, saying he came to the office to take part in negotiations and that the shooting came from 'inside the building'. Mr and Mrs Bakalchuk both entered and shot to the top of the Forbes richest families rankings for Russia in 2021 following their success with Wildberries. The e-commerce giant is Russia's largest online retailer, founded in 2004 and serving countries across the region. The company is reported to have some 50,000 staff and in 2020 was processing as many as 750,000 orders every day. Tatyana Bakalchuk, General Director of Wildberries and Russia's richest woman, worth $8.1bn - A Russian police officer blocks the entrance to the Wildberries office building on Wednesday Until the end of 2019, Mrs Bakalchuk was the sole owner of the company, but later transferred one per cent to her husband - ostensibly to navigate Russia's law forbidding sole owners from creating 100 per cent subsidiaries. 'Thanks to their co-ownership, Wildberries will be able to create subsidiaries according to a simplified scheme and build the structure of [a] more successful corporation,' rusbankrot reported in 2021. In June 2024, the company announced a new venture with Russ Group, Russia's biggest outdoor advertiser. Mr Bakalchuk opposed the deal. One month later, Mrs Bakalchuk - worth an estimated $8.1billion - announced they would divorce. Under Russian law, divorcing couples are obliged to split assets gained together while married. This is the horrifying moment an 64-year-old man was gored in the scrotum at a traditional bull running event in Spain. The bull had just been released from its pen when it charged towards the man at breakneck speed. Before the man had a chance to react, the bull picked him up with one of its horns from the other side of a metal barrier. The man was then held in the air for several seconds before the bull dumped him on the ground in front of shocked onlookers. The victim, identified only as F.M.N, suffered entry and exit wounds around his groin area and was taken to hospital for treatment. The man was then held in the air for several seconds before the bull dumped him on the ground in front of shocked onlookers The victim, identified as only F.M.N, suffered entry and exit wounds around his groin area in the goring The bull had just been released from its pen when it charged towards the man at breakneck speed The horror unfolded on Monday in La Vall dUixo, north-east of Valencia, during a traditional bull running event. An onsite medical team, as well as two doctors who were there as spectators, gave the man first aid. He was conscious when he was taken to a hospital in nearby Villarreal and will undergo surgery, local media has reported. The bull picked the man up from behind a metal gate with its horns The man was dumped on the ground by the bull after it lifted him up by the horns The victim, identified as only F.M.N, suffered entry and exit wounds around his groin area in the goring Bull running is a traditional event in Spain that usually takes place as part of a summertime festival The incident follows the death of a 57-year-old man in hospital in May, seven weeks after he was gored twice during a bullfight in Vall d'Uixo. A 20-year-old man was also killed during a bull-running festival in El Casar in the province of Castilla-La Mancha earlier this month. The unnamed victim suffered a punctured lung when the animal ran at him and drove its horn into his chest. Bull running is a traditional event in Spain that usually takes place as part of a summertime festival. It involves running in front of a small group of bulls, typically six, but sometimes ten or more, that have been let loose on sectioned-off streets in a town. Police are urgently searching for a diver who went missing off Western Australia's Gascoyne Coast. The 30-year-old man was last seen on Tuesday afternoon near Red Bluff at Quobba Station, about 970km north of Perth. The man failed to resurface while fishing and diving some 800m off the coast with two of his friends. The man's friends alerted police to his disappearance. Specialist diver crews have been deployed to the area in a bid to locate the man. The crews are coordinating the search for the missing diver. Marine rescue volunteers from further south in Carnarvon also arrived to Red Bluff assist with the search. A drone has also been used in the efforts. A diver has gone missing off the Western Australian coast while with his two friends The region is popular with divers and fishers, home to deep under-sea canyons and marine life Red Bluff is in the southern reaches of the Ningaloo Marine Park which covers 2,435sqm. The area is popular with fishers, surfers and campers for its deep under-sea canyons and diverse aquatic life. An estimated 200,00 people visit the area each year. Surgeons in Lebanon have exposed the litany of horrific injuries they have witnessed among the almost 3,000 people whose pagers exploded in a suspected Israeli attack on members of Hezbollah. The pagers, believed to have been booby-trapped by Israel's Mossad spy agency prior to their delivery earlier this year, detonated yesterday after receiving a coded message. The devices vibrated and beeped for several seconds prior to the explosion, a feature that experts say was likely designed by the aggressor to ensure the owner was holding the device so as to cause maximum damage. Dozens of targets sustained severe facial injuries, with doctors explaining how they were forced to cut out victims' eyeballs. Others had their hands blown off, or suffered gaping wounds in their abdomen had they concealed the pager on their hip. Professor Elias Warrak, an ophthalmologist at Mount Lebanon University Hospital in Beirut, told the BBC he had never had to remove so many eyes in his 25-year-career, describing the experience as a 'nightmare'. 'Most of the patients were young men in their twenties and in some cases I had to remove both eyes,' he said, adding that he operated until 4am Wednesday morning and still had more patients to treat when he returned a few hours later. At least 12 people are confirmed dead, including at least two children - one girl aged eight and an 11-year-old boy - according to Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad. Eye surgeon and Lebanese member of parliament Elias Jrade At least 12 people are confirmed dead, including at least two children - one girl aged eight and an 11-year-old boy - according to Firas Abiad, who broke down in tears Thousands were injured when pagers across Syria and Lebanon exploded on Tuesday Hospitals across Lebanon were overrun with patients yesterday after thousands of Hezbollah operatives had their pagers blown up simultaneously Eye surgeon and Lebanese member of parliament Elias Jrade, performs an eye operation on an injured man, following pager detonations across Lebanon, at a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon September 18, 2024 An injured man undergoes an operation, following pager detonations across Lebanon, at a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon September 18, 2024 This blurry screenshot taken from a video shows a man with a severely damaged arm and a bloodied face being hauled into hospital Doctors rush to treat patients after they sustained severe injuries from the exploding pagers Relatives mourn a young girl among those killed in the pager explosions People attend the funeral ceremony held for Fatima Abdullah, who died in a pager explosion, at Saraain Al Faouqa district of Beqaa, Lebanon on September 18, 2024 Journalists were not allowed to enter hospital rooms or film patients in the wake of the attacks. But a torrent of images and footage shared to social media by onlookers showed all manner of grievous injuries. One particular video showed a man with a bloodied face clutching what was left of his arm - a jagged, crimson stump - as he wailed in a hospital bed. The lens then swung around to capture another individual with a gaping hole in his stomach and huge lacerations along the top of his thigh with blood spilling onto the white floor below. Other clips taken on the streets of Beirut captured the chaos that broke out as people were cut down seemingly at random by powerful explosives. Some were seen crumpled on the floor in pools of their own blood as confused and horrified bystanders stood over them. And one unsettling image showed trails of blood snaking down the side of a car door after its occupant was blown apart as he sat inside. Health Minister Abiad said the wounded had been sent to various hospitals to avoid any single facility being overloaded and added that Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt offered to help treat the patients, given the number of casualties. One young girl, named as Fatima Abdullah, was killed when she picked up the beeping pager with the intention of giving it to her father. Tragic scenes showed crowds gathering for her funeral, holding her flower-adorned coffin aloft before laying her to rest earlier today. A person is carried on a stretcher outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded and killed when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024 People attend the funeral ceremony held for Fatima Abdullah, who died in a pager explosion, at Saraain Al Faouqa district of Beqaa, Lebanon on September 18, 2024 A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 Pagers used by Hezbollah members for vital communications exploded yesterday, injuring thousands A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded on September 17, 2024 The crippling security breach is believed to be the result of a shady operation stretching from Hungary to Taiwan that was masterminded by Israel's foreign spy agency. It is alleged that Mossad, working in collaboration with elements of Israel's Defence Forces (IDF), managed to infiltrate the supply chain and plant a small quantity of high explosives inside the communication devices before they were delivered to Lebanon some time this spring. These rigged devices were subsequently distributed to thousands of unsuspecting members across the political, military, operational and medical branches of Hezbollah before they were eventually detonated on Tuesday afternoon. Officials in Jerusalem have thus far declined to comment on the incident, but Hezbollah has placed the blame squarely on Israel and has vowed to punish it. An American official speaking on condition of anonymity said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the attack, but gave no more details. Meanwhile, a slew of security sources, regional analysts and munitions experts concur that Mossad and the IDF are the only entities capable of pulling off such an operation. Just one day after Hamas' October 7 attacks that triggered the war in Gaza, Lebanon's Hezbollah entered the fray in support of its ally and began trading strikes with Israel along their shared border. Since then, hundreds of the group's operatives have been killed in targeted Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including several senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut. Fearing that the phones used by Hezbollah members to communicate presented a massive security risk, Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in February declared the devices were 'more dangerous than Israeli spies' and his officials began drawing up plans to address gaps in the group's intelligence infrastructure. In a televised speech on February 13, Nasrallah sternly ordered his followers and supporters to break, bury or lock their phones in an iron box. The group opted to replace the phones its members had previously used to communicate with pagers - one way receivers that are more secure than smartphones and do not operate on the same network. They also have an extremely long battery life, with some models able to last up to three months on one charge - a key advantage given Lebanon's economic crisis and unreliable electricity supply. Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in February declared phones were 'more dangerous than Israeli spies' and ordered followers to break, bury or lock them away A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded on September 17, 2024 A Lebanese security source confirmed to Reuters that Hezbollah placed an order for thousands of pagers in February with a Taiwan-based company called Gold Apollo. The AR-924 pager ordered by Hezbollah is advertised a 'rugged' device allowing users to securely communicate in messages of 100 characters. But Gold Apollo said in a statement on Wednesday that it did not manufacture the devices delivered to Lebanon, claiming instead they were manufactured by in Budapest, Hungary, by another entity called BAC Consulting Kft under a brand licensing deal. Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang said: 'The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,' with an official statement from the company adding: 'Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorisation and regional agency cooperation with BAC... but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.' An executive of BAC Consulting Kft confirmed to NBC in a phonecall that the company worked with Gold Apollo but said 'I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediary', before hanging up. This is where the trail has gone cold - for now. The limited liability company was registered in May 2022, with records showing it had revenue of $725,768 in 2022 and $593,972 in 2023. Reporters located the registered address of BAC Consulting in Budapest, but a person at the building speaking on condition of anonymity said the company did not have a physical presence there. Early speculation in the wake of the blasts suggested an Israeli hack could have overloaded the lithium ion batteries powering the pagers, which can burn up to 590 degrees celsius (1,100 F) when ignited. But munitions experts reviewing examples of the blasts caught by security cameras determined the pagers were detonated by an explosive charge, given the sudden and uniform nature of the explosions and the kind of injuries sustained by the victims. A former British Army bomb disposal officer explained that an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge. 'A pager has three of those already,' explained the ex-officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he now works as a consultant with clients on the Middle East. 'You would only need to add the detonator and the charge.' 'Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge,' said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert. A Vermont town politician and his family have been found dead in their cottage in a mysterious triple murder. Pawlet select board member Brian Crossman, 46, his wife Erica, 41, and her son Colin Taft, 13, were shot dead on Sunday, according to police. Detectives arrived at the home after receiving a 911 call early on Sunday by someone they identified as a person of interest in the homicides. The person, a relative of the family, was waiting for police in blood-covered clothes at a school near the Crossman home, as reported by Vermont News & Media. He then reportedly accompanied police to the home, where the bodies were found. Pawlet select board member Brian Crossman, 46, his wife Erica and their son Colin Taft, 13, were shot dead on Sunday, according to police Erica, 41, and her son Colin Taft, 13, are pictured in 2021 Police have yet to name a suspect but said the incident was isolated and there is no 'identified threat to the community.' They've also declined to discuss a possible motive. A neighbor and relative of Crossman claimed the farm where the murders happened had been in his family for generations. They said Crossman and his wife, who married in June, recently took control of the farm from Crossman's sister. 'I think he was just trying to make a new start and trying to run the family farm. And, yeah, this just is, like, the last thing I expected,' the source told Vermont News & Media. Crossman worked as a lineman and joined the Pawlet select board last spring. He had been appointed as the liaison to Pawlet's Highway Department and for buildings. A neighbor and relative of Crossman claimed the far where the murders happened had been in his family for generations They said Crossman and his wife, who married in June, recently took control of the farm from Crossman's sister Pawlet is a town of about 1,400 near the New York state line. The select board is in charge of overseeing the town's spending and enacting of ordinances. Crossman's place at the table in the board's meeting on Tuesday was filled with flowers. 'Brian Crossman was a friend and neighbor, a hardworking community member who just this year stepped up to join the Pawlet Select board,' chairman Mike Beecher said in a statement. 'This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss.' Vermont State Police told DailyMail.com on Wednesday: 'VSPs investigation remains active and ongoing. No one is currently in custody. 'Detectives request that any members of the public who have information potentially relevant to this case contact the Rutland Barracks at 802-773-9101 or provide an anonymous tip online athttps://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.' The mother of a woman who was raped and murdered has said she 'fears for the safety of women' as he won't be a monitored sex offender when he is released. Steven Ling has been behind bars for 26 years for the brutal killing of Joanne Tulip, 29, who was stabbed 60 times at his home on Christmas Day in 1997. The farm worker has previously admitted to raping Joanne, but was never convicted of the offence after the judge allowed the charge to lie on the file by the trial judge in 1998. This means that when he is released he won't be given the same strict restrictions as other rapists, as he won't have signed the sex offenders register. Joanne's mother, Doreen Soulsby, has said she fears that women will not be safe when he is released and disagrees with the Parole Board which determined earlier this year that he should be freed. Joanne Tulip (pictured) was brutally murdered by Steven on Christmas Day in 1997 at his home in Stamfordham, Northumberland The killer, pictured here in his police mugshot, admitted to raping and murdering Joanne, but was only convicted of the latter offence Appearing on Good Morning Britain today, Ms Soulsby said she didn't believe Ling had changed despite two psychologists recommending he be freed on a risk management plan. 'I really fear for the safety of women', she told hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley. 'He confessed to it [rape] and even in prison he admitted he raped [Joanne]. 'The judge at the time chose not to put the rape to court through the trial because the murder was the greater offence. 'He's not a convicted sex offender and the attack was sexually driven.' When asked by Richard Madeley if, like the parole board, she believes he could have changed, Ms Soulsby said: 'No. I believe it's the way his head is wired because from the age of 12 years he was doing funny things in the village and known as a weirdo. Sexual things and it's just escalated. A year before Joanne he tried to get in a girl's house.' Although the exact date which Ling will leave prison is not known, he is set to regain his freedom after a parole hearing in July this year. His release will be subject to a standard set of licence conditions imposed on all offenders released under supervision and additional licence conditions imposed by the Parole Board. This includes informing the authorities of any relationships he might develop, being subject to monitoring and a curfew and staying out of an exclusion zone to avoid contact with his victim's family. However, he will not have to sign the sex offender register as he was not convicted of rape, despite admitting to police he had 'sexual intercourse without consent' with Joanne. Doreen Soulsby says she is fearful for the safety of women after Steven Ling had his bid for parole approved Joanne, pictured here holding a spaniel puppy, was stabbed 60 times by Ling in a frenzied attack During his trial the judge agreed with the defence that it would be an abuse of court process to allow the prosecution to pursue the rape charge, instead allowing it to lie on the file. Ms Soulsby fought for a decade to change the law, insisting that sexual offences were tried alongside murder to close the loophole surrounding monitoring on their release. With the help of her MP she succeeded in changing the law - but it came too late make any difference in Ling's case. In July this year the Parole board recommended the killer, who had carved images including swastikas and crosses into Joanne's body during the brutal murder, for release. Ms Soulsby has been fighting against Ling's release, previously saying it would be a 'nightmare' if he were freed. She said she was 'absolutely appalled and disgusted' by the decision and she remains convinced Ling will strike again. 'That man committed horrific offences against my daughter and yet is deemed to not be a high risk and is safe to be released from prison. It's outrageous,' she said. 'How can the Parole Board believe this man doesn't pose a danger to society when he took my daughter away from her family by committing the most brutal and sadistic crimes? 'Ling needs to stay locked up behind bars he is a danger to all women and girls. Doreen Soulsby has said it would be a 'nightmare' if her daughter's killer was released into the community 'The recommended decision to release Ling into the community is a betrayal to not only Joanne's family but to the families of other victims in similar situations how can they have faith in our justice system when victims get outcomes like these?' She successfully persuaded Dominic Raab, then the justice secretary, to block Ling's attempt to move to an open prison in 2022. In July the Parole Board heard that in Ling is preoccupied with sex and feels that he is entitled to it. Ling has demonstrated this through sexual feelings and conducting sexual acts in prison, including writing his sexual fantasies in a journal, it was heard. He was 23 years old when he murdered Joanne, a hairdresser, at his home in Stamfordham, Northumberland. He is now 49. Ms Soulsby earlier this month: 'He has missed all his young adult life socialising with women and having a physical relationship. I fear the first thing he will do when he gets out of prison is to try and socialise with women again. 'I strongly believe this man could offend again. 'The Government is supposedly committed to halving violence against women and girls. If they are true to their word then they will block this recommendation and will keep Ling in a closed prison. 'They must do everything they can to ensure women and girls are kept safe from this sadistic man. I just hope and pray the Justice Secretary takes this on board before considering any Parole recommendation for Ling's release into the community. 'If Ling is released and the Justice Secretary does not take action, there will be public outcry and confidence in the justice system will be severely damaged and will never be restored.' Ms Soulsby has been campaigning to keep Stephen Ling in prison and convinced then Justice Secretary Dominic Raab to block efforts to move him to an open prison in 2022 The Parole board has now recommended he is safe for release after hearings in July. Two psychologists recommended that Ling should come out and placed on a risk management plan. Psychologist A said she believed the risk he poses is 'not imminent' and is 'manageable in the community', adding: 'I believe that now means his risk is at a level where he does not need to be kept in prison anymore.' Psychologist B told the Parole Board: 'I believe he meets the test for release and no longer needs to be detained for the protection of the public.' The panel heard that a past risk assessment identified a number of factors that led to him attacking Ms Tulip which included preoccupation with sex, sexual interest in indecent exposure, capacity to use force to secure sexual gratification, entitlement towards sex and a negative attitude towards women. The assessment also identified issues in Ling's own self-worth and self-esteem. Both psychologists agreed that there was no evidence of an enduring interest in inflicting violence to achieve sexual gratification. Asked if he appreciated the 'gravity' of his offending on Ms Tulip and her loved ones, psychologist A said Ling discussed it quite regularly, which can be 'helpful' in deterring him from straying into unhealthy thoughts. Psychologist B said: 'He will refer to himself as a monster when talking to me. 'He has talked about the struggle to come to terms with the person he was that night, leading up to it as well. 'I agree that I think it helps occasionally to revisit the enormity of the index offence to avoid complacency.' Questioned on why Ling used so much violence in his offending in 1997, psychologist B said: 'There was both a panic, a desire to get away with the crime, and there was a kind of rage that erupted that was about her, about women, about his life, about himself and he absolutely lost control.' Psychologist A added: 'I think the areas of risk that we do understand well in regards to attitude towards women, a desire for revenge and humiliation, the sex and rape fantasies... those factors combined with that extreme emotional reaction, linked to the triggers that we have discussed just now, give an explanation for that behaviour.' In its published decision, the Parole Board panel said: 'The panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.' A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Joanne Tulip at this difficult time. 'The Lord Chancellor's first priority is keeping the public safe and she has asked officials to scrutinise whether the decision should be returned to the parole board to reconsider. 'If he is released, Ling will face conditions and supervision far stricter than the requirements of the sex offenders' register and, as such, he can be recalled to prison at any time.' Families of the construction workers who were killed in Baltimore's Key Bridge collapse have filed lawsuits against the shipping company as a search for justice begins. One of the devastated family members is Maria del Carmen Castellon, who lost her husband Miguel Luna in the tragic incident which saw him and five other men plunge to their deaths after the container ship lost power and slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. She appeared alongside other victims' relatives and attorneys to announce their plans to take legal action against the owner and manager of the Dali, arguing the companies acted with negligence and ignored problems on the ship before the March 26 collapse. 'That day, a wound was opened in my heart that will never heal, something I would not wish on anyone,' Castellon said at a news conference Tuesday. In seeking justice for her family, Castellon said, she hopes to prevent future tragedies by advocating for safer working conditions. Maria del Carmen Castellon lost her husband Miguel Luna in the tragic March 26 incident A portrait of Miguel Luna is displayed among articles of his welding gear during a press conference in Baltimore on September 17 A livestream showed the disaster unfolding, with the vessel plowing into a pile holding up the central part of the bridge. The road and steel arches immediately tumble into the water She wants more robust protections for immigrant workers who too often find themselves taking dangerous jobs no one else is willing to do. All six of the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the US seeking better-paying jobs and opportunities for their families. Most had lived in the country for many years, including Luna, who grew up in El Salvador. He left behind five children. Castellon explained how the pair had a food truck business together and that Luna would often go straight from a construction shift to helping her in the truck. She said the business symbolized their shared vision for the future and just days before his death, Luna surprised her with a visit to the storefront they hoped to rent. 'Every mile driven in that food truck, every vegetable chopped took us a step closer to our dreams,' she said. She recalled how he stopped by the food truck before heading to work the last time. She gave him dinner and he gave her a kiss. Castellon displayed a pair of her husband's old welding uniforms, noting holes in the fabric caused by flying sparks. Gustavo Torres, executive director of the Maryland-based advocacy group CASA, said it should come as no surprise that the victims of the collapse were immigrant workers. He said their suffering must not be brushed under the rug by corporate interests. 'No financial loss can compare to the loss of human life,' Torres said at the news conference, calling the victims 'six irreplaceable souls' whose loved ones are trying to pick up the pieces after their worlds were destroyed in an instant. The Dali is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and managed by Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore. The companies filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability, a routine procedure for cases litigated under US maritime law. The joint filing seeks to cap their liability at roughly $43.6 million in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history. Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for the ship's owner, said the victims' upcoming challenge was anticipated and noted there is a September 24 deadline for such filings in the case. Several other interested parties, including city officials and local businesses, have already filed opposing claims accusing the companies of negligence. Filings on behalf of the victims and their families are expected in coming days. Castellon appeared alongside other victims' relatives and attorneys to announce their plans to take legal action against the owner and manager of the Dali She wants more robust protections for immigrant workers who too often find themselves taking dangerous jobs no one else is willing to do A view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, March 26, 2024, which claimed the lives of six The ship involved was the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash A last-minute mayday call from the ship's pilot allowed police officers to stop traffic to the bridge, but they didn't have time to alert the road work crew. Most of the men were sitting in their construction vehicles during a break and had no warning. One survived falling from the bridge by manually opening the window of his truck and climbing out into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River. Following the disaster, salvage divers worked around the clock to recover the victims' bodies. The underwater wreckage blocked the main channel into the Port of Baltimore for months, disrupting East Coast shipping routes and putting many longshoremen temporarily out of work. Preliminary findings from a National Transportation Safety Board investigation show that the Dali experienced a series of electrical issues before and after leaving the Port of Baltimore. The ship was destined for Sri Lanka when it experienced a power blackout and lost steering at the worst possible moment. The FBI launched an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the crash. A plan is underway to rebuild the bridge, but it could take years. Meanwhile, Castellon said she plans to continue pursuing her dream of opening a restaurant - now in her husband's honor. 'I know he is up there watching down on me, celebrating all of the victories with me,' she said. 'I will continue to make him proud.' The French woman at the centre of the Monster of Avignon multiple rape trial today accused her attackers of being 'degenerates'. Gisele Pelicot, 71, took to the witness stand on Wednesday to give permission for the court to view horrific videos of her being drugged and raped by dozens of men. Her husband Dominque, 73, has been charged with raping her and arranging for at least 50 other men to sexually abuse her while drugged. Ms Pelicot told the court today that she felt humiliated by the suspicion expressed by defence lawyers that she may have been complicit in her ordeal. 'Not for a second did I give my consent to Mr Pelicot, nor to these men who are behind me,' she said. 'Since I arrived in this courtroom, I have been humiliated. I have been called an alcoholic, an accomplice of Mr Pelicot. Gisele Pelicot arrives at court in Avignon, France Gisele Pelicot pictured in a sketch with her daughter and lawyer in court today Gisele has attended every day of the trial since it started around two weeks ago 'I have heard everything. You have to have a degree of patience to endure everything I have to hear.' Judge Roger Arata also asked her if she objected to photos and videos of her being raped being shown in court possibly as early as today. She replied: 'What matters to me is these videos, which are irrefutable proof of the rapes I suffered, are broadcast in this (court) room, but not to shock the public because these videos are unbearable. 'But I do not want them seen by the wider public.' The judge explained that journalists and members of the public were in an adjoining overflow room and warned observers not to record any images that would be shown. As her cross-examination continued, Ms Pelicot raised her voice, stared at the accused, and said, 'For me, they are degenerates.' In heated cross examination from lawyers some of the representing the other defendants, Mme Pelicot was asked if she was complicit in being photographed naked and if really she had exhibitionist tendencies. But she hit back furiously and said:I find that degrading and insulting. I never agreed to be filmed or photographed by my husband and for the pictures to be distributed.' At one point the cross examination descended into a high pitched screaming match between Mme Pelicot and one of the defence lawyers with the judge having to intervene and call for calm. Although her former husband has admitted being a rapist lawyers for his coaccused are arguing that their clients were duped by him after being told by him she was a 'consenting partner'. They are highlighting how she appeared smiling in the photographs but she has insisted she was drugged and unaware of what was happening. Defence lawyer Nadia El Bouroumi asked her in one furious exchange:'Prove to us Mme Pelicot how you can be drugged, not be a dead weight and appear conscious.' Dominique Pelicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over 10yrs Gisele Pelicot (2-R), her daughter Caroline Darian (R) and her lawyers Stephane Babonneau (2-L) and Antoine Camus (L) walk towards the criminal court on Tuesday Gisele Pelicot's daughter Caroline Darian arrives flanked by her mother Gisele Pelicot at the Avignon courthouse on Tuesday Ms Pelicot told the court today that she felt humiliated by suspicion expressed by defence lawyers that she may have been complicit in her ordeal Mr Pelicot depicted appearing at the courthouse in Avignon on September 11 She said: 'The photos were taken without my knowledge. In the garage it's not me. I have a mark above my belly button and I'm not the one on the bed. On Tuesday, Pelicot confessed to all charges, saying he contacted his co-accused in online chat rooms, before filming their bestial crimes at his family home. 'I admit to the charges in their entirety,' said Pelicot. 'I am a rapist, just like everyone else in this courtroom. They cannot say otherwise.' As the cross-examination continued, Pelicot insisted that he 'still loves' his ex-wife. 'I loved her well for 40 years and loved her badly for 10 years,' said Pelicot. 'I ruined everything, I lost everything. I should never have done that.' Pelicot said he started the attacks on his wife because he was 'utterly idle' in retirement. He also claimed he 'considered suicide' at one point, after learning that his wife was having an alleged affair. Pelicot has been on remand since 2020, when he was first arrested on suspicion of drugging and then raping Ms Pelicot, while inviting men he contacted online to do the same. Last week, psychologists described Pelicot as a 'Jekyll and Hyde' character who appeared like a normal husband during the day, and then drugged his wife so strangers could rape her at night. Pelicot was first arrested in September 2020 for secretely filming up women's skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras. His devices were searched, and there were hundreds of pornographic videos and photos of women. It was while in custody that Mr Pelicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called 'Abuses'. There were some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisele Pelicot being raped, between 2011 and 2020. Abuse took place in the town of Mazan, south of France, and was only uncovered after the man was caught up-skirting women in a local supermarket, prompting officers to search his home Gisele arrives in court in Avignon for the trial on Wednesday Gisele Pelicot (C), flanked by her lawyers, receives flowers from a member of the public during her former husband's rape trial, at the criminal court in Avignon on Tuesday Beatrice Zavarro (R), lawyer of Dominique Pelicot, speaks to the press on Tuesday Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified. Pelicot's sex ring involved advertising on a site for 'partners' on an online forum called 'Without Her Knowing' on the coco.fr site. Of the 83 men involved, 51 aged between 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police. Pelicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting Temesta a powerful anxiolytic into her evening dinner. Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers. In a separate case, Pelicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991. He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him. The Avignon aggravated rape case is due to last until December 21. Fourteen of the other defendants have also admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing. Christian Eiermann was found dead in his home in Devon in October 2021 A 52-year-old vet used animal medication to kill himself after an argument with his fiancee, an inquest has been told. An Exeter inquest heard Christian Eiermann was found dead in his bedroom at his home in Ebford, Devon, in October 2021. His fiancee discovered him the day after they had returned home from a holiday in Greece. The inquest heard that German-born Mr Eiermann took a fatal dose of two drugs used in animal euthanasia and pain relief. An inquest at Exeter Coronor's Court (pictured) heard that Christian Eiermann, 52, took a fatal dose of two drugs used on animals He died from fatal toxicity of both drugs. His fiancee said an issue had arisen between them, causing tension during the holiday, and when they returned home he asked her to stay somewhere else that evening. During the evening, argumentative text messages were sent between the couple. That night, he transferred a large sum of money into her bank account, before taking the animal medication. Mr Eiermann had become an international veterinary consultant working around the world. He had no known mental health issues. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances, despite family concerns about the investigation. Alison Longhorn, area coroner for Devon, recorded a suicide conclusion on the 'very experienced vet'. A spiritual worker has revealed that she was paid by a Brazilian influencer to 'release' another from jail. Michelly da Cigana said she was approached by a social media personality and received 77,000 reals, about $14,000, to help Deolane Bezerra walk out of a prison in the northeast state of Pernambuco two weeks ago. Bezerra, a lawyer and widow of rapper MC Kevin, and her mother were arrested on illegal gambling and money laundering charges on September 4. 'She (the unknown influencer) approached me to do this type of work because this fan is a spiritual person and is aware that, through my work and publicity, a chain of fans with positive energy would also be added, connecting spiritually,' da Cigana told Brazilian news outlet Metropoles. A Brazilian influencer who is a fan of another social media star, Deolane Bezerra (pictured), reportedly paid a spiritual worker Michelly da Cigana about $14,000 to help her get out of jail after she was arrested on money laundering and illegal gambling charges. Bezerra was placed under house arrest, but found herself back in jail after she broke a court-issued gag order Brazilian 'priestess' Michelly da Cigana says she has helped people get out of jail through her spiritual work Da Cigana is keeping the influencer's name a secret as part of their agreement. 'I will not reveal who the contractor is because it is part of the agreement to maintain confidentiality,' she said. 'However, she is someone as famous as Deolane.' Bezerra, who has more than 21 million Instagram followers, was placed on house arrest September 9, but was sent back to jail on the following day after she broke a court-order that prohibited her from talking to the press. On Wednesday, a Supreme Court judge rejected her attorney's request for a habeas corpus, denying their argument that Bezerra's free speech had been violated. Da Cigana, who is running for a city council seat in the municipality of Alvorada, services include spiritual cleansing, prosperity and love binding among others. Deolane Bezerra (pictured) and her mother are under investigation for an illegal gambling and money laundering scheme Brazilian influencer Deolane Bezerra was released from prison on September 9 and placed on house arrest, but she landed back in jail the following day for talking to the press She claims to have helped four people to get out of jail in the past. One of her clients was a Moroccan man, who was facing international money laundering charges in France. For the most part, da Cigana's clients have ended up being released - except for one who did not heed her advice. 'There was a case in Brazil where we did the work to free a man, but I warned him that if he remained in the city where he was, he would be killed. A short time later, he was murdered,' she said. Republican Senator Tom Cotton clashed with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins live on air after GOP senators on Tuesday tanked a bill protecting access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments for a second time this year. The interview started off hostile with Collins asking the Arkansas lawmaker if he would have voted for a similar bill if Donald Trump were in office. The ex-president on the campaign trail has called for the government paying for or ensuring insurance pays all costs for fertility treatment. 'Well Kaitlan, first off I have to correct almost everything you said in the lead in there, almost none of which was accurate about this bill,' Cotton said right out of the gate about the Democrats' legislation. Sen. Tom Cotton clashed with CNN's Kaitlan Collins after Republicans blocked a bill to guarantee access to IVF Cotton said there is 'no risk to IVF in this country,' claimed 49 senators along with Trump support IVF and said no state bans or restricts IVF. Collins pointed out she made no statements about that in her introduction. 'You said that it had to guarantee access,' Cotton countered. 'Access is guaranteed in all fifty states right now.' 'You also said it was about IVF. It was about a lot more than IVF. This bill would mandate coverage for experimental controversial procedures like cloning or gene editing, or providing fertility treatments to men who think they're women, whatever that means,' Cotton claimed. The senator also argued it would 'imperil religious liberty.' He started to attack Democrats accusing them of 'persecuting Christians' and wanting to provide contraceptive coverage 'for nuns.' Collins cut the senator off and he became visibly irritated. 'That's what this bill is about Kaitlin,' Cotton said raising his voice. 'No, Kaitlin, you're not going to stop me there because you're misrepresenting what this bill's about.' Collins tried to steer the conversation back to the legislation itself. 'You're saying that what I said was inaccurate, that this would guarantee access to IVF, which is what it would do. You're saying that no state restricts it, but no state guarantees it,' Collins accurately pointed out. 'The issue which I know well because it happened in my home state of Alabama is a court ruling that embryos count as children,' she added. Donald Trump called for the government to pay for or ensure insurance covers access to fertility treatment at a campaign event in Michigan last month. He did not provide details on how the proposal would work or be paid for The fight over IVF protections erupted earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are children. The decision sparked outrage across the country and put thousands of families trying to have children through IVF in limbo. Collins noted that clinics closed as a result because they were concerned about lawsuits. After weeks of chaos and treatments being paused, the state passed a law protecting access. 'That is why this is an issue,' Collins said. 'And your candidate Donald Trump has said that he would like to see IVF and people have access to this, so do you support guaranteeing access to IVF, so a ruling like that one in Alabama would not imperil someone's access to it by clinics saying "well I'm worried about facing a lawsuit here or criminal charges"?' Cotton claimed the example of Alabama proves his point. He argued the 'political branches' in the state 'promptly passed a new law' that guaranteed access in the state. 'This bill in the Senate was not about guaranteeing access to IVF, which is not threatened in any state,' Cotton claimed, disregarding the reality other courts, like Alabama's Supreme Court, could deliver similar rulings down the line. The issue over protecting access to IVF exploded after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos are children sending the fertility industry into chaos and putting families in limbo as clinics worried about lawasuits Cotton argued the bill was about 'radical, experimental, controversial treatments' and repeated his attack on Democrats. Collins doubled down that it would guarantee access. She also pointed out it does not require anyone to perform any procedures. 'I'm not misrepresenting the bill. You can say you don't like it. You can say that you think it's a show vote. You can talk about those aspects of it, but this was something that was put up there, and it would have guaranteed access to IVF,' Collins stated. She went on to ask about Trump's plan to have the government pay for or ensure insurance covers the cost of fertility treatment including whether the campaign has said how the government would pay for it. The ex-president announced his proposal last month during a campaign event in Potterville, MI. 'We haven't gotten that far Kaitlan,' Cotton said on paying for it. He said he and other lawmakers would have questions about the cost to taxpayers, insurance premiums and protecting religious liberties. His comments signaled there could be challenges within the GOP to move forward with the ex-president's proposal should he be elected in November. Collins asked how Americans would know Trump's proposal is real if there is no plan to pay for it. 'Well Kaitlin, again, IVF is not at risk in any state,' Cotton repeated and pointed to Alabama's legislature acting in response to its Supreme Court. Collins did not miss a beat and countered asking why the legislature had to act if treatment was not at risk. 'Because of a Supreme Court decision,' Cotton said. Collins nodded along as if he was proving her point: 'that imperiled access to IVF.' On paying for Trump's plan, Cotton said they can 'review those details at a future time.' Democrats speaking on Capitol Hill ahead of a vote for the Right to IVF Act on Tuesday. The vote failed 51-44 Embryo selection for IVF shown under a light micrograph - the treatment is overwhelmingly popular with Americans Republicans blocking Democrats' Right to IVF Act on Tuesday after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a vote on it with just 50 days to go before the election. Republicans also blocked the bill from moving forward in June. Democrats need 60 votes in the Senate to pass the bill but only have a 51 seat majority. The vote failed 51-44 even as every Democrat and Independent who caucuses with them voted in favor of the legislation. Jane Fonda went door-to-door in Michigan to campaign for Kamala Harris ahead of the presidential election - leaving a bad taste in the mouths of some Americans who haven't forgiven the actress for a 1972 political stunt in Vietnam. The 86-year-old activist was featured in a video posted by Kamala for Michigan hugging a resident of Ann Arbor and asking for the woman's support. 'I've never done it for a president, but this is most important. We have to, have to, have to get [Harris and Walz] elected,' Fonda, dressed in a pinstriped gray suit, told the woman. The pair shared an embrace as the resident held back tears before thanking the Fonda for the visit. Despite the Michigander's warmth, not all were happy to see Fonda's activism - with many still taking offense to her controversial stance on the Vietnam War in the 1970s, where she actively called for the war's end and even traveled to the country. Fonda got the nickname 'Hanoi Jane' after she was pictured sitting on an antiaircraft gun during a 1972 trip to North Vietnam, an image that still haunts her to this day and one she spoke about in her 2005 memoir, My Life So Far. The 86-year-old activist was featured in a video posted by Kamala for Michigan greeting a resident of Ann Arbor and asking for the woman's support 'I've never done it for a president, but this is most important. We have to, have to, have to get [Harris and Walz] elected,' Fonda said The actress was invited to the war-torn country to tour its dike system, which was rumored to have been bombed by US forces - something the US denies. While there for two weeks, Fonda declared America had bombed Vietnamese farmland that was far from war zones and appeared on a radio show pleading with US pilots to stop the bombings. Following her return home, the actress was slammed by the State Department, for her decision to speak out in support of Vietnam. Congress also held a hearing, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars called for her to be prosecuted as a traitor, according to the Washington Post. Fonda continued to speak out into 1973. She has continuously apologized for the Hanoi photo, including giving a detailed explanation in her 2005 memoir, where she admitted she didn't realize the 'implication of what has just happened' until it was too late. Not all were happy to see Fonda's activism - with many still taking offense to her controversial stance on the Vietnam War in the 1970s, where she actively called for the war's end and even traveled to the country The actress was invited to the war-torn country to tour its dike system, which was rumored to have been bombed by US forces - something the US denies. She begged US pilots to stop the bombings and even went on a Vietnamese radio show to protest She has continuously apologized for the Hanoi photos, including giving a detailed explanation in her 2005 memoir, where she admitted she didn't realize the 'implication of what has just happened' until it was too late 'Oh, my God. It's going to look like I was trying to shoot down US planes!' she remembered thinking, recalling that she begged the photos not to be published. 'It is possible that the Vietnamese had it all planned. I will never know. If they did, can I really blame them? The buck stops here. If I was used, I allowed it to happen. It was my mistake, and I have paid and continue to pay a heavy price for it,' she wrote. Despite her continued pleas for forgiveness, not every American has forgotten her actions. Many expressed outrage after seeing the campaign clip. 'Nothing like having the most famous traitor in American history campaign for you,' a man named Andy wrote on X. 'I would have told Hanoi Jane to get off my front doorstep and off my property,' another added. A third wrote: 'Always a good idea to have Hanoi Jane go door to door through the heartland. I'm guessing the group is steering clear of the houses with POW/MIA flags or signs in the yard.' 'Good lord is there ever a time for some Nam Vet to have a flashback,' yet another wrote. Many weren't ready to shake off Fonda's past, expressing outrage at the campaign clip, while others showed their support Another commenter criticized Fonda for picking a heavily Democratic city to campaign in, writing: 'Knocking doors in the most liberal city in Michigan in a D +30 district seems like a tremendous waste of time. I would expect nothing less of Hanoi Jane.' However, some enjoyed seeing the celebrity go door-to-door. One wrote: 'All right for door knocking at 86 years old, wearing a suit, and looking fantastic!' Another said: 'Omg I love this so much.' Fonda joined the Harris campaign to talk about climate change - another topic she has advocated for in the past. She spoke at a Climate Voters for Harris campaign event on Tuesday in Ann Arbor. A motorist has been jailed after he mounted the pavement and collided with two officers as he attempted to make off from police in Bournemouth town centre. Yussuf Mohamed Mire, 35, fled from police in the early hours of New Year's Day last year after being asked to exit the car. Footage shows him mounting the pavement and performing a 'dangerous' U-turn to escape before he reversed into the officers and knocked them out the way. Four days after the incident, he was located, arrested, and subsequently charged. He later pleaded guilty to an offence of dangerous driving. Mire has been jailed for 12 months and disqualified from driving for 18 months following his sentencing at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday. A motorist has been jailed after he mounted the pavement and collided with two officers as he attempted to make off from police in Bournemouth town centre Yussuf Mohamed Mire, 35, fled from police in the early hours of New Year's Day last year after being asked to exit the car Police were called to the town centre at around 5.20am on January 1, 2023 after reports of a man who appeared to be drunk and sat in a grey Mercedes-Benz. When officers arrived at the scene on Old Christchurch Road they approached the car and asked Mire, from London, to switch off his engine and get out. But the driver instead grabbed the steering wheel and accelerated forward. He then mounted the pavement, which was busy with pedestrians celebrating the New Year, and performed a turn. Officers then chased Mire on foot - with one attempting to pull him out the car. Mire responded by reversing the car into the officers, knocking them out of the way. Footage shows him mounting the pavement and performing a 'dangerous' U-turn to escape before he reversed into the officers and knocked them out the way When officers arrived at the scene on Old Christchurch Road they approached the car and asked Mire, from London, to switch off his engine and get out But the driver instead grabbed the steering wheel and accelerated forward He drove off through a pedestrianised area before abandoning his vehicle and taking a taxi back to his home in London. PC Mark Burton, of Dorset Police said: 'Fortunately, the officers involved in this incident did not sustain any serious injuries but it is clear that Yussuf Mire's reckless actions on New Year's Day last year could easily have had far more serious consequences. 'He put both the officers and members of the public at serious risk through his dangerous behaviour and I am glad that through our investigations we were able to identify Mire as the driver involved and hold him accountable for his actions. 'I would also like to praise the officers involved for the bravery they showed in attempting to stop the moving vehicle in order to protect members of the public.' Clive Myrie has earned more money from outside speaking events than any other BBC journalist, pocketing at least 66,000 in a year, new figures suggest. Myrie, who already earns about 310,000 a year from the corporation, made the extra income from 11 events, according to a new report. The news host, who also co-hosted the recent BBC1 election night coverage, took part in three events that paid 'over 10k', worth a minimum of 30,000. The real figure could be much higher. Myrie, 60, also made another seven appearances that each earned him between 5,000 and 10,000. The figures, revealed by industry publication Press Gazette, cover the year between the start of July 2023 and the end of June 2024. Presenter Myrie Edwards at the Bafta Awards in May 2024. He made 66,000 in a year from external speaking events Just behind Myrie on the list of top earners from outside work, were Today presenters Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, who according to the report both earned 45,000 from this type of work in the 12-month period. They were in joint first place for the highest number of 10,000 plus events that they took part in, both doing four each in the year. Myrie is the top earner based on the minimum amount people received for their speaking. The highest pay bracket the BBC lists events for is for 'over 10k' meaning that an upper limit is not possible to work out. The three top-paid gigs for Myrie were paid for by the Black Police Officers Association, the British Insurance Brokers Association, as well as Legal and General, the financial services company. He acted as an events host for two latter gigs. Among the 'over 10k' gigs by Rajan, was an event for a pensions' association and for Woman & Home, while Robinson's fees included money from accountancy firm Ernst & Young and bank BNP Paribas. Other BBC news stars to receive a fee of 10,000 or more for an individual outside speaking events were Fiona Bruce, Katya Adler, Jeremy Bowen, Ros Atkins and Zoe Kleinman. Antiques Roadshow host, Bruce took lucrative payments from the European Contact Centre & Customer Service Awards and Waverton, an investment company. According to the research, the corporation's on air journalists received at least 685,000 collectively to take part in 465 external engagements in the year. Amol Rajan pocketed 45,000 from public speaking events between the start of July 2023 and the end of June 2024 BBC Radio 4's Nick Robinson made 45,000 from speaking at outside events While she did not receive any payments in the top price tier, Front row presenter Samira Ahmed took part in 19 outside speaking engagements. According to Press Gazette this means her income from these ranges between 42,500 and 110,000, potentially putting her near the top of the list. BBC news correspondent Mark Simpson was found to have done the largest amount of events, carrying out 21 gigs, earning between a minimum of 3,000 and a maximum of 28,000 in total. The research showed that 17 BBC journalists earned at least 10,000 from this work across the 12-month period. According to the publication another Today presenter Justin Webb earned a minimum of 41,250 from these events, Naga Munchetty at least 36,000, with Bruce earning 25,000, while Jeremy Bowen earned 20,000. Research carried out by the Mail earlier this year, showed that Myrie, along with Munchetty and Huw Edwards had racked up six figure incomes in the first three years since the BBC introduced the external events register in 2021. In these earlier figures, BBC Breakfast presenter Munchetty was shown to have pocketed in excess of 155,000 from external events, on top of her six-figure salary at the corporation. BBC news presenter Clive Myrie had earned more than 130,000 from this external work in those first three years, since the BBC started publishing the payments in 2021. Huw Edwards, who this week was sentenced for accessing indecent images of children, had previously been among the top outside earners, until he was suspended in July last year. Huw Edwards arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court on September 16 The former BBC broadcaster was sentenced for accessing indecent images of children. He had previously been among the top outside earners, until he was suspended in July last year He previously made at least 125,000 from events published on the list, since 2021. BBC stars earn this money working as either hosts, speakers, interviewers, moderators, panellists or event chairmen for external companies and organisations. The corporation introduced the external events register in 2021 in a bid to strengthen impartiality at the corporation. A BBC spokesman said: 'We publish the external paid-for work of on-air journalists for transparency and every event is approved by a senior manager in line with our editorial guidelines.' Local police were informed that Secret Service agents were handling securing the building would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks used as a vantage point to shoot Donald Trump. Secret Service agents had a meeting with local authorities in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a walkthrough of the rally site several days before it kicked off on July 13. They said 'we will take care of it' when asked about security for the nearby AGR complex buildings, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley in a letter obtained with DailyMail.com. But that's where Crooks was able to infiltrate and take aim at the former president, shooting him in the ear and also hitting several in the crowd, killing a retired firefighter. Now, it raises even more questions about the roles and failures of each agency and offices involved in securing Trump's rally site that day. Local law enforcement officials said U.S. Secret Service assured 'we will take care of' the AGR building complex that Thomas Matthew Crooks used as a perch to shoot Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania this summer And it has especially heightened meaning after a second assassination attempt on Trump's life occurred on Sunday in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Secret Service has largely taken the brunt of the blame for the first attack, with former Director Kimberly Cheatle resigning in the wake of the assassination attempt where Trump was shot in his right ear. Butler County law enforcement officials said, according to Grassley's letter to USSS Acting Director Ronald Rowe, that they told the agency counter sniper that they did not have the manpower to cover the building that Crooks ultimately used to position himself to shoot Trump. The officials said they informed the Secret Service not to let people in the AGR complex area and knew it would be somewhere people would likely try to set up to see the former president speak. Officials said at several points during a walkthrough of the rally site that they reiterated their concerns to agents and counter snipers. 'Are these representations to my staff accurate and what actions were taken to secure the area? Please explain,' Grassley demanded of Rowe. Multiple agencies and groups are investigating the assassination attempt, including the House task force appointed by Speaker MiKe Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The task force's scope has been expanded to include the second attack by Ryan Wesley Routh over the weekend. The would-be assassin climbed on the roof of a building in the AGR complex with an AR-15 rifle just a few hundred feet from where Donald Trump was speaking at his rally on July 13 Crooks was shot dead y Secret Service after he was able to strike the former president in the ear, kill a rally attendee and critically injure two others Trump was shot in the right ear at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 Grassley has also taken it upon himself to probe the first assassination attempt and is often the authority in the Senate where whistleblowers bring their claims. Crooks, 20, was neutralized by Secret Service after he was able to shoot Trump in the ear, kill one rally goer and critically injure two others. The FBI said pretty soon after the attack that Crooks was acting alone. But Republicans aren't convinced. The second attempt on Sunday and Iranian plots to take out U.S. officials, including Trump, further back up claims that there is a widespread plan to try and take out the former president before November's election. '[T]he second attempted assassination against former President Trump on September 15, 2024, raises further questions about the Secret Service's ability to fulfill its protective mission,' Grassley wrote. 'This calls for continuing oversight to make sure failures are not repeated,' he added. The Los Angeles Police Department is still actively looking for the driver who carelessly struck a 63-year-old woman, leaving her with severe injuries. The hit-and-run collision happened on September 6 just before 6 pm in Sherman Oaks, a suburban neighborhood in northwest Los Angeles, according to a release from the LAPD's Valley Traffic Division. Video released by police showed a black Hyundai sedan traveling west on Ventura Blvd and making a left onto Costello Avenue. The car then plows into the female pedestrian strolling through the crosswalk, knocking her to the ground and sending her one of her shoes flying off her foot. After hitting the woman, the driver stopped for about three seconds before driving off. The moment before the 63-year-old pedestrian is hit by the black Hyundai turning off Ventura Blvd onto Costello Avenue Pictured: A shot of the car police believe struck the woman The woman, who remains unidentified, managed to get back on her feet with no help. Fire department paramedics transported her from the scene to the hospital for her injuries. The LAPD included additional pictures of the suspect vehicle, which police described as a black Hyundai 4-door sedan with tinted windows. No license plate number was provided, but investigators are still pursuing the person who was behind the wheel at the time of the collision. Police are urging anyone with information about what happened to call the Valley Traffic Detectives at (818) 644-8000. Tipsters who would rather remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS or send a text message to 274637 starting with the letters, 'LAPD.' Los Angeles saw felony hit and run traffic collisions resulting in death decrease by 23 percent last year, according to a year-end crime summary from the LAPD. Hungary insisted today that a Budapest firm linked to Hezbollah pagers that detonated in Lebanon yesterday had never built the gadgets in the country - as questions mount over how the devices laden with explosives reached the group in the Middle East. Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said that BAC Consulting KFT has 'no manufacturing' site in the country, and that the devices used have never been on Hungarian soil. 'Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary,' Mr Kovacs said on X, adding that the case 'poses no national security risk'. The New York Times previously reported that Israel had hidden explosive material in a number of Taiwan-made Gold Apollo pagers before they were imported to Lebanon, citing American and other officials briefed on the operation. But Gold Apollo executives this morning said the company had only authorised its brand on the devices, and that they were manufactured and sold by Hungary's BAC Consulting KFT. Twelve people were killed and nearly 3,000 injured when pagers detonated across southern Lebanon yesterday afternoon. It is understood Hezbollah had brought in the devices in recent months to replace mobile phones, fearing Israeli hacking. A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on September 17 Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, who studied in London and lists 'disaster management' as one of her skills, is listed as the Chief Executive of the Hungarian-based company BAC Consulting said to have supplied the devices to the Lebanese group A man is injured after his pager exploded in Beirut on Tuesday A man is injured after his pager exploded in Beirut on Tuesday Hezbollah operatives appeared to have been caught off guard by the detonation of thousands of pagers on Tuesday. Ambulances rushed through the southern suburbs of Beirut amid widespread panic, and hospitals were overwhelmed with patients. Some were blinded in the attacks while others required amputations. Israel and its military has not yet commented on the explosions, nor taken accountability for the attacks. Lebanese authorities were quick to blame 'Israeli aggression' as Hezbollah vowed swift revenge - before unleashing its latest cross-border rocket assault this afternoon. Still, mystery surrounds how the devices used by Hezbollah came to be equipped with explosives, apparently capable of being detonated remotely. A security source told Reuters that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone 'undetected' by Hezbollah for months. And a senior Lebanese source said the devices had been modified by Israel's spy service 'at the production level.' 'The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. 'It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner.' The source added that the group had ordered 5,000 pagers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, but this was quickly shot down by the firm. Gold Apollo's chair, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists Wednesday the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years. 'According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,' Gold Apollo said in a statement. BAC's parent company is registered to Cristiana Rosaria Barsony-Arcidiacono, whose describes herself on her LinkedIn page as a strategic advisor and business developer. She has denied any involvement with the pagers and told a US TV station: 'I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.' A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded on September 17, 2024 The stunning incident saw scores of Hezbollah members severely injured throughout southern Lebanon and in its capital Beirut Devices began beeping on Tuesday afternoon. Trying to turn them off caused detonation Chaotic scenes inside hospitals in Lebanon are seen yesterday evening following blasts Barsony-Arcidiacono appears to be the only employee of the company founded in 2022, according to legal documents consulted by AFP, which also report an annual revenue of 210 million forints ($590,000) and profit of around 18 million forints. On an archived version of a currently inaccessible website, the consultancy described itself as 'agents of change with a network of consultants', while Barsony-Arcidiacono touted her experience as a 'strategic advisor' for international organisations. The Times reported about 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, mostly its AR924 model. 'Our company only provides the brand trademark authorisation and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product,' Gold Apollo said. The company declined to comment further, citing ongoing investigations. 'We have assigned the case to the chief prosecutor of the national security team to actively investigate. Our office will clarify the facts of the case as soon as possible,' Taipei's Shilin District Prosecutors Office said in a statement. 'If there is any illegality involved, it will be severely punished in accordance with the law,' the office added. A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, previously told AFP that 'the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices' which appear to have been 'sabotaged at source'. Hezbollah had only recently adopted pagers, fearing mobile phones might be too easy to hack. Sources told Reuters that the group had begun to suspect that Israel was tracking their phones by the end of last year. Senior Hezbollah execs stopped bringing their phones into meetings. Supporters were told to bury their phones or lock them away. 'Shut it off, bury it, put it in an iron chest and lock it up,' Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah told supporters in a televised address in February. 'Do it for the sake of security and to protect the blood and dignity of people. 'The collaborator (with the Israelis) is the cell phone in your hands, and those of your wife and your children. This cell phone is the collaborator and the killer.' Two sources 'familiar with the group's operations' told Reuters earlier this year that pagers would be used as a low-tech means of communication in order to evade Israeli tracking. The AR-924 pager ordered by Hezbollah, advertised as being 'rugged,' contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo's website before it was apparently taken down. Pagers are still used by emergency services due to their resilience over mobile phones; modern systems overlap in their coverage, and with satellite communications to boot often prove more effective than cellular networks. A street procession was held on Wednesday for the 10-year-old victim of the attack People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon on September 18 Hand held radios also started exploding on Wednesday, after the pagers detonated Tuesday Without GPS built in, they are also almost impossible to be location-tracked. But intercepting older technology before it was imported may have allowed an adversary of Hezbollah to equip explosives to be detonated at a later date. This afternoon, three people were killed and dozens injured after walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated across Beirut today - almost exactly 24 hours after the exploding pagers crippled some 2,800 people across Lebanon and Syria. Handheld devices used by the group blew up in the country's south and southern suburbs of the capital, a security source told Reuters this afternoon. At least one of the blasts reported took place near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for the victims of yesterday's shock attack, Reuters reported. Parents affected by the Nottingham maternity scandal accused the hospital trust involved of a 'cover-up' following an emotional public meeting today. Bereaved families suggested that no staff members at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust's (NUH) had been disciplined over maternity care failures which are currently the subject of an independent investigation. Almost 2,000 cases are being investigated by an on-going review the UK's largest ever into NHS maternity care which began two years ago and is being led by senior independent midwife Donna Ockenden. To date, over 100m has been paid out by NUH for incidents that took place between 2006 and last year. The Ockenden probe, which covers a 10-year period between 2012 and 2022, is looking at cases where either a baby or mother died or suffered severe harm with around four taking place each week. Sarah and Jack Hawkins first-born child Harriet was stillborn after a perfectly healthy pregnancy and with no underlying complications or health conditions. They were one of a number of parents involved in the Nottingham maternity scandal Sarah when 35 weeks pregnant with Harriet. The former physiotherapist says she will 'never be able to forgive' the trust's staff for the impact of Harriet's death on her sister Lottie, four Nottinghamshire Police has also launched a criminal investigation into the scandal last year. Representatives for the families involved today said they were not aware of any individual staff members being disciplined, sacked or even investigated for failures in care, a situation which left them 'appalled'. They are also unhappy at a 'lack of professional regulation', and recent reports from the review team that parents and babies are still suffering harm at NUH with expected improvements 'stalling'. The trust's annual public meeting, held at a hotel in Nottingham city centre, heard from chairman Nick Carver, chief executive Anthony May who later said in a statement that some staff had received 'appropriate sanction' - and Mrs Ockenden. It was attended by around a dozen families, including Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016 following a series of blunders when both worked for the NHS trust at the time. During a question and answer session, Mrs Hawkins, a former physiotherapist, told Mr May she would 'never be able to forgive' the trust's staff for the impact of Harriet's death on her sister Lottie, four. She said, 'You have stolen her sister, and her innocence', adding: 'For the rest of our lives we will have to live this hell. Some staff (involved in failures) are still working, and they are supposedly part of the solution.' Sarah holds up a babygrow as she clears out the nursery following baby Harriet's death Harriet at her 20-week scan. She was stillborn after a six-day labour at Nottingham University Hospital Mr May said the trust's maternity services were improving, but acknowledged it had 'more to do, and was striving to do better'. He told the meeting NUH would had made 'five commitments', including continued public oversight, a lasting legacy, extended psychological support for families, a new family liaison service, and a 'meaningful apology'. But families asked Mr May, who joined the trust earlier this year, to add a sixth commitment of 'accountability'. Speaking afterwards, Mr Hawkins, who worked for the trust as a consultant and was also its Clinical Director for NHS improvement, accepted its new board had a 'different culture' to previous ones, and was engaging 'positively' with families. However, he added: 'If we were talking about a primary school and there were four cases of harm or death a week, someone would be held to account - but no-one has been held to account for Harriet's death or anyone else's. 'There are two reasons why we are asking for accountability. One is some semblance of justice because our daughter died and shouldn't have, and people tried to convince us that was okay. 'And the second reason is, without accountability, these people are continuing to behave just as they did before. We think there have been breaches of criminal law. 'They have certainly been regulatory breaches, and we cannot understand how these people have not been held to account in any way, shape or form.' Mrs Hawkins added: 'We cannot fathom how no one has been investigated, sanctioned, disciplined, or dismissed given the experiences we have had and have made clear to NUH. Jack and Sarah with their four-and-a-half-year-old daughter Lottie. They split up four years ago, just after Lottie was born 'The people are still in post and resistant to accepting anything went wrong, I think they might do another cover-up.' Felicity Benyon, who suffered life-changing injuries when her bladder was mistakenly removed following a Caesarean in 2015, said: 'Accountability is the main thing we need to see from this.'Because without accountability, what impetus have they got to stop doing wrong?' She said there needed to be 'repercussions' for people who 'knew there was a problem and didn't do anything about it. 'NUH runs maternity departments across two hospitals Nottingham City Hospital, and the Queen's Medical Centre. In total, 1,941 cases are being investigated by the review, while an additional 442 'maternity experiences' are being looked at. The Ockenden maternity review was established by NHS England in May 2022 and replaced an earlier regional review which had been criticised by some families who wanted an independent review led by Mrs Ockenden. The midwife had previously led the review into the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust maternity scandal, which found 200 baby deaths could have been prevented. She is expected to publish her findings on the Nottingham trust by the end of 2025. In a statement released after the meeting, Mr May said had been 'committed to working openly and transparently' since his appointment two years ago, adding that the Trust was 'fully supportive' of the Ockenden review. There have already been a number of cases that have gone through investigations connected to our maternity services and where appropriate sanctions have been applied. 'I believe we have the right processes and systems in place to ensure we are operating safely today. It is important that we are continuing to learn and improve in order to provide women and families the care that they deserve. 'I am confident we are doing that and am grateful to colleagues who are delivering improvements across our hospitals.' This is the chilling moment the Beirut skyline was darkened by plumes of smoke after thousands of Hezbollah walkie talkies exploded simultaneously. A dramatic time-lapse video of the city showed large clouds of thick, grey smoke appearing in several different locations with at least one of the blasts taking place near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for three fighters and a child killed yesterday. Hezbollah's Al Manar TV reported the latest explosions across the city were the deadly result of the hand-held radios detonating - an incident which has killed nine and injured more than 300, including mourners at today's funeral. Sources told Lebanese news outlet L'Orient Today that devices were set off inside cars, residential apartments and shops. Motorbike radios and security locks also blew up across Lebanon. Many of the wound's suffered in Wednesday's blasts were to the stomach and hands, it was reported. A dramatic time-lapse video captured the moment multiple Hezbollah walkie talkies detonated simultaneously across Beirut Plumes of smoke filled the skyline in an incident which has killed nine and injured hundreds of others At least one of the blasts heard took place near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for three fighters and a child killed yesterday It comes just a day after thousands of pagers used by the Iran-backed military group blew up, leaving almost 3,000 people injured and a dozen dead, including civilians and children. Security sources have now confirmed that hand-held radios in Wednesday's explosions were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, at around the same time as the compromised pagers. Lebanese media has also reported that home solar energy systems have blown up in several areas of Beirut. The pagers also detonated simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday afternoon. A Lebanese security source claimed Israel's spy agency Mossad planted explosives in thousands of the devices months before they exploded. Sources also revealed to Axios that the booby-trapped devices were intended to be used as a surprise opening blow of an all-out war with Hezbollah before the sabotage operation was fast-tracked due to concerns of it being uncovered. Hezbollah has since vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military has not yet made any public comment regarding the blasts. A Sky News correspondent at the scene of the Hezbollah-organised funeral said that immediate panic broke out among the mourners after the first detonation was heard. Alex Crawford said: 'We came out to try and found out what the sound was and people were running. People were covered in blood. 'There was blood on a car. 'One young man was running and he was very stressed. He said a walkie-talkie - which the Hezbollah security people around here are using for the funeral - exploded. 'The Hezbollah people then gathered up all the walkie-talkies and have been taking the batteries out of them.' According to a report from The Telegraph, Beirut's hospitals were already worryingly at full capacity before the new wave of explosions. All 12 operating theatres at the American University of Beirut Medical Center were running at full capacity, with several of those injured in yesterday's pager attacks still waiting to undergo surgery. The centre saw some 190 victims pouring through its doors with severe face and eye injuries as exhausted medics struggled to deal with the influx. A picture circulating online appears to show one of the radio devices after it detonated Flames rise up a building in Lebanon amid the explosions Local media has reports a fire breaking out in a car as a result of a device exploding Smoke billows from a house in Baalbek in east Lebanon after a reported explosion of a radio device, on September 18, 2024 But following this afternoon's attacks, the hospital is again on standby to receive a fresh load of casualties. Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first strike against its enemy since the brutal pager blasts wounded thousands of its members in Lebanon and raised the prospect of a wider Middle East War. Hachem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah's executive council, stated that the Iran-backed group is facing 'a new phase' and that 'the punishment will come'. The attacks amount to the biggest security breach in Hezbollah's history, with the group and its backers - Iran - condemning Israel and labelling it 'mass murder'. The repetition of the clandestine attacks, which Israel has not taken responsibility for, will raise already spiking tensions in the region to fever pitch, with Lebanon's foreign minister today warning that the blasts are an omen of a widening war. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned this afternoon that the strikes could be a precursor to a bigger confrontation between Israel and Lebanon. 'The logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation,' he said. 'These events confirm that there is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon and everything must be done to avoid that escalation.' Hazbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October, fuelling fears of a wider Middle East conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation on many fronts. 'Hezbollah wants to avoid an all-out war. It still wants to avoid one. But given the scale, the impact on families, on civilians, there will be pressure for a stronger response,' said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center. Hezbollah, Iran's most powerful proxy in the Middle East, said in a statement it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should await a response to the pager 'massacre' which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead. She was allegedly supplied a 'suicide kit' by Kenneth Law, facing trial in Canada Imogen Nunn, 25, known as Deaf Immy on TikTok, died on January 1, 2023 A British TikTok star who took her own life after being sent a 'suicide kit' was in contact with police on the day she died, an inquest hearing was told. Imogen Nunn, 25 known as Deaf Immy on the social media platform where she highlighted hearing and mental health issues died on New Year's Day, January 2023. The sudden death of the popular influencer sparked an outpouring of grief among her 780,000 followers. It later emerged that she was allegedly supplied with a chemical by chef Kenneth Law, 57, who is facing trial in Canada next year in relation to a number of deaths. She had bought the chemical online after contacting him and then took the lethal substance. Imogen Nunn (pictured), known as Deaf Immy on Tiktok, died on January 1, 2023 Immy (left) with her father, Ray Nunn (right) A pre-inquest hearing in Horsham, West Sussex was told the Brighton-based influencer had been spoken to by a police officer on the day she died - January 1. She had a phone conversation with a police constable before going on to take her own life. Miss Nunn had previously been visited in her flat by officers from Sussex Police in November 2022. The visit came after she had confessed to her community care worker that she had bought a product classed as a 'reportable substance' in the UK - and planned to use it to end her life. Sussex Police were contacted and visited her flat, but Miss Nunn denied buying it and they took no action. Her parents, Ray and Louise Nunn, of Bognor Regis, only learned about this visit months after her death and are furious that an opportunity to save her life was missed. Penelope Schofield, senior coroner for West Sussex, told the pre-inquest hearing: 'PC Norman spoke to her on January 1.' Details of the phone call were not made public, but will be made the subject of a full inquest. Kenneth Law (pictured) was arrested in Ontario in early May and charged with two counts of counselling and aiding suicide. He is accused of selling a lethal substance to people across the world, with Canadian police alleging that he sent at least 1,200 packages to over 40 countries It was feared the inquest into her tragic death would not go ahead for years due to legal proceedings against Mr Law in Canada. But both the Crown Prosecution Service and the police have ruled that the scope of the inquest would not affect the outcome of criminal proceedings. Ms Schofield said: 'The CPS and police are not making a formal request for this matter to be suspended. 'The inquest can answer the statutory questions without awaiting a prosecution in Canada.' Immy, a photographer, was born deaf but led an independent life with the help of her assistance dog Whitney. As a successful influencer, she earned money through endorsement deals with companies who provide support within the deaf community. But she faced challenges which contributed to her fluctuating mental health, including being wrongly refused entry to restaurants because of her dog, plus a lack of sign language users. She is understood to have found obtained the substance from Law's online business. The website has since been taken down. Ex-aerospace engineer Me Law, from Ontario, is alleged to have run an online business sending kits to hundreds of vulnerable young people worldwide, including in Britain. They have been linked to at least four other UK deaths and one in the US. He is scheduled to face trial in Autumn charged with second-degree murder. In October 2021, Surrey Police allegedly tried to contact Mr Law following the death of law student Tom Parfett, 22, from Maidenhead. In 2022, police again allegedly failed to take action following the death of another of Mr Law's alleged customers, 23-year-old Neha Raju, of Guildford. Both allegedly bought the same lethal substance from Mr Law's company, but police did not pursue charges. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said in August last year that it had launched an investigation into the deaths of 88 people who bought substances to assist with suicide from Canadian websites. A full inquest into the death of Miss Nunn is due to take place next March. The victim's commissioner has joined mounting calls for the law to be changed after it emerged the outcome of Huw Edwards's case cannot be reviewed. The former BBC newsreader received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, on Monday after he admitted possessing indecent images of children. The fact he was not sent to prison immediately has drawn criticism from some quarters but there is no way to change his sentence. There is a process for reviewing sentences, the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme, but it only applies to certain crown court sentences. Edwards was sentenced in a magistrates' court and is therefore not covered by the scheme. London's victims' commissioner has said that the rules for reviewing 'unduly lenient' sentences should be expanded to cover more crimes. Huw Edwards received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, on Monday after he admitted possessing indecent images of children Claire Waxman, London's victims' commissioner, has said that the rules for reviewing 'unduly lenient' sentences should be expanded to cover more crimes Claire Waxman said she had been lobbying 'for years' to expand the ULS scheme, adding it was 'vital that the rights of victims are prioritised'. She said: 'It is an injustice to them that there is no route to appeal a sentence passed in the magistrates' court when offenders can appeal against their sentence and I am clear that this must be urgently reviewed.' Ms Waxman also called for an end to the strict 28-day time limit for asking for a review, saying it was 'simply not right' that offenders can lodge appeals outside this timeframe in exceptional circumstances 'but this same entitlement is not provided to victims'. Among those questioning Edwards's sentence is Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat, who raised the issue in a letter to the Attorney General, Lord Richard Hermer. Despite Edwards's case not being eligible, Mr Tugendhat called for Lord Hermer to review his sentence under the ULS scheme, saying it was 'crucial that sentences serve as a deterrent and reflect the serious nature of these crimes'. Edwards was previously anchor of News at Ten and one of Britain's most prominent newsreaders Welsh police uncovered the broadcaster's crimes during a separate probe into a sex offender in Wales. Edwards is pictured in court He also argued that the broadcaster's sentence 'appears to be inconsistent with the guidelines set forth by the Sentencing Council', saying those guidelines called for 'a custodial sentence'. However, the six-month sentence was within the range of between 26 weeks and three years set down by the guidelines, which also note: 'A suspended sentence is a custodial sentence.' Sentencing guidelines suggest that a suspended sentence may be appropriate where there is a 'realistic prospect of rehabilitation' and the offender does not present a danger to the public. The Government has previously expressed reluctance to interfere with sentences passed by the courts, with Sir Keir Starmer telling reporters he was 'shocked and appalled' by the case but the sentence was 'for the court to decide, having looked at all the available evidence'. Legal commentators have argued Edwards's sentence is in line with others for this type of offence, with one solicitor saying that an immediate custodial sentence was 'never likely'. Edwards, of Wandsworth, wore a dark blue suit with a blue tie in the dock Police officers clear the way as former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31 Malcolm Johnson, head of abuse claims at Lime Solicitors, said: 'The magistrate felt that Edwards did not need to go to prison to protect the public.' He added: 'This was an offender who presented himself to court, having made a guilty plea at the first opportunity, with evidence of mental health problems and expressing remorse.' Along with his suspended sentence, Edwards was ordered to attend 25 'rehabilitation sessions', be placed on the sex offender treatment programme for 40 days and be placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years. He must also pay 3,000 in prosecution costs. The outcome sparked outrage from campaign groups, who said it was 'ludicrous, absurd and embarrassing' that he was allowed to walk out of court instead of being sent immediately to prison. Lord Richard Hermer KC, who is the Attorney General and the government's top legal adviser, is understood to have received multiple complaints from members of the public and politicians, including Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat, urging him to refer the case to the Court of Appeal. Alex Williams, 25, shared indecent images with Huw Edwards that led to the newsreader's downfall. Williams is pictured here as a teenager on a family trip to a Welsh beauty spot Edwards held his hands together and steadied himself as Chief Magistrate, district judge Paul Goldspring, sentenced him Huw Edwards leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court after being spared jail It has sparked more fury among victims campaigners, with Dame Vera Baird, the former Labour solicitor general, telling The Telegraph: 'It seems odd that there is a workable scheme for unduly lenient sentences in the Crown Court which the public can ask the Attorney General to consider. 'Yet, there is nothing that could help a member of the public who was a victim of what could be a very serious assault or sexual abuse or any interested party to make a formal application on a sentence in the magistrates' court.' Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, told the paper that the 'pathetic sentence' meant there could be grounds for a retrial. He said: 'I believe the Crown Prosecution Service or Attorney General can ask for retrial by Crown Court judge acting as District Judge since it was wrongly allocated to magistrates' court under section 66 of Courts Act 2003. If not then rules must be changed. Should never have been dealt with at such a low court.' The court heard that 63-year-old Edwards had wired thousands of pounds to Williams, who sent him porn, some of which he called 'amazing'. The disgraced broadcaster had also told the convicted paedophile 'go on' when asked if he wanted 'naughty pics and vids' of somebody described as young. Edwards, 63, was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court having admitted having 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him by a paedophile Edwards wrote 'yes xxx' when he was asked by Williams if he wanted sexual images of a person whose 'age could be discerned as being between 14 and 16'. He was also sent two pornographic videos of a child aged between seven and nine-years-old. Edwards's former BBC colleagues are also disgusted by his crimes and believe he should have been sent to prison, MailOnline previously revealed. One former colleague told MailOnline: 'He should be in prison. He was chatting with a paedo for four years who then sent him child porn. And he didn't go to the police. Yet he's in court trying to suggest he is a victim. It would be laughable if it wasn't so abhorrent'. Edwards, who resigned from the BBC in April, has been asked to repay the 200,000 salary he has received since his arrest. He has so far refused. And will also keep his pension. MailOnline can reveal there is great animosity towards him at the Beeb, who have been rocked by yet another child sex scandal after Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris. One BBC staffer said: 'He still hasn't repaid his salary and dragged us through the mud again. 'Many at the BBC want him to pay for what he has done. He has played the system'. A former colleague said: 'Huw had huge talent and presence but has always been very prickly and thin-skinned'. A BBC spokesperson said after its former broadcaster Huw Edwards was sentenced: 'We are appalled by his crimes. He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him.' Explore the beauty of Guizhou (People's Daily App) 15:13, September 18, 2024 Visual artists from around the world gathered in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, to explore its beauty. Titled Visual@China Guizhou 2024, the five-day cultural event that kicked off on September 11 showcased the province's unique charm through photography, illustration, design, and film. As part of the event, a total of 31 photographers, illustrators, designers, and filmmakers from all around the world explored beautiful landscapes, experienced local culture and customs, visited ancient ethnic villages and enjoyed local cuisine. Check out this video to explore the beauty of Guizhou! (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) A Boston suburb has been terrorized by an illegal basement night club this summer that has parties that don't start until 3am. The Boston Police Department arrived around 4.35am on Monday to bust a party at a rented multi-family house on Rexford Road in Mattapan. Instead, they found around 50 people in an underground nightclub with a fully stocked bar. Russell D. Murphy, who lives nearby, posted a video on Facebook of the raided nightclub's aftermath and captured people jumping over the fence. Murphy wrote: 'Heres a little sample of what weve been waking up to every weekend this summer. 'This is why I have beef with my new neighbors. This is 5 oclock this morning.' Boston Police Department arrived at a residence in Mattapan early Monday morning and found an illegal basement nightclub with a fully stocked bar and packed with around 50 people Boston PD broke the padlock on the side door. The partygoers flooded out of the basement to escape and hoped the fence after police arrived around 4.35am. The Boston Fire Department was called to the scene after cops smelled gas and saw candles lit Police said they were familiar with the residence because they'd been there before for previous incidents. When they came to the basement door, they saw it was padlocked from the outside and heard fire alarms blaring. After pounding multiple times, they forced their way into the side door that was also padlocked. The Boston Police Department wrote: 'Upon entrance into the basement, officers immediately observed over fifty people inside. 'Officers also observed a bar constructed that was fully stocked, multiple hookahs, and air conditioners operating without proper ventilation.' Immediately, a stream of around 50 people attempted to flee the scene. One suspect hid behind a female to conceal his waste band. When officers frisked him, they found a large vape and three different credit cards with different names. Another tried to jump off the porch before being stopped by officers. Even though they tried to resist, law enforcement was able to slap on handcuffs. They swept the basement and found three discarded guns: a Ruger LC9 with a scratched out serial number, a Polymer 80 and a Sig Sauer P238 - all three were loaded. Two people were arrested and charged at the scene, the Boston Herald reported. Fitzgerald Custodio-Pimentel, 31, of Jamaica Plain was charged with disorderly conduct, trespassing, resisting arrest and interfering with a police officer. Jorge Vargas-Jimenez, 35, of Mattapan was charged with three counts of receiving stolen property, disorderly conduct, trespassing, resisting arrest and interfering with a police officer. Boston Fire Department was called to the scene after cops smelled gas and saw candles lit. Boston PD told DailyMail.com that no other arrests have been made. Boston PD swept the basement and found three discarded guns: a Ruger LC9 with a scratched out serial number, a Polymer 80 and a Sig Sauer P238 - all three were loaded Fitzgerald Custodio-Pimentel, 31, of Jamaica Plain and Jorge Vargas-Jimenez, 35, of Mattapan were arrested and charged with multiple offense such as disorderly conduct and trespassing This comes a year after a New York City woman died after partying in an illegal Queens nightclub. She was allegedly dragged by workers to a back room where she was left for hours until she died. Stephanie Quinones, 35, from Jackson Heights was reportedly celebrating her birthday at the unnamed nightspot on 49th Street in Astoria on July 31 when she suddenly passed out, her family said. North Carolina detectives could be looking into a possible burial site for nine-year-old Asha Degree two decades after she vanished. Asha's case was one of America's most notorious unsolved child disappearances after she vanished from her home during a storm in the early hours Valentine's Day 2000. A year later, the bag Asha had taken on the night of her disappearance was found. And Now, DNA testing has linked hairs found inside to a local family and a man named Russell Underhill, who died in 2004. Officials said on Monday that the FBI executed several search warrants as part of their investigation into the Asha's case. They also named two suspects, Roy and Connie Dedmons, whose daughter's DNA was found in Asha's bag. New court documents revealed that a woman told police earlier this month that 'several years ago' she saw Roy Dedmon digging a chest-deep hole on a property at 601 Cherryville Road. The next day a detective 'observed a 6-8 inch dent in the ground where it was obvious that the ground had been disturbed,' as reported by WBTV. Asha Degree's case went cold for 24 years after she vanished from her home during a storm on Valentine's Day 2000 A a woman told police that 'several years ago' she saw suspect Roy Dedmon digging a chest-deep hole on a property at 601 Cherryville Road. Police are seen at the property Police said that at they found a car of a similar model to the one sought in the initial search for Asha at the Cherryville property. Asha may have been 'pulled into' the vehicle along Highway 18 when she went missing, investigators added. Authorities say that Degree's backpack was discovered a year after disappearing 'wrapped in two sealed black plastic garbage bags' along Highway 18 Asha's school bag was discovered 17 months after she went missing by a construction crew more than 30 miles from where she was last seen. The bag and Asha's clothes were 'wrapped in two sealed black plastic garbage bags.' Hairs found in her bag belong to Russell and AnnaLee Dedmon, who was 13 at the time of Asha's disappearance. Cops say the fact AnnaLee Dedmon was just 13 at the time suggests she had adult help, if she was involved in Asha's disappearance. 'Due to the ages of Roy Dedmon and Connie Dedmon's three daughters in the year of 2000, investigators believe adult assistance from Roy Dedmon and Connie Dedmon would have been necessary in the execution and/or concealment of the crime,' investigators said. The search warrants were served on properties connected to Roy and Connie Dedmon. The search warrants were served on properties connected to Roy and Connie Dedmon. 601 Cherryville Road is pictured Underhill lived in 'at least two facilities' operated by the Dedmons when Asha went missing, detectives said. The connection between Underhill and the family remains unclear but investigators say he 'knew and associated with Roy Dedmon'. Roy Dedmon's attorney David Teddy has denied that his client has any involvement in Asha's disappearance. 'I think there will be info that sadly will link a person to the circumstances of Ashas disappearance who is no longer living,' Teddy claimed. Dedmon, who is in his 80s, has no known ties with Asha or her family, the warrants said. Asha left her home in Shelby, North Carolina, in the early hours of February 14 2000 during a ferocious storm and was never seen again. The youngster, a well-behaved and well-adjusted little girl who came from a good family, packed her book bag and sneaked out of her house for reasons unknown. She left her home during extreme weather and was seen by passing motorists shortly after, but vanished into a wooded area when they stopped to help her. The case had baffled investigators who have been probing the case for two decades. Locals are seen here in 2000 looking for the Degree Law enforcement executed search warrants at multiple properties including an address in Shelby, an assisted living facility in Vale, and a home in Charlotte Investigators have since discovered that Roy Dedmon had used his daughters to 'transport patients in an unreliable vehicle' to and from Broughton Hospital in nearby Morganton. Investigators say that at the time of Asha disappearing, Highway 18 was the 'most logical route to travel.' They say that Roy Dedmon would send his daughter, who was 16 or 17 at the time, and not AnnaLee. Asha's parents Iquilla and Harold told WBTV last year that they still believe their daughter, who would be 32, is still alive. Iquilla told the outlet: 'I never thought it would be 23 years. She was a happy kid, she was quiet, she liked everybody.' Russia's ambassador to the UK was hauled into the Foreign Office today over 'malicious and completely baseless' claims against British diplomats in Moscow. The Kremlin last week announced the expulsion of six Foreign Office staff from Russia and claimed to have evidence they were engaged in spying and sabotage. The move ratcheted up tensions between London and Moscow as Sir Keir Starmer prepared to meet Joe Biden in Washington DC. The PM and US President held talks on giving the go-ahead for Ukraine to use long-range missiles, including Britain's Storm Shadow weapons, against targets in Russia. The Foreign Office immediately rejected the claims by Russia's FSB security agency against its staff in Moscow and today announced the summoning of Russian ambassador Andrey Kelin. It said the action was taken in response to Moscow's 'malicious and deliberate public campaign of aggression against the UK'. Andrey Kelin, Russia's ambassador to the UK, was hauled into the Foreign Office today over 'malicious and completely baseless' claims against British diplomats in Moscow The Foreign Office said the action was taken in response to Moscow's 'malicious and deliberate public campaign of aggression against the UK' A Foreign Office spokesperson said: 'The UK condemns in the strongest terms Russia's unprecedented and unfounded public campaign of aggression against the UK, including the malicious and completely baseless accusations made against Foreign Office staff last week. 'This behaviour is in direct contravention to Russia's obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. 'This pattern of behaviour is completely unacceptable, deeply unprofessional, and beneath the standards of conduct between states. 'This is the latest development in a deliberate campaign by Russia to undermine and threaten UK security and democracy and deter our support for Ukraine, through disinformation, acts of sabotage in Europe and direct harassment and restrictions against our diplomatic missions in Russia. 'This campaign will not succeed. Russia must stop this activity immediately.' The expulsion of six UK diplomats from Moscow is the latest in a series of diplomatic rows between Britain and Russia over the past year. In May, the UK expelled Russia's defence attache in London, Colonel Maxim Elovik, claiming he was an 'undeclared military intelligence officer', removed diplomatic status from several Russian-owned premises, and placed restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas. In response, Russia expelled Britain's defence attache in Moscow, Captain Adrian Coghill. Despite Sir Keir and Mr Biden's talks last week, no decision has yet been reached on giving Ukraine permission to use long-range missiles to target Russian airfields and military bases. A roofer who murdered his heavily-pregnant girlfriend with a pair of scissors in a 'frenzied' attack has had his sentence reduced by two years. Liam Taylor stabbed Ailish Walsh 46 times and hit her in the head with a dumbbell at their flat in Hackney, east London, on December 15, 2022. The 38-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of imprisonment of 27 years after he pleaded guilty to Ms Walsh's murder at the Old Bailey in August 2023. His trial heard that the pair had a 'volatile relationship' and that Taylor was upset about Ms Walsh's latest pregnancy because he had two girls and wanted a boy. Ms Walsh, 28, was almost 23 weeks pregnant at the time of the attack and was found dead in her bedroom by her father Larry Goulding. On Wednesday, appeal judges in London said Taylor's sentence should be reduced to a life sentence with a minimum term of imprisonment of 25 years. Andrew Morris, representing Taylor, said the sentencing judge incorrectly used words like sadistic and sexual to categorise Taylor's sentence but there was 'no factual basis that his conduct was sexual in nature'. Ailish Walsh, 28, was almost 23 weeks pregnant when she was killed by her partner Liam Taylor in their flat in Hackney, east London Liam Taylor, 38, was jailed for life with a minimum term of imprisonment of 27 years after he pleaded guilty to Ms Walsh's murder at the Old Bailey in August 2023 But Mr Morris said that though Ms Walsh was stabbed in the genitals and abdomen, there was no sexual element to her murder. The barrister added: 'The attack was ferocious, with a large number of stab wounds using two weapons. 'The judge used words like sadistic and sexual, which were chosen in order to meet the sentencing tariff. 'Only as the case developed and changed, it was simply not enough to make for such a high starting point to his sentence.' Mr Morris also said Taylor, who has previous convictions for attacking female members of his family, had not intended to kill the female foetus and that the 'frenzied attack was a loss of temper, on the spur of the moment'. Jane Osborne KC, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, said the wounds on Ms Walsh's abdomen 'went directly upwards' which 'was a clear attempt to inflict direct injury on the foetus he knew the deceased was carrying, and who he knew was his'. The court heard the pair had a 'volatile relationship' and that Taylor was upset about Ms Walsh's latest pregnancy because he had two girls and wanted a boy She added: 'This was not just an attack on a pregnant woman, but an attack on a pregnant woman to kill both her and the foetus she was carrying.' Mrs Justice Thornton, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde and Mr Justice Nicklin, said Taylor had 'left Ms Walsh to die and made no attempt to contact the emergency services' afterwards. The judge said the victim was found by her father 'with the 15kg dumbbell on her leg, scissors on the floor and blood all over the carpet'. She added that Taylor, who had cocaine, cannabis and alcohol in his system, was arrested the morning after the attack. Ms Walsh was found dead in her bedroom by her father, Larry Goulding Though she said the sentencing judge was 'entitled to find many, very serious aggravating features' in the case, there was no sexual element to the offending, allowing a reduction in the sentence. She said: 'This was a brutal, savage assault. 'The attack had elements that were sadistic in nature, and possibly Ms Walsh knew what was happening to her.' For free and confidential support, connect to a Women's Aid support worker via their instant messaging service at chat.womensaid.org.uk A war of the words between a Mormon military man and a teeth-whitening technician over their disastrous date has taken TikTok by storm. DJ Searcy explained in a viral testimonial that he was hoping to meet someone with 'similar values' when he messaged Breana Powers, 27, after spotting her 'very gorgeous' profile on the Mormon dating app Mutual. Noticing she worked as a tooth-whitening technician in Salt Lake City, he offered to pay for a $199 session, with the possibility of a date if they hit it off. When Searcy showed up late for the appointment, Powers pulled out her phone and followed him to his car, demanding a $100 cancelation fee. The cringe-worthy exchange, which she posted to her TikTok account, has been viewed more than two million time. The military man's rebuttal post explaining what he says really happened has been seen more than 12 million times. 'I think I met someone possessed today,' he told viewers. 'I'm done dating.' Soldier DJ Searcy was chased into his car by his date after their meeting went horribly wrong Breana Powers, 27, told him he was 'blacklisted to all women in Utah now' after he refused to pay her $100 'cancelation fee' The single dad initially worried he might have messaged a scammer after he suggested a meet-up and Powers responded to say she needed $2,000 to avoid eviction, he explained in the clip. He nonetheless pressed on, asking if she was 'alright,' before telling her 'I'll just send you some words of encouragement and let you go' when she failed to reply. She replied three days later, saying she charged $199 for a teeth whitening and asking if he'd like to come in that same day. He agreed, saying he could get there in '25 to 30 minutes,' but struggled to find a parking spot and arrived late, he said. When the toe finally met, 'I was like, okay, I'm going to pass,' Searcy recalled in his video. 'So I turned round and walked out of the door, but this must not have been her first rodeo because immediately she starts filming.' Her video shows the dejected soldier sitting in his car as Powers holds the door open and asks for the cancelation fee. Powers warned the soldier she would expose him on social media, but his account of events has received nearly one million likes The young soldier had high hopes as he introduced himself to Breana Powers, 27, after seeing her 'very gorgeous' profile on the Mormon dating app Mutual But Powers went quiet before sending him a sudden message at 4.12pm on Sunday The appointment is made and Searcy tells her when he will get there Powers is not impressed as Searcy struggles to find somewhere to park near her salon 'This (video) is also going on Instagram where I have 100,000 followers as well, and the Mormon dating groups of people to avoid,' she snapped at Searcy while filming him. 'I hope you have a better day,' he responded. 'Oh, I was having a great day until you showed up and decided to waste my time,' Powers shot back. 'Would you mind if I close my door,' he then asked mildly. 'I don't mind. Ugly f***,' she replied. Powers' video has been her most viewed yet on TikTok, but the thousands of comments it has attracted have been overwhelmingly hostile. 'He's not ugly by a longshot sweetie,' wrote one. 'He kept his cool. And he is a cutie. Thank you for your service,' wrote another. 'I'm sorry but this is no way to treat another human being who had no bad intentions, but just wanted to low key take you out on a date,' added a third. Searcy may have had second thoughts if he had known about Powers' lengthy rap sheet, which includes arrests for reckless endangerment, possession of a controlled substance, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, among others. In 2021, she punched a customer at a Utah tanning salon after becoming infuriated at requests she wear a face mask inside the business, Deseret News reported. @deejthedad Yep, Im done trying to date also, @Bre powers if you dont clarify that Im NOT lds, I will sue you for defamation hahaha oh and if you are part of the #bremafia and you want to destroy my business it is @Frostbite Foods original sound - deejthedad Commenters on Sears' video warned him he had dodged a bullet. 'She literally hit you up at the last minute asking if you wanted to come in,' wrote one. 'It's not like you made the appointment and canceled.' 'You handle this very well my guy. Props to you,' added another. Yet another said: 'I just saw her video and seriously you won. You're way too nice for her.' The mayor of Atlantic City and his school superintendent wife have been indicted on charges of beating up their 15 year-old daughter. Democrat Marty Small Sr., 50, and his wife La'Quetta beat and emotionally abused the youngster on multiple occasions in December and January, according to newly-filed child endangerment charges. The pair are said to have abused their daughter - who turned 16 during the period when the alleged beatings took place - for refusing to stop dating a boy. Cops say the youngster was beaten unconscious with a broom, warned she'd be 'earth slammed' down stairs, slapped with a belt and punched in the mouth. Small had previously denied rumors that he'd beaten his daughter so badly she miscarried. Prosecutors said that on Jan. 13, 2024, Marty Small Sr. hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness. Mayor Small Sr. with his wife and their two children Ten days earlier, they said, Small engaged in an argument with his daughter, grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground, and threatening to throw her down a flight of stairs. He threatened to 'smack the weave out' of her head during the incident, according to prosecutors. The 50-year-old Democratic mayor also is accused of punching his daughter repeatedly in the legs, causing bruising. La'Quetta Small, 47, is accused of punching her daughter multiple times on the chest, leaving bruising. In another alleged incident, she is accused of dragging her daughter by the hair and striking her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving marks. In yet another incident, La'Quetta Small is accused of punching her daughter in the mouth during an argument. On January 7, an incident between the 16-year-old was recorded asking her mother (left) to get off her neck and said her mother punched her in the mouth Both parents have been charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child after their home (pictured) was raided by police The alleged beatings came to light after the couple's daughter - anonymized in court papers as JF - recorded herself being abused and told a worker at her school about what was going on. Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife, La'Quetta, the city's superintendent of schools, have been indicted on child endangerment and other charges for allegedly beating their teenage daughter on numerous occasions, prosecutors said Wednesday. 'This indictment has absolutely nothing to do with Marty Small's tenure as mayor of Atlantic City,' said his lawyer, Ed Jacobs. 'There's no charge of corruption or any official misconduct. Marty and La'Quetta Small don't need the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office meddling into a private family matter.' 'Marty and La'Quetta are a good mom and dad raising a teenage child,' he said. 'They are totally innocent and will be totally exonerated.' Jacobs would not say whether the girl is still living at home with her parents. The indictment of the Smalls came less than a week after the principal of Atlantic City High School was indicted in a case stemming from the same incidents. The teen said on one occasion her boyfriend had food delivered to her house and when La'Quetta found out she dragged her daughter by the hair then beat her with a belt Constance Days-Chapman was indicted on official misconduct, child endangerment and other charges for allegedly failing to report the alleged abuse of the Smalls' daughter to state child welfare authorities as required by law and school district policy. Days-Chapman is a close friend of the Smalls; La'Quetta Smalls is her boss. According to the indictment, in December the girl, who was 15 at the time, told Days-Chapman she was suffering continuous headaches from being beaten by her parents in their home. But instead of telling authorities, Days-Chapman instead told the Smalls. Her lawyer says she is innocent. Chilean authorities have arrested a glamorous drug ring leader, whose network became notorious for selling tusi, a trendy synthetic drug. Natasha 'Queen of Tusi' Moya and three of her associates, including her boyfriend, were taken into custody September 11. The 23-year-old's capture came after the Investigation Police raided three residences in Melipilla, a town 43 miles outside Santiago, the South America county's capital. Authorities recovered three firearms, two kilos of cocaine, 135 grams of ketamine, 130 grams of caffeine and 2 million Chilean pesos, about $2,000. Moya and her three co-defendants remained in pre-trial detention. Natasha 'Queen of Tusi' Moya and three members of her drug dealing network were arrested in Chile on September 11. The 23-year-old is accused of leading a network that sold the popular synthetic drug, tusi, by word of mouth and social media Authorities alleged that Natasha 'Queen of Tusi' Moya used three homes to run her drug ring. One home was operated to stash drugs while another served as the location where drugs were packaged. A third residence was used to conceal the money they made from sales Natasha 'Queen of Tusi' Moya flashes a wad of cash in a TikTok post Melipilla police deputy chief Victor Munoz told Las Ultimas Noticias newspaper that Moya had been previously arrested and convicted for trafficking tusi, which is also known as pink cocaine. Moya had two warrants issued for her arrest, but manage to keep a low profile. 'She tried to avoid direct contact with drugs and weapons to avoid being arrested,' Munoz said. 'She moved around the commune accompanied by a man armed and protected with a bulletproof jacket.' Moya used one of the homes in Melpilla to stockpile narcotics and another residence where the drugs were packaged. A third home was used to conceal their illicit earnings. Chile's Investigation Police unit confiscated two kilos of cocaine, 135 grams of ketamine, 130 grams of caffeine and 2 million Chilean pesos, about $2,000 Natasha Moya, nicknamed by Chilean authorities as the 'Queen of Tusi,' led her own drug ring that sold tusi, a synthetic drug also known as pink cocaine Natasha 'Queen of Tusi' Moya had been convicted of drug dealing twice and had two warrants issued for her arrest before cops in Chile finally captured her September 11 following a series of home raids Moya's methods to sell the drug were by word of mouth via different social media networks, including Grindr, police said. Authorities learned that Moya depended on 2-way radios to coordinate sales and alert dealers of police presence. 'It is not uncommon that we currently detect that the leaders in this type of criminal bands are carried out by younger people and women,' Munoz said. He has concerns that someone the age of Moya wielded so much power. 'Without a doubt, the behavior of young people is more fearful,' he said. 'And sometimes the leader is a woman because members of the band believe that in this way it is more difficult to be identified by the police.' Kamala Harris slammed rival Donald Trump's plan for mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally as a new poll shows more Americans support the proposal. The 59-year-old vice president was speaking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes 47th Annual Leadership Conference in Washington as she works to secure support from crucial Latino voters in the 2024 election. 'While we fight to move our nation forward to a brighter future, Donald Trump and his extremist allies will keep trying to pull us backward,' Harris warned. She mentioned the family separations during his first administration before slamming the mass deportations. 'Now they have pledged to carry out the largest deportation, a mass deportation, in American history,' Harris said. Imagine what that would look like and what that would be? Harris said. Hows that going to happen? Massive raids? Massive detention camps? What are they talking about?' Vice President Kamala Harris slammed Trump's plan for mass deportations while speaking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference in Washington, DC Her remarks come as a new poll by Scripps News/Ipsos found more than half of Americans support mass deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The survey found 54 percent of respondents including 86 percent of Republicans, 58 percent of Independents and 25 percent of Democrats said they 'strongly' or 'somewhat' support wide-scale efforts to deport millions of immigrants. The poll found while more people view Harris favorably to Trump, when it comes to the issue of immigration, 44 percent said Trump would do a better job while 34 percent said Harris would. His plan could result in upwards of eleven million immigrants in the country illegally being deported. However, economists warn it could also have devastating consequences for the economy with the removal of works and lead to higher prices. Speaking on Wednesday, Harris also discussed her own stance on immigration. We must also reform our broken immigration system,' Harris said to a cheering crowd. She said the can 'protect our dreamers and understand we can do both, create an earned pathway to citizenship and ensure our border is secure.' 'We can do both and we must do both,' she emphasized. Her remarks were well received by the audience of largely young Latinos who were in attendance from all over the country. On the campaign trail, Harris has called for Congress to bring back the bipartisan immigration bill and slams Trump for tanking the deal earlier this year. Migrants crossing back and forth over the Rio Grande river into the United States and Mexico in March 2023. Immigration has been a central focus in the 2024 election as Trump calls for the mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally if he's elected It comes as Trump has made immigration one of the biggest focal point of his campaign, has demonized immigrants in the U.S. and has slammed Harris for the Biden administration's work on the issue. The vice president was met with thunderous applause from the audience upon her entrance, before launching into a speech where she talked about her vision for the U.S. and spoke about some of the key issues in the election including the economy and abortion rights as well as immigration. We have to put the middle class first, we have to put working families first, Harris said. She argued the entire country would be better for it. Harris praised the work of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and leaders in the room for having a real impact on real people. Its extraordinary work that is happening because of the leaders here, she said. One woman shouted when the vice president entered I love you. Kamala Harris praised the work of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus while speaking at the institute conference in Washington on September 18 Some of the biggest applause lines came when Harris mentioned so-called dreamers, immigrants who were brought to the U.S. without documentation as children but know no other home. Another major applause line was when she mentioned working to create the National Museum of the American Latino. She started her remarks by reintroducing herself to the audience, growing up with her single mother, sharing why she became a prosecutor and touting some of the work she accomplished before becoming vice president. Harris also took time to lay out key components of her economic plan as she campaigns as a candidate for the future. She specifically brought up her plans for $25,000 down payments for first-time homebuyers, her controversial proposal to tackle rising grocery costs with a ban on price gouging and called for expanding the Child Tax Credit. Harris took time out of her aggressive campaign schedule to speak at the conference where some 2,000 attendees had gathered from all over the country. For years, I have been proud to fight alongside the members and the leaders of this incredible caucus, Harris said. She delivered the remarks at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center standing before a sign that read CHCI Latino Excellence in Action. It comes as the U.S. celebrates Hispanic Heritage month from September 15 to October 15. Latino voters is a crucial and diverse voting bloc that could help decide the 2024 presidential election including in several key battleground states. Trump was beating Harris with Hispanic voters in August, but his support has plunged since Latino voters have long favored Democratic candidates in presidential elections, but Donald Trump has been making inroads with the critical voting bloc in the United States. However, recent polling by DailyMail.com found Trump's support among Hispanic voters plunged in August. The polling conducted by J.L. Partners found Trump's support went from 44 percent to just 27 percent while Harris has seen her support among Hispanics rise to 45 percent. Iran's envoy to Lebanon reportedly lost an eye when a pager exploded in his face during a deadly pocket bomb attack which tore through the country. Thousands of walkie talkies used by Hezbollah fighters detonated across Lebanon today, killing nine and wounding hundreds of people including mourners at a funeral, witnesses and security sources reported. The second wave of carnage came a day after thousands of exploding pagers used by the group left almost 3,000 people injured and a dozen dead, including civilians and children. Iranian ambassador Mojtaba Amani lost one of his eyes and seriously injured the other when his pager exploded in the attack, according to The New York Times. Video on social media reportedly showed Amani on a street in the aftermath of the attack with blood on his shirt. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps said he would be taken to Tehran for treatment. Mojtaba Amani, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, reportedly lost an eye when a pager exploded in his face during a deadly pocket bomb attack which tore through the country Pictures appearing to show exploded hand-held radios have been circulating online A walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon today A radio device exploded in the city of Baalbek is seen in the living room where it blew up Explosions occurred in radio equipment across the country and south of the capital Beirut The second wave of carnage comes a day after thousands of exploding pagers used by the group left almost 3,000 people injured and a dozen dead, including civilians and children Pictures from inside a residential building appear to show blast damage In a post on X, Iranian media said he suffered injuries 'to the hand and the face' and the Iranian embassy in Beirut denied 'rumours about the physical condition and vision problems'. Security sources confirmed that hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, at around the same time as the compromised pagers. Lebanese media has also reported that home solar energy systems have blown up in several areas of Beirut. The attacks amount to the biggest security breach in Hezbollah's history, with the group and its backers Iran condemning Israel and labelling it 'mass murder'. Dozens of victims sustained severe facial injuries, with doctors explaining how they were forced to cut out victims' eyeballs. Others had their hands blown off, or suffered gaping wounds in their abdomen had they concealed the pager on their hip. Israel has since declared the start of a 'new phase' of war in the Middle East, though it was careful not making any official comment on the pager or walkie-talkie explosions. Iranians place carnations and a poster of Fatma Abdullah, nine, who was killed in the attacks, in front of the Lebanese Embassy in Tehran People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon today Walkie-talkie devices without batteries are shown at an electronic store, which the owner says he removed for safety reasons, after hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated in Beirut Local media has reports a fire breaking out in a car as a result of a device exploding Lebanese people arrive at blood donation centre in Beirut to donate blood on the call of Ministry Of Public Health after the attack today Lebanese soldiers detonated a suspected explosive device found in a pit in the parking lot of the American University Hospital in Beirut today Boy scouts raise the picture of a fellow scout, killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, during the funeral procession of some of those killed, in Beirut's southern suburbs today The head of the IDF, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Israel has drawn up plans to attack Hezbollah, telling the Times of Israel: 'We have many capabilities that we have not yet activated. 'We have seen some of these things, it seems to me that we are well prepared and we are preparing these plans going forward. 'At each stage, the price for Hezbollah needs to be high.' A woman educated at the London School of Economics denied making the pagers after her company was linked to the devices. The latest explosions this afternoon have hit the country's south and the capital Beirut, where dramatic time-lapse video shows multiple plumes of smoke rising above the skyline in different locations almost simultaneously. Mourners were among the injured after multiple explosions occurred at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child who were killed by the exploding pagers yesterday, according to reports. Beirut's hospitals are reportedly still at full capacity following yesterday's attacks, with medical aid being rapidly diverted to the already crippled country as it deals with the catastrophe. The repetition of the clandestine attacks, which Israel has not officially taken responsibility for, will raise already spiking tensions in the region to fever pitch, with Israel moving additional troops to its northern border and Lebanon's foreign minister warning that the blasts are an omen of a widening war. Flames rise up a building in Lebanon amid the explosions Lebanese soldiers gather outside a damaged mobile shop after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon Lebanese security officers check a partly damaged car after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon Beirut's hospitals are reportedly still at full capacity following yesterday's attacks, with medical aid being rapidly diverted to the already crippled country as it deals with the catastrophe Without directly mentioning the detonations, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant praised the work of the IDF and Israel's security services, telling them 'the results are very impressive.' He added that, following months of war in the Gaza Strip, the 'centre of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation on many fronts. 'Hezbollah wants to avoid an all-out war. It still wants to avoid one. But given the scale, the impact on families, on civilians, there will be pressure for a stronger response,' said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center. Hezbollah, Iran's most powerful proxy in the Middle East, said in a statement earlier today that it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should await a response to the pager 'massacre' which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead. At least 14 people are confirmed dead, including at least two children - one girl aged eight and an 11-year-old boy. A drone hovers in the sky during the funeral of persons killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut today Smoke billows from a house in Baalbek in east Lebanon after a reported explosion today The Iranian Red Crescent said on Wednesday it had dispatched 'rescue teams and eye surgeons' to Lebanon to treat the wounded. Iranian Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement that he 'condemned the terrorist act of the Zionist regime', referring to Israel. Since yesterday's attack, the IDF revealed this morning that it had struck a number of Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, with video showing an aerial raid on one alleged terrorist hideout. 'Closing a circle from the air, fighter jets attacked the building where the terrorists were operating,' the IDF said in a statement. 'In addition, warplanes attacked the organisation's military buildings in five different areas in southern Lebanon.' The Israeli military added in a statement this morning that it would 'continue to operate against the threat of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in order to defend the State of Israel.' It emerged today that the UN Security Council will meet before the end of the week to discuss the walkie-talkie explosions. A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded yesterday An ambulance believed to be carrying wounded people, after multiple explosions were heard during the funeral of four Hezbollah fighters after their handheld pagers exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, today The UN secretary general's spokesperson said Antonio Guterres is 'deeply alarmed' by reports of exploding communication devices in Lebanon and Syria. 'The secretary general urges all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation,' Stephane Dujarric added. Guterres is calling for an immediate 'return to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability'. He was speaking to reporters earlier today - around the time the first reports came through of fresh explosions - and he warned of a 'serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon'. 'The logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation,' he said. Michelle Obama surprised crowds at Costco when she was spotted giving a sales pitch for her new healthy drink, Plezi Fizz, at a Costco in Livermore, CA. A TikTok video posted on Tuesday showed the former first lady standing in front of a stockpile of the drinks that were launched in March. Customers flocked around Michelle and her bodyguard to take pictures. In the 25-second video, Michelle told the crowd the drink was healthy, low calorie and tasted good. A Costco employee named Oscaldo told DailyMail.com the event was held yesterday and she was promoting her new business. Michelle Obama was seen holding a box of her new healthy drink, Plezi Fizz, while talking to a crowd of people at a Costco in Livermore, CA on Tuesday PICTURED: Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks during WSJ's Future of Everything Festival, Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in New York TikTok users expressed their awe and jealousy about customers seeing Michelle's promotion at the Livermore Costco A Costco employee named Oscaldo told DailyMail.com the event was held yesterday and she was promoting her new business TikTok users expressed their awe and jealousy about customers seeing Michelle's promotion at the Livermore Costco. 'Oh my god I could've seen her at Costco in the Bay Area today?' 'What no way!' 'The way this is my Costco and I wanna cry now.' The former first lady is the co-founder and a strategic partner of Plezi Nutrition. On the brand's website it says she's steering the company towards being leaders in making food and beverage brands healthy. In a statement on the website Michelle wrote: 'We're starting with a beverage because we know how much concern parents and pediatricians have about sugary drinks.' Plezi Fizz comes in three flavors: Lemon Lime Squeeze, Cherry Limeade and Strawberry Lemonade. They have no added sugar, are rich in fiber and contain 70 percent less sugar than 'leading fruit juices.' The former first lady is the co-founder and a strategic partner of Plezi Nutrition. On the brand's website it says she's steering the company towards being leaders in making food and beverage brands healthy While they contain no added sugar, the juice content is almost exclusively from concentrate, which typically contains less nutritional value than whole fruit juice. Fiber is added to increase the nutritional value. The drinks also contain plant-based sweeteners stevia leaf extract which is believed to be a healthier alternative to sugar. A case of Plezi Fizz at Costco costs $13.79 for 18 cans. The town of Springfield, Ohio has been upended by reports that illegal immigrants in the community are stealing and eating resident's pets. The unusual story line has been perpetuated by Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. And while Vance said during two campaign stops in the midwest on Tuesday that there are at least dozens of people who shared their stories with his office, his campaign has specifically pointed to a police report that the Wall Street Journal now says it debunked. Anna Kilgore told police that she thought her Haitian neighbors stole her cat, Miss Sassy. When the Journal tracked her down, Kilgnore was wearing a Trump-Vance hat and said her missing cat turned up a few days after she filed the report. The resident said she used a translation app to apologize to her neighbors for accusing them. ALIVE AND WELL: Miss Sassy is the cat at the center of a Ohio woman's claim that her Haitian neighbors stole her pet. But it's now revealed the kitty turned up a few days after owner Anna Kilgore filed the police report Kilgore wrote on Facebook on August 27: 'My cat is missing.' '[S]he is mane (sic) coon her name is miss sassy pants,' she continued. '[S]he is part of the family please if you have saw (sic) her or know where she is I will give you money bring her home alive please.' The news cycle has now been dominated with outrage from Republicans over the alleged cat and duck eating by illegal immigrants, while Democrats are furious over the 'hateful rhetoric' they claim is racist toward some migrants who come from countries where animals who are considered pets in the U.S. might otherwise be on the menu. Vance is turning the issue to the overarching frustration of residents in the Ohio town that has become inundated with illegal immigrants over the last few years. 'Senator Vance has received countless messages from residents of Springfield on the disastrous effects Kamala Harris's immigration policies have created for their hometown: a shortage of affordable housing, stressed public resources, declining public safety, and spikes in communicable disease,' a Vance spokesperson told DailyMail.com. 'It's shameful that the media is ignoring these real concerns while purposely twisting Senator Vance's words,' they added. When discussing the issue on Tuesday, Vance repeatedly said the claims are based on reports and said it was the media's job to fact check whether the rumors are true or not while it's his job as a Senator to believe his constituents and their complaints. Sen. J.D. Vance has faced backlash from Democrats who claim he is engaged in 'hateful rhetoric' by repeating claims from Ohio residents who say migrants are stealing and eating pets When speaking with CNN on Sunday, Vance said that American media is 'creating' the scandal and making people focus more on it than it would otherwise garner. What Vance says is the bigger issue is not the pet eating storyline, but the fact that Springfield does have issues stemming from an influx of migrants. During a Senate hearing in July, Vance questioned Federal reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the role immigration has in worsening the housing and labor market. He quoted at the time a letter from the City of Springfield, saying: 'Springfield has seen a surge in population through immigration that has significantly impacted our ability as a community to produce enough housing opportunities for all.' 'Springfield's Haitian population has increased 15 to 20,000 over the last four years in a community of under 60,000 previous residents, putting a significant strain on our resources and ability to provide ample housing for all of our residents,' it adds. Video of Diddy kissing his mother on the lips has resurfaced in the wake of his federal sex-trafficking arrest. The rapper - real name Sean Combs - is seen hydrating with Janice Combs in the clip, with both hooked up to IVs. Beginning by puffing what appears to be marijuana, he introduces Janice as 'Mom Dukes' before billing her as 'single' and ready to mingle. After sharing the smooch, he brags about taking the 83-year-old to strip clubs, and contemplates how a dating show with her at its center would go. The mogul-turned- alleged trafficker recorded the clip in 2022, a little over a year before the allegations of sexual and other abuse against him first surfaced. Video of Diddy kissing his mother on the lips has resurfaced in the wake of his federal sex-trafficking arrest The rapper - real name Sean Combs - is seen hydrating with Janice Combs in the clip, with both hooked up to IVs 'Yeah, my mom is gorgeous,' the rapper-producer starts by saying, panning out to his mother sat next to him. 'Let me introduce you to my mom - call [her] Mom Dukes,' he continues. 'She's getting a drip with me - she's hydrating. What's up, Mom?' Janice, smiling as she rehydrates intravenously, answers: 'Everything's good baby - I'm here with you. I love you.' Visibly smitten, Diddy says he loves her too, before sharing the impromptu peck on the lips. 'That's my baby,' Janice tells onlookers following the display of affection, before being showed with more compliments from her only son. 'Mom is freshly dipped, though,' he says - using slang that describes one's apparel in a positive light. He then attempts to show followers her shoes, but instead ends up filming her legs. After sharing the smooch, he brags about taking the 83-year-old to strip clubs, and contemplates how a dating show with her at its center would go He introduces Janice as 'Mom Dukes' - before billing her as 'single' and ready to mingle, and a fan of strip clubs The mogul-turned- alleged trafficker recorded the clip in 2022, a little over a year before the allegations of sexual and other abuse against him first surfaced. He is seen here with his mother in New Jersey at the MTV Music Awards in September 2023 'Yeah, my moms is single,' he then says, seemingly responding to a viewers' inquiry in the live chat. 'I ain't going to hate on my mom's - she single. 'Me and my mom talked about one time doing a dating show with her,' he continues. 'She's so picky. She's so picky they don't stand [a chance].' As the two share a laugh, he adds, 'Yeah, that'll be the funniest show in the world,' to which Janice agrees. 'It will be - especially with me,' she laughs, mere months before prosecutors would allege he forced female and male victims into drugged-up sex excursions dubbed 'Freak Offs', that would leave them so dehydrated they needed IV drips after. 'I don't even want to get started with you when you're doing that,' Diddy jokes while flashing a toothy smile. 'We not doing that.' 'Yeah, my mom's single - yeah. For real,' he repeats in a more serious tone. 'Mom Dukes know how to have a good time. Ain't sitting the house playing - [she's] outside moving and shaking, baby.' On Tuesday, a federal judge denied the rapper bail after he denied the charges and offered up his and his mother's Miami homes as collateral He then reveals how 'she come with [him] to strip club', an assertions that elicits another laugh from the senior. 'I don't care,' he goes on. 'Real. That's my dog, you know - I want to live life. We out here moving and grooving. 'That's what my mom told me,' he adds. 'She just said, "Keep moving, baby. Keep moving."' 'That's right,' Janice says in agreement. 'Keep moving. Don't stop.' Diddy adds: 'She could touch the floor with her palms - you know, flat.' The clip ends there. It is now gaining traction once again due to the A-lister's arrest, and the nature of the now-proven allegations against him. The renewed virality, moreover, comes just two months after the matriarch was rushed to a hospital in South Florida where she lives after complaining about discomfort in her chest amid her son's federal case. She stayed there for a few days to undergo testing, with her son reportedly by her side the entire time. The pair are seen sharing a smooch again in June 2022, at the BET Awards red carpet The two are seen sharing another moment on a boat this past May, days before she was rushed to a hospital with chest pains. The cause has yet to be revealed, but she has since been released. The rapper put both of their homes up for collateral after he was denied bail Sources close to the family told TMZ: 'He's her comfort in this,' referring to the 54-year-old recently found guilty It remains unclear what the cause of the pain was, and more information about the visit has not been disclosed. On Tuesday, a federal judge denied the rapper bail after he denied the charges - and offered up his and his mother's Miami homes as collateral. During the searches of Combs homes earlier this year, law enforcement seized narcotics, videos of the performances and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to prosecutors. They said agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers in his bedroom closet in Miami. A doctor told an inquiry she had a hunch something was wrong at Scotlands superhospital when three children were infected with rare bug that had first been identified by space scientists. The patients at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, became infected over a six-month period with a rare bacteria originally identified in the Russian Mir Space Station. The bacteria, which thrives in water, was so unusual that paediatric microbiologist Dr Kathleen Harvey-Wood said it would not be expected to be found in a patient. But following the three cases, in 2016 and 2017, more infections caused by a range of different bacteria were also found in children. The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry is probing whether the construction and environment of the 840m Queen Elizabeth University Hospital building led to deadly infections in patients. Dr Kathleen Harvey-Wood told the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry she had a 'hunch' something was wrong in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow The Elizabethkingia miricola bacteria was found in blood samples of patients being treated in ward 2A, which treats children with blood-borne diseases and cancers such as leukaemia, in September and December 2016 and March 17. Dr Harvey-Wood said: They had two patients close together in September 2016 and December 2016 in Ward 2A with the same infection and in my opinion that should have been investigated before the third patient infection in February 2017. Elizabethkingia miricola was isolated from three paediatric patients over a six-month period. This bacterium was originally identified in the International MIR Space Station, and it comes from environmental water. She added: It was so unusual it did suggest there was something in the environment. These patients who are immunocompromised are more susceptible to infections. I knew it was very unusual and would not be expected to be found in a patient. I just felt from my own experience that it was different. It was like an alarm bell. 'Unusual organisms are a sign that maybe something isnt quite right. Its a hunch you get when youve done microbiology for years when theres an organism thats not part of the normal microbiology reports. Looking back at what happened I thought that was the beginning of seeing what happened through the years. This was the trigger to me that something wasnt quite right. In order to check whether a patient has a blood infection, doctors put blood samples into special containers containing nutrients and wait to see whether any bacteria cultures grow from them. Due to concerns over rising infections, Dr Harvey-Wood undertook an audit of cases and shared it with colleagues. In 2015-2016, the percentage of samples found to be positive for infections was nine per cent, then in 2016-2017 it jumped to 15.5 per cent. The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry is probing whether the construction and environment of the 840m Queen Elizabeth University Hospital building led to deadly infections in patients She said: It was a trend. What we were seeing was an increase. Your blood culture sample should be negative. You shouldnt have bacteria in your blood. Its a sepsis or infection within the blood. She added that there was also a mix of different bacteria being found in patients blood samples. Usually, an infection is caused by one bug. The type of bacteria being detected indicated that patients central lines, the tubes by which they were receiving medicine directly into their bloodstreams, were becoming infected from the hospital environment. Dr Harvey-Wood said: It wasnt just one organism. We were growing two or three, sometimes four, different organisms and that in itself is unusual. The raw data numbers show it went from 11 to 36 mixed infections from blood cultures. This is not in context but shows the trend. In 2017- 2018, 40 of the blood cultures taken that year had mixed organisms in them. Thats when I felt concerned. In 2018 Wards 2A and 2B were closed and refurbishments carried out. The inquiry, taking place before Lord Brodie in Edinburgh, continues. Former President Donald Trump is trailing Vice President Kamala Harris in two crucial battleground states, while a third state remains a toss-up. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday shows Harris ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania and Michigan and the rivals statistically tied in Wisconsin. Trump won all three so-called 'blue wall' states over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, delivering him an Electoral College victory. In 2020, President Joe Biden flipped the three states back to the Democratic column. Harris now has a six-point lead in Pennsylvania - 51 percent to 45 percent - with Green Party hopeful Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver garnering 1 percent each. Vice President Kamala Harris (left) is leading former President Donald Trump (right) in Pennsylvania and Michigan, while they're statistically tied in Wisconsin The three 'blue wall' states handed former President Donald Trump a victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, but President Joe Biden won them back for Democrats four years later The margin of error in Pennsylvania is plus or minus 2.7 percent. In Michigan, Harris leads Trump by five points - 50 percent to 45 percent - with Stein receiving 2 percent of the vote. Her lead is narrowly outside the plus or minus 3.3 percent margin of error. In Wisconsin, Harris leads by 1 point - 48 percent to Trump's 47 percent - with Stein recieving 1 percent of the vote. That poll had a plus or minus 3 percent margin of error. By narrow margins, voters in the three states say Trump is the better leader on the economy and immigration but Harris is the far-and-away leader on the issue of abortion. In Pennsylvania, 57 percent say Harris would do a better job handling the issue of abortion, compared to 38 percent who said Trump. In Michigan it's 53 percent for Harris and 42 percent for Trump and in Wisconsin 53 percent also said Harris, while 40 percent said Trump. Harris had an edge when asked which candidate was better for 'preserving democracy.' She had a tiny lead when Americans in the three states were asked which candidate would better handle a crisis. In Pennsylvania, 49 percent said Harris and 47 percent said Trump. In Michigan, 51 percent said Harris, 47 percent said Trump and in Wisconsin - where Harris has the smallest lead - 49 percent said Harris and 48 percent said Trump. Harris will return to Wisconsin to campaign on Friday, while Trump will head to Pennsylvania for a rally Monday night. A BAFTA-nominated TV director who groomed a teenage boy online and told him he had 'seen Harry Styles naked' has avoided prison. Lee Salisbury, 46, was said to have met the boy when he appeared as a 'star guest' at a film course. The three-time British Soap Award winner has worked on Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Holby City and EastEnders and has his own podcast interviewing TV stars. Bradford Crown Court heard the boy followed Salisbury's Instagram account, Soapfromthebox, in April this year and within hours received a message from the director. Prosecutor Ella Embleton said the message read: 'Well done mate, you're great.' She added the boy was 'impressed' that he had been messaged by an account with a blue tick, and that he got another message that said: 'Hope you're good.' The court heard Salisbury bragged to the boy about having 'previously worked' with pop star Harry Styles and said he had 'seen him naked on several occasions'. Salisbury, of Little Court, Tong Lane in Bradford, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual communication with a child. He received a 12-month sentence suspended for 18 months. Lee Salisbury, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual communication with a child at Bradford Crown Court The three-time British Soap Award winner has worked on Emmerdale, Coronation Street and EastEnders, he is best known as a director of Emmerdale from 2006-2015 The director bragged about 'seeing Harry Styles naked' - One Direction start pictured at the Grammy Awards in 2023 Following the initial message, Ms Embleton said Salisbury messaged the boy again and asked if he used the Telegram app, to which the boy 'didn't know what to say but felt he needed to stay in contact due to his [Salisbury's] expertise and contacts.' The boy told Salisbury his age and Ms Embleton said a later examination of Salisbury's phone revealed searches relating to how to recover Telegram messages. Ms Embleton said that during conversations, Salisbury asked the boy about the size of his genitalia and also said he had seen another boy on the film course 'in his boxer shorts' before requesting him to 'keep that information to himself'. The prosecutor added: 'He asked if he had the boy's number as he wanted to offer him a part.' Salisbury would also ring the victim in the early hours of the morning, and although the teenager would not answer at the time, he would wake to see missed calls on his phone the next morning. The boy bravely read a victim impact statement to the court, in which he said: 'Since this investigation, I have been reluctant to attend certain holiday or weekend courses relating to film, drama or dance. 'I really struggle to trust adults in the industry and look differently at adults I know...I struggle to trust what they say or do. Lee Salisbury directed 40 episodes of the soap EastEnders from 2010 to 2016 Salisbury directed 31 episodes of the soap Coronation Street from 2014 to 2015 'I want to be a famous actor and that's why I messaged him. When he was calling and messaging me, it affected my sleep and I stayed up late at night when I was doing my studies and exams. 'I felt withdrawn at home and school and would feel confused about the situation and how it started and what he said to me. I has made my anxiety worse. 'I have lost trust in my friends due to the situation. Friends have told people what happened and I didn't want people to know. 'I was worried I would lose friends or be treated differently. I would notice I would get short-tempered with my parents when they were looking over my shoulder at my phone.' The boy said he now worries for younger children. Mitigating, David Outterside, told the court Salisbury had pleaded guilty and had no previous convictions on his record. He said: 'It is what is said about his attitude and remorse that comes with it and reflection and the desire to atone and rehabilitate himself for the future. 'The author of a pre-sentence report goes to lengths to say that he did in the interview show remorse and I quote, 'There was no attempt to minimise what he did in this case' which is not always the case in cases of this type.' The court heard Salisbury is 'appalled' by what he did and 'embarrassed' and 'ashamed' and 'apologised for his conduct'. Bradford Crown Court (pictured) heard the boy followed Salisbury's Instagram account, Soapfromthebox, in April this year and within hours received a message from the director Mr Outterside said: 'He has been a hard-working man throughout his life and has built over 25 years a very good career.' It was said Salisbury was using cocaine at the time, and is now estranged from his husband, who sat in court to support him. Mr Outterside said he is now working with Forward Leeds to rid himself of his drug habit which 'got worse and turned into an addiction'. He added: 'This is not someone who has been sitting about waiting for their sentence to pass, it is someone who has got to it and start rehabilitation off their own back. 'There is opportunity for work in the future. He is not regarded as a high risk.' Recorder Iqbal made Salisbury the subject of a 12-month sentence suspended for 18 months. He barred him from working with children and vulnerable adults and ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 days rehabilitation activity requirement days. Salisbury was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for five years and told he must pay 2,000 in compensation to the victim and 1,000 prosecution costs. Congress is demanding that ABC News and Vice President Kamala Harris hand over any communications with the network and campaign team related to the debate earlier this month. It comes after a sworn affidavit emerged from a whistleblower claiming to be staffer with knowledge that ABC gave Harris an advantage in the debate with Donald Trump by providing her the questions ahead of time. Trump claimed before the debate that Harris would somehow find a way to cheat since she is close friends with Disney executive Dana Walden. And Sen. J.D. Vance told DailyMail.com on Tuesday it would be a 'national scandal' if the whistleblower claim is true. 'On debate night, it became abundantly clear that ABC News and its respective moderators had a biased agenda,' Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) wrote to ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic and Harris' Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. Congress is demanding ABC News and Kamala Harris turn over any communication between the network and campaign team regarding the September 10 debate with Donald Trump Besides just whether questions were provided to Harris, Marshall is also questioning whether ABC intentionally left subjects off the table to seem more favorable to Harris. He also pointed to the real-time fact-checking of Trump by moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir and whether that was meant to negatively affect the former prescient's performance on September 10. 'The American people deserve transparency and accountability from the mainstream media and a full accounting of whether ABC News coordinated with the Harris campaign to skew the debate's questions and face-checking in favor of the Vice President,' Marshall wrote. Asked to respond to preconditions detailed in the sworn whistleblower affidavit, Vance told DailyMail.com: 'If it happened, it's disgraceful. It should be a national scandal.' An ABC News whistleblower claims that the network provided Harris the questions ahead of time and that the moderators were told to avoid certain topics Vance told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that it would be a 'disgrace' and 'national scandal' if the ABC whistleblower claims are true Vance, however, said that he will still participate in his upcoming debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz hosted by CBS - even if he thinks it won't be a fair showdown. The Ohio Senator is set for the vice presidential debate with Harris' running mate on October 1. The faceoff will be hosted by CBS News in New York City . But even if the network cheats and leaks information to Gov. Walz, Vance is remaining committed. 'You know, on my own debate, the attitude that I take and I know President Trump takes is we should go anywhere, we should talk to everybody,' Vance told DailyMail.com. 'And if that means that there's going to be a slightly biased debate, I don't care,' he added. 'That's the price of doing business.' 'And if that means that there's going to be a slightly biased debate, I don't care,' he added Vance was in Sparta, Michigan on Tuesday for a rally at a barn where he aired the campaign's grievances about the ongoing Democratic rhetoric leading to another assassination attempt on Trump over the weekend. He told reporters on the tarmac in Sparta that the main issue with Democrats is that they keep calling Trump a 'threat to democracy.' White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did so again on Tuesday. Democrats 'haven't learned a damn thing' he said at his rally with a few hundred MAGA supporters in the key swing state. 'I think it's time to say to the Democrats cut it out or you're going to get somebody killed,' the Republican vice presidential candidate said in his remarks. Vance will debate Walz in their one and only showdown on October 1. It will be moderated by CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell and Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan. The ABC News whistleblower document in question is allegedly a sworn statement penned by a staffer at the network. It was first published Sunday by an X account with the name 'Black Insurrectionist.' The unverified document, said to be a sworn affidavit signed by a notary public on September 9, has sparked controversy as it has spread online Pictured are some of the purported agreements reached by the two parties The document, said to be a sworn affidavit signed by a notary public the day before the debate, says the network gave Harris questions ahead of time while agreeing to a series of other preconditions to give the vice president an advantage over Trump. Prohibited at the debate were inquiries about Harris' stint as California Attorney General, as well as any questions involving her brother-in-law, Tony West, according to claims made in the document. It includes several other stipulations, as well as redactions protecting the whistleblower's identity. 'ABC News followed the debate rules that both campaigns agreed on... No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates,' the network said in a statement where it did not address the specific claims. The whistleblower said in the affidavit: 'I have worked for ABC news for over 10 years in various technical and administrative positions. The alleged staffer, who says they do not support Donald Trump, claims they 'observed significant transformations in the nature of news reporting at the organization' within that span, as well as a 'shift from unbiased reporting to a model influenced by external factors.' They state the intent of the affidavit is solely to 'address concerns regarding perceived biases within news reporting within my employer's debate.' John Swinney has been told to get over losing the independence referendum after making MSPs waste hours debating separation while public services are in crisis. The First Minister used Scottish Government time to commandeer the Holyrood chamber on the 10th anniversary of the 2014 vote that preserved the Union. Despite the decisive 55-45 result, he said his firm view was that Scots should have the opportunity to take that decision again. He said: This Parliament has confirmed its belief that it should be open to any nation of the United Kingdom to choose to withdraw from the union by democratic means - that is my view and I believe the view of this Parliament should be respected. After more than two hours of debate, Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater then held a second hour-long debate about the same subject. First Minister John Swinney remains focused on independence but he's been told to 'get over' losing referendum and concentrate on solving crisis-hit public services She joked earlier she had bad news, adding: Well be doing this all over again. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross accused Mr Swinney and his predecessors of presiding over a lost decade after refusing to accept defeat. Mr Ross said: Democracy is not about asking the same question time and time again until you get the result you want. Its about putting forward your arguments, trusting the people with that decision and then accepting their verdict. The Scottish people want us to move on and focus on the issues that matter to them. If that wasnt crystal clear for the SNP Government before the General Election, then it should be now. Accusing the Nationalists of forever blaming others and promising unicorns in an imaginary future, he went on: People want change. They can see that the services they use every day are getting worse. Hospitals overcrowded, schools underperforming, our police stretched to breaking point, and theyre being asked to pay more for that while getting less. They look to this parliament for answers, and they see this - a chamber trapped in a time warp, discussing an issue which addresses none of the challenges they are facing. After 17 years of SNP rule, Scotland is a country where alcohol and drugs kill thousands of people every year, where education standards are falling and classroom violence is rising, and where the health service is in crisis. Holyrood parliamentarians are growing weary of the long debates on independence that never happened as the empty seats show Scotland voted No to independence in 2014 Generations of Scots to come will wonder why some chose to continue to have the same arguments again and again, why the government of the day chose to indulge in fantasy politics, instead of dealing with the real issues faced by our country. So on this, the 10th anniversary of the 2014 referendum, my message to John Swinney and his SNP Government is simple: You lost. Get over it. Now let us move on. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said pointedly asked the First Minister: What has this SNP government been doing for the last 10 years? One in six Scots are on an NHS waiting list, A&E in turmoil... standards falling in our schools... our prison services at breaking point. They have been leading a campaign not a government, and they have been trying to hide their failures behind the smokescreen of the constitution. Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton accused SNP supporters of fanaticism, for refusing to change their minds or the subject. He said: The SNP have spent the last 10 years picking at the scab of their defeat. Labour MSP Sarah Boyack added: This debate and the last 17 years have been so frustrating, because the SNP Government has wasted the time and resources of Parliament to push the agenda of independence when it was rejected by the public in Scotland. Earlier, Mr Swinney admitted Scotland wont be independent until there is compelling and demonstrable majority support for it. The FM conceded Scots were mostly unpersuaded by separatism as a new poll showed even stronger backing for the Union than a decade ago. The YouGov survey for the Mail found 56 per cent would vote No and 44 per cent Yes. Speaking at an SNP event, Mr Swinney said he wanted to build support for independence through patient persuasion. He said there was no shortcut to independence, only the hard yards of convincing people it was the right choice, including No supporters. It amounted to putting the SNPs independence drive into the slow lane after its general election loss of 39 seats. It also marked a break from the gimmicks of the Nicola Sturgeon era, when the SNP promoted constitutional wheezes like a de facto referendum instead of wooing voters. Top Israeli officials have warned they are 'willing to go all the way' after two days of tech explosions plagued Hezbollah, killing 20 people. Israel's allies and enemies are manoeuvring to prepare for a potential all-out war after two days of deadly Hezbollah radio explosions. Dozens of victims sustained severe facial injuries, with doctors explaining how they were forced to cut out victims' eyeballs. Others had their hands blown off, or suffered gaping wounds in their abdomen had they concealed the pager on their hip. The world has already begun reacting to the second wave of attacks, with senior diplomats from the US, UK, Germany, France and Italy due to meet on Thursday in Paris to discuss a response to the spiralling tensions in the Middle East. The US has denied any involvement and wants to see the 'war end'. Sir Keir Starmer described the situation in Lebanon as 'deeply concerning' amid simmering tensions - as Hezbollah vowed revenge. Britain's Prime Minister described the situation in Lebanon as 'deeply concerning' In a statement released on social media, Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will return Israel's northern citizens to their homes The White House said the US was not involved in the wave of explosions that took place in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday and wants to see the 'war end' Explosions occurred in radio equipment across the country and south of the capital Beirut A radio device exploded in the city of Baalbek is seen in the living room where it blew up Pictures from inside a residential building appear to show blast damage People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon on September 18 Hezbollah, which is proscribed as a terror organisation by the UK, US and others, has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. It said Israel was 'fully responsible for this criminal aggression' and vowed revenge. Earlier today, the group said it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first strike at its arch-foe since the pager blasts. It said in a statement that it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should await a response to the pager 'massacre' which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead. Palestinian militant group Hamas blamed Israel for a new wave of device explosions in Lebanon Wednesday in which walkie-talkies exploded in Hezbollah strongholds. 'We strongly condemn the renewed and ongoing Zionist aggression against the brotherly Lebanese people,' Hamas said in a statement, adding that the attack, a day after Hezbollah pagers blew up, killing 12 people and wounding 2,800, 'now threatens the security and stability of the region'. Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq accused Israel of being responsible for the 'continuous attack on Lebanon', adding that Hamas reiterated its 'utmost support for Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance and the people of Lebanon.' In turn, a senior Israeli official has warned Hezbollah it risks an all-out war if it doesn't accept a ceasefire deal suggested by the US. They told Ynet: 'The one who can stop the escalation is Nasrallah if he announces that he is willing to accept the US framework. 'If not, we are willing to go all the way.' The director of a Beirut-based thinktank told Sky News that the blasts have the potential to 'throw Lebanon into a full-blown war with Israel'. Sami Nader, from the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, said the explosions were a 'hostile act'. He said the blasts also raised 'serious questions' about what would happen next. 'It was a very serious hostile act and it has all the potential to throw the country into a full-blown war with Israel, similar to the one that happened in 2006,' he added. Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant also declared the start of a 'new phase' of the war. Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant also declared the start of a 'new phase' of the war Gallant did not mention exploding pagers and walkie talkies but praised the work of Israel's army and security agencies, in a speech to troops today Lebanese army soldiers stand guard near a fire truck at the scene of a reported pager device explosion in Saida in southern Lebanon People donate blood, one day after pagers explosions, in the southern suburb of Beirut Gallant did not mention exploding pagers and walkie talkies but praised the work of Israel's army and security agencies, in a speech to troops today. He said their 'results are very impressive', as he told gathered soldiers that they are 'diverting forces, resources, and energy toward the north', according to the Times of Israel. Israel's army chief said his country has 'many capabilities' that have not yet been 'activated'. During a visit to northern troops, Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defence Force chief of staff, warned that Israel was 'very determined to create the security conditions that will bring the residents [of the north] back to their homes, to the towns, with a high level of security, and we are ready to do whatever is required to enable this'. Halevi said Israel has drawn up plans to attack Hezbollah, telling the Times of Israel: 'We have many capabilities that we have not yet activated. 'We have seen some of these things, it seems to me that we are well prepared and we are preparing these plans going forward. Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defence Forces Herzi Halevi, said Israel has drawn up plans to attack Hezbollah Chief of the General Staff of the IDF Herzi Halevi holds an assessment meeting People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Beirut, after hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated Lebanese soldiers taking precautions in the area after a new wave of wireless communications device explosions Iranians place carnations and a poster of Fatma Abdullah, nine, who was killed in the attacks, in front of the Lebanese Embassy in Tehran 'At each stage, the price for Hezbollah needs to be high.' Since yesterday's attack, the IDF revealed that it had struck a number of Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, with video showing an aerial raid on one alleged terrorist hideout. 'Closing a circle from the air, fighter jets attacked the building where the terrorists were operating,' the IDF said in a statement. 'In addition, warplanes attacked the organisation's military buildings in five different areas in southern Lebanon.' The Israeli military added in a statement this morning that it would 'continue to operate against the threat of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in order to defend the State of Israel.' In a statement released on social media, Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will return Israel's northern citizens to their homes. In a brief video statement, Netanyahu made no mention of the operation that remotely detonated thousands of pagers and hand-held radio devices used by operatives of Hezbollah, which has blamed the attack on Israel. 'I have said it before, we will return to the citizens of the north to their homes in security and that's exactly what we are going to do,' he said in a brief video statement, giving no further details. In separate remarks, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said more forces were being sent to the northern border, where Israel has been exchanging daily fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah for months, as the war moved into a new phase. 'The 'centre of gravity' is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena,' he said in remarks released by his office. In the UK, Downing Street has described the situation in Lebanon as 'deeply concerning' following the latest wave of attacks. In a statement, a Number 10 spokesperson said the Prime Minister and the Government 'continued to monitor the situation closely'. Lebanese security officers check a partly damaged car after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon Lebanese soldiers gather outside a damaged mobile shop after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon The White House's national security adviser, John Kirby, said the US still believes that 'there is a diplomatic path forward' 'We are working with our international partners to urge calm and de-escalation at this critical time,' a spokesperson told The Telegraph. A Foreign Office spokesperson added: 'We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and are concerned by the rising tensions and civilian casualties in Lebanon. 'The UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region.' The White House's national security adviser, John Kirby, said the US was not involved in the wave of explosions that took place in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. 'We were not involved in yesterday's incidents or today's in any way,' Kirby told reporters in a briefing. He added that the US still believes that 'there is a diplomatic path forward'. The UN Secretary-General has said he is 'deeply alarmed' by the reports of exploding pagers and walkie talkies in Lebanon and Syria. 'The secretary general urges all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation,' his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric continued, adding that he is calling for a 'return to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability'. Earlier today, Antonio Guterres warned that the pager blasts targeting Hezbollah indicate 'a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon and everything must be done to avoid that escalation.' Earlier today, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the pager blasts targeting Hezbollah indicate 'a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon and everything must be done to avoid that escalation' Lebanese people arrive at blood donation centre in Beirut to donate blood on the call of Ministry Of Public Health following the attacks Boy scouts raise the picture of a fellow scout, killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, during the funeral procession of some of those killed, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18 A picture circulating online appears to show one of the radio devices after it detonated 'Obviously the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation,' he told reporters ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly . He also said that it was very important not to weaponize civilian objects. Guterres 'urges all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation,' his spokesman Stephane Dujarric later said in a statement. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for an independent investigation into the events surrounding exploding pagers. Guterres also issued a statement on social media in response to the blasts across the Middle East. He said: 'I'm deeply alarmed by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon & Syria, killing at least 11 people, including children, and injuring thousands. 'All actors must exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation.' He also urged governments 'not to weaponize civilian objects'. United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday's attack had come at an 'extremely volatile time', calling the blasts 'shocking' and their impact on civilians 'unacceptable'. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in the Middle East. Mr Blinken's visit to Cairo marks the 10th trip to the region since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel. His visit aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in the Middle East A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded on September 17 And Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib warned the 'blatant assault on Lebanon's sovereignty and security' was a dangerous development that could 'signal a wider war'. Elsewhere, Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson slammed the Lebanon blasts as a 'heinous act of terrorism'. Maria Zakharova told RT: 'All the signs are there of an international terrorist attack because it is obvious that in order to gather such a large amount of equipment, it had to be brought in, crossing several borders. 'Obviously, there is an international trail in this and it should be investigated accordingly. 'Now the reaction of the west should be indicative. If the west remains silent, and as always, does not insist on an investigation, does not talk about human rights, does not repeat its rhetoric of many years, which they have used in similar cases when terrorist acts were committed on their territory, then this will be proof of their direct engagement.' Beirut's hospitals are reportedly still at full capacity following yesterday's attacks, with medical aid being rapidly diverted to the already crippled country as it deals with the catastrophe. The repetition of the clandestine attacks, which Israel has not officially taken responsibility for, will raise already spiking tensions in the region to fever pitch, with Israel moving additional troops to its northern border and Lebanon's foreign minister warning that the blasts are an omen of a widening war. A drone hovers in the sky during the funeral of persons killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut today Smoke billows from a house in Baalbek in east Lebanon after a reported explosion of a radio It has been alleged that Mossad, working in collaboration with Israel's Defence Forces (IDF), was behind yesterday's pager attacks, with Hezbollah officials already laying blame for the latest attacks with Israel. Officials in Jerusalem have thus far declined to comment on yesterday's pager blasts, but Axios reports that two sources 'with knowledge of the operation' confirmed Israel's involvement. Weapons experts and regional analysts have suggested that Israeli intelligence would have been capable of staging the pager attacks. It has been widely theorised that intelligence services could have infiltrated the supply chain to plant a small quantity of high explosives within the pagers before they were delivered to Lebanon in the spring. These rigged devices were subsequently distributed to thousands of unsuspecting members across the political, military, operational and medical branches of Hezbollah before they were eventually detonated on Tuesday afternoon. A Taiwanese pager maker has denied that it had produced the pager devices which exploded in the audacious attack. Gold Apollo said the devices were made by under licence by a company called BAC, based in Hungary's capital Budapest. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, who studied in London and lists 'disaster management' as one of her skills, is listed as the Chief Executive of the company. She has denied any involvement with the pagers. A spokesperson for the government of Hungary today flatly denied that the pagers were assembled in the central European country. Zoltan Kovacs, secretary of state for public diplomacy and relations of Hungary, said in a post to X: 'Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary. 'During further investigations, Hungarian national security services are cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organisations. 'To Hungary, this case poses no national security risk.' The powerful Teamsters union elected not to endorse either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris for president, in a stunning blow to the Democrat. The move comes weeks after Teamsters boss Sean OBrien spoke to the Republican national convention, and days after Harris met with union leaders. A letter from the unions executive board reveals there was a split in the membership, and that there was erosion in support for the Democrat when Joe Biden stepped back in July. President Joe Biden won the support of Teamsters voting in straw polls at local unions between April-July prior to his exit from the race, the statement said, pointing to polling data of members. But in independent electronic and phone polling from July-September, a majority of voting members twice selected Trump for a possible Teamsters endorsement over Harris The unions extensive member polling showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for President Trump. That left the leadership of the union that includes truckers and a range of other professions with the difficult position of selecting a candidate who didnt have strong backing from its own membership. The Teamsters union isn't endorsing either candidate, in a political win for former President Donald Trump The union, which is more conservative than many other unions that align with Democrats, hasn't backed a Republican since 1988. It similarly did not endorse in 1996 during Bill Clinton's reelection campaign. The high-impact move comes in an election where rust belt battlegrounds are critical. Public polling shows Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all with strong union membership, up for grabs. It is the only one of the nation's top ten unions not to back Harris. According to data released by the union, rank-and-file picked Trump over Harris by 60-34 percent. Vice President Harris had sought the group's support, although the union boss did not speak at her convention after speaking at Trump's The announcement was the latest labor move in a closely fought election. Biden made a point of marching with striking UAW workers earlier this year. And Trump drew controversy with an approving comment to Elon Musk on the X platform when Musk spoke about firing striking workers. The Teamsters also hit both candidates for failing to pledge to back them on core issues. 'After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up nearly a year of rank-and-file roundtable interviews with all major candidates for the presidency, the union was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harrisand found no definitive support among members for either partys nominee,' it said. Harris did not speak to reporters when she met with Teamsters leaders days ago. The AFL-CIO, with its 12.5 million workers, got behind Harris this summer, and the United Auto Workers also support her. The announcement came hours after big market news, with the Fed announcing an interest rate cut of 50 basis points. It was the first rate cut since the start of the pandemic, and showed a decrease in inflation. Before he dropped out, Biden had been leading Harris in Teamsters polling, 44 to 36 percent. A Trump campaign statement treated the non-endorsement like a victory. 'While the Teamsters Executive Board is making no formal endorsement, the hardworking members of the Teamsters have been loud and clear they want President Trump back in the White House! These hardworking men and women are the backbone of America and President Trump will strongly stand up for them when hes back in the White House,' said national press secretary Karoline Leavitt. At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment but called Biden the 'most pro-union president ever' and said he's 'proud to have that title.' Ukraine's devastating kamikaze drone on an 'indestructible' Russian arms depot was detected as an earthquake by NASA sensors. The attack, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, ripped through two missile and ammunition hubs some 235 miles west of Moscow, causing a huge mushroom cloud to billow high above the night sky. Repeated fireball explosions followed the initial strikes as Putin lost tens of millions of pounds worth of material to be funnelled into his war effort in Ukraine. NASA satellites picked up several heat sources emanating from the site at the time and earthquake monitoring stations picked up what sensors thought was a minor earthquake in the area. The incident triggered a mass evacuation of residents in Toropets and nearby villages, with facilities containing up to 30,000 tons of munitions were hit. Flames shot into the sky early Wednesday as Ukrainian drones pummelled an 'indestructible' Russian arms depot in Toropets Fires spread after kamikaze drones hit the missile and ammunition site in Toropets The attack, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, ripped through two missile and ammunition hubs some 235 miles west of Moscow (pictured) According to an RIA state news agency report from 2018, Russia was building an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets, a 1,000-year-old town, which has a population of just over 11,000. Upon completion, Putin's deputy defence minister General Dmitry Bulgakov vowed that 'it protects missiles and munitions from outside impact and ensures proper upkeep. It is explosion and fire proof.' Bulgakov has since been arrested in a Putin purge of top defence ministry officials amid wide-ranging corruption allegations. Fire fighters were trying to contain the fire, Igor Rudenya, the governor of the Tver region, said in a post on the Telegram. He did not say what was burning. He initially wrote: 'air defence forces continue to repel a massive drone attack in the sky above [Toropets].' Later his regional government said that 'in order to ensure the safety of residents, the governor decided to partially evacuate the population from the territory where air defence forces are working and the fire is being localised'. Schools and kindergartens in the area were also ordered to close on Wednesday due to ongoing explosions and toxic smoke. Residents of the town complained no alerts sounded about incoming kamikaze drones. A satellite image shows an overview of the ammunition depot after the explosion in Toropets Slide me A satellite image shows the rail line in ammunition storage area before (left) and after (right) the explosion Slide me A satellite image shows ammunition bunkers before (left) and after (right) the explosion As well as the main inferno after the mushroom cloud explosion, there were several more fires following the drone onslaught, according to satellite data and local footage. The fires then spread. Multiple depots containing up to 240 tons of missiles, ammunition and explosives were built in Toropets. Ukrainian war journalist Denis Kazansky said: 'The scale of the detonation of the warehouse in the Tver region is impressive. 'The 107th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Federation is on fire.' The depots 'stored rockets for MLRS, mortar mines and anti-aircraft missiles', he said. 'In total, the volume of stockpiles is estimated at 30,000 tons.' It is possible that North Korean and Iranian missiles were among those that exploded and incinerated. Bulgakov had boasted that the arsenal 'will hide missiles, munitions and explosives in concrete and rapidly assembled warehouses. 'It will ease the overload on existing facilities, minimise terrorist threat and improve the environment in the storage area'. Kindergartens had to be closed on Wednesday as toxic smoke plumed above the town Residents of the town complained no alerts sounded about incoming kamikaze drones The facility is some 285 miles from the Ukrainian border. As usual in such strikes, Russian officials explained the detonations as being due to falling drone debris after air defences hit incoming UAVs. In reality, these are usually direct hits by Ukraine evading air defences. Russian officials rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks. As Ukraine has ramped up its domestic drone production over the past two years, it has increased attacks on Russian territory. Ukraine's biggest-ever drone attack struck the Russian capital in September, killing at least one, wrecking homes and disrupting flights at Moscow's airports. A newly resurfaced video of Kamala Harris shows her talking about law enforcement entering the locked homes of gun owners to make sure they are storing their weapons properly. Harris spoke about the issue in 2007 when she was the district attorney of San Francisco during a press conference on new gun control laws with then-Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom and other city officials. 'Just because you legally possess a gun in the sanctity of your locked home doesn't mean that we're not going to walk into that home and check to see if you're being responsible and safe in the way you conduct your affairs,' Harris said. At the time, Harris repeated it was 'time' to enact the new laws and that it was 'the right thing to do.' Harris voiced her threat to check on gun owners even after Newsom argued earlier in the press conference that the legislation would not allow law enforcement to knock on everyone's doors to make sure they were following the law. San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris warned gun owners to keep their guns locked up or face consequences from San Francisco law enforcement 'We're not going to knock on everybody's door, we're not going to break in and inspect...' Newsom said when asked how he would enforce the law. But Harris seemed to relish the idea of using the new law to ensure better behavior from gun owners. 'When we create laws, it's not only about creating an opportunity, if you will, to prosecute someone for committing a crime, but more importantly, when we legislate our values, it's about trying to encourage certain types of behavior,' she said. During the press conference, Harris also spoke in favor of a requirement for known gun offenders to have their names on a government registry, just like sex offenders and gang members. 'We need to monitor where they live, have them check in from time to time and let us know where they are,' Harris said. 'Because when we're starting to figure out who owned a gun or monitor their behavior ... we need to know where they are.' The legislation proposed by Harris would make it mandatory to store guns in a locked location She said she fully expected to hear from the National Rifle Association as a result of their proposal. 'Oh we will,' she laughed. 'I've heard from them before and I'm sure we'll here from them again.' The video sparked alarm from gun owners across the United States. 'This is openly totalitarian. If we don't resist this, we're done,' journalist Tucker Carlson wrote on social media. The National Rifle Association also reacted negatively on social media. 'Kamala Harris wants mass gun confiscation, and shes willing to weaponize the government to enter your home and seize your legally owned guns,' the organization stated. Harris has long supported more restrictions on gun ownership in America, including taking the unusual step of supporting a government-sponsored mandatory gun buyback program. Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris Vice is interviewed by National Association of Black Journalists In 2024, however, Harris is trying to walk back some of her more radical gun control proposals as she is running for president. 'Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We're not taking anybody's guns away. So stop with the continuous lying about this stuff,' she said during the presidential debate with former President Donald Trump. Harris also struggled to answer a question about limiting handguns during an event with the Association of Black Journalists, reminding them of her past protest of a gun show in San Francisco. 'I also have been adamant for years and in fact I myself have protested at a gun show probably 10-15 years ago about the gun show loophole and the need to close that,' Harris replied. Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Labour of undermining Israel as a second wave of booby-traps rocked the Middle East. In an interview with the Mail, Israel's prime minister attacked Sir Keir Starmer's 'misguided' administration. And he accused the Prime Minister of sending a horrible message to Hamas after the UK Government suspended a raft of arms licences to Israel. The Jewish States longest serving leader also slammed looming arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) as preposterous in his first British newspaper interview since the October 7 attack. His responses were given days before thousands of Hezbollah fighters were maimed when hand-held pagers exploded in Syria and Lebanon on Tuesday. Yesterday another 14 people were killed and 450 injured when walkie-talkies used by the terror group detonated across Lebanon. Israel has not yet commented on either attack although it is widely believed they were orchestrated by the countrys spy agency Mossad Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Labour of undermining Israel as a second wave of booby-traps rocked the Middle East. Pictured: Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem on September 2 People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon September 18 In an interview with the Mail, Israel's prime minister attacked Sir Keir Starmer 's 'misguided' administration A video grab which shows a walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon In an astonishing broadside at Sir Keir, Mr Netanyahu told the Mail: After the October 7 Hamas massacre, the previous British government was clear in its support. Unfortunately, the current government is sending mixed messages. 'They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but they undermine our ability to exercise that right both by reversing Britains position on the absurd allegations made by the ICC prosecutor against Israel and by blocking weapons sales to Israel as we fight against the genocidal terrorist organisation that carried out the October 7 massacre. Sir Keir told Parliament at the time that the difficult issue of a partial arms embargo was a legal decision not a policy decision. He said the decision was taken following a review by the Foreign Office into Israels conduct in the war against Hamas. But the timing of the partial arms embargo was criticised coming days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages. Netanyahu accused the Prime Minister of 'sending a horrible message' to Hamas after the UK Government suspended a raft of arms licences to Israel - Netanyahu standing next to a map of the Gaza trip People react after a reported explosion occurred during the funeral of those killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024 People and first responders gather at the scene of a reported device explosion in Saida in southern Lebanon on September 18 Lebanese security officers check a partly damaged car after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon September 18, 2024 When his office announced the measure, a spokesman for the PM said this was a proposal by the previous government which was not submitted before the Election. But Mr Netanyahu slammed the move, saying: Israel is waging a just war with just means, taking unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harms way and comporting fully with international law. Most recently, the new UK government suspended 30 arms licences to Israel, days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, sending a horrible message to Hamas. 'These misguided decisions will not change Israels determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people, including five British hostages. 'Just as Britains heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defeating barbarism, so too will history judge Israels stand against Hamas and Irans axis of terror. Israel will win this war and secure our common future. A grab taken from video footage from October 7 last year of a person fleeing the Nova Music Festival Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, who studied in London and lists 'disaster management' as one of her skills, is listed as the Chief Executive of the Hungarian-based company BAC Consulting said to have supplied the devices to the Lebanese group A radio device exploded in the city of Baalbek is seen as wireless communications device explosions across Lebanon have killed at least 14 A drone hovers in the sky during the funeral of persons killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18 Lebanese soldiers gather outside a damaged mobile shop after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon Israelis embrace next to photos of people killed and taken captive by Hamas militants during the Nova Music festival on October 7 Israeli soldiers look at photos of people killed and taken captive by Hamas militants on October 7 A wave of wireless communications device explosions across Lebanon on Wednesday killed at least 14 people People injured in the explosion are brought to Baalbek Governmental Hospital as wireless communications device explosions across Lebanon The ICC is expected to issue warrants against Mr Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes over the conflict in Gaza which Hamas says has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians. Rishi Sunaks government had reportedly filed an amicus brief saying it would challenge the court over the decision in June. In return, Britain would get access to the prison conditions of Hamas terrorists held by Israel amid mounting concern over human rights abuses being committed. But, since coming to power, Sir Keirs administration has signalled it will no longer challenge any warrant from the ICC breaking with allies such as the US. Mr Netanyahu added: The Labour Government decided to drop its challenge to the preposterous ICC arrest warrants that were requested by the ICC prosecutor against the prime minister and the defence minister of Israel. If the arrest warrants are issued against the leaders of the only democracy in the Middle East, it will compromise the ability of all democracies in the world to fight terrorism, including Britain. A grab of a Palestinian militant at the Nova music festival in the Negev desert in southern Israel last October Discarded belongings and rubbish in the aftermath of the Nova festival Hamas attack Charred and damaged cars along a desert road after an attack by Hamas militants at the Tribe of Nova Trance music festival near Kibbutz Re'im in southern Israel on October 7 People watch as smoke rises from a building following an explosion, as hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated across Lebanon's south and in Beirut suburbs Festivalgoers fleeing the Nova Music Festival in Israel on October 7 last year after Hamas invaded Lebanese people arrive at blood donation center in Beirut to donate blood on the call of Ministry Of Public Health The death toll rose to 14, including two children, according to the Lebanese health ministry, while nearly 3,000 people were injured 'President Biden and others called these arrest warrants 'outrageous'. Britain's General Sir John McColl... said after visiting Gaza, 'I fought in Iraq I know Israel is doing all it can to save civilians'. 'For the ICC prosecutor to falsely accuse the leader of Israel of deliberate starvation and deliberately targeting civilians is an outrageous slander that cant be explained by anything other than anti-Semitism and will forever stain the ICCs reputation. The principle is simple: justice for all nations except the Jews. Mr Netanyahu also hit out at rising anti-Semitism on British streets, saying: Britain is witnessing shameless anti-Semitism on its campuses, at its city centres and in many parts of the country. It is worrisome. I trust and expect that the UK leadership will take the necessary steps to root out this scourge. A Foreign Office source last night said the government remains 'a friend of Israel'. But a spokesman said that 'regrettably' Israel had failed to address concerns about alleged human rights violations. The spokesman added: 'We have been absolutely clear that when taking military action to support its legitimate right to self-defence, Israel must adhere to International Humanitarian Law. 'The UK has raised concerns about these issues over many months, and so have other allies. Regrettably, these concerns have not been satisfactorily addressed. 'Our priority remains achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, the hostages released, civilians protected and aid flood in. 'There is no place in Britain for antisemitism, and we will not relent in our work to root out hatred in all forms. This government is committed to multi-year funding for the Community Security Trust, and working with the Jewish Community and police to ensure that everyone feels safe on our streets.' Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the worlds most controversial elected leaders a patriot to his supporters and a villain to his enemies. Since Hamas launched its barbaric terrorist attack on October 7 last year, killing perhaps 1,200 people and seizing some 255 hostages in the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, Bibi has faced widespread criticism at home and abroad for the unflinching nature of his response even as Israel fights an existential battle for its own survival. Some critics have accused him of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, following the terror groups claims that 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during the IDFs operations there. Other opponents insist that he is failing to do enough to secure the release of the 101 remaining hostages while still others argue he is dragging out the war to save his own political skin. The 74-year-old is currently on trial for bribery and fraud and even has a potential arrest warrant looming over him for war crimes. Presenting himself as a tough wartime leader, his domestic enemies insist, helps him to deflect and delay such issues. He divides opinion, then but he is undoubtedly one of the most consequential figures on the planet, leading his country at a time of immense peril. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Keir Starmers misguided new government is sending a horrible message to Hamas Now he stands on the brink of outright war on a second front after Mossad, Israels famed intelligence agency, apparently planted explosives in pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah in Lebanon, injuring thousands of the Iranian proxys militants. Already experts are concerned about the risk of further escalation and whether or not Israel will seize the opportunity to invade its northern neighbour, where Hezbollah has killed around 50 Israelis, including women and children, in a relentless series of rocket attacks since October 7, displacing tens of thousands. It has been one of the most dramatic weeks in the region since last years atrocity yet Netanyahu took the time to answer written questions exclusively for the Daily Mail, in his first British newspaper interview for years. The Israeli PM has blasted Keir Starmers misguided new government, accusing it of sending a horrible message to Hamas as shameless anti-Semitism is on display across the country. Earlier this month, the fledgling Labour administration was accused of pandering to anti-Israel sentiment on its own backbenches after Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended 30 arms export licences to the Middle Easts only democracy. This extraordinary move followed Labours dropping of Britains objections to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant being issued against Netanyahu for such charges as starvation of civilians, intentionally attacking civilians and murder. In emphatic terms, Netanyahu told the Mail: After the October 7 Hamas massacre, the previous British government [under Rishi Sunak] was clear in its support. Unfortunately, the current government is sending mixed messages. 'They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but they undermine our ability to exercise that right both by reversing Britains position on the absurd allegations made by the ICC Prosecutor against Israel and by blocking weapons sales to Israel as we fight against the genocidal terrorist organisation that carried out the October 7 massacre. Israeli troops conducting a military operation in the Gaza Strip today He added: Most recently, the new UK government suspended 30 arms licences to Israel, days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, sending a horrible message to Hamas. These misguided decisions will not change Israels determination to defeat Hamas [which] savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people including five British hostages. However, Netanyahu stressed that the war need not drag on for ever. Directly addressing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds of October 7, Netanyahu said: Lay down your arms, free the hostages and surrender. That would end the war instantly. But as the conflict approaches its one-year anniversary, that scenario seems increasingly unlikely. Multiple attempts to reach a ceasefire have collapsed and more than 2,000 Israeli soldiers have been killed or injured. And while international protests against Israel started even before the IDF entered Gaza, recent weeks have seen angry demonstrations swell within the Jewish state, although it should be stressed that his party is now the most popular in the country. Last month, after Hamas murdered six hostages, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to demand Netanyahu make a deal to free those still being held. But experts believe that the war is only becoming more entrenched. Only yesterday, in the aftermath of the deadly pager and walkie-talkie explosions, Israels defence minister boasted that the conflict had entered a new phase. Israels allies increasingly fear that a wider war could swiftly erupt. For his part, the PM insists that his primary goal remains to bring the hostages home. I am doing everything possible to free the hostages and win the war, he said. I will not rest until that is achieved. But critics claim he is prolonging the war to survive politically as he fights corruption charges. In 2019, Netanyahu was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust for alleged offences in three cases. He is said to have accepted luxury gifts of cigars and champagne and, worse, to have struck backroom deals with a newspaper baron and a telecoms boss. Flames rise up a building in Lebanon amid the explosions across the country today He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and insists he is the victim of a witch hunt but the trials have rumbled on. In 2021, he was finally ousted from power, ending his 12-year second stint as PM. (He had previously been elected for three years between 1996-1999.) Journalists penned his political obituary for a second time but somehow, the man known as the Magician came back. On December 29, 2022, Netanyahu managed to scramble a hardline Right-wing coalition and returned as PM. Within five days, his new administration announced plans to overhaul the judiciary which his critics insisted was a brazen attempt to influence his own trials. The measures sparked mass protests and then, months later, Hamas attacked in the most devastating day for Israel since the Yom Kippur War almost 50 years prior. Asked if he was putting his desire to wriggle out of the charges above freeing the hostages, the Israeli leader hit back: I am not concerned with my future, but with the future of my country, he insisted. This is what guides all my decisions. The real obstacle to freeing the hostages is Hamas that inhumanely keeps them in underground dungeons. In Israel, Prime Ministers are not immune to legal actions. Referring to a fourth corruption case dropped last year, he added: The legal proceedings in my case have been going on for three years, and they are unravelling. A year ago, the judges urged the prosecution to drop its charge of bribery. In any case, the trial is totally independent of the war. There is no substitute for victory, and I seek to achieve it as soon as possible. Asked for his ceasefire conditions, Netanyahu said: We will destroy Hamass military and governing capabilities, return the hostages and ensure Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future. But what does victory actually look like? No comprehensive blueprint has emerged for how the Strip might be governed if and when the terror group is destroyed. Israel has no more desire to occupy Gaza than the Palestinians have for it to do so. Neighbouring Arab countries such as Egypt and Jordan have also refused to commit to running the territory. We do not intend to occupy Gaza, Netanyahu stressed to the Mail. After Hamas is destroyed, Gaza will need to be demilitarised and deradicalised and rebuilt by peace-seeking parties. Lets hope so. Every day, war with Hezbollah a far more sophisticated Iranian proxy than Hamas, and one that has launched almost daily rocket attacks in Israel since October 7 edges closer. Our interview was conducted shortly before Mossads attack on Hezbollahs communications infrastructure. Asked whether, in the event diplomacy should fail, he was willing to go to war in Lebanon, Netanyahu answered: Hezbollahs unprovoked attacks on Israel beginning on October 8 have caused 60,000 Israelis to evacuate their homes along our border with Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon. An online image appearing to show one of the radio devices after it detonated in Lebanon A car on fire in Lebanon today, reportedly as the result of an exploding device Israel has eliminated about 650 Hezbollah terrorists, including their senior military commander, and destroyed thousands of rockets. We do not seek escalation in Lebanon, but are committed to return our citizens safely to their homes. That will be achieved diplomatically or with other means. Supporters stress Netanyahu secured the Abraham Accords in 2020, using trade partnerships to normalise relations with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. It was a milestone in the peace process, but October 7 changed everything. Now Israel appears one miscalculation away from direct war not only with Irans proxies but the theocracy itself. Following alarming reports last week that Tehran may have been passed nuclear secrets by Russia, the Israeli PM told us it is high time that Britain woke up to the menace of the mullahs. For the past 30 years I have warned the world about the threat posed by Iran, and Israel has acted to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, he said. Our actions delayed a nuclear Iran by about a decade, but the jury is still out on all of us [sic]. Today, Iran is closer to becoming a nuclear power. This would threaten Israel, Britain and the entire world. Today, more and more countries understand that. What are required are crippling sanctions and a credible military threat to prevent Iran from completing its pursuit of nuclear weapons. What is also needed is a common defence against its aggression in the Middle East. I was encouraged by the international coalition that helped ward off Irans rocketing of Israel in April, and that same coalition is in place now. I appreciate the fact that this policy is continued by the present British government. With US elections approaching, it has been suggested that Netanyahu is privately rooting for Donald Trump to come to his aid, not least after the Democrat candidate, Kamala Harris, vowed that she will not be silent about alleged atrocities in Gaza. As in any democracy, it is for the American people to decide whom they elect as President, Netanyahu insisted. We will continue to work with whoever they elect to further the common values and interests shared by the American and Israeli peoples. These are strong ties that are maintained through changing governments in Israel and America. Meanwhile, the accidental killing of three British aid workers by the IDF in April provoked shock and outrage across the UK. Netanyahus office told the Mail that the officers responsible have since been reprimanded. It added that his forces owe it to the victims to do everything they can to prevent such tragedies. But as the death toll continues to mount in Gaza and beyond, Israel and its embattled leader look increasingly isolated. As the world holds its breath again, it is surely to be hoped that the Magician has a few final tricks up his sleeve: to end the war quickly, to secure the release of the hostages and to prevent the region from becoming engulfed in a conflict that could jeopardise the security of the world. The Foreign Office is flying the Bisexual Awareness Week flag, prompting fresh calls for David Lammy to rethink his priorities. Two of the pink, purple and blue banners are displayed in the courtyard of the department's historic Grade I-listed headquarters in Westminster. It is the only Whitehall government department building outwardly marking Bisexual Awareness Week. Critics questioned why the ministry responsible for foreign policy and diplomacy is focusing on promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) events at a time of deepening conflict in the Middle East as well as the war in Ukraine. The spectacle comes just a day after Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy claimed climate change was a 'more fundamental' threat than terrorism or dictators such as Vladimir Putin. Two of the pink, purple and blue banners are displayed in the courtyard of the Foreign Office's historic Grade I-listed headquarters in Westminster. It is the only Whitehall government department building outwardly marking Bisexual Awareness Week The spectacle has prompted fresh calls for David Lammy, pictured Tuesday, to rethink his priorities. Critics have questioned why the ministry responsible for foreign policy and diplomacy is focusing on promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) events at a time of deepening conflict in the Middle East as well as the war in Ukraine But the flags were celebrated by senior civil servants. Corin Robertson, director-general of finance and corporate at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), posted a photo of the flags on social media with the caption: 'Happy bisexuality awareness week.' Sarah Lingard, deputy director of delivery, projects and consultancy, shared the post, adding: 'Now this is a workplace I can be proud to be myself in.' Kate Barker, chief executive of the LGB Alliance, challenged the FCDO to fly the flag in countries where people were persecuted for their sexuality. 'We would love to see UK embassies proudly flying the flag in countries where people are criminalised and even murdered by the state for being same-sex attracted.' Last night a Tory party spokesman told the Mail: 'Labour have revealed their real priorities when it comes to foreign affairs. 'In an incredibly dangerous, unstable world the first and foremost job of the Foreign Office must be standing up to those who threaten us. 'Labour ministers should be flying the flag for Britain abroad, not spending taxpayers' money on woke virtue-signalling.' First responders put out a fire in an open in Lod near Tel Aviv, caused by a missile fired from Yemen on September 15, 2024 A view of the heavily damaged and partially destroyed houses aftermath of the Russian attack on the village of Komyshuvakha in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region on September 17, 2024 There are questions over whether the FCDO should have applied for planning permission from Westminster City Council, as the bisexual pride flag is not on a list of those that can be flown without consent. The FCDO declined to say if it had done so, but a spokesman said: 'The FCDO stands for inclusivity, diversity and acceptance, both at home and abroad. 'We celebrate the diversity of our staff throughout the year.' The biggest alleged cocaine gang in Sydney has been shut down following mass raids after the group allegedly sold a staggering $1.8billion of cocaine in just four months. Police arrested six men who are allegedly part of an extensive organised crime network dubbed 'The Commission' in sweeping raids early on Wednesday morning. The men are allegedly the backbone of the drug cartel and allegedly controlled the price and distribution of cocaine in Sydney. The police operation began in July when a 21-year-old man from Guilford, in Sydney's west, was found with a kilogram of cocaine and an additional 12kg in a nearby car. He was charged with two counts of supply prohibited drug large commercial quantity, knowingly deal with proceeds of crime and participate criminal group contribute criminal activity. The drugs involved had a street value of more than $20million. The arrest set investigators on the trail of a group allegedly involved in the large-scale supply of cocaine in the NSW capital. NSW police, along with investigators from the Crime Commission and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, established Strikeforce Barograph to investigate the syndicate's alleged large-scale supply of cocaine. The syndicate allegedly supplied more than 1.2 tonnes of cocaine to NSW between February and July, this year - an estimated street value in excess of $1.8billion. Strike force detectives executed 20 search warrants at homes across Sydney at about 6am on Wednesday. The biggest alleged cocaine gang in Sydney has been shut down following mass raids after the group allegedly sold a staggering $1.8billion of cocaine in just four months The men are allegedly the backbone of the drug cartel known as 'The Commission' and allegedly controlled the price and distribution of cocaine in Sydney Pictured, police seized $80,000 in cash from the raids Jibreel Bakir, 25, and his brother Laith Bakir, 26, along with Duy Nguyen, 34, Akrom Hamzy, 27, Houssam Khoder-Agha, 27, and Khalid Mohamed, 33, were arrested. The six men were all charged with numerous offences related to their alleged roles in The Commission. During the searches, police located and seized 20kg of cocaine - that was allegedly found in a bag that was thrown over a fence -, ten cars, $800,000 in cash, a Rolex watch, four firearms, two ballistic vests and multiple electronic devices. The cars were taken to Bass Hill Police Station where officers allegedly located over 12kg of cocaine stored in hidden compartments in the vehicles known as 'hides'. The combined street value of the cocaine located is in excess of $55 million. 'Police today have uprooted allegedly one of the most dangerous and destructive groups Sydney has seen to date,' NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said. 'I am confident that today's arrests will make the community safer and make this dangerous drug harder to find.' Police will allege in court that the group deliberately controlled the supply of imported drugs to increase their profits releasing minimal drugs some weeks and then flooding then flooding the streets with up to 250kg in others. It will further be alleged that the group used a sophisticated system of hidden compartments in their vehicles to transport and hide the cocaine. Commander of Organised Crime Squad Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said the organised crime underworld would feel the consequences of the arrests. 'We have just taken out the group that has allegedly played the role of government, bank and economy to Sydney's criminal underworld,' Det Supt Faux said. 'These arrests today will result in many criminals becoming unemployed as the large-scale drug supply that finances their crimes dries up.' The combined street value of the cocaine located during the search warrants was is in excess of $55 million Six men, aged between 25 and 34, were arrested and charged with numerous offences related to their alleged roles in the gang During the searches, police also seized ten cars, $800,000 in cash, a Rolex watch (pictured), four firearms, two ballistic vests and multiple electronic devices Det Sup Faux also warned other criminal groups against filling the grab left by the arrests. 'For those criminal groups who intend to fill this hole left by yesterday's arrests, know that we are waiting for you,' Det Supt Faux said. '[We] are fully prepared to prosecute you for any crimes you commit that endanger the public of NSW.' Jibreel Bakir faced court on Wednesday and was charged with 13 offences including dealing with the proceeds of crime and supplying a large commercial of a prohibited drug. Bakir did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody. He is scheduled to face court again on November 13. The other five men were charged with similar offences and are set to face court on Thursday. The Commission, which is believed to be led by Comanchero bikie bosses, made its first appearance in Sydney's underworld scene in early 2021. It's understood the group emerged by placing a tax on the drug imports of other criminal gangs in an effort to boost drug prices following the Covid pandemic. Several thousand light years from now, when the Earth lies barren amid post-apocalyptic nuclear fallout, an alien race will arrive in Edinburgh to study this lost, primitive civilisation known as mankind. As they dig through the rubble they will discover a copy of the Scottish parliament Business Bulletin dated 6014 AD, and it will read: 2pm, Scottish Government Debate: Building the Case for Independence. I dont know how many times Holyrood has held this debate. Dozens, at least. I dont know what else there is to say. But the SNP is having a difficult time and John Swinney had to toss something to the wolves. So once again MSPs gathered to relitigate the 2014 referendum. If you didnt tune in, and I hope for your sake you didnt, know that you missed nothing. Thats no exaggeration. John Swinney and MSPs at Holyrood yesterday, where not a single new point was made in debate Not a single new point was made, just the latest restatement of the same stale arguments youve been hearing for a decade. There are episodes of Mrs Browns Boys with fresher material. Swinney said the 2014 campaign had featured lively discussions. Oh, I remember. There were the Labour MPs taunted in the street with cries of traitor, Uncle Tom and grotesque impersonations of American slaves. There was Blair McDougall, then director of Better Together and now a Labour MP, who was carrying his three-year-old daughter through Glasgow city centre when a man wearing an SNP badge spat at him and called him a c***. The Scottish Secretary at the time, Alistair Carmichael, was warned not to travel alone on public transport in the aftermath of the vote. Lively, indeed. The First Minister told MSPs Scotland had been the home of poets, painters, engineers, doctors and thinkers throughout the ages. It would still be today, only theyve all relocated to Carlisle for tax purposes. We were a nation on the cutting edge of solving many of the 21st centurys most complex challenges. With the greatest respect, were a nation thats not even on the cutting edge of building boats capable of sailing. The centurys most complex challenges will have to take a ticket and get in line. Swinney said the positive impact of devolution was indisputable. Its had an impact, all right. Then again, so did the Chicxulub asteroid. The SNP leader urged his opponents to agree that people living in Scotland are substantially better off with a parliament that fights their corner. Youll recall that when polls showed Scots were dead against the Hate Crime Bill and gender reforms, parliament fought their corner by ignoring them and passing the legislation anyway. The more Swinney hymned the Athenian glories of the referendum (no better example of modern democracy in action), the more I wondered what strength of prescription he had in his rose-tinted spectacles. Things were different now, though. The powers and autonomy of the Scottish parliament had been eroded by Westminster. The First Minister describes the most banal, benign actions of the UK Government in the blood-curdling tones of a Stephen King novel. So much so that you wish the real Westminster was a bit more like the imaginary one inside Swinneys head. If I have to sit through many more of these independence debates, eroding the powers of the Scottish parliament will sound pretty appealing. Ukraine should be allowed to join Nato 'now', Boris Johnson has urged. The former prime minister has said the move would be the 'single biggest step' the West could take to end Russia's war. He admitted the United States and its allies would be alarmed about Ukraine joining the military alliance while fighting was ongoing. It would mean all 32 Nato member states would have to commit to Ukraine's defence. But writing in today's Spectator, he argues: 'The risk is that we continue with the ambiguity and indecision over the future of Ukraine that has led to the worst war in Europe in my lifetime. Ukraine should be allowed to join Nato 'now', Boris Johnson (left) has urged. Mr Johnson is pictured shaking hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (right) in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, September 13, 2024 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (right) said after a summit in Washington in July that Nato had 'confirmed Ukraine's irreversible path to full membership'. Yet earlier this year, US President Joe Biden (left) said he was 'not prepared to support the Nato-isation of Ukraine'. Sir Keir and President Biden are pictured together at the summit in DC on July 10, 2024 'If we want peace, then we must put the Ukrainians in the strongest possible position, and this is how to do it.' Ukraine has long sought membership of Nato and gained 'aspiring member' status in 2018, four years after Russia's annexation of Crimea, but not all western leaders have been enthusiastic. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stepped up the demand in the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion in early 2022. However, at a summit last year Nato leaders said Ukraine could join only once it had completed 'democratic and security sector reforms'. At the time, Mr Johnson said there should have been a timetable for membership 'as soon as victory is won'. Now the former foreign secretary goes further, arguing: 'We could invite Ukraine to join before the war is even over.' 'We need to get Ukraine into Nato now, and I mean now,' he writes. He suggests the critical Article 5 security guarantee which means an attack on one Nato member is seen as an attack on all could be extended to cover territory currently controlled by Kyiv, while allies should also reaffirm the country's right to its borders. 'We could protect most of Ukraine, while simultaneously supporting the Ukrainian right to recapture the rest,' Mr Johnson writes, adding: 'This is the single biggest step we can take to bring this hideous war to an end. 'We would send the crucial message to the Kremlin, the one Russians really need to hear. The message is: that's it. It's over. You don't have an empire any more.' A Ukrainian tank of the 110th brigade moves through a field as it returns from a position at the frontline on Pokrovsk direction, Donetsk region, Ukraine on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 A heavily damaged and partially destroyed house following a Russian attack on the village of Komyshuvakha in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region on September 17, 2024 He admits the decision depends above all on the US. Sir Keir Starmer said after a summit in Washington in July that Nato had 'confirmed Ukraine's irreversible path to full membership'. Yet earlier this year, US President Joe Biden said he was 'not prepared to support the Nato-isation of Ukraine'. Mr Johnson adds: 'We would all have to commit to the defence of that Ukrainian territory. And of course that will mean anxiety and resistance.' He also renewed his call for Mr Biden and the Prime Minister to allow Ukraine to fire western Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory, after talks last week between the pair failed to lead to a breakthrough. Sue Gray triggered bitter infighting at the top of government last night after receiving a bumper pay rise that takes her salary above that of the Prime Minister. Sir Keir Starmer's controversial chief of staff faced a backlash from senior officials after leaked details of her salary revealed her pay has been boosted to 170,000. Her pay rise comes at a time when ministers claim that money is so tight they have been forced to scrap the winter fuel payment for ten million pensioners. Ms Gray was reported to earn around 150,000 when she worked for Labour in opposition, but it now eclipses the Prime Minister's salary of 166,786. She is also eligible for a 90,000-a-year gold-plated pension from a 1.8million retirement pot accrued during her years as a 'neutral' civil servant. One Labour insider joked that the 67-year-old had now become 'the only pensioner better off under Labour'. Downing Street did not deny reports last night that Ms Gray rejected advice to keep her salary below the Prime Minister's to avoid controversy. Details of her salary were leaked to the BBC. Sir Keir Starmer's Chief of Staff Sue Gray (pictured) triggered bitter infighting at the top of government last night after receiving a bumper pay rise that takes her salary above that of the PM Ms Gray was reported to earn around 150,000 when she worked for Labour in opposition, but it now eclipses the Prime Minister's salary of 166,786. Pictured: Sir Keir at the Arsenal vs Wolves EPL match One source told the broadcaster: 'It was suggested that she might want to go for a few thousand pounds less than the Prime Minister to avoid this very story. She declined.' The revelation is the latest in a series of damaging leaks about Ms Gray who is said to have 'made enemies across Whitehall'. One senior official told the Mail: 'It is open season on her she is losing her authority fast and it already looks like her departure is inevitable.' Details of her pay caused anger among other Labour advisers who are already in talks to form a trade union after having their pay cut on joining government. One said she was already unpopular, adding: 'This just makes it worse it is staggering.' Another Whitehall source said: 'They wanted to keep the overall pay bill down below the level of the last government, so other salaries have had to be squeezed to accommodate hers.' In a post on social media, Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick said: '20,000-a-year pay rise for Sue Gray. 600 cuts for some pensioners on as little as 13,000 a year. Starmer's hypocrisy reeks.' Former Tory minister Nigel Huddleston said the bumper pay rise suggested that Ms Gray was the real power behind the throne in Downing Street. He added: 'It's an important principle of management that the boss the one calling the shots and making the big decisions should get paid the most.' But Health Secretary Wes Streeting played down the matter last night, saying the Government was 'lucky to have Sue Gray'. Ms Gray is also eligible for a 90,000-a-year gold-plated pension from a 1.8million retirement pot accrued during her years as a 'neutral' civil servant The row is another self-inflicted controversy for Sir Keir, whose preparations for his first Labour Party conference as Prime Minister this weekend have already been rocked by controversy over his decision to accept clothes worth thousands of pounds for himself and his wife, Victoria, from Labour donor Lord Alli, who was handed a rare No10 pass after the election. Ms Gray came to prominence when she was put in charge of the controversial Partygate investigation into Boris Johnson, which helped to trigger his downfall. She stunned civil service colleagues the following year when she quit her high-powered role at the heart of government to join Labour as chief of staff to the leader of the opposition. As Downing Street chief of staff, Ms Gray sits on No10's pay board, which sets salaries for advisers. Her 170,000 pay packet is the highest ever awarded to a special adviser and follows a decision to lift the previous top pay band, which allowed advisers a maximum salary of 145,000. A Cabinet Office spokesman insisted it was 'false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay'. The spokesman added: 'Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials, not political appointees.' But a former Tory government adviser described the claim as 'nonsense', adding: 'There are officials on the staff pay board, but in the end pay is decided by the chief of staff. 'Sue's decision to take a salary that is higher than the PM's just shows again that she has no political judgment.' Former Tory minister Nigel Huddleston (pictured) said the bumper pay rise suggested that Ms Gray was the real power behind the throne in Downing Street Ms Gray is reported to be locked in a bitter power struggle with Sir Keir's election guru Morgan McSweeney, and is even said to have twice had his desk moved further away from the PM's. She also reportedly has a difficult relationship with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who is expected to leave government at the end of this year. Downing Street denied this week that there was a 'nest of vipers' behind the scenes in Sir Keir's administration. No10 also defended Mr Case over reports that he is suspected of being the source of leaks against Ms Gray. However, allies of No10's beleaguered chief of staff have begun a frantic search to uncover the source of the leaks against her. Sir Keir's decision to sign off her pay rise leaves him open to allegations of hypocrisy. In 2021 he publicly criticised a decision to increase the pay of Mr Johnson's own controversial chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, to 140,000, contrasting it unfavourably with a modest pay rise for nurses. The decision will also reopen questions about the PM's dependence on his top aide. Ms Gray raised eyebrows last week when she accompanied him to the White House, where she was pictured with Joe Biden, prompting some to describe her as 'the real deputy prime minister'. She accompanied Sir Keir again on a trip to Rome for talks with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. One insider said: 'She wants to make sure the only voice he hears is hers'. Sir Keir defended his chief of staff at the weekend, saying that 'most' of the stories about her were 'wildly wrong'. A No10 spokeswoman said last night: 'We never comment on staff salaries.' Details of Ms Gray's salary, along with that of other advisers, will eventually be published, but they could take months to come out. An allegedly stolen car crashed into an apartment block before bursting into flames, forcing more than 250 residents to be evacuated in the middle of the night. The Toyota RAV4 ploughed into the ground floor of the building in Merrylands, in Sydney's west, at about 2.45am on Thursday. The vehicle then caught alight with emergency services rushing to the scene. Firefighters battled the fire and were able to extinguish it without the building suffering any damage. Residents living in the unit complex were woken up by a fire alarm and had to stand outside the building until the flames were put out. The car ploughed into the building in Merrylands, in Sydney 's west, at about 2.45am on Thursday, before catching alight They have since been able to go back inside their homes and no injuries have been reported. NSW Police are investigating the incident and are treating the fire as suspicious, with the driver of the Toyota still on the run. The car is believed to have been stolen in Moorebank, about 30 minutes south of Merrylands, last Sunday Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Bill Gates's daughter has revealed she lost friends over conspiracy theories about her billionaire dad. Phoebe Gates, 22, the youngest daughter of Bill and Melinda French Gates, made the shocking claim while discussing the spread of misinformation on Netflix's new docuseries What's Next? The Future With Bill Gates, which premiered Wednesday. As the conversation continued between her and her father, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder asked his daughter if she had ever come across conspiracy theories about him - including that the COVID pandemic was a ploy to allow Bill Gates to put microchips in vaccines that would allow him to track people. 'All the time,' Phoebe responded. 'I've even had friends cut me off because of these vaccine rumors,' she said. Phoebe Gates, 22, admitted that she has lost friends over conspiracy theories about her father The 22-year-old reproductive rights activist recently graduated from Stanford University with a degree in human biology, and was invited onto her father's show as she was finishing up her senior year. She said at the time she was concerned about the ability to effectively communicate accurate health information as misinformation spreads online. 'I need to learn more,' her 68 year old father admitted, 'because I naively still believe that digital communication can be a force to bring us together, to have a reasonable debate.' But Phoebe said her father does not realize that facts and logic are not as important to people on social media as is finding an escape from everyday life. A popular conspiracy theory is that the COVID pandemic was a ploy to allow Bill Gates to put microchips in vaccines that would allow him to track people At that point, Gates asked his daughter where she believes conspiracy theories come from - to which she replied they arise from a place of fear. During the COVID lockdowns, she explained, no one knew who to trust or what to believe. 'The pandemic was definitely social media at its worst, oversimplifying things,' Gates agreed. The two also discussed women's reproductive rights and gender equality - two topics Phoebe is passionate about. Gates later admitted that the conversation with his daughter was his 'favorite' of the show Gates later wrote that the conversation with his daughter was his 'favorite' of the show, calling it a 'series highlight.' He wrote on his Gates Notes blog that Phoebe 'shared with me specific examples of how bad actors use misinformation and disinformation to disrupt progress.' In doing so, he said, 'Phoebe helped me better understand how women online - particularly women who stick up for other women - often face threats to their safety that are intended to make them think twice before they speak out. 'I'm not exactly a stranger to people being mean to you online, but I have the luxury of (mostly) ignoring what gets said about me,' the billionaire admitted. 'Phoebe explained how these threats can have a chilling effect on women's rights activism and shared some thoughtful ideas for how to make the Internet a safer place for everyone.' Thousands of walkie-talkies, solar panels and fingerprint recognition devices used by Hezbollah fighters have detonated across Lebanon in the past two days, killing 14 and wounding hundreds of people including mourners at a funeral. The second wave of carnage hit a day after thousands of exploding pagers used by the group left almost 3,000 people injured and a dozen dead, including civilians and children. Security sources confirmed that hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, at around the same time as compromised pagers. Lebanese media has also reported that home solar energy systems have blown up in several areas of Beirut. The ensuing panic has caused terrified residents to tear the batteries from their walkie-talkies and throw devices into the street in fear of more explosions. But how do you live if you don't know where the next blasts might come from? Here, local journalist HASSAN HARFOUSH describes how daily life has turned into a horror film. When the dreadful sound of the explosions began, the women started crying. I was among the crowds at the funeral in Beirut yesterday for three men and a boy who had been killed 24 hours earlier when thousands of Hezbollah pagers had exploded in a coordinated attack. Now it had started again. Two distinct pops, we heard, one coming from the ambulance that I assumed had brought the coffins to the funeral. I saw a paramedic stumbling out of the vehicle which was billowing smoke. He collapsed and people rushed to help, but I was too far away to see how badly injured he was. A walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon today The second wave of carnage comes a day after thousands of exploding pagers used by the group left almost 3,000 people injured and a dozen dead, including civilians and children Ambulances arrive after a reported device explosion occurred during the funeral of people killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon A man bleeding after his pager exploded in Beirut, Lebanon A fire breaking out in a car as a result of a device exploding in Lebanon The Hezbollah officials present behaved as if nothing had happened but all of us felt it, heard it. We knew another attack was underway, though only later did we discover it was walkie-talkies and radios exploding this time. As a journalist based in Lebanon, I have covered any number of conflicts and seen too many dead bodies. But nothing prepared me for the fear and carnage wrought by the events of the last two days. Beirut has collapsed into panic. The WhatsApp groups are going non-stop. There are wild rumours doing the rounds that solar panels might explode, batteries, fridges anything. There's fake news saying phones have exploded. I know it's stupid but I even told my parents to get a fire extinguisher, just in case something blows up in the house. We're all really scared; there is no safe place any more. Everyone knows what these explosions can do. In a Beirut hospital, I saw a man whose flesh had been torn from his face, the bones gruesomely visible. He was still conscious. Doctors told me that faces and hands were the worst areas of injury. A man holds a walkie talkie device after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave People donate blood, one day after pagers explosions, in the southern suburb of Beirut Lebanese army soldiers stand guard near a fire truck at the scene of a reported pager device explosion in Saida in southern Lebanon Lebanese soldiers taking precautions in the area after a new wave of wireless communications device explosions Untold numbers have lost their eyesight as people were holding up the pagers to read messages when they exploded. I was in a coffee shop on Tuesday afternoon in Ras Beirut, in the north west of the city, when I first realised something was wrong. I heard three pops, one after the other. Then my phone started going crazy. People were messaging me to ask what had happened, worried friends and family were calling. My brother called to tell me he had heard lots of explosions and that the American University Medical Centre was overwhelmed. Most of the injured had been referred from other hospitals because of the extent of their wounds. Outside, family members, barred from entry because of security, were crying and in shock. I watched dozens of people walk into the hospital with missing limbs. I saw people whose eyes had been popped out of their sockets. The scene was apocalyptic. The National, a leading newspaper here, spoke to a woman called Amal, who was waiting for news of her brother and cousins they had been referred on from Bahman Hospital also in Beirut. What she saw in Bahman had the makings of a horror film, she said. 'There was blood everywhere, people without eyes, holes in their back and their hands covered in blood.' People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Beirut, after hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated Iranians place carnations and a poster of nine-year-old Fatma Abdullah, who was killed in the attacks, in front of the Lebanese Embassy in Tehran Dr Elias Warrak, an ophthalmologist at Mount Lebanon University Hospital in Beirut, told the BBC the past 24 hours there had been 'a nightmare', adding that more than 60 to 70 per cent of the patients being treated ended up with at least one eye removed. A doctor I spoke to yesterday said he had performed 70 operations since the attacks began. I drove on my motorbike to my home suburb of Dahiyeh in the south of Beirut. The streets were heaving with traffic; the ambulance sirens were deafening. When I reached my own neighbourhood I found people screaming, shouting. A couple of older men grabbed me and told me to go home and turn off all my WIFI routers and anything connected to outlet that could be remotely detonated. People used to think if they were affiliated with Hezbollah but not fighters, they were effectively safe. But this changes everything. The pager attacks happened in areas where you thought they could never happen Christian areas, for example. But Hezbollah are everywhere in Lebanon and you can't know who is who. The attacks also happened on an average Beirut afternoon. The victims included a man in an ice-cream shop where children saw it happen; someone was in a grocery shop when his bag exploded damaging his internal organs; there were pagers in family homes where the shrapnel injured the children after they exploded. There is one small silver lining, perhaps. The attacks have brought a sense of togetherness across the country. People from Sunni and Christian neighbourhoods have been queueing to donate blood. Even those who loathe Hezbollah have condemned this attack.But as a Lebanese person, the last two days have left me deeply saddened. There is a sense of fear that I've never felt before. And if these attacks continue, that fear will only grow. Panic in Lebanon: Hezbollah destroys 'thousands' of pagers while army carries out controlled explosions on bags of parboiled rice from Thailand as fear and confusion sweeps the country By EMILY DAVIES Panic has caused chaos in Lebanon as terrified residents tear the batteries from their walkie-talkies and throw devices into the street in fear of more explosions. In a sign of the alarm caused by the devices, the Lebanese Armed Forces have been carrying out controlled explosions of suspicious items. Lebanese soldiers took precautions when a device was found in the car park of a hospital where injured civilians are being taken. They controlled the detonation of the device they suspected to be rigged with explosives in a pit of the parking lot at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre. Pictures from the hospital show ambulances crowded together waiting to carry the injured inside. Debris in a crater after Lebanese army soldiers blew up a communication device in the parking lot of the American University of Beirut Medical Centre Lebanese soldiers took precautions when a device was found in the car park of a hospital where injured civilians are being taken People stand near a crater after Lebanese army soldiers blew up a communication device in the parking lot of the American University of Beirut Medical Centre Smoke rises from a crater after the Lebanese army detonate a walkie-talkie But progress is slowed down by a flood of security measures as armed forces swarm the grounds. A residential building and multiple vehicles were seen on fire as sirens wailed for a second day across the Lebanese capital - with photos of the aftermath showing devastation. Home solar energy systems also exploded this afternoon, along with fingerprint devices and radios. A number of wireless devices exploded in Baalbek, northeast of Beirut, after their owners threw them into the streets later on Wednesday evening. Many of the wounds were to the stomach and hands. A reporter in the southern suburbs of Beirut said he saw Hezbollah members frantically taking batteries out of any walkie-talkies that had not exploded, tossing the parts in metal barrels. And when explosions began booming at the funeral of a young boy killed in the first attack, attendees reacted in terror. Funeral ceremony held for four people who were killed in Lebanon when pagers used by Hezbollah members were detonated Walkie-talkie devices without batteries are shown at an electronic store, which the owner says he removed for safety reasons A vendor shows walkie-talkie devices without batteries as he took them out out of fear Mustafa Jemaa, owner of an electronic store in Sidon Panicking Hezbollah fighters were seen tearing the batteries from their walkie-talkies and tossing them into a pile on the ground as ambulances raced to the scene. Lebanese health officials said earlier on Wednesday that two children were among the 12 people killed. Pictures at a funeral showed mourners for Fatima Abdallah, nine, who died when her father's pager exploded. At one funeral in Dahiyeh, mourners were ordered to turn off their phones and remove the batteries Firas, 39, who watched the funeral procession, told The Times: 'Yesterday I witnessed an explosion first hand. I saw a pager explode on a man in a butcher shop close to my house. This is the second time I am witnessing an explosion. Everyone is really scared.' Today, Iranians have placed carnations and a poster Fatma in front of the Lebanese Embassy in Tehran to denounce the deadly pager attacks in Lebanon and show solidarity with the Lebanese people. Other tragic images show boy scouts raising the picture of a fellow scout, who was killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded. Owners of electronic stores and mobile phone vendors said they have removed batteries from their stock as a precaution against explosions. But kind-hearted civilians came together to donate blood to those who were injured in the attacks. Boy scouts raise the picture of a fellow scout, killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon Mourners carry the coffin of one of the people who died a day earlier in pagers blasts People attend the funeral ceremony held for Hezbollah member, who died in a pager explosion But the source of the exploding electronic devices remains unknown. Pictures of a device surrounded by rice bags in the car park of the American University of Beirut Medical Centre read 'product of Thailand'. Other images of the exploded walkie-talkies showed labels with 'ICOM' and 'made in Japan.' According to its website, ICOM, which did not immediately reply to a request for comment, is a Japan-based radio communications and telephone company. The company has said that production of model IC-V82, which appeared to be the model in the images, was phased out in 2014.The hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time as the pagers, a security source said. Taiwanese pager firm Gold Apollo said on Wednesday the model of pagers used in the attack against Hezbollah were made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting, adding it had only licensed its brand to the company and was not involved in the production of the devices. 'Hungarian authorities have established that the company in question is a trading-intermediary company, which has no manufacturing or other site of operation in Hungary,' Zoltan Kovacs, a government spokesman, said on social media. The pagers used in mass detonations in Lebanon were never in Hungary, prime minister Viktor Orban's government said. President Joe Biden asked actress Jessica Alba if she can give him a job as he held another reception at the White House Wednesday. The 81-year-old outgoing president welcomed prominent members of the Latino community to mark Hispanic Heritage Month. The crowded East Room party featured welcome remarks by Alba, actor John Leguizamo in the audience and festive margaritas for the guests. 'And by the way Jessica thank you for the introduction. She's an actor, producer, advocate, author and she knows how to build companies,' Biden said. 'Jessica, if I'm really good, maybe you can get me a job when this is all over,' the president added. 'God love you.' President Joe Biden (left) asked actress Jessica Alba (right) if she can give him a job as he held a reception marking Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House Wednesday The president marveled how the Fantastic Four star was the youngest Latina to ever take a company public and build a billion dollar business. Alba stepped away from serving as The Honest Company's chief creative officer earlier this year, but still serves on the board of the company she founded a decade ago. During his brief remarks, the president also talked about how regretful he was for not learning to speak Spanish fluently. 'You're gonna have time now!' a guest loudly told the president. 'I do. I am,' Biden answered. Biden spoke about how he took five years of French - instead of Spanish - in high school and college. 'I tried to speak French early on in my career in France and they just laughed at me,' Biden said. 'I tried to speak - we had the largest influx of Hispanics in the 1980 census as any state in the union as a percentage.' Jessica Alba (right) the actress and Honest Company founder introduced President Joe Biden (left) at the White House's Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on Wednesday Actor John Leguizamo was spotted in the audience Wednesday at the White House's Hispanic Heritage Month event 'And I get up and I made a speech in Spanish. I mangled it. And they all cheered and said thank you,' Biden recalled. The president did briefly speak about the election too, saying that 'the other team doesn't see the world like we see it.' 'They don't have the same attitude we have,' Biden continued. 'They are the most close-minded people I've ever dealt with.' He joked that while he may look 40-years-old 'I'm a lot older.' 'That's why I'm so happy about Kamala being upbeat about what's happening,' the president stated. Howard Stern continued his long-running feud with Donald Trump, with the self-proclaimed 'King of All Media' saying he 'hates' anyone who voted for the former president. The two New Yorkers once got along famously, with Trump being an infamous, recurring guest on Stern's long-running radio show but Stern has soured on Trump since he entered politics. On his SiriusXM show Monday, the 70-year-old Stern reacted to Trump posting on Truth social that he hates Taylor Swift. 'This whole idea of you like me, you are good, and if you don't, you are bad I've been the victim of this', Stern said. He then took potshots at the MAGA fans: 'I don't agree with Trump politically, I don't think he should be anywhere near the White House. I don't hate the guy. I hate the people who vote for him. I think they're stupid. I do. I'll be honest with you, I have no respect for you'. Howard Stern (pictured left) continued his long-running feud with Donald Trump , with the self-proclaimed 'King of All Media' saying he 'hates' anyone who voted for the former president The two New Yorkers once got along famously, with Trump being an infamous, recurring guest on Stern's long-running radio show but Stern has soured on Trump since he entered politics Stern continued his rantings, admitting he didn't care if he lost 'half my audience' for saying it and said that he expected to get 'hate mail' from the Wack Pack faithful. He then bizarrely pivoted to the lack of anti-Trump ravings at the previous night's Emmy Awards. 'You can't be a p**** your whole f***ing life', he said of Hollywood liberals. Later on in the show, Stern compared Trump to Adolf Hitler and said it would be the end of America if he beats Kamala Harris in November. A caller compared Trump's rhetoric on immigrants to how Hitler spoke of the Jews before the Holocaust. 'I couldn't agree with you more. It is the same playbook. We have seen it before in history.' The Private Parts star continued: 'Hitler was perceived as a clown in Germany He was one of these buffoonish characters. Somehow he won an election. And that was the end of Germany. He dragged them through hell and back.' He concluded saying that it was a 'replay' of the time before World War II before making an even more hysterical prediction. Stern continued his rantings, admitting he didn't care if he lost 'half my audience' for saying it and said that he expected to get 'hate mail' from the Wack Pack faithful A caller compared Trump's rhetoric on immigrants to how Hitler spoke of the Jews before the Holocaust 'I am one of those people who believe that if the election goes the wrong way, it's the end of the United States.' When he claimed that his phone lines were being blown up by Trump fans demanding to confront him, the proprietor of the 1992 straight to VHS feature Butt Bongo Fiesta then declared: 'I'm smarter than you, I just am'. It's far from the first time Stern - once the most popular radio host in the United States - has attacked his former friend. In 2022, Stern slammed Trump supporters as 'morons' and claimed America is a nation of 'nincompoops' in a blistering attack. However, he said he is 'somewhat of a Republican'. Stern said on his radio show that he's 'sick' of people who buy into former President Donald Trump 's 'bulls**t.' 'I mean, my God in heaven, I feel like Im in a nation of nincompoops. Im hoping there is still some more brilliant, bright, vibrant people who love this country,' he said on the Howard Stern Show. He went on to say that he thinks Trump's supporters are 'morons' whose freedom has never been 'threatened.' It's far from the first time Stern - once the most popular radio host in the United States - has attacked his former friend Back in 2020, Stern - a notorious germaphobe who hid in his home for two years during the pandemic - said Trump supporters should 'take disinfectant and all drop dead'. The shock jock made the remark while discussing Trump's suggestion that the injection of disinfectants may prove useful in treating coronavirus. After Trump's remarks, doctors and disinfectant manufacturers were quick to warn that ingesting or injecting cleaning products could be deadly. The president later claimed he was being 'sarcastic' after being mocked over the remarks. Stern told co-host Robin Quivers: 'I would love it if Donald would get on TV and take an injection of Clorox and let's see if his theory works'. '[He could] hold a big rally, say f**k this coronavirus, with all of his followers, and let them hug each other and kiss each other and have a big rally,' he continued. Quivers then chimed in: 'A big cocktail of disinfectant!' 'Yeah, and all take disinfectant and all drop dead,' Stern then stated. Trump and Stern are pictured together back in the 1990s. Stern has previously spoken fondly of Trump but appears to have changed his view Stern and Trump have known one another socially for decades. Trump and wife Melania are pictured with Stern and his wife Beth Ostrosky in 2005 Stern admitted to wanting to have Hillary Clinton on the show ahead of the 2016 election and thinks he helped Donald Trump become president by frequently interviewing him, though he admits to voting for Clinton . In fact, Stern thinks Clinton made a mistake by never appearing on his show. I wanted to see Hillary Clinton win, Stern told Good Morning America. If she had come on the show - the way I helped Donald was I let him come on and be a personality,' he said. Whether you liked him or not ... people related to him as a human being. I wanted to do that for Hillary'. The radio legend added: Hillary Clintons afraid of me, and justifiably. I thought that perhaps if she came on my show, we could've stripped away some of the pomp and circumstance or the tightness that comes with running for president and, like Donald, she could've been seen in a different light. Stern credited Trump with being genuine and authentic when he came on the air. Donald Trump, hands down, whenever you put him on the air, now, this is before he was running for president, he was an open book, Stern said. He would say anything. And you know, oddly enough - during the campaign and even now, people quote these interviews that I did with him. Stern eventually did get Clinton on the show and even interviewed President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race. Around 1689, an ambitious young man on the Isle of Mull, Iain Dubh his father was laird of Achanasaul; his grandfather the third chief of the MacLeans of Coll tugged his claymore from the thatch and took the field for the House of Stuart. With the consequence, after Killiecrankie and the Haughs of Cromdale and other untold reverses, that Iain, or Black John, in 1696 fetched up in Mangersta on Lewis about as far west as you can go without actually being in Canada with little more to his name than a long-suffering wife and five romping boys. Scattered the breadth of the island, from Shawbost to Scarp, his descendants are with us still. Including me: he was my MacLean mums great-grandfathers great-grandfather. You might think said comedown would have permanently cured Iain Dubhs Jacobitism. Not a bit of it. As late as 1719, plotting with the Earl of Seaforth in Stornoways Star Inn, he was still excitedly planning the latest Rising on behalf of the King over the Water. I often think of Iain Dubh when I stumble across people who simply cannot grasp that something is over and everyone else has moved on. John MacLeod's forebear plotted in Stornoway's Star Inn as late as 1719 Like the clowns who, last Saturday, tried to storm the Royal Albert Hall with hundreds of EU flags for the Last Night of the Proms its second act, for as long as anyone can remember, a happy bout of delirious British silliness. Or Councillor Antonia Harrison, the Hampshire wifie who, several days ago, told fellow Liberal Democrats that, as a direct result of the Brexit vote in 2016, she had been diagnosed with PTSD. I had to stand up and walk around the room for a bit after reading that. I thought of my MacLeod grandmother, who lost her mother and her stepmother before she was 15: by 60, she had buried two of her children. The haunted eyes of the Great War veterans I knew in my youth. A frail neighbour in Tarbert, Harris, with the sad sweet smile, who had survived Auschwitz. Vote Leaves victory, brayed this ridiculous woman, has had so many effects on my physical body and things that have come out since. I have lost my voice many times and they put that down to trauma... And I have only today to glance over social media to note the like ravings of too many people who, a decade ago yesterday, voted for Scotland to become an independent country and have never been able to come to terms with the reality that, on an 84.6 per cent turnout, most Scots voted to remain in the United Kingdom. I, as it happened, voted Yes though, naturally, I didnt broadcast it in these columns. Shrugged afterwards; moved on. And have since watched, through barely parted fingers, as the sustained and strutting incompetence of Nicola Sturgeon and her lackeys has reduced her cause to a laughing stock. Scots have only had the chance to vote in six referendums in my lifetime from the first, 1975 plebiscite on what was then the Common Market to the Brexit vote in 2016 and, oddly enough, three of them happened under the same Prime Minister. Including the one no one remembers, in 2011, on adopting the alternative vote for Westminster elections and buried the matter in a landslide. I do not now believe there will be an independent Scotland in my lifetime. That is partly because Ms Sturgeons ill-judged resort to the courts has established in law that another referendum is in the exclusive gift of the United Kingdom Parliament. But largely because, after David Camerons fate in 2016, I would be astonished if another Westminster government ever again chanced a referendum about anything. Traditionally, the plebiscite was a notion from which our rulers recoiled. Harold Wilson only initiated the 1975 poll because Europe was an issue on which his own party was hopelessly split and he was an adroit enough politician to stay safely detached from the outcome and his old boss would have loathed the idea. I could not consent to the introduction into our national life of a device so alien to all our traditions, thundered Clement Attlee in May 1945, as the referendum, which has only too often been the instrument of Nazism and fascism. The problem is that they reduce what are usually complex, nuanced issues to a simple binary question; because they tend as James Callaghan and David Cameron found to become a vote on the incumbent government. And tend, too Scottish devolution is an exception, though we forget Yes actually won the popular vote in 1979 to kill off an issue once and for all. After 2011, and however desperate a future Labour or Conservative leader might be to become Prime Minister amid a hung parliament, it is unlikely in the extreme they would concede electoral reform to the Liberal Democrats. The SNP is most unlikely to win another overall Holyrood majority and, even if it did, its central moral case for the 2014 vote that the independence question had never before been put to the people of Scotland has gone. And even Sir Keir Starmer that oddly angular man whose face, when rattled, reminds you of a just-slammed door knows we will never return to the European Union. Thats not just because it is unlikely in the extreme that Brussels would offer remotely acceptable terms of readmission. It is because, Cllr Harrison and the lunatic fringe apart, anyone can see that the EU is disintegrating before our eyes. A failed project which as recent election results attest, such as the surge of the far-Right in Germany or the political logjam in Paris more and more Europeans reject, as it dawns upon them the extent to which le projet has impoverished and endangered them. Take the Eurozones implacable economic decline. As late as 2008, the respective gross domestic products of the Eurozone and the US were $14.2trillion and $14.8trillion. Today, its $15trillion and $26.9trillion, as the EU strangles itself in top-down regulation and dogma. Of the worlds 50 leading tech firms, only four are in Europe. Were France a US state, its GDP would come in between that of Idaho and Arkansas respectively the 48th and 49th least prosperous. Why, as one commentator recently wondered aloud, would any sane political leader want closer ties with an organisation that is suffering a slow and agonising death? Iain Dubh hung on to his sword and died in his bed a Jacobite to the end, even before the last feudal army in Britain was mustered for the 45 and the grapeshot of Culloden. Even by then, the Stuart cause was insanely out of date. Intellectually, Jacobitism was an emasculating experience for opposition to Westminster, wrote historian Bruce Lenman. The future lay with the radicals in America. Lebanese scouts were seen lining the streets of Beirut to grieve the death of a young boy who was one of 12 people killed after Israel set out thousands of explosives nestled inside pagers used by Hezbollah militants. Mohammad Bilal King was just 11 when he was killed by a pager explosion on Tuesday afternoon. The scout, along with three other party members, including the son of Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar, was buried in the Ghobeiry area of southern Beirut within hours, in line with Islamic burial customs. Photos showed a throng of people walking down Beirut's streets mourning the boy, along with three of the other men who died. Fellow scouts walked alongside the casket, carrying signs with Mohammad's face on it. Boy scouts raise the picture of a fellow scout, killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, during the funeral procession of some of those killed, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024 Mohammad Bilal King was just 11 when he was killed by a pager explosion on Tuesday afternoon Photos showed a throng of people walking down Beirut's streets mourning the boy, along with three of the other men who died Their deaths, along with ten others who perished on Tuesday, came just a day before Israel launched a second wireless attack, this time targeting Hezbollah's walkie-talkies Mohammad was tragically not the only child to die in the attacks, which are believed to have been carried out by Israel's shadowy intelligence agency Mossad. Eight-year-old Fatima Abdullah was named by local media as the second young person to be killed by yesterday's pager explosions. The young girl was studying in her family's kitchen in their home in the village of Saraain El Faouqa in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley when she heard a wireless pager bleep. Her friend nine-year-old Ali Abdullah told Andalou: 'Fatima was sitting on the sofa and was studying when the pager rang. She picked it up to give it to her father who was outside, but it exploded in her hand.' Her aunt, also called Fatima, added: 'Fatima had just returned from her first day of school, brimming with enthusiasm. She was a top student and loved by everyone.' Their deaths, along with ten others who perished on Tuesday, came just a day before Israel launched a second wireless attack, this time targeting Hezbollah's walkie-talkies. So far, at least 20 people have died and over 450 people were injured by by the walkie-talkies. Casualties are expected to rise overnight, as Lebanon's health system is overwhelmed for the second time in two days. Funeral ceremony held for 4 people who were killed in Lebanon when pagers used by Hezbollah members were detonated, in Dahiyeh neighborhood, south of the capital Beiru An Iranian man places flowers in front of the Lebanese embassy in Tehran, Iran, 18 September 2024 Hezbollah fighters carry a coffin of one of the people who died a day earlier in pagers blasts, during the funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon Beirut's hospitals are reportedly still at full capacity following yesterday's attacks, with medical aid being rapidly diverted to the already crippled country as it deals with the catastrophe. The repetition of the clandestine attacks, which Israel has not officially taken responsibility for, will raise already spiking tensions in the region to fever pitch, with Israel moving additional troops to its northern border and Lebanon's foreign minister warning that the blasts are an omen of a widening war. For now, Hezbollah has been left deeply embarrassed by the security failure. Sky News reported tonight that 'thousands and thousands' of pagers are currently being destroyed by the proscribed terror group in the wake of the detonations. It has been alleged that Mossad, working in collaboration with Israel's Defence Forces (IDF), was behind yesterday's pager attacks, with Hezbollah officials already laying blame for the latest attacks with Israel. Officials in Jerusalem have thus far declined to comment on yesterday's pager blasts, but Axios reports that two sources 'with knowledge of the operation' confirmed Israel's involvement. The unnamed sources allege that the walkie-talkies were booby-trapped in advance by Israeli intelligence and then delivered to Hezbollah as part of its emergency communications system, which the group had planned to use during a war with Israel. The compromised walkie-talkies were said to be part of Hezbollahs emergency back-up communications system, in the event of their pagers not working. Iranian hackers sought to disrupt the presidential election by stealing sensitive information from Donald Trump an offering the material to the campaign of his rival, Joe Biden. In August, Microsoft revealed that hackers tied to the Iranian government have been trying to influence the US presidential election for months. Wednesday, the FBI claims the cyber-terrorists sent unsolicited emails to people connected to the Democrat president in an effort to interfere. Trump spoke out about the hack attempt at his rally on Long Island Wednesday: 'Biden is working with Iran and Iran doesn't exactly like me because they were ready to make a deal, except we had an election that was rigged and stolen'. There's no evidence that any of the recipients responded, officials said, preventing the hacked information from surfacing in the final months of the closely contested election. Congressman Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence committee, argued that anyone 'who excused' Trump's behavior regarding alleged Russian interference in elections 'should sit this one out'. The hackers sent emails in late June and early July to people who were associated with Biden's campaign before he dropped out. Iranian hackers sought to interest President Joe Biden 's campaign in information stolen from rival Donald Trump 's campaign The emails 'contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trumps campaign as text in the emails,' according to a statement from the FBI and various other federal agencies. The announcement is the latest effort to call out what officials say is Irans brazen, ongoing work to interfere in the 2024 election, including a hack-and-leak campaign that the FBI and other federal agencies linked last month to Tehran. The Justice Department has been preparing charges in that breach. The FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have said the Trump campaign hack and an attempted breach of the Biden-Harris campaign are part of an effort to undermine voters faith in the election and to stoke discord. The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. At least three news outlets - Politico, The New York Times and The Washington Post - were leaked confidential material from inside the Trump campaign. So far, each has refused to reveal any details about what it received. Politico reported 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 that the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Your browser does not support iframes. Wednesday, the FBI claims the cyber-terrorists sent unsolicited emails about Donald Trump to people connected to the Democrat president in an effort to interfere In a statement, Morgan Finkelstein, a spokesperson for Kamala Harriss campaign, said the campaign has cooperated with law enforcement since learning that people associated with Bidens team were among the recipients of the emails There's no evidence that any of the recipients responded, officials said, preventing the hacked information from surfacing in the final months of the closely contested election The document was dated February 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate. In a statement, Morgan Finkelstein, a spokesperson for Kamala Harriss campaign, said the campaign has cooperated with law enforcement since learning that people associated with Bidens team were among the recipients of the emails. 'Were not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign; a few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what looked like a spam or phishing attempt,' Finkelstein said. Researchers for Microsoft disclosed in August they found multiple Iranian groups peddling polarizing messages and inflammatory posts about controversial politically-divisive issues. According to Microsoft's newest threat intelligence report, cybercriminals have been using covert news sites that cater to voter groups on opposing ends of the political spectrum to further alienate both sides. One of such site that is built for Democratic Party supporters called Nio Thinker insults former President Donald Trump by calling him an 'opioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA China shop' and a 'raving mad litigiosaur'. The website, which began publishing in late October 2023, also releases numerous sarcastic and long-winded articles that berate Trump. On the other hand, another website named Savannah Time claims to be a 'trusted source for conservative news in the vibrant city of Savannah'. A website built for Democratic Party supporters called Nio Thinker insults former President Donald Trump by calling him an 'opioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA China shop' and a 'raving mad litigiosaur' The website, which began publishing in late October 2023, also releases numerous sarcastic and long-winded articles that berate Trump This website tends to heavily focus on Republican politics and LGBTQ issues - particularly gender re-assignment, a topic of great controversy among the right. Evidence discovered by the company suggests that these sites have been using AI-enabled services to plagiarize some of their content from US publications. Microsoft did not name the publications in its report. Notably, the report did not suggest that any attacks had been made on Vice President Kamala Harris. Apart from this, the report also noted that an Iranian group connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had previously attempted to break into email account of campaign officials. Researchers said Iranian groups that have historically tried to undermine trust in the electoral system had been preparing to launch influence operations since March 2024. The findings are the latest evidence that foreign governments are conducting clandestine operations ahead of US elections in November. Back in 2020, two Iranian men had impersonated members of the right-wing Proud Boys group as part of a voter intimidation effort, according to the FBI. They were later charged for their involvement. In the same election year, Iranian hackers had breached a website used by a municipal government in the US to publish election results. The attackers were caught before carrying out any nefarious activity, US cybersecurity officials later clarified. Tupperware, the iconic American brand known the world over for its plastic food containers, officially filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware. The 78-year-old company has been battling for years to revive its fortunes amid debts of more than $700 million. Its sales slumped in recent years as the company struggled to place more of its products in retail stores and online sales platforms. The company said in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that consumers shifting away from direct sales, which make up the vast majority of its sales more than a quarter-century after the first Tupperware parties, has hit the storied business hard. 'Nearly everyone now knows what Tupperware is, but fewer people know where to find it,' Tupperware Chief Restructuring Officer Brian Fox wrote in a court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Tupperware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware after battling for years to revive its fortunes The company also cited growing public health and environmental concerns about plastic, internal inefficiencies that made it challenging to operate globally, and the 'challenging microeconomic environment' of the last several years for its financial straits. Tupperware said it planned to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would seek court approval for a sale 'in order to protect' the brand. Last month the company raised doubts about its ability to remain in business after flagging bankruptcy risk several times due to liquidity constraints. The company has $812 million in debt, much of which was purchased by distressed debt investors at a deep discount in July, according to court filings. Those new lenders had sought to use their debt position to seize Tupperware assets including its intellectual property such as its brand, pushing to the company to seek bankruptcy protection, Tupperware said. The company cited growing public health and environmental concerns about plastic and internal inefficiencies as part of its problems Tupperware was founded in 1946 by chemist Earl Tupper and its popularity exploded in the 1950s by selling its products at parties thrown by suburban housewives The company intends to continue operations and conduct a 30-day bidding process to find a buyer for the entire company. Tupperware was founded in 1946 by chemist Earl Tupper - whose airtight plastic containers helped food last longer for families still struggling after the war and the Great Depression. Tupperware's popularity exploded in the 1950s by selling its products at parties thrown by suburban housewives. The Covid-19 pandemic provided a boost in Tupperware sales as families stayed indoors and cooked more meals at home. Since then, the company has suffered from poor sales and accrued increasing debt, causing its share price to slide to its lowest-ever levels. In June it announced that it is closing its last US factory and laying off 150 workers. It is moving the work to Mexico to take advantage of cheaper wages there. Recently named best-dressed of the year by Tatler, Princess Beatrice today has another reason to celebrate. Her daughter, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi, turns three. Few photographs have been shared of the toddler and her family choose to only show the back of her head. However, a friend of Beatrice told Tatler earlier this year: 'Sienna is absolutely gorgeous and looks exactly like Bea. She's really cheeky and has a very good personality.' The princess was also complimented on her parenting, with the friend adding: 'Bea has such a good heart and she's such a kind person, so motherhood came very naturally to her; she's a fantastic mum'. Princess Beatrice's daughter, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi, turns three today. Above: Sienna seen in a photo posted on social media by her father to mark her second birthday last year. No images of her face have been released. When she turned two, her father Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi wrote on Instagram: 'Happy Birthday Baby Girl. You bring us so much joy every day' Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo seen at Royal Ascot in June this year Princess Eugenie posted a sweet snap of Sienna Mapelli Mozzi and her older cousin August Brooksbank at London Zoo to celebrate Earth Day last year Beatrice's daughter weighed 6lbs 2oz when she was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London at 11.42pm. Sienna is a name with Italian origins, perhaps chosen because of the roots of her father, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Meaning 'orange red', it could also refer to the fiery hair of the Duchess of York, Sienna's grandmother. Beatrice, who had a close relationship with Queen Elizabeth, decided to honour her grandmother with her daughter's middle name. Sienna is the late Queen's 12th great-grandchild. Like many of her cousins, she does not have a royal title. Only grandchildren of the monarch through the male line are automatically entitled to the styling of HRH. King Charles could bestow a title on his great-niece if desired, but it is unlikely to be asked for. However, the little girl is officially a 'Nobile Donna' and 'contessa' - the female version of a count - as a result of her father's noble ancestry. Such titles are not officially recognised in Italy anymore. They can still, however, be used as a sign of respect. Edoardo will one day inherit his family's seat, the 18th-century Villa Mapelli Mozzi palace in northern Italy. Sienna is currently placed in tenth position in the royal line of succession, under her mother Princess Beatrice. When the couple announced Sienna's name in October 2021, Edoardo shared a print of their daughter's feet along with her full name Sienna is currently placed in tenth position in the royal line of succession, under her mother Princess Beatrice Princess Beatrice's husband Edoardo shared a previously unseen picture of them kissing at their wedding for their anniversary this year When the couple announced Sienna's name in October 2021, Edoardo shared a print of their daughter's feet and wrote: 'Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi. 'Our life together has just begun, and I can't wait to see all the amazing things that await us. 'Feeling so much love and gratitude for my amazing wife, baby Sienna and [her half-brother] Wolfie. These are the days I never want to forget. 'This week, a friend said to me the sweetest saying. that with every child you grow a whole new heart.' Later, the official royal family social media page posted the same image, with the caption reading: 'The couple have said, 'We are all doing well and Wolfie is the best big brother to Sienna.' Edoardo has son Wolfie, eight, with his former partner Dara Huang. Sienna was the fourth great-grandchild of the Queen to be born in 2021, following the arrival of Princess Eugenie's and Jack Brooksbank's son August in February, Zara and Mike Tindall's son Lucas in March and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's daughter Lilibet in June. Sienna was christened on April 29, 2022, at the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. It was revealed by Hello in May that nutritionist Gabriela Peacock is one of the young royal's godparents - with Beatrice also being godmother to her daughter, Iris. Princess Eugenie shared the first glimpse of her niece in a photo celebrating Earth Day. She revealed that Sienna and her cousin August 'love going to the London Zoo' in a photo of the pair watching the penguins. In the picture, she appeared to have a thick head of strawberry blonde hair. Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, on their wedding day in 2020 Princess Beatrice wears her elegant blush Reem Acra embellished gown alongside her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at the wedding reception of Crown Prince Al Hussein and Rajwa Alseif, June 2023 Edoardo is the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Nikki Shale. He had been a friend of the York children for some time before getting engaged to Beatrice. The couple married in 2020. Known as Edo to friends, he helped mend Beatrice's broken heart following her split from Dave Clark in 2016 after ten years together. He was educated at Radley school in Oxfordshire before studying for a Master's in politics at Edinburgh. He was disliked by his father and siblings and was unpopular with the public. So it is perhaps not surprising that, when the valet of the Duke of Cumberland was found dead in his room at St James's Palace with his head partially severed, an element of suspicion fell on him. But the death of Thomas Sellis on May 31, 1810, was implausibly ruled a suicide at an inquest, leaving the Duke - the reviled fifth son of King George III - off the hook. Now, the mystery of who killed Sellis is explored in the eighth episode of new Daily Mail podcast Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things. Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and his co-presenter Professor Kate Williams examine whether the Duke himself might have murdered the popular Sellis. They explore how, just hours before Sellis's body was found, the Duke was attacked while he was asleep in his apartments, prompting him to cry, 'I murdered! I murdered!', and call for the help of his other valet, Cornelius Neil. They also investigate the claim that Sellis attacked the Duke and then took his own life after failing to kill him. Listen to the full episode now: Prince Ernest Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, was attacked in his bed at St James's Palace on May 31, 1810. A few hours later, his valet, Thomas Sellis, was found dead A cartoon depicting the Duke of Cumberland being attacked by his valet in 1810 PODCAST: Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things New episodes every Wednesday DON'T MISS your favourite new history podcast. Each week we bring you the biggest and most shocking royal scandals, from who really killed the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the most sex-mad British monarch of all time. Listen wherever you get your podcasts now. Advertisement Mr Hardman says of the Duke: 'He's quite an accomplished soldier, but he's also a deeply unpleasant man, isn't he? 'He has a certain notoriety around him. Out of all of George III's rather naughty and disliked sons, he is the most disliked. The historian added: 'He's seen as very creepy, his sisters don't like him, they find him very strange, and he's generally unpopular. 'He is against reform, which means expanding the vote, and he lives on public money. 'He's someone who is very much disliked by the public and disliked in private life as well.' The Duke claimed that, around an hour after going to bed, he was woken up with a bang on the head. He was then slashed on the leg by an assailant as he attempted to flee, prompting him to cry out. Neil came running to his aide, and the pair allegedly set off after the assailant. A search of the Duke's room found a pair of slippers belonging to Sellis. Also found was the Duke's sword, which was covered in blood. But the valet himself could not be found. On going to his room, they found him lying in a pool of his own blood. His throat had been slashed so deeply that his spine had stopped the blade. The wash basin meanwhile was half full of bloody water. The Duke of Cumberland was sleeping in St James's Palace when he was attacked. Hours later, Joseph Sellis was found dead in his room. His throat had been cut with a razor Professor Williams says: 'His head is nearly severed from his body. Now that is some razor. There's blood. Everywhere, all over the furniture, the floor, the corridor. 'And by this point, the searchers have trodden the blood all over the place. 'The wash basin is half full of bloody water. I'm sure Agatha Christie would have a field day here, or certainly Hercule Poirot would.' Sellis was born in Corsica and had lived in New York before starting as a royal valet. He had been in the service of the Duke of Cumberland for five years when he was killed. According to Professor Williams, he was 'very popular', including with the Duke himself. At an inquest into his death, the Duke's other valet, Cornelius Neil, said he believed Sellis was trying to murder his boss and then frame him for the killing. The inquest concluded that Sellis had tried and failed to murder the Duke and so had returned to his own room to take his own life. It also emerged that Sellis had been accused of theft in New York by a previous employer, who fired him. Sellis was also found to be a strong supporter of American independence and a critic at the time of King George III. At the time, Sellis's death was a newspaper sensation. Members of the public were even allowed to enter St James's Palace to see the crime scene, where Sellis's blood was still visible. The Duke of Cumberland was the fifth son of King George III Those interested in the case failed to understand how, if Sellis really had tried to take the Duke's life, how he failed to kill him when he was asleep. Some believe that the Duke may have been having a sexual affair with Neil, and that Sellis could have been murdered because he was about to expose it. A book making this claim was published several years after Sellis's killing, prompting the Duke to take libel action in court. Although he won the case, he could never shake the perception among many that he was responsible for Sellis's death So what is the verdict of Professor Williams and Mr Hardman? Listen to the eighth episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things now to find out. Robert Hardman is the author of books including Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II and Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story. Professor Kate Williams is the author of the recent book The Royal Palaces: Secrets and Scandals, along with many other works. A helpless mom was zip-tied in front of her small children as armed men in Texas who posed as food delivery people forced their way into a Houston home. Those same thugs shot an police officer who later arrived at the home where the mom and kids were being terrorized after a worried neighbor called 9-1-1. The armed men pushed their way into the house after the mother answered the door Tuesday morning, initially hiding the guns. 'He came up with a red DoorDash bag, and he knocked...or rang the doorbell, and my daughter was going to tell him that he was at the wrong address,' Ben Bates, the woman's father told local TV stations. 'As soon as he opened the door, he pulled a gun out of the DoorDash bag, and he proceeded to ransack the house.' Crime scene tape covers the Houston home where armed men pretending to be food delivery people before forcing their way in Fortunately for the mom and her little ones, a neighbor watched the strangers rush into the house and called police for help, the Houston Police Department confirmed. While police were still en route to the home, the woman, with bound wrists, was forced at gunpoint to guide the intruders through her home and show them where her valuables were, reported KPRC. Houston police officer S.A. Durfee arrived at the home after a suspicious neighbor called for help. He entered the home and confronted the robbers. Officer Durfee was shot once in the thigh by one of the gunmen, who then fled the house. That man has now been identified as Raymond Perez, 35, the cops announced Wednesday. Houston Police released an image of the officer who was shot during the home invasion Houston police descended on the Spring Branch neighborhood after the officer was shot ARRESTED: Booking photos of Raymond Perez, 35 (shooter), Michael Perez, 38, & Brian A. Garcia Chavez, 18, charged in Tuesday's (Sept. 17) shooting of an HPD officer. More info at; https://t.co/ZyEUdWKDbb#HouNews https://t.co/I29QvptyYW pic.twitter.com/LsIX6uRO4X Houston Police (@houstonpolice) September 18, 2024 He's charged with aggravated assault against a public servant, aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and unlawful carrying of a weapon. The second gunmen was taken into the custody inside the house by Durfee's partner. The man who shot the cop was eventually caught in a neighbor's backyard. 'I thought, 'Holy smokes. What are we doing? What's going on? The city, once again, all the crime. I mean, to look out your kitchen window and see three police officers with guns drawn, telling him not to move, it scared the hell out of me,' neighbor Bruce Thomas told the local outlet. The mom and her children, ages 3 and 1, were not harmed. 'She terrorized, but she's okay,' said her dad who said her name is Nicole. A third man has also been arrested at a Taco Bell in Houston where he worked. After terrorizing an innocent mom and kids, he was hiding in the walk-in fridge when the Houston SWAT arrived to take him into custody, reported KTRK. Houston police named Michael Perez, 38, and Brian A. Garcia Chavez, 18, as the other two suspects. They are both charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Meanwhile, Durfee, who's been with the Houston Police Department for 9 years, was released from the hospital Tuesday and is expected to make a full recovery. Kamala Harris has raised eyebrows on the presidential campaign trail for using 'fake accents' that experts suggest could be a result of a confidence issue. Harris, who was born in California and spent some of her childhood in Canada, has been accused of putting on Midwestern, Southern and even French accents during depending on who her audience is. And just today, social media erupted after a video of the vice president appeared to speak with a Spanish twang while talking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes annual Leadership Conference Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert, who owns a practice in New York, said there are two main reasons people alter their accents, which in psychology circles is known as 'mirroring' or the 'chameleon effect.' Vice President Kamala Harris has come under fire recently for claims she puts on a 'fake accent' when speak at events attended by people of color. Experts suggested the switch could be a result of her feeling self-conscious The latest 'fake accent' took Americans by surprise. Harris appeared to say 'I love you back' with a Spanish twang to a group of her supporters on Wednesday. Some do it out of empathy, so others find them trustworthy and to show they want to experience another person's emotions. Others put on different accents to fit in because they feel like an outsider of a group and want to conform. Alpert told DailyMail.com that he thinks that is the case with Harris. 'Using a fake accent could also be a result of feeling self-conscious around a particular group and feeling like she has to make changes to her baseline voice in order to be accepted - to some extent this a natural and normal way to handle people we might perceive as different than ourselves,' Alpert said. 'There's a possibility she feels like she won't fit in, so she overcompensates by taking this whole accent thing to the extreme. 'I think there could be an element of Harris trying to gain acceptance across these different demographics. But again, I think it's backfiring.' As well as shaping her accent to suit certain groups, Harris has also been accused of shaping her policy stances to fit what is currently popular. In 2020, at the height of the George Floyd protests, Harris endorsed the 'defund the police' movement in an interview with the hosts of the Ebro in the Morning show. This was a stark difference from when she ran for Attorney General of California in 2010, her ad production imitated the tense proficiency of a Law and Order episode. 'Our justice system needs drastic repair,' Harris said as she walked confidently with law enforcement officers, hair blowing in the wind as a helicopter buzzed overhead. She has also said that she would shut down Donald Trump's border wall project and once called it a 'medieval vanity project' and a 'waste of taxpayer.' But in August, Harris has allegedly and suddenly vowed to sign a bill that would allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to continue building a wall along the southern border, according to a report. Harris was a major supporter of the Green New Deal in 2019, which call for public policy to address climate change, but this year she swore of off any prior assertion that she opposed fracking in a bid to win battleground Pennsylvania. Harris appeared to say 'I love you back' with a spanish accent while speaking at the at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes annual Leadership Conference Harris come under fire in July 2024 when she adopted a languorous southern drawl during at a Georgia rally Years before running as the Democrat nominee, the vice president was criticized for saying 'The Plan' with a French twist while speaking to scientists in Paris While her shift in policies has come under fire over the years, her 'fake accent' has taken center stage in the last few months and some Americans have viewed it as superficial. 'By altering her accent she might be perceived as inauthentic or manipulative and ultimately could undermine trust if the audience feels she is not genuine,' said Alpert. 'Authenticity is critical in building meaningful connections with the electorate and if people perceive the accent as disingenuous, it could damage Harris's credibility. 'In Harris' attempt to connect with a specific group, there is a risk of alienating other audiences. 'If her accent change is seen as pandering or insincere, it might alienate people who view it as a superficial attempt to fit in rather than a genuine expression of solidarity.' Harris is not the only human to have put on a different speech, as many Americans have and some experts believe their is a social aspect to the chameleon effect - subconsciously replicating the physical actions of another human. Dr Nan Wise, a licensed psychotherapist who has appeared on The Today Show, said: 'When you talk to children, you're gonna sound different, right. 'When you talk to old people, you're gonna sound different. And even if you talk to people who are not native language speakers you automatically adjust.' Dr Wise also noted that Harris' strange accent is something 'we humans do automatically kind of a matching and a mimicry, noting it is done unconsciously. 'Human beings are very social animals, and some of this accommodation goes along with the way we're wired to connect and to unintentionally mimic aspects of our social environments,' she explained. However, a 2021 study led by the University of Pennsylvania found that code-switching is a thought-out behavior. Dr Wise also claimed that the accent makes Harris appear trustworthy, but Alpert suggested it could be doing the opposite. 'By altering her accent she might be perceived as inauthentic or manipulative and ultimately could undermine trust if the audience feels she is not genuine,' he said. 'Authenticity is critical in building meaningful connections with the electorate and if people perceive the accent as disingenuous, it could damage Harris's credibility.' Harris put on the 'fake accent' during a press conference September 17 while speaking to in a discussion with the journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists. Harris spoke at The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 53rd Annual Legislative Conference Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner this month where she was criticized for 'code-switching' The code-switching, when a person alternates between languages in a conversation, is not a recent behavior for Harris as she adopted a languorous southern drawl during at a Georgia rally in July 2024. But years before in 2021, she was accused of slipping into a cod French accent while speaking to scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The vice president is half Jamaican and half Indian, and spent her childhood in San Francisco and Canada. Danielle Wade, a licensed clinical social worker, wrote in MedicalNewsToday: 'Some perceive it as a negative because it may reinforce stereotypes.' But she noted that the behavior could be 'a way of preserving one's identity and culture.' Harris is not the first presidential candidate to switch up their speech as Hilary Clinton came under fire for the same behavior during a 2015 campaign stop in Columbia, South Carolina. Clinton, who grew up in Chicago, put on a southern drawl during an event with minority women small-business owners. Dr Yalda Safai, a psychiatrist in New York City, said that Clinton has long tried to use fake accents to appear relatable, but 'it just feel completely flat' among American voters. On the other hand, Alpert explained how people respect political figures who are more true to themselves. 'Bill Clinton, I thought, was masterful at that,' he continued. 'I thought he just resonated with whoever he was speaking to, from highly educated New Yorkers to poor people, he just he always seemed to be true to himself, and was widely accepted. 'I think the same is true with Donald Trump. We've all heard the description, the Blue Collar billionaire. He just speaks his mind and is consistent across the different speeches and audiences.' Two new studies have revealed that that thousands of toxic chemicals are seeping into our bodies through every day food packaging. Scientist from Switzerland identified 3,601 toxic chemicals in items like Tupperware, water bottles and canned goods, which were found in human blood, urine, hair and breast milk. The chemicals included Bisphenol A, or BPA, and heavy metals that have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems. A separate team from Brazil made another startling discovery after detecting microplastics in a part of the nose connected to the brain, which could be linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Thousands of potentially toxic chemicals were found in the human body, new research showed. The chemicals were found to seep into food through their containers The compounds infiltrate food by simply coming into contact with the product through it's packaging or by heating up food in the plastic to-go containers handed out at restaurants. 'There are known hazardous chemicals that are known to be linked with adverse human health outcomes, and these chemicals leach out of packaging,' said the study's co-author and the chief scientific officer of the Food Packaging Forum, Jane Muncke. There are 14,000 chemicals used in packaging and the new study led by the Food Packaging Forum Foundation in Switzerland found that 25 percent of them are 'largely unregulated.' 'This is a staggering number and shows that food contact materials are a significant source of chemicals in humans,' Martin Wagner, a professor of biology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim told CNN. 'The study is the first to systematically link the chemicals we use in materials to package and process foods to human exposure.' The study, published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, reported that the researchers identified BPA in both food and the human body that had previously been used in baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula containers. The chemical remained in the products until parents boycotted it more than a decade ago, however, it is still found in other packaging containers today. BPA has been linked to heart disease, erectile dysfunction, diabetes and cancer in adults and has also been found to increase the risk of early death by 49 percent. Heavy metals were also discovered in the products, which can harm human's DNA by binding proteins and displacing essential metal ions that can alter the way protein functions in the body and can cause cell dysfunction. They can become toxic as they gradually increase and accumulate in the body and can cause cardiovascular disease, cancer and impair brain development and cause lower IQs in children. A lesser-known item is tiny containers of sauces that are popular at fast-food restaurants. The researchers noted that the small cups have a better chance of contaminating food because of the close proximity between the chemicals in the packaging and the products Food packaging like small sauce containers can contaminate the food, causing dangerous chemicals to enter the body Muncke told The Washington Post that she was recently on a flight and was giving a small container of salad dressing that raised immediate red flags. 'They served the salad with a 15 milliliter little plastic bottle with olive oil and vinegar that you could pour over it,' she said. 'I thought, 'Well, I'm not doing that.' 'We don't think about how the (mostly) plastic packaging adds chemicals to our food, but it's an important source of human exposures,' R. Thomas Zoeller, an emeritus professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst who was not involved in the research, told The Post. 'This is an early indication that harmful chemicals largely unregulated are making it into the human population.' On top of toxic chemicals found throughout the body, a separate study also published this month was the first to identify microplastics from water bottles in the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb is a small portion of tissue inside the nose that's separated from the nasal canal and researchers found that this bulb is housing between five millimeters and one nanometer of plastic particles. The study, published in the journal Environmental Health, found that the tissue could create a direct pathway for microplastics to enter the brain, although no published studies have confirmed the presence of PFAS in the brain. The research team led by the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil said the microplastics could have reached the olfactory bulb either through systemic circulation, through the respiratory pathway or by crossing the blood-brain barrier. Microplastics, or fragments of any plastic that measure less than five millimeters in length, lurk in oceans, the air, food, and even drinking water. Humans constantly inhale and ingest them, raising the odds of experiencing whole-body inflammation, neurological effects, DNA damage, and a weakened immune response. A total of 16 synthetic particles were found in eight of of the 15 deceased individuals studied. Polypropylene - a thermoplastic found in food packaging - was the most prevalent polymer found, accounting for 48 percent of the microplastics in the bulb. These findings could pave the way for future research to understand where microplastics originate. Philip Landrigan, MD, who wasn't involved with the study told MedPage Today: 'I think there'll be a lot more information in the next few years about how microplastics are getting into the human body -- and what they're doing once they get in there.' READ MORE: How could Israel have triggered the deadly blasts Nine people are dead and nearly 3,000 others wounded after thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded in the Middle East on Tuesday. The coordinated attack targeted the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, and saw the small devices go off at around 15:30 local time across Lebanon and Syria. It's thought the pagers used because they were harder to track than smartphones were booby-trapped by Israeli intelligence personnel with explosives that were triggered when a message was received. The attack has raised fears across social media that smartphones could be targeted next. Speaking to MailOnline, experts have revealed whether or not this is a possibility and how to tell if a newly-purchased smartphone is safe. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the 'sinful aggression', and said the country will get its 'fair punishment'. Israel is yet to comment. Pictured, parts of an exploded pager with Gold Apollo branding The attack has raised fears across social media that smartphones which are much widely used than pagers could be targeted next What are pagers? A pager is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric messages (both letters and numbers), encoded in radio waves. Pagers operate as part of a paging system which includes one or more fixed transmitters, which broadcast signals over a specific frequency. Widely used in the 1990s, pagers continue to be used by some emergency services and public safety personnel. Source: Acorn Security Advertisement People have flooded to social media claiming that 'smartphones are next' and 'any electronic device can be used like a bomb'. One commentator said 'if pagers can be hacked to explode, cell phones will be next'. Some reports have suggested a cyber hack by Israel triggered battery overheating and a sudden combustion event, but an expert thinks this 'unlikely'. Instead, it may just be a case of whether a device has been physically tampered with or not. Widely used in the 1990s, pagers are small wireless telecommunications devices that beep or vibrate when receiving transmissions from others. A screen on the pager shows alphanumeric messages, such as a telephone number for the person carrying the device to call. One-way pagers only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers also acknowledge and reply to messages using an internal transmitter. Dr Lukasz Olejnik, visiting senior research fellow of Department of War Studies of King's College London, agreed that pagers are now a 'niche' technology but are still useful in emergency situations or 'really specialised uses'. 'Pagers were used for reasons of operational security to limit the risk of eavesdropping or tracking,' Dr Olejnik told MailOnline. 'Pagers have smaller attack surface than smartphones its much more difficult to hack them.' According to Dr Olejnik, smartphones could potentially be targeted in these sorts of attacks instead of pagers, except 'smartphones could be tracked more easily'. People have flooded to social media claiming that 'smartphones are next' and 'any electronic device can be used like a bomb' Social media commentators think phones 'will be next' - but an expert doesn't think we need to be concerned about our devices exploding It's widely believed the pagers were booby-trapped by Israeli intelligence personnel with explosives. Some reports have suggested a cyber hack triggered battery overheating and a sudden combustion event (without the use of explosives) but an expert thinks this 'unlikely' This image posted on social media on September 17, 2024, appears to show an explosion and a man falling to the floor (L) while others take cover at an indoor vegetable market in Beirut, as hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon Pagers are handheld devices smaller than smartphones that Hezbollah and others in Lebanon use to send messages. Around 15:30 local time on Tuesday, thousands of handheld pagers used by Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and militant group, simultaneously exploded across Lebanon and Syria. At least nine were killed and over 2,750 wounded A man is injured after his pager exploded in Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese media outlets and Sky News Arabia report that Israel managed to hack the portable pagers and cause them to explode But the academic added that there 'is no risk that someone explodes your smartphone'. 'Most modern smartphones are constructed in ways that such tampering could be anywhere from very difficult to nearly impossible,' he said. If you are 'paranoid', he suggests using an explosive material detector on your phone and buying 'directly from vendors only', such as Apple, rather than second-hand vendors. Dr Olejnik added that this extremely rare scenario and it's 'not like were going to have just about any electronic devices explode on a common basis'. 'It is simply extremely unlikely this thing in Lebanon is an operation and it required resources such as money, people, etc.' Dr Olejnik calls the theory flooding social media that a cyber hack triggered battery overheating and combustion so without any implanted explosives 'unlikely'. Photos from the Middle East show the exploded remains of pagers branded with Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese pager manufacturer. But Gold Apollo said it had licensed out its brand to a Budapest company called BAC Consulting and was not involved in the production of the devices. Nicholas Reece, a computer researcher at New York University, said 'it is hard to imagine the manufacturer was an active participant' here because of the potential impacts to their business. 'However, Israel clearly had physical access to the devices to implant the technology then repackage them,' he told MailOnline. 'Doing this to a smart phone would be considerably more difficult. 'There would need to be enough physical space inside the smart phone enclosure to put the explosives, which is unlikely the case with any modern smartphone. 'The enclosures are also more difficult to open and reclose in a way that does not affect the phone or cannot be detected. 'Particularly Apple has a very robust supply chain management system, which would also have to be infiltrated and mitigated.' Photos from the Middle East show the exploded remains of pagers are branded with Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese pager manufacturer A police officer inspects a blood-stained car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon A pager is a small electronic device which you can carry around with you and which gives you a number or a message when someone is trying to contact you (file photo) Based on the available footage, experts believe the pagers were inserted with explosives that triggered the simultaneous blasts somewhere along the supply chain before they ended up with Hezbollah members. A security source told Reuters that up to 3g of explosives were hidden in the pagers and had gone 'undetected' by Hezbollah for months. Olav Lysne, a Norway-based computer scientist, agrees that this attack was done through interception of the supply chain. 'Most experts now seem to guess that the equipment was sent from the provider fully intact, but that the shipment was intercepted, and that explosives along with trigger functionality was inserted while the equipment was in shipment,' he told MailOnline. 'Your phone can definitely be tampered with. Still, the likelihood that someone have placed explosives in it is extremely small unless you are the target of a resourceful intelligence agency.' Josep Jornet, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University, thinks the pagers were tampered with so that they'd explode when they received a certain message. 'Somewhere between the manufacturer and the user someone had access to these pagers,' Professor Jornet told Northeastern Global News. 'And they did not just modify the software, they would make it react in the presence of a specific message. 'They also added a tiny explosive next to the battery, so that the reaction would not just be a battery blowing up, it would be the actual pagers exploding.' A person is carried on a stretcher outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded and killed when the pagers they use to communicate exploded N.R. Jenzen-Jones, an expert in military arms and director of Armament Research Services in Australia, thinks explosive devices were integrated into the pagers early. 'The scale suggests a complex supply-chain attack, rather than a scenario in which devices were intercepted and modified in transit,' he posted on X. Lebanon's foreign ministry called the explosions an 'Israeli cyberattack' but did not provide details on how it had reached that conclusion. Harjinder Singh Lallie, director of the University of Warwicks cybersecurity centre, called it a 'very sophisticated espionage attack' with 'potentially serious ramifications'. 'Pagers appear to have been intersected modified and distributed without anybody noticing any problems in the supply chain,' he said. 'This sets a very dangerous precedent for example equipment owned by ministers and other important personal could be modified.' New York has a reputation for being the most rat-infested city in America - but could you guess the other worst-plagued parts of the US? These pernicious pests are synonymous with city life, but some urban areas have a bigger rat problem than others. California's San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles ranked second and third, followed by Philadelphia. Rats carry a host of diseases that can infect humans, including deadly infections like Leptospirosis, hantavirus and rat bite fever. When they infest buildings, they can also cause significant structural damage. A new study by a nationwide pest control company has revealed the top 15 most rat-infested cities in America Terminix, a nationwide pest control company, looked into which of its 300 branches dispatched the most rodent control services in 2023, and then ranked the cities that required the most services. New Yorkers won't be shocked to see their city at the top of this list. The Big Apple's rat problem is nearly as old as the city itself - and it's boomed in recent years. NYC resumed its position as the number one most rat-infested city in America after Chicago dethroned it in 2022, according to a study by the nationwide pest control company Orkin. The list also includes several cities that aren't as well-known for their rat problem, including Denver, Dallas and Sacramento. Today, there are as many as 3million rats living in New York City, according to a 2023 estimate by MMPC, a Long Island-based pest control company. That's 1 million more than were estimated in 2010. The rats have gotten so bad that Mayor Eric Adams declared them 'public enemy number one' and appointed the city's first 'Rat Czar,' or director of rodent mitigation, in 2023. For New Yorkers, these pests are more than just a nuisance - they're a danger to health. In April, the city issued a health alert over heightened cases of leptospirosis, a deadly rat-borne disease. New York City ranked number one on the list, as the city is plagued by a population of roughly 3 million rats In 2023, there were 24 cases of leptospirosis in New York City. That's eight times higher than total cases in the previous two decades. By April 2024, six additional cases had been reported. This is part of the reason why Mayor Adams and his administration have taken on a more aggressive approach to rat control and invested $3.5 million toward rat mitigation in Harlem. The next most rat-infested cities on the list take us to the West Coast, where the San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose area required the second most rat control services in 2023. The greater San Francisco area has had multiple noteworthy incidents of rat infestation this year. In Oakland, a family's apartment has become overrun with rodents, forcing them to move out as neither the landlord nor the city have solved the problem. And in June, a grocery store in San Francisco temporarily shut down after an inspection found rodent droppings and gnawed-through packages of food, including packages of tortillas, packages of bread, cookies, and chips. The San Francisco Department of Public Health declared that the store had a 'major rodent violation' and ordered it to shut down immediately on June 27. The store reopened the next day following a mandatory cleaning and sanitation process. California's rat problem isn't exclusive to the greater San Francisco area. Los Angeles ranked third on Terminix's list. Rats run rampant in LA, especially in trash-filled areas near the city's downtown. The city's rat population has raised health concerns in recent years. In 2018, an outbreak of typhus - a bacterial infection that spreads to humans by fleas that have bitten infected rodents - sickened 124 LA residents. In 2023, merchants along Los Angeles' famed Olvera Street complained that a rat infestation was threatening their livelihoods. Video shared with the local news channel KTLA showed rodents crawling along streets, sidewalks, and under vendor stands, scavenging for food. Rats thrive in urban areas where there is plenty of garbage for them to feed on When rat populations get out of control, they can cause significant property damage and serious public health concerns Philadelphia is the fourth most rat-infested city on the list, but this likely comes as no surprise to Philly residents whose complaints of rat sightings have been mounting over the last several years, according to city officials. But this latest ranking may signal some improvement to the city's rat problem. A 2021 American Housing survey previously ranked Philly the second-most rat-infested city in the US, with nearly 20 percent of households reporting rodents. In some parts of the city, residents have banned together to address the problem head-on. In South Philly, for example, neighbors met with city officials to bring attention to As rats have plagued South Philly, neighbors met with city officials to call attention to local businesses that improperly store their trash, something they believe is fueling the local rat infestation. The meeting, which occurred in June, left residents 'cautiously optimistic' that the city will intervene. The fifth most rat-infested city in the US is Washington DC. Even the city's wealthiest neighborhoods aren't safe from these pests. In July, the city's 'Rat Czar,' Gerard Brown, confirmed the existence of 'active rat burrows' outside of a pricey apartment building in Dupont Circle. The infestation has the over 100 residents who live there, who have complained of rats entering their apartments, eating their food and leaving droppings all over their floors. In 2023, DC's Department of Health received more than 16,000 complaints of rodent sightings and infestations - a sign that the city's rat problem was getting worse. Officials have cited excess trash and the pandemic as the main drivers of this issue. 'We were shut down, and the city was closed, and restaurants were closed, the rats migrated to the residential areas,' Brown told local news channel 7News in 2023. Even if your city didn't make the list, it's important to be aware of the signs of a rodent infestation in your home. These include droppings, a urine odor, gnawed holes and marks and scampering noises. You should also keep an eye out for rodent nests and any strange behavior from your pets. When rats invade, dogs or cats may become more alert and begin pawing at areas where the rodents may be hiding, such as underneath your refrigerator, stove or furniture. A mysterious creature spotted near a rural Texas community in the dead of night has left wildlife officials baffled. The chilling black-and-white footage was captured by a trailcam outside of Dublin, northeast of Dallas, showing what appeared to be a small animal walking on four legs that were different sizes and had lumps down its back. Michael 'Dumas' Demel, 49, from nearby Schulenburg, showed images of the creature to friends, family and neighbors who suggested it was a skinwalker, alien or even a chupacabra a notorious blood-sucking cryptid from American folklore. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was none the wiser, telling Demel that 'due to the quality of the image a positive identification of the animal is not possible,' adding that it was 'too small to be a whitetail deer fawn.' The camera captured what appeared to be a small creature walking on four legs. But a closer look shows the legs are different sizes and it has lumps along its back. Some have suggested it was a 'skinwalker' Others have claimed that the creature was a chupacabra, a legendary creature said to feast on livestock 'I have three different cameras at three different hunting areas they catch coyote, deer, bobcats, rabbits, raccoons, foxes,' Demel told Pen News. 'I look at approximately 100 plus pics from the three cameras daily, but that was the only photo it showed up on. 'My first reaction was something didn't look right, so I stopped on the picture to zoom in. 'My first instinct was that it was a monkey.' The eerie creature appeared to have a long snout, small top of the head and lumps down its back, which is why some of his friends claimed it was a skinwalker. Skinwalkers are part of a Navajo legend that states they were once healers and people of medicine who were corrupted by their own power and turned to evil, becoming supernatural beings. The Navajo word for skinwalker is yee naaldlooshii, which translates to 'by means of it, it goes on all fours.' The story, which was told to Navajo children, states that skinwalkers can transform into an animal, possess another being, or disguise themselves. In human form, skinwalkers are reported to have glowing red eyes and animalistic qualities barely concealed behind a human face. 'I showed it to neighbors, family and friends. I got everything from a skin-walker, a monkey, a chupacabra, an alien,' Demel said. 'You hear stories of chupacabra in south Texas areas.' A chupacabra, which the Spanish word for 'goat sucker,' is also a legendary creature and is known for killing livestock. Michael Demel captured the chilling black-and-white footage using one of his trailcam, located outside of Dublin Sightings began in the late 1980s when Puerto Rican famers claimed a dog-sized creature with lizard-like skin and a pronounced backbone was attacking their animals. The first chupacabra report in Texas came from Cuero rancher Phylis Canion in 2017, who described it as having large, fanged teeth, big ears and bony limbs. She also said it had longer back legs than front legs, giving it an unnatural arch. And that description was similar to what Demel captured on his trailcam, which he has had for around 10 years and never captured anything so bizarre. 'It's just out of the ordinary,' he said. 'I've seen hundreds of thousands of game pictures over the years and spent my whole life in the woods hunting and this was a first.' The true identity of the creature remains a mystery. Contains affiliated content. Products featured in this article are selected by our writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, Daily Mail Australia will earn an affiliate commission. Click here for more information. Waking up well-rested after a good night's sleep can set you up for a productive day. But if you're struggling to nod off or the hot nights are disrupting your sleep, you may want to re-think your pre-bedtime routine. Australian doctor Dr Jade M. Murray has offered her top tips for getting better shut eye - and the bad habit almost everyone is guilty of. The expert, who specialises in strategies to improve sleep and overall well-being, said that going to bed hydrated plays a crucial role in regulating body temperature, which can support high-quality sleep. 'Maintaining hydration evenly throughout the day is important for maintaining your body temperature,' Dr Murray told Daily Mail Australia. 'Although it is important to avoid drinking large amounts right before bed as this is likely to disrupt your sleep for bathroom breaks.' To get a better sleep in the heat, she advised you should only go to bed when you are feeling sleepy to avoid getting restless and increasing your body temperature. The expert in sleep and circadian medicine with the School of Psychological Sciences Monash University said it's best to avoid naps during the day - especially over the warmer months. Waking up well-rested after a good night's sleep can set you up for a productive day (stock image) 'As tempting as it may be when you are hot and lethargic, is also important, as it ensures you do not minimise your overall sleepiness at bedtime too much,' she said. She suggested sleeping with a light-weight bedding. 'Allow good airflow across your skin, but particularly your hands and feet, will help maintain a comfortable body temperature,' Dr Murray said. Avoid phones in bed Before bedtime, she said you should avoid mindlessly scrolling on your phone - a habit many are guilty of - as this could make it harder to unwind, relax and fall asleep. Cool solutions for hot sleepers There are several options available to make your sleep more comfortable and help you stay cool at night. Tiny adjustments can have a major impact, from selecting the right bedding to streamlining your sleeping environment. Here are some tactics to think about: Create a cool sleeping environment - upgrade room with an air conditioner or fan Choose the right bedding Invest in a cooling mattress or cooling topper Avoiding eating large meals or alcohol right before bed Finish your workout at least three hours before bedtime - so you give your body enough time to cool down Advertisement 'Disengaging from technology before bed is really important for improving sleep quality, as the light from our devices, as well as the brain arousal caused by engaging on social media, can inhibit our ability to fall asleep easily,' she said. Dr Murray said creating a bedtime routine that replaces phone time with a 'relaxing' activity, such as reading, journalling or practising mindfulness immediately prior to bed is 'one way to help limit the effect of technology on your sleep'. Prioritise sleep Getting a good night's sleep can work wonders for improving our mental health. 'Sleep is critical for regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine that stabilise our mood,' she said. 'Improving your sleep by being consistent and prioritising enough time for sleep helps ensure emotional stability and reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety.' Embrace mindfulness If you often have trouble falling asleep, Dr Murray said practising mindfulness before bedtime can help relax your mind and body for a restful night's sleep. There are many different forms of mindfulness so figure out what works best for you to get the most out of it. If you notice your worries are keeping you up at night, try writing your thoughts in a diary or on paper before bed. Other 'mindfulness' things to do before bed include taking a warm shower with a 'relaxing' scent such as lavender or spending a few moments practising deep breathing exercises (breathe in, breathe out). Consistent sleep schedule Dr Murray said having a regular bedtime routine where you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day can help you get sufficient sleep and maintain a healthy immune system. 'Sleep plays an important role in supporting the production of specialised cells and proteins that are required by our immune system to fight off infection effectively,' she said. Ecosa has launched a new cooling mattress - dubbed the CoolComfort Mattress - just in time for the hot nights over spring and summer How to get a better night's sleep 1. Make a relaxing sleep environment: Dim the lights, buy comfortable bedding and create clutter-free space 2. Create a consistent sleep schedule: Have a regular bedtime and wake-up time 3. Avoid using technology before bed 4. Deep breathing exercises 5. Maintain a healthy diet 6. Invest in a quality mattress and pillows 7. Reduce daytime naps and get natural light 8. Enjoy a relaxing, stress-free activity before bed: Meditation, journalling or reaching 9. Sleep in a good position: Your chosen sleeping position can have an effect on your sleep quality. Find what feels the most comfortable and is in line with your bodys natural posture 10. Seek professional help if you're struggling with sleep issues - including insomnia or sleep apnea Source: Ecosa Advertisement Track your sleep If you find yourself tossing and turning in bed or waking up particularly tired, Dr Murray said tracking your sleep can help you identify patterns in your sleeping behaviours so you can work on improving your sleep. However, she warned everyone not to become 'over-reliant' on sleep tracking. 'This can lead to obsessing about the data, creating anxiety and further worsening sleep. It is important to recognise that the data should be seen more as a pattern of your sleep-wake schedule rather than a gold-standard measure of sleep,' she said. Stay cool in bed Ecosa has launched a new cooling mattress - dubbed the CoolComfort Mattress - just in time for the hot nights over spring and summer. The 'game-changing' mattress is said to be up to 80 per cent cooler to touch, compared to a standard variety. The new mattress has been designed to keep you cool, even on the warmest nights. It features temperature-regulating foams that claims to 'rapidly pull heat away from your body for sweat-free sleep' and mesh panels on the sides of the mattress to keep air flowing freely. With its unique combination of cooling materials, unparalleled airflow and ergonomic support, you'll enjoy deep, restful sleep all year round. To shop Ecosa's new CoolComfort Mattress, click here. SHOPPING Contains affiliated content. Products featured in this Shopping Finder article are selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, Dailymail.co.uk will earn an affiliate commission. Click here for more information. Imagine this: after a long day of exploring, youre excited to relax in your hotel room, scroll TikTok, and post another holiday snap. But then, disaster strikes the hotel WiFi is down. Now, you must skip the poolside post or use your data and face a hefty bill later. Thankfully, theres a better option: the ROAMLESS eSIM, a must-have for frequent travellers. Roaming charges can be pricey, and while WiFi is more common in many cities, its not always reliable or secure. ROAMLESS eSIM Luckily enough to be jetting off on holiday sometime soon? For a limited time, you can now get an exclusive 5 free credit when you sign up for the first time with code TRAVELEASY. The ROAMLESS eSIM, which can be used globally in a never-ending list of destinations, comes with a handy app, and is completely pay-as-you-go, which means youll never be hit with heavy, unaffordable charges. Expires January 2025. View deal The ROAMLESS eSIM, which can be used globally in a never-ending list of destinations, comes with a handy app, and is completely pay-as-you-go, which means youll never be hit with heavy, unaffordable charges. While traditional eSIM plans can be difficult to navigate and complicated to set up especially for first-time users ROAMLESS prides itself on its easy-to-use technology and high-speed connectivity. Plus, so you can get to enjoying your much-needed holidays sooner, the eSIM can be activated in just a few clicks, and then can be used repeatedly each time you travel to a new ROAMLESS destination. ROAMLESS allows for fast mobile data in 167 countries and continents including Europe, the Middle East, Asia and beyond, as well as the UK - which makes it a great option for home-use, too, and a more affordable alternative to expensive mobile phone providers. The handy ROAMLESS app allows you to top up your data on the go with a few quick clicks, meaning youll never be without internet, or be faced with a high bill when you return home. In-app eSIM and VOIP technology mean you can text and even place calls easily for ultimate peace of mind, no matter where your travels may take you. The ROAMLESS eSIM boasts fast roaming speeds, meaning you can post your pictures, scroll social media, FaceTime friends and more Compared to other leading providers, ROAMLESS could potentially save you over a hundred pounds in roaming costs and charges, which is money that could far better be spent on a holiday cocktail or a spot of shopping. While its important to switch off and relax on holiday, most of us cant be without our phones for a full day. Keep in contact with family back home, make sure little ones stay entertained with their favourite game or simply take to Instagram to gloat about your epic time away - whatever you need, ROAMLESS has you covered. Roamless is quite possibly the best mobile connectivity app ever built, said one customer. Single eSIM makes it as easy as roaming with my local operator in every country, but for 70% cheaper. ROAMLESS boasts ultra-fast connectivity speeds in up to 167 countries worldwide 'Amazing rates. I had added $25 to my wallet. Used $8.50 on my trip. The rest I'll use in 2 months on another Europe trip. No expirations is literally a game changer. 0 waste. Whoever built this thing, well done. I used Roamless on a one-week trip to Greece and then Italy, added a second user. Prices are very affordable, I only paid for what I used and the best part was I didnt have to do anything to get connected when I landed in Italy!. Luckily enough to be jetting off on holiday sometime soon? For a limited time, you can now get an exclusive 5 free credit when you sign up for the first time with code TRAVELEASY. Nostalgic as you may feel about the days when booking a holiday meant strolling into a High Street travel agent and perusing a few brochures, the reality now is that, if you want the best deals and the biggest choice, the internet is indispensable. But amid the last-minute deals and under-the-radar destinations lurk plenty of monsters. Fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target consumers, Mark Tanzer, chief executive of ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) told the Mail. They particularly focus on destinations and times of year when demand is high and availability limited, as they know people will be looking for good deals. Victims will often only find out they have been defrauded just before they are due to travel, or even in resort, when it can be very difficult to find a legitimate replacement. Marks fears are backed up by stats from Action Fraud who reported earlier this year that in 2023, holiday makers lost a combined total of 12.3 million, with an average loss of 1,851 per victim. From the emails to watch out for to fake offers and AI generated guidebooks, weve spoken to travel experts to reveal the top digital travel swindles and how to avoid them. THE SCAMS Fake giveaways or deals advertised on social media How it works: Social media channels are rife with competitions and giveaway offers which, if youre quick enough, could mean you get your flight or hotel (or both) at a fraction of the cost youd usually pay. You may even get it for nothing. But beware, not all of these are legitimate and many are posted by scammers who hope that youll hand over your details over an offer or freebie that never existed. How to avoid it: While holiday companies do often run online competitions or giveaways, its essential to check a post comes from the official account before engaging, says Rory from Which?. If you are in any doubt, check the holiday firms own website to see if the giveaway is also advertised there. Phantom villas advertised online By the time you realise your villa doesn't exist, your money will be long gone, warn experts How it works: The rise of AI means that the age-old scam of selling a villa that isnt available has ratcheted up another notch. Now its possible for scammers to use AI to create images of villas and luxury retreats that dont actually exist at all. Again, by the time youve realised this (which can be as late as when youve arrived at your destination) your money has vanished forever and you could be looking for a campsite to spend the night in. How to avoid it: Luxury villas are highly attractive to fraudsters, explains Mark at ABTA. The warning signs are lower prices than legitimate competitors, unlimited availability, and insistence on bank transfer payment. Do some research first. Look at other reviews and remember the old adage if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Missed delivery emails while on holiday How it works: Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated at sending legitimate-looking e-mails and texts purporting to be from companies such as Royal Mail, Amazon and delivery companies that claim you have missed a parcel delivery. They hope that, while enjoying your holiday, you wont pay the message too much attention and will simply click on the link, either to track your parcel or enter your personal details, which can result in your phone being infected with malware that can bug your device and enable the scammers to seize your personal banking details. How to avoid it: Scammers will use this method to request personal details and often payment information too, says Rory at Which? Always avoid clicking links in unexpected messages instead, go to the parcel delivery firms website directly and track your package there. Hacking of public wi-fi How it works: Connecting to the public wi-fi network in a restaurant, shopping mall or hotel while youre on holiday isnt as safe as you might think as its simply not possible to know who else is connected to it. If a hacker connects their device to the same network as you, they can use something called Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) to try to gain access to your data. How to avoid it: The safest thing to do is to never use wi-fi hotspots in restaurants or public areas that dont first require a password. Also make sure that when youre browsing, you only access websites that begin with the URL https. This is a guarantee that the data transmitted from your device is encrypted. Websites that have been designed to steal your data will often start with http. Make sure your phones software always has the most recent security updates, and for added protection, consider installing anti-virus software adds Rory from Which?. There are both free and paid-for options, and some of the best will flag phishing sites and block malware before it causes damage. Two reputable brands to consider using are Bitdefender Total Security and Norton 360 Deluxe. Fake listings on booking websites How it works: Increasing numbers of travellers are being caught out by paying to stay in properties advertised on booking.com that turn out to be non-existent. Many of these listings are blatant scam attempts, while some are old listings that are left live on the site despite the property in question no longer being available to hire. How to avoid it: Be wary of multiple reviews using repetitive language, or clusters posted around the same time, as this could indicate theyve been faked, says Rory Boland, travel editor of Which?, the leading UK consumer affairs magazine. Wed also advise filtering reviews by most recent as its possible to miss warnings when sorting by most relevant. Only pay using the platforms own payment systems: never be tempted to send money by bank transfer for a discounted rate this is often a sign of a scam. Fake flight websites How it works: There are now hundreds of fake airline ticket booking websites and some even go as far as to pretend to be actual big-name airlines. Naturally, these sites are only interested in taking your money and often catch out unsuspecting travellers by offering surprisingly low rates. Some go so far as to send a flight confirmation e-mail. How to avoid it: Fraudulent websites are increasingly sophisticated, explains Mark Tanzer from ABTA. Warning signs will include suspiciously low prices, unlimited availability at very busy times of year and insistence that you pay by bank transfer. If in doubt then look for sites that are ABTA or ATOL (Air Travel Organizers Licence) recognised and contact the actual airline which is running the flight to check if it actually exists and is scheduled for the same time and date. Check the web address too if it looks suspicious, it probably is. The bargain Global Health Insurance Card offer How it works: Global Health Insurance Cards (GHIC) provide cover for emergency treatment while abroad and can be obtained for free. Scam websites exploit confused travellers by creating legitimate-looking websites which purport to offer a good price on GHIC cards. By the time theyve paid often as much as 30 for the card, its too late to ask for a refund. How to avoid it: GHIC cards are very useful and easy to obtain says Mark Tanzer at ABTA. Theyre free so always use the official NHS site when applying or renewing. You can apply for the card for a cost of absolutely nothing at https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/ AI generated guidebooks How it works: Scrolling through Amazon reveals thousands of guidebooks to various destinations, all written by self-described travel experts. In reality, what youre paying for is AI generated garbage (with the odd cut and pasted page from Wikipedia thrown in) which offers often incomprehensible prose, out of date maps and pricing and info which (should you want it at all) can be gleamed for free online. How to avoid it: If you see a guide which has a glut of five star reviews and one star reviews (and nothing in between) then you can be fairly sure that the one star reviews are real and the five star reviews have been written by the author and his friends, or are AI generated. Stick to the trusted travel guidebooks brands. The best of these are Rough Guides, Time Out, and Bradt, all of whom produce high quality, regularly updated guidebooks on hundreds of destinations. Fake visa websites How it works: A simple Google search will reveal a host of legitimate-looking websites that claim to offer fair prices for organising the entire visa process for you to countries including the US, India, China and Saudi Arabia. These sites assume that you havent done a thorough check about how much the visas cost, whether you can actually get on one arrival or if you even need one at all. The result: you pay far more than you need to for your visa or even end up being charged for one that isnt required or does not exist, How to avoid it: There is just one website you need in order to get 100 per cent accurate information on visa requirements for every country, according to Mark Tanzer at ABTA. The easiest way to obtain a visa is to check the relevant travel advice page on the Foreign Office site (gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice). The site also has direct links to the country in questions official visa application page. Fake e-mails and messages offering refunds How it works: When travellers are faced with flight cancellations or delays, they often go to social media to complain. Scammers create social media profiles using travel companies branding and reply to such messages before taking as many details from the unsuspecting user as possible, including bank details. How to avoid it: Though social media can be a useful tool for engaging with businesses and seeking customer support, sadly there are swathes of scammers posing as legitimate accounts waiting to reply to your posts, says Rory at Which?. Always check that any message purporting to be from a business, like an airline, comes from its official account before you reply. You can do this by clicking directly on the profile scam accounts will usually have few followers. If you are in any doubt at all, get in touch with the airline directly using the contact details on its official website instead. Discounted flight tickets advertised on social media How it works: It can be quite a thrill to scroll through social media to find that a reputable airline or tour operator is offering a flash sale on flights. But the appetite to snatch a limited-time-offer bargain is exactly what scammers want. By the time youve realised that the deal never existed, the fraudsters already have your payment details. How to avoid it: If a deal looks too good to be true, it usually is and you should treat any sort of social media offer with a pinch of salt, says Rory at Which? While there are legitimate sites such as Jacks Flight Club that will scour the internet for deals, most of the so-called offers youll find online are nothing of the sort, The safest thing to do is simply avoid online travel agents (OTAs) completely and simply book directly with the airline. Research by Which? has found that, once youve added baggage fees and seat selection through a third party OTA, youll usually end up paying more anyway. Airlines EasyJet and British Airways have announced the launch of all new flight routes to a 'beautiful' capital city. Both carriers will be adding flights to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to their schedules - a city described by EasyJet as being 'known for its history, culture and natural beauty'. They will be the first direct routes from the UK to Georgia since Wizz Air cancelled its flights to Kutaisi at the beginning of the Covid pandemic four years ago, reports the Independent. In a statement, easyJet lauded the city's 'picturesque Old Town' as well as its 'lively arts scene' and 'historic sulphur baths'. The airline says Tbilisi is tipped to be an 'untapped, affordable city break'. Airlines EasyJet and British Airways have announced the launch of all-new flight routes to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi (above), from next year Holidaymakers will have the chance to try 'traditional Georgian cuisine' and oenophiles can sip on 'award-winning wines' in Tbilisi Holidaymakers will have the chance to try 'traditional Georgian cuisine' and oenophiles can sip on 'award-winning wines', adds the budget carrier. Meanwhile, BA says: 'Georgia proudly lays claim to being the birthplace of wine, with an 8,000-year-old history of winemaking that remains a predominant part of its culture today.' The inaugural EasyJet flight to Georgia, which is nestled between Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, will depart from London Luton Airport on April 1 next year. From then, EasyJet will fly from the UK to Tbilisi twice a week - on Tuesdays and Saturdays - throughout the summer season. EasyJet has also launched routes to Tbilisi from Geneva, Switzerland, and Milan Malpensa in Italy. EasyJet will fly from the UK to Tbilisi twice a week - on Tuesdays and Saturdays - throughout the summer season with tickets available to book now British Airways will launch its Tbilisi offering from London Heathrow operating four times per week from March 30, 2025 Ali Gayward, EasyJets UK Country Manager, said: 'We are delighted to announce a new route to a brand-new destination on our network today, and to be providing unique direct connectivity between the UK and Tbilisi in Georgia from next summer.' British Airways will launch its Tbilisi offering from London Heathrow operating four times per week from March 30, 2025. Neil Chernoff, British Airways Chief Planning and Strategy Officer, said: 'Were delighted to welcome Tbilisi back into our route network, after our last scheduled service in 2013. 'We expect this to be a popular route with the leisure market, which has seen a strong comeback since 2019, as well as with those looking to enjoy direct flights to visit friends and family. 'We look forward to improving the connectivity between our two capital cities next year.' Seats on the new EasyJet Tbilisi route are available from 113.99 one-way at easyJet.com. British Airways flights to Tbilisi are available from 275 for a return ticket at britishairways.com. Emily Maitlis has revealed the sick question she received from Prince Andrew before her infamous Newsnight interview with the royal. The journalist serves as an executive producer on the upcoming Prime Video series A Very Royal Scandal - a retelling of the 2019 interview. And in scenes set to air in the first episode, Emily, who is played by Ruth Wilson, reveals that before Prince Andrew agreed to the terms of his interview with BBC Newsnight, he asked the presenter whether she had ever been abused. As the team at the BBC attended a pre-meet with Prince Andrew, played by Michael Sheen, alongside his daughter Beatrice and his private secretary Amanda Thirsk. And before agreeing to the interview, the Duke leans forward before he asks: 'Have any of you ever been victims of abuse?' A Very Royal Scandal has exposed the sick question Prince Andrew asked Emily Maitlis before the infamous Newsnight interview which left the BBC star reeling And in scenes set to air in the first episode, Emily (Ruth Wilson) reveals that before Prince Andrew (Michael Sheen) agreed to the terms of his interview with BBC Newsnight, he asked the presenter whether she had ever been abused Visibly shaken by the question, while Emily's two employees quickly insist that they have not, the journalist herself appears to freeze. As the silence lingers she quickly adds: 'No.' Prince Andrew questions: 'Nothing in your life?' as Emily replies: 'Nothing that bares comparison.' 'So you're judgement wouldn't be coloured by anything at all?' clarifies Amanda, who is played by Joanna Scanlan. 'Not at all,' confirms Emily as the meeting draws to a close. However the chilling question plays on Emily's mind and later in the episode she confides in her husband as she tells him: 'You know at the end of my meeting with Prince Andrew he asked me if I had ever been the victim of abuse? It felt horrible.' 'What did you say?' asks her husband Mark Gwynne as Emily replies: 'Well nothing, having a stalker is not remotely comparable and I don't want to talk about it.' Emily was a victim of stalker for 27 years after Edward Vines bombarded her with letters following a fixation that has spanned since the pair attended Cambridge University together in the 1990s. Before agreeing to the interview, the Duke leans forward before he asks: 'Have any of you ever been victims of abuse?' Visibly shaken by the question, while Emily's two employees quickly insist that they have not, the journalist herself appears to freeze However the chilling question plays on Emily's mind and later in the episode she confides in her husband as she tells him: 'You know at the end of my meeting with Prince Andrew he asked me if I had ever been the victim of abuse? It felt horrible' In 2022 Edward was jailed for eight years after writing a series of letters from HMP Nottingham declaring his 'unrequited love' with 'outpourings of affection' for her In 2022 Edward was jailed for eight years after writing a series of letters from HMP Nottingham declaring his 'unrequited love' with 'outpourings of affection' for her. In March 2023 he was jailed for a further nine months after trying to also write to the presenter's mother. Vines had insisted that he would continue penning letters to Maitlis until she spoke to him 'about her behaviour in 1990' - when he claimed 'she snubbed him at Cambridge University'. A court heard that, while he was awaiting sentence for breaching his restraining order 20 times, he tried to write to Maitlis' mother Marian between July and August in 2022. And the connection between terrorised by a stalker and Prince Andrew's question of abuse is clear in the actresses face. Amazon Prime released the trailer for upcoming drama A Very Royal Scandal last Wednesday, it will drop on the streamer on September 19. It comes after Emily revealed the awkward request she received from Prince Andrew after their notorious interview ended. The interview was widely branded a 'car crash' for the Duke of York, but Emily has now revealed that he actually wanted to spend even more time talking about sweating and Pizza Express. Of Prince Andrew's request, she said: 'Once we'd finished the interview, I said as a courtesy, "Is there anything that didn't get included that you wanted to discuss?" and Prince Andrew said, "Well actually, there were a couple of things. You didn't include my alibi". Prince Andrew questions: 'Nothing in your life?' as Emily replies: 'Nothing that bares comparison' Amazon Prime released the trailer for upcoming drama A Very Royal Scandal last Wednesday, it will drop on the streamer on September 19 'He wanted to talk about the fact that he'd been at Pizza Express on the night in question. 'And it was a very complicated moment for us because, on the one hand, I knew that if he included some of the stuff that he wanted to talk about, for example the sweating and the Pizza Express alibi, it was not going to help his case, in fact, it was actually going to make it look worse.' Emily added: 'I felt kind of a responsibility to not let him walk into that, but on the other hand, I also felt a responsibility to include the things that he had said were important to him to say.' The News Agents presenter went on to reveal how it was more difficult to get interviews afterwards as it scared people off. 'It's a curious thing actually, on the one hand, you'd think it might make it really easy to get people to do interviews with you because they've seen your interview and they've heard of you, ' she said. 'And on the other hand, nobody wants to do an interview with you because they've seen your interview and they've heard of you! 'So, I think it's slightly double-edged. Some people come towards you, and some run a mile.' M&S: Dress The Nation (ITV1) Rating: The big prize for ten amateur fashion designers in Dress The Nation is a job at Marks and Spencer. We want someone to think slightly outside the box, said M&S marketing chief Anna Braithwaite. At M&S it is all about pushing the boundaries. Wait, are we talking about the same Marks and Spencer here? The one that shoppers love for being reliable rather than radical? Where thinking outside the box means a dramatic new shade of beige? Apparently we are. And before you accuse me of fashion snobbery, Im currently wearing a pair of black stretch cotton M&S underpants, and a smart blue M&S summer suit hangs in my wardrobe. The star of this first episode a cross between The Apprentice and The Great British Sewing Bee was Tendai, who is originally from Zimbabwe and described herself as a girl who just likes sewing. She came second in the first challenge, to design a summer dress, and then led a team to victory in the Create A Collection challenge. M&S: Dress The Nation is a cross between The Apprentice and The Great British Sewing Bee, writes ROLAND WHITE (Pictured: Julie, Daylan, Sandeep & Maria) Vernon, Maddie and Tendai. Tendai, who is originally from Zimbabwe and described herself as a girl who just likes sewing, is the star of the first episode She dresses well too, which is always a good sign in a clothes designer, matching yellow nails with a stunning green dress. By contrast, office manager Chris was in pink dungarees. He had earrings so large they could virtually be seen from space, and outsize Harry Potter spectacles, possibly to protect his eyes from those earrings. At least hell stand out, and his designs were equally colourful and eye-catching. Tendais rivals shouldnt be too worried about her early success. Things change very quickly on these shows. Fellow Zimbabwean Daylan wowed the judges in the first round with an outstanding pleated dress, which he made without wasting a single piece of fabric. But the team he led in the Collection challenge performed so poorly that he found himself in danger of eviction. His dress was a hotchpotch of orange, pink and white. What was he thinking? But it was Julie, the oldest contestant, who was given the boot. She runs her own alterations service, and works so quickly that she managed to produce two dresses for the first round after deciding her first attempt looked like a nurses uniform. Her second dress proved too bland even for M&S. When the experts decided her summer blazer was old-fashioned, her fate was sealed. Contests embrace each other on M&S:Dress The Nation. Pictured: Sandeep, AJ & Anna The clever twist to Dress The Nation is that the finished products go on display for M&S shoppers to judge. Pictured: Julie But there is a clever twist to Dress The Nation, which puts the finished products on display for M&S shoppers to judge. More than half of the customers panel liked Julies jacket. What do experts know, eh? The show is presented by AJ Odudu and Vernon Kay, who specialises in dad jokes like Ready, thready, go. They are joined by two M&S experts and a special guest. For episode one it was Scary Spice Mel B. Thats quite a line-up. In the final rounds, therell probably be more people on the payroll than contestants. 90 Day Fiance star Big Ed looked absolutely smitten with his new girlfriend Porscha Raemond as he proposed over the weekend just 24-hours after they met. News images obtained by DailyMail.com on Tuesday show the moment the 59-year-old popped the question to the 29-year-old beauty while dining at YOLO restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Using a paperclip that he borrowed from the restaurant's manager, Ed fashioned an impromptu engagement ring and asked Porscha to marry him. She eagerly accepted the proposal and the couple shared a passionate kiss at their table, with Ed placing his hands on Porscha's face. Many of the restaurant's patrons stood up from their tables to applaud the newly engaged couple. 90 Day Fiance star Big Ed looked absolutely smitten with his new girlfriend Porscha Raemond as he proposed over the weekend just 24-hours after they met Over the weekend, Ed was in Plantation, Florida for a meet-and-greet at a sandwich shop called Capriotti's, where he met his bride-to-be for the first time. And not even 24 hours later, while at dinner, Big Ed decided to propose, just months after he opened up about his regret over dumping Liz Woods. Despite the unconventional proposal, sources tell TMZ the engagement is in fact real, with Ed himself saying, 'It was love at first bite.' There is no indication yet when the wedding may happen, though she was featured briefly in one of Big Ed's videos from the sandwich shop over the weekend. The video is a collage of footage taken from his appearance at Capriotti's, which features an Instagram story post from Raemond, who deleted her Instagram at some point after meeting Ed. The Instagram story post showed two photos Raemond with Ed, one where they're both smiling for the cameras with her arm around him. The second photo showed her kissing Ed on the cheek, adding in the caption, 'You're even better in person,' with a heart emoji. He also posted another one of her Instagram stories where she shared the autographed photo he signed for her along with pink heart emojis. News images obtained by DailyMail.com on Tuesday show the moment the 59-year-old popped the question to the 29-year-old beauty while dining at YOLO restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Using a paperclip that he borrowed from the restaurant's manager, Ed fashioned an impromptu engagement ring and asked Porscha to marry him She eagerly accepted the proposal and the couple shared a passionate kiss at their table, with Ed placing his hands on Porscha's face Less than a day after meeting, they went out for dinner, with Brown said to be 'feeling it' so much that he dropped to one knee and popped the question. He stunned the dinner party, onlookers and his future wife with the impromptu proposal, though sources insist the proposal is, 'definitely real.' Raemond will be Brown's second wife, following his first marriage to Sandra Heckman from 1990 to 1992, with the exes sharing daughter Tiffany. They split after just two years of marriage after Ed was unfaithful, which he has called in the past a, 'stupid mistake.' The second photo showed her kissing Ed on the cheek, adding in the caption, 'You're even better in person,' with a heart emoji. He also posted another one of her Instagram stories where she shared the autographed photo he signed for her along with pink heart emojis. Less than a day after meeting, they went out for dinner, with Brown said to be 'feeling it' so much that he dropped to one knee and popped the question. Despite the unconventional proposal, sources tell TMZ the engagement is in fact real, with Ed himself saying, 'It was love at first bite' He also posted another one of her Instagram stories where she shared the autographed photo he signed for her along with pink heart emojis For his first stint on TLC's 90 Day Fiance, Ed travelled to the Philippines on the show to be with his girlfriend Rose Vega (above), though the relationship crumbled before they got to the altar He then participated in the spin-off 90 Day: The Single Life, where he met Liz Woods (above) in the first season He stunned the dinner party, onlookers and his future wife with the impromptu proposal, though sources insist the proposal is, 'definitely real.' Raemond will be Brown's second wife, following his first marriage to Sandra Heckman from 1990 to 1992, with the exes sharing daughter Tiffany. They split after just two years of marriage after Ed was unfaithful, which he has called in the past a, 'stupid mistake.' Vanessa Feltz made her first TV appearance on Tuesday, just days after she was rushed to hospital in a terrifying health scare. The presenter, 62, appeared on Jeremy Vine where she described the 'extraordinary pain' she experienced from a kidney stone over the weekend. Vanessa said when she went to hospital she hoped the stone would be over five millimetres so that they would have to operate, saying the pain was worse than childbirth. She said: 'I was felled by a kidney stone. Who knew? One thing I was absolutely fine making lunch for the grandbabies, having a laugh, hungry, normal, everything. And the next minute, the pain was absolutely extraordinary. 'I've had natural childbirth twice, I've got some idea of pain, but this was remarkable. Actually remarkable. Anyway, in the end I had to be nuked with a laser.' Vanessa Feltz made her first TV appearance on Tuesday, just days after she was rushed to hospital in a terrifying health scare The presenter, 62, appeared on Jeremy Vine where she described the 'extraordinary pain' she experienced from a kidney stone over the weekend Jeremy asked: 'They don't say "just let it come out naturally?" Vanessa replied: 'It was too big it turned out. They scanned it, it was five millimetres, just a bit more than that. She continued: 'When they said, if it's over five millimetres, we'll have to operate, I was praying, please let it be over five milimeters. 'Please let them operate, because I couldn't bear the thought of having to endure it for another second. Im delighted to be here, I can't tell you.' It comes after Vanessa told her Instagram followers she'd been left 'doubled down in agony' before doctors discovered she was suffering from the kidney stone. Speaking from her hospital bed Vanessa said: 'Good morning from hospital, bit of a surprise, yesterday I was absolutely fine, completely fine and I had the [grandchildren] over for lunch and I was completely fine'. 'There was nothing wrong with me at all and then suddenly I got this pain and it was just absolutely extraordinary I've never had anything like it and I've given birth to two children naturally and never had any pain like that in my life'. Vanessa, who shares daughters Allegra, 38, and Saskia, 35, with ex-husband Michael Kurer, said while she is usually 'a trooper' and battles through illness, she was so unwell she was forced to miss her LBC radio show. The TV host told followers that she'd been left 'doubled down in agony' before doctors discovered she was suffering from a kidney stone Vanessa shares daughters Allegra, 38 (L) and Saskia, 35 (R) with ex-husband Michael Kurer (pictured in 2011) She said: 'I was in agony I couldn't sit down, I couldn't lie down, I didn't know what to do, it was absolutely astounding'. Vanessa then went on to detail how she underwent a scan where medics discovered the kidney stone was 5mm, before being rushed to surgery to have it removed. Alongside the clip she wrote: 'Gosh! Hello from hospital. 2pm I was fine. Had just made lunch and was playing with AJ 5 and Cecily nearly two. 3pm I was doubled over in agony. Scan showed big kidney stone'. 'OMG! Astoundingly painful. Rushed into theatre. Very grateful thanks to my daughters nurses porters anesthetist and wonderful surgeon. Thank you so much'. The Jeremy Vine Show airs Monday - Friday from 9am on Channel 5, produced by ITN Productions. A Very Royal Scandal hits Prime Video on Thursday and ahead of its release to the general public early reviews have been mostly positive. It follows actress Ruth Wilson, 42, who plays former Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis, 54, in a retelling of the car crash interview involving Prince Andrew back in November 2019. He was quizzed about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein which threatened to damage the reputation of the entire royal family. And the new series has been praised by critics for leaving Scoop - a Netflix drama released earlier this year about the same interview - 'in the dust'. Others publications branded it a 'thrilling' drama that Prince Andrew will 'struggle to recover from'. A Very Royal Scandal hits Prime Video on Thursday and ahead of its release to the general public early reviews have been mostly positive (Ruth Wilson seen as journalist Emily Maitlis) It follows actress Ruth Wilson, 42, who plays former Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis, 54, in a retelling of the car crash interview involving Prince Andrew back in November 2019 Website Meaww compared it to Scoop which starred Gillian Anderson as Emily and Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew. Their reviewer Rupali Manohar Chauhan said: 'While each version has its own merits, I'll have to be a little biased towards A Very Royal Scandal thanks to its three-part format, which provides an in-depth look at the nitty-gritty of the notorious interview. 'Move over Scoop Prime Video's A Very Royal Scandal is juicier, and better.' The Times echoed these sentiments saying it was better than Scoop and also praised Ruth's acting as Emily. They said: 'Is the series self-admiring? Yes, inevitably. But there is much to admire. It is also complex, touching on Maitlis's guilt at the hurt caused to Beatrice and Eugenie and the fact that the conversation wasn't about Jeffrey Epstein's victims but about dismantling the Queen's second son. 'It is not perfect, but it is highly entertaining and, in my opinion, a better piece of television than.' Meanwhile The Spectator gave a damning verdict for Prince Andrew suggesting he will 'struggle to recover' from the show. Of the scandal they wrote: 'Only the most generous, or blinkered, would not suggest that the wider royal family lives with the embarrassment every day. In the interview (seen in real life) he was quizzed about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein which threatened to damage the reputation of the entire royal family And the new series has been praised by critics for leaving Scoop - a Netflix drama released earlier this year about the same interview - 'in the dust' Others branded it a 'thrilling' drama that Prince Andrew will 'struggle to recover from' It comes as Emily reflected on her history-making interview as she appeared on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain The new series has been praised by critics for leaving Scoop - a Netflix drama released earlier this year about the same interview - 'in the dust' (Gillian Anderson seen as Emily in Scoop) 'A Very Royal Scandal is a piquant reminder of this, and one that will resonate with its millions of viewers.' Meanwhile The Telegraph were less complimentary of the series in their review, branding it a like a 'bad episode of The Crown'. They penned of the new show: 'Why are we seeing this again when anyone who wants to revisit the actual interview can do so on YouTube? 'Who cares about the planning meetings and the editing and Maitlis worrying about what to wear.' It comes as Emily reflected on her history-making interview as she appeared on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain. Speaking on GMB Emily recounted her time doing the interview, candidly saying watching the series back reminded her of the stress of taking on the challenge. She said: 'When I watch the drama I get palpitations - it takes me back to when I thought 'will I remember to ask the right questions? Can I do this?'' She added of her reaction to Prince Andrew's demeanour: 'I realised early on he would be candid in his responses. We never assumed guilt and it was an hour of his own words. 'It didn't matter what he said it was always going to make history. We knew we only had one shot at it to hear from the Prince. It was a document of public record if anything. 'We were building up the picture of what actually happened and it was quite forensic.' When asked by host Richard Madeley what she thought of the Prince when the interview was done she carefully answered: 'I thought he had tried very hard to remember his lines... 'He wanted us to film extra pieces too he wanted to expand on the Pizza Express stuff and things like that. It was a dilemma as a journalist whether to add stuff he wanted at the end. 'But he was happy with the interview he gave us a tour of the Palace after the interview and he even invited us back.' She added of the potential harm the interview could have caused: 'I do worry about the fallout from it. 'There was fallout for his family. I feel concern for him as I do for anyone that has had a drop in status. But I don't regret the interview.' To counter balance her point she added: 'But nothing has been concluded for Epstein's victims still.' Amazon Prime released the trailer for upcoming drama A Very Royal Scandal last Wednesday, after announcing when it will drop on the streamer. 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. In the trailer, Wilson's Emily can be seen pursuing the story that would make her a global household name and destroy the Prince's reputation in a pivotal moment in British history. Before the interview, the Duke of York quips: 'I'm going to blow this out of the water.' He adds in a voiceover: 'I've been warned about you. You have a bit of a reputation.' Emily then cheekily responds, while sitting across from him: 'Well, for you, I'll try and behave.' It then cuts to the interview and then its aftermath, where Emily says: 'I was only ever hoping to ask the right questions.' The upcoming series by Amazon MGM Studios will focus far more on Emily - 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 Emily 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.' Ruth (left) will star as journalist Emily Actor Michael Sheen (left) portrays the Duke Of York (right) in the new production yet he appeared to be absent from the screening in NYC The three part series will premiere on 19 September exclusively on Prime Video in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand 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. The three part series will premiere on 19 September exclusively on Prime Video in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Emily Maitlis reflected on her history-making interview with Prince Andrew in 2019 as she appeared on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain. The former BBC journalist, 54, was on the show to promote the new Prime Video three-part series A Very Royal Scandal which follows the story of setting up the interview and the famous encounter itself. Actress Ruth Wilson, 42, plays Emily in the new drama while Michael Sheen portrays the Duke Of York. And speaking on GMB Emily recounted her time doing the interview, candidly saying watching the series back reminded her of the stress of taking on the challenge. She said: 'When I watch the drama I get palpitations - it takes me back to when I thought 'will I remember to ask the right questions? Can I do this?'' Emily Maitlis reflected on her history-making interview with Prince Andrew in 2019 as she appeared on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain The former BBC journalist, 54, was on the show to promote the new Prime Video three-part series A Very Royal Scandal which follows the story of setting up the interview (seen) and the famous encounter itself She added of her reaction to Prince Andrew's demeanour: 'I realised early on he would be candid in his responses. We never assumed guilt and it was an hour of his own words. 'It didn't matter what he said it was always going to make history. We knew we only had one shot at it to hear from the Prince. It was a document of public record if anything. 'We were building up the picture of what actually happened and it was quite forensic.' When asked by host Richard Madeley what she thought of the Prince when the interview was done she carefully answered: 'I thought he had tried very hard to remember his lines... 'He wanted us to film extra pieces too he wanted to expand on the Pizza Express stuff and things like that. It was a dilemma as a journalist whether to add stuff he wanted at the end. 'But he was happy with the interview he gave us a tour of the Palace after the interview and he even invited us back.' She added of the potential harm the interview could have caused: 'I do worry about the fallout from it. 'There was fallout for his family. I feel concern for him as I do for anyone that has had a drop in status. But I don't regret the interview.' Speaking on GMB Emily recounted her time doing the interview, candidly saying watching the series back reminded her of the stress of taking on the challenge She said: 'When I watch the drama I get palpitations - it takes me back to when I thought 'will I remember to ask the right questions? Can I do this?'' Actress Ruth Wilson, 42, (seen) plays Emily in the new drama while Michael Sheen portrays the Duke Of York Amazon Prime released the trailer for upcoming drama A Very Royal Scandal last Wednesday, after announcing when it will drop on the streamer She added of the potential harm the interview could have caused: 'I do worry about the fallout from it' Emily continued: 'There was fallout for his family. I feel concern for him as I do for anyone that has had a drop in status. But I don't regret the interview' To counter balance her point she added: 'But nothing has been concluded for Epstein's victims still.' Amazon Prime released the trailer for upcoming drama A Very Royal Scandal last Wednesday, after announcing when it will drop on the streamer. 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. In the trailer, Wilson's Emily can be seen pursuing the story that would make her a global household name and destroy the Prince's reputation in a pivotal moment in British history. Before the interview, the Duke of York quips: 'I'm going to blow this out of the water.' He adds in a voiceover: 'I've been warned about you. You have a bit of a reputation.' Emily then cheekily responds, while sitting across from him: 'Well, for you, I'll try and behave.' It then cuts to the interview and then its aftermath, where Emily says: 'I was only ever hoping to ask the right questions.' The upcoming series by Amazon MGM Studios will focus far more on Emily - 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 Emily 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.' Ruth (left) will star as journalist Emily Actor Michael Sheen (left) portrays the Duke Of York (right) in the new production yet he appeared to be absent from the screening in NYC She added of her reaction to Prince Andrew's demeanour: 'I realised early on he would be candid in his responses. We never assumed guilt and it was an hour of his own words' When asked by host Richard Madeley what she thought of the Prince when the interview was done she carefully answered: 'I thought he had tried very hard to remember his lines...' Emily and Ruth are pictured at a NYC screening for the series on Monday night 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. The three part series will premiere on 19 September exclusively on Prime Video in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Kelly Brook claimed that her husband Jeremy Parisi is more popular than Daniel Craig as the pair discussed Celebrity Race Across The World on ITV's This Morning. On Wednesday's episode they appeared on the daytime show hosted by Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard where they spoke about how appearing on the adventure show has boosted Jeremy's profile. The model, 44, and French hunk Jeremy, 39, are starring on the most recent series of Celebrity Race Across The World. The show sees celebrities and their partners, friends, or family attempt to get to different locations across the world as quickly has possible - and with limited funds. And Kelly has now told of a recent interaction with a cab driver in London who was more excited to meet Jeremy than James Bond actor Daniel Craig. Kelly Brook claimed that her husband Jeremy Parisi is more popular than Daniel Craig as the pair discussed Celebrity Race Across The World on ITV's This Morning James Bond star Daniel is pictured at Venice Film Festival earlier this month She said on This Morning: 'People love Jeremy more than me now! 'We were on a London street yesterday and a cab driver pulled up to say hi to Jeremy and completely ignored Daniel Craig who was just on the street nearby!' She added of the tough experience: 'When you can you have to rest. I couldn't wait to get my phone and credit card back and go on a real holiday. 'We had to carry all our bags so I had to leave lots of expensive serums in hotels!' Kelly and Jeremy accidentally checked into a sex hotel during their stint on the show Kelly revealed on Saturday. On the show the pair and their six fellow competitors travel from Belem, Brazil to Frutillar, Chile. While desperately trying to beat the other three pairs - Jeff Brazier and his youngest son, Scott Mills and his husband, and Kola Bokinni and his cousin - Kelly and Jeremy ended up in a sex motel. Of the error, Kelly told The Mirror: 'Having a shower was much more important than us having sex.' She continued: 'We didn't realise that a motel in Brazil is a sex hotel. I thought it would be like a Premier Inn but then we realised we were in a hotel where people take their mistresses. On Wednesday's episode they appeared on the daytime show hosted by Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard where they spoke about how appearing on the adventure show has boosted Jeremy's profile The model, 44, and French hunk Jeremy, 39, are starring on the most recent series of Celebrity Race Across The World And Kelly has now told of a recent interaction with a cab driver in London who was more excited to meet Jeremy than James Bond actor Daniel Craig She said on This Morning: 'People love Jeremy more than me now! We were on a London street yesterday and a cab driver pulled up to say hi to Jeremy and completely ignored Daniel Craig who was just on the street nearby!' 'You don't see anyone they even pass your breakfast through a hatch.' In the most recent episode, which aired last Thursday, Kelly and Jeremy shared a smooch in front of the Iguazu Waterfalls in Brazil. After some hard weeks of watching herself back travelling across the world with little money and no internet, Kelly shared the sweet snap to Instagram. Her photo showed a wet-looking Kelly and Jeremy putting on a passionate display while standing in front of a breathtaking view of Brazil's most famous waterfalls. Iguazu are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Parana. Sharing the post with her 1.3million followers, she penned: 'The Morale Boosting Moment we both needed on this Leg !! ' Kelly left viewers stunned in the very first episode of the BBC series on August 14 when she revealed her real name. She added of the tough experience: 'When you can you have to rest. I couldn't wait to get my phone and credit card back and go on a real holiday' She is seen with Jeremy on the show Celebrity Race Across The World series two cast. L-R: Scott Mills' husband Sam Vaughan, Jeff Brazier's son Freddie, Kola Bokinni, Jeremy, Kelly, Kola's cousin Mary Ellen, Jeff, and Scott The surprise came as she and Jeremy planned their next move after reaching the first checkpoint in Brazil. The Heart FM presenter and actress was born as Kelly Anne Parsons, but adopted the surname Brook when she kicked off her modelling career. Kelly said: 'Kelly Brook doesn't actually exist, it's not even a real name, it's never even been on my passport or anything. In my mind I'm Mrs Parisi, Jeremy's wife.' The sixth and final episode of Celebrity Race Across The World series two airs Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer. When Richard Gadd collected his Emmy trophies earlier this week, he looked every inch the proud Scotsman in his tartan kilt. But one of his traditional accessories confused American audiences, with the The New York Times mistaking Gadd's sporran for a 'black fanny pack'. The misidentification earned the ire of angry Scottish readers and forced the United States' paper of record to issue an embarrassing correction. The New York Times wrote that the Baby Reindeer creator 'gallivanted onstage in a blue-and-green tartan kilt accessorised with a black fanny pack over black tights to accept the top award for best limited series, along with awards for writing and acting.' Despite the sporran being a focal point of Scottish national dress for centuries, the publication added: 'Gadd's success did create a bit of a wardrobe conundrum: he'll need a bigger fanny pack to carry all that hardware home.' The New York Times mistook Richard Gadd's sporran for a 'black fanny pack', earning the ire of angry Scottish readers and forcing the United States' paper of record to issue an embarrassing correction. Pictured: Richard Gadd with his Emmy trophies Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau, and Richard Gadd (left to right) attend Netflix's Primetime Emmy afterparty at Hilex on September 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California A sporran is a leather pouch usually attached to the waist and worn in front of a kilt. The newspaper also praised Alan Cumming, the Scottish presenter of the US version of The Traitors, which also won an award at Sunday's television awards. They wrote: 'It was a fortuitous night for Scots rocking kilts.' The American publication was so impressed by the highland outfits that they nominated them among the ceremony's 'Best Fashion Choice'. But within days of the article's publication, the newspaper was forced to add a correction. They noted: 'An earlier version of this article misidentified an accessory worn by Richard Gadd. It was a sporran, a pouch traditionally worn with a kilt, not a fanny pack.' Baby Reindeer, which tells the 'true story' of a comedian's stalking ordeal, won best limited drama at the Emmy awards in Los Angeles on Sunday. Gadd, 35, the show's creator and star, picked up best writer and best actor awards while Jessica Gunning, 38, who plays stalker Martha, won best supporting actress in a limited series. My Mum, Your Dad viewers witnessed a love triangle begin to form on Wednesday's episode as both David and Christian set their eyes on Vicky. Christian, 46, enjoyed some quality time with Vicky, 50, by cooking the house dinner on Tuesday's show, but the assistant principal distanced herself from him the following morning. In a teaser for Thursday's upcoming episode, Christian asks Vicky: 'Have I done something to offend you?' after noticing the shift, before newcomer Stephanie arrives in the house and turns heads. Viewers watched Christian appear confused by Vicky as he confided: 'Last night was nice and then it just went 'click of fingers'. I don't know if that's me. My Mum, Your Dad viewers witnessed a love triangle begin to form on Wednesday's episode as both David and Christian set their eyes on Vicky Christian, 46, enjoyed some quality time with Vicky, 50, by cooking the house dinner on Tuesday's show, but the assistant principal distanced herself from him the following morning Meanwhile, Vicky had a chat with David and later confessed she liked him to the camera 'I had really nice time but I just felt her energy leave me.' Meanwhile, Vicky had a chat with David and later confessed she liked him to the camera. Property manager David told Christian, who quizzed him about his conversation with Vicky: 'I had a really good chat, we're both looking for the feeling. She's actually a really chilled out person. The chat it was good.' In upcoming scenes David and Vicky head on date - leaving Christian to stew but declare he's 'not bothered' to the others. Viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, to comment on the love triangle. They wrote: 'D and Vicky for me too they look good together' and 'Bizarre love triangle on #mymumyourdad. Every cloud...' 'D and Vicky are suited more tbh' and 'I think Christian needs to be a bit careful. He's acting like Jenny's ghosted him because she hasn't been all over him like a rash. Chill your beans, fella, it's early days!' 'Christian is giving toxic possessive vibes coupled with total delusion. He's barely spoken to this woman and is acting like he has a claim to her' But with a new mum set to arrive, could things soon change for Christian? Viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, to comment on the love triangle. They wrote: 'D and Vicky for me too they look good together' and 'Bizarre love triangle on #mymumyourdad' But with a new mum set to arrive, could things soon change for Christian? Juice cleanse company owner Stephanie, 44, from London will head to the house with her daughter Mia, 21 'My mum is the most playful, adventurous, kind and giving person, incredibly strong and inspiring', Mia said Juice cleanse company owner Stephanie, 44, from London will head to the house with her daughter Mia, 21. Of why she decided to take part, Stephanie said: 'The show had very wholesome feel to it and appeared to provide a nurturing environment for people to meet and grow potential connection, so I thought why not give it a go, it's unlikely that Brad Pitt would miraculously appear on my doorstep and if I would like to meet a partner then there needs to be a little active participation on my behalf. 'The last four years have been very challenging for our family and with the recent passing of my father it made me realise how precious and brief life is, how quickly years can pass leaving some of our hearts desires untended. 'Im a very private person so something like this is absolutely out of my comfort zone, but my motto has always been to follow the fear! Season two of My Mum, Your Dad, which aired on ITV at the same time as the E4 show Married At First Sight, bagged a whopping 1.3million viewers on Monday night. Married At First Sight ratings, meanwhile, showed it had pulled in its lowest number of viewers ever for its debut episode, of 570,000 - compared to last year's 718,000. My Mum, Your Dad continues on ITV on Thursday at 9pm. Amanda Holden showed off the new puppy she has adopted following the departure of daughter Lexi to university on Heart FM on Wednesday morning. The TV and radio personality, 53, first announced her family was gaining a new member during her show on Monday. Over the weekend, Amanda had bid an emotional farewell to her eldest daughter Lexi, 18, who was headed off to begin her first year. And the star admitted on Monday's Heart Breakfast that she was 'replacing' her by fostering a new puppy from Battersea Cats & Dogs home. The Britain's Got Talent judge revealed the female puppy licked her foundation off - and joked she wouldn't accept that behaviour from anyone else. Amanda Holden showed off the new puppy she has adopted following the departure of daughter Lexi to university on Heart FM on Wednesday morning The TV and radio personality, 53, first announced her family was gaining a new member during her show on Monday Over the weekend, Amanda had bid an emotional farewell to her eldest daughter Lexi, 18, who was headed off to begin her first year She didn't reveal the name of her new pet in the video, but she did praise Battersea and all charities like it and urged people to adopt from their local shelters. On her Instagram page, Amanda shared a photo of herself in front of a poster of the late Paul O'Grady, who was a patron of Battersea. She cuddled her dog in the photo and wrote over it: '@paulogrady would have definitely nabbed this little one. 'Think of him often. Especially when I'm here @battersea .' She discussed the adoption with her temporary Heart Breakfast co-host Jason King, who is filling in for Jamie Theakston. On Tuesday, Jamie, 53, revealed he had been diagnosed with Stage 1 laryngeal cancer, a type of throat cancer. He assured fans the cancer was very treatable at this stage, declaring: 'I have cancer but cancer doesn't have me!' Amanda has credited Davina McCall for setting the ball rolling to Jamie's eventual diagnosis. The star admitted on Monday's Heart Breakfast that she was 'replacing' her by fostering a new puppy from one of the UK's oldest animal charities The Britain's Got Talent judge revealed the baby girl licked her foundation off - and joked she wouldn't accept that behaviour from anyone else She didn't reveal the name of her new pet in the video, but she did praise Battersea and all charities like it and urged people to adopt from their local shelters On her Instagram page, Amanda shared a photo of herself in front of a poster of the late Paul O'Grady, who was a patron of Battersea Following news of Jamie's diagnosis, Davina was a guest on the Heart Breakfast show, where she joked that while filling in for Amanda back in June, she feared she caused Jamie's throat problems by 'throttling him with a bear hug'. After their embrace, Jamie first began to notice problems with his throat, and he eventually went to see a doctor after it became increasingly worse. While appearing as a guest on the Heart Breakfast show, Davina was thanked by Amanda for prompting Jamie to go to the doctor's. Amanda said: 'We kind of want to thank you because when, on the day that you left... now Davina is known for her bear hugs.' 'I'm worried about this,' interjected Davina. Amanda then continued: 'You gave Jamie a massive cuddle which kind of half throttled him. Because of that, when I came back, Jamie started losing his voice and it got worse and worse.' Davina, clearly concerned, asked: 'Did I do it?' But Amanda reassured her that she wasn't responsible for Jamie's health problems, saying: 'He went to the doctor and the doctor said@ ''This isn't right, we're going to look at your throat'' and because of you, he went to the doctor in the first place. She discussed the adoption with her temporary Heart Breakfast co-host Jason King, who is filling in for Jamie Theakston who is on sick leave with Stage 1 throat cancer Amazingly, Jamie only went to the doctor's because Heart listeners noticed there was something different about his voice and expressed their concerns 'Then, on his throat they found a lesion, which he's since has removed and everything is fine.' Jamie revealed on Instagram that he booked an appointment with doctors after listeners had noticed there was something not quite right with his voice. Laryngeal cancer is a type of cancer that affects the larynx (voice box). Listen to Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden weekdays from 06:30 10:00 and on Global Player On the face of it, it was the perfect romantic gesture from a loved-up man to his new girlfriend. A luxurious trip around Europe aboard an all-singing, all-dancing cruise ship with stop-offs in stunning seaside destinations with highly desirable restaurants. Yet I can reveal that Eamonn Holmess sunshine holiday with his new, much younger girlfriend Katie Alexander was in fact a freebie which he was given after signing a lucrative deal to be ambassador for the giant holiday company Not Just Travel. Eamonn Holmes was seen touching Katie Alexander's bottom after getting off the cruise ship in Ibiza The 64-year-old presenter's holiday with his 42-year-old girlfriend was in fact a 'freebie' In return for the perk, the television anchor was obliged to film content for the firms social media platforms while enjoying the break courtesy of its cruise arm, Virgin Voyages, on a ship called The Scarlet Lady. While it looked like Eamonn had whisked Katie off on a no-expense-spared trip away, it didnt actually cost him a penny, explains a travel insider. It was part of his deal with Not Just Travel so, if anything, he was actually paid to go which was very fortuitous indeed, especially because he could take a plus one with him. There was an element of work, adds the source. Eamonn had to film some segments to promote the company. But the fact he didnt pay certainly lessens the whole idea it was a romantic trip away. Katie didnt seem to mind though, it was a lovely, sunny break for her as they enjoy their first throes of love. Indeed that was evident, particularly when Eamonn was seen cheekily touching Katies bottom while sitting in his wheelchair in Ibiza. His holiday on Virgin Voyages's Scarlet Lady was actually paid for by a travel company Sources say Virgin Voyages would have been only too pleased to host Eamonn on the cruise They couple were also pictured in Barcelona airport as well as when they arrived back at Heathrow. It was a seven-day getaway, marketed as a visit to the Irresistible Med and Rome and starting with Eamonn, 64, and Katie, 42, flying out to Barcelona where they boarded the ship. From there, they sailed to Toulon on southern Frances Mediterranean coast, then Marina di Carrara a scenic spot between Tuscany and Liguria on Italys north coast. After a stop-off there they sailed down to Civitavecchia, 40 miles north of Rome which still has its old Roman dock, built in the second century. As for the accommodation, it is likely that Eamonn and his lover had the best on the boat, a 2,100 square-foot mega-suite for which you wouldnt get much change out of 1,500 a night. The room offers a 24/7 porter, a bottomless drinks bar, a marbled bathroom and hand-woven hammocks to relax in on the terrace which has an outdoor hot-tub. Alternatively, Eamonn and Katie could visit the spa on board with its mud, salt, and steam rooms, sauna, hot and cold plunge pools, and marble hammam benches. All before heading in the evening to the VIP bar. Nice work if you can get it. Eamonn signed the contract to become a Not Just Travel ambassador in May, saying he found travel magical. And the free cruise would have been very welcome. For last year, HMRC ruled that he needed to pay ten years worth of backdated national insurance and tax leaving him with a reported bill of around 250,000. Travel sources say Virgin Voyages would have been only too pleased to host Eamonn in his wheelchair as they are keen to attract the older customer. When they first launched in 2021, they hoped to attract a younger clientele and offered them tattoo parlours, night clubs, sex experts and even drag queens performing on board. It didnt work apparently, so theyve unofficially rebranded and are now targeting older, more traditional cruise customers. Eamonn and Katie, a relationship counsellor, garnered plenty of coverage during their break, which was their second together since his split in May from his estranged wife Ruth Langsford. Their first was in August to the presenters home city of Belfast, though this latest one was somewhat more glamorous even if he had to sit in a self-drive electric wheelchair, with Katie at his side, as a result of his crippling back problems. The trip was said to be a shock for Ruth, star of ITVs panel show Loose Women, who, like millions of others would have seen the plethora of paparazzi photographs of the couple. Eamonns friendship with Katie began nine years before he separated from Ruth with an exchange on Twitter (now X) way back in 2015, when she commented on one of Eamonns posts and he replied. The Virgin cruise was Eamonn and Katie's second trip together since his split in May from his estranged wife Ruth Langsford (pictured) It is likely that Eamonn and his lover had the best on the boat, a 2,100 square-foot mega-suite Its not clear when this early exchange blossomed into a friendship, but reports suggest that Ruth discovered that, in the year running up to their split, Eamonn had been showering Katie with gifts. He had accompanied her on a trip to a safari park with her children and even given them tickets to a Beyonce concert. Since Ruth announced their split in May, Katie has been visiting Eamonn at his home in Kingston in Surrey where he now lives after leaving the 2million marital home he shared with Ruth some ten miles away. Initially, the romance was kept a secret, but their cruise together has most definitely put it on the map. And no one will have been more pleased at the turn of events than bosses at Not Just Travel, who are said to be thrilled that Katie accompanied him. The deal was Eamonn, but having his new girlfriend definitely made the whole holiday far more interesting from a marketing point of view, says an industry insider. Her being there will have raised the profile of the firm so much money cant buy that kind of publicity. 'Signing Eamonn up and giving him this trip has been worth every single penny. Heidi Klum seemed to harken back to the 1970s wearing double denim as she made her way to the America's Got Talent auditorium in Pasadena, California on Tuesday. The model, 51 who with fellow judge Sofia Vergara, 52, partied up a storm after the Emmys embraced her inner-hippie, wearing patchwork calf-length pants with several different types of denim, along with some panels of cotton cloth. She turned up the blue jean jam with a classic button down denim shirt and sexy lace-up ankle boots. The runway veteran's long blonde hair was styled in loose layers, with her curtain bangs tucked behind her ears. Heidi Klum seemed to harken back to the 1970s wearing double denim as she made her way to the America's Got Talent auditorium in Pasadena, California on Tuesday In a video clip shot in her car on the way to work, Klum spoke about her excitement for the Tuesday night final performances. 'Today is the last day of America's Got Talent. I can't wait to see the show tonight,' she said. It is the last night for the top 10 to show their skills before a winner is announced next week. 'I actually have two golden buzzers in there. Dee Dee (Simon) and Richard (Goodall),' Heidi told her 12.2 million followers. Goodall, 55, is a school janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana who entered the competition at the encouragement of the students at his school. Meanwhile, Simon is a nurse at California's San Quentin State Prison. 'I can't wait to see what they're singing and how good it's going to be. I'm sure it's going to be amazing,' she gushed. They will be competing with the remaining eight from the top ten; aerialists Sebastian and Sonia, dance group AIRFOOTWORKS, the Hakuna Matata Acrobats, dance group Brent Street, comedian Learnmore Jonasi, human-canine dancers Roni Sagi & Rhythm, drone artists Sky Elements and quick-change magician Solange Kardinaly. 'But, yeah, this is the last show before [the finale]... then we will have our winner. Maybe it's going to be one of my Golden Buzzers. Get the million dollars. I can't wait to find out. So make sure you watch us tonight,' Heidi said. The model, 51, embraced her inner-hippy, wearing patchwork calf-length pants with several different types of denim, along with some panels of cotton cloth. She turned up the blue jean jam with a classic button down denim shirt and sexy lace-up ankle boots As she made her way into the auditorium, Klum paused for a photo with a fan The runway veteran's long blonde hair was styled in loose layers, with her curtain bangs tucked behind her ears Klum shared a video clip in her Instagram Stories from her ride to work, as she promoted the top 10 final performances for Tuesday's show The cast, crew and fans of AGT are still mourning the death of Emily Gold, 17, who died by suicide according to the San Bernardino, California coroner's office. A statement said 'She was a bright young soul and will be deeply missed' Fans will have a full week to vote before the results are read live on September 24. As she made her way into the auditorium, Klum paused for a photo with a fan. The cast, crew and fans of AGT are still mourning the death of Emily Gold, 17, who died by suicide according to the San Bernardino, California coroner's office. She was a member of the Los Osos High School dance team, which was eliminated from the competition after competing in the quarterfinals in August. 'The AGT family sends its heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and team members of Emily Gold,' the producers wrote on a picture of the young dancer in their Instagram stories on Tuesday. 'She was a bright young soul and will be deeply missed.' If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text 'STRENGTH' to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org Liam Hemsworth is getting the last laugh in his divorce from Miley Cyrus, after her blistering breakup song Flowers was accused of being a ripoff. The Hunger Games actor, 34, was married to Miley, 31, from 2018 to 2020, and three years after their bitter split Cyrus released a savage breakup anthem called Flowers, which was rumoured to be about Liam. However, Miley is now being sued for copyright infringement over her 2023 hit, for allegedly copying the 2013 Bruno Mars song When I Was Your Man. Liam and Miley met in 2009 when they played lovers in the romance movie The Last Song, based on the best-selling Nicholas Sparks novel. Their offscreen chemistry was as strong as their on-screen romance, and the pair began dating. However, their relationship was marked by highs and lows and after getting engaged in June 2012, they called things off in September 2013. But in January 2016 they were again frequently spotted together and rumours began to circulate they had reconciled. In October that year, Miley confirmed they were once again engaged and they married in December 2018. Liam Hemsworth is getting the last laugh in his divorce from Miley Cyrus, after her blistering break-up song Flowers has been accused of being a ripoff. (Pictured together in 2019) In August 2019, Miley filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, and their married officially ended in January 2020. Last year, Miley took to social media to reflect on their time together: 'In 2008, I needed to do another feature film for Disney. Once written, it was time to audition all the guys who would play my boyfriend.' After narrowing down the pool from thousands, the Malibu hitmaker said 'Liam was a part of that final three.' The Hunger Games actor, 34, was married to Miley, 31, from 2018 to 2020, and three years after their bitter split Miley released a savage break-up anthem called Flowers, which was rumoured to be about Liam 'I think one of the elements that made that movie feel so special was it was watching two young people fall in love, which was happening in real life,' she continued. 'That was the beginning of a long 10-year relationship,' she mused, referring to their passionate, on-and-off relationship, which led to two engagements and an eight-month marriage. Three years after their divorce, Miley released Flowers, a brutal break up song in which she sings about all the great things she can now do without her former partner. Miley is now being sued for sued for copyright infringement over her chart-topping 2023 hit, for allegedly copying the 2013 Bruno Mars (pictured) song When I Was Your Man The song, which was written by Miley and two others, has now been hit with a with a copyright infringement lawsuit, for allegedly copying Bruno Mars' 2013 song. However, it's not Mars suing Cyrus, but rather Tempo Music Investments, TMZ reported on Monday. In the lawsuit, Tempo Music accused Cyrus of 'intentionally copying' When I Was Your Man in Flowers due to the significant similarities between the two songs. Liam and Miley met in 2009 when they played lovers in the American romance movie The Last Song, based on the best-selling Nicholas Sparks novel. Pictured The investment company claims that Flowers features a similar melody and harmonies to the earlier song, both in the verses and in the chorus. There are similarities between them, both being slow pop-rock break up ballads with similar lyrics, with Bruno singing, 'I should have bought you flowers, held your hand' while Miley croons 'I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand.' Sine their breakup, Liam has been spotted getting cosy with glamorous model Gabriella Brooks, while Miley has been dating music producer Maxx Morando since 2021. Lily Collins made heads turn while out in New York City on Tuesday afternoon. The actress, 35 who frequently shows off her figure in stunning ensembles put on a chic display in a figure-hugging black dress as she exited her hotel. Collins teamed her sexy LBD with black tights and designer heels. The style maven wore her brunette locks in her signature bob, showing off the dress' stunning neckline. Her outing comes just one day after her hit Netflix show Emily in Paris was confirmed to be renewed for its fifth season. Lily Collins made heads turn while out in New York City on Tuesday afternoon The Abduction star appeared to be in good spirits during her Big Apple outing and rocked a full face of glam makeup. As she stepped out, excited fans were seen waiting to greet the actress for selfies and autographs. Lily has been in New York for the past few days promoting the latest season of her Netflix series. She surprised fans by announcing the renewal of Emily in Paris during an appearance Good Morning America on Monday. 'For the first time I get to talk about the fact that there will be a season five,' she told the outlet. 'We all just found out ourselves, so this is brand new for everyone. I'm very excited.' And the show will be picking up right where it left off on season four part two when her character Emily arrived in the Italian capital of Rome. Lily gushed over filming in the stunning city and opened up about her hopes of getting to explore the country further next season. 'We explore Rome and I'm really hoping that for season five now that we get more of Italy,' she said. 'We had just the best time. The whole cast felt a little bit like Emily did season one running around the city wide eyed and just everything was just so exciting.' The creator of the Emily in Paris, Darren Star, expressed his excitement to Tudum on Monday: 'Were thrilled with the incredible response to this season of Emily in Paris and excited to return for a fifth to continue Emilys adventures in Rome and Paris!' The actress, 35 who frequently shows off her figure in stunning ensembles put on a chic display in a figure-hugging black dress as she exited her hotel Collins teamed her sexy LBD with black tights and designer heels The style maven wore her brunette locks in her signature bob, showing off the dress' stunning neckline Her outing comes just one day after her hit Netflix show Emily in Paris was confirmed to be renewed for its fifth season The Abduction star appeared to be in good spirits during her Big Apple outing and rocked a full face of glam makeup When asked by the outlet if the show's title will change to better fit the new setting, he said admitted that it would remain the same. 'Emilys going to have a presence in Rome,' he shared. 'It doesnt mean shes not going to be in Paris, but shes going to have a presence in Rome.' He also admitted that taking Emily to Rome was done to 'stay ahead of the audience and take them to unexpected places, and prove 'the show has the ability to have a bigger footprint.' A release date for the fifth season has not yet been announced by Netflix. Channel Nine has launched an investigation after a Married At First Sight groom, set to appear on the 2025 season, faced court for serious domestic violence claims. Adrian Araouzou had assault occasioning actual bodily harm, domestic violence common assault and resisting police charges dismissed in a NSW court in November 2021 after a magistrate found him not guilty. He has denied the serious allegations after producers launched a review into how he was selected to appear on the popular dating show. Endemol Shine, the producers of MAFS, have questioned the duty of care towards the woman who has been partnered with him on the show. Daily Mail Australia understand Endemol and Nine launched an internal investigation and found Araouzou didn't do any wrong doing. According to The Australian, court documents state that in June 2020, police were called to the Sydney home that Araouzou and his partner shared after a witness allegedly heard screaming. Officers arrived to find a 'hysterical and barely consolable' woman in the bathroom naked, with her 'head in her hands and blood seeping through', police said in a report. 'Due to the actions of the defendant, police were required to restrain (him) using weaponless control,' police said. Channel Nine has launched an investigation after a Married At First Sight groom, set to appear on the 2025 season, faced court for serious domestic violence claims The woman signed a police statement several days later claiming the injuries were sustained as a result of a seizure and not Araouzou assaulting her. A hospital report from the night states she was 'unsure what happened but fears she was assaulted by her partner'. Police alleged at the time of the incident, they believe the woman was 'too afraid' to speak. Araouzou was found not guilty by a magistrate and cleared of any wrongdoing. Araouzou said in a statement to The Australian on Tuesday: 'Any suggestion of physical assault is categorically denied.' 'I had my day in court, I was found not guilty and the application for an AVO was dismissed. Any allegation otherwise is completely baseless and highly defamatory,' he said through a lawyer.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment. Adrian Araouzou had assault occasioning actual bodily harm, domestic violence common assault and resisting police charges dismissed in a NSW court in November 2021 after a magistrate found him not guilty Araouzou is known for his mouth-watering creations on his viral dessert Instagram account SweeetSundayz. He runs the popular page alongside fellow foodie, Jasmin Weston, garnering a cult following of dessert enthusiasts from around the world. He also has a passion for fashion, which has translated into his successful clothing line, which has garnered attention for its unique blend of style and comfort. Araouzou, who also holds a white belt in Jiu-Jitsu, has been paired with Awhina, a single mother, on the dating show. Renee Zellweger looked incredibly youthful as she arrived at Jimmy Carter's star-studded 100th birthday celebration in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday night. Held at the historic Fox Theatre, the 'Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song' concert will see musicians from across genres pay tribute to the former U.S. President ahead of his centennial birthday on October 1. Maren Morris, D-Nice and Eric Church are among the performers, while Zellweger and Oscar-winner Sean Penn lead the A-list celebrity attendees. For 1977 to 1981, Carter a devout member of the Democratic Party, humanitarian and celebrated politician served as the 39th president of the United States. The Georgia native, 99, has been in hospice care for the last 19 months and has not been seen publicly since November 2023. Renee Zellweger looked incredibly youthful as she arrived at Jimmy Carter's star-studded 100th birthday celebration in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday night Ahead of the concert, Zellweger, 55, and other stars hit the red carpet inside the Fox Theatre Ahead of the concert, Zellweger, 55, and other stars hit the red carpet inside the Fox Theatre. The actress showed off her lean figure in a fitted black pinstripe suit jacket and stylish wide-legged trousers. She strutted her stuff in classic black heels and her dirty blonde hair was worn in a low ponytail. Zellweger's complexion looked radiant with not a single wrinkle in sight. She opted for a natural glam look that highlighted her plump cheeks, full brows and pouty pink lips. The two-time Academy Award-winner often posed with her hands tucked into her pant pockets and with a smile on her face. Missing from the action was her hunky boyfriend Ant Anstead, 45. She and the British TV personality have been romantically linked since 2021 after Ant's split from ex-wife Christina Hall, 41. Over the weekend, Ant gave fans a rare glimpse at their love life on Instagram. He revealed that Renee had surprised him with a bouquet of white roses and a heartfelt note. The actress showed off her lean figure in a fitted black pinstripe suit jacket and stylish wide-legged trousers Zellweger's complexion looked radiant with not a single wrinkle in sight She opted for a natural glam look that highlighted her plump cheeks, full brows and pouty pink lips 'Welcome home sweet man,' Renee's note read, followed by what appeared to be 'I love you.' Sharing a close-up photo of the stunning bouquet with his 448,000 followers, Ant wrote: 'Ladies...Trust Me on This! Buy Men Flowers!' Last month, Renee finished shooting Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, the highly-anticipated fourth film in the beloved Bridget Jones franchise. The rom-com which will hit theaters on Valentine's Day 2025 is based on the book of the same name by Helen Fielding. It follows Bridget (Zellweger) as she battles motherhood alone following the tragic death of husband Mark, who was played in the previous films by Colin Firth. In the last movie, Bridget Jones's Baby, she is seen attending the memorial of her other on-off love Daniel Cleaver, played by Hugh Grant, who is presumed dead after a plane crash. He is later found alive. The much loved character enjoys a fling with a hunky toyboy named Rockstar, who is played by One Day star Leo Woodall, 27, after the pair meet on social media. As well as her love affair with Rockstar, the lovable diarist will also explore a romantic connection with her son's PE teacher Mr Walker, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, while also reviving her on-off relationship with Grant's Daniel. She strutted her stuff in classic black heels Her dirty blonde hair was worn in a low ponytail Missing from the action was her boyfriend, British TV personality Ant Anstead, 45 Late last month, the first poster for the upcoming film was unveiled with Zellweger fronting the classic image once again. Posing with her diary and pen, the poster reads: 'New decade, New diary'. Unveiling the snap on August 22, film production company Working Title captioned the post: 'Bridget Jones is back and ready for the next chapter.' Netflix viewers have taken to social media to praise its 'terrifying' true crime documentary series Worst Roommate Ever. Season two of the horrifying docuseries was recently released, in which renters share their shocking stories about their former housemates. Episodes of Worst Roommate Ever tell different rental horror stories, including the shocking case of landlady Dorothea Puente, who murdered her boarders in California in the 1980s. Captivated viewers have taken to social media to gush about the 'terrifying' series which has made many reconsider ever getting a housemate. '10/10! shoutout to the producers for real. I need season three of roommate immediately,' one fan wrote. 'Worst Roommate Ever on Netflix is nuts. It will have you wanting to live alone for the rest of your life,' a second person added. 'Netflix - I need more episodes of WRE now. Please and thank you!' a third user chipped in. 'WRE is making me look at everyone differently,' another person wrote. Netflix viewers have taken to social media to praise its 'terrifying' true crime documentary series Worst Roommate Ever The show premiered in 2022 as a five part series investigating blood-boiling true crime roommate stories, and the four episode series two was released in June. Episodes of Worst Roommate Ever provide an in-depth look at true crime rental stories, one of which is about about Utah woman Janie Ridd. Ridd and Rachel became roommates after having been close friends for more than 20 years. However, Ridd became extremely jealous of her close friend after Rachel gave birth to her son, Ryder, in 2010. Season two of the horrifying docuseries was recently released, in which renters share their shocking stories about their former housemates. Pictured: Bill Clausen holding a photo of his mother Ruth Monroe, who was murdered by landlady killer Dorothea Puente Captivated viewers have taken to social media to gush about the 'terrifying' series which has made many viewers reconsider ever getting a housemate However, Ridd made it her sole mission to care for the young boy and tried to take his mother out of the picture. The soon-to-be felon later purchased a strain of staph bacteria called VRSA from the dark web in 2019 after her attempt to gain sole custody of Ryder failed. She used the strain to poison Rachel, and after being charged with aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, attempted aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, and attempted acquisition of a biological weapon, she spent 25 months in prison. Worst Roommate Ever series one and two are currently available to stream, only on Netflix. My Kitchen Rules viewers have taken to social media to vent their outrage and concern over the way that Queensland contestants Danny and Sonia served up their steak on Monday evening. During the episode, the brother and sister duo hosted their Instant Restaurant, The Broasis, aiming to showcase local produce. Despite the casual pub-inspired atmosphere, their efforts faltered, leaving them at the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 56 out of 110. Danny, who is a butcher by trade, disregarded judge Colin Fassnidge's advice on how to sear his steak. The evenings main course, a Filet Mignon with Garlic Prawn Toppers, alongside Beer Battered Wedges and Bacon Broccoli Salad earned scathing reviews from the judges, fellow contestants and viewers. Rather than searing the steak first, Danny put the premium cut of meat directly into the oven, resulting in a less-than-ideal texture. Manu Feildel was especially critical, describing the steak as a 'wet piece of cardboard'. Colin echoed this, stating, 'You tried to give us too much and it backfired.' Monday's episode saw brother and sister Danny and Sonia from Townsville set up their pub-inspired Instant Restaurant, The Broasis. Pictured The evenings main course, a Filet Mignon with Garlic Prawn Toppers, alongside Beer Battered Wedges and Bacon Broccoli Salad earned scathing reviews from the judges, with Manu saying the meat tasted like 'wet cardboard'. Filet mignon is considered to be one of the most tender and milder cuts of steak, making it a favorite among meat lovers. Danny was visibly disappointed in his efforts and said he felt like he'd let his sister down. 'He didnt need to come here (on MKR) with me, and he did,' Sonia tried to reassure him. 'That will forever matter'. Judges and fellow contestants were taken aback by the mishap from the lovable team. 'I feel for Danny and Sonia but they shouldve taken Colins advice,' one fan wrote on X. 'Ruined the food,' another fan chimed in on Instagram. 'Couldnt even cook a steak and arrogantly ignored the chefs advice. Nah. Cya,' said another. 'Old mate on #MKR is going to put the fillet mignon straight in the oven without sealing the steaks. He cant be serious. What a disaster,' yet another viewer chimed in. Fans of the show were left baffled as to why a butcher didn't already know how to cook a prime cut of meat The pair's entree was better received, but it wasn't enough to save Danny and Sonia's score The espresso martini trifle dessert also flopped after it failed to set 'Danny and Sonia put their heart and soul into their meals - devastated for them but lets see what the next two nights bring!' a hopeful fan of the pair wrote. 'I could not eat that steak - taste like old boot. Rare or nothing. Danny you twit. Colin tried to tell you as did your sister. So stubborn,' was another brutal piece of feedback. 'That's what happens when you ignore a judge's advice and choose to follow your own cooking technique... Ah, Danny and Sonia. Nice hospitality, but that's why you're at the bottom,' another said. Other fans said they were baffled as to how Danny, a butcher, didn't know how to cook the filet mignon - advice or no. 'You idiot Danny - Jesus you are a butcher mate. Even I know to sear them off first. Expensive meat too - you plonker,' one critical viewer slammed. 'I like these guys. I can't believe though that a butcher doesn't know the correct way to cook a Fillet Minion [sic], and that he ignored Collin's advice,' someone else piled on. Some viewers tuning in at home were less than impressed with the show, and shared their thoughts on X 'Being a butcher he should have some idea how to cook a good steak, a different viewer said. 'I like these 2 and hope the dessert tastes as good as it looks.' Meanwhile, the well-liked duo's entree of Townsville Mud Crab with Mango Chilli Dip earned praise from the judges for delivering on its 'Australia on a plate' theme. The reaction to Danny's angle-grinder method of cracking open the crab shells was well received on the show for its fresh sweet meat, but has drawn ire from animal rights activists online. Colin, though, said the mango chilli sauce took away from the natural flavours of the meat. The final course of Espresso Martini Trifle also failed to impress after the dessert failed to set, solidifying Danny and Sonia's place at the bottom of the leaderboard and at risk of elimination. It comes after the 2024 series of the home cooking show got off to a shaky start for some viewers, with some complaining that the program feels 'scripted'. MKR has had some teething issues since its return to television screens in recent years. In September 2023, the premiere of the cooking competition's 13th season managed to draw in just 470,000 viewers in the major capitals. Pictured: Feildel and Fassnidge on set 'I'm so over the fake contestants chat to the camera, but it's most likely recorded days later. So unnecessary' one person wrote. 'Have I just joined the wrong program? This is scripted Married at First Sight b***hiness, paraded as a cooking show' another said. One more wrote: 'I was really hoping the reboot of this show would not include having good guys and bad guys. It's so scripted and fake. Take a lesson from MasterChef and just cook'. Another posted: 'All of a sudden they're talking about the crust of steak. Scripted bulls***t' with one more adding, 'This is so boring, I just can't'. MKR has had some teething issues since its return to television screens in recent years. In September 2023, the premiere of the cooking competition's 13th season managed to draw in just 470,000 viewers in the major capitals. MKR did not even finish in the top ten most-watched programs overnight, a far cry from its ratings heyday a decade ago when it would pull in well over a million viewers an episode. MKR returned to Channel Seven in 2022, two years after it was axed. Debuting to just 500,000 viewers, the show has continued to shed fans in the metro centres. Channel Seven axed My Kitchen Rules: The Rivals from Sunday night's programming back in 2020. The show's ratings, which plunged to a record low, were said to be untenable and Seven executives were 'pushing' to cancel it in 2020. A source told the magazine: 'MKR is no longer safe. There are people in power pushing to end the show for good.' However, it returned in 2022, but has continued to struggle in the ratings. MKR continues 7.30pm Tuesday on Channel 7 and 7plus Robert Pattinson's long-delayed new film Mickey 17 has finally released its first trailer. The science fiction film features the 38-year-old heartthrob-turned-art house cinema icon playing multiple versions of a character named Mickey Barnes, while Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Noami Ackie also star. Mickey leaves Earth for the brighter pastures of interstellar colonization, agreeing to be an 'expendable,' a person who works dangerous jobs and has their body regrown and their consciousness transferred whenever they day. But the goofy title character (the seventeenth version of the original Mickey) gets an unexpected surprise when he runs into another version of himself who has been simultaneously created, which threatens the survival of the entire Mickey line. The film is directed by the acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-ho. Robert Pattinson's long-delayed new film Mickey 17 has finally released its first trailer. He plays a man who agrees to have his body and consciousness recreated whenever he dies while working on interstellar colonies The science fiction film features the 38-year-old heartthrob-turned-art house cinema icon playing multiple versions of a character named Mickey Barnes, while Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Noami Ackie also star Bong is known for a string of now-classic Korean films, including the serial killerthriller Memories Of murder, the monster movie The Host, and the suspense thriller Mother. He made his English-language debut with 2013's Snowpiercer, and he followed it up with the multilingual Okja in 2017, before scoring his biggest success to date with 2019's Parasite. The darkly comic thriller was a hit with critics and audiences alike, and it earned the Cannes Film Festival's top honor, the Palme d'Or, before becoming the first non-English-language film to win the Oscar for Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards. Parasite also scored Oscars for Best Director and Best Screenplay, along with Best International Feature. The filmmaker appears to be leaning in to the dark comedy in Mickey 17, as the trailer focuses on Pattinson's character's numerous grisly deaths, most of which are played for laughs. In the cold open, Mickey is introduced in a space suit as he performs maintenance on the exterior of a gigantic ship cruising through space. But a moment of awe at the massive scale of the universe is interrupted when a bit of space debris hurtles past and slices Mickey's hand off. He watches the hand zoom away before the life slips from his eyes while colonists on the ship chat over coffee without even noticing the hand suspended outside a window. In the cold open, Mickey is introduced in a space suit as he performs maintenance on the exterior of a gigantic ship cruising through space But a moment of awe at the massive scale of the universe is interrupted when a bit of space debris hurtles past and slices Mickey's hand off He watches the hand zoom away before the life slips from his eyes while colonists on the ship chat over coffee without even noticing the hand suspended outside a window Then, what appears to be Mickey's lifeless body is tossed down into an incinerator pit... ...just before a fresh body rolls out of a machine on a conveyor belt 'Nothing was working out and I wanted to get off of Earth,' Mickey explains in narration, just before he applies to be an Expendable Then, what appears to be Mickey's lifeless body is tossed down into an incinerator pit, just before a fresh body rolls out of a machine on a conveyor belt. 'I wouldn't be surprised if you were thinking at this point, "What have I done?"' Pattinson says in narration. 'Nothing was working out and I wanted to get off of Earth,' he explains, just before he applies to be an Expendable. However, despite claiming that he read all the manuals and warnings about becoming an Expendable, it's soon clear that he didn't bother to, which he comes to regret. 'Once you die, we'll print a new version of your body,' one scientist tells him as his body is rolled back into a similar machine while he wears a special suit. 'They made me work my a** off on one mission after another,' Mickey explains as more dead versions of himself are shown plunging into the incinerator. In one bleakly comic moment, an incinerator worker tells the others to stop throwing the body in because Mickey is still barely alive in his body bag. 'It's fine,' a resigned and annoyed Pattinson says before the push him over the edge. The next Mickey appears destined to meet his end when he crashes through the ice of a frozen world and lands in a cavern populated by giant mole-like monsters with tentacles surrounding their mouths. However, despite claiming that he read all the manuals and warnings about becoming an Expendable, it's soon clear that he didn't bother to, which he comes to regret 'Once you die, we'll print a new version of your body,' one scientist tells him as his body is rolled back into a similar machine while he wears a special suit 'They made me work my a** off on one mission after another,' Mickey explains as more dead versions of himself are shown plunging into the incinerator In one bleakly comic moment, an incinerator worker tells the others to stop throwing the body in because Mickey is still barely alive in his body bag. 'It's fine,' a resigned and annoyed Pattinson says before the push him over the edge The next Mickey appears destined to meet his end when he crashes through the ice of a frozen world and lands in a cavern populated by giant mole-like monsters with tentacles surrounding their mouths Steven Yeun, who plays Berto, calls down to him: 'Mickey, it's not looking very good for you. I'm sure you're used to it by now, but what's it feel like to die?' But Mickey 17 appears to be luckier than some of the clones, and he's seen rising to the surface on a pile of the multi-limbed monsters, though it's not clear if they're now dead or if they have helped him escape Steven Yeun, who plays Berto, calls down to him: 'Mickey, it's not looking very good for you. I'm sure you're used to it by now, but what's it feel like to die?' 'Even on my 17th go-around, I hate dying,' Mickey admits in the narration. But Mickey 17 appears to be luckier than some of the earlier clones, and he's seen rising to the surface as the creatures push him up through the hole. But his biggest challenge comes when he returns to base and prepares for a much-needed rest. As he falls into bed, suddenly a figure next to him wakes up, and he realizes he's lying next to another version of Mickey. 'Why aren't you dead?' asks the newer Mickey in a slightly lower voice. Mickey 17 runs away in a frenzy, but the younger clone hurls something heavy and metal at his head to knock him out. 'In the case of multiples, we exterminate every individual,' Mark Ruffalo's character Hieronymous Marshall says as he's introduced. But his biggest challenge comes when he returns to base and prepares for a much-needed rest. As he falls into bed, suddenly a figure next to him wakes up, and he realizes he's lying next to another version of Mickey 'Why aren't you dead?' asks the newer Mickey in a slightly lower voice. Mickey 17 runs away in a frenzy, but the younger clone hurls something heavy and metal at his head to knock him out 'In the case of multiples, we exterminate every individual,' Mark Ruffalo's character Hieronymous Marshall says as he's introduced 'Let's blow up these second-hand baloney boys,' adds a delighted Gwen Johansen (Toni Colette) Then the two, along with a group of soldiers appear to be destroying the lab where Mickey is regenerated Mickey 17 will be released first in South Korea on January 28, 2025, followed by a global release on January 31 'Let's blow up these second-hand baloney boys,' adds a delighted Gwen Johansen (Colette). Then the two, along with a group of soldiers appear to be destroying the lab where Mickey is regenerated. The trailer ends with the two Mickey's facing off, as the newer clone tries to shove Mickey 17 into the incinerator. Mickey 17 will be released first in South Korea on January 28, 2025, followed by a global release on January 31. Married At First Sight expert Mel Schilling was spotted enjoying a casual yet chic outing with her sister Beck in Sydney on Tuesday. The duo looked in high spirits, taking advantage of the sunny weather as they grabbed lunch together at The Grounds of Alexandria in Sydney. Mel, who is currently back in Australia filming season 12 of the Australian series, showcased her effortless style in a trendy ensemble. She wore a denim jacket over a black top, perfectly paired with a flowy leopard print maxi skirt. To complete her look, she opted for a pair of comfortable white sneakers and added a touch of glamour with a metallic crossbody bag. Her hair was styled in a simple and sleek updo, and she accessorised with a pop of colour by wearing bright red heart-shaped earrings that stood out against her understated outfit. Mel was seen engrossed in her phone, likely catching up on the latest buzz as the UK series of MAFS kicked off its 2024 season this week. The pair were seen sharing a lovely moment between the sisters as they sat on a brick ledge, sharing a laugh while looking at something on Mel's phone. Married At First Sight expert Mel Schilling was spotted enjoying a casual yet chic outing with her sister Beck in Sydney on Tuesday The duo looked in high spirits, taking advantage of the sunny weather as they grabbed lunch together at The Grounds of Alexandria in Sydney Beck, dressed in a vibrant red jacket and black trousers, matched her sister's casual yet stylish vibe. She also wore a pair of quirky white sneakers adorned with colourful designs, adding a playful touch to her outfit. The sighting comes just weeks after the beloved expert revealed that she was planning to prioritise her health and family following her battle with colon cancer. Mel, who is currently back in Australia filming season 12 of the Australian series, showcased her effortless style in a trendy ensemble Mel has been candid about her recent battle with colon cancer, which she first revealed to fans on Instagram late last year. She opened up about suffering from 'severe stomach cramps' while filming season 11, a pain so intense it left her doubled over during the reunion dinner party. 'At the reunion dinner party, I was doubled over in pain, and then during the whole reunion shoot, I was just trying to smile through the pain and get through it,' Mel recalled previously. The sighting comes just weeks after the beloved expert revealed that she was planning to prioritise her health and family following her battle with colon cancer 'I didn't know what it was. I thought it was jet lag. I really did. I just thought I'm working too hard, it's the travel, I'm just not taking care of myself. I really didn't think it was anything else.' After a harrowing journey, Mel underwent surgery to remove the tumour and recently completed her chemotherapy, finishing the gruelling treatment. It comes as Daily Mail Australia revealed next year's series is already shaping up to be one of the most chaotic and controversial series to date. The upcoming series, already labelled the most chaotic in the show's history, promises a level of turmoil that producers are struggling to contain. Viewers are going to see things very early on that have never happened before. 'It's truly amazing how every year, despite having done this for so long, we encounter storylines that are entirely new,' John Aiken teased of the new season. 'There are quite a few of those [next year]. I've been part of this for 12 seasons now, and even I witnessed a couple of things this time around that I've never seen before.' Pip Edwards appears slimmer than ever as she begins her new role with Aussie label Ksubi. The fashion designer, 44, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share some candid snaps from her recent work trip to New York. She posted an image of herself standing outside the Ksubi store in the Big Apple, wearing a backless T-shirt and jeans. Pip's prominent spine was on display as she turned her back to the camera. The designer also posted a close-up image of her thin physique as she walked up the stairs to her new office. Daily Mail Australia has reached out for comment. Pip has been spending time in the US recently where she started her new role with Ksubi after stepping down from her activewear brand P.E Nation. She announced earlier this month she had left P.E Nation, the athleisure brand she co-founded with friend Claire Tregoning, to go back to her fashion roots. Pip Edwards appears slimmer than ever as she begins her new role with Aussie label Ksubi She posted an image of herself at the Ksubi store, wearing a backless T-shirt and jeans The Sydney socialite revealed her shock return to Ksubi, the Aussie streetwear brand she helped build with her ex Dan, 46, two decades ago. 'As fate would have it, today I'm announcing my return to Ksubi as Creative Director - a true full-circle moment,' Pip captioned her announcement. In the post, she included a photo of herself posing with Ksubi CEO Craig King in black denim and a plain white T-shirt. 'From its inception, Ksubi has been at the core of the global cultural zeitgeist, thriving at the intersection of where fashion, art, and music meet,' Pip continued. 'Having been part of the original crew 20 years ago, I'm excited to join the talented team at Ksubi once again and contribute to their already impressive global success.' Pip's ex partner Dan founded the edgy denim brand, then known as Tsubi, with his friends Gareth Moody and George Gorrow in 1999. In 2004, Pip was hired as a 'sexytary' and the unusual position proved to be the opportunity of a lifetime for Pip. The fashion designer famously once rocked a mullet-and-rat's-tail hairstyle while opening Tsubi's first store in Bondi Beach. Model and mother-of-four Rebecca Judd stunned her fans on Tuesday when she revealed her completely line-free visage. The 41-year-old showed off her glowing skin in a well-lit close up shot that would put every pore and flaw of most humans on display. Her skin, in a word, is flawless. 'No filter. No tuning,' she captioned the image, after filming herself applying her own take on the 'no foundation makeup look' popularised by the clean girl aesthetic. In the video caption, she listed off all her favourite go-to products that created the look for cool total of $460. The 10-item list is quite extensive and included all the make-up bag essentials required for an everyday routine. That included a $75 SPF50, $45 mineral concealer, $65 mineral sheer tint, $65 'luminous' bronzer, $40 mineral blush, $35 brow pencil, $35 mascara, $35 gel eyeliner, $35 lipstick and $30 lip gloss. 'And a close up of the skin. Dead,' Rebecca wrote of the picture she shared to her Instagram Stories. How does she do it? 'Queen WAG' Bec Judd reveals her completely wrinkle free face at 41 under harsh lighting Bec, who has been an ambassador for The Skincare Company since 2016 and a customer since 2014, has shared the products she uses in how-to videos. Her PR representative told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that Bec maintains her glowing complexion with The Skincare Company's products and face peels. She also gets regular non-surgical cosmetic treatments from the Flawless Rejuvenation clinic in Melbourne. These include: EXION RF microneedling, hydrafacials, laser genesis, fraxel laser treatments (which in 2017 Bec said felt like a 'bow torch' to the face), and LED masks. The glamorous socialite, who has racked up more than 754,000 Instagram followers, is said to be paid around $5,500 per sponsored post, according to the Herald Sun. However, influencer marketing platform IGFace states the busy mum can earn as much as $71,219 per post a jaw-dropping amount that hasnt been verified. The presenter has carved out a hugely successful career as a social media star, nabbing a whole string of lucrative paid partnerships, as well as launching her very own activewear line during her rise to fame. The interesting thing about Bec, though, is the longevity of her partnerships. The Melbourne socialite became The Skincare Company's brand ambassador in 2016 This glowing makeup look is made from 10 products, which total a cool $460 to purchase While some influencers spruik new lotions, potions, and silver bullets as every few months, her face is now a walking advertisement for a decade of one skincare line's daily use. According to the Geelong Advertiser, Bec became the face of the well-established skincare range eight years ago 'at a stylish event in Southbank', when she was 26-weeks pregnant with her twins. The cosmeceutical skincare and make-up products are specifically formulated to repair, maintain and restore skin using clinic-grade raw materials, according to the brand's website. The AFL 'Queen WAG', who recently enjoyed a luxurious holiday with her husband Chris Judd at a private island resort in Indonesia, has always firmly denied having any plastic surgery. Bec Judd pictured recently attending a Tequila Don Julio event in Melbourne on September 5 In 2008, she famously told NewsCorp: 'Every year after the Brownlow I get, "You've had something done", or that I'm anorexic". 'Its funny. I think my boobs look bigger in 2004 than they are now. Ive got the tiniest nose, why would I have a nose job? Id have to get a nose job to make it bigger. 'I have put a lot of time, effort and cash into [my skin] so its nice for people to notice the improvement,' she also wrote on her website in 2013. 'I get lots of little lumps and bumps here and there if I dont stay on top of things and I have shocking eye bags sometimes.' However, Bec has sporadically spoken about undergoing different non-surgical skin treatments for face shaping, 'collagen boosting', and tightening purposes. In a video shared to her Instagram in 2020, Bec revealed the unusual $250 treatment that she swears by for keeping her visage free from wrinkles and jowls. Bec can be heard telling her clinician her problem areas were around her mouth and lower cheeks. The Diamond Polar Facial, which uses laser to rejuvenate the skin, uses heat to boost collagen production and reduce the appearance of fine lines. 'Youll need a treatment every two weeks for a course of six, and it will give you that long-term collagen production,' the facialist said to Bec in the clip. According to a statement on Flawless Rejuvenations site, the clinic where Bec had the treatment, there is no downtime following the procedure, one commonly used to treat 'the face, neck, decolletage hands and body'. Advertisement Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara made jaws drop as they hit the red carpet ahead of part one of the America's Got Talent finale on Tuesday night in Pasadena, California. The stunning duo co-judge the talent competition show with comedian Howie Mandel and creator Simon Cowell on NBC. Hosted by actor Terry Crews, America's Got Talent kicked off its nineteenth season in May with eight weeks of auditions. After six weeks of live quarterfinal and semi-final rounds, 10 remaining acts performed Tuesday night in one last bid to win the $1 million grand prize. The winner of America's Got Talent will be revealed during the September 24 finale show. Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara made jaws drop as they hit the red carpet ahead of the America's Got Talent top 10 performances They were held on Tuesday night in Pasadena, California For the big night, Heidi and Sofia posed up in their most eye-popping frocks before heading to the judges panel. Heidi dazzled in a low-cut purple sequin dress that hugged her enviable curves. The German model, 51, accessorized with a diamond choker necklace. Her sandy blonde curls tumbled down her back and chest as she put on an animated display for the cameras. As for makeup, the mother-of-four rocked sultry brown smokey eye paired with a nude lip and radiant peach blush. She strutted around the venue in sky-high strappy silver heels. As for Sofia, she showed off her impressive cleavage in a plunging orange wiggle dress. The fitted frock had a large bow situated on one shoulder and a corset-like bodice that emphasized Sofia's hourglass curves. The Modern Family, 52, wore her brunette hair down and opted for her go-to glam makeup. Her makeup artist paired classic winged liner with a matte mauve-toned lip. Heidi and Sofia looked to be having a blast on the red carpet on Tuesday night. The dynamic duo often wrapped their around one another as they smiled in the direction of shutterbugs. The stunning duo co-judge the talent competition show with comedian Howie Mandel and creator Simon Cowell on NBC For the big night, Heidi and Sofia posed up in their most eye-popping frocks before heading to the judges panel Heidi dazzled in a low-cut purple sequin dress that hugged her enviable curves She strutted around the venue in sky-high strappy silver heels The German model, 51, accessorized with a diamond choker necklace Heidi loved showing off the back of her sparkly frock As for makeup, the mother-of-four rocked sultry brown smokey eye paired with a nude lip and radiant peach blush Howie looked ultra stylish as he arrived wearing a chic black suit with a skinny tie. The standup star, 68, threw on shiny dress shoes and round-frame sunglasses to complete his finale outfit. Wearing his signature black T-shirt and jeans combo, Simon made a brief red carpet appearance. The British media mogul, 64, gave the cameras a thumbs up before taking his seat inside the theater. Earlier in the day, Klum took to her Instagram Story to speak about her excitement for the finale performances. 'Today is the last day of America's Got Talent. I can't wait to see the show tonight,' she said. It is the last night for the top 10 to show their skills before a winner is announced next week. 'I actually have two golden buzzers in there. Dee Dee (Simon) and Richard (Goodall),' Heidi told her 12.2 million followers. Goodall, 55, is a school janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana who entered the competition at the encouragement of the students at his school. Meanwhile, Simon is a nurse at California's San Quentin State Prison. 'I can't wait to see what they're singing and how good it's going to be. I'm sure it's going to be amazing,' she gushed. The top 10 also includes: aerialists Sebastian and Sonia, dance group AIRFOOTWORKS, the Hakuna Matata Acrobats, dance group Brent Street, comedian Learnmore Jonasi, human-canine dancers Roni Sagi & Rhythm, drone artists Sky Elements and quick-change magician Solange Kardinaly. Heidi and Sofia looked to be having a blast on the red carpet on Tuesday night The dynamic duo often wrapped their around one another as they smiled in the direction of shutterbugs As for Sofia, she showed off her impressive cleavage in a plunging orange wiggle dress The fitted frock had a large bow situated on one shoulder and a corset-like bodice that emphasized Sofia's hourglass curves The Modern Family, 52, wore her brunette hair down and opted for her go-to glam makeup She made her way around in sparkly gold platform heels Howie Mandel looked ultra stylish as he arrived wearing a chic black suit with a skinny tie The standup star, 68, threw on shiny dress shoes and round-frame sunglasses to complete his finale outfit Wearing his signature black T-shirt and jeans combo, Simon made a brief red carpet appearance 'But, yeah, this is the last show before [the finale]... then we will have our winner. Maybe it's going to be one of my Golden Buzzers. Get the million dollars. I can't wait to find out. So make sure you watch us tonight,' Heidi said. Fans have until September 18 at 7 a.m. ET to vote before the results are read live on the finale show on September 24. The cast, crew and fans of AGT are still mourning the death of Emily Gold, 17, who died by suicide according to the San Bernardino, California coroner's office. She was a member of the Los Osos High School dance team, which was eliminated from the competition after competing in the quarterfinals in August. 'The AGT family sends its heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and team members of Emily Gold,' the producers wrote on a picture of the young dancer in their Instagram stories on Tuesday. 'She was a bright young soul and will be deeply missed.' If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text 'STRENGTH' to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org Robert Irwin has revealed his next career move, just one month after nabbing a milestone nomination for the prestigious Gold Logie. On Wednesday, the celebrity conservationist, 20, was announced as host of this year's upcoming TikTok Australia Awards, which celebrates the country's hottest social media influencers. PR agency Adhesive confirmed the news on Instagram by sharing of a photo of a beaming Robert holding a TikTok statuette while posing with a stone crocodile at Australia Zoo. 'In among the crocodiles, TikTok and Adhesive visited Australia Zoo today to announce Robert Irwin as the host of this year's TikTok Awards,' they wrote. 'Taking place at Sydney's iconic Hordern Pavilion, TikTok's night of nights will bring together the most-watched creators, the biggest viral trends, and the most talked-about TikTok moments from 2024. 'We can't wait to see Robert take centre stage as host of the awards.' The ceremony will be held in Sydney on Wednesday, 27 November, and will crown popular influencers with awards such as Creator of the Year. Robert shared his delight at his new gig in a statement, saying: 'As host of this year's TikTok Awards, I'm excited to celebrate Aussie creators and businesses who are leading the charge on TikTok, all while having serious fun on stage.' Robert Irwin has revealed his next career move, just one month after nabbing a milestone nomination for the prestigious Gold Logie. On Wednesday, the celebrity conservationist, 20, was announced as host of this year's upcoming TikTok Australia Awards, which celebrates the country's hottest social media influencers TikTok has also partnered with Irwin's conservation charity Wildlife Warriors as the official partner for the prestigious ceremony. 'It has become a crucial platform for me to share my message and my life at Australia Zoo. So grateful I get to showcase our conservation efforts and behind-the-scenes action with over 7.5 million followers,' they said. In December last year, Australian social media star Indy Clinton was crowned the nation's most loved influencer at the TikTok Australia Awards. Robert's move comes after it was reported he is raking in the big bucks after signing several lucrative presenting gigs, each paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and has signed on for several well-paid presenting roles. PR agency Adhesive confirmed the news on Instagram by sharing of a photo of a beaming Robert holding a TikTok statuette while posing with a stone crocodile at Australia Zoo He is one of Australia's most in-demand talents and currently hosts Channel Ten's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Australia and fronts a QLD tourism campaign. As well as his TV success, he is also moving more into advertising and earned $200,000 to appear in a minute-long Twisties commercial, as well as a similar pay check to appear in a Queensland tourism campaign alongside Bluey. He also filled in this week for host Tom Gleisner on the Channel Ten comedic game show Have You Been Paying Attention?, which makes it Robert's third television gig since the Logies. A former Married At First Sight star has lost her case against the Australian Federal Police over an early-morning raid on her home linked to her OnlyFans content. Police searched the home of Stacey Lee Hampton, a former MAFS contestant and ex-partner of Rebels bikie boss Shane Smith, in September 2023 on the allegation she may not have declared income she received from work on OnlyFans. Ms Hampton said the search warrant was 'invalid' and an 'abuse of power' because it did not adequately specify the allegation of wrongdoing underpinning it. She faced The Federal Court in Adelaide on Wednesday and was told she had lost her battle with the AFP and Services Australia and had to pay their court costs, The Daily Telegraph reported. Ms Hampton now faces a huge legal bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Following her appearance in court, Ms Hampton wrote on Instagram: 'Today wasn't the outcome I anticipated, however I will always stand up for what's right.' 'At the end of the day this was to show the little guy that you have a voice, use it, be proud and believe in yourself.' 'Unfortunately this is how the system works but never give up hope, let your light keep shining. Fight for what you believe in, the truth. Married At First Sight star Stacey Hampton has lost her case against the Australian Federal Police over search warrants linked to her X-rated adult content 'This was a proud moment for me. I have grown so much in the last 12 months and came out stronger and wiser.' The Federal Court heard in August that Ms Hampton may not have declared her true income over an 18-month period and Services Australia held concerns she may have improperly received carer payments. But Ms Hampton, who appeared in court and was representing herself during a civil judicial review application, said the search warrant was 'invalid' and an 'abuse of power' because it did not adequately specify the allegation of wrongdoing underpinning it. 'It (the warrant) is too broad,' she said. 'There are too many types of incomes.' She also objected to an interview with a Services Australia officer that took place during the search. She told the court the interview would not have happened at her home without what she argued was an invalid warrant. Police searched the home of Ms Hampton, the former MAFS contestant and ex-partner of Rebels bikie boss Shane Smith, in September 2023, on the allegation she may not have declared income she received from work on OnlyFans 'They had to exercise it through the channel of the search warrants,' she said. 'It wasn't hand delivered at the door. 'They were using the search warrant to conduct that interview.' Justice Stephen McDonald said the case would hang on whether the 'face of the warrants' met the legal standard outlined by the High Court. Paul d'Assumpcao, counsel for the AFP and Services Australia, argued the terms of the warrant were 'well within the threshold of what is acceptable by the courts'. He disputed Ms Hampton's characterisation the stated allegation on the warrant was not sufficient and said the warrant provided more information that what was required by the Criminal Code. He also argued the courts had recognised the need to provide investigative agencies like the AFP with 'sufficient flexibility' in how they investigated alleged criminal offences. Ms Hampton said the search warrant was 'invalid' and an 'abuse of power' because it did not adequately specify the allegation of wrongdoing underpinning it 'Balance has to be struck at some point,' he said. 'At what level do we cross the line and say that (the information provided on a warrant) is good enough?' Justice McDonald said a warrant did not need to offer the particularity of an indictment and the complexity of the case arose in 'how to draw the line' in what was required on a warrant. Ms Hampton has two sons, Kosta and Kruz, that she shared with Mr Smith. Mr Smith died in a motorcycle crash in Adelaide in September 2022. Ms Hampton has not been charged with any crimes and there is no accusation of any wrongdoing on her part. Shane Smith (left) died in a motorcycle crash in Adelaide in September 2022 Justice McDonald said he would 'reserve his decision' and deliver it at a later date. Speaking with NewsWire earlier this year, Ms Hampton said she would pursue damages against the government if she won her case. 'I haven't been arrested and nothing has come from this,' she said. 'But to me, it's the principle, the fact they came to my house for no reason, as an admitted lawyer, at 6am, with my two children who had lost their father, and traumatised us.' 'What's that done to my mental health, my children's health, also my work, being able to work?' Pharrell Williams has spoken out against celebrities who step into politics. In his recently published interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 51-year-old music producer who is estranged from former music partner Chad Hugo stated, 'I dont do politics. In fact, I get annoyed sometimes when I see celebrities trying to tell you [who to vote for].' Without naming anyone in particular, he added, 'There are celebrities that I respect that have an opinion, but not all of them. Im one of them people [who says], "What the heck? Shut up. Nobody asked you."' The Louis Vuitton Men's Creative Director elaborated, 'When people get out there and get self-righteous and they roll up their sleeves and s**t, and they are out there walking around with a placard shut up!' His statement was published by THR one day after Taylor Swift publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris although the interview is believed to have been conducted long before Swift spoke out, and his quote was not directed at the singer. Pharrell Williams has spoken out against celebrities who step into politics His statement was published by THR one day after Taylor Swift publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris - although the interview was believed to have been conducted long before Swift spoke out. Williams did not reveal who he's voting for but he hinted, 'Not sure Ill ever vote far right.' He explained, 'I care about my people and I care about the country, but I feel theres a lot of work that needs to be done, and Im really about the action.' Following last week's presidential debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump, Swift used social media to express support for the Vice President. Sharing a photo with her cat in her arms, taken for her Time magazine Person of the Year cover last year, she shared a lengthy Instagram caption with her 284 million followers. The message began, 'Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you havent already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.' It follows her October 2020 endorsement of President Joe Biden. Swift added in her September 10 caption, 'Recently I was made aware that AI of me falsely endorsing Donald Trumps presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.' The Eras music artist added unequivocally, 'I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election.' Billie Eilish and brother Finneas are among the recent slew of celebrities who have endorsed Kamala Harris in recent days Pharrell pictured with Australian actress Rebel Wilson at the Vanity Fair and Netflix Toronto International Film Festival celebration on September 8 Following last week's presidential debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump, Swift used social media to express support for the Vice President; pictured September 17 in Philadelphia On Tuesday, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell joined the political discourse in a joint statement. They announced they are backing Kamala Harris for president in the upcoming election. The pair posted a video on social media to mark National Voter Registration Day. We are voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because they are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet and our democracy, the 22-year-old Grammy and Oscar winning artist said. We cant let extremists control our lives, our freedoms and our future, OConnell added. 'The only way to stop them and the dangerous Project 2025 agenda is to vote and elect Kamala Harris.' Vote like your life depends on it because it does, Eilish said. The Australian comedy duo behind the enormously popular podcast The Little Dum Dum Club with Tommy & Karl have had a brutal falling out. Tommy Dassalo, 38, and Karl Chandler, 48, who have been producing the show for 14-years in Melbourne, took to social media to reveal the split on Wednesday. In what was a messy public meltdown Dassalo told followers that his relationship with his on air partner had 'deteriorated' and that the pair could 'no longer work together'. He also added in the post, shared to X, that he found the situation 'embarrassing'. 'Our working relationship deteriorated to the point where a bunch of commitments were left unfulfilled,' he said of the breakup. 'To get to this point was pretty disheartening for me, as someone who cares deeply about the quality and consistency of what they put out. 'There's no one person at fault here, but there's also unfortunately no way forward. 'We can no longer work together, and the show was suffering as a result of that. 'Everything has to end eventually, right? Unfortunately, the other half of the show doesn't feel the same way, in spite of my trying to have a conversation about this,' he added. Karl Chandler, 48, (L) and Tommy Dassalo, 38, (R) the Aussie comedy duo behind the enormously popular podcast The Little Dum Dum Club with Tommy & Karl have had a brutal falling out Elsewhere in the post, Dassalo appeared to apologise to fans for revealing the off-air drama. 'Anyway, this is all terribly embarrassing to have this play out in public, but what can you[?]' Meanwhile in an Instagram post on Wednesday, Chandler appeared to take a shot at his former comedy partner with his own statement about the split. Taking to his Instagram on Wednesday, Chandler (pictured) appeared to take a shot at his former comedy partner with his own post about the split 'Hey mates, sorry for the drama, bit much don't you reckon?' Airing more dirty laundry for fans, Chandler agreed that the duo had issues and suggested that there was some legal wrangling behind their friendship fallout. 'It's been very difficult lately. Always been great on air, bit of a tough working relationship behind the scenes,' he confessed. 'Obviously I've loved the show and I've put so much into it, and would've been nice to have a normal chat with a mate instead of having legalese thrust at me out of nowhere. Really strange stuff, honestly.' He ended the short post with a promise he would be releasing 'more content' addressing the shock end to their podcast. In what was a messy public meltdown Dassalo told followers that his relationship with his on air partner had 'deteriorated' and that the pair could 'no longer work together' Confirmation of the split comes after the pair did not release an episode of the Little Dum Dum Club with Tommy & Karl last week. Fans were rattled after Chandler released a message to their official Instagram last Wednesday that explained that no new episodes were planned. 'Hey mates, sorry. There's no new episode today and nothing planned,' he said. Airing more dirty laundry for fans, Chandler agreed that the duo had issues and suggested that there was some legal wrangling behind their friendship fallout 'There's been a new episode every single week for like 14 years or whatever, so yeah, it's not very Rick. This week probably won't get a mention on the best of 2024. 'Trouble in paradise at the moment, so a big apology from me personally because I super appreciate how many of you guys are invested in the show, just like I am. There should have been a new episode today. 'Apologies again, and let's talk soon! And happy September 11! KC.' The pair hinted at a breakup a week ago after they failed to upload a regular podcast Dassalo added his own message to the post: 'Sorry everyone! It's a real shame to fizzle like this and miss episodes. Really appreciate all the support over the years, everyone who's come to a show, subscribed on Patreon or yelled out of a moving car. Love you all, thanks for caring!' Chandler is a well known writer on the comedy scene and has contributed to Hard Quiz, Spicks and Specks, and The Project. Dassalo is best known as a stand up comedian and has regularly performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Gleb Savchenko has broken his silence in wake of Dancing With The Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev's shock domestic violence arrest last month. Artem, 42, was taken into custody on August 29 after he allegedly attacked his now-estranged wife Nikki Garcia, 40, at their Napa, California home. Though he did not directly address Artem's legal woes, Savchenko did speak highly of his friend during the show's season 33 premiere on Tuesday. Savchenko, 41, and have had a close bond Artem since the latter joined Dancing With The Stars full-time in 2014. Artem is not dancing this season but Savchenko will be competing for the mirrorball trophy with swimsuit model Brooks Nader as his partner. Gleb Savchenko has broken his silence in wake of Dancing With The Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev's shock domestic violence arrest last month 'He's part of the family. He's such a great dancer that people don't realize,' Savchenko said of Artem to E! News. 'He's the quality. It's not about quantity, it's about the quality.' He praised Artem who specializes in Latin dancing for always knowing 'how to create a beautiful routine.' Savchenko confirmed to the outlet that he and Artem speak 'all the time' and that he sees him as a 'brother.' 'He's just my brother and I send him love and positivity,' he said. Gleb's remarks come less than a week after Artem responded to Nikki's divorce filing by also officially filing last Friday. The Russian dancer cited 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for their split in documents obtained by Us Weekly. He listed the date of separation as August 29 - which was the same day that he was arrested for felony domestic violence charges following an alleged altercation at their home. Chigvintsev has also requested for joint legal and physical custody of his and Nikki's four-year-old son, Matteo. He has asked for spousal support, and also requested that Garcia pay for his legal fees, per the documents. In the filing, Artem claimed that he was a putative spouse between the dates of August 26, 2022 and January 19, 2023. A putative spouse is an individual who believes they are legally married to someone, but the marriage itself is not valid. Artem, 42, was taken into custody on August 29 after he allegedly attacked his now-estranged wife Nikki Garcia, 40, at their Napa, California home Artem was arrested on felony domestic violence charges and released on $25,000 bail Chigvintsev and Garcia notably said 'I do' back in August 2022 during a ceremony in Paris, France. But in the documents, per Us Weekly, the professional dancer stated that they also tied the knot in the United States in January 2023. Garcia filed for divorce two days earlier on Wednesday at the Superior Court of Napa - and has asked for sole legal and physical custody of their son. She also cited 'irreconcilable differences' in the dissolution documents, per TMZ, and cited August 29 as the date of separation, the day of Artem's arrest. The TV personality stated she is open to Artem getting visitation rights for their son Matteo, four. However, while Chigvintsev has asked spousal support from Nikki - she has asked to block the court's ability to award spousal support to either of them. Just days before the pro dancer was placed into handcuffs, the couple had marked their second wedding anniversary. At the time, Chigvintsev shared a heartfelt message in an Instagram post that read, 'Happy anniversary my love, can't see my life without you. You are my everything.' Over the weekend on Saturday, Chigvintsev updated his Instagram bio by re-adding his wife's name, less than 24-hours after removing it. Sources recently told DailyMail.com that Chigvintsev is desperately trying to salvage the marriage. Though he did not directly address Artem's legal woes, Savchenko did speak highly of his friend during the show's season 33 premiere on Tuesday; Gleb and Artem seen with Julianne hough in 2023 Artem is not dancing this season but Savchenko will be competing for the mirrorball trophy with swimsuit model Brooks Nader as his partner Cops were called to the couple's $1.5 million marital home in Yountville, California, following reports of a bust-up on August 29. Sources said the couple dialed 911 twice first to request assistance for an injury before calling back and asking paramedics not to come. But due to the sounds of a domestic disturbance in the background, cops from the Napa Sheriff's Department descended on the couple's leafy neighborhood anyway, taking Chigvintsev with them. He was booked into the Napa County Jail on felony domestic violence charges at 10:59 am before being released on a $25,000 bond at approximately 2:18pm. A mugshot released by the Napa County Sheriff's office showed the ballroom star looking glum-faced in a check shirt while sporting a grizzled beard. The arrest, which reportedly came after Garcia threw shoes at her husband, took place less than four days after the pair celebrated the anniversary of their August 2022 wedding with both marking the moment on social media. Sources said Chigvintsev is currently scheduled to face court in Napa on Tuesday over the incident and cannot leave Napa County until the case is resolved. And now Artem is said to be hellbent on proving to wife Nikki that he 'can be a changed man.' While she has allegedly banned Artem from seeing their son Matteo without supervision and is searching for a divorce lawyer, sources have revealed to DailyMail.com that he is in the 'fight of his life' to win her back especially now that he has been dropped from the upcoming season of DWTS. Gleb's remarks come less than a week after Artem responded to Nikki's divorce filing by also officially filing last Friday; seen in 2019 Chigvintsev has also requested for joint legal and physical custody of his and Nikki's four-year-old son, Matteo 'Artem is very frustrated and mad that he wasn't asked to be on this season of Dancing with the Stars, and now it looks like he will never be back,' they said. 'His life professionally and personally is and has been flipped upside down.' 'He doesn't know what his next steps are with Nikki, he has been upset for a long time and now he is in the fight of his life to clear his name and win back Nikki, but as of right now he hasn't decided what he might do to show her that he can be a changed man.' 'They currently have limited dialogue with each other.' 'If and when he sees Matteo, Nikki wants it supervised. Her trust has been thrown out the door and she is very angry with Artem, he has an uphill battle ahead of him. The whole thing is a mess.' 'She has tried and tried to make it work, but she feels divorce is the only option. It hurts but Nikki is such a strong woman, and she is doing what is right for her, and for Matteo.' Cindy Crawford cut a stylish figure as she joined her lookalike daughter Kaia Gerber for dinner at New York's iconic Hotel Chelsea. The supermodel, 58, put on a glamorous display as she stepped out on Tuesday with her daughter, who she shares with businessman Rande Gerber. Cindy looked sensational for the evening in a green silk slip dress with a black laced bust, which she paired with a leather jacket. She finished off her ensemble with a pair of strappy heels and a black clutch bag, leaving her voluminous copper locks down in natural waves. Meanwhile Kaia looked equally chic as she stepped out in a stunning white laced sheer blouse, wearing a black bra underneath with wide-leg trousers and heels. Cindy Crawford cut a stylish figure as she joined her lookalike daughter Kaia Gerber for dinner at New York's iconic Hotel Chelsea on Tuesday Kaia looked equally chic as she stepped out in a stunning white laced sheer blouse, wearing a black bra underneath with wide-leg trousers and heels The actress and model's chocolate brown hair blew in the wind as she left the restaurant, and she completed her look with a chunky gold necklace and big glasses. The mother-daughter duo are said to have been joined for dinner by Orange Is The New Black star Natasha Lyonne. Kaia was again her mother's spitting image as she recreated the supermodel's classic 1993 Oscars look. The rising star was a wonder in white as she hit the red carpet premiere for her latest flick Shell at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday night. Kaia paid homage to her superstar mother as she completely recreated her early 90s look on Hollywood's biggest night with no detail overlooked. Back in 1993, Cindy turned heads at the Oscars in a slinky white dress as she was arm-in-arm with her husband at the time Richard Gere. Meanwhile, Kaia donned a white Herve Leger bandage dress which included built-in underwire cups just like her mother's famous look. As if that already wasn't enough she teamed the frock with a pair of white pointed-toe heels. Kaia also sported similar diamond jewellery including a white gold chain necklace and matching dangling earrings. Kaia was again her mother's spitting image as she recreated the supermodel's classic 1993 Oscars look Back in 1993, Cindy turned heads at the Oscars in a slinky white dress as she was arm-in-arm with her husband at the time Richard Gere The rising star was a wonder in white as she hit the red carpet premiere for her latest flick Shell at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday night She also wore her brunette tresses down as the waves cascaded down her shoulders. Kaia accentuated her natural looks with complementary make-up just like her mother as they both topped it off with a swipe of red lip. Cindy shares daughter Kaia and son Presley Gerber, 25, with her husband Rande Gerber, who she married in 1998. During the 1980s and 1990s, she became one of the world's most popular supermodels, appearing on a slew of covers, campaigns and catwalks. Kaia is currently on the promo tour for her new movie Saturday Night, a biographical comedy drama thriller film about the first broadcast of NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1975. In the upcoming movie about the origins of the famed sketchy comedy show, Gerber portrays the late actress Jacqueline Carlin. Kaia portrays the late actress Jacqueline Carlin (pictured in character) The movie which is directed by Jason Reitman is a fictionalized recount and is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the debut of Saturday Night Live. The synopsis reads: 'On October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. 'This is the true story of what happened that night behind the scenes in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of SNL. 'The chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn't, as we countdown the minutes in real time to the infamous words, Live From New York, it's Saturday Night.' Heavily pregnant Channel Nine newsreader Mia Glover found herself in an awkward moment live on television as she celebrated her maternity leave at a crime scene. The popular Today breakfast show star, 35, shot her final live cross on the Gold Coast before she prepares to welcome her second child, a daughter, with husband Paul. But what was meant to be a touching send-off quickly became bizarre as she cheerfully bid her farewells in front of the aftermath of a break-in. The weekend 9News presenter was stunned to see her husband and their four-year-old son Albert arrive on-set with flowers as she reported from the macabre scene. Anchors Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo said their farewells to the reporter from Sydney, chuckling over the peculiar location Mia found herself in. As Mia stood in front of a crime scene in Ormeau, reporting on an overnight break-in at a local tobacco shop, the conversation took an unexpected turn. With police combing through the taped off area behind her, Karl, 50, and Sarah, 38, cheerfully spoke with Mia about her maternity leave. She was gifted a bouquet of flowers during the chat, as well as a small onesie embroidered with the Today logo as she cradled her baby bump. Heavily pregnant Channel Nine newsreader Mia Glover, 35, (pictured) found herself in an awkward moment live on television as she celebrated her maternity leave at a crime scene Mia was then joined by her husband Paul and their son Albert, with the small family celebrating and giggling in front of the crime scene behind them. 'Beautiful happiness in front of a crime scene in Queensland, says everything about Queensland, doesn't it?' Karl joked. The crime Mia was reporting on involved a gang of culprits who rammed a ute into a business on Peachey Road at around 3am to rob the ATM machine. The popular Today breakfast show star shot her final live cross on the Gold Coast before she prepares to welcome her second child, a daughter, with husband Paul. Pictured with anchors Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo Dragging the machine outside, the offenders stole the cash and fled in a white Toyota HiLux, with police investigating the scene as Mia bid her farewells. Mia and Paul welcomed their first child, son Albert, in December 2019. This will be her second pregnancy, with the reporter expecting a baby girl to come soon. 'This is going to be a mini-me, which is a bit crazy I don't know if the world's ready for it,' she joked. Coldplay has been praised by fans for announcing that tickets for their new string of UK shows will be available for just 20. On Tuesday, the band announced six new UK shows set to take place next summer as they extend their record-breaking Music Of The Spheres World Tour. As part of the shows, which will take place at London's Wembley Stadium and Craven Park Stadium in Hull - a limited number of 20 tickets will be made available. In a statement, the group said: 'A limited number of Infinity Tickets are released for every Coldplay show to give fans the chance to attend the Music Of The Spheres World Tour at a super low price. 'They cost the equivalent of 20 / $20 / 20 per ticket and must be brought in pairs. Infinity Tickets are randomly allocated anywhere in the venue - from the back row to the floor to the best seat in the house.' Coldplay has been praised by fans for announcing that tickets for their new string of UK shows will be available for just 20 On Tuesday, the band announced six new UK shows set to take place next summer as they extend their record-breaking Music Of The Spheres World Tour Fifty percent of the tickets for the Hull shows - the bands first ever concerts in the city - will go to local fans (with HU, YO, DN or LN postcodes), via Ticketmaster on September 26 at 6pm. They are also the only UK/European cities where the band will perform next year with 10% of the proceeds being donated to Music Venue Trust in support of grassroots venues across the country. Coldplay's decision to offer low-priced tickets, as well as prioritising local fans and supporting grassroots venues, has earned a sea of praise from fans on social media. Posts to X have included: 'Coldplay doing a limited run of 20 tickets for their upcoming UK shows just proves that bands have a choice to make their gigs more afforable; 'Gotta say that is fantastic - 10% of proceeds is gonna make a huge difference to grass roots. Brave to Coldplay team and all involved;' 'This is amazing news and the start of something big. All thanks to the tireless campaigning and a lot of shouting by @markdavyd & @musicvenue trust. Well done;' 'As usual, this band lead the way! See you at Wembley (hopefully!)' 'Wouldn't normally mention thingsl like this but bravo to @coldplay chaps - supporting the @musicvenue trust with a significant slice of ticket revenue. Will make a huge difference to our scene;' As part of the shows, which will take place at London's Wembley Stadium and Craven Park Stadium in Hull - a limited number of 20 tickets will be made available Coldplay's decision to offer low-priced tickets, as well as prioritising local fans and supporting grassroots venues, has earned a sea of praise from fans on social media 'Coldplay giving priority to local fans I've never been so happy;' Coldplay UK tour dates for 2025 August 22 - Hull Craven Park Stadium August 23 - Hull Craven Park Stadium August 26 - London Wembley August 27 - London Wembley August 30 - London Wembley August 31 - London Wembley Advertisement Coldplay are reportedly paying a seven-figure sum to their former manager Dave Holmes, after he sued the band for 10 million. The band parted ways with Dave back in 2022 after over two decades, sparking a dramatic and lengthy legal battle. In 2023, Dave claimed he was owed 10million in unpaid commission for Coldplays tenth and eleventh albums, which are both yet to be released. However, the band, led by frontman Chris Martin, countersued for 14million, claiming Holmes lost control of budgeting for their Music of the Spheres tour, and overspent by 17.5million. Documents filed at London's High Court, obtained by The Sun, stated that Coldplay agreed an undisclosed seven-figure settlement to prevent private details being made public in court. A source added: 'Chris and the band are happy theyve drawn a line in the sand but it has come at a price. The settlement cost them millions. They just want to move on.' Since Dave's departure, Chris' best friend, Phil Harvey, who helped fund their first recording and was then known as the bands fifth member, has stepped in to lead their management team. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Coldplay for comment. Last year, Coldplay's legal battle with their former manager took a dramatic turn, when Dave accused the band of 'making up' tales of mishaps and 'ethical lapses.' Holmes told MailOnline that he believe the British group led by Chris Martin 'knew they were in trouble,' after the countersued for 14 million. Hitting back at the writ, a spokesman for Holmes told MailOnline in October: 'Coldplay knows they're in trouble with their defence. 'Accusing Dave Holmes of non-existent ethical lapses and other made-up misconduct will not deflect from the real issue at hand: Coldplay had a contract with Dave, they are refusing to honour it and they need to pay Dave what they owe him'. Coldplay believed that its tour suffered spiralling costs due to Holmes. Lucy Beaumont revealed her career was held back by predatory men on the comedy circuit in unearthed comments. It was revealed on Tuesday that Lucy's ex husband, comedian Jon Richardson, had agreed a mega payout after they split. Jon handed over 1.625 million to Lucy when they called time on their nine year marriage in April. The pair starred together in the mockumetary-style show Meet the Richardsons for seven years, and amassed a 6 million fortune. But documents for a company they had run together reveal that in June, two months after their split, Jon, 41, paid Lucy, 40, 1.625 million for her shares in a company they had co run. In light of Lucy's departure from their company, her comments about her career trajectory have been unearthed. Lucy Beaumont revealed her career was held back by predatory men on the comedy circuit in unearthed comments Last year, in comments that do not refer to Jon, the comedian explained how she had suffered 'quite a few incidences' early on as she set out in the industry. And confirming the 'blacklist' of alleged offenders, she said there were up to 15 men carrying out the appalling behaviour. Lucy, said when being asked if anything had held her back: 'Predatory male behaviour. 'I've had quite a few incidences where if you're in any other workforce you would go to HR, but there isn't one. I think it's just everywhere and it's not talked about enough. 'It upsets me when I hear about young female comics having the same experiences. I thought for a while it was the same five or six people - and now it's not - I could name you 10 or 15 because of course people talk.' The writer and performer spoke in July 2023 about the issue on The Comedian's Comedian Podcast. It was revealed on Tuesday that Lucy's ex husband, comedian Jon Richardson, had agreed a mega payout after they split She added: 'Comedy has the biggest gossips ever so everybody knows - or if you don't know the ones I know yet then you will do soon. 'It attracts such interesting, passionate, raw, edgy, wounded people - but it also attracts predatory men who are really messed up and sexually have been repressed for years. And they get a bit of fame and display these behaviours. 'It just gets covered up. Their agents know and the channels know and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. 'There's been times when I've just wanted to go on Twitter and just let people know everyone that we talk about, but not allowed to say.' According to recently filed accounts Lucy and Jon's company was worth 4 million last year and the couple are still listed as joint owners of a 1 million detached home with a pool in Yorkshire and a 1 million flat in a swanky part of North London. The pair, who share one daughter together, tied the knot in April 2015 and announced their split in April this year - just days after the launch of the fifth series of their comedy show Meet The Richardsons. They started dating in 2013 after they met each other through friend Roisin Conaty and went on to work together on a number of shows including Meet The Richardsons. Last year the comedian explained how she had suffered 'quite a few incidences' early on as she set out in the industry Jon and Lucy started dating in 2013 after they met each other through friend Roisin Conaty and went on to work together on a number of shows (pictured in 2017) But four months ago in a joint statement the couple said: 'After 9 years of marriage, we would like to announce that we have separated. We have jointly and amicably made the difficult decision to divorce and go our separate ways. Meet The Richardsons saw Lucy nominated for a BAFTA TV award in the female performance in a comedy programme category in 2023. The show first launched on the channel in 2020 with the couple writing it alongside Peter Kay's Car Share scribe Tim Reid. Lucy has had a successful standup career and has featured on a number of panel shows including Would I Lie To You?, Taskmaster The Last Leg and Have I Got News For You. In 2021 her comedy Hullraisers, which she co-wrote, was aired on Channel 4 while in that same year she released her first book Drinking Custard: Diary of a Confused Mum. She is back on a nationwide tour from October 4 to December 13. Simon Cowell cut a casual figure in his trademark jeans he posed on the red carpet on Tuesday night in Pasadena, California for the America's Got Talent finale at Hotel Dena. The talent show judge, 64, led the pack of celebrity judges as he was also joined by Heidi Klum who attempted to style out a quick shoe change on the red carpet. Swapping from her classy nude pink heels to white trainers, the model, 51, was helped by Howie Mandel who unwrapped the shoes from the box. Meanwhile Simon kept to his usual style as he wore his signature blue baggy jeans and a plain grey T-shirt. He added to his look with a pair of orange sunglasses and flashed photographers several thumbs up and peace signs as he made his way across the red carpet. Simon Cowell cut a casual figure in his trademark jeans as he posed on the red carpet on Tuesday night in Pasadena, California ahead of the America's Got Talent finale Simon was joined by Heidi Klum who styled out a quick shoe swap with the help of fellow judge Howie Mandel The music mogul finished off his look with a pair of pointed black boots and a simple black leather watch. At one point the famous media personality looked a bit surprised and widened his eyes and looked concerned before he laughed and smiled. In contrast to Simon's casual look Heidi and Sofia Vergara, 52, made jaws drop as they hit the red carpet. The stunning duo co-judge the talent competition show with comedian Howie Mandel and creator Simon on NBC. Hosted by actor Terry Crews, America's Got Talent kicked off its nineteenth season in May with eight weeks of auditions. After six weeks of live quarterfinal and semi-final rounds, 10 remaining acts performed Tuesday night in one last bid to win the $1 million grand prize. The winner of America's Got Talent will be revealed during the September 24 finale show. For the big night, Heidi and Sofia posed up in their most eye-popping frocks before heading to the judges panel. He added to his look with a pair of orange sunglasses, pair of pointed black boots and a simple black leather watch The talent show judge led the pack of celebrity judges but looked more dressed down than his colleagues including Heidi (pictured) who dazzled in a sequined gown Heidi thanked Howie with a sweet kiss on the cheek after the comedian brought her the trainers in the large Sketchers bag He was seen wrapping the shoes in tissue as he put them back in the box At one point the famous media personality looked a bit surprised and widened his eyes and looked concerned before he laughed and smiled Heidi, 51, and Sofia Vergara, 52, made jaws drop as they hit the red carpet ahead of the America's Got Talent top 10 performances Simon's look was in sharp contrast to the gorgeous outfits worn by Heidi (left) and Sofia Vergara (right) Heidi dazzled in a low-cut purple sequin dress that hugged her enviable curves. The German model accessorized with a diamond choker necklace while her blonde curls tumbled down her back and chest as she put on an animated display for the cameras. As for makeup, the mother-of-four rocked sultry brown smokey eye paired with a nude lip and radiant peach blush. She strutted around the venue in sky-high strappy silver heels. Meanwhile Sofia showed off her impressive cleavage in a plunging orange wiggle dress. The fitted frock had a large bow situated on one shoulder and a corset-like bodice that emphasized Sofia's hourglass curves. The Modern Family, 52, wore her brunette hair down and opted for her go-to glam makeup. The pair looked to be having a blast on the red carpet as the dynamic duo wrapped their around one another as they smiled in the direction of shutterbugs. The stunning duo co-judge the talent competition show with comedian Howie Mandel and creator Simon Cowell on NBC For the big night, Heidi and Sofia posed up in their most eye-popping frocks before heading to the judges panel Heidi dazzled in a low-cut purple sequin dress that hugged her enviable curves She strutted around the venue in sky-high strappy silver heels Howie looked ultra stylish as he arrived wearing a chic black suit with a skinny tie. The standup star, 68, threw on shiny dress shoes and round-frame sunglasses to complete his finale outfit. Wearing his signature black T-shirt and jeans combo, Simon made a brief red carpet appearance. Earlier in the day, Heidi took to her Instagram Story to speak about her excitement for the finale performances. 'Today is the last day of America's Got Talent. I can't wait to see the show tonight,' she said. It is the last night for the top 10 to show their skills before a winner is announced next week. 'I actually have two golden buzzers in there. Dee Dee (Simon) and Richard (Goodall),' Heidi told her 12.2 million followers. The dynamic duo often wrapped their around one another as they smiled in the direction of shutterbugs As for Sofia, she showed off her impressive cleavage in a plunging orange dress The Modern Family wore her brunette hair down and opted for her go-to glam makeup Richard, 55, is a school janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana who entered the competition at the encouragement of the students at his school. Meanwhile, Simon is a nurse at California's San Quentin State Prison. 'I can't wait to see what they're singing and how good it's going to be. I'm sure it's going to be amazing,' she gushed. The top 10 also includes: aerialists Sebastian and Sonia, dance group AIRFOOTWORKS, the Hakuna Matata Acrobats, dance group Brent Street, comedian Learnmore Jonasi, human-canine dancers Roni Sagi & Rhythm, drone artists Sky Elements and quick-change magician Solange Kardinaly. 'But, yeah, this is the last show before [the finale]... then we will have our winner. Maybe it's going to be one of my Golden Buzzers. Get the million dollars. I can't wait to find out. So make sure you watch us tonight,' Heidi said. Fans have until September 18 at 7 a.m. ET to vote before the results are read live on the finale show on September 24. The cast, crew and fans of AGT are still mourning the death of Emily Gold, 17, who died by suicide according to the San Bernardino, California coroner's office. Howie Mandel, 68, looked ultra stylish as he arrived wearing a chic black suit with a skinny tie The standup star threw on shiny dress shoes and round-frame sunglasses to complete his finale outfit She was a member of the Los Osos High School dance team, which was eliminated from the competition after competing in the quarterfinals in August. 'The AGT family sends its heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and team members of Emily Gold,' the producers wrote on a picture of the young dancer in their Instagram stories on Tuesday. 'She was a bright young soul and will be deeply missed.' Maya Jama looked effortlessly chic in an an oversized white shirt dress as she attended the Alberta Ferretti show at Milan Fashion Week. The Love Island host, 30, turned heads on Tuesday as she stepped out in Italy's capital for the Spring/Summer 2025 show. Maya looked sensational for the outing as she sported a a baggy white shirt dress complete with a huge collar and a zip-front. The dress was finished with a mini-skirt and had a huge buckled belt and matching cuffs. The TV personality accessorised with a white leather handbag and pointed buckled sling back heels, as well as elegant silver double-hooped drop earrings. Maya Jama looked effortlessly chic in an an oversized white shirt dress as she attended the Alberta Ferretti fashion show at Milan Fashion Week on Tuesday The Love Island host, 30, turned heads as she stepped out in Italy's capital for the Spring/Summer 2025 show Her brunette locks were tossed up in a loose bun with pieces of hair hanging down at the front, and she opted for a striking cat-eye make-up look with a nude lip. Just days before her MFW appearance, Maya looked incredible as she posed make-up free for a stunning Instagram selfie while away on holiday on Sunday. She shared the sun-kissed snap while on boat, sporting a skimpy black bra and shorts for the outing. Maya captioned her posted that she was ;chasing the end of summer sun;, while giving her followers an insight into her trip. Maya showed off her gorgeous natural features as she ditched any make-up, posing on the lavish boat and showing a stunning crystalline water backdrop. She kept her raven locks loose in waves, sporting large gold hoop earrings. It has been a busy month for Maya who just the night before was seen leaving the after party of the Lee premiere with Mustafa the Poet - two months after splitting from Stormzy. The pair enjoyed an evening attending the premiere of Kate Winslet's latest film, Lee, which is out in cinemas on September 13. Maya looked sensational for the outing as she sported a a baggy white shirt dress complete with a huge collar and a zip-front The dress was finished with a mini-skirt and had a huge buckled belt and matching cuffs The TV personality accessorised with a white leather handbag and pointed buckled sling back heels, as well as elegant silver double-hooped drop earrings Her brunette locks were tossed up in a loose bun with pieces of hair hanging down at the front, and she opted for a striking cat-eye make-up look with a nude lip Maya and Stormzy shocked the world of showbiz back in July after they announced their split after previously going their separate ways following a five year relationship in 2019 and reconnecting in August 2023. Announcing their 'final' breakup in a joint statement they said: 'We fell madly in love in 2014, broke up in 2019, and the spent five years manoeuvring life apart. 'We decided to try for the final time in August 2023, and we've spent this past year trying our best to make it work; however, we recently decided to call it quits. 'We were 21 and 20 when we first met both at the beginning of our careers and spent five years growing together and five years growing separately, so this final attempt required a whole lot of figuring out, relearning, and unlearning. We tried, and it didn't work, and that's okay.' Maya and Stormzy shocked the world of showbiz back in July after they announced their split after previously going their separate ways following a five year relationship in 2019 and reconnecting in August 2023. Maya looked incredible as she posed make-up free for a stunning Instagram selfie on Sunday She shared the sun-kissed snap while on boat, sporting a skimpy black bra It has been a busy month for Maya who just the night before was seen leaving the after party of the Lee premiere with Mustafa the Poet - two months after splitting from Stormzy (pictured December 2023) Announcing their 'final' breakup in a joint statement they said: 'We fell madly in love in 2014, broke up in 2019, and the spent five years manoeuvring life apart. 'We decided to try for the final time in August 2023, and we've spent this past year trying our best to make it work; however, we recently decided to call it quits. 'We were 21 and 20 when we first met both at the beginning of our careers and spent five years growing together and five years growing separately, so this final attempt required a whole lot of figuring out, relearning, and unlearning. We tried, and it didn't work, and that's okay.' Eamonn Holmes has hit back at critics after suffering backlash for treating his new girlfriend to a lavish overseas holiday within months of ending his marriage to presenter Ruth Langsford. The former TV golden couple confirmed the end of their marriage in May, 14 years after exchanging vows at Grade II listed Elvetham Hall in Hampshire. Holmes, 64, has since embarked on a new romance with the significantly younger Katie Alexander, a 42-year old relationship counsellor. Despite their generational differences, the 22-year age-gap did not appear to be an issue during a recent European cruise, with wheelchair-bound Holmes and his attractive girlfriend enjoying stop-offs in a variety of picturesque locations, among them Barcelona and Ibiza. Since returning to the United Kingdom, the Irish presenter has rubbed shoulders with actress Kate Beckinsale - daughter of late Porridge and Rising Damp star Richard Beckinsale - after meeting her for the first time at an event in London on Monday evening. Eamonn Holmes has hit back at critics after suffering a backlash for treating his new girlfriend to a lavish overseas holiday within months of ending his marriage to presenter Ruth Langsford Social media followers flooded his Instagram platform with comments after he posed for a handful of pictures with actress Kate Beckinsale on Monday evening But Beckinsale's decision to strike a series of suggestive poses while having her picture taken alongside a receptive Holmes opened the floodgates on social media, with followers divided over his post-separation antics. Returning to Instagram on Tuesday, Holmes - evidently unhappy with the online reaction - weighed in by liking a handful of supportive messages, including one which read: 'So many nasty comments! If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all...' Another message favourited by the presenter read: 'Everyone learn to be kind with the comments on here. Just leave him alone.' 'Not interested in the stupid comments, lets remember the amazing Richard Beckinsale,' wrote a third supporter. As exclusively revealed by the Daily Mail, Holmes' recent cruise was in fact a freebie which he was given after signing a lucrative deal to be ambassador for the giant holiday company Not Just Travel. In return for the perk, the television anchor was obliged to film content for the firms social media platforms while enjoying the break courtesy of its cruise arm, Virgin Voyages, on a ship called The Scarlet Lady. While it looked like Eamonn had whisked Katie off on a no-expense-spared trip away, it didnt actually cost him a penny, explains a travel insider. It was part of his deal with Not Just Travel so, if anything, he was actually paid to go which was very fortuitous indeed, especially because he could take a plus one with him. Returning to Instagram on Tuesday, Holmes weighed in to the negative reaction by responding to a handful of supportive messages with a love-heart symbol Beckinsale's decision to strike a series of suggestive poses while having her picture taken alongside a receptive Holmes opened the floodgates on social media Holmes and Langsford confirmed their marriage was over in May, 14 years after exchanging vows at Grade II listed Elvetham Hall in Hampshire There was an element of work, adds the source. Eamonn had to film some segments to promote the company. But the fact he didnt pay certainly lessens the whole idea it was a romantic trip away. Katie didnt seem to mind though, it was a lovely, sunny break for her as they enjoy their first throes of love. Indeed that was evident, particularly when Eamonn was seen cheekily touching Katies bottom while sitting in his wheelchair in Ibiza. They couple were also pictured in Barcelona airport as well as when they arrived back at Heathrow. It was a seven-day getaway, marketed as a visit to the Irresistible Med and Rome and starting with Eamonn, 64, and Katie, 42, flying out to Barcelona where they boarded the ship. Despite their generational differences, the 22-year age-gap between Holmes and new girlfriend Katie Alexander did not appear to be an issue during their recent European cruise From there, they sailed to Toulon on southern Frances Mediterranean coast, then Marina di Carrara a scenic spot between Tuscany and Liguria on Italys north coast. After a stop-off there they sailed down to Civitavecchia, 40 miles north of Rome which still has its old Roman dock, built in the second century. Since Langsford announced their split in May, Alexander has been visiting Holmes at his home in Kingston, Surrey, where he now lives after leaving the 2million marital home he shared with Ruth some ten miles away. Initially, the romance was kept a secret, but their cruise together has most definitely put it on the map. And no one will have been more pleased at the turn of events than bosses at Not Just Travel, who are said to be thrilled that Alexander accompanied him. The deal was Eamonn, but having his new girlfriend definitely made the whole holiday far more interesting from a marketing point of view, says an industry insider. Her being there will have raised the profile of the firm so much money cant buy that kind of publicity. 'Signing Eamonn up and giving him this trip has been worth every single penny. This model and new face of Lancome has a very famous mother. And as Nico Parker, 19, attended a dinner to celebrate her new role as the luxury beauty brand's global ambassador, she looked every inch the budding celebrity. Wearing a black, strapless mini dress with a matching shawl, she added a pair of quirky heels and opted for a subtle makeup look. Nico could be set for stardom thanks to her new modelling gig and upcoming role in a very popular film franchise. But, can you guess which Hollywood star is her mother? This model and new face of Lancome has some very famous parents And as Nico Parker, 19, attended a dinner to celebrate her new role as the luxury beauty brand's global ambassador, she looked every inch the budding celebrity Nico's mother is Thandiwe Newton and her father is screenwriter Ol Parker. In addition to Nico, the showbiz couple also share an 23-year-old daughter called Ripley and a nine-year-old son called Booker. As the socialite daughter of actress Thandiwe, Nico has already enjoyed some high-profile roles. Now she is set for huge global success after landing a part on the new Bridget Jones movie, Mad About The Boy. Nico was seen filming in June at Bridget's home in Hampstead, London, in a scene where, with some trepidation, she knocks on her door. While her character hasn't been confirmed, sources say she could be the girlfriend of Bridget's toyboy, Rockstar. A film source said: 'Nico is a great signing hopefully it will bring in a younger audience.' Nico landed her first Hollywood film role at the age of 14 in Tim Burton's live action remake of Dumbo, released in 2019. Ever the proud mother, Thandiwe was also in attendance to celebrate Nico's new beauty role The actress cut a chic figure in a stylish gold and green midi dress as she posed up a storm with her daughter Thandiwe showed off her glamorous sense of style by arriving in a colourful dress with metallic detailing and a frilled hem Nico's mother is Thandiwe Newton and her father is screenwriter Ol Parker (Nico and Thandiwe pictured in August 2021) In addition to Nico, the showbiz couple also share an 23-year-old daughter called Ripley and a nine-year-old son called Booker (Ol, Nico, Thandiwe and Ripley seen in 2019) Nico landed her first Hollywood film role at the age of 14 in Tim Burton's live action remake of Dumbo, released in 2019 (pictured in the film with Colin Farrell and Finley Hobbins) She appeared in HBO's miniseries The Third Day with Jude Law in 2020 and has been cast in HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us. Thandiwe explained to Hollywood Life in a 2010 interview: 'I want my girls to feel empowered. Thats the most important thing.' he mused about parenthood: 'Its amazing how you start again and you re-live your childhood. The universe has given me girls because I needed to live that girlhood again in a fresh way.' Said she: 'Motherhood has taught me how exquisite human beings are and how tender, fragile and powerful we are.' DJ Tigerlily has been rushed to hospital to undergo emergency surgery due to a possible life-threatening health condition. The Sydney music-maker, 32, revealed on Instagram on Wednesday that she had to have her appendix removed. In her social media post, Tigerlily shared a series of photos from her time in hospital and explained to her 572,000 followers she'd initially been having a regular day spending time with her one-year-old son Lando. 'One minute you're painting with your son at playgroup, and the next you're being sent to ED for emergency surgery to take out your appendix,' she captioned her post. 'The last few days have been a wild ride there have been tears, some new scars, and a rollercoaster of emotions.' Tigerlily, whose real name is Dara Lawson, went on to thank her close circle of friends and family, including her husband Scott Lawson, as well as the staff at the hospital who looked after her. 'So incredibly grateful for my village: in particular my mum and husband for really holding down the fort at home while I've been in hospital,' she added. 'To all my beautiful friends who have sent flowers and food, and my wonderful colleagues for sorting out and postponing work in the background while I rest and recover. DJ Tigerlily (pictured) has been rushed to hospital to undergo emergency surgery due to a possible life-threatening health condition 'To the nurses, doctors, surgeons and hospital staff that looked after me - thankyou! They are super heroes! I am so grateful to live in Sydney, so close to such an amazing hospital like Royal North Shore from the moment I walked in the doors of ED to leaving days later, I felt so cared for and looked after.' The DJ then announced the heartbreaking decision to reschedule her upcoming shows that are just days away while she recovers. 'I regret to announce that my shows this weekend at Deck Bendigo and Billboard Melbourne will need to be postponed,' Tigerlily continued. 'I truly don't take cancellations lightly, especially knowing how much effort goes into planning these events. I hate to disappoint my fans, and it's important to me that I deliver the best performance possible when I am well again.' The Sydney music-maker, 32, revealed on Instagram on Wednesday that she had to have her appendix removed Tigerlily shared a series of photos from her time in hospital and explained she'd initially been having a regular day spending time with her one-year-old son Lando 'Rest assured, I'll be back doing what I love most very soon, and I can't wait to share those moments with you all. Thank you for your understanding and support during this time,' she concluded her post. Several of the music producer's friends sent their well wishes in the comments of her post. 'Owww darling hope your feeling better,' Married At First Sight star Ella Ding wrote. 'Sending love mumma!!' added Steph Claire Smith. DJ Tigerlily shares son Lando with husband Scott, who she married in 2022. DJ Tigerlily shares son Lando with husband Scott Lawson, who she married in 2022 In November 2022, the music producer announced that she was expecting her first child, sharing a reel to Instagram for the announcement. 'DISCO BABY - COMING APRIL 2023,' she captioned the post, revealing in the hashtags that she was 15 weeks along. Baby Lando, who they named after Formula One driver Lando Norris, arrived in May 2023. Earlier in 2022, the DJ married her long term partner Scott in a romantic ceremony, exchanging their vows in Sydney's Duffys Forest. The pair tied the knot on March 5, surrounded by family and friends. 'Our dream day, in our dream location, with our most loved friends and family... Scott and I are on cloud 9,' Tigerlily wrote in her Instagram at the time. DJ Tigerlily and Scott announced their engagement in March 2021. Married At First Sight UK's Jordan Gayle has hit back at his 'bitter' ex Erica Roberts after she claimed there were 'red flags' in their relationship. The former personal trainer, 27, 'married' Erica, 26, while taking part the Channel 4 social experiment last year, but announced their split in February. In an interview this week, Erica blamed their break up on Jordan's 'insane behaviour,' despite previously saying there was 'no bad blood' between them. Jordan, who has since moved on with Melissa Golik, an emergency nurse from Australia, admitted he 'doesn't regret anything' about his former relationship and doesn't understand where the 'anger and bitterness has come from.' Speaking to The Sun, he said: 'If you're seeing red flags from someone on a honeymoon after you've only known them for a week, then what are you doing with them 11 months after, if it's apparently so bad?' Married At First Sight UK's Jordan Gayle has hit back at his 'bitter' ex Erica Roberts after she claimed there were 'red flags' in their relationship The former personal trainer, 27, 'married' Erica, 26, while taking part the Channel 4 social experiment last year, but announced their split in February Jordan continued: 'To me, it's looking at it through a very bitter place and I don't need to look at it in a bitter way. 'I'm happy with the time I had. I don't regret anything. Obviously, there's good memories and I wouldn't change that. I don't get where all this anger and bitterness has come from.' On Tuesday Erica, has revealed that their break up wasn't quite as amicable as she first made out as she detailed his 'insane behaviour' in the lead up to their split. Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Erica said: 'It was a long time coming. I just completely started losing myself, trying to look after him. 'I feel like I very much took that role in the relationship. He needed a lot from me and I think he really put a lot of pressure on me to be his sole support system. And that's too much for one person. 'I want to be your partner and your lover, not your therapist and your mum. It just got too much for me.' Claiming the relationship got too much for her, Erica added that their relationship was not 'balanced'. Erica and Jordan appeared on the Channel 4 show last year and met for the first time at the altar on their wedding day. In an interview this week, Erica blamed their break up on Jordan's 'insane behaviour,' despite previously saying there was 'no bad blood' between them Jordan admitted he 'doesn't regret relationship anything' about his former relationship and doesn't understand where the 'anger and bitterness has come from' They were an 'intruder' couple, as they joined the show late and seemed to be one of the most loved-up pairings. However, during the explosive reunion show, Erica and Jordan's co-star Laura Vaughan claimed that the couple were arguing non-stop while living with her. But the breaking point came on Jordan's 27th birthday when Erica surprised him with a trip to Scotland where she lives. Erica said that even thought she had booked him a special trip, because she couldn't also come to a ten-pin bowling evening in Sheffield with his mother he was furious. Erica revealed that he told her that her efforts had been the 'bare minimum', despite the fact she claimed he had never even taken her out for dinner. The TV star admitted that she felt she 'couldn't do this anymore' and that it was 'insane behaviour' from her former flame. Erica went on to reveal that there were a lot of 'red flags' early on in their relationship. The couple also reportedly had a row on the last night of their honeymoon in Antigua which caused Erica to start having doubts, however, this was not shown on TV. She claimed that on their wedding day, he would interrupt her or flip the conversation back on to him whenever she would speak about herself. Erica revealed that their break up wasn't quite as amicable as she first made out as she detailed his 'insane behaviour' in the lead up to their split Speaking exclusively to The Sun , Erica said: 'It was a long time coming. I just completely started losing myself, trying to look after him' She also confessed that it continuously happened on their honeymoon too. Admitting that their relationship wasn't at all how it seemed on screen, Erica said that a 'lot of things went on' that viewers did not see. She also added that when she tried to discuss with him her feelings about his dismissiveness it led to him having a 'meltdown'. The star then said she knew from that moment that his communication skills were 'non-existent' at that point. She revealed that she would have to 'comfort him' because he was upset at how he had made her feel. Admitting that it was the 'common theme' throughout their entire relationship, Erica claimed looking back on their time together, she can see the 'warning signs' were there from 'day one'. After the couple split, Erica claimed most of her co-stars congratulated her on finally ending their relationship. She claimed that they were all like 'Well done you got rid of him' and said the breakup was a 'long time coming'. The star also revealed the reason she stayed with Jordan for so long was because there were some good moments throughout the relationship. Jordan has since moved on with Melissa Golik, an emergency nurse from Australia Erica told The Sun that she did 'really like him and wanted to make it work' as they had 'so much fun with each other'. But she admitted coming off the show she felt pressure around them as a couple to make it work for the fans. However, Erica claimed that she would have ended up 'needing therapy' if she were to continue the relationship. After three hugely successful series, two BAFTA nominations and even a baby, the fourth series is set to bring more love and drama than ever, as a fresh batch of brave singles prepare to say 'I do' to a complete stranger. Eva Mendes looked stunning in a new fashion campaign. The 50-year-old wife of Ryan Gosling is the face of Stella McCartney's winter 2024 ads. And Mendes - who was once a big Hollywood actress with hits like Hitch - thanked Stella for getting her out of 'hiding' with the new high-profile gig. The star, whose real name is Eva de la Caridad Mendez, also said it was 'the job I never knew I needed.' The looker has famously been hiding out for the past decade at home in Los Angeles with the two kids she shares with Ryan. Now in the new ads she looks better than ever in pink and black. It was for McCartney's cruelty-free winter campaign. Eva Mendes looked stunning in a new fashion campaign. The 50-year-old wife of Ryan Gosling is the face of Stella McCartney 's winter ads. And Mendes thanked Stella for getting her out of 'hiding' with the new high-profile job In the photo, the actress can be seen rocking a black strapless gown and carrying a matching purse. Under her image were the words: 'It's about f**king time.' Eva was also seen in a pink fake fur coat over a sparkly dress with her hair down. Eva posted the ads on her Instagram page adding the caption: 'Gracias for getting me out of hiding Stella! 'So incredibly proud of this one. Working with designer @stellamccartney 'Was the job I never knew I needed. 'Being involved with such an environmentally conscious brand that is cruelty free in all ways has been a game changer for me on a cellular level. More to come' This comes after she said on the morning show GMA that she may never go back to acting in Hollywood films. During an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday, the actress explained: 'I don't know [when I'll return]. If there's interesting roles. I left at a time where... it was ten years ago... I kind of felt like I did it, you know?' She was Good Morning America to promote her debut children's book, Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries. In the photo, the actress can be seen rocking a black strapless gown and carrying a matching purse Under her image were the words: 'It's about f**king time' During her segment, Mendes spoke about the message of her picture book, which tells the story of a little girl facing endless scary worries. The performer explained that she penned the story to help children Esmeralda, 10, and Amada, 8, guide through the complexities of anxiety and intrusive thoughts. She explained to George Stephanopoulos that the book has helped her teach to her daughters not to 'believe everything' they think when their brains are on 'overdrive.' Mendes also opened up about taking some time off of acting to raise her family. When asked if she has any plans to return, Mendes admitted she was uncertain but open to 'interesting roles.' 'I kind of left at a time, 10 years ago, where I felt like I did it. I just worked with Ryan Gosling, this is the best,' she said. 'It was such a high off my career to work with him. And, what we created together that I was like, "This is a good time to, like, Seinfeld it and walk out." So, who knows.' Mendes opened up to GMA about taking some time off of acting to raise her family Mendes and Gosling met while filming The Place Beyond the Pines in 2012. Two years later, the couple reunited on set for Lost River, which was written and directed by Gosling and starred Mendes. The pair's romance has been kept largely under the radar - but in the past year - with the release of Gosling's Barbie, they have made more comments about their relationship than ever before. In 2020, Mendes said on Instagram of her decision to keep her relationship and family life private, writing: 'I have always had a clear boundary when it comes to my man and my kids. I'll talk about them of course, with limits, but I won't post pictures of our daily life. Mendes put on a bright and stylish display in a long blue coat and cheetah print dress while arriving to the Good Morning America studios on Tuesday morning Mendes and Gosling met while filming The Place Beyond the Pines in 2012 (seen above that same year) 'Since my children are still so little and don't understand what posting their image really means, I don't have their consent. And I won't post their image until they're old enough to give me consent.' The couple have only done a couple of red carpet appearances together to promote the film on which they met, The Place Beyond The Pines - which premiered in 2013. Eva previously spoke about the reason why she doesn't do red carpet events with Ryan when she posted footage from Place Beyond The Pines on Instagram. She wrote: 'Magic is Real. We did not meet on set. The magic started way before, but here's a little magic captured on camera.' In 2022, she finally confirmed the rumors that she and Gosling were secretly married after more than a decade together. While appearing on Channel Nine's Today show in 2022, she casually referred to Gosling as her 'husband.' Where's the righteous celebrity outrage? The moral indignation? It's been nearly 48 hours since Sean 'Diddy' Combs was arrested and indicted on charges of sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice. Also alleged in this indictment is his staging of recurrent 'Freak Offs', in which his victims would be drugged and forced to have sex for days on end, left with such severe injuries they needed weeks to recover crimes stretching back to at least 2009. But what do we hear from an industry that otherwise loves to preach about equity, fairness, inclusion, and the rights and safety of the marginalized and abused? An industry that so proudly pushed #MeToo? Nothing. A disgusting, disturbing, uniform silence. Recall the A-list celebrities who swiftly came forward, or spoke out, after now-convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein was exposed: Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron, Emma Thompson, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep I could go on. Where's the righteous celebrity outrage? The moral indignation? It's been nearly 48 hours since Sean ' Diddy ' Combs was arrested and indicted on charges of sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice. (Above) Jay-Z embraces Sean Combs at Combs's 50th birthday party in December 2019 Recall the A-list celebrities who swiftly came forward, or spoke out, after now-convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein was exposed. (Above) Harvey Weinstein celebrates alongside Gwyneth Paltrow after 'Shakespeare in Love' won the best picture Oscar, in Los Angeles, March 22, 1999 Several of these women wrote op-eds in the New York Times. They valorized such activism. Nothing was chicer in 2018 than turning up to the Golden Globes dressed in black, expressing solidarity with Weinstein's victims and sorrow for all the careers he vindictively killed, proclaiming that such systemic abuse would never be countenanced again. Outrage extended into boardrooms, politics, and fashion. Hillary Clinton who took a lot of money from the disgraced movie mogul issued a statement praising the victims who spoke up, writing that 'their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.' Disney CEO Bob Iger called Weinstein's actions 'abhorrent and unacceptable' with 'no place in today's society.' Vogue editor Anna Wintour: 'appalling and unacceptable.' These are but a smattering of celebrity social justice warriors who, despite their formerly close ties to a decades-long known predator, felt they needed to speak out perhaps, in some cases, to save their own jobs and reputations, but who nonetheless made it clear that Weinstein was done, found guilty or not. Yet when Combs's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, whose music career Combs helped launch, bravely filed a civil suit against him last November a suit that may have put her own life at risk almost no one stood with her. Among her allegations: Relentless beatings, including one in January 2009 after Combs saw Ventura talking to a music manager at a party in L.A.: '[Combs] became enraged . . . In the car leaving the club, Mr. Combs beat Ms. Ventura, pushing her into a corner of the vehicle and stomping on her face. . . [she] was bleeding profusely, and was ushered into Mr. Combs's home, where she began to throw up from the violent assault.' When Combs's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, whose music career Combs helped launch, bravely filed a civil suit against him last November a suit that may have put her own life at risk almost no one stood with her. Combs denied all of it, until surveillance video of an attack in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 was released last year: Cassie making her escape from what we now know was a 'Freak Off', Combs running after her dressed in nothing but a towel, grabbing her by the neck, throwing her to the floor and kicking her while she was down, over and over and over. This is what he did in public. Imagine the atrocities he may have been capable of in private. What was striking then, nearly one year ago, was the similar silence. Not one celebrity or colleague came forward to defend Combs, to insist that there was no way he could have committed such savagery, that Ventura's detailed accusations had to be a money grab or revenge by a woman scorned. One would be safe to assume, as was the case with Weinstein, that people knew. Yet look at the hip-hop icons and celebrity pals who are all-too-quiet: Jay-Z and Beyonce. Rihanna. New York City mayor and nightlife habitue Eric Adams, who gave Combs a key to New York City last year a key he revoked three weeks after the Cassie video came to light. Jennifer Lopez, who dated Combs in the '90s and was arrested with him in connection with a 1999 club shooting that left one victim with part of a bullet lodged in her face, has said nothing. She was on the invite list for his 50th birthday party in 2019, as were Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, Post Malone, Cardi B and Offset, Kevin Hart, Mary J. Blige, Pharrell, Kanye West, Naomi Campbell, Lil' Kim, Usher, The Weeknd, Janelle Monae, Queen Latifah, and America's own ambassador to the 2024 Paris Olympics, Snoop Dogg as well as the aforementioned Jay-Z and Beyonce. None of these people knew? Where's his pal Oprah? Look at the hip-hop icons and celebrity pals who are all-too-quiet: Jay-Z and Beyonce. Rihanna. New York City mayor and nightlife habitue Eric Adams, who gave Combs a key to New York City last year (above) a key he revoked three weeks after the Cassie video came to light. Ashton Kutcher, who so deplorably defended convicted serial rapist Danny Masterson, is a close, longtime friend of Combs. On an episode of 'Hot Ones' in 2019, Kutcher was asked about that. 'I've got a lot I can't tell', Kutcher said. This was Combs interviewed by Andy Cohen on 'Watch What Happens Live' in 2018. Cohen: Hey, what do you think of Oprah for president? Combs: I love that. Cohen: You've known her well for a long time. Combs: Yes. Ashton Kutcher, who so deplorably defended convicted serial rapist Danny Masterson, is a close, longtime friend of Combs. On an episode of 'Hot Ones' in 2019, Kutcher was asked about that. 'I've got a lot I can't tell', Kutcher said. I'll bet. In December 2019, Beyonce posted a birthday message to 'Diddy' on her Instagram account, a picture of her husband and Combs on a couch with hands over their mouths, a post that remains up today. What kind of message does this send to Combs's other victims, ones U.S. District Attorney Damian Williams has said he is sure will come forward? Every celebrity in a position to help here should do so. So far, only two hip-hop figures have spoken out: 50 Cent, who is working on a Netflix documentary exposing Combs, and Eminem, who has rapped about Combs's long-rumored involvement in the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. On his new album 'Fuel Shady Edition', Eminem raps: 'Till he's in police handcuffs, guilty, will he step up?/Like gee, never turned himself in, who knows all the murders there'll have been'. In July, 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson), told The Hollywood Reporter that Combs lies about 'everything'. 'I've been very vocal about not going to Puffy parties and doing s**t like that', he said. 'I've been staying out of that s**t for years. . . Like, they let him get away with it.' What kind of message does this send to Combs's other victims, ones U.S. District Attorney Damian Williams has said he is sure will come forward? Every celebrity in a position to help here should do so. Everyone knew. On Wednesday, a second federal judge refused to grant Combs bail. He will remain in prison throughout his upcoming trial. Meanwhile, his attorneys are blaming the female victims. Of Ventura, lead attorney Marc Agnifilo had the gall to say she should be thankful for her time with Combs. 'These two people were in love,' Agnifilo said of Combs and Ventura, outing her in the indictment as 'Victim-1.' Ventura, he said, 'ended up marrying the trainer that Mr. Combs got her . . . Years later, she realized she had a good thing with Mr. Combs.' This is the kind of repulsive misogyny that allowed a monster like Combs to roam free for so long. We've heard, for years now, that 'silence equals violence.' If that is to mean anything well, who in hip-hop, in politics and fashion or any position of power, will now speak up for these victims? Naomi Campbell looked incredible as she modelled a white gown while opening the Del Core runway show during Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday. The supermodel, 54, showed off her amazing figure in the satin V-neck dress, which cascaded down into a flowing maxi skirt. Naomi put on a leggy display through a daring thigh high split and added inches to her frame in a pair of towering stilettos. Styling long dark tresses loose, Naomi wore a glamorous palette of makeup and opted for no jewelry. The runway star made sure all eyes were on her as she opened the fashion show which showcased Del Core's spring summer 2025 collection. Naomi Campbell looked incredible as she modelled a white gown while opening the Del Core runway show during Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday The supermodel, 54, showed off her amazing figure in the satin V-neck dress which cascaded down in a ruched maxi skirt It comes days after Naomi announced she's joining forces with PrettyLittleThing founder Umar Kamani for a huge new business venture. The model revealed she's opening her own talent and partnerships agency, KC Global Partnerships. The agency aims to revolutionise the talent and brand collaboration landscape in the Middle East and beyond, and will focus on driving innovation and culture through partnerships between talents, brands, celebrities, industry leaders, and experts. The agency's headquarters is set to open in September 2024 and will be strategically located in Dubai. Speaking about the new venture, Naomi said: 'Dubai has become a global hub for talent, brands, and innovation. 'Throughout my career, I've experienced firsthand the power of meaningful relationships in driving success and creating opportunities. 'It's not just about who you know; it's about bringing the right people together at the right time. That's what we're doing with KC Global Partnerships, but on a much larger scale.' Kamani, who co-founded KC Global Partnerships and founded PrettyLittleThing.com, brings his strong business acumen and innovative approach to the venture. She put on a leggy display through a daring thigh high split and added inches to her frame in a pair of towering stilettos Naomi wore a glamorous palette of makeup and opted for no jewelry Naomi wore her long dark tresses in a neat loose do tucked behind her ears The runway star made sure all eyes were on her as she opened the fashion show which showcased Del Core's spring summer 2025 collection 'In Dubai and across the region, we see immense potential to transform how talent and brands interact,' he explained. 'Our vision goes beyond facilitating mere transactions. Our platform is designed to nurture authentic, long-term partnerships, creating real value for everyone involved. 'KC Global Partnerships isn't just about connecting people it's about fostering a collaborative ecosystem that will spark innovation, fuel business expansion, and promote cross-cultural interchange throughout Dubai and beyond.' Joining the pair will be Amy Simon as a Partner and Director of PR and Talent, after eight years managing global influencers as Global Head of PR and Talent for PrettyLittleThing. She said: 'I am so excited to be joining Umar and Naomi on their exciting new business venture. 'Having worked alongside Umar for 8 years and watched the exponential growth of PLT globally, this was a natural progression for me. 'I am excited to be moving to the Middle East to help expand our team and bring together some exciting brand and talent partnerships to Dubai.' Naomi previously collaborated with PLT in 2023 to launch a 90-piece collection, and in an interview with MailOnline at the time, vowed to ignore the snobbery towards 'fast fashion.' Naomi, who has worked with prestigious fashion houses such as Prada, Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent, revealed a major factor behind the surprise deal with PLT was her desire to design her own clothes, claiming fashion brands don't usually give models the opportunity, favouring celebrity names instead. When her collaboration, which is priced between 10 to 150 and comes in sizes 4-30, was announced, she was hit with a negative reaction from critics who claimed she was putting her reputation on the line by fronting a campaign for the brand which often emulates designer looks at a cheaper cost. It comes days after Naomi announced she's joining forces with PrettyLittleThing founder Umar Kamani for a huge new business venture The mother-of-two said working with PLF was an empowering experience following decades of wearing the designs of other fashion houses as she becomes the changing face of a new era. She added: 'I have worked for years for everybody else. It's nice to do something for me. 'Whenever they think of working with someone, they never come to the actual models, they usually go to the celebrities. 'There are a few other models that have done fast fashion, and they were totally praised and adored and are loved. 'I don't think about other people when I say yes to something. If I understand it and I see what it can be then that's how I commit to the things I do.' Jesy Nelson's ex-boyfriend has broken his silence on their break-up. The couple sparked speculation they had split earlier this week after they wiped traces of each other on social media. Jesy, 33, and Zion, 25, previously split last summer after Jesy struggled with their nine year age gap. However they got back together and the pair recently collaborated on tracks together with one being unveiled in August and the others yet to be released. Following reports of their separation, Zion confirmed they had split as he commented on a OK! TikTok post: 'Beautiful woman inside and out, wish her nothing but the best'. Jesy Nelson's ex-boyfriend has broken his silence on their break-up. The couple sparked speculation they had split after they wiped traces of each other on social media Following reports of their separation, Zion confirmed they had split as he commented 'Beautiful woman inside and out, wish her nothing but the best' Fans were saddened by the news. They wrote: 'Aww sad looked like a lovely couple' and 'No I was so excited for their tunes'. 'She deserves to be treated like the gorgeous person that she is' and ''Omg I'm shocked. They seemed so good together.' When their split was reported last week, a source told The Sun: 'Jesy and Zion split last month and have completely cut ties with each other. It's not the first time they have broken up but friends think it's for good this time. 'It's slightly awkward though because they had an EP ready of music they have made together and Jesy doesn't want it released now. 'Fans have already heard one of their tracks and were hoping for more, but it's looking pretty unlikely at this point.' MailOnline has contacted Jesy's representatives for comment. It comes just a month after Jesy was cruelly mocked after an old clip of a duet with Zion resurfaced, ahead of the release of her latest single Mine. But ahead of the upcoming song, who sees Jesy featuring with Zion an old clip started circulating again on X - formerly Twitter. The video - which was shared by both on their respective TikTok pages in June - sees the couple lip syncing a previously teased song which says: 'He's 25 and I'm 33, but she's the realest f***ing man I'll ever meet.' Jesy, 33, and Zion, 25, previously split last summer after Jesy struggled with their nine year age gap Fans were saddened by the news. They wrote: 'Aww sad looked like a lovely couple' and 'No I was so excited for their tunes' Jesy confirmed she was back on with boyfriend Zion in November last year after they previously split three months prior after nine months of dating The clip earned more than 7,000 likes on Jesy's account only and started going viral again ahead of her big day, but this time the songstress was slammed for the 'inappropriate' lyrics. Some people were left unimpressed and rushed to comment on the social media platform. They wrote: 'hes 25, im 33 is NOT the flex you thought it was for them lyrics'; 'this mess' and 'This isnt serious'. Another wrote: 'Hear these 8 lines and its already the worst song ever written by a former 2010s girl group member like even ally's songs are less corny'. Jesy confirmed she was back on with boyfriend Zion in November last year after they previously split three months prior after nine months of dating. The pair were first pictured together back in January 2023, after it was reported in 2022 they'd grown close. Jesy previously severed ties with her boyfriend Harry James, who 'masterminded' the controversial music video for Boyz, where the star was accused of 'blackfishing.' Harry started dating Jesy back in 2017 and the pair were together for 16 months before they called time on their relationship - but have worked together numerous times since. Before that Jesy dated Diversity's Jordan Banjo from 2012 until 2014, before enjoying a romance with Rixton's Jake Roche from 2014 until 2016. She went on to date Chris Hughes from 2019 to 2020 following her first split from Harry, and Sean Sagar in 2020 and 2021. Hayden Panettiere has sparked fears for her health in a 'concerning' new video which saw fans claim the star was 'slurring her speech' and barely able to keep her eyes open. The actress, 35, who has publicly battled addiction to alcohol and opioids, spoke to People about the death of her brother Jansen aged 28 in 2023 from 'an enlarged heart' and motherhood to daughter Kaya, nine. However, a video in which Hayden opened up about her only child being her 'mini- me' quickly left fans concerned and speculating the star was 'clearly not sober.' Hayden said of her daughter - whose father is the star's ex-fiance Wladimir Klitschko, 48 - said: 'She's beautiful and she came out just like me. 'Talk about nature versus nurture. I mean this little girl literally came out not just her face resembling mine but she is my personality she just is... Hayden Panettiere has sparked fears for her health in a 'concerning' new video which saw fans claim the star was 'slurring her speech' and barely able to keep her eyes open The actress, 35, who has publicly battled addiction to alcohol and opioids , spoke to People about the death of her brother Jansen aged 28 in 2023 from 'an enlarged heart' and motherhood to daughter Kaya, nine 'Maybe she'll be a director.' Followers commented: 'Slurred speech eyes can barely stay open, trying to make it through long words clearly not sober. Very sad' with DWTS professional Peta Murgatroyd writing: 'This interview should be removed ASAP!' Another fan wrote: 'This is complete exploitation. This is an addict who is clearly very unsober.' Others wrote: 'You really didn't need to post this and do further harm this is just sad', 'Im shocked this is postedits uncomfortable and sad to watch' and 'Feels like someone is capitalizing on addiction, this should not have been posted.' 'This is so uncomfortable to watch', 'Umm drunk', 'please get help honey', 'This is terrible to watch' and 'I see Im not the only one that ran to the comments to figure out what is going onkind of concerning.' Some fans wrote the star was giving 'Anna Nicole Smith vibes' referring to the death of the famed Guess model who passed in 2007 from drug intoxication. DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for the star for comment. In the interview Hayden got emotional as she opened up about her rapid weight gain after the sudden loss of her brother - admitting that she 'lived in sweatpants' and 'unflattering' T-shirts because she 'hated' the way she looked and was terrified to leave the house. However, a video in which Hayden opened up about her only child being her 'mini- me' quickly left fans concerned and speculating the star was 'clearly not sober' - seen with Kaya and ex-fiance Wladimir Klitschko Followers commented: 'Slurred speech eyes can barely stay open, trying to make it through long words clearly not sober. Very sad' with DWTS professional Peta Murgatroyd writing: 'This interview should be removed ASAP!' Jansen passed away in February 2023 and now the Heroes alum, 35, has spoken about how his shock death impacted her - explaining that it felt like she 'lost half of her soul'. She also revealed that the 'stress' from his passing resulted in her body 'ballooning out', which left her in a 'really bad' and 'destructive' place. 'When my little brother passed away my body did something I've never really seen it do before,' she said. 'Within days, I basically ballooned out. I know stress and cortisol running through your body can do that.' The star said she 'tried everything' to shed the pounds but, no matter what she did, she couldn't lose weight. 'I tried everything, everything unhealthy, everything healthy,' she continued. 'It didn't matter what I ate, it didn't matter what I did. 'My body was just like protecting itself, shielding itself from the world.' Hayden said she began to get so self-conscious about the way that she looked she developed agoraphobia - a fear of going outside. The actress's younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, passed away in February 2023 from 'an enlarged heart'. They're seen together in 2011 While reflecting on her brother's death, Hayden admitted that she still feels like she'll never 'get over the loss of him'. They're seen in 2013 'I lived in sweatpants and a T-shirt, things that swallowed me up and were not flattering on me,' she recalled. 'It took me so long to pick out an outfit that I felt comfortable enough in to leave the house just to go meet up with my friends. 'It became this really bad, destructive hamster wheel of like, do I feel good enough to go out? I don't feel confident enough to but if I don't go out and I don't keep moving then I'm never going to move away from looking like this.' While reflecting on her brother's death, Hayden admitted that she still feels like she'll never 'get over the loss of him'. 'He was my only sibling, and it was my job to protect him. When I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul,' she said as she held back tears. 'I remember saying to somebody, "Don't ever, ever expect me to get over the loss of him." Jansen passed away in February 2023 at the age of 28 after he was found 'unresponsive' by friends in his apartment in Nyack, New York. Afterwards, sources told DailyMail.com that he previously struggled with drug addiction, and had gone to rehab a year before his shock death. Hayden has spoken openly about her own battles with addiction - previously revealing by the time she was 15, that someone on her team began giving her 'happy pills' so that she would be 'peppy during interviews.' 'I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction,' she told the outlet. By the time she was 16 years old, she was drinking and taking opioids regularly - whenever she wasn't on set filming for Heroes. 'As I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn't live without,' she shared, revealing that her addiction got worse as she filmed Nashville and suffered from post-partum depression. When she entered rehab in 2015 she said it was her idea: 'I was the one who put myself in the first treatment center. I was drowning.' She hit rock-bottom after filming for Nashville wrapped in 2018. She sent Kaya to live with her father Klitschhko, in Ukraine and was eventually hospitalized for jaundice and told my doctors that her 'liver was going to give out.' Hayden has spoken openly about her own battles with addiction - previously revealing by the time she was 15, that someone on her team began giving her 'happy pills' so that she would be 'peppy during interviews' Upon turning 30, the household name found herself in another 12-step program, where participants are encouraged to embrace a life of complete abstinence from all mind altering substances, including alcohol. In 2022, she spoke publicly of her struggles for the first time, 'I'd think I hit rock bottom, but then there's that trap door that opens.' 'I was on top of the world and I ruined it,' she admitted.. In April she announced memoir Scream And Break Free: Addiction, Trauma, and How the Cheerleader Saved Herself. Naomi Campbell commanded attention as she attended the Roberto Cavalli Milan Fashion Week show on Wednesday. The supermodel, 54, took her front row seat to see the designer's ready to wear spring 2025 showcase. Naomi looked incredible in a green and black crushed velvet dress which she teamed with statement sunglasses and snakeskin print shoes. The fashionista posed for photos before taking her seat next to Eva Cavalli to watch the models hit the catwalk. Also attending the show was Normani who put on a racy display in a slinky minidress. Naomi Campbell commanded attention as she attended the Roberto Cavalli Milan Fashion Week show on Wednesday Naomi looked incredible in a green and black crushed velvet dress which she teamed with statement sunglasses and snakeskin print shoes The supermodel, 54, took her front row seat to see the designer's ready to wear spring 2025 showcase Eva Herzigova, Natasha Poly, Karen Elson, Joan Smalls, Isabeli Fontana strutted down the catwalk. Milan Fashion Week will run from Tuesday, September 17, to Monday, September 23, and will feature a total of 57 shows and 69 presentations. Some of the biggest names in the industry are expected to showcase their latest looks, including Prada, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Emporio Armani and Versace. Noticeable absentees include Giorgio Armani, who instead unveiled their newest range in New York, and Tom Ford, which will hold a presentation instead of a show, following the departure of Peter Hawkings and in anticipation of new creative director Haider Ackermann's AW25 debut. Speaking about the upcoming range of shows, Vogue Italia contributor Giorgia Feroldi told Vogue Business: 'Being in Milan during fashion week always means having very little time to rest and process what you've seen, as it's always the most packed calendar out of the ''big four''.' 'But with less big debuts ahead and a day added to the schedule in search of some relief, the mood feels slightly more relaxed compared to other seasons. I hope this can benefit younger designers.' Moschino's Adrian Appiolaza will present his second womenswear collection for the house, after a well-received menswear show in June. Models Natasha Poly, Joan Smalls, Isabeli Fontana, Mariacarla Boscono, Alek Wek, Karen Elson and Eva Herzigova pose during the presentation Naomi opted to go braless in the dress Milan Fashion Week will run from Tuesday, September 17, to Monday, September 23, and will feature a total of 57 shows and 69 presentations The fashionista posed for photos before taking her seat next to Eva Cavalli to watch the models hit the catwalk Naomi appeared in good spirits as she took her seat on the front row Also attending the show was Normani who put on a racy display in a slinky minidress Victoria De Angelis and Claire Holt (L-R) turned heads as they arrived at the show Leonie Hanne attends the Roberto Cavalli fashion show A number of models hit the catwalk in creations from the designer Joan Smalls strutted down the catwalk in a green and white striped dress Model Natasha wears a creation as part of the Roberto Cavalli Spring Summer 2025 collection Isabeli wore a blue version of the same dress Mariacarla Boscono commanded attention a black feathered minidress Model Eva Herzigova stunned in her show-stoppping leather look dress The models clapped at the end of the showcase From left: models Joan, Isabeli, Natasha , Maria, Alex, Karen and Eva pose prior to the start of the Roberto Cavalli Olivia Palermo showed off her sense of her style as she headed out in Milan Chrissy Teigen clapped back at Instagram trolls with her signature humor in a playful video. The cookbook author, 38, who recently celebrated her 11th wedding anniversary with John Legend, took to social media on Wednesday to share a comedic take on the 'mean comments' she often receives. In the video, Chrissy acted out the rude remarks with lighthearted skits, including one where she stepped up to the camera and mockingly asked, 'What kind of mother dresses like that?' Another scene featured her adorable daughter Luna, 8, sitting in the car, responding to a comment about ziplining, with Teigen saying, 'You shouldnt zipline there, my uncle died there,' and Luna adding with perfect timing, 'Yeah, hes DEAD.' In the final bit, Chrissy referenced her recent weight loss by peeking from behind a couch and quipping, 'Ozempic much?' Chrissy Teigen clapped back at Instagram trolls with her signature humor in a playful video The cookbook author, 38, who recently celebrated her 11th wedding anniversary with John Legend , took to social media on Wednesday to share a comedic take on the "mean comments" she often receives The comedic clap back comes just four days after Legend posted a sweet tribute to Chrissy on Instagram marking the marriage milestone. He posted: 'Anniversa-date with my lover/best friend/wife. I'm so glad I met you 18 years ago. So glad we said "I do" 11 years ago. So ready to do this for life.' The mother of four also marked the special occasion by sharing a series of heartfelt photos on Instagram, referring to her husband as her 'favorite person.' 'Happy anniversary to my favorite person on this whole planet. thank you for loving me and our family so fully,' she gushed. 'thank you for being my partner and best friend. 18 years together. 11 years married. 4 babies. 4 dogs. 2 hairless cats. A bearded dragon. A house full of love and fun. 'We are so lucky. I love you bear!' the Cravings founder concluded. The couple's romance began in 2006 when they met on the set of his Stereo music video, where Teigen played his love interest. After years of dating, Legend proposed in December 2011 during a Christmas trip to the Maldives. They tied the knot on September 14, 2013, in a lavish ceremony at Villa Pizzo in Lake Como, Italy, a location that held sentimental value after the couple had previously vacationed there. The couple now shares four childrenLuna, Miles, Esti, and Wrenand often celebrate their love on social media, including marking their 11th wedding anniversary in 2023. Another scene featured her adorable daughter Luna, 8, sitting in the car, responding to a comment about ziplining, with Teigen saying, 'You shouldnt zipline there, my uncle died there,' and Luna adding with perfect timing, 'Yeah, hes DEAD' In the video, Chrissy acted out the rude remarks with lighthearted skits, including one where she stepped up to the camera and mockingly asked, 'What kind of mother dresses like that?' John Legend called wife Chrissy his 'favorite person' as he marked their 11th wedding anniversary on Saturday; seen in May The pair share four children: Luna Simone, 8, Miles Theodore, 6, Esti Maxine, 19 months, and Wren Alexander, 13 months In 2020, Legend told Spotify that his chart topping single All of Me was about his wife, who he wed in 2013. 'I'm so honored to know we created something that has meant so much to so many people,' he told the music streaming platform. 'I wrote this song to express how I felt to the woman I love as we were about to commit to a lifetime together. 'But often the best songs are able to express something in a way that is both personal and universal. I'm grateful to know that lovers around the world have connected with this song and made it their own,' he finished. Eva Herzigova looked sensational as she joined Natasha Poly and Joan Smalls by walking in the Roberto Cavalli show during Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday. Model Eva, 51, made sure all eyes were on her in a black cut out leather gown as she opened the spring summer 2025 collection show. She showed off her amazing figure in the bold number which boasted a daring thigh high front split and mesh train. The Czech beauty elevated her frame in a pair of towering heels and styled her long blonde tresses in loose waves. Meanwhile Natasha, 39, put on a leggy display in a red and black zebra print dress which boasted an eye catching skirt edged in feathers. Eva Herzigova looked sensational as she walks in the Roberto Cavalli show during Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday Natasha Poly (L) and Joan Smalls (R) put on leggy displays as they showcase the spring summer 2025 collection The Russian model strutted down the runway wearing a pair of black heeled sandals and wore a glamorous palette of makeup. Joan, 36, wore a similar number to Natasha but in a bold green and navy version. The models were all smiles as they posed together at the end of the show showcasing the styling range. At the fashion show, Naomi Campbell took her front row seat to see the designer's ready to wear spring 2025 showcase. Naomi looked incredible in a green and black crushed velvet dress which she teamed with statement sunglasses and snakeskin print shoes. The fashionista posed for photos before taking her seat next to Eva Cavalli to watch the models hit the catwalk. Also attending the show was Normani who put on a racy display in a slinky minidress. Milan Fashion Week will run from Tuesday, September 17, to Monday, September 23, and will feature a total of 57 shows and 69 presentations. Model Eva, 51, made sure all eyes were on her in a black cut out leather gown as she opened the spring summer 2025 collection show She showed off her amazing figure in the bold number which boasted a daring thigh high front split and mesh train Meanwhile Natasha, 39, put on a leggy display in a red and black zebra print dress which boasted an eye catching skirt edged in feathers The Russian model strutted down the runway wearing a pair of black heeled sandals and wore a glamorous palette of makeup Joan, 36, wore a similar number to Natasha but in a bold green and navy version The models were all smiles as they posed together at the end of the show showcasing the styling range; pictured L-R Natasha Poly, Joan Smalls, Isabeli Fontana, Mariacarla Boscono, Alek Wek, Karen Elson and Eva Herzigova Natasha posed alongside Alek Wek (middle) and Isabeli Fontana (right) who wore coordinated outfits At the fashion show, Naomi Campbell took her front row seat to see the designer's ready to wear spring 2025 showcase Naomi looked incredible in a green and black crushed velvet dress which she teamed with statement sunglasses and snakeskin print shoes The models were seen celebrating after the show Alek Wek and Isabeli Fontana were in good spirits as they posed for photos backstage Some of the biggest names in the industry are expected to showcase their latest looks, including Prada, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Emporio Armani and Versace. Noticeable absentees include Giorgio Armani, who instead unveiled their newest range in New York, and Tom Ford, which will hold a presentation instead of a show, following the departure of Peter Hawkings and in anticipation of new creative director Haider Ackermann's AW25 debut. Speaking about the upcoming range of shows, Vogue Italia contributor Giorgia Feroldi told Vogue Business: 'Being in Milan during fashion week always means having very little time to rest and process what you've seen, as it's always the most packed calendar out of the ''big four''.' 'But with less big debuts ahead and a day added to the schedule in search of some relief, the mood feels slightly more relaxed compared to other seasons. I hope this can benefit younger designers.' Moschino's Adrian Appiolaza will present his second womenswear collection for the house, after a well-received menswear show in June. Bradley Cooper was every inch the doting dad as he enjoyed a stroll with daughter Lea de Seine in New York City on Wednesday. The actor, 49, sweetly held hands with his seven-year-old daughter as they crossed a street in the bustling Big Apple. Bradley, who shares his daughter with ex-girlfriend Irina Shayk, donned a 'Pearl Jam' hat, flannel button down, blue trousers and suede footwear for the outing. He adorably carried his daughter's belongings as well, slinging her pink backpack over his shoulder and carrying her glittering jacket. The Hangover star has recently returned home to New York after spending the waning days of the summer yachting around the Mediterranean with his girlfriend Gigi Hadid. Bradley Cooper was every inch the doting dad as he enjoyed a stroll with daughter Lea de Seine in New York City on Wednesday During their travels, they mingled with fellow celebrities including pregnant Margot Robbie and her husband Tom Acklerley, as well as Benedict Cumberbatch. Little Lea was also included in the fun - she was seen last week on a banana boat with Bradley and Gigi off the South Of France. Meanwhile Irina has a star-studded dating history including Cristiano Ronaldo and Kanye West, and was also recently linked to Tom Brady. Bradley and Irina were first linked in 2015 before going public as a couple in 2016, welcoming their little girl in 2017 and then parting ways two years later. Shortly after their breakup it emerged they had decided to split custody and to both remain based in New York in order to make joint parenting easier, via TMZ. In fact she and Bradley are such close co-parents that they have made sure to live just blocks apart in Greenwich Village in order to raise their daughter. 'He's a full-on, hands-on dad - no nanny,' Irina told Highsnobiety. 'Lea went on holiday with him for almost two weeks - I didn't call them once.' Irina has explained that she and Bradley 'always find a way' to align their work schedules with their parenting responsibilities, in an interview with Elle. He adorably carried his daughter's belongings as well, slinging her pink backpack over his shoulder and carrying her glittering jacket Bradley shares his daughter with ex-girlfriend, model Irina Shayk; Shayk and Lea pictured earlier this month 'Hes the best father Lea and I could dream of. It always works, but it always works because we make it work,' she gushed. Irina, who hails from an industrial Soviet town on the foothills of the Urals, noted that she and Bradley hoped to provide their daughter with an ordinary upbringing in spite of their celebrity, as they themselves both had 'normal backgrounds.' Bradley has been linked to Gigi since October 2023, and the pair have often been spotted out in public enjoying interludes together. Bradley has been dating Gigi Hadid since October 2023 Near the beginning of this year, Bradley gave an interview to the British Film Institute and remarked on the glare of public scrutiny on his personal life. 'I definitely think I'm a private person,' he reflected. 'But you almost sort of have to give over to the fact that it's impossible to be private these days.' The star acknowledged: 'So it's more about acceptance of the reality, instead of creating my own reality that doesn't exist.' Demi Moore revealed how her ex Bruce Willis influenced her to demand a $12.5 million salary for her role in Striptease. The 61-year-old star became the highest paid female actress in the world with her huge payday for the 1996 movie, in which she played a stripper. She told the New York Times newspaper's The Interview podcast that she requested the pay not to compare herself to her mega-star then-husband, 69 who is currently battling frontotemporal dementia but because she wanted equal pay. 'It wasn't about comparing myself to him. Yes, I saw what he got paid. It was really more about: "Why shouldnt I? If I'm doing the same amount of work, why shouldn't I?"' She compared the situation to her famous Vanity Fair magazine cover, and called out the reaction to the photoshoot. Demi Moore, 61, revealed how her ex Bruce Willis, 69, influenced her to demand a $12.5 million salary for her role in Striptease; she is seen September 16 in LA 'It wasn't about comparing myself to him... It was really more about: "Why shouldnt I? If I'm doing the same amount of work, why shouldn't I?"' she said on The Interview podcast; the pair seen at the 1996 Striptease premiere She added: 'And it's no different than when I did the cover for Vanity Fair pregnant. I didn't understand why it was such a big deal, why women when they were pregnant needed to be hidden?' 'Why is it that we have to deny that we had sex? That's the fear, right, that if you show your belly, that means, oh, my gosh, you've had sex.' Demi explained how she felt a fierce backlash over her earnings for 'Striptease', as people 'shamed' her for the role and her payday. She said: 'Well, with Striptease, it was as if I had betrayed women, and with G.I. Jane, it was as if I had betrayed men.' 'But I think the interesting piece is that when I became the highest-paid actress why is it that, at that moment, the choice was to bring me down?' 'I don't take this personally. I think anyone who had been in the position that was the first to get that kind of equality of pay would probably have taken a hit.' 'But because I did a film that was dealing with the world of stripping and the body, I was extremely shamed.' Demi recently described landing the record-breaking salary as 'so powerful', despite the criticism she came under. The star became the highest paid female actress in the world with her huge payday for the movie, in which she played a stripper; seen in a still Demi explained how she felt a fierce backlash over her earnings for 'Striptease', as people 'shamed' her for the role and her payday 'I think the interesting piece is that when I became the highest-paid actress why is it that, at that moment, the choice was to bring me down?' she questioned; seen in September Demi was married to fellow Hollywood star Bruce who is currently battling frontotemporal dementia from 1987 until 2000. They share daughters Rumer Willis, 36, Scout Willis, 33, and Tallulah Willis, 30; seen in 1996 She told Variety: 'It wasnt just about me; it was about changing the playing field for all women. But because I was portraying a stripper, I betrayed women.' Demi has been busy promoting her new body-horror film The Substance, in which she plays a TV aerobics instructor who, after being fired, learns of The Substance, a secret serum that creates a separate, alternate version of herself (played by Margaret Qualley) that will allow her to exist in a younger body. She recently attended the premiere of the film alongside three daughters Rumer Willis, 36, Scout Willis, 33, and Tallulah Willis, 30 in Los Angeles. It comes after Demi recently shared how she helps her daughters cope with their father Bruce's frontotemporal dementia diagnosis. Demi was married to fellow Hollywood star Bruce from 1987 until 2000. While appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress revealed the advice that she gives to her children when it comes to communicating with their dad as he battles a condition that impacts his cognitive abilities. 'What I say to my kids is you meet them where they're at. You don't hold on to who they were or what you want them to be, but who they are in this moment,' she said. Moore continued: 'And from that, there is such beauty and joy and loving and sweetness. When I'm in L.A., I go over every week, and I really treasure the time that we all share.' It comes after Demi recently shared how she helps her daughters cope with their father Bruce's frontotemporal dementia diagnosis; Demi and her girls seen September 16 in LA 'What I say to my kids is you meet them where they're at. You don't hold on to who they were or what you want them to be, but who they are in this moment,' she said; Bruce pictured here in 2019 with Demi, their daughters and his current wife Emma Heming Willis Moore's daughter, Tallulah, recently revealed that she and her family have found it 'really special' to use their public platforms to 'spread awareness' of the degenerative condition. She said: 'What's going on with my dad is that he has a really aggressive cognitive disease, a form of dementia that is very rare. 'I think [being open] is twofold. On one hand, it's who we are as a family but also it's really important to spread awareness about FTD because we had no idea. And to advance and use, again, it's like the bigger version of what I'm trying to do. 'If we can take something that we're struggling with as a family and individually to help other people, to turn it around, to make something really beautiful out of it, then that's really special for us.' India's lakes and wetlands, once lifeline for its cities, are vanishing at an alarming rate, driven by rampant corruption and unchecked construction Urban lakes and wetlands are an integral part of our ecosystem. They perform critical environmental, social, and economic functions as they are a source of drinking water, recharge groundwater and support biodiversity besides providing livelihoods. But the life of these indispensable water bodies is ebbing under the relentless onslaught of population, corrupt administrations, and construction mafia. A study by Wetlands International has shown that two out of every five wetlands in India have been lost in the last 30 years, and of the remaining water bodies 40% are unable to support aquatic life due to loss of water quality. But this plunder of water bodies of India did not happen overnight but over some time. Take the case of Bengaluru for instance. In the late 18th century, a British expedition tasked by Governor General Cornwallis to find an alternative route between Madras and Srirangapatna stumbled upon Bengaluru which was full of lakes and water bodies. The captain heading the expedition thereafter referred to it as the Land of Thousand Lakes in his reports. However, today Bengaluru is a pale version of its once illustrious past. In 1960 Bengaluru had 262 lakes but today only 10 of them hold water. The city saw a shocking decline in its water bodies as exploitation and population grew in equal measure. Lakes and water bodies are disappearing at an alarming pace at the city level and state level as well. According to the Union Jal Shakti Ministry report, Karnataka lost an astounding 13,000 water bodies in just one year between 2021 and 2022. This is the case with every city in India. Ahmedabad for instance had 137 lakes in 2001 but as per recent reports, construction has been seen on 65 of them now. The national capital Delhi too is being robbed of its water bodies. According to a Delhi government report, nearly half (49.1%) of Delhis official water bodies do not exist anymore they have either gone missing or have been encroached upon. The entire nation more or less presents the same depressing scenario. But recently a state government sat up, took notice, and acted.The Telangana state governments Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) initiative to reclaim encroached land of water bodies in Hyderabad and surrounding areas has made national headlines. The HYDRAA team created in July this year and headed by an IPS officer was given a clear-cut mandate by the state chief minister Revanth Reddy to free the city water bodies of illegal encroachments and construction. The Full Tank Level (FTL) was kept as the parameter by HYDRAA and any construction or encroachment within 30 meters of FTL was made subject to demolition. The agency has been given a free hand and made immune to political pressures with zero tolerance being practiced even if the encroachment belongs to prominent politicians or businesspeople of the city. Notably, even the chief ministers brother was served notice for demolition. This drive conducted diligently and without bowing to any pressure was able to remove 262 unauthorised encroachments built-in water bodies, government lands, urban canals and parks in 23 locations in the city have been removed and 111.72 acres of land have been reclaimed to date. The state government has issued further instructions making it compulsory to take HYDRAA NOC before commencing any construction near lakes. The actions of HYDRAA have instilled a sense of confidence among the environmentalists not only in Telangana but also across India and are being seen as a case study in governance especially about safeguarding environmental assets such as water bodies. But as is expected with any groundbreaking initiative, the step taken by the Telangana government too has off late been soundly criticised for being inhuman due to the demolishing of houses of the poor and those who were paying loans for the same. Given this adverse feedback, the state government has issued clarifications to the effect that occupied houses will not be demolished. The HYDRAA initiative is an example and a clarion call for the rest of the nation to wake up rescue and reclaim its water bodies. This is crucial in light of reports released by the United Nations and Niti Ayog which state that water demand will reach twice the available supply, and 40 per cent of Indias population will not have access to clean drinking water by 2030. To prevent a grim and parched future, the central government in collaboration with state government and local environmental groups must establish a Wetland Task Force for every state. The state-specific task force must have a clear mandate to reclaim every water body in its jurisdiction by clearing out encroachments, demolishing illegal construction and preventing changes in land use.Apart from enforcement duty, the task force must also have an enabling role that is focused on replenishing and rejuvenating the wetlands and water bodies in its jurisdiction. For instance, the task force can encourage urban households and businesses to implement rainwater harvesting practices on their premises. The water harvested can be channelled towards improving the groundwater table and recharging the aquifers. Additionally, the government can, through the task force regulate the borewells in the urban areas. Indiscriminate and unregulated drilling for water in metropolitan areas has caused the drying up of the groundwater table. The task force team can save the city's water resources by ensuring that prior permissions are taken to drill borewells. Furthermore, the task force team can install water meters to ensure that water extraction is done in a measured and quantified manner.Currently, there have been many instances where local leaders, with political affiliations adopt lakes and water bodies in the name of preserving them and slowly encroach the property. After that, in connivance with builder mafia construction is done on the property which is then sold to unsuspecting citizens. The wetland task force can prevent this and play a pivotal role in ensuring that no individual or commercial company is entrusted with safeguarding the lakes and water bodies as this can result in manipulation. Water bodies are Indias lifelines. Reclaiming the lost ones and preserving the remaining can alone ensure a water secure future for our nation. (The writer is a policy analyst, views expressed are personal) Rahul Gandhis recent trip to the US has reignited the debate over whether Indian leaders should criticise their government while abroad Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent visit to the United States has provoked a war of words between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress in India. Should the Indian leaders refrain from badmouthing the ruling BJP while abroad? Is there a red line, and has Rahul crossed it while he was in the US? The BJP claims yes, and the Congress says no.Gandhi has taken potshots at the Indian government and PM Modi. Congress claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also badmouthed the Congress not once but continuously since he took over in 2014 and visited over 80 countries. The Congress cites many examples. Also, the BJP has misrepresented Rahul's statements.Rahul aims to engage the Diaspora through programs with the Diaspora, students, officials, and lawmakers in the US, demonstrating the strategic nature of his approach.Why does he want to woo the Diaspora? Modi also has never missed an opportunity to address the Diaspora in whichever country he visits. Rahul, too, wants to connect with the Indian American community. The influence of the Indian American community has increased. A decade ago, there was one Indian-American in the House of Representatives; now, there are five and one senator. The US has an Indian-origin Presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, and a vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, who has an Indian wife.Education, affluence and awareness of the influence in the past two decades are behind the rise of Indian Americans, whose population is one per cent, and their representation in US Congress is now one per cent.Rahul commented on the RSS, India's democracy, Modi's China policy, and religious freedom in India, among other things. On the RSS, Gandhi said that the BJP's parent organisation believes India is "one idea", but the Congress considers it a "diversity of ideas. This criticism of the RSS, a critical ideological force behind the BJP, upset the BJP. In India, the BJP slammed Rahul's adverse comments and meeting with anti-India US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. The BJP claims that it can be used for anti-India propaganda. Gandhi counters that she was part of the lawmaker's delegation, and how he could have declined to meet with the delegation.Rahul noted that Indian democracy has struggled for the past ten years but is improving. He also observed that 90% of India's population, including OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis, are not able to take an active part in the democratic process. This has upset the BJP.While Rahul agreed with Modi's policies on Pakistan and Bangladesh, he felt Modi's China policy was flawed. Rahul pointed out," We've got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi in Ladakh. I think that's a disaster." The BJP fielded top leaders to refute Rahul's allegations, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh leading the response. He rubbished Rahul's claim on China policy. He observed it was "extremely shameful" that the LOP is hurting the dignity of India by saying "misleading, baseless and factless things."Another controversial subject was the caste census. Rahul Gandhi supported the caste census and claimed that BJP was trying to end the reservation. Union Minister Amit Shah quickly responded that they would not allow anyone to abolish reservations or undermine the nation's security. Countering his remarks about the status of Sikhs in India, Senior Minister Hardeep Puri said, I am a proud Sikh. I have been wearing a turban for over six decades and a kada for even longer... The BJP takes Rahul's statements seriously, given that he is the LOP. His increased stature after leading the 'Bharat Jodo' yatra and the Leader of the Opposition cannot be wished away. In the 2024 elections, much to the dismay of the BJP, Congress doubled its number.Second, after the 2024 polls, the opposition coalition INDIA was strengthened. The BJP had to form the government with the help of allies.Third, Rahul visited the US before Modi's scheduled visit on September 22. His trip was well received, which did not please the BJP. But Modi would have a grand welcome at the official and the community levels. At the end of his visit, Rahul clarified, "The fight for democracy in India is an Indian fight. It has nothing to do with anybody else. It's our problem. And we'll take care of it. We will make sure that democracy is secure." This clarification prevented the idea that he was inviting a foreign power to resolve Indian problems.There is some merit in the BJP saying dirty linen should not be wasted abroad. On an earlier occasion, foreign minister S. Jaishankar said, "I don't think taking national politics out of the country is in the national interest."But this is good for both sides, and both should follow it. (The writer is a popular columnist; views are personal) Close to 14 lakh electorate ( around 60 per cent), belonging to different age groups and political beliefs, dressed in their traditional attire, demonstrated the superiority and priority of ballot over the bullet on Wednesday as they queued up outside the polling stations. The voters exhibited the vibrant colors of Indian democracy, for the first time after the Abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, to elect their public representatives after a gap of 10 years in 24 Assembly constituencies spread across seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir amid unprecedented security arrangements. Barring a few incidents, the polling passed off peacefully across Jammu and Kashmir. Briefing media persons, Chief Electoral Officer PK Pole said that approximately 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 6 pm. During the 2014 Assembly polls, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed 65.91 per cent voter turnout. PK Pole said the overall polling percentage may witness marginal correction as several polling parties from remote areas were yet to report to their headquarters. Overall voter turnout of 58.46 percent was recorded across five Parliamentary segments in Jammu and Kashmir in May 2024. CEO PK Pole said after the 2008 Assembly/ Lok Sabha polls, the voter turnout across 24 Assembly constituencies was the highest so far. Kashmiri migrants also participated in the voting across different polling booths in New Delhi and Jammu. The fate of Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP Chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Shagun Parihar, daughter of BJP leader Ajeet Parihar killed by terrorists in Kishtwar, former JKPCC Chief and Minister GA Mir from Dooru, Sunil Sharma, BJP general secretary contesting from Padder Nagseni is sealed in the EVMs. Out of seven districts, Kishtwar recorded the highest voter turnout of 77.23 per cent followed by Doda 69.33 per cent and Ramban 67.71 per cent, PK Pole added. BJP is locked in a straight fight with the alliance partners National Conference and the Congress party in the Chenab valley region. Out of eight Assembly segments, the three Assembly seats of Inderwal, Kishtwar, and Padder Nagsent witnessed a tough fight on ground zero. Inderwal Assembly segment recorded over 80 per cent voter turnout while the Kishtwar seat saw over 75 per cent and Padder Nagseni 77 per cent voter turnout. A polling station in Bagwan Mohalla in Kishtwar witnessed some clashes between the two rival candidates and their supporters during the polling. There was some issue regarding identification, one person did not have an identity card. The situation is normal, voting has resumed, Kishtwar DM Rajesh Kumar Shavan said. In Kashmir valley, the South Kashmir district of Kulgam recorded over 61.57 per cent voter turnout followed by Anantnag where 54.17 per cent voter turnout was reported till 6pm. Shopian and Pulwama, which remained hotbeds of militancy, recorded 53.64 per cent and 46 per cent polling. The highest voter turnout was attributed to the safe and secure environment prevailing across Jammu and Kashmir, the participation of a large number of candidates and reach out by the different political parties during the campaign, and the presence of independent candidates supported by the banned Jamaat-e-Islami. One of the new entrants in the fray Sayyar Ahmad Reshi, an independent candidate supported by the banned Jamaat-e-Islami said.I want to see a peaceful environment in Kashmir. I want to end the barbarism and give a better platform to the youth. I urge voters to use their conscience while voting for your candidate. PDP candidate from Pulwama Waheed-Ur-Rehman Para said this assembly election is a fight to reclaim whatever we have lost in August 2019 at the time of reorganisation of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the message is clear that the Kashmiris want to fight democratically and within the Indian constitution and through voting they want to express their anguish, anger and dissent. 'When Koala Meets Panda' 2024 China-Australia Short Video Contest launch ceremony and sharing session held 15:07, September 18, 2024 By Quanjiao Wang ( People's Daily Online The launch ceremony for the "When Koala Meets Panda" 2024 China-Australia Short Video Contest, along with a sharing session featuring previous contestants, was successfully held on Sept. 11 at the Queensland Parliament House in Australia. The launch ceremony and sharing session for past contestants of the "When Koala Meets Panda" 2024 China-Australia Short Video Contest are held. (Photo/Yongjiang Li) The event was attended by Ruan Zongze, the Chinese consul-general in Brisbane; Queensland Parliament Member Mark Funer; Xue Meng, general manager of Peoples Daily Online Australia; Professor Colin Mackerras, an Australian sinologist; and Greg Grainger, a renowned Australian TV producer. Additionally, nearly 50 past winners of the competition from across Australia attended, along with several prominent bloggers. Ruan announced the official launch of the 2024 competition and said that through the lenses and video works of young friends, people on both sides are now able to better understand the other's culture and society. Ruan Zongze, the Chinese consul-general in Brisbane, delivers a speech. (Photo/Quanjiao Wang) Ruan noted that more and more foreign friends are visiting China and telling authentic and rich stories about China through new media. He looks forward to more people participating to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, and encouraged everyone to take the competition as an opportunity to strengthen exchanges and jointly carry forward the spirit of China-Australia friendship. The Chinese Consulate-General in Brisbane is willing to support new forms of cultural exchange activities. Queensland Parliament Member Mark Funer delivers a speech. (Photo/Quanjiao Wang) Funer expressed that the competition vividly reflects the cultural exchange and friendship between the two countries and noted that the Queensland Parliament strongly supports the hosting of such events. Xue thanked all participants and judges, noting that the competition highlights the charm of China-Australia cultural exchange and deepens bilateral friendship. She encouraged ongoing support for the competition and other cultural activities. Mackerras emphasized the importance of youth in shaping the future of China-Australia relations and highlighted the value of people-to-people exchanges. Australian sinologist Colin Mackerras attends the event and delivers a speech . (Photo/Quanjiao Wang) Granger, as a judge, appreciated the remarkable works from past years and recognized the competition as a valuable platform for building genuine friendships through cultural exchange. Blogger Uncle David shares stories about his experiences with China and Chinese students. (Photo/Quanjiao Wang) Gulasi, known as Uncle David, expressed pride in the growing enthusiasm for China-Australia cultural exchange among young people and encouraged continued collaboration. The winners of previous competitions engaged in various forms of exchange, like singing Chinese songs, sharing their creative experiences, and telling their recent life experiences. The atmosphere was warm and friendly. Past winner Lucy Jak-Lax performs the Chinese song "Legend" live. (Photo/Quanjiao Wang) The event was hosted by the Chinese Consulate-General in Brisbane and organized by People's Daily Australia. It has been held for eight consecutive years. The theme of this year's competition is "Echoes of Time", inviting young people from China and Australia to shoot and produce short videos to review and showcase the friendship between the two countries. "When Koala Meets Panda" 2024 China-Australia Short Video Contest is now open for submissions. (Photo/Quanjiao Wang) (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) The Centre has geared up to realise the dreams of having simultaneous polls as it went ahead in approving the high-level panels recommendations on "one nation, one election" plan for holding for the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies and Local Bodies elections simultaneously in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise. The recommendations could be tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament and sources indicate that the Government would implement it in its current tenure. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was an important step towards making our democracy more vibrant and participative, Opposition parties shared a mixed response. The high-level committee approached 62 political parties, of which 47 responded -- 32 voicing support to holding simultaneous polls and 15 opposing it. Fifteen political parties did not submit a response. "I compliment ex-President Ram Nath Kovind for spearheading effort," Modi expressed through social media after Cabinet nod for simultaneous polls recommendation. Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Peoples Party (NPP) supported it. The country had simultaneous elections between 1951 and 1967 but thereafter, polls started getting dispersed due to various reasons, including mid-term elections. Holding all polls simultaneously will require a lot of manoeuvring, including advancing some elections and delaying some others. While the Lok Sabha polls were held in May-June this year, States like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh also went to polls along with the parliamentary election. The Assembly election process for Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana is currently underway, while Maharashtra and Jharkhand are also scheduled to go to polls later this year. Delhi and Bihar are among the States that are scheduled to go to polls in 2025. The terms of the current assemblies in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry will end in 2026, while the terms of the Goa, Gujarat, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assemblies will end in 2027. The terms of the State assemblies in Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Telangana will end in 2028. The terms of the current Lok Sabha and the State assemblies that went to polls together this year will end in 2029. Asserting that several political parties are already on board, the Union Government said even those parties that are opposed to it may now feel pressure from within to change their stand due to the widespread support on the issue from the people of the country. Announcing the Union Cabinets approval to the proposal, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said an implementation group would be formed to take forward the recommendations of the panel headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind and detailed discussions would be held on various fora across the country over the next few months. After the discussions are completed, implementation would follow in steps and it would be the Governments endeavour to build a consensus over the next few months, Vaishnaw said. Once the consultation process is over, the Government will draft a bill, place it before the cabinet and subsequently, take it to Parliament for simultaneous polls to come into effect, he added. In its report submitted to the Government in March, just before the general election was announced, the panel recommended implementing one nation, one election in two phases -- simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and State assemblies in the first phase and elections for Local Bodies like panchayats and municipal bodies within 100 days of the general election in the second phase. It also recommended a common electoral roll, which would need coordination between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and State election commissions. At present, the ECI is responsible for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, while the local body elections for municipalities and panchayats are managed by the State election commissions. The panel has recommended a total of 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by State Assemblies. However, these would require certain Constitution amendment bills that would have to be passed by Parliament. Some proposed changes regarding the single electoral roll and single voter ID card would need ratification by at least half of the States. Separately, the Law Commission is also likely to come up soon with its own report on simultaneous polls, of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a strong votary. Sources said the Law Commission is likely to recommend holding simultaneous polls for all three tiers of the Government -- the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies and Local Bodies like municipalities and panchayats -- starting 2029 and a provision for a unity Government in cases like a hung house. The Kovind panel studied election processes in seven countries including South Africa, Sweden and Belgium, before recommending simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in India, according to the committees report approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. The other countries where simultaneous elections are conducted are Germany, Japan, Indonesia and the Phillipines. Countrys Vaastu seems to be reflected in a report titled Relative Economic Performance of Indian States: 1960-61 to 2023-24 by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) which clearly shows that western and southern Indian States are more prosperous. The report says western and southern States Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka performed notably better than the rest of the country in over six decades. Authored by EAC-PM member Sanjeev Sanyal, the paper Relative Economic Performance of Indian States: 1960-61 to 2023-24 said the development of eastern part of the country remains a concern. Ancient Indian tradition mentions that south corner, even of the cities flourish more when compared to other periphery. Maharashtra and Gujarat have consistently demonstrated strong economic performance over the years. Goas relative per capita income has doubled over the period of study. Additionally, the southern States have significantly outpaced others after economic liberalisation, with the five States collectively accounting for approximately 30 per cent of Indias GDP. In the north, States like Delhi and Haryana also stand out. Delhi has one of the highest per capita incomes throughout the study period. The divergent performance of Haryana and Punjab warrants further investigation to understand the underlying policy implications. Punjabs relative per capita income has declined after 2000s, while Haryana, which was once behind, has surpassed Punjab on both economic indicators. The eastern part of the country remains a concern, paper noted. To the much disappointment, West Bengal has experienced a continuous decline in its relative economic performance over several decades. Although Bihars relative position has stabilised in the last two decades, it remains significantly behind other States and requires much faster growth to catch up. Since the 2000s, Bihars per capita income growth has slightly exceeded or matched the national average seven, leading to a relative per capita income that has remained relatively stable. Bihar will need to accelerate its economic growth considerably to make progress toward closing this gap , the paper noted. Conversely, Odisha, traditionally a laggard, has shown marked improvement in recent years. Overall, maritime States have clearly outperformed the other States, with the exception of West Bengal. Southern States emerged as top performers in terms of per capita income as well since the 1990s. The group of southern States - including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu-has seen their per capita incomes grow faster than the national average, leading to a significant increase in their relative income levels. In 1990-91, all these southern States had per capita incomes below the national average, resulting in relative per capita incomes of less than 100. However, within the first decade following economic liberalisation, the relative per capita income of each of these States surpassed 100 and continued to rise rapidly thereafter, it said. According to the paper, the trajectory of Uttar Pradesh has been similar. The relative per capita income of Uttar Pradesh has stabilised only in last few years after being on a downward trend since 1960s. It was 82.4 percent in 1960-61 for undivided UP. It began to decline and continued to do so even after bifurcation. The relative per capita income for the divided State of Uttar Pradesh was 55.3 per cent in 2000-01, which further declined to 49.4 per cent in 2010-11. It then flattened out before improving marginally in last few years. In 2023-24, Uttar Pradeshs per capita income was only 50.8 per cent of the national average, indicating that the average person in the State earns about half of what is typical across India. As in the case of Bihar and Kerala, household incomes may be higher than implied here due to remittances. While Madhya Pradesh experienced a significant turnaround after 2010, reversing a five-decade decline in relative per capita income, Rajasthans relative per capita income increased by 10 percentage points from 1960-61 to 1970-71, before experiencing a decline for the next three decades. Among small States, Sikkim and Goa have demonstrated remarkable improvements. Sikkim, which had a relative per capita income of just 93 per cent of the national average in 1990-91, has surged to 319 per cent by 2023-24. The national Capital witnessed about nine cases under Arms act in 2024 as compared to about 10 cases in 2023 with the recovery of over 800 firearms, 2,500 ammunition and 2,000 sharp edged weapons in the current year upto August 31. A senior police official said that such cases are witnessed in outer districts including Rohini, Shahdara, Northeast Delhi, Outer Delhi and Outernorth Delhi among others while districts such as New Delhi, Central Delhi and North Delhi record the lowest of such cases. Shahdara witnessed 118 cases under arms act with 134 arrests made in such cases upto August 31. The police recovered 37 katta, five desi pistols, 65 live cartridges, four empty cartridges, one magazine and 92 knives. Rohini recorded 140 cases till September 15 while 69 firearms and 115 weapons, including knives, were recovered in such cases. In 2023, 211 cases were reported in the district with 118 firearms recovered. Other firearms, 115 recoveries were made in the last year In the first half of this year, till August 31, we have registered 2,170 cases under the Arms Act and seized 892 firearms, 2,546 ammunition (bullets) and 2,074 sharp-edged weapons, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. The data further revealed that 3,579 cases were registered under the law in 2023 and police seized 1,521 arms, 4,316 bullets and 2,764 sharp-edged weapons. The officer further said in the last four years and a half, the Delhi Police has registered 15,472 cases under the Arms Act and seized 6,650 firearms, 21,660 bullets and 24,737 sharp-edged weapons. In 2022, a massive drive was launched to recover sharp-edged weapons that were ordered from e-commerce websites, the officer said. According to the data, police registered 3,089 cases in 2020, with a total seizure of 2,339 firearms, 5,138 bullets and 1,374 sharp-edged weapons. Similarly, 2,923 cases were registered in 2021, with a total seizure of 1,707 arms, 8,939 bullets and 1,827 sharp-edged weapons. A total of 3,693 cases were registered under the Arms Act in 2022, with the seizure of 1,560 arms, 5,719 bullets and 16,698 sharp-edged weapons. We have busted many weapons-supplying gangs working in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and seized a large number of weapons from them. Our strong network of sources informs us about such gangs. Many manufacturing units were also busted, the officer said. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) has raised concern over the establishment of a seven-member committee by the vice chancellor to review the operations of the Special Centres. The Committee has been given the broad mandate of reviewing courses, syllabi, faculty strength, infrastructure, etc. JNUTA, however, sees this as a direct assault on academic autonomy that will set a dangerous precedent for the institution as a whole, said an official statement of the JNUTA on Wednesday. The JNUTA added the notification does not provide any rationale for this sudden review as the special centres operate under their own established governance structures, according to the JNU's statutes and ordinances Neither the Academic Branch nor the Vice Chancellor have any statutory power to appoint a random committee to review courses, syllabi, and functioning of any special centre, or for that matter, any school or centre, the statement said. The JNUTA claimed that the review could disrupt the functioning of special centres set up over the past 24 years that have been instrumental in developing cutting-edge research programs and interdisciplinary master's courses following established protocols. Demanding immediate revocation of the committee, the JNUTA said, In the absence of such a withdrawal, the JNUTA will be forced to escalate the matter, the responsibility for which will lie solely with the Vice Chancellor and the JNU Administration. Two personnel of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) were killed and as many others injured after their colleague opened fire at them in their camp in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district on Wednesday, a senior official said. The incident took place at around 11 am in the camp of the 'B' company of CAF's 11th battalion in Bhutahi Mod area under Samri Path police station limits, located nearly 400 km from the state capital Raipur, Inspector General of Police (Surguja range) Ankit Garg said. As per the preliminary information, constable Ajay Sidar fired at his colleagues with his service weapon, an Insas rifle, the official said. While a constable, Rupesh Patel, died on the spot, another constable, Sandip Pandey, succumbed to injuries while being taken to the hospital, he said. Two other injured personnel - Ambuj Shukla and Rahul Baghel - were admitted to a community health centre in Kusmi. Of the two, Shukla is being shifted to Ambikapur in neighbouring Surguja district for further treatment, he said. The accused constable was immediately overpowered and captured by some of his colleagues who rushed to the place on hearing the sound of gunshots, the official said. Sidar has been taken into custody and the exact motive behind the incident was yet to be ascertained, Garg said, adding that further investigation is underway. The CAF has been stationed in an area close to the neighbouring Jharkhand border for anti-Naxal operations. The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling NDA targeting Rahul Gandhi, alleging that they were aimed at jeopardising his security and disturbing peace in view of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana. In the complaint submitted to the SHO of the Tughlaq Road police station by AICC treasurer and general secretary Ajay Maken, the Congress cited the recent remarks by BJP leaders Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Raghuraj Singh, as well as that of Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad. Maken sought registration of FIRs against the leaders. Speaking with the media after filing the complaint, Maken said, "We all know that late Indira Gandhi ji and late Rajiv ji have sacrificed their lives for the country. Even after that, they are giving such threats." Politics in India cannot stoop to a lower level than this, he said. Not just one BJP leader, but many leaders have said such things, but BJP did not take any action, he said. "Rahul Gandhi talks about SC, ST, OBC, tribal and minority people. That is why BJP people do not like his words. This is the reason why they are threatening him," he said. "But let me tell you -- this is the Congress party and we are not going to be scared or cowed down," Maken said. In the police complaint, Maken said, "On September 11, Marwah in a BJP event openly issued an assassination threat against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, wherein he said that 'Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja, nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua (you better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother)'". It also cited Sena MLA Gaikwad's announcement of a bounty of Rs 11 lakh for anyone who will cut the tongue of the Leader of Opposition. The complaint cited Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu's remarks, calling the Leader of Opposition the "number one terrorist of the country". "Bittu deliberately made the statement to provoke public hatred and outrage against Mr Gandhi, with the aim to incite violence and breach of peace. The said statement was widely publicised on TV channels and social media," the complaint said. It cited Uttar Pradesh government minister Raghuraj Singh's remarks that Gandhi was the "number one terrorist of India". "The above statements/ threats issued by various BJP Leaders and its allies, calling for assassination and/or bodily injury onto Rahul Gandhi and also calling the Leader of Opposition of the country a terrorist, exhibits personal hatred by the BJP/NDA alliance partners against Gandhi," the complaint said. Such utterances are made only with the aim to cause unrest among the general masses to provoke rioting, and breach of peace through the hate-filled remarks, the Congress said in its complaint. Gandhi has been continuously raising issues pertaining to deprived sections of the society such as women, youth, Dalits and other marginalised sections and the failure of the BJP to address such public-centric issues, the Congress said. However, the same has not gone down well with the BJP and its allies, therefore the above-named people have been deputed to make such "hate-filled" comments on the Leader of Opposition of India, the Congress alleged. "Further, through the said events, the leaders of BJP/its allies, intend to jeopardise the safety and security of the Leader of Opposition, as well as, seek to disturb public peace throughout the country, especially in view of the ongoing elections in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana," the complaint read. Not only have the leaders made the statements but also played an active role, through their associates, in spreading the same among the general public through social media and other means, to deliberately incite public aggression or outrage against Gandhi and supporters or members of the Congress on basis of false, untrue, motivated and hate-filled statements, it said. "Hence, it is imperative that an FIR under relevant provisions of the BNS, 2023 be registered immediately, without any delay," the party said. "In addition to the above, it is also stated that calling the Leader of Opposition of India, a 'terrorist', 'number one terrorist' etc. Not only undermines the public office he holds but the above-named persons deliberately seek to obstruct Rahul Gandhi in discharge of his public duties," the party said. "The above intentional and well-thought acts of criminal intimidation, public mischief are deliberate attempts by BJP/NDA leaders to create enmity, breach of peace, incite aggression, hatred and ill-will among the general public against Rahul Gandhi, the Congress and its leaders on the instructions of top bosses of the BJP/NDA," the complaint said. "In view of the above, the above-named persons, all connected with a common thread to the ruling BJP, hatched a well-planned criminal conspiracy, with other known/unknown associates to commit the above acts. "Accordingly, I request you to register an FIR, inter-alia, u/s 351, 352, 353, 61 of BNS, at the earliest, against the above-named persons and their associates," the complaint by Maken said. On Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue of "extremely objectionable" and violent statements by ruling alliance members targeting Rahul Gandhi and urged him to discipline his leaders. In his letter to Modi, Kharge asserted that strict legal action should be taken against those giving such statements so that Indian politics can be prevented from degenerating and nothing untoward happens. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning. Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Burlington Stores from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Burlington Stores from $284.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Burlington Stores from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Burlington Stores from $270.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Burlington Stores from $279.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $294.94. Get Burlington Stores alerts: Read Our Latest Report on BURL Burlington Stores Price Performance NYSE:BURL opened at $270.27 on Friday. Burlington Stores has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $282.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.64. The stocks fifty day moving average is $258.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.08. Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.25. Burlington Stores had a return on equity of 47.43% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Burlington Stores will post 7.86 EPS for the current year. Insider Activity In other news, CMO Jennifer Vecchio sold 494 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.37, for a total value of $126,152.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 61,907 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,809,190.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.91% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Burlington Stores Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Burlington Stores by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 56,326 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,073,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Burlington Stores by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 631,148 shares of the companys stock valued at $122,746,000 after acquiring an additional 101,950 shares during the last quarter. Boulder Hill Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Burlington Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,237,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Burlington Stores during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,819,000. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its stake in Burlington Stores by 7,754.2% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 88,203 shares of the companys stock valued at $17,154,000 after acquiring an additional 87,080 shares during the last quarter. About Burlington Stores (Get Free Report) Burlington Stores, Inc operates as a retailer of branded merchandise in the United States. The company provides fashion-focused merchandise, including women's ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, footwear, accessories, toys, gifts, and coats, as well as baby, home, and beauty products. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Burlington Stores Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Burlington Stores and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB Get Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on CLB. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Reduce and a consensus target price of $18.50. Get Core Laboratories alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on CLB Core Laboratories Trading Up 4.9 % Core Laboratories stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.36. The stock had a trading volume of 357,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,838. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $861.08 million, a PE ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.37. Core Laboratories has a 12 month low of $13.82 and a 12 month high of $25.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $130.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $132.85 million. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 5.44%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 EPS for the current year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Core Laboratories A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Core Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Core Laboratories by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Core Laboratories by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 1,178.6% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,713 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.81% of the companys stock. Core Laboratories Company Profile (Get Free Report) Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Core Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Core Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited (OTCMKTS:DMZPY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,100 shares, a decrease of 26.7% from the August 15th total of 1,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 11.0 days. Dominos Pizza Enterprises Stock Performance DMZPY remained flat at $9.89 during trading on Tuesday. 12 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,152. Dominos Pizza Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $9.49 and a fifty-two week high of $19.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.11. Get Domino's Pizza Enterprises alerts: Dominos Pizza Enterprises Cuts Dividend The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.101 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Dominos Pizza Enterprises Company Profile Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited operates retail food outlets. The company holds franchise rights for the Domino's brand in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Cambodia, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. It operates various stores. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Domino's Pizza Enterprises Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Domino's Pizza Enterprises and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, a decline of 9.5% from the August 15th total of 3,370,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. DTE Energy Price Performance DTE traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $125.70. The companys stock had a trading volume of 832,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,074,183. The stock has a market cap of $26.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.67. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $121.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. DTE Energy has a 12 month low of $90.14 and a 12 month high of $127.59. Get DTE Energy alerts: DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.22. DTE Energy had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that DTE Energy will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. DTE Energy Announces Dividend Institutional Investors Weigh In On DTE Energy The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. DTE Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.78%. Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in DTE Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 89.6% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in DTE Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in DTE Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in DTE Energy by 82.3% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.06% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts have recently commented on DTE shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of DTE Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on DTE Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of DTE Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Sunday, August 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, DTE Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $127.58. View Our Latest Analysis on DTE Energy DTE Energy Company Profile (Get Free Report) DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to various residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through coal-fired plants, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for DTE Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for DTE Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN Free Report) Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of AMN Healthcare Services in a note issued to investors on Thursday, September 12th. Zacks Research analyst D. Dey now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $3.19 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $3.20. The consensus estimate for AMN Healthcare Services current full-year earnings is $3.26 per share. Get AMN Healthcare Services alerts: AMN has been the subject of several other reports. Benchmark reissued a hold rating on shares of AMN Healthcare Services in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com downgraded AMN Healthcare Services from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on AMN Healthcare Services from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JMP Securities cut their target price on AMN Healthcare Services from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a market outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AMN Healthcare Services from $60.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $67.83. AMN Healthcare Services Stock Up 0.0 % NYSE AMN opened at $46.08 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.11. AMN Healthcare Services has a one year low of $42.23 and a one year high of $89.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.12. AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.22. AMN Healthcare Services had a return on equity of 23.68% and a net margin of 3.07%. The firm had revenue of $740.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. Institutional Trading of AMN Healthcare Services A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,199 shares of the companys stock worth $35,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,803 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AMN Healthcare Services during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the companys stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AMN Healthcare Services during the 4th quarter worth about $19,864,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in AMN Healthcare Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,006,000. 99.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. AMN Healthcare Services Company Profile (Get Free Report) AMN Healthcare Services, Inc provides healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services to healthcare facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: Nurse and Allied Solutions, Physician and Leadership Solutions, and Technology and Workforce Solutions. The Nurse and Allied Solutions segment offers travel nurse staffing, labor disruption staffing, local staffing, international nurse and allied permanent placement, and allied staffing solutions. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for AMN Healthcare Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AMN Healthcare Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. JAPAN POST BANK Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:JPSTF Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,310,100 shares, a decrease of 18.9% from the August 15th total of 5,317,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3,315.5 days. JAPAN POST BANK Trading Down 2.4 % Shares of OTCMKTS:JPSTF traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.04. The company had a trading volume of 7,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,816. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.70. JAPAN POST BANK has a 1-year low of $8.66 and a 1-year high of $10.15. Get JAPAN POST BANK alerts: JAPAN POST BANK Company Profile (Get Free Report) Featured Stories JAPAN POST BANK Co, Ltd. provides various banking products and services to retail and corporate clients in Japan and internationally. The company offers liquid deposits, including transfer deposits, savings deposits, ordinary deposits, etc.; fixed-term deposits, such as time deposits, TEIGAKU deposits, etc.; and other deposits, as well as negotiable certificates of deposit. Receive News & Ratings for JAPAN POST BANK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JAPAN POST BANK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 459,400 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the August 15th total of 432,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 222,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, StockNews.com upgraded KB Financial Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Get KB Financial Group alerts: View Our Latest Report on KB Financial Group Institutional Inflows and Outflows KB Financial Group Trading Down 0.2 % A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KB Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $501,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in KB Financial Group by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 78,636 shares of the banks stock worth $4,452,000 after purchasing an additional 12,231 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of KB Financial Group by 3.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,496 shares of the banks stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KB Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,084,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of KB Financial Group by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 7,410 shares of the banks stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.52% of the companys stock. NYSE KB traded down $0.12 on Tuesday, hitting $61.54. The companys stock had a trading volume of 573,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,439. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. The firm has a market cap of $24.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.70, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.99. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $62.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.39. KB Financial Group has a 52-week low of $36.57 and a 52-week high of $67.40. KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The bank reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter. KB Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 12.13%. Research analysts predict that KB Financial Group will post 9.4 EPS for the current fiscal year. KB Financial Group Company Profile (Get Free Report) KB Financial Group Inc provides a range of banking and related financial services to consumers and corporations in South Korea, the United States, New Zealand, China, Cambodia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and internationally. The company operates through Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Other Banking Services, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, and Non-Life Insurance segments. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for KB Financial Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KB Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday. A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MLM. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $629.82. Get Martin Marietta Materials alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on MLM Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.8 % Shares of NYSE MLM traded up $4.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $534.04. 364,978 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 445,594. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.86. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52 week low of $389.90 and a 52 week high of $626.67. The company has a market cap of $32.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $541.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $567.97. Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 30.80%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. The companys revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.33 EPS for the current year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction companys stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth about $3,757,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 228,775 shares of the construction companys stock worth $123,950,000 after purchasing an additional 4,939 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 41.5% during the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 28,616 shares of the construction companys stock worth $15,504,000 after purchasing an additional 8,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.4% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the construction companys stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the companys stock. Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile (Get Free Report) Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Martin Marietta Materials Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Martin Marietta Materials and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:NBY Free Report) in a report released on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock. NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Price Performance Shares of NYSE NBY opened at $0.53 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $0.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.55. NovaBay Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $0.36 and a 1-year high of $17.74. The company has a market cap of $573,351.80, a PE ratio of 0.00 and a beta of 0.73. Get NovaBay Pharmaceuticals alerts: NovaBay Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:NBY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($1.37) earnings per share for the quarter. NovaBay Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 744.33% and a negative net margin of 91.86%. The company had revenue of $2.40 million for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that NovaBay Pharmaceuticals will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Company Profile An institutional investor recently bought a new position in NovaBay Pharmaceuticals stock. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new position in NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( NYSE:NBY Free Report ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 718,768 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $147,000. Armistice Capital LLC owned approximately 11.01% of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 23.25% of the companys stock. (Get Free Report) NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops and sells eyecare, skincare, and wound care products in the United States and internationally. It offers Avenova Spray, a solution for removing foreign materials, including microorganisms and debris from skin around the eye, such as the eyelid; and wound care products, which are used for cleansing and irrigation as part of surgical procedures, as well as treating certain wounds, burns, ulcers, and other injuries under the NeutroPhase and PhaseOne brands. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:NMS Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,800 shares, a decline of 21.5% from the August 15th total of 16,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at $376,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund by 11.2% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 31,630 shares of the companys stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 3,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Logan Stone Capital LLC acquired a new position in Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund during the second quarter valued at $289,000. Get Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund alerts: Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund Price Performance Shares of NYSE NMS traded up $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.31. The company had a trading volume of 29,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,893. Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund has a 52 week low of $9.21 and a 52 week high of $13.63. The businesss 50-day moving average is $12.37 and its 200 day moving average is $11.54. Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund Increases Dividend Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund Company Profile The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.0735 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Funds previous monthly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.63%. (Get Free Report) Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc The fund is co-managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors LLC and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. The fund primarily invests in investment grade municipal securities that are exempt from regular federal and Minnesota personal income taxes. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X Free Report) Analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of United States Steel in a note issued to investors on Friday, September 13th. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $2.53 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.62. The consensus estimate for United States Steels current full-year earnings is $2.15 per share. Get United States Steel alerts: Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of United States Steel from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of United States Steel from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on United States Steel in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Glj Research upgraded United States Steel from a sell rating to a buy rating and set a $38.57 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $39.76. United States Steel Stock Down 0.4 % X opened at $36.21 on Monday. United States Steel has a 12 month low of $26.92 and a 12 month high of $50.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.88. United States Steel (NYSE:X Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.12. United States Steel had a return on equity of 7.93% and a net margin of 3.40%. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Steel Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in United States Steel in the 4th quarter valued at about $200,952,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in United States Steel by 4,305.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,634,364 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $137,379,000 after purchasing an additional 3,551,870 shares during the last quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in United States Steel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,529,000. KGH Ltd increased its holdings in United States Steel by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 4,255,000 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $160,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in United States Steel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,338,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.92% of the companys stock. United States Steel Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. United States Steels payout ratio is 5.87%. United States Steel Company Profile (Get Free Report) United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for United States Steel Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for United States Steel and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD decreased its position in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG Free Report) by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,258 shares of the companys stock after selling 4,849 shares during the quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTDs holdings in B2Gold were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 39.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,284,484 shares of the companys stock valued at $33,053,000 after buying an additional 3,474,553 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in B2Gold in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,912,000. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in B2Gold by 31.6% during the 2nd quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 6,032,986 shares of the companys stock worth $16,185,000 after buying an additional 1,450,000 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in B2Gold during the second quarter valued at about $927,000. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM boosted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 29.6% in the second quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 800,000 shares of the companys stock worth $2,160,000 after buying an additional 182,815 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the companys stock. Get B2Gold alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes BTG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cormark lowered shares of B2Gold from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $3.75 target price on shares of B2Gold in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank downgraded B2Gold from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on B2Gold from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised B2Gold from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, August 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, B2Gold has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $3.75. B2Gold Trading Down 1.5 % Shares of NYSE:BTG opened at $3.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -109.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.14. B2Gold Corp. has a 1 year low of $2.34 and a 1 year high of $3.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $2.86. B2Gold (NYSE:BTG Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $492.57 million for the quarter. B2Gold had a positive return on equity of 8.01% and a negative net margin of 7.44%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.27 EPS for the current year. B2Gold Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. B2Golds dividend payout ratio is currently -533.33%. B2Gold Company Profile (Free Report) B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer company. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 100% interest in the Gramalote gold project in Colombia; 24% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BTG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for B2Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for B2Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT decreased its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN Free Report) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,826 shares of the information technology services providers stock after selling 609 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CTs holdings in Accenture were worth $10,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,646 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $4,594,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 36,750 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 1,996 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 183,446 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $63,584,000 after acquiring an additional 21,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the companys stock. Get Accenture alerts: Insider Activity In other news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total value of $927,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,070 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,390,445.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,070 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,390,445.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes ACN has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $398.00 to $350.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler Companies cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $293.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $354.91. Get Our Latest Report on ACN Accenture Stock Performance Shares of Accenture stock opened at $336.93 on Wednesday. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.24. The companys 50 day moving average price is $329.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $322.59. Accenture (NYSE:ACN Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The company had revenue of $16.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. The businesss revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Accenture Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Accentures dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.25%. About Accenture (Free Report) Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Accenture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Accenture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VTMX Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $27.59, but opened at $28.41. Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta shares last traded at $28.11, with a volume of 19,434 shares traded. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Separately, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Get Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta alerts: View Our Latest Report on VTMX Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta Price Performance The company has a current ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $28.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.98. The stock has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.40. Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta (NYSE:VTMX Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.73. Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta had a net margin of 179.79% and a return on equity of 17.11%. The company had revenue of $63.02 million during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta, S.A.B. de C.V. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta Cuts Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.1549 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vestas payout ratio is 11.95%. Institutional Trading of Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VTMX. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta by 54.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 3,610 shares of the companys stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta by 358.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 144,167 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,324,000 after acquiring an additional 112,699 shares during the period. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 281,677 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,053,000 after acquiring an additional 44,907 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta by 3,292.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 336,600 shares of the companys stock worth $13,208,000 after acquiring an additional 326,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 6.94% of the companys stock. Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta Company Profile (Get Free Report) Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta, SAB. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, acquires, develops, manages, operates, and leases industrial buildings and distribution facilities in Mexico. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co decreased its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C Free Report) by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,750 shares of the companys stock after selling 10,140 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Cos holdings in Citigroup were worth $10,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Citigroup by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 151,630 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,622,000 after acquiring an additional 5,481 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 15.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 176,340 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,053,000 after purchasing an additional 24,146 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Citigroup by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 97,896 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,212,000 after buying an additional 8,480 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co lifted its position in Citigroup by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 57,575 shares of the companys stock worth $3,654,000 after buying an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 36,342 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,306,000 after buying an additional 8,090 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Citigroup alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several brokerages recently issued reports on C. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Citigroup from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Citigroup from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Citigroup from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $68.25. Citigroup Trading Up 1.5 % Citigroup stock opened at $59.30 on Wednesday. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $61.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.42. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.17 and a 52 week high of $67.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. Citigroup (NYSE:C Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $20.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.07 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.26% and a net margin of 4.95%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current year. Citigroup Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is a positive change from Citigroups previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Citigroups dividend payout ratio is presently 62.75%. Citigroup Company Profile (Free Report) Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Citigroup Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Citigroup and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Free Report) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,553 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after acquiring an additional 4,672 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 1.6% of Financial & Tax Architects LLCs holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Financial & Tax Architects LLCs holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $3,548,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,922,170 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $1,092,133,000 after purchasing an additional 228,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the companys stock. Get Abbott Laboratories alerts: Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance Shares of ABT stock opened at $118.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $205.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The companys 50 day moving average is $109.88 and its 200 day moving average is $108.56. Insider Buying and Selling Abbott Laboratories ( NYSE:ABT Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratoriess revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year. In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the companys stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a buy rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $121.80. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories Company Profile (Free Report) Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG Free Report) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,539 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 1,820 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 1.7% of Financial & Tax Architects LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Financial & Tax Architects LLCs holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the companys stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the companys stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the companys stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. LCM Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 5,701 shares of the companys stock worth $925,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Home Federal Bank of Tennessee increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 23,318 shares of the companys stock worth $3,846,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the companys stock. Get Procter & Gamble alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a buy rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $175.79. Insider Activity In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total transaction of $12,342,475.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares of the companys stock, valued at $45,002,649.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total value of $12,342,475.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares of the companys stock, valued at $45,002,649.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,208 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141. Company insiders own 0.17% of the companys stock. Procter & Gamble Stock Performance NYSE:PG opened at $175.93 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $169.80 and a 200 day moving average of $165.49. The company has a market capitalization of $415.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Procter & Gambles dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%. Procter & Gamble Profile (Free Report) The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Procter & Gamble Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Procter & Gamble and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG Get Free Report) Director Steven P. Grimes sold 37,295 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $999,506.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 732,252 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $19,624,353.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Kite Realty Group Trust Stock Performance Shares of NYSE KRG opened at $26.70 on Wednesday. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $24.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.69, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Kite Realty Group Trust has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $27.10. Get Kite Realty Group Trust alerts: Kite Realty Group Trust Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. This is a boost from Kite Realty Group Trusts previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Kite Realty Group Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 400.00%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KRG. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Kite Realty Group Trust from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Compass Point upped their target price on Kite Realty Group Trust from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Raymond James upgraded Kite Realty Group Trust from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Kite Realty Group Trust from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Kite Realty Group Trust from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kite Realty Group Trust currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $28.00. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on KRG Institutional Trading of Kite Realty Group Trust Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KRG. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Kite Realty Group Trust in the first quarter worth approximately $594,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kite Realty Group Trust by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,597,373 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $728,391,000 after purchasing an additional 881,502 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Kite Realty Group Trust by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,120,121 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $71,326,000 after purchasing an additional 693,852 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Kite Realty Group Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $752,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kite Realty Group Trust by 430.7% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 352,219 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $7,636,000 after purchasing an additional 285,856 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the companys stock. About Kite Realty Group Trust (Get Free Report) Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in Indianapolis, IN that is one of the largest publicly traded owners and operators of open-air shopping centers and mixed-use assets. The Companys primarily grocery-anchored portfolio is located in high-growth Sun Belt and select strategic gateway markets. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Kite Realty Group Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kite Realty Group Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSE:LB Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of Reduce from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$27.01. Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. National Bankshares lowered their target price on Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$27.00 to C$26.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Laurentian Bank of Canada to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$28.00 to C$26.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 6th. CIBC lowered their price target on shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$30.00 to C$28.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$25.00 to C$26.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Get Laurentian Bank of Canada alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on LB Laurentian Bank of Canada Stock Performance Laurentian Bank of Canada Announces Dividend TSE LB opened at C$27.06 on Friday. Laurentian Bank of Canada has a one year low of C$24.45 and a one year high of C$32.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$26.30 and a 200 day moving average of C$26.56. The company has a market capitalization of C$1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.65, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.24. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Laurentian Bank of Canadas dividend payout ratio is currently -303.23%. About Laurentian Bank of Canada (Get Free Report Laurentian Bank of Canada, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial services to personal, business, and institutional customers in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Capital Markets. The Personal Banking segment offers financial services, such as financial advisory services to financial intermediaries; and operates digital direct-to-customer platform to retail clients. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Laurentian Bank of Canada Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Laurentian Bank of Canada and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL Free Report) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,040,610 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 36,870 shares during the period. Valaris makes up about 7.6% of Lingotto Investment Management LLPs holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Lingotto Investment Management LLP owned approximately 4.20% of Valaris worth $226,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Valaris by 180.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Valaris by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,747 shares of the companys stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Valaris in the 1st quarter worth about $149,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Valaris in the 2nd quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Valaris in the 2nd quarter worth about $237,000. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Valaris alerts: Valaris Price Performance Shares of NYSE:VAL opened at $56.85 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $66.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.07. Valaris Limited has a twelve month low of $53.06 and a twelve month high of $84.20. The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Valaris ( NYSE:VAL Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $1.07. Valaris had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 49.33%. The firm had revenue of $610.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $545.00 million. Research analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year. Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Valaris from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Valaris in a report on Monday, August 5th. Pickering Energy Partners lowered Valaris from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $91.40. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Valaris Insiders Place Their Bets In other Valaris news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total value of $872,425.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,237.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total transaction of $872,425.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,237.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total value of $1,705,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 108,342 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,160,326.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the companys stock. Valaris Company Profile (Free Report) Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Valaris Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Valaris and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN Free Report) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,438 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 1,931 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLCs holdings in Eaton were worth $15,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 81.3% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,348 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 2,176 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,758 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter worth $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the companys stock. Get Eaton alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research analysts have recently commented on ETN shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday. They set a buy rating and a $348.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $357.00 to $333.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $315.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $376.00 to $371.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $337.41. Eaton Trading Up 1.7 % Shares of ETN stock opened at $311.70 on Wednesday. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $191.82 and a 52-week high of $345.19. The stock has a market cap of $124.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $300.17 and a 200-day moving average of $312.08. Eaton (NYSE:ETN Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.12. Eaton had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.35 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Eaton Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Eatons dividend payout ratio is presently 44.39%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Eaton news, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total value of $96,721.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,900 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,858,328. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total transaction of $96,721.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,328. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 49,040 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.02, for a total transaction of $14,762,020.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,262 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $21,451,287.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,511 shares of company stock valued at $15,809,326. Insiders own 0.53% of the companys stock. About Eaton (Free Report) Eaton Corporation plc operates as a power management company worldwide. The company's Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segment provides electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality and connectivity products, wiring devices, circuit protection products, utility power distribution products, power reliability equipment, and services, as well as hazardous duty electrical equipment, emergency lighting, fire detection, explosion-proof instrumentation, and structural support systems. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Eaton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eaton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG Free Report) by 55.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,520 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 4,804 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 988,657 shares of the companys stock worth $163,049,000 after buying an additional 60,471 shares during the period. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.7% in the second quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 3,179 shares of the companys stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 15.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 240,089 shares of the companys stock worth $39,130,000 after purchasing an additional 32,371 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 748,803 shares of the companys stock valued at $123,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 187,271 shares of the companys stock worth $30,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the companys stock. Get Procter & Gamble alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the companys stock. Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.7 % Procter & Gamble stock opened at $175.93 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $177.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $415.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The companys 50-day moving average is $169.80 and its 200-day moving average is $165.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year. Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Procter & Gambles dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages have weighed in on PG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $175.79. Get Our Latest Stock Report on PG Procter & Gamble Profile (Free Report) The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Procter & Gamble Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Procter & Gamble and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Iranian backed proxy terror group Hezbollah are now using men on donkeys that can take days to relay messages as a form of communication after a genius move by Mossad with exploding pentaerythritol tetranitrate infused pagers that has caused havoc with their terrorist organisation. The rule of thumb is dont mess with The Israel or with Mossad, that is if you want an easier life, or any life at all. The innovative Mossad black op was conducted by spreading the word that telegram and mobile phones were essentially compromised by Israeli intelligence. Mossad operatives then created dozens of ads for untraceable pagers in Beirut, which the Hezbollah hierarchy ate up like a shit sandwich. Three thousand AP924 pagers were acquired from a European company licenced by a Taiwanese manufacturer and crammed with the high explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate which could be triggered at any time of choosing. Lithium batteries can also be triggered to explode in devices, but to conduct a large operation with thousands of targets would be too demanding, so Mossad infiltrated the shipment and injected PETR into each pager. DING! You have an important message from the Hezbollah hierarchy Ka-Boom! According to reports, one Hezbollah terrorist operative in a supermarket, who needed glasses and had poor eyesight, put the pager right up to his eyes to see the message when it exploded, essentially disintegrating his entire face. Back doors are built into most electronic devices these days, and these back doors are mandatory for manufacturers to include in the hardware production process, as well as integrated into software operating systems. Back doors can only be accessed by certain intelligence agencies, who can acquire any information they need from any global source or device. Some devices like pagers are touted as being untraceable, but as witnessed in this Mossad operation, the only thing untraceable now are the faces of some of the Hezbollah terrorists. The U.S. military has deployed approximately 130 soldiers and two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Shemya Island in the Aleutian chain of western Alaska. This move comes during a recent increase in Russian military aircraft and vessels operating near U.S. territory, coinciding with joint military exercises conducted by Russia and China in the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Get alerts: Increased Russian Activity Over the past week, eight Russian military aircraft and four navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska. While none of the planes breached U.S. airspace, the Pentagon has acknowledged the heightened activity and is closely monitoring the situation. Its not the first time that weve seen the Russians and the Chinese flying, you know, in the vicinity, and thats something that we obviously closely monitor, and its also something that were prepared to respond to, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder stated at a news conference. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked the Russian aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) for four days. The ADIZ extends beyond U.S. sovereign airspace and requires aircraft to identify themselves. While NORAD has reported a fluctuation in the number of such incursions annually, with an average of six to seven intercepts per year, last year saw 26 Russian planes entering the Alaska zone, followed by 25 so far this year. US Military Response In response to the increased activity, the U.S. military has deployed a guided missile destroyer and a Coast Guard vessel to the western region of Alaska. The deployment of soldiers and HIMARS to Shemya Island, which houses a U.S. Air Force station dating back to World War II, is part of a force projection operation. The U.S. Coast Guard also reported tracking four Russian Federation Navy vessels, including two submarines, a frigate, and a tugboat, operating near Point Hope, Alaska, in the Chukchi Sea. The vessels reportedly crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, a practice permitted under international rules and customs. Political Reactions U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, has called for a larger military presence in the Aleutians and advocated for a strong response to the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the past two years, weve seen joint Russian-Chinese air and naval exercises off our shores and a Chinese spy balloon floating over our communities, Sullivan stated in a statement. These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the U.S., Russia, and China. Sullivan also urged the U.S. Navy to reopen its shuttered base at Adak in the Aleutians, which closed in 1997. While the Pentagon maintains that the recent Russian activity does not pose a direct threat, the increased military presence in the region highlights growing tensions in the Arctic, a strategically important region for both the U.S. and Russia. Ongoing Monitoring and Assessment The U.S. military will closely monitor Russian activity in the Arctic and Pacific regions. The deployment of soldiers and advanced weaponry to Shemya Island, along with other military deployments, demonstrate the U.S.s commitment to defending its interests in the region and deterring potential aggression. As the Arctic continues to open due to climate change, the competition for resources and strategic control is likely to intensify, leading to further adjustments in military posture and a heightened state of vigilance. The search is on for budding young environmentalists across Derry after a charity chief launched the Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) 2025. Organised by environmental youth movement ECO-UNESCO, the YEA recognises the work of young people in Ireland and Northern Ireland who are taking environmental and climate action. More than 65,000 children and teenagers aged 10-18 have been involved with the awards since they began in 1999. Speaking at the launch, ECO-UNESCO national director Elaine Nevin said: Our young people are our future and every year, when the YEA entries arrive, I always find their enthusiasm and passion for environmental action inspiring. We have had some excellent entries from young people in Derry in the past and I cant wait to see what actions they take this year. Young people across the island of Ireland are growing up during an era of extreme weather events and are becoming very concerned about climate change as result. In our Youth Climate Justice Survey, published in June, almost all respondents (96%) said they were worried about the environment. Just under two-thirds (65%) said the issue of climate change was causing them anxiety, while more than half (53%) said it was making them fearful, and 47% said it was making them sad. Entries to YEA 2025 are now open to any group of young people aged 10-18 years. There are three age categories: 10-12, 12-14, and 15-18 years and groups can have as little as two members, but no more than 25. Registration is free via yea.ie and closes on November 30, with the winners being named at a ceremony in Dublin next May. At YEA 2024, students from St Cecilias College, Derry, were among the prize winners. ECO-UNESCO is also hosting a series of free online talks this month for children and teenagers aged eight to 18, starting on September 23. The main aim of the ECO-WEEK is to inspire young people to take environmental action in their school or community, with separate sessions for children aged 8-12 and for the 12-18 age group. Visit https://ecounesco.ie/10-18-youth-programmes/eco-weeks/ for more information. The Cardiac Team at Altnagelvin Hospital was celebrating 10 years since the state-of the-art Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI) service began. The PPCI service has treated and saved thousands of heart attacks patients in the Western Trust area and beyond since its inception, with patients being taken immediately to the catheterisation laboratory (Cath Lab) instead of being given a clot-busting drug (Thrombolysis). When a heart artery is blocked, typically by a fatty deposit/ blood clot, a person will suffer a STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) heart attack. Outcomes for patients who suffer a STEMI form of heart attack are significantly better with PPCI than with Thrombolysis. There are only two PPCI centers in NI, the other being at the Belfast Trust. From 2016 the Western Trust has also been treating patients from Co. Donegal who suffer a STEMI form of heart attack. Geraldine McKay, Director of Unscheduled Care, Medicine, Cancer and Clinical Services, Western Trust said: I wish to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our dedicated Cardiology team who provide this lifesaving 24/7, 365 day service to our patients. Throughout the past 10 years, the service has treated over 2,600 patients who would have otherwise had to travel to Belfast or Galway and experienced long delays for treatment. This is an excellent example of multidisciplinary team working to deliver definitive and immediate treatment to a set of high risk patients on a 24/7 basis. Geraldine McKay Director of Unscheduled Care, Medicine, Cancer and Clinical Services, Dr Tom Frawley Western Trust Chair and Dr Sinead Hughes Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Lead. Dr Sinead Hughes, Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Lead congratulated the incredibly dedicated Cardiology team in Altnagelvin Hospital who treat patients at all hours of the day and night to save lives. She also paid tribute to former Clinical Lead Dr Albert McNeill, (who was instrumental in delivering PPCI to WHSCT) and Professor Paul McGlinchey for all that they both did to establish and maintain this vital service. Urgent improvement is required to ensure that the level of skills exist within the working population to allow Northern Ireland to achieve its economic ambitions, a new Audit Office report has said. Comptroller and Auditor General Dorinnia Carville said skills shortages are having a detrimental impact on business and economic growth. Her report Developing the skills for Northern Irelands future focuses on the activities of Stormonts Department for the Economy (DfE). The report said: Whilst DfE leads on skills policy and is accountable for much of the spend on government-funded skills initiatives, the successful delivery of the Skills Strategy is dependent on collaboration across government and beyond. It said support for skills and learning is the largest area of spend for the department, with approximately 470 million spent in 2023-24 funding a range of initiatives and programmes. The report cites previous research illustrating the scale of the skills challenge facing Northern Ireland. The 2022 Employer Skills Survey found that, of an estimated 39,500 vacancies in Northern Ireland, approximately 35% were considered by employers to be attributable to a lack of skills, experience or qualifications. The most recent Skills Barometer, published by Ulster Universitys Economic Policy Centre in March 2022, forecast a continuing undersupply of skilled and qualified new workers needed to support a high-growth economy. The report said many of the activities funded by the department have individually positive outcomes and evaluations but the latest monitoring information shows a lack of progress towards achieving the strategic goals of its Skills Strategy. It said the most recent data shows the proportion of the working age population with qualifications of at least Level 2 or Level 3 has decreased since the prior year. It also said there was no progress against the strategic goal to increase the proportion of individuals graduating with degrees in narrow Stem subjects and that the adult participation rate in education or training has decreased. The report stated: Significant improvements are needed to achieve the goals of the Skills Strategy in Northern Ireland. It is difficult to see how DfE ensures that all the skills programmes it funds, including provision by further and higher education institutions, align with the skills needs in Northern Ireland or how it measures the success and impact of its skills delivery arrangements as a whole. Substantial change is needed to deliver the volume of skills needed now and in future years to support the achievement of the overarching economic vision for Northern Ireland. Ms Carville added: Skills shortages are having a detrimental impact on business and economic growth in Northern Ireland. Despite the range of support provided by the department, little demonstrable progress has been made. This will only make it more challenging for the department to achieve the ambitions set out in its Skills Strategy. Urgent improvement is needed, and my report has identified a number of areas which require action. She said: Addressing the skills challenges facing Northern Ireland requires all stakeholders to work together. Weaknesses in the arrangements to support a coherent approach to developing skills must be addressed. It is vital that the findings and recommendations of this report are considered closely, and that action is taken in order to ensure more meaningful and demonstrable progress in the years ahead. Responding, a Department for the Economy spokesperson said: The department welcomes the report published today by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). Access to skills and talent is a key issue for businesses and an essential element of the ministers economic plans. The report comes at an opportune time as we develop a new skills action plan to complement the Skills Fund launched by the minister in July. Many of the outcomes contained in the original skills strategy require collaboration across government, academia and the business community. This partnership approach will be key in delivering better outcomes in this key policy area. Anthony Russells imaginative political and historical fantasy is set to be performed in New Gate Arts and Culture Centre next Friday, 27th September. The humorous play examines the role played by the Orange Order in the social and political development of Ulster over the last 300 years. Was it guilty of treason? In the Court of History James Craig, Lord Craigavon, a man hewn from the rocks of Ulster is called from the grave to represent the Orange Order. Sir Edward Carson, the leader of Irish unionism, defends Craig. The prosecutor is John Mitchel, an unrepentant physical force Irish republican, American Confederate, and supporter of slavery. Thomas DArcy McGee, a leader of the 1848 Rebellion, who was assassinated because he bitterly opposed the Fenian invasions of Canada is called as a witness. McGee died a colonial loyalist and a founding Father of the Canadian Confederation. 80,000 attended his funeral in Montreal. Mrs Elisabeth Crozier, a Presbyterian farmers wife, relives the horror of her death in the Altnaveigh Massacre; carried out by members of the IRAs Fourth Northern Division. The above characters are aware of what has happened in Ulster since they entered the grave and comment accordingly. As in Russells earlier play, the Trial of P H Pearse before the Court of History, the audience is the jury and as such it is asked to leave its prejudice at the door, consider the arguments as presented and reach a verdict guilty or not guilty. The play has been read for historical accuracy by Dr James Quinn of the Royal Irish Academy. It has been performed, by the Newpoint Players, in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and in venues across Ireland, including the Falls and Shankill Roads. As with the Trial of P H Pearse before the Court of History the verdicts have been interesting - and not always predictable. This play offers a superbly engaging dimension to the play, in which it sees the audience debate the issues in the play as jurors in the jury room! Tickets priced at 10 are available here for the upcoming show in New Gate Arts and Culture Centre next Friday, 27th September at 8.00pm. Understand the Origin of the Term To Grasp the Concept How Does Warrant Canary Really Work? History of Warrant Canaries Are Warrant Canaries Worth Employing? Also read: Research Shows There is an Increase in Requests for User Data from US Government What To Do If Warrant Canaries Are Not the Solution? Things to Remember Warrant canaries have been employed since the early years of this century by online service providers for protecting and retaining the privacy of their users. They became a permanent feature of online websites and platforms as a potential solution to the United States Patriot Act, passed in 2001, because most tech giants residing in the USA enable the government agencies to have complete access to all data of users available online. For it was in direct conflict with the privacy policies of websites and tech giants of silicon valley, they resorted to warrant canaries a secret message to their users.Warrant canaries have a history of constant fluctuation. They have been employed and then not employed later. Different companies typed down varied and succinct messages for their users over the years. Were they successful? The answer to this is still not possible. But all this uncertainty is comprehensible when the government is brought into the equation.Sometimes it requires an analogy to explain a concept. Caged Canaries were used in the past to ascertain the presence of poisonous gas in a coal mine. Because canaries are more sensitive than humans to gasses, they could detect them before. If the canary used died, it was a clear warning of a poisonous gas and of not venturing any further.Similarly, websites started using messages on their main pages, depicting that they had not received any request form the government or any of its agencies for data of certain or all people. If that message disappears from their pages, it would be a warning sign, discreetly telling its users that they have received a request from the authorities for data of specific people. These messages came to be called warrant canaries. Like the absence of a canary in a coal mine is a warning sign, so is the absence of these messages on websites.Many tech giants have leveraged warrant canaries, like Reddit and Tumblr. As I have mentioned before about the USA and its legislation regarding access to personal data, the federal government can compel any website owner to provide them data of their users, via NSL National Security Letter. The companies have no option than taking down the warrant canaries on their pagesindicating to their users of behind-the-door requests received. Moreover, they will not be able to use warrant canaries over, for they have once received the request.The following is a warrant canary once used by Reddit:After the legislation of Patriot act, 2001, warrant canaries were a natural consequence for the protection of users data on websites. The company rsync.net became the first one to employ warrant canary for this purpose. It took some time before major players realized the importance of warrant canaries.But things changed drastically in 2013. Edward Snowden , an intelligence contractor and whistleblower, leaked some confidential documents, revealing the surveillance done by the government. The revelation also alarmed the many technology companies that then followed the same path of warrant canaries. Apple started using warrant canaries in 2013, and Reddit and Tumblr soon followed suit. The following was the a brief warrant canary used by Apple:But again, these drastic steps were soon undone: Apple dropped its warrant canary in 2014, so did Reddit in 2016, for unknown reasons.Moreover, to keep a record of all warrant canaries and to spread awareness about them, Canary Watch was formed by different organizations. But it also came to an end in 2016 because it has served its purpose, as per Electronic Frontier Foundation One does not have to be a scientist to realize this fact that the government is as well aware of the warrant canaries as users are. If an intelligence agency wants to have data of users from a specific platform without the platform dropping its warrant canary, it will not be difficult to achieve. The authorities can easily coerce any company to keep its warrant canary displaying that it has not received any order to provide data of certain people. This assumption buries all canaries.The government can even nip this evil in the budevil to the authoritiesby passing a law that bans warrant canaries altogether, just like Australia surveillance law did in 2015. They have not done this yet, which, from one perspective, makes the whole thing suspicious.Sometimes technical issues can also lead to misunderstanding. A warrant canary might disappear once a website is updated and then reappear within a day or days. Or Changing in wording over a period of time could also spread the rumor of the website being forced to hand over some data.This is what the cryptographer, Bruce Schneier, has to say about the effectiveness of warrant canaries:There are some ways on users end that are better in keeping their privacy intact than relying on warrant canaries. As most of these tech. companies are based in the USA, only the countrys laws and government can coerce them to hand over data. But if you have an account on a platform based in another countryother than the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canadayou would be in a much better and safer position. Also, if you provide only a limited amount of data to online platforms, you would not be facing privacy-breached issues altogether, for you have not provided any information that must be kept confidential or that could lead someone to you.Or you can resort to the VPN way. The following VPNs do use warrant canaries, but they keep them updated and enable users to browse anonymouslyNordVPN is the best of them, for it is from Panama, so the American laws are not applicable to it; Surfshark is also a good option, for it is updated on daily basis; PureVPN is last of them and just like Surfshark, it is updated daily.Users must bear in mind that the removal of a warrant canary from a website does not necessarily mean that the website has received a request for data of usersit could be a technical issue. More importantly, even if that is the case, considering yourself to be one of the people whose data is asked for is not wise.Warrant canaries could be called archaic due to the technological evolution in the last decade. Governments have the latest tools in hand to gain access to whatever they want. But in retrospect, warrant canaries would always be tech companies best try at securing users privacy.Image: DIW-AigenRead next: Accessing the Blocked Websites: Follow the Guide to Access Them Without a VPN Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Gold Apollo denies involvement in Lebanon pager explosions; MOEA confirms pager assembly in Taiwan In response to the explosions caused by pagers worn by members of Hezbollah that detonated simultaneously across Lebanon, leading to at least nine deaths and injuring about 2,800, Taiwan-based pager maker Gold Apollo denied having an involvement in the incidents, saying those exploded pagers were made by its partner, according to the latest media coverage on the explosions. Pager type Remains of the involved pagers obtained by media outlets including Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. According to sources, these pagers are the latest models brought in by Hezbollah to evade Israeli tracking of their locations. Gold Apollo stated that the product was manufactured by Hungary-based company BAC Consulting KFT using its Lebanese facilities and the exploded pagers merely bear Gold Apollo's brand labels. Gold Apollo claimed that the European firm started selling products under its brand three years ago. In a written statement, Gold Apollo noted that according to the cooperation agreement of its long-term partnership with BAC, Gold Apollo authorizes BAC to "use [its] brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC." Gold Apollo further stated that the AR-924 model mentioned in recent media reports is produced and sold by BAC, and that the company "only provides the brand trademark authorization and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product." Golden Apollo stresses that it "always complies with relevant regulations and maintains transparent and compliant partnerships with [its] collaborators." About Gold Apollo According to data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan (MOEA), Gold Apollo is a manufacturer engaged in wireless paging system production based in Xizhi, New Taipei City. Its factory in the same city was registered in August 2022. Time, place of explosions According to reports from media outlets including Reuters, Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkiye Today, and Barron's, the explosions occurred around 3:30 pm September 17 and lasted for about an hour. Explosions could be heard from Hezbollah strongholds including Dahiyeh and Bekaa Valley, with the detonation source being the pagers worn by the members of Hezbollah. Security footage shows that the blasts were relatively contained and appeared only to wound the person wearing the pager or closest to it. No major damage to buildings was caused and no fires were started. Cause of explosions Hezbollah stated that it would conduct a "security and scientific investigation" on the incidents with some diplomatic and security sources speculating that the explosions could have been caused by the devices' batteries overheating. However, some experts questioned whether the overheating of batteries would be enough to cause the blasts, especially since their detonation times were so close. Follow-up by the MOEA Despite Gold Apollo's response, the MOEA, after its inquiries with the Taiwanese firm, gave out a different story stating that the company confirmed the pager's production and assembly were completed in Taiwan. The pager only has a receiving function, and the internal battery capacity is about that of a standard AA battery, making it almost impossible to explode and cause casualties. After reviewing media reports and images, the company believes the pager may have been modified after export. Additionally, the Ministry's review of export data showed that from 2022 to August 2024, the company exported a total of 260,000 sets of pagers; 40,929 sets were exported from January to August 2024, with the primary export destinations being European and North American countries. The reported explosion did not occur with these products, and there is no record of direct exports to Lebanon. The MOEA will continue assisting the company in conducting further investigations. Consumers across Ireland have been warned after batches of a product from a popular fast food chain were found to have traces of a very serious allergen. Domino's Pizza and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) issued the warning after finding possible traces of peanut in specific batches of their Garlic & Herb and Mustard & Honey dips. The above batches of Domino's Garlic & Herb dip and Domino's Honey & Mustard dip may contain peanuts that are not declared in the list of ingredients. This may make the affected batches unsafe for consumers who are allergic to or intolerant of peanuts. The popular pizza chain which has nearly 100 premises across Ireland urged customers to throw the affected batches away, following reports that consumers complained of an "itchy mouth" after eating the product. A spokesperson the Domino's said, "At the weekend, we discovered that some batches of Domino's Pizza Garlic & Herb and Honey & Mustard dips contained traces of peanut which could pose a risk for people with peanut allergies. "We have withdrawn all these dips from sale, and ask any customers who have people in their household with peanut allergies not to consume and instead dispose of any of these dips that they have at home. "Domino's takes food safety very seriously and we are working urgently with our supplier to understand how this happened and ensure it doesn't happen again. "There will be disruption to the supply of dips in the coming days while we wait for new supplies to arrive and appreciate customers' understanding during this time." Batches of Aldi's own Carlos Takeaway Garlic & Herb dip are also being recalled due to the possible presence of peanuts, which are not declared in the list of ingredients. The affected batches include Domino's Garlic & Herb dip; pack size 100g and 25g, and Domino's Honey & Mustard dip; pack size: 25g. Affected batches were provided up until Sunday September 15, 2024. Income from Apple back taxes and the sale of bank shares present real possibilities to address housing shortages, the Taoiseach has said. He was responding to a housing supply warning from the Central Bank that said around 52,000 new homes could be needed each year until 2050 the number built last year was around 20,000 short of this. Simon Harris said the report made him more determined to look at supporting house building. He said there were real and exciting one-off opportunities for the spending of 14 billion euro in back taxes and interest from Apple. Mr Harris said there were serious constraints in Irish water and electricity infrastructure. Speaking on arrival for a Cabinet meeting, he added: I have consistently said that I want to see the proceeds of the sale of bank shares put to use for the generation who suffered the most from the awful mismanagement of the country in the past. I think there are significant resources that could be deployed to invest in housing, water and energy as well. Mr Harris said Ireland was spending the second most on housing in Europe in an effort to catch up on loss after the economic crash. The report does show serious pent-up demand in terms of housing in this country. It does make me all the more determined to look at how we can further support agencies and work that we know is working. So one example is the Land Development Agency (LDA). I think the LDA is making a real positive difference. Can we provide that with more funding? So when Ive been talking this summer around what we can do with infrastructure, what we can do with the sales in bank shares, indeed, what we can do with the Apple revenue, I think theres real possibilities here in relation to housing. Tanaiste Micheal Martin said there needed to be a stronger focus on rapid methods of construction. He said Ireland was on track to build 40,000 homes this year, adding that it was possible to increase that with sustained funding over the next number of years. 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 Nearly 6m has been spent since 2019 by Cork City Council to compensate people injured on its footpaths. A city councillor has now questioned why twice as much is being spent on compensating people for falls than fixing the footpaths in 2024 alone. Information released to Social Democrats councillor and general election candidate Padraig Rice shows that, on average, over 1m a year was spent on compensating people injured on footpaths in Cork from 2019 to 2024. Some 1,095,534 was paid out in 2019, 568,006 in 2020, 1,195,316 in 2021, 939,208 in 2022, 1,460,126 in 2023 and 693,221 and in 2024 so far a total of 5,951,411 in five years. Mr Rice told The Echo it was concerning that the council had spent so much on compensation for footpath-related injuries, saying: What is clear to me is that footpaths across the city are in a bad state and in urgent need of replacement and repair. The volume of money being spent on compensation to people who have been injured shows us just how bad the situation is. I have met so many people who tripped and fell on footpaths that are cracked and broken. I have met older people who ended up in hospital. COMPLAINTS Mr Rice said the council received near 2,500 complaints about footpaths in the last six years, saying the issues are causing huge accessibility issues, particularly for people with physical disabilities, people with vision impairments and parents with buggies. A recent Freedom of Information request by The Echo revealed that over 600 complaints were made in 2023 and the first four months of 2024 revealed there are a lot of elderly residents who cannot leave the house as a result of very dangerous footpaths. Mr Rice explained that at the city council meeting in July, councillors were told that the budget for footpath renewal for 2024 was 420,000: We now know that in the first six months of the year, 693,000 was spent compensating people for footpath-related injuries. It makes no sense that the council is spending twice as much on footpath injury compensation than on footpath renewal. The council must vastly increase the money being spent on repairs and renewal to bring down this compensation bill, Mr Rice said, explaining that the current budget only allows for 0.1% of the footpaths in the city to be replaced each year. At the moment, we arent getting enough money from central government to fund important projects like this in Cork, he said. The Echo contacted Cork City Council for comment. Social Democrats councillor and general election candidate for Cork City South Central, Padraig Rice, has called for five key improvements to Tramore Valley Park, including pedestrian access from Ballyphehane. The other improvements are a fully accessible playground; an enclosed area for dogs or a so-called dog park; more bins; and more seating. Tramore Valley Park is a fantastic amenity but hasnt reached its full potential. It needs more investment from Cork City Council, said Cllr Rice. The city council needs to improve pedestrian access to Tramore Valley Park from the Ballyphehane side of the park. It is great that we have the new bridge connecting Grange and Frankfield to Tramore Valley Park, but the people in Ballyphehane cant be left behind. We need pedestrian access from the west side of the park, too. We have to make it easier for everyone to walk or cycle to the park. Tramore Valley Park also needs a playground. Its a no-brainer, added the local councillor. There is plenty of space and so many families living nearby. This new playground must be fully accessible so that people with disabilities are fully included. Cork also needs a dog park, and Tramore Valley Park is an ideal spot. This would be a dedicated space, a fenced-off area where people can let their dogs run off the leash. Ive met lots of dog owners who really want to see this. The park also needs more bins, particularly on the new walkway from Grange, Cllr Rice continued. Lots of local residents have raised concerns about litter in this area. In particular, there needs to be a bin for dog waste. One simple and cheap change would be more seating around the park. Its a great place to run and walk, but sometimes you just need a place to sit down and rest your legs. Cllr Rices recent motion to Cork City Council on the subject was sent to the Local Area Committee and is expected to be put to the council at a later date. Tidy Towns thank Credit Union Ballyphehane Tidy Towns has thanked First South Credit Union for its continued support of the local tidy towns group, and for its investment in the local community. In a statement, Ballyphehane Tidy Towns founder Konrad Im said: Were delighted every year to get support from First South Credit Union. The team is always great for coming along and helping at our events. The financial support goes a long way to supporting the different weekly activities we get involved with every year, so were very thankful for the support, he added. As usual, the Ballyphehane Tidy Towns crew were out and about over the weekend, making sure the local area looks its best and taking part in a number of local projects. To find out more or how to get involved with the group, visit Ballyphehane Tidy Towns on their Facebook page. School open day ahead A local secondary school is gearing up for its annual open day, which takes place next week on Wednesday, September 25. Colaiste Eamann Ris will welcome prospective students and their families to the school to showcase all that the school has to offer in terms of facilities. The open day will take place from 4pm to 8pm, with the principals address at 5pm and again at 7pm. We are looking forward to welcoming new students and their families into our school community, the school said in a statement. Ballyphehane school to offer drama and film as subjects Presentation Secondary School Ballyphehane is among 14 schools across Co Cork that will offer drama, film, and theatre studies as a Leaving Cert subject for the 2025/26 school year. There are 57 schools in phase one. In addition, 43 schools have been selected for Leaving Certificate climate action and sustainable development. Announcing the news in recent days, Education Minister Norma Foley said: It was fantastic to see a strong level of interest from schools of all types in Cork and across the country, in taking part in this first phase of delivering the new Leaving Certificate subjects of drama, film, and theatre studies and climate action and sustainable development. These subjects are being introduced to provide greater choice for students to better reflect their range of interests and support the development of a wider range of talents and skills. I am pleased to announce that 14 Cork schools will be among these new subjects from the start of the 2025/26 school year. The applications received demonstrated the extraordinary talent, qualifications, experience, and commitment by teachers in schools across Ireland interested in introducing these two new subjects to their students, she added. The level and variety of current subject provision in the selected schools and the enthusiasm shown by their school leaders, teachers, students and school communities was nothing short of exemplary and I have every confidence that the rollout of both subjects will be a success. I am most pleased for the students in the 100 post-primary schools across the country who will experience either drama, film, and theatre studies or climate action and sustainable development at senior cycle in this initial phase and who will have the opportunity to develop their interests, strengths and talents in these areas. OLeary Cup victory Ballyphehane GAAs minor team claimed the Paddy OLeary Cup last week. In a statement, the local GAA club congratulated the minor team, the clubs first in 10 years, on their hard work and success. Ballyphehane GAAs minor team. We would like to congratulate our minor team on their win for the Paddy OLeary cup tonight, our first minor team in 10 years. The hard work this team puts in on and off the pitch is a credit to them all. The start of another great thing in our parish. Pipe band needs members The Ballyphehane Pipe Band is seeking new members. Sharing the local bands call for new talent, Ballyphehane Togher CDP issued a statement, saying: Call out for new members for Ballyphehane Pipe Band Cork, youll be sure of a great welcome, lots of support from existing members, and loads of wonderful opportunities to be part of community and city events! Have Ballyphehane news to share? Contact darraghberminghamecho@gmail.com. An axe was produced during an incident when a car was smashed up in the driveway of a house in Montenotte causing 2,000 worth of damage as the owner sat in the drivers seat. Patrick Mooney, of Carloch Court, The Glen, Cork, pleaded guilty to a charge of causing criminal damage and faced sentencing yesterday at Cork District Court. Sergeant John Kelleher said the DPP directed that the case could proceed summarily at district court level, but only on a plea of guilty. At lunchtime on November 18, 2023, gardai received a report of the incident at Clifton Downs, Montenotte. They attended the scene and met the complainant, who told them a man had driven up to the driveway, got out of his car, and was carrying an axe. Sgt Kelleher said: He approached a Renault Grand Scenic in which the owner was sitting in the drivers seat. The man hit the windscreen and drivers door of the vehicle a number of times with the axe, breaking the glass and causing damage. A wing mirror was also broken off the car. The man then left the scene. The incident was fully covered on CCTV, including audio. The suspect was also named by the injured party, who personally knows him. There is a history that should not be disclosed in court. It is a very sensitive issue. Defence solicitor Frank Buttimer said there had not been contact between the parties in the lead-up to this, but something triggered the defendants actions. He said he accepted he should not have acted in this way, he had paid compensation for the damage caused, and there was no risk of repetition. Mr Buttimer suggested it was noteworthy that there was no victim impact statement. Judge Philip OLeary noted the unusual circumstances, the compensation, and the absence of previous convictions. He said that while the grievance was understandable, Mr Mooney went about it the wrong way. The judge dismissed the criminal damage charge under the Probation of Offenders Act. A motion calling for the immediate funding of therapists for St Killians Special School on Corks northside is to be discussed as a matter of urgent importance at Thursdays meeting of the HSE Regional Health Forum in Cork City Hall. The motion is being brought by Peter Horgan, the Labour Party councillor in Cork South East, and follows a meeting held last week between local politicians and parents at the school at which they made an appeal for therapists to be located at the school as a matter of urgency. There have been no occupational therapists, speech and language therapists or behavioural therapists in special schools since early 2020. It followed the introduction of the HSE's Progressing Disability Services programme. Pledge from Minister Disability Minister Anne Rabbitte has pledged to restore therapists to special schools and last November she met with a delegation including the principal and parents from St Killians. During that meeting, she pledged she would make 150,000 available to fund St Killians to hire therapists privately and they put the arrangements in place for this to happen. However, instead of getting access to the promised funding, St Killians Special School was told a pilot scheme would be set up and it would include a number of Cork schools in that initial tranche. When that was announced in late August, however, St Killians was not included. The motion being brought by Mr Horgan seeks to avoid political party argy bargy and is focused on securing the finance that was promised for the interim funding of school therapists in St Killians. If it means other special schools will want to create a similar workaround given the dearth of therapists in the system, so be it, said Mr Horgan. System 'has not worked' The delayed implementation of the pilot scheme served as a backdrop to comments made by Tanaiste Micheal Martin during a radio interview at the Fianna Fail think-in in Dublin this week. The Cork South Central TD expressed his frustration at the lack of therapists in schools and the need to get multi-disciplinary teams into schools. In education, I would argue, and I accept that there are certain areas which annoy me and make me angry therapies for example, said Mr Martin. I think that the system in terms of progressing disability has not worked for parents, has not worked for families, and thats why Fianna Fail want a completely new departure on where weve been on special needs therapists in particular. I want multi-disciplinary teams in our schools, starting with special schools, which we had 20 years ago but the new system which the HSE brought in 2013 and the then Government has not worked and families have not got the therapists or access to therapies they require and thats something I would acknowledge and I have a clear policy platform now which is at variance with what a lot of people in the system would want. Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions were given today for trial at the Central Criminal Court in the case against a man accused of murdering 47-year-old Kieran Quilligan, whose remains were found following an extensive search in East Cork. Sergeant Gearoid Davis said at Cork District Court that the DPP had decided that the case would be dealt with by trial at the Central Criminal Court or by way of a signed plea of guilty at the district court for sentencing at the higher court. Defence solicitor Shane Collins-Daly said that a book of evidence would be required. Judge Philip OLeary adjourned the case until October 30 to allow time for preparation and service of a book of evidence. Niall Long, aged 32, of 35 St Michaels Close, Mahon, appeared at Cork District Court in person on the murder charge as he was granted bail by the High Court in Dublin earlier. He is charged with the single count which states that on a date unknown between September 1, 2023, and January 29, 2024, at an unknown location within the State, in the District Court area of Cork city he did murder Kieran Quilligan, contrary to Common Law. Kieran Quilligan. Photo: Facebook When originally charged with murder, Mr Long made no reply after being put under caution. Gardai commenced a murder investigation following the discovery of human remains found on Monday, January 29, at Rostellan in East Cork. The late Mr Quilligan had been a missing person since September 2023, and a search had been ongoing. Assistant state pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster, carried out a postmortem examination of the remains at Cork University Hospital. Following this, there was a DNA examination of samples sent to the Forensic Science Ireland laboratory in Dublin, and confirmation that the remains were those of Mr Quilligan. The human remains were found at the bottom of an excavated ditch off the Midleton to Whitegate road past Whitewell Cross and the turn-off for Rostellan, by a sniffer dog and his handlers. A 1,500 designer handbag was stolen from the staff quarters of an Italian restaurant and now the Cork woman who snatched it has been jailed for seven months. Margaret Foley of Grenville Court, Grenville Place, Cork, was arrested by Garda Cian Hennessy and charged with burglary on March 19. She was identified on CCTV entering Bella Napoli on Academy Street and going into a staff-only area and stealing the handbag. A member of staff followed the accused to South Main Street and later pointed her out to gardai who found her in a highly intoxicated state. Ms Foley, aged 37, was represented by Diarmuid Kelleher solicitor. She also admitted shoplifting on May 9 at Herlihys Centra Cork city where a small amount of alcohol was stolen. On June 10 at Clontarf Street, she was seen pushing and pulling another female in an aggressive manner. Sergeant John Kelleher said the defendant got on top of the injured party and tried to continue the assault while shouting insulting comments. Sgt Kelleher said the defendant had 32 convictions for being intoxicated, 14 for threatening behaviour, 50 for theft and two for burglary. Diarmuid Kelleher said the accused was serving a circuit court sentence but was out on temporary release when she committed these new offences. She would have been out on temporary release and brought back into prison again. She is on remand since July 11, Mr Kelleher said. Judge Philip OLeary said that as well as the victim being at a financial loss she was also at a loss of documentation and had the fear of it recurring. The judge imposed a seven-month sentence on her for burglary. Ah, Saturdays. You gotta love em. But last Saturday was a bit different. Last Saturday was a momentous day. Last Saturday reminded us about what can happen when some men get a notion in their heads. Last Saturday, Rebecca Cheptegei, 33, an Olympic runner and a sergeant in the Ugandan army, was buried in her familys village with full military honours, including a gun salute that befitted her rank. Rebecca died after being set on fire by her former boyfriend three weeks after her final race in the Paris Olympics. According to the police, she and her boyfriend had argued over a piece of land Rebecca had bought in neighbouring Kenya. The boyfriend got a notion in his head. He doused her with petrol and set her ablaze. Female athletes in Kenya reportedly run a high risk of violence from the men drawn to their prize money. Men who get notions. Last Saturday was also a momentous day in France. There were protests in Paris, Marseilles. and elsewhere over what has been described as the countrys worst mass rape case. France is in turmoil over the horrendous litany of abuse allegedly visited on grandmother Gisele Pelicot, now in her early 70s, who requested that details of the trial be made public because she is determined that shame changes sides. At some point in their marriage, it seems, Giseles husband of 50 years (now her ex-husband) got a notion in his head. It is alleged that for 10 long years, Dominique Pelicot routinely stirred a mix of prescription medication into his wifes food and invited men via an online chat room to sexually assault her at home in Provence while she lay unconscious. Over time, Gisele began to fear wrongly, as it turned out - that the regular blackouts and memory lapses she was experiencing were being caused by Alzheimers. More than 50 men aged from their twenties to pensioners in their 70s now stand accused of raping this elderly woman in what has been described as an unholy trinity of voyeurism, drugs and secret surveillance. Its believed another 30 or more alleged rapists have not been identified. A bunch of real, upstanding members of society these, according to the reports, which say the group includes a journalist, a prison officer, a soldier, a fireman, a civil servant. Even a former police officer. As somebody put it, the accused are Everyman. Many of those accused of raping a drugged, unconscious old woman without, it has been reported, even affording her the protection of a condom - have chosen to wear masks in the courtroom where they are standing trial on charges of aggravated rape. They face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. Last Thursday, the trial had to be suspended after the ex-husband - who has admitted the charges against him - was taken ill on the day he was to be cross-examined. The judge warned the hearing might have to be postponed if Pelicot remains unable to give and hear evidence. Heres another, different Saturday, to remember. Saturday, March 21, 2015. On that day, the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs in Afghanistan very belatedly declared that 27-year-old Farkhunda Malikzada, a young teacher studying Islamic Law, had not, in fact, burned a copy of the Koran. Two days earlier, on Thursday, March 19, 2015, Farkhunda had stopped at a shrine in the centre of Kabul to pray. She had argued with the caretaker about the selling of charms little scraps of paper bearing verses from the Koran which she believed were superstitious. The man began shouting that shed burned the Koran. Farkhunda strongly denied she had done so. Lots of other men arrived. All, it seems, ravenously hungry for the scent of a womans blood. Farkhunda was dragged out, pushed to the ground, and kicked. Police arrived, and for a while managed to hold off an angry crowd. A video there are several on the internet if you look shows Farkhunda sitting on the ground, covered in blood, deeply shocked, her veil and headscarf gone. One of her shoes has fallen off. As the mob grows in strength, the police give up, back away, and look on as the young woman is beaten with sticks and run over by a car that then drags her for up to 300 metres. Farkhunda is thrown onto the dry riverbed. Eventually her body is set on fire. The subsequent investigation found no evidence that Farkhunda had burned the Koran. Most of those men to be seen on the video were not, it has been reported, religious extremists. They were ordinary Afghans in jeans and t-shirts. They were Everyman. But they behaved like wolves. A memorial now marks the place of Farkhundas death. Her coffin was carried only by women. She was declared a martyr. The street where she was murdered was named after her. Eleven police officers were sentenced to a year in prison for their failure to defend her. Eight civilians were given 16-year terms. Four death sentences were handed down. These were later quashed and replaced by prison sentences. Yet now its 2024 and women cannot, by law, speak aloud in public in Afghanistan. They cannot show their faces in public. They are locked out of school. All because somewhere along the line, some men got notions in their heads. About women. And what we should do. About what we should not do. And, in response, these men felt entitled to act whatever way they wanted, no matter how illegal or deviant their behaviour. Wouldnt it give you pause for thought? When you remember Aisling Murphy? And all the many, many others; all the endless lists of girls and women battered, abused, raped, tortured, or murdered because some man got a notion in his head. By Jonathan McCambridge and David Young, PA Micheal Martin has insisted that Fianna Fail MEPs opposition to the re-election of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had no influence on the portfolio handed to Irelands new EU commissioner. Ms von der Leyen nominated former Fianna Fail minister for finance Michael McGrath as the next Commissioner for Justice on Tuesday. Ireland had been lobbying for an economic portfolio when the posts in the new-look Commission were distributed among member states. Fianna Fail leader Mr Martin was asked on Tuesday whether Ireland might have stood a better chance of getting a post with fiscal responsibilities if not for the failure by his partys four MEPs to publicly back the re-election of Ms von der Leyen in July. Mr Martin, who was attending the second day of his partys think-in event in Killiney, Co Dublin, dismissed the suggestion, saying he had spoken to Ms von der Leyen and she made clear the vote in the European Parliament was not an issue. She was very clear to me that the parliamentary vote, she was long past that, he said. She had met Michael, she was impressed with him, and she had to balance a whole range of other issues, so that was not a consideration in her determination in respect of the composition of the commission and the allocation of portfolios. Mr McGrath insisted his portfolio was an indication of Irelands standing as a country, and Taoiseach Simon Harris said it was a strong and influential appointment. The European Commission president revealed the portfolios for the new team of commissioners in Strasbourg on Tuesday morning. The appointments still have to be ratified by the European Parliament. Mr McGrath was handed the Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law portfolio. I am honoured to be proposed for the Justice portfolio by President von der Leyen and I look forward to engaging with the European Parliament ahead of the hearings for the new commission in the weeks ahead, he said. The portfolio is a vitally important one for Europe. Protecting our democratic values, rule of law and the rights of our citizens is fundamental to the future development of the EU and of the single market. It is the first time that Ireland will hold this portfolio and is a recognition of our standing as a country with a strong democratic and open society. Ursula von der Leyen (Joe Giddens/PA) He added: In addition to the core justice elements of my portfolio, I am very pleased to be given responsibility for the protection of consumer rights across the EU. I welcome this opportunity to apply my skills to new areas of responsibility and I am grateful for the confidence placed in me by the Government and by President von der Leyen. The Commissioner for Justice is responsible for leading the EUs efforts to tackle breaches of law by member states. The commissioner is also responsible for enforcing legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Ms von der Leyen said: I have entrusted him (Mr McGrath) with the responsibility to take forward the European Democracy Shield. He will also lead our work on the rule of law, anti-corruption and consumer protection. Michael McGrath has an excellent track record, and he has experience in a leading ministry. So working his way through political questions, the commissioners are not technical experts. They are political leaders. Mr Harris said: I have worked closely with President Ursula von der Leyen in recent weeks and todays announcement is a vote of confidence in Irelands candidate. Anti-corruption and consumer protection will be amongst his many powers and duties, as well as the wide-ranging justice portfolio. I have worked with Michael at Cabinet and he has the skill set and the work ethic to make a massive impact in this brief. Sean McCarthaigh A supermarket has been ordered to pay 6,000 to a member of the Roma community from Romania for refusing him service in its store last year. The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the unnamed Centra supermarket, which is located in a provincial town, had discriminated against the customer on grounds of being a member of the Traveller/Roma community. The man had accused the supermarket of breaching the Equal Status Act by refusing him service when he called to the outlet with his 13-year-old daughter on October 5th, 2023. The supermarket rejected the claim and maintained the customer was asked to leave the premises after being abusive to staff and calling them racists. However, the WRC said the supermarkets account of events that the man became abusive and aggressive at the till for no apparent reason was illogical". CCTV footage It claimed the evidence of witnesses on behalf of the supermarket was unconvincing in several key aspects including the deletion of the most crucial piece of CCTV footage and a denial of receiving registered post about the WRC case. WRC adjudication officer, Thomas ODriscoll, said he was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the supermarket had denied the customer service based on a stereotype of persons with Roma heritage". Mr ODriscoll said it was likely that the supermarket staff knew the customer and his family were of Roma heritage as they had previously attended the store and lived locally. However, he concluded that the staff were under instruction to deny the man service if he appeared in the store. Ordering the supermarket to pay 6,000 compensation, the WRC said the humiliation which the man claimed he suffered in front of his young daughter was a serious aggravating factor and the award should be dissuasive". It ruled that the customer had established a prima facie case of discrimination on grounds of being a member of the Traveller/Roma community and that he had also been harassed over the manner of his subsequent ejection from the supermarket. Complaint However, it rejected the mans claim that he had been victimised for having lodged a complaint on behalf of his wife in relation to an earlier incident in the same store. In evidence, the complainant outlined how he was told by a female shop assistant when he went to the counter that he was not allowed in the store. The WRC heard the complainants wife was barred from the supermarket over a previous incident in April 2023 when the owner had approached her about the disruptive behaviour of her children. However, the man told the WRC that he felt humiliated by his own experience in the supermarket and contemplated moving his family out of the town because of the hurt. Under cross-examination the man accepted that it was untrue for him to have accused the shop assistant of throwing his items on the ground. The shop assistant told the WRC that she immediately felt anxious and intimidated as the customer approached her before he had said a word. The woman denied telling him that he was barred from the shop and gave evidence that the issue had nothing to do with nationality". The assistant manager said he had asked the customer to calm down after hearing a commotion near the checkout before asking the customer to leave the store for being aggressive and calling staff racists". However, he accepted he had told gardai that the customer became aggressive and called staff racists after he was told he had been barred. Evidence The owner of the supermarket gave evidence that he was not aware that the customer and his family were from the Roma community. He estimated he had refused service to over 100 people, including both Irish and foreign nationals, for a variety of reasons over 18 years. A Garda told the WRC that he had found the customer, who had made a 999 call, in a very irate mood when he arrived outside the shop. He said the man accused him of being a racist while also being aggressive and standing too close to him. The Garda said the man produced a copy of the Irish Constitution claiming he was Irish too and demanding his rights. The WRC heard that the customer was not barred from the post office which the supermarket owner also operated next door to the Centra store. In his ruling, Mr ODriscoll said there was a fundamental conflict in the evidence but noted that the shop assistants verbal evidence was inconsistent with her written statement on a critical point for which she could give no plausible reason". Mr ODriscoll described the evidence of the supermarket owner that he had never received two registered letters which had sought CCTV footage from the store as implausible. The WRC official noted the businessman operated a post office but had made no further inquiries with either his employees or An Post about potential unlawful interference with registered post. Mr ODriscoll said he could reasonably infer that the non-release of the requested footage, shifted the burden of proof onto the supermarket. While the customer was also inconsistent in his own evidence, the WRC claimed it preferred his version of events which were cogent and persuasive". Tracy McCarthy had been toying with the idea of her latest business venture for a few years before she finally took the plunge. She was no stranger to the world of entrepreneurship, having run a Primark (Penneys) store in London when she was just 22, and having set up Clonakilty Home Made Ice cream, over 20 years ago. She then went on to establish Head to Toe Therapies, with clinics in Kinsale and Clonakilty. However, the mum-of-six still needed some convincing before launching Naturally Balanced, an exquisite artisan range of body oils, face oils, foot soaks, soaps, and more. It is tough starting any new venture, and as women our confidence to make changes can be very slow, Tracy admits. I was being encouraged to make this journey by a very good friend a few years before I actually did because I was fearful to do so. I was a separated mum to six beautiful children, trying to make the decision between having a regular income to pay bills and support my family, or go self-employed with no financial backing. Naturally Balanced. When her youngest child was three, Tracy wanted to do something for herself and went back to college part-time. I always had a love for reflexology, so I pursued that and I loved it. I was instantly hooked and I went on to study massage, beauty, neuromuscular, plus a wide range of therapies. While studying, I went on to work in spas and a holistic centre and gained much experience. Later in this journey, I got the opportunity to teach in a private college in Cork, and while teaching my love of skin came through, understanding why what we put on it is so important. So I began to blend oils for my clients and Naturally Balanced was born, she said. Living in Ireland since 1993, she moved to Kinsale eight years ago, where she makes her hand-blended products, and says her approach is all about feeding the skin from the outside in. We produce the oils here in Kinsale and have recently moved to a new premises on Barrack Lane. Tracy has availed of the support of her Local Enterprise Office to help her business journey and said it has been invaluable. Tracy McCarthy of Naturally Balanced. I had a vision for Naturally Balanced and I needed advice and help for this vision to evolve, and they have been amazing. Every time I went knocking, they have always been there to guide me in what I need, this also included networking, mentoring, courses and finance, she said. Tracy is a strong advocate of self-care, but says that looks different for everyone. What I tell my clients, and from my own journey, is that if you dont look after yourself, you cant look after others. To make time or pre-plan time is always the hardest achievement for working mums with a family, but you have to step back for five minutes without guilt and ask yourself, what can I do for me, even if its going to meet a friend for a walk, a hobby, a drive in the country, or to listen to music. Tracys children range in age from 30 to 18. We dont have twins and at one stage had six children under the age of 12. When my kids were small, I used to go to the beach, sit in the car with the seat back, and close my eyes for a few minutes at a time. Its your time out, your reboot, she said. For me now, its sitting in the evening and completing my facial routine with Naturally Balanced facial oils, with a sense of pride that Ive produce a product that is true to me no additives, completely natural. Her best business advice so far? Never give up, it is tough putting yourself out there, but for every opportunity that might not work, keep moving forward to find another. See naturallybalanced.ie 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. A drone photo shows effects of drought on the Madeira River in the state of Rondonia, Brazil on Sept. 13, 2024. Wang Tiancong / Xinhua via Getty Images Amid a record-breaking drought, major river basins in the Amazon Rainforest are reaching their lowest levels ever recorded, with some even running dry. According to data from the Brazilian Geological Service (SGB), the Madeira River reached 48 centimeters at Porto Velho on September 17. By comparison, the average water level of the river at this point has been 3.32 meters. As Mongabay reported, the Madeira River, which stretches 1,450 kilometers (900 miles), makes up about 15% of water in the Amazon Basin and is the largest tributary of the Amazon River. The Solimoes, another major tributary to the Amazon River, reached its lowest recorded level in Tabatinga, Brazil this week, and part of the Solimoes River in Tefe had completely dried up by September 17, Reuters reported. On Monday, the Purus River reached a water level more than 2 meters below its previous historic low recorded in 1983, Mongabay reported. We are going through a critical year, Greenpeace spokesperson Romulo Batista told Reuters. Last year was already the hottest year in the last 125,000 years. This year several months have broken last years records. The record-breaking water levels across the Amazon Basin comes as Brazil faces its worst drought in 70 years, since records began. As The Associated Press reported, 59% of the country is under stress from the drought. This is the first time that a drought has covered all the way from the North to the countrys Southeast, Ana Paula Cunha, drought researcher at Brazils National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN), said in a statement last week. It is the most intense and widespread drought in history. But conditions could worsen still, as the dry season for the region usually lasts through November, BBC reported. More records will be broken, Cunha told Mongabay. The next round of rain is expected to be delayed, so you can expect more rain only in November, or even later. Several factors have played a role in the extensive drought, including climate change, the El Nino event that started in 2023 and decades of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Weve seen floods not only in Brazil, but around the world, droughts and a lot of fires here in the Amazon, in the Serrado, in the Pantanal and around the world, Batista said. Climate change is no longer something to worry about in the future, ten or twenty years from now, its here and its here with much more force than we expected. 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. EVs tested by the Norwegian Electric Car Association in February of 2023 in Troms, Norway. From left: BMW iXi; MG4; Nissan Ariya; Kia Niro EV; Renault Megane E-Tech. elbilforeningen / Instagram In a major milestone, electric cars (EVs) now outnumber gas-powered cars in Norway for the first time, according to the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), as AFP reported. Of private cars registered in the country, 754,303 of 2.8 million are all-electric, with 753,905 running on gas. This is historic. A milestone few saw coming 10 years ago, said Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of OFV, in a statement. The electrification of the fleet of passenger cars is going quickly, and Norway is thereby rapidly moving towards becoming the first country in the world with a passenger car fleet dominated by electric cars. Norway, home to 5.5 million people, is one of the biggest oil exporters in the world, reported BBC News. But the country is now looking to become the first country to stop selling new gas- and diesel-powered cars by next year. EV sales in the Nordic country have been given a lift by incentives like tax breaks, largely funded by profits from oil and gas. Diesel cars are still the most prominent in Norway, with nearly one million, but sales are rapidly decreasing, AFP reported. Thorsen said the speed with which the countrys car fleet is turning over suggests that in 2026 we will have more electric cars than diesel cars. Thorsen added that, as far as he was aware, no other country in the world is in the same situation with more EVs than fossil fuel-powered cars. The International Energy Agency said 3.2 percent of cars in the world last year were EVs, but unlike in Norway, the data included rechargeable hybrids. In August, nearly all 94.3 percent of Norways new car registrations were EVs. Were almost there, Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association Chief Christina Bu told AFP. Now the government just has to make a little extra effort in the 2025 budget bill (to be presented to parliament on October 7) and resist the temptation to raise taxes on EVs while continuing to increase those on fuel cars. The fast transition to EVs over the past 20 years has helped Norway with its climate targets, which include a greenhouse gas reduction of 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030. However, though the country reduced its emissions by 4.7 percent compared with the year before, the decline was just 9.1 percent lower than 1990 levels. For the first time in Sweden, new EV sales declined this year, Mobility Sweden said, likely due to the government removing a rebate on buying EVs. In the rest of Europe, EV sales started falling toward the end of last year, accounting for 12.5 percent of new auto sales since the beginning of 2024, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. Thinktank Transport & Environment predicted EV new car registrations would dramatically increase next year to from 20 to 24 percent. For all the complaints and protestations of impossibility, the Nordic countries have by and large left gas behind. All have high EV penetration, led by Norway, and there have not been any of the widespread problems that fossil fuel propaganda constantly tries to convince you that high EV use would lead to, reported Electrek. The AI tools will be available in German, Italian, Korean and other languages next year, but theres a catch. The rollout of Apple Intelligence will be fairly slow-paced, with Apple gradually adding new features and support for more languages over the coming months. The company has now confirmed support for several more languages as Apple Intelligence will be available in German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese and Vietnamese in 2025. Thats in addition to previously announced support for Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish. Apple will initially offer Apple Intelligence in the US in English with the release of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 in October. As such, you wont have access to the tools immediately if you pick up an iPhone 16 when Apples latest smartphone lineup ships on Friday. The tools will be available in localized English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK in December. Apple will also start rolling out the features in India and Singapore in English next year. Further language support is to be announced. There is one key thing worth noting as part of the Apple Intelligence rollout, however. Apple is not planning to broadly offer the tools in the European Union or Chinese mainland right away. So while youll be able to use Apple Intelligence in Portuguese or French, you might not necessarily be able to do so while youre in Portugal or France. Apple Intelligence will not currently work if you are in the EU and if your Apple ID Country/Region is also in the EU, Apple notes in a support article. If traveling outside of the EU, Apple Intelligence will work when your device language and Siri language are set to a supported language. Also, as things stand, Apple Intelligence wont work on phones bought on the Chinese mainland. Those traveling to China with an iPhone they bought elsewhere also wont have access to the tools if their Apple ID Country/Region is set to mainland China. Apple is hoping to bring Apple Intelligence to the EU and China, however. The company told TechCrunch that it's in talks with regulators in both markets over the issue. Apple is initially withholding the AI tools from the EU over concerns related to the Digital Markets Act. Update 9/18 10:41AM ET: Added a note that Apple is in discussions with the EU and China over Apple Intelligence. Kremlin-affiliated Russian troll farms are running disinformation campaigns that aim to interfere with this year's US presidential elections, and according to Microsoft, they're focusing their efforts on discrediting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. The company has published a new report detailing the movements of two troll farms being monitored by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center. These Kremlin-backed actors apparently struggled to find the right approach shortly after President Biden stepped down as a candidate, but in late August and early September, one of them started circulating inauthentic videos that managed to generate millions of views. One video depicted a supposed attack by Harris supporters on Trump rally attendees. Another video used an actor to accuse Harris of being involved in a 2011 hit-and-run incident that paralyzed a 13-year-old girl. The second video, which went viral, was released by a days-old website pretending to be a San Francisco based media outlet. Meanwhile, the second troll farm stopped producing content about the 2024 Paris Olympics games and started creating videos showing Harris in a bad light. One fake video showed a New York City billboard claiming that Harris wants to change children's gender. It was initially published on Telegram, before being shared on X and getting more than 100,000 views within just a few hours. Microsoft warned that people should expect more Russian-made disinformation materials, including more staged and AI-edited videos, to circulate online as we get closer to the election. Earlier this month, the US government indicted two employees of Russian state media outlet RT, accusing them of planning to pay a Tennessee company $10 million to spread 2,000 propaganda videos on social media. The Treasury Department also sanctioned ANO Dialog, a Russian nonprofit that was allegedly involved with a campaign known as "Doppelganger," to create fake websites that would appear to American readers as legitimate major news sites. Microsoft said in its new report that it suspended more than 20 accounts connected to ANO Dialog. Meta also recently banned RT and other Russian state media outlets "for foreign interference activity." According to its notes, which the company shared with Engadget, it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to interfere with foreign governments and to evade detection in the past. It said that it expects them to keep trying to "engage in deceptive influence attempts across the internet." It's not just Russia that's trying to influence the outcome of this year's US presidential elections, though. Microsoft, Google and even the feds published reports back in August that Iranian hackers had been trying to spear-phish several advisers of the Biden-Harris and Trump campaigns. Microsoft also found campaigns made to sway votes in the US by groups connected with the Iranian government. One such group created a website that attacks and insults former President Donald Trump. This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Angelina Jolie has consulted a plastic surgeon regarding her son Pax Jolie-Pitt's facial scar. Pax was left with a large scar on his forehead after getting into a harrowing e-bike accident in Los Angeles on July 29. As he continues to recover from his injuries, Jolie has sought the help of a plastic surgeon to remove or reduce her 20-year-old son's facial scar, the Daily Mail reported. RELATED: Brad Pitt 'Extremely' Emotional After Son Pax Nearly Killed In Accident An unnamed insider told the outlet that the Oscar-winning actress "wanted to make sure Pax did not have a terrible scar on his face so she asked a top plastic surgeon in Los Angeles to look at him and take care of it." Jolie reportedly "made the call herself and was there during the consultation," the insider added. Describing Jolie as a "very hands-on mother," the source said the "Girl, Interrupted" actress "does whatever she can for her kids." Pax joined his famous mother on the red carpet for the premiere of "Without Blood" at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. RELATED: Witnesses Feared Pax Jolie-Pitt Died In Bike Accident; Angelina's Son Already Had 'Multiple' Crashes: Report Pax worked as an assistant director on the war movie, which was directed by Jolie and stars Salma Hayek. Photos from the premiere showed Pax smiling as he posed in a black suit with a black tie and sunglasses. A red scar was visible above his left eye. Standing proudly next to her son was Jolie, who stunned in a black gown and matching gloves. Pax also worked on several of his mom's films over the years, including "Maleficent," "First The Killed My Father" and "Maria." Anna Delvey, the "fake heiress" who conned New York's elite into thinking she was a socialist with a $60 million fortune, has swapped her Rikers Island prison garb for a flashy sequin two-piece set and matching bedazzled ankle monitor. As Sabrina Carpenter's summer hit "Espresso" played, Delvey took the stage for her 'Dancing with the Stars' debut in which she attempted the cha-cha with her professional dance partner Ezra Sosa Tuesday. The number opened with Delvey posing behind a row of bags with an "AD" logo on them. Delvey then walks toward the bags, striking another pose before the camera zooms in on her pink bedazzled ankle monitor. For the remainder of the one-minute dance, Delvey, 33, and Sosa stiffly danced in front of four gigantic hologram Anna Delvey perfume bottles against a pink-and-black image while confetti fell. The routine ended with a background of just one Anna Delvey perfume bottle engulfed with flames while real confetti falls on the dance couple. The 'Dancing with the Stars' judges, Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Derek Hough, awarded Delvey generous 6s across the board. Social media users had mixed reactions to Delvey's debut. While some called the bedazzled ankle monitor "stylish" and "camp," others found it disgraceful that Delvey was allowed to compete in the first place. not gonna lie, I dig Anna Delvey's Ankle Monitor! who knew that an Ankle Monitor can be stylish?#DancingWithTheStars Thomas Levesque (@LevesqueT) September 18, 2024 Anna Delvey on DWTS doing Espresso and the first shot is her ankle monitor? the definition of camp pic.twitter.com/GWW4hUgQd3 juani or juano or juanito or juan (@JuaniElTrece) September 18, 2024 Anna Delvey's bejeweled ankle monitor was the #DWTS equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig ... pic.twitter.com/lte9qqgL24 SocialFly (@socflyny) September 18, 2024 #annadelvey on #dwts is probably the worst I've ever seen. Can't believe she's even on. With her bedazzled ankle monitor. DemocracyIsWinning (@slightlyquirky) September 18, 2024 dancing with the stars is the least serious show on television bc why am i watching anna delvey wearing a bedazzled ankle monitor dancing to a clean cover of espresso rn amanda (@catsontrack) September 18, 2024 Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, inspired the Netflix series 'Inventing Anna.' Anna Delvey, born in 1991, grew up in a middle-class family, according to 'PEOPLE.' In the summer 2019, she left home for Paris to study. From there, she took a trip to New York City for New York Fashion Week on behalf of the outlet 'Purple.' It was at this event that she took on the alias Anna Delvey. Delvey began to tell people that she was a German heiress. Using her powers of persuasion and fake identity, she managed to make her way through the lives of the rich and famous without raising too much of an eyebrow. She stayed in luxury hotels to give off the appearance of great wealth, expenses she would pay off with a credit card which she could not repay. She continuously claimed that she had an over $60 million fortune overseas which gave those around her a sense of security. Her most prevalent scheme was trying to secure investment funds for a members-only club she was establishing, according to 'The Blast.' On October 3, 2017, Anna Delvey was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department during a sting operation. According to 'PEOPLE,' Delvey stole an approximate total of $275,000. In 2019, she was found guilty on eight different charges, including fraud and grand larceny theft. She was sentenced to serve four to twelve years in prison and made to pay $200,000 in restitution and a $24,000 fine. Kate Middleton has reportedly returned to royal duties for the first time since July after completing her cancer treatment. The Princess of Wales met with the Centre for Early Childhood team members, according to 'Us Weekly,' on Tuesday, Sept. 17. The Centre for Early Childhood, who conducts research into childhood development, was founded in 2021 and is part of Prince William and Kate's Royal Foundation. "The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle," the Court Circular's event entry read, per 'The Telegraph.' Read more: Kate Middleton Makes Rare Statement Congratulating The New UK Chief Scout Amid Cancer Battle Kate, 42, shared an update after completing chemotherapy in a vulnerable video released by Kensington Palace on September 10. In the emotional video, Kate called this year "incredibly tough," explaining how "life as you know it can change in an instant." "Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus," she said, nearly six months after revealing she had an unspecified form of cancer. "In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful," Kate said at the time in a prior recorded message. "However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present." "The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family," the Princess of Wales said, adding how her "cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you." In her latest video message, Kate, who has been out of the public eye for much of this year, could be seen walking in a forest, driving a car, and spending time with her family; Prince William and their children, Prince George, 11, Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6. "With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything," Kate said in the voiceover. According to 'BBC,' Kate could attend her annual Christmas carol concert. Hayden Panettiere opened up about her younger brother's death and explained how it started her agoraphobia amid fan's reactions about her new "look." In 2023, Panettiere's younger brother Jansen died due to an enlarged heart and other complications regarding the organ. The 'Nashville' actress spoke for the first time in an interview with 'PEOPLE' about how her loss caused her weight gain and a catalyst for her agoraphobia. The Mayo Clinic defines agoraphobia as a condition that "involves fearing and avoiding places or situations that might cause panic and feelings of being trapped, helpless or embarrassed." "He was my only sibling, and it was my job to protect him. When I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul... I will always be heartbroken about [him], I will never be able to get over it. No matter how many years go by, I will never get over his loss," the 35-year-old said. She added: "It didn't matter what I did, what I ate. I know stress and cortisol running through your body can do that. Now I think my body was protecting itself, shielding itself from the world." However, as a woman in the public eye, the paparazzi did not give her peace from this even on the day of her brother's funeral. The New York native was captured in photos after she left Jansen's funeral. "I had to see horrific paparazzi pictures of myself coming out of Jansen's funeral, which happened in a very private place, and it was shocking. I didn't recognize myself. My agoraphobia came out, which is something I've struggled with in the past," she recalled to the outlet. "Having grown up in this industry, you're terrified if you don't look decent when you walk out the door." Fans took to the outlet's Instagram comments to speculate about her looks. "Yall should be ashamed posting this interview," wrote one social media user. Another viewer commented, "This gal has really been through it," with three crying emojis. Others in the comments offered their support and grace after her heartbreaking loss. Read more: Hayden Panettiere Warns Boyfriend About Jail While in a Heated Bar Fight "I lost my brother (only sibling) 25 years ago in November and it still knocks the wind out of me at times. Miss him every single day. The "what ifs" get me daily," one user penned. "The truth is, you never get over that kind of loss. You just learn to live with the sadness," a fourth wrote. Despite her phobia and online discourse, her team has helped her gain her confidence back. Panettiere is now gearing up for the release of her newest project 'Amber Alert.' "It's nice being back. I waited for a while to make sure I was making the right choice about what project I was going to do first," she said. 'Amber Alert,' a Lionsgate action thriller starring Panettiere and Tyler James Williams, will be released on September 27th. Eva Mendes shared that she may never act again and that her husband Ryan Gosling is to blame. After her appearance in the 2014 film 'Lost River,' the actress took a decade-long break from the screen. In an interview with 'Good Morning America,' Mendes was asked about her plans to make a return to acting when she revealed, "I don't know" on Tuesday. The 'All About the Benjamins' star suggested that she would only return "if there's interesting roles." Furthermore, Mendes shared that at the time she was leaving, she was already beginning to feel old in the industry. "I left at a time where it was also like... 10 years ago, I kinda felt like I did it, ya know?" Mendes, who is married to Ryan Gosling and is the mother of two daughters, Esmeralda, 10, and Amada, 8, says working with Gosling largely influenced her decision to step away from performing for a bit. She remembered working alongside her 43-year-old husband as an incredibly positive experience. "I was like, I just worked with Ryan Gosling, who's, like, the best," she said. "And I had such a I don't know it was such a high off my career to work with him and what we created together that I was like, 'This is a good time to just 'Seinfeld' it and just walk out.' So, who knows?" During a 2022 interview with 'Variety,' Mendes confessed how she doesn't "really miss it." "I got tired fighting for the good roles," she added. "There just was a point where I thought, 'I'm going to create my own opportunities and become a producer on things and create my own material,' but it just didn't feel worth it to me." This wasn't the only time her spouse had affected her career choices. Mendes shared on 'The View' in 2022 that she wanted to prioritize their family. She expressed gratitude for being able to focus on raising their kids while the 'Barbie' actor continued his acting career. Mendes noted how "It was almost a nonverbal agreement" about her stepping back from Hollywood to ensure that their family remained a top priority. While not appearing on the silver screen, the Miami, Florida, native appeared on the morning show to discuss her new children's book, "Desi." "It's a buddy story about this little girl and her brain," the 'Other Guys' actress said. "And Desi has these never-ending worries I have them as well and she tries to work with her brain to kind of like, you know, make sure it's not being a bully to her by sending all these negative thoughts her way and that it's being like a BFF to her. And so it's about that relationship." "Desi" is currently available for purchase. Kristina Khorram, Sean "Diddy" Combs' chief of staff, has been described as his "right hand" and a vital part of his operations. However, recent allegations have painted a darker picture, with sources calling her the "Ghislaine Maxwell to Sean Combs' Jeffrey Epstein" due to her alleged involvement in his sex trafficking ring. Khorram has not been arrested or charged with any crime. As Diddy, 54, faces serious charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, Khorram's name has repeatedly come up. Insiders allege that she was deeply involved in organizing elaborate sex parties allegedly involving both adult and underage participants at the producer's alleged "freak offs." According to sources who spoke with the 'New York Post,' "Kristina would know everything," as she was more of a "manipulator-in-chief" within Diddy's inner circle. The indictment claims that Khorram, alongside other employees at Combs Enterprises, played a significant role in orchestrating these allege events. Accusations suggest that she helped arrange hotel rooms, gathered necessary supplies, and solicited sex workers, some of whom were reportedly underage. In a complaint filed by music producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones, Khorram was accused of being "instrumental" in assisting and facilitating the alleged trafficking operation. Khorram's involvement extends beyond just logistics, as Jones' lawsuit describes her as knowingly participating in the alleged illegal enterprise. The complaint portrays her as someone who "knowingly and intentionally" helped manage the sex-trafficking network. The Bad Boy Records' founder has long praised Khorram's essential role in his life, crediting her with helping him navigate his daily responsibilities. In 2020, the father of seven publicly shared that she "keeps my world twirling" and ensures he remains in good spirits, helping him avoid "dark places." A year later, the disgraced hip hop producer reiterated her importance, sharing that she had been his "right hand" for eight years. "Don't know how I'd function without her," he said. Kristina Khorram, who began her career at Bad Boy Records in 2013, was promoted to Diddy's chief of staff in 2020. Her now-deleted LinkedIn profile showed her rise within the company. The "All About the Benjamins" rapper plead not guilty to the charges, but remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, 'TMZ' reported, after a $50 million bail bid was rejected. According to the outlet, the jail is known for its allegedly "brutal" and "inhumane" conditions, which federal judges have pointed out in the past. In June, an inmate was stabbed to death in a fight with another prisoner at the facility. Inmates like Combs who need additional protection are typically housed in a cell by themselves and not accessible to the general prison population. Other high-profile inmates who were held in MDC while awaiting trial included Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried, R. Kelly, Fetty Wap and Michael Cohen. (Informacion remitida por la empresa firmante) THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT AN OFFER, WHETHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND OR SOUTH AFRICA OR IN ANY JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH OFFER PURSUANT TO LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS IN SUCH RELEVANT JURISDICTION WOULD BE PROHIBITED. SHAREHOLDERS NOT RESIDENT IN SWEDEN WHO WISH TO ACCEPT THE OFFER (AS DEFINED BELOW) MUST MAKE INQUIRIES CONCERNING APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND POSSIBLE TAX CONSEQUENCES. SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD REFER TO THE OFFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDED IN THE SECTION TITLED "IMPORTANT INFORMATION" AT THE END OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND IN THE OFFER DOCUMENT. SLIEMA, Malta, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today on 18 September 2024, EveryMatrix Software Limited ("EveryMatrix") announced a recommended public offer to acquire all shares in Fantasma Games AB (publ) ("Fantasma") for SEK 59 in cash per share (the "Offer"). The offer document regarding the Offer (the "Offer Document") is available in Swedish and English on EveryMatrix's website (https://everymatrix.com/offer-validation/). Acceptance forms and postage-paid return envelopes will be distributed to shareholders in Fantasma whose shares are directly registered with Euroclear Sweden AB today on 18 September 2024. The acceptance period for the Offer commences on 19 September 2024 and expires on 10 October 2024. Assuming that the Offer is declared unconditional not later than 11 October 2024, settlement is expected to commence on or around 18 October 2024. EveryMatrix reserves the right to shorten the acceptance period and set an earlier settlement date as well as to extend the acceptance period and to postpone the settlement date, as may be permissible under applicable laws and regulations. EveryMatrix This press release was submitted for publication on 18 September 2024 at 11:00 (CEST). For enquiries regarding the Offer, please contact:Email: investor.relations@everymatrix.com Information about the Offer is available at:https://everymatrix.com/offer-validation/ For administrative questions regarding the Offer, please contact your bank or nominee where you have your shares registered. Important information The Offer is not being made to (and acceptance forms will not be accepted from or on behalf of) persons domiciled in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, or South Africa, or whose participation in the Offer requires that additional offer documents are prepared or registrations effected or that any other measures are taken in addition to those required under Swedish law (including the Takeover rules for certain trading platforms issued by the Stock Market Self-Regulation Committee), unless an exemption applies. This press release, the Offer Document and any other documentation related to the Offer (including copies of such documentation) must not be mailed or otherwise distributed, forwarded or sent in or into any jurisdiction (including, without limitation, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa) in which the distribution of this press release, the Offer Document or the Offer would require any additional measures to be taken or would be in conflict with any laws or regulation in any such jurisdiction. Persons who receive this press release or the Offer Document (including, without limitation, banks, brokers, dealers, nominees, trustees and custodians) and are subject to the laws or regulations of any such jurisdiction will need to inform themselves about, and observe, any applicable restrictions and requirements. Any failure to do so may constitute a violation of the securities laws or regulations of any such jurisdiction. To the extent permitted by applicable law, EveryMatrix disclaims any responsibility or liability for any violations of any such restrictions, and EveryMatrix reserves the right to disregard any acceptance forms whose submission constitutes a direct or indirect violation of any of these restrictions. Forward-looking statements Statements in this press release relating to any future status or circumstances, including statements regarding future performance, growth and other trend projections and other effects of the Offer, are forward-looking statements. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "intend", "plan", "seek", "will", "would" or similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that could occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to several factors, many of which are outside EveryMatrix's control. Any forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date on which the statements are made and EveryMatrix has no obligation (and undertakes no obligation) to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws and regulations. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/everymatrix-publishes-the-offer-document-for-the-recommended-public-cash-offer-to-the-shareholders-of-fantasma-302251688.html We don't want to be dependent on foreign oil and we should invest in diverse forms of energy. That's what we heard from sitting Vice President Kamala Harris in the most recent debate spectacle. Her exact words: My position is that we have got to invest in diverse sources of energy so we reduce our reliance on foreign oil. Now lets be fair. If she wants to convince people to spend more money on diverse energy sources, then this is a clever angle. If youre one of those stubborn contrarians opposed to scaring people about the climate, then perhaps youll join up in the spirit of American independence. Renewables are not just about being greentheyre about freedom from the stranglehold of foreign powers. And with people wising up to the not-so-green realities of wind and solar, we would be prudent to find an alternate virtue to which we can appeal. Independence. Very clever. So much for fair. Now lets be accurate. If your goal is to avoid dependence on foreign oil, then we can simply use American oil. Our country is flush with the stuff and we are quite good at getting it out of the ground, thanks especially to the fracking boom. Ever since 2018 the U.S. has been the worlds largest oil producera title previously held by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Among countries well-positioned for oil independence, ours is head of the class. But thats not a complete picture. Its one thing to have the oil (geologically speaking). Its another to extract it, transport it, refine it into usable products, and get those products to the consumer. Thanks to human ingenuity, we have the science and engineering to do those things in a largely safe and responsible manner (the dramatic reduction in methane emissions is a good example). Accidents are far less frequent than even just 20 or 30 years ago. But even with responsible industry behavior we face a persistent obstaclegovernment behavior. The reasons are a topic for another day, but it is a plain fact we have government officials and agencies who raise themselves up as fierce enemies of our friend, the hydrocarbon. So they do things like shut down pipeline projects. And they arbitrarily raise the cost to drill on public land while simultaneously cutting the cost for producing renewable energy on the same land. And they impose exceedingly aggressive limits and thresholds that threaten grid reliability. And the piece de resistance: they team up with media friends to inundate the citizenry with alarmist messaging until were all convinced we must quit our addiction to fossil fuels or risk our own destruction. If your friends from the oil and gas industry look tired, this is why. I should point out this sort of obstructionism does not fully permeate our government at all levels. There are pockets of reasonable thinkers who make some effort toward smart decisions about energy policy. But the anti-hydrocarbon religion has been sufficiently evangelized so as to hinder what ought to be one of our most revered industries. It is certainly the most valuable, existentially speaking. As we say in The BEN Declaration, energy independence is essential to American independence. In this regard, we agree with Vice President Harriswe dont want dependence on foreign oil. But her solution as advertised is disingenuous and defies fundamental logic. Very recently I wrote a blog post where I employed the metaphor of a horse race, the horses being various energy sources. The article ended with the notion that someone might be throwing rocks in the path of the lead horse. And then I watched a presidential debate where one of the candidates implied that the lead horse from our own country cannot finish the race. So naturally she would like us to shoot that horse and put our investment elsewhere. Say, theres a nice palomino over here with a beautiful gold coat and a lovely white mane. Unfortunately, it only has three legs. Michael O'Sullivan is Program Director and COO for Blue Energy Nation, a non-profit committed to educating young people on energy realities. He is also a popular podcast host and an advocate for smart energy choices. The government has announced a 'restricted zone' covering the whole of East Yorkshire and parts of Lincolnshire following confirmation of more bluetongue cases. Further cases of bluetongue virus 'BTV-3' have been detected in livestock in the counties, Defra said in its latest update on the situation. The temporary control zone (TCZ), in place prior, has been replaced with a tougher restricted zone, meaning livestock keepers must follow restrictions on animal and germinal product movements. Both counties have also been designated 'high risk', meaning farmers in the parts of Lincolnshire not covered by the zone are eligible for free testing. Farmers in these counties are also eligible to vaccinate their animals using the new general licence, which was approved earlier this month. Elsewhere in the UK, the restricted zone in Kent has been extended to cover all of the county, East Sussex and more of Greater London following an uptick in cases. According to the latest figures, a total of 69 farms have been affected by bluetongue following confirmation of this summer's first case, in late August. A total of seven counties across England - East Yorkshire, East Sussex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Lincolnshire and Kent - have recorded BTV-3 cases. While parts of eastern Greater London are now in the restricted zone, it has yet to confirm an outbreak. UK chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: As the number of bluetongue cases continues to rise in England and northern Europe, we are taking prompt action to mitigate the spread of the disease. I urge farmers within bluetongue control zones to adhere to restrictions and remain vigilant to prevent the disease spreading to their herds. We appreciate the impact restrictions can have on farmers and are committed to working with everyone affected. "We will continue to keep control zones under review as our understanding of the disease picture develops. It follows confirmation of the disease in a single sheep on a farm in Norfolk in late August, which made it the first UK bluetongue case this summer. Before this, in November 2023, government vets identified the first case of the disease in Britain since 2007. The worsening situation follows the government's decision to permit the use of three bluetongue vaccines to curb infections. The vaccines are suppressive, meaning they will reduce some of the clinical signs experienced by animals with the disease, but they do not prevent infection. Bluetongue is a non-contagious, viral disease affecting domestic and wild ruminants, transmitted by biting midges. It does not affect people or food safety, but outbreaks can result in prolonged animal movement and trade restrictions. BTV is a notifiable disease. Suspicion of it in animals in England must be reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency on 03000 200 301. Calls have been made for the government to change how food quality and safety is checked, as new technology can track food from farm-to-plate in real time. The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) has today called for 'big changes' on food safety, as the system in place has allowed for 'high profile failures'. Food fraud costs the UK up to 2 billion a year, putting both businesses and consumers at risk. It comes after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) released a report highlighting the growing problem of food crime, such as mislabelled or unsafe meat. However, AIMS said there was 'good news', as modern technology, such as the blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and sensors, could be more effective. Dr Jason Aldiss, head of external affairs at AIMS, said: "These technologies will stop food fraud, reduce costs for businesses, and give consumers peace of mind that their food is safe and genuine. "The use of modern technology could cut these crimes dramatically while lowering costs." Blockchain technology allows the tracking of every stage of food production, while AI can spot problems before they even happen. The use of biosensors can also check animal health and welfare, as well as food quality instantly. Dr Aldiss explained that this technology didn't just stop crime, but it was also cheaper than the old systems and was ready to use now. British farms already lead the world in food quality. Now, we just need to adopt the right technology to keep up that reputation and save money in the process, he said. By making these changes, well ensure that bad practices are caught early, keeping the entire industry on track and giving consumers the confidence that the food they buy is safe. Livestock farmers in Lanarkshire and the Cairngorms will be able to benefit from free business support via two charities this autumn. The Royal Countryside Fund will again be working with fellow charity RSABI to deliver a series of workshops, providing 2,000 worth of free business training skills. Livestock producers in both areas can register now to take part in the Farm Resilience Programme, which is open to dairy and livestock farmers and crofters. Since 2016, the programme has supported over 1,500 families to improve their business performance and make changes on-farm. Those who take part gain insight into their own businesses and see a range of expert consultants, brought in to deliver the workshops. The value of the programme was again emphasised by positive feedback from last years participants. As part of the partnership agreement, the Royal Countryside Fund is awarding a 15,000 grant to RSABI to assist the work the charity does to support people in Scottish agriculture. Keith Halstead, executive director of the Royal Countryside Fund, said: The workshops cover areas such as benchmarking and improving on-farm efficiencies to reduce costs, as well as succession planning, integrating environmental management and business planning. The programme has shown to increase the confidence of farming families in their decision-making which enables their farm enterprises to become more adaptable and helps build their resilience to change. Carol McLaren, chief executive of RSABI, said the free programme offered families a valuable opportunity to focus on their businesses and identify where savings could be made and profitability improved. She added: "A wider benefit is that the programme pulls farmers together to benefit from sharing experiences and suggestions. A free online information event for farmers and crofters interested in taking part will take place on 23 September at 7.30pm. Those interested can sign up via EventBrite or visit www.rsabi.org.uk for more information. Partying university students are putting their hearing at risk. Partying puts students in danger of going deaf A poll of 500 students currently at university found they partied twice a week during their first academic year but 46 per cent said they heard a mild buzzing in their ears when studying, a signifier of hearing damage. The research was commissioned by the retail chain Specsavers after a different study found that just 15 minutes of exposure to loud noise of 85 decibels (dB) can lead to hearing problems. The poll also found that 30 per cent of students didn't give a second thought to their health when they first started at university. Gordon Harrison, chief audiologist at Specsavers, said: "A fresher's first year at university is an important year for them to make new friends, gain independence and build on their education. "But the research shows that students aren't prioritising their health which can have potential implications down the line. "Young people are being increasingly affected by hearing damage because of going to concerts, festivals and clubs where noise can reach damaging levels, as well as listening to personal music devices." Sean 'Diddy' Combs is determined to "establish his innocence". Sean 'Diddy' Combs intends to clear his name The 54-year-old rap star pleaded not guilty after being charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution, during a court hearing in New York on Tuesday (17.09.24), and Marc Agnifilo - Combs' lawyer - has now revealed that his client intends to clear his name. Agnifilo told reporters outside the court in Manhattan: "He's going to fight this. He's innocent. He came to New York to establish his innocence. "We believe in him wholeheartedly. He didn't do these things. There's no coercion and no crime." Combs is "not afraid of the charges" he's currently facing, according to his lawyer. Agnifilo said: "He's been looking forward to this day, and he's been looking forward to clearing his name." Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky has confirmed that Combs will stay in detention until his sex trafficking trial begins - but Agnifilo intends to fight the decision. He told reporters: "Tomorrow we fight again. And we'll fight every day, until we don't have to fight anymore." Meanwhile, an indictment recently outlined the charges levelled against the music mogul. The indictment reads: "For decades, SEAN COMBS, a/k/a Puff Daddy, a/k/a P Diddy, a/k/a Diddy, a/k/a PD, a/k/a Love, the defendant, abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct (sic)" Meanwhile, Damian Williams, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, also alleged that the rapper maintained control over his victims by "giving them drugs, by giving and threatening to take away financial support or housing, by promising them career opportunities, by monitoring their whereabouts, and even by dictating their physical appearance". Eva Mendes "doesn't know" if she'll ever return to acting. Eva Mendes hasn't appeared in a film for a decade The 50-year-old actress - who has Esmeralda, nine, and Amada, seven, with husband Ryan Gosling - hasn't appeared in a movie since she starred in her spouse's 2014 directorial debut 'Lost River' and feels like she went out on a "high" so it would take a really "interesting" role to tempt her back. Asked if she'd return to Hollywood, Eva told 'Good Morning America': I dont know. If theres interesting roles. I left at a time where, 10 years ago, I kind of felt like I did it, ya know, I just worked with Ryan Gosling. Hes like the best. It was such a high off my career to work with him and what we created together that I was like, this is a good time to 'Seinfeld' it and just walk out. So, who knows? The 'Other Guys' actress recently insisted it was a "no-brainer" for her to step back from acting to focus on raising her daughters and other pursuits. She told 'Today' in March: It was like a no-brainer. Im so lucky, and I was like, if I could have this time with my children and I still work, I just didnt act, because acting takes you on location. It takes you away. It was almost just like a non-verbal agreement that it was like, OK, [Ryan's] going to work and Im going to work. Im just going to work here. " Eva previously admitted she was tired of being offered "s***** roles" before taking her acting break. Speaking on the Fitzy and Wippa podcast, she said: I would get back into acting for a great role, I took time off to be with the kids because they were just so little, our older one just turned eight. But its also because there are just some pretty s**** roles being offered to me and Im just so sick of taking them. I was sick of it. I said you know what its not worth it. If Im gonna go away for a few months, I might as well do something thats damn good. Halle Berry doesn't expect to "really influence" who her kids become. Halle Berry has opened up about motherhood The 58-year-old actress - who has daughter Nahla, 16, and son Maceo-Robert, ten - has revealed that she doesn't expect her children to become "clones" of their mom. Speaking at a roundtable event in New York City for her new movie, 'Never Let Go', Halle said: "I don't expect them to be clones of me, do what I do. I don't expect to really influence who they become. "My job is to just hold space for them and nurture them, feed them, take care of them, provide them different opportunities, but then they have to decide for themselves." In her new movie, Halle plays a mom who has twin sons, and the project served to "reaffirm" what the actress already knew about herself. Halle explained: "I am pretty protective. I fight for them. "If something needs to be fought for for them, I'm going to do it. But I also can't wait until they grow up and have their own life and I can't wait to see who they'll become and what they'll do." Meanwhile, Halle recently revealed that she wants to "stand up for all women" by talking about health and ageing. The award-winning movie star explained her decision to be open about certain issues, and to make sure women's health is put to the "forefront". She told 'Extra': "Im standing up for myself because I need answers, right? And so when I stand up for myself, I stand up for all women. "And womens health, especially when we get down, you know, the path of life over 40, theres been so much injustice done to us, so much research, so much information not done, and its time that our health is put, you know, on the forefront. And we have to demand that." Kim Kardashian has shared new photographs of her brood as they return for a new school year. Kim and Kanye West's brood looked all grown up as they headed back to school The Skims founder's four children with ex-husband Kanye West - North, 11, Saint, eight, Chicago, six, and Psalm, five - posed for snaps in their uniforms with the two girls donning matching navy blue polo shirts and matching tartan skirts and the boys in more casual attire of shorts and shirts whilst the eldest boy donned a grey hoodie. Kim captioned the Instagram carousel: "school daze are upon us. (sic)" The 'Kardashians' star marking her brood's return to school comes after she spoke about the "struggle" of parenting a child with dyslexia. The 43-year-old reality star re-posed Lauren Sanchez' appearance on 'The View' where she spoke about penning her book 'The Fly Who Flew to Space', despite suffering from the learning disability, and to emphasise as her daughter North also has dyslexia. Kim posted to her Instagram Story: "I'm reposting this not bc she's my friend and I love her, but because every mom who has struggled with their kids with dyslexia or any learning difference needs to hear that it will be okay. (sic)" North revealed her diagnosis during a TikTok livestream last year. She said: "Guys, I have dyslexia. Do you even know what that is?" Kim responded: "Northie, you sure are spilling the tea on here," and later asked her to end the livestream, saying "you are just saying way too much. I purposely don't talk about stuff that you are going through". Meanwhile, North previously revealed she is already thinking about being a businesswoman like her parents and is eyeing taking over their respective businesses, Yeezy and Skims, one day. In her first solo cover interview with i-D magazine last year, she said: One day I want to own Yeezy and Skims, and I want to be a business owner." Until then, she'd like to earn some pocket money walking dogs to pay for her art tools. She said: When Im, like, 13, I want to walk dogs, to make money to buy art supplies, because everything around here is so expensive." North told the outlet her biggest style iconic is herself. She added: "I love doing hair and I got to do my own edges for this shoot." Sean 'Diddy' Combs has pleaded not guilty to allegations of sex trafficking. Diddy has entered a not guilty plea The 54-year-old rap star appeared in a court in Manhattan on Tuesday (17.09.24) after being charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Asked during a court hearing how he pleaded to the charges, Combs replied: "Not guilty." The hip-hop mogul's lawyers subsequently requested that Combs be freed on bond, pending trial, after paying a sum of $50 million. However, following a a lengthy debate between legal teams on whether Combs represents a flight risk, Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky announced that the rap star will remain in detention until his sex trafficking trial begins. Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York, on Monday. The accusations he's facing were later made public. An indictment reads: "For decades, SEAN COMBS, a/k/a Puff Daddy, a/k/a P Diddy, a/k/a Diddy, a/k/a PD, a/k/a Love, the defendant, abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct (sic)" According to the indictment, Combs' alleged crimes "relied on employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled - creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice (sic)" Damian Williams, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, also alleged during a press conference that the rapper maintained control over his victims by "giving them drugs, by giving and threatening to take away financial support or housing, by promising them career opportunities, by monitoring their whereabouts, and even by dictating their physical appearance". Sean 'Diddy' Combs is "in treatment and in therapy" amid the multiple sexual abuse allegations against him. Sean 'Diddy' Combs is 'in treatment' The 54-year-old rap mogul was arrested earlier this week then charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution, and during his arraignment hearing on Tuesday (17.09.24) - at which he pleaded not guilty - his lawyer revealed the 'I'll Be Missing You' hitmaker is currently receiving help, though declined to explain what for due to confidentiality. Attorney Marc Agnifilo told the court his client is in treatment and therapy for things that most respectfully he needs treatment and therapy for and hes getting that." He added: Mr. Combs is not a perfect person. Theres been drug use, theres been toxic relationships which I think were mutual in their toxicity as these things often are." The lawyer also insisted seeking help "at the ripe age of 54" should be applauded. Diddy was denied bail and remanded in custody to await trial, but his legal team intend to fight the decision. His lawyer told reporters outside the court in Manhattan: "Tomorrow we fight again. And we'll fight every day, until we don't have to fight anymore." And Marc vowed to "fight" until his client is proven to be "innocent". He said: "He's going to fight this. He's innocent. He came to New York to establish his innocence. "We believe in him wholeheartedly. He didn't do these things. There's no coercion and no crime." The 'Coming Home' hitmaker is "not afraid of the charges" he's currently facing, according to his lawyer. Marc added: "He's been looking forward to this day, and he's been looking forward to clearing his name." The rapper was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York, on Monday. The accusations he's facing were later made public. An indictment reads: "For decades, SEAN COMBS, a/k/a Puff Daddy, a/k/a P Diddy, a/k/a Diddy, a/k/a PD, a/k/a Love, the defendant, abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct (sic)" According to the indictment, Combs' alleged crimes "relied on employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled - creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice (sic)" Damian Williams, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, also alleged during a press conference that the rapper maintained control over his victims by "giving them drugs, by giving and threatening to take away financial support or housing, by promising them career opportunities, by monitoring their whereabouts, and even by dictating their physical appearance". We love Sri Lanka. In fact, there is historical data to show that visitors from India have been the largest group of international visitors to the teardrop-shaped island. Indians love Sri Lanka because of the ease of access, the familiarities yet the differences, and the warm hospitality of the local people. Added to this, importantly, Sri Lanka is great value for money when youre considering your travel budget, and youre guaranteed great beaches, great cultural and wildlife experiences, great shopping and great food. Whats not to like? And now, starting at the beginning of next month, Sri Lanka has announced visa-free entry to citizens of 35 countries including India. This move is subject to parliamentary approval but no roadblocks are expected in its implementation. The initiative is expected to run for a period of six months with the objective of strengthening Sri Lankas ties around the world and boosting inbound tourism which has been hit by a series of challenges in the past decade including the Easter bombings of 2019 as well as heavy rains. The diverse list of countries to whom this initiative will apply includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada, France and China. With over 2,46,000 visitors, Indians accounted for 20% of all international arrivals in 2023. Images: Shutterstock Also Read: Set Yourself A Challenge: Climb The Rock At Sigiriya, Sri Lanka Squadron Leader Mohana Singh made history by becoming the first woman pilot to join the Indian Air Forces prestigious 18 Flying Bullets Squadron, flying the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. As one of India's pioneer female fighter pilots, Singh has shattered barriers within the defence forces as she soared into the skies. According to Asian News International, she recently participated in the Tarang Shakti exercise in Jodhpur, where she was part of a landmark fight alongside the Vice Chiefs of the three military branches.Mohana was among the first trio of women to be commissioned as fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force. Her colleagues, Squadron Leaders Bhawna Kanth and Avni Chaturvedi, are currently piloting Su-30 MKI fighter jets in the western desert, close to the Pakistan border. Although women pilots in the Indian Air Force have been flying helicopters and transport aircraft since 1991, it wasnt until 2016 that the government permitted them to enter fighter jet cockpits.In 2019, Singh further cemented her place in history by becoming the first female fighter pilot to be fully operational by day on the Hawk Mk.132 advanced jet trainer at Bidar Air Force Station, having logged over 380 hours of incident-free flight on the aircraft. The first estimates of euro area balance showed a 21.2-billion surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world in July this year compared with 6.7 billion in the same month last year. Exports of goods to the rest of the world from the euro area in July were worth 252.0 billionan increase of 10.2 per cent year on year (YoY). Imports from the rest of the world stood at 230.8 billion during the montha YoY rise of 4 per cent. In July this year compared to June, the euro area surplus decreased slightly from 21.7 billion to 21.2 billion, a Eurostat release said. Exports of goods to the rest of the world from the euro area in July were worth 252.0 billiona rise of 10.2 per cent YoY; imports stood at 230.8 billion in the montha YoY rise of 4 per cent. Extra-EU exports of goods in July were worth 230.2 billionup by 11.6 per cent YoY; imports to the EU were worth 211.1 billionup by 4.8 per cent YoY. Between January and July this year, the euro area recorded a surplus of 127.7 billion compared with 3.7 billion in the corresponding period last year. The euro area exports of goods to the rest of the world during the period rose to 1 683.6 billionan increase of 0.8 per cent YoY, while imports fell to 1 555.8 billiona decrease of 6.6 per cent YoY. Intra-euro area trade fell to 1 528.7 billion in the seven-month perioddown by 4.3 per cent YoY. The European Union (EU) goods trade balance showed a 19.1-billion surplus with the rest of the world in July compared with a 4.9-billion surplus in July last year. Extra-EU exports of goods in July were worth 230.2 billionup by 11.6 per cent YoY. Imports from the rest of the world stood to the EU were worth 211.1 billionup by 4.8 per cent YoY. In July this year compared to June, the EU surplus decreased from 20.9 billion to 19.1 billion. In January-July 2024, extra-EU exports of goods rose to 1 513.9 billionan increase of 1.4 per cent YoY, and imports fell to 1 399.6 billiona decrease of 7 per cent YoY. As a result, the EU recorded a surplus of 114.3 billion during the period, compared with a deficit of 11.6 billion in the corresponding period last year. Intra-EU trade fell to 2 384.1 billion in January-July 2024a drop of 3.4 per cent YoY. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the G20 area remained stable during the second quarter of 2024, registering a 0.7 per cent increase compared to the previous quarters 0.8 per cent growth, according to provisional estimates. Key drivers of this growth included China, India, and the United States, though Brazil and Saudi Arabia saw the highest individual growth rates, both at 1.4 per cent. However, growth in China and India decelerated, with Chinas GDP expansion slowing from 1.5 per cent to 0.7 per cent and Indias from 1.7 per cent to 1.3 per cent. Japan saw a notable recovery, rebounding from a 0.6 per cent contraction in the first quarter to a 0.7 per cent growth rate in Q2. The United States experienced modest growth, rising from 0.4 per cent to 0.7 per cent, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a media release. Several G20 nations experienced weaker growth than the G20 average. South Korea and Germany saw their economies contract by 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively. Turkiye experienced a sharp slowdown, with growth dropping from 1.4 per cent in Q1 to just 0.1 per cent in Q2. France, Italy, and the UK recorded marginal decreases, posting growth rates of 0.2 per cent, 0.2 per cent, and 0.6 per cent, respectively. Conversely, Canada and Mexico saw small increases, with GDP growing by 0.5 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively. South Africas economy improved, showing 0.4 per cent growth after stagnating in Q1, while Australia, the European Union, and the euro area all posted stable growth at 0.2 per cent. G20 GDP growth remained stable in Q2 at 0.7 per cent, slightly down from 0.8 per cent in Q1. Brazil and Saudi Arabia led with 1.4 per cent growth, while China and India's growth slowed. Japan rebounded with a 0.7 per cent increase, and US saw modest growth. Several countries, including South Korea and Germany, saw contractions. G20 GDP grew by 3.1 per cent YoY, with India leading at 6.8 per cent. Year-on-year, G20 GDP rose by 3.1 per cent in Q2 2024, slightly down from 3.2 per cent in Q1. India led the annual growth rates at 6.8 per cent, followed by Indonesia at 5.0 per cent, while Japan experienced the largest decline with a 0.9 per cent contraction. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD) To read the full story, become a PRIME member today. PRIME Unlimited Access to Insightful Industry Information All Corporate Members and TexPro Subscribers are eligible to access F2F PRIME CONTENT using the same login credentials. She applauded actresses like Sonam Kapoor for taking on meaningful projects like Neerja (2016), despite accepting a lower fee. "If Sonam Kapoor does Neerja almost for free, she does it because it gives her a chance to play an excellent role. By sacrificing her price for one film, she has garnered all the respect that should have come to her," Azmi shared. She believed this trend would encourage more actresses to opt for roles with depth, rather than being limited to glamorous parts. Azmi also touched briefly on Indian actors gaining global attention, highlighting Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukones success in Hollywood. "The fact that Priyanka is not seen as an Indian is a step towards colour-blind casting. But lets not get very excited; its a long way before we become part of their stories," she added, reflecting on the strides yet to be made in Western cinema. In an old interview, Shabana Azmi discussed the rising wave of women-oriented films in Bollywood. On her birthday today, we revisit her words on how actresses are prioritizing good roles over hefty pay checks to gain recognition and, in some cases, prestigious awards. "Leading ladies have recognized the worth of being in films where they have substantial roles to play. That gives them a chance to win National Awards," Azmi said. At a recent press conference, Janhvi delivered a touching speech in Tamil, revealing her deep connection to Chennai. Im so happy to see you all here today. I have to say Chennai is very special for me. All of my best memories with my mother have been in Chennai, she shared. Janhvi continued, Whatever me and my family are today, is a result of the love that you the audience has showered on my mother. I hope I can earn the same love from you all. I will work very hard for it. Her fluency in Tamil impressed many, including her co-star Jr. NTR, who praised her language skills, saying he was blown away. With Devara generating buzz, its clear Janhvi Kapoor is set to shine bright on the big screen. Janhvi Kapoor is making waves with her Tamil debut in the highly anticipated film Devara - Part 1. The recently released songs Daavudi and Chuttamalle have already highlighted her captivating presence and mesmerizing dance moves. Fans are eagerly awaiting more from this promising heroine. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 17, 2024) - Alma Gold Inc. (CSE: ALMA) ("Alma Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has increased the size of its non-brokered private placement, as described in the Company's news release dated September 3, 2024. The Company now intends to issue up to 3,750,000 units of the Company (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.08 per Unit, for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $300,000 (the "Private Placement"). Each Unit will be comprised of one common share (each a "Share") and one transferable common share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one additional Share at a price of $0.10 for a period of three (3) years from issuance. The Company intends to close the Private Placement on or about September 20, 2024. Proceeds received from the Private Placement will be used for general working capital purposes. No finder's fees will be payable on the Private Placement. All securities will be will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from issuance, in accordance with applicable securities laws of Canada. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. About Alma Gold Inc. Alma Gold Inc. is a gold-focused exploration company based in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Alma Gold Inc. through its subsidiary Karita Gold Corp. is exploring the Karita West Project in northern Guinea, the Dialakoro project permits under application in the Siguiri Basin of Guinea and it owns the Clarence Stream North Gold Project in southwest New Brunswick, Canada. For more information on Alma Gold Inc., please visit our website at: https://almagoldinc.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors "Gregory Isenor" The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and includes those risks set out in the Corporation's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Corporation's profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Corporation 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. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223698 SOURCE: Alma Gold Inc. ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / September 17, 2024 / Barton Gold Holdings Limited (ASX:BGD)(OTCQB:BGDFF)(FRA:BGD3) (Barton or the Company) confirms its Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, 28 November 2024. TIME: 1:00pm (AWST) / 3:30pm (ACDT) / 4:00pm (AEDT) LOCATION: Hilton Adelaide Balcony Room 4 233 Victoria Square Adelaide SA 5000 In accordance with ASX Listing Rule 14.3, the Company advises that valid nominations for the position of director must be received by the Company on or before 5:00pm (AWST) Wednesday, 25 September 2024, being at least 45 business days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. Pursuant to the Company's Constitution, nominations must be provided to the Company's registered office. This notice is given in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 3.13.1. Authorised by the Managing Director of Barton Gold Holdings Limited. For further information, please contact: Alexander Scanlon Managing Director a.scanlon@bartongold.com.au +61 425 226 649 Shannon Coates Company Secretary cosec@bartongold.com.au +61 8 9322 1587 About Barton Gold Barton Gold is an ASX, OTCQB and Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed Australian gold developer targeting future gold production of 150,000oz annually, with ~1.6Moz Au JORC Mineral Resources (52.2Mt @ 0.94 g/t Au), multiple advanced exploration projects and brownfield mines, and 100% ownership of the only regional gold mill in the renowned central Gawler Craton of South Australia.* Tarcoola Gold Project Existing brownfield open pit mine within trucking distance of Barton's processing plant Under-explored asset with untapped scale potential Tunkillia Gold Project * 1.5Moz Au Mineral Resources (51.3Mt @ 0.91 g/t Au) Scoping Study for competitive ~130kozpa Au mine Infrastructure 650ktpa CIP process plant, mine village, and airstrip Tarcoola ~40 person lodging to support mine operations Tunkillia camp to support dedicated project team Competent Persons Statement & Previously Reported Information The information in this announcement that relates to the historic Exploration Results and Mineral Resources as listed in the table below is based on, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation prepared by the Competent Person whose name appears in the same row, who is an employee of or independent consultant to the Company and is a Member or Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) or a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO). Each person named in the table below has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to quality as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 (JORC). Activity Competent Person Membership Status Tarcoola Mineral Resource (Stockpiles) Dr Andrew Fowler (Consultant) AusIMM Member Tarcoola Mineral Resource (Perseverance Mine) Mr Ian Taylor (Consultant) AusIMM Fellow Tarcoola Exploration Results (until 15 Nov 2021) Mr Colin Skidmore (Consultant) AIG Member Tarcoola Exploration Results (after 15 Nov 2021) Mr Marc Twining (Employee) AusIMM Member Tunkillia Exploration Results (until 15 Nov 2021) Mr Colin Skidmore (Consultant) AIG Member Tunkillia Exploration Results (after 15 Nov 2021) Mr Marc Twining (Employee) AusIMM Member Tunkillia Mineral Resource Mr Ian Taylor (Consultant) AusIMM Fellow Challenger Mineral Resource Mr Dale Sims (Consultant) AusIMM / AIG Fellow / Member The information relating to historic Exploration Results and Mineral Resources in this announcement is extracted from the Company's Prospectus dated 14 May 2021 or as otherwise noted in this announcement, available from the Company's website at www.bartongold.com.au or on the ASX website www.asx.com.au. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Exploration Results and Mineral Resource information included in previous announcements and, in the case of estimates of Mineral Resources, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates, and any production targets and forecast financial information derived from the production targets, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the applicable Competent Persons' findings are presented have not been materially modified from the previous announcements. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This document may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "expect", "target" and "intend" and statements than an event or result "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. Forward-looking information is subject to business, legal and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things, risks relating to property interests, the global economic climate, commodity prices, sovereign and legal risks, and environmental risks. Forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and opinions at the date the statements are made. Barton undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements for events or circumstances that occur subsequent to such dates or to update or keep current any of the information contained herein. Any estimates or projections as to events that may occur in the future (including projections of revenue, expense, net income and performance) are based upon the best judgment of Barton from information available as of the date of this document. There is no guarantee that any of these estimates or projections will be achieved. Actual results will vary from the projections and such variations may be material. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied upon as, a promise or representation as to the past or future. Any reliance placed by the reader on this document, or on any forward-looking statement contained in or referred to in this document will be solely at the readers own risk, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. ______________________________ *Refer to Barton Prospectus dated 14 May 2021 and ASX announcements dated 4 March and 16 July 2024. Total Barton JORC (2012) Mineral Resources include 824koz Au (26.8Mt @ 0.96 g/t Au) in Indicated and 750koz Au (25.4Mt @ 0.92 g/t Au) in Inferred categories. SOURCE: Barton Gold Holdings Limited View the original press release on accesswire.com Lansing, Michigan--(Newsfile Corp. - September 17, 2024) - The Board of Trustees (the "Board") of Collaborative Investment Series Trust (the "Trust") has determined that it is in the best interests of shareholders to liquidate the Mohr Growth ETF (Cboe BZX: MOHR) and Mohr Industry Nav ETF (Cboe BZX: INAV) (each, a "Fund" and, collectively, the "Funds"), series of the Trust, following a recommendation by the Funds' investment adviser, Retireful, LLC. The Board has determined to liquidate the Funds with the liquidation payments to shareholders for each Fund expected to take place on or about September 27, 2024 ("Liquidation Date"). After September 18, 2024, the Funds will not accept creation orders. The last day of trading in the Funds on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the "Exchange") will be September 27, 2024. Shareholders should be aware that while each Fund is preparing to liquidate, it will not be pursuing its stated investment objective or engaging in any business activities except for the purposes of winding up its business and affairs, preserving the value of its assets, paying its liabilities, and distributing its remaining assets to shareholders. Shareholders may sell their holdings of the Funds on the Exchange until market close on September 27, 2024, and may incur typical transaction fees from their broker-dealer. The Funds' shares will no longer trade on the Exchange after market close on September 27, 2024, and the shares will be subsequently delisted. Shareholders who do not sell their shares of the Funds before market close on September 27, 2024, will receive cash equal to the amount of the net asset value of their shares, which will include any capital gains and dividends, in the cash portion of their brokerage accounts, on or about the Liquidation Date. Shareholders generally will recognize a capital gain or loss equal to the amount received for their shares over their adjusted basis in such shares. You may wish to consult your tax advisor about your particular situation. About Retireful, LLC Retireful, LLC d/b/a Mohr Capital Management is a privately held limited liability company organized under the laws of Michigan located in Lansing, Michigan. The investment team is led by Dan Mohr. The firm, primarily, offers discretionary investment management services directly to pooled investment vehicles, namely, exchange traded funds ("ETFs"). IMPORTANT RISK CONSIDERATIONS This press release is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or recommendation to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security or instrument or to participate in any particular trading strategy. Further, none of the information and material in this communication is intended to constitute legal advice, tax advice, investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. Carefully consider the Funds' investment objectives, risk factors, charges and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in each Fund's summary prospectus, prospectus and Statement of Additional Information ("SAI"), each of which may be obtained by visiting https://www.mohrfunds.com/. Read the summary prospectus, prospectus and SAI carefully before investing. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. There can be no assurance that a Fund will achieve its stated objectives. An investment in the Funds may be subject to risks which include, among others, sector and industry risks, equity risk, ETF structure risk, management risk, market and geopolitical risk and portfolio turnover risk. Diversification does not ensure profits or prevent losses. ETFs trade like stocks, are subject to investment risk, and will fluctuate in market value. Unlike mutual funds, ETF shares are not individually redeemable directly with the fund and are bought and sold on the secondary market at market price, which may be higher or lower than the ETF's net asset value. Transactions in shares of ETFs will result in brokerage commissions, which will reduce returns. Not insured by FDIC/NCUSIF or any federal government agency. No bank guarantee. Not a deposit. May lose value. Distributed by Paralel Distributors, LLC. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223575 SOURCE: Mohr Capital Management Nvidia's remarkable performance continues to captivate investors and reshape market dynamics. The chip manufacturer reported an astounding 122.40% increase in quarterly revenue, soaring to $30.04 billion, while earnings per share more than doubled to $0.68. This exceptional growth, primarily driven by the ongoing AI revolution, has propelled Nvidia's stock price up by 136% year-to-date, solidifying its position as a key driver of the S&P 500's gains. Cautious Optimism Amid Market Shifts Despite Nvidia's dominance in the AI chip sector, recent developments suggest a potential shift in investor sentiment. Some prominent hedge funds have significantly reduced their Nvidia holdings, cutting positions by up to 80% in the second quarter. This reallocation may signal changing dynamics in the AI landscape. However, analysts remain bullish, projecting an average fair value of $402.50 per share, indicating substantial upside potential. As Nvidia continues to forecast strong revenues, its enduring influence on the broader market remains a focal point for investors navigating the evolving AI-driven economy. Ad The latest Nvidia figures speak volumes: Urgent action required for Nvidia shareholders. Is it worth investing, or should you sell? Find out what to do now in our current free analysis from 18 September. Continue reading here ... 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! 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! Miami, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - September 17, 2024) - NeuralSeek, the brainchild of AI solutions company Cerebral Blue, has received a significant update, resulting in a 10% increase in user adoption per month. This AI integration platform simplifies the adoption of AI technologies for businesses, enabling them to integrate generative AI into their existing systems rapidly. Photo Credit by NeuralSeek The recent update to NeuralSeek has focused on optimizing the user interface, making it more intuitive and user-friendly. This led to a significant increase in user adoption, as businesses can more easily wield this advanced tool without the usual technical knowledge requisite. With NeuralSeek, businesses can connect the platform to their existing corporate knowledge bases, such as Elasticsearch, IBM Watson Discovery, or AWS Kendra, with little to no coding required. "Easy usage and access have always been the mainstay of NeuralSeek. It only makes sense that our UI follows suit," said Garrett Rowe, founder of Cerebral Blue. "We never expected it would result in such a significant increase in users, however. Further updates will focus on improving time-to-delivery even further beyond its 75% capabilities." This AI-powered platform enables businesses to generate natural language responses to user queries, which can be meshed into virtual agent platforms like IBM Watson Assistant, AWS Lex, or Microsoft Bot Framework. The platform also provides a clickable path to fact-check AI-generated responses, data analytics to improve AI natural language, and step-by-step instructions for using AI to clean and maintain accurate resource data. Due to the focus on accessibility and end-user adoption, Cerebral Blue has also seen a significant uptick in adoption from large and small-scale enterprises alike. "I don't want to talk about specific numbers, but we've absolutely seen more interest in NeuralSeek. Even our other products - such as Converlistics - have seen a boost," states Garrett Rowe. The design of the updated user interface is highly customizable and adaptable, enabling organizations to optimize its performance in their specific use cases. The platform also includes features such as intent management, answer curation, and analytics, making it a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to add AI to their operations. Visit NeuralSeek Website to learn more about how NeuralSeek is making AI accessible and easy to implement for businesses worldwide. About NeuralSeek NeuralSeek is an AI integration platform developed by Cerebral Blue, a San Francisco-based technology and AI company. The platform simplifies the adoption of AI technologies for businesses, enabling them to rapidly integrate generative AI into their existing systems. NeuralSeek has been recognized for its innovative approach to AI implementation and has helped numerous organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, streamline their operations and improve customer satisfaction. Contact Information: To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/222980 SOURCE: Baden Bower Hong Kong, SAR--(Newsfile Corp. - September 17, 2024) - Felix Prehn, a former investment banker, has traded in his Wall Street career to support a cause close to his heart: financial education for veterans and active service members. Through his new venture, Goat Academy, Prehn aims to equip those who serve our country with the tools and knowledge they need for long-term financial success. Former Banker Launches Free Financial Education Platform for Veterans To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/223430_b3b17cf8e4b1da97_002full.jpg The idea for Goat Academy was born during a chance encounter in South Korea. While traveling, Prehn met John, a Black Hawk medivac pilot, who shared how many of his fellow soldiers fell victim to predatory investment advisors. This conversation struck a chord with Prehn, highlighting the stark contrast between his sophisticated financial background and the lack of financial literacy among many service members. "I realized that while I had access to complex financial strategies, many veterans lacked even basic financial education," Prehn explains. "It didn't sit right with me that these brave individuals, who risk everything for our country, could be so easily taken advantage of financially." Goat Academy offers a comprehensive, free financial education course accessible through its website. The curriculum draws from Prehn's extensive experience in the finance sector, covering everything from basic budgeting to advanced investment strategies. However, Prehn emphasizes that the course is designed to be practical and easy to understand, cutting through the often confusing jargon of the financial world. Prehn's approach is informed by his own early missteps in investing. At 18, he invested $10,000 in biotech funds without proper guidance, resulting in significant losses. This experience taught him the importance of reliable information and sound strategy in investing. "We focus on simple, proven investment methods," Prehn says. "Our goal is to help veterans build wealth over time, not just save and budget. We teach them how to choose good stocks or index funds and the power of holding onto investments for the long term." Beyond just numbers, Goat Academy addresses the emotional aspects of investing. Prehn acknowledges the anxiety that can come with market fluctuations and aims to equip veterans with both the knowledge and mental resilience needed to navigate financial markets confidently. "Financial freedom isn't just about having money," Prehn emphasizes. "It's about creating the life you want. For me, that includes working with rescue dogs at my animal shelter. We want to help veterans use money as a tool for happiness, not a source of stress." To learn more about Goat Academy's mission and courses, watch their introductory video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NkgrW2b52w. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223430 SOURCE: Plentisoft ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Runergy, a leading solar energy company, showcased its cutting-edge photovoltaic (PV) modules at RE+ 2024, North America's premier solar energy exhibition held at the Anaheim Convention Center. The company presented a diverse range of high-power PV modules that combine excellent performance in reliability, quality and long-term value with full-scenario applications. Runergy launched customized products specifically designed for the North American market, delivering high value and cost-effective solutions to meet the region's varied energy needs, which drew the attention of a wide range of visitors eager to explore innovative energy solutions. As a frontrunner in global expansion and overseas market development, Runergy has rapidly established multiple production and research facilities worldwide. This year, the company's PV module factory in Alabama is set to begin mass production with a planned capacity of 2GW. With a solid industry foundation and a robust supply chain, Runergy has earned recognition as one of the most well-known brands in the U.S. photovoltaic market. At the exhibition, Runergy highlighted its advanced high-efficiency PV modules, including the DH108N8B double-glass N-type module. This module features a sleek all-black design, light weight, and flexible installation options. With wind load resistance of up to 3600Pa and a maximum output power of 440W, it promises higher returns and shorter investment cycles for homeowners. Additionally, the DH144N8 module merges the superior characteristics of N-type cells with cutting-edge technologies like AI detection, achieving a module conversion efficiency of up to 22.8% and offering a 25year product warranty and 30-year linear power warranty. The DH156N8 module, delivering over 645W of power, is engineered to withstand LID and LeTID effects, significantly lowering balance of system (BOS) costs for power station construction. Runergy's product lineup also features customized solutions utilizing the latest HJT and 0BB technologies, enhancing performance in extreme weather conditions and catering to the diverse needs of ground-mounted power stations, industrial and commercial applications, and residential photovoltaic markets in the U.S. A highlight of the exhibition was the receipt of three prestigious certifications from RETC, TUV Rheinland and Kiwa PVEL. These accolades validate Runergy's commitment to quality and its ability to deliver stable, reliable, and high-quality photovoltaic products globally. Notably, Runergy's N-type double-glass bifacial high-load hail-resistant modules successfully passed RETC's rigorous 55mm hail impact reliability test, cementing its status as a trusted choice for developers and stakeholders in renewable energy projects. Additionally, Runergy's N-Type solar module is also recognized as 2024 Top Performer by Kiwa PVEL with superior performance in critical tests. Runergy's N-type module has received cTUVus certification from TUV Rheinland, which integrates both U.S. UL standards and Canadian CSA standards, ensuring product safety, performance, and compliance that exceed North American market requirements. As Runergy continues to lead in technological innovation and international business growth, the company remains steadfast in its mission: "Transforming the world with science and technology, preserving it with photovoltaic energy." Runergy is dedicated to providing comprehensive solar solutions that contribute to a sustainable, low-carbon future. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2508340/image.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/runergy-unveils-award-winning-solar-innovations-at-re-2024-302251241.html BEIJING, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HONGQI, the world's new luxury automotive brand, was officially selected as the vehicle provider for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in Beijing from September 4 to 6. The summit, aimed at strengthening diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties between China and African nations, aligns with HONGQI's commitment to global collaboration and sustainable development. At the signing and vehicle handover ceremony in Beijing, FAW HONGQI announced it had provided a total of 650 vehicles for the summit, including 460 HONGQI H9 luxury sedans, 100 HONGQI HQ9 luxury MPVs, and 90 HONGQI GUOYUE luxury buses. Among these, 60 vehicles served as lead escort cars, while the remaining 590 ensured luxurious and comfortable transportation for dignitaries. Renowned for their cutting-edge technology, advanced safety features, and exceptional comfort, these flagship models delivered an unparalleled experience for all attendees. This was not the first time HONGQI had been entrusted with such a prestigious responsibility. In 2018, the brand successfully provided 270 HONGQI H7 vehicles for FOCAC, delivering excellent service. Six years later, HONGQI once again led the way, showcasing the advancement of China's automotive industry and its ability to meet the highest international standards. The fleet provided by HONGQI was equipped with top-tier safety systems, including a high-strength 9H4M cage-style body structure, run-flat tires, and a dual detection system that integrates cameras with millimeter-wave radar for enhanced safety and precision. These vehicles also featured sophisticated driving assistance systems, creating a comprehensive five-star safety experience for all forum participants. The HONGQI H9 offered handcrafted leather seats and a "zero-gravity" relaxation feature for rear-seat passengers, while the HONGQI HQ9 featured reclining seats with a 173-degree angle and a one-touch business meeting function. The HONGQI GUOYUE further elevated luxury with over 40 noise-canceling technologies, providing a serene and comfortable travel experience. HONGQI's involvement in the 2024 FOCAC Summit underscored its commitment to delivering world-class service while supporting global diplomacy and sustainable development. This partnership not only reinforced the brand's position as a leader in the luxury automotive market but also demonstrated its dedication to promoting international cooperation. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2505757/HONGQI___vehicles.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hongqi-provides-official-vehicles-for-the-2024-summit-of-the-forum-on-china-africa-cooperation-302251242.html DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GTN, a global fintech redefining trading and investing for all, is pleased to announce the promotion of Zaid Aloul to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Middle East. In this new role, Zaid also joins the GTN Middle East management committee, where he will be crucial in driving the company's commercial strategy and expansion efforts across the Middle East and beyond. As CCO in the Middle East, Zaid will spearhead key commercial activities in the region, including launching new products, expanding asset classes, and increasing the company's market share. Commenting on his promotion, Zaid said: "I'm very honoured to lead GTN's commercial activities in the Middle East. This role aligns sales growth with our broader group vision to strengthen our status as a fintech pioneer. It's an exciting time for innovation in the financial industry, especially in the fintech sector. I look forward to working with our teams to solidify existing relationships and build new ones, offering clients and partners cutting-edge solutions that enhance the user experience." Damian Bunce, CEO of GTN Middle East, said: "This appointment is well deserved and recognises Zaid's importance to the company as well as his impact in the industry. Zaid is a veteran in the brokerage and wealth management sectors in the GCC and the Levant. Over the last 20 years, he has cultivated a very wide set of client relationships, has excellent commercial acumen and unique business insights in the region. I wish him ongoing success for the future." This latest promotion underscores GTN's unwavering commitment to the region and its belief in its solid foundation for future growth. It follows recent strategic hires to fortify the company's frontrunner position in the Middle East, providing innovative investment and trading solutions for partners, brokers, banks, wealth managers, and fintechs. About GTN GTN is a fintech pioneer with decades of success, holding broker-dealer and capital markets services licenses in multiple jurisdictions through subsidiaries. We are committed to empowering brokers, banks, asset managers, and fintechs with scalable and innovative investment and trading solutions that enable access to a comprehensive network of global markets and multiple asset classes, making investment and trading accessible to all. Our investment and trading solutions offer seamless integration with the existing services of regulated financial firms and fintechs via our co-branded front ends and versatile API suite. Inspired by embedded finance, our API suite provides the adaptability to develop bespoke trading/investment applications or incorporate GTN features into existing platforms, enhancing their value proposition. In addition, our comprehensive global trading ecosystem includes best-in-class execution, custody, and post-trade solutions. We bring together a diverse team of over 500 talented individuals spread across Dubai, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the UK, and the US, united by a shared passion and purpose: empowering clients and transforming the accessibility to investment and trading opportunities for all. We are backed by strategic investors IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and SBI Ventures Singapore Pte. Ltd., a group company of SBI Holdings, Inc., one of the largest financial services firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. To learn more, visit www.gtngroup.com or follow us on LinkedIn. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2507853/Zaid_Aloul.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1904122/4916121/GTN_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/zaid-aloul-promoted-to-chief-commercial-officer-of-gtn-middle-east-302251076.html 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! New Data Presented in Two Abstracts at the 40th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Data from the Phase 1 MoveS-it Study Demonstrate the Safety and Biological Activity of ANK-700 as a Potential Disease Modifying Treatment for Patients with Relapse-remitting Multiple Sclerosis Anokion SA, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on treating autoimmune disease by restoring normal immune tolerance, today announced data will be presented at the 40th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) being held September 18-20, 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The abstracts include pre-clinical and new clinical data from Anokion's Phase 1 MoveS-it study evaluating the safety and tolerability of ANK-700 in 34 patients between 18-60 years of age with relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) across the United States. "We are thrilled to share these promising findings at ECTRIMS, highlighting ANK-700's potential as a novel, disease modifying intervention for RRMS," said Deborah Geraghty, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Anokion. "ANK-700 is an investigational therapy that features a novel myelin immuno-domain conjugated to a glycosylation signature designed to re-educate the immune system. By inducing antigen-specific tolerance to myelin-based autoantigens, ANK-700 aims to reduce neuroinflammation in the brain and spinal cord while preserving overall immune function. The data being presented demonstrates clinical proof of concept, safety, and biological activity of ANK-700, emphasizing its ability to become a differentiated, safe, and tolerable treatment option for RRMS." These new data add to the Company's growing immune tolerance clinical dataset utilizing Anokion's proprietary immune tolerance platform. Single doses of ANK-700 up to 3.0 mg/kg and multiple doses up to 1.0 mg/kg ANK-700 were shown to be safe and well tolerated with no Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) related to ANK-700 reported. Additionally, there was no clinical or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of disease exacerbation. The Company will also share encouraging mechanistic data, demonstrating tolerization of myelin-reactive T-cells and bystander suppression, further supporting the potential of ANK-700 in treating RRMS. Anokion will also present pre-clinical data demonstrating that its liver-targeted antigen approach effectively expands antigen-specific regulatory T-cells in vivo, offering therapeutic potential across a variety of inflammatory conditions, including multiple sclerosis, where multiple antigens may be driving disease. About Anokion Anokion SA is a clinical-stage Swiss biotechnology company that aims to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases by restoring normal immune tolerance. The company is focused on both prevalent and rare autoimmune diseases, including celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes. Anokion's distinct approach leverages the company's immune-based platform, which targets natural pathways in the liver to restore immune tolerance and address the underlying cause of autoimmune disease. For more information, please visit anokion.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240917374019/en/ Contacts: Chris Brinzey ICR Westwicke Chris.Brinzey@westwicke.com StrongPoint, a retail technology firm focused on making stores and supply chains smarter, have successfully installed the world's first AutoStore Multi-Temperature Solution with a frozen zone. The inaugural site has been installed for Haugaland Storhusholdning, part the Norwegian food distribution group DLVRY, in a facility based in Sveio, Norway. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240917414516/en/ StrongPoint's installation of the world's first AutoStore Multi-Temperature Solution with a frozen zone. (Photo: Business Wire) "Frozen greatly boosts our operational efficiency and creates a safer work environment for our employees," says Oskar Kirkeleit, CEO of Haugaland Storhusholdning. "This installation is designed for maximum efficiency in food distribution. We are proud to be the first to implement an AutoStore solution with a frozen zone, which is now a part of the customer's daily operations. Collaborating with MTG Technologies, the customer and other partners to develop the software, system, and routines has been a rewarding experience. Today, we celebrate the launch of a fully operational site that meets our high standards," says Jacob Tveraabak, CEO of StrongPoint. "We are excited to see the Multi-Temperature Solution go live. The solution will revolutionize grocery operations by enabling safer and more efficient picking of frozen inventory. With two Multi-Temperature Solutions already in progress, we are very much looking forward to the general release in Q1, 2025," said Parth Joshi, Chief Product Officer at AutoStore. "We are proud to partner with AutoStore in supporting StrongPoint to deliver this pioneering Multi-Temperature Solution with a frozen zone for Haugaland Storhusholdning. This inaugural installation marks a significant step forward, and we are excited to support the teams behind the solution. We look forward to shaping the future of automated warehouse solutions with multi-temperature grid technology," says Paul Edvin Bersaas, CEO of MTG Technologies. The Multi-Temperature Solution allows multiple temperature zones within a single AutoStore cube. It is designed for frozen and chilled environments with a temperature range of -25C in the frozen section to +6C in the cooled areas. The picking of frozen products occurs at the Ports in the chilled area to eliminate picking of items within extreme frozen temperatures, thus creating a better working environment for operators. This will allow customers to have a solution that can increase speed and efficiency with their frozen inventory. For more information, visit strongpoint.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240917414516/en/ Contacts: Knut Olav Nyhus Olsen SVP People, Organization, Marketing and Communication kono@strongpoint.com +47 400 10 888 Stian Aleksander Haugen Rusek International Marketing Manager stian.rusek@strongpoint.com +47 926 98 390 PORT VILA, Vanuatu, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading multi-asset CFD broker, Vantage Markets (or "Vantage"), marks its 15th anniversary today, celebrating 15 years of innovating the ultimate trading machine*. Like a well-oiled machine, Vantage has spent the past decade and a half building, innovating and refining its intuitive trading platforms that integrate cutting-edge technology, to meet the evolving needs of traders. To commemorate this milestone, Vantage has unveiled a new anniversary logo, symbolising the trust, security and reliability that have defined its journey. From now until the end of the year, clients can expect client appreciation events, exclusive interviews, and exciting regional promotions. Since its incorporation, Vantage has achieved significant milestones that have shaped its growth. The rebranding from VantageFX to Vantage in 2021 marked a pivotal shift, expanding from forex CFDs to a broader range of CFD products, including Indices, Shares, Commodities, ETFs, and Bonds. This strategic evolution laid the groundwork for Vantage's rise as a leading multi-asset CFD broker, now serving over 5 million clients. In 2022, Vantage entered the world of motorsport sponsorship with NEOM McLaren Extreme E, highlighting the company's commitment to sustainability and innovation. In the media landscape, the partnership with Bloomberg Media Studios to create "The Vantage View" video series has significantly enhanced Vantage's visibility and engagement in financial market trends and intelligence. Geraldine Goh, Chief Marketing Officer said, "One of my most memorable experiences at Vantage has been witnessing the company's international expansion firsthand. From opening new international offices to adapting our services to meet the unique needs of traders across different regions, the collaborative spirit within our teams turned every challenge into an opportunity." Vantage's dedication to enhancing user experience is evident through its integration with TradingView and the recent refresh of its website. The launch of copy trading on the Vantage App and the revamped Indices CFDs product offering further underscore the company's commitment to providing intuitive, user-friendly solutions that help traders diversify their portfolios at a lower cost. Beyond trading, Vantage has also made significant contributions to corporate social responsibility, including supporting UNESCO's education initiatives and making a $100,000 donation to the UNHCR for refugee programs in Australia. Marc Despallieres, Chief Strategy and Trading Officer at Vantage, says, "Expanding our international presence has been a defining moment for Vantage. Starting as a local broker and evolving into an international player required us to build a strong reputation for trust, transparency, and regulatory compliance. This foundation allowed us to adapt and innovate, providing traders across various regions with advanced tools and technology. As we celebrate 15 years, our commitment to excellence remains unwavering, and we're excited to continue this journey, supporting our clients in their trading activities." Learn more about Vantage's 15 year journey here. About Vantage Vantage Markets (or Vantage) is a multi-asset CFD broker offering clients access to a nimble and powerful service for trading Contracts for Difference (CFDs) products, including Forex, Commodities, Indices, Shares, ETFs, and Bonds. With over 15 years of market experience, Vantage transcends the role of broker, providing a trusted trading ecosystem, an award-winning mobile trading app, and a user-friendly trading platform that empowers clients to seize trading opportunities. Download the Vantage App on App Store or Google Play. trade smarter @vantage RISK WARNING: CFD trading carries significant risks. You could lose more than your initial investment. *Disclaimer: 'The Ultimate Trading Machine' is a marketing term and does not imply guaranteed performance. CFDs involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2506102/Image.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2506103/Vantage_15_Logo_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/vantage-markets-celebrates-15-years-innovating-the-ultimate-trading-machine-302248955.html LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading multi-asset CFD broker, Vantage , marks its 15th anniversary celebrating 15 years of innovating the ultimate trading machine*. Like the precision of a race engineering team, Vantage has spent the last 15 years building and refining its intuitive trading platforms that integrate cutting-edge technology, to meet the evolving needs of traders. To commemorate this milestone, the broker will be sporting a brand new 15th anniversary logo for the remainder of the year. During this season, clients can look forward to a line-up of exclusive interviews, thrilling videos, and exciting updates. Since its incorporation, Vantage has achieved significant milestones that have shaped its growth. Expanding from forex CFDs to include CFDs on Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Bonds, and Shares.This strategic evolution laid the foundation for Vantage's exponential growth into a leading multi-asset CFD broker, delivering an unparalleled trading experience. In 2022, Vantage entered into its first ever motorsport sponsorship with NEOM McLaren Extreme E, highlighting the company's commitment to sustainability and innovation. In the media landscape, the partnership with Bloomberg Media Studios to create "The Vantage View" , a video series that has significantly enhanced Vantage's visibility and engagement in financial market trends and intelligence. Vantage's dedication to enhancing user experience is evident through its integration with TradingView, which brought greater convenience and advanced charting tools directly to Vantage's clients, allowing seamless trading on one of the world's most popular platforms. The recent revamp of Vantage's website underscored the company's commitment to providing intuitive, user-friendly solutions. The updated Indices CFDs product offering added to this, ensuring traders have access to a wide range of instruments at lower cost to diversify their portfolios. David Shayer, CEO of Vantage UK, says, "We are very proud to celebrate 15 years of Vantage. It has been an honour to witness this journey of growth and success. Fifteen years is a long time, but it's just the beginning. We are so excited for what's to come, and look forward to many more years of Vantage delivering innovative products and services to support their traders to reach their goals." About Vantage UK Vantage UK is a multi-asset CFD broker offering clients access to a nimble and powerful service for trading Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and Spread Bets on Forex, Commodities, Indices, Shares, ETFs, and Bonds. With 15 years of market experience, Vantage goes beyond the role of broker, providing a trusted trading ecosystem that empowers clients to seize trading opportunities. trade smarter @vantage https://www.vantagemarkets.co.uk/ Risk warning: CFDs and Spread Bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72.5% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and Spread Bets with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs and Spread Bets work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Please seek independent advice if necessary. Disclaimer: 'The Ultimate Trading Machine' is a marketing term and does not imply guaranteed performance. CFDs involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Vantage is the trading name of VGP LLP. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2506147/Image.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2506240/Vantage_15_Logo_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/vantage-celebrates-its-milestone-15th-anniversary-302251314.html SYDNEY, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading multi-asset broker, Vantage Markets (or "Vantage"), marks its 15th anniversary today, celebrating 15 years of innovating the ultimate* trading machine. Like a well-trained race engineering team, Vantage has spent the last 15 years building and refining its powerful, intuitive trading platforms that integrate cutting-edge technology, to meet the evolving needs of traders worldwide. To commemorate this milestone, Vantage has unveiled a new gold anniversary logo, symbolising the trust, security and reliability that have defined its journey. From now until the end of the year, clients can look forward to a line-up of exclusive interviews, thrilling videos, and other exciting updates. Since its incorporation, Vantage has achieved significant milestones that have shaped its growth. The rebranding from VantageFX to Vantage in 2021 marked a pivotal shift, expanding beyond forex to include CFDs on Indices, Shares, Commodities, ETFs, and Bonds. This strategic evolution laid the groundwork for Vantage's rise as a leading multi-asset broker. In 2022, Vantage entered the world of motorsport sponsorship with NEOM McLaren Extreme E, highlighting the company's commitment to sustainability and innovation. In the media landscape, the partnership with Bloomberg Media Studios to create "The Vantage View" video series further cemented Vantage's role as a thought leader in financial market trends and intelligence. Vantage's dedication to enhancing user experience is evident through its integration with TradingView and the recent refresh of its website. Beyond trading, Vantage has also made significant contributions to corporate social responsibility, including supporting UNESCO's education initiatives and making a $100,000 donation to the UNHCR for refugee programs in Australia. Jack Kelly, Head of Sales at Vantage Australia, says, "We're pleased to celebrate this significant milestone. Our 15 year journey has been absolutely remarkable, with a legacy of innovation, growth, excellence and impact. I am looking forward to our exciting next chapter, and will absolutely be bringing our clients along with us for the ride." Learn more about Vantage's 15 year journey here. About Vantage Vantage Markets (or Vantage) is a multi-asset broker offering clients access to a nimble and powerful service for trading Forex and Contracts for Difference (CFDs) products on, Commodities, Indices, Shares, ETFs, and Bonds. With over 15 years of market experience, Vantage transcends the role of broker, providing a trusted trading ecosystem, an award-winning mobile trading app, and a user-friendly trading platform that empowers clients to seize trading opportunities. Download the Vantage App on App Store or Google Play. trade smarter @vantage Vantage Global Prime Pty Ltd (ACN 157 768 566) ("Vantage"), located at 12/15 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000, and is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) AFSL no. 428901. Trading derivatives carries significant risks. It is not suitable for all investors and if you are a professional client, you could lose substantially more than your initial investment. When acquiring our derivative products, you have no entitlement, right or obligation to the underlying financial assets. Past performance is no indication of future performance and tax laws are subject to change. The information on this website is general in nature and doesn't take into account your personal objectives, financial circumstances, or needs. Accordingly, before acting on the advice, you should consider whether the advice is suitable for you having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. We encourage you to seek independent advice if necessary. You should consider whether you're part of our target market by reviewing our Target Market Determination (TMD), reading our Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), and other legal documents to ensure you fully understand the risks before you make any trading decisions. We encourage you to seek independent advice if necessary. *Disclaimer: 'The Ultimate Trading Machine' is a marketing term and does not imply guaranteed performance. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2506151/Image.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2506251/Vantage_15_Logo_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/vantage-australia-celebrates-its-15-year-journey-defined-by-strategic-partnership-and-innovation-302251325.html A net income of 1.2 million, or 12% of revenue ( 0.1 million for the 2023 first semester) and a gross operating surplus of 2.2 million for the half-year, almost doubled compared to the first half of 2023. An increased gross margin rate of 58%, increased by 2 points, for a total value of 5.8 million. A revenue target confirmed at 20 million for the year 2024, i.e. doubling compared to 2021. A solid financial structure, allowing to contract 1.750 million debt since the end of June. Arcure, a specialist in artificial intelligence for improving safety and productivity in the industry, today publishes its results for the first half of 2024. As of June 30, the Company recorded an increase in profitability, with a Gross operating surplus of 22% this semester, thanks to revenue growth of 24.5% and cost control. Arcure, a French technological company, is following its roadmap for growth and profitability on the rapidly growing market of embedded AI in the industry. SUMMARY OF 2024 HALF-YEAR RESULTS In thousands of euros 30 June 2024 30 June 2023 (proforma 4) Variation Revenue 10,089 8,106 1,983 Gross margin [1] 5,803 4,518 1,285 Gross margin rate 58% 56% n/a Other operating income [2] 1,997 1,692 305 Gross operating surplus [3] 2,212 1,183 1,029 Gross operating surplus rate 22% 15% n/a Depreciation, amortization and provisions (1,403) (1,323) (80) Operating profit / (loss) 809 (140) 949 Net financial income / (expenses) (149) (186) 37 Net non-recurring income / (expenses) 86 87 (1) Income tax [4] 467 371 96 Net income / (expenses) from consolidated companies 1,214 133 1,081 Franck GAYRAUD, Chairman and co-founder of Arcure, comments these good results: " After a historic 2023 financial year, this first half of 2024 once again confirms our trajectory of profitability: with a net income of 12% of revenue this half-year, compared to 10% for the year 2023, our profitability has never been so high. On the strength of our healthy financial situation, we are continuing to invest in R&D to accelerate our development and maintain our technological lead. As a historical benchmark player in embedded AI for industrial vehicles safety and productivity, we intend to maintain our lead to convince the highest number of OEMs clients to adopt our solutions." STRONG ORGANIC GROWTH DRIVEN BY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS During the first half of 2024, Arcure demonstrated substantial business growth once again, delivering 10.1 million in revenue, up +24.5% compared to the first half of 2023, building on an already exceptionally strong fiscal year and second half of 2023. The first half of the year was characterized by unwavering international expansion, 81% of the revenue being generated outside France. This figure is on par with 2023 (84%), a well-earned reward for the hard work realized these last years to grow international sales both in Europe and in North America. Arcure has grown all distribution channels, with a marked increase in business among franchise dealers, distributors, and machinery manufacturers. Regarding sales, the product mix is dominated by Blaxtair Origin, the awarded version launched in 2022, which was the primary growth driver during the first half of the year. Blaxtair's fifth and latest version to-date, launched in April 2024, will generate its first sales during the second half of 2024. RESULTS AND PROFITABILITY IMPROVED This first semester confirmed improved profitability. As of 30 June, Arcure achieved a historic gross margin of 5.8 million, compared to 4.5 million during the first half of 2023 (58% of gross margin rate). This performance underscores the high Blaxtair Origin sales and the hard work done to streamline production costs. Gross operating surplus strongly progressed to 2.2 million, compared to 1.2 million for the first half of 2023 (on a like-for-like basis with CIR recognized under taxes rather than operating income), to reach 22% of revenue, increased by 12 basis points. This result stemmed from the business growth, the high gross margin, and the ability to control operating expenses while supporting sales efforts. Personnel expenses remained moderate at 3.3 million during the first half of 2024, compared to 3.0 million over the same period last year. At the same time, other operating expenses also remained under control at 2.1 million, versus 1.8 million one year ago. Net profit totaled 1.21 million as of 30 June 2024, or 12% of revenue-a 6-month record for Arcure, both in value and rate. A SOUND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE Self-financing capabilities net of fixed assets amounted to 1.1 million over the half-year. To be noted, the Company has continued investing in R&D (-1.2 million), which is necessary to maintain its technological leadership. The contribution to the change in cash from the change in working capital amounted to -1,5 million, related to an increase in trade receivables (-0.8 million), in Research Tax Credit (CIR, -0.5 million), inventories (-0.8 million) and trade payables (+0.6 million). The impact of financial expenses paid amounted to -0.1 million. The Company has also continued to decrease its debt steadily and viably (-0.5 million). Therefore, cash declined by 1 million over the half-year. As of 30 June 2024, gross cash amounted to 2.7 million and financial debt totaled 7.3 million, which comprised a majority of long maturity convertible bonds (2027). Post-closing, Arcure has secured two additional credit lines for 1.750 million to be cashed in the second half of the year. PROSPECTS CONFIRMED FOR 2024 This first half of the year is in line with business growth forecasts for 2024. As a result, the Company is confirming it can meet its goal - 20 million in revenue by the end of the year, doubling what was made in 2021, and continuing to improve profitability. To continue its development, Arcure intends to capitalize on its technological leadership such as algorithms and onboard AI functionalities in industrial vehicles that meet global industrial companies' needs. To do that, Arcure is following a business strategy focusing on its core expertise and added value: AI and software. Over the medium term, the industrial vehicle market will experience a technological change, trending toward equipping industrial machinery with increasingly smarter features and functions to ensure greater safety, autonomy, and productivity. As a pioneer and long-standing leader in industrial vehicle digitalization, Arcure is ready to tackle the numerous challenges this new market presents. As a result, the Company is continuing to lead numerous discussions with prominent stakeholders (OEMs and industrial companies) regarding new international business partnerships. Over the shorter term, the extensive range of products and services covered by the 5th generation of Blaxtair should continue to support the leading position of Arcure. The market of industrial vehicles digitalization is growing rapidly, which supports strong business prospects for Arcure's range of products and services, within an uncertain global macroeconomic environment. With more than 80% of its revenue generated outside France, the geographical diversification of Arcure's activity is a factor of solidity and resilience. About Arcure Founded in 2009, Arcure is an international group, specialized in artificial intelligence applied to perception technology for the industry, which develops and markets solutions to enhance the autonomy and safety of industrial machines and robots. In particular, Arcure has developed Blaxtair, a state-of-the-art intelligent pedestrian detection solution, improving safety around commercial vehicles in many contexts, including the most difficult environments. Already sold more than 20,000 units in more than 50 countries, Blaxtair is used by the world's leading industrial companies and is gradually being adopted by machine manufacturers. Arcure is headquartered in the Paris area, R&D offices and operational units in France, has a subsidiary in the United States and has sales offices in Germany, Spain and Asia. Arcure is listed on Euronext Growth (ISIN: FR0013398997 - Ticker: ALCUR). The group recorded an annual 18.2 million revenue in 2023 (84% of which was generated outside France), growing 40% compared to 2022. More information at www.blaxtair.com CONTACTS INVESTORS RELATION Marc Delaunay - investisseurs@arcure.net MEDIA RELATION Marc Delaunay - marc.delaunay@blaxtair.com [1] Gross margin = revenue - costs of sold services and products. [2] Including capitalized production for K 1,192 as of 30 June 2024 and K 1,013 as of 30 June 2023. [3] EBE (Gross operating surplus) corresponds to the Operating Profit restated of depreciation and amortization. [4] In accordance with ANC 2020.01, the Research Tax Credit can no longer be recognized as operating income, as it was until now, but only as a tax. ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: m2+facppaJibx2yek5WYmGRqbG5qxJGUbWiXyWSdacmdZ2pimZtomcnKZnFonGlq - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-87744-20240918_arcure_pr_results_half-year_2024.pdf Paris, September 18, 2024 - Mediaperformances, a major player in omnichannel Retail Media in France and a leader in shopper activation media, and VusionGroup (Euronext: VU, FR0010282822), global leader in digitalization solutions for physical commerce, announce the signing of a strategic partnership to create a SaaS platform for delivering and monitoring in-store Retail Media campaigns through IoT technologies. This partnership combines Mediaperformances' unrivalled expertise in omnichannel Retail Media with VusionGroup's technological innovations in smart labels, IoT and digital solutions for physical commerce. Together, the two companies will launch a Retail Media IoT Cloud platform, offering a cutting-edge solution that addresses the growing need for efficiency and sustainability in the retail sector, notably by reinventing the in-store Retail Media operating model. An innovative alliance for a renewed in-store experience This unique partnership promises to bring a new experience to in-store shoppers, with advertising campaigns tailored to each store and sales area. Thanks to its in-depth knowledge of the sector and the power of its network, Mediaperformances will bring its expertise in in-store and digital retail media, while VusionGroup will leverage its technological know-how to create an innovative, agile and high-performance SaaS platform. Towards a more eco-friendly, agile approach The new platform will enable retailers to offer enriched customer experiences while reducing their ecological footprint. By automating and optimizing in-store retail media operations, this solution will help reduce waste and improve energy efficiency, thanks to the use of e-Paper displays. The platform's flexibility will enable self-service or managed monitoring according to the specific needs of each territory. Strategic expansion in France and abroad Building on their leadership positions, Mediaperformances and VusionGroup are aiming for rapid penetration of retail markets in France. The two companies also have international ambitions, since the partnership will enable them to offer an innovative and sustainable solution to retailers worldwide. "This strategic partnership with VusionGroup marks a decisive step forward for our company and for the Retail Media sector as a whole. Together, we will not only transform the in-store customer experience, but also promote more sustainable and responsible practices. This collaboration will enable us to push back the boundaries of innovation, offer cutting-edge solutions and play a pioneering role in the transformation of Retail Media," says Claire Koralewski, Managing Director of Mediaperformances. "We are delighted to be working with Mediaperformances to deliver an innovative solution that will transform retail. Our expertise, combined with the omnichannel vision shared with Mediaperformances, will create significant added value for retailers, brands and consumers", adds Jerome Hamrit, member of VusionGroup's Executive Committee in charge of Shopper & Retail Media solutions. About Mediaperformances Founded in 1985, Mediaperformances is one of France's leading players in retail media, and the undisputed leader in on and off shopper activation media. As part of the Mediaperf Group, Mediaperformances targets brands and media agencies alike, with a range of omnichannel advertising solutions that influence consumer buying behavior. A partner of major GSA chains (Carrefour, Auchan, E. Leclerc, Intermarche, U, Cora), Mediaperformances counts over a hundred FMCG and non-food advertisers among its customers, including Danone, Nestle, Unilever, Mondelez, Coca-Cola, Fleury Michon, Borges Tramier, Mutti and HP. Historically committed to CSR issues, Mediaperformances became France's only BCorp-certified media player in 2021. The company has also been awarded the Great Place To Work label since 2021. Mediaperformances.net About VusionGroup VusionGroup (ex- SES-imagotag) is the global leader in the digitalization solutions for commerce, serving over 350 large retailer groups around the world in Europe, Asia and North America. The Group develops technologies that create a positive impact on society by enabling sustainable and human-centered commerce. By leveraging our IoT & Data technologies, we empower retailers to re-imagine their physical stores into efficient, intelligent, connected, and data-driven assets. We unlock higher economic performance, facilitate seamless collaboration across the value chain, enhance the shopping experience, create better jobs, cultivate healthier communities, and significantly reduce waste and carbon emissions. VusionGroup consist of six families of solutions, harnessing the full potential of IoT, Cloud, Data, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, at the service of the modernization of commerce: SESimagotag (ESL & Digital Shelf Systems), VusionCloud, Captana (computer vision and artificial intelligence platform), Memory (data analytics), Engage (retail media and in-store advertising), and PDidigital (logistics and industrial solutions). VusionGroup supports the United Nations' Global Compact initiative and has received in 2023 the Platinum Sustainability Rating from EcoVadis, the world's reference of business sustainability ratings. VusionGroup is listed in compartment A of Euronext Paris and member of the SBF120 Index. Ticker: SESL - ISIN code: FR0010282822 - Reuters: SESL.PA - Bloomberg: SES www.vusion.com Investor Relations: Olivier Gernandt - olivier.gernandt@vusion.com Press Contact: Publicis Consultants - vusiongroup@publicisconsultants.com ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: l5mdaJ1vlmeXx2lvYZlpa2SYaZeSlWbKlpTGxGidapbJbWqUmW9napmeZnFonGhr - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-87735-vusiongroup_mediaperformances_pr.pdf DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Window Lift Motors Market size is projected to grow from USD 3.5. Billion in 2024 to USD 3.8 Billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 1.6%, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The window lift motors market is expanding rapidly, driven by the growing consumer preference for comfort and convenience features like power windows, which are becoming standard in modern vehicles. 48 V window lift motors are expected to have a significant impact in the market going forward. Additionally, developments in motor technologies, such as smart motors are expected to reshape the window lift motors market. Download an Illustrative overview: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=23819831 Browse in-depth TOC on "Window Lift Motors Market" 289 - Tables 88 - Figures 258 - Pages Window Lift Motors Market Scope: Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 USD 3.5. Billion Estimated Value by 2030 USD 3.8 Billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 1.6% Market Size Available for 2019-2030 Forecast Period 2024-2030 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered by Type (12 V, 24 V), Vehicle Type (PC, LCV, HCV), Vehicle Class, Window Position, Regulator Type, Aftermarket by End Use, Aftermarket by Sales Channel, Aftermarket by Vehicle Type and Region - Global Forecast to 2030 Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Advancements in window lift motor technologies Key Market Drivers Consumer inclination toward premium vehicles The 24 V segment of window lift motors is anticipated to show the largest growth in the North American window lift motors market. Due to the increased growth rate in the e-commerce and last mile delivery industries within the US and Canada, the 24 V window lift motors are expected to dominate the North American market more than ever, therefore, enhancing the comfortability of commercial vehicles drivers. Light and heavy commercial vehicles are shifting from 12V to 24V electrical systems in order to improve power output and efficiency. In January 2024, Volvo North America, a branch of Volvo, introduced a new VNL Truck featuring a 24 V electric system aimed at reducing electrical problems. This will, in turn, lead to higher usage of 24 V Motors and will guarantee that these motors are compatible to prevent failure hence leading to growth on this particular segment. For instance, IFB Industries Limited based on India provide window lift motor which involved 24V high torque serration type, drum pulley. Rear windows segment is anticipated to be the fastest growing position in the global window lift motors market. The rear windows is expected to see the highest increase in growth in the near future due to increasing demand from customers for better vehicle comfort and convenience. The segment of back window motors in the passenger vehicle window lift motors market includes motors that control power window functions for rear doors. This part is particularly noticeable in medium-priced and luxury passenger cars, where rear power windows are commonly included as a standard feature. Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG from Germany supplies the rear power window motor for the 2024 BMW 430i.. Some of these models also come with one-touch window control and anti-pinch features. Auto makers are including a greater number of these characteristics in various car models, leading to a growth in this sector. The Opel Mokka (2024 model year) is a case in point, using power window motors from Inteva Products (US) for both the front and rear windows. Germany to lead the window lift motors market in Europe. Germany is expected to experience the largest growth due to its extensive vehicle production and strong automotive industry. The country is home to leading automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz. Additionally, as well as key window lift motor manufacturers like Robert Bosch GmbH and Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG. Germany's high vehicle ownership rate and extensive sales of premium passenger cars further contribute to the growing market for window lift motors in the country. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=23819831 Window Lift Motors Market Dynamics: Drivers: 1. Consumer inclination toward premium vehicles Restraints: 1. Disruptions in supply chain Opportunities: 1. Advancements in window lift motor technologies Challenge: 1. Intense competition and price pressures Key Market Players Window Lift Motors Industry: Prominent players in the Window Lift Motors Market include as Denso Corporation (Japan), Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG (Germany), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Mitsuba Corp. (Japan), and HI-LEX Corporation (Japan), and Antolin (Spain). The break-down of primary participants is as mentioned below: By Respondent Type: OEMs - 24%, Tier 1 -42% and Tier 2 and 3 - 34%, OEMs - 24%, Tier 1 -42% and Tier 2 and 3 - 34%, By Designation: CXO's - 37%, Managers - 49%, and Executives - 14% CXO's - 37%, Managers - 49%, and Executives - 14% By Region: North America - 28%, Europe - 36%, Asia Pacific - 32%, and Rest of the World - 4% Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=23819831 Window Lift Motors Industry Recent Developments: In May 2024, Denso Corporation (Japan) established a new office in Minato-ku, Tokyo, to integrate sales, engineering, business, and corporate divisions, supporting face-to-face communication with customers, partners, and government agencies in the Greater Tokyo Area. In February 2024, STMicroelectronics (Switzerland) announced the AEK-MOT-WINH92 evaluation board aimed at driving DC motors for car window lifters, featuring an anti-pinch mechanism using three types of current sensing without motor encoders and offering flexible configuration options and fault detection capabilities. In January 2024, Han Yale Ind. Co., Ltd. (Taiwan) announced that it will showcase a new smart window lift motor and window regulator at the AAPEX event in 2024. In December 2023, Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co., KG (Germany) signed an agreement for contract renewal with HASCO Co., Ltd. (China) for 25 more years. Both companies have a joint venture, Shanghai Brose Automotive Components, which develops and manufactures door modules, window regulators, seat structures, and latches. In April 2022, SONTIAN AUTOMOTIVE CO., LTD. (China) announced its move to a new factory in Rui-An City, China, to expand production capabilities. Window Lift Motors Market Size - Key Benefits of Buying the Report: The report will help the market leaders/new entrants with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall window lift motors market and the subsegments. This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to position their businesses better and plan suitable go-to-market strategies. The report also helps stakeholders understand the market pulse and provides information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. This report provides insights on: Analysis of key drivers (Increasing consumer demand for comfort and convenience, Growing vehicle production, Shifting customer preferences for premium and luxury vehicles), restraints (Declining automobile sales, Supply chain disruptions), opportunities (Untapped growth potential in aftermarket, Rising demand for window lift motors from emerging markets), and challenges (Intense competition and price pressures, High consumer demand for durability and efficiency) influencing the growth of the window lift motors market. (Increasing consumer demand for comfort and convenience, Growing vehicle production, Shifting customer preferences for premium and luxury vehicles), restraints (Declining automobile sales, Supply chain disruptions), opportunities (Untapped growth potential in aftermarket, Rising demand for window lift motors from emerging markets), and challenges (Intense competition and price pressures, High consumer demand for durability and efficiency) influencing the growth of the window lift motors market. Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product & service launches in the window lift market. Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product & service launches in the window lift market. Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative markets - the report analyses the window lift motors market across varied regions. Comprehensive information about lucrative markets - the report analyses the window lift motors market across varied regions. Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products & services, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the window lift motors market. Exhaustive information about new products & services, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the window lift motors market. Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies, and service offerings of leading players like Denso Corporation (Japan), Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG (Germany), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Mitsuba Corp. (Japan), and HI-LEX Corporation (Japan), and Antolin (Spain) among others in the window lift motors market. In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies, and service offerings of leading players like Denso Corporation (Japan), Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG (Germany), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Mitsuba Corp. (Japan), and HI-LEX Corporation (Japan), and Antolin (Spain) among others in the window lift motors market. Strategies: The report also helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the window lift motors market and provides them with information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. Related Reports: Electric Vehicle Market - Global Forecast 2030 Electric Bus Market - Global Forecast to 2030 Automotive Motors Market - Global Forecast to 2027 Get access to the latest updates on Window Lift Motors Companies and Window Lift Motors Industry Growth 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. 1615 South Congress Ave. Suite 103, Delray Beach, FL 33445 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1951202/4609423/MarketsandMarkets.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/window-lift-motors-market-worth-3-8-billion-by-2030--marketsandmarkets-302251433.html ATHENS, Greece, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a unique fusion of ancient heritage and modern art, the spectacular lighting event for the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion took place yesterday, September 16, 2024. The event was graced by the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, highlighting the importance of Greece's cultural heritage and the need to promote it on the global stage. International figures from the political and artistic realms, as well as media representatives, attended the event, which was broadcast live worldwide. In his address, Evangelos Mytilineos, Chairman and CEO of METLEN Energy & Metals, stated: "I am deeply moved that METLEN Energy & Metals has made a substantial contribution to building this bridge between the past and the present. The unique architecture of Ancient Greece is being showcased in modern-day Greece, bringing to the forefront the timeless value of our shared heritage. Today's event perfectly exemplifies the power of human creativity. The modern lighting, respectful of the monument's value and beauty, reveals new dimensions of its architecture that are going to impress every visitor. The image we saw will travel to every corner of the world, reminding everyone that beauty, or 'kallos,' has its roots here in Greece." Through this link, you can view and read the full address of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Address by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the event for the new lighting of the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion | The Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic (primeminister.gr). You can read the full address by the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, from the following link: Lina Mendoni: Greece is moving steadily forward, with vision and a plan (culture.gov.gr). The lighting project, overseen by internationally acclaimed lighting designer Eleftheria Deko, presented the historical and architectural significance of the monument in a unique way. Through the play of light, the temple gained new dimensions, bringing the past to life and enchanting the present. The evening culminated in a grand concert by distinguished composer Stavros Xarchakos, who presented a unique musical composition. Accompanying him was the ERT Contemporary Music Orchestra and top artists such as Dimitris Bassis, Iro Saia, and Zacharias Karounis, delivering an emotional musical experience under the maestro's direction. METLEN Energy & Metals sponsored the lighting and event, reaffirming its commitment to the promotion and protection of Greece's cultural heritage. The Journey into the Light continues Notes for Editors: Photos: https://we.tl/t-ZyFJOXQSCP You can watch the full event by visiting the following link: A Journey into Light (YouTube.com) ???LEN: METLEN Energy & Metals - evolution of MYTILINEOS Energy & Metals - is a multinational industrial and energy company, a leader in the metallurgy and energy industries, focused on sustainability and circular economy. The Company is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, with a consolidated turnover and EBITDA of 5.492 billion and 1.014 billion, respectively. METLEN is a reference point for competitive green metallurgy at the European and global level, whilst operating the only vertically integrated bauxite, alumina and primary aluminum production unit in the European Union (E.U.) with privately owned port facilities. In the energy sector, METLEN offers comprehensive solutions, covering thermal and renewable energy projects, electricity distribution and trading, alongside investments in grid infrastructure, battery storage, and other green technologies. The Company is active in the markets of all five continents, in 40 countries, adopting a full-scale synergetic model between the Metallurgy and Energy Sectors, while undertaking end-to-end development of major energy infrastructure projects. For more information, please visit: www.metlengroup.com | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/a-journey-into-the-light-iconic-illumination-of-the-temple-of-poseidon-at-sounion-supported-by-the-ministry-of-culture-and-metlen-energy--metals-302250905.html LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DevEx Connect today announced the State of the Community Survey, an industry initiative designed to gather critical insights from technology community members. The survey results will give community organizers the data they need to enhance engagement, address challenges and better support the developer ecosystem. Individual community members can access the survey through the DevEx Connect website or directly at https://dx-c.io/3AVRxcm . The State of the Community Survey aims to understand the community's perspectives on valuable aspects of their groups, preferred engagement methods and areas for improvement. Through detailed analysis, DevEx Connect will provide tailored recommendations to community organizers for optimizing events and services. Key topics covered in the survey include member profiles, engagement levels, learning preferences and barriers to event participation. "This survey is a cornerstone of our commitment to empowering technology communities," said Ethan Sumner, CEO of DevEx Connect. "Through our learnings, we will bolster the DevEx movement and foster communities where developers can thrive and innovate. Our ultimate goal is to create an ecosystem supporting personal and professional growth." More than 100 community groups have been invited to contribute to the research so far. Community leaders who are interested in sharing the survey with their members are welcome and encouraged to contact the DevEx Connect team directly. Preliminary results of the survey will be shared at the inaugural DevEx Connect conferences in Manchester on October 29th-30th, followed by a wider publication. For every completed survey, DevEx Connect will donate 1 to Centrepoint, the UK's leading youth homelessness charity. As a token of appreciation, participants will receive a 15% discount on DevEx Connect events and conferences. The insights gathered will contribute to an annual State of the Community Report, laying the groundwork for a series of surveys to improve the technology community landscape continuously. By sharing best practices and fostering collaboration, DevEx Connect seeks to build a robust ecosystem that meets its members' evolving needs. For more information on DevEx Connect and to participate in the State of the Community Survey, please visit www.devexconnect.io . About DevEx Connect DevEx Connect is dedicated to fostering innovation and collaboration within the technology community by organizing events and providing insights, resources, and support to community organizers and members alike. Media Contact: Olivia Heel oheel@catapultpr-ir.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2461793/DevEx_logo_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/devex-connect-launches-state-of-the-community-survey-to-gain-actionable-insights-to-strengthen-the-technology-community-ecosystem-302251342.html 18 September 2024 SEGRO PRICES 500 MILLION OF 8 YEAR BONDS SEGRO plc ('SEGRO') announces the pricing of a 500 million senior unsecured bond issue for an eight-year term priced at 123 basis points above euro mid-swaps with an annual coupon of 3.5 per cent. The bond issuance was over six times subscribed at peak. The proceeds of the issue will principally be used to refinance existing indebtedness, with a focus on bank loans maturing in early 2026. As a result, the average cost of debt (including joint venture debt at share) falls to 2.6 per cent (from 2.7 per cent at 30 June 2024) and the average duration increases to 7.3 years (from 6.8 years at 30 June 2024). Soumen Das, SEGRO Chief Financial Officer, commented: "We appreciate the strong support that we have received from investors for the new bond issue in achieving an attractive spread and all-in coupon. The bond enhances our balance sheet, reducing our average cost of debt and extending the average maturity." ENDS For further information, please contact: Harry Stokes (Commercial Finance Director) +44 (0) 20 7451 9124 / harry.stokes@segro.com Gary Gaskarth (External Communications Manager) +44 (0) 20 7451 9069 / gary.gaskarth@segro.com Richard Sunderland / Eve Kirmatzis (FTI Consulting) Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000 About SEGRO SEGRO is a UK Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, and is a leading owner, manager and developer of modern warehouses and industrial property. It owns or manages 10.8 million square metres of space (116 million square feet) valued at 20.6 billion serving customers from a wide range of industry sectors. Its properties are located in and around major cities and at key transportation hubs in the UK and in seven other European countries. For over 100 years SEGRO has been creating the space that enables extraordinary things to happen. From modern big box warehouses, used primarily for regional, national and international distribution hubs, to urban warehousing (including data centres) located close to major population centres and business districts, it provides high-quality assets that allow its customers to thrive. A commitment to be a force for societal and environmental good is integral to SEGRO's purpose and strategy. Its Responsible SEGRO framework focuses on three long-term priorities where the company believes it can make the greatest impact: Championing Low-Carbon Growth, Investing in Local Communities and Environments and Nurturing Talent. Striving for the highest standards of innovation, sustainable business practices and enabling economic and societal prosperity underpins SEGRO's ambition to be the best property company. See www.SEGRO.com for further information. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: xmlvkZdnkpqYmnFuksltaZOYb5lnxWSVaJecl2eZk8jKbGpjyJppasfGZnFonGlr - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-87745-6731e.pdf Der Goldpreis haussiert und schwingt sich von Hoch zu Hoch. Getrieben von geopolitischen Unsicherheiten sowie der Aussicht auf eine lockere Geldpolitik der FED gehen Experten aktuell von weiter steigenden Notierungen bis sogar in den Bereich von 3.000 US-Dollar je Unze Gold aus. Im Schatten des Basispreises notieren Goldproduzenten aus der zweiten Reihe sowie Explorationsunternehmen noch weit weg von ihren historischen Hochststanden entfernt und bieten dadurch erhebliches Aufholpotential. In diesem kostenlosen Report geben wir Ihnen Favoriten an die Hand, die aufgrund von Sondersituation die Chance auf eine Kursvervielfachung besitzen. Handeln Sie Jetzt! Fordern Sie jetzt den brandneuen Spezialreport an und profitieren Sie von dem weiter steigenden Kurs des Edelmetalls. Sichern Sie sich jetzt Ihren kostenfreien Report. HLI is one of the most established, global longevity science companies and committed to accelerating living to 100+ years of a healthy, active, and mobile life DUBAI, UAE and RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TVM Capital Healthcare, an international healthcare expansion and growth capital firm, today announced a recent equity investment in San Francisco-based Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI), a global leader since 2013 in advancing precision medicine in the pursuit of healthy aging, often referred to as longevity medicine. The investment will support the company's growth within the U.S. market, as well as its expansion into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Southeast Asia. Founded by Dr. J. Craig Venter, one of the pioneers of the human genome sequencing effort, HLI builds on his vision for a longer, healthier life and the democratization of genomics to revolutionize the way we evade "avoidable disease" and stay healthy longer. The company is recognized as a leader in the rapidly expanding industry of longevity medicine due to its deep expertise in genomics and other fields of precision medicine such as imaging, and its unmatched, longitudinal patient dataset built on decades of research in the field. The company has proprietary tools for the detection of gene-disease associations, including HLI's artificial intelligence health risk and recommendation platform, and provides its clients with pre-symptomatic diagnosis and customized treatments, preempting disease at a very early stage and maximizing health outcomes. In short, HLI is transforming healthcare from a reactive practice to one that is predictive, proactive, and preventative, which not only enhances the quality of lives of individuals but improves the efficiency and efficacy of the entire healthcare system. TVM Capital Healthcare brings extensive global investment experience combined with operating experience in the Middle East and Southeast Asia and a track record of building innovative healthcare companies. Through this investment provided by the Saudi Arabia-focused TVM Healthcare Afiyah Fund LP, which closed earlier this year and is the largest growth capital fund of its kind in the region, the firm will support HLI in its expansion, initially with a special focus on market entry in the Kingdom. The country's Vision 2030 and Health Sector Transformation Program call for an evolution of "sick care" to true "health care," focusing on the most critical fields of oncology, neurology, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular and autoimmune disease. Saudi Arabia is highly receptive to healthcare business models such as HLI and has been increasingly active in longevity science with several government-backed initiatives, including the Saudi Human Genome Program and the Hevolution Foundation, a Riyadh-headquartered global non-profit organisation, investing in scientific projects and life science companies in the longevity field. Dr. J. Craig Venter, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of Human Longevity, Inc., commented: "Human Longevity, Inc. is a health firm where the goal is to stay ahead of aging and illness. We believe this platform will save millions of lives and significantly reduce healthcare costs in the future. TVM Capital Healthcare's investment enables us to strengthen our position globally as the most data-backed longevity practice, as well as establishes our foothold in markets, like Saudi Arabia and SEA, that see the potential of our approach in preventive medicine and the huge impact it will have on changing the cost of medicine." Dr. Helmut M. Schuehsler, Chairman and CEO of TVM Capital Healthcare, remarked: "With our investment in HLI, we contribute to the transition towards the 'healthcare of the future' which is all about precision medicine, personalized care, and disease prevention, in short: true 'health care.' The potential long-term impact of longevity medicine in society is immense. We are excited to be part of the journey through this new investment which supports the growth of the company in the U.S., but also introduces HLI into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Southeast Asia." Dr. Ghida Harfouche, Partner at TVM Capital Healthcare, added: "HLI's cutting-edge science has enabled precision medicine for disease prevention and highly personalized interventions for their clients. We are pleased we can support the company in its global growth, and work with them on democratization of healthy longevity and preventative care." TVM Capital Healthcare is recognized as the first international Healthcare fund manager investing in and operating healthcare companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The firm is also active across the wider Middle East and Southeast Asia. In addition to backing healthcare growth companies in the U.S. and Europe to support their expansion plans into these regions, TVM Capital Healthcare also invests in leading local companies. With this two-pronged, highly catalytic strategy, TVM Capital Healthcare improves quality and affordable access to world-leading products, technologies, and services across its target markets. ENDS About TVM Capital Healthcare TVM Capital Healthcare is a global healthcare private equity firm specializing in emerging markets. Based in Dubai and Singapore, with offices in Riyadh and Ho Chi Minh City, the firm invests expansion and growth capital in healthcare companies to improve local access to quality and affordable care, as well as local sources of medical products in the pharma, medical device, and diagnostics sectors. Investment and operating partners, as well as a strong group of regional and international senior advisors, have long-standing track records in healthcare investing and deep operating experience in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Medical quality is safeguarded by collaborations with leading international medical technology and clinical partners such as Mass General Hospital as well as international accreditation agencies such as Joint Commission International (JCI). TVM Capital Healthcare's investment and operating approach combines strong commercial value creation and financial returns with responsible and sustainable investment in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our proven strategy in the critical sector of healthcare also includes climate adaptation and resilience.www.tvmcapitalhealthcare.com Contact: Holly Radel Radel@tvmcapitalhealthcare.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1446186/2740341/TVM_Capital_Healthcare_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/tvm-capital-healthcare-announces-investment-in-human-longevity-inc-as-part-of-its-strategy-of-supporting-disease-prevention-and-healthy-aging-302247907.html Eight out of 10 Asian tech professionals recognise UAE's growing reputation as a tech hub; 45% of tech workers would relocate to the UAE, outperforming Germany and Hong Kong as a popular relocation destination for tech talent; 93% of respondents think it is important to have a government that is supportive of the tech industry DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey conducted by Capital.com, a global trading platform and the Middle East's fastest-growing technology company*, has revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is rapidly gaining recognition as a competitive tech hub. The survey polled 1,000 respondents across Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and India, and found that 81% of Asian tech professionals view the UAE as a growing tech hub. A further 76% of respondents say the UAE provides a conducive environment for the tech industry. The UAE's growing reputation as a burgeoning tech hub is fuelling interest among tech workers across the region, with nearly half (45%) of respondents expressing a willingness to relocate to the UAE for work, out-ranking countries like Germany (38%) and Hong Kong (20%) as popular relocation destinations. This places the UAE in close competition with other prominent destinations such as Singapore (46%), the UK (57%), and the US (52%) as preferred locations for relocation among tech professionals. Commenting on the findings, Tarik Chebib, CEO, Capital.com, Middle East, said: "With 8 in 10 respondents from our recent survey recognising the UAE as a competitive tech hub, it's clear that the region is gaining momentum as a favourable destination for tech talent. Asia's tech professionals have traditionally gravitated to cities in the UK, the US and Singapore to further their careers, so it's encouraging to see the UAE stand shoulder-to-shoulder with this cohort and get the recognition it deserves as an attractive location to live and work." Government support is the key factor contributing to UAE's growing reputation as a tech hub and relocation destination of choice. Of those surveyed, 93% think it is important to have a government that is supportive of the tech industry, highlighting the UAE's concentrated push to develop the country as a hotspot for international tech talent. The majority of those surveyed (74%) cite the UAE's banking, visa, special healthcare/health insurance packages, and real estate services for qualified tech professionals, as factors. More broadly, respondents also say that a high quality of life (60%), attractive remuneration (54%) and the UAE's strategic location (52%) also feed into their decision to relocate. "As a leading partner of the UAE's NextGenFDI initiative, we have seen first-hand the government's commitment to support and grow the tech sector. The UAE's business-friendly environment, forward-thinking policies, investment in innovation, and position as a gateway to the Middle East, Africa and Asia, makes it an ideal location for companies and talent alike. Capital.com is proud to contribute to the sector's growth and innovation in the UAE." said Chebib. While all respondents indicated a 'willingness' to relocate for work, 47% indicated that they are 'actively' looking to relocate, highlighting the huge potential for the UAE to attract and retain tech talent. "As a company operating in the UAE that is licensed by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), we need to draw on an exceptional pool of talent to meet our exacting business and regulatory needs. This means searching for the best talent, from anywhere in the world. Given the UAE's pro-talent stance and growing appeal as a tech destination for professionals, we have had no problem recruiting talent from as far afield as the UK, Europe and Australia. Employees are eager to relocate to a country that not only supports their personal needs but also provides fertile ground for further development within the tech sector," added Chebib. Capital.com opened its UAE subsidiary and regional headquarters in March 2024. Based in Dubai, Capital Com MENA Securities Trading LLC (Capital Com MENA), is licensed and regulated by the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA). Capital.com is also a leading member of the UAE's NextGenFDI initiative, a government-led initiative enabling cutting-edge companies from around the world to establish and expand their operations in the UAE. In 2022, Capital.com was a sponsor of the UAE's NextGen Talent initiative, which was aimed at developing the capabilities of local youth and preparing future leaders in the technology sector. Survey methodology: The survey was carried out between 11 and 28 July 2024 and fielded responses from 1,000 respondents who currently work in a variety of tech-related roles in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam or India, and had declared they were open to relocating to another country for work. The sample split was 250 respondents from Hong Kong, 250 respondents from Singapore, 250 respondents from Vietnam, and 250 respondents from India. Notes to Editors About Capital.com: Capital.com enables clients to trade derivatives on more than 3,000 of the world's most popular indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, shares, and currency pairs. In addition to its web and mobile-based platforms, Capital.com also provides clients with access to free education and trading tools to help them hone their trading knowledge. As a global fintech company with offices in London, Dubai, Limassol, Melbourne, Warsaw, and Vilnius, Capital.com is guided by a sustainability-led startup framework, prioritising smart partnerships with the public and private sector to help drive progress and sustainable growth. Capital Com (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under registration number 793714. Capital Com SV Investments Limited is Authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), under licence number 319/17. Capital Com Australia Pty Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) under AFSL Number 513393. Capital Com Online Investments Ltd is a Company registered in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and authorised to carry out Securities Business by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas with licence number SIA-F245. Capital Com Mena Securities Trading LLC is authorised and regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), under license number 20200000176. To find out more, please visit: www.capital.com This press release is for media use only. It's not intended for individual investors, and doesn't include personal advice or recommendations. DISCLAIMER Spread bets and/or CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 83.51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and/or CFDs with this provider. 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Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2507974/Tarik_Chebib_CEO.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2507973/Capital_com.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/new-survey-finds-uae-emerging-as-a-global-tech-hub-for-asian-talent-302251110.html EQS Newswire / 18/09/2024 / 11:00 CET/CEST SHENZHEN, CHINA - Media OutReach Newswire - 18 September 2024 - To mark its 20th anniversary, OPPO is set to forge a partnership with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with the goal of empowering cultural education and diversity through technology. Using imaging technology, this initiative aims to preserve and transmit cultural heritage, enabling youth to explore the world and connect with diverse cultures, truly embodying the spirit of "Connecting Cultures, Inspiring Futures." Empowering Cultural Education through Imagining Technology and A Call for "Culture Donation" As part of this collaboration, OPPO will donate 1000 OPPO tablets to support the development of local youth education in Africa and Asia. These devices will feature cultural programming courses developed under the 'Youth Coding Initiative', jointly launched by UNESCO and CODEMAO, children's programming education brand. The initiative aims to promote the inclusive and safe use of technology, advance equitable education in Africa and Asia, and help preserve local cultural heritage through digital learning. Firmin E. Matoko, the Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations, stated, "OPPO's dedication to advancing youth innovation and education is highly appreciated. I am sure that the students and teachers from Africa and Asia will better benefit from the new partnership with OPPO following UNESCO vision and requirements." The partnership will be launched officially after completing the relevant UNESCO procedural reviews. OPPO's initiative has received strong support from the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO. In addition to the donations, OPPO is launching a global campaign CaptureMyCulture, encouraging users worldwide to contribute to cultural preservation by sharing photos and stories that celebrate their local traditions. Participants in this campaign will have the chance to witness the donation ceremony. OPPO's Continued Commitment to Cultural Preservation OPPO's commitment to cultural education extends beyond its partnership with UNESCO. Earlier this year, OPPO joined forces with Discovery Channel to launch the "Culture in a Shot" project, a global initiative aimed at spotlighting and protecting cultural diversity through imaging technology. The project captures the efforts of dedicated individuals: Thailand's Lisu group preserving their heritage through music; Indonesia's artisans practicing the ancient craft of batik with a visual representation of local traditions; and Spain's flamenco dancers embodying Andalusian culture through their art form. Every single group tells the unique cultural story through the distinct art form. Besides, OPPO launches AI Studio in the Reno12 series, allowing users to generate a studio-quality portrait, such as transforming into a flamenco dancer, offering an immersive cultural experience from anywhere in the world. OPPO continues to push the boundaries of technological innovation, using its expertise in AI and imaging to enhance cultural preservation and education. By providing tools for creative expression and storytelling, OPPO is helping to connect cultural and inspire the next generation. As OPPO celebrates its 20th anniversary, the company remains dedicated to its mission of "Technology for Mankind, Kindness for the World", Moving forward, OPPO will continue to harness technology to contribute towards positive impact on society. OPPO remains dedicated to promoting cultural preservation and youth education, contributing to the inheritance and development of global culture. The OPPO 20th anniversary CaptureMyCulture campaign is open for submissions until September 25, 2024. Click here to share your cultural photos and stories, connecting cultures, inspiring futures! Hashtag: OPPO The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. About OPPO OPPO is a leading global smart device brand. Since the launch of its first mobile phone - "Smiley Face" - in 2008, OPPO has been in relentless pursuit of the perfect synergy of aesthetic satisfaction and innovative technology. Today, OPPO provides a wide range of smart devices spearheaded by the Find and Reno series. Beyond devices, OPPO also provides its users with ColorOS operating system and internet services such as OPPO Cloud and OPPO+. OPPO has footprints in more than 60 countries and regions, with more than 40,000 employees dedicated to creating a better life for customers around the world. News Source: OPPO 18/09/2024 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com Business Brokers Directory has ranked the industry-leading broker Earned Exits #1 for its comprehensive, client-centric exit strategies. LONE TREE, CO / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Business Brokers Directory is excited to announce the release of its highly anticipated list of the Best Business Brokers of 2024. This year's list highlights the top brokerage firms in the United States, offering unparalleled services to business owners looking to sell or transition their businesses. Here's a brief overview of the top US business brokers list, according to the Business Brokers Directory: Earned Exits (Best Overall) Empire Flippers Business Exits Business owners who are looking to exit or sell their business should get in touch with an expert. Adam Cole, Chief Editor at Business Brokers Directory, stated, "After conducting thorough research and evaluating numerous brokerage firms, we are confident that our 2024 list reflects the best options available for business owners seeking expert assistance. These brokers have demonstrated a proven ability to deliver results, streamline the selling process, and secure the best possible outcomes for their clients." After conducting hours of research and analyzing user submitted reviews, Business Brokers Directory has finally released their list of the top business brokers of 2024. Business brokerage firms play a crucial role in assisting sellers through the steps involved in preparing a business for sale, identifying potential buyers, and managing the transaction. In the U.S., several top business brokers have established themselves as trusted partners for business owners seeking expert help in selling their companies. Among the top brokerage firms, Earned Exits has consistently been recognized for its expertise in the middle-market segment. Specializing in businesses across various industries, the firm is known for its personalized approach, comprehensive services, and successful track record of closing high-value deals. Other prominent firms providing reliable brokerage services include: Empire Flippers: Known for its online marketplace connecting buyers and sellers, Empire Flippers helps businesses of all sizes navigate the selling process. With an extensive network and streamlined platform, the firm has facilitated the sale of businesses worth over $450 million. Business Exits: Specializing in businesses with revenues between $2 million and $60 million, Business Exits offers tailored services to help entrepreneurs sell efficiently. The firm is recognized for its transparent approach and strong network of buyers across various sectors. Acquire.com: Positioned as the leading marketplace for startup acquisitions, Acquire.com provides a platform for buyers and sellers to connect. With over 350,000 potential buyers in its database, the platform offers tools and support to help sellers manage the entire acquisition process. Consumers can access the full rankings of the best business brokers and see how Business Brokers Directory ranks these companies. Why Consider a Business Broker? Selling a business involves numerous steps, from determining its value and preparing it for sale to managing legal documentation and buyer negotiations. Business brokers can provide key advantages in several areas. "Selling a business is not a straightforward process like selling a tangible product; it involves intricate financial, legal, and emotional considerations." stated Adam Cole, the chief editor for Business Brokers Directory. A broker can help assess the true value of your business by considering industry trends, market conditions, and economic factors, ensuring you list it at a competitive price. Brokers assist in creating a tailored marketing strategy to attract serious buyers and present your business in the best possible light. From negotiations to handling paperwork and legal requirements, brokers manage the intricacies of the deal, helping to avoid common pitfalls and delays. Business brokers bring industry-specific knowledge and experience, providing advice throughout the process. They often have connections with professionals like accountants and attorneys who can further streamline the sale. For business owners looking to sell or plan an exit in the future, working with a broker can help ensure a smoother and more profitable transaction. For additional information about business brokerage services, contact any of the firms mentioned or visit their respective websites for more details. How to choose a business broker When choosing a business broker, it's essential to focus on several key factors. First, consider their experience and specialization. A broker with experience in your specific industry will have a better understanding of the market, know potential buyers, and be familiar with appropriate valuation methods. It's also important to review their track record, seeking out brokers with a history of successful transactions similar to what you're looking to achieve. Next, communication is critical. You'll want a broker who is transparent, easy to reach, and provides regular updates throughout the process. Their approach should align with your expectations, whether you prefer frequent, detailed reports or more periodic check-ins. Also, assess their marketing strategy. A good broker will have a robust plan to present your business in the best light, leveraging their network, online listings, and other marketing channels to reach qualified buyers. Confidentiality is another key element. A reputable broker should have protocols in place to protect your business's sensitive information and ensure it is only shared with serious buyers. Additionally, inquire about the broker's network and connections. The more extensive their connections, the better they can match you with the right buyer or seller. Lastly, the broker's fees and contract terms are important to review. While commission structures can vary, ensure you fully understand the cost and that it aligns with the level of service being provided. It's often wise to get a clear explanation of all potential costs up front to avoid surprises later on. Trust your instincts-work with someone you feel comfortable with and who demonstrates professionalism and commitment to your goals. Contact Information Ryan Paulson Chief Editor ryan@iraempire.com Contact Information Ryan Paulson Chief Editor ryan@iraempire.com +18024878205 SOURCE: Business Brokers Directory View the original press release on accesswire.com TAIPEI, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The European Association for International Education (EAIE) held its 2024 annual conference in Toulouse, France from September 17 to 20. Dr. Cheng-Chih Wu, chairperson of the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET), led a delegation of more than 50 participants from 21 universities to participate in the conference. Mei-Chen Lu, Education Division Director of the Taipei Representative Office in France, along with Lih-Tien Hsu, secretary of the Education Division, welcomed the delegation and discussed opportunities for research and education cooperation in France. Wu stated that this year marked the 34th anniversary of the EAIE Conference and Exhibition, a quintessential higher education event in Europe. This year's theme was "En route!" (French for "Go!"), a powerful call to educators from all over the world. The conference saw more than 6,500 representatives from universities and research institutions participating in more than 240 events. According to Wu, Taiwan is a key partner of the European Union in Asia, with close cooperation in the areas of human rights, gender equality, social issues, climate change, education, and cultural events. In 2023, Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MOE) launched a program that aims to boost enrollment and retention of international students, with a five-year budget of USD160 million. Under this program, the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan, formed by 12 Taiwanese universities, will seek to strengthen partnerships with five university alliances in Europe, the U.S., and Japan. Through the Horizon Europe initiative and the Jean Monnet Project, Taiwan and the EU forge strong partnerships for international research. MOE statistics shows nearly 7,300 European students are studying in Taiwan in 2024, with more than 80% of them coming from EU member states, and more than 10,000 Taiwanese students studying in Europe, with most of them also in EU member states. This shows that the education exchanges and talent mobility between Taiwan and the EU have been robust and will continue to flourish. To strengthen education partnership between Taiwan and France, the two countries have adopted a multi-faceted approach that includes the annual Taiwan-France Educational Cooperation Meeting, the Taiwan-France Higher Education Leaders Forum, the Taiwan Studies Project, as well as inking more cooperation agreements and implementing language teaching assistants exchange program, and these programs have yielded remarkable results. This year (2024), France is the European country that has the most students studying in Taiwan, with more than 1,700 students in Mandarin language programs and exchange programs. During the conference, FICHET organized a Taiwan Night networking event at Hotel NH Toulouse Airport on the evening of September 18. Representatives of the 21 Taiwanese universities and their partner universities attended the dinner, amounting to about 100 attendees. Discussion was lively at the event and revolved around forming multilateral partnerships and strengthening educational cooperation. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2508575/News_Photo_ID_dd57a564fdf3.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/promoting-taiwans-higher-education-delegation-participates-in-the-2024-eaie-conference-in-france-302251711.html PARIS, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank Indonesia continues to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth through various Islamic Economic and Financial Development Programs (EKSYAR). This notion is a part of Indonesia's efforts to become the world's modest fashion Mecca, in line with Indonesia's vision of becoming the world's leading halal producer center as stated in the Indonesia Halal Industry Masterplan (MPIHI). Bank Indonesia noted that the export value of modest fashion commodities during the period January to July 2024 reached USD632.76 million, or an annual increase of 3.38%. Supporting these efforts, Bank Indonesia is synergizing with the Indonesian Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, the Indonesia Fashion Chamber (IFC) and the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Paris at the Indonesia International Modest Fashion Festival (IN2MF). The IN2MF is integrated with the global trade fair Who's Next on September 8-10, 2024 at the Porte de Versailles, Paris. This event features wastra-based fashion with sustainable principles and manners competing in the global market. Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia, Juda Agung, expressed as fashion with a polite appearance is not only a trend, but a global movement that reflects elegance, dignity, and cultural pride which in harmony with Indonesian values. Deputy Governor Juda advices the contribution of the modest fashion industry is needed to be strengthened in supporting the economy in the global market. Indonesia's achievement has been ranked third in the modest fashion industry in the State of the Global Islamic Economy 2023 report. Going forward, Bank Indonesia together with strategic partners will continue to support IN2MF in penetrating the global market and promote Indonesian wastra. On the same occasion, a breakthrough promotion of Indonesia's modest fashion products in the global scale was made through the signing of a cooperation agreement between the IKRA Council and Printemps Paris. This collaboration will strengthen the exposure of IKRA's fostered products sold at the Printemps shopping center in Paris. IN2MF Paris is a series to the peak of IN2MF on October 30 - November 3, 2024 in Jakarta in conjunction with the 11th Indonesia Sharia Economic Festival (ISEF) in 2024. This year, IN2MF has been held in several cities around the world, namely Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, and Istanbul. IN2MF Paris also displayed well-known Indonesia designers including Itang Yunaz, Wignyo, and Dian Pelangi. IN2MF Paris Fashion Show Photos and Video 2024 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2508256/image.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/indonesian-handcrafted-textileswastra-are-once-again-making-a-global-impact-through-refined-modest-fashion-302251710.html Mawson Gold Limited("Mawson" or the "Company") (TSXV:MAW)(Frankfurt:MXR)(OTC PINK:MWSNF) is pleased to announce that further to its news releases dated June 10, 2024 and July 30, 2024, Mawson has entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") with SUA Holdings Ltd. ("SUA"), a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary of Mawson, pursuant to which the Company proposes to spin-out its uranium assets in Sweden (the "Uranium Assets") to SUA in consideration for common shares of SUA ("SUA Common Shares") and distribute 100% of the SUA Common Shares it then holds to the Mawson shareholders on a pro rata basis. As a result, following completion of the Arrangement, the Mawson shareholders (other than any dissenting shareholders) will also become shareholders of SUA and SUA will no longer be a subsidiary of Mawson. In connection with the Arrangement, Mawson has subscribed for additional SUA Common Shares for aggregate consideration of $600,000 to provide working capital to SUA. Such additional SUA Common Shares will also be distributed to the Mawson shareholders under the Arrangement. Pursuant to the Arrangement and subject to the terms and conditions contained in the Arrangement Agreement, each Mawson shareholder as of the closing date of the Arrangement (the "Effective Time") will receive one SUA Common Share for each common share of the Company (post-Consolidation (as hereinafter defined)) (the "New Mawson Shares"). To be effective, the Arrangement must be approved by a special resolution passed by at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast by Mawson shareholders present in person or represented by proxy at the annual and special meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting") to be held on Thursday, November 7, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is anticipated that the record date for the Meeting (the "Record Date") will be October 1, 2024. The Arrangement is subject to, among other matters, TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") and court approval in British Columbia. Additional information regarding the Arrangement will be provided in the management information circular of the Company (the "Circular") that will be mailed to Mawson shareholders prior to the Meeting. Only Mawson shareholders at the Effective Time of the Arrangement will be entitled to SUA Common Shares upon the closing of the Arrangement. Any Mawson shareholder who sells their Mawson Shares prior to the Effective Time, and who does not re-acquire Mawson Shares before the effective Time, will not be entitled to SUA Common Shares upon the closing of the Arrangement. At closing of the Arrangement, SUA will become a private reporting issuer in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario but will not seek listing on a stock exchange at this time. The Arrangement forms part of a series of transactions under the terms of the scheme implementation agreement ("SIA") with Southern Cross Gold Ltd ("SXG") (ASX:SXG) dated July 30, 2024, pursuant to which Mawson proposes to acquire all of the ordinary shares of SXG (the "SXG Shares") Mawson does not already own by way of a scheme of arrangement under the laws of Australia. Mawson currently owns 96,590,910 or 48.70% of the issued SXG Shares. Following completion of the SIA, SXG will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Mawson. Under the terms of the SIA and prior to the effective date of the SIA: Mawson will affect a share consolidation of its common shares (the "Mawson Shares") at a ratio of approximately 3.1694:1, resulting in the number of outstanding Mawson Shares being equal to the number of SXG Shares currently held by Mawson (the "Consolidation"); Mawson will acquire the SXG Shares in consideration of 1 New Mawson Share (post Consolidation) for each 1 SXG Share; Mawson has made an application with the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") to dual list through the admission to quotation of the CHESS Depositary Interests "CDIs"; and Mawson will change its name to Southern Cross Gold Consolidated Ltd. and maintain its current listing on the TSXV under a new ticker symbol "SXGC". At the Meeting, Mawson will also seek disinterested approval from Mawson shareholders as of the Record Date to, subject to completion of the scheme of arrangement pursuant to the SIA, replace the current Mawson board of directors (the "Change of Board") with each of Messrs. Tom Eadie and David Henstridge and Ms. Georgina Carnegie, each a current director of SXG. Michael Hudson, the Managing Director of SXG, will remain on the Mawson board. It is proposed that Mr. Eadie will serve as Non-Executive Chairman and each of Mr. Michael Hudson, President and CEO, Mr. Nick DeMare, CFO, and Ms. Mariana Bermudez, Corporate Secretary, will continue to serve as officers of the Company. The SIA is also subject to a range of conditions, including, but not limited to, approval of SXG shareholders, Australian court approval and Australian and Canadian regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSXV, the ASX and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. See Mawson's news release date July 30, 2024, for more information regarding the terms and conditions of the SIA. A copy of the SIA will has also been filed with the Canadian securities regulators and is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca under Mawson's profile. The closings of each of the Arrangement and SIA is expected in November 2024. Mawson's board of directors, on the recommendation of its Special Committee, has unanimously determined that each of the Arrangement and SIA are in the best interests of Mawson and is fair to shareholders, and is recommending that shareholders vote in favour of the Arrangement and the Change of Board. Readers are encouraged to read the Circular for the Meeting in its entirety. The Uranium Assets The Uranium Assets held by Euro Canna host the majority of Sweden's conventional hard rock historic uranium resources (combined 22.7Mlb U3O8) and comprise six exploration licenses: Bjorklund nr 1 & 2, Bjorkramyran nr 3, Kvarnan nr 5, Nojdfjallet nr 1, and Skuppesavon nr 2 for 16,138 hectares. All these exploration licenses are granted and are located through central and northern Sweden to explore for zirconium, scandium, yttrium and lanthanum and other lanthanides (rare earths). Although Sweden benefits from having 40% of its electricity supply generated by nuclear energy, a uranium exploration and mining moratorium has been in place in the country since May 2018. The Swedish Government has indicated a positive stance on re-evaluating and lifting the moratorium. Exploration, development and mining of the Uranium Assets is still possible under the current Swedish Minerals Act; however, recovery of uranium in a mining scenario would not be permitted under the current mineral legislation. Sweden's current center-right coalition government has also indicated strong support to expand nuclear power in Sweden. There are currently six operating nuclear reactors in Sweden that supply approximately 40% of the country's electricity. The Swedish Government has called for the possible restart of Ringhals nuclear power plant Units 1 and 2, as well as to prepare for the construction of new reactors. The Uranium Assets are considered a valuable option on the potential for Sweden regulation changes regarding uranium exploration and development. The historic uranium resources within the six exploration licences staked by Euro Canna consist of: Pleutajokk 1 : 5.3 Mlb U3O8 (1.93 Mt @ 0.120% U3O8) A vein type uranium prospect related to sodic-metasomatism and high-grade metamorphism hosted by metavolcanic rocks. Lilljuthatten 1 : 4.2 Mlb U3O8 (0.78 Mt @ 0.240 % U3O8) A vein and breccia uranium type prospect related brittle deformation in leucogranite. Kvarnan 1 : 3.7 Mlb U3O8 (1.94 Mt @ 0.086% U3O8) A vein and dissemination uranium type prospect related to sodic-metasomatism and high-grade metamorphism hosted by metavolcanic rocks. Klappibacken 2 : 3.3 Mlb U3O8 (1.94 Mt @ 0.080 % U3O8) A vein and breccia uranium type prospect related brittle deformation in leucogranite. Bjorkramyran 1 : 3.3 Mlb U3O8 (1.33 Mt @ 0.1% U3O8) A vein type uranium prospect hosted by shear zones in albitized granitic rocks. Skuppesavon 1 1.8 Mlb U3O8 (0.98 Mt @ 0.08% U3O8) A vein type uranium prospect related to sodic-metasomatism and high-grade metamorphism hosted by metavolcanic rocks. Nojdfjallet 1 : 1.1 Mlb U3O8 (0.76 Mt @ 0.068 % U3O8) A vein and breccia uranium type prospect related brittle deformation in leucogranite. The historical estimates quoted are based on a report, "Introductory Technical Report on Eight Uranium Properties In Northern Sweden" by Andrew Phillips from Telluride & Associates dated 15th July 2005. The resource was calculated using a polygonal method and is roughly analogous to the CIM definitions "Indicated" and "Inferred". These data are historical in nature and Mawson has not completed sufficient exploration to verify the estimates and is not treating them as current mineral resources or reserves under National Instrument verified by a qualified person and the historical estimate should not be relied upon. The Company believes this historical resource and the data used to compile the estimate - which represent the most recent estimates and data available - are generally reliable and relevant. The historical estimate quoted is based on a report, "Klappibacken Resource Report 2007" by Goeff Reed dated 14 October 2007. The resource was estimated within a geologically constrained mineralized envelope; with a lower cut-off of 0.025% uranium applied to resource blocks populated using the inverse distance squared method within Maptek Vulcan software. The model utilized a total of 56 holes for 8,943 metres and is roughly analogous to the CIM definitions "Indicated" and "Inferred". These data are historical in nature and Mawson has not completed sufficient exploration to verify the estimates and is not treating them as current mineral resources or reserves under National Instrument verified by a qualified person and the historical estimate should not be relied upon. The Company believes this historical resource and the data used to compile the estimate - which represent the most recent estimates and data available - are generally reliable and relevant. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Arrangement have been, or will be registered under the United State Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any applicable securities law of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person, absent such registration or an exemption therefrom. It is anticipated that any securities to be issued under the Arrangement will be offered and issued in reliance upon the exemption from such registration requirements provided by Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and pursuant to applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. "United States" and "U.S. person" are as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. Qualified Person The Qualified Person, Michael Hudson, Executive Chairman and a director of Mawson Gold, and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has reviewed, verified and approved the technical contents of this release. About Mawson Gold Ltd Mawson Gold Limited has distinguished itself as a leading Nordic exploration company. Mawson holds the Skelleftea North gold discovery and a portfolio of historic uranium resources in Sweden. In May 2022, Mawson spun-off its Australian assets via an IPO of SXG onto the ASX. Mawson currently holds 48.70% (96,590,910) of SXG's Shares (198,446,604) on issue. About Southern Cross Gold Ltd SXG holds the flagship 100%-owned Sunday Creek project and the Redcastle joint venture in Victoria, Australia. Further Information Further discussion and analysis of the Sunday Creek project is available through the interactive Vrify 3D animations, presentations and videos all available at www.southerncrossgold.com.au. On behalf of the Board, "Bruce Griffin" Bruce Griffin, Member of the Special Committee and Independent Director Further Information www.mawsongold.com 1305 - 1090 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7 Mariana Bermudez (Canada), Corporate Secretary +1 (604) 685 9316 info@mawsongold.com Forward-Looking Statement This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and accordingly, actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements that the Arrangement and the SIA will be consummated on the terms and timeline provided herein or at all, the benefits of the Arrangement and the SIA to Mawson and SXG and the receipt of all required approvals including without limitation by shareholders and applicable court, regulatory authorities and applicable stock exchanges. Forward-looking statements include words or expressions such as "proposed", "will", "subject to", "near future", "in the event", "would", "expect", "prepared to" and other similar words or expressions. Factors that could cause future results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include general business, economic, competitive, political, anticipated Swedish legislative changes on the current ban on uranium mining and social uncertainties; the state of capital markets; the impact on the respective businesses, operations and financial condition of Mawson and SXG resulting from the announcement of the Arrangement and/or the failure to fulfil the terms of the SIA, or to complete the Arrangement on terms described or at all, delay or failure to receive board, shareholder regulatory or court approvals, where applicable, or any other conditions precedent to the completion of the SIA, unforeseen challenges in integrating the businesses of Mawson and SXG, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the Arrangement or SIA, other unforeseen events, developments, or factors causing any of the aforesaid expectations, assumptions, and other factors ultimately being inaccurate or irrelevant; and other risks described in Mawson's and SXG's documents filed with Canadian or Australian securities regulatory authorities. You can find further information with respect to these and other risks in filings made by Mawson or SXG with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada or Australia, as applicable, and available in Canada at www.sedarplus.ca. Mawson's documents are also available at www.mawsongold.com We disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. 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. SOURCE: Mawson Gold Limited View the original press release on accesswire.com TOKYO, Sept 18, 2024 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group; Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. ("K" LINE); Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL); Nihon Shipyard Co., Ltd., a joint venture for ship design and sales between Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and Japan Marine United Corporation; Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line); Mitsui & Co., Ltd.; and Mitsubishi Corporation have jointly acquired Approval in Principle (AiP)(1) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) for two types of low-pressure type liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carriers under their joint development. A presentation ceremony took place on September 17 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the venue of Gastech 2024, a major international conference on global energy and environmental issues, including natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and hydrogen, held in Houston, Texas.Demand for LCO2 carriers is expected to grow in tandem with various CCS (Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage) projects involving the transportation of CO2 captured in Japan to storage sites located oversea. Recently, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, Nihon Shipyard, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corporation have collaborated to achieve standardization of LCO2 carriers suited for use by multiple projects, and to establish a supply chain in order to build and supply LCO2 carriers consistently within Japan, which would contribute towards the realization and improvement of economic efficiency of CCS value chains. These initiatives have led to the acquisitions of two AiPs in collaboration with three major Japanese shipping companies: "K" LINE, MOL and NYK Line.The two LCO2 carriers that received AiP certifications are low-pressure type 50,000m3-class and 23,000m3-class vessels developed for long-distance ocean voyages. The AiP certifications assume the use of appropriate cargo tank material as a replacement for the nickel steel previously considered. Additionally, post welding heat treatment (PWHT)(3), one of critical issues in establishing the cargo tank manufacturing, may be omitted by the Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA)(4) approach is included.MHI Group is pursuing strategic measures to strengthen its business for the energy transition. Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, for its role in this initiative, efforts to contribute to the advance of the maritime industry in Japan and around the world by utilizing its shipbuilding-based marine engineering technologies in addition to conventional shipbuilding. Mitsubishi Shipbuilding will actively promote the development of LCO2 carriers and establishment of CCS value chain through collaboration with various domestic/overseas companies.(1) Approval in Principle (AiP) indicates that the certification body has reviewed the basic design and approved it as satisfying the technical requirements and safety criteria. The assessment was conducted in accordance with the IGC Code(2) and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) classification rules applicable to vessels transporting liquefied gas in bulk.(2) IGC Code (The International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk) is an international regulation stipulating conditions to ensure the safety of vessels that transport liquefied gases (LCO2, LNG, etc.) in bulk.(3) In post welding heat treatment (PWHT), structural materials are reheated to a set temperature after welding and held at that temperature for a specified amount of time. This process aims to lower residual stresses generated during welding and improve the quality of welding joints. PWHT is generally performed by placing structural products into a dedicated furnace. When the products are of large size, furnace size may cause bottlenecks in the manufacturing process.(4) Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) is a method for evaluating the safety of welded structural components. Using micro initial defects in the welding joints and the estimated stress history together with characteristics of the material, the ECA confirms that no major quality issues will occur during the product's service life.About MHI GroupMitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world's leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Copyright 2024 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Aclara Resources Inc. ("Aclara" or "Company") (TSX:ARA) informs that the evaluation process of the Penco Module's Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") continues and has now formally received from the Environmental Service Assessment ("SEA") the consolidated report with the observations and questions ("ICSARA") received from the different agencies involved in the evaluation process. The Company is diligently working to file its response addressing questions and observations received by the end of Q1, 2025. The Company is committed to working with the SEA throughout the assessment and review process. About Acara Aclara Resources Inc. (TSX:ARA) is a development-stage company that focuses on heavy rare earth mineral resources hosted in Ion-Adsorption Clay deposits. The Company's rare earth mineral resource development projects include the Penco Module in the Bio-Bio Region of Chile and the Carina Module in the State of Goias, Brazil. Aclara's rare earth extraction process offers several environmentally attractive features. Circular mineral harvesting does not involve blasting, crushing, or milling, and therefore does not generate tailings and eliminates the need for a tailing's storage facility. The extraction process developed by Aclara minimizes water consumption through high levels of water recirculation made possible by the inclusion of a water treatment facility within its patented process design. The ionic clay feedstock is amenable to leaching with a common fertilizer main reagent, ammonium sulfate. In addition to the development of the Penco Module and the Carina Module, the Company will continue to identify and evaluate opportunities to increase future production of heavy rare earths through greenfield exploration programs and the development of additional projects within the Company's current concessions in Brazil, Chile, and Peru. Aclara has decided to vertically integrate its rare earths concentrate production towards the manufacturing of rare earths alloys. The Company has established a U.S.-based subsidiary, Aclara Technologies Inc., which will focus on developing technologies for rare earth separation, metals, and alloys. Additionally, the Company is advancing its metals and alloys business through a joint venture with CAP S.A., leveraging CAP's extensive expertise in metal refining and special ferro-alloyed steels Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects the Company's current expectations regarding future events, including statements with regard to the permitting process of the Penco. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to risks related to operating in a foreign jurisdiction, including political and economic problems in Chile and Brazil; risks related to changes to mining laws and regulations and the termination or non-renewal of mining rights by governmental authorities; risks related to failure to comply with the law or obtain necessary permits and licenses or renew them; compliance with environmental regulations can be costly; dependence on relations and agreements with local communities; actual production, capital and operating costs may be different than those anticipated; the Company may be not able to successfully complete the development, construction and start-up of mines and new development projects; risks related to fluctuation in commodity prices; risks related to mining operations; and dependence on the Penco Module and/or the Carina Module. Aclara cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. For a detailed discussion of the foregoing factors, among others, please refer to the risk factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated as of March 22, 2024, filed on the Company's SEDAR+ profile. Actual results and timing could differ materially from those projected herein. Unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise indicates, the forward-looking information contained in this press release is provided as of the date of this press release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required under applicable securities laws. For further information, please contact: Ramon Barua Costa Chief Executive Officer investorrelations@aclara-re.com SOURCE: Aclara Resources Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Flying Nickel Mining Corp. (TSXV: FLYN) (OTCQB: FLYNF) (the "Company" or "Flying Nickel") is pleased to announce that, further to its press release dated August 21, 2024, Flying Nickel has entered into an amended and restated arrangement agreement (the "A&R Arrangement Agreement") dated September 17, 2024 with Norway House Cree Nation ("NHCN") and 10197729 Manitoba Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NHCN, (the "Purchaser"), pursuant to which Flying Nickel agreed to sell its Minago Nickel project and its related assets located in the Thompson Nickel Belt of Manitoba, Canada (the "Minago Assets") to the Purchaser by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under Section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Arrangement"). The A&R Arrangement Agreement was executed to, among other things, clarify certain closing and transfer mechanics with respect to the Minago Assets. Details of the Arrangement and the special meeting to approve the Arrangement will be set out in Flying Nickel's management information circular and proxy statement which will be mailed to Flying Nickel shareholders. The meeting is scheduled to be held on October 21, 2024, at the offices of MLT Aikins LLP located at 2600-1066 W Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C., at 10:30 a.m. PT. About Flying Nickel Mining Corp. Flying Nickel is an exploration-stage mining company focused on vanadium and nickel resources. The Company owns a 100% interest in the Gibellini vanadium project in Nevada, United States and a 100% interest in the Minago nickel project in the Thompson nickel belt in Manitoba, Canada. Further information on Flying Nickel can be found at www.flynickel.com. FLYING NICKEL MINING CORP. 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. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the Arrangement and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Forward-looking Statements and Cautionary Disclaimers References to $ herein refer to the lawful currency of Canada. This press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements. Completion of the Arrangement is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to the standard closing conditions contained in the A&R Arrangement Agreement, TSXV acceptance, court and shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Arrangement cannot close until the required approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the Arrangement will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular to be prepared in connection with the Arrangement, any information released or received with respect to the Arrangement may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Flying Nickel should be considered highly speculative. This news release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Arrangement including timing, closing and terms of the Arrangement and the ability of Flying Nickel to obtain the requisite TSXV, shareholder, court and other approvals in connection with the Arrangement. Except for statements of historical fact relating to Flying Nickel, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates," "may," "can," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "projects," "targets," "intends," "likely," "will," "should," "to be", "potential" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "should" or "will" occur, including, without limitation, that all conditions precedent to the Arrangement will be met and the realization of the anticipated benefits derived therefrom for shareholders of Flying Nickel and perception of (i) the quality and the potential of Flying Nickel's assets, (ii) the consideration offered to Flying Nickel, and (iii) the potential of Flying Nickel's business following completion of the Arrangement. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management of Flying Nickel at the date the statements are made, and are based on a number of assumptions and 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. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Flying Nickel, there is no assurance they will prove to be correct and are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from results anticipated by such forward-looking statements include changes in market conditions; cash flow and availability of financing; the ability of Flying Nickel to obtain the requisite court, shareholder, TSXV and other third party approvals in respect of the Arrangement; exercise of any dissent rights, trades in the market, issuances of securities or exercises of convertible securities and other factors that could alter the share capital of Flying Nickel or other parties; risks relating to the availability and timeliness of permitting and governmental consents and approvals; and other risks of the mining industry. These factors are discussed in greater detail in Flying Nickel's most recent MD&A filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, which also provides additional general assumptions in connection with these statements. Flying Nickel cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Investors and others who base themselves on forward-looking statements contained herein should carefully consider the above factors as well as the uncertainties they represent and the risk they entail. Flying Nickel believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Although Flying Nickel 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 anticipated, estimated or intended. 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. Flying Nickel undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Statements concerning mineral reserve and resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forward-looking statements to the extent they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered as the property is developed. Further, Flying Nickel may make changes to its business plans that could affect results. Not for distribution to United States 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/223713 SOURCE: Flying Nickel Mining Corp. Investigative compounds increase oligodendrocyte maturation in vitro and in vivo Enhanced remyelination observed in mouse model of demyelination Data presented in poster session at 40th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis in Copenhagen, Denmark Myrobalan Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing novel oral small-molecule therapies to repair damage and restore brain function in high-unmet need central nervous system (CNS) conditions, today announced data demonstrating that their small molecule G protein-coupled receptor 17 (GPR17) antagonists show a biological effect in a number of in vitro and in vivo preclinical models. The data were presented in a poster at the 40th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 17-20, 2024. The ECTRIMS data demonstrate an effect by Myrobalan's GPR17 antagonists on oligodendrocyte maturation, a requirement for remyelination, compared to controls in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived oligodendrocytes and in multiple mouse models of demyelination. Enhanced remyelination was also observed after treatment with a GPR17-antagonist compound in a mouse model. "Patients with MS could benefit greatly from treatments that have potential to reverse the course of their disease by repairing the myelin damage that drives it. Currently available disease-modifying treatments address inflammatory processes, but are unable to repair damage to myelin, which is a critical mechanism of progression," said Dr. Jing Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Myrobalan Therapeutics. "The data from our GPR17 program demonstrate regenerative activity in both human iPSC and animal models, including direct evidence of remyelination in the brain, which gives us confidence to rapidly advance this program into the clinic." Myrobalan Therapeutics is currently advancing its oral small molecule GPR17 antagonist program to demonstrate that it can safely promote remyelination as a proof of mechanism in upcoming clinical trials. Compounds generated to date have been shown to be potent, highly selective, and brain-penetrant in preclinical testing. About Myrobalan Therapeutics Myrobalan Therapeutics is a preclinical stage biotechnology company headquartered in Medford, Massachusetts, with a focus on developing oral neurorestorative therapies aimed at reversing key pathologies underlying brain dysfunctions and CNS conditions. Myrobalan applies deep knowledge of neurological processes such as demyelination and neuroinflammation, and innovative drug discovery tools, to create highly selective and brain-penetrant therapeutic candidates that are uniquely positioned for treating CNS conditions with significant unmet medical need. Myrobalan's pipeline of novel remyelination and anti-neuroinflammation programs are being advanced with the strategic support of renowned institutional co-founders. Myrobalan is committed to a transformed future in which patients with degenerative CNS conditions can access safe and effective medicines offering restorative potential. For more information on Myrobalan Therapeutics, visit our website at myrotx.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918866628/en/ Contacts: Media Justin Chen Ten Bridge Communications jchen@tenbridgecommunications.com LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Polus Capital Management ("Polus"), a leading investment management firm specialising in alternative credit strategies, today announces that it has secured a capital commitment for its Special Situations strategy from a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Following the commitment, Polus' Special Situations strategy has approximately $5 billion of assets under management[i]. Polus' Special Situations strategy focuses primarily on secondary investments in bonds and loans as part of opportunistic, stressed or distressed situations arising from idiosyncratic or cyclically driven dislocations to corporate enterprise values or hard asset values. Polus' Special Situations team has been working together for over ten years, during which time it has developed a differentiated and proven track record. ADIA's investment is a strong endorsement of the high quality and attractive characteristics of Polus' Special Situations strategy and further adds to Polus' predominantly institutional investor base which includes pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds and family offices. Nicholas Chalmers, Chief Executive Officer of Polus Capital Management, said, "ADIA's capital commitment reflects the growing strength and success of Polus' diversified alternative credit platform. We look forward to the ongoing development of our business while continuing to prioritise the delivery of compelling risk-adjusted returns as we navigate opportunities in credit markets throughout the cycle." Robert Dafforn, Chief Investment Officer of Opportunistic Credit at Polus Capital Management, said, "We are delighted to welcome ADIA's subsidiary as an investor and are increasingly excited about the opportunity set for our Special Situations strategy. We believe the coming years will prove especially favourable for our differentiated investment approach and rewarding for our investors." Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, Executive Director of the Private Equities Department at ADIA, said, "Polus is one of the leading alternative credit managers in Europe with a large, experienced team, a differentiated strategy and a strong track record. We look forward to capitalising on a growing market opportunity through our capital commitment in Polus, which has built deep expertise in providing bespoke, innovative solutions in a range of situations." About Polus Capital Management Polus Capital Management ("Polus") is an investment management firm specialising in alternative credit strategies. Following the commitment, Polus has approximately $11 billion in assets under management[ii] and invests across the capital structure and liquidity spectrum, focusing on three complementary strategies: Leveraged Credit, Special Situations and Structured Credit. Polus has offices in London and New York. For more information: www.poluscapital.com About Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Established in 1976, ADIA is a globally diversified investment institution that prudently invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi through a strategy focused on long-term value creation. For more information: www.adia.ae Media Enquiries Greenbrook - Rob White / Ksenia Galouchko polus@greenbrookadvisory.com Tel: +44 (0) 20 7952-2000 [i] AUM refers to assets under management and advice and includes committed but uncalled capital across various vehicles. AUM figures as at 18 Sep 2024 and are subject to rounding and FX fluctuations. [ii] AUM refers to assets under management and advice and includes CLO vehicles managed by Cairn Loan Investments LLP ("CLI I") and Cairn Loan Investments II LLP ("CLI II"). CLI I and CLI II are not affiliates of each other nor of Polus, but Polus established them and provides them with seconded portfolio managers and support services. AUM includes committed but uncalled capital across various vehicles. AUM figures as at 18 Sep 2024 and are subject to rounding and FX fluctuations. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/polus-capital-management-secures-adia-commitment-for-special-situations-strategy-302251756.html EQS Newswire / 18/09/2024 / 19:19 UTC+8 Singapore, Prime Group, under the leadership of CEO Karim Bouhout, proudly unveils its $60 billion investment fund, designed to supercharge oil exploration, mining, and agriculture across the African continent. This unprecedented initiative is not just about capitalizing on Africa's rich natural resources-it's about positioning Africa as a global powerhouse, with sustainable growth and strategic political influence at its core. Prime Group's fund is engineered to unlock Africa's vast potential, bolstering economic independence while forging stronger partnerships with international players. The fund will be a key driver in reshaping Africa's standing on the global stage, ensuring that the continent's resource sectors no longer play a secondary role but take center stage in shaping the future of global trade and industry. "This is more than an investment fund-it's a political and economic catalyst for Africa," said Karim Bouhout, CEO of Prime Group. "We are committed to transforming Africa into a cornerstone of global energy and agricultural supply chains. This fund is a statement: Africa's time is now. By empowering local economies and driving innovation in oil, mining, and agriculture, we are building a future where Africa's resources are developed sustainably, and its people are empowered politically and economically." A New Era of Global Partnerships and African Leadership Prime Group's $60 billion fund is not just an investment-it is a strategic instrument aimed at driving political influence and economic sovereignty for African nations. By prioritizing partnerships with local governments, businesses, and stakeholders, Prime Group is fostering a new model of African growth that aligns with global sustainability goals while ensuring that African countries remain key players in the resource-based global economy. The company has spent more than a decade laying the groundwork for this initiative. Under the leadership of Karim Bouhout, Prime Group has successfully bridged global investment with African markets. Now, with this transformative fund, the group is doubling down on its commitment to African leadership in global resource development. Sustainability as a Political Strategy At a time when global environmental policies are increasingly shaping economic decisions, Prime Group is aligning its investments with international sustainability frameworks to ensure that African resources are developed responsibly. This fund prioritizes projects that meet the highest environmental standards, while also adopting cutting-edge technologies in resource extraction and modern agricultural practices. By doing so, Prime Group is sending a powerful message: Africa will not only be a global supplier of resources but will do so on its own terms-leading the world in sustainable development. This approach positions African nations as key political allies in the global effort to address climate change, making Africa a pivotal player in future international negotiations on energy, trade, and environmental policy. Africa's Emergence as a Global Resource Leader The geopolitical significance of Africa's resources cannot be overstated. As global demand for energy and agriculture surges, Africa is uniquely positioned to supply these critical commodities. Prime Group's investment strategy will enable African nations to seize this moment, becoming central to global supply chains and influencing the political discourse on resource management. This fund aims to reposition Africa as a global resource leader, not just a beneficiary of external aid or foreign investment. By fostering self-sufficiency and economic independence, Prime Group is helping African nations build their own wealth, while establishing strong diplomatic and trade ties with key global powers. About Prime Group Prime Group is a trailblazing investment firm, specializing in resource development with an unwavering commitment to sustainability and geopolitical impact. The firm operates across diverse sectors, including commodity trading, infrastructure, agriculture, logistics, and hospitality, with a strong focus on driving long-term value for both shareholders and local communities. Prime Group's mission is to deploy capital strategically in Africa's most promising industries, ensuring that economic growth is inextricably linked with political empowerment. By consistently delivering returns through its strategic investments, Prime Group has established itself as a leader in aligning profit with political influence, setting a new standard for responsible resource development. For more information about Prime Group and its bold vision for Africa, visit: https://www.primeinvestmentslimited.net . Media Contact For interviews with CEO Karim Bouhout or more details on this initiative, please contact: Email: business@stankeviciusmgm.com . Stankevicius MGM provides comprehensive media marketing services, including strategic PR and global advertising solutions. 18/09/2024 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com Renewed multi-year service contract covers close to 5,000 TKE and third-party elevators, escalators, and other equipment Win marks major milestone for 'Universal Service by TK Elevator' platform in the Middle East DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TK Elevator (TKE), a global leader in vertical transportation and urban mobility solutions, has strengthened its position as a premier infrastructure partner in the Middle East through a substantial service contract with Dubai Airports. The multi-year agreement covers maintenance of close to 5,000 elevators, escalators, and other equipment. As Dubai's main airport, Dubai International (DXB) is the world's busiest international airport having served 87 million passengers in 2023. Ensuring safe, comfortable, and reliable transport for passengers and employees is vital. TK Elevator's novel Universal Service platform supports this objective through streamlined service and maintenance of mobility assets across all major brands. Under the renewed contract, over 100 TKE specialized professionals will service units throughout the airport's passenger and cargo operations. "This contract renewal strengthens TK Elevator's prominent position in the Middle East market," said Jurgen Bohler, CEO Asia Pacific at TK Elevator. "We continue to provide and maintain mobility solutions for numerous iconic infrastructure projects throughout the region, including DXB." TK Elevator's relationship with Dubai Airports -- the entity that owns and manages DXB -- began in 2004 with the installation of more than 700 elevators and escalators. In 2015, the company's customer-centric approach earned a major service contract, one of its largest globally at the time. Today, TKE's Universal Service platform is the cornerstone of the extended collaboration. Omar Binadai, Chief Technology and Infrastructure Officer of Dubai Airports, commented, "Our primary objective is to deliver a seamless, safe, and efficient travel experience for our guests. Partnering with TK Elevator allows us to uphold these standards across our extensive mobility infrastructure." Eduardo Montero, CEO Middle East at TK Elevator, added, "We've reimaged how we deliver synergistic benefits and value for our customers through efficient maintenance and service across a diverse equipment portfolio. This distinctive capability was instrumental in solidifying our position as a key partner in the airport's operations. We're proud to continue our support of Dubai Airports' commitment to excellence and passenger safety." Great Service, Any Place, Any Time: Universal Service by TK Elevator Universal Service by TK Elevator is an industry-leading support platform offering proactive, flexible, and comprehensive elevator service coverage worldwide. As an entrusted partner, with a global network of 25,000 highly trained technicians and over 1,000 service centers across 100+ countries, TKE ensures portfolio-wide uptime through a combination of remote and on-site support. Third-party capabilities, powered by International Technical Services (ITS) in Dubai and globally, allow servicing any major brand and various types of multi-brand vertical transportation equipment, such as elevators and escalators, to the highest industry standards. This ensures prompt assistance anywhere in the world. Throughout this process, TKE prioritizes personal safety and sustainability, minimizing environmental impact through equipment longevity and innovative logistics. PRESS IMAGE can be downloaded here www.tkelevator.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/tk-elevator-brings-universal-service-platform-to-dubai-airports-302248987.html First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. ("First High-School Education Group" or the "Company") (OTCQB:FHSEY), an education service provider primarily focusing on high schools in Western China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first half of 2024 ended June 30, 2024. First Half 2024 Financial and Operational Highlights - Continuing Operations Total revenues were RMB151.1 million (US$20.8 million), a decrease of 6.7% from RMB161.9 million in the first half of 2023. Gross profit was RMB52.3 million (US$7.2 million), a decrease of 17.3% from RMB63.2 million in the first half of 2023. Income from operations was RMB3.0 million (US$0.4 million), a decrease of 92.4% from RMB39.6 million in the first half of 2023. Net income was RMB11.2 million (US$1.5 million), a decrease of 69.5% from RMB36.7 million in the first half of 2023. Adjusted net income[1] (Non-GAAP) was RMB10.1 million (US$1.4 million), a decrease of 72.5% from RMB36.7 million in the first half of 2023. The total number of students enrolled at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services as of September 1, 2024 was 35,151, an increase of 5.6% from 33,275 as of September 1, 2023. The total number of school programs at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services as of September 1, 2024 was 23, a decrease of 8.0% from 25 as of September 1, 2023. CFO Comments Mr. Tommy Zhou, Chief Financial Officer of First High-School Education Group, commented: Compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, we observed a decrease in both revenues and net income. These declines were primarily attributable to the ongoing impact of adverse macroeconomic factors. Specifically, we did not have any revenue generated from government cooperative agreements, and we incurred increased costs to actively cope with heightened competition. To address these challenges, the entire team concentrated on expanding our direct customer base and enhancing the quality of our educational offerings. As of September 1, 2024, we have successfully concluded the student admissions process for the 2024 fall semester. At that time, the combined enrollment in our school programs and the public schools we manage totaled 35,151 students, distributed across 23 school programs. We anticipate providing these students and schools with our proven operational expertise and generating value for all stakeholders. First Half 2024 Financial Results - Continuing Operations Total Revenues Total revenueswere RMB151.1 million (US$20.8 million), a decrease of 6.7% from RMB161.9 million in the first half of 2023. The decrease was primarily because we had no revenues generated from government cooperative agreements. Revenues from customers were RMB151.1 million (US$20.8 million), an increase of 8.2% from RMB139.6 million in the first half of 2023. The increase was primarily driven by increased student enrollment in our existing schools. Revenues from government cooperative agreements were nil compared to RMB22.3 million in the first half of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to the tightened fiscal budget of the relevant government entities and our on-going renegotiation of cooperative agreements. Cost of revenues Cost of revenues were RMB98.9 million (US$13.6 million), which remained relatively stable compared to RMB98.7 million in the first half of 2023. Gross profit Gross profitwas RMB52.3 million (US$7.2 million), a decrease of 17.3% from RMB63.2 million in the first half of 2023. Gross marginwas 34.6%, compared with 39.0% in the first half of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to fluctuations in (1) the number of staff and their compensations; (2) school operating efficiency, such as utility usage limits, and budget control; and (3) revenues generated from government cooperative agreements. Total operating expenses Total operating expenses were RMB49.2 million (US$6.8 million), which increased significantly from RMB23.6 million in the first half of 2023. Selling and marketing expenses were RMB1.6 million (US$0.2 million), an increase of 71.6% from RMB0.9 million in the first half of 2023. The increase was primarily due to the increased expenses in brand promotion and marketing activities in relation to the increased student enrollment. General and administrative expenses were RMB47.7 million (US$6.6 million), which increased significantly from RMB22.7 million in the first half of 2023. The increase was primarily due to increased staffing, and professional services used in management duties, in connection with school management, teaching supervision, human resources, and information technology. Income from operations Income from operationswas RMB3.0 million (US$0.4 million), a decrease of 92.4% from RMB39.6 million in the first half of 2023. Net Income from continuing operations Net income from continuing operations was RMB4.2 million (US$0.6 million), a decrease of 88.9% from RMB37.6 million in the first half of 2023. Net Income from discontinued operations Net income from discontinued operations was RMB7.0 million (US$1.0 million), compared with net loss of RMB0.9 million in the first half of 2023. Net income Net income was RMB11.2 million (US$1.5 million), a decrease of 69.4% from RMB36.7 million in the first half of 2023. Adjusted net income [2] (Non-GAAP) Adjusted net income (Non-GAAP) was RMB10.1 million (US$1.4 million), a decrease of 72.5% from RMB36.7 million in the first half of 2023. Impact of Implementation Rules for Private Education Laws On May 14, 2021,the State Council of the People's Republic of China promulgated the amended Implementation Regulations of the Law on the Promotion of Private Education of the People's Republic of China (??????????????????) (the "Implementation Rules"), which became effective on September 1, 2021. The Implementation Rules prohibit social organizations and individuals from controlling private schools that provide compulsory education through, among other methods, mergers, acquisitions and contractual arrangements. Additionally, the Implementation Rules prohibit any private schools providing compulsory education from conducting transactions with its related parties. As a result, the Implementation Rules affected the Company's control over the affiliated entities providing compulsory education as well as the sponsor entities (collectively referred to as the "Affected Entities"). In compliance with the Implementation Rules and other applicable PRC regulations and based on the relevant accounting standard in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company has determined to cease to recognize revenues for all activities related to schools providing compulsory education and the sponsor entities after September 1, 2021 within China that are affected by the Implementation Rules, and classified such Affected Entities as discontinued operations. The discontinued operations of the Affected Entities had certain impact on the Company's financial conditions for the first half of 2024 ended June 30, 2024. Net income from discontinued operations was RMB7.0 million (US$1.0 million) for the first half of 2024 ended June 30, 2024. There still exist uncertainties with respect to the interpretation and enforcement of the Implementation Rules. The Company will closely monitor the developments related to the Implementation Rules, and continue to assess the possible impacts on the Company and make any applicable actions to keep in compliance with the Implementation Rules and other applicable PRC regulations. Conference Call First High-School Education Group's management will hold an earnings conference call on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 PM September 18, 2024, Beijing/Hong Kong Time). Please dial in 15 minutes before the conference is scheduled to begin using below numbers. International +1-973-528-0011 United States +1-888-506-0062 Hong Kong +852 3018 4049 Mainland China +86 400 120 3199 Passcode 792778 About First High-School Education Group First High-School Education Group is an education service provider primarily focusing on high schools in Western China. The Company aspires to become a leader and innovator of private high school education in China, with the focuses on a comprehensive education management integrating education information consulting, education research project development, education talent management, education technology management, education service management, and general vocational integration development services. For more information, please visit https://ir.diyi.top/. Non-GAAP Measure The Company has provided in this press release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. The Company considers and uses one non-GAAP measure, adjusted net income, as a supplemental measure to review and assess its operating performance. Adjusted net income enables the Company's management to assess the Company's operating results without considering the impact of reversal of impairment loss in relation to accounts receivable. The Company also believes that the use of the non-GAAP measure facilitates investors' assessment of its operating performance. The presentation of the non-GAAP financial measure is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation. Exchange Rate The Company's business is primarily conducted in China and all of the revenues are denominated in Renminbi ("RMB"). This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("USD" or "US$") at specified rates solely for the convenience of the readers. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to USD are made at the rate of RMB7.2672 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board on June 28, 2024. No representation is made that the RMB amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate on June 28, 2024, or at any other rate. Statement Regarding Preliminary Unaudited Financial Information The unaudited financial information set out in this earnings release is preliminary and subject to potential adjustments. Adjustments to the consolidated financial statements may be identified when audit work has been performed for the Company's year-end audit, which could result in significant differences from this preliminary unaudited financial information. We have made rounding adjustments to reach some of the figures included in this earning release. Consequently, numerical figures shown as totals in some tables may not be arithmetic aggregations of the figures that precede them. Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the expected trading commencement and closing dates. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: First High-School Education Group Tommy Zhou Chief Financial Officer E-mail: tommyzhou@dygz.com Customer Service E-mail: FHS_info@dygz.com Phone: 010-62555966 (9:30-12:00, 13:30-16:00 CST) First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (All amounts in thousands, except share data and per share data, or otherwise noted) Six months ended June 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB US$ Revenues Revenue from customers 139,593 151,109 20,793 Revenue from governments cooperative agreements 22,283 - - Total revenues 161,877 151,109 20,793 Cost of revenues -98,680 -98,852 -13,602 Gross profit 63,197 52,257 7,191 Operating expenses and income Selling and marketing expenses -913 -1,567 -216 General and administrative expenses -22,652 -47,682 -6,561 Total operating expenses -23,565 -49,249 -6,777 Income from operations 39,632 3,008 414 Other income (expenses) Interest income 452 156 22 Interest expense -2,503 -1,300 -179 Government grants 23 2,264 312 Others, net 897 69 10 Net loss on disposal of fixed asset - -1 - Reversal of impairment loss - 1,106 152 Income from continuing operations before income tax 38,501 5,303 730 Income tax expenses -889 -1,115 -153 Income (loss) from continuing operations 37,612 4,188 576 Income (loss) from discontinued operations -947 7,021 966 Net income (loss) 36,664 11,210 1,542 Foreign currency translation adjustment 3,356 2,909 400 Comprehensive income (loss) - continuing operations 48,229 7,097 977 Comprehensive income (loss) - discontinued operations -8,209 7,022 966 Comprehensive income (loss) 40,020 14,119 1,943 Attributable to Shareholder of the Company 37,985 7,163 986 Non-controlling interests 2,035 6,956 957 Earnings per share: Basic earnings per share from continuing operation 0.52 0.05 0.01 Basic earnings per share from discontinued operation -0.1 0.08 0.01 Diluted Earnings per share: Diluted earnings per share from continuing operation 0.49 0.5 0.01 Diluted earnings per share from discontinued operation -0.09 0.08 0.01 Weighted average number of ordinary share outstanding Basic 86,838,700 86,838,700 86,838,700 Diluted 92,388,700 92,388,700 92,388,700 First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (All amounts in thousands, except share data and per share data, or otherwise noted) As of December 31, As of June 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB US$ Current assets Cash 189,243 58,206 8,009 Accounts receivable, net of expected credit loss 82,202 79,162 10,893 Amounts due from related parties -non-trade 215,908 219,528 30,208 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 241,402 223,332 30,732 Assets related to discontinued operation 42,746 33,395 4,595 Total current assets 771,502 613,622 84,437 Non-current Assets Property and equipment, net 119,808 112,720 15,511 Intangible assets, net 7,247 7,103 977 Goodwill 30,347 30,348 4,176 Deferred tax assets 20,294 20,294 2,793 Other non-current assets 33,350 34,905 4,803 Assets related to discontinued operation 9,075 8,031 1,105 Total non-current assets 220,122 213,401 29,365 Total assets 991,624 827,024 113,802 As of December 31, As of June 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB US$ Current liabilities Contract liabilities 140,501 42,585 5,860 Bank loan 87,970 31,636 4,353 Borrowings under financing arrangements - - - Accounts payable 21,508 12,920 1,778 Accrued expenses and other payables 263,078 262,685 36,147 Income tax payables 29,678 30,247 4,162 Amounts due to related parties 165,173 169,646 23,344 Dividend payables 2,132 2,132 293 Liability related to discontinued operation 119,930 102,514 14,106 Total current liabilities 829,970 654,364 90,044 Deferred revenue - (275 ) (38 ) Deferred tax liabilities 6,207 6,207 854 Total non-current liabilities 6,207 5,932 816 Total liabilities 836,177 660,297 90,860 Equity/(Deficit) Ordinary shares (US$0.00001 par value; 5,000,000,000 shares authorized; and 86,838,700 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2023, and 86,838,700 shares issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2024, respectively) 6 6 1 Additional paid-in capital 356,622 357,155 49,146 Statutory reserves 51,425 50,891 7,003 Accumulated other comprehensive income 2,836 2,909 400 Accumulated deficit (257,421 ) (253,167 ) (34,837 ) Non-controlling interests 1,977 8,933 1,229 Total equity 155,445 166,727 22,942 Total liabilities and equity 991,624 827,024 113,802 First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP Measure (All amounts in thousands) Six months ended June 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB US$ Reconciliation of net income to adjusted net income: Net income 36,664 11,210 1,542 Subtract: Reversal of impairment loss - (1,106 ) (152 ) Adjusted net income 36,664 10,104 1,390 [1] Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. See "Non-GAAP measure" in this press release. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation. [2] Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. See "Non-GAAP measure" in this press release. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation. SOURCE: First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. View the original press release on accesswire.com Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Corton Capital Inc. ("Corton"), an investment management firm, is pleased to announce the expansion of its suite of actively-managed funds with the launch of the Class ETF Units of the Corton Enhanced Income Fund (TSX: RAAA) ("RAAA"). The investment objective of RAAA is to provide investors with a high level of current income by investing in a diversified portfolio of European and U.S. floating rate collateralized loan obligations ("CLO"). The rating will be predominantly AAA at purchase but also include AA or A securities, as rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. RAAA closed its initial offering of ETF Units at the close of business on September 17, 2024 and the ETF Units are expected to commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") when markets open today under the ticker symbol "RAAA". Corton is the manager, trustee and promoter and Astra Asset Management UK Limited is the sub-advisor of RAAA. About Corton Capital Inc. Founded in 2018, Corton is about pursuing solutions to the ever-growing challenges people face each day in planning and securing their future. The investing landscape has seen massive changes in the number of products, market concentration, specialization of market participants and overall complexity. These changes have left many people deeply anxious about their financial security for everyday living and retirement. Corton believes the key to increasing financial security is through financial education, partnering with experienced and specialized managers and managing risk through appropriate asset allocation. Corton's goal is to provide this through traditional and alternative financial products that help individuals achieve their financial goals at a risk level they are comfortable with. About Astra Asset Management UK Limited Astra Asset Management UK Limited is a leading European alternative credit manager that was founded in 2012. Prior to founding the firm, the core of the team worked in the corporate and investment banking division of a global financial institution. As an investment firm Astra focuses on mispriced credit instruments to generate alpha with low volatility for its investors. Astra practices strict discipline in its choice of investments, the thorough analysis of risk, and a commitment to deliver above-market returns through active risk management. Astra's investors benefit from its in-depth expertise both in evaluating credit as well as the structure of different credit instruments, sharpened through years of experience working as a team and "out of the box" thinking. This has enabled the investment team to identify and take advantage of significant dislocations. Management fees, brokerage fees and expenses all may be associated with investing in ETFs. Please read the prospectus, which contains detailed investment information, before investing. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. ETF units are not guaranteed, their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated. ETF units are bought and sold at market price on the TSX or another exchange or marketplace and may only be bought and sold through licensed dealers. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. There can be no assurance that ETF units will trade at prices that reflect their net asset value per unit. If ETF units are purchased or sold on the TSX or another exchange or marketplace, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units of an ETF and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them. There can be no assurance that an active public market for ETF units will develop or be sustained. There is no guarantee that ETFs will achieve their stated objectives and there are risks involved in investing in ETFs. Before investing you should read the prospectus or relevant ETF Facts and carefully consider, among other things, the ETF's investment objective, risks, charges, and expenses. A copy of the prospectus and ETF Facts of the ETF Units of the Fund are available at www.cortoncapitalinc.ca or www.sedarplus.ca. Certain statements may constitute a forward-looking statement within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to a future outlook and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding future financial performance. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "intend" or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect our current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that is contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law. This press release is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy the securities referred to herein. This press release is not for dissemination in the United States or for distribution to United States news wire services. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223655 SOURCE: Corton Capital Inc. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Geologica Resource Corp. (CSE: GRCM) (FSE: 862) ("Geologica" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the strategic acquisition of the "Lincoln" property ("Lincoln") in the Atlin mining district of British Columbia. Lincoln Claims To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10667/223696_142b7f75c4d79bd4_001full.jpg The Lincoln Property is thought to have the potential of hosting lode gold mineralization. These claims contain similar geology to the producing Otter Creek gold claims 33km to the southwest. Otter Creek has been the recent focus of activity in the Atlin placer camp with the discovery of Lode Gold deposits (1). At Otter Creek Placer mining uncovered significant mineralization in bedrock, resulting in multiple samples of in-situ bedrock gold along Otter Creek. Bonanza grade gold is hosted in quartz veins emplaced along structures in phyllite bedrock. The coarse gold in bedrock supports a new placer source for the Atlin Gold Fields. The findings at Otter Creek are not necessarily indicative to the mineralization on the Lincoln Property. Recent exploration (2019) by the vendor was designed to further verify the potential of the Lincoln Property to host gold mineralization similar to Otter Creek. The Spatial Geo Hydrocarbon survey ("SGH") indicated a Gold anomaly with a rating of 4 out of 6, indicating the zones warrant more work (BC Geological Survey Assessment Report 39153). Drill testing zones with an SGH Confidence Rating of 4.0 (0.5) have been drill tested and have had successful mineralization intersections. Lincoln Creek and Otter Creek are both covering areas in which the Surprise Lake Plutonic Suite contacts the Cache Creek Complex - where sedimentary, volcanic, and ultramafic rocks have been mapped. Both Spatial Geochemical Hydrocarbon (SGH) and MMI surveys identified gold anomalies. Location The Lincoln Property is situated in the Atlin Mining Division between Gladys Lake (~7 km to the East) and Surprise Lake (~16 km to the SW). Access to the claims is by ATV through a network of historical, unmaintained, and overgrown exploration roads. Abundant water is available for exploration and mining from lakes and creeks. Property Purchase Over the next 5 years Geologica will pay the vendor $105,000, issue 1,000,000 shares to the vendor and conduct at least $213,500 of exploration on the Lincoln. Geologica has committed to use the vendors company or a company approved by the vendor to conduct any exploration work on the property. The vendor has been granted a 2% net smelter royalty. 1% of the royalty may be purchased buy Geologica for $1,000,000. About Geologica Resource corp. Geologica Resource Corp. is a mineral explorer, focused on exploration of copper and critical minerals for electrification. Geologica has an option agreement and purchase agreements for 100% of the mineral claims known as the Topley Copper Project, located in the Babine Porphyry Belt of central British Columbia. The company recently acquired the Titan rare critical minerals/copper/gold property in the Atlin camp and has now added the Lincoln to its Atlin portfolio in northern British Columbia. Further information on Geologica Resource Corp. can be found on the Company's website https://geologicaresource.com/ and on SEDAR at https://www.sedarplus.ca. The accuracy of the technical content of this overview had been reviewed by David Mark P.Geo. David is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, and a member of the Company's board of directors. He approves the technical content of this press release. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") nor its Market Regulator (as such term is defined in the CSE policies) has reviewed or accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. (1) Mihalynuk, M.G., Zagorevski, A., Devine, F.A.M., and Humphrey, E., 2017. A new lode gold discovery at Otter Creek: Another source for the Atlin placers. In: Geological Fieldwork 2016, British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines, British Columbia Geological Survey Paper 2017-1, pp. 179-193. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "ensuring", "believe", "anticipate", "will", "would" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the Company's plans and objectives with respect to the Topley Project. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, environmental risks, limitations on insurance coverage, failure to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals, risks and uncertainties inherent in the exploration and development of mineral properties. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including, but not limited to, the assumption that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. 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. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223696 SOURCE: Geologica Resource Corp. Volatus Aerospace Inc. (TSXV:FLT)(OTCQX:TAKOF)(Frankfurt:A3DP5Y)(Frankfurt:ABBA.F) is pleased to announce its participation in the launch event of phase two of the drone project at Edmonton International Airport (YEG), which extends the drone flight path from YEG to Leduc and marks a historic milestone as the first drone operation in Canada to safely intersect within an active runway glide path. The event, held in partnership with YEG and other stakeholders, highlights Volatus' operational capabilities and sets the stage for additional opportunities in Canada and expansion into new markets around the world. Operating under the Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) brand, phase 1 of this project successfully completed over 3,000 commercial drone flights at YEG, covering more than 8,500 kilometers. These flights are part of the more than 9,000 remotely piloted operations managed autonomously from the Operations Control Centre (OCC) in Toronto 3,300 km away. This milestone underscores Volatus' ability to scale its RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) technology for commercial use as well as its capacity to operate effectively in diverse environments. "Participating in this historic event at Edmonton International Airport highlights our advanced capabilities in drone logistics and the scalability of our technology," said Glen Lynch, CEO of Volatus Aerospace. "While Canada remains a core market, we are seeing exciting growth opportunities in international regions, such as Africa, the Arctic, and offshore sectors, where regulations are less restrictive, enabling broader and more immediate drone applications. As we explore these markets, we are confident that our operational experience positions us to capitalize on new opportunities and expand our global reach, introducing operational efficiency across industries such as energy, logistics, and healthcare." For more information on the previous announcement, visit: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/revolutionizing-shipping-drone-technology-soars-to-new-heights-at-yeg-822152073.html About Volatus Aerospace Volatus Aerospace is a leader in innovative global aerial solutions for intelligence and cargo. With deep technological and subject matter expertise and over 100 years' worth of combined institutional knowledge in aviation, Volatus provides meaningful aerial solutions for end users across various industries using both piloted and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS or drones). We are committed to enhancing operational efficiency, safety, and sustainability through innovative, real-world aerial solutions. Explore our services and connect with us at http://www.volatusaerospace.com or https://dronedeliverycanada.com/ to learn more about how we can support your operational goals. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Often, but not always, forward-looking information and forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" (or other variations of the foregoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information includes information regarding: (i) the anticipated benefits of, and estimated revenue to be generated by, the master service agreement; (ii) the business plans and expectations of the Company; and (iii) expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial, and economic data and operating plans, strategies, or beliefs of management as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that 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 may be based on information currently available to the Company, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflects expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Forward-looking information and forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to it and on assumptions it believes to be not unreasonable in light of all of the circumstances. In some instances, material factors or assumptions are discussed in this news release in connection with statements containing forward-looking information. Such material factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to: the anticipated benefits and revenues of the master service agreement to the Company; the commercialization of drone flights beyond visual line of sight and potential benefits to the Company; meeting the continued listing requirements of the TSXV; and including, but not limited to, those factors set forth in the Company's Annual Information Form under the section "Risk Factors". 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 information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release and, other than as required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. 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. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. TSXV: VOL Media Contact: Danielle Gagne Head of Marketing and Communications Danielle.gagne@volatusaerospace.com +1-579-977-5066;ext=92006 SOURCE: Volatus Aerospace Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Andromeda, a healthcare technology startup, is thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Gartner, the world-renowned information technology (IT) research and consultancy firm. Using Gartner's extensive resources and aptitude, this collaboration will accelerate Andromeda's entry and expand its footprint in the B2B health tech space. Photo courtesy of Andromeda Andromeda CEO David Vakhtangishvili explains that the partnership is designed to harness Gartner's unparalleled access to industry research, analyst coverage, and a wealth of resources, including +2,900 industry experts and analysts, former Chief Experience Officers (CXOs), and entrepreneurs. This proficiency will enable Andromeda to refine its offering and tailor its solutions to market needs. The value deriving from the company's ability to reach healthcare businesses (payers, providers, RCMs, etc.) through Gartner's prism and channels, utilising its direct B2B relations with those businesses, is hard to underestimate. With Andromeda catering to a fully integrated healthcare ecosystem, Gartner's guidance can spot gaps between products, evaluate the quality of service delivery, secure stakeholder access, maintain secure data handling, and more. This ensures the platform is fully equipped and reliable to handle client demand efficiently. For Vakhtangishvili, this new partnership is a strategic move to empower Andromeda with the insights, methodologies, and standards needed to make informed decisions and stay ahead with the latest market intelligence and trends. With Gartner on board, Andromeda will also be better equipped with best practices for interacting with and pitching key stakeholders, such as providers, payers, intermediaries, and technology companies in the healthcare industry. The Company hopes to create opportunities for new industry connections and even strengthen existing ones, which could potentially help build the company's foundation and sustain it in the long run. More importantly, Gartner's support in shaping Andromeda's offerings and facilitating interactions with involved businesses could potentially enhance Andromeda's market positioning. This collaboration hopes to enable Andromeda to raise institutional funding and secure the financial backbone necessary for its ambitious growth plans. Vakhtangishvili expresses his enthusiasm for the partnership, saying, "We are delighted to collaborate with Gartner. We are excited about the opportunities this partnership brings and look forward to transforming the healthcare industry together." To keep updated on Andromeda's new product offering, please visit its website https://www.andromeda-health.com/. About Andromeda Andromeda is a B2C patient super app and marketplace on its front end and a fully integrated B2B healthcare platform and enterprise back office on its back end. This solution improves healthcare for all involved parties, including patients, payers, providers, and pharmacies. Its founder, Harvard alumnus David Vakhtangishvili, is an entrepreneur and seasoned professional with over 25 years of extensive experience in senior executive roles, including finance & accounting, consultancy, banking, capital markets, risks, IT, and the healthcare industry. Andromeda has been designed to bring the entire healthcare universe to patients' fingertips by providing a seamless and uninterrupted journey in one app while improving service quality, extracting efficiencies, increasing sales, and reducing costs. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/222103 SOURCE: Baden Bower TradeVille, a leading Romanian retail brokerage house, and ViewTrade, a global investment and trading technology firm, have announced a strategic partnership designed to enhance the investment experience for Romanian retail clients. Miriam Andrei, TradeVille CEO, shared her thoughts on the collaboration: "Partnering with ViewTrade marks an important step for TradeVille. This collaboration will improve the experience for Romanian retail clients by providing better access to global markets. With ViewTrade's support and expertise, we're improving our client's ability to engage with international markets, including access to the US stock market. Their openness, responsiveness, and the tailored, flexible solutions they offer truly help us meet our clients' unique needs." Benefits for Romanian retail Clients: Streamlined Access to US Markets: the partnership simplifies the entry into the US market, making it easier and more cost-effective for clients to trade, enhancing portfolio diversification and opening up new investment opportunities. Simplified International Transfers: clients will benefit from easier and more efficient international transfers, reducing the hassle and complexity of moving funds across borders. Expanded Investment Features: TradeVille will soon introduce a range of advanced features, including fractional shares and extended trading hours, designed to offer clients greater flexibility and enhanced opportunities for managing their investments. TradeVille, with 30 years of experience in the Romanian brokerage industry, is a dominant force in the market. It handles a significant part of the total trading volume on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and serves over 80,000 active clients. This partnership is expected to bring substantial efficiencies to the Romanian retail brokerage landscape, saving investors time and resources while enabling access to a broader range of investment options. Annabel Lukens, Business Development Specialist at ViewTrade highlighted the potential impact of the partnership: "Partnering with TradeVille is a strategic step for ViewTrade as we expand our footprint in Eastern Europe. The Romanian market offers significant potential, and we are excited to work with TradeVille to deliver innovative solutions that will empower local retail investors. We aim to provide a seamless and efficient platform that simplifies cross-border investing and unlocks new growth opportunities." By leveraging ViewTrade's technology, TradeVille will offer enhanced market access, allowing clients to trade on international markets easily. The seamless cross-border investing platform will empower retail investors with greater efficiency, reduced costs, and a wider range of investment opportunities. "It has always been the vision of ViewTrade, as far back as our founding in 1999, to bring the world together through the deployment of our technology and customer service, which has been a differentiator over the years," states James StClair, President of ViewTrade's Brokerage Solution. "Expanding our reach and providing our tech stack and expertise to our newest partner in Romania is a testament to our commitment to this initial vision." This collaboration will give Romanian investors the opportunity to broaden their portfolios and explore new market opportunities. Both companies are committed to providing innovative solutions that cater to retail investors' evolving needs, potentially transforming the Romanian retail brokerage industry. Miriam Andrei added, "Our shared vision with ViewTrade is to empower retail investors by breaking down barriers in international trading. This partnership is a testament to TradeVille's commitment to innovation and our clients' success. By leveraging ViewTrade's expertise, we are confident that we can further enhance the value we provide to our clients and contribute to the growth of the Romanian retail brokerage market." TradeVille remains a trusted partner for those seeking to explore financial market opportunities. It continually brings innovation and quality services to its clients. ViewTrade, with a strong global presence and a comprehensive suite of technology and operational solutions, aims to revolutionize the retail brokerage landscape and boost market access for investors worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240911681194/en/ Contacts: pr@viewtrade.net Armis Centrix for VIPR Pro Prioritization and Remediation earns highly-coveted industry accolade Armis, the asset intelligence cybersecurity company, today announced it has won an SC Award for Best Vulnerability Management Solution for Armis Centrix for VIPR Pro Prioritization and Remediation (VIPR Pro). Armis' solution outshone other SC Award finalists for its unparalleled advancements that go beyond traditional vulnerability management solutions and helps security teams identify, consolidate, contextualize and prioritize security findings across all sources. This allows teams to holistically understand risk to the attack surface and automate their remediation programs. Modern organizations are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of alerts that they receive from security scanners in their environment. The time that it takes to exploit a new vulnerability continues to drop rapidly and it takes 60-150 days to remediate vulnerabilities. On top of this, the number of connected physical and virtual assets are growing exponentially. This is why, historically, security and IT operations teams could not address vulnerabilities as quickly as needed until now. "For businesses to effectively shift from a reactive to proactive cybersecurity stance, it's essential that security teams prioritize risk reduction across all environments according to their criticality to the business and optimize the remediation process to minimize exposure where it matters most," said Dana Gilboa, Chief Product Officer of Armis. "We're proud to support our customers to do just this and to be honored through this award win for our VIPR Pro solution. This product is a key component of our comprehensive Armis Centrix platform, which addresses the entire lifecycle of cybersecurity threats." VIPR Pro streamlines the entire risk identification and remediation lifecycle, from deduplicating alerts from multiple security tools to assigning the appropriate owners to operationalizing fixes, providing a unified platform for prioritization and efficient risk resolution management. The solution revolutionizes how organizations remediate high-risk findings, empowering them to stay ahead of evolving threats and confidently safeguard their organization. When asked about their experience and results achieved using VIPR Pro, Armis customers shared the following: "Armis will help us improve our overall security posture by enabling faster vulnerability identification, prioritization, and remediation. We will cut the time to patch critical vulnerabilities by over 50%. The combination of automated accuracy, actionable insights, and time savings has made Armis an invaluable tool for our vulnerability management program." Rishi Singh, VP, Chief Security Officer, Arrow Electronics "Armis Centrix allows us to analyze vulnerabilities, raise service tickets to the appropriate individuals and teams, and gain a complete picture of vulnerabilities across our environment. Armis Centrix helps to reduce the operational load on our security team, while at the same time improving the efficiency of the vulnerability management process from prioritization to remediation." Eric Zematis, CISO, Lehigh University "Armis Centrix? for VIPR Pro Prioritization and Remediation has positively impacted both the productivity and the efficiency of the security team in identifying risks to the business, as well as how the function of security is integrated into our development processes. The security team can collaborate more closely with development teams responsible for the fix implementation of identified priorities, and improve our overall risk profile." Frank Baalbergen, CISO, Mendix The highly-coveted 2024 SC Awards from SC Media recognize the solutions, organizations and individuals that have demonstrated exceptional achievement in advancing the security of information systems. This year, the SC Awards received a remarkable number of entries across 33 specialty categories, with many notable companies earning nominations for their leadership and commitment to cybersecurity. In addition to winning the SC Award for Best Vulnerability Management Solution, Armis was named a finalist in the Best Threat Intelligence Technology category for Armis Centrix for Actionable Threat Intelligence. "These award recipients represent the very best of what the cybersecurity community has to offer," said Tom Spring, Editorial Director at SC Media. "Each winner has shown a commitment to advancing the industry with forward-thinking solutions and an ability to adapt to new challenges. Their contributions help drive progress in securing our digital environments." Learn more about Armis Centrix, the cyber exposure management platform, and each of the solutions offered by Armis here. For more information on how Armis is helping organizations protect the entire attack surface and manage cyber risk exposure in real time read our case studies. About Armis Armis, the asset intelligence cybersecurity company, protects the entire attack surface and manages the organization's cyber risk exposure in real time. In a rapidly evolving, perimeter-less world Armis ensures that organizations continuously see, protect and manage all critical assets from the ground to the cloud. Armis secures Fortune 100, 200 and 500 companies as well as national governments, state and local entities to help keep critical infrastructure, economies and society stay safe and secure 24/7. Armis is a privately held company headquartered in California. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918967250/en/ Contacts: Rebecca Cradick, Senior Director, Global Communications, Armis pr@armis.com TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / LSEB Creative Corp. (OTC PINK:LSEB) (the "Company"), an innovative force in the fashion sector, is excited to announce a significant step in expanding the retail presence of its flagship brand, Lauren Bentley Swimwear. The Company has confirmed a Trunk Show partnership with a luxury Canadian department store, marking a pivotal moment in its retail strategy aimed at enhancing visibility and engagement in the North American market. The trunk show, scheduled to take place in Toronto in November over a five-day period, will serve as a high-profile platform for Lauren Bentley Swimwear to showcase its signature designs and introduce the brand to a broader audience. This event will not only elevate the brand's recognition within the Canadian luxury retail space but also position it to explore subsequent trunk shows, as well as wholesale partnerships. "We are incredibly excited to partner with one of Canada's leading department stores for this event," said Lauren Bentley, CEO of LSEB Creative Corp. "This partnership reflects our commitment to making strategic decisions that align with our long-term vision for the brand. We see tremendous potential for growth in this market, and this trunk show is just the beginning." The Company continues to explore similar partnership models and wholesale partnerships with other key retailers across its target markets. These initiatives are part of our broader strategy to build meaningful, lasting relationships with retail partners that reflect the brand's ethos of elegance and quality. Looking ahead, LSEB Creative Corp. remains committed to its growth trajectory while ensuring that business decisions are made in the best interest of its shareholders and aligned with its core values. About LSEB Creative Corp. LSEB Creative Corp (OTC PINK:LSEB) is a leading name in the fashion industry, specializing in luxurious swimwear through its flagship brand, Lauren Bentley Swimwear. The Company is dedicated to delivering timeless designs and impeccable craftsmanship. With a focus on innovation and excellence, LSEB Creative Corp continues to set the standard in the world of luxury swimwear. Certain statements in this document that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "future," "may," "will," "would," "should," "plan," "projected," "intend," and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of LSEB Creative Corp. to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company's future operating results are dependent upon many factors, including but not limited to: (i) the Company's ability to obtain sufficient capital or a strategic business arrangement to fund its current operational or expansion plans; (ii) the Company's ability to build and maintain the management and human resources and infrastructure necessary to support the anticipated growth of its business; and (iii) competitive factors and developments beyond the Company's control. For more information, please contact: LSEB Creative Corp. Lauren Bentley, CEO info@lsebcreative.com laurenbentleyswim.com Instagram: @laurenbentleyswim Contact Information Jordan Starkman CFO jstarkman@lsebcreative.com 647-328-8267 SOURCE: LSEB Creative Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com Presentations Will Highlight Oral Prolonged-Release Ketamine, taking place on September 21-24, 2024 in Milan. KET01 is an oral prolonged-release ketamine formulation developed for treatment-resistant depression, demonstrated rapid improvement in depression severity and minimal side effects. The results indicated that KET01 at a 240mg/day dose provided promising and sustained improvements in depressive symptoms, with a favorable side effect profile compared to traditional ketamine treatments. Executives from HMNC Brain Health, Develco Pharma, and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf will present the latest findings from KET01's clinical trials. These posters will focus on KET01's acute tolerability and its minimal impact on sleep quality and sedation-common concerns with current ketamine therapies. Presentation details are as follows: Session title: PS01 Poster presentation number: P1090 Title: Acute Tolerability of Antidepressant Dose of Oral Prolonged-Release Ketamine (KET01) in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression and Healthy Volunteers Presenter: A. Damyanova1, K. Schmid2, E. Papanastasiou3, C. zu Eulenburg3,4, H. Eriksson3 Track: Mental Conditions Date & Time: Sunday, September 22, 2024, from 12:35 to 14:00 CET This poster addresses the acute tolerability of KET01, focusing on tolerability within the first day of treatment. Session title: PS01 Poster presentation number: P1084 Title: Sleep Quality and Daytime Sleepiness/Sedation During Treatment with Oral Prolonged-Release KET01 Ketamine: Combined Results of the KET01-02 and KET01-03 Trials Presenter: E. Papanastasiou1, C. zu Eulenburg1,2, A. Damyanova1, K. Schmid3, H. Eriksson1 Track: Mental Conditions Date & Time: Sunday, September 22, 2024, from 12:35 to 14:00 CET This poster will explore sleep quality and daytime sedation during treatment with KET01. "Presenting at the ECNP Congress provides us an important opportunity to share KET01's potential to be administered without causing significant sleep disturbances or excessive sedation, which are common drawbacks of other ketamine formulations," said Dr. Hans Eriksson, Chief Medical Officer of Ketabon and HMNC Brain Health. "KET01's strong tolerability and convenient oral administration bring us closer to providing patients with an at-home treatment option for TRD that is both effective and easier to manage. These findings reinforce our goal of offering a user-friendly option that allows patients to receive treatment from the comfort of their homes, helping improve quality of life without disrupting their daily routines." For more information on the Ketabon program, please visit https://www.ketabon.health/ . About the Ketabon Program The Ketabon program, a joint venture between HMNC Brain Health and Develco Pharma, features an oral prolonged-release formulation of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression (KET01) with minimal dissociative side effects. This innovative approach aims to make ketamine treatment suitable for use at home, potentially improving the risk profile and patient convenience compared to existing intravenous and intranasal ketamine therapies. The development of oral prolonged-release ketamine could also extend to other indications beyond depression, such as anxiety, aggression, PTSD, and panic disorder. About HMNC Brain Health HMNC Brain Health About Develco Pharma Develco Pharma is a Swiss-German pharmaceutical company headquartered in Pratteln, Switzerland, specializing in the development and manufacture of orally administered modified, prolonged & chrono-release drugs. Established in 2006, the company has a workforce of 130 employees and a state-of-the-art production facility in Schopfheim, Germany. Develco develops generic, hybrid, value-added, and innovative formulations backed by clinical data for the delayed or modified release of active ingredients. With approximately 180 market approvals worldwide, Develco Pharma is recognized as a leading provider of pharmaceuticals across various disease areas. More information at www.develco.ch Media contacts (U.S.): Anne Donohoe +1212.896.1265 hmncbrain@kcsa.com FORT MILL, SC / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Catheter Precision, Inc. (the"Company") (NYSE American:VTAK), a US based medical device pioneering electrophysiology products, announced that it has completed a distribution agreement for LockeT with Dubai based company Forum Medical. The distribution agreement also includes partnerships with additional distributors in the Middle East, expanding LockeT distribution to Georgia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. "LockeT is a safe low-cost device that provides the benefit of quick hemostasis after venous access, while removing burdens related to time and staff availability", said David Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer for Catheter Precision. "For these reasons, LockeT continues to be a highly sought after product in international markets, as well as the United States, and we are excited to be able to provide this unique tool to physicians in new markets." About LockeT Catheter Precision's LockeT is a suture retention device intended to assist in hemostasis after percutaneous venous punctures. LockeT is a Class 1 device registered with the FDA. About Catheter Precision Catheter Precision is an innovative U.S.-based medical device company bringing new solutions to market to improve the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. It is focused on developing groundbreaking technology for electrophysiology procedures by collaborating with physicians and continuously advancing its products. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to substantial risk and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "anticipate," "may," "might," "can," "could," "continue," "depends," "expect," "expand," "forecast," "intend," "predict," "plan," "rely," "should," "will," "may," "seek," or the negative of these terms and other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding product evaluations at the hospital, and that the purchase order indicates that the hospital and its staff see the value and benefits that LockeT can bring and expectations regarding LockeT evaluations in the coming weeks. The Company's expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements as a result of uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties included under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov. These risks and uncertainties include, but aren't limited to, that we will not be able to reach profitability unless we are able to achieve our product expansion and growth goals, our research and development and commercialization efforts may depend on entering into agreements with corporate collaborators, we have entered into joint marketing agreements with respect to our products, and may enter into additional joint marketing agreements, that will reduce our revenues from product sales, royalty agreements with respect to our LockeT device will reduce any future profits from this product, if we experience significant disruptions in our information technology systems, our business may be adversely affected, litigation and other legal proceedings may adversely affect our business, if we make acquisitions or divestitures, we could encounter difficulties that harm our business, failure to attract and retain sufficient qualified personnel could also impede our growth, failure to maintain effective internal controls could cause our investors to lose confidence in us and adversely affect the market price of our common stock, we have determined that our internal controls and disclosure controls were not effective as of December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2024, and as a result, without effective remediation of the material weaknesses that we have identified, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud, our revenues may depend on our customers' receipt of adequate reimbursement from private insurers and government sponsored healthcare programs, we may be unable to compete successfully with companies in our highly competitive industry, many of whom have substantially greater resources than we do, our future operating results depend upon our ability to obtain components in sufficient quantities on commercially reasonable terms or according to schedules, prices, quality and volumes that are acceptable to us, and suppliers may fail to deliver components, or we may be unable to manage these components effectively or obtain these components on such terms, if hospitals, physicians and patients do not accept our current and future products or if the market for indications for which any product candidate is approved is smaller than expected, we may be unable to generate significant revenue, if any, our medical device operations are subject to pervasive and continuing FDA regulatory requirements, our products may be subject to additional recalls, revocations or suspensions after receiving FDA or foreign approval or clearance, which could divert managerial and financial resources, harm our reputation, and adversely affect our business, changes in trade policies among the U.S. and other countries, in particular the imposition of new or higher tariffs, could place pressure on our average selling prices as our customers seek to offset the impact of increased tariffs on their own products, increased tariffs or the imposition of other barriers to international trade could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and operating results. The risks and uncertainties described above may be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused significant economic uncertainty, or other pandemics, supply chain disruptions from the Ukraine war or Israeli-Hamas conflict and otherwise, and ongoing volatility in the stock markets and the U.S. economy in general. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. # # # Contact Information Missiaen Huck COO mhuck@catheterprecision.com 9736912000 SOURCE: Catheter Precision View the original press release on accesswire.com "Unlocking Strategic Control Over High-Value Precious Metals and Historic Mines, Positioning for Long-Term Growth" WARREN, ID / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Sidney Resources Corporation (OTC PINK:SDRC), a mining company focused on the exploration and development of high-potential mineral assets, is pleased to announce a significant expansion of its Warren District Project in Warren, Idaho. This strategic move underscores Sidney's commitment to enhancing shareholder value from its flagship property and advancing towards district-wide production. This brings the total company land holdings to 3,174 acres. FIGURE 1: WARREN DISTRICT PROJECT WITH NEW EXPANSION CLAIMS Key Highlights of the Expansion Increased Exploration Footprint - "Bolide Expansion": Sidney Resources has significantly increased its exploration area by 1,900.72 acres, expanding the total Warren project footprint to 2,234 acres. This represents a remarkable 500%+ increase, greatly enhancing the scope for future exploration and development activities at the Warren District Project. This strategic expansion is not just about covering more ground but about positioning the company to unlock the full potential of a region known for its rich deposits of precious metals and rare earth elements. (See Figure 1.) Newly Covered Resources Strengthening Project Longevity: The expansion claims now encompass a collection of historically significant mines and vein systems, each with a legacy of mineral production. These include the New Era, Monitor, Summit, Rainier, Minnahaha, Gaiety, Silver Monarch, Dewey, and Firecracker Mines. Additionally, the expansion covers three unnamed veins north of the Lucky Ben and another unnamed vein to the west. These historical sites are key to Sidney Resources' strategy to gain greater control over the rich mineral deposits in the Warren District. The surface ore tailings pile left behind from historical workings offer a unique opportunity for re-examination and resource recovery. Of particular importance is the New Era Mine, where initial surface ore analysis has revealed significant quantities of platinum group metals, gold, and silver. This discovery underscores the enormous potential of these claims and adds substantial value to the project. Long-Term Resource Control and Value to Shareholders: The inclusion of these well-established mines and vein systems not only extends the lifespan of the Warren District Project but also significantly boosts its overall value. By securing control over these historically productive areas, Sidney Resources is poised to enhance resource recovery efforts and optimize its long-term production strategy. This calculated expansion positions the company to capitalize on previously untapped deposits, ensuring a longer project life and providing increased value to shareholders. **All of the above named mines have historical workings with tailings piles. The company is examining these for precious metal content. Ore on the surface at the New Era Mine contain impressive quantities of gold, platinum group metals and silver (See Figure 2). FIGURE 2: ORE FROM THE NEW ERA MINE ALONGSIDE CORRESPONDING XRF TEST Updated Geological Data: Assays from the latest labs continue to show stunning results, with grades up to 12.8 oz/t gold and 114 oz/t silver , further underscoring the potential for increased resource estimates, providing confidence in the deposit's long-term potential, and the need to swiftly execute this expansion. FIGURE 3: WARREN DISTRICT PROJECT IN RELATION TO THE 940 ACRE WALLA-WALLA PROJECT CEO Comment: Sean-Rae Zalewski, CEO of Sidney Resources, commented: "Through the strategic expansion of our claims we have positioned Sidney Resources Corporation to defend and insulate itself from the influence of other corporations that may try to "buy" the region. This is our second regional expansion. This is just the tip of the spear of activity we will share this fall". COO Comments: Dan Hally, COO of Sidney Resources, commented "As we advance the expansion of the Warren District Project, it's important to emphasize that each new claim was strategically selected through meticulous research and geological exploration as part of our long-term plan to secure control over a world-class deposit," Contact & Learn More: Sidney Resources Corporation Phone: 509-552-9858 dan@sdrccorp.com Corporate Website: http://sidneyresources.com/ Corporate LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sidney-resources-corp/ Corporate Twitter: https://twitter.com/SDRCMINING Corporate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidney_resources_corp/ About Sidney Resources Corp. Sidney Resources Corporation is a precious metals exploration and mine development, green technology, clean water and clean refining company that strives to change the way the world develops. Our efforts will provide a cleaner world so our children can express their brilliance to the highest of their potential. Our future lies in our future generations ability to problem solve without the toxins and carcinogens that inhibit development. Sidney is advancing technologies that will implement cleaner methods not only beneficial economically but designed to maintain a sustainable future. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements relate to future events, including our ability to raise capital, or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause materially different results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume 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. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the OTC Markets Group Inc. Our public filings with the OTC Markets Group Inc are available from commercial document retrieval services and at the website maintained by the OTC Markets at https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/SDRC/disclosure. SOURCE: Sidney Resources Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com Saguenay, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - First Phosphate Corp (CSE: PHOS) (OTC: FRSPF) (FSE: KD0) ("First Phosphate" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of its initial Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for its Begin-Lamarche project, located 50 km north of the City of Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. The MRE, with an effective date of September 9, 2024, was carried out by M. Antoine Yassa, P.Geo., of P&E Mining Consultants Inc., who is an Independent Qualified Person within the meaning of Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101: Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). MRE Highlights include: Inferred pit-constrained Mineral Resource: 214.0 Mt @ 6.01% P2O5 (phosphate) Indicated pit-constrained Mineral Resource: 41.5 Mt @ 6.49% P2O5 Including Mountain Zone: Indicated Mineral Resource of 9.3 Mt @ 8.19% P 2 O 5 Inferred Mineral Resource of 6.8 Mt @ 8.57% P 2 O 5 Metallurgical Testwork indicates an anticipated apatite concentrate grade of 40% P2O5 at a 91% recovery. The Begin-Lamarche Deposit presents the potential for recovering two additional primary mineral products: a magnetite concentrate (iron) and an ilmenite concentrate (titanium). Apatite (Phosphorus), titanium and high purity iron are all listed on the Quebec and Canadian critical minerals lists. The Begin-Lamarche Deposit contains very low levels of potentially deleterious elements. The Deposit is open at depth. 3D deposit model: https://www.firstphosphate.com/BeginLamarche3D "We have demonstrated that the Company benefits from a substantial strategic phosphate deposit located at only 70 km from the deep-sea port of Saguenay and Canadian Air Forces NATO Base Bagotville," said First Phosphate CEO, John Passalacqua. "Our goal will be to bring this Mineral Resource into Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") later this year to then be able to evaluate the commencement of a Feasibility Study." The Begin-Lamarche Phosphate Deposit contains a significant phosphate Mineral Resource that is associated with well-defined oxide-apatite peridotite (OAP) intrusions within the large Lac-Saint-Jean anorthosite suite (LSJAS). The LSJAS is the largest anorthosite phosphate mineralized anorthosite worldwide. The phosphate deposit is comprised of three mineralized zones within the deposit. The three zones are continuous, only separated by faults within the deposit and extend to a length of 2,500 m (Figure 1). The Mountain Zone is a single phosphate-bearing mass having a diameter of up to 200 m and a length of 250 m. Drilling at the Mountain Zone intersected massive apatite (phosphate-bearing mineral) veins of up to 2 m. The Northern zone is comprised of two phosphate layers ranging from 100 to 200 m in thickness and a length of 600 m. The Southern Zone bears four phosphate layers, one of them having up to 200 m in thickness and extending to 1,700 m. Figure 1 - The Begin-Lamarche Deposit Pit-Shell To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8917/223677_10eaf81724b92a56_001full.jpg The above diagram can be viewed as a 3D deposit model by visiting https://www.firstphosphate.com/BeginLamarche3D The Begin-Lamarche Deposit mineralized wireframes boundaries were determined from lithology, structure, and grade boundary interpretation from visual inspection of drillhole cross-sections. Three mineralized wireframes were developed and referred to as Mountain, Northern and Southern Zones. The mineralized wireframes were constructed on 50 m spaced vertical cross-sections for the Mountain and Northern Zones and 100 m spacing for the Southern Zone, with computer screen digitizing polylines on drillhole cross-sections in GEMS. The mineralized wireframe outlines were influenced by the selection of mineralized material above 2.5% P2O5 that demonstrated a lithological and structural zonal continuity along strike and down dip. In some cases, mineralization <2.5% P2O5 was included for the purpose of maintaining mineralized zone continuity. The minimum constrained width for mineralized wireframe interpretation was 3 m of drill core length. The Begin-Lamarche Mineral Resource Estimate is based on 120 drill holes totalling 29,762 m. The database contained 7,968 assays for percentage of P2O5, Fe2O3 and TiO2.The Mineral Resource Estimate is presented in Table 1. Table1 Pit-Constrained Mineral Resource Estimate(1-4) at 2.5% P2O5 Cut-Off Classification Zone Tonnes (Mt) P2O5 (%) P2O5 (kt) Indicated Mountain 9.3 8.19 758 Northern 32.2 6.00 1,934 Total 41.5 6.49 2,692 Inferred Mountain 6.8 8.57 584 Northern 44.3 6.98 3,090 Southern 162.9 5.63 9,177 Total 214.0 6.01 12,851 Note: P2O5 = phosphorus pentoxide. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration. The Mineral Resources in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions (2014) and Best Practices Guidelines (2019) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council. The Begin-Lamarche Mineral Resource Estimate was derived from applying a 2.5% P2O5 cut-off value to the pit-constrained block model and reporting the resulting tonnes and grades for potentially mineable areas. The following parameters were used to calculate the Cut-off value that determines the open pit potentially economic portions of the constrained mineralization (Table 2). The P2O5 cut-off value is calculated with parameters below: US$:C$ Exchange Rate: $0.75 P2O5 Price (32%): US$180/t (approximate two-year trailing average) P2O5 Price (40%): US$225/t P2O5 Process Recovery: 91% Processing Cost: C$14.00/t G&A: C$3.00/t Mining Cost: C$2.75/t (mineralized material and waste) Pit Slopes: 45 Accordingly, the P2O5 cut-off of potential open pit mining is calculated to be = 2.5%. The optimized pit-constrained Mineral Resource Estimate is moderately sensitive to the selection of reporting P2O5 cut-off values, as demonstrated in Table 2. Table 2 Pit-Constrained Mineral Resource Estimate Sensitivity to P2O5 Cut-off Class Cut-off Tonnage P2O5 P2O5 P2O5 % (Mt) (%) (kt) Indicated 5.0 27.2 7.86 2,143 4.5 30.5 7.53 2,298 4.0 33.8 7.22 2,436 3.5 36.7 6.94 2,547 3.0 39.3 6.69 2,632 2.5 41.5 6.49 2,692 2.0 43.3 6.31 2,732 1.5 44.8 6.16 2,759 1.0 46.0 6.03 2,774 Inferred 5.0 135.8 7.16 9,732 4.5 157.2 6.84 10,748 4.0 178.1 6.53 11,639 3.5 194.2 6.31 12,242 3.0 206.1 6.13 12,633 2.5 214.0 6.01 12,851 2.0 218.7 5.92 12,959 1.5 222.5 5.85 13,025 1.0 225.6 5.79 13,064 Mt: million tonnes kt: thousand tonnes Metallurgical Testwork has been successfully conducted by SGS at their Quebec City facility with additional support by SGS Lakefield Ontario. Recent test results have confirmed that an apatite concentrate can be obtained assaying 40% P2O5 and at 91% recovery. Additional metallurgical test results indicate that the Begin-Lamarche Deposit may have the potential to produce two additional, potentially marketable concentrates - an iron oxide (magnetite) concentrate and a titanium oxide (ilmenite) concentrate. Tests are continuing on this aspect. First Phosphate's Begin-Lamarche Deposit is located approximately 50 km driving-distance north of the City of Saguenay, Quebec's sixth largest city, which hosts daily flights to Montreal, a skilled industrial workforce, strong local infrastructure, and which is 30 km driving distance from the deep-sea Port of Saguenay. The geological and drilling work was planned, carried out and supervised by Laurentia Exploration Inc. Drill core was described at Lamarche near the deposit and at Laurentia Exploration's offices. The drill core was sawn and sampled at Laurentia Exploration's offices in Jonquiere. Qualified Persons The scientific and technical disclosure for First Phosphate included in this News Release have been reviewed and approved by Gilles Laverdiere, P.Geo. Mr. Laverdiere is Chief Geologist of the Company and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The Qualified Person independent of the issuer, responsible for estimating the Mineral Resources of the Begin-Lamarche Property, within the meaning of NI 43-101, is Mr. Antoine Yassa, P.Geo., of the firm P&E Mining Consultants Inc. Mr. Yassa has read this press release and confirms that the scientific and technical information in this press release for accuracy and compliance with NI 43-101. An NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR+ within forty-five (45) days of this press release. P&E Mining Consultants Inc., an associate group of twenty (20) geological and mine engineering professionals established in 2004, provides geological and mine engineering consulting reports, Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Estimates, NI 43-101 Technical Reports, Preliminary Economic Assessments, Pre-Feasibility and Feasibility Studies. Laurentia Exploration inc. is a firm of consulting geologists based in Jonquiere, Saguenay Lac-St-Jean. It has 80 employees, mainly geology professionals who are members in good standing of a professional order. The firm was founded in 2017 and carries out projects throughout Quebec and Ontario. About First Phosphate Corp First Phosphate is a mineral development company fully dedicated to extracting and purifying phosphate for the production of cathode active material for the lithium iron phosphate ("LFP") battery industry. First Phosphate is committed to producing at high purity level, in responsible manner and with low anticipated carbon footprint. First Phosphate plans to vertically integrate from mine source directly into the supply chains of major North American LFP battery producers that require battery grade LFP cathode active material emanating from a consistent and secure supply source. First Phosphate holds over 1,500 sq. km of royalty-free district-scale land claims in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Region of Quebec, Canada that it is actively developing. First Phosphate properties consist of rare anorthosite igneous phosphate rock that generally yields high purity phosphate material devoid of high concentrations of harmful elements. -30- Follow First Phosphate: Twitter: https://twitter.com/FirstPhosphate LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-phosphate/ Forward-Looking Information and Cautionary Statements This news release contains certain statements and information that may be considered "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "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", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" and other similar expressions. In addition, statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements, including, among other things, the Company's planned exploration and production activities, the properties and composition of any extracted phosphate, the Company's plans for vertical integration into North American supply chains, the Company's ability to prepare and the timing of the preparation of an NI 43-101 compliant technical report, to bring the Mineral Resource into Preliminary Economic Assessment later this year and to then be able to evaluate the commencement of a Feasibility Study." These statements and other forward-looking information are based on assumptions and estimates that the Company believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances, including, without limitation, expectations of the Company's long term business outcomes given its short operating history; expectations regarding revenue, expenses and operations; the Company having sufficient working capital and ability to secure additional funding necessary for the exploration of the Company's property interests; expectations regarding the potential mineralization, geological merit and economic feasibility of the Company's projects; expectations regarding drill programs and the potential impacts successful drill programs could have on the life of the mine and the Company; mineral exploration and exploration program cost estimates; expectations regarding any environmental issues that may affect planned or future exploration programs and the potential impact of complying with existing and proposed environmental laws and regulations; receipt and timing of exploration and exploitation permits and other third-party approvals; government regulation of mineral exploration and development operations; expectations regarding any social or local community issues that may affect planned or future exploration and development programs; expectations surrounding global economic trends and technological advancements; and key personnel continuing their employment with the Company, as well as the Company's ability to prepare an NI 43-101 compliant technical report, to bring the Mineral Resource into Preliminary Economic Assessment on the timeline provided and that the results will be consistent with the results referenced herein." 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 expectations include: limited operating history; high risk of business failure; no profits or significant revenues; limited resources; negative cash flow from operations and dependence on third-party financing; the uncertainty of additional funding; no dividends; risks related to possible fluctuations in revenues and results; insurance and uninsured risks; litigation; reliance on management and key personnel; conflicts of interest; access to supplies and materials; dangers of mineral exploration and related liability and damages; risks relating to health and safety; government regulation and legal uncertainties; the company's exploration and development properties may not be successful and are highly speculative in nature; dependence on outside parties; title to some of the Company's mineral properties may be challenged or defective; Aboriginal title and land claims; obtaining and renewing licenses and permits; environmental and other regulatory risks may adversely affect the company; risks relating to climate change; risks related to infrastructure; land reclamation requirements may be burdensome; current global financial conditions; fluctuation in commodity prices; dilution; future sales by existing shareholders could cause the Company's share price to fall; fluctuation and volatility in stock exchange prices; and risks related to market demands. There can be no assurance that any opportunity will be successful, commercially viable, completed on time or on budget, or will generate any meaningful revenues, savings or earnings, as the case may be, for the Company. In addition, the Company will incur costs in pursuing any particular opportunity, which may be significant. These factors and assumptions are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors and assumptions that could affect the Company and, though they should be considered carefully, should be considered in conjunction with the risk factors described in the Company's other documents filed with the Canadian and United States securities authorities, including without limitation the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Information Form dated November 29, 2023 which is available on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify factors that would cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those disclosed in the forward-looking information or information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223677 SOURCE: First Phosphate Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Nova Pacific Metals Corp. (CSE: NVPC) (OTCQB: NVPCF) (FSE: YQ10) (WKN: A40GFH) (the "Company" or "Nova Pacific") is pleased to announce the appointment of geoscientist David Mark, P. Geo., as a director of the Company. Mr. Mark has over 56 years of experience in mining exploration, geotechnical, and environmental geophysics, and is currently the head of Geotronics Consulting Inc. He began working in the mining industry in 1965 and graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1968 with a major in Geophysics. Mr. Mark became chief geophysicist of Geotronics in 1969 and acquired control of the company outright in 1972. Geotronics offers a wide variety of services, including seismic reflection and refraction, induced polarisation, various types of EM, gravity, magnetic, and soil sampling surveys (including MMI), as well as project management. Malcolm Bell, CEO of Nova Pacific, commented, "We are very excited to have David Mark join our Board of Directors. Dave's addition is a testament to our shared vision for the advancement of the Lara deposit. Dave brings a lifetime of expertise in the mineral exploration sector and we are all grateful for his future contributions to the success of Nova Pacific Metals." David Mark commented, "I am very pleased to join Nova Pacific Metals as a non-executive member of the Board. I believe I can make a significant contribution to the exploration and development of the Lara Project, which is closely analogous, in geological setting and grade, to the notable Myra Falls deposit located 140 km to the northwest. Myra Falls deposit was the largest producing VMS mine in western Canada with combined production and proven and probable reserves in excess of 40 million tonnes of Zn-Cu-Au-Ag sulfides. With a high-grade VMS deposit already drill-outlined on the Lara Property, I believe continuing drilling along strike and at depth has the potential to add significant tonnage and grade to the deposit." In connection with the appointment, Nova Pacific granted Mr. Mark 125,000 incentive stock options, each of which vests immediately, is exercisable into one common share of the Company at a price of $0.37 per share for a period of five years, and is governed by the terms of Nova Pacific's stock option plan. About Nova Pacific Metals Corp. Nova Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on pursuing projects with a significant mineral discovery thus providing a viable pathway to potential development. The key project being developed by the Company is its recently acquired Lara VMS Project located on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The Lara Project is principally a brownfields development asset with excellent potential for expansion and near-term production. For additional information please visit: www.novapacificmetals.com. Rights of Indigenous Communities Statement Nova Pacific recognizes the Rights of all Indigenous Peoples of Canada. The Company is committed to consultation and accommodation with the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group communities on whose Traditional, Ancestral and Unceded Territory the Lara Property is located. The Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group is a politically unified group that represents six Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nations: Cowichan, Stz'uminus, Penelakut, Lyackson, Halalt, and Lake Cowichan. On behalf of the Board of Directors J. Malcolm Bell Chief Executive Officer, Director The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the matters referenced herein and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-Looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forward-Looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. 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, except as required by applicable securities legislation. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223703 SOURCE: Nova Pacific Metals Corp. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Big Ridge Gold Corp. (TSXV: BRAU) (OTCQB: ALVLF) ("Big Ridge" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed a non-brokered private placement of 30,000,000 common shares of the Company at $0.05 per share for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $1,500,000 (the "Offering"). The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to fund continued exploration and development of Big Ridge's Hope Brook Gold Project and for general working capital purposes. No brokers or finders fees were paid in connection with the Offering. Michael Bandrowski, President & CEO of the Company, commented: "Big Ridge is pleased to receive continued support from existing shareholders, including strong participation from Mr. Michael Gentile, PowerOne Capital Group, and other supportive shareholders. We look forward to upcoming results from our 2024 summer field program, environmental baseline work and ongoing ore sorting studies at the Hope Brook Gold Project." Michael Gentile commented: "Over the last six months I have acquired 12.6 million shares of Big Ridge Gold Corp., increasing my holdings to 9.9 percent of the company. With a market capitalization of only $11 million, Big Ridge is a compelling opportunity at current valuation levels. The company is well positioned to capitalize on the strong gold price environment with a project that can advance quickly. Hope Brook is an advantaged project due to regional infrastructure synergies, significant exploration potential and environmental work already completed and the ability to generate a Preliminary Economic Assessment in the near future. Big Ridge has chosen to preserve its capital in this difficult market for juniors and is now judiciously raising money from a core group of shareholders to unlock significant value via the advancement of key milestones." The securities issued pursuant to the Offering are subject to a four month hold period expiring January 19, 2025. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such Act. The Company also announced the resignation of James Maxwell as a director of the Company. Mr. Maxwell was the nominee of First Mining Gold Corp. on the Big Ridge board, which nomination right ended upon the sale by First Mining of its entire equity position in the Company, as previously announced on March 28, 2024. We thank James for his contributions to the Big Ridge board over the last several years. About Hope Brook The Hope Brook Gold Project is an advanced stage, high-grade gold project that produced 752,162 ounces of gold from 1987 - 1997. Initial production consisted of an open pit before moving to underground mining. Hope Brook operated using both heap leach (1987 -1990) and conventional cyanidation milling methods (1989-1997) with a later inclusion of flotation concentration to recover copper (1991). Government records indicate that gold recoveries from milling ranged between a low of 78.8% in 1987 and a high of 85.9% in 1989. Government and company annual reports indicate that gold recoveries ranged between a low of 82.1% in 1994 and a high of 89.83% in 1996 following a change of ownership. Copper flotation produced a concentrate at approximately 22% Cu and 34.3 g/t Au for shipment in 1992. Hope Brook hosts an Indicated gold resource totalling 16,190,000 tonnes grading 2.32 grams per tonne gold for 1.2 million ounces and Inferred resources totalling 2,215,000 tonnes grading 3.25 grams per tonne gold for 231,000 ounces based on a 0.4 and 2.0 gram per tonne cut-off grades for open pit and underground resources respectively using a long-term gold price of US$1,750. The Hope Brook gold deposit is a high-sulfidation epithermal gold deposit hosted in the Proterozoic aged Whittle Hill Sandstone and is intruded by a Late Proterozoic quartz-feldspar porphyry sill-dike complex of the Roti Intrusive Suite. The deposit is located adjacent to and within an extensive advanced argillic alteration envelope which includes pyrophyllite, kaolinite, andalusite, and alunite. The principal gold mineralization occurs in a buff-colored massive, vuggy silicic alteration with an associated, less developed grey silicic alteration with pyrite, chalcopyrite and lesser bornite accessory minerals. Gold mineralization is also found with pyrite in units of advanced argillic alteration adjacent to or near silicic alteration horizons. The altered and mineralized zone is cut by mafic dykes whose contacts are often mineralized. All the altered and mineralized sequences and the intruded dykes have been folded. Hope Brook is located 85 kilometers east of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. The project has well maintained infrastructure on site, including an operational 28-person camp, an 1,100-meter airstrip, ice-free docking facility and importantly, connection to the provincial electrical power grid via an on-site substation. About Big Ridge Gold Corp. Big Ridge Gold Corp. is an exploration and development company managed by a disciplined and experienced team of officers and directors. The Company is committed to the development of advanced stage mining projects using industry best practices combined with strong social license from our local communities. Big Ridge owns an 80% interest in the Hope Brook Gold Project, located in Newfoundland and Labrador. Big Ridge also owns a 100% interest in the highly prospective Oxford Gold Project located in Manitoba and the Destiny Gold Project in Quebec. Acknowledgement Big Ridge acknowledges and appreciates the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Natural Resources' financial support of the Company's 2023 exploration programs through the Junior Exploration Assistance (JEA) Program. For more details regarding the Company's projects, please visit our website at www.bigridgegold.com ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, Mike Bandrowski, President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "intends", "estimates", "envisages", "potential", "possible", "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. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations, or beliefs regarding future events, and include, without limitation, statements with respect to Big Ridge's intentions with respect to Caprock's shares. All forward-looking statements are based on Big Ridge's and its employees' current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions, and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Big Ridge, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Big Ridge does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on our behalf, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223694 SOURCE: Big Ridge Gold Corp. Norwegian Video Device Leader's Silicon Valley Location Marks Next Phase of Global Expansion Today, leading video device company Neat (neat.no), opened the doors of its first US experience center and office in San Jose, California. Located at 2880 Stevens Creek Boulevard, this space will serve as both an employee workspace and an experience center for partners and customers to explore Neat's product portfolio firsthand. The experience center is equipped with Neat and partner technologies, and includes large conference rooms, huddle spaces, open-seating theater, phone booths, an R&D lab, and hot desks. San Jose, located in the heart of the Silicon Valley and home to many of the world's greatest technology companies, is a natural fit for the video innovator's first US office. The office is located near local commercial hubs Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair, making it ideal for hosting and entertaining guests. "Even though I've spent my entire career in video communications, I know there is no substitute for connecting in person. Having a premium product showcase in San Jose to welcome our customers and partners is key for our continued success. We have put a lot of thought into the spaces and use cases that demonstrate how we meet the needs of our customers today and showcase the art of the possible for the future," said Janine Pelosi, CEO of Neat. "Additionally, while we've built an incredibly strong culture at Neat as a largely remote workforce, the time has come for us to create more places where our employees can collaborate. I'm thrilled to open the doors of this San Jose office. I see this as a key moment in our next phase of global growth." The office is the latest development in Neat's expansion in the US market. The company made several strategic US hires over the past two years, including CEO Janine Pelosi, CRO Todd Meister, Head of Marketing and Communications Priscilla Barolo, and GM for Americas Rick Hill, as well as building a strong network of US channel partners. The San Jose office also marks the beginning of Neat's global office expansion strategy. Neat launched in late 2019, only months before the global pandemic took hold. The company took a global approach to hiring, with most employees working fully remote. Aside from the company's Oslo headquarters, Neat employees have relied on video communications, partner and coworking spaces, and travel to work together. The company has recently contracted to double its Oslo office footprint and is looking for space in other markets, including London. About Neat Neat brings people together with beautifully simple video collaboration devices and experiences, enabling more natural, equitable, and engaging video meetings. Neat's pioneering portfolio provides superior audio and video quality for Zoom and Microsoft Teams meeting spaces in various sizes and scenarios, uniquely addressing the needs of today's ever-evolving, dynamic workforce. Our Neat Pulse service gives you complete control of your device deployment, premium support care, and extended warranty coverage from anywhere. It also connects you to a range of popular business apps. Neat is based in Oslo and has a passionate team around the globe. Explore more at neat.no. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918854824/en/ Contacts: Amy Martin amy.martin@neat.no +1-408-391-5194 360Learning, the world's leading collaborative learning platform, is pleased to announce the appointment of Benjamin Marchal as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective January 1, 2025. Nick Hernandez, founder and current CEO, will remain Chair of the Board, closely involved in the company's long-term vision and strategic direction. Since joining 360Learning in 2019, Benjamin Marchal has been a key driver of the company's rapid growth, partnering closely with Nick Hernandez to oversee key functions such as Product, Marketing, HR, Operations, and North American Revenue. As Benjamin's role steadily expanded, he spearheaded the company's successful expansion into North America, Germany, and the UK, and supported two major M&A transactions that delivered significant results. He also strengthened the leadership team, hiring key executives including Sidonie Viala (Chief People Officer), Chris Bondarenko (Chief Revenue Officer), and Gillian Core (Chief Customer Officer). These efforts have positioned 360Learning on a clear path to achieving cash-flow positivity by 2025. The leadership transition between Nick Hernandez and Benjamin Marchal has been carefully prepared over the past several years, with full support from the board, leadership team, and the broader company. This planned transition reflects the company's commitment to stability, continuity, and upskilling from within as it embarks on this new chapter. Looking ahead, the team, under Benjamin's direction, is focused on achieving global leadership by delivering groundbreaking innovations that empower companies to upskill at unparalleled speed through collaborative learning, AI, and skills development. Key financial milestones include achieving cash-flow positivity by 2025 and reaching 100M ARR by 2027. Nick Hernandez, founder and Chairman, commented: "Leading 360Learning for the past 11 years has been a remarkable journey, and I am incredibly proud of what we've built. Benjamin has been instrumental in shaping our growth strategy, particularly in expanding into new markets and overseeing critical milestones. He has consistently demonstrated the leadership and strategic thinking needed to take 360Learning to new heights. I look forward to supporting him and the team as Chairman." Benjamin Marchal, incoming CEO, commented: "I am excited to take on this new challenge and continue our mission of leading the global collaborative learning movement. Over the past six years, I've had the privilege of working closely with Nick and our exceptional team to achieve remarkable milestones. As we look to the future, our focus remains on building a global leader based out of Europe, reaching cash-flow positivity in 2025, and scaling to 100M ARR over the next two years." Sanjeet Mitra George Kadifa, board members from Sumeru Equity Partners, added: "360Learning has continued to transform corporate learning and has grown meaningfully since our investment in 2021. It has been a sincere privilege to work with both Nick and Benjamin as they have fueled the company's ongoing success. As COO, Benjamin has consistently demonstrated strategic insight, operational rigor, and strong leadership in scaling the company. With the strong foundation Benjamin Nick have jointly built, the entire board is fully confident in Ben's leadership as we enter this exciting next chapter. Congratulations to Benjamin Nick on their new roles!" Founded in 2013, 360Learning raised $240 million from investors including Sumeru, SoftBank, Silver Lake, XAnge, BPI, Hi Inov, and EduCapital, serving over 2,300 customers, including Cisco, Biogen, Kinaxis, and Toyota. With a strong focus on AI-powered skills development, 360Learning recently launched SkillsGPT and integrated eLamp (acquired in late 2023), empowering HR and L&D leaders to scale skills-based learning across their organizations. Nick Hernandez Founder and Chair Nick Hernandez founded 360Learning in 2013 with a vision to revolutionize corporate training through collaborative learning. Under his leadership, 360Learning evolved from a startup to a global leader in EdTech, transforming the way organizations approach skills development and learning at scale. Nick has guided the company through multiple successful funding rounds and key M&A transactions. Based in Paris, Nick will continue to play a key role in M&A strategy, product development, and advising the board as Chairman. Benjamin Marchal Incoming CEO Benjamin Marchal began his career as a consultant at McKinsey Company, where he was struck by the surprising lack of emphasis on Learning Development as a strategic lever in business transformation. Motivated to change this, he joined 360Learning in 2019, playing a key role in scaling the company from 100 to 400 employees and supporting the Series C funding round. Since 2023, he has overseen Product, Marketing, HR, and US Revenue. Based in Paris, Marchal is now set to lead 360Learning into its next phase of growth as CEO. About 360Learning 360Learning is the AI-powered, end-to-end learning platform for collaborative learning. We empower learning development teams at 2,300+ companies to drive business impact by pinpointing skills gaps, capturing knowledge from experts, and delivering it to learners when needed most. Founded in 2013, the company has raised $240 million and built a team of 400+ across North America and EMEA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918967919/en/ Contacts: Amelia Heathman amelia@burlington.cc With US$10 million investment round led by Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Siltrax aims to revolutionize the hydrogen industry with its patented silicon bipolar plate technology SYDNEY, Australia, Sept. 18, 2024, a pioneering company in fuel cell innovation, today introduced its groundbreaking silicon-based fuel cell technology, which leverages the unique characteristics of silicon to deliver enhanced performance, durability and cost-efficiency. Supported by a US$10 million investment round, including 7 million from Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Siltrax is focused on transforming the hydrogen industry with its cutting-edge technology, designed to revolutionize fuel cell applications across a range of industries. At the core of Siltrax's innovative fuel cell technology are silicon-based bipolar plates, which take advantage of the material's lightweight and durable nature, mechanical and chemical stability and ability to withstand high temperatures and corrosive environments. Silicon also allows the creation of micro-scale flow channels on the plates' surface. Combined, these attributes directly enhance the power density, durability and performance of Siltrax's fuel cells relative to its peers. Another key advantage of Siltrax's innovation is the ability to leverage existing photovoltaic (PV) supply chains for raw materials and production equipment. This strategic approach also allows Siltrax to leverage existing process and techniques to further optimize its manufacturing processes but also holds the potential to reduce the overall cost of fuel cell production, making this advanced technology more accessible for widespread adoption. "We're entering a new era of energy innovation where silicon-based fuel cells have the potential to transform the clean energy landscape," said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, co-founder of Siltrax. "Silicon's properties enable us to push the boundaries of fuel cell design, creating a low-cost, high-performance product. And, by leveraging resources from the solar industry, we can lower the barriers to mass manufacturing and make clean energy solutions more accessible to the global market." The innovative technology was developed by Dr. Shi, a renowned solar entrepreneur, and Dr. Jim Zhu, a semiconductor expert with extensive experience in silicon-based materials research. Together, they bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to developing Siltrax's silicon-based fuel cell technology. Siltrax's initial focus is aerospace and stationary power applications. Hydrogen is considered the optimal solution for decarbonizing the aerospace industry, as hydrogen's high energy density makes it a suitable medium for powering aircraft over long distances. Applications of Siltrax Fuel Cells Drones & Aerospace : Lightweight, compact silicon-based fuel cells are advantageous in applications where volume and weight are critical factors. This includes drones, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) and other aerospace technologies that require high energy density without compromising payload capacity. : Lightweight, compact silicon-based fuel cells are advantageous in applications where volume and weight are critical factors. This includes drones, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) and other aerospace technologies that require high energy density without compromising payload capacity. Stationary Power Generation : With its durability and low-cost manufacturing, Siltrax fuel cells are also ideal for stationary power applications, providing zero-emission, reliable energy solutions. Additionally, Siltrax's fuel cell solutions can integrate with existing natural gas and methanol infrastructure, reducing the need for high-purity hydrogen gas. : With its durability and low-cost manufacturing, Siltrax fuel cells are also ideal for stationary power applications, providing zero-emission, reliable energy solutions. Additionally, Siltrax's fuel cell solutions can integrate with existing natural gas and methanol infrastructure, reducing the need for high-purity hydrogen gas. Transportation: Siltrax's innovative fuel cells can be used for a wide range of transportation applications such as commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles. With backing from the CEFC and Virescent Ventures, Siltrax is expanding its research and development team in Australia to further advance fuel cell systems engineering and explore local commercialization opportunities. The company is focused on bringing this revolutionary technology to international markets, contributing to the global transition toward a cleaner energy future. Fuel cells, which directly convert the chemical energy in hydrogen into electricity with only water and heat as byproducts, are crucial in the global transition to cleaner energy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has identified fuel cells as one of the critical technologies necessary to meet the challenges of energy transition. Siltrax's innovation stands poised to make a significant contribution to this goal. About Siltrax Siltrax is a leading innovator in silicon-based fuel cell technology, driving advancements in energy efficiency and sustainability. Based in Sydney, Australia, the company is committed to developing durable, high-performance fuel cells for power generation, transportation, and material handling, with a strong focus on sustainability. By leveraging existing supply chains and cutting-edge research, Siltrax aims to revolutionize clean energy solutions and contribute to the global hydrogen economy. For more information, visit www.siltrax.net . PR Contact: Leah Wilkinson Wilkinson + Associates for Siltrax leah@wilkinson.associates +1-703-907-0010 Mitchell Shi Assistant to CEO for Siltrax mshi@siltrax.net +852 5602 1742 Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c862c42a-5a83-49d3-b3cc-fcb028c67fd6 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/476cb7c8-1ca3-4e89-b89d-7f09534dfbca Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Hybrid Power Solutions Inc. (CSE: HPSS) (OTCQB: HPSIF) (FSE: E092) ("Hybrid" or the "Company"), a leading provider of sustainable energy solutions, is pleased to announce a new restocking order from Colony Hardware, further solidifying its successful expansion in the U.S. construction market. The order consists of four (4) Batt Pack Energy (BPE) units and one (1) Batt Pack Pro (BPP) unit to replenish stock. Since establishing its official partnership with Colony Hardware, Hybrid Power Solutions has experienced consistent growth and increasing demand for its innovative power solutions in the construction sector. This latest restocking order underscores the continued success of the Company's U.S. market strategy. "We are delighted to receive this new restocking order from Colony Hardware as we see ongoing order growth," said Francois Byrne, CEO of Hybrid Power Solutions. "The sustained demand for our BPE and BPP units demonstrates the real-world value our products are delivering to the construction industry. This reorder is a clear indication of the growing adoption of our sustainable power solutions in the U.S. market with more and more trials turning into orders." The ongoing collaboration between Hybrid Power Solutions and Colony Hardware continues to yield impressive results. The partnership has facilitated numerous in-field trials with various construction industry players, with additional trials scheduled in the coming months. The Company has successfully established and strengthened relationships with General Contractors, Sub Contractors, and Experiential Marketing Fabrication companies, expanding its footprint within the sector. Hybrid's power solutions, particularly the BPE and BPP units, are being effectively deployed across diverse applications in the construction industry. These applications include powering bridge deck pouring operations, supplying energy for contractors' fleet servicing vehicles, providing temporary power for site trailers, on-site powering of tools, and enabling non-grid charging of batteries at construction sites. "The versatility and reliability of our BPE and BPP units continue to impress our clients in the construction sector. These orders represent the start of an industry transition to our fuel free and hybrid power sources," added Byrne. "From large-scale operations to portable energy solutions for tools and equipment, our technology is meeting a wide array of needs in the industry, driving repeat orders and new customer acquisitions." This latest restocking order from Colony Hardware not only validates the market's reception of Hybrid's products but also paves the way for further market penetration and potential expansion into other verticals. Hybrid Power Solutions remains committed to innovation and providing sustainable, efficient power solutions that meet the evolving needs of the construction industry and beyond. About Hybrid Power Solutions Inc. Hybrid Power Solutions Inc. is a Canadian clean energy innovator listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "HPSS". The company specializes in developing sustainable energy solutions that redefine power access and storage across industries. With a focus on innovation and environmental responsibility, Hybrid continues to lead the charge in providing scalable, cost-effective power solutions for a greener future. Forward-Looking Statements Certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will", "expects", "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. 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. 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. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept 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/223729 SOURCE: Hybrid Power Solutions Inc. EQS Newswire / 18/09/2024 / 21:37 UTC+8 The "Wonderful Anhui in Dialogue with the World" 2024 Anhui Cultural and Tourism Promotion Conference was held on September 16 at the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office at Geneva. More than 100 diplomats, including ambassadors from over 30 countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Cuba, along with representatives from various United Nations agencies, were present at the event. Keynote speakers at the event included Sun Yong, Vice Governor of Anhui Province; Ambassador Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland; and Francesco Pisano, Chairman of the United Nations Cultural Committee in Geneva. The conference was chaired by Wang Chunming, Deputy Secretary-General of the Anhui Provincial Government. The event highlighted Anhui's efforts to integrate culture, wellness, and tourism to establish the Grand Huangshan region as a world-class destination for leisure, vacations, and wellness tourism. This initiative aims not only to preserve cultural heritage but also to contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive global future. The promotion event underscored Anhui's charm and energy, demonstrating the power of culture in fostering international cooperation and friendship. Anhui looks forward to strengthening collaboration with the United Nations and countries worldwide in cultural exchange and shared development. Zhou Mingjie, Director of the Anhui Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, introduced the world-class leisure, vacation, and wellness tourism offerings in the Grand Huangshan region to the gathered diplomats. Wang Huixiao, Director of the Anhui Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, promoted Anhui's wellness and health industries. During the event, artisans from three renowned Anhui tea companies-Xie Yuda, Liubaili, and Tianzhihong-showcased Huangshan Maofeng, Taiping Houkui, and Qimen Black Tea. Guests were also gifted traditional Hui-style fish lanterns, offering them a glimpse of Anhui's cultural heritage and unique Chinese elegance. Additionally, the "Wonderful Anhui in Dialogue with the World" 2024 Anhui Cultural and Tourism Promotion Symposium was successfully held on September 12 at the European Travel Commission in Brussels, Belgium. Media Contact: Company Name:Anhui Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism Contact Person:Cheng Longcan Email:icanc@yahoo.cn Website:https://ct.ah.gov.cn/ 18/09/2024 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com Butuceni, Moldova--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - TechVillage, Moldova's flagship retreat for startups and investors, wrapped up its 2024 edition, held from September 6-8. The event brought together more than 30 startups from Eastern Europe and 20 investors and VCs from 12 countries, creating a dynamic platform for meaningful, long-term partnerships. TechVillage 2024, Butuceni, Moldova To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8871/223597_aab5ec2ce4238afd_001full.jpg Set in Butuceni, a scenic Moldovan village, TechVillage redefined the traditional startup event model. Unlike typical conferences, TechVillage adopted an "unconference" approach. Startups and investors interacted in a relaxed atmosphere like campfires and outdoor activities, and over traditional Moldovan meals. This unconventional setting encouraged deeper connections. Highlights of TechVillage 2024: High-impact connections: The event's small-scaled format allowed each startup to have personalized discussions with investors. Some startups are already in talks for potential deals right after the event. The event's small-scaled format allowed each startup to have personalized discussions with investors. Some startups are already in talks for potential deals right after the event. Cultural immersion and adventure: Participants explored the beauty of rural Moldova through village activities and wine tastings, which helped break the ice between startup founders and investors. Participants explored the beauty of rural Moldova through village activities and wine tastings, which helped break the ice between startup founders and investors. Diversity: Even though it is a small event, TechVillage brought together angel investors and venture capital representatives from 12 countries. These are the organizations that attended TechVillage 2024: Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund, Business Angels Moldova, Science & Technology Angels Network (STAN), Katalista Ventures, .Contriber Ventures, N1 Ventures, Tensor Ventures, Vitosha Venture Partners, Startup Wise Guys, LAUNCHUB VC, Sparking Capital, Impact X Ventures, Vintage Investment Partners, Transylvania Angels Network. TechVillage showcases Eastern Europe's growing innovation landscape, with startups in AI, HealthTech, FinTech, and more. Participants enjoyed a village quest, fed horses, and even made wine by hand. The day continued with investor and startup pitches, ending with a Moldovan dinner, traditional dances, and music. Day two focused on one-on-one sessions, ending with a special vineyard dinner and networking by the campfire. The final day included hillside networking, and a cave lunch with wine tasting. The 2025 edition aims to introduce even more opportunities. Startups or investors can secure their spot for TechVillage 2025 now by joining the waitlist. Link available on the website: https://techvillage.md/ About TechVillage: TechVillage is an annual event that brings together startups and investors in the picturesque village of Butuceni, Moldova. After a 4-year break, the event returned this September 2024, reigniting the spirit of innovation and collaboration within Eastern Europe's startup ecosystem. This event is organized by XY Partners and Technovator, with the support of the regional investment fund Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund in partnership with the Future Technologies Activity in Moldova (FTA), funded by USAID, Sweden and UKaid with the assistance of Switzerland and Helvetas as part of the OPTIM project; and Invest Moldova Agency. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223597 SOURCE: PRNews OU Biognosys' Spectronaut , the leading vendor-agnostic software for DIA proteomics, is now directly available from Thermo Fisher Scientific under a reselling agreement , the leading vendor-agnostic software for DIA proteomics, is now directly available from Thermo Fisher Scientific under a reselling agreement End users can get access to Thermo Scientific mass spectrometry systems and Biognosys' Spectronaut software via a single offer issued by Thermo Fisher Thermo Fisher will directly quote and sell Biognosys' Spectronaut software from its product catalog ZURICH and NEWTON, Mass., Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biognosys, a leading inventor and provider of software solutions for mass spectrometry-based proteomics data analysis, today announced the rollout of a Value-added Reselling agreement for Biognosys' Spectronaut software with Thermo Fisher Scientific. The agreement focuses on the co-marketing and co-selling of Biognosys' Spectronautsoftware with Thermo Fisher's mass spectrometry systems for the analysis of data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteomics experiments. The availability of Thermo Fisher's mass spectrometry instruments with the gold standard for DIA proteomics data analysis, Spectronaut, into a single workflow enables DIA proteomics research with industry-leading depth. Under the terms of the agreement, Biognosys grants Thermo Fisher the rights to directly quote and sell Spectronaut from their product catalog so that end users can gain access to Thermo Fisher's mass spectrometry systems and Biognosys' Spectronaut software via a single offer, issued by Thermo Fisher Scientific. This collaboration enhances the reach of Spectronaut and provides Thermo Fisher customers with simplified access to this market-leading DIA proteomics data analysis software. The new Spectronaut 19version that was launched at the ASMS 2024 Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA, features deep learning-powered algorithms and improved scalability for the latest generation instruments, including the Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer. "We are excited to facilitate access to Spectronaut for users of Thermo Fisher mass spectrometry instruments," saidOliver Rinner, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of Biognosys. "Data analysis remains a critical success factor for mass spectrometry-based proteomics, with huge potential for further gains. With Spectronaut, we have pioneered the transition to DIA as state-of-the-art acquisition method in discovery proteomics. In many exciting areas, the field is still emerging, and we believe that the comparability of results across instrument platforms from different vendors is vital to further progress. Biognosys is committed to providing the best software for instruments from all vendors, and this co-selling agreement with Thermo Fisher is an important step towards greater accessibility for their customers." August Specht, Ph.D., Vice President, R&D, Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry, at Thermo Fisher Scientific, added: "We are very pleased to collaborate with Biognosys to equip researchers with powerful workflows for their proteomics research. By making Spectronaut available together with our mass spectrometry systems, we offer our customers a comprehensive, streamlined solution for DIA proteomics." About Spectronaut Spectronaut is Biognosys' flagship data analysis software for data-independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomics. The software employs advanced Search and Artificial Intelligence. About Biognosys At Biognosys, we believe that deep proteome insights hold the key to breakthrough discoveries that transform science for better lives. With our versatile portfolio of next-generation proteomics solutions, including the TrueDiscovery, TrueTarget, and TrueSignature research service platforms, our flagship software Spectronaut, and the PQ500 kit, we make the proteome actionable to empower research, drug development, and clinical decision-making. Our solutions provide a multi-dimensional view of protein expression, function, and structure in all biological species and sample types. Our unique, patented technologies utilize high-resolution mass spectrometry to quantify thousands of proteins with industry-leading precision, depth, and throughput. Through our strategic partnership with Bruker. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5eabe48a-06b5-4c37-8181-d5ff5a41a1cb Verified Market Research is pleased to announce the development and release of our latest market research report, "Food Processing Equipment Market - Global Insights, Trends, and Forecast 2024-2031." This report offers in-depth analysis and actionable insights into one of the most critical segments of the global food industry: food processing equipment. LEWES, Del., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Food Processing Equipment Market Size is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.85% from 2024 to 2031, according to a new report published by Verified Market Research. The report reveals that the market was valued at USD 67.28 Billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 101.72 Billion by the end of the forecast period. With the global food industry rapidly evolving, there is a growing demand for advanced machinery to enhance efficiency, ensure food safety, and meet regulatory standards. Industry leaders need reliable market intelligence to stay competitive in this dynamic environment. Our Food Processing Equipment Market report is designed to provide decision-makers with valuable information to make informed investment, purchasing, and strategic planning decisions. Key Highlights of the Report Include: Comprehensive analysis of the current market landscape, key drivers, and emerging trends. In-depth insights into technological advancements shaping the future of food processing equipment. Regional and global market forecasts with detailed segmentation by equipment type, application, and end-use industry. Competitive landscape, including profiles of major players and their market strategies. Insights on growth opportunities, challenges, and regulatory impacts across key regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and more. Who Should Read This Report: This report is a must-read for food manufacturers, equipment suppliers, distributors, and investors looking to capitalize on the latest trends and advancements in food processing technology. With data-backed forecasts and analysis, it equips industry leaders with the tools needed to make strategic decisions that drive profitability and operational efficiency. Gain a Competitive Edge: With rising consumer demand for convenience, sustainability, and food safety, innovation in food processing equipment is critical. The Food Processing Equipment Market report offers a strategic advantage by helping businesses identify growth opportunities, optimize production processes, and ensure compliance with stringent food safety standards. The Food Processing Equipment Market Report is an essential resource for organizations looking to gain a competitive edge in this transformative industry. Don't miss out on key opportunities-equip your business with the insights you need to drive innovation and growth. For more information or to purchase the report, please contact us at: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample?rid=6630 Browse in-depth TOC on "Global Food Processing Equipment Market Size" 202 - Pages 126 - Tables 37 - Figures Report Scope REPORT ATTRIBUTES DETAILS STUDY PERIOD 2021-2031 BASE YEAR 2024 FORECAST PERIOD 2024-2031 HISTORICAL PERIOD 2021-2023 UNIT Value (USD Billion) KEY COMPANIES PROFILED Buhler Group, Tetra Laval Group, GEA Group, Krones AG, Alfa Laval AB, John Bean Technologies Corporation, Mettler Toledo International Inc., CPW Ovens & Bakery Equipment, Provisur Technologies LLC SEGMENTS COVERED By Type, By Mode of Operation, By Application, and By Geography. CUSTOMIZATION SCOPE Free report customization (equivalent up to 4 analyst's working days) with purchase. Addition or alteration to country, regional & segment scope Global Food Processing Equipment Market Overview Technological Advancements: The swift advancement of technical innovation in the Food Processing Equipment Market is a significant catalyst. Recent advancements in automation, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things are augmenting operating efficiency, decreasing expenses, and elevating product quality. These developments allow enterprises to satisfy increasing consumer needs for enhanced efficiency and improved safety standards, hence driving market growth and providing businesses with a competitive advantage. Rising Consumer Demand for Processed Foods: The rising consumer inclination towards convenience foods and packaged items is driving demand in the Food Processing Equipment Market. In response to the increasing consumer demand for ready-to-eat and quick-to-prepare food options, food manufacturers are investing in sophisticated processing technology. This tendency facilitates industry expansion by promoting ongoing enhancements and improvements in processing equipment. Regulatory Compliance Requirements: Stringent food safety laws and requirements are propelling the expansion of the Food Processing Equipment Market. Adherence to these rules requires the utilization of advanced processing equipment engineered to guarantee hygiene and quality. This regulatory pressure necessitates food makers to invest in advanced equipment, therefore fostering industry expansion. To Purchase a Comprehensive Report Analysis: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/select-licence?rid=6630 High Initial Investment Costs: The considerable initial capital required for sophisticated food processing machinery might provide a significant obstacle for small and medium-sized firms. The elevated expenses may restrict access to cutting-edge technologies, hindering adoption rates and affecting total industry expansion. Businesses must evaluate the long-term advantages against the initial costs to make informed investment decisions. Maintenance and Operational Challenges: The intricacy of contemporary food processing machinery can result in considerable maintenance and operating difficulties. Regular maintenance demands and the necessity for specialized technical expertise can provide challenges for enterprises, especially those with constrained resources. These problems may affect equipment availability and efficiency, thereby hindering market expansion. Economic Uncertainties: Economic volatility and market uncertainties may impact investments in the Food Processing Equipment Market. In times of economic recession, corporations may postpone or diminish capital expenditures on new equipment, adversely affecting market growth. Economic volatility might consequently engender a prudent investment climate, impacting the total growth of the market. Geographical Dominance North America and Europe presently dominate the Food Processing Equipment Market owing to their sophisticated technological infrastructure and robust food processing sectors. These regions experience substantial investments in innovation and rigorous food safety standards, propelling market expansion. Simultaneously, the Asia Pacific region is swiftly becoming a pivotal area for growth, driven by escalating urbanization and heightened demand for processed goods. This geographical transition is broadening global market prospects. Key Players The "Global Food Processing Equipment Market" study report will provide a valuable insight with an emphasis on the global market. The major players in the market are Buhler Group, Tetra Laval Group, GEA Group, Krones AG, Alfa Laval AB, John Bean Technologies Corporation, Mettler Toledo International Inc., CPW Ovens & Bakery Equipment, Provisur Technologies LLC. Food Processing Equipment Market Segment Analysis Based on the research, Verified Market Research has segmented the global Food Processing Equipment Market into Type, Mode of Operation, Application and Geography. Food Processing Equipment Market, by Type Processing Extruders and Forming Machines Ovens and Dryers Refrigeration and Freezing Equipment Coating Equipment Others Pre-processing Sorting & Grading Cutting and Peeling Equipment Washing Equipment Mixing and Blending Equipment Food Processing Equipment Market, by Mode of Operation Automatic Semi-automatic Food Processing Equipment Market, by Application Bakery & Confectionaries Meat, Poultry & Seafood Beverage Dairy Fruit, Nut & Vegetable Grains Others Food Processing Equipment Market, by Geography North America U.S Canada Mexico Europe Germany France .K Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India Rest of Asia Pacific ROW Middle East & Africa Latin America Browse Related Reports: Global Food Processing And Handling Equipment Market Size By Mode of Operation (Automatic, Non-Automatic), By Type (Processing Equipment, Pre-Processing Equipment), By Application (Bakery And Confectionaries, Meat), By Geography, And Forecast Global Frying Machine Market Size By Type (Commercial Deep Fryers, Processing Line Fryers), By Application (Retail Outlets, Food Processing Plant, Quick Service Restaurants (QSR)), By Geography, And Forecast Global Food Automation Market Size By Automation Type (Motor Controls, Sensors and Vision Systems, Robotics and Automation Systems), By Application (Processing, Packaging, Sorting and Grading), By End-User Industry (Bakery and Confectionery, Dairy and Beverages), By Geography, And Forecast Global Potato Processing Market Size By Product Type (Chips and snack pellets, Frozen, Dehydrated, Flour, Starch), By Application Channel (Ready to cook and prepared meals, Snacks, Food Additives in Soups), By Distribution Channels (Food Service, Retail), By Geography, And Forecast Leading Food Automation Companies - Powerhouse of industrial technology sector Visualize Food Processing Equipment Market using Verified Market Intelligence -: Verified Market Intelligence is our BI Enabled Platform for narrative storytelling in this market. VMI offers in-depth forecasted trends and accurate Insights on over 20,000+ emerging & niche markets, helping you make critical revenue-impacting decisions for a brilliant future. VMI provides a holistic overview and global competitive landscape with respect to Region, Country, Segment, and Key players of your market. Present your Market Report & findings with an inbuilt presentation feature saving over 70% of your time and resources for Investor, Sales & Marketing, R&D, and Product Development pitches. VMI enables data delivery In Excel and Interactive PDF formats with over 15+ Key Market Indicators for your market. About Us Verified Market Research stands at the forefront as a global leader in Research and Consulting, offering unparalleled analytical research solutions that empower organizations with the insights needed for critical business decisions. Celebrating 10+ years of service, VMR has been instrumental in providing founders and companies with precise, up-to-date research data. With a team of 500+ Analysts and subject matter experts, VMR leverages internationally recognized research methodologies for data collection and analyses, covering over 15,000 high impact and niche markets. This robust team ensures data integrity and offers insights that are both informative and actionable, tailored to the strategic needs of businesses across various industries. VMR's domain expertise is recognized across 14 key industries, including Semiconductor & Electronics, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Energy, Technology, Automobiles, Defense, Mining, Manufacturing, Retail, and Agriculture & Food. In-depth market analysis cover over 52 countries, with advanced data collection methods and sophisticated research techniques being utilized. This approach allows for actionable insights to be furnished by seasoned analysts, equipping clients with the essential knowledge necessary for critical revenue decisions across these varied and vital industries. Verified Market Research is also a member of ESOMAR, an organization renowned for setting the benchmark in ethical and professional standards in market research. This affiliation highlights VMR's dedication to conducting research with integrity and reliability, ensuring that the insights offered are not only valuable but also ethically sourced and respected worldwide. Contact Us Mr. Edwyne Fernandes Verified Market Research US: +1 (650)-781-4080 US Toll Free: +1 (800)-782-1768 Email: sales@verifiedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/ Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2015407/VMR_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/processing-equipment-market-is-expected-to-generate-a-revenue-of-usd-101-72-billion-by-2031--globally-at-5-85-cagr-verified-market-research-302251707.html The global unmanned helicopter market is experiencing growth due to several factors such as enhanced surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, cost-effectiveness and risk reduction, and technological advancements. WILMINGTON, Del., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Unmanned Helicopter Market by Type (Small (0-20 lbs), Medium (21-55 lbs)), Application (Military, Government Agency, Industrial and Others), and End-user (Defense agencies, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Services): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the unmanned helicopter market was valued at $5.8 billion in 2023 and is estimated to reach $24.2 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 15.4% from 2024 to 2033. Prime determinants of growth The global unmanned helicopter market is experiencing growth due to several factors such as enhanced surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, cost-effectiveness and risk reduction, and technological advancements. However, regulatory and airspace management challenges, and high initial costs hinder market growth to some extent. Moreover, commercial and industrial applications, and disaster response and humanitarian aid offers remunerative opportunities for the expansion of the global unmanned helicopter market. Request Sample of the Report on Unmanned Helicopter Market Forecast 2033: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A11525 Segment Highlights The small (0-20 lbs) segment is expected to grow faster throughout the forecast period. The segment is experiencing the most significant growth due to the increasing demand for lightweight unmanned helicopters for various applications . Advancements in miniaturization technology, allowing for the development of compact and agile unmanned helicopters. There is a growing interest in small unmanned systems for tasks such as surveillance, monitoring, agriculture, and infrastructure inspection. The regulatory changes and advancements in drone technology are making it easier for small unmanned helicopters to operate in urban and densely populated areas. The Military ISR segment is expected to grow faster throughout the forecast period. The segment is growing the most rapidly due to the increasing demand for unmanned helicopters for military surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Rising geopolitical tensions and security threats driving investments in unmanned ISR capabilities.Advancements in sensor technology, enabling unmanned helicopters to gather intelligence data more effectively.Integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for autonomous surveillance and target recognition. Procure Complete Report (233 Pages PDF with In-depth Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/unmanned-helicopter-market-A11525 The emergency services segment is expected to grow faster throughout the forecast period. There's a growing demand for unmanned helicopters in emergency services due to their versatility and ability to access hard-to-reach areas during firefighting, search and rescue operations, and other emergency response missions. Unmanned helicopters equipped with advanced sensors and payload delivery systems enhance the safety and efficiency of emergency responders. They can provide real-time situational awareness, deliver supplies to remote locations, and assist in monitoring and managing emergencies from a safe distance. Regional Outlook The unmanned helicopter market in North America is a dynamic and rapidly evolving sector driven by technological advancements, regulatory developments, and diverse applications across various industries. The North American region holds a significant share of the global unmanned helicopter market, attributed to the presence of key market players, robust research and development activities, and a favorable regulatory environment. Players: - Schiebel Group Yamaha Motor Company MD Helicopters CybAero Elbit Systems Northrop Grumman Leonardo AVIC Helicopter Company Airbus Helicopters Lockheed Martin The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global unmanned helicopter. 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. Make an Inquiry for Further Details of Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/A11525 Recent Development: In October 2022, Turkish engineering company Titra selected to receive government subsidies to develop the country's first unmanned helicopter, named the Alpin. This initiative has been designated as a "regional priority investment" by the Ankara government, indicating that it will receive support in the form of government incentives. In November 2023, Rotor Technologies achieved a significant milestone in autonomous aviation by completing an extensive flight campaign with its experimental R220Y autonomous helicopters. Rotor Technologies successfully conducted autonomous flights with its R220Y helicopters, marking the first time a full-scale civilian helicopter has been flown autonomously. This achievement highlights advancements in automation technology within the aviation industry. In September 2020, China successfully conducted the maiden flight of its first unmanned helicopter drone designed specifically to operate in plateau areas. This unmanned helicopter, named the AR500C, is equipped with capabilities for conducting reconnaissance and firing from high altitudes. The AR500C unmanned helicopter drone is developed by the Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) . It has been specifically designed to operate effectively in plateau areas, which are characterized by high elevations and challenging environmental conditions. AVENUE- A Subscription-Based Library (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) Offered by Allied Market Research: AMR introduces its online premium subscription-based library Avenue, designed specifically to offer cost-effective, one-stop solution for enterprises, investors, and universities. With Avenue, subscribers can avail an entire repository of reports on more than 2,000 niche industries and more than 12,000 company profiles. Moreover, users can get an online access to quantitative and qualitative data in PDF and Excel formats along with analyst support, customization, and updated versions of reports. Get an access to the library of reports at any time from any device and anywhere. For more details, follow the link: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access 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 help@alliedmarketresearch.com 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 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/unmanned-helicopter-market-to-reach-24-2-billion-globally-by-2033-at-15-4-cagr-allied-market-research-302251804.html FIRST COLLABORATIVE EFFORT UNDER NEW AGREEMENT ALLEN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Enzolytics, Inc. (OTC PINK:ENZC) (" enzolytics.com" ) (the "Company") announced today that the Department of Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, represented by Professor Tchorbanov PhD, Head of the Department of Immunology and Penka Petrova PHD, DSc, Director of the Institute of Microbiology, has issued its first report under the recently announced collaborative agreement executed on September 9, 2024. The purpose of the study, which was sponsored by Rosetta, LLC, was to ascertain any pathological deviations as a result of the use of ENZC's exclusively licensed experimental cancer lyophilized pepsin treatment's key active ingredient, Irreversible Pepsin Fraction ("IPF"), on the Kidney, Liver, Lymph Nodes and Spleen, measure the increased activation of the immune system, determine any side effects from the use of the compound and establish survivability of the animals (mouse model on Balb/c inbred mouse line under specific pathogen free sterile conditions) used in the study. The sponsor of the study, Rosetta, LLC was awarded a licensing agreement by Zhabilov Trust for the production and distribution of IPF in spray form in the EU under the name Enzoimmune Active. ENZC will have the rights to North American markets. The immunostimulatory testing consisted of a series of experiments to test IPF under In Vivo conditions for stimulation of specific clones of the immune system, as well as various pathophysiological indicators concerning the condition of the organs and evaluation of the survival of the treated animals with different regimes of the therapy making it possible to find the optimal conditions for treatment. The results of the conducted experiments provided multifaceted information on the intimate mechanisms of activation and interaction between individual components of the immune system (humeral and cellular clone), as well as on interaction between innate and acquired immunity in general. One of the most significant findings was the increase in the amount of B- regulatory cells, a main factor for increased control over the functions of the immune system. The report concludes, in summary, it can be said that IPF has a stimulating and modulating effect on the components of cell populations that make up innate and acquired immunity. The preparation activates a number of cohorts of B, T and NK cells, as well as macrophages. The regulatory elements are generates, as well as the synthesis of antibodies. There were no side effects or adverse reactions, with a 100% survival rate. In the second group, representing a 10-day course of therapy and two-time introduction of IPF, the treatment showed the best qualities in terms of complex action on the individual components. Modulating action on these, more essential autoreactive processes can be obtained by oral intake in men and women. The data obtained so far give us reason to conclude that children's intake of reduced doses of IPF would have a positive effect on the immune system without any expectation of side effects. This report follows on the statement published on the study conducted by the Ministry of Health National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases in Sofia, Bulgaria which concluded that inventor Harry Zhabilov's patented experimental cancer lyophilized pepsin treatment, exclusively licensed to Enzolytics, is effective in decreasing the growth and spread of cancer cells in breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, cancer of the larynx, as well as small cell lung cancer. The Conclusion of the report by Associate Professor Petya Genova-Kalu and Professor Dr. Iva Hristova, in its entirety reads as follows: "A polypeptide complex of lyophilized pepsin, causes cytopathological changes and significantly reduces the survival and/or proliferative activity of the cell cultures used as experimental models. The tested substance exhibits the strongest cytotoxic/cytostatic effect on mammary adenocarcinoma (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 lines), cervical carcinoma (HeLa line), colorectal carcinoma (CaCo-2 line) and adenocarcinoma of the prostate (PC-3). A cytotoxic/cytostatic effect was observed on cells from small cell lung cancer (A 549 line) and the line Hep-2 (carcinoma of the larynx). The observed effect was time and concentration dependent, a response that is most likely due to the different biological characteristics of the malignant neoplasms from which the model cell lines were derived, as well as to the phenomenon of heterogeneity of tumor cells. In conclusion, lyophilized pepsin has extremely promising biomedical potential." Harry Zhabilov, Chief Science Officer of both ENZC and Sagaliam Acquisition Corp (SAGA) stated, "This initial report prepared by the Bulgarian Academy of Science on IPF and the statement by the Ministry of Health National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases in Sofia, Bulgaria on patented experimental cancer lyophilized pepsin treatment demonstrates the validity and value of our science. The stimulating and modulating effects on the immune system by IPF, we believe, will also be shown to reduce the recovery times of cancer patients after receiving radiation, chemotherapy and other treatments." Steve Sharabura, the CEO of Enzolytics commented, "The fact that our cancer treatment has been shown in an in-vitro test to significantly reduce the survival and/or the proliferation of the cell cultures is encouraging. The in vivo test results showing IPF's stimulating and modulating effect on the components of cell populations that make up innate and acquired immunity is truly an inflexion point for the ENZC shareholder value moving forward." Mr. Sharabura also stated that "There is another ridiculous attempt being made by Savov Dimatar today to try to disrupt the progress being made by ENZC and Sagaliam Acquisition Corp ("SAGA") on their license of patented products owned by Zhabilov Trust by declaring a shareholder meeting of IMMB BG to expel IMMB USA as an owner of IMMB BG. The 49% ownership of IMMB BG held by ENZC was part of the asset purchase by ENZC, approved by a shareholder consent which Savov as CEO of IMMB BG acknowledged, approved and executed as part of the 2017 transaction. Savov acquired 70 million shares as a result of that asset sale transaction which the company believes he has since liquidated. Savov has also, in the opinion of the Company, been responsible for misleading information being disseminated to the investing public in regards to NIKA Pharmaceutical and its CEO, Dimtar Savov, falsely claiming rights to patents issued to Harry H. Zhabilov and the Zhabilov Trust for the patented Immunotherapy treatment of HIV/AIDS exclusively licensed to SAGA and to the patented experimental cancer lyophilized pepsin treatment, exclusively licensed to Enzolytics. Mr. Savov has, since IMMB BG's default in 2021 on its obligations under the licensing agreement and continued losses in civil court actions in the US and Bulgarian court systems, erroneously and maliciously asserted claims to the patented treatments in his attempt to mislead the investing public and to harm the shareholder value of both ENZC and SAGA. Since IMMB USA transferred the 49% ownership of IMMB BG and ENZC is the owner of the 49% position of IMMB BG the Company and IMMB USA intend to pursue through their Bulgarian legal representation as well as their US Counsel to pursue all legal remedies against this bad actor, including but not limited to informing all regulatory agencies of his nefarious activities." About Enzolytics, Inc. Enzolytics, Inc. is transitioning from solely a drug development company committed to commercializing its proprietary proteins and monoclonal antibodies to treat debilitating infectious diseases to include the additional contracted service areas of sales, marketing and distribution focusing on medical devices, medical testing and nutraceutical products. Forward Looking Statements The disclosure herein includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "plan," "predict," "potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "outlook," and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding projections, estimates and forecasts of revenue and other financial and performance metrics and projections of market opportunity and expectations, Company's ability to enter into a definitive business combination agreement and Company's ability to obtain the financing necessary to consummate the potential business combination transaction. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of Company's management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of Company. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including: Company's ability to enter into a definitive agreement with respect to the proposed business combination or consummate a transaction; the risk that the approval of the stockholders of Company for the potential transaction is not obtained; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the potential transaction, including as a result of a delay in consummating the potential transaction or difficulty in integrating the businesses of Company; the amount of redemption requests made by Company's stockholders and the amount of funds remaining in Company's trust account after satisfaction of such requests; those factors discussed in Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 under the heading "Risk Factors," and other documents of Company filed, or to be filed, with the SEC. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that Company presently does not know or that Company currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect Company's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date hereof. Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Company's assessments to change. However, while Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Company's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this disclosure statement. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements. CONTACT INFORMATION Enzolytics, Inc. Steve Sharabura, Chief Executive Officer 1101 Raintree Circle, Suite 130 Allen, Texas 75013 Tel: (845) 925-4597 X/Twitter: @EnzolyticsInc SOURCE: Enzolytics, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com With support from Regions Bank, Auburn University Rural Studio helps people in under-resourced communities thrive today while building generational wealth for tomorrow. By Candace Higginbotham Auburn University Rural Studio has had much to celebrate so far in 2024. It commemorated its 30th anniversary earlier this year and announced it had received grant funding to create affordable housing to aid tornado recovery efforts in Selma, Alabama. Regions provided matching funds for the Selma affordable housing initiative and has been working alongside Rural Studio for much of its three-decade history. Rural Studio: Citizen Architects In 1993, Auburn University architecture faculty members Samuel Mockbee and D.K. Ruth cofounded Rural Studio, a design-build architectural education program headquartered two and half hours from campus in Hale County, Alabama. The program, part of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, was built around the concept of community service learning and aligns with the university's mission as a land-grant institution. The program encourages students to use their skills to better their communities - to become citizen architects. Rural Studio and its projects have been featured in thousands of publications, honored with prestigious awards, and have been shown in museum exhibits across the world. But more importantly to faculty leaders and students - and communities throughout the South -Rural Studio has built more than 220 projects in Alabama's Black Belt and educated more than 1,200 students about sustainable, healthful rural living through both housing and the vital systems that ensure communities thrive. Regions is proud of our long history with Auburn University's Rural Studio, and we continue to support their innovative work to solve the unique challenges of providing attainable, sustainable homes for people in rural areas. Leroy Abrahams, Head of Community Engagement for Regions And thanks to relationships with community organizations, public and private companies and local, state and federal government agencies, Rural Studio programs have expanded beyond the state to assist individuals and families who may not have otherwise had the opportunity for homeownership. According to Regions Head of Community Engagement Leroy Abrahams, Regions Bank is pleased to be part of that journey. "Affordable housing is key focus of our community engagement strategy," Abrahams said. "Regions' 15-state retail footprint includes many areas that are several miles from the nearest city, and serving rural communities is an important part of our business. "Regions is proud of our long history with Auburn University's Rural Studio, and we continue to support their innovative work to solve the unique challenges of providing attainable, sustainable homes for people in rural areas." Front Porch Initiative Regions' relationship with Rural Studio began with the 20K Project, a housing affordability research project that began in 2004 when students were tasked with designing a home that costs no more than $20,000 in materials and labor. Innovative plans were developed with a thoughtful approach to space, site and materials. But it soon became clear to program participants and leaders that building a financially attainable home in under-resourced areas is more complicated than just the cost of building materials and labor. Factors such as insurance, utilities, water and sewage - as well as local economic issues, such as job availability - have a big impact on a family's ability to pay a monthly mortgage. Rural Studio's housing affordability work evolved into a larger research project, called the Front Porch Initiative, involving national partnerships and municipal stakeholders to collaborate on issues around infrastructure and services. Regions was one of those collaborators, providing consultation and know-how to help find financial solutions for potential homeowners. Bank teams, led by now-retired former Community Reinvestment Act Officer and Head of Community Affairs Jon Davies and others, stepped in to make introductions and facilitate conversations between Rural Studio and Fannie Mae, the U.S. government sponsored enterprise that works to expand access to affordable housing. "It was clear to us early on that Regions and Auburn's Rural Studio had similar objectives when it comes to ensuring that everyone has access to high quality, affordable housing," said Paul Carruthers, a Regions Community Development manager who introduced the program to the bank. "We were pleased to provide financial support and technical assistance in those early days to help expand their reach." The 20K Project was a critical point in the evolution of Rural Studio's work. Many of those home plans are still being used today. "The initial capacity-building grant from Regions contributed to our early growth," said Rusty Smith, Associate Director of Rural Studio. "And the technical expertise and thought partnership the bank provided helped build our relationships with Fannie Mae and other organizations - that was a real game-changer. That's when we started recognizing the program's potential." Growing Community Partnerships Regions was also instrumental in helping Rural Studio expand its scope and make an impact on communities outside Hale County. In 2021, Regions and Rural Studio Front Porch Initiative worked with Affordable Housing Resources (AHR) in Nashville to bring four Rural Studio-designed homes to Nashville's Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood. What made this project noteworthy is that, thanks to Nashville's zoning laws, two homes could be constructed on one lot. This innovative use of land and construction made homeownership possible in a housing market where property costs have skyrocketed, pricing out many potential residents. In 2022, Front Porch Initiative began working with Chipola Area Habitat for Humanity on a build in Marianna, Florida, to aid in recovery efforts from Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 hurricane that hit the Florida panhandle a few years before. The team provided designs that meet efficiency standards and are built to sustain hurricane-force winds. To reduce the financial burden for Habitat for Humanity and to free up capital to make additional community investments, Regions bankers worked with Fannie Mae to pilot a lending arrangement in which the bank would originate the mortgage loan and then sell the loan to Fannie Mae. The program also included a unique feature that allowed the sweat equity built into the houses to be valued as a contribution to the downpayment. "We were so happy to be a part of the Chipola project," said Lara Smith, manager of Regions Mortgage Investor Management. "Building those four homes was important to the families and the impacted community. But it's especially meaningful that we created unique financial solutions - sustainable support - that will continue to help more families in the future." Tornado Recovery in Selma The Selma affordable housing initiative, announced in April, is the most recent collaboration between Regions and the Auburn Rural Studio. For this project, Rural Studio Front Porch Initiative is partnering with the City of Selma and other state and municipal agencies, using funds from a $500,000 USDA grant and matching contributions from Regions and other organizations, to aid in recovery from a destructive tornado that hit the area early last year. The program will develop sustainable, affordable and high-performance housing, utilizing vacant and blighted infill lots while also providing training and technical assistance. Auburn University Assistant Research Professor Mackenzie Stagg, Rural Studio's project leader in Selma, explained the importance of those three components, saying "Homeownership is a major focus - we want to provide an opportunity for residents to achieve this important milestone." And it's critical that the houses can withstand harsh weather conditions, particularly following the terrible tornado that hit the area recently. We want to enhance both homeowner and community resilience. By building back better on vacant parcels in the disaster-affected neighborhood, we aim to provide needed housing while strengthening the neighborhood and providing opportunities that positively impact the local economy. Mackenzie Stagg, Assistant Research Professor at Auburn University "We want to enhance both homeowner and community resilience. By building back better on vacant parcels in the disaster-affected neighborhood, we aim to provide needed housing while strengthening the neighborhood and providing opportunities that positively impact the local economy." Abrahams said that Regions is excited about the new collaboration, especially in Selma, which is an important market for the bank. "It's a historic city, vital to the culture of our state and our country," he said. "By giving local families the opportunity to acquire safe, affordable homes in thriving areas, we're not just solving a problem today - we're helping them begin to build generational wealth that will improve the lives of future individuals and communities." Going Forward Regions' relationship with Auburn University goes well beyond the Rural Studio collaboration, through endowments, scholarships, financial wellness programs and internships. One of the primary recipients of that support is the Harbert College of Business. In May, the university hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of Auburn in Birmingham, which provides space for the Harbert College of Business and other programs. The newly refurbished facility is just a few blocks away from Regions Center and will be a hub for teaching, outreach and collaborative work. Regions Head of Corporate Philanthropy and Partnerships Lajuana Bradford attended the opening event and commented on the longstanding community partnership, which will be further enabled by the Birmingham satellite location. "The Regions Bank-Auburn University relationship is based on shared mission and values, and we have enjoyed many years of working together to make life better for communities across the South," Bradford said. "We look forward to continuing that work for many years to come." Auburn Rural Studio, with support from Regions, has built more than 220 projects in Alabama's Black Belt. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Regions Bank on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Regions Bank Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/regions-bank Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Regions Bank View the original press release on accesswire.com Boulder, Colorado--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Privacy Guides, the most trustworthy non-profit website dedicated to providing information about protecting personal data security and privacy, is excited to announce the hiring of Jonah Aragon as its first part-time writer. This strategic addition aims to bolster the organization's efforts in coordinating its open-source community and validating reviews, as well as performing in-depth product reviews of various tools related to consumer privacy and security. Jonah Aragon, Project Director @ Privacy Guides Jonah Aragon was one of the original founders of Privacy Guides, and has volunteered alongside many other contributors for the past 5 years to publish reliable and safe information in the consumer privacy and security space. He brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of privacy and security in the open-source space. His role will be pivotal in ensuring that Privacy Guides continues to deliver reliable, crowdsourced recommendations and reviews of privacy tools. With millions of readers relying on Privacy Guides for trustworthy information, Jonah's expertise will be instrumental in maintaining the high standards that the community has come to expect. In his new role, Jonah will be responsible for coordinating the open-source community, validating reviews, and performing product reviews. His day-to-day operations will also include engaging with the community to help others navigate the complex landscape of data security and privacy. This appointment underscores Privacy Guides' commitment to providing accurate and up-to-date information to its readers. Privacy Guides has been at the forefront of privacy and security research for over five years, with its work culminating in a resource that millions of readers trust. The addition of Jonah Aragon as a part-time writer is a testament to the organization's ongoing commitment to excellence and its mission to help individuals protect their personal data. As Privacy Guides continues to grow and evolve, the expertise and dedication of its team members remain its greatest asset. The organization is confident that Jonah Aragon's contributions will further enhance its ability to provide valuable insights and recommendations to its readers. Privacy Guides remains dedicated to its mission of offering trustworthy information and fostering a community that prioritizes data security and privacy. The hiring of Jonah Aragon marks an exciting new chapter in the organization's journey, and the team looks forward to the positive impact he will undoubtedly make. privacyguides.org About Privacy Guides Privacy Guides is a non-profit community and website that provides information about protecting your personal data security and privacy. Our crowdsourced recommendations and reviews of privacy tools, and our community dedicated to helping others sets us apart from other blogs and content creators. The team behind this project has been researching privacy and security in the open-source space for over 5 years, with that work culminating in the Privacy Guides resource millions of readers trust. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223672 SOURCE: Privacy Guides Increase in prevalence of autoimmune diseases, rise in technological advancements, and rise in awareness about early diagnosis are the major factors which drive the global market growth. WILMINGTON, Del., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Autoimmune Disease Testing Market by Product Type (Instruments and Consumables and kits), Disease Type (Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematous, Scleroderma, Vasculitis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Others), Test Type (Antibodies and Immunolgic Test, Inflammatory Markers, Routine Laboratory Tests, Anti-Thyroglobulin Antibody and Others), End User (Hospitals and Clinics, Clinical Laboratories and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the autoimmune disease testing market was valued at $5.3 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $12.1 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 8.6% from 2024 to 2033. Prime determinants of growth Increasing prevalence of autoimmune diseases, surge in technological advancements, and rise in awareness about early diagnosis are the major factors that drive the growth of the autoimmune disease testing market growth. However, the stringent regulatory requirements and approval processes restrict market growth. Moreover, growth opportunities in emerging markets offer remunerative opportunities for the expansion of the global autoimmune disease testing market. Request Sample of the Report on Autoimmune Disease Testing Market Forecast 2033: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A324371 Report coverage & details Segment Highlights Rise in adoption of consumables and kits in autoimmune disease testing By product type, the consumables and kits segment plays a pivotal role in the autoimmune disease testing market due to its essential contribution to diagnostic processes. These consumables encompass a wide range of conducting tests, such as reagents, assay kits, and sample collection devices. They are integral to the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of autoimmune disease diagnostics by facilitating precise measurement of biomarkers and immune system responses. In addition, rise in demand for consumables is driven by the increasing prevalence of autoimmune diseases, which necessitates frequent testing and monitoring which supports the segment growth. Rise in prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis drives the demand for autoimmune disease testing By disease type, the rheumatoid arthritis segment has a significant market share due to rise in prevalence of clinical importance within the autoimmune disease testing market. In addition, rise in technological advancements such as advanced imaging techniques and biomarker discovery, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficacy which further supports the segment growth. Essential role of routine laboratory tests in autoimmune disease diagnostics By test type, the routine laboratory tests segment holds a significant share of the autoimmune disease testing market. Routine laboratory tests are integral to the diagnostic process, providing essential baseline information about a patient's immune function and disease status. These tests are widely used for initial screening and ongoing monitoring of autoimmune conditions, making them a cornerstone in clinical practice. In addition, the accuracy and reliability of routine laboratory tests in detecting common biomarkers associated with autoimmune diseases, such as antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and rheumatoid factor (RF), support widespread use of routine laboratory tests. Growth factors for clinical laboratories segment in autoimmune testing By end user, the clinical laboratories segment plays pivotal role in autoimmune disease testing market. Clinical laboratories are equipped with advanced diagnostic technologies and staffed by trained professionals, ensuring high accuracy and reliability in test results. These laboratories are essential for the processing and analysis of complex autoimmune disease tests, which require precise and standardized procedures. The widespread presence and accessibility of clinical laboratories contribute to their segment growth. Procure Complete Report (228 Pages PDF with In-depth Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/autoimmune-disease-testing-market-A324371 Regional Outlook North America Dominance by 2033 North America is poised to maintain its leadership in the autoimmune disease testing market owing to high healthcare expenditure, developing new diagnostic technologies and methodologies. Substantial investment in research and development by both government and private entities accelerates the introduction of cutting-edge diagnostic tools. Players F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd Siemens Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Quest Diagnostics Abbott Werfen, S.A. Trinity Biotech Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Grifols, S.A. Exagen Inc. The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global autoimmune disease testing market. These players have adopted different strategies such product launch, 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. Make an Inquiry for Further Details of Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/A324371 Recent Developments in Autoimmune Disease Testing Industry In July 2022, KSL Beutner Laboratories (Beutner), a global leader in immunologic testing for the diagnosis of bullous, vascular, connective tissue and inherited skin diseases, launched a first-to-market indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) serum blood test in the U.S. that positively identifies laminin 332, an antigen associated with the chronic, debilitating autoimmune disease mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP). Browse Trending Report Rapid Acting Insulin Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Product Type, Indication and Distribution Channel: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027 3D Cell Culture Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Product, by Application, by End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Component, By Demography, By End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 AVENUE- A Subscription-Based Library (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) Offered by Allied Market Research: AMR introduces its online premium subscription-based library Avenue, designed specifically to offer cost-effective, one-stop solution for enterprises, investors, and universities. With Avenue, subscribers can avail an entire repository of reports on more than 2,000 niche industries and more than 12,000 company profiles. Moreover, users can get an online access to quantitative and qualitative data in PDF and Excel formats along with analyst support, customization, and updated versions of reports. Get an access to the library of reports at any time from any device and anywhere. For more details, follow the link: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access 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 help@alliedmarketresearch.com 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 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/autoimmune-disease-testing-market-to-reach-12-1-billion-globally-by-2033-at-8-6-cagr-allied-market-research-302251871.html SPRING, Texas, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Io Therapeutics, Inc., presented results from studies done on the potential for prevention and treatment of normal aging-related neurodegeneration with its clinical stage experimental therapeutic RXR agonist compound IRX4204. The presentation titled "The highly potent and selective third generation RXR nuclear receptor agonist compound IRX4204 has potential for prevention and treatment of normal aging-related neurodegeneration" was presented at the FASEB Research Conference on Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Brain Aging, being held in Niagara Falls, NY, USA. The presentation was authored by Vidyasagar Vuligonda, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer, and Martin E. Sanders, M.D., Chief Executive Officer. Normal aging-related neurodegeneration is causally related to chronic low-grade inflammation in the brain, so called neuro-inflammaging. Neuro-inflammaging results in chronic loss of myelinated nerve fibers which conduct neuroelectric signals for communication between neurons. Over time, neuro-inflammaging also results in death of neurons. These natural processes start in the brains of normal healthy humans around the third decade of life, and progress with gradual decline of cognitive, memory, special senses, and physical functions through the remainder of life. The studies showed that IRX4204 inhibits brain inflammation by decreasing production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 by microglial cells. It also promotes growth of immunosuppressive regulatory Treg cells and inhibits Th17 cells from producing the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-17. Thereby IRX4204 has pharmacologic mechanisms of action addressing two types of neuroinflammation observed in normal aging-related neurodegeneration. IRX4204 also promotes development of myelin-producing cells, which protect and repair damaged myelinated nerve fibers. Further, IRX4204 has direct effects on survival of neurons, and neurorestorative effects on neurons, by increasing their growth of neurites. These effects were observed with IRX4204 alone, and synergistically in combination with insulin, demonstrating IRX4204 has insulin sensitizing activity on neurons. Neuronal insulin insensitivity is a known contributing factor to brain aging. Cumulatively, these studies demonstrated that IRX4204 has benefit on multiple processes of normal brain aging, i.e., neuroinflammation, loss of myelinated nerve fibers, neuronal insulin insensitivity, loss of neuronal interconnections, and decreased neuron survival. Dr. Vuligonda stated, "These findings support the potential of IRX4204 for prevention and treatment of normal aging-related neurodegeneration. Because we observed restoration of lost myelinated nerve fibers, and formation of new neurites, both of which could restore functional inter-neuronal communications, we believe that IRX4204 has potential for reversing to some degree the cognitive decline and other disabling manifestations of normal brain aging." Dr. Sanders stated "Io Therapeutics has previously observed promising potential benefit of IRX4204 in a pilot open-label clinical trial of IRX4204 in patients with Parkinson's disease. The company is planning a placebo-controlled double-blind phase II clinical trial of IRX4204 in Parkinson's disease, to be initiated in Q1 of 2025. We look forward to also conducting exploratory clinical trials of IRX4204 in individuals experiencing normal-aging related neurodegeneration." About Io Therapeutics: Io Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Spring, Texas. More information on Io Therapeutics and its product development programs is available on the company's web site: www.io-therapeutics.com Forward Looking Statements: This new release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Contact: info@io-therapeutics.com Duke-NUS Medical School's Dr. Linfa Wang Awarded GVN's 2024 Robert C. Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership DURBAN, South Africa, Sept. 18, 2024concluded its annual meeting of closed scientific sessionsheld 16-18 September 2024 with a press conference. Co-hosted by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, the meeting of world-leading experts discussed advancing and collaborating on cutting-edge science, the rising number of mpox outbreaks, the growing challenge of scientific misinformation during a global health crisis, and pandemic preparedness strategies for strengthening health systems, enhancing forecasting models, and providing greater access to vaccines and treatments. Dr. Sten Vermund, GVN President and Professor of the Yale School of Public Health, USA, said, "We are grateful to our CAPRISA colleagues for cohosting a substantive and impactful scientific meeting with so many African scientists participating. The virology research presented at this year's annual meeting was of the highest caliber. The GVN is fortunate to have Centers of Excellence and affiliated laboratories on this dynamic continent." Presenting about strategies to train the next generation of virologists and prepare for future global health security challenges, Dr. Alash'le Abimiku, Executive Director of the International Research Center of Excellence of the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, a GVN Center of Excellence, reviewed topics on innovative educational approaches, mentorship, capacity-building in low- and middle-income countries, and fostering diversity in virological, medical, and public health fields. She said, "Global threats through outbreaks and pandemics require global response through cooperation and partnerships. One such partnership is championed by the GVN where virologists and scientists work together to provide important insights into viruses of pandemic potential as exemplified by the current GVN annual scientific meeting taking place in Durban with full participation of African virologists and scientists." Dr. Kazunobu Kojima, Technical Lead for Biosafety and Biosecurity, World Health Organization in Geneva participated in the panel discussion "Perspectives from the Agencies." He said, "I personally appreciated this GVN meeting's participant diversity in terms of geographical representation and expertise. Genuine enthusiasm and certain commitment to contribute to public health seemed to cement the community and characterize its identity." Dr. Nokukhanya Msomi, Head of Virology in the School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences at University of KwaZulu-Natal and National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), South Africa, a GVN Center of Excellence, participated in discussions about viral diagnostics and therapeutics and exploring innovative tools for detecting and treating infections. Dr. Msomi said, "The GVN creates a vehicle and platform to share knowledge lessons and experiences that help us build resilient systems as well as responses to viral infections of public health significance." Dr. Rubeshan Perumal, Senior Researcher at CAPRISA and co-Leader of the GVN Long COVID Action Committee, led discussions on acute and long-term impacts of viral infections, post-viral syndromes such as Long COVID, chronic disease development, and implications for global health systems. Dr. Perumal emphasized, "By bringing its Annual Scientific Meeting to Africa, GVN has emphasized the African continent's centrality to solving present and future viral threats to humanity. The meeting has showcased the intensity of our solidarity as a global community of scientists committed to the discovery, evaluation, and equitable implementation of interventions that protect human lives from deadly viruses, especially those of pandemic potential." In focused discussions on global preparedness, experts discussed "Disease X," the next unknown pathogen, and shared insights on how to prepare for unpredictable viral threats, including policies on international coordination, rapid response systems, and insights from recent pandemics to prevent future outbreaks. Dr. Rachel Roper, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at East Carolina University, USA, and co-chair of GVN's Mpox Action Committee, said "The GVN meeting was fantastic. It was so great to have time with the African scientists, especially at this time when we have a public health emergency of international concern due to mpox." Co-leading a session on pandemic preparedness, Dr. Nadia Sam-Agudu, Senior Technical Advisor of Pediatric and Adolescent HIV at the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, and Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School, USA, explored lessons learned from SARS-CoV-2 and other outbreaks. Dr. Sam-Agudu said, "Implementation science is critical to the use of evidence generated for disease control and prevention." Professor Salim Abdool Karim, Director of the GVN Center of Excellence at CAPRISA, co-led a discussion on the growing challenge of misinformation in science, especially during global health crises. Professor Abdool Karim and colleagues examined the impact of misinformation on public trust, pandemic response, and vaccine awareness and offered effective strategies for identifying, debunking, and countering false information while promoting accurate, evidence-based communication in an increasingly digital world. Professor Abdool Karim said, "Climate change and human encroachment into the habitats of animals are creating many new opportunities for animal viruses to infect humans, creating the possibility of new pandemics. The world's first line of defense to prevent the next pandemic requires a network of virology laboratories across the world undertaking surveillance to identify new viral threats early - this is exactly what all of us at GVN have set out to do." During the meeting, GVN honored several prominent individuals: GVN's 2024 Robert C. Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership (https://gvn.org/members/robert-c-gallo-award/) was presented in recognition of exceptional leadership and innovation in virology research to Professor Linfa Wang , Executive Director of the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE), Singapore and Professor in the Selected Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS, Singapore, a GVN Center of Excellence. "It's a great honor for me to receive this prestigious award from GVN," Professor Wang said. "To me, GVN is like a big family of like-minded scientists. This award has three keywords 'Gallo, Scientific Excellence, and Leadership', all of them mean a lot to me. I tell my trainees that doing good research is important, but not sufficient. We all need to train ourselves to be ready and prepared to make a public good impact on society. I am proud of making such contributions as a member of the GVN family!" (https://gvn.org/members/robert-c-gallo-award/) was presented in recognition of exceptional leadership and innovation in virology research to Executive Director of the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE), Singapore and Professor in the Selected Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS, Singapore, a GVN Center of Excellence. "It's a great honor for me to receive this prestigious award from GVN," Professor Wang said. "To me, GVN is like a big family of like-minded scientists. This award has three keywords 'Gallo, Scientific Excellence, and Leadership', all of them mean a lot to me. I tell my trainees that doing good research is important, but not sufficient. We all need to train ourselves to be ready and prepared to make a public good impact on society. I am proud of making such contributions as a member of the GVN family!" Drs. Rachel Roper and Rubeshan Perumal received GVN 2024 Action Committee Awards for their exceptional efforts and accomplishments by GVN Action Committee members in advancing collective goals. and received for their exceptional efforts and accomplishments by GVN Action Committee members in advancing collective goals. GVN 2024 Early Career Investigator Awards , highlighting emerging talent and significant early-career achievements in virology research within the GVN, were awarded to Dr. David Martinez of the Yale School of Medicine, USA and Dr. Gage Moreno of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA, a GVN Center of Excellence. , highlighting emerging talent and significant early-career achievements in virology research within the GVN, were awarded to of the Yale School of Medicine, USA and of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA, a GVN Center of Excellence. Professor Abdool Karim was thanked with GVN's 2024 Cohost Award for co-sponsoring the highly successful meeting in Durban. was thanked with for co-sponsoring the highly successful meeting in Durban. Mr. Mathew Evins, Treasurer & former Chair of the GVN Board of Directors and Chairman & CEO of Evins Communications, Ltd., USA was honored with GVN's 2024 Founders Award, which celebrates individuals or organizations that have significantly contributed to the success of the organization and its initiatives in the spirit of the GVN's three co-founders, Drs. Robert Gallo, William Hall, and the late Reinhard Kurth. Dr. Vermund announced that the 2025 GVN Annual Meeting will be held in October 2025, at the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA, GVN's new global headquarters. For the full three-day agenda of the 2024 GVN Annual Scientific Meeting in Durban, please visit https://gvn.org/gvn-2024-durban/. For a recording of the press conference, please visit https://gvn.org/gvn-fortifying-bonds-on-the-african-continent/. About the Global Virus Network (GVN) The GVN, headquartered at the University of South Florida, is essential and critical in the preparedness, defense, and first research response to emerging, existing, and unidentified viruses that pose a clear and present threat to public health. Working in close coordination with established national and international institutions, the GVN is a coalition comprised of eminent human and animal virologists from 80+ Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in 40+ countries, working collaboratively to train the next generation, advance knowledge about how to identify and diagnose pandemic viruses, mitigate and control how such viruses spread and make us sick, as well as develop drugs, vaccines, and treatments to combat them. No single institution in the world has expertise in all viral areas other than the GVN, which brings together the finest medical virologists to leverage their individual expertise and coalesce global teams of specialists on the scientific challenges, issues, and problems posed by pandemic viruses. The GVN is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, please visitwww.gvn.org. A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ac888478-44ea-402d-82de-35a2bb348988 The "Electric Outboard Motors Market Global Outlook Forecast 2024-2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global electric outboard motors market was valued at $120 million in 2023 and is expected to reach a value of $196.62 million by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 8.58% The global electric outboard motors market is fragmented, with the presence of many local and international players. The competition among these players is intense. The rapidly changing technological environment could adversely affect vendors as customers expect continuous innovations and upgrades in the manufacturing of electric outboard motors. The key players in the global electric outboard motors market include Torqeedo, ePropulsion, Evoy, Pure Watercraft, Yamaha Motor, and Brunswick Corporation. There is intense competition in the market as all the players compete to gain more market share. The market will witness consolidation due to the intensely competitive environment. These factors make it imperative for vendors to distinguish their products and service offerings through a clear and unique value proposition, or they will not survive the highly competitive environment. The global electric outboard motors market is well-developed in North America and Europe. The established markets of Europe and North America are expected to witness high demand for electric outboard motors during the forecast period since the commercial adoption of boats has increased in these regions. Such factors offer vendors many opportunities during the forecast period. In addition, the demand for marine infrastructure arises due to changing market dynamics, such as a higher number of recreational boat users. The global electric outboard motors market is undergoing several transformations regarding research on innovative products. The demand and adoption of boating activities are high for numerous reasons, such as increased urbanization and a rise in living standards. The U.S. is one of the biggest manufacturing hubs in North America. Over the past few years, it has attracted huge investments for expanding existing facilities or new facility setups. The presence of manufacturing facilities for Pure Watercraft and Vision Marine Technologies, among others, is a major driver for the growth of this region's electric outboard motors market. Developing Lithium-ion Batteries The increasing need for extended battery life has driven significant advances in enhancing backup capacity. Li-ion batteries have less harmful environmental effects. As most vendors try to achieve sustainability, most electric outboard motors have Li-ion batteries that are better for the environment. The adoption of battery systems and battery technology will play a pivotal role in influencing purchasing decisions. Professional users are increasingly encouraged to adopt a unified battery system for electric outboard motors. This trend is expected to propel the reliance on Li-ion batteries further, driving market growth. The longevity and performance of Li-ion batteries have prompted vendors in the global electric outboard motors market to expand their product offerings with Li-ion battery options. Electric outboard motors are mostly equipped with Li-ion batteries, giving tough competition to lead acid batteries. Rising Participation in Leisure Boating Activities in Europe The European boating industry is one of the world's most dynamic and competitive industries that significantly contributes to the growth of the European economy. The leisure boating market in Europe has witnessed impressive growth over the past five years. Countries such as Belgium, Croatia, and many others have seen significant increase in the recreational boat market. High Initial Costs The electric outboard motors market faces a significant challenge in the form of high initial costs, which can act as a restraining factor for its widespread adoption and market growth. The upfront expenses associated with electric outboard motors, including the motor itself and the required battery systems, often surpass the costs of traditional gasoline-powered alternatives. Several factors contribute to these high initial costs, including advanced technology embedded in electric outboard motors and the cost of high-quality, high-capacity batteries, which represent a significant portion of the overall expense. Segmentation by Power: 5 KW 50 KW, Up to 5 KW, Above 50 KW The 5 KW 50 KW power segment is expected to be the largest revenue segment of the global market. This power range is suitable for various vessels, including mid-sized boats, pontoons, and specific types of commercial watercraft. Environmental sustainability is the key driver for adopting electric outboard motors in the 5 kW to 50 kW range. With zero emissions during operation, these motors play a crucial role in promoting cleaner air and water environments, addressing concerns about pollution in marine ecosystems. This aligns with the growing demand for sustainable boating practices, appealing to boat owners and operators prioritizing environmental protection. As charging infrastructure continues to improve, electric outboard motors within the 5 KW to 50 KW range become increasingly practical for a diverse range of boating enthusiasts and commercial operators. Segmentation by Application: Recreational, Commercial, Military The recreational application segment holds the most prominent share of the global electric outboard motors market in 2023. Electric outboard motors have transformed the landscape of recreational boating, providing numerous advantages that appeal to both environmentally conscious individuals and those seeking an enhanced on-water experience. In the realm of smaller vessels like kayaks, canoes, and dinghies, electric outboard motors offer a quiet and efficient mode of propulsion. Furthermore, electric outboard motors have gained popularity for day cruisers and weekend boaters due to their user-friendly nature, low maintenance requirements, and eco-friendly operation. The instant torque delivery of electric motors improves maneuverability, simplifying tasks such as docking and navigating in tight spaces. These aspects collectively contribute to a more relaxed and enjoyable boating experience for recreational users. As technology advances and the infrastructure supporting electric boating expands, the prevalence of electric outboard motors in the recreational sector is likely to grow. Segmentation by Boat Length: Less than 30 ft, 30 ft 50 ft, More than 50 ft The less than 30 ft boat segment is expected to be the largest revenue segment of the global market. The rising popularity of electric outboard motors for boats measuring less than 30 feet is driven by several benefits catering to both recreational and practical needs. A significant advantage is the quiet operation of these electric motors, enhancing the overall boating experience. The demand for electric outboard motors in the less than 30 ft boat segment is driven by several factors, including supportive government policies, environmental awareness, cost considerations, and technological advancements. Due to the rising adoption of sustainable practices in the marine industry, the electric outboard motors market in smaller boats is estimated to witness sustained growth. KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED: How big is the electric outboard motors market? What is the growth rate of the global electric outboard motors market? Which region dominates the global electric outboard motors market share? What are the significant trends in the electric outboard motors market? Who are the key players in the global electric outboard motors market? MARKET LANDSCAPE Market Opportunities Trends Developing Li-Ion Batteries Growing Opportunities in the Electric Boat Industry Growth in the Marine Tourism Industry Industry Overview Rise of Electric Outboard Motors Functioning of Electric Outboard Motors Advantages of Electric Outboard Motors Type of Control System Evolution of Electric Outboard Motors Future of Electric Outboard Motors Dawn of Electric and Hybrid Engines Value Chain Analysis Material Suppliers Manufacturers Distributors Application Market Growth Enablers Rising Participation in Leisure Boating Activities in Europe Growing Demand for Outboard Power Boats Sustainable Development of the Electric Outboard Motors Market Restraints High Initial Costs of Electric Outboard Motors Limited Charging Infrastructure Emergence of Trolling Motors Key Company Profiles Torqeedo ePropulsion Evoy Pure Watercraft Yamaha Motor Brunswick Corporation Other Prominent Vendors Aquamot Aquawatt Elco Motor Yachts ELECTRINE Electro-Mobile E-TECH Flux Marine Golden Motor KARVIN Krautler RAD Propulsion Rim Drive Technology Stealth Electric Outboards Stream Propulsion E'dyn TEMO Vision Marine Technologies Wolong Electric Group Molabo For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8k13bw 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/20240918785339/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 Exploring Blockchain Use Cases for Enhanced Financial Services SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Metallicus, the core developer of Metal Blockchain, a foundational Layer 0 blockchain, today announced GreenState Credit Union's enrollment in its Banking Innovation Program. This move signifies GreenState Credit Union's proactive approach to investigating blockchain technology's potential and harnessing Metallicus' expertise to elevate its technological prowess. "GreenState Credit Union joining our Banking Innovation Program signifies a crucial advancement in our quest to innovate the financial sector with blockchain technology," expressed Donald Berk, Chief Operating Officer at Metallicus. "We're eager to collaborate with GreenState Credit Union, offering them the tools and resources for innovation and navigating the ever-shifting financial landscape." "At GreenState Credit Union, we are always focused on smart, sustainable growth and efficiency, enabling us to consistently give more back to our members and communities. We are excited about the potential of blockchain technology supporting these goals and we look forward to collaborating with Metal Blockchain, industry experts, and financial institutions like us through the Metal Blockchain Banking Innovation Program to identify potential opportunities and thoughtful approaches/solutions to benefit our members." - Kathy Courtney, Chief Experience & Operating Officer at GreenState Credit Union. The Banking Innovation Program by Metal Blockchain enables institutions like GreenState Credit Union to navigate and adopt customized blockchain solutions, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards while addressing their distinct operational demands. Drawing on Metallicus' unparalleled blockchain expertise and a distinguished advisory board, the program offers innovation workshops, fintech partnerships, R&D grants, and bespoke development, positioning participants to lead and innovate within the dynamic financial sector. The Metal Blockchain Banking Innovation Program supports financial institutions' journey into blockchain technology at no cost. Focusing on use cases around Digital Identity, Single Sign-On (SSO), Private Subnets, Tokenization of Assets, and more, the program equips participants with tools and resources to drive profitability, lower costs, reduce risks, and deliver unparalleled customer experiences. Financial institutions keen on participating in the Metal Blockchain Banking Innovation Program can express their interest by contacting bizdev@metallicus.com. ### About Metal Blockchain: Metal Blockchain, developed by Metallicus, is an innovative Layer 0 blockchain technology dedicated to tackling global finance challenges with its scalable, secure, and decentralized infrastructure built on the foundation of BSA Compliance. The versatile nature of Metal Blockchain's infrastructure enables developers to craft customized solutions for a wide range of financial applications, promoting innovation and growth within the global financial sector. Guided by the vision of CEO Marshall Hayner, Metal Blockchain aims to transform the financial industry by embracing compliance-driven innovation. About GreenState Credit Union: Organized in 1938 and headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa, GreenState Credit Union has grown into Iowa's largest financial institution and a top U.S. institution for returning profits to members through better rates and lower fees. GreenState serves over 450,000 members with locations in Iowa and Illinois. Membership is open to anyone living or working in Iowa, and select counties in Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Contact Information Evelyn Hernandez Public Relations Coordinator eh@omnipublic.global 8134312451 SOURCE: Omni Public View the original press release on newswire.com. Sibnayal gross sales up 28% to 1.25 million including royalties paid by commercial partners (16% excluding royalties) Continued progress towards current operating breakeven Cash position of 2.0 million with unchanged financial visibility in the first quarter of 2025 Favorable regulatory and partnership outlooks in the U.S for the future commercialization of ADV7103. Regulatory News: Advicenne (Euronext Growth Paris ALDVI FR0013296746), a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative treatments for those suffering from rare renal diseases, today reports its semi-annual financial results as of June 30, 2024, as approved on September 18, 2024, by the Board of Directors. The first half financial report is available on the Company's website: www.advicenne.com. Didier Laurens, Chief Executive Officer of Advicenne, commented: "The first half of the year saw a steady increase in sales of Sibnayal across Europe. Month after month, sales growth confirms the excellent uptake of our treatment by patients and healthcare professionals. These favorable market trends combined with our strict control of expenses, enable us to confirm our objective of achieving operating profitability by the end of 2024-early 2025. Finally, for the second half of the year, our teams remain committed to our strategic plan in the U.S, with further progress in our discussions with the FDA in the two indications for ADV7103, and concrete prospects for structuring commercial partnerships." Half-yearly results to June 30, 2024 The key financial data for the first half of 2024 are presented in the table below. They come from the financial statements drawn up in accordance with IFRS and approved by the Board of Directors. The audit work has been carried out by the Statutory Auditors who, after limited review, have not identified any significant accounting anomalies or presentation. All financial statements and notes are available in the First Half Financial Report. In K 2024/06/30 2023/06/30 Gross sales1 2 462 2 231 Sibnayal gross sales and royalties 1 249 975 Revenues 1 914 1 723 Current Operating expenses 4 757 4 668 R&D costs 1 759 1 947 Sales Marketing costs 603 510 G&A costs 1 360 1 641 Current Operating Result -2 843 -2 945 Non-currents assets -1 836 0 Operating Income -4 679 -2 945 Net financial income -860 -788 Net Income -5 533 -3 734 Earnings per share (/share) -0,45 -0,38 Opening cash cash equivalent 5 250 8 322 Operating cashflow -2 647 -3 709 Investing cashflow -35 -623 Financing cashflow -600 -568 Closing cash cash equivalent 1 968 3 417 Gross sales came to 2.46 million in the first half of the current financial year, up 10% on the first six months of 2023. These sales were driven by the steady growth of Sibnayal, up 16% to 1.13 million euros over the period. Including royalties received from distributors in Europe and the Middle East, total gross revenues for Sibnayal amounted to 1.25 million for the first half of 2024, up 28% on the first half of 2023. Revenue from ordinary activities amounted to 1.91 million euros, up 11% on the first half of 2023. This increase was mainly due to higher royalties on sales by Sibnayal distributors in Europe and the Middle East, partly offset by a slight decline in the Research Tax Credit (CIR) and the negative impact of taxes and rebates on gross sales. Operating loss before non-recurring items improved to 2.84 million, compared with a loss of 2.95 million a year earlier. This improvement was driven by lower R&D expenses and a significant reduction in overheads, partly offset by higher selling expenses and cost of sales, mainly due to inventory effects. Non-current items, mainly comprising an impairment charge on a primary packaging machine (bagging machine), were recognized over the period. The latest development work has confirmed the technical quality of the machine, but economic operating conditions justify the write-down of this asset, without calling into question the trajectory of Sibnayal production cost reduction. These charges include part of the acquisition costs of the machine and its pharmaceutical development. These items have no impact on Advicenne's cash position. The half-year financial result was a loss of 0.86 million on June 30, 2024 (vs. a loss of 0.79 million in H1 2023). Interest expenses on the two tranches of the EIB loan of 7.5 million and 5 million, and the State Guaranteed Loans represent 0.88 million, including 0.70 million of non-cash expenses. These expenses comprise cash interest, capitalized interest and royalties. The balance of the financial result is made up of gains on cash investments, partially offset by foreign exchange losses. Net loss for the first half of 2024 came to 5.5 million, significantly impacted by non-recurring items. Excluding these items, the current net loss came to 3.7 million, stable compared with H1 2023. Net cash outflow from operations reached 2.65 million in the first half of 2024 (vs. 3.71 million in H1 2023), reflecting sales growth, control of operating expenses and working capital requirements. Net cash outflow from investments was virtually nil over the period. In 2023, capital expenditure represented scheduled payments for the deployment of the bagging machine. Financing cash outflow amounted to 0.60 million over the period (vs. 0.57 million in H1 2023). Amounts paid reflect the ongoing repayment of state-guaranteed loans (PGE) and the cash portion of financial expenses. At June 30, 2024, Advicenne had a cash position of 1.98 million. At the date of this document, Advicenne has financial visibility until the first quarter of 2025. H1 2024 Operating Highlights Continued commercial development of Sibnayal in Europe Gross sales and royalties received from commercial partners continued to grow to 1.25 million (+28%), contributing to the Company's overall revenue growth. In France, the strengthening of the commercial structure is helping to sustain growth, and the number of patients treated continued to increase month-on-month over the period, despite persistent difficulties in obtaining reimbursement prices. Some partnerships are showing excellent results, with significant progress in Greece and certain Eastern European countries. In the Middle East, several patients are now benefiting from early access programs pending marketing authorization. The rise in royalties in H1 2024 reflects growth in our partners' end-markets. While some reimbursement and pricing discussions are complicated, our partners have achieved recent success in Slovakia and are leading the way in other European countries. In the United States, the Company continued its discussions with the FDA with a view to optimizing the development plan for ADV7103 : In April 2024, ADV7103 was granted orphan drug designation in the cystinuria indication. Advicenne continues to work with the US FDA to clarify the clinical development plan for this indication. In distal Renal Tubular Acidosis (dRTA), following a very positive first round of exchanges, Advicenne continued to interact with the FDA in the first half of 2024. The aim is to optimize the development plan in the dRTA indication. In its discussions with the FDA, Advicenne enjoys the strong support of several opinion leaders, both American and European, as well as patient associations. Continuation of the scientific communication program for ADV7103 in the treatment of distal Renal Tubular Acidosis (dRTA). After an initial presentation of clinical results in 2023, based on the follow-up of patients treated for an average of 6 years, in-depth analysis of the large mass of data continued. This has led to multiple presentations of the results at several French and European congresses. These presentations are helping to improve understanding of dRTA and its treatment with ADV7103. At the same time, the Company and the principal clinical investigators finalized the preparation of the manuscript for submission for publication. Update on discussions with Primex International AG As announced on July 18, Primex International AG is not in a position to honor the full royalty payment due in 2025. Both companies are therefore continuing their discussions to find solutions that will best protect Advicenne's interests. Among these, the sale of the product to a third party would allow Advicenne to secure a majority share of the proceeds. Advicenne and Primex are working towards to reach a final agreement by the end of 2024. Outlook for the second half of 2024 In addition to pursuing partnership and commercial activities for Sibnayal in Europe, Advicenne is currently focusing its efforts on regulatory approvals and clinical plans to enhance the potential value of ADV7103 in its two indications (dRTA and cystinuria). These efforts are bolstered by recent positive developments in discussion with the FDA and North American industrial and commercial partners ABOUT ADVICENNE Advicenne (Euronext: ALDVI) is a specialty pharmaceutical company founded in 2007, specializing in the development of innovative treatments in Nephrology. Its lead product Sibnayal has received Marketing Approval for distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) in EU and GB. ADV7103 is currently in late-stage development in cystinuria in Europe and in dRTA and cystinuria in the US and Canada. Headquartered in Paris, Advicenne, listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange since 2017, has now been listed on Euronext Growth Paris since its transfer on March 30, 2022. For additional information, see: https://advicenne.com/. Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Advicenne group and its business, including its prospects and product candidate development. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Advicenne considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the estimates contained in such forward-looking statements will be verified, which estimates are subject to numerous risks including the risks set forth in the 2023 Universal Registration Document filed with the French financial market authority on April 5, 2024 (a copy of which is available on www.advicenne.com) and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Advicenne operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Advicenne or not currently considered material by Advicenne. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance, or achievements of Advicenne to be materially different from such forward-looking statements. Advicenne expressly declines any obligation to update such forward-looking statements. __________________________________ 1 Gross sales represent the gross amount invoiced to customers for the quantities of products delivered during the year. In countries where the price or reimbursement terms have not yet been set by the authorities, annual sales correspond to gross sales less taxes and rebates set by the regulatory authorities. These taxes and rebates are recognized based on the company's best estimates, or based on assessments received from the authorities. They represented 0.77 million in H1 2024, on total gross sales of 2.46 million. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918066493/en/ Contacts: Advicenne Didier Laurens, CEO +33 (0) 1 87 44 40 17 Email: investors@advicenne.com Ulysse Communication Media relations Bruno Arabian +33 (0) 6 87 88 47 26 Email: advicenne@ulysse-communication.com SHANGHAI, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- China is set to host the FDI World Dental Congress Shanghai 2025 (FDIWDC25) from September 9-12, 2025. The event will feature a major international congress and an extensive exhibition, both expected to be record-setting in their scope and impact. Spanning 60,000 square meters, the venue will accommodate over 700 international and Chinese exhibitors. Following successful editions in San Francisco, Sydney, and Istanbul, China's dynamic dental market and rapid industry growth make it an ideal destination for this prestigious global gathering. This event offers a prime platform for engaging with Chinese dental professionals, and provides international attendees opportunities to explore cutting-edge technologies and digital innovations from local suppliers. China: The Emerging Giant in Global Oral Care China's emphasis on health has evolved significantly in recent years, particularly in oral care, positioning it as a key growth market in the global healthcare landscape. In 2023, the scale of China's oral care industry reached approx. 49.15 billion yuan. Even niche products like mouthwash are becoming essential items. The trend is supported by a rising number of consumers investing in premium products and services. Fuelling Innovation and Demand China's dental sector is rapidly expanding, supported by both public and private healthcare initiatives. Major dental hospitals in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Wuhan integrate diagnosis, treatment, research, and education. The private sector is also thriving, with over 120,000 private dental hospitals and clinics across the country. However, the number still falls short of meeting the growing demand. As the sector continues to develop, there is a clear need for more and improved dental products and services. Leading Chinese companies like Bondent, Upcera, and Zumax are driving innovation in orthodontics, implants, dental digitalisation, and prosthodontics. Their competitive pricing and high-quality offerings are earning international acclaim. Global brands such as Straumann and Solventum are also expanding their reach in China, targeting markets beyond first-tier cities. FDIWDC25, Where East Meets West FDIWDC25 will host professionals from over 130 countries at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Shanghai. The exhibition will serve as a platform for Chinese companies to showcase high-quality products at competitive prices, demonstrating innovation and strengthening their global presence. International companies will also present innovative dental products and technologies, offering an exceptional learning experience for professionals across China. Join the Global Dental Community at FDIWDC25 FDIWDC25 promises to be a dynamic event, featuring over 100 CE-accredited academic sessions, 300 international and domestic speakers, and a vast 60,000 square exhibition area hosting more than 700 exhibitors. The event provides a perfect opportunity for dental professionals to network, learn, and shape the future of oral health. For more information: https://2025.world-dental-congress.org/En About FDI: FDI is the leading global voice for the dental profession and envisions a world with optimal oral health. It serves as the principal representative body for over 1 million dentists worldwide, comprising close to 200 member associations and specialist groups from more than 130 countries. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2508482/Weixin_Image_20240918143838.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/china-eyes-multiple-records-as-it-hosts-the-fdi-world-dental-congress-in-shanghai-in-2025-302252140.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Dryden Gold Corp. (TSXV: DRY) (OTCQB: DRYGF) ("Dryden Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that as a result of excess demand it is increasing the previously announced (August 26, 2024 & September 6, 2024) non-brokered equity financing (the "Upsized Financing") of up to a maximum of 34,000,000 shares comprised of (1) flow-through common shares (the "FT Shares") and (2) charity flow-through units (the "CFT Unit") and (3) hard dollar units (the "HD Units"). The FT Shares will be offered at $0.13 per share. The CFT Units will be offered at a price of $0.15 per CFT Unit. Each CFT Unit will consist of one FT Share of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant (a "Warrant") will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at an exercise price of $0.18 per common share for a period of 24 months. The HD Units will be offered at $0.11 per unit and will consist of one common Share of the Company and one-half of one Warrant. The FT Shares, the CFT Units and the HD Units will combine for maximum aggregate proceeds of up to $4,600,000. The upsized offering is subject to compliance with applicable securities laws and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Finders' fees of 6% cash and non-transferable Warrants equal to 6% of the number of FT Shares, CFT Units and HD Units sold under the Upsized Financing may be payable to eligible arm's length persons with respect to certain subscriptions accepted by the Company. Closing of the Offering is subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued in connection with the Upsized Financing will be subject to a four-month hold period. The gross proceeds of the Upsized Financing will be used to fund drilling, re-logging, on the Company's Dryden Gold Property in northwestern Ontario and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of HD Units will be used for working capital and general and administrative expenses. The FT Shares and the CFT Units will qualify as "flow-through shares" (within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act"). An amount equal to the gross proceeds from the issuance of the FT Shares and the CFT Units will be used to incur eligible resource exploration expenses which will qualify as (i) "Canadian exploration expenses" (as defined in the Tax Act), and (ii) as "flow-through mining expenditures" (as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Tax Act). The gross proceeds from the issuance of the HD Units will be used for general corporate purposes. The Upsized Financing will close in one or more tranches on completion of documentation and is conditional upon receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Exchange. The Company anticipates that insiders may subscribe for HD Units. The issuance of HD Units to insiders is considered a related party transaction subject to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. The Company intends to rely on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(b) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION INTO THE USA ABOUT DRYDEN GOLD CORP. Dryden Gold Corp. is an exploration company focused on the discovery of high-grade gold mineralization listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("DRY") and traded on the OTCQB ("DRYGF"). The Company has a strong management team and Board of Directors comprised of experienced individuals with a track record of building shareholder value through property acquisition and consolidation, exploration success, and mergers and acquisitions. Dryden Gold controls a 100% interest in a dominant strategic land position in the Dryden District of Northwestern Ontario. Dryden Gold acknowledges all Indigenous Peoples and that it is operating on the traditional homelands of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Eagle Lake First Nation. Dryden Gold's property package includes historic gold mines but has seen limited modern exploration. The property hosts high-grade gold mineralization over 50km of potential strike length along the Manitou-Dinorwic deformation zone. The property has excellent infrastructure, enjoys First Nations support and proximity to an experienced mining workforce. For more information go to our website www.drydengold.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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future development plans; future acquisitions; exploration programs; and the business and operations of Dryden Gold. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could affect actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements including, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Dryden Gold's and the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are conditioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Dryden Gold and the Company do not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from Dryden Gold's and the Company's expectations or projections. UNITED STATES ADVISORY. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), have been offered and sold outside the United States to eligible investors pursuant to Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered, sold, or resold in the United States or to, or for the account of or benefit of, a U.S. Person (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act) unless the securities are registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act is available. Hedging transactions involving the securities must not be conducted unless in accordance with the U.S. Securities Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in the state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223766 SOURCE: Dryden Gold Corp. EQT Private Equity, together with its co-shareholders, to sell Open Systems to Swiss Post Under EQT's ownership, Open Systems transformed from a founder-led managed security services provider to a leading integrated network and cyber security company Since EQT's acquisition in 2017, Open Systems has almost doubled its revenues and more than tripled its EBITDA, while significantly expanding its product offering to support customers on their network transformation and cybersecurity journey STOCKHOLM, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Europe fund ("EQT"), together with its co-shareholders, have agreed to sell Open Systems ("Company") to Swiss Post. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Open Systems delivers network and cyber security capabilities in a single cloud-based platform known as Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). Open Systems' innovative SASE Experience eliminates the complexity of secure global connectivity and network management, while providing seamless global 24x7 support. The Company plays a pivotal role in supporting customers globally in their network and cyber security transformation by offering a fully integrated, single-pane-of-glass cloud and software platform and supporting services. EQT acquired a majority stake in Open Systems in 2017. During EQT's ownership, the Company almost doubled its sales and more than tripled its EBITDA, while making substantial investments into its technology platform and transforming from a network-focused managed security services provider to a leading SASE player with extensive cyber security capabilities. Open Systems also built a Managed Extended Detection and Response (MXDR) division, which was carved out in 2023 and now operates as a standalone company under the brand Ontinue, which will be retained by EQT. Organic growth was complemented by three strategic add-on acquisitions, including Sqooba, a Swiss provider of data science, AI, cloud, and cyber services founded by the current Open Systems CEO Daniel Neuhaus. As part of Swiss Post, Open Systems will continue its growth journey under the leadership of Daniel Neuhaus. With the acquisition, Swiss Post strengthens its role as provider of digital communication services by increasing its competences and know-how to support digitally connected businesses in Switzerland. Daniel Neuhaus, CEO of Open Systems: "I would like to thank EQT for their support over the years and their hands-on involvement in our development. Swiss Post's investment is a validation of our long-term strategy to become a leading SASE software provider with the best customer experience. With Swiss Post, we have found a sustainable partner in Switzerland who shares our values and will support us in continuously delivering best-in-class technology and services to our customers while continuing to drive innovation." Philipp Woerner, Director within EQT Private Equity's Advisory Team: "We have been continuously impressed by Open Systems' track record of technological innovation in the network and cyber security space. Thanks to the dedication and commitment of the management team led by Daniel, Open Systems delivers attractive technology and services from Switzerland to its customers globally. We could not have imagined a better future home for Open Systems than Swiss Post to support continuing the strong development." Nicole Burth, CEO of Swiss Post Communication Services, said: "Open Systems strongly complements our existing offerings in the area of cybersecurity. The Company is an excellent cultural fit and supports our strategy to bring cybersecurity to our Swiss customers. This makes the network and communication of businesses more efficient and secures it with the unique cloud security solutions Open Systems provides." The completion of this transaction is pending customary regulatory approvals and is anticipated to take place in Q4 2024. Contact EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/eqt-to-sell-open-systems--a-swiss-leader-in-network-and-cyber-security-solutions--to-swiss-post,c4039258 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/87/4039258/3007372.pdf PR_EQT to sell Open Systems_18.09.24 https://news.cision.com/eqt/i/os-picture-1,c3334920 OS Picture 1 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/eqt-to-sell-open-systems-a-swiss-leader-in-network-and-cyber-security-solutions-to-swiss-post-302252201.html New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - A new trend is sweeping across college campuses: students are using AI to learn more efficiently. Viral social media posts show students recording their lectures and leaving class with AI generated notes, flashcards, and quizzes. Turbolearn, an education-technology company founded by two college students, Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan, is at the forefront of this trend. Used by 500,000 students and professors, the platform transforms lecture recordings into meticulously crafted notes-complete with tables, diagrams, emojis and equations. Students like using AI notetakers because they allow them to stay engaged and focused on class content rather than scrambling to write down every point the professor makes. Avalon Mitchell, a business major at Texas A&M, says she no longer has to worry about missing key information. "I can now focus on understanding concepts, rather than just jotting down notes," Mitchell said. "It allows me to pay closer attention to what my professor is saying." Instructors are also embracing the platform as a way to both improve student learning and streamline their own processes. Hundreds of professors have created and shared a "Turbofolder" with their class. All a professor has to do is hit "record" at the beginning of each lecture. Students in their class gain access to the notes, flashcards and quizzes from each lesson. To prepare for tests, students can chat with a folder and get context-dependent answers that include quotes from multiple lectures. Many universities, such as Meharry Medical College, have started using Turbolearn AI over outdated platforms like Panopto. "What I love about Turbolearn is that it allows me to choose whether I'd like to share recordings and transcripts," said Brylan Donaldson, an instructor at Northwestern University. "I also have the option to edit notes and restrict viewing access to certain students." One of AI's standout benefits in the classroom is its ability to help students with learning disabilities like ADHD. "My ADHD makes it hard for me to shift my attention between listening to the professor and taking notes," said Yash Sharma, an undergraduate student at Duke. "My old school gave me access to an outdated transcription service that only transcribes what my professor says. Turbolearn is so much better because it not only gives me a transcript but also notes, flashcards and quizzes based on the lesson." Turbolearn's focus on inclusivity in learning has drawn praise from students and educators alike. Turbolearn Feature Offerings To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10854/223691_frame%2033.jpg While many AI tools like Answers.ai, Quizard and Quizmate have raised concerns about academic integrity by advertising themselves as able to "take a picture of your test question and get an answer," Turbolearn offers an ethical alternative. Instead of bypassing learning, it enhances it-empowering students to revisit and comprehend complex material through well-organized notes and visual aids. As AI becomes more prevalent in education, Turbolearn stands out as a model for responsible, impactful use. The most interesting thing about the platform is that the founders-Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan-built the product in college. "Being in college allowed us to better understand the needs of our users. Evaluating ideas is as simple as texting friends or going up to professors after class," says Rudy. As universities increasingly look to modernize learning, AI-powered solutions like Turbolearn.ai offer a promising path forward. Turbolearn is now selling plans to both students and institutions and is available on the app store, play store, and web. For more information about how Turbolearn.ai is shaping the future of academic note-taking, visit turbolearn.ai/institutions. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223691 SOURCE: Turbolearn AI NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / American Airlines Originally published in American Airlines' 2023 Sustainability Report Expanding Our Commitment to Prevent Illegal Trafficking of Wildlife In 2022, American became the first U.S. airline to join the Transport Taskforce of United for Wildlife, and, in 2023, we continued to implement our commitments outlined in the Buckingham Palace Declaration. This organization, established by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, is working to protect elephants, rhinos, monkeys, birds, insects, reptiles and other endangered species, including plants, from the illegal wildlife trade that is pushing them toward extinction. This global criminal enterprise is worth an estimated $20 billion annually, with poachers and traffickers trading in a wide variety of endangered wildlife and wildlife body parts, generally for sale as trophies or for purported medicinal uses. Their activities are also linked to money laundering as well as the trafficking of drugs and weapons. American has pledged to increase awareness among team members regarding the nature, scale and consequences of these activities. In 2023, we began our journey by working to understand our exposure to wildlife trafficking. Through an intensive analysis of our global network and the smuggling routes of animal products, we developed a risk assessment and used it to craft our strategy. It highlights specific regions, routes and hotspots within our network that pose high risks of smuggling. The global nature of our Cargo operation and its significant presence in areas at risk of wildlife trafficking made it a logical choice for launching this strategy. Cargo served more than 21,000 unique origin and destination pairs in 2023. Highest-volume stations are spread throughout the world, including London, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami and Los Angeles. We have made wildlife awareness training a requirement for frontline Cargo team members, and over 95% of them completed it in 2023. We began the process of expanding training to other teams as well. We also worked to increase awareness among Cargo team members by distributing informational posters outlining common red flags and trafficking methods for display in more than 40 Cargo stations worldwide. We also worked closely with our Corporate Security department to develop new channels for reporting suspected trafficking incidents. And to raise awareness, our Living Green Employee Business Resource Group sponsored events on this topic. Read more Hummingbirds are commonly trafficked from Latin America into the Southwestern United States. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from American Airlines on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: American Airlines Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/american-airlines Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: American Airlines View the original press release on accesswire.com NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As Q4 fast approaches, NewCo Capital Group ("NewCo") and Australia-based Bizcap are finalizing year-end initiatives to strategically position both companies for an ambitious expansion in 2025. Both companies have celebrated a highly successful 2024, marked by remarkable and accelerated growth. This momentum has been driven by Bizcap's unique Line of Credit product, NewCo's introduction of their "Line of Capital" product and the launch of NewCo's new mobile app. CEO Albert Gahfi emphasized the importance of closing 2024 on a high note to set the stage for future growth. "We've had an exceptional year so far, but our focus is on what comes next. We're building the foundation for 2025 and beyond, ensuring that NewCo and Bizcap are positioned for continued global expansion." The plan for Q4 includes deepening their presence in existing markets while making calculated moves into new territories, including Singapore, Germany, and Luxembourg. "There are new opportunities in emerging markets that are currently underserved, where we believe we can make a significant impact. As a result, 2025 promises to be an exciting year for SMB financing globally." By reinforcing their operational and technological infrastructure, the companies are preparing to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global financing landscape. "2024 has been a year of strong growth, but we're not stopping here," Gahfi said. "We are focused on delivering innovative financing solutions that not only meet the needs of today but also anticipate the demands of tomorrow. As we head into 2025, we're ready to expand our reach and provide even more businesses with the capital they need." Part of a multinational collaboration, NewCo and Bizcap have successfully deployed over $1.5 billion to over 35,000 businesses worldwide. Gahfi commented, "We're moving capital faster and more effectively than any other sector and our clients are benefiting from that growth." NewCo's strength lies in its ability to adapt quickly, using a unique mix of proprietary technology, nuanced underwriting, and an experienced risk management team. The companies' hybrid approach is challenging outdated financing models, making NewCo a preferred partner for SMBs looking for custom capital solutions that truly fit their needs. "We're not just growing; we're leading," Gahfi added. "As we expand globally, our goal remains the same-helping small businesses scale, create jobs, and thrive." With a clear strategy and a relentless focus on delivering value, NewCo Capital Group is primed to deepen its market influence and capitalize on emerging opportunities. As the company prepares for its next wave of market entries, Q4 will serve as a pivotal launchpad for an even more ambitious 2025, setting the stage for continued growth and global leadership. For more information, visit www.NewCoCapitalGroup.com . Contact: NewCo Capital Group Email: Info@NewCoCapitalGroup.com Website: www.NewCoCapitalGroup.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2489715/NewCo_Capital_Group_and_bizcap_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/newco-capital-group-continues-global-expansion-as-2024-milestones-set-the-stage-for-an-ambitious-q4-302252281.html Falcon Gold Corp.(TSXV:FG)(3FA:GR)(OTCQB:FGLDF); ("Falcon" or the "Company") is pleased to report drilling has commenced at our Great Burnt Copper Project (the "Property") located in Central Newfoundland. The Company has completed 8kms of additional road to the drill site from the government access road which we share Benton Resources. Karim Rayani, Chief Executive Officer and director stated: "We are excited to have our inaugural drill campaign underway at our Great Burnt Project. The magnetic signature suggests that Falcon controls the northern extension of the same magnetic feature that Benton Resources has had recent success in drilling and sampling. We will be initially testing ten geophysical anomalies and will plan to extend the program once we receive the necessary government approvals." The Great Burnt Copper Property Falcon holds 2,275 hectares in the Great Burnt camp, with licenses located north of, and contiguous to, Benton Resources Inc. - Homeland Nickel (previously known as Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd.) Great Burnt Copper-Gold joint venture (see Figure 1). Benton Resources Inc. ("Benton") optioned the Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project from Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd. (now known as Homeland Nickel) in an agreement that allowed Benton to earn a 70% interest in the property (see press release dated July 17, 2024). The Benton property is host to the Great Burnt Copper Zone, a deposit with an indicated resource of 381,300 tonnes at 2.68% Cu and inferred resources of 663,100 tonnes at 2.10% Cu (Benton option - Homeland Nickel). Recent drilling by Benton at the Great Burnt Copper Deposit reported drill results that returned 7.20% Cu, 7.12 g/t Ag, and 0.05% Co over 12.30 metres (see press release dated December 5, 2023). Previous drilling in 2020 by Spruce Ridge reported 8.06% Cu over 27.2 m (see press release dated March 18, 2021). The Great Burnt Greenstone Belt is prospective for copper and gold and further hosts the South Pond A and South Pond B copper-gold zones and the End Zone copper prospect along a 14 km mineralized corridor. The mineralized corridor occurs along a conductive trend, and this conductive trend continues into Falcon's Great Burnt Copper Property (see right-hand-side image in Figure 1). Figure 1. Drill Target Location Map at Great Burnt Copper Project with Falcon Claims in Red and Benton - Homeland Nickel (previously Spruce Ridge) Great Burnt Copper-Gold joint venture in Green. Figure 2. Great Burnt Copper Project area with Falcon claims in orange and Benton - Homeland Nickel (previously Spruce Ridge) Great Burnt Copper-Gold joint venture in blue. New claims cover conductive trends hosting copper and gold mineralization. Qualified Person The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mike Kilbourne, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Falcon Gold Corp. Falcon is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on generating, acquiring, and exploring opportunities in the Americas. Falcon's flagship project, the Central Canada Gold Mine, is approximately 20 km southeast of Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef Gold Deposit which currently has an estimated 3.32 million ounces of gold (123.5 million tonnes grading 0.84 g/t gold) mineral reserves and 2.3 million ounces of measured and indicated mineral resources (133.4 million tonnes grading 0.54 g/t gold). The Hammond Reef gold property lies on the Hammond shear zone, which is a northeast-trending splay off the Quetico Fault Zone ("QFZ") and may be the control for the gold deposit. The Central Gold property lies on a similar major northeast-trending splay of the QFZ. The Company holds multiple additional projects: the Viernes Gold/Silver/Copper project in the world-class copper cluster located in Antofagasta, Chile; the Springpole West Property in the world-renowned Red Lake mining camp; a 49% interest in the Burton Gold property with Iamgold near Sudbury Ontario; the Spitfire-Sunny Boy, claims in B.C.; the Great Burnt Copper Project, and Golden Brook projects in Central Newfoundland, adjacent to First Mining, Matador, Benton-Sokoman-Piedmont JV; and most recently battery metals projects, Timmins West Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Property Ontario, Outarde Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Property, HSP Nickel-Copper property in northern Quebec and the Havre St. Pierre Anorthosite Complex respectively. Falcon Gold Corp. "Karim Rayani" CONTACT INFORMATION: Karim Rayani Chief Executive Officer, Director Telephone: (604) 716-0551 Email: info@falcongold.ca CHF Capital Markets Cathy Hume Telephone: (416) 868-1079 x 251 Email: cathy@chfir.com Website: www.falcongold.ca Twitter: @FalconGoldCorp Facebook: @FalconGoldCorp LinkedIn: @FalconGoldCorp Instagram: @FalconGoldCorp Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. SOURCE: Falcon Gold Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com By: David Freese | Senior Communications Specialist NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Entergy Corporation Drew Angelloz, Entergy operations coordinator, and Timothy Santos, Entergy distribution dispatch supervisor, and Felton Coleman, Entergy Louisiana distribution control center manager, are pictured in the switch room at the Louisiana Distribution Operations Center in Baton Rouge. Three days after Hurricane Francine made landfall, Felton Coleman, manager of Entergy's Louisiana Distribution Operations Center, stood in a Baton Rouge facility that few know about but that plays a crucial role in restoring power after storms. With hands on the table, Coleman listened intently as his team discussed the latest steps being taken to help restore power to customers across Louisiana. "Everything dealing with Entergy's electric distribution system in Louisiana flows through here," Coleman explained. "It's the nerve center and the heartbeat of our grid. We're managing a huge amount of information to ensure restoration efforts move efficiently and, most importantly, safely for the frontline workers in the field." Inside what Coleman calls the "switch room" and "operating floor," workers sit in front of large computer screens that display real-time data on Entergy's electric grid. Brightly colored lines and shapes flash across the screens, giving them instant visibility into the system across the state. In these rooms, dozens of employees analyze the data and coordinate next steps in the restoration process. During storm recovery, the operations center is divided into sections that each focus on different regions affected by outages. Operations coordinators, floor leads and supervisors collaborate to form a chain of command, assessing outages and determining how best to address them. Breakers and smart devices located at the top of utility poles relay information back to the center, giving the team a real-time view of field conditions. Two-way communication flows constantly between operators at the center and crews in the field. Crews assess the damage, and if necessary, request "switching orders" - a sequence of steps taken to safely deenergize or isolate parts of the grid so that tree trimmers and lineworkers can safely remove debris, make repairs and restore power. Thanks to the teamwork between frontline workers and those behind the scenes, Entergy has impressively restored power to more than 90% of customers in less than three days after Francine. "It takes everyone, those in the field and at our command centers, working together in unison with our control centers toward the same goal of getting the lights back on," said Coleman. Much like the crews on the ground, the employees at the distribution operations center work 16-hour days and play a crucial role in the restoration effort. "When a storm hits, it's a commitment to being here until every customer has power back ON," Coleman added. But it's not just the workers at the distribution operations center who are the hidden heroes of the storm restoration process. Behind every lineworker or tree trimmer, there are hundreds of employees, contractors and support personnel working in various command centers across Entergy's service territory. Teams from planning, resource management, logistics and customer service ensure that frontline workers have meals, lodging, fuel and the necessary supplies to complete their assignments. At its peak, Entergy's storm response team for Francine swelled to more than 8,000 people, all working together to help customers regain a sense of normalcy. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Entergy Corporation on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Entergy Corporation Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/entergy-corporation Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Entergy Corporation View the original press release on accesswire.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Permex Petroleum Corporation (CSE: OIL) (FSE: 75P) ("Permex" or the "Company") is pleased to announce today that, further to its news release on September 9, 2024, the Company is repricing its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to 18,635 convertible debenture units of the Company (each, a "Unit"). Each Unit consists of one convertible debenture (a "Debenture") in the principal amount of US$1,000 and 523 (previously 245) common share purchase warrants (each, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable for a period of five years from the date of issuance for one common share of the Company (a "Share") at an exercise price of US$1.91 (previously US$4.90). The Debentures will mature (the "Maturity Date") one-year from the date of issuance. The Debentures will bear simple interest at a rate of 10%, payable on the Maturity Date or the date on which all or any portion of the Debenture is repaid. Interest will be paid in cash or Shares based on a conversion price of US$1.91 (previously US$4.08) (the "Conversion Price"), subject to Canadian Securities Exchange (the "Exchange") approval. At any time during the term of the Debentures, a holder of Debentures may elect to convert the outstanding principal and any accrued and unpaid interest thereon into Shares at the Conversion Price. The Debentures will automatically convert into Shares at the Conversion Price in the event the Company completes a financing of Shares for aggregate gross proceeds of at least US$7,500,000, where the price per Share sold in such financing is equal to, or greater than, the Conversion Price. The proceeds of the Current Offering are expected to be used for drilling and development, any future acquisition transactions the Company may engage in, and general working capital purposes. The Units being offered in the Offering will be offered only to persons who either qualify as an "accredited investor" as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or who are located outside of the United States and are not a "U.S. person" as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. In connection with the Offering, the Company may pay finders' fees as permitted by the policies of the Exchange. All securities issued pursuant to the Offering and underlying securities will be subject to a four-month hold period from the date of issuance pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws, in addition to such other restrictions as may apply under the U.S. Securities Act and other applicable securities laws of jurisdictions outside of Canada. None of the securities to be offered in either the Offering have been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or under any U.S. state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This news release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135c under the U.S. Securities Act. About Permex Petroleum Corporation Permex Petroleum (CSE: OIL) (FSE: 75P) is a uniquely positioned junior oil & gas company with assets and operations across the Permian Basin of West Texas and the Delaware Sub-Basin of New Mexico. The Company focuses on combining its low-cost development of Held by Production assets for sustainable growth with its current and future Blue-Sky projects for scale growth. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Permex Petroleum US Corporation, is a licensed operator in both states, and owns and operates on private, state and federal land. For more information, please visit www.permexpetroleum.com. Forward-Looking Information This press release contains both "forward-looking information" and "forward -looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws that is intended to be covered by the safe harbours created by those laws. "Forward-looking information" and "forward looking statements" each include statements that use forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "potential" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking information and forward looking statements include, without limitation, the completion of the Offering and the use of proceeds from the Offering. Neither forward-looking information or forward-looking statements are a guarantee of future performance and are each based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made, including without limitation, that: the Company will complete the Offering as anticipated; there will be no changes in the Company's business plans; and that the Company will be able to use the proceeds from the Offering as anticipated. Furthermore, such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements involve a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, including without limitation: the inability for the Company to close the Offering; the inability to use the proceeds from the Offering as expected; recent market volatility; and the state of the financial markets for the Company's securities. 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 outlook that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223787 SOURCE: Permex Petroleum Corporation Brooklyn, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - The WARN Act protects workers and their families by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to give 60 days' notice (90 days under New York law) before certain plant closings and mass layoffs. Phillips & Associates Scores a Major Victory for Employee Rights in the Workplace To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10859/223765_65b7cf5d84a64b80_001full.jpg In a significant development in the ongoing lawsuit against Resorts World Casino New York City, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has issued a decision favoring the workers who were laid off in 2014. The court denied the casino's remaining arguments for summary judgment, allowing the case to proceed to potential class certification and trial. This case has been handled by Jesse Rose, of counsel to Phillips & Associates, a leading sexual harassment and discrimination law firm in New York representing victims of workplace discrimination. The lawsuit, filed in 2014, alleges that Resorts World violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, both at the federal and state levels, by failing to provide adequate notice to employees before a mass layoff. In the recent decision, Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto rejected Resorts World's defenses based on waiver and estoppel, finding no evidence that the workers' union had waived their rights or that the casino had been misled. The court also declined to dismiss the workers' claims for punitive damages under the New York WARN Act. This ruling is a crucial step forward for the workers, who are seeking back pay and benefits for the period they were not given proper notice. It also opens the door for the case to become a class action, potentially benefiting hundreds of former Resorts World employees, all of whom lost their jobs suddenly and without notice. "This decision is a major victory for these workers. A decade ago, this casino decided to close the door on the restaurant in which they worked and terminated about 175 workers without any warning. The law requires that they receive at least ninety days' notice, but the casino decided to instead fight them for this small severance. For the last ten years we have been fighting Resort's World Casino and their owners, Genting New York LLC, tooth and nail for the rights of every one of these employees and we will continue to fight until justice is served," said Jesse Rose, of counsel to Phillips & Associates. The case is now expected to move into the class certification phase, where the court will determine whether the lawsuit can proceed as a class action. About the Lawsuit The lawsuit against Resorts World Casino was filed on behalf of approximately 175 former employees who were laid off in January 2014 when the casino closed its Aqueduct Buffet. The workers allege that they were not given the required notice under the WARN Act and New York WARN Act. About Phillips and Associates Phillips & Associates is one of the largest employment law firms in the field of sexual harassment and discrimination in the New York Metropolitan tristate area. We are currently representing victims of sexual harassment and discrimination in New York , Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida. If you have an employment matter you want to discuss, please contact Phillips and Associates for a free consultation at 212-248-7431 We have over 35 employment discrimination attorneys who are adept to handle high profile sexual harassment cases as well as all types of sexual assault, labor law, whistle blower and discrimination cases. If you believe you have been the victim of harassment in the workplace, the law firm of Phillips & Associates can advise you regarding your legal options and make sure your rights are protected. Media Contact: Sonia Nasrin (Snasrin@tpglaws.com) (212-248-7431) Vanessa Keys (Vkeys@ tpglaws.com) (212-248-7431) To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223765 SOURCE: Phillips and Associates, Attorneys at Law The axial spondyloarthritis market is experiencing robust growth due to increasing awareness and advancements in treatment options. Rising prevalence rates and a growing focus on personalized medicine are driving market expansion, with innovative therapies and improved diagnostics contributing to a more favorable outlook. LAS VEGAS, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Axial Spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a form of arthritis that mainly causes discomfort and inflammation in the spine and sacroiliac joints, which link the spine to the pelvis. It can also impact other joints and is a systemic condition, potentially affecting various body parts and organs. The condition tends to run in families and is divided into two types: ankylosing spondylitis, or radiographic axSpA, where damage to the sacroiliac joints and spine is visible on X-rays, and non-radiographic axSpA, where damage might not be seen on X-rays but can be identified using MRI. Typically, it starts between the ages of 20 and 40, is more frequent in men, though non-radiographic axSpA can affect both genders equally. According to DelveInsight's estimates, the total prevalent population of axial spondyloarthritis was 4.5 million in 2023 in the 7MM, and these cases are expected to significantly increase during the study period (2020-2034). As per estimates, the total diagnosed population of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis in the US was around 569K cases in 2023. Axial Spondyloarthritis doesn't have a cure, but treatment aims to ease pain and stiffness in the back and other affected areas, keep the spine aligned, avoid damage to joints and organs, maintain joint function and mobility, and enhance the overall quality of life. It's crucial to start treatment early and aggressively to prevent long-term complications and joint damage. A thorough treatment plan usually involves medication, non-drug therapies, healthy lifestyle practices, and, occasionally, surgery. Learn more about the FDA-approved axial spondyloarthritis drugs @ Drugs for Axial Spondyloarthritis Treatment The US FDA has approved UCB's CIMZIA, Eli Lilly's TALTZ, Novartis's COSENTYX, and AbbVie's RINVOQ for treating both r-axSpA and nr-axSpA. In contrast, Immunex/Amgen's ENBREL, Pfizer's XELJANZ, and Johnson & Johnson's SIMPONI are approved only for ankylosing spondylitis. Additionally, LUMICEF is approved in Japan for both r-axSpA and nr-axSpA. SIMPONI is a monoclonal antibody of the human IgG1 class, specifically targeting human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) and existing in various glycoforms. Developed through genetically engineered mice immunized with human TNF, it features both human-derived variable and constant regions. SIMPONI binds to both the soluble and membrane-bound active forms of TNF-a, blocking TNF-a from attaching to its receptors and thus inhibiting its biological effects. Produced via a recombinant cell line with continuous perfusion, it undergoes purification processes designed to inactivate and remove viruses. In April 2009, the US FDA approved SIMPONI for treating ankylosing spondylitis. XELJANZ is a film-coated, immediate-release tablet and is the first and only oral JAK inhibitor approved in the European Union for five different uses. It is prescribed to adults with active ankylosing spondylitis who haven't responded well to conventional treatments, and to adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis after failure or intolerance to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). It is also used for adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) after DMARD failure or intolerance, and for adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis who haven't responded adequately, have lost response, or are intolerant to conventional treatments or biologic agents. In December 2021, Pfizer announced that the US FDA approved the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for XELJANZ/XELJANZ XR (tofacitinib) for treating adults with active ankylosing spondylitis who have not adequately responded to or are intolerant of one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers. In December 2023, UCB announced that Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare approved BIMZELX (bimekizumab) for adults with nr-axSpA and axial spondyloarthritis who do not respond well to existing treatments. In June 2023, the European Commission granted marketing authorization for BIMZELX to treat adults with active axSpA, including both nr-axSpA and axial spondyloarthritis. To know more about axial spondyloarthritis treatment options, visit @ New Treatment for Axial Spondyloarthritis Currently, there is no complete cure for axial spondyloarthritis, and the pipeline for new treatments is also dry. However, companies such as UCB Biopharma SRL, AbbVie, Janssen, and others are working with their lead assets to improve the treatment landscape. The anticipated launch of these emerging therapies for axial spondyloarthritis are poised to transform the market landscape in the coming years. As these cutting-edge therapies continue to mature and gain regulatory approval, they are expected to reshape the axial spondyloarthritis market landscape, offering new standards of care and unlocking opportunities for medical innovation and economic growth. Discover more about drugs for axial spondyloarthritis in development @ Axial Spondyloarthritis Clinical Trials DelveInsight estimates that the market size for axial spondyloarthritis is expected to grow from USD 9 million in 2023 with a significant CAGR by 2034. This growth can be attributed to the introduction of upcoming therapies and the rising prevalence of the disease. Additionally, the market for axSpA has been growing steadily, supported by advancements in diagnostics, the introduction of biologics, and an expanding patient population. The pharmaceutical landscape for axSpA has witnessed notable advancements with the introduction of biological therapies, particularly TNF inhibitors and IL-17 inhibitors, which have become mainstays in the treatment regimen. These therapies have not only improved patient outcomes but have also driven competition among key pharmaceutical players. The market is characterized by a mix of established biologics and newer entrants, with ongoing research aiming to expand the therapeutic options available, including oral small molecule drugs such as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. This evolution in treatment modalities is expected to continue driving market growth over the coming years. Discover which therapies are expected to grab major axial spondyloarthritis market share @ Axial Spondyloarthritis Market Report Market dynamics are further influenced by the challenges associated with early diagnosis and patient adherence to treatment. axSpA is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed due to its gradual onset and the overlap of symptoms with other musculoskeletal conditions. This has spurred investment in the development of more precise diagnostic tools, including imaging techniques and biomarkers. Moreover, the chronic nature of axSpA necessitates long-term treatment, posing challenges related to patient adherence, especially considering the side effects and the high costs associated with biological therapies. These factors create opportunities for the development of more convenient and cost-effective treatment options. Geographically, the axSpA market shows variation in growth patterns, with North America and Europe leading due to higher healthcare spending, better access to advanced therapies, and greater awareness. However, emerging markets in Asia-Pacific and Latin America are expected to witness significant growth, driven by increasing healthcare infrastructure, a rising prevalence of axSpA, and the growing adoption of biologics. Market players are also focusing on these regions by conducting clinical trials and launching educational initiatives to improve disease recognition and treatment approaches. DelveInsight's latest published market report titled as Axial Spondyloarthritis Market Insight, Epidemiology, and Market Forecast - 2034 will help you to discover which market leader is going to capture the largest market share. The report provides comprehensive insights into the axial spondyloarthritis country-specific treatment guidelines, patient pool analysis, and epidemiology forecast to help understand the key opportunities and assess the market's underlying potential. The axial spondyloarthritis market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 2020-2034 in the 7MM segmented into: Total Prevalent Cases of Axial Spondyloarthritis Total Diagnosed Cases of Axial Spondyloarthritis Gender-specific Cases of Axial Spondyloarthritis Gene-specific Cases of Axial Spondyloarthritis Age-specific Cases of Axial Spondyloarthritis Total Treated Cases of Axial Spondyloarthritis The report provides an edge while developing business strategies by understanding trends shaping and driving the 7MM axial spondyloarthritis market. Highlights include: 11-year Forecast 7MM Analysis Epidemiology-based Market Forecasting Historical and Forecasted Market Analysis up to 2034 Emerging Drug Market Uptake Peak Sales Analysis Key Cross Competition Analysis Industry Expert's Opinion Access and Reimbursement Download this axial spondyloarthritis market report to assess the epidemiology forecasts, understand the patient journeys, know KOLs' opinions about the upcoming treatment paradigms, and determine the factors contributing to the shift in the axial spondyloarthritis market. Also, stay abreast of the mitigating factors to improve your market position in the axial spondyloarthritis therapeutic space. Related Reports Axial Spondyloarthritis Pipeline Axial Spondyloarthritis Pipeline Insight - 2024 report provides comprehensive insights about the pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key axial spondyloarthritis companies, including Galapagos NV, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Akeso, Inc., Izana Bioscience Ltd., Biocad, Mabpharm Limited, Shilpa Biologicals, among others. Axial Spondyloarthritis Epidemiology Forecast Axial Spondyloarthritis Epidemiology Forecast - 2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, and CAH epidemiology trends. Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis Market Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis Market Insights, Epidemiology, and Market Forecast - 2032 report deliver an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, market share of the individual therapies, and key nr-axSpA companies including Pfizer Inc, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc, GlaxoSmithKline plc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Novartis AG, Astrazeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Abbott, Merck & Co., Inc., AbbVie Inc., Allergan, UCB S.A., Amgen Inc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited., Novo Nordisk A/S, Cipla Inc., Mereo BioPharma Group plc, DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED. And MOCHIDA PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD., among others. Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis Pipeline Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis Pipeline Insight - 2024 report provides comprehensive insights about the pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key nr-axSpA companies, including Pfizer Inc, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc, GlaxoSmithKline plc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Novartis AG, Astrazeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Abbott, Merck & Co., Inc., AbbVie Inc., Allergan, UCB S.A., Amgen Inc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited., Novo Nordisk A/S, Cipla Inc., Mereo BioPharma Group plc, DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED. And MOCHIDA PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD., among others. About DelveInsight DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance. Get hassle-free access to all the healthcare and pharma market research reports through our subscription-based platform PharmDelve. Contact Us Shruti Thakur info@delveinsight.com +14699457679 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082265/3528414/DelveInsight_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/axial-spondyloarthritis-market---us-to-have-the-lions-share-among-the-7mm--delveinsight-302251348.html Sales increased by 25% to $11,183,026 Gross profits increased by 65% to $4,089,099 Product gross margins increased by 3.7% to 44.5% Store profits increased by 1823% to $1,128,161 Same store sales increased by 14% in 2024 compared to 2023 24th Joi Dollar Plus store to open October 2024 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - PesoRama Inc. (TSXV: PESO) ("PesoRama" or the "Company"), a Canadian company operating dollar stores in Mexico under the JOi Canadian Stores brand, today announced its financial results for the three and six months ended July 31, 2024 ("FY 2025 Q2"). All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. "As the only true dollar store company in Mexico, we are constantly innovating and pushing the boundaries of what is possible," said Rahim Bhaloo, Founder & Executive Chairman of PesoRama. "Creating a new market space requires strategic thinking, operational excellence, and execution, which is reflected in our financial results. During the six months ended July 31, 2024, we saw an increase in-store traffic of 52%, over the six months ended July 31, 2023 and 36% over the year-ended January 31, 2024. We attribute this to the success of our unique merchandising strategies, product assortment, and overall customer experience. Our JOi Dollar Plus Stores are increasing in popularity as we continue to expand our footprint and brand loyalty. We believe our growth strategy is being proven out by our success and we are meeting the needs of the cost-conscious shopper in an underserved market that will ultimately drive long-term value for our shareholders." Key Highlights: 2025 Q2 vs 2024 Q2 Multi-price points continue to lead to increased product assortment and increased growth of new product categories across all departments. Store profits increased by 1823% to $1,128,161 for the six months ended July 31, 2024, an increase of $1,069,497 from the six months ended July 31, 2023. Total sales increased by 25% to $11,183,026 due to organic growth of existing stores as well as our two new stores opened in November and December 2023. Gross profits increased by $1,612,012 to $4,089,099, primarily driven by an increase in revenue of 25%. Product gross margins increased by 3.7% from $3,644,695 or 40.8% to $4,975,612 or 44.5% due primarily to an increase in revenue from the introduction of the multi-price strategy and assortment mix which resulted in higher sales price per item and increase in demand. On August 23, 2024, the Company entered into a five-year lease agreement for its 24th Joi Dollar Plus store location in the famous Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City, which is expected to commence operations in October 2024. The lease covers approximately 655.5 m. Other Performance Metrics: 2025 Q2 vs 2024 Q2 Sales units increased by 52% as a result of increase in demand, increased product assortment and mix Same store sales increased by 14% in 2025 Q2 compared to 2024 Q2. This earnings news release should be read in conjunction with the Company's consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended July 31, 2024 as well as the financial statements for the year ended January 31, 2024, which can be found on PesoRama's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.ca. About PesoRama Inc. PesoRama, operating under the JOi Canadian Stores brand, is a Mexican value dollar store retailer. PesoRama launched operations in 2019 in Mexico City and the surrounding areas targeting high density, high traffic locations. PesoRama's 23 stores offer consistent merchandise offerings which include items in the following categories: household goods, pet supplies, seasonal products, party supplies, health and beauty, snack food items, confectionery and more. Non-IFRS Measures There are measures included in this news release that do not have a standardized meaning under international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures and metrics presented by other publicly traded companies. The Company includes these measures because it believes certain investors use them as a means of assessing financial performance. Adjusted gross margin, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, one-time transaction expenses and financing costs. Adjusted gross margin is defined as gross profit plus distribution costs divided by sales. We prepare and release quarterly unaudited and annual audited financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. We also disclose and discuss certain non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial information used to evaluate our performance in this and other earnings releases and investor conference calls as a complement to results provided in accordance with IFRS. We believe that current shareholders and potential investors in the Company use non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted gross margin, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA in making investment decisions about the Company and measuring its operational results. Management believes that investors and financial analysts measure our business on the same basis, and we are providing the adjusted gross margin, operating profit, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA as financial metrics to assist in this evaluation and to provide a higher level of transparency into how we measure our own business. Adjusted EBITDA is more fully defined and discussed, and reconciliation to IFRS financial measures is provided, in Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the three and six months ended July 31, 2024. Cautionary Note This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, among other things, statements regarding the Company's planned expansion, new store openings and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate. While the Company believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements, including due to changes in consumer behaviour, general economic factors, the ability of the Company to execute its strategies, the availability of capital and the risk factors which are discussed in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's prospectus dated January 31, 2022 and filed under the Company's profile on www.sedarplus.ca. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. PesoRama undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of PesoRama, its securities, or its financial or operating results (as applicable). 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223818 SOURCE: PesoRama Inc. Cybersecurity experts say that blocking certain websites lowers the risk of cyberattacks and removes distractions LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to data collected by a network security NordLayer, developed by the leading cybersecurity company NordVPN, a significant portion of employers (72%) block malicious and adult websites. Malicious websites can pose severe security threats by spreading malware, while adult websites are often restricted due to concerns over inappropriate content and productivity loss. Gambling sites are blocked by 43% of employers, likely due to concerns over addiction and productivity loss. "In today's threat landscape, where cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, DNS filtering plays a pivotal role in safeguarding sensitive data, maintaining regulatory compliance, and preserving the integrity of organizational networks," says Ugne Mikalajunaite, Country Manager Taiwan at NordVPN. Employers seek to maintain a professional work environment Besides just blocking adult websites, many managers take a step further to maintain a professional work environment. For example, 30% block dating sites, 28% do not allow access to sex education websites, and about 12% of employers even block lingerie sites. Information or sales related to drugs websites are blocked by 37% of IT managers. Interestingly, 21% of employers block VPN websites, likely to prevent employees from circumventing network restrictions and accessing blocked content, which could pose security risks or productivity concerns. Employer restriction priorities in different regions In Europe, businesses exhibit the greatest inclination to block adult content websites, with 67% of employers imposing such restrictions. North America prioritizes mitigating security risks by having the highest percentage (70%) of employers blocking access to malware websites. Asia stands out with a distinct emphasis on curbing access to illegal or unethical content, as evidenced by 73% of employers restricting websites within this category. Intriguingly, Asian businesses demonstrate a stricter approach towards gambling and gaming websites compared to their European and North American counterparts. While 64% of Asian employers block gambling sites, the figures stand at 37% and 38% for Europe and North America, respectively. Similarly, 36% of Asian organizations restrict access to gaming websites, contrasting with considerably lower rates of 9% in Europe and 20% in North America. Another noteworthy regional disparity lies in the treatment of dating websites. European and North American employers exhibit relatively comparable stances, with 25% and 28% blocking this category, respectively. However, Asian businesses adopt a more restrictive policy, with 45% of employers denying access to dating sites. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nordvpn-website-categories-employers-dont-want-you-to-visit-302251846.html Battolyser Systems, a Rotterdam, the Netherlands-based electrolyser producer, raised 30M in Series a funding. Backers included Global Cleantech Capital, Innovation Industries, and Invest-NL. The company intends to use the funds to scale its operations and bring to market its next-generation electrolyser in 2025. Led by CEO Mattijs Slee, Battolyser Systems develops and manufactures an integrated battery and electrolyser called Battolyser that can store electricity and produce hydrogen from renewable power to balance societal demand. The Battolyser technology can switch on and off following intermittent renewable energy. With its flexibility, it unlocks new business models, reducing the cost of green hydrogen and alleviating grid congestion. The Battolyser is offered as a 2.5MW plug-and-play skid and 5MW modules that are integrated with a Balance of Plant on site. The Series A funding complements the 40m financing agreement signed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in October 2023. FinSMEs 18/09/2024 Brenus Pharma, a Lyon, France-based biotech company specializing in the development of cancer vaccines, raised $25M in Series A Funding. The round was led by Angelor, with participation from UI Investissement, Credit Agricole Centre-France and Credit Agricole Centre-Est, with 2 family offices. Belgian funds Noshaq and Investsud completed this deal. Together, they joined co-founder and lead investor Jacques Gardette (BIOJAG) and long-time investor Stephane Legastelois (33 CALIFORNIE). In addition, Brenus Pharma has received non-dilutive funding from the French government and Bpifrance, as beneficiary of the France 2030 call for projects. The company intends to use the funds to finance the first Phase I/IIA clinical trial of its first candidate, STC-1010, in metastatic colorectal cancer, as well as the development of a second candidate in another solid tumor indication (STC-1020). Led by CEO Paul Bravetti, Brenus Pharma develops its proteomics-guided allogeneic cancer vaccines, generated by the patented STC Stimulated-Tumor-(ghost)-Cell platform for the treatment of solid tumors. STC mimics the relapse conditions of patients tumor cells to educate their immune systems to be able to anticipate, target and destroy these tumor cells as soon as they appear. STC-1010 is a vaccine candidate based on the STC Stimulated-Tumor-(ghost)-Cells technology platform developed by Brenus Pharma. FinSMEs 18/09/2024 CarbonEthics, a Jakarta, Indonesia-based developer of tech-enabled natural climate solutions, raised US$2.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Intudo Ventures, with participation from a number of strategic angel investors. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations ad its development efforts. Led by CEO Bimo Soewadji, CIO Jessica Novia; and COO Innandya Kusumawardhani. CarbonEthics offers three core solutions: Nature-Based Carbon Projects: protecting ecosystems to sequester carbon, enhance community livelihoods, and safeguard biodiversity. Tree Planting: supporting ecosystem rehabilitation efforts, with a focus on blue carbon ecosystems. Carbon Consultancy: offering ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and policy advisory to help clients meet carbon reduction targets and comply with relevant regulations. CarbonEthics partners with various stakeholders from private companies, state-owned enterprises, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations to assist them in their decarbonization journey. Clients include Allianz, Ernst & Young, Danone, and many more. The company has also established strategic partnerships across international, national and local level, such as with Form International, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) and Transjakarta. FinSMEs 18/09/2024 Clasp (FKA Stride Funding), a Boston, MA-based provider of a retention-driven recruitment platform, raised over $10m in funding. The round, which brought total funding to over $30m was led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from SHRM and individuals like Marc Weill. Led by Tess Michaels, founder and CEO, Clasp provides a retention-driven recruitment platform that addresses talent shortages by helping employers recruit and retain critical talent in hard-to-hire fields, with a focus on reducing student debt and fostering long-term commitments between employers and employees. Supporting more than 10,000 individuals on its platform, Clasp is currently focused on the healthcare industry with partnerships with healthcare systems ranging from academic, pediatric, home health, optometry, and veterinary organizations. The company also works with one of the largest semiconductor companies and has plans to expand into other hard-to-hire industries as the company grows. For students, Clasp provides financial relief, a future unburdened by student loan debt, and the assurance of a job after graduation. For healthcare institutions, they deliver a pipeline of committed talent, from nurses to radiologic technologists to respiratory therapistswhile reducing recruitment costs, eliminating the need for signing bonuses, contract labor, and more. FinSMEs 17/09/2024 Actress-politician Kangana Ranaut, who will be next seen in Emergency, recently grabbed headlines when she called veteran actress and MP Jaya Bachchan arrogant over being called by her complete name in the assembly. However, the Manikarnika star seems to have left everything behind as she recently called Jaya Bachchan a dignified actress. Advertisement Jaya Bachchan ji is a very reputed actor in our film industry. Honestly, shes known for her short temper, but at the same time, Id like to give her the acknowledgment and due credit. In those timesyou can imagine, in the 1970s, when women had to roast their skin under harsh lightingshe did films like Guddi. She sent a message of women empowerment through that. And even after that shes one of the most dignified women in the film industry. The way she carries herself in Rajya Sabha makes me feel very good that we have this kind of representation from the film industry, said Kangana while talking to News18. Earlier in an interview with Fever FM, Kangana had slammed Jaya and said, A man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and togetherness is a beautiful happening. These are petty issues. In the name of feminism, people are going in an ugly direction Society is going into an ugly direction, the actress added. Calling Jayas behaviour as arrogance, Kangana asserted, This arrogance hasnt spared even the beautiful bond within families. Humans should embrace each other and not dissect each other with this sort of harshness. People are simply flaring up with the name coming up like theyre getting a panic attack or something. And when they say, My identity is taken over, I am destroyed I just feel sad. Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar during the ongoing monsoon session addressed the actress by her husbands name. Jaya responded, Sir, I hope you know the meaning of Amitabh. I mean, I am proud of the association with my marriage and my husband and of his achievements. But this is a new drama started by you all. This did not use to happen before. The VP informed the actress that there is a provision to change the name on the election certificate and reminded her that the entire country is proud of her husband Amitabh Bachchans achievements. However, Jaya Ji, the name that appears in the election certificate is what is used, and you can get the name changed; there is a provision for that, he added. Vikrant Massey starrer Netflixs Sector 36 end explained. But does it reveal the true face of Moninder Singh Pandher, the rich businessman in whose house all the crimes were committed which included killing, rape and cannibalisms. read more The plot of the Netflix original movie, Sector 36, inspired from Nithari Killings case in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, which shook the soul of the nation in 2006. Both Vikrant Massey and Deepak Dobriyal revisit this real-life horror with their deeply intense performances. The character of Prem aka Surender Koli, played by the Vikrant Massey was accused on cannibalism, rape and murder. Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher, the co-accused in the Nithari killings case were supposed to be hanged. But due to lack of evidence, Pandher was let free where as Koli is still serving his life sentence. Some of the story is fictionalised especially the organ trafficking bit. Advertisement How much of Sector 36 was fictionalised? According to reports published in dmtalkines. com, in real life, the claims of Surinder Koli and Pandher running an illegal organ racket were unsubstantiated by the authorities. Actually, the rumor that Koli and Pandher were involved in organ trafficking came because a doctor named Navin Chaudhary, living in the vicinity, was suspected of being involved in organ trafficking, though the law enforcement authorities did not find any sort of evidence against him to support their claims. The narco-analysis/brain mapping test that was conducted, after which the authorities pinned all the blame on Surinder Koli, and they didnt find Pandher guilty of committing any crime. Unlike the film, in real life, Surinder Koli, together with Moninder Singh Pandher, was acquitted of all the charges in 2023 by the Allahabad High Court. The Nithari killings case In Nithari village which is situated right in the middle of Noida city in Uttar Pradesh about 20km from Delhi this heinous crime happened. But what was surprising being that what took so long to deliver justice to the families whose children and some women went missing mysteriously? Didnt cries of these families reach the ears of the police or was it just ignored because these people came from poor, migrant labourer families? **Why Prem (Surinder Koli) did Bassis (**Pandher) recording of his relationships with several call girls? According to the Netflixs film Sector 36, Prem (Surinder Koli) knew that since he is poor and his master Bassi ( Pandher) being a rich man, he might pin all the blame on him. In the end we understand from the Netflixs film that he was made a scapegoat by Bassi (Pandher) which we assume is actually not the truth. Advertisement At the end of the film we see police inspector played by Pandey (Deepak Dobriyal) going to Kolis village to collect the CD, but he was sadly killed by Bassis men. Prem lost his only ally in the case and Bassi was being acquitted of all charges while Prem was given death sentence. Prem sensed that this might happen. Hence he made several copies of the CD and sent another one to Bishnois residence so that people get to know the real monster Bassi (Pandher). WATCH the trailer of Vikrant Massey starrer Netflixs starrer Sector 36 here: Latest satellite visuals show China constructing a heliport with a 600-metre-long runway and multiple hangars near Arunachal Pradeshs Fishtails sector along the Line of Control. Experts point out that this structure will enhance Beijings presence in the area and also allow for it to swiftly mobilise troops to forward areas. This could be a new headache for New Delhi read more China is reportedly building a heliport just 20 km away from Arunachal Pradesh along the LAC. Representational image/Reuters Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that 75 per cent of disengagement issues with China have been resolved in their border talks. We did not have an easy relationship in the past. What happened in 2020 was in violation of multiple agreements, the Chinese moved a large number of troops to the Line of Actual Control. We, in response, moved our troops up Some progress on border talks with China. Around 75 per cent of disengagement problems are sorted out. We still have some things to do, Jaishankar said during his conversation with Ambassador Jean-David Levitte at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy last Thursday. Advertisement However, it seems that China is in no mood to relent on the border dispute and is up to its old, sneaky ways. New satellite imagery reveals that the Xi Jinping-led country is strengthening its military presence by constructing a massive heliport, just 20 kilometres east of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh. What do we know of this new construction? How is India responding to it? We get you all the information. What heliport? Where? Geospatial analyst Damien Symon, who goes by the account @detresfa_ on X, recently shared images on the social media platform, showing ongoing heliport construction by China near Arunachal Pradesh. The satellite images show that the construction is taking place near Arunachal Pradeshs Fishtails sector, with NDTV reporting that the heliport lies on the banks of Gongrigabu Qu river in the Nyingchi Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Notably, there was no construction in the region until December 2023. However, visuals from September 16 show a facility in an advanced stage of construction. What are the features of Chinas heliport? The under-construction heliport, as per visuals, will have a 600-metre runway, which will allow helicopters to manoeuvre bit more easily. It appears that multiple hangars are also being built around the runway, which will enhance Chinas flying capabilities in the region. Military sources speaking to various media outlets said that the heliport once constructed will serve both military and civilian purposes. Advertisement Satellite visuals which show the construction of the heliport near Arunachal Pradesh. Image Courtesy: @detresfa_/X Why this heliport matters? The construction of the heliport, according to Damien Symon will allow the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to intensify intelligence-gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities. What this means is that Beijings air capabilities in the region will increase, putting a strain on India. Symon also noted that this facility will likely enhance Chinas ability to swiftly mobilise troops to forward positions and would improve its border patrols. Other military experts note that with the construction of the heliport it will be easier for China to increase their presence along the LAC as well as transport troops in case of an emergency, perhaps like the Galwan incident of June 2020. Advertisement Lt General Pravin Bakshi (retired), who headed the Eastern Command of the Indian Army, explained why this heliport should worry India. This heliport will be a threat to key areas which are considered sensitive here. I would take serious note and look to orchestrate a suitable response, if ever required, in concern with the Indian Air Force so as to prevent any grey-zone warfare being efficiently prosecuted by the Chinese here, he was quoted as telling NDTV. The timing of the construction of the heliport is also significant. China is constructing the heliport at the same time it is attempting to increase its Xiaokang villages along the border of India. Xiaokang villages are a cluster of structures along the LAC, which, according to defence experts, can be used both for civil and military purposes and have thus been a concern from a defence perspective. Advertisement The late Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat had once called these villages a Chinese tactic to assert territorial claims and alter the status quo along the LAC, also known as salami slicing. A glimpse of Chinas defence villages along the LAC near Arunachal Pradesh. Image Courtesy; @detresfa_/X What about Chinas other constructions along LAC? Chinas increasing presence around the LAC has become a growing concern for India. Since the 2020 Galwan clash, Beijing has been ramping up its military presence in the area by constructing villages, bridges and military camps. Earlier in July, China completed the construction of a 400-metre bridge connecting the north and south banks of Pangong Lake, which is situated near the LAC between India and China in Ladakh. Advertisement The PLA has also been building tunnels, helipads, bridges and bunkers in other stretches of the LAC. Furthermore, China has deployed additional fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance aircraft in the region. A UK think-tank in a previous report also highlighted how China was ramping up infrastructure work at Aksai Chin, which would help them in future troop deployments. The report stated that China had expanded roads, outposts and modern weatherproof camps equipped with parking areas, solar panels, and even helipads in the region. Additionally, the report stated that the Chinese side was building a new heliport in the disputed territory that comprised 18 hangars and short runways for use by helicopters and possibly drones. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during a previous Tawang visit. India in response to China has also been fortifying its presence along the border. Image Courtesy: @spokespersonMoD/X How has India responded? When it comes to this heliport, theres no reaction from the Indian side in an official capacity. However, India, too, has been fortifying its presence along the border. In response to the Xiaokang villages, India has undertaken the Vibrant Villages project, aimed at developing 3,000 villages in Northeastern border states, including Arunachal Pradesh, with an initial budget of 4,800 crore. Additionally, a 2,400-kilometer trans-Arunachal highway is under construction to improve connectivity and reduce travel time to frontline Army posts. In August, reports also emerged that New Delhi had approved the construction of five more roads along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. It is further reported that India is building high-tech bunkers along the India-China border, which are designed to accommodate at least 120 troops each and ensure their readiness even in sub-zero temperatures. With inputs from agencies Atishis elevation to the Delhi chief minister post has been slammed by the BJP and AAP MP Swati Maliwal. The AAP leader has alleged the role of the CM-designates parents in trying to stop the death penalty of Afzal Guru, who was convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack case. But is it true? read more The role of Atishi's parents in trying to prevent convicted terrorist Afzal Guru's death sentence has been questioned. File Photo/PTI Atishi is set to be Delhi chief minister after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs picked her to replace Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP chief resigned on Tuesday (September 17) to make way for the Delhi education minister to take over. The AAPs announcement of Kejriwals successor did not sit well with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its own Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. The role of Atishis parents in trying to prevent the capital punishment of Afzal Guru, who was convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack case, has come to haunt the AAP leader. Advertisement Lets take a closer look. Whats the row? AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal hit out at the party for choosing Atishi to replace Kejriwal as Delhis chief minister. She said it was a sad day for Delhi that the woman whose family fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being hanged is being elevated to the top post. Calling Atishi a dummy CM, Maliwal wrote on X that the issue concerns Indias security. She tweeted, Today is a very sad day for Delhi. Today, a woman whose family fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being hanged is being made the chief minister of Delhi. Her parents wrote mercy petitions to the Honourable President to save terrorist Afzal Guru. According to them, Afzal Guru was innocent and was framed as part of a political conspiracy. Although Atishi Marlena is just a dummy CM, still this issue is related to the security of the country. May God protect Delhi! Reacting to Maliwals comments, the AAP lambasted its MP and asked her to quit. Swati Maliwal is a person who takes the ticket to Rajya Sabha from AAP but takes the script to react from BJP. If she has even a little shame, she should resign as a Rajya Sabha MP and choose the path to Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket. If she wants to be in Rajya Sabha, she should get a ticket from BJP, senior AAP leader and chief whip in the Delhi Assembly, Dilip Pandey, said. Advertisement Maliwal had a fallout with the AAP after she accused Kejriwals aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her at the chief ministers residence a few months back. The BJP also slammed the AAP over Atishis ascent, accusing Kejriwal of picking a puppet CM. BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari also alleged that Atishis parents tried to stop Afzal Gurus death penalty. AAP government supports a person whose family tried to stop Afzal Gurus hanging. The people of Delhi will never accept Naxal supporters, he said. Did Atishis parents try to stop Afzal Gurus hanging? On December 13, 2001, five terrorists entered the Parliament House complex and opened fire, killing nine people and injuring over 15 others. Advertisement Afzal Guru was found guilty and sentenced to death by a trial court in December 2002. The Delhi High Court upheld the capital punishment for him in October 2003. The death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court and a Delhi court ordered the hanging of Guru. In October 2006, Afzals wife Tabasum Guru filed a mercy petition with the then President APJ Abdul Kalam. Atishis mother, Tripta Wahi, a retired Delhi University professor, was among the activists and professors who wrote a petition to the President that year, requesting him to dismiss Afzals death sentence. We, therefore, appeal to you to not only set aside the punishment given to Mohd. Afzal but also to facilitate a Parliamentary inquiry into the entire episode, they wrote. Advertisement In January 2007, the Supreme Court had set aside Afzal Gurus plea seeking review of his death sentence, saying there is no merit in it. President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his mercy petition on February 3, 2013. Six days later, Afzal Guru was hanged. Over 200 academics, writers and filmmakers shot off a letter to the then-President Mukherjee, condemning the death of the convicted terrorist. Atishis mother was one of the signatories. The letter read, We write to you in deep anguish, despair but in outrage as well. Afzal Guru was hanged on Saturday (9th February 2013) in secrecy. We have been told after the hanging that you rejected the mercy petition filed by Gurus wife Tabassum, on 3rd February. We believe that you made a grave error in rejecting the mercy petition. Advertisement The parents of the Delhi CM-designate, retired professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, were asked to appear before the Delhi Police for speaking at an event at the Press Club of India in February 2016 to mark the third anniversary of Afzal Gurus hanging. Former DU professor SAR Geelani was arrested for organising the event where slogans of Azadi were raised, as per The Hindu report. Stepping up her attack on Atishi, Maliwal alleged on Wednesday (September 18) the AAP ministers parents had close ties with Geelani. SAR Geelani 2016 pic.twitter.com/BWmUN7fMJd Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) September 18, 2024 Atishi has previously addressed questions about her parents role in trying to stop Afzal Gurus death sentence. Speaking to Amar Ujala in 2019, she said. I am not responsible for any political action taken by the parents. It is their responsibility and accountability and they are fully capable of expressing their views. I can say, from my point of view, that I was not in support of that step. With inputs from agencies Jammu and Kashmir will head to polls today in Phase one taking place in seven districts, including Pulwama and Shopian. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will launch the NPS Vatsalya Scheme read more Polling officials check EVMs and other election material for the 1st phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. PTI It will be a busy Wednesday today. Several districts of Jammu and Kashmir are set to vote for the first time in 10 years today. Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will launch the NPS Vatsalya Scheme along with the launch of an online platform for subscribing to the scheme. The Reserve Bank of India has shifted the Eid-e-Milad holiday to September 18 in view of requests from the Muslim community to avoid clashes with Anant Chaturdashi. Advertisement The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is set to hold talks for seat-sharing plans from today ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections. On the other hand, the joint parliamentary committee Waqf Board Bill 2024 will meet today. Let us take a look at all that is planned for the day. First phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir districts Several districts in Jammu and Kashmir will be voting in phase one of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election for the first time after almost 10 years. As many as this time with as many as 90 independents while 23 lakh people are set to vote in the assembly elections. Polling officials leave for their respective polling stations on the eve of first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, in Kishtwar district. PTI As many as 1.23 lakh youths between the age 18 to 19 years, along with 28,309 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and 15,774 elderly voters above the age of 85 are also eligible to exercise their franchise in phase one, an EC official told PTI. The official further said a total of 14,000 polling staff will oversee the process at 3,276 polling stations, ensuring smooth conduct of the polls. Finance minister to launch NPS Vatsalya Scheme Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will launch the Vatsalya Scheme under the National Pension System (NPS). As per a press release, even school children will also participate in this event. Sitharaman will also launch an online platform as well for the scheme. The NPS Vatsalya provides flexible contribution and investment options where parents can contribute and invest Rs 1,000 annually in the name of the child. This scheme is beneficial for people from all economic backgrounds. This scheme will allow parents to save for their childrens future by investing in a pension account and ensuring long-term wealth with the power of compounding. Advertisement Joint Parliamentary Committee to meet on Waqf Amendment Bill The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf Board Bill 2024 will meet to record the oral evidence provided by representatives of the Ministry of Minorities in front of the committee, stated an Economic Times report. They will further meet on September 19 to discuss the recommendations of some experts and stakeholders, the report further noted. Meanwhile, the All India Sajjadanashin Council, Ajmer, Muslim Rashtriya Manch, Delhi, and Bharat First, Delhi, will present their recommendations to the Joint Parliamentary Committee regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 on September 20. RBI shifts Eid-e-Milad holiday to September 18 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had shifted the calendar holiday of Eid-e-Milad to Wednesday after an announcement by the Maharashtra government. Advertisement The holiday was earlier planned for Monday (September 16). Representative image Members of the Muslim community had reached out to the government asking them for the change in date in view of clashing with Anant Chaturdashi, the last day of Ganesh Chaturthi. Accordingly, the Public Holiday declared on September 16, 2024 (Monday) is cancelled and the offices of the Reserve Bank of India situated in the districts of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban shall remain closed on September 18, 2024 (Wednesday), according to the RBI notification on September 14. MVA allies to meet for seat-sharing talks in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut informed that the three Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies will hold seat-sharing talks from September 18 to 20 for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections. Advertisement Assembly polls are likely to be held in the second week of November. While the opposition MVA comprises Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawars Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Congress, the ruling Mahayuti has Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP as its constituents. On this day As thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah fighters exploded across Lebanon, the militant group held Israel responsible. Experts agree; they believe it was a joint operation between the Israeli military and the spy agency, Mossad. A shipment of recently imported pagers was corrupted explosives were reportedly hidden in each read more A man's bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon on September 17 in this screen grab from a video obtained from social media. Thousands of pagers exploded across the country, injuring Hezbollah fighters. Reuters At first, it seemed like a freak accident. A pager exploding. But soon hundreds of handheld devices started detonating all across Lebanon. It was an attack, targeting the Hezbollah. At least nine people have been killed and more than 2,800 injured in the pager attacks on Tuesday. According to the health ministry, at least 200 of those injured are critical. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the explosions. However, the Jewish nation has yet to comment. Advertisement We explain what happened in Lebanon and how such a widespread attack was planned. How did the pager explosions start? What happened? Pagers used by Hezbollah fighters started detonating around 3.30 pm local time in the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa valley, strongholds of the anti-Israel militant group. The explosions lasted for an hour. Some of the pagers blasted after the devices rang, causing serious injuries as the fighters reached out for them or brought them close to their faces to check the screens. According to footage reviewed by Reuters, the blasts were contained. They appeared to wound the person using the pager or close to it. Video from hospitals and shared on social media showed individuals with injuries to their faces, missing fingers and gaping wounds at the hip where the device was likely worn. The attack left at least nine people dead including an eight-year-old and a Hezbollah MPs son. Among the thousands injured was Irans ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani. A person is carried on a stretcher outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded and killed when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut. Reuters Who is behind the pager explosions? Its unclear who is behind the highly sophisticated attack and no one has claimed responsibility yet. However, Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for it. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the explosions represented a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards. Accusing Israel, Hezbollah said it held the country fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians. This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression, whether it expects it or not, it added. Advertisement Israeli officials have not commented on the allegations but most experts and analysts agree that the Jewish nation had a role to play. People donate blood as thousands, including Hezbollah fighters, were injured on Tuesday when the pagers exploded across Lebanon. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attacks. Reuters Professor Simon Mabon, chair of International Relations at Lancaster University, told the BBC, We know that Israel has a precedent of using technology to track its target but he went on to call the scale of this attack unprecedented. Dubai-based analyst Riad Kahwaji said that Israel had taken advantage of Hezbollahs move away from smartphones to pagers. Israel intelligence had conducted a most professional operation, he told AFP. Without a doubt, one of the factories it (Israel) owns manufactured and shipped these explosive devices that exploded today. Advertisement How was the attack carried out? Hezbollah prefers to use pagers for internal communications over smartphones for security reasons. And Israel appears to have tapped in on this weakness. A source close to the militant group, asking not to be identified, told AFP that the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices, which appear to have been sabotaged at source. According to analysts, Israel likely had corrupted the devices before delivery, allowing them to explode at a specific time. The attack was reportedly a joint operation between the Israeli military and the Israeli intelligence unit, Mossad. A report in The New York Times (NYT) reveals that Israel hid explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported to Lebanon. The pagers ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan were tampered with beforehand, officials were quoted as saying by the publication. Advertisement Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the entrance of a hospital in Beirut on September 17 after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around the country amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters. AFP A senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters that Mossad planted small explosives inside the devices months before Tuesdays detonations. The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. Its very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner, the source said. The pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives. Another security source told Reuters that up to three grammes of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone undetected by Hezbollah for months. However, a report in NYT claims that one or two ounces (28 to 56 grammes) were planted in each device. Advertisement According to a former British Army bomb disposal, an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge. A pager has three of those already, explained the ex-officer, who spoke to Fortune on condition of anonymity because he works as a consultant with clients in West Asia. You would only need to add the detonator and the charge. An ambulance carries wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, in Beirut, on September 17. AP But how would Israel get access to the pagers beforehand? For Israel to embed an explosive trigger within the new batch of pagers, they would have likely needed access to the supply chain of these devices, Brussels-based military and security analyst Elijah Magnier told AFP. Israeli intelligence has infiltrated the production process, adding an explosive component and remote triggering mechanism into the pagers without raising suspicion, he added, raising the prospect the third party which sold the devices could have been an intelligence front set up by Israel for the purpose. Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute said, This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override. A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page. He concluded that Mossad had infiltrated the supply chain. Where did the pagers come from? Five thousand Taiwan-made pagers were ordered by Hezbollah recently, according to a Lebanese security source. The devices are made by Gold Apollo and most were the AP924 model. Three other Gold Apollo models were also part of the shipment. The Taiwanese company is now under the scanner. However, Gold Apollos founder said the company did not make the pagers used in the explosions in Lebanon. They were manufactured by a company in Europe that had the right to use the Taiwanese firms brand. Why would Israel target Hezbollah? Hezbollah is an ally of Iran, Israels arch-nemesis. The militant group, which is part of Irans Axis of Resistance, has been engaged in a conflict with Israel for months. There have been frequent exchanges of rocket and missile fire across the northern border of the Jewish nation. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from towns and villages on both sides of the border by near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah. A man walks past a damaged shop, from previous shelling attacks from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on September 17. AP Tuesdays attack came on the same day that Israel vowed the safe return of its citizens to their homes near the border with Lebanon to its formal war goals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said he laid out the war aim in an overnight security Cabinet meeting. The two sides have avoided a full-blown war. However, now Hezbollah has warned of retaliation and there is a possibility that tensions could escalate. With inputs from agencies The first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections is underway, with voting in 24 seats. The polls in the Union Territory come months after the Lok Sabha elections, which saw the highest voter turnout in the erstwhile state in over 30 years read more Polling officials with security personnel leave for their respective polling stations on the eve of first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, in Kishtwar district, September 17, 2024. PTI Jammu and Kashmir is holding Assembly elections after a decade. The first phase of the polls is being held today (September 18), with the remaining two phases on September 25 and October 1. Of the 90 Assembly constituencies in J&K, voting will be held on 24 seats on Wednesday 16 in the Kashmir province and eight in Jammu. The main parties in the fray are the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP). Advertisement Lets take a look at what the election means for Jammu and Kashmir. First Assembly polls in 10 years J&K is holding Assembly elections after about 10 years. The last polls were held in 2014 when a voter turnout of 65.5 per cent was recorded. Mehbooba Muftis PDP and the BJP had joined hands to form a government at the time. The alliance collapsed in 2018 when the saffron party withdrew support over differences. While J&K saw the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, 2019 and 2024, the last Assembly elections were conducted in June 2014. Jammu and Kashmir recorded the highest voter turnout in a Lok Sabha election in 35 years this time. The overall turnout for the five Lok Sabha seats of the Union Territory was 58.46 per cent. People in J&K have been waiting for 10 years to vote for a new government. With these polls, that wait is finally over. All eyes will be on the voter turnout for the Assembly elections. The most important message that the Assembly election sends out is that India continues to cement its hold over Jammu and Kashmir, Lt Gen (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain told India Today TV. First election since Article 370 abrogation The Assembly elections assume all the more significance as these are the first polls since the Centre revoked Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, in 2019. Advertisement The erstwhile state was also bifurcated into two Union Territories J&K and Ladakh. These are the first Assembly elections in the J&K since it was stripped of statehood. The PDP and Omar Abdullahs NC have promised to restore Article 370 and statehood to J&K. In its election campaign, the Congress which is fighting the polls in an alliance with the NC vowed to bring back J&K statehood but remained silent about the UTs loss of special status. The BJP has also promised to reinstate J&Ks statehood, which is a big issue in these elections. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) President Farooq Abdullah during a public meeting ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, in Anantnag, September 11, 2024. File Photo/PTI The Assembly polls are expected to bring much-needed political stability to the region after years of turmoil. Advertisement The participation of even separatist leaders in the polls shows the shift in the political narrative in Kashmir. Tooba Punjabi, a researcher, told BBC, There has been a complete overhaul of traditional political narratives. Earlier, public boycotts defined elections. But now, its a means of putting the right party in place to undo [the] damage. As per a Deccan Herald article, the Assembly elections are a way for people, especially in Kashmir, to reclaim a political identity that has felt diminished since the erstwhile state was split into two Union Territories. The electors will go to the ballots to choose their representatives who can listen to their grievances and be accountable to them. Advertisement Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the polls were announced, The troubles that people have faced for the past 10 years will end after this election. First polls after delimitation These are also the first Assembly elections in J&K after the delimitation exercise in 2022. The process consisted of redrawing the boundaries of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies based on the 2011 population data. The delimitation commission has added six more Assembly seats to Jammu and one to Kashmir, taking the total tally to 43 and 47, respectively. While Jammu has been a stronghold of the BJP, it has limited influence in Kashmir. It will be known after the results whether the delimitation exercise worked in favour of the saffron party. Advertisement Prime Minister Narendra Modi being felicitated during a public meeting ahead of the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, in Doda district, September 14, 2024. File Photo/PTI Road to statehood? People in J&K want its statehood back. With the erstwhile state downgraded to the UT, the powers of the elected government would be limited. Many key areas, such as law and order and land issues, are under the Centres control. The elections are significant and non-significant at the same time. They are significant because they are being held after a long time and people will get to elect their representatives, and also because this will serve as a message of how people are angry and rue the changes, Professor Noor Muhammad Baba, a regional political analyst, told DW. However, he warned that the government will have little power. With all major political parties promising to restore statehood, J&K is likely to soon get its statehood back. I am very positive that statehood is the next step, which is not very far away, SY Qureshi, former Chief Election Commissioner, told India Today TV. With inputs from agencies The Union Cabinet has cleared the proposal to implement the One Nation, One Election plan, which envisages simultaneous polls pan-India. The plan is based on recommendations made by a panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind. But is it really feasible? read more The Modi Cabinet has approved the 'One nation, One election' plan, which proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, with urban body and panchayat polls to be held within 100 days. Representational image/PTI It was one of the big poll promises. Now 101 days after the third Narendra Modi government came to power, the Union Cabinet has approved the One Nation, One Election plan. The proposal for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections with urban body and panchayat polls was recommended in a report by a panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The Bill is likely to be introduced in the upcoming winter session of Parliament. The BJPs key allies, the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party, have extended their support to the plan earlier. Wednesdays Cabinet decision comes a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated that the government would implement One Nation, One Election in this term. Simultaneous polls have been PM Modis promise since his first term in 2014. PM Modi advocated for it during his Independence Day speech last month. Advertisement Addressing the media after the Cabinet decision, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said One Nation, One Election would be implemented in two phases. The first would cover Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections, while the second phase would cover local body elections, within 100 days of the first phase. With the Modi Sarkar 3.0 clearing One Nation, One Election plan, we take a closer look at it from arguments in its favour to arguments against it. What is One Nation, One Election? As the name suggests, it is the idea of holding simultaneous elections at the national and state level. Historically, elections to the Lok Sabha and various Legislative Assemblies of States were mostly held simultaneously from 1951-52 to 1967 after which this cycle was broken. Notably, this Lok Sabha election also saw a few state elections being held simultaneously. These were Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha. President Droupadi Murmu being presented a report on simultaneous elections in the country by former President Ram Nath Kovind who headed a High-Level Committee (HLC) on One Nation, One Election, and Home Minister Amit Shah, at Rashtrapati Bhavan. File image/PTI What will One Nation, One Election look like? The Cabinets approval of the One Nation, One Election plan is based on the report of a panel led by ex-President Ram Nath Kovind. In March, the Kovind-led panel had submitted its recommendations. As per the panel, elections would be held in two phases the first would see polls for Lok Sabha and State assemblies and 100 days later, local body elections to panchayats and municipal bodies would be conducted. Advertisement The panel has also called for a common electoral roll for all elections and single voter ID cards by the Election Commission of India (ECI), in consultation with the state election authorities. For this, the report recommended amending Article 325 of the Constitution. While the BJP and its allies have supported the One Nation, One Election plan, there are others such as the Congress and the TMC which have criticised it. Representational image/PTI Why do some support One Nation, One Election? Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a vocal supporter of conducting simultaneous elections across India. In 2019, soon after his re-election, Modi had said that a panel would be formed to discuss the proposal with all political parties. In fact, the BJP has long been a proponent of the idea of holding simultaneous elections. In the past, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister, had discussed the idea with then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Veteran BJP leader LK Advani had also taken up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2010, as per an Indian Express report. Advertisement Many point out that the idea of One Nation, One Election would significantly cut down election expenses. The EC estimates that Rs 10,000 crore was spent on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Unofficial estimates put this figure at Rs 60,000 crore in 2019 and Rs 30,000 crore in the 2014 general elections. Meanwhile, states spend somewhere between Rs 250-500 crore per Assembly poll, according to The News Minute (TNM). Supporters claim that by holding simultaneous elections, this cost would drastically be reduced. As Akshay Rout, former Director General of Election Commission of India had written in an Economic Times report, Combined elections could optimise public funds and the burden shared between the Centre and states could significantly come down. Advertisement Young women with their faces and hands painted encourage people to vote in Amritsar. Proponents of One Nation, One Election say this idea will change how the country votes. File image/PTI Another reason to implement One Nation, One Election, according to supporters, is that it will allow for easy governance. They argue that as elections are almost perpetually being held in some part of the country, the Election Commission implements the Model Code of Conduct, which puts a hold on introducing projects or policy plans. Some also argue that holding simultaneous elections would improve voter turnout. As the Law Commission previously noted it would be easier for voters to cast many votes at one time rather than voting on different occasions. One Nation, One Election would also reduce the burden on the security forces, which are roped in to ensure smooth and violent-free polls. Advertisement Lastly, constant electioneering has resulted in polarising campaigns, which has created deep cracks in our multi-religious and multilingual country. One Nation, One Election would be able to resolve this issue. If thats the case, why are people opposing it? While there are several benefits to implementing One Nation, One Election, the idea is not without its drawbacks. Some argue that holding elections for both the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies would result in national issues overshadowing regional and state-specific issues. Moreover, national political parties would earn a huge advantage over regional parties. A study by the IDFC Institute in 2015 found that 77 per cent of electors are likely to cast votes for the same party in case of simultaneous polls. However, only 61 per cent of voters will choose the same party if polls are conducted six months apart. A polling officer holds a voting compartment as an elderly person casts his vote sitting in his home, in New Delhi. Critics argue that One Nation, One Election would affect the countrys federal structure. File image/AP Theres also the problem of requiring more manpower as well as electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. Earlier, Communist Party of Indias D Raja had said: One Nation, One Election is not a new issue. It has been discussed for several years. Ever since the BJP came to power, it has been obsessed with one nation, one culture; one nation, one religion; one nation, one language; one nation, one tax; now one nation, one election; then one nation, one party; one nation, one leader. That is the obsession the BJP is suffering from. The TMC, speaking on the Cabinets approval of the plan, also expressed its disdain for the BJP. Party leader Derek OBrien said, One nation, one election is just another cheap stunt by the anti-democratic BJP. Theres also the issue of One Nation, One Election requiring constitutional amendments. To make this a reality, constitutional amendments will have to be made to Articles 83, 85, 172 and 174 that deal with the duration and dissolution of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies. It will also require the amendment of Article 356. With inputs from agencies Several pagers belonging to Hezbollah officials blew up on Tuesday, killing nine and injuring over 2,500 people. This isnt the only time that communication devices have turned into killers Hamas operatives and others have died when phones have been rigged with explosives read more Amidst the Israel war in Gaza, theres been news of missile attacks and audacious assassinations. However, on Tuesday (September 17), at 3.30 pm local time, emerged the most bizarre, but what seems to be the most daring attack a series of pager explosions across Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah operatives. Nine people, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed while Lebanon officials put the injured count at 2,750. Those wounded in the attack include Irans ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani. Advertisement Shortly after the attack, which led to chaos and panic in Lebanon with people rushing the injured to the hospitals, the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, blamed Israel for the explosions, with one official saying it was the biggest security breach for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. The New York Times has reported that Israels spy agency, Mossad, hid explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon. Another report said that three grammes of explosive was inserted near the battery of the pager and a switch was also embedded which could be detonated remotely. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel. The group said two of its fighters were among the dead and threatened a just punishment. We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians, a statement said. Notably, this is not the first time that a communication device phone, mobile has been turned into a killer. Here are some infamous instances from the past. 1972: Mahmoud Hamshari Following the Munich Massacre, in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed at the Munich Olympics in 1972, Mossad drew up a plan, titled Operation Wrath of God, which sought to seek justice for the deaths of the 11 athletes. Advertisement As part of the covert programme, they targeted Mahmoud Hamshari, the representative of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Paris. Mossad operatives broke into Hamsharis residence earlier and planted a bomb in the base of his phone. On December 8, one of the Mossad members, who had posed as a journalist earlier and scheduled a call with him, called up the PLO representative. When Hamshari identified himself, the bomb installed in his telephone was remotely activated. He was killed in the blast instantly. Zvi Zamir, then chief of the Mossad, was later quoted as saying that the message Israel wanted to send out was we shall reach them. Advertisement Leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Yasser Arafat stands in front of the tomb of Mahmoud Hamshari at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Mahmoud Hamshari was the representative of the PLO n in France who was murdered in Paris on December 1972. File image/AFP 1996: Yahya Ayyash Also known as the Engineer, Yahya Ayyash was the chief bomb maker of Hamas in the late 1990s. He was credited for introducing suicide bombings as a terror weapon against Israel. Moreover, the Jewish nation believed him to be the mastermind behind terror attacks since 1992 that claimed at least 60 lives and wounded hundreds. It is reported that Ayyash was able to fashion explosives out of available household products such as a combination of acetone and detergent. Owing to his penchant for explosives, he earned the attention of Shin Bet, Israels internal security agency. On January 5, 1996, Ayyash was killed when his mobile phone a Motorola Alpha brought into Gaza by a Palestinian collaborator exploded during his weekly phone call to his father. According to reports, Shin Bet had intercepted the call, confirmed his identity, and detonated explosives inside the phone remotely. Advertisement Nobody claimed responsibility for Ayyashs killing. However, Israeli state radio reported his death citing informed Israeli sources. 2000: Samih Malabi In December 2000, Samih Malabi, a Fatah activist from the Kalandia refugee camp outside Ramallah, was killed when a booby-trapped mobile phone exploded next to his head. While Israel never confirmed if it was them behind the killing, the style was reminiscent of how Shin Bet had taken out Ayyash earlier. A Palestinian boy holds up posters of Yahya Ayyash at a memorial rally for the Hamas master bomb-maker. Ayyash, also known as The Engineer and who had been hiding from Israeli forces, was killed when a booby-trapped cellular phone exploded in his Gaza hideout. File image/Reuters 2004: Izz Eldine Subhi Sheik Khalil On September 27, 2004, 42-year-old Hamas leader Izz Eldine Subhi Sheik Khalil was blown to pieces outside his home in Damascus after a phone-triggered bomb exploded in his car. Advertisement According to reports, the car exploded after he received a call on his mobile phone, which triggered the explosive. Police and witnesses said Khalil, who had been speaking on his cellphone, started his white Mitsubishi Jeep and drove 10 yards before it exploded. The police later said that the bomb had been planted under the drivers seat. Sources later said that Israel had carried out the operation in retaliation for a Hamas bus bombing the previous month that killed 16 Israelis. Ambulances arrive at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon. Reuters 2024: Hezbollahs exploding pagers The latest instance of communication devices turning deadly came on Tuesday when several pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and even in Syria. The explosions took place over a period of an hour and CCTV and phone footage available on social media shows how people were going through their daily lives when the detonations took place. The injured over 2,500 were rushed to nearby hospitals, with doctors reporting that many were missing fingers and had facial injuries. Others were bleeding profusely from their upper thighs near where trouser pockets would normally be and in some cases from their abdomens. Analysts are of the opinion that Israel infiltrated a supply chain to cause the simultaneous explosion of hundreds of Hezbollah pagers. Brussels-based military and security analyst Elijah Magnier told AFP, Israeli intelligence has infiltrated the production process, adding an explosive component and remote triggering mechanism into the pagers without raising suspicion. And Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute agrees. This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override. A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page. Mossad infiltrated the supply chain, he was quoted as telling AFP. With inputs from agencies Tupperware, known for its airtight containers, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. The move comes as the American company failed to create demand amid rising competition read more Tupperware has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US. File Photo/AFP A household is incomplete without a Tupperware container. However, it is a tough time for the beloved US brand. Tupperware Brands Corp has filed for bankruptcy amid declining sales and increasing competition. The food storage container firm had previously warned of doubts about its ability to continue operations. The company has now gone under. Lets take a closer look. How Tupperware came to be Tupperware was founded in 1946 by chemist Earl Tupper. According to the companys website, its founder had a spark of inspiration while creating moulds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression. Advertisement Tupperware used new plastics to keep food fresh for longer. The innovation came at a time when refrigerators were too expensive for many families. However, its products did not fly off the shelves at the beginning. It was the trailblazing American salesperson Brownie Wise who helped turn the companys fortunes. She started organising Tupperware parties, in which salespeople mostly women sold Tupperware to other women at gatherings at their homes. Tupperware was founded in The brand became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, growing synonymous with plastic containers. Tupperwares flexible airtight seal sets its products apart. Today, Tupperware has become a necessary item in every household. We use it (Tupperware) as a noun, which is quite unusual for a brand, Catherine Shuttleworth, founder of retail analysis firm Savvy Marketing, told BBC. I think a lot of younger people will be surprised it is a brand in itself. The company says its products are now sold in nearly 100 countries around the world. What went wrong? Tupperwares plastic products could not keep up with the environmentally aware consumers of today. The party has been over for some time for Tupperware, Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, told BBC. Shifts in buyer behaviour pushed its containers out of fashion, as consumers have started to wean themselves off addictions to plastics and find more environmentally conscious ways of storing food. Advertisement Last year, the company had warned it may go bust. After a brief rise in demand during the pandemic, Tupperwares demand continued to fall. The 78-year-old company was also stung by rising costs, with prices of plastics and shipping increasing sharply in recent years, as per The Telegraph report. Higher wages and transportation costs also hit the company which struggled to compete with cheaper, non-branded plastic food containers. Tupperware recently tried to reinvent itself to appear to a younger audience by selling products via Amazon and Target. However, it was too late. In June, the Orlando-based firm announced plans to lay off 148 employees by closing its only US factory in early 2025, shifting production to Mexico. Advertisement Tupperware files for bankruptcy Tupperware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday (September 19). Over the last several years, the companys financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment, president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman reportedly said in a statement. The company said it would seek the courts permission to begin the sale process for the business to protect its brand and further advance Tupperwares transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company. The New York-listed firm also expressed interest to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings. We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process, Goldman said, as per AFP. Advertisement Its shares fell by over 50 per cent this week after reports surfaced that the company was planning to file for bankruptcy, reported BBC. Tupperwares filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware revealed it has assets of between $500 million to $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion. As per Bloomberg, the bankruptcy filing comes months after talks between Tupperware and its lenders over how to manage more than $700 million in loans. The business continued to decline even after the creditors gave room to manoeuvre that debt. Tupperware said it has made significant progress in upgrading its operations and improving efficiencies after the appointment of a new management team last year. Advertisement The company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work. With inputs from agencies Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded in Syria and Lebanon on Tuesday, leaving nine people dead and thousands injured. Experts said the Iran-backed terror group turned to the devices out of fears that cellphones could be hacked by Israel and the United States. The attack has dealt a blow to its operation capabilities and psyche read more Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on Tuesday. AP Hezbollah has been left shocked and embarrassed. Hundreds of pagers used by its members exploded in Syria and Lebanon leaving nine people dead and thousands injured. The governments of Syria and Lebanon have pointed the finger at Israel for the attack. Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, is an ally of Iran. Israel and Hezbollah have frequently exchanged fire across the Lebanon border since the October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza. Advertisement But what happened? And how is the attack a huge blow to Hezbollah? Lets take a closer look: What happened? Around 3:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles in the afternoon traffic, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorised its brand on the AR-924 pagers used by the Hezbollah militant group, but the devices were produced and sold by a company called BAC. One online video showed a man picking through produce at a grocery store when the bag he was carrying at his hip explodes, sending him sprawling to the ground and bystanders running. At overwhelmed hospitals, wounded were rushed in on stretchers, some with missing hands, faces partly blown away or gaping holes at their hips and legs, according to photographers. On a main road in central Beirut, a car door was splattered with blood and the windshield cracked. Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad told Qatars Al Jazeera network at least nine people were killed, including an 8-year-old girl, and some 2,750 were wounded 200 of them critically by the explosions. Most had injuries in the face, hand, or around the abdomen. Advertisement Abiad told the BBC most injuries appear to be to the face and especially to the eyes, and also the hand with some amputations, whether its in the hands or the fingers. Abiad added that since the vast majority were wearing civilian clothes, Abiad told the broadcaster, this makes it very difficult to discern whether they belong to a certain entity like Hezbollah or others. But we are seeing among them people who are old or people who are very young, like the child who unfortunately died, and there are some of them who are health care workers, Abiad said. Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad told Qatars Al Jazeera network at least nine people were killed, including an 8-year-old girl, and some 2,750 were wounded. AP The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the press. Advertisement The explosions came hours after Israels internal security agency said it had foiled an attempt by Hezbollah to kill a former senior Israeli security official using a planted explosive device that could be remotely detonated. An American official said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the conclusion of the operation, in which small amounts of explosive secreted in the pagers were detonated. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the information publicly. The United States was not aware of this incident in advance and was not involved, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. At this point, were gathering information. Advertisement Experts said the pager explosions pointed to a long-planned operation, possibly carried out by infiltrating the supply chain and rigging the devices with explosives before they were delivered to Lebanon. Whatever the means, it targeted an extraordinary breadth of people with hundreds of small explosions wherever the pager carrier happened to be that left some maimed. The Israeli military declined to comment. Among those wounded was Irans ambassador to Lebanon. Elijah J Magnier, a Brussels-based senior political risk analyst, said he spoke with Hezbollah members who had examined pagers that failed to explode. What triggered the blasts, he said, appeared to be an error message sent to all the devices that caused them to vibrate, forcing the user to click on the buttons to stop the vibration. Advertisement The combination detonated a small amount of explosives hidden inside and ensured that the user was present when the blast went off, he said. We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians, Hezbollah said, adding that Israel will for sure get its just punishment. Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said that the countrys ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, was superficially wounded by an exploding pager and was being treated at a hospital. Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordnance disposal expert, said videos of the blasts suggested a small explosive charge as small as a pencil eraser had been placed into the devices. They would have had to have been rigged prior to delivery, very likely by Mossad, Israels foreign intelligence agency, he said. How is this a huge blow to Hezbollah? First, Hezbollah actually lost some of its members in the operation. At least eight Hezbollah members were killed including the son of a Member of Parliament. This is also a blow to their strategy. According to CNN, Hezbollah has stayed away from hi-tech devices. This, out of fears that the technology would be vulnerable to spyware from Israel and the United States. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah earlier this warned his followers to get rid of their cellphones. Shut it off, bury it, put it in an iron chest and lock it up, CNN quoted him as saying. The collaborator (with the Israelis) is the cell phone in your hands, and those of your wife and your children. This cell phone is the collaborator and the killer. The pagers that blew up were apparently acquired by Hezbollah after the groups leader ordered members in February to stop using cellphones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence. A Hezbollah official said pagers were a new brand, but declined to say how long they had been in use. Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, warned his followers to get rid of their cellphones. Reuters A piece in Al Jazeera noted that Hezbollah would have thought pagers were a low-tech substitute for cellphones thus making it much harder to hack. Ex-Israeli official Avi Melamed told CNN, Hezbollah regressed back to these devices thinking [they] would be safer for its combatants to use instead of phones which could be GPS targeted. These very low-tech devices were used against them and very possibly deepening the stress and embarrassment on its leaders. Elijah Magnier, an independent military and political analyst, told Al Jazeera, This is not a new system. It has been used in the past so in this case, there has been involvement of a third party to allow access to remotely activate the explosions. Perhaps, as importantly, this is a blow to Hezbollahs psyche and its the ground operational capabilities. These explosions are powerful enough to [severely] hit the psychology of Hezbollah, Magnier said. Anadolu Agency quoted a former Israeli military commander as saying the terror groups operational capabilities have been severely degraded. This is an opportunity to alter the current dynamics of the conflict with Hezbollah, Yiftah Ron-Tal, a Major-General reserve in the Israeli army, said. David Des Roches, a professor with the National Defense University, told Al Jazeera the operation was a significant coup. What it shows is that Hezbollah is thoroughly riddled with Israeli sources. The main thing here is [that] individual Hezbollah fighters will no longer trust Hezbollah equipment, so what youve got is a step back in communications. Hezbollah fights as a networked organisation and that requires pretty good real-time communications. Theyre not going to have that any more, Des Roches told Al Jazeera. The attack also sends a message to Nasrallah. Repeatedly Israeli intelligence has shown its reach into Hezbollah, most notably the assassination of the senior commander Fuad Shukr in late July. This latest attack will cause deep internal concern within Hezbollah, possibly even some chaos among its ranks, their safety now compromised in such a dramatic way, the Al Jazeera piece noted. We can reach you anywhere, anytime, at the day and moment of our choosing and we can do it at the press of a button, CNNs Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller said. Ex-Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin agreed. It seems the goal was to pass a message that sharpens the dilemma of Nasrallah: how much is he willing to pay for continuing to attack Israel and backing [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar? Yadlin wrote on X. The organisation, which prides itself on secrecy and a high level of security, found itself penetrated and exposed. Israel has a long history of carrying out deadly operations well beyond its borders. This year, separate Israeli airstrikes in Beirut killed senior Hamas official Saleh Arouri and a top Hezbollah commander. A mysterious explosion in Iran, also blamed on Israel, killed Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas supreme leader. Israel has killed Hamas militants in the past with booby-trapped cellphones and its widely believed to have been behind the Stuxnet computer virus attack on Irans nuclear program in 2010. The pager bombings are likely to stoke Hezbollahs worries about vulnerabilities in security and communications as Israeli officials are threaten to escalate their monthslong conflict. The near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah have killed hundreds in Lebanon and several dozen in Israel, and have displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, deplored the attack and warned that it marks an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context. On Tuesday, Israel said that halting Hezbollahs attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal. Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said the focus of the conflict is shifting from Gaza to Israels north and that time is running out for a diplomatic solution with Hezbollah. With inputs from agencies A sophisticated attack on Hezbollahs pagers, allegedly by Israel, has heightened tensions in the region, leaving Hezbollah with little option but to retaliate. The strike, which disrupted the groups communication network, has resulted in 11 deaths so far and thousands of injuries. As Hezbollah vows revenge, the risk of a full-scale conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Axis of Resistance looms larger read more People gather outside a hospital as more than 2,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, September 17, 2024. File Image/Reuters The alleged Israeli attack on members of Hezbollah via their pagers is another ominous development propelling the Middle East towards a full-scale regional war. It leaves Hezbollah with little option but to retaliate with the full support of the Iran-led axis of resistance. The sophistication and impact of targeting the pagers is unprecedented. The attack resulted in at least 11 deaths, including some of Hezbollahs fighters, and up to 3,000 people wounded. The main aim of the attack, which US officials have reportedly said was carried out by Israel, was intended to disrupt Hezbollahs means of communication and its command and control system in Lebanon. Advertisement Since Hezbollah has reduced the use of mobile phones by its forces because Israel can easily detect and target them, pagers have increasingly become the preferred messaging device within the group. The attack may have also been designed to cause panic within the group and among the Lebanese public, many of whom do not support Hezbollah, given the political divisions in the country. Since Hamas October 7 attacks on southern Israel, the Israeli leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said it is determined to remove the threat of Hezbollah, which has operated in solidarity with Hamas. Hours before the pager attack, Netanyahus government clarified that Israels war goals would expand to include a return of the tens of thousands of residents to their homes in northern Israel, which they have fled due to constant rocket fire from Hezbollah. Israels defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the only way to do this was through military action. The simultaneous pager explosions on Tuesday, then, may be a prelude to an all-out Israeli offensive against Hezbollah. What could be the consequences of war with Hezbollah? Hezbollah has already declared it will retaliate. What form this will take remains to be seen. The group has a massive military capability to not only to pound northern Israel with drones and missiles, but also attack other parts of the Jewish state, including heavily populated cities such as Tel Aviv. Advertisement Hezbollah showed this capability in its 2006 war with Israel. The war lasted 34 days, during which (121 IDF soldiers and 44 civilians) and Israels economy and tourist industry were markedly damaged. Hezbollah and Lebanese losses were far greater, with at least 1,100 deaths. However, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) failed to destroy or incapacitate the group. Any successful retaliatory attack on Israels cities could result in serious civilian casualties, giving Israel a further pretext to pursue its long-held aim of destroying Hezbollah and punishing its main backer, the Islamic Republic of Iran. In a wider conflict, the United States is committed to defending Israel, while Iran would support Hezbollah in whatever way necessary. If Israeli and US leaders think Iran will continue to refrain from any action that could propel it into war with Israel and the US, they are mistaken. Advertisement Hezbollah is a central piece in the regimes national and regional security paradigm. Tehran has invested heavily in the group, along with other regional affiliates Iraqi militias, the Yemeni Houthis and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, in particular. The aim of this axis of resistance has been to build a strong deterrent against Israel and the US. Ever since its foundation 45 years ago, the Iranian regime has viewed Israel and its main backer, the US, as an existential threat, just as Israel has regarded Iran in the same way. For this, the regime has reoriented its foreign relations towards Americas major adversaries, especially Russia and China. Russo-Iranian military cooperation has grown so strong, in fact, that Moscow will have little hesitation in backing Iran and its affiliates in any war. Advertisement Tehran is fully cognisant of Israels nuclear prowess. To guard against it, Iran has developed its own nuclear program to the threshold level of developing a weapon. Iranian leaders may have also gained Russias assurances it would help defend Iran should Israel resort to the use of its nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, it is important to remember that after nearly a year of demolishing Gaza and devastating its inhabitants, Israel has not been able to wipe out Hamas. Its own actions speak to this. It has constantly forced Gazans to relocate so IDF soldiers can operate in areas they had previously declared to be cleared of fighters. Advertisement The task of defeating Hezbollah and its backers would be a far greater objective to achieve. It carries the serious risk of a war that all parties have been saying that they do not want, yet all are preparing for. The pager attack is just the latest in a string of operations that keeps imperilling any chances of a permanent Gaza ceasefire that could stabilise the region and contribute to the causes of peace rather than war. Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The Nipah virus has resurfaced in Kerala, tragically claiming the life of a 24-year-old student from the states Malappuram district on September 9th. This marks the sixth time since 2018 that the southern state is staring at an outbreak with 175 people in contact with the deceased being tracked read more To curb the Nipah virus spread, the state health minister Veena George has declared five wards in Malappuram as containment zones and initiated household surveys. Image for Representation. Reuters The Nipah virus has resurfaced in Kerala, tragically claiming the life of a 24-year-old student from the states Malappuram district on September 9th. This marks the sixth time since 2018 that Kerala has been staring at an outbreak of Nipah, coinciding with the vibrant Onam festival, which has now been overshadowed by growing fears of the deadly virus. Health officials have so far traced 175 individuals who had contact with the victim and have ramped up measures to prevent a larger outbreak in the district, reported ANI. Advertisement Heres a detailed look at the latest case and the steps Kerala is taking to prevent the virus from spreading further. According to a report by India Today, the 24-year-old man, who succumbed to Nipah virus, was a student who had returned home from Bengaluru late last month to seek treatment for a leg injury. He visited four hospitals in search of relief before a private hospital flagged his symptoms to the state health department, suspecting Nipah. Those infected with Nipah virus show symptoms such as fever, headaches, muscle pain, vomiting, and sore throat. This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis. Some people can also experience atypical pneumonia and severe respiratory problems, including acute respiratory distress, says the WHO website. News18 As per the World Health Organization (WHO), the initial symptoms that infected humans show are fever, headaches, muscle pain, vomiting and sore throat. This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis. Some people can also experience atypical pneumonia and severe respiratory problems, including acute respiratory distress, says the WHO website. With a fatality rate between 40 per cent and 75 per cent and no known cure, the zoonotic virus remains a serious threat. After the students death, his swab samples were tested in Kozhikode, confirming the presence of Nipah virus on September 16th. The results were further verified by the National Institute of Virology in Pune. Following the confirmation, health authorities have scrambled into action to contain the spread of the virus. What measures have been taken? Kerala health minister Veena George informed India Today that health authorities have tracked down 175 people in Malappuram district who had come in contact with the deceased. Among them, 74 are health workers. We have categorised 104 of these contacts as high-risk. Among them, 10 have been quarantined (at Manjeri Medical College Hospital) and samples of 13 sent for testing, the health minister further said. Additionally, 16 of the students college mates, who attended his burial, have been advised to self-isolate as a precaution. Advertisement The World Health Organization describes the Nipah virus as a zoonotic virus, meaning the virus is transmitted from animals to humans and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people. Fruit bats are the usual reservoir of the virus, and humans can become infected by accidentally consuming bat-contaminated fruits or come in contact with its body fluids (such as saliva or urine). To curb the spread, the state health minister has declared five wards in Malappuram as containment zones and initiated household surveys. Masks have been made mandatory in the district, and social gatherings are now restricted. To curb the spread, the state health minister has declared five wards in Malappuram as containment zones and initiated household surveys. Shops in the containment zones must close by 7 PM, and public spaces such as cinema halls, schools, colleges, Madrassas, anganwadis, and tuition centres have been temporarily shut down to prevent crowding. Advertisement The situation is under control. No fresh cases have been reported from the locality. We are keeping vigil on the ground and asking people to mask up, M. Rajagopalan, a local CPI(M) leader from Thiruvali in Malappuram was quoted as saying in an India Today report. But why is Kerala so prone to Nipah outbreaks? Kerala experienced its first outbreak of the brain-damaging Nipah virus in 2018, when the disease struck Kozhikode district, killing 17 out of the 18 infected people. Since then, the state has seen multiple outbreaks. In June 2019, a 23-year-old student was diagnosed with Nipah in Ernakulam, and in September 2021, the virus claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy in Kozhikode. The year 2023 saw two outbreaks in Kozhikode, with six cases and two deaths reported. This latest resurgence marks the sixth time since 2018 that Kerala has faced a Nipah virus outbreak. Kozhikode and Malappuram districts have been the hardest hit, with the infection claiming 17 lives in Kozhikode since May 2018. Advertisement A Reuters investigation from May last year highlighted that rapid urbanisation and deforestation in Kerala over recent decades have created ideal conditions for a virus like Nipah to emerge. This latest resurgence marks the sixth time since 2018 that Kerala has faced a Nipah virus outbreak. Kozhikode and Malappuram districts have been the hardest hit, with the infection claiming 17 lives in Kozhikode since May 2018. File image/PTI Pragya Yadav, lead scientist on Nipah research at Punes National Institute of Virology (NIV), explained that the loss of animal habitats has brought them closer to human populations, which eventually helps the virus to jump from bats to humans, Reuters reported. Dr Yadav further explained that two key factors contribute to Nipahs reemergence in Kerala: the proximity of human settlements to forests and the states enhanced surveillance efforts. Not just Kerala, in states along the Western Ghats, human habitations are either close to the forest or within the forests, increasing the likelihood of exposure to infected animals. By contrast, in northern India, forested areas are typically more distant from human habitation. Advertisement The World Health Organization (WHO) stresses the importance of preventing the spread of Nipah, advising that close unprotected physical contact with Nipah virus-infected people should be avoided and urging regular handwashing after caring for or visiting sick individuals. With input from agencies Scientists have discovered a new blood group system, MAL, solving a medical mystery that has puzzled experts since 1972. The research, led by NHS Blood and Transplant and the University of Bristol, identified the AnWj antigens genetic basis, marking the 47th known blood group system. It is expected to reduce the risk of transfusion read more The AnWj antigen an antigen is a surface marker - was discovered in 1972 but its genetic background was unknown until now. Representational Image/Pixabay Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery with the identification of a new blood group system, MAL, solving a medical mystery that has puzzled researchers for more than five decades. This newly discovered blood group sheds light on the previously elusive AnWj antigen, opening doors to better care for individuals with rare blood types. The research article was published in Blood, a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Society of Hematology. How was the new blood group discovered? Advertisement In 1972, a pregnant womans blood sample revealed a strange anomaly: it lacked a surface molecule, or antigen, found in all other known blood types. This mystery persisted for 50 years until a research team from UKs NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in collaboration with the University of Bristol finally solved it. The researchers identified the AnWj antigen as part of a new blood group system, named MAL, marking it the 47th known blood group system. This represents a huge achievement and the culmination of a long team effort to finally establish this new blood group system and be able to offer the best care to rare, but important, patients, Louise Tilley, Senior Research Scientist at NHSBT, said in a press release. Tilley, who has worked on this project for nearly 20 years, highlighted the significance of the discovery, noting that it will allow for more precise identification and treatment of patients with rare blood types. How did the AnWj Antigen lead to the MAL blood group? The AnWj antigen, a surface marker on red blood cells, was first discovered in 1972 but remained poorly understood until now. More than 99.9 per cent of the population is AnWj-positive, meaning their blood contains the antigen, while those who are AnWj-negative face severe risks if given AnWj-positive blood during transfusions. Advertisement The most common reason for lacking this antigen is due to illnesses like cancer or certain blood disorders, but the research team found that a handful of people genetically lack it. Resolving the genetic basis for AnWj has been one of our most challenging projects, said Nicole Thornton, Head of IBGRL Red Cell Reference at NHSBT. There is so much work that goes into proving that a gene does actually encode a blood group antigen, but it is what we are passionate about, making these discoveries for the benefit of rare patients around the world. The new findings reveal that the AnWj antigen is carried on the Mal protein. People who are AnWj-positive express the Mal protein on their red blood cells, while those with a genetic deletion of the MAL gene do not, rendering them AnWj-negative. Advertisement What was the process behind the discovery? The research team used cutting-edge technology, including whole exome sequencing, to unravel the mystery behind the AnWj antigen. Whole exome sequencing involves the genetic analysis of all DNA that encodes proteins, and in this case, it revealed that the rare inherited AnWj-negative cases were caused by homozygous deletions in the MAL gene. Its really exciting that we were able to use our ability to manipulate gene expression in developing blood cells to help confirm the identity of the AnWj blood group, which has been an outstanding puzzle for half a century, said Ash Toye, Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Bristol. This development will help identify these rare donors and help patients in the future. Advertisement The breakthrough also confirmed that Mal protein plays a vital role in maintaining the stability of cell membranes and aiding in cell transport. Interestingly, AnWj antigens do not appear in newborns but develop soon after birth. What does this discovery mean for patients & the future of medical care? The discovery of the MAL blood group system will not only help in identifying AnWj-negative individuals but also pave the way for the development of genotyping tests to detect such rare cases. These tests will be crucial for preventing life-threatening transfusion reactions in patients who lack the AnWj antigen. Now, genotyping tests can be designed to identify genetically AnWj-negative patients and donors. Such tests can be added to the existing genotyping platforms, said Thornton. This advancement will greatly benefit approximately 400 patients worldwide each year, who depend on precise blood matching for survival. Advertisement The discovery is not just a scientific achievement it has real-world implications for medical care. Rare blood types like AnWj-negative, which were once difficult to detect, can now be identified through advanced genetic testing, making blood transfusions safer and more effective for these patients. Tilley reflected on the long road to this discovery: The genetic background of AnWj has been a mystery for more than 50 years, and one which I personally have been trying to resolve for almost 20 years of my career. The discovery of the MAL blood group represents a milestone in medical research, with the potential to save thousands of lives globally. The ability to genotype for the AnWj antigen will revolutionise the way rare blood types are treated and ensure that more patients receive the life-saving transfusions they need without the risk of severe reactions. The doctors maintained that although the government agreed on most of their demands and accepted them as legitimate, they stopped short of putting it down in writing read more Junior doctors have been agitating for better security measures for themselves at their workplaces in the aftermath of the RG Kar rape case. PTI The second round of talks between agitating junior doctors and officials of the West Bengal government failed to resolve the impasse due to the RG Kar issue on Wednesday night despite the meeting taking place on a positive note, following the state governments refusal to hand over written minutes of the talks, the doctors alleged. The stirring medics announced that they would continue with their agitation and cease work till the government issues written directives on the safety and security measures for doctors in state-run hospitals as agreed in the talks. Advertisement While the talks went smoothly, the government refused to hand over signed and written minutes of the issues which were discussed. We are feeling let down and disappointed with the governments attitude. We will send an email tomorrow detailing our demands based on which the government has assured it will issue directives. We will continue our agitation till then, Dr Aniket Mahato, one of the agitating doctors, said. The doctors maintained that although the government agreed on most of their demands and accepted them as legitimate, they stopped short of putting it down in writing. Allegations of widespread corruption at government healthcare facilities and arm-twisting practices on students and trainee doctors compromising their safety and security on campuses by a section of power corridor personnel at state-run hospitals have also subsequently come to light, intensifying the clamour for action against the health secretary. The meeting between Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and a delegation of 30 junior doctors started at the state secretariat, Nabanna, around 7.30 pm, an hour after the scheduled time fixed by the state, and lasted for over two hours, sources said. The protesting medics were again accompanied by stenographers to record the minutes of the meeting. On Monday, during the meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence, the agitators were accompanied by stenographers as well. We want the issue of safety and security in hospitals to be addressed. The chief minister had announced the formation of a task force, but there is no proper clarity on it. We want the state government to accept our legitimate demands, an agitating doctor said before leaving for the meeting venue. Advertisement The West Bengal government on Wednesday invited the junior doctors agitating over the RG Kar rape-murder incident for a meeting at the state secretariat at 6.30 pm, responding to their request for a fresh round of talks. This was the second round of talks between the medics and the state government in 48 hours. In the notice issued to Pakistan under Article XII(3) of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), India has highlighted multiple concerns including environmental issues, change in population demographics, and the need to accelerate the development of clean energy to meet Indias emission targets read more The notice sent to Pakistan by India highlighted that a one-sided Indus Water Treaty had been there since it was signed in 1960. Source: News18. India has sent Pakistan a formal notice seeking a review in the crucial Indus Water Treaty, arguing reassessment and negotiations of the pact over fundamental and unforeseen changes. A report by PTI quoted government sources as saying that the notice to Pakistan was issued on August 30 under Article XII(3) of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). As per sources to News18, India, in the notice issued to Pakistan, stated that it was not feasible to maintain the same treaty in todays scenario and needed to be reassessed. Advertisement The sources further said that several concerns highlighted by the Indian side included environmental issues, change in population demographics, and the need to accelerate the development of clean energy to meet Indias emission targets. India and Pakistan signed the Indus Water Treaty on September 19, 1960, after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory of the pact. The notice sent to Pakistan by India highlighted that a one-sided water treaty had been there since it was signed. India also cited the impact of persistent cross-border terrorism and how Pakistan was taking undue advantage of Indian generosity, as one of the reasons for demanding a review. The notification was issued in the background of a separate prolonged controversy with respect to the Kishanganga and Ratle hydro projects, a PTI report quoted the source as saying. In this regard, the World Bank has simultaneously activated both the neutral-expert mechanism and the Court of Arbitration on the same set of issues, the source further said. The Indian side has, therefore, also called for a reconsideration of the dispute-resolution mechanism under the treaty, the source added. As per a report by ToI, in January 2023, a notice was sent by India to Pakistan seeking an amendment to the treaty. It was issued due to Pakistans failure to cooperate in the implementation of the treaty. Advertisement What is Indus Water Treaty The Indus Water Treaty is a water-sharing agreement between India and Pakistan. It governs the use of waters of six rivers - Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej - originating in India and flowing into Pakistan. As per the treaty waters of the eastern rivers Ravi, Beas, Sutlej amounting to around 33 million acre-feet (MAF) annually is allocated to India for unrestricted use, while the majority of the water from the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab which amounts to approximately 135 MAF annually, has been allocated to Pakistan. As per the treaty, India can generate hydroelectricity through run-of-the-river projects on the western rivers. However, these are subject to operation criteria and design. Pakistan on its part can raise objections to the design created by the Indian hydroelectric projects. Advertisement As per the treaty, Pakistan received approximately 80 per cent of the water in the Indus drainage system. As for India, the country uses more than 90 per cent of Indus waters share allocated to it. India has the right to use water resources from the Indus River system in several states, including Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. While these states receive water from the Yamuna river as well, Pakistan relies heavily on the Indus system. Whenever India tries to utilise its allocated water quota or construct a dam as per the treaty, Pakistan raises objections. This is one of the major causes of tension between the two neighbouring countries. Advertisement With inputs from agencies. We're closing the live blog for the day. Catch all latest updates on Firstpost. Jammu and Kashmir recorded a voter turnout of 58.19 per cent in phase 1 of the assembly elections which are being conducted for the first time in 10 years. The polling process was considerably smooth in the seven districts that went to poll on Wednesday. A minor scuffle broke out between BJP and PDP leaders in Kishwar, although the poll was mostly violence-free. The district of Kishtwar logged the highest voter turnout at 77.23 per cent while Pulwama recorded the lowest at 46.03 per cent. The other two phases are being held on September 25 and October 1, while the counting of the votes will take place on October 8. A panel constituted to examine the feasibility of simultaneous elections submitted 18,626-page report in which it has recommended as many as 18 constitutional amendments for One Nation One Election to become a reality read more The idea of one nation, one election refers to holding simultaneous polls across the country, which means, that the elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies will be held together. Source: PTI. The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday cleared the proposal for One Nation One Election that seeks simultaneous conduct of Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, with urban body and panchayat polls to be held within 100 days of the completion of the general elections. As per sources to News18, the bill for holding simultaneous polls is expected to be introduced in the upcoming winter session of Parliament. Advertisement The bill must get the nod from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to become a law after the President of India gives assent to it. A high-level committee, chaired by former President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its report on the One Nation One Election, also known as One Nation, One Poll (ONOP) to the Modi government in March this year. The committee was constituted by the second Modi government to examine the feasibility of simultaneous elections, one of the key promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its 2024 Lok Sabha poll manifesto. What One Nation One Election report says The report, comprising 18,626 pages, details an outcome of consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work of 191 days. It lays out a detailed roadmap for the implementation of simultaneous elections aiming to streamline Indias electoral process and reduce the number of polls. 18 constitutional amendments recommended The panel recommended as many as 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not require ratification by state assemblies. They would, however, need certain constitutional amendment bills that would need to be passed by Parliament. Also, some proposed changes regarding the single electoral roll and single voter ID card would need ratification by at least half of the states. Advertisement Simultaneous polls will prevent policy paralysis The panel has emphasised that holding elections at all three levels - for the Lok Sabha, for state assemblies, and for panchayats - will avoid disruption of supply chains and production cycles due to migrant workers seeking leave of absence to cast their votes. It further said that the One Nation One Election push will also help prevent policy paralysis, and there would be no atmosphere of uncertainty. As per the report by Kovind-led panel, all state legislative assemblies constituted by state elections after the appointed date shall only be for the period up to the subsequent general elections in 2029. Advertisement In effect, state governments formed between 2024 and 2028 will have a shorter term till the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, subsequent to which there will be automatic simultaneous Lok Sabha and state elections, the report said. The report has also recommended that in the event of a hung House, no-confidence motion or any such event, fresh elections may be held to constitute the new House be it in Lok Sabha or state assemblies. The term of the new government hence formed will also be only for the unexpired term of the preceding full term of the Lok Sabha and the expiration of this period shall operate as dissolution of the House, the report said. Advertisement Prime Minister Modi, who has been a strong advocate of One Nation One Election, in his Independence Day 2024 address called for an end to the disruption caused by frequent elections, which he argued were hindering the countrys progress. Frequent elections are creating hurdles in the progress of the nation. It has become easy to link any scheme or initiative with elections. There are elections somewhere every three to six months. Every work is linked to elections, PM Modi said from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15. Earlier this week, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that One Nation One Election will be implemented during the tenure of Modi 3.0. Advertisement The BJP allies, the Janata Dal (United) or JDU and the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) have extended support for the move. But, several opposition parties, including the Congress, tge Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) among others have opposed simultaneous polls, alleging that it would benefit the ruling party at the Centre. The idea of One Nation One Election was first proposed in the 1980s. In May 1999, Justice BP Jeevan Reddy-headed Law Commission in its 170th Report said that we must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once." The elections for the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies were held simultaneously in 1951-52, 1957, 1962 and 1967. However, the cycle of state polls was disrupted due to the premature dissolution of assemblies. In 1970, the Lok Sabha was also dissolved early in 1970. With inputs from agencies. The victims parents have expressed dissatisfaction with Mamatas work in solving the case of their daughter. They, however, have faith in the Central Bureau of Investigations probe read more The father of the 31-year-old junior doctor who was raped and murdered in Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has said that his daughter would have been alive today if West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had taken action against Sandip Ghosh three years ago. Ghosh, who has been arrested by the CBI over financial irregularities at RG Kar and the rape and murder of Abhaya, has been on the wrong side of the law since 2021, the father said. Advertisement In the year 2021 also, many allegations were levelled against former principal Sandeep Ghosh, if the Chief Minister had taken action against Sandeep Ghosh then, today my daughter would have been alive, he said. In fact, a junior doctor protesting in Kolkata told Firstpost that RG Kar has long been the hub of corruption. Dr Anustup Mukherjee from Kolkata Medical College and a representative of the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front, said, There is nothing to deny the fact that the amount of financial scam that was going around in RGK for the last 3-4 years was huge. There is a good amount of suspicion that we are now coming to know from some sources that the financial irregularities might be the reason behind the motive of the incident (rape and murder) that happened, he added. Meanwhile, the victims parents have expressed dissatisfaction with Mamatas work in solving the case of their daughter. They, however, have faith in the Central Bureau of Investigations probe, saying, Whoever is connected to this murder in some way or those who are involved in tampering with evidence, all are under investigation. Advertisement Ghosh was first arrested by the investigative agency in an alleged financial irregularities case. In fact, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which also probing practices of corruption inside the hospital, has conducted multiple raids including in the ex-principals ancestral home in Kolkata. Of the four lines on the Mathura-Palwal route, three have been blocked. Efforts are on to clear these lines, the CPRO of NCR railway zone said read more Twenty wagons of a freight train carrying coal derailed in Uttar Pradesh. Image used for representative purpose/PTI Twenty coal-loaded wagons of a freight train derailed near Vrindavan Road station in Uttar Pradesh around 8 pm on Wednesday (September 18), a railway spokesperson said. The Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of National Capital Region (NCR) railway zone said that the derailment has blocked three rail lines which has brought the train traffic at halt on Mathura-Palwal route. He said that efforts are on to clear these lines as soon as possible. Advertisement The spokesperson said this route has a fourth line as well. We are trying to figure out if there is no infringement of the fourth line, he said. Train derailment in Bihar This was the second train derailment incident of the day in India. Earlier, around 5 pm, four wagons of a mechanical rake derailed near Narayanpur Anant yard in Bihars Muzaffarpur district. Following the accident, over 10 trains had to be diverted, and some others had to be short-terminated, the East Central Railway CPRO Sharswati Chandra told PTI. The incident has caused disruption of rail traffic on the route. Mechanical and other technical staff are on the job to restore services, he had said. Amid frequent train accidents, directives to authorities In an important step to avoid train collisions, Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar has written to the general managers of all 17 zones asking them to monitor technical reports generated by a device called data logger on a daily basis. Data logger is fitted at stations and it records real time data of all aspects of train operations as well as the signal system. Advertisement It generates an exception report in case a station master fails to take steps to ensure that a train does not come on the same track already occupied by another train. With inputs from PTI Russia not evicting the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk should not be viewed as a weakness but could be a deliberate move to achieve its bigger goal in eastern Ukraine read more On September 10, there were reports that Russia had captured the village of Novohrodivka, just 10 km from Pokrovsk, which is a key transportation hub sitting at the crossroads of major road and rail networks vital for the supply and reinforcement of Ukrainian positions throughout the eastern front. Apparently, the city is now a shadow of its previous self. A substation has been hit, leaving half the city without power; water supplies have also been disrupted. Just two months ago, 48,000 people were still living here. Now half of them have left. The bustling downtown with shops and supermarkets is eerily quiet. Banks, supermarkets, and most cafes are closed. The hospital has been evacuated. Outside the city, excavators are digging trenches in the fields. Advertisement If Pokrovsk falls, then Russian forces will be able to cut off one of the main supply routes in the region. This may force Ukraine to retreat from Chasiv Yar, and the front line will move closer to Kramatorsk. For Ukraine, this would effectively mean the loss of a major portion of the Donetsk region, which Russia has fought to capture since the beginning of the invasion. The ongoing battle However, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraines commander-in-chief, has stated that the Army has managed to stop the Russian advance towards Pokrovsk. While a battalion commander of the 110th Brigade has been quoted saying that the front line on the northern flank of Russias assault on Pokrovsk had indeed been stabilised. However, Russian attacks are mostly focused on the southern flank, and battles are continuing. One of the areas on that flank that Russians are trying to seize is Selydove, a small town southeast of Pokrovsk where there are reports of an intense battle near the railway bridge. Kursk: A gamble On August 6, Ukraine launched a bold offensive into Russias Kursk region. Since then, Ukraine has captured a significant tract of Russian territory. Although Russia had two defensive lines established in Kursk, they were lightly manned by border guards and conscripts, backed by an Akhmat unit, which is a Chechen unit. Advertisement Effectively combining armour, mechanised infantry, and artillery, Ukrainian forces quickly bypassed or encircled the Russian defenders. But, six weeks into the attack, while the Ukrainian forces are holding territory and continuing offensive operations, they are unsure what to make of this tactical success. Their offensive has yet to draw significant Russian forces from Ukraines eastern regions, and it remains unclear how Ukraine intends to translate this into strategic gains. The offensive offers opportunities but also carries considerable risks and costs. Reinforcing the offensive requires additional troops, which means thinning out defences opposite the Russians in eastern Ukraine. There is also the danger of being cut off if they extend themselves too far without consolidation. Advertisement There is also another issue: these are some of Ukraines better and most experienced troops, drawn from Ukraines elite Air Assault Forces. Some have been pulled off the frontlines in Donetsk and Kharkiv, where they were fighting against a Russian advance, whereas others would have served as an important reserve to stem Russian momentum. By thinning out resources from defences, Ukraine was hoping that the 750-mile front wouldnt collapse and, most importantly, the benefits from its operations in Kursk would outweigh the costs sustained elsewhere. Russia, however, retains an advantage in troops, equipment, and ammunition, and they have kept advancing in the weeks since Ukraine pushed into Kursk. Recently, the pace of that advance has accelerated, and Ukraines position looks increasingly precarious along parts of the front, especially in front of Pokrovosk. The fact is that Ukraines incursion into Kursk has failed to force Russia to divert its troops from eastern Ukraine. But conversely for Russia, the Kursk incursion has drawn Ukrainian resources away from more critical fronts, and by maintaining their focus on Donetsk, Russian forces have been able to press their advantage by potentially exploiting Ukrainian vulnerabilities. Ukraines concerns Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has complained that it has become increasingly difficult to use Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets in occupied Ukraine because of a lack of supplies and reduced cooperation from the US, UK, and France. The plant will be making three rack-mounted enterprise AI servers and two flagship 8-way GPU servers. These advanced servers, featuring, are specifically designed for AI workloads read more In addition to expanding its AI server production, Lenovo has opened a new state-of-the-art Research and Development (R&D) lab in Bengaluru. This lab will be dedicated to advancing Lenovos Infrastructure Solutions and will play a key role in designing and developing next-generation server platforms. Image Credit: Reuters Lenovo has begun manufacturing AI servers at its Puducherry facility in India, a site that has been operational since 2005. This new production line will focus on enterprise AI and GPU servers designed to meet the growing demand for AI infrastructure, both locally and internationally. With over 60 per cent of the servers produced at this facility slated for export to the Asia-Pacific region, Lenovo aims to establish India as a central hub for AI technology manufacturing and innovation. Advertisement AI Servers and GPU servers to boost global market presence The plant will be making three rack-mounted enterprise AI servers and two flagship 8-way GPU servers. These advanced servers, featuring, are specifically designed for AI workloads. The facility has the capacity to produce around 50,000 enterprise AI rack servers and 2,400 high-end GPU units annually, catering to both domestic demand and potential expansion into global markets. This move is expected to significantly boost Lenovos business in India, contributing to the countrys growing AI infrastructure needs. This also indicates that as a tech company, Lenovo is keen to diversify its manufacturing facilities away from Taiwan, in a bid to resolve issues that may stem from overdependence on the country. The companys strategic focus on manufacturing these high-performance AI servers highlights Lenovos commitment to expanding its presence in the global AI server market while enhancing Indias role in the technology ecosystem. New infrastructure R&D lab in India In addition to expanding its AI server production, Lenovo has opened a new state-of-the-art Research and Development (R&D) lab in Bengaluru. This lab will be dedicated to advancing Lenovos Infrastructure Solutions and will play a key role in designing and developing next-generation server platforms. The facility is equipped with advanced tools for electrical design, thermal analysis, power characterisation, and compliance testing. It will focus on system design, hardware, firmware, and software development, contributing to Lenovos global R&D initiatives. The Bengaluru lab joins Lenovos network of 18 R&D labs worldwide, including centres in Morrisville, Beijing, and Taipei. This new facility underscores Lenovos commitment to driving innovation in India, making it a critical component of the companys global strategy. Lenovo has also been expanding its manufacturing capabilities in the country, with over seven million devices produced in India during FY24. Advertisement Lenovos Commitment to AI and Global Innovation Lenovos investment in AI server manufacturing and R&D in India aligns with its broader vision of leveraging the countrys talent and ecosystem to drive technological innovation. In 2023, Lenovo announced a $1 billion investment between FY23 and FY25 to accelerate AI deployment across its devices, infrastructure, and solutions globally. This is part of the companys larger goal to support the Indian governments AI for All initiative, while also expanding its global manufacturing footprint. Under the new settings, parents will have several ways to manage their teens Instagram usage. They will be able to set daily time limits, block access to the app at night, and view the categories of content their children are engaging with read more There have been frequent complaints from parents that they are not equipped to adequately monitor their children's use of social media. Image Credit: Reuters Meta has announced that it will introduce new teen accounts for Instagram users under 18. The goal is to give parents more control over their childrens activities on the platform, including the ability to restrict app usage during certain hours and monitor what their children view. This change will apply to new users but will also gradually be extended to existing teen accounts in the coming months. New features for parental supervision Under the new settings, parents will have several ways to manage their teens Instagram usage. They will be able to set daily time limits, block access to the app at night, and view the categories of content their children are engaging with. Advertisement Parents will also have the option to see the accounts with which their teens are exchanging messages. Teenagers who are signing up for Instagram are already placed into strict privacy settings by default, such as preventing adults who dont follow them from sending messages and muting notifications at night. However, these changes will further empower parents, especially for users under the age of 16, who will now require parental permission to alter any privacy settings. For users aged 16 and 17, these features will also be applied by default, though they will have the freedom to adjust the settings themselves if desired. The teen account changes will be implemented in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Meta responds to concerns over online safety The announcement of these new teen account settings is seen as a response to growing concerns about online safety, especially for young people. There have been frequent complaints from parents that they are not equipped to adequately monitor their childrens use of social media. Metas leadership has acknowledged that while parental controls have been available, they were often underused. The aim of this update is to simplify those controls and give parents a stronger role in managing their childrens online experiences. Advertisement Despite these efforts, some online safety advocates have expressed caution. Previous updates to enhance child safety on platforms like Instagram have not always produced the intended results. Concerns remain over the availability of harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and mental health issues, which have been linked to tragedies in the past. The father of Molly Russell, a British teenager who died after exposure to harmful content on Instagram, hopes that this latest change will have more meaningful outcomes than previous attempts by Meta to improve safety. Global implications and legislation This move comes amid broader discussions on social media safety, with countries like Australia planning to raise the minimum age for social media access. Advertisement There is interest in how these changes might influence legislation in other countries, including the UK. Meta has stated that these new teen accounts are being introduced independently of any government regulations, driven primarily by parental concerns. However, the possibility of future changes to Facebook or other Meta-owned platforms is still being explored. As discussions about online safety continue to evolve, it remains to be seen how these new features will affect young users and their families. The surge in demand for AI services is also putting pressure on energy providers across the US. Electricity consumption by AI data centres could increase up to tenfold by 2030, as facilities require more power to meet the growing computational needs read more Microsoft has been in discussions with OpenAIs CEO, Sam Altman, about expanding computing infrastructure for AI products, indicating that the race to meet AIs growing power and infrastructure needs is well underway. Image Credit: Reuters The initiative, which involves the United Arab Emirates MGX investment vehicle, aims to support the booming AI industry by building the necessary infrastructure. Over time, the private equity capital will be leveraged into as much as $100 billion in potential investments, according to the announcement made on Tuesday. The collaboration marks one of the largest funding efforts for AI infrastructure to date, signalling the increasing importance of data warehouses and energy projects to power AI applications. This joint venture highlights the need for substantial investment to meet the growing demands of AI-driven technologies, which are transforming industries worldwide. Advertisement A global push for AI data centres At the heart of this initiative is the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership, which has been in the works for several months. BlackRocks CEO, Larry Fink, emphasised the scale of the investment required, stating that financing the global buildout of data centres will demand trillions of dollars over time. The collaboration between capital markets, technology firms, and investors is seen as essential to support this rapid growth in AI infrastructure. The partnership involves multiple players, including Global Infrastructure Partners, which is in the process of being acquired by BlackRock for approximately $12.5 billion, and Abu Dhabis MGX, a newly created vehicle focused on AI investments. NVIDIA, the renowned chipmaker, is also playing a key role by offering its expertise in AI data centres and factories. NVIDIAs contributions include providing essential technology and networking components to accelerate the development of AI systems. Energy projects form a critical component of the planned investments, particularly in the US, where the demand for power-hungry AI data centres is soaring. A portion of the funds will also be allocated to US partner countries, reflecting the global nature of this AI expansion. The need for additional investors is anticipated, and Fink expressed confidence that raising the capital wont be a challenge, given the strong interest from pension funds and insurers in long-term infrastructure investments. Expanding AI capabilities and power infrastructure As part of the broader strategy, Microsoft has already invested $13 billion in AI research through its partnership with OpenAI, the company behind innovative AI technologies. Microsoft has been incorporating AI features across its product lines, and this new venture further underscores the companys commitment to AI-driven growth. Advertisement However, the tech giant has faced constraints in serving its AI customers due to a lack of data centre capacity and chips, driving the need for increased investment in infrastructure. The surge in demand for AI services is also putting pressure on energy providers across the US. Electricity consumption by AI data centres could increase up to tenfold by 2030, as facilities require more power to meet the growing computational needs. In response, energy companies are delaying the retirement of coal and gas plants while planning new gas projects and expanding renewable energy sources like solar and wind farms. Microsoft has been in discussions with OpenAIs CEO, Sam Altman, about expanding computing infrastructure for AI products, indicating that the race to meet AIs growing power and infrastructure needs is well underway. This partnership between Microsoft, BlackRock, and MGX could serve as a critical step in supporting the rapid expansion of AI technologies globally. Samsungs first rollable display smartphone, which will have a a 12.4-inch rollable display is likely to be launched in the second half of 2025, potentially signalling the next step in smartphone evolution read more Although there are still several months before a possible launch, Samsungs rollable phone could debut alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is expected to be another major release. Foldable phones have been a success for Samsung, so it seems likely that the company will continue to explore that category while also pushing forward with new technologies. Representative image Samsung, already known for its innovations in foldable smartphones, appears to be setting its sights on a new frontier rollable phones. After dominating the foldable market with devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, the company is reportedly developing a phone with a 12.4-inch rollable display. The new device is anticipated to launch in the second half of 2025, potentially signalling the next step in smartphone evolution. This information comes from a report by a South Korean source, which also hinted at features like an under-display camera, offering users an uninterrupted viewing experience. Advertisement Rollable displays the logical next step The development of rollable phones seems like a natural progression for Samsung, which has been perfecting foldable phones in recent years. Rollable technology already exists, and concept phones with similar designs have been showcased in the past, suggesting that Samsung could be ready to make this idea a commercial reality. While the company wasnt the first to market with a tri-fold phone, as seen with Huaweis recent release, it could be positioning itself as the pioneer in rollable phones, with an even larger display than the competition. The rumoured 12.4-inch screen could be a game-changer, offering more screen real estate than any foldable device currently on the market. The future of Samsungs Phone line-up Although there are still several months before a possible launch, Samsungs rollable phone could debut alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is expected to be another major release. Foldable phones have been a success for Samsung, so it seems likely that the company will continue to explore that category while also pushing forward with new technologies. However, details remain scarce, and a launch date in late 2025 is still uncertain. In the meantime, Samsung fans can look forward to the Galaxy S25 series, expected to arrive in January 2025, as the next significant addition to the companys smartphone line-up. The Maldives and China signed a free trade agreement (FTA) in 2014, but its implementation was stuck so far because of political differences read more The Maldives-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is set to come into effect in 2025 after a delay of more than a decade. The Maldivian government has said the FTA would take the bilateral trade to $1 billion. Maldives Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed said the FTA will offer significant benefits, such as enhanced opportunities for exporting various goods and providing additional services, according to PTI. Here are five things about China-Maldives trade treaty: Advertisement 1. Political differences delayed FTAs implementation Maldives and China signed the FTA in 2014 and the Maldivian parliament approved it in 2017, but it could not be implemented due to the change of government. Former Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih, who was deemed friendly to India, held back the implementation of the FTA. It was only after pro-China Mohamed Muizzu came to power that things started moving. The Muizzu government on Tuesday announced the FTA will come into effect from January 1, 2025. Muizzu came to power on the back of the India Out campaign. While he initially plunged the India-Maldives relationship to a new low, he dragged Maldives into Chinas orbit. The FTAs implementations announcement came within days of the two countries signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a framework for current account transactions and direct investments in their own currencies Maldivian Rufiyaa and Chinese Yuan instead of US Dollar. 2. Chinese imports to flood Maldives, trade imbalance to rise The China-Maldives trade is around $700 million and the Maldivian government has said the FTA will take it to $1 billion. What the Maldivian government did not say is that the trade surge would be led by Chinese imports. China is already the third-largest source of imports for the Maldives after Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While the UAE and Omans imports are energy-based, China already dominates non-energy imports, including in the critical agricultural and food sectors. Advertisement Amitendu Palit, a researcher at the Singapore-based Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), said the end-result will be that Maldives trade imbalance and overall trade deficit will increase. The implementation of the FTA by the Maldives will result in a surge in imports from China. Imports of machinery and machinery-related products are specifically expected to increase. This is because demand for these imports will increase as ongoing and new Chinese projects on the island, especially those that are part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, gather renewed momentum. These projects are in various stages of construction and the FTA will facilitate their import requirements, noted Palit in an article for ISAS. Advertisement 3. Foreign exchange crisis The custom-free Chinese imports will not flood the Maldivian economy at the cost of domestic industry but will also contribute to a foreign exchange crisis. While the imports will consume Maldivian foreign currency reserves, the custom-free nature of imports as a result of the FTA would mean that the Maldives would also be deprived of receiving foreign currency. The Maldives could lose as much as 3 per cent of all revenue, as per Palit. The FTA will enable almost half of the Maldives current imports from China to enter the country without being charged customs duties immediately upon its coming into effect. Foregoing customs revenue has implications for the public finances of the Maldivian economy. Imports from China are one of the largest sources of customs revenues for the Maldives. If most of these imports now enter the country duty-free, the Maldives will lose foreign exchange earnings. These losses can amount to around three per cent of total government revenues, noted Palit. Advertisement 4. FTA not a solution to food & economic crisis The FTA will not be a solution for the crisis-laden Maldivian economy. As Maldives remain dependent on food imports and thus vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, the solution to the problem has to be an inward-looking one and not an outward one, noted Arya Roy Bardhan and Soumya Bhowmick of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in an article. Instead, the FTA with China will further exacerbate the balance of payments deficit and plunge the country into a borrowing spiral, note Bardhan and Bhowmick. 5. More trouble if India pulls the plug China, which has a track-record of plunging vulnerable countries into debt traps, now has its eyes on Maldives and the FTA can just be the medium for it. Advertisement The silver lining is the Indian support that keeps Maldivian economy afloat, but as pro-China Muizzus actions have worsened the relations, it would be understandable if India would be not very enthusiastic about supporting Maldives and may scale back support spelling trouble for the island nation. The China-Maldives FTA along with the worsening India-Maldives ties can significantly dampen prospects of industrial resurgence, note Bardhan and Bhowmick of ORF. With a large decline in import duty collection and imposition of high levels of debt, Maldives can soon find itself in a precarious position. The simultaneous withdrawal of Indian economic support will further compromise their prosperity, especially in terms of food security where India is a major global supplier, note Bardhan and Bhowmick. A day after Canadas ruling Liberal party lost a once-safe seat in a Montreal parliamentary constituency, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government could face no-confidence motion as early as next week, according to a report read more Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to a question during Question Period, in Ottawa, Ontario, on September 16, 2024. AP File A day after Canadas ruling Liberal party lost a once-safe seat in a Montreal parliamentary constituency, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government could face no-confidence motion as early as next week, according to a report. Liberal candidate Laura Palestini had been beaten into second place by the separatist Bloc Quebecois candidate, Louis-Philippe Sauve. Palestini received 27.2% of the vote compared to 28% for the Bloc and 26.1% for the New Democratic Party candidate. Advertisement The election was held to replace former Cabinet Minister David Lametti who had resigned earlier this year. He had won the 2021 Federal election by a margin of nearly 20 per cent. This loss came after the ruling party lost another safe seat of Toronto-St Pauls in June, indicative of the sinking fortunes of Trudeau. According to a Hindustan Times report, Trudeaus next challenge now is to survive the next week, when the opposition Conservative Party is likely to bring in a no-confidence motion. Taxes up. Costs up. Crimes up. Times up, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre posted on X, indicating oppositions plan to corner Trudeau. Its no surprise that Poilievre is pushing for an early election. According to the Hindustan Times report, citing a poll released by Abacus Data on Monday, if an election were held now, 43 per cent of committed voters would support the Conservatives, compared to just 22 per cent for the Liberals. The gap between the Conservatives and Liberals has grown by 4 points since our last survey in August, the agency was quoted as saying. Advertisement According to the National Post, based on modelling done by Ottawa-based Raymond Liu, if that data were to be translated to seats in the House of Commons, the ruling party would fall to fourth place, with the Conservatives holding 230 seats, the Bloc Quebecois at 41, the New Democratic Party at 38, and the Liberals reduced to only 32 seats. Trudeau has not signaled any intention to resign and instead appeared to place the onus on voters. We need people to be more engaged, we need people to understand whats at stake in this upcoming election, said Trudeau on Tuesday. The next election is scheduled for October next year, but a loss of confidence in the House could prompt early polls. Advertisement While Trudeau insists he will lead the party into the election, some Liberal legislators have broken ranks to call for change at the top. Alexandra Mendes, a Liberal lawmaker who represents a Quebec constituency, said last week that many of her constituents wanted Trudeau to go. In the 2021 general election, the Liberals won the Montreal seat with 43% of the vote, ahead of the Bloc Quebecois on 22% and the NDP on 19%. Trudeaus popularity has sagged as voters struggle with a surge in the cost of living and a housing crisis that has been fueled in part by a spike in arrivals of temporary residents including foreign students and workers. Advertisement Currently, the House has 336 members, with the Liberals holding a minority of 154 seats. To maintain power, the ruling party will need support from either the Bloc Quebecois or the NDP. Earlier this month, the NDP withdrew from the Supply and Confidence Agreement signed in March 2022, which had provided the government with a working majority. With inputs from agencies Bangladeshs new Central Bank Governor Ahsan Mansur said that the new government is trying to ascertain whether Hasina and her ministers redirect 13 billion (Tk2tn) overseas from the bank read more Bangladeshs interim government has reached out to the UK seeking help investigating the overseas wealth linked to former prime minister Sheikh Hasinas allies as the administration under Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus intensifies its crackdown on members of her party, which has always been alleged of corruption. What does the govt hope to find? Bangladeshs new Central Bank Governor Ahsan Mansur told Financial Times that the new government is trying to ascertain whether Hasina and her ministers redirect 13 billion (Tk2tn) overseas from the bank. Advertisement Not just the UK, but Dhaka has also urged other countries like US, Singapore and UAE, to help in its probe. The UK government has been very helpful. The High Commissioner was in my office and they offered lots of technical support, Mansur said. Mansur specifically mentioned that Bangladeshi authorities were keen to trace the origins of the funds used to acquire a UK property portfolio valued at 150 million, which is owned by a former land minister from Sheikh Hasinas administration. A heist of this order could not have taken place without the knowledge of the prime minister," the central bank governor added. Will recover money stolen from Bdesh Meanwhile, Yunus has also reportedly met UKs High Commission in Bangladesh to request Britains help in tracing the money. His press secretary Shafiqul Alam said, Bangladeshi authorities are going to recover the money which has been stolen from Bangladesh and siphoned off abroad. Earlier this year, Transparency International UK noted that the British property portfolio held by companies connected to former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury is an example of unexplained wealth that warrants investigation by authorities. As per a review by Financial Times, the records of HM Land Registry and UK Companies House show that Chowdhury acquired at least 280 properties for more than 150mn. However, Chowdhurys lawyer has said that he has nothing to hide and rejected claims that he has stolen money from Bangladesh. A Google spokesperson said the company welcomed the ruling, noting it had made changes to its ad services in 2016, before the EU decision read more An EU court on Wednesday scrapped a 1.49-billion euro ($1.65 billion) fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising. The General Court annuls the (European) Commissions decision in its entirety, the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement, adding that the institution committed errors in its assessment. Brussels failed to take into consideration all the relevant circumstances in its assessment of the duration of the contract clauses that the commission had deemed abusive, the court said. Advertisement The commission, the EUs influential competition regulator, said it takes note and would carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps which could include an appeal. A Google spokesperson said the company welcomed the ruling, noting it had made changes to its ad services in 2016, before the EU decision. We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine, a Google spokesperson added. The ruling is especially welcome for Google after the EUs highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth 2.42 billion euros, imposed for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service. As part of a major push to target big tech abuses, the EU slapped Google with fines worth a total of 8.2 billion euros between 2017 and 2019 over antitrust violations. The 1.49-billion euro fine is the third of those penalties, focused on Googles AdSense service. But the long-running legal battles between Google and the EU do not end there. EUs greater powers Google is also challenging a 4.3-billion-euro penalty Brussels levied on it for putting restrictions on Android smartphones to boost its internet search business. Advertisement The 2018 fine remains the EUs largest-ever antitrust penalty. The General Court in 2022 slightly reduced the fine to 4.1 billion euros, but mainly supported the commissions argument that Google had imposed illegal restrictions. The legal saga continues in that case after Google appealed the latest decision before the higher European Court of Justice. The EU has since armed itself with a more powerful legal weapon known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), to rein in tech giants including Google. Rather than regulators discovering egregious antitrust violations after probes lasting many years, the DMA gives businesses a list of what they can and cannot do online. Advertisement The aim is that tech titans change their ways before the need for deterrent fines. Google is already the subject of one investigation under the DMA alongside Facebook owner Meta and Apple. Mounting problems Google is in the US regulators crosshairs as well. Last week, the tech titan faced its second major antitrust trial in less than a year with the US government accusing Google of a monopoly in ad technology the complex system determining which online ads people see and their cost. It comes after a US judge in August found Googles search business to be an illegal monopoly, a ruling which threatens a possible break-up for the tech behemoth. Advertisement Ad tech is at the centre of multiple probes by regulators around the world. British and EU competition watchdogs have said in preliminary findings that Google abused its dominance in the market. Google has the right to respond in both cases before the regulators reach final conclusions. Parent company Alphabet in July said revenue from online ad searches climbed to $48.5 billion in the second quarter of this year. Antony Blinken, who landed in Cairo hours after pager explosions across Lebanon on September 17, said the US did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents, and it is still gathering information and facts read more Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (R) meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo on September 18, 2024. Source: AFP. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks, on Wednesday said that a truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in West Asia. Blinkens 10th trip to the region since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamass October 7 attack on Israel is aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict. Advertisement We discussed the importance of getting this deal across the finish line, something well continue to pursue with our Qatari counterparts, Blinken said during a joint press conference alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to address risks to regional stability, Blinken further said. Sisis office issued a statement after the meeting in which it stated that the pair discussed ways to intensify joint efforts between Egypt, the US and Qatar to make progress on ceasefire negotiations and the exchange of hostages and detainees. Sisi also called for decisive intervention to remove obstacles to the entry of huge amounts of aid to Gaza and ending Israeli violations in the West Bank, the statement further mentioned. Blinken landed in Cairo hours after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday (September 17), killing 12 people and wounding over 2,750 others. Blinken denies reports US prior knowledge in Lebanon blasts In Cairo, on Wednesday, Blinken denied reports that the US had any prior knowledge or involvement in the attack which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel, the key US ally. Advertisement With regard to Lebanon, the United States did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents, and were still gathering information and gathering the facts, Blinken said in Cairo. Broadly speaking, weve been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict, he added. Israel has yet to comment on the blasts. According to US news site Axios, minutes before the attack, Israels Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and informed him of an imminent operation in Lebanon, without giving any details. With inputs from AFP. Chinas Foreign Ministry said that organisations and individuals within China have been prohibited from engaging in transactions with the nine US firms which have been sanctioned for sale of weapons to Taiwan read more US and Chinese flags are seen through broken glass in this illustration. Source: REUTERS. Chinas foreign ministry on Wednesday announced sanctions against nine US military-linked firms over selling weapons to Taiwan. The sanctions were imposed hours after the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said that the State Department has approved a potential Foreign Military Sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative officer (TECRO) valued at $228 million. Which 9 US companies China has sanctioned The US firms against whom the countermeasures have been taken are: 1 - Sierra Nevada Corporation Advertisement 2 - Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC 3 - Cubic Corporation 4 - S3 AeroDefense 5 - TCOM 6 - TextOre 7 - Planate Management Group 8 - ACT1 Federal 9 - Exovera The property of these US firms within China have also been feezed, a report by Reuters quoted a ministry statement as saying. The statement by the ministry further stressed that organisations and individuals within China are prohibited from engaging in transactions with these firms. With inputs from agencies. Fresh details about North Koreas nuclear bomb-building efforts have heightened concerns that Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un could provide assistance to countries seeking illicit weapons programme, according to a report read more This undated photo provided on September 13, 2024, by the North Korean government shows its leader Kim Jong Un, center, on an inspecting visit at what they say is an institute of nuclear weapons and a facility for nuclear materials at an undisclosed location in North Korea. AP Fresh details about North Koreas nuclear bomb-building efforts have heightened concerns that Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un could provide assistance to countries seeking illicit weapons programme, according to a report. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) commenced its annual general conference in Vienna on Monday, days after Pyongyang showcased images of a factory capable of separating uranium isotopes for nuclear weapons fuel. According to a Bloomberg report, citing experts, the facilitys scale indicates North Korea could be enriching material beyond what is necessary for its own security, raising alarms about the potential for broader regional threats. Advertisement We are concerned that material could go elsewhere, Bloomberg quoted US Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk as saying in an interview. Turk said that North Koreas deeply troubling new capacity has been a primary focus of meetings this week in the Austrian capital. On September 13, North Korean state media reported a rare visit by Kim Jong-un to his Nuclear Weapons Institute, where centrifuges are used to produce highly-enriched uranium for weapons. According to Bloomberg, citing the official Korean Central News Agency, engineers at the facility have been instructed to exponentially increase the countrys nuclear stockpile. North Korea has already produced enough enriched uranium for a sizeable nuclear stockpile and hardly needs more, Bloomberg quoted Robert Kelley, a US nuclear-weapons engineer and former IAEA safeguards director, as saying. A major concern is that the excess can be diverted to sales to the highest bidder, state or non-state, he said, adding, This is a huge proliferation concern. With substantial uranium reserves, a complete nuclear-fuel cycle, and insights from six weapons tests, North Korea is now beyond the reach of international atomic regulators. Advertisement According to Bloomberg, citing analysts at 38 North, the recent images indicate North Korea has successfully circumvented sanctions to enhance production. Intelligence experts suggest that Pyongyang has developed a standardised low-yield nuclear warhead compatible with various missile systems, the report added. According to the latest estimates from the Federation of American Scientists, the countrys stockpile may have already reached as many as 90 bombs. Thats a lot of material, Turk was quoted as saying. Those are a lot of weapons. Geopolitical tensions are complicating efforts to curb North Koreas nuclear ambitions. Even as the US clashes with China and Russia, Turk said diplomats from the two countries will be critical to resolving the issue. However, South Koreas envoy to the IAEA meeting said thats a distant possibility, citing Kremlins deepening military ties with Pyongyang. Advertisement We urge Russia and North Korea to immediately cease their unlawful cooperation, Bloomberg quoted South Koreas Science Minister Sang Im-yoo as saying. The increasing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea threatens peace and stability in the entire world, Sang Im-yoo added. On Wednesday, North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, displaying military hardware it has been suspected of sending to Russia in a test that came soon after it dispatched its foreign minister to Moscow. The missiles traveled about 400 km (250 miles) toward the east coast, prompting South Korea to condemn the launch as a provocative act. Just a day ago, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui visited Moscow, her second trip in under a year. Previous discussions with President Putin were viewed by the US as facilitating arms shipments to support Russias war in Ukraine. Advertisement Kims regime is seeking backing ahead of a parliamentary meeting on October 7, where constitutional changes are expected to heighten tensions with South Korea. The Supreme Peoples Assembly may eliminate references to peaceful reunification and assert authority over contested borders. South Korea and the US accuse Kim of supplying artillery and missiles to Russia, with recent tests viewed as demonstrations of weaponry for Putin. In exchange, Russia is providing aid that strengthens North Koreas economy and military capabilities. Ukraines military intelligence has reported that North Korean ammunition is significantly impacting its defence as Russias invasion continues. Kims tougher stance toward Seoul and Washington was reinforced during his June meeting with Putin, where mutual defence support was agreed upon, and he pledged unconditional support for Russias actions in Ukraine. Advertisement With inputs from agencies The vote on the resolution in the United Nations General Assembly, with 124 in favor and 43 abstentions, demanded Israel to withdraw and cease settlement activity, and also called for a halt to arms supplies read more The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday (September 18) overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding an end to Israels occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months and calling for sanctions if Israel fails to comply. The non-binding resolution, which drew 124 votes in favor, 14 against, and 43 abstentions, is based on an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that deemed Israels occupation since 1967 unlawful. India was among the countries that abstained from the vote. Advertisement The text calls on Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, halt new settlement construction, return seized land and property, and allow displaced Palestinians the right to return. It also urges countries to stop supplying arms to Israel if there are reasonable grounds to believe the weapons might be used in the occupied territories. This is about using the pressure of the international community and the historic ruling by the ICJ to force Israel to change its behavior, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said ahead of the vote. Israel warned the resolution could fuel violence, with its UN Ambassador Danny Danon calling it a shameful decision that supports diplomatic terrorism by the Palestinian Authority. In a pointed response, Danon accused the General Assembly of ignoring Hamas, the militant group responsible for the October 7 attacks on Israel that left over 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians. Instead of condemning Hamas and calling for the release of hostages, the Assembly continues to align with the Palestinian Authority, he said. Advertisement US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield denounced the resolution as inflammatory and unhelpful to advancing peace. She emphasized that the text failed to address Hamas, which she described as a terrorist organisation exerting control in Gaza. The US was among the countries that voted against the resolution. The UN resolution follows ongoing violence, including Israels military campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Israel has reported 348 soldiers killed since launching its ground offensive on October 27, while more than 97 hostages remain in Gaza, with some confirmed dead, according to Israeli authorities. Advertisement With inputs from AFP In Germany, work on approving new arms export licenses to Israel has been suspended until two legal cases are resolved. These cases argue that Germanys arms exports to Israel violate humanitarian law read more Germany has temporarily halted new arms exports to Israel amid legal challenges over concerns the shipments may breach humanitarian law, Reuters reported, citing their data analysis and confirmation from a source close to the Economy Ministry. Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($363.5 million), a tenfold increase from 2022, according to Economy Ministry data. However, approvals have dropped significantly this year, with only 14.5 million euros worth of exports authorised between January and August 21. Of that, just 32,449 euros were in the weapons of war category. Advertisement Reuters quoted a source close to the ministry as saying that a senior government official confirmed that work on approving new arms export licenses to Israel has been suspended until legal cases are resolved. Legal hurdles These cases argue that Germanys arms exports to Israel violate humanitarian law. In defending two ongoing cases, one before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and another in Berlin brought by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the German government has stated that no weapons of war have been exported since the October 7 Hamas attacks, aside from spare parts for long-term contracts, the source added. Israels military operations in Gaza since the October 7 attacks have killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. The conflict has displaced most of Gazas 2.3 million residents and led to genocide allegations at the ICJ, which Israel denies. While no legal challenges to German arms exports to Israel have succeeded, friction within Germanys government is growing. The Chancellery remains supportive of Israel, but the Greens-led Economy and Foreign ministries have become increasingly critical of Israels policies. Multiple roadblocks to arms exports to Israel Elsewhere in Europe, legal challenges have led other allies to pause or suspend arms exports to Israel. Britain recently suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licenses, while a Dutch court halted exports of F-35 parts over concerns about their use in attacks on Gaza civilians. Advertisement In the US, the Biden administration briefly paused shipments of some bombs but resumed deliveries of other precise weapons systems, citing Israels right to self-defense. Alexander Schwarz, a lawyer at ECCHR, said the decline in Germanys arms export approvals for 2024 suggests a reluctance to supply Israel, but added, I would not interpret this as a conscious change in policy. With inputs from Reuters Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who has accused Russia of trying to overthrow her government, said the nation still faces serious challenges and urged partners to increase their support read more German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi and Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu pose for a picture during a press conference following the Ministerial Conference of the Moldova Partnership Platform (Photo: Reuters) Support for Ukraine guarantees the survival of neighbouring Moldova, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday at a conference to address concerns about broadening Russian interference in the region. Everything that we do to support Ukraine also means fostering stabilisation with regards to Moldova, Baerbock said. It is clear what the greatest concern of the people here is: that if Ukraine falls, Moldova is the next country in line. Baerbock was visiting Chisinau for the Moldova Partnership Platform, together with her counterparts from France, Romania, Poland, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Advertisement Germany, one of Kyivs main military supporters in Europe, initiated the platform after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, painting it as part of broader efforts to stabilise Moldovas economy and shield it from Russian disinformation. Moldova, which has a Romanian-speaking majority and large Russian-speaking minority, has alternated between pro-Russian and pro-Western governments since the fall of the Soviet Union, and now has a strong Western-oriented administration. Moscow has troops stationed in a region where pro-Russian separatists broke from Chisinaus control in a short war in the early 1990s. Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who has accused Russia of trying to overthrow her government, said Moldova still faces serious challenges and urged partners to increase their support. Russias war against Ukraine, which we condemned from the very first day, has caused enormous damage to our economy, Sandu said. The uncertainty caused by the war continues to seriously hinder our economic development and will continue to hinder it as long as the war lasts, she added. Within the framework of the platform, agreements were signed to provide Moldova with more than 300 million euros ($334 million) in loans and 80 million euros in grants, the governments press service said. Advertisement Allies also welcomed Moldovas efforts to join the European Union. Under Sandu, Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and NATO and EU member Romania, hopes to join the bloc by 2030. France, Germany and Poland voiced their unwavering and continuous support for Moldova in its bid to join, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters following a meeting of the three countries top diplomats. The countries, known as the Weimar Triangle, also promised support to the Moldovan armed forces to defend the country, both bilaterally and as EU partners. In May, Moldova signed a security and defence partnership with the EU, the first country to agree such a deal with the bloc. Pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000 read more People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploded handheld pagers, in Beirut, Lebanon. AP Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them. Pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. Advertisement The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungarys capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo. According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, the statement read. Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers. The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Advertisement Hezbollah, which has pointed the blame at Israel, said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as in all the past days as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza. This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday that it committed against our people, our families and our fighters in Lebanon, it said. This is another reckoning that will come, God willing. Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel on Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counteroffensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes near-daily, killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displacing tens of thousands on each side of the border. Advertisement At hospitals in Beirut on Wednesday, the chaos of the night before had largely subsided, but relatives of the wounded continued to wait. Lebanons Health Minister Firas Abiad told journalists during a tour on hospitals Wednesday morning that many of the wounded suffered severe injuries to the eyes and others had limbs amputated. Journalists were not allowed to enter hospital rooms or film patients. The health minister said that the wounded had been distributed among all the area hospitals to avoid any single facility being overloaded and added that Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt offered to help in treating the patients. Earlier Wednesday, an Iraqi military plane landed in Beirut carrying medical equipment, airport officials said. Abiad said the plane was carrying 15 tons of medicine and medical equipment. Advertisement Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration. The AR-924 pager, advertised as being rugged, contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollos website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters. It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them. Advertisement Taiwans Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries and that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon. For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to sidestep whats believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon. The phone that we have in our hands I do not have a phone in my hand is a listening device, warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech. He later added: I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wifes hands, and in your childrens hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it. Earlier in the day, Taiwan-based company Gold Apollo said the AR-924 pagers used in the attack were manufactured and sold by Hungarian company BAC Consulting, which held a license to use Gold Apollos brand on the devices read more A Hungarian government official on Wednesday (September 18) denied any connection between a Budapest-based firm and exploding pagers used in a recent attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon, following reports of a link to the company. Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary, said government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary. Advertisement Earlier Wednesday, Taiwan-based company Gold Apollo said the AR-924 pagers used in the attack were manufactured and sold by Hungarian company BAC Consulting, which held a license to use Gold Apollos brand on the devices. Hungarian national security services are cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organizations, Kovacs added. To Hungary, this case poses no national security risk. The Hungarian governments position on the "pager issue": authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) September 18, 2024 The attack, which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel, took place in Lebanons capital, Beirut, as well as in other parts of the country and in Syria. At least 12 people were killed, and thousands were injured. Among the victims was an eight-year-old girl, according to Lebanons Health Minister Firass Abiad, who spoke to Al Jazeera. Iranian state media also reported that Tehrans ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those injured. Advertisement A European Commission spokesperson on Wednesday denied claims that the CEO of BAC Consulting had worked for the Commission, despite her listing it on her LinkedIn profile, but said it was checking if she had worked through external providers, according to a report by Politico. The investigation into the origin of the pagers continues, with international agencies looking into potential links to the attack. Earlier today, Saudi Arabias Al-Hadath said that 19 members of IRGC died in Syria as a result of the pager attack read more People gather outside a hospital as more than 2,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, September 17, 2024. File Image/Reuters Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has denied any of their fighters getting killed in Lebanons pager attack allegedly orchestrated by Israel late on Tuesday. Talking to Irans Mizan news agency, an IRGC spokesperson said, Some media reporting that members of the Revolutionary Guards were martyred in the terrorist attack with pagers in Lebanon is false. Earlier today, Saudi Arabias Al-Hadath said that 19 members of IRGC died in Syria as a result of the pager attack. Advertisement The death toll rose to 12, including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said on Wednesday. Tuesdays attack wounded nearly 3,000 people, including many of the militant groups fighters and Irans envoy to Beirut. A Taiwanese pager maker denied that it had produced the pager devices which exploded in an audacious attack that raised the prospect of a full-scale war between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October, fuelling fears of a wider Middle East conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran. The explosive pagers might have been detonated earlier than the agreed-upon date by Israel after it was concerned that Hezbollah might have foiled the attack plan. A report by Axios quoted US officials as saying that members of Hezbollah might have discovered Israels plan of planting explosives in the pagers and hence decided to blow them up sooner rather than later. With inputs from Reuters Women lead just 0.8 per cent of the 1,643 firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchanges top-tier prime market, according to a survey by the Kyodo news agency read more According to a 2022 OECD survey, women held just 15.5 per cent of executive positions in Japan. Source: Representational Image/AFP. A couple of years ago, Japans financial services watchdog introduced a new regulation designed to encourage businesses and industries to employ more women in senior management posts, however, not much has changed since. A latest survey highlights grim pictures of working women in Japan. In the country, there are about 1,643 firms listed on Tokyo Stock Exchanges top-tier prime market, of which females are the chief executive officers (CEOs) in merely 13 of them which makes a pitiable 0.8 per cent. Advertisement The survey was conducted by the Kyodo news agency and was based on the findings of fiscal 2023 financial statements. The alarming figures reveal Japans increasing diversity among its corporate decision makers. The numbers are also directed towards the struggle before Japans government to reach its target of having women in at least 30 per cent of executive roles by the end of the decade. The number of senior women in business remains low even under the governments wider definition of executive, which includes corporate officers, directors, auditors, and executive officers. Back in 2014, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the United Nations General Assembly he would create a society in which all women shine, its over a decade and Japan continues to fare poorly in international gender comparisons of politics and business. A 2022 OECD survey found that women in Japan held just 15.5 per cent of executive positions, with 40.9 per cent in Britain and 45.2 per cent in France. It is not that women are not being appointed to several prominent posts, by not being at the top post. The Kyodo survey found that the number of female board members exceeded 3,000 double the number half a decade ago. Advertisement Breaking stereotypes, Mitsuko Tottori, a former flight attendant, became the first female president of Japan Airlines in January this year. Later in July, the Japanese government appointed Naomi Unemoto as the first female prosecutor-general. In 2021, Tomoko Yoshino became the first female president of Rengo, Japans biggest trade union organisation. Despite avoiding a market upheaval, Gold Apollo finds itself ensnared in a web of scandal as its pagers are linked to the devastating explosion in Lebanon read more For Hsu Ching-Kuang, founder of Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, Wednesday morning brought an unprecedented jolt of distress. Reports from around the world were brimming with allegations that the pagers involved in the catastrophic explosions in Lebanon on Tuesday bore a striking resemblance to those manufactured by Gold Apollo. The AR924 model, in particular, was highlighted for its distinctive format and stickers, which seemed to match those of Gold Apollos products. This sudden link between his company and a tragedy was a shock of monumental proportions. Advertisement Swift denial amid growing suspicion In a bid to distance himself from the unfolding scandal, Hsu Ching-Kuang was quick to issue a denial. He asserted that Gold Apollo was not the manufacturer of the problematic pagers but rather that a lesser-known company named BAC was using Gold Apollos brand under a licensing agreement. Hsus swift denial aimed to quell the rising tide of suspicion but did little to diminish the looming threat to Gold Apollos reputation. From humble beginnings to global reach Gold Apollos journey began in October 1995, with the company specialising in POCSAG and FLEX protocol pagers. Initially focussed on numeric pagers for the Taiwanese market, Gold Apollo carved out a niche in domestic communication solutions. By the late 1990s, the company seized the opportunity to expand its reach, introducing alphanumeric pagers that allowed it to tap into international markets. This shift marked the beginning of Gold Apollos transformation from a regional player to a global contender. Diversification and innovation As the pager industry waned, Gold Apollo adapted by diversifying its product offerings. The company ventured into RF technology, developing transmitters, receivers and wireless LED displays. This strategic pivot allowed Gold Apollo to cater to a broader range of industries including healthcare, hospitality and various other sectors that relied on reliable communication systems. This evolution from a pager manufacturer to a technology provider underscored Gold Apollos ability to adapt to changing market demands and technological advancements. A low profile Despite its significant contributions to automation and control systems, Gold Apollo has maintained a relatively low profile, especially given its influential role in Taiwans automation sector. The company offers a comprehensive array of products including programmable logic controllers and human-machine interfaces, which are critical in manufacturing, process control and precision applications. Its smart factory solutions, integrating Internet of Things technologies, have positioned Gold Apollo at the forefront of Industry 4.0, helping industries optimise production and reduce operational costs. Advertisement A crisis of reputation Gold Apollos modest status, despite its key role in automation, is definitely challenged by the recent crisis. Although the company is not listed on major stock exchanges like the Taiwan Stock Exchange, its impact on various industries is significant. The association of Gold Apollos name with the Lebanon explosions has thrust it into an unexpected and highly sensitive spotlight. The implications of this connection could be severe, potentially affecting the companys reputation and business operations. Significantly, the companys website could no longer be accessed. Navigating the future As the investigation into the explosions continues, the future of Gold Apollo remains uncertain. Whether the company will be able to disassociate itself from the tragedy or face significant repercussions is yet to be seen. For Hsu Ching-Kuang and his team, this crisis represents a defining moment that could alter the trajectory of Gold Apollos longstanding legacy of innovation and growth. The coming days will be crucial in determining whether the company can navigate this tumultuous period and restore its standing in the global market. The devastating explosions in Lebanon have not only targeted Hezbollah but also triggered a profound crisis of confidence in international business dealings exposing vulnerabilities in global trade and security read more People donate blood for those who were injured by their exploded handheld pagers, at a Red Cross center, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on September 17, 2024. AP The recent pager-triggered explosions in Lebanon have unveiled a shadowy world where espionage, international business and covert technology collide. Behind the blast lies a mystery spanning continentspagers that led investigators on a globe-spanning chase from Taiwan to Hungary, raising suspicions of foreign intelligence meddling. At the heart of it all, the devices themselvesseemingly ordinary turned into tools of precision sabotage. Gold Apollos involvement and distancing Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese pager manufacturer established in 1995, quickly became the focus of attention after it was revealed that the pagers used in the Lebanon explosions carried its brand name. However, the company was quick to clarify that it was not directly responsible for producing the devices. According to a statement released by Gold Apollo, the pagers in question were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, a Hungarian company that operates under a license to use the Gold Apollo brand. The model in question, the AR-924, is known for its robustness and long battery lifefeatures that have made it valuable in countries like Lebanon, where electricity shortages are frequent. Advertisement This revelation raises significant questions. Was Gold Apollo aware of BAC Consulting KFTs operations and how its brand was being used? Did the Taiwanese company conduct due diligence before licensing its brand to a relatively unknown Hungarian entity? And how might this lack of oversight reflect broader gaps in global business practices involving sensitive technologies? In the aftermath of the explosions, a Hezbollah official confirmed that the detonated devices came from a brand the group had not previously used. If Hezbollah was unaware of the origins of the pagers, the question arises: who facilitated their distribution? Were these devices deliberately introduced into Hezbollahs supply chain by an external actor, perhaps with a strategic aim in mind? BAC Consulting KFT: A victim or a front for espionage? BAC Consulting KFT, a Hungarian company established in 2022, has become a central figure in this unfolding saga. Despite its recent formation, the company secured a contract to produce pagers under the Gold Apollo brand. It is unclear if Gold Apollo got a windfall or if BAC Consulting KFT was planted to take the Gold Apollo sub-contract as Hezbollah was in touch with Gold Apollo. Yet, it is the timing of BACs establishment and its sudden involvement in producing these devices that casts a shadow of suspicion over the company. Could BAC Consulting KFT have been created explicitly for this covert operation? If the company is legitimate, who orchestrated the operation that directly implicates it? How did such a recently formed company acquire the expertise to modify pagers for precise sabotage, or were the devices in their consignment entirely replaced with altered versions? Advertisement Executing an attack of this complexity requires significant time and planning. Experts interviewed by The Associated Press estimate that the preparation for this operation could have taken anywhere from several months to two years. Could this be a retaliatory move for Hezbollahs support of Hamas following its attack on Israel on October 7 last year? The proposed timeline for planning aligns with such a motive. Nicholas Reese, an adjunct instructor at New York Universitys Center for Global Affairs, pointed out that the sophistication of the attack indicates long-term intelligence gathering. This would involve developing relationships to gain physical access to the pagers before they were sold, embedding advanced technology into the devices and cultivating sources to ensure that the targeted individuals were using those specific pagers. Advertisement Investigative reports by The New York Times suggest that BAC Consulting KFT may have been approached by a foreign intelligence agency to produce pagers with remote detonation capabilities. Although concrete evidence is still lacking, these reports hint at an elaborate espionage operation where explosives were embedded into the pagers. If true, this suggests that BAC Consulting KFT might have been set up as a front company with the sole purpose of facilitating this covert mission. Hungarys regulatory oversight? Although the involvement of a Hungarian company in the production of explosive devices raises serious questions about Hungarys regulatory oversight, it is also likely that the Hungarian government was itself a party to it by keeping mum. It is hard to believe that a company like BAC Consulting KFT, which is relatively new and operates mainly in business consulting, would otherwise become involved in producing explosives laced devices. While the initial impression seems like a potential weaknesses in Hungarys regulatory framework, which may have allowed BAC to operate unnoticed by authorities, it is also hard to believe that a company would so openly produce these devices and go unnoticed without any role of the authorities. Or, it had no clue about the sabotage itself. Advertisement Supply-chain sabotage? The detonation of these pagers in Lebanon highlights the vulnerability of global supply chains, especially in industries producing dual-use technologies. Experts believe the explosions were likely triggered by a signal sent to the devices, suggesting they were pre-programmed to detonate at a specific time or in response to an external command. This level of sophistication points to a well-coordinated operation. If supply-chain sabotage is emerging as a tool for espionage, it raises the alarming question: how many other commercial devices around the world might be compromised? Could this incident signal the dawn of a new era in warfare, where seemingly innocuous products are weaponised for mass disruption? And how should international regulatory bodies adapt to this evolving threat? Advertisement KYC ignored? If both BAC Consulting KFT and Gold Apollo are indeed innocent parties, one might wonder why they did not consider a fundamental question: why was such a large-scale consignment of pagers, especially to a group like Hezbollah, not met with scrutiny? Could it be that they ignored potential risks for financial gain or chose to remain silent? Given the scale of the order, it should have raised red flags, prompting both companies to alert their respective governments. Lets say the pagers themselves were not compromised and no explosions happened, even then the sheer size of the order in an era dominated by cellphones should have been a cause for concern. Of course, now while BAC Consulting KFT might argue that Gold Apollo was its client in this situation, the Taiwanese firm could counter that Hezbollah is not officially recognised as a terrorist organisation by either China or Taiwan. The fact is Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organisation by numerous countries and entities. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, Argentina, Bahrain, Colombia, Guatemala, Japan, Honduras, Kosovo, Lithuania, and Estonia have all officially labelled Hezbollah as a terrorist group reflecting a broad international consensus among these nations. The European Union, while recognising Hezbollahs military wing as a terrorist organisation, does not extend this designation to its political wing. Similarly, countries like New Zealand and France have only classified Hezbollahs military wing as terrorist. The Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE, declared Hezbollah a terrorist organisation in 2016 due to its involvement in regional conflicts. Most importantly, if Hezbollahs identity was hidden who did the shopping for them is another reason for scrutiny as the incident has certainly hit the trust factor in international business dealings. Or the other plausible explanation could be both the firms knew about it and may have been asked to remain quiet. Espionage, sabotage and international accountability As investigators continue to piece together the details of this operation, one thing is certain: the lines between business, espionage and warfare are becoming increasingly blurred. It appears that the organisers of this high-tech attack deliberately sought to foment a large-scale armed confrontation in order to provoke a major war in the Middle East, said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry read more People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploded handheld pagers, in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday. AP Russia on Wednesday said that the attack on Lebanese group Hezbollah and others using exploding pagers was designed to provoke a major war in the Middle East. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack, which analysts said was likely caused by explosives concealed in the devices during production or delivery, reported AFP. There was no immediate comment from Israel. We regard what happened as yet another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon, which has harmed thousands of innocent people. It appears that the organisers of this high-tech attack deliberately sought to foment a large-scale armed confrontation in order to provoke a major war in the Middle East, The Guardian quoted Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, as saying said in a statement. Advertisement Earlier, Zakharova said the incident should be thoroughly investigated and emphasised the need for the international community to closely monitor the situation. Meanwhile, Kremlin also condemned the deadly attack, saying the blasts risked igniting tensions in an already explosive region. What has happened, whatever it is, is certainly leading to an escalation of tensions, AFP quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. The region itself is in an explosive situation And every incident like this has the potential to be a trigger, he added. At least nine people have been killed and nearly 3,000 injured due to the pager explosions, including Irans envoy to Beirut among the wounded. Russia has close relations with Hezbollah-backer Iran and has expressed concerns about a regional war in the Middle East, where it has security and economic interests. With inputs from agencies A member of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps told the New York Times that the pagers used by Hezbollah terrorists beeped for several seconds, prompting the users to bring them close to their faces and read the message read more Ambulances arrive to American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024. Reuters The coordinated pager explosion that killed nine people, including a young girl, and injured nearly 3,000 others beeped about 10 seconds before they exploded. A member of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps told the New York Times that the pagers used by Hezbollah terrorists beeped for several seconds, prompting the users to bring them close to their faces and read the message. Irans ambassador to Lebanon also held his pager up close after it beeped for a few seconds, the IRGC member said. The envoy Mojtaba Amini has lost one eye while the other one is seriously injured. Advertisement While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, a Lebanese senior official has told Reuters that the countrys intelligence service Mossad planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesdays detonations. The Lebanese security source said the pagers were from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, but the company said in a statement it did not manufacture the devices. It said they were made by a company called BAC which has a licence to use its brand, but gave no more details. Following the deadly attack, Hezbollah vowed retaliation and said that the resistance will continue today, like any other day, its operations to support Gaza, its people and its resistance which is a separate path from the harsh punishment that the criminal enemy (Israel) should await in response to Tuesdays massacre. Lebanon says pagers made in Taiwan, manufacturer says no Meanwhile, Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang said the pagers used in the explosion were made by a company in Europe that had the right to use the firms brand, the name of which he could not immediately confirm. The company in a statement named BAC as the firm, but Hsu declined to comment on its location. The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it, Hsu told reporters at the companys offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday. Shortage of eye doctors makes treatment difficult Most of the affected people had grave injuries in their eyes and hands but a shortage of eye surgeons is delaying treatments. Iran, meanwhile, has offered to airlift some of the injured people for treatment in Tehran, Lebanons foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib said. With inputs from agencies The report also documents shocking details about detentions by the military. Nearly 27,400 individuals have been arrested since the coup, with arrests on the rise since the militarys implementation of mandatory conscription in February 2024 read more The UN report also said that the junta has arrested nearly 27,400 people since the coup. Reuters The latest report on Myanmar by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), published on Tuesday, has painted a dismal state of human rights situation in the country. The UN report has accused the Myanmar military, the junta, of serious violations of human rights that underscore the deepening crisis and lack of rule of law throughout the country. It said at least 5,350 civilians have been killed in military actions, including over 1,800 custodial deaths. Hundreds of these deaths were reported from air and artillery strikes by the junta. The report also revealed that 2,414 people died during 15 months between April 2023 and June 2024 an increase of 50 per cent compared with the previous reporting period. Advertisement The military had ousted the elected civilian government of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering nationwide street protests that led to armed rebellion in many parts of the country. The junta crushed street protests with a heavy hand, often violently. Since the coup on 1 February 2021, at least 5,350 civilians have been killed, more than 3.3 million displaced, and over half the population are living below the poverty line, primarily due to military violence, according to the report, Liz Throssell, the OHCHR spokesperson said. The report looks at the devastating impact of the violence, destruction and deprivation on peoples mental health, as well as the regression in economic and social rights, which is precipitating further economic decline. At the same time young people, who provide the key to Myanmars future, are fleeing abroad to escape being forced to serve in or fight for the military, Throssell said. The report also documents shocking details about detentions by the military. Nearly 27,400 individuals have been arrested since the coup, with arrests on the rise since the militarys implementation of mandatory conscription in February 2024. Credible sources say at least 1,853 have died in custody, including 88 children and 125 women. Based on the UN bodys findings, UN High Commissioner Volker Turk has called on the UN Security Council to refer the full scope of the current situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. Turk also called for an end to the violence and for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained. Advertisement James Rodehaver, head of UN Human Rights Myanmar team, said, There is a real deterioration due to violence and armed conflict in the country. The other side of that coin, however, is that there are massive regressions in human rights that have been provoked by a vacuum of rule of law. It is something that the report tries to highlight, in great detail. It is how the Myanmar military has created the crisis by instrumentalising the legal system criminalising nearly all forms of dissent against its attempts to rule the country, Rodehaver said. But then, of course, you have what happens to those people once they are arrested? It is lengthy periods of pretrial detention in detention facilities that have horrific conditions. And then, of course, you have the pervasive use of torture and ill treatment. Detainees interviewed by our office described methods such as being suspended from the ceiling without food or water, being forced to kneel or crawl on hard or sharp objects, Rodehaver stated. Advertisement The introduction of animals such as snakes or insects or other. Wild animals in order to provoke fear and terror in individuals. Beating people with iron poles, bamboo sticks, batons, rifle butts, leather strips, electric wires, motorcycle chains, asphyxiation, mock executions, electrocution and burning with tasers, lighters, cigarettes and boiling water. Truly, some of the most depraved behavior utilized as methods of torture in these detention centres, he said. The UN report also said that the junta has arrested nearly 27,400 people since the coup. These detainees are said to have been camped at different military training centres. Myanmar is being investigated by the International Court of Justice for genocide over its 2017 crackdown on the minority Rohingya Muslims. The move follows the governments introduction of a tough immigration policy. However, experts warn that securing the opt-out will be challenging, as it requires the approval of all 27 EU member states read more The Netherlands has formally requested an opt-out from the European Unions asylum rules, citing an ongoing asylum crisis. The move was announced by Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber, who said the country seeks greater control over its migration policies. Faber, a member of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), which is part of the ruling coalition, posted on X, on Wednesday (September 18): I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration opt-out on migration matters in Europe for the Netherlands. We have to handle our own asylum policy once more! Advertisement This request follows the announcement of a new immigration policy by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, aimed at addressing what he described as an unsustainable influx of migrants. We cannot continue to bear the large influx of migrants into our country, Schoof said Friday, framing the situation as a national crisis. Seeking more autonomy The Netherlands joins Denmark, which has already secured an opt-out from the EUs common asylum policy, as a country seeking more autonomy on migration issues. However, experts warn that achieving this goal may prove difficult. According to the Dutch Advisory Council on Migration, such an opt-out would require changes to the EU treaties, a process that demands unanimous consent from all 27 member states. This is not very likely because the number of asylum seekers must then be distributed among fewer other member states, the council noted, suggesting that not all countries would support such a change. Coalition disagreement Tensions are also emerging within the Dutch coalition government, which includes the PVV, the farmers party BBB, the right-wing liberal VVD, and the anti-corruption NSC. Nicolien van Vroonhoven, the acting parliamentary leader of the NSC, said her party would support the tougher immigration measures only if they are approved by the Council of State, the countrys top advisory body. Advertisement The move prompted a sharp response from Wilders, the PVV leader, who accused van Vroonhoven of undermining efforts to resolve the crisis. Despite his partys surprise victory in November elections, Wilders gave up his bid for the prime ministership after coalition negotiations became fraught. As the Dutch government pushes for greater control over its asylum policies, the request for an opt-out adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing European debate on migration. With inputs from AFP The kingdom will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that, said the Crown Prince read more Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday said the kingdom would not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state and strongly condemned the crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people. The kingdom will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that, the crown prince, known as MbS, said. Advertisement After the eruption of war last October between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas that rules Gaza, Saudi Arabia put on ice US-backed plans for the kingdom to normalise ties with Israel, two sources familiar with Riyadhs thinking said earlier this year, in a swift reordering of its diplomatic priorities. MbS, Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, had said just weeks before the fighting broke out that Riyadh was getting closer to a deal. The two sources told Reuters there would be some delay in the U.S.-backed talks on normalisation of Saudi-Israel ties, which is seen as a key step for the kingdom to secure what it considers the real prize of a US defence pact in exchange. MbS made the remarks at an annual speech to the advisory Shura Council, which he gave on behalf of his father, King Salman. The council swore an oath of office before MbS on Wednesday before he addressed it. Lebanons Hezbollah on Wednesday said that it attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first cross-border attack since the Tuesday pager blasts, according to a report read more Hezbollah and Israel flags are seen in this illustration taken, October 15, 2023. Reuters File Lebanons Hezbollah on Wednesday said that it attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first cross-border attack since the Tuesday pager blasts, according to Reuters. Confirming the strike, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that a barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee. The rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries, The Times of Israel quoted the IDF as saying. Exploding pagers claimed the lives of 12 people in Lebanon, including two children, the countrys health minister said on Wednesday, updating the toll a day after the blasts blamed on Israel. Advertisement On Tuesday, hundreds of the wireless devices exploded simultaneously across Lebanon, hours after Israel said it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hamas ally Hezbollah. Israel has yet to comment on the unprecedented attacks. On Wednesday, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said 12 people were killed and between 2,750 and 2,800 others were wounded, revising the toll up from nine dead. After checking with all the hospitals, the toll was revised to 12 dead including two children, AFP quoted Abiad as saying at a news conference. The dead included a girl and a boy as well as four health workers from private hospitals in Beiruts southern suburbs who had pagers, he said. Abiad said that the attack was very big with about 2,800 wounded people pouring into Lebanese hospitals within half an hour. The pagers went off in the Iran-backed Hezbollah groups main strongholds of southern Beirut and Lebanons east and south. Some cases in Lebanons eastern Bekaa Valley were transferred to Syria, while other cases would be evacuated to Iran, he added. Advertisement With inputs from agencies An assailant stabbed and wounded a student at a Japanese school in south China on Wednesday, Chinas foreign ministry said, the second such attack involving Japanese educational facilities in the country in recent months read more An assailant stabbed and wounded a student at a Japanese school in south China on Wednesday, Chinas foreign ministry said, the second such attack involving Japanese educational facilities in the country in recent months. A 10-year-old student of a Japanese school in Shenzhen was stabbed by a man about 200 metres from the school gate, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. The pupil was immediately taken to hospital and the assailant arrested on the spot, he said. Advertisement A police report from a district in Shenzhen that has a Japanese school said an attack on a child took place about 8 am. The suspected assailant was surnamed Zhong and aged 44, it said, but did it did not give a motive. Neither the foreign ministry spokesperson nor the police report stated the victims nationality but Japanese media said the student was a Japanese boy. The case is still under investigation. China will continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners in the country, Lin said. This incident follows a similar one in June, when a man attacked a bus used by a Japanese school in the eastern city of Suzhou, resulting in the death of a Chinese national who tried to shield a Japanese mother and her child from the assailant. Japans Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya said Tokyo requested China to prevent such an attack happening again and to share detailed information on the issue. Japan also sent officials to the area to provide support. Japan will continue to work closely with the Chinese authorities and make every effort to ensure the safety of its overseas nationals, he told a press conference. Wednesday marks the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden Incident, a false flag event staged by the Japanese military that triggered its invasion of its neighbour. Some 14 million Chinese people died and 100 million more were made refugees in the war that followed, historians estimate. While the UNGA resolution is not binding, it carries political weight and its adoption would represent the widespread support for the Palestinian cause across the world read more The United Nations (UN) will on Wednesday consider a resolution demanding Israel to end occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) will consider a resolution drafted by the Palestinian Authority, the de-facto Palestinian government based at Ramallah in West Bank, which would demand Israel to end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months. A two-third majority of those members present and voting is needed to pass the draft resolution. Advertisement It is the first resolution drafted by the Palestinian delegation at the UN, known formally by the name State of Palestine, since the UNGA approved increased representation in May. It is a non-member observer and has the rights to sit with others in the UNGA and draft resolutions. The Palestinian resolution welcomes an opinion by the UNs International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July which said Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in West Bank and Gaza was illegal and should be undone. While the ICJ said the occupation should end as rapidly as possible, the UNGA resolution calls for a 12-month timeline. Be on right side of history Palestinian UN Envoy Riyad Mansour urged the member nations to be on the right side of history and accept the resolution. Each country has a vote, and the world is watching us. Please stand on the right side of history. With international law. With freedom. With peace, said Mansour, as per Reuters. The adoption of the resolution would be yet another step towards the increased isolation of Israel at the international stage in the midst of the devastating war in the Gaza Strip. It comes just days ahead of the annual UNGA session which would see several world leaders attendance including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Advertisement While the UNGA resolution is not binding and the UNGA has no veto power, it carries political weight and its adoption would represent the widespread support for the Palestinian cause across the world. US Envoy to UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged nations to vote against the resolution under the US policy of not supporting unilateral measures on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The US policy is that only bilateral engagement can address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the framework of a two-state solution. Israels Envoy to UN Danny Danon dubbed the resolution diplomatic terrorism. Lets call this for what it is: this resolution is diplomatic terrorism, using the tools of diplomacy not to build bridges but to destroy them, said Danon, as per Reuters. Advertisement Israel captured West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem after the 1967 War with the Middle Eastern nations. While Israel vacated Gaza in 2005, and the terrorist group Hamas wrested it from PA in 2007, Israeli continues to occupy West Bank and has solidified the occupation with a large number of settlements deemed illegal in international law. The PA only has partial governance control of the West Bank in line with the Oslo Accords. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the United States next week to attend the Quad Summit and the Summit of the Future at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) read more Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has said he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week (Photo: Reuters) Even as former US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi fantastic, he slammed India as a big abuser. Trump also revealed that he and Modi have a meeting scheduled for week. At a town hall in Michigan during the presidential election campaign, Trump said Modi is a fantastic man and is coming to meet him next week. Modi is visiting the United States during September 21-24 for the Quad Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden. He will also address the Summit of the Future at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). On the sidelines, he is also expected to have a bilateral meeting with Biden. Advertisement Even as the Indian government has not confirmed it, Trump the Republican presidential nominee has said that he and Modi will meet during the visit. It is known if Modi will also meet Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. India is a big abuser, its very tough When asked about international trade, Trump dubbed India a big abuser of free trade. Trump clubbed India with China and Brazil and said these countries were tough in dealing with the United States. Trump said, Modi is a fantastic man a lot of these leaders are fantastic. These people are sharpest. They are at the top of their game and they use it against us. India is very tough. Brazil is tough. China is the toughest of them all. Speaking about the trade barriers that countries like China put, which take manufacturing out of the United States and blocks market access until you manufacture locally, Trump said that he has a two-pronged approach for it. One, he would impose reciprocal tariffs. Two, he would ask companies to manufacture in the United States to sell goods in the country. To institutionalise this, Trump said he would get the Congress to pass a reciprocal tax law. Trump said, We are gonna do reciprocal trade tax. If someone charges us 10 cents, 2 dollars, 100 per cent, or 250 per cent, we charge them the same. Do you know whats gonna happen? Everything is gonna disappear and well have free trade again. If it doesnt happen, were gonna put it all out of market. Advertisement Speaking about local manufacturing, Trump said that China told Elon Musk that Tesla cars would not be allowed in China unless he manufactured locally and there was nothing wrong with it. He said he would do the same with other companies in the United States just like he did when he was the president. Trumps comments come at a time the United States and China are engaged in a trade war. Most recently, the United States imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and metal imports. In recent years, the United States has also sought to block Chinas access to advanced semiconductor technologies and strictly regulate technological cooperation with China while incentivising semiconductor research and development (RD) and manufacturing domestically. US Vice President Kamala Harris said, I think its very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybodys pocket. Black men are like any other voting group read more Kamala Harris said she is determined to engage directly with Black men as the November 5 presidential election approaches. Source: REUTERS. Kamala Harris has recognised the need to strengthen her appeal among Black male voters, acknowledging concerns that a key demographic for the Democratic Party may be shifting toward Donald Trump. Speaking at an event hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia, the Presidential hopeful spoke about her commitment to earning their votes. I think its very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybodys pocket. Black men are like any other voting group, Harris stated. Advertisement She is determined to engage directly with Black men as the November 5 presidential election approaches. During the event, Harris also intensified her critiques of Trump, highlighting his racist birther conspiracy regarding Barack Obama and recent inflammatory remarks about immigrants. This is exhausting and its harmful and its hateful and grounded in some age old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for, she asserted. The vice presidents comments come amid an effort from both Harris and Trump to court Black voters. Trump campaign media director Janiyah Thomas responded sharply, stating, Kamala Harris admitted today that she has failed Black Americans. She pointed to rising grocery prices and the perception of an unattainable American dream under Harriss policies. Despite a resurgence in Black Americans enthusiasm for the election since Harris became the Democratic nominee, doubts linger about her ability to attract Black male voters, particularly in battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina. An NAACP poll revealed that one in four Black men intends to support Trump, while a recent NYT/Siena poll found 17 per cent of Black voters overall backing Trump, with 9 per cent undecided. In contrast to Trumps controversial appearance at a similar event in July, where he faced heckling and questioned Harriss racial identity, the atmosphere at Tuesdays gathering was more subdued. Attendees, some wearing the colours of Harriss sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, offered mild applause. Moderators from NPR, Politico, and the Grio pressed Harris on various issues, including the Israel-Hamas conflict and gun violence. Advertisement Harris reiterated her criticism of Trump for promoting baseless conspiracy theories, stating, Its got to stop, and weve got to say that you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the president of the United States of America, engaging in that hateful rhetoric. Additionally, she shared her goals to cap childcare costs at 7 per cent of family income, underscoring her focus on economic issues. Addressing the recent attempt on Trumps life, she expressed the need for unity against political violence, saying, There is no place for political violence in the US. The Gaza peace talks are now deadlocked over a slew of new demands made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the main among them being the Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border read more US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Egypt in the early hours of Wednesday, according to AFP. Blinken has arrived in Egypt to push for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by Hamas. Egypt, along with Qatar, is mediating in talks between Israel and Hamas and the United States is facilitating the peace process. Even though the talks initially appeared to be promising, the talks are now deadlocked over a slew of new demands made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the main among them being the Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border. Advertisement Ahead of Blinkens visit to Egypt, the US Department of State had said he will meet Egyptian officials to discuss peace negotiations. A meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty is also on the cards. Hell be meeting with Egyptian officials about a number of things, but squarely on the agenda is how we get a proposal that we think would secure agreement from both parties, said State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller. This is Blinkens 10th visit to the Middle East since the beginning of the war, but it is notable as he will not be visiting Israel this time. The AFP reported US officials as privately saying that a breakthrough was not expected during the visit and the aim of the visit is to keep up the pressure campaign for a deal between Israel and Hamas. Blinkens visit comes at a time when Israel-Hezbollah tensions have also risen and there are indications that Netanyahu may be about to approve a war-like operation against Hezbollah, which has clashed with Israel on a nearly-daily basis with Israel since the beginning of the war with Hamas last year. Several thousands of Israelis in the countrys north remain displaced due to nearly-daily Israel-Hezbollah fighting. Advertisement Blinken arrived in Cairo just hours after thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist group backed by Iran, exploded simultaneously, killing close to a dozen people and injuring around 2,700 people. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack and State Department Spokesperson Miller said that the United States was not involved in the matter and was not aware of this incident in advance. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, who is on a two-day visit to Islamabad, said on Thursday that Moscow would support Pakistans inclusion in BRICS read more Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on July 11, 2024. Reuters File Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said on Thursday that Moscow would support Pakistans inclusion in BRICS. We would be supportive of it, Overchuk, who is on a two-day visit to Islamabad told a joint press conference with Pakistans Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad, in response to a question about Pakistans request to become part of the grouping of the worlds leading emerging market economies. BRICS is named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Advertisement The bloc last year invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to become members, in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated. The two sides also discussed enhancing bilateral trade volume and how to overcome banking constraints for transactions. Overchuk said that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting in Islamabad next month, which he said would be important. GSMA, the organization responsible for overseeing the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard, has confirmed that Apple devices now support RCS messaging with the release of iOS 18. This marks the culmination of years of collaboration among mobile operators, device manufacturers, and tech providers, according to Tom Van Pelt, Technical Director of GSMA. Focus on Universal Profile and E2EE Tom Van Pelt highlighted the next important step for RCS, which is the integration of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) within the Universal Profile. This will mark the first deployment of standardized, interoperable encryption across different platforms, addressing challenges like key federation and cryptographically-enforced group membership. Van Pelt emphasized that users will benefit from stronger security protections, including safeguards against scams and fraud. Apples RCS Rollout This announcement follows Apples iOS 18 update, released on Monday, which replaced SMS with RCS for messages sent to Android users. Although the green bubbles remain, iPhone users can now send high-resolution media, see read receipts, and view typing indicators in cross-platform conversations. However, as The Verge reported, Apples version of RCS lacks E2EE. While Google Messages offers E2EE by default for RCS chats, Apples iMessage system only applies encryption to its proprietary service, not RCS. Moving Toward Cross-Platform Encryption For E2EE to work between Android and iOS, it must be integrated into the RCS Universal Profile. GSMA has confirmed that this is part of its future plans, with Google also showing support. Elmar Weber, Googles General Manager, shared on LinkedIn that Google has offered E2EE in Google Messages with RCS since 2020 and called E2EE a critical component of secure messaging. Google is committed to making E2EE standard for all RCS users, regardless of platform. E2EE Across Platforms The GSMA and Google are pushing for this development, with signs pointing to Messaging Layer Security (MLS) as a possible protocol for implementing E2EE across group chats. Google has been working on integrating MLS into its messaging systems, though neither GSMA nor Google has given specifics on the timeline for rolling out these updates. While messaging between iOS and Android has never been encrypted over SMS, expectations have changed. Users are looking forward to the inclusion of E2EE in RCS messaging, though the exact timeline remains unclear. Speaking about RCS end-to-end encryption, Tom Van Pelt, Technical Director at GSMA, said, Samsung has confirmed the launch of Galaxy M55s 5G, the companys next smartphone in the M series and the successor to the Galaxy M55 in India on September 23rd. The company has confirmed that the phone will feature a 6.7-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, 50MP rear camera with OIS, 50MP front camera, 8MP ultra-wide camera, 2MP macro camera, and Dual Recording feature, which lets you record videos using the rear and front cameras simultaneously, which are similar to the Galaxy M55. The phone will be 7.8mm, said the company. However, this will come in new Coral Green and Thunder Black colours and features a new rear design with patterns. Based on earlier rumours, it will retain the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC and 8GB + 128GB model, and will likely come in 12GB RAM model as well. The Samsung Galaxy M55s 5G will be sold on Amazon.in, in addition to Samsung.com, and across select retail stores. Amazon India is preparing for a leadership change as Samir Kumar, a 25-year veteran of the company, will assume the role of Country Manager starting October 1. This transition follows the decision of current Country Manager Manish Tiwary to pursue new opportunities outside the company, as confirmed by Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President for Emerging Markets, in an internal email. Samir Kumars Journey at Amazon Samir Kumar joined Amazon in 1999 as a systems engineer when the company was valued at under $1 billion. Over the years, he rose through the ranks, eventually becoming Vice President, responsible for expanding Amazons global presence. In 2012, Kumar relocated from Seattle to Bengaluru, playing a key role in Amazons entry into India in 2013. He also manages Amazons consumer markets in the Middle East, South Africa, and Turkey. Transition of Responsibilities Kumar will now lead Amazons India consumer business, with Saurabh Srivastava (Categories), Harsh Goyal (Everyday Essentials), Amit Nanda (Marketplace), and Aastha Jain (Growth Initiatives) reporting to him. Kishore Thota (Emerging Markets Shopping Experience) will report directly to Amit Agarwal. Agarwal praised Manish Tiwary for his contributions in establishing Amazon India as a leading online marketplace and expressed confidence in Kumars leadership. He reaffirmed Amazons commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction. As Kumar steps into his new role, he is working closely with Tiwary to ensure a smooth transition. Agarwal also expressed gratitude for Tiwarys leadership and wished him success in his future endeavors. Speaking about the new leadership, Amit Agarwal, SVP for Emerging Markets, Amazon India, said: \The BLM believed about 225 horses were in the Little Book Cliffs wild Horse Range before the start of last weeks gather, but based on what crews are seeing during the operation its now thought that the number was higher than that. The BLM hopes to adopt out most of the horses captured during the operation. Kurt Campbell, now the US deputy secretary of state, speaks next to senior South Korean official Kim Tae-hyo in Seoul in July 2023 Jason Pegis, right, had the opportunity to teach actress Jenna Ortega how to play the cello during a couple months in the summer of 2021 in California. The two wore masks because of concerns about COVID at that time. Pegis, who is now a member of the music faculty at Colorado Mesa University, was then finishing his doctorate work at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music. Ortega was preparing for her role as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series Wednesday. Meta bans RT, other Russian state media outlets over alleged 'foreign interference activity' Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 10:59 AM The US-based technology conglomerate Meta Platforms has banned Russian state media outlets, including RT, over alleged "foreign interference activity." "After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," Meta said in a written statement on Monday, alleging that the outlets used "deceptive" tactics to carry out influence operations. The company, whose apps include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, said it would roll out the ban over the coming days. Russian state media outlets have previously been a target of restrictions by Meta, including being blocked from running ads and having the reach of their post reduced, but the sharp escalation in the company's actions came after the US filed money-laundering charges against two employees of RT earlier this month. The two RT employees are accused of hiring a US company to produce online content to influence the 2024 US presidential election. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday announced new sanctions against RT, alleging that it was "functioning like a de facto arm of Russia's intelligence apparatus." He told reporters that RT has sought to covertly "undermine democracy in the United States." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Saturday pointed out that Washington has once again failed to provide concrete evidence to back its claims, which is why the case has not been brought to court. She emphasized that such allegations are evidence that Washington is desperate to retain its control over global public opinion and uphold its illusion of infallibility. "They now spin a new spiral of hatred against Russia, alleging interference in their affairs, just to spur this dead horse dubbed 'American democracy,' which is essentially holding the entire American society hostage," Zakharova said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Multinational planning for Justified Accord 2025 strengthens partnerships in East Africa By Maj. Joe Legros September 16, 2024 NAIROBI, Kenya -- Military planners gathered here September 9-13, 2024, for the mid-planning event of exercise Justified Accord 2025 (JA25), showcasing the importance of international collaboration in preparing for the largest military exercise in East Africa. Hosted by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), JA25 will bring together multiple nations, partner forces and humanitarian organizations to enhance regional security and interoperability. A combination of field training and academic courses will challenge participants with disaster response and peacekeeping scenarios. "Hosting this planning event is an honor and privilege. The KDF takes training very seriously as we look forward to a successful exercise," said Brigadier William Kamoiro, KDF lead exercise planner. "Working together with our U.S., Tanzanian, Dutch and British counterparts this week highlights the importance of multinational partnership to achieve common goals." Kenya plays a pivotal role as the host nation for JA25, providing leadership and logistical support to ensure the exercise's success. Event highlights include squad-level live-fire training, explosive ordnance disposal, air-to-ground integration with special operations forces elements, as well as a medical civic action program, which will provide real-word medical care to local Kenyans. Multinational planners injected challenges into training scenarios, encouraging exercise participants to consider improvised explosive devices, the rule of law in conflict, encountering women and children on the battlefield, as well as tactical combat casualty care of military working dogs. This year, the scope has increased, as Kenya will be joined by Djibouti and Tanzania, who will also host portions of the exercise. "The bilateral cooperation between the Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces (TPDF) and the U.S. Army started after Tanzania gained independence in 1961," said Tanzania Col. Elirehema P. Levoyo, a planning team member. "The long-standing cooperation between our two forces has improved performance and enhanced the bilateral relationship. JA25 will continue to build Tanzania's capability and improve our capacity for multinational interoperability." This week's event allowed Tanzanian military planners to coordinate closely with other international partners, ensuring that the exercise's objectives reflect real-world challenges. Planners concentrated on synchronizing multinational force contributions to ensure smooth execution of the exercise next February. "Through multinational cooperation, the U.S. Army has supported TPDF's professionalization and development through training exercises like Justified Accord and sharing experiences," added Levoyo. JA25 seeks to improve the ability of participating nations to work seamlessly across various operational domains, including air, land and sea. To achieve this, Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti will host reserve and active-duty components from the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Army. The U.S. force package includes the Nebraska National Guard, who celebrates their first year of partnership with Tanzania. In addition, the Massachusetts National Guard continues their long-term military relationship with Kenya through the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program. "The Massachusetts National Guard contingent is grateful for the opportunity to refine our plans for JA25," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mike McNamara, training division chief and lead exercise planner for the Massachusetts National Guard. "The upcoming exercise holds special meaning for us as we celebrate our ten year anniversary of working together with the KDF." As the planning event concluded, participants expressed optimism about the path forward and the positive outcomes expected from JA25. The exercise serves as a platform for building relationships, improving readiness and enhancing the ability of partner nations to address complex security challenges. With the groundwork laid during the mid-planning event, participating nations are poised for success when JA25 officially kicks off in February 2025. "The partnerships we forge here will last beyond Justified Accord and strengthen our collective efforts to promote peace and stability across Africa," concluded Kamoiro. About Justified Accord Justified Accord is U.S. Africa Command's largest exercise in East Africa. Led by SETAF-AF, and hosted in Kenya, this year's exercise will incorporate personnel and units from 23 nations. This multinational exercise builds readiness for the U.S. joint force, prepares regional partners for UN and AU mandated missions, and increases multinational interoperability in support of humanitarian assistance, disaster response and crisis response. Exercise content can be found on the official Justified Accord DVIDS feature page. About SETAF-AF SETAF-AF provides U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Europe and Africa a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis-response options in Africa and Europe. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO allies flex their maneuverability capabilities during exercise Paladin Shield By Sgt. Cecil Elliott II September 17, 2024 ADAZI MILITARY CAMP, Latvia -- In the clear September sky, service members from different NATO countries came together at Latvia's Adazi Military Camp for exercise Paladin Shield. It was a ten-day field event to hone skills and strengthen bonds. The days ahead promised hard work and camaraderie as NATO Allies trained side by side, steady and sure in their purpose. NATO member states conducted the exercise to enhance interoperability by acquainting themselves with each other's ground combat tactics and operational capabilities, ensuring seamless coordination and effective communication in joint operations. Paladin Shield provided the opportunity for U.S. Army Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, to work closely with Canadian soldiers to provide training opportunities for other NATO countries participating in the exercise. "Exercise Paladin Shield provided us with a rare opportunity to plan and execute combat operations with our NATO Allies," said 1st Lt. Nathaniel Peckman, an armor officer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Peckman, a native of Austin, Texas, was instrumental in planning and executing this exercise. "We were trying to breach through their forces and get to our objective," said Sgt. Samantha Lewis, an M1 armor crewman assigned to B. Co., 2-12 Cav Regt. "I just scan for targets and shoot the targets," said Lewis. Peckman and Lewis were part of the "Opposition Forces" or OPFOR, during exercise Paladin Shield, which provided realistic, adversarial scenarios for military units to practice against, helping them prepare for actual combat situations. OPFOR units are often trained to replicate potential real-world adversaries' tactics, strategies and capabilities. This allows friendly forces to experience varied combat scenarios, enhancing their readiness and effectiveness in facing potential threats. "Operating in conjunction with Latvian and Canadian forces helped us build lethality and interoperability capabilities, preparing us for future operations," said Peckman. The success of exercise Paladin Shield underscored the importance of joint training in strengthening NATO's collective defense. By honing combat skills and deepening partnerships, these multinational forces enhanced their preparedness for future global challenges. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Canada announces new sovereign loan for the Republic of Moldova Global Affairs Canada News release September 17, 2024 - Ottawa, Canada - Global Affairs Canada Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has caused financial strain on the Republic of Moldova as they welcomed a substantial influx of refugees from Ukraine. Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, and the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that Canada will provide the Republic of Moldova with a sovereign loan of $120 million over 10 years. Canada's support will help co-finance a World Bank Development Policy Operation loan aimed at supporting the resilience of families and Ukrainian refugees and fostering sustainable economic growth and climate resilience in the Republic of Moldova. This announcement comes as the Moldova Partnership Platform meets today in Chisinau, with representation from Canada by Ambassador Gavin Buchan. The Platform, launched in 2022 by France, Germany and Romania, coordinates international efforts to address the significant internal and external challenges the Republic of Moldova has been tackling since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The commitments made and the valuable assistance provided by partners within the Platform have helped the Republic of Moldova to strengthen its democracy and bolster its resilience. Quotes "Canada remains strongly committed to supporting the work underway by the Republic of Moldova to secure the resilience of Ukrainian refugees and long-term economic development. We will continue to work closely with our partners to help ensure a sustainable future for the people of the Republic of Moldova so that it becomes a reality." - Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development "Through this loan, we are delivering on a commitment made to Moldova to help manage the influx of Ukrainian refugees. The loan will provide crucial financial stability at a time when Moldova is pursuing an ambitious program of reforms and resisting sustained Russian efforts to destabilize its democracy. We will continue to work with Moldovan leadership and our international partners to identify opportunities to further our support to their peace and security." - Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs Quick facts The loan will be provided under the Sovereign Loans Program, which was announced in Budget 2018. In October 2023, Canada announced that it would offer climate resilient debt clauses (CRDCs) in all new sovereign lending, including Moldova. Canada has spearheaded the development of CRDCs, which support borrowing countries' resilience by automatically deferring debt payments in the event of a climate incident, natural disaster, pandemic or epidemic. This is important in freeing up critical resources required to respond to the immediate crisis. Canada and the Republic of Moldova have maintained official bilateral relations since 1992 and work closely together in several multilateral forums. In addition to providing humanitarian assistance to support the Republic of Moldova's response to the influx of refugees following the Russian aggression on Ukraine in 2022, Canada contributes to initiatives aimed at strengthening civil society and human rights in the country. The official visit to the Republic of Moldova by the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in January 2024, emphasized Canada's partnership to ensure peace and security in the Republic of Moldova, as well as reaffirmed Canada's support for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address September 17, 2024 Release Biden-Harris Administration Awards $269M for Microelectronics Manufacturing and Workforce Development; Boosting U.S. Chip-Making Capabilities The Department of Defense today announced a significant boost to America's microelectronics manufacturing capacity and workforce development infrastructure with $269 million in awards for 33 new technical projects under the Microelectronics Commons (ME Commons) initiative. This investment is funded by the CHIPS and Science Act, a key part of the Biden-Harris Administration's Investing in America Agenda, aimed at strengthening the nation's semiconductor manufacturing capabilities and reducing dependency on foreign sources of microelectronics. "Under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, we're creating a new chapter in semiconductor research and development here in America," said Arati Prabhakar, the President's Chief Advisor for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. "These CHIPS and Science Act investments through the Microelectronics Commons will advance innovation for components that enable the most sophisticated defense systems, strengthening our national security. Today's awards are the next step forward in making sure that we win the future." The ME Commons, established in 2023, comprises eight regional hubs set to receive a total of $2 billion in funding from FY23 to FY27. The initiative focuses on accelerating domestic microelectronics hardware prototyping and workforce development, providing American workers with advanced skills for securing good-paying careers. The ME Commons program is a key research and development initiative focused on advancing the future of American microelectronics technology. "Microelectronics are critical to our goals of having a more reliable microelectronics supply and to deliver next-generation capabilities for our troops," said Dr. Devanand Shenoy, executive director of the Microelectronics Commons and principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. "These awards will also upskill America's workforce, thus helping keep America both secure and prosperous." The $269 million in awards are spread across six technical areas: four projects in quantum, totaling $32 million; four in secure edge computing, totaling $25 million; five in 5G/6G, totaling $42 million; six in electromagnetic warfare, totaling $51 million; seven in commercial leap-ahead, totaling $38 million; seven in artificial intelligence, totaling $42 million; and a Cross-Hub Enablement Solution (CHES) award, totaling $39 million. As part of the announcement the Department of Defense, and senior officials from the White House, will be traveling to three of the eight hubs to discuss the Commons' progress to date, to highlight specific award recipients, and to discuss the research being funded in greater detail. On Tuesday September 17 the road show will begin at the SWAP Hub in Phoenix, Arizona featuring Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Technology & National Security Tarun Chhabra; the road show will then progress to the NEMC Hub in Boston, Massachusetts on Wednesday September 18 featuring Senior Advisor to the President for Energy and Investment Amos Hochstein; the road show will conclude at the CLAWS Hub in Raleigh, North Carolina on Thursday September 19 featuring Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Arati Prabhakar. Last year, the Department of Defense announced and awarded just under $240 million to launch the eight Hubs. Since then, the Hubs have grown their membership from around 400 initial members to over 1,200 organizations today consisting of innovators, transition owners, academic leaders, defense industrial base (DIB) partners, government program managers and prototyping and manufacturing facilities, to achieve enable lab-to-fab prototyping, including: Forging strategic partnerships and between member organizations that's lead to enhanced cooperation and sharing of resources and research; Lowering barriers to entry to conduct research by developing neutral trusted environments; Modernizing existing research facilities through investments in state-of-the-art manufacturing and test equipment; Offering flexibility and faster learning cycles compared to traditionally rigid process development driven by commercial foundries when developing prototypes ready for manufacturing. Along with transitioning technology across the "valley of death" the Commons is also transitioning the workforce. Each Hub is implementing a workforce development plan, as part of their model, that is tailored to the needs of that Hub and regional ecosystem. These models are designed to identify the most pressing workforce development needs specific to each Hub and to provide a flexible approach to fill those gaps. To close these gaps, Hubs have workforce development (WFD) initiatives that expand microelectronics education (and related disciplines), targeting smaller and rural schools, community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institution (MSI), which are an underutilized resource for the semiconductor industry. Defense Industrial Base companies are key partners within these Commons WFD initiatives to train and recruit new talent. Other important areas to address within the microelectronics workforce are reskilling and upskilling veterans, existing professionals, and providing opportunities for entry level job seekers. Targeted microelectronics certificate programs are providing specialized education and hands-on, project-driven approaches that ensure graduates are ready to thrive in the semiconductor workforce. The project funding is being disbursed among 28 states and Washington, D.C. To learn more about the ME Commons and how to become a member, visit the initiative's official website: https://microelectronicscommons.org/. Note: Leaders from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineer will attend mini-road shows in Phoenix, Arizona, September 17; Boston, September 18; and Raleigh, North Carolina, September 19 to discuss the future of the ME Commons and gather insights on building a more robust microelectronics workforce. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3908176/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address September 17, 2024 By Alexandria Brimage-Gray, Defense Logistics Agency Military Leaders, Industry Partners Brainstorm Solutions to Logistics Challenges The key to ensuring materiel readiness in a contested logistics environment will be expanding the scope of how and when logistics is considered, planned and executed, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told senior logisticians Sept. 12. "We want to fight with an unfair advantage," Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., said during his keynote address at the Worldwide Logistics Symposium. "We have to act like there is a crisis without the crisis ... to make the changes needed now." Brown joined Defense Logistics Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly, Defense Department logistics leaders, military logisticians from other nations, and industry partners from across the globe to brainstorm solutions to strengthen the global network of sustainment. The event was held Sept. 12-13 at DLA Headquarters. Brown said the solution to contested logistics challenges is to establish a globally connected, resilient defense ecosystem through collaborative regional sustainment strategies that leverage the strengths of allies, partners and the defense industry base. The chairman stated that while we may look to World War II as an example of how to successfully build up logistics support, today presents new global challenges and requires new tools. "We have to take the lessons learned from Ukraine, because logistics was not as interoperable as we initially hoped and it continues to be a limiting factor," Brown said. "We must take an integrated approach. Efforts cannot be siloed; we need to communicate and work with each other and share effective solutions," he continued. The chairman's interest in how we do logistics began after reading the book, "Freedom's Forge," which highlights the shift in the defense industrial base during the 1930s under President Theodore Roosevelt's administration. Brown shared a few takeaways from the book on the importance of assessing the health of supply chains and building relationships with the commercial sector and defense manufacturing to ensure support and integration during a conflict. When thinking about operational planning, the chairman challenged the leaders in attendance to start with the end in mind by first working to break down barriers before going to the conflict, along with being willing to take risks now to minimize problems later. "We must bring our allies and partners to the table and ensure the military services are converging as we prepare our operational plans to better balance our capability with our capacity and build consistent demands with the defense industrial base," he said. Brown explained the importance of military logisticians building trust with the defense industrial base, establishing predictable demand, accelerating partnerships and integrating product support strategies. Being better able to understand priorities and requirements can reduce cost and lead times, he said. The Worldwide Logistics Symposium is intended for participants to gain a better understanding of the concerns our nation's allies and strategic partners face in their operational environments. The event's theme, "Resilient Logistics: An Operational Imperative," was something Steven Morani, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for sustainment, believes requires logisticians to do more than level set. He described becoming resilient like a boxer, able to absorb pain and punishment while maintaining a healthy body through proper nutrition and exercise to sustain throughout the fight. "Wars are won through logistics," he said. "Those who are resilient the longest, win the war, nothing one nation can do alone." When thinking about solutions to contested logistics, Morani stressed the importance of developing depth, capacity and capability to execute operational plans while ensuring the gathered data is actionable to better inform decision making and build quality metrics. These are all areas he believes previous conflicts have not challenged logistics leaders like the current war in Ukraine and the ongoing conflicts around the world are doing today. Allies and Industry Base Partners Share Insights During the event, defense leaders and industry partners heard from logistics principals from allied nations who shared the political climate in their nations, personnel challenges and budgetary constraints, as well as the geographical and environmental concerns impacting their warfighting capabilities at home and in the joint environment. Patrick Kelleher, principal deputy director of strategic logistics for the Joint Staff, moderated a panel for industry association leaders to help bridge the gap and build trust between industry and the DOD. Representatives from three industry associations discussed their federal agency partners capabilities, concerns and challenges in doing business with the government while also providing feedback on how they can help DLA, and the services win wars in the contested logistics environment. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address September 17, 2024 By David Vergun, DOD News Senate Armed Services Committee Considers U.S. Forces Korea, Transcom Nominees The Army lieutenant general nominated to lead U.S. forces in South Korea today told the Senate Armed Services Committee it's important to continue to assure South Koreans that they have U. S. protection, under both a conventional and nuclear umbrella. Army Lt. Gen. Xavier T. Brunson is being considered for promotion to general and appointment to commander of United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea. An important framework for extended nuclear deterrence with South Korea, he said, is the Nuclear Consultative Group, or NCG, which brings together not just defense leaders from both nations, but also security and diplomatic leaders. The April 2023 Washington Declaration established the NCG and reaffirmed the United States' commitment to South Korea. It states that any nuclear attack by North Korea against South Korea "will be met with a swift, overwhelming and decisive response." On Sept. 5-6, the first NCG interagency table-top simulation was conducted in Washington, with both nations' national security, defense, military, diplomatic and intelligence communities participating. Separately, Brunson said he hopes to continue strengthening trilateral relationships with South Korea and Japan, as well as working with allies and partners throughout South Asia to increase security, adding that the United Nations will play an important role. The committee also considered the nomination of Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Reed for promotion to general and appointment to commander of U.S. Transportation Command. Reed said evaluating operations in a contested logistics environment would be a top priority, and he would examine every scenario and facet of how that could be accomplished. Reed is currently serving as deputy commander of Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A military base Reedo was opened near Voru Republic of Estonia - Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI) 17.09.2024 News, Infrastructure, Infrastructure & Services, Procurements, Training Areas The Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI) announces the opening of the Reedo military camp near Voru today, handed over to Estonian Defence Forces 2nd Infantry Brigade, which can accommodate any unit from Allied Forces or Estonian Defence Forces units both permanently and temporarily, during peacetime exercises and crisis situations, supporting the achievement of unit combat readiness. Previously, there was no designated area for allies in Southern Estonia. "Former allied units were accommodated in Taara barracks, where we provided them with a barracks and built one of Estonia's largest container camps. With the new barracks, they can stay near the training area during exercises and practice defending Estonia under good conditions," said Peeter Karja, the Southern Portfolio Manager of ECDI. "In order to better protect Estonia, we must be ready to host allies on a much larger scale according to NATO's new defense plans. But even now, the Estonian Defense Forces need additional space to be able to accommodate extra allied units and provide them with suitable conditions for accommodation, storing equipment, weapons, and ammunition, as well as for training," said Estonian Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur. The areas for receiving allies are ideally suited for to accommodate and host units during crises or exercises. "This simplifies their arrival and achievement of combat readiness here. After a short stay, units proceed to operational areas or return to their countries of origin," explained Elari Kalmaru, the Training Areas Portfiolio Manager at ECDI. Colonel Mati Tikerpuu, commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, said the Estonian Defense Forces' goal is to practice defending Estonia daily and year-round with allies. For troops and units to focus on training during peacetime, they need supporting infrastructure - a dining hall, accommodation and maintenance facilities, and a place to store equipment. "It gives us strong confidence knowing that for the allied units with whom we plan and practice defending Estonia, good reception conditions now exist, should an entire unit need to come help defend Estonia," added Colonel Tikerpuu. The ECDI-managed and Estonian Defence League monitored area includes eight accommodation halls that can house up to 1,000 people, maintenance halls for equipment, dining and kitchen halls, washrooms, and storage halls. The ally reception area for Allied Forces was designed and constructed by Mapri Ehitus, a Southern Estonian company. The construction, including additional works, cost 21 million euros. Tarmo Roos, the CEO of Mapri Ehitus, praised the collaboration with the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments and added that despite ambitious timelines, the work was completed ahead of schedule. "We hope the allies who may arrive here when needed will also be satisfied with the result. Estonia needs to keep its friends close, and it's great if we can also contribute to their living conditions," added Roos. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Dragons Duel at U.S. European Command innovation competition "Dragon's Lair" let U.S. military members pitch their inventions to a panel of generals and senior civilians By Rob Kunzig , NATO Headquarters Stuttgart, Germany Sep 17, 2024 U.S. Army Capt. Douglas Thompson stood in front of a panel of generals and senior civilians, hands behind his back, and calmly took on one of the most vexing problems in modern warfare: Swarms of deadly suicide drones were much less expensive, and much easier to manufacture than the systems NATO Allies currently used to defeat them. Splashed on a projection screen behind him was a picture of a Shahed 136, an Iranian-made suicide drone that Russia has used to bombard Ukraine. It costs just shy of $200,000 to make, but the most advanced missile shot from the U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system costs nearly $4 million per shot. When you're staring down hundreds of suicide drones, Thompson said, you were looking at a prohibitively expensive - and possibly unsustainable - ordeal. The generals and civilian leaders nodded in grim agreement. It was the kind of problem that kept them awake at night, and that's why they had come to this conference room on Patch Barracks, home of U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) in Stuttgart, Germany, for Dragon's Lair X, an innovation competition where soldiers from up and down the ranks got to pitch U.S. military leadership on potential breakthroughs in military technology. "This is kind of how we plant the seeds, and then we build an ecosystem around them to help them grow," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Cogbill, deputy commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps and a competition judge. "When you have a scenario like Ukraine, we're seeing the ingenuity on the battlefield is being decisive. It's not top-down-directed, it's bottom-up. These are people on the front lines that are figuring out creative solutions to complex problems, and that's what we've seen evidenced here today with these nine contestants. Hosted by the XVIII Airborne Corps, the competition began in 2020 and has seen 10 iterations since. The winning ideas could see widespread adoption in the U.S. military - and even its NATO Allies. Thompson's idea was called the Low-Cost Attributable Soldier-Carried small Uncrewed Aerial System - or, more digestibly, LASSI - and the 3D-printed mock-up he passed around looked like an artillery shell with wings. "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get live interceptors through customs," he said, drawing chuckles from the judges. "I got stopped twice just for these models." Carried in a backpack and launched by a soldier, LASSI would use artificial intelligence to find a target and lock on, destroying the incoming drone with a high-explosive warhead. Thompson had already flown a prototype, which he said reached 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour). If produced at scale, he said, each LASSI unit could cost $5,000 or less. To fight a swarm of cheap suicide drones, Thompson proposed, NATO forces could use a swarm of cheaper suicide drones. It was a provocative proposal to solve a problem ripped out of headlines, and the judges peppered Thompson with questions. Sally Pfenning, USEUCOM's director of Requirements and Resource Integration (the part of the command tasked with determining its material needs, and how to fund them), was so intrigued that she said that she wanted to help Thompson develop his idea regardless of whether he took top prize at Dragon's Lair. At the end of the competition, Thompson walked away with a second-place win - a strong sign of potential for LASSI. The gold medal went to Staff Sgt. Nathan Lopez, a former sniper who proposed a more efficient system for deploying camouflage netting over vehicles. While perhaps not as eyebrow-raising as a drone hunter, Lopez's creation solved what he described as a persistent problem with a potentially life-saving tool: camouflage netting was simply too cumbersome to deploy quickly and easily. In fact, he said, most soldiers simply skipped the netting altogether, leaving their vehicles vulnerable to detection. With the Vehicle-Integrated Camouflage System, or VICS - a humble mounting bracket with a telescoping pole that can easily mount onto Army vehicles - soldiers can quickly deploy the netting in a way that takes full advantage of the netting's ability to break up a vehicle's shape and radar signature. With the system already designed and successfully tested in prototype form, Lopez asked for the judge's support in producing the system to outfit all of the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles, or AMPVs. Lopez's pitch likely struck a chord with the judges: on Ukrainian battlefields, camouflage netting has proven crucial in evading detection by Russian scout drones. And since Lopez's Third Infantry Division had just wrapped up a deployment to Eastern Europe, training hard alongside their NATO Allies, they were well acquainted with the need - and hassle - of using camouflage netting. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Martin Klein, deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, didn't hesitate in his endorsement. "It's low-cost, and it gets our soldiers back to the basics," he said. Other ideas tackled problems that were less tangible, but no less important: U.S. Army Sgt. Galen Gant showed the judges Ammo Op, a browser-based system that reduces waste by helping units refine their ammunition requisition requests. He won third place. U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Adam Waymouth presented "Scrybe," an "AI-powered action officer" that would handle administrative tasks like compiling meeting minutes, giving leaders more time to tackle problems rather than completing administrative chores. Ultimately, Cogbill said, all of the finalists presented tangible solutions to real problems, and all the products presented will see some form of support as they continue to grow and develop. "Innovation is too important to be left to generals and sergeants major," he said. "I think the best ideas come from the bottom. They're the people closest to the problems." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Germany Federal Foreign Office 17.09.2024 - Press release We the Foreign Ministers of the Weimar Triangle, met today in Chisinau to express our unwavering and continuous support for Moldova on its way towards membership in the European Union. We congratulate Moldova on starting accession negotiations with the European Union in June. It was made possible by democratic reforms and the courage of political leaders and determination of Moldovan citizens. We commend the progress already made and urge Moldova to stay the course. We will continue to provide assistance in this regard to ensure respect for EU fundamental values such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law. We welcome Moldova's success in repelling Russian destabilization efforts and commit ourselves to strengthening Moldova's resilience and capabilities to fight other threats posed by Russia. We acknowledge that the Moldovan armed forces and other respective services require adequate equipment and reinforced capacities to defend her territory. We will continue our assistance in the field of security and defense cooperation both bilaterally as well as by means of the European Peace Facility. Major investments in Sweden's military defence expansion Government Offices of Sweden Press release from Ministry of Defence 17 September 2024 In its 2025 Budget Bill, the Government proposes additional funding worth SEK 13 billion to Sweden's military defence, including upward adjustments and previous decisions. This corresponds to an increase of 10 per cent compared with 2024. The proposal means that appropriations for military defence amount to SEK 138 billion for 2025. For the coming defence decision period 2025-2030, the Government proposes over SEK 170 billion in additional funding. This is a significant increase in resources aimed at implementing measures in the upcoming bill Total Defence 2025-2030. With these increases, defence expenditure for 2025 is forecast to be equivalent to approximately 2.4 per cent of GDP according to NATO's definition, and equivalent to approximately 2.6 per cent in 2028. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran strongly condemns terrorist act of Zionist regime in Lebanon IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani considered the terrorist act of the Zionist regime in Lebanon in targeting Lebanese citizens by blowing up communication systems, as an example of mass murder and strongly condemned it. "Today's terrorist operations in Lebanon were carried out as a continuation of the combined operations of the Zionist regime and their mercenary agents, and are contrary to all moral and humanitarian principles, international law, especially international humanitarian law, and deserve international criminal prosecution, trial and punishment," he added. Kanaani pointed out that this combined terrorist act, which is actually a kind of mass murder, once again clearly proves that the Zionist regime, in addition to committing war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people, has exposed regional and international peace and security to a serious threat. "Therefore, confronting the terrorist acts against the regime and the threats caused by it is an obvious necessity, and it is necessary for the international community to act quickly in order to confront the impunity of the Zionist criminal authorities," he added. While expressing his sympathy and solidarity with the government, nation and resistance of Lebanon and the families of the martyrs and the injured of this terrorist operation, he wished urgent healing for all the injured in this incident, including the Iranian ambassador in Lebanon. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to provide any kind of help to the government and people of Lebanon. 2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah: Israel responsible for explosions in Lebanon IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Lebanon's Hezbollah, after its first statement about today's explosions in this country, announced the results of its investigation in another statement and identified the Zionist regime as the cause of these explosions. According to al-Ahd news website, Hezbollah announced in its second statement about today's explosions in Lebanon that after reviewing all the facts, data and information available about the criminal attack that occurred this afternoon, "we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression against civilians". In this statement, it was announced that "our martyrs and wounded are a symbol of struggle and sacrifice for the path of Quds, support of our noble nation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and continuous field support for them". "Our position of support for the brave resistance of Palestine is constant and will be a source of pride for us in this world and the next," he added Hezbollah emphasized that this treacherous and criminal enemy will definitely receive a just retribution for this criminal aggression. Earlier on Tuesday in a statement, Hezbollah had said that the resistance is at the highest level of preparedness. The statement followed an electronic attack which targeted Hezbollah members earlier in the day. It said that three people, including a young woman and two brothers, were killed with a large number of others being injured in the simultaneous explosions of pagers used by staff members working at different Hezbollah units and institutions. Hezbollah is now carrying out a widespread security and scientific probe into the incident, the statement said, adding that the injured people are receiving treatment at different hospitals cross Lebanon. It stressed that Hezbollah is at the highest level of preparedness to defend Lebanon and its steadfast people. 2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ansarullah rejects US-UK proposal to halt attacks on Israeli targets IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- A spokesman for Ansarullah says the Yemeni resistance movement has rejected a proposal from the United States and Britain to cease attacks against the Israeli regime in exchange for the recognition of the Sana'a government. According to the Palestinian Shehab news agency's Tuesday report, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti explained that through intermediaries, the US and UK said they would recognize the Sana'a government if Ansarullah agreed to stop attacks on the Israeli regime, but the proposal was declined. In recent months, the Yemeni Armed Forces have targeted several Israeli vessels, especially those ships that carried goods to the occupied ports through the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Bab al-Mandab Strait, in solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip. The US and UK time and again launched strikes against Yemeni positions under the pretext of protecting international shipping. 4208**4354 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah launched 163 attacks on occupied territories in Sept: Report IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has carried out 163 attacks against the northern occupied Palestine this month, according to the Israeli broadcasting corporation. Hezbollah's attacks intensified in September and reached cities that had not been evacuated yet, the media reported on Monday evening. Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire along Lebanon's southern border on a daily basis since October 8, a day after the regime launched its war on Gaza. The Lebanese movement says its operations are aimed at supporting the Palestinian people in Gaza. 1483**4354 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Resistance drones, missiles hit Zionist targets IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iraqi and Lebanese resistance groups have carried out fresh drone and rocket attacks on Israeli targets in the northern occupied Palestinians territories. According to IRNA, citing Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen news network, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced in the early hours of Monday that it carried out a drone strike on a target in the Jordan Valley region of occupied Palestine. The announcement by the umbrella group of several Iraqi resistance factions came a day after it targeted the Israeli port city of Haifa in occupied territory with a drone. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has, time and again, warned that it will intensify its anti-Zionist operations if the regime continues its genocidal attacks on the Gaza Strip. Over the past months, the group has also targeted American bases and facilities in Iraq and neighboring Syria over the illegal US presence in the two countries as well as Washington's support for the Zionist regime's war on Gaza. Meanwhile, the Zionist media reported on Monday night that a heavy rocket hit a house in the town of al-Matla in the north of occupied Palestine. Palestinian Shihab News Agency cited a Hebrew-language newspaper as reporting that rocket caused a fire to the house. No further details were available immediately. Also on Monday night, Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement announced targeting the Ramot Naftali military base of the Zionist regime in the north of occupied Palestine. In a statement, Hezbollah said the Israeli base was hit by Katyusha missiles in response to the criminal attacks of the Zionist regime on the villages of southern Lebanon. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Parliamentary Secretary of the Foreign Ministry Dace Melbarde in Moldova: "It is important for the country's EU integration to continue reforms towards compliance with the uniform EU norms and laws." Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 17.09.2024 Key challenges for Moldova, the coordination of support from the international community, and reforms needed to advance Moldova's EU integration - those were the main issues discussed at the Ministerial Conference of the Moldova Partnership Platform with participation of Dace Melbarde, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia. The Ministerial Conference of the Moldova Partnership Platform is being held in Chisinau on 17 September 2024. Dace Melbarde presented to the audience Latvia's support to Moldova - both bilateral support and multilateral activities and projects. For example, Latvia continues providing assistance to Moldova through bilateral projects and contributions to international and Moldovan funds, including 50,000 in 2023 to strengthen Moldova's energy independence. In multilateral formats, Latvia consistently supports the strengthening of Moldova's resilience by means of EU instruments through the European Peace Facility, the EU Partnership Mission in the country, as well as sanctions against individuals destabilising the political situation in Moldova. At the conference, Dace Melbarde underlined that the EU was not just a political process and a goal in itself: every candidate country must meet certain requirements and take practical steps to comply with common EU standards and laws. On 20 October, Moldova will hold a constitutional referendum on the country's accession to the EU. Moldova, like Ukraine, has been a candidate country for EU membership since 2022. EU Member States decided to open accession negotiations with both countries at the end of 2023. On 25 June 2024, the Intergovernmental Conference in Luxembourg officially opened negotiations on accession to the EU, thereby launching practical work to take over the EU acquis. On the Moldova Partnership Platform The Moldova Partnership Platform was established in 2022 at the initiative of Romania, Germany and France to mobilise and coordinate political, technical and financial support by the international community to the Republic of Moldova. The country has been facing significant socio-economic and security challenges since the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Landsbergis at the meeting with Popsoi: "We fully support Moldova's European integration" Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2024-09-17 On 16 September, during a visit to Chisinau, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Gabrielius Landsbergis, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Mihai Popsoi. At the meeting, the Foreign Ministers discussed Lithuania's expert support to Moldovan institutions and bilateral strategic communication projects. The Lithuanian side congratulated Moldova on the opening of EU accession negotiations and expressed support for the country's reforms. The threat of hybrid attacks by Russia in the run-up to the country's presidential elections and the referendum on joining the EU was highlighted. "Russia continues to seek to destabilise the internal situation of Moldova and hinder its European integration aspirations; therefore, we must believe in the European future of Moldova and help it fully. I am glad that after becoming an EU candidate country, Moldova firmly stepped on the path of reforms and consolidated the efforts of its political elite to achieve goals on the path to EU integration," said Landsbergis. Landsbergis assured that Lithuania would consistently continue to support Moldova on its path to the EU. "Lithuania is ready to share its transformation experience with Moldova and help prepare for the intensive process of EU enlargement negotiations," noted Landsbergis. Lithuania provides expert support to Moldova in transposing EU law and assists in creating the information incident analysis centre. At the end of the meeting, the heads of Lithuanian and Moldovan diplomacy underlined the strong determination of both countries to cooperate, assist Ukraine, and strengthen security in the region. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Landsbergis is visiting Moldova on 16-17 September. The Foreign Minister will attend the ministerial conference of the Moldova Partnership Platform to discuss Moldova's progress in implementing reforms, support needs and Lithuania's support. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gitanas Nauseda: The U.S. remains the main guarantor of security in our region President of the Republic of Lithuania September 17, 2024 On Tuesday, President Gitanas Nauseda visited United States troops serving in Lithuania at the General Silvestras Zukauskas Central Training Area in Pabrade. The President inspected the infrastructure used by the troops, was briefed on the support provided by Lithuania as the host country and its plans, and observed Abrams tanks of the U.S. battalion in firing exercises. During his meeting with U.S. Ambassador Kara C. McDonald, Lithuania's Chief of Defense General Raimundas Vaiksnoras, and the leadership of the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense, Lithuanian-U.S. strategic defense cooperation, ongoing plans and interoperability with the Lithuanian Armed Forces were reviewed. The situation of the U.S. military forces in the region, military cooperation between Lithuania and the Pennsylvania National Guard, and its prospects, as well as options for establishing a Lithuanian National Division were also discussed. According to the President, the United States of America remains the main guarantor of security in our region. "Our goal is a continued uninterrupted presence of United States combat forces in Lithuania," he said. The President emphasized that the presence of American troops and their weaponry significantly contributes to strengthening security and deterrence in Lithuania and across the eastern flank. This is a key element in the development of transatlantic relations, which are strategically important for reinforcing the security architecture and ensuring a world order based on international law and values. The President underlined that the deployment of a German brigade in Lithuania in no way diminishes the significance of the U.S. military presence. Building military infrastructure at the Rudnininkai training ground will contribute to better meeting the training needs of Lithuania and its allies, including the U.S. training needs at the Pabrade training area. According to the President, upgraded infrastructure will soon be available for U.S. troops in Pabrade with plans to accommodate around 1,000 servicemen. The President highlighted the importance of procuring more weapons at a faster pace from the U.S. "In recent years, Lithuania's arms purchases from the U.S. have increased, as has our need for their secure, uninterrupted and rapid delivery, including supplies to allied forces in Lithuania. We would like to buy more and faster," the President said. Gitanas Nauseda thanked the American allies for smooth and efficient cooperation and expressed hope that the presence of U.S. troops in Lithuania will continue irrespective of the outcome of the American presidential elections. The President's Communication Group NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address OSCE reaffirms commitment to Moldova's reform process in key partnership event OSCE | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 17 September 2024 Ambassador Bakyt Dzhusupov, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, represented the OSCE at the Fifth Edition of the Ministerial Meeting of the Moldova Partnership Platform on 17 September. The event was co-hosted by France, Germany and Romania. The Ministerial Meeting convened high-level representatives from more than fifty international delegations and national stakeholders to discuss and co-ordinate efforts in the country's path toward reforms and European accession. The discussions highlighted the needs and accomplishments within the governance, rule of law, energy, and infrastructure sectors. "The Moldova Partnership Platform is a testament that co-operation is key for addressing the multifaceted challenges that Moldova faces," Ambassador Dzhusupov remarked. "I would like to commend the Government of Moldova for its openness, willingness, and dedication to working with us - its international partners - during this crucial endeavor," he added. In his remarks, Ambassador Dzhusupov underscored the OSCE's commitment to support Moldova's reform process within its mandated areas. He mentioned the support provided in the areas of combating and preventing corruption, mitigating the money laundering risks posed by the use of virtual assets, supporting law enforcement agencies in the fight against transnational organized crime, promoting the role and inclusion of women and youth in security agenda, as well as the OSCE Mission to Moldova's mandated work. On the margins of the Ministerial Meeting Ambassador Dzhusupov met with national stakeholders and representatives of some participating States to express gratitude for their co-operation and to reiterate the OSCE's commitment to building a resilient and strong Moldova. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Declaration of Weimar Triangle top diplomats on Moldova's EU future Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Republic of Poland 17.09.2024 On 17 September 2024, minister Radosaw Sikorski, together with his German and French counterparts, Annalena Baerbock and Stephane Sejourne, visited Chisinau to jointly voice support for the Republic of Moldova's European aspirations. The Weimar Triangle foreign ministers attended, among other events, the fifth edition of the Moldova Partnership Forum, which is aimed at ensuring Moldova's secure future in the family of the European Union member states. Moldova's President Maia Sandu referred to the presence of the European ministers: "with you by our side, we are even stronger. Today, Moldova is at a crossroads, but it is not a crossroads where we do not know where to go. We know the direction well: forward, towards a European future, where peace and prosperity are the order of the day. The future of our country is not built overnight, but every step we take together brings us closer to that stable, European future, where every citizen lives with dignity and in safety." In Chisinau, Polish, German, and French foreign ministers released a Joint Declaration, in which they have explicitly backed Moldova's EU membership and underlined further support in countering all Russia's attempts to destabilise the country. Radosaw Sikorski, Annalena Baerbock, and Stephane Sejourne also guaranteed that their countries will use dedicated European programmes to support Moldova's defence capabilities and the security of its citizens. The English version of the Declaration is available below. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fewer Chinese ships in WPS; Sabina Shoal still swarmed Philippine News Agency By Priam Nepomuceno September 17, 2024, 9:59 am MANILA -- The number of Chinese ships spotted in various features of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) has dropped, the majority of which are still swarming the Sabina Shoal (also known as Escoda Shoal), the Philippine Navy (PN) said Tuesday. In its latest monitoring, the Navy said a total of 157 Chinese vessels were sighted in the WPS from Sept. 10 to 16, down from 207 ships logged from Sept. 3 to 9. The latest figure includes 123 Chinese Maritime Militia Vessels (CMMVs), 26 China Coast Guard Vessels (CCGVs), seven People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships and one Chinese Research and Survey Vessel (CRSV). Out of these ships, 65 are swarming the Sabina Shoal - 52 CMMVs, four PLAN ships and nine CCGVs. Over the weekend, the Philippine Coast Guard's largest vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua left the Sabina Shoal after a five-month deployment in the area that started on April 15. Meanwhile, 32 Chinese vessels were spotted off Pagasa Island - 31 CMMVs and one CCGV. Another 18 vessels were seen in the Bajo de Masinloc - eight CMMVs, six CCGVs, three PLAN ships and the lone CRSV. A total of 17 ships were spotted in the Ayungin Shoal - 10 CCGVs and seven CMMVs while another 17 CMMVs were seen in Iroquois Reef. Eight CMMVs, meanwhile, were spotted in Lawak and Panata Islands. China not in control of Sabina Shoal PN spokesperson for the WPS, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad maintained that China is still not in control of Sabina Shoal despite the departure of the BRP Teresa Magbanua. "They have never been in control. Their presence there is illegal. We will continue performing our mandate. We will not be deterred. Ang guidance sa atin (the guidance to us) is not to let up (in our visibility patrols) not only in Escoda (Shoal) and Ayungin but all over the expanse of the WPS)," Trinidad said in a message to reporters. Trinidad, meanwhile, declined to comment on the possible security impact of China taking control of the Sabina Shoal. "I would not like to speculate on that. Nevertheless, we are prepared, we have our contingency plans," he said. In a related development, Trinidad attributed the steep decline in the number of Chinese ships in the WPS to adverse weather conditions in the area. "If you notice the decrease is more on the features that are in the northern part of the Kalayaan Island Group which is the area more affected by the weather disturbance. So we could attribute this to the weather," he said. High morale among BRP Sierra Madre troops Meanwhile, Trinidad said the contingent manning the BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) in Ayungin Shoal are all healthy and in high morale. He also declined to comment on when the next resupply mission for the ship, noting that this is under the purview of the Puerto Princesa, Palawan-based Western Command. Trinidad also said that troops aboard the ship have more than enough supplies at the moment. This includes food, water, medicines and other essential items. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran condemns Israel's 'terror attack' in Lebanon, offers assistance to victims Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 5:53 PM Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has strongly condemned the "terrorist attack" by the Israeli regime in Lebanon, which left at least nine people dead and thousands more injured. In a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Rashid Bouhabib, on Tuesday, Araghchi denounced the targeting of Lebanese citizens by Israel following the simultaneous explosion of thousands of wireless communication devices, known as pagers, used by Hezbollah members and others across Lebanon. The top diplomat expressed his condolences and solidarity with the Lebanese government, people, and the families of the victims and the injured. Araghchi also said that Iran was ready to provide any necessary assistance for the treatment of the injured or their transfer to Tehran for medical care. He inquired about the condition of Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Amani, who was among the 2,800 people injured in the mass explosions, and thanked Lebanon for providing immediate medical treatment to the ambassador. Additionally, the foreign minister spoke on the phone with Amani's wife and inquired about his condition. Araghchi again offered to facilitate the immediate transfer of the ambassador and other injured individuals to Iran if needed. The ambassador's wife thanked the foreign minister for his concern and assured him that Amani is in good condition. Meanwhile, Iranian Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi spoke with his Lebanese counterpart after the pager explosions, reiterating Iran's readiness to send medical aid to Lebanon. Dr. Pir Hossein Kolivand, president of the Red Crescent Society, confirmed that the IRCS was prepared to dispatch emergency medical teams to Lebanon to provide medical services and assist in transferring the injured to Iranian hospitals for specialized treatment. Preliminary investigations by both Hezbollah and Lebanese officials indicate that the blasts were likely caused by a remote cyber attack orchestrated by the Israeli regime amid heightened tensions. In a statement, Hezbollah said after reviewing all available information about the attacks, they hold the Israeli regime "fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which targeted civilians and resulted in the martyrdom of several individuals and injuries to many others." Hezbollah vowed to continue supporting the Palestinian resistance and declared that the "treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly be punished for this aggressive act." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel's mass displacement orders exacerbate Gaza humanitarian situation: UN Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 5:32 PM The United Nations warns that Israel's repeated mass displacement orders keep exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a press conference on Tuesday that Israel has issued more than 55 evacuation orders covering more than 85% of the population of the Gaza Strip to date. He said that "issuing mass evacuation orders in the Gaza Strip without ensuring safe places for the displaced exacerbates the already dire humanitarian situation of hundreds of thousands of people." Dujarric said the repeated displacements lead to the separation of families from each other, and the erosion of social protection systems, especially for women and children. Dujarric warned that the OCHA the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had been unable to reach northern Gaza for 28 days. He said Israeli forces continue to target aid convoys, which are being shot at, subjected to life-threatening conditions, and stopped or delayed for hours. On August 30, Israeli forces fired a missile at the lead vehicle of an aid convoy in Gaza, killing four Palestinians. The convoy, organized by American Near East Refugee Aid, known as Anera, was delivering medical supplies and fuel to a hospital in Rafah. Humanitarian groups have repeatedly come under attack by Israeli forces as they were providing desperately needed aid in Gaza. According to the United Nations, more than 280 humanitarian workers have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal war in Gaza on October 7, 2023. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jordan, Egypt call for end to Israeli hostilities in occupied West Bank Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 3:56 PM Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi have jointly called for putting an end to Israel's new wave of hostilities in the West Bank, expressing their deep concern over the regime's relentless attacks against Palestinians in the occupied territory. During a phone call on Tuesday, El-Sisi and King Abdullah also warned of dangerous consequences of the Tel Aviv regime's continued aggression against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Jordan's official Petra news agency reported. In the early hours of August 28, the Israeli military conducted its biggest operation - dubbed "Camps of Summer" - in the West Bank in over 20 years, deploying hundreds of troops and carrying out airstrikes on Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas, which are major centers of Palestinian resistance against the occupying regime. Since the onset of the current aggression in the West Bank, dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. The total death toll in the occupied West Bank has now reached over 700 since October 7 last year, when Israel launched its ongoing genocidal aggression against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. El-Sisi and King Abdullah also emphasized the urgent need for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza as a crucial measure to safeguard regional security and prevent the war from escalating further. The two leaders further reiterated their opposition to any efforts to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. King Abdullah also conveyed his gratitude for Egypt's efforts to achieve a comprehensive truce and resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Both leaders underscored the importance of continuing to support the Palestinian people in securing their full legitimate rights and establishing an independent state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital. Palestinians say such offensives in the occupied West Bank are aimed at cementing Israel's seemingly open-ended military rule over the territory. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Israeli massacre kills about two dozen civilians in central Gaza Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 3:18 PM The Israeli military has committed a new massacre against Palestinians in Gaza, killing about two dozen civilians and wounding scores in the central part of the besieged Palestinian territory. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 23 people were killed and over 50 others injured following the Israeli airstrike on al-Bureij camp on Tuesday. "The occupation bombed several homes belonging to the families of Al-Tarturi, Abu Shawqa, and Al-Batran, in Al-Bureij camp ... dozens are still trapped under the rubble," Palestinian new agency WAFA quoting sources reported Seven people from the same family have been pronounced dead in the aftermath of the strike on the camp. The report noted that a child was among those killed. The Palestinian Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip has called on the International Red Cross "to rescue dozens of people trapped under the rubble." "The occupation used destructive American-made bombs in its bombing of the residential block," it said. "Dozens of distress calls have been received from inside the homes targeted by the occupation ... entire families have been erased from the civil registry in the Al-Bureij massacre," the Civil Defense added. The victims of this air raid are displaced Palestinians who made their way back to their homes in the past few weeks. They made their way back to the Bureij camp and that's when they were attacked by the Israeli military. For more than five hours now, paramedics have been largely unable to reach the site of the air strike and rescue those still trapped under the rubble. Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups have strongly condemned the massacre. Hamas said the massacre comes "amidst a reprehensible international silence and a state of complete paralysis of the international system from playing its role in activating the laws of protecting civilians in wars." Separately, the Mujahideen Movement said in a statement that silence by international community emboldens to continue its crimes across the besieged region. "The international silence and Arab failure encourage the Zionist enemy to continue its heinous crimes against our Palestinian people, and whet the appetite for more killing and terrorism against the defenseless and innocent," Just last week, at least 40 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured in an attack on southern Gaza's al-Mawasi, targeting an area designated by Tel Aviv as a "safe zone." Israel pushes ahead with its genocide in the Gaza Strip, as the death toll from more than eleven months of attacks exceeds 41,200. At least 10,000 people are still unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of bombed-out homes across the besieged strip. Israel has committed many massacres in its 75 years of occupying Palestinian land, in what has been described before as a "slow-motion genocide". NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon says completed US military withdrawal from Niger Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 2:10 PM The United States has announced that its military troops have completed a full withdrawal from Niger meeting the deadline. The US military said on Monday that the pullout took place in accordance to Niamey's demand for the American forces' complete exit from the African country by September 15. The two countries "announce that the withdrawal of US forces and assets from Niger is complete," Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement on Sunday. "The safe, orderly, and responsible withdrawal was completed without complications, by the mutually decided date of September 15, 2024," AFRICOM announced. In April, Niger's ruling junta had ordered the US troops withdrawal following a coup last year in the West African nation. 1,000 US troops exited the country in phases, with forces and assets withdrawing from Air Base 101 in Niamey in July and Air Base 201 in Agadez in August. Washington said the US Africa Command Coordination Element had also pulled out before the deadline. "Over the past decade, US troops have trained Niger's forces and supported partner-led counterterrorism missions against Islamic State and al Qaeda in the region," AFRICOM said in its statement. "The US Department of Defense and the Nigerien Ministry of National Defense recognize the sacrifices made by both nations' forces." The withdrawal of American troops from Niger followed the pullout of French troops. The West African nation's demand that the US military pull out its troops from the country following last year's takeover by the military in Niger is seen as an embarrassment to Washington. Before the junta's takeover of the African country, the Niger government had facilitated the US military presence by allowing Washington to set up key military bases to operate in the Sahel region of Africa. Meanwhile, Washington is looking to find a new way to maintain its forces military presence in West Africa. However, the process of finding a country willing to agree with the idea of the US being free to run a military base in it is tricky. US officials claim that without consolidated military presence, US intelligence on the fast-growing militant extremist groups operating in the Sahel region is going to diminish rapidly. The establishment of military bases in the region belonging to the US and former colonial power, France, create serious national security implications for the host country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli forces have killed 11,000 students in Gaza, West Bank Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 1:18 PM The Palestinian Education Ministry says 11,000 students have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023. More than 17, 224 students have also been wounded in the regime's genocidal war on the Palestinian territory, according to the ministry figures. In the West Bank, 113 students were killed and 548 injured. About 429 students have also been kidnapped by the regime's forces in the occupied city. The Education Ministry released the figure more than a week after the school year officially began, while all schools in the besieged territory shut. Israel's military forces have so far destroyed 123 schools and universities in Gaza, according to the Gaza government media office. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which runs around half of Gaza's schools, warned earlier that "the longer the children stay out of school the more difficult it is for them to catch up on their lost learning and the more prone they are to becoming a lost generation." When the regime launched its savage offensive on Gaza almost one year ago, UNRWA transformed its schools into emergency shelters for families forced to flee their homes. The vast majority of the Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by Israel's genocidal war. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Netanyahu set to fire war minister Gallant amid dispute over Gaza failure Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 8:38 AM Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to fire Yoav Gallant, the regime's military affairs minister as significant disagreements deepen over the Gaza war amid intense pressure from far-right coalition partners opposing his push for a large-scale military campaign. Israeli public broadcaster KAN, citing informed sources on Monday, reported that negotiations are in progress between Netanyahu's office and Gideon Sa'ar, leader of the right-wing New Hope party, regarding the potential replacement of Gallant, who has been at odds with Netanyahu. It reported that an announcement might be imminent, while Channel 13 indicated that Netanyahu's wife, Sara, a pivotal player in the situation, remained indecisive and unconvinced about the advantages of replacing a troublesome minister with one deemed disloyal. Following the report, far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on X platform that he had been demanding Gallant's ouster for months "and the time has come to do so immediately." "We must resolve the situation in the north and Gallant is not the right man to lead this," Ben Gvir had formerly said, referring to a possible escalation with Hezbollah. However, Netanyahu's office has refuted claims of negotiations with Sa'ar, while a spokesperson for the former ally turned rival stated that there is "nothing new" regarding the matter. Sa'ar, an outspoken critic of Netanyahu's handling of the war, is presently serving as a member of the opposition. This is while hundreds of Israeli settlers protested in Tel Aviv on Monday night and many others gathered outside Sa'ar's residence to voice their opposition to the dismissal of Gallant from the cabinet, sparking fears of a political coalition forming against Netanyahu, potentially led by Gallant himself. In March 2023, Netanyahu fired Gallant from the cabinet following his public dissent against the regime's controversial judicial overhaul plan, sparking widespread protests that ultimately prompted Netanyahu to reconsider his stance. Recent reports from Israeli media highlight significant rifts between Netanyahu and key security officials, including Gallant, over a ceasefire in Gaza, a potential prisoner exchange with Hamas, and the oversight of the Gaza-Egypt border area, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, in addition to the escalating situation along the southern Lebanon border. Tensions have escalated in recent days as Gallant recently criticized Netanyahu publicly for the breakdown of a ceasefire agreement, prompting a sharp response from the Israeli prime minister's office. Meanwhile, Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz has also accused Netanyahu of contemptible political plans rather than focusing on victory over Hamas. "Instead of the prime minister being busy with victory over Hamas, returning the hostages, with the war against Hezbollah and allowing (evacuated) residents of the north to return to their homes, he is busy with despicable political dealings" and replacing the minister of military affairs, Gantz wrote on social media. Families of the captives held in Gaza and Israeli settlers blame Netanyahu for the failure to secure a deal, saying he is prolonging the war in Gaza to maintain in power. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sept. 16: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 7:19 AM By Press TV Website Staff Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,250 Palestinians so far, the majority of them children, resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers. The major operations carried out by the Palestinian and regional resistance groups on Monday, September 16, are as follows: Al-Qassam Brigades' operations on Sept. 16: Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces in the Zaghoul neighborhood in Balata camp, northern occupied West Bank, using machine guns and explosives. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on Sept. 16: Targeted the positions of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles in the "Netzarim" axis with short-range 107 mm caliber rockets. Hezbollah's operations on Sept. 16: Targeted positions of Israeli forces near the "Metulla" site with rockets. Targeted the Birkat Risha site with artillery shells. Targeted Israeli artillery positions in "Zaoura" with rockets. Targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers around the "Metulla" site with attack drones. Targeted the "Metulla" site with rockets. Targeted deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the "Metat" barracks with rockets. Targeted the "Ruwaisat Al-Alam" site in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba hills with machine guns. Targeted the "Samaqa" site in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba hills with rockets. Targeted the "Ramim" barracks with a salvo of Katyusha rockets. Targeted the "Ramot Naftali" barracks with a salvo of Katyusha rockets. Targeted buildings used by Israeli occupation forces in the settlement of "Metulla" with appropriate weapons. Targeted Israeli forces in the Bayad Blida site with artillery shells. Targeted Israeli forces in Ramia site with guided missiles. Islamic Resistance in Iraq's operations on Sept. 16: Targeted Israeli military sites in the Jordan Valley, occupied Palestinian territories, with a barrage of drones. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address FM Araghchi: Support for resistance front against Israel Iran's 'principled policy' Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 6:15 AM Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has reiterated the Islamic Republic's unwavering policy to back resistance forces in their struggle against the occupying Israeli regime. Araghchi made the pledge during a meeting with Salah Fahs, the representative of the Lebanese Amal Movement in Tehran, on Monday evening. In the meeting, Fahs conveyed congratulations of the speaker of Lebanon's parliament and chairman of the Amal Movement, Nabih Berri, to Araghchi on his appointment as the foreign minister of Iran. For his part, the Iranian foreign minister praised his measures in support of the resistance front as well as sacrifices made by fighters of his Amal Movement alongside Hezbollah members in the battle against Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories. The top Iranian diplomat also reaffirmed Iran's principled policy of supporting resistance forces in their legitimate struggle against the Zionist regime's occupation. Araghchi and Fahs also discussed the latest regional developments, including the status of the anti-Israeli resistance front in Lebanon, the state of affairs in Palestinian territories and the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on Gaza. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in late July, has pledged that his administration will exert every possible effort to bolster the resistance front and advocate for unity among Muslims in their fight against the Zionist regime. During a meeting with Sheikh Naim Qassem, the deputy secretary general of Hezbollah, in Tehran on July 30, Pezeshkian commended the brave fighters of Hezbollah for their resilience and steadfastness in confronting the transgressions and acts of aggression perpetrated by Israel. Pezeshkian emphasized that supporting the Axis of Resistance constitutes a religious duty and a major policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi resistance strikes target in Jordan Valley in fresh pro-Palestinian operation Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 2:42 AM Iraq's Islamic Resistance, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, has struck a target lying in the Jordan Valley in a fresh pro-Palestinian operation. The resistance released the information in a statement on Monday, saying it had carried out the operation using kamikaze drones earlier in the day. The strike was conducted "in continuation of our path in resisting the occupation, in support of our people in Gaza, and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against Palestinian civilians, including children, women, and the elderly," the statement read. The resistance has been performing numerous such operations against sensitive targets lying across the occupied Palestinian territories since October 7 last year, when the Israeli regime began bringing the Gaza Strip under a genocidal war. Its most recent operation of the type came on September 4, when it hit a strategic target in the port of Haifa in the northern part of the occupied territories with a squadron of kamikaze drones. The brutal Israeli military onslaught against Gaza has so far claimed the lives of at least 41,206 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Concluding the Monday statement, the resistance vowed to continue "striking the enemy's strongholds with increasing intensity." Since early August, the umbrella group has also stepped up its operations against United States-occupied bases across Iraq and neighboring Syria. The operations have been seeking to convey its protest at Washington's unquestioning political, military, and intelligence support for Tel Aviv's atrocities against Palestinians. Later in August, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a component of the Iraqi coalition, claimed responsibility for an earlier strike against the US-occupied Ain al-Assad Airbase in western Iraq. It also said it would launch further attacks that would "surprise" the enemy both inside and outside the Iraqi territory. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Too early' for an Asian NATO: US official A leading candidate to become Japan's next leader says he would spearhead the creation of such a bloc. By Alex Willemyns for RFA 2024.09.17 -- A top U.S. official has rebuffed calls for an "Asian NATO" made by a leading candidate to become Japan's next prime minister. Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party will next week choose its new leader and thereby anoint a successor to Fumio Kishida, who last month announced he would step down amid lagging popularity. One of the three leading candidates to replace Kishida, the 67-year-old former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, has argued that Tokyo should lead the creation of a formal security alliance in Asia similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which commits its 32 member countries to each other's defense in the event any are attacked. But speaking at a forum on Indo-Pacific security at the Stimson Center on Tuesday, Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, said he thought the proposal was hasty. "It's too early to talk about collective security in that context, and [the creation of] more formal institutions," Kritenbrink said, advocating for a continuation of the Biden administration's foreign-policy approach of building a "latticework" of U.S. alliances in the region. "What we're focused on is investing in the region's existing formal architecture and continuing to build this network of formal and informal relationships," he said. "And then we'll see where that goes." But Kritenbrink said Washington took a neutral stance on the internal party election. "Maybe one final comment," he said, "just so people don't think I'm commenting on the Japanese election - we look forward to working with whomever is elected, and I'm confident that whoever is prime minister is going to be great for the U.S.-Japan alliance." Asian NATO Proposals for an "Asian NATO" have rankled Beijing, which sees itself as the ultimate focus of any such bloc in a similar way that Moscow has often blasted NATO itself for its focus on defense against Russia. At the Shangri-La defense dialogue in Singapore in June, a top Chinese military leader accused the United States of trying to slowly introduce such a security alliance by building up its historical ties between Japan and South Korea into an "institutional" alliance. Washington was trying to create an Asian NATO as a method of "tying the region's countries to the U.S. war chariot," Lieutenant Gen. Jing Jianfeng said at the forum, describing the Biden administration's "latticework" of alliances as a stepping stone to something more. "The real purpose is to merge the small circle into the large circle of the Asia-Pacific version of NATO so as to maintain the hegemony led by the U.S.," he said, blaming "selfish U.S. geopolitical interests." But American officials have long denied any plans for such a bloc in Asia, describing the geopolitical situation in the region as different from that in Europe, with little to gain from institutionalization. Edited by Malcolm Foster Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September 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 coast guard holds rare live fire exercise The drills are aimed at strengthening combat readiness amid rising tension in the South China Sea. By RFA Staff 2024.09.17 -- Vietnam's coast guard has held a rare live fire exercise to test responses to security threats, in an area off its central coast on the South China Sea. The Sept. 5-11 exercise was conducted by the Vietnam Coast Guard Region 3, in the waters off Binh Thuan province, the force said in a press release. Coast Guard Region 3 with headquarters in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is one of Vietnam's four coast guard zones, responsible for safeguarding its claims in the South China Sea as tensions are rising in the regional waterway. The tactical training and live five exercise - aimed at boosting combat readiness - is "one of the top priorities" of the coast guard, Col. Nguyen Minh Khanh, Region 3's deputy commander, was quoted as saying. Coast guard personnel were responding to multiple scenarios such as "threats to sovereignty and security," illegal incursions into Vietnam's waters by foreign vessels, piracy and search-and-rescue and disaster relief. Photographs and video clips released by the coast guard show troops, equipped with artillery, anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers, shooting at airborne targets as well as firing water cannons and warning off foreign ships. "They have accomplished all the tasks with excellence," Col. Khanh said. Vietnam rarely publicizes such activities despite having invested heavily in developing its coast guard in recent years. The U.S. coast guard is reportedly planning to transfer the last of three Hamilton-class cutters to Vietnam in the near future. Maritime security is a defense priority for Vietnam, one of six parties that claim parts of the South China Sea, along with China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. China, however, holds the most expansive claim and its authorities have become more aggressive against neighboring countries in disputed waters. This month, coast guard vessels from Vietnam and the Philippines took part in their first joint drills off Manila but they limited their activity to firefighting and search-and-rescue as Vietnam is careful not to be seen as siding militarily with any country. The Philippines and China have this year been in a tense standoff over disputed features in the South China Sea. The Philippines last week recalled a coast guard vessel from the disputed Sabina Shoal but officials pledged never to "abandon our sovereign rights over these waters." Edited by Mike Firn. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September 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 Reports on rights violations in Vietnam decline due to fear of reprisal: UN The UN says Vietnamese authorities retaliated against those cooperating with its human rights agency. By RFA Vietnamese 2024.09.17 -- Reports on human rights violations in Vietnam have decreased due to a general fear of reprisals, the United Nations says. Last week, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, released a report which found that Vietnam was retaliating against organizations and individuals who had cooperated with the U.N. in the field of human rights from May 2023 to April 2024. "During the reporting period civil society organizations refrained from publicly engaging with United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms and requested anonymity and confidentiality in their contributions and engagements with the Organization due to fear of reprisals," it said. The report said that as a result of the retaliation, the number of reports regarding Vietnam's human rights profile had fallen sharply ahead of the U.N. Human Rights Council in May 2024. Quyet Ho, a human rights activist from the coastal city of Da Nang who has contributed reports to the U.N., told RFA Vietnamese that he agrees with the assessment. "The Vietnamese government retaliates against organizations and individuals who report [Vietnam's] human rights violations to international human rights bodies," he said. "Moreover, the Ministry of Public Security security agencies also take revenge on those who dare to grant interviews to foreign or overseas Vietnamese media. Many have been imprisoned recently for their previous interviews with foreign press." Ho said that the one-party communist government in Vietnam has "weaponized the law" to suppress dissenting opinions, resulting in many activists choosing to remain silent. Another human rights activist, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, said that the Vietnamese government's reprisals indicated an environment of "seriously restricted freedom of speech." Such retaliation not only discouraged individuals and organizations who wished to defend human rights in Vietnam, but also created a climate of fear in society, she said. This chilling effect is likely creating an incomplete picture of the state of human rights in Vietnam, she added. Targeted with violence The OHCHR's report cited the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, or CERD, as saying that those working on the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, indigenous peoples, and non-citizens in Vietnam had been systematically targeted with violence, intimidation, surveillance, threats, and reprisals as a consequence of their work. CERD gave the example of two Montagnard people, Y Khiu Nie and Y Si Eban, being suppressed by Vietnamese authorities before and after the Southeast Asia Freedom of Religion or Belief Conference in Bali, Indonesia in 2022 - an event where participants had opportunities to interact with UN representatives and raise awareness of how to engage with UN human rights mechanisms. At Ho Chi Minh City's airport, the two activists were prevented from leaving for Bali and then taken back to Dak Lak province for interrogation. They were repeatedly harassed by the police for their contacts with organizations outside Vietnam that document and report on the situation of Montagnards, according to the OHCHR. The Vietnamese government has refuted the allegations of arbitrarily detaining and monitoring the two Montagnard activists as well as restricting their movements. RFA emailed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking comment but did not receive a response by press time. The ministry regularly denies allegations of human rights violations by the U.N. and other international rights organizations, stating that the accusations are based on false and unverified information. Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September 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 9 Killed, Thousands Wounded In Simultaneous Explosion Of Pagers In Lebanon, Minister Says By RFE/RL's Radio Farda September 17, 2024 At least nine people were killed and 2,750 were wounded when pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon, the health minister said on September 17 after the Iranian-backed Hizballah militant group said two of its members and a girl were among those killed in the "mysterious" explosions. Health Minister Firass Abiad said 200 of the injuries were critical, and Iran's ambassador in Beirut was among those injured, Iranian media reported. Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary condemned the detonation of the pagers as an "Israeli aggression," while Hizballah said Israel would receive "its fair punishment" for the blasts. Mojtaba Amani, Iran's ambassador in Beirut, was injured, Iranian media reported. The Fars news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, quoted an unidentified informed source as saying that Amani suffered a "superficial injury" as a result of a pager explosion. The news channel of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Mehr news agency also reported that Amani was injured. The pagers that exploded were the latest models of the devices that Hizballah imported into the country in recent month, Reuters reported, citing three unidentified sources. Reports from Lebanon indicate that "hundreds" of members of the Lebanese Hizballah group, including fighters and aid workers, were injured in the explosion of the pagers in southern Lebanon and its suburbs. The Lebanese Foreign Ministry called it an "Israeli cyberattack," adding that some of the pagers that exploded were in Syria. The ministry also said in a statement that it was preparing to submit a complaint to the UN Security Council. "This dangerous and deliberate Israeli escalation is accompanied by Israeli threats to expand the scope of the war against Lebanon on a large scale, and by the intransigence of Israeli's positions calling for more bloodshed, destruction, and devastation," it said. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, said in a statement that she deplored the attack, warning that it "marked an extremely concerning escalation." Without commenting directly on the explosions, an Israeli military spokesman said the chief of staff, Major General Herzi Halevi, had met with senior officers to assess the situation. No policy change was announced but "vigilance must continue to be maintained," he said, according to Reuters. The United States was not aware in advance and had no involvement in the explosions, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. The blasts came after weeks of private diplomacy by the United States to discourage Iran from retaliating against Israel for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political chief, in Tehran. Amos Yadlin, the former head of Israeli military intelligence, told RFE/RL that whoever carried out the pager-explosion operation intended to send a "clear message" to Hizballah. Yadlin said it could be a response to a plot to assassinate a senior Israeli security official that the Israeli security apparatus announced. He also noted that Hizballah continues its attacks on Israel as it tries to link itself to the Gaza conflict, and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah does not want to stop these attacks. The Israeli government decided on September 16 to add the safe return of its citizens to the north as a goal in the war. This was part of an Israeli cabinet announcement that was expanding its war objectives and the focus of its almost yearlong campaign against the extremist group Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, in Gaza to confront Hizballah on its northern border with Lebanon. Nasrallah must understand that his actions will lead to a shift in Israeli policy, Yadlin told RFE/RL. "However, whether this policy shift will result in a full-scale war or a limited military operation will become clear in the coming days. In any case, we are now in a new phase," he said The events coincide with the return of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region to try to revive cease-fire talks on the Israeli-Hamas war. While the focus of the war has been on Gaza, exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hizballah, Hamas's ally in Lebanon, have killed hundreds of people, mostly militants in Lebanon and dozens of civilians and soldiers in Israel, and caused tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee. Israel's announcement on expanding its objectives came a day after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that "military action" was the only way left for Israel's northern communities to return to their homes. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin discussed Middle East tensions with Gallant on September 17, the Pentagon announced. "Secretary Austin spoke by phone today with his Israeli counterpart to touch base regarding ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the threats facing Israel," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists. Ryder declined to say whether the explosions were discussed. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/lebanon-israel-pager-explosions- hizballah-iran/33123764.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 In the serene mornings of Chishui, a county-level city in Zunyi, Guizhou province, local resident Yang Liu can often be found honing her skills in the art of bamboo drifting among the flowing rivers that wind through bamboo forests. With a long bamboo pole in hand and poised gracefully on another pole, she navigates the waters with finesse, showcasing the beauty of this traditional folk sport. Through the sharing of her videos on social media, Yang, a recognized inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of Chishui single bamboo drifting, introduces the enchanting allure of the Chishui Bamboo Sea to a broader domestic and international audience. Located in the northern part of Guizhou, the "sea of bamboo" covers 88,500 hectares. The bamboo forests paint a picturesque green landscape that captivates the eye and provides significant economic benefits to drive rural vitalization. Last year, the total output value of the bamboo industry in Chishui reached 8.31 billion yuan ($1.16 billion), with bamboo-related income accounting for approximately 65 percent of the city's GDP. Local authorities, as reported by Guizhou Daily, are dedicated to promoting sustainable cultivation and harvesting methods to preserve the ecological balance of the bamboo sea. Each year, approximately 15 million bamboo poles and 1 million metric tons of miscellaneous bamboo items are harvested in Chishui, involving 180,000 bamboo farmers. They can earn over 5,000 yuan per person annually through the sale of bamboo raw materials and engagement in related industries. Yang Changqin, a National People's Congress deputy and a sixth-generation inheritor of the provincial intangible cultural heritage Chishui bamboo-weaving, has elevated traditional bamboo weaving to a fusion of practicality and artistic aesthetics. Through innovative designs, she has expanded the range of bamboo products to weaving accessories, fiber paintings, art lamps and more. "Development is the best form of inheritance. We must innovate products that align with contemporary aesthetic standards and integrate them into daily life scenarios, possessing commercial attributes to better promote inheritance and development," she said. In 2019, Yang established Jizhutang, a base for the production, research, design, apprentice training, experiential learning and sales of intangible cultural heritage bamboo-weaving in Datong town, Chishui. The base has uplifted the livelihoods of over 2,000 individuals, helping increase their average annual income by over 30,000 yuan. Led by individuals such as Yang Changqin, Lu Huaying and Ma Qiang, the bamboo craft inheritors in Chishui have propelled the evolution of traditional bamboo craftsmanship toward contemporary bamboo paintings, handbags, carvings and landscape fans. These creative products are distributed globally, enhancing the reputation of the Chishui Bamboo Sea. With a short growth cycle of 3 to 5 years, bamboo serves as a rapidly replenishing, biodegradable biomass material, offering an effective solution to reduce plastic pollution. Last October, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued a 3-year action plan to accelerate the development of replacing plastic with bamboo, encouraging major bamboo-producing regions to expand the industrial chains. Seizing upon these opportunities, Chishui has prioritized the development of the bamboo industry as its flagship sector. Nearly 300 enterprises have gathered along the bamboo industrial chain, capable of producing over 300 products, including building materials, furniture and daily necessities. "Bamboo pulp products can fully degrade in just 45 to 90 days, offering high quality and environmental friendliness," said Cao Yuan, design director of Guizhou Zhusu Huanbao Technology, a molding enterprise utilizing bamboo pulp boards as its raw material. The company has produced 100,000 bamboo pulp mooncake boxes and 500,000 pairs of bamboo pulp shoe inserts in the first half of the year, with exports reaching Europe and the United States. The local government in Zunyi has actively encouraged the integration of bamboo office supplies and dining utensils into government procurement, facilitating the gradual replacement of plastic packaging materials in key local industries such as liquor. "Bamboo-made packaging boxes are more eco-friendly than plastic packages," said Zhang Wantian, marketing department manager of Guizhou Xinjin Bamboo Wood Products, mentioning that five local liquor companies have already expressed interest in customizing bamboo packaging. Yao Lianshu, president of the company, highlighted that as a leading national forestry enterprise, their product range is diversifying with the rising trend of replacing plastic with bamboo. Within their workshop in Chishui Bamboo Industry Park, bamboo poles are meticulously cut, sliced, carbonized, dried and assembled by skilled workers to craft complete bamboo boards. These boards are used in the creation of bamboo flooring and furniture, as well as unique products like bamboo toilet seat covers, bamboo electronic scales and more. Yao mentioned that the production of toilet seat covers primarily targets the European market, with exports last year accounting for a quarter of the company's output value. Ethnic Serbs In Kosovo Now Feel Betrayed After Quitting Their Jobs By Bekim Bislimi and Sandra Cvetkovic September 17, 2024 KOSOVO -- Dragan Nikolic worked for two decades in the Kosovo Police before quitting in November 2022 after the Belgrade-backed Serbian List party called on all ethnic Serbs to leave Kosovar institutions amid a dispute with Pristina over license plates. Now a driver in Kosovo's Communities and Returns Ministry, he regrets the decision he said he made under pressure and hopes someday to return to his previous line of work maintaining law and order. "The news that we had to leave the institutions deeply affected me. I still cannot come to terms with it," Nikolic, who is from Leposavic in northern Kosovo, told RFE/RL this week. He said he is one of many Kosovar Serbs hoping to turn back the clock on their careers, describing himself and others as "victims of pressures and someone's politics." When Pristina began to enforce a law in late 2022 that all cars registered in Kosovo must have Kosovar license plates, the influential Serbian List party kicked up a political storm, urging ethnic Serbs to leave their jobs and triggering what would become the biggest crisis in the region in years. As tensions boiled over, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, a populist whom experts say yearns to create a Greater Serbia that includes northern Kosovo, ordered several thousand troops to the border just as the United States and Europe were bogged down with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. If Vucic was hoping to cause an uprising that would allow him to regain northern Kosovo, a province of Serbia until its independence in 2008, he miscalculated. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti used the mass resignations of ethnic Serbs to fill jobs with ethnic Albanians and dismantle the remaining Serbian institutions that gave Belgrade leverage in its former province. On September 13, Vucic demanded that Kosovo rehire ethnic Serbs who quit government institutions, such as the police and judiciary, and hold regional elections. It was part of a package of demands aimed at making progress on talks to normalize relations. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence. Two years after his life was upended by Belgrade's gamble, Nikolic now feels "betrayed and deceived." Returning To Work? The ball is now in Kosovo's court, and local Serbs might not be able to turn back the clock. Kurti's office has declined to comment on Vucic's demands. Kosovo's parliamentary speaker Glauk Konjufca, a member of Kurti's party Vetevendosje, told reporters on September 16 that rehiring en masse those who quit would be unconstitutional. Meanwhile, Kosovar Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla sees a Trojan horse in Vucic's proposal, claiming the Serbian leader is seeking to "instrumentalize" the ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. The European Union, which is facilitating the talks between Belgrade and Pristina, said it would like to see the hundreds of ethnic Serbs who quit their jobs in protest return to work. "The EU has consistently called for Belgrade to encourage and for Pristina to enable the reintegration of Kosovo Serbs," Peter Stano, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said in an e-mailed response to RFE/RL. "We welcome the willingness expressed by President Vucic to continue engagement in the EU-facilitated dialogue," he added. When contacted by RFE/RL, Kosovo's Interior Ministry and the Kosovo Police declined to comment on the issue of reintegration of ethnic Serbs who quit. The Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) told RFE/RL it would consider requests by ethnic Serbs to return to work but added it had not received any requests to date from former prosecutors. In their response to RFE/RL, the Kosovo Judicial Council said reintegration "will be examined when the [council] deems it the right time" and "according to the established procedure for such situations." Even if there was the political will, there might not be an easy way. Former Constitutional Court Vice President Kadri Kryeziu told RFE/RL that the reintegration of Serbs into Kosovar institutions would be possible but not automatic. As for rejoining the police, he said there are legal hurdles. "Those who resign from the police cannot return. Only in cases where someone is sick or has family issues...otherwise, they cannot return," Kryeziu said. Astrit Kolaj from the Kosovo Institute for Justice said police officers like Nikolic can't automatically return to their old job but could legally apply for an open position. The situation is different with judges and prosecutors, Kryeziu said, since their resignations have not been formalized and thus relevant institutions could consider their return. Kolaj said reintegrating judges and prosecutors "would be a kind of goodwill gesture, which would demonstrate that the Republic of Kosovo is just and equal for all its citizens." Squeezing Out Serb Institutions Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo have been guided for decades by Belgrade and its parallel structures in the region, including Serbian banks, a pension system, and unemployment benefits. As a result, the area often turns into a hotspot of tensions when those structures are threatened. This year, Kurti's government took several steps to dismantle those parallel structures in an effort to extend Pristina's authority in the north as much as possible. His government has also phased out the Serbian currency, the dinar, which many Serbs received their salaries or pensions in, replacing it with the euro. While the integration of ethnic Serbs into Kosovar institutions has been part of agreements between Pristina and Belgrade, Western governments criticized Kurti for the timing of those steps with tensions still running high. Speaking to RFE/RL on September 16, a State Department spokesperson called for both sides to act responsibly. "We call again on Serbia and Kosovo to refrain from further escalatory rhetoric, uncoordinated actions, or legislative acts that run contrary to the normalization of their relations or jeopardize stability and security," the spokesperson said. Branimir Stojanovic, a member of the Serbian National Movement in Kosovo, told RFE/RL he did not expect Vucic's demands to improve the lot of ethnic Serbs. "Nothing will change on the ground," he said. People are "demoralized and disappointed with the circumstances in which they live." He pinned the blame on Serbian List's strategy. "A bad policy has collapsed, and now the ordinary people will pay the price. Politicians or officials won't pay it," he said. Serbian List did not respond to RFE/RL's request for comment regarding Vucic's demands or the local Serbs' criticism of the party. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ethnic-serbs- kosovo-jobs/33123320.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 Wider Europe Briefing: Probing NATO On Ukraine By Rikard Jozwiak September 17, 2024 Briefing #1: NATO Military Committee Chair On Ukraine's Request To Strike Deep Into Russia What You Need To Know: The NATO Military Committee gathered in Prague for its annual conference over the weekend (September 13-14) taking stock of two things: the continued Western military support for Ukraine and the readiness of the alliance in case of a military threat. The committee brings together the defense chiefs (usually the country's top military officer) from the 32 members of the alliance and is NATO's highest military authority, tasked with giving advice to NATO's strategic commanders and the civilian side of the organization led by the secretary-general. After the Prague meeting, I spoke to the chair of the Military Committee, Dutch Navy Admiral Rob Bauer, who has been in the role since 2021 in a period dominated by Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine. Naturally, our conversation centered on Ukraine, especially amid signs that key allies are ready to allow Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia with Western-made weapons. Deep Background: Admiral Bauer was keen to point out that the discussion on allowing Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia did not take place during the meeting in Prague and that he hasn't been part of these talks, ultimately because it is a political discussion taking place in various national capitals, notably Washington, D.C. But he quickly added that Kyiv's request has merit from a strategic perspective: "If you ask me as a military person, if it is a logical thing to ask for the Ukrainians, then the answer is yes, because basically, in accordance with the UN Charter and, in accordance with the law of armed conflict, if you are attacked by a nation, then you are allowed to defend yourself. That defense doesn't stop at your borders." He likened the situation to that of someone being targeted by an archer, with Ukraine having the air defenses to protect itself against the arrows but also needing an opportunity to hit the archer too. "That is basically what you do if you attack them, attack their launchers, attack their ammunition storage sites. If you attack their fuel storage sites, then you limit their ability to hurt and attack you in the future. So, militarily, that's the logical thing to do," he said. Drilling Down Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that a decision to allow Western-made weapons to hit deeper inside Russia would entail a direct war between Moscow and NATO. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was even more explicit, saying that the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, could be targeted by a nuclear strike. Bauer, however dismissed this as Kremlin saber-rattling: "I think it's primarily a proof of how frustrated they are because Russia has not achieved any of their strategic goals in Ukraine, and that is now ongoing for 2 1/2 years." He added that "you have to take every threat seriously. But I don't think necessarily this discussion will change that threat immediately." So, going into fall and winter, what do things look like on the Ukrainian front lines? The admiral noted that both Russia and Ukraine essentially are grappling with similar problems: "Both sides are looking for more personnel, more weapons systems, more ammunition. And both sides do not have an easy task finding those three elements. And once you have the people, you need to train them. Once you have the weapons systems, you need to maintain them. Once you have the ammunition, you have to be able to use it properly. So those are things both sides are working on now." Bauer praised Ukraine's summer incursion into the Russian region of Kursk, calling it "a strategic dilemma for Putin," who has pledged "to defend the motherland but can't." He did caution, however, that it remains to be seen how long Ukraine will be able to hold on to the occupied territory. In a similar vein, the Dutch admiral also cautioned against too much negativity regarding Russia's recent advances around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, which could open up the front perilously close to one of Ukraine's largest cities, Dnipro. "It's moving forward slowly," he told me. "But it's moving forward at the cost of a lot of casualties. But they haven't taken everything they want. So, it's difficult for them as well. The Ukrainians are defending themselves very courageously and professionally." We also touched on NATO's own readiness. While alliance officials have said they still plan to defend "every inch of allied territory," NATO diplomats have told me on background in recent months that there are elements missing, notably when it comes to sufficient air defense, ammunition, and prepositioned equipment in the eastern part of the alliance. These will be some of the issues NATO defense ministers will discuss when they assemble in Brussels on September 17-18. Bauer said that NATO now has 500,000 troops at high readiness compared to only 300,000 two years ago. "There's a number of things that we still need to improve on that [have] been discussed. I'm not going to talk of all the details, of course, as you can understand, but I think we can be proud of what we have achieved and...we are readier than ever before," he concluded. Briefing #2: Chipping Away At The EU's Russia Sanctions What You Need To Know: On September 11, the European Union approved the rollover of the asset freezes and visa bans that the bloc has imposed since February 2022, mainly on Russians, for undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine. But with the six-month prolongation, there were also two deletions to the blacklist of over 2,300 people and companies: Nikita Mazepin, a former Formula One driver and son of the Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin; and Violetta Prigozhina, mother of the late Russian oligarch and Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. Deep Background: These deletions follow a pattern in which a few people are delisted every six months ahead of the formal rollover dates in mid-March and mid-September. This time around, the discussions on the removals were concluded on a lower political level already in July in what some diplomats in Brussels refer to as the biannual "sanctions dance." Normally, the discussions are initiated at the behest of Hungary, which has been publicly critical of the bloc's sanctions policy. Typically, Budapest presents a number of sanctioned people to the other member states in political working groups that it wants taken off the lists in order to give its go-ahead. (Rollovers require unanimity from all 27 EU member states.) These have tended to be heavy-hitter oligarchs with extensive Russian business interests and Kremlin ties such as Alisher Usmanov, Pyotr Aven, Viktor Rashnikov, Mikhail Fridman, Dmitry Mazepin, Grigory Berezkin, and Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor. Previous rounds have shown that most other member states militantly oppose taking such people off the lists. They have argued it would undermine the whole idea of EU sanctions if people close to President Vladimir Putin were removed and have countered by suggesting that the sanctions should only be prolonged once a year instead of twice. Compromise has always been reached, but the result is a weakened sanctions instrument. Plus, Budapest usually manages to leverage its veto, extracting political favors from Brussels in other policy areas. After this diplomatic tug-of-war, lawyers from the Council of the EU, one of the bloc's main decision-making bodies, usually step in to resolve the issue by proposing a list of so-called "weak cases" with less legal justification to be sanctioned. As the EU claims to be an entity guided by the rule of law, its lawyers must be able to present evidence that can be found in the public domain. And like with every other EU policy, those on the sanctions list can -- and do -- take the EU to court. Some of those sanctioned have already won cases against Brussels, and they include both Prigozhina and Nikita Mazepin. Drilling Down This is, of course, a slight blow for the Russia sanctions regime, but the EU has been here before. In March, three other names were removed -- Arkady Volozh, co-founder of the Russian Internet giant Yandex; Russian businessman Sergei Mndoiants; and Jozef Hambalek, a Slovak national and head of the Russian nationalist Night Wolves motorcycle club in Europe. In my conversations with them, EU diplomats have tried to play down the latest deletions, saying it could be much worse. Prigozhina and Mazepin weren't that big of players anyway, they say, and the important thing is that the high-rolling oligarchs -- such as Mazepin's father -- are still blacklisted There is already talk about who will be delisted at the next opportunity in March 2025. During the EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels on September 11, the Hungarian and Slovak diplomats pledged that, for the next rollover, they will aim to remove Gulbakhor Ismailova, the sister of Usmanov who has been linked to various key Russian assets. The statement, circulated among diplomats and seen by RFE/RL, noted that "in our view, the grounds on which the listing of Ms. Ismailova have been based, no longer hold. Ms. Ismailova should be removed from the sanctions list." Based on this, Slovakia and Hungary will maintain this position during the next review. Will there be any more? It seems like family members of oligarchs are increasingly seen by EU lawyers as "weak cases," as it is legally difficult to prove that spouses and children are directly connected to the Russian war machine. Two possible candidates for the removal would be Galina Pumpyanskaya and Aleksandr Pumpyansky, the wife and son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Pumpyansky. An EU court annulled the sanctions against Aleksandr Pumpyansky in 2023, so he is certainly seen as being a "weak case." Two others on the blacklist, Aven and Fridman, have both won cases in EU court against their sanctions. The same as with Pumpyansky junior, they remain blacklisted because Brussels has argued that the cases they won in EU courts concern old listing criteria and refer to a previous sanctions period. Looking Ahead On September 19-20, I will be in Ukraine for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. I will be in Kyiv for the EU Accession Exchange Forum to meet with politicians and policy analysts from around the region. I'll be reporting back with my thoughts in next week's briefing. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/wider-europe-jozwiak-nato- russia-ukraine/33122114.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 Kosovar PM Dismisses Serbia's Demands As EU Dialogue Fails To Bring Negotiators Together By RFE/RL's Kosovo Service September 17, 2024 Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti has dismissed as "unconscionable" demands made last week by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for the return of local Serbs to Kosovar institutions. Kurti, responding to Vucic's demands for the first time, also said on September 17 that they were part of an "aggressive campaign for new conflicts." The response came as senior representatives from Serbia and Kosovo gathered in Brussels for internationally mediated talks on implementing past commitments aimed at normalizing relations between the Balkan neighbors. The countries' chief negotiators in the so-called "dialogue" -- Serbia's director for relations with Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, and Kosovar Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi -- met separately with EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak, but he was unable to bring the parties together for a trilateral meeting. Lajcak said he would continue to be available to the parties "and we will continue in the coming weeks." Bislimi and Petkovic blamed each other for the failure of the sides to agree to a three-way meeting. Similar meetings have recently fallen through despite heavy public pressure from outside diplomats keen to patch a security risk in Southeastern Europe and regain regional momentum for further Western integration and stem the influence of outside powers Russia and China. Belgrade has never acknowledged the independence that Pristina declared in 2008, and violent flare-ups and standoffs persist between Kosovar authorities and tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo in a region still scarred by brutal wars and ethnic cleansing in the 1990s. Among the demands Vucic laid out last week are new local elections in the north, the return of Serbs to the Kosovo Police force and judiciary, and the withdrawal of Kosovo Police special units from the northern region. He said it was his intention to boost Belgrade's support for Serbs in Kosovo "significantly and dramatically." "His demands, his measures, are out of desperation and represent irrationality and are not peaceful at all, but rather part of the aggressive campaign for new conflicts that undoubtedly have no place in Kosovo," Kurti said in his response. Vucic said his demands must be met in order to make progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. He also urged Serbs who had quit jobs with police and other Kosovar institutions in protest nearly two years ago to retake the jobs, and he laid out administrative plans to help Serbs draw salaries and other financial benefits on the Serbian side of the joint border. Some Serbs have expressed anger and said they feel betrayed by Vucic's about-face. The demands were welcomed by the European Union as a positive move. Tensions have been high in Kosovo since Pristina shut down several Serbian-backed parallel institutions at the end of August. Pristina calls the so-called "parallel" institutions backed by Belgrade "illegal." Kurti said his own demands were "peaceful and rational" compared to those of the Serbian leader. First among them are that Serbia hand over Milan Radoicic, who is wanted in Kosovo in connection with an armed attack in Banjska last year. Radoicic, the fugitive former vice president of the Serbian List party accused of leading and organizing the attack, is believed to be in Serbia. Kosovar authorities last week announced the indictment of 45 individuals on terrorism charges over a commando-style operation at a monastery in northern Kosovo last year that killed an ethnic Albanian police officer and wounded another. Kurti also said Kosovo wants an agreement on normalization of relations to be signed and it also wants the withdrawal of a letter from former Prime Minister Ana Brnabic rejecting Kosovo's independence and a seat for Kosovo at the United Nations. Lajcak said Serbia had already withdrawn the letter, but Vucic neither confirmed nor denied this when he was asked about it last week. Kosovo and Serbia have been negotiating normalization since 2011 through the Brussels dialogue, supervised by the EU. They reached an agreement on normalization steps in early 2023, but key elements of the deal remain unfulfilled. Kosovo insists that this agreement must be signed first, although the EU says it is binding on the parties regardless of signature. Kosovo, which is majority ethnic Albanian, has faced increased criticism from international partners, including the United States and European Union, over "unilateral" and "uncoordinated" actions affecting the daily lives of its ethnic Serb minority. Belgrade and EU and U.S. officials have also pressed for Pristina to lay the legal groundwork to establish an association of mostly Serb municipalities that it originally pledged to create more than a decade ago. Kosovar officials have countered that the Serbian side is trying to implement measures halfway, including from oral commitments made in Ohrid early last year. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-kosovo-kurti-eu-dialogue- demands/33123155.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 Central Asian Leaders, Germany's Scholz Focus On Closer Economic Ties In Astana By RFE/RL September 17, 2024 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on September 17 told the leaders of the five Central Asian states that the development of cooperation with their countries was "a strategic goal" for Germany. "Never before has the exchange between our societies been so close -- and it is constantly increasing: politically, economically, and culturally," Scholz said, adding that Berlin wants "to continue and further intensify this." Speaking in Astana at the second summit of the Central Asian states and Germany, Scholz said that "especially in times of global uncertainty, we need close, trusting international partners." Scholz last met with the Central Asian leaders at their first summit with Germany held in Berlin in September 2023 amid efforts to counter Russian influence in the region. The host of the second summit, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, expressed gratitude to German entities that have established cooperation between "one of the world's leading nations in terms of economic and technological innovations" and the countries of Central Asia. Central Asia is a "dynamically developing region with an enormous potential for development and wide opportunities for mutually profitable partnership," Toqaev said at the summit. "By uniting east and west, north and south, Central Asia can become a center of attraction of technologies, localization of production, and producing outputs with a high added value," he said, adding that the region was "open for cooperation in different spheres." Presidents Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Serdar Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan, and Shavkat Mirziyoev of Uzbekistan also stressed the importance of cooperation with Germany, but not all agree with Scholz on recognition of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, which he said came to power "illegally." Scholz also called ongoing developments in Afghanistan "depressing" and stressed that the situation faced by Afghan women under Taliban rule was "intolerable." Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week issued a statement calling on Scholz to focus on human rights in the five tightly controlled Central Asian nations during this year's summit. "Serious human rights concerns across the region include suppression of the rights to protest and express opinions, including online, jailing of activists, torture in detention, crackdowns on civil society, violence against women, impunity for abusive security forces, and a lack of free and fair elections," the HRW statement said. "The German government cannot pretend closer ties with Central Asia are possible without a significant improvement in human rights in the region. The upcoming summit offers a chance to make this clear," it added. With reporting by dpa and Tengrinews Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/germany-scholz-central-asia- summit/33123446.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 What is Known About Mass Pager Explosion in Lebanon? Sputnik News 20240917 Simultaneous detonations of pager devices occurred in Lebanon's capital of Beirut and several other cities, leaving thousands injured. Local media reported that the detonation of the devices happened due to a "high-tech impact." Personal communication devices began exploding around 3:30 p.m. due to simultaneous remote attacks. Pager owners have been urged to dispose of their pagers immediately. Media reports suggest that the attack mainly targeted devices carried by Hezbollah members. Shortly after the explosions, the movement blamed Israel for mass detonations in the country, threatening retaliation. "After examining all the facts, current data and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds," the movement's statement said. At least eight people, including a child, have died as a result of the attack, according to the Lebanese health minister, over 2,800 were injured, and 200 of the injured are in critical condition. Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani is among the injured. Most of the wounded have severed fingers, severe burns, and other blast injuries. The highest number of incidents was recorded in Beirut's Dahieh neighborhood, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon. The exploded devices came from a new shipment that Hezbollah had recently received in recent days, the Wall Street Journal reported. Hezbollah said it had not yet determined the reasons behind the mass explosion. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is currently holding a meeting with senior security officials in light of the explosions, according to Israeli media. On the agenda is a possible retaliatory attack by Hezbollah on Israel. The Lebanese government considers the mass detonation of pagers in different parts of the country as an Israeli aggression based on the initial results of the investigation, Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said on Tuesday. "The head of the government briefed the ministers with the initial findings of the investigation, and the cabinet reiterated its condemnation of the Israeli aggression, which constitutes a dangerous attack on Lebanese sovereignty and an outright crime," Makary said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Deputy Secretary Campbell's Meeting with Spanish State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs Martinez Belio US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson September 17, 2024 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke yesterday with Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs Diego Martinez Belio. The Deputy Secretary and the State Secretary discussed the importance of bringing lasting peace to the Middle East, defending democratic values in Venezuela, and our shared commitment to Ukraine. They also discussed shared priorities, including the Indo-Pacific region, economic prosperity, and migration. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Top UN official appeals for calm following wave of pager explosions in Lebanon 17 September 2024 - The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, has called for calm following attacks across the country on Tuesday which killed at least nine people, including children, and left thousands injured - many critically. The coordinated attacks reportedly targeted the Hezbollah militant group, with hundreds of electronic pagers belonging to its members blowing up at the same time, according to international media reports. 'Extremely concerning escalation' "The developments today mark an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context," Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement. In line with international law, she reminded all "concerned actors that civilians are not a target and must be protected at all times," stressing that "even one civilian casualty is one too many." While the full impact of the attack is still unfolding, she urged all concerned "to refrain from any further action, or bellicose rhetoric, which could trigger a wider conflagration that nobody can afford." The Special Coordinator concluded her statement by underlining the urgency of restoring calm and called on all concerned actors to prioritize stability as paramount, because "too much is at stake to do anything less." World Health Organization assisting overwhelmed hospitals The UN World Health Organization (WHO) in Lebanon tweeted that it was assisting hospitals during "the current emergency" resulting from the pager detonations because of the surge in injuries seeking medical help. "Alongside today's health supplies, WHO previously provided trauma and other medical supplies" to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health, to provide continued healthcare for those in need. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Venezuela: Rights probe points to 'unprecedented' repression By Daniel Johnson 17 September 2024 - Violence used against opponents of the Venezuelan authorities has reached unprecedented levels, a top independent human rights probe alleged on Tuesday, citing arrests, sexual abuse and torture as just some of the methods used by the Government of President Nicolas Maduro to stay in power. In a new report, the Human Rights Council-mandated investigators described how security forces had raided dozens of homes of suspected critics of the Government "just using social media videos as the only evidence to arrest people". Violence and threats Victims' testimonies gathered either side of the disputed Presidential election on 28 July which returned Mr. Maduro to office for the third time pointed to "one of the most acute human rights crises in recent history", the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela further maintained. Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Marta Valinas, Chair of the investigation, insisted that that its latest findings were "overwhelming: not only have there been no improvements, but the violations have intensified, reaching unprecedented levels of violence". The independent rights expert described "an intensification of the State's repressive machinery" with regard to its critics which represented "a continuation of previous patterns" that the independent rights panel had already condemned as likely crimes against humanity. Following the re-election of Mr. Maduro - whose victory announcement prompted widespread protests across Venezuela - Ms. Valinas said that the probe had confirmed 25 fatalities. Grisly findings Most of the victims were "young people under 30 years old from popular neighbourhoods. There are two children among them," she said. One of the deceased was a member of the Bolivarian National Guard, Ms. Valinas noted, before adding that 24 "died from gunshot wounds [and] the other was beaten to death". The fact-finding mission's latest report examines the human rights situation in Venezuela between September 2023 and August 2024. It points to a further deterioration of the rule of law following the presidential elections, while public authorities "have abandoned all semblance of independence", leaving citizens "helpless" against the "arbitrary exercise" of power. "We documented more than 40 cases in which the security forces entered private homes without warrants, just using social media videos as the only evidence to arrest people who they thought had participated in protests or who had expressed criticism in social media," explained Francisco Cox Vial, Member of the fact-finding mission that was created by the Human Rights Council in 2019. Children among those arrested According to the independent investigators, more than 120 people were arrested in July in the context of opposition campaign events. In the first week of protests following the elections, based on figures released by the authorities, more than 2,000 people were detained. Individuals included more than 100 children, some with disabilities, who faced accusations of terrorism and incitement to hatred and serious violations of due process, the investigators added. "Of the people detained in this period, many were subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as sexual violence which was perpetrated against women and girls, but also against men with reported electric shocks, beating with blunt objects, suffocation with plastic bags, immersion in cold water and forced sleep deprivation," said Patricia Tappata Valdez, member of the fact-finding mission. "We had been able to verify that at least 143 of these arrests involved members of seven opposition parties, including 66 leaders of political movements," she noted. According to the rights probe, from December 2023 to March 2024, at least 48 people were detained on the grounds of "so-called conspiracy theories" against the Government, with arrest warrants issued for others. The individuals included military personnel, human rights defenders, journalists and political opposition representatives, the fact-finding mission said. "We cannot ignore that these violations represent a clear and deliberate line of conduct by the authorities of politically motivated persecution," said Mr. Cox Vial. "We have come to the conclusion that many of these allegations constitute crimes against humanity." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USAF Units of Action: Combat Wings, Air Base Wings, Institutional Wings defined Published Sept. 17, 2024 Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- The Department of the Air Force implementation of a new construct that will evolve wings into cohesive Units of Action by separating into Combat Wings, Air Base Wings and Institutional Wings will be a phased approach, starting no later than the summer of 2025. The new concept will create several organizations capable of conducting deployed combat operations, as well as base defense. Under this future construct, base, institutional and combat missions will transition into distinct organizations - called Institutional Wings and Combat Wings - each with separate commanders. Air Force combat wings will be structured as mission-ready Units of Action, with all the necessary elements stationed together at the same installation, where they can train together on a day-to-day basis. Deployable Combat Wings will evolve to deploy as fully trained teams and will replace the Expeditionary Air Base and Air Task Force models previously announced in Sept. 2023. Combat Wings will focus on mission-level warfighting readiness, supported by Air Base Wings who are focused on power projection platform readiness (the installation). Institutional wings will continue to provide support and capabilities essential to the organize, train and equip requirements of the U.S. Air Force. The goal is 24 Deployable Combat Wings fielded to meet the Air Force's rotational demands and provide depth for emerging crises - 16 Active Duty and 8 Reserve Component Wings. The phased implementation approach includes: Establishing Air Base Wings at installations that host Combat Wings and/or Institutional Wings with supported/supporting relationships. Establish the deployable variant of the combat wing: the Deployable Combat Wing. Each DCW will have a redesigned concept of support for GPC schemes of maneuver, including Agile Combat Employment, to ensure the wings are prepared to execute their wartime functions and missions with assigned Airmen and units. The Air Force will begin deliberately implementing Combat Wings, Air Base Wings and Institutional Wings across the force as early as summer 2025. The first Combat Wings should be ready to deploy elements by late 2026 (FY27). Evolution from XAB to ATF to CW In 2023, the Air Force established the Expeditionary Air Base (XAB) as an initial force presentation model in its transition from Air Expeditionary Wings to a future force presentation model. The Air Force has been deploying Airmen under the XAB construct since the fall of 2023 and will continue to do so in the coming years. The first Air Task Forces entered the AFFORGEN cycle during the reset phase in the summer of 2024 and will become deployment-ready in the fall of 2025. These initial ATFs will replace some of the XABs as the US Air Force's deployable unit of action. During this pilot period, the Air Force will deploy Airmen using both the XAB and ATF force presentation models. Concurrently, the Combat Wing, Air Base Wing and Institutional Wing phased approach will begin. Combat Wings will replace ATFs and XABs. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Flosi describes the role of Airmen in an era of Great Power Competition Published Sept. 17, 2024 By Tech. Sgt. Joshua A. Kincaid Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AFNS) -- Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flosi touted the strengths of Airmen in his keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Association 2024 Air, Space, and Cyber Conference, Sept. 16. Flosi emphasized the importance of Airmen coming together as a team to support mission success. "Airmen, you have always been our key competitive advantage," Flosi said. He later added, "We only succeed when everyone works to advance the cause." Describing his observations of high-performing Airmen across the globe, Flosi noted how they are shaping operational readiness in critical regions such as the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility. "Our Airmen haven't just been busy building their own skills, they have also been working hard to bring us new capabilities," Flosi said. "Even when it comes to technology, Airmen are our key competitive advantage." Flosi highlighted the rapidly changing, complex global security environment and emphasized the need for innovation to effectively adapt to an era of Great Power Competition. "We are facing threats to our interests all over the world on a daily basis," Flosi said. "We face challenges in every domain. This is the most complex global strategic environment we have confronted in 30 years." He pointed out significant challenges posed by adversaries, such as the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran, and Russia, and the adversarial worldviews of their governments. "They are threatened by ideas like democracy and due process of law," Flosi said. "They fear our individual rights, like freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and protection from unreasonable search and seizure." He explained the Air Force's role in "presenting a credible deterrent to demonstrate we are committed to defending our allies." However, he also emphasized that the Air Force needs to optimize to engage in high-end conflict if deterrence fails. "The key to all of our transformative efforts is our Airmen," Flosi said. "Our focus is making sure our Airmen are prepared to deliver unstoppable Airpower to detect, deter, confront, and if called upon, combat and defeat potential adversaries." In his closing remarks, Flosi called upon every Airman to demonstrate unwavering commitment, reemphasizing that the true strength of the Air Force lies in the actions of its personnel. "Our nation is blessed to have the most competent, committed, educated and capable all-volunteer force on planet Earth," Flosi said. He tasked attendees to remember two key takeaways. "First, the threat is real," Flosi said. "The threat is present. The threat is here now. Second, your duty, your obligation, your main thing is to set conditions for your Airmen to be successful." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address AFSOC commander addresses balancing current, future requirements at AFA Published Sept. 17, 2024 Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AFNS) -- Lt. Gen. Michael Conley, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, shared his outlook on balancing current operational success and future requirements in the face of Great Power Competition during the Air and Space Force Association's Air, Space and Cyber Conference panel in National Harbor Sept. 16. "It is an exciting time to be in AFSOC, we are leaning very hard into future capabilities figuring out what our role is in a future fight but we do not have the luxury of just looking to the future we also have to make sure the men and women we send down range are ready to go," Conley said. Conley joined Lt. Gen. Adrian Spain, deputy chief of staff of the Air Force for operations and Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, commander, U.S. Space Forces - Space and Combined Joint Force Space Component commander for the Wars We're Fighting panel. On any given day AFSOC has approximately 1,000 deployed Air Commandos worldwide conducting operations, training and joint exercises. As an early adopter, AFSOC is completing its first 2-year Force Generation cycle, which has streamlined how Air Commandos are presented to the Joint Force. "Force generation has proven to be a win for AFSOC," Conley said. "It has really helped our ability to clearly explain the forces we have available to go out the door and support [the Joint Force], what we have in reserve, and what the risks are of reaching into that reserve force." Articulating capacity and risk while maintaining crisis response capabilities requires Air Commandos who understand the threats and are disciplined, adaptable and ready to answer the nation's call. "People are the thing I need more of - not just people, but the right people," Conley said. "We need problem solvers; we need thinkers, and it takes a while to build up a special operator to go downrange." Current and future Air Commandos provide the Joint Force with placement and access in strategic locations, however when looking at Great Power Competition Conley says AFSOC needs to better connect with other Air Force major commands like Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa to provide SOF unique capabilities. "I am challenging my team to be better at being the Air Force's SOF component, so I want to be able to reach out to Gen. James Hecker, USAFE-AFAFRICA commander or Gen. Kevin Schneider, PACAF commander, and say how can AFSOC help you with some of your tough problems because I think in Great Power Competition we are going to need to be better integrated so now is the time to start moving out in that direction," Conley said. In the face of Great Power Competition, AFSOC is striving to provide SOF unique capabilities, deter challengers and ensure success should deterrence fail. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister of Defence of Finland Visits DESRON 15 and USS Benfold (DDG 65) US Navy 17 September 2024 From Courtesy Story YOKOSUKA, Japan -- Minister of Defence of Finland Antti Hakkanen visited the headquarters of Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 and USS Benfold (DDG 65), September 13, 2024. "We welcome the visit from Finland's minister of defense and his supporting team," said Capt. Justin Harts, commander of Destroyer Squadron 15. "We hope to continue goodwill visits such as these from our partners and allies across the globe in to enhance surface operations in the Indo-Pacific region." During the visit, Hakkanen toured the DESRON 15 command cave and met with staff members. After the visit to the cave, Hakkanen transitioned to the waterfront and visited USS Benfold (DDG 65) to meet with the captain and crew. Hakkanen is Finland's 59th minister of defense. He has served as minister of defense in Petteri Orpo's government since June 20, 2023. DESRON 15 is the Navy's largest forward-deployed destroyer squadron and the U.S. 7th Fleet's principal surface force. It is forward deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Industry Leaders Share Ideas at Maritime Economic Deterrence Executive Council US Navy - Press Release 17 September 2024 WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro's Chief of Staff Mr. Christopher Diaz delivered remarks at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) Maritime Economic Deterrence Executive Council (MEDEC) to discuss the importance of the initiative at Arlington, Virginia, Sept. 17, 2024. MEDEC is the Navy's acknowledgement of maritime economic risks and represents the department's commitment to helping researchers identify and address problems early for the safety of Navy personnel, as well as the security of U.S. allies and partners. The council brought together industry leaders to form breakout groups and discussions throughout the day. The findings and recommendations generated today will directly inform Secretary Del Toro to develop MEDEC's approach to working with Navy partners throughout the government, in industry, and in the investment community. For over 80 years, the Department of the Navy has challenged the analysts of CNA with tackling the hardest problems facing our Navy-Marine Corps team, informing national decisionmakers as they chart our nation's course. "MEDEC serves as the coordinating body for the organizations throughout the Department of the Navy that are focused on addressing adversarial economic activities that threaten the technologies and capabilities our Sailors and Marines rely on for their competitive advantages in the maritime domain," said Diaz. Secretary Del Toro announced the creation of MEDEC in New York City during a panel discussion hosted by the Aspen Institute and the Bloomberg Foundation Feb. 22, 2024. "We have brought together experts from a wide range of disciplines from across our department, including supply chain management, technology protection and security, foreign investment review, intelligence and law enforcement, among others," said Diaz. MEDEC is co-chaired by Principal Military Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition), Vice Adm. Scott Pappano. "Our adversaries are pushing the boundaries and pursuing courses of actions that go beyond leveraging their military might, to include exploitation of the investment, industry, and innovation ecosystems that serve as the engine of the economies of the United States, our allies, and our international partners," said Pappano. "It is critical that we get this right, for every compromise of a capability, every loss of intellectual property that is critical to the technologies we rely on, represents a material loss to investors, firms, and their employees," said Diaz. "More importantly, loss or compromise creates serious risk for our personnel operating around the globe, and that is a risk we are unwilling to accept." CNA is an independent, nonprofit research and analysis organization dedicated to the safety and security of the nation. For 80 years, CNA's scientific rigor and real-world approach to data has been indispensable to leaders facing complex problems. -30- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Analysts say Vietnam official's US trip could set path to C-130 deal By VOA News September 17, 2024 Analysts say this week's visit to Washington by Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang shows advances in cooperation between the two countries, despite rising Vietnamese nationalism that may indicate rising anti-American sentiment in Vietnam. A U.S.-based analyst told VOA on September 12 that Giang's trip set the groundwork for Hanoi to potentially purchase military cargo planes from the United States this year. Giang met with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Monday. [September 9] Both leaders "reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Vietnam partnership," the Defense Department said in a statement, and noted the one-year anniversary of the elevation of the countries' ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest tier in Hanoi's diplomatic hierarchy. The leaders also underscored the importance of working together to address the lasting impacts of the U.S.-Vietnam War. Austin announced that the U.S. would budget $65 million over the next five years to complete the decontamination of Bien Hoa airbase of dioxin, bringing the total from department to $215 million. The airbase was the primary storage site for the toxic chemical Agent Orange during the U.S.-Vietnam War and remains an environmental and public health hazard for those nearby. Andrew Wells-Dang, who leads the Vietnam War Legacies and Reconciliation Initiative at the United States Institute of Peace, told VOA by phone on September 5 that diplomatic visits are key to advancing war-remediation efforts, including finding and identifying the remains of missing soldiers. He said that along with the U.S. visit of Deputy Defense Minister Vo Minh Luong in July, visits from authorities provide "opportunity for them to have high level support." Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington and an expert on Southeast Asia, said joint war-reconciliation efforts also set the groundwork for defense cooperation more broadly. "The United States is very pleased with the growth in bilateral defense relations, and it started from very low levels and was built on humanitarian missions," Abuza said during the August 29 call. "We've just continued to build on that," he added. Cargo planes Reuters reported in July that Hanoi was considering purchasing Lockheed Martin C-130 cargo planes from the U.S., according to unnamed sources. The U.S.-based analyst, who asked that his name to be withheld because he has not been cleared to discuss the topic, said the C-130 deal was discussed but not finalized during Giang's visit. The analyst said the deal was held back by the "massive [U.S.] bureaucracy" and because solidifying the purchase during the Washington visit would be "too inflammatory for the Chinese." Ian Storey, senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, noted Vietnam's delicate diplomatic balancing act, illustrated by Giang's travel itinerary before the Washington trip. "Vietnam aims to keep its relations with the major powers in balance," he wrote in an email on August 30. "As such, Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang visited Russia and China in August." Storey added that the purchase of C-130 planes would not pose a threat to China in its maritime territorial disputes with Vietnam. "C-130 aircraft would enable the Vietnamese to transport troops and supplies to its occupied atolls in the South China Sea, but these assets are non-strategic and won't shift the dynamics in the South China Sea," he wrote. Nguyen The Phuong, a maritime security expert at the University of New South Wales Canberra, said the C-130 purchase would be a "symbolic move." "Vietnam will try to explore more areas of security and defense cooperation between Vietnam and the United States to upgrade to a higher, more meaningful level," he told VOA on August 30. "The C-130 would be the symbol of that kind of evolving relationship," he said. Phuong said a C-130 is a likely entry point as there is still mistrust between the former foes regarding lethal weapons, and the deal would not rankle China too much. "It could be quite advantageous for Vietnam," he said of a potential C-130 purchase. "Vietnam can improve its relationship with the United States, and at the same time, we could not anger China because Vietnam would just buy non-lethal weapons." Rising nationalism Although there are positive signs to improving Hanoi-Washington relations, there have also been recent instances of anti-Western sentiment that could be an impediment to the countries relations, Phuong said. Fulbright University Vietnam, which has significant backing from the United States, is facing accusations of fomenting a "color revolution," similar to the popular uprisings in former Soviet republics. On August 21, Vietnam National Defense TV aired a critique of Fulbright for allegedly not displaying the Vietnamese flag at a graduation ceremony and facilitating a color revolution. The report has since been taken down, but Phuong said the Fulbright issue and other recent incidents show tension between Vietnam's conservative and liberal factions. "It's a presentation of a continuous struggle between different factions, one conservative and one liberal," Phuong said. Abuza said that Vietnamese authorities may be attempting to tighten control ahead of the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. "Next April is the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon," he said. "The Vietnamese want to control that narrative 100%. There are a lot of sensitivities." Along with the Fulbright incident, Phuong pointed to recent uproar around Vietnamese celebrities who were pictured with the South Vietnam flag while traveling to the United States. In addition, a Vietnamese high school student faced cyber bullying and was summoned by police after posting in September that he wanted to leave the country and would "probably never see the [Communist] Party positively again." "There's extreme nationalism in Vietnam at the moment," Phuong said. "It's against Western values." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pagers rigged with explosives kill 9, wound 2,800 in Lebanon By Linda Gradstein September 17, 2024 Lebanon's health minister said at least nine people were killed and more than 2,800 others wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded Tuesday in an operation being blamed on Israel. Small amounts of explosives had been added to the pagers after they were shipped from the manufacturer, Gold Apollo, based in Taiwan, Reuters reported, citing Lebanese sources. The pagers were part of an order of 5,000 ordered by Hezbollah and delivered in the spring. The sources did not name the type of explosive that was used, but one security source told Reuters it was as little as three grams. The New York Times, quoting anonymous American sources, said the amount of explosive could have been 1 to 2 ounces. Ambulances raced through the streets and the Lebanese Red Cross called on doctors and nurses to come to the hospital and on civilians to donate blood. Lebanese officials said the deaths and large numbers of injuries were caused when pagers exploded and called on the public not to use any pagers in their possession. Iran state media reported the country's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those wounded by an exploding pager. Lebanon's Hezbollah issued a statement Tuesday blaming the blasts on Israel, which has not officially commented. At least two Hezbollah members were reported dead. Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad said a girl was also killed. Israeli analysts said it was the biggest security breach Hezbollah had suffered since the war with Israel began almost a year ago and showed Israel's intelligence capabilities against Hezbollah. Lebanese press reports said the pagers were relatively new and had been given to the Hezbollah operatives in the past few months. They had been using pagers to communicate as Israel is able to track and record cellphones. The alleged Israeli attack increased tensions further between Israel and Lebanon. Local officials near the Israeli border called on residents to stay close to bomb shelters fearing a Hezbollah response. Earlier Tuesday, Israel had announced the expansion of its war against Hamas in Gaza to include the goal of making it possible for residents of northern Israel to return to homes they evacuated due to clashes with Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. More than 100,000 have fled on the Lebanese side of the border. Until now, the fighting has been focused in Gaza, where the Hamas-affiliated health ministry says more than 41,000 have been killed, a death toll Israel says includes 17,000 militant fighters. But the focus seems to be shifting to Lebanon, with some Israeli officials calling for a ground campaign to move Hezbollah back from the border and allow the Israeli citizens to return home. Hezbollah has said it would cease its attacks if there was a deal for a cease-fire in Gaza between Israel and U.S.-designated terror group Hamas. That deal seemed close a few weeks ago, but both sides have hardened their positions. Qatar's foreign minister, Majed al Ansari, said talks are continuing. "When it comes to the possibility of a deal taking place anytime soon, of course we remain hopeful at every juncture, and we are conducting all the communications that we can during the current time. So I can't comment on the prospects of a deal taking place right now but I can tell you that we remain hopeful and we continue with our efforts," he said. VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel says war goals now include halting Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel By VOA News September 17, 2024 Israel announced Tuesday the expansion of its war against Hamas to include the goal of making it possible for residents of northern Israel to return to homes they evacuated due to clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants along the Israel-Lebanon border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the security cabinet approved the move late Monday. Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, began its near-daily attacks shortly after the war in Gaza began, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. Hezbollah, which like Hamas is supported by Iran, has said it would halt the attacks if there is a cease-fire deal for Gaza. Hezbollah is a U.S.-designated terrorist group. Efforts to achieve that cease-fire have stretched on for months, with U.S., Egyptian and Qatari officials trying to find terms agreeable to both Israel and Hamas. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Egypt on Tuesday amid ongoing efforts to engage key regional partners in the Middle East to present a revised cease-fire proposal. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters Monday, "We continue to engage with our partners in the region, most specifically with Egypt and Qatar, about what that proposal will contain, and making sure or trying to see that it's a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement." The U.S. has not provided a timetable for the revised proposal, though officials have indicated that it would be presented soon. The proposal seeks to resolve key issues behind the impasse, aiming to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas and the release of remaining hostages taken by the Hamas militants at the start of the war on October 7, 2023. In Cairo, Blinken will co-chair the opening session of the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. Blinken will also meet with Egyptian leaders to discuss efforts to secure a cease-fire in Gaza, ensure the release of all hostages, alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people and promote broader regional security, according to Miller. However, Blinken's trip does not include a stop in Israel for talks with its leaders. Blinken met Monday with Yair Lapid, Israel's opposition leader and former prime minister. After the meeting at the State Department, Lapid told reporters that Israel needs a hostage deal and an end to the war in Gaza, emphasizing that no political process or turbulence should affect the deal. Lapid urged the U.S. not to let Hamas "skirt a hostage deal." "Israel as a nation will not heal unless we will bring [the remaining hostages] back home. This is essential to our existence," Lapid said. U.N. meeting At the United Nations, the General Assembly on Tuesday reopened an emergency meeting on Gaza. The Palestinian delegation has requested the body debate and vote on a resolution that seeks to force Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands within 12 months and impose sanctions on those who are "engaged in the maintenance of Israel's unlawful presence" in Palestinian territories. It also calls on states to "take steps" toward ending arms shipments to Israel that could be used in Palestinian areas. It is trying to build on momentum from an advisory opinion issued in July by the U.N.'s top court, the International Court of Justice, that said annexation and occupation of Palestinian territories is unlawful and Israel's discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians "are tantamount to the crime of apartheid." "We are committed to the rule of international law and to just and lasting peace in our region," Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said. "This requires ensuring that the same rules apply to all. No bias. No double standards. No exceptionalism. And no exception." Israel rejected the court's opinion, and their ambassador urged countries not to support the proposed resolution. "Anyone who supports this circus is a collaborator," Ambassador Danny Danon told the meeting. "Every vote you cast in support of this circus fuels the violence." The United States also urged countries to vote against the measure. "There is no path forward or hope offered through this resolution today," Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the assembly. "Its adoption will not save Palestinian lives, bring the hostages home, end Israeli settlements or reinvigorate the peace process." General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they carry the weight of the international community. More than 90 countries plan to speak at the debate and a vote is expected on Wednesday. Observers expect the measure to be adopted. Hamas triggered the conflict with its October 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,200 Palestinians, a death toll Israel says includes thousands of militant fighters. Hamas has been designated a terror group by the U.S., the U.K., EU and other Western nations. VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching, U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer, Kim Lewis and Natasha Mozgovaya contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nine dead in renewed fighting in Ethiopia's Amhara region By Aster Misganaw, Dereje Desta September 17, 2024 At least nine people were killed and more than 30 others were injured in fresh fighting that erupted in Debark and Dabat towns of the North Gondar zone in Ethiopia's Amhara region between government forces and the Fano militias, witnesses and medical sources told VOA Horn of Africa Service. The fighting ignited Monday and continued into Tuesday. Witnesses and medical workers in Debark reported the fatalities and dozens of injuries. The general manager of Debark Hospital, Ale Amlak, told VOA that they have treated at least 30 combatants and civilians, including children that were injured in the clashes since Monday. Ale mentioned that some victims died before reaching the hospital. "A church has been hosting a burial ritual since yesterday," he told VOA Horn of Africa Service. "This morning, I saw six coffins being buried at St. Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Church." He said that among those treated, one civilian and one combatant have died. He didn't however indicate whether the combatant was a member of government forces or the Fano militia. A Debark resident, who preferred not to be identified, also said that there was a clash between military personnel and the Fano militia. "By 7 a.m., I had seen perhaps eight deaths, including one woman who was hit while holding her child," he said. Administrator of the Chilla locality in the Dabat district, Minale Ginbneh, confirmed the clashes, saying at least six houses were damaged Monday in heavy artillery exchanges by both sides. Businesses and government offices remained closed for the second consecutive day on Tuesday in the Debark and Dabat towns as a result of the fighting, three residents, who did not want to be identified for security reasons, told VOA. Debark, about 700 km. north of Addis Ababa, is the nearest town to the Semien Mountains National Park, one of the first sites to be named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, in 1978. Dabat district hosts the Alemwach Refugee Camp, which is reportedly home to more than 20,000 Eritrean refugees. Minale says the refugees are safe. A representative of the refugees, Mulugeta Gebresellassie, also told VOA, "no one is hurt." Meanwhile, residents in the main Amhara city of Gondar have also reported a third frontline, where government and Fano militias clashed. A resident in Gondar told VOA that fighting has been ongoing since Monday, with Fano entering parts of the city. Anteneh Dires, who said he is the head of the Amhara Fano in Gondar Zone, claimed that Fano militia were "active" in Gondar and Wollo zones. He alleged that government soldiers were to blame for injuries he said were sustained by innocent individuals during the fighting in Gondar. All the casualties reported were from the town of Debark. Casualty figures from clashes in Dabat and Gondar are not clear. Attempts to reach the federal government communication office and Amhara regional officials have not been successful. VOA could not independently verify which side started the fighting. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said last month that negotiations took place with armed militias in the Amhara region to peacefully resolve the ongoing conflict there. A spokesperson for Fano, an ethnic Amhara militia, denied holding talks with the federal government. Fighting between federal government forces and Fano broke out more than a year ago after reports emerged that the government was planning to disarm regional paramilitary forces to integrate them into other security structures, including the federal army. This story originated in the Horn of Africa Service. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Separatists in Indian Kashmir turn to mainstream politics By Muheet Ul Islam September 17, 2024 Several Kashmiri political figures, including former members of banned separatist groups, have abandoned long-held separatist leanings and joined mainstream Indian politics. This shift in the disputed Himalayan region's political landscape comes as three weeks of voting begin on Wednesday in the first legislative assembly election since 2019 when India stripped Jammu and Kashmir, or J&K, of its limited autonomy. One such Kashmiri figure is Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, a prominent cleric whose anti-India anthems became popular during a 2016 uprising. Wagay is running simultaneously from prison in two central Kashmir constituencies known as Ganderbal and Beerwah. His family says that Wagay's decision to run was inspired by the success of Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who while imprisoned in New Delhi's Tihar Jail won a J&K seat in the Indian parliament during national elections earlier this year. "Rashid's victory gave his family a hope that winning the election could help get him out of prison," a family member, Rehbar Ahmad, told VOA. "People from Beerwah and Ganderbal visited our home and assured us of their support," Ahmad said. "He was popular in these areas because he used to deliver religious sermons there. He is getting a lot of support from the like-minded people who want to see political prisoners out of jail." In the heart of Kulgam district, Sayar Ahmad Reshi, a member of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, is campaigning door-to-door. The socio-religious organization was banned by the Indian government in early 2019, accused of engaging in activities that "threatened India's security, integrity and sovereignty." More than three decades ago, Jamaat-e-Islami participated in the Indian elections of 1987, but the group attributed its defeat to vote-rigging and has boycotted subsequent elections. This year, Jamaat-e-Islami decided to again participate in the elections but could not field candidates as a party because of the ban. Instead, they encouraged at least 10 members of their organization to run as independent candidates across the Kashmir Valley. "Jamaat-e-Islami has never had issues with India, yet the organization is accused of promoting anti-India activities," Reshi told VOA. "If any individual was involved in such a movement, it was their own doing because there were no directives from our leadership," he added. "If Jamaat-e-Islami hadn't been banned, I would have contested under its banner with a clear manifesto for social reform and justice," Reshi said. "I am hopeful that independent candidates of Jamaat-e-Islami will emerge victorious." Political analyst Muzamil Maqbool told VOA that many people who long opposed the integration of Kashmir with central India have changed their minds since the region's special autonomy was repealed in 2019. "Kashmiri people are a leader-driven population, and all those leaders have deceived people through and through," he said. "Now the same people are exercising their power under democracy through voting and taking part in elections." The candidacies of individuals previously associated with separatism have caused alarm among the region's strongest traditional parties, the National Conference, or NC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP. Both parties suspect that the nationally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has encouraged the trend in a bid to divide the vote and marginalize the regional parties. "New Delhi always wanted to create an alternative here through the newly registered political parties which failed to score ... in the recently held parliamentary elections," Maqbool said. "However, there has been an entire paradigm shift where the focus has been shifted to many individuals, young faces and religious leaders to create an independent alternative force against regional mainstream parties." Earlier, veteran separatist leader Salim Geelani, switched to mainstream politics after spending 35 years in Hurriyat Conference, an amalgam of separatist political parties in the Valley. He said that his decision to join PDP was driven by common goals including promoting infrastructure development and resolving Kashmir's status within India. "How can I deny the fact that I carry an Indian passport and use Indian currency? J&K remains a conflict zone and the people who lost their lives over the years, regardless of their identities, were our children," he told VOA. "Had there been no Kashmir issue the situation would be different today. I favored dialogue between all stakeholders of the region to resolve the Kashmir issue and I shall be in its favor forever," he added. BJP national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi welcomed the decision of those who have chosen to show faith in Indian democracy rather than pursue separatist goals. "Everyone has a right to contest elections in a democracy and our democracy allows that. Nobody has a right to make statements that are secessionist in nature that promote any kind of disintegration of the country," Ilmi told VOA. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Repression in Venezuela worsens following presidential elections By Lisa Schlein September 17, 2024 A United Nations fact-finding mission Tuesday warned that repression in Venezuela has worsened following flawed presidential elections on July 28, with the government of Nicolas Maduro quashing all dissent to retain power "at any price." "We are facing a systematic, coordinated and deliberate repression by the Venezuelan government, which responds to a conscious plan to silence any form of dissent," Marta Valinas, chair of the fact-finding mission, told journalists at a briefing in Geneva. "As part of this plan, the government has instrumentalized the entire state apparatus, including especially the justice system, with a view to silencing any type of difference of opinion that opposes its scheme and to staying in power at any price," she said. The three-member panel said the 20-page report, which covers the period between September 1, 2023, and August 31, 2024, "set a new milestone in the deterioration of the rule of law." "The figures we have presented reveal the extent of violations committed," said Francisco Cox Vial, member of the fact-finding mission. "We cannot ignore that these violations represent a clear and deliberate line of conduct by the authorities of politically motivated persecution. We have come to the conclusion that many of these violations constitute crimes against humanity," he said, adding that previous reports have documented how the government has "used systematic repression to remain in power." "Today, in this report, we confirm that this repression has reached an unprecedented level," he said. "We have previously warned that the government could activate the repressive apparatus at will, and indeed, that is what we are observing. Repression and human rights violations are widespread and systematic, and we must act urgently to protect victims and ensure that those responsible are held into account." The report finds that violations and levels of violence have intensified in the post-election period. It has documented 25 confirmed deaths since July 29, most of them young people under age 30, including two children, and one member of the Bolivarian National Guard. "Of these 25 victims, we have confirmed that 24 died from gunshot wounds. The other was beaten to death," Valinas said, noting that the panel does not have sufficient evidence to attribute responsibility for the deaths. "However, we can confirm the presence of security forces such as the Bolivarian National Guard and the Bolivarian National Police, sometimes accompanied by groups of armed civilians who fired on demonstrators during the protests," she said, adding that the Venezuelan authorities admitted to having arrested more than 2,200 people between July 29 and August 6. "Of these we have confirmed the arrest of at least 158 children, some with disabilities and accused of serious crimes, such as terrorism and incitement to hatred," she said. "This phenomenon is something new and extremely worrying." The report describes detention in prisons with abysmal conditions, including the detention "of elderly persons with serious health problems," for whom their lawyers requested humanitarian measures "that were not granted." The fact-finding mission says it has received many allegations of detainees being subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, as well as sexual violence, including electric shocks, beatings with blunt objects, suffocation with plastic bags, immersion in cold water and sleep deprivation, among others. "The anguish and fears of families in this situation is indescribable," said mission expert Patricia Tappata Valdez. She also expressed concern about "the increasing intense closure of civic space," which has severely limited freedom of expression. Valdez singled out Venezuela's so-called anti-NGO law, which was passed during post-election protests, for reproof, explaining that it places "arbitrary limitations on the autonomous functioning of civil society organization, especially human rights defenders." "We are deeply concerned about the safety of all human rights defenders and that of their families. Their voices are essential to ensure that violations continue to be documented and that victims are not forgotten," she said. Maduro has been in power since 2013. He declared himself a winner for another six-year term in the latest presidential election, despite convincing evidence that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won by a large margin. The U.N. investigators recognize that ending Maduro's dictatorial rule will not be easy, but they agree that countries in the region have a key role to play in maintaining pressure on the government to go. "The government will continue to suffocate, to try to eliminate, in a symbolic, but also in a physical way, all kinds of opposition ... to maintain the power, the business and the benefits to be in power," Tappata said. Her colleague, Marta Valinas, noted it was not part of the fact-finding mission's mandate to make recommendations regarding a political solution to the humanitarian crisis engulfing Venezuela. However, she stressed the importance of keeping "the ideas and concepts of justice and reparation at the center" of a possible negotiated "exit strategy." "Whatever could be the solution to the current political crisis in Venezuela ... what needs to be at the center is justice, accountability for the violations that have been committed, reparation for the victims that have suffered these violations," she said. The Maduro government has not responded to the findings in the report, which will be submitted Friday to the U.N. human rights council. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Readout of Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer's Call with President Irfaan Ali of Guyana September 17, 2024 Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer spoke on the phone today with President Irfaan Ali of Guyana to discuss ongoing efforts to strengthen the bilateral relationship, and reaffirm the commitment of Guyana and the United States to advance regional security, democracy and stability. They discussed the outcomes of the inaugural Guyana-U.S. Strategic Dialogue that was held in July, and additional concrete steps to contribute to Guyana's economy, development and territorial integrity. They also shared their concerns regarding the violations of democratic practices in Venezuela following the July 28 presidential election. Mr. Finer and President Ali agreed to continue collaboration with regional partners to restore security for the Haitian people, and ensure the success and sustainability of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China to step up counteractions if Manila keeps provocation: expert Global Times PCG's remarks on ship's withdrawal from Xianbin Jiao 'political gesture' By GT staff reporters Published: Sep 18, 2024 12:30 AM The Philippines insisted on Monday that it had not given up China's Xianbin Jiao, two days after the Philippine Coast Guard ship MRRV-9701 left the lagoon of Xianbin Jiao (also known as Xianbin Reef) in the South China Sea. Chinese experts described the Philippines' latest remarks as a political posture to "save face," and that it signals Manila is likely to continue making provocations in the South China Sea. Yet they warned that as long as the Philippines insists on making infringing provocations in the region, China's countermeasures will only become stricter and the Philippines will not gain any advantages. A China Coast Guard (CCG) spokesperson confirmed on Sunday that the Philippine Coast Guard ship MRRV-9701, which had been illegally anchored in the lagoon of Xianbin Jiao in the South China Sea since April 17, left around 2 pm on Saturday. Based on what the Global Time has learned, the withdrawal of ship 9701 from China's Xianbin Jiao, where it had illegally anchored for five months, occurred three days after the meeting between the heads of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea on September 11. However, the Philippines did not notify China in advance of the withdrawal. The departure signifies the failure of this round of Philippine provocations and represents a phased step toward peace and stability in the South China Sea. "We have not lost anything. We did not abandon anything," Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela told a news conference Monday, per AFP. Tarriela on Monday maintained that the withdrawal from Xiaobin Jiao was "not a defeat." He said it would be "impossible" for China to totally stop the Philippines from sending its ships around the reef. The remarks of Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson can be seen as a political gesture for Manila to "save face," although on another level, they reveal that the Philippines will continue making provocations in the South China Sea, said Ding Duo, a deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at the China Institute for South China Sea Studies. Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Tarriela told GMA Integrated News' Unang Balita in an interview on Monday that there are other Philippine Coast Guard vessels that the country intends to deploy at Xianbin Jiao and that is the plan of the Philippines' national government. Asked when these ships will be deployed, Tarriela said it will not take that long. Chinese experts said that if Manila were to send another ship to Xianbin Jiao, it would only signal the Philippines' determination to act as a provocateur in the region. They warned that China's countermeasures in response to the Philippines' provocations will only escalate, and that Manila's attempts to illegally anchor at Xianbin Jiao could lead to self-inflicted harm. Regardless of the Philippines' actions, China's policy in dealing with provocations in the South China Sea prioritizes stability, said Ding, warning that as long as the Philippines insists on making provocations, China's countermeasures will only become stricter, and the Philippines will not gain any advantages. Manila has been amplifying issues related to the South China Sea in hopes of gaining political, diplomatic and international public opinion benefits. However, as China's countermeasures step up, experts suggest that the Philippines now finds itself in an increasingly passive position, having gained little in return. US' lip service The US said on Monday that it continued to support its ally Manila, while criticizing the "dangerous ways" Beijing tries to enforce its claim. "It is up to the Philippines to decide how they operate their vessels in areas where it enjoys the freedom of navigation in the high seas under international law," US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, AFP reported. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. said in an interview on CBS News' 60 Minutes which aired on Sunday that he expects "the US to intervene" if the Chinese tried to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from Ren'ai Jiao. The withdrawal of ship 9701 from China's Xianbin Jiao has highlighted the limited support the Philippines receives from the US, said Ding, noting that an increasing number of people in the Philippines are coming to realize that what is often described as US support is, in fact, little more than "lip service." Washington's tendency to offer "empty promises" is becoming increasingly evident. Chen Xidi, a research fellow at the China Institute for Marine Affairs of the Ministry of Natural Resources said that the "Philippines should not harbor any illusions, nor is there any need to return or test China's redline by other means," and that the withdrawal of ship 9701 and its personnel from Xianbin Jiao should mark the beginning of the Philippines returning to the right track on the South China Sea dispute, rather than a mere "interlude." This is not only the shared vision of China and other countries that genuinely wish to build the South China Sea into a region of peace and cooperation, but also in the best interest of the Philippines. Ding noted that China has demonstrated considerable patience, reflecting a responsible approach in managing the withdrawal of ship 9701. This case illustrates that whether viewed through the lens of safeguarding territorial sovereignty, maintaining regional stability or upholding the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, China's "toolbox" for addressing regional disputes is becoming increasingly diverse. The experts also noted that China possesses the capability to respond effectively to any potential provocative actions from the US and the Philippines. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iranian FM condemns deadly pager blasts in Lebanon People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 10:27, September 18, 2024 TEHRAN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi has strongly condemned the targeting of Lebanese citizens in simultaneous pager explosions in the Arab state, calling it a "terrorist action by Israel." He made the remarks during a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib on Tuesday, after pagers simultaneously blew up earlier in the day across Lebanon, killing at least eight people and wounding over 2,800 others, including Hezbollah members, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Araghchi expressed solidarity and extended condolences to Lebanon, voicing Iran's readiness to provide assistance to treat the injured or transfer them to Tehran. He pointed to the injury sustained by Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani in the incident and thanked the Lebanese government for its immediate measures to treat the Iranian envoy. The Lebanese foreign minister emphasized that his government would pursue and investigate the "terrorist" incident. Lebanon's Elnashra news website accused the Israeli military of targeting the batteries of the pagers, leading to their explosions across Lebanon. It added that the injured were transferred to hospitals. The Iranian Red Crescent Society announced on Tuesday that it is prepared to send emergency treatment teams to Lebanon to assist those injured in the simultaneous explosions. After the explosions, Hezbollah declared it was "at the highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon and its people," blaming Israel for the "criminal attack" and vowing to retaliate. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN General Assembly mulls over draft resolution tabled by Palestine People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:52, September 18, 2024 "Delayed justice is denied justice," said Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, calling for the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly on Tuesday resumed its 10th emergency special session on the issue of Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with member states deliberating a draft resolution introduced by the State of Palestine. Introducing the draft resolution demanding an end of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land within 12 months, Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, said the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has fulfilled its mandate by unequivocally identifying the legal consequences for Israel, urging the General Assembly to uphold its mandate. "Delayed justice is denied justice," he said, calling for the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He stressed that the Palestinian people have been steadfast in the pursuit of their inalienable rights, just like all other citizens worldwide who seek self-determination. "The Palestinians want to live, not survive -- they want to be safe in their homes, they want their children to go to school without fear. They want to be free in reality as they are in spirit." The General Assembly is expected to vote on the draft resolution, which was co-sponsored by more than two dozen nations, on Wednesday. Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, said the draft ignored the truth and did not mention Hamas, and the process to table it "has been politicized." "This resolution is diplomatic terrorism," he said, adding that more than 150 resolutions have been adopted at the United Nations against Israel. "Perhaps you have forgotten, but we did not start this war -- nor did we choose it," he said. In his remarks, General Assembly President Philemon Yang said "it is incumbent on the General Assembly and the Security Council to bring to an end the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." Lebanese Ambassador Hadi Hachem said his delegation is at the "top of the list" supporting the draft resolution and the State of Palestine. The historic ICJ decision stresses the unlawful nature of Israel's occupation and the need to put an end to the illegal presence in Palestinian territory, he said. The 10th emergency special session of the General Assembly was convened for the first time in April 1997. The session has resumed multiple times since then, including shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the current ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran envoy condemns Israel's cyber terrorism in Lebanon Iran Press TV Wednesday, 18 September 2024 1:04 AM Iran's UN ambassador has strongly condemned Israel's acts of terrorism against Lebanon, saying the Zionist Israeli regime must be held accountable for the heinous crime. Amir Saeid Iravani made the remarks while addressing an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday on the Illegal Israeli Actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He condemned the Tel Aviv regime for blowing up communication systems in Beirut through cyber terrorism resulting in deaths and injuries of thousands of people, including the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian envoy offered his condolences to the families of the victims and the Lebanese government, and strongly condemned the act of sabotage and terrorism. In his speech, Iravani also called on the world body to accept Palestine as a full member and reconsider Israel's membership for its constant violations of international law and norms. He called Israel's aggressions in Gaza and across the West Bank, long-lasting threats to peace and security. The envoy urged the UN to find effective measures to put an end to the regime's violations. Iravani also slammed Israel's total impunity for killing and displacing Palestinians and occupying their lands. A number of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah as well as civilians were killed and thousands more wounded after wireless communication devices, known as pagers, exploded in different locations across the country on Tuesday. The Lebanese health ministry said at least nine people were killed and 2,800 others wounded in the explosions that were first reported in the southern suburbs of Beirut. "Patients are being transferred to different governorates in Lebanon as hospitals in southern Lebanon have exceeded their capacity," the ministry stated. Among those killed are a 9-year-old girl and son of a lawmaker affiliated with Hezbollah, Press TV correspondent in Beirut Mariam Saleh said in a report from the Lebanese capital. The little girl has been identified as Fatima Jafar Abdullah while the young man is Mahdi Ammar, son of 'Loyalty to the Resistance' bloc MP Ali Ammar. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, is also among the injured. His wife took to X, formerly Twitter, to confirm his injury in the pager explosion but said his condition was stable. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hercs help strengthen relationships on exercise By Flight Lieutenant Claire Campbell 17 September 2024 Australia and Indonesia are adding a new chapter to their long history of cooperation through Exercise Rajawali AusIndo 24 at Adisutjipto Air Force Base. The exercise, from September 15 to 21, involves C-130J Hercules transport aircraft and crews conducting aerial delivery of supplies and cargo to a drop zone. Rajawali AusIndo, currently being held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is the first time both countries have flown the latest C-130J variant of the Hercules together, following Indonesia's introduction of the type to service in 2023. Commanding Officer RAAF 37 Squadron Wing Commander Charles Freebairn said air mobility was important to both countries during contingency operations. "Both our countries have a long history of using air mobility to conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in the wider Indo-Pacific," Wing Commander Freebairn said before the exercise began. "Exercise Rajawali AusIndo will demonstrate how Indonesian and Australian aviators can engage with each other to understand respective practices, plan air mobility missions together and fly in a range of scenarios." The exercise involves participation from 176 Air Dispatch Squadron from the Australian Army, assisting with air drop sorties over Ambal Training Area. Cooperation on Rajwali AusIndo allows both air forces to exchange information and practices in live mission scenarios, ensuring they are prepared for future air mobility operations. "The integration and building of relationships in this exercise will benefit the RAAF and TNI-AU [Indonesian Air Force] in the future as we continue to address common security challenges in our region," Wing Commander Freebairn said. Australia and Indonesia each have more than 60 years' experience in flying different models of the Hercules, which can carry up to 20 tonnes of cargo or more than 100 passengers, and operate from short, semi-prepared runways. Responsibility for hosting Rajawali AusIndo has been shared since it began in 1994, with the previous exercise conducted in Townsville in 2022. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address September 17, 2024 DOD News U.S., Partners Mark Third Year of AUKUS Partnership Three years ago this week, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia embarked on an enhanced security partnership called AUKUS, focused on a shared commitment to the international rules-based order. The AUKUS partnership has two pillars. The first is to enable Australia's acquisition of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability. The second pillar is to ensure cooperation to develop and provide advanced capabilities to promote security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. "In the past year, our nations have made significant strides towards ensuring Australia possesses conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine capability," said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. Last month, for instance, as part of a training effort, more than 30 Royal Australian sailors performed maintenance work on the USS Hawaii, a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine. The work is significant because it is the first time Australian sailors conducted such work in Australia. During that effort, the Australian sailors were embedded with the crew off USS Emory S. Land a a U.S. submarine tender ship. "Beyond submarines, AUKUS is advancing next-generation technologies from uncrewed maritime systems to AI-enabled sensing systems that enhance our ability to detect, decide and respond to threats more effectively," Ryder said. "We in the Department of Defense are excited about the progress that has been made to date regarding AUKUS." As part of the AUKUS Pillar I effort, the Australians will add nuclear-powered submarines to their naval fleet. While this means submarine vessels that are powered by nuclear propulsion, it does not mean nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are not part of AUKUS. Australia has agreed to purchase three Virginia-class submarines from the U.S. by the early 2030s as part of the AUKUS Pillar I effort. The Virginia-class submarine is already the newest submarine in the U.S. fleet, and it will be new to the Australians as well. Procurement of the Virginia-class submarines is expected to allow the Australian navy to hone its skills in the use of nuclear-powered vessels, preparing them for when it can produce its own submarines. The U.K. and Australia will work together to develop and deploy the SSN-AUKUS, a new nuclear-powered submarine, designed for Australia through the AUKUS partnership. It's expected that by the late 2030s, Australia will accept the delivery of the first SSN-AUKUS submarine from the U.K. Later, by the early 2040s, it's expected that Australia will build its own SSN-AUKUS submarines. Since the beginning of the AUKUS partnership, the three nations have worked to advance Pillar II efforts, referred to as the Advanced Capabilities line of effort. This effort serves as a strategic partnership and technology accelerator for the three AUKUS nations to harness and uplift innovation enterprises and industrial bases, remove barriers to cooperation, and deliver advanced capabilities to warfighters. Areas of focus within the Pillar II Advanced Capabilities line of effort include artificial intelligence and autonomy, quantum, cyber, hypersonics/counter-hypersonics and electronic warfare. Also, as part of Pillar II, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have committed to reducing export control restrictions to facilitate secure trade between and among AUKUS partners. This month, for instance, the U.S. amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and implemented an export licensing exemption for Australia and the United Kingdom. These changes are expected to maximize innovation and mutually strengthen the three defense industrial bases by facilitating billions of dollars in secure license-free defense trade. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint Leaders Statement to Mark the Third Anniversary of AUKUS September 17, 2024 We the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, mark the third anniversary of AUKUS - an enhanced security partnership that promotes a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable. We reaffirm our shared commitment to this historic partnership and acknowledge the considerable progress to date. Pillar I - Conventionally-Armed, Nuclear-Powered Submarines In March 2023, our nations announced a pathway to deliver Australia's conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) capability, while setting the highest non-proliferation standard. We are steadily building Australia's capabilities to steward and operate its own fleet of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines from the early 2030s. The United Kingdom and the United States welcomed Australian naval officers and sailors into their submarine training schools and embedded Australian personnel into the UK Ministry of Defence and U.S. naval shipyards. Our nations have made enormous strides towards the establishment of a rotational presence of U.S. and UK SSNs at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as early as 2027. Increased visits by U.S. SSNs to Australia have supported steady progress in Australian workforce development, and, in August 2024, Australian personnel demonstrated their progress through participation in the first maintenance activity conducted on a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine in Australia. We have made significant investments to lift our respective submarine industrial bases. The United Kingdom has made an initial allocation of nearly A4 billion to continue work on SSN-AUKUS, and A3 billion to expand production capabilities across its Defence Nuclear Enterprise. The United States decided to invest USD 17.5 billion into its submarine industrial base. Australia has committed to invest over AUD 30 billion in the Australian defense industrial base and make proportionate contributions to the United Kingdom and the United States to support the production of SSN-AUKUS and to accelerate the delivery of Virginia class submarines respectively. In March 2024, Australia announced the selection of ASC Pty Ltd and BAE Systems to build SSN-AUKUS and ASC Pty Ltd to sustain Australia's SSNs. These respective investments and decisions will deliver thousands of highly skilled jobs across our three nations. In August this year, the AUKUS partners signed a historic international agreement for cooperation relating to naval nuclear propulsion. Once it enters into force, this agreement will enable AUKUS partners to go beyond sharing naval nuclear propulsion information to include allowing the United States and the United Kingdom to transfer the material and equipment required for the safe and secure construction, operation, and sustainment of Australia's conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement reaffirms AUKUS partners' existing non-proliferation obligations and Australia's safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The agreement will make our non-proliferation commitments under AUKUS legally-binding between the partners. Our nations continue to consult with the IAEA to develop a non-proliferation and safeguards approach that sets the highest non-proliferation standard. Pillar II - Advanced Capabilities When AUKUS was first announced, we pledged to pursue information and technology sharing and unprecedented integration of our innovation communities, industrial bases, and warfighter capabilities in support of a shared goal to build the advanced capabilities needed to bolster deterrence in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. This work is delivering as our Navies are strengthening undersea warfare capabilities by integrating the ability to launch and recover undersea vehicles from submarine torpedo tubes to deliver effects such as strike and reconnaissance. We are also deploying advanced Artificial Intelligence algorithms across our shared military systems to process sonar-buoy data, assisting anti-submarine operators in making better decisions, faster. We are strengthening maritime autonomy through a series of joint exercise and experimentation known as the Maritime Big Play, where we will conduct ground-breaking tests on the collective use of autonomous and un-crewed systems in maritime operations. Together, we are making further strides in quantum technologies, cyber capabilities, hypersonics, and electronic warfare. In April 2024 our Defense Ministers announced principles for additional AUKUS Pillar II partner engagement on specific projects where new partners could contribute to, and benefit from, AUKUS. Following initial consultations this year and leveraging Japan's deep technical expertise, AUKUS partners and Japan are exploring opportunities to improve interoperability of their maritime autonomous systems as an initial area of cooperation. Recognizing these countries' close bilateral defense partnerships with each member of AUKUS, we are consulting with Canada, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II. To promote innovation and realize the goals of AUKUS, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have implemented momentous amendments to our respective export control regimes, including reforms to the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). These critical reforms will facilitate billions of dollars in secure, license-free defense trade and maximize innovation across the full breadth of our defense collaboration and mutually strengthen our three defense industrial bases. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister of National Defence Remarks at the Seoul Defence Dialogue National Defence 2024-09-17 Speech September 11, 2024 Minister Kim, Admiral Bauer, Excellencies, Colleagues and friends. Good morning to all. It's a very great privilege for me to be here today for the Seoul Defence Dialogue as part of my first official visit to Korea. First of all, to Minister Kim, thank you for your very kind and warm hospitality, and your leadership both today at this very important Seoul Defence Dialogue, but also during yesterday's United Nations Command Ministerial Meeting. And to Admiral Bauer, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for your exemplary leadership of the NATO Military Committee and your invaluable contributions to our alliance. As you have heard and understand, my co-panellists and I come from three very different parts of the world. But notwithstanding our separation by distance and culture, we share a common goal of maintaining the rules-based international order which has delivered peace, stability and prosperity to all of our peoples. And I believe that Canada has a unique role to play in achieving that goal because we are an Arctic nation, an Atlantic nation, and a Pacific nation. For example, our Pacific coastline is roughly 25,000 kilometres long and our trade and security links with this region are vital, and strong, and growing. In particular, Canada's ties with the Republic of Korea run deep. Roughly 26,000 Canadians served here in Korea during the Korean War which was Canada's third bloodiest conflict. And since the very beginning, we've been part of the United Nations Command, upholding and helping to uphold the Korean Armistice Agreement, and working towards a lasting peace. Canadian Armed Forces members also regularly deploy alongside members of Korea's Armed Forces during regional exercises, including Exercise Rim of the Pacific which wrapped up only last month. And Korea has become one of Canada's largest trading partners in the Indo-Pacific, as well as our third-largest regional partner when it comes to defence materiel. I believe very sincerely that there is much more that we can do together and that's why we continue to make progress on our Action Plan to implement the Canada-Korea Strategic Partnership, which includes exploring more opportunities for our defence industries to work together. I am very pleased that in 2022, our countries re-signed a Defence Materiel Cooperation MOU and that we are seeing daily evidence of growing ties between our defence industrial bases. Relationships such as these, and those relationships fostered through this dialogue, are critical during increasingly difficult times. As we are all aware, our world has become a far more dangerous place over the past few years. A number of crises including Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and the Israeli-Hamas conflict in the Middle East are all evidence of the challenges that the rules-based order is facing in today's world. Here in the Indo-Pacific, we are seeing China undertaking the most rapid military build-up of any nation since the Second World War and it appears to intend to reshape the international system to suit its own goals. And as we've seen in the last few months, China is challenging the freedom of navigation of the South China Sea, a waterway that is critical to regional and global prosperity. And on occasion, it has repeatedly and dangerously obstructed the movement of Philippine vessels. They clearly openly aspire to unite with Taiwan, and we believe very strongly that any instability in the Taiwan Strait would have a devastating effect to the global economy. And closer to my country, China has deployed an increasing number of dual-purpose research vessels and surveillance platforms, collecting data about our Arctic and North. And in the Arctic, we are seeing China working hard to increase its economic and military presence in cooperation with Russia. It is clear that on matters of security, China's interests may increasingly diverge from our own. But I think it's also essential to prevent misunderstanding. Clear communication with China is vital and I took the opportunity just this past June to hold our first meeting between a Chinese and Canadian defence minister in over 11 years. And during that dialogue, I had the opportunity to make clear that foreign interference cannot be tolerated and expressed some concern about China's military activity around Taiwan. But we were able to agree together that there is a need for dialogue and cooperation in order to avoid conflict. Likewise, we recognize the continued threat posed by North Korea. This includes the DPRK's buildup in testing of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Canada unequivocally condemns these actions in no uncertain terms. And we've taken action by imposing sanctions on North Korea, along with the UN Security Council sanctions, which the Canadian Armed Forces uphold through Operation NEON. Despite Russia's attempts to undermine our work by vetoing the renewal of the UN Panel of Experts who track and report on evasion efforts, Canada will continue to monitor violations by the DPRK in cooperation with all of our international partners. We call on North Korea to stop these programs and other aggressive activities, to resume its adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to pursue dialogue with the international community. We are also concerned with China and North Korea's deepening ties to Russia in support of its illegal invasion of Ukraine. We will continue to call them out for their work to spread disinformation and conduct malicious cyber activities which threaten our critical infrastructure and can sow distrust and a lack of trust in our most important institutions. In the face of these threats, the ties between Canada and our Indo-Pacific partners matter more now than ever, and that's why in 2022, Canada released its Indo-Pacific Strategy. This strategy serves as a critical roadmap for how we will engage in the region. It makes very clear that our partners and allies can expect to see more of us present in this region of the world. We need to be a reliable and dependable partner and thanks to this strategy, our military presence in the Indo-Pacific is growing. Last year, as well as this year, we have deployed and are deploying, three Canadian naval warships into the region for the first time in decades. This increased presence is going to allow us to work more closely with partners including right here in the North Pacific. Most recently, HMCS Vancouver has been sailing on Exercise PACIFIC VANGUARD. As part of this mission, they've been training with members of the Korean, Japanese and American navies, strengthening their skills in maritime operations, anti-submarine warfare, air warfare operations and advanced maneuvering. And through Operation NEON, we have been deploying our ships and aircraft to monitor UN sanction operations against North Korea and working with the military members of all like-minded Pacific countries. As our people work and train together, they are learning valuable new skills and forging deeper bonds. Likewise, as one of the 18 countries that participates in the United Nations Command, Canada will continue to do our part to maintain stability and security on the Korean Peninsula. We have supported this mission from the very beginning, since 1953, and in the 71 years since this command was established, Canadian Armed Forces members have helped to enforce the Armistice Agreement and to reinforce deterrence. We have taken on a variety of critical roles including serving right on the front lines of the De-Militarized Zone as part of the Military Assistance Commission. And for the second time, a Canadian officer - currently Lieutenant General Macaulay, is currently serving as the Deputy Commander of the UNC. Our increased presence here in the Indo-Pacific must be sustained and that is going to require significant new investments in our capabilities. Earlier this year, I released an updated defence policy for my country. It's called Our North, Strong and Free, and through this policy we have identified the Indo-Pacific, Europe and the Arctic as key strategic regions of focus for our military. We are investing almost $10 billion dollars to extend the life of our Halifax-class warships so that we can continue to deploy them right here and we've begun construction on a new fleet of River-Class Destroyers, launching the process to acquire up to 12 new conventionally-powered submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy. These are new and improved capabilities that are necessary, allowing Canada to continue to bolster its presence here in the Indo-Pacific, to do our part, and to live up to our obligations to our international partners. They will make us more interoperable with our closest partners and they will continue to contribute to deterrence. Our intent is to ensure that Canada remains a reliable and valuable partner in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. We recognize that the world has changed and continues to change rapidly. We also acknowledge we've got to do more, and we will do more. That's why Canada has committed to investing 2% of its GDP in defence as rapidly as possible, and by 2032. As the security threats facing the Indo-Pacific and the world grow, we are stronger with like-minded partners who share our values. And as a proud Pacific nation and a dedicated NATO ally, Canada truly values our close relationships with nations that share our aspirations. Nations like the Republic of Korea, with whom we share a long and treasured friendship. These are indeed uncertain times, but I believe that they are also times of opportunity and possibility. Because we are stronger when we work together. When partners stand united. And for Canada's part, I want to assure you all that we are committed to this region, we are here to stay, and we will do our part. And I believe that together we can maintain a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, and defend the international rules that have kept us safe for nearly 80 years. Thank you. Merci. And again, thank you for the kind invitation to be here. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister of National Defence Remarks at the United Nations Command (UNC) Ministerial National Defence 2024-09-17 Speech September 10, 2024 Thank you very much for that very warm greeting. Minister Kim, Fellow Defence Ministers and Heads of Delegation, General LaCamera, Lieutenant-General Macaulay, Dear Friends. I am very pleased to be here in Seoul with all of you in my first visit to Korea as Canada's Minister of National Defence. It is a great honour for Canada to have the opportunity to co-host the second ROK-UNC Ministerial Meeting together with our co-host, the Republic of Korea, and I extend my sincere thanks to Minister Kim. Minister Kim, Canada and the Republic of Korea have a strong relationship which has been built upon years of international cooperation, ever-deepening economic ties, and respect for the rule of law. We are both Pacific nations working together to uphold stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region. And Canada, along with all of the UNC Member States present here, including our newest member Germany, are with you here today because we believe that we are stronger together. Together, we are better able to promote peace and to prevent conflict. Together, our diplomacy carries more weight. And together, we are best suited to maintain a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Seventy-four years ago, the UN Security Council called for unified command on the Korean Peninsula to counter North Korea's unlawful attack on the new Republic of Korea, and to restore peace and stability. Over 26,000 Canadians fought here in Korea, and it remains our third bloodiest conflict. Since then, Canada has maintained a continuous presence here on the Korean Peninsula. And I want to assure you all, our presence here will endure. Because we believe coalitions matter. Deterring conflicts matter. The international rules that have kept us all safe matter. And we believe that dialogue matters as well. Dialogue has long been the key tool in our toolbox for avoiding escalation and that's why all 18 of our UN Command Member States support the work of the UNC Military Armistice Commission under the leadership of South Korean Major-General Kang In Kyu, and Secretary Lieutenant-Colonel Ricarlos M. Caldwell, of the US Army. Over the past 71 years, this work, and that of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, have upheld the Armistice and prevented the outbreak of renewed conflict. As UNC member states, no matter where we call home in the world, whether it be in Thailand or TArkiye, Colombia or New Zealand, Canada or in South Korea, we all agree that peace and stability here in the Indo-Pacific are fundamental to the lives of our citizens and to our economic well-being. So we will continue to be here. We must and we will remain present. We are also united in condemning the expanding military cooperation we're seeing between North Korea and the Russian Federation. Their deepening ties undercut the UN Security Council's efforts to address the DPRK's nuclear and ballistic missile programs which threaten the stability on the Korean Peninsula and the broader Indo-Pacific region, and this collusion brings consequences further afield as well. Russia's use of North Korean missiles in its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine demonstrates that Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security are increasingly linked. Here on the Korean Peninsula, each of our countries will continue contributing to security and stability under the leadership of General Paul LaCamera and his Canadian Deputy Commander Lieutenant-General Derek Macaulay. Lieutenant-General Macaulay, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for your outstanding work. Your presence here is an enduring sign of our commitment to the UNC and to the security on the Korean Peninsula. Today, and going forward, we have some very important work to do. In order to maintain an effective deterrence, UNC Member States recognize that policies and systems that may have served the unified command well in the 1950s need to be modernized to reflect current realities on the ground, in the air, and at sea in the 2020s. This includes integrating the Republic of Korea as a full partner in the UNC, as well as developing new processes that will facilitate better sharing of information and a better framework for the UNC personnel from our states to serve in the Republic of Korea. From Canada's vantage point, this will enable the UNC to strengthen its membership while improving its collective ability to understand emerging security threats. Minister Kim, thank you again for your gracious invitation for Canada to co-host this meeting and many thanks to all of you around the table for sharing your commitment to the UNC's mission. I look forward to deepening our friendship and continuing our vital work to ensure lasting stability and security on the Peninsula. Thank you. Merci. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address North Korea fires salvo of short-range ballistic missiles: Media Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 11:20 PM North Korea has fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles, Pyongyang's second such launch in a week. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it had "detected and (was) analyzing several short-range ballistic missiles launched to the northeast around 06:50 (2150 GMT)," early on Wednesday, the Yonhap news agency reported. "In preparation for additional launches, our military has strengthened monitoring and vigilance, while closely sharing information," with allies Japan and the US, it added. Japan also confirmed the launch. "Vessels please pay attention to information coming ahead and if you spot fallen objects please don't approach closer but report it to the coastguard," it said in a statement. On Thursday, the North fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into waters east of the Korean peninsula. This was the first major weapons test by the nuclear-armed country since early July. North Korean state media later reported that this had been a test of a "new-type 600mm multiple rocket launcher." North Korea has staged dozens of launches this year. Pyongyang declared South Korea its "principal enemy" this year and recently moved nuclear-capable weapons to border areas. On Friday, North Korea released images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time, showing leader Kim Jong-un touring a nuclear facility. The state media reported on Friday that the North Korean leader called for increasing the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment to increase the nation's nuclear arsenal for self-defense. The country, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, has never publicly disclosed details of its uranium enrichment facility. Such facilities produce highly enriched uranium by spinning the original material in centrifuges at high speeds. Kim toured the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the "production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The KCNA did not provide the facility's location or visit date. Pyongyang, which has been under harsh sanctions by the United States and the United Nations Security Council for years over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, says such military maneuvers amount to a rehearsal for invasion. Kim has repeatedly said that Pyongyang is strengthening its armed forces to confront the US and its regional allies in a war that could "break out at any time" on the Korean Peninsula. Kim has repeatedly said that Pyongyang is strengthening its armed forces to confront the US and its regional allies in a war that could "break out at any time" on the Korean Peninsula. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's meeting with Foreign Minister of the DPRK Choe Son-hui 17 September 2024 17:19 1712-17-09-2024 On September 17, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Choe Son-hui, who stopped over in Moscow on her way to St Petersburg to participate in the first BRICS Women's Forum to be held on the sidelines of the Fourth Eurasian Women's Forum. The foreign ministers of Russia and the DPRK took this opportunity to exchange opinions on ways to promote bilateral relations in keeping with the comprehensive strategic partnership between our countries. Sergey Lavrov extended warm wishes to his colleague on the occasion of the traditional Korean harvest festival Chuseok which is celebrated in Korea today, and wished her a productive and fulfilling trip to St Petersburg. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address North Korea seen likely to escalate tensions ahead of US election By Young Gyo Kim September 17, 2024 As the U.S. presidential election approaches, North Korea will likely escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula in an attempt to get attention and increase leverage for future negotiations with the United States, analysts said. On Friday, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and Rodong Sinmum newspaper released several photos showing leader Kim Jong Un visiting what the North's media said is a uranium enrichment facility. It was the first time the North has disclosed a uranium enrichment facility publicly. In a recent speech marking the 76th anniversary of the founding of his government, Kim said North Korea will "redouble its measures and efforts to make all the armed forces of the state, including the nuclear force, fully ready for combat." Kim said he was acting because of the "grave threat" posed by "the reckless expansion" of a U.S.-led regional military bloc, according to KCNA. It remains unclear what the revelation means for the North's nuclear capability, but it drew international attention. Nuclear escalation Despite the disclosure, the European Union said Monday that North Korea will never have the status of an acknowledged nuclear weapon state. "The EU position is that the DPRK must immediately comply with UN Security Council resolutions by abandoning all its nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missile programmes and existing nuclear programmes, in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and cease all related activities," said a spokesperson for the EU in an email to VOA Korean. Evans Revere, who served as acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said Kim probably believes that Trump, of the two presidential candidates, is more likely to help North Korea advance its agenda. "Pyongyang wants to be accepted as a nuclear state and it is trying to undermine and eventually end the U.S.-ROK [South Korea] alliance and get rid of U.S. forces who are stationed on and around the Korean Peninsula," Revere told VOA Korean Friday on the phone. "Which of the two U.S. presidential candidates does North Korea see as more likely to help achieve its goals?" he asked. Revere, however, said he does not view North Korea's recent actions as aimed at swaying the U.S. presidential election, stressing that what North Korea does and says is "not always about us." Sydney Seiler, who was the national intelligence officer for North Korea on the U.S. National Intelligence Council from 2020-2023, told VOA Korean in a Zoom interview Thursday it may be "a step too far" to assume North Korea is trying to influence the upcoming election in the U.S. through its provocative behaviors. However, Seiler said, Pyongyang could be tweaking the timing of its actions "to remain on everybody's radar screen." Seiler predicted that North Korea will hold off on its next major provocations, such as a seventh nuclear test, until after the next U.S. president is elected. North Korea's intention Park Won-gon, a professor in the Department of North Korean Studies of Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told VOA Korean Friday that the North Korean regime may have considered testing its nuclear weapons for a seventh time to show that President Joe Biden's North Korea policy has not worked and to "turn it to Trump's advantage." "The situation, however, has now changed," Park said. "Trump has been touting his close relationship with Kim Jong Un, so Pyongyang may have concluded that another nuclear test will not help Trump." Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, agreed that North Korea is not likely to conduct the seventh nuclear test before the November election. "None of the countries that possess nuclear weapons have disclosed their nuclear facilities, especially enriched uranium facilities, but making such an unprecedented disclosure was to replace the nuclear test card," Hong told VOA Korean Friday. Kim In-tae, senior research fellow at South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy, said a seventh nuclear test is still a possibility. "North Korea's foreign ministry declared it will prepare itself for a long-term nuclear confrontation with the United States," Kim told VOA Korean Friday, referring to a Sept. 9 statement released by Pyongyang. "They are now saying that they will strengthen their nuclear offensive from a longer-term perspective, regardless of the U.S. presidential election," Kim said there is a possibility that North Korea will gradually ramp up its provocations, up to the test of a nuclear weapon. North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in September 2017. VOA's Kim Hyungjin contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India-United States bilateral 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting India - Ministry of External Affairs September 17, 2024 India and the United States held the bilateral 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting at the official level on 16 September 2024 in New Delhi. 2. Both sides reviewed the progress made since the last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in November 2023. Joint Secretary (Americas) Mr. Nagaraj Naidu, Ministry of External Affairs and Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) Mr. Vishwesh Negi, Ministry of Defense co-chaired the intersessional with US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Mr. Donald Lu and US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Mr. Jedidiah P. Royal. 3. Both sides took stock of the progress and developments in the bilateral agenda including strategic cooperation, defence, technology collaboration, space cooperation, resilient supply chain, clean energy, maritime domain awareness, development cooperation including trilateral cooperation and people to people ties. The officials also had an opportunity to exchange assessments on a range of regional and international issues. 4. The 2+2 intersessional today laid the groundwork in the lead up to the next 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue to advance the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. New Delhi September 17, 2024 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pezeshkian: Iranians are not warmongers; I will defend Iranian people's rights at UB IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian underlined that Iranians are not belligerent and quarrelsome, and said that next week he will go to UN in New York to defend the rights of the Iranian people. "We are not warmongers and we are not looking for a fight and to conquer the country. In the past 200 years, you have not seen Iran invade a country even once in history, but they have made a face of us that is unfair," President Pezeshkian said. The Iranian president continued that they have imposed all the problems on us. "They have established the Zionist regime in the region and armed it to the teeth, then they tell us that you should not have any weapons that the Zionists can bomb us whenever they want," President Pezeshkian added. The Iranian president reiterated that look at it from any angle, it is against human rights and international laws, masculinity and humanity. President Pezeshkian stressed that if they are going to say force, "we will not bow to force". 2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President Pezeshkian: Iran-Russia ties will develop in continuous manner IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the deepening and strengthening of relations between Iran and Russia will reduce the effectiveness of sanctions and unfair measures against the two countries and said that relations between Tehran and Moscow will develop in a permanent, continuous and lasting way. President Pezeshkian made the remarks in a meeting with Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu. The Iranian president stated that the 14th government will seriously follow the ongoing cooperation and measures to improve the level of relations between the two countries. The Iranian president considered the deepening and strengthening of relations and cooperation between Iran and Russia to reduce the effectiveness of sanctions and unfair measures against the two countries. "Relations between Tehran and Moscow will develop in a permanent, continuous and lasting way," he added. Referring to the statements of the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation regarding the preparations for the meeting of the presidents of the two countries on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, he expressed hope that in this meeting, bilateral, regional and international cooperation between Iran and Russia, including in the form of BRICS and Shanghai and Eurasian Economic Union to have fruitful discussions and agreements. In this meeting, Sergei Shoigu emphasized that President Putin asked him to convey this message to the high officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran that Russia's position on cooperation with Iran in regional issues has not changed. "Mr. Putin is impatiently waiting to meet with Your Excellency on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia," Shoigu added. 2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Strategic mistake': Iran condemns statements from EU, allies IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the recent separate statements from the High Representative of the European Union and top diplomats of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia against the Islamic Republic. "It appears that the EU high representative, under pressure from specific political lobbies and continuing the insistence on previous erroneous approaches, has made another strategic mistake by repeating baseless claims about the Islamic Republic of Iran in a biased manner," Iran's Foreign Ministey Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Tuesday. Kanaani warned against the persistence of EU officials and a very limited number of countries in adopting harmful positions or issuing destructive statements against Iran. He advised the EU and these few deluded nations to refrain from unfounded accusations and failed tactics, particularly in light of the recent presidential election in Iran. He also stressed that the policy of imposing sanctions against Iran has been a failure. "We remind once again that insisting on incorrect and unconstructive approaches not only is not the solution to any problem but is also part of the problem itself. Continuing such a misguided path against Iran will not serve their interests," Kanaani said. He urged the EU, the US and their allies to focus on their own human rights violations, including their support for the criminal Israeli regime and violently suppressing protests against the genocide in Gaza, rather than interfering in Iran's internal affairs. 4353**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran will 'definitely' respond to Haniyeh assassination: Army cmdr. IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Deputy Coordinator of the Iranian Army Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari has said that the Islamic Republic will "definitely" respond to the Israeli assassination of former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. "Response to the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh is definite, but its timing will be decided by Iran," Sayyari told the Chinese media at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Tuesday. The former Hamas chief was assassinated in an Israeli targeted strike in Tehran late in July. Addressing the forum, Sayyari cautioned that countries intervening in the region's security matters from afar should be aware that their presence will only create chaos. He highlighted Tehran's advancements in defense capabilities since the Islamic Revolution, despite ongoing Western sanctions. He also emphasized Iran's opposition to foreign intervention in Middle Eastern affairs. "We are against the interference of foreign countries in the region." He pointed out that much of the military training and equipment procurement for Iran's ground, naval, and air forces occurred in Western countries prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979. However, he noted that Iran has since made significant strides in training its military forces domestically and has developed a diverse range of military equipment. 4353**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Relations with IAEA continue in stable manner: Iran nuclear chief IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Sep 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, while referring to his meeting and conversation with Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna emphasized that Iran has stable relationship with the UN nuclear watchdog. According to IRNA, Eslami published a text along with a picture of his face-to-face-meeting with Grossi on the Instagram social network on Monday night and said "Iran's relationship with the Agency continues in a stable manner" and there is "the possibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency benefiting from the capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran." He also talked about the first day of the 68th Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference, saying he met with Grossi and had an overview of the situation between Iran and the Agency. Grossi was informed that we are seriously pursuing the development of Iran's nuclear industry within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Eslami said, adding that the IAEA proposal of using the opportunities and nuclear capacities of the Islamic Republic of Iran was raised as well. Fortunately, I had a positive conversation with the IAEA director general and believes that the meeting was a step forward, Iran's nuclear chief continued. The most important message of the meeting with Grossi was for the world to know that "Iran's relationship with the IAEA continues in a stable manner and under no circumstances will this process be harmed by any psychological pressure and blackmailing", Eslami added. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Atomic Energy Commission Director General Moshe Edri to the IAEA General Conference: "A nuclear-armed Iran, equipped with delivery systems, is not an option that Israel, or the world, can, or should tolerate." Israel Prime Minister's Office Press Releases The 37th Government 17.09.2024 Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Director General Moshe Edri, this morning, addressed the 68th International Atomic Energy (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna, and commented on the regional challenges facing the State of Israel, especially Iran and Syria, which are not honoring their international commitments in this field. He also noted the cooperation between Israel and the IAEA in security and nuclear safety among other fields. Following are excerpts from Director Edri's remarks: Iran continues to be the main source of regional instability, and poses a threat to peace and security worldwide. This reality requires the full attention of the international community, now more than ever before. There is no doubt that Iran conducted a military nuclear program aimed to produce several nuclear weapon devices. Iran continues to advance this program by gaining relevant technology and knowledge, along with fissile material in alarming amounts. Iran has been conducting covert nuclear activities in undeclared sites for many years. The Agency has found concrete evidence of these activities, including the use of undeclared nuclear material and equipment. Despite repeated resolutions by the Board of Governors, Iran has continuously failed to provide technically credible explanations regarding these activities, and continues to deceive the Agency and the international community. Moreover, Iran continues to develop, test and deploy long-range ballistic missiles, and supports terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East, including the Houthi terrorist group that is a significant security threat to the freedom of navigation, and to the global trade routes. A nuclear-armed Iran, equipped with delivery systems, is not an option that Israel, or the world, can, or should tolerate." He added: "As the Director General of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, our national task is to guarantee the safety and security of our nuclear facilities that are openly targeted by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, even more so since October 7th. Israel continues to demonstrate its responsible behavior in this regard, and continues to take all necessary precautions to ensure that these facilities are operated according to the highest international safety and security standards to withstand these threats as required." This year's conference is being held from 16-20 September. AEC Director General Edri is chairing Israel's delegation, which is composed of AEC and Foreign Affairs Ministry representatives. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran-Russia ties will continue to expand on lasting basis: Pezeshkian Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 6:09 PM Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says relations between Iran and Russia will continue to expand along a permanent and lasting path. Pezeshkian said boosting cooperation between Tehran and Moscow will undermine the effectiveness of sanctions and the unjust actions against both countries. Pezeshkian made the remarks in a meeting with Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in the capital Tehran on Tuesday afternoon, emphasizing the history of constructive relations between the two sides. "The fourteenth government will seriously pursue the ongoing cooperation and efforts aimed at enhancing the level of relations between the two countries," Pezeshkian stated. Referring to Shoigu's comments about the preparations for a meeting between presidents of the two countries on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Pezeshkian expressed hope that such a meeting would lead to fruitful discussions and agreements on bilateral, regional, and international cooperation between Iran and Russia, including within the frameworks of BRICS, Shanghai, and the Eurasian Economic Union. Shoigu, for his part, emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin had asked him to convey to the senior Iranian officials that Russia's position on cooperation with Iran on regional issues has not changed. "Mr. Putin is eagerly looking forward to meeting with you on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia," Shoigu told Pezeshkian. Earlier in the day, Shoigu also met with Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Akbar Ahmadian and reviewed the agreements reached between the two countries, reiterating support for Iran's policy regarding corridors and transportation routes with the Republic of Azerbaijan. Shoigu arrived in Tehran based on Putin's order to follow up on the agreements made during the visit of Ahmadian to St. Petersburg. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tehran strongly condemns EU statement against Iran Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 6:00 PM The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has condemned as "destructive" the recent statement of the European Union against Tehran. Nasser Kan'ani made the remarks in a statement on Tuesday, a day after the High Representative of the European Union as well as the foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, issued separate statements regarding the human rights situation in Iran. Kan'ani said the EU has made another "strategic mistake" by repeating its baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic. The Iranian official went on to say that the High Representative of the European Union, under the pressure of certain lobbies, is continuing to insist on previous wrong approaches without paying attention to the facts, adding that the bloc has made another strategic mistake and in a biased approach, is repeating baseless claims about the Islamic Republic. He also urged EU officials to refrain from making "absurd and fruitless accusations and continuing their failed anti-Iranian policies, and instead have a realistic understanding of the deep connection between the nation and the government by looking at the process of the 14th presidential elections in the country. Referring to the failed policy of resorting to sanctions by the US, the EU and some Western countries against Iran, Kan'ani said insisting on "wrong and unconstructive approaches" is not a solution to any problem. It is, he said, part of the problem itself and the continuation of such a wrong path against the Islamic Republic will not be in line with their interests. "We recommend that the EU and some other claimant countries, including the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, deal with their own support of the criminal Israeli regime and the violent suppression of protests against the ongoing genocide in Gaza instead of interfering in Iran's internal affairs." In a statement on Monday, the EU called on Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of systemic discrimination against all women and girls in public and private life. The EU and its member states continue to call on the Iranian authorities to respect and uphold the rights of its citizens, to allow peaceful protest, and to grant their fundamental freedoms, the statement added. The statement was issued two years after the death of 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini while in police custody which triggered a massive West-backed campaign that was aimed at stoking unrest in Iran and pushing the so-called "regime change" agenda. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iranian Women Still Targets Of 'Brutal Repression' Since Amini Death By RFE/RL September 17, 2024 Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Iran's leadership of an ongoing "brutal repression" of women and peaceful dissenters in the two years since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian student Mahsa Amini while in police custody over a dress-code violation unleashed nationwide protests. The international watchdog issued its statement on the September 16 anniversary of Amini's death, the same day recently inaugurated Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian pledged at his first press conference that he would use his authority to ensure the country's feared morality police no longer "bother" women. But Pezeshkian faces an uphill climb limiting the power and influence of the morality police and other hard-line conservative institutions under the reign of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate religious and political authority in Iran. "The authorities have failed to answer for the killing of hundreds and the arrest of thousands, and they have systematically continued their suppression of opponents, civil society, and human rights defenders," HRW quoted acting Iran researcher Nahid Naghshbandi as saying. "A change in government and a new president have so far done nothing to alter the authorities' repressive actions toward dissent." Iran is facing major economic difficulties, much of it brought on by Western sanctions, and growing anger among citizens in many cases led by women's groups over human rights violations at home. Amini's parents were reportedly surrounded at their home in the city of Saghez and prevented from leaving as part of a clampdown on public signs of mourning that also included a roundup of activists or their families. Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace laureate and longtime women's rights activist Narges Mohammadi issued a plea on September 16 urging the international community to act to end the oppression of women in Iran and other theocratic and authoritarian regimes. Mohammadi hailed the Women, Life, Freedom movement sparked by Amini's death as part of a lasting "commitment to achieving democracy, freedom, and equality and to defeating theocratic despotism." Speaking at his first press conference since taking office in late July following the death of a hard-line predecessor, relative moderate Pezeshkian said, "Morality police were not supposed to confront [women]. I will follow up so they don't bother them." A female journalist in the room noted she had been forced to take a different route to the press conference to avoid a morality patrol. "Imprisoned women in Iran are reviving the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement through hunger strikes, protest letters, and sit-ins, continuing their activism despite severe sentences," HRW said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-hrw-womens- rights-amini/33123388.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 Germany Federal Foreign Office 17.09.2024 - Press release A Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson issued the following statement today (17 September 2024) on the end of UNITAD's work in Iraq: The UN mission UNITAD in Iraq is coming to an end - Germany's commitment to the criminal prosecution of IS crimes continues The UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD) is ending its work in Iraq today. In cooperation with the Iraqi authorities, UNITAD has collected and digitalised important evidence of crimes committed by the soacalled Islamic State over a number of years. In particular, crimes against minorities such as the Yazidi community in Iraq have been documented. Thanks to the work of the UNITAD team, 68 mass graves have been identified and exhumed. UNITAD has made its findings available to national courts around the world for ruleaofalaw procedures. In a number of German investigations conducted by the Federal Public Prosecutor General's Office, for example, cooperation with UNITAD was crucial for bringing the perpetrators to justice. Last but not least, UNITAD has strengthened the Iraqi judiciary with its technical support. Prosecuting IS crimes will continue to be vital for ensuring social harmony in Iraq in the future. This ensures justice for the victims and sends a clear message rejecting impunity. Even after the end of the UN mission, Germany will remain committed to safeguarding UNITAD's work, continuing the dialogue with the Iraqi Government and pressing ahead with the prosecution of IS crimes. Daesh rout obviates need for US military presence in Iraq, says Prime Minister Sudani Iran Press TV Tuesday, 17 September 2024 10:52 AM Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani says US military forces and so-called advisors stationed in various bases across the country are no longer need and need to leave Iraqi soil as the army and anti-terror resistance groups have jointly managed to defeat the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group. "Today, Iraq in 2024 is not the same as Iraq of 2014. We have defeated Daesh with our sacrifices and the Iraqi people's position from all its components and factions and with the support of the international community and friends. And we do appreciate that," Sudani said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Baghdad on Monday. He added that there remains no justification and "there is no longer a need for a coalition of 86 countries. We moved from a period of wars to a period of stability. Daesh does not pose a threat to the state. It may be part of the security challenges like drug trade and criminal offenses. It's at that level." The Iraqi prime minister made the remarks days after Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Iraq. Sudani stressed that his country's forces can handle Daesh remnants as they no longer pose a serious threat. "They now constitute a group of terrified people hiding in the caves, in the desert, and in the mountains," he said, underscoring that they do not represent a real threat to Iraq's security and stability. Sudani further noted that he plans to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. He stated that he had discussed the issue with US President Joe Biden when they met in Washington in April, and the countries have reached an understanding on the pullout. "Ending the [US-led] coalition's mission is an important point. It does not mean a breakdown between Iraq and coalition member states, including the United States. On the contrary, we are in bilateral talks to build a sustainable security relationship, other than economic, cultural and social ties," Sudani pointed out. Sudani also voiced Iran's support of the political process in Iraq as well as the Arab nation's efforts in the fight against terrorism. Iraqi resistance groups have been pressing for an end to the presence of foreign forces in Iraq more than two decades after a US-led coalition invaded the country in a blatant violation of international law based on false claims of it being in possession of 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 deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) counter-terrorism force, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, outside Baghdad International Airport. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Operation Sadbhav: India sends 53 tonnes of emergency flood relief assistance worth US$ 1 million to the People's Republic of Myanmar India - Ministry of External Affairs September 17, 2024 The Government of India has launched Operation Sadbhav for extending emergency humanitarian assistance in the wake of the floods caused by Typhoon Yagi. 2. In Myanmar, Typhoon Yagi has caused loss of hundreds of lives, massive destruction of property and resulted in several lakhs of people affected. 3. In keeping with its First Responder commitment in humanitarian situations, India dispatched the first tranche of 21 tons relief material within hours of receipt of the request from the Myanmar side. Naval ship INS Satpura carrying HADR pallets with tents, generator sets, ready-to-eat meals, kitchen sets, solar lamps, medical supplies, mosquito nets & repellents, water purification tablets and disinfectants, and other materials had been dispatched yesterday to Yangon. 4. A second tranche of 32 tonnes of aid was dispatched via IAF IL-76 today. This comprised gensets, temporary shelter, hygiene kits, solar lamps and other relief materials. The need is being re-assessed towards extending more assistance as may be necessary. 5. In line with our longstanding 'Act East' and 'Neighbourhood First' policies, Operation Sadbhav is part of India's broader efforts to support the friendly people of Myanmar. New Delhi September 17, 2024 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Myanmar's flood death toll rises to 226 with scores missing Meanwhile, Vietnam bracers for another storm brewing in the South China Sea. By RFA Burmese 2024.09.17 -- Flooding caused by the remnants of Typhoon Yagi across Myanmar has killed 226 people with 77 missing, the military-backed Myanmar Alin newspaper reported on Tuesday, though some community workers fear the toll will be higher. The heavy rain that began across the strife-torn country early last week forced rivers over their banks and triggered deadly flash floods and runoffs. As of Monday, more than 630,000 people were believed to be affected, said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. At least 56 townships in Kayah, Kayin, Mon and Shan states, and the central Bago and Mandalay regions, as well as the Ayeyarwady delta region and the capital Naypyitaw, were hit by severe floods, media reported. The flooding destroyed more than 2,000 houses, more than 1,000 schools, nearly 370 religious buildings, and more than 640,000 acres of farm lands, media cited military authorities as saying. Members of social activist groups said they believed the death toll could be much higher than the reported 226, with many areas cut off from help and many hundreds of thousands of people displaced by fighting between anti-junta forces and the military particularly vulnerable. As many as 200 people were believed to be missing across the country, aid workers said. Yagi, Asia's worst storm of the year, ripped across Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos after hitting the Philippines and China's Hainan island early this month. Almost 300 people were killed in Vietnam, 42 in Thailand, 21 in the Philippines and four in Laos, according to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance, as cited by the Associated Press. In Kayah state in the east, on the border with Thailand, camps for the displaced had been hit by both flooding and landslides down steep slopes, said an official from the Karenni National Women's Organization. ''The oldest camps and the most long-term residents ... were submerged when Pon creek began to rise. Tents and the food storage were flooded," said the social worker, who declined to be identified for safety reasons. "Crops growing nearby were also damaged." More than 30,000 people displaced by fighting across Kayah and Shan states were in urgent need of food, shelter and clothing, said aid workers, adding that moving people out of flood zones was a huge problem. Two dozen people, including 18 medical personnel training with an ethnic minority guerilla force were killed last week in Kayah state where a flash flood swept down a mountain, relief workers said, adding that many were missing. RFA tried to telephone Kayah state's junta spokesperson, Zar Ni Maung, to ask about the situation there but he did not answer his phone. Central Myanmar In central Myanmar, rescuers were struggling to get help to 30 flooded villages in Phyu township along the banks of overflowing Sittaung River in the Bago region, social workers said. The situation has been complicated by a ban by the ruling junta on the transport of rice and medicine to the areas, saying that they are controlled by anti-regime People's Defense Forces, a relief worker told RFA on Tuesday. Relief groups heading to help residents there said they were blocked by members of Light Infantry Battalion 439 based in Ka Nyut Kwin township, including at a checkpoint on the route between Ban Laung village and Phyu township. Tin Oo, economic minister and spokesman for Bago region, did not respond to Radio Free Asia's request for comment. Some people who live along the river's bank have moved to nearby monasteries and houses on higher ground but are in urgent need of food and water, aid workers said. No heavy rain was expected over the worst-hit areas, at least for the next day or so, the military's weather office said, but Myanmar's rainy season is due to last for several more weeks. Aid from abroad In the meantime, other countries are sending humanitarian aid to Myanmar for those affected by flooding from Typhoon Yagi. The South Korean Embassy in Myanmar said Tuesday that it would provide US$13 million in humanitarian aid through international organizations, including the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance and OCHA. Similarly, India's Foreign Minister Jaishankar posted on Facebook that his country was sending 10 tons of dried food, clothes and medicine to Myanmar by ship. Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Sangiampongsa is in talks with Myanmar authorities to find mutual ways to mitigate the flood situation in the region, according to a Tuesday report in the Bangkok Post. The two countries will look for ways to expand catchment areas to relieve the flooding, he said. The Thai Embassy in Myanmar is arranging for agencies from both nations to discuss technical details to determine suitable areas that can be turned into catchment areas, he added. New typhoon imminent On Tuesday, Vietnam's National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting announced that a tropical depression in the South China Sea is likely to strengthen into a typhoon that could hit Vietnam in the coming days. The announcement comes as Vietnam's northern provinces are still digging themselves out from the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, which killed nearly 300 people after making landfall on Sept. 7, in addition to devastating infrastructure. The new typhoon may form within the next 24-48 hours, with wind speeds of 62-88 km per hour (39-54 miles per hour), and gusts reaching 89-117 km per hour (63-72 miles per hour). The most likely affected areas in Vietnam are expected to be from the northern central province of Thanh Hoa to the central province of Quang Nam, with some areas expected to see as much as 500 mm (20 inches) of rainfall. In addition to the death toll, Typhoon Yagi caused severe agricultural losses in Vietnam. More than 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of rice fields and 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of crops were submerged, and nearly 3 million livestock and poultry either drowned or washed away by the floods. The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment estimated that the economic losses from Typhoon Yagi could reach up to US$1.6 billion. As a result, Vietnam's projected GDP growth for this year is expected to drop by 0.15%, from the earlier forecast of 7%. Translated by Aung Naing for RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan, Mike Firn, Josh Lipes and Roseanne Gerin. 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 September 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 Over 5,000 civilians killed since Myanmar military coup 17 September 2024 - The UN human rights office, OHCHR, issued its latest report on Myanmar on Tuesday, detailing a range of serious violations that continue to underscore the deepening crisis and lack of rule of law throughout the country. At least 5,350 civilians have been killed, and more than 3.3 million displaced, since the military seized power on 1 February 2021, and over half the population is living below the poverty line mainly due to violence perpetrated by the national armed forces. Furthermore, nearly 27,400 people have been arrested, and numbers have been rising since the implementation of mandatory conscription this past February. Devastation, destruction and deprivation "The report looks at the devastating impact of the violence, destruction and deprivation on people's mental health, as well as the regression in economic and social rights, which is precipitating further economic decline," OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell told journalists in Geneva. Meanwhile, "young people, who provide the key to Myanmar's future, are fleeing abroad to escape being forced to serve in or fight for the military," she added. Deaths in custody OHCHR said credible sources indicate that at least 1,853 people have died in custody since the coup, including 88 children and 125 women. "Many of these individuals have been verified as dying after being subjected to abusive interrogation, other ill-treatment in detention, or denial of access to adequate healthcare," Ms. Throssell said. 'Depraved' torture methods Torture and ill-treatment in military custody are pervasive, according to the report. James Rodehaver, head of the UN human rights Myanmar team, listed some of the methods. "The introduction of animals such as snakes or insects or other. Wild animals in order to provoke fear and terror in individuals. Beating people with iron poles, bamboo sticks, batons, rifle butts, leather strips, electric wires, motorcycle chains, asphyxiation, mock executions, electrocution and burning with tasers, lighters, cigarettes and boiling water. "Truly, some of the most depraved behaviour utilized as methods of torture in these detention centres," he said. Hold perpetrators to account OHCHR called for all those responsible for gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law in Myanmar to be held to account. Ms. Throssell noted that in light of the report's findings, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TArk has called on the Security Council to refer the full scope of the current situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). "He reiterates his calls for an end to the violence and for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained," she said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Meeting of State Council Commission on Family Novgorod Region Governor Andrei Nikitin chaired the first meeting of the State Council Commission on Family. September 16, 2024 18:30 The meeting was attended by Presidential Aide, State Council Secretary Alexei Dyumin, Minister of Labour and Social Protection Anton Kotyakov, Head of the Russian Popular Front Executive Committee Mikhail Kuznetsov, and others. In his opening remarks, Andrei Nikitin said that the Commission included 109 members, among them officials from federal executive bodies and organisations, as well as heads of the regions. The Commission is involved in the effort to develop the Family national project and participated in corresponding strategic sessions of the Government on that matter. The Commission chairman reported that the bulk of the work to develop new national projects was nearing completion. As per the President's decision, all national projects must include measures and benchmarks to encourage childbirth. Special focus should be placed on the regions affected by the "demographic winter," in which birth rates are below the national average. Alexei Dyumin noted that, in line with the President's instruction, the primary goal of all national projects was to improve the living standards and quality of life for families with children. This includes several factors, such as availability of housing, decent jobs, preservation of maternal and child health, healthy nutrition, access to preschool and school education, and mass cultural events. The State Council Secretary emphasised that proper care for future parents was crucial when it comes to boosting the birth rate. According to him, regional authorities have stepped up their efforts to identify and implement new approaches to preserve every life. Mr Dyumin stressed the importance of studying and learning from relevant regional experiences. The State Council Secretary also highlighted the importance of supporting families of participants in the special military operation and its veterans. It is crucial to listen to the issues that servicemen and their families face locally and quickly step up and resolve them. Speaking at the meeting, Anton Kotyakov discussed the activities planned for 2024, which was declared the Year of the Family in Russia, as well as efforts to improve support for families with children. The Minister also mentioned the development of a corporate demographic standard which incorporates best practices of responsible businesses in supporting employees with families, pregnant female employees, and promoting staff health. Mikhail Kuznetsov presented the results of monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of measures to implement family policies in Russia. The meeting participants approved a plan to prepare a State Council meeting on supporting families in the Russian Federation. Representatives from the State Duma, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Public Chamber took active part in the discussion. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kara-Murza Advocates For Prisoners Still Held In Russia In Return Trip To U.S. Capital By Todd Prince September 17, 2024 WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration and U.S. lawmakers promised to continue fighting for the freedom of Russian and Belarusian political prisoners as they welcomed Vladimir Kara-Murza back to the U.S. capital. Kara-Murza, whose work with Congress was instrumental in passing the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which sets out sanctions for human rights violators in Russia, was among 16 political prisoners released by the Kremlin last month in exchange for eight Russians held in the West for crimes including murder, cybertheft, and espionage. The 43-year old Kara-Murza, who was sentenced last year to a quarter-century in prison for his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine, told a packed room at the Senate building in Washington on September 17 that there were many more political prisoners than the 1,300 indicated in public data and vowed to work with U.S. lawmakers to secure their freedom. "There are so so many people in Russian prisons today who are there for the only reason that they have opposed, publicly opposed, Putin's murderous war on aggression. It's the fastest-growing segment of Russian prisoners," he said. "Now that I have been saved, I think about all those who have been left behind." Kara-Murza highlighted the case of Yury Kokhovets, who was sentenced a day earlier by a Moscow court to five years in prison for anti-war comments he made to RFE/RL's Russian Service in July 2022. U.S. officials and lawmakers who worked to free Kara-Murza were present at the reception and said they will continue to use administrative tools to fight for those left behind in Russian prisons. "We're not going to stop working on behalf of those who are detained unjustly, and we're not going to forget the purpose of this cause," Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien said. "We have a lot of tools to and we will use them. We will continue to pursue their freedom as we work." Senator Roger Wicker (Republican-Mississippi) told the audience that he just had a call to discuss plans to punish Russia further for its actions though he did not give any details. Senator Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, called Kara-Murza's return to Capitol Hill a "day of celebration," but said the United States "must never forget" the other political prisoners left behind in Russia. "There is a lot more that we need to do," he said. Senator Jean Shaheen (Democrat-New Hampshire) said the United States must work to free Belarusian political prisoners as well. Kara-Murza said putting a public spotlight on the political prisoners abroad was more than just talk. "Whatever the cynics and the skeptics will tell you, advocacy works and public attention protects and public attention saves," he said. Quarter-Century Kara-Murza, a close associate of assassinated Russian politician Boris Nemtsov, worked with members of Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act in 2012, which gave the executive branch the right to place sanctions on Russian officials for human rights abuses and corruption. Putin fought hard to overturn the law, which U.S. presidents have used to target people close to the Kremlin. Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022 shortly after returning to Russia from a trip to the United States and Europe, where he spoke out against the invasion. Putin had weeks earlier outlawed criticism of the war and the Russian armed forces. Russian police and security services were quick to act on it, arresting people for social media posts and public acts. In explaining his decision at the time to return, Kara-Murza said he was a Russian politician and had to be in his country to be politically relevant. Representative Steve Cohen (Democrat-Tennesse), who was among the lawmakers actively pushing for his release, told Kara-Murza: "You have been to hell and back. Don't go again." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-kara-murza- senate-prisoners-release/33123990.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 Laros 2024 joint Russian-Laotian drills start in Primorye region 17.09.2024 The Laros 2024 joint Russian-Laotian drills started at a training ground of the Eastern MD. Today, a military contingent of the Lao People's Army arrived on the territory of the Russian Federation on aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces Military Transport Aviation. On 18 September, the opening ceremony of the drills will take place on the parade ground. Then, servicemen of the Eastern MD will hold practical classes for Laotian servicemen, during which Russian servicemen will share their experience gained in the course of the special military operation. More than 20 training places have been organised at the training ground, including those that can be used to train servicemen to launch assaults on strongholds, trenches, dugouts, and practise army tactical shooting standards. The drills will be held in two stages. First, the servicemen will train to liberate a settlement. Then, as part of the second stage of practical actions (with live fires), the joint group of troops will eliminate an illegal armed formation. Press Service of the Eastern Military District NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US lawmakers welcome Russian activist freed in August prisoner swap By Katherine Gypson September 17, 2024 U.S. lawmakers welcomed Vladimir Kara-Murza to Capitol Hill Tuesday, celebrating the release of the Russian activist from a Kremlin prison last month. Kara-Murza was part of the biggest prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia since the end of the Cold War. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin said Tuesday that Kara-Murza "was at the forefront of the human rights struggle and an inspiration for so many people around the world." In a letter written upon Kara-Murza's release, Cardin said, "Your return home is both a personal victory and a testament to the unwavering strength of the human spirit." Democratic Representative Bill Keating described Kara-Murza as one of the people Russian President Vladimir Putin most despises because of his ability to speak directly to the Russian people. Kara-Murza has twice survived suspected poisoning attempts. Kara-Murza, a deputy leader of the People's Freedom Party, was arrested in Russia in April 2022 and later faced charges of treason and spreading disinformation about the Russian military. Russian prosecutors suggested he face the maximum 25-year sentence in a prison colony. Kara-Murza was awarded the VAclav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in October 2022 and the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2024. "Surreal doesn't come close to describing what I feel a just a few weeks ago sitting in a maximum-security prison in Siberia and now seeing so many friends in the halls of the U.S. Congress," Kara-Murza told a gathering of lawmakers, journalists and activists on Capitol Hill. Kara-Murza thanked the public for keeping their attention focused on his situation. "The only way we will be able to achieve long-term peace, stability, security and democracy on the European continent will be with a peaceful, free and democratic Russia," he said. The Biden administration secured the release of 16 detainees in return for the release of eight detainees and two minors on Aug. 1. James O'Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, thanked Kara-Murza for his work on the Global Magnitsky Act, bipartisan legislation that authorizes the U.S. government to sanction government officials throughout the world who are human rights offenders. "Vladimir, you gave us one of the main tools that we use to focus our advocacy for your freedom in the Global Magnitsky Act, and your work on that, I'm sure you didn't do it as a tool for yourself, but your work on that has helped us enormously as we work to free prisoners in the Western Hemisphere, in other countries across the world," O'Brien said. Democratic Senator Chris Coons said Putin is still holding untold numbers of political prisoners in Russia. "We must realize [Putin] does that, like all authoritarians, because he's afraid, afraid of his own people, afraid of accountability, afraid of the Ukrainians who just on the border of Russia are fighting with determination," Coons said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Air Force general: Russia military larger, better than before Ukraine invasion By Carla Babb September 17, 2024 Russia's military is bigger and stronger than it was prior to invading Ukraine in February 2022, the commander of United States Air Forces in Europe and Africa cautioned Tuesday. "Russia is getting larger, and they're getting better than they were before. ... They are actually larger than they were when [the invasion] kicked off," Air Force General James Hecker told reporters at the Air & Space Forces Association's annual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The improvements come despite heavy casualties inflicted by Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has estimated that since 2022, more than 350,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded. "The rates of casualties that they're experiencing are staggering," Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday in response to a question from VOA. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that the Russian army grow by 180,000 active-duty troops for a total of 1.5 million soldiers, making Russia's military the second largest in the world, behind China's. "Russia is going to be something that we're going to have to deal with for a long time, no matter how this thing ends," Hecker said. However, William Pomeranz, a senior scholar at the Kennan Institute, told VOA that "this move suggests that Vladimir Putin is losing the war." "This is an open signal from Vladimir Putin that his army and his military is in trouble and doesn't have the resources to maintain troops in the field," Pomeranz said. Despite Russian improvements on the battlefield, Ukraine has continued to put chinks in Russia's armor, shooting down more than 100 Russian aircraft since Moscow began its full-scale invasion, which amounts to dozens more aircraft than Russia has been able to down on the Ukrainian side, according to General Hecker. "So what we see is the aircraft are kind of staying on their own side of the line, if you will, and when that happens, you have a war like we're seeing today, with massive attrition, cities just being demolished, a lot of civilian casualties," he said. To gain even the slightest advantages in a war where no clear side dominates the skies, Ukraine has turned to low-cost solutions that also appeal to the U.S. military. "We have to get on the right side of the cost curve with this. Taking down $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 one-way UAVs [drones] with $1 million missiles, we just can't afford to do that in the long-term," the general told reporters. General Chance Saltzman, the chief of the U.S. Space Force, announced Tuesday that a Space Force pilot program that uses commercial satellite imagery and related analytics to create more situational awareness for military leaders has proven very cost-effective when compared with traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection via U.S. MQ-9 drones, which are expensive and limited in number. AFRICOM was able to use the $40 million Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking Program to maintain situational awareness during the full withdrawal of U.S. forces from two air bases in Niger in July and August. The drawback, however, was that instead of real-time situational awareness, the data took one to four hours to get to the security team. "Not as good as real time, right? With MQ-9 that you would have, but it's better than nothing, right?" Hecker said. Hecker also said the U.S. was looking into more cost-effective ways to sense incoming threats around bases, including methods like Ukraine's Sky Fortress system that uses thousands of inexpensive sensors to identify aerial threats. He says the technology has been demonstrated in Romania and other countries. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. approves US$288 million of military equipment sales to Taiwan ROC Central News Agency 09/17/2024 12:54 PM Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The U. S. State Department has approved a sale of military goods and services worth around US$228 million to Taiwan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on Monday. According to a press release from the DoD's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the State Department "made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale" to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States for "return, repair, and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment." According to the statement, Taiwan had requested the sale of items which include "return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support." "The sale is consistent with U.S. law and policy as expressed in Public Law 96-8," said the release, referring to the Taiwan Relations Act. The U.S. Congress, which is expected to approve the sale, has already been notified, according to the agency. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in response to the public notification of the proposed sale on Wednesday in which the ministry expressed gratitude to the U.S. government for "upholding Taiwan's safety in accordance to the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances." Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) also expressed gratitude for the approved purchase in a press release on Tuesday. "The Chinese Communist Party's normalization of gray zone intrusions are putting pressure on training space and reaction times in Taiwanese waters and airspace," the MND said. The ministry added that the aviation-related goods and services "will help maintain the combat readiness and safety of various types of aircraft equipment of our Air Force." It is the 16th time that the Biden administration has authorized the sale of military goods and services to Taiwan, according to the MND. (By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Wu Kuan-hsien) Enditem/JT NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PLA monitors US patrol plane's transit through Taiwan Straits, showing capabilities, confidence to safeguard unity Global Times By Zhang Han, Guo Yuandan and Shen Sheng Published: Sep 17, 2024 11:47 PM After a US P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew through the Taiwan Straits and hyped up the transit publicly on Tuesday, a Chinese military spokesperson said the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command had organized warplanes to follow, monitor and deal with the US aircraft according to the law and regulations. Troops of the PLA Eastern Theater Command remain on high alert at all times and are resolutely safeguarding China's national sovereignty as well as regional peace and stability, said Naval Senior Captain Li Xi, spokesperson of the Eastern Theater Command. In a video the Eastern Command Theater released on Tuesday to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunion, the PLA, in a rare move, publicized footage of the PLA's monitoring of foreign vessels transiting the Taiwan Straits in recent years. It is clear from the video that the movements of these foreign vessels, regardless of their size or service life, are completely under the monitoring of the PLA. The footage confirms the strong capabilities, firm determination and unwavering confidence of the PLA in controlling the Taiwan Straits. In the face of the "clowns" meddling in the Taiwan question, the PLA is completely confident and capable of safeguarding peace in the Taiwan Straits and protecting national unity, a military expert told the Global Times on Tuesday on condition of anonymity. The US Seventh Fleet claimed in a statement that the transiting of the P-8A demonstrates "the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific." The Pentagon usually claims the transit to be a "innocent passage," but it is indeed based on US hegemonic logic, experts said, calling on countries all over the world to remain vigilant to that. According to military experts, a P-8A can perform various tasks such as anti-submarine, anti-ship, reconnaissance and surveillance. Given the high sensitivity of this area, the behavior of the US military is definitely "not innocent passage, but a blatant provocation," military expert Fu Qianshao told the Global Times. Through the transit, the US is boasting of its military presence in order to display capacity to intervene in the Taiwan question, and it wants to show that it still maintains a grasp of the regional situation, LA Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday. In another development, the US State Department said Monday that it has approved a possible foreign military sale to Taiwan valued at about US$228 million for "return, repair, and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment," Reuters reported. It is the 16th time the Biden administration has authorized the sale of military goods and services to Taiwan, exceeding the 11 times by his predecessor Donald Trump. The US' moves are detrimental to the momentum of stabilizing the bilateral relationship and increase the risk of misjudgments and crisis, LA said. He added that China, while maintaining its efforts to responsibly manage its relations with the US, also has to "prepare for an accidental conflict," LA noted. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address September 17, 2024 Release Readout of U.S. - U.K. Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Leadership Group Plenary Session Department of Defense Spokesperson Lisa Lawrence provided the following statement: On September 10 and 11, the United States and the United Kingdom held the annual Bilateral Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Leadership Group (BCLG) plenary session at the UK Ministry of Defense in London, United Kingdom. The meeting was attended by senior representatives from both countries, including Gary Martin, UK Director of Operational Policy, Rear Admiral Paul Stroude, UK Director of Capability, Dr. Brandi C. Vann, Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs, and Nina Wagner, Principal Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy. The two allies discussed regional and emerging chemical and biological threats including Russia's use of chemical agents on the battlefield in Ukraine, ongoing joint research and development activities to support our warfighters with protective equipment, NATO cooperation and exercises, and other areas of collaboration. The engagement strengthened the strong U.S.-UK alliance and advanced bilateral progress in this critical mission area. The BCLG plenary was an important milestone in our continued efforts to ensure the preparedness of and joint interoperability of U.S.-UK armed forces and their capability to respond to WMD threats. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3908660/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK commits to bolstering European security as foreign secretary visits Norwegian military command Foreign Secretary travels to Norway to strengthen defence and security cooperation. 18 September 2024 The Foreign Secretary will visit Norwegian Joint Headquarters with Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to discuss deepening UK-Norway security collaboration The Ministers will reinforce both countries' unwavering commitment to Ukraine and tackling threats from Russia including their Shadow Fleet They will discuss the UK and Norway's joint work in the High North to detect, deter and contain threats and defend NATO's northern flank Foreign Secretary David Lammy will commit to strengthening UK-Norway defence and security cooperation on a visit to Norwegian Joint Headquarters with Foreign Minister Barth Eide today [18 September]. During the Foreign Secretary's visit, he will reaffirm both countries' commitment to Ukraine, particularly through military support to boost their defence capabilities. They will also discuss efforts to tackle Russia's shadow fleet, cutting the flow of illicit funds to Putin's war chest following on from UK sanctions. Norway and the UK have a long history of defence and security collaboration especially in the High North. Norway has hosted British Armed Forces' Arctic training for over 50 years, and over 4,000 UK troops will visit Norway in the next six months for winter training and military exercises. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: With the return of war to the European continent, the UK's relationship with Norway, as a key ally in the defence of NATO's northern flank, has never been more important. We are both unwavering in our support to Ukraine, and together we are training and supporting the Ukrainian armed forces including boosting the country's air defence and maritime capabilities. Norway acts as our eyes and ears in the High North; our joint work at the Norwegian military headquarters underlines the importance of our work to bolster Europe's defences. Euro-Atlantic security is this government's foreign and defence priority. In the face of Russia's sustained malign influence campaigns, and its recent baseless expulsion of British diplomats, the UK and Norway will agree to enhance intelligence-sharing and cooperation to counter Russian disinformation networks in Europe and beyond. The Foreign Secretary will welcome Norway's navy patrols of the waters between the UK and the Russian Northern Fleet, detecting, deterring and managing increasingly sophisticated subsea threats to energy, security and critical national infrastructure. Norway is an important ally on conflict prevention and peacebuilding, especially when it comes to ongoing conflict in Gaza. The UK and Norway are also focused on ensuring joint ambition on development truly delivers for global partners. Norway is also a key trading partner in supplying the UK with the energy it needs to power growth. That is why the UK and Norwegian Prime Ministers agreed in July to begin work on a new Norwegian-UK partnership on security and the energy transition. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Strikes Cut Power In Ukraine's Sumy Region By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service September 17, 2024 The Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine battled extensive power outages on September 17 after an overnight attack by Russian drones that sent emergency crews and Ukrainian officials scrambling to repair damage and tap into backup facilities for water and other utility infrastructure. The Sumy regional military administration said households in Sumy, Konotop, Ohktyr, and a handful of other communities were cut off from the electrical grid. Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said there were no casualties from the attack but that water pressure plummeted and electricity supplies were experiencing problems. The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said Russia's attacks had caused a fire at a power substation and cut power to more than 281,000 consumers. Power was later partially restored, it said Two weeks ago, authorities in Sumy expanded a list of areas for evacuation amid intensified Russian bombardment by drones and missiles. A spokesman for a northern Ukrainian military unit, Vadym Mysnyk, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that Russia's stepped-up shelling of energy facilities in Sumy appeared to be retaliation for the Ukrainian incursion into Russia's nearby Kursk region. "It's just a matter of time before they dump it all on us," Mysnyk said. "Either here or in another city. But they'll hit Ukraine using everything they have -- the entire arsenal." Ukraine's military said early on September 17 that it had downed 34 drones overnight but that 51 had been detected. Kyiv claims to have gained control of more than 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory since launching its surprise incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region in early August in an effort to gain leverage as Russia's full-scale invasion nears its 32nd month. The General Staff of Ukraine's military said more than half of the 88 clashes that took place on the front on September 17 took place in the areas around Kurakhiv and Pokrovsk. Fighting also continued in several other areas, including Lyman, Kupyansk, Kharkiv, Toretsk, Kramatorsk, Orihiv, and the Dnieper, the General Staff said. A rescuer was killed in Russian shelling of a village in the Pokrovsk area, the State Emergency Service reported. The service also said that Russian forces hit Kharkiv with glide bombs, injuring four rescuers who were extinguishing a fire in a forest when they were hit. Three are in serious condition, the service said. Russian forces captured the town of Ukrayinsk in the eastern Donetsk region, Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency and a pro-Russian war blogger reported. Russian troops raised their flag on a mine-ventilation shaft on the outskirts of the town, RIA Novosti said, citing an unidentified source in the Russian military. Blogger Yury Podolyaka said Russian forces had taken the city "almost intact," allowing them to use it as a base for further offensive operations. There was no immediate comment from the Russian or Ukrainian militaries. The Ukrainian Navy said it destroyed several supply depots of the Russian armed forces around the port city of Mariupol. They were attacked with missiles and destroyed. Tons of ammunition was blown up in the process, the Ukrainian naval command said. On September 16, Ukraine invited the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the territory it has captured in the subsequent six weeks to confirm its adherence to humanitarian law. The Kremlin called the invites a "provocation" and said it expected the UN and Red Cross to decline them. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was reportedly planning to meet with senior ICRC officials in Moscow on September 17, less than a week after three Red Cross staff members were killed when artillery struck a planned aid distribution site in Donetsk. Kyiv blamed Russian shelling for the deaths. With reporting by Reuters and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-sumy-russia-attack- power-infrastructure/33123228.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 Russian Defence Ministry report on repelling an invasion attempt of the AFU on the territory of the Russian Federation (17 September 2024) 17.09.2024 The Sever Group of Forces carrying on offensive actions inflicted damage on the 22nd, 41st, and 115th mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 82nd air assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 1st National Guard Brigade and 112th and 129th territorial defence brigades near Lyubimovka, Malaya Loknya, Daryino, Nikolo-Daryino, Tolsty Lug, and Plekhovo. Over the past 24 hours, the Sever Group foiled four enemy attempts to launch attacks in the direction of Lyubimovka, Malaya Loknya, Olgovka, and Cherkasskaya Konopelka. As a result, the AFU losses amounted to up to 30 troops killed and wounded, three armoured fighting vehicles, and two motor vehicles. With support of army aviation and artillery, the Group's units repelled five AFU's attempts to break through the border of the Russian Federation in the direction of Vesyoloye and Medvezhye. The enemy's losses included up to 40 troops killed and wounded; two tanks, a Swedish-made CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle, four armoured fighting vehicles, and one counterobstacle vehicle were destroyed. Air strikes, artillery fire, and actions of the troops inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware clusters of the 22nd, 41st, and 61st mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 80th, 82nd, and 95th air assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 112th and 129th territorial defence brigades near Daryino, Kositsa, Kurilovka, Kruglenkoye, Zazulevka, Lyubimovka, Mirny, Makhnovka, Mikhaylovka, Malaya Loknya, Nikolo-Daryino, Novy Put, Novaya Sorochina, Novoivanovka, Orlovka, Pravda, Plekhovo, Russkoye Porechnoye and Tolsty Lug. Operational-Tactical Aviation and Missile Troops launched strikes against concentration areas and reserves in Sumy region of the 22nd, 41st, and 115th mechanised brigades, 82nd Air Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 1st National Guard Brigade, and 101st, 103rd, 106th, and 119th territorial defence brigades near Belovody, Gurinovka, Kruzhok, Katerinovka, Mazevka, Novaya Sloboda, Obody, Revyakino, Rechki, Rudnevo, Rossoshi, Pavlovka, Shalygino, Khoten, Esman, and Yunakovka. Over the past 24 hours, the enemy sustained losses of up to 400 troops and 19 armoured vehicles, including four tanks, a Swedish-made CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle, 14 armoured fighting vehicles, as well as five artillery guns, five mortars, six motor vehicles, and a counterobstacle vehicle. Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost more than 14,200 troops, 119 tanks, 45 infantry fighting vehicles, 91 armoured personnel carriers, 743 armoured fighting vehicles, 445 motor vehicles, 103 artillery guns, 28 MLRS launchers, including seven of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, eight SAM launchers, four transport-loading vehicles, 26 electronic warfare stations, seven counter-battery radars, two air defence radars, 14 engineering vehicles, including eight counterobstacle vehicles, and one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle. The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress. Department for Media Affairs and Information NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Jr. Says US Should Find Diplomatic Outcome to Ukraine Conflict, Not Provoke Russia Sputnik News 20240917 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States should be exploring ways to end the Ukraine conflict instead of strengthening Kiev's strikes against Russia, Donald Trump Jr. said in an opinion piece jointly authored with former independent candidate for president, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "At a time when American leaders should be focused on finding a diplomatic off-ramp to a war that should never have been allowed to take place, the Biden-Harris administration is instead pursuing a policy that Russia says it will interpret as an act of war," the authors said in the opinion published by The Hill on Tuesday. The Biden administration was reported last week to be considering allowing Ukraine to use NATO-provided long-range precision weapons against targets deep inside Russia. Trump Jr., the oldest son of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and Kennedy Jr, who endorsed Trump last month after suspending his own campaign, warned that provoking Russia could be gravely dangerous. "Such a decision would put the world at greater risk of nuclear conflagration than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis," the authors said. "The hawks in the Biden administration seem to have forgotten that Russia is a nuclear power." For context, the authors cited the wisdom of former US President John F. Kennedy, who said in 1963, "Nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war." The authors said some believed Russian President Vladimir Putin was bluffing when he said Moscow will respond accordingly if Kiev is allowed to use Western weapons to strike deeper into Russia. "These analysts are mistaking restraint for weakness," the authors said. "In essence, they are advocating a strategy of brinkmanship." The authors cautioned that with each escalation against Russia - from equipping Ukraine with HIMARS rocket launchers to cluster munitions, Abrams tanks, F-16 fighter jets and ATACMS advanced military rocket technology - the warring forces were bringing the world "closer to the brink of an Armageddon." "Their logic seems to be that if you goad a bear five times and it doesn't respond, it is safe to goad him even harder a sixth time," they said. "Such a strategy might be reasonable if the bear had no teeth." The authors reminded readers that Putin had signaled numerous times that Russia would use nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances. They warned that there would be no remaining step between firing US missiles deep into Russian territory and a nuclear exchange. "It is past time to de-escalate this conflict," the authors said. "This is more important than any of the political issues our nation argues about. This game of nuclear 'chicken' has gone far enough. We cannot get any closer to the brink than this." While Trump has vowed to end the Ukraine conflict if reelected in November, it might be too late by the time he takes office, the authors said. "We need to demand, right now, that [Vice President Kamala] Harris and President Biden reverse their insane war agenda and open direct negotiations with Moscow," the authors added. Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that NATO had the right to support Kiev without becoming a party to the Ukraine conflict - just as Iran and North Korea did not become parties by supplying weapons to Russia. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine Loses Over 14,200 Soldiers During Operation in Kursk Area - MoD Sputnik News 20240917 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces have eliminated more than 14,200 Ukrainian soldiers and 119 tanks during military operations in the border areas of the Kursk Region, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Tuesday. "Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost more than 14,200 troops, 119 tanks, 45 infantry fighting vehicles, 91 armored personnel carriers, 743 armored fighting vehicles, 445 motor vehicles, 103 artillery guns," the ministry said in a statement. Over the past 24 hours, Kiev has lost up to 400 soldiers in battles in the Kursk Region, the ministry said. "Over the past 24 hours, Battlegroup Sever foiled four enemy attempts to launch attacks in the direction of Lyubimovka, Malaya Loknya, Olgovka, and Cherkasskaya Konopelka. As a result, the Ukrainian forces losses amounted to up to 30 troops killed and wounded, three armored fighting vehicles, and two motor vehicles," the ministry added. Meanwhile, the Russian forces repelled five attempts of the Ukrainian armed forces to cross the border in direction of Vesyoloye and Medvezhye settlements in the Kursk Region, the ministry said. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Hits Energy Infrastructure Supporting Ukraine's Military-Industrial Complex Sputnik News 20240917 According to the Russian Defense Ministry, air defenses also shot down a US-made HIMARS rocket and 36 drones over the past day. Russian forces carried out strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities that supply the military-industrial complex, the Ministry of Defense has reported. Weapons and ammunition depots were also hit. "Operational-tactical aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces, and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces have struck energy facilities that support the activities of Ukraine's military-industrial complex, as well as weapons, ammunition, and logistics storage sites, along with concentrations of enemy personnel and military equipment in 145 areas," reads the ministry's report. In June, Volodymyr Zelensky stated that nine gigawatts of energy generation capacity had been destroyed in Ukraine, which amounts to 80% of thermal power generation and a third of hydropower production. In turn, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko specified that the country has lost half of its generating capacity, which would not be enough to survive the winter, and that electricity imports would be insufficient to cover the deficit. In early September, the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council published a forecast by Yuriy Korolchuk, an expert from the Ukrainian Institute of Energy Strategies. According to one scenario, Ukrainians could be left without heat and light for up to 20 hours a day during the upcoming winter. This could happen if strikes on energy infrastructure continue, combined with other conditions. In the expert's optimistic forecast, power outages could last up to 12 hours per day. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A Good, Strong Content of the Military Package for Our Victory Plan Has Been Prepared - Address by the President President of Ukraine 17 September 2024 - 19:26 Dear Ukrainians! Briefly about this day. First - a meeting on the military component of our Victory Plan for Ukraine. I worked together with the military command. A good, strong content of the military package for our Victory Plan has been prepared - the very things that can significantly strengthen Ukraine in accordance with the Victory Plan. Second - I held a meeting on our F-16 fleet. Together with the Air Force Command. There is a clear vision of the steps - how to increase the number of combat aircraft in Ukraine and speed up our pilot training. All the tasks for the Air Force of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine have been defined. Together with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, we heard new strategies for the work of two state institutions - the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. Deputy Prime Minister Kuleba and Minister Kalmykova reported with their teams. The strategies are ambitious, but the most important thing is that people really feel the results of the work of the Ministries and the Government in general. We also had a separate discussion with Denys Shmyhal on energy and other key issues. There were reports on the situation in Sumy and the region. After the Russian strikes on energy facilities, there are blackouts. The city of Sumy, districts of the region. Repair crews are currently working. A coordination center has been set up. I thank everyone involved in the restoration work - power engineers, regional authorities, local authorities, and all State Emergency Service employees. And one more thing. Today is Rescuer's Day in Ukraine. The day of all our people who work exclusively to save the lives of others. Today I thanked the entire staff of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, each and every one of those who has been helping. I also presented them with state awards. And now I want to personally thank those rescuers who have been particularly outstanding now, these very days. This is Yevhenii Khorunzhyi - a rescuer from the Kharkiv region, a Sergeant, who has been working in the SES for 5 years and is constantly involved in eliminating the consequences of Russian strikes. This is Oleksandr Ahudov - a Captain of the Civil Defense Service, who has been working in the rescue service for 13 years in the Donetsk region. Volodymyr Morozov - a Master Sergeant from the Sumy region. Last night he took part in the elimination of the consequences of the Russian strike on Konotop and has always been active in protecting people. Andrii Zhytkov - Master Sergeant, Donetsk region. He works in the most dangerous frontline areas, helps evacuate people, and rescues them after strikes. Volodymyr Piskun - Master Sergeant, Kherson region. He has been with the SES for 14 years, a truly professional person. And the sappers of the SES of Ukraine - these are Oleh Filippov, Mykola Lintsov and Oleksandr Humenchak. Very efficient guys. I thank you and all your colleagues! I thank everyone who stands with Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The State Emergency Service of Ukraine is Committed to Its Mission of Saving Lives Under Any Circumstances - President President of Ukraine 17 September 2024 - 14:50 On Rescuer's Day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the personnel of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, congratulated them on their professional holiday, and awarded state honors. He emphasized that today is the professional holiday of all those whose job and calling is to save lives. "Whatever happens, the SES of Ukraine is always there to help, and always promptly. They remain fully committed to their most important mission: saving lives," said the President. The President inspected samples of automotive and robotic equipment. In particular, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and SES Head Andriy Danyk reported on the use of surface drones and robotic systems for mine disposal. Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian rescuers have responded to over 170,000 shelling occasions and extinguished more than 20,000 fires. SES sappers have neutralized over half a million explosive devices. As a result of Russian aggression, 97 SES personnel have been killed, 395 injured, and 4 are currently held in Russian captivity. The attendees observed a minute of silence to honor all those Ukraine has lost due to the war. The President presented the Order of the Golden Star to the family of the fallen Hero of Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Protection Service Artem Kostyria. The Lieutenant Colonel participated in over 70 operations to mitigate the consequences of Russian attacks. After the liberation of the Kharkiv region, he organized the restoration of nearly 100 damaged fire and rescue units. Thanks to his efforts, over 2,400 people were evacuated. Artem Kostyria was killed on July 13 this year while responding to the aftermath of an enemy missile strike when Russian forces launched a second ballistic missile attack. The President also awarded SES employees the Orders "For Courage", II and III class, and the Order of Danylo Halytskyi. Additionally, in Volodymyr Zelenskyy's presence, the winners of the nationwide "Hero - Rescuer of the Year" campaign were honored. Eight Ukrainians received awards: Oleh Holubchenko, a maxillofacial surgeon from the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital. On July 8 of this year, during a Russian missile strike, he was performing surgery. Medical equipment failed, but he found alternative ways to maintain breathing and carried the child to shelter. Despite his injuries, he assisted rescuers and volunteers in clearing the hospital's rubble. Artem Makarov, a cadet at Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. In April of this year, he saved an eight-year-old boy whom his own mother tried to drown. Andriy Bibik, a police officer in the Novopillia community. In one of the villages, he noticed thick smoke near the houses. An outbuilding was on fire, and the flames were spreading toward homes. Andriy rescued a 13-year-old girl, an infant, and two dogs. Yuliia Oholikhina, a personnel specialist at the SES in the Zaporizhzhia region. While on vacation, she saw a child drowning in a pool. She pulled the girl out of the water and provided first aid. Andriy Lubenets, a Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman. Severely wounded in the war, last September, near a pond, he heard a 17-year-old boy's cry for help. Despite his injured leg, Andriy swam to the boy and pushed him 20 meters to safety with one arm. Patrol police officers helped pull the boy out of the water and resuscitate him. Ihor Kalashnyk, an electrician at a construction hypermarket. In May of this year, after Russian aerial bombs hit the hypermarket, he fully shut down the power to the building and helped evacuate four visitors from a smoke-filled area. He also removed generator barrels with fuel from the premises to prevent another explosion. Polina Sholokh, a SES signaller. While at a car wash, she heard a woman screaming. Next to her was a boy with no signs of life, who had been pulled out of a drainage pit. Polina immediately began CPR, and after several minutes, the boy was breathing again. Oleksandr Zhuk, a physical education teacher. Near a lake, he heard cries for help and saw three girls in the water. One had already lost consciousness and was pulling another down. Oleksandr rescued two of the girls from the water, while the third made it to the shore on her own. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Andriy Yermak Urged the Verkhovna Rada to Adopt Legislative Amendments to Comply with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention President of Ukraine 17 September 2024 - 12:32 Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak delivered a video address at the conference "Ukraine on the Path to the OECD and Accession to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention." The event was attended by parliamentary and governmental representatives, representatives of foreign diplomatic missions, civil society, business, and international partners. Special guests included U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Todd D. Robinson, EU Ambassador to Ukraine KatarAna MathernovA, French Ambassador GaAl VeyssiAre, and former French Finance Minister Michel Sapin. Andriy Yermak summarized the work carried out since the President formed a special group to develop proposals for participation in the OECD Working Group on Bribery. Over the past two years: - Two concepts for reforming the liability of legal entities were developed and presented. - Legislative drafts on liability of legal entities and prohibition of tax evasion of illicit gains were prepared and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada in collaboration with MPs. - More than 50 meetings, sessions, and focus groups were held to draft and refine legislative changes. - Six public events were organized to highlight Ukraine's accession to the Anti-Bribery Convention. - Eight meetings of the OECD Working Group on Bribery took place, during which three interim reports were presented on Ukraine's progress toward joining the convention. The Head of the Presidential Office expressed gratitude to all government bodies and partners involved in the legislative process. He also called on the Verkhovna Rada to expedite the consideration of the proposed bills. "We are now on the home stretch - the two-year deadline set by the OECD to implement the necessary legislative changes to comply with the Anti-Bribery Convention is nearing its end. We must unite our efforts to ensure that these legislative amendments are approved by the end of the year for the success of our application to join the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and for the success of our country," Andriy Yermak stated. As chair of the working group established by a presidential decree, Andriy Yermak expressed hope that during the December plenary session of the OECD Working Group - where the final, fourth report on the progress of reforms is expected - the Ukrainian delegation will be able to inform representatives from 44 countries that the key changes have been completed and Ukraine will submit an official request to join the convention by February of next year. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon inspector general: Ukraine is 'job one' for defense oversight By Oksana Bedratenko September 17, 2024 Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. Congress has appropriated $174 billion, including U.S. weapons and materiel, to respond to the crisis and help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's aggression. U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General Robert Storch calls the oversight of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine his office's "job one," with more than 200 people assigned to that task. In an interview with Voice of America's Ukrainian Service, Storch discussed the challenges in obtaining the information necessary for such oversight in a country that is fighting a war, suffers from endemic corruption and has no large-scale U.S. military presence. According to the most recent quarterly Special Inspector General report to the U.S. Congress on Operation Atlantic Resolve (the name of the U.S. military response to Russian operations in Ukraine), issued in mid-August, there were 57 open investigations as of June 30, 2024. They involved "grant and procurement fraud, corruption, theft, program irregularities, and diversion and counter-proliferation of technology of weapons systems components." In January, Ukraine's SBU security service reported that it had uncovered a $40 million corruption scheme, implicating defense ministry officials and arms supplier managers, that involved the embezzlement of funds for purchase of 100,000 mortar shells. That case did not involve U.S.-provided materiel. However, in September 2023, Oleksii Reznikov was removed as Ukraine's defense minister "over various corruption cases despite enjoying a solid reputation in representing Ukraine in its discussions with Western allies," Reuters reported. Storch told VOA that the Pentagon is working with Ukraine's military to ensure that it provides timely and accurate information, and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government to fight corruption. He said that in the days immediately following Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's armed forces were delinquent in providing information, but that the situation has improved, in part thanks to oversight. While corruption remains endemic in Ukraine, Storch said that Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions are maturing and that the oversight community is working to ensure that such progress continues. The following has been edited for length and clarity. VOA: You are overseeing numerous Pentagon programs. How robust is oversight of the delivery of weapons to Ukraine? Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense Robert Storch: We are leading a robust, comprehensive oversight effort that really covers all aspects of U.S. assistance to Ukraine. I have responsibility over the security assistance that's provided, and we partner very closely, hand-in-glove, with our great colleagues from the State Department Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Inspector General to make sure we're covering all aspects of humanitarian or other assistance that's being provided to Ukraine. VOA: How large is your team that is overseeing the Ukrainian program? Storch: We have a lot of things pulling at us and lots going on in the world with the Department of Defense. But Ukraine is very much job one. I always say it's really a matter of the highest priority for my office and for my colleagues' offices as well. So, in the case of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, we have over 200 people who are engaged in one aspect or another of oversight over U.S. security assistance to Ukraine. That includes about 30 people who were forward deployed in the region. We have several offices in Germany. We have folks in Poland. And we have both investigators and programmatic oversight personnel at the [U.S.] Embassy in Kyiv. If you take all of our partners from State and AID in oversight entities, it is between 300 and 400 people who are engaged in oversight in this whole-of-government effort. VOA: When you talk to Ukrainian officials, do they appreciate the importance of reporting? Storch: Without exception, they acknowledge the importance of making sure that we get the information we need to be able to do our oversight to make sure there's accountability, and frankly to be able to tell the decision-makers here in Washington that that's going on. ... I go up to the Hill [Capitol Hill, location of the U.S. Congress] not infrequently. And you know, I'm not a policymaker. It's up to the administration and the Congress to set what the policies are. But one of the things I get asked all the time is, 'Are we getting the information we need to carry out our work?' and we have been getting that, and we're going to work to make sure we continue to. VOA: The Pentagon transfers materiel to the Ukrainian armed forces. Do they understand the importance of oversight, and do they provide timely self-reporting? Storch: We work really closely to make sure that's the case. That's one of the big lines of effort with regard to our oversight. We've done a number of reports looking at the monitoring and the reporting. There are obligations that the Ukrainian armed forces have for reporting on the status of the equipment, and U.S. personnel keep track and there's a database. When things are lost or destroyed, they have to be reported in a certain way. ... [T]hat's one area where I like to think that our oversight has really made a difference. When we first started on that, the level of delinquency in that reporting was really pretty high, and some of that was because, when the war started, the U.S. personnel had to leave the country. There was equipment being provided and really no one doing that sort of accountability and inventory. So, a lot of it has been playing catch-up. And ... there are challenges with a wartime setting and a lot of this equipment is being used on the front lines and [in] really difficult and sad situations. And so being able to maintain accountability is difficult, but we do a lot of work on that. VOA: In one of your reports, you mentioned endemic corruption in Ukraine. You worked in Ukraine in 2007 to 2009 to help the country overcome corruption. Can you compare the situation in Ukraine now to what you saw back then? Storch: I actually had the opportunity to work and live in Ukraine back in 2007 to 2009, when I was with the Department of Justice working with the Ukrainians to help them develop measures to address official corruption. And I had the opportunity to go back on a number of occasions and provide assistance in the drafting of the anti-corruption legislation, and that created the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Office of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, so I have had a lot of experience out there and have seen the way these institutions have matured. The Ukrainians made it happen ... But Ukraine has had long-standing issues with corruption, obviously, and people are working to address it. One of the things we talk about in our quarterly reporting ... is that they're continuing to make efforts to address it, and we continue as the United States both to provide assistance in that, and then, in the oversight community, to do oversight over that to make sure that progress is being made. VOA: Your report mentions that there are 57 investigations ongoing into allegations ranging from irregularities in procurement to corruption, diversion and theft. Have any of those allegations been substantiated? Storch: At this point, based on our completed work, we haven't substantiated those allegations, but obviously the investigations continue, right? VOA: About half of the allegations involve the proliferation of weapons. How high is the risk of diversion? Storch: Sure, there's a significant risk there, but we always want to make sure we're doing everything we can to address it, and that's why I mention the programmatic oversight. We have a website [with] links to the hotlines that my office and our counterparts operate. I really encourage folks to take advantage of that to report that information. So, people can look into it. VOA: There is reporting that the Pentagon overestimated the value of some of the U.S. equipment destined for Ukraine. Do you think this accounting error will persist or is it being corrected? Storch: We're doing everything we can to help the [Defense] Department to address it. We became concerned about that pretty early on and consulted with the department about it and, without getting too complex, basically the department was using a methodology to value the materiel that was being provided that resulted in an overvaluation of it. If you were donating your car, you probably wouldn't be able to donate the cost of buying a new car like that, right? It's a little more complicated than that, but basically it resulted in an overvaluation. Initially the Department looking into it found about $6.2 billion that they thought was overstated. We came in and did additional oversight, which is reflected in our reporting, and found about $1.9 billion additionally. So, the answer to your question is we made recommendations to help the Department address the issues, and we're going to keep working to make sure those recommendations are carried out and the problems addressed. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nile, the pioneer of a new breed of enterprise network solution aimed at securing organizations from cyber-attacks and automating daily operations, today announced that Nile has been recognized as a Strong Performer in the recently released Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer report for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN. The Voice of the Customer is a document that synthesizes Gartner Peer Insights reviews into insights for IT decision-makers. Interested parties can view the report here - https://insights.nilesecure.com/gartner-peer-insights-voice-of-the-customer It is incredible to be recognized by our customers with such fantastic reviews, particularly since we have only been generally available for less than two years, said Pankaj Patel, Niles CEO and co-founder. Despite our relatively short time in the market, our unique approach to the wired and wireless LAN is winning with IT leaders looking for more than legacy, product-centric architectures have to offer. We believe our combination of best-in-class network security, cloud native software delivery with AI-powered closed-loop automation, and custom-built wired, wireless, and sensor infrastructure in an as-a-Service offering delivers a new vision for the secure campus network. We believe this aggregated peer perspective, along with the individual detailed reviews, is complementary to Gartner expert research and can play a key role in the buying process, as it focuses on direct peer experiences of implementing and operating a solution. Vendors placed in the upper left Strong Performer quadrant of the Voice of the Customer graphic meet or exceed the market average Overall Experience but do not meet the market average User Interest and Adoption. A sampling of the reviews of the Nile Access Service on Gartner Peer Insights includes the following: Niles approach to security sets the industry standard, offering hands-off operation that eliminates the need for branch locations to staff networking support. This not only improves the TCO, but also ensures that the best security practices are in place. Not to mention the SLAs, and the performance. Link to full review: https://gtnr.io/AxEcaVO6x Nile offers world-class customer service on top of its game-changing business model. Link to full review: https://gtnr.io/YhyNiA6rh Great product and Great service. Takes no time to get the network up and running. Security-focused design and guaranteed availability. Link to full review: https://gtnr.io/78a2svwpX Overall, Nile has received strong grades with an average score of 4.9 out of 5 based on a total of 47 individual reviews, as well as a 94% score for willingness to recommend as of 30 June 2024. Based on these reviews, we believe Nile provides significant cost savings, a reduced operational burden, built-in zero trust security, and improved customer service, which many customers felt was missing from their other vendor relationships. About the Nile Access Service The Nile Access Service is powered by a new approach for securing enterprise networks that combines built-in zero trust security for the campus, cloud native software delivery, AI, and automation with a high-performance wired and wireless LAN in an as-a-Service offering. The Nile Access Service was built from the ground up to prevent lateral movement cyber attacks while completely automating the network lifecycle management process. This complete service offering is a comprehensive package including hardware and software components, 24/7 support, and zero upfront capital expense, all of which are backed by the industrys only performance guarantees for availability, coverage, and capacity. To learn more about the Nile Access Service, visit https://nilesecure.com/solutions/nile-access-service About Gartner Peer Insights and the Voice of the Customer Report Gartner Peer Insights is a free peer review and ratings platform designed for enterprise software and services decision makers. Reviews are organized by products in live markets that align to Gartner research markets, defined as Magic Quadrant or Market Guide-defined markets, or GPI-defined markets that are opened at the discretion of the GPI team and do not require research published to open the space on Peer Insights. Disclaimer Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure, Peer Contributors, 12 September 2024. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark, and PEER INSIGHTS is a trademark and service mark, of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Nile Nile is disrupting the enterprise network market by building natively secure connectivity that modernizes IT operations with a new AI networking architecture, delivering enterprise networks entirely as a service. For the first time in the industry, the Nile Access Service integrates zero trust security and offers performance guarantees for connectivity, coverage, and availability. With Nile, IT organizations close the gap between their digital aspirations and legacy realities with superior connectivity that reduces the burden on critical IT resources. For more information, visit nilesecure.com/solutions/nile-access-service. Media Contacts: Nichols Communications for Nile Jay Nichols +1 408-772-1551 jay@nicholscomm.com NEWARK, Del, Sept. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Cloud IAM Market is forecast to grow exponentially from USD 6,880.7 million in 2024 to an impressive USD 46,035.6 million by 2034, marking a robust CAGR of 20.9% over the forecast period. As businesses transition towards cloud-based solutions for enhanced security and data governance, the demand for IAM solutions has been rising steadily. Understanding the Cloud IAM Market: Organizations, particularly in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government, are increasingly adopting Cloud IAM solutions to safeguard sensitive data and comply with evolving regulatory standards. These solutions provide seamless management of user identities, ensuring secure access across various platforms and applications. Additionally, the growing trend of remote work and increased cloud adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have further fueled market growth. With cybersecurity threats continuing to evolve, Cloud IAM solutions are becoming essential for businesses to secure their data and IT infrastructure. As the industry progresses, vendors are focusing on integrating AI and machine learning to enhance IAM functionalities, offering more intuitive solutions that reduce the complexity of managing access controls and authentication systems. Cloud IAM Market: Report Scope Countries CAGR 2024 to 2034 USA 17.4% Germany 18.4% China 21.3% UK 16.1% India 23.5% Key Takeaways from the Market Study: The Cloud IAM market is projected to grow from USD 6,880.7 million in 2024 to USD 46,035.6 million by 2034 at a CAGR of 20.9%. in 2024 to by 2034 at a CAGR of Increased demand for security in a multi-cloud environment is driving significant market growth. The rise in regulatory compliance and identity management needs in banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors are key contributors. Technological advancements such as AI, ML, and blockchain are reshaping IAM solutions, providing competitive advantages to vendors. The rapid growth of the Cloud IAM industry is closely tied to the increasing adoption of remote work and collaborative digital environments. As businesses continue to embrace cloud infrastructures, Cloud IAM tools are becoming essential for enabling secure and efficient access for remote employees, partners, and customers, says Sudip Saha is the managing director and co-founder at Future Market Insights Browse the Complete Report! https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cloud-iam-market Drivers and Opportunities Key drivers propelling the Cloud IAM market include increasing instances of data breaches, stringent regulatory requirements such as GDPR, and the rising need for businesses to ensure secure remote access due to the growing remote workforce. Moreover, the proliferation of cloud computing across industries and regions, particularly in emerging economies, is creating lucrative opportunities for IAM solution providers. Innovations in biometric authentication, passwordless security systems, and blockchain technologies are anticipated to provide further market opportunities. These advancements help address the weaknesses of traditional IAM systems, making cloud-based IAM a more attractive option for enterprises. Component Insights Cloud IAM solutions are comprised of various components such as identity governance, authentication services, single sign-on (SSO), and multi-factor authentication (MFA). Among these, authentication services dominate the market, driven by the need for secure access to cloud resources. However, identity governance is expected to grow at the fastest rate due to increasing regulatory mandates, particularly in industries such as healthcare and financial services. Market's Prime Determinants of Growth, Trends, and Opportunities Growth Drivers: The increasing number of cyber-attacks, the rise in remote work, and the need for secure identity management across cloud environments are key factors driving market growth. Furthermore, growing regulatory pressure across sectors and regions is making IAM an indispensable tool for businesses. The increasing number of cyber-attacks, the rise in remote work, and the need for secure identity management across cloud environments are key factors driving market growth. Furthermore, growing regulatory pressure across sectors and regions is making IAM an indispensable tool for businesses. Trends: The trend towards zero trust architecture is one of the most significant changes in the security landscape. In this context, cloud IAM solutions are crucial in ensuring that every access request is authenticated and authorized. Additionally, innovations in AI-powered IAM are enhancing the accuracy of threat detection and response. The trend towards zero trust architecture is one of the most significant changes in the security landscape. In this context, cloud IAM solutions are crucial in ensuring that every access request is authenticated and authorized. Additionally, innovations in AI-powered IAM are enhancing the accuracy of threat detection and response. Opportunities: Expanding into emerging markets and SMEs that are in the early stages of cloud adoption presents significant opportunities for IAM providers. With the rising number of cloud-native businesses, the demand for IAM solutions is expected to see an upsurge, particularly in sectors like healthcare, education, and retail. Growth Drivers The key growth drivers in the Cloud IAM market include: The exponential rise in cybersecurity threats requires advanced identity management solutions. requires advanced identity management solutions. Stringent regulatory compliance across industries necessitates the adoption of IAM solutions. across industries necessitates the adoption of IAM solutions. Growing remote workforce and multi-cloud environments are increasing the need for secure access management. and multi-cloud environments are increasing the need for secure access management. Advances in biometric authentication and AI-powered security systems are driving innovation in IAM offerings. Competitive Landscape: The Cloud IAM market is currently led by major players such as Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle, which dominate with comprehensive, enterprise-level solutions tailored to the needs of large organizations. These industry giants provide robust and secure IAM tools that cater to businesses' complex security requirements. Okta and SailPoint, however, are gaining traction by offering more specialized, flexible IAM services that appeal to organizations looking for adaptable solutions. Meanwhile, emerging companies like OneLogin and Ping Identity are carving out a niche by targeting smaller businesses with user-friendly, affordable platforms. As the market evolves, companies are forming strategic partnerships and continuing to innovate, vying for a larger share of the rapidly growing IAM sector. Recent Industry Developments in the Cloud IAM Market: In April 2024 , Cyderes , a global cybersecurity provider, acquired Ipseity Security , a Canadian firm specializing in identity and access management (IAM). This acquisition will enhance Cyderes' expertise in cloud identity and privileged access management, adding more than 250 IAM professionals to its team and expanding its offerings across the entire IAM ecosystem. , , a global cybersecurity provider, acquired , a Canadian firm specializing in identity and access management (IAM). This acquisition will enhance Cyderes' expertise in cloud identity and privileged access management, adding more than 250 IAM professionals to its team and expanding its offerings across the entire IAM ecosystem. In January 2023 , Saviynt , an identity management company based in Los Angeles, secured USD 205 million in growth funding from AB Private Credit Investors (Alliance Bernstein). This capital injection is intended to meet the rising demand for Saviynt's cloud IAM solutions, emphasizing the growing importance of seamless cloud integration in identity management. , , an identity management company based in Los Angeles, secured in growth funding from (Alliance Bernstein). This capital injection is intended to meet the rising demand for Saviynt's cloud IAM solutions, emphasizing the growing importance of seamless cloud integration in identity management. In October 2022, Quest Software's One Identity acquired OneLogin, a cloud IAM provider. This acquisition enabled One Identity to offer a comprehensive IAM suite, including privileged access management (PAM), identity governance and administration (IGA), and cloud-native IAM solutions, providing managed service providers (MSPs) and their clients with a holistic IAM package for securing identities in hybrid environments. Key Players of Cloud IAM Market: IBM Microsoft Broadcom Secureworks, Inc. Oracle Corporation Intel Corporation OneLogin, Inc. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Sailpoint Technologies Holdings, Inc. Ping Identity Okta Dell DigitalOcean Key Segments of Cloud IAM Market: By Solution: In terms of Solutions, the industry is segregated into Cloud IAM Platform and Standalone Software. By Enterprise Size: In terms of Enterprise Size, the End User is distributed into Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Large Enterprises. By Industry: In terms of Industry, the End User is distributed BFSI, Telecom & IT, Energy and Utilities, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Education, Retail and Others By Region: German Translation- Key countries of North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, East Asia, South Asia & Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA) have been covered in the report. Der globale Cloud-IAM-Markt wird voraussichtlich exponentiell von 6.880,7 Millionen USD im Jahr 2024 auf beeindruckende 46.035,6 Millionen USD im Jahr 2034 wachsen, was einer robusten durchschnittlichen jahrlichen Wachstumsrate von 20,9 % im Prognosezeitraum entspricht. Da Unternehmen auf Cloud-basierte Losungen fur verbesserte Sicherheit und Datenverwaltung umsteigen, steigt die Nachfrage nach IAM-Losungen stetig. Den Cloud-IAM-Markt verstehen: Unternehmen, insbesondere in Sektoren wie Finanzen, Gesundheitswesen und Regierung, setzen zunehmend Cloud-IAM-Losungen ein, um vertrauliche Daten zu schutzen und sich entwickelnde regulatorische Standards einzuhalten. Diese Losungen bieten eine nahtlose Verwaltung von Benutzeridentitaten und gewahrleisten einen sicheren Zugriff uber verschiedene Plattformen und Anwendungen hinweg. Daruber hinaus haben der wachsende Trend zur Fernarbeit und die zunehmende Cloud-Nutzung durch kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMU) das Marktwachstum weiter angekurbelt. Da sich die Bedrohungen fur die Cybersicherheit standig weiterentwickeln, werden Cloud-IAM-Losungen fur Unternehmen unverzichtbar, um ihre Daten und ihre IT-Infrastruktur zu sichern. Mit dem Fortschritt der Branche konzentrieren sich die Anbieter auf die Integration von KI und maschinellem Lernen, um die IAM-Funktionalitaten zu verbessern und intuitivere Losungen anzubieten, die die Komplexitat der Verwaltung von Zugriffskontrollen und Authentifizierungssystemen reduzieren. Treiber und Chancen Zu den wichtigsten Treibern, die den Cloud-IAM-Markt antreiben, gehoren zunehmende Falle von Datenschutzverletzungen, strenge gesetzliche Anforderungen wie die DSGVO und der steigende Bedarf von Unternehmen, aufgrund der wachsenden Zahl von Remote-Mitarbeitern einen sicheren Fernzugriff zu gewahrleisten. Daruber hinaus schafft die Verbreitung von Cloud Computing in allen Branchen und Regionen, insbesondere in Schwellenlandern, lukrative Moglichkeiten fur IAM-Losungsanbieter. Innovationen in den Bereichen biometrische Authentifizierung, passwortlose Sicherheitssysteme und Blockchain-Technologien werden voraussichtlich weitere Marktchancen bieten. Diese Fortschritte helfen, die Schwachen traditioneller IAM-Systeme zu beheben, und machen Cloud-basiertes IAM zu einer attraktiveren Option fur Unternehmen. Author by: Sudip Saha is the managing director and co-founder at Future Market Insights, an award-winning market research and consulting firm. Sudip is committed to shaping the market research industry with credible solutions and constantly makes a buzz in the media with his thought leadership. His vast experience in market research and project management across verticals in APAC, EMEA, and the Americas reflects his growth-oriented approach to clients. He is a strong believer and proponent of innovation-based solutions, emphasizing customized solutions to meet one client's requirements at a time. His foresightedness and visionary approach recently got him recognized as the Global Icon in Business Consulting at the ET Inspiring Leaders Awards 2022. Explore FMI's Extensive Coverage in the Technology Domain: The MEA cloud integration market revenue totaled USD 178.2 Million in 2021 and is estimated to reach USD 835.8 Million by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 15.2% for 2022 2032. The global cloud business email market is expected to acquire a market value of nearly USD 2.15 Billion, proliferating at a CAGR of 10.4% during the forecast period from 2017 to 2027. By 2032, the cloud authentication market is expected to be worth USD 12,753.4 million, with a CAGR of 14.4%. The market value in 2022 is USD 11,279.2 million. According to a report published by Future Market Insights the market for cloud load balancers in 2022 was valued at USD 7.76 billion. The market is expected to reach USD 33.08 billion by 2033 with an estimated CAGR of 15.6 % The global sales of web content management are estimated to be worth USD 8220.0 million in 2024 and are anticipated to reach a value of USD 42909.2 million by 2034. The global wireless fire detection market is expected to reach a valuation of USD 1,467.5 million in 2024. The global In-memory analytics tools market is expected to reach a valuation of USD 2,612.8 million in 2024. The global clinical communication and collaboration software market is expected to reach a valuation of USD 2,084.7 million in 2024. The global weather information technology market is expected to reach a valuation of USD 10,935.8 million in 2024. The global sales of Smart Home Platforms are estimated to be worth USD 93.9 billion in 2024 and are anticipated to reach a value of USD 386.9 billion by 2034. About Future Market Insights (FMI) Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, recipient of the Stevie Award, and a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) offers profound insights into the driving factors that are boosting demand in the market. FMI stands as the leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, consulting, and events for the Packaging, Food and Beverage, Consumer, Technology, Healthcare, Industrial, and Chemicals markets. With a vast team of over 400 analysts worldwide, FMI provides global, regional, and local expertise on diverse domains and industry trends across more than 110 countries. Join us as we commemorate 10 years of delivering trusted market insights. Reflecting on a decade of achievements, we continue to lead with integrity, innovation, and expertise. Contact Us: Future Market Insights Inc. Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive, Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA T: +1-845-579-5705 For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com LinkedIn| Twitter| Blogs | YouTube NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF) and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 15, 2024 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Sprinklr, Inc. (NYSE: CXM), if they purchased the Companys securities between March 29, 2023 and June 5, 2024, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. What You May Do If you purchased securities of Sprinklr 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-cxm/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 15, 2024 . About the Lawsuit Sprinklr and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. On June 5, 2024, the Company disclosed disappointing financial news including significantly reduced growth expectations, cutting fiscal year 2025 projections an additional three percent, down to 7% annual growth, due to reduced customer retention in the Companys core business and macro headwinds. On this news, the price of Sprinklrs shares fell from a closing price of $10.84 per share on June 5, 2024 to $9.20 per share on June 6, 2024, a decline of more than 15% in the span of one day. The case is Boshart v. Sprinklr, Inc., No. 24-cv-06132. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nations 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, LLC SINGAPORE, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OKX Ventures, the investment arm of leading Web3 technology company OKX, has issued updates for September 18, 2024. OKX Ventures Partner Jeff Ren Shares Insights at 'Swap to the Future' Event in Singapore At the recent 'Swap to the Future' exhibition event hosted by OKX Wallet and Uniswap Labs in Singapore, OKX Ventures Partner Jeff Ren shared valuable insights on the future of CeFi and DeFi collaboration. The event, which took place on September 17, featured a fireside chat with Jeff and Uniswap Head of Customer Experience Steph Gulati. Key highlights from Jeff's discussion include: Product-driven approach: Jeff emphasized OKX's focus on product development and innovation, highlighting that most OKX employees are product-focused and engineers Jeff emphasized OKX's focus on product development and innovation, highlighting that most OKX employees are product-focused and engineers Comprehensive product suite: OKX offers a range of products including the OKX Exchange and OKX Wallet, with new products in development to bring people onchain OKX offers a range of products including the OKX Exchange and OKX Wallet, with new products in development to bring people onchain Global community: Jeff noted OKX's global audience, describing them as having a deep understanding of crypto and Web3, represents the first large-scale community to embrace Web3 Jeff noted OKX's global audience, describing them as having a deep understanding of crypto and Web3, represents the first large-scale community to embrace Web3 Partnership with Uniswap: Jeff expressed enthusiasm about collaborating with Uniswap, recognizing it as one of the most successful onchain products with valuable expertise. Their ongoing collaboration aims to create a user-friendly and secure onchain experience to bring more users onchain, creating a seamless experience between CeFi and DeFi by providing better liquidity and market access Jeff expressed enthusiasm about collaborating with Uniswap, recognizing it as one of the most successful onchain products with valuable expertise. Their ongoing collaboration aims to create a user-friendly and secure onchain experience to bring more users onchain, creating a seamless experience between CeFi and DeFi by providing better liquidity and market access CeFi to DeFi transition: Jeff highlighted OKX's excitement about channeling CeFi users to DeFi products like Uniswap and various blockchain networks. The development of OKX Wallet, which integrates multiple onchain applications and supports self-custody, emphasizes OKX's commitment to decentralized finance Jeff highlighted OKX's excitement about channeling CeFi users to DeFi products like Uniswap and various blockchain networks. The development of OKX Wallet, which integrates multiple onchain applications and supports self-custody, emphasizes OKX's commitment to decentralized finance Onchain Wallet innovation: Jeff discussed the ongoing development of the OKX Wallet, including upcoming projects and launches Jeff discussed the ongoing development of the OKX Wallet, including upcoming projects and launches Compliance commitment: Both Uniswap and OKX emphasize the importance of compliance while ensuring an optimal user experience. They work closely with legal and compliance teams to align products with regulations globally. Transparency and user education are key to balancing innovation and regulatory risk Several other events co-hosted by the OKX team this week include: "TON Asia - Singapore," co-hosted by OKX Wallet and OKX Ventures on September 18; "Bits, Bytes and Brews," co-hosted by OKX Wallet and OKX Ventures on September 19; and "Summer Is Here Mixer: Breakpoint 2024 ft. Silent Disco," co-hosted by OKX Wallet on September 20. To learn more, visit OKX's Support Center. For further information, please contact: Media@okx.com About OKX Ventures OKX Ventures is the investment arm of global leading crypto exchange and Web3 technology company OKX. It focuses on exploring the best blockchain projects on a global scale, supporting cutting-edge blockchain technology innovation, promoting the healthy development of the global blockchain industry, and investing in long-term structural value. Through its commitment to supporting entrepreneurs who contribute to the development of the blockchain industry, OKX Ventures helps build innovative companies and brings global resources and historical experience to blockchain projects. Find out more about OKX Ventures here. Disclaimer Dublin, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Data Monetization - Global Strategic Business Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global market for Data Monetization was estimated at US$3.6 Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$12.4 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 19.1% from 2023 to 2030. This comprehensive report provides an in-depth analysis of market trends, drivers, and forecasts, helping you make informed business decisions. In an era dominated by digital interactions and transactions, data has emerged as a crucial asset for organizations across all sectors, providing critical insights that can influence product development, marketing strategies, and operational improvements. Effective data monetization strategies enable businesses not only to enhance their core offerings but also to create new revenue streams by identifying and capitalizing on the value hidden within their data repositories. What Drives the Growth in the Data Monetization Market? The growth in the data monetization market is driven by several factors, starting with the vast increase in data generation and digital information flow. As more businesses undergo digital transformations, the volume of collectible data increases, providing more opportunities for monetization. Technological advancements in big data, analytics, and related fields are making it easier and more cost-effective to analyze large datasets and extract valuable insights. Additionally, the growing recognition of data as a strategic asset is prompting companies to invest in capabilities that can help them understand and leverage this asset to create competitive advantages. Consumer behavior also plays a critical role; as individuals become more engaged online, they generate data that can be analyzed to enhance customer experiences and personalize services, which further drives demand for monetization capabilities. Lastly, as the economic benefits of data-driven decision-making become more apparent, more companies are eager to invest in data monetization as a way to foster innovation, improve efficiency, and generate new revenue streams. These drivers collectively contribute to the robust expansion of the data monetization market, reflecting its increasing importance in the modern business landscape. How Are Companies Implementing Data Monetization Strategies? Implementing data monetization requires a robust framework that involves data collection, analysis, and the development of business models that can leverage the insights gained. Companies are increasingly turning to advanced analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to parse through large datasets and uncover patterns that can translate into profitable actions. For example, a retailer may analyze customer purchase data to offer personalized promotions, thus driving sales, or a manufacturer might use production data to optimize processes and reduce costs. Moreover, data as a service (DaaS) is becoming a popular model, where companies sell their insights or data sets to other organizations that lack the means to gather such data independently. These strategies not only enhance the operational efficiency of the companies but also provide a competitive edge by transforming data into a valuable commodity. What Are the Challenges and Ethical Considerations in Data Monetization? Despite the significant opportunities presented by data monetization, there are several challenges and ethical considerations that companies must address. Data privacy and security are paramount concerns, as businesses must ensure that their data monetization practices comply with increasingly stringent data protection laws, such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California. There is also the risk of commodifying personal data without adequate consent, which can lead to public backlash and damage to a company's reputation. Additionally, data quality and integration pose significant technical challenges, as data from various sources may be inconsistent or incomplete, requiring sophisticated cleaning and processing to ensure accuracy and reliability. Navigating these challenges requires a careful balance between maximizing the economic benefits of data and respecting ethical considerations and regulatory requirements. Key Insights: Market Growth: Understand the significant growth trajectory of the Data Monetization Services segment, which is expected to reach US$2.6 Billion by 2030 with a CAGR of a 16.2%. The Data Monetization Tools segment is also set to grow at 20.0% CAGR over the analysis period. Regional Analysis: Gain insights into the U.S. market, which was estimated at $977.3 Million in 2023, and China, forecasted to grow at an impressive 18.1% CAGR to reach $1.9 Billion by 2030. Discover growth trends in other key regions, including Japan, Canada, Germany, and the Asia-Pacific. Report Features: Comprehensive Market Data: Independent analysis of annual sales and market forecasts in US$ Million from 2023 to 2030. In-Depth Regional Analysis: Detailed insights into key markets, including the U.S., China, Japan, Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. Company Profiles: Coverage of major players such as Accenture PLC, Adastra Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., and more. Complimentary Updates: Receive free report updates for one year to keep you informed of the latest market developments. Key Questions Answered: How is the Global Data Monetization Market expected to evolve by 2030? What are the main drivers and restraints affecting the market? Which market segments will grow the most over the forecast period? How will market shares for different regions and segments change by 2030? Who are the leading players in the market, and what are their prospects? Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 193 Forecast Period 2023 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $3.6 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $12.4 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 19.1% Regions Covered Global Key Topics Covered: MARKET OVERVIEW Influencer Market Insights Data Monetization - Global Key Competitors Percentage Market Share in 2024 (E) Competitive Market Presence - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial for Players Worldwide in 2024 (E) Global Economic Update MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS Increasing Volume of Collected Data Expands Opportunities for Data Monetization Growing Demand for New Revenue Streams Drives Adoption of Data Monetization Strategies Expansion of IoT and Connected Devices Spurs Data Monetization Initiatives Emergence of Data as a Service (DaaS) Models Propels Data Monetization Market Rising Importance of Data-Driven Business Models Strengthens Data Monetization Efforts Increasing Use of Analytics to Unlock Value from Data Bolsters Data Monetization Growing Adoption of Blockchain for Secure Data Monetization Competitive Pressure in Telecom and Media Industries Drives Data Monetization Increasing Focus on Customer Experience Optimizes Data Monetization in Retail FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS (Total 44 Featured) Accenture PLC Adastra Corporation Cisco Systems, Inc. Dawex Systems Emu Analytics Ltd. Gemalto Google LLC IBM Corporation Infosys Ltd. Mahindra Comviva Monetize Solutions Narrative Science Inc. Ness Technologies NetScout Systems, Inc. Openwave Mobility, Inc. Optiva, Inc. Paxata, Inc. Reltio SAP SE SAS Institute, Inc. Virtusa Corporation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yq1a1n About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CMC Metals Ltd. (TSX-V: CMB) (Frankfurt:ZM5P) (CMC or the Company) announces that it has contracted MICON International Limited to complete a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Silver Hart Project, Yukon. It is estimated that the MRE will be completed in approximately six weeks time. The MRE is phase 1 of a multi-stage evaluation to determine if it is amenable to establish seasonal small-scale open pit mining at the Silver Hart Project. Kevin Brewer, President and CEO noted We are excited about the potential for mid-term production at our 100% owned Silver Hart Project in Yukon. Our aim would be to utilize possible pre-concentration technologies such as ore sorting or dense media separation to enhance the viability and economics of transporting material from Silver Hart and Blue Heaven to a processing mill. This is a conceptual project at this stage but one that is viewed by our Board as within our abilities. We are also in discussion with companies to undertake metallurgical and other tests to confirm what technology is be suited to the material at Silver Hart. Qualified Person Qualified Person Kevin Brewer, a registered professional geoscientist, is the Companys President and CEO, and Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101). He has given his approval of the technical information pertaining reported herein. The Company is committed to meeting the highest standards of integrity, transparency and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological reporting, geophysical investigations, environmental and baseline studies, engineering studies, metallurgical testing, assaying and all other technical data. About CMC Metals Ltd. CMC Metals Ltd. is a growth stage exploration company focused on opportunities for high grade polymetallic deposits in Yukon, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Our polymetallic silver-lead-zinc CRD prospects in the Rancheria Silver District include the Silver Hart Deposit and Blue Heaven claims (Yukon), Amy and Silverknife claims (British Columbia). Our polymetallic projects with potential for copper-silver-gold and other metals include Bridal Veil (central Newfoundland) and Logjam (Yukon). On behalf of the Board: Kevin Brewer Kevin Brewer, President, CEO and Director CMC Metals Ltd. For Further Information and Investor Inquiries: Kevin Brewer, P. Geo., MBA, B.Sc.(Hons), Dip. Mine Eng. President, CEO and Director Tel: (709) 327 8013 kbrewer80@hotmail.com Suite 1000-409 Granville St., Vancouver, BC, V6C 1T2 Website: www.cmcmetals.ca Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles and exploitation activities and developments. In this release disclosure regarding the potential to undertake future exploration work comprise forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks, including the ability of the Company to raise the funds necessary to fund its projects, to carry out the work and, accordingly, may not occur as described herein or at all. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, the impact of the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are referred to the Companys filings with the Canadian securities regulators for information on these and other risk factors, available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and 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 expressly required by applicable securities legislation. LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INTO University Partnerships 2024 Annual Student Experience Survey reveals that the majority of international students enrolled at INTOs UK pathway centres feel they have a high level of support and access to a range of services to meet their needs. Findings show that 91% of students who participated in the survey are satisfied or highly satisfied with the support services provided at their respective on-campus centres operated as a joint venture between INTO and the partnering university. Students also expressed high rates of living satisfaction, with the campus environment earning a 95% approval rate, and safety, 93%. Several aspects of the teaching and learning process also garnered excellent results with 87% of students saying that they are satisfied with the overall experience. A total of 1580 international students currently enrolled at one of INTOs nine UK-based centres took part in the survey. Nationalities represented include students from China, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Indonesia among others. Participating students included those enrolled in Foundation, Diploma and Graduate Diploma programs. Mary Wade, INTO University Partnerships Executive Vice President for UK Education said: The Student Experience Survey results underscore the high level of dedication and compassion from all of our UK centres in helping international students feel fully supported as they begin and progress through their study abroad journey. "These results affirm our commitment to fostering a welcoming and enriching environment that enables students from around the world to thrive." In the survey, international students highly rated the support provided at their centre, which encompasses a range of different services. IT support, student services, personal welfare and wellbeing support, and visa advice all secured scores of 92%. The remaining categories included services such as social activities and clubs, advice on progression options, and facilities for religious worship all of which were rated at 90% or above. One student at INTO Queens University Belfast said: The personal staff of INTO have always been nice and very supportive. I personally love that, it has always made me feel comfortable. Liam OHagan, Centre Director said: It is fantastic to receive such an exceptionally high rating and positive feedback from our students, reflecting on their experience at INTO Queens University Belfast. It is imperative that every student feels nurtured and supported as they make the transition to their academic journey in the UK. INTO Queens is committed to providing the highest standard of support for students academic and personal wellbeing which has been recognized as an area of best practice for the Centre by both the British Council and QAA. I take immense pride in seeing our students go from strength to strength as they progress throughout their studies and knowing how much the staff at INTO Queens do to support them on their journey. Findings also demonstrate a positive response towards living satisfaction. The university campus environment scored 95%, closely followed by feeling safe and secure 93%. Students also scored their local area and forming social bonds with students both from their own and other countries at 90% or higher. When asked about their experience of studying and living in London so far, a student from INTO City University, London , said: Living in London has been an extraordinary experience filled with endless opportunities for exploration and creativity. The vibrant energy of the city, coupled with its rich cultural tapestry, has made every day a new adventure. Students reported particularly high learning satisfaction for their class sizes, which earned an approval rate of 95%. Meanwhile, teachers ability to communicate in English that is easy to understand obtained 94%, diversity of classes 93%, and help with improving English Language skills 91%. Additionally, the learning facilities were rated favorably with the online learning environment, library facilities, and quality of laboratories all securing scores of 92%. One student from INTO City University, London , said: I can confidently say it has been an enriching journey. From the outset, I found myself immersed in a stimulating academic environment that fostered both personal and intellectual growth. Another student from INTO London World Education Centre reflecting on their learning experience said: Not only did I make lifelong friends here, I was also able to work with people of different backgrounds and futures which helped me to stay motivated throughout my course. Dublin, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Smart Harvest Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Application, Product, and Region - Analysis and Forecast, 2024-2033" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global smart harvest market is projected to reach $10.92 billion by 2033 from $4.72 billion in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 8.34% during the forecast period 2024-2033. The smart harvest market is poised for exponential growth. With the global transition toward sustainable agriculture and the integration of advanced technologies in farming, an unprecedented demand for cutting-edge smart harvest solutions arises. Technological advancements, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, are set to revolutionize harvesting processes, offering unparalleled accuracy and efficiency. The smart harvest market is rapidly advancing, driven by the need to enhance productivity while minimizing labor costs and human effort. This market is experiencing increased use of autonomous harvesting equipment, along with the integration of sensors and drones. These technological advancements help mitigate issues such as rising crop losses due to improper harvesting and the high cost of labor. Europe leads the smart harvest market, driven by technological advancements and the demand for efficient agricultural practices. Robust infrastructure supports IoT, AI, and robotics integration, boosting productivity and resource management. Germany, the U.K., and France spearhead this growth through significant R&D investments, supportive government policies, technological innovations, and farmer education on smart harvesting benefits. Key growth drivers include labor shortages, the need for precision agriculture, and sustainability goals. Strategic collaborations between tech firms and agricultural businesses further propel market expansion. Furthermore, escalating governmental initiatives worldwide aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture and ensuring food security are expected to drive substantial investments in smart harvest technologies. This creates a dynamic landscape wherein vendors continually innovate to push the boundaries of harvesting capabilities, ultimately ensuring enhanced productivity, efficiency, and sustainability in agricultural practices worldwide. Industrial Impacts The smart harvest market has a profound impact on the agricultural industry, driving significant advancements in productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. The integration of cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and advanced robotics, is revolutionizing traditional harvesting processes. These technologies enable precise and efficient harvesting, reducing labor costs and minimizing crop losses. Additionally, real-time analytics and data-driven decision-making enhance resource management and yield optimization. The global emphasis on sustainable agriculture and food security is further propelling the adoption of smart harvest solutions, with substantial governmental investments fostering innovation and market growth. This technological shift not only addresses labor shortages and resource challenges but also positions the agricultural sector for long-term sustainability and resilience. Consequently, the smart harvest market is poised to reshape the industrial landscape, driving economic growth and ensuring food security for future generations. Market Segmentation On-Field to Lead the Market (by Site of Operation) Smart harvest technologies are revolutionizing on-field agricultural practices with advanced robotics and AI, enhancing efficiency and precision in crop harvesting. Utilizing automated machinery and sophisticated sensors, these innovations reduce labor costs and improve yield and quality. Key market players are developing autonomous harvesters and integrating smart sensors and drones to optimize operations. This shift addresses labor shortages and supports sustainable farming by minimizing waste and maximizing resources. The on-field application of these technologies drives market growth, driven by the demand for increased productivity and higher-quality produce. Grain Crops to Hold the Largest Share in the Market (by Crop Type) Grain crops dominate the smart harvest market, driven by smart harvesting solutions such as autonomous combines and precision agriculture tools. Utilizing AI, IoT, and GPS, these technologies optimize harvesting through real-time monitoring, precise yield mapping, and efficient resource allocation. This reduces labor costs and enhances output quality. Leading agricultural tech companies are heavily investing in R&D to address labor shortages and sustainability challenges in grain farming. The demand for higher efficiency and productivity propels the adoption of smart harvest technologies, solidifying grain crops as the market's leading segment. Smart Harvester to Lead the Market (by Product) Smart harvesters, including tractor-mounted and self-propelled models, are revolutionizing agriculture by enhancing efficiency and productivity with AI, IoT, and GPS technologies. These machines optimize harvesting, enable precise crop selection, and reduce labor costs. Tractor-mounted models offer cost-effective flexibility for smaller farms, while self-propelled versions provide high efficiency for large-scale operations. Significant industry investment in R&D is driving innovation to meet the demand for precision agriculture. Consequently, smart harvesters are essential in modern farming, boosting yields, improving crop quality, and supporting sustainable practices. Analyst Perspective The smart harvest market has been experiencing significant growth in recent years. With advancements in sensor technology, artificial intelligence, and precision agriculture, farmers now have access to innovative solutions for optimizing harvesting operations and smart crop management and production. These technologies enable targeted and site-specific harvesting of crops, reducing crop production wastage and minimizing environmental impact while increasing overall efficiency. Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis Key players in the global smart harvest market analyzed and profiled in the study involve smart harvest-based product manufacturers, including market segments covered by distinct product kinds, applications served, and regional presence, as well as the influence of important market tactics employed. Moreover, a detailed competitive benchmarking of the players operating in the global smart harvest market has been done to help the reader understand how players stack against each other, presenting a clear market landscape. Additionally, comprehensive competitive strategies such as partnerships, agreements, and collaborations will aid the reader in understanding the untapped revenue pockets in the market. Key Questions Answered in the Report What is the expected global smart harvest market size in terms of value during the period 2023-2028? What is the expected future scenario and revenue generated by the different types of products, including robotic harvester, self-propelled smart harvester, and others? What is the expected future scenario and revenue generated by different application segments in the smart harvest market, including crop type and site of operation? Which region is the largest market for the global smart harvest market? What are the expected future scenarios and the revenue generated by different regions and countries in the global smart harvest market, such as North America, Europe, the U.K., China, Asia-Pacific, South America, and the Middle East and Africa? What is the competitive strength of the key players in the global smart harvest market on the basis of the analysis of their recent developments, product offerings, and regional presence? What are the adoption scenarios, related opportunities, and challenges associated with the global smart harvest market? What are the market dynamics of the global smart harvest market? Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 152 Forecast Period 2024 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $5.31 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $10.92 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 8.3% Regions Covered Global Market Dynamics Overview Market Drivers Need for Maximizing Productivity While Reducing Labor Costs and Human Effort Increasing Adoption of Autonomous Harvesting Equipment and Integration of Sensors and Drones Rising Crop Losses Caused by Improper Harvesting Practices Trends: Current and Future Impact Assessment Advancements in Satellite Imaging Technologies to Forecast Harvest Yield and Potential Disruptions Introduction of Agriculture 4.0 Market Restraints High-Cost Factor Hindering the Growth of the Market Slow Rate of Adoption in Developing Countries Market Opportunities Government Initiatives to Promote Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Introduction of Scalable Harvesting Technologies for Small Scale Farms Use Case Use Case Examination Feil Agriculture & Service Automation of Crop Yield Assessment: Flaskamp Contracting Business Deere & Company X9 Combine - Working Smarter, Not Harder Deere & Company X9 1000 Combine - Revolutionizing Smart Harvest Deere & Company X9 1000 Combine - Enhancing Harvest Efficiency in Crystal Brook Deere & Company Operations Center - Empowering Data-Driven Decisions Augmenta NVRA - Enhancing Efficiency in the Smart Harvest Market Analyst View Supply Chain Overview Value Chain Analysis Market Map Global Smart Harvest Market- by Product Robotic Harvester Smart Harvester Harvest Dynamic Monitoring Pricing Forecast Research and Development Review Regulatory Landscape Stakeholder Analysis Architectural/Technical Comparison of Key Products in the Market Companies Featured Agrobot Dogtooth Technologies Limited FFRobotics OCTINION Harvest CROO Robotics LLC Advanced Farm Technologies, Inc. MetoMotion Mycionics Inc. Tortuga Agricultural Technologies, Inc. Organifarms GmbH Tevel Aerobotics Technologies AVL Motion B.V. Fieldwork Robotics AMB Rousset Deere & Company Application On-Field Controlled Environment Greenhouses Indoor Farms Grain Crops Fruits and Vegetables Others Products Robotic Harvester Smart Harvester Tractor Mounted Self Propelled Harvest Dynamic Monitoring For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/v2cyy0 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment Dublin, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Data Warehouse Companies in China" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This study focuses on China's Data Warehouse industry assessments and company profiles. In the two past decades, the industry has been growing at a fast pace. The dramatic expansions of the manufacturing capabilities and rising consumer consumptions in China have transformed China's society and economy. China is one of the world's major producers for industrial and consumer products. Far outpacing other economies in the world, China is the world's fastest growing market for the consumptions of goods and services. The Chinese economy maintains a high speed growth which has been stimulated by the consecutive increases of industrial output, imports & exports, consumer consumption and capital investment for over two decades. Rapid consolidation between medium and large players is anticipated since the Chinese government has been encouraging industry consolidation with an effort to regulate the industry and to improve competitiveness in the world market. Although China has enjoyed the benefits of an expanding market for production and distribution, the industry is suffering from minimal innovation and investment in R&D and new product development. The sector's economies of scale have yet to be achieved. Most domestic manufacturers lack the autonomic intellectual property and financial resources to develop their own brand name products. This new study analyzes the industry structure, capacities and output. Major producers' production locations, market shares and profiles are presented. Key Topics Covered: INTRODUCTION Report Scope and Methodology Executive Summary DATA WAREHOUSE INDUSTRY ASSESSMENTS Data Warehouse Industry Structure Overview Major Chinese and Foreign Company Sales Volumes Market Share of Key Companies Potential Entrants Major End-Users Technology Trends DATA WAREHOUSE COMPANY DIRECTORY Data Warehouse Company Profiles Distributors Research Institutions and Associations Major End-Users For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bu3n2 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. US & Canada, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A land mobile radio (LMR) system is a person-to-person voice communication system consisting of two-way radio transceivers with an audio transmitter and receiver, which can be stationary or portable. These systems are available for public safety organizations such as fire brigades and ambulances, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) such as police and state troopers, and other governmental entities. They are allocated frequencies exclusively for their use. Global Land Mobile Radio Market Experiences Significant Growth Due To Rising Integration with Advanced Technologies Commercial LMR systems are available for business, industrial, and land transportation businesses, but most frequencies are shared with other users. LMR systems use channels in the very high frequency (VHF) or ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands, since the antennas used at these short wavelengths are suitable for mounting on vehicles or handheld transceivers. Transmitter power is usually limited to a few watts, providing a reliable working range of 4 to 32 km depending on terrain. Repeaters installed on mountain peaks, hills, or tall buildings can increase the coverage area. Download Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000451/ The LMR market has experienced high growth and adoption rate in the last few years and is also expected to experience a significant growth and adoption rate in years to come. One of the major reasons for the high adoption of LMR is the move towards digital mobile technology from analog. This technological shift aids in improving spectral efficiency and taking advantage of both voice and data. Clear, reliable communication across the service area and customized and cost-effective communications with integrated data communications are some of the major drivers bolstering the market for land mobile radios. North America is the largest market for LMR in the year 2022, and APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. Public Safety & Government application segment is expected to hold the major chunk of market share in the LMR market by application. The report runs an in-depth analysis of market trends, key players, and future opportunities. In general, the land mobile radio market comprises of types and application which are expected to register strength during the coming years. Identify The Key Trends Affecting This Market - Download PDF Overview of Report Findings: Market Growth: The land mobile radio market is expected to reach US$ 13.96 billion by 2030 from US$ 6.92 billion in 2022, at a CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period. The land mobile radio market is segmented based on type into handheld and in-vehicle. The handheld segment led the land mobile radio market share in 2022 Based on technology, the global land mobile radio market is segmented into analog and digital. The digital segment led the land mobile radio market in 2022 Based on frequency, the global land mobile radio market is segmented into 25 - 174 VHF, 200 - 512 UHF, and 700 MHz and above. The 700 MHz and above segment led the land mobile radio market in 2022 Based on application, the land mobile radio market is segmented into commercial, industrial, public safety & government, and military. The public safety & government segment led the land mobile radio market in 2022 The land mobile radio market geographic analysis was carried out for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and South America. The land mobile radio market was dominated by North America in 2022 Purchase Premium Copy of Land Mobile Radio Market Growth Report (2022-2030) at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPTE100000451/ Market Segmentation: The land mobile radio market is segmented based on type into handheld and in-vehicle. The handheld segment led the land mobile radio market share in 2022. Based on technology, the global land mobile radio market is segmented into analog and digital. The digital segment led the land mobile radio market share in 2022. Competitive Strategy and Development: Key Players: A few major companies operating in the land mobile radio market include L3Harris Technologies Inc, Motorola Solutions Inc, Tait Communications Ltd, Thales SA, Simoco Wireless Solutions Ltd, JVCKENWOOD Corp, BK Technologies Corp, Hytera Communications Corp Ltd, Icom Inc, and Sepura Ltd. Obtain Analysis of Key Geographic Markets - Download PDF Global Headlines on Land Mobile Radio: Hytera Communications partnered with Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) to improve the safety of rangers working across the parks and reduce wildlife poaching activities. Hytera has equipped the rangers with advanced Digital Mobile Radios (DMR) and dispatching software. In a recent development, L3Harris Technologies received significant orders totaling $160 million from the US Marine Corps for multi-channel handheld and vehicular radio systems. These orders are part of a 10-year, competitively awarded $750 million contract for L3Harris Falcon IV radios, showcasing the company's advanced technology and commitment to providing resilient communications solutions for military forces. These orders, coupled with previous ones from the US Army, amounting to $235 million, highlight the growing adoption of L3Harris' software-defined radio architecture by US military services and key allies, driving the expansion of the land mobile radio market. BK Technologies Corporation announced that it entered into a reseller agreement with WidePoint Corporation for the resale of BK's InteropONE PTToC service to the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of State. Motorola Solutions Inc. has been awarded a US$ 340 million contract by the United States Air Force (USAF) to provide lifecycle management and sustainment maintenance services for its critical land mobile radio network. The contract ensures the network's availability and reliability over the next decade, supporting USAF's daily air traffic control, ground control, and emergency response operations. Motorola Solutions' expertise in critical communications services played a key role in securing the contract" Want More Information about Competitors and Market Players? Get PDF Conclusion: Land mobile radio (LMR) technology has evolved over time from traditional analog voice service (such as two-way communications) to complex systems with digital capabilities that enable features such as group calling, rapid voice call setup, high-quality audio, and guaranteed priority access to the end user. With an increase in crime, terrorism, and natural disasters, industries are required to adopt new technologies to enable rapid and effective real-time reaction. Effective communication is critical for public safety responders who must keep connected with one another at the control center while also acquiring situational information in real time when reacting to situations. To tackle critical communication operations, the LMR technology is witnessing advancements. For example, TETRA, the most widely used land mobile radio standard, has evolved and now it offers high spectrum efficiency and operates on a standardized spectrum. Tetra also includes exceptional vital communication characteristics such as security, a rapid call start-up time, a feature set for voice calls, and high-speed data services. It is used in present and new market areas such as public safety and commercial applications. Furthermore, TETRA does not require broadband data. With increasing security threats and demands for greater efficiency, cross-agency coordination, and better information sharing, the development of efficient public safety communications networks has emerged as a top priority for organizations, thereby driving the global market for LMR technology. Require A Diverse Region or Sector? Customize Research to Suit Your Requirement The report from The Insight Partners, therefore, provides several stakeholdersincluding component providers, system integrator, system manufacturers and otherswith valuable insights into how to successfully navigate this evolving market landscape and unlock new opportunities. Related Report Titles: About Us: The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We specialize in industries such as Semiconductor and Electronics, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Transportation, Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Manufacturing and Construction, Medical Device, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Chemicals and Materials. Contact Us: If you have any queries about this report or if you would like further information, please contact us: Technip Energies announces the appointment of Benjamin Lechuga as Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee. In his new role, Benjamin Lechuga will oversee Strategy, M&A and Sustainability agendas. Benjamin Lechuga brings over 25 years of international experience in M&A, corporate management, consulting, and private equity, having held senior roles up to board level. In his latest position at Deloitte in Switzerland from 2014 to 2024, he was part of the financial advisory business, where he developed strategy, performance improvement and M&A advisory activities in the energy, infrastructure and industrial sectors. From 2007 to 2013, he held management roles in Paris for Societe Generale AM/ 4D Global Energy Capital, a private equity fund dedicated to the energy value chain, and for Areva Renewables delivering strategic planning and business development initiatives. He spent the first part of his career with Shell in the UK in the Gas and Power division until 2006, working on large LNG projects in Africa, Asia and the Americas, as well as in Shell Trading. Benjamin Lechuga is a distinguished graduate of Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees and Ecole Polytechnique. Arnaud Pieton, CEO of Technip Energies, commented: We are pleased to welcome Benjamin Lechuga to Technip Energies, as a member of the Executive Committee. His vast experience in corporate development and M&A, along with his strategic vision will be valuable assets as we continue to drive our sustainability and growth initiatives forward." About Technip Energies Technip Energies is a leading Engineering & Technology company for the energy transition, with leadership positions in LNG, hydrogen and ethylene as well as growing market positions in blue and green hydrogen, sustainable chemistry and CO2 management. The Company benefits from its robust Project Delivery model supported by an extensive Technology, Products and Services offering. Operating in 34 countries, our 16,000 employees are fully committed to bringing our clients innovative projects to life, breaking boundaries to accelerate the energy transition for a better tomorrow. Technip Energies shares are listed on Euronext Paris. In addition, Technip Energies has a Level 1 sponsored American Depositary Receipts (ADR) program, with its ADRs trading over the counter. For further information: www.ten.com Contacts Investor Relations Media Relations Phillip Lindsay Jason Hyonne Vice-President Investor Relations Press Relations & Social Media Manager Tel: +44 207 585 5051 Tel: +33 1 47 78 22 89 Email: Phillip Lindsay Email: Jason Hyonne Important Information for Investors and Securityholders Forward-Looking Statements This Press Release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Technip Energies (the Company) intentions, beliefs or current expectations and projections about the Company's future results of operations, anticipated revenues, earnings, cashflows, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, anticipated growth, strategies and opportunities and the markets in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words believe, expect, anticipate, plan, intend, foresee, should, would, could, may, estimate, outlook, and similar expressions, including the negative thereof. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on the Companys current expectations, beliefs and assumptions concerning future developments and business conditions and their potential effect on the Company. While the Company believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those that the Company anticipates. All of the Companys forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are significant or beyond the Companys control, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Companys historical experience and the Companys present expectations or projections. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. For information regarding known material factors that could cause actual results to differ from projected results, please see the Companys risk factors set forth in the Companys 2023 Annual Financial Report filed on March 8, 2024, with the Dutch Autoriteit Financiele Markten (AFM) and the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) which include a discussion of factors that could affect the Company's future performance and the markets in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and speak only as of the date they are made. The Company undertakes no duty to and will not necessarily update any of the forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events, except to the extent required by applicable law. Attachments Stellantis Deploys AI-enabled Innovations to Boost Manufacturing Efficiency, Sustainability and Improve Workplace On annual Factory Booster Day, Stellantis invites suppliers and startups to propose solutions to support global manufacturing ambitions Stellantis plants around the world are implementing cloud-based digital twins, AI and 3D vision-enabled solutions from previous Factory Booster Day events 2024 Factory Booster Day (September 18) at the Mirafiori Complex in Turin, Italy, features more than 60 partners and 93 innovations AMSTERDAM, September 18, 2024 Stellantis manufacturing leaders embrace the challenge to discover and implement production processes that leverage workers talents, ensure product quality, improve efficiencies and produce vehicles and components efficiently with minimal environmental impact. Now in its ninth year, Stellantis annual Factory Booster Day is a key part of driving manufacturing improvements to meet the demands of todays industry and leverage new technologies for the shop floor. Employing the Open Challenge process where plant leaders solicit suppliers and startup companies for ideas, Factory Booster Day is a global showcase of solutions for the factory floor, pitched by suppliers and startups via physical and virtual demonstrations. The 2024 Factory Booster Day held September 18 at the Stellantis Mirafiori Complex in Turin, Italy, includes 93 innovations on display. Over the past three years, more than 300 proposals have been considered by the Stellantis manufacturing team. We have proof that collaboration with our manufacturing partners works. Implementing innovations and continuous improvement have reduced our transformation costs 11%, energy consumption 23% and quality issues 40% since 2021, said Arnaud Deboeuf, Stellantis Chief Manufacturing Officer. Stellantis workers are proud to build vehicles that deliver the emotional and world-class qualities of our iconic brands. Leveraging the latest technologies, especially AI, is a significant lever to achieve the level of excellence we are aiming for. Innovations from prior Factory Booster Day events are bringing speed and error-proofing advancements in cloud-based digital twins, artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D vision-enabled solutions to Stellantis manufacturing environments. Some of these innovations include: Stellantis uses Autodesk Construction Cloud, a cloud-based platform that supports workflows for all phases of construction from design, to planning, to building, to operations. Presented at 2022 Factory Booster Day, it enables suppliers and Stellantis to share and simulate construction layouts simultaneously and interact in a digital twin of a manufacturing facility. Accelerating the aggregation of construction data and improving the collaboration process between Stellantis and its suppliers reduce digital waste by eliminating manual aggregation of data, allowing direct visualization for all teams. It also accelerates validation of the design. Autodesk Construction Cloud was first implemented at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Canada for the STLA Large installation and, following notable cost savings, was expanded to be used for the STLA Frame installation at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, Michigan, U.S. Construction Cloud, a cloud-based platform that supports workflows for all phases of construction from design, to planning, to building, to operations. Presented at 2022 Factory Booster Day, it enables suppliers and Stellantis to share and simulate construction layouts simultaneously and interact in a digital twin of a manufacturing facility. Accelerating the aggregation of construction data and improving the collaboration process between Stellantis and its suppliers reduce digital waste by eliminating manual aggregation of data, allowing direct visualization for all teams. It also accelerates validation of the design. Autodesk Construction Cloud was first implemented at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Canada for the STLA Large installation and, following notable cost savings, was expanded to be used for the STLA Frame installation at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, Michigan, U.S. AI-enabled robot guidance, installed in several Stellantis powertrain plants, incorporates a three-dimensional (3D) vision system. This GuideNow innovation with Inbolt , a France-based startup, leverages AI and vision systems to allow robots to adjust their trajectory and operations in real-time to avoid potential conflicts or impacts. The system is delivering improved quality and reducing lead time between powertrain assembly and installation in a vehicle. This innovation was presented at the 2021 Factory Booster Day. Autonomous wheels from wheel.me , a Norwegian robotics startup, convert existing carts and dollies into autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). The wheels replace standard casters, automating the movement of parts or commodities within factories. This technology helps boost efficiency, safety and cost savings with minimal disruption to existing processes and material flows. wheel.me eliminates the need for expensive track systems, offering Stellantis flexibility and annual savings. Stellantis and wheel.me are currently planning on expanding the technology across other plants. The innovation debuted at the 2022 Factory Booster Day. Manufacturing innovations that help deliver better products, generate less waste or reduce energy usage are key to helping meet the ambitions of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan: Becoming a carbon net zero company by 2038, all scopes included, with single-digit percentage compensation of remaining emissions. Stellantis achieved an over 20% reduction of the manufacturing carbon footprint on scopes 1 and 2 since 2021. Reducing production costs by 40% by 2030, including deploying automation, digital solutions and artificial intelligence. Achieving #1 product quality with optimized defect detection, delivering an industry-leading customer experience. # # # About Stellantis Stellantis N.V. (NYSE: STLA / Euronext Milan: STLAM / Euronext Paris: STLAP) is one of the worlds leading automakers aiming to provide clean, safe and affordable freedom of mobility to all. Its best known for its unique portfolio of iconic and innovative brands including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS Automobiles, FIAT, Jeep , Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, Vauxhall, Free2move and Leasys. Stellantis is executing its Dare Forward 2030, a bold strategic plan that paves the way to achieve the ambitious target of becoming a carbon net zero mobility tech company by 2038, with single-digit percentage compensation of the remaining emissions, while creating added value for all stakeholders. For more information, visit www.stellantis.com @Stellantis Stellantis Stellantis Stellantis For more information, contact: Fernao SILVEIRA +31 6 43 25 43 41 fernao.silveira@stellantis.com Nathalie ROUSSEL +33 6 87 77 41 82 nathalie.roussel@stellantis.com communications@stellantis.com www.stellantis.com Attachment NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today marks the opening of Better Outcomes 2024, the premier home-based care conference hosted by AlayaCare in Niagara Falls. The event, running from September 18-20, brings together healthcare innovators, leaders, and experts from across the U.S. and Canada to discuss, learn, and shape the future of home-based care. The conference is officially sold out, and attendees are set to experience over 30 insightful sessions and workshops designed to address the challenges of today and demands of tomorrow. Speakers will address hot industry topics such as the use of AI in home-based care, how to keep organizations safe from cyber-attacks, what digital evolution means for the industry, employee retention, and more. Day One Highlights: Keynote Speech: Dr. Abdul Shaikh, Global Leader for Population Health at Amazon Web Services (AWS), will open the conference with insights into the impact of cloud technology on population health and how it can drive transformative change in home-based care. Breakout Sessions: Attendees can participate in a series of breakout sessions that explore actionable strategies to improve business efficiency, enhance patient care, and adopt innovative healthcare technologies. Networking Opportunities: The day will also offer numerous networking sessions, providing attendees with the chance to connect with peers, industry leaders, and solution providers. Upcoming Highlights: Keynote from Naom Monari: Naom Monari, Founder and CEO of BenaCare, will share her experiences on delivering healthcare to underserved communities in Kenya, offering valuable lessons in accessibility and innovation. Frontline Heroes Session: A special panel featuring frontline caregivers will shine a spotlight on the critical role they play and the unique challenges they face. The Future of Home-Based Care Better Outcomes 2024 is a unique opportunity for healthcare professionals to explore the latest advancements in home-based care. The focus on AI-driven solutions, data-driven decision making, and caregiver empowerment is set to transform how care is delivered and improve patient outcomes. A special thank you goes to the top-level sponsors of Better Outcomes 2024, whose support has been instrumental in making this event possible. This years sponsors include Amazon Web Services (AWS), a global leader in cloud computing services that empowers healthcare organizations to innovate and scale; Nevvon, a leading provider of e-training solutions for caregivers; Caribou Rewards, a platform dedicated to employee recognition and engagement; FrontStream Payments, an innovative payment solution that supports nonprofit and healthcare organizations; and Checked In Care, a platform that supercharges your AlayaCare patient, family, and employee experience. Their commitment to advancing home-based care is helping to drive the innovations and discussions shaping the future of the industry. For a full list of sponsors, please visit our sponsor page. For more information about Better Outcomes, visit our website or contact Steph Davidson to arrange an interview with any of our featured attendees. AlayaCare Press Contact: Steph Davidson steph.davidson@alayacare.com 647-668-6369 About AlayaCare AlayaCare is an end-to-end software platform for public, private, non-profit, and community home-based care organizations that manages the entire client lifecycle, including needs assessments, care plans, scheduling, visit and route optimization, and visit verification. Founded in 2014 and now with over 600 employees, AlayaCare combines traditional in-home and virtual care solutions that enable care providers to lower the cost of care and achieve better outcomes for their clients. For more information, visit: AlayaCare.com. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/55ab9575-6d70-4655-8ed9-e167b2e5d889 Company invites individual and institutional investors, as well as advisors, to attend interactive, real-time virtual event MANILA, Philippines, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO, BDOUY) based in the Philippines, today announced that BDO Unibank, Inc. First Vice President, Richard R. Tan will present at the dbVIC - Deutsche Bank American Depositary Receipt (ADR) Virtual Investor Conference on September 24. This virtual investor conference is aimed exclusively at introducing global companies with ADR programs to investors. DATE: September 24, 2024 TIME: 11:00 AM ET LINK: https://bit.ly/47xPcjS This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time - both in the presentation hall as well as the organizations virtual trade booth. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event. It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates. Participation is free of charge. About BDO Unibank, Inc. BDO is a full-service universal bank in the Philippines, providing a complete array of industry-leading products and services including Lending (corporate and consumer), Deposit-taking, Foreign Exchange, Brokering, Trust and Investments, Credit Cards, Retail Cash Cards, Corporate Cash Management and Remittances. Through its local subsidiaries, the Bank offers Investment Banking, Private Banking, Leasing and Finance, Rural Banking and Microfinance, Life Insurance, Property and Casualty Insurance Brokerage, and Online and Traditional Stock Brokerage services. BDOs institutional strengths and value-added products and services hold the key to its successful business relationships with customers. On the front line, its branches remain at the forefront of setting high standards as a sales and service-oriented, customer-focused force. The Bank has the largest distribution network with over 1,700 operating branches and more than 5,600 teller machines nationwide. BDO has 16 international offices (including full-service branches in Hong Kong and Singapore) spread across Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. The Bank also offers digital banking solutions to make banking easier, faster, and more secure for its clients. Through selective acquisitions and organic growth, BDO has positioned itself for increased balance sheet strength and continuing expansion into new markets. As of June 30, 2024, BDO is the countrys largest bank in terms of total resources, customer loans, deposits, assets under management and capital, as well as branch and teller machine network nationwide. BDO is a member of the SM Group, one of the countrys largest and most successful conglomerates with businesses spanning retail, mall operations, property development (residential, commercial, hotels and resorts), and financial services. Although part of a conglomerate, BDOs day-to-day operations are handled by a team of professional managers and bank officers. Further, the Bank has one of the industrys strongest Board of Directors, composed of professionals with extensive experience in various fields that include banking and finance, accounting, law, and business. For more information, please visit www.bdo.com.ph. About Virtual Investor Conferences Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly traded companies to seamlessly present directly to investors. Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. Accelerating the next level of investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences delivers leading investor communications to a global network of retail and institutional investors. Contacts BDO Unibank, Inc. Investor Relations (IR) Team (632) 8840 7000 irandcorplan@bdo.com.ph Richard R. Tan First Vice President (632) 8840 7000 (loc. 4809) tan.richard@bdo.com.ph Virtual Investor Conferences John M. Viglotti SVP Corporate Services, Investor Access OTC Markets Group (212) 220-2221 johnv@otcmarkets.com Pune, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Electric Wall Heater Market Size & Growth Analysis: According to SNS Insider Research, The Electric Wall Heater Market size was valued at US$ 3.88 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$ 6.05 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 5.06% over the forecast period 2024-2032. Growing Demand for Electric Wall Heaters Driven by Smart Technologies and Urbanization The electric wall heater market is expected to rise due to the increasing application of heating solution in residential, commercial, and industrial purposes. The electric wall heaters can be deployed for localized heating and do not consume any floor space. They are usually used in garages, smaller rooms, and office. The growing market of smart homes and the increasing application of green and energy efficient product usage further accelerate the growth of the market. Now, the consumers are switching from fuel-based heaters to electric wall heaters owing to their cost-effective and environmentally friendly usage. The growth of electric wall heaters in the market of construction activities, urbanization, and technological advancements are growing at a significant rate. The integration of programmable thermostats and Wi-Fi allows heater control from a remote place and also enables optimized energy use. North America especially the U.S. is the major shareholder of the market as the climate of the region requires the usage of heating products for longer periods. Replacing of older heating products in the residential application also induces growth in the region. The trend of using compact and good-looking designer product for interior purposes is growing in the market. Many electronic devices are now coming with app-based control and energy efficiency monitoring, attracting many tech-savvy customers. Also, there is an increasing demand for low noise and quick heating models in offices and residential applications. Get a Sample Report of Electric Wall Heater Market@ https://www.snsinsider.com/sample-request/2641 Major Players Analysis Listed in this Report are: Marley Engineered Products- (Electro-Motive series) Stiebel Eltron Inc. - (CK 15 E, CK 25 E) Markel Products Company - (Electric Wall Heater Model 01893) Trane - (Trane Electric Wall Heater) Broan, Inc. - (Broan 198 Wall Heater) WarmlyYours.com, Inc.,. - (TempZone Electric Radiant Wall Heater) King Electric - (W Series Wall Heater) Indeeco - (Indeeco Electric Wall Heater) Glen Dimplex Group,- (Dimplex Panel Heater) Radiant System - (Radiant Wall Heater) Cadet Manufacturing Company - (Cadet Com-Pak Plus) Dimplex North America Limited - (Dimplex Touch Screen Heater) Fahrenheat - (Fahrenheat FUH Electric Wall Heater) QMark Heating Products - (QMark Electric Wall Heater) Honeywell International Inc. - (Honeywell Electric Wall Heater) DeLonghi America, Inc. - (DeLonghi Slim Style Convection Heater) Econo-Heat, Inc. - (Econo-Heat Panel Heater) Rinnai Corporation - (Rinnai Electric Wall Heater) Convectair NMT, Inc. - (Convectair Wall Heater) NewAir - (NewAir Electric Wall Heater) Others Players Electric Wall Heater Market Report Scope: Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2023 US$ 3.88 Billion Market Size by 2032 US$ 6.05 Billion CAGR CAGR of 5.06% From 2024 to 2032 Base Year 2023 Forecast Period 2024-2032 Historical Data 2020-2022 Key Regional Coverage North America (US, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Eastern Europe [Poland, Romania, Hungary, Turkey, Rest of Eastern Europe] Western Europe] Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Rest of Western Europe]), Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, Rest of Asia Pacific), Middle East & Africa (Middle East [UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Rest of Middle East], Africa [Nigeria, South Africa, Rest of Africa], Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Rest of Latin America) Growth Drivers Technological advancements, including smart features like Wi-Fi connectivity and programmable thermostats, attract consumers by enhancing convenience and control in electric wall heaters. Do you have any specific queries or need any customization data on Electric Wall Heater Market, Enquire Now@ https://www.snsinsider.com/enquiry/2641 Segmentation Analysis: Residential Segment Leads Market with 65.02% Share in 2023, Driven by Convenience of Electric Wall Heaters By Application: In 2023, the residential segment has registered over 65.02% of the market share. This is due to ease of installation, heating efficiency in targeted areas, and convenience of electric wall heaters application in households. By Power: In 2023, the 1000 to 1600-Watt segment has been accounting for over 36.08% due to the high demand for energy-efficient high-capacity heaters suitable for households and non-residential purposes. The increase in demand for this segment is expected across the forecast period. Electric Wall Heater Market Key Segmentation: By Application Residential Non-Residential By Power <1000 Watt 1000 to 1600 Watt 1600 to 2000 Watt >2000 Watt Regional Analysis: North America Leads Electric Wall Heater Market with 32.12% Share in 2023 North America: North America dominated the Electric Wall Heater Market with over 32.12% share in 2023. This region's market is characterized by rising urbanization, a surge in demand for comfort and convenience in homes, and a rapidly changing lifestyle. Asia-Pacific: The Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR from 2024 to 2032. The rapid adoption of smart home technologies and the trend towards home automation drive this growth. Chinas Electric Wall Heater Market holds the largest market share, while India is the fastest-growing market in the region. Recent Developments In February 2024: industry veteran Marley Engineered Products announced a new line of eco-friendly heaters boasting recycled steel bodies and improved insulation for minimized heat loss. In March 2024: Stiebel Eltron, a German powerhouse, unveiled its latest model, focusing on smart home integration with voice-controlled temperature adjustments and Wi-Fi connectivity. Buy an Enterprise-User PDF of Electric Wall Heater Market Analysis & Outlook 2024-2032@ https://www.snsinsider.com/checkout/2641 Key Takeaways It covers recent developments, market sizing, and segmentation, offering a clear assessment of the Electric Wall Heater Market. This includes data on market share, growth projections, and revenue trends. The report identifies significant technological advancements and emerging trends in electric wall heater technology, which are crucial for gaining a competitive edge in the market. It explores the impact of rising urbanization in North America and the rapid adoption of smart home technologies in Asia-Pacific. Insights into Chinas dominant market share and Indias rapid growth are provided to inform strategic planning. The report assesses investment trends in the electric wall heater sector and the impact of market trends on investment strategies, helping stakeholders make informed decisions. The report offers an analysis of major players in the Electric Wall Heater Market, detailing their market strategies, recent product innovations, and competitive positioning to aid in identifying key market competitors. Table of Contents Major Key Points 1. Introduction 2. Executive Summary 3. Research Methodology 4. Market Dynamics Impact Analysis 5. Statistical Insights and Trends Reporting 5.1 Manufacturing Output, by region, (2020-2023) 5.2 Utilization Rates, by region, (2020-2023) 5.3 Maintenance and Downtime Metrix 5.4 Technological Adoption Rates, by region 5.5 Export/Import Data, by region (2023) 6. Competitive Landscape 7. Electric Wall Heater Market Segmentation, By Application 8. Electric Wall Heater Market Segmentation, By Power 9. Regional Analysis 10. Company Profiles 11. Use Cases and Best Practices 12. Conclusion Access Complete Report Details of Electric Wall Heater Market Analysis 2024-2032@ https://www.snsinsider.com/reports/electric-wall-heater-market-2641 [For more information or need any customization research mail us at info@snsinsider.com] About Us: SNS Insider is one of the leading market research and consulting agencies that dominates the market research industry globally. Our company's aim is to give clients the knowledge they require in order to function in changing circumstances. In order to give you current, accurate market data, consumer insights, and opinions so that you can make decisions with confidence, we employ a variety of techniques, including surveys, video talks, and focus groups around the world. HOUSTON, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lone Star PACE, a leader of Texas Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program, helped arrange $40 million in C-PACE financing for the revitalization of ViVa Center, a 2.3-million-square-foot technology hub in Houston, supporting the development of data centers aimed at driving the growth of AI. The 774,000-square-foot facility at 11445 Compaq Center West Drive is part of the recently rebranded ViVa Center, which was originally the headquarters for Compaq Computer and later acquired by Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. This turnkey data center will cater to hyperscale users in the cloud computing and artificial intelligence sectors. Financing proceeds will be used to install sustainable building components to Phase 1 of the data center development. Improvements include energy-efficient windows, LED lighting, advanced HVAC systems, and high-efficiency plumbing upgrades. Lee McCormick, president of Lone Star PACE, said: We are thrilled to have partnered with VivaVerse Solutions on this much-needed project. Demand for data center infrastructure has exploded amid a rise in data consumption and technological innovation, and its exciting to see C-PACE play a role in meeting that need. C-PACE allows property owners to access low-cost, long-term financing for energy and water conservation systems at commercial buildings. Property owners can use C-PACE to finance new construction, building retrofits or recapitalizations. Nuveen Green Capital served as the capital provider for the project, which involves retrofitting an existing building. Phase 1 is scheduled for completion this fall. Sean Ribble, senior director of originations at Nuveen Green Capital, said: We are proud to expand our partnership with Lone Star PACE by providing $40 million in C-PACE capital to VivaVerse Solutions for the deep retrofit of their data center. In a capital-constrained market, more owners and developers are recognizing the value of C-PACE as a flexible, cost-efficient financing solution for commercial real estate projects of all asset classes. We look forward to supporting many more C-PACE deals across Texas as the platform continues its expansion as a more mainstream financing option. At full build-out, the ViVa Center development will offer 250 megawatts of power, a dedicated chilled water plant and a natural gas pipeline for energy generation. Freddy Vaca, president of VivaVerse Solutions, stated: At ViVa Center, our commitment to technological innovation and forward-thinking design drives the integration of state-of-the-art building systems. Partnering with Nuveen Green Capital and Lone Star PACE has been instrumental in aligning our advanced sustainability objectives with our investment returns, setting a new benchmark for efficiency and performance in data center development. About Lone Star PACE Lone Star PACE serves as a program administrator for city and county Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) programs in Texas. We help local governments, economic development corporations, chambers of commerce and trade associations promote business growth and conservation by facilitating C-PACE projects with property owners, PACE lenders, contractors and other stakeholders. Our goal is to promote sustainability and increased property values while positively impacting cash flow and utility savings for property owners. About Nuveen Green Capital Nuveen Green Capital is a national leader in sustainable commercial real estate financing solutions and an affiliate of Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA responsible for over $1 trillion in assets under management. Established in 2015 by the C-PACE industrys founders and standard-setters, Nuveen Green Capital is a private capital provider dedicated to making sustainability a smart financial decision for commercial real estate owners who seek to improve the energy, water, and resiliency performance of their property. For more information, visit www.nuveen.com/greencapital. About VivaVerse Solutions VivaVerse Solutions is redefining the former HPE/Compaq Computer campus as a cutting-edge hub for next-generation applications, specializing in AI, blockchain, and High-Performance Compute solutions. Their ambitious plans include state-of-the-art facilities designed to transform the Texas data center landscape, setting new benchmarks for energy efficiency and operational reliability. With the data center market projected to reach $340.2 billion by 2024, VivaVerse Solutions is positioned to offer unparalleled facilities to top-tier AI hyperscalers. For more information, visit www.vivaversesolutions.com. Media Contact Olivia Lueckemeyer Director of Marketing & Media Relations at Lone Star PACE Olivia@LoneStarPACE.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/205b0de7-1500-44f8-88c9-7b1f160a6f1c Dublin, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Fresh Food E-Commerce Market (2024 Edition): Analysis By Product Type (Fish, Meat & Egg, Dairy Products, Fruits and Vegetables, Chilled Products, and Other Products), By Age, By Delivery Model, By Region, By Country: Market Insights and Forecast (2020-2030)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Fresh Food E-Commerce market showcased growth at a CAGR of 13.89% during 2020-2023. The market was valued at USD 140.38 Billion in 2023 which is expected to reach USD 375.15 Billion in 2030 The Fresh Food E-Commerce Market is evolving rapidly, driven by shifting consumer preferences towards convenience, quality, and health-conscious choices. This market operates at the intersection of digital technology, logistics innovation, and agricultural supply chains, transforming the way consumers access and purchase fresh food products. At its core, the Fresh Food E-Commerce Market leverages online platforms and mobile apps to offer a wide range of fresh food products, including fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, and chilled items. These platforms provide consumers with the convenience of browsing, selecting, and purchasing fresh groceries from the comfort of their homes or on-the-go. This convenience is particularly appealing to busy urban dwellers, elderly populations, and families seeking time-saving solutions without compromising on the quality of their food. The market's growth is fuelled by several key factors. Firstly, advancements in logistics and cold chain technologies ensure that perishable goods maintain their freshness during transportation and delivery. This reliability in logistics enables e-commerce platforms to expand their delivery reach, catering to both densely populated urban centers and more remote areas. Secondly, the proliferation of smartphones and internet connectivity has broadened consumer access to online shopping platforms. Mobile apps and responsive websites provide intuitive interfaces for browsing products, making purchases, and tracking deliveries in real-time. These technological advancements enhance the overall shopping experience, boosting consumer confidence and loyalty. Moreover, the Fresh Food E-Commerce Market capitalizes on consumer trends towards health and sustainability. Consumers are increasingly opting for organic, locally sourced, and environmentally friendly food options. E-commerce platforms respond by partnering with sustainable farms and suppliers, offering transparency in sourcing practices and certifications that validate product authenticity and quality. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the market's growth as lockdowns and social distancing measures prompted more consumers to embrace online grocery shopping. This shift in consumer behavior towards digital platforms for essential purchases has solidified the market's position and expanded its customer base significantly. Looking ahead, the Fresh Food E-Commerce Market is poised for continued expansion. Future growth will likely be driven by ongoing technological innovations, including AI-driven personalization, automation in fulfillment centers, and improvements in last-mile delivery capabilities. Additionally, regulatory frameworks that support food safety standards and digital commerce infrastructure will play crucial roles in shaping the market's trajectory. Scope of the Report The report analyses the Fresh Food E-Commerce Market by Value ( USD Billion). The report analyses the Fresh Food E-Commerce Market by Region (Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa) and 10 Countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, China, Japan, South Korea, and India). The report presents the analysis of Fresh Food E-Commerce Market for the historical period of 2020-2023, the estimated year 2024 and the forecast period of 2025-2030. The report analyses the Fresh Food E-Commerce Market By Product Type (Fish, Meat & Egg, Dairy Products, Fruits and Vegetables, Chilled Products, and Other Products). The report analyses the Fresh Food E-Commerce Market By Age (Less Than 20 Years, 20 to 30 Years, and Above 30 Years). The report analyses the Fresh Food E-Commerce Market By Delivery Model (Home Delivery, Click-and-Collect, and Subscription Services). The key insights of the report have been presented through the frameworks of SWOT and Porter's Five Forces Analysis. Also, the attractiveness of the market has been presented by region, By Product Type, By Age & By Delivery Model. Also, the major opportunities, trends, drivers, and challenges of the industry has been analyzed in the report. The report tracks competitive developments, strategies, mergers and acquisitions and new product development. Analyst Recommendations Optimize Logistics and Delivery Networks Expand Product Range and Quality Assurance Competitive Positioning Companies' Product Positioning Market Position Matrix Market Share Analysis of Fresh Food E-Commerce Market Company Profiles Amazon.com, Inc. Blinkit BigBasket Maplebear Inc. Walmart Inc. FreshDirect Ocado Group plc J Sainsbury plc Coles Online Waitrose Limited For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/t011qk 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. The Management Board of Rokiskio suris AB, in accordance with the decision of the General Extraordinary Meeting of Shareholders of Rokiskio suris AB held on 27 June 2024, has decided to buy back up to 3 228 117 (three million two hundred and twenty-eight thousand one hundred and seventeen) units of the Company's shares. Rokiskio suris AB ordinary registered shares with a nominal value of EUR 0,29. This buy-back of treasury shares is carried out in order to complete the implementation of the decision of the strategic investor Fonterra to withdraw from the capital of Rokiskio suris AB. The Company will buy back its own shares at a price of EUR 2,20 per share. Company's announcement on Fonterra's withdrawal from the capital of Rokiskio suris AB Strategic investor Fonterra decided to withdraw from the share capital of AB Rokiskio suris The Company shall ensure that all shareholders have an equal opportunity to transfer their shares in the Company. Put orders are accumulated over the lifetime of the share purchase. If the supply of shares exceeds the number of shares to be acquired, all sellers of shares will have their number of shares reduced proportionately. Acquisition terms: Start of the acquisition: 23 September 2024 End of the acquisition: 27 September 2024 Maximum number of shares to be acquired: 3 228 117 units. Total maximum price of the shares to be acquired: EUR 7 101 857.40 Acquisition price: EUR 2,20 per share. CEO of the Company Dalius Trumpa Tel.:+370 458 55200 COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- River, the leading U.S. Bitcoin exchange, proudly announces the launch of River Proof of Reserves , setting a new industry standard for transparency and trust. This launch makes River the first Bitcoin exchange to provide clients with verifiable proof that their Bitcoin is held in full reserve cold storage custody. Addressing industry failures with transparent solutions Since its founding in 2019, River has encouraged clients to self-custody or take direct ownership of their Bitcoin. However, the reality is some people prefer to trust an institution with their Bitcoin. As such, River has taken proactive steps to develop a best-in-class custody service. The collapse of Prime Trust and FTX in recent years highlighted the dangers of opaque operations and fractional reserves. These failures have resulted in significant losses for everyday people, and have shaken trust within the industry. River Proof of Reserves addresses these issues head-on, providing a transparent solution that assures clients their Bitcoin is secure and held in full reserve. River Proof of Reserves is about more than verifying our balances; its about reinforcing Rivers commitment to integrity and long-term client trust. By encouraging public scrutiny of our reserves, we eliminate any possibility of the smoke and mirrors that enabled failures like FTX and Prime Trust. Our goal is to build unshakable trust with our clients. Proof of Reserves is the gold standard for Bitcoin custody. Alex Leishman, CEO of River Proving their commitment: Rivers approach to Bitcoin security Rivers commitment to transparency and security is at the heart of everything they do. Its not only about the features they offer; its ingrained in their culture. For their clients, who include individual investors and businesses, this means their Bitcoin is held securely with in-house custody, reducing reliance on third parties. Rivers multisig cold storage ensures that multiple layers of security protect their client's Bitcoin. River has also attained SOC 1 and SOC 2 certifications, providing independent verification that its security practices adhere to the highest industry standards. With the introduction of River Proof of Reserves, River empowers its clients to independently verify that their Bitcoin holdings are held in full reserve. These combined measures ensure that River can meet all withdrawal requests promptly and securely, providing their clients with the confidence that their assets are safe. By setting a new benchmark for transparency and accountability, River reinforces its position as a leader in the Bitcoin industry. About River River is a premier Bitcoin-only financial services company dedicated to providing the most secure and transparent platform for buying, selling, and holding Bitcoin. Founded with a mission to champion an honest financial system by accelerating the adoption of Bitcoin, the worlds only incorruptible asset, River continues to lead the way in innovation. By combining robust security measures with a simple user experience, River empowers individuals and institutions to confidently manage their Bitcoin investments. For more information about River Proof of Reserves, please visit River.com/reserves or follow them on X (Twitter) . A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0bd9b9ec-afe8-4c51-8e8e-153a37825625 Philadelphia, PA, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MICHELIN, the global authority on luxury and fine dining, has announced the second edition of its MICHELIN Key Hotels List with three standout Independent Collection Hotels & Resorts recognized amongst the best in the world. The Whitney Hotel , a stylish boutique hotel in Boston, earned 2 MICHELIN Keys, and The Rittenhouse , a historic landmark in Philadelphia, and The Plaza at Pioneer Park , a beloved historic hotel in El Paso, were each honored with 1 MICHELIN Key. Four years in the making, the MICHELIN Key Hotels celebrates a curated selection of properties that offer exceptional experiences and services, as judged by Michelins expert inspectors. Hotels are evaluated on a range of criteria, including architecture and interior design, quality and consistency of service, overall personality and character, value for the price, and a significant contribution to the guest experience in a particular setting. The number of keys awarded reflects the hotel's level of excellence. Dani Elhachem, COO of HHM Hotels, expressed his delight at the recognition, stating, "We are incredibly proud of these three properties for being recognized in the MICHELIN Key Hotels List. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our teams, who consistently strive to provide our guests with exceptional experiences. Were committed to upholding the highest standards of excellence across our portfolio and look forward to continuing to deliver unforgettable stays for our guests." All three properties reflect the essence of Independent Collection Hotels & Resorts, offering guests locally-inspired experiences that showcase the vibrant character of their destinations. The Whitney Hotel, a chic boutique haven in Boston, seamlessly blends contemporary design with historic charm. The Rittenhouse, a timeless icon in Philadelphia, embodies refined luxury and impeccable service. The Plaza at Pioneer Park, a cherished landmark in El Paso, exudes warmth and a welcoming spirit, inviting guests to experience its rich history. For the full list of MICHELIN Key Hotels, see here . ### About Independent Collection Hotels & Resorts Independent Collection Hotels & Resorts is designed for those who see the world differently. The curious and discerning travelers who look beyond the beaten path to discover a destinations true spirit, engage with local culture and indulge their curiosities with flair. Each one-of-a-kind hotel in the collection reflects the vibrancy of the surrounding community. With locally inspired design, eclectic amenities, personalized service and insider destination knowledge, Independent Collections hotels and resorts engage guests with meaningful experiences at every touchpoint. About The Whitney Hotel The Whitney Hotel, a 65-room luxury hotel in Bostons Beacon Hill neighborhood, offers generous hospitality through sophisticated simplicity and cultured comforts. Opened in 2019 and named after Henry Melville Whitney, a prominent Boston industrialist and one-time owner of the hotel site, the property is a haven apart from the urban hustle, welcoming guests with uncomplicated, urbane luxury complemented by the comforts and indulgences of home. The property is part of the Independent Collection Hotels & Resorts portfolio. To learn more about The Whitney Hotel Boston, please visit whitneyhotelboston.com and follow along on Instagram and Facebook . About The Rittenhouse The Rittenhouse is a Forbes Five-Star, Independent Collection Hotels & Resorts property and member of The Leading Hotels of the World located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The property is a standout among luxury hotels in Philadelphias Center City, offering visitors a Forbes Five Star experience with well-appointed rooms and suites, world-class service, and the most desirable location in town. From fine dining culinary experiences and impeccably tailored events to our relaxing atrium salt water pool and rejuvenating treatments from the spa, our Rittenhouse Square luxury hotel offers personalized experiences and provides the perfect balance of sophistication and relaxation for families, business travelers, and romantic vacationers alike. For more information, visit www.rittenhouse hotel.com . Follow The Rittenhouse on Facebook at The Rittenhouse and Instagram @the_rittenhouse . About The Plaza Hotel at Pioneer Park The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park is a landmark property that has been reborn as El Paso, Texas most luxurious boutique hotel. Since its debut in the 1930s, The Plaza has commanded a striking position along the citys skyline, welcoming A-listers such as Conrad Hilton and Elizabeth Taylor. The iconic 130-room pet-friendly hotel boasts a world-class restaurant and bar, and an exclusive two-story glass bar with 800 unique agave spirits. Signature restaurant Ambar features elevated Mexican cuisine and The Bar at Ambar boasts the largest curated collection of tequilas, mezcals and Mexican wines in the world. La Perla, the highest open air rooftop bar in El Paso, is located on the 17th floor and offers breathtaking mountain views that stretch from El Paso to Mexico and New Mexico. The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park features more than 7,600 sq. ft. of event space. To learn more about The Plaza, please visit www.plazahotelelpaso.com and follow along on Instagram and Facebook . About the MICHELIN Key Hotels List The Michelin Key Hotels List is a curated selection of hotels that offer exceptional experiences and services, as judged by Michelins expert inspectors. Hotels are evaluated on a range of criteria, including the quality of their accommodations, dining options, amenities, and overall atmosphere. Just like a MICHELIN-rated restaurant, a MICHELIN-rated hotel can earn One, Two, or Three Keys. One Key: a very special stay. Two Keys: an exceptional stay. Three Keys: an extraordinary stay. Attachments Dublin, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Professional Cloud Services - Global Strategic Business Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global market for Professional Cloud Services is estimated at US$20.7 Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$64 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 17.5% from 2023 to 2030. This comprehensive report provides an in-depth analysis of market trends, drivers, and forecasts, helping you make informed business decisions. The Global Professional Cloud Services Market is expected to witness significant growth over the next seven years, particularly in the Public Deployment segment, which is projected to reach US$20.5 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 15%. Similarly, the Private Deployment segment is forecasted to grow at an even higher rate, with a CAGR of 17.7%, reflecting robust market expansion driven by increasing digital transformation initiatives across industries. In terms of regional analysis, the U.S. market is estimated at US$6.2 billion in 2023, showcasing steady growth, while China is forecasted to grow at an impressive 16.4% CAGR, reaching US$10.8 billion by 2030. Other key markets showing promising growth trends include Japan, Canada, Germany, and the Asia-Pacific region, each experiencing rising adoption of cloud services due to enhanced infrastructure and increasing enterprise demand. Report Features: The report includes comprehensive market data, offering an independent analysis of annual sales and market forecasts (in US$ million) from 2023 to 2030. In-depth regional analysis provides insights into key markets across the globe, with detailed breakdowns for regions such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Company profiles cover major players in the market, including Accenture PLC, Atos SA, Capgemini SE, among others. Complimentary updates ensure access to the latest market developments for one year. Why You Should Buy This Report: Detailed market analysis provides a thorough examination of the Global Professional Cloud Services Market, including both public and private deployment models. Gain competitive insights through an overview of major players and their presence in key geographies. Understand future trends and drivers that are shaping the industry and influencing the adoption of cloud technologies. The report offers actionable insights to help businesses identify new revenue opportunities and make strategic decisions for growth and innovation. Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 183 Forecast Period 2023 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $20.7 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $64 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 17.5% Regions Covered Global Key Topics Covered: MARKET OVERVIEW Influencer Market Insights World Market Trajectories Cloud Professional Services - Global Key Competitors Percentage Market Share in 2024 (E) Competitive Market Presence - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial for Players Worldwide in 2024 (E) Global Economic Update MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS Rising Adoption of Cloud-Based Solutions Propels Market Growth Increasing Demand for Scalable IT Infrastructure Expands Addressable Market Opportunity Technological Advancements in Cloud Security Strengthen Market Position Growing Focus on Digital Transformation Spurs Market Expansion Development of Industry-Specific Cloud Solutions Sustains Market Growth Increasing Investments in AI and Machine Learning in Cloud Services Generate New Opportunities Growth in Remote Workforce Expands Addressable Market Horizons Advancements in Cloud Management and Orchestration Tools Strengthen Business Case Increasing Focus on Cost Optimization Spurs Market Expansion Emergence of Multi-Cloud Strategies Throws Spotlight on Market Dynamics Growth in Edge Computing and IoT Integration Generates New Opportunities Rising Demand for Cloud-Based Collaboration Tools Propels Market Growth FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS(Total 19 Featured) Accenture PLC Atos SA Capgemini SE Cisco Systems, Inc. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Fujitsu Ltd. HCL Technologies Ltd. HP, Inc. Infosys Ltd. Microsoft Corporation NTT DATA Corporation Oracle Corporation SAP SE For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/f0zma About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment DURBAN, South Africa, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Virus Network concluded its annual meeting of closed scientific sessions held 16-18 September 2024 with a press conference. Co-hosted by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), the meeting of world-leading experts discussed advancing and collaborating on cutting-edge science, the rising number of mpox outbreaks, the growing challenge of scientific misinformation during a global health crisis, and pandemic preparedness strategies for strengthening health systems, enhancing forecasting models, and providing greater access to vaccines and treatments. Dr. Sten Vermund, GVN President and Professor of the Yale School of Public Health, USA, said, We are grateful to our CAPRISA colleagues for cohosting a substantive and impactful scientific meeting with so many African scientists participating. The virology research presented at this year's annual meeting was of the highest caliber. The GVN is fortunate to have Centers of Excellence and affiliated laboratories on this dynamic continent." Presenting about strategies to train the next generation of virologists and prepare for future global health security challenges, Dr. Alashle Abimiku, Executive Director of the International Research Center of Excellence of the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, a GVN Center of Excellence, reviewed topics on innovative educational approaches, mentorship, capacity-building in low- and middle-income countries, and fostering diversity in virological, medical, and public health fields. She said, Global threats through outbreaks and pandemics require global response through cooperation and partnerships. One such partnership is championed by the GVN where virologists and scientists work together to provide important insights into viruses of pandemic potential as exemplified by the current GVN annual scientific meeting taking place in Durban with full participation of African virologists and scientists. Dr. Kazunobu Kojima, Technical Lead for Biosafety and Biosecurity, World Health Organization in Geneva participated in the panel discussion Perspectives from the Agencies. He said, "I personally appreciated this GVN meetings participant diversity in terms of geographical representation and expertise. Genuine enthusiasm and certain commitment to contribute to public health seemed to cement the community and characterize its identity." Dr. Nokukhanya Msomi, Head of Virology in the School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences at University of KwaZulu-Natal and National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), South Africa, a GVN Center of Excellence, participated in discussions about viral diagnostics and therapeutics and exploring innovative tools for detecting and treating infections. Dr. Msomi said, The GVN creates a vehicle and platform to share knowledge lessons and experiences that help us build resilient systems as well as responses to viral infections of public health significance. Dr. Rubeshan Perumal, Senior Researcher at CAPRISA and co-Leader of the GVN Long COVID Action Committee, led discussions on acute and long-term impacts of viral infections, post-viral syndromes such as Long COVID, chronic disease development, and implications for global health systems. Dr. Perumal emphasized, By bringing its Annual Scientific Meeting to Africa, GVN has emphasized the African continent's centrality to solving present and future viral threats to humanity. The meeting has showcased the intensity of our solidarity as a global community of scientists committed to the discovery, evaluation, and equitable implementation of interventions that protect human lives from deadly viruses, especially those of pandemic potential. In focused discussions on global preparedness, experts discussed "Disease X," the next unknown pathogen, and shared insights on how to prepare for unpredictable viral threats, including policies on international coordination, rapid response systems, and insights from recent pandemics to prevent future outbreaks. Dr. Rachel Roper, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at East Carolina University, USA, and co-chair of GVNs Mpox Action Committee, said The GVN meeting was fantastic. It was so great to have time with the African scientists, especially at this time when we have a public health emergency of international concern due to mpox. Co-leading a session on pandemic preparedness, Dr. Nadia Sam-Agudu, Senior Technical Advisor of Pediatric and Adolescent HIV at the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, and Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School, USA, explored lessons learned from SARS-CoV-2 and other outbreaks. Dr. Sam-Agudu said, Implementation science is critical to the use of evidence generated for disease control and prevention. Professor Salim Abdool Karim, Director of the GVN Center of Excellence at CAPRISA, co-led a discussion on the growing challenge of misinformation in science, especially during global health crises. Professor Abdool Karim and colleagues examined the impact of misinformation on public trust, pandemic response, and vaccine awareness and offered effective strategies for identifying, debunking, and countering false information while promoting accurate, evidence-based communication in an increasingly digital world. Professor Abdool Karim said, Climate change and human encroachment into the habitats of animals are creating many new opportunities for animal viruses to infect humans, creating the possibility of new pandemics. The worlds first line of defense to prevent the next pandemic requires a network of virology laboratories across the world undertaking surveillance to identify new viral threats early this is exactly what all of us at GVN have set out to do. During the meeting, GVN honored several prominent individuals: GVNs 2024 Robert C. Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership was presented in recognition of exceptional leadership and innovation in virology research to Professor Linfa Wang , Executive Director of the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE), Singapore and Professor in the Selected Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS, Singapore, a GVN Center of Excellence. Its a great honor for me to receive this prestigious award from GVN, Professor Wang said. To me, GVN is like a big family of like-minded scientists. This award has three keywords Gallo, Scientific Excellence, and Leadership, all of them mean a lot to me. I tell my trainees that doing good research is important, but not sufficient. We all need to train ourselves to be ready and prepared to make a public good impact on society. I am proud of making such contributions as a member of the GVN family! was presented in recognition of exceptional leadership and innovation in virology research to Executive Director of the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE), Singapore and Professor in the Selected Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS, Singapore, a GVN Center of Excellence. Its a great honor for me to receive this prestigious award from GVN, Professor Wang said. To me, GVN is like a big family of like-minded scientists. This award has three keywords Gallo, Scientific Excellence, and Leadership, all of them mean a lot to me. I tell my trainees that doing good research is important, but not sufficient. We all need to train ourselves to be ready and prepared to make a public good impact on society. I am proud of making such contributions as a member of the GVN family! Drs. Rachel Roper and Rubeshan Perumal received GVN 2024 Action Committee Awards for their exceptional efforts and accomplishments by GVN Action Committee members in advancing collective goals. and received for their exceptional efforts and accomplishments by GVN Action Committee members in advancing collective goals. GVN 2024 Early Career Investigator Awards , highlighting emerging talent and significant early-career achievements in virology research within the GVN, were awarded to Dr. David Martinez of the Yale School of Medicine, USA and Dr. Gage Moreno of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA, a GVN Center of Excellence. , highlighting emerging talent and significant early-career achievements in virology research within the GVN, were awarded to of the Yale School of Medicine, USA and of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA, a GVN Center of Excellence. Professor Abdool Karim was thanked with GVNs 2024 Cohost Award for co-sponsoring the highly successful meeting in Durban. was thanked with for co-sponsoring the highly successful meeting in Durban. Mr. Mathew Evins, Treasurer & former Chair of the GVN Board of Directors and Chairman & CEO of Evins Communications, Ltd., USA was honored with GVNs 2024 Founders Award, which celebrates individuals or organizations that have significantly contributed to the success of the organization and its initiatives in the spirit of the GVNs three co-founders, Drs. Robert Gallo, William Hall, and the late Reinhard Kurth. Dr. Vermund announced that the 2025 GVN Annual Meeting will be held in October 2025, at the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA, GVNs new global headquarters. For the full three-day agenda of the 2024 GVN Annual Scientific Meeting in Durban, please visit https://gvn.org/gvn-2024-durban/. For a recording of the press conference, please visit https://gvn.org/gvn-fortifying-bonds-on-the-african-continent/. About the Global Virus Network (GVN) The GVN, headquartered at the University of South Florida, is essential and critical in the preparedness, defense, and first research response to emerging, existing, and unidentified viruses that pose a clear and present threat to public health. Working in close coordination with established national and international institutions, the GVN is a coalition comprised of eminent human and animal virologists from 80+ Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in 40+ countries, working collaboratively to train the next generation, advance knowledge about how to identify and diagnose pandemic viruses, mitigate and control how such viruses spread and make us sick, as well as develop drugs, vaccines, and treatments to combat them. No single institution in the world has expertise in all viral areas other than the GVN, which brings together the finest medical virologists to leverage their individual expertise and coalesce global teams of specialists on the scientific challenges, issues, and problems posed by pandemic viruses. The GVN is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, please visit www.gvn.org. A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ac888478-44ea-402d-82de-35a2bb348988 TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Uzbekistan-based Humans ecosystem brings together all payment and transfer services under the Humans Pay brand and releases financial and operating results for the Humans Pay for H1 2024. Following the acquisition of the Maroqand LLC's payment service in 2022 (operating under the UPay trademark), all services have been fully integrated into the Humans ecosystem, providing seamless financial solutions to users across Uzbekistan. This has allowed the company to significantly increase its share in all segments of Uzbekistans fintech market. In the first half of 2024 alone, Humans Pay achieved several impressive milestones: Customer Growth : The number of Humans Pay users increased by 45% compared to the same period in 2023. : The number of Humans Pay users increased by 45% compared to the same period in 2023. Revenue Growth : Humans Pay generated over $5 million in revenue in the first six months of 2024, which is 65% higher than in the first half of 2023. : Humans Pay generated over $5 million in revenue in the first six months of 2024, which is 65% higher than in the first half of 2023. Transaction Volume : The number of transactions also showed consistent growth, amounting to 60 million transactions, which is 21% more than in the first half of 2023. : The number of transactions also showed consistent growth, amounting to 60 million transactions, which is 21% more than in the first half of 2023. Turnover: The Humans Pay turnover in the first half of 2024 increased by 85% compared to the same period in 2023, underscoring the growing demand for its services. Commenting on this remarkable growth, Vlad Dobrynin, CEO and founder of Humans Group, said, We are seeing how the convenient and accessible services of the Humans ecosystem are rapidly gaining market share. Our client base is growing, along with the services turnover and capitalisation, and all these indicators prove Humans' significant role in popularising cashless payments and increasing financial literacy in the country. According to Western experts, the capitalization of the Humans Pay service alone amounts to 60 million dollars today. In turn, we see prospects for further active growth of the ecosystem associated with the dynamic development of Uzbekistans entire digital economy. Due to the high demand for the payment and transfer service, the companys management made the decision to further develop all fintech services within the Humans ecosystem under the Humans Pay brand. This strategic move aims to solidify the brands position as the core driver of growth within the Humans ecosystem and continue its mission of empowering users with convenient and reliable financial solutions. As Uzbekistans digital economy rapidly evolves, Humans Pay remains at the forefront of transforming the countrys financial services sector, ensuring that cashless payments and financial inclusivity are accessible to all. ____________________________________ About Humans ecosystem Humans.uz is a super-app that combines financial services (Humans Pay), mobile services (Humans Mobile), and a product marketplace (Humans Market). The project was launched in June 2020 in Uzbekistan by the Humans Group, which is also developing the Humans.net employee search platform in the USA. The groups offices are located in the USA, Uzbekistan, Poland, Singapore, and Germany. Website: https://humans.uz/en/ Contact: Natalia Ikonnikova pr@humans.net Disclaimer: This content is provided by the Humans. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the content provider. The information shared in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment, financial, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended that you conduct thorough research and consult with a professional financial advisor before making any investment or trading decisions. Please conduct your own research and invest at your own risk. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5404e971-246a-400f-8534-b75e7c90eeb3 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4f13e1a5-4250-4375-966d-b491ecd8da3c Union, N.J., Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Kean University Board of Trustees this week approved a new five-year contract for President Lamont O. Repollet, Ed.D., securing his transformative leadership as Kean continues evolving as a national research institution with one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation. Since assuming leadership in July 2020, President Repollet has overseen significant changes at Kean, including three consecutive years of record enrollment and advancing Kean as New Jerseys urban research university. Today, more than 18,500 students across the globe call Kean their academic home. President Repollet has set the tone for transformational leadership at Kean, said Steve Fastook, chair of the Kean University Board of Trustees. He also embodies everything we need in a strong, visionary leader. Under his guidance, Kean has grown at a time when many universities are struggling, and he continues to elevate the institutions standing on the international stage. President Repollet expressed gratitude to the Board of Trustees for its continued support, emphasizing that the Universitys progress would not have been possible without their commitment. I am excited and honored to continue leading Kean University at this pivotal moment in our history, Repollet said. With the support of our Board of Trustees, we have made incredible strides. Kean is now recognized as New Jerseys urban research university, and our community of students, faculty and staff reflects the rich diversity that drives our success. I look forward to building on our achievements and continuing to make Kean an international leader in higher education. Repollet has consistently advanced student success initiatives to improve retention and graduation rates. The freshman class that started with him in 2020 just achieved the highest four-year graduation rate at Kean over the past decade, exceeding all other cohorts. Under Repollets leadership, the University has hired more than 130 tenure-track faculty, improved labor and government relations, increased philanthropic and grant support and consistently been ranked for social mobility by U.S. News & World Report. The University is now classified as a national university and is working toward achieving R2 research institution status by the Carnegie Commission in the next year. The Universitys campus in Wenzhou, China, has also experienced record growth over the past four years and currently serves 5,000 students. I am deeply invested in the success of each and every student at Kean, Repollet said. My family and I are proud to support the Kean University Foundation in advancing opportunities for our students to succeed and thrive. President Repollet has pledged to donate $1 million to the Kean University Foundation. This generous contribution will ultimately support the Presidents Future Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for students from all backgrounds. Ada Morell, former chair of the Kean University Board of Trustees and a current board member, said she is tremendously pleased with the trajectory of the University under Repollets leadership. The new contract runs through 2029. When we selected President Repollet in 2020, he outlined a bold vision for Keans growth and development, and he has delivered beyond our expectations, Morell said. Kean is serving students from all backgrounds, from local communities to countries across the globe, and providing them with the tools to succeed. Repollet came to Kean in July 2020 after serving as the New Jersey Commissioner of Education. His career in education began in the classroom as a teacher, and he rose to the roles of principal and superintendent before leading the states education system under Gov. Phil Murphy. ABOUT KEAN UNIVERSITY Kean University, New Jerseys urban research university, is a national institution of higher education recognized for its diversity, innovation, and the social mobility of its graduates. Founded in 1855 as a teachers college, Kean has evolved into a thriving research university that supports students as they persist to graduation, give back to their communities, and launch successful careers. Keans six colleges offer more than 50 undergraduate programs, six doctoral degree programs, and over 70 options leading to masters degrees, professional diplomas, or certifications, across a full range of academic subjects. With campuses in Union, Toms River, and Manahawkin, New Jersey, and Wenzhou, China, as well as Kean Online, the University provides students of all backgrounds an affordable and accessible world-class education. Learn more at www.kean.edu . Attachment Chicago, IL, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The University of Illinois Chicago School of Law (UIC Law) is an outstanding law school, according to The Princeton ReviewO. The education services company recently named the school to its list of Best Law Schools for 2024. The list, which is posted at https://www.princetonreview.com/best-law-schools, features the companys detailed profiles of the schools with The Princeton Reviews ratings of them and quotes from students attending the schools whom The Princeton Review surveyed. In the profile of UIC Law, The Princeton Review editors describe it as a school designed for students at all points of their careers, and give it a rating score of 81 for academic experience (The ratings are scores of 60 to 99 the company reports in up to five categories in the profiles.) The profile also includes comments from students enrolled in UIC Law who were surveyed by The Princeton Review for this project. Some of the profiles quotes from students are: "If you plan on working in the northern Illinois region, you should strongly consider attending UIC Law, "We have very knowledgeable professors who have considerable real-world experience that benefits their ability to relate material to students, and "I have always felt that every single employee at UIC Law is rooting for me to thrive professionally and personally. "All of the schools that made our list for 2024 deliver exceptional legal education programs, said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's Editor-in-Chief. We recommend each one as an academically excellent choice for a student considering earning a J.D. UIC Law Dean Nicky Boothe states, The mission of UIC Law is simple, yet holistic - we want to change your life, so you can change the lives of others. This is done by providing our students with strong academics, passionate professors, a top-notch student life office, an excellent bar preparation program and robust career support. The Princeton Review editors weigh more than 60 data points in making their annual selections for their annual Best Law Schools lists. The selections for the 2024 list considered data from surveys the company conducted in 2024 of administrators at 168 law schools and surveys over the past three academic years of 18,400 students enrolled at the schools. The administrator survey requests data on topics from academic offerings, faculty, and career services to admission and graduation rates. The student survey asks students to rate their schools academics, professors, administrators and career services and to report on its campus culture as well as their career plans. What students tell us about their experiences at their law schools contributes substantially to our school selections, profiles, and ratings, Franek noted. We also factor data from our student surveys into our tallies for this projects 14 categories of ranking lists. Each list names the top 10 schools in the category, he added. Six of the companys ranking lists are based on a combination of administrator and student survey data. Five are based solely on student survey data, and three are based solely on administrator data. - # # # - About the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law The University of Illinois Chicago School of Law (UIC Law) is Chicagos only public law school. Committed to access and opportunity, UIC Law offers a unique interdisciplinary environment for students to advance social justice, impact their communities, and step into their next academic and professional achievement. From our nationally recognized faculty and programs, to the impact of our legal clinics, we prepare students with the knowledge, skills, experience and values to change lives. For more information, visit https://law.uic.edu/. About The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate schoolbound students as well as working professionals achieve their education and career goals through its many education services and products. These include online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is now in its 43rd year. The companys Tutor.com brand, now in its 24th year, is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 26 million tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on X (formerly Twitter) (@ThePrincetonRev) and Instagram (@theprincetonreview). Attachment Wyre, a joint venture between Telenet and Fluvius, has announced the completion of a strategic partnership with Unit-T, a subsidiary of Solutions30, in Belgium. This major contract is structured as a long-term, shared-interest (Vested) outsourcing agreement. Under the agreement, Unit-T will deliver a broad range of critical services for Wyre. These include maintaining the hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network, primarily in Flanders, ensuring seamless management of major outages, conducting proactive maintenance, and monitoring network quality. Additionally, Unit-T will be responsible for overseeing home coaxial connections and managing infrastructure maintenance. These comprehensive services are designed to ensure the reliability of Wyre's network, enabling it to meet the evolving needs of its customers. The Vested Outsourcing model fosters a collaborative partnership, aligning goals and encouraging innovation between all parties. This approach is expected to drive enhanced network quality and ensure rapid progress in the deployment of technological advancements. "Our partnership with Unit-T highlights our dedication to providing a high-quality network," said Micha Berger, CEO of Wyre. "Their expertise in hybrid fiber-coaxial technology and proactive maintenance are key to ensuring reliability. In todays digital world, a reliable network is essential for our customers. With Unit-T's support, we can focus on expanding and improving our infrastructure while delivering the service our customers expect." Ton Bosters, CEO of Unit-T, commented, "This agreement marks a significant milestone for Unit-T and reinforces our position as a trusted partner in the telecom industry. We are committed to leveraging our expertise and innovative approach to support Wyre's ambitious goals. This long-term agreement not only secures our growth but also allows us to invest in our capabilities, ensuring we remain at the forefront of technological advancements in the sector." As the telecom world keeps changing, this partnership helps Unit-T and Wyre tackle industry challenges and grab new opportunities in today's digital landscape. Wyre and Unit-T are also partnering in another agreement, in which Unit-T provides installation services for the massive deployment of the latest 10 Gigabit fiber technology in Flanders. About Solutions30 SE Solutions30 provides consumers and businesses with access to the key technological advancements that are shaping our everyday lives, especially those driving the digital transformation and energy transition. With its network of more than 16,000 technicians, Solutions30 has completed over 65 million call-outs since its inception and led over 500 renewable energy projects with a combined maximum output surpassing 1,600 MWp. In pursuing its vision of a more connected and sustainable world, Solutions30 has become an industry leader in Europe with operations in 10 countries: France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Poland. The capital of Solutions30 SE consists of 107,127,984 shares, equal to the number of theoretical votes that can be exercised. Solutions30 SE is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange (ISIN FR0013379484- code S30). Indexes: CAC Mid & Small | CAC Small | CAC Technology | Euro Stoxx Total Market Technology | Euronext Tech Croissance . Visit our website for more information: www.solutions30.com About Wyre On July 1, 2023, Wyre, a collaboration between Telenet and Fluvius, was established. As an infrastructure company, Wyre is responsible for developing the fiber optic network of the future and also manages Telenet's former HFC network. Wyre guarantees the best connectivity with internet speeds of up to 10 Gbps in the long term on both HFC and FttH networks. Through wholesale agreements, Wyre provides open and non-discriminatory access to both the passive FttH network under construction and the existing HFC network. Currently, there are three operators active on Wyre's network: Telenet, Orange, and Wan Connect. For more information: www.wyre.be Contact Individual Shareholders: Tel: +33 1 86 86 00 63 - shareholders@solutions30.com Investor relations Investor.relations@solutions30.com Press - Image 7: Charlotte Le Barbier - Tel: +33 6 78 37 27 60 - clebarbier@image7.fr Attachment To build two strategic transport infrastructure assets in Sydney and Melbourne Minimising environmental impacts For a total of more than 200 million Seymour Whyte, VINCI Construction's Australian subsidiary, has been awarded two contracts worth a total of approximately A$340 million (about 209 million): in Sydney, Seymour Whyte will be involved in upgrading a 3.8 km stretch of Mamre Road, west of the city near the future international airport, for Transport for New South Wales. The project involves transforming the two-lane unseparated road into a four-lane road with a large central median allowing for the addition of two extra lanes in the future and building a noise wall. The environmental initiatives include using reclaimed asphalt pavement to cover roughly 40% of requirements and reusing other materials excavated on site. The works are scheduled for completion in 2028. in Melbourne, Seymour Whyte will be upgrading Clyde Road for Major Road Projects Victoria. It will build one additional lane in each direction, widen the Clyde Road bridge and upgrade the existing junctions. The project, set to be completed in 2027, includes analysis of greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, the facilities and equipment will use solar or hybrid energy. The project will also follow a Recycled First approach. Seymour Whyte is already active in several major road-related projects in Australia including the civil engineering and construction of the access roads to the future Western Sydney International Airport, modernisation of a section of Mulgoa Road in Sydney and extension of the M1 Pacific Motorway between Sydney and Brisbane. About VINCI VINCI is a global player in concessions, energy and construction businesses, employing 280,000 people in more than 120 countries. We design, finance, build and operate infrastructure and facilities that help improve daily life and mobility for all. Because we believe in all-round performance, above and beyond economic and financial results, we are committed to operating in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. And because our projects are in the public interest, we consider that reaching out to all our stakeholders and engaging in dialogue with them is essential in the conduct of our business activities. VINCIs ambition is to create long-term value for its customers, shareholders, employees, partners and society in general. www.vinci.com This press release is an official information document of the VINCI Group. PRESS CONTACT VINCI Press Department Tel: +33 (0)1 57 98 62 88 media.relations@vinci.com Attachment Chicago, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TAWANI Enterprises is pleased to announce that its Chairwoman, Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired), was presented with a Badge of Honor from the Ukrainian National Guard's Presidential Brigade. This recognition, awarded on September 17 at the Chicago Cultural Center during the #StandWithUkraine reception and special program, celebrates her steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. Through both her personal efforts and grants provided by her foundation, TAWANI Foundation, Lt. Col. Pritzker (Ret.) has contributed more than $5.4 million in relief to Ukraine. Additionally, she recently traveled to Ukraine, in February, to provide humanitarian support. The award ceremony included remarks from Serhiy Koledov, the Consul General of Ukraine in Chicago, and a performance by the Ukrainian band ANTYTILA. I am deeply honored to be recognized and receive the Badge of Honor from the distinguished Ukrainian National Guard's Presidential Brigade, said Lt. Col. Pritzker (Ret.). This accolade represents not just a personal achievement but also underscores the importance of our collective responsibility in addressing and resolving the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Through steadfast commitment, unity, and strategic action, we can contribute to achieving a just and enduring peace. This recognition further strengthens my resolve to support and advance the cause of stability and reconciliation in the region. The evening began with opening remarks from Serhiy Koledov, the Consul General of Ukraine in Chicago, followed by the Badge of Honor presentation and inauguration of Lt. Col. Pritzker (Ret.). Guests then enjoyed a screening of the short film Culture vs War before being treated to an exclusive acoustic performance by the Ukrainian band ANTYTILA. The band, currently on a U.S. tour to promote the Culture vs War project, highlights the stories of Ukrainian cultural artists who have left their creative pursuits to defend their homeland. Attendees also had the chance to engage in an open discussion with the members of ANTYTILA, covering topics such as Ukrainian resistance, the future of Ukraine, the band's musical journey, and their experiences with military service. The evening concluded with a raffle and private reception. Lt. Col. Pritzker (Ret.) strongly believes that a resolution for the war would benefit not only Ukraine but also other nations, including the U.S. She stresses that supporting Ukrainians now can save lives in both countries and potentially avoid the need for U.S. military involvement. Under her leadership, TAWANI Foundation has provided significant aid to Ukraine. Her notable contributions include $40,000 for humanitarian aid through the Salvation Army, $255,000 for GPS equipment via Multi Source Reckoning System LLC, and more than $1.3 million for cold weather gear for the Ukrainian National Guard. Her most significant donation was to Operation White Stork, a non-profit organization led by U.S. veterans. Her contribution exceeded $3.6M, which includes a $1.5M challenge grant. This funding facilitated the provision of battlefield individual first aid kits to National Guard brigades, as well as humanitarian aid and support for medical needs in Ukraine. Operation White Stork utilizes the skills of entrepreneurs and U.S. military veterans to deliver resources to end users. The organizations team works directly on the ground in Ukraine to ensure gifts go directly to those in need and has a no weapons policy for the type of assistance it provides. Colonel Jennifer Pritzkers transformational gifts through TAWANI Foundation have enabled White Stork to become the leading supplier of combat first aid kits to the Ukrainian military, with close to 100,000 IFAKs delivered to date, said William McNulty, Co-founder and Head of Mission of White Stork. I also appreciate that she has visited the frontlines and walked through the minefields to better understand the war from the perspectives of the women & men holding the line between freedom and autocracy. To learn more about the TAWANI Foundation grants, visit https://tawanifoundation.org/our-grants. The TAWANI Foundation is a private foundation that accepts applications by invitation only. There is no open application period. Pictures and b-roll from the event can be found here. ### About TAWANI Foundation Founded in 2002 by notable philanthropist and entrepreneur Colonel (IL) Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired), TAWANI Enterprises philanthropic organization TAWANI Foundation is a 501(c)(3) that provides support in the areas of arts and culture, historical preservation, health and wellness, LGBTQ+ and human rights, education, and environmental initiatives. TAWANI Foundations vision is to make a sustained and measurable difference for organizations that focus on enriching knowledge, improving health and wellness, and promoting scientific understanding all with a common goal of making a positive, long-term impact on individuals, communities, and the culture itself. To learn more, visit https://tawanifoundation.org. About TAWANI Enterprises A visionary umbrella organization with an entrepreneurial outlook, TAWANI Enterprises has a private equity portfolio of startup and mature innovative companies in various industries; and not-for-profit interests. The company offers back-office services to all internal owned companies, including TAWANI Property Management, TAWANI Foundation, Pritzker Military Foundation, Master Wings Publishing, TAWANI Ventures, Mission94 Firearms Education Center and Aurum Trading, a coins and precious medals maker. All investments, for profit and not-for-profit, are based on TAWANI's mission to create opportunities for growth and knowledge and to create things of shared value to be enjoyed by citizens into the future. For more information, visit http://www.tawanienterprises.com. Attachment Miami, FL, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baptist Health broke ground today on the new Al and Jane Nahmad Womens Cancer Center. Located on the campus of Baptist Health Baptist Hospital, the Center is named in honor of Al and Jane Nahmad, longtime benefactors of Baptist Health, volunteers and advocates for womens wellness and care, who provided a transformational gift in support of Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute. Construction on the Center is slated to be completed by the end of 2026. Spanning 155,000 square feet, the Women's Cancer Center will be housed in the new Keeley Pavilion. Once complete, the state-of-the-art facility will deliver high-quality cancer care for women, pioneering research and an exceptional patient experience, all in one unique location. The first of its kind in the region, the new building represents the systems standing commitment to honoring the needs of women, who make up 65 percent of Miami Cancer Institutes current patients. Losing a loved one to cancer is an experience that many of us unfortunately share, but now, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Al and Jane Nahmad, women in our community will have access to a world-class team that will walk this journey with them, said Michael Zinner, M.D., chief executive officer and executive medical director of Miami Cancer Institute. I am so grateful to the Nahmad family and to all those who have contributed to making this vision a reality. Together, we will provide the comprehensive, compassionate care that every patient deserves. The Womens Cancer Center will not only address the needs of current patients but will also help shape the future trajectory of female cancer treatment in which the disease is more widely prevented, detected earlier and treated more effectively. The Center will allow the Institute to expand clinical teams, conduct more research trials and harness the worlds most cutting-edge cancer-fighting technology to bring the best care to more patients in Florida where demand for care is outpacing available resources as well as patients from Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond. This community is growing rapidly, and so is the need for outstanding cancer care, said Al Nahmad. We believe the Institutes expansion will help improve patient access to top physicians and the most advanced treatment options. Added Jane Nahmad, We are advocates for womens health, and supporting the Womens Cancer Center from its inception is very meaningful for our entire family. Al and Jane Nahmad have been supporters and volunteers of Baptist Health for over 20 years. Al Nahmad was chair of Miami Cancer Institutes Operating Board during a time of rapid growth for the Institute, as it has transformed cancer care and research in South Florida since opening its doors in 2017. "Today is an exciting day as we break ground on our new Women's Cancer Center, said Bo Boulenger, president and CEO of Baptist Health. This represents a significant leap forward in our mission to providing comprehensive cancer care for women in our community. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the Nahmad family and all of our donors, we will be able to offer highly personalized treatments and expand our research capabilities, all while keeping patients close to home and to their support systems. This center is a testament to our commitment to excellence and innovation in cancer care at Miami Cancer Institute and will serve as a beacon of hope for women and their families for generations to come." Baptist Healths focus on advancing care through research and innovation will be further accelerated by its recent clinical and academic affiliation with Florida International University. Baptist Healths current residency program will be expanded to put Baptist Hospital on the path toward becoming a statutory teaching hospital. For more information, visit https://baptisthealth.net/services/cancer-care About Baptist Health South Florida Baptist Health South Florida is the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 12 hospitals, more than 27,000 employees, 4,000 physicians and 200 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning across Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Baptist Health has internationally renowned institutes specializing in cancer care, brain and spine care, heart and vascular care and orthopedic care. In addition, it includes Baptist Health Medical Group; Baptist Health Quality Network; and the Baptist Health PineApp, a virtual health platform. Baptist Health South Florida is an academic and clinical affiliate of Florida International University. A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to its charitable mission of medical excellence, Baptist Health has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and is the most awarded healthcare system in South Florida by U.S. News and World Report. For more information, visit BaptistHealth.net/Newsroom and connect with us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Attachment STONY PLAIN, Alberta, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Alberta Professional Outfitters Society (APOS) is pleased to open intake for grant applications for the 2025-26 Ministers Special Licence Auction (MSLA) Program. The MSLA Program is seeking projects that make an important contribution in Alberta to: Enhancing and sustaining wildlife populations and their habitats, Addressing identified knowledge gaps concerning wildlife populations and their habitats, Generating information that has practical applications for wildlife management, and/or Applying innovative approaches to increase the efficacy of wildlife management. Additionally, the MSLA Stakeholder Advisory Committee has indicated several focus areas for the 2025-26 funding year. Although applications will be accepted beyond these areas, the Committee has a special interest in projects aimed at: Identifying and enhancing habitat that supports target wildlife. Developing techniques and capacity to assess population size, wildlife demography, and vulnerability to anthropogenic threats. Advancing understanding and prevention of wildlife disease, with a particular interest in M. ovi. Funds for the MSLA Program are generated through the delivery of Ministers Special Licences (MSL), which provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a hunter to enjoy greater flexibility on hunting dates and locations for a given species in Alberta. Special licences for sheep, elk, moose, mule deer, antelope, turkey and new in 2025 whitetail and cougar, are made available non-residents by auction through the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) and the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo. The corresponding Alberta resident program with the same species is delivered through a special draw, with grant funds administered by the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA). As administrator for the MSLA program, we have appreciated the input provided by fellow stakeholders through the advisory and adjudication committees over this last year, states Jeana Schuurman, Managing Director of APOS, The feedback has been vital in refining the focus of the MSLA, not only to target meaningful projects, but also to streamline the process for review and adjudication. We are excited to see what projects come forward in 2025-26. Grant application guidelines and forms are available online at albertamsl.ca. The application period will close on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Submissions will be reviewed and evaluated in spring 2025. For more information about the MSLA Grant Program and the application process, please visit albertamsl.ca or email grants@apos.ab.ca Oslo, 18 September 2024 Interoil Exploration and Production ASA announces the appointment of Mr. Pablo Creta as new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Company following the resignation presented by Mr. Gonzalo Ricci. The appointment is effective today. Mr. Creta has a Bachelor degree from Universidad de San Andres, Argentina, and a Master of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. His professional experience includes positions in private equity and capital markets in Latin America and Australia. In addition, Pablo served for several years as both General Manager and CFO of the Company. Hugo Quevedo, Chair of the Board, commented: We are happy of welcoming Pablo back in Interoil. His knowledge will increase the strength of our financial and reporting capabilities. Please direct any further questions to: ir@interoil.no *************************** Interoil Exploration and Production ASA is a Norwegian based exploration and production company - listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange - with focus on Latin America. The Company is operator of several production and exploration assets in Colombia and Argentina. Interoil currently employs approximately 50 people and is headquartered in Oslo. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Directors of the Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company (Wawanesa) today is pleased to announce the following: the upcoming retirement of Jeff Goy after a 35-year career with the Company, including nearly 11 years as President & CEO; and after a 35-year career with the Company, including nearly 11 years as President & CEO; and the appointment of Evan Johnston, the Companys Executive Vice-President, Strategy & Related Businesses, as the 10th President & CEO in Wawanesas 128-year history, effective January 1, 2025. During his tenure as CEO, Jeff led Wawanesa through a decade of transformative growth and renewal, affirming the companys reputation as Canadas leading property & casualty mutual insurer while strategically positioning the company for future success, said Catherine Best, Chair, Wawanesas Board of Directors. On behalf of the Board, Id like to thank Jeff for everything hes accomplished during his distinguished career and wish him well on his retirement. Said Jeff Goy, Its been an honour and a privilege to have worked alongside so many great people at Wawanesa in driving our companys transformation. Together, we have helped Wawanesa evolve and grow into a modern, sophisticated insurer that, as a mutual, exists solely for the benefit of its members and communities. Im retiring with immense gratitude to all my colleagues across the company and to our Board for its support and guidance during my years as President and CEO. In announcing Evan Johnstons appointment as incoming President and CEO, Best said: In Evan, we have a proven, highly respected Wawanesa executive who worked closely with Jeff for the past eight years and who also brings international experience as a business strategist built on an impressive legal and financial background. Born and raised in Manitoba, Evan is committed to building on Wawanesas unique culture as a mutual insurer while driving the companys continued growth. Said Johnston: I am honoured by the responsibility and excited for the opportunity to lead Wawanesa into its next era, building on the legacy of Jeffs tenure. Looking ahead, Wawanesa has momentum as we build on our leadership position in a changing industry. Our focus will be on winning and growing in all our markets across Canada. Over the next four months, Goy and Johnston will work together to complete the transition. About The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, founded in 1896, is one of Canadas largest mutual insurers, with over $3.5 billion in annual revenue and assets of $10 billion. Wawanesa Mutual, with its National Headquarters in Winnipeg, is the parent company of Wawanesa Life, which provides life insurance products and services throughout Canada, and Western Financial Group, which distributes personal and business insurance across Canada. Wawanesa proudly serves more than 1.7 million members in Canada. The company actively gives back to organizations that strengthen communities, donating more than $3.5 million annually to charitable organizations, including over $2 million annually in support of people on the front lines of climate change. Learn more at wawanesa.com For more information: Michel Rosset Manager, Corporate Communications & Media Relations Wawanesa Insurance media@wawanesa.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/32b7671f-7556-4f5b-b539-7bb068352714 NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monteverde & Associates PC (the M&A Class Action Firm), has recovered money for shareholders and is recognized as a Top 50 Firm in the 2018-2022 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. We are headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City and are investigating ARC Document Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: ARC), relating to its proposed merger with TechPrint Holdings, LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, ARC shareholders are expected to receive $3.40 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://monteverdelaw.com/case/arc-document-solutions-inc/. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. NOT ALL LAW FIRMS ARE THE SAME. Before you hire a law firm, you should talk to a lawyer and ask: Do you file class actions and go to Court? When was the last time you recovered money for shareholders? What cases did you recover money in and how much? About Monteverde & Associates PC Our firm litigates and has recovered money for shareholdersand we do it from our offices in the Empire State Building. We are a national class action securities firm with a successful track record in trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. No company, director or officer is above the law. If you own common stock in the above listed company and have concerns or wish to obtain additional information free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com or by telephone at (212) 971-1341. Contact: Juan Monteverde, Esq. MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4740 New York, NY 10118 United States of America jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com Tel: (212) 971-1341 New York, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advances in technology have ushered in unparalleled digital brand offerings in recent years, but new findings suggest the future of retail is being shaped by a multitude of trends including a growing desire for seamless omnichannel experience. In its eighth edition, VMLs anticipated Future Shopper Report 2024 captures a global snapshot of the modern shopper. The report surveys 31,500 consumers across 20 countries and reveals a dynamic retail landscape challenging established trends and ushering in new opportunities for brands. This years report highlights new trends taking shapeconsumers are becoming more open to physical shopping experiences again; marketplaces grip on their dominant position in the customer journey is weakening; and the impact of new technologies like AI changing what we sell, how we sell it, and who we sell it to. Beth Ann Kaminkow, Global Chief Commerce Officer, VML said: The new era of consumers is upon us. Demanding to be at the center of their own immersive omnichannel universe, brands and retailers are still playing catch-up on the new rules of commerce. Through this report, VML continuously seeks to better understand our future shopperuncovering what drives them to discover, engage and ultimately, purchaseto help marketers redefine how they drive brands and businesses. Neil Dawson, Global Chief Strategy Officer, VML said: Shopping today is multi-faceted, multi-platform and more integrated than ever before. Matched to savvy consumers, the need for advanced and connected customer journeys is critical to success. Brands must understand and adapt to evolving shopper habits and thats precisely what the Future Shopper report exploresensuring that we stay ahead of key trends that drive business. Report highlights include: As physical retail undergoes a resurgence, brands must embrace innovation and immersive experiences to compete in an omnichannel world. Globally, online spending saw a 5% decline from 58% in 2023, suggesting shifts towards more balanced shopper activity across online and offline environments and a growing demand for real life experiences. While online shopping remains dominant, physical retail is experiencing a sharp resurgence among global consumers more than half of whom prefer brands with both physical and online stores. Mobile shopping dominates, but brands and retailers have been slow to adapt and excel, leading to frustrating user experiences. Mobile devices are now the dominant force in online shopping, accounting for 36% of all online spending, up from 32% in 2023. Despite consumer preference for mobile, 40% of global consumers find shopping on mobile phones difficult, and 66% believe brands and retailers should work harder at making their mobile experiences better. Marketplaces maintain dominance in product discovery, but face increasing competition as consumers explore alternative purchase channels Marketplaces, such as Amazon, Mercado Libre, and Alibaba, remain the leading destinations for product discovery, accounting for 35% of consumer inspiration and 32% of product searches. Although they are the number one destination, their grip on purchasing may be weakening, as marketplace spending dropped from 35% in 2023 to 29% in 2024. Consumers are increasingly willing to explore alternative channels for purchasing. Marketplaces, however, are demonstrating their own capacity to innovate and grow; 48% of consumers say that they are open to using a dating app provided by the likes of Amazon, Tmall and Mercado Libre. Consumers crave speed and convenience in all aspects of their shopping journeys. Delivery speed expectations reach new heights as consumers demand near-instant gratification. Customer expectations are not only high, theyre growing at an exponential rate. 31% of global consumers expect delivery of online orders within 2 hoursthis is up from 23% in 2023 and 4%in 2021. Research also indicates that across industries, consumer expected average wait time was just under 2 days. But speed isnt only about delivery. 63% of consumers report that they want inspiration through search to purchase as quickly as possible. AIs potential to improve efficiency and free time is an alluring prospect. AIs potential to improve efficiency and free up time offers consumer optimism. A majority of consumers are open to AI helping them and shopping for them, with 41% saying they would let an AI organize their life, including what things to buy and even what to do at the weekend. Consumers are more likely to embrace AI when they understand its benefits and have control over its use. Brands need to prioritize transparency, explain AIs role clearly, and offer consumers choices in how they interact with AI-powered systems. Nevertheless, human interaction still holds value, with consumers expressing frustration with the lack of human interaction in customer service in particular. Social commerce continues to gain global traction. Social commerce has shortened the gap between inspiration and conversion like never before allowing consumers to buy as soon as they discover inspiring content in the places where they spend their time. 62% of global shoppers say that they intend to shop more through social media in the future, and 53% of shoppers indicate they have purchased via social live shopping events. The reach of social commerce alongside the immediacy of purchase are just two of the reasons why it should be right at the top of the agenda for consumer brands. The very definition of consumer is evolving, as digital avatars gain importance, and emerging technology and channels allow for interactions beyond the physical realm. The blurring of the lines between the physical and digital consumer is evidenced by the rise of gaming commerce, with a staggering 89% of global consumers identifying as "gamers" and 60% of those spending money in-game. More than half of gamers believe that looking good in-game is as important as looking good in real life. Blended realities extend to the afterlife, with 47% of global consumers expressing interest in "post-death consumerism. The desire to connect with loved ones, even after they are gone, is reflected in the 46% of consumers who are interested in using AI to bring deceased loved ones "back to life" for virtual conversations. The Future Shopper 2024 report is the industrys most comprehensive survey of global shoppers, reaching consumer respondents in 20 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, UAE, UK, and US. Download and view the full report here . # # # For more information, contact: Jinie.Kwak@vml.com About VML VML is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, to create connected brands that drive growth. The agency is a leading global marketing and systems integration partner, specializing in creating innovative solutions for business transformation. VML is celebrated for its award-winning work with blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford, Microsoft, Nestle, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave Reports, which name WPP a Leader in Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. VMLs global network is powered by 28,000 talented people across 60-plus markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney. VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit www.vml.com , and follow along on Instagram , LinkedIn , and X . #WeAreVML Methodology In The Future Shopper 2024 report, 31,500 shoppers across 20 countries were surveyed. In order to qualify respondents had to have shopped at least once online in the preceding month. The surveys took place in: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, UAE, UK, and US, between the 22.05.2024 05.06.2024. Research was conducted on behalf of VML by Censuswide, who 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. YMCA Highlights Canadian Social Isolation and Offers Connection Through Community Programs EDMONTON, Alberta, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new survey commissioned by YMCA Canada, conducted among Angus Reid Forum members, reveals that a staggering 60% of Canadians feel disconnected from their community, with 16% reporting they never feel a sense of community and 44% experiencing it only sometimes. The survey, launched alongside the YMCAs first nationwide brand awareness campaign, highlights the state of social connections in Canada. Combatting Loneliness in a Fragmented Society The survey revealed that feelings of disconnection are particularly acute among Canadians under 55, with 68% of 18 to 34-year-olds and 64% of 25 to 54-year-olds feeling a lack of belonging. These feelings were most pronounced among the unemployed, with a striking 76% feeling disconnected from their communities. However, the survey also uncovered solutions among those who feel a stronger sense of connection. Key factors contributing to a feeling of belonging include: Spending less time on electronic devices Engaging in extracurricular activities that foster community involvement Interacting with others outside of work or school at least twice a week The YMCA is a community partner who can help, said Nick Parkinson, President & CEO, YMCA of Northern Alberta. Regardless of background, income or identity, all people need the opportunity to make meaningful connections. Were seeing increased feelings of loneliness and isolation in our communities, but at the YMCA, everyone can find belonging. Young People and Children Hit Hard by Isolation The survey also highlights a significant issue among younger Canadians and children. According to the data, the average Canadian spends three hours a day on their phone, with younger Canadians (18-34) averaging nearly four hours. When asked which phone activities felt most isolating, 58% cited social media scrolling, with 71% of 18-34-year-olds reporting that it heightens feelings of isolation. Whats more, nearly one-third of parents surveyed report that their children express feelings of isolation, and almost half (49%) say their kids rely more on online interactions than in-person ones. The YMCA offers tailored programs for youth and families that focus on real-world skills, physical activity, and social connections. The YMCA is committed to creating inclusive spaces where young people can build lasting connections through programs that help them explore their interests and reach their potential, Parkinson said. This research highlights the critical need for more opportunities to foster community and belonging across central and northern Alberta. Were proud to offer programs that help children, youth, individuals and families find support, friendship and a sense of purpose. Income Inequality: A Challenge for Social Engagement In addition to age and screen time, the survey reveals that income plays a significant role in Canadians ability to maintain social connections. Among employed Canadians and students, 64% of those earning over $100,000 annually report seeing people five to seven times a week, while 43% of Canadians interact with others outside of work or school only two days a week or less. For lower-income Canadians, the struggle is even more pronounced. Only 28% of those earning below $50,000 annually experience social interactions 5-7 times per week compared to 42% of higher earners. The YMCAs affordable programs, coupled with financial assistance, provide a crucial bridge for those facing economic barriers, ensuring everyone can engage with their community, regardless of their financial situation. Third Places Offer Community The survey highlights the value of "third places"community spaces outside home or work. While 36% of Canadians report not having one, those who do have a third place report higher levels of belonging and connection to their community, with parks and outdoor spaces being the most popular. Even those without a third place recognize its importance: 91% say they help build strong communities 89% believe they boost well-being 85% feel they improve quality of life 84% agree they foster belonging As winter approaches, YMCA of Northern Alberta aims to fill this gap, providing welcoming spaces for connection and mental and physical health in the Edmonton, Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Wood Buffalo regions. To learn more about the national YMCA campaign, visit campaign2024.ymca.ca About YMCA of Northern Alberta YMCA of Northern Alberta is a registered charity dedicated to building healthy communities since 1907. From providing quality child care and supporting people in their health and wellness to delivering important community outreach programs, the YMCA works to strengthen communities in the Red Deer, Wood Buffalo, Grande Prairie and Edmonton regions. For more information, visit ymcanab.ca. About YMCA Canada The YMCA is a charity that ignites the potential in over 2 million people annually, helping them grow, lead, and give back to their communities. Across Canada, the YMCA delivers a wide variety of programs and services that empower people of all ages and life stages to overcome barriers and rise to their full potential. Programs include child care, health and wellness, aquatics, employment services, immigrant settlement, camps, mental wellness, and many other community initiatives that respond to local needs. Foundational to all this is the YMCAs commitment to creating spaces and experiences where everyone feels safe, welcome, and a sense of belonging. The YMCA in Canada is comprised of 37 YMCA Member Associations, supported by YMCA Canada, the national office, working together so all Canadians can shine on. For more information, please visit ymca.ca About the Survey These findings are from a survey conducted by YMCA from August 29 to September 3, 2024, among a representative sample of 1,501 online Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/-2.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. TAIYUAN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- In the city of Datong in north China's Shanxi Province, a coal mining subsidence area once scarred by mining activities is now adorned with a vast array of glinting solar panels. The photovoltaic base covering an area of nearly 50,000 mu (about 3,333 hectares) has generated over 12 billion kilowatt-hours of green energy since 2016. "This photovoltaic base has epitomized the country's energy transition. Over eight years of operation, it has validated the reliability of photovoltaic products," said Yin Xulong, chairman of Yingli Solar Co., Ltd., a supplier of solar panels. At the recently held Taiyuan Energy Low Carbon Development Forum in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency, highlighted China's significant contributions to global renewable energy expansion in a video speech. In 2023, China contributed 63 percent of the world's new renewable energy installed capacity. As of the end of July this year, the installed capacity of renewable energy reached 1.68 billion kilowatts, making up over 54 percent of the country's total installed power capacity. In Shanxi, the proportion of installed capacity from new and clean energy rose from 33.9 percent in 2019 to 47.2 percent in the first half of 2024, while the share of electricity generated from these sources increased from 18.1 percent to 28.2 percent during the same period. Shanxi has a unique advantage in developing green energy sources. For example, coke oven gas, a byproduct of coke production, contains about 60 percent hydrogen, making it a cost-effective source for hydrogen production. In recent years, steel and coke companies in the province, such as Jinnan Steel Group, Meijin Energy, and Pengfei Group, have raced to enter the hydrogen energy sector. By the end of last year, Shanxi's capacity for producing high-purity hydrogen from coke oven gas, chemical tail gas, and electrolysis reached 31,000 tonnes per year, and the number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in operation had increased to 885. In July this year, delegations from two coal-producing provinces in Indonesia visited Shanxi. At energy companies such as Meijin Energy, visitors were impressed by China's concrete efforts to transform its traditional energy sector. Putra Adhiguna, managing director of Energy Shift Institute, said that Shanxi's existing industries are being well-used as a stepping stone for a green transformation, and China sees this shift not only as a challenge but also as a significant opportunity. At the recently held China (Taiyuan) International Energy Industry Expo, innovative displays, including intelligent mining technologies and space capsule-inspired ground control platforms, captivated attendees. In March this year, an intelligent platform was launched to store vast amounts of data from over 400 coal mines in Shanxi. It utilizes large model training to help enterprises lower the barriers to technological development and accelerate the innovation of intelligent products. Due to the rapid development of intelligent mining technology, the province's energy consumption per unit of GDP has decreased cumulatively by 10.9 percent since 2021. "China's cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy now accounts for about 40 percent of the global total, and China's exports of wind and solar products have contributed to a reduction of 810 million tonnes in carbon emissions for other countries," said Lu Junling, chief economist at the National Energy Administration. Lu added that international cooperation should be strengthened in the energy fields such as wind, solar, hydrogen, storage, and smart energy technologies. Support for developing countries' green and low-carbon energy development should be intensified, and new opportunities for diversified energy partnerships should be actively explored. Washington, D.C., Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed a brief in response to an order of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, urging the court not to dismiss Missouri v. Biden and requesting further discovery in this landmark lawsuit against government-induced social media censorship. In June, the Supreme Court vacated the preliminary injunction in the case (then called Murthy v. Missouri) that barred officials from the White House, CDC, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Surgeon Generals office from encouraging social media platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech. NCLAs clients have been blacklisted, shadow-banned, de-boosted, throttled, and suspended on social media as part of a censorship campaign orchestrated by the White House and others in a whole of government effort. While the high court wrongly found NCLA clients Drs. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, and Aaron Kheriaty, and Ms. Jill Hines lacked standing to support the injunction, its decision, together with other precedent, supports additional discovery in the ongoing lawsuit, which will further prove the governments responsibility for social media censorship. As Missouri v. Biden continues, NCLA is determined to stop this unlawful assault on Americans free speech rights. The Supreme Courts ruling that the Plaintiffs lacked standing for the preliminary injunction, a form of emergency relief, does not apply to the lawsuit because the standard for showing standing at the preliminary injunction phase is higher than at the pleadings stage. NCLAs clients have made an adequate showing at the pleadings stage. With only limited discovery at the preliminary injunction stage, they have uncovered a vast operation emanating from the highest levels of government, across at least a dozen agencies, and featuring well over a hundred government actorsand potentially many more that are currently unknown. Agencies and the White House directed social media companies to censor viewpoints that conflicted with federal government messaging on topics ranging from Covid-19 to elections. The nature and significance of the Biden Administrations illicit conduct probably would not have come to light in the absence of this lawsuit. Although the Supreme Court majority did not reach the merits of the case, Justices Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch addressed the substance of Plaintiffs claims and concluded that the governments conduct violated the First Amendment. If NCLAs clients receive the discovery they need to establish standing under the Supreme Courts rubric, they are likely to prevail on the merits of their claims. The District Court should also allow the Plaintiffs to amend their Complaint and add members of the Disinformation Dozen who want to join the lawsuit after the Biden White House explicitly targeted them for removal from social media platforms. When Administration officials relentlessly harangued and threatened X (formerly known as Twitter) and Meta (and potentially other companies whose involvement remains unknown), the companies caved despite initially refusing to take down the accounts. The District Court correctly observed that the Administrations express, successful pursuit of these individuals enhanced their showing of standing. Dismissing the lawsuit and not allowing a new amended Complaint would effectively reward government actors for flouting Americans First Amendment rights, provided they do so in secret, hidden from the public eye. NCLA released the following statements: Our plaintiffs, who have been censored extensively on social media and targeted for suppression by government actors, deserve to know the extent of the governments involvement in silencing them. Jenin Younes, Litigation Counsel, NCLA To be clear, the Supreme Courts reversal of the grant of a preliminary injunction does not warrant dismissal of the lawsuit. Mark Chenoweth, President and Chief Legal Officer, NCLA For more information visit the case page here or watch the case video here. ABOUT NCLA NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights. ### Holiday, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Holiday, Florida - Gator Rated has announced that Florida is seeing a record increase in new residents, with a noticeable rise in interest in the state's wealthiest areas. With prices climbing alongside population numbers, places like Fisher Island, Key Biscayne, and Gulf Stream are undergoing significant changes in their housing markets. Mark Sanchez, owner of Gator Rated, says, "We've seen a dramatic uptick in both interest and property transactions in the rich places in Florida. More people are recognizing the value of these luxurious communities, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down." The growing population in these wealthy neighborhoods is mostly because of the quality of life they offer. From excellent healthcare to luxury amenities, these areas provide an appealing lifestyle for both new and existing residents. The economic success of these neighborhoods has also contributed to their popularity. As new families and individuals move into these areas, the demand for housing has gone up a lot. Home prices in wealthy cities and places in Florida have also increased, reflecting high demand. With higher median household incomes setting these neighborhoods apart, it seems likely that home prices will keep rising. In addition to the rising property values, Gator Rated has seen more requests for its services in these neighborhoods. The company offers useful tools like a detailed home sale guide and a loan calculator, which have become important resources for buyers and sellers navigating the busy real estate market. "Our clients appreciate the comprehensive support we provide, from property evaluations to guides on the best neighborhoods," Sanchez adds. "As home prices continue to rise, having accurate and reliable information is more important than ever. Gator Rated remains committed to offering the resources needed to make informed real estate decisions." While the booming real estate market brings opportunities, it also presents challenges. Prospective buyers must act quickly as competition for homes intensifies. Sellers, on the other hand, can command higher prices for their properties. Gator Rated has noticed that many of the new residents in these affluent neighborhoods are drawn by their prestigious reputation and the lifestyle they offer. The influx of new buyers has strengthened the housing market in these areas, creating a dynamic and ever-changing real estate landscape. The Gator Rated website offers detailed guides on the wealthiest neighborhoods in Florida, such as the rich places in Florida. This makes it easier for potential buyers to explore their options and make well-informed decisions. The company also offers free property evaluations to help homeowners understand the current market value of their homes. For those wanting to stay updated on the latest real estate trends, Gator Rated's platform includes trending news articles and industry updates. These resources show the company's dedication to keeping clients informed about new developments in the housing market. Sanchez notes, "The record number of people moving to affluent areas like Key Biscayne and Jupiter Island highlights the appeal of these communities. Our role is to ensure they have all the information they need to navigate this busy market successfully." Gator Rated operates with transparency, offering no hidden fees, which builds trust and clarity in their dealings. With a focus on quality real estate services, the company supports clients from the initial property search to closing deals. For a detailed look into Florida's wealthy neighborhoods and their defining traits, interested parties can explore the complete guide on the Gator Rated website. The guide offers insights into the economic factors, amenities, and other elements that make up these rich places in Florida. As more people move to Florida's wealthy cities and places, Gator Rated remains a dependable partner, helping clients make informed decisions in a competitive real estate market. Those interested can find more information about the company's various services and updates on real estate trends by visiting their website, which features comprehensive property listings and a range of real estate tools. ### For more information about Gator Rated, contact the company here: Gator Rated Mark Sanchez 689-465-5611 mark@gatorrated.com 5633 Mirada Dr Holiday, FL 34690 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fredonia Mining Inc. (TSXV: FRED) (the "Company" or "Fredonia") announces it intends to complete a proposed private placement financing (the "Offering") for total proceeds of up to $1,000,000 consisting of 33,333,333 units of the Company (the "Units") at a price of $0.03 per Unit. Each Unit will comprise one common share (a "Unit Share") and one common share purchase warrant (a Warrant). Each Warrant will be exercisable to purchase one additional common share (a Warrant Share) from the Company for three years from the Closing Date (as defined below) at an exercise price of $0.06 per Warrant Share. The net proceeds from the Offering will be used to fund ongoing exploration, preparing a technical report, and for general corporate purposes. Completion of the Offering is subject to obtaining all regulatory approvals and satisfying customary closing conditions, including approval for listing of the Unit Shares and Warrant Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV). The Unit Shares, Warrants, and Warrant Shares issued pursuant to the Offering will all be subject to a statutory and exchange hold period of four months and one day, and an additional contractual lockup period of 12 months from the completion of the Offering. The securities offered in the Offering have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with the requirements of an applicable exemption therefrom. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor may there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Certain directors and officers of the Company may participate in the Offering. A material change report with respect to the Offering is expected to be filed less than 21 days before the expected Closing Date, which is reasonable and necessary in the circumstances for the Company to take advantage of available financing opportunities. Intention to Complete Share Consolidation The Company will hold a meeting of shareholders on October 23, 2024 (the Meeting). At the Meeting, shareholders of the Company will be asked to pass a resolution approving the consolidation of the outstanding common shares of the Company (Common Shares) at a ratio of up to 10 pre-consolidated Common Shares for each one post-consolidation Common Share (the "Consolidation"). The specific Consolidation ratio will be determined by the board of directors of the Company (the Board). Consummation of the Consolidation is subject to a number of conditions, including approval of the Companys shareholders at the Meeting, Board approval, and TSXV approval, including meeting the continued listing requirements of TSXV. Notwithstanding any approval of the Consolidation by shareholders of the Company, the Board may, without further action on the part of the shareholders, determine not to implement the Consolidation. No name change is being undertaken in connection with the Consolidation. The Company believes the strategic potential of its flagship El Dorado Monserrat property is not reflected in the current trading price range of its Common Shares. The Consolidation is being undertaken in order to potentially enhance the liquidity and marketability of the Common Shares, and reduce the volatility associated with small changes in trading price to make the Common Shares a more investable asset to additional investor classes and potentially have a positive effect on the Companys ability to raise additional financing in the future to continue its exploration activities. As at the date of this news release, there are 194,709,924 outstanding Common Shares. If the Consolidation was completed at the maximum consolidation ratio of 10:1, there would be 19,470,992 Common Shares outstanding (excluding any effect on fractional Common Shares and prior to giving effect to the Offering described above). Additional details with respect to the purposes and effects of the Consolidation will be provided in a management information circular that will be provided to shareholders in approximately early October. About Fredonia Fredonia indirectly owns a 100% interest in certain license areas (totaling approximately 18,300 ha.) (collectively, the Project), all within the Deseado Massif geological region in the Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, including the following principal areas: El Aguila (approximately 9,100 ha.), Petrificados (approximately 3,000 ha.), and the flagship, advanced El Dorado-Monserrat property (approximately 6,200 ha.) located close to AngloGold Ashantis Cerro Vanguardia mine, subject to a 1.5% net smelter return royalty on the EDM project, and a 0.5% net profits interest on Winki II, El Aguila I, El Aguila II and Hornia (ex Petrificados). For further information, please visit the Companys website at www.fredoniamanagement.com or contact: Carlos Espinosa, Chief Financial Officer, Direct: +1-647-401-9292, Email: cespinosa@slgmexico.com. Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement This news release contains "forwardlooking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates, projections and interpretations as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release about the size and terms of the Offering, the use of the proceeds from the Offering, the number of securities offered or sold, the timing and ability of the Company to close the Offering, if at all, the timing and ability of the Company to satisfy the listing conditions of the TSXV, if at all, the prospects of the Project, the filing of a material change report with respect to the Offering, the intention to complete the Consolidation and the expected Consolidation ratio, statements with respect to calling and holding the Meeting and the delivery of Meeting materials, and the timing therefor, and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be "forward-looking information". Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", "management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company, at the time such assumptions and estimates were made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties or 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 such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks relating to the Offering, volatility in the trading price of the Common Shares, risks relating to the ability of the Company to obtain required approvals, completing the Offering on the terms announced, Fredonias ability to complete further exploration activities, property interests; the results of exploration activities; risks relating to mining activities; the global economic climate; metal prices; dilution; environmental risks changes in the tax and regulatory regime; and community and non-governmental actions. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot guarantee shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities of the Company that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward looking information. Company does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be 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. SANTA MONICA, CA, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oliveda International, Inc. (OTC Pink: OLVI) today announced that due to the strong growth of its Olive Tree People Inc. subsidiary, the Company intends to build 1,060 water well in the next 10 years in Tanzania, Africa. Olive Tree People Inc. founder and CEO Thomas Lommel announced that from 2025 onwards, 106 water wells will be built annually in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania in order to be able to maintain the cycle from tree to beauty due to the strong growth of Olive Tree People in 2024. We believe in redefining beauty thanks to mother nature, commented Mr. Lommel. True beauty means to be re:connected to our own nature and being aware of our uniqueness. Building wells means for us, first of all, partnership on equal terms and not development aid. The proud indigenous people of the Maasai would be much more able to provide us with development aid, as for hundreds of years they have cultivated and preserved the most valuable thing that we are increasingly losing the connection to our nature and thus, the highest form of intelligence, intuition. We are grateful and honored to be able to capture this knowledge of original nature and ancient plant recipes and, in return, to build wells for the Maasai because the water we do not use in our products we bring to the people in Africa. Join our waterless beauty movement. More information about the Companys Oliveda for Africa Project can be found at https://us.olivetreepeople.com/pages/for-africa. About Oliveda International, Inc. Oliveda International, Inc. and its subsidiary, Olive Tree People Inc., as well as the European companies, Olive Tree People Europe AG and Oliveda Deutschland GmbH, as well as Olive Tree Farmers SL, were founded by the German real estate investor Thomas Lommel and have more than 20 years of experience in management and organic certification growing mountain olive trees, in the extraction of first-class, internationally award-winning extra virgin olive oils, the extraction of hydroxytyrosol, and in the production and distribution of cosmetic and holistic waterless products related to the olive tree. Lommel is the inventor of the Olive Tree Therapy 10 years in 14 days as well as the inventor of olive matcha, which is based on the ground olive leaf. Also unique is the coffee replacement developed by Lommel, which is based on olive leaf and hydroxytyrosol. In addition, Lommel is successfully active in the rapidly growing mindfulness industry with the olive tree sound bath meditation he developed and the frequencies of his olive trees, which he makes available worldwide. In addition to the registered beauty brands, Oliveda and LA Dope, as well as Re:connected to Nature, The Intuition of Nature, and Olive Mush, to name just a few brands, Lommel is the region's largest conservationist and protector of over 30,000 one-hundred-year-old mountain olive trees, and, with his Thomas Lommel Foundation, he brings the water that he does not use into his waterless beauty products to the people of Africa by building water wells on site. In addition to online sales and a Europe-wide branch network of thousands of retail stores, Oliveda Deutschland GmbH operates its own flagship stores in Berlin and Dusseldorf. The brand's treatment concepts are unique worldwide, and their effectiveness has been confirmed by conventional medicine. Read our book The Olive Tree Therapy 10 Years in 14 Days. Waterless beauty has been called The Next Big Thing in articles in U.S. Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Elle, Madame, Forbes, and many other industry publications, as well as by Mintel, a world-leading futurology institute. Gigi Hadid and many other celebrities are already Oliveda fans and support its success. Further information on Oliveda International, Inc. and its subsidiaries and associate companies and brands can be found at www.olivetreepeople.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain statements, estimates or projections that constitute "forward-looking statements" pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, the words "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "project," "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which may be found in the Companys filings with OTC Markets Group Inc., that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's historical experience and present expectations or projections. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or intention to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements unless otherwise required by law. VANCOUVER, September 17, 2024 - Leocor Gold Inc. (CSE: LECR) (OTC: LECRF) ("Leocor" or the "Company") announces that it has converted 2,223,529 pre-funded special warrants (each, a "Special Warrant") of Intrepid Metals Corp. (TSXV: INTR) ("Intrepid"). The Special Warrants were previously acquired by the Company on January 5, 2024 in connection with a strategic investment in Intrepid. No additional consideration was payable by the Company in connection with conversion of the Special Warrants. Following conversion of the Special Warrants, the Company has received 2,223,529 units (each, a "Unit") of Intrepid. Each Unit consists of one common share of Intrepid and one common share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant") entitling the Company to acquire one additional common share at a price of $0.40 until January 5, 2026. Prior to conversion of the Special Warrants, the Company held 6,600,000 common shares, representing approximately 14.55% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Intrepid, 6,600,000 Warrants and 2,223,529 Special Warrants. As a result of the conversion of the Special Warrants, the Company now holds 8,823,529 common shares representing approximately 18.55% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Intrepid. The Company holds an additional 8,823,529 Warrants that if exercised will result in the issuance of an equivalent number of common shares of Intrepid. If all of the Warrants held by the Company are exercised it would result in the Company holding 17,647,058 common shares of Intrepid equal to approximately 32.59% of the then issued and outstanding common shares of the Company. However, the Warrants held by the Company are subject to an exercise limitation such that the Company may not exercise if it would result in them having beneficial ownership over common shares in excess of 19.9%. The Company has converted the Special Warrants of Intrepid for investment purposes. Depending on market conditions and other factors, the Company may from time to time acquire or dispose of securities of Intrepid or continue to hold its current position. A copy of the early warning report required to be filed with the applicable securities commission in connection with the Investment will be available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com and can be obtained by contacting the Company. About Leocor Gold Inc. Leocor Gold Inc. is a British Columbia-based resource company involved in the acquisition and exploration of precious metal projects, with a current focus in Atlantic Canada. Leocor, through outright ownership and earn-in agreements, currently controls several gold-copper projects in prime exploration ground located within the prolific Baie Verte Mining District. Leocor's Bae Verte portfolio includes the Dorset, Dorset Extension, Copper Creek and Five Mile Brook projects, creating a contiguous nearly 2,000-hectare exploration corridor. The Company also controls three district scale land packages in North Central Newfoundland, known as Robert's Arm, Hodge's Hill, and Leamington, (collectively "Western Exploits") representing over 144,000 hectares (1,440 square kilometers) of prospective exploration. Contact Information Leocor Gold Inc. Alex Klenman, Chief Executive Officer Email: aklenman@leocorgold.com Telephone: (604) 970-4330 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. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding the intentions of Leocor regarding securities of Intrepid. Although Leocor believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "postulate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Leocor cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Leocor is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the results of preliminary exploration work; the state of the financial markets for Leocor's securities; the state of the natural resources sector; recent market volatility; circumstances related to COVID-19; Leocor's ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; and other risks and factors that Leocor is unaware of at this time. The reader is referred to Leocor's initial public offering prospectus for a more complete discussion of applicable risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through Leocor's issuer page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Leocor disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. (TSX:ASCU | OTCQX:ASCUF) ("ASCU" or the "Company"), an emerging US-based copper developer and near-term producer, today announces the voting results from its annual and special meeting (the "Meeting"), held earlier today. A total of 76,531,243 common shares were voted at the meeting representing 69.92% of the issued and outstanding shares. Shareholders voted in favour of the business before the Meeting, being (i) the reappointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of the Company, (ii) the approval of the equity compensation plan, (iii) the advanced notice policy, and (iv) the election of all director nominees, all as outlined in the Company's management information circular dated July 29, 2024 (the "Circular"). The Directors were voted by ballot, as best practice for TSX-listed companies. The results of the ballot are detailed in the table below. Director Votes in Favour Votes Withheld Percentage Number Percentage Number David Laing 99.731% 73,526,765 0.269% 197,996 George Ogilvie 99.711% 73,511,918 0.289% 212,843 Isabella Bertani 99.507% 73,361,161 0.493% 363,600 Alan Edwards 99.919% 73,665,031 0.081% 59,730 Mark Palmer 99.159% 73,104,434 0.841% 620,327 Sarah Strunk 99.905% 73,655,045 0.095% 69,716 The formal report on voting results with respect to all matters voted upon at the Meeting will be filed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Company's issuer profile. A copy of the Circular containing the particulars of the matters voted upon at the Meeting is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Company's issuer profile. About Arizona Sonoran Copper Company (www.arizonasonoran.com) ASCU's objective is to become a mid-tier copper producer with low operating costs and to develop the Cactus and Parks/Salyer Projects that could generate robust returns for investors and provide a long term sustainable and responsible operation for the community and all stakeholders. The Company's principal asset is a 100% interest in the Cactus Project (former ASARCO, Sacaton mine) which is situated on private land in an infrastructure-rich area of Arizona. Contiguous to the Cactus Project is the Company's 100%-owned Parks/Salyer deposit that could allow for a phased expansion of the Cactus Mine once it becomes a producing asset. The Company is led by an executive management team and Board which have a long-standing track record of successful project delivery in North America complemented by global capital markets expertise. Forward-Looking Statements Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of ASCU to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; results of exploration programs; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining governmental approvals, projected cash operating costs, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. Although ASCU 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 to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and ASCU disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240917416973/en/ Contact For more information: Alison Dwoskin, Director, Investor Relations 647-233-4348 adwoskin@arizonasonoran.com George Ogilvie, President, CEO and Director 416-723-0458 gogilvie@arizonasonoran.com VANCOUVER, Sept. 17, 2024 - September 18, 2024 - Sydney, Australia Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Patriot") (TSX: PMET) (ASX: PMT) (OTCQX: PMETF) (FSE: R9GA) is pleased to announce results of voting at its Annual General Shareholder Meeting held on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 4pm (Eastern Time) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (the "Meeting"). All matters submitted to shareholders for approval as set out in the Company's Notice of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and Information Circular (the "Circular"), dated August 5, 2024, were approved by the requisite majority of votes cast at the Meeting. A total of 49,735,927 common shares were voted at the Meeting, representing approximately 35.237% of the total issued and outstanding common shares of the Company as of the record date of the Meeting. As required under ASX Listing Rule 3.13.2, we advise details of resolutions passed, the proxies received and the total number of votes cast for each resolution as set out at Appendix 1, which includes detailed voting results for the election of each director nominated in the Company's Circular. A report with the final results on all matters voted on at the Meeting will also be filed on SEDAR+ under Patriot's profile at www.sedarplus.ca. About Patriot Battery Metals Inc. Patriot Battery Metals Inc. is a hard-rock lithium exploration company focused on advancing its district- scale 100% owned Shaakichiuwaanaan Property (formerly known as Corvette) located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, Canada, which is accessible year-round by all-season road and is proximal to regional powerline infrastructure. The Shaakichiuwaanaan Mineral Resource1, which includes the CV5 & CV13 spodumene pegmatites, totals 80.1 Mt at 1.44% Li2O Indicated, and 62.5 Mt at 1.31% Li2O Inferred, and ranks as the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas, and the 8th largest lithium pegmatite resource in the world. Additionally, the Shaakichiuwaanaan Property hosts multiple other spodumene pegmatite clusters that remain to be drill tested, as well as significant areas of prospective trend that remain to be assessed. 1 Shaakichiuwaanaan (CV5 & CV13) Mineral Resource Estimate (80.1 Mt at 1.44% Li2O and 163 ppm Ta2O5 Indicated, and 62.5 Mt at 1.31% Li2O and 147 ppm Ta2O5 ppm Inferred) is reported at a cut-off grade of 0.40% Li2O (open-pit), 0.60% Li2O (underground CV5), and 0.80% Li2O (underground CV13) with an Effective Date of August 21, 2024 (through drill hole CV24-526). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. For further information, please contact us at info@patriotbatterymetals.com or by calling +1 (604) 279- 8709, or visit www.patriotbatterymetals.com. Please also refer to the Company's continuous disclosure filings, available under its profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.asx.com.au, for available exploration data. This news release has been approved by the Board of Directors. "KEN BRINSDEN" Kenneth Brinsden, President, CEO, & Managing Director Qualified/Competent Person The technical information in this news release is based on, and fairly represents, information from the report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Shaakichiuwaanaan Project, James Bay Region, Quebec, Canada" with an Issue Date of September 12, 2024, and Effective Date of August 21, 2024 reviewed and approved by Mr. Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and member in good standing with the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec (Geologist Permit number 01968), and with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (member number 87868). Mr. Smith is Vice President of Exploration for Patriot Battery Metals Inc. and holds common shares and options in the Company. Mr. Smith has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralization, type of deposit under consideration, and to the activities being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as described by the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code). Mr. Smith consents to the inclusion in this news release of the matters in the form and context in which they appear. APPENDIX 1 - Results of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Resolution Resolution Result Number of votes cast in Meeting Instructions given to validly appointed proxies For Against Withheld/Abstain For Against Withheld/Abstain Discretion 1a Election of Director - Pierre Boivin Pass 43,256,149 95.60% N/A 1,992,860 4.404% 43,256,149 95.60% N/A 1,992,860 4.40% -- 1b Election of Director - 44,024,359 N/A 1,224,650 44,024,359 N/A 1,224,650 -- Brian Jennings Pass 97.29 % 2.71 % 97.29 % 2.71 % 1c Election of Director - 44,173,979 N/A 1,075,030 44,173,979 N/A 1,075,030 -- Ken Brinsden Pass 97.62 % 2.38 % 97.62 % 2.38 % 1d Election of Director - 43,336,514 N/A 1,912,495 43,336,514 N/A 1,912,495 -- David Blair Way Pass 95.77 % 4.23 % 95.77 % 4.23 % 1e Election of Director - 42,978,599 N/A 2,270,410 42,978,599 N/A 2,270,410 -- Melissa Desrochers Pass 94.98 % 5.02 % 94.98 % 5.02 % 2. Appointment of Auditor Pass 49,651,546 N/A 66,064 49,651,546 N/A 66,064 -- 99.87 % 0.13 % 99.87 % 0.13 % 3. Ratification of previous -- issuance of Shares under the Flow-Through Financing Pass 34,004,868 94.79 % 140,496 0.39 % 1,728,248 4.82 % 34,004,868 94.79 % 140,496 0.32 % 1,728,248 4.82 % Placement 4. Ratification of previous -- issuance of Shares for Pass 45,160,720 63,882 24,407 45,160,720 63,882 24,407 acquisition of blocks at the 99.81 % 0.14 % 0.05 % 99.81 % 0.14 % 0.05 % Eastmain Project 5. Ratification of previous issuance of Shares for Pass 45,010,275 64,327 24,407 45,010,275 64,327 24,407 -- acquisition of JBN-57 claim 99.80 % 0.14 % 0.05 % 99.80 % 0.14 % 0.05 % block 6. Approval to issue FY24 38,804,897 2,757,072 9,653 38,804,897 2,757,072 9,653 -- Options and DSUs to Ken Pass 93.35 % 6.63 % 0.02 % 93.35 % 6.63 % 0.02 % Brinsden 7. Approval to issue FY24 28,196,818 13,365,152 9,653 28,196,818 13,365,152 9,653 -- Options and DSUs to Pierre Pass 67.83 % 32.15 % 0.02 % 67.83 % 32.15 % 0.02 % Boivin 8. Approval to issue FY24 Options and DSUs to Melissa Desrochers Pass 28,197,082 67.83% 13,364,888 32.15% 9,653 0.02% 28,197,082 67.83% 13,364,888 32.15% 9,653 0.02% - 9. Approval to issue FY24 DSUs to Brian Jennings Pass 38,628,852 92.92% 2,933,118 7.06% 9,653 0.02% 38,628,852 92.92% 2,933,118 7.06% 9,653 0.02% - 10. Approval to issue DSUs to non-executive Directors for FY25 Pass 38,633,556 92.93% 2,927,964 7.04% 10,103 0.02% 38,633,556 92.93% 2,927,964 7.04% 10,103 0.02% -- 11. Approval to issue Salary Sacrifice DSUs to non- executive Directors for FY25 Pass 38,698,451 93.09% 2,862,228 6.89% 10,944 0.03% 38,698,451 93.09% 2,862,228 6.89% 10,944 0.03% -- 12. Approval to issue RSUs and PSUs to Ken Brinsden for FY25 Pass 38,351,700 92.255% 3,210,269 7.72% 9,653 0.02% 38,351,700 92.26% 3,210,269 7.72% 9,653 0.02% - View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/results-of-annual-general-meeting-of-shareholders-302251237.html SOURCE Patriot Battery Metals Inc. VANCOUVER, Sept. 18, 2024 - CMC Metals Ltd. (TSX-V: CMB) (Frankfurt:ZM5P) ("CMC" or the "Company") announces that it has contracted MICON International Limited to complete a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for its Silver Hart Project, Yukon. It is estimated that the MRE will be completed in approximately six weeks time. The MRE is phase 1 of a multi-stage evaluation to determine if it is amenable to establish seasonal small-scale open pit mining at the Silver Hart Project. Kevin Brewer, President and CEO noted "We are excited about the potential for mid-term production at our 100% owned Silver Hart Project in Yukon. Our aim would be to utilize possible pre-concentration technologies such as ore sorting or dense media separation to enhance the viability and economics of transporting material from Silver Hart and Blue Heaven to a processing mill. This is a conceptual project at this stage but one that is viewed by our Board as within our abilities. We are also in discussion with companies to undertake metallurgical and other tests to confirm what technology is be suited to the material at Silver Hart." Qualified Person Qualified Person Kevin Brewer, a registered professional geoscientist, is the Company's President and CEO, and Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101). He has given his approval of the technical information pertaining reported herein. The Company is committed to meeting the highest standards of integrity, transparency and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological reporting, geophysical investigations, environmental and baseline studies, engineering studies, metallurgical testing, assaying and all other technical data. About CMC Metals Ltd. CMC Metals Ltd. is a growth stage exploration company focused on opportunities for high grade polymetallic deposits in Yukon, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Our polymetallic silver-lead-zinc CRD prospects in the Rancheria Silver District include the Silver Hart Deposit and Blue Heaven claims (Yukon), Amy and Silverknife claims (British Columbia). Our polymetallic projects with potential for copper-silver-gold and other metals include Bridal Veil (central Newfoundland) and Logjam (Yukon). On behalf of the Board: "Kevin Brewer" Kevin Brewer, President, CEO and Director CMC Metals Ltd. For Further Information and Investor Inquiries: Kevin Brewer, P. Geo., MBA, B.Sc.(Hons), Dip. Mine Eng. President, CEO and Director Tel: (709) 327 8013 kbrewer80@hotmail.com Suite 1000-409 Granville St., Vancouver, BC, V6C 1T2 Website: www.cmcmetals.ca Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. "This news release may contain certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles and exploitation activities and developments. In this release disclosure regarding the potential to undertake future exploration work comprise forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks, including the ability of the Company to raise the funds necessary to fund its projects, to carry out the work and, accordingly, may not occur as described herein or at all. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, the impact of the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are referred to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators for information on these and other risk factors, available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and 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 expressly required by applicable securities legislation." RENO, Sept. 18, 2024 - i-80 Gold Corp. (TSX: IAU) (NYSE: IAUX) ("i-80", or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. Richard Young has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and a director effective immediately, succeeding Ewan Downie following his retirement as CEO. This appointment completes the previously announced succession process. Mr. Downie will also step down as a director of the Company and will continue as an advisor to the Company. Mr. Young brings extensive financial, development and operational experience to i-80, having previously held senior positions at multiple companies, with increasing responsibilities, over the past several decades. He brings strong experience in Nevada including operational positions with Barrick Gold at its Goldstrike Mine, one of the largest gold mines in North America. Richard was the founder and CEO of Teranga Gold Corp., playing a key role in its transformation from a single asset producer into a successful low-cost, mid-tier gold producer that was ultimately acquired by Endeavour Mining Plc in 2021 for more than C$2.5 billion. Most recently, Mr. Young served as President and CEO of Argonaut Gold which was acquired by Alamos Gold Inc. in July of 2024. During his career, Mr. Young has been responsible for implementing award-winning sustainability programs and received the 2008 and 2017 PDAC Sustainability Award, and the 2020 UN Global Compact Canada SDG Accelerator Award. "I am excited to join i-80, owner of the largest gold and silver resource base in the United States, not owned by a senior gold company. Ewan and the team have assembled an incredible group of projects, that collectively have the potential to create a United States mid-tier gold producer over the next few years. Our focus in the short term will be to more fully assess the portfolio with a vision of developing both the sulfide and oxide deposits." said Mr. Young. "I am pleased that Ewan has agreed to continue to serve as an advisor to the Company on the development and expansion of this already significant portfolio of gold, silver and base metal projects." added Mr. Young. "I am proud of the platform we have built, a world-class project portfolio situated in one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions where we have realized numerous exploration successes over the past three years.", said Ewan Downie. "Now, with efforts shifting from a focus on exploration to mine development, it is time for a leader with broad development and operational experience to lead the impressive management team at i-80 through its next phase of growth to deliver substantial returns to shareholders." Ron Clayton, Chairman of the Board of Directors on behalf of the entire Board extends sincere thanks to Mr. Downie for his vision and leadership in building i-80 Gold and are pleased he will continue in an advisory role. "The Board is incredibly pleased we have been able to attract a new CEO of Richard's caliber and skills. We look forward to Richard leading our company in developing our world class assets in one the best districts for mining in the world. Richard is well equipped to lead our team in unlocking the value our assets represent." said Mr. Clayton. 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 info@i80gold.com. 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 Company's potential to create a United States mid-tier gold producer over the next few years, the vision of developing both the sulfide and oxide deposits, unlocking the value of the Company's assets, Mr. Downie's continued involvement as an advisor, 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. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/i-80-gold-appoints-richard-young-chief-executive-officer-302251357.html SOURCE i-80 Gold Corp Toronto, September 18, 2024 - Big Ridge Gold Corp. (TSXV: BRAU) (OTCQB: ALVLF) ("Big Ridge" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed a non-brokered private placement of 30,000,000 common shares of the Company at $0.05 per share for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $1,500,000 (the "Offering"). The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to fund continued exploration and development of Big Ridge's Hope Brook Gold Project and for general working capital purposes. No brokers or finders fees were paid in connection with the Offering. Michael Bandrowski, President & CEO of the Company, commented: "Big Ridge is pleased to receive continued support from existing shareholders, including strong participation from Mr. Michael Gentile, PowerOne Capital Group, and other supportive shareholders. We look forward to upcoming results from our 2024 summer field program, environmental baseline work and ongoing ore sorting studies at the Hope Brook Gold Project." Michael Gentile commented: "Over the last six months I have acquired 12.6 million shares of Big Ridge Gold Corp., increasing my holdings to 9.9 percent of the company. With a market capitalization of only $11 million, Big Ridge is a compelling opportunity at current valuation levels. The company is well positioned to capitalize on the strong gold price environment with a project that can advance quickly. Hope Brook is an advantaged project due to regional infrastructure synergies, significant exploration potential and environmental work already completed and the ability to generate a Preliminary Economic Assessment in the near future. Big Ridge has chosen to preserve its capital in this difficult market for juniors and is now judiciously raising money from a core group of shareholders to unlock significant value via the advancement of key milestones." The securities issued pursuant to the Offering are subject to a four month hold period expiring January 19, 2025. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such Act. The Company also announced the resignation of James Maxwell as a director of the Company. Mr. Maxwell was the nominee of First Mining Gold Corp. on the Big Ridge board, which nomination right ended upon the sale by First Mining of its entire equity position in the Company, as previously announced on March 28, 2024. We thank James for his contributions to the Big Ridge board over the last several years. About Hope Brook The Hope Brook Gold Project is an advanced stage, high-grade gold project that produced 752,162 ounces of gold from 1987 - 1997. Initial production consisted of an open pit before moving to underground mining. Hope Brook operated using both heap leach (1987 -1990) and conventional cyanidation milling methods (1989-1997) with a later inclusion of flotation concentration to recover copper (1991). Government records indicate that gold recoveries from milling ranged between a low of 78.8% in 1987 and a high of 85.9% in 1989. Government and company annual reports indicate that gold recoveries ranged between a low of 82.1% in 1994 and a high of 89.83% in 1996 following a change of ownership. Copper flotation produced a concentrate at approximately 22% Cu and 34.3 g/t Au for shipment in 1992. Hope Brook hosts an Indicated gold resource totalling 16,190,000 tonnes grading 2.32 grams per tonne gold for 1.2 million ounces and Inferred resources totalling 2,215,000 tonnes grading 3.25 grams per tonne gold for 231,000 ounces based on a 0.4 and 2.0 gram per tonne cut-off grades for open pit and underground resources respectively using a long-term gold price of US$1,750. The Hope Brook gold deposit is a high-sulfidation epithermal gold deposit hosted in the Proterozoic aged Whittle Hill Sandstone and is intruded by a Late Proterozoic quartz-feldspar porphyry sill-dike complex of the Roti Intrusive Suite. The deposit is located adjacent to and within an extensive advanced argillic alteration envelope which includes pyrophyllite, kaolinite, andalusite, and alunite. The principal gold mineralization occurs in a buff-colored massive, vuggy silicic alteration with an associated, less developed grey silicic alteration with pyrite, chalcopyrite and lesser bornite accessory minerals. Gold mineralization is also found with pyrite in units of advanced argillic alteration adjacent to or near silicic alteration horizons. The altered and mineralized zone is cut by mafic dykes whose contacts are often mineralized. All the altered and mineralized sequences and the intruded dykes have been folded. Hope Brook is located 85 kilometers east of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. The project has well maintained infrastructure on site, including an operational 28-person camp, an 1,100-meter airstrip, ice-free docking facility and importantly, connection to the provincial electrical power grid via an on-site substation. About Big Ridge Gold Corp. Big Ridge Gold Corp. is an exploration and development company managed by a disciplined and experienced team of officers and directors. The Company is committed to the development of advanced stage mining projects using industry best practices combined with strong social license from our local communities. Big Ridge owns an 80% interest in the Hope Brook Gold Project, located in Newfoundland and Labrador. Big Ridge also owns a 100% interest in the highly prospective Oxford Gold Project located in Manitoba and the Destiny Gold Project in Quebec. Acknowledgement Big Ridge acknowledges and appreciates the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Natural Resources' financial support of the Company's 2023 exploration programs through the Junior Exploration Assistance (JEA) Program. For more details regarding the Company's projects, please visit our website at www.bigridgegold.com ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, Mike Bandrowski, President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "intends", "estimates", "envisages", "potential", "possible", "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. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations, or beliefs regarding future events, and include, without limitation, statements with respect to Big Ridge's intentions with respect to Caprock's shares. All forward-looking statements are based on Big Ridge's and its employees' current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions, and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Big Ridge, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Big Ridge does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on our behalf, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223694 Vancouver - September 18, 2024 Element79 Gold Corp. (CSE:ELEM)(OTC:ELMGF)(FSE:7YS0) ("Element79" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Kevin Arias to the Company's Advisory Board. With over two decades of experience across industries such as mining, energy, and corporate finance, Mr. Arias brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Company. His strong background in business development, investor relations, securities, and corporate communications, combined with a proven track record in raising over CAD $100 million since 2008, positions him as a valuable addition to the Element79 team. Mr. Arias currently serves as Managing Director at Maple Grove Capital Inc., where he has honed his skills in navigating the complex landscapes of upstream energy, mining, and metals sectors. His prior roles include Vice President of Corporate Relations for Red Eagle Mining, Black Eagle Mining, and Slater Mining, as well as positions with Dundee Securities Corporation and Scotia McLeod, further showcasing his versatility and leadership within the industry. James Tworek, CEO of Element79, commented, "We are thrilled to welcome Kevin to as an Advisor to our Board. His extensive experience in corporate finance and investor relations will be instrumental as we continue to grow and achieve new milestones for the Company." Mr. Arias has studied Finance and Marketing at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC. He will begin his advisory role immediately, providing strategic guidance in corporate finance as Element79 moves forward with to fund its exploration and development projects. Closing of Private Placement Having already successfully oversubscribed its former capital raising goal on July 12, 2024 for $288,815, the Company is formally closing the private placement. About Element79 Gold Corp. Element79 Gold is a precious metals mining company with a focus on exploring and developing its past-producing, high-grade gold and silver mine, the Lucero project located in Arequipa, Peru, with the intent to restart production in the near term. The Company holds a portfolio of four properties along the Battle Mountain trend in Nevada, and the projects are believed to have significant potential for near-term resource development. The Company has retained the Clover project for resource development purposes and signed a binding agreement to sell three projects with a closing date on or before November 30, 2024. The Company also holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Dale Property, 90 unpatented mining claims located approximately 100 km southwest of Timmins, Ontario, and has recently announced that it has transferred this project to its wholly owned subsidiary, Synergy Metals Corp, and is advancing through the Plan of Arrangement spin-out process. Contact Information: For corporate matters, please contact: James C. Tworek, Chief Executive Officer E-mail: jt@element79.gold For investor relations inquiries, please contact: Investor Relations Department Phone: +1.403.850.8050 E-mail: investors@element79.gold --- Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain information in this news 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 statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking information in this press release is based on certain assumptions and expected future events. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list 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 materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise, or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. Modified Section 301 tariffs will implement a new 25% tariff on natural graphite imports from China. Section 301 tariffs play a critical role in driving demand for U.S.-produced anode materials. Westwater Resources Inc. (NYSE: American: WWR), an energy technology and battery-grade natural graphite company ("Westwater Resources" or "Westwater"), supports the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) decision to proceed with Section 301 tariffs on commodity imports from China, including lithium-ion batteries and natural graphite. Pursuant to the terms of Section 301, three new natural graphite products from China will be subject to a 25% tariff. Natural graphite is imported in a variety of forms under several Harmonized Tariff Schedule import codes. Tariffs on some forms of graphite, including CSPG (coated natural graphite anode material), already went into effect on June 14, 2024. This new decision by the USTR will go into effect in 2026 and subjects the several new forms of natural graphite to the same 25% tariff. Jon Jacobs, Westwater's Chief Commercial Officer, commented, "Westwater has built great momentum in constructing its U.S. natural graphite processing plant and securing offtake deals for the sale of all planned CSPG and Fines production during the initial phase of the Kellyton graphite plant through 2031. We believe the U.S. Section 301 tariffs are a critical and important component in accelerating demand for domestically produced natural graphite." A link to the S&P Global story can be found here: US to go ahead with modified Section 301 tariffs on Chinese steel, aluminum, critical minerals | S&P Global Commodity Insights (spglobal.com). About Westwater Resources, Inc. Westwater Resources is an energy technology company that is focused on developing battery-grade natural graphite. Westwater Resources' primary project is the Kellyton Graphite Processing Plant that is under construction in east-central Alabama. In addition, Westwater Resource's Coosa Graphite Deposit is the largest and most advanced natural flake graphite deposit in the contiguous United States - and is located across 41,965 acres (~17,000 hectares) in Coosa County, Alabama. For more information, visit westwaterresources.net. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are identified by words such as "believes," "accelerating," "planned," "momentum," and other similar words. Forward-looking statements in this release include, among other things, statements concerning: Westwater's future sales of CSPG and Fines products to customers, including the amounts, timing, and types of products included within those sales; the planned annual production from Phase I of Kellyton Graphite Plan; and future demand of domestic graphite products. Westwater cautions that there are certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Westwater; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such suggested results will be realized. Additional risks facing Westwater's future prospects are discussed in the Westwater Resources, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and subsequent securities filings. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240918119351/en/ Contact Westwater Resources, Inc. Email: Info@WestwaterResources.net Investor Relations Email: Investorrelations@westwaterresources.net Vancouver, September 18, 2024 - Dryden Gold Corp. (TSXV: DRY) (OTCQB: DRYGF) ("Dryden Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that as a result of excess demand it is increasing the previously announced (August 26, 2024 & September 6, 2024) non-brokered equity financing (the "Upsized Financing") of up to a maximum of 34,000,000 shares comprised of (1) flow-through common shares (the "FT Shares") and (2) charity flow-through units (the "CFT Unit") and (3) hard dollar units (the "HD Units"). The FT Shares will be offered at $0.13 per share. The CFT Units will be offered at a price of $0.15 per CFT Unit. Each CFT Unit will consist of one FT Share of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant (a "Warrant") will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at an exercise price of $0.18 per common share for a period of 24 months. The HD Units will be offered at $0.11 per unit and will consist of one common Share of the Company and one-half of one Warrant. The FT Shares, the CFT Units and the HD Units will combine for maximum aggregate proceeds of up to $4,600,000. The upsized offering is subject to compliance with applicable securities laws and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Finders' fees of 6% cash and non-transferable Warrants equal to 6% of the number of FT Shares, CFT Units and HD Units sold under the Upsized Financing may be payable to eligible arm's length persons with respect to certain subscriptions accepted by the Company. Closing of the Offering is subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued in connection with the Upsized Financing will be subject to a four-month hold period. The gross proceeds of the Upsized Financing will be used to fund drilling, re-logging, on the Company's Dryden Gold Property in northwestern Ontario and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of HD Units will be used for working capital and general and administrative expenses. The FT Shares and the CFT Units will qualify as "flow-through shares" (within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act"). An amount equal to the gross proceeds from the issuance of the FT Shares and the CFT Units will be used to incur eligible resource exploration expenses which will qualify as (i) "Canadian exploration expenses" (as defined in the Tax Act), and (ii) as "flow-through mining expenditures" (as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Tax Act). The gross proceeds from the issuance of the HD Units will be used for general corporate purposes. The Upsized Financing will close in one or more tranches on completion of documentation and is conditional upon receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Exchange. The Company anticipates that insiders may subscribe for HD Units. The issuance of HD Units to insiders is considered a related party transaction subject to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. The Company intends to rely on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(b) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION INTO THE USA ABOUT DRYDEN GOLD CORP. Dryden Gold Corp. is an exploration company focused on the discovery of high-grade gold mineralization listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("DRY") and traded on the OTCQB ("DRYGF"). The Company has a strong management team and Board of Directors comprised of experienced individuals with a track record of building shareholder value through property acquisition and consolidation, exploration success, and mergers and acquisitions. Dryden Gold controls a 100% interest in a dominant strategic land position in the Dryden District of Northwestern Ontario. Dryden Gold acknowledges all Indigenous Peoples and that it is operating on the traditional homelands of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Eagle Lake First Nation. Dryden Gold's property package includes historic gold mines but has seen limited modern exploration. The property hosts high-grade gold mineralization over 50km of potential strike length along the Manitou-Dinorwic deformation zone. The property has excellent infrastructure, enjoys First Nations support and proximity to an experienced mining workforce. For more information go to our website www.drydengold.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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future development plans; future acquisitions; exploration programs; and the business and operations of Dryden Gold. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could affect actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements including, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Dryden Gold's and the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are conditioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Dryden Gold and the Company do not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from Dryden Gold's and the Company's expectations or projections. UNITED STATES ADVISORY. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), have been offered and sold outside the United States to eligible investors pursuant to Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered, sold, or resold in the United States or to, or for the account of or benefit of, a U.S. Person (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act) unless the securities are registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act is available. Hedging transactions involving the securities must not be conducted unless in accordance with the U.S. Securities Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in the state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223766 Vancouver - Sept 18, 2024 - Cariboo Rose Resources Ltd. ("Cariboo Rose") (TSX-V: CRB) provides an update on exploration on its gold-copper-silver projects. Cariboo Rose operates on a model where projects are acquired and subsequent option agreements with other companies derive both income and exploration leverage. Factors which make this viable, in addition to having projects that possess large deposit attributes, include acquiring large acreage tenures, keeping expiry dates well into the future and having the projects fully permitted. A summary of the more important 2024 projects, all of which are located in British Columbia, follows. Lightning Strike: A 100% owned, 4,073-hectare, shale hosted gold-silver project modelled on the Spanish Mountain Gold Project located in similar rocks 95 kilometers to the northwest owned by Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. (TSX-V: SPA). Shale hosted orogenic gold deposits are one of the most attractive models for large gold deposits in the world and include the giant Murantau and Sukoy Log deposits in Russia. A number of notable drill holes on Lightning Strike include intercepts of 3.42 g/t gold and 228.1 g/t silver over 5.0 meters, 0.62 g/t gold and 7.2 g/t silver over 38.0 meters, 0.77 g/t gold over 20.0 meters and 19.30 g/t gold over 1.5 meters. An exploration permit to drill, valid until April 28, 2029, was granted in 2024. Carruthers Pass: A 100% owned, 3,895-hectare base and precious metal project that would include Greens Creek Alaska as an analog. Massive sulfide mineralization was discovered here by Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold in 1997. In 2003 a 100% interest in the project was sold to Cariboo Rose via an earn-in completed in 2012 (subject to a 21/2% royalty to Franco-Nevada Corporation). The property is located in northern BC south of the Kemess copper-gold mine. Of major significance to the project is a mineralized slab of rock weighing several thousand tons protruding from talus with a diamond drill intercept through it of 3.1 meters grading 6.2% copper, 5.8% zinc, 2.37 g/t gold and 192.0 g/t silver. The project is fully permitted for drilling with a current permit expiry of Dec 31, 2026. The most recent work, completed in 2022, at a cost of approximately $2.0 million, included a VTEM electromagnetic airborne survey and four diamond drill holes. Numerous geochemical and geophysical targets remain untested including some with robust cobalt values. Cowtrail: A 100% owned, 4,717-hectare, porphyry copper gold project located in southcentral BC contiguous with the Woodjam copper-gold porphyry project owned by Vizsla Copper Corp. (TSX-V: VCU). The Cowtrail project is under option to BRS Resources Ltd (CSE: BRS) who may earn a 60% interest by completing $2,000,000 in exploration, making payments of $200,000 cash and share issuances equivalent to $200,000 by Dec 19, 2027. Reconnaissance drill testing of extensive induced polarization anomalies (vintage 1997, 2004 and 2006) define a vector of mineralization trending to the southwest beyond the area drilled. Significant drill intercepts include 0.15% copper and 0.12 g/t gold over 105.0 meters, 0.17% copper and 0.11 g/t gold over 40.0m and 1.16 g/t gold over 18.3m. A separate gold arsenic soil anomaly with coincident strong IP and a 6-meter drill intercept grading 0.82 g/t gold, is located 2 km to the west. The exploration permit to drill is valid until Aug 23, 2026. Coquigold: A 100% owned, 2,660-hectare, epithermal gold and silver project located in southern BC 10 kilometers north of Shovelnose Mountain (Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSX-V: WHN)). Central to Coquigold is an area where in 2008 the BC Geological Survey identified quartz sinter and several areas of chalcedonic volcanic and intrusive breccia. Subsequent bedrock sampling by Cariboo Rose returned up to 43.1 g/t silver, 559 ppm arsenic, 13,400 ppb mercury and 101ppm antimony. Soil sampling completed in 2022 identified four new epithermal targets based on anomalous concentrations of arsenic, antimony, silver and lead. In 2022 the project was optioned to CMP Mining Inc. (CSE: CMP) who may earn a 60% interest over a four-year term by making payments totaling $450,000, issuing 200,000 shares and completing $2,000,000 in exploration. An exploration permit to drill, valid until Aug 14, 2028, was granted in 2023. CHG (Carbonate Hosted Gold): A 100% owned, 4,760-hectare, carbonate hosted gold target subject to an option with Basin Uranium Corp. (CSE: NCLR) who may earn a 60% interest by making payments of $300,000 and completing $1,500,000 in exploration by Nov, 2025 and thereafter an additional 10% interest by completing a bankable feasibility study within 24 months. CHG is located in southern BC near the community of Clinton and is drained to the east by three creeks with very strong gold silt anomalies in a predominantly limestone terrane. A VTEM airborne electromagnetic survey was completed in 2021 and indicates a number of resistivity and magnetic anomalies. In 2023 Basin Uranium completed a seven-hole reverse circulation drill program in one target with none of the holes penetrating through the gravelly overburden. In March 2024 a single diamond drill hole was completed. This hole encountered overburden to 120 meters followed by a clay altered unit and sandstone to 139m where the hole was lost in a fault without encountering significant results. Basin Uranium advises that more work is planned. The current permit issued in 2020 authorizing drilling is valid until Oct 25, 2025. Koster Dam: The 5,463-hectare epithermal precious metal project, 55% owned by Cariboo Rose and 45% by Discovery Lithium Corp. (CSE: DCLI), is located in southern British Columbia 5 kilometers north of the Blackdome gold silver Mine (in production from 1986 to 1991 during which time it produced 225,000 ounces of gold and 547,000 ounces of silver). The target at Koster Dam is volcanic hosted gold related to the Fraser River Fault system similar to Blackdome. Recently, areas with greater than 3.0 g/t gold in silt and chalcedonic quartz in outcrop have been located. Airborne magnetic and LiDAR surveys were completed in 2021and indicate a number of linear features. A program completed in 2023 guided by these linear features identified two new areas where gold mineralized float returned assays to 2.6 g/t gold. A 2024 program following up the 2023 work will start before the end of September. This news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. J.W. (Bill) Morton, P.Geo., who is the Qualified Person within the context of NI 43-101 and takes responsibility for it. J.W. (Bill) Morton, P.Geo. President and CEO Contact: Phone: (604) 681-7913, Toll Free: 888-656-6611; website at http://www.cariboorose.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. Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. Vancouver, September 18, 2024 - Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd. (TSXV: SM) (OTCQX: SMDRF) ("Sierra Madre" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") for aggregate gross proceeds of $500,000 through the sale of 1,250,000 common shares of the Company (the "Shares") at a price of $0.40 per Share. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for future marketing activities and general working capital. The Offering remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). All securities issued pursuant to the Offering are subject to a hold period expiring on January 19, 2025. The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press 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 State in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About Sierra Madre Sierra Madre Gold & Silver (TSXV: SM) (OTCQX: SMDRF) is a precious metals development and exploration company, focused on evaluating the potential of restarting the Guitarra Mine in the Temascaltepec mining district, Mexico, and the exploration and development of its Tepic property in Nayarit, Mexico. The Guitarra Mine is a permitted, past-producing underground mine which includes a 500 t/d processing facility that operated until mid-2018. The +2,600 ha Tepic Project hosts low-sulphidation epithermal gold and silver mineralization with an existing historic resource. Sierra Madre's management has played key roles for managing exploration and development of more than 22Moz gold and 600Moz silver in combined reserves and resources. Sierra Madre's team of professionals has collectively raised over $1B for mining companies. On behalf of the board of directors of Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., Cautionary Note 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 press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. The forward-looking statements herein are made as of the date of this press release only, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "projects", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the use of proceeds and the timing of the receipt of final approval from the Exchange. In making the forward-looking statements included in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including that the Company will be able to receive all required regulatory approvals and that the Company will use the proceeds of the Offering as currently anticipated. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict, that may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES SOURCE: Sierra Madre Gold and Silver To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223819 Verstappen sides with Newey over British F1 bias Max Verstappen has sided "100 percent" with Red Bull's departing Adrian Newey on the bias of British media in Formula 1. Max Verstappen, Azerbaijan GP 2024 Red Bull Although Newey has signed up with Aston Martin for 2025 and beyond, triggering rumours Verstappen may soon follow him, he defended the triple world champion for the way he is often portrayed in the UK press. There's a sort of demonisation that both of them suffered at times which I think is very unfair, said Newey, also referring to German Sebastian Vettel. He pointed at the British media in general, but also the quite nationalistic coverage of the UK broadcaster Sky, whose F1 coverage is also picked up by other countries. Dutch racing personality Tom Coronel hailed Newey for his honesty . He's British after all, he told Viaplay. People sometimes tell me to take off my orange glasses, but I don't necessarily wear orange glasses, Coronel added. "I just like the attacking style. That's why I've always been a fan of Max. There's never a dull moment. There's always something going on around him. There's fire in that man, whether he crashes or wins, he said. So I think it is very honest of Newey to be outspoken like this in the English press. Because then he's also opening himself up for criticism. Crucially, Verstappen also agrees with Newey's assessment of British bias. Absolutely. I agree 100 per cent, the triple world champion told Viaplay. In terms of discussions, you will always defend your countryman instead of the other, Verstappen added. "But you also try to keep it as neutral as possible and some countries go overboard with it, I think. In the end, they can say and shout whatever they want. It doesn't matter to me. (GMM) New York subscribers got exclusive early access to this story in Eating New York, a newsletter featuring food news and advice straight from our critics mouths. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Beef jhura at Mezban House Photo: Courtesy of Mezban House In this beef eaters town, there is always some new cow to go on about: the steaks, dry-aged and otherwise. Faddish new burgers. Barbecued ribs, both southern and Korean. Pastrami, hot dogs, French-dip sandwiches. The beef I want to talk about, though, is at Mezban House, a new Bangladeshi restaurant thats been making a lot of noise in an otherwise-quiet corner of Elmhurst. Called jhura mangsho, or beef jhura, its a home-cooking standard in Bangladesh. And its been hard to find in any New York restaurant, until now. A spunky curry made with ginger, garlic, many spices, and enough chile to light up your taste buds, its cooked for three or four hours until the meat becomes soft and tender enough to shred. Then, its dry-fried until crispy and caramelized in bits. You could eat fistfuls of it, scooping it up with torn-off pieces of the light, rice-flour-based chaler roti. Sharmin Akther, the restaurants chef and founder, treats it with as much craft as any other beef in New York. Akther had moved from Bangladesh to New York in early 2022, both for her husbands work and so that she could open a restaurant. She had dreamed of having a place since her college days, when she wanted a cafe and snack shop, but only started cooking after getting married. I was just trying to continuously impress my father-in-law. He loves food, and he has lots of recipe books, she says. But, in Bangladesh, she had too many responsibilities to her extended family, and her dream wasnt supported. I just decided, No, I need to go right away, she tells me. I came here to open a restaurant, to prove to myself that I can. She found a partner in Mehraz Ahmed. When he first came to New York from his hometown of Sylhet 15 years ago, hed drink tea on Starling Avenue (a.k.a. Bangla Bazaar) in Parkchester and lament the quality of the food in his new home. There were only a few Bangladeshi restaurants, and peoples goal wasnt to eat authentic Bangladeshi food, he says. It was just to eat Bangladeshi food. His feelings didnt change as he tried more Bangladeshi food in New York and around the country, and he started wanting to open his own place. But he could never find the right cook to partner with. Then in late 2022, he came across promising looking posts from Akther, who was hawking her food on a Facebook group called American Bangladeshi Community Help. Ive been around the world to Bangladeshi restaurants, and when I tried her food, I realized she has something different, he says. Ive talked to many people, and shes more passionate than anyone else. Ahmed met Akther when she was cooking out of her apartment. He kept ordering her food and expressed his confidence in her food. Soon, the business became too much for her home kitchen. In February, Akther and her husband rented kitchen space in another restaurant, Fiesta Healthy Mexican Grill, as a trial. (They are no longer involved there.) But it quickly became obvious that the place was too small for the demand. So Akther approached Ahmed and asked if hed want to open a restaurant with her. I had no hesitations, he remembers. This spring, they opened Mezban House, named for the beef-centric feasts held in Chittagong, Akthers hometown, for hundreds of years. Inside, the walls are painted pumpkin orange, there are some decorations that look like they came from Pinterest or TJ Maxx, and young families make up a surprising percentage of diners. While the restaurant is not in one of the citys Bangladeshi hubs Parkchester, Astoria, Jamaica customers have been going out of their way to make the trip to Elmhurst. Its food that I would eat at home, but theyve done it at such a high quality that I havent seen at any other Bangladeshi restaurant in New York City, says Naq Zamal, a Jackson Heights native who has been four times in the last three weeks. Honestly, Ive yet to see it done at this level in any of the Little Bangladeshis that Ive visited in America. Locally, Jersey Citys Korai Kitchen has stood out for pushing Bangladeshi food into the spotlight. (Park Slopes Masalawala & Sons has done the same for the cuisine of neighboring West Bengal.) But in the Bangladeshi community, Zamal notes, people are more likely to go out for Indo-Chinese cuisine, Afghan foods, or dishes like biryani that are more broadly South Asian. (And many Bangladeshi restaurateurs opened ostensibly Indian restaurants.) As Ahmed and Akther see it, the cooking at other restaurants is generic and commercialized. This is actual Bangladeshi food you can call it true Bangladeshi food, Akther says. There are unusually lively vorta (or bhurta), offered individually or a medley of eight screaming of mustard oils irrepressible flavor, including chepa shutki, lip-smackingly salty and coursing with red chile; mellower dal; and kalo jeera (black cumin or nigella), as intense tasting as it is jet-black. Most customers who come in, the owners say, order one of the mezbani dishes, and so should you. Maybe the mezbani beef, a famous curry thatll lash your tongue, or the kalabhuna, long-fried beef in inky black sauce made with cumin and powdered radhuni (wild celery seed). Just dont overlook the nola dal gosht, fat split peas happily luxuriating in a broth enriched with bone marrow. Theres plenty of good seafood, too, like the loitta shutki bhuna with salted Bombay duck, chewy as salt cod, and whole cloves of garlic cooked until meltingly soft. Or go for the sorisha (available with both flaky pomfret and oily hilsa fish), a grainy, almost creamy sauce of mustard seed, mustard oil, chile, and nigella. Akthers insistence on making everything herself is seen through to the end of the menu. She prepares her own gulab jamun, which arrives on a bed of clotted cream and red rice for the malai jarda. For the layered dessert known as laccha semai thats traditionally eaten during Eid, she makes her own vermicelli from scratch, frying then drowning it in warm milk with nuts and spices. The other week, Ahmed was visiting friends and family in London, home to the biggest Sylheti community outside Bangladesh. We are not even close to how theyre operating, he says. They are serving food that tells the story of us I want to bring our restaurant industry in New York closer to theirs. Apple Intelligence will be available for more languages than expected starting next year Apple Intelligence is coming next month to supported devices in supported regions. At first, it will only work in US English. More languages will be added to the list over time and that list will get longer than initially expected. During its glowtime presentation, Apple said that localized English support will be added for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom in December. Then in 2025, Intelligence will gain support for Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish. Apple Intelligence language support roadmap, as announced during the presentation This list has been extended. First, there are two new English variants coming next year, for India and Singapore. Second, German, Italian, Portuguese, Vietnamese and others will gain support over the course of 2025 (in addition to the previously announced languages). As we have noted before, Apple Intelligence will not be available on iPhones and iPads in the EU and China. Whats interesting is that Intelligence is available on the macOS Sequoia 15.1 developer beta in the EU. Maybe this is because macOS hasnt been designated as a gatekeeper in the Digital Markets Act terms, but iOS and iPadOS have been. China has its own regulations about AI, so thats another hurdle. Apple is in talks with regulators from both regions to try and figure out the best way to implement the new features. Source | Via Fourth beta of iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 now rolling out with improved Type to Siri suggestions iOS 18 started rolling out earlier this week, so now attention shifts to iOS 18.1 (and the related iPadOS 18.1). The main difference is Apple Intelligence, which wasnt ready in time for the iPhone 16-series launch. The first batch of AI features should arrive in October, unless you are in the EU or China then the timeline is unclear at best. Anyway, Apple has reached the fourth round of betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1. watchOS 11.1, tvOS 18.1 and visionOS 2.1 are now also starting the beta testing procedure. Apple Intelligence itself is still in active development, so some features are ready, others will come later. Also, Intelligence only works on iPhone 15 Pro and the four iPhone 16 models, plus iPads and Macs with Apple silicon. One new feature for beta 4 is that Type to Siri shows suggestions that automatically update as you type. Type to Siri is an alternative to using voice prompts that has been available for years, but now AI-powered autocomplete suggestions help speed up the process. Apple Intelligence features: Writing tools Object removal Image generation Other AI features include system-wide writing tools, object removal from photos and image generation based on text prompts. As usual, we would warn you that beta software isn't suitable for your daily driver device as it still has known and unknown bugs. Unless you are a developer experimenting with the new AI features, you'd be better off waiting for the proper release in October. Source Google oveturned a 1.5 billion (about $1.7 billion at today's rate) penalty by the European Union, issued back in March 2019. The fine was originally handed down after the search engine was found brokering deals that violated competition rules between 2006 and 2016. Sources said the EU can appeal the General Court's decision to the bloc's highest court, the Court of Justice (CJEU), but it has yet to confirm whether it will do so. The original case against Google was the US company set too restrictive clauses for AdSense partners, cementing its dominant position. AdSense for Search is a Google search box on a client's website, and when visitors use it, Google splits the commission from the ad revenue. The total sum of the fine was 1,494,459,000, or 1.29% of the company revenue for 2018. While this fine was overturned, Google did not win the appeal of the 2017 fine of 2.42 billion for misusing its dominant position with Google Shopping or the 4.3 billion slap from the summer of 2018 for forcing manufacturers to use Chrome to have access to Google Play. A separate ruling from the General Court upheld a 242 million fine ($271 million) against Qualcomm. The US-based chipmaker was found guilty in using predatory pricing of baseband chips to European clients. Most pleas of laws were rejected, and only the way the fine was calculated was overturned but the San Diego company still has to pay. Via These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. The vivo X200 series will arrive on October 14, and we expect at least two phones vanilla and Pro versions. Today, the company shared the first camera sample from the telephoto shooter, revealing a brighter aperture than its predecessor. A product manager at Vivo shared the image, saying it was taken at 10x zoom without clarifying whether it was all optical or a hybrid magnifaction. Here's the photo, which looks impressive even after the heavy Weibo compression applied. The camera was previously tipped to sport a new 50 MP Sony IMX882 sensor and an f/2.57 lens in front. It will be equivalent to a 70 mm focal length and will double as a macro shooter, revealed Digital Chat Station. The 10x zoom, according to the leakster, is thus achieved with digital zoom applied on top. The main camera will have a 50 MP Sony IMX921 sensor that is 1/1.56" in size, with an f/1.57 aperture. The ultra-wide-angle snapper will have another 50 MP sensor, but it's going to be the Samsung ISOCELL JN1. The vivo X200 series will come with a Dimensity 9400 chipset by Mediatek, despite the fact the phone will arrive around the same time Qualcomm is expected to introduce Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Nevertheless, we expect both platforms to compete in the international market thanks to Mediatek'simproved energy efficiency. Source 1 Source 2 (both in Chinese) Circle to Search launched in January on Samsung's Galaxy S24 series and was then released by Google for its Pixels. The feature's exclusivity to Samsung and Google devices is ending, however, in a good bit of news for us consumers. According to leaked promo materials, the upcoming Xiaomi 14T and 14T Pro, which will become official next week, on September 26, will both ship with Circle to Search preinstalled. In fact, it will be an important part of Xiaomi's marketing push for these devices, along with other Google Gemini-powered AI features like AI Notes, AI Interpreter, AI Subtitles, and AI Voice Recorder. The leaked images also confirm the fact that the 14T will be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8300-Ultra chipset, paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of expandable storage. The phone will have a 5,000 mAh battery with support for 67W wired charging, which takes it from zero to 100% in 45 minutes. The camera system will comprise of a 50 MP main shooter using Sony's IMX906 sensor, a 50 MP telephoto, a 12 MP ultrawide, and a 32 MP selfie shooter. Xiaomi 14T leaked promo images The 14T Pro is expected to be identical save for the Dimensity 9300+ chipset used, and perhaps it will charge faster too. Both devices should have a 6.67-inch 1120x2712 OLED screen with 144 Hz refresh rate, IP68 dust and water resistance, and they will run Android 14 with Xiaomi's HyperOS on top. Source In May, the University of Guam Center for Island Sustainabilitys Island Conservation Team organized a hike for my birthday. During the hike, we collected fruits from Maesa walkeri, a rare shrub urgently needing conservation on Guahan as it is listed as threatened on the Endangered Species Act. Though it took some time, our team germinated the seeds and cared for them until the seedlings eventually grew an inch tall. Last week, when a tropical disturbance hit Guahan, our Island Conservation Lab continued its efforts to protect this rare plant by quickly relocating these vulnerable seedlings to safety, together with other endangered plants, protecting them from the 4 to 8 inches of rain that could have drowned them. Once the seedlings are 2 feet tall, we will work with private landowners and government agencies to identify places to plant them around Guahan. Only in Guahan, Luta Maesa walkeri is a shrub belonging to the Primulaceae (primrose) family. The shrub is endemic to Guahan and Luta, meaning this plant only occurs on these two islands and nowhere else in the world. The shrub has a higher abundance on Luta compared to Guahan. There is no known CHamoru name. These shrubs typically inhabit sunny forest edge habitats that have minimal or absent overstory, though they can occasionally be found in the shade. They grow on limestone substrates and occur at higher elevations. In Luta, you can spot Maesa walkeri along the borders of the Pandanus forest. Lenticels This shrub is easily identified because the stem has prominent lenticels. Lenticels are small, raised pores on the stems surface, which give the plant an overall interesting texture. These lenticels are important for Maesa walkeri as they help the plant adapt to its environment by ensuring adequate gas exchange, even under varying conditions. This adaptation is crucial for plants in tropical climates, where humidity and temperature conditions can fluctuate. The ovate (oval shape) leaves are glossy with crenate margins, a botanical term for the round-toothed edges. The veins and mid veins are rusty, giving the shrub an overall rusty red appearance. Creamy-colored fragrant flowers The inflorescence (the arrangement of flowers on a plant) comprises fragrant creamy-colored flowers arranged on a central stem. This structure allows the flowers to bloom sequentially, starting from the bottom and moving upwards, creating a visually appealing, elongated cluster of blooms. The same pattern is observed when the fruits ripen, with the bottom fruit ripening first. Pinkish fruit The fleshy berries are translucent and pinkish when ripe, about the size of a pea. Birds eat the fruit, but due to the scarcity of seed dispersers on Guahan (because of the brown treesnake infestation), this shrub is becoming increasingly rare. This might be why the shrubs still thrive in Luta (because they still have birds). Each fruit contains many seeds. In Guahan, the shrub seems to spread its seeds locally around the tree but does not disperse them far away. Medicinal importance Many species of Primulaceae have medicinal uses related to the secretory channels distributed throughout the plant. These secretory channels store and transport secondary metabolites such as essential oils, resins, or alkaloids, which have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Conservation Guahan has very few populations of this shrub, with each population containing 50 or fewer individuals. That means that these species are so rare, we cant afford their habitat to be destroyed. Plans like the Guam Habitat Conservation Plan allow for responsible sustainable development. For Maesa walkeri, this means developers will have to work with plant experts to avoid this species. In addition to protecting the existing locations, the Island Conservation Lab aims to increase their populations throughout Guahan through collaborations with the government and private landowners. These actions will help increase the populations. Learn more about our Taiparehu program in Olympia Terrals column. Follow us Follow the UOG CIS Island Conservation Lab on Instagram and Facebook to stay updated on all of our work. You can learn more about the wonders of Guahans ecosystems, and how we may better co-exist with the natural world using a traditional and scientific lens. Find us on Instagram @uogcis.islandconservationlab or Facebook UOG CIS Island Conservation Lab. Attorney General Douglas Moylan is recommending further changes to Sen. Dwayne San Nicolas recently introduced bill that would make it similar to Texas and Arizona legislation that provides greater local law enforcement authority over illegal immigration into their jurisdictions. San Nicolas committee on Friday held a public hearing on Bill 340-37, which seeks to impose harsher penalties of up to five years in prison and $25,000 in fines for unauthorized entries into the island. Currently, they face a maximum fine of $2,000 or one year imprisonment, or both. A total of about 118 individuals have been caught trying to enter the island illegally since 2022, according to the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency. Moylan said Texas made it a misdemeanor to cross into the state anywhere except at a lawful port of entry, and if a person is convicted of a second offense, the charge is upgraded to a felony. An exception is made if the individual was granted asylum status by the federal government, Moylan said. The AG said traditionally, border security is regarded as a federal matter and ports of entry are policed by the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, which strictly enforces federal laws and regulations. Some of those persons cross in search of a better life, but some cross to bring drugs of all kinds into the U.S. and to conduct other nefarious activity, including possible terrorism and/or spying, Moylan said. Moylan said the Texas law and the Arizona proposal seek to address the reality of the catch and release programs of the federal government. The AG said the asylum process takes many months, and it is a condition of being allowed to remain in the U.S. pending a hearing that the individual not commit any state or local crimes. For those that do, Moylan is urging that they are not allowed release at all pending trial, as they constitute by definition a flight risk, or at a minimum that they can only be placed on house arrest under the supervision of a qualified third party custodian with a significant bail amount. We believe these efforts by Arizona and Texas serve to magnify the obligation we impose on those freed into our local communities that they strictly comply with all of our local laws, Moylan said. Ike Peredo, director of Guam CQA, said Bill 340-37 addresses the illegal entry into Guam of passengers, merchandise, baggage, vessels, aircraft or conveyances from any place outside of Guam without going through proper process and provides CQA the power of arrest as well as criminal penalties for persons violating this act. But Peredo acknowledged that Chinese nationals are entering the CNMI legally and they proceed to travel to Guam illegally, and then try to claim asylum to get in front of the line for a visa. They come to Guam because its the fastest way to get that particular status, Peredo added. A number of Guam Department of Education textbooks, including brand new ones, have been dumped in the Layon landfill, Guam Education Board chair Mary Okada said. Okada brought up the issue at a school board meeting on Tuesday afternoon. She said the board was notified of pallets and pallets of books that were dumped into the landfill as part of ongoing school cleanup. That is absolutely news to me, Education Superintendent Erik Swanson told Okada. The superintendent said he had asked for all textbooks gathered as part of school cleanup to be palletized and then placed into a warehouse. Okada said there were about 198 pallets documented, though the number now available was much lower. She said Judi Won Pat, education liaison for Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, had been advocating for several weeks to have unused textbooks shipped off to the outer islands. Okada asked Swanson to find out who was responsible for the books disposal and hold them accountable. Education board member Maria Gutierrez also aired concerns about a large number of books found outside schools, including F.B. Leon Guerrero Middle School, which had deteriorated. A new diagnostic scanner installed for Guam Memorial Hospital will enhance GMHs ability to diagnose and treat illnesses, especially among stroke and cardiac patients, according to hospital staff. The new machine was turned on at the start of the week and is already being used to scan patients with cardiac issues, said Ana Belen Rada, GMH assistant administrator for professional support services. Its the first scanner of its kind in the region, according to GMH. Rada said the new scanner replaced a 16-year-old machine that required staff to punch in information about patients manually. The new machine was funded using $2 million in Department of the Interior funding provided by the Office of the Governor. GMHs radiology unit hosted an open house for the futuristic new scanner on Wednesday. Its almost like a video game, said chief of hospital radiology services Leland Guiao. The new scanner provides similar functions to a traditional CT scan, but the scanner is mounted on a giant movable arm that can rotate in various directions around a patient, and is enhanced by artificial intelligence, according to Guiao. He said the scanner can create three-dimensional reconstructions of a patients internal organs which can be used to plan for treatment. It makes the treatment more accurate and time saving, and allows for less radiation to be used to scan patients, Guiao added. Lower quality images provided by the old machine sometimes required patients to be sent back for multiple scans, Rada noted. Daniel Bernardo, hospital unit supervisor, added that the new machine opens the door to a wider variety of scans on stroke patients. Before, some stroke patients would have to be sent over to other medical facilities to get scanned, because of limitations on the hospitals old scanner, Bernardo said. You can skip taking them to CT scan, bring them right here, diagnose the stroke...and then treat it then and there, as soon as they arrive at the emergency room, he said. Faster response to blockages in the brain could help prevent paralysis in stroke patients, and result in better outcomes, he said. Rada said the new machine also opens the door to more complex procedures for cardiac patients that couldnt have been performed with the old machine. General Electric, the manufacturer of the machine, has been training hospital staff on how to use it properly. More software will be installed around November, as radiology and cardiac unit staff get trained up on the system, according to Guiao. This is a big step forward for GMH and the people of Guam, acting Gov. Joshua Tenorio said during a Wednesday visit to the radiology unit. Rada said she had asked Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero for funding for the machine back during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Leon Guerrero was making rounds of the hospital. AI artwork Besides the new tech, the radiology unit at GMH also got a facelift, with a string of AI-generated art of island life, from roosters to scenic ocean views, now posted on the walls of the unit. Bernardo said he had created the artwork using ChatGPTs image generator, in order to make people more comfortable during their time in radiology. By Wednesday morning, hospital staff from other wards were asking him to produce more for other sections of GMH. Hospital spokesperson Cindy Hanson said radiology had asked for donations of picture frames to mount the AI art in. Guam is celebrating this week the importance of the Constitution, one of the most important documents in history which, according to Superior Court Presiding Judge Alberto C. Lamorena, laid the foundation for the freedoms we cherish and the principles that guide our government. The Constitution was signed 237 years ago on Sept. 17, 1787. But the Constitution, Lamorena said, is more than a framework. It is a promise to the people. It ensures that power rests with the people, that their voices are heard, and that their rights are protected. It reminds us that government exists to serve, not to rule, Lamorena said. On Tuesday, the Judiciary of Guam, together with the Office of the Governor and the Guam Legislature, held a joint proclamation and resolution presentation commemorating Sept. 17 as Constitution Day, and Sept. 17 to 23 as Constitution Week. Observed annually across the United States, the occasion celebrates the 1787 signing of the Constitution, and serves as a reminder of the nations founding principles of freedom and democracy, promotes civic engagement, and educates the public on the documents significance. On Guam, the Tuesday ceremony took place in the Monessa G. Lujan Appellate Courtroom, where Supreme Court Justice F. Philip Carbullido and Lamorena were joined by Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, and Speaker Therese Terlaje. Attending virtually were Chief Justice Robert J. Torres and Judge John C. Terlaje. Also present in the ceremony were other judges, senators, Judiciary of Guam personnel and other members of the community. This celebration is going to provide the community the opportunity to reaffirm and think about the importance of what our Constitution does for us, the governor said. That means protection of our democracy, that means guidance towards law and order. The speaker said Constitution Week provides an opportunity for citizens to reflect upon the enduring principles of liberty, democracy, and justice, and to celebrate the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution The Judiciary of Guam is committed to upholding these principles, ensuring the fair and impartial administration of justice, and protecting the rights of all individuals within its jurisdiction, Terlaje said. As part of the festivities, the court will hold outreach presentations in middle and high schools throughout the week, where law clerks, research attorneys, and judicial officers will educate the island youth about the importance of the Constitution and the rights it guarantees. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close In New Orleans food world, heartthrob heroes dont arrive in the shape of oiled-up firefighters or dreamy doctors. In fact, the most well-respected uniform in this city might just be a kitchen apron. Thats why food photographer Kat Kimball created Jiggly Bits: The Naked New Orleans Chef Calendar, a tongue-in-cheek photo project honoring the citys most beloved industry figures, in all their naked glory. The 12-page spread features local legends like Dan Stein, pictured nude behind the counter at Steins Deli amid a downpour of day-old bagels, and James Beard Award-winning chef Nina Compton, tastefully concealed by the signature rabbit figurine of her Compere Lapin restaurant. Nathanial Zimet, chef of Southern food restaurant Boucherie, poses in the buff.Kat Kimball Nina Compton, the renowned chef behind Compere Lapin and Bywater American Bistro, bares it all for "Jiggly Bits."Kat Kimball Proceeds from the calendar benefit WeHelpNOLA, an organization that provides free mental health care services to restaurant industry staff. Working alongside local creative agency Ganza , Kimball hopes to raise $100,000 in sales. Our service industry workers really are the face of the city of New Orleans, she says. Its such a physically and mentally taxing job, even just based on hours alone. Before becoming a full-time food photographer in 2019, Kimball worked in the industry for years, washing dishes, running food, and later managing a restaurant. Now, she views the kitchen through her own artful lens. While Kimball normally shoots under the guiding eye of a specific restaurant or media outlet, the calendar project is 100% her vision. Drenched in bright colors and vintage fonts, Jiggly Bits is reminiscent of 70s era cookbooks the kind that featured the type of delightfully unserious Jello monstrosity pictured on the calendars cover. Im super obsessed with those vintage recipes that have, like, meat gelatin and random bits and pieces floating. Its kind of gross, but its also beautiful and you cant look away, Kimball says. I feel like a bunch of naked chefs is kind of the same thing. Most of the portraits were photographed on-site, in a restaurant kitchen or dining room. In his Fourth of July-themed glamour shot, chef Mason Hereford the tattooed, mustached and much-loved leader of the Turkey and the Wolf empire is pictured grilling hot dogs in nothing but an apron. Mason Hereford, the July cover star of "Jiggly Bits," poses outside Turkey and the Wolf.Kat Kimball In broad daylight outside the sandwich shop, passing pedestrians might have caught a glimpse of more than one kind of bun. We had a lot of fun, she says. Its just like, Masons whole ass out on Jackson Avenue. Other portraits honor New Orleans underground food scene, with two separate group shots featuring chefs from pop-up kitchens across the city: one for Uptown and another for Downtown. The entire spectrum of the restaurant industry can be found in the calendars pages, from fine-dining to DIY. The title "Jiggly Bits" pays homage to one of Kat Kimball's heroes, Anthony Bourdain.Kat Kimball Even the calendars name is an insider reference, a nod to Anthony Bourdains essay collection, The Nasty Bits. In one chapter of the 2006 memoir, the late chef writes: A meal prepared with love is the ultimate gift you can give to someone. If that someone happens to be a New Orleans food lover, a calendar filled with their favorite naked chefs might come in a close second. Jiggly Bits: The Naked New Orleans Chef Calendar is now available for pre-sale at a discounted price of $35. Physical copies will arrive in Dirty Coast retail locations in mid-October. Across Florida, more than 30 Winn-Dixie locations are currently in the process of converting to Aldi with plans to add over 800 more stores nationwide by 2028. And according to company officials, this summer they will began a phased approach to the store conversion process. We anticipate that approximately 50 stores will begin the conversion process during the latter half of 2024, an Aldi spokesperson said. With the majority of these stores reopening as Aldi in 2025. So, what happens if your local Winn-Dixie ends up on the conversion list? First, it will cost a a quarter to borrow a grocery cart, but once you bring it back, youll get your quarter back. And you may also have to bag your own groceries in the reusable bags that are provided but the company said, it helps keep our lines moving faster and saves you even more money. And if youre accustomed to shopping at Winn-Dixie, prepare for a more condensed shopping experience as Aldi officials said customers can expect smaller stores stocked with only the items customers need. How much smaller is an average Aldi compared to Winn-Dixie? An average Winn-Dixie clocks in at around 48,000 square-feet, but many are even larger like the 57,545-square-foot Winn-Dixie in The Villages of Florida at 820 Old Camp Road in Lake Sumter Landing which is currently in the conversion process. The more modest Aldi layout typically ranges in size from 17,825 to 18,000 square feet, with around 10,650 square feet dedicated to the sales floor, which an Aldi spokesperson said is designed with efficiency in mind, so customers can get in and out. That said, some outside the company speculate the German company could elect to build out a larger version of Aldi in some locations. Some converted Aldi stores are now open to the possibilities of creating a larger floor plan to maintain or increase traffic or subleasing additional space in converted stores to act as value-add opportunities, noted SAB Capital in a post to LinkedIn. But so far, most plans submitted for conversion to fall within the Aldis standard footprint. How long does it take to convert a Winn-Dixie to an Aldi? Once a Winn-Dixie closes, the conversion typically takes three to four months before the store officially opens as an Aldi. But several locations on the conversion list are still in the planning process, with documents and layouts in the midst of local or county approvals and that can take more time. Company officials also note that theyre building and remodeling all of stores with sustainability top of mind, including energy-efficient LED lighting, environmentally friendly refrigeration systems and to rooftop solar systems. Aldi is also reducing emissions across its stores and warehouses Will you find your favorite brands at Aldi? With a low-cost product mix thats more than 90% private label, along with a healthy amount of German goods, you may not find your standard brands at Aldi, but the company claims their specialty brands, including Simply Nature Organic, Live G Free and Specially Selected, will cost you up to 50% less. Haiti - FLASH : Kenyan assessment of pacified areas under control The last three weeks have seen targeted and sustained joint security operations conducted by Multinational Mission for Security Support (MMSS) personnel and the Haitian National Police (PNH) in gang-controlled areas, including downtown Port-au-Prince, Ganthier, Delmas. The joint operations have resulted in the pacification of key areas that are now under control, with dominant patrols, including several streets in Delmas, including Delmas 33, 31, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, and 4, which were completely under gang control prior to the operations. The joint day and night patrols currently underway in the streets and peri-urban areas have seen the population begin to return. Signs of activity, such as residents clearing debris and cleaning the streets, have been observed. The pacified areas include Avenue Haile Selassie, the Boulevard Toussaint Louverture (Airport Road), Avenue Henri Christophe, Street Capois, Avenue Christophe, Avenue Lamartiniere (Bois Verna), Reunion Street, Avenue la fleur du chene, Avenue de la Republique, Capois Street (Champs de Mars), Saint-Honore Street, GrandRue (Blvd Jean Jacques Dessalines), Street Saint Honore, Avenue Magloire Amboise, Route des Dalles (Eglise Wesleyenne). Normalcy is slowly returning in these areas The area around the Police Academy is also being pacified. This has seen the re-opening of the Academy with hundreds of new recruits currently undergoing training, this has also seen MSS opening its first Forward Operating Base (FOB) at the Academy to ensure the security of the recruits. A number of gang leaders have been sending emissaries for truce and dialogue, but the joint message from the Prime Minister Garry Conille, Director General HNP Normil Rameau and MSS Force Commander SAIG Godfrey Otunge is very clear : "surrender, lay down your weapons and be ready to be prosecuted for the atrocities you committed." HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Social : IOM strengthens Haitian migrants' access to identity services The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched Alo Enfo (Call for Information), an information campaign across border towns between Haiti and the Dominican Republic aimed at improving access to essential identity and travel documents for Haitian migrants. This initiative supports the Haitian Government in its efforts to ensure that migrants have a legal identity, necessary for the protection of their rights and for safe, orderly and regular migration. "Migrants face many challenges in obtaining the documents needed for travel, which can expose them to exploitation and human trafficking, and block their access to State services," said Gregoire Goodstein, Head of IOM Haiti. "This campaign aims to raise awareness among migrants about the information they need to obtain their identity documents, which are crucial for their safety and rights." "Alo Enfo" uses radio, a toll-free hotline, social media and community outreach to highlight the importance of identity documents such as passports, extracts from archives and National Identification Cards (CIN). The campaign provides clear information on how to obtain these documents through the Identity Document Reception and Delivery Centers (CRLDI) supported by IOM. These centers will be equipped with new billboards and signage to facilitate access to identity services for the Haitian population. In addition to the campaign, IOM is supporting State institutions to enable the opening of new CRLDIs across the country. This support includes the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure as well as material, technical and logistical assistance to the services that comprise them, including the donation of equipment and the transport of identity documents from the capital to the rest of the country. The strategic approach to decentralizing legal identity services targets in particular border areas and areas with high concentrations of displaced persons, with a focus on vulnerable groups such as women, children and border residents. The "Alo Enfo" campaign is co-funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, as part of a larger initiative to strengthen good migration governance in Haiti. HL/ Haitlibre YLE on Sunday reported that arts and physical education could become one of the five compulsory subjects in the examination. THE GOVERNMENT of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) is moving forward with its plan to introduce arts, music and physical education to the matriculation examination, the national school-leaving exam in Finland. Reforming the examination in regards to arts and physical education is an objective laid out in the government programme. Government officials have worked on the necessary legislative amendments for roughly a year, with a view to presenting them to parliament as part of a broader legislative package in October. The objective of the reform is to increase the importance of arts and physical education in general upper-secondary education and highlight skills in the subjects in student selection for further education. It would represent a major change by essentially expanding the matriculation exam to correspond with the entire breadth of the national curriculum for general upper-secondary education. Students would have a much greater opportunity to demonstrate their skills in the matriculation exam, Petri Lempinen, the director general for general upper-secondary and vocational education at the Ministry of Education and Culture, summarised to YLE. Currently, students can demonstrate their skills in arts and physical education with a special diploma, but the diploma has been fairly insignificant for further education, for example. The diploma would thus be scrapped as part of the reform. The government has set its sights on implementing the reform such that it would come into effect for students entering general upper-secondary education in the autumn of 2027, with the first matriculation exams with arts, music and physical education occurring in 2029. I believe thisd be a good thing for students, said Lempinen. Mikko Hartikainen, an education counsellor at the Finnish National Agency for Education (OPH), revealed to the public broadcasting company that the reform proposal has been received with delight particularly by teachers who have expressed their concern about the diminishing significance of arts relative to other subjects. Teachers of arts and skills subjects have shown their interest and enthusiasm about this. It shows that the reform has clearly been a long time coming. He estimated that the introduction of arts and physical education to the matriculation exam would also both offer an opportunity to develop general upper-secondary instruction and generate interest in such subjects. According to YLE, a key question associated with the reform is how can one demonstrate and measure skills in arts and physical education. The approach presently under consideration would enable students to demonstrate their skills in the new subjects prior to the digital matriculation exam. Itd be the kind of longer-term demonstration of skills thats more appropriate for arts, music and physical education, said Lempinen. Aleksi Teivainen HT One big group of people in Malta are Finns who have come to the island to work in the online casino industry. In fact, a large portion of Maltas BKT specifically comes from gambling. In this article, we take a look at some of the reasons why Malta is such a paradise for the igaming industry and why there are probably going to be big changes coming for the Finns living there. Malta has long been a home to many expatriates. The island nation lives off of both tourism trade. Because of this, many of those living in the countries are migrantsmany of which only live in Malta for a few years before heading back to their home countries. Malta is a central hub for the gambling industry There are various reasons why Malta has more or less become known as the European epicenter for gambling. Below, we list some of these reasons: Sturdy regulatory framework . Maltas history with gambling goes back two decades. In 2004, the Remote Gaming Regulations law came into effect. Even before this, the country saw the establishment of the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) in 2001. Since then, MGA-licensed online casinos have become a huge part of the worldwide gambling industry. The website Mgacasino lists some of the casinos licensed under this license. Thanks to its early adoption of online casino regulation, Malta has become one of the most trusted regulators in the business. . Maltas history with gambling goes back two decades. In 2004, the Remote Gaming Regulations law came into effect. Even before this, the country saw the establishment of the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) in 2001. Since then, MGA-licensed online casinos have become a huge part of the worldwide gambling industry. The website Mgacasino lists some of the casinos licensed under this license. Thanks to its early adoption of online casino regulation, Malta has become one of the most trusted regulators in the business. Tax benefits for gaming companies . Much like most companies in the world, online casino companies are hoping to make as much profit as possible. Taxes can obviously play a significant role in this. Fortunately for those running their businesses in Malta, the general corporate tax rate is rather low. Because of this, many online gambling companies choose to make Malta their hub of operations. . Much like most companies in the world, online casino companies are hoping to make as much profit as possible. Taxes can obviously play a significant role in this. Fortunately for those running their businesses in Malta, the general corporate tax rate is rather low. Because of this, many online gambling companies choose to make Malta their hub of operations. Cultural advantages. Since Malta has so many immigrants, building a well-versed workforce tends to be more easy and convenient than in other parts of the world. Malta has citizens who have come from all over the world, which means that casinos that are headquartered there can easily employ support agents from various different linguistic backgrounds. The same goes for affiliate managers and other industry professionals that specifically move to Malta to work in the igaming industry. As you can see, there are a number of reasons Malta has become so popular among those working in the online gambling industry. Finnish people and Malta We already went over why so many online casino companies choose Malta as the base of their operations. However, why is it that there are so many Finns living in Malta? In Finland, there is only one state-run company, Veikkaus, that is allowed to offer casino games on Finnish soil. This monopoly on gambling has remained untouched and in effect for around 80 years. Be that as it may, online, it has been more or less fair game for every foreign casino out there. While the Finnish law can forbid other companies from coming into the strictly Finnish market, it cannot outlaw companies that are operating outside of its borders. As a result, many of those interested in gambling have decided to move elsewhere in order to base their companies outside of Finland. Understandably, the sunny and outsider-friendly Malta with its blossoming gambling market has been an obvious choice for many. As a matter of fact, some of the biggest online casino companies today have at least partly been founded by Finnish people. For instance, in 2015, Unibet bought the Finnish iGame company from major Finnish celebrities: actor Jasper Paakkonen, producer Markus Selin, and professional poker player Aki Pyysing. New Finnish laws could bring about changes to the Malta iGaming Industry About a year ago, the Finnish government announced that the Finnish monopoly on gambling would finally be coming to an end. At the current time, Finland has made plans to start regulating at the start of 2027. In little over two years, outside companies will be let into the market with the advent of a new Finnish license. Once Finland starts to regulate, many of the Finns currently living in Malta may opt to return to their homeland. This should allow Finnish industry professionals to practice their trade in the open from the comfort of their own homes. There is no doubt that the changing Finnish laws will have a huge impact on the global gambling market. Finns have become known as active and relatively affluent gamblers whose importance to the industry should not be underestimated. HT On September 18 last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons and made a statement that there were credible allegations of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, three months earlier. The wounds to the bilateral relationship caused by that bombshell have not healed, and continue to fester and, over the next 12 months, could even worsen. India described that accusation as absurd and motivated. The immediate backlash from New Delhi included a retaliatory expulsion and suspension of issuing of visas to Canadian nationals. Issuance of visas resumed in November but by then India had asked Canada to reduce the number of its diplomats in the country from 62 to 21 as it sought parity in such presence. Canadas foreign minister Melanie Joly described their departure from India as expulsion. Trudeaus statement has yet to be validated with evidence and Indias attitude remains unchanged. Sanjay Kumar Verma, Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa, said, Till the time we do not see anything informed to us regarding the allegations that he has made, we will still consider it as unsubstantiated and unfounded. There are plenty of pitfalls in the year ahead. First, there is the trial of four Indian nationals who were arrested in connection with Nijjars murder. Karan Brar, 22, Kamalpreet Singh, 22 and Karanpreet Singh, 28, were apprehended from Edmonton in Alberta on May 3. The fourth, Amandeep Singh, 22, was already in custody in the Greater Toronto Area on different charges, when he was named in this context. Their trial is expected to begin in earnest on October 1 and could help clarify the accusations and offer proof of Indias involvement, if any. While announcing the three arrests on May 3, assistant commissioner David Teboul, Pacific Region federal policing program commander, said there were separate and distinct investigations ongoing including investigating connections to the Government of India. The direction of the trial may define how bilateral ties evolve. The second point of conflict will be over the final report of public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions, headed by Justice Marie-Josee Hogue, expected by December 31. The initial report, released in May, accused India of foreign interference, and of engaging in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians. It did point out that the focus of such Indian influence efforts was driven by concerns over Khalistani separatism in Canada. Importantly, it recognised Canada-based Khalistani violent extremism though that was described as relatively small and added India does not differentiate between that and lawful, pro-Khalistani political advocacy. On June 4, a report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians or NSCIOP stated bluntly that India has emerged as the second-most significant foreign interference threat to Canadas democratic institutions and processes displacing Russia. The final findings of the Commission will significantly influence the relationship going forward even as New Delhi has been chagrined that no credible Indo-Canadian organisations were recognised by it to testify and counter anti-India propaganda, a view that has been communicated to Ottawa. There remains the major stumbling block, activities of pro-Khalistan separatists in Canada. The secessionist outfit Sikhs for Justice or SFJ has openly stated it feels emboldened by Trudeaus statement. In fact, they have managed to change the narrative since Nijjars killing, going from being described by Canadian media as extremists to activists. Thus, empowered they have staged multiple protests attacking Indian leaders, its senior-most diplomats in Canada, displayed floats depicting the assassinations of Indian leaders, threatened the Hindu community and desecrated temples. There have been no repercussions. The standard Canadian response to such activity in its territory has been that its awful, but lawful. That sentiment or versions of it have been repeated by Joly in conversations with external affairs minister S Jaishankar, and, most recently, when Weldon Epp, assistant deputy minister for the Indo-Pacific, visited New Delhi and met officials there in July. Provocation from pro-Khalistan groups will not diminish, not till Federal elections are held as scheduled in October 2025, if not earlier. On the positive side, business contacts remain strong. As Verma said, Most of the functional domains between our two countries, all of them are growing well, whether it is an investment, whether it is science and technology, number of people travelling to each others countries. Things should improve, said Vina Nadjibulla, vice president, research and strategy, at the Vancouver-based Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada. She said, There's no two ways there was a diplomatic crisis and we're still dealing with the aftereffects. But, at the same time, we can see that other parts of their relationships are resilient. Trade and investment continue, and provinces like Saskatchewan and Ontario have been amenable to forging stronger ties. I think we'll have to see on balance the long-term potential of the relationship is very much there and it's strong, she said. Shinder Purewal, professor of political science at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, was equally hopeful. Canadas strategic self-serving objective is served by a strong alliance with a fellow Commonwealth democracy as a bulwark against authoritarianism, he said. He placed the blame for the rupture on Trudeau. It is Prime Minister Trudeaus decision to please the Khalistani lobby that is working against this natural Canada-India alliance. Even this decision to please his political backers has a sunset clause, he said. Canada-India relations will start normalising now onward and certainly after the next Federal election, he observed. However, that remains a year away unless Pierre Poilievre, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, manages to precipitate an earlier election. With a steady lead of nearly 20 percentage points over the ruling Liberal Party, the Conservatives are nearly certain of governing Canada by the end of 2025. Will that change the equation? That will depend on the political debts they may have to pay off, and, as importantly, public perception based on any future revelations in the Nijjar probe. Mumbai, September 18, 2024 The Happiest Places to Work, in association with Happiness Research Academy, has released its latest report titled "Happiness at Work How Happy is Indias Workforce? - 2024". This report is the result of a comprehensive All-India research exercise that examines patterns of happiness across various genders, age groups, geographies, and industry sectors within Indias urban workforce. Key Findings: 70% of the Indian workforce reports being unhappy at work: A significant majority of employees across the nation are grappling with dissatisfaction in their professional lives. Wide disparities in happiness levels within the same age cohorts: People of the same age are experiencing vastly different levels of happiness, indicating that factors other than age play a crucial role in workplace satisfaction. Gender and geographical gaps in happiness: The report highlights notable differences in happiness levels between men and women across different regions and industry sectors. In the East and Central zones, women report higher levels of happiness, whereas in the North zone, men are significantly happier than women. Sectoral happiness rankings: The Fintech sector has emerged as the happiest industry, while the Real Estate sector is reported as the least happy. 54% of employees are considering leaving their organizations: This alarming statistic points to a potential wave of resignations, particularly among employees who feel unsupported or unfulfilled at work. Conducive environments reduce turnover: Employees who have the opportunity to pursue personal interests within a supportive environment are 60% less likely to leave their jobs. Millennials at risk of departure: The intention to leave is highest among Millennials, with 59% of them contemplating a job change. Collaboration and expression challenges: 63% of employees experience inertia in collaboration due to conflicts, while 62% struggle to express their views openly. The "Happiness at Work" report draws its insights from a scientifically robust sample of 2,000 respondents across 18 industry sectors. The proprietary research instruments developed by the Happiness Research Academy enabled a detailed and accurate projection of these sample findings to the All-India Urban Workforce, providing a granular map of happiness within this vital demographic. Namrata Tata, Director Happiest Places to Work commented on the findings, stating, "This report offers crucial insights into the current state of workplace happiness in India. The stark disparities in happiness levels across different demographics and sectors are a call to action for organizations to prioritize employee well-being." The Happiness Research Academy plans to make this report an annual publication. With each successive report, the Academy aims to uncover trends that will become indispensable to evidence-based management practices in India. To access the report please contact here: https://happiestplacestowork.in/report/#latest-report About the Happiness Research Academy The Happiness Research Academy is dedicated to studying and improving happiness within India's urban workforce. Through rigorous research and innovative methodologies, the Academy provides valuable insights that drive change and promote well-being in the workplace. About The Happiest Places to Work The Happiest Places to Work is a recognized leader in promoting workplace happiness and well-being. The organization certifies companies that demonstrate a commitment to fostering a positive work environment, helping them attract and retain top talent. For further information, please contact info@happiestplacestowork.in. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Reliance Infrastructure Limited announced that the Anil Ambani-led company made a major reduction in its standalone external debt, bringing the amount down from 3,831 crore to 475 crore. Following this, the company's share price showed movement as it was trading at 252.15 a piece on BSE, up 7 per cent. Anil Ambani is seen. Reliance Infrastructure Limited significantly reduced its standalone external debt from 3,831 crore to 475 crore. The company announced that one of its lenders- Invent Assets Securitisation and Reconstruction Private Limited (Invent ARC)- has novated certain charged securities to recover its dues which has resulted in a complete reduction of Invent ARCs fund-based outstanding amount to zero. Reliance Infra confirmed that it has fully cleared its funded outstanding dues to key financial institutions, including Life Insurance Corporation of India, Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited, ICICI Bank, Union Bank, and several other lenders. Reliance Infra also entered in a One Time Settlement (OTS) with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in settlement of the entire obligations with respect to the Non Convertible Debentures (NCDs) issued by the Company, in consideration of an amount of 600 crore, it said. The company has settled and paid its entire obligations with Edelweiss with respect to the NCDs issued by the Company, in consideration of an amount of 235 crore, it said. HAIKOU, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- American rapper Kanye West rocked Wuyuanhe Stadium in Haikou, capital of south China's island province of Hainan, with a live music show on Sunday, not only firing up his fans, but also sparking a surge in the local holiday tourism economy. The show on the first night of the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday marked Kanye West's return to China since his 2008 concerts in Beijing and Shanghai, and it was his only stop in China on a world tour. Dubbed a "world tour listening party," the live event attracted nearly 40,000 fans, with 95 percent coming from outside the island, most of whom were from Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Beijing. Some fans even came from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and abroad. The city of Haikou had made full preparations for the event. Hotels, scenic spots, restaurants, shopping malls and retail stores offered over 100 discount services for fans to maximize the economic benefits of the show. Partly thanks to the show, the city's average hotel occupancy rate rose to over 83 percent on the first day of the holiday, up 41.82 percent from last year, according to data from the municipal bureau of tourism. It is estimated that the show could generate about 373 million yuan (about 52.6 million U.S. dollars) in total tourism revenue for the city. Li Qi, a fan from Chengdu in southwest China, arrived in Haikou a day before the concert. Besides attending the show, she also planned to spend her Mid-Autumn Festival holiday there, visiting the iconic tourist attractions, enjoying local delicacies, and doing some shopping at the duty-free stores. "I'm going to buy some duty-free goods for my family," said the excited visitor. "The show had a significant influence, with the vast majority of attendees coming from outside the island, bringing a large influx of tourists to Haikou," said Lyu Xiaolei, deputy mayor of Haikou. "These visitors are engaged in duty-free shopping and various cultural and tourism activities, which will greatly boost Haikou's holiday consumption," she said, adding that the city will attract more international and domestic concerts in the future to build itself into an international city of performing arts. Kanye West's performance wasn't the only high-profile event during the holiday. Across China, concerts and musical festivals featuring domestic and international stars drew large crowds. In Beijing, Mariah Carey's 2024 concert on Sunday and Monday attracted fans from across the country. "I've been to Beijing many times, but this time I came just for Mariah Carey," said Geng Bo, a fan from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, located about 1,700 kilometers away. "Concerts like this are rare. Fans from all over the country and even around the world flew in to see her." Geng said he had already made plans with other fans from across the country to gather at various restaurants and cafes in Beijing. According to Wang Jiansheng, head of the Hainan Tourism Development Research Association, due to China's development and globalization, an increasing number of Western musicians have been coming to perform in the country. "Attending concerts has become a new form of social interaction," said Wang. "Fans, mostly young people, are also the main consumers in the tourism market." The growing integration of performing arts events with tourism, dining and retail has stimulated cultural tourism consumption and proved that the fusion of culture and tourism has enormous vitality, Wang added. Google won a court fight with the European Union over a 1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) fine for thwarting competition for online ads, partly atoning for last weeks crushing defeat in a separate judgment for abusing its monopoly powers. The Google logo is displayed in front of company headquarters during the Made By Google event on August 13, 2024 in Mountain View, California.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP) Judges at the EUs General Court in Luxembourg backed the Alphabet Inc. units challenge to a fine doled out in 2019, saying regulators made mistakes in their probe. Also Read: Disney Star seeks $940 million in damages from Zee for not meeting ICC broadcasting rights payment deadlines The European Commission had alleged that Google as a dominant online ad broker illegally prevented rivals such as Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. from placing ads on third-party websites. Wednesdays ruling can still be appealed at the blocs top tribunal, the Court of Justice. The decision comes on the heels of two court successes for antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager and her bid to rein in Silicon Valley. Last week she won victories at the top court against Googles attempt to avoid a 2.4 billion antitrust penalty for favoring its own product results on search and Apple Inc.s bid to skirt a 13 billion Irish tax bill. The EUs case into Google AdSense service is the last of a trilogy of court disputes over cases that set the course for Vestagers tenure, which is about to end after a decade. EU regulators targeted Googles role as an ad broker for websites, where the AdSense for Search product placed advertising on platforms including newspaper websites, blogs and travel sites. Also Read: Is it worth flying to Dubai to buy an iPhone 16 Pro Max anymore? Find out more When the Brussels watchdog hit Google with the 1.49 billion penalty in 2019, it said Googles contracts with websites prevented them from accepting rival search ads from the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo. When a user would input a query on a Google search box on websites, ads from such rivals were blocked. The problematic contracts were all dropped by 2016, when the EU escalated the investigation. EU Mistakes Despite confirming most of the EUs reasoning, judges in Wednesdays ruling said that regulators blundered in their assessment of the duration of the disputed clauses, as well as the part of the market covered by them during 2016. The EU commission has not established that the three clauses it had identified each constituted an abuse of a dominant position and, together, a single and continuous infringement of antitrust rules, the court said. In a hearing at the EUs General Court in 2022, Googles lawyers accused the EUs 2019 penalty as representing a quasi criminal fine of very large proportions. The EUs Google cases marked the centerpiece of Vestagers efforts to crack down on the growing power of big tech companies. Shes fined the Alphabet unit more than 8 billion to date and has also launched a fourth case into Googles advertising technology business, suggesting that the firm needs to be broken up to allay antitrust concerns. A final decision in that probe is pending. Also Read: Madhuri Dixit buys 1.5 crore worth Swiggy shares ahead of IPO: Report Flying all the way to Dubai to buy an iPhone may have been cheaper than buying it in India at one point of time, even when taking into account, the flight and other expenses, according to a Business Today report. The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max during an event at Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, US, on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg) However, this may not be the case anymore, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max having landed in India, with the 256GB model priced at 1,44,900 domestically. Also, a 5,000 discount on select credit cards makes it 1,39,900. Also Read: Madhuri Dixit buys 1.5 crore worth Swiggy shares ahead of IPO: Report What is the difference between buying an iPhone 16 in India, compared to going to Dubai to get one? Price in Dubai: AED 5,099 (approx. Rs. 1,16,550) Cost of Visa: Rs. 7,000 (14-day tourist) Flight Cost: The cheapest roundtrip from Delhi to Dubai costs around 20,000. Also Read: Richest and poorest Indian states: Which ones contributed the most GDP and had the highest income? Total: The total costs exceed 1,43,550, which is already more than the Indian price. This also doesn't include food, accommodation, and other impulse purchase costs. Why has the cost to buy an iPhone in India come down? Import duties on electronics have fluctuated and Apple has also made efforts to competitively price its products in India by producing locally. What are the features of the new iPhone 16? The new Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max gets the A18 Pro Chip, their fastest and most efficient processor till date, based on the ARM V9 architecture, which is optimised for running Apple Intelligence, Apple's suite of AI features. It also gets a physical camera control button with multiple in-built features, a larger 6.9-inch display which is the largest iPhone screen ever, and 4K120 Dolby Vision. Also Read: Russian offices monitoring childbirth of employees after Vladimir Putin's call Madhuri Dixit has bought the shares of food delivery giant Swiggy ahead of its close to $1.5 billion IPO scheduled later this year, Moneycontrol reported, citing unidentified sources. HT couldn't independently verify the information. The news of Madhuri Dixit investing into Swiggy comes after actor Amitabh Bachchan bought Swiggy shares in August, looking to diversify beyond Zomato.(Rajanish Kakade/AP) Dixit, along with Ritesh Malik, founder of Innov8, a co-working space player (Now owned by Oyo), bought the shares worth 3 crore from the secondary market, paying 1.5 crore each ( 345 per share), according to the report, which added that the transaction was facilitated by Swiggy's investment banker Avendus. Also Read: Your beloved Tupperware is bankrupt. Why? Company couldn't think out of the box What does it mean to buy shares from the secondary market? A secondary market transaction is when an investor sells their shares to another investor or a company directly without the company whose shares are being sold being involved. This news comes after actor Amitabh Bachchan bought Swiggy shares in August, looking to diversify beyond Zomato. India's food delivery market is currently a duopoly featuring the Bengaluru-based Swiggy and the Gurugram-based Zomato, with a combined market share of about 90-95%. Also Read: Russian offices monitoring childbirth of employees after Vladimir Putin's call Zomato's Blinkit and Swiggy's Instamart also compete in quick commerce against Zepto, Tata Big Basket, Flipkart Minutes and others. Swiggy is valued at around $9-9.3 billion while the already listed Zomato is worth over $29 billion. Zomato's shares have jumped over 120% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis since its listing in 2021. Swiggy's revenue was up 36% to 11,247 crore in the financial year 2023-24, while its losses were down 44% to 2,350 crore. Meanwhile, Zomato's revenue was 12,114 crore and it made a 351 crore profit in the same timespan. Also Read: Anil Ambani breathes sigh of relief as his company pays over 3300 crore debt Amid the controversy sparked by the Justice Hema Committee report, actor Sanjjanaa Galrani has taken a stand for women in the Kannada film industry. She recently met with the Karnataka State Womens Commission to propose the creation of the Sandalwood Woman Artist Association (SWAA), aimed at promoting womens rights and safety, news agency ANI reported. Sanjjanaa Galrani met with the Karnataka State Womens Commission, emphasizing the need for an independent body to support women in the industry. READ | Three people stabbed after a fight during Ganesha idol procession at Karnataka's Belagavi "In the Kannada film industry, we don't have any independent body. From my foundation, Sanjjanaa Galrani Foundation, I have requested the formation of an independent body... so that newcomers entering the industry are aware of their rights and understand appropriate behaviour," Sanjjanaa said, while speaking to the agency. Earlier this month, Sanjjanaa used her Instagram platform to rally support for the formation of SWAA, highlighting the need for a structured support system in Sandalwood. READ | Lenovo to establish country's fourth largest R&D centre in Bengaluru, make AI servers locally Karnataka Women's Commission chairperson Nagalakshmi Chowdhary also spoke to reporters about the matter and said, "This is the first time the film industry has had a meeting about forming a committee for women... It is a law that any organisation with more than 10 women must have a POSH committee. I have issued them a letter. They have 15 days to respond. A POSH committee will not hinder film production. If anyone faces harassment, they can approach the committee... The president of the film industry has agreed to it." The call for a POSH committee follows distressing allegations of sexual assault against high-profile figures in the Malayalam film industry, revealed in the recently publicized Justice Hema Committee report. The 235-page document detailed a culture of harassment and exploitation dominated by a handful of powerful male producers and directors. READ | Bengaluru-bound IndiGo plane suffers tail strike incident; DGCA begins probe, derosters flight crew In response to these revelations, the government has established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to delve deeper into the challenges faced by women in the industry, marking a significant step toward change. (With inputs from ANI) The Karnataka Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, held a meeting in Kalaburagi on Tuesday, approving projects worth 11,770 crore related to 46 issues concerning the Kalyana Karnataka region. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru. (PTI)(HT_PRINT) The cabinet also approved the upgrading of Bidar and Raichur towns to city municipalities and sanctioned a 7,200 crore drinking water project for villages in Bidar and Kalaburagi. READ | Karnataka to showcase its space tech prowess at Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 Speaking at a press conference after the cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah said, "In today's meeting, 56 issues were discussed, of which 46 were related to the Kalyana Karnataka region. The cabinet has considered projects worth a total of 12,692 crore. The water project, to source water from Narayanapura Dam, is under a central government partnership, with half of the 7,200 crore funding expected from the central government." "Every year, 5,000 crore is allocated for the development of Kalyana Karnataka. However, the central government has not provided any funds for this region since the implementation of Article 371J. As a result, we have decided to request 5,000 crore from the central government for the region's development," Siddaramaiah asserted. READ | Bengaluru police open fire on accused who made his rival run naked on streets: Report The Chief Minister also mentioned that steps will be taken to fill 17,439 vacant positions in the Kalyana Karnataka region in phases. "Today, the Kalyana Karnataka Utsav was celebrated as it is the region's Liberation Day. From 2013 to 2018, during our government's term, a cabinet meeting was held in Kalaburagi in 2014 to address the pressing issues of the Kalyana Karnataka region. Article 371J was implemented in 2012 under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, thanks to the efforts of Mallikarjun Kharge and Dharam Singh, and our government made sincere efforts to enforce it," CM Siddaramaiah said. READ | Lenovo to establish country's fourth largest R&D centre in Bengaluru, make AI servers locally "In 2002, as per the Nanjundappa report, a committee was set up to address regional imbalances. Currently, another committee, chaired by Dr Govinda Rao, has been formed to assess the status of the taluks in this region. Once the committee's report is received, steps will be taken to develop the backward taluks," the CM added. The state cabinet also approved the construction of 45 Primary Health Centres and 31 Community Health Centres in the Kalyana Karnataka region. Additionally, nine taluk hospitals will be upgraded, and two taluk hospitals will be elevated to district hospitals, with a total expenditure of 890 crore. International travellers arriving at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) are now required to pass through thermal scanners as part of heightened surveillance measures in response to the ongoing global mpox (monkeypox) situation. This initiative, implemented by the Airport Health Organisation (APHO), aims to ensure the safety of passengers and airport staff, The Hindu reported. Passengers showing symptoms will be isolated and tested at the Bengaluru airport, with measures in place to ensure health and safety for all travellers.(PTI) ALSO READ | India reports first mpox case, health ministry says no widespread risk Passengers exhibiting symptoms associated with mpox, such as elevated temperatures, will be isolated and tested in accordance with government protocols, the report noted. In the event of a positive test result, the APHO will promptly arrange for the affected individual to be transferred to a designated hospital for appropriate medical care. ALSO READ | Is there an Mpox vaccine, and how does it work? All you need to know A spokesperson for Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), which is the operator of KIA, emphasized that the airport is fully prepared to comply with all relevant health and safety protocols in light of an mpox outbreak. ALSO READ | Monkeypox scare in Bengaluru: Karnataka health dept ready with 50-bed isolation ward All international passengers arriving at the airport are being thoroughly checked for elevated temperatures as part of the screening process. In addition, an isolation zone has been established on site to manage any suspected cases swiftly and efficiently. Our medical services, under the guidance of health authorities, are equipped to handle any situation that may arise. The health and safety of passengers and airport personnel remain our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of precautionary measures, a BIAL spokesperson said, as quoted by the publication. In a previous statement, the BIAL had said, We are conducting screening and temperature checks of international passengers, and if anyone is found with the symptoms, we send them for a 21-day quarantine. Latest Bengaluru News Live Updates Today September 18, 2024 : Approval of 11,770 crore to develop Kalyana Karnataka region, says CM Siddaramaiah By Welcome to the live updates platform for Hindustan Times. Follow the major news updates, headlines and breaking news stories from Bengaluru/Bangalore and the rest of Karnataka here. Track the real-time developments of major events from India's IT capital on September 18, 2024. Lenovo India has announced plans to manufacture 50,000 GPU-based AI servers locally, starting next year, with a significant focus on its Bengaluru operations. The company also revealed the establishment of its fourth largest research and development centre in the city, reported news agency PTI. Bengalurus new R&D centre will enhance Lenovos capabilities, contributing to key stages of the product life cycle, including system design and software development. (REUTERS) ALSO READ | Bengaluru-bound IndiGo plane suffers tail strike incident; DGCA begins probe, derosters flight crew Managing Director Shailendra Katyal shared that the servers will be produced at their Puducherry facility but will play a crucial role in supporting Bengaluru's tech ecosystem. "Lenovo will make 50,000 servers annually. The production will start next year. It will be manufactured at our Pondicherry facility not only for India but it will also be exported from India," he stated, as quoted by the agency. "We have had a long commitment to make in India even before the production linked incentive scheme started. We started manufacturing in India about two decades ago. We have been designing Android phones from India and now we are extending the same to server level as well. We export mobile phones from India to the Americas but servers will be exported very much across the world," Katyal added. ALSO READ | Table Space acquires 5.5-lakh sq ft office property in Bengaluru for 500 crore Bengalurus new R&D centre will enhance Lenovos capabilities, contributing to key stages of the product life cycle, including system design and software development, the report stated. Amit Luthra, Managing Director of Lenovo Indias Infrastructure Group, mentioned that this centre will match the standards of Lenovos global facilities, supporting a high-skill workforce in the region. ALSO READ | Bengaluru company's IT admin steals 50 laptops after failed tomato farming, caught on CCTV: Report "We are setting up the fourth-largest research and development centre for Lenovo globally. The number of benches across our four big R&D centres is the same. India R&D will have a high skill set ecosystem. It matches our global facility and all four units are at par with each other," Luthra said. (With inputs from PTI) The Karnataka Waqf Board has greenlit the establishment of women's pre-graduate colleges across fifteen districts in the state, including Bengaluru and Mysuru, according to Karnataka Minorities Welfare and Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan. This pivotal decision emerged during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday, news agency ANI reported. The Karnataka will invest 47.76 crore for the project.(HT file) READ | Three people stabbed after a fight during Ganesha idol procession at Karnataka's Belagavi "In a historic special cabinet meeting, the Karnataka Waqf Board has approved the establishment of women's pre-graduate colleges in fifteen districts of the state," Zameer Khan said, as quoted by the agency. READ | Karnataka to showcase its space tech prowess at Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 Khan announced that the initiative will involve an investment of 47.76 crores for the establishment of these colleges. The selected districts include Bengaluru, Mysuru, Bagalkote, Chitradurga, Bidar, Bellary, Koppal, Chikkaballapur, Vijayanagar, Kalaburagi, Udupi, Vijayapura, Kolar, Davanagere, and Dharwad. The move aims to enhance educational opportunities for women in these regions. Authorities also took the following decisions during Tuesday's cabinet meeting: The cabinet allocated 80 crores to the Kalaburagi sub-district for development, with equal funding from the Karnataka Housing Board. The first phase will involve constructing a new barangay on 87.34 acres of land, from a total of 286.28 acres earmarked for future projects. A total of 11,770 crores was approved during the cabinet meeting in Kalaburagi for various projects benefiting the Kalyana Karnataka region. Key decisions also included upgrading Bidar and Raichur to city municipalities. Officials will also launch a 7,200 crore drinking water project for villages in Bidar and Kalaburagi. The water project will source water from the Narayanapura Dam and is part of a central government partnership, with half of the funding expected from the central government. READ | Lenovo to establish country's fourth largest R&D centre in Bengaluru, make AI servers locally Chief Minister Siddaramaiah noted that 46 out of 56 issues discussed were related to the Kalyana Karnataka region, highlighting the government's commitment to regional development. (With inputs from ANI) Three workers were charred to death after a fire broke out at a mattress manufacturing unit at Gehri Buttar village in Bathinda on Tuesday night. Three workers were charred to death after a fire broke out at a mattress manufacturing unit at Gehri Buttar village in Bathinda on Tuesday night. A truck parked at the unit, which is located on the Bathinda-Dabwali highway, was also burnt. (HT Photo) Deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray said that the workers belonged to Shergarh village in the district. Preliminary probe shows the fire started in the factory warehouse where a large stock of inflammable material was stored. A short circuit or sparking led to the fire that spread fast. A detailed probe has been ordered, he said. Seven workers were in the factory when the fire occurred. Four of them were rescued. A truck parked at the unit, which is located on the Bathinda-Dabwali highway, was also burnt. Eight fire tenders from Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar were pressed into service to control the blaze. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal said that the civil and police administration monitored the rescue operation. The fire was noticed at 7.30pm and was brought under control after four hours, she said. : Amritsar rural police recovered 10kg heroin, from two different locations, and a drone from near the international border and arrested a drug peddler in this connection, police said on Wednesday. Apat from the drug, accused Jagroop Singhs bike and phones have also been seized. (Picture only for representational purpose) Senior superintendent of police (Amritsar rural) Charanjit Singh Sohal said: On September 17, a police team led by SHO, Lopoke, in the district arrested Jagroop Singh, a drug peddler, near Kamaske village after 5kg heroin was recovered from his possession. Jagroop hails from Dala village in Moga district. The police also seized his bike and two mobile phones. An FIR was lodged and charges under Sections 21-C/25/61/85 of the NDPS Act have been registered against Jagroop at Lopoke police station. The police said a probe into the case is on. We will freeze Jagroops purchased properties and money earned from smuggling soon, the SSP said. In another incident, the police recovered a drone from a field at Sarangra village with a packet containing 5kg heroin. The land is owned by Shamsher Singh, the police informed. A case has been registered against an unknown person under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and Aircraft Act 1934, said Sohal. The Delhi high court on Wednesday refused to grant bail to British Sikh national Jagtar Singh Johal in connection with several cases lodged against him under the UAPA, anti-terror law. A bench headed by Justice Prathiba M Singh rejected the appeals filed by Johal against the trial court orders denying him relief in seven cases being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in relation to a series of alleged targeted killings and attempts to kill in Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts of Punjab in 2016-2017. Jagtar Singh Johal (File) The probe was transferred from the Punjab Police to the NIA after it was identified that the offences were part of a transnational conspiracy that intended to destabilise the law-and-order situation in the state, the court noted. Opposing the pleas, the NIA claimed that Johal, who was arrested in November 2017, was highly radicalised and an active member of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). It was alleged that being one of the main conspirators, the accused provided funds that were used for the procurement of arms and weapons by two shooters. The bench, also comprising Justice Amit Sharma, dismissed five appeals for being filed beyond the permissible period under the law. The appeals in the other two cases were dismissed by the bench on merit. These two cases pertained to the alleged killing of one Amit Sharma, the president of the Shri Hindu Takhat, in Ludhiana in January 2017, and the alleged attempt to kill in Jalandhar Jagdish Kumar Gagneja, the RSS vice-president in Punjab, in August 2016. The court emphasised that terror activities with trans-national links fall in a more serious and grave category of cases and all offences covered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) cannot be treated equally. The court held that at this stage, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the appellant is not an innocent person and is prima facie associated with the KLF, thus attracting the bar on grant of bail under the provisions of the UAPA. There are a total of eight cases in which the appellant has been named as an accused. Out of the eight cases, there have been deaths in four cases and grievous injuries in three cases. Active participation in anti-national activities, conspiracy to kill, that too for organisations such as the KLF i.e., Khalistan Liberation Force, would also have to be dealt with stringently and action would be liable to be taken against the persons who are involved in such unlawful, illegal and anti-national activities, the court said in the judgment. The evidence, prima facie, shows that various accused involved in these cases were from different countries, namely Italy, France and the UK. Some of the accused had links in other countries as well, including Canada, India and Thailand. The appellant, at this stage, cannot be considered to be a by-stander who merely acted as an innocent carrier or messenger. He was clearly aware that various persons were involved in the conspiracy, it added. The court further said while speedy trial is necessary as a constitutional prescription, in cases involving anti-national activities and terrorism on an international scale, long incarceration in itself ought not to lead to enlargement on bail when facts show involvement in such activities. The court nonetheless asked the trial court to take urgent steps to expedite the trial and directed the NIA to lead the evidence of its witnesses, including the protected witnesses, on an early date. The court also noted that there is a high possibility of the appellant, if released, extending threats to witnesses and again participating in activities of the KLF. It was also observed that Johal is a flight risk on account of his British passport and international network. The Garhi-Sampla-Kioli seat has remained a Congress bastion with former CM and Congress stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda representing the assembly constituency five times. This time he is pitted against BJPs Manju Hooda, Rohtak Zila Parishad sitting chairperson Sushila Devi of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Krishan of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that his campaign is led by his workers as he is busy in canvassing for other party candidates across the state. (HT File) Hooda, two-time chief minister of Haryana, has registered four consecutive victories from Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi--the 2005 by-poll, 2009, 2014 and 2019. Hooda also won from this seat in 2000. In 2005, former MLA Krishan Hooda had vacated the seat when Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the then Rohtak MP, was elected as chief minister of Haryana in 2005. Bhupinder Singh Hoodas father Ranbir Singh Hooda had won this seat in 1968. The ongoing assembly election is just a cakewalk for the veteran Jat leader and his campaign in the constituency was led by his workers. All the MLAs from this seat belonged to the Jat community, which constitute around 55% of voters. There are 2.20 lakh total voters, including 1.17 lakh male and 1.02 lakh female voters, in this constituent assembly. Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that his campaign is led by his workers as he is busy in canvassing for other party candidates across the state. Read more: Haryana election: Congress promises legal MSP, 6,000 pension in 7 guarantees The people are upset over BJPs ten-year rule and there is clear indication that Congress is coming to power. During our rule not only Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi constituency but the entire state has progressed. During my regime, Haryana was known for empowering farmers, jawan (youths) and pehlwans (sportspersons) but this government has attacked them by using batons when they were seeking their rights, he added. He further said that after the formation of Congress government several promises, including 6,000 per month pension to elderly, filling of 2 lakh vacant posts, giving the gas cylinders at 500 each, legal guarantee on the MSP, free medical treatment of 25 lakh, will be implemented. Sudhir Kumar, a resident of Bohar village in the Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi seat said that though the Congress is yet to declare Bhupinder Singh Hooda as official chief ministers candidate but the people of this constituency will vote to elect Hooda as the next chief minister of the state. The voters will exercise their franchise to bring Chaudhar (power) back to Rohtak. The BJP has ignored Rohtak district in the last ten-years and they are responsible for bringing fractions into the society. During Hoodas regime, two universities, Indian Institute of Management and many other projects were completed but the BJP did not bring any big projects in its rule, he added. Sahil Lohan, said that several exams were cancelled in Haryana after paper got leaked and the BJPs claim of holding recruitment drives in fair way are meagre jumle. Read more: Dynasts continue to dominate Haryanas electoral scenario The BJP government failed to improve the condition of stadiums and the Agnipath scheme broke the morale of youngsters, who are aspiring to join the Indian army. The law and order situation is a big issue due to our proximity to Delhi, he added. Former sarpanch of Makrauli village, Sumit Kumar alleged the former minister Bhupinder Singh Hoodas performance as a law-maker in the last ten-years is unsatisfactory but undoubtedly he worked a lot when he was chief minister. There are no issues in the constituency because Hooda has emerged bigger than the issues. The other candidates in the fray have no chance of even giving a fight to Hooda, he added. Mukesh Hooda, a farmer, said that Hooda made Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi famous on the worlds map and he had worked for all people irrespective of caste and religion. The farmers are waiting to get compensation for their damaged crops of the last two years but the BJP government is yet to release the payment. During the Congress regime, the prices of crops were higher, electricity bills were waived off and canals were full of water. The BJP government has worked to push us backward, he added. The BJP candidate, Manju Hooda is the daughter of retired deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Pradeep Yadav. Her husband Rajesh Hooda, is known as a history-sheeter and out of jail. She is facing internal bickering as the party ignored senior leaders like Satish Nanada and former MLA Krishan Murti Hooda. The other candidates in the fray have no strength on the ground. Manju Hooda said that she is getting peoples support and hoping to get voters blessing the way she was elected in the Zila Parishad election. On being asked about her husbands criminal background, Manju said that her husband has always supported her at every moment and now her husband has no connection with criminals. Every person carries a past but the present matters a lot. My husband and my father have helped me and they guided me to carry philanthropic activities, she added. Rohtak based political commentator Satish Tyagi said that Bhupinder Singh Hooda will secure a landslide victory from his own seat and the voters in Deswali belt comprising Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonepat, will exercise their franchise while considering the Congress candidates Hooda. The Congress in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday expelled a district unit president and some other leaders from the primary membership of the party for going against the spirit of its alliance with the National Conference (NC) and contesting as Independents in the assembly elections. The Congress expelled Srinagar district president Imtiyaz Ahmad Khan and two others from the primary membership of the party on Wednesday. (Representational photo) Breach of alliance unity shall not be tolerated, a spokesperson for the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) said. He said the party has expelled Srinagar district president Imtiyaz Ahmad Khan and two others from the primary membership of the party. Three people were killed and 14 others got injured after a two-storey building collapsed in Delhi's Karol Bagh area on Wednesday morning, police said. Rescue work underway after a two-storey house collapsed in Bapa Nagar area of Karol Bagh, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024.(PTI) The incident occurred at around 9 am in Bapa Nagar, a densely populated neighbourhood in central Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), M. Harsh Vardhan, said, "Information about the collapse of a building was received at Prasad Nagar Police Station. A two-storey structure on a plot of around 25 square yards collapsed." The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, but the buildings age and the recent heavy rains in the city are suspected to have played a role. Delhi chief minister-designate Atishi expressed her condolences and directed swift action to aid the victims. "This incident is tragic," Atishi wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "I have instructed the District Magistrate to provide all possible help to those affected, and ensure that the injured receive prompt treatment. Investigations into the cause of the collapse are underway." Atishi also urged the public to report any unsafe buildings or construction issues to prevent further tragedies. "There has been a lot of rain this year. If anyone notices signs of structural danger, please inform the authorities immediately. The government will take swift action." This is a developing story. Please check back for updates A five-storeyed building in Bapa Nagar, which is close to Karol Bagh in central Delhi, collapsed on Wednesday morning, leaving four people, including a minor, dead and 14 people injured. Police said they are probing the cause of the collapse, but locals said the building was at least 60 years old and its owner was aware of its shortcomings. NDRF undertaking rescue operations at the spot. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo) The incident took place at around 9am; search and rescue operations lasted for over eight hours, concluding around 5.30pm, as officials faced challenges navigating the congested lanes. The deceased were identified as Mohammed Mujeeb, 18, his brother Mohammed Mukim, 25, Aman Khan, 12, and Mohsin Khan, 26, all from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. The four deaths took the number of building collapse fatalities this monsoon to at least over 16, according to HT analysis. However, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said the building was structurally sound during a check in the run-up to monsoon. It was a very old building. The area falls in special area category. The area of the plot is approximately 25-30 square metres. The reason of collapse could not be ascertained. The building had not been found to be in dangerous condition during the pre-monsoon survey done by the maintenance department. Neither new construction was being taken up nor building material was found in or around the collapsed premises, an MCD spokesperson said. Read more: 3 dead, 14 injured after two-storey building collapses in Delhis Karol Bagh Around 9am, information of a building collapse was received at Prasad Nagar police station. When police reached the spot, it was found that an old five-storeyed building approximately 25 square yards collapsed and people were trapped in the rubble. A part of the building also fell on an adjoining building, leading to its wall collapse as well, deputy commissioner of police (central) Harsha Vardhan said, adding that the fire department, National Disaster Response Force and police began the rescue operation. Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister-designate Atishi visited the hospital and met the injured. She also announced compensation of 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased. I have ordered the district magistrate to help out the injured and their families in every possible way and ensure treatment. I have also spoken to the mayor about the incident... Delhi has seen excessive rain this year and I request the people of Delhi to contact local authorities at the earliest in case of any construction related incidents, posted Atishi on X (formerly Twitter), on Wednesday morning. The injured were identified as Mohammed Salim, 45, Sunny Khan, 15, Mohammed Owais, 33, Junaid Khan, 26, Ikramuddin, Nizamuddin, 32, Gulfam, Arab, Saran, Kavita Tomar, Jyoti Tomar and her son Aarav. Locals said the building was a factory-cum-residence as workers made womens slippers there. However, police officials said the building was registered as a residential property. A fire department official said that five people had been rescued before they arrived at the spot and by noon, 12 people were moved to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College. Of the 12, two people were declared dead. Around 5pm, the last man was rescued but was declared dead at the hospital. The man was identified as Mohsin. Right after the incident, residents of two adjacent buildings were asked to vacate their houses for safety purposes. Poonam Kumari, 21, who lives in a house opposite the collapsed building, said: I was sleeping and everyone else in the house had gone to work. Suddenly, there was a loud thud. It felt like a cloud had burst. I stepped out and saw the building had collapsed and people were shouting for help. A fire official said it was a challenge to carry out the rescue operation because the street was extremely congested and there was no space to deploy large equipment. Officials had to remove the debris manually because there was no space for a vehicle to reach the spot. If there was space, we could have used a dumper to remove the debris, the official said. Another official at the spot said there was no space to dump the debris. We were removing the debris and dumping it in another room. In fact, there was very little space for stretcher also. Some of the rescued were carried on shoulders of the officials till the opening of the street, the second official said. DCP Vardhan said MCD was asked to clear the area. A case under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 290 (negligent conduct with respect to building) of the BNS was registered and further probe is underway, he said. The Bharatiya Janata Party blamed MCD and demanded 1 crore in compensation for the deceased, but MCD maintained the building was not found potentially dangerous in its survey. Lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena has proposed September 21 (Saturday) as the date for administering the oath of office to chief minister-designate Atishi, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. Delhi's CM-designate Atishi. (AFP File) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday resigned as the Delhi CM and handed the baton to senior party colleague Atishi, who staked claim to head the next state government with just a few months to go for the assembly elections. In a letter to the LG, Atishi said that the AAP legislative party elected her as their leader, and requested that a date for the oath-taking ceremony be fixed, according to the party functionaries. Officials aware of the development said that Saxena has sent a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, proposing September 21 as the day for Atishi to take oath. The LG has moved the letters to the President/Union home ministry, proposing September 21, 2024 as the date for swearing in Atishi as the CM. No date for swearing-in has been proposed by Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi, an official said. The official said that Kejriwals resignation has been forwarded to the President for acceptance, but a notification about it was not issued till the time of going to print. According to the rules, a final notification is issued after Rashtrapati Bhavan accepts the resignation. When asked if she was ready to take oath on September 21, as proposed by the LG, Atishi said: We have not received any official information as yet. Read more: Atishi may address first house session as Delhi CM on Sept 26-27 On the matter of forming a new Cabinet, Atishi in her letter to the LG, said she will give the names of other ministers who will be sworn in soon. Under Article 239AA (5) of the Constitution, the President appoints the Delhi chief minister, and state ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the CM. After the President accepts the resignation of a sitting CM, they continue as a caretaker CM unless a new head is appointed if the assembly has not been dissolved. Elected as an MLA for the first time in 2020, Atishi was appointed as a minister in the Kejriwal Cabinet in March 2023 following the arrest of then deputy CM Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case. Atishi was soon allocated key portfolios including power, revenue, planning, finance, services, vigilance, water, and public relations. The Delhi assembly has 70 members, and the cabinet can have a maximum of seven ministers, including the chief minister. Atishi is set to head the Delhi government for the next few months, which will be politically critical for the AAP as it prepares for the upcoming assembly elections likely to be held early next year, but there was no clarity yet on ministers who will be inducted into the new cabinet. People aware of the matter indicated that the sitting ministers in the Kejriwal cabinet Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain could remain in the Atishi-led council of ministers. There was one vacancy following the resignation of the then social welfare and SC/ST minister Raaj Kumar Anand in May, and a new one will be created with Atishis elevation. According to AAP leaders aware of the developments, the new cabinet will likely add two new members, including one from the Dalit community. The political upheaval in the national capital started just days after Kejriwals release on bail in the excise policy case. The CM announced his resignation on Sunday, saying he wanted a certificate of honesty from the people of Delhi in the assembly elections. This [excise policy] case will go on for many years. Now I am in the court of people. After two days, I will resign from the post of CM. I will not sit on the CMs chair unless people deliver their verdict. Your every vote will be my certificate of honesty, he had said. Atishi, who was on Tuesday anointed by Kejriwal as his successor until the elections, has said that she will ensure Kejriwal returns to the CMs post after the polls. The people of Delhi, the MLAs of the AAP, and I, being the chief minister (designate), will now work with only one objective till the elections in the next few months take place we have to make Arvind Kejriwal the chief minister of Delhi again, Atishi said on Tuesday. Delhi has only one chief minister and his name is Arvind Kejriwal. Atishi will become the third woman chief minister of Delhi after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit, and only the second sitting woman chief minister in India alongside Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal. At the age of 43 years, she will also be youngest chief minister in Delhi ever. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday hit out at INDIA bloc partners, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), saying they allegedly hurt the sentiments of Hindus and misused power given by the people during previous terms. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath addresses the employment fair organized at Ghaziabad (Sakib Ali /HT Photo) SP leaders are labelling Indias religious leaders and cultural icons as mafia. The Congress and the SP are like Bhasmasur(a demon granted power to burn whatever he touched), as they harm the very people who grant them power, said Adityanath. He was addressing a gathering of supporters at Ghanta Ghar Ramlila Ground in Ghaziabad on Wednesday afternoon after dedicating and laying the foundation stone for projects worth 757 crore. The CM distributed appointment letters to over 10,000 youths, tablets/smartphones to more than 6,000 young individuals and disbursed loans exceeding 327 crore to 632 beneficiaries. Reflecting on past governance, the CM alleged, Before 2014, the Congress-led central government enacted laws to suppress Hindus, sought to dismantle the Ram Setu, obstructed the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, and promoted terrorism in Kashmir. Congress undermined the nations security. Adityanath claimed that all the individuals apprehended recently for endangering the safety of daughters had links with the SP. The chief minister also accused the SP of cowing down to mafia and criminals during their rule in the state and of calling religious leaders as mafia, referring to SP president Akhilesh Yadavs recent statement where he said there is not much difference between mathadheesh (head of a mutt) and mafia. Adityanath said, The mafia and rioters were a primary source of income for the opposition. Today, these political patrons are distressed by the disappearance of the mafia and rioters. Read more: Yogi govt to add 120 new e-buses to UPSRTC fleet Targeting the opposition in a poetic way, Adityanath said: Nazar nahin hai, nazaron ki baat karte hain, zamin pe chand-sitaron ki baat karte hain. Wo haath jodkar lootne wale, bhari sabha mein sudharon ki baat karte hain (they talk of vision without sight, speak of moon and stars while standing on the ground. Those who looted people with folded hands now speak of reforms at full gatherings). It seems that Aurangzebs soul has truly entered them and they call saints as mafias. It is due to such people that people migrated from Kairana and Kandhla. However, traders and women are safe in the new UP. We cannot tolerate goondaism and rule of mafia, Yogi added. The CM also announced that he had put forward a proposal for establishing a satellite centre of Delhis AIIMS, in Ghaziabad. Similar services will be made available here in Ghaziabad. We have put forward our proposal for this, said Adityanath. The Ghaziabad assembly seat is one of the 10 seats in UP which go to bypolls in coming months. During the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, BJP got only 33 of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. INDIA bloc partners, the SP and the Congress, made huge inroads and secured 37 and six seats, respectively. In the upcoming bypolls, the ruling BJP is likely to face stiff opposition from the Congress-SP alliance as UP ke ladke pitch appeared to have resonated well with the people of the state during the LS poll campaigns. Adityanath hit out at the two parties, saying do ladko ki Jodi (Rahul and Akhilesh ) came to UP to mislead people and did nothing for others but only for their own families. Whenever people gave them power, they misused it just like the Bhasmasura used it in ancient times. While the previous government at the centre was oppressing Hindus and putting roadblocks in the construction of Ram Temple and letting extremism flourish in Kashmir, the SP was also on the same track. Goondas were flourishing here and riots were frequent every other day, said Yogi. Mumbai: Sameer Khan, the son-in-law of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) senior leader Nawab Malik, was seriously injured on Tuesday when a sport utility vehicle (SUV) that arrived to collect him and his wife allegedly lost control and crushed him against a wall in Kurla, a suburb of Mumbai. NCP leader Nawab Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan was injured in a car crash. (Satish Bate/HT Photo) The incident occurred outside Criticare Hospital on Lalbahadur Shastri Road in Kurla West, where Khan and his wife Nilofer, Malik's daughter, had just completed a routine check-up, according to the V B Nagar police. "The driver, Abul Mohammad Saunf Ansari, 38, arrived with the vehicle. As they were boarding, he lost control and inadvertently pressed the accelerator, causing the vehicle to push Khan against a wall, trapping him between the wall and the jeep," a police officer explained. The impact also damaged three parked two-wheelers that were caught beneath the vehicle. Eyewitnesses reported that Khan was dragged by the vehicle before local residents quickly extricated him and rushed him to the nearby Criticare Hospital. His condition is described as critical. "Khan has sustained head injuries," the police stated. They are currently in the process of recording statements and have yet to register an official offence. The vehicle involved in the incident was identified as a Mahindra Thar. Months after an Air India crew member, brother of a jailed gangster, was shot dead outside a gym in Noida, a woman has been arrested for allegedly ordering the hit on the deceased, Suraj Mann, whose brother, Parvesh, is in Delhi's Mandoli prison. The victim was shot dead outside a gym in Noida's sector 104 on January 19 (Representational Image) The woman, Kajal Khatri, also known as Lady Don, ordered the hit on the instructions of her partner, gangster Kapil Mann, who is also lodged in Mandoli, NDTV reported. Kapil wanted to avenge his father's death, in which he suspected the involvement of Parvesh, the Noida victim's brother. Police later found that Suraj did not have a criminal record. However, the accused suspected him of providing financial help to his brother. She (Khatri) had a bounty of 25,000 on her head. She was a part of the conspiracy and was on the run since the January 19 murder. Police forces of both Delhi and Noida were looking for her. The arrest is a big success, a senior police officer said. He added that the Lady Don was managing her partner's gang in his absence. On the enmity between the gangsters, the officer noted that they had been enemies for many years. Parvesh was behind the murder of Kapil's father. In revenge, Kapil got the former's brother killed, the officer stated. Kajal Khatri, as per the officer, used to introduce herself as Kapil Mann's wife and even jail records name her as his spouse. The Indian School of Business (ISB) has launched a 20-month Postgraduate Programme in Management for Young Leaders (PGP YL) for high-potential aspirants with up to 2 years of full-time work experience. The PGP YL programme will be taught by faculty at ISB as well as other top international B-schools. (Pexels) The full-time MBA equivalent residential management programme, which commences in mid-2025, is set to offer a comprehensive learning experience through an innovative and cutting-edge curriculum. Additionally, the curriculum which is backed by research will include foundational business principles as well as advanced technology, data, analytics courses, and global perspectives to develop students into innovative problem solvers, a press release issued by ISB added. Also read: Bihar plans to rank its schools in quality quest The PGP YL programme will be taught by faculty at ISB as well as other top international B-schools. It may be mentioned here that students will have to complete a mandatory two-month summer internship which is designed to provide them with practical exposure to business environments in various settings. Professor Madan Pillutla, Dean of ISB highlighted that the new PGP YL course has been designed to enable young professionals to step straight into roles that require business acumen alongside deep expertise in data and technology. Also read: RSMSSB CET admit card 2024 for graduate level tomorrow, exam guidelines released at rsmssb.rajasthan.gov.in Furthermore, the programme would transform fresh graduates and entry-level professionals into exceptional problem solvers and innovators at the workplace, Prof Pilluta added. Documents needed to apply: Aspiring candidates must submit a valid GMAT, GRE, or CAT score. They will also have to submit details of their educational qualifications and work experience, if any. Also read: Students should not be allowed to join unauthorised rallies, says Manipur education minister Admission process: The admission process includes a personal interview based on the students academic excellence, application essays, and test score performance. Shortlisted candidates be interviewed by a panel consisting of leading industry practitioners, academicians, and ISB alumni in senior positions. Admission fee: The Madras High Court has directed a veterinary university not to reject the application of a candidate for an undergraduate course on the ground that she was a transgender. Madras HC has directed the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) to not reject the application of a candidate for an undergraduate course on the ground that she was a transgender. (Representative image) Justice M Dhandapani gave the ruling in a recent order, while disposing of a petition from A Nivetha, challenging the prospectus issued by the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) for the admission notification for undergraduate degree programmes 2024-2025. The petitioned prayed to quash the same as illegal as far as not categorizing the transgenders under special category. Also read: AYUSH NEET UG 2024 Counselling: Round 2 registration begins at aaccc.gov.in, direct link here The judge said though many grounds have been raised by the petitioner's counsel, when the matter was taken up for hearing, the counsel submitted it would suffice if the court directed the varsity to consider Nivetha's application dated June 26, 2024 and place her appropriately, if she secures on merit. Also read: NEET MDS 2024: Ministry of health lowers qualifying cut-off by 21,692 percentile, asks NBE to release revised results The counsel appearing for the University has no serious objection to the submission, the judge added. In view of the limited request made by the counsel appearing for the petitioner, without interfering with the impugned admission notification issued by the university, the court directed TANUVAS to consider Nivetha's application and place her appropriately within a period of two weeks. "It is made clear that the third respondent (University) shall not reject the application of the petitioner on the ground of (being a) transgender", the judge added. The United Kingdom has long been a top choice for international students, renowned for its prestigious universities and a multicultural atmosphere that appeals to learners worldwide. Its educational institutions frequently rank among the best globally, and the vibrant cultural scene offers ample opportunities for international students to enrich their experience, practice English, and expand their horizons. In 2023 alone, over 679,970 students from around the world embarked on their academic journeys in the UK. These changes impact not only the visa application process but also considerations such as dependants, post-graduation work opportunities, and financial requirements.(Representational Photo) However, the landscape of studying in the UK has shifted, particularly in 2024, with new visa regulations that have reshaped the experience for international students. These changes impact not only the visa application process but also considerations such as dependants, post-graduation work opportunities, and financial requirements. Changes in Visa and Financial Requirements This year UK has brought several changes in the visa requirements. Previously, international students pursuing both postgraduate and research degrees had the option to bring family members, such as spouses and children. However, under the new rules, only postgraduate research studentssuch as PhD candidatesare permitted to bring dependents. Those enrolled in other types of courses, including taught postgraduate programs, no longer have this option. Further financial changes are set to take effect soon. From January 2025, the monthly maintenance funds requirement for international students will increase. Those studying in London will need to demonstrate access to 1483 per month, while students outside of London will need 1136. This represents a notable increase from the current requirement of 1334 for London and 1023 for outside London, which has remained unchanged since 2020. University of Leeds scholarships for Indian students & its uncommon programs Changes to the Graduate Visa Another change involves the ability to switch from a student visa to a Graduate visa, which allows students to stay in the UK for up to two years after completing their studies (three years for PhD holders). Before the new regulations, students could change their immigration status to a Graduate visa upon completion of their course without needing to finish their original study program. This is no longer the case. Now, students must fully complete their course before they are eligible for a Graduate visa. What Happens After You Graduate? For students planning to stay in the UK post-graduation, its crucial to understand the new rules governing the expiration of student visas. The expiration date of a student visa typically depends on the length of the enrolled course. Students must either renew their visa or apply for a new one before it expires, as there is no 'grace period' for those on a student visa. Should a student visa expire without renewal or transition to another visa type, the student is required to leave the UK immediately. The Graduate visa provides an opportunity to remain in the UK for two additional years post-study. For PhD or doctoral students, this period extends to three years. Importantly, students must be physically present in the UK when applying for a Graduate visa, and applications must be submitted before the expiration of the current student visa. What About Dependant Visa Holders? For students who brought family members with them prior to January 2024, dependants are still allowed to extend their visas as long as the students visa remains valid. This rule applies to families already residing in the UK before the changes took effect, providing continuity for those already present. In cases where dependants wish to stay in the UK independently, they can explore the option of switching to a Work visa. If they meet the criteria for a Skilled Worker visa, for instance, they may apply to remain in the UK based on their employment rather than their students visa status. However, this option is not available to all dependants, particularly parents of students, who are not permitted to switch to Skilled Worker visas. The Implications of Switching to a Post-Study Work Visa Many international students plan to extend their stay in the UK through the Post-Study Work (PSW) visa, commonly known as the Graduate visa. The good news for those seeking this option is that dependants who have already been living in the UK with the student can apply for a dependant visa to stay in the UK after the student switches to a PSW visa. This means families that have moved to the UK together will still have the chance to remain together once the student transitions from study to work. However, as mentioned, these arrangements are only available to those whose families were already living with them in the UK while they were students. Those arriving after January 2024 under the new regulations will not have this option available, which may impact the decision of students who are looking to balance study with family life. Navigating Your Study Abroad Journey The new visa changes have brought new challenges and considerations for international students, but they also underscore the importance of planning and preparation. Prospective students need to be aware of the updated regulations, from financial requirements to dependant visa restrictions, to ensure a smooth transition to studying and living in the UK. For those considering the UK for higher education, the country still offers world-class opportunities and experiences, but understanding the new visa landscape is essential to making informed decisions. By staying up-to-date with these changes and planning ahead, students can still make the most of their time in the UK, both academically and personally. (Author Gaurav Batra is Founder, Infinite Group. Views expressed are personal.) CGBSE 10th Supplementary Result 2024: The Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education (CGBSE) has announced the High School (Class 10th) Second Main or Attempt Examination results. Students who have appeared for the CGBSE 10th Supplementary exam 2024 can check the results on the official website of the board, cgbse.nic.in. The direct link and other details are given below. CGBSE 10th Result 2024: Chhattisgarh board Class 10 Supplementary result announced (cgbse.nic.in, screenshot) To check the CGBSE 10th Supplementary result 2024, students need to use their roll numbers. CGBSE 10th Supplementary result 2024 direct link The result of the Class 12th Supplementary examination has already been announced. How to check CGBSE 10th Supplementary result 2024? Go to the official website of the board, cgbse.nic.in. Open the High School 2nd Main/Attempt result link given on the home page. Enter your roll number and the displayed captcha code. Submit and check the result. The Chhattisgarh Board Class 10 supplementary examination was held from July 24 to August 8, 2024. For Class 12, supplementary examination was conducted from July 23 to August 12. The results of the annual Class 10th, 12th examinations were announced in May. The pass percentage in Class 10 was 75.61 per cent. In Class 12, the pass percentage was 50.74 per cent. A total of 3,40,220 candidates appeared in the Class 10 annual examination held in March. Of them, 2,57,072 students passed. Those who did not qualify in the test had another chance to pass Class 10 through the second main or attempt examination. A total of 2,08,789 students passed the Chhattisgarh board Class 12 annual examination examination in 2024. The Telangana Open School Society, TOSS, Hyderabad has released the SSC and intermediate October exam timetable for the day session on Wednesday, September 18. Candidates appearing in the examinations can check the schedule on the official website at telanganaopenschool.org. Telangana TOSS SSC, Intermediate exam 2024 October schedule has been released, Candidates can check detailed timetable here. The TOSS wrote in an official notice, Telangana Open School Society (TOSS) is now pleased to announce the day/session-wise timetable for the upcoming theory and practical examinations for SSC and Intermediate levels, scheduled for October 2024. These examinations will be conducted from 03/10/2024 to 09/10/2024. The theory examinations are scheduled to take place in two sessions, i.e. Morning Session: From 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and Afternoon Session: From 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Practical Examinations are scheduled from 16/10/2024 to 23 /10/2024. Also read: General Knowledge Quiz: Stay updated to pass exams with flying colours As per the schedule, the examinations will be conducted from October 3 to October 9 in two shifts. Shift one starts from 9 am to 12 noon and the afternoon session will be held from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. Also read: HPSC PGT Result 2024 for subject knowledge test out at hpsc.gov.in, direct link here The practical examinations will be held from October 16 to October 23, 2024. SSC examination will begin with language exams in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Marathi on October 3. The Intermediate exams will also start with language exams namely Telugu, Urdu, and Hindi. Also read: KEA KCET, Karnataka NEET UG 2024 provisional seat allotment result for Round 2 out at kea.kar.nic.in, direct link here Meanwhile, both SSC and intermediate examinations will end with vocational subjects. The detailed schedule is given below: SBI PO 2024 Notification Live: The State Bank of India (SBI) will release the notification for recruitment of Probationary Officers (SBI PO 2024) on its official website. Once released, candidates can check it on the careers portal of the bank sbi.co.in/web/careers/. The bank had, in previous years, released the notification in the month of September. In 2023, the SBI PO notice came on September 6 and registrations started on September 7. Similarly, in 2022, the SBI PO notification was published on September 21 and the application process started on September 22....Read More The last recruitment examination for Probationary Officers in the State Bank of India was held for 2,000 vacancies. The 2022 examination was for 1,673 vacancies. To apply for SBI PO, candidates need at least a graduation degree in any discipline. The detailed eligibility criteria, age limit, number of vacancies, exam pattern, etc. will be mentioned on the notification. Follow this live blog for the latest updates on SBI PO 2024. UGC NET Result 2024 Highlights: The National Testing Agency, NTA, will likely declare the UGC NET Result 2024 soon. When declared, the June UGC NET results can be checked by candidates on the official website of UGC NET at ugcnet.nta.ac.in. The UGC NET results can also be checked at ugcnet.ntaonline.in and also on nta.ac.in....Read More The date and time of release of UGC NET results have not been announced by NTA yet. Along with the results, the final answer key is also awaited. The final answer key, when released, can be checked on the official website. The Agency has already released the provisional answer key for UGC NET for all exam dates. The answer key is available on the official website NTA UGC NET. The objection window was opened till September 14, 2024 to raise objections against the provisional answer key. The UGC NET June examination was conducted from August 21 to September 4, 2024. It was held in two shifts: Shift 1 from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and Shift 2 from 3 pm to 6 pm. Follow the blog for latest updates on results, direct link and more. It happened in 2022 and 2023, when thousands of Bihars college and varsity teachers remained without salary and the retired ones without pension during the festive season for months, and it is again threatening to happen in 2024. Amid fear of salary & pension in festive season, teachers seek CM intervention Into the third month without payment, the joint action committee of the two main teachers bodies have sought the intervention of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to end the anarchical situation created by whimsical orders and riders by the education department officials. Cabinet approves setting up of National Centre of Excellence for Animation on lines of IITs, IIMs Payment of salary and pension to the university teachers and its employees both working and retired may be delayed yet again with no time limit specified by the government to release budgetary grant for the financial year 2024-25 in view of govt's letter dated September 11 to universities, asking the universities to upload working, retired and guest teachers' pay data on the department portal, said the federation of university teachers association of Bihar (FUTAB) president KB Sinha and general secretary Sanjay Kumar. Education department secretary Baidyanath Yadav had written to the universities that though data with regard to working teachers has been uploaded by all universities, the same for pensioners and guest teachers is still incomplete. Besides, he also flagged the delay in refunding the unspent amount to the department despite repeated reminders, making it clear that unless all the orders were complied with, release of fresh grant would not be considered. Check This: Rajasthan govt to provide 4 lakh jobs in next five years, claims CM Bhajanlal Sharma A senior officer of the department said that despite repeated reminders through letters and phone that funds would be released only upon uploading of the data on Payroll management portal to issue payslips with all details, it has not happened. As far as regular teachers and staff are concerned, it has been completed over 90% and the process is on for release of grants for them, but for those getting pension and family pension, it is still not there. Even for guest teachers, the data has not been uploaded. We sought basic data, which is required in any department. Now, we have escalated the matter to the top level for guideline with a suggestion that accountability be fixed and salary of the top university officials, viz. VC, registrar, finance officer and financial advisor be stopped until all data is furnished, as teachers and employees understandably have nothing to do with it, he added. He said that the refund of the funds lying unused since 2018, when the central financial management system (CFMS) was launched, has also not happened, though some universities have returned some money to the government exchequer. Also Read: University of Southampton celebrates plan to set up new campus in Delhi NCR, aims to strengthen India-UK education ties However, teachers bodies are questioning the chronic problem of stopping salary and payment of all, as this was unheard of in any other government department or institution despite anomalies detected by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report. Putting riders to stall payment of all is not justified, as teachers and employees have nothing to do with what goes between the government and the universities. In 2007 a joint delegation of teachers bodies had met the Chief Minister at his residence and narrated several issues concerning the university teachers. CM said that his first concern was to regularise the payment of monthly salary ,pension and provident fund and it also happened, but for the past several years the same old problem has been repeating with no solution, said federation of university Service teachers association of Bihar (FUSTAB) president Ram Jatan Sinha and General Secretary Dilip Choudhary. The government had in June released the funds for payment of last fiscals backlog salary to teachers, employees, guest teachers as well as pensioners and the funds for the new fiscal 2024-25 up to June to restore normalcy. This was around six-month salary, but after that the salary and pension have again got stuck, while Durga Puja begins from October 3 and after that several important festivals are lined in the next one month. Last year, the then Additional Chief Secretary (education) Dipak Kumar Singh had told the Patna High Court that the department would work out a mechanism in consultation with the VCs and related officials of universities to ensure timely pension payment in universities. However, things have not changed even though there has been change of guard in the department thrice since then at the level of ACS as well as minister. Even DA remains low at 34% to university teachers, while it has reached 42% for Bihar govt employees. The arrear also remains unpaid. The teachers and employees are made to suffer at the slightest behest even though at present the universities are functioning at less than half the sanctioned strength, said the leaders. The HC had earlier, while hearing a contempt petition last year, cited the Division Bench order of 2018 with regard to modality of payment of pension to the retired employees of the Universities and observed that the practical implementation of the same was not being made. The court said that the retired employees must get pension every month. in a bid to improve quality of government schools both in terms of education and holistic development of students, Bihar government has now decided to rank the institutions on specific quantifiable parameters. The move is important as Bihar was ranked among the bottom five states in the 2019 School Education Quality Index (SEQI) developed by Niti Ayog.(Twitter/@DipakKrIAS) Additional chief secretary (education) S Siddharth on Wednesday wrote to all the district educators action officers (DEPs) about the departments decision to conduct rankings of all the schools twice a year - in November and March - on laid down parameters. The ranking will be done separately for primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary schools on specific yardsticks, viz. education, co-curricular activities, cleanliness, discipline, resource utilisation, grievance redressal etc. in the prescribed format. The move is important as Bihar was ranked among the bottom five states in the 2019 School Education Quality Index (SEQI) developed by Niti Ayog to evaluate the performance of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the school education sector. The index aims to bring an outcomes focus to education policy by providing States and UTs with a platform to identify their strengths and weaknesses and undertake requisite course corrections or policy interventions. The ranking in Bihar will be on a 100-point scale and it will also be a mandatory requirement for annual evaluation report of teachers. The purpose is to improve quality for holistic education to the students and for that the role of teachers is paramount, Siddharth has written along with the ranking formats for all the schools. The schools will be allotted stars on the basis of their rankings to develop a categorisation of top performing institutions, as the University Grants Commission (UGC) has done for colleges and universities. The top performing schools scoring in the range of 85-100 will get FIVE Stars, followed by Four Star (75-84), Three Star (50-74), Two Star (25-49) and One Star (0-24). Education department officials said that the purpose of this star rating of schools is to make them aspirational and quality conscious, which in turn would create a healthy atmosphere to provide the best to the students. It will also help the weak institutions aspire and work hard. They will also be involved and demand what they need from the government. The purpose is to create an atmosphere of healthy competition to give the students the best, they said. Till a few decades ago, Bihar boasted of a robust government school system, with each district having some reputed institutions. Many of the countrys top bureaucrats holding powerful positions were from the government school system, but things started deteriorating in 1980s and the slide gathered momentum in the 1990s and never improved after that to create room for mushroom growth of private schools. Last month, Bihars premiere Patna University was the only state university that could find place in the National Institutional Framework Ranking (NIRF) in the category of state public universities, while Patna Womens College was the only college in the college category. There was no university in the state in the overall ranking for universities of the country to tell the story of state that still takes pride in the legacy of Nalanda University and Vikramshila University, the ancient seats of learning that drew students and scholars from across the globe. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, MoHFW, has lowered the qualifying cut-off percentile for NEET MDS 2024. As per the latest notice by the Ministry, the qualifying cut-off percentile has been reduced by 21,692 percentile across all categories comprising General, SC, ST, OBC, and UR-PWD. NEET MDS 2024: Ministry of health has reduced the qualifying cut-off by 21,692 percentile. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) The letter signed by Under Secretary Amit Kumar read, I am directed to say that this Ministry has decided to lower the qualifying cut-off percentile for NEET-MDS, 2024 by 21.692 percentile for each category (General, SC/ST/OBC and UR-PWD) in pursuance of DCI's MDS Regulations, 2017 and 2nd proviso in clause 7(1) of DCI's Master of Dental Surgery course (1st Amendment) Regulations, 2018. Also read: IIM Lucknow research reveals key factors influencing menstrual cup adoption The revised qualifying percentile for the General category and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) is 28.308. Whereas the revised cut-off for SC, ST, OBC, and PWD categories is 18.308, Likewise, the revised cut-off for the UR-PWD category is 23.308. General (UR/EWS): 28.308 SC/ST/OBC (including PWD of these categories): 18.308 UR-PWD: 23.308 Also read: University of Melbourne launches Global Centre in Delhi to enhance knowledge exchange Through the official notice, the ministry directed the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences to release the revised results and requested the Medical Counselling Committee to take necessary action based on the new cut-offs on a priority basis. This move by the government aims to ensure more students have access to specialised dental education. Also read: JSSC CGL admit card 2024 out at jsscexam24.com, direct link to download JGGLCCE admit cards It may be mentioned here that the NEET MDS 2024 examination was conducted on March 18, 2024, the results of which was declared on April 3, 2024. For more related information on the revised results and counselling schedules, candidates are advised to visit the official website of the MCC. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Wednesday said that the state government will bring Yuva Niti-2024 policy for the all-round development of the youth. Rajasthan govt to provide 4 lakh jobs in next five years, claims CM (Himanshu Sharma) He was addressing the 18th convocation of the Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) here. President Draupadi Murmu was the chief guest of the ceremony. University of Southampton celebrates plan to set up new campus in Delhi NCR, aims to strengthen India-UK education ties Sharma said that the state government is setting new dimensions in the field of education every day. The government will make four lakh government recruitments in the next five years. This year also more than one lakh posts are being recruited. According to the official statement, Sharma said, "The state government is bringing Yuva Niti-2024 for the all-round development of the youth and a new State Skill Policy for skill capacity development so that the path of progress of the youth can be paved." Check This: Bihar government plans to rank its schools on quantifiable parameters in a bid to improve quality Sharma said that the Atal Entrepreneurship Programme is being started to help the youth set up startups and increase entrepreneurship skills, through which the youth will get guidance from the CEOs of the country and abroad. Funding of up to 10 crore will also be available to the selected startups. He said that Atal Innovation Studios and Accelerators are being established in Jaipur, Bharatpur, Bikaner and Udaipur for 1,000 crore for the benefit of the youth. Manipur Education Minister Thounaojam Basantakumar Singh on Tuesday said students should not be allowed to participate in unauthorised rallies and meetings and appealed to the public to keep educational institutions free from such activities. Manipur Education Minister Thounaojam Basantakumar Singh criticised a planned meeting by a group named All Manipur Students, scheduled for September 18 at Dhanamanjuri University in Imphal. (PTI/representative image) Addressing a press conference, Singh expressed concern over the involvement of some people not affiliated with recognised student bodies who are allegedly encouraging students to join unauthorised protests. Also read: Police detain Rajasthan govt school principal for passing lewd comments on girl "It is very unfortunate that these people are entering educational campuses and persuading students to participate in unauthorised demonstrations," he said. Singh criticised a planned meeting by a group named All Manipur Students, scheduled for September 18 at Dhanamanjuri University in Imphal. He said the scheduled meeting is illegal due to the lack of permission and warned that legal action would be taken. "Appropriate legal and preventive measures will be taken," Singh said, emphasising that the government does not recognise or support the meeting. Also read: DU UG Admission 2024: Apply for spot round 1 at admisison.uod.ac.in, direct link He also reiterated that normal classes have recently resumed and stressed that students should stay in classrooms during school hours. Singh highlighted the departments target of holding 229 class days for the year, with 153 days already completed and 19 lost due to floods, natural disasters, and social unrest. Also read: IIT Bombay receives 130 crore pledge from the Motilal Oswal Foundation An investigation is underway to identify and track the organisers of the unauthorised meeting, he said. Singh urged legitimate student organisations to support efforts to keep the education sector disruption-free and called on parents to provide guidance to their children at home. The University of Southampton conducted a special event to commemorate the announcement of its new campus in India on Wednesday. A special event was held at the British High Commissioners Residence in New Delhi to commemorate the announcement of the new campus of University of Southampton on September 18, 2024. The event held at the British High Commissioners Residence in New Delhi was attended by the British High Commissioner to India, Lindy Cameron, and other guests. As per a press release, the new campus will situated be in Gurugram, within the National Capital Region. It will initially offer four undergraduate and two postgraduate programmes. Also read: UKs 2024 visa changes: How will they impact international students? The four undergraduate programmes include computer science, business management, economics, and accounts and finance. Whereas the postgraduate programmes will be in international management and finance. New programmes will be introduced each year, with a wide portfolio soon on offer. Speaking at the event, Cameron stated that the University of Southamptons new campus in India is a landmark moment in the UK-India educational partnership. Also read: Canara Bank Apprentice Recruitment 2024: Registration for 3000 posts begins on Sept 21 at canarabank.com As the first international university to establish a comprehensive campus in India, this collaboration will deepen the bonds between our two nations, ensuring that students from both the UK and India benefit, she said. Professor Andrew Atherton, Vice-President of International and Engagement at the University of Southampton remarked that setting up the new campus in Delhi NCR is a top priority for the University and it marks a major milestone in its ambitious strategy to become a global university, a gateway to the world and an inclusive institution. He said, Our campus in India will enable us to offer the same Southampton degree as we provide in the UK in Delhi NCR, where we will establish the campus, in a world-class environment that provides an outstanding student experience. This means that the University of Southampton Delhi will be as much part of the University and its vibrant and inclusive student community as any other campus. Also read: Bihar government plans to rank its schools on quantifiable parameters in a bid to improve quality Alison Barrett MBE, Director India, British Council, congratulated the university on becoming the first UK institution to secure a license to establish a full campus in India under the UGC regulations. Barrett stated that the opportunities from this partnership will advance the shared ambitions of both governments and shape a brighter future for young people from both countries. It may be mentioned here that the University of Southampton was issued a Letter of Intent on August 29 under the Universities Grants Commission regulations for setting up Indian campuses of foreign universities. Meanwhile, the application process for the new campus is expected to launch in October. Interested applicants can visit the official website at southampton.ac.uk/delhi. Kareena Kapoor is earning good reviews for her performance as Jasmeet Bhamra, a detective and a mother in Hansal Mehta's The Buckingham Murders. In an interview with India Today, the director heaped praises on Kareena for her commitment to the craft and said that her work ethic was astounding. (Also read: PVR announces Kareena Kapoor film festival to mark her 25 years in Bollywood; actor is humbled) Kareena Kapoor Khan and director Hansal Mehta at the trailer launch of The Buckingham Murders (Photo by Sujit JAISWAL / AFP)(AFP) What Hansal said about Kareena During the chat, Hansal said: I must put it on record that Kareena is an absolute dream to work with. I might be wounded by a past experience, but that did not have any bearing on Buckingham Murders. It was one of the most smooth and very beautiful shooting experiences I've had in my entire 3 decades of working she never came across as a tantrummy star. He went on to add, She surrendered herself to the film, to the character. Her work ethic was astounding. She would always be there on set, giving cues to other actors when their sets were being shot. She had the work ethics of an actor. It's very basic, but she did that. She was always there around for the scene, to make it better. It was never just about her. So it's a performance that has a lot of internal pain and very little vanity. More details The Buckingham Murders evolves around sergeant Jasmeet 'Jass' Bhamra (Kareena) dealing with the loss of her young son Ekam (Mairaaj Kakkar). She is assigned a case of a missing boy, Ishpreet, roughly as old as Ekam. The film's ensemble also includes Ash Tandon, Ranveer Brar, and Keith Allen. It is written by Aseem Arrora, Kashyap Kapoor, and Raghav Raj Kakker. The Buckingham Murders released in theatres on September 13, 2024. It also marks Kareena's debut as a producer. Sean Diddy Combs once referred to Kristina Khorram, the Chief of the Combs Enterprises Staff as his Right hand. A source close to the unfolding investigation of the rapper revealed to The Post that she might be more of a manipulator in chief. Kristina Khorram is alleged to have aided Diddy's actions which led to his arrest.(REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo, Kristina Khorram/Facebook) The hip-hop mogul was arrested on Monday night by Homeland Security agents at a hotel in New York. The charges pressed against him include racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was ordered to be held in jail without bail as his $50 million bail bid was rejected. Also Read: 50 Cent mocks Diddy over bizarre lube found at his home following the arrest Alleged gatekeeper in Diddys case The source close to the investigation said, If anybody is gatekeeper, Kristina would know everything. According to the 14-page indictment, Combs allegedly had assistance from certain employees which included high-ranking supervisors to carry out, facilitate and cover up his abuse and commercial sex [ring]. However, there was no name of any of Diddys employees in the papers, as reported by the NY Post. It also stated that the survivors were responsible for facilitating Freak Offs which included sex workers and stocking the hotel rooms in advance with the required Freak Off supplies, including controlled substances, baby oil lubricant, extra linens, lighting. The [The Feds] have gotten evidence from a lot of sources recordings, text messages names, texts from Kristina Khorram, as reported by Page Six. Diddy posted on Facebook in 2021 about Khorram where he wrote, Shes been my right hand for the last 8 years and has consistently proven to execute and get s**t done. Dont know how Id function without her. Also Read: Sean 'Diddy' Combs will remain in federal custody as he pleads not guilty Kristina Khorram compared to Ghislaine Maxwell In a separate case filed by Lil Rhody in February against Khorram, he described her as the Ghislaine Maxwell to Sean Combs Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was the sex worker who helped now-convicted sex offender, Epstein. Rhody also accused her of ordering sex workers and prostitutes for him [Diddy]. In an amended complaint he alleged that Khorram required other household and staff members to carry fanny packs which contained a variety of drugs like cocaine, GHB, ecstasy, marijuana, gummies and Tuci so that the mogul could have a drug of choice anytime. According to this lawsuit, Khorram also knowingly and intentionally participated in, perpetrated, assisted, supported, facilitated a sex-trafficking Venture. In addition, it claimed that Combs right hand was instrumental in organizing and executing the [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] enterprise, and she had another employee, Stevie J who assisted in recruiting the sex workers. Diddys lawyers have asked for this ongoing Rhodys lawsuit to be dismissed. His attorney Erica Wolff said, Mr. Jones lawsuit is pure fictiona shameless attempt to create media hype and extract a quick settlement Mr. Jones was not threatened, groomed, assaulted, or trafficked. We look forward to proving in a court of law that all of Mr. Joness claims are made-up and must be dismissed, as reported by USA Today. Sean Diddy Combs attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said the music mogul is a fighter who is innocent of the crimes he has been accused of. Agnifilos comments came after Diddys arraignment on Tuesday, September 17. Innocent Sean Diddy Combs will fight this to the end, laywer says(AFP/ ANGELA WEISS) Mr. Combs is a fighter. Hes going to fight this to the end. Hes innocent," Agnifilo said outside of court, New York Post reported. "He came to New York to establish his innocence. Hes not afraid, hes not afraid of the charges. Theres nothing that the government said in their presentation today that chances anyones mind about anything, he continued. "Hes been looking forward to this day; hes been looking forward to clearing his name, and hes going to clear his name. Were going to stand by his side as he does, Agnifilo added. Agnifilo confirmed that they will be appealing the judge's decision to hold Diddy without bail. The rap mogul is being held without bail, currently pending trial for sex trafficking and racketeering. What Marc Agnifilo previously said Agnifilo previously told the court that his client flew from Miami to New York on September 5 on his suggestion. Agnifilo said he made the suggestion after meeting with prosecutors and realising an indictment could be coming. He also said he took Diddys passport in April and notified the feds. Agnifilo claimed that he had kept the feds updated about Diddys whereabouts in the past few months. He went on a white water rafting trip, we sent them an email," the lawyer said, adding that Diddy has come to New York to turn himself in. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors told a Manhattan judge that Diddy is a "serial abuser and serial obstructor" and demanded that he be jailed pending his sex-trafficking trial. The prosecutor told Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky that Diddy is an "extreme danger to the community" who abused women, and even threatened and tried to bribe witnesses. Sean Diddy Combs attorney, Marc Agnifilo, attempted to blame the music moguls alleged victim in a beating video that was caught on camera. Agnifilo referred to the woman as "Victim-1, but it was clear that he was referring to Cassie Ventura, Diddys ex-girlfriend. Sean Diddy Combs attorney appears to blame Cassie Ventura for 2016 caught-on-camera beating (Photo by Chris Delmas / AFP)(AFP) What did Marc Agnifilo say about the incident? The 2016 video showed Diddy kicking, dragging and beating Ventura in a hotel hallway. Agnifilo has now said that the fight broke out after Ventura found something on Diddys phone to suggest he was cheating on her. The lawyer alleged that Ventura then hit Diddy on the head with his own cell phone, put his clothes into a bag, and proceeded to go out into the hallway. She has left him in the hotel with no clothes after hitting him in the head with a cell phone, the attorney said, as reported by New York Post. During a hearing over whether Diddy should be jailed pending trial, Agnifilo told the judge that his client and Ventura had been together for ten years, but were both cheating on each other. These two people were in love, Agnifilo said. But, they had been cheating on each other for years. Agnifilo also alleged that later, Venturas lawyer told Diddy that she was writing a book referencing their disturbed relationship, unless Diddy wanted to buy the "exclusive rights" to the story for $30 million. Agnifilo also called Diddy a fighter and said he is innocent of the crimes he has been arrested for committing. He said they will be appealing the judge's decision to hold Diddy without bail. Mr. Combs is a fighter. Hes going to fight this to the end. Hes innocent," Agnifilo said outside of court. "He came to New York to establish his innocence. Hes not afraid, hes not afraid of the charges. Theres nothing that the government said in their presentation today that chances anyones mind about anything, he added. On Tuesday evening, the cast and crew of Devara: Part 1, the much-hyped Telugu debut of Bollywood actor Jahnvi Kapoor with Tollywood star Jr NTR, met the media in Chennai. Jr NTR, Jahnvi, director Koratala Siva and music director Anirudh Ravichander, were present and all of them spoke to the media recalling their experiences on the film. (Also Read: Jr NTR manifests film with favourite director Vetrimaaran: We can dub it in Telugu) Anirudh Ravichander sang a few lines in Tamil and Telugu at the press con of Devara: Part 1. Janhvi and Jr NTR on Chennai Sridevis elder daughter Janhvi dazzled the audience with her speech in Tamil stating that Chennai was very close to her heart and that she had a lot of memories associated with the city. Jr NTR, who also speaks Tamil well, on his part said that India is divided by language but united by cinema. He added, Chennai has been the stepping stone for the Telugu film industry as this is where the films were being made. Anirudh Ravichander gets trolled When it came to the turn of music director Anirudh, he spoke about Jr NTR aka Tarak was his best friend in Hyderabad and he considered the Telugu star as his elder brother. He was asked to sing a song from Devara and he sang a few lines in Tamil and Telugu. Numerous netizens posted the video on X (formerly twitter) and panned him for his singing since there was absolutely no reaction from the audience. Some users slammed him saying this was not a concert for him to expect the media to sing along with him. An X user commented, This is press meet not the concert to make chorus to song. One X user wrote, . (laughing emoji). (What an embarrassing moment) Another X user commented, Ennna pa sensational ha posukunu asinga paduthitaa (laughing emoji). (They called him sensational but he sang so badly) Another user penned that he felt sorry for Anirudh. While these videos flooded X, some people commented that the videos had been edited to create the impression that the media didnt respond. A video of Nagarjuna shooting for Lokesh Kanagarajs Coolie in Visakhapatnam has leaked online. The actor, who plays Simon in the Rajinikanth-starrer, can be seen shooting for a brutal scene captured on camera by a fan. (Also Read: Nagarjuna's Bigg Boss Telugu 8 gets 5.9 billion viewing minutes on opening night: Feeling thrilled) Nagarjuna will play Simon in Lokesh Kanagaraj's Coolie. A video of him shooting leaked online. Nagarjunas leaked scene from Coolie In a video doing rounds on X (formerly Twitter), Nagarjuna can be seen dressed in a white suit and beating up a man with a hammer. One video seems to have been shot from far, which sees the actor in action. Another video taken from much closer sees him threaten a man before beating him up with a hammer. In the video, a crew member narrates some Tamil lines with proper pronunciation to Nagarjuna before he says them. A fan who shared the video on X wrote, #COOLIE : #Nagarjuna Scenes Leaked. This is Gonna Be Bigger This Time. #Rajinikanth | #LokeshKanagaraj. One fan thought that Nagarjunas character in Coolie might be on par with Kamal Haasans Vikram, writing, @iamnagarjuna look And Dialogue BackGround Song. Vikram Range Undhi Nag Character. However not everyone was impressed as some thought the character was repetitive, looking much like Suriyas Rolex from Vikram. One X user wrote, #Nagarjuna as SIMON in #coolie... heavy coat pota #rolex vibes...there's a reason y loki said he'll retire soon. His style of making is gonna get saturated among audiences soon. Nagarjuna in Coolie At the end of August, Lokesh formally announced on X that Nagarjuna was roped in for Coolie and that he plays Simon. Sharing his enthusiasm for working with the team, the actor responded to the director on X, Thank uuuu Loki, I hv been wanting to work with you since kaithi!!! Absolutely excited for our journey ahead @Dir_Lokesh. Looking forward to be sharing screenspace with the Thalaivar!! Apart from Nagarjuna, the filmmakers introduced Soubin Shahir as Dayal, Shruti Haasan as Preethi, Sathyaraj as Rajasekar, and Upendra as Kaleesha. Rajinikanth will play Deva. The film went on floors in Hyderabad in July, and the team shot in Chennai in August. At the end of that month, filming shifted to Visakhapatnams fishing harbour and they have been shooting there ever since. With music by Anirudh Ravichander, Coolie is expected to hit screens in 2025. September 17 served up a lot of talent on the stage of this Americas Got Talent Season 19 finale. However, all that glam and glitz got sidetracked by a shameful omission that fans of the reality TV program vehemently disapproved of. 17-year-old Emily Gold, a Los Osos High School dancer, participated alongside her troupe on the 19th season of America's Got Talent, which concluded on September 17. She was found dead under an overpass in California days before the AGT finale.(GoFundMe) Emily Gold, a Los Osos High School dancer and Americas Got Talent contestant, had pleasantly surprised the nation with her performance alongside her high school dance team. Not only did the Southern California teenagers crew make it through auditions, but it also climbed the ranks and landed a spot in the quarterfinals before its August elimination. Despite the splash Gold and her troupe made on the national platform, there was no way of knowing what she was going through. On Friday, September 13, the 17-year-old student-dancer was found dead under an overpass in California, the San Bernardino Coroners Office eventually confirmed to PEOPLE. So far, her death has been attributed to apparent suicide. In an official statement, California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said that officers from the California Highway Patrol Rancho Cucamonga area responded to a pedestrian down in lanes." Also read | SNL's Colin Jost calls it quits on decadelong bromance with Pete Davidson: Something big happened and now When the officers arrived, they located a female, 17-year-old, who was struck by at least one other vehicle in the carpool lane on eastbound 210. The female did succumb to her injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Shortly after that, people close to Golds family organised a GoFundMe campaign, which read, With great sadness we share our Los Osos Grizzly Emily Gold has passed away. "As a community lets come together and support the Gold family in this difficult time. Please know this money will go directly to the family to support them and help with expenses. A blink-and-you-miss-it message shared on social media The AGT finale aired this Tuesday, just days after Golds unfortunate and untimely passing. However, the show failed to respectfully honour the teen contestants memory or even barely address the issue on TV. Although the official AGT SNS pages shared a post dedicated to the young girl, it could easily get lost in the long trail of other flashy posts overshadowing both up and down the pages feed, especially if scrolling on a phone. The AGT Family sends out our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and team members of Emily Gold. She was a bright young soul and will be deeply missed, the read the post shared alongside a snap of the teenager posing in front of the Americas Got Talent wall. How some viewers reacted to an omission of Emily Gold's mention on TV during the America's Got Talent finale Some viewers were extremely hurt by the show creators' grave indifference. A few of them took to social media to voice their disappointment as the show didnt utter a word about Golds passing on TV despite her teams previous performance, which earned a standing ovation from Simon Cowell. Really no "rest in peace" for Emily Gold?" "Didn't need a segment but not a Tribute image we see at the end of other shows when they lost people? Their social media did acknowledge it, but y'all put on so many stories but the moment a tragedy happens y'all stay silent on TV? #AGT, a viewer fumed on X, formerly Twitter. Also read | New Diddy doc announced after arrest: Quiet on Set network spearheading project while 50 Cent's series also awaited The tirade continued in follow-up tweets: Like sorry to go on a whole rant about this, but this show doesn't shy away from talking about shit. The moment a suicide happens, there's no acknowledgement about it?" "Y'all acknowledged Nightbirde on the show when she died from cancer, but can't do the same for Emily Gold? #AGT The only reason I knew is because all my local stations talked about it on their social media pages. "The least this show could do was an image at the end like other shows we've seen do that when someone passes. Y'all are mental health till it's inconvenient for you. #AGT A second fan of the show posted a recording of the AGT finales last moments and said, This was the end of @AGT @AGTAuditions and the show didn't even pay tribute to Emily Gold. Shame on you, @AGT @AGTAuditions. The user also commented: Shame on them for not addressing this. She appeared on the show in August. They could have at least did a tribute card to her. Television actor Hina Khan, who has been battling breast cancer for the last few months, was admitted to the hospital for treatment. Taking to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Hina posted a photo from the hospital. (Also Read | Hina Khan reveals Mahima Chaudhry surprised her in hospital on first day of chemo session) Hina Khan underwent her first chemotherapy session recently. Hina admitted to hospital for treatment In the picture, Hina's face wasn't visible. She posted a photo of her arm as she lay in a hospital bed under a blanket. The actor wrote, "Back to the grind. That day of the month. Dua (prayers) (palms up emoji)." She was hospitalised days after she walked the ramp at the Times Fashion Week in Ahmedabad. In the picture, Hina's face wasn't visible. Hina walked the ramp recently A few days ago, taking to Instagram, she posted a video as she got ready for the event. She also interacted with several people there. She penned, "My Father always used to say, Hey Daddys strong Girl, Dont be a cry baby, Never complain about your problems (Only Gratitude) Take control of your life, Stand tall and deal with it..." She had added, "So I Stopped worrying about the outcome, Just Focused on whats within my control.. Rest, Leave it to Allah.. He sees your efforts, he hears your prayers and he knows your heart. Thisss wasnt easy but I kept telling myself, Keep going Hina, DONT EVER STOP..About last night, Dressed as a Bride after ages...How do I look BTW?" Hina was diagnosed with cancer in June In June this year, Hina had shared that she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. A part of her Instagram post read, "Hello everyone, To address the recent rumours, I want to share some important news with all the Hinaholics and everyone who loves and cares for me. I have been diagnosed with Stage Three breast cancer." She had added, "I am strong, determined and fully committed to overcoming this disease. My treatment has already begun and I am ready to do everything necessary to emerge from this even stronger. I kindly ask for your respect and privacy during this time. About Hina The actor is known for starring in the TV serial Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. Hina, who hails from Jammu, has also appeared in reality shows such as Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 8 and Bigg Boss. Saturday Night Live best buds Colin Jost, 42, and Pete Davidson, 30, are reportedly no longer on speaking terms despite their joint investment in a $280K decommissioned Staten Island ferry in 2022. Pete Davidson and Colin Jost, as seen six years ago on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. (YouTube) An insider familiar with the alleged rift has boldly claimed that the SNL head writer has put his foot down and even refused to set foot in the same building as Davidson. Despite their long bromance dating back over ten years, Colin has supposedly come forth and established that he doesnt want to be associated with Pete. Speaking of the famed 30 Rockefeller Plaza or 30 Rock in New York, where SNL has been taped since its inception, the insider told The Sun US: Pete and Colin cant be in 30 Rock together. Something big happened and Colin is now refusing to be in the same building, let alone the same room as Pete. Also read | New Diddy doc announced after arrest: Quiet on Set network spearheading project while 50 Cent's series also awaited Pete Davidson allegedly cut out all friendships from his life before checking into a wellness facility Similarly, an insider alleged last month that Pete, an SNL alum, has pretty much gotten rid of everyone who once surrounded him, including his assistant and best friend. On July 31, PEOPLE also confirmed that the comedy star had checked into a wellness facility in an attempt to focus on his mental health. The Bupkis actor has a history of struggling with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder, for which he underwent treatment in 2023 and entered a rehab facility. The insider said the comedian stopped showing up to meetings prior to his latest move to seek help, which was a really short stay at the rehab centre. More about Colin Jost and Pete Davidson's shared $270K Staten Island ferry While it remains unclear what could have fuelled the purported rift between the former SNL co-stars, it is to be noted that Pete remained absent from Tommy Hilfigers September 8 New York Fashion Week show, which officially put their Staten Island ferry in business. Conversely, Colin was in attendance at the event, which transformed the retired vessel into a fashion show venue. Also read | Sean Diddy Combs arrest: The View hosts joke about lubricant being found at music mogul's home, It aint a crime Colin Jost, who purchased the decommissioned Staten Island ferryboat with Pete Davidson, poses on his boat after Tommy Hilfiger presented his SS25 collection during New York Fashion Week, in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., September 8, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs(REUTERS) Colin and Pete famously snapped up the retired ferry at an auction in partnership with architect-developer Ron Castellano and The Stand comedy club owner Paul Italia in 2022. The SNL Weekend Update host recently told PEOPLE that the two-year-old investment was absolutely the dumbest and least thought-through purchase Ive ever made in my life. His rumoured broken friendship with Pete leaves much to the imagination about the ferrys hazy future, which they allegedly bought while very stoned. Jost eventually shut down those claims in an Instagram post: Is it worse that I was actually stone-cold sober when we bought the ferry? A man who went viral on X after posting about his stay at the luxurious JW Marriott Masai Mara, one of Kenyas most expensive resorts, has offered an explanation for the amount that he actually spent on his holiday. "Credit card reward points have long been a hidden gem for savvy travelers," says Shehnaaz Treasurywala, a travel content creator. "They can be used to offset costs on luxury experiences and travel, whether it's a stay at an expensive resort or a business class flight. Anirban Chowdhury had shared details and pictures of his stay at JW Marriott Masai Mara in a post on X earlier this week. Social media users, however, were curious about the tariff of the hotel and enquired about it, following which Chowdhury shared that he actually used Marriott Bonvoy points to bring down the cost. It turns out, even you don't need a bottomless wallet to enjoy a luxury getawaycredit card points can turn a splurge into a steal deal. "Credit card reward points have long been a hidden gem for savvy travelers," says Shehnaaz Treasurywala, a travel content creator. "They can be used to offset costs on luxury experiences and travel, whether it's a stay at an expensive resort or a business class flight. Heres how you can also make the most of your credit card points for travel experiences Upgrade your flight experience Ashish S, travel expert suggests upgrading flights using credit card points. Instead of using points for a complete flight, consider using them to upgrade your existing ticket to a premium cabin. adds Ashish. This could mean enjoying a lie-flat seat, gourmet meals, and priority access to lounges. For example, American Express Platinum Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve offer generous point transfer bonuses to airline partners, making it easier to upgrade your flights. Explore off-peak destinations Points can be a great way to travel to less popular destinations during off-peak seasons. These destinations often offer lower point redemption rates and fewer crowds, allowing you to enjoy a more authentic experience. Citi Premier Card offers a wide range of travel partners, including hotels and airlines, making it easy to find off-peak deals. Book unique experiences Many credit card programs offer partnerships with companies that offer unique experiences. This could include cooking classes, wine tastings, or even hot air balloon rides. For eg. If you're traveling to Tuscany, you could use your points to book a private cooking class with a local chef and learn to prepare traditional Italian dishes. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers access to a variety of unique experiences through its partnership with Expedia. Indulge in fine dining Use your credit card points to enjoy high-end dining experiences," adds Shehnaaz Treasurywala. Some credit card rewards programs allow you to redeem points for gift cards to top-tier restaurants or for dining experiences arranged through their concierge services. The Citi Prestige Card offers a dining benefit that includes complimentary 4th night free on hotel bookings. Participate in loyalty programs Many credit card programs offer partnerships with loyalty programs for airlines, hotels, and other companies. Shehnaaz Treasurywala, says, By participating in these programs, you can earn additional points or benefits that can enhance your travel experiences. Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card offers a variety of benefits for Delta SkyMiles members, including priority boarding, free checked bags, and companion passes. Rent luxury vehicles If you're planning a road trip or need a car for a special occasion, some credit card rewards programs allow you to use points for luxury car rentals. Brands like BMW, Mercedes, or Porsche often have partnerships with reward programs, providing a premium driving experience. Kate Winslet, the celebrated actor of Titanic, recently shared her experience with testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) during a podcast interview. As she approached her late 40s, she discussed how the therapy helped restore her sex drive. Sometimes women have a real dip in libido because there might be issues with their thyroid, she explained on the September 10 episode of How to Fail with Elizabeth Day. There could also be issues with your testosterone levels. As the actor approached her late 40s, she discussed how the therapy helped restore her sex drive. Winslet emphasized that many people dont realize women produce testosterone too, albeit in smaller amounts. When it runs outlike eggsits gone, she noted. Once it's gone, you have to replace it, and that is something that can be done. Youll feel sexy again. Testosterone Therapy Testosterone therapy involves supplementing testosterone, a hormone predominantly produced in mens testes and, in smaller amounts, in womens ovaries. According to Dr. Anamika Kawatra, a gynecologist and obstetrician at Rainbow Hospital, TRT for women has gained attention, but its essential to understand its pros and cons before deciding. Dr. Rajeev Sood, Chairman of Urology at Marengo Asia Hospitals, explains that TRT can be administered through injections, patches, gels, or implants. However, Dr. Nancy Nagpal, a consultant gynecologist, Salubritas Medcentre, warns that there are currently no established guidelines for this treatment in India, so careful consideration is necessary. Why do people use testosterone therapy? Low testosterone (Hypogonadism): In men, testosterone levels naturally decline with age. Some may experience significantly low levels, leading to symptoms such as fatigue, low libido, depression, and decreased muscle mass. Menopause or hormonal imbalance in women: Women might seek TRT during menopause or due to conditions affecting their hormone balance. It increases their libido and sex drive. Is Testosterone Therapy safe? TRT can be safe when conducted under medical supervision, but it carries risks that need to be monitored. Healthcare providers typically oversee testosterone levels, blood pressure, cholesterol, and prostate health during therapy to prevent complications. Pros: Improved mood and energy: Many users report alleviated depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Increased libido and sexual function: Many men experience enhanced sex drive and performance. Muscle mass and bone density: Testosterone can increase muscle strength and improve bone density, potentially reducing the risk of osteoporosis. Cognitive function: Some studies suggest that balanced testosterone levels may enhance focus and cognitive abilities. Cons: Cardiovascular risks: Theres ongoing debate about whether TRT increases the risk of heart attacks or strokes, especially in older men. Prostate health concerns: Testosterone may stimulate the growth of prostate cancer cells or cause benign prostate enlargement. Sleep apnea: TRT can worsen existing sleep apnea or lead to new cases in some users. Mood changes: Some individuals may experience mood swings, irritability, or increased aggression. Testicular shrinkage: Prolonged use can lead to reduced natural testosterone production, resulting in testicular shrinkage. Three separate cases have been registered in Karnataka following clashes and protests during Eid-e-Milad processions, police said on Tuesday. Of the three cases, two were registered at Kolar city police station in connection with violent altercations during the procession on Monday. (PTI) Two of these cases were filed at Kolar city police station in connection with violent altercations during the procession on Monday. A third case was registered at Kartagi police station after a provocative speech during a protest against the Waqf Bill-2024 amendment. In one of the cases registered in Kolar, tensions escalated during the Eid-e-Milad procession when a Free Palestine flag was displayed near the Anju man organisation. During the clash, six people were injured. District superintendent of police (SP) B Nikhil was able to disperse the crowd, allowing the procession to continue. He said: We registered two separate cases related to the incident. We had instructed the organisers not to display any national flags, but they exhibited the Palestine flag, leading to a case being filed. The second case concerns an assault near the citys clock tower. Two people have been arrested, and additional security has been deployed across Kolar to prevent further unrest, an officer said. According to police, the altercation occurred after a dispute between two groups spiralled into violence near the clock tower. One group, reportedly armed, attacked participants in the procession, injuring six people, including Syed Salman, Saif, Hussain Kaship, and Khalil Ahmed, all 30-40-years of age. The victims were treated at SNR District Hospital, and police identified Sayyid Wasim Pasha as being specifically targeted by the Thahir group in the clash. In a separate development, an FIR was registered at Kartagi police station against Imran, district secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), and two others for delivering a provocative speech during a protest. On September 13, members of the Muslim community in Kartagi, Koppal district, gathered to protest the central governments proposed amendments to the Waqf Bill-2024. Additionally, in Kaladagi village in Bagalkot district, police arrested Tausif Mehtar for allegedly posting a status on social media displaying a Pakistan flag on Monday. On September 11, a group attacked devotees participating in a Ganesh procession in Nagamangala, Mandya district. Just days later, on September 15, tension gripped Bantwal when two people allegedly sent voice recordings challenging Hindu leaders to stop the Eid procession. A large gathering of Hindu workers was held at a local temple on September 16, though police successfully averted a clash. The communal unrest continued in Dakshina Kannada district, where on September 15, police arrested six people for allegedly throwing stones at the Katipalla mosque. Authorities are investigating the incidents and working to maintain peace amid rising tensions in the state. A 30-year-old man allegedly attempted suicide by jumping onto the metro tracks in Bengaluru on Tuesday afternoon, a police officer said. A 30-year-old man allegedly attempted suicide by jumping onto the metro tracks in Bengaluru on Tuesday afternoon (File photo) Jnanabharati police inspector MS Ravi said: The incident took place at around 2.13 pm at Jnanabharati Station on the Purple Line. During investigations, it was revealed that the deceased used to work as a manager at an electronics showroom on Mysore Road. He is originally from Bihar. The quick action of the metro staff averted the tragedy. The station controller and his team immediately activated the Emergency Trip System (ETS), which halted the train in time, allowing them to safely rescue the man without him receiving any injury. He was eventually removed safely and handed over to the police for further inquiry, he said. He further said that due to the incident the metro services were temporarily disrupted, with operations resuming at 2.31 pm. During the 17-minute interruption, two trains ran on a short loop between Challaghatta and Mysore Road Metro Stations, according to a statement from the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). Five youths aged between 19 and 24 have been arrested in Chhattisgarhs Bilaspur for allegedly displaying flags resembling that of Palestine, the latest in a series of such actions across the county amid Israeli bombardment of the besieged Palestinian Gaza strip. Police said the accused told them that they displayed the flags to express solidarity with Palestinians. (HT PHOTO) Police said that Sheikh Sameer Bkash, 20, Fidel Khan, 24, Mohammad Shoaib, 23, Sheikh Azeem, 19, and Sheikh Sameer, 22 were arrested on a complaint on Tuesday that Palestinian flags were flying over some houses in Bilaspurs Khudiram Bose Square. Police superintendent Puja Kumar said a team visited the spot and removed the flags from the roofs of five houses. Kumar said they have registered a case against the five under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitas Section 197 (2), which relates to imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration. The five face imprisonment for up to five years if convicted. Police said the accused told them that they displayed the flags to express solidarity with Palestinians after watching atrocities being committed against them. Kumar said the accused allegedly stitched the flags and raised them on their roofs. Further investigation was on. Inspector-general (Bilaspur) Sanjeev Shukla said the accused intentionally tried to disturb peace in that area and hoisted the flags when both Hindu and Muslim communities were celebrating their festivals. The case was registered on the intention of the accused, he said when asked whether displaying the Palestinian flag was an offence particularly when India has historically backed the cause of Palestine. India has reiterated its long-standing policy towards Palestine amid the continuing Israeli assault on Gaza that has left around 41,000 people dead. In February, the government told Parliament it supported a negotiated two-state solution towards the establishment of a sovereign, independent, and viable Palestinian state within secure and recognised borders living side by side in peace with Israel while condemning the loss of civilian lives in the ongoing conflict. We have called for restraint and de-escalation and emphasized peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, the then minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan told Parliament in February. External affairs minister S Jaishankar met his Palestinian counterpart, Riyad al-Maliki, in January in Ugandas Kampala and reiterated Indias support for the two-state solution. India in July contributed $2.5 million to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker Sanjay Singh on Wednesday said Arvind Kejriwal would leave his official bungalow 15 days after his resignation as the chief minister is accepted while flagging concerns over the latters security. Singh cited multiple attacks on Kejriwal in the past and said concerns remained about the AAP leaders security. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. (HT PHOTO) As chief minister, one receives many facilities. Kejriwal also received benefits. When he resigned yesterday [Tuesday], he said he would give up all facilities and vacate his residence within 15 days, Singh said at a press conference at AAP headquarters. Singh said they told Kejriwal that his security is essential but the chief minister said that God will ensure it. He [Kejriwal] spent six months among dangerous criminals in jail and seems unconcerned about security, opting to live among the common people. It is still undecided where he will stay, but with everyones love and blessings, a place for his residence will be decided, said Singh. Kejriwal moved to bungalow number six on the Flag Staff Road in Delhis Civil Lines in 2015. He faced much scrutiny over its expansive renovations. Kejriwal would have to leave it after his resignation is accepted. AAP leader Atishi staked the claim to form the next government after Kejriwal submitted his resignation on Tuesday. Kejriwal earlier nominated Atishi as the next chief minister after the legislative party of the AAP authorised him to pick his successor. The notification of the acceptance of Kejriwals resignation will be issued after it is forwarded to the President and accepted. Under the Constitutions Article 239AA (5), the President appoints the Delhi chief minister. Experts from Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) of Hyderabad and IIT Madras have declared that several multi-storeyed buildings of Amaravati, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, which were abandoned in various stages of construction during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government are structurally strong and can be restored without much hassle. The IIT experts opinion was announced by state municipal and urban development minister Ponguru Narayana on Monday (HT Photo) The experts opinion was announced by state municipal and urban development minister Ponguru Narayana on Monday. The engineering experts from IIT Madras and Hyderabad, who had inspected the buildings in July and August, submitted their reports to the government recently, stating that the government can go ahead with the restoration work as the buildings are structurally stable, he said. Several under-construction multi-storeyed building accommodation for secretariat employees, government service officers, members of the state legislative assembly and council and judicial officers were abandoned during the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the last five years. Similarly, the erstwhile Telugu Desam Party government had also taken up the construction of buildings for the Amaravati government complex, including four state secretariat towers, a general administration department tower, high court and state legislative assembly. Renowned architects from London Norman and Foster were engaged to prepare the designs for these buildings. Construction of these buildings was taken up and 10-20% of works were completed before they were abandoned by the YSRCP government. After the TDP-led National Democratic Alliance came to power in June, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced the restoration of Amaravati as the capital city. He later invited experts from IIT Madras and Hyderabad to examine the structural stability of the abandoned buildings and give suggestions. The experts told the government that it can go ahead with completion of the constructions by taking certain corrective steps. So was the case with the iconic buildings of secretariat, assembly and high court buildings, which were left at the foundation stage itself. The raft foundation of these buildings is also still very strong, he said. The minister said that in the next two months, tenders would be called for completion of these constructions. The jungle clearance works, which came to a halt due to heavy rains, would also be completed shortly, he added. Amaravati is not flood prone Narayana rejected the apprehensions being raised by some Amaravati was prone to floods, as some of the areas faced inundation during the recent floods in the state. Amaravati is in a very safe zone and I request the people not to get carried away by the false propaganda unleashed by vested interests, he said. However, Narayana said the government had already initiated steps to ensure that there would be no flood in the capital region in future. We are taking up the construction of reservoirs and necessary canals to prevent any kind of floods in Amaravati in the future, he said. The minister said that while designing the capital region, building of reservoirs and canals was proposed. The Krishna river received 11.43 lakh cusecs of flood flow recently, yet Amaravati faced no problems. By next monsoon, all the proposed three, canals spreading to an extent of 48.3km, will be completed as tenders are being called very soon, he said. Narayana said construction of three reservoirs was also being taken up across the capital region. Once these reservoirs and canals are completed, not even a single drop of flood water will be blocked in the capital region, he added. New Delhi: In a significant step indicating its growing frustration with the working of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, India has served a formal notice to Pakistan on 30 August 2024 seeking its review and modification. Under Article XII (3) of the Treaty, its provisions may from time to time be modified by a duly ratified Treaty concluded for that purpose between the two Governments. Indian officials believe that Pakistan has been compulsively obstructive about all projects on the Indian side and has taken undue advantage of India's generosity under the Indus Waters Treaty. The concerns that have driven India to make this major move cover a range of developments since the conclusion of the Treaty in 1960. According to reliable sources, the Indian notification highlights fundamental and unforeseen changes in circumstances that require a reassessment of obligations under various Articles of the Treaty. Three specific concerns have been emphasized to drive home the point that the 1960 understanding is no longer tenable. Sources said that the first was significantly altered population demographics, coupled with connected agricultural and other uses of the waters. The second was the need to accelerate the development of clean energy to meet India's emission targets. The third underlines the impact of persistent cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir which has impeded the smooth operations of the Treaty and undermined full utilization of India's rights. Controversy on handling of Ratle and Kishenganga projects These developments come in the wake of a prolonged controversy on the handling of the Ratle and Kishenganga hydel projects. Indian officials believe that Pakistan has been compulsively obstructive about all projects on the Indian side and has taken undue advantage of India's generosity under the Indus Waters Treaty. The situation has become more complicated as the World Bank, defying all logic, has simultaneously activated both the Neutral Expert mechanism and the Court of Arbitration. It has also been learnt that in its latest communication, the Indian Government has asserted that the dispute resolution mechanism of the Treaty requires reconsideration. Experts point out that the Indian Government's decision reflects both its irritation on Pakistan's recalcitrant attitude on the Indus waters sharing and a growing anger at the continued cross-border terrorist attacks. There has been a growing sentiment that the 1960 Treaty was concluded with an unduly rosy view of the Pakistan relationship. Subsequent events have however revealed a deep seated animosity to India, most explicitly expressed in support for terrorism. Interestingly, there have also been persistent demands for reviewing the Treaty in Jammu and Kashmir, where popular opinion feels that their rights were given away without any consultations. The sentiments about water have also been strong in Punjab and Haryana that could be beneficiaries of more projects and new technologies. Sources have confirmed that the modification notice has been sent after extensive deliberations within the Government. This is regarded as reflecting the determination of the Modi Government to set right a historical mistake. Karnataka is currently witnessing a fierce political showdown between the Congress-led state government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as both parties accuse each other of corruption and mismanagement, according to people familiar with the matter. Karnataka is currently witnessing a fierce political showdown between the Congress-led state government and the opposition BJP, as both parties accuse each other of corruption and mismanagement (PTI) The Congress government, led by chief minister Siddaramaiah, has initiated investigations into multiple alleged irregularities during the previous BJP regime while corruption allegations are being levelled against it by the BJP, including a high-profile probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). This is not about revenge. We are simply looking into the facts, said Siddaramaiah, while explaining the rationale behind creating cabinet subcommittee. The panel, headed by home minister G Parameshwara, has been tasked with coordinating and expediting the investigations into 21 cases that were allegedly carried out under the BJPs rule. The committee, which also includes ministers HK Patil, Krishna Byre Gowda, Santosh Lad, and Priyank Kharge, will submit its recommendations within one to two months. Siddaramaiah said that the subcommittees role is to hasten the probe process and to suggest any necessary measures. The cabinet subcommittee will hasten investigations into the 21 scams reported during the BJP governments tenure. We have given the committee one to two months deadline to submit its recommendations, he added. The committee held its first review meeting on September 13, after which Parameshwara said: We will not focus on completed investigations, but will ensure that ongoing cases get the attention they deserve. The aim is to bring these scams to their logical end. The committee has already reviewed several key cases and aims to submit its findings to the cabinet soon. Till now, the Congress government has set up three judicial commissions to investigate corruption allegations during the Covid period (Justice Cunha Commission), 40% commission allegations (Justice Nagamohan Das Commission) and the PSI recruitment case (Justice Veerappa Commission). An SIT was formed to look into the Bitcoin case.While the Justice Veerappa Commission submitted its 471-page report in January, the Justice Cunha Commission submitted its 1,722 page interim report on August 31. Parameshwara, who is leading the cabinet subcommittee, said the subcommittee has already reviewed several high-profile cases in its first meeting. One of the key cases under scrutiny is the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of police sub-inspectors (PSIs). The case, which involves corruption in the selection process, had been previously investigated, but no significant action had been taken. Meanwhile, the BJP has ramped up its allegations against the Congress government, accusing it of corruption in several cases, including the Valmiki case wherein funds intended for SC/ST welfare programs were allegedly diverted for other purposes, including the Congresss election campaign. State minister B Nagendra, who was implicated in the case, has already resigned, and the ED has named him as the prime accused. The BJP leaders are using the Valmiki case as a key talking point, accusing the Congress government of misusing public funds. They also claim irregularities in the allocation of land to the Siddhartha Vihara Trust, which is connected to Congress national president Mallikarjuna Kharge and his son, state minister Priyank Kharge. Union minister HD Kumaraswamy said: This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Congresss misuse of public money. In response to the BJPs accusations, the Congress government has remained defiant. Reacting to the matter, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly R Ashoka said: More than the BJP, the Congress leaders have more confidence that Siddaramaiah will resign. A race is going on and everybody is claiming to be the CM. No development is happening in Karnataka, he said. The state cabinet on Tuesday approved projects worth 11,770 crore, including 7,200 crore drinking water initiative to supply rural areas in Bidar and Kalaburagi districts, for the development of Kalyana Karnataka during a meeting held in Kalaburagi. During the cabinet meeting, projects worth 11,770 crore were approved, including the water project of 7,200 crore that will draw water from the Narayanapura dam. (PTI) After the cabinet meeting, chief minister Siddaramaiah announced that 46 key issues related to the region were addressed in the session. The cabinet also took steps to upgrade Bidar and Raichur towns to municipal status. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Siddaramaiah said cabinet discussed a total of 56 topics, 46 of which were specific to Kalyana Karnataka. During the cabinet meeting, projects worth 11,770 crore were approved, including the water project of 7,200 crore that will draw water from the Narayanapura dam. This initiative is part of a joint effort with the central government, which is expected to cover half the cost, he said. Siddaramaiah said that the state government has been allocating 5,000 crore annually for the development of Kalyana Karnataka, but noted that the central government was yet to contribute to the regions growth under Article 371(J) since the constitutional amendment. We have decided to formally request 5,000 crore from the central government to support the ongoing development in Kalyana Karnataka, he said. The cabinet meeting coincided with Kalyana Karnataka Liberation Day, during which the region also celebrated the annual Kalyana Karnataka Utsav. Siddaramaiah used the occasion to reflect on the progress made since Article 371(J) was implemented. He credited the Congress government for its role in establishing the constitutional amendment in 2012, which aimed to provide special benefits to the region. A new committee, headed by Govind Rao, has been set up to assess the development status of the backward taluks in Kalyana Karnataka. This follows recommendations from the 2002 Nanjundappa report, which called for measures to address regional imbalances. The committees findings will guide future development initiatives for the regions underdeveloped areas. As part of the regions development, the cabinet approved the construction of 45 new primary health centers and 31 community health centers in Kalyana Karnataka. In addition, nine taluk hospitals will be upgraded, while two taluk hospitals will be converted into district hospitals. A budget of 890 crore has been earmarked for these healthcare improvements, aimed at enhancing medical services across the region. The state government is planning to develop Kalaburagi city into a Smart City with an estimated investment of 1,685 crore, which will improve the quality of life for its residents and attract investment in backward districts, the CM said. Earlier in the day, addressing a gathering after hoisting the national flag at the police parade ground in Kalaburagi to mark the 77th Kalyana Karnataka Liberation Day and the 10th anniversary of the Special Status accorded to Kalyana Karnataka under Article 371(J) of the Constitution, Siddaramaiah said, It has been 10 years since the 371(J) Constitutional Amendment was implemented to aid the backward Kalyana Karnataka region. After the state government started allocating sufficient funds to the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB), the region began seeing progress, and this was made possible by the efforts of All India Congress committee president Mallikarjun Kharge and the former chief minister late N. Dharam Singh, he added. Siddaramaiah pointed out that from 2013-14 to 2024-25, the government had allocated 19,778 crore to the KKRDB, of which 13,229 crore were released, and 11,174 crore spent. So far, 35,885 projects have been taken up, of which 27,264 have been completed and 8,621 projects are in progress. These numbers speak for the development of this region. In the 2024-25 budget, the state government has allocated 5,000 crore to the Kalyana Karnataka Development Board, he said. The Congress on Wednesday, filed a police complaint over the recent statements allegedly made by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies, made against leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi. The complaint copy was submitted to the station house officer (SHO) of the Tughlaq Road police station. (PTI photo) In the complaint copy submitted to the station house officer (SHO) of the Tughlaq Road police station by AICC treasurer and general secretary Ajay Maken, the Congress cited the recent remarks by BJP leaders Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Raghuraj Singh and Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad. On September 11, Marwah in a BJP event openly issued an assassination threat against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, wherein he said that Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja, nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua (you better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother), the complaint read. It also referred to Sena MLA Gaikwads announcement of a bounty of 11 lakh for anyone who will cut the tongue of the Leader of Opposition. Also Read: Mallikarjun Kharge writes to PM over objectionable remarks against Rahul Gandhi The complaint also mentioned Minister of State (MoS) for Railways Ravneet Bittus remarks, calling the Leader of Opposition the number one terrorist of the country. Bittu deliberately made the statement to provoke public hatred and outrage against Mr Gandhi, with the aim to incite violence and breach of peace. The said statement was widely publicised on TV channels and social media, the complaint said. He also referred to UP minister Raghuraj Singhs remarks against Gandhi. The above statements/ threats issued by various BJP Leaders and its allies, calling for assassination and/or bodily injury onto Rahul Gandhi and also calling the Leader of Opposition of the country a terrorist, exhibits personal hatred by the BJP/NDA alliance partners against Gandhi, the complaint said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discipline leaders of the BJP-led ruling alliance who have used offensive language against Gandhi, saying strict legal action should be taken against people making such statements to prevent the degeneration of politics in the country. A Delhi court has summoned former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav in connection with the land-for-jobs case. The case pertains to allegations of irregularities during Lalu Prasad's tenure as Union railway minister, where jobs were allegedly given in exchange for land parcels. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav holds a mic while RJD Chief Lalu Prasad addresses party workers during 28th foundation of Rashtriya Janata Dal, at the party office in Patna.(Hindustan Times) Earlier in June, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a conclusive charge sheet against Lalu Prasad Yadav and 77 others in the land-for-jobs case including 38 candidates. The case alleges that individuals were appointed as substitutes in Group D posts across various railway zones during Lalu Prasad Yadav's tenure as Union minister of railways from 2004 to 2009 in exchange for financial benefits. These benefits allegedly came in the form of land transfers to Yadav's family members. It is further claimed that the appointed individuals or their families, residents of Patna sold or gifted their land to Yadav's relatives or a private company controlled by his family, which facilitated the transfer of these properties. It is further alleged that no advertisements or public notices were issued for the appointments of substitutes in zonal railways. Despite this, the appointees, all residents of Patna, secured positions in different zonal railways located in cities like Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hazipur. In December 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned then Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav in connection with the land-for-jobs case. However, Yadav dismissed it as routine, saying , I have been going always; it's a routine. I went earlier as well. From 2017 to 2023, I have been going regularly whenever ED, Income Tax, or CBI called me. What would these agencies do? They are also pressurised. The CBI registered a case on May 18, 2022, against the then Union Minister of Railways, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and others, including his wife, two daughters, and unknown public servants and private individuals. Some persons are suspected to be trapped under the debris after a portion of a house collapsed in New Delhi's Karol Bagh area on Wednesday. A total of five fire engines rushed to the site, the fire department said. A portion of a house collapsed in New Delhi's Karol Bagh area on Wednesday. (ANI) The Karol Bagh building collapse incident come days after a wall of a dargah collapsed in central Delhi's Nabi Karim area on September 13 leaving one person dead and two others injured. At least two of the three people trapped under the debris were later rescued. The incident took place near Billa Dargah, a locality in Delhi. Following the rescue operation, a man trapped under the debris was taken out. He was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead. Last week, a three-storey house in Meerut's Zakir Nagar, claiming 10 lives. District magistrate Deepak Meena said a process was underway to provide financial assistance of 4 lakh for each deceased from the natural calamity fund and 1.20 lakh for the house being completely damaged. Action is also being taken to provide financial assistance to the affected family for the animals that died in the incident, he said. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress expressed deep sorrow over the house collapse and demanded that the government provides proper compensation to the affected family. The three-storey house collapsed on Saturday afternoon, trapping 15 people under the debris. "When the rescue operation started, the relatives gave information about 15 people. Three managed to escape when the building was collapsing," the district magistrate told reporters. The Samajwadi Party, in a post in Hindi on X, said, "Ten people died after being buried under the rubble when a three-storey building collapsed in Meerut. Very sad! May God give peace to the departed souls. Wishing the injured a speedy recovery. The government should give proper compensation to the victim families!" The Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit too took to X to express sadness over the deaths in the incident. "We pray for peace to all deceased. We request the state government to provide adequate compensation to the families of the deceased and arrange for free proper treatment for the people injured in the incident," it said. New Delhi: There is no consensus on the most critical COP29 negotiated agenda -- a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance (NCQG) -- people familiar with the matter said on Monday. Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources and President of COP29, delivers a speech of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue (Petersberger Klimadialog) meeting at the Foreign Office in Berlin (AFP) The new financial goal is to be set from the floor of $100 billion for the post-2025 period. The people added that the two major outstanding issues on NCQG are the quantum of the fund and the list of contributors. Developed countries are pushing to expand the contributor base by inducting emerging economies (not necessarily historical polluters) in the list of contributors. They are not ready to budge, one person said. Developing countries are clear that they will stick to the provisions of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which state that finance must flow from developed to developing countries. Developing countries expect contributions in the trillions annually from developed nations, for climate change mitigation efforts as defined in their nationally determined contributions. I would say differences have narrowed over the past few months but they havent resolved, a second person added. With less than two months to go for the COP 29 negotiations, these outstanding issues can jeopardise the Baku NCQG deal. Developed countries are pushing to include high emission economies such as China and the gulf countries in the list of contributors. India has made a strong intervention at the third meeting of the ad hoc work programme on the new climate finance goal, last week in Baku, asserting that there should be no digressions from provision of finance to developing countries. The goal is for developing countries to be provided finance by developed countries and there should be no digressions from this, the Indian spokesperson said aligning with the Arab group, Like Minded Developing Countries, Alliance of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Alliance of Small Island States. Meanwhile, the Baku COP29 Presidency launched an action agenda on Tuesday seeking support of countries on certain non-negotiated partnerships and initiatives to accelerate climate action. These are to supplement the negotiated COP29 agenda, the host, Azerbaijan said on Tuesday. In a letter addressed to all Parties and non-party stakeholders, COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev set out the details of the package and how global stakeholders can contribute to the COP29 Presidencys vision to enhance ambition and enable action. Azerbaijan is honoured by the confidence that the global community has placed in us to host COP29. But we are just one country and we cannot solve the climate crisis alone. We seek to inspire every actor and demonstrate what is possible with commitment and determination, and we never underestimate the value of an individual contribution. We hope to remind everyone that even in the face of such an enormous challenge, every action matters because every fraction of a degree matters, Babayev said in a statement. The failure of rich nations to meet their longstanding financial commitments to developing countries is a blatant disregard for climate justice. Rather than taking responsibility for their legacy of climate harm, they are unfairly shifting the burden onto large developing countries, who bear no historical responsibility for the crisis. This approach not only undermines trust but risks derailing the COP29 conference, delaying critical decisions on the new global climate goal. We cannot allow the voices of vulnerable nations to be drowned out by those who continue to shirk their obligations, said Harjeet Singh, climate activist and global engagement director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. Among COP29 Presidency initiatives are the Finance Action Fund (CFAF), a fund, capitalised with voluntary contributions from fossil fuel producing countries and companies, to catalyse the public and private sectors across mitigation, adaptation, and research and development; COP Truce Appeal, an appeal for a COP Truce, modelled on the Olympic Truce, to highlight the importance of peace and climate action; and the Baku Global Climate Transparency Platform (BTP), a platform to support developing country parties in the preparation and submission of Biennial Transparency Reports. COP29 will be held in Baku from November 11 to 22. US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, news agency Reuters reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Donald Trump announced the meeting at a campaign event in Flint, Michigan, while he was speaking about US trade with India. He gave no details on where they would meet, the report added. The meeting between PM Modi with Donald Trump had not been previously reported. Donald Trump is likely to meet with PM Narendra Modi during the latter's visit to the United States from September 21 to 23. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Tuesday shared a detailed itinerary of Modi's US visit. Also Read | Kamala Harris to face Black journalists' questions after rival Donald Trump mocked her identity Donald Trump and Narendra Modi shared a strong personal rapport during Trump's presidency (2017-2021), evident in events like the "Howdy Modi" rally in Houston and Namaste Trump in India. Their relationship bolstered US-India ties, especially in defence and strategic cooperation, with both leaders focused on countering China's growing influence. Despite occasional trade disputes, their partnership remained solid, fostering deeper security collaboration through initiatives like the Quad. Trump's outreach to the Indian-American community, recognising its political significance, also played a role. Their time in office laid the groundwork for an enduring US-India strategic partnership based on mutual interests. Also Read | Florida declares major step after second assassination attempt on Donald Trump: We have a very strong PM Modi's US visit PM Narendra Modi will take part in the fourth Quad Leaders' Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, which is being hosted by US President Joe Biden on September 21. Following the request of the US side to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025. At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last one year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations, the MEA release said. Modi will address 'Summit of the Future' at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. The theme of the Summit is 'Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow'. A large number of global leaders are expected to participate in the Summit. On the sidelines of the Summit, Modi would be holding bilateral meetings with several world leaders and discuss issues of mutual interest. Modi will also address a gathering of the Indian community on September 22 in New York. He will also interact with CEOs of leading US-based companies to foster greater collaborations between the two countries in the cutting-edge areas of AI, quantum computing, semiconductors and biotechnology, the release said. He is also expected to interact with thought leaders and other stakeholders active in the India-US bilateral landscape. KOLKATA: Several south Bengal districts are staring at a flood-like situation after the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) released around 2.5 lakh cusec of water on Wednesday - the highest since 2009. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee inspects the flood-affected areas of Pursurah in Hooghly on Wednesday. (ANI) West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited some of the areas such as Pursura and Khanakul in Hooghly, blamed DVC for the flood-like situation in the state, saying it was a man-made flood. She is likely to visit some more inundated areas such as Ghatal in West Midnapore on Thursday. Two persons have died in East Burdwan and Hooghly in a case of wall collapse and electrocution respectively till Tuesday. This is a man-made flood. They planned to drown Bengal. I personally spoke to the DVC authorities. I spoke to Hemant Soren, chief minister of Jharkahnd at least thrice. The last time DVC released so much water was in 2009, Banerjee told reporters in Hooghly. According to data shared by DVC, around 2.5 lakh cusec water was released for around six hours on Tuesday. The last time such huge amount of water was released was in September 2009. DVC had then released 3,03,046 cusec from its Panchet and Maithon dams. We released 2.5 lakh cusecs for around six hours on Tuesday. West Bengal was informed. The flow of release was reduced to 1.2 lakh cusecs later during the day, said a DVC official. We are apprehending a flood-like situation in some of the districts in the lower reaches of Damodar valley. There has been heavy rains and the DVC has been releasing huge amount of water from its Panchet dam on River Damodar and Maithon dam on River Barakar, Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief advisor to Mamata Banerjee, told media persons at the state secretariat on Tuesday evening. A deep depression over the Gangetic West Bengal triggered heavy rains in south Bengal over the weekend and on Monday. The weather system moved to Jharkhand on Monday. Several rivers such as Rupnarayan, Dwarakeshwar, Shilabati, Kaliaghai and Durbachati were flowing above extreme-danger mark while others such as Kangnasabti are flowing above the danger mark, officials said. Large areas in multiple districts across south Bengal are likely to get inundated. The state government has deputed 10 senior IAS officers who have been asked to visit the districts to monitor the situation, said Bandyopadhyay. The districts which have been affected are Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia, West Burdwan and East Burdwan. A 24X7 control room has bene opened. Tarpaulines were being distributed. More than 180 relief camps have bene set up and around 8000 people have been shifted to the camps. At least 17 SDRF teams have bene deployed, said an official. It was done to drown West Bengal. The Centre doesnt undertake dredging. If dredging is done DVC cam hold more water. Why do they not release water gradually when the dam is 70% - 80% full? In a bid to save Jharkhand, they release the water to Bengal. How much deprivation we shall take? Banerjee told reporters. Even the water level in the Adi Ganga has shot up. I have never so much water in Adi Ganga. DVC released huge amount of water. People have been requested to moved to flood shelters. A few people got trapped at Khanakul in Hooghly district, she told reporters earlier. The chief ministers residence at Kalighat in south Kolkata is located on the banks of the Adi Ganga, the original channel of River Ganga passing through Kolkata. Arvind Kejriwal resignation: Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will move out of his official residence in the national capital's Civil Lines area within a week, said AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Wednesday. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Atishi with Delhi LG VK Saxena at the LG House. Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister, while Atishi stakes a claim to the position, on Tuesday. (HT Photo)(HT_PRINT) Arvind Kejriwal resigned as the chief minister of Delhi on Tuesday, days after he was released from the Tihar Jail on bail in the excise policy case. AAP leader Atishi, Arvind Kejriwal's confidant, was elected as the new CM. Sanjay Singh said AAP leaders tried to convince Arvind Kejriwal to not vacate the house because of security concerns. However, Kejriwal refused to heed their advice. "Arvind Kejriwal has decided that he will vacate his house (CM residence) within a week. There are concerns over his security, there have been several attacks on him. We tried to make him understand that there was a security issue, that BJP people had attacked him and that this house was necessary from a security point of view. However, he decided that God will protect him," Sanjay Singh told PTI. Arvind Kejriwal announced his resignation as the CM of Delhi on Monday. He said he would not assume the role of the chief minister until he received a certificate of honesty from the people of the national capital. He said he and Manish Sisodia would accept government roles only after the masses voted them to power again. Kejriwal demanded from the Election Commission that assembly polls be organised in November. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the excise policy case. He was arrested by the CBI on June 26 on similar charges. Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sandeep Pathak alleged the BJP got Kejriwal arrested to force him to resign. "The BJP's goal was to arrest Arvind Kejriwal, get his resignation and break the Aam Aadmi Party. Now Arvind Kejriwal is out, the party did not break and the whole plan of the BJP flopped. The court granted him bail and said that there was no corruption case against him. In such a situation, he does not need to resign but he resigned because of his morals and principles," said Pathak. With inputs from PTI, ANI NEW DELHI: State-run aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will deliver the last four light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1) trainers to the Indian Air Force by March 31, 2025, with the twin-seater jet filling a key training role and doubling as a fighter if needed, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. In October 2023, HAL handed over the first trainer version of LCA Mk-1 to IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari in Bengaluru. These aircraft are part of an earlier order for 40 Mk-1s in the initial operational clearance (IOC) and the more advanced final operational clearance (FOC) configurations -- the first variants of LCA. Delivering the four remaining trainers at the earliest is a priority for HAL, the officials said. The LCA Mk-1 programme moved at a sluggish pace -- the IOC contract for the aircraft was signed in 2006 for completion by 2011 and the FOC one for another 20 aircraft was inked in 2010 for completion by 2016. Also Read: IAF chief seeks to ramp up production of LCA In October 2023, HAL handed over the first trainer version of LCA Mk-1 to IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari in Bengaluru, and three more trainers were delivered to the air force thus far. To be sure, at the time of delivering the first trainer, HAL said all the remaining seven trainers would join IAFs fleet by March 2024. The first LCA orders were for 32 single-seater jets and eight trainers. One of the 32 fighters crashed near Jaisalmer on March 12, minutes after taking part in a tri-services exercise that sought to demonstrate the strides India has made towards self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector. That was the first LCA crash. HAL plans to complete the delivery of the trainers at a time when the LCA Mk-1A (an advanced variant of the Mk-1 aircraft) programme appears to be delayed and IAF is concerned about the possible risks this could pose to its combat effectiveness. The issue has been flagged to HAL, which has been nudged to execute the 48,000-crore contract for 83 fighters on time, by 2028-29. The defence ministry could award HAL a contract for 97 more LCA Mk-1As worth 67,000 crore by the year-end to strengthen the air forces capabilities. Many in the air force are sceptical about the LCA Mk-1A deadlines being met, and one of the main reasons for that is the lingering delay in the supply of the F404 engines to HAL by US firm GE Aerospace. But there is a sliver of hope for HAL. GE Aerospace has conveyed to HAL that it will start delivering two engines per month November 2024 onwards for the LCA Mk-1A project, as earlier reported by HT. The single-engine Mk-1A will be a replacement for the IAFs Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter. With the Haryana Assembly elections approaching, the Congress party on Wednesday announced seven key guarantees, including a legal assurance for Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a caste survey. Haryana election: Congress announces 7 guarantees. Under its social security plan, the Congress guaranteed a monthly pension of 6,000 for the elderly, disabled, and widows. The party vowed to reinstate the old pension scheme, a move aimed at appealing to government employees. Also Read | BJP to unveil poll manifesto; PM to address 3 more rallies in Haryana Congress also promised to provide 300 units of free electricity to households and free medical treatment of up to 25 lakh. For the agricultural sector, the party pledged to introduce a legal guarantee for MSP, a longstanding demand of farmers across the country. Congress also assured voters it would conduct a caste survey and raise the income limit for the creamy layer from 6 lakh to 10 lakh. Also Read | Once a key force, INLD to fight only on 51 seats The guarantees were launched in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan and senior party leaders. 'Saat Vaade, Pakke Irade' Addressing the media, Kharge said, We will implement these guarantees and that is why we have named it 'Saat Vaade, Pakke Irade'. Other than these seven guarantees, named 'Saat Waade Pakke Iraade', our 53-page manifesto will be explained in detail later in Chandigarh, but these promises will surely be fulfilled by us, he added. Haryanas 90-member assembly is set to go to polls on October 5, with the counting of votes scheduled for October 8. The elections come at a crucial time for the Congress, which has faced challenges in maintaining its political foothold in the state in recent years. Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called India an "abuser" on the issue of import tariffs. However, he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is a "fantastic man". Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a town hall event at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, US, on Tuesday.(Bloomberg) While campaigning in Michigan, the Republican presidential candidate said he would meet PM Modi during the latter's visit to the United States next week. PM Modi will be visiting the US from September 21 to 23. "So when India, which is a very big abuser. He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic," Trump said, reiterating that India imposes heavy tariffs on imports. Donald Trump said India is very tough. He also said, "These people are the sharpest people". "They're not a little bit backwards...You know the expression, they're at the top of their game, and they use it against us. But India is very tough. Brazil is very tough ... China is the toughest of all, but we were taking care of China with the tariffs," he added. Donald Trump said if he wins the elections, the US would do what he called a reciprocal trade. "If anybody charges us 10 cents, if they charge us USD 2, if they charge us a hundred per cent, 250, we charge them the same thing. And what's going to happen? Everything's going to disappear, and we're going to end up having free trade again. And if it doesn't disappear, we're going to take in a lot of money, he added. Trump was attending his first campaign event after the second assassination attempt on him in Florida. PM Modi will begin his trip with the Quad Leaders' Summit. The summit will be attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. It will be hosted by US Presient Joe Biden. Modi will then travel to New York and address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22. With inputs from PTI The European Union (EU) and India are eyeing the possibility of trilateral cooperation with countries in East Africa to address challenges related to key water bodies such as Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika. European Union flags outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (Reuters file photo) The cooperation, which will leverage the combined strength of India and the EU, was discussed at the EU-India Water Forum, which was held on the sidelines of the India Water Week on Wednesday. Both sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in sustainable water management and river basin management, and to foster innovation and technology transfer while promoting sustainable investments. The forum explored trilateral collaboration between East Africa, India and the EU to address challenges in water bodies such as Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika, the EU said in a statement. EU ambassador Herve Delphin said: While we have developed a successful partnership for solutions in India, we are keen to work together with Africa to bring our respective expertise and develop innovative water management and foster regional water security. Also Read: EU handouts have long been wasteful. Now they must be fixed The forum gathered government representatives, policymakers, experts and businesses from India and the EU to tackle critical water challenges and forge innovative technological solutions. The India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP), established in 2016, aims to enhance technological, scientific and policy frameworks in water management. IEWP, currently in Phase III, focuses on creating sustainable solutions in areas such as river basin management, climate resilience, urban flooding and water governance. Raj Bhushan Choudhary, minister of state for Jal Shakt, said IEWP has significantly contributed to Indias water sector by supporting strategies devised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti for holistic management of water resources. Delphin said Team Europe is eager to deepen its partnership with India under the existing water cooperation framework. Under IEWP, India and the EU are collaborating on river management in Tapi and Ramganga river basins. The partnership will also extend its efforts to other key basins like the Brahmaputra. Both sides have jointly funded seven research and innovation water projects with funding of 37.4 million euros, including 23.4 million euros from the EU and 14 million euros from India. These projects focus on drinking water purification, wastewater treatment and real-time monitoring and control systems. The EU-India Water Forum serves as a platform for discussing water sector challenges and enhancing business and research opportunities. New Delhi Seven years after the expiry of the investment treaty between India and Russia, the two countries have launched negotiations to expeditiously conclude a fresh pact to ramp up investments and business cooperation, officials from both sides said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the President's House, in Moscow (ANI PHOTO) Negotiations for the proposed investment treaty were held virtually during July 18-19, a little more than a week after the issue figured at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on July 9. Officials from both countries mutually agreed to speedily conclude an agreement to promote and protect investments, the officials said on condition of anonymity. A joint statement issued after the India-Russia Summit in July said the two leaders had directed officials to commence negotiations for signing a bilateral free-trade agreement in investments and services. The leaders also set a bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2030. India and Russia conduct trade in local currencies, the rupee and rouble, and bilateral merchandise trade has jumped significantly. Indias exports to Russia jumped over 35% in FY24, as compared to FY23, one official said. Similarly, Russian imports, mainly petroleum, saw growth of over 32%. Bilateral trade is booming, which paves the way for other avenues such as trade in services and foreign direct investments. While no time frame has been set to finalise the treaty, both sides are hoping to conclude it as soon as possible, the officials said. A second official said the two sides are close to moving forward with the investment treaty since it is a good time to take practical steps to ensure the protection of investments. The proposed treaty will enhance the mutual prospects for investments, he said. This is an important step to further upgrade trade and investment cooperation. A large number of business delegations from Russia have been visiting India to explore possibilities in energy, petrochemicals, infrastructure, construction and railways, the second official said. India and Russia aimed for total bilateral investments of $50 billion by 2025, after the figure crossed $30 billion in 2018. Investors of both countries have common interest in certain sectors where they can complement each other in the value chain. For example, India has interests in the upstream areas of the oil and gas sector, whereas the Russians are keen on Indias downstream sector, a third official said. On the Indian side, there is interest in investing in the development of Russias Far East, the northern sea route, energy, infrastructure and shipbuilding, especially ice class vessels strengthened to navigate sea ice, the officials said. Other areas of interest to both sides are the pharmaceutical value chain, steel, and banking. The Russian side has invited Indian investors to implement hi-tech investment projects in its Far East. On the other hand, India has invited Russian investors to set up manufacturing facilities in greenfield industrial cities under its industrial corridor programme. Against a bilateral trade target of $30 billion for 2025, merchandise trade between the two sides crossed $65 billion in 2023-34, with the trade balance (about $57 billion) heavily in Russias favour. India exported goods worth $1.74 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal, with 32% year-on-year growth. Russias exports to India rose by 20.3% to $23.78 billion in April-July 2024. Russia is keen to invest part of the trade surplus in India because it is a fast-emerging economy, the first official said. A bilateral investment pact with Russia based on a model treaty of 1993 was signed in December 1994 and enforced in August 1996. India terminated this agreement April 2017 along with other bilateral investment pacts, the third official said. The model text of 1993 had serious deficiencies as it contained provisions susceptible to broad and ambiguous interpretation by arbitral tribunals, he said. Investment treaties are mutually agreed legal instruments between two countries for fair and equitable treatment of foreign investments at par with domestic firms. Using the model treaty of 1993, India signed pacts with 83 countries till 2015 and 74 of these were enforced. India first faced major problems with the model treaty in 2011, in the form of an adverse award in the White Industries Australia Ltd case. Later, a spike in international arbitrations prompted India to revise the model text, and this was adopted in 2015. After the revised text of 2015, the government terminated investment treaties with 77 countries, out of the total of 83 signed. India has served a formal notice on Pakistan seeking the review and modification of the 62-year-old Indus Waters Treaty largely because of Islamabads intransigent approach towards handling disputes related to cross-border rivers, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The notice was served under Article XII (3) of the treaty on August 30 this year. (Representative file photo) The notice was served under Article XII (3) of the treaty on August 30 this year, the people said on condition of anonymity. This follows a notification for modification of the treaty that was conveyed by the Indian side on January 25, 2023. With this notice, India has called on Pakistan to begin government-to-government negotiations to review the treaty under the provisions of Article XII (3), the people said. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan, and it was brokered by the World Bank, which too is a signatory. It is considered the most durable treaty between the two countries but has come under considerable pressure in recent years as bilateral ties plunged to an all-time low due to tensions related to terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir. The development comes against the backdrop of pronounced differences between India and Pakistan over the handling of disputes related to the Kishanganga and Ratle hydropower projects on the Chenab and Neelam rivers in Jammu and Kashmir. Also Read:Pak responds to Delhi plan to modify Indus Water Treaty. MEA says examining it Article XII (3) of the Indus Waters Treaty states that the provisions of the agreement may be modified from time to time by a duly ratified treaty concluded for that purpose between the two governments, one of the people cited above said. Indias notice highlights fundamental and unforeseen changes in circumstances that require a reassessment of obligations under various articles of the Indus Waters Treaty, the person said. Among Indias various concerns related to the treaty, the important ones are a change in population demographics, environmental issues and the need to accelerate the development of clean energy to meet Indias emission targets, and the impact of persistent cross-border terrorism, the people said. The notice was issued amid a prolonged controversy regarding the 330-MW Kishanganga and 850-MW Ratle hydropower projects. The World Bank has simultaneously activated both the neutral expert mechanism and the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the same set of issues. The Indian side has also sought the reconsideration of the dispute resolution mechanism under the Indus Waters Treaty, the people said. In 2015, Pakistan sought the appointment of a neutral expert to handle its objections to the two hydropower projects, but it unilaterally retracted this in 2016 and sought a court of arbitration. In 2016, the World Bank appointed both a neutral expert and the chair of the court of arbitration. Though the World Bank put a pause on both processes the same year, this was lifted in March 2022 at Pakistans insistence and both processes resumed. India has been attending meetings convened by the neutral expert but has stayed away from the proceedings of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The Indian side said earlier that two simultaneous processes on the same dispute can result in inconsistent and contradictory rulings, create a legally untenable situation, and even put a question mark on the working and integrity of the Indus Waters Treaty. The treaty has not been amended since it was signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960, by then Pakistan president Mohammad Ayub Khan, then Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and WAB Illif of the World Bank. The World Bank will have no role in the proposed negotiations, which will be open ended and cover all aspects of the treaty. At the time of independence in 1947, the India-Pakistan boundary was drawn across the Indus Basin, leaving Pakistan as the lower riparian state. A dispute arose because some key irrigation works, including one at Madhopur on the Ravi river and another at Ferozepur on the Sutlej river, on which irrigation canals in Pakistans Punjab province were completely dependent, were in Indian territory. The Indus Waters Treaty allocated the western rivers Indus, Jhelum, Chenab to Pakistan, and the eastern rivers Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to India. It allowed each country certain uses on the rivers allocated to the other. The World Banks role is largely procedural and limited to designating neutral experts or the chair of the court of arbitration. The record voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir proves Jamhooriyat (democracy) is flourishing in the Union territory, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha said after the conclusion of the first leg of polling on Wednesday. The second and third phases of voting in Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled for September 25 and October 1, respectively. (Waseem Andrabi/HT Photo) Congratulations J&K for a historic voter turnout! I would like to thank all voters, who exercised their franchised in 1st Phase. Record polling in the peaceful, free & fair election attests to the strength of Indian democracy & people's faith in democratic values, the LG's office posted on X. Further, the lieutenant governor congratulated all my sisters and first-time voters for their large participation. Heartfelt gratitude to outstanding security forces, JKP & Election Officials. Approx 59% polling in first phase shows Jamhooriyat is flourishing in J&K, he added, invoking the iconic slogan given by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The 'long queues of voters,' Sinha remarked, demolished the motivated propaganda of the adversaries. He also lauded the electorate for rebuffing the agenda' of 'divisive elements and reaffirming faith in democracy. As per Election Commission's data, a provisional turnout of 58.85% (till 7pm) was recorded in the first leg. The final numbers will be higher as final reports are being received from the remote pockets and postal ballots, PTI quoted PK Pole, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Jammu and Kashmir, as saying. The region is holding its first assembly polls since November-December 2014. These is also the first such exercise here since the August 2019 abrogation of Article 370 that gave the Valley its special status. Then, two months later, the then state became a Union territory. Meanwhile, after Wednesday, there are two more phases of polling: September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes is on October 8. J&K assembly election 2024 highlights: Voters in queue to cast their votes outside the polling station in Kulgam. J&K assembly election 2024 highlights: The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir voted in its first assembly election in a decade on Wednesday, September 18. Voting began at 7 am and continued until 6 pm. The overall voter turnout in the Union Territory during the first phase of the assembly election was recorded at 58.85 per cent, according to the Election Commission's Voter Turnout App....Read More The highest voter turnout so far has been recorded in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, with 77.23 per cent, while the lowest has been in Pulwama, with 43.87 per cent. This is the first assembly poll in Jammu and Kashmir since a controversial delimitation exercise earmarked 47 assembly seats for Kashmir and 43 for Jammu in its final order. Around 2.3 million people across 24 out of 90 constituencies are expected to vote on phase 1 of polling. District-wise voter turnout percentages (till 5 pm) Anantnag - 54.17% Doda - 69.33% Kishtwar - 77.23% Kulgam - 59.62% Pulwama - 43.87% Ramban - 67.71% Shopian - 53.64% Facts about phase-1 voting See more Get Current Updates on... Get Current Updates on India News Weather Today along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India. Get real-time updates on the Assembly Election 2024 State industries minister MB Patil on Wednesday opposed Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyals proposal to create a new Silicon Valley in India and said that Bengalurus tech ecosystem, developed over decades, should be the focus of further growth rather than diverting attention to new hubs. State industries minister MB Patil said that Bengalurus tech ecosystem, developed over decades, should be the focus of further growth rather than diverting attention to new hubs (File photo) Earlier, Goyal had suggested establishing a township, other than Bengaluru, dedicated to startups and innovators, partnering with the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC). The government should aspire to have our own Silicon Valley, he said while acknowledging Bengalurus tech dominance but called for the creation of new entrepreneurial hubs. We should aspire to have our own Silicon Valley. I know Bengaluru prides itself on being the Silicon Valley of India but we should also start thinking about partnering with the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) to create new townships for entrepreneurs, startups, innovators, and disruptors, Goyal said. In response to Goyals remarks, Patil in a post on X questioned why he did not consider Bengaluru as part of Indias national pride. Our Own? Bengaluru is in India. India is our Country. Bengaluru wasnt built in a day; it took decades, centuries to build Bengaluru, Patil wrote. The Karnataka minister also highlighted the states ongoing efforts to further develop Bengalurus capabilities. He pointed to the knowledge, health, innovation, and research (KHIR) city project, a major initiative in the citys vicinity, that seeks to attract significant investments and create thousands of jobs. Read more: Move over Bengaluru as Piyush Goyal wants new Silicon Valley in India: We should aspire to go beyond Patil urged Goyal to use his influence to support the growth of Bengaluru and said: I urge @PiyushGoyalOffc @PiyushGoyal to rather use his offices to help further our own Namma Bengaluru as a global city, and also assist where possible in making KHIR a massive global destination. The KHIR city project, which is expected to generate investments worth 40,000 crore and create around 80,000 jobs, aims to boost sectors such as healthcare, mobility, semiconductors, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing. While the project is still in its planning stages, it is likely to be located near Bengaluru, between Dabaspet and Doddaballapur, providing easy access to the citys international airport. Patil also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led central government for not giving the states fair share of financial support. Chief minister Siddaramaiah has reached out to leaders in other states, particularly in southern India, to form a collective effort to negotiate better financial terms from the Centre. Senior BJP leaders in the state did not offer comment on the matter when sought. The controversy comes months after the states cabinet approval for a bill that reserves 50% of all management jobs and 70% of all non-management ones in private companies for locals, had led to widespread criticism. Despite assurances from the states ITBT minister, Priyank Kharge, that the industry would be consulted, the announcements abruptness has raised concerns. The proposed bill, mandates 50% reservation for total candidates (Kannadigas) in managerial roles and 70% in non-managerial positions within the private sector. Additionally, it proposes a 100% quota for Kannadigas in Group C and D jobs. However, the bill was put on hold after the industry leaders and the ministers within the cabinet opposed it. Kolkata rape-murder case: After the West Bengal government appointed new police commissioner for Kolkata and removed two senior officials of the health department, the agitating junior doctors on Wednesday described their movement a partial victory and sought another meeting with the chief minister Mamata Banerjee, news agency PTI reported. Kolkata: Junior doctors continue their 'dharna' against the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder incident, near Swasthya bhawan in Kolkata, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)(PTI09_17_2024_000483B)(PTI) The doctors statement said they will continue their cease-work strike until their demands are implemented in a concrete manner by the state government. The decisions were announced after a general body meeting to decide on further course of action after chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that her government has accepted 99% of junior doctors demands. She also urged them to resume their duties citing strain on the state medical infrastructure. The meeting decided on sending another email to chief secretary Manoj Pant seeking another meeting with the chief minister to discuss other demands. Also read | Kolkata top cop, health officials shunted day after key meeting In addition to removal of former Kolkata top cop Vineet Goyal, the doctors had demanded the removal of state health secretary NS Nigam. Doctors claimed that they were assured on Nigam's removal by the chief minister on Monday. The doctors said they wanted to discuss measures announced regarding the safety and security of doctors inside hospitals. They also want a rundown on how the state plans to spend the promised 100 crore for tightening doctors' safety in state-run hospitals. No effective security measures can be implemented in hospitals without a thorough overhaul of public healthcare delivery mechanism including streamlining of the referral system, the appointment of health workers and professional patient counsellors, plugging of admission corruption and ensuring availability of life-saving drugs," the statement issued after the general body meeting read. The meeting also demanded immediate notification of the chief secretary-headed task force in medical colleges which was promised during the meeting at Banerjee's residence on Monday. They also demanded the student body elections be held and ensure adequate representation of junior doctors in the highest policy-making bodies of those institutions. (With inputs with PTI) The second round of talks between agitating junior doctors and officials of the West Bengal government failed to resolve the impasse due to the RG Kar issue on Wednesday night despite the meeting taking place on a "positive note", following the state government's refusal to hand over written minutes of the talks, the doctors alleged. Junior doctors during a press conference before a delegation leaves for Nabanna (State Secretariat) to meet West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant (PTI Photo)(PTI) The stirring medics announced that they would continue with their agitation and 'cease work' till the government issues written directives on the safety and security measures for doctors in state-run hospitals as agreed in the talks. "While the talks went smoothly, the government refused to hand over signed and written minutes of the issues which were discussed. We are feeling let down and disappointed with the government's attitude. We will send an email tomorrow detailing our demands based on which the government has assured it will issue directives. We will continue our agitation till then," Dr Aniket Mahato, one of the agitating doctors, said. The doctors maintained that although the government agreed on most of their demands and accepted them as legitimate, they stopped short of putting it down in writing. Allegations of widespread corruption at government healthcare facilities and arm-twisting practices on students and trainee doctors compromising their safety and security on campuses by a section of power corridor personnel at state-run hospitals have also subsequently come to light, intensifying the clamour for action against the health secretary. The meeting between Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and a delegation of 30 junior doctors started at the state secretariat, Nabanna, around 7.30 pm, an hour after the scheduled time fixed by the state, and lasted for over two hours, sources said. The protesting medics were again accompanied by stenographers to record the minutes of the meeting. On Monday, during the meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence, the agitators were accompanied by stenographers as well. "We want the issue of safety and security in hospitals to be addressed. The chief minister had announced the formation of a task force, but there is no proper clarity on it. We want the state government to accept our legitimate demands," an agitating doctor said before leaving for the meeting venue. The West Bengal government on Wednesday invited the junior doctors agitating over the RG Kar rape-murder incident for a meeting at the state secretariat at 6.30 pm, responding to their request for a fresh round of talks. This was the second round of talks between the medics and the state government in 48 hours. Kolkata's Tala police didn't seize RG Kar hospital rape-murder accused Sanjay Roy's clothes for two days despite his role in the crime becoming apparent on August 10, CBI officials said on Wednesday. Sanjay Roy, the accused in the Kolkata rape-murder case. (File Photo) A trainee doctor was raped and murdered inside the hospital. She had been sleeping inside the seminar hall of the facility when she was attacked. Sanjay Roy was seen entering the seminar hall in CCTV footage. The officials told PTI that Sanjay Roy's role in the crime had emerged the next day but Tala Police caused an "unnecessary delay of two days" in seizing his clothes and other belongings. It could have resulted in strong evidence against him, the officials added. CBI took over the probe on August 14, five days after the crime took place. They last week arrested the ex-principal of the hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and the station in-charge of Tala Police, Abhijit Mondal, for allegedly tampering with evidence. The officials claimed they were found to be evasive in their responses. CBI officials accused them of having "malafide intentions". They said the duo tried to vitiate the evidence in the case. The agency is probing a possible criminal conspiracy between Roy, Ghosh and Mondal. The agency plans to examine all phone calls between them to reveal the possibility of the criminal conspiracy. They are also planning to confront the duo with the CCTV footage from the Tala police station, the scene of the crime, and the medical college, reported PTI. Officials said the duo ensured that the cremation of the body took place in haste even though the family of the victim demanded a second autopsy. The agency said Ghosh remained "willfully absent" from the crime scene. The woman's body had 25 internal and external injuries, her autopsy revealed. With inputs from PTI Kolkata doctor rape and murder case: The Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI told a special Sealdah court in Kolkata that no evidence had yet been found to support the claim that the 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was gangraped, but the investigation is ongoing, The Indian Express reported. Arrested Tala Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abhijit Mondal (front) and former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh (back) being taken by the CBI officials to a court in connection with the rape and murder case in Kolkata on September 17, 2024. (PTI) The CBI sought an extension of the remand for former RG Kar Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh and former Tala police station officer-in-charge Abhijit Mondal, citing evidence tampering and the need to explore all possibilities. Both accused had been in the CBI custody for three days and were produced before the court, which extended their remand until September 20. Sandip Ghosh, Abhijit Mondol subjected to further investigation: CBI During the hearing on Tuesday, the CBI lawyer stated that Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondol are subjected to further investigation regarding call recording, DVR, CCTV cameras, and other data related to the case and that custodial interrogation was required in this case. "They are subjected to further investigation regarding call recording, DVR CCTV, and other data. We want custodial interrogation. Things are in process. Custodial interrogation is required regarding data," the CBI lawyer said. He further said both of them were not at all cooperating during interrogation and further prayed for three days of CBI custody. Before the start of the hearing of this case, the Sealdah Bar advocates requested the judge not to grant bail to Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondol. That during their police custody remand from 15.09.2024 to 17.09.2024, they were subjected to interrogation/further interrogation based on the CDRs of their mobile numbers. During the said process, they were confronted with the relevant records and witnesses. The said process is still continuing. That the DVR and Hard Disk containing the CCTV footage of Tala Police Station has also been collected and data of the same is required to be extracted on the basis of which further custodial interrogation of accused persons is required, the court said in its order, The Indian Express reported. during custodial interrogation of both the accused persons, some more suspected mobile numbers have come to light and the CDRs of the same are under collection for confrontation with accused persons. That the CCTV footage of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital have been seized and the data have been examined/extracted by CFSL, Kolkata. The interrogation of accused persons with regard to the said extracted data pertaining to movements of various persons/suspected persons (as per CCTV footage during the relevant period) is required to be confronted with the accused persons, the court order stated. The CBI counsel also told the court that details of each and every phone call exchanged by Ghosh and Mondal is required to be verified with the suspected calls to corroborate their versions with a view to explore the possibility of criminal conspiracy hatched among main accused and co-accused persons, if any, the newsapaper added. The CBI also said both the accused facilitated cremation of the woman doctor in a hurried manner, while the family members specifically demanded a second autopsy. Ghosh and Mondal were arrested in connection with the rape and murder case on September 15. Ghosh was arrested earlier by the CBI on September 2 for his alleged involvement in the financial irregularities at RG Kar hospital. Three of his accomplices have also been arrested by the central agency. Sanjay Roy arrested for rape and murder A Kolkata Police civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy, was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the rape and murder case which is now being investigated by the CBI on an order of the Calcutta High Court. At least nine people were killed, including an 8-year-old girl, and nearly 3,000 were wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday. The detonations began around 3:30pm in the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa valley. The detonations began around 3:30pm in the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa valley, both strongholds of the militant group. Hezbollah, which has backing from Iran, blamed Israel for the deadly explosions in a statement. We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians, Hezbollah said, adding that Israel will for sure get its just punishment. Also Read | Hezbollah pagers explode in Lebanon: What we know so far An unidentified US official told the Associated Press that Israel briefed Washington DC on the operation on Tuesday after it was concluded. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the information publicly. How was the attack carried out? A senior Lebanese security source told news agency Reuters that Israel's Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers, which had been imported by the Lebanese group Hezbollah months before. The pagers were from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, but the company said it did not manufacture the devices. A European firm gave them the right to use its brand name. People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024.(Reuters) The Lebanese source told Reuters the devices had been modified by Mossad "at the production level." "The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner," the source said. He added that 3,000 pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives. Why does Hezbollah still use pagers? Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously warned its members not to carry cell phones as Israel could use them to track the group's movements. As a result of this, the Iran-backed militant group, has been using pagers for communication. Nicholas Reese, adjunct instructor at the Center for Global Affairs in New York Universitys School of Professional Studies, told the Associated Press that smartphones carry a higher risk for intercepted communications in contrast to the simpler technology of pagers. Reese said that Tuesday's attack will force Hezbollah to change its communication strategies. He added that survivors of Tuesday's explosions are likely to throw away "not just their pagers, but their phones, and leaving their tablets or any other electronic devices. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said he was deeply shocked by media reports on alleged threats issued against the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath-Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin in Coimbatore. (AFP) Deeply shocked by media reports of a BJP leaders threat that Rahul Gandhi will meet the same fate as his grandmother, and a Shinde Sena MLAs bounty for cutting his tongue, along with other intimidating threats, MK Stalin wrote on X. My brother Rahul Gandhis charisma and growing public support have clearly unsettled many, leading to such vile acts of intimidation, he added. MK Stalin further said the Centre must swiftly act to ensure protection for the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. The Union government must act swiftly to ensure protection for the Leader of the Opposition and reaffirm that intimidation and violence have no place in our democracy, he said. Remarks against Rahul Gandhi Last week, the Congress shared a clip of BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marvah purportedly "threatening" Rahul Gandhi. Congress's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera shared a video on X in which BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marvah was purportedly saying: "Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua (Rahul Gandhi, refrain from such things, otherwise in the coming time, you will also suffer the same fate as your grandmother)". On September 16, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad said that he would give 11 lakh as reward to anyone who chops off the tongue of leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. He had made the remark while criticising Gandhi over his statements on caste-based reservation, delivered during his trip to the United States. Days later, he courted another controversy by saying he would bury Congress dogs who would try to enter an event attended by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde. Squadron leader Mohana Singh made history after becoming the first woman fighter pilot to join the Indian Air Force's elite 18 'Flying Bullets' squadron, operating India's indigenously 'Made in India' LCA Tejas fighter jet's squadron, ANI reported on Tuesday. Squadron Leader Mohana Singh in a MiG-21 Bison at the Nal airbase near Bikaner.(HT file) Mohana Singh was part of the recent exercise, 'Tarang Shakti' in Jodhpur, where she was part of the historic flight by three vice chiefs of the three forces. She was seen instructing the Indian Army and Navy vice chiefs on the flight in the LCA Tejas fighter jet. While Air Force vice chief Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh flew solo in the LCA Tejas fighter variant, the other two vice chiefs Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani and vice admiral Krishna Swaminathan flew the trainer variants with two fighter pilots. Also Read | MiG-21 and gender integration through eyes of women pilots The exercise was seen as one of the biggest messages to support Make in India by the defence forces in a joint manner, according to ANI. Mohana Singh made history in 2016 after she, along with Bhawna Kanth and Avni Chaturvedi, were inducted into the Indian Air Force as the first women fighter pilots. While women pilots have been flying helicopters and transport aircraft since 1991 in the IAF, it was only in 2016 when the government decided to allow women into fighter jet cockpits. Also Read | Bhawana Kanth becomes 1st woman fighter pilot to be part of IAFs tableau Squadron leader Bhawna Kanth and Squadron leader Avni Chaturvedi are now flying the Su-30 MKI fighter jets in the western desert. Up until recently, Mohana Singh was flying the MiG-21s and was recently posted to the LCA squadron deployed in Naliya air base in the Gujarat sector along the border with Pakistan. Mohana Singh comes from Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Her grandfather was a flight gunner in Aviation Research Centre and father is a warrant officer in the IAF. (With inputs from ANI) A railway official from Mumbai lost 9 lakh to cyber fraudsters posing as CBI officers who said that the official was linked to a bank account used to launder large amounts of money. The victim continued to be on video call and went to office for work, but he was asked to return home as scamsters claimed that CBI officers wanted to investigate him in the case.(HT file) The official was produced before a fraudster posing as a judge who asked him to deposit money into a specific bank account as 'penalty' for the offence, news agency PTI reported. The victim is a 59-year-old Principal Chief Electrical Engineer (Construction) at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai and lives in Colaba in South Mumbai. Police said the incident happened on Monday when the official received a voice message threatening to block his mobile number within two hours and was asked to dial 0 for further queries. Accordingly, the victim pressed '0', following which a video call got activated. The caller introduced himself as a CBI officer and said he wanted to investigate the railway official in a money laundering case as his mobile number was linked to one bank account which was used in the scam, a police official told PTI. The victim informed the scamsters that he does not own a second mobile number. But the scamsters made the official believe that a mobile number was registered in his name and was liked to a bank account used for laundering 58 lakh. The victim continued to be on video call and went to office for work, but he was asked to return home as scamsters claimed that CBI officers wanted to 'investigate' him in the case. The official retuned home and a video call was activated again around 2 pm on Monday. "During this time, the fraudsters obtained all the details about the railway official's family background, his finance and property details from him. The accused then told him that he would be produced before the court online and the judge will decide the matter," the police official added. The call remained active for around 20 hours till 9.30 am on Tuesday during which the judge told the victim that the CBI has found some unauthorized bank transactions from his second account. As penalty for the offence, the official was asked to deposit 9 lakh into an account provided by the scamsters. The victim transferred the money via RTGS, only to realize that he was duped. The transaction was completed despite the official contacting the bank manager to stop transfer. He lodged a complaint at the Colaba police station, based on which a case of cyber fraud was registered, the official said, adding that a probe was underway. The Indian Patent Office will on Thursday hear objections against the grant of patent claims filed by US-based pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences on their HIV drug lenacapavir, said people familiar with the matter. Gilead has several patent applications in India on lenacapavir. Two of these patent applications, filed in 2020, seek patents on the choline and sodium salt of the drug lenacapavir. (HT PHOTO) Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, a civil society organisation working with populations vulnerable to HIV, opposed the patent applications in 2021 because the drug, they said, consists of a previously known compound, and should not be considered an invention according to Indias Patent Act. Gilead has several patent applications in India on lenacapavir. Two of these patent applications, filed in 2020, seek patents on the choline and sodium salt of the drug lenacapavir. Lenacapavir, administered as a twice-yearly injection, has garnered attention for its potential to prevent HIV infections after multiple clinical trials demonstrated superior efficacy to standard oral preventative medicines, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). According to UNAIDS, the United Nations joint programme for HIV-AIDS control, the drug could offer hope of ending AIDS if all people have access. Two of Gileads patent applications on the salt forms of lenacapavir are not innovative, said Sankalp. Granting these patents, which would last until August 2038, could hinder access to affordable generic versions of lenacapavir. Affordable generic HIV medicines have been crucial in keeping people alive globally, including in India, said Eldred Tellis, director, Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, in a statement. Indian patent law prohibits evergreening, a practice by which pharmaceutical corporations seek patents on routine modifications to extend their drug monopolies beyond the standard 20-year period. In March 2023, the Indian Patent Office rejected a similar patent application for the salt form of bedaquiline, an essential drug for drug-resistant tuberculosis. According to the activists working for the cause, if granted, these patents could impede global efforts to end AIDS. Without a steady supply of affordable lenacapavir from India, ending AIDS will remain an elusive goal. Decisions made by Indian patent offices are a matter of life or death for people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, said Tellis. According to the Trusts statement, researchers from Liverpool University estimated that generic lenacapavir can be produced at a fraction of Gileads price of $42,250 per year. With generic competition, the costs for lenacapavir are estimated to be initially $100 per person per year, with further reductions to $40 per year as demand increases. Indian generic manufacturers have already developed the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and have the capacity to file for quality assurance and mass-produce long-acting injectables of lenacapavir. The oppositions are part of a global effort to challenge Gileads monopoly on lenacapavir and open up generic competition, read the statement further. KM Gopakumar, a senior researcher at the Third World Network, said, Third World Network, an organization that supports patient groups in challenging abusive patent practices in low- and middle-income countries, calls on the Indian Patent Office to prioritize public health over pharma profiteering in its examination process. Meanwhile, in another patent suit, Panacea Biotec on Tuesday announced it reached a settlement agreement with Sanofi Healthcare India over patent infringement litigation for a fully liquid hexavalent vaccine, EasySix. EasySix is the first innovative fully liquid hexavalent vaccine from India which is protected by patents in several countries including India. Under the terms of settlement agreement, Sanofi has inter-alia, agreed that at present Sanofi would not directly or indirectly commercially launch its fully liquid hexavalent vaccine Shan6 in India Panacea Biotec has also agreed to forego its claim for damages and rendition of accounts in the proceedings against Sanofi as prayed for in the suit, said Panacea Biotec in a statement. Taking a step towards what will be a major electoral reform, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Kovind panel's report on One nation, one election (ONOE). Opposition leaders have repeatedly rejected the proposal to hold simultaneous polls (Representational Image) Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the the report was approved unanimously. The committee, constituted by the government and led by ex-President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its suggestions to his successor, President Droupadi Murmu, in March. Recently, it was reported that the BJP-led NDA government, which won its third consecutive term in the April-June Lok Sabha polls, will implement simultaneous elections in its current tenure. However, the BJP will need support from its allies as unlike its first two terms, the party does not have individual majority in the Lok Sabha. ONOE was mentioned by prime minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech. Here's a brief history of simultaneous polls: (1.) During India's first four general elections (1951-52, 1957, 1962, 1967), the electorate voted for their respective state assemblies as well. (2.) Later, the process was ended due to formation of new states and reorganisation of others. (3.) In 1968-89, some legislative (state) assemblies were dissolved. This led to ONOE being discontinued completely. (4.) In 1983, the Election Commission, in its annual report, suggested reviving simultaneous polls. (5.) In 1999, a Law Commission report also referred to the exercise. (6.) In 2018, the Commission again backed simultaneous polls. (7.) The Modi government, which came to power in May 2014, has repeatedly endorsed the idea. (8.) Those who support ONOE say holding all elections together would mean there won't be elections every other month. (9.) For example, in Jammu and Kashmir, assembly polls began on Wednesday and Haryana will vote in October. Polls are also due in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. (10.) Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim assemblies poll along with Lok Sabha. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday responded to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's criticism of the one nation, one election initiative, in which Kharge called the proposal impractical and incompatible with democracy. The plan, which seeks to conduct simultaneous Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections across the country, was approved by the Union Cabinet earlier in the day. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responded to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks over 'one nation, one election' Kharge, quoted by ANI, expressed strong opposition to the proposal, saying, We dont stand with this. One nation, One election cannot work in a democracy. Elections need be held as and when required if we want our democracy to survive. In response, Vaishnaw said, The opposition might start feeling internal pressure (about One Nation One Election) as more than 80% of respondents who participated in the consultation process have expressed positive support, particularly the youth, who are very much in favour of this. The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the one nation, one election proposal based on recommendations from a panel chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The panel's recommendations include holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies as an initial step, followed by coordinated local body elections within 100 days. Additionally, the panel proposed the creation of an Implementation Group to oversee the execution of these recommendations. More Opposition leaders react Other opposition leaders also voiced scepticism. Congress leader TS Singh Deo questioned the feasibility of the simultaneous polls saying, This is not possible in today's time and under the Constitution... Suppose 'One Nation, One Election' is implemented from January 2025, elections would be held simultaneously for the Legislative Assemblies and Lok Sabha across the country. If a state or central government falls after two years and is elected for five years, its next election might not be until 2032, while other places will have elections in 2030. What happens to this system in such situations? This is not possible at all... What about constitutional provisions that mandate elections for vacant seats remaining open for six months? This would require constitutional amendments as well. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien criticised the initiative as a cheap stunt by the BJP, questioning why Maharashtra elections were not scheduled alongside those in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir if the goal is simultaneous elections. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Maji, from the Opposition INDIA bloc, accused the BJP of using 'One Nation, One Election' to undermine regional parties, saying, BJP has been trying this for a long time and wants only one party to rule the country. Recently, they broke the NCP and Shiv Sena, and nearly wiped out the BJD in Odisha. Similarly, they are trying to weaken the JMM in Jharkhand and other regional parties. AAP MP Sandeep Pathak talked about the practicality of simultaneous elections, saying, A few days ago, elections for four states were expected, but only Haryana and J&K were announced, leaving Maharashtra and Jharkhand out. If they cannot manage simultaneous elections for four states, how will they handle it for the entire country? What if a state government falls before its term ends? Will President's rule be imposed? Is this a plan to destabilise states? (With ANI, PTI inputs) Bhubaneswar: The Orissa high court on Wednesday granted bail to the female companion of an Indian Army officer arrested over the weekend in Bhubaneswar and ordered the state government to act with the allegation of police atrocities in this context with utmost seriousness. Five police officers involved in the case were suspended by the Odisha DGP earlier in the day. Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra granted bail to the woman, observing that the police officers who arrested her failed to follow the procedure laid down in section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) which spells out the conditions and circumstances when a police officer may arrest a person without an order from a magistrate. The higher authorities of the state, as well as the police administration, would take action as suggested in the SC judgment of Satender Kumar Antil vs Central Bureau of Investigation, the high court said and advised the police to focus on gaining the trust of people. The army officer posted in West Bengal and his friend had approached the Bharatpur police station on Sunday early morning to lodge a complaint of road rage in which they were allegedly harassed by some local youths. What happened at the police station is unclear. But the police personnel are alleged to have assaulted the army officer and his friend. The woman was later also arrested. State police officers initially sought to defend the police action on September 15 before the state CID was ordered to take over the investigation on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Odisha director general of police YB Khurania suspended five police officers identified as inspector Dinakrushna Mishra, woman sub inspector Baisalini Panda, woman assistant sub-inspectors Salilamayee Sahoo and Sagarika Rath and constable Balaram Hansda. Explaining why he targeted Rahul Gandhi for the Congress MP's recent comment on Sikhs, Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Wednesday pointed out that the party did not condemn Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's backing for Gandhi's assertion. Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu (File Photo/PTI) Pannun leads the pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ). The US-based SFJ is banned in India and Pannun is a designated terrorist. I want to tell (Congress president) Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress workers that you can protest against me if this makes the Gandhi family happy. When Rahul Gandhi said something against the Sikhs, he was supported by the biggest enemy of the country, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is conducting a referendum for Khalistan, Bittu said in a video message. I waited for two days thinking that the Congress or Congress president might condemn this. When this did not happen, I said it is clear that Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leaders are standing with Pannun, he added. On Wednesday, the grand old party filed a police complaint against its former member, who resigned from it and joined the ruling BJP in March. Bittu, a Sikh, had called Gandhi a number one terrorist for the latter's remarks on the community. following which similar comments were made by various leaders of the saffron party and its allies on Gandhi. Congress chief Kharge wrote to prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday against remarks by leaders of the BJP and allies against Gandhi, the current Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The Rae Bareli MP made the controversial statement during his recent visit to the United States, his maiden foreign trip in his capacity as the LoP. West Bengals Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia, West Burdwan, and East Burdwan districts face a flood-like situation after the release of water from dams following heavy rains in West Bengal and Jharkhand. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee spoke to her Jharkhand counterpart, Hemant Soren, over the situation on Monday. (X) There have been heavy rains and the DVC [Damodar Valley Corporation which operates a multipurpose river project in West Bengal and Jharkhand] has been releasing water from Panchet Dam on River Damodar and Maithon Dam on River Barakar, said Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief minister Mamata Banerjees advisor. A deep depression over the Gangetic West Bengal triggered heavy rains in south Bengal over the weekend and on Monday. The weather system moved to Jharkhand on Monday. Bandyopadhyay said large areas in multiple districts across South Bengal were likely to get inundated. The state government has deputed 10 senior IAS [Indian Administrative Service] officers and asked them to visit the districts to monitor the situation, said Bandyopadhyay. The district administrations have been asked to prepare flood shelters, adequate drinking water, medicines, and dry food. They have been asked to evacuate people from low-lying areas if needed. Officials said that Banerjee and the chief secretary were monitoring the situation. Banerjee spoke to her Jharkhand counterpart, Hemant Soren, over the situation on Monday. Even the water level in the Adi Ganga has shot up. I have never seen so much water in Adi Ganga. DVC released a huge amount of water. People have been requested to move to flood shelters. A few people got trapped at Khanakul in Hooghly district, Banerjee said. New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the government is talking to both the Meitei and Kuki communities in strife-torn Manipur to restore normalcy and has begun fencing the countrys border with Myanmar to check infiltration. He also said the Centre will very soon make an announcement for carrying out the decadal census in the country. Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw. (HT PHOTO) The home minister was addressing a press conference in Delhi on the achievements of the 100 days of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA 3.0 government. He was accompanied by information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Barring three days of violence last week, the overall situation in Manipur has been calm and the government has been working to restore peace in the restive Northeastern state, Shah said. There was peace in the last three days and I am hopeful that we will be able to control the situation. We are holding talks with both communities. It was ethnic violence and unless there is dialogue between the two communities, no solution could be found, he said. We are talking to the Kuki and Meitei groups. We have prepared a roadmap to take different initiatives for the situation in Manipur. Though the Centre and the BJP-led Manipur government are yet to share details of the talks, top officials aware of the matter said the Centres representatives have been holding meetings with legislators from both Meitei and Kuki communities. In the past two-three months, backdoor meetings have been held in Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati. Naga MLAs representatives are working with the Intelligence Bureau and Centres interlocutor to bring the representatives together at neutral places (not in Manipur). The talks are on, a senior Manipur official said, requesting anonymity. Shah said in the first 100 days of the Modi 3.0 government, work on fencing the India-Myanmar border, which is the root cause of the problem, has begun. On February 6, the Centre had announced that the entire 1,643-km-long border with Myanmar would be fenced. Fencing work in 30 km has been completed. The Centre has already approved the budget for fencing along the over 1,500 km border, he said. At strategic locations, we have completed the process of inducting CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel. To stop infiltration, we have also stopped the Free Movement Regime between India and Myanmar. Only those with valid visa can enter or leave the country. Since May 3 last year, Manipur has witnessed clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities, which has claimed at least 230 lives so far and uprooted around 50,000 people, many of whom are still residing in relief centres. The Union home minister also spoke about the much-delayed decadal census of the Indian population, saying: We will announce it very soon. The first phase of this decades census was expected to begin in April 2020, but it had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. India has conducted the census every 10 years since 1881, with the last one being conducted in 2011. When asked about the caste-based census, Shah said: Whenever we announce the census, all information will be made public. Opposition parties have been demanding for a caste-based enumeration in the country a demand that also found support from key NDA allies such as the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). Listing the achievements of the NDA government in first 100 days of its third successive term, Shah said the Centre has started work on projects worth 15 lakh crore in diverse sectors such as infrastructure and agriculture to create employment opportunities, and taken steps to strengthen the nations internal and external security. West Bengal Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over floods in various districts and said that the CM is holding Centre, Jharkhand government and the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) responsible while she herself is an "utter failure." Officials inspect the flood situation on a speed boat before it overturned in the Kuai river, in Birbhum district of West Bengal. (PTI Photo)(PTI) In a post on X, Adhikari said that CM Mamata Banerjee your ploy and strategy to shift blame is getting old and repetitive. "Every time around this time you utter these words - 'Man-made Flood' and try to hold the Central govt, the Jharkhand govt, and the DVC responsible for floods in West Bengal. However, the truth is that you and your Irrigation & Waterways Department are an utter failure. Neither you have taken any preventive or precautionary measures before the monsoons nor you have taken any steps to boost the infrastructure to tackle the annual problem," he said. The BJP leader also mentioned that the World Bank approved 5000 crore loan to the state government to build and operate new irrigation structures such as flood walls, river embankment armouring, desilting the adjoining rivers, creating small-scale storage structures, creek rehabilitation, digging canals, etc., to manage the flood situation in the Lower Damodar Basin area. "75% of the funds have been drawn. What is the result?" Adhikari asked. "The result is that every time Bardhaman, Bankura, Hooghly, Howrah, Paschim, and Purba Medinipur get flooded and you see it as a photo session opportunity to reach the spot with a 50 vehicles convoy and start blaming others for your inefficiency," he added. Suvendu also asserted that the people are tired of CM Mamata's "PR event." "Ask your Administration to help people in need and at least make arrangements for baby food, drinking water, and dry food items. Shift people from the submerged areas on a war footing. Set your ego aside and seek assistance from the Army & NDRF. And for God's sake, in this hour of need please don't distract the Administration by getting them involved in making arrangements for your photo session trip. Let them help the people in distress. You can do your job better from the Secretariat," Adhikari said on X. Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also posted on X about her visit to several flooded areas. She said, "Vast areas of South Bengal are inundated today by huge amounts of water without DVC. Bengal is being flooded by the waters of Jharkhand. Three and a half lakh cusecs water has been released from DVC. So much water has never been released before. This man-made flood is being planned in Bengal. I have spoken to DVC myself. I spoke to the Chief Minister of Jharkhand." "Today I inspected the flood situation on the ground in Purshura, Goghat-Arambagh area of Hooghly and Ghatal in West Midnipur. Talked to flood-affected people. I will go to Panshkura tomorrow. Our government stands by the flood-affected people for any need. I have given the necessary instructions to the administration in this regard," CM Mamata added. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not expected to meet Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly next week, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have some bilateral meetings on UNGA sidelines in New York but a meeting with the head of Bangladeshs interim government isnt on the schedule (AFP FILE PHOTO) Earlier this month, the Bangladesh side made a formal request for a meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly, which both leaders are set to attend. Dhaka was keen on a meeting in the hope it would help clear the air over irritants that have emerged in bilateral ties since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, the people said on condition of anonymity. The people said such a meeting is not part of the Indian sides agenda. Besides, Modi will have a packed schedule for his three-day visit to the US, as he is set to attend the Quad Leaders Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, on September 21 and address the Summit of the Future at the UN General Assembly on September 23. The PM is expected to have some bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the General Assembly in New York but a meeting with the head of Bangladeshs interim government isnt on the schedule, one of the people cited above said. Also Read: Rise of Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh political conundrum Besides scheduling issues, comments by Yunus on India-Bangladesh relations in a recent interview and near-daily remarks by members of the interim government in Dhaka perceived as critical of India have not gone down well in New Delhi. In the interview, Yunus criticised former premier Sheikh Hasina for commenting on developments in Bangladesh while in exile in India. He suggested Bangladesh could seek her extradition and said India should move beyond the narrative that every political party other than Hasinas Awami League is Islamist. Other members of the interim government, including de facto foreign minister Touhid Hossain, have repeatedly raked up the possibility of seeking the extradition of Hasina, who fled to India after stepping down on August 5. Hossain also acknowledged any such move would create an embarrassing situation for the Indian government. Indias leadership has said Hasina was granted approval to come to the country at short notice. Hasina has been largely incommunicado while in India, where she is at an undisclosed safe location. The external affairs ministry has refused to be drawn out on any possible Bangladeshi request for her extradition, describing it as a hypothetical matter. The people cited above said a meeting between Modi and former US president Donald Trump too was not part of the Indian sides agenda though an encounter between the two leaders in New York could not be ruled out. Trump said at a campaign event in Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday that he will meet Modi next week but gave no details on where the meeting would be held. Trump also said India was a very big abuser of the US-India trade relationship. Some other world leaders who visited the US in recent months for meetings with President Joe Biden and other multilateral events have met Trump as well. A 28-year-old man, who was wanted in several criminal cases, was arrested on Tuesday after he was shot at by the Bengaluru police, an officer said. The accused was found hiding near Ullal in the Jnanabharati area, where he was allegedly planning to commit a robbery (File photo) West Division deputy commissioner of police (DSP) S Girish said that the accused, identified as Pawan alias Kadubu, was wanted in several criminal cases, including a brutal assault where a man was allegedly stripped naked. We had formed three police teams to nab the accused. The team led by Govindarajanagar inspector B Subramanya was able to track him at around 3.30am on Tuesday, after Pawan switched on his mobile phone. Acting quickly, the team closed in on his location, he said. He further said that the accused was found hiding near Ullal in the Jnanabharati area, where he was allegedly planning to commit a robbery. At about 5am, when the police moved to arrest Pawan, he assaulted constable Venkatesh. As he attempted to flee and also attacked inspector Subramanya, who in self-defence shot Pawan in the leg. This allowed the police to take him into custody, the officer said. Informing about the accused, Girish said that Pawan, originally from Tumkur, has a long history of criminal activity. He was recently involved in an incident where he brutally assaulted a man named Vishwas (26), who had provided information about Pawans illegal activities to the Rajagopalnagar police. Vishwas filed a complaint at the Kamakshipalya police station, leading to further investigations. As the probe continued, police uncovered disturbing evidence. A video surfaced showing Pawan and his associates stripping and assaulting another person, Arjun, and then forced him to run naked. The incident, which took place 20 days earlier, was caught on camera and widely circulated, further adding to the charges against Pawan, he said. While Vishwas filed the case on Sptember 9, Arjuna filed his case on Monday. Two separate cases have now been registered under BNS section 109 (attempt to murder) at the Kamakshipalya police station, based on the complaints from Vishwas and Arjun. Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday called for putting in perspective Indias contribution to emissions, underlining the country should not be viewed as the third or fourth-largest emitter in isolation considering it also accounts for 17% of the worlds population. This puts things in perspective, said Yadav in his talk on Indias net zero emissions goal at the 4th Global Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo in Gandhinagar. Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav. (X) Yadav underlined the needs of developing countries in achieving sustainable development should be a critical component of all talks. He said that a fair assessment of the financial requirement of developing countries and an exact definition of climate finance can help developing countries achieve their development goals. ...we had the global stocktake [in UAE last year]. Now this year, the New Collective Quantified Goal will be considered. It is important that an exact definition of climate finance is agreed upon. Yadav said it is also important that countries agree to work together on three fronts related to transforming energy systems, no inequality in climate finance and technology among developed and developing countries, and health, justice, and prosperity needed for all countries. That is why under the Paris Agreement we have the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India has decided to build its future based on solar, wind, nuclear, and hydro power. Speaking at the 4th Global Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo, he reiterated Indias commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2070. Modi said concepts like Green Future and Net Zero were not fancy words but the needs and commitments of the Union and every state government of India. He underlined that India had a valid excuse to stay out of these commitments as a developing economy but did not choose that path. India updated its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement in August 2022 with quantifiable goals of reducing emissions intensity of its Gross Domestic Product by 45% from 2005 levels and achieving about 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. The father of the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered inside Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has said his daughter would have been alive had West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee taken action against the ex-principal, Sandip Ghosh, in 2021. Kolkata: Junior doctors continue their 'dharna' against the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder incident.(PTI) He called doctors protesting against the grisly murder "his children". "CBI is doing its job, we cannot say anything about this (investigation)... Whoever is connected to this murder in some way or those who are involved in tampering with evidence, are all under investigation... They are sitting in protest (protesting junior doctors) with pain, they are like my children, we feel pain seeing them... The day the accused will be punished will be our victory... In the year 2021 also, many allegations were levelled against former principal Sandeep Ghosh; if the Chief Minister had taken action against Sandeep Ghosh then, today my daughter would have been alive," the victim's father told the media, according to ANI. The woman was found dead inside the seminar hall of the hospital on August 9. She had gone to the room to rest amid her taxing work schedule. Per her autopsy report, 25 internal and external injuries to her body revealed sexual assault and torture. The agency accused Sandip Ghosh of being part of a nexus with a police officer. It told a court that he deliberately delayed the filing of a murder FIR in the case. He is also accused of trying to pass off the murder as a suicide. According to the victim's family, at the behest of Sandip Ghosh, hospital authorities made them wait over three hours before showing them the body. The murder FIR was registered 14 hours after the crime was detected. Sandip Ghosh is also accused of being involved in corrupt practices at the hospital, including selling unclaimed corpses. Meanwhile, the West Bengal government on Tuesday accepted the protesting doctors' demand to shunt the Kolkata police commissioner. IPS officer Manoj Kumar Verma has been appointed as the new Kolkata police chief. The decision was taken after a meeting of a delegation of the doctors and chief minister Mamata Banerjee. However, they have not yet called off their strike. The Supreme Court on Tuesday set out to examine the validity of the Karnataka governments decision to withdraw consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar in a corruption case after the Karnataka high court refused to interfere with the same. A bench headed by justice Surya Kant issued notice on the petition filed by a BJP legislator Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal (Hindustan Times) A bench headed by justice Surya Kant issued notice on the petition filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal challenging the withdrawal order issued by the Siddaramaiah government on November 28 last year. The decision to grant consent was taken in 2019 by the then BS Yeddyurappa government. The apex court sought responses of the Karnataka government and Shivakumar. Patil had earlier approached the high court, which dismissed his petition on August 29, holding that the issue of grant of sanction is a Centre-state issue and must be addressed before the top court. The top court was initially not convinced by the HCs reasoning observing that the matter ought to have been decided either way on merits. Patil had not added CBI in its petition and in the absence of any appeal by CBI against the HC order, the top court bench, also comprising justice Ujjal Bhuyan, said: We will see what can be done. Shivakumar was represented in court by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi who held the HC judgment to be correct. He said, The high court is correct in observing it is an investigation between the Centre and state. At best, the aggrieved person should be the CBI from whom consent is withdrawn. As CBI was yet to appeal against the HC order, Singhvi said, Sometimes CBI is reasonable. He added a caveat, I have said this for CBI, not for its sister organisation (referring to the Enforcement Directorate). The bench agreed with Singhvi. You may be right. The HC could have said that the CBI and not the present petitioner is the aggrieved party. Patils lawyer senior advocate Siddharth Dave that the HC judgment makes not even a whisper about my right to maintain the appeal. He said that the withdrawal of consent was purely a malafide action by the state to protect its own ministers. The then BJP government had in September 2019 granted sanction under section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPE) that paved the way for Shivakumars prosecution in an alleged disproportionate assets case. According to CBI, the wealth of Shivakumar and his family saw an almost 45% increase during his term as member of legislative assembly (MLA) between 2013 and 2018. The amount found to be disproportionate to his known sources of income was valued at 74.93 lakh. The case emanated from an income tax search at Shivakumars residence in 2017 that led to the recovery of a little over 41 lakh. A case was registered against the Congress leader and others under provisions of the Income Tax act and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code. This became the basis for the ED to launch separate proceedings. In September 2019, ED wrote to the state, sharing leads from the probe and requested it to initiate an investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Later, the state government granted CBI sanction to prosecute him in the case. Following this, the CBI filed a preliminary enquiry against Shivakumar and two others in March 2020. The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed strong disapproval of West Bengals handling of the initial investigation into the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Hospital last month, stating it was disturbed by lacunae found in the probe that it said raised questions of evidence tampering and police complicity. Junior doctors continue their protest against the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder incident, near Swasthya bhawan in Kolkata. (PTI) A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud directed the state to ensure that local police cooperate fully with the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is now probing the case, directing that the state must provide all evidence required by the agency, including complete footage from the hospitals CCTV. What CBI has disclosed in its status report is worse! It is really disturbing...We are ourselves disturbed by what happened, said the bench, adding that there were questions about possible destruction of evidence, non-seizure of crucial items and complicity of other persons that the agency was looking into. The court refrained from disclosing the lines of the investigation because that could derail the further probe, but asked the state to ascertain that the entire CCTV footage is handed over to CBI. The bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, came down heavily on the state for issuing a notification that prevented women doctors from working night shifts or for more than 12 hours a day, calling the move discriminatory and violative of the constitutional principles of gender equality. The courts censure forced the state government to concede that it will withdraw the contentious stipulations in the August notification. The court further recorded that the striking junior doctors are ready to return to work, provided their general body approves it and that the confidence-building measures, agreed upon during their meeting with chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday evening, are put in place. It observed that junior doctors do not get any pleasure in abstaining from work but that they are striking because of insecure premises and unsafe working conditions which the state government is obligated to take care of. The development came a day after a five-hour meeting between Banerjee and junior doctors in Kolkata appeared to break the deadlock after 38 days of strike, with the state ceding almost all demands of the agitators. The second-year postgraduate student was found dead on the hospital premises on August 9. A Kolkata Police civic volunteer, Sanjoy Roy, was arrested by the city police a day after the crime. The case, now under CBI, has stirred massive protests across the state. Disturbed over investigation The top court, which has been monitoring investigations into the case after it registered proceedings on its own motion (suo motu), questioned the West Bengal government after solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, presented a status report which apparently brought to light a series of flaws in the investigation, including the fact that the victims clothes were not even sent for the post-mortem. The bench expressed its serious concern after reviewing CBIs status report on the investigation, which raised questions about evidence tampering and police complicity, leading to the arrest of the station house officer (SHO) of the area. Senior counsel Indira Jaising, representing the junior doctors, informed the court that certain individuals, who had no business being at the crime scene, were present, and their names would be confidentially shared with CBI. The bench directed CBI to maintain a channel of communication with the victims family to address their concerns. SG Mehta assured the court that despite the five-day delay in transferring the investigation to CBI, the agency would ensure that no evidence is destroyed and that any benefits do not accrue to the accused. Policy to restrict women doctors shifts criticised The court castigated the West Bengals August 19 notification that barred women doctors from working at night and for more than 12-hour shifts due to concerns over their safety, labelling it unconstitutional. How can you tell women doctors that they cant work at night? Women dont need concessions; they need equal opportunities. Whether its pilots, the armed forces, or police officers, women work round-the-clock, and you must provide the necessary security infrastructure, asserted the bench after senior counsel Haripriya Padmanabhan brought the issue to the notice of the bench. Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing the state, justified the policy, stating that it was implemented due to a shortage of security personnel. However, the court rebuffed this argument, stating, The solution is to provide adequate security personnel, not restrict women from performing their duties. Sibal then agreed to withdraw the contentious clauses. Women doctors dont need special concession but safety and security for them to work and thus, such conditions would impose obstacles in their medical career. Moreover, it would be inappropriate if women or men are given concession for hours of duty, the court order noted. Confidence building measures During the proceedings, the bench underscored that doctors grievances over their safety were legitimate, even as it put on record that a meeting was held between the protesters and the chief minister a day ago, and some terms of agreement reached. Recognising that the junior doctors had shown willingness to return to work following the meeting with the CM, the court recorded a statement by senior counsel Indira Jaising that a general body meeting of doctors would soon take place to decide on formally calling off the strike. Ms Jaising says that with all the confidence-building measures taken by the state and those being put in place, doctors should not have any problem resuming work. She added that junior doctors will approach the general body so that a broad consensus can be arrived at for their return to work, the bench stated in its order. While Sibal sought a statement from Jaising regarding the date of the general body meeting and the resumption of duties by the junior doctors, Jaising refused to indicate any timeline. Security in government hospitals The court also took note of the ongoing agitation and recorded the terms of a settlement between the doctors and the state government on Monday. It directed the state to expedite the process of upgrading security and infrastructure in government hospitals, including the installation of CCTV cameras, biometric systems and additional police personnel. Government hospitals are particularly vulnerable, and young doctors, many of whom are fresh out of college, are justified in feeling insecure. The state must take immediate measures to address their concerns, said the bench. Sibal informed the court that 100 crore was sanctioned for upgrading hospital infrastructure, including restrooms and security arrangements, across the states hospitals. Safety of women doctors Senior advocate Karuna Nundy, appearing for senior doctors, raised serious concerns over the safety of doctors, particularly women, noting that the alleged perpetrator of the crime was a civic volunteer employed at the hospital. The presence of contractual staff in sensitive areas of hospitals, especially around female doctors, is a major security lapse, Nundy said. The court agreed with this observation and called for a review of the deployment of civic volunteers in hospitals. The bench remarked: You cannot have security entrusted to contractual staff. The alleged crime was committed by a volunteer. If we are going to have another set of people contractual staff walking around the hospital, what do we say about the safety of women doctors, the bench told Sibal, who agreed to convey the courts concerns to the state government. The bench also dismissed an application that sought the removal of Banerjee as CM, warning the lawyer involved against using the court as a political forum. This is not a political platform, alright? Your statements must follow the rules of legal discipline. We are not here to address your opinions about a political figure. Your interim application is beyond our purview, the court said. Sibal requested that the live streaming of the case be halted, but the court declined. We will not stop the livestreaming. It is in the public interest, retoretd CJI Chandrachud. Sibal also informed the court that lawyers in his chambers were receiving rape threats and threats of physical violence for representing West Bengal in the case. The Bench responded with reassurance, stating: If there are any threats to any man or woman, we will step in. The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed criminal proceedings against Army personnel involved in a botched counter-insurgency operation in December 2021, which killed 13 tribals in Nagalands Mon district, even as the court maintained that if Centre grants sanction for their prosecution, criminal proceedings will be revived. People protest against killing of 13 tribals in Mon district in December 2021. (PTI) The top courts order came as a relief to 30 Army personnel, including a Major, on a petition filed by the wives of three officers who questioned the authority of the Nagaland government to initiate criminal proceedings in violation of Section 6 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA). Under this law, prior sanction by Centre is required to initiate any criminal proceedings against Army officers. The Centre had rejected the grant of prosecution sanction against the personnel on February 28, 2023. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court bench of justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale, cited this ground alone to allow the petitions filed by Rabina Ghale, Tulsi Devi and Anjali Gupta. The bench said, The proceedings pursuant to the impugned FIRs shall remain closed. However, in case sanction is granted at any stage under Section 6 of the AFSP Act, 1958, the proceedings pursuant to the impugned FIRs may continue and may proceed in accordance with law and be brought to a logical conclusion. Quashing the proceedings against the accused personnel, the bench said, In view of the specific bar contained in Section 6 of the AFSP Act, 1958 which provides that no prosecution, suit, or other legal proceedings can be instituted except with the previous sanction of the Central government with respect to the exercise of any power conferred under the said Act, the proceedings based on the impugned FIRs cannot continue any further...the proceedings arising from the impugned FIRs deserve to be quashed. In an interim order in July 2022, the apex court stayed the criminal proceedings, and set out to examine Nagalands objections to dismiss the appeals. In the interregnum there was another development as the state challenged the Centres decision declining prosecution sanction, in a separate petition before the top court. Calling for Centres response, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud issued notice on the petition and admitted the appeal on April 16 . The bench said, We make it clear that if such situation arises at any stage, of sanction being granted under Section 6 of the AFSP Act, 1958, the proceedings pursuant to the impugned FIRs would continue according to law and may take its own course as provided under law. The state led by advocate general KN Balagopal informed the bench that during the trial before a Nagaland court, the Army had sought the release of its officers to initiate court martial proceedings against them. While the state demanded the court to pass an order directing disciplinary action to be initiated against the officers, the bench turned down the suggestion. Such an action, the court said, would be at the sole discretion of the Army. However, it held, The concerned wing of the Armed Forces would be at liberty to take or not to take any disciplinary proceedings against its officers. Acting on information that about a planned sabotage attack by armed insurgents, 30 personnel from 21 PARA(SF) laid an ambush near Oting village on December 4, 2021. The unit led by Major Ankush Gupta attacked a Bolero vehicle, killing six men from whom one banned single barrel rifle and seven machetes were recovered. When the locals found the six bodies, they attacked the army personnel, claiming the dead men were not insurgents. The villagers killed one paratrooper, chopped the finger of Major Gupta and destroyed Army vehicles. In the retaliatory fire by Army personnel, seven civilians were killed. The Army had lodged a counter-FIR over the murder of one of their jawans. A Special Investigation team (SIT) probe led by the Range Inspector General of Nagaland Police had recommended criminal prosecution of the 30 Army personnel for offences under the Indian Penal Code, namely Section 302 (murder), Section 307 (attempt to murder), Section 326 (causing hurt), Section 201 (destruction of evidence), read with Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), besides recommending disciplinary proceedings to be initiated against the personnel. The petition filed by Major Guptas wife and others through advocate Astha Sharma said, The manner in which the SIT has conducted its investigation and arrived at its findings, and on the basis of which a charge sheet has also been filed, portray and project a grim situation on ground. Seeking quashing of the FIR and the SIT report of March 24, 2022, the petitioner told the court that SIT disclosed personal information about the Army personnel making their family members sitting targets. Balagopal maintained that the incident was a clear case of unprovoked, cold-blooded murder against unarmed, innocent Naga tribals. He had urged the court that since the process of judicial review against denial of sanction was pending, the petition ought not to be entertained as the earlier order rejecting the sanction is no longer final. The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it clear that it will decide the legality of the immunity granted to husbands from prosecution for marital rape solely on legal principles, even if the Union government does not take a stand on the issue. The Union government has yet to finalise its stance on the matter. (HT file photo) Its a matter of law. They will have to argue on the point of law if they have chosen not to file an affidavit, said a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud. The courts statement came after senior counsel Indira Jaising, representing one of the petitioners, urged the bench to ensure an early hearing of the matter. During the proceedings, another lawyer pointed out that despite several opportunities, the Centre had yet to file its affidavit, clarifying its position on the issue. Responding to this, the bench, which also included justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, stated that the case, which challenges a legal provision of the penal code, would proceed as a question of law. The case figured in the courts list of business on Wednesday, but it could not be heard due to the day-long hearing in another matter relating to customs appeals. The Supreme Court is currently dealing with a batch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of Exception 2 under Section 375 of the IPC, which exempts a husband from being prosecuted for raping his wife. These public interest litigations (PILs) argue that the exception is discriminatory against married women who are sexually assaulted by their spouses. Also Read: Criminalising marital rape will have ramifications: Govt tells Supreme Court The issue also includes the Delhi High Courts split verdict from May 2022, which remains pending for the Supreme Courts final judgment. In that verdict, one judge declared the marital rape exception as morally repugnant, while the other judge ruled that the exception was valid and could continue to exist without violating the law. Among the pending cases is an appeal by a man whose trial for raping his wife was upheld by the Karnataka High Court in March 2022. The Supreme Court stayed this trial in July 2022. The then BJP-led Karnataka government had filed an affidavit in November 2022, supporting the prosecution of the husband, stating that the IPC allows for the criminal trial of a husband for raping his wife. However, the new government in Karnataka has not clarified whether it supports this position. In January 2023, the Supreme Court appointed advocates Pooja Dhar and Jaikriti S Jadeja as nodal counsel to streamline the proceedings by compiling a common document of relevant materials from all parties. The Union government has yet to finalise its stance on the matter. Last year, it informed the court that criminalising marital rape would have significant social ramifications, and it has since initiated consultations with states and stakeholders. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta argued that the issue cannot be viewed solely through the lens of legal principles but must also consider the wider social consequences. Despite this, no affidavit has been filed by the Centre to clarify its final position. This case has significant legal and social implications. In September 2022, while delivering a judgment on the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling that forcible sex by a husband can be considered rape under that statute, marking the first legal recognition of marital rape in India. The Supreme Court has previously interfered with Exception 2 of Section 375 of the IPC, although in a limited manner. In 2017, the court read down the provision to restrict the immunity to marriages where the wife is over 18 years of age, as opposed to the previous threshold of 15 years. However, at that time, the court did not deliver an opinion on the broader issue of marital rape. In May this year, the CJI-led bench had also admitted a fresh petition contesting the exception for marital rape under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) the new criminal code that replaced the IPC from July 1. This petition by the All India Democratic Womens Association (AIDWA) has also been tagged with the older batch of petitions raising the same issue. BJP's Rajya Sabha MP, Anil Bonde, said on Tuesday that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's tongue should not be severed but signed over his remarks on the reservation system. Rahul Gandhi had made a remark on reservation in the United States earlier this month. (PTI file photo) Bonde made the remark in reaction to a Shiv Sena MLA's statement that he would give 11 lakh to any person who chopped off Rahul Gandhi's tongue. Rahul Gandhi told students of Georgetown University in the United States that his party would think of scrapping reservations in jobs and educational institutions after India became "a fair place". Recently Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad's remark triggered a political row. BJP leader Bonde said at Amravati in Maharashtra on Tuesday, The language of cutting tongue is not proper, but what Rahul ji said against reservation is dangerous. "Hence, if anyone speaks anything absurd in a foreign country, then rather than chopping off his tongue, it should be singed. It is necessary to certainly singe the tongues of such people - be it Rahul Gandhi, Dnyanesh Maharao or Shyam Manav and people who hurt the feelings of the 'Bahujan' and majority," he said, per PTI. The Congress today filed a police complaint over a spate of statements against Rahul Gandhi, saying they were aimed at jeopardising his security and disturbing peace in view of assembly elections. In the complaint submitted to the SHO of the Tughlaq Road police station by AICC treasurer and general secretary Ajay Maken, the Congress cited recent remarks by BJP leaders Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Raghuraj Singh, as well as that of Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad. Maken sought registration of FIRs against the leaders. Speaking with the media after filing the complaint, Maken said, We all know that late Indira Gandhi ji and late Rajiv ji have sacrificed their lives for the country. Even after that, they are giving such threats. BJP MP Ravneet Bittu called Rahul Gandhi the "number one terrorist of the country". The Congress said Bittu's statement was aimed at provoking public hatred and outrage against Rahul Gandhi and inciting violence against him. With inputs from PTI Chennai: As the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu celebrated its 75th foundation day on Tuesday, party president and chief minister MK Stalin asserted the services of the Dravidian major were needed for a century to come while urging his party workers to strive and ensure a massive victory for the party in the 2026 assembly elections. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin addresses a gathering during 'Mupperum Vizha' in Chennai. (PTI) Stalin also used the platinum jubilee celebrations of his party to target the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government raising a raft of issues, including alleged meagre allocation of central funds, autonomy and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). A situation has arisen wherein theres no right to ask what the GST on cream bun is... despite the meagre financial allocation we were able to achieve so much. We can make Tamil Nadu the best state in the country if we get full financial allocation, he said. His GST remark was seen as a reference to a recent political row over a prominent businessman seeking a simpler GST regime during a meeting chaired by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Coimbatore, saying there was no tax on a plain bun, but a cream bun attracted 18%GST. Later, a video surfaced on social media purportedly showing him apologising to the minister in a private meeting, triggering sharp criticism of the BJP from political opponents. Stalin was addressing the Mupperum Vizha triple celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of his party and birth anniversaries of Dravidian movement founder EV Ramasamy, revered as Periyar, and late chief minister CN Annadurai, who parted ways with his mentor Periyar but kept the ideals of social justice and self-respect intact to found the DMK on September 17, 1949. We will win in the next assembly elections too. I am not saying this out of arrogance but out of faith in you, Stalin said while addressing a large crowd of party workers and supporters. The DMK has an ideology, strong cadres who can take this forward, and a leadership emboldened by the bravery of the cadres. Lets move on to the century (to come). Buoyed by the landslide victory in the Lok Sabha polls this summer, where the DMK-led alliance won all 39 parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry, Stalin urged his party cadres to work hard to ensure an unprecedented victory for the DMK in 2026. Are you prepared to script this chapter? he asked the crowd, which responded with a roaring yes. The message on our platinum jubilee year is that we will bring back our states rights. The DMK will continue to be the voice for states rights and state autonomy, Stalin said. We are with the people and thats why the people are with us and hence victory will be ours. On September 17, 1949, a group of young Tamil men, led by CN Annadurai popularly known as Anna (elder brother) gathered in Robinson Park at Royapuram in Madras (now Chennai) to float the DMK, as a breakaway faction of the Dravidar Kazhagam led by Periyar. Annadurai heralded the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu post-independence, when the regional party swept the elections in 1967. After the death of Anna in 1969, the party leadership was handed over to K Karunanidhi, who also took over as the chief minister a post he helmed on multiple occasions. Karunanidhi continued to head the DMK from 1969 till his death in 2018, following which his son Stalin took charge as the party chief. In the 75-year history of the DMK, it has been led by only three leaders Annadurai, Karunanidhi and Stalin. I wish to point out that the party was in power when it celebrated silver jubilee, golden jubilee and now the 75th anniversary, Stalin said. It will remain in power to celebrate the centenary and will last for another century. In October 1972, the then DMKs poster boy and Tamil matinee idol MG Ramachandran (MGR) formed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) after he was expelled from the party by Karunanidhi. For its platinum jubilee celebrations, the DMK on Monday evening held a massive conference in Chennai bringing a hologram of its five-time CM Karunanidhi replaying one his famous speeches, praising his son Stalin with an ode to Periyar and Anna. In his speech Stalin also said advocating for states rights was one of the foremost ideals of Periyar and Anna. Kolkata rape-murder case: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee urged the protesting junior doctors in Kolkata to end their cease-work protest and work "collaboratively" with the West Bengal government to implement safety measures for doctors across hospitals. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee speaking in a student rally (File image)(Hindustan Times) Abhishek Banerjee also said, as per the Supreme Court's direction, most of the measures promised by the state government, including the installation of CCTV cameras and other infrastructural developments, are under progress and will be completed within 14 days. The ruling TMC-led government announced several such measures after the rape and murder of a postgraduate doctor inside Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 shocked the conscience of medical fraternity and led to nationwide protests. Since day one, I have supported the doctors in their concerns regarding safety and security, and I have always maintained that most of their concerns, barring a few, are valid, sensible and justified, he wrote on X. The Diamond Harbour MP also noted that the state government has transferred former Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal and other senior officials of the health department. As a gesture of goodwill, the doctors should now consider CALLING OFF THE STRIKE AND WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH GoWB to serve the people and expedite the implementation of the task force's initiatives to ensure these changes are promptly executed, the post added. Questioning the CBI's record, he also alleged that the agency has not completed a single investigation they have undertaken over the past decade. Lastly, it is crucial to hold the CBI accountable and ensure that no perpetrators are spared, with swift punishment handed down at the earliest opportunity, Abhishek said. The TMC has been questioning the central agency ever since the probe was transferred from Kolkata police by the Calcutta High Court. In her address on TMC's foundation day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also questioned the CBI for the alleged delay in completing the probe and said the Kolkata police would have completed the probe in seven days if the high court had not handed over the investigation to the central agency. NEW DELHI: India abstained on Wednesday as the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution by an overwhelming margin to demand an end to Israels occupation of Palestine within a year. The final result of a vote during the emergency session on the legal consequences of Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories is shown at United Nations Headquarters on September 18 in New York. (AFP) The vote came in the middle of an emergency special session of the world body that is considering Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory against the backdrop of the conflict in Gaza. India, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Nepal, Sweden and the UK were among 43 countries that abstained as the resolution was adopted with 124 votes in its favour. Argentina and the US were among 14 countries that voted against the resolution. India has largely abstained on most resolutions related to Israel at UN bodies since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict. After initially expressing solidarity with Israel in the wake of the terror attacks by Hamas, India adopted a more nuanced position and demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to dialogue and diplomacy aimed at ensuring a two-state solution. It has also called for the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Under the newly adopted resolution, the General Assembly demanded that Israel should end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution. The General Assembly further demanded that Israel comply without delay with all its legal obligations under international law, including as stipulated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This includes withdrawing all Israeli military forces from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including its airspace and maritime space, and ending its unlawful policies and practices, including immediately ceasing all new settlement activity, evacuating all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, dismantling the parts of the wall constructed by Israel that are situated in the Territory, and repealing all legislation and measures creating or maintaining the unlawful situation. Japan, which voted in favour of the resolution, said it attaches great importance to the ICJ and its work. Japans representative told the General Assembly that, as stated in the ICJs advisory opinion, Israeli settlement activities undermine the advancement of a two-state solution. Japan will continue to support efforts by the US, Egypt and Qatar to negotiate a ceasefire, returning the hostages taken by Hamas in October last year, and ensuring that humanitarian aid enters Gaza. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved former President Ram Nath Kovind-led committees report on the one nation, one election proposal months after it was submitted to the government recommending a legally tenable mechanism to restore simultaneous elections. Ram Nath Kovind presenting the report to President Droupadi Murmu. (X) Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the report found widespread support for simultaneous polls and that the Cabinet approved it unanimously. He added recommendations of the panel will be discussed across India. Implementation group will be formed to take forward recommendations of the panel on simultaneous polls, said Vaishnaw. A number of parties have supported simultaneous polls. We will seek to create consensus over next few months. Sanjay Jha, the working president of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s key ally Janata Dal (United), said their leader, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, has favoured synchronise elections. The only suggestion we made is that Panchayat polls should not be clubbed with the general and state elections, Jha said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reiterated his criticism of the idea of synchronised polls, insisting it was impractical. He added the Kovid panel report has been approved to divert attention. Vaishanw responded to Kharges reaction saying the opposition might start feeling internal pressure. More than 80% of respondents, particularly the youth have responded positively to this... Trinamool Congress lawmaker Derek OBrien called the approval for the proposal a cheap stunt from the anti-democratic BJP. Why were Maharashtra elections not announced along with polls in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir? Heres why. The Maharashtra government announced the Ladki Bahin scheme in the budget this June. The first tranche reached the bank accounts of women in August and the second tranche will reach beneficiaries in October. You cannot do three states in one go and you talk about ONOE [one nation, one poll], he said. The Kovind panel was mandated to study the existing framework and recommend amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, etc needed for synchronised polls. It recommended simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the assemblies as the first step. It then suggested the elections to municipalities and panchayats be synchronised with those for Lok Sabha and assemblies. This was proposed to be done in a way that polls to local bodies are held within 100 days of those to Lok Sabha and assemblies. The panel said implementing step one does not need ratification by the states. The committee recommended an amendment to the Constitution to introduce the concepts of full and unexpired terms. It said the election held in case a House is dissolved sooner than its full term would be considered a mid-term poll. The panel added election held after the expiry of five years would be a general election. Simultaneous polls shall mean general elections for constituting the Lok Sabha and all the state assemblies together, it said. One nation, one election was one of the key promises in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s manifesto for the 2024 national elections. In August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged political parties to help realise the goal of one nation, one election, underlining frequent polls were a hurdle to Indias progress. He referred to extensive consultations across the country on the issue and said all political parties have given their views. Modi said Kovind-led panel has submitted an excellent report. Frequent elections are creating hurdles in the progress of the nation. It has become easy to link any scheme or initiative with elections. There are elections somewhere every three to six months. Every work is linked to elections, Modi said in his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day. He added the nation has to come forward for one nation, one election. Modi asked the parties to ensure that national resources are used for the common man. We have to come forward to realise the dream of one nation one election. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday resigned as Delhis chief minister and handed the baton over to Atishi, who staked claim to form the next government, marking the latest churn in the Capitals political upheaval with just months to go for assembly elections. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Atishi with Delhi LG VK Saxena at the LG House. Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister, while Atishi stakes a claim to the position, on Tuesday. (HT Photo) Atishi, a sitting minister in Delhi whose steep rise in the party coincided with its most turbulent phase as senior leaders were jailed on corruption charges, met lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena on Tuesday evening, accompanied by Kejriwal and other ministers. The people of Delhi, the MLAs of the AAP, and I, being the chief minister (designate), will now work with only one objective till the elections in the next few months take place that we have to make Arvind Kejriwal the chief minister of Delhi again, Atishi said. Delhi has only one chief minister and his name is Arvind Kejriwal. Atishis elevation caps a dramatic sequence of events that began on Sunday when Kejriwal announced that he will resign as chief minister within two days and go to the people to seek a fresh mandate. His shock declaration came two days after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in connection with the excise policy case. Rules say the LG will now send the resignation to the President and a recommendation on the proposal of the CM-designate to form the new government. After the Presidents consent, the LG will invite the CM-designate to take oath. Atishi will become the third woman chief minister of Delhi after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit, and only the second sitting woman chief minister in India alongside Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal. But her nomination also marks a meteoric rise for the 43-year-old who was in academia just 11 years ago and who won her first election in 2020, triumphing in Kalkaji assembly seat by 11,000 votes. We have submitted the letter staking claim to form the government to the LG. We hope that soon the process will be completed, she said, alleging that Kejriwal was facing being targeted by federal probe agencies. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged Atishi was a proxy CM. Atishi said that Delhi has only one CM, Arvind Kejriwal. Does it mean that she will only get the designation and not the responsibilities of a CM? Does it mean Arvind Kejriwal will enjoy the power without any responsibilities?... I request the people of Delhi to elect BJPs government in the upcoming elections... said BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj. Sitting ministers in the Kejriwal cabinet Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain are likely to get a place in the new cabinet, said AAP members. The new cabinet will also likely add two new members, including one from the Dalit communities, said people aware of the developments. The developments underline the churn in Delhis politics, just months ahead of its scheduled assembly polls in February 2025. The AAP, which is battling mounting allegations of financial irregularities and crumbling civic infrastructure in the Capital, has been buoyed in recent weeks by the release of senior leaders such as Kejriwal and former deputy CM Manish Sisodia. The Supreme Court not only granted him bail but also made harsh remarks against the Centre and its probe agencies calling them a caged parrot, she said. Had it been some other leader, they would have kept the chief ministers chair but Kejriwal decided to go to the peoples court. He resigned, she added. Earlier in the day, the AAP legislature party meeting authorised Kejriwal to pick the new chief minister and he proposed the Kalkaji lawmakers name. Kejriwals proposal was accepted by all 60 legislators present. The CM-designate reiterated that she will work with the objective to make Kejriwal the CM again. Before the elections, I have two tasks to run a campaign with the people of Delhi to make Kejriwal CM of Delhi again; and ensure that BJP does not hatch a conspiracy to stop free electricity, free treatment, treatment in mohalla clinics and does not shut down good schools, said Atishi. Kejriwal will continue as the caretaker CM till the new government takes oath, said an official of Delhi government. After that, Kejriwal would have to leave the official residence at Flagstaff Road, where he moved in 2015 and which was the centre of a political storm over expansive renovations. People in the AAP said Kejriwal is ready to vacate the bungalow. Today, Arvind Kejriwal has resigned. It is a moment of sadness for the Aam Aadmi Party, our legislative party and the people of Delhi, but the people of Delhi have vowed to make Kejriwal the CM of Delhi in the upcoming elections. Because they know that without an honest CM like Arvind Kejriwal people of Delhi will not get free electricity, schools will not be good, mohalla clinics will shut down, women will not get free bus rides. The AAP MLAs and the two crore people of Delhi have started the mission to make Kejriwal CM again in the upcoming election. Till elections are held, CM has trusted me and given me this responsibility, said Atishi. The AAP urged the LG to swear Atishi in as soon as possible and said she submitted the support letter with signatures of 60 MLAs to the LG. This is not the first time Kejriwal has quit the post. In 2014, he resigned after just 49 days in office in a coalition government with the Congress, only for his party to sweep Delhi in the 2015 assembly polls, winning 67 seats. The party will be hoping that Kejriwals extensive grassroots campaign can repeat that success and blunt criticism over civic infrastructure, governance deficits and anti-incumbency. Atishi a first-time lawmaker who held 13 portfolios, including education, public works department, power, revenue, planning, finance, services, vigilance, water, and public relations was inducted in the government after Sisodias arrest in 2023. She emerged as the face of the government when Kejriwal was arrested. In August, Kejriwal wrote to Saxena recommending that Atishi be allowed to hoist the Tricolour at Delhis Independence Day celebrations in his absence. The recommendation underlined Atishis significance in the Cabinet even as Saxena nominated her colleague Kailash Gahlot to unfurl the flag. An AAP leader said Atishi will expand the cabinet after taking oath as CM. Delhi cabinet will have seven ministers including the chief minister. The names of the cabinet ministers will be decided soon, said the leader. Kejriwal will likely hold a string of rallies and launch door-to-door outreach campaigns while asking people to vote him back in power if they believe in his honesty, said AAP officials. In a post on X, Kejriwal extended his wishes to Atishi. Best wishes to Atishi ji he said. On September 13, addressing the Indian community in Geneva, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar side-stepped a question about some foreign diplomats based in New Delhi having personal meetings with certain Opposition leaders in their state. U.S. diplomats call on Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) Vice President Omar Abdullah, at his Gupkar residence in Srinagar on Monday. The US delegation included Minister-Counsellor for Political Affairs Graham Mayer, First Secretary Gary Applegarth, and Political Counsellor Abhiram.(ANI) Jaishankar said: I have no problems if people comment about our politics, but then, I think in fairness, they should also be ready to hear my comments about their politics. While Narendra Modi-led India has no problems with foreign diplomats meeting Opposition leaders as Bharat is the worlds biggest democracy, it has noted the timing of the visit of US diplomats including Political Affairs Counsellor to Srinagar to meet National Conference leaders in election-bound UT of Jammu and Kashmir late last month. Also Read | Engineer Rashid's AIP joins forces with leaders of banned Jamaat-e-Islami for J&K polls The Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong, who took over charge in May 2024, met then CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja in late June. While US, UK and Chinese diplomats may consider themselves more equal than others, it would be interesting to see the reaction of the Biden-Harris administration if Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Republican US Presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York during his visit to the US over the weekend. Trump has claimed that PM Modi is coming to meet him in New York. Even though minister Jaishankar did not answer the question directly, he also gave a message to Indian diplomats that they should also not be shy of meeting Opposition party leaders and media in the countries to which they are posted. Fact is that Indian diplomats in countries like Pakistan, Iran, China and Canada are kept under constant intelligence surveillance, physically and mentally harassed and are virtually forced to stay within the embassy compounds. Also Read | Afzal Gurus brother to contest J&K polls from Sopore But diplomats of the above-mentioned countries and the P-5 on the other hand have a field day when they are posted in India with government officials and ministers downwards ready to talk to them. Fact is that a Pakistan ambassador to India who served in Modi 1.0 used to have a permanent slot in a five-star hotel restaurant where he would entertain all top honchos of selected media and certain government officials to get Islamabad's point of view across in India. This is also a standard habit of EU countries. Before the Modi government decided to enforce reciprocity in diplomatic personnel with Canada, the representatives of Ottawa were merrily engaging politicians of the ruling party in Delhi and Punjab with one diplomat assigned to one important leader of the ruling party. At the same time, Indian diplomats were being harassed by Khalistani elements at the instigation of the Trudeau regime in Canada with Sikh extremists putting up posters targeting PM Modi, Minister Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval. The same has been happening in the US since PM Modi took over and cannot be without the knowledge of the State and Justice departments. After the Modi government showed the mirror to Iranian religious leaders for his totally inappropriate remarks on the treatment of minorities in India, it is quite evident that Bharat will retaliate to any mischievous barb directed at the country or indirectly through propaganda media. India believes in a diplomatic level playing field. The involved facilities span areas such as basic nuclear research, isotope production, nuclear environment simulation, equipment testing, and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. VIENNA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will open 12 nuclear research facilities and testing platforms to international scientists and institutions to enhance global cooperation, a senior Chinese official said here on Monday. These include the China Advanced Research Reactor, the new-generation tokamak device Huanliu-3, and the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory, Liu Jing, vice chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA), said at a meeting on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) annual general conference. The facilities span areas such as basic nuclear research, isotope production, nuclear environment simulation, equipment testing, and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. Monday's meeting, themed "Share for Development," was organized by the CAEA to promote international cooperation in nuclear technology research and development, as China marks the 40th anniversary of its accession to the IAEA. Yu Jianfeng, chairman of China National Nuclear Corporation, said at the event that the company aims to deepen cooperation with the IAEA and expand international collaboration. He expressed hope that opening China's nuclear research facilities will contribute to advancing nuclear technology globally. IAEA's Deputy Director General Mikhail Chudakov commended China's remarkable achievements in nuclear energy development and highlighted the long-standing, fruitful relationship between the IAEA and the CAEA. Welcoming China's decision to open up more of its nuclear research and development facilities, Chudakov said the move will further strengthen the agency's technical capacity to support its member states. On Monday evening, the CAEA and China's permanent mission to the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations in Vienna jointly held a reception at the UN headquarters in Vienna to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's accession to the IAEA. More than 200 participants, including IAEA representatives and foreign envoys to Vienna, attended the event. Li Song, China's permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, said at the reception that China and the IAEA have expanded practical cooperation and jointly promoted the development of nuclear energy over the past 40 years. China, he said, will continue to strengthen collaboration with the IAEA and its member states to address emerging challenges in international security, safeguard the global non-proliferation regime, and promote the use of nuclear energy and technology for the benefit of the Global South. At the reception, Liu, Li and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi jointly unveiled a bronze statue of Qian Sanqiang, a renowned Chinese nuclear physicist and one of the founders of China's nuclear industry. The statue, donated by China, will be permanently displayed at the IAEA headquarters, alongside sculptures of Polish-French physicist Marie Curie and other prominent figures who have made significant contributions to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. A day after triggering a row by announcing a reward for those who would chop off Rahul Gandhi's tongue, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad courted another controversy on Tuesday by saying he would bury "Congress dogs". Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction MLA from Buldhana Sanjay Gaikwad (Twitter/ ANI Photo) Gaikwad is heard saying in a purported video that he would bury any "Congress dog" who tries to enter an event attended by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde. "If any Congress dog tries to enter my programme, I will bury them then and there," Gaikwad said. The Shiv Sena MLA made headlines with his remark that he would give 11 lakh to anyone who chops off Rahul Gandhi's tongue. He made the controversial remark in reaction to Gandhi's reservation statement. "I have made the statement. If I have not apologised, why should the CM do so?... Of 140 crore people in the country, 50 per cent of the population gets reservations. And I am firm on the statement I made about the person who spoke about removing reservation," Gaikwad said when asked about the controversy. The police on Monday night registered a case against him over the remark. Gaikwad is known for his controversies. Last month, a video of a policeman washing his car went viral on social media. The MLA later claimed the policeman cleaned it on his own after vomiting inside. In February, Gaikwad claimed to have hunted a tiger in 1987. The forest department then charged him under the Wildlife Protection Act. Gaekwad accused Rahul Gandhi of trying to finish off the reservation system in India. "This has exposed the true face of the CongressDuring his recent US visit, Rahul Gandhi talked about ending reservations. It shows the mindset that is inherently opposed to reservations. I will reward anyone who cuts off Rahul Gandhi's tongue with 11 lakh," he added. Maharashtra legislative assembly Leader of Opposition and Congress leader. Vijay Wadettiwar, called the Sena MLA's remarks "nonsense" and demanded strict action against him. With inputs from PTI Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, has said that he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, during a speech in which he referred to Modi as a fantastic man while also terming India a big abuser on trade. Republican presidential nominee and former US president Donald Trump (REUTERS) Trump, who is locked into a fierce and close contest with Vice President and Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris, was speaking at a campaign event in Michigan on Tuesday evening (Wednesday IST) about the trade tariffs that he intends to impose if re-elected. In that backdrop, Trump said, So when India which is a very big abuser... He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week. And Modi, you are fantastic. Fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic. You have to understand one thing These people are the sharpest people, they are not a little bit backward. They are at the top... of their game. And they use it against us. But India is very tough. Brazil is very tough China is the toughest of all. Trump then went on to reiterate his policy on reciprocal tariff. To be sure, India hasnt responded to Trumps comments and the official release about the PMs visit does not have meetings scheduled with either Trump or Harris. Modi is travelling to the US from Saturday. He will first visit Delaware to attend the Quad Leaders Summit at President Joe Bidens home in Wilmington. He will then head to New York to attend a diaspora event on Sunday, address the United Nations Summit of the Future, and engage with other heads of government and business leaders. While Modis visit is aimed at bilateral and multilateral events, it is happening just five weeks before the American presidential elections. In 2019, Modi and Trump participated in the Howdy Modi event in Houston, and in 2020, the two leaders held a Namaste Trump event in Ahmedabad. The Houston event, in particular, had given rise to apprehensions among some Democrats about Indias role in domestic American politics. New Delhi had to repeatedly emphasise, through words and actions, to Democratic interlocutors, that India did not have any partisan preferences in America. The 2019-2020 experience is why this time around, organisers of the diaspora event were careful in ensuring that it remained strictly non-political. As HT reported last month, no elected officials are being invited for Modis event in Long Island on Sunday. But Trumps statement announcing the meeting with Modi, without any such corresponding meeting scheduled with Harris so far unless she comes to Delaware for the Quad summit or travels to NYC for the UN summit may result in a renewal of apprehensions among Democrats and force India to walk a fine political and diplomatic line next week. Those familiar with the issue say India would prefer to engage with both candidates if schedules align. Trumps comments also point to the other big substantive issue that is expected to affect ties if he is elected trade. During his first term, the US revoked preferential trade status to India and imposed tariffs; this resulted in India imposing retaliatory tariffs. Trump himself was particularly invested in getting India to reduce import duties on Harley Davidson bikes. In his autobiography, Robert Lighthizer, Trumps top trade czar, who is expected to get a top cabinet position if Republicans win, has written a critical account of the negotiations with India on the subject. Triptii Dimri shared snippets of her Leh vacation on her Instagram story. She captured the colourful prayer flags fluttering in the wind, and the stark, rugged landscape of Leh. The actor visited stores that had fascinating displays of traditional Tibetan masks. She shared her gastronomic indulgence in Leh with a picture of tender Leh momos. Triptii Dimri shared pictures of her Leh trip on her Instagram. (Instagram/@ttripti_dimri) Leh is indeed a beautiful and tranquil place to visit for mental and emotional rejuvenation. Leh has scenic lakes, cerulean skies free of pollution, rugged terrain, and the mystical and serene touch of the Buddhist monasteries. If youre inspired by her Leh-Ladadkh adventure and keen on visiting, here are some must-visit places and food you need to try. Places to visit Pangong Lake The crystal-blue water of the lake looks beautiful. (Shutterstock) Ladakh visit is incomplete without visiting this lake. One of the iconic 3 Idiots scenes was shot here. Maybe you can recreate them, by the high-altitude crystal clear lake reflecting the blue sky and hills around in its water. Nubra Valley The Nubra Valley landscape is a stark contrast between barren and fertile areas. (Shutterstock) This is a cold desert and has stunning views that will leave you mesmerised. The barren landscape around, with the lofty rugged hills, provides quite a contrast to the lush greenery growing by the banks of the river Nubra, acting as an oasis in the bleak terrain. Hemis National Park Hemis National Park has snow leopards. (Shutterstock) This is a high-altitude national park and is the largest in the country. It is also the home to the snow leopards. This national park is a dream destination for bird watchers as numerous exotic bird species can be spotted. Thiksey Monastery Thiksey Monastery is a divine and calming place to unwind and relax. (Shutterstock) Situated atop a hill, this 12-storey building has breathtaking architecture. With snow-capped mountains in the backdrop, the monastery is a tranquil place to unwind and connect with spiritual energies. Leh market No place is truly explored unless you bask in its culture, and what better way to understand the culture than by visiting a local market? Its a lively place where you can mingle with both tourists and locals. Tibetan handicrafts, Ladakhi carpets, woollen garments, and silver and stone jewellery are all found here. Keep an eye out for apricot jam made from the luscious fruits grown in the desert. ALSO READ: In awe of Disha Patani's kimono pics from her Kyoto holiday? Top serene places in Kyoto Local food to try Thukpa: It's a soupy dish that has noodles, veggies, and meat in a rich, spicy broth. The noodles are thick strips, prepared from wheat or barley flour. Skyu: Skyu is another soupy dish. This has flavourful broth, with veggies and small balls made from flour, after flattening the dough into tiny balls. Tingmo: This is a local Tibetan bread, and is served with vegetables. The soft, tender bun that looks like it's tightly coiled, does not contain any filling. Butter tea: A must-try, local Ladakhi chai. The tea is made by adding butter, milk, and salt, which are churned together until they blend completely with the boiled tea leaves. Chhutagi: This is a desi, Leh pasta. The flattened dough is typically cut into circular pieces and shaped into bow-tie forms. These pieces are then cooked in a hearty, flavourful broth made from either vegetables or meat. ALSO READ: Your next dream vacation at Chhattisgarh: Eco-tourism hotspot that will change the way you travel A ban on new licenses for short-term rentals in three districts in central Athens will be in force for at least a year, the Greek government said on Monday, also raising the tax on such holiday lets. Tourists carry their luggage in the neighborhood of Koukaki, in Athens, Greece. Travelling to Athens? Here's how new rental rules in Greece could affect your vacation (REUTERS/Louiza Vradi) Like many other European tourism destinations, Greece is seeking to balance a profitable industry fuelled by online platforms such as Airbnb with the needs of locals facing a housing shortage. A lack of housing and the rising cost of living prompted the country this month to announce an increase in a tax on short-term rentals, ban new licences in central Athens and give homeowners incentives to switch to long-term rentals. Detailing that plan, Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said on Monday that the ban for new licences on short-term rentals in three districts in central Athens could be extended beyond the initial one year. "We have found that they (short-term rentals) operate somehow as hotels, while there is also a lot of pressure on society," Kefalogianni told reporters. The government said the ban on new short-term lets in Athens would take effect on Jan. 1, 2025. With many homeowners choosing short-term lets for their property, Athenians are having a hard time to find an affordable house to rent. "I was looking for a house for eight-nine months and ended up in the one I'm in now," said Alma Lazi, 34, a private sector worker who lives in the central Athens borough of Pangrati. "Even during that period when I was looking and expanding the range of areas that I was considering, I didn't find anything I could afford to maintain." GREECE EYES RECORD TOURISM REVENUE A daily tax on short-term rentals which helps the country deal with the impact of natural disasters related to climate change will be increased to 8 euros from 1.5 euros for the April-to-October period, Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said. The tax will rise to 2 euros from 0.5 euros for the winter months. Greece expects its revenue from tourism to hit 22 billion euros this year, another record high, Kefalogianni said. The Mediterranean country, with its crystal-clear waters and pristine beaches, reported record tourism revenue of 20.6 billion euros last year. Data so far indicated that 2024 will be another good year, Kefalogianni added. "Greece is in the top 10 of the most popular tourist destinations in the world," she said. "We can be hopeful that revenues could reach as much as 22 billion euros." A 20-euro levy on cruise ship visitors to the islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season, another measure announced earlier this month to battle over-tourism, will take effect next year, Kefalogianni said. ($1 = 0.8986 euros) What are patrons quaffing in upmarket bars across the country? Which whisky does Mumbai prefer, and what hits the spot in Hyderabad? The What India is Drinking 2024 survey, released last week by bar ranking platform 30BestBars India, aims to provide a broad sense of the developments and trends in the Indian alcobev scene. (Also read: Johnnie Walkers latest is a Blue Label with umami) Don Julio Blanco and Don Julio Reposado are still the go-to choice? The second edition of the annual on-trade focused report, which lists the ten most popular consumer brand choices across twenty different alcohol and non-alcohol categories, is based on direct responses from bar owners, bartenders and beverage managers of 116 bars across 15 cities, from Aer at the Four Seasons in Mumbai to The Maroon Room in Guwahati. Over 600 brands found a mention in this years report, and 71 Indian brands registered their presence in the top 10 across various spirit categories, said Vikram Achanta, co-founder of 30BestBars India. The key takeaway from the report is about how the surge in interest in premium offerings is helping both multinationals such as Diageo and Pernod Ricard as well as Indian distillers to further consolidate their premiumisation efforts, and this hold true not just for whisky. Premium gins such as Diageos Tanqueray and Bacardis Bombay Sapphire and vodkas such as Grey Goose are popular in tier 2 cities such as Guwahati. Tier 2 cities have also shown a marked preference for cognacs like Martell. And while Old Monk still remains a cult favourite in Mumbai and Delhi, the survey found a noticeable shift towards upmarket brands such as Appleton Estate and Flor de Cana. While the list unsurprisingly features several international heavy hitters such as Johnnie Walker and Bacardi, Achanta said that the large number of Indian brands in the report is yet another reminder of the rise and rise of homegrown spirits. Here, we take a look at some of the insights the survey has thrown up across spirit categories. International Single Malts and Blended Scotch Global whisky powerhouses Glenlivet and Glenfiddich grabbed the first two positions in the international single malts category. The worlds largest Scotch whisky market (by volume) loves its Scotch. This is reflected in the rankings of both the international single malts category as well as the blended Scotch and blended malt category. Global whisky powerhouses Glenlivet and Glenfiddich grabbed the first two positions in the international single malts category, closely followed by the likes of Diageos Talisker, Laphroaig, and The Singleton. Pernod Ricards Glenlivet was the most favoured whisky at bars in Goa, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Kolkata. Glenlivet, in fact, swapped places with Glenfiddich this year. Thats commendable considering it is not available in Delhi, which is one of the largest markets we surveyed, said Achanta. Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal occupied the first two rungs in the blended whisky category. The Bacardi-Martini-owned Dewars focus on the highball helped it get into the top three, nudging the popular Monkey Shoulder to fourth position. Indian Single Malts Piccadily Distilleries Indri emerged as the number 1 Indian single malt, dethroning last years favourite Paul John. Amrut slotted into third position, followed by Diageos Godawan and Radico Khaitans Rampur. Patrons were also curious about two new launches Pernod Ricards Longitude and Southseas Distilleries Crazy Cock. International Whiskies Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Jim Beam are among Indias most ordered non-scotch whiskies. Suntorys Toki and Hibiki (#4 and #5) also found favour with audiences across cities, according to the report. Its surprising that no other Irish whiskey brand has taken advantage of the inroads that Jameson has made, said Achanta. Gin The ranking for the top gin brands remain mostly unchanged from last year, with Bombay Sapphire, Tanqueray, Roku, Hendricks and Greater Than maintaining their positions in the top 5. The other Indian gins in the top ten were Hapusa (#7) and Stranger & Sons (#9). But the authors of the report say that the lack of new Indian brands on the list could possibly be a wake-up call for Indian gin entrepreneurs to revitalise the brands they have launched. Rum Bacardi and cult favourite Old Monk retained their top spots this year, while Diplomaticos rise to #3 from ninth place last year is seen as evidence of the first signs of premiumisation of the category. Other Indian rum brands in the top ten rum list include Short Story (#6); Maka Zai (#8) and Amrut Two Indies (#9). Vodka Like rum, vodka, too, appears be on a premiumisation journey with Ketel One and Belvedere, jointly ranked #3, pushing Smirnoff into fourth position. Grey Goose, meanwhile, continues to occupy the top spot. Hakus entry into the list (#7) points to the strong brand franchise for Japanese spirits in India, says the report. Agave The young and the well-heeled are increasingly choosing agave over gin, says Achanta. Patron was the most in-demand tequila across the cities surveyed, taking over from Jose Cuervo, while Don Julio, owned by Diageo, registered an impressive rise from #10 last year to second position. The list, dominated by Mexican classics, features two homegrown brands: Maya Pistola (#6) and Desmondji (#10). The Indian consumer is upgrading when it comes to agave, and they are looking beyond mixto or 51% agave brands, says Achanta, who expects both more imports as well as the entry of new Indian agave brands next year. Beer (Indian and International) Kingfisher, expectedly, dominates the Indian beer sector, with Bira 91 and wares from Goa Brewing Co. also proving to be popular choices. The others on the list include Toit (#4), Great State Ale Works (#6), and Lone Wolf (#10). According to the report, the presence of several microbreweries on the list is a growing sign of easing of regulations linked to tapping or permitting microbreweries to supply kegs to other bars and of the rise of macrobreweries such as Toit. Wine (International and Indian) There were no surprises here. Pernod Ricards Jacobs Creek remained the top choice for the second year in a row, while Sula, Fratelli and Grover Zampa once again registered podium finishes. Craft wine brand Krsma rise up the ranks to #4 from eighth position last year is an indicator of the potential of premium, small batch Indian wines, says the report. Top Indian brands across categories: Earth is set to witness a mini-moon called 2024 PT5, a small asteroid that will not collide with Earth but will orbit around it, similar to the Moon, for a brief period of around two months by the end of this month. A study suggests that 2024 PT5 likely originated from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which contains space rocks that orbit the sun near Earth. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) According to a paper published in the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, the asteroid will be temporarily captured by Earth's gravity until around November. Detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on August 7, it will orbit Earth from September 29 to November 25 before breaking free from the planet's gravitational pull. Astronomers refer to it as a temporarily captured flyby since it wont complete a full orbit. In contrast, mini-moons that do complete a full orbit are known as temporarily captured orbiters. A report by Live Science mentioned a study suggesting that 2024 PT5 likely originated from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which contains space rocks that orbit the sun near Earth. Due to its orbit being similar to Earth's, calculations show that the asteroid will return to orbit Earth in January 2025 and again in 2055. Also Read | Catch a partial lunar eclipse during Septembers supermoon Is it normal for Earth to attract asteroids like this? The research paper explained that Earth can periodically capture asteroids from the Near-Earth Object (NEO) population, pulling them into orbit and turning them into mini-moons. The researchers noted that the recently discovered Apollo-class NEO 2024 PT5 follows a path similar to that of 2022 NX1 and may soon become a mini-moon. NASA considers any space object within about 120 million miles (190 million kilometres) of Earth as a near-Earth object and classifies larger objects within 4.7 million miles (7.5 million kilometres) as potentially hazardous. NASA monitors around 28,000 asteroids through ATLAS, a system of four telescopes that scans the entire night sky every 24 hours. Also Read | Stuck-in-space astronauts reflect on being left behind and adjusting to life in orbit Previous instances of Earth getting mini-moons - In 2020, a mini-moon was discovered, later identified as random space junk a rocket booster from the 1966 Surveyor 2 Centaur launch. - Many asteroids frequently return to Earth's vicinity. For example, the asteroid 2022 NX1 became a mini-moon in 1981 and again in 2022, with another return expected in 2051. - The asteroid 2006 RH120 orbited Earth for an entire year, from July 2006 to July 2007. - Some researchers believe this phenomenon is so consistent that Earth may always have a mini-moon orbiting somewhere nearby. Can we witness 2024 PT5 with our naked eye? Despite its 57-day close flyby of Earth, the asteroid will be difficult to spot due to its small size, measuring just 33 feet (10 meters) wide. According to NASA, 2024 PT5 has an absolute magnitude of 27.593, making it too dim to see, even with a telescope. For comparison, the dimmest objects visible to the naked eye at night have a magnitude of around 6.5, and a 12-inch telescope can detect objects with a magnitude of about 16 or 17. This means amateur astronomers won't be able to observe 2024 PT5, as it would require a much more powerful telescope. A tragic incident unfolded in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in eastern China, where a delivery driver was found dead while napping on his bike. Reportedly, the man, the sole breadwinner of his family, worked 18 hours daily to earn a living. As per his fellow riders, there were times when he used to sleep just for three hours before starting work. A Chinese delivery driver who had 18-hour workdays died while resting on his bike. (Unsplash/paoloficasso) How did the incident come to light? According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a video of the incident surfaced on the countrys social media platforms, sparking outrage and conversations on the delivery agents' welfare and legal rights. 18 hour workdays The delivery worker, surnamed Yuan, was found dead on his electric bike - where he was resting after a gruelling workday. Reportedly, he was supporting the studies of his 16-year-old son. His other son is married and stays in another part of the country with his family. Co-workers reactions: He would sometimes work until 3am, then rise at 6am to start again. When he felt fatigued, he would take a brief nap on his bike, ready to return to work as soon as an order came in, Yuans co-worker Yang told the outlet. Another of the victims co-workers shared that he suffered a leg fracture from an accident while he was out to deliver an order. However, he just rested for ten days before returning to work. Reportedly, this incident took place just two weeks before his death. Social media outrage: The incident sparked anger among people, who raised questions about the hardship faced by delivery agents. Just like this individual who posted, Another Order King has fallen. Is there really no way to avoid these tragedies? Another person commented, He was in his 50s, the sole breadwinner of his family, working day and night. May he rest in peace. I hope in his next life, he will not have to race against time like this. Statement from Xianlin Sub-district Office in Yuhang district: The organisation confirmed that the delivery driver collapsed and died despite emergency treatment. They also issued a statement regarding the incident. The food delivery platform, the insurance company, and the family have reached an agreement. Follow-up arrangements are being carried out in an orderly manner, according to the announcement. Amazon CEO Andy Jassys return-to-office mandate received heavy criticism from the employees. The 56-year-old took over the role of CEO from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021 amid the pandemic when most corporates around the world shifted to a work-from-home (WFH) structure. In his recent lengthy memo to the staffers, the CEO shared about a couple of changes the company is set to make to strengthen its culture and teams," including shift from WFH or Hybrid model to work from office (WFO). Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, issued a mandate asking employees to return to office by January 2025. (REUTERS) Message from CEO Andy Jassy We've decided that were going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID. When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant, reads a part of the memo by Andy Jassy, highlighting the RTO mandate. We understand that some of our teammates may have set up their personal lives in such a way that returning to the office consistently five days per week will require some adjustments, he added. How did the employees react? Many employees were unhappy with this mandate and did not hold back while expressing their opinions. "To the BI reporter who will inevitably quote mine this channel today," an Amazon employee wrote on Slack, reported the Business Insider. "Please do note that this is (in a lot of cases) significantly more strict and out of its mind than many teams operated under pre-covid. This is not 'going back' to how it was before. It's just going backwards, the person added. Another employee told the outlet, What ever happened to 'Striving to be Earth's Best Employer," referencing one of the principals of the company. Outrage on LinkedIn Many also took to the professional networking platform to show their displeasure with the mandate. Among them is a system development engineer who activated his #OpenToWork tag while voicing his opinions against the return the office rule. Amazon has announced 5 day RTO, which is unfortunate because Im interested in working for a living, not live-action role playing and virtue signaling. If you have remote opportunities available, please message me. Nothing is off the table. Id rather go back to school than work in an office again, the employee wrote. Reddit reactions Besides LinkedIn, many flocked to Reddit to share posts claiming they work for Amazon. An individual commented, I have worked at Amazon corporate in Seattle and can confirm Amazon does not give a s**t about anybody who works for them, warehouse or corporate. All they care about is squeezing as much labor/profit out of their employees as possible before they inevitably burn out. More from Andy Jassy: Having the right culture at Amazon is something I dont take for granted. I continue to believe that we are all here because we want to make a difference in customers lives, invent on their behalf, and move quickly to solve their problems. Im optimistic that these changes will better help us accomplish these goals while strengthening our culture and the effectiveness of our teams, the CEO added in the concluding lines of the memo. Indian food, renowned for its rich flavours, aromatic spices, and diverse culinary traditions, holds a cherished place in global cuisine. It is celebrated for its vibrant tastes and regional variety, captivating the hearts (and stomachs) of food lovers worldwide. But a recent comment by an Australian woman and YouTuber has sparked a fierce debate and ignited a storm of backlash on social media. An Australian woman's harsh comments on Indian food, calling it overly spiced, sparked a viral backlash on social media. (Also read: NRI couple says moving to Australia gave them better quality of life, but at the cost of) Viral tweet sparks controversy The controversy began when an X user named Jeff shared a post that went viral, praising Indian cuisine. He shared a picture that had several Indian curries, a rice, and captioned it, "Indian food is the best on earth. Fight me." The post quickly gained traction, amassing nearly 10 million views, with food enthusiasts from across the globe chiming in to celebrate the greatness of Indian dishes. Check out the post here: However, the viral post took an unexpected turn when X user, Dr Sydney Watson, entered the conversation. She replied to Jeffs post, stating, "It really, really isn't." This simple yet provocative comment triggered an avalanche of responses. Not content with her initial statement, Watson followed up with another tweet: "If your food requires you to put dirt spices all over it in order for it to be palatable, your food is not good." The remark, seemingly dismissing the significance of spices in Indian cuisine, drew sharp reactions, with Watsons tweet gathering over 5.3 million views and becoming a hotbed of backlash. See the post here: Social media erupts in defence of Indian cuisine Many social media users leapt to the defence of Indian food, taking issue with Watson's remarks. One user, Derek, commented, European countries used to go to war for control over the spice trade in India, highlighting the historical value of spices. (Also read: Desi product, videshi packaging: Australian company bottles up Himalayan shilajit) Another user sarcastically added, Funny how 'dirt spices' have given birth to some of the most coveted cuisines in the world. Ill take flavour over bland any day." Nita Shah said, "Indian food is a celebration of culture, tradition, and love. If you dont like it, thats your loss!" Others pointed out the irony, with one user saying, The global obsession with Indian curries speaks for itself. Despite this, the overwhelming majority defended Indian food, with one passionate user wrote, No spices, no soul. A Swiggy delivery agent has found himself at the centre of a controversy after CCTV footage emerged showing him stealing a pair of shoes. The incident, which occurred in Noida Sector 73, quickly went viral. A Swiggy delivery agent was caught on CCTV stealing shoes from outside a Noida flat.(X/@AshfaqK12565342) (Also read: Swiggy agent steals shoes, company reacts: 'We expect better from our delivery partners') The incident unfolds The footage reveals the delivery agent wearing an orange Swiggy T-shirt. After completing his deliveries, he is seen strolling down the buildings stairs. Pausing in front of a shoe rack placed outside a flat, the agent spots a pair of blue sneakers buried among other shoes. He discreetly places the sneakers into his bag before continuing his descent down the staircase. The residents of the apartment, upon discovering their missing sneakers, reviewed the CCTV footage and were shocked to identify the delivery agent as the culprit. The video soon spread across social media platforms, drawing significant public attention and criticism. Watch the clip here: Police investigation on Following the viral spread of the video, Noida Police have intervened. According to India Today, the police have contacted the family and have initiated an investigation into the matter. Authorities have assured that the accused will be apprehended soon. (Also read: Sonu Soods remark on Swiggy delivery man accused of stealing shoes sparks row on X: Dont take action against him) Previous incidents and Swiggys response This incident is not an isolated case. Earlier, a similar controversy erupted when a Swiggy Instamart delivery agent was caught on CCTV stealing shoes from outside a flat in Gurugram. The footage, shared by user Rohit Arora on X (formerly Twitter), shows the delivery agent taking the shoes after delivering an order. Despite raising a complaint with Swiggy Cares, Arora reported no resolution and expressed frustration over the lack of response. Watch the clip here: Swiggy's official response to the Gurugram incident was to express disappointment and request the user to contact them via direct message for further assistance. However, Arora's comment highlighted the ongoing dissatisfaction with how such complaints are handled. As these incidents continue to emerge, the public's trust in delivery services is increasingly being tested. Dominique Pelicot, the French man accused of drugging his wife and inviting strangers to rape her, has admitted to all charges against him. In his first testimony yesterday since the trial opened on September 2, Pelicot, 71, also spoke about why he became perverted after several decades of marriage and began drugging his wife Gisele Pelicot so strangers could rape her. Dominique Pelicot, who has allegedly drugged and raped his wife Gisele Pelicot, appears during his trial with 50 co-accused at the courthouse in Avignon, France, September 17, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/ZZIIGG NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.(REUTERS) The 71-year-old French man is on trial for inviting over 51 men to rape his wife while she was unconscious. The abuse took place between 2011 and 2020. Pelicot would mix sedatives or anti-anxiety medication in his wifes evening meal to render her unconscious and had a list of rules for the strangers whom he invited into their home to rape her. I was not born perverted Pelicot claimed that he repented his actions and asked his family for forgiveness. He also said he was not born perverted as he repeatedly claimed that he loved his wife. I loved her well for 40 years and badly for 10, he said, referring to the decade when the abuse took place. We become perverted when we meet someone who gives us the possibility. Then we become perverted, yes, the retired estate agent added, according to The Mirror. Dominique Pelicot said that his selfish moment came when he met a male nurse online in 2010 who suggested that he drug his wife. The nurse showed him how to administer Temesta, an anti-anxiety medicine, and showed him photos of drugged women. He gave me the dosage. I saw photos of his wife. That was the moment it started. I think about it, the French man said, calling it the moment he became perverted. Pelicot then began using an internet forum called Without Her Knowledge to invite strangers to rape his wife. The men he enlisted many of whom were in court Tuesday ranged from a civil servant, a prison guard, a former police officer, a firefighter, a journalist and nurses. Their ages ranged between 24 to 74. The men would come to the Pelicots home in the French village of Mazan to rape Gisele Pelicot, who waived her legal right to anonymity so her trial could get more publicity. Dominique Pelicot, who is on trial accused of drugging his wife and enlisting strangers to rape her, pleaded guilty. Reportedly, in court, he opened up about the heinous offences committed against his wife, Gisele Pellicot. Amid those, an eight-word remark by the 71-year-old about organising a mass rape will most likely leave you disturbed. This court sketch shows defendant Dominique Pelicot during his trial in which he is accused of drugging his wife so that he and scores of strangers could rape her. (AFP) Labelled as "one of the greatest sexual predators" by Dominiques daughter, the man reportedly said at the Vaucluse Criminal Court: We are not born perverts, we become them. What are the charges? Dominique, along with 50 other men, are accused of aggravated rape. During the trial, while looking at the other accused, the retiree reportedly said, I am a rapist, like everyone else in this courtroom. How did the police arrest the accused? Gisele Pellicot was unaware of the heinous crimes against her as Dominique regularly drugged her with a mixture of sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication. Police found evidence of the rapes in Dominiques laptop after he was arrested in 2020 for filming under womens skirts. The police used the recordings they found to track down 72 suspects. Reportedly, soon after the findings, when police called Gisele for questioning, she told them that her husband was a great guy. Later, when his crimes came to light, she left her husband and then got divorced. They were married for 50 years and have three children together. Their daughter wrote a book where she alleged that her father did the same thing with her as he did with her mother. Police also found nude pictures of the daughter on the Frenchmans computer. Dominiques testimony got delayed after the 71-year-old fell ill, reportedly from kidney stone and urinary infection. If convicted, he stands to face 20 years in prison. A 26-year-old employee of the multinational consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune died due to overwhelming workload, her mother has claimed. Anna Sebastian Perayil had joined EY as a chartered accountant just four months before she succumbed to work pressure, her mother Anita Augustine said in a letter addressed to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani. An EY employee succumbed to excessive workload at the age of 26 (Representational image) In her letter, Annas mother claimed that Ernst & Young was her daughters first job and she was thrilled about joining the company. Within just four months, however, she succumbed to excessive workload. Anna worked late into the night and on weekends, returned to her paying guest accommodation completely exhausted on most days, and was burdened with backbreaking work as a newcomer, the letter claimed. No one from Ernst & Young attended her funeral, Annas mother said in her heartbreaking letter. She would pay with her life Anna was a school topper, and a college topper, excelled in extracurricular activities, and passed her CA exams with distinction. She worked tirelessly at EY, giving her all to meet the demands placed on her. However, the workload, new environment, and long hours took a toll on her physically, emotionally, and mentally, Anita Augustine said in her letter to EY India chairman. She said that Anna joined EY Pune on March 19, 2024. She died on July 20, just four months later. The team that joined at EY was one where several employees had already resigned due to excessive workload. The team manager told her, Anna, you must stick around and change everyone's opinion about our team. My child didn't realize she would pay for that with her life, her mother said, adding that the company and her manager showed no consideration for a new employee who had moved away from her hometown and was struggling to adjust in a new city where she did not know the people or the language. Overwhelming workload Anita Augustine elaborated further on the work stress that Anna faced at EY Pune. The young executive had a manager who often assign her work during the end of her shift, forcing her to work overtime. Not only this but Anna often worked late into the nights and even on Sundays. Meetings were frequently rescheduled by her manager and she received additional tasks above and beyond her job description. These tasks were assigned verbally. Anna confided in us about the overwhelming workload, especially the additional tasks assigned verbally, beyond the official work. I would tell her not to take on such tasks, but the managers were relentless. She worked late into the night, even on weekends, with no opportunity to catch her breath, her mother said. As a result, the young employee would often reach her PG utterly exhausted and collapse into bed without even changing her clothes. Her mother said she was constantly bombarded with messages asking about this report or that one. We told her quit, but she wanted to learn and gain new exposure. However, the overwhelming pressure proved too much even for her. No one from EY attended Annas funeral Annas mother said that her managers and colleagues did not even bother to attend her funeral. No one from EY attended Anna's funeral After her funeral, I reached out to her managers, but I received no reply. How can a company that speaks of values and human rights fail to show up for one of its own in their final moments? her mother asked. She said that her daughters death should serve as a wake-up call for EY. Annas death was reflective of the larger work culture which glorifies hard work at the cost of health. I am writing to you now, Rajiv, because I believe EY has a profound responsibility to ensure the well-being of its employees. Anna's experience sheds light on a work culture that seems to glorify overwork while neglecting the very human beings behind the roles. I hope my child's experience leads to real change so that no other family has to endure the grief and trauma we are going through. My Anna is no longer with us, but her story can still make a difference, she concluded. EY reacts after mothers letter goes viral Following the mothers letter going viral, Ernst & Young issued a statement on Wednesday, saying the company is taking the familys correspondence with utmost seriousness and humility. We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family, EY said. The company said Anna was a part of the Audit team at SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune. While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so, EY said. We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India. Google Trends Interest in the search term Anna Sebastian Perayil started rising on September 17, shows Google Trends. The interest peaked early on September 18 and has been consistent throughout the day today. Maximum queries came from Kerala, followed by Karnataka and Puducherry. Related queries included Rajiv Memani and Anna Augustine. Gisele Pelicot met with thunderous applause as she walked out of a French court after a trial against her husband and 50 other accused. The 72-year-old has been a victim of a heinous crime where her husband drugged her with sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication to recruit strangers through an online platform so that they could allegedly rape her. The image shows Gisele Pelicot, whose husband admitted to drugging her and inviting strangers to rape her. (AFP) What does the video show? Dozens of supporters of Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, whose ex-husband allegedly abused her by recruiting strangers to sexually assault her while she was drugged, gave her a round of applause as she left court in Avignon, Reuters wrote while posting the video. Pelicots hearing, the centerpiece of one of Frances most spectacular criminal trials in recent history, had to be pushed back last week due to his bad health, the outlet added. Take a look at the video here: Social media reacts: Her courage shows how strong women are and how we can hold men accountable for their actions against our bodies, commented an Instagram user. Another person, while reacting to the video, posted, Bravest woman. I wish we could collectively do more to help her go through this nightmare of a case. Justice better be served against her monstrous aggressors. A third shared, She is such an absolute warrior and will save so many with her courage. I hope that she knows women all over the world are standing with her. What an incredible woman - I hope she is able to rebuild her life and recover from this awful trauma, wrote a fourth. I am a rapist: Dominique Pelicot The 71-year-old French man is on trial after being accused of drugging his wife and inviting strangers to his house to rape his unconscious wife. He has admitted to the charges and told the court that he is a rapist. I am a rapist, like the others in this room, Dominique said in the court while looking at the other 50 accused, reported the Guardian. He added, They all knew, while talking about the other men. I am guilty of what I did, he told the court. I say to my wife, my children, my grandchildren I regret what Ive done, and I ask for forgiveness, even if its unforgivable. A decade of horror Allegedly, Dominique continued committing this atrocious crime against his now-estranged wife for almost ten years. Gisele, who was completely unaware of the assault at that point, reportedly also suffered severe health issues, including sexually transmitted diseases. The Frenchmans crime came to light when he was arrested in 2020 for filming under women's skirts. During their investigation, police found evidence of rape on his laptop and eventually informed his wife. As per reports, nude pictures of his daughter were also found on his device. A mans post about staying at the JW Marriott Masai Mara, one of Kenyas most expensive resorts, with his wife has gone viral on social media. Scores of comments flooded the X post, with many asking various questions. Amidst those, a persons comment didnt sit well with the original poster, Anirban Chowdhury, who reacted with an X post titled, It's time for some myth-busting. An Indian man's post about staying in JW Marriott in Masai Mara has gone viral. (X/@VoyageBliss, Unsplash/yessijes) Unable to wrap my head around the kind of wealth people have. I think I'm fairly rich and I am, by any reasonable standard. So I was like, Let's check this place out and it costs 3.5 lakhs for ONE NIGHT. Almost 10 lakhs for a 3 day stay. What kind of money do folks earn? Chowdhury reshared the comment with an explanation. He wrote that the tariff is 5.5L INR with taxes, adding that he offset that cost by using 424,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. Im not a multimillionaire. Im a salaried employee, and I pay my taxes (auto-deducted!). I travel a lot for work, which helps me earn even more points, he wrote in his post. If you really want to learn how to earn more points instead of sitting behind a screen and contemplating, youll find a lot of good folks whove tried to make you understand the process. Do follow them and learn, he added as he concluded his post. Take a look at the entire X post here: Social media showers praise: Most X users supported Chowdhurys post, adding that he handled the comment with maturity. An individual wrote, What a super response to every enquiring and incredibly low-life tweets to his experience sharing tweet. Absolutely ideal way to reply, without a single rude or disparaging retort. A few also called him lucky and said they could never do it. Actually what is usually most surprising to me is how people manage to do all this at all. As someone who has a high-dependency loved one, most if not all of my time, money and energy goes towards trying to ensure a good quality of life for them. So pardon me when I say you're lucky, commented an X user. Not that I will ever earn those many CC points ever but following you for that savage reply, expressed a third, while taking a route of hilarity. Chowdhury wrote in his first X post, Just ticked off a bucket list experience at one of Marriott's most exclusive and expensive propertiesJW Marriott Masai Mara! If you're dreaming of luxury safaris, this is the place. Stunning tented suites, epic game drives, and personalised service in the heart of the Mara! Would you add this to your bucket list? He also shared a picture of himself and his wife in front of the ultra-luxury hotel. Anirban Chowdhury's X profile says he is a credit card enthusiast who is turning points into journeys. His feed is filled with posts about his travel adventures and also how he planned them. A disturbing video on social media shows an incident during an online class. In the clip, a student is heard proposing to the teacher conducting the session and insisting she marry him. Many on social media have labelled the incident of a student proposing to a teacher during an online class as disgraceful. (Unsplash/magellol) The video was posted on the Instagram page tv1indialive. In the video, the teacher asks a student to go on with his question. The student first asks, Are you married? When the teacher calmly replies, No, he goes on to say, Then, I love you, maam. The teacher replies, Dear, for that purpose, I love you all. Interrupting his teacher, the student continues, Will you marry me? Take a look at the viral video here: The video has gone viral with over 1.4 million views - and the numbers are only increasing. The post's comments section is filled with reactions labelling the clip as shameful and improper. What did Instagram users say about this video? An individual wrote, This is not funny at all, shame on you. Expressing the same sentiment, another added, This is not funny at all. She handles with respect, commented a third. Teachers shouldnt entertain such questions at all irrespective of gender and these male students and their parents should be ashamed of themselves. Hope she files a defamation lawsuit against them, expressed a fourth. Others also advised that the teacher should get the parents involved. In an earlier incident, a text exchange between a Class 8 student and a teacher raised eyebrows. A screenshot shows them talking about the students workout routine. The class 8 students shared a picture of a page with different exercises, such as crunches, high knees, planks, and more, written on it. He also mentioned needing larger sizes of clothing due to regular exercises. What are your thoughts on this video of a student and a teacher during an online class? Indians abroadwhat's stopping you from returning to India? a Reddit user asked, and the question has sparked a serious discussion. People have shared why they will never return, while others have posted that they are only staying abroad to make money. There are various reactions. A few NRIs also said other countries have better infrastructure and foreigners have better civic sense than India. A Reddit users question about NRIs returning to India has sparked a discussion on social media. (Unsplash/Martin Jernberg) We've seen threads where people have outlined what they miss about India when living abroad - conveniences, house help, family, festivals, cheaper cost of living, and more. These are true for the most part. So for those who've settled abroad - what's stopping you from returning? the Reddit user asked. In the following lines, the social media user shared their reasoning for not returning. Take a look at the entire post here: With over 1,500 upvotes, the post has gone viral on Reddit. It has attracted varied opinions from people. What did Reddit users say about this share: An individual wrote, Clean air, water, food. Less corruption. Even though we pay taxes, it benefits our lives. Population with civic sense. Working government. Better work culture. Higher standard of living. People don't interfere in others' lives. I was on an Indian women's subreddit, and a woman posted that she was shouted at a swimming pool in India by another woman because she was wearing a two piece. And here in Canada, everyone's wearing whatever they want to at a swimming pool regardless of your body shape, claimed another. A third commented, There would be an addition to almost zero work-life balance for Indian women, especially when in-laws are involved. Resume to home chores as soon as you return from the office but no such expectations from men. On top of that, judgement related to going to the gym (yes, this is a thing) as if this is something to be frowned upon. A fourth wrote, I returned from the USA last October after staying and working there for 4.5 years. The biggest difference that annoys me is the civic sense among the common population. I say it every day to my wife after being annoyed for the whole day. What do you think about this question for the NRIs? Hand-held radios used by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon's south, in Beirut suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, further stoking tensions with Israel a day after similar explosions by the group's pagers. Lebanese soldiers and firefighters gather outside a mobile shop after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024.(AP) Lebanon's health ministry said 14 people had been killed and 450 injured on Wednesday, while the death toll from Tuesday's explosions rose to 12, including two children, with nearly 3,000 injured. At least one of Wednesday's blasts took place near a funeral organised by Iran-backed Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of pagers used by the group exploded across the country and wounded many of its fighters. A Reuters reporter in the southern suburbs of Beirut said he saw Hezbollah members frantically taking batteries out of any walkie-talkies on them that had not exploded, tossing the parts in metal barrels. Lebanon's Red Cross said on X that it was responding with 30 ambulance teams to multiple explosions in different areas, including the south of Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah, which was thrown briefly into disarray by the pager attacks, said on Wednesday it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets, the first strike at its arch-foe since the blasts, which raised the prospect of a wider Middle East war. The Israeli military said warning sirens sounded a number of times in northern Israel but there were no reports of any damage or casualties. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday the centre of gravity of the war was moving north, where Lebanon borders Israel, with more troops and resources being transferred to the area. "We are opening a new phase in the war. It requires courage, determination and perseverance from us," he said, in remarks at an air force base. Images of the exploded walkie-talkies examined by Reuters showed an inside panel labelled "ICOM" and "made in Japan." According to its website, ICOM is a Japan-based radio communications and telephone company. The company has said that production of several models of the ICOM hand-held radio have been discontinued, including the IC-V82, which appeared to closely match those in images from Lebanon on Wednesday and which was phased out in 2014. There was no immediate reply from ICOM to a request for comment on Wednesday. Devices bought five months ago The hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time as the pagers, a security source said. Israel's spy agency Mossad, which has a long history of sophisticated operations on foreign soil, planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters. Israel's military has declined to comment on the blasts. Tuesday's attack wounded many of the militant group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Frontline workers described hellish scenes: victims of thousands of small explosions linked to pagers used by Hezbollah rushed into hospitals, some with organs protruding, others with missing eyes or fingers. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for an independent investigation into the events surrounding exploding pagers. The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday over the pager blasts after a request from Algeria on behalf of Arab states, said Slovenia's U.N. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar, president of the 15-member council for September. Taiwanese pager maker Gold Apollo denied that it had produced the pagers. It said the devices were made under licence by a company called BAC, based in Hungary's capital Budapest. Hungary on Wednesday said the devices had never been in the country and that authorities had established that BAC was a trading-intermediary company with no manufacturing or operations in Hungary. Retaliation Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October, fuelling fears of a wider Middle East war that could drag in the United States and Iran. A full-blown war with Israel could devastate Lebanon, which has lurched from one crisis to another in recent years, including a 2019 financial collapse and the 2020 Beirut port blast. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation on many fronts. "Hezbollah wants to avoid an all-out war. It still wants to avoid one. But given the scale, the impact on families, on civilians, there will be pressure for a stronger response," said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center. Hezbollah, Iran's most powerful proxy in the Middle East, said in a statement it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should await a response to the pager "massacre" which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead. One Hezbollah official said the detonation was the group's "biggest security breach" in its history. The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters. It followed a series of assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas commanders and leaders ascribed to Israel since the start of the Gaza war. Hezbollah had turned to pagers and other low-tech communications devices in an attempt to evade Israeli surveillance of mobile phones. Hand-held radios, or walkie-talkies, used by Hezbollah detonated late Wednesday across southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to Reuters, a day after thousands of pagers belonging to the Iran-backed group exploded throughout the country. Lebanese soldiers and firefighters gather outside a mobile shop after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024.(AP) More than 100 have been injured in a wave of walkie-talkie blasts in Lebanon, reported AFP quoting the government. The explosions occurred as Hezbollah held a funeral for members killed the previous day. The pager blasts claimed at least 12 lives, including two children, and injured nearly 3,000 people, Lebanese health minister Firass Abiad said. Hezbollah responded on Wednesday by launching a rocket attack on Israeli artillery positions in southern Lebanon, its first direct strike on its longtime adversary since the pager detonations. Also Read | Is Israel's Mossad behind Hezbollah pager blasts in Lebanon? What Taiwan's Gold Apollo said The explosions on Tuesday, which targeted Hezbollah members and reportedly wounded Iran's envoy to Beirut, are believed to have been orchestrated by Israel's Mossad spy agency. According to Lebanese security sources, explosives were planted inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months before the attack. Israel has not commented on the blasts. Videos from hospitals showed injured Hezbollah fighters and civilians, with some suffering facial wounds, missing fingers, and severe injuries around their hips where pagers were likely worn. Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company accused of manufacturing the compromised pagers, denied responsibility, saying the devices were produced under license by a firm based in Budapest, Hungary. Also Read | Why does Hezbollah still use pagers for communication? The pager explosions have further stoked tensions in a region already on edge following weeks of escalating cross-border skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel. These clashes have increased in intensity since the Gaza war began last October, with many fearing they could lead to a broader Middle East conflict involving the United States and Iran. Hezbollah, which acts as Iran's most powerful proxy in the region, has vowed to continue its support for Hamas in Gaza. In a statement, the group warned that Israel should expect further retaliation for the massacre caused by the pager detonations. What are pagers? A pager a small, wireless communication device that was widely used before the advent of mobile phones allows users to receive short messages or alerts, typically in the form of a phone number to call back or a brief text message. Pagers, which became popular in the 1980s and 1990s, work by receiving signals through radio frequencies. With inputs from agencies IN 1791 AMERICA built a wall. The First Amendment to the Constitution banned the establishment of a national religion and protected freedom of worship: Thomas Jefferson called it a wall of separation between church and state. But there were always cracks. Since the founding of the republic, Christianity has been the religion of the majorityand many Christians have felt an obligation to bring their faith into politics. Although more and more Americans say they are not religious, almost two-thirds are Christian, according to the Public Religion Research Institute, a non-profit. In the 1980s white Christiansparticularly born-again evangelicals emerged as a formidable voting bloc for the Republican Party. According to a survey by the Pew Research Centre, 60% of Protestantsincluding 81% of white evangelicalsplan to vote for Donald Trump in the presidential election in November. Here are four books and a podcast that explain the relationship between politics and Christianity in America. Religion in American Politics. By Frank Lambert. Princeton University Press; 296 pages; $21.95 and 17.99 Delegates to the constitutional convention of 1787 ultimately decided that a haven for persecuted Christian minorities could not endorse one interpretation of the faith. However, some wanted to establish a national religion. William Lancaster, a delegate to North Carolinas ratification convention, worried that, although Americans of his day would not elect a non-Protestant, the millions not yet in existence might. (Jefferson, the third president, rejected conventional Protestantism.) Many Americans believed that their country was Gods chosen land and that the government should protect Christianitys role in it. Their heirs are the Christian nationalists of today. Frank Lambert follows the argument through the centuries. It raged during the Civil War, the fundamentalist backlash against science in the early 20th century and the Cold War. A chapter on African-American Christianity and the civil rights movement is particularly powerful. Mr Lambert unfortunately has less to say about Hispanic Christians. Still, this book shows just how much, despite the First Amendment, Americans have always disagreed about the role of religion in the republic. 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America. By Ryan Burge. Fortress Press; 249 pages; $23.99 and 16.99 Data-led analysis of religion is uncommon. Ryan Burges book is both numerate and conversational. He devotes a short chapter to each of his 20 myths, ending each by suggesting further reading. Mr Burge paints a particularly detailed portrait of white evangelical voters. At 14% of the population, they account for the same share as they did during Ronald Reagans first term as president. The proportion of those who never attend church is growing, but many of the people in that group still say that religion is very important to them. Unlike most youngsters, evangelical youths are just as conservative as their parents and grandparents. Mr Burge is also insightful about black Christians: they are very likely to support Democrats and much more likely than their white co-religionists to hear about politics from the pulpit. But a plurality call themselves moderate, and there are almost as many conservatives among them as liberals. Those findings shed light on Republicans prospects of winning their votes. The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory. By Tim Alberta. Harper; 512 pages; $35 Tim Alberta is a journalist at the Atlantic and a practising Christian. He is thus in a good position to give an insiders account of the problems within American evangelicalism. Mr Alberta identifies July 4th 1976 as a turning point: it was then that Jerry Falwell, a television preacher, proclaimed to a crowd of 25,000 that the devil invented the idea that politics and religion should not mix to keep Christians from running their own country. That notion is the core of American Christian nationalism. Falwells movement, the Moral Majority, promoted conservative social values and championed the political right. In 2020 85% of white evangelicals who regularly went to church voted for Donald Trump. Mr Alberta calls the former president a lecherous, impenitent scoundrel. But he is interested in what spurred evangelicals to back him. His book is a personal account. He begins in his own church and reports on hundreds of congregationsfrom packed megachurches to chapels with few congregants. His diagnosis is clear: power-hungry leaders are perverting the gospels and preying on the anxieties of their flock, with worrying consequences for American politics and the church. The Religion of American Greatness. By Paul Miller. IVP Academic; 304 pages; $30 and 24.99 Paul Millers book is another insiders account of Christian nationalism. He is a Southern Baptist and, unlike Mr Alberta, describes himself as politically and theologically conservative. (He was an adviser to President George W. Bush.) His book is a work of Christian political theory and advocates a kind of civic republicanism that is consistent with Christianity. But he draws a sharp distinction between his philosophy and Christian nationalism, which he describes and criticises. Some readers may think he contradicts himself: he believes, for example, that Christian principles should not be the basis of government, but argues that foes of abortion are right to oppose it on religious grounds. Still, Mr Millers book does plenty of even-handed work. By clearly defining the terms he uses (for example, what differentiates nationalism from patriotism and cultural identity from political identity) he brings welcome rigour. His book also offers insight into how a traditional Republican views the new American right. Its core argument is that Christian nationalism is fundamentally at odds with American liberalismand with Christian teachings. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. A podcast from Christianity Today Founded in 1996, Mars Hill was once among the most successful evangelical megachurches in America. Its main site was in Seattle, the least religious city in the country. Mark Driscoll, its charismatic head pastor, was a working-class local, whose confrontational style appealed to disaffected Gen X congregants. Mars Hill grew rapidly, eventually to 15 sites; Mr Driscolls sermons were watched by millions on YouTube and his books became New York Times bestsellers. But all was not well. Congregants and church elders interviewed in The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, a podcast released in 2021, say that Mr Driscoll bullied and sought to control members of his flock. The podcast reports how in 2011 the church hired a marketing company to buy one of Mr Driscolls books in bulk to place it on the bestseller list. Eventually, these allegations caught up with Mars Hill. In 2014 Mr Driscoll resigned, saying that he had confessed to past pride, anger and a domineering spirit but pointing out that there were no charges of criminal activity, immorality or heresy. Mars Hill collapsed. The story of one churchwhich pressed women to confine themselves to traditional roles and put on trials of supposed demonsshows the dark side of one sort of conservative Christianity: how religion and politics can collide in the pulpit, the power of pastors to shape believers views and the painful consequences when that power is abused. Also try Read our review of a book about the rise and fall of a hippie church. The question of why evangelical Christians support Mr Trump so fervently is a fascinating one, which weve tried to answer on a number of occasions. Our Lexington columnist wrote about this early in Mr Trumps presidency. A Christmas special in 2023 returned to the subject. Although Americans go to church less often, they are reluctant to vote for atheists. Read our report on the death in 2018 of Billy Graham, the most important American evangelical of the past century. Kate Middleton has secretly returned to work for the first time since finishing her cancer treatment. Following her cancer treatment, Kate Middleton resumed work, discussing her early childhood initiative with her team at Windsor Castle.(Reuters) According to the Court Circular, the Royal Family's official record of activities, Kate met with her Centre for Early Childhood team and Kensington Palace staff at Windsor Castle to discuss her ongoing early childhood project, per The Telegraph. The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle, the event entry states. ALSO READ| Kate Middleton's brother James Middleton opens up about suicidal thoughts, bond with Prince William Kate to resume Royal engagements after health hiatus Earlier this month, Kate shared a social media video message revealing that she had completed her chemotherapy treatment. She had first announced her cancer diagnosis on March 22. As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment, Kate said in the video. The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant, and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown. Kate added, The cancer journey is complex, scary, and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you. With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything. She is now prioritizing, Doing what I can to stay cancer-free is now my focus. During her illness, when she was able to work from home, Kate stayed up to date on the progress of her early years project, according to The Telegraph. ALSO READ| Prince Harry scrapped his birthday plan last minute due to Kate Middleton Notably, throughout her treatment, the princess made only two public appearancesat Trooping the Colour in mid-June and at Wimbledon on July 14. While her health will continue to be a priority, she is expected to resume more engagements in the coming months. The only event currently on her schedule is a potential appearance at the Remembrance Sunday service on November 10, where she would support the Royal Family, veterans, and their families. The Princess of Wales also plans to host her annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey in December. The former wife of a French man accused of orchestrating her rape by dozens of strangers while she was drugged, testified in court Wednesday, expressing deep humiliation over the defences portrayal of her during the high-profile trial. With her bobbed red hair and dark glasses, Gisele Pelicot has become the embodiment of victims of sexual violence, the figurehead of the fight against chemical submission since her determined and dignified appearances at the trial of the men accused of raping her.(AFP) Gisele Pelicot, the victim in a decade-long ordeal, criticised some defence lawyers for suggesting she was complicit in the abuse. "Since setting foot in this courtroom, I have felt humiliated," Pelicot told the court, where her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, and 50 other men face charges of rape. "I'm being called an alcoholic, and someone who gets intoxicated to the point of becoming Mr. Pelicot's accomplice," she added. Dominique Pelicot, 71, admitted to drugging his then-wife with sedatives, rendering her unconscious so that he and numerous strangers could rape her. "I was in a comatose state, and the videos that will be shown will prove this," she said. "I never, even for a single second, gave my consent to Mr. Pelicot or those other men." Also Read | Dominique Pelicot reveals why he became perverted and started inviting men to rape his drugged wife Gisele Pelicot's comments came in response to remarks from defence attorney Paul-Roger Gontard, who controversially stated, "there's rape and there's rape," seemingly alluding to some of the defendants claims that they believed they were participating in a consensual sex game between a libertine couple. "No, there are no different types of rape," she asserted. "Rape is rape." Gontard later apologised for his comments, saying his intention was to differentiate between the legal and "media" definitions of rape. "I am sorry that these remarks hurt and shocked you," he said. Also Read | Dominique Pelicots disturbing remark on why he drugged wife, invited strangers to rape her Public trial sheds light on shocking crimes Dominique Pelicot, who appeared in court with a cane and spoke through a microphone, has already admitted to his actions, asking for forgiveness from his family during his testimony on Tuesday. "I am a rapist," Pelicot told the court, visibly emotional. "I ask my wife, my children, my grandchildren to accept my apologies. I regret what I did. I ask for your forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable." The trial has become one of Frances most shocking criminal cases, triggering nationwide protests in support of Gisele Pelicot, who has emerged as a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France. Pelicot told the court he had a traumatic childhood, claiming he had been a victim of rape himself. He also admitted that he wanted his wife to engage in partner-swapping, and when she refused, his childhood trauma contributed to the escalation of his abusive behaviour. "It became a perversion, an addiction," he said, admitting that he had filmed the rapes as an "insurance policy" in case one of the men reacted poorly. Pelicot also claimed that he had been blackmailed as a result of his activities. Also Read | Experts describe French rapist recruiter as 'self-centred' manipulator with split personality Gisele Pelicot, now 71 and divorced from her husband, has become a feminist icon since demanding the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse. During her testimony, Gisele Pelicot wore sunglasses and received applause from spectators when she left the courtroom during breaks. "For 50 years, I lived with a man who I would never have imagined was capable of these acts of rape," she said. She filed for divorce after investigators contacted her regarding the case. Recruitment of men online Prosecutors said Dominique Pelicot used a now-defunct website called Coco to recruit men to rape his drugged wife. Pelicot described how he would communicate with potential recruits online, telling them he was looking for "someone to abuse my sleeping, drugged wife." "When they came, they already knew everything," Pelicot explained. "They all knew how this went before the meetings." He added that he did not force any of the men to participate and claimed he never manipulated them into joining the assaults. One of the accused men was HIV-positive but had lied about his health status, Pelicot told the court. He recalled feeling concerned for his wifes health after learning about the man's condition. "Some came with condoms, others without," he said. "I let them do it What I did was completely stupid." In total, 72 men participated in the abuse of Gisele Pelicot, according to her ex-husband. Fifty of those men, ranging in age from 26 to 74, now face charges of rape in the trial, which is being held in the southern city of Avignon. Investigators discovered more than 300 photographs and videos documenting the assaults. A court document revealed that one of the folders Pelicot kept was labelled "Abuse." Gisele Pelicot told investigators that she experienced memory lapses and had sought medical help for unexplained pain, unaware of the extent of the abuse she had suffered. While some defendants have admitted guilt, others maintain they believed they were taking part in a consensual sex act orchestrated by a willing couple. The trial, which began in September, is expected to continue through December. If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison. "I want to prove that my wife was a victim and not an accomplice," Dominique Pelicot said during his testimony. "This was completely without her knowledge." Compiled with inputs from AP, AFP New Delhi: It is a question everyone is asking: How could it have been possible for anyone to trigger explosions in thousands of pagers simultaneously? Reports on Tuesdays pager blasts across Lebanon, which killed at least 12 and injured nearly 3,000, have been varied in content but consistent in suggesting an orchestrated attack by Israel rather than a coincidence. A photo taken on Wednesday, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. (AFP) So, how could it have been done? By several accounts, the pagers had been tinkered with before they reached their users. Months before Tuesdays detonations, Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from a Taiwan-based company, which has since issued a statement that the pagers were manufactured by another company based in Hungary using the Taiwanese companys brand name. Reports say the explosive material was hidden within these pagers before they were imported to Lebanon. Sky News Arabia named the explosive as PETN, short for pentaerythritol tetranitrate, well-known as a material of choice for military, civil and terrorist operations. That leaves the question of how the explosions could have been triggered simultaneously. Sky News Arabia cited sources as saying that the PETN was detonated by remotely raising the batteries temperature, but scientists contacted by HT mentioned other possible ways, such as sending a simultaneous message to detonate the explosive. Why use PETN PETN, first synthesised in 1894 and extensively used during World War II, was most notoriously used in the Lockerbie bombing of 1988. The explosive was Semtex, a mixture of PETN and other chemicals. Placed in the cargo hold of a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt to Detroit, the explosive went off on December 21, 1988, causing the Boeing to disintegrate over Lockerbie in Scotland, killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground. The reason PETN is often mixed with other explosives is that it is a secondary explosive, just like RDX or TNT. It means they have high energy density, so even a few grams will cause much destruction through explosion. However, they are relatively stable and hence need primary explosives such as lead azide (which is called a primer or a booster) to start the detonation of the secondary explosive, said Prasenjit Maity, professor of chemistry and nanotechnology at the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) and currently director of NFSUs Guwahati campus. In conventional and commercial explosive devices used for military, civil or mining projects, secondary explosives are mostly used as a mixture for better explosive strength, stability, and oxygen balance . The oxygen required for combustion is taken from their internal structure, not from the atmosphere. So, oxygen balance is very important in explosives chemistry, Maity said. Among the many reasons PETN is preferred for terrorist attacks, one is that X-rays cannot detect it directly, although it can be given away by the wiring and other electrical equipment that go into making the bomb. Again, because it packs so much power, it is often enough to carry small amounts of PETN. Further, PETN is less stable than TNT and RDX, while their explosive strengths are comparable to one another. PETN can be detonated with a very small electrical spark. If the information about PETN being used is correct, I believe they did not use pure PETN, rather they would have mixed it with some additives to make a plastic explosive (a soft clay-like appearance for easily fitting into any space or shape), Maity said. The possible trigger If reports in the international media, which cite sources in the Lebanese establishment and Hezbollah, are taken at face value, then it is scientifically feasible that the pagers could have been converted into explosive devices at some stage of the delivery process. As of now, however, there is less clarity on how the devices were detonated together. A telecommunications engineer, who asked not to be named, was not convinced by reports about the temperature of the batteries being raised remotely. He said it would have been easier to send a message simultaneously to devices programmed previously to detonate the explosive when this message arrived. Maity, meanwhile, guessed at possible ways in which the explosives could have been detonated. Of course, it was controlled remotely, either through some command that created an electric pulse inside the pagers that detonated the PETN-based plastic explosive, or through a specific command that heated the batteries to around 150C, leading to detonation of the attached explosive charge, he said. Toronto: After facing yet another humiliating defeat in a stronghold in a Federal by-election, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government could face a challenging motion of no confidence as early as next week. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (AP) The loss came in the riding (as constituencies are called in Canada) of LaSalle-Emard-Verdun in Quebec as the results of the by-election on Monday were announced. The verdict went in favour of Louis-Philippe Sauve of the Bloc Quebecois who bested Liberal Party candidate Laura Palestini. The by-election was caused by the resignation of former Cabinet Minister David Lametti earlier this year. He had won the 2021 Federal election by a margin of nearly 20 per cent. This loss came after the ruling party lost another safe seat, Toronto-St Pauls, in June, indicative of the sinking fortunes of Trudeau. His next challenge will be to survive the next week, when the opposition Conservative Party is expected to bring forth a no-confidence motion. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre posted on X, Taxes up. Costs up. Crimes up. Times up. Its little surprise that Poilievre wants to precipitate an early election. According to a poll released by the agency Abacus Data on Monday, if an election were held at this time, 43 per cent of committed voters would vote Conservative and just 22 per cent for the for the Liberals. The agency said, The gap between the Conservatives and Liberals has grown by 4 points since our last survey in August. According to the outlet National Post, based on modelling done by Ottawa-based Raymond Liu, if that data were to be translated to seats in the House of Commons, the ruling party would be reduced to the fourth position, behind the Conservatives with 230, the Bloc Quebecois with 41 seats, the New Democratic Party at 38 and the Liberals holding only 32 seats. Trudeau has not indicated he will resign and, in fact, appeared to place the onus on voters, as he reacted on Tuesday, We need people to be more engaged, we need people to understand whats at stake in this upcoming election. The next election is scheduled for October next year but a loss of confidence in the House could force early polls. The House currently has 336 members, with the Liberals having a minority strength of 154. It will require either the Bloc Quebecois or the NDP to bail the ruling party out. Earlier this month, the NDP pulled out of the Supply and Confidence Agreement, signed in March 2022, which had given the Government a working majority. That no longer exists putting Trudeaus political future in peril. An 11-year-old boy in Florida has been arrested after allegedly threatening to carry out shootings at two schools and showing off a large collection of weapons during a FaceTime call with classmates. Cops escorting 11-year-old Florida boy, Carlo Dorelli(Volusia County Sheriffs Office) The boy, identified as Carlo Kingston Dorelli, was taken into custody on Monday by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. According to an arrest affidavit, Carlo bragged to fellow students from Creekside Middle School during the call, displaying what appeared to be a stockpile of guns and knives. The arrest comes less than two weeks after a tragic incident at Apalachee High School in Georgia, where a 14-year-old boy allegedly shot and killed two students and two teachers. ALSO READ| NYPD under scanner for deadly shootout over a $2.90 fare at Brooklyn subway Sheriff's office discovers ache of Airsoft weapons in 11-year-old's home Volusia County Sheriff's Office, upon investigating Carlo's home, discovered a cache of over a dozen Airsoft firearms, knives, and swords. These weapons were later displayed in a video shared by the sheriff's office. Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood made it clear that the sheriff's department would not hesitate to expose the actions of juveniles involved in such threats. Since parents dont want to raise your kids, Im going to start raising them, Chitwood said. Every time we make an arrest, your kids photo is going to be put out there. And if I can do it, Im going to perp walk your kid, so everybody can see what your kids up to. In the released footage of Carlos arrest, the 11-year-old is seen being led out of a deputys vehicle in handcuffs, wearing a blue plaid shirt and black pants. ALSO READ| Australian woman trashes Indian food for using dirt spices,' gets a lesson in colonial history A deputy held onto Carlos arm as he was escorted into the sheriffs office, where his ankles were also shackled. Once inside, an officer directed him to a cell, asking, Do you have any questions? Carlo shook his head as he complied with the instructions. Chitwood revealed that Carlo had not only shown off his several weapons collection but had also made a kill list of targets at two different schools. He had written a list of names and targets, Chitwood explained, adding that Carlo claimed it was all meant as a joke. Billionaire Elon Musk has endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump in the race for the White House, but employees at his collection of companies are largely donating to Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris. Employees at Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX have donated $34,526 to Harris versus $7,652 to Donald Trump.(File Images) Workers at Tesla have contributed $42,824 to Harris' presidential campaign versus $24,840 to Trump's campaign, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks U.S. campaign contributions and lobbying data. Employees at Musk's rocket company SpaceX have donated $34,526 to Harris versus $7,652 to Trump. Employees at the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, have donated $13,213 to Harris versus less than $500 to Trump. While the figures are relatively small for campaign fundraising, they indicate political leanings at odds with Musk's own. The world's richest man, Musk has boosted Trump on X and dismissed left-leaning ideas as a "woke-mind virus." Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He backed President Joe Biden in 2020 but has tacked rightward since then. Trump has said that if he wins the Nov. 5 election, he will appoint Musk to lead a government efficiency commission. The OpenSecrets data includes donations from company employees and owners and those individuals' immediate family members. Campaign finance laws prohibit companies themselves from donating to federal campaigns. Many of Musk's employees are based in California, a Democratic stronghold, said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, which is a Tesla shareholder. Gerber is also an investor in X. In July, Musk said he would move X and SpaceX headquarters to Texas from California because of a California gender-identity law he called the "last straw." Gerber said such a move would mean "losing out on a lot of potential talent" in California. Buckingham Palace has rejected all the allegations of cropping Meghan Markle out of Prince Harry's 40th birthday photo that was posted on social media to extend good wishes to the Duke. In Dublin, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were pictured conversing with leaders and members sat at a round table at Dogpatch Labs, a digital startup and innovation hub with over 500 members.(AP ) The 2018 photo that was posted on the family's official accounts was used exactly as it was sent by a photo agency, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told the Independent. Meanwhile, Us Weekly reported that the Duke of Sussex was photographed from various angles, both with and without his spouse, and that the unaltered and cropped images were at the time shared with Getty Images. Royal insiders clarified the allegations that Markle was cropped out from the picture are unfounded. The Duchess was not cropped out by Buckingham Palace, royal sources told Us Weekly. The image was provided to them by a picture agency, as a complete stand-alone image of The Duke. Also Read: Reunion without Meghan? Prince Harry to return to UK without wife All you need to know about Harry's image in question Markle, 43, seemed to have been cut out of a picture of her husband that Buckingham Palace posted in honor of the Duke's milestone birthday on Sunday, which sparked rumors of a snub earlier on Monday. Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today! the royal family posted from its official X account, which is run by King Charles IIIs office. The post was reshared by Harry's estranged brother Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton via their official Prince and Princess of Wales X account with the message, Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex! Harry's solo picture in question was captured in 2018 during an event at Dogpatch Labs in Dublin. One photo that was shot at the time showed Markle sitting next to the Prince at a table with other individuals, while other photos show only Harry in the frame. It was the first time that the royal family officially recognised Harry's birthday in three years. Tension between the royal family members sparked when Harry and Markle announced their resignation from their royal duties in January 2020. The Duke and Duchess moved to California and started a new life with their two kids. However, they kept criticising the royal family in a number of interviews and in Harry's bombshell memoir Spare. Things now seem to be cooling off as King Charles apparently wanted to patch fences with his younger son following his cancer diagnosis this year. A class-action lawsuit has been filed against YouTube star Jimmy MrBeast Donaldson and Amazon, accusing them of chronic mistreatment, sexual harassment, and more during the production of the reality competition show Beast Games. (FILES) US YouTube personality Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP)(AFP) The complaint, filed on September 16, 2024, in Los Angeles Superior Court, is brought on behalf of five anonymous contestants who participated in the competition, which is slated for release on Amazon's Prime Video. The lawsuit claims contestants were subjected to unsafe and inhumane conditions, as well as neglect and harassment, while competing for a $5 million prize. The plaintiffs allege multiple violations, including failure to pay minimum wages and overtime, denying meal and rest breaks, and creating a hostile and unsafe working environment. They also claim that they were deprived of necessities such as sleep, medical care, food, and basic hygiene during the competition. ALSO READ| MrBeast's ex-girlfriend apparently slammed MrBeast as weirdo What the lawsuit alleges? The suit alleges that both Amazon and MrBeasts production company, along with Off Ones Base LLC, were responsible for this mistreatment. Several contestants ended up hospitalized, while others reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic mistreatment, degradation and, for the female contestants, hostile working conditions, attorneys for the contestants stated. One contestant, identified only as Contestant 5, expressed her disillusionment, saying, I wanted to join because I was a fan of MrBeast and his videos made me smile during the COVID-19 pandemic. I expected to be challenged, but I didnt think I would be treated like nothing less than nothing. And as one of the women, I can say it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us. The lawsuit also seeks to establish a pattern of sexual harassment. An example cited in the complaint involves a section from an alleged How to Succeed in MrBeast Production handbook that encourages employees to let male contestants engage in inappropriate behaviour, stating, If talent wants to draw a dick on the whiteboard in the video or do something stupid, let them Really do everything you can to empower the boys when filming and help them make content. ALSO READ| MrBeast wants 'full assessment' of internal culture amid allegations of impropriety and unsafe sets Lead attorney Robert Pafundi cited the clear legal violations in this case, stating, Participants entered into contracts and they were promised compensation for their services... When you add to that the extreme neglect, degradation, harassment, and inhumane conditions its quite simply a massive dereliction of duty, for which the defendants must and will now be held accountable. After a wild confrontation between police and a knife-wielding man at a Brooklyn subway station, a 49-year-old man is fighting for his life after being shot in the head. NYPD's friendly fire over fare evasion has left one officer and two bystanders wounded. NYPD shooting occurred after police observed 37-year-old Mickles enter the station without paying the train fare. They opened fire when he apparently pulled out a knife. (Getty Images via AFP) The man suspected of evading the fare, who also got shot, is in critical condition alongside the 49-year-old bystander. A 26-year-old woman was grazed by a bullet, and a police officer was shot under his arm but is in stable condition. The case is being investigated. Also Read: Sean Diddy Combs to remain in custody What happened at the Brooklyn station At 3pm on Sunday, officers followed the suspect onto a Manhattan-bound train after they noticed he had not paid the fare. The chaos erupted at the Sutter Avenue L station when officers tried to stop the man. When he refused to take his hands out of his pockets, the officers realized he had a knife. They tried using Tasers, but when that didnt work, shots were fired. As they handcuffed Mickles, the cops realized not only that the suspect had been hit, but also that one of the officers was struck in the armpit and two straphangers had been grazed, police said. Asked about the circumstances, Maddrey told reporters at a briefing Sunday that everyone that was struck this afternoon we believe was by our officers. In the mayhem, four people were shot, including two innocent bystanders. Questions are now being raised over the use of deadly force in such a crowded over a minor fare offence. Police officials are defending the actions, saying the knife-wielding man posed a serious threat, telling the officers, "You're going to have to shoot me," before they fired at him. The department says the mans actions endangered everyone on the platform. But people in the neighbourhood are struggling to understand how a $2.90 fare could lead to such a dangerous shootout. A bystanders video captured the terrifying aftermath, with people screaming and running, while police rushed between subway cars. Recently there has been a strong crackdown on fare evasion, with officials claiming it costs the city millions in lost revenue and can lead to more serious crimes. But civil rights advocates claim this was an over-the-top response to a relatively small crime. Prince Harry and Jill Biden are reportedly set to join forces ahead of the upcoming US presidential election. Harry will join Jill, the Governor of New York, and the Governor of Kentucky at the Clinton Global Initiative 2024, which will start on September 23. Prince Harry and Jill Biden set to join forces ahead of US election (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File, AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) Both the Duke of Sussex and Jill will be speaking at the event, GB News reported. Harry and Meghans statement ahead of election This news comes as Harry and Meghan Markle issued a new statement about the upcoming election, urging Americans to register to vote before the deadline. In a statement on the Archewell Foundation website, the Sussexes wrote, "In honor of National Voter Registration Day, The Archewell Foundation team came together for a meaningful volunteer activity to support and empower our communities. Using Vote Forwards impactful letter-writing tool, our team wrote personalised letters encouraging unregistered voters to take a crucial step: registering to vote. "Voting is not just a right; its a fundamental way to influence the fate of our communities, they added. At The Archewell Foundation, we recognize that civic engagement, no matter ones political party, is at the heart of a more just and equitable world. By participating in initiatives like this, we aim to amplify the message that every voice matters." Harry and Meghan, however, refrained from publicly endorsing any candidate. In the past, Donlad Trumps son Eric Trump notably criticised Harry and Meghan as "spoiled apples" during an interview with GB News. Besides joining forces with Jill, Harry will be in New York City to "advance a number of his patronages and philanthropic initiatives," his spokesperson confirmed. The trip will take place during the UN General Assembly High-level Week and Climate Week. The latter runs from September 22 until September 29. A spokesperson for the Duke said that Harry, during the trip, will "participate in engagements with African Parks, The HALO Trust, The Diana Award, and Travalyst. "In addition, he will be furthering the work of The Archewell Foundation, the nonprofit organization he co-founded with his wife Meghan Markle, The Duchess of Sussex, the spokesperson added. Just days after the milestone 40th birthday of the Duke of Sussex, it's been announced that Prince Harry will return to his home country. However, the homely reunion will reportedly again transpire without his wife, Meghan Markle, in attendance. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave after a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul's Cathedral in London, Friday, June 3, 2022 on the second of four days of celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee. (AP) The father of two is slated to step out as a guest at the annual WellChild Awards later this month. Despite stepping down from his royal duties and departing for the US, the duke is still very much attached to the UK-based charity as its patron, continuing his 16-year-old role. On September 17, the charity for seriously ill children officially confirmed in a formal statement, Prince Harry will then attend the ceremony and present the Award for Inspirational Child (aged 4-6) and deliver a speech. The announcement also highlighted that the prince had attended the ceremony on twelve previous occasions. He is expected to spend time with the winners and their families at a pre-ceremony reception, where he would become an audience to their inspirational stories. Also read | Kate Middleton secretly returns to Royal work as she is finally cancer free Prince Harry releases statement about his WellChild Awards appearance I am once again honoured to attend this years WellChild Awards celebrating the remarkable courage and achievements of children living with complex medical needs. These incredible young people, along with the dedicated caregivers, nurses, and professionals who tirelessly support them, inspire us all. It is a true privilege to recognise such extraordinary individuals, the WellChild Patron said in a statement. This opportune news adds to the princes occasional homecoming chapters, and it comes hot on the heels of a surprise birthday message from his brother, Prince William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton after the King and Queen wished him well on September 15. The new development hints at family members finding some common ground in recent times despite having drifted apart since Harrys exit from the UK and the bombshell memoir Spare bad-mouthing several members of the British royal family. Earlier this year, Prince Harry and Meghan Markles united front made headlines after embarking on quasi-royal trips to Nigeria and Colombia. Au contraire, the confirmation of the upcoming trip does not mention the former Suits star. Several reports insinuate that Markle has no plans to return to the UK. Also read | Harry and Meghan's complicated feelings about Kate's latest video update revealed: They both have regrets over Will Prince Harry and King Charles reunite? On the other hand, Harrys forthcoming trip dedicated to the 2024 WellChild Awards outing may just grant him a slim chance to reconnect with the royal family. Nevertheless, with the King ostensibly away in Scotland just days before Harry's WellChild appearance, they might just end up missing each other again, per the Daily Mail UK. The duke made an unexpected trip to his homeland in August for his uncle Lord Robert Fellowes funeral. His brief homecoming barely left room for a private reunion with his father, King Charles. Meanwhile, despite Prince William being present at the church service, reports claimed the estranged brothers never crossed paths, especially with Harry spending the time and staying with his mothers side of the family. Another chance of reconciliation was offered to the father-son duo in May. However, with the King reportedly tied up in some other business, there was no room for a meeting. The monarch and the prince reportedly last breathed the same air in each others vicinity in February when King Charles cancer diagnosis was made public, and Harry dashed to the UK for a brief visit to check on his father. Law enforcement officials on Long Island worked quickly on Wednesday to publicly knock down social media posts falsely reporting that explosives had been found in a car near former President Donald Trumps planned rally in New York. The rally is Donald Trump's first on Long Island, a suburban area just east of New York City, since 2017.(REUTERS) The false reports of an explosive began circulating hours before the Republican presidential nominees campaign event at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, just days after he was apparently the target of a second possible assassination attempt. Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said police questioned and detained a person who may have been training a bomb detection dog, near the site of the rally and falsely reported explosives being found." Lt. Scott Skrynecki, a spokesperson for the county police, said in follow-up messages that the person, who police have not yet identified, was a civilian and not a member of a law enforcement agency. He also said the person was not working at or affiliated with the event, which is expected to draw thousands of Trump supporters to the arena that was formerly the home of the NHL's New York Islanders. The rally is Trump's first on Long Island, a suburban area just east of New York City, since 2017. In 2020, President Joe Biden defeated Trump by a roughly 4% margin on Long Island, besting him in Nassau County by about 60,000 votes, though Trump carried neighboring Suffolk County by more than 200 votes. Earlier Wednesday, Skrynecki and other county officials responded swiftly to knock down the online line claims, which appear to have started with a post from a reporter citing unnamed sources in the local police department. The claims were then shared widely on X, formerly Twitter, by a number of prominent accounts, including that of the companys owner, Elon Musk, which has nearly 200 million followers. Spokespersons for X didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment. False, Skrynecki texted the AP as the claims spread. No. Ridiculous. Zero validity, said Christopher Boyle, spokesperson for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. A TikTok trend of making glass fruit, otherwise known as Tanghulu, is turning into a potential hazard for children. Tanghulu refers to fruits covered in hardened sugar, similar to a licking candy. It gives fruits a crunchy topping and an appealing glassy look. However, several children landed up in hospital with cases of severe burns after they tried to follow this trend. The viral glass fruit or Tanghulu trend on TikTok led several children on a trip to the hospital for cases of severe burns. ((Pixabay - representational image)) Also Read: Federal Reserve is set to cut rates today; key question is, by how much? TikTok trend lands children in hospital with burns TikTok user Jasmine and Tea posted a tutorial in April explaining the process of making Tanghulu. To make Tanghulu, one must microwave a mixture of sugar and water at intervals of thirty seconds for five minutes until it starts boiling. Put the fruits on skewers and dip them into the boiling mixture, which the TikToker warned in the video gets really hot and should not be touched by bare hands. Leave the fruit skewers covered in the sugary syrup to get hard. However, the Shriners Childrens Hospital in Boston observed several cases of severe burning among children after trying out the viral trend due to spilling sugar. Shriners surgeon Colleen Ryan, MD, reportedly treated two patients in two weeks after carrying out the same activity. She stated, When sugar is melted in the microwave like this, it has a high heat capacity, meaning it stores the heat energy. Explaining further she said, If spilled, it can create a severe scald burn, much like spilling hot soup, but it can cause a much deeper burn because of sugars properties. Kids or teens can quickly grab the pot or bowl, and the hot fluid splashes, spills or splatters over them. as reported by the NY Post. The surgeon concluded with one or several small but very deep burns, often in critical areas such as the hand or the face. Ryan and her colleagues in the country, as well as in other countries, reported an increase in cases of severe burns following the viral trend. Also Read: 11-year-old Florida student arrested after making killing threats to multiple schools Advisory for parents Ryan urged parents to be mindful of their kids coming across this trend on social media. She said, It can seem like a fun, harmless activity for kids to try making the treat themselves. There is an opportunity to prevent this injury if everyone is aware of this danger. The surgeon advised, Parents should be careful and make sure their children have learned proper cooking safety and take preventive measures. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, told Fox Digital that the melted sugar can be extremely dangerous and that such viral trends can be contagious among children. The surgeons at Shriners suggested not using ice on the affected area and removing all clothes from and around the wound. The doctor advised parents to seek medical attention if necessary. Siegel added, Blistering is a second-degree burn and may respond to burn creams, but leathery (black, brown or white in colour) may be third-degree and needs to be seen right away. Representatives for former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris ' transition teams met for the first time at the White House, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, as the outgoing administration plans to smooth the handoff to whomever wins in November. The meeting and invitation to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris' representatives are required under the Presidential Transition Act, which mandates that the designated candidate representatives serve in an advisory capacity.(REUTERS) Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients hosted a meeting Tuesday of the White House Transition Coordinating Committee the government's senior-most transition planning group and for the first time this year included Harris and Trump aides. The meeting and invitation to both parties' representatives are required under the Presidential Transition Act, which mandates that the designated candidate representatives serve in an advisory capacity. The Roosevelt Room meeting lasted about an hour, the White House said, and included updates on various transition preparations, which include plans to provide office space for the nominees, identifying acting career officials to fill vacant political appointee roles during the transition and the preparation of memos on agency operations for the eventual president elect's team. A new Covid-19 variant, XEC, is rapidly spreading and has already been detected in 27 countries, following the pandemic that severely impacted the world for over two years since its initial detection in 2019. XEC is a sublineage of the omicron variant which was initially reported in Berlin, Germany, in June.(Representational Image) Scientists have raised concerns that the XEC variant, known for being more contagious is beginning to spread quickly across Europe and might soon become the dominant strain, according to a report by the Independent. Researchers had predicted in August that this variant could gain momentum within weeks to a few months. A BBC report said the XEC variant was first identified in Germany in June and has since been detected in countries including the UK, US, Denmark, and others. Currently, over 500 samples from 27 countries, such as Poland, Norway, Luxembourg, Ukraine, Portugal, and China, have tested positive for XEC. What do we know about the new variant? XEC is a sublineage of the omicron variant initially reported in Berlin, Germany, in June and is now spreading quite rapidly across Europe, North America, and Asia, according to Covid data analyst Mike Honey. In August, Slovenia experienced high infection rates with XEC, with over 10 per cent of Covid case samples in the country containing this variant. XEC is a hybrid of earlier omicron subvariants KS.1.1 and KP.3.3. What are the symptoms of XEC Covid? According to a BBC report, the symptoms of the XEC variant are thought to be similar to those of previous cold or flu-like illnesses, including a high temperature, aches, tiredness, and a cough or sore throat. While most people recover within a few weeks, it can sometimes take longer. Covid data analyst Mike Honey further said that "strong growth" of XEC in Denmark and Germany. The decrease in routine testing makes it difficult to assess the current level of Covid circulation. However, the Independent report further said that because XEC is still a sub-lineage of the omicron variant, staying current with vaccines and booster shots should provide sufficient protection against severe illness and hospitalisation. The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention also advises maintaining good hygiene and ensuring cleaner air. Researchers have called for closer monitoring of the XEC variant to better understand its symptoms. A prison worker was killed by drug-laced mail at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater, California. Three people are under arrest in connection wth the incident. Jamar Jones, 35, an inmate at USP Atwater; Stephanie Ferreira, 35, of Evansville, Indiana; and Jermen Rudd III, 37, of Wentzville, Missouri, are accused of conspiring to introduce narcotics into the prison for Jones to sell, according to the DEA. Between July 15 and August 9, Jones and Ferreira allegedly orchestrated a plan in which Rudd would mail a letter laced with narcotics to Jones that was fraudulently labeled as legal mail. On August 9, a correctional officer at USP Atwater opened that letter and, minutes later, began to feel ill. Following an initial evaluation by medical staff, the officer was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Another correctional officer came into contact with the narcotics-laced letter but recovered. The trio has been charged with a criminal complaint for conspiring to distribute controlled substances and introducing narcotic drugs to an inmate. If convicted of conspiracy to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance, Jones and Rudd face a maximum of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. If Ferreira is convicted of providing or attempting to provide an inmate with a narcotic drug, she faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison as well as a fine of up to $250,000. Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the opening of Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica, marking the Hyatt Centric lifestyle brand's sixth hotel in California and the 101st Hyatt hotel in the Golden State. Primely located in one of Los Angeles' most iconic beach destinationsthe hotel is just steps away from the renowned Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade, Venice Beach Boardwalk and retail district. Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica is a launchpad for savvy, adventurous travelers to explore and discover the best of coastal Los Angeles. The property is now a part of Hyatt's award-winning World of Hyatt loyalty program, allowing members the opportunity to earn and redeem points on stays at the hotel and across the World of Hyatt portfolio. Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica will continue to be managed by Viceroy Hotel Group, an operating division of Highgate. The hotel is expected to soon undergo a $16 million refurbishment, bringing a fresh, modern touch to its 315 well-appointed and stylish guest rooms. The refresh will also reimagine the property's dining experience, with an all-new three-meal restaurant and bar, while revitalizing nearly 15,000 sq. ft. of meeting space - including a stunning 4,500 sq. ft. roof-top ballroom offering panoramic ocean views. The updates will extend to the lobby and guest arrival area, creating a welcoming entry for guests. Additionally, the full-service hotel boasts an inviting fitness facility, including an outdoor pool and whirlpool, ensuring a comprehensive and influential guest experience. The refresh of Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica is slated to begin this fall, with a carefully phased approach so at to not disrupt operations during the improvements.Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica joins Hyatt's existing portfolio of lifestyle hotels in the Los Angeles market, including Hotel Figueroa, part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt in downtown Los Angeles; Dream Hollywood; Thompson Hollywood; tommie Hollywood, a JDV by Hyatt hotel; Andaz West Hollywood; and The Shay, part of The Destination by Hyatt brand in Culver City; as well as multiple Hyatt Regency, Hyatt House, and Hyatt Place properties. This opening also celebrates the Hyatt Centric brand's intentional growth in one of the most in-demand travel markets in California and joins the brand's five other hotels throughout the state in Long Beach, Santa Clara, Mountain View, San Francisco, and Sacramento. Hotel website CitySuites, a leading provider of luxury serviced apartments, is pleased to announce the release of its fourth Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. The report offers a comprehensive overview of the companys activities, achievements, and performance in ESG matters over the past year. The report highlights key accomplishments, including: Environmental CitySuites has been procuring renewable energy for the past three years, investing in water conservation, and adopting innovative waste reduction programs, which has led to: Achieving carbon neutrality for the fourth consecutive year. Diverted 100% of waste away from landfills for the third consecutive year. Powered operations using 100% renewable energy. Combined with enhanced energy reporting, the company strives and continues to lower carbon intensity ratio by a further 5% in 2024. This year, CitySuites is proud to retain carbon-neutral status through investing in Verified Carbon Standard projects. The organisation has invested in two independently verified projects that support the global transition to net zero, in line with environmental objectives, the 2015 Paris Agreement, the 2012 Glasgow Climate Pact and UN SDG commitments. So far, in 2024, they have developed a carbon reduction glide path, setting annual targets as the business moves towards net zero emissions. CitySuites has also entered into a new partnership with 5D Net Zero, a carbon-offsetting investment company that ensures they participate in a verified programme. Social As a people-first business, CitySuites works to cultivate a happy, inclusive working environment, striving as a destination employer in Manchesters thriving hospitality sector. The companys DE&I commitments have continued to provide a tangible set of values and targets positive actions that have visibly driven change across the company. In the past twelve months, CitySuites have: Achieved Disability Confident Employer accreditation. Trained eight Mental Health First-Aid Champions. Raised almost 10k for charitable initiatives. Formalised an Employee Committee with representatives from every department to meet on issues, including a DE&I programme. Restored the charitable champions programme to increase focus on donations and voluntary work. Governance CitySuites robust governance framework is designed to drive sustainable growth, uphold ethical standards and foster trust among employees, guests and partners. Key components include clear policies, rigorous oversight, and a culture that prioritises ethical decision-making and accountability. By supporting local wherever possible, CitySuites not only stimulate economic growth within its communities but also reduce environmental footprints through shorter logistics routes. When finding new partners to work with or sourcing new products, This strategy enhances their supply chain resilience, promotes ethical sourcing and supports sustainable practices across the board. By implementing targeted strategies, including enhancing energy efficiency, advocating for sustainable sourcing and advancing waste and water management practices, CitySuites is setting new standards for environmental stewardship in the accommodation sector. As CitySuites enters the fifth year of its ESG program, the company remains committed to minimising its environmental impact and fostering a positive social impact Gavin Bailey, Managing Director of CitySuites, commented, Hospitality plays a crucial role in driving sustainable change. At CitySuites, we believe that luxury and sustainability can coexist. By adopting a sustainable business model, we are demonstrating that high-end experiences can be achieved without compromising the planet. By actively monitoring and adapting our ECG structures, we remain responsive to evolving industry standards and stakeholder expectations. Our commitment to principled leadership and transparency positions us to navigate challenges and seize opportunities, reaffirming our dedication to excellence and ethical conduct in the hospitality industry. CitySuites ESG report is available to view https://www.citysuites.com/en/environmental/ About CitySuites CitySuites is a leading provider of luxury serviced apartments, offering stylish and spacious accommodations in prime locations. With a focus on sustainability and guest satisfaction, CitySuites is committed to delivering exceptional experiences. CitySuites offers city centre living that combines the comforts of home with the luxury touches of a hotel, providing an exceptional living experience that surpasses standard serviced apartment accommodation. The purpose of CitySuites is to make life easy with a range of facilities and services that can be tailored to each guests requirements. Packages designed to reflect the modern lifestyle. Flexibility that works to suit any stay. The belief that one size does not fit all. CitySuites offers better value than per-night hotels and higher levels of luxury and comfort than have ever been found in the serviced apartment sector. Marsala From October 2 to 6, Marsala will host the inaugural edition of Insolito Marsala, a festival that blends wine tourism, art, technology, and next-generation hospitality. Insolito Marsala aims to propel Sicily into the future, transforming the region into a stage for innovation, all within a setting steeped in tradition. With educational sessions, tastings, artistic installations, and exclusive dinners, Insolito Marsala offers a cutting-edge cultural laboratory, breaking away from the conventional food and wine festival format. A Festival That Reinvents the Sicilian Experience At the heart of Insolito Marsala is a desire to fuse tradition with new technologies, creating a unique experience in a land that has always symbolized hospitality. One of the festival's highlights is the October 2 launch of Twine, a digital twin project of Palazzo Fici, home to the Marsala Wine Museum. Visitors can use immersive headsets to explore a virtual replica of the courtyard and the Enoteca Strada del Vino di Marsala. This groundbreaking initiative is the first in Italy, bringing Marsala into the metaverse and opening new avenues to experience the region's story. Attendees can also look forward to cultural insights, such as a conversation with Stefania Auci, author of "The Lions of Sicily," where she will share untold stories and fascinating details about the Florio family and their connection to Marsala wine. Innovation and Street Art Insolito Marsala also stands out for its contemporary art influence. The Marsala Colorata project will transform the city's streets into an open-air gallery, revitalizing urban spaces and shopfronts with stunning street art installations. A Journey Through Flavors Gastronomy will play a central role in the festival. Each evening, Marsala's wineries and restaurants will offer tastings of local wines paired with prestigious Italian DOP products, such as Culatello di Zibello, Parmigiano Reggiano, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, and Modica Chocolate. These tastings will be limited in number but accessible to all with affordable pricing. Selected restaurants will create a special Insolito menu for the occasion, transforming every bar, shop, and dining space into a unique gastronomic experience. For example, Saline Genna, one of the world's most sought-after spots for sunset aperitifs, will feature a unique Aperifish Insolito for the five days of the festival, offering innovative culinary options. In four specially selected venues, visitors can enjoy the festival's official cocktail, part of a range of signature drinks crafted for the event by each location. Evenings will be further enhanced with music, DJ sets, and artistic performances. Extended Program Wednesday, October 2 9:00: Festival Inauguration 9:30: Ah, che bello cafe! with a surprise guest 10:15: Hotels, Cafes, Restaurants: How the Ho.Re.Ca. Industry is Changing, with Alberto Lupini, Simone Puorto, and Mariagrazia Villa 10:30: Wine Creator, with Adriano Amoretti and Enza Bergantino 11:30: Telling the Story of Wine, with Marco Rossi and Paolo Lottero 15:00: Wine Creator 17:00: Twine Project Presentation, with Giorgio Triani, Giulia Sichel, and Simone Puorto 18:00: Marsala Colorata Project Launch 18:30: Twin Doc DOC Twins Presentation 20:00: Un Insolito Menu, in participating restaurants Thursday, October 3 9:30: Ah, che bello cafe! with a surprise guest 10:15: Revolutionizing Hospitality, with Jacopo Longhi and Andrea Palmoso 10:30: Wine Creator 11:00: Pioneers of the Future with Henri Roelings, moderated by Simone Puorto 12:00: Technology and Innovation with Michael C. Cohen, moderated by Simone Puorto 15:00: Wine Creator 18:00: Unpublished Stories from the "Florio Saga," with Stefania Auci 20:00: Un Insolito Menu, in participating restaurants Friday, October 4 9:30: Ah, che bello cafe! with a surprise guest 11:15: Genius Loci, with Filippo Arfini, Filippo Sgroi, Stefano Nincevich, and Mitsuyo Kitamura 11:00: Crowdfunding and Wine, with Jacopo Longhi and Andrea Palmoso 11:45: The Wineries of the Future 17:30: Trapani, Creative City of UNESCO Gastronomy, with Cristiano Casa 17:50: Do You Speak Marsalese? 18:10: Marsala in Literature, with Guido Conti 18:30: Semiotic Tasting Workshop, with Gianfranco Marrone and Alberto Salarelli 20:00: Un Insolito Menu, in participating restaurants Saturday, October 5 9:30: Ah, che bell'o cafe! with a surprise guest 10:00: Food and Wine Journalism: Web Challenges and AI, with Vito Orlando, Andrea Grignaffini, Manuela Soressi, Carlo Bocchialini, and Giorgio Triani 18:30: SuperDoc Wine Tasting 20:00: Un Insolito Menu, in participating restaurants Sunday, October 6 9:30: Ah, che bell'o cafe! with a surprise guest 10:20: Twine in Tour: Into the Metaverse, with Giulia Sichel 12:10: Cin Cin Insolito Marsala Closing Toast 20:00: Un Insolito Menu, in participating restaurants Special Tastings Edible Bubbles: Marsala, citrus, or coffee bubbles with food designer Roberta Razzano Insolito Aperitifs: Unique aperitifs in stunning locations Insolito Mixology: Signature cocktails with a focus on unusual ingredients Insolito Sunset Sessions: Evening beach parties with DJ sets Visual and Artistic Highlights Marsala Colorata: Street art curated by Interno Undici Twine Project: Explore Marsala's metaverse with VR Wine 3.0: NFT-labeled wine series available for purchase Insolito Generative Storytelling: Contribute to a collective narrative For more information and reservations, visit the official website or follow the festival on social media. Email: [email protected] London, UK The World Travel and Tourism (WTTC) today announced its full stellar line-up for its 24th Global Summit in Perth, Western Australia (8-10 Oct), with 68th U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and conservationist and TV personality Robert Irwin set to take to the stage. During a fireside chat with Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, Secretary Kerry will share insights in navigating the international political landscape, forging strong alliances, and facilitating international cooperation for a more resilient and sustainable future. Son of the legendary Steve Irwin, Robert will share unforgettable stories from his adventures in the wild, and how Travel & Tourism can play a vital role in creating a future where nature is enjoyed while being protected and celebrated. Under the theme "Ancient Land: New Perspectives," this years Global Summit will spotlight Australia's rich cultural heritage and natural wonders, emphasising its innovation and sustainable growth. The global tourism body is also delighted to announce that alongside Julia Simpson and WTTC Chair Greg OHara, the Hon. Roger Cook MLA, Premier Western Australia, will open the Global Summit on 9 Oct. Industry trailblazers from across the globe will come together in the West Australian capital to continue efforts for a safer, more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future in Travel & Tourism. Notable speakers include Di Bain, Chair, Tourism Western Australia; Audrey Hendley, President, American Express Travel; Matt Goldberg, President & Group CEO, Tripadvisor; Jane Sun, Group CEO, Trip.com; Frank Marini, President & CEO, Railbookers Group; Jason Waters, CEO, Perth Airport; Kelly Craighead, President & CEO, CLIA; Francis Gatare, CEO, Rwanda Development Board; Christie Travers-Smith, Head of Retail and Travel EMEA Partnerships, Google, and many other business leaders from around the world. Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said: We are delighted to have such influential speakers confirmed for our Global Summit in the beautiful city of Perth. This is our first ever major event in the Oceania region, and it will bring together many of the worlds most powerful leaders in our sector to discuss and secure its long-term future, which is critical to economies and jobs around the world. Official government delegations from around the world and representing more than 25 countries will be in attendance, with delegations from several G20 economies, including Argentina, Australia, China, Mexico, South Africa, and the U.S. Delegations from other major economies include Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Thailand, and the UAE, will also be participating, with the Deputy Prime Ministers of the Bahamas and Fiji also in attendance. A new addition to WTTCs Global Summit, the Investors Nest will see university students from around the world pitch their ideas for sustainable tourism to Travel & Tourism investors in a Shark Tank-style format. The winner will be announced during at the end of the Global Summit. About WTTC The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) represents the global travel & tourism private sector. Members include 200 CEOs, Chairs and Presidents of the world's leading travel & tourism companies from all geographies covering all industries. For more than 30 years, WTTC has been committed to raising the awareness of governments and the public of the economic and social significance of the travel & tourism sector. As the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region rises as a global powerhouse in travel and tourism, the global hospitality industry is presented with unparalleled opportunities. Southeast Asia alone is projected to contribute an impressive US$640 billion to the global economy by 2033. Yet, with this growth comes unique challenges that hoteliers must overcome to win the loyalty and spending power of this influential market. The Agilysys 2024 APAC Hospitality Impact Study reveals critical insights into how hoteliers can boost both guest satisfaction and revenue. The key to unlocking this dual success lies in a vital yet often underutilized tool - personalization. Cracking the Loyalty Code: Unraveling the Rebooking Paradox One of the studys most startling findings is the "rebooking paradox." While hoteliers report high guest satisfaction (86%) and perceived value for money (61%), only 37% of APAC travelers return to hotels theyve previously enjoyed. This disconnect is more than a curiosity, it highlights a crucial reality of the competitive hospitality landscape - satisfaction alone doesnt drive loyalty. The paradox underscores the pressure the industry faces to continually source new business. Focusing solely on occupancy ratesoften considered the holy grailmisses a key factor: who is filling those rooms. The emotional leap from We have a booking tonight to Welcome back, its great to see you again may well be the turning point in converting a one-time visitor into a loyal guest. Loyalty, after all, offers hoteliers stability in turbulent times, providing a revenue stream that fresh bookings alone cannot guarantee. From Rooms to Guests: Embracing RevPAG as the New Standard for Success Traditionally, hotel success has been measured by Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), a metric that prioritizes occupancy rates and average room prices. However, the 2024 APAC Hospitality Impact Study calls for a shift in perspective. To unlock true revenue potential, hoteliers should embrace guest-first metrics such as Revenue Per Available Guest (RevPAG). RevPAG accounts for the full scope of guest spending, from room service and spa treatments to dining and recreational activities, providing a more holistic view of revenue generation. This shift is more than just a change in numbersits a strategic realignment. By focusing on RevPAG, hotels can: Tailor offers based on guest preferences and spending habits. Implement guest-centric services that cater to individual needs. Optimize pricing for premium services during peak periods. Anticipate guest desires and provide proactive, memorable experiences. Unlocking the Door to Revenue: Personalization Holds the Key According to the study, 68% of APAC travelers are willing to spend more on personalized experiences. This presents a golden opportunity for hoteliers to elevate guest satisfaction while driving significant revenue growth. Personalizations impact can be seen in several key areas: Room Upgrades: A striking 73% of respondents would pay up to 30% more for room upgrades if offered after booking, underscoring the value of well-timed, personalized upselling. Timing is everything. A striking 73% of respondents would pay up to 30% more for room upgrades if offered after booking, underscoring the value of well-timed, personalized upselling. Timing is everything. Efficient Service: Time matters, with 66% of travelers willing to spend more if wait times are reduced. Streamlined service delivery translates directly to increased revenue. Time matters, with 66% of travelers willing to spend more if wait times are reduced. Streamlined service delivery translates directly to increased revenue. Loyalty Programs: Well-crafted loyalty programs can inspire 68% of guests to spend more, revealing the untapped potential of these initiatives. Well-crafted loyalty programs can inspire 68% of guests to spend more, revealing the untapped potential of these initiatives. Staff Interactions: Personal touches make all the difference. Nearly half (46%) of guests appreciate staff who go the extra mile, and 41% value personalized activity recommendations. Furthermore, 30% are swayed by staff who recall previous interactions, emphasizing the importance of genuine, human connection. Personal touches make all the difference. Nearly half (46%) of guests appreciate staff who go the extra mile, and 41% value personalized activity recommendations. Furthermore, 30% are swayed by staff who recall previous interactions, emphasizing the importance of genuine, human connection. Small Gestures: Simple, thoughtful gestures leave a lasting impression. The majority (57%) of guests respond positively to small surprises, such as chocolates on pillows, while 40% value being allocated their preferred room. To implement these strategies effectively, hoteliers must harness the power of advanced Property Management Systems (PMS). These systems offer real-time, data-driven insights into guest preferences, allowing hotels to: Offer targeted upselling opportunities that align with individual guest desires. Implement on-demand services that cater to specific needs, enhancing the guest experience. Manage capacity and dynamic pricing to optimize revenue during peak times. Deliver proactive service by anticipating needs before they arise. Redefining the Horizon: The Future of Hospitality As the hospitality industry approaches a transformative era, driven by the resurgence of tourism nearing pre-pandemic levels, the potential for growth is unprecedented. However, success hinges on meeting the evolving expectations of todays travelers. The rebooking paradox highlights the need for hoteliers to move beyond the basics and deliver personalized, memorable experiences. By leveraging data-driven insights, adopting metrics like RevPAG, and using technology to enhance personalization, the industry can exceed guest expectations and foster deeper connections. The future of hospitality lies in seamlessly blending technology with human interaction, where every touchpointfrom booking to post-staybecomes an opportunity to build loyalty, drive revenue, and set new standards of excellence. By aligning strategies with these insights, hoteliers can elevate the guest experience, ensure profitability, and lead the way in the dynamic hospitality landscape. Get a Copy of the 2024 APAC Hospitality Impact Study About Agilysys Agilysys delivers state-of-the-art software solutions and services that help organizations achieve High Return Hospitality by maximizing Return on Experience (ROE) through interactions that make "personal' profitable. Customers around the world use Agilysys Property Management Systems (PMS), Point-of-Sale (POS) solutions and Inventory and Procurement (I&P) systems and accompanying hospitality ecosystem solutions to delight guests, retain staff and grow margins. Agilysys' 100% hospitality customer base includes branded and independent hotels; multi-amenity resorts; casinos; property, hotel and resort management companies; cruise lines; corporate dining providers; higher education campus dining providers; food service management companies; hospitals; lifestyle communities; senior living facilities; and stadiums and theme parks. For more information visit Agilysys.com. Artificial Intelligence is Checking into Your Hotel - Are You Ready? - By Robert Braun - Image Credit Unsplash+ Even though artificial intelligence has been a part of our lexicon for more than seventy years, artificial intelligence remains the latest bright shiny thing. Businesses large and small feel compelled to incorporate artificial intelligence into their company descriptions even with a limited understanding of what artificial intelligence is, or how it could help their business. Hotels and hotel companies are no different; just take a look at the online newsletters and announcements hitting your mailbox; its a rare day that a hotel company doesnt announce that it is incorporating artificial intelligence into their business, whether to increase guest satisfaction, offer new services, improve reservations, or any of a variety of reasons. While artificial intelligence can clearly help, jumping on the AI bandwagon can have unintended consequences. What is Artificial Intelligence? Most of us have an imperfect concept of artificial intelligence: we think that the title is descriptive of the product. However, artificial intelligence is not necessarily what it sounds like. IBM defines artificial intelligence as technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy. But what most people think of as artificial intelligence is generative AI, technology that can create original text, images, video, and other content without human intervention. Underlying this is a hard fact: artificial intelligence is highly technical and very difficult. As an expert in the field, Joseph Greenberg of Maryman and Associates told me, To understand artificial intelligence, you understand neural networks. I dont understand neural networks do you? What are the risks of Artificial Intelligence? Some of the risks in artificial intelligence or, more accurately, AI systems and tools are well publicized. For example, AI hallucinations, occurring when a generative AI tool that creates responses to prompts that have little or no basis in fact, have become legendary. Biased or inaccurate responses are a common issue, and certain AI models have design flaws that can magnify those issues. Additionally, because of the complexity of AI systems, artificial intelligence cannot be treated simply as another form of software different and more intensive vetting of AI systems are required. An AI system is not like a car, or a computer, or a lot of things we use but dont understand. Or, more accurately, its like having a car without understanding what the steering wheel, accelerator and brake do. You are bound to have an accident. The National Institute for Standards and Technology recently published a Risk Management Framework that identifies several risks that are inherent in AI systems. Among other things: Difficulty in Measurement. The risk in using AI systems is difficult to measure, making it challenging to implement a safe system. Adapting and Evolving. AI systems are, by their nature, continually adapting and evolving, which may make a risk analysis at one stage in the AI lifecycle inapplicable to a later stage. Lack of Transparency. AI systems are often opaque, lacking in documentation or explanation. Moreover, a functioning AI system raises risks of inadequate compliance with laws, inadvertent disclosure of personal and business information, and a variety of ethical dilemmas. The takeaway here is that if you cannot identify or measure the risk, you might be unable to manage it. Managing the Risk. While eliminating risk might be impossible, it can be managed. Some of the steps a company can take to control the risk in AI systems include: Understand the system and how you plan to use it. Make sure that you understand the purpose of the AI system and how it will address your needs. Consider compliance. There are a variety of laws and regulations that impact the legal uses of artificial intelligence. Currently, the European Union AI Act, Utah AI Policy Act, and Colorado AI Act all stand out as specific laws geared toward artificial intelligence, but the nature of artificial intelligence is that it can trigger virtually all privacy laws as well as scrutiny by the FTC and state attorneys general. And, just as legislatures and regulators are focusing on privacy rights, they are moving into artificial intelligence regulation as well (even without fully understanding the concepts). Since hotel companies often cross state and international borders, recognizing all of the potentially applicable laws is essential. Hot button Issues. Recognize that some applications of artificial intelligence are particularly sensitive, such as: Employment decisions; Credit Scoring; Training with protected or unlawfully obtained data; and For those in the federal supply chain, the Biden Administrations AI Executive Order. There are also actions you can take to limit your risk exposure: Risk Analysis: Despite the challenge, understand how the AI system might create risks to your hotel or hotel company. The risks can range from violation of specific artificial intelligence and privacy laws, intellectual property infringement, loss of trade secrets, and reputational harm. Vendor Assessment: Learn as much as you can about who will provide or develop the AI System its experience, reputation, past projects, and personnel. Training Materials: Define the data that will train the AI system and where it came from. Does it include personal information, copyrighted materials, or trade secrets? Did the developer have the right to use the data? Remember that hotels rightfully collect a lot of personal information; will that information and take steps to protect it. Review your Vendor Agreement Carefully: As noted above, artificial intelligence systems are different from other software. A careful review of the representations and warranties, indemnification provisions and limitations on liability are essential. Dont skimp on the Statement of Work: The statement of work (the actual description of what the AI system will do) is key. That is challenging because its often the case that an AI system is developed with broad initial goals, making a continuing review of system requirements and goals essential. Keeping your eye on the purpose, goal, and guardrails will help keep your firm on solid ground. Have an AI Governance Committee and Policy: Establish a group with meaningful authority, and with technical and legal expertise, to oversee the use of AI systems and tools. Artificial Intelligence tools are expected to transform the way we work. They have the potential to automate tasks, improve decision-making, and provide valuable insights into our operations. However, the use of AI tools also presents new challenges in terms of information security and data protection. Adopting AI systems and tools requires preparation and careful thought dont just reach for the brightest new penny! If this article was of interest, you may also wish to read other articles by Bob Braun on Data Technology, Privacy & Security. Bob Braun is a Senior Member of JMBMs Global Hospitality Group and is Co-Chair of the Firms Cybersecurity & Privacy Group. Bob has more than 20 years of experience in representing hotel owners and developers in their contracts, relationships and disputes with hotel managers, licensors, franchisors and brands, and has negotiated hundreds of hotel management and franchise agreements. His practice includes experience with virtually every significant hotel brand and manager. Bob also advises clients on condo hotel securities issues and many transactional matters, including entity formation, financing, and joint ventures, and works with companies on their data technology, privacy and security matters. These include software licensing, cloud computing, e-commerce, data processing and outsourcing agreements for the hospitality industry. In addition, Bob is a frequent lecturer as an expert in technology, privacy and data security issues, and is one of only two attorneys in the 2015 listing of SuperLawyers to be recognized for expertise in Information Technology. Bob is on the Advisory Board of the Information Systems Security Association, Los Angeles chapter, and a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Contact Bob Braun at 310.785.5331 or rbraun@jmbm.com. Scott Valentine - Image Credit Rotana Hotels Rotana announced the promotion of Scott Valentine to the role of Corporate Vice President - Food & Beverage. As Corporate Vice President - Food & Beverage, Valentine will be at the helm of Rotanas food and beverage strategy, driving the execution of innovative culinary initiatives while ensuring top-notch quality and service. Reporting directly to Eddy Tannous, Chief Operating Officer, he will also oversee the development and implementation of new restaurant concepts and F&B outlets, further enhancing Rotanas reputation for excellence in the hospitality industry. Commenting on Valentines promotion, Eddy Tannous, COO of Rotana, said: His innovative approach and commitment to excellence have been instrumental in shaping Rotanas F&B operations in the last few years. Valentine has also been instrumental in driving our sustainability initiatives through the introduction of cutting-edge technologies, such as Chefs Eye, to our kitchens. We are confident that he will continue to advance our culinary offerings while nurturing the next generation of chefs, making him the perfect fit for this leadership role. Valentine first joined Rotana in August 2019, as Corporate Director of Culinary and quickly became an integral part of the companys F&B strategy. His leadership and vision led to significant achievements in culinary concept development and quality enhancement, culminating in his promotion to Corporate Director of F&B and Culinary in early 2024. Before his tenure at Rotana, Valentine built a distinguished career in the hospitality industry, working with prominent hotel brands and independent culinary institutions worldwide. His extensive experience includes collaborations with 11 Michelin-starred chefs, the opening of four restaurants in Amsterdam, and the founding of the Chefs Association in Tanzania. Valentine holds a Food and Beverage Management Certificate from Cornell University and has received numerous accolades throughout his 25-year career, including a Michelin Recommendation London and Star Amsterdam and a Fodor's award. I am extremely excited to take on this new role at Rotana, said Valentine. I look forward to leading our exceptional F&B teams as we continue to push the boundaries of culinary innovation, ensuring that each guest has a memorable and responsible dining experience. Williamstown Planners Talk Interplay of Proposal with Existing Zoning WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Planning Board last week discussed a number of proposals it hopes to bring forward to town meeting and acknowledged that at least one likely won't be ready in time for this May's annual meeting. The latest in a series of Planning Board initiatives to allow a greater variety of housing options in town has them looking at an Open Space Residential Development bylaw. Kenneth Kuttner, who is taking the lead on studying an OSRD proposal along with Roger Lawrence, told the board that initial concepts they pitched in the summer need to be considered in the context of the town's existing Major Residential Development bylaw, found in Section 7 of the town's zoning bylaw. "Roger and I met with [Community Development Director Andrew Groff] last week to discuss the interaction between our thoughts on OSRD and the existing bylaw," Kuttner said. "There's a lot of overlap and, potentially, redundancy. If we do a whole new OSRD, we should think about how to rationalize Section 7. "Roger and I need to work on two tracks: extend the Open Space Residential Development idea and figure out how to modify the existing Section 7 or transform the existing Section 7." Not for the first time, Groff noted at last Tuesday's meeting that the Major Residential Development bylaw has not been used by a developer in town since he started at Town Hall nearly 18 years ago. "The Major Residential Development Bylaw seems to have done its job by preventing more rural sprawl in rural parts of town but not doing its job in that it's not letting parts of town develop that are infill and could be developed," Groff said. Groff said the bylaw was like an early version of OSRD before the latter term existed. The planners did send town meeting an OSRD proposal in 2006. Groff said the proposal failed to get the two-thirds majority needed for passage but was favored by a majority of meeting attendees. Lawrence said the mere length of the 2006 OSRD proposal may have exhausted the meeting members. At just over six pages in length, the proposed bylaw, which was included in last Tuesday's meeting packet, was "convoluted," Lawrence said. "This is turning out to be a bigger assignment than the Cottage Court bylaw," Kuttner told his colleagues. "We'll keep working on it maybe not for this year's town meeting but for the next year's." Groff encouraged the board to stay with the topic. "This is one of the biggest cleanup sections in our zoning that's been on my mind for a while," he said. "If [Major Residential Development] hasn't been used for 20 years, there's no reason to have it on the books anymore." While an OSRD proposal would, to some extent, help clean up existing town code, two other Planning Board initiatives on the table would create entirely new bylaws. For one of the proposals, at least, the board has a proof of concept. Last year, in an effort to inoculate its Cottage Housing proposal against objections that it would lead to tiny short-term rental properties popping up all over town, the board included a provision that the cottages built under the proposed subdivisions could be used as short-term rentals for 150 days in a calendar year. On the floor of town meeting, that number was changed to 90 days before the bylaw was passed, 194-56. This year, the Planning Board is moving ahead with a townwide short-term rental bylaw proposal that it first discussed a couple of years ago before referring it to the Select Board. When the latter panel took no action, the planners took back the initiative. Peter Beck presented the latest draft of a short-term rental bylaw he has been developing. This version includes language calling for the Board of Health to treat short-term rentals like other rental properties in town and require inspections to make sure they meet the state sanitary code, changes the maximum number of days a primary dwelling unit can be used as a short-term rental to 90 days to reflect the number favored by May's town meeting and lays out a regimen of fines for violating the bylaw. The bylaw as drafted would apply to all of the town's residential districts. And it would allow unlimited short-term rentals of single bedrooms or accessory dwelling units when the owner is residing in the primary residence or to primary residences if the owner is living in an on-site ADU at the time of the rental. Beck's version spelled out that a property owner who breached the cap on days rented would receive a warning on their first offense, be fined $100 for a second offense, $200 for a third offense and $300 for each subsequent offense (with each day rented counting as a separate offense). "It's not saying Andrew has to go out and look for the 91st day [rented]," Beck said. "It would rely on the town realizing something or, more likely, a neighbor reporting. "There are websites that scrape Airbnb and VRBO [for rental data]. If the town wanted to be more aggressive, it could use that, but it would have to pay for it." Groff agreed. "Voluntary compliance is the most likely path, but, you're right, we could," he said. The board members discussed whether the fines in the draft bylaw were high enough to deter noncompliance and Cory Campbell asked if there could be a tiered system of fines with really high-end rentals facing steeper penalties if they violate the bylaw. Beck said he thought that would be unprecedented in the commonwealth. He said he did think about a fine structure that linked the fine to the daily rental rate, "but that would require more oversight." A third initiative the board is working on has to do not with houses but what lies beneath them. The town's director of public works this summer asked the body to look at drafting a bylaw regulating geothermal wells in the water resource district. Craig Clough brought the issue to the board after he received a permit request for a system that would use a mixture of water and propylene glycol (antifreeze). Groff told the board last week that there are a number of geothermal systems in town that use water only, and it was the first he heard of one that would use a toxic chemical in the closed-loop, underground system. Campbell, who was assigned by the board to be the point person on the geothermal bylaw proposal, told the group that he thinks there are three main issues to be considered: the allowable depth of geothermal wells given what is known about the location and extent of the town's aquifer; what additives, if any, should be allowed; and life-cycle monitoring to make sure systems do not leak. Groff said he thinks the town might be on its own in coming up with a bylaw to protect the aquifer, but he added it's important to get something on books. "[The Wetlands Protection Act] covers lands under water," Groff said. "I don't know if it covers water under land. "It's arguably Williamstown's greatest natural resource. We sit on top of this humongous aquifer with great purity. We should be careful in protecting it." In other business on Tuesday, the Planning Board: Approved a division of property that will allow the creation of Four Dog Farm on Luce Road. And began a conversation about creating "campus zoning district" that would cover Williams College's campus and limit the number of times the Zoning Board of Appeals is compelled to find that strict application of the General Residence zoning bylaw would be a "practical prohibition" on the college's operation a standard established in a series of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rulings. 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 }} Janey Godley has cancelled her forthcoming tour as she deals with ongoing treatment for incurable ovarian cancer. Godley, 63, who was due to begin her UK tour Why Is She Still Here? this autumn, was advised to stop working for the foreseeable future because her cancer is spreading. In a video shared online, the comedian told fans that she has been in hospital for eight days to be treated for sepsis, and told by cancer specialists that she should not return to work. The sepsis is under control but the cancer is spreading so theyve told me not to work, she said. Im really sorry. We sold thousands and thousands of tickets and theres so many people employed and my poor bloody agent Chris has been magnificent. A statement to the PA news agency said: It is with huge sadness that we must announce the cancellation of Janey Godleys autumn 2024 tour. Godley photographed in 2021 ( PA ) Janey has been living with stage four ovarian cancer for the past few years and the treatment from the wonderful Scottish NHS has kept the disease at bay, but sadly in the last few weeks the cancer has returned and there have been a few added complications. Her doctors have now advised her that she must stop work for the foreseeable future. Janey is devastated to let down her thousands of loyal fans, and the wonderful venues, she has played many times over the years. She would like to thank everyone for their love and support at this difficult time. ( Twitter via @JaneyGodley ) Godley, who became a viral hit with her voiceover videos dubbing then-first minister Nicola Sturgeons daily Covid briefings during the pandemic, revealed she had ovarian cancer in November 2021. She was given the all-clear in 2022 but announced the following year that the disease had been found in her abdomen. Despite this news, she continued with her tour in February and March 2023. Godley told ITVs Lorraine that fellow comedian Jimmy Carr played a key role in convincing her to continue her tour despite her diagnosis. She said: "I decided to cancel the tour, and my mate Jimmy Carr said, Is your mouth not working?. I went, Yeah, my mouth works and he said, Well get back on tour." Godley pictured in 2023 ( PA ) In a video she posted to social media last year, Godley said she had received scan results that showed the treatment she was on was keeping her terminal and incurable ovarian cancer at bay. Earlier in the year, Godley performed dates across the country in towns and cities including Bristol, Epsom, Norwich and Milton Keynes. Born in poverty in Glasgow in 1961, Godley has worked as a regular co-presenter on BBC Radio 4s Loose Ends, as well as fronting BBC Radio 4 series The C Bomb. In 2023, the comedian became the winner of the inaugural Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. With additional reporting from PA. 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 Eva Mendes has cast doubt over whether she will return to acting after taking time off to raise her children. Speaking in a new interview, Mendes questioned whether it was a good time to walk out of the profession altogether. When asked by Good Morning Americas George Stephanopoulos if she would thinking of getting back in front of the camera she responded: I dont know. If there you know if theres interesting roles. Aside from roles in Bluey, the childrens franchise, 50-year-old Mendes hasnt appeared in a movie since she co-starred in the Ryan Gosling thriller Lost River, in 2014. She met her husband Gosling before they both starred in the hit 2012 film The Place Beyond the Pines. Speaking about those roles in the early 2010s, Mendes said: I kinda felt like I did it, ya know? I was like, I just worked with Ryan Gosling, whos, like, the best. And I had such a I dont know it was such a high of my career to work with him and what we created together that I was like, This is a good time to just Seinfeld it and just walk out. So, who knows? But Mendes has previously said she has felt so lucky to spend that time focusing on her two daughters, Esmerelda, 10, and Amada, eight, whom she shares with Gosling. open image in gallery Mendes pictured in 2010 ( Getty Images ) Mendes has been focusing her attention away from acting, having written her newly-released childrens picture book, Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries, which aims to de-stigmatise anxiety experienced by children. Its a buddy story about this little girl and her brain, the Hitch actor said. And Desi has these never-ending worries I have them as well and she, she tries to work with her brain to kind of like, you know, make sure its not being a bully to her by sending all these negative thoughts her way and that its being like a BFF to her. And so its about that relationship. 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 I want to open up the dialogue and promote conversation, Mendes said. open image in gallery Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling at the Place Beyond the Pines premier ( Getty Images ) Speaking to the Today show earlier this year, Mendes discussed why she has taken a step back from acting to be more presenter at home. It was like a no-brainer. Im so lucky, and I was like, if I could have this time with my children. Because acting takes you on location, it keeps you away, she added. Mendes acknowledged that she and her husband both have careers, noting that her work-from-home schedule allows Gosling to act. It was almost just like a non-verbal agreement that it was like, OK, hes going to work and Im going to work. Im just going to work here, she explained. He went and he did his job. He just happens to be really good at his job. And he did it and he came home. 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 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 The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Netflix has added the Japanese anime classic Grave of the Fireflies to its platform, often regarded as one of the saddest movies ever made. The 1989 movie from the celebrated Studio Ghibli was added to Netflix on 16 September. Initially, the Oscar-winning studios entire back catalogue of movies was added to the streaming service in 2020, including classics like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Kikis Delivery Service and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. An American streaming deal with Max had previously prevented the film from being added to Netflix but its now available thanks to a rights issue, as reported by Collider. Those who have already seen the film by Isao Takahata, who passed away in 2018 aged 82, which is based on the 1967 semi-autobiography by Akiyuki Nosaka, will already be aware of the profound and deeply moving impact it can have on viewers. The film follows brother and sister Seita and Setsuko who are attempting to survive in the aftermath of a ruthless bombing raid by US forces on the Japanese city of Kobe in March 1945. Despite the heavy subject matter, which naturally focuses on the siblings struggles, the film also features some genuine moments of joy as the pair attempt to find some solace in their situation, conjuring a range of emotions for viewers. In his review, the great film critic Roger Ebert described the movie as an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation. Seven Samurai director Akira Kurosawa also lavished praise on the movie, as did Takahatas contemporary at Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, as per Alex Dudok de Wits BFI Film Classics book on the movie. Now that new audiences are experiencing the film on Netflix, they are also learning of the emotionally devastating punch that the film is capable of landing. One viewer, after watching the movie, said: Okay, this movie destroyed me. Grave of the Fireflies is really one of the most heartbreaking movies Ive ever seen. Im never watching this again. 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 Another said: Just finished Grave of the Fireflies there. If you have Netflix and dont mind a beautiful but very sad film I highly recommend it. Im away to go cry in the corner now, cheers. A third simply called it one of the best movies Ive ever seen. Grave of the Fireflies ( Rex Features ) Grave of the Fireflies is streaming now on Netflix. 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 YFN Lucci is still alive despite online rumors that the 33-year-old rapper had been killed in prison. In January, Lucci pleaded guilty to a gang-related charge after reaching a deal with prosecutors nearly three years after he was indicted on murder, gang and racketeering charges in Atlanta. He received a 10-year prison sentence. Rumors spread across social media on Wednesday (September 18) suggesting that Lucci, whose given name is Rayshawn Bennett, had died. However, TMZ reports that Luccis attorney Drew Findling, who represented him in the January trial, has confirmed his client remains alive and well. It has been speculated that the recent rumors about Luccis death were concocted to play on high emotions following the death of his former labelmate Rich Homie Quan earlier this month. Quan, who was born Dequantes Lamar, was found dead at home at the age of 34. No cause of death has yet been announced. open image in gallery YFN Lucci performing with 50 Cent in New York in 2019 ( Getty Images for STARZ ) Lucci was one of a dozen people charged in a wide-ranging indictment targeting alleged members of the Bloods gang in April 2021. He had initially been charged with murder in January 2021 after police said he was the driver in a gang-related drive-by shooting that killed a man. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped 12 of 13 counts against Bennett and he pleaded guilty to a single count of violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, his lawyers said. 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 After three years of pretrial litigation, more than two weeks of jury selection and three years of incarceration waiting for his jury trial, today, the prosecution finally relented and dismissed the murder and RICO charges against Rayshawn Bennett, defense attorneys Drew Findling, Gabe Banks and Marissa Goldberg said at the time. As he has maintained for three years now, Mr. Bennett will NOT cooperate in any other case. Lucci accepted a plea bargain and pleaded guilty on January 23, 2024. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and ten years of probation. His jail time was counted as time served. In July, the District Attorney of Fulton County submitted a letter to the State Board of Pardons and Paroles supporting his early release as soon as January 2025. The District Attorney of Fulton County did the unorthodox, Findling told WSB-TV in Atlanta. That letter from the district attorney is a powerful punch and is really at the heart of the letter and supporting documents and the memorandum that we have shared with the parole board. 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 Friends is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and its creators are revealing behind-the-scenes secrets for the occasion - including how the stars refused to recreate the iconic opening. The show, created by Marta Kauffman, first aired in 1994 and ran for ten seasons and 236 episodes until its finale in 2004. One of the most famous moments included stars David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Courtney Cox, Matthew Perry, and Lisa Kudrow dancing in a New York City-esc fountain during the opening credits. Todd Stevens, a line producer on the show, told The Guardian that as the shows success increased, the cast became more confident in saying no to scenes. He revealed that it was difficult to persuade the group to go back to the water fountains where they shot their legendary credits to the song Ill Be There For You by The Rembrandts. The creators had hoped to reshoot the scene for an alternative reality episode in 2000. Its one thing to do that when youre on the pilot, Stevens said. Revisiting the uncomfortable nature of that, cold and wet, was very different when they were big. open image in gallery The Friends cast was known for its dancing in a fountain during the opening credits. But now, show creators are revealing difficulties when they want to redo the shot years later ( NBC/Friends ) The actors all became mega-stars thanks to the NBC hit and the syndication that followed. It became a classic among the millennial generation, securing an estimated $136 million for each main character and spawning a multi-million dollar merchandising empire in the process. It gained new interest among a younger generation when it aired on Netflix years after its original run on NBC and cable television. The show started out earning $22,500 per episode for season one, with their salaries growing to an enormous $1 million per episode each by the finale, which was watched by 22 million people worldwide. 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 It was a bittersweet moment, Stevens told the Guardian about the finale, were witnessing something that was a part of history. open image in gallery The Friends cast (picutred in 2022) was making $1 million per episode by the end of hte shows popular run ( REUTERS ) As the show approaches its 30th anniversary, its stars have been reflecting on the experience. Speaking on her experience being the only Black recurring cast member on the show, Aisha Tyler, 53, told The Independent, how she used to hear passersby shouting out: Black girl from Friends! It was such a common refrain at the time, she said. It wasnt like it was just something that people looked back at later and said, Wait a minute. No, at the time, people talked quite a bit about the fact that, for a show that was set in the heart of Manhattan, it really lacked diversity. But we didnt have social media back then, so it wasnt the large-scale conversation that it became later. Tyler joined in the ninth season in 2003, playing Rosss (Schwimmer) palaeontology professor girlfriend Charlie, who first dates his best friend Joey (LeBlanc). The group, who stayed in touch after the show ended, were hit by tragedy following the death of Matthew Perry last year. 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 There was one storyline in particular that the Friends cast pushed back on because it felt very incestuous to them. Looking back on the creation of the seminal sitcom for its 30th anniversary this month, one of the shows writers, Adam Chase, revealed to The Guardian that the cast was unhappy with the decision to pair off Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) in the later seasons. The cast was very much against it, Chase said. It felt very incestuous to them. Fans will, of course, remember the two characters had a brief dalliance in season nine of NBCs hit sitcom about a group of twentysomething friends living in New York City. While goofy, kindhearted Joey and spirited, naive Rachel werent actual siblings in the series, their romantic relationship came to an abrupt end when they both realized they were better off as friends. The pairing proved not only divisive among the cast but with fans as well, as many felt it was wrong. The Joey/Rachel thing I know is controversial, Friends co-creator David Crane told RadioTimes in 2019. I love it. I love it because its wrong and we knew going in: this is wrong. And that happens in life. There is the relationship that shouldnt be. Even though you love someone, thats not who youre going to be with. open image in gallery The Friends cast was very much against the pairing between Rachel and Joey ( NBC ) And we loved that it took Joey to a more emotional place, and let Matt play colors that he hadnt gotten to play yet in the series, Crane explained at the time. By the end of the series, Rachel ends up getting back together with Ross (David Schwimmer), her on-again-off-again lover and the brother of her best friend Monica (Courteney Cox). In recent years, Aniston and Schwimmer have opened up about having had crushes on each other throughout much of the show. 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 However, according to the shows only recurring Black guest star Aisha Tyler, who played Charlie, one of Rosss girlfriends, the two didnt make it obvious. You could see that there was a real friendship and a bond, but they were super professional on that show, she told The Independent of Aniston and Schwimmer. Heres the secret for everybody reading everybody on shows has crushes on their castmates. I think people always focus on when theres conflict or drama, but most of the time, its kind of like middle school and everybodys crushing on everybody else. Elsewhere in the interview, Tyler remembered the unbidden moment of emotional generosity the late Matthew Perry showed her when she first joined the cast. On my first live show, Matthew Perry said to me, Get ready for your life to change, she recalled, adding: He gave me a moment of mindfulness to really feel that this was my big break. 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 Chinese warplanes tailed a US military aircraft through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Chinas military said. The US aircraft was a P-8A Poseidon patrol and reconnaissance plane, capable of conducting long-range anti-submarine warfare, according to a statement by the Peoples Liberation Armys Eastern Theater Command. Chinese military forces organized warplanes to tail and monitor the US aircrafts flight and handled it in accordance with the law, said Li Xi, a senior colonel and spokesperson for the command. Theater command troops will remain on constant high alert and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability, he added. The US Navy didnt immediately comment on the incident. China claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan as its own territory and bristles at other countries patrolling the body of water separating it from the island. On Friday, Germany sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait in its first transit of the disputed waters in more than two decades, drawing criticism from Beijing. open image in gallery ( AFP via Getty Images ) In 2001, a US surveillance plane and a Chinese navy fighter collided mid-air near the Chinese island province of Hainan, resulting in the Chinese pilots death. The U.S. said its plane was in international airspace and the accident was the result of reckless flying by the Chinese side. 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 sale of pet carriers in South Korea has surpassed that of baby strollers for the first time, underlining the countrys worryingly low fertility rate. The East Asian countrys fertility rate declined to a historic low of 0.78 in 2022, the lowest globally and well below the replacement rate. The trend is reflected in stroller sales. According to Gmarket, an e-commerce platform operator, 57 per cent of the strollers sold in 2023 were for pets compared to 43 per cent for babies, the Korea Times reported. The corresponding figures were 33 per cent and 67 per cent, respectively, in 2021. As fewer children are born in the country, the newspaper noted, more people are opting to raise pets. More than six million households in South Korea had pets in 2022, up from 3.6 million in 2012. President Yoon Suk Yeol has called the plummeting birth rate a national emergency and announced the creation of a Ministry of Low Birth Rate Counterplanning. We will mobilise all of the nations capabilities to overcome the low birth rate, which can be considered a national emergency, he said in May. I think the important thing going forward is indeed the economy. Corporate growth and job creation are important too but what I think is more important is to try harder to look for what is inconvenient in the life of each and every person and to resolve them. Baby bonnets displayed at a baby fair in Seoul. ( AFP via Getty ) South Koreas demographic crisis is blamed on a number of factors, but frustration with the rising cost of living and declining quality of life is considered to be the primary reason. The federal government offers financial incentives to encourage couples to have children, paying 35m to 50m won (20,566 to 29,380) from birth until the child turns seven. It was reported in March that the number of marriages had dropped by 40 per cent over the past decade. The number of marriages recorded in 2023 was 193,673 as against 322,807 in 2013. According to the Population Trends Survey by Statistics Korea, South Korea last year experienced significant demographic shifts characterised by declines in marriage and birth rates. 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 Korea on Wednesday test-fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern seas, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, adding to its military demonstrations as tensions with Washington and neighbors escalate. The launches come days after North Korea offered a rare view into a secretive facility built to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs as leader Kim Jong Un called for a rapid expansion of his nuclear weapons program. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected North Korea firing multiple short-range ballistic missiles from north of its capital, Pyongyang, and said the weapons flew eastward. The joint chiefs said it was closely communicating with the United States and Japan over the launches but didnt immediately provide more details. ( AFP via Getty Images ) Japans defense ministry said it detected at least two launches but didnt immediately say what types of missiles they were and how far they flew. Japans coast guard said the missiles were believed to have already fallen into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan and urged vessels to watch out for falling objects. Japans NHK television said the missiles were believed to have landed outside of Japans exclusive economic zone. The launches followed a previous round of ballistic tests last week as Kim vowed to have his nuclear force fully ready for battle with its rivals. The North said the launches on September 12 involved its super-large 600mm multiple rocket launchers, which it describes as capable of delivering tactical nuclear warheads. Experts say North Koreas large-sized artillery rockets blur the boundary between artillery systems and ballistic missiles because they can create their own thrust and are guided during delivery. ( EPA ) ( AP ) Since 2022, North Korea has ramped up its weapons testing activities to expand and modernize its arsenal of nuclear missiles targeting the US and South Korea. Analysts say North Korea could conduct a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test ahead of the US presidential election in November with the intent of influencing the outcome and increasing its leverage in future dealings with the new US administration. 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 latest internet celebrity, baby hippo Moo Deng, is challenging her keepers with the unexpectedly big crowds she is drawing to her zoo, two hours south of the capital Bangkok. Moo Deng, whose name means bouncing pig in Thai, has millions of fans on social media following her clumsily charming adventures, including trying to nibble her handler despite still lacking teeth. Normally on weekdays and in the rainy season - which is a low season - wed be getting around 800 visitors each day, said Narungwit Chodchoy, director of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province. ( REUTERS ) But the zoo is now getting 3,000 to 4,000 people on weekdays, and welcomed 20,000 visitors over the weekend, he said - most of them lining up to see Moo Deng. Moo Deng fever means we will have organise better so all visitors can see her, Narungwit said. On Monday morning, the pink-cheeked hippo, whose siblings are called Pork Stew and Sweet Pork, was sitting happily in a bowl of vegetables and other snacks. I left home in Bangkok from 6:30 this morning just to come and see Moo Deng, said 45-year-old Ekaphak Mahasawad. Im only here to see her. Not all the attention Moo Deng is receiving is welcome. In a video shared on social media, Moo Deng is sleeping in her enclosure when a visitor pours water on her. Other visitors have thrown bananas and shellfish at her to try and get her attention. ( REUTERS ) ( REUTERS ) ( REUTERS ) Narongwit Chodchoi, director of Khao Kheow Open Zoo, on Thursday released a statement asking visitors not to throw objects at her or make loud noises. He warned that the zoo would take legal action against those who do not behave, according to the Bangkok Post. He added that the zoo had installed surveillance cameras in the area and an officer had been appointed to watch over her. ( REUTERS ) Born on 10 June to parents Jona and Tony at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, Moo Deng has two siblings. She was first revealed to the public on 25 July, and her name was chosen after a vote held by the zoo. Moo Dengs grandmother, Malee, recently celebrated her 59th birthday as Thailands oldest hippo. 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 }} At least four people are facing the death penalty for allegedly trafficking drugs into the resort island of Bali, defying the Indonesias notoriously strict anti-narcotic laws. Bali police have arrested six people, including foreigners, on drug charges in the popular tourist destination since July, local authorities said. Two Thai nationals, Rachanon Jongseeha, 33, and Woranawan Wongsuwan, 31, were arrested upon arrival at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport on 8 September for possession of methamphetamine and crystal MDMA, provincial anti-narcotics chief Rudy Ahmad Sudrajat said. The pair were found carrying 1.9kg of methamphetamines mixed with the party drug MDMA in 108 sachets of a fruit-flavoured collagen drink, and 20 pills of MDMA, police said. "The drugs would be handed over to two Indonesians who ordered it," Mr Sudrajat said. Police later arrested the two Indonesians for allegedly ordering the drugs from Thailand. One of the suspects was arrested at the Bali airport while a courier was arrested later. All four could face execution by firing squad if charged and found guilty, Mr Sudrajat said. Police also announced the July arrests of two European men on drug charges. They face strict punishment but not the death penalty. A Latvian man, identified by the initials VS, was arrested at the Bali airport on 4 July for carrying 450.41 grams of hashish and 977.83 grams of cannabis in a suitcase. Police said the suspect had a tattoo indicating affiliation with organised crime groups in the former Soviet Union. He faces a possible life sentence for cannabis smuggling. A Swedish man identified by the initials SUE was detained on 31 July following a raid at a villa in the popular tourist spot of Gianyar. The officers recovered 201.28 grams of hashish, having been tipped off that this person had received a suspicious package by mail from Thailand. The Swedish national faces 15 years in prison, Mr Sudrajat said. Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, and has more than 150 people on death row, mostly for drug trafficking offences. About a third of them are foreigners. Eighteen people convicted of drug-related offences have been executed under current president Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014. The anti-narcotics unit raided a suspected drug lab in May which led to the arrest of two Ukrainians, a Russian and an Indonesian. All the foreigners arrested face the death penalty for operating a hydroponic marijuana and mephedrone production lab. An Australian man was sentenced to six months of medical rehabilitation in July for possessing methamphetamine. Troy Andrew Smith, from Port Lincoln in South Australia, was arrested on 30 April after police raided his hotel in Legian and seized 3.15 grams of crystal methamphetamine inside a toothpaste container from his room. Police found a further 0.4 grams of the drug, along with a bong and a lighter in his desk drawer. Earlier in November 2019, a court in Bali sentenced two Thai nationals to 16-year prison terms for smuggling 1kg of methamphetamine into the country. The same year, a French citizen was sentenced to death on Lombok, an island next to Bali, for smuggling 3kg of MDMA before a higher court commuted his sentence to 19 years in prison. Indonesia carried out its last executions in July 2016 when three Nigerians and an Indonesian convicted of drug offences were shot dead on the Nusa Kambangan prison island. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A man has launched his own business, in which he attends weddings only to announce an objection to the ceremony. Ernesto Reinares Varea from Spain charges 500 (around $550 USD) to ruin weddings, normally by brides who are unsure how to call off their own nuptials. If you have doubts or dont want to get married and dont know how to refuse, dont worry anymore, Ill object to your wedding, he wrote in an ad, according to Spanish news outlet Antena 3. You just need to tell me the time, place, and date, the ad continued. I will appear in the middle of the ceremony saying that I am the great love of your life and we will run away together hand in hand. The ad began as a joke, before brides started to contact him for his services. Since then, he has continued to receive offers, telling the outlet that he is booked until December. In addition to publicly objecting to the ceremony, Varea also allows family members to slap him for extra money. Each slap is worth 50 euros, he said. The salesman clarified that his services are not limited to brides and also apply to grooms, writing in his original ad that it was suitable for women as well as men. I know it may seem like a joke, but it is not, he said. Vareas job has since caused many people to question whether someone should be paid to break up with anothers partner, when it can be done for free. During a recent episode of the Today show, co-hosts Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb both admitted that they probably wouldnt use Vareas services for themselves. No, because for free you can just say, I want to break up, Bush Hager said, specifically referencing his prices. Meanwhile, Kotb revealed she wouldnt be using his services either, noting that it appears strange to have the weird guy come in to destroy the wedding. Father Jason Lody, a licensed officiant, previously revealed in an interview with Brides that he has increasingly seen weddings skip the objection part of the ceremony. He explained that there are certain methods he uses to smoothly continue on with the wedding, telling the outlet: I tend to deal with things like this, by that I mean awkward situations during a ceremony, with humor, and try to move on unless the objection was extreme. I would make sure the couple was okay and try not to draw any more attention to what just took place. I would assume there would be some intervention or support from others in attendance to remove the cause for disruption, he added. This isnt the only unconventional wedding service to become successful. Earlier this year, Nishma Mistry a wedding planning expert and founder of the website Asian Bride Sorority created Missed RSVP cards for brides and grooms to print and send to their guests who did not answer their RSVP. The message reads: Were sorry you cant make it to our wedding. Our RSVP deadline has passed and you unfortunately did not respond. We would have loved to have you attend but final numbers have now been turned in and your presence will be missed. Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Heart Breakfast co-host Jamie Theakston has announced that he has been diagnosed with stage one laryngeal cancer. The radio host, who presents the stations breakfast show alongside Amanda Holden, revealed the news in an Instagram post on Tuesday morning. In a statement, the 53-year-old said the prognosis was very positive and added that he hopes to return to Heart Radio in October. The 53-year-old was prompted to get his throat examined after listeners noticed his voice sounded different on air. In a health update shared on 1 September, Theakston thanked his listeners for urging him to get it checked. Got it checked Doctors found a lesion on my vocal cords which Ive had removed this weekend thanks for all the kind messages should be back on my feet soon, he wrote at the time. After announcing that his condition had been identified as cancerous, Theakston has been met with well-wishes from his celebrity colleagues and fans. What is laryngeal cancer? Laryngeal cancer is a rare type of cancer that starts in the voice box (larynx), explains Maxine Lenza, health information manager at Cancer Research UK. The larynx is part of the throat found at the entrance of the windpipe (trachea) and plays an important role in helping you breathe and speak. Laryngeal cancer has five stages (stage zero, followed by stages one to four, often given in the Roman numerals I-IV) which describe the size of the cancer and whether it has spread. open image in gallery Illustration of cancer in a neck (Alamy/PA) Stage 0 is where abnormal cells are found in the lining of the larynx, but they have not spread beyond the top layer of cells. There are usually no symptoms and this can be considered as pre-cancerous, explains professor Vijay Nayar from Healthium Clinic. Whereas stage IV, the most advanced stage, is when the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, multiple lymph nodes, or invaded nearby structures. There are more than 2,000 new cases of laryngeal cancer in the UK each year, according to the NHS. Who is most at risk? According to the NHS, the condition is more common in men than women, and in people over the age of 60. The risk of developing cancer depends on many factors including your age, lifestyle, and environmental factors, explains Rachel Rawson, lead clinical nurse specialist at Perci Health. Lenza adds: Its not always clear what causes laryngeal cancer, but there are ways you can reduce your risk, such as stopping smoking or drinking less alcohol. What are the symptoms? The larynx plays an important role in breathing, speaking, and swallowing, so the symptoms of laryngeal cancer are related to these functions. open image in gallery Sore throat and a lump in the throat are both symptoms of laryngeal cancer (Alamy/PA) Symptoms of laryngeal cancer can include a hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, weight loss and shortness of breath, highlights Lenza. Nayar adds: Other symptoms include a sore throat or the feeling of something stuck in the throat. There can also be earache, a persistent cough, or a lump in the neck. The NHS website advises people who have had a hoarse voice for more than three weeks to get in touch with their GP. It can be tempting to put changes to your body down to getting older or another health condition, but its important to tell your doctor if you notice anything thats not normal for you, or isnt going away, advises Lenza. In most cases it wont be cancer, but if it is, finding it at an early stage can make a real difference. How is it diagnosed? open image in gallery PET scans are often used to diagnose this type of cancer (Alamy/PA) Diagnosis typically involves your doctor checking for lumps or abnormal areas in the throat, followed by a laryngoscopy, when a scope is inserted into the throat to view the larynx under local anaesthetic, explains Nayar. If a suspicious area is found, a small tissue biopsy is taken for further microscopic examination. If cancer is confirmed, then further scans may be used to assess the extent of the cancer and whether it has spread to other areas. These imaging tests may include CT, MRI, or PET scans, adds Nayar. What treatments are available? open image in gallery Some patients are offered chemotherapy (Alamy/PA) Treatment options depends on the stage of the cancer and the overall health of the patient. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy or a combination of these are usually offered. Patients with early stage cancer are generally offered laser microsurgery or radiotherapy, says Nayar. Those with more advanced disease will be offered surgery and radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. Surgery involves either partial or total removal of the larynx (laryngectomy) depending on the extent of the cancer. If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in the neck then these can also be removed. In all cases patients will require rehabilitation with speech and swallowing therapy after treatment. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Julia Fox has clarified that she is not actually pregnant after posting a photo of her with a baby bump on social media. The 34-year-old took to her Instagram Story on September 17 to share a video of herself posing in front of a mirror. As she wore a white crop top and matching shorts, Fox turned for the camera and showcased a pregnant-looking belly. In the caption, the Uncut Gems star simply wrote: Oops. The actor quickly followed up in a second post to explain that she was actually wearing prosthetics for a role. Omg its for a movie!!, she wrote. THE BELLY IS NOT REAL!!! Although she is not pregnant, Fox is a mother, sharing her three-year-old son, Valentino, with ex-husband Peter Artemiev. Shes also continued to be open about her approaches to parenting. During an interview with The New Yorker last year, she discussed her very working class childhood, and how she hoped Valentinos upbringing would be both similar and different to her own. I make sure that he knows how to do things for himself, even though hes still just a baby, she said. I dont want him to become super dependent on women. When I found out I was having a boy, I was a little disappointed Id wanted a girl. But I was also relieved, like, OK, I dont have to warn her about all these things. open image in gallery Julia Fox showcases baby bump on Instagram ( @juliafox / Instagram ) She also described the values she wants Valentino to have, specifically regarding how he treats women. I cant have him becoming an abuser in any type of way. I cant have him becoming incompetent and eventually making a female counterpart pay for that, Fox said. I have to make sure that he knows how to do things for himself, knows the value of things, and ultimately just keeps it in his pants. I want my son to really step up and be a protector of women, someone who allows women the space and agency to feel safe and taken care of. open image in gallery Julia Fox clarifies shes not pregnant ( @juliafox / Instagram ) The No Sudden Move star has also detailed her thoughts about raising her son in the public eye. During an interview with Variety in May, she claimed she believes its almost like a disservice to keep her child out of the spotlight. Its like I have this very highly coveted thing [and] I want to share that with my son. We need him to be a nepo baby, and he needs to own it too, she explained, referring to the term for children who have successful careers in the same field as their famous parents. She added: He cant be like, Im not really a nepo baby, he needs to be like, Yes Im a nepo baby, and what? 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 }} Cyprus top court ordered Wednesday that the country's comptroller general be removed from his post for alleged misconduct and interferences in the works of judiciary, the first such ruling in the Mediterranean island nations 64-year history. The eight-judge panel of the Supreme Constitutional Court said in a 209-page decision that Odysseas Michaelides had violated boundaries and exhibited behavior unbecoming his post. The ruling is the latest in a long-running feud between Michaelides, the government's chief accountant, and Attorney General George Savvides and his deputy Savvas Angelides, who had brought the case before the top court. The judges said Michaelides exceeded his authority and repeatedly demonstrated contempt for the countrys attorney general. He improperly intervened in ongoing legal cases that undermined court proceedings, baselessly accused the attorney general's office of cover-ups and endangered the rule of law while branding himself as the sole, incorruptible defender of citizens rights, the judges said. Citing one example, the court said Michaelides had raised unfounded accusations that the attorney general was impeding his bid to investigate a now defunct cash-for-citizenship program. The judges also criticized Michaelides past remarks to news outlets and posts on social media, saying they were full of misinformation and innuendo targeting the attorney general and his deputy. The ruling is binding for Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis told the state broadcaster. The 56-year-old Michaelides has been both a popular and controversial figure throughout his decadelong tenure, earning plaudits for calling out cases of corruption within government. Leaving the courthouse, Michaelides said he feels wronged and that despite making mistakes, his actions did not warrant such a ruling. He also claimed there were concerted effort by the government to get rid of him. The system won over the peoples demand to quash corruption, he claimed, adding that the ruling was a blow to free speech. 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 three-phased election for choosing a local government in Jammu and Kashmir opened early Wednesday in the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modis government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago. Authorities deployed thousands of additional police and paramilitary soldiers in the regions seven southern districts where over 2.3 million residents are eligible to cast their votes and chose 24 lawmakers out of 219 candidates in the first phase of the polling. Wearing riot gears and carrying assault rifles, troops set up checkpoints and patrolled the constituencies in the districts as locals lined up to cast their votes in villages and towns. The second and third phases are scheduled for September 25 and October 1 in a process that is staggered to allow troops to move around to stop potential violence. Votes will be counted on October 8, with results expected that day. For the first time, authorities limited access of foreign media to polling stations and denied press credentials to most journalists working with international media, including to The Associated Press, without citing any reason. The vote is the first in a decade, and the first since Modis Hindu nationalist government in 2019 scrapped the Muslim-majority regions semi-autonomy and downgraded the former state to a federally governed territory. It was also divided into two federal territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi, allowing it to appoint administrators to run the territories along unelected bureaucrats and security personnel. India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhis rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict. 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 }} Historic homeware brand Tupperware has filed for bankruptcy in the United States. The Orlando-based Tupperware Brands Corporation said launching bankruptcy proceedings was the best path forward after exploring numerous strategic options to stay afloat despite debts of more than $700 million. The business famous for its airtight storage containers that were used by Queen Elizabeth II to store breakfast cereal was developed in 1946 by Earl Tupper in Leominster, Massachusetts. He developed plastic containers to contain food and keep it airtight, which featured a then-patented burping seal. In June the company announced it was laying off 150 workers at a US factory and moving to Mexico to take advantage of lower wages there. Chief executive Laurie Ann Goldman said: Over the last several years, the companys financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment. Earlier this year, the troubled firm said it was trying to secure financing from investors as it was at risk of going bust. It now plans to seek approval from a US court to find a buyer for the business who could protect the brand. Tupperware, which enjoyed explosive growth in the mid-20th century, was well-known for its Tupperware parties, which were first held in 1948. These encouraged women to host parties and sell the products to friends and neighbours in their homes. It was popularised by saleswoman and marketer Brownie Wise, who helped develop the party plan marketing scheme now used by businesses such as the makeup brand Avon. Tupperware today describes itself as empowering female entrepreneurship through social selling. But the brand struggled in the years leading up to the pandemic, during which it enjoyed a brief resurgence as people stuck at home began cooking and saving leftovers more. Before its pandemic resurgence, Tupperware had negative sales growth for three consecutive years, according to FactSet. Its model has been widely emulated by rival brands and supermarket own-version food containers, which often retail at lower prices. Whether you are a dedicated member of our Tupperware team, sell, cook with, or simply love our Tupperware products, you are a part of our Tupperware family, Ms Goldman said. We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check 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 Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A new Covid variant has been reported across the globe with fears it will soon be the dominant strain of the illness. Cases of the XEC variant, first detected in Germany in June, have since been reported in the UK, US, Denmark and other countries. Experts say the strain is now taking charge and will likely continue to spread globally. The strain has been detected in at least 15 countries and 12 US states, according to Scripps Researchs Outbreak.info page which tracks data from the global initiative on sharing all influenza data (GISAID). But Covid data analyst Mike Honey has said that the new strain is now present in hundreds of patients across 27 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. He said there has been particularly strong growth of XEC in Denmark and Germany. The 15 confirmed countries are Slovenia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Taiwan, France, Israel, Italy, Sweden, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain and the United States. XECs prevalence is lower in the US and Canada and reached a high of 5.96% in European cases on 19 August. Slovenia had high rates of infection with the variant in August with over 10 per cent of samples from the country containing XEC. The strain, a combination of the KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 variants, presents symptoms similar to those of other Covid variants including tiredness, headaches, a sore throat and high temperatures. However, researchers have called for monitoring the XEC variant more closely to better understand its symptoms. Prof Francois Balloux, Director of the Genetics Institute at University College London told the BBC that the XEC variant is more contagious but that vaccines should still offer good protection as it is from the Omicron family. He says it is possible XEC will become the dominant subvariant over the winter though. The UKs latest Covid data show there is a 4.3 percent rise in Covid cases week-on-week with 1,465 hospital Covid admissions up until August 30, but data does not distinguish between different strain types. The NHS offers a free booster shot for those more likely to become seriously ill from Covid. At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next, Scripps Research Translational Institute Director Eric Topol wrote on X. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says it is normal for viruses to mutate and change. BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) concluded in Beijing on Monday, achieving some 1,000 practical outcomes, with over 20 percent of its offline exhibitors being international companies, said its organizer. The outcomes achieved during this year's CIFTIS include transactions and investments in fields such as construction, finance and business services. During the event, a total of 56 sessions were held, including international cooperation project negotiation and promotion meetings. "A total of 111 enterprises and institutions, including Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders, have released 219 achievements in the fields of digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI), healthcare and more, an increase of 80 compared to the previous edition," said Piao Xuedong, head of the Beijing municipal commerce bureau, during a press conference held Monday. With over 180 forums and activities held during the five-day event, more than 2,000 companies attended the fair offline and over 6,000 online. This year's edition showcased multiple cutting-edge technologies, including the orthopedic surgery robot equipped with AI deep learning technology, the world's smallest cardiac pacemaker and so on, covering sectors such as AI, cloud computing, metaverse and 6G. "This year's CIFTIS has achieved fruitful results, fully demonstrating China's firm determination to promote high-quality development through high-level opening up," said Wang Bo, an official with the Ministry of Commerce, during the press conference. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check 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 Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The majority of the worlds first 50 face transplants have survived for at least a decade, researchers have discovered. Doctors revisited dozens of patients who had the reconstructive surgery over the last decade in 11 countries. They found that 85 percent of the transplants survived for five years; and 74 percent for at least 10 years. Of the 50 transplants, six were rejected and another two needed to have the face re-transplanted. Dr Pauliina Homsy, a co-author of the research led by Finlands University of Helsinki, told The Independent on Wednesday that, initially, all face transplants were experimental and could only be done for patients under very strict criteria. What hasnt changed is that its still done only for patients with no other options. Because, its a massively invasive surgery and with real risks related to surgery and the recovery [a] the lifetime of immunosuppression, she said. But, what has changed is that, actually, the patients are doing really well. The findings, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Surgery, is the first time that the global long-term outcomes of the transplants has been studied. The reason why we want to know it is to try and convince people outside of our area who fund it and control the regulated permissions that actually this is a valid option for those patients [who] all the other reconstructive options have been exhausted for, Homsy said. A total of 50 face transplants have been performed since 2005 on 39 men and nine women, with most around the age of 35. One of the patients in the study is Robert Chelsea. Chelsea, 68, became the first Black patient, and the oldest, to receive a full face transplant at Bostons Brigham and Womens Hospital in July 2019. A resident of Los Angeles, Chelsea had suffered burns over 60 percent of his body and face after his car was hit by a drunk driver in 2013. His surgery lasted for 16 hours, involving a team of 45 professionals. Reconstruction procedures can last for up to 30 hours, and take months for recovery. The recovery process is physical and mental. ( Robert Chelsea ) The first face transplant in history was carried out in France in 2005 on a 46-year-old woman who had severe facial injuries from a dog bite. Isabelle Dinoire died of cancer at age 49 in 2016. The procedure, using the facial tissue of a dead donor, was replicated around the world. One of the patients evaluated in the study is Robert Chelsea, 68, who became the first Black patient, and the oldest, to receive a full face transplant at Bostons Brigham and Womens Hospital in July 2019. A resident of Los Angeles, Chelsea had suffered burns over 60 percent of his body and face after his car was hit by a drunk driver in 2013. His transplant surgery lasted for 16 hours, involving a medical team of 45 people. The process is long and hard, with the procedure lasting between 20 to 30 hours and then recovery going on for months. Patients are required to do exercises and the face starts moving between three to six months. It can be psychologically challenging to have a different face. So, all the patients are evaluated by psychologists, in a process that takes upwards of a year, Homsy said. Chelsea is one of 50 patients included in the international study that reviewed the success rate of face transplants ( Robert Chelsea ) Many transplant patients end up having several surgeries.Some transplants dont work and are rejected entirely. Sometimes, the same face needs to be re-transplanted. Complications are largely related to immuno-supression drugs. But, the skin grafts can also be lost due to chronic rejection a process that isnt understood that well where the facial tissue ages more rapidly than it should and blood vessels are blocked. Immuno-suppression is damaging to the kidneys, and Homsy said that most face transplant patients end up with renal issues. A face transplant also predisposes the patient to skin cancer. Those who received face transplants in the mid-2000s had the worst survival rates but operations have improved with each procedure and as medical techniques have advanced. The studys authors say the findings are encouraging and suggest transplants are an effective option for patients with severe facial defects. What is evident from our data is that the long-term results have improved significantly, as the international experience has taken place, said Homsy. So, the transplants that have been done in more recent years they survive much better. Homsy said the next step is to improve the understanding of the pathological processes that lead to rejection. The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy As a global propaganda coup for the Israeli security services, the pager attacks on Hezbollah members in Lebanon could scarcely be surpassed. What kind of a mind, one wonders, dreams up such a macabre lark as this, an exploding cigar practical joke on a grand scale? The sheer audacity of it was very much in the Israeli tradition, and it made some points rather forcefully. It proved that the Israelis could intercept Hezbollah supply lines, and with such ease that they could find the time to fit a few grams of military-grade explosives to each device, disguised as an electronic component. Thats certainly ingenious. Outside of North Korea and the British NHS, the world had assumed that the pager was long obsolete. Maybe the Israeli Defence Force will go for fax machines next? It also confirmed Hezbollahs communications networks are permanently vulnerable to Israeli disruption. The very public nature of the attack, the nature of the injuries, and the global coverage of it, was humiliating for Hezbollah. From the Israeli point of view, it yielded at least nine dead terrorists and other casualties. You can imagine the Israelis celebrating their success. Yet you also wonder what has really been achieved. Hezbollah were well aware of Israeli infiltration of their mobile phone traffic, which is why they turned to the pagers. But, presumably, the pagers can be replaced, with rather more care taken over their security. The Iranians or North Koreans might help them better encrypt their conversations and make them impervious even to the most sophisticated attacks (as some of our own politicians did during the Covid pandemic and if Boris Johnson can do it, anyone can). Aside from all the lols, the benefit to the Israeli war efforts is at best temporary. And there is no benefit at all in this to the security of the Israeli people. Every military operation or piece of espionage must surely be based on a proper calculation of whether, in this case, it will further the interests of the State of Israel. That is a highly legitimate mindset, and a disciplined one. It is not at all clear that the pager attacks have done so, and the immediate effect of this embarrassment to Hezbollah will be to seek revenge, as ever, and strengthen their determination. It comes at an unusually sensitive moment in the peace talks over Gaza, when there are far too many well-documented cases of Israeli settlers on the West Bank illegally occupying land and pushing Palestinians out. Literally tearing chunks of flesh out of Hezbollah members and some innocent bystanders does nothing to get the hostages taken by Hamas home, let alone defeat Hamas, let alone create a lasting framework of peaceful co-existence. It was almost as if the Israelis had just decided to have some fun at the expense of Hezbollah which they certainly did. Like the accusations of abuse against Palestinian prisoners, and the scale and conduct of the war in Gaza, it speaks volumes about the value the Israeli forces place on a Palestinian life. Just as no good was ever going to come from the October 7th atrocities, which were also committed for propaganda rather than any military significance (there was none), no good will come from the pager attacks. In the end, terrorism is no joke, and Israel is no nearer securing the peace and security among its neighbours that is the only way it can survive and prosper in the long run. 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 }} At least 30 people have been killed in the past two weeks in Mexico's northern state of Sinaloa as two factions of the powerful Sinaloa cartel continue to clash, authorities said Tuesday. Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said that two military personnel were among those killed in the fighting that started Sept. 9, despite the presence of more than 2,000 security personnel. The surge in violence had been expected after Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, landed near El Paso, Texas on July 25 in a small plane with Ismael El Mayo Zambada. Zambada was the cartels elder figure and reclusive leader. After his arrest, he said in a letter circulated by his lawyer that he had been abducted by the younger Guzman and taken to the U.S. against his will. Now there appears to be a struggle for power between the remaining sons of El Chapo, known locally as the Chapitos, and those loyal to Zambada. The clashes in the states capital Culiacan are the latest example of the violence that continues to plague Mexico, where cartels employ increasingly sophisticated forms of warfare, including roadside bombs or IEDs, trenches, home-made armored vehicles and bomb-dropping drones. Since the beginning of last week, Culiacan has been semi-paralyzed. Schools are empty, businesses are closed and there is almost no transportation due to peoples fear of being caught in the middle of a shootout. Sandoval said that 2,200 members of the armed forces and the National Guard were sent to Sinaloa to reinforce security and they haven't ruled out further military presence. On Monday, the regional army commander, Jesus Leana Ojeda, said the possibility of the situation calming down does not depend on them. It depends on the antagonistic groups to stop confronting each other, he said at a news briefing. We, on the contrary, are here to prevent them from having confrontations and the loss of human lives, he added. Although they have received reinforcements and military helicopters, Sinaloa's Gov. Ruben Rocha suspended schools last week and festivities around Mexican Independence Day over the weekend. Schools resumed classes Tuesday. Outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tuesday that the Armed Forces are protecting the population and ensuring that there are no clashes between criminal groups. Throughout his presidency, Lopez Obrador has favored a hugs not bullets strategy that seeks to avoid confrontation with cartels often causing tensions with the United States. He claims members are forced into criminality by a lack of opportunities, and his strategy offers job training programs for youths so they wont become cartel gunmen. President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has said she will maintain her predecessors security policy. ___ Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america 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 }} Tarana Burke says people are always asking whats next? for the #MeToo movement, the broad reckoning against sexual misconduct and abuse that she helped launch seven years ago. This week, Burke, who coined the phrase me too decades ago in work with survivors of sexual violence and saw it go viral in 2017 with the Harvey Weinstein case, has two ready answers. On Tuesday, the organization she leads, called me too. International, announced an initiative to become truly international in scope a so-called global network to partner with groups in 33 countries across the globe to combat sexual violence. On the same day in a New York courtroom, the latest high-profile case was unfolding involving an influential man accused of abusing his power and privilege to inflict sexual harm: mogul Sean Diddy Combs, who was headed to jail to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case. In an interview, Burke said the emerging details, in which Combs is accused of a sordid array of sexual crimes, were horrific. But she took comfort, she said, in the knowledge that it was the cultural shift resulting from #MeToo that helped bring the case to light in the first place. Burke noted that the original lawsuit filed last November against Combs, by his former girlfriend Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, was made possible by a New York lookback law, the Adult Survivors Act, enabling people alleging sexual abuse to file civil suits after the statute of limitations had expired. The lookback law was a direct result of survivors organizing as part of the #MeToo movement, Burke said. All these things are connected. Survivors pushed hard that we need this law. This is directly related to the power of the movement. Another, broader effect of the movement, she says, is that victims now feel emboldened to come forward because they have more trust that they'll be believed. This new case is no different than so many that weve seen, Burke said, mentioning the Weinstein and Bill Cosby cases, where you have an incredibly powerful and privileged person who decides to abuse it. The wonderful thing, though . is that because of the shift weve seen after #MeToo went viral, now these things are public. And now, when a person comes forward and says, This person harmed me, people take it more seriously." "Power and privilege are no longer a complete cover for people who decide to abuse and harm," Burke said. "And to the question of what's next (for #MeToo) this IS what's next, the exposing of so much corruption and abuse of power and harming, Whats next is all of these laws and (other) things that have happened, and we just need to keep building and building. Burke was in New York on Tuesday to announce, at the Ford Foundations Free Future conference, her organizations new Global Network to combat sexual and gender-based violence. The foundation has committed the initial $1 million of $5 million that me too.' International is trying to raise, Burke said. After #MeToo went viral, I had tons of people who were reaching out from all across the world, she said. They were starting their own work or they were building on what they were already doing. And they wanted to know how they could join forces. On the one hand, I dont have ownership nobody can have ownership of a social justice movement, Burke said. "But on the other hand, theres a particular ideology and perspective that we work under. Nearly five years of meetings and discussion have yielded a plan for metoo.' International and the Global Fund for Women to unite with 134 groups in 33 countries in Latin America, North America, the Caribbean and Africa, chiefly for collective action against sexual violence. The organization defines sexual violence as a sexual act committed or attempted by a person without freely given consent. Burke said her initial goal is to take the cachet of #MeToo and make sure that we can expand that in a way that's meant to bring light to the work thats happening, but also resources, and collective action. What does it look like when not just the women across Latin America organize around (certain) issues, but women in Southeast Asia and women in Africa are also organizing for Guatemala, or vice versa? We we not just coming together to talk, she said. "Were coming together to build community, but also to take action together. 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 }} Sometimes something takes your thinking back to an isolated memory of decades ago. And without your bidding, other memories memories of that era of your life come flooding in. When asked what I remember about Tupperware parties, I pulled out some of my pieces of Tupperware from long ago. Along with finding the Bacon Keeper that I have used for perhaps 35 years to refrigerate deli sandwich makings. I located an entire part of my life. We didnt have a dishwasher back then what struggling young family did? When my two daughters were old enough. we made a deal. I would prepare the dinner. They would do the dishwashing and Id be free. What made me remember that? The Tupperware pieces I was looking at were of the pre-dishwasher type plastic that has not survived the heat very well in the many years since dishwashers have been taken for granted. My later pieces have withstood the dishwasher onslaught. They still look new. In those days, we thought very little about most womens designated roles in suburban society. Your husband went to work; you were home when the children arrived after school. Once in a while in the evening, you left the young ones in the care of their dad and went to a friends home for a Tupperware party. It was fun. You saw 10, maybe 20 friends and acquaintances who had also escaped for an evening. It never occurred to any of us that no men were there. We played little games and took home small Tupperware pieces as prizes. A representative demonstrated the Tupperware seal: how to make the containers airtight so we could serve the contents fresh and with pride. We shared coffee and cake provided by our hostess. Then we went home with renewed ability to face the next day and its chores. Is it still the same today? Now that so many women have taken their place next to men in the working world, do Tupperware parties still exist? Do they fill the same needs? Do men also attend? Are some of the newer items designed to solve gentlemens storage problems? Do we have Tupperware party equality at long last? ___ Ann T. Anthony (1924-2018), wrote this story for The Associated Press in 1996. when she was 71. She was married in 1946 the year Tupperware was introduced and attended Tupperware parties for years. She remembers the parties as events where friends could get together and buy from someone they trusted. 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 21-year-old who says he was groomed into an improper relationship with Huw Edwards has spoken of his fury after the newsreader was spared jail for child abuse images. The young persons mother and stepfather were the first to blow the whistle on Edwards after they revealed the newsreader had paid him 35,000 for X-rated images, although police said no crimes had taken place. However, the 63-year-old was later arrested on separate charges after police discovered he had been sent 41 child abuse images on Whatsapp. Edwards was this week spared jail and handed a six-month suspended sentence, having admitted to three charges of making indecent photographs he was sent by Alex Williams, some of which featured children as young as seven. Speaking out following the broadcasters shocking downfall, the 21-year-old blasted the judge for letting him walk free. Edwards ruined my life and the victims in this case cant be forgotten too, he told the Mirror. Its quite disgusting that people like this get to roam the streets while others are in jail for petty theft, and more minor crimes. Hes free to walk around and do whatever he wants. He could easily do it again, who knows? Huw Edwards admitted accessing indecent images of children ( PA Media ) He added: They said he couldnt go to prison because of his mental health and I just thought, what a load of rubbish. He shouldnt be allowed to get away with it. Although not connected to the court case, the man claims he was a homeless teenager when he first struck up a friendship with Edwards on Instagram and feels he was groomed during their three-year relationship. He told the publication he was grateful when the star began depositing large sums of money into his bank account and in return he felt compelled to send him X-rated pictures and videos. Now 21, he has revealed his horror at learning Edwards was exchanging messages with a paedophile at the same time as him. I felt sick when I heard that we were messaging around the same time, and were both so young, he continued. I was speechless but at the end of the day I just feel for the victims and the children that have been harmed. Its just sick. Police found no illegality when they looked into his relationship with the news anchor. But he said watching the separate court case unfold has triggered flashbacks of what he says was an improper relationship, adding: I felt like I owed something to him but now just feel shame and guilt. I cant sleep thinking of my relationship with this man. Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards in the dock at Westminster Magistrates Court ( PA Wire ) Edwards sentence has sparked widespread debate but can only be made stronger if it is shown to be unduly lenient. The court heard that the 63-year-old paid up to 1,500 to Alex Williams, 25, who sent Edwards 41 illegal images, seven of which were of category A, the very worst kind. Of those images shared over WhatsApp, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15, while one was aged as young as between seven and nine. Passing sentence, the chief magistrate, District Judge Paul Goldspring, told the previously beloved household name that his long-earned reputation is in tatters after committing the extremely serious offences. Accepting Edwards previously had been of exemplary good character before committing the crimes, the judge said he was of the clear view the broadcaster did not present a risk or danger to the public at large, specifically to children and there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation as he set out the reasons for the sentence. He said he believed the former broadcasters remorse was genuine and that his mental health at the time of the offences may have impaired his decision-making. Other mitigating factors include the fact he has no previous convictions, his early guilty plea and that he appeared to have voluntarily desisted or at least asked not to be sent underage images during the WhatsApp chat. 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 mother spoke emotionally as she described the moment she found Lucy Letby with her premature baby, crying and with blood around his mouth. Giving evidence at the Thirlwall Inquiry, the woman told how she heard screaming and crying like Id never really heard as she walked toward the neo-natal unit at Countess of Chester Hospital to provide milk. Entering the room she found her baby known as Baby E with Letby close by, the inquiry heard. Hours later the baby died. Letby was later found guilty of the murder of seven babies, including Baby E by injecting air into his circulation. She was also convicted of attempting to murder seven more, including Baby Es twin brother, Baby F. Recalling the incident, the mother told the inquiry: As I was coming to the unit along the corridor I could hear screaming and crying and it was a shock because Id never really heard ... a baby cry like that and then I walked in the room and realised it was my baby. And I went to him and he had blood around his mouth and I was just shocked. She continued: I asked Lucy Letby why there was blood around his mouth, why it was bleeding and she was quite dismissive ... [she said] I contacted the registrar and hes on his way, you go back to the ward, if there are any problems Ill ring for you. I knew there was something not right. Letby appeared emotional to the parents of the boy she murdered, the inquiry heard ( PA ) As the nurse serves 15 whole-life sentences for the murders, the public inquiry is taking place at Liverpool Town Hall to examine the circumstances surrounding the deaths, and what lessons can be learned. Appearing before Lady Justice Thirlwall, the mother of Baby E told the inquiry how she had close contact with Letby, who was one of the nurses caring for her son after his premature birth. She told how the nurse had helped the parents after his death. In a statement to the inquiry, she said she felt tormented by the thought of her baby buried in a woollen gown with a blue ribbon around the waist that Letby had picked out. The killer also placed a teddy bear by the boys side. There was no discussion about those clothes, the mother told the inquiry. He was bathed by Lucy Letby and he was placed in that woollen gown in that incubator. When I asked where it had come from she said it had come from the unit and she had picked it out and chosen it for him. Letby also gave the mother a memory box which included the boys hand and footprints, and a photograph that also captured Letbys hand, the inquiry heard. Asked how she felt now about the box, the mother told the inquiry: If that memory box was put together in the way it is meant to be put together by somebody who was a caring, professional who hadnt done harm to our child, then it would be wonderful. Letby has always pleaded her innocence over the deaths ( Getty ) But everything in that box, absolutely everything, was created by her, all his belongings were touched by her, the blankets which had the blood on are in that box, the hands and footprints were taken by her ... its painful. Even one of the pictures she took of him has part of her hand in it. For me, that hurts because I dont know if it was intentional, but it felt intentional. The mother told the inquiry how hours before her son had died, she remembered Letby appeared unable to make eye contact with her as she stood by the baby when she discovered him crying. It later emerged in the criminal trial that the nurse had pumped air into the boys bloodstream. But despite the murder, the mother told the inquiry how Letby showed care and attention to the grieving parents. The mother said: When I look back, her behaviour toward me was very different to other nurses, and thats something Ive reflected on. She was very attentive to me, whenever she would see me, she would hug me. She was just as upset as me, which reflecting back on now, is very odd behaviour. They [other nurses] were very professional and cared for my child in the correct way, whereas she [Letby] was very emotional. I thought she was being kind. Every time she was speaking to me she was on the verge of tears. The inquiry continues. 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 }} The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has issued a scathing response to the criticism and abuse suffered by officers in the line of duty, describing it as shameful. Sir Mark Rowley told the Police Foundation on Wednesday that the silence of many in authority added to the risk of encouraging criminals and diminishing the confidence of frontline officers. Speaking at the event in central London, he said: Ill tell you whats shameful: the abuse of our officers and the silence of many in authority. We should be very clear: when people, be they politicians or the public, throw accusations and slurs at the police, they put them in danger by emboldening thugs. Some people wont care about that the criminals but everyone else should. He recounted that an average of 18 police officers are punched, bitten, racially abused or attacked each day, with two each week sustaining serious injuries. Sir Mark Rowley criticised the silence of many in authority (Jordan Pettitt/PA) ( PA Archive ) Some of these officers are lucky to be alive and most months I have the solemn duty to lay a wreath at memorials for fallen officers. And how does society thank them? With insults, he said. I say to all those throwing insults: be very careful which side of the line you are standing. He went on: We police without fear or favour, and for everyone. It does no-one any favours for this to be deliberately undermined to drive clicks on social media. Worse, we have seen it increasing the violence against officers. He cited the case of Pc Paul Fisher, which saw watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct heavily criticised for prosecuting the officer for dangerous driving after he crashed on the way to a terror attack in Streatham, south-east London, in February 2020. Mr Fisher was cleared by a jury nearly four years after he was charged. He added that the growing crisis was the impact these actions were having on officers confidence to act, and that an increase in violence towards officers had been seen in recent months. Stop and search an important tactic when used well, which takes knives and weapons off our streets has declined massively, and the arrest rate in London is also reducing. We know that a third of officers say that reduced confidence has led them to voluntarily surrender their public order accreditation, a third say they are giving up their Taser accreditation, and over a quarter their firearms tickets. This means fewer officers doing the high-risk jobs we need them to do. That risks London becoming less safe. 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 cruel former doctor used a rusty medical instrument to carry out circumcisions on young boys and failed to give them sufficient pain relief, a court has heard. Mohammad Siddiqui, 58, is accused of failing to properly sterilise his medical toolkit, with police finding a number of medical items in his car, including one with a hook and serrated wheel showing signs of rust and skin on it Southwark Crown Court heard that he was a practising doctor when he started visiting homes by appointment to carry out circumcisions within the Muslim community. He was suspended and later struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC), but continued to carry out circumcisions anyway, with one boy left needing to be taken to hospital by ambulance. Siddiqui, from Birmingham, carried out his procedures as quickly as possible to maximise profits, prosecutor Ben Douglas-Jones KC said. He cut corners and caused unnecessary pain, suffering, cruelty and risk. The former doctor is currently on trial at Southwark Crown Court (PA) ( PA Archive ) Police also found a circumcision immobiliser in the back of his Toyota car, a device used to hold children in place during circumcisions and considered unacceptable in NHS practice. Subsequent testing revealed many of Siddiquis instruments had not been properly sterilised, Mr Douglas-Jones said. Siddiqui used anaesthetic cream on some of his patients but often began procedures just a few minutes after administering it, jurors were told. A boy who was 15 when he was circumcised by Siddiqui was left with a lot of bleeding and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance for surgery, the court heard. In a pre-recorded police interview played to the court, the boy, who cannot be named, said the bleeding started about 20-30 minutes after the former doctor had left his home. The boys mother tried to call Siddiqui for help, but he wouldnt pick up, the court heard. Siddiqui was booked to circumcise the boy as well as his younger brothers, then aged six and three, for religious reasons, jurors heard. He arrived with medical equipment and sheets, and carried out the procedures on a table after applying an anaesthetic cream, the court heard. The boy told officers Siddiqui had charged about 150 to 200 to circumcise his brothers, and 300 plus for him because he was older. The children were advised by Siddiqui to use Vaseline if they were sore after, the court heard. The boy, who was left needing stitches, said: I trusted that he was a proper doctor, so I didnt have any worries. When interviewed by police in 2019, Siddiqui, who specialised in circumcisions when he was a practising doctor, said he had carried out 1,200 to 1,500 such procedures since 2012, the court heard. He told police it was sometimes difficult to know if anaesthetic cream was working because babies might cry for a number of reasons. Siddiqui, who is representing himself, asked the judge if he could address the jury after Mr Douglas-Jones had finished delivering his opening. Judge Noel Lucas KC told the former doctor he had no right to do so at this time before jurors were asked to leave the courtroom. Siddiqui carried his laptop and document bundles in a carboard box to bring them in and out of the courtroom, and was accompanied by a prison guard. He denies 39 charges including 17 counts of actual bodily harm, 14 of child cruelty and eight of administering a prescription-only medicine between 2014 and 2019. The charges relate to 23 incidents against as many complainants. The trial continues. 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 woman who first shared a fake name for the suspect in the Southport killings will face no further court action. Bernadette Spofforth is alleged to have fired off a tweet on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, wrongly claiming the stabbing suspect was an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat hours after the three girls were killed. Mother-of-three Ms Spofforth, 55, was arrested on August 8 after reposting the fake name, commenting that if it were true there would be hell to pay. She later deleted the post and apologised after realising the information was wrong. Pockets of rioting erupted across England after three girls were murdered in Southport while at a summer holiday club ( PA Wire ) Ms Spofforth said: My crime was sharing a tweet which I deleted and apologised for sharing as soon I realised it contained inaccurate information. As has now been shown, the idea that one single tweet could be the catalyst for the riots which followed the atrocities in Southport is simply not true. Yet, despite repeatedly insisting Id done nothing illegal, the police dragged me from my home and held me for 36 hours in a cell. What Ive experienced over the past few weeks is nothing in comparison to the suffering of the tragic victims in Southport. And Im not trying to compare the two. But I am just an ordinary person with ordinary opinions and I think its important that the public should know how ordinary people can be treated. The nightmare my family and I have lived through over the past month could happen to anyone. And in Britain in 2024 thats unacceptable. The fake name for the attacker, and the false claim that he is a Muslim refugee who had arrived by boat in the country in the past year, was spread online by a number of far-right commentators. This appeared to stoke anti-immigration hostility, with unrest breaking out in locations across the country, despite the fact that the rumour was not true. The information appeared to originate from a news website called Channel3 Now, and the sites editor-in-chief later apologised. Axel Rudakubana has been charged with three counts of murder ( PA Wire ) Cheshire police did not name Spofforth, but confirmed that a 55-year-old woman from near Chester would face no further action. A spokesman said: A woman who was arrested in relation to an inaccurate social media post has been released without charge. The 55-year-old woman from near Chester was arrested on Thursday August 8 following allegations in relation to a social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders. Following a thorough investigation, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken due to insufficient evidence. Axel Rudakubana, an 18-year-old born in Wales who had been living in Banks in Lancashire at the time of the Southport attack, has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. 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 }} The sight of a London tower block going up in flames last month brought into sharp focus the danger that 75-year-old Mike Daine is still living in. Mr Daines building in Cheshire was assessed as having flammable cladding in 2019 but remedial works are yet to start. When Dagenham went up, it just brought it all home to us again, he explained. Residents of Spectrum House in Dagenham were forced to flee their burning homes in the early hours of Monday 26 August. Some described evacuating as dense black smoke filled their apartments and their belongings were taken up by the blaze. The block had known safety issues and was undergoing remedial work to remove and replace non-compliant cladding on the fifth and sixth floors. Seven years after safety concerns were raised by the Grenfell disaster, there are still 4,630 residential buildings 11m and taller with unsafe cladding. Remediation work has only begun or been completed on 50 per cent of them, government data shows. Fresh statistics, due to be released on Thursday, will provide the first update on the number of residents still affected by the building safety crisis since the publication of the Grenfell inquiry report. Mr Daine, who lives at The Deck building in Runcorn, is one of those still living in fear. He told The Independent: There but for the grace of God go us. It could happen tonight, it could happen tomorrow. Weve got our stuff ready and hopefully well get down the stairs fast enough. But theres a lady who is 91 and is partially deaf - how is she going to get out? Mike Daine and his partner Rachel Bose in front of their home in The Decks in Cheshire ( Rachel Bose ) Render boarding, timber cladding and high-pressure laminate panels must all be replaced at The Deck building, and missing cavity barriers also need to be installed. Under the current works schedule, the final block will be remedied in May 2026. New fire alarms and sensors have been installed in the building but Mr Daine and his partner Rachel Bose, 56, are still very worried. Ms Bose said: We dont want to be like the infected blood scandal, or the post office scandal, where we are waiting for justice and people are dying in the interim. There will be another Grenfell, she warned. Developer Taylor Wimpey said resident safety was its top priority, adding: As communicated to residents, the delays are due to the unforeseen need for additional but necessary surveying which is now in its final stages. We apologise for the time it has taken to commence the remediation work, which is now scheduled to start in October. The Decks in Runcorn (pictured) is scheduled to be made safe in May 2026 ( BBC ) It committed to completing the work as quickly as possible without compromising on quality. The company said that it did not have control over day-to-day fire safety on the site, but added that communal alarms had been installed in the buildings. Neera Soni, 68, lives in King Edwards Wharf in Birmingham, and is also waiting for remedial work to start on her building. The cladding is flammable and the insulation is flammable, she said. Weve got wood on the top floors but were also missing internal fire breaks. So fire will spread from one flat to another and theres nothing to stop it. The problems were first found in 2020 but it has taken four years to find people who will take on the work. The manager of the building will soon send the work proposal to the governments cladding safety scheme and they are then hoping to start work in the first quarter of 2025. Speaking about the risk that fire could spread quickly around the building, Ms Soni said: Weve all learned to live with that risk. After Grenfell everyone was terrified, but we learnt to live with it. But now with the fires that happened this week, its brought it back to the forefront of our minds. Im thinking how do I get out of here. Were on the fifth and sixth floor - how do we get down if we cant get to the fire escape? This sounds stupid but I did sit here yesterday thinking, if I took all the cushions off from our outdoor day bed and threw them down to the ground, and we got rope ladders - would it be soft enough to land on? I know it sounds stupid because I know we would die anyway but that is what I was thinking. The huge hike in building insurance has also been a big problem with the cost to insure the building going from 58,000 a year to 483,000, Ms Nori said. Spectrum House in Dagenham was destroyed in a fire in the early hours of Monday morning ( PA Wire ) Thats a lot of money that could have actually gone into making the building safe. Our service charge is now so high that we cant increase it to do any other work that needs to be done in the building, she added. Her husband, who is 70, has gone back to work as an optometrist part time so that they can keep paying the high service charge bills. Rob Burberry, 50, has managed to move out of his flat in Eastgate House in Woking after the block was found to have unsafe rendering and insulation. A fire incident in the block in April 2020 prompted Mr Burberry to start pushing the developer to make changes and his flat was eventually bought back from him in January 2021. While the initial problems were fixed, around 100 of his former neighbours were moved into temporary accommodation in December 2023 after separate investigations found that the building was structurally unsafe. Mr Burberry said: These families had saved up, they were first-time buyers, and now they find themselves in emergency accommodation. It causes a lot of mental ill health because people are in despair. Cllr Anne-Marie Barker, leader of Woking Borough Council, said she was deeply concerned for individuals and families displaced who remain in temporary accommodation. She urged the housing association Southern Housing to provide details of the testing that had taken place to assess the structural issues at Eastgate House. Southern Housing said that their structural engineers were still reviewing the test results. They added: It is essential that our engineers are given the necessary time to complete this detailed analysis. The testing to date indicates that it isnt safe to allow people into the building. We understand this is frustrating for residents, but their safety remains our number one priority. Damage caused by the fire inside Thrishantha Nanayakkars flat ( RH Residents ) Thrishantha Nanayakkara, 53, knows all too well what the residents of Spectrum House in Dagenham will be going through. In 2019, his home at Richmond House in Worcester Park, south-west London was destroyed by a fire. In total, 60 residents lost their homes and Mr Nanayakkara said his and his familys lives were only saved after a neighbour banged loudly on his front door to get them out. An investigation following the incident found that the cavity barriers in the building were defective, and had not stopped the fire from spreading. However developers claimed that the building had performed as it was supposed to by allowing people to get out safety. Five years on from the blaze, Mr Nanayakkara and his family are only now planning on moving back in this month. Thrishantha Nanayakkara (pictured) was forced to move out of his flat in west London after a fire spread through the block ( Imperial ) His children were 17 and 13 when the fire happened and it has impacted their education. The most important thing was how it affected our children; their mental health and their school disruption, he said. They lost simple things like memorabilia and toys and certificates. Other children at school would bully my son saying he was homeless and the teachers didnt do much to help. It affected his education a lot after that. We still have not received compensation and we tried to speak to housing ministers in government. I lost hope in their ability to help after one of the housing ministers referred to the chairman of the developers as his friend. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said people should not be waiting years for remediation work to start on their buildings ( PA Wire ) Mr Nanayakkara, who is a professor of robotics at Imperial College London, added: We need proper regulation and regulatory authorities. The Dagenham fire shows that the problems continue - the low standards in the entire housing stock are pervasive. Data from the Housing Ombudsman shows that 100 complaints have been received since 2021 where the key issue was cladding. In the financial year 2023/24, 23 complaints were received and the ombudsman found maladministration in 80 per cent of cases. Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has said supporting these residents is mission critical for the government. She has promised to end the foot-dragging we have seen since Grenfell, adding: People should not be waiting years for work to remove dangerous cladding to even start and it should go without saying that fire safety should be a central priority for those buildings yet to start remediation work. 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 pair of preserved huia, an extinct bird last sighted in early 20th century, are going on auction in London next month, competing for attention with a slice from the wedding cake of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, a Louis Vuitton wardrobe trunk, and an engraved two-handled cup that celebrated Prince Edward coronation. The male and female huia specimens are set to go under the hammer on 2 October at the Roseberys Londons fine and decorative art auction. A huia feather auctioned in May this year set the record for the most expensive feather ever sold by fetching 22,409. The huia bird was last spotted in 1907 on New Zealands North Island. The female huia of the pair has the trademark long, slender and curved beak it used to extract larvae from solid wood, while the males stout and short beak, used like an axe to dig into decaying wood and extract huhu larvae and other insects, shines through the glass dome that the birds have been preserved under. The birds are perched delicately on tree branches in a naturalistic habitat, appearing to probe their surroundings in the taxidermied form as the female huia bird looks at her male counterpart below. They are preserved under a glass dome, which is not original, which has ensured no insect damage. The colour of the wattles have been retouched but otherwise they remain in very good condition. It is likely that they were once part of a larger cased display of taxidermy birds, but at some stage the precious birds were removed to be displayed on their own, Anna Evans, the head of sales at Roseberys London, said. Huia birds going on auction in London next month ( Sourced/ The Independent ) The huia, a wattlebird belonging to a family of songbirds unique to New Zealand, was special to the indigenous Maori people who used its feathers to decorate headpieces for tribal chiefs and elders. They also considered its feathers precious for trading and gifting. The specimen pair going on auction have deep metallic bluish-black plumage, orange wattles and white-tipped tail feathers. The huia bird was already a rare species before the arrival of Europeans to New Zealand ( Sourced/ The Independent ) Examples rarely appear on the open market, particularly of full-mounted male and female adults, Ms Evans told The Independent. Extinct species are coveted by taxidermy collectors and we hope to see many of them in the room on the day of the auction. She anticipates strong interest in particular from collectors in New Zealand and the UK. Hopefully, previous sales of huia taxidermy or feathers will pique the interest of buyers and give collectors who missed out another opportunity to acquire a rare extinct species, she said. The pair is estimated to be sold for 40,000-60,000. A huia pair from the Victorian era auctioned last September fetched 220,000. The Roseberys specimens are full mount adults displayed with the female perched above the male on a tree branch set on a naturalistic base under a later glass dome ( Sourced/ The Independent ) The huia was driven to extinction by logging and burning of forests by European settlers in the 19th century looking to farm in the lowlands of the North Island. It was also hunted by fauna enthusiasts. Huia birds are sacred to the Maori community, who we understand are keen to raise awareness of the cultural and spiritual significance of this beautiful bird in the international audience, Ms Evans said. The sale of the Roseberys specimens will spotlight the need to preserve the natural habitats of all endangered species and prevent the extinction of other species, she said. Close Prince Harry laughs as young boy pulls his beard at WellChild awards in London 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 }} King Charles is set to temporarily pause his cancer treatment while taking part in a high-profile overseas visit after getting the go-ahead from doctors, according to reports. The monarch, 75, who will make the nine-day visit with Queen Camilla, was first diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer earlier this year after a routine procedure to treat an enlarged prostate. It is understood that the monarch will continue his treatment upon his return from Australia and Samoa, following 11 days of travelling, The Mirror reports. Planned engagements for the trip include a visit to the Australian War Memorial and a fleet review of the Royal Australian Navy at Sydney Harbour. Meanwhile, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, has debuted a new look during a surprise appearance at a childrens hospital in Los Angeles over the weekend. Meghan, 43, stepped out at the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles 2024 Gala on Saturday (3 October) in a red dress she previously wore to the New York Salute to Freedom Gala in 2021. She paired the dress with a never-before-seen beach waves hairstyle typically achieved by letting hair dry into its natural curls. The Independent has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Princess of Wales has endured one of the most tumultuous years of her life after she was diagnosed with cancer following planned abdominal surgery. What resulted was a nine-month battle and almost complete absence from royal life as she underwent preventative chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of the disease. While the princess was well enough to make her first appearance since Christmas at the Kings birthday parade in June, it was not until this month that she announced that she had finally completed her treatment. In a poignant video with her husband, the Prince of Wales, and their three children, the Wales family reflected on how Kates illness had a profound impact on all of their lives as she announced a gradual return to duty. Prince William later admitted that while it was good news that his wifes treatment was over, he stressed that she still has a long way to go in her recovery. The princess was as good as her word and on Tuesday afternoon attended a meeting at Windsor Castle for her Early Years work, which highlights the importance of supporting children at a young age. This is a full timeline of Kates health journey in 2024 so far. 16 January, Tuesday The Princesss saga begins in January when she is secretly admitted to The London Clinic for abdominal surgery. The Princess of Wales made what was to be her last public appearance for almost half a year on Christmas Day, 2023. ( AFP via Getty Images ) 17 January, Wednesday Kensington Palace reveals that the princess has had planned abdominal surgery and estimates that she will spend the next 10 to 14 days in hospital. It is said that she will be stepping back from her duties until Easter to recover. The Prince of Wales also steps back from his work to support his wife and young children. The princess is said to be doing well in the immediate aftermath of the operation. Specifics about the nature of the operation were, and remain, private. 18 January, Thursday Prince William is photographed leaving The London Clinic after visiting his wife. William drives away from The London Clinic. ( PA Archive ) 26 January, Friday The princess is visited by King Charles when he is also treated at The London Clinic for an enlarged prostate. 29 January, Monday The princess is discharged. 5 February, Monday Prince William returns to duty. Buckingham Palace announces that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. The Palace clarifies that while undisclosed in its form, the monarch does not have prostate cancer, although the disease was found during his prostate procedure. The king steps back from his public-facing duties as he begins his treatment. 7 February, Wednesday The Prince of Wales thanks well-wishers for their support amid the familys health troubles. At this point, it is believed that the Princess of Wales is merely recovering from her abdominal surgery. 4 March, Monday The princess is photographed by paparazzi for the first time since her operation. She is being driven near Windsor Castle by her mother, Carole Middleton. 5 March, Tuesday A claim that the princess would undertake the Colonels Review ahead of the Trooping the Colour in June is removed from the armys website. 10 March, Sunday Kensington Palace shares a picture of the princess with her three children to celebrate Mothers Day. It is accompanied by the following message: Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mothers Day. C. On the same day, the picture is removed by major photo agencies after it emerges that it has been manipulated. 11 March, Monday The princess personally apologises for the confusion caused by the photograph, describing herself as an amateur photographer who does occasionally experiment with editing. 16 March, Tuesday A picture of a woman claimed to be the Princess of Wales near a Windsor farm shop is published by The Sun. 19 March, Tuesday A breach report is filed with the UK privacy and data protection watchdog following claims that a staff member at the London Clinic attempted to access Kates private medical information. 22 March, Friday Kensington Palace releases a video of the princess announcing that she has been diagnosed with cancer. She asks the public for privacy as she begins a course of preventative chemotherapy. Kate said: It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK. The Princess of Wales announced her cancer diagnosis in a poignant video. ( AP ) 18 April, Thursday Prince William returns to work again after a brief Easter break, which he spent with his family. His engagements include a visit to a London food waste charity, Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames and a London youth centre. 10 May, Friday The Prince of Wales provides a welcome update on his wifes health and says she is doing well. 5 June, Wednesday A further update is provided by Prince William almost a month later at a D-Day memorial event in Portsmouth, where he tells a member of the public: Shed love to be here today. 8 June, Saturday The princess sends a letter to the Irish Guards and apologises for being unable to make the Colonels Review ahead of Trooping the Colour because of her treatment. 13 June, Friday Kate announces her return to public life at Trooping the Colour and says in a statement that while she is progressing, she is not out of the woods yet. 15 June, Saturday The Princess of Wales makes a welcome return to life at Trooping the Colour, appearing with her family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Kate and Charles with the royal family on the Palace balcony after Trooping the Colour in June. ( PA Wire ) 14 July, Saturday Kate makes a second public appearance, at Wimbledon, and receives a standing ovation. She presents the Mens Final trophy to Carlos Alcaraz. 11 August, Sunday The Prince and Princess of Wales appear in a joint video to congratulate Team GB on their performance at the Paris Olympics. Well done @TeamGB, what an incredible journey! Every athlete showed immense dedication, heart and passion. You made us all so proud! Here's to celebrating every triumph at @Paris2024 and looking forward to more from @ParalympicsGB later in the summer pic.twitter.com/oCLz7HuuLG The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) August 11, 2024 25 August, Sunday The royal family, including the princess, begin their summer break at the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is believed that this is the furthest Kate has travelled since her cancer diagnosis. 6 September, Friday The princess hints at an imminent return to duty and says she is looking forward to working with the new chief of the Scouts, Dwayne Fields. 8 September, Sunday It is reported that the princess could make her next public appearance on Remembrance Sunday and host her annual Christmas carol concert. The Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte in the royal box at Wimbledon 2024. ( PA Wire ) 9 September, Monday Kensington Palace releases a video of the Wales family reflecting on the past nine months, and the princess reveals that she has finally finished her cancer treatment. She added to others with cancer: To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. 10 September, Tuesday Prince William stresses that his wife still has a long way to go, despite the good news that she has finished chemotherapy. 17 September, Tuesday The princess returns to work at Windsor Castle, turning her focus to her Early Years work. The Court Circular reads: The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle. The meeting likely concerned the Shaping Us campaign that aims to raise the profile of the importance of early childhood development and the impact it can have later in life. This marks the princesss third royal engagement of the year and her first work engagement. 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 }} An extremely rare partial lunar eclipse of a supermoon was visible overnight to the delight of stargazers across the world. Two lunar phenomena merged on Tuesday night, leading to a red tinted moon moving across the sky. A supermoon occurs when the moon appears 30 per cent brighter and 14 per cent bigger in the sky. It is when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. The partial eclipse was on show at its fullest on Tuesday night and will also be seen for the next few nights. A similar event is not expected to happen again until August 2026. The supermoon was most clearly sighted in the UK and the US, but stunning pictures were shared from Latin America, Europe and Africa, as well as parts of Asia and the Middle East. This month's full moon is known as the Harvest moon and it is the second of four supermoons this year. Here are some of the best pictures from around the world: A Supermoon rises over a pagoda during the Mid Autumn Festival in Nanjing, in east China ( AP ) The full Harvest moon rises over 'The Couple' sculpture at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in Northumberland ( Owen Humphreys/PA Wire ) A weather vain on a church is silhouetted in front of the rising moon in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany ( AP ) The moon rises through clouds over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Camden, Maine, USA ( AP ) Istanbul, Turkey ( EPA ) The moon was at its brightest in the UK at around 3.45am on Wednesday morning but could also be seen behind landmarks in the US, Russia and China. The full moon has a slight red tint as it passes through Earths shadow because the light from the Sun passes through Earths atmosphere. A lunar eclipse occurs at full Moon, and when the shadow of the Earth falls on the Moon. The Earths shadow as viewed from the Moon is actually much bigger than the Moon itself, so a lunar eclipse can last a long time and be seen by a whole hemisphere on the Earth, Don Pollacco, a professor of physics at the University of Warwick, previously told The Independent. The shadow of a planet produces an umbral and penumbral shadow depending on the location of the planet and the Sun. The darkest eclipses occur when the Moon moves through the Earths umbral shadow. A penumbral eclipse occurs as the moon moving through the penumbral shadow of the Earth. In these cases, the darkening of the moon is usually quite difficult to spot, as some of the Moon is still being illuminated by the Sun. 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 }} Tesco could use artificial intelligence (AI) to encourage its shoppers to make healthier choices, the companys chief executive has suggested. About 22 million people are signed up to the loyalty scheme, which offers significant in-store discounts and rewards. The retailer said that 80 per cent of transactions in its stores of which there are 4,942 in the UK and the Republic of Ireland are now carried out with the Clubcard. Tescos chief executive, Ken Murphy, told the FT Future of Retail Conference that the Clubcard could nudge shoppers into making healthier choices, as well as continue to provide them with its existing benefits. He said the card could nudge the shopper to say: Look, Ive noticed over time that in your shopping basket, your sodium salt content is 250 per cent of your daily recommended allowance. I would recommend you substitute this, this and this for lower sodium products to improve your heart health. Mr Murphy said that new technology could improve shoppers experiences even further, alerting them to discounts that they may otherwise be unaware of. He added: It will completely revolutionise how customers interact with retailers. It can help to bring your shopping bill down, reduce waste and improve the outcome and power of that Clubcard. The Tesco Clubcard is currently tapped at the end of a shop in-store, giving customers access to points and discounts. ( PA Media ) The retailer has already come under fire for Mr Murphys suggestion, with one privacy campaigner stating that people should be free to make their own decisions. Big Brother Watchs head of research and investigations, Jake Hurfurt, said: It is astounding that Tescos CEO wants to use this data to tell us how to live our lives. As reported by the Telegraph, he added: Mr Murphys comments should alarm everyone and serve as evidence that loyalty card schemes are based on mass-scale surveillance of customers. Tesco has no right to make judgements about whats in our baskets or nudge us on what we should and should not be buying. Clubcard was first launched in 1995. ( PA Wire ) Acknowledging that some customers might have concerns about giving the retailer so much data through the Clubcard, the chief executive said that it is a fair exchange for the right kind of experience. For me as a consumer, I dont mind giving up that data if I get the right kind of experience back, he said. Professor Susan Michie, director of the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London, told the BBCs Today programme: This in general is very good in terms of peoples health, because, especially things like salt content, people often have no idea. However, its really important that people be told what technology is being used in what way and for what purposes. So transparencys really important. The other thing thats really important is choice. So, as it seems to be at the moment, people just feed in their data and get these recommendations. However, what would be a step better would be they would have a choice about what data they give. Tesco has said it does not sell or share any individual customer data and we take our responsibilities regarding the use of customer data extremely seriously. It said it was not currently looking at rolling out a nudge policy. 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 }} Two years of misery caused by strike action for rail passengers has come to an end following a breakthrough in negotiations over drivers pay. Members of drivers union Aslef have voted overwhelmingly in favour of an offer put forward by the new Labour government. It resolves a pay dispute involving 16 rail companies that started in July 2022 and saw drivers take part in 18 days of strike action, causing widespread disruption on the countrys rail network. On Wednesday, Aslef said members voted by 96 per cent in favour of the deal, which will result in a pay rise of almost 15 per cent over three years. It will see the average salary of a train driver, without overtime, rising from 60,000 to 69,000. The dispute involved the 14 English rail firms whose operations are controlled by the Department for Transport. They comprise all the major commuter and intercity operators, including South Western Railway, Govia Thameslink, Avanti West Coast, GWR, LNER, CrossCountry and Northern. Aslefs members took part in 18 days of strike action over the pay dispute, which started in July 2022 ( PA ) Mick Whelan, Aslefs general secretary, said: It is with great pleasure that we can announce the end of the longest train drivers strike in history. The strength and resilience and determination shown by train drivers to protect their hard-won and paid-for terms and conditions against the political piracy of an inept and destructive Tory government has prevailed. It was not a fight we sought or wanted. All we sought after five years without a pay rise, working for private companies who, throughout that period, declared millions of pounds in profits and dividends to shareholders, was a dent in the cost of living. He added: Now we will get back to our day job of seeking a green, well-invested, vertically-integrated and safe public railway. Transport secretary Louise Haigh heralded the breakthrough, adding the government could not afford not to settle the deal with drivers with the prospect of more strike action. She said: After two years of chaos on our railways under the Conservatives, this is an important step towards fixing our railways and getting the country moving again. It will ensure a more reliable service by helping to protect passengers from national strikes, and crucially, it clears the way for vital reform including modernising outdated working practices to ensure a better-performing railway for everyone. The pay dispute came on the back of a slump in rail revenue following the pandemic, with the Tory government insisting any pay increase was contingent on wide-ranging reforms to working practices. However, Aslef demanded a no-strings pay rise for its members, with talks on working practices to follow. As well as strike action, members have also taken part in 11 overtime bans and refused to work on rest days, especially Sundays. On the opening match for England at Euro 2024, services were badly impacted as members refused to work in some regions. But after the general election, the Labour government put forward a new deal which Aslef recommended members accept. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Foreign Office has urged calm heads and de-escalation after hundreds of pagers exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria. At least nine people were killed and thousands wounded on Tuesday in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack. An FCDO spokesperson said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time. Members of the militant group Hezbollah, the Iranian ambassador and thousands of other people were among the wounded. A Hezbollah official speaking anonymously told the Associated Press that Israel had targeted the devices. The Israeli military declined to comment. The Foreign Office also updated its travel advice to include information on the explosion of communication devices, saying British nationals in Lebanon should exercise caution and that hospitals may be very busy. Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Britons to leave Lebanon several weeks ago, saying that they risk becoming trapped in a warzone if they fail to do so. Tensions have been rising between Lebanon and Israel, with clashes almost daily between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces since the war between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in began in Gaza. Hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel have been killed in the clashes, which have also displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. Israel said on Tuesday that stopping Hezbollahs attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official goal. Lufthansa suspended all flights to Tel Aviv and Tehran in response to the explosions. The airline said all flights to and from those airports would be cancelled and routes would bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace up to and including September 19. 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 }} Israels allies should be asking the country, What on earth are you doing? a senior Labour MP said after what appeared to be an Israeli-linked attack in Lebanon and Syria killed nine people and injured thousands of others. Emily Thornberry, recently elected chairman of parliaments foreign affairs select committee, warned of repercussions in the Middle East after hundreds of pagers exploded on Tuesday afternoon, targeting members of the militant group Hezbollah. The pagers had reportedly been acquired by Hezbollah in an attempt to evade Israeli intelligence. Those injured include the Iranian ambassador, officials said, while an eight-year-old girl was also killed during the explosions. The explosinos killed nine and injured thousands of others ( EPA ) Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel for what seemed to be a sophisticated remote operation. The UK Foreign Office urged calm heads and de-escalation after the incident. A spokesperson said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time. Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday morning, Ms Thornberry said: We are really concerned about what is happening now in Lebanon. I think the big question is: why? Why is this happening now? And what will the result of that be? It seems to be yet another escalation of the conflict which is happening in the Middle East, which will affect all of us. And it is very worrying indeed, of course it is, and what the response will be? And is this the first step, and what will Israel do next? Is it part of a larger plan? It is very worrying and I would certainly be expecting Israels friends to be speaking very seriously to them, and saying: What on earth are you doing? Why is this happening now? Ms Thornberry said Israels allies should be asking what on earth are you doing? ( PA ) Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as in all the past days as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza. In August, Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged UK nationals in Lebanon to leave the country amid growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, in the wake of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel on October 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counter-offensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes on an almost daily basis, killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, and displacing tens of thousands on each side of the border. The pagers targeted in the attack had been acquired by Hezbollah after the groups leader told members in February to stop using mobile phones, according to Associated Press. Taiwanese company GoldApollo said it had authorised its brand on the pagers, but they were manufactured by a company based in Budapest. The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungarys capital, according to a statement by Gold Apollo. It said: According to the co-operation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC. 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 }} Sir Keir Starmers wife accepted two free tickets worth hundreds of pounds each to Taylor Swifts Eras Tour, it has emerged. It was previously known that Lady Starmer attended the popstars Wembley concert with the prime minister in June. But it has now been revealed that she went to a second concert at Wembley Stadium without Sir Keir in August. Lady Starmer attended one show with Sir Keir Starmer and one without him ( Keir Starmer/X ) Several top Labour figures were also at the concert, including health secretary Wes Streeting, education secretary Bridget Phillipson and culture secretary Lisa Nandy, The Daily Telegraph reported. The figures are believed to have declared the tickets in their MPs and ministerial registers of interests. The news comes after a row over Sir Keir and Lady Starmer accepting clothing worth thousands of pounds from a major Labour donor. Waheed Alli has bought more than 5,000 worth of high-end clothes for Lady Victoria over the past four months, The Times reported. Overall, Lord Alli has given more than 500,000 to Labour over the last 20 years. Lady Victoria Starmer received a donation of clothes and the help of a personal shopper ( PA Wire ) While the gifts were not initially included in the register of MPs interests, Sir Keir will avoid an embarrassing probe by the parliamentary standards commissioner. Earlier this year, Lord Alli was embroiled in a cash for access row after it was revealed he had been given a Downing Street pass. The prominent donor gave tens of thousands of pounds worth of clothing, accommodation and spectacles to the Labour leader. Ministers have repeatedly stumbled over questions about why Sir Keir, a former top lawyer now paid 167,000 as PM, does not pay for his own clothes. Lady Starmer saw Taylor Swifts Eras Tour twice ( AFP via Getty Images ) Foreign secretary David Lammy said Sir Keir relied on donations because he wants himself and his wife to look their best on behalf of the British public. And he appeared to complain that Britain does not have a similar system to the US, where the president and first lady can use taxpayers cash to refresh their wardrobes. Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle said she does not have an opinion on whether he should buy his own clothes, even accusing an interviewer of ranting about the row. 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 }} Wes Streeting has vowed to fight "loud opposition" to his health reforms on both the left and the right of politics as he warned the future of the NHS was at stake. But the health secretary said that when it came to improving the nations lifestyles he wanted to make changes "with people and not "to them, adding he was not the fun police. He also said he would not ban cake in the Department of Health, advocating an approach of moderation. He was speaking at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), as the think tank launched a report warning that Britain is the "sick man of Europe". Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that he expects loud opposition to reforming the NHS (Aaron Chown/PA) ( PA Wire ) The IPPR Commission was co-chaired by Lord Darzi, who earlier this month wrote a hard-hitting report on the state of the NHS for the government. Mr Streeting said: "The great thing about the Darzi report - it is not a left-wing or a right-wing view of the NHS. It told hard truths to both sides of the debate. "And it forces me to now take on both left and right-wing orthodoxies. He added: "Unless we do public health reform, the right will have to accept higher costs for healthcare, paid for by higher taxes. I dont think thats a price working people can afford to pay. "The left has to accept health service reform, or there will be no health service. At least not as we currently recognise it. "Reform always has opponents, often vocal and powerful opponents. The Prime Minister and I will face down that opposition because it is in the interest of patients, the health service, and taxpayers in this country. "It really is reform or die, and we choose reform." Wes Streeting said he had not banned cake in the Department of Health ( Getty ) Asked about concerns over potential "nanny state" policies, he said: "I have not banned cake in the Department of HealthIm really not interested in being the fun police or telling people how to live their lives, and people certainly wont have to worry about closing their curtains at night in case Im peering through the window and looking at what theyre eating, drinking or smoking. When it comes to having some cake or going down the pub, he added, everything in moderation. "And crucially, when it comes to measures we are considering, especially where this involves legislation, I dont believe in doing things to people, I believe in doing things with people - we want to change the national conversation about our health and our wellbeing and the types of reforms that we might want to see. "Smoking is at the easier end of the spectrum frankly, it is still the biggest killer. It is uniquely harmful, it is uniquely addictive and there are unquestionably harms that occur through second-hand smoking and passive smoking, weve got to take that seriously, "But were going to consult, were going to engage and we are going to enjoy the national debate in the process." 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 }} The cause of death of an elderly California couple whose remains were found in a concrete bunker underneath their neighbors home has now been revealed. Husband and wife, Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, died from blunt force trauma injuries to the head, and their deaths were ruled as homicide, the San Bernardino County Coroners Office told ABC7. The couples 62-year-old neighbor Michael Royce Sparks, of Redlands, has been charged with their murders. The Menards were last seen alive on August 24 at their home on the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort. When they failed to show up for church, the alarm was raised. After receiving a tip that the couples neighbor Sparks could be involved, officers descended on the resort and an hours-long standoff between the suspect and law enforcement ensued, authorities said. Redlands Police spokesperson Carl Baker told CBS News that Sparks tried to kill himself but his rifle misfired. Stephanie Menard, Daniel Menard and their dog Cuddles. The couple were found dead underneath a neighs home and their deaths were ruled a homicide ( Redlands Police Department ) He was ultimately taken into custody. Search teams later found human remains and bags of evidence at the property, Redland Police said. The Menards small white Shih Tzu dog Cuddles is also still missing. Sparks is now charged with two counts of murder as well as a special circumstance allegation for multiple murders of the couple. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held without bail. Cuddles (pictured) is still missing ( Redlands Police Department ) Investigators have not yet said whether or not they believed the murders were premeditated. Tammie Wilkerson, another neighbor at the ranch told CBS News that the suspect had an ongoing dispute with the Menards. Michael Sparks, 62, has been charged with the murders ( Redlands Police Department ) She said: He didnt like them. He hated them, and he told me many times Its such a stupid reason. They had a tree that was on their property line, and Dan used to go trim the limbs and he hated that. That formed his hatred towards them. Sparks is set to appear in court again on October 18, said Redland Police and Detective Bureau. 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 }} Deadly stabbings, barbaric living conditions and maggots in the food: this is the state of the New Yorkprison where Sean Diddy Combs is being held. Diddy is currently being housed in pretrial detention in the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and will stay there until he faces trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Its a facility that is no stranger to famous faces, having previously housed sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland and rapper R Kelly, who was found guilty of child sexual abuse. Diddy was arrested on Monday in New York and hit with charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution for allegedly running a decades-long criminal enterprise that forced victims to carry out sex acts. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. In his first court appearance on Tuesday, the media moguls attorneys asked the judge to release him on house arrest until the trial but the request was denied. In the hearing, his legal team argued that several courts in this District have recognized that the conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center are not fit for pre-trial detention. The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn has been described as barbaric and dangerous ( AFP/Getty ) Just earlier this summer, an inmate was murdered, the lawyers said, according to The Daily Beast. At least four inmates have died by suicide there in the past three years. MDC has been plagued by violence, chronic understaffing, a lack of medical care and unsanitary conditions for some time. Earlier this year an inmate, Uriel Whyte, was stabbed to death while awaiting trial on gun charges. Many have spoken out about the barbaric conditions inside the prison, with one inmate claiming the jail sees stabbings at least a couple of times a week. One guy was stabbed in the eye with a makeshift knife, the inmate, only named as Eli, told Spectrum News NY1. And these knives, again, I have never been to jail. This is my first time in jail, but these knives are six, nine inches long sometimes, you know, homemade with materials from the steel walls. Its very violent. Theres stabbings, theres stabbings at least a couple times a week. The Metropolitan Detention Center is considered to be one of the toughest facilities in the US ( YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images ) The outlet also obtained video which showed cockroaches in food, broken lights and mold in the showers. In another criminal case, federal Judge Gary Brown threatened to vacate the sentence of a 75-year-old who was convicted of a tax scam if he was sent to the facility because of the dangerous and barbaric conditions, The Brooklyn Eagle reported. His ruling referenced two murders and a stabbing that went unchallenged by officers until it was almost over. These incidents demonstrate a woeful lack of supervision, breakdown of order, and an environment of lawlessness that constitute unacceptable, reprehensible and deadly mismanagement, he said in court documents. A court sketch of Sean Diddy Combs on Tuesday September 17. He is awaiting trial in the MDC ( REUTERS ) David Patton, former head of Federal Defenders of New York, told NY1: A lack of medical care to real serious sanitation issues to maggots in the food to violence, everything you can think about thats problematic at a jail or prison is problematic at the MDC, and it has been for a very long time. In 2019, more than a thousand inmates were stuck in freezing cells for days when there was no heating following a power outage in the middle of winter, according to reports at the time. For Diddy, its a drastic change in circumstances from his rich, celebrity lifestyle. He is currently being held at the Special Housing Unit the unit where inmates who require additional protection are usually housed and will be kept away from other prisoners, CNN reported. He is due to return to court on Wednesday as his lawyers appeal the judges decision to deny him bail. 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 sheriff in Florida made headlines after he followed through on a promise to publicize the images of minors who called in threats about school shootings. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood named and shamed an 11-year-old boy who allegedly made written threats to carry out a mass shooting at the school. Deputies also filmed Carlo Kingston Dorelli doing a "perp walk" where law enforcement leads an arrestee either to a police car or to a police station and shared it online on Monday. Chitwood stressed in the post that the hoax shooting threat cost the county tens of thousands of dollars. "For you parents out there, today's hoax cost around $21,000," Chitwood said. "We're coming after you, and starting Monday... we're going to start publishing [your child's] face and doing perp walks with him when we take him into custody." The children weren't the only ones he threatened to post online. "Then we're going to show pictures of you, the parents," he said. Chitwood said the boy had he filmed had written a list of names and targets for an alleged upcoming attack. When questioned, the boy allegedly said that the list was just a joke. After the boy was arrested, the deputies found he had allegedly been keeping a trove of airsoft rifles, pistols, fake ammunition, knives, swords and other weapons at his home. Chitwood made clear that if threats continue, the 11-year-old's experience would not be a one-time event. "P.S. I can and will release the names and photos of juveniles who are committing these felonies, threatening our students, disrupting our schools and consuming law enforcement resources," he said. Authorities showed off a collection of weapons that Dorelli had shown other students ( Volusia County Sheriffs Department ) The public had a mixed reaction to the sheriffs tactics. Some praised law enforcement for not taking it easy on the kid, while others raised objections that plastering mugshots and perp walks over the internet would only encourage children to make more hoax threats. Parents already know the magnitude of this problem in our schools. I think cases like this should stop appearing in news and social media because youre giving this young kid the spotlight and I feel like thats what a lot of this kids are seeking for, Chicago parent Alvaro Jimenz wrote in response to the boys mugshot. Attention & being recognized for something. Dana Smith, a commenter who also saw the photo, argued that we cannot simply label a child a criminal and toss them aside. I pray officials find out whats wrong. Where is the anger coming from? How is he being treated at school and at home? No child just does this! Dont label him a criminal and then leave him that way. Parents are responsible but so is society! Weve got to help these kids! Smith wrote. Claudine Fisher thought the punishment was just, and suggested that the boys parents be held accountable as well. Justice for all, no one is above it. The same goes for minors. Parents need to be held responsible and accountable. Prison time for sure, she wrote in response to the photo. Florida is far from the only state experiencing an influx of hoax shooting threats. Springfield, Ohio, has recently experienced a spike in threats of questionable credibility thanks to Senator JD Vance's bogus and racist story about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating their neighbors' pets. Georgia has also seen an uptick in hoax threats in the wake of the Apalachee High School shooting earlier this month. Dr Ken Trump of the Ohio-based National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm, told Axios that the spike in hoax reports is actually a fairly common occurrence following a tragedy like the one at Apalachee High School. "It fits what I've seen for four decades. After every high-profile shooting, you see an uptick for at least a week or two," he said. "There's a contagion effect where this spreads across the country." Sharing the images of child hoaxers isn't new either, despite the renewed media attention in the topic. In 2022, a 10-year-old boy Daniel Marquez in Florida was perp walked and prosecuted for making a similar school shooting threat. In that case, Marquez claimed in a text to a friend that he had scammed another acquaintance out of a "trillion" dollars and had amassed an arsenal. He then insinuated he would put it to use during a forthcoming school event. He was arrested, found delinquent and was sentenced to probation. 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 }} Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sex crime charge in his first court appearance since undergoing emergency heart surgery. The 72-year-old former Hollywood mogul was rushed from Rikers Island to Manhattans Bellevue Hospital on September 8. He underwent heart surgery after his doctors discovered a massive amount of fluid in his lungs. Weinstein arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday in a wheelchair. Weinstein is now charged with sexually assaulting a woman, referred to as Jane Doe, in a Manhattan hotel on one occasion between April 29, 2006, and May 6, 2006, according to the Manhattan District Attorneys Office. Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. Jane Does attorney Lindsay Goldbrum said her client wants to remain unidentified for now and has not shared this story publicly before. She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers, Goldbrum said in a statement. Weinstein appears in court on Wednesday with his legal team. His 2020 rape conviction in New York was overturned in April, and his retrial is slated to begin in November ( Getty Images ) This new charge comes five months after New Yorks highest court overturned his 2020 conviction for raping Jessica Mann and Mimi Haley. The court ruled that the original judge made egregious errors in the trial by allowing prosecutors to call witnesses whose allegations were not related to the charges at hand. Those witnesses included actress and model Tarale Wulff, who said Weinstein raped her in 2005 and actress and producer Dawn Dunning who said Weinstein put his hand up her skirt in 2004. However, Weinstein remains convicted of rape and sexual assault in California, where his team is also appealing the verdict. His New York retrial is tentatively set to begin in November. More than 80 women accused Weinstein of abuse ranging from groping to rape in 2017. The former Hollywood executive denied the claims. These revelations launched the #MeToo movement as women from around the world came forward to talk about surviving sexual harassment and assault. When his New York conviction was overturned earlier this year, sexual assault survivors and their allies spoke out. Ashley Judd, the first Hollywood actor to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein, hit back at the courts decision. This is what its like to be a woman in America, living with male entitlement to our bodies, she said in April. Ashley Judd came out with allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein and condemned the decision by New Yorks highest court to overturn his conviction ( Getty Images ) Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Haley, also condemned the decision. Although victims have lost this battle they have not lost the war, Allred said in April. We will continue to fight for justice for victims both in criminal and civil cases until there is a fair trial not just for the accused but also for those who allege that they are victims of sexual predators. At the height of his career, Weinstein was one of Hollywoods most powerful and well-connected men. He produced a string of award-winning films, including Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and Gangs of New York. The Independent has contacted Weinsteins attorney Arthur Aidala for comment. This article was updated on September 19 to include a statement from Lindsay Goldbrum. 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 husband has been indicted for murder, 19 months after police found his wife stabbed to death and another man shot dead inside the couples suburban home in Herndon, Virginia. Fairfax County Commonwealths Attorney Steve Descano announced on Monday that Brandon Banfield, 39, had been arrested for the February 2023 murders of Christine Banfield, 37, and Joseph Ryan, 39. His arrest comes 11 months after the couples au pair Juliana Peres Magalhaes, 23, was also arrested and charged in the case. Back on February 24 2023, officers responded to a 911 call from a woman claiming her friend was hurt, according to a police press release. Police said a man came on the line and told the operator he had shot an unknown man who had entered his home and stabbed a woman. Upon arrival at the home, officers found an appalling scene, police said. Banfield was found in an upstairs bedroom suffering from stab wounds to her upper body while Ryan was discovered nearby with a gunshot wound to his upper body. Banfield was transported to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead, while Ryan was declared dead at the scene. Brandon Banfield has been charged in connection to the murders of his wife and a man at their home in February 2023 ( Fairfax County Police Department ) Investigators believe Magalhaes made the 911 call, NBC News reported. In October, Magalhaes was charged with second degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. She is being held at the Adult Detention Center with no bond and is set to stand trial in November. Descano told reporters on Monday that a grand jury has now handed down the indictment against Banfield, saying that new evidence was instrumental in securing the charges. Juliana Peres Magalhaes, the couples au pair, was also charged in the case ( Fairfax County Police Department ) Banfield had mostly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when prosecutors questioned him at a court hearing earlier this year, according to NBC Washington. Descano and Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis have not revealed Ryans connection to the couple. The Independent has contacted the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorneys office for further details. 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 male inmate at an Arizona jail facility was caught on film crawling past an unspuspecting security guard to get to the female side of the jail, where he attempted to sexually assault a woman. The stunning Footage, obtained by The Independent, captured Justin Avery sliding on the floor in an orange jumpsuit past the security desk, undetected, to access the desk to reach the womens side of the Intake Transfer and Release Facility around 4am on Tuesday. The 29-year-old was arrested in April for allegedly assaulting multiple women. On Tuesday morning, after scooting past the male and female waiting areas, he successfully reached the womens side where he was attracted to an inmates fat a**, according to court documents obtained by ABC15. He approached the woman when she was asleep and dropped his pants before he was eventually caught by another woman who yelled: Hey, get off of her before guards rushed in. Arizona inmate Justin Avery was caught on cameras crawling past guard to reach female side where he tried to assault a woman ( Maricopa County Sheriffs Office ) The footage begins with Avery standing up, arms crossed, looking at the security guard posted at the desk. He then drops to the floor, crab crawls backward toward the desk so that he is firmly out of the guards sightline. The guard stares at his computer screen while just a foot below, the bright orange jumpsuited inmate scoots on his rear around the perimeter of the desk. Avery can then be seen sliding across the gray floor, moving from the male waiting area, where about a dozen men are slumped in chairs or asleep on the floor, to the female side, where two women appear to be waiting. Avery slides across the waiting room to the womens side ( Maricopa County Sheriffs Office ) Apparently being alerted by the woman, guards disrupt the scene. The detention officer who had previously been behind the desk approaches Avery, holds the back of Averys shirt collar, and leads him to a cell as other guards swarm them. The entire ordeal spanned three minutes. Avery has been charged with attempted to commit sexual assault and aggravated assault against a correctional facility employee, records show. Detention officer, who was previously behind the desk, approaches Avery after he was caught on the womans side ( Maricopa County Sheriffs Office ) He has since been reclassified due to his institutional behavior, a spokesperson for Maricopa County Sheriffs Office told The Independent in a statement. Were appalled by inmate Averys actions at our ITR facility. This was a unique incident and the first of its kind in four years, since the ITR facility was open, the spokesperson continued. Detention officers seize Avery after the attempted assault and now he faces two additional charges in connection to his latest incident ( Maricopa County Sheriffs Office ) We acted immediately, adding mirrors for better monitoring in the blind spots that were identified. In addition, a review of our current procedures was completed to ensure best practices are being implemented. The safety of staff and inmates is our top priority, and were committed to ensuring this doesnt happen again, the spokesperson said. Avery is next due in court on September 24. 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 Las Vegas now believe a man who was arrested in 2023 on murder charges may actually be a prolific hitman connected to three other murders. Las Vegas Metro Police have filed three new murder charges against Michael Coleman, 40, who was arrested in May 2023 for the alleged murder of Kidada Stewart, 48. Coleman is facing several charges in that case, including first-degree murder, according to 8 News Now. While investigating Stewart's death, police learned of a man named Carl Chester who was part of a group that had allegedly defrauded the government of PPP loans during the pandemic, according to Metro Police Lieutenant Jason Johannson. Chester was supposed to get a cut of the PPP loans, but reportedly did not and threatened his associates with violence for allegedly cutting him out, according to police. He hired Coleman to kill his former associates or their family members, police said. Police believe Benjamin McCarty, 49, may have been one of the victims of the alleged contract killing scheme. He was shot while he was working on his car in 2021. Police said Coleman allegedly approached McCarty, shot and killed him. In November, Coleman allegedly killed Marcu Larry, 39, by shooting him multiple times inside the Teriyaki Madness restaurant near Town Center Drive. Larry's cousin was initially arrested as a suspect but was later released by police. Michael Coleman, 40, of Las Vegas, has been accused of committing four murders since 2021, including three in which police believe he acted as a contracted hitman. He is being held in police custody on a $250,000 bail ( Las Vegas Metro Police ) A year later, Coleman allegedly shot and killed William Hill Jr, 54, outside his home while he was working on a car. Police said the same car that dropped off Coleman at the site of Stewart's killing was present at the time of Hill's murder. Investigators believe that Hill was killed in place of his son, who is currently in prison for PPP loan fraud. They believe that because Coleman could not get to the younger Hill, he instead allegedly killed the father. Chester, who allegedly organized the hits, did not escape the violence; he was murdered by members of Hill's family earlier this year. Police said they believe his death was retaliation for Hill's murder. In February 2023, Coleman allegedly killed Stewart in a Las Vegas neighborhood. Approximately 12 hours after the shooting, police managed to track down Coleman and took him into custody after a short standoff. Coleman has been in police custody on a $250,000 bail since his arrest last year. His trial was initially scheduled to begin in October. It is unclear if the new charges will affect his trial date. 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 27-year-old Nebraska man was sentenced to between 85 and 120 years in prison for posing as a high schooler to prey on teenage girls. Zachary Scheich used the alias Zach Hess to commit his crimes, police said, and re-enrolled at Lincoln Southeast High School in Nebraska, which he graduated from in 2015. Jurors found Scheich sexually assaulted more than a dozen girls, some as young as 13, The Washington Post reported. With his height, 54, he managed to fit in with the students at the school. He was convicted of sexual assault, child enticement with electronic communication and generating sexually explicit images of children. Authorities said his scheme lasted for two years and he created an elaborate backstory to get into the institution. He also provided the school with a birth certificate, high school transcript, immunization records and a physical from a clinic. All of those appear to be fraudulent, said Matt Larson, who served as the associate superintendent for educational services at Lincoln Public Schools. For conferences with school officials, Angela Navarro, 23, is accused of posing as Scheichs mother under the name Danielle Hess. Shes facing criminal impersonation charges relating to her alleged actions and claimed that Scheich manipulated her. Its not clear what her relationship is with Scheich. Navarro has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond awaiting trial. Scheich spent 54 days enrolled as a student at two different high schools in the area and after he stopped going to school, had his truancy reports sent to a fake address. Prosecutors say that while at school, he spoke to girls via text and Snapchat. He flirted with the girls, sent them money and asked them to send him explicit photos, which were later found on his phone by police. An investigation was prompted after he met some of the girls families who reported him as suspicious. Scheich will be eligible for parole in 40 years. The defendant did not speak at his sentencing hearing. Instead, the outlet reported, he submitted a letter to the judge but it was not read during the proceedings. He previously pleaded no contest in July to lower the total felony counts against him from 15 to five. The long sentence reflected the number of victims the man had while he tried to pass as a student, Lancaster District Judge Darla S Ideus said, adding that the mans actions had altered the life trajectories of his victims. The student victims have also suffered bad grades and anxiety. The children you exploited were not equipped to protect themselves because they thought you were their peer, the judge said during the hearing. One girl apparently suffered so much distress she no longer wants to leave her home. I am supposed to feel safe in school, and I no longer feel safe in a place that I used to, the victim wrote in a victim impact statement. Im so guarded that anyone who tries to talk to me or get to know me, I shut it down. I never believe what anyone says anymore. My trust is so broken that even if I want to believe someone, I cant. 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 Montana man has been arrested in connection with a murder that took place in the historic and popular French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans. Police found Patricia Fitzgeralds body under a wharf near the Louisiana citys most famous location last month, according to 4WWL. Courtney Cantrell, 35, was taken into custody in Poplar, Montana, on September 16 where he had allegedly been hiding, nearly 2,000 miles away from the scene of the crime. Cantrell is currently being held by the Fort Peck Tribal Police, according to officials. Police had previously identified the man as a potential person of interest in the case. Its thought that he was the last person seen with Fitzgerald, who suffered head injuries and a bite mark on her abdomen. Fitzgerald, 44, was found strangled to death under the Governor Nicholls Street Wharf in the French Quarter on August 19. Officials will hold an extradition hearing to determine if the man should be brought back to Louisiana to face charges. There have been 33 murders in 2024 so far, according to data released in April. Still, the city is currently seeing a 40 percent decrease in murder rates. However, seven people have been killed in the citys French Quarter this year, meaning that in that area murder rates are rising, hitting a 17-year high. Out of the seven murders, police perceive at least four victims to be innocent, a spokesperson told NOLA.com. The neighborhood is under heavy surveillance, raising questions about how criminals are able to get away with crimes there. 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 nine-year-old girl, who disappeared on Valentines Day 24 years ago, is now believed to have been a victim of homicide, police said on Monday. Asha Degree was last seen walking along Highway 18 on February 14, 2000 in North Carolina. The road connects the towns of Shelby, Morganton, Lenoir, Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro. Degree, from Shelby, walked away from her home and vanished during a storm, according to investigators. Her parents reported her missing on the day she disappeared. Degrees backpack and clothing were recovered 17 months after she went missing, several miles from the scene of her disappearance on a highway in Burke County. There have not been any reported sightings of her since, and her remains have never been recovered. A photo rendering of Asha Degrees age progression created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (right). The nine-year-old disappeared on Valentines Day 24 years ago ( Federal Bureau of Investigation ) Degrees family have previously said that they believe she is alive and offered a $45,000 reward to help find Asha, who would now be 33 years old. On Monday, police announced that search warrants were recently executed at several properties across North Carolina belonging to a family suspected of being connected to Degrees disappearance back in 2000. Police searched a home in Shelby, an assisted living facility in Vale, and a home in Charlotte, belonging to the Dedmon family, WBTV reported. Investigators said they believed that the missing girl became a victim of homicide, with her body concealed, according to search warrant documents. Investigators had recently tested DNA samples from Degrees backpack and clothing. Its not clear when the tests were conducted or why officials decided to analyze the evidence now, but improvements in DNA testing generally have led to recent breakthroughs in other cold cases. According to WBTV, the DNA samples have been linked to AnnaLee Dedmon Ramirez, who was 13 at the time that Degree went missing, and is now in her thirties. Dedmon Ramirezs DNA samples were found on Degrees belongings, according to police. Her father Roy Dedmon, who is in his 80s, is a suspect in the case, police said. Dedmons home is located close to where Degree was last seen. Roy Dedmon told police that he doesnt know what happened to Degree and denies any involvement, according to WBTV. Russell Underhill is also connected to the case, according to documents. Underhill, was a patient who lived in at least two facilities operated by Roy Dedmon, police said, before he died in 2004. His connection to the case is unclear, according to WBTV, but his DNA was also found on the childs belongings. He is not a suspect in the case. Police seized several vehicles belonging to Roy Dedmon, including a car that resembled one connected to the disappearance. One witness saw the girl being pulled into a green vehicle. Authorities also found a human tooth in a plastic bag during the searches, WBTV reported. Roy Dedmon used to have his daughters drive patients between the assisted living facilities and a hospital in Morganton, according to reports. Highway 18 would have been the most logical route to take, according to police. Roy Dedmons attorney asked the community to avoid jumping to conclusions and let law enforcement do their jobs, during a news conference last week. He said the investigation would likely lead back to Underhill. 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 }} Georgia officials said they would drop money laundering charges against bail fund organizers accused of misusing funds to support violent protests against a police training center in an Atlanta-area forest that critics have dubbed Cop City. Deputy Attorney General John Fowler told a Fulton County court he would seek to dismiss 15 counts against Atlanta Solidarity Fund leaders Marlon Kautz, Adele MacLean and Savannah Patterson. They still faced racketeering charges alongside 58 others tied to the movement. Supporters celebrated the decision, saying it represented larger flaws in the states case, which has been condemned by civil rights groups as an attempt to silence protest activity. Its a really exciting development in the sense that the state has long positioned the Atlanta Solidarity Fund as sort of the center of this fabricated criminal enterprise, Micah Herskind, a Stop Cop City activist, told The Independent. Weve said all along that these charges are bogus. Theyre not rooted in evidence. They are a political move to repress a social movement and target people personally for their political opposition to Cop City. Since 2021, Atlanta-area activists have fought to stop construction of police training center dubbed Cop City ( AP ) Kristen Novay, an attorney for Patterson, told The Associated Press the whole indictment is defective. I think it is a wise move for a seasoned prosecutor to say, This isnt worth it, she said. Sometimes the hardest call as a prosecutor is to not go for something. The Independent has contacted the Atlanta Solidarity Fund for comment. We chose not to proceed on the Money Laundering charges but the Racketeering charges remain, said Kara Murray communications director at the Office of the Attorney General. The trio of organizers were arrested in May 2023 and charged with charity fraud and money laundering as part of the larger Cop City RICO case. Prosecutors accused the three of funneling money meant for charitable causes to reimburse protesters camping out near the future site of the training center in DeKalb County, outside of Atlanta. They cited transactions including $93.04 for camping supplies and $12.52 for forest kitchen materials, according to the AP. Officials have also claimed some of the charitable funds ultimately went to violent acts. On its face, it appears to be laudable, it appears to be lawful, Fowler previously said in court, claiming the organizers harbor extremist anti-government and anti-establishment views and not all of the money goes to what they say that it goes to. Activist Manuel Tortuguita Paez Teran was killed by Atlanta-area police in January 2023 while protesting the police training center ( Courtesy of family / Stop Cop City ) Don Samuel, an attorney for the activists, has denied their connection to any illegal action. The fact that what you do happens to help some people do bad things doesnt mean that youre guilty of joining in a conspiracy with them, he told Fox 5 Atlanta in July. It doesnt mean that the action that youve taken, even if it facilitates misconduct, is something that renders you culpable. The Atlanta City Council approved the multi-million dollar training center project in 2021, which city officials described as a crucial development to maintain training standards and morale. As The Independent reported, community members and activists criticized the plan, arguing it would damage a rare patch of undeveloped forest in the Atlanta metro area and fuel violent policing against communities of color. Protester Manuel Tortuguita Esteban Paez Teran was shot and killed in January of 2023 during a state police clear-out operation while camping out in the forest in protest of Cop City. A special prosecutor determined in October of that year that the officers involved in the shooting wouldnt face charges and used reasonable force. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation claimed the activist fired on officers after refused to leave a tent. Police have released body camera footage of officers near the site of the shooting, but it doesnt capture the moment of the killing itself. Family members and activists have questioned the official narrative of the shooting, describing Tortuguita as a peaceful person who wouldnt start a firefight with police. An autopsy found no gunpowder residue on the activists hands, the presence of which can show someone recently fired a gun. In August of 2023, 61 people, including the Atlanta Solidarity Fund organizers, were indicted under Georgias anti-racketeering RICO law, typically used to prosecute gangs and organized crime groups. In the course of the prosecution, state officials were chided for gross negligence for mishandling and widely sharing confidential emails belonging to the three Solidarity Fund organizers where they discussed legal strategy and other highly sensitive issues. On Monday, activists marked one year since a petition was filed with the city to vote on the future of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center by tossing ping-pong balls at city council members and chanting, You dropped the ball! Federal litigation over the validity of the petition has stalled the ballot effort, and the case is currently in appeals court awaiting a decision. In August, a fire broke out at the safety center construction site which police blamed on arsonists. Officials say a ribbon cutting for the site is planned for December. On Monday, the Atlanta Police Department released a video of scores of emergency vehicles driving a course on a flat concrete skills pad on the site of the training center. 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 pair of young lovers have been accused of robbing four Los Angeles cannabis dispensaries during a six-week-long crime spree last year, according to authorities. Gabriella Tovar and Jesus Mendoza, both in their twenties, had only been dating for one month before they embarked on a string of heists at unlicensed weed shops around the city that came to an abrupt on June 11, 2023, when Mendoza crashed his BMW after a high-speed chase with cops, Los Angeles Police Department officers said during a four-day preliminary court hearing in late August. Deputy District Attorney Justin Schultz told the Los Angeles Times in an interview that unlicensed dispensaries are the perfect victim, because vendors are reluctant to go to the police to report a robbery. You have bosses who are many, many levels removed in other words, the employees dont know who theyre working for, he told the Los Angeles Times in an interview. The pair were intially charged with 14 counts of kidnapping, robbery, fleeing police, committing assault with machine guns and shooting into an occupied building. At the end of the hearing where the couple sat at a table with an LAPD file labeled Romeo and Juliet the shooting charge and one count of robbery were dropped. Gabriella Tovar and Jesus Mendoza have pleaded not guilty to robbing several Los Angeles cannabis dispensaries together last year ( Los Angeles County Superior Court ) Prosecutors claimed Mendoza had been fired from the first dispensary they attempted to rob, Up in Smoke. Samantha Vargas, an employee there, said she was working in the shop on the night of April 24, 2023, when she noticed a BMW reverse toward the back door on security cameras. Vargas testified that upon unlocking the back door, a masked Tovar grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her to the ground before she was dragged to the weed shops bathroom. There, Vargas said she and two other employees were held at gunpoint by a suspect, whom she identified as Mendoza, while Tovar and a third suspect grabbed cannabis from the sales area. Tovars attorney implied that Vargas was a conspirator in the robbery, claiming she had not identified either Tovar or Mendoza as suspects when interviewed by police the night of the robbery. Vargas denied the allegation. A month later, three masked suspects toting guns, including an AK-47, held up employees at Daily Dose, with a female robber snatching bags of weed from a safe. They later retuned to rob the shop again, police said. Just hours after the second robbery at Daily Dose, a male suspect with an assault rifle and a woman with a handgun rolled up in their BMW to the illegal dispensary Fire House. The man shot off the shops lock at the womans direction, workers told authorities, and instructed employees to start loading up the BMW with cannabis products. But their luck ran out. During that robbery, an LAPD patrol car pulled up outside, and Mendoza allegedly tossed aside the AK-47 before jumping into a BMW and blowing through stop signs as he drove on the wrong side of the road in an attempt to escape. Seven miles later, Mendoza crashed. Tovar was arrested 11 days later, on suspicion of kidnapping and robbery, with LAPD Detective Douglas Johnson, the lead detective on the case, testifying that authorities are still searching for other suspects. 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 }} Watch as Sean "Diddy" Combs is expected to be arraigned at a courthouse in New York on Tuesday, 17 September, after he was arrested in Manhattan by federal agents on Monday evening. Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the [U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York], U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in an email statement to The Independent. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time. The music mogul's attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told The Independent via email: "We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorneys Office. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges, Agnifilo added. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. The nature of the charges was not immediately clear. 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 }} The CEO of investment bank EF Hutton has been accused of improperly funneling millions into his own pocket by falsifying expense reports for, among other things, private jets to sporting events with his wife and bookie, more than $1 million in restaurant meals, and nearly $100,000 worth of intravenous drips to treat hangovers from excessive alcohol and drug usage. Joseph Rallo, who helped take public Donald Trumps Twitter clone , Truth Social, also allegedly pilfered corporate funds to make charitable contributions to his sons school, treat his wife to lavish stays at extravagant resorts, buy life insurance, and otherwise live far beyond his already well-capitalized means, according to a bombshell lawsuit filed by the firm and obtained by The Independent. Rallo, 39, who the lawsuit claims has a severe gambling problem, allegedly squandered tens of millions of dollars on losing investments, a fleet of exotic cars, including a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Bentley, and a customized Mercedes Benz, a $5 million Hamptons getaway, and a $25 million Manhattan penthouse. He regularly wagered six- to seven-figures at a time, and typically loses, the lawsuit states. Not only was Rallo stealing from his employer, his sordid lifestyle and wild spending eventually began to encroach on his corporate duties, according to the suit. It says he frequented a card room his bookie ran out of a residential apartment in New York City, leaving the office in the middle of the workday to gamble and carouse, and afterwards come back to the office in a state that was not conducive or becoming of a CEO of an investment bank. Joseph Rallo helped take public Donald Trumps Twitter clone, Truth Social ( AP ) The lawsuit says Rallo, who earned more than $18 million in 2023, was committed to the facade of having vast liquid wealth and thus unwilling to curb the personal spending necessary to continue his extravagant lifestyle, the lawsuit states. This led to Rallo seeking help to pay for his personal expenses that he could no longer afford. EF Hutton executives and the legal team representing them in the suit did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. Rallo did not return emails, texts and voicemails seeking comment. Rallo took the helm at EF Hutton in June 2021, when his firm, Benchmark Investments, which had also been known as Kingswood Capital Markets, rebranded pursuant to a licensing deal that would turn Hutton into a division of Benchmark, the lawsuit states. That year, the firm booked some $150 million in investment banking and underwriting revenues, and Rallos gross income was in excess of $26,000,000, according to the suit. In 2022, EF Huttons revenues declined slightly, although it still booked $88 million in revenue, the lawsuit continues. As a result, Rallos compensation went down to $18 million, it goes on. Last year, business declined even further, with $58 million in revenues; Rallos gross income for 2023 was still in excess of $4 million, the lawsuit says. Among other lavish expenditures on the company dime, Joseph Rallo is accused of blowing a small fortune on exotic cars, including a Lamborghini ( REUTERS ) In early 2024, Rallos behavior began to raise eyebrows, according to the suit. He requested a $4 million increase to his $1 million base salary, to $5 million, which he vaguely responded was for tax reasons, the suit contends. The company agreed, since it knew Rallo owed money to the government, the lawsuit says. But, it states, EF Hutton was by then operating at a loss, due, in part, to Rallo reimbursing himself hundreds of thousands of dollars per month in personal expenses that he claimed were business expenses. The worsening financial situation meant Rallos co-manager had to make a capital infusion to cover Huttons payroll and expenses, which the suit alleges Rallo declined to do despite receiving approximately $5,000,000 in compensation through May 2024. When the companys finance department told Rallo his pay would have to be rolled back to $1 million because of the shortfall, he instead suggested that other employees salaries be reduced, according to the lawsuit. (Rallo gave in when higher-ups flatly refused, it says.) A year earlier, Rallo had borrowed $5 million from his business partner to close on a $25 million apartment on Manhattans Upper East Side, according to the lawsuit, which says Rallo personally leaked the purchase to the media. At the same time, his profligate spending, combined with his gambling losses, meant Rallo was unable to pay his taxes on time, the lawsuit states. Joseph Rallo allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars on tickets to New York Knicks playoff games, which he attended with his bookie ( AP ) On May 6, 2024, the feds showed up at Rallos home with a search warrant and seized his cell phone as part of an investigation into securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy, the suit says. EF Hutton told Rallo he was being put on administrative leave for the duration, to which Rallo threatened to burn [the company] down, and has thus far refused to cooperate with an internal investigation, according to the suit. After Rallo took leave, EF Hutton reviewed its books and discovered the alleged scam, which not only improperly diverted millions from the company, but also claimed the bogus business expenses as tax write-offs, the suit contends. It says the amounts paid back to Rallo made up the bulk of the firms overall reimbursements, and an audit found Rallo billed the company for in addition to the cars, jets, and everything else $260,000 in life insurance premiums; nearly $1.2 million in meals; more than $35,000 donation to St. Davids, the private school his son attended; $22,000 in fine wines; $30,000 to stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel during a trip to Los Angeles with his wife and bookie; $60,000 on round-trip private flights for the three of them; in excess of $40,000 for tickets to New York Knicks playoff games, which Rallo attended with his bookie; and beyond, according to the lawsuit. Private jets were just one of the perks Joseph Rallo wrongfully gave himself at his business partners expense, according to a newly filed lawsuit ( Getty Images ) Additionally, from May 2022 through May 2024, Rallo submitted, approved, and reimbursed himself for seventy-nine separate charges for IV Doc totaling over $90,000, the suit states. The IV Doc is a New York based business that advertises services for the treatment of hangovers caused by excessive alcohol and drug abuse. There was no legitimate business purpose for Rallo to incur $90,000 or more in business expenses for intravenous services. In all, Rallo improperly directed $5,412,344 to himself, the lawsuit alleges. Since Rallo was suspended, the suit says EF Hutton has averaged less than $22,000 per month in reimbursed business expenses, approximately 90% less than the monthly reimbursed business expenses prior to Rallo going on administrative leave. Hutton is suing Rallo for conversion/civil theft, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment, and wants its money back, plus at least $3 million in damages. 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 }} Scores of Burmese pythons have been captured in Florida. The snakes, which are an invasive species, were rounded up in a 10-day competition involving 850 participants from 33 states and Canada. Burmese pythons were first discovered in the Sunshine state in the late 1970s and pose a threat to Floridas ecology by outcompeting native snake species, and eating endangered Key Largo wood rats. The python have few predators because of their large size, with adult Burmese pythons in Florida averaging between six and nine feet. A man attempts to wrangle a Burmese python during the competition this year. More than 700 participants were from Florida, according to wildlife officials. ( Florida FWC ) During the recent contest, the biggest snake caught was nine feet and 11 inches long. The pythons are captured by hand, with participants wearing protective gloves and using tongs. Ronald Kiger was the Ultimate Grand Prize winner, removing a total of 20 pythons, and receiving the grand prize of $10,000. The annual Florida Python Challenge is hosted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). 2024 Python Challenge Ultimate Grand Prize winner Ronald Kiger poses with a large Burmese python. Kiger caught 20 of the snakes, earning him $10,000. ( Florida FWC ) Over 14,000 pythons have been successfully removed by FWC and South Florida Water Management District contractors since 2017. This collective effort continues to have a direct positive impact on the Everglades and our native wildlife through removal and awareness, FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said in a statement. Burmese pythons are native to India, lower China, the Malay Peninsula and some islands of the East Indies. In Florida, they are found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem and more than 22,000 wild Burmese pythons have been removed from the state of Florida since 2000. The FWC says anyone may remove and humanely kill pythons and other nonnative reptiles at any time on private lands with landowner permission and on 32 of its managed lands throughout the area. Close Long-time friend of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush said Titan sub explosion was expected 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 }} OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush allegedly declared that he would buy a congressman to make issues surrounding the Titan subs certification go away, a witness testified. Matthew McCoy, who worked at the submersible company for six months from April 2017, addressed the Titan Marine Board of Investigation panel on Friday for the final day of the two-week long hearing into Titans disaster voyage in June 2023. After raising concerns about an alleged lack of certificate of inspection for the first Titan sub in 2017, McCoy testified that Rush told him, I would buy a congressman to make problems disappear during a lunch meeting. The ex-OceanGate employee said that he quit soon after. He was either trying to intimidate me or impress me, he testified. McCoy also alleged that the OceanGate engineering department was full of college interns during his time at the company, adding that he doesnt believe there was a professional engineer on staff. Captain Jamie Frederick, member of the US Coast Guard who oversaw rescue mission of the Titan and its five crew, began testifying after McCoy. Coast Guard Search and Rescue Specialist Scott Talbot was the last person to testify. 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 }} The US has deployed more than 130 soldiers, mobile rocket launchers, and radar capabilities to a remote Alaskan island, amid increased Russian military activity in the region. The Coast Guard said it located four Russian Federation Navy vessels, including two submarines, 57 miles off the coast of Alaska on Sunday. In the past week, officials have also detected four separate incursions of Russian military aircraft into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), an area beyond US airspace where aircraft are nonetheless expected to identify themselves. The Indo-Pacific represents more than 50 percent of the worlds population, and some of the most diverse environments on Earth, the U.S. Army 11th Airborn Division wrote on Facebook on Sunday, sharing photos of soldiers, mobile rocket launchers, and transport planes being used in the deployment. Shemya Island sits in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, and the soldiers of Task Force Geronimo, made up of units from across U.S. Army Pacific landed there last week with long range fires and radar capabilities. Last week, Russian began Ocean-24, its largest joint naval and air drills since the Cold War, comprising over 400 warships, submarines, and transport vessels, and more than 90,000 troops across the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic Seas. The exercises follow joint Russia-China exercises that took place near Alaska in July, which led to the first-ever Russian-Chinese bomber task force incursion into the Alaska ADIZ, according to U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the U.S., Russia, and China, he said in a statement Tuesday. Authoritarian regimes are testing the United States, he added. Dictators like Vladimir Putin see through a lens of either strength or weakness, which is why Ive long encouraged our senior military leaders to be ready and to respond with strength. For years, Russian has been conducting slow-boiling intelligence operations and exploratory military activity in the Arctic Circle, as tensions grow between it and its neighbors amid conflicts like its invasion of Ukraine. 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 suggested that he may sue the post office because theyll maybe lose mail-in ballots. The former president appeared on Real Americas Voice on Monday night, once again dragging up his claims from both before and after the 2020 election that mail-in ballots are heavily affected by fraud, even though the voting method has been found to be safe and secure. Trump claimed, We have very bad elections. We have a bad voting system. We have mail-in ballots. You know its very interesting, I read the other day, the post office is saying how bad it is. The post office is critiquing itself saying, Were really in bad shape, we cant deliver the mail, and theyre not even talking about mail-in ballots, he added. Were gonna dump millions and millions of ballots. And Im saying to myself, How can they be taking the vote? The former president said, We ought to go to court and we ought to bring a lawsuit because theyre going to lose hundreds of thousands of ballots. Maybe purpose-ly. Or maybe just through incompetence. Real Americas Voice host Wayne Allyn Root said, I think it was yesterday, the US Postal Service union endorsed Kamala Harris. Donald Trump has suggested that he may try to sue the postal service over its handling of mail-in ballots ( AP ) Now, youve got mail-in ballots being trusted into the hands of people that just endorsed Kamala Harris, the host added. How do you know this is gonna be a clean election? Well, theyve always been a very Democrat union. Thats the way it is. Weve got people who like us too, the former president said. The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) announced on Thursday that it was endorsing Harris. The American Postal Workers Union endorsed her in July. On Sunday, Trump also lashed out against the postal service, which is being led by a man he appointed, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The United States Postal Service has admitted that it is a poorly run mess that is experiencing mail loss and delays at a level never seen before, the former president wrote on Truth Social. With this being the FACT, how can we possibly be expected to allow or trust the U.S. Postal Service to run the 2024 Presidential Election? It is not possible for them to do so. HELP! Trump is once again doing the groundwork to challenge the election results if he loses in November. After the 2020 election, Trump and other Republicans claimed that fraudulent mail votes were a major reason why he lost. This time around, the GOP is now urging its supporters to vote by mail, but Trump himself appears unable to stop bashing the voting method. In a letter released on Monday, DeJoy said the postal service is ready for the incoming flood of mail-in ballots. He also assured state election officials that he would work alongside them to handle any problems with the delivery of election-related mail during the November election. He added that the postal service has already taken care of most of the issues raised by election officials across the country. 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 }} JD Vance once penned a furious blog post sharing his disdain for the Republican partys hostility toward immigrants then urged his professor to delete it years later as he sought to enter politics. As a 28-year-old Yale law student back in November 2012, the Ohio senator wrote an article titled: A Blueprint for the GOP. In it, the more youthful and progressive Vance slammed Republicans for being tone deaf on immigration and openly hostile to non-whites. Now, more than a decade later, as Donald Trumps running mate, he has been accused of amplifying this same anti-immigrant rhetoric most recently pushing false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. When the 2008 election was called for Obama, I remember thinking: maybe this will teach my party some very important lessons, Vance began in the 2012 post, which still sits on the internet archive, Wayback Machine. You cant actively alienate every growing bloc of the American electorate Blacks, Latinos, the youth and you cant depend solely on the single shrinking bloc of the electorate Whites. Vance (at a campaign event on Tuesday in Eau Claire Wisconsin) slammed Republicans for being tone deaf on immigration in the blog post ( AP ) Later in his article, in a section titled The Elephant in the Room Demographics, Vance addresses the GOPs so-called inability to connect with immigrants. He also described the Republicanss immigration policy to deport 12 million people as nonsensical, adding it failed to pass the laugh test. To win, the Republicans must turn the tide with non-White voters, he added. Republicans lose minority voters for simple and obvious reasons: their policy proposals are tired, unoriginal, or openly hostile to non-Whites. He continued: On immigration, Republicans are similarly tone deaf. I became a conservative in large part because I felt that the Right was far more honest about the real state of the world. Four years later, Vance called on his college professor to delete the blog post, CNN reported. Professor Brad Nelson, who described Vance as one of his brightest students, obliged and took down the entry from the website Center for World Conflict and Peace, to give Vance the best chance of carving a path in Republican politics in 2016. At that time, Vance was still a staunch critic of Trump. There are, undoubtedly, vile racists at the core of Trumps movement, Vance wrote on Facebook that year. Vance and Trump at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta last month ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) In private messages sent to a friend the same year, Vance denounced the former president as Americas Hitler, a moral disaster and cultural heroin. Rather than voting for Trump or his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in 2016, the Ohio senator said that he planned to vote for independent candidate Evan McMullin. Fast forward to 2024 and the 40-year-old Republican vice presidential pick has adopted many of the anti-immigrant principles he once stood against. A day before Trump faced off against Kamala Harris at the presidential debate in Philadelphia on September 10, Vance took to X to perpetuate a baseless rumor: that Haitian migrants were kidnapping and devouring pets in Springfield. After local officials debunked the conspiracy theory, Vance appeared to admit it was made-up, telling CNN on Sunday that he has to create stories in order to get the media to pay attention to the suffering of the American people. Vance also continues to push the rhetoric that the flood of millions of illegal aliens into the US is bad for the country with the Biden administrations border policy one of his most favored attack lines against so-called border czar Harris. If elected, Trump has vowed to carry out the largest deportation effort of undocumented people in US history. 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 }} Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance tried to prove his baseless claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets by pointing to a police report from one resident in Springfield, Ohio, that alleged her cat may have been stolen by her Haitian neighbors. Turns out the cat, Miss Sassy, had been hiding in the basement the whole time, and Anna Kilgore had apologized to her neighbors for the mix-up with the help of a translation app, she told The Wall Street Journal this week. Vance and his running mate Donald Trump, along with GOP allies, have spent days repeating baseless rumors that Haitian immigrants were stealing Springfields dogs and cats and eating them, in an effort to further push their hardline agenda on immigration. The claims have been repeatedly debunked by Springfields police department, city officials and Ohios Republican governor Mike DeWine. Local officials have also made it clear that Haitian immigrants who recently arrived in the city did so legally. Anna Kilgore in Springfield, Ohio with a Trump-Vance hat and flag. The Springfield resident told police last month that her Haitian neighbors may have stolen her cat Miss Sassy. The cat turned out to be hiding in her basement the whole time, and she apologized to her Haitian neighbors ( Kris Maher/The Wall Street Journal ) Trump even raised the conspiracy theory during last weeks presidential debate and pushed back against a live fact-check by debate moderator, David Muir. Well, Ive seen people on television, Trump replied. People on television say, My dog was taken and used for food, so maybe he said that and maybe thats a good thing to say for a city manager. The WSJ also reported on Wednesday that Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck had told a Vance staffer directly on September 9 that the pet-eating rumors were not true, when he called to verify. He asked point-blank, Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten? Heck told the WSJ. I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless. Vance had shared the conspiracy theory on X to his 1.9 million followers that day, and did not remove the post even after his staffer was told there was no truth to them. The VP candidate has doubled down on the claims, telling CNN on Sunday that if he has to create stories so that the America media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then thats what Im going to do. A Springfield police officer talks to a parishioner after a service in support of the Haitian community at St Raphael Catholic church in Springfield on September 15 ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) When the WSJ asked Vance about the rumors this week, his campaign shared Kilgores police report from late August. The woman had told officers that she believed her Haitian neighbors may have stolen her cat. However, Kilgore told a WSJ reporter who visited her at home that she had discovered Miss Sassy in the basement a few days after filing the report. A Vance spokesperson told The Independent the media is ignoring real concerns and purposely twisting Senator Vances words. Senator Vance has received countless messages from residents of Springfield on the disastrous effects Kamala Harriss immigration policies have created for their hometown: a shortage of affordable housing, stressed public resources, declining public safety, and spikes in communicable disease, the spokesperson wrote. As the pet-eating rumors have spread, Springfield has faced an increasing number of threats. A bomb threat last Thursday forced the evacuation of city hall and two schools. Local officials said the threat explicitly used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community. On Monday, two more schools in Springfield were evacuated while two nearby college campuses moved classes online and canceled on-campus events due to threats. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, also called the conspiracy theory about pet-eating a piece of garbage that was simply not true during a news conference earlier this week ( AP ) Haitians living in Springfield have said theyre afraid for their safety. Some parents had resorted to keeping children home from school, James Fleurijean, a Haitian community member, told ABC News. Despite the pushback, a significant number of Republican voters have bought into the baseless claim. A new poll from YouGov surveying voters after the Trump-Harris debate revealed that 52 percent of Trump voters said that the claim is definitely or probably true. Some 81 percent of Harris voters said the claim is definitely false. This story was updated on September 18 to include a statement from Vances spokesperson. 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 Senate hearing on hate-related incidents was capped off on Tuesday by a male Republican lawmaker yelling at a witness and falsely accusing her of supporting terrorism. The strange scene played out in front of the cameras at a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which met to discuss rising rates of incidents motivated by antisemitic and Islamophobic hatreds around the United States, which have risen sharply since the conflict in Gaza began last October. Senator John Kennedy was questioning Maya Berry of the Arab American Institute when he began shouting at her that she support[ed] Hamas and Hezbollah. Senator John Kennedy, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, at a hearing in June ( Getty Images ) Berry unequivocally denied both of those accusations individually, but Kennedy clearly wasnt listening, as he repeated the Hamas accusation seconds later. You cant condemn UNRWA, and you cant condemn Hamas! the Louisiana Republican yelled, referring to the UN-led organization bound to supply aid to the Palestinian territories; a report from the organization suggested that some of its employees may have had knowledge or involvement in the October 7 attack on Israel last year. .@SenJohnKennedy: You support Hamas, do you not?@AAIUSA's Maya Berry: Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support...You asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country? pic.twitter.com/h7WU3ePLOu CSPAN (@cspan) September 17, 2024 Adding to the confusion of the moment: a male protester in the back of the room began shouting at the senator while he was interrogating the panels invited guest, and committee chair Dick Durbin banged the gavel several times in response. Kennedy is no stranger to such moments and has sought to turn committee hearings into spectacles before. In one hearing with Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, he utilized his question time to attempt to bait Garland into describing what percentage of US police officers he thought harbored racist beliefs. He has also displayed a tendency towards personal insults, and has labeled Vice President Kamala Harris a ding-dong and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dumb. But his latest remarks come as his party is already under fire for ginning up conspiracies about legal migrants from Haiti residing in Springfield, Ohio, and after a six-year-old child was stabbed dozens of times in an apparent crazed anti-Muslim attack in Illinois last year. His antics have earned him criticism before; just last year he was denounced as vulgar and racist by the government of Mexico after he suggested that, figuratively speaking, the people of Mexico would be eating cat food out of a can and living in a tent behind an Outback [Steakhouse] were it not for US foreign aid. Those comments earned him a tough line of questioning from Foxs Neil Cavuto, who questioned if he had gone over to the so-called loon wing of the Republican Party a term which Kennedy himself had coined. The Louisiana senators tirade on Tuesday was denounced by Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, as well as others on social media such as journalist and Zeteo founder Medhi Hasan, who labeled Kennedy a bigot. The racist, Islamophobic tropes used by many Members of Congress are intended to suppress our voices and incite violence against us. Its disgusting how many of my colleagues are silent when hate is directed like this against Arabs and Muslims, wrote Tlaib in a post. 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 ex-wife of Kamala Harriss husband has yet again defended the vice president on social media after she was attacked for not having biological children. Kerstin Emhoff rushed to Harriss defense after Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appeared to sneer at the Democratic presidential candidate for not having biological children at a town hall event in Flint, Michigan with Donald Trump on Tuesday. My kids keep me humble, Sanders, who also served as White House Press Secretary under Trump, said at the event. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesnt have anything keeping her humble. Emhoff was quick to speak out against the comments on social media on Tuesday night. Cole and Ella keep us inspired to make the world a better place, she wrote. I do it through storytelling. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families. That keeps you pretty humble. Kerstin Emhoff was married to Harriss now-husband, Doug Emhoff, for 16 years, and they had two children: Cole and Ella Emhoff. The two split in 2010, and Doug married Harris four years later. Ever since, the vice president has been a parent to Cole and Ella, who affectionately refer to her as Momala. Sanders said her children keep her humble but said Harris had nothing to keep her humble, despite the vice president being a stepmother to two children ( AFP via Getty Images ) Kerstin has consistently supported Harris politically and personally, including attending her 2021 inauguration as the vice president. She defended Harris in July against the childless cat lady attacks hurled by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance. She told CNN that Kamala has been a co-parent with her and Doug since their kids were teenagers. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it, Kerstin said. Ella, a 25-year-old model, fashion-designed and artist, also defended her stepmother on Instagram: How can you be childless when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I? Cole Emhoff (left), Ella Emhoff (center) and Doug Emhoff listen as Kamala Harris speaks at the Democratic National Convention in August. Ella also defended her stepmother against JD Vances childless cat lady comments earlier this summer ( REUTERS ) Vances childless cat lady comments come from a resurfaced 2021 Fox News clip. The Ohio senator claimed, a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that theyve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too. Look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children, he continued. Harriss running mate Tim Walz (left) poses with Kerstin Emhoff (center), Ella Emhoff and Cole Emhoff. ( KERSTIN EMHOFF/X ) Several celebrities also spoke out against the comments, including Friends star Jennifer Anniston. I truly cant believe that this is coming from a potential VP of the United States, Anniston wrote on Instagram. All I can say is Mr Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option, she continued. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too. 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 }} Hillary Clinton said that Melania Trump reminded her of a little kid during an awkward meeting last year at former first lady Rosalynn Carters memorial service. In her new book Something Lost, Something Gained, released on Tuesday, the former secretary of state wrote that she never quite knew what to make of the third Mrs Trump. The two former first ladies had met once before when Clinton wrote that she attended the Trumpss 2005 wedding at their Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida out of curiosity. I was going to be in Florida anyway and thought it would be entertaining to see what a Donald Trump wedding was like, Clinton said. It was the first time I met Melania, and I just remember that she was young, very beautiful, and very tall. Melania didnt talk much, Clinton added. At least to me. The pair crossed paths again 18 years later and eight years after Clinton lost to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election at the November memorial service in Georgia for Jimmy Carters wife, who died aged 96. Rosalynns grandson Jason said it had been her wish that all the first ladies would come together for her memorial in a show of unity in these divisive times, Clinton wrote. Former first ladies attend tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 28, 2023 ( AFP via Getty Images ) The 76-year-old Democrat said that neither her husband, former president Bill Clinton, the White House nor the Secret Service had informed her that Melania had planned to attend the ceremony. Then, Clinton spotted the 54-year-old ex-model standing alone near Laura Bush, the wife of former president George W Bush, when the entourage of first ladies waltzed into the memorial. Melania had a look on her face very smiley but uncertain that reminded me of the little kid at the birthday party who doesnt know anyone and is waiting at the edge of the circle, hoping people are going to be nice, Clinton wrote. The huddle of first ladies approached Melania along with President Joe Biden, she added. Melania first received an air-kiss from First Lady Jill Biden, before Michelle Obama swooped in to give one of her signature big hugs, the former New York senator recalled. Clinton noted that Melania was likely wary about what reception she would get from her fellow first ladies given that her husband had thrown a barrage of insults at their own husbands. I can appreciate how awkward it must have been, she wrote. The Independent has contacted a Melania Trump spokesperson for comment. 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 }} Speaker Mike Johnson pushed forward with his doomed bid to avert a government shutdown on Wednesday, despite clear signs that the legislation was unpalatable to both conservatives in his own party as well as Democrats who control the upper chamber of Congress. The House voted early Wednesday evening on a continuing resolution to keep the government open laden with giveaways to the conservative right. Those included spending cuts and a piece of legislation stapled to the broader package aimed at preventing non-citizens from voting in federal elections something that is already illegal. Johnson of course, admitted this in a recent interview and has evaded acknowledging that Donald Trumps claims of massive numbers of undocumented immigrants voting are false. This is the play were running, the Speaker told The Hill this week. Ill be working around the clock to try to get it done. His failure was evident as the vote occurred shortly before 7pm on Wednesday. The yeas trailed the nays by 18 votes, with two members voting present. The speaker said he was disappointed after the vote failed, but refused to criticize his own strategy. That strategy has been unclear from the beginning. His party headed into the vote secure in the knowledge that the bill as written would not pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, nor would it be signed into law by President Joe Biden, who issued a statement insisting that he would veto the legislation if it reached his desk. And Trump, ever eager to throw a wrench into the machinery, wrote on Truth Social this week that Republicans should walk away from any discussions around passing a CR that do not include passing the SAVE Act, Johnsons piece of tagalong legislation on noncitizen voting a nonstarter for Democrats. As a result, the final vote included defections from Johnsons own party on top of near-uniform opposition from his Democratic rivals. The three exceptions included Maines Jared Golden, who previously said hed vote for the bill. Fourteen Republicans voted with their Democratic rivals against it. Maines Jared Golden, a Democrat, voted to support the GOP speakers government funding bill despite Joe Biden vowing to veto it and Senate Democrats planning to present their own package ( Getty Images for Headstrong ) The government is set to begin a partial shutdown of services in October if a deal to pass a funding bill is not cut before then. Democrats are insisting upon passage of a bill that keeps funding for all agencies at existing levels, minus the Secret Service, which they say needs a funding surge in the wake of two attempted assassinations of former President Donald Trump in as many months. Some conservatives oppose this, citing the agencys operational failures and claiming that the Secret Service doesnt deserve extended funding because of them. Others are unhappy that the bill does not increase funding for the Pentagon as well. Johnson now has less than two weeks to make that deadline. On Tuesday, he said he hadnt been having any conversations about alternative strategies for passing a funding bill. In the Senate, lawmakers remain at work on a stopgap bill that would keep the government open through mid-December, teeing up another fight before the holiday recess. Johnsons bill, by comparison, would fund the government for six months at his reduced levels. Speaker Mike Johnson has been pushing a government spending plan on Wednesday that is opposed by the White House, congressional Democrats, and many in his own party ( AP ) "Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government, and ensure the security of our elections," Johnson said in a statement the day prior to the vote. "Because we owe this to our constituents, we will move forward on Wednesday with a vote on the six-month CR with the SAVE Act attached. I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections." But he has failed to win over his partys most vocal members in the House, making Wednesdays vote all the more confusing of a strategy and one that, in the end, may give more power to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democratic caucus. Johnson has, in the past, relied on Jeffries and his caucus to provide votes for measures to keep the government open over opposition from his own party. That was the path trodden by former GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before he was ousted by a conservative rebellion in the fall of 2023. So far, Johnson has escaped that same fate in part due to the aversion lawmakers have shown to throwing the House back into the weeks of inaction and chaos McCarthys ouster began last year. The inability of the Republican caucus to settle on his replacement paralyzed the chamber for weeks. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the Republicans who has come out against Johnsons latest ploy to cut a government funding deal, attempted to lead a second ouster of the Speakers chair aimed at removing Johnson earlier this year. But the bid failed after Democrats rallied to Johnsons defense. "Johnson will NOT commit to standing up against the Democrats in a shutdown fight and will allow passage of a clean CR in order to fund the government because he believes a government shutdown will be blamed on Republicans and will hurt their elections," Greene said on Tuesday. "Johnson is leading a fake fight that he has no intention of actually fighting." 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 }} A group of more than 100 prominent former officials who served in Republican administrations have endorsed Kamala Harris, in a scathing letter that claims Donald Trump is unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust. The letter, obtained by The New York Times, counts signatories including former defense secretaries Chuck Hagel and William Cohen; former C.I.A. directors Michael Hayden and William Webster; and former Trump administration officials Miles Taylor and Olivia Troye, among others. The signatories admit they probably disagree with Harris on a number of issues but argue that Donald Trumps affinity for strongmen and behavior on January 6 disqualifies him from serving again. As President, he promoted daily chaos in government, praised our enemies and undermined our allies, politicized the military and disparaged our veterans, prioritized his personal interest above American interests, and betrayed our values, democracy, and this countrys founding documents, the letter reads. The GOP officials praised Harris for stated positions on defending Israel, supporting NATO, and sending more agents to the US-Mexico border. Prominent Republicans warned of Trumps affinity for strongmen and actions of January 6 in letter ( Getty Images ) These are the same people who got our country into endless foreign wars and profited off of them while the American people suffered, Trump campaign official Steven Cheung told The Independent via email. President Trump is the only President in the modern era not to get our country into any new wars. Many prominent anti-Trump Republicans have thrown their support behind the Harris campaign. Former U.S. representative Liz Cheney, one of Trumps sharpest (and only) GOP critics in Congress, announced earlier this month shed be voting for Harris as would her father, former Bush administration vice president Dick Cheney. Adam Kinzinger to GOP voters: Stop being used As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, she told a crowd in North Carolina. Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris. Others have taken the Harris support a step further, with figures like former Illinois GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger appearing at the Democratic National Convention. Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong, Kinzinger said during the D.N.C. He is a small man pretending to be big. Hes a faithless man pretending to be righteous. Hes a perpetrator who cant stop playing the victim. The Harris campaign is likely hoping some of these endorsements will win them support from independents and moderate Republicans. A recent USA Today-Suffolk University poll found that Harris retains a 43-38 lead with independents in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, mirroring her projected lead in the overall presidential race thus far. 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 }} Arkansas governor and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders appeared to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris for not having biological children, during a town hall event with former President Donald Trump in Michigan on Tuesday night. My kids keep me humble, Huckabee Sanders said in Flint. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble. Her comments echo those of Trumps running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, who has faced severe criticism for his previous comments about women who dont have biological children. Vance told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in 2021 that the US was being run by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that theyve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. 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, he said. And how does it make any sense that weve turned our country over to people who dont really have a direct stake in it? Harris has two stepchildren and Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, adopted twins in August 2021. Sarah Huckabee Sanders made critical comments of Kamala Harris at a town hall with Donald Trump in Flint, Michigan ( AFP via Getty Images ) Huckabee Sanders made the comments while describing how her daughter was getting ready for her first father-daughter dance. She wanted to come down the stairs, and her prince charming, my husband, to be there, and everything to be this magical, special thing, Huckabee Sanders told the crowd. So I'm sitting at the top of the stairs putting the finishing touches on Scarlett, making sure she's ready for the night of her life. And as I'm talking to her, I'm telling her how proud I am of her, how thankful I am that God chose us to be her parents. How beautiful she is on the inside and out. And as I'm having this moment, I start to get a little bit emotional, she added. As my eyes fill with tears, my sweet daughter reaches up, pats my shoulder, and says, It's okay, mommy, one day you can be pretty too. So my kids keep me humble, she said. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble. You would think after four years of straight failure, she would know a little humility, she added before bringing Trump onto the stage. The crowd booed at the mention of Harris. Trump began the town hall event by being uncharacteristically nice towards the vice president, noting that they had had a very nice phone call following the most recent assassination attempt against the former president. I have to say that President Biden called me yesterday, [it] was ... a very nice conversation. I appreciated that he called about, you know what happened the other day, Trump said. A little while ago, I got a very nice call from Kamala. It was very nice ... and we appreciate that, but we have to take back our country. We have to win. Were going to win, and were going to make America great again, he added. Huckabee Sanders faced substantial criticism for her comments on Harris on Tuesday night, including from Kerstin Emhoff, the ex-wife of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Cole and Ella keep us inspired to make the world a better place. I do it through storytelling. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families. That keeps you pretty humble, she wrote on X. Former Democratic Kentucky Senate candidate Amy McGrath wrote: You dont have to agree in ones political beliefs but why be personally cold? And why are you equating a fellow womans worth on whether or not she has biological children of her own? Author Ella Dawson called Huckabee Sanders who is the daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee a hack nepo baby with no humility talking smack about a black woman who worked her way up. 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 has been roasted after he bizarrely mixed up an Alaskan wildlife refuge and an Afghanistan airbase during a town hall in Michigan. The former president appeared on stage in Flint on Tuesday for the event which was moderated by his former White House press secretary and current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Along with declaring that only consequential presidents get shot at, and pledging to revive Michigans waning automotive industry, the former president boasted about his administration getting drilling approval in Alaskas oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). But the name of the vast swathe of mountains and forest in the Last Frontier escaped him and, instead, he mixed up the ANWR with the former largest US air base in Afghanistan located 5,000 miles east: Bagram Airfield which is now in the hands of the Taliban. Check that one out. Bagram. Check that one that. ANW its, its no, think about this, Trump said, tripping over his words. Between Bagram, between you go to ANWR Donald Trump has been ridiculed for his geographical blunder on stage in Michigan on Tuesday ( Getty Images ) Its not clear how Trump mixed up the two locations which are phonetically different and are in separate continents. Trump also over-inflated the size of the Alaskan wildlife refuge before touting his controversial oil-drilling deal secured just days before the end of his presidency in 2021 a deal that was swiftly culled by the Biden administration. We were energy independent, we were soon going to be energy dominant, and we wouldve been now having so much money coming out of the energy, Trump began. We just have the best. We have Bagram in Alaska, a confused Trump said. ANWR, not Bagram, is described as Americas last great wilderness. Its 6,000 sq km stretch of coast holds the largest onshore reserves of oil in North America. They say it might be as big it might be bigger than all of Saudi Arabia. I got it approved. Ronald Reagan couldnt do it, nobody could do it. I got it done, he bragged. While Trump claims ANWR is bigger than Saudi Arabia, it spans across approximately 78,000 sq km, while the Middle Eastern country covers about 2,150,000 sq km. After the geographical blunder and butchering of stats, Trump faced a slew of criticism from social media users and political pundits. Stony-faced Trump photographed at his Flint, Michigan, town hall on Tuesday ( AFP via Getty Images ) They say it might be bigger than Saudi Arabia, they also say its in Afghanistan, not Alaska, former professor at the US Naval War College-turned staff writer at The Atlantic Tom Nichols quipped, as he shared a clip of Trump speaking at the town hall on X. Bagram was the airbase he [Trump] had in Afghanistan the same base where we kept hundreds of Taliban and ISIS prisoners that Trump released back out into Afghanistan in his final year in office, Amy McGrath, the former Marine fighter pilot and founder of the Democratic Majority Action PAC, wrote on X. He is CLUELESS folks. The hosts of MSNBCs Morning Joe also trolled the former president for the gaffe on Wednesday morning. Check it out, Willie. You got your Google machine? anchor Joe Scarborough teased. Bagram, Alaska. I hear there is some of the best moose hunting in all of the world in Bagram. Not a slip of the tongue either, co-host Willie Geist chimed in. He said it five or six times and then closed it with check it, Google it, find it, look it up, take it to the bank. 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. There have been a scarcity of national polls released since last weeks debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz, but on average, Harris continues to lead Trump by a hairline; which hasnt changed substantially since mid-August. Yet a polling twist in Trumps home state of Florida shows a dwindling lead for the former president, according to a Republican pollster; particularly among young Floridians. Another noteworthy change in the polls came with Vance riding the wave of success from the vice presidential debate against Walz, to see a significant boost in his favorability, previously at record-low levels. 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. Meanwhile, Trumps lead in Florida home to Mar-a-Lago, and several key Republicans has shrunk to just 2 percent. New figures from historically Republican pollster RMG Research show Trump with 50 percent of the vote and Harris with 48 percent, including those who are uncommitted but lean one way. In August, separate polls showed a shrinking lead in the sunshine state, but a still-substantial 5-point lead for Trump. This is a far cry from the reported 8-point lead for Trump over Biden in July. 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 percent 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 percent negative score among this group. Walz also received a more modest 3-point boost, reaching 15 percent 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 percent of voters, still ending up at a net-positive position of 72 percent 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 percent of viewers considered Vance the debate winner, compared to 41 percent 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 percent of voters, followed by immigration at 34 percent. For Trump voters, however, these priorities are flipped. Over half (57 percent) 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 percent 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 percent), with Harris herself critical of abortion bans, following the overturning of Roe v Wade. Healthcare is also a top priority for Harris voters (40 percent), followed by housing (23 percent). 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 percent 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 percent of the vote to 45 percent. In Georgia, the two candidates are tied at 49 percent 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 percent of swing-state voters think Harris can better handle the economy, slightly behind Trump at 49 percent. It is worth noting that separate New York Times polls earlier this month showed a lead for Trump in Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia. This variation indicates that the swing states are still open to change before November. Who will vote? A YouGov/Economist poll has Harris with a three-point lead among registered voters, at 47 percent and Trump at 44 percent. 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 percent of the 18-29-year-olds surveyed saying they will maybe vote, while 3 percent will not vote or are still unsure. This amounts to 16 percent who are on the fence or not voting, higher than any other age group, and higher than the average of 9 percent. Just 65 percent of the 18 to 29-year-olds polled said they would definitely vote in November. This is in comparison to 77 percent of 30 to 44-year-olds, 85 percent of 45 to 64-year-olds, and 94 percent 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 percent) were not committed to voting in November, with 10 percent maybe voting and 17 percent 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 percent) 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 percent) 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. Demographics A separate poll from The New York Times and Siena College in September has Trump and Harris in a national deadlock, each at 47 percent of the vote among likely voters. This is a slight shift from the same poll in early September, which had Trump at +2 points ahead of Harris in a surprise result. The new poll, taken after the September debate and with 2,437 likely voters, had 67 percent of respondents saying that Harris performed well in the debate, compared to 40 percent who thought the same about Trump. Harris retains a strong lead among women (12 points ahead), while Trump enjoys a 14-point lead among men. In particular, Harris has improved her vote share among under-34s following the debate, with a 7 percent increase to 58 percent of the vote and a 21-point lead over Trump. Meanwhile, her lead within the 30-44 age bracket has shrunk, with Trump just 4 points behind; though Trumps margin in the 45-64 age bracket has also decreased to just 2 points. 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. Among white, college-educated voters, the early September poll showed a 12-point preference for Harris. Following the debate, this group has seen the most substantial jump, with a 25-point lead for Harris at 61 percent of the vote. Interestingly, a pre-debate poll from The New York Times showed that nearly a third of voters (28 percent) felt they needed to learn more about Harris, compared to 9 percent who would say the same about Trump. However, the debate was helpful for Harris in that regard, as half of voters (50 percent) feel that they learned a lot about her during the debate, with just a third saying the same about Trump, according to The New York Times poll. CNNs snap poll following the first Trump-Harris debate showed that Harris managed to turn the tide with some voters. In the wake of the debate, more voters now believe Harris better understands the issues of people like them (44 percent) compared to Trump (40 percent). Before the debate, the opposite was true. 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. 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 Convicted con artist Anna Sorokin has made her debut on Dancing with the Stars with a very sparkly ankle monitor. The so-called fake heiress, who was convicted of swindling banks, hotels and friends in 2019 after falsely building a reputation as a wealthy German heiress named Anna Delvey, said the monitor was actually not a big issue at all after performing her first dance. Its pretty light and I asked them to make it tight so it doesnt dangle. So its not so bad, she told The Associated Press after the premiere. She and dance pro Ezra Sosa performed a routine set to Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso." Its the real star of the show, lets be honest here, Sosa said of Sorokin's bedazzled ankle monitor. I think its kind of funny how people like its not like an ankle weight," Sosa said. Its not like 20 pounds. Its like literally less than a pound and its not a big deal. Sorokin acknowledged her debut on the US version ofStrictly Come Dancing didn't go as planned. I feel relieved that its over, she said. I feel like my dance could have been a little bit better, but Im happy Ive done this and it was a great experience all over. Sorokin said she hopes viewers will be somewhat forgiving despite her criminal history. Hopefully people will give me a chance to show what I can do. And I served my time and I repaid my restitution," she said. Early reviews from fans were not positive, with the phrase Anna Delveys Lacklustre DWTS Debut among those trending on the social media site X/Twitter. open image in gallery Anna Sorokin on Dancing with the Stars ( ABC ) While she was released from prison in February 2021, immigration authorities picked her up shortly after she got out, claiming she overstayed her visa and must be returned to her native Germany. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free The Inventing Anna inspiration was in ICE custody for over a year before a judge cleared the way for her to switch to home confinement in October 2022 while she fights deportation. Her release terms had to be amended to allow her to travel from New York to Los Angeles for filming. Additional reporting by Agencies Close Moment the super yacht sank amid a freak storm 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 }} Divers searching British tech tycoon Mike Lynchs sunken superyacht off Sicily have found safes holding potentially sensitive intelligence data, sources have claimed. Local law enforcement reportedly now fear that foreign governments such as China and Russia may become interested in the boat - and have asked for extra surveillance to protect it, CNN reports. Through Lynchs companies, he was associated with multiple intelligence services - including British and American - particularly through his cyber security company, Darktrace. The Bayesian boat is believed to have watertight safes with two super-encrypted hard drives containing confidential intelligence information, an official within the recovery team told the US new outlet. Lying at a 50-metre depth, the wreckage is expected to be raised in the following weeks as part of a criminal investigation into its sinking on 19 August. Francesco Venuto, of the Sicilian Civil Protection Agency, told CNN: A formal request has been accepted and implemented for additional security of the wreckage until it can be raised. Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among eight people to die when the yacht sank last month. 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 }} Devastating floods through much of Central Europe and deadly wildfires in Portugal are joint proof of a climate breakdown that will become the norm unless drastic action is taken, the European Union's head office said Wednesday. Make no mistake. This tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our shared future, said EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic. The worst flooding in years moved Tuesday across a broad swath of Central Europe, taking lives and destroying homes. At the other end of the 27-nation EU, raging fires through northern Portugal have killed at last six people. Europe is the fastest warming continent globally and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events like the one we are discussing today. We could not return to a safer past, Lenarcic told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. He warned that beyond the human cost, nations are also struggling to cope with mounting bills for repairing the damage from emergencies and the lengthy recovery from disaster. The average cost of disasters in the 1980s was 8 billion euros per year. More recently in 2021 and in 2022, the damage is surpassed 50 billion euros per year, meaning the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of action, he said. Terry Reintke, president of the Greens group in the European Parliament, said the cost for the EU since the 1980s was estimated at 650 billion euros. The EU is struggling to move quickly with measures to counter climate change and has run into political opposition in many member states, where the political climate is turning against environmental issues and measures ranging from home heating to farm pollution. Our success will depend on how determined we are to combat climate change together in order to reduce emissions, Reintke said, adding that EU members must back its Green Deal. The vast EU plan to become climate neutral by 2050 has come under increasing pressure from critics who call it unrealistic and too expensive. Populist and far-right parties have made it a key point of attack on the bloc's institutions. Lenarcic said people only needed to follow the daily news to understand the urgency of the issue. We face a Europe that is simultaneously flooding and burning. These extreme weather events ... are now an almost annual occurrence, he said. The global reality of the climate breakdown has moved into the everyday lives of Europeans. 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 woman at the centre of the Monster of Avignon multiple rape trial on Wednesday accused her attackers of being degenerates as she gave evidence in a case that has caused international shockwaves. Gisele Pelicot, 71, gave permission for the court to view horrific videos of her being drugged and raped by dozens of men, including her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot. All are accused of aggravated rape, while Mr Pelicot has admitted drugging his wife and violating her over a 10-year period. The trial at the Vaucluse Criminal Court, in Avignon, has portrayed Mr Pelicot as one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history. But Ms Pelicot has been listening to insults from some of the defendants in court, including some who say she was complicit. Not for a second did I give my consent to Mr Pelicot, nor to these men who are behind me, she said. Since I arrived in this courtroom, I have been humiliated. I have been called an alcoholic, an accomplice of Mr Pelicot. I have heard everything. You have to have a degree of patience to endure everything I have to hear. As her cross-examination continued, Ms Pelicot raised her voice, stared at the accused, and said: For me, they are degenerates. Mr Pelicot admitted all the charges against him on Tuesday, saying he had contacted his co-accused in online chat rooms before filming their crimes at his family home. I admit to the charges in their entirety, he told the court. I am a rapist, just like everyone else in this courtroom. They cannot say otherwise. A courtroom sketch of Pelicot giving evidence ( Reuters ) As the cross-examination continued, Pelicot insisted he still loves his ex-wife. I loved her well for 40 years and loved her badly for 10 years, he said. I ruined everything, I lost everything. I should never have done that Pelicot said he started the attacks because he was utterly idle in retirement. He also claimed he considered suicide after learning his wife was having an alleged affair. Pelicot has been on remand since 2020, when he was first arrested on suspicion of drugging and then raping Ms Pelicot, while inviting men he had contacted online to do the same. Last week, psychologists described Mr Pelicot as a Jekyll and Hyde character who appeared like a normal husband during the day, and then drugged his wife so strangers could rape her at night. He was first arrested in September 2020 for secretly filming up womens skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras. His devices were searched, and there were hundreds of pornographic videos and photos of women. While in custody Mr Pelicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called abuses. Inside were some 3,800 photos and videos of Ms Pelicot being raped, between 2011 and 2020. Pelicot leaving court in Avignon on Wednesday ( Reuters ) Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified. Mr Pelicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting Temesta a powerful anxiolytic into her evening dinner. Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers. In a separate case, Mr Pelicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991. He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999 after DNA testing proved a case against him. The Avignon aggravated rape case is due to last until 21 December. Fourteen of the other defendants have also admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing. 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 }} Ukrainian drones struck a major Russian military depot and weapons store early on Wednesday, triggering an earthquake-sized explosion, according to multiple reports. Kyiv claimed its attack destroyed military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russias Tver region about 240 miles northwest of Moscow and about 300 miles from the border with Ukraine. It was carried out by Ukraines Security Service, along with Ukraines Intelligence and Special Operations Forces. A senior Kyiv official said the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs and artillery shells. He said the facility caught fire in the strike and was burning across an area four miles wide. Among the destroyed ammunition were North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, another official, in Ukraines Intelligence Office, told Associated Press though he didnt provide evidence to support his claim. Russia and North Korea signed a landmark pact in June that envisioned mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang. Satellite images of the Toropets ammunition depot on 7 September (left) and after Wednesdays strike (right) ( Maxar Tech ) Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting high into the night sky and multiple detonations thundering across a lake. Nasa satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from the depot and earthquake monitoring stations picked up what sensors thought was a tremor in the area. The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets, said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. Everything that can burn is already burning there (and exploding). Russian state media have in the past reported that a major arsenal of conventional weapons was located at the site of the blasts. State media, which is now subject to military censorship laws, was muted in its reporting on Wednesday. Igor Rudenya, the governor of the Tver region, said that Ukrainian drones had been shot down, that a fire had broken out and that some residents were being evacuated. He did not say what was burning. One woman told Reuters that members of her family had been evacuated from Toropets. Aftermath of a large series of explosions at an ammunition depot in Toropets, Russia ( AP ) The size of the main blast, shown in the unverified social media video, was consistent with 200-240 tons of high explosives detonating, said George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California. Meanwhile, a senior US diplomat said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has a workable plan to end the war but details have not been publicly disclosed. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, said Washington officials have seen it. We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work, she told reporters. Mr Zelensky is still seeking approval from Western nations for Ukraine to use the sophisticated weapons they are providing to hit targets inside Russia. Some Western leaders have balked at that, fearing they could be dragged into the conflict. On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin ordered Russias military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million by 1 December. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report 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 Ukrainian drone attack which sparked huge fires, evacuations and power cuts in Russias Tver region destroyed an arms depot storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammo, a Ukrainian security source has claimed. The attack caused an extremely powerful detonation at a Russian defence ministry warehouse in the 1,000-year-old town of Toropets, containing Iskander and Tochka-U tactical missile systems and guided aerial bombs, a source in Ukraines SBU security service said. The huge blast was registered by earthquake monitoring stations, while Nasa satellites picked up several sources of fires emanating from the site, which Russian state media suggested in 2018 was home to a major arsenal for conventional weaponry. Smoke and flames rise following a Ukrainian drone attack in Toropets ( Social media via REUTERS ) Dmitry Bulgakov, then a deputy defence minister, told RIA in 2018 that the facilitys concrete structure could defend the weapons from enemy missiles and even against a small nuclear attack. But the facility caught fire in the strike jointly carried out by Ukraines security, intelligence and special forces, and was burning across an area four miles wide, the Ukrainian source claimed. One expert told Reuters the resulting blast appeared consistent with 200-240 tonnes of high explosives detonating. RIA earlier quoted regional authorities as saying air defence systems were working to repel a massive drone attack on Toropets, which has a population of around 11,000. The town lies some 240 miles northwest of Moscow, and 65 miles from the border with Belarus. The attack led to some residents being evacuated from Toropets, local authorities said. It comes as president Volodymyr Zelensky urges Ukraines allies to allow Kyiv to use Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory in spite of warnings by Vladimir Putin that doing so would mean Nato was at war with Russia. After such authorisations failed to materialise during Keir Starmers Washington meeting with US president Joe Biden last weekend, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg gave an interview to The Times in which he was dismissive of Mr Putins threats of war. The massive explosion at ammo depot forced evacuations in Toropets ( X/ Osinttechnical ) There have been many red lines declared by him before, and he has not escalated, meaning also involving Nato allies directly in the conflict, said Mr Stoltenberg, whose tenure as Nato chief ends in October. He has not done so, because he realises that Nato is the strongest military alliance in the world. They also realise that nuclear weapons, nuclear war, cannot be won and should not be fought. And we have made that very clear to him several times. Labelling Mr Stoltenbergs comments extremely provocative and dangerous, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday: This ostentatious desire not to take seriously the Russian presidents statements is a move that is completely short-sighted and unprofessional. And in a continuation of the diplomatic tit-for-tat following Sir Keirs Washington trip, Britains Foreign Office said it had summoned Russias ambassador after Moscow revoked the accreditation of six UK diplomats it accused of spying. Calling the accusations baseless and accusing Moscow of an unprecedented and unfounded public campaign of aggression, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: This pattern of behaviour is completely unacceptable, deeply unprofessional, and beneath the standards of conduct between states. This is the latest development in a deliberate campaign by Russia to undermine and threaten UK security and democracy and deter our support for Ukraine, through disinformation, acts of sabotage in Europe and direct harassment and restrictions against our diplomatic missions in Russia, they added. Elsewhere, Romanias defence minister Angel Tilvar warned that Nato must respond to incidents in which Russian missiles or drones fired at Ukraine enter the alliances airspace, just days after his country reported the latest such violation during a nighttime attack on Ukraine. Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of his Security Council on Friday ( AP ) With its growing attacks on Russian soil and daring incursion into Kursk, Ukrainian officials have suggested that Kyiv is seeking to compel Mr Putin to back down and weaken his hand in any future negotiations to end the war. And Mr Zelensky said last month that his recently-announced plan for victory includes not only battlefield goals but also diplomatic and economic wins. The plan has been kept under wraps but the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told reporters on Tuesday that Washington officials have seen it. We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work, she said, adding that the United States will raise the plan with other world leaders next week at the UN General Assembly in New York. Additional reporting by agencies 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 boasted of a very good relationship with both Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin on Friday as he hosted the Ukrainian leader for a meeting at his New York City skyscraper. The former president also repeated a bizarre boast that he could, if re-elected in November, negotiate an end to the nearly three-year Russian war against Ukraine. Trump, who was impeached in 2019 for using American defense assistance to pressure Zelensky to launch sham investigations into President Joe Biden and his son, was being briefed on Kyivs latest plan for victory against Putin. We have a very good relationship, he told reporters as he stood with Zelensky. And I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And if we win, I think were going to get it resolved very quickly, he said. Zelensky quickly interjected: I hope we have more good relations between us. Zelensky said he and Trump share a common view that the war ... has to be stopped, and Putin cant win and Ukrainians have to prevail. And I want to discuss with you the details of our plan, he added. Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump meets with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump Tower, Friday 27 September in New York ( AP ) For his part, Trump said he and Zelensky have had a great relationship, citing Zelenskys decision to deny that Trump had exerted any pressure on him during the July 2019 phone call in which hed linked sending Javelin anti-tank missiles to Zelenskys announcement of investigations into the Bidens. So we're going to sit down just discuss it, and if we have a win, I think long before January 20, before I would take the presidency ... I think that we can work out something that's good for both sides. It's time, he said. Trump had previously cancelled plans to meet with the Ukrainian leader after Zelensky sparked GOP outrage by visiting the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in the battleground state of Pennsylvania over the weekend. He reversed course late Thursday after Zelenskys meeting with Harris, during which the Democratic presidential nominee told Zelensky that her support for Kyivs defense is unwavering. In what appeared to be a veiled swipe at Trump and his Republican allies, Harris admitted to Zelensky that there are some in the US who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality, and would require Ukraine to forgo security relationships with other nations. These proposals are the same as those of Putin, and let us be clear: They are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable, she said. Zelensky has been in the United States for the UN General Assembly, where on Wednesday he warned world leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to break the Ukrainian spirit by targeting his countrys energy infrastructure. He also cautioned against accepting purported peace deals that would be negotiated without Ukraine having a say. Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve an out instead of an end to the war, he said, adding later that he was skeptical of the true interest behind a recent push by China and Brazil to foster an end to the conflict. When some propose alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles, it not only ignores the interests and suffering of Ukrainians ... it not only ignores reality, but also gives Putin the political space to continue the war, he said. Earlier in the week, Zelensky also toured a Pennsylvania plant where munitions destined for his armed forces are being made. That visit drew anger from Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who called for Zelensky to fire the Ukrainian ambassador to the US in response. Johnsons outrage was supposedly due to no Republicans being invited along to the tour of the plant, though White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed it as a political stunt by the GOP at a press conference on Thursday afternoon. 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 }} At least 12 people including two children have been killed and thousands wounded after electronic pagers belonging to Hezbollah simultaneously exploded in Lebanon and Syria. The majority of the explosions took place in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Additional explosions were recorded in the Syrian capital of Damascus, where Hezbollah members are based. On Wednesday, more explosions have been heard in Beirut and other cities with reports walkie-talkie devices had been detonated. Tuesdays blasts began in Beirut about 3.30pm local time. Witnesses reported seeing smoke coming from people's pockets, before seeing small explosions that sounded like fireworks. In one clip, CCTV footage appeared to show an explosion in a mans trouser pocket as he stood at a shop till. The explosions continued for around an hour, with people starting to pour into hospitals. Lebanese Public Health Minister Firass Abiad said damage to the hands and face made up the majority of injuries. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied to Hamas, controls southern Lebanon, where they have been exchanging rocket fire with Israel across the border for nearly a year, connected to the war in Gaza. That was triggered when Hamas launched a bloody act of terror in Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza, which is run by Hamas. A day later, after Israel began its aerial and later ground attack in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians according to the local health ministry, Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel. They have vowed not to stop firing rockets until Israel ends its war in Gaza. The explosions of hundreds, if not thousands of electronic pagers used by Hezbollah to communicate to one another could spell the latest iteration of this ongoing conflict. It also threatens to escalate the conflict yet again. Who is responsible? Hezbollah legislator Ali Ammar, whose son was reportedly one of those killed in the attack on Tuesday, was pictured being consoled by fellow officials ( AP ) Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government - they are separate authorities - quickly blamed Israel for the attack. The Israeli military, in keeping with its policy of not remarking on attacks outside of its own territory, told The Independent that it is refraining from commenting. After initially releasing a statement saying they were investigating the explosions, Hezbollah issued a second comment saying they held Israel fully responsible for the attack, though they provided no evidence to substantiate this claim. After examining all the facts, current data, and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that targeted civilians too, the group said. They vowed to punish Israel by way of response. Lebanons foreign ministry condemned what it called an Israeli cyber attack. The ministry said in a statement that it is preparing to submit a complaint to the United Nations Security Council. This dangerous and deliberate Israeli escalation is accompanied by Israeli threats to expand the scope of the war against Lebanon on a large scale, and by the intransigence of Israelis positions calling for more bloodshed, destruction and devastation, it said. How has this happened? Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the entrance of a hospital (background) in Beirut ( AFP via Getty Images ) Sources claimed to Reuters that Israel's Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Hezbollah. A senior Lebanese source said the devices had been modified by Israel's spy service "at the production level" meaning somwhere along the supply chain during manufacture or transit. Attacks using this method to hack software are known, but modifying hardware is rarer, as it will involve a bigger plan to get their hands on all the devices. "The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner," the source said. The source said 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives. Another security source told Reuters that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone "undetected" by Hezbollah for months. Another Hezbollah security source added that the new pagers that Hezbollah members were carrying had lithium batteries that apparently exploded. A Hezbollah official told the Associated Press the pagers were a new brand, but declined to say how long they had been in use but it is believed they were brought into the Lebanon earlier this year. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said it authorised its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, but they were manufactured by a company based in Budapest. The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary's capital, according to a statement by Gold Apollo. It said: "According to the co-operation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC." Other Hezbollah officials speculated that the devices may have been contaminated with malware that caused the pagers to overheat and explode. Independent intelligence analysts have suggested the explosions looked like the type of sophisticated operation characteristic of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence services. Attackers would have needed to know at least the make and models of the individual pagers to do this. That the attacks were coordinated suggests the attackers may have also known the serial numbers of the devices. However the attack was coordinated, it represents a serious security breach for Hezbollah. What does this mean for tensions in the area? This photo taken from a position in northern Israel shows a Hezbollah UAV intercepted by Israeli air forces over north Israel on 25 August 2024 ( AFP via Getty Images ) Fears that Israels war in the Gaza Strip could escalate to a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon have abounded for months. At various points this year, Hezbollah officials, including top commander Fuad Shukr, were killed by what appeared to be Israeli airstrikes on Beirut and the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Hezbollah vowed to respond to each attack - and they have done the same with this latest incident. How that could manifest itself is unclear but previous responses have involved firing volleys of rockets and missiles into northern Israel. The area has been evacuated while these attacks are ongoing but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday officially included the safe relocation of the displaced civilians back to northern Israel as one of their main war aims. What does whoever is behind this get out of it? Most clearly, the assault has significantly destroyed Hezbollahs communication systems and will have hit morale given the scale of the security breach. If it is Israel, sowing such confiusion and discord could be a prelude to a wider attack on the Israeli-Lebanon border, although there have been few signs of the required military build-up. Beyond that, intelligence analysts have suggested that the culprit may be signalling to Hezbollah that it has access to its deliveries, which would be a major setback for the group. It will make Hamas question its entire security apparatus. On Tuesday, before the cascading expolsions of pagers, Israels Shin Bet domestic security service claimed they had foiled a plan by Hezbollah to kill a former Israeli security official by remotely detonating an explosive device from Lebanon. So a case of whatever you can do, we can do better may also have been a factor. What is a pager and why do Hezbollah use them? Pagers pre-date mobile phones, having been widely used in the 1980s and 1990s. They are a one-way communications device, allowing people to send a short message via radio signal to the pager. Often it would be a number to call back. Hezbollah has been very cautious with its communications. Previous airstrikes targeting their private meetings have highlighted the strenth of Israeli intelligence. Aware that mobile phone conversations could easily be hacked and traced, they are likely to have switched to the lo-fi pager alternative to make it harder to be watched by the Israeli intelligence services. The dangers of mobile phones have long been clear to Hezbollah. In 1996, Israels assassination of the Hamas bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash was conducted by his phone exploding in his hand. It is reported that senior Hamas officials, including the groups leader Yahya Sinwar, who is hiding out in tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip, has resorted to using handwritten notes to communicate with his fellow Hamas personnel for this same reason. Who has said what about it? Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly blamed the attack on Israel ( AP ) Responses across the world have varied. A source at the British foreign office said they were monitoring the situation closely. We are particularly concerned by reports of civilian casualties, they said. The US expressed a similar sentiment, as did the United Nations. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric described the developments in Lebanon as extremely concerning, adding: We deplore the civilian casualties that we have seen. We cannot underscore enough the risks of escalation in Lebanon and in the region. Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said that the country's ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, was superficially wounded by an exploding pager and was being treated at a hospital. Irans foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has strongly condemned what he and other officials also claimed was an Israeli attack. Iran state media reported that Mr Araghchi made the comments in a phone conversation with his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib. Hamas issued a statement on the Telegram messenger app saying they strongly condemned what they also believed was an Israeli attack. The Houthis, another Iran-backed militia based in Yemen, described the incident as a heinous crime and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty. We are certain that Lebanon is capable of facing all challenges, and has a resistance movement capable of deterring [Israel] and making it pay a heavy price for any escalation it may undertake against Lebanon, spokesperson Mohammed Abdelsalam wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 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 }} Handheld radios used by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday in a second wave of deadly blasts as Israels defence minister declared his country was entering a new phase of war on its northern border. By Thursday afternoon, the death toll had risen to at least 25 people, with more than 600 injured, Lebanons health ministry said. The blasts came 24 hours after thousands of exploding pagers killed 12 and injured almost 3,000 others in an unprecedented attack that Hezbollah has blamed on Israel. While Israel has not commented, the finger has been pointed at its Mossad spy agency. A senior Lebanese security source and a second source told reporters that Mossad which has a long history of complex attacks on foreign soil planted explosives inside the pagers. The claim was mirrored by American officials cited in US media. Wednesdays attacks on walkie-talkies bore similar hallmarks. The devices detonated across the countrys south and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut; many of the victims wounds were to their stomachs and hands. At least one of the blasts took place near to a funeral organised by Iran-backed Hezbollah for those killed during the pager explosions. The handheld radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time that the pagers were bought, a security source told reporters. The prime minister of Lebanon was just here in the situation room at the Ministry of Health, Lebanons health minister, Firass Abiad, told The Independent. We feel that this is an indiscriminate act of aggression, and that it is another breach of international humanitarian law. I was doing tours today, meeting a lot of the patients and their families. The main feeling I got was one of indignation, not a feeling of hopelessness and desperation it was a sense of indignation, and a feeling that this is really an escalation. Images circulating widely online purportedly show walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah that exploded in Lebanon. The Independent has been unable to verify the source of these images ( Unverified ) Israel and Hezbollah have been trading near-daily cross-border rocket fire since Hamas which, like Hezbollah, is backed by Iran launched its bloody act of terror inside Israel on 7 October. That attack killed around 1,200 people and saw another 250 taken hostage into Gaza. Israels aerial and ground assault launched in response has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians according to health officials in the territory, and forced a huge proportion of Gazas 2.3 million population from their homes. The rhetoric around the strikes on the Israeli-Lebanon border has been growing in recent weeks, and Israels defence minister said on Wednesday that the military is turning its attention towards that front. Yoav Gallant made no mention of the explosions, but praised the work of Israels army and security agencies, saying the results are very impressive. After months of war against Hamas militants in Gaza, the centre of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces, he said. We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance. Israels army chief, Herzi Halevi, added that his country has many capabilities that have not yet been activated. Jordans foreign minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation. Officials told Axios the walkie-talkies were booby-trapped in advance, and that they were being delivered to Hezbollah for use in the event of a full war with Israel; as a result, many were stored in warehouses. Panic in southern Lebanon on Wednesday after a second wave of explosions, including some that hit mourners at funerals for those killed in Tuesdays blasts ( AFP via Getty ) The sources told Axios that the second attack was probably driven by the risk that Hezbollahs investigations following the first attack would discover the security breach in the walkie-talkies. Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rasheq said Israel was responsible for the repercussions of this continuous attack on Lebanon. Iran also condemned the attacks, which government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said had resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of Lebanese civilians. Images of the exploded devices showed an inside panel labelled ICOM and the label Made in Japan. According to its website, ICOM is a Japan-based radio communications and telephone company. It has said that production of several models of its handheld radio have been discontinued, including the IC-V82, which appeared to closely match those in images from Lebanon on Wednesday. The model was phased out in 2014. The death toll from Tuesdays pager explosions rose to 12 on Wednesday, including two children, Mr Abiad said. Almost 3,000 were wounded, including Irans envoy to Beirut. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, chief executive of BAC Consulting, denies having manufactured the pagers ( Facebook ) A Taiwanese pager maker Gold Apollo denied it had produced the affected devices. It said they were made under licence by a company called BAC Consulting, based in Budapest. Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesperson for Hungarys prime minister Viktor Orban, said that the firm is an intermediary company which has no manufacturing or other site of operation in Hungary and that the devices have never been in Hungary. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, chief executive of BAC Consulting, confirmed to NBC News that her company works with Gold Apollo, but added: I dont make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong. BAC Consultings website, which was live early on Wednesday but later became unavailable, was vague about the firms activities. With over a decade of consulting experience, we are on an exciting and rewarding journey with our network of passionate experts with a hunger for innovation and discovery for the environment, innovation and development and international affairs, it said on its LinkedIn page. Ms Barsony-Arcidiaconos LinkedIn profile says she has worked as an adviser for organisations including Unesco. Focus has settled on when and where pagers were compromised; a senior Lebanese source said the devices had been tampered with by Israels spy service at the production level. Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. Its very hard to detect it through any means, the source said. Another security source said that up to 3g of explosives were hidden in the pagers and that it had gone undetected by Hezbollah for months. Other officials suggested that the explosive was placed next to the battery, alongside a switch that could then be triggered remotely. UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said he was deeply alarmed and urged all sides to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation. The UN Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the blasts. 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 }} At least twelve people have been killed and 3,000 were injured after handheld pager devices used by Hezbollah simultaneously exploded across Lebanon and Syria. The attack - described by Hezbollah as its largest security breach in nearly a year of near-daily cross-border fire with Israel - has heightened tensions in the Middle East as Hezbollah vowed revenge. On Wednesday, more explosions have been heard in Beirut and other cities with reports walkie-talkie devices had been detonated. The group claimed the operation, carried out at 3.30pm local time, was perpetrated by Israel, an allegation that Israel refused to address, in keeping with its policy on assaults happening outside of its own territory. However, a Lebanese security official told Reuters that Israels spy agency, Mossad, planted up to three grammes of explosives into around 5,000 of the beepers months before they went off on Tuesday. The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, officials said. The explosions continued for around an hour, with people starting to pour into hospitals. Lebanese Public Health Minister Firass Abiad said damage to the hands and face made up the majority of injuries. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied to Hamas, controls southern Lebanon, where they have been exchanging rocket fire with Israel across the border for nearly a year, connected to the war in Gaza. Thousands were injured after the blasts went off across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday ( AFP via Getty Images ) That was triggered when Hamas launched a bloody act of terror in Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza, which is run by Hamas. A day later, after Israel began its aerial and later ground attack in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians according to the local health ministry, Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel. They have vowed not to stop firing rockets until Israel ends its war in Gaza. The explosions of hundreds, if not thousands of electronic pagers used by Hezbollah to communicate to one another could spell the latest iteration of this ongoing conflict. It also threatens to escalate the conflict yet again. 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 British-educated businesswoman has denied allegations of manufacturing the pagers used in an audacious attack against Hezbollah. The handheld devices killed at least 12 people and injured 3,000 after they simultaneously detonated across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday afternoon in a suspected Israeli operation. The Taiwanese company whose branding was on the technology claimed Budapest-based firm BAC Consultancy made the devices under a three-year brand licensing agreement. Follow the latest updates here But University College London (UCL) graduate Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the CEO of BAC Consultancy, said she was just a link in the supply chain and did not make the pagers. The handheld devices killed at least 12 people and injured 3,000 ( Balkis Press/ABACA/Shutterstock ) I do not make the pagers. I am just the intermediary. I think you got it wrong, Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono told NBC News. Around three grams of explosives are reported to have been placed into the AR-924 pagers in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration. A Lebanese security source claimed Israels spy agency Mossad planted explosives in thousands of the devices months before they exploded, and one US official told Axios news the Israeli military moved to detonate the devices because it feared the sabotage plot had been exposed. The Iran-backed militant group has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. Medics collect blood donations in Beiruts southern suburb after the explosions ( AFP/Getty ) Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono studied for a physics PhD at UCL between 2002 and 2006, according to her LinkedIn page. She then went on to study at the London School of Economics and the University of London for various postgraduate qualifications between 2009 and 2017. She also recently worked with the European Commission as an evaluation expert and as a groundwater resource manager for Unesco. On her companys website which went offline on Wednesday morning her work was described as bridging technology and innovation from Asia. The firms address was registered to a residential-looking two-storey building in Budapest, with its name posted on the glass door on an A4 sheet. A man is rushed to hospital after the attack ( AP ) Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, forms part of Irans so-called axis of resistance, which opposes Western and Israeli influence in the region. A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the biggest security breach the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel. The group opened a second front against Israel a day after the war in the Gaza Strip began, triggered by a Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October. Hamas, also backed by Tehran, killed around 1,200 people, with another 251 taken hostage. In response, Israel has bombarded Gaza from the air and ground. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive, health officials in Gaza have said. It has displaced nearly 90 per cent of the territorys 2.3 million population. 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 }} Hezbollah and the Lebanese government were quick to blame Israel for the nearly simultaneous detonation of hundreds of pagers used by the militant group's members in an attack Tuesday that killed at least nine people and wounded nearly 3,000 others, according to officials. Many of those hit were members of militant group Hezbollah, but it wasn't immediately clear if others also carried the pagers. Among those killed were the son of a prominent Hezbollah politician and an 8-year-old girl, according to Lebanon's health minister. The attack came amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which have exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza. Irans ambassador to Lebanon was among those injured by the pager explosions. Israel rarely takes responsibility for such attacks, and its military declined to comment Tuesday. However, the country has a long history of carrying out sophisticated remote operations, ranging from intricate cyberattacks to remote-controlled machine guns targeting leaders in drive-by shootings, suicide drone attacks, and the detonation of explosions in secretive underground Iranian nuclear facilities. Here is a look at previous operations that have been attributed to Israel: July 2024 Two major militant leaders in Beirut and Tehran were killed in deadly strikes within hours of each other. Hamas said Israel was behind the assassination of its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Irans capital. Although Israel didn't acknowledge playing a role in that attack, it did claim responsibility for a deadly strike hours earlier on Fouad Shukur, a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut. July 2024 Israel targeted Hamas shadowy military commander, Mohammed Deif, in a massive strike in the crowded southern Gaza Strip. The strike killed at least 90 people, including children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said in August that Deif was killed in the attack, though Hamas previously claimed he survived. April 2024 Two Iranian generals were killed in what Iran said was an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria. The deaths led Iran to launch an unprecedented attack on Israel that involved about 300 missiles and drones, most of which were intercepted. January 2024 An Israeli drone strike in Beirut killed Saleh Arouri, a top Hamas official in exile, as Israeli troops fight the militant group in Gaza. December 2023 Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime adviser of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria, was killed in a drone attack outside of Damascus. Iran blamed Israel. 2021 An underground nuclear facility in central Iran was hit with explosions and a devastating cyberattack that caused rolling blackouts. Iran accused Israel of carrying out the attack as well as several others against Iranian nuclear facilities using explosive drones in the ensuing years. 2020 In one of the most prominent assassinations targeting Iran's nuclear program, a top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran. Iran blamed Israel. 2019 An Israeli airstrike hit the home of Bahaa Abu el-Atta, a senior Islamic Jihad commander in the Gaza Strip, killing him and his wife. 2012 Ahmad Jabari, head of Hamas armed wing, was killed when an airstrike targets his car. His death sparked an eight-day war between Hamas and Israel. 2010 The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010, disrupted and destroyed Iranian nuclear centrifuges. It was widely believed to be a joint U.S.-Israeli creation. 2010 Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a top Hamas operative, was killed in a Dubai hotel room in an operation attributed to the Mossad spy agency but never acknowledged by Israel. Many of the 26 supposed assassins were caught on camera disguised as tourists. 2008 Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollahs military chief, was killed when a bomb planted in his car exploded in Damascus. Mughniyeh was accused of engineering suicide bombings during Lebanons civil war and of planning the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a U.S. Navy diver was killed. Hezbollah blamed his killing on Israel. His son Jihad Mughniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in 2015. 2004 Hamas' spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin, was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike while being pushed in his wheelchair. Yassin, who was paralyzed in a childhood accident, was among the founders of Hamas in 1987. His successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, was killed in an Israeli airstrike less than a month later. 2002 Hamass second-highest military leader, Salah Shehadeh, was killed by a one-ton bomb dropped on an apartment building in Gaza City. 1997 Mossad agents tried to kill the head of Hamas at the time, Khaled Mashaal, in Amman, Jordan. Two agents entered Jordan using fake Canadian passports and poison Mashaal by placing a device near his ear. They were captured shortly afterward and Jordans king threatened to void a still-fresh peace accord if Mashaal died. Israel ultimately dispatched an antidote, and the Israeli agents were returned home. Mashaal remains a senior figure in Hamas. 1996 Yahya Ayyash, nicknamed the engineer for his mastery in building bombs for Hamas, was killed by answering a rigged phone in Gaza. His assassination triggered a series of deadly bus bombings in Israel. 1995 Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shikaki was shot in the head in Malta in an assassination widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. 1988 Palestine Liberation Organization military chief Khalil al-Wazir was killed in Tunisia. Better known as Abu Jihad, he had been PLO chief Yasser Arafats deputy. In 2012, military censors allowed an Israeli paper to reveal details of the Israeli raid for the first time. 1973 Israeli commandos shot a number of PLO leaders in their apartments in Beirut, in a nighttime raid led by Ehud Barak, who later became Israels top army commander and prime minister. The operation was part of a string of Israeli assassinations of Palestinian leaders that were carried out in retaliation for the killings of 11 Israeli coaches and athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. 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 }} Watch live as Hezbollah holds a funeral on Wednesday, 18 September, for four of those killed when pagers used by the group's members exploded simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday. Twelve people including two children were killed and nearly 3,000 were wounded after the handheld devices simultaneously detonated across Lebanon and Syria in the afternoon. It came as communications devices used by Hezbollah detonated late Wednesday afternoon across the countrys south and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, a security source and a witness said. A source in Hezbollah confirmed that walkie-talkies used by the group were being targeted. A senior security source said that the explosions were small in size, similar to yesterdays attack, and said that security agencies would investigate the matter further. Israel decided to blow up the devices carried by the militia group earlier than planned over fears the operation would be discovered, US officials said. It was a use it or lose it moment, one US official told Axios about the reasoning Israel gave Washington for the timing of the attack. A Lebanese security source claimed Israels spy agency Mossad planted explosives in thousands of the devices months before they exploded. The same source claimed the beepers - believed to have been made by a Hungarian company with a licence to use Taiwan-based Gold Apollos brand - were modified at the production level. The Iran-backed militant group has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, forms part of Irans so-called axis of resistance, which opposes Western and Israeli influence in the region. 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 }} Taiwanese electronics maker Gold Apollo has denied producing the pagers used in Tuesdays deadly attack in Lebanon, which killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000. Gold Apollo founder and president Hsu Ching-Kuang said the devices were manufactured by BAC Consulting, a company based in Budapest, Hungary, licensed to use the Taiwanese brand. The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," Mr Hsu said. Pictures of the destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed similarities with Gold Apollos devices, but the company maintained it had no involvement in the design or manufacturing of the AR-924 model. We clarify that this model is produced and sold by BAC, it said in a statement. A Lebanese security source claimed that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Gold Apollo. Mr Hsu said his company had no knowledge of the pagers being rigged to explode. Gold Apollos president offered a frank reaction to his company being associated with the pager attack. We may not be a large company, but we are a responsible one, Mr Hsu said. This is very embarrassing. The beepers were rigged with explosives by Israeli operatives and detonated remotely, the New York Times reported. Hezbollah, which has been engaged in almost daily exchanges of fire with Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, has started a "security and scientific investigation" into the attack. A man donates blood under a tent in Beiruts southern suburb following the pager explosions on 17 September 2024 ( AFP via Getty ) Hezbollah had reportedly ordered its members in February to stop using mobile phones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence. While the Israeli military has declined to comment, experts told Reuters that the Israeli spy agency Mossad may have planted the explosives in the pagers months earlier, possibly after infiltrating the supply chain. A Hezbollah official told the Associated Press the beepers were a new brand, but declined to say how long they had been in use. The official said the handheld pagers heated up and exploded, killing at least two Hezbollah members. The rest of those killed were reported to be civilians, including a young girl. One of those killed was Hezbollah politician Ali Ammars son. "This is a new Israeli aggression against Lebanon," Mr Ammar said. "The resistance will retaliate in a suitable way at the suitable time." Additional reporting by agencies 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 }} Just days after regulators grounded SpaceXs Mars-bound Starship rocket for two months, Elon Musks firm is facing a major fine for alleged safety violations of two launches last year, The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed $633,009 (48,000) in civil penalties for the private space firm, claiming that it failed to follow licence requirements in May and July 2023. Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licences, said FAA Chief Counsel Marc Nichols. Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences. Mr Musk responded to the proposed fine in a post to X, writing: SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach. He later added: Lawfare is abuse of the system. View more The billionaire previously claimed that the US regulator was stifling space exploration after refusing to grant a launch licence for its latest Starship craft, which he claims has been ready to launch from SpaceXs Starbase facility in Texas since August. We will never get humanity to Mars if this continues, he wrote on X. The FAA said it had granted multiple launch licences for the Starship rocket, however SpaceX had changed the mission profile by adding an attempt to catch the rockets Super Heavy booster at the launch site using a chopstick system. SpaceXs current licence authorising the Starship Flight 4 launch also allows for multiple flights of the same vehicle configuration and mission profile. SpaceX chose to modify both for its proposed Starship Flight 5 launch which triggered a more in-depth review, a spokesperson for the FAA told The Independent. In addition, SpaceX submitted new information in mid-August detailing how the environmental impact of Flight 5 will cover a larger area than previously reviewed. This requires the FAA to consult with other agencies. SpaceX must meet all safety, environmental and other licencing requirements prior to FAA launch authorisation. The FAA said a final licence determination for Starship Flight 5 is not expected before late November 2024. SpaceX has until mid October to respond to the FAA regarding the latest fine proposal. 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 }} Pagers across Lebanon have exploded in what appears to be a highly advanced and unexpected deadly attack. At least 12 people are dead and thousands have been injured in the incident. Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel, while the country refused to comment. The attack began on Tuesday, when thousands of communications pagers used by Hezbollah members rang out and then exploded. It appears that the devices had been rigged to be remotely detonated, injuring the people around them. The particularly novel and surprising nature of the attack has led some to worry that it could represent a new front in warfare. And many have asked whether that might mean that all of our consumer devices could really be considered safe. The simple answer is: yes, they are. There is nothing at all to indicate that the attacks suggest there is any danger to the smartphones and other technology that most people carry around every day. The attack might be a sign of things to come once it is used as it has done by Israel, then other states might look at copying it. But, even in that case, there is no reason to suggest that it could ever be used on the consumer tech devices that many people around with them each day. It remains unclear exactly how the pager attacks were able to happen. Security sources suggested that small amounts of explosive were placed inside the pager, and then remotely detonated by using the pagers connection itself. Without knowing exactly how the attackers modified the pagers, it is hard to know for sure that our consumer devices are safe. But experts advise that there is no need to worry. The average person doesnt need to worry about potential risks like plastic explosives from a supply chain attack aimed at a specific group of people. While such events are unsettling, there is no known threat to everyday people, Daniel Card, fellow of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. Mobile phones and electronic devices are generally very safe, and the likelihood of being affected by explosives is exceedingly rare, applying only to a tiny fraction of the global population that may be of interest to nation-states or terrorist groups. There are of course plenty of straightforward practical problems with rigging our consumer devices in the same way. The pagers in the attack were relatively old and large models with plenty of space inside and the ability to straightforwardly take them apart. Todays smartphones are precisely designed and engineered to minimise space; if Apple had space to find in an iPhone, they would use it to make it smaller or to add more components. Other technological devices such as earbuds are even more dramatically shrunken, and would show any possible tampering even more clearly. At a broader level, it would require any attacker to break into the supply chain and either indiscriminately plant the devices or somehow find a way to ensure that a particular product was delivered to a particular user. Modern supply chains are so vast and well-protected that it would be almost impossible to do either. None of this is to say that the devices in our pockets are infallibly secure. Security agencies and other private organisations are constantly trying to break into our devices although, more often than not, through the software they run rather than physically into the hardware. That has led the companies that make our smartphones to constantly work to secure any possible holes. And Apple, for instance, has in recent years rolled out Lockdown Mode, a special very limited setting for the iPhone that makes it even more secure, aimed at the lawyers, activists and others who might be at risk of precise hacking by a foreign government. Anna Delvey wore a sparkly ankle tag for her first appearance on ABCs Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday, 17 September. The convicted con artist, who was the subject of the Netflix series Inventing Anna detailing her crimes, danced the Cha Cha to Sabrina Carpenters Espresso with professional partner Ezra Sosa on the US spin-off from the BBCs Strictly Come Dancing format. Delvey - real name Anna Sorokin - was convicted in 2019 of stealing $275,000 from hotels, banks, and individuals while posing as a fake heiress. She wears an ankle monitor due to being under house arrest in New York City following immigration court proceedings. One of the worlds rarest animals has been born at Chester Zoo. Conservationists are celebrating the arrival of a mountain bongo, the rarest large mammal species found in Africa. Mountain bongos are distinguishable by their vibrant reddish-brown coat featuring thin white vertical stripes, which helps them to stay camouflaged within the forest by breaking up their body shape. The animal is listed as critically endangered as its population has been decimated by humans. Now only 50 are found in just one remote area of Kenya due to habitat loss caused by agriculture and uncontrolled timber felling as well as hunting for its meat and horns. Chester Zoos precious female calf was born to parents Nolliag and Moti after a nine-and-a-half-month-long pregnancy. Keepers have named the youngster Navari. The moment explosions rang out in Beirut on Wednesday, 18 September, during a funeral procession for a person who was killed when pagers detonated the previous day, was captured on video. Lebanons health ministry says at least nine people were killed and 300 were wounded. It comes a day after at least 12 people including two children were killed and thousands wounded after electronic pagers belonging to Hezbollah simultaneously exploded in Lebanon and Syria. Reports emerged that hand-held walkie-talkie devices detonated one day after the pager blasts. Two children are among the 12 killed after electronic pagers belonging to Hezbollah simultaneously exploded in Lebanon and Syria. Lebanese caretaker health minister Firas Abiad confirmed thousands of people have also been injured in the explosions on Tuesday (17 September). In a press conference today (18 September), Mr Abiad said: The number of martyrs as of today is 12 martyrs including two children - an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy - in addition to several health care workers who were also among the martyrs who have fallen. Mr Abiad said the number of people injured has also risen, with around 2,800 thought to have been hurt. A pager exploded at a shop counter in Beirut as devices simultaneously detonated in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, 17 September. Lebanese security sources claimed that Israels spy agency Mossad planted explosives in thousands of pagers used by militia group Hezbollah months before they exploded, killing nine and wounding almost 3,000. A second security source claimed up to 3g of explosives were hidden in the devices that went undetected by Hezbollah for months. The Iran-backed militant group has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. New owners appoint receivers to three restaurant chains within the Press Up group Paddy McKillen Jr, the co-founder of Press Up, Irelands largest hospitality group, has said he is delighted to be staying involved following its takeover by Cheyne Capital. A deal is being finalised whereby the London-based lender is taking control of Press Up, and injecting fresh capital. It is understood that while agreement has been reached, the deal has not been signed. In his first statement on the takeover, Mr McKillen Jr said it was a source of pride to him how Press Up, which employs about 935 people, had introduced authentic concepts to the Dublin cityscape, such as the Stella Cinema in Rathmines and the Workmans Club in Temple Bar. In a challenging period for the sector, this transaction is really positive, and allows Press Up to begin the next chapter in its story, he said. Today's News in 90 seconds - 18th September 2024 Cheyne has been a very supportive partner for a number of years, and when we first began discussing with them about taking an equity position in the business towards the end of last year, it became clear straightaway that this was the best path forward. Were excited for the future and for the business to be able to focus on providing outstanding hospitality experiences for our customers and are also delighted to be staying involved, retaining a shareholding as well as board representation. In one of its first moves, however, Cheyne has appointed KMPGs Shane McCarthy and Cormac OConnor as receivers to three restaurant chains within the Press Up group. The three are Elephant & Castle, which has several outlets including in Temple Bar and Rathmines; Wagamama, which has restaurants in Dublin city centre and Dundrum; and Wowburger, which has two restaurants in Dublin city centre. One of these, based on Parnell Street, is closing. At one point, the London fund was owed more than 45m by companies within the group Trading at the other restaurants is to continue as normal. The rest of the Press Up Group, which includes Captain Americas diner, is not affected by the appointment of the receivers. In a statement Patrick Sheehan, the newly appointed Chief Restructuring Officer of the group, said: Press Up is delighted to have the support of long-standing partners who know the business well and who are excited about the opportunities in the Irish market. This partnership will enable Press Up to focus on delivering a quality experience to all its loyal customers as a leading hospitality group in Ireland. It has been reported that Cheyne Capital may be prepared to invest up to 20m into the group as part of the takeover deal. At one point, the London-based fund was owed more than 45m by companies within the group. It emerged last weekend that Mr McKillen Jr had stepped away from the day-to-day operations of the business, and it is understood his stake in the company will now be about 10pc. Matt Ryan, his former schoolmate and the co-founder of Press Up, has stepped away altogether. He is now working in Tank Environmental, a new services business with Emmet O'Neill. In recent months, Press Up has been trying to sell a number of pubs in the group, and did manage to sell some restaurants, while closing others, such as the Union Cafe in Mount Merrion. Some landlords had been pursuing Press Up for payment through the High Court. Cost-of-living cash unused and goes back to state coffers The first energy credits were paid to domestic consumers in December 2022. Photo: Getty The money is the residual of the cost-of-living supports. Photo: Getty Tens of millions of euro that was earmarked by the Government for hard-pressed households to pay their energy bills will go back to the Exchequer. The ESB alone has 31.5m still sitting on its books, and all of it is likely to end up back in the states coffers. Between them, other energy providers have millions more they will be returning. In its last budget, the Government unveiled another round of energy credits for households in a cost-of-living measure costing 900m. That followed previous energy credits given to consumers. Today's News in 90 seconds - 18th September 2024 ESB chief financial officer Paul Stapleton confirmed that 31.5m of the hundreds of millions of euro that its Electric Ireland consumer arm received to dish out to customers has not been used since the last government credit of 150 was paid in March and April this year to households. Its the residual of the Irish government supports for customers, he told the Irish Independent. Despite cuts being made by all the Irish energy providers, including Electric Ireland, to electricity and gas prices over the past year, residential consumers are still paying about 80pc more for their power than they were before the energy crisis started in early 2021. The ESB has about 1.2 million residential electricity customers, with a total of two million such customers in the country who are served by providers including Bord Gais Energy, SSE Airtricity, Energia and a number of other firms such as PrepayPower. Mr Stapleton added that the Government initially gives the energy credit funds to ESB Networks the company that operates the countrys electricity transmission network and that it is done on an estimated basis. ESB Networks then allocates it to the various [energy] supply companies who pass it on to the customers, he said. If theres any residual, then it ultimately gets passed back to the Government. Mr Stapleton said the 31.5m residual in the ESBs accounts relates solely to the ESBs consumer arm, Electric Ireland. He said there are a number of potential reasons why all the money does not get used. Government is set to announce a further energy credit for consumers in next months Budget Mr Stapleton pointed out that the reasons there might be an initial overestimation by the Government, in terms of the amount that might be paid to customers in energy credits, can include vacant properties, or uncertainty whether a specific customer is classified as a business or residential customer. The credits are applied to customer accounts but obviously the Government is making provision based on what it estimates the number of homes or customers there are, he said. If customers didnt get it, they are given an opportunity to seek it. Once the period for customers to make claims or to regularise any inconsistencies in the application is up, then any balance is passed back to the Exchequer. The scheme is open until the end of this year to allow queries to be investigated and credits applied where appropriate. Bord Gais Energy said it also has residual credits that are being returned to the Exchequer. It said the sum represents less than 3pc of the total it had to distribute to electricity customers. That would still represent millions of euro. SSE Airtricity said it has a small cash balance that will be returned to the State by the end of the year. Energia did not respond to a request for comment. The Government paid the first energy credit to domestic consumers in December 2022, which was 200. A further 200 was paid in January 2023 and another 200 in March or April that year. In December last year, 150 was paid to households, and a further total of 300 paid between January and April this year. The Government is set to announce a further energy credit for consumers in next months Budget. ESBs wind-farm project has become a 400m drain. Luminate Medical co-founders Aaron Hannon, Barbara Oliveira and Martin OHalloran at the companys manufacturing lab in Galway Galway company Luminate Medical has raised $15m in Series-A funding. The medtech firm, which is a University of Galway spin-out, focuses on the delivery of cancer treatment at home, allowing patients to spend less time in clinics. Luminate, which was founded in 2018, has also developed a series of technologies to prevent side effects of cancer treatments which require in-person monitoring. The companys technology also tracks key adverse reactions during treatment. Our mission at Luminate is to deliver every cancer treatment in the patients home The first products developed by the business include a wearable set of gloves and boots known as Lilac, which are designed to prevent peripheral nerve damage in the hands and feet of cancer patients. Lily, a cap-like device, is designed to be worn during chemotherapy and helps to prevent hair loss caused by the treatment. The company is currently working on a new system known as Lotus which could enable at-home administration of low-risk drugs by cancer patients. The funding round was led by venture capital firm Artis Ventures. Luminate said the funding will be used to continue the development of the Lotus system, bringing it to its first in-patient trials. It also plans to complete large-scale trials of its Lily and Lilac products in the US market. Following these trials, Luminate expects a review of the products by the FDA in the US. It plans to create 30 new jobs at the companys Galway base ahead of its US launch next year. The roles are focused on areas such as software development, electronics, mechanical design, R&D and manufacturing. Luminate also plans to employ clinical researchers to join its remote US workforce. Luminate makes wearables designed to prevent nerve damage in the hands and feet of cancer patients First revenues from its side-effect prevention products are expected next year, the company reported. Our mission at Luminate is to deliver every cancer treatment in the patients home, said Aaron Hannon, chief executive and co-founder. In order to make home delivery possible, we need to build tools to prevent side effects that require in-person monitoring. We also need to monitor urgent adverse events during treatment, and enable patients to complete infusion procedures alone. This funding allows us to take the first step of this vision: showing we can prevent important adverse events like neuropathy in large-scale trials and on the market, he added. Artis Ventures partner Austin Walne said the team has the potential to unlock value for private-practice oncologists across the United States, reduce costs to insurers through at-home care delivery, and create a better experience for patients. In the past 12 months, there was a 12.5 percentage point year-on-year decline in hybrid opportunities. Photo: PA Pressure for a large-scale return to the office is building, with a sharp drop in advertisements for flexible roles and one of the countrys big private sector employers flagging an end for its post-Covid remote-working practices. Ireland has one of the largest shares of hybrid and remote job opportunities in Europe, with 39pc of all job postings on the LinkedIn platform offering hybrid options, but those opportunities are declining. In the past 12 months, there was a 12.5 percentage point year-on-year decline in hybrid opportunities and a 14.8pc fall in remote roles, according to analysis by LinkedIn itself. The shift is coming from employers, the data suggest, with demand for positions offering remote work or flexible options outstripping supply with 2.9 times the number of applications for the amount of remote roles available in Ireland. The general strength of the jobs market here, with workers across most sectors in demand, means employers may be forced to continue offering remote work options simply in order to recruit, whether they want to or not. Tech giant Amazon, however, is among big global players tightening up significantly on remote work. The business, which has around 4,200 employees in Ireland, issued a communication to all of its staff globally late on Monday. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told staff he expects to see a return to working in the office five days a week beginning in January and said the company will seek to reduce management layers. Staff have had the option to work from home two days each week. The new rule is not a blanket ban on remote work but is evidence that the default position for most staff is reverting to pre-Covid norms. Overall though, the Irish jobs market remains fairly robust. Dublin is the only metropolitan area in the eurozone with positive hiring momentum, according to the research from LinkedIn. With the Irish economy effectively at full employment, it is no surprise that we are seeing a lot of competition for roles in a tight jobs market, LinkedIn Ireland country manager Sue Duke said. What clearly stands out is that companies that offer flexible work options are attracting more applicants than their peers, so it continues to be a point of differentiation for prospective employers. The analysis revealed that Dublin recorded the highest upswing in hiring across 50 of the largest metropolitan areas around the world from January to June this year. LinkedIn noted a drop in hiring momentum in other European metropolitan areas, with German and French cities seeing downswings. Job search intensity is also rising in Ireland, LinkedIn reported. This indicator is measured by the average number of applications made per applicant on the LinkedIn site. Ireland placed sixth in this ranking, with a further spike expected this month with jobseekers returning from holidays. Singapore held the top spot in the job-seeker intensity ranking and was followed by the US and the UK. Meanwhile, research published by the ESRI also found that the labour market demand in the medium term for candidates suitable for AI, automation and blockchain roles in Ireland is being met. Property prices continued to surge in July. New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show an increase of 9.6pc in the year to July, as demand outstrips supply, leading to prices rising for the 11th month in a row. The close to 10pc rise means the pace of increases has again picked up. Prices in Dublin rose by 10.3pc and prices outside Dublin were up by 9.1pc. The middle, or median, price of a house in the year to July was 340,000, the CSO said. The highest house price growth in the capital was in South Dublin at 12.1pc, while Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown saw a rise of 8.3pc. The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest rise in house prices was the Mid-West, which covers Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary, at 13.4pc. At the other end of the scale, the South-East (Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wexford) saw a 6.1pc rise. In July some 4,723 dwelling purchases by households at market prices were filed with the Revenue Commissioners, an increase of 13.2pc when compared with the 4,174 purchases in July 2023. The lowest median price paid for a dwelling was 171,000 in Longford, while the highest was 630,000 in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. The most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months to July 4 was D06 Dublin 6 with a median price of 750,000, while F45 Castlerea had the least expensive price of 140,000. Residential property prices of new homes in the second quarter of this year were 7.4pc higher than in the same three-month period last year. Prices of second-hand homes in the second quarter of 2024 were 8.6pc higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2023. A recent analysis by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) found an increasing affordability gap facing many would-be buyers, including two-income couples. Many are now priced out, even if they take advantage of State schemes to support buyers. Despite believing that prices in Ireland are now too high, most estate agents expect them to increase further. Overall, prices of new dwellings have risen by 124.3pc from their trough in the middle of 2013. Prices of second-hand homes are now 146.4pc higher than at their trough in 2012. In the year to July, 49,297 home purchases were filed with Revenue. Of these, 17,455 (35.4pc) were purchased by first-time buyer owner-occupiers. Former owner-occupiers purchased 26,037 (52.8pc). The balance of 5,805 (11.8pc) were acquired by non-occupiers. This includes local authorities, housing charities and investment funds. Meanwhile, the Central Bank has said housing completions will fall short of the 40,000 units that Taoiseach Simon Harris has repeatedly said will be finished this year. But the need for homes is even greater than previously thought, according to their projections. Economists at the bank have revised downwards their forecasts for housing completions in Septembers Quarterly Bulletin, a regular update on the state of the economy. The latest bulletin says completions will be 32,000, 36,500 and 39,000 in 2024, 2025 and 2026, respectively. That would mean the number of new homes finished and available to move into this year will be roughly the same as in 2023, when the total was 32,695. While that number is close to the target of 33,450 set out in the Housing For All plan, it is well short of the 40,000 homes Mr Harris has said will be completed in 2024. The tally is also well below what the Central Banks economists assess is the real need for housing. Its latest research suggests that in a worst-case scenario as many as 68,000 homes would have to be completed every year for a decade to meet the combination of new demand and so-called pent-up demand from a near decade of under building. Irish News Irish soldiers tell families they may not be able to come home at end of tour as Israel digs in around UN base in Lebanon Google Ireland is contesting South Dublin County Councils planning refusal for the online giant's planned new data centre at Grange Castle Business Park in south Dublin. This follows An Bord Pleanala confirming it has received a first party appeal by Google Ireland Ltd against the refusal. A spokeswoman for Google Ireland said: We have filed an appeal to the recent decision by South Dublin County Council to reject the expansion of our existing data centre in Ireland. "We are committed to meeting the growing demand for our services and supporting Irelands digital economy. We want to ensure all concerns are addressed and are committed to working with all stakeholders. In its refusal last month, the council cited what it called "the existing insufficient capacity in the electricity network (grid) and the lack of significant on-site renewable energy to power the data centre" as reasons for refusal. The application is for the third phase of the Google Ireland data centre campus at Grange Castle Business Park and involves the creation of 800 construction jobs and 50 jobs when operational. The new 72,400 sqm data centre involves the construction of eight data halls on a 50-acre greenfield/brownfield site. Planning documents lodged with the application by Google Ireland warned that if the new data centre project does not progress, the company will struggle to meet the increasing demands for its services to its customers here. The planning documents stated that the data centre will indirectly contribute 224,250 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum without any mitigation measures. A 78-page planning report by ARUP lodged with the council stated that the proposed development will be powered through an existing connection as agreed with Eirgrid. The report stated that the duration of the effects on climate is considered to be short-term, as, in accordance with CAP24, 80pc of the electricity grid will be renewable by 2030, thereby significantly reducing carbon emissions. However, in its refusal, the council also cited the lack of clarity provided in relation to the applicant's engagement with Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in Ireland and the lack of a connection to the surrounding district heating network as grounds to turn the application down. The council also highlighted the proposed design of the development as well as how it relates to its surroundings, and lack of detail of how the proposal will impact power supply once operational in 2027. The Council ruled that Google Ireland has failed to demonstrate that the proposed use is acceptable on Enterprise and Employment (EE) zoned lands, in accordance with the South Dublin County Development Plan (SDCC) 2022-2028. The council also refused planning permission as the scheme did not comply with an objective in the South Dublin County Development Plan in relation to the retention and protection of existing green infrastructure (stream and hedgerow), culverting and alteration of the stream on site, provision of green infrastructure, and complying with the SDCC Green Space Factor. In a submission, An Taisce warned that planning for the data centre "would further compromise our ability to achieve compliance with our carbon budget limits and would put additional pressure on renewables capacity to deal with the significant additional power demand. An Taisce planning officer Sean O'Callaghan stated the proliferation of data infrastructure has largely gone unchecked, and data centres now consume 21pc of Irelands total metred electricity. He stated the planned data centre will put great pressure on an already strained electricity grid in the Dublin region, particularly in light of the large number of existing and proposed data centres already in the area. Head of Policy at Friends of the Earth, Jerry MacEvilly, told the council that our concern is that the proposed development would actively undermine the achievement of the states carbon budget programme. Dr Colin Doyle told the council that claims of commitment by Google and Google Ireland Ltd to decarbonisation amount to greenwashing. He said: The claims are all based on the purchase of renewable electricity. While these purchases can be reported in corporate Green House Gas (GHG) accounting systems, they do not mitigate or offset in any way the physical additional GHG emissions caused by Google's activities in Ireland. Google has won a court challenge against a 1.49bn European Union anti-trust fine imposed five years ago, that targeted its online advertising business. Europes General Court said it was throwing out the 2019 penalty imposed by the European Commission, which is the top anti-trust enforcer for the EU. Today's News in 90 seconds - 18th September 2024 "The General Court annuls the commission's decision in its entirety," it said in a statement. The commission's ruling applied to a narrow portion of Google's ad business. It relates to adverts that the US tech giant sold next to Google search results on third-party websites. Regulators had found that Google inserted exclusivity clauses in its contracts that barred these websites from running similarly placed ads sold by Google's rivals. The commission said when it issued the penalty that Google's behaviour resulted in advertisers and website owners having less choice and likely facing higher prices that would be passed on to consumers. More to folllow The Amazon deal was timely and could help build confidence that Intel can compete with the largest companies in the foundry industry Intel shares surged for the second straight day after the troubled chipmaker made a raft of announcements, spurring optimism that a turnaround plan is starting to bear fruit. In the most notable move, the company struck a multi-billion dollar deal with Amazon Web Services cloud unit to co-invest in a custom AI semiconductor. Intel also may receive as much as $3bn (2.7bn) in US government funding to make chips for the military. Katie Leung is to star in the next series of Bridgerton (Isabel Infantes/PA) Bridgerton season four will welcome Harry Potter alum Katie Leung as one of the key rivals to new leading lady Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). Scottish actor Leung, 37, best known for her role as the titular wizards love interest, Ravenclaw witch Cho Chang in the blockbuster film franchise, will star as twice-married and twice-widowed Lady Araminta Gun. Lady Araminta is the mother of two daughters debuting on the marriage mart this season and is feeling the pressure to get at least one of them married off, an official character description reads. Fabulous, discerning, and blunt, Araminta does not respond well when anything or anyone threatens her standing in society. Meanwhile, her eldest daughter Rosamund Li (Goosebumps Michelle Mao), described as beautiful, vain and eager to please her mother has set her sights on Benedict Bridgerton this season and is determined to get what she wants. The Crows and 1899s Isabella Wei will star as Rosamunds friendlier and chattier younger sister, Posy Li. The forthcoming season of Netflixs high Regency-era romance will be based on the third novel, An Offer from a Gentleman, in author Julia Quinns Bridgerton series. It will focus on the love life of the second-oldest Bridgerton, Benedict, who, in previous seasons, has shown little interest in marriage. That is until he meets Sophie, disguised in a silver gown, at Violet Bridgertons masquerade ball. Sophie is a victim of tragic events and has been forced to spend much of her life working as a maid for the most demanding employer in the town. However, her circumstances drastically change after attending the ball. Originally named Sophie Beckett in the books, Sophies surname has since been changed to Baek out of respect for Has Korean culture. A name is the first bit of identity that you share with the world, and thats why changing a name can be so powerful, the Korean-Australian actor recently told Tudum. To make Sophies name fit someone who looks like me is really empowering. All credit to Jess Brownell, our showrunner. Ha added: Its a really nice way for me to feel like the role is fit for me, rather than me having to fit a certain mold. Its amazing what it can do just in a psychological sense. So it means a lot that Jess did that for me. Netflix has not yet announced a release date for Bridgerton season four. Blockbuster musical Hamilton has finally hit Ireland. Here's our need-to-know cheat sheet How Lin-Manuel Mirandas show conquered the world with US history and intricate hip-hop DeAngelo Jones, Shaq Taylor, Billy Nevers and KM Drew Boateng take centre stage in 'Hamilton'. Photo: Danny Kaan. Chris Wasser Tue 17 Sep 2024 at 15:30 In 2007, a year before his first musical transferred to Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda was an extra on The Sopranos. You might remember the scene. Towards the end of season six, Tony (James Gandolfini) and his right-hand man Paulie (Tony Sirico) take a road trip to Miami. Mike Brady: Carbon farming is the future so its time we all started taking it seriously Heres what you need to know about what carbon farming involves Agroforestry is the integration of trees with either crops or livestock on the same land. Photo: Getty Mike Brady Wed 18 Sep 2024 at 12:13 Farmers are sick to the teeth of being told what they should be doing on their farms to save the planet. Niall Matthews, chairperson of Lakeland Dairies, speaks at the Lakeland Dairies Farming for a Better Future: Protecting Our Waters event in Co Longford. Photo: Damien Eagers The climate targets set for the agricultural sector may need to be revisited unless additional funding is found to support the sector, Lakeland Dairies has said. In a letter sent to the Taoiseach Simon Harris, and seen by the Farming Independent, Lakeland Dairies said the Government faces a dilemma if it doesnt provide fresh funding to support the carbon reduction targets as part of the Climate Action Plan. Under the plan, all sectors of the economy must reduce their collection carbon emissions by a collective 51pc by 2030. We fully respect the climate targets set for agriculture and industry, and we recognise that addressing climate change is the defining challenge of our generation. It is a critical moment, and we must all come together to achieve these goals, its Chair Niall Matthews said. A meaningful and substantial investment in measures to support both farmers and the wider industry is vital to meet these ambitious targets. The current offerings are fragmented and insufficient to drive the necessary change. Without comprehensive, well-funded support, the targets will remain out of reach. Matthews said unless this new funding is forthcoming it may be necessary to revisit and reconsider the carbon reduction targets as the targets risk becoming unattainable which he said would risk the entire project, via a loss in confidence and resolve to improve our environment. The co-op also said that momentum behind the Climate Action Plan has slowed. It is fair to say that the momentum initially created behind the Climate Action Plan has clearly slowed. The path forward is now evident: either commit to significant investment in support measures or reassess the feasibility of the targets. Without decisive action, the multi-billion-euro dairy industry which supports thousands of jobs in every rural parish in the country is at risk of being slowly suffocated by unattainable expectations, Co Louth dairy farmer Matthews said. Police at the scene of a previous alert at the ground. A concerted campaign of intimidation against East Belfast GAA has been branded utterly depressing by a local councillor. Police are currently at the scene of a security alert following the discovery of a suspicious object at playing fields in the Church Road area of east Belfast. It is the home of East Belfast GAA where there have been numerous security alerts since the club was formed in 2020. The PSNI said Church Road has been closed between Manse Road and Marlborough Heights and members of the public are advised to avoid the area at this time. Green Party councillor Brian Smyth said its utterly depressing" that there is a concerted campaign against the club by a person or group of people. Its having a massive impact on the area, he said, theres an integrated school and an integrated nursery and people that live around there. It is hugely disruptive. The vast majority of people in Belfast and east Belfast want nothing to do with those who are responsible. He explained that the council is planning on increasing security measures by installing CCTV cameras and increased lighting. Im hopeful that when it happens it will put an end to this. The club has every right to stay there, this is up at Henry Jones and out of the way, not slap bang in the middle of the Newtownards Road. Its literally at the top of a very windy hill in the Castlereagh area. A lot of people back the club and the CCTV is planned for this month so we hope it will now end it for good. Sinn Fein MLA Deirdre Hargey has also strongly condemned the latest appalling security alert. I am appalled at yet another disgraceful security alert at Henry Jones Playing Fields, which are used by East Belfast GAA, the South Belfast MLA said. Every one of these appalling incidents are an attack on the entire community, and are not welcome in todays modern, inclusive Belfast. Gaelic Games is flourishing in all corners of our city and at every level of society, we will not allow a minority to drag us back and bring our community down. I would call on all community and political leaders to make it clear that there is absolutely no place for this kind of behaviour. Further updates will be issued in due course. Man slashed in the face in daylight attack A man had his face slashed on Talbot Street during the latest attack on the Dublin city street. The fight, which was caught on CCTV yesterday shortly after lunchtime, involved three men and a woman. As the three males exchanged blows outside a nearby shop, one of the people pulled out a knife and slashed the face of his opponent in an attack. As blood poured out onto the path, the fight broke up and the brawlers went their separate ways. The attack took place at 3.30pm on the increasingly-dangerous Talbot Street. It is the latest violent incident on the street and happened in the same spot that American tourist Stephen Termini suffered horrific injuries in July 2023. Last week, a gang brawl took place on the corner of Talbot Street and James Joyce Street. In March of this year, CCTV caught a vicious machete attack on the same street. The Government later approved a facelift of the busy street as part of efforts to clean up its image. Remarkably, the street in Dublins inner city has been undergoing a 2m overhaul in recent months as the Government attempt to convince Dubliners that the streets are safe. An Garda Siochana was contacted for a statement. Israeli soldiers take up position next to buildings destroyed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip on Friday (Leo Correa/AP) The Government has approved a plan to evacuate around 30 sick children from Gaza for treatment and provide them with medical care in Irish hospitals. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said it is in response to the World Health Organisation (WHO) request to address the current health needs of people from Gaza. The minister said he and his officials spent months working on the proposal alongside medical doctors, the Irish Red Cross (IRC) and other Government Departments including the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Social Protection. The HSE will act in a central coordination role across all required services/service providers on arrival and travel to hospital or accommodation as appropriate. He added: I really want to thank the nurses, the doctors, the Irish Red Cross and all who have been involved in ensuring Ireland steps up to this need. This is a modest but important step given the scale of the horrific conflict by the Israeli military forces. The continued and deliberate attacks on civilians and on healthcare facilities are wrong and should stop. Around 30 child patients could be treated here before the end of the year for various conditions including cancer, haemodialysis and patients with other severe illnesses. They will not include children needing orthopaedics to ensure there is no impact on HSE efforts to increase the number of procedures being carried out in this speciality. Ireland will be opting in on a case-by-case basis for each child who requires treatment, subject to the necessary capacity being available at that time. The plan is for children to travel with a carer, who will be accommodated in accommodation managed by the IRC. This includes accommodation owned by healthcare workers as well as accommodation being provided via the IRC. The care package being provided includes caseworker and translation services to ensure that patients and their carers are well looked after and have assistance in accessing all services as needed. In addition, the HSE will provide appropriate psycho-social assessment for both patients and carers. All patients and carers are required to get health screening prior to travel. The Department of Health said that as an EU member state Ireland is asked to respond to this request from WHO to assist in addressing the current health needs in Gaza. Ireland has a strong tradition of providing humanitarian assistance including through the Department of Foreign Affairs Irish Aid humanitarian and development assistance programme and the HSE Global Health Programme. Procedures for medical evacuations to Ireland are well established in the Ukraine context. Medical evacuation requests are managed through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), with the HSE managing the clinical support of the injured patient and other Departments and Agencies responding to the ancillary support needs as above, it said. The services of the EUs Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) will be used for transfer from Egypt to Ireland and Baldonnel Aerodrome will be the point of arrival. "All required national service providers will be present on arrival. The Department of Health will coordinate with the UCPM and the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces on the availability of the Baldonnel Aerodrome and for completion of the required certificates and authorisations for use of the facility. Opposition parties have slammed the Governments plans to tackle the housing crisis, describing claims by the Taoiseach that almost 40,000 completions would happen this year as pre-election spin. In the September Quarterly Bulletin, the Central Bank revised down their forecasts for housing completions, saying they anticipate 32,000 homes being completed in 2024. The figure is significantly down on the almost 40,000 homes Taoiseach Simon Harris said would be completed this year. As the Dail returns today after the summer recess, Labour, Social Democrats and People Before Profit have criticised the Government for not fulfilling housing promises. Social Democrats spokesperson on Housing Cian OCallaghan said the suggestion that 40,000 homes would be completed this year was just pre-election spin. Both Taoiseach Simon Harris and Minister Darragh OBrien repeatedly claim that 40,000 new homes will be built this year. We can now clearly see this for what it is meaningless pre-election spin, Deputy OCallaghan said. This failure to come close to the 40,000 new homes target is even more concerning considering the Central Bank is now estimating that we actually need at least 52,000 homes a year until 2050, he added. People Before Profits Richard Boyd Barrett also acknowledged the Central Banks latest bulletin and said it confirmed that the governments plans to tackle the housing were shamefully inadequate. Mr Boyd Barrett said that the money collected from the Apple Tax should now be used to establish a state construction company. To be honest, we wouldn't be in the mess that we were in now in terms of housing had the government collected the Apple money, Mr Boyd Barrett said. That money should be used as seed capital for a state construction company and for a multi annual program to double, or more than double the output of social and affordable housing in order to address the housing crisis, he added. Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the Government now needed to increase its ambition in order to meet demand. The central bank telling us that Government needed to increase its housing targets, its new home targets, up to 52,000 per year for 25 years in order to meet the pent up demand, or to 70,000 per year for the next 10 years in order to meet that demand. That's the scale of ambition and urgency that is needed from government now, Ms Bacik said. Meanwhile, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has confirmed that the details of the partys housing plan will be released in the coming weeks. The party leader said housing is the key priority for the Social Democrats coming into the general election. While speaking to RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland, she said there are certain differences between Sinn Feins affordable housing plan and the one of the Social Democrats. We'll have all the details published in the coming weeks, she said. "There's problems in all of Western Europe with regard to housing, but Ireland stands out. The approach we have isn't working. "We need a new approach, a different approach to housing, and that is a key priority for us going into this election, she added. It comes as the Central Bank has warned that around 52,000 new homes could be needed per year until 2050 around 20,000 short of the number built last year. She said that todays report highlights the need for our affordable housing plan. It highlights the need to try and bridge the affordability gap, but not in a way that brings up the price of housing and I think that's probably a direct reference to the Government's Help-to-Buy scheme. "But in our plan, the direct support would go towards the not-for-profit sector, which has proven to be able to build affordable purchase homes, because that's the key thing here. Homes being built that are completely unaffordable isn't the answer to this. That's where the priority needs to be. In addition to that, there's the things that were highlighted in the report the planning, productivity and access to finance. All of those are addressed in our housing plan, she said. In early September, Sinn Fein unveiled its five-year A Home Of Your Own plan to build 300,000 homes at a cost of 39 billion. As part of its plan, the party said it will build affordable home through the state retaining ownership of the land on which the house is built. Under our plan, the owner would own the house and the land. But we agree that you need to control the price and how much prices and the value of houses can skyrocket because we need to move away from seeing housing as an investment vehicle, and that's what we kind of do in many ways in Ireland. "Housing is somewhere where you can build a future, put down roots, raise a family, have kind of a grounding and independence, but that can be done through the way that land is zoned, and that's the focus, she said. Ms Cairns said housing in Ireland is the elephant in the country. "We have the latest of many reports highlighting that the Government's approach isn't working. "Their approach to housing, to be fair, it's tried, it's tested, it's failed, then it's been tried again, tested again, and it's failed again, report after report saying they need to change their approach, she said. So we're saying to people, if you want to see a change in the approach, you have to change what you vote for. The Social Democrats nearly doubled the number of councillors in the local elections, with 35 councillors being elected up from 19 in 2019. Ms Cairns also confirmed the Social Democrats will talk to every party after the general election. "We'll talk to absolutely everybody after the election. That's what we've always said, and that's what we'll do. We really want to harness and build on the momentum we have from the local elections, where we almost doubled our councillors. We had our think-in over the last two days and we're setting out a clear platform. We want to go to the people with a very clear plan and we're not going to over-promise and under-deliver promises. Our priority has always been and is to invest in public services to lift people out of poverty, she added. Meanwhile, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said that a report warning of the shortage of housing in Ireland has made him more determined to look at supporting house building. He was responding to a warning from the Central Bank that said around 52,000 new homes could be needed per year until 2050 around 20,000 short of the number built last year. Mr Harris said the report noted that Ireland was spending the second most on housing in Europe in an effort to catch up on loss after the economic crash. The report does show serious pent-up demand in terms of housing in this country. It does make me all the more determined to look at how we can further support agencies and work that we know is working. So one example is the Land Development Agency (LDA), I think the LDA is making a real positive difference. Can we provide that with more funding? So when Ive been talking this summer around what we can do with infrastructure, what we can do with the sales in bank shares, indeed, what we can do with the Apple revenue, I think theres real possibilities here in relation to housing. Fifty-three people were identified as victims of trafficking last year, but the true figure is believed to be significantly higher. Image posed/Getty A woman who suffered horrific abuse and was raped by hooded men is among the victims revealed in a new report on human trafficking in Ireland. It also tells of a worker who was paid just 1 an hour and a child who was threatened while living in adult accommodation. The Trafficking in Human Beings in Ireland Report outlines a significant increase in the number of victims identified over the past three years, including children. Most are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Overall, 53 people were identified as victims of trafficking last year, a 20pc increase on 2022. The number of victims is believed to be significantly underestimated. Most came from Africa, Europe and Asia. In the report, an African national called Ada (39) recalled how she was offered a new life working in Ireland following an accident and the loss of her fiance in Africa. She was confined against her will and subjected to sexual exploitation for a year. She experienced horrific abuse and rape by men, including men who were hooded, said the report by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC). After escaping her traffickers in 2018, Ada slept rough, was offered money by a stranger and got a bus to Dublin, where she secured work as an au pair before losing her job and becoming homeless again. While seeking medical treatment in a hospital, she became aware of the concept of human trafficking. She was assisted by the Ruhama organisation and made a report to gardai. Her formal statement appointment was cancelled due to a garda emergency. She is still waiting. An Garda Siochana was contacted for comment. Ada endured five years with no supports, security or safety in Ireland since escaping traffickers, the report states. Four girls and one boy were identified as child victims of human trafficking in Ireland last year. Three of the girls were suspected victims of trafficking for criminal activities, one girl was trafficked for sexual exploitation and a boy for labour exploitation. The report raises serious concerns about children in state care who are missing or housed in adult centres. There is also alarm over the exploitation of surrogacy, described as one of the most concerning, novel and emerging forms of trafficking. It said an increase in child trafficking for criminal activities appears to be a new trend. A boy said he struggled in an adult accommodation centre as everybody is bigger than me and he had no friends The report also said a child who was placed in adult accommodation had been sleeping on the streets for 12 nights before getting medical attention. One girl said she found it hard to look after herself in accommodation for adult women and did not feel safe. It says: She reports that people are drinking in the accommodation, she finds it intimidating. She went there alone, was feeling down and missed her siblings and mother. I do not feel safe there. When I am in pain or sick there is no one there to help me, she is quoted as saying. Other residents took my money they threatened me. A boy said he struggled in an adult accommodation centre as everybody is bigger than me and he had no friends. A GP at medical charity Safetynet said the boys physical appearance was consistent with a 15-year-old. We contacted Tusla, who informed us that if he is in adult accommodation he was deemed an adult by the state, the report said. The commission said it is very concerned that there are cases where age-disputed children are being accommodated in adult accommodation. The report recommends that the Health Information and Quality Authority carries out an urgent audit of all state care residential centres to assess the risk of exploitation and human trafficking. Today's News in 90 seconds - 18th September 2024 Children represent 8pc of all victims of trafficking in Ireland in the last 11 years 44 children out of 566 victims. Although this is fewer than the EU average, it does not mean we have fewer child victims, the report says: Rather, we believe this is due to the fact that we do not have robust enough systems to identify child trafficking victims. The IHREC wants victims of trafficking to be given protection from prosecution under new legislation being prepared by Justice Minister Helen McEntee. It wants a child-specific identification process and age-estimate process included in new operational guidelines. The report describes how a mother of two named Kiera, who was in an abusive relationship, was offered an opportunity by someone she knew to work in a food-processing plant. Her alleged trafficker paid her wages after receiving her salary from her employer. She was told she could not leave until she repaid her travel debt or her family would be targeted. Her wages worked out at around 1 an hour, as the rest was held by her alleged trafficker. Active Consent education backed up by campus campaigns and staff training should be rolled out to everyone who goes to college, a presentation to the Further and Higher Education and Training sectors has heard. The Active Consent programme, based at University of Galway, has today called for firm targets for sexual violence prevention and consent education among students and staff. It wants to see at least 80pc of incoming Higher Education students engage with consent education during their orientation or induction. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Patrick ODonovan, who addressed the presentation via video, said Active Consent awareness and training are crucial to changing attitudes and culture for the next generation. They are the generation that can ensure that sexual violence is not tolerated in our society, and one which may ensure that conversations about consent becomes the norm. Everyone on campus in a further and higher education institutions environment is entitled to a safe, environment free from harassment or violence, he said. We offer a role in creating a culture of zero tolerance that should shift attitude, increase awareness and foster considerations for all of those affected. Professor Padraig MacNeela from the School of Psychology at University of Galway said: A lot of progress has been made in Further and Higher Education in recent years, but the time has come for these sectors to set firm targets for consent education and sexual violence prevention. Every student and staff member needs to be adequately prepared to address consent, sexual violence, and harassment in a meaningful and lasting way. Active Consents programme ethos is that consent is ongoing, mutual, and freely given, for all relationships, genders and orientations. Its education model promotes a community-wide culture of consent using brief messaging, workshops, arts-based interventions, specialised staff training and research. Almost 25,000 first year students in Higher Education engaged with the Active Consent orientation resource during the 2023-2024 academic year. Some 8,338 of these students completed a survey on their experience with 80pc agreeing that they learned something useful, while 91pc would recommend it to a friend. Other student feedback during the year revealed that 94pc of students who took part in a one-hour in-person consent workshop said they learned something useful, and 90pc would recommend it to their peers. 87pc of the students who completed Active Consents 40-minute eLearning resource agreed that it would help them to intervene in problematic situations involving their peers, while 90pc said that it would help them to support their peers if they have a negative sexual experience. Clarissa DiSantis, newly appointed Education and Training Co-Lead with the programme, said it is encouraging that 71pc of students taking the survey agreed they would intervene if they witnessed harassment, while 76pc would be comfortable talking to a peer who makes a disclosure about sexual violence. We must make sure that they have the skills to follow through on their intentions, she added. Nicola Sturgeon said a united Ireland would be part of a very healthy realignment of how the nations of the British Isles are governed and cooperate together. Photo: Robert Perry Nicola Sturgeon has predicted a united Ireland as part of a wider shake-up of the United Kingdom which will also see Scotland gain its independence. The former Scottish first minister appeared to endorse the idea of Irish unification, saying it would be part of a very healthy realignment of how the nations of the British Isles are governed and cooperate together. Ms Sturgeon, who remains an MSP but has faced criticism for her lack of activity at Holyrood while she remains under police investigation as part of an investigation into SNP finances, was speaking to the BBC to mark the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum. I believe that, perhaps as part of a wider shake-up of UK governance, the reunification of Ireland, perhaps, more autonomy in Wales, that I think we will see Scotland become an independent country, she said. Ill certainly campaign and advocate for that for as long as Ive got breath in my body. Ms Sturgeon refused to say whether she believed Irish reunification would come before Scottish independence, but said: I do think that will happen. She added: I think we will see over the next number of years, Im not going to sit here and put a figure on that, what I would describe as a very healthy realignment of how the nations of the British Isles are governed and cooperate together. In 2021, while she was still in office, Ms Sturgeon said she believed that Brexit made a united Ireland more likely than it was before but stopped short of predicting that it would happen or endorsing it. In May 2022, 10 months before she stepped down as first minister, Ms Sturgeon held talks with Michelle ONeill, now Northern Irelands First Minister, at her official Bute House residence. The meeting came two weeks after Sinn Fein emerged as the largest party in the Stormont elections. Ms ONeill became Northern Irelands first ever nationalist First Minister in Northern Ireland in February, after a boycott by Unionists over post-Brexit trading arrangements came to an end. The prospects of Scottish independence took a major setback in the recent general election, when Labour won a landslide victory north of the border and the SNPs seat tally fell from 48 MPs to just nine. The SNP had gone into the election claiming winning a majority of Scotlands 57 seats would deliver a fresh independence mandate, but fell catastrophically short of the target. However, John Swinney, the First Minister, has defied calls to put independence on the back burner, instead insisting he will launch a fresh campaign to persuade Scots it is the solution to their problems. Ms Sturgeons husband Peter Murrell, the former SNP chief executive, has been charged with embezzlement of party funds as part of a long-running investigation into the partys finances. Ms Sturgeon was arrested in June last year and remains under investigation, though she has strenuously denied any wrongdoing. Asked if he supported Ms Sturgeons predictions about an independent Scotland and a united Ireland, First Minister John Swinney said: Do I think theyll both happen? Yes, I do. So I agree with that point very much. I think the tide and the pattern of those debates is moving decisively and emphatically in that direction. Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservative chairman, said: Nicola Sturgeon simply cannot help herself. Not only is she still pushing Scottish independence at every turn, she has now decided to weigh in on the divisive issue of a border poll in Ireland too. Rather than constantly talking about the break-up of the United Kingdom, the former SNP leader should be focused on the real priorities of the people in Glasgow Southside. She should stop being a part-time MSP and stand up for what really matters to her constituents like record NHS waiting times, good local jobs and keeping communities safe from crime. The family of a boy suffering with life-threatening scoliosis are at breaking point after their son was silently removed from the scoliosis surgery list, the Dail has been told. During Leaders Questions this afternoon, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Taoiseach Simon Harris treatment of children with scoliosis and spina bifida awaiting surgery was disgraceful. In particular, Ms McDonald raised the situation of Harvey Sherratt (8), whose spine is now at 110 degrees, making it almost impossible to breathe. Earlier this week, Harveys parents told how he had been removed from a surgery list without their knowledge or consent. In 2017, when Harvey was just one year old, his parents were told that his ribs were crushing his lungs. In that same year, as minister [for Health] you promised that no child with scoliosis would wait longer than four months for their operation, but you broke that promise, Ms McDonald said. Harvey has waited and waited and his condition has become life-threatening, she added. Ms McDonald said the eight-year-old had been rushed to hospital five times between October and Christmas last year and that Harvey now desperately needed surgery. Taoiseach, Stephen that's Harveys dad has told me that theyve been pushed to breaking point, thats its utterly debilitating for them as a family to see Harvey treated this way. They feel powerless to help him. Its completely changed their outlook on life. His mother Gillian said the wait and lack of treatment is killing her child. Ms McDonald asked the Taoiseach when Harvey and children like him would get their operations. In response, the Taoiseach said politicians dont order operations, clinicians decide when it is safe to operate. Mr Harris said he was aware of Harveys case and had been in contact with the chief executive of the HSE and the Health Minister in relation to his situation. Im absolutely certain that whats vital here is a clinical consultation with the family, the Taoiseach said. Mr Harris said the Government is doing everything we can to help the families and children affected by scoliosis and that more than 300 spinal procedures had taken place this year. Ive met with the new clinical lead of the dedicated spinal unit, Mr David Moore and their teams. And I know that absolutely everything that possibly can be done to help is being done, the Taoiseach said. However, Ms McDonald accused the Taoiseach of not doing everything he could to solve the issue. The Sinn Fein leader said that Harveys parents were sitting in the public gallery while Leaders Questions took place. They shouldnt be here. The very fact that parents of children with scoliosis and spina bifida have to come to the Dail in this way is a testament to failure in and of itself because their child is running out of time, Ms McDonald said. While Ms McDonald asked the Taoiseach to tell Harveys parents that their son would get the surgery he needs. However, the Taoiseach accused Ms McDonald of playing politics with the situation. The reality of the situation is youre asking me as a politician to give a commitment to a child to have an operation regardless of whether a clinician believes that operation to be the best care pathway or not, Mr Harris said. I used to think of whiskey as a winter drink, something to warm you from the inside as you laugh at the weather outside. Recently, it also became my sup of choice at summer festivals. It turns out that having a special whiskey in a hip flask is an excellent strategy for upgrading your festival experience. A hip flask is a convenient format for sharing a drink and sharing a special whiskey with others is a very lovely thing, as you watch their initial facial brace turn to surprise and pleasure as a rainbow of flavours unfurl. Todays round-up includes five new-ish Irish whiskeys that warrant being savoured straight. Try them neat with the option of some ice or a little water on the side. Some are more expensive than others, but deservedly so, given the special liquids that they are, the craft and care involved and the complexity that they offer. Given that an 80 bottle gives you 10 decent double serves (at 8 each; the price of a Temple Bar pint, if youre lucky, or a simple enough glass of wine), Id argue that is money well spent on a well-crafted spirit. Todays three top whiskeys were all created from scratch at their respective distilleries in Drumshanbo, Dingle and Drogheda which allows each distiller put its own signature stamp on the whiskey from the get-go. This is not always the case with contemporary Irish whiskeys, as many distilleries are still waiting for their own new-make spirit to age for at least the required three years and a day in casks before it can be called whiskey. In the meantime, they can source whiskey elsewhere, which they can finish ageing in a variety of casks, blend, bottle and sell. Theres craft and skill in that too, of course, as exemplified by the impressive job done by master blender Noel Sweeney (formerly of Powerscourt Distillery and, notably, Great Northern Distillery before that) for lord of all things Irish-American Michael Flatley. Given his celebrity status, Flatley is surely capable of shifting an awful lot of mediocre, over-priced whiskey so kudos to him for bringing Sweeney on board to create this solid-value, five-year-old blend of triple-distilled bourbon cask-aged grain whiskey blended with double-distilled malted barley finished in a mix of Bourbon, PX sherry and port casks. The most accessibly priced today is from Aldis Ardfallen brand, which picked up gold at the International Spirits Challenge 2021 for its bourbon-aged blended Ardfallen Irish Whiskey (22), setting an impressive benchmark. Its triple-cask whiskey is the first of several new Ardfallen arrivals on Aldi shelves over the coming months. Whiskeys of the week Boann Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey PX Cask Boann Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey PX Cask, 47pc, 69.95 The richest of three single pot still whiskies given special cask treatment, this started life in 250-litre Oloroso hogshead casks and finished in 500-litre butts from a 60-year-old solera from Malaga, still coated in syrupy PX sherry. The result is rich with raisins, figs, prunes, chocolate and muscovado with tarte tatin and lemon sherbet lift, warm liquorice spice and a concentrated finish. Try the Madeira Cask whiskey for black fruits, or the Marsala Cask for crunchier orchard fruits. Celtic Whiskey Shop, Martins, McHughs, James Fox, irishmalts.com, boanndistillery.ie Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Marsala Cask Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Marsala Cask, Co Leitrim, 43pc, 80.50 Distilled onsite at The Shed Distillery from malted and unmalted barley and some Irish Barra oats for a creamier mouthfeel, and aged from the get-go in marsala casks for a full seven years, this is an elegant beauty, its single pot still spice mellowed by creamy honey and rich dried fruit. Celtic Whiskey Shop, Molloys, McHughs, James Fox, irishmalts.com; thesheddistillery.com Flatley Irish Whiskey The Dreamer Triple Cask Blend Flatley Irish Whiskey The Dreamer Triple Cask Blend, 43pc, 40-50 Great value given the skilful blending and quality liquid involved and five years ageing, this has notes of dried cherries, chocolate-coated orange peel and honey-roast nuts with some savoury rancio character and charred oak notes framing it all. Surprisingly complex at the price. Widely available, including SuperValu, Molloys and independents, irishmalts.com, irishdrinkshop.ie Dingle Conocht an Fomhair Single Malt Dingle Conocht an Fomhair Single Malt, 50.5pc, 85 Big, bold and feisty with sweet molasses and muscovado character from the rum cask finish, framing clove-baked apple and liquorice aromas, with juicy roasted pineapple, baked blackberry and spiced raisin on the palate. One of nine in their Wheel of The Year series. Selected Carryout and independents, shop.dingledistillery.ie, irishmalts.com Ardfallen Triple Cask Whiskey Ardfallen Triple Cask Whiskey, 40pc, 24.99 Produced exclusively for Aldi and new this month is this creamy, toffee-toned triple-cask blend, with virgin American oak spice and Oloroso sherry cask-dried fruit character. Look out from mid-November for its bright and rich 10-year-old Ardfallen whiskey with a moscatel cask finish. Aldi Couple at the centre of the battle of Gorse Hill repossession dispute are set to do legal battle again Take yourself back to the Celtic Tiger. Business is booming, properties are flying off the market at extortionate prices and anyone can afford anything with a simple bank loan. This is the environment in which Brian and Mary Patricia ODonnell built up their mammoth property portfolio, at one point valued at over 1bn. Were all familiar with how this decadent era ended and the ODonnells werent spared from ruin. The couple had also invested heavily in property internationally, but ended up bankrupt after values plummeted following the global financial crash in the late 2000s. They were ordered to pay back over 70m in loans and debts to Bank of Ireland. Their Dublin home, Gorse Hill on upmarket Vico Road in Killiney, was repossessed by the bank following a much-publicised stand-off in 2015. The mansion, which overlooks the Irish Sea, was sold two years later for 9.5m. Now, nearly a decade after the ODonnells were ordered to leave the property, they are back in the news. Brian and Mary Patricia ODonnell, as well as their son Blake, have issued High Court proceedings against former official assignee in bankruptcy, Christopher Lehane. Host Fionnan Sheahan is joined on The Indo Daily by Donal ODonovan, business editor of the Irish Independent, and legal affairs editor Shane Phelan. They discuss the new legal dispute involving the couple at the centre of the infamous Battle for Gorse Hill. With the rapid development of technology and profound transformations in global manufacturing, the future of mobility is unfolding before our eyes. As a highlight of the 2024 World Manufacturing Convention, Hefei Luogang Park is set to host a technological extravaganza titled "Boundary-less Mobility, Intelligent Future" focusing on new energy intelligent connected vehicles and drone experiences and demonstrations. This event aims to showcase the latest achievements in the fields of new energy and intelligent connected vehicles and drones, promote industrial exchange and cooperation, and jointly shape a bright vision for future mobility. Scheduled to take place from September 20th to 23rd at Hefei Luogang Park, the event will gather over 50 renowned brands, displaying more than a hundred cutting-edge products. The opening ceremony will feature the launch of several avant-garde technological products and innovative scenarios, including the latest model of an autonomous driving bus, an embodied intelligent humanoid robot, as well as a low-altitude safety management emergency scenario for "Luogang Park." These technologies and products will not only allow attendees to experience the charm of technology up close but also lead the trend of future mobility. During the event, Luogang Park will be transformed into an exhibition hall dedicated to the future of mobility technology. The static exhibition area will feature sections for complete vehicles, intelligent connected vehicles, drones, and intelligent robots, where visitors can gain a detailed understanding of the latest technologies and development trends in various new energy and intelligent connected vehicles and drones. Additionally, to allow citizens to personally experience the convenience and joy of future mobility, a special test-drive area will be set up for on-site experiences, showcasing the limitless possibilities technology brings to life. Furthermore, the event will host multiple keynote speeches and roundtable forums, inviting industry leaders and experts to delve into the development trends of future mobility technology. They will share unique insights on cutting-edge technologies, market applications, and future prospects in fields such as new energy vehicles, drones, and intelligent robots, providing attendees with a valuable intellectual feast. Source: anhuinews.com Councillors in the Fermoy Municipal District have appealed for funding to be allocated by the relevant stakeholders to restore the weir and the fish bypass in the River Blackwater. In February, An Bord Pleanala granted consent for remedial works on the weir a listed, protected structure and the building of a separate channel, a so-called fish bypass, to run parallel to the River Blackwaters northern bank, west of the towns Kent Bridge. Independent councillor Peter ODonoghue brought forward a motion at last Mondays Northern Committee meeting requesting that a letter be sent to the Minister for Finance Jack Chambers seeking the necessary funding. Cllr O'Donoghue said the weir is destroyed at the moment. The weir has been in total disrepair. It is absolutely destroyed at the moment. It is going on nearly 20 years. In February of this year planning was granted for the repair of the weir and for a fish bypass to be installed. Partial funding for the project was allocated but as of yet no funding has been allocated for the reconstruction of the weir. If the money is not there it is not going to happen. We need the money now to rebuild the weir, said Cllr ODonoghue. The greatest asset the town of Fermoy has is the River Blackwater. To see it in such a state now is sad to see. There are huge consequences from the current state of the weir. The rowing club in Fermoy are struggling to hold their regattas every year. I am asking that the council write to the Minister for Finance Jack Chambers asking that the funding be allocated for the restoration of the weir because it is so important to the people in Fermoy and the surrounding areas, he added. Independent councillor William OLeary spoke in support of the motion. It is a long standing issue and it is a complex one in relation to a detailed design. To get the planning over the line in the first instance was very important. We need to see it progress. Fianna Fail councillor Pat Hayes said: The weir needs to be repaired and it is important that the correct fish pass is put in. Hopefully the fish pass included in the new design will be far better than the old one. His party colleague Cllr Nelius Cotter emphasised the importance of getting funding as soon as possible. Divisional Manager for North Cork Kevin Morey provided the councillors with an update on the current situation. We are moving through the detailed design phase which will produce the updated costs. There are two strands to this. There is the weir which is reinstating the original structure in the same like for like way because it is a protected structure. We are the owners of the weir which is a protected structure and needs to be remediated. We have an obligation to do that. Mr Morey continued: There is the provision of a new fish bypass which is a significant piece of civil engineering. It is something that wasnt there previously. The fish bypass is a new requirement which is coming from Inland Fisheries. The fish bypass is a new ask and we are not in the business of constructing fish bypasses. We see that as the remit of Inland Fisheries Ireland and their parent department. The provision of new infrastructure is a separate question. We did get some contribution from the department towards the design stages of this. We are driving it on to detailed design. We are coming fast to a point where we will have a detailed design and our costings. The funding will be the key to advancing to the next stage, he added. In reply Cllr ODonoghue appealed for a common sense approach from all the stakeholders. We need the weir restored and a fish pass put in place. We need common sense and joined up thinking. I would be worried about different departments passing the buck. I would ask that all concerning parties come together and get the fish pass and the weir put in place as soon as possible. Fine Gael councillor Noel McCarthy then enquired how much the fish pass and the weir repairs will cost. In reply Mr Morey said: The consultants are working at the moment. By year end we will have a perspective on it. They have to access the weirs condition and look at the changes in the construction costs. We will have a perspective soon and that brings us to the point of how do we advance the project from here. It was unanimously agreed that a letter would be sent to the Minister for Finance Jack Chambers seeking the necessary funding to restore the weir and the fish bypass in the River Blackwater. Stock picture of PepsiCo who were named the International and Overall Cork Company of the Year 2024 earlier this year. The Cork Company of the Year Awards 2025 are now open for entries. The Cork Chamber awards are widely regarded as a coveted platform through which ambitious businesses can gain much-deserved recognition for their advances, innovation and growth. The four distinct award categories allow for all variety of businesses to enter so that the true diversity of the Cork business community can be celebrated. Rob Horgan, President of Cork Chamber, said: "The Cork business community is central to the regions economic growth. It is important that we take stock of the real value that our business community is making - innovating for change, investing for growth and advancing sustainability as a central strategic pillar. Mr Horgan continued: The Cork Company of the Year Awards are highly competitive, but they provide an unparalleled opportunity to demonstrate your achievements. We want to see how your team has excelled to achieve the exceptional. Share your journey and highlight the remarkable story behind your company. Naoimh Frawley, Director of People, Operations & Governance, Cork Chamber emphasised the growing importance of sustainability in this years awards: The Cork Company of the Year Awards celebrate some of the outstanding achievements of businesses across Cork. From start-ups and SMEs to large enterprises, Corks businesses continue to innovate, adapt, and contribute to the strength of our local economy. We encourage all eligible companies to enter and share their inspiring journeys. With the expertise of our dedicated judging panel, support of sponsor Vodafone Business and media partner Irish Examiner, we look forward to showcasing Cork's most exceptional and sustainable businesses, she added. The four award categories are: Emerging Cork Company of the Year - For companies that are less than five years in business from first revenues demonstrating growth potential, innovation, and strategic vision. Cork SME Company of the Year - This category is open to indigenous Irish companies, from startups to well-established businesses with fewer than 75 employees. Large Cork Company of the Year - This category is open to Irish-owned companies with over 75 employees, that have significantly impacted the Cork business landscape with impressive growth, innovation, and market leadership. International Cork Company of the Year: The international category is for internationally owned companies with a local and global workforce that have a significant impact on Cork. PepsiCo was named the International and Overall Cork Company of the Year 2024 earlier this year. Commenting on the achievement Mary Lane, Senior Director Commercialisation, PepsiCo said: It was an honour to receive both the Cork Chambers International Company of the year award and the Overall Cork Company of the year award in 2024. Sinead Scully, Head of Large Business, Vodafone Ireland said: "The entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and talent that exists across the business sector in Cork, is second to none. We are looking forward once again to another exciting and inspiring competition. To complete the entry form please visit https://www.corkchamber.ie/cork-company-of-the-year-awards/ Closing date for all completed applications is Monday, October 14 2024. The winners in each category along with the Overall Cork Company of the Year will be announced in February 2025. The event will feature guest speakers who have first-hand experience of dementia A free Community Dementia Information Evening which is aimed at benefiting local families living with a diagnosis of the illness will be held in Charleville next week. The event, which is part of series of dementia information events being held across County Cork, will feature guest speakers who have first-hand experience of dementia. From the event, people living with a diagnosis and their carers will gain information on the community-based supports and advocacy services available to those living with the illness. Due to speak at the event are Charlie Drake, who is living with a dementia diagnosis, Ann Cunningham, a family carer, Dr Emma Jennings, a consultant geriatrician, Amy Murphy, a dementia advisor for the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and Sheena Cadoo, an occupational therapist. North Cork Dementia Alliance and Kevin Quaid will also be present. Saoirse Ni Chrualaoich, a HSE principal community worker with Cork North Community Work Department, said her organisation are delighted to be bringing the information evening to north Cork. These events are made possible through collaboration between the HSE and Community and voluntary partners and we hope that they will be beneficial to local families living with a diagnosis of dementia, Saoirse said,. Ann Cunningham, who cares for her husband Tom, highlighted the importance of joining the Dementia Evenings. We hope that some of the different topics discussed will give knowledge and comfort to both carers and people with dementia, Ann said. The information evening is open to anyone living with a diagnosis of Dementia, family carers, home helps (health care support assistants), professionals or those with an interest in learning more about Dementia. To book a place at this event please phone or 021 4928389 or email Ciara.Murphy36@hse.ie Plans to reduce emergency ambulance cover in Cork County and Kerry have been discarded following a late intervention by the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. Proposed changes to overtime arrangements in the South West region were scheduled to come into effect on Monday, September 23 following a recent decision by the HSE to cut funding. These proposed changes included shifts dropped at stations in Mallow on Monday, Millstreet on Tuesday, Macroom on Wednesday, Kanturk on Thursday and Fermoy on Friday. Shifts were also scheduled to be dropped in Skibbereen on Monday, Castletownbere on Tuesday and Clonakilty on Thursday. Cuts were also due to be implemented to shifts in various towns in Kerry. Fianna Fail councillor Gearoid Murphy welcomed the eleventh-hour intervention from Minister Donnelly. I would like to welcome the intervention by the Minister for Health to ensure no reduction in service for ambulances throughout Cork. It would have been completely unacceptable to reduce the service in the manner which was being proposed. Cllr Murphy continued: What was particularly concerning about this situation was how quickly it arose, the lack of any of notification from the decision-makers to the local community and how little time there was before it was to take effect. I am glad to see this badly-needed service confirmed. Labour Party councillor Eoghan Kenny however called on Minister Donnelly to clarify if the ambulance cuts reversal will apply in the North Cork region. I want Minister Donnelly to announce these proposed cuts will also be reversed in North Cork. It has to be fully reversed. These cuts would have a detrimental impact on the area, in particular my home town of Mallow. Im asking the minister to confirm that the proposed cuts, would be fully reversed across the entire Cork and Kerry region. Cllr Kenny also demanded to know what the various government TDs in North Cork did to ensures the proposed plans were scrapped. It was revealed that government TDs in the South West made the case to the Minister. What cases were made by government TDs in this area? Where has Junior Health Minister Colm Burke been? The paramedics should not be in limbo, in terms of not knowing whether or not there will be cuts or not to their rosters. This is victory for people power, said People Before Profit-Solidarity TD for Cork North Central Mick Barry after the huge public backlash to the proposed ambulance cuts. Anger against these cuts spread like wildfire across County Cork over the last couple of days and left the government and the National Ambulance Service with little option but to climb down." "The climbdown on the cuts to ambulance services must now lead on to the provision of greater resources to the service in the form of more staff and in the form of more ambulances too, he added. Charlotte Cahill tells of as frustration and fears for Cyra (5) due to refusal after refusal for primary school place A Dublin mum who has a daughter with special needs says she may be left with no school to go to next year after she was refused a place in 32 schools across south Dublin. Charlotte Cahills five-year-old daughter Cyra has not been granted a school place for this year and is now in pre-school for the third year in a row. Cyra has a diagnosis of autism, epilepsy, pathological demand avoidance, and an eating disorder. She has been attending a special pre-school for children with autism as she cannot get a place in a primary school. Ms Cahill told the Irish Independent: Shes had two years of pre-school and just started back again. She was at creche beforehand so shes very much ready for primary school now. I applied to 32 schools across Tallaght, Crumlin, Walkinstown, Clondalkin, Dublin 8, Dublin 10 all on the southside of Dublin. I have just been met with refusal after refusal. Theyre either oversubscribed or she doesn't meet the criteria for the school. This is the last year she can avail of preschool. With the support of her preschool and that routine of going to school, its gotten Cyra to a position where she can function and have a normal life. My daughter is now going back to do a third year in preschool while 90pc of her class is moving on to primary school, where she should be going. Keeping her back this year is really detrimental. Shes bored, shes doing the same thing repeatedly. But Im petrified that if we remove pre-school from her without anything else in place, shell start going backwards. I begged for help, but nobody wanted to help, so I went out myself and did the training Despite doing everything she can for her daughter, Ms Cahill is struggling to find a primary school place for Cyra and is now worried she wont get a spot for September 2025. Our chances of getting a school place are just slim. Its cruel because she is ready for those next steps and theyre holding her back because of the lack of school places, she added. Im just absolutely petrified that she doesnt get a school place. God knows whats going to happen with our situation. I gave up my job to look after Cyra and Ive worked hard to help her regulate herself. I begged for help, but nobody wanted to help, so I went out myself and did the training. I went to OT [occupational therapy] courses. Ive done anything that I could to try and get knowledge to help her. Cyra has been spoken about in the Dail multiple times. I go out and protest, Ive taken legal action, but we just keep meeting brick walls. We were told by Hildegarde Naughton that every child in the country with special educational needs will have a school place for September. But its been a case of kicking the can from one person to the next. She has to get a school place for next year, otherwise my child is going to have massive regression The State has failed Cyra since she was born. With Cyras complex needs, boredom really causes a lot of the self-harming behaviours. If she's not stimulated enough by the activities provided, shell become agitated. This is Cyras last time to avail of a pre-school year this year. If shes not able to get a school place next year thats it, there's no more extensions she can get. I need a place for her, this is something that must happen. She has to get a school place for next year, otherwise my child is going to have massive regression, she's going to be at home. Cyra has improved a lot since starting pre-school, but it has been a journey to get to where she is now. Cyra Cahill has a diagnosis of autism, epilepsy, pathological demand avoidance and an eating disorder Two years ago, I was at a point where I thought I was going to have to put my child into residential care because I didn't know what to do with her, Ms Cahill said. "She didnt sleep, she wouldn't eat, she was admitted to hospital multiple times for self-harming behaviours. She ruptured one of her blood vessels in her eye herself. It pains me to even speak about it, it was horrific. "Watching your two-year-old toddler hurt herself, its something that I would never want anybody to ever have to go through. The fear of not having a supportive school, its causing so much stress because it would have detrimental effects on my family and on Cyra. She is the most loving, soft soul. The minute somebody comes into the room, she wants her attention, she wants to hug them and kiss them. "Shes a lovely little girl and she's so playful. In the last year alone being in her pre-school, the change, it's like watching your child blossom from being so distressed and constantly upset to seeing this beautiful little girl that just wants to play with kids. She is the most loving, soft soul Right now, shes doing amazing, and she really is thriving in school and even at home. She loves to be around people, she loves to be around other children, other adults, and she loves to learn. My biggest fear is removing what we have in place and not having anything else to replace pre-school because she really thrives on routine. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: The provision of appropriate school places for children with special educational needs is a priority for the Government. Responsibility for ensuring the provision of special classes lies with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and as Minister of State with responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion, Minister Naughton is determined to ensure that all children who require a placement can access this as quickly as possible. 11 new special schools have been opened in recent years. Minister Naughton is meeting with NCSE every week to discuss progress being made to ensure that every child has a school place for the 2024/25 school year. In response to an increased level of need for special education placements, the NCSE and the Department have worked with a number of schools over the summer period to provide extra capacity. It is expected there will be further progress in relation to the admission of students into these additional places very shortly. The NCSE has a dedicated contact point for parents/guardians and regular updates are provided to parents/guardians of children who remain without the offer of a special education placement. The NCSE is available to assist this family. Minister Norma Foley TD and Oisin Doyle cutting the tape at the opening of the St Brendans Centre at St Brendans College Killarney with Alek Surmimski, Cillian OSullivan, Cian Horan, Teachers Annette ONeill, Catriona OCarroll, and Anita OSullivan, Max Fowler, Colin Flynn, Suhail Mallick and Sean Coffey on Friday. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. Minister Norma Foley TD meeting some of the St Brendans College choir who performed for her at the opening of the St Brendans Centre on Friday. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. Minister Norma Foley TD with Max Fowler Alek Surmimski, Aine OSullivan and Anita OSullivan at the opening of the St Brendans Centre at St Brendans College Killarney on Friday. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. Minister Norma Foley TD greeted by Jim OBrien, Sean Coffey Principal, Lorna Larkin and Bernadette Randles, Board of Management, at the opening of the St Brendans Centre at St Brendans College Killarney with Music teacher Niamh OConnell and Orna Cleary, SNA. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. Minister Norma Foley TD with Oisin Doyle, who sang for the Minister at the opening of the St Brendans Centre. Also included is Oisins mother, Maire, and teacher, Niamh OConnell. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. Minister Norma Foley TD with Max Fowler at the opening of the St Brendans Centre at St Brendans College Killarney on Friday. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. Cillian OSullivan making a presentation to Minister for Education Norma Foley TD who officially opened the St Brendans Centre, St Brendans College, Killarney on Friday. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. There were plenty of joyous scenes at St Brendans College in Killarney last Friday on what marked a special day for the popular school. Minister for Education Norma Foley paid an official visit to officially open a new special education base at St Brendans College that will benefit pupils now and in the future. The special education base is located at the Brendan Centre Building and contains two special classes for students with autism and a multi-disability class. Minister Norma Foley TD greeted by Jim OBrien, Sean Coffey Principal, Lorna Larkin and Bernadette Randles, Board of Management, at the opening of the St Brendans Centre at St Brendans College Killarney with Music teacher Niamh OConnell and Orna Cleary, SNA. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. Minister Foley congratulated St Brendans College on successfully opening the new facilities. The Minister also thanked the wider school community, parents, staff, board of management and pupils for campaigning for their school. I wish them continued success. It is a wonderful reflection of the schools inclusive ethos and determination to meet the needs of all pupils, Minister Foley said. Minister for Education Norma Foley met with teacher Ann Culloty and Paul Barden and their St Brendans College students. Jack Murphy (centre) Tadhg Kissane OSullivan, Harry Bolger, Evan Lemass, Michak Pingo (back) Cian Forde, Sean Slabys and Ted OGorman with Sean Coffey Principal at St Brendans College Killarney on Friday. Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin. Pupils from St Brendans College in Killarney recently enjoyed a life-enhancing visit to Lourdes with their teachers as volunteers with the Diocesan Pilgrimage. The pupils spent a week assisting pilgrims in Lourdes in what was an enjoyable experience for all. The week consisted of early mornings and late nights with many new friendships forged along the way in an environment of giving back. Among the learning experience gained by the students was feeling grateful for everything they have in their lives at home, as volunteering gave them the opportunity to reflect. The pupils took part in a torchlight procession in a crowd of thousands, serving food in the Accueil, while listening to stories from interesting people. This created a snapshot of what we were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to experience. As well as this, the week was an excellent opportunity for us strengthen our faiths and come closer to God, said student, Evan Lemass. When Paul Barden first mentioned the trip to Lourdes, the students instantly felt it was an adventure they were drawn to. Yet none of them could have imagined how positive an experience it would be overall. Whether it was pulling a chariot up one of Lourdes many hills or simply sitting down for a chat, anyone could see the joy we were able to bring to people through our time and friendliness, he added. As we return to Ireland, I would like to thank all those involved in organising the pilgrimage for their time, devotion and dedication to ensuring that all of the pilgrims had a greatly enjoyable week. "I would also like to thank Mr Paul Barden and Ms Ann Culloty for the role they played in making it such a memorable week, Evan said. NewKD (North East & West Kerry Development) is delighted to announce the celebration of Local Development Week. From Monday 23 September to Friday 27 a weeklong celebration will spotlight the vital role Local Development Companies (LDCs) play in building vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. As part of the Local Development Sector, NewKD works tirelessly to support community development, social inclusion, enterprise, and environmental sustainability. Local Development Week will provide an opportunity to raise awareness about the impactful work LDCs do daily while enhancing the quality of life of people throughout our area. NewKD will host information mornings at its offices to showcase its unique contributions to communities. The public is encouraged to visit each of NewKDs offices between 10am and 1pm each day as follows: Monday (23 September) 20 Upper William Street, Listowel V31 TR68; Tuesday (24) at Aras an Phobail, Criolar na Mistealach, Deans Lane, Tralee V92 CRW8; Wednesday (25) at 44 Main Street, Castleisland V92 DT96. In addition to the local activities, NewKDs national organisation will host two major national events in Dublin, aimed at celebrating key achievements within the sector and highlighting important developments. These events will take place at Buswells Hotel, 23-27 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2. On Tuesday 24th September Minister Joe OBrien will launch ILDNs Annual Report, and on Wednesday 25th September there will be the opportunity for our representatives in the Dail to meet with us. The first section of PANCR, from Rosehall roundabout leading to Ballymakenny Road. Photo Paul Connor Construction of the second phase of the Port Area Northern Cross Route (PANCR) will begin next spring and could be complete by the end of 2025, after Louth County Council approved the sale of a 14-hectare site to developer, Murphy Homes. Funds from the 5.6m sale will be used to start the next section of road, from Newtownstalaban to the railway line north of Aston Village. The second phase of the road is estimated to cost in the region of 12m, but Louth County Council will also receive development levies of approximately 7m when the estimated 500-600 new homes are built by Murphy Homes. The first phase of the long-awaited ring road was completed early this year, running from the Rosehall roundabout to the Ballymakenny Road. It has proven to be huge relief to motorists, easing congestion at Crosslanes and around Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. It has also paved the way for the development of hundreds of new homes. The third phase of the project will be more complicated as it will involve crossing the Dublin-Belfast railway line at Commons. Talks have already taken place with Irish Rail, where it was mooted that they would take on the construction of the section that crosses the tracks. PANCR will eventually link the M1 motorway to Drogheda Port, essentially eradicating HGVs from the town centre, while it will also open up huge expanses of agricultural land for housing developments. The news also prompted Louth councillors to double down on their call for a train startion on the north side of town. Cathaoirleach, Kevin Callan, tabled a motion proposing that he lead a cross party grouping to begin pushing ministers, government department's, the NTA and Irish Rail to create a Drogheda North Train Station where the rail line meets the Northern Cross Route. That group will also continue to lobby Irish Rail and the NTA to re-open Dunleer train station as it emerged that 27,000 people live within 10km of the station. Remembering the Armada, a four day commemorative festival, will take place in Sligo next weekend September 19th-22nd 2024. The centrepiece event is a commemorative parade between Streedagh Beach and the Armada monument that overlooks the beach. Led by the Spanish naval band from the OPV Carnota, this walk will follow the steps taken by the few survivors of the Spanish Armada at Streedagh on September 21st 1588, when three Armada ships sank and over 1,100 men were lost. A specially commissioned art installation will be prepared from early morning at the beach and a new monument by local artist Martha Quinn will be unveiled by members of the Spanish Navy in memory of those who died. Elsewhere, a one day Spanish Armada Conference will take place at the Southern Hotel in Sligo on Friday September 20th. Organised by the National Monuments Service, this will feature expert historians and divers who have explored the Streedagh wrecks and will relay the latest information about their discoveries. Other notable events include a Spanish guitar recital, the Armada-themed Tide & Ties art exhibition being hosted at the Hamilton Gallery, reenactments of 16th century life by Tercio Irlanda, and a boat trip to Parkes Castle on Lough Gill, which in the 16th century was owned by Brian ORourke, one of the local chieftains who helped the Armada survivors. The weekends events are organised by Spanish Armada Ireland, a local voluntary group who are running this event for the fourteenth time this year. It is the most extensive programme of events organised by the group and coincides with a surge in interest in Armada heritage and history both here in Ireland and in Spain, says Eddie OGorman, Chair of Spanish Armada Ireland. We have nineteen events that range from the historical to the cultural. We will have experts and writers in attendance, and there is plenty for the first time visitor to enjoy too. The Armada story has fascinated us here in Sligo for many years and we hope to share some of this knowledge with our many visitors next weekend. The events will begin with an official welcome of the crew of the Spanish naval vessel OPV Carnota at Killybegs Harbour on Thursday 19th September. From there the programme will move to Sligo, Grange and at Streedagh, encompassing a varied seriesof intercultural events. On Sunday 22nd, the theme moved from the historical to the environmental, sporting and artistic, with a series of climate change events taking place at Streedagh Beach. Other events that day include a writers workshop, 8km walk and run, free yoga class and Armadascapes exhibition. Many of the events are free to the public, and information on all of these as well as the ticketed events can be found at www.SpanishArmadaIreland.com/festival. Gardai arrive with the four men charged in relation to a 7million drugs haul at Gorey District Court. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin Four men have appeared before a judge at Gorey District Court this afternoon after being charged in relation to a 7 million cocaine seizure that formed part of a massive, international multi-agency investigation. Gardai from the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau swooped on a farmyard in the Kilmuckridge area of North Wexford on Monday morning and uncovered 100kg of cocaine concealed within a truck. Today's News in 90 seconds - 19th September 2024 The four were later arrested and taken to garda stations across Wexford for questioning and were eventually charged before being brought before Judge John Cheatle at Gorey District Court. Haulier Dean Chambers (47), owner of Dean Chambers Transport Ltd, with an address at The Lodge, Whitepark, Arklow, appeared alongside Patrick Kinsella (52) of Ballyoughter, Ballygarrett, Co Wexford, Wojciech Kuzio (31), a Polish national with an address at Main Street, Arklow and Karl Dowling (52) of 1 Birch Close, Bellefield, Ferrybank, Co Waterford. All four were charged with possession of drugs and possession of drugs for sale or supply, namely cocaine. Kuzio made no application for bail, while gardai strongly objected to bail being granted to Chambers, Kinsella and Dowling. Patrick Kinsella pictured this afternoon at Gorey District Court. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin Having heard an outline of the alleged facts and noted the concerns of detectives attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, noting that none of the accused had previous convictions Judge John Cheatle said that he was minded to grant bail with strict conditions including a substantial cash lodgement, signing on daily at their local garda station and a curfew between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. It was also stressed that none of the accused should have contact with each other. Karl Dowling pictured this afternoon at Gorey District Court. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin Addressing concerns around the potential to re-offend, Judge Cheatle said: "I realise someone doesnt become involved in a 7 million drug operation by chance, but I would assume that the defendants would be under significant garda scrutiny between now and trial. Judge Cheatle was minded to agree with the defence solicitors that their clients were entitled to the presumption of innocence and he noted: theres no doubt that this is a serious charge, but the defendants have no previous convictions whatsoever. All four men were remanded in custody to appear before Wexford District Court on Monday, with consent to bail noted for Chambers, Dowling and Kinsella, pending lodgement of documents such as a full statement of means and declaration of assets and liabilities. Wojciech Kuzio pictured this afternoon at Gorey District Court. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin Earlier today, Gardai stated that the 7 million cocaine seizure was part of a major international operation. It saw a total of 15.2 million worth of cocaine, 350,000 cash, 320,000 cannabis, 100,000 heroin, 42 suspected Ghost encrypted devices and 153 other electronic devices seized over the course of 33 searches nationwide, with a total of 11 arrests made. Gardai liaised with law enforcement colleagues from across the globe around the operation, including Europol, the Australian Federal Police and the FBI. Mykola Syniuka who is 75 years old, had his leg amputated in June, 2024 due to complications with diabetes and blood pressure. A 75-year-old Ukrainian amputee and his close friend have been searching for a wheelchair accessible home in north Wexford for several months but to no avail, hes set to return to Gorey at the beginning of October, and unfortunately it appears theyll have to revert to Plan B. Mykola Syniuka has been living in Gorey with his close friend and carer Nataliia Lishchytovych since they fled the war in Ukraine in 2022. Mykola's health deteriorated soon after he moved to Ireland and he was soon diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure. He had really deteriorated, just broken into pieces and I tried to collect him. After that everything started with his leg, he couldnt move, it went green. It was operated on last year in St Vincents Hospital but unfortunately it didnt help too much and at the beginning of this June, his leg was amputated to above his knee. "Hes in a wheelchair now but hes very brave, he doesnt want to give up. He doesnt cry or shout, he believes everything will be fine. Him and I dream of coming home as soon as it is possible but nobody knows when really, said Nataliia. Mykola and Natalia who is 70 years, have been close friends for more than 30 years and lived in the same town in Ukraine before the war began. After their village close to Kiev was attacked and selected as the Russian headquarters in Ukraine, Nataliia and Mykola left their homes and travelled to the west. They eventually left Ukraine for good in March 2022 and spent a week in Slovakia before deciding to move to Ireland. I just Googled where we could go using our Ukrainian passports. We didnt have Biometrics at that time and the only country that accepted old-fashioned Ukrainian passports was Ireland. This is why we purchased two tickets and took a flight from Bratislava to Dublin, said Nataliia. Mykolas eldest son Dmytro was tragically killed on the second day of the war while defending Kiev, when a missile struck an army truck he was in. Mykolas other son Viktor was also wounded by this missile and is currently in hospital in Ukraine, having suffered several injuries on the frontline. Unfortunately, he lost his eldest son on the second day of the war, it was a disaster and such a tragedy for him. I believe that his health deteriorated because of that, said Nataliia. Mykola doesnt speak English and has had some health issues since moving to Ireland which is why Nataliia decided to share an apartment with him and help care for him. We have so many friends here really were so grateful to our destiny that after all we have such fantastic friends amongst Irish people and Ukrainian people here in Gorey. Really its amazing." All of them are now very worried for the situation that Mykola now cannot keep living in this apartment where I live because its not for a disabled person, said Nataliia. The apartment Nataliias currently living in is paid for by the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) monthly payment worth 800. It is on the ground floor but the corridors are too narrow to cater to Mykolas wheelchair and the toilet is not wheelchair accessible either. An occupational therapist has advised them to look for other accommodation locally as it is not possible for Mykolas wheelchair to go in and out of the current apartment due to its size. Although they wont be living together anymore, Nataliia says she will continue to care for Mykola at his new accommodation. Im not his wife, hes not my husband but I have no other choice. Look at how Irish people take care of their dogs, I see that in Gorey park everyday and I adore that attitude so how can I stop caring about my friend, she said. Mykola studied Physics at university but has always been interested in history. Following his retirement, he began writing and has since published several books on Ukrainian history. Even now in hospital, hes still writing those books. Before he became so sick, he was also interested in Irish history and there are many historical places around Gorey to look at so we used to go there until his leg became so sick and didnt allow him to keep doing that, said Natalia. Natalia has tried every avenue to secure accessible accommodation for Mykola but has little to show for it and time is quickly running out as he will have to return home from Marilyn Nursing Home, where he currently resides in Dublin, at the beginning of October. He visits the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire several times a week and has made a lot of progress since his leg was amputated in June. He will continue visiting the National Rehabilitation Hospital weekly for the foreseeable future. Theres such a great programme, he calls me everyday maybe around ten times and tells me, hes never seen such care, they even care about my psychology and they ask me about my mood and they try to convince me that my life is not over, she said. Mykola has already started using a prosthetic limb and has even taken a few steps with it. Hes coming back to life. When I look at him, I am proud. Im proud to be Ukrainian. Hes 75 but hes a real soldier, she said. Although, living in Dublin would cut down on Mykolas commute to the hospital and rehabilitation centre, Nataliia hopes that Mykola will find accommodation in Gorey because all of their friends live locally and theyve received great support from them since they moved to the area. As soon as we need any transportation, I know who to call for that help. If something should be purchased in the shop and I have no time, I know who to address, we feel our friends arms around us. Dublin would be like a dream, but I dont believe in dreams, said Nataliia. Up until Mykolas health got worse in recent months, both Nataliia and Mykola were actively involved with the local Ukrainian community in Gorey. I helped my Ukrainian friends to visit the Intro office, ambulance, doctors, and everything with English translation. My English is probably not perfect but it is a little bit better than many Ukrainians living here, said Natalia. Red Cross Ireland recently suggested an apartment in the midlands but there is no public transport service available within reaching distance and it is several hours away from the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin. Theyve contacted Social Services but that was also unsuccessful. Thanks to Red Cross because they do try but that is the only option. My plan B if nothing is found is that hell return here and well share this accommodation. It doesnt fit and it doesnt suit but nevertheless Ill try. I try not to think too much about it but just believe that something will work out, she said. Dalata Hotel Group are in "exclusive discussions" around a sale of Clayton White's Hotel in Wexford town. The Maldron Hotel in Wexford has been acquired by the Neville Park Hotel Group. The Dalata Hotel group has confirmed the sale of the Maldron Hotel in Wexford, while they are also in discussions regarding the sale of the iconic Clayton Whites Hotel in the heart of the town. The largest hotel operators in Ireland, Dalata confirmed this morning (Wednesday) that contracts had been exchanged with The Neville Park Hotel Group, owned by Wexford man Colm Neville. Dalata confirmed that the team currently employed at The Maldron will transfer across to the Neville Park Hotel Group and they have commenced a comprehensive process of employee engagement to ensure a seamless transition. The changeover is expected to be completed by November 5. The Maldron will be a welcome addition to the Neville group, which also consists of The Crown Quarter in Wexford, The Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy and The Midlands Hotel in Portlaoise. The sale of The Maldron was assisted by Savills and Dalata described it as an opportunity to capitalise on an attractive valuation and recycle capital through Dalatas business to drive further growth. The company stressed that they remain committed to the Irish market and its portfolio of Clayton and Maldron hotels nationwide. However, they also confirmed that they are in exclusive discussions with a preferred bidder regarding the sale of Clayton Whites Hotel in Wexford. The company purchased the iconic Wexford hotel outright back in 2014, having operated it for five years previously on behalf of a receiver. Dalata Hotel Group are in "exclusive discussions" around a sale of Clayton White's Hotel in Wexford town. Speaking of the sale of the Maldron, CEO of the Dalata Group Dermot Crowley said: I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Dalata to sincerely thank the team at Maldron Hotel Wexford, who have been an important part of the Groups journey. "This is an excellent, well-run hotel, with a strong team in place, and I have no doubt it will continue to perform strongly as part of The Neville Park Hotel Group. Our immediate priority, is to continue engaging with our employees as we assist them with the transition. Meanwhile, Wexford man Colm Neville is excited to get started as the hotels new owner. "I am extremely happy to have been able to purchase such an esteemed property in my home county of Wexford, he said. The potential the Maldron Hotel has is immense, and I am very excited to add it to our portfolio. The hotels strategic location and the loyalty of its team, some of whom have been with the hotel for over 15 years, make it a fantastic addition. "We hope to continue their long-standing service and see great potential to grow the bar and restaurant business within the local market." Cattle Sale - September 11: Improving trade for all cattle types. Sample prices - Bullocks: 1 x Lim 440kg made 1,200; 1 x Lim 410kg made 1,180; 1 x Lim 400kg made 1,180; 1 x Lim 380kg made 1,000; 1 x Her 300kg made 750; 1 x Her 310kg made 700. Suckler Cows with calves at foot made up to 2,000. Fat Cows made from 7501,100 Sheep Sale - September 14: Bigger sale today with some very good quality Cheviot Hoggets and Ewe lambs. Plenty of farmers buying store lambs: 34kg40kg. Suffolk X 3 & 4 y.o. made up to 220. Rams in demand and made from 250 up to 660. Fat and Factory lambs up 13 Lambs: 10 x 40kg made 160; 10 x 44kg made 160; 10 x 47kg made 158; 4 x 45kg made 155; 5 x 56kg made 154; 9 x 45kg made 151; 3 x 44kg made 148; 4 x 46kg made 148; 8 x 45kg made 144; 15 x 44kg made 137; 17 x 40kg made 133; 11 x 40kg made 129; 11 x 42kg made 129; 11 x 42kg made 126; 10 x 35kg made 125; 11 x 32kg made 120; 11 x 38kg made 120; 10 x 39kg made 119; 12 x 40kg made 119; 12 x 38kg made 116; 8 x 37kg made 111. BLESSINGTON Sheep SaleSeptember 10: Very large sale with over 4500 Sheep on offer. We are delighted to say that we broke both the Cheviot Hogget and Ewe Lamb Record here today, with 430 for Hoggets and 305 for Ewe Lambs. Thank you to all our sellers and buyers. Heavy Lambs 158 to 166 or 100 to 115 over /kg; Factory Lambs 132 to 159 or 90 to 114 over /kg; Store Lambs 90 to 130 or 66 to 94 over /kg; Suffolk Ewe Lambs 150 to 225 or 120 to 175 over /kg; Cheviot Ewe Lambs 120 to 305 or 100 to 265 over /kg; Heavy Ewes 160 to 218 per head; Lighter Ewes 86 to 152 per head; Suffolk Cross Hogget Ewes 240 to 325 per head; Suffolk 3+4 Year Olds 200 to 240 per head; Cheviot Hogget Ewes 280 to 430 per head; Cheviot 3+4 Year Olds 170 to 300 per head. Cattle Sales September 12: Big sale of cattle, and a very strong trade for all classes. Beef & Forward Store Bullocks 1,460 to 1,910 over/Kg; Continental Store Bullocks 560 to 1,300 over /kg; HF/AA Store Bullocks 460 to 1,080 over /kg; Fr Store Bullocks 300 to 760 over /kg; Beef Heifers 1,300 to 1,560 over /kg; Cont. Store Heifers 520 to 1,270 over /kg; HE/AA Store Heifers 400 to 900 over /kg; Beef Cows 600 to 860 over /kg; Feeding Cows 260 to 580 over /kg. CARNEW Weanling Report- September 11: A total of 642 head of top quality cattle on offer. The yard in Carnew Mart Wednesday evening was full of exceptional quality stock which was a true credit to the farmers. Ringside saw farmers, specialist feeders and exporter customers battling it out for the outstanding cattle on show. While online was melting with bids coming from north, south, east & west to try secure the much sought after top quality stock. Prize Winners Heifers: Shay Hayden (x3). Bulls: Martin Doyle (2), Owen ONeill, Heifer prices: LMX 506kg, at 3,460; LMX 386kg, at 2,360; BBX 422kg, at 2,460; BB 430kg, at 2,420; BB 476kg, at 2,540; BBX 398kg, at 2,000; BBX 422kg, at 2,120; BBX 404kg, at 2,020; BB 404kg, at 1,980; BBX 416kg, at 2,040; BBX 294kg, at 1,240; BBX 452kg, at 1,9004. Bull prices: BB 498kg, at 2,320; BBX 324kg, at 1,330; LMX 568kg, at 2,300; LMX 358kg, at 1,430; BBX 476kg, at 1,900; BBX 504kg, at 2,000; LMX 354kg, at 1,380; BBX 400kg, at 1,560; BBX 388kg, at 1,510; LMX 564kg, at 2,190. If you wish to talk more about the sale, please contact Eugene Clune 0879922868. Sheep Report - September 12: Similar size sale to last week with 3867 sheep on offer. There was very strong farmer demand ringside for stores with online taking the lead for the more forward heavier type of sheep. Prices: 5 M/L 58kg, at 174; 1 R/L 58kg, at 166; 2 R/L 52kg, at 160; 3 R/L 48kg, at 159; 4 R/L 52kg, at 158; 12 M/L 51kg, at 157; 16 R/L 48kg, at 158; 19 E/W 48kg, at 154; 10 M/L 47kg, at 154; 22 R/L 48kg at 153. 1 Ram 110kg at 312; 2 ewes 102kg at 206; 2 ewes 90kg at 186; 4 ewes 86kg at 184; 1 Ewe 88kg at 183; 5 ewes 86kg at 180; 14 ewes 77kg at 172; 8 ewes 84kg at 165. 45Kg + : 134174. 40Kg44kg: 127150. 35Kg39kg: 111127. 30Kg34kg: 90111. Breeding Ewes: 220272. Aged Ewes: 160240. Brood Rams: 350700. If you wish to talk more about the sale, please contact Eugene Clune at 087 9922868. The Wednesday superstar Jenna Ortega was spotted attending Chappell Roans concert in Dublin last night. The American actress was seen watching the show, sitting on one of the balconies on the right side of the stage at 3Olympia Theatre on Dame Street in the south city centre on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, other Wednesday stars joined Ortega for the gig including Emma Myers who plays Enid Sinclair in the Netflix hit. Many fans have shared videos of Ortega waving at fans ahead of Roans gig at 3Olympia on social media. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content It comes as the 21-year-old actress has been filming the second season of the Netflix hit Wednesday in Ireland as the production kicked off in early May. The show relocated from Romania to Ireland for the newest season, for which the production kicked off in early May. This season, Jenna Ortega is set not only to reprise her leading role in the series but also to sit in the producers seat. One of the worlds most famous directors Tim Burton, known for Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, will return as the series director. Ortega has also recently played Astrid Deetz in the long-awaited Beetlejuice Beetlejuice which premiered on September 6. In August, she was seen attending Beetlejuice Beetlejuice premieres around the world, including London and at the Venice International Film Festival. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The star-studded cast reprising their roles in the Beetlejuice sequel, also directed by Tim Burton, includes Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Catherine OHara, Winona Ryder and Monica Belucci. Meanwhile, other Wednesday stars have also been seen out and about in the Dublin area, such as the Reservoir Dogs star Steve Buscemi who is joining the series cast this season. He is set to make his debut as Barry Dort, the new principal of Nevermore Academy. On August 31, the 66-year-old actor, best known for his roles in movies such as Armageddon and The Big Lebowski, was spotted eating out at Bubbas Fish Market in the south Dublin town. He later intervened after a fight that started outside The Dalkey Duck pub in Dalkey. Wednesday is the most popular English TV series on Netflix, amassing 252.10 million views of season one. The series has spent 20 weeks on the global top 10 and the top 10 in 93 countries. latest | Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel Reuters Germany's arms exports to Israel slow sharply in 2024Legal challenges argue German arms exports breach humanitarian lawBerlin maintains there is no arms boycott against IsraelOther European countries also pausing arms exports to Israel German PM Olaf Scholz. Riham Alkousaa Wed 18 Sep 2024 at 21:31 Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry. A woman tries to extinguish a wildfire with a bucket of water next to her house in Vilarinho, Portugal. Photo: Reuters Three Portuguese firefighters died yesterday in one of dozens of forest blazes ravaging the countrys central and northern regions, bringing the death toll from the latest wildfires to seven people since Saturday, authorities said. LATEST | Pager explosion in civilian area extraordinarily worrying says Simon Harris as Hezbollah says devices were new brand Suspicion falls on Israel over shock attack that killed at least 11 and left thousands injuredHezbollah stopped using mobile phones due to fears they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence Hezbollah members among hundreds wounded after pagers explode Bassem Mroue Wed 18 Sep 2024 at 10:30 Taoiseach Simon Harris has said that a pager explosion attack in Lebanon that killed at least nine people was an extraordinarily worrying development. Remote-controlled machine guns and poisonous toothpaste: how Mossad has left its deadly mark on targets over the years Pager attack in Lebanon has all the hallmarks of Israels intelligence agency People gather outside a hospital in Beirut after a pager attack which left several dead and many more wounded. Photo: Reuters James Rothwell Wed 18 Sep 2024 at 03:30 Israel has a long history of inventive, unusual assassination methods, and reports that at least nine people may have been killed by exploding pagers in Lebanon could be its latest grim chapter. Hillary Clinton slams Elon Musk over his Taylor Swift rape post Clinton said Musks remarks were another way of saying rape Taylor Swift has 283 million Instagram followers. Photo: Gerry Mooney Benedict Smith Telegraph.co.uk Wed 18 Sep 2024 at 03:30 Hillary Clinton has accused Elon Musk of suggesting he would rape Taylor Swift, after he told the pop star: I will give you a child. Photo Courtesy: CDC Thiruvananthapuram/IBNS: Kerala Wednesday registered India's second monkeypox (Mpox) case with a 38-year-old man from Malappuram testing positive after returning from the United Arab Emirates, state health minister confirmed. The patient has been isolated and is being treated following established medical protocols. Health Minister Veena George said that the patient, on noticing symptoms, acted correctly by isolating himself from his family and was then got admitted at the state-run Manjeri Medical College. In a Facebook post, George urged the public to seek treatment and inform the Health Department if they displayed any of the known symptoms. Nine days ago India reported its first case when a young man, who had travelled from western Africa, tested positive for the virus in Delhi. He is reported to be stable and isolated to prevent the virus from spreading. The government had earlier said there is no indication of widespread risk to the public at this time, explaining that testing had confirmed the presence of 'clade 2' of the virus in the country and that this particular strain is "similar to 30 cases reported earlier in India, from July 2022 onwards". Last week the government issued directives to all state and union territories to "review public health preparedness, particularly at health facility level at state and districts by senior officials". First phase of polling underway in J&K. Photo courtesy: X.com/@SabreenaMalik7 Srinagar/IBNS: A historic three-phased election began on Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir as the union territory began voting to elect a government in the first post-Article 370 polls under a heavy security blanket. People queued up since morning to vote for the first time in 10 years across 3,276 polling stations in 24 constituencies in seven districts in this phase. A total of 219 candidates are contesting the polls in which 23.27 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots. Polling is being held in terrorism hit Doda and Kishtwar in the Chenab Valley region as well. Interestingly 42 per cent of the 219 candidates are Independents. In the first phase 16 seats are in Kashmir region and eight seats in Jammu region. The Assembly constituencies are on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountain range. Among the major contenders are the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party led by Mehbooba Mufti, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference of Omar Abdullah, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. There are several Independents. Abdul Ghani Lone's People's Conference, Ghulam Nabi Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party, and Altaf Bukhari's Apni Party are also in the fray. The banned Jamaat-e-Islami is also playing a role in the elections. It is supporting Awami Ittehad Party of Engineer Rashid, who stunned everyone by defeating from jail former chief minister Omar Abdullah in the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla. In Aug 2019, Rashid was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on terror funding charges. On Sept 11 this year, he was granted interim bail until Oct 2, allowing him to campaign for the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election. PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija Mufti is contesting her first Assembly poll from the Srigufwara-Bijbehara constituency in South Kashmir. Everyone who turned up for the elections in J&K has demonstrated a strong belief in the democratic process and a commitment to the #development of our region. J&K National Conference candidate from #Bijbehara South Kashmir @DrVeeri Casts Vote in Elections#EmpoweringJammuKashmir pic.twitter.com/QJTPWIatmm Sabreena Malik (@SabreenaMalik7) September 18, 2024 JK lieutenant governor Manoj posted on X handle: "J&K Assembly elections commence today. I call upon all the voters whose assembly constituencies are voting in the first phase today to turn out in record numbers & exercise their democratic rights. I especially urge youth, women and first-time voters to vote in large numbers." J&K Assembly elections commence today. I call upon all the voters whose assembly constituencies are voting in the first phase today to turn out in record numbers & exercise their democratic rights. I especially urge youth, women and first-time voters to vote in large numbers. Office of LG J&K (@OfficeOfLGJandK) September 18, 2024 The Jammu Kashmir Assembly polls are historic, being held for the first time since the region underwent major changes over the past five years, including the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. This led to the conversion of the state to a Union Territory (UT) and its division, with Ladakh becoming a separate UT without a legislature. Celebrating democracy as Kashmiri migrant voters cast their votes at special polling stations in Delhi! pic.twitter.com/Hs2hdMqauc BJP Jammu & Kashmir (@BJP4JnK) September 18, 2024 Celebrating democracy voters stand in long queues to cast their votes in Kulgam, Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/shkZprIAsZ BJP Jammu & Kashmir (@BJP4JnK) September 18, 2024 Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab Kolkata/IBNS: In no end to the healthcare crisis in West Bengal, state junior doctors, who are on ceasework demanding justice for the RG Kar rape-murder victim, refused to rejoin work until all their demands are fulfilled by the Mamata Banerjee government. In a press briefing following a General Body meeting, Dr. Aniket Mahato said, "In the face of our movement, the state government was forced to remove the Kolkata CP, DC North and two state health officials. We consider these steps as a win for our movement partly." But the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front has cleared that they won't quit ceasework until their other demands including the removal Principal Health Secretary, Narayan Nigam is met with. In reference to the Supreme Court's criticism of the Bengal government, Dr. Mahato said, "The Supreme Court made it clear that the Aparajita Law passed by the State reflects misogyny and a regressive mindset. We consider the decision to not allot night duties to women is opposed to women's security. "We don't consider hiring civic volunteers to provide security for women at hospitals is appropriate. Our concern also echoed in the Supreme Court yesterday. The government has also not been able to give documentation of the Rs. 100-crore fund which it proposed for security at hospitals." Dr. Mahato said the doctors want an immediate constitution of task forces in every college with adequate representations from his fraternity. The formation of Resident Doctors' Association and junior doctors' union in every college is also demanded by the protesters to dispel the atmosphere of fear amid 'threat culture' in the hospitals. "The Chief Minister had announced the existing committees in hospitals will be dissolved but it is yet to be implemented," said Dr. Mahato. As per reports, the junior doctors, who are camped outside the state health office for nine days now and in ceasework for 39 days, are keen for a meeting with the government again to press for the rest of their demands. Supreme Court slams Bengal govt over night duty diktat The Supreme Court on Tuesday rapped the West Bengal government over its decision to not allot night shifts to women doctors for safety issues in the wake of the RG Kar incident where a trainee doctor was raped and murdered in the state-run hospital last month. A top court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said as quoted by Live Law, "How can you say women cannot work at night? Why limit the women doctors? They don't want a concession...women are ready to work at exactly the same time shift." In a directive, the CJI told Sibal that it is the responsibility of the state government to provide security and not dictate women's working hours. "Mr.Sibal, you have to look at it. The answer to it is that you must give security. West Bengal should correct the notification, your duty is to provide security, you cannot say that women (doctors) cannot work at night! pilots, the army etc all work at night," the CJI said. Supreme Court on women's security at hospitals The Supreme Court has questioned the West Bengal government's 'Rattirer Sathi' app, which is aimed at providing security to women at night hours, lashing out at the intent to hire contractual employees for the job. "The culprit behind the RG Kar case is a civic volunteer," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud reminded advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing the State in the top court. "The civic volunteer could roam around the hospital due to lack of security. Will you again hire contractual employees for security purposes?" The top court made the remark during the hearing on the RG Kar case. The Kolkata Police had arrested civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy for allegedly raping and murdering a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Though the state counsel assured the CJI of appropriate steps on behalf of the local government, the CJI again posed questions over the appointment of contractual employees for safety and security of women. The top court has suggested the State to deploy police officials for security of women at hospitals highlighting the posting of contractual employees will raise questions over the security. Photo courtesy: PIB Washington/New Delhi/IBNS: Former US President Donald Trump has lauded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him "fantastic" but recognised the South Asian country as "tough" and "abuser" when it comes to tariffs. Trump said, "So when India, which is a very big abuser... [sic.] He (Narendra Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week. And, Modi is a fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic... These people are the sharpest people. "They are not a little bit backward... They are at the top of their game and they use it against us. But India is very tough. Brazil is very tough... China is the toughest of all. But we are taking care of China with the tariffs." Trump, whose bonhomie with Modi was evident during the former's tenure from 2016-2020, made the remark ahead of Modi's scheduled visit to the United States to attend the annual QUAD Summit next week. Modi will be in the US from September 21-24. Trump, a Republican candidate, is facing a tough contest from current US Vice President and Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris. The US Presidential elections will be held later this year. Breaking: US Presidential candidate Donald Trump says meeting with PM Modi next week & he is a "fantastic man". pic.twitter.com/qrG2OPJbHD Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) September 18, 2024 US President Joe Biden will be hosting the fourth Quad Leaders' Summit that will be held in Wilmington, Delaware. India will host the next Quad Summit in 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday. "Following the request of the US side to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025. At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last one year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations," the MEA said. The Quad meeting, to be attended by the leaders of Australia and Japan, will also be a farewell meeting for President Biden. While Biden is not running for a second term in the US presidential elections, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also set to resign from his post. Quad is a diplomatic partnership between four countries comprising Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. In recent years, Quad Foreign Ministers have met eight times and Quad governments continue to meet and coordinate at all levels. Photo courtesy: President of Russia X handle Moscow/IBNS: Russian president Vladimir Putin has come out with an unconventional strategy to address the declining birth rate in his country, encouraging people to have sex during work breaks. Putin made the remark after the country's fertility rate stands at 1.5 children per woman. The desirable figure is 2.1 to maintain the population stability. "The preservation of the Russian people is our highest national priority. The fate of Russia...depends on how many of us there will be. It is a question of national importance," Putin said as quoted by Hindustan Times. Russian Health Minister Dr. Yevgeny Shestopalov said tight work schedules should not act as a barrier for sex. Putin's idea was supported by Dr. Shestopalov who said, "You can have children during breaks." Moscow has introduced a slew of measures including free fertility checks, financial incentives to women for their first child, restriction of access to abortions et al. Earlier this year, Japan introduced a government dating application to boost marriage after the birth rate in the country fell to an unprecedented number. 7,27,277 new births were recorded last year in a country of 123.9 million. The fertility rate has also nosedived from earlier 1.26 to 1.20. In images screengrabs of Beirut's Walkie-talkie blasts from X videos Beirut/IBNS: A day after pagers exploded across Lebanon, killing nine people and injuring more than 2,800 others, walkie-talkie blasts were reported across Beirut in places regarded as the militant outfit Hezbollah stronghold, media reports said. The total number of walkie-talkies that blew up is not known yet, but the explosion may have left casualties. Iran-backed Hezbollah earlier in the day claimed to have attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets as a response to pager blasts that injured thousands of its members in Lebanon and triggered fear of a wider Middle East war. Israel's spy agency Mossad, which has a long history of sophisticated operations on foreign soil, planted explosives inside pagers that were imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, Reuters reported quoting a senior Lebanese security source and another source. Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad has confirmed that the blasts left nine people dead and around 2,800 wounded. Iran's state media had reported that its Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured in the pager explosion. Hezbollah, which is banned both by the United States and the European Union, is a political and military establishment in Lebanon. The group is backed by Iran. Hezbollah, meanwhile, backs Hamas, which has been at war with Israel in Gaza since October 2023. In images screengrabs of Beirut's Walkie-talkie blasts from X videos Beirut/IBNS: At least 14 people have died and more than 300 others wounded as walkie-talkies blew up in places regarded as the militant outfit Hezbollah stronghold, media reports said Tuesday. This comes a day after pagers exploded across Lebanon, killing nine people and injuring more than 2,800 others. Tuesday's explosion happened across southern Lebanon as well as Beirut's suburbs. At least one of the blasts happened near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for a member who was killed in the pager blasts on Monday. Genocide still continues in #Lebanon. After pager blast, radio and walkie talkie blasted in today. thousands of people imprisoned Innocent children and women are also killed. It is not known who is behind this. #UNO is also silent on this issue All the countries are also silent. pic.twitter.com/6daVvEMAiA Rahman Khan (@RAHMANK66318354) September 18, 2024 The total number of walkie-talkies that blew up is not known yet, but the explosion may have left casualties. According to reports, the hand-held wireless radio devices and walkie-talkies were purchased around five months ago, approximately the same time as the pagers. Just like the pagers' explosion, all the walkie-talkie devices blew up at the same time, Hezbollah has claimed. Israel's spy agency Mossad, which has a long history of sophisticated operations on foreign soil, planted explosives inside pagers that were imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, Reuters reported quoting a senior Lebanese security source and another source. Iran-backed Hezbollah earlier in the day claimed to have attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets as a response to pager blasts that injured thousands of its members in Lebanon and triggered fear of a wider Middle East war. Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad has confirmed that the blasts left nine people dead and around 2,800 wounded. Iran's state media had reported that its Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured in the pager explosion. Hezbollah, which is banned both by the United States and the European Union, is a political and military establishment in Lebanon. The group is backed by Iran. Hezbollah, meanwhile, backs Hamas, which has been at war with Israel in Gaza since October 2023. Image: Special arrangement Dhaka/IBNS: Bangladesh police have arrested Shahriar Kabir, a prominent leader of an advocacy group pushing for the trial of 1971 liberation war criminals, officials confirmed on Tuesday. "We have arrested Shahriar Kabir," a police officer told ANI over the phone. "He faces 10 charges, including murder and other crimes," Dhaka Police stated, without providing further details. Kabir, who serves as president of the advisory council for the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, is expected to appear in court later on Wednesday. Kazi Mukul, Executive President of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, said Kabir was detained from his residence in Dhakas Mohakhali area at midnight on Monday. The committee, established in January 1992, campaigns for the prosecution of those responsible for crimes against humanity during Bangladeshs 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan. According to Dhaka Tribune, Mufti Harun Izhar Chowdhury, joint secretary of the Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam, filed a complaint with the International Crimes Tribunal on August 20. The complaint accuses former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Shahriar Kabir, and 22 others of crimes against humanity during a 2013 rally in Motijheel. Shahriar Kabir, a well-known Bangladeshi journalist, filmmaker, and human rights activist, has authored several works on human rights, communism, religious extremism, and the Bangladesh Liberation War. In a related development, Bangladesh police recently detained two senior journalists near the India-Bangladesh border in Mymensingh. Shyamal Dutta and Mozammel Babu, both reportedly close associates of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, were taken into custody. Hasina was removed from office a month ago following a student-led protest that claimed over 600 lives. She fled to India on August 5, and an interim government, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, now governs Bangladesh. Tarique Rahman is acting chairman of BNP. Photo courtesy: Official FB Dhaka/IBNS: Bangladeshi politician Tarique Rahman has said there is nothing wrong in moving towards forming new political parties in the country, which is presently under the interim government that was formed after the fall of Sheikh Hasina regime. Rahman, who is the BNP acting chairman and the eldest son of former president Ziaur Rahman and former two-time prime minister Khaleda Zia, said as quoted by Dhaka Tribune, "There's nothing wrong if anyone believes more new political parties are needed for a developed and secure Bangladesh. Ultimately, it is the people who will decide whom they would support or not." "They (the fresh voters) could not elect their desired public representatives by exercising their right to franchise. They also didnt get the chance to be elected and represent the people." "No matter what is in the constitution or provision, if the political and economic empowerment of the people is not ensured and if the people are not involved in the reform process, no reform programme will finally yield effective results," he added. Violent anti-quota protests by students led to the fall of the Awami League government after Sheikh Hasina stepped down and fled to India. Over 600 people were killed in the protests that went on for months. Hasina fled to India in August and an interim government, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was formed to rule Bangladesh. After the fall of the Hasina government, widespread violence and looting were reported from various parts of Bangladesh where the minority Hindus, their houses were attacked and ransacked. Several Hindu houses and temples were attacked by radicals in the country, which shares a long porous border with India. Ahead of sequel The Platform 2's release on Netflix, here's a recap of all the things that happened in the original Spanish science-fiction, psychological-thriller movie, The Platform, that came out in 2020. The movie still has a fanbase that eagerly awaits Part 2. The Platform recap The basic storyline of The Platform revolves around a prison with hundreds of floors. The film shows how in a prison, people are placed on different floors and how they fight to survive there. Wondering what the survival is for? It is for food that to for the entire day. There are different levels in the prison shown. Level 1 is the floor where the prisoners can access a feast of different food items. The ones who suffer for food are the ones who are placed on the other levels, as they get only the leftovers. Also Read: Cobra Kai season 6 part 2 release date Netflix: When to watch Ralph Macchio's upcoming series The Platform ending explained Last time, the makers left the movie very open-ended, which led to many theories among the audiences. What was clear with the last scenes was that Goreng and Baharat were seen going to the lowest level of the prison, where they see a girl. Both the main characters decide to send the little girl to the upper levelto send a message to the people up there. The movie ended while giving a message that change is possible if there is unity. The Platform 2 is arriving on Netflix in October with a new update to the prison story. Let's see if the upcoming part will be able to impress the audience just the way The Platform did in 2020 or not. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Coffee, the Tamil movie which was released in 2022 has set its OTT release date. The movie is a mystery-thriller and it will drop on an OTT platform very soon. Coffee stars actress Ineya as the main lead. The focus of Coffee is on a brother and sister, the latter of whom wants to be a police officer. Coffee will be released on Aha on 20th September 2024. Plot As per OTTplay, Coffee is centered around a brother and sister, the latter of whom wants to work as a police officer. Even if she doesn't succeed in realizing her dream, she does assist her brother in finding employment. He disappears, though, and things spiral out of control. The sister must then go out on the rescue mission. Cast and crew In his first-ever directing role, Sai Krishna wrote and directed the movie. Producer Sarathy Sathish and co-producer Dharshan Krishna work together under the name Om Cine Ventures to make coffee. In addition to Ineya, other actors in the movie include Raghul Dev, Soundararajan, Ramachandran Durairaj, and Mugdha Godse. Music has been given by G.v. Prakash, Shwetha Mohan, M. M. Manasi, Ineya, Devoid and Blue Jack. What does the trailer show? The action, drama, and humor are all mixed together in this trailer, which you can see on YouTube. It demonstrates the everlasting affection a sister has for her brother. The trailer gives you a glimpse of what you can expect from the film. We can be certain that it will be worthwhile to watch. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will soon be available for you to stream because its OTT release date is quickly approaching! Based on a true story, the title will have you glued to your screens. The fact that this release tells the true story of two brothers and the crime they committed is what draws viewers in. Initially the trailer was released a few months back, but the makers decided to give fans another trailer to add on the anticipation. On September 19, 2024, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will be available on Netflix. True crime that inspired Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story The second part of Ryan Murphy's real crime anthology series "Monsters," which launched in 2022 with Evan Peters in the terrifying story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, is titled The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Season 2 will take place after the Menendez brothers were found guilty in 1996 of killing their parents. In the actual legal proceeding, the prosecution charged Lyle and Erik Menendez with killing their parents in order to get the family's estate. The brothers, however, justified their behavior by claiming that they had endured years of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse and that their conduct was motivated by fear. Cast and crew In addition, the following actors and actresses are in the cast: Dallas Roberts as Dr. Jerome Oziel; Jason Butler Harner as detective Les Zoeller; Enrique Murciano as Carlos Baralt; Charlie Hall as Craig Cignarelli; Gil Ozeri as Dr. William Vicary; Ari Graynor as Leslie Abramson; Leslie Grossman as Judalon Smyth; and many more. The show will shake you to the core with its attention to detail. Stay tuned! For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Comedian Kapil Sharma is all set to bring brand new epiosdes of his one-of-a-kind laughter series, The Great Indian Kapil Show, with a long list of new celebrity guests this time and his signature supporting cast members. Since its Netflix release date is just around the corner, here are 5 things to be offered by Kapil Sharma, Sunil Grover, and others. 5 things to expect from The Great Indian Kapil Show season 2: 1. The host is everyone's favourite; Kapil Sharma With the launch of The Great Indian Kapil show season 2 on Netflix, it's the return of Kapil Sharma on OTT. We are all aware of how much Kapil is loved for his comedy and whatever he has done on TV. Season 1 also performed decently on OTT, and thus we have him again hosting the show with a brand new guest list and theme. 2. Upgraded list of celebrity guests For sure, it will be an upgraded guest list this time. As per the teaser and trailer released earlier, The Great Indian Kapil Show will have Ranbir Kapoor, his sister Ridhima Kapoor, his mother, Neetu Kapoor, wife Alia Bhatt, and Saif Ali Khan, among many others from Bollywood. There will also be international star Ed Sheeran. Also Read: The Great Indian Kapil Show season 2 OTT release date Netflix: When to watch this comedy show 3. Funny supporting cast Guessing who all will be there in Kapil's supporting cast? Well, the cast from season 1 will only be there and includes Sunil Grover, Rajiv Thakur, Archana Puran Singh, and Kiku Sharda. It will be interesting to see Rajiv Thakur on board after his serious character in recently released Netflix's IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack series. 4. Treat for fans of Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover shared screen space after so long in season 1. The fun will continue in the upcoming season too. 5. Archana will still be there? There are reports surfacing that Archana Puran Singh will be replaced by Bollywood actor Govinda's wife, Sunita, but there is no confirmation as of now. If we go by the teaser released earlier, Archana will be part of the team this time also. You can stream The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix starting September 21. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. The Spanish satirical science fiction movie The Platform 2 is arriving soon on OTT. The upcoming movie has been directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia and scheduled to be released on Netflix on October 4. The movie film is said to be a follow-up to The Platform, which was released in 2019. Here is the trailer for the movie and everything about its plot, cast, and crew: Plot Platform 2 is set to have its premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival this month. The movie is a sequel to 2019 The Platform. Wondering what the story this time will be? The movie is set in a vertical jail that has lots of floors. A dumbwaiter is shown delivering food to all the hundreds of floors. The story progresses when inmates who are on the upper floors in the prison take all the food and leave nothing for the prisoners who are below. The whole plot revolves around how the prisoners survive. The movie focusses on social inequality and survival ways. The Platform 2 just like its part 1 will start at the vertical prison with a survival theme. The film, apart from old characters and roles, will have new characters and themes of social inequality. Also Read: Monsters - The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story OTT release date: All about the true-crime series The Platform 2 will be released online next month but before that the film will have its premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September. Cast and crew The Platform 2 stars actors like Milena Smit, Hovik Keuchkerian, Natalia Tena, and Oscar Jaenada, among others. The sequel to the Netflix hit, The Platform, is set for release on Netflix in October. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, just like in Part 1, will continue to direct the movie with the same producers, including Carlos Juarez and Raquel Perrea. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Janhvi Kapoor stole the spotlight at the Devara event, but this time it wasn't her glamourous appearance that is making waves. The actress surprised everyone by speaking in fluent Tamil; so fluent that some fans were left wondering if it was a little too perfect. While some of them are praising her and comparing her to her mother Sridevi, several others think this was done to attract attention and sounded "rehearsed and practiced." Janhvi Kapoor speaks fluently in Tamil at Devara event The actress who has been promoting her forthcoming Telugu movie Devara: Part 1, in which she is playing the female lead alongside Jr NTR greeted fans with Vanakkam. Surprising her fans, she spoke in Tamil and expressed how Chennai will always be special to her. She mentioned her mother, who made a name in the film industry, also had fond memories associated with the city. Janhvi Kapoor's Tamil speech was the highlight of the event. She continued, "I hope you will give me the same love you gave to my mother. Your love is the reason why we are here today, and I am forever grateful to you all." She added that she would work as hard as her mother and would and would love to make way into people's hearts. Comment byu/scepticalbeing94 from discussion inBollyBlindsNGossip While some people praised her and compared her to mom Sridevi, several others thought it sounded rehearsed and there was no big deal about it as she was promoting her movie. "it seems rehearsed," one of the users wrote. "Sounds rehearsed and practiced," said another user. "She doesn't sound confident in Tamil so speaking very softly. The moment she switches to English, confidence is back and her speech is back to being more assertive," said another user. Another fan remembered how she couldn't speak in Hindi earlier and wrote, "Bhai usko Hindi theek se aati nahi thi (remember her old video with Sridevi?) toh koi toh dusri language aati hogi na. You guys praise people for the randomest things." Jhanvi Kapoor can't even speak Hindi for someone who grew up in India and this basic will get a free entitled debut cuz she's a starkid. Ugh pic.twitter.com/SGeBy1Q5jy Shakuntela (@shakuntelaonly) July 2, 2017 What do you think of Janhvi Kapoor's speech in Tamil? For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Shabana Azmi is one of the most radiant septuagenarians that we've ever seen! A celebrated actress and social activist, Shabana Azmi first stepped into the world of glamour in 1974 and remains as graceful as ever! From her debut movie Ankur to her recent release Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, the star has come a long way in Bollywood. On the celebrated actress' 74th birthday, let's take a look at some of her throwback photos that prove she is ageing like fine wine! Born to Urdu poet and scholar Kaifi Azmi and stage actress Shaukat Azmi on September 18, 1950, in Hyderabad (now Telangana), Shabana has made her mark in the world of theatre, film and television. Over a career spanning 50 golden years, the award-winning actress has made countless contributions with her noteworthy work. A known face in the glamour world, Shabana is the epitome of poise. Check out these photos with politicians, co-stars and other industry stalwarts. Shabana Azmi's rare and unseen photos 1. A still from the film Pestonjee One of Shabana's best performances came in the 1988 film Pestonjee. With bigwigs Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher, the actress stood out for her portrayal of Jeroo. The critically acclaimed comedy film won the award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and brought Shabana into the limelight. 2. BTS from the film Mardon Wali Baat with Dharmendra All the Gen Z's who appreciated Shabana and Dharmendra's romance in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, you'll be glad to know this wasn't the first time the duo shared screen space. The actors have a long history going all the way back to the 70s. They were first seen together in 1977 with two back-to-back releases, Khel Khilari Ka and Swami and then came back together for the 1988 hit Mardon Wali Baat. 3. Being felicitated by the Gandhi International Peace Prize The celebrated actress was felicitated by the prestigious Gandhi International Peace Prize during a ceremony at the House of Lords in London. Sharing the picture with her Insta fam she revealed that the presenter Vanessa Redgrave is an idol for her. 4. An early 80s blast from the past with Javed Akhtar, Mahesh Bhatt and Amit Khanna Looking stylish in a saree and pearls at a film party in the 80s, Shabana shared a photo featuring producer Yash Chopra and Amit Khanna with Javed Akhtar. Akhtar and Azmi subsequently fell in love sometime during this period and tied the knot in 1984. 5. Winning the Filmfare award with 'favourite co-star' Naseeruddin Shah Calling the talented actor Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana shared the picture showing the dup all smiles as they posed for photos holding their black ladies. During the 31st Filmfare Awards, the duo won big. While Shah won the Best Actor trophy for his film Masoom, Azmi was felicitated with the trophy for Best Actress for her film Arth. 6. A black and white snap with Rekha A fellow actor and friend, Shabana and Rekha were the face of fashion during their time in the glamour world. The duo have shared screen space multiple times in their long career and delivered some great hits like Ek Hi Bhool (1981), Ram Tere Kitne Nam (1985) and Kaamyab (1984) 7. During the Mumbai riots with Sharad Pawar and Dilip Kumar At a time when the film industry and Bombay City were bleeding after riots broke out post the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Shabana and superstar Dilip Kumar went to meet the politician Sharad Pawar. Interestingly in the next election after the riots in 1997, then NCP chief Pawar took oath as chief minister of Maharashtra. For more such stories on celebs and fashion, follow us on Indiatimes Lifestyle. US presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that he will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week. The Indian PM is scheduled to visit the United States from September 21 to 23. The Republican candidate revealed his upcoming meeting with PM Modi at a campaign rally in Flint, Michigan, while he was speaking about US trade with India. CREDIT: REUTERS Ties between Trump and Modi During his time in office, the then-President Trump had maintained close personal ties with Modi, even though he was critical about the India-US trade deficit. In 2019, during his visit to the US, Modi attended a gathering of around 50,000 people along with Trump, who was seeking re-election in 2020. Why Trump needs Indian-American support With Indian-origin Kamala Harris on his ballot in November, Trump is likely to use the influence Modi has on Indian Americans to turn some of them in his favour. A July poll had suggested that the then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden had lost the support of Indian-American voters by as much as 19 percent. This is likely to have changed with Harris replacing him as the Democratic candidate. CREDIT: REUTERS Can Indian-Americans swing US Presidential election While Indian Americans live primarily in Democratic bastions like New York, California, Illinois, and Texas (a Republican stronghold), in some of the key battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina, they can be the margin of victory in a closely contested race. CREDIT: REUTERS Modi to attend Quad Summit According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), during his visit to the US, Modi will also attend the Quad Summit, hosted by US President Joe Biden for the leaders from Australia, India, and Japan on September 21 in Delaware, Biden's hometown. The summit holds significance as Biden is not running for a second term in office, and when India hosts the next Quad summit in 2025, the US will have a new president. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. It was a scene straight out of a spy movie hundreds of handheld pagers going off simultaneously, resulting in minor explosions that injured hundreds of Hezbollah militants and caused at least eight deaths across Lebanon and Syria. According to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad, at least 2,800 people have been injured in the explosions, of which around 170 are in critical condition. CREDIT: REUTERS Mossad carried out the pager explosions This was the most sophisticated coordinated remote explosion carried out by the Israeli Military and its spy agency Mossad, targeting the Lebanese Shia militia group Hezbollah. BREAKING: Massive explosion hits Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon! Hundreds of members injured, many seriously, after pagers detonate. Officials call it "biggest security breach" in a year. Chaos ensues with 30-minute prolonged blasts. #Hezbollah #Lebanon #Explosion pic.twitter.com/k53wmmkz4o Daily Sherlock (@DailySherlock0) September 17, 2024 While there is no official confirmation of how the serial explosions were carried out, various reports, including those quoting unidentified Israeli Military, Hezbollah sources and defence experts, suggested that the pagers were compromised well in advance. CREDIT: REUTERS Why Hezbollah use pagers Hezbollah has been using pagers to communicate since the early 2000s after its leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the groups members not to carry mobile phones, saying they could be used by Israel to track the group's movements. The pagers that exploded on Tuesday were manufactured by a Taiwanese firm called Gold Apollo and were shipped to Lebanon earlier this year. An unidentified Hezbollah leader told AP that this was the first time the outfit had purchased pagers from the Taiwanese manufacturer. CREDIT: REUTERS Explosives implanted during manufacturing It is widely believed that Mossad, which managed to infiltrate the production level, injected a board inside the device that contained explosive material which receives a code. WIDE SCALE TERRORIST ATTACK ON LEBANON Thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded all over the country, causing mass injuries, and 8 deaths so far. pic.twitter.com/JdmLQsG83f Expat Vibes (@expatvibes) September 17, 2024 'Throw them away' In total, some 5,000 such communication devices were shipped to Lebanon earlier this year and were distributed among Hezbollah operatives. Over three thousand such devices are said to have exploded simultaneously on Tuesday, and following the incident, Hezbollah leadership sent out a voice message to its operatives asking anyone who still had the new pagers to them away. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Squadron Leader Mohana Singh has scripted history by becoming the first woman fighter pilot to fly the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. Sqn Ldr Mohana Singh joined the elite 18 'Flying Bullets' squadron, operating LCA Tejas fighter jets when she took part in the recent exercise, 'Tarang Shakti' in Jodhpur. CREDIT: BCCL Squadron Leader Mohana Singh makes history Sqn Ldr Mohana Singh, who was part of the first group of three women who became fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force, made history again when she was part of the historic flight by three Vice Chiefs of the three forces. CREDIT: ANI Historic flight of LCA Tejas During the historic flight, Sqn Ldr Mohana could be seen instructing the Army and Navy Vice Chiefs on the flight in the LCA Tejas fighter jet and helping them to get ready for it. Indian Air Force Vice Chief, Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh, was flying solo in the LCA Tejas fighter variant, while the other two Vice Chiefs, Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani and Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, flew the trainer variants with two fighter pilots. CREDIT: ANI The flight also took place in the LCA Tejas when the top air forces of the world, including the US, Greece, Sri Lanka, Australia, and many other countries with their top-of-the-line fighter jets, attended the multinational exercise at the Jodhpur air base. CREDIT: BCCL Who is Squadron Leader Mohana Singh The 32-year-old from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, is the daughter of Master Warrant Officer Pratap Singh, who also served in the Air Force. She was inducted into the Air Force Fighter Squadron in June 2016. IAF: Flt Lt Mohana Singh, became the first woman fighter pilot to become fully operational by day on Hawk advanced jet aircraft as she landed after a grueling 4 aircraft combat sortie at Air Force station , Kalaikunda , West Bengal, which was the last syllabus sortie... pic.twitter.com/LQK9BDkwlG Vayu Aerospace Review (@ReviewVayu) June 4, 2019 Mohana Singh's other two female compatriots, Sqn Ldr Bhawna Kanth and Sqn Ldr Avni Chaturvedi, are now flying the Su-30 MKI fighter jets in the western desert. Until recently, she was flying the MiG-21s and was recently posted to the LCA squadron deployed at Naliya air base in the Gujarat sector along the border with Pakistan. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. In an unprecedented development, some 3,000 pagers exploded in Lebanon and Syria simultaneously, injuring over 2,800 people, mostly members of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia group. Fingers were immediately pointed at Israel and more specifically to its spy agency Mossad. Credit: Shutterstock Though Israel has not claimed responsibility for the act, defence experts say that it has the imprints of Mossad all over it. That is because, over the years, Mossad has built a reputation for itself by pulling off some covert operations only it can. Also read: How Mossad turned the outdated pager into a weapon against Hezbollah Abduction of Adolf Eichmann One of the most famous acts of Mossad was the abduction of Adolf Eichmann, a former Nazi official responsible for the Jewish Holocaust. In 1944, before the fall of Germany in World War II, Eichmann fled the country and started living under a new identity in Argentina. After learning that Eichmann was still alive, in 1959, Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion ordered Isser Harel, the head of the Mossad, to capture him and bring him back to Israel to face trial at the Nuremberg tribunal. CREDIT: BRITANNICA An eight-member team of Mossad traced him in Argentina and on 11 May 1960, he was kidnapped. Eichmann was smuggled to Israel nine days later, and after trials, he was executed on 1 June 1962. Operation Wrath of God Following the Munich massacre in 1972, where the Palestinian militant group Black September abducted and killed members of the Israel Olympic team, Prime Minister Golda Meir tasked Mossad to kill every individual behind it. Between 1972 and 1988, Mossad managed to identify and kill all but one of the perpetrators. CREDIT: YOUTUBE/SPYSTORIES Operation Moses In 1984, Mossad launched Operation Moses, a seven-week covert operation airlifting thousands of Ethiopian Jews following the Ethiopian Civil War. Mossad, in cooperation with the CIA and Sudanese State Security, managed to smuggle 8,000 Ethiopian Jews out of Sudan to Israel aboard 30 flights. CREDIT: JEWISH WORLD CONGRESS Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, was assassinated along with his personal bodyguard in his hotel room in the Iranian capital Tehran in July 2024. CREDIT: REUTERS Haniyeh was in Iran as a state guest for the inauguration of the new Iranian President. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Amid widespread outrage following the tragic death of a 26-year-old EY employee on her first job, a seasoned software engineer has stepped forward to highlight the toxic work culture plaguing many companies in India. Citing the relentless expectation of 18-hour workdays, he revealed that his own wife had to quit her job due to the extreme demands placed on her. In a damning statement, he condemned the perception of Indian workers, saying, "Indians are being seen as donkeys to offload work to and India is seen as a huge factory willing to operate 24x7x365." Aakash Venkatasubramanian took to LinkedIn to voice his frustration, stating, "My wife quit EY just because of the toxic work culture and if she had not quit, I don't know what would have happened to her." He revealed that 18-hour workdays have become normalised, glorified, and outright expected in many major MNCs across India. Venkatasubramanian didn't hold back in criticising the harsh work conditions, accusing the Indian government of neglecting its duty. "The government does not help taxpayers when they are laid off, but would happily collect the taxes from us when they aren't even giving us the basic necessities," he wrote. He further called out the lack of support for taxpayers, especially during layoffs, saying, "Dear Government, let this be the last death. I hope atleast after this incident, the corporate workers would get some benefit from the government with a new law or a job seeking cushion in the event of layoff." His call for reform strikes a powerful chord, demanding accountability for the well-being of India's overworked employees. What happened to the EY employee? The tragic story of 26-year-old EY employee Anna Sebastian Perayil was shared by her mother, Anita Augustine, who penned a heartfelt letter to the EY India Chairman after her daughter's untimely passing. When she wrote it and I felt it "It's about every young professional who joins EY filled with hopes and dreams, only to be crushed under the weight of unrealistic expectations" A young CA pass out in Nov 2023 working at EY Pune just passed away, out of stress and her mother pic.twitter.com/aitCj0IFWH CA AK Mittal (@CAamanmittal) September 17, 2024 In her letter, Anita recounted how Anna was initially thrilled to join EYher very first jobbut just four months later, she was gone. Anita highlighted the overwhelming workload, relentless pressure from managers, and the broader systemic issues that contributed to her daughter's tragic fate, underscoring the urgent need for change within the corporate culture. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending. A recent Reddit post detailing an incident involving European Union (EU) citizens in Bangalore has prompted serious discussion. The post describes how a woman from the EU encountered harassment from an immigration officer, while a male EU citizen with identical documents was allowed to proceed without any issues. This discrepancy has raised concerns about fairness and bias in immigration practices. During a recent business trip to Bangalore, a Redditor shared a troubling experience involving three European Union (EU) citizens: two men and one woman. Upon arriving at the immigration counter, the two male colleagues were quickly processed with only a few basic questions. However, the female colleague - 'a beautiful blond lady' - faced a much more troubling situation. Despite having all the required documentsher visa and hotel bookingshe was subjected to an extensive interrogation by an immigration officer. This questioning lasted about ten minutes before she was taken into a separate room for an additional twenty-minute interrogation. Shockingly, the officer demanded her phone number, implying that her release was contingent upon providing it. Credit: Agencies Feeling frightened, she mentioned that her manager, who had accompanied her and had the same documents, was already granted entry and was waiting for her. This seemed to sway the officer, who then allowed her to leave. The Redditor expressed deep embarrassment and discomfort over the incident, especially since it was their colleague's first visit to India. They described their shock and disappointment that such behavior came from an official, highlighting that it reflected a serious lapse in both basic decency and respect, particularly towards women. The post concluded with a call for not only education but proper upbringing: "Obviously the officer is an educated person but he does not know basic human decency and no respect for others especially women. They feel powerful. We need not just education but proper upbringing as well." In the comments, many suggested that the individual should file a complaint with her embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding this 'unacceptable behavior.' What is your opinion on this? To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending. Anna, who is originally from Kerala, apparently died as a result of stress and an excessive workload. Her mother said in a letter that her daughter died as a result of heavy workloads imposed on new employees, which required them to work long hours even on weekends. She said that it was utterly unreasonable. She portrayed it as a systematic issue throughout the organization, emphasizing the pressure to fulfil unrealistic goals in corporate offices. What are Redditors saying about EY's toxic hustle culture? The news has spread like wildfire across the internet. Many people on social media apps are sharing their share of horror stories while slamming the toxic work culture in Big 4 companies. Here's what some Redditors shared. A user called Big 4 "notorious" and wrote, "However, no employee is ever educated to draw boundaries around work. Bosses make it feel like this is your job. This is all the scope for the full team, every problem for everyone. You do your part but you also fill in any skill gaps or open roles. And anytime this happens, we get trapped in mental health seminars and meetings rather than being given actual breaks or time away from work." Comment byu/kausthab87 from discussion inrecruitinghell Another user highlighted how "huge firms" make work above everything. The user wrote. "The way these huge firms inflate their importance to the extent that they *literally* work an employee to death is insane." Comment byu/kausthab87 from discussion inrecruitinghell Here's what some other people shared. Comment byu/kausthab87 from discussion inrecruitinghell Comment byu/kausthab87 from discussion inrecruitinghell Comment byu/kausthab87 from discussion inrecruitinghell The late employee's mother wrote an emotional letter to EY India Chairman A 26-year-old Ernst & Young employee in Pune died of "excessive workload," according to her mother's tragic letter to the accounting firm. Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant from Kerala, joined Ernst & Young in March after her mother blamed "four months of EY's callous attitude" for her death. Anita Augustine wrote a letter to Ernst & Young Chairman Rajiv Memani, regretting the fact that no one from the company attended her daughters funeral. Heartbreaking news from EY Pune - a young CA succumbed to the work pressure and nobody from EY even attended her funeral - this is so appalling and nasty!!! pic.twitter.com/pt8ThUKiNR Malavika Rao (@kaay_rao) September 17, 2024 Also read: 26-yr-old CA dies in Pune, mom slams EY for 'overwhelming workload, relentless managers' If you are also struggling to have a work-life balance, share your story in the comments. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral follow Indiatimes Trending. Break the Mold: Solutions to Our Broken Economic System Date: Saturday, September 21, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Event Type: Teach-In Organizer/Author: Human Agenda Location Details: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Room 225 150 East Santa Clara Street San Jose, CA 95112 Human Agenda presents the 7th Annual Break the Mold Conference Solutions to Our Broken Economic System What accounts for economic, social, racial, ethnic and gender inequalities? What policy changes would reduce or eliminate such inequalities? We have arranged for an engaging line-up of presenters to address this issue: Dr. Salem Ajluni, Economist, Human Agenda Board Member Assemblymember Ash Kalra Ruth Silver-Taube, Attorney, Katherine & George Alexander Community Law Center at Santa Clara University Also de la Mora, California Center for Cooperative Development Juan Angel Lujano, Organizing Co-director, South Bay Community Land Trust Sean Allen, NAACP San Jose / Silicon Valley Oscar Quiroz-Medrano, Somos Mayfair Join activists, advocates, and academics in a half-day community conference to discuss these issues. Lunch provided Free and open to the public Co-sponsors: SJSU Human Rights Institute, NAACP San Jose/Silicon Valley Branch, SJCC Chicana & Chicano Studies, META (Mujeres Empresarias Tomando Accion - Entrepreneurial Women Taking Action), SOMOS Mayfair, M.E.Ch.A. de San Jose City College, SJCC Ethnic Studies Dept., First Unitarian Church of San Jose, San Jose Against War, SJSU MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center, De Anza for Palestine, South Bay Progressive Alliance, South Bay Community Land Trust, Santa Clara County Single Payer Healthcare Coalition, Ambedkar King Study Circle, Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition, Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants (PAWIS), PANGEA Legal Services, Santa Clara County Green Party CA, San Jose Peace & Justice Center, Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action (VIDA) at De Anza College, Alma Premium Care The Cypriot government is poised to announce its preliminary approval for participation in the ambitious Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project, according to multiple media reports. The project aims to connect the power grids of Israel, Cyprus , and mainland Greece via an undersea cable spanning the eastern Mediterranean. After facing challenges and setbacks in negotiations, Cyprus and Greece seem to have reached a compromise. Key points of the agreement include, reduced revenue for Greece's system transmission operator (IPTO or ADMIE): IPTO will now receive 125 million during the construction phase instead of the previously proposed 200 million. The Republic of Cyprus will become a GSI shareholder by investing 100 million in share capital. The Greek side will increase its percentage of a guarantee linked to "geopolitical risks." A formal announcement is expected following a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides in Athens on September 19. The Cypriot cabinet must also approve the deal, which is scheduled to be discussed at their meeting on Wednesday. The GSI project, if realized, would be a significant step towards strengthening energy cooperation in the eastern Mediterranean region and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. iefimerida.gr A high-speed boat chase involving migrants near the Greek island of Samos early Tuesday morning resulted in the rescue of 30 people but also the tragic loss of one life. The incident began when the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) monitoring station detected a speedboat carrying foreign nationals heading towards Samos' northwestern shores. A Coast Guard patrol vessel was dispatched to intercept the boat , but the operator refused to comply and attempted to flee. During the pursuit, the speedboat's operator executed dangerous maneuvers, putting the Coast Guard crew at risk. Warning shots were fired to immobilize the boat, and the two foreign operators were arrested. Simultaneously, 27 migrants who had been thrown into the sea by the smugglers were found onshore. However, the search for additional individuals in the water continued. Three more migrants were rescued, but sadly, the body of a deceased male was also recovered. A total of 30 migrants were rescued, including 15 men, 7 women, and 8 minors. The survivors and the deceased were transported to the port of Karlovasi. The two arrested operators, identified as Turkish nationals, were recognized by the survivors as their smugglers. The Samos Port Authority is investigating the incident. This tragic event underscores the ongoing dangers faced by migrants attempting to reach Europe, often at the mercy of unscrupulous smugglers. iefimerida.gr Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to meet with the President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, on Thursday at 11 am, according to an official announcement from the PM's Press Office. At 5 pm Mitsotakis will address an event organized by the General Secretariat of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, titled The Functioning of the Executive State in Legislation: The Case of Greece as Ambition and Inspiration, to be held at the Athens Concert Hall. iefimerida.gr The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps has arrested 30 miscreants, including a woman, during an early morning operation at Oshodi in an effort to uphold law and order. Tokunbo Wahab, the Commissioner of Water and Environmental Resources, stated this on X platform on Tuesday. Wahab claimed that the accused were brought before the Magistrate Court in Bolade, where 12 of the miscreants were sentenced to three weeks in jail and the other 18 were told to complete community service. Advertisement READ MORE: Police Rearrest Homicide Offender Who Escaped From Maiduguri Prison The statement said, 30 miscreants including a female were arrested at Oshodi during an early morning raid by the operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps #LAGESCOfficial. They were later arraigned before the Magistrate Court sitting at Bolade. 12 of them were given 3 weeks imprisonment while the rest were given Community Service. SEE POST: Barely few days to the Edo states governorship election, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has issued warning to voters in the state, to avoid endorsing All Progressive Congress, during the exercise. Atiku warned that a vote for the APC is a continuation of misery, hunger, and despair, adding that the peoples better future, depend on their ballots. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the off-cycle election, which is scheduled to hold on the 21 of September, 2024, has generated controversies, nationwide. Advertisement In a statement titled, The clear choice for a prosperous Edo State, shared via his Facebook page on Wednesday, Atiku said that the power to break free from the chains of bad governance, lies in the hand of Edos residents. He said: They criticized past leaders for raising fuel prices, yet today, they preside over an era where fuel costs soar above N900 per litre. Their cruelty and disregard for the plight of the masses are unmatched. A vote for the APC is a vote for the continuation of misery, hunger, and despair. Do not be swayed by the empty promises of the APC. Electing Dr. Asue Ighodalo of the PDP is not just a vote; it is an act of reclaiming our future. READ MORE: Prioritize Peoples Interest Deji Adeyanju To INEC Amid Alleged Plot To Rig Edo Election For APC The APC has donned the mask of a friend to the masses, but behind this veil lies a sinister reality. They have forsaken the ideals of governance, ignoring the cries of the common man while pursuing their selfish ambitions. Under their watch, Nigeria has been plunged into an abyss of suffering. They have sown seeds of poverty, despair, and insecurity. The APC has not served the people; they have served themselves. And when the people, rightfully aggrieved, have raised their voices in protest, they have been silenced, dragged to courts under charges of treason. People of Edo State, the time has come to use the power vested in you. As you go to the polls, ask yourself: Has the APC made your life better, or has it only deepened your struggles? The answer is clear. Your vote for Ighodalo will not only bring change to Edo State but will also send a resounding message across Nigeria that we reject the deceit and self-serving ways of the APC. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/kCjBCNnca7jG7VnP/ The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has announced that the bodies of two babies remain missing six days after a commercial bus crashed into the Ovia River in Edo State while traveling from Lagos to Port Harcourt. According to the DAILY POST, Mr Cyril Mathew, Sector Commander of the Edo FRSC, told this to reporters on Tuesday while providing an update on the accident in Benin City. It should be noted that the accident occurred last Thursday, September 12, 2024. Advertisement Mathew stated that the two children, aged five to seven, are of the same parents. A total of six passengers were rescued, and two bodies recovered after a commercial bus crashed into the Ovia River in Ovia North East Local Government Area, but more passengers remain trapped. READ MORE: Man Allegedly Takes Own Life In Lagos According to the FRSC boss, five bodies have already been recovered from the river and the nearby community. He further stated that the body of a lady was recovered inside the bus after it was pulled from the river. According to him, the bodies of two children, a boy and a girl, have yet to be found. One is five, while the other is seven years old. The parents of the children were part of the accident but they survived. The driver of the bus was found on Sunday and the family buried him at the bank of the river. Another body that was also found was buried similarly. The bodies had floated to a nearby village and were discovered by fishermen who were part of the rescue mission when the accident happened, he said. The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), on Tuesday, issued a flood alert to Nigerians as the management of the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon is set to begin regulated water releases into the country. Umar Mohammed, NIHSAs Director-General, in a statement, said the Dams regulated water releases will commence on September 17. According to him, the dam managers intend to release the water gradually so as not to exceed the transfer capacity of River Benue and cause major flooding in Nigeria. Advertisement He said the water will be released at an initial rate of 100 cubic metres per second (m3/s) 8.64 million cubic metres per day, and gradually increased to 1000 ms in the next seven days. READ ALSO: Dont Eat Vegetables From Flooded Areas, Theyre Contaminated With Dead Bodies Borno Govt Warns Residents Notwithstanding, it is highly imperative for all states that are contiguous to the Benue River system, namely Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, and Rivers; the government at all levels (Federal, State, and LGAs) to step up vigilance and deploy adequate preparedness measures to reduce possible impacts of flooding that may occur as a result of increased flow levels of our major rivers at this period, the statement reads. Mohammed added that the agency would ensure that it closely monitors the flow situation to forestall further flood disasters. He assured Nigerians that there is no cause for alarm, noting that the flow levels along the Benue River are still within the warning levels. Former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has honored the invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, over corrupt allegations. Recall that on August 20, 2024, the court of appeal in Abuja ordered Bello to surrender himself for arraignment by the EFCC. The anti-graft agency, subsequently issued a warrant for his arrest, declaring him wanted after repeatedly failing to comply with court orders to surrender himself for arraignment. Advertisement Meanwhile, in a statement released on Wednesday by his media office, revealed that Bellos decision to honor EFCCs invitation was made following the consultations with his family, legal team and political allies. The statement reads: The former Governor, who has great respect for the rule of law and constituted authority, had, all the while, only sought the enforcement of his fundamental rights in order to ensure due process. The case has been before a competent court of jurisdiction, and Alhaji Yahaya Bello had been duly represented by his legal team at every hearing. It is important for the former Governor to now honour the invitation of the EFCC to clear his name as he has nothing to hide and nothing to fear. READ MORE: N80bn Fraud: Appeal Court Orders Yahaya Bello To Present Self For Arraignment The former Governor believes firmly in the efforts of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to place Nigeria on the path of sustainable economic development; and supports the fight against corruption in the country. It is on record that he was the first Governor of Kogi State to put in place an anti-corruption mechanism to check graft and ensure that the resources of the State work for the people of the State. National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has accused Nenadi Esther Usman, recently appointed as Chairman of LPs caretaker committee, of still being a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member. In a statement issued on Tuesday by Obiora Ifoh, the LPs National Publicity Secretary, Abures camp expressed concern over Usmans claim that party leaders intervention at a September 4 meeting prevented the Party from being deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Ifoh dismissed Usmans statement as ludicrous and unsubstantiated, asserting that the Labour Party is in good standing and fully compliant with legal requirements, thus not at risk of deregistration by INEC. Advertisement READ ALSO: Ex-Minister Nenadi Usman To Chair LPs Caretaker Committee, Okafor Faction Kicks He accused certain party leaders of exploiting INECs erroneous view that the current party executives tenure had expired. According to Ifoh, these leaders used this incorrect stance to undermine the LPs leadership. Ifoh also criticized the recent Umuahia meeting, labelling it unconstitutional and illegal, as the partys constitution does not recognize stakeholder meetings as valid party organs. The group that elected Senator Nenadi Usman has no legitimate foundation and cannot be recognized by INEC or any law, he added. Furthermore, Ifoh pointed out that two courts have already confirmed Abure as the legitimate National Chairman, including a Federal High Court in Abuja led by Justice J.K. Omotosho, which validated the LPs March 26, 2024 national convention. The operatives of the Ogun state police command have arrested a man, identified as Tahiru Hamidu, for sexually abusing a mentally unstable married woman in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the suspect, took advantage of the the mental health of the victim, in multiple occasions before he was apprehended by the men of the Owode Egba Division on September 12, 2024. He was also accused of threatening to murder the survivors brother-in-law, Shofolahan, if he did not permit him to continue raping his brothers wife. Advertisement READ MORE: Ogun Police Apprehend Landlord For Allegedly Defiling Tenants Daughter In a statement released to the public on Tuesday, by the spokesperson for the state police command, Omolola Odutola, said that the suspect, from Northern part of the country, was accused of luring the survivor to a cassava plantation, where he allegedly raped her multiple times before releasing her. Odutola said: The survivor is mentally incapacitated. The brother-in-law who reported the case claims that the suspect threatened to kill him to prevent him from stopping the crimes. The suspect is accused of repeatedly engaging in sexual acts with the survivor. The suspect is also accused of luring the survivor to a cassava plantation in the community, where he allegedly engaged in non-consensual sexual intercourse with her repeatedly. He began threatening the brother-in-law, warning him to stop preventing him from having sexual intercourse with the survivor and demanding that he hand her over to him. Renowned actress Kate Henshaw has recounted her unsettling experience with the Nigerian Police in Lagos. In a video posted on her Instagram page on Tuesday, the actress narrated being stopped by police officers in Oniru for allegedly using a one-way road, which violated traffic regulations. Henshaw clarified that the road was under repair, and many drivers had used the same route. Advertisement She questioned the polices sudden enforcement without prior notification to the public. The situation escalated, prompting Henshaw to exit her vehicle and engage with the officers. However, upon recognizing her, some officers asked that she be let off. READ MORE: DJ Cuppy Launches Scholarship Fund For African Students At New York University Henshaw expressed concern for ordinary citizens who may face similar situations without the luxury of recognition. She criticized the polices behavior, stating that their actions undermine public respect. You see this country if you dont have a voice and cant speak up for yourself youre finished. I dont know why someone people in the Nigeria Police Force behave as if their brain cells emanate from their toenails. You will never get the respect you deserve from the public if you keep behaving the way youre behaving some of you because Ive met some whose brains are correct, she partly said. Watch her speak below Ahead of Saturdays governorship election in Edo State, human right activist lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has cautioned Federal government against alleged plans to interfere the poll. Adeyanju also warned the All Progressives Congress, over plots to use presidential powers in influencing the outcome of the election. The activist led this out in a statement he released to public on Tuesday. Advertisement He urged the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun to be loyal to electorates. Adeyanju said: As Edo State prepares for its upcoming governorship election, scheduled for 21st, September, I charge the Independent Electoral Commission to prioritize the peoples interest and conduct a free, fair, and credible poll. READ MORE: Only God, Residents With PVC Can Decide Next Edo Gov, Not Wike PDPs Ighodalo Declares I also call on the Inspector General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to remain loyal to the people, rather than serving the interests of politicians. Neutrality and professionalism are crucial in ensuring a peaceful electoral process. Furthermore, I condemn the reported plots by the ruling APC to exploit presidential powers to influence the election outcome. Such actions undermine democracy and subvert the will of the Edo people. The people of Edo State deserve to choose their leaders without interference or manipulation. Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State says theres enough water in his State to quench the fire that Nyesom Wike, Federal Capital Territory Minister, threatened to put in the States of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors. This is as the Governors declared support for Siminalayi Fubara, Rivers State Governor. Advertisement It is a known fact that Fubara and Wike have been at loggerheads over Rivers political structure. Speaking at a PDP congress in Rivers recently, the FCT minister warned governors in the party against interfering in the affairs of the opposition party in Rivers state. He also threatened to put fire in the States of the Governors backing Fubara. Hosting some members of PDPs National Working Committee (NWC) meeting in Bauchi on Tuesday, Mohammed said nobody could set Bauchi on fire. READ ALSO: I Will Set Your State On Fire Wike Warns PDP Govs Thinking Of Interfering In Rivers Crisis His words: We are together; nobody can put fire in Bauchi We have volumes of water that will quench the fire even my friend (Wike) that said so, it is because he is annoyed. But it is not personal. My friend is my friend, and my job is my job, leadership is leadership. This unsolicited visit by the NWC shows that in Nigeria, we have hope,and we are connected by the value and the stability of PDP for peace and stability in our party and in our country. Yes, none of the parties is isolated in terms of crisis here and there. Crises are there, that is why leadership is also there. That is why we have to take the bull by the horn to discuss and look at the constitution of our party PDP. All the parties must do things by the rule of law. We must respect people, we must put our interest aside, we must respect our diversity, we must meet and close ranks especially when the issue has to do with our party, the PDP. Our party has pedigree and most of the development in this country was done by the PDP. When PDP left, nothing was done. Ahead of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo state, Governor Godwin Obaseki, has warned civil servants in the state not to make regrettable mistake. Obaseki warned that they would be the first victims, if his anointed candidate, Asue Ighodalo fails to win the next Saturday poll. The outgoing governor let this out during a thank-you meeting with the public servants at the Sir Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub in Benin City, on Tuesday. Advertisement Obaseki said that the only appreciation workers could give him is to come out in large numbers, on Saturday and vote for Peoples Democratic Partys candidate, as the governor of the state. He said: Those who want to take over power by all means are uneducated and have never worked in any better place. My message to you is that, that is a risk we cant afford. It is not about Obaseki but democracy and development. READ MORE: Edo Poll: I Wont Support Obaseki, PDPs Candidate Ighodalo Wike The risk is about allowing people without ideas of what to do to lead. People who cant even articulate their ideas, people who cant read a balance sheet. They cant offer us anything but all they talk about is federal might and others. Edo will face a major risk if you miss it on Saturday. Any mistake you make will affect you first before others. You will be the first victim. What I have started is a long journey. How do we build a society that we are yearning for and stop travelling to other countries? How to build a state where people will be proud to come to. The purpose of governance is to create the avenue to achieve set purposes. Its a journey. I am finishing the first part but the journey must not stop. It must continue, the engine of development must continue to run. The rate at which we need to run will be very high when we make the right decision. We cant afford any mistakes come Saturday. A makeshift memorial for Officer Jaime Roman on the 700 block of Kingston Street in Kensington. Read more Philadelphia Police Officer Jaime Roman, who was shot in the line of duty earlier this summer and died from his injuries last week, will be laid to rest Thursday with a series of events beginning before dawn. Around 5:15 a.m., the hearse carrying Romans casket will be escorted from a funeral home in Northeast Philadelphia to Police Headquarters on North Broad Street, the Police Department said. Then, at 6 a.m., Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, Commissioner Kevin Bethel, and other police leaders will escort the hearse to the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where there will be a viewing open to the public for several hours. Advertisement Around 11 a.m., Roman will be remembered at a Funeral Mass at the Basilica, during which Bethel and Parker are among those expected to eulogize Roman, a six-year veteran of the force who was assigned to the 25th District. Afterward, there will be a final salute before police leaders and Romans colleagues participate in a procession ahead of his private interment. The proceedings will mark a final chapter for Roman, who Bethel said had been in a valiant fight for his life for nearly three months after being shot in Kensington in June. Roman, 31, was the father of two children a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son and during his career had worked in districts covering parts of Southwest Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, and Kensington, police said. Police have said Roman was shot in Kensington on June 22 by Ramon Rodriguez Vazquez, 36. The officer and his partner had pulled Vazquez over on the 3500 block of F Street for lacking proper registration for his Toyota sedan, and subsequently discovered that Vazquez did not have a drivers license. While waiting for a tow truck to haul the car away, police said, the officers searched the car and discovered a gun holster tucked beneath a seat. When they attempted to confront Vazquez about it, police said, he ran away, then turned back and started shooting at them with a gun he had in his waistband. Roman was struck in the neck and fell to the ground, police said. His partner returned fire but did not hit Vazquez. The partner then put Roman into his patrol car and sped to Temple University Hospital. Roman was admitted in critical condition. Officials said at the time that he was taken into surgery and then placed on a respirator. He remained hospitalized until he died last week. Vazquez, meanwhile, ran away after the shooting, first seeking cover in a nearby garage, then attempting to carjack a minivan, according to police. After those efforts failed, he ended up running to the 800 block of East Schiller Street, where police say he threatened a resident at gunpoint and forced him inside a house. SWAT officers arrested Vazquez there later that night. Vazquez has been jailed ever since, and his charges were updated after Romans death to include murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, and illegal gun possession. He was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing in court on Thursday morning, but his case is expected to be pushed back until at least later this month, authorities said. Roman was the fourth law enforcement officer in the city to be killed in the line of duty since 2020. Last year, Officer Richard Mendez was fatally shot inside a parking garage at Philadelphia International Airport while trying to stop a group of people from stealing a car. Months before that, Temple Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald was shot and killed by an 18-year-old whom Fitzgerald had attempted to stop while investigating a rash of carjackings and robberies in the area, police said. And in March 2020, Cpl. James OConnor was fatally shot in Frankford while seeking to arrest a man wanted for murder. The Philadelphia School District is about to launch a long-awaited facilities planning process that could include new school buildings, co-locations, and school closings. Some district schools need millions in repair; some are overcrowded and some, like Overbrook, are underenrolled. Overbrook, built in 1926, enrolls about 400 students, but has room for nearly 2,500. Read more The Philadelphia school board on Thursday will direct Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. to formally begin a facilities planning process to manage the districts vast stock of aging buildings an undertaking that will almost certainly result in school closings, as well as new buildings and co-locations. In the past, the district has taken criticism from city officials and community members for not better managing or understanding its almost $8 billion in facilities needs, including significant environmental issues. And while some schools are bursting at the seams, particularly in the Northeast and parts of South Philadelphia, schools in other parts of the city are underenrolled, with hundreds or thousands of unused seats. Advertisement The school system has space for 180,000 students but currently serves 116,000 in its own schools. Its Renaissance schools, which are neighborhood charters that operate on a contract basis in district-run buildings, have room for 19,801 but have 14,387 enrolled. The board is done kicking the can down the road, president Reginald Streater said Tuesday. Streater said he anticipated finishing the public process within Cherelle L. Parkers current term as mayor. Why now? Watlington, who came to Philadelphia in 2022, wanted academic and organizational strategies in place first before charting a facilities course. And Parker, who campaigned for her job on a promise to have the city help address the facilities situation, is also on board, Streater said, adding that he believes it would have been governmental malpractice for the last board to engage in this without having serious close conversations with our newly elected mayor. Details about the process are scant so far, because there is no secret plan, Streater said. The process is meant to develop with input from experts, city officials, and communities he said it wont be foisted upon them. Closings are no ones first choice, but Im not going to gaslight the community and promise no closings, Streater said. But the process will also imagine situations where buildings are repurposed and where one school moves into anothers building, board officials said. Board documents call for the district to maximize school building use, and provide more equitable prekindergarten programs, access to art and music, and career and technical education opportunities. It also directs the administration to address enrollment trends that have created financial and operational inefficiencies, identify district schools/buildings to be modernized, co-located, repurposed or closed. Three resolutions, and a long history The board on Thursday will consider three separate resolutions one that formally begins the process, and action items paying for facilities planning services and community engagement and facilitation support. The contract amount of each will be made public before the meeting, the board president said. Streater promised a new process to a city soured by prior attempts to understand the facilities crisis. In 2012, the Boston Consulting Group recommended the district close up to 57 schools over five years to rightsize the district and avert a financial crisis. Soon after, the former School Reform Commission closed about 30 schools. In 2019, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr.s administration began to examine its facilities needs with an eye toward making recommendations about co-locations, new school needs, and closures, but that $1.4 million project was ultimately shelved amid the pandemic and concerns about the process efficacy. No appetite for that Politicians and the board are well aware that school closings are a politically thorny issue, with few upsides. Streater said whatever happens, this wont be a repeat of the districts 2013 mass school closures, which were sparked by a fiscal crisis so severe the school system had to borrow money just to make ends meet. The district has time to be strategic, and think about this in a way that seeks to reverse one of the unintended consequences of last time when students sometimes left schools for others that were lower-performing, and schools that took on new groups of students from closed schools often struggled, too. Streater himself is a graduate of Germantown High, which closed in 2013, then sat empty for more than a decade before being sold to a developer who is turning the space into a mixed-use development with condominiums, office, and commercial space. The board has no appetite for that, Streater said, but it wants to consider creative solutions for using resources in a way that you cant when you have schools that have 200 students in them, or 100 students in them. Streater also signaled the district will consider its 17 Renaissance charter schools as part of the planning process. Audenried, built in 2008 and given to Universal to run as a neighborhood charter in 2011, has room for 1,100 students but educates fewer than 600. Whats next? After the board adopts the action items, presumably at its meeting scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., a competitive bidding process will begin for a projects team and communications and public engagement support. Then, Streater said, the district will delve into the work of building a plan from the ground up, with community feedback. That, he said, will drive the rest of the process. Temple Universitys faculty union and administration have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract that includes a $10,000 across-the-board raise for full-time union employees, a move meant to better help lower earners. That amounts to a 10% raise for at least half the members in the Temple Association of University Professionals bargaining unit, said TAUP president Jeffrey Doshna. Advertisement In subsequent years through May 2028, they will receive 3% raises, according to TAUP, which represents more than 2,300 faculty, librarians, and academic professionals. There also will be a 1.5% merit pool available in each of those years. Pay for adjuncts, who teach about 40% of undergraduate courses, also will increase, union officials said. The tentative agreement, which follows more than a year of bargaining that included 33 sessions, is subject to a vote by the unions executive board, ratification by union members, and approval by Temples board of trustees. READ MORE: Temple faculty union calls for job security for adjuncts and non-tenure track professors in informational picket Doshna said he is confident the executive board and union membership will approve the agreement and expects the process could be complete by the middle of October. We obviously did not get everything we asked for, but we are confident we have been able to make gains on a number of important issues that our members have raised with us, Doshna said. The median salary of non-tenure track full-time professors is about $83,000, and for those who are tenured, it is about $130,000, Doshna said. Over the life of the contract, a tenured professor on average will receive an 18% increase, while those who are nontenured will get about 23%, he said. That timeline for approval means the agreement could be in place by the time John A. Fry takes over as president on Nov. 1. When Frys appointment was announced in July, he said he hoped the sides would come to an agreement soon. That would be the best thing for the university that doesnt need any additional distractions or anxiety, he said at the time. Fry, who has led Drexel University for 14 years and before that held leadership roles at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster and the University of Pennsylvania, has not previously had to deal with faculty unions. In March 2023, graduate student workers at Temple went on strike for six weeks. Were glad to reach an agreement that is generous and works for everybody, said Ken Kaiser, Temples senior vice president and chief operating officer. It brings certainty for students and for faculty and for the board and the administration. This is one item we dont have to worry about for four more years. And its also good for students, he said, who dont have to worry about disruption to operations. Kaiser declined to say how much the pact would cost the university but said its a percentage increase that we will handle within the budget. READ MORE: Temple grad students overwhelmingly ratify agreement, ending their six-week strike Adjunct faculty who taught last year will receive a $500 per credit retroactive adjustment; for those who taught six credits both last fall and spring, that would mean an additional $6,000, the union said. This year, adjuncts will receive $2,250 per credit, followed by a $50 increase in each of the subsequent years of the pact. This is a 50% raise over the life of the contract for the adjunct minimum per credit pay, the union said. READ MORE: Temple and its faculty will begin contract negotiations Those who have worked longer will begin getting multi-semester contracts, helping toward job security, the union said. Also fostering security, full-time non-tenure track faculty will have the expectation of ongoing employment once they have worked nine years, Doshna said. The tentative agreement also includes expanded leave for bereavement, improved protections for academic freedom, and the addition of lactation spaces on campus for working parents, the union said. Even though grilling season has ended, our minds are on cheeseburgers, and well share our new list of favorites. Also this week, read on about a cutlet destination at Reading Terminal, head inside a bakery set up in an old gas station, hear about Craig LaBans day as a donut boy, and put on your dancing shoes, because were about to experience disco sushi. Mike Klein Advertisement If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here. Just in time for National Cheeseburger Day, weve updated our list of favorite burgers in the area. Among the 21 is a particularly inspired new one from Huda that tops a smashed beef patty with buttermilk ranch, pickled peppers, pepper Jack brie, and hot honey on a house-made milk bun, along with one from Kampar that critic Craig LaBan describes as a meaty juice bomb. Your favorite burger in the area? Let me know, please. To make your own next-level burger, just ask The Guru, a Washington-based restaurateur whose secrets include fish sauce and Dukes mayo for an indulgent patty you need to try to believe. Ready-to-drink cocktails are one way to wash down a burger, and Wednesday appears to be the date for some supermarkets and grocery stores to start selling them with new permits from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. (The law allowing their sale went into effect late last week.) Were also keeping an eye on the additional happy-hour time in Pennsylvania, part of an overall loosening of state liquor laws. Philly butcher Rob Passio figured into two of my stops over the last week, coincidentally. The first was Reading Terminal Market, where he owns Giuntas Prime Shop and is a partner with chef-operator Beth Esposito in Butchers Pantry. Besides all kinds of pantry items (spice blends, compound butters, sauces), her fridges are packed with a changing selection of snacks and scratch-made meals. Esposito is a longtime caterer (Pink Garlic). Espositos specialty at Butchers Pantry is the chicken cutlet sandwich. The $12.99 craft-your-own-cutlet deal gets you two cutlets and two toppings (basically, anything in the refrigerator case) on a Sarcones roll. Shown above is the Malocchio, with burrata, sharp Provolone, broccoli rabe, roasted peppers, long hots, roasted garlic, and pistachio pesto. Shown below is the Un-Real, with vegan cheese, fried eggplant, marinara, and broccoli rabe. Gluten-free rolls are also available. (Butchers Pantry also happens to be the place in the market to find pizza on a Sunday when By George is closed.) For my second Passio encounter: I visited Lombardis Meats on Packer Avenue in South Philly, which he bought last month from Vince Lombardi, who retired. Passio said he intends to keep things the same, though he thinks his Packer Park customers are ready for wagyu beef. Some of Pennsylvanias best bread is being made in an old gas station in North Philly. Chloe Pantazi-Wolber tells the story of how Ursa Bakerys Claire Kopp McWilliams has become the hit of the farmers market circuit. The LaBan family has been eating doughnuts from Browns Restaurant in Ocean City, N.J., for decades. Recently, Craig got to work the fryer and dip the treats as a Browns donut boy for a day. Read on and hell tell you what it was like to be glazed and amused. Remembering David Ansill Chef David Ansill, who died last month of cancer, will be remembered Wednesday evening with a celebration at Craft Hall, 901 N. Delaware Ave. Food at 7 p.m., toast at 8 p.m., music and remembrances following. Theres no charge but organizers ask that you RSVP. Scoops Gazzos Steaks, the hit of Pottstown and Phoenixville, has signed a lease for a takeout window in Ardmore. The suburbs sushi scene keeps growing. Guppys Good Times owner Robin Gupta has a deal with Scott Kim of the Kooma restaurants (West Chester, King of Prussia, and now Cherry Hill) to run a 37-seat sushi and noodle bar opening upstairs from Guppys in Conshohocken this fall. Koomas sushi has been on Guppys downstairs menu for years, but this spot so far unnamed will be a dedicated space. Also: Izzys, a 24-seater specializing in hand rolls and sake from the crew at Ardmores Ripplewood, is due to open two doors away, at 35 E. Lancaster Ave., this weekend. More intel on the restaurant project coming to the Post Brothers Piazza Alta in Northern Liberties next year, just east of the Piazza. In early 2025, youll have Gertie, a Jew-ish diner out of Brooklyn, a food hall operated by Method Co., and a high-end restaurant by chef Laurent Tourondel. I see that the Tourondel restaurant will be called Terra Grill, and it has an Instagram. (Shown above is a rendering of the bar.) Theres more coming just west of the Piazza, across Second Street next to SIN (Steak Italian Nightlife): a sultry, speakeasy-style bar-restaurant called the Newsroom is looking at an October opening. Below is a look at Gerties New York location, whose vibe Id describe as Middle Child Clubhouse meets diner. Restaurant report 1977 called and it wants its uni back. Sushi by Bou will open its second Philadelphia omakase room this week, and the theme is Studio 54. Disco sushi, anyone? A band of African musicians set the tempo for the relaunch of West African restaurant Kilimandjaro in University City after four years. Fridays ceremony was as much of a celebration of the restaurant as it was of owner Youma Ba (shown below with her daughter, Veronique). Its now open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and till 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, at 44th and Chestnut Streets. Read on to learn why Ba, who is from Senegal, decided to name her restaurant after a mountain clear across the continent. Briefly noted Elma (431 E. Girard Ave.), chef James Nardones cozy-casual Italian BYOB in Fishtown, now offers a four-course option for $90 in addition to the six-course, $150 dinner that has been the deal since its opening. Nardone calls it the best way to reduce our paywall for guests. Shown above is the hiramasa, with ajo blanco, cucumber, and coriander. Craig LaBans six favorite Jersey oysters will take over the daily oyster list at Oyster House (1516 Sansom St.) from Sept. 24-26. Also, two oysters will be discounted to $2 a piece at happy hour each day, only in the bar from 4-6 p.m. Read on to see Craigs picks. Restaurant weeks are ongoing in Center City District (through Saturday); Dine Latino (through Saturday); Brandywine Valley (through Saturday); and Conshohocken (through Sunday). Next up on my radar is Glenside-Jenkintown (Sept. 23-29). La Maison Jaune, a French-style cafe, might seem to be a welcome new business near Fitler Square. But plans are on hold. As Jake Blumgart recently wrote, neighbors raised fears of rodents, errant coffee cups on the sidewalk, and extra traffic from delivery trucks. The zoning board will hear the owners case next week, and one key observer suggests its part of a broader discussion about all these barriers in place that make it so difficult to start a small business in Philadelphia. The KB Foundations third annual BBQ Experience fundraiser on Friday will take over the Pump House, chef Nick Elmis new event space next to Lark and the Landing Kitchen in Bala Cynwyd. The foundation, which focuses on impacting youths lives by creating fun educational learning experiences, has a new partnership with the Jalen Hurts Foundation and Lincoln Financial. Tickets ($175 a head, $250 a couple) are here. KPs Fine Meats from Port Richmond has opened its second location, inside Market at the Fareway in Chestnut Hill. It replaces Rices Quality Meats, which closed in March. Pop quiz A Philly food brand sent a sternly worded notice to a restaurant, advising that its trademark was being infringed. The brand is... A) Wawa B) Ritas C) Tastykake D) Chickies & Petes Find out if you know the answer. Ask Mike anything I heard about that one-night collaboration dinner featuring Jesse Ito and Chutatip Nok Suntaranon at Kalaya. I went online at noon Saturday when reservations opened and got shut out. I seemed to have a table lined up but when I clicked, it said it was taken. What happened? Erica S. Supply and demand. (I missed out, too.) Their representative told me that it sold out in less than one minute. Perspective: Two James Beard-lauded restaurateurs packing a 144-seat restaurant for a four-hour shift, at $125pp the Resy Philly equivalent of an Olivia Rodrigo/Taylor Swift one-nighter at the Wells Fargo Center. Have a question about food in Philly? E-mail your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter. By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirers Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10. Jefferson Abington Hospital, shown here in 2020, is the source of more than two dozen lawsuits in Philadelphia since the beginning of 2023. Before than the lawsuit would have been filed in Montgomery County. Read more Good morning. Our big read today looks at our exclusive reporting on a new flood of medical malpractice lawsuits into Philadelphia, and what the rule change behind the rush means for insurers, providers, and plaintiffs. In more news, Bayada has to pay $13.5 million to its nurses over wages, and a round of musical chairs is underway among academic deans in our area. Plus, how do you think your hospital ranks for doctors bedside manner? This week, we dive into the data from a national survey to find out. For a chance to be featured in this newsletter, or to share your tips, questions and suggestions, email us back. Advertisement If someone forwarded you this newsletter, sign up here. Alison McCook, Inquirer health reporter, @alisonmccook A recent change in court rules is allowing medical malpractice cases to be filed in the city even if the incident occurred elsewhere. The hook? The defendant must also do business within city limits which, given the recent consolidation of health systems, applies to scores of local health-care institutions and private physician groups. Our colleague Harold Brubaker spent weeks reviewing court filings at City Hall to report a story full of eye-popping stats: More than dozen medical malpractice lawsuits are being filed in Philly court every month, stemming from incidents that took place as far away as Scranton and York. Between January 1, 2023, and April 2024, more than 40% of 657 medical malpractice complaints initiated in Philadelphia were based on care provided outside the city. Not surprisingly, there are now fewer malpractice cases being filed in suburban counties. In Delaware County, for instance, the number of suits fell by more than half, to 32 in 2023 from 67 in 2022. Why the flocking to Philly? One word: payouts. The city has a history of multimillion dollar verdicts, prompting one expert to liken the city to a slot machine that everybody wants to play. To learn more about the implications for the insurance industry (could some insurers once again stop doing business in Pa.?), read Harolds story. The latest news to pay attention to A recent federal survey asked patients to rank hospital doctors by how well they communicate with patients by, for instance, listening, explaining concepts, and treating them with respect. And our regions ranking is ... below average. Philly-area hospitals received an average score of three out of five stars for how well doctors communicate with patients, while the national average was a four-star rating. Eight hospitals received a two-star rating for doctor communication. Read more to see how your hospital fared in the national survey. Late last year, two employees of Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Hospital came to their supervisor with an alarming allegation: They saw someone inappropriately touching a patient who was being treated for brain cancer and epilepsy, and had limited communication abilities. But the incident was never reported, nor documented in the patients file. State inspectors have cited the hospital for not reporting the suspected sexual abuse to authorities. According to the citation, the alleged abuser was not a hospital employee. Click here to read more about this incident, which follows similar citations in recent months for two Main Line Health hospitals that also failed to report instances of alleged sexual assault. Everyone wants a diagnosis for whatever ailments theyre facing. But in many cases, its not that simple. When is it time for a patient to give up the search for a label for their discomfort, and focus on treatment, instead? Thats the question posed and probed by Amanda Finegold Swain, a family medicine physician in the University of Pennsylvania Health System. It can be hard for patients to give up the hunt, as getting a specific diagnosis is validating, and can help them educate themselves about their condition or join a support community. But often, the diagnosis wont change the course of action. In that instance, our time is best spent managing symptoms and improving function, Swain writes. It was a big news week for academic deans in the Philly area. There are four new deans at Rutgers University Angela Starkweather at the School of Nursing (pictured, above), Christopher M. Span at the Graduate School of Education, George Leibowitz at the School of Social Work, and Mark Anner, the new head of the School of Management and Labor Relations. (And in more Rutgers news, its president Jonathan Holloway plans to step down from his post in June.) Rutgers wasnt the only university in our area to announce some dean shake-ups: Drexel has asked several deans to step down, part of its decision to shake up its organizational structure, our higher education reporter Sue Snyder reported last week. The deans affected are at the College of Engineering, the College of Computing and Informatics, and the School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences, and Health Systems. Meanwhile, faculty at Salus are opposing the presidents decision to remove the dean of its Pennsylvania College of Optometry, as its merger with Drexel advances. A biotech company whose CEO is based in West Chester announced last week it has $35 million in new financing, led in part by the Gates Foundation. Radiant Biotherapeutics plans to use the money to further its signature technology, an engineered antibody that its testing in HIV (thus sparking Gates interest), COVID-19, and cancer. Radiants labs are in Toronto, but it is expanding its presence in the Philly area, hiring more managers, including someone with experience in business development. Do you think Philadelphia is a good place for a biotechs U.S. office? Why or why not? For a chance to be featured in this newsletter, email us back. By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirers Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10. Hospitals in the Philly region ranked lower than the national average by patients for doctor communication. Read more Hospitals in the Philly area are ranked below the national average by patients when it comes to doctor communication, according to a federal survey. Across the region, hospitals received an average score of three stars for how well doctors communicate with patients, while the national average was a four-star rating. While no hospital in the Philly region received a five-star rating for doctor communication, 12 received a four-star rating, and eight hospitals received a two-star rating for doctor communication the lowest score out of 36 hospitals in the region. Advertisement Star ratings are a composite score based on patient responses to three separate questions: how well their doctors explained things, to what degree they treated them with courtesy and respect, and how well doctors listened. At Tower Healths Pottstown Hospital, 64% of patients said they always felt their doctor explained things so they could understand ranking the lowest of the regions hospitals. Thats compared to the highest rate at the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, where 78% of patients reported their doctor always explained things well. Pottstown Hospital in Montgomery County also had the lowest percentage of patients who said they always felt doctors listened carefully, 66%, compared to 81% of patients at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Both HUP and Penn Presbyterian are flagships of the Penn Medicine system. Patients in the Philly area generally felt that doctors treated them with courtesy and respect, and hospital scores ranged from 76% at Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia to 88% at St. Lukes Quakertown Hospital in Upper Bucks. These findings are part of a federal survey administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to over 8,000 patients across the U.S. after they were discharged from hospitals between October 2022 and September 2023. The purpose of the survey is to assess quality of care in which effective communication between doctors and patients plays a critical role. Research shows that hospitals with higher doctor communication ratings have lower rates of hospital-acquired conditions, fewer medical errors, and are more likely to follow through with their treatment plans. ATLANTIC CITY Marty Small Sr., the mayor of Atlantic City, and his wife, LaQuetta Small, the superintendent of schools, were indicted on charges of endangering the welfare of their teenage daughter, the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office announced Wednesday. Marty Small was also charged with third-degree terroristic threats and third-degree aggravated assault. Advertisement The charges stem from multiple occasions in December and January when the defendants physically and emotionally abused their 15/16-year-old daughter, the prosecutor said in a statement. In one incident, on Jan. 13, the mayor is alleged to have hit his daughter in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness. Another incident involved him punching his daughter repeatedly in her legs, leaving her bruised, prosecutors said. Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Marty Small said: This is a family matter that turned political that went public. It has nothing to do with my job. Thats that. Now its our turn to put our side out. Ed Jacobs, his attorney, reiterated that the charges have nothing to do with Smalls official duties. In a phone call, he said: The indictment against Mayor Small does not allege any type of official corruption, any misconduct within the mayors office or City Hall. It doesnt allege any public offenses. He contended that the charges concerned a disagreement in a private domestic matter, something the county prosecutor typically would not get involved in. The Atlantic County prosecutor is second-guessing how this mom and dad choose to raise one of their teenaged kids, Jacobs said. Neither the mayor nor his wife have done anything wrong and will be exonerated, he said. No arraignment date has been set. The Smalls were previously charged in the alleged abuse and waived a pre-indictment court appearance. In New Jersey criminal procedure, an indictment follows the initial charges before cases go to trial. The entire family appeared at a news conference earlier this year to address rumors after their house was searched by law enforcement. Marty and LaQuetta Small were charged two weeks later. READ MORE: Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. addresses child abuse allegations: It doesnt change my commitment Also indicted in a related case is the principal of Atlantic City High School, Constance Days-Chapman, 39. Days-Chapman is a family friend of the Smalls, whom their daughter is alleged to have told that she was suffering from continuous headaches due to being hit by her parents at home, according to a statement from prosecutors. Days-Chapman was indicted Sept. 11 on charges of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and hindering apprehension. The prosecutor alleged that Days-Chapman failed to notify the Department of Child Protection and Permanency or law enforcement authorities as required by statute and school policy when a student discloses alleged child abuse. Days-Chapman is alleged to have gone to the Smalls home and told them of their daughters allegations. In the terroristic threats charges, the prosecutor alleges that Marty Small threatened to hurt his daughter by earth slamming her down the stairs, grabbing her head, throwing her to the ground, and smacking the weave out of her head. The prosecutor alleged that LaQuetta Small punched her daughter multiple times on her chest leaving bruising. Another incident alleged that LaQuetta Small dragged her daughter by her hair, then struck her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving marks. During the news conference this spring, Marty Small stressed that the incidents were family problems that had nothing to do with his job, and that there were no allegations of corruption or official misconduct. His wife remains superintendent of schools. The "legacy" Wawa on Route 70 in Cherry Hill. The small-footprint store, without gas or public restrooms, is closing in October, nearly two years after a proposal to replace it with a Super Wawa across the street at the Barclay shopping center fell through after community opposition. Read more One of a dwindling number of legacy Wawas in South Jersey smaller than the chains Super stores, and without gas pumps is set to close in early October in Cherry Hill. Open for 51 years on westbound Route 70 near the Kingston neighborhood and the Barclay Towers condominiums, the store was earlier expected to be replaced by a Super Wawa at the Barclay shopping center on the opposite side of the highway. Advertisement Wawa is known for choosing locations carefully, and for being willing to adjust some design details during the local approval process. But after fierce community opposition, the developer of the project opted out in December 2022. READ MORE: Wawas Cherry Hill plans scrapped after community outcry After an extensive evaluation, Wawa has made the decision to permanently close our store located [on] Route 70 in Cherry Hill on Oct. 8, the company said in a statement Wednesday. While this was a very difficult decision to make, we have determined that this store cannot deliver the experience customers deserve or continue to meet performance expectations. The statement added that while Wawa does attempt to renovate or relocate legacy stores, it is just not feasible for us to do so at or near the Route 70 location. Their [Wawas] decision to close the store was their own, knowing that several other Wawas are thriving in town, said Mayor David Fleisher. Across Route 70, the revitalization of the Barclay shopping center, without a Wawa, is good for the neighbors and good for Cherry Hill, he said. John Ross, property manager at Barclay Towers, said he and many of the 500 residents there are Wawa regulars. Five of the people who live here work at the Wawa, said Ross. Ive been here for 34 years and I am really upset that its going to close, he added. Theres nothing else around. Hopefully somebody will come in and open a 7-Eleven or something. READ MORE: A second life for former Wawas Some opponents of the scuttled Barclay Super Wawa said they too are sorry to hear that the legacy store will close, a story first reported by the 42Freeway website. I dont think people realize how important that store is to residents of Kingston, said Anne Einhorn, who has lived there for 41 years. Many of the senior citizens in the neighborhood and in the towers walk there to buy bread and milk and other basics, she said. There are people for whom its not easy to get to another store. Said Martha Wright, an organizer of the anti-super store Preserve Barclay movement: Its unfortunate to see such an iconic meeting place in the community closed. Some may see this closure as progress but I see it as a shift [by Wawa] from a beloved, family owned and operated company to a corporate entity. ... The legacy Wawa and the friendly folks who work there will be much missed. In the statement, Wawa said that all of Barclay stores employees have been offered the opportunity to work at other Wawa stores. With the closure of the Route 70 site, there will be five Wawas in Cherry Hill. At 10:30 p.m. Friday, a supervisor touring B Unit at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, a city jail in Northeast Philadelphia, observed that no officer had been assigned to the unit. He logged his finding in prison records. Still, the unit was left unstaffed until the next morning, when a lieutenant came through at 7 a.m. to serve breakfast and found 61-year-old Michael McKinnis in cell 11 unresponsive. He was pronounced dead, and the cause of death has not yet been released. McKinnis brother, Rick Saddler, and mother, Delois Saddler, want to know what happened in the those unsupervised eight hours, and whether McKinnis death could have been prevented if the jail unit was properly staffed. Advertisement We both know Michael well enough to know he is going to scream for help, especially with the amount of pain he was in, Rick Saddler said. McKinnis was medically fragile and in constant pain, a result of being hit by a car about eight years ago, he said. A city spokesperson declined to provide additional information, citing an ongoing investigation. A spokesperson for the medical examiner said the cause of death was listed as pending. McKinnis death came one week after 31-year-old Amanda Cahill died in a Philadelphia jail cell of suspected drug-related causes, days after being brought in from a police sweep in Kensington. READ MORE: Drug deaths and overdoses plague Philly jails, where many are denied drug treatment The two cases bear some notable similarities: Both people were found dead on Saturday mornings by staff distributing morning meals or medications, which raises questions about the role of short-staffing in the deaths and whether emergency-call devices in the cells were working. And both died just a few days after having been taken into custody on outstanding warrants and were still on intake units, where medical screenings and other assessments are conducted, when they died. READ MORE: A 31-year-old woman arrested in a Kensington sweep died in jail days later The jails have been operating at a little over half their necessary staffing levels and on weekends, operations have been particularly skeletal, which advocates say is contributing to the dangers inside. A federal judge this summer found the city in contempt for court for failing to remedy unconstitutional jail conditions and ordered the city to pay $25 million into a dedicated jail operations fund to be overseen by the court. Five people have died in Philadelphia jails this year, putting them on track for the lowest death toll in at least four years. But Claire Shubik-Richards, executive director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, said she has heard of people having heart attacks and seizures on unstaffed units. In every single one of our walk-throughs over the last three years, incarcerated people report medical emergencies that go unattended because there are no staff present, she said. READ MORE: In contempt of court, Philly jails must pay $25 million and rapidly boost staffing She said the staffing crisis, combined with the plans for more police sweeps in Kensington, is fueling that danger. Every weekend in the fall with an Eagles game is going to be short-staffed, she said. And given the mayors policies, there are going to be more medically fragile people coming into these facilities. McKinnis was arrested at home last week on three bench warrants, all related to 2018 arrests for driving while intoxicated in Philadelphia and Montgomery County. Court records show no recent criminal charges. He grew up in St. Louis, came to Philadelphia for college, and worked in sales an ideal fit for his outgoing personality and positive attitude, his family said. He owned a cell-phone shop in University City for a while. He had a 21-year-old son. He was a giant of a man, said Rick Saddler, very fit and healthy. But the last five years he had used a cane to walk, and was constantly falling down. Since the car crash, McKinnis suffered problems with his liver and back, and recently had surgery for a broken hip and femur. His family said theyve been trying to find out whether he had received his medications at intake for his liver disease and for his pain and what happened in the last days of his life. They had not known he was incarcerated until the chaplain called to notify them of his death. We still dont have any answers, Saddler said. Defender Association of Philadelphia chief Keisha Hudson said in a statement that McKinnis death was a direct result of the citys failure to act quickly to staff up the jails or reduce the number of people incarcerated. Weve repeatedly called for collaboration and dialogue to develop solutions to end this crisis, she said. The time for city leaders to act is overdue. If we continue to operate with a lack of urgency, more people are going to die. Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with members of the National Association of Black Journalists at WHYY's Center City offices Tuesday. Read more Vice President Kamala Harris much-anticipated sit down with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) was muted, subdued, and absolutely uneventful and, frankly, I was relieved. Harris meeting with Black journalists at the Center City offices of WHYY was a sharp contrast to the craziness that happened when Donald Trump met with the group in Chicago six weeks earlier. Advertisement During Harris interview, no ones racial identity was questioned. There was no huge headline-making moment, and I didnt see anyone in attendance nudge the person next to them as if to say, Did you hear that? It was just another interview. And I found that totally refreshing. Im ready for a return to normalcy. Im tired of Trump and his antics, including his ridiculous claim last week that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are kidnapping and eating their neighbors cats and dogs. Its always something with him. It never seems to stop. Im tired of hearing his name. Im sick of people carrying on about the latest lunacy he has uttered. Im weary of him and all his baggage. READ MORE: Black journalists are still torn about Trumps visit to the NABJ convention. Im not one of them | Jenice Armstrong Thats why it was such a welcome change of pace for me to just sit at WHYYs studio Tuesday afternoon and listen as Harris calmly made her case for why shes the best person for the job. There were no theatrics. There was zero drama. In her tan suit and sensible pumps, she came off as knowledgeable, presidential, and also very conventional, disciplined, and competent which is how I like my presidents. Her demeanor reminds me of how American presidents of either political stripe used to behave before Trump came along and upended national politics, imbuing debates, news conferences, and social media posts with the kind of coarse one-liners and rowdy antics that are more fit for a reality show participant than a head of state. Theres a quiet dignity about Harris thats reassuring, not to mention comforting. I can picture her answering a 3 a.m. call to the White House about trouble brewing somewhere in the world and calmly knowing the right thing to do. Harris is a decent human being. Shes steady, not erratic. During her interview Tuesday in Philadelphia, she didnt mock anyone the way Trump did when he met with NABJ and accused Harris, who is both Black and of Indian heritage, of changing her racial identity. Im ready for a return to normalcy. She didnt sit in a room full of African Americans, the way that Trump did, and chest-thump about being the best thing for Black people since Abraham Lincoln. Nor did she insult working journalists, the way Trump did when he accused ABCs Rachel Scott, one of the moderators at the event in July, of working for a fake news network. In contrast, Harris treated the journalists who interviewed her with respect, and referred to them as esteemed journalists. Our esteemed African American elders would say that she acts as if she had had good home training. In other words, shes been schooled in how to treat people with respect even during tense moments, such as when the event moderators attempted to push her on her answers or cut her off when she went on too long. Her finest moment came when Harris was asked about Trumps baseless claim about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, supposedly eating pets. She pointed out that Trump was spewing lies grounded in tropes. I know that people are deeply troubled about whats happening to that community in Springfield, she said, pointing out that Trumps rhetoric was hateful and designed to divide us as a country. READ MORE: Republicans go DEI on Kamala Harris at their own peril | Jenice Armstrong Harris also referenced Trumps troubled racial history, which includes refusing to rent properties to Black people, taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times about the Central Park Five who were eventually exonerated, and his birther lies against former President Barack Obama, claiming he wasnt born in America and was therefore ineligible to be the nations first Black president. When you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a deep level that your words have meaning, she told the room. Harris also addressed the issue of Black male voters. Polls have indicated some softening of their support of the Democratic Party. I think its very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybodys pocket, Harris said. Black men are like any other voting group. You gotta earn their vote, so Im working to earn the vote, not assuming Im gonna have it because Im Black. When it was over, we got up to leave. People came up to me afterward and asked me how it went. Over and over, I said the same thing: It was uneventful exactly how it should have been. Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday in Philadelphia that she isnt treating Black male voters as a monolith amid signs that former President Donald Trump has made inroads with the demographic. Im working to earn their vote, not assuming Im going to have it because Im Black, Harris said during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists. Advertisement It was one of her first live interviews since she became the Democratic standard-bearer following President Joe Bidens decision to end his reelection campaign. Harris broke little new ground and offered few specifics on policy proposals when pressed by moderators. But she escaped the 45-minute event largely unscathed despite weeks of criticism about her avoiding unscripted interviews with journalists. READ MORE: Donald Trump questioned Kamala Harris racial identity and returned to Pa. for the first time since his assassination attempt The event could not have been more different than Trumps July sit-down with the same organization, in which he clashed with moderators and drew widespread criticism for questioning when Harris became Black. (Harris, whose mother is Indian and whose father is Jamaican, has long embraced both aspects of her heritage.) Harris latest visit to Philadelphia came 49 days before Election Day in a race in which both candidates are targeting Pennsylvania as a must-win state. Harris interview was hosted by WHYY and moderated by Gerren Gaynor of TheGrio television network, Eugene Daniels of Politico, and Tonya Mosley of NPR. Before an audience of NABJ members and students from historically Black colleges and universities, the vice president answered questions on topics ranging from job creation and abortion to the Israel-Hamas war and U.S. gun violence. She reiterated her support for a ban on assault rifles, which are often used in high-profile mass shootings, and noted that she and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are both gun owners. Were not trying to take any guns away from anyone, but we do need an assault weapons ban, she said. Asked which other policies she believed could address the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S. where 59% of homicides and violent crimes are perpetrated with handguns Harris acknowledged there are very few solutions we havent thought of. She said universal background checks would help, although those would cover only legally purchased guns. She also stressed the need to end gun-show loopholes that allow dealers in some states to sell guns without performing background checks. I myself protested at a gun show 10, 15 years ago about the gun-show loophole and why we need to close that, she said. On the Israel-Hamas war, Daniels noted that Harris has been praised for emphasizing the humanity of Palestinians in her public statements on the issue. But he questioned whether there are any substantive differences between her approach and Bidens, which progressive critics of the war have said has failed to hold Israel accountable. Is there a specific policy change as president that you would do? he said. Harris reiterated her support for a cease-fire agreement to end the bloodshed. We need to get this deal done, and we need to get it done immediately. That is my position and that is my policy, Harris said, without articulating a difference between her plans and Bidens policy. Harris also addressed the apparent assassination attempt targeting Trump on Sunday, saying she spoke with him about the ordeal on Tuesday. The foiled plot was the second time Trump has been targeted by a gunman during the campaign, following his being shot in the ear during a July rally in Butler, Pa. I checked on him to see if he was OK, and I told him what I said publicly: Theres no place for political violence in our country, Harris said. Harris also addressed her own safety, especially in reference to an incident on Jan. 6, 2021, where a pipe bomb was found outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters while she was inside. She said she feels confident in the ability of the Secret Service to protect her safety: Yes, I feel safe. I have Secret Service protection, she said. But she then pivoted to saying that many other people feel unsafe because of GOP policies and rhetoric, such as LGBTQ residents who feel targeted by Republican state officials in Florida, and immigrants who have been the subject of false and demonizing anecdotes by Trump. Harris said Trumps repeatedly debunked false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, are a crying shame. I mean, my heart breaks for this community, Harris said, citing how schools in Springfield had to be evacuated due to threats. Trump has doubled down on anti-immigrant rhetoric, spreading falsehoods about towns including Charleroi, Pa., a small borough in Washington County. You cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the president of the United States of America engaging in that hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country, Harris said. Harris visit coincided with a four-day White House conference on HBCUs in Philadelphia, which Biden addressed the previous day. Morgan State University senior Zakaiya Williams took a bus from Maryland to Philadelphia to see Harris speak Tuesday. Before the event began, she said she was most interested in Harris responses on the Israel-Hamas war. After Harris spoke, Williams felt her response to questions about the conflict in Gaza fell flat. She didnt answer as head-on as I thought she would, Williams said. Howard University senior Danilo Wrightsell said the campus is abuzz with support for Harris presidential campaign, which coincides with the anniversary of the historically Black universitys 100th homecoming. Harris is a Howard alum and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at the school in 1986. A lot of people are really excited about her, he said. Theres a big thing of pride going on on campus. Montgomery County Sheriff Deputies pick up mail-in-ballots at the Ludington Library in Bryn Mawr, Monday, May 15, 2023 Read more Montgomery County voters can now request and return mail ballots at the countys main government office building: One Montgomery Plaza in Norristown. After slow delivery of mail ballots during Aprils primary election, Montgomery County is one of the first counties in Pennsylvania to print and mail ballots for Novembers general election. Advertisement Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, a Democrat, cast his mail ballot Tuesday, the first to be cast in the county for the election. Makhija delivered his vote one day after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court confirmed Cornel West could not appear on the states ballot as a third-party candidate, enabling counties across the state to begin printing and distributing ballots to voters. Commissioner Tom DiBello, a Republican, said the county was getting its ballots out early enough this cycle that he wasnt concerned about slow delivery. Were in good shape and the ballots are going to be going out starting later this week, he said. They have plenty of time to get them back. The county will send roughly 115,000 ballots over the next week or two. Voters can continue to request a mail ballot until Oct. 29. Starting Oct. 4, there will be eight satellite election offices across the county and 18 ballot drop boxes. Former President Donald Trump posted to X on Tuesday that early voting had begun in Pennsylvania. While that is true in Montgomery County, that is not the case statewide as counties complete testing on ballots, print them, and send them. Philadelphia is not likely to start distributing ballots until next week, while Jim Allen, the election director in Delaware County, said ballots there may not be available until around Oct. 1. A spokesperson for Bucks County said ballots there will likely not be mailed until October. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Chester County said ballots will also go out there in early October. Senator John Fetterman removes his Harvard Kennedy School masters graduation hood in protest of Harvard University's handling of the Jewish community on campus after the October 7th attacks on Israel, at the Yeshiva University commencement on May 29, 2024. Read more Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) is accepting a Defender of Israel award from the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) on Wednesday. Fetterman, a Democrat, has been an unconditional supporter of Israel since Hamas attack on the country on Oct. 7, a position that has put him at odds with progressive members of his party who have been critical of Israels military response. Advertisement An invitation for the event calls Fetterman a visible and outspoken supporter of Israel and praised him for visiting the country. The award is being presented to Fetterman at the groups Night of Appreciation in Philadelphia on Wednesday evening. Fetterman will accept the award remotely through video due to a scheduling conflict, according to the group. ZOA advocates for Israel and opposes a Palestinian state under the belief that it would endanger Israels existence. The annual award goes to people the group sees as helping strengthen the relationship between the United States and Israel. The group honored former President Donald Trump with a different award in 2022. The organization, founded in 1897, has been in turmoil for years, and two members of its board recently asked a judge to remove longtime leader President Morton Klein due to alleged financial misconduct and poor leadership, The Forward reported. Multiple leaders of the group have turned on Klein, and the group has shrunk significantly over the past two decades with a brief resurgence during the Trump administration, according to the report. A former executive director of the group sued Klein in 2022 alleging racist and sexist behavior, according to The Forward. Klein drew public backlash in 2018 for calling a Palestinian who killed an Israeli American a filthy Arab. He apologized at the time by saying he was referring to Arab murders specifically, not all Arabs, but did not take back the charged slur. In 2016, he voiced support for Trumps proposal to profile Muslims in America and, in a 2022 New Yorker interview, he defended Trump for promoting the birther conspiracy about former President Barack Obama though he later said he believes Obama was born in the U.S. Fetterman and Klein were unlikely allies before the start of the Israel-Hamas war when Fetterman garnered a reputation for trolling Republicans like Trump. But in the months since, as protests have erupted across the country over the Palestinian death toll, Fetterman has became known for picking fights with members of his own party over the issue. Even Gov. Josh Shapiro, an outspoken supporter of Israel, has publicly denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Fetterman, who is not Jewish, visited Israel for the first time in June. He met with Israel President Isaac Herzog and Netanyahu, who said Israel has had no better friend than Sen. John Fetterman. READ MORE: Fetterman removes Harvard hood in protest during Yeshiva University commencement speech Fetterman was also honored for his support of Israel in May at the commencement ceremony for Yeshiva University, an Orthodox Jewish school in New York City. His award, the Presidential Medallion, was given to Daniel Gold, the inventor of Israels Iron Dome air defense system, last year. He was lauded as a hero of Israel. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Wednesday officially endorsed the 76ers proposal to build an arena in Center City. Her announcement leaves enough time for the project to be approved by City Council by the end of 2024 if a majority of lawmakers are in favor of it. Her administration and the team have been hashing out the details of legislation and related agreements needed to approve the project for months. The mayors office will now send the bills to Council. Advertisement READ MORE: Live coverage: Philly Mayor Parker backs Sixers arena in Center City: opponents protest outside City Hall City Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose district includes the proposed site and who will be the point person for legislation enabling the arena, has promised to make drafts of the bills public for 30 days before he officially introduces them. That means they cannot be introduced sooner than Councils Oct. 24 meeting. The bills will then be sent to the Committee of the Whole, which includes all Council members and is employed to handle major proposals, Squilla has said. There will likely be multiple days of hearings in which stakeholders and members of the public can testify. The bills would likely have to be voted out of committee by Dec. 4 in order to pass by the end of the year. Councils final day before lawmakers go on a monthlong winter break is Dec. 12. So far only four of the 17 Council members have taken public positions on the arena. Councilmembers Nicolas ORourke, Kendra Brooks, and Jeffery Young Jr. are opposed to the project as currently proposed, while Councilmember Jimmy Harrity has come out in favor of it. READ MORE: The Sixers arena took center stage as City Council returned to session. A vote could come this fall. Staff writer Jeff Gammage contributed to this article. St John WA, with HIFs generous support, are teaching young First Nations children the importance of looking after one another, said Angel Robins, SJWAs sustainability manager. Its important that this first aid is culturally appropriate, which is why we involve First Nations elders in the training, to keep it meaningful and engaging for how they would use it in their everyday lives. In addition to Dudleys appointment, BMS Re, the specialty reinsurance arm of BMS Group, has named Anthony Mirabal as CEO of its Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) division. Mirabal, who will begin his role in November 2024, has more than 30 years of experience in the reinsurance sector. These leadership changes, along with Legg's appointment in Canada, are part of Guy Carpenters broader effort to enhance its market presence and provide specialized solutions to its clients. The addition of experienced industry professionals to key leadership positions is expected to support the firms continued growth in both the Canadian and US markets. MSIG USA is part of MSIG Holdings (USA), Inc. a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc., one of the worlds largest property and casualty insurers. MSIG USAs network of over 500 professionals operates across the US, providing services in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Swiss Re said that it selected mea after a period of testing, citing its ability to process complex data formats such as Schedules of Value (SOV) and Loss Runs from Excel spreadsheets and PDFs. The expanded contract will allow Swiss Re to leverage meas generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) capabilities to handle these intricate formats more efficiently. This announcement comes shortly after Brown & Brown reported a rise in net income in its second-quarter and half-year financial results for 2024. The interim earnings report for the second quarter of 2024 showed total revenues of $1.18 billion, up from $1.05 billion in Q2 2023. Joining King Risk Partners allows us to expand our resources and expertise, enhancing the value we provide to our clients, he said. We have always been focused on delivering the best possible service, and with Kings support, we will be able to take that to the next level. DeCarlo, who previously served as CEO of Amwins for 17 years, oversaw the companys expansion through the merger of several specialty wholesalers. Proceeds from the event will benefit students and programs at the Greenberg School, which is part of The Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. Johns University. State leaders tasked with reviewing Maines preparations and responses to climate change-fueled natural disasters are at a crossroads. While Maine has seen seven federal disaster declarations for severe storms and flooding in the past three years, statewide enrollment in federally-backed flood insurance policies is dwindling. Public infrastructure has been repeatedly damaged, including the coasts working waterfronts, and the state has been reliant on federal disaster assistance to rebuild and strengthen damaged infrastructure. At a meeting earlier this month, members of the state Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission wondered whether a public insurance option offered by the state could protect both the uninsured and the states own public infrastructure. Public Entities Its the only way I can think of that actually provides a permanent stream of funding to respond to disasters as they occur and the need for increased resilience, said Charlie Colgan, an economist and policy analyst at the University of Southern Maine. Climate resilience, Colgan said, is going to have to come mostly from our own resources. Colgans proposal, which he presented during the meeting on Sept. 4, includes a public insurance model jump-started by a state bond. What would happen next is less clear. The insurance program, as Colgan envisions it, would at first be open only to public entities, like municipalities, which would pay into the pool and draw money after disasters. Payouts could also cover funding obligations for federal grants and fund general resilience projects, like upsizing culverts. If extended beyond the public domain, Colgan imagines the program could also provide an additional layer of protection for Maine property owners acting as a low-cost insurance option that would fill the gaps of federally-backed flood insurance. There are other publicly funded insurance programs in the U.S., including the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The non-profit public insurance company was formed by the Florida state legislature in 2002 as an insurer of last resort but has been plagued by complaints from policyholders. The idea for a publicly-funded option in Maine energized fellow commission members when Colgan presented it in early September, shortly after the group painted a grim picture of the states current insurance coverage. Only 1.3 percent of all homes and buildings in Maine are covered under the National Flood Insurance Program, a number that has declined by 25 to 30 percent since 2009, according to Peter Slovinsky with the Maine Geological Survey. Meanwhile, Mainers who do have flood insurance are filing more and more claims. Over the past 10 years, Mainers filed a total of 443 claims, paying out a sum of $16 million, according to Maine Bureau of Insurance Superintendent Bob Carey. Nearly half of those claims came from the past year alone, Carey said, accounting for 164 claims totaling roughly $8 million. Uninsured Properties Commission members only had vague ideas of what could be causing the decline in the number of homes and buildings covered under the National Flood Insurance Program. More houses could be owned outright, Slovinsky suggested, meaning that homeowners would not be required to purchase a flood insurance policy like they would with most federally-backed mortgages. Many who arent required to have flood insurance are opting out of buying coverage because annual premiums are rising or because they dont trust that the payout will be worth the premium. Several flood victims who filed claims after last winters flooding have told The Monitor that the payout hasnt always been worth the cost. I mean, if you think for the past six years, weve spent $40,000 in flood insurance to have not covered anything, said Gardiner business owner Stacy Caron back in January, a month after her familys pizza parlor was wrecked by flooding from the Kennebec River. For comparison, flood insurance policies nationwide paid out an average of $44,401 per claim in 2021, according to online insurance marketplace Policygenius. Colgan also tied Maines low participation rates to insurance lapses that the commission has seen along the coast. Privately-owned wharfs in places like Stonington, for example, are the spine of Maines coastal economy but dont necessarily have the insurance coverage they need to recover on their own after disasters like this Januarys flooding, Colgan said. A lot of the working waterfront facilities that were destroyed are private utilities, but provide essential public services, said Dan Tishman, commission co-chair and chairman of Tishman Realty & Construction. Linda Nelson, chair of the commission and Stoningtons economic and community development director, estimated that only a little more than a dozen Stonington property owners had flood insurance policies, which didnt provide the money needed to build back resiliently. The things they thought were going to be covered by (flood insurance) somehow werent possibly covered by (flood insurance), Nelson said. Thats where Nelson thought Colgans public insurance model could come into play, bridging the gap between simply rebuilding at-risk infrastructure and strengthening or relocating it to weather future climate change-induced storms. A private owner might decide, I can afford 40 grand for insurance, but I cant afford 200 grand, so Im going to look for a layered approach,' said Dan Tishman, commission co-chair and chairman of Tishman Realty & Construction. They then would be willing to pay into the layered approach if it was less expensive than trying to buy it through the capital markets, Tishman added, building the insurance pool in the process and bringing others premiums down. Early Stage Commission members seemed excited with the idea, even if it was only in its infancy. The states dawdling insurance adoption and mounting costs for resilience projects are a huge concern, and the commission has to come up with concrete policy suggestions and funding sources by November. Members suggested other, more actionable ideas to address the insurance issue; like funding a study to determine why flood insurance participation is falling, increasing municipal participation in a federal program that brings down flood insurance rates, and general outreach. But the insurance model was the focus of conversation, especially when members thought of the daunting funding needs for resilience projects. Colgan said that the state was in a relatively strong financial position during last winters catastrophic flooding, but the $60 million that Gov. Janet Mills specifically dedicated to resilience and recovery projects in this years supplemental budget wont always be there, nor is it enough to counter the severe storms increasing in frequency and intensity. How do we avoid not only the twin risks of the climate and weather disasters, but also the economy and the ability to have the resources to scratch the surface of recovery? Colgan asked. This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press. Photo: Cars are flooded in a parking lot at the Hathaway Creative Center alongside the Kennebec River, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023, in Waterville, Maine. A severe storm on Monday flooded rivers and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Flood Property Maine Executive Summary: Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the brink of transforming most aspects of business, including insurance, but it needs to be used responsibly, according to Zywave Chief Technology Officer Doug Marquis, who discusses some of the practical steps insurance companies can take to use AI safely and ethically. Several types of artificial intelligence are already being adopted by various parts of the insurance industry and they have the potential to deliver extraordinary efficiency savings, opening the door for even more profitability, innovation, and complex problem solving. While the use cases for AI-based large language models, such as those used in ChatGPT, in the insurance industry are evolving, at present examples of how it is being used include summarizing and generating documents, carrying out data analytics, and acquiring data for risk assessment and underwriting. As an insurtech company, we are also looking at how AI can help us write software in an automated way and exchange data between two entities across the insurance ecosystem. AI Risks There are, however, multiple risks that can arise when using AI primarily because it can easily generate errors. For example, AI can ingest statute information from one U.S. state and posit that it applies to all states, which is not necessarily the case. AI can also hallucinate make up facts by taking a factual piece of information and extrapolating the wrong answer. AI also can be biased if it uses data that could be inherently prejudiced and creates algorithms that discriminate against a group of people based on, for example, ethnicity or gender. This could result in the AI recognizing that one racial or ethnic group has higher mortality rates, and then inferring that they should be charged more for life coverage. AI bias also presents a danger when it comes to recruitment, potentially discriminating against people who are from certain regions or socio-economic backgrounds. For these reasons, there is still a critical need for human oversight of AI decisions to ensure inclusivity, fairness and equal opportunity. New AI Regulations AI technology has been moving so quickly over the last two years that regulation has been trailing far behind. Legislators are trying to catch up with the breakneck development of AI and the potential risks it might pose, which means insurers must be prepared for a raft of new regulation. Earlier this year, Colorado became the first state to pass comprehensive legislation to regulate developers and deployers of high-risk AI to protect the consumer. High-risk AI systems are those that have a substantial input into consequential decisions relating to education, employment, financial or lending services, essential government services, healthcare, housing, insurance, or legal services. Avoiding Algorithmic Bias The Colorado AI Act, which goes into effect on Feb. 1, 2026, insists developers and deployers of AI high-risk systems must use care to protect consumers from any known or reasonably foreseeable risks of algorithmic discrimination or bias. This means that developers have to share certain information with deployers, including harmful or inappropriate uses of the high-risk AI system, the types of data used to train the system, and risk mitigation measures taken. Developers must also publish information such as the types of high-risk AI systems they have released and how they manage risks of algorithmic discrimination. In turn, AI users must adopt a risk management policy and program overseeing the use of high-risk AI systems, as well as complete an impact assessment of AI systems and any modifications they make to these systems. Transparency Required The Colorado legislation also has a basic transparency requirement, similar to the recent EU AI Act, the Utah Artificial Intelligence Policy Act, and chatbot laws in California and New Jersey. Consumers must be told when they are interacting with an AI system such as a chatbot, unless the interaction with the system is obvious. Deployers are also required to state on their website that they are using AI systems to inform consequential decisions concerning a customer. Moving forward, its likely other states will begin adopting similar AI regulations to those in Colorado. However, its important to note that many governance measures, such as risk-ranking AI, control testing data, and data monitoring and auditing, are already covered by other laws and regulatory frameworks not only in the U.S., but around the world. Given the expanding layers of legislation at every level, we can expect the AI landscape to only become more complex in the near future. For the time being, there are several actions companies can take to help ensure they are protected. Five Practical Steps for Insurers Transparency: With simple disclaimers, insurers can let customers know when they are using chatbots and disclose where AI is being used to inform decisions in certain systems, including recruitment. Intellectual property: Its important for insurers to protect customers data ownership when dealing with AI vendors and also protect sensitive personal data, such as medical information. At Zywave, for example, weve seen AI providers with contracts requesting to own the data or modeling they are providing. Companies must be more diligent than ever before when reviewing contracts to ensure confidentiality, IP ownership, and protecting trade secrets that may be placed into vendors systems. The right data: When it comes to ensuring AI is basing decisions on accurate information, its the companys responsibility to verify that its giving the AI system access to trusted data. For example, at Zywave, we use our own data repository, comprised of proprietary data, data purchased from a trusted third party, or from public, US government agency sites we have acquired and diligently vetted ourselves. The new Colorado AI regulations state a company must be able to explain how it reached its hiring decision and be able to prove its not biased, which comes back to transparency and logging where the data originated from. Documentation: As increasing numbers of AI products are being used in the insurance industry, its crucial to scrupulously document what data is being used, where it comes from, and who owns it. This enables companies to protect themselves from accusations of copyright infringement and intellectual property theft, as well as from AI making mistakes based on inaccurate data lifted from the internet. Learning new skills: Insurance companies need to have a greater understanding of AI to ensure they are complying with regulations, which likely will be rolled out across the US and in other countries over the next two years. While new roles have already been created for prompt engineers to ensure AI systems are producing the best answers, they must still be overseen by other humans in case the information they are inputting is biased or presents a security risk. Given the increased usage and advancement of AI over the past few years, its likely the technology is here to stay. And although the extra administrative and oversight work required to ensure AI is used safely and ethically may seem daunting, the new technology offers tremendous business value with the potential automation drastically improving efficiency and profitability. Theres no doubt the benefits outweigh the additional work of developing a robust AI protocol. By putting in place stringent guardrails, the insurance industry will reap the rewards of AI while remaining compliant within a quickly evolving regulatory landscape. Topics InsurTech Data Driven Artificial Intelligence Market Marine insurance markets face significant risk from the growth of a shadow fleet of ships hauling oil from sanctioned producers like Russian and Iran, an industry group said. The opaque nature of the ownership of those vessels makes it hard to identify who would be at fault in the event of a collision, Ilias Tsakiris, chair of the hull committee of the International Union of Maritime Insurers. This so-called dark fleet presents significant risks for marine insurers, he said at the organizations annual conference on Wednesday. These ships are often operated by questionable entities and their lack of transparency makes it difficult to assess liability in case of accidents or pollution. This is a growing concern for marine insurers. Russia assembled a shadow fleet of about 700 vessels in order to help keep its oil exports moving in the aftermath of western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine. Danish pilots that board such ships have described them as old piles of junk, underscoring the risk they pose to the wider environment. Photograph: Bulk carriers offshore from Singapore, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Photo credit: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg Related: Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Topics Carriers Claims Energy Oil Gas Floods in Africa that are displacing millions of people from Guinea on the west coast to the Central African Republic more than 2,000 miles to the east are prompting warnings of dam bursts and disease. In Chad, rising waters in the Chari and Logone dams could cause catastrophic floods, a United Nations agency warned, and Cameroons government boosted its financial response more than fivefold. Floods in Guineas capital, Conakry, and districts around the country are a threat to public health, said Lancei Toure, the director general of the countrys disaster management department. Flooded areas face risks of water-borne diseases because water has invaded toilets, wells and cemeteries, Toure said in an interview. Guinea risks food insecurity due to the destruction of crops composed mainly of rice and corn. The heavy rains, which are affecting coastal regions in West Africa, the semi-arid Sahel region and the Sahara Desert itself, have wrought havoc across 14 nations, according to the UNs World Food Programme. At least four million people have been affected, about 1,000 have died and vast stretches of farmland are under water. These floods will have a long-lasting impact on the most vulnerable, as food production is likely to decline significantly, along with the availability of safe water, sanitation, and safe housing, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said in a statement. While Mali, Niger, Chad and northern Nigeria are among the hardest hit nations with about 55 million people in the Sahel already considered food insecure because of conflict and adverse weather coastal countries are also now affected. By Sept. 16 almost 1,000 people had been displaced in Guinea and four had died in floods that also inundated 11,000 hectares (27,181 acres) of farmland. In Cameroon, where 200,000 have been displaced and over 100,000 hectares flooded, the government has increased the amount of money its made available for relief efforts to 1.9 billion CFA francs ($3.3 million) from 350 million CFA francs. Forty-four trucks laden with food and bedding have been sent to the north of the country, Paul Atanga Nji, minister of territorial administration, said. In Mali the 4 billion CFA francs have been provided by the government to help with the emergency, according to Alousseni Sanou, the countrys finance minister. The WFP and other aid agencies are working across a swath of countries to counter the effects of the floods, which the International Rescue Committee described as as the worst in the region in 30 years. In some countries those affected say theres been little government assistance. I dont know what the government has planned, said Oumarou Aska, a 55-year-old farmer with 11 children in Nigers Zinder region, whos 10 hectares of crops have been washed away. Up to now, they havent done anything to help us. Researchers say that while the region is periodically hit by heavy rainfall, its becoming more frequent, with the likely culprit being climate change. Heavy floods now occur every two to five years compared with once a decade in the past, OCHA said. People in the Sahel need to be more prepared, Kiswendsida Guigma, a meteorologist at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, said. According to climate projections, rain in the Sahel will increase further. These kind of extreme events will become more frequent. Guigma said World Weather Attribution, an association that works with researchers across the globe including himself, is currently assessing whether theres enough information to declare the floods a climate change-induced event. The floods, which come just months after the region experienced a dangerous heat wave, coincide with a deluge in central Europe that have killed more than 20 people and inundated a number of towns. Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Topics Flood Russian insurers are playing a growing role facilitating the countrys oil shipments to India, its biggest buyer, data obtained from trade and shipping sources shows, helping to protect Moscows export revenue despite western sanctions. Russian firms provided insurance cover for 60% of Moscows oil cargoes to India in July, up from 40% in December last year, according to Reuters calculations based on the vessels documents. By using Russian insurers, Moscow can sell the oil above a $60 per barrel price cap that the Group of Seven (G7), the European Union and Australia imposed aiming to limit Russias oil revenue following its invasion of Ukraine. Over 60% of Russias seaborne oil exports go to India. Western services such as shipping and insurance can only be used for Russian cargoes sold at or below the price cap. Russian companies providing the insurance for exports to India in July included Ingosstrakh, Rosgosstrakh, Alfastrakhovanie and VSK Insurance. Prior to the Ukraine war, shippers mainly used large western insurers for protection and indemnity (P&I) cover. Earlier this year, India extended approval to several Russian insurers for providing marine cover to tankers after state-run Russian National Reinsurance Company provided a financial guarantee. In July, India overtook China to become the top buyer of Russian oil, even with China receiving pipeline and seaborne deliveries. For seaborne cargoes alone, India has been the largest market for Russian oil since an EU embargo on Moscows oil took effect in 2022. Russias leading insurer Ingosstrakh was the largest insurance provider for tankers carrying Russian oil to India in July, the data showed. Ingosstrakh said in an email response to Reuters that its relations with India are long-term the company has been present on this market since 1967, adding that it was not able to assess its share or a share of Russian insurance of oil tankers supplying to India. Ingosstrakh also said that its entire shipping P&I portfolio accounts for less than 1% of its total premiums. Rosgosstrakh declined to comment. Alfastrakhovanie and VSK Insurance did not reply to Reuters requests for comments. Insurance cover for the remaining 40% of tankers that shipped oil to India in July was provided by western companies. Russian insurance companies are mostly used by oil shippers with strong links to Russia, such as Russian shipping company Sovcomflot. Shipping firms based in countries such as Greece, the United Arab Emirates and China more often use western insurance when transporting Russian oil, the data shows. While many western insurers withdrew from covering Russian oil shipments for fear of breaching the G7 price cap, some still provide cover. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and reporters in Moscow; editing by Sonali Paul) Photograph: Suezmax crude oil tanker SCF Surgut, operated by Sovcomflot. Photo credit: Sovcomflot Topics Carriers Energy Oil Gas Russia Generali has reached an agreement to sell its 99.99% stake in its Turkish business, Generali Sigorta A.S., in a deal struck with four buyers in Turkey. Kiler Holding A.S. is buying a 42% stake in Generali Sigorta; Ekol Girisim Sermayesi Yatrm Ortaklg A.S. is taking a 9% stake in the company; Arex Yatrm Holding A.S. is buying a 48% stake, and Arex Sigorta A.S. is buying a 1% stake. Generali said the transaction is fully in line with its strategic plan to drive sustainable growth and enhance the groups earnings profile, focusing on the core insurance markets in which the company has a leading presence. The contribution of the Turkish business to the groups operating result was negligible and the transaction will generate an immaterial impact on Generalis Solvency II position, Generali said. The transaction is expected to be completed by the first half of 2025, subject to obtaining the necessary authorizations from the competent authorities. PwC acted as sole M&A adviser to Generali and also provided vendor due diligence services to the group. Esin Attorney Partnership acted as legal adviser to Generali. Source: Generali A Wisconsin animal food producer exposed employees to the risks of explosions, fires and long-term respiratory illnesses from excessive amounts of airborne dust, federal workplace inspectors found. The findings follow an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration at Strauss Feeds LLC of Watertown in February 2024 after the agency received complaints of unsafe working conditions. OSHA inspectors found the companys poor housekeeping, its failure to evaluate spaces for dust hazards, and an absence of engineering controls to reduce dust, created serious combustible and airborne dust hazards. The agency also determined Strauss Feeds did not develop a written respiratory protection program that includes medical evaluations, fit-testing, monitoring and training workers to recognize dust hazards. Unsafe levels of airborne dust can ignite suddenly, causing explosions and fires that jeopardize the safety of workers. Left unchecked, these same dust hazards can cause workers long-term health issues, explained OSHA Area Director Chad Greenwood in Madison, Wisconsin. Companies that manufacture products that create excessive dust particles must use engineering systems and highly effective respiratory protection programs to protect employees from harm. OSHA also noted workers were exposed to hazards from walking and working surfaces, falls, confined space and the operation of industrial trucks and forklifts when combustible dust hazards were present, increasing the risks of fire and explosion. Inspectors cited Strauss Feeds for 19 serious and five other-than-serious safety and health violations. OSHA has assessed the company $161,332 in proposed penalties. Founded in 1875 as a small, water-powered mill on a farm in North Manchester, Indiana, Strauss Feeds today makes milk replacer for calves and other young animals. The company is in its sixth generation of family ownership. Source: OSHA Topics Wisconsin BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) A federal judge in North Dakota has temporarily blocked a new Biden administration rule aimed at reducing the venting and flaring of natural gas at oil wells. At this preliminary stage, the plaintiffs have shown they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim the 2024 Rule is arbitrary and capricious, U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor ruled Friday, the Bismarck Tribune reported. North Dakota, along with Montana, Texas, Wyoming and Utah, challenged the rule in federal court earlier this year, arguing that it would hinder oil and gas production and that the Interior Departments Bureau of Land Management is overstepping its regulatory authority on non-federal minerals and air pollution. The bureau says the rule is intended to reduce the waste of gas and that royalty owners would see over $50 million in additional payments if it was enforced. But Traynor wrote that the rules add nothing more than a layer of federal regulation on top of existing federal regulation. When pumping for oil, natural gas often comes up as a byproduct. Gas isnt as profitable as oil, so it is vented or flared unless the right equipment is in place to capture. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a climate super pollutant that is many times more potent in the short term than carbon dioxide. Well operators have reduced flaring rates in North Dakota significantly over the past few years, but they still hover around 5%, the Tribune reported. Reductions require infrastructure to capture, transport and use that gas. North Dakota politicians praised the ruling. The Biden-Harris administration continuously attempts to overregulate and ultimately debilitate North Dakotas energy production capabilities, state Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in a statement. The Bureau of Land Management declined comment. Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Alabamas wind-mitigation grant program has resulted in 50,000 fortified homes over the last decade, outpacing most other coastal states that offer similar programs. The Alabama Department of Insurance announced the milestone this week, giving more kudos to a program that has won praise from insurance officials around the country. The program provides grants up to $10,000 for retrofitting homes for better wind resistance, allowing homeowners to qualify for premium discounts on their property insurance. The Fortified standard has changed the landscape of coastal Alabama, Alabama Insurance Commissioner Mark Fowler said in a statement, referring to the Fortified construction guidelines developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), which the program adheres to. The Fortified program has meant fewer blue tarps on homes after storms. It has meant communities can go back to living quicker instead of spending time rebuilding their neighborhoods and businesses. The program was prompted by Hurricane Ivan, which came ashore in 2004, causing considerable damage in Alabama and northwest Florida. By 2011, Alabama lawmakers authorized Strengthen Alabama Homes. In 2016, the first grants were approved. So far, the program has provided more $76 million for Fortified homes, a DOI spokesperson said. Other states have developed their own grant programs, and the IBHS has said that Alabama, North Carolina and Louisiana have led the way in fortifying homes. Floridas My Safe Florida Home program also provides grants up to $10,000, and has proven to be extremely popular in that state, which has seen insurance premiums escalate sharply in recent years. The Florida program began in the early 2000s, but was halted for almost two decades. The Florida Legislature early this year provided another $200 million, and the funds were exhausted within weeks. As of this week, the program has obligated grant funding to 57,976 homeowners, said Steven Fielder, chief business officer for the Florida Department of Financial Services, which oversees the program. Of that total, 24,749 have completed the mitigation work and the remainder are in various stages of completing their work or submitting requests for reimbursement. Some experts, including a Florida State University insurance and risk management professor, have said that wind-mitigation programs are the best defense against insurance losses in hurricanes, and should receive much more funding. Others, including a former state senator, have argued that the My Safe Florida Home only scratches the surface and is not enough to make a difference in the storm-prone Sunshine State. Alabama officials said that states program has made a difference for those homeowners who have retrofitted their homes with stronger roofs, windows, doors, and roof-to-wall connections. Of 17,000 Fortified homes and 19 commercial structures in coastal areas, more than 95% saw little or no damage during Hurricane Sally, a Category 2 storm that hit the state in 2020, the DOI said in a statement. Topics Alabama A Ridgefield, Washington cabinet company has been cited for numerous safety violations including unguarded saw blades, spraying flammable glue next to ignition sources and not taking steps to lock down dangerous machinery. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries cited and fined CommCaseworks Inc. $187,000 after inspectors found the company had not fixed the same safety problems that resulted in similar citations in 2019. CommCaseworks manufactures custom commercial cabinetry and solid surfaces for offices, retail and restaurants. During an inspection of the shop last year, workers reportedly told L&I inspectors they used three different table saws with missing guards. They also performed maintenance on machines without making sure the equipment could not accidentally turn on, according to L&I. Inspectors also reportedly found workers had been spraying a flammable glue just feet away from electrical ignition sources. There were no controls in place for keeping workers safe from chemicals in the glue, according to L&I. The inspection also reportedly found the owner did not fix the hazards found in the previous inspection. As a result, L&I placed red tags on the equipment, issued an order of immediate restraint shutting down work at the site for as long as the problems are present, and when the company initially disregarded the order, the agency got a court order to stop the spraying of dangerous chemicals. The company came into compliance over the course of four follow-up visits after the initial inspection, so the orders and red tags were removed, according to L&I. CommCaseworks was cited for 11 willful serious, one willful general, three serious and seven general violations. The company was fined $67,572 for violating safety rules including workers using unguarded table saws and red-tagged equipment, not using energy control procedures and lack of training. Additionally, CommCaseworks was fined $119,524 for violations related to spray finishing operations including lack of mechanical ventilation, no emergency eyewash stations, not using eye protection, and violating an OIR twice. The company is appealing both citations. Topics Washington Hannah Whyte is one of thousands of Californians who have struggled to insure their property in the event of wildfire. Her 77-acre farm nestled deep in a wildfire-vulnerable forest lost its coverage from State Farm after the mountainous region burned six years ago, and shes found herself excluded from the state-created insurer of last resort designed to protect the most vulnerable. Shes become uninsurable because of her crop: cannabis. Whytes plight is becoming increasingly common for weed farmers in the Emerald Triangle, which includes Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity Counties, and has long been the epicenter of US cannabis cultivation. California legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2016, but growers fueling the states $5 billion industry already struggle to find insurance given the federal ban on their crop. With major insurers pulling back from California because of wildfire risk, pot farmers increasingly find themselves confronting the risk of catastrophe on their own. Whyte said shes relying on water pumps and a strong dose of bravery to protect her home and farm, which produces up to 1,600 pounds of marijuana annually. (State Farm didnt respond to requests for comment.) It leaves cultivators and homestead rural businesses at serious risk, Whyte, 38, added, while walking between the rows of spiky green cannabis plants on her farm one recent afternoon. Propelled by hot, dry and gusty conditions, Californias fire season is in full swing. This year, wildfires have scorched nearly 1 million acres, led to hundreds of thousands of evacuations, and destroyed more than 1,500 structures across the state. Firefighters are still battling three massive blazes in Southern California near Los Angeles. While temperatures are starting to cool, the threat of wildfires will continue into late fall for much of California. That leaves homeowners in wildfire-prone areas on edge, but the concerns are particularly acute for growers with homestead farms. Legal marijuana cultivators are ineligible for the state-created FAIR plan, which provides coverage for customers who cant find it elsewhere. An underwriting guideline prohibits any illegal activity that increases risk to a property that presents an unacceptable hazard. A spokesperson for the FAIR plan said insurers risk having no legal protection for violating federal law by covering properties involved in the marijuana business. Thats left many small growers to contend with two risky options: forgo insurance or hide their business from the state-backed insurer. The latter carries substantial risk that could lead to a lawsuit or coverage loss. Whats emerging is a crisis for a multibillion-dollar industry thats already struggling to stay afloat in the top pot-producing state. Im surprised the FAIR plan is not writing insurance for properties where cannabis is being legally grown, said former insurance commissioner Dave Jones. The clear policy of the insurance commissioner and Department of Insurance is that there should be insurance for the cannabis industry. The FAIR plans underwriting guidelines must be approved by the insurance commissioner, which means that person has the authority to overturn the plans rules prohibiting coverage of properties with cannabis, Jones said. Michael Soller, a spokesperson at the Department of Insurance, declined to comment on the commissioners authority to change the FAIR plans underwriting guidelines. He said that Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has taken numerous steps to improve cannabis coverage, including sponsoring a 2022 state law that ensures it is not a crime for companies to provide insurance to people in the commercial cannabis industry. This is not simple or easy as its being portrayed, Soller said in an emailed statement. If so it would have been done years ago. Risky Business of Predicting Where Climate Disaster Will Hit The FAIR plans risk exposure has approached $400 billion as of June 30, up nearly 40% in the past year. Despite the strain, Lara in July announced a deal to extend coverage to higher-value properties. Its enough of a situation where he can get away with not mandating it for cannabis, Karl Susman, an insurance agency owner based in Los Angeles, said. The amount of money that the FAIR plan has versus their total exposure in California is horrific. Most cannabis is grown on small family-owned farms. But over the years, legacy growers have been hit with competition from organized crime, high operating costs, the declining price per pound of wholesale cannabis and the states onerous web of regulations. Larger corporate growers have entered the market with more resources to lower costs and expand operations, squeezing out small farmers. There are about 5,000 active cultivation licenses in California as of September, roughly half of which are in the Emerald Triangle, according to the states Department of Cannabis Control. Those troubles are now being exacerbated by Californias property insurance crisis. Cannabis is more prone to wildfire risk than any other crop grown in the state, according to a study from the University of California Berkeleys Cannabis Research Center. Wildfires and smoke exposure in 2020 and 2021 alone caused $2.4 billion in damages. Wildfire risk is unique to cannabis as a crop, not because of some inherent quality of its cultivation but because of policy decisions around land use and where farms are allowed to be sited, said Michael Polson, director at UC Berkeleys Cannabis Research Center. Securing insurance for commercial cannabis is already no easy task. Many of the largest providers will not work with the industry because marijuana remains illegal federally. Insurance costs for cannabis growers are higher; farms are situated in areas that many major companies consider to be too risky; and insurers that offer coverage often want to sell more comprehensive policies than fire insurance alone, Susman said. Youve got basically a three-edged sword against farmers that are in this industry, he said. Jacob Soutsos and his family live on 28 acres tucked in the wooded hills overlooking a river in Trinity County. He began cultivating cannabis four years ago with the aim of becoming a full-time grower. But a lengthy and costly legal battle with the FAIR plan his parents former home insurer forced him to give up that dream. Soutsos parents received a partial claim to rebuild their home ravaged by fire in 2017 before the insurer began investigating Soutsos cannabis operations, which he grew in a separate building not covered by the FAIR plan on the property. The discovery led the FAIR plan to drop his parents coverage for allegedly violating the terms of their policy, surprising Soutsos who said he was unaware that his licensed business could jeopardize their insurance. After a years-long lawsuit, Soutsos parents eventually settled out of court, but they had to file for bankruptcy after putting their savings towards the remaining construction costs of the home. Even then, they were only able to afford to build a small accessible dwelling unit, downsizing from their five-bedroom home. In the hopes they will have an easier time finding a policy, Soutsos has closed his cannabis business. He is now looking for work, though hes struggled to find a steady, full-time job in his area, which is facing a shrinking job market. I stopped cultivating. Im not going to pursue this anymore, Soutsos, 36, said. Im trying to protect our property and livelihood instead of trying to pursue my business endeavors. Soutsos experience serves as a cautionary tale thats led other legally compliant farmers in the area to hide their activities from the FAIR plan. One Trinity County farmer insured by the FAIR plan, who withheld his name because growing cannabis violates the terms of his policy, said he had a roof leak earlier this year that he paid out of pocket for rather than filing a claim to avoid being discovered. The thought of not having coverage weighs heavily on him since his mortgage depends on it: Lenders require homeowners to maintain property insurance to avoid foreclosure or losing their home. I hate to say this, but were probably committing some kind of fraud with our insurance, he said. My strategy as far as insurance and mortgage goes is to just pay it and keep my head down. If a fire burns my house down, I fully expect to get nothing. In fact, we wouldnt even file a claim and risk them suing us. The FAIR plan would not disclose the specific hazards that cannabis cultivation poses. But insurers often deny coverage based on potential chemical exposure, fire and increased crime risks, according to Aaron Pelley, an attorney at the law firm Harris Sliwoski who has represented cannabis growers in California, Oregon and Washington state for more than 17 years. Some of those concerns are legitimate, he said while arguing growing cannabis isnt riskier than other crops. Insurers are going to continue to do what benefits them, Pelley said. They want to collect as much money as possible with the least amount of risk, even though theyre in the industry of risk. For now, growers like Whyte are preparing for the worst amid this years fire season. Shes stocked up on water, cleared vegetation and created a buffer of defensible space around the property. In the days before legalization, it was advantageous for cannabis farmers to hide out in the remote areas of the forest to avoid the authorities, Whyte said. But today, its presented an unforeseen risk thats made them vulnerable to a new kind of danger. We just cant leave, she said. Its really just on us to do the work to keep us safe. Top photo: Hannah Whyte at her cannabis farm in Willow Creek, California. Photographer: Jonah Reenders/Bloomberg. Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Topics Catastrophe California Natural Disasters Wildfire Cannabis The Central Bank of Ireland has warned an additional 7bn in financing will be needed a year to increase the supply of new homes to 52,000 annually, with significant economic costs expected if action is not taken. In a report published on Tuesday, the Central Bank said previous estimates of annual housing needs for the period 2020 to 2029 based on population data from 2018 ranged from 34,000 to 45,000 units a year. However, population growth has been faster than envisaged. According to the report, to get Ireland to a headship rate the proportion of individuals in an age cohort that list themselves as head of household down to a comparable level with the UK, annual home construction would need to increase to 52,000 a year through to 2050. To get the rate down by 2035, 67,000 new homes would need to be built a year. These estimates are based on a high migration scenario. According to the Central Statistics Office, just under 32,700 homes were built last year. Pent-up demand The Central Bank said pent-up demand existed alongside an increased housing need from higher population estimates over the coming decades. Director of economics and statistics at the Central Bank Robert Kelly said housing supply was unable to meet our countrys needs and was limiting the sustainable growth of living standards. Report said funding for 52,000 homes a year would 'require sustainably accessing debt and equity financing of sufficient scale', with the bank estimating 6.5bn to 7bn additional development finance over and above existing levels. Picture: Larry Cummins Mr Kelly said there were significant economic costs of policy inaction in this area, which will result in a higher cost of living, and in turn, a higher cost of doing business in Ireland, ultimately damaging our global competitiveness. The report said funding for 52,000 homes a year would require sustainably accessing debt and equity financing of sufficient scale, with the bank estimating 6.5bn to 7bn additional development finance over and above existing levels. The State already contributes 6.5bn to housing a year. However, money is not the only constraint, with the Central Bank noting the protracted planning environment adds to the costs of delivering housing, while capacity and productivity issues within the construction sector is also a problem. Irish economy resilient In its latest economic bulletin, also published on Tuesday, the Central Bank said the Irish economy was resilient and is poised to grow by between 2% and 3% out until 2026. Unemployment is expected to remain low, supporting a rise in wage rates and broader household incomes, while headline inflation is expected to remain between 1.5% and 2% over the next few years. However, while the economic outlook is favourable, there are still risks. The bulletin said further fiscal stimulus above the assumed forecasts would result in the economy growing faster, which could come at the cost of higher and more persistent inflation, with a negative effect on Irelands relative competitiveness. Irelands dependence on a small number of multinational companies also leaves the country exposed to a downturn in one sector having a dramatic impact on domestic investment, tax revenue and economic activity. As a reflection of how well land prices are going generally, GVM Auctioneers in Limerick have had a fruitful few weeks recently. For the second consecutive week, they have successfully auctioned a holding in the Limerick area for a price exceeding 1,000,000. Tom Crosse was the man yielding the gavel in both cases. The 74-acre Hurdlestown House in Broadford, County Clare, went for a sum of 1,120,000 at the GVM Auction Rooms in the first week of September. There is no valid reason for the Government to include cost-of-living supports in the upcoming budget, according to a prominent economic think tank. Representatives of the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) will tell the Oireachtas on Wednesday that such supports are no longer appropriate given that prices in Ireland are not likely to decline. The Government has already flagged that the next budget, this coalitions last, will include a 1,000 boost to workers via a combination of tax changes and a fresh cost-of-living package. The electorate has grown accustomed to such packages over the course of the last two budgets as the world reeled from a post-covid inflationary crisis together with the fallout from the Russia/Ukraine conflict which lead to a massive spike in wholesale energy prices. However, Tom McDonnell of NERI will tell the budgetary oversight committee on Wednesday that once-off cost-of-living supports have no obvious rationale in the current economic climate. Such policies only make sense if we expect prices to decline, Mr McDonnell is expected to say. Instead of once-off, untargeted, and/or ad-hoc supports, we need to move to an evidence-based approach to welfare payments based on income adequacy. Separately, Irish Fiscal Advisory Council chairman Seamus Coffey will tell the committee that the Government will be adding to price pressures by delivering the 1,000 short-term benefit to taxpayers. The Government might put money back in peoples pockets, but by raising prices these indirect costs take out of their pockets in a lasting way, he will say. Mr Coffey will add: "The Governments budget package is already large. Overruns and untargeted cost-of-living measures will add to the pressure further." Meanwhile, speaking at the National Ploughing Championships, Taoiseach Simon Harris hit out at Sinn Feins suggestion that 1bn of the Apple tax funds be spent on disadvantaged communities. He said he believes it should be spent on housing, water, and infrastructure but emphasised the funds can only be spent once. Ive noticed a new thing developing with Sinn Fein where they tried to divide communities, and they tried to classify communities you can have an asylum centre in your community because weve classified you as such, but you wont because weve classified you as something else. Lets not divide Ireland. the Taoiseach said. This is a small country, a country bound by community and fairness, and we will, as a government, put in place a roadmap as to how we best believe that that 14bn or thereabouts can be spent but it can only be spent once, so lets keep count of how many times Sinn Fein tries to spend it, Mr Harris added. A 34-year-old Cork man verbally abused a member of An Garda Siochana as a foreign fool when the officer arrested him for aggressive behaviour on a bus. That was the evidence in Cork District Court against Antonio Arundel formerly of Shannon Lawn, Mayfield, Cork who caused such a disturbance on a Bus Eireann bus that gardai had to be called. Sergeant Dave Delea said Mr Arundel shouted at Garda Przemyslaw Sztandke at Mayfield Garda Station: You are an asshole. You are a foreign fool. Tell the judge he is only a muppet. You are a disgrace. Sgt Delea outlined the background to the incident: On March 1, 2023, gardai received a call to an altercation between two males on a Bus Eireann bus at MacCurtain Street, Cork. Antonio Arundel was verbally abusive to the bus driver. The defendant was then approached by one of the passengers. Mr Arundel became physically and verbally aggressive with the passenger. He was unsteady on his feet and deemed to be intoxicated to such an extent that he was a danger to himself or others and he was accordingly arrested. Mr Arundel had 55 previous convictions. Shane Collins-Daly, solicitor, said the accused had a five-month prison sentence on him for other offences earlier this month. He has longstanding alcohol difficulties. He drinks to excess on occasions and behaves inappropriately, Mr Collins Daly said. Judge Philip OLeary impose a 150 fine on the accused or five days in prison in default of payment for the threatening behaviour and took the drunkenness into consideration. A global game of cat and mouse was how the EU police agency described an international operation to bring down an encrypted phone system used by some of the world's most powerful crime gangs. Jean Philippe Lecouffe, head of operations at Europol, said more than three years of hard work had gone into the investigation. It started after French authorities managed to compromise the encrypted network known as Ghost and its servers located in France and Iceland. This allowed them to watch live messages, images, and videos being sent over the system all unknown to the criminals. French police, who, previously with Dutch police, compromised the Encrochat encryption platform in 2020, identified the company operators in Australia and financial assets in the US. The French found that Australia and Ireland were the two biggest users of this network out of nine countries identified as being part of the network. French police informed Europol, which previously assisted with Encrochat, of their information. Europol set up an Operational Task Force in March 2022 and brought in Ireland and Australia, as well as France, Italy, Sweden, and Netherlands, in addition to Australia, the US, and Canada. Europol was able to utilise their considerable technical and analytical resources to examine and document the messages. Mr Lecouffe said: After over three years of hard work, we teamed up with nine countries to dismantle a tool which was a lifeline for serious organised crime." He pointed out that the messages being sent on the network related to large-scale drug trafficking, weapons dealing, extreme violence and money laundering on an industrial scale. The Garda National Crime and Security Intelligence Service (GNCSIS) was involved in the intelligence phase with Europol. The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) became involved once the operational phase began two years ago. Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland of GNDOCB said there were four Irish gangs involved, including the primary organised crime group in Ireland. There were two other drug gangs and a fourth group that specialised in supplying and operating the phones. Gangs hit in Australia and Italy include the Mafia, biker gangs, Korean and Middle Eastern groups. Representatives from Europol, the Australian Federal Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation were in Ireland with An Garda Siochana for the operation. Gardai revealed that before the co-ordinated searches on Monday and Tuesday, GNDOCB had seized 118kgs of cocaine and 50,000 in cash linked to these gangs. Six people were arrested in searches of six premises. In this weeks operation, GNDOCB searched 27 premises in Dublin and Wexford and recovered 42 suspected Ghost encrypted devices, 153 mobile phones and laptops as well as 200 SIM cards. They also seized 300,000 in cash, two crypto-currency keys, six Rolex watches, and a Range Rover jeep. Gardai uncovered 100kgs of cocaine hidden inside a hydraulic-operated concealment inside an articulated truck parked in a remote farmhouse in Wexford. Four men were arrested in relation to that. A fifth man was arrested in Dublin. A total of 51 arrests were conducted internationally, 38 of them in Australia. As Mr Lecouffe said: It was truly a global game of cat and mouse and today the game is up. Former All-Star and Clare All-Ireland winning hurler Niall Gilligan has been sent forward for trial over an alleged stick assault on a 12-year-old boy. Judge Gabbett sent Mr Gilligan of Rosroe, Sixmilebridge, for trial after the Book of Evidence was served in the case. Mr Gilligan denies the assault causing harm charge. The DPP had initially directed that the case be heard in the district court but Judge Gabbett declined district court jurisdiction in the case after hearing an outline of the State case against Mr Gilligan in July. On Wednesday, Sgt John Burke told the court that the DPP consents to Mr Gilligans case going forward to the circuit court. No legal aid application was made for the circuit court case on behalf of Mr Gilligan who works as an auctioneer and farmer. In July, State Solicitor for County Clare, Aisling Casey told the court that one of the injuries the boy was treated for in the aftermath of the alleged stick assault by Mr Gilligan was a fractured left hand. Daragh Hassett, solicitor for Mr Gilligan, told the court there is a complete dispute in relation to what is alleged to have happened here. As part of the State case, a medical report and photos of the boys injuries were handed into court in July and Judge Gabbett said at the time: I am looking at photographs here and what I am seeing is a child with significant injuries over and above what the district court should be dealing with so I am going to refuse jurisdiction. Mr Gilligan is charged with assault causing harm to a 12-year old boy at the Jamaica Inn Hostel, Mt Ivers Rd, Sixmildebridge on October 5. He is also charged with producing a wooden stick during the course of a dispute. He denies both charges. Ms Casey said the alleged injured party was with a friend also aged 12 at the disused Jamaica Inn owned by the accused. When the boys were on the property, it will be alleged that the accused confronted the two boys and produced a wooden stick and the boys attempted to flee," she said. She said it will be alleged the injured party slipped on muddy ground and while lying on the ground, it will be alleged that the accused struck him several times with the wooden stick he had in his possession". Ms Casey said the boy returned home on foot and was brought first to the VHI clinic and subsequently transferred to University Hospital Limerick that evening. Ms Casey said that the injuries reported was a loss of consciousness, significant bruising to the shoulder, buttocks and lower back and a 2cm-long wound on the boys forearm and a-2cm long wound to the right shin. She said a fracture was identified in the boys left hand. Mr Gilligan was a star forward for the senior Clare hurling team which defeated Tipperary to win the 1997 All-Ireland Final and was named an All-Star in 1999. A judge has ruled a student charged with the attempted abduction of a young boy from a Dublin apartment building can be named. Visak Rajesh Leela, aged 25, who is originally from India, was arrested following a party on Saturday and was refused bail on Wednesday. He was allegedly seen walking out with the five-year-old "under his arm". Judge Alan Mitchell heard a jury would have to decide if "it was extremely misguided, foolish horseplay by a drunk man or something more sinister". "We are absolutely adamant that it was the former," defence solicitor Michael Kelleher told Cloverhill District Court. Mr Leela, a postgraduate student who has lived in south Dublin for 10 months, made no bail application at Dublin District Court on Monday. At that stage, another judge had ordered the media not to name him after gardai cited the "sensitivity" of the case "in the current climate". However, when the case resumed at Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday, Judge Mitchell lifted the restrictions preventing the accused being named in the press earlier in the week. John Freeman, counsel for various news outlets, including the Irish Examiner, submitted legal authorities and argued the order went against the media's rights, and he pointed out the Children's Act already protected the anonymity of child witnesses in the case. State solicitor Niamh McKernan informed the judge the only concern was about the children being identified, but the defendant could be named "like in any other case". Detective Sergeant Basil Grimes explained the initial Garda application on Monday was based on a concern the injured party would be inadvertently identified. However, he added: "We have received all the information and that is not the case." Judge Mitchell noted the accused did not live near the apartment block and had no connection to that area. He held the media could name him but must exercise caution and not identify any children involved in the case. Following exchanges with Mr Kelleher, he ordered Mr Leela's specific address not be reported due to the current climate, "fuelled by social media". Objection to bail Objecting to bail, Detective Sergeant Grime alleged the accused was at the building and interacted with the young boy and his older sister, aged 10, at the door. The defendant followed them in and emerged with the boy under his arm, and there was CCTV evidence. The girl followed them, and they returned to the outside of the door. The children went inside, and the accused left. Mr Leela, who appeared via video link, did not address the court or need an interpreter. His reply to the charge earlier was: "I was not taking the child anywhere. I'm not a person like that. I do not have any intention with a child. I do not have any bad or unwanted intentions with a child." The court heard gardai would recommend to the DPP that the case go to the circuit court, where the offence can attract a maximum seven-year sentence. The bail objection was rooted in fears the accused had no ties to the jurisdiction and would evade justice if released on bail. Defence solicitor Michael Kelleher said his client was applying for bail. Recently, he contended, there had been a "lazy presumption" that foreigners were flight risks. He said his client was studying in Ireland, had no warrant history, and hoped to extend his visa so he could work here after his course. The court heard he was intoxicated and unfit to be interviewed for several hours. However, he handed over passwords for gardai to access his devices to check them, and he was adamant there was "no sinister intent in all of this". The solicitor was concerned about safety issues from publishing his client's address, and he referred to public order incidents outside the Taoiseach's home. Mr Kelleher also submitted people accused of other offences that carry lengthier sentences are frequently granted bail. However, Judge Mitchell held he was a flight risk, refused bail and remanded Mr Leela in continuing custody to appear again on October 2, pending directions from the DPP. Do Popes matter? To many this will seem a trite question. The answer will come thundering back: Of course they do hugely! Which prompts a more pertinent question: Do Popes matter too much today? We can re-cast this as follows: Has the Catholic Church become too Pope-centric? Or too Pope-dependent, to put it another way. It wasnt always so. These questions were prompted during a recent visit to Rome when, in mid-week, I watched the thousands of people of all ages and races being marshalled into queues, with handbags being cleared through security checkpoints on the periphery of St Peters Square. They had gathered for the weekly general audience, waiting for the appearance in their midst of Pope Francis, the 265th successor to St Peter. In the midst of the swirling and noisy crowds, the first impression one has is akin to being at a rock concert. Waiting for the star performer to appear, the sense of anticipation grows, especially for those who are visiting Rome for the first time. It is an impressive spectacle, with the white-clad, diminutive figure of Francis, the first Pope from Argentina, now confined to a wheelchair, at the centre of it all. And the buzz of excitement is contagious. Its all cleverly stage-managed, like an elaborate open-air theatre production, just like the papal conclaves, with the Habemas papem pronouncement from the central balcony of St Peters after the white smoke from the Sistine Chapel. And then the first appearance in public of the new pope on the balcony. I can still vividly remember the excitement that swept over me at the first of the two conclaves in 1978 I covered for the Irish Press. What I was witnessing was pure theatre. When I made my first call from the Vatican press office to the late Vincent Jennings, the editor of the Sunday Press (Albino Luciani had been elected on a Saturday afternoon) to tell him that the white smoke had been officially confirmed but that we would have to wait to learn the identity of the successor to Paul VI, the tremor in my voice must have been palpable, because he told me to calm down and concentrate on writing my story. He was gently reminding me that I wasnt in Rome as a star-struck tourist I was there as journalist with a job to do. But I wasnt able to disguise my feelings. After all, I had been brought up to believe that the pope was a person apart, the Vicar of Christ of earth, somehow touched by the divine. Getting to see the Pope anytime is a big experience for a lot of Catholics, one of the must do things on a visit to the Eternal City. These appearances in the square, the basilica or the synod hall are now mandatory for popes. Theyre expected; you could say there are now an essential part of the Vatican PR apparatus. That said, Im not sure that Francis is a crowd person in the manner, say, of John Paul II. And he has deliberately shed some of the trappings of a monarchical papacy. The Polish Pope relished his rock star status, attracting enormous crowds and, as a former actor, became very good at playing to the crowds. During his long pontificate, he became the most travelled Pope in history, becoming in effect the first celebrity-Pope. St Peter's Cathedral at St Peter's Square, Vatican City. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty His successor, Benedict XVI a shy, bookish man, a man really of the study was visibly uncomfortable with a lot of the papal razzamatazz that had flourished under Karol Wojtyla, though his fondness for medieval forms of papal attire was puzzling. What all of this has to do with the essence of the papacy is altogether another matter. And that essence is trapped in what writer Morris West called the paradox of the papacy the Pope is the servant of all the servants of God, a role of service, but also a head of state (his state being the 108-acre territory of Vatican City). And an absolute one at that, according to the Code of Canon Law (Canons 331-333). One might be inclined to ask Well, which one is it, which role really defines the papacy is it the spiritual one or the monarchical one, the sovereign ruler? Yet the paradox endures, and that paradox may account in part for our fascination with the papacy. Are we drawn to the idea of an all-powerful figure who wields absolute power, and a power moreover that binds not just on earth but in heaven also? Does one side of us desire (if not need) the strong, authoritative, unerring ruler who wields absolute power (in a secular sense) within his own temporal kingdom (the Vatican), and sacred power as Gods vicegerent on earth? Is this why the papacy as we have come to know it holds an almost magical attraction and fascination or Catholics, in particular, and appeals to a longing within us for an avatar of the divine? An avatar who serves as the gateway and source of a form of certainty in an uncertain world? And is this also one reason, perhaps an over-riding one, why the papacy will remain an office that retains all the majesty, jurisdictional powers and accoutrements of an absolute monarchy? If this helps to explain why the Catholic Church has become so Pope-centric, what then of the doctrine of collegiality bequeathed to us by Vatican II? And what then of Franciss promotion of a synodal path, a path that foreshadows a synodal church and a more collegial form of church governance? In one sense we have been here before insofar as collegiality may be seen as an offshoot of conciliarism. This has been defined by the Australian author and church historian Paul Collins as an opinion enunciated by a group of medieval canonists who argued that a general council is the highest authority in the church and is ultimately superior to a pope. At the heart of conciliarism is the attempt to limit papal power and demand greater accountability from the pope. This was given formal expression at the Council of Constance (1414-1418) which issued its famous decree Haec sancta (also known as Sacrosancta) on the superiority of the council over the pope. The church historian Norman P Tanner SJ has pointed out that the papacy never rejected the decrees of Constance in an explicit and authoritative manner. In my opinion the Council of Constance should be considered a general Council of the western church and its three major decrees be taken as authentic. There remains the problem of how to reconcile them with other statements of the churchs magisterium, especially the decrees of Vatican I on the papal office. The professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University, Diarmaid MacCulloch, in a reference to Haec sancta in his international bestseller, says this: There could be no clearer statement that papal primacy was to be put firmly in its place in favour of a general council. But then adds that the years after the council saw increasing tension between those wishing to develop this conciliar mechanism and successive popes seeking to build on the papacys newly restored integrity. Pope John Paul II greets a throng of pilgrims on his visit to Knock Shrine in September 1979. The Polish Pope relished his 'rock star' status, attracting enormous crowds. File picture This, of course, was in the aftermath of a very damaging schism which Constance ended when it elected Pope Martin V who, in the words of Tanner, showed no enthusiasm for the conciliar movement with the result that little was accomplished. Which brings us to Vatican I (1869-70) which, in its decree Pastor aeternus, defined papal primacy and papal infallibility and thereby brought the curtain down on any hope of a revival of conciliarism. Or did it? MacCulloch is clear that the main effect of Vatican I was a thoroughgoing denial of the principles of conciliarism. Before that council came to a premature end following the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, the bishops with varying degrees of enthusiasm, backed a decree, Pastor aeternus (The Eternal Shepherd). This decisively exalted papal power at their expense, just at the moment when the popes temporal power was about disappear for ever, wrote MacCulloch. But then came Vatican II (1962-65), admittedly, in MacCullochs words half a revolution. Did this council, convoked by John XXIII, and with its emphasis on the doctrine of episcopal collegiality, seen as a counter-weight to Vatican I with its exaltation of papal power, leave an unresolved clash of ecclesiologies, a pope-centred ecclesiology versus a bishop-centred ecclesiology? The evolution of the papacy over the centuries has been well documented. In the preface to his acclaimed 1997 history of the Popes, Eamon Duffy of Cambridge University outlines the background to what he calls one of the most extraordinary institutions in the history of the world: Nearly 90 million human beings, the largest single collection of people the world has ever known, look to the Pope as their spiritual leader. His office symbolises the rule of God himself over their hearts and minds and consciences. The words of the popes weigh in the halls of power, and in the bedrooms of the faithful. And the papacy, is the oldest, as well as arguable the most influential, of all human institutions. But the same scholar acknowledges that the beginnings of the papacy are shrouded in uncertainty. To begin with, indeed, there was no pope, no bishop as such, for the church in Rome was slow to develop the office of chief presbyter, or bishop. That said, there is no doubt about Peters authority. In all the Gospels, he is the leader, or at any rate the spokesman, of the Apostles, writes Duffy. Throughout the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke Peters name occurs first in every list of the names of the Twelve. In each Gospel he is the first disciple to be called by Jesus. In an article for America magazine in 2000, the Georgetown University church historian, John W OMalley SJ reminds readers of how much the papacy as we know it today has evolved since its beginnings. He reminds readers that even as late as Martin Luthers posting of the 95 theses in the 16th century relatively few Christians knew that the papacy existed, and surely only a minuscule percentage believed it had anything to do with the way they lived their lives. There is no need to insist, he says, that from the earliest centuries the bishop of Rome held a position of special respect and claimed unique prerogatives. Yet in the first millennium popes did not run the church, nor did they claim to. They defined no doctrines, they wrote no encyclicals, they called no bishops ad limina. They did not convoke ecumenical councils, and they did not preside at them. In fact their roles in the first eight councils were generally insignificant. The real turning point in terms of creating a cult of the papacy didnt come until the 19th century, and specifically during the pontificate of Pius IX, who was Pope from 1846 to 1878 and who, in 1867, announced the summoning of a general council (Vatican I), to begin on 8 December 1869. When in 1870 Garibaldis troops entered Rome, Pius IX dramatised the event by enclosing himself within the Vatican sector of the city. Catholics throughout the world, aware through the telegraph (transatlantic cable, 1866) and thence through newspapers that the pope was now the prisoner of the Vatican, poured out their sympathy for him. They knew the popes name, and they might even have seen a photograph of him. The cult of papal personality began to take shape for the first time. OMalley goes on to point out that in the meantime popes had begun to issue encyclicals. That is to say, they were no longer merely the judges in cases of contested doctrine; they had themselves become teachers. By the middle of the 19th century publishing encyclicals had become part of the papal job description. So had the appointment of bishops. Modern means of communication would also play a significant role. In 1929, with the Lateran pacts (an agreement between the papacy and the Italian government of Benito Mussolini), the popes self-imposed exile inside the Vatican ended. Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti) was the longest-serving pope. Picture: National Catholic Register Movie cameras were admitted into Saint Peters and into the Apostolic Palace, and millions upon millions of people throughout the world could see Pius XI, Pius XII and John XXIII bestow their blessings, wrote OMalley. The popes, no longer prisoners, began to travel. Jets made it easy. Popemobiles did the same. And the rest, as they say, is history. In a later article in America magazine, Jeffrey von Arx SJ, who had served as chair of the History Department at Georgetown University, also emphasised the changes in our perception of the papacy that occurred during Pius IXs time. The veneration of the pope in his person and well as in his office grew initially around Pius IX, the prisoner of the Vatican, and around every pope subsequently until it reached its apotheosis in the rock star status of St. John Paul II. This exaltation of the pope gave individual popes a moral and spiritual authority and a personal popularity and recognition unlike anything that had been seen before. Where does the cult of the papacy stand today in the light of Vatican I and Vatican II? According to Collins, there is still a major theological question lurking behind all of this. Is it possible to reconcile the conciliarist teaching of Constance and the ultramontane teaching of Vatican I? While it is true that a healthy tension can exist between a conciliar and a papal view of the Church, the simple fact is that the two cannot probably be reconciled. The Church needs to face this disjunction. Is the Synod on Synodality a step in that direction? The second and critical assembly of the synod is scheduled for October in Rome. For now we can only guess at what may emerge. It may prove a major disappointment. At Vatican II, Paul VI, in the words of MacCulloch, had doubts about the collegiality of all bishops, and in order to win the consent of a conservative minority to Lumen Gentium, he accepted Prefatory notes (Nota praevia) added to it, which spelled out in scholastic language the limits which the main text could place on collegiality. Then, in 1968, Paul VI, on his own initiative, published Humanae Vitae his (again in MacCullochs words) unmodified stand against artificial birth control: this provoked the greatest internal challenge to papal authority in the Western Churchs history since Martin Luthers protests over the theology of salvation. Was that ill-fated papal initiative more in keeping with the spirit of Vatican I than Vatican II? That remains an unanswered question. But on one thing I am clear as I reflect again on the crowds of pilgrims in St Peters Square, waiting for a glimpse of Pope Francis, its hard to avoid the conclusion that the cult of papal personality is not going away anytime soon. The alleged Israeli attack on members of Hezbollah via their pagers is another ominous development propelling the Middle East towards a full-scale regional war. It leaves Hezbollah with little option but to retaliate with the full support of the Iran-led axis of resistance. The sophistication and impact of targeting the pagers is unprecedented. The attack resulted in at least 11 deaths, including some of Hezbollahs fighters, and up to 3,000 people wounded. The main aim of the attack, which US officials have reportedly said was carried out by Israel, was intended to disrupt Hezbollahs means of communication and its command and control system in Lebanon. Since Hezbollah has reduced the use of mobile phones by its forces because Israel can easily detect and target them, pagers have increasingly become the preferred messaging device within the group. The attack may have also been designed to cause panic within the group and among the Lebanese public, many of whom do not support Hezbollah, given the political divisions in the country. Since Hamas October 7 attacks on southern Israel, the Israeli leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said it is determined to remove the threat of Hezbollah, which has operated in solidarity with Hamas. Hours before the pager attack, Netanyahus government clarified that Israels war goals would expand to include a return of the tens of thousands of residents to their homes in northern Israel, which they have fled due to constant rocket fire from Hezbollah. Israels defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the only way to do this was through military action. The simultaneous pager explosions on Tuesday, then, may be a prelude to an all-out Israeli offensive against Hezbollah. The consequences of war with Hezbollah Hezbollah has already declared it will retaliate. What form this will take remains to be seen. The group has a massive military capability to not only pound northern Israel with drones and missiles, but also to attack other parts of the Jewish state, including heavily populated cities such as Tel Aviv. Hezbollah showed this capability in its 2006 war with Israel. The war lasted 34 days, during which 165 Israelis were killed (121 IDF soldiers and 44 civilians) and Israels economy and tourist industry were markedly damaged. Hezbollah and Lebanese losses were far greater, with at least 1,100 deaths. However, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) failed to destroy or incapacitate the group. Any successful retaliatory attack on Israels cities could result in serious civilian casualties, giving Israel a further pretext to pursue its long-held aim of destroying Hezbollah and punishing its main backer, the Islamic Republic of Iran. In a wider conflict, the US is committed to defending Israel, while Iran would support Hezbollah in whatever way necessary. If Israeli and US leaders think Iran will continue to refrain from any action that could propel it into war with Israel and the US, they are mistaken. Hezbollah is a central piece in the regimes national and regional security paradigm. Tehran has invested heavily in the group, along with other regional affiliates Iraqi militias, the Yemeni Houthis and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, in particular. The aim of this axis of resistance has been to build a strong deterrent against Israel and the US. Ever since its foundation 45 years ago, the Iranian regime has viewed Israel and its main backer, the US, as an existential threat, just as Israel has regarded Iran in the same way. For this, the regime has re-oriented its foreign relations towards Americas major adversaries, especially Russia and China. Russo-Iranian military cooperation has grown so strong, in fact, that Moscow will have little hesitation in backing Iran and its affiliates in any war. Tehran is fully cognisant of Israels nuclear prowess. To guard against it, Iran has developed its own nuclear program to the threshold level of developing a weapon. Iranian leaders may have also gained Russias assurances it would help defend Iran should Israel resort to the use of its nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, it is important to remember that after nearly a year of demolishing Gaza and devastating its inhabitants, Israel has not been able to wipe out Hamas. Civil Defence first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on Tuesday. Hezbollah has already declared it will retaliate. What form this will take remains to be seen. Photo: AP Its own actions speak to this. It has constantly forced Gazans to relocate so IDF soldiers can operate in areas they had previously declared to be cleared of fighters. The task of defeating Hezbollah and its backers would be a far greater objective to achieve. It carries the serious risk of a war that all parties have been saying that they do not want, yet all are preparing for. The pager attack is just the latest in a string of operations that keeps imperilling any chances of a permanent Gaza ceasefire that could stabilise the region and contribute to the causes of peace rather than war. Read More What we know about the deadly pager blasts in Lebanon A former Ulster Bank building in Cork City could be reborn as a cafe under new plans lodged with Cork City Council. Sprout & Co Kitchen Ltd has applied for permission to revamp No 17 Winthrop Street, which has been vacant since the closure of Ulster Bank in April 2023. In June 2023, it was reported the branch had been listed for sale, and in April 2024, a year after closing, the Irish Examiner revealed Ulster Bank had sold the Winthrop Street branch along with another city centre branch, which had been located on St Patrick Street. This planning application seeks permission for the change of use of the ground and first floors of the Winthrop Street building from financial services to cafe use, and also includes the addition of new signage. If approved, it would represent the first Sprout & Co Kitchen in Munster. The chain has several outlets in Dublin and one in Kildare Village. Its founders credit a stint at Cork's famous Ballymaloe Cookery School among the reasons they wanted to set up Sprout & Co Kitchen, which focuses on salads and other healthy foods. Lidl coffee kiosk Elsewhere in the city, Lidl has submitted plans to develop a coffee kiosk at its Ballyhooly Road site. Lidl Ireland GmbH has lodged a planning application with Cork City Council seeking permission for the works, which would be located in Ballyvolane. The proposal sets out an ambition to develop a single-storey freestanding cafe kiosk within the Lidl site. If approved, the kiosk will serve takeaway foods and non-alcoholic beverages. To make space for the kiosk, the supermarket would remove five car parking spaces. More than 100 wildfires in northern Portugal are stretching thousands of firefighters to the limit, with seven deaths since the worst spate of fires in recent years spread out of control over the weekend. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro declared a state of calamity for the hardest-hit areas on Tuesday, invoking powers to mobilise more firefighters and civil servants. He also called on police investigators to redouble their efforts to find those who started the fires and pledged help for those who have lost their homes or have been evacuated. We are well aware that these difficult hours are not over yet, Mr Montenegro told the nation in a televised address. Fires rage on the hills around a town in northern Portugal (Bruno Fonseca/AP) We have to continue to give everything we have and ask for help from our partners and friends so that we can reinforce the protection of our people and property. The hot, dry conditions behind the outbreaks in Portugal coincided this week with flooding in central Europe. The European Union said on Wednesday that the juxtaposed extreme weather phenomena are proof of a climate breakdown. Fellow European Union members Spain, France, Italy and Greece have committed two water-dropping aircraft each to help Portuguese firefighters. Spains military is also sending 240 soldiers and vehicles from its emergency response battalions specialised in combating fires across the border to its neighbour. Mr Montenegro made a special call for security forces to pursue both arsonists and any individuals who started a fire out of negligence. Vehicles drive past a fire burning by the road near a town in northern Portugal (Bruno Fonseca/AP) Portuguese national police said that they have arrested seven men suspected of having started wildfires in recent days. Authorities have prohibited the use of heavy farming equipment to reduce the risk of inadvertently starting a blaze. Among the hardest-hit areas is the district of Aveiro, south of the northern city of Porto, but several major blazes were also raging out of control in other wooded areas. Authorities have yet to release figures for property damage or the number of evacuees, but Portuguese state broadcaster RTP has shown charred houses in rural villages and local residents trying to battle flames with buckets of water, hoses, and even large tree branches. Other televised images showed visibility reduced to a few metres as orange smoke enveloped the terrain. Three firefighters died in their vehicle on Tuesday, while another had succumbed to what authorities called a sudden illness while on duty over the weekend. Three civilians have also died, according to civil protection authorities. Portugal was devastated by massive fires in 2017 that killed more than 120 people. US secretary of state Antony Blinken has expressed frustration at surprise escalations that he said threaten to derail efforts to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He said the US is still assessing the previous days deadly pager explosions, linked to Israel, in Lebanon. Mr Blinken spoke in Egypt, where he travelled for talks on the Gaza ceasefire negotiations and US-Egyptian relations. The United States and international partners, including Egypt, are working to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and to reduce tensions as Israeli leaders threaten to step up military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The most important thing in this moment is to see a demonstration of political will Speaking in answer to a question about the previous days explosions in Lebanon, Mr Blinken said time and again when the US and other international mediators believe themselves to be making progress in a ceasefire deal for the war in Gaza weve seen an event that makes the process more difficult, might derail it. Explosive attacks using personal pagers used by members of the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon killed at least 12 people on Tuesday. Israel has not publicly spoken on whether it was responsible. Mr Blinken spoke of Hamas killing earlier this month of six of the several dozen hostages that Hamas-led militants have held in Gaza since capturing them on October 7, in the attack in Israel that launched the war. At the time news came of the six hostages killing, negotiators had been making progress on the timing and other details of a swap that would have freed hostages in exchange for a freeing of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, Mr Blinken said. Mr Blinken on Wednesday repeated administration statements that the US was still gathering information on the circumstances of the pager attacks, and declined more specific comment on them. Mr Blinken also said the most dire need in the talks for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza was for both sides to show they actually wanted a deal. The most important thing in this moment is to see a demonstration of political will, Mr Blinken said. He was speaking on his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began. The trip was billed in part as a chance to consult with Egypt on refining terms of a final proposal to present to Israel and Hamas. 1371138342::cfb49c8e-2422-11e5-99a3-d7f5c6e8b241 A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. An N.C. House Select Committee is recommending that the General Assembly change a state law forcing districts to start school the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end no later than the Friday clo 09/17/2024 JACKSONVILLE A capacity crowd of faculty, staff, and students gathered at Jacksonville State University on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, for a special session of the Alabama Supreme Court. Held in observance of Constitution Day, the event offered attendees the rare opportunity to witness the state's highest Court in action and observe how the judicial system functions at the highest level. President Don Killingsworth welcomed the Court and the attendees, underscoring the educational value of the day: "We are honored to host the Supreme Court of our state for oral arguments today. This is an opportunity that doesn't come around very often, and we are grateful for this intersection between the judiciary and education. This is an educational opportunity for our students here at Jacksonville State, so my hope is that they learn from it." Faculty, staff, and students from across campus filled the event space, demonstrating Jacksonville State's strong commitment to civic engagement and academic enrichment. Many students participated as part of their coursework, ensuring their attendance was counted toward academic credit. Reflecting on the significance of the event, President Killingsworth added, "It was a privilege to witness the deliberations and gain insights into the workings of the highest Court in our state. The Court's presence here today represents not only the rule of law but also the ideals of justice, fairness, and intellectual rigor that we strive to instill in our students." The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in SC-2023-0784: Shymikka Griggs v. NHS Management, LLC, a case involving a class-action lawsuit arising from a 2021 cyberattack on NHS Management, LLC. The case provided a valuable look into the complexities of data breaches, identity theft, and the legal principles surrounding them. Students gained firsthand exposure to the workings of the state's highest Court as attorneys from both sides presented their arguments. President Killingsworth concluded, "As a University, we are committed to fostering an environment of learning and critical thought. Today's proceedings provide a rare opportunity for our students to observe firsthand the legal principles and arguments that shape our society. To be able to host such an event on campus is a wonderful educational experience." After the oral arguments, Chief Justice Tom Parker presented a special lecture titled "Blackstone's Commentaries and the Foundations of American Law" on the 11th floor of Houston Cole Library. The lecture, followed by a Q&A session, offered deeper insights into the influence of Sir William Blackstone on the American legal system and was of particular interest to students considering law school. For more information about the event, visit Jax States event page. About Jacksonville State University Founded in 1883 as a state teachers college, Jacksonville State University has grown from humble beginnings into the Alabama regional university with the highest percentage of accredited programs. Located in the Appalachian foothills midway between Birmingham and Atlanta, Jax State offers more than 150 courses of study, including over 40 online programs, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To learn more, visit www.jsu.edu, call 1-800-231-JAX1 or e-mail jaxfacts@jsu.edu. ( Middle East Monitor ) Never in its history of war and military occupation has Israel been so incapable of developing a coherent plan for its future and the future of its victims. Even a quick glance at headlines in international media reveals the depth of the Israeli dilemma. While Tel Aviv continues to carry out a genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza, it seems to have no idea what to do beyond simply destroying the Strip and its people. Even the countrys Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, who could soon be officially wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), indicated on multiple occasions that Israel has no post-war plan in Gaza. Since October, I have been raising this issue consistently in the Cabinet, and have received no response, Gallant said in the clearest possible language in May. Others suggest that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government might have a plan but, in the language of the Washington Post, it is a no workable plan or, according to Vox, is no plan at all. Netanyahus not workable plan, or no plan at all, is inconsistent with the wishes of the US administration. True, both Israel and the US are in full agreement regarding the war itself. Even after Washington had finally begun shifting its position from wanting the war to continue, to asking Netanyahu to conclude his bloody task, American weapons have continued to flow at the same rate. The Americans, however, are not convinced that destroying Hamas, fully demilitarising Gaza, taking control of the Gaza-Egypt border, shutting down the UNRWA refugees agency and the de-radicalisation of the besieged Palestinian population is the right approach. But Netanyahu himself must have already known this, if not at the very start of the war, at least nearly a year into the genocide. His exhausted army kept moving from one phase to another, declaring tactical victories without achieving a single strategic goal in Gaza. The most optimistic estimation of the Israeli army is that their war, which has practically destroyed all of Gaza, has resulted in a stalemate. A more sober reading of the war, according to former Prime Minister, General Ehud Barak, is that Israel must end it before sinking into its moral abyss. Yet, more delusional plans, pertaining to both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, continue to be leaked to the media. The first major leak was a taped recording of a speech by extremist and very influential Israeli minister in Netanyahus cabinet, Bezalel Smotrich. I am telling, it is mega-dramatic. Such changes change a systems DNA, Smotrich told a group of Israeli Jewish settlers in June, according to the New York Times. The ministers carefully orchestrated programme hinges on transferring the authority of the West Bank from the occupation army to a group of civilians under the leadership of Smotrich himself. The goal is to seize more Palestinian land, expand the illegal settlements and prevent any possible continuity of a viable Palestinian State. In fact, the plan is already underway. On 29 May, Israel appointed Hillel Roth, a close ally of Smotrich, as the deputy in the West Bank Civil Administration. Netanyahu, Butcher of Gaza, Digital, Dream/ Dreamland v3 / PS Express, 2024 The plan for Gaza is another episode of cruelty, but also delusional. It was revealed in an article by the editor of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on 9 September. Aluf Benn wrote that Netanyahus plan also consists of the hiring of an Israeli governor of Gaza, Brigadier General Elad Goren, who became the Head of Humanitarian-Civilian effort in the Strip on 28 August. Using a combination of tactics, including starvation, military pressure and the like, Netanyahu wants to drive the population of northern Gaza to the south in preparation of formally annexing the region and bringing back Jewish settlers. These are not the only plans that have been leaked or, at times, communicated openly by Israeli officials. At the start of the war, such ideas as ethnically cleansing the Gaza population into Sinai were advocated openly by Israeli officials, and were also the main topic of discussion in Israeli evening news programmes. Some Israeli officials spoke of fully occupying Gaza, while others, like Israels Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, floated the idea of dropping a nuclear bomb. The plan of totally evacuating Gaza did not work simply because Palestinians would not leave, and Egypt had rejected the very insinuation that ethnically cleansing Gazans was an option. Additionally, the total depopulation of northern Gaza also did not work, partly because Israel was massacring civilians in both north and south at comparable rates. Israels new plans will not succeed in achieving what the original plans have failed to achieve, simply because Israel continues to face the same obstacle: the steadfastness of the Palestinian people. However, much can still be learned from the nature of the Israeli schemes, old and new, mainly the fact that Israel regards the Palestinian people as the enemy. This conclusion is not only gleaned through statements by top Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog himself, when he said that an entire nation out there (..) is responsible. Almost every Israeli scheme seems to involve killing Palestinians in large numbers, starving them or displacing them en masse. This means that the Israeli war has always been a war against the Palestinian people. The Palestinians themselves know it. Shouldnt the rest of the world also know it by now? The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor or Informed Comment. Via Middle East Monitor Im reprinting here my most recent Tomdispatch essay for The Nation Institute, on the possible emergence of a centrist Sunni bloc that aims to offset Israeli power in the region. Check out, as well, Tom Engelhardts essential introduction, here. At least one thing is now obvious in the Middle East: the Biden administration has failed abjectly in its objectives there, leaving the region in dangerous disarray. Its primary stated foreign policy goal has been to rally its partners in the region to cooperate with the extremist Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu while upholding a rules-based international order and blocking Iran and its allies in their policies. Clearly, such goals have had all the coherence of a chimera and have failed for one obvious reason. President Bidens Achilles heel has been his bear hug of Netanyahu, who allied himself with the Israeli equivalent of neo-Nazis, while launching a ruinous total war on the people of Gaza in the wake of the horrific October 7th Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Biden also signed on to the Abraham Accords, a project initiated in 2020 by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and special Middle East envoy of then-President Donald Trump. Through them the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco all agreed to recognize Israel in return for investment and trade opportunities there and access to American weaponry and a U.S. security umbrella. Not only did Washington, however, fail to incorporate Saudi Arabia into that framework, but it has also faced increasing difficulty keeping the accords themselves in place given increasing anger and revulsion in the region over the high (and still ongoing) civilian death toll in Gaza. Typically, just the docking of an Israeli ship at the Moroccan port of Tangier this summer set off popular protests that spread to dozens of cities in that country. And that was just a taste of what could be coming. Breathtaking Hypocrisy Washingtons efforts in the Middle East have been profoundly undermined by its breathtaking hypocrisy. After all, the Biden team has gone blue in the face decrying the Russian occupation of parts of Ukraine and its violations of international humanitarian law in killing so many innocent civilians there. In contrast, the administration let the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completely disregard international law when it comes to its treatment of the Palestinians. This summer, the International Court of Justice ruled that the entire Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal in international law and, in response, the U.S. and Israel both thumbed their noses at the finding. In part as a response to Washingtons Israeli policy, no country in the Middle East and very few nations in the global South have joined in its attempt to ostracize Vladimir Putins Russia. Worse yet for the Biden administration, the most significant divide in the Arab world between secular nationalist governments and those that favor forms of political Islam has begun to heal in the face of the perceived Israeli threat. Turkey and Egypt, daggers long drawn over their differing views of the Muslim Brotherhood, the fundamentalist movement that briefly came to power in Cairo in 2012-2013, have begun repairing their relationship, specifically citing the menace posed by Israeli expansionism. The persistence of Secretary of State Antony Blinken in pressing Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. security partner, to recognize Israel at a moment when the Arab public is boiling with anger over what they see as a campaign of genocide in Gaza, is the closest thing since the Trump administration to pure idiocracy. Washingtons pressure on Riyadh elicited from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman the pitiful plea that he fears being assassinated were he to normalize relations with Tel Aviv now. And consider that ironic given his own past role in ordering the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In short, the ongoing inside-the-Beltway ambition to secure further Arab recognition of Israel amid the annihilation of Gaza has Americas security partners wondering if Washington is trying to get them killed anything but a promising basis for a long-term alliance. Global Delegitimization The science-fiction-style nature of U.S. policy in the Middle East is starkly revealed when you consider the position of Jordan, which has a peace treaty with Israel. In early September, its foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, warned that any attempt by the Israeli military or its squatter-settlers to expel indigenous West Bank Palestinians to Jordan would be considered an act of war. While such anxieties might once have seemed overblown, the recent stunning (and stunningly destructive) Israeli military campaign on the Palestinian West Bank, including bombings of populated areas by fighter jets, has already begun to resemble the campaign in Gaza in its tactics. And keep in mind that, as August ended, Foreign Minister Israel Katz even urged the Israeli army to compel Palestinians to engage in a voluntary evacuation of the northern West Bank. Not only is the expulsion of Palestinians from there now the stated policy of cabinet members like Jewish Power extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir; its the preference of 65% of Israelis polled. And mind you, when Israel and Jordan begin talking war you know something serious is going on, since the last time those two countries actively fought was in the 1973 October War during the administration of President Richard Nixon. In short, Netanyahu and his extremist companions are in the process of undoing all the diplomatic progress their country achieved in the past half-century. Ronen Bar, the head of Israels domestic Shin Bet intelligence agency, warned in August that the brutal policies the extremists in the government were pursuing are a stain on Judaism and will lead to global delegitimization, even among our greatest allies. Turkey, a NATO ally with which the U.S. has mutual defense obligations, has become vociferous in its discontent with President Bidens Middle Eastern policy. Although Turkey recognized Israel in 1949, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the pro-Islam Justice and Development Party interactions had grown rocky even before the Gaza nightmare. Still, until then their trade and military ties had survived occasional shouting matches between their politicians. The Gaza genocide, however, has changed all that. Erdogan even compared Netanyahu to Hitler, and then went further still, claiming that, in the Rafah offensive in southern Gaza in May, Netanyahu has reached a level with his genocidal methods that would make Hitler jealous. Worse yet, the Turkish president, referred to by friend and foe as the sultan because of his vast power, has now gone beyond angry words. Since last October, hes used Turkeys position in NATO to prohibit that organization from cooperating in any way with Israel on the grounds that its violating the NATO principle that harm to civilians in war must be carefully minimized. The Justice and Development Party leader also imposed an economic boycott on Israel, interrupting bilateral trade that had reached $7 billion a year and sending the price of fruits and vegetables in Israel soaring, while leading to a shortage of automobiles in the Israeli market. Erdogans Justice and Development Party represents the countrys small towns and rural areas and its Muslim businesses and entrepreneurs, constituencies that care deeply about the fate of Muslim Palestinians in Gaza. And while Erdogans high dudgeon has undoubtedly been sincere, hes also pleasing his partys stalwarts in the face of an increasing domestic challenge from the secular Republican Peoples Party. In addition, hes long played to a larger Arab public, which is apoplectic over the unending carnage in Gaza. The Alliance of Muslim Countries Although it was undoubtedly mere bluster, Erdogan even threatened a direct intervention on behalf of the beleaguered Palestinians. In early August, he said, Just as we intervened in Karabakh [disputed territory between Azerbaijan and Armenia], just as we intervened in Libya, we will do the same to them. In early September, the Turkish president called for an Islamic alliance in the region to counter what he characterized as Israeli expansionism: Yesterday, one of our own children, [Turkish-American human rights advocate] Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was vilely slaughtered [on the West Bank]. Israel will not stop in Gaza. After occupying Ramallah [the de facto capital of that territory], they will look around elsewhere. Theyll fix their eyes on our homeland. They openly proclaim it with a map. We say Hamas is resisting for the Muslims. Standing against Israels state terror is an issue of importance to the nation and the country. Islamic countries must wake up as soon as possible and increase their cooperation. The only step that can be taken against Israels genocide is the alliance of Muslim countries. In fact, the present nightmare in Gaza and the West Bank may indeed be changing political relationships in the region. After all, the Turkish president pointed to his rapprochement with Egypt as a building block in a new security edifice he envisions. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made his first visit to Ankara on September 4th (following a February Erdogan trip to Cairo). And those visits represented the end of a more than decade-long cold war in the Sunni Muslim world over al-Sisis 2013 coup against elected Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, whom Erdogan had backed. Despite its apparent embrace of democratic norms in 2012-2013, some Middle Eastern rulers charged the Brotherhood with having covert autocratic ambitions throughout the region and sought to crush it. For the moment, the Muslim Brotherhood and other forms of Sunni political Islam have been roundly defeated in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and the Persian Gulf region. Erdogan, a pragmatist despite his support for the Brotherhood and its offshoot Hamas, had been in the process of getting his country the best possible deal, given such a regional defeat, even before the Israelis struck Gaza. Netanyahus Forever War in Gaza For his part, Egypts al-Sisi is eager for greater leverage against Netanyahus apparent plan for a forever war in Gaza. After all, the Gaza campaign has already inflicted substantial damage on Egypts economy, since Yemens Houthis have supported the Gazans with attacks on container ships and oil tankers in the Red Sea. That has, in turn, diverted traffic away from it and from the Suez Canal, whose tolls normally earn significant foreign exchange for Egypt. In the first half of 2024, however, it took in only half the canal receipts of the previous year. Although tourism has held up reasonably well, any widening of the war could devastate that industry, too. Egyptians are also reportedly furious over Netanyahus occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor south of the city of Rafah in Gaza and his blithe disregard of Cairos prerogatives under the Camp David agreement to patrol that corridor. The al-Sisi government, which, along with Qatars rulers and the Biden administration, has been heavily involved in hosting (so far fruitless) peace negotiations between Hamas and Israel, seems at the end of its tether, increasingly angered at the way the Israeli prime minister has constantly tacked new conditions onto any agreements being discussed, causing the talks to fail. For months, Cairo has also been seething over Netanyahus charge that Egypt allowed tunnels to be built under that corridor to supply Hamas with weaponry, insisting that the Egyptian army had diligently destroyed 1,500 such tunnels. Egypts position was given support recently by Nadav Argaman, a former head of Shin Bet, who said, There is no connection between the weaponry found in Gaza and the Philadelphi Corridor. Of Netanyahu, he added, He knows very well that no smuggling takes place over the Philadelphi Corridor. So, we are now relegated to living with this imaginary figment. In the Turkish capital, Ankara, Al-Sisi insisted that he wanted to work with Erdogan to address the humanitarian tragedy that our Palestinian brothers in Gaza are facing in an unprecedented disaster that has been going on for nearly a year. He underscored that there was no daylight between Egypt and Turkey regarding the demand for an immediate ceasefire, the rejection of the current Israeli escalation in the West Bank, and the call to start down a path that achieves the aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He also pointed out that such positions are in accord with U.N. Security Council resolutions and pledged to work with Turkey to ensure that humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza despite the ongoing obstacles imposed by Israel. To sum up, the ligaments of American influence in the Middle East are now dissolving before our very eyes. Washingtons closest allies, like the Jordanian and Saudi royal families, are terrified that Bidens bear hug of Netanyahus war crimes and the fury of their own people could, in the end, destabilize their rule. Countries that, not so long ago, had correct, if not warm, relations with Israel like Egypt and Turkey are increasingly denouncing that country and its policies. And the alliance of U.S. partners in the region with Israel against Iran that Washington has long worked for seems to be coming apart at the seams. Countries like Egypt and Turkey are instead exploring the possibility of forming a regional Sunni Muslim alliance against Netanyahus geopolitics of Jewish power that might, in the end, actually reduce tensions with Tehran. That things have come to such a pass in the Middle East is distinctly the fault of the Biden administration and its position or lack of one on Israels nightmare in Gaza (and now the West Bank, too). Today, all too sadly, that administration is wearing the same kind of blinkers regarding the war in Gaza that President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top officials once sported when it came to the Vietnam War. Copyright 2024 Juan Cole Featured Image: Erdogan and al-Sisi, Digital, Dream /Dreamland v3 / IbisPaint/ Clip2Comic, 2024 Vancouver, British Columbia TheNewswire - September 18, 2024 Arizona Gold & Silver Inc. (the Company or Arizona) (TSX-V: AZS) (OTCQB: AZASF) is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the Private Placement) offering of up to 10 million units (Units) at a price of $0.30 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to CAD $3,000,000 million. Each Unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (Warrant). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.40 for three (3) years following the closing of the Private Placement. As part of the financing terms Sprott Global Resource Investments, Ltd. has agreed to act as finders in the Private Placement, with a lead order of CAD $850,000 from a single US Fund. The Company may pay finders fees of 4% to eligible finders for services in connection with the Private Placement in cash or warrants exercisable into shares (Finders Warrants). The terms of the Finders Warrants will be the same terms as the Warrants pursuant to the Private Placement. We feel very fortunate to have Sprott take the lead on this financing. Sprott recognizes the success and growing potential of Arizonas Philadelphia project stated Mike Stark, President & CEO. The Company plans to use the proceeds of the Private Placement for further exploration and drilling of the Philadelphia Property in Mohave County, Arizona, the advancement of other Company projects, as well as for general working capital purposes. All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable securities laws. The closing of the Private Placement is subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. To demonstrate continued support for the Companys growth plans, certain insiders of the Company will participate in the Private Placement. Such participation is 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 related party transaction will be exempt from minority approval and valuation requirements pursuant to the exemptions contained in Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the securities to be issued under the Private Placement nor the consideration to be paid by the insiders will exceed 25% of the Companys market capitalization. It is anticipated that the transaction will be settled on or around Thursday, October 3rd, 2024. Please refer to our web site for all news and updated property information: www.arizonagoldsilver.com About Arizona Gold & Silver Inc. Arizona Gold is a young exploration company focused on exploring gold-silver properties in western Arizona and Nevada. The flagship asset is the Philadelphia gold-silver property where the Company is drilling off a significant epithermal gold-silver system. On behalf of the Board of Directors: ARIZONA GOLD & SILVER INC. Mike Stark, President and CEO, Director Phone: (604) 833-4278 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. CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements in relation to the timing, cost and other aspects of the 2024-2025 exploration program; the potential for development of the mineral resources; the potential mineralization and geological merits of the exploration properties; and other future plans, objectives or expectations of the Company. 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 Companys plans or expectations include the risk that actual results of current and planned exploration activities, including the results of the Companys 2024-2025 drilling program(s) on its properties, will not be consistent with the Companys expectations; the geology, grade and continuity of any mineral deposits and the risk of unexpected variations in mineral resources, grade and/or recovery rates; fluctuating metals prices; possibility of accidents, equipment breakdowns and delays during exploration; exploration cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological tests; availability of capital and financing required to continue the Companys future exploration programs and preparation of geological reports and studies; delays in the preparation of geological reports and studies; the metallurgical characteristics of mineralization contained within the exploration properties are yet to be fully determined; general economic, market or business conditions; competition and loss of key employees; regulatory changes and restrictions including in relation to required permits for exploration activities (including drilling permits) and environmental liability; 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. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made numerous assumptions, including that the Companys 2023-2024 programs would proceed as planned and within budget. 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. September 18, 2024 TheNewswire - Vancouver, British Columbia - Pampa Metals Corp. (Pampa Metals or the Company) (CSE:PM / FSE:FIR / OTCQB:PMMCF) is pleased to provide a Technical Update on the Piuquenes Cu-Au porphyry project, San Juan, Argentina. 3D geological modelling and grade and lithology interpretation at Piuquenes Central Aided by 4-acid multi-element geochemical data and reprocessed and interpreted historical geophysical data, the Company has finalized a preliminary 3D geological model and grade and lithology interpretation at the Piuquenes Central porphyry Cu-Au deposit. Key Findings from 3D model development (refer Figures 1 & 2): High-grade Cu Au (refer 17 June 2024 News Release) quartz-stockwork zones at Piuquenes Central are developed around a central multi-phase quartz-porphyry complex. Bornite mineralization has been encountered both centrally and within the outer margins of the porphyry complex, however no coherent bornite-dominated zone has yet been discovered. Many Cu-Au porphyry deposits contain the highest Cu Au grades in central and deeper bornite-dominated zones. Drilling this field season will target such a zone. Historical shallow drill hole DDH06 intersected brecciated volcanics with sericite-chlorite alteration, disseminated pyrite, chalcopyrite, magnetite, and quartz veining, with numerous Cu values of 0.1% reported from 43m to 236m (End of Hole). This alteration and strongly elevated Cu are consistent with the peripheries of the Piuquenes Central complex and will be further tested this field season. Defined system dimensions to date at Piuquenes Central of ~350 x 250 x 800m (SW-NE-Depth), with high-grade Cu Au remaining open at depth, below DDH06 to the northeast, and to the southwest, suggestive of significant upside potential. The geophysical inversion models (refer 11 Sept 2024 News Release and Figures 4 5)) and 3D geological models (refer Figure 3) suggest a coincident northeast system trend and the potential for a cluster of deposits under cover. Outcropping porphyry stockwork at Piuquenes East is considered a standalone target off the northeast trend which will be drill tested during the upcoming field season. Historical shallow Drill Hole DDH02 intersected a zone of oxidization from surface at Piuquenes Central and reported 0.32% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au to 161m (End of Hole) (refer 17 June 2024 News Release). The potential to host a high-grade oxide deposit from surface is otherwise untested. Figure 1 : Piuquenes Central SW/NE Cross Section Copper Shell Current Activities Targeting and planning for the 2024/25 field season is nearing completion and will include further drill evaluation at Piuquenes Central where the Company recently reported 801m @ 0.40% Cu, 0.51 g/t Au, 2.87 g/t Ag, including 518m @ 0.53% Cu, 0.73 g/t Au, 3.45 g/t Ag (refer 17 June 2024 News Release). The Initial drill testing of Piuquenes East, field mapping to advance several other nearby targets, and further geophysics (if required) will also form part of the 2024/24 program. The Company also continues to integrate historical geophysical datasets, including recently recovered ground magnetic data. Figure 2 : Piuquenes Central SW/NE Cross Section Gold Shell Upcoming News flow The Company will provide further updates on the key findings from the outstanding geophysical data integration once finalized. The Company will also update shareholders on the timing and scope of the 2024/25 field season work programs, preparations for which are now well advanced. Key in-country technical hires are anticipated in the short-term. Figure 3 : Piuquenes Central 3D Model Potential NE Plunge Figure 4 : Chargeability Inversion Model - Potential NE Plunge & Buried Target Area Joseph van den Elsen, Pampa Metals President and CEO commented: We are very pleased to have validated the exceptionally high copper and gold grades at Piuquenes Central as having developed around a central multi-phase quartz-porphyry complex. The system has an apparent north-east trend and high-grade copper and gold remain open to the northeast, at depth and potentially the southwest, with a possible even higher-grade, bornite-dominant zone not yet encountered. We are excited by the upcoming field season and look forward to more fully delineating the size and grade potential of the first deposit during 2024/25 and concurrently testing a second undrilled, outcropping porphyry at Piuquenes East. Desktop work to-date confirms the potential for a cluster of deposits, and we will advance several other targets this field season through surface exploration and possibly geophysics. Figure 5: MT Inversion model - Potential NE plunge & large, pipe-like high-resistivity feature. Figure 6: Piuquenes Project Property Wide Upside Potential ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO INVESTOR CONTACT Joseph van den Elsen | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ABOUT PAMPA METALS Pampa Metals is a copper-gold exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE: FIR), and OTC (OTCQB: PMMCF) exchanges. In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina. Qualified Person Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company. Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals 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 forward-looking statements. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Geologica Resource Corp. (CSE: GRCM) (FSE: 862) ("Geologica" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the strategic acquisition of the "Lincoln" property ("Lincoln") in the Atlin mining district of British Columbia. Lincoln Claims The Lincoln Property is thought to have the potential of hosting lode gold mineralization. These claims contain similar geology to the producing Otter Creek gold claims 33km to the southwest. Otter Creek has been the recent focus of activity in the Atlin placer camp with the discovery of Lode Gold deposits (1). At Otter Creek Placer mining uncovered significant mineralization in bedrock, resulting in multiple samples of in-situ bedrock gold along Otter Creek. Bonanza grade gold is hosted in quartz veins emplaced along structures in phyllite bedrock. The coarse gold in bedrock supports a new placer source for the Atlin Gold Fields. The findings at Otter Creek are not necessarily indicative to the mineralization on the Lincoln Property. Recent exploration (2019) by the vendor was designed to further verify the potential of the Lincoln Property to host gold mineralization similar to Otter Creek. The Spatial Geo Hydrocarbon survey ("SGH") indicated a Gold anomaly with a rating of 4 out of 6, indicating the zones warrant more work (BC Geological Survey Assessment Report 39153). Drill testing zones with an SGH Confidence Rating of 4.0 (0.5) have been drill tested and have had successful mineralization intersections. Lincoln Creek and Otter Creek are both covering areas in which the Surprise Lake Plutonic Suite contacts the Cache Creek Complex - where sedimentary, volcanic, and ultramafic rocks have been mapped. Both Spatial Geochemical Hydrocarbon (SGH) and MMI surveys identified gold anomalies. Location The Lincoln Property is situated in the Atlin Mining Division between Gladys Lake (~7 km to the East) and Surprise Lake (~16 km to the SW). Access to the claims is by ATV through a network of historical, unmaintained, and overgrown exploration roads. Abundant water is available for exploration and mining from lakes and creeks. Property Purchase Over the next 5 years Geologica will pay the vendor $105,000, issue 1,000,000 shares to the vendor and conduct at least $213,500 of exploration on the Lincoln. Geologica has committed to use the vendors company or a company approved by the vendor to conduct any exploration work on the property. The vendor has been granted a 2% net smelter royalty. 1% of the royalty may be purchased buy Geologica for $1,000,000. About Geologica Resource corp. Geologica Resource Corp. is a mineral explorer, focused on exploration of copper and critical minerals for electrification. Geologica has an option agreement and purchase agreements for 100% of the mineral claims known as the Topley Copper Project, located in the Babine Porphyry Belt of central British Columbia. The company recently acquired the Titan rare critical minerals/copper/gold property in the Atlin camp and has now added the Lincoln to its Atlin portfolio in northern British Columbia. Further information on Geologica Resource Corp. can be found on the Company's website https://geologicaresource.com/ and on SEDAR at https://www.sedarplus.ca. The accuracy of the technical content of this overview had been reviewed by David Mark P.Geo. David is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, and a member of the Company's board of directors. He approves the technical content of this press release. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") nor its Market Regulator (as such term is defined in the CSE policies) has reviewed or accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "ensuring", "believe", "anticipate", "will", "would" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the Company's plans and objectives with respect to the Topley Project. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, environmental risks, limitations on insurance coverage, failure to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals, risks and uncertainties inherent in the exploration and development of mineral properties. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including, but not limited to, the assumption that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. 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. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Dryden Gold Corp. (TSXV: DRY) (OTCQB: DRYGF) ("Dryden Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that as a result of excess demand it is increasing the previously announced (August 26, 2024 & September 6, 2024) non-brokered equity financing (the "Upsized Financing") of up to a maximum of 34,000,000 shares comprised of (1) flow-through common shares (the "FT Shares") and (2) charity flow-through units (the "CFT Unit") and (3) hard dollar units (the "HD Units"). The FT Shares will be offered at $0.13 per share. The CFT Units will be offered at a price of $0.15 per CFT Unit. Each CFT Unit will consist of one FT Share of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant (a "Warrant") will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at an exercise price of $0.18 per common share for a period of 24 months. The HD Units will be offered at $0.11 per unit and will consist of one common Share of the Company and one-half of one Warrant. The FT Shares, the CFT Units and the HD Units will combine for maximum aggregate proceeds of up to $4,600,000. The upsized offering is subject to compliance with applicable securities laws and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Finders' fees of 6% cash and non-transferable Warrants equal to 6% of the number of FT Shares, CFT Units and HD Units sold under the Upsized Financing may be payable to eligible arm's length persons with respect to certain subscriptions accepted by the Company. Closing of the Offering is subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued in connection with the Upsized Financing will be subject to a four-month hold period. The gross proceeds of the Upsized Financing will be used to fund drilling, re-logging, on the Company's Dryden Gold Property in northwestern Ontario and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of HD Units will be used for working capital and general and administrative expenses. The FT Shares and the CFT Units will qualify as "flow-through shares" (within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act"). An amount equal to the gross proceeds from the issuance of the FT Shares and the CFT Units will be used to incur eligible resource exploration expenses which will qualify as (i) "Canadian exploration expenses" (as defined in the Tax Act), and (ii) as "flow-through mining expenditures" (as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Tax Act). The gross proceeds from the issuance of the HD Units will be used for general corporate purposes. The Upsized Financing will close in one or more tranches on completion of documentation and is conditional upon receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Exchange. The Company anticipates that insiders may subscribe for HD Units. The issuance of HD Units to insiders is considered a related party transaction subject to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. The Company intends to rely on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(b) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION INTO THE USA ABOUT DRYDEN GOLD CORP. Dryden Gold Corp. is an exploration company focused on the discovery of high-grade gold mineralization listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("DRY") and traded on the OTCQB ("DRYGF"). The Company has a strong management team and Board of Directors comprised of experienced individuals with a track record of building shareholder value through property acquisition and consolidation, exploration success, and mergers and acquisitions. Dryden Gold controls a 100% interest in a dominant strategic land position in the Dryden District of Northwestern Ontario. Dryden Gold acknowledges all Indigenous Peoples and that it is operating on the traditional homelands of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Eagle Lake First Nation. Dryden Gold's property package includes historic gold mines but has seen limited modern exploration. The property hosts high-grade gold mineralization over 50km of potential strike length along the Manitou-Dinorwic deformation zone. The property has excellent infrastructure, enjoys First Nations support and proximity to an experienced mining workforce. For more information go to our website www.drydengold.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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future development plans; future acquisitions; exploration programs; and the business and operations of Dryden Gold. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could affect actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements including, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Dryden Gold's and the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are conditioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Dryden Gold and the Company do not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from Dryden Gold's and the Company's expectations or projections. UNITED STATES ADVISORY. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), have been offered and sold outside the United States to eligible investors pursuant to Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered, sold, or resold in the United States or to, or for the account of or benefit of, a U.S. Person (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act) unless the securities are registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act is available. Hedging transactions involving the securities must not be conducted unless in accordance with the U.S. Securities Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in the state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 18, 2024) - Big Ridge Gold Corp. (TSXV: BRAU) (OTCQB: ALVLF) ("Big Ridge" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed a non-brokered private placement of 30,000,000 common shares of the Company at $0.05 per share for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $1,500,000 (the "Offering"). The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to fund continued exploration and development of Big Ridge's Hope Brook Gold Project and for general working capital purposes. No brokers or finders fees were paid in connection with the Offering. Michael Bandrowski, President & CEO of the Company, commented: "Big Ridge is pleased to receive continued support from existing shareholders, including strong participation from Mr. Michael Gentile, PowerOne Capital Group, and other supportive shareholders. We look forward to upcoming results from our 2024 summer field program, environmental baseline work and ongoing ore sorting studies at the Hope Brook Gold Project." Michael Gentile commented: "Over the last six months I have acquired 12.6 million shares of Big Ridge Gold Corp., increasing my holdings to 9.9 percent of the company. With a market capitalization of only $11 million, Big Ridge is a compelling opportunity at current valuation levels. The company is well positioned to capitalize on the strong gold price environment with a project that can advance quickly. Hope Brook is an advantaged project due to regional infrastructure synergies, significant exploration potential and environmental work already completed and the ability to generate a Preliminary Economic Assessment in the near future. Big Ridge has chosen to preserve its capital in this difficult market for juniors and is now judiciously raising money from a core group of shareholders to unlock significant value via the advancement of key milestones." The securities issued pursuant to the Offering are subject to a four month hold period expiring January 19, 2025. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such Act. The Company also announced the resignation of James Maxwell as a director of the Company. Mr. Maxwell was the nominee of First Mining Gold Corp. on the Big Ridge board, which nomination right ended upon the sale by First Mining of its entire equity position in the Company, as previously announced on March 28, 2024. We thank James for his contributions to the Big Ridge board over the last several years. About Hope Brook The Hope Brook Gold Project is an advanced stage, high-grade gold project that produced 752,162 ounces of gold from 1987 - 1997. Initial production consisted of an open pit before moving to underground mining. Hope Brook operated using both heap leach (1987 -1990) and conventional cyanidation milling methods (1989-1997) with a later inclusion of flotation concentration to recover copper (1991). Government records indicate that gold recoveries from milling ranged between a low of 78.8% in 1987 and a high of 85.9% in 1989. Government and company annual reports indicate that gold recoveries ranged between a low of 82.1% in 1994 and a high of 89.83% in 1996 following a change of ownership. Copper flotation produced a concentrate at approximately 22% Cu and 34.3 g/t Au for shipment in 1992. Hope Brook hosts an Indicated gold resource totalling 16,190,000 tonnes grading 2.32 grams per tonne gold for 1.2 million ounces and Inferred resources totalling 2,215,000 tonnes grading 3.25 grams per tonne gold for 231,000 ounces based on a 0.4 and 2.0 gram per tonne cut-off grades for open pit and underground resources respectively using a long-term gold price of US$1,750. The Hope Brook gold deposit is a high-sulfidation epithermal gold deposit hosted in the Proterozoic aged Whittle Hill Sandstone and is intruded by a Late Proterozoic quartz-feldspar porphyry sill-dike complex of the Roti Intrusive Suite. The deposit is located adjacent to and within an extensive advanced argillic alteration envelope which includes pyrophyllite, kaolinite, andalusite, and alunite. The principal gold mineralization occurs in a buff-colored massive, vuggy silicic alteration with an associated, less developed grey silicic alteration with pyrite, chalcopyrite and lesser bornite accessory minerals. Gold mineralization is also found with pyrite in units of advanced argillic alteration adjacent to or near silicic alteration horizons. The altered and mineralized zone is cut by mafic dykes whose contacts are often mineralized. All the altered and mineralized sequences and the intruded dykes have been folded. Hope Brook is located 85 kilometers east of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. The project has well maintained infrastructure on site, including an operational 28-person camp, an 1,100-meter airstrip, ice-free docking facility and importantly, connection to the provincial electrical power grid via an on-site substation. About Big Ridge Gold Corp. Big Ridge Gold Corp. is an exploration and development company managed by a disciplined and experienced team of officers and directors. The Company is committed to the development of advanced stage mining projects using industry best practices combined with strong social license from our local communities. Big Ridge owns an 80% interest in the Hope Brook Gold Project, located in Newfoundland and Labrador. Big Ridge also owns a 100% interest in the highly prospective Oxford Gold Project located in Manitoba and the Destiny Gold Project in Quebec. Acknowledgement Big Ridge acknowledges and appreciates the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Natural Resources' financial support of the Company's 2023 exploration programs through the Junior Exploration Assistance (JEA) Program. For more details regarding the Company's projects, please visit our website at www.bigridgegold.com ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, Mike Bandrowski, President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "intends", "estimates", "envisages", "potential", "possible", "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. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations, or beliefs regarding future events, and include, without limitation, statements with respect to Big Ridge's intentions with respect to Caprock's shares. All forward-looking statements are based on Big Ridge's and its employees' current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions, and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Big Ridge, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Big Ridge does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on our behalf, except as required by law. Florida's first practicing autistic lawyer, Haley Moss, is speaking out to promote the portrayal of individuals with disabilities in the media. Her comments came as the Korean drama 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' was released in July. It went viral becoming one of most-watched non-English shows on Netflix during its first week. SEE: Is 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Star Park Eun Bin Diagnosed With Autism? Here's What We Know The show follows the life of a young, rookie lawyer on the autism spectrum named Woo Young-woo, who struggles in her career while living with the stigma of her disability. When interviewed by the Korea Herald, Moss expressed hope that the show would be able to clarify misconceptions about her condition. She mentioned that "Many people on the autistic spectrum are afraid of being open about their disability because of the negative stigma surrounding autism. They don't want to be judged differently" Moss highlights that teaching the audience about autism is not one-sided. The character grows and develops unlike most movies where such characters do not undergo development. "We need more positive portrayals of (autistic people)," she said. Moss also shared some of her experiences working in the legal sector. She mentioned that she sometimes feels more pressured to prove she is as good as her colleagues. Once, when she got a job in a law firm and revealed that she was autistic, some of her co-workers began treating her like she was still a teenager. She felt trapped in settling her identity and constantly proving herself to her equals. She reminded the interviewee of her perfect memory. She also emphasized her exceptional relationship with her clients and her better half. They are her strengths in serving as a lawyer. Moss was diagnosed with autism at age 3. Her parents were told she'd be lucky if she got a driver's license or even made a friend. When I was diagnosed with autism at age 3, my parents were told Id be lucky if I got a drivers license or even made a friend. 21 years later, they saw me get sworn into The Florida Bar. #JourneyToEsquire complete https://t.co/bXlnAQkSAh Haley Moss (@haleymossart) January 14, 2019 Now, Haley Moss is openly promising that she will continue being an advocate for every autistic person despite the amount of misconception that comes her way. "(Being openly autistic) basically means I'm very forthcoming about my autism," she said. SEE: K-Drama Stars Who Played Autistic Roles: Park Eun Bin, Oh Jung Se, More What can you say about the story? Share your comments below Kdramastars own this. This article was written by: Rovelyn Barba Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - A young girl died when she fell from the window of her family home after an argument with her mum over an iPad, according to her neighbours. The unnamed 10-year-old toppled from a window of the apartment in the Bronx, New York City last Thursday, September 12. Her mother found her in the courtyard of their building when she returned from a doctors appointment. She was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital by her mother, where she was tragically pronounced dead. Doctors confirmed the girl had suffered injuries consistent with a fall from a high elevation as investigations into the tragedy continue. Sources told CBS the girl and her mother had earlier argued about the use of an iPad. A neighbour of the building told the New York Post : My son called out to me and told me to call 911. I called 911, and they kept asking me questions. I thought something happened to someone who got off the bus with him [her son]. I didn't know it was my neighbour's daughter upstairs. She lives above me. Those kids were kept very nice and clean. I'm sorry for the mother. I feel for the mother. Another neighbour, Madeliene Martinez, added: That's incredibly sad. Someone lost their child, cousin, little kid, probably missed by her friends at school. No, that's crazy." A memorial with pink flowers, purple balloons and candles was set up outside the building. New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed the city medical examiner will determine the cause of the childs death. No charges have been filed and no arrests have been made. Officers are currently reviewing surveillance footage from the area to discover if the child was being supervised at the time she fell from the window of their home. Property management firm Phipps Houses Incorporated said it was heartbroken and was fully cooperating with the NYPD. Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - The Alleged would-be Trump assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh reportedly travelled to Ukraine last year looking to fight the Russians but was quickly rejected and pushed aside after being dubbed a wack job and off by the more serious foreign fighters in the country. According to the NY Post, volunteer fighters knew his type and were not at all surprised by it. A crazy idiot, but no ones really surprised. There are people like that that show up and are desperate to help and be important, An American fighting for Ukraine, who requested anonymity told The NY Post. And he was just one of those just on the crazier end of things. Routh, 58, had no military experience but travelled to Ukraine around March 2023 thinking he could help out in the war effort. One volunteer told The Post that Rouths alleged use of a GoPro when he tried checking out Trump was particularly telling of his problematic connections to Ukraine, saying that there are too many clout chasers among foreign visitors to Ukraine. A lot of the people that are here are not really here for Ukraine, theyre not really here for the war. Theyre here to kind of be famous or live out a fantasy or feel like theyre a part of something, the volunteer said. Ukraine for them is kind of like their chance to finally make it. I think unfortunately that for the vast majority of them, thats not helping. When he was rejected by the Ukrainian Foreign Legion which has recruited thousands of foreigners to fight for Ukraine, he took it upon himself to become a one-man recruitment officer. However, he told the Financial Times last year that the Ukrainian international legion rejected him because he was old and lacked battlefield expertise. They then suggested he helped to recruit and coordinate instead. Oh man I knew I recognized that guy, one volunteer said in a private chat group shared with The Post. He had some scheme where he was moving people from Afghanistan to Ukraine to fight. I remember Ryan wellbut not fondly, wrote another foreign volunteer, attaching a screenshot of a text conversation with the would-be assassin in which Routh bragged that he was back home from Ukraine by including a grinning, shirtless selfie of he and his apparent girlfriend on the beach wearing a straw hat. One fighter said he met Routh and said he got the impression he was already extremely shady. I ran into him once, he struck me as unbalanced and dangerous, the fighter said. Also, an individual with knowledge of the legions recruitment efforts said that anyone can claim to be involved in the war effort by showing up and stepping in front of a camera. I can speak to this personally, that its not like recruiting for the military in the United States, the individual said. Oftentimes, when someone joins the unit, its that they were just referred by someone else within the unit or somebody outside the unit that knows people in the unit. Thats usually how it goes. He took it upon himself to steer people in the direction of the International Legion that seems to be the extent of his recruiting duties for the International Legion. Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli has suffered a major setback as the Court of Appeal rejected his bid to overturn the High Court's six-month jail sentence for disobeying court orders. Last Friday, High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi sentenced Masengeli to six months in jail without the option of a fine for failing to comply with seven court summons regarding the disappearance of three people in Kitengela in August this year. On Wednesday, Masengeli moved to court seeking to overturn the sentence by Justice Lawrence Mugambi. Masengeli argued that Justice Mugambi convicted him without considering the application he filed before the court. In his application, Masengeli had pleaded with the Court of Appeal judges to suspend his sentence until the case he filed was heard and determined. However, Justices Aggrey Muchelule, Gatembu Kairu, and Weldon Korir rejected a request from Masengeli's legal team, led by Cecil Miller and State Counsel Emmanuel Bitta, to temporarily halt the sentence pending the appeal. They instead ordered that his appeal be heard next week by a bench appointed by the Appellate courts president. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - It is reported that several major hospitals have severed ties with the KRA's medical cover scheme. Sources within the organization have revealed a distressing pattern of hospital cancellations and HR negligence resulting in staff members being turned away at medical facilities. The Nairobi Hospital, Aga Khan Hospitals, and Gertrudes Hospital have all terminated their medical covers for KRA employees. We are facing severe difficulties as we are being turned away at these hospitals, an insider from KRA who requested anonymity disclosed the gravity of the situation. This withdrawal has led to a major crisis for KRA employees who are now scrambling to find alternative healthcare options amidst the confusion. The HR's failure to address or communicate these changes to the staff is only aggravating the situation. According to our source, the department has not issued any communication about the termination of medical covers. We were left in the dark and are suffering the consequences, the source said. As employees face the harsh reality of denied medical services, they are now calling for immediate intervention from KRA management to address the oversight and provide clarity on alternative arrangements. We need urgent action to address this crisis. The silence from HR is unacceptable and is causing real harm to employees, the source added. By Cyprian Nyakundi. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - DCI detectives drawn from Coast Regional Headquarters have arrested two individuals believed to be behind a spate of robberies while wielding pangas and using a motorcycle as their mode of transport. Mohammed Ibrahim Shaban, 22 years, and Abdulaziz Ali Ogutu, 19 years were smoked out of their hideout at Utange village from where they were planning their next attack. The duo is believed to be behind a series of panga attacks including a violent robbery resulting in a fatal incident on July 18, 2024. They are also linked to three separate robberies on September 14, 2024, in Majengo, Makupa and Tononoka. A search of their residence resulted in the recovery of several items including 1 panga, 3 knives, 2 assorted mobile phones, two backpacks, and an ID card belonging to Yusuf Amani Yusuf among other items. The Director of Criminal Investigations extends his sincere appreciation to members of the public for their unwavering support in the fight against crime and sends a stern warning to would-be criminals that no resources will be spared in the fight against their unlawful ways. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Wednesday, September 18, 2024 The nefarious scheme by President William Ruto and his allies to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua may never see the light of day. This is after more than 50 MPs from UDA, ODM, Wiper, and Independent Parties held a secret night meeting to save Gachagua from the looming impeachment. This comes even as Kenya Kwanza leadership in the National Assembly has already received an impeachment motion against the second in command. According to the reports, the impeachment motion against Gachagua could be tabled before Parliament as early as next week. During the night meeting, the legislators vowed to protect Gachagua from the looming impeachment at all costs. While commenting on the matter, Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba claimed that the power to impeach the deputy president was with the electorate. Gachagua can only be impeached by the electorate. It is the Kenyan people who have the authority of giving individual power and even withdrawing the power from them, Gathoni noted. The alleged plan to impeach the deputy president comes hardly a week after more than 48 legislators from the Mt Kenya region expressed their support for Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki. While addressing the press on September 12, the MPs accused Gachagua of instigating division within Mt Kenya which the lawmakers claimed hampered the region's development. The caucus further declared Kindiki as their link to President William Ruto, particularly on development matters. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, September 18,2024 - Kimilili Member of Parliament, Didmus Barasa, has called for the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, accusing him of sabotaging government programs and also disrespecting President William Ruto. In a statement on Wednesday, Barasa, a close ally of Ruto, accused Gachagua of sabotaging the government from within and called for his immediate impeachment. Barasa further said that Gachaguas alleged prioritization of his Mt Kenya region over the rest of the country had reportedly alienated other regions from the national government. "Kenya comprises over 42 tribes, and, notably, not every tribe is consistently represented in the executive branch. "Consequently, certain communities have experienced feelings of exclusion from the government," Barasa said. The lawmaker's statement comes amidst growing tensions within the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA), as internal divisions continue to boil over. Some lawmakers are allied to President William Ruto while others are aligned to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - A Florida boy, 11, was handcuffed and thrown in county lockup after he allegedly bragged about his massive cache of weapons and plans to execute a kill list at two different schools, a sheriff said. The Volusia County Sheriffs Office seized a stockpile of airsoft guns, knives and swords after Carlo Kingston Dorelli, 11, showed a video of his armory to classmates and threatened violence, Sheriff Mike Chitwood alleged in a Facebook post. He had written a list of names and targets. He says it was all a joke, Chitwood wrote. For his joke, the sheriff slapped Dorelli with a felony charge for a written threat of a mass shooting and published a video of officers leading the boy into the jailhouse with handcuffs on his wrists and ankles. They also published his mugshot along with a photo of replica assault rifles, samurai swords and throwing stars displayed on a table, drug-bust style. The dramatic display came days after Chitwood vowed to perp-walk kids who make prank threats amid a flood of bogus tips in the wake of the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia that left four dead. Every time we make an arrest, your kids photo is going to be put out thereWere gonna come and get you. Were going to put you out for public embarrassment. Chitwood said in a press conference last week, after Florida authorities received 54 phony tips of impending school shootings in a single night. Florida isnt the only state inundated with threats to shoot up schools. On Friday, cops in Foley, Alabama, arrested two teens for making a terrorist threat on social media, according to local police, just days after a school in that town was placed on lockdown when a teacher overheard a student talking about having a weapon. The same day, a 12-year-old and 15-year-old were arrested in Indianapolis in two different cases of threats against their school district, according to WFYI Indianapolis. Two 12-year-olds were arrested last week in Texas, where authorities have booked at least ten youngsters for threats of school violence in this school year alone, reported My San Antonio. Chitwood said: For the little bastards out there who think this is funny, ha ha ha, you want to get on social media: You aint that smartYoure getting caught. Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Popular activist Mercy Tarus has cast doubt on Morara Kebasos dedication to the fight for change and alleged that he is being funded by politicians to divide the Gen Z movement. According to Mercy, Morara Kebaso is taking advantage of Kenyans for his personal gain while masquerading as a political activist yearning for change. She distanced herself from Morara and urged him to stop using her slogan Kenya Ni Home. Mercy said she is having a hard time explaining to her partners and donors that she is not on the same team as Morara after he adopted her Kenya Ni Home slogan. If you go from one city to another doing your things, kindly do it using your name and your initiative. " Find a way to do your things, with your brains and resources. "I can't be here explaining myself every time just because a young man couldn't contain his excitement and learnt respect, she tweeted. Check out her tweet. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - Ghanaian-American comedian Michael Blackson has taken to social media to express frustration over a significant financial loss tied to his investment in a school in Ghana. In a series of tweets, the comedian accused the Ghanaian government of misusing funds he had invested, leaving him and other investors in a difficult financial position. Blackson, known for his role as a philanthropist and his passion for helping underprivileged children, explained that he had invested $1 million in a free school project in Ghana. However, he claims the government diverted his investment, which was meant to support the school, towards paying off national debts, including to countries like China. "Ghana stole the money I invested to keep my free school going so now I might have to do a go fund me smh," Blackson tweeted. He added, "They set me back financially and Ill never forgive them for this." The comedian went on to criticize Ghanas financial leadership, questioning the actions of the country's finance minister. He expressed dismay at the impact this financial setback has had on the future of the free school, which he intended to support for many years. Despite his disappointment, Blackson remained committed to helping the youth, stating that his passion for the underprivileged children of Ghana is what drives him to continue. "If it wasnt for the love and passion I have for the unprivileged youth of Ghana I would just hand my school to the people and walk away but I cant. Ill have to work a little longer than I expected to help those kids out," he said. See the tweets below Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo turned up at an official meeting with senior security officials rocking expensive Italian-made sneakers. Omollo was spotted wearing Zegna Dark Foliage Deerskin designer sneakers worth Ksh 130,000, despite President William Ruto urging government officials to adopt austerity measures amid budget cuts. During the Gen Z protests, Ruto had pledged to address the issue of government officials displaying lavish lifestyles in public. However, senior government officials are still displaying opulence as millions of Kenyans struggle to make ends meet. See photo. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Wednesday, September 18, 2024 President William Rutos deal with Germany to provide 250,000 Kenyan workers could be genuine, despite the skepticism, and appears to be gaining momentum. This is after a German Company welcomed the first batch of Kenyans following the bilateral migration agreement between the Government of Kenya and that of Germany. The first batch involved bus drivers and conductors from Kenya who were received by Flansberg, a German auto company that deals in the transport sector. Claus Ruhe Madsen, Schleswig Holstein State Transport Minister, praised the first batch of Kenyans revealing that it was a pilot project aimed at testing the feasibility of the agreement between Kenya and Germany. The Minister maintained that there is a global battle for workers all over the world, indicating that his country needed more workers to help its aging population. It must not be forgotten that there is a demand for workers. Hard-working hands and clever minds are in demand in all parts of the world, Madsen added. He revealed that Germany will position itself strategically to continue attracting more workers who could contribute to the countrys demand for labour. "We simply have to position ourselves in Germany in such a way that it is attractive to come here, he added. The German bus company where the Kenyans were set to begin their work while appreciating the deal, expressed optimism that the move had sent a message on the need for controlled and targeted labour migration. This came at a time when both locally and internationally, there have been mixed reactions to the bilateral agreement with some quotas maintaining that the government of Kenya was not representing facts as they should have about the deal. On Sunday, Rutos government came under pressure after Germanys Interior Ministry denied reports that suggested the deal included specific numbers of people to migrate under the agreement. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichungwah, has blasted Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, accusing him of failing to articulate the government agenda. Gachagua and Ichungwah have become political adversaries despite belonging to the same camp in the previous vote. Gachagua's call for Mt Kenya unity was the beginning of his fallout with a faction within Kenya Kwanza, which is loyal to President William Ruto. In an interview with Spice FM on Tuesday, Ichungwah criticized Gachagua for allegedly failing to assist the president in communicating the achievements of the current administration. The Kikuyu constituency member of Parliament observed that Gachagua never utilizes his audience with vernacular stations to articulate the agenda of the government. "When William Ruto was Deputy President, we saw him on national media articulating government policy, defending and informing Kenyans about what the government was doing. "Now, we have a Deputy President who has never made a single appearance on national media to articulate, defend, or inform Kenyans about any government policy or project," he observed The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli has once again found himself between a rock and a hard place after petitioners sued him over the disappearance of Wajir Member of County Assembly, Yussuf Ahmed. In their petition, the victim's family moved to court seeking orders to compel the police IG and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Mohamed Amin to produce the lawmaker. Ahmed's family further demanded that the politician be released and presented in court alongside the two police bosses. The MCA's family while filing the case, faulted Masengeli and other police officers for failing to provide information regarding the disappearance of their kin. In the case filed jointly by the victim's family and the Wajir County Assembly, the petitioners further called on the court to compel Masengeli and Amin to ensure the MCA's safety wherever he is. According to the petitioners, unless the court intervenes and compels the two senior officers into action, they will continue living in fear about their kin's fate. Wajir County Assembly speaker Abdilleh Yussuf while commenting on the matter, noted that activities at the County Assembly had been brought to a standstill following Ahmed's abduction. Yussuf was reportedly abducted on September 13 by unknown people while being driven through the Enterprise Road in Makadara Sub-County at around 9 pm. While detailing his abduction, the family claimed that the assailants took the victim's phone to bar him from communicating. Following the incident, the taxi driver promptly reported the abduction to the Industrial Area Police Station, and an immediate probe was launched. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - A close ally of Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, has hit out at Kenyans who have labeled former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as a traitor and political conman after he hijacked Gen Z protests and joined the Kenya Kwanza Alliance government. Speaking on Tuesday, Lurambi Member of Parliament, Titus Khamala, also castigated Kenyans who are praying Raila Odinga loses in his bid to become African Union Chairperson. In a passionate statement, Khamala pleaded to Kenyans to respect Raila Odinga and not to undermine his efforts to become the AU President. "There are people with dirty hearts. When Baba Raila stands for votes, they dont want him; when he asks for votes, they wont vote for him," Khamala said. The MP further said that despite Railas consistent readiness to serve Kenya, his critics remain relentless in their opposition. "If the country is on fire and he decides to speak to President Ruto to calm things down, they dont want that. "If he says Kenyans should let him be and that he is going back to Africa, they still dont want that. "What do they want!? And who do they want?! What a joke," he stated. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - Bellarmine Chatunga, the son of the late former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, is set to be arrested after failing to appear in court, where he faces two criminal charges. Beitbridge Magistrate Vavariro Gavi issued a warrant for Chatunga's arrest after he defaulted on a scheduled court appearance regarding a violent incident that took place on August 31, 2024. Chatunga's lawyer, Muchiwande Sithole of F Chauke and Associates, informed the court that his client missed the hearing due to undergoing surgery in Harare. Chatunga had initially been remanded out of custody on free bail by Beitbridge Resident Magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba last month, with a provisional trial date set. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) reported that Chatunga is facing two charges under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) disorderly conduct and possession of a prohibited knife. According to the NPA, on August 31, 2024, Chatungas black Range Rover was stopped at a security roadblock in Beitbridge, with a South African national, Irvin Molokoza, driving the vehicle. When police asked Molokoza for his passport and vehicle registration documents, Chatunga allegedly became agitated and intervened. "It is alleged that the accused person complained after the Police Officer requested that the driver park the motor vehicle further off the road. He allegedly disembarked from the vehicle and charged towards the Police Officer, shouting, What are you doing? You are delaying me for the fourth time. I am rushing to a wedding in Harare, check my passport. Dont you know who I am? the NPA revealed. During the confrontation, a small brown knife reportedly fell from Chatunga's jacket, leading to his arrest at the scene. The case remains ongoing, with authorities now searching for Chatunga following the warrant issued for his arrest. Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Former Ruaraka OCS Nahashon Mutua is now languishing in jail after being sentenced to death. Mutua was sentenced by High Court judge Stella Mutuku after the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he killed Martin Koome, an inmate. Judge Stella Mutuku said, The Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the police caused the deceased suffering while in cells which caused his death. On the night of October 19, 2013, at Baba Dogo Estate in Nairobi, Martin Manyara had a domestic brawl with his wife, after which he attempted to strangle their child. His neighbours, who were alarmed by the incident after he chased his wife away, alerted Ruaraka Police station officers, who booked him at the station for attempting to kill. His wife went to the station the next day to check on him. She was informed that he fell ill and was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital. On reaching KNH, the woman found her husband dumped on a bench, unattended. He could not talk, hear or move. His clothes were soaked in blood; the head was swollen and blood oozed from the ears. He was groaning in pain. He died a few hours later while being attended to by doctors. The man's death earned the former senior police officer in charge of Ruaraka station a death sentence. See a photo of him in jail. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - U.S. Prosecutors asked a judge on Tuesday, September 17, for music executive Sean Diddy Combs to be detained in prison until his trial, calling him a dangerous flight risk after the hip-hop icon was arrested on Monday evening and indicted on three counts, including s3x trafficking. Prosecutors indicted Combs on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, alleging the mogul had a pattern of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and violently coerced women to engage in sex acts with commercial sex workers, with his employees allegedly helping to facilitate and cover up his abuse. Prosecutors filed a letter with the court on Tuesday asking to extend the rapper's detention until his case goes to trial as Combs has been in detention since his arrest Monday night. Prosecutors argue that Combs should be imprisoned because he is dangerous and poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community, pointing to his long history of violent conduct and alleging hes a serial abuser who repeatedly assaults and coerces women to achieve his own sexual gratification. They also allege Combs poses a serious risk of flight given the allegations against him, which they note could result in a significant prison sentence, and argue theyve gathered a large amount of evidence that makes it likely Combs will be convicted. The letter accuses Combs of trying to obstruct the investigation against him, including by bribing victims and witnesses to give false testimony, which prosecutors argue means there are simply no conditions for Combs release that would ensure that the defendants efforts to obstruct and tamper with witnesses will stop. Combs attorneys proposed to the judge that he should instead be placed in home detention and monitored rather than imprisoned, but prosecutors disagreed with that, arguing the proposal is plainly insufficient and there is no condition, or combination of conditions, that will reasonably assure Combs will appear in court and ensure the safety of others and the community, not to mention the integrity of the proceedings. The incentive to flee is especially strong for this defendant, who, at age 54, faces the very real prospect of spending a substantial portion of the rest of his life in prison, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams wrote in his letter to the court. Its unclear how long it will take his criminal case to play out before it goes to trial, though prosecutors noted hes all but certain to go to prison if found guilty. The mandatory minimum sentence for the charges Combs faces is 15 years, prosecutors noted, with a maximum sentence of life in prison. Williams told reporters Tuesday the investigation remains ongoing, and its still possible Combs could face additional charges. The letter asking for Combs detention details several specific alleged acts of violence that werent mentioned in the indictment, including Combs and one of his associates allegedly kidnapping an unnamed individual at gunpoint in order to facilitate breaking into and entering the residence of another unnamed victim. One of Combs associates also allegedly set fire to the vehicle of the victim whose residence they tried to break into, which they did by slicing open the top of the car and dropping a Molotov cocktail into the vehicle. Multiple witnesses are prepared to testify that Combs was bragging about his role in destroying the car, the letter notes. Prosecutors also noted in the letter that Combs has employed people who have a significant criminal history, including violent crimes and firearms offences. Combs pleaded not guilty and has denied the allegations of sexual assault against him. Hes not guilty, hes innocent of these charges, Combs attorney Marc Agnifilo told reporters Tuesday, claiming Combs is in good spirits and confident and is dealing with his prosecution head-on. Combs was arrested in New York on Monday following a reported months-long investigation by federal law enforcement that stemmed from civil lawsuits brought against him by women accusing him of sexual assault and abuse. The moguls ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in November 2023 was the first to sue himthe suit was settled for undisclosed terms a day later. Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Azimio Spokesperson Fredrick Okango has highlighted some of the reasons why Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is becoming isolated in President William Rutos Kenya Kwanza administration. Speaking during an interview, Okango gave six reasons why Gachagua looks like an unwanted man in Kenya Kwanza. According to Okango, the tension in the ruling UDA is one of the reasons why the second in command is slowly being isolated. He noted that there has been public discontent with how Gachagua has been conducting himself, right from the time he stated that the Kenya Kwanza administration is a government of shares, and only shareholders would be given priority. Okango went ahead to state that the high cost of living has also contributed to Gachaguas discomfort with the government. The former Thirdway Alliance secretary-general argued that as a principal assistant to the president, Gachagua has failed to help the Head of State lower the cost of living. Moreover, Okango noted that Gachagua is feeling threatened by the broad-based government Ruto has formed with Opposition leader Raila Odinga, which according to him makes the DP do some things that are putting him at loggerheads with some of his allies. Okango further argued that when a section of Mt Kenya MPs endorsed Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki as their intermediary between the people and the government while Gachagua, the kingpin of Mt. Kenya was present, it indicated a strained relationship with his allies. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Fast-fading political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has offered advice to Acting Inspector General of Police, Gilbert Masengeli, on how to handle the judiciary after being sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court, without the option of a fine. On Friday last week, High Court judge Lawrence Mugambi sentenced Masengeli to six months in jail after he ignored seven court summons. After his sentencing, Masengeli retaliated by withdrawing Justice Mugambis security detail, prompting Chief Justice Martha Koome to issue a statement condemning the National Police Service for undermining the judiciary. In his controversial advice to Masengeli, Mutahi Ngunyi, now on the State House payroll, urged the acting IG to "fix" the rogue judiciary, even suggesting planting bhang in Chief Justice Koome's office and arresting her. Here is a screenshot of what Mutahi Ngunyi advised Masengeli to do to deal with the Judiciary. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Kileleshwa Ward MCA Robert Alai Onyango has exposed how Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has been looting Constituency Development Funds (CDF) meant for his constituency. In a social media statement on Wednesday, Robert Alai, a fierce rival of Babu Owino, claimed that the ODM lawmaker awarded a Sh43 million construction tender to his own company to build classrooms at Donholm Primary School. However, the latest report by the Auditor General shows the work at Donholm Primary School is not complete, and the contractor who happens to be Babu Owino was paid Sh 43 million. Babu Owino is the main contractor in Donholm Primary School. He is the contractor who is doing nothing but looting the CDF coffers. "I want to teach Babu Owino how proper oversight is done. "Ask him where he has taken the over Ksh 43 million grabbed from the CDF to pay himself for work not done at Donholm Primary School, Alai wrote on X. Babu Owino has yet to defend himself against these serious accusations, which could significantly damage his reputation. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - President William Ruto has broken his silence over the tiff between Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli and Chief Justice Martha Koome over the withdrawal of Justice Lawrence Mugambis security detail. Mugambis security was pulled out after he jailed Masengeli for six months for failing to appear in court to disclose the whereabouts of three Kenyans who were abducted. The move attracted the wrath of Koome who accused Masengeli and the security department of trying to intimidate the Judiciary. And to stop matters from escalating further, Ruto has called on the National Police Service (NPS) and the Judiciary to work together for the common good of the Kenyan people. Speaking during the launch of Reforms of the Police and Kenya Prisons in Nairobi, Ruto noted that a squabble between Koome and Masengeli should be averted at all costs since it was likely to hamper service delivery. According to Ruto, despite the National Police Service (NPS) and the Judiciary being independent institutions, there was a need for both bodies to coexist peacefully since no government office was created for personal endeavours. I am acutely aware that the National Police Service is an independent and so is the judiciary but ultimately we have one master, the people of Kenya, Ruto said. I want to ask all of us to work together selflessly for the good of the nation. We must make sure we work together towards serving Kenyans, he added. Besides the Judiciary and the Police Service, the Head of State also called on other government agencies to exercise more collaboration and create a better relationship. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has slammed Treasury and National Planning Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi for failing to honor Senate summons on Wednesday. Mbadi was set to appear before the Senate on Wednesday and despite confirming his attendance, he failed to appear for the session. Speaking before the committee, a visibly upset Sifuna expressed frustration over Mbadi's decision to snub the summons, calling it unacceptable. "I'm very shocked... We woke up very early in the morning to come and attend this session. "The question that I was supposed to put to CS Mbadi is a question that is over a year old," he stated Sifuna, who is also the Nairobi County Senator, further accused Mbadi of disrespecting the Senate, despite his experience as a former Member of Parliament and understanding of how both Houses operate. "I want to tell Mbadi that this is unacceptable. It is worse that he was a Member of Parliament, if he had just been plucked from the wilderness like some of the other people I see maybe we would excuse him but he was a Member of Parliament "As of yesterday, there was a communication that he had confirmed that he was going to come... At the very minimum, you should have written yesterday and said he was not going to be able to make it. "We also have other businesses to attend to," Sifuna said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - A televised mayoral debate took a violent turn in Sao Paulo, as news anchor and mayoral candidate Jose Luiz Datena shocked viewers by attacking his opponent with a chair. The incident left Pablo Marcal with a fractured rib and a dislocated finger. He was taken to the hospital after complaining of difficulty breathing. The moment has thrown the race to govern Brazils largest city into turmoil. Marcal had been polling in third place in the race, behind incumbent Mayor Ricardo Nunes and a leftist candidate, Guilherme Boulos. Leading up to the debate, Marcal said he planned to destabilize Datena, who was trailing with just 6% of the vote. During the debate, Marcal repeatedly brought up s*xual harassment allegations against Datena. Although the allegations were later retracted, the topic struck a nerve with the man. Datena claimed his opponent, an Instagram influencer, was turning the debate into a spectacle, calling it another one of Marcals internet stunts. But tensions boiled when Datena picked up a chair and slammed it into Marcals back. Marcal later compared the attack to assassination attempts on Donald Trump, asking on Instagram, Why is there so much hate? Marcals rise in the polls has largely been driven by his use of social media, where he has more than 13 million followers. Sao Paulos mayoral election is set for early October. Watch the video of the fight below. As the crescendo of a seven-year alleged health care fraud investigation, the trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania opened in late April 2024. The trial is one of less than two percent of the federal criminal cases filed that ultimately end up in a jury trial. This flawed prosecution targeted an exemplary physician who, like the majority of physicians in the United States, has spent most of their lives in the service of the American people. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. My name is Joan E. Burnes, and I represent the United States of America. The Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) opening statement echoed in the dystopic courtroom in Reading, Pennsylvania: Defendant Physician Rifai stole from the government. These statements are a career-ending pronouncement for any physician. I do not want to keep the readers in suspense, but in the case of the United States of America v. Muhamad Aly Rifai, the trial was filled with despair, anguish, tearfulness, and literal crying. However, those were the postures and feelings of the government prosecutor, government witnesses, government experts, and federal agents. For a government-hired expert to burst out crying on the stand while being cross-examined by the defense attorneyindicating that their integrity does not allow them to support a case brought by the government of the United Statesdemonstrates the flawed justice system in this republic. It took a jury of twelve courageous Pennsylvanians less than four hours to come back with a not guilty verdict on all charges. More egregious than my experience is the case of the United States of America v. Dr. Rajendra Bothra and his colleagues. The government kept Dr. Bothra imprisoned unjustly for three and a half years and alleged, without any credible evidence, a massive health care fraud loss of more than $450 million. The case presented by an overzealous and uninformed prosecution team from the United States Attorneys Office of the Eastern District of Michigan collapsed at trial under its massive wrongful weight. The jury of twelve lay Michiganders quickly returned a not guilty verdict on all chargesmore than 50 of them. A logical layperson in these United States of America may only wonder how the Department of Justice can prosecute a group of physicians, claiming they provided $450 million of fraudulent services, and come out empty-handed at trial despite more than 50 criminal charges. Bupkis is how a lay juror described the evidence presented by the government, indicating the jury did not believe the case presented by the United States Department of Justice against physicians. These cases are similar to the majority of cases brought against physicians in the United States for health care fraud. Nonetheless, the government is able to obtain convictions against some physicians who are not able to mount an appropriate defense to these overzealous, uninformed, and devoid-of-fact prosecutions. The government has not kept its promise not to interfere in the practice of medicine as codified by federal law. In 42 U.S.C. 1395, Prohibition Against Any Federal Interference, the law indicates: Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to authorize any Federal officer or employee to exercise any supervision or control over the practice of medicine or the manner in which medical services are provided, or over the selection, tenure, or compensation of any officer or employee of any institution, agency, or person providing health services; or to exercise any supervision or control over the administration or operation of any such institution, agency, or person. Nonetheless, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch observed in 2019, Criminal laws have grown so exuberantly and come to cover so much previously innocent conduct that almost anyone can be arrested for something. The civil liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate has suggested that the average busy professional in this country may unwittingly commit several federal crimes every day. Imagine the theoretical scenario envisioned by the health care fraud division of the Department of Justice ensnaring an independent physician in private practice in Middletown, America, who is struggling with declining reimbursement, overburdening regulations, a staffing crisis, and significant burnout after the COVID-19 pandemic. The overburdened, overworked, and underpaid physician overlooks the fire extinguisher in his office with an expired inspection tag for more than 30 days. By federal regulations, when the physician signed an agreement to be a part of the Medicare system (form 855), it indicates that the physician will comply with all federal, state, and local rules and regulations. An expired inspection of a fire extinguisher violates federal, state, and local rules and subsequently violates the agreement terms with Medicare. An overzealous prosecutor will use the expired fire extinguisher as a violation of the terms of Medicare participation by the physician. Every service provided to a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary by the physician and his practice and submitted for reimbursement is a fraudulent service under the health care fraud regulations (18 U.S.C. 1347). For each service provided while the fire extinguisher has an expired inspection tag, the physician could spend ten years in federal prison. If you dont believe this scenario, please view records of presentations by Department of Justice attorneys promising to employ and charge stack to ensnare and imprison physicians. Overzealous prosecutors seeking to pad their careers, without regard for justice, can charge a physician not with health care fraud only but can bring charges for wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. All these charges stem from the proceeds of clinical care provided by exemplary physicians who are targeted due to their minority status and being perceived as easy targets who will not resist unjust prosecutions. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson indicated almost seventy years ago that prosecutors can easily succumb to the temptation of first picking the man and then searching the law books, or putting investigators to work, to pin some offense on him.' The United States Department of Justice is relentless in its effort to unjustly prosecute physicians. In 1996, a cataclysmic and unfortunate set of laws and regulations afflicted the medical community of physicians. This was none other than the 1996 Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Buried in the bowels of the HIPAA regulation text was a rotten compilation of laws, including the health care fraud regulations (18 U.S.C. 1347). Since then, the prosecution of physicians has continued unabated to the tune of several hundred per year. The sole purpose of these prosecutions is to create seizures and restitutions that would fund investigative agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General. The prosecution of Dr. Richard Paulus was the epitome of injustice and demonstrates the imperfection in the concepts of righteousness promoted by the United States Department of Justice in this republic. This prosecution persisted for more than a decade, during which prosecutors with the stench of mendacity buried evidence exonerating Dr. Richard Paulus, with whom they disagreed on the percentage of coronary artery stenosis and stent placement. Prosecutors presented a small fraction of his cases as evidence of health care fraud (close to 70 cases) while hiding that these cases were only a small fraction of a larger sample of close to 1,100 cases where he performed admirably and conscientiously. After imprisoning Dr. Paulus needlessly for close to a year and two jury trials, the United States Department of Justice raised the white flag and agreed to dismiss all charges against Dr. Paulus in 2024. Physicians who are on the receiving end of unfounded and often fabricated accusations and allegations by the Justice Department should strive for experienced legal representation by a criminal defense attorney specializing in health care. It is the effect of juries that is needed as a check on prosecutorial power. The Framers really believed in juries, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch noted in an interview with New York Times columnist David French. I mean, there it is in Article III. There it is in the Sixth Amendment. There it is in the Seventh Amendment. They really believed in juries, and weve lost that. As a result of such pressure, Gorsuch notes, about 97 percent of federal felony convictions and 94 percent of state felony convictions are based on plea agreements. Trial by jury, which the Framers viewed as an essential bulwark against tyranny, plays only a marginal role in our current criminal justice system. Physicians, in the current environment, are more likely to be viewed positively by juries in health care fraud trials. Muhamad Aly Rifai is a practicing internist and psychiatrist in the Greater Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. He is the CEO, chief psychiatrist and internist of Blue Mountain Psychiatry. He holds the Lehigh Valley Endowed Chair of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Rifai is board-certified in internal medicine, psychiatry, addiction medicine, and psychosomatic medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, and the American Psychiatric Association. He is the former president of the Lehigh Valley Psychiatric Society. He can be reached on LinkedIn, Facebook, X @muhamadalyrifai, YouTube, and his website. You can also read his Wikipedia entry and publications. When a physician signs on at a new hospital, a signing bonus is often included in the compensation package. This bonus can range from a small perk to a significant percentage of income, and its structure can be either straightforward or confusing. The signing bonus is one of the items in a physicians compensation contract that can be negotiated, although some give-and-take is often involved. For example, in some situations, a higher signing bonus may result in a lower guaranteed salary. Where a hospital agrees to offer more, they may reduce other compensation benefits. For some hospitals, particularly those that do not need to recruit aggressively, the signing bonus, guaranteed salary, and remaining contract aspects are a take-it-or-leave-it package that is not subject to negotiation. For many physicians, especially residents and fellows signing their first employment contract, the signing bonus may seem like a breath of fresh air; however, it can be confusing if one is not familiar with some basic income frameworks used to distribute bonuses. Furthermore, if a physician is unprepared for how the IRS views the bonus, it can be downright devastating. This article will explore a few of the most common bonus structures that physicians encounter when signing employment contracts. In addition to how the bonus is paid, there may be stipulations regarding when it is paid. As a signing bonus, the expectation is that a check is delivered upon signing the contract. While that may be the case in a few scenarios, it certainly isnt the norm. When is the signing bonus paid? Many signing bonuses are paid to physicians upon receiving their first or second paycheck. However, there are situations where a physician may sign a contract six months to a year in advance and not receive their signing bonus until they start work. In this situation, it really should be called a starting bonus, but it is still referred to as a signing bonus. Many residents and fellows sign employment contracts when their final year of training begins. This gives them an entire year between signing the contract and starting work, as they still need to complete their final year of training. Some hospital systems structure a signing bonus as a stipend, where you receive an actual income from the hospital without working there. For example, one might receive a $24,000 stipend, paid at $2,000 per month for an entire year. These stipends fall under the 1099 payment structure (explained below), so careful handling of these payments is essential, as they might not all be yours to keep. Below are the three most common structures of how these bonuses are paid out: W-2 bonus A W-2 bonus might be the most streamlined bonus structure for several reasons, but its also the most disappointing, at least initially. A W-2 bonus is paid like your normal paycheck. And like a normal paycheck, deductions reduce the amount you actually receive. While receiving less money is usually a negative, it adds a layer of protection against spending more than you are allowed to keep. A W-2 bonus is only paid after you start work at the hospital. You can receive W-2 income only if you are an employee, so if you receive a bonus before you start working, you can assume its not a W-2 bonus. The bonus is usually paid on your first or second paycheck; however, signing bonuses are sometimes paid at the end of the first full quarter of working at a hospital system. Generally speaking (but not always), the larger the hospital system, the slower the bonus payment. The W-2 bonus can be disappointing due to it being a net bonus. This means taxesboth state (if applicable) and federalare withheld, along with FICA (Social Security and Medicare). These withholdings can account for nearly half of the bonus. For example, if you are to receive a $30,000 bonus, and it is paid via W-2 income, the withholdings might be as follows: $30,000 bonus -25% federal taxes (may be higher if you earn more, but if youre signing your first employment contract, you are likely in a lower tax bracket) -5% state taxes (more or less, if applicable) -7.5% FICA (this is the employees halfthe employer also pays this) =62.5% net bonus The actual dollar amounts look like this: $30,000 bonus -$7,500 federal taxes -$1,500 state taxes -$2,250 FICA =$18,750 net bonus While an additional $18,750 is a nice paycheck, its not the $30,000 you were expecting. If you were to receive the full $30,000 bonus, you would be responsible for all the withholdings on your taxes. The hospital system, through their W-2 payroll, essentially did you the favor of distributing your taxes through the withholdings. The ease of the W-2 bonus doesnt make it any less disappointing. 1099 bonus Unlike the W-2 bonus, a 1099 bonus is paid on a gross basis. That means if you were expecting a $30,000 bonus, you will receive the full $30,000. While this is exciting and meets all expectations for the signing bonus, there is a major downside. Since you received income, taxes are supposed to be paid from that income. Therefore, its your responsibility to pay all the withholdings, and the hospital system will send you a 1099 income statement to file with your taxes for that tax year. It is then up to you to pay the taxes. Moreover, receiving 1099 compensation denotes that you are not an employee. 1099 bonuses are generally paid before you start working at the hospital because youre not yet employed (if you receive a bonus before you start working, you either have a 1099 bonus or a loaned bonussee below). With 1099 income, youre considered a contractor or a business owner. As such, you must pay the employees half of the FICA tax as well as the employers half of the FICA. This payment, for self-employed individuals, comes in the form of the self-employment tax. This self-employment tax doubles your FICA payment, so instead of paying about 7.5% to FICA, you must pay around 15% to FICAin addition to your income tax. The tax payments are also paid in arrears. If you receive the signing bonus in May, you wont need to pay taxes until the following April, when tax payments are due. This means you receive the $30,000 bonus, and you must set aside some of the funds for taxes for nearly an entire year. Heres how the 1099 tax withholdings look: $30,000 bonus -25% federal taxes -5% state taxes (more or less, if applicable) -15% self-employment tax (this is both the employees half and the employers half of FICA) =55% net bonus You will need to pay 45% of the bonus to the IRS at your next tax filing. The actual dollar amounts look like this: $30,000 bonus -$7,500 federal taxes -$1,500 state taxes -$4,500 self-employment taxes =$16,500 net bonus You would owe $13,500 with your next tax filing. Between the two scenarios, the W-2 keeps a greater portion of the bonus, and its easier to manage because the taxes are already withheld and paid. The 1099 bonus feels better upon receiving the bonus, but if proper planning is not considered, it could create problems during tax time. Loaned bonus The other most common bonus method is for the hospital system to loan you the bonus and forgive the loan after you have worked there for a specified number of years (generally two years). Loans arent usually considered income, so theres no tax upon receiving the loan; however, a forgiven loan is considered an economic benefit, and the forgiven loan is taxed as income. Youll know if you have a loaned bonus when you sign your employment contract because youll sign a promissory note. The promissory note details how the loan is handled, and if you sign one, it likely takes up half of your contract (in page count), so you cant miss it. For both the W-2 and 1099 bonus, once the money is sent to you, it cannot be recovered by the hospital system. However, the loaned bonus can be recovered by the hospital because its a loan they expect to be repaid if certain terms of your contract arent met. The average loaned bonus is forgiven after two years, and the promissory note will detail how the loan is forgiven. It is normally forgiven at a rate of one-twenty-fourth (1/24) per month. At that pace, the entire loan is forgiven after two years. If you stop working at the hospital after one year, then half of the loan bonus would need to be repaid. The terms of the repayment are in the promissory note, and payment may be expected within a short period of time (likely three months), but terms could vary by contract. Upon complete forgiveness or severance of employment (if repayment is required), the forgiven portion of the loan is taxable to you as income. The IRS deems forgiven loans (with some exceptions, such as PSLF student loan forgiveness) no different from income; however, this income is viewed differently than W-2 or 1099 income. W-2 and 1099 income are viewed as earned income. Forgiven loans are considered unearned income, meaning you didnt have to work to earn the money. This provides tax relief, as FICA taxes do not need to be paid on the forgiven loan. Like all other income, you will receive income reporting documentation for the forgiven loan to file with your next tax return. You will receive a 1099-C, which is a cancellation of debt form. Federal and state taxes will need to be paid, and they wont be withheld automatically, but no other tax needs to be paid on this type of income. Here are the details of the loaned bonus taxation: $30,000 bonus -25% federal taxes (this may be a low estimate, as you will have been working for two years before the bonus becomes taxable, and youll likely be pushed into a higher tax bracket) -5% state taxes (more or less, if applicable) =70% net bonus You would owe 30% of the bonus to the IRS in the year the loaned bonus is forgiven. The actual dollar amounts look like this: $30,000 bonus -$7,500 federal taxes -$1,500 state taxes =$21,000 net bonus You would owe $7,000 to the IRS in the year the loaned bonus is forgiven. As mentioned earlier, the loaned bonus defers taxes until the loan is forgiven. If youre working with your first employment contract, youll have two full years of working with a higher salary, so federal taxes will likely be higher than if you had received a bonus when your income was that of a resident or fellow. Summary Theres no right or wrong way to pay or receive a bonus. From the hospitals perspective, the cheapest way to pay the bonus is through the 1099 method, as they dont have to pay your half of FICA taxes and receive an immediate tax deduction. In contrast, the loaned bonus requires the hospital system to wait two years before receiving a deduction for the bonus. The W-2 bonus is the most expensive for the hospital, as they pay the employers half of FICA taxes, but its likely that your total annual income will rise above the 2024 Social Security wage base of $168,600 (Medicares 2% tax has no wage base), so the bulk of the FICA taxes may max out eventually for the year. From the physicians perspective, the loaned bonus is definitely the most cost-effective way to receive the bonus, assuming the federal tax bracket isnt 39% when the bonus is forgiven. The W-2 bonus is by far the easiest of the bonus scenarios. Here is a side-by-side comparison of the net income kept by the physician, assuming a $30,000 bonus is received, and all tax rates are identical: W-2 net income: $18,750 1099 net income: $16,500 Loaned bonus net income: $21,000 Understanding how your bonus is paid and taxed can help you plan for the future, develop tax strategies for the bonus, and relieve the stress of unknown tax traps ahead. Even though you may receive your full bonus in some situations, that doesnt necessarily mean you can keep it all. Paul Morton is a certified financial planner. By George Emuron Police in Bukedea district are investigating the murder of a 27-year-old woman, Glades Apolot. The incident occurred on September 17, 2024, following a suspected domestic dispute with her partner. Her lifeless body was discovered naked on Wednesday morning. Local authorities, including Tank Cell Local Council One chairperson Lazarus Omuria, confirmed the incident and notified the police. We woke up this morning with shocking information. This girl has been staying with a boyfriend, said Mr. Omuria. Bukedea District Police Commander (DPC) Richard Asiimwe told KFM that police visited the scene after receiving the report. The deceaseds body was transported to Bukedea Health Center IV mortuary for a postmortem examination. We immediately visited the scene and we found that the body was naked, an indicator that the couple fought each other leading to her death, DPC Asiimwe said. Police have identified the suspect, David Ojangole, also known as Raster, who is currently at large. We have commenced with our investigations and we call upon the public to avail any necessary information about Ojangoles way about, the DPC added. The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has scheduled its 18th National Council Meeting for October 17, 2024. This was announced in a notice signed by the FDC chairman, Jack Sabiiti. Sabiti stated that the invitation is based on Article 28 (1) b)i and Article 31 (2) of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Party Constitution. The meeting will be held at the Party Headquarters in Najjanankumbi, Kampala District. In accordance with Article 28 (1) b)i and Article 31 (2) of the Forum for Democratic Change(FDC) Party Constitution, The National Chairman invites all Council members for a Council Meeting scheduled for 17th October 2024, at 9:00am at the Party Headquarters Plot 1164 Najjanarthumbi, Entebbe Road-Kampala, the notice reads in part. Additionally, Sabiiti revealed that the meeting will focus on roll call, reading of the previous meeting minutes, matters noted in the 17th National Council meeting held on December 15, 2023, and other non-skippable matters. A 27-year-old man, Mawa Taban, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for pouring acid on his friend after accusing him of theft. Taban, a watchman at 180 Degree Grow Kisasi, was convicted by the Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate after changing his plea from not guilty to guilty. The incident occurred on March 26, 2024, in Kampalas Nakawa Division. Taban lured his friend, Ivan Oyirwoth, to an isolated location under the pretext of offering him a job. However, his true intention was to torture Oyirwoth, whom he suspected of stealing his boss television. During the attack, Taban poured acid on Oyirwoth, causing severe burns to 98% of his body, including his genitals. The victim remains in critical condition. In sentencing Taban, Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi emphasized the need for a deterrent sentence to discourage such heinous acts. He noted that the crime was particularly egregious, given the severity of the injuries inflicted on the victim. Five schools in Co Kildare are the among the selected phase one schools which will be the first to offer the new Leaving Certificate subjects of Drama, Film and Theatre Studies and Climate Action and Sustainable Development. Among the schools participating in phase one, 57 post-primary schools have been selected to introduce Leaving Certificate Drama, Film and Theatre Studies from the start of the 2025/26 school year. These include Patrician Secondary School in Newbridge and Cross and Passion College in Kilcullen. In addition, 43 schools have been selected for Leaving Certificate Climate Action and Sustainable Development. These include Maynooth Post Primary School, Pipers Hill College, Naas and Naas Community College. The announcement marks an important moment in the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme and the Ministers vision for a Senior Cycle that provides young people with an opportunity to study a range of subjects that align with their talents and passions. Minister for Education Norma Foley said it was fantastic to see a strong level of interest from schools of all types in Kildare and across the country in taking part in this first phase of delivering the new Leaving Cert subjects of Drama, Film and Theatre Studies and Climate Action and Sustainable Development. These subjects are being introduced to provide greater choice for students to better reflect their range of interests and support the development of a wider range of talents and skills, she said. The applications received demonstrated the extraordinary talent, qualifications, experience, and commitment by teachers in schools across Ireland interested in introducing these two new subjects to their students. The level and variety of current subject provision in the selected schools and the enthusiasm shown by their school leaders, teachers, students and school communities was nothing short of exemplary and I have every confidence that the rollout of both subjects will be a success. Teachers in the selected Kildare schools will begin working with Oide, the teacher support service, this school year, a year in advance of teaching the subject. All selected phase one schools will be provided with the necessary resources to establish new subject departments in their schools and to support the teaching and learning of the subject from the start of the 2025/26 school year. Drama, Film and Theatre Studies will promote and encourage creativity as a basis for learning through immersive experiences. Students will have the opportunity to cultivate informed thinking through learning supported by creative and critical processes. Climate Action and Sustainable Development will develop students capacity for informed and meaningful action for a just and sustainable world as they engage with key sustainability challenges including the climate crisis. Students will be empowered to build their understanding of a number of interconnected core concepts and principles related to climate action and sustainable development. A MAN who was drunk and abusive and caused a nuisance to swimmers at a popular tourist spot in Laois appeared at last weeks sitting of Portlaoise District Court on public order offences. Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby told Judge Nicola Andrews that at 7.30pm on 31 August last year, gardai were called to a disturbance that was taking place at the popular swimming location at the Catholes Falls in Ballyfin. When they arrived on the scene, they found a man in a highly intoxicated state who kept falling around and causing a nuisance to the people in the area". Arising from the incident, 26-year-old Iurie Gandrabur, Ruanbeg Drive, Ruanbeg Manor, Co Kildare pleaded guilty to being intoxicated in public and to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour. Defending solicitor Barry Fitzgerald said the reason for his clients behaviour was because he had a copious amount of whiskey taken during the day and accepts that he was a nuisance at the time. Judge Andrews said that if Mr Gandrabur donates 200 to the court poor box that she would strike out the charges. If not, she would convict him of both offences and fine him 500. A TOTAL of 65 children and teens were allegedly sexually abused by 31 individuals in Kildare schools run by religious orders over the period they operated in the county. Though shocking as a standalone figure, it pales beside the national figure of 2,395 victims across the 82 Orders who operated within the State. Of the 65 victims in Kildare, almost half (30) were alleged to have been abused in one school Dominican College, Newbridge by just nine Brothers, a further 19 in Clongowes were abused by 12 Jesuits, and a further 10 in the Naas CBS primary school by four Brothers. (For perspective, the Kildare total is 24 less than the total for the worst school in Ireland - horrific, Carmelite-run Terenure College where there were 89 pupils abused by just 11 perpetrators.) The other six Kildare victims were scattered throughout four schools, with three victims and three abusers in Athy CBS primary school, while the CBS Secondary and De la Salle (both Naas), and Colaiste Chiarain, Leixlip (Presentation Sisters) all recorded just one victim each. There were outstanding schools from the document who, individually, reported no figures as their respective Orders chose only to release total figures from all of their institutions instead. These were the two Sisters of Mercy convents in Naas and Athy, the Patricians in Newbridge, and the John of God Order, who ran St Raphaels Special School in Celbridge. Respectively, their State total figures released were 44 victims from 33 abusers, 21-18, and 144-36. This all came to light in the recently released Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders which came out last week, about which Bishop Denis Nulty has said: I am appalled at the level of depravity of abuse outlined. It is not easy reading, [because] behind every sentence, paragraph, and page is someone who as a child suffered hugely in the very place where they should have felt safe, he added. While we have become accustomed to reports in recent years, it is worthwhile to bring all of them together to help us appreciate, and seek to respond to the extent and seriousness of this epidemic that has plagued Irish society for far too long. Church schools should always lead by word and above all by example on how to look after children in their care and particularly children with special needs. I realise schools in the diocese, at both primary and post primary level, feature in the Report, and I know this is very upsetting to current staff, students and families. As Bishop, I want to assure everyone of the robust safeguarding protocols that permeate every aspect of school life today. I also know for survivors and victims, the assurance of these safeguarding protocols, by no means lessens the pain and suffering caused in the past". The sobering 218-page document had its final 18 pages alone to list every religious school in the State which sinned egregiously against our youth. From the Kilkenny People newspaper, dated September 20, 1974: A last gasp point saw the Kilkenny senior camogie team draw level with Cork and earn themselves another crack at their first title in the replay at Croke Park on Sunday week. How the last-gasp point came about will be remembered for many a long day, particularly by the number of Kilkenny supporters present. A puck-out by Ann Carroll, who had moved into full-back for Kilkenny, came into the Cork territory and Kilkenny were awarded a free. Helena ONeill, with the coolness and self-assurance of Eddie Keher, nonchalantly lifted the ball and, shooting from a fairly difficult angle, sent it sailing between the posts. It was a score that would do full justice to the best free-taker ever to grace the Croke Park sod. Kilkenny were on a giantkilling mission, facing Cork who were looking for their fifth All-Ireland title in succession. They showed no signs of being overawed by the occasion and are bound to be a little more confident when they line out for the replay at Croke Park on October 6. Mayor appeals on behalf of board An appeal for funds to help the Kilkenny senior camogie team was made by Mayor Tommy Martin when he welcomed the team to the city on Monday night. Mayor Martin said the girls had given a magnificent display in Croke Park and although they had to come from behind to draw they were a bit unlucky not to have taken the honours. He believed the girls will take the title the next day in Croke Park. Mr Martin said the girls had shown all the skill of Kilkenny hurling. He said they deserved support from the people of Kilkenny. He called on businessmen, factory workers and others to contribute to a fund to help the girls in training and travelling expenses which, he pointed out, were enormous. He set the fundraising ball rolling when he announced at a reception in the Metropole Hotel that he was making the first contribution to the kitty. New Callan industry A Callan man who has spent the 14 years in the US has returned and set up a light industry at his home in Kilbricken. He is Liam Holden, who served his apprenticeship to the building trade in Callan before emigrating to New York, where he joined his brothers Tom, Seamus, Pat and Henry in business. Mr Holden has already started manufacturing a new gutter system, the machinery having been imported from the US. FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS (FROM THE PRESENT DAY), CLICK HERE 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. Located in what were the old cellars of the Manor House, find the secret staircase that leads to the stylish 1757 Bar. Here, under bespoke wood panelling, leather banquettes and private booths, find the perfect location to experience the Mount Juliet Estate premium whiskey collection. The latest addition to the prestige whiskey offering, is the Curraghmore Single Estate Pot Still Whiskey. The inaugural release of this triple cask matured whiskey offers a true taste of the east of Ireland terroir, made with oats and barley from the Curraghmore Estate in Waterford, less than an hour from Mount Juliet Estate. The 1757 Bar at Mount Juliet Estate will reserve bottles from the first distilled batch of this rare and delicious whiskey in the 1757 Bar for guests to enjoy and collectors to purchase. To celebrate the addition of the Curraghmore Single Estate Pot Still whiskey to the 1757 Bars prestige whiskey offering, Mount Juliet Estate is hosting an exclusive Curraghmore Whiskey tasting event with special guest, the creator of the Curraghmore Whiskey, the Earl of Tyrone, Mr. Richard de la Poer Beresford. Mark Dunne, General Manager of Mount Juliet Estate said, We are delighted to welcome Mr. Richard de la Poer Beresford, the Earl of Tyrone to Mount Juliet Estate. From one country estate in Irelands Ancient East to another. This evening is a special occasion offering a taste of the terroir in this rare whiskey from the Curraghmore Estate, enjoyed in the refined 1757 Bar, this promises to be a historic and memorable evening. The 1757 mixologists will demonstrate the perfect pour and create a selection of Curraghmore Whiskey drinks and cocktails to enjoy on the evening. Guests will be treated to a menu of Lady Helen Bites specially created by Chef John Kelly and his team, carefully paired with the flavour and aroma notes of the Curraghmore Whiskey. Collectors and aficionados will benefit from expert recommendations on the night. The Curraghmore Whiskey Event with special guest, the Earl of Tyrone, will take place in the 1757 Bar, Manor House, Mount Juliet Estate on Thursday, September 19. This is a ticketed event with tickets priced at 35 per person. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/showcase-event-of-curraghmore-whiskey-at-mount-juliet-estate-tickets-967843414707 Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 42F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Arvest Trust Co. N A lowered its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Free Report) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,328 shares of the companys stock after selling 4,064 shares during the period. Arvest Trust Co. N As holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $13,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 71,787 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,492,000 after purchasing an additional 40,966 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 40,514 shares of the companys stock worth $5,921,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,131,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14,424.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,625,299 shares of the companys stock valued at $237,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 180,501 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,382,000 after acquiring an additional 81,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the companys stock. Get Johnson & Johnson alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders. Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $167.02 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $159.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.98. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $401.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current year. Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnsons payout ratio is presently 30.92%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.21. Read Our Latest Analysis on Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson Company Profile (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. Featured Articles 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. Brookfield Reinsurance Ltd. (NYSE:BNRE Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $50.76 and last traded at $50.20, with a volume of 5599 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.41. Brookfield Reinsurance Stock Down 0.4 % The company has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 173.83 and a beta of 1.53. The firms 50-day moving average price is $47.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.64. Get Brookfield Reinsurance alerts: Brookfield Reinsurance (NYSE:BNRE Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter. Brookfield Reinsurance had a return on equity of 0.14% and a net margin of 0.10%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter. Brookfield Reinsurance Announces Dividend Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Reinsurance The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 12th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 12th. Brookfield Reinsurances payout ratio is currently 110.34%. A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BNRE. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Reinsurance by 52.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 18,575 shares of the companys stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Cowen AND Company LLC increased its stake in Brookfield Reinsurance by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cowen AND Company LLC now owns 50,885 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,116,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Reinsurance by 74.0% during the 2nd quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 55,219 shares of the companys stock worth $2,298,000 after buying an additional 23,488 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Reinsurance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $369,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Reinsurance by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 15,600 shares of the companys stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. 7.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Brookfield Reinsurance Company Profile (Get Free Report) Brookfield Reinsurance Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance services to individuals and institutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Direct Insurance, Reinsurance, and Pension Risk Transfer (PRT). The Direct Insurance segment offers a range of insurance products and services including Whole, Universal, Variable Universal, and Credit Life insurance products; deferred, single premium immediate, and variable annuities; primary and excess casualty products, such as specialty casualty, construction defect, general liability, commercial multi-peril, workers compensation, product liability, environmental liability, and auto liability; professional liability including management, transaction, and errors and omissions liability; property insurance for homeowners and renters, inland marine, and auto physical damages; surety, animal mortality, and ocean marine insurance; and health insurance, credit insurance, and pension products. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Reinsurance Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Reinsurance and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN Free Report) by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,045 shares of the information technology services providers stock after selling 21,597 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up 1.2% of SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs holdings in Accenture were worth $5,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,646 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,594,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in Accenture by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 36,750 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 1,996 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 183,446 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $63,584,000 after buying an additional 21,516 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the companys stock. Get Accenture alerts: Insider Activity In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total value of $927,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,070 shares in the company, valued at $12,390,445.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635. Company insiders own 0.07% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Accenture from $293.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group upgraded Accenture from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $400.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Guggenheim reiterated a buy rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, May 24th. Wedbush reduced their price target on Accenture from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $354.91. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Accenture Accenture Stock Down 4.9 % Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $336.93 on Wednesday. The businesss 50 day moving average is $329.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $322.59. The company has a market cap of $211.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $387.51. Accenture (NYSE:ACN Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $16.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Accenture Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Accentures dividend payout ratio is presently 47.25%. Accenture Profile (Free Report) Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Accenture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Accenture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW Free Report) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,067 shares of the information technology services providers stock after selling 488 shares during the period. Amalgamated Banks holdings in ServiceNow were worth $34,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NOW. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 1st quarter valued at about $897,908,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $403,034,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ServiceNow by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,450,570 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $14,066,715,000 after acquiring an additional 331,797 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $218,786,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of ServiceNow by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,754,027 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,239,198,000 after acquiring an additional 271,153 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the companys stock. Get ServiceNow alerts: ServiceNow Stock Down 0.6 % Shares of NYSE NOW opened at $886.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $181.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.84, a PEG ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.98. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12 month low of $527.24 and a 12 month high of $899.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $812.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $768.20. Insider Transactions at ServiceNow ServiceNow ( NYSE:NOW Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.61 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 11.51%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In related news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 1,937 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $779.81, for a total value of $1,510,491.97. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 6,736 shares in the company, valued at $5,252,800.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other ServiceNow news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 1,937 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $779.81, for a total transaction of $1,510,491.97. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 6,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,252,800.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 94 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $825.92, for a total value of $77,636.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,019 shares in the company, valued at $3,319,372.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,914 shares of company stock worth $5,608,936. Insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NOW. Guggenheim reiterated a sell rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $850.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $920.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $750.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $950.00 to $920.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $855.44. Get Our Latest Stock Report on ServiceNow About ServiceNow (Free Report) ServiceNow, Inc provides end to-end intelligent workflow automation platform solutions for digital businesses in the North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates the Now platform for end-to-end digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, process mining, performance analytics, and collaboration and development tools. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NOW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for ServiceNow Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ServiceNow and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Crane (NYSE:CR Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 715,700 shares, a growth of 18.9% from the August 15th total of 601,700 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 224,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Crane from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Crane from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $155.00. Get Crane alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on CR Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane Crane Price Performance Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Crane by 150.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 218 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crane during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Crane by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 487 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crane in the 2nd quarter worth about $123,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Crane in the second quarter valued at about $159,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the companys stock. Shares of NYSE:CR traded down $0.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $152.61. 237,118 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 229,410. Crane has a 52 week low of $82.57 and a 52 week high of $162.34. The companys 50 day moving average is $150.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.92, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.77. Crane (NYSE:CR Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The conglomerate reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $581.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $568.33 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year. Crane Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Cranes dividend payout ratio is presently 21.98%. Crane Company Profile (Get Free Report) Crane Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Crane Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Crane and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK Get Free Report) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of -2.750 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 2.700. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and issued a $35.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Graphic Packaging in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a buy rating and a $35.20 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Graphic Packaging from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $31.15. Get Graphic Packaging alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Graphic Packaging Graphic Packaging Trading Down 1.7 % NYSE:GPK opened at $29.88 on Wednesday. The businesss 50-day moving average is $28.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging has a 12 month low of $20.07 and a 12 month high of $30.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The companys revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Graphic Packagings dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.10%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Graphic Packaging Company Profile (Get Free Report) Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and sells consumer packaging products to brands in food, beverage, foodservice, household, and other consumer products. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Graphic Packaging Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Graphic Packaging and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS Free Report) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,041 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,267 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLCs holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $17,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,228,334 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,886,292,000 after buying an additional 495,055 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,061,378 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $844,973,000 after purchasing an additional 979,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the companys stock. Get Morgan Stanley alerts: Morgan Stanley Stock Performance MS stock opened at $99.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $162.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $100.49 and a 200-day moving average of $96.59. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend Morgan Stanley ( NYSE:MS Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. Morgan Stanleys quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanleys previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Morgan Stanleys dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%. Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 150,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $101.73. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report 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. Featured Stories 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. Oslo Asset Management AS acquired a new position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 156,800 shares of the oil and gas companys stock, valued at approximately $7,398,000. Schlumberger makes up 8.6% of Oslo Asset Management ASs holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 204.2% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 584 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 297.9% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 90.6% in the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 648 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the companys stock. Get Schlumberger alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $71.00 to $66.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $66.72. Schlumberger Stock Up 2.7 % Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.50 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.52. The firm has a market cap of $59.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $38.66 and a 1 year high of $61.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 21.92%. The firm had revenue of $9.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. The companys revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.49 EPS for the current year. Schlumberger Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Schlumbergers dividend payout ratio is currently 36.54%. Insider Activity In other news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 120,668 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.19, for a total value of $6,056,326.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 247,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,432,012.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 10,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.29, for a total transaction of $492,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,354 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,073,428.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 120,668 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.19, for a total transaction of $6,056,326.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 247,699 shares in the company, valued at $12,432,012.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 180,716 shares of company stock worth $9,048,624 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. About Schlumberger (Free Report) Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SLB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Schlumberger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Schlumberger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Govt speeds up efforts to amend laws to prevent recurrence of payment delay crisis By Jun Ji-hye All eyes are now on how much of the debt owed by cash-strapped TMON and WeMakePrice will be repaid as the two e-commerce platform operators, which were responsible for a massive payment and refund delay crisis, are set to undergo corporate rehabilitation procedures. According to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court and industry officials, Wednesday, the two Korean affiliates of Singapore-based Qoo10 should submit their rehabilitation plans to the court by Dec. 27. The extent to which creditors can recover their losses is expected to become clearer at that time. TMON and WeMakePrice applied for corporate rehabilitation with the bankruptcy court on July 29, stating that they were unable to resolve their financial issues on their own amid a massive cash crunch that caused delays in payments to sellers and refunds to customers. As of last month, the government identified approximately 48,000 vendors affected by unsettled payments from TMON and WeMakePrice, with the unpaid amount estimated at around 1.2 trillion won ($900 million). The court, prior to commencing the rehabilitation process, approved a one-month-long autonomous restructuring support (ARS) program on Aug. 2, to allow for negotiations for voluntary debt restructuring However, after two rounds of meetings with creditors, the two companies failed to come up with a debt restructuring plan. On Sept. 10, the court decided not to extend the ARS program and is now reviewing whether to commence rehabilitation proceedings. To commence the proceedings, the two firms are required to complete the process of confirming creditors and the amount of debt by mid-November. When TMON and WeMakePrice filed for corporate rehabilitation with the court, the number of creditors submitted was approximately 47,000 and 63,000, respectively, totaling about 110,000. These figures could change based on the creditor confirmation process. Once this process is completed, EY Hanyoung, an accounting firm designated by the court, will conduct due diligence to determine whether the two companies still have enterprise value. If the court, based on the accounting firms review, determines that the value of continuing the business of the two online marketplaces is less than the value of liquidating their assets, it will declare bankruptcy. In this case, creditors will effectively not be able to recover their debts. If the two pass this stage, they can submit a rehabilitation plan. If the court approves this plan, the companies can proceed with the rehabilitation process. The repayment rate that creditors are focusing on will be outlined in this rehabilitation plan. This rate depends on the amount of funds TMON and WeMakePrice can raise through their ongoing merger and acquisition efforts. With few assets left to sell, if the companies are unable to secure buyers or investors, it will be difficult not only to settle their debts but also to maintain regular business operations. Market forecasts are mixed about whether there will be investors willing to acquire the cash-strapped e-commerce platforms, with some saying that TMON and WeMakePrice have already lost credibility of the market, while others saying that there may be investors who are interested in entering the high-growth e-commerce industry through the acquisition of the two. The affected vendors are calling not only for debt repayment but also for the normalization of the platforms to avoid losing their sales channels. We are clinging to a slim hope for a potential merger or acquisition, said Shin Jeong-kwon, the representative of the affected vendors. The crisis is due to management failures rather than issues with the platforms themselves, so we hope for the platforms to function as sales channels again. To prevent recurrence of the similar incidents, financial authorities are expediting the preparation to amend laws to require e-commerce platform operators to separately safeguard funds to be settled for vendors. The authorities are also working to encourage sound management practices of electronic payment service providers. The Financial Services Commission, the countrys top financial regulator, will hold a joint public hearing with the Fair Trade Commission on Monday on these proposals. Following this, they plan to submit bills to revise relevant laws to the National Assembly. By Lee Kyung-min The retail investor-exclusive 10-year and 20-year Korea Treasury Bonds (KTBs) have failed to meet the minimum subscription for the fourth consecutive month, strained by an overall downtrend in bond yields amid expectations of monetary easing by the central banks of the United States and Korea, according to market watchers Wednesday. Some call for the addition of five-year bond products to the portfolio, coupled with an outright exemption of a financial income tax of 15.4 percent an already-significant tax break from the previous rate of up to 50 percent. However, the finance ministry the issuer of the bonds opposes the suggestion, since the shorter-duration products will fuel speculation, undermining the policy priority to bolster the post-retirement income source for bond holders. Also out of the question is the tax exemption, the ministry says, for fear of enormous backlash from the vast majority of the public resentful of investors amassing wealth with the help of government tax relief. According to Mirae Asset Securities, the competition ratios for 10-year and 20-year products came to 0.29 to 1 and 0.33 to 1, respectively. The ratio for the 20-year bond stood at 0.76 in June, dropping to 0.59 in July and 0.27 in August. The figure for the 10-year bonds peaked at 3.49 to 1 in June before declining to 1.94 in July and 1.17 in August. The poor performance is notable since the June figures exceeded 126 billion won ($94 million), propelled by the promise of up to 108 percent held-to-maturity increases in return. The disappointing September figures followed the ministry having applied add-ons of 0.22 percent for 10-year products and 0.42 percent for 20-year products. The previous add-ons were 0.15 for 10-year products and 0.3 percent for 20-year products. Market watchers say the long-term investment vehicle will no longer be able to draw many investors, weakened by imminent rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Korea. Many bond investors will be inclined to seek short duration gains, rather than having up to 200 million won locked in for decades, an industry watcher said. The government introduced the two duration bonds to grant retail investors equal access to the vibrant market sector, long been limited to large institutional investors. Changes in Treasury ownership midway through is restricted, making short-term scalping impossible. Scalping is an investment technique where an investor makes a small profit by holding a buy or a sell position for only a brief period. Also, early redemption will remove the benefit of the flat rate, along with the high rates of returns. Funds redeemed will not be immediately available. By Han Sang-hee BARI, Italy Italian travel destinations used to be obvious Tuscany for wine, Sicily for food and pizza and numerous northern cities for history and culture. But what about Apulia, the heel of the Italian Peninsula, where the sun is strong, olive trees are abundant and the beaches are the clearest in the entire country? Even for Italians, Apulia is always on the to-do list, but its known more as a port for cruise ships and ferries to Greece rather than a destination in its own right. But this relatively unknown region is on the radar of travelers seeking something fresh, authentic and less crowded. The time to visit might be right now before everyone else catches on. Why is it trending? Historically, Apulia has made its name for its agricultural products such as olive oil and almonds and production of raw materials and components, including automotive parts and steel. Tourism was there, but with the lack of infrastructure and immigrants and a good word of mouth in other words, marketing it was not enough to attracts visitors near and far. The rise of social media and the ongoing thirst for new and authentic spots, however, have put Apulia on the map, even over the expensive and overly crowded regions in Italy. Apulia has been handpicked by Hollywood celebrities, brands and international events such the Group of Seven (G7) summit. People may have started to discover new places and different destinations, but Apulia is definitely now on the rise when it comes to tourism. And its only going to get hotter, said Nicola Giotti, a beloved pastry chef in the small town of Giovinazzo and member of the Pastry Ambassadors of Italian Excellence. Jude Law, Madonna, George Clooney and David Beckham are only a handful of the celebrities who have vacationed in Apulia recently, while fashion powerhouse Gucci held a fashion show at the famed Castel del Monte, a military castle that dates back to the 13th century, back in 2022. The castle appears on the Italian version of the one cent euro coin. The following year, Dolce & Gabbana presented its Alta Moda fashion show in various locations around the region, where the designers wrapped up the event by saying that it was the biggest and most authentic show they did in their lives. The famous fashion duo would be correct. Apulias charm does not rely on typical commercialized Italianness with the colorful pizza socks or wooden Pinocchio dolls. Instead, it offers a raw, genuine Italian experience. Thanks to the attention through social media and the press, the region is seeing significant development in infrastructure to support this growth in tourism. A night train service called Espresso Salento is now running from Rome and Lecce, with stops at major cities including Bari, Polignano a Mare, Ostuni and Brindisi. Plans for a new high-speed train connecting Naples and Bari, set for completion in 2027, excited both travelers and locals, hoping that reducing the trip to two hours will attract more interest and bring further tourism and business opportunities to the region. Once the work is completed, the train will be a valid alternative to the plane between Bari and Naples, Matteo Salvini, the minister of infrastructure of Italy, said last year during a conference on the project. The numbers of Airbnb rental homes and smaller masserias, or farmhouse hotels, have skyrocketed after the COVID-19 pandemic, but competition in the lodging industry is looking to be fiercer, with luxury hotel chains such as Rocco Forte Hotels, La Maviglia and the Four Seasons also planning to welcome travelers soon in the region. Where to visit in Apulia Bari As the capital city of Apulia, Bari offers the classical charms of the region. In the Old Town, you can find old Italian nonnas or ladies making the famous orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta typical of the region), while the fishermen at the Bari port beckon you to try out the freshest catch of the day, complete with a Peroni beer. Its where travel starts and ends in Apulia and an excellent place to keep as your reference point. Matera Known as one of the oldest cities in the world, Matera is like a stone castle and fortress bundled together. It was the backdrop of numerous films, including Passion of the Christ (2003), Mary Magdalene (2018) and 007 No Time to Die (2021), thanks to its distinctive medieval city structure and unique cave dwellings called sassi. Lecce Dubbed as the Florence of the South, Lecce boasts exquisite Baroque architecture and the entire city is like a big outdoor museum. For history, art and architectural aficionados, this city will offer the art and grandeur of both Florence and Rome put together. Polignano a Mare One of the most viral posts on this small town in Apulia would be of that a fancy restaurant located inside a cave overlooking the sea. Polignano a Mare is famous for its scenic beaches and numerous caves which you can also explore via boat tours. Alberobello The home of unique cone-roofed stone buildings called trulli, Alberobello is always on top of the list when it comes to the most beautiful towns in Italy. The small town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is basically a museum of the famous trulli and eager travelers can even book one and stay for a true Apulian experience. Before you go So the travel plans are made and the itinerary is set. But there are a few key points to remember before venturing out to this sunny paradise. Rent a car. Public transportation like taxis or buses is minimal in Apulia and walking from city to city is out of the question. Renting a car is crucial if visiting more than one city is on your list. Be prepared for minimal English. Unlike its other counterparts around the country, Apulia is yet untouched by the commercialized travel trends. This means there will be less English spoken everywhere, including restaurants, shops and bars. Stick to basic English and dont fret if nobody can understand. Its still the land of hand gestures. Embrace the art of passeggiare. Full meals are a must when in Apulia, but what follows is the passeggiare, which translates to a walk, but it means much more. By taking a stroll around the town, locals meet friends and family, talk about their days and plan future outings. Its the gossip mill, social media and paparazzi, all out on the streets and its a great way to mingle with the locals and really blend in. Opening hours might be later than you expect. Many restaurants, shops and cafes cater primarily to locals, so they stick to traditional opening times. Dinner often begins after 8 p.m., sometimes even later and there are also midday breaks for supermarkets and convenience stores, so it's wise to plan your visit accordingly. Han Sang-hee is a former staff reporter at The Korea Times and former editor at CNN Travel. She is based in Stuttgart, Germany, but now lives in Seoul with her Italian husband and two daughters and shares stories online. Follow @rachelsanghee on Instagram. North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in a northeastern direction on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, further ratcheting up tensions already heightened by its rare disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility last week. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches at about 6:50 a.m. from the North's Kaechon area in South Phyongan Province, north of Pyongyang, and the missiles flew about 400 kilometers. It did not provide further details, such as the number of missiles fired or where they landed. The presidential office convened a meeting presided over by Yin Sung-hwan, the second deputy national security adviser, to discuss the launches and assess the security situation. "The government sternly warns against North Korea's provocations," an official from the presidential office said in a press release. "The government is closely monitoring North Korea's provocative movements and preparing for a variety of possible provocations in order to protect the lives and safety of our people." South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned the latest launches, as well as the North's disclosure of the uranium facility last week, during phone talks between their nuclear envoys, according to South Korea's foreign ministry. The three sides called the launches "clear" violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions and agreed to maintain coordination to "sternly" respond to the North's threats, while monitoring the possibility of additional North Korean provocations, it said in a release. The JCS also condemned the launches, saying they "seriously" threaten peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it was consulting closely with South Korea and Japan over the launches, calling on the North to refrain from further "unlawful" and "destabilizing" acts. On Friday, North Korea disclosed its uranium-based nuclear facility, a day after firing multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea. The latest bouts of its saber-rattling have added to cross-border tensions caused by the North's launches of trash-filled balloons to the South. The series of Pyongyang's provocative acts came amid lingering concerns that the recalcitrant regime could engage in major provocations to bolster its leverage ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election in the United States. The latest launch is suspected to have involved missiles similar to the North's Hwasong-11 family of missiles, previously launched in July. The North fired two ballistic missiles in a northeastern direction on July 1, including one that landed in the East Sea and another that flew 120 km before disappearing off the radar and possibly falling inland, according to the JCS. The North's state media said the next day the country had test-fired the new Hwasong-11Da4.5 missile at its maximum and minimum ranges, noting they are capable of being tipped with a 4.5-ton "super-large" warhead. It notified of another test-firing the same month at the missile's medium range, but it apparently did not take place. Including the latest launches, North Korea has fired ballistic missiles over 10 occasions this year. (Yonhap) The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander nominee on Tuesday described North Korea's "rapid" advancement of its nuclear and missile capabilities as the "single greatest" challenge facing the Korea-based command, vowing to maintain a "constant" state of readiness if confirmed. During a confirmation hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson, currently the commander of First Corps, also voiced concerns over growing military exchanges between Pyongyang and Moscow, noting his commitment to mitigating risks associated with their military alignment. The hearing took place as North Korea has ratcheted up tensions on the Korean Peninsula through missile launches, a rare disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility, the sending of trash-filled balloons to the South and other worrisome activities. "I am aware of the threat South Korea faces, and fully understand (that) my role, if confirmed, is in ensuring a constant state of readiness for all forces on the peninsula. Most assuredly, I understand the need to defend the homelands," Brunson said in his opening remarks, portraying South Korea as one of America's "preeminent" and "finest" allies. "North Korea's rapid advancement of its nuclear and missile capabilities, combined with its stated ambition to exponentially expand its nuclear arsenal, is the single greatest challenge facing the tri-command. The phrase, 'fight tonight,' is not just a saying, but a reality for the men and women serving in Korea," he added. The tri-command refers to the three commands that he would lead if confirmed South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, United Nations Command and the 28,500-strong USFK. Currently, the commands are led by Gen. Paul LaCamera. Asked about how he will reassure South Korea of America's nuclear umbrella, Brunson noted the importance of information sharing as well as conventional and nuclear assurances to the Asian ally. "Sometimes, the best way to do that is to recognize where the adversary is maneuvering at ... I would, in my own military estimation, say that he was maneuvering in the information space," he said. "Where I would start at is to come close to our partner, our ally in Korea, and explain to them what we are seeing and then trust again our diplomats and others to continue to have higher-level discussions. But at its base, it's being able to assure our partner and ally that we are there, and they can exist under not only a conventional umbrella but a nuclear umbrella on the peninsula." Commenting on the North's recent disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility, the nominee assessed that the recalcitrant regime is trying to "maneuver in the information space" by revealing something hidden for long. "If I am confirmed, I have to take a look at how are we maneuvering in the information space to counter the narratives that are put forward by that ... That causes tectonic shifts amongst Korean people when they see another facility because we all know that a facility that you can process uranium in is a facility that you can make warheads," he said. To outmaneuver the North in the information space, Brunson stressed the importance of working together with Indo-Pacific Command and others in a multilateral approach. "Any maneuver is met with other maneuver, and so we've got to meet them in that space and alleviate some of those changes," he said. Casting the deepening ties among North Korea, China and Russia as a "quid pro quo" relationship, Brunson underlined the need to keep close tabs on what North Korea is getting in return for its arms transfers to Russia. "The exchange of lethal aid between the DPRK and Russia is a thing to be alarmed about. But most importantly, what we have to do is see what's coming back in," he said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "In order to see that, it's going to take the IC (intelligence community) to help us see and understand what's coming back because if confirmed, my job as a USFK commander would be to mitigate that." In the relationship among Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow, there are also "opportunities" that the U.S. and its allies should be cognizant of, the nominee pointed out. "Because there might be a fissure between China and DPRK now that they are looking toward Russia," he said. "I think that the quid pro quo relationship amongst the authoritarian colluders ... I think that's going to be there. And I think that's the assailable flank that we have to deal with things early and often." Brunson positively viewed progress in trilateral security cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo, saying that it is "trending upwards strongly." He particularly noted improvement in military exercises and information sharing among the countries. "What those things provide for us is an opportunity that hasn't existed before," he said. He went on to say that if confirmed, he would try to find ways to bring not only Northeast Asian allies together, but also to bring other allies and partners for regional security. Touching on the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group, the allies' nuclear deterrence body, Brunson called it an avenue available to provide the U.S.' security assurance to Seoul. "What I do believe is that the NCG has gone to great lengths to bring us closer to be able to talk about a lot of these issues," he said. He also mentioned South Korea's contributions to the maintenance of facilities at Camp Humphreys, a key U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, about 65 kilometers south of Seoul, when he was asked about the ongoing negotiations between Seoul and Washington over a defense cost-sharing deal. "I am not negotiating that agreement at all. The State Department is well involved in that," he said. "But what I will tell you is ... I've seen Camp Humphreys ... in the housing that's available to our families there, the resources that are available to those families there ... much of that done by the Korean government." Brunson has been commanding I Corps, which is the Army's operational headquarters for the Indo-Pacific. The unit manages the daily activities of more than 40,000 service members across the Indo-Pacific, including personnel stationed in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska, according to the Army. He has served in various key defense positions in both conventional and special operations forces, according to the Army. His operational assignments included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. (Yonhap) By Bereket Alemayehu A strong understanding of our unconscious biases, or "bias literacy," is urgently needed for people to identify fake news, misinformation and disinformation in digital media, according to Choi Su-jin, a professor of media at Kyung Hee University. For many years, she has been researching digital journalism and political communication from the user's perspective to investigate the determinants and consequences of online news authorship verification. One of her research projects highlights the role of psychological motives and behavioral patterns in news authorship verification. The author and co-author of seven books on journalism and media, technology and network analysis met with the Korea Times to share her research and what is needed to improve bias literacy in modern-day news media consumers. What inspired you to investigate the determinants and consequences of online news authorship verification? I do research in digital journalism and political communication from the perspective of general consumers not journalists or politicians. I usually use methods like network analysis and surveys to conduct the research. And recently I have been interested in the news on digital platforms. We found many side effects of digital journalism, and the situation is especially severe in Korea. When I started my search 10 years ago, the digital news market was burgeoning. For more attention and views, news outlets started using sensational and provocative headlines, practicing clickbait journalism for more revenue and survival in the market. The side effects of the rise of digital journalism occurred in the transition phase from print journalism to digital. Because the movement of readers from print to digital was so fast, newspapers had to adapt to the market they were not accustomed to. I thought then, "How can we end the cycle of clickbait journalism?" All of us are addicted to clickbait journalism where media outlets always publish the same news with a slightly different headline. We don't consider whether this is important or not. We just satisfy our search for something without knowing what the search is for. If it arouses some excitement, then we just tend to click it. That was the reason I was thinking of news authorship. The authorship does not necessarily mean who wrote the story. I also mean the publications they write for, as many readers don't care about who writes news, no matter how news-savvy they are. Your research highlights the role of psychological motives and behavioral patterns in news authorship verification. Can you provide more details on which motives and behaviors were most influential? The most interesting finding is that readers who check the authors of the news more trust the media less. That shocked me. I measured credibility by asking people whether they trusted Korean news outlets. I had multiple-choice questions for them to answer, including "Do you think the press is accurate?" "Do you think the press is objective?" "Do you think they are balanced?" "Do you think they are doing in-depth reporting?" and "Do you think they are including diverse perspectives?" I summed up their responses and created a press credibility index. What I found was that the more you check the author of the news, the less likely you are to trust the media and vice versa. This suggests that people who consume news without considering the source tend to trust the media without question. I also checked the relationship the other way around. If you trust the media, do you tend to check the source of the news more? If you blindly consume news, if you don't verify the information, then you might be more susceptible to fake news, disinformation or misinformation. Authorship checking is the most basic level of information verification skill. If you don't have any political perspectives, then you might be less susceptible to those kinds of news reports or information. But if you have a strong political ideology, extreme right or extreme left, your confirmation bias might make you more susceptible to fake news. In the context of the current media landscape, with increasing concerns about fake news and misinformation, how do you see the role of authorship verification evolving as an important tool? What recommendations would you give to news consumers to navigate the complexities of online news? Fake news has been around for a long time. Now the speed has tremendously increased compared to the old days. It's almost every day that people fabricate fake news. What seems to be important is how we distinguish high-quality news from low-quality news. What determines high-quality news? If you think of that, you cannot be deceived by fake news. Completely detecting fake news and eliminating it is impossible. I recommend people to check the who wrote the stories they read be and that is the most basic thing to do. There are also related to verification skills, like cross-checking the information and looking up whether the sources are up to date. But more fundamentally, regarding the fake news phenomenon, we have to understand our bias. I propose the term "bias literacy." These days people say we have to learn artificial intelligence literacy. In the near future, there might be the concept robot literacy on how to live with robots. In the past several years, we had to learn big data literacy, internet literacy and television literacy, over and over and over. So whenever new technology comes up, we always say we have to learn that literacy. But what is literacy? Literacy means understanding the thing in a critical sense. But the literacy we are saying here is not literacy but learning skills. Media technology keeps changing, but what remains the same is bias. Information and news are always present, and our biases are always present. In the current era of information and news, bias literacy is becoming increasingly important. How can news outlets and journalists use your findings to improve their credibility with the public? Are there specific practices or strategies they should adopt? I have researched how people evaluate quality news. The basic question was whether the way people think this news is high quality is similar to what journalists think is high quality. Similar or not similar? That was my question. If journalists think 'this is really good news,' would the general news consumers think it is good work of journalism as well? I asked not the journalist but the editors. And I asked the general public to rate the quality of news articles by reading them. I gave 10 news articles to around 8,000 news readers. Ten news articles for 50 readers, another 50 people, 10 different news articles. I have done that with around 8,000 news readers. Numerous news articles were evaluated. What I found was that journalists and readers agree on what constitutes a high-quality news story and a low-quality article. Of course, the middle ground is mixed. However, there is a general consensus between the two groups, even though one is professional and the other is not. I want to tell journalists that they don't need to write clickbait stories. That might increase your revenue in the short term, but readers will eventually acknowledge the quality of their stories when they produce high-quality news. Did your research explore any cross-cultural differences in how news authorship verification and credibility are perceived? How might your findings apply in different cultural contexts? I am trying to do a project with a Swiss professor who is interested in doing collaborative research involving Korea and Switzerland. We are trying to measure the quality of news produced in the two countries because Switzerland has high press credibility and Korea has low press credibility. Switzerland is a multicultural country, more so than Korea, while Korea has a homogenous culture. Korea only uses the Korean language while Switzerland uses many. If we consider just this, we might think that media outlets in Korea are more credible than those in Switzerland. One would assume there might be less misunderstanding among readers. However, the exact opposite is true. We wanted to determine what differences between the two countries led to this counterintuitive phenomenon. Visit sites.google.com/khu.ac.kr/sujinchoi for more information. Bereket Alemayehu is an Ethiopian photo artist, social activist and writer based in Seoul. He's also the co-founder of Hanokers, a refugee-led social initiative and a freelance contributor for Pressenza Press Agency. Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. By Dale Quarrington Not only are Korean Buddhist temples filled with beautiful buildings and Buddhist artistry, they are also filled with rich religious histories, legends and myths. A wonderful example of this specific sort of legacy can be found at Beomeo Temple on the northeastern foothills of Busan's Mount Geumjeong (801.5 meters). Beomeo Temple was first established in 678 by the famed monk Uisang-daesa (625-702). In English, Beomeo means Nirvana Fish. The name of the temple relates to the mountain on which Beomeo Temple is situated, as Geumjeong means Golden Well in English. This comes from a myth that a golden fish descended from the heavens on a five-colored cloud and played in a well atop Mount Geumjeong. Its believed that this golden well never dries up. As for a legend about Beomeo Temple, for which there are several, there once lived a great monk named Nangbaek during the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty. During this time, Korean Buddhism started to decline as a result of Joseon's anti-Buddhist policies. In those days, temples were often burdened with numerous governmental tasks. Specifically, Beomeo Temple was burdened with 36 of these tasks, which left very little time for the monks to study. Nangbaek was saddened by this situation, so he decided to avoid these tasks, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. He made the vow, In my next life, I will become a high-ranking official in the country. With this privileged position, I will reform the duties imposed on monks at Beomeo Temple. From that day on, he worked hard to perform good deeds to accumulate good karma. Eventually, Nangbaek would die of hunger in the hills behind Beomeo Temple. Decades after Nangbaeks death, a central minister named Sun Sang-guk arrived with a letter announcing his visit to the Beomeo Temple monks. Just as they had waited for local officials before, all the monks, led by the temple's abbot, went out to Eosan Bridge to greet the official. However, this official broke tradition by dismounting at Eosan Bridge. While carefully inspecting Beomeo Temple, this official came to a room that Nangbaek had sealed decades ago before his death. This official commanded that the room be opened. Inside, they found a handwritten note from Nangbaek inside. In this letter, Nangbaek wrote, The one who opens the door is the one who closed it. Upon receiving the abbots hospitality, the official promised to resolve the problems and difficulties that Beomeo Temple was suffering. These, of course, included the 36 duties. Immediately, the official instructed Dongnae to carry out these reforms. While Sun never admitted to being the reincarnation of Nangbaek, he would fulfill the monk's temple reforms. The modern history of Beomeo Temple is particularly intriguing. During the devastating 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule, an itinerant Japanese monk named Soma Shoei (1904-71) lived and practiced at the temple. Soma arrived at Beomeo Temple in late April 1929 in the middle of a three-month retreat for Korean monks. Whats interesting about this time, and in particular both Beomeo Temple and Soma, is that there was an ongoing effort to preserve the Seon (Zen) tradition in Korea from negative Japanese Buddhist influences. Some 35 monks established the Society for Supporting Seon Fellows in 1922. And rather interestingly, Beomeo Temple was a major force in the establishment of this society. Given the temple's significant role in preserving the Seon tradition, it is intriguing why Soma was sent here to practice within this particular setting. Somas first impression when he arrived at Naewon Hermitage (located on the Beomeo Temple grounds) was that as compared to busy temples in Japan, this temple is truly a blessed place for Zen [Seon] practice. Rather interestingly, Soma and the Korean monks communicated by writing in Chinese characters, known as hanja in Korean. This was a classically written language that both sides could at least read, and since Soma didnt know Korean, and the translator had already left the hermitage, this is how the two sides would communicate. Over time, Soma would adjust to the changes found at the Korean temple. He would wake up at 3 a.m., eat spicy food, deal with the humid weather and more. In addition to coping and being included, Soma was also assigned by the temple to help pick mountain vegetables. As for the spicier food that the Korean monks ate, Soma would have the most difficulty with this part of living at a Korean temple. One day while eating the communal meal together, Soma was determined to eat the spiciest dish. With eyes closed, his mouth flamed out like a volcano and his eyes brimmed with tears. Seeing this, a senior Korean monk at the temple recommended that Soma might prefer that the temple provide less spicy food for him. Soma respectfully declined and continued attempting to eat the spicy food that the temple provided. Eventually, he would adapt. At another time, and nearing the end of a three-month-long retreat at Beomeo Temple, there was a ceremony in which five monks at the temple received acute food poisoning. No one knew what to do. Soma retrieved medicine from his belongings that he had brought with him just in case he himself fell ill, which he offered to the sick monks. Eventually, the monks felt better. They were appreciative and Soma was relieved because he wasnt quite sure what effect the medicine would have. After the three-month long retreat was completed, and while other itinerant monks would leave for destinations and temples unknown, Soma would stay at Beomeo Temple for three more years. Despite the political tension between the two nations, both Soma and the Korean monks were able to live in both peace and harmony. Once you peel back the first couple of superficial layers, a whole world of meaning reveals itself, whether thats through the symbolic meaning found in temple architecture or artwork, or whether its through a temples myths, legends and history. And Beomeo Temple in Busan is a wonderful example of the profound meaning locked deep inside the most hallowed of Buddhist temples in Korea. Dale Quarrington has visited over 500 temples throughout the Korean Peninsula and published four books on Korean Buddhism. He runs the website Dale's Korean Temple Adventures. By KTimes Researchers at University College London, four years ago, evaluated deepfake technology as "the most dangerous AI-based crime that could occur over the next 15 years." This assessment was the result of a discussion among 31 experts from academia and law enforcement, who evaluated 18 types of crimes based on factors like potential harm and feasibility. Deepfake technology emerged amidst concerns about its potential misuse in serious crimes. Deepfake crimes, which can create "realistic fakes" in just a few minutes using artificial intelligence, are also on the rise domestically. Deepfakes are not only used in highly controversial sex crimes but also in spreading fake information or impersonating celebrities to commit fraud. Experts argue that while regulating the technology itself is impossible, the time has come to adopt alternatives such as strengthening international cooperation. Misuse of faces of celebrities and ordinary people In February, a 46-second video appeared showing President Yoon Suk Yeol saying, "I am the person who has enforced laws that harass the people." This is one of the most notable examples of deepfake videos targeting politicians in South Korea. Two months later, a man in his 50s who created and distributed the video on social media was arrested for defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act. The use of deepfakes to influence elections is also increasing. According to data obtained by Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Han Byung-do from the National Election Commission (NEC), there were 388 illegal election campaign posts using deepfakes reported during the campaign period for the general elections on April 10. Of these, 97 (25 percent) were not removed despite the NEC's requests. The total number of online violations of the Public Official Election Act also increased significantly, reaching 74,172 cases compared to 1,793 in the 2012 general elections. Celebrities, who are frequently in front of cameras, are also often targeted for such crimes. Last year, a fraud group created deepfake videos of actors Jo In-sung and Song Hye-kyo encouraging investments, luring victims into scams. In February this year, a case in Hong Kong involved the use of a deepfake of an ordinary person's face. According to CNN, an employee of a multinational corporation transferred approximately $25 million after receiving a request from someone they believed to be the chief financial officer. The employee initially suspected the email but relaxed their suspicions upon seeing familiar faces during a video conference with other colleagues. However, the entire video was a deepfake. Difficult to curb technological advancements It is challenging to halt the rapid advancement of deepfake technology itself, as an environment where anyone can easily create and distribute such content is already in place. Kim Min-ho, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University Law School, said, "Deepfakes have existed for several years, but they became a social issue once non-experts could create them easily without cost. Illegal activities should be monitored and cracked down on through distribution networks like Telegram." There is also a growing opinion that people need to be educated on the fact that deepfakes are not merely for fun but can be a serious crime. Crimes involving deepfakes that have already occurred must be strictly monitored through international cooperation. "Deepfakes can spread a climate of distrust in our society, potentially even leading to a crisis of democracy," said Lim Jong-in, a professor emeritus at Korea University's Graduate School of Information Security. "International cooperation is essential, much like how the global community addresses drug crimes." This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times. By Jung Da-hyun Only seven trainee doctors are on duty nationwide to care for high-risk newborns in Korea, raising concerns about the availability of timely treatment for vulnerable infants, according to government data released Wednesday. The number of trainee doctors in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) has dramatically dropped to just seven as of June this year, according to the data the Ministry of Health and Welfare submitted to Rep. Park Hee-seong of the Democratic Party of Korea. This represents a significant decline of 94.3 percent from the 122 trainee doctors reported in 2019. Of the 51 university hospitals across the country, only five currently operate NICUs. Jeju National University Hospital, Busan St. Mary's Hospital and Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital each have just one trainee doctor, while Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital and Daegu Fatima Hospital have two. The decrease in NICU trainee doctors has been significant over recent years, falling from 122 in 2019 to 111 in 2020, 95 in 2021, 88 in 2022, 49 in 2023 and this year, down to just seven. Due to the shortage, some hospitals have reduced the number of available beds. The shortage includes trainee doctors in pediatric care. Furthermore, several hospitals have also experienced a decline in the number of specialists. Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital saw its specialists decrease from seven to four compared to last year, while Jeju National University Hospital saw a reduction from four to two. Chonnam National University Hospital and Chungbuk National University Hospital also saw declines, with specialist numbers falling from six to five and from four to three, respectively. Meanwhile, the percentage of high-risk births requiring treatment is on the rise. The rate of low birth weight babies, defined as those weighing less than 2.5 kilograms, as well as premature births under 37 weeks of gestation and multiple births, continues to increase. The ratio of underweight babies to total births climbed from 19.2 percent in 2019 to 22.9 percent last year, signaling that roughly one in five newborns may require intensive medical care. Park criticized the Yoon Suk Yeol administration for the ongoing medical crisis, stressing that in a country already facing a low birthrate, every birth is precious and that newborn patients must not be overlooked due to the shortage of medical staff. President embarks on trip to Prague with eyes on nuclear plant deal By Lee Hyo-jin President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to visit the Czech Republic, Thursday, to forge a "nuclear energy alliance" with the Central European nation, a strategic move the presidential office apparently hopes will bolster his approval ratings, which recently sank to a record low. The visit, marking the first by a Korean president in nine years, comes after the Czech government selected Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power as the preferred bidder for the 24 trillion won ($17.3 billion) Dukovany nuclear power plant project in July. Diplomacy has been a central element of Yoon's policy agenda, and his previous foreign trips, such as his recent participation in the NATO summit in July, have temporarily eased domestic political pressure. However, political observers suggest that even if Yoon's visit to Prague yields tangible results, it is unlikely to significantly address the growing challenges he faces at home. Yoons four-day itinerary in the Czech Republic will focus on strengthening economic partnerships, with over 50 Korean business leaders including representatives of the country's four largest conglomerates, Samsung, SK, Hyundai and LG accompanying him. On the first day of the visit, Yoon will hold a summit with Czech President Petr Pavel, followed by a joint press conference and an official dinner. Returning home with tangible achievements is crucial for the president as he contends with growing public dissatisfaction with his job performance. According to a Gallup Korea survey released last Friday, Yoon's approval rating has dropped to 20 percent, the lowest since he took office in May 2022. This marks a decline of three percentage points from the previous week, and negative assessments of his performance have reached an all-time high of 70 percent, up three percentage points. Notably, the disapproval rating among individuals aged over 70 who are generally conservative and have been a core part of Yoon's support base has risen to around 50 percent. Political commentator Park Sang-byeong viewed that while securing the nuclear power plant deal during his trip to Prague might provide a temporary boost to Yoons ratings, it is unlikely to fundamentally reverse his declining popularity. "Unless the president addresses the domestic issues fueling public discontent, his ratings will likely continue to decline for the remainder of his term with no bottom in sight. The public has lost trust in his handling of state affairs following his wife's scandals and the botched response to the doctors' strike," he said. One major factor behind Yoons declining popularity is the ongoing standoff between the government and doctors over a medical reform plan introduced in late February. The plan, which seeks to significantly increase medical school quotas, has led to strikes by junior doctors, causing substantial disruptions in medical care. Adding to the president's troubles are scandals involving first lady Kim Keon Hee. She has faced allegations of accepting a Dior handbag as a gift two years ago, as well as claims of her involvement in Deutsche Motors' stock price manipulation between 2009 and 2012. In late August, prosecutors acquitted the first lady of violating anti-graft laws, ruling that the acceptance of the handbag was not related to her husband's official duties. This decision has faced criticism from opposition parties, who argue that prosecutors are being overly lenient toward both the first lady and the prosecutor-turned-president. The first ladys recent public appearances have drawn criticism for being out of touch with the skepticism surrounding her scandals. On Sept. 10, she visited a police station near Mapo Bridge on World Suicide Prevention Day to encourage officers. Dressed casually in a white shirt and jeans, photos released by the presidential office showed Kim being briefed by officers on the bridge. The visit sparked a backlash, especially when an appellate court, two days later, convicted a man surnamed Son of aiding and abetting in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case allegedly involving the first lady. This ruling has reignited political calls for the indictment of the first lady on similar charges. Kim also appeared in a Chuseok holiday greeting video with her husband and their pet dogs. During the holiday, she visited a facility for children with disabilities. "The first lady's visit to Mapo Bridge particularly drew public discontent, with many viewing it as being insensitive, particularly in light of the intensifying controversies surrounding her after prosecutors decided to clear her of charges," Park said. Beyond the first lady's issues, critics say that Yoon's approval ratings are unlikely to recover unless the government swiftly resolves the ongoing standoff with doctors. Although the presidential office, along with the ruling and opposition parties, agreed to form a consultative group to address the matter, little progress has been made as doctors remain steadfast in their positions. Shin Ji-ho, head of the ruling People Power Party's (PPP) strategic planning team, described Yoon's plunging approval ratings as "a state of emergency" for both the government and the party. "What we are witnessing right now is the collapse of the president's core support base. The only solution is to swiftly resolve the ongoing medical crisis. To do that, the government must take a more flexible stance in negotiations with the ruling and opposition parties, even if it means making some concessions," Shin said during an interview with cable news channel YTN, Wednesday. Shim Woo-jung's inauguration ceremony scheduled for Thursday By Kwak Yeon-soo Shim Woo-jung, Korea's new prosecutor general, faces an uphill battle handling various politically sensitive cases, including allegations against first lady Kim Keon Hee and former President Moon Jae-in, all while trying to restore public trust in the countrys scandal-ridden judicial system, according to political watchers, Wednesday. The former vice justice minister stressed the importance of upholding legal principles and maintaining political neutrality. I will do my best to abide by the independence of the prosecution and neutrality from political influences. The prosecution will investigate according to legal principles based on evidence without any other considerations, Shim said during a National Assembly confirmation hearing on Sept. 3. Shim, who assumed the office on Monday, is tasked primarily with completing the investigation into the luxury gift case involving the first lady. The investigation review panel of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, comprising 15 outside experts, recommended against indicting Kim on Sept. 6, concluding that her acceptance of a Dior bag and other gifts from Korean American pastor Choi Jae-young in 2022 was not related to President Yoon Suk Yeols official duties. The panels decision came after prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office decided to drop graft, bribery and other charges against the first lady following a four-month inquiry. However, Choi, who insisted that the gifts were given to Kim in hopes of receiving favors, requested the review committee examine criminal charges. The committee is expected to convene for deliberation on Choi's case on Tuesday, and prosecutors are expected to finalize a decision clearing the first lady of her charges. Another challenge that lies ahead is the probe into the first lady's alleged involvement in manipulating the stock price of Deutsch Motors, a licensed BMW dealership in Korea, between 2009 and 2012. Last Thursday, the Seoul High Court convicted a man, identified only by his surname Son, of aiding and abetting a stock manipulation scheme involving Deutsch Motors. He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for one year. The court also upheld the conviction of Kwon Oh-soo, former chairman of Deutsche Motors, for using insider information to induce purchases of the company's stocks. The court sentenced Kwon to three years in prison, suspended for four years. He was also fined 500 million won ($376,843). The ruling is likely to pose legal challenges for Kim, who was accused of allowing the stock-price manipulators to use her bank accounts. An investigation into bribery allegations involving Moon is expected to ignite a political firestorm. Prosecutors have identified the former president as a suspect in a bribery case, alleging that his former son-in-law received preferential treatment in securing a job at Thai Eastar Jet in exchange for arranging a government position for the low-cost carriers founder. The Jeonju District Prosecutors Office is leading the investigation into Moons potential involvement in the bribery case. Separately, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is investigating an allegation that former first lady Kim Jung-sook, Moon's wife, spent a large sum of taxpayer money to fund her solo trip to India in 2018. The opposition parties have decried the accusations as politically motivated. In a counterattack against prosecutors, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been attempting to impeach the prosecutors involved in the bribery probe into Moon. The move comes after the DPK called for impeaching four prosecutors, including those involved in the corruption investigation into Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the party chairman who has been indicted on charges of corruption and breach of trust. The DPK is also looking to pass a bill mandating a special counsel probe targeting the first lady at today's plenary session. Lets concentrate our efforts so that the prosecution can fulfill its duty of protecting citizens from crimes, Shim said in the remarks on his first day of work. His appointment ceremony is scheduled for Thursday. By Park Gi-hyun Patience is vital but sometimes an evasive virtue when persistently negative conditions would deter us from imagining better days ahead. Continuing unfavorable events have often driven us to exhaustion as they do not seem to abate. Some of the current global and domestic challenges appear to have no end in sight. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are seemingly ceaseless. I still vividly remember the moment when I first heard about the outbreak of the wars, which was actually a long time ago. At first, the horrors of the war gripped me with fear and caught my attention repeatedly. As the wars stay with us for many months, I have become insensitive to terrible news from the war zones. Recently, thousands of Israelis took to the streets to express their anger at Netanyahus protracted negotiations, mourning the recent death of six hostages. This news really frightened me because one of the killed hostages was Hersh Goldberg-Polin. He was the symbol of Israel in captivity due to his courageous and steadfast parents, who had been vocal about the release of hostages since the start of the war. With daily struggles to stay alive, hunger and infectious diseases have trapped civilians, and their hope for a better future is diminishing. Despite these hardships, sadly, the fighting does not show signs of ending anytime soon. In Korea, we are experiencing a new wave of COVID-19, which has long plagued us since 2020. Nowadays, I regularly receive the governments emergency mobile alerts urging me to keep safe from infection amid a spike in cases. Staying indoors to avoid heat resulted in speeding up virus transmission and prompting worries of another awful outbreak. Fortunately, a story published in The Korea Times on Aug. 28 excerpted a quote from health authorities that this infectious disease is estimated to have passed its peak, with the weekly number of the virus inpatients dropping 20 percent last week. As the World Health Organization defines COVID-19 as a continuing pandemic, I should admit that the virus will never go away. The fact that the contagious disease will surely linger beyond prompts me to do my part every day to ward off disease as long as possible. This year, we have directly experienced the longest streak of tropical nights, a phenomenon when the night temperature never falls below 25 degrees Celsius overnight. I had to resort to air conditioning through the night for many days, wondering when I could sleep well without it. Although I normally endure heat well, the last few nights were unbearably hot. As it proves, the state weather agency said we had the longest number of hot nights, which far exceeded the usual record. Thankfully, the nighttime has become moderately cool early this month, even though the daytime temperatures are still high. I see the end of sweltering nights, but I carefully expect this phenomenon to come back at this time of year since we are destined to experience more negative effects of global warming. Indeed, wars, diseases and unusual weather will remain perpetually for a while. The writer (faith0906@gmail.com) is keen to explore the world outside the office and loves to weave a story of our daily lives. By Kim Ji-soo This summer travel season, numerous repeat visits figured prominently in Korean tourism news narrative. One Korean travel agency, Hana Tour, which in August surveyed which destinations Koreans favored for a second or third visit, found through its review of 2,000 reply posts indicated that 28 percent favored Japan, 11 percent Vietnam, 7 percent Thailand and 7 percent France. The weak Japanese yen, hovering around 800 to 950 yen to the Korean won during the summer months, made Japan an attractive destination for many young Koreans. The allure of such an affordable trip so close by increased the number of Korean travelers to Japan even in August amid reports of earthquakes and typhoons. On the popular Korean platform Naver, daily uploads by Korean travelers of shopping lists or attractions visited on their third or fourth trips engaged viewers just as if they were there. This writer went on a repeat visit to Japan in August, after one the month before. I justified it as the city holds a special place of sorts. Having attended a summer school in college there as a beneficiary of a scholarship for students from Asia, Tokyo is where I met some of my lifelong friends. Traveling alone, usually on Korean budget airlines and staying at Japanese business hotels for three days, there was nothing demanding or dangerous about the trip. One could easily book and pay online, and services were safe. Be forewarned, however, when you book online trips that do not have a designated trip manager's name, be sure to read all the fine print regarding cancellations in case of missing a flight or no-shows. It can be very difficult to speak with an actual person to help you should an issue arise. Visiting the same city of Tokyo twice in two months, it was indeed a bit different how the same place looked different. You notice more than just the shops, restaurants and attractions. You get to see its people the quiet, orderly and "it cannot be helped" calmness even amid the concrete-melting heat of Tokyo. You get to feel the prowess of the labyrinth-like connectivity of its subways and trains, the manufacturing prowess even as you feel the fluctuating yen biting into your tourist budget. But as many Koreans throng the streets, one cannot help but feel that no matter how the bilateral relationship suffers, person-to-person exchanges are blossoming like never before. The question, however, about the state of the relationship between the two countries, as the two will be marking the 60th year of normalization of ties in 2025, is another matter. Over the past few years, ties have improved. It was invariably helped by the trilateral summit between U.S. President Joe Biden, President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, which was held in Washington in 2023, prompted by the need to counter Chinas surging power as well as rein in North Korea. The soon-to-be outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Kishida visited South Korea, meeting with President Yoon early this month, agreeing to focus on strategies to ensure the sustainable advancement of bilateral relations. The two also agreed, among other things, to streamline the pre-entry visa screening process to facilitate easier travel between the two countries. Tokyo also provided Seoul with a partial list of Korean workers who were aboard the Ukishima Maru naval transport vessel that sank off Kyushu Prefecture in 1945 while repatriating Koreans from Japan. Nevertheless, the sense is that Japan has not reciprocated with appropriate measures to President Yoon's bold moves to improve relations, including concessions on sensitive issues such as the forced labor of Korean workers during World War II. Both countries have come a long way, long enough to bolster the courage to be sincere in addressing historical issues. The writer is a member of the editorial board. Allies should resolutely address Pyongyang's nuclear build-up With less than 50 days until the U.S. presidential election, North Korea is intensifying its provocations. On the final day of the Chuseok holiday, North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missile (SRBMs) toward the northeast. This missile launch was the second in a week marked by provocative actions, including the unusual release of images showing centrifuges used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. North Korea allowed international experts to visit its Yongbyon centrifuge facility in 2010, but behind closed doors. By publicly sharing these images now, North Koreas actions suggest a more aggressive and multifaceted approach to its threats, raising serious concerns. By openly displaying images of its centrifuges and launching SRBMs, North Korea is clearly defying multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that prohibit nuclear weapons development. These actions seem aimed at gaining leverage with the United States ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election. Some experts suggest that North Korea may be pushing for recognition as a nuclear state, positioning any future negotiations with the U.S. as discussions on arms reduction rather than disarmament. North Koreas escalating brinkmanship is particularly alarming, amid the tense geopolitical climate, especially as it mirrors Russia's aggressive posture, heightening threats to global peace. In a twist of timing, Russias former defense minister and current Security Council secretary, Sergei Shoigu, met with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang last Friday, further deepening concerns about potential strategic alignments between the two nations. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said that on his visit to the site, Kim urged workers to produce more materials for tactical nuclear weapons, and said that the weapons were intended for "self-defense and the capability for preemptive attack." Various experts were cited as noting that the photo showed enhanced separation capabilities, and a cascade system to achieve highly enriched uranium. The location of the new centrifuges is unclear, but the new facility is suspected to be one of five or six sites in the North to enrich uranium. An expansion of North Korea's nuclear stockpile threatens not only the security of the Korean Peninsula but also global stability. In June, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that Pyongyang possesses around 50 nuclear warheads and has enough material to produce an additional 40, further raising concerns about the region's fragile security balance. Despite various proposals offered by President Yoon Suk Yeol, including the recent Unification Doctrine, Pyongyang has remained silent. Seoul and Washington must firmly reiterate their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and make it clear to North Korea that any further provocations often termed an "October surprise" designed to strain or challenge their alliance will ultimately harm Pyongyang's own interests. Seoul and Washington should make it clear that they will not tolerate such reckless pursuits of nuclear weapons. Regardless of who wins the U.S. presidential election in November, the two allies must adhere to the denuclearization principle. Unfortunately, both the Democratic and Republican parties have left the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula out of their 2024 platforms. It is crucial that the next U.S. administration lets North Korea know that the goal of denuclearization remains a steadfast priority, ensuring the regime understands that this objective is non-negotiable. Yoon and his administration must carefully monitor and evaluate the motives and political calculations behind the recent wave of North Korean provocations. Currently, the two Koreas are engaged in a loudspeaker war along the border, with North Korean balloons filled with trash drifting southward. The Seoul government should address this escalation on multiple fronts: collaborating with the incoming U.S. administration to reaffirm denuclearization goals for the Korean Peninsula, while also seeking dialogue with the North to discuss reducing tensions. By Park Jung-won In the United States, excitement about Novembers presidential election is heating up across the country. However, from South Koreas perspective, there's a very concerning point amid this fever. During the Democratic National Convention last month, a newly adopted party platform was announced, from which the phrase North Korean denuclearization was omitted. In the Republican Party platform released in July, not only was there no mention of denuclearization, but there was also a complete lack of references to the Korean Peninsula or North Korea. The principle of Complete, Verifiable and Irreversible Denuclearization (CVID) of North Korea, once upheld by both parties in the past, is nowhere to be found. In 2020, the Democratic Party platform stated it would establish a sustained and cooperative diplomatic campaign to advance the long-term goal of North Korea's denuclearization. However, in the current platform, the emphasis has shifted from denuclearization to alliances. It states that President Joe Biden, along with allies, has worked to address the threats posed by North Korea's development of nuclear and missile programs, which violate U.N. Security Council resolutions. It highlights strengthening trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond. Of course, party-platform policies, announced every four years, are aimed primarily at American voters to win the presidential election, and thus have a strong domestic focus. The Democrats clarified that the omission doesnt mean that a new Democratic government would abandon that goal. Kamala Harris, the Democratic Partys presidential candidate, has also sharply criticized North Koreas Kim Jong-un, emphasizing that if she becomes president, there will be no dealings with dictators like him. Nevertheless, the absence of North Korean denuclearization in the Democratic Party's new platform indicates a shift in sentiment within the United States. This suggests that a growing realism, acknowledging the impossibility of North Korean denuclearization, may influence future policies even if the next administration is led by the Democrats. In other words, the focus is shifting from denuclearization to managing North Korea's nuclear capabilities, as both Democrats and Republicans increasingly view denuclearization as unattainable. Essentially, the consensus seems to be forming that the U.S. should not waste its national strength on what seems to be an unachievable goal. The U.S. cannot go to war with North Korea to eliminate its nuclear arsenal, and imposing economic sanctions would likely be ineffective, as Russia and China would discreetly support North Korea, allowing the regime to endure. Some U.S. security experts argue that instead of clinging to the unrealistic goal of denuclearization, entering into nuclear arms reduction negotiations with North Korea would be more practical. They believe it would be better to prevent North Korea from exporting nuclear weapons. However, if arms reduction negotiations were to occur, effectively acknowledging North Koreas nuclear capabilities, countries like South Korea and Japan, feeling directly threatened, might seek their own nuclear weapons, leading to a nuclear domino effect. This is the critical conundrum confronting the U.S. In this situation, South Korea should be the most alarmed. It must thoroughly understand the essence of this issue and establish effective measures for its own security. North Korea possesses nuclear weapons aimed at South Korea; although it also has the capability to strike the U.S, is there a real possibility it would do so? Yet, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs insists that the international communitys resolve for North Korean denuclearization remain firm, and that they will consistently pursue denuclearization through deterrence and dialogue based on South Korea-U.S. cooperation. Doesnt this statement from the South Korean foreign ministry now sound out of step with current circumstances? North Korea has consistently used its nuclear capabilities to threaten other countries, and continues launching missiles and conducting tests to enhance those capabilities. Throughout this time, they have persistently pursued their goals. North Korea is aiming to be tacitly recognized on the international stage as a nuclear-armed state, like India and Pakistan. Particularly, they believe that if Donald Trump becomes the next U.S. president, he will naturally address the threat that North Korean nuclear weapons pose to the U.S. mainland, leading to a small deal that acknowledges the Norths nuclear capabilities. Both Koreas in 1991 signed the Joint Declaration of Denuclearization, which states that neither South nor North Korea would enrich uranium, reprocess it or develop or deploy nuclear weapons. However, North Korea has long since rendered this agreement void by pursuing and possessing nuclear weapons persistently, even at the moment of signing. Trump is overtly trying to make a deal with North Korea, while Harris, though emphasizing the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, is aware that North Korean denuclearization is impossible. In this context, what should South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol do? It is time for President Yoon, who has been vocal about eliminating internal threats and protecting South Koreas liberal democratic order, to honestly present a conclusion to the public on this issue. Is South Korea nothing more than a puppet incapable of shaping its own destiny? If not, isnt it time to act? Yoon should honestly acknowledge to the public that North Korean denuclearization is impossible and clearly state how South Korea will proceed in a situation where the Norths nuclear weapons will never disappear. If a nuclear attack from North Korea occurs, it will already be too late, and South Korea will be devastated. What purpose would a counterattack have after that? However, as observed in Yoons recent press conference, unfortunately, he doesnt seem to have any intention of doing so. Is Yoon, who seems to waste time chanting denuclearization while helplessly watching the U.S. shake its head at the idea, truly a conservative leader who prioritizes national security? He should stop misleading the public by insisting on the unrealizable delusion of North Korean denuclearization and instead find a more realistic strategy. Park Jung-won (park_jungwon@hotmail.com), Ph.D. in law from the London School of Economics (LSE), is a professor of international law at Dankook University. CEO vows to continue supplying top-quality, safety-ensured batteries through close collaboration with customers By Kang Seung-woo Samsung SDI is showcasing its lineup of next-generation batteries optimized for electric commercial vehicles at IAA Transportation 2024 in Hanover, Germany, the company said, Wednesday. The lineup includes the latest lithium iron phosphate (LFP)-plus battery, all-solid-state battery and 46-phi cylindrical battery. The event, first launched in 1897, kicked off Tuesday (local time) and will run through Sunday. Since 1991, the IAA event has been held every year, alternating each year between commercial vehicles in Hanover and consumer vehicles in Munich. For this years IAA event which is dedicated to the commercial vehicle sector, Samsung SDI introduces its LFP-plus battery product that is optimized for electric commercial vehicles. Samsungs LFP-plus battery, applied with a novel electrode technology, has 10 percent higher energy density than previous LFP batteries. A commercial vehicle equipped with Samsungs LFP-plus battery can complete more than 1,400 round trips between Hanover and Frankfurt, thanks to its extended lifespan. The battery can be charged up to 80 percent in just 20 minutes as per the latest charging technology, which is essential for long-range driving. In addition, Samsung SDI has applied its proprietary No Thermal Propagation technology to further enhance the safety of the LFP-plus battery. Samsung SDI has completed the development of the LFP-plus battery, and is currently discussing mass-production plans with multiple customers. The global market for commercial electric vehicles is viewed as having significant growth potential as environmental regulations on engine-based commercial vehicles become more stringent in Europe and North America. According to market researcher SNE Research, the market for commercial electric vehicles is forecast to grow from 47 gigawatt-hours in 2024 to 177 gigawatt-hours in 2030, growing by 25 percent annually. Samsung SDI has always been striving to lead the electric vehicle market based on differentiated technological prowess, Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho said. The company will continue working closely with major customers around the world to provide top-quality and safety-ensured battery products. At IAA 2024, visitors can also check out Samsung SDIs All Solid Battery (ASB) and 46-phi cylindrical battery. Samsungs ASB sporting its proprietary anode-less technology is under development for mass production by 2027, aiming to provide the industrys highest energy density. The company has sent out ASB samples to multiple customers to work on commercialization as planned. Samsung also plans to release its 46-phi cylindrical batteries for micro-mobility applications early next year, a year ahead of initial plans. As an eco-friendly business, Samsung SDI exhibits its efforts for and commitment to the environmental, social and corporate governance principles for its partners and suppliers, such as the well-established closed-loop ecosystem, at the IAA booth. MBK, Young Poong justify attempt to oust chairman By Park Jae-hyuk A conflict between Young Poongs founding families over Korea Zincs management rights has intensified, with politicians now expressing concerns over the involvement of MBK Partners in the power struggle. Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-gyum and the citys council members have leveled criticism at the private equity firm (PEF), which has joined hands with Young Poong to inherit its position as Korea Zincs largest shareholder and oust Choi Yun-beom from the chairmanship of the smelting company, which has a factory in the southeastern port city. I want 1.2 million residents of Ulsan to buy Korea Zincs shares, just as they carried out a campaign to acquire SKs stocks two decades ago to protect the conglomerate from a foreign hedge fund, the mayor said during a press conference, Wednesday, two days after he issued a statement alleging that MBK is backed by Chinese capital. In response, MBK and Young Poong dismissed concerns over the PEFs plan to manage Korea Zinc, emphasizing alleged irregularities involving Choi. Founded in 2005 in compliance with the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, MBK is a domestic PEF under the supervision of the Korean financial authorities, the PEF said in a press release. We will help Korea Zinc fulfill its social responsibility as an Ulsan-based company. MBK agreed last Thursday to acquire 50 percent plus one share of Young Poong's 33.1 percent stake in Korea Zinc and launched a tender offer of up to 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) last Friday to become the largest shareholder of Korea Zinc. The proposal came as the Korea Zinc chairman, who is the grandson of Young Poong co-founder Choi Ki-ho, has been at odds with Young Poong adviser Chang Hyung-jin, the son of another co-founder, Chang Byung-hee. Since taking control of Korea Zinc in 2022, Choi has sought independence from Young Poong, despite the history of the Choi family overseeing Korea Zinc and the Chang family managing Young Poong's electronics affiliates. On Tuesday, Rep. Park Hee-seong of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea claimed that MBKs tender offer is a hostile takeover, sharing the view of a group of Korea Zincs minority shareholders who credit Choi with delivering solid earnings and boosting the companys stock price. Korea Zinc also described MBK as a corporate raider and criticized Young Poong for polluting the neighborhood of its smelter in Seokpo, Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province. In response, MBK and Young Poong said that it is inappropriate to describe the tender offer as a hostile takeover, considering the fact that Young Poong and the Chang family hold a 33.1 percent stake in Korea Zinc, more than double the 15.6 percent stake held by the Choi family. They added that Hyundai Motor, Hanwha and LG, which are among the major shareholders of Korea Zinc, are not on Choi's side, as the companies have not disclosed their intentions to exercise their voting rights in his favor. Those companies only mentioned their business partnerships with Korea Zinc, the PEF said. Meritz Securities analyst Jang Jae-hyeok forecasted that it is unlikely for Korea Zinc to match the financial strength of MBK and Young Poong. Market insiders expect the escalating tensions to raise Korea Zincs stock price further. Last Friday, Korea Zincs stock price soared sharply, surpassing 660,000 won, MBKs tender offer price. It closed at 666,000 won, an increase of 19.78 percent compared to the previous trading day. Heads of Hyundai, SK, LG seek deeper ties in mobility, battery, eco-friendly energy By Lee Min-hyung The heads of Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG will accompany President Yoon Suk Yeol during his state visit to the Czech Republic to deepen their alliances in regard to nuclear energy and other major tech sectors, industry officials said Wednesday. Yoon will embark on the four-day trip to the Central European country, Thursday, as part of his sales diplomacy efforts to finalize Koreas ongoing bid to secure a nuclear energy construction project there. As part of a 24 trillion won ($18 billion) project, a group of South Korea's state-run and private companies will construct two nuclear reactors in Dukovany. Koreas business delegation includes Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo. There is curiosity over whether the Samsung chief will be able to initiate a semiconductor partnership with the Czech Republic. Lee attended the closing ceremony of WorldSkills Lyon 2024 in the French city, Sunday (local time). Samsung is the official sponsor of the biennial tech event. We will spare no efforts in supporting the sustainable growth of young tech talent, even if they do not attend college, as they are the key driving force for Korea, Lee said. He then flew to Poland and spent three days until Wednesday inspecting the firms local research and production facilities. Lee is expected to fly to the Czech Republic from Poland to join the delegation. Hyundai Motor Group has displayed a strong commitment to the European country by donating 600 million won to flood-hit areas there. The Czech Republic is the carmakers largest manufacturing base in Europe. The firms factory sold around 270,000 vehicles across Europe in 2008 when it first started its operations. The figure has soared to more than 530,000 annually. Its manufacturing facility there was fundamental to the carmaker achieving its landmark sales performance in Europe. The company expects its accumulated sales in Europe to surpass 5 million by the end of 2025. The factory will run a special donation website to encourage more of its workers to participate in the social campaign. The donation will go to a nonprofit organization. The carmaker has also offered five vehicles for relief activities in flood-stricken areas. The head of the carmaker is expected to inspect the manufacturing base during his upcoming trip. There is also a possibility for him to expand the company's investment in the facility and widen the groups presence in the country. Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won, who is also the chairman of SK Group, will preside over a business forum co-hosted by the KCCI and its counterpart in the Czech Republic on Friday. SK Group currently has no close business ties with the European nation, but it is open to the possibility of expanding its connections in promising tech sectors, such as batteries and energy. The head of LG is also expected to seek future business opportunities there. LG Group has decades of experience operating its consumer electronics business in the Czech Republic, and the country is also sending repeated requests to LG Energy Solution for investments in a battery factory there. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding some 2,800 in blasts the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the wave of explosions, which came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah along its border with Lebanon. The blasts "killed nine people, including a girl," Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. He added that some "2,800 people were injured, about 200 of them critically" with injuries mostly reported to the face, hands and stomach. The 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member was killed in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley when his pager exploded, the family and a source close to the group said. A son of Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar was also among the dead, a source close to the group told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Tehran's ambassador in Beirut was wounded in a pager explosion but his injuries were not serious, Iranian state media reported. The influx of so many casualties all at once overwhelmed hospitals in Hezbollah strongholds. At one hospital in Beirut's southern suburbs, an AFP correspondent saw people being treated in a car park on thin mattresses, with medical gloves on the ground and ambulance stretchers covered in blood. "In all my life I've never seen someone walking on the street... and then explode," said Musa, a resident of the southern suburbs, requesting to be identified only by his first name. U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert denounced in a statement "an extremely concerning escalation," urging all sides to refrain from any action "which could trigger a wider conflagration that nobody can afford." Hezbollah blamed Israel for the blasts and warned it would be punished. "We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression," the group said in a statement, adding that Israel "will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression." The United States, Israel's top arms provider and close ally, was "not involved" and "not aware of this incident in advance," said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. The afternoon blasts hit Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon and dealt a heavy blow to the militant group, which already had concerns about the security of its communications after losing several key commanders to targeted air strikes in recent months. Analysts said Israeli intelligence services had somehow managed to infiltrate the supply chain used by Hezbollah for its pagers. Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute said: "This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override. A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page." Israel's spy agency "Mossad infiltrated the supply chain," he said. A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source." Early Tuesday, Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hezbollah along its border with Lebanon. To date, Israel's objectives have been to crush Hamas and bring home the hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack that sparked the war. "The political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war" to include "the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement. Since October, the unabating exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon have forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes. Not formally declared as a war by Israel, the exchanges of fire have killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens including soldiers on the Israeli side. On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned that failing a political solution, "military action" would be "the only way left to ensure the return" of displaced residents to the border area. "The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas," Gallant's office quoted him as telling visiting U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein. Netanyahu later told Hochstein he was seeking a "fundamental change" in the security situation on Israel's northern border. Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said at the weekend that his group had "no intention of go" but that "there will be large losses on both sides" in the event of all-out conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due this week back in the region to try to revive stalled ceasefire talks for the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. After months of mediated negotiations failed to pin down a ceasefire, Washington has said it was still working with mediators Qatar and Egypt to finalise an agreement. U.S. officials have expressed increasing frustration with Israel as Netanyahu has publicly rejected U.S. assessments that a deal is nearly complete and has insisted on an Israeli military presence on the Egypt-Gaza border. The Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,252 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths. On Tuesday, U.N. member states were debating a draft resolution demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian territories within 12 months. General Assembly resolutions are not binding, but Israel has already denounced the new text as "disgraceful." In Gaza, rescuers said several Israeli air strikes killed at least seven people overnight. (AFP) Israel's Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters. The operation was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others, including the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters. The senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country earlier this year. The senior Lebanese security source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AP924, which like other pagers wirelessly receive and display text messages but cannot make telephone calls. Hezbollah fighters have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking, two sources familiar with the group's operations told Reuters this year. But the senior Lebanese source said the devices had been modified by Israel's spy service "at the production level." "The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner," the source said. The source said 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives. Another security source told Reuters that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone "undetected" by Hezbollah for months. Neither Israel nor Gold Apollo immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo, based in Taipei. Hezbollah was reeling from the attack, which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead. One Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation was the group's "biggest security breach" since the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas erupted on Oct. 7. "This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades," said Jonathan Panikoff, the U.S. government's former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East. In February, Hezbollah drew up a war plan that aimed to address gaps in the group's intelligence infrastructure. Around 170 fighters had already been killed in targeted Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including one senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut. In a televised speech on Feb. 13, the group's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah sternly warned supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, saying they should break, bury or lock them in an iron box. Instead, the group opted to distribute pagers to Hezbollah members across the group's various branches from fighters to medics working in its relief services. The explosions maimed many Hezbollah members, according to footage from hospitals reviewed by Reuters. Wounded men had injuries of varying degrees to the face, missing fingers and gaping wounds at the hip where the pagers were likely worn. "We really got hit hard," said the senior Lebanese security source, who has direct knowledge of the group's probe into the explosions. The pager blasts came at a time of mounting concern about tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October. While the war in Gaza has been Israel's main focus since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas-led gunmen, the precarious situation along Israel's northern border with Lebanon has fueled fears of a regional conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran. A missile barrage by Hezbollah the day after Oct. 7 opened the latest phase of conflict and since then there have been daily exchanges of rockets, artillery fire and missiles, with Israeli jets striking deep into Lebanese territory. Hezbollah has said it does not seek a wider war but would fight if Israel launched one. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that the window was closing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon. Still, experts said they did not see the pager blasts as a sign that an Israeli ground offensive was imminent. Instead, it was a sign of Israeli intelligence's apparently deep penetration of Hezbollah. "It demonstrates Israel's ability to infiltrate its adversaries in a remarkably dramatic way," said Paul Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the U.S. intelligence community, mainly at the CIA. (Retuers) 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. Two years after leaving Apink, Son Naeun opened up on why she left the group and updated on her relationship with the active members. Does she keep in touch with them? On Sept. 17th, idol-turned-actress Naeun held an interview with the K-media outlet Newsis to commemorate the successful wrap-up of her Netflix drama "Romance in the House." During the interview, what caught K-pop fans' attention was her talking about Apink, the group where she debuted in 2011 before fully transitioning into an actress in 2022. At the time, she celebrated the group's 10th-anniversary album by participating only in the MV and song recordings but didn't join the promotions. She left two months later. After that, Naeun received massive criticism for parting ways with the team to focus on her acting career, when other members like Jung Eunji, Bomi, and Hayoung could still do both. Regarding this, Naeun explained in the interview: "I don't feel wronged. I filmed all the music videos for our 10th-anniversary album, but my schedule didn't allow me to do it (promote within the group). I felt sorry for the members and the fans, and I was also disappointed. We were a team that I spent a long time with in my teens and 20s, so it remains a beautiful and precious memory." READ ALSO: Apink Chorong Indirectly Reacts on Son Na Eun & Yookyung's Departure from Group She continued: "Now is the time for me to show where I belong. We've been together for a long time so I really wanted to stay together until the end, but there were parts where I had to accept that it didn't work out that way. Rather than being upset, I decided to let it go." When asked if she's still in contact with Apink, Naeun confessed that she no longer keeps in touch with the members personally, but she expressed her love to them by revealing that she continues to support them on the sideline. "I'm not in contact with (the members) right now, but I'm cheering them on as a fan. Eunji's work (Miss Night and Day) went well, and I felt good that I was the one to pass the baton. I'm going to look for all the members' releases. They're all working hard, and I'm cheering them from the bottom of my heart." RELATED ARTICLE: Son Na Eun Faces Backlash For 'Lacking' Acting Skills Why Is SNSD YoonA Being Mentioned? For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dela Cruz Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. By Mata Press Mayors, First Nations leaders, and law enforcement officials are intensifying their calls for action from the Federal Government to address what they are calling dual "crises" of public safety and mental health across the province. They have sent an urgent appeal letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which demands immediate, transformative steps on three key fronts: mental health care, bail reform, and enhanced policing. In a news conference this week, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, alongside other mayors, First Nations leaders, and law enforcement figures, announced the appeal, underscoring the mounting pressures facing their communities. The letter, co-signed by 10 mayors, three First Nations leaders, Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer, and other prominent figures, advocates for mandatory care for individuals suffering from severe mental health and addiction disorders. Additionally, it calls for meaningful bail reforms for repeat offenders and heightened security at Metro Vancouvers ports to stem the flow of illicit drugs and stolen vehicles. Sim emphasized that the province is at a breaking point. We cant afford to let this continue any longer, he said. We cant afford to let people fall through the cracks. The number of individuals battling severe mental health and addiction issues, who pose a risk to themselves and others due to a lack of adequate care, has reached a critical point. Sim outlined three critical areas where immediate support and action are needed from the federal government: Provincial Mandatory Care and Federal Support: Mandatory care is urgently needed to address the escalating mental health and addictions crisis. Urgent action is needed by the Federal Government to provide legal and financial support to Provinces as they implement mandatory care for individuals with severe mental health and substance use disorders. Meaningful Bail Reform for Repeat Offenders: To safeguard public safety, both the provincial and federal governments must take swift action to reform bail conditions, ensuring that repeat offenders who pose a threat to communities are kept off the streets. A Federal Plan to Secure Our Ports: A national strategy is needed to secure Vancouvers and the regions ports and stop the flow of illicit drugs from coming in and the export of stolen vehicles. The calls for reform come as both the provincial and federal governments face mounting pressure ahead of upcoming elections, where public safety and healthcare will undoubtedly be front-and-center issues. Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer, speaking at the same press conference, highlighted the toll this "revolving door of justice" has taken on public safety. While crime rates have generally been trending downward in Vancouver, Palmer cautioned that these statistics provide cold comfort to residents, particularly when repeat offenders with severe mental health issues are released on bail, only to commit further violent acts. He stressed that a new approach is essential to protect both the public and individuals in severe mental health crises who may pose a risk to themselves and others. Police need the right tools to keep dangerous offenders off Vancouvers streets. This includes meaningful bail reform and secure care for people suffering from significant mental health issues who pose a danger to the community. Stronger federal and provincial support is essential to protect our residents and uphold the safety of our city, said Palmer. Beyond mental health and public safety, the coalition also addressed the growing concerns around the Metro Vancouver ports, which they say have become a conduit for illegal drugs and stolen vehicles. Chief Palmer noted that without stronger federal policing at the ports, the flow of illicit goods into and out of the province would continue to fuel crime and exacerbate the public safety crisis. Everyone deserves parks, neighbourhoods, and streets where they feel safe. By offering compassionate support to those facing severe mental health challenges and ensuring repeat offenders don't threaten public safety, we can keep our shared spaces welcoming for all, said Nicole MacDonald, Mayor of Pitt Meadows This is about doing what is right for our communities. We need action from the federal government that prioritizes public safety with a national strategy that also provides appropriate care and support to those who need it most, said Brad West, Mayor of Port Coquitlam The status quo is simply not acceptable. We need more crown prosecutors and bail reform that keeps repeat offenders off our streets and protects our residents. We also need to do a better job triaging patients with severe mental health issues, said Simon Yu, Mayor of Prince George. For years, the City of Kelowna has been a vocal advocate for improved and better pathways to healthcare for individuals in crisis, including for compassionate mandatory care. By working together, with pace and purpose, I am confident that, together, we can build a system that prioritizes both public safety and compassionate, dignified care, said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas. Our first responders have been on the front lines of this crisis since day one. We have seen firsthand how the current system is inadequate. These measures will not only help the most at-risk individuals in our city but will also support our firefighters by giving them the tools they need to serve Vancouverites, said Karen Fry, Chief of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Securing our ports is not just a Vancouver issue, its a national issue. We need the federal government to take crime seriously and stop illicit substances from entering our province, said Delta Mayor George Harvie. The safety of our communities, not just in British Columbia, but across Canada, is at stake. The federal government has a role to play in ensuring our communities are safe and those struggling with mental health and addictions are supported, said Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley. New Caledonia in the South Pacific has experienced ongoing unrest since May with holidaymakers once again warned against visiting as tensions rise. Updated travel advice for Australians is to avoid travelling to New Caledonia with new fears protests and riots could once again increase. Source: AFP Aussies travelling to New Caledonia, an island in the South Pacific, have been warned to reconsider their travel plans as ongoing tensions and crime across the nation continue. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade this week updated its travel advice, warning holidaymakers to avoid unnecessary travel to the French archipelago, which is a popular stop for many cruise lines from Australia. "Reconsider your need to travel to New Caledonia due to ongoing civil unrest and travel disruptions," the Smart Traveller website warned on Tuesday. The department warned "demonstrations and protests may increase leading up to a national public holiday on 24 September," amid ongoing political tensions which reached alarming heights in May when riots erupted across the nation. The islands nightly curfew, previously between 10pm and 5am, will be now be enforced between 6pm and 6am, as it was earlier this year, with an increased police and security presence. "Security incidents, including arson and carjacking continue across the country. Political demonstrations and protests may turn violent at short notice. Avoid demonstrations and public gatherings. Essential services are impacted. Continue to follow the advice of local authorities," the government body warns. State of emergency in Noumea Violence across the island nation first erupted in May after a bill was passed allowing more French residents to cast ballots in provincial elections. Indigenous people have long sought independence from France. At least six people died and hundreds more were been injured. At the time, the unrest forced domestic and international airports to shut and cruise ships including P&O wiping Noumea and Lifou from their itinerary. Flights in and out were cancelled too, leaving holidaymakers stranded. It's understood no cruise ships have been sailing to New Caledonia since the unrest began in May, this includes P&O Cruises Australia and Carnival Cruise Lines. "Carnival Corporation and plc brands are continuing to closely monitor the situation in New Caledonia. We are liaising with the Australian government, local authorities, and our partners in New Caledonia about when we can resume calls to Noumea and Lifou," a spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia on Wednesday. Australia has urged people to reconsider their need to travel to the South Pacific territory. Source: Delphine Mayeur/AFP (taken in May). In May, hundreds of Aussies were trapped on the island and unable to get home. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia at the time, Sydney woman Sarah Melrose said she felt "unsafe" holed up in her remote island accommodation with "limited food" and little communication from authorities. The 35-year-old travelled to Noumea, the nation's capital, before making her way to a smaller island, Isle of Pines, with two friends where they remained for weeks until domestic travel was reinstated. Now, security incidents, including arson and carjacking continue across the country, Smart Traveller warned this week. While La Tontouta International Airport is still accessible by road, this can change at short notice, current travellers have been warned. "Look after your belongings and always lock your car and accommodation," Smart Traveller states. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Kyle is one of thousands from the UK who visit Australia every year, but his remarks haven't gone down well with locals. Kyle, a British expat, is currently living in Cairns and claims Aussies are hard to get along with. Source: TikTok/kyle.sula A British bloke living Down Under has riled up locals by taking aim at Aussies on social media this week with his remarks earning him the label of a "whinging Pom". Addressing his "fellow English people, foreigners and backpackers" on Tiktok, the traveller named Kyle asked if others also shared the same experience with Aussies, admitting he found us "really f***ing hard to get along with". Aussies are often known to have a sarcastic or dry sense of humour which is widely recognised across the world. But Kyle doesn't agree and admits he's struggled to "have a laugh" with locals in Cairns where he's living. "I don't mean they're rude or anything, although some can be. But in my experience, it's really f***ing hard to have a laugh with Australians," he said, adding "[Australians] just don't get it". "You try and throw a little one-liner and have a bit of banter and you're just met with the f***ing most stone-cold face in the world". Expat's remark struck a nerve with Aussies But his comments didn't go down too well with Aussies and travellers alike, many of whom agreed "Aussies are the friendliest and are such easy people". "Im Irish, and find the Aussies and Kiwis some of the easiest people to get along with," one admitted in the comments. "Us Australians have our own humour," another said. "A Pom?? Whinging??? I have never seen something like this in my life," another sarcastically wrote. Others got slightly more personal in their response and lashed out at the Brit. "Did he really just come in here and admit that no one is finding him funny?" one questioned. "If you're in Australia, you're the one who doesn't get it," shared another. Meanwhile, another wrote, "Na mate, were not hard to get along with... we all had a meeting and decided we didnt like you". His TikTok also features a host of other videos in which he's complaining about his gripes with Australia. In one, he questions why Aussies are always barefoot admitting "I just don't get it". He also says that Cairns is "stuck in the past" claiming it "hasn't caught up with the rest of the world". In another video he lashes out at Aussies who always "walk in the way" of other people, insisting we are a nation of slow walkers. Expats share major gripes about Australia Over a one-year period between July 2023-24, roughly 32,840 UK nationals visited Australia, according to the latest ABS data. And while it's a sought after destination, with many raving about their visit, some, it seems, have taken issue. Earlier this month British man Owen Willis shared his long list of gripes with the country, even categorising the "entire" country as "very racist". He went on to encourage people not to bother moving to Australia and even took aim at our native wildlife. Another woman previously shared her own frustration with our native animals, going as far as labelling Australia a "scam'. Meanwhile, a Canadian man in Australia recently infuriated locals after attempting to pick up a snake in the wild. "Never do that in Australia," one warned. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. By David Young, PA A new Troubles legacy commission could have dealt with the Pat Finucane murder case but such a move may have caused a problem with the Irish government, the bodys chief commissioner has said. Sir Declan Morgan told a Stormont Assembly committee that it would have been within the competence of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to investigate the collusion-linked loyalist paramilitary murder of the Belfast solicitor in 1989. The UK government ordered a public inquiry into the murder last week following a long campaign by the Finucane family. The UK government has turned down requests for public inquiries in other Troubles killings, such as that of murdered GAA official Sean Brown in 1997, arguing that those cases should be dealt with by the ICRIR. Pat Finucane was shot dead by loyalists in his family home in north Belfast in February 1989. Photo: PA. Explaining the rationale, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the Finucane case was exceptional because the UK had committed to holding a public inquiry into the circumstances of the murder as part of an international agreement with the Irish government more than 20 years ago. On Wednesday, Sir Declan told members of the Executive Office committee that failing to order a public inquiry could have undermined the principle of international law. However, he made clear that his commission would have been capable of taking on the case. He said he was not aware of any other significant reason, other than the international agreement, that made the case exceptional in the context of Troubles investigations. Sir Declan, who is Northern Irelands former lord chief justice, also challenged the suggestion that public inquiries had more powers than the ICRIR to disclose classified information, highlighting that the Government effectively retained a veto on disclosure in regard to both. The Secretary of State can give a ministerial direction as to what is to be disclosed and what isnt (in a public inquiry), he said. Thats the point about a public inquiry it doesnt do what it says on the tin. And sometimes what happens is that people go and create expectations with families about things that are going to happen, that cant happen, and its not fair to the families for that to happen. In regard to the Finucane case, he added: The commitment to a public inquiry in relation to Mr Finucane was made about 20 years ago between the two governments. It is an intergovernmental commitment. The delivery of that commitment represents an adherence to the concept of the rule of law on an international basis, and if that commitment hadnt been honoured, then I think it might well have been undermining of the approach to the rule of law. But when two governments make a commitment to each other, the expectation is that they will do what they say. The ICRIR was created by the Conservative governments Legacy Act which halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths. It has powers to look into more than 3,500 killings and can accept requests for the next five years. It has had more than 100 approaches from families since it was set up and has moved into the information recovery stage with eight cases to date. The new Labour government has vowed to repeal the most contentious aspect of the Legacy Act, the offer of conditional immunity from prosecution for perpetrators, but it has pledged to retain the ICRIR. Prior to the general election, the Irish Government brought an interstate legal case against the UK, claiming the Legacy Act breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The case remains active, with the Dublin administration awaiting the new UK government to follow through with its repeal pledge before dropping it. Sir Declan suggested that case was likely a factor in the UKs considerations ahead of ordering the Finucane public inquiry. The ICRIR, in my view, could have dealt with the Finucane case in terms of its competence to do it, he told the committee. I have no doubt about that. But I can certainly see that from the point of view of the Irish government, who are challenging the Act and implicitly the commission that for the Secretary of State to refer the matter to us might have been a problem. TUV committee member Timothy Gaston asked Sir Declan whether he viewed the Finucane case as exceptional. Apart from the fact that there was an intergovernmental agreement, Im not aware of any other significant feature of the Finucane case that springs to mind, he replied. On 17 September Brazils Presidentheld a meeting with the leaders of congress and the supreme court (STF) to discuss a coordinated response to the fires raging throughout the country. End of preview - This article contains approximately 388 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Vision of an encounter between Chinese and Australian aircrafts shared on Chinese state TV. Source: ABC Yahoo's live news blog for Wednesday, September 18 has concluded. We started with Australia's reaction to vision shared on Chinese state television showing a Chinese fighter jet intercept an Australian aircraft above the South China Sea. Read more below. Margot Robbie is set to be involved in a long-awaited movie based on the hit computer game The Sims. Coffee shop owners fear inflation will lead to a $7 coffee becoming the norm. Read more below. A man is feared dead after falling down a mine shaft in a "workplace incident". LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER 15 updates Big question arises after two-legged bear goes viral OK, so that last post has immediately sparked questions from some inquisitive colleagues. Does a bear have four legs or two legs and two arms? And is the two-legged bear simply a normally-legged bear without any arms? My boss is currently Googling bear skeletons as I type. So what do you think? Have your say below. Remarkable vision of two-legged bear Ever seen a two-legged bear before? Well you have now. Kirk Price, an outdoorsman based in West Virginia, told USA TODAY that his trail camera spotted the odd-looking animal in the Appalachian Mountains and is one of several sightings of the bear in recent years. "Hes very illusive and is rarely spotted in person," Price said. "He lives in the mountains. Believe it or not he moves around quite a bit." He believes the bear was born this way after one encounter where he got a good look of him. The bear has not been given a name by those who have seen him, and Price said they "normally just refer to him as the 'two-legged bear'." Very fitting. View this post on Instagram A post shared by (@kirkprice_) Teen driver's bold claim as he cops $3k fine A teen P-plater might need his eyes tested after copping a $3,000 fine for driving more than 50km/h over the speed limit. That's because the 19-year-old told police he "saw 80 on my speedo" when pressed about his offence. The driver was detected on Sunday night in Sydney's Glenfield travelling at 125km/h in a 70 zone. "Due to the excessive speed he was issued with an infringement notice for exceeding the speed limit by more than 45km/h ($2,959 - 6 points), as well as having his licence confiscated and suspended for a minimum period of 6 months," NSW Police said. "Additionally, the registration plates affixed to the vehicle were also seized and returned to the relevant authority - where they will be held for 3 months." The driver should have gone to Specsavers. Source: NSW Police Highway Patrol Command Tradies take over Melbourne once again in CFMEU protest Thousands of constructions workers have gathered in mass rallies to support the CFMEU as the construction section's administrator promises to crack down on bikie infiltration. Workers and their comrades, including from electrical trades, maritime and manufacturing unions, downed tools on Wednesday and marched through major cities to express their anger over the federal takeover of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union. Thousands of construction workers preparing to rally in Melbournes CBD against the federal government placing the CFMEU into administration over corruption allegations @3AW693 pic.twitter.com/gpCeCTyHAl Kiara Parker (@Kiara_Parker_) September 18, 2024 The union's construction and general division has allegedly been involved in criminal and corrupt conduct, recently uncovered by Nine newspapers. More than 10,000 arrived at Trades Hall in Melbourne at 10.30am before marching down LaTrobe Street, closing the major thoroughfare and causing tram disruptions. Marchers chanted "union strong" and sported merchandise with slogans including "God forgives but the CFMEU doesn't". Electrical Trades Union representative Troy Gray accused politicians of trying to stop workers getting pay rises. "The same politicians that fist pumped the air when they put the CFMEU into administration just gave themselves a pay rise," he said. "Most of them wouldn't last a week (on a construction site)." - AAP Fears a $7 coffee will soon be the norm It feels like just about everything is going up in price, doesn't it? Well one expense many Aussies say they can't go without is about to get a fair bit higher, cafe owners fear. We know, everyone is doing it tough right now, so of course operators dont want to be charging $7 for a flat white but that will become the norm," Phillip Di Bella, founder of the Coffee Commune, told the Courier Mail. He said cafes cannot survive on the margins they are currently making on coffee and will have no choice but to put prices up or go bust. So would you pay $7 for your daily coffee? Have your say below. Cost of new AFL stadium balloons It's barely been two months since the AFL's newest team the Tasmanian Devils announced their plans for a timber-roofed stadium in Hobart, but the cost of construction has already shot up. Developers have released a 4000-page application for the 23,000-seat roofed stadium at Macquarie Point, with a $715 million price tag initially revealed by the state Liberal government now increasing to $775 million. It comes after Yahoo Environment Editor Michael Dahlstrom probed developers about where it would source the timber for its striking roof, with architects saying they would be using local sustainable wood. Something truly special Here's the first look at our new Mac Point stadium. A truly Tasmanian design that will be able to host international cricket, world-class concerts and our very own AFL team. The transparent roof will be supported by a steel and Tassie timber pic.twitter.com/HRJsd63DPy Jeremy Rockliff (@jeremyrockliff) July 6, 2024 Passengers' ears and noses 'left bleeding' after pressure issue on flight There's a disturbing story coming out of the US where Delta Airlines passengers were reportedly left with blood coming out of their noses and even ears due to a pressurisation issue. It comes as a Qantas plane was grounded in Queensland yesterday with a similar issue. Passengers onboard the US flight bound for Portland quickly began to feel pressure in their noses and eardrums as a result of the issue. I grabbed my ear, and I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it, Jaci Purser told KSL TV after she said she felt a stabbing pain. The flight was quickly grounded. Read more here. A Delta flight pictured in Europe. Source: Getty (file) Brits bracing for 'mini-heatwave'.... reaching 25C We all know by now the Brits lose it over any sort of elevated temperature, and therefore it's probably no surprise a high of 25C is being branded a "mini-heatwave" in the UK this week. Aussies often get a good laugh from the Poms when they struggle with heat that's pretty standard for most of the year Down Under. Of course, there is the argument from Brits that "the heat feels hotter" in the UK, and while there may be an element of truth to that, the "mini-heatwave" being pushed in the British press might be a step too far. Brits love to soak up the sun as soon as it's out.. Source: Getty Woman's horror injury from magpie attack If you weren't already petrified of magpies this swooping season, you might well be now. A Sydney mum has revealed to Yahoo the horror moment a "massive" magpie swooped and struck her eye, scratching her eyeball. It just came at me and took his beak and went into my left eye with a big pop, she explained. The incident occurred in Coogee and the magpie in question has reportedly attacked several other locals at the south end of the beach. Left, the park area near Coogee Beach where the magpie has been attacking locals. Right, the supposed aggressive magpie in a tree. Inset, the 40-year-old mum's bloody eye after magpie attack. Tragic update after man falls down mine shaft Emergency services are attempting to recover the body of a man who fell down an old mineshaft in NSW's Hunter Valley on Tuesday in what has been described as a "workplace incident". The search resumed at first light today, but a few hours later police confirmed authorities were trying to recover a body. The man is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be in his late 50s, police said in a statement. Does your boss get you a Christmas gift? Times are tough and the cost-of-living crisis rolls on. So are you expecting a Christmas gift from your employer this year? Well I wouldn't be too confident you'll get one. A survey from hamper and gift basket provider Hampers With Bite found that just 29 per cent gave gifts to staff during the festive period. Hampers With Bite General Manager Kathryn Hogarty said doing so helps "improve staff health and wellbeing, helps retain workers and boosts overall workplace culture. Do you think employers should give gifts at Christmas time? Have your say below. Fans leave NRL team stranded ahead of showdown The Cowboys have been left pleading for help after they were left in a tricky spot ahead of their NRL showdown with the Sharks in Sydney this Friday. The North Queensland team would normally fly its 36-person party via the two commercial flights available, however all the seats have been booked up by eager Cowboys fans, the Daily Telegraph reports. It means the side have asked the NRL for help in getting the team down to NSW, with hopes a chartered flight can be organised to avoid a connecting flight. Kate Middleton returns to work after cancer battle In a big step on her road to recovery, Kate Middleton has returned to work for the first time since confirming her cancer diagnosis. She held a meeting at Windsor Castle, which was detailed in court circular documents which lists Royal Family engagements. The last time the Princess of Wales attended a private meeting at Windsor Castle for the Royal Foundation was on December 6, 2023. Kate Middleton at Wimbledon in July. Source: Getty Margot Robbie to be part of long-awaited Sims movie Aussie A-lister Margot Robbie will be involved in the long-awaited Sims movie, it has been confirmed. The pregnant star's production company LuckyChap will be involved in the project revealed by the hit game's publishers EA, the BBC reported. Robbie said earlier this year she wanted to make more movies like her previous hit Barbie. Margot Robbie pictured earlier this month. Source: Getty China slammed over move on Australian aircraft Vision claiming to show a 2022 aircraft encounter above the South China Sea has been slammed by Australian MPs. The video shows a J-16 fighter jet intercept an Australian surveillance aircraft on what is said to have been a routine patrol of international airspace, the ABC reported. In video shared on Chinese state television as part of a Chinese army documentary, the pilot boasted how he was not afraid of a "strong enemy". "We must show our swords to the enemy," he added. Simon Birmingham, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate, slammed the Chinese government over the video, labelling it an unacceptable glorification of unacceptable military conduct. Vision of the encounter shared on state TV. Source: ABC Speaking on ABC radio this morning, the senior Liberal figure said the concerning actions depicted in the clip risk possible miscalculation and escalation and could heighten military tensions in the region. He also lamented the propaganda video appears to describe Australia as an enemy and an opponent, asserting that is not how the Australian government sees itself. Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie said if the footage was genuine, it shows "highly dangerous" conduct. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Threats on social media aimed at Lehigh Valley schools have been deemed not credible by local and state law enforcement. Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Nathan Branosky, public information officer for the Troop M barracks, told lehighvalleylive.com Wednesday threats were investigated by troopers at Northampton Area High School; East Penn School District and the Northwestern Lehigh School District. At least one was made over the social media platform, Snapchat. All have been deemed not credible, Branosky said. The same goes for Liberty High School in Bethlehem. A voicemail sent to parents Wednesday morning from the Bethlehem Area School District, citing the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center, states law enforcement is aware of multiple national threat messages circulating on social media. The messages, the voicemail stated, typically warn of potential shooting and bomb threats. Some of the threats have specific schools or locations listed. There are currently no known credible threats to schools in Pennsylvania, the voicemail states. Law enforcement and school officials are encouraged to remain vigilant and report all suspicious behavior. Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott told lehighvalleylive.com Wednesday the regional threats have been consistent with other hoax threats happening nationally in recent weeks. She also confirmed theres no credible information about the threat received at Liberty High School. We are working closely with the Bethlehem Area School District to ensure the safety and security of students, faculty, staff, and the community, Kott said. Easton Area School District administrators learned of a similar threat last week. Parents in an Easton Facebook group last Thursday reported the threat had to do with text messages being sent to children, telling them not to come to school Friday. The threats led to both Easton and Pennsylvania State Police in Bethlehem beefing up patrols in and around the schools in their jurisdictions. Easton Arts Academy Elementary Charter School CEO Paul D. Hunter Jr. on Friday afternoon sent an email to parents, alerting them to the threat. That elementary school kept children inside during recess Friday as a precautionary measure. On Monday, administrators at the Arts Academy Charter Middle School in Salisbury Township reported students receiving a similar threat over the weekend on Snapchat. That message, obtained by lehighvalleylive.com, named specific students and how violence would be carried out during the school day. Salisbury Township police were stationed at the school Monday morning to keep parents, students and staff at ease. Later in the day Monday, a second thread over social media went out, Principal Bill Cecchini stated in an email to parents. Both were deemed hoaxes by township police, Cecchini said. Cecchini stated a number of students elected to stay home Monday as a result of the threat. Absences would be considered noncumulative, he said. I am writing to update our AACMS families about the Snapchat thread that posed a potential threat to many schools in PA, AACMS included, Cecchini stated. The posts that were sent to the different schools were identical, and the police have guaranteed us that the threat was in no way credible. Even with the threat deemed as a hoax, the safety of our students and staff is our top priority. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz the Democratic vice presidential candidate will be campaigning in Allentown on Saturday, according to a local media report. Walz, who is on the Democratic ticket with Vice President Kamala Harris, will deliver remarks Saturday at a Harris-Walz campaign rally, The Morning Call reported. The announcement, which came through a media advisory, did not say where or when the rally will be held, according to WFMZ-TV, a local news station. Walz has recently campaigned in Pennsylvania. He made stops in Lancaster, Erie and Pittsburgh earlier this month. The visit comes two weeks after Doug Emhoff, Harris husband, visited Allentown for a Latinos con Harris rally. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is also expected to be in Pennsylvania this weekend. He is scheduled to pay a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady Czesochowa in New Britain in Bucks County on Sunday. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. A study now estimated at nearly $8 million aims to determine how Francis E. Walter Dam on the Lehigh River can aid its surrounding Delaware River Basin. New York City along with federal and regional partners on Tuesday signed a cost-sharing agreement amendment for the re-evaluation of existing and future uses of the dam. The amendment carries a shared study cost projected to be $7.95 million, with a total study period of 89 months from the agreements original effective date of Sept. 25, 2019. That puts the completion date around the end of February 2027. The study was originally expected to cost $2.6 million. A January 2020 meeting held near the Pocono Mountains dam to introduce the study drew a standing-room-only crowd of some 500 people. Anglers and whitewater rafting companies at that time just prior to the coronavirus pandemic sought assurances the study would not jeopardize the dams role in supporting recreation on the Lehigh River thats one of its missions now, secondary to flood protection. Tuesdays Francis E. Walter Dam Re-Evaluation Study Federal Cost Share Agreement (FCSA) Amendment was signed by leaders from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Delaware River Basin Commission and New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Clockwise from left, Delaware River Basin Commission Executive Director Steve Tambini, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Maj. Gen. Jason Kelly, Paul Rush from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala and Army Corps Philadelphia District Commander Lt. Col. Jeffrey Beeman take part in a ceremony to sign a feasibility cost sharing agreement amendment for the Francis E. Walter Dam Re-evaluation study Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, at Delaware River Basin Commission headquarters in West Trenton, New Jersey.Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com The amendment does not mean the study is starting over at square one, Army Corps spokesman Steve Rochette told lehighvalleylive.com. Rather, it aims to provide adequate time and resources to complete a full re-evaluation of the dams role in the basin. This includes additional environmental modeling and engineering analysis, the corps says. There is more of a refined focus at this time, Rochette said. According to an Army Corps news release, the study will evaluate the existing and future use of the Francis E. Walter Dam Reservoir during Delaware River basin emergency drought conditions to support/aid salinity repulsion in the Delaware Estuary, provide low flow augmentation and protect aquatic life. Pushing back the Delaware River/Estuary salt front now relies entirely on water releases from New York Citys three Delaware River drinking water reservoirs. The Army Corps and its study partners previously said there is no question that all of the Francis E. Walter Dam Reservoir water will continue to flow down the Lehigh River, which joins the Delaware River at Easton. Co-sponsoring this study will support drought management planning, increase climate resilience in our shared Delaware River Basin, and ensure that all Basin states are represented in the process, the basin commissions executive director, Steve Tambini, states in the release. New York City DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala stated: Having the foresight and courage to update long-held water management practices throughout the Delaware River basin is critical in confronting the new realities of climate change. This agreement enables out-of-the box thinking, backed by world-class science and engineering analysis, to help ensure a more vibrant and healthier river basin for future generations while maintaining the critical protections to surrounding communities that all of us are committed to, Aggarwala continued. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. For three years locals had delighted in spotting the region's rare golden crocodile, then disturbing rumours started to spread. Tourists visiting a coastal mining town have been excited after spotting a unique looking creature. They witnessed the golden 1.5 metre-long saltwater crocodile after hopping into a boat with a local travel guide. Just days earlier it was thought the rare animal had been killed, and locals had been mourning its loss. To protect the croc from poachers, its location has been a tightly guarded secret. All the locals obviously know it, but when it comes to outsiders, lets just say its in the Weipa region somewhere, the vessels captain Malcolm Slack told Yahoo News. His company Western Cape Eco Tours, has been documenting the croc and taking lucky visitors to the Far North Queensland town view it over the last three years. I've lived in Weipa now for over 20 years, and Ive spent a lot of time on the water, but Ive only ever seen one other crocodile this colour, Slack added. Related: Warning to locals after giant animal climbs out of Aussie river Boat captain Malcolm Slack delights in taking tourists to see a rare golden crocodile. Source: Western Cape Eco Tours Why is the crocodile golden? Its believed the Cape Yorks crocodiles strange appearance is due to a mutation called leucism. Like albinism, it causes a partial loss of pigmentation causing its skin to lighten, although unlike the latter it can be caused by both genetics or environmental factors. It does get bullied around. I think its because of the colour. You never see it in the same spot and it keeps on having to move around to avoid altercations with larger crocodiles, Slack said. Locals have delighted in taking photographs of Casper, and were dismayed when rumours spread that the animal had been killed. Source: Western Cape Eco Tours Moment tour operator thought golden crocodile was dead Hes become quite close to Casper the crocodile, affectionately named after the friendly cartoon ghost. And as he spoke to Yahoo News on Wednesday, he admitted to feeling relief that the animal hadnt been killed. Video had been circulating around the town showing a light coloured crocodile being mauled by a larger male. We hadnt seen the little fella for about three weeks, and we were thinking it must have got eaten. Then a couple of days ago he turned up out of the blue, Slack said. Its definitely the same one, which is good for the tourists. Because its something really rare to see. When you get up close people are amazed by the colour of this little crocodile and everyone is blown away and wants a photo. And Im quite happy its back too. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. Former All-Star and Clare All-Ireland winning hurler Niall Gilligan has been sent forward for trial concerning an alleged stick assault on a 12 year old boy. At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, September 18, Judge Alec Gabbett returned Mr Gilligan (47) for trial to the next sittings of Ennis Circuit Court. Judge Gabbett sent Mr Gilligan of Rosroe, Sixmilebridge, for trial after the Book of Evidence was served in the case. Mr Gilligan denies the assault causing harm charge of the boy. Garda Emmet Roche gave sworn evidence that he had served the Book of Evidence on Mr Gilligans solicitor, Daragh Hassett before court on Wednesday. The DPP had initially directed that the case be heard in the district court but Judge Gabbett declined district court jurisdiction in the case after hearing an outline of the State case against Mr Gilligan in July. Sgt John Burke told the court that the DPP consents to Mr Gilligans case going forward to the circuit court on the same bail terms. Addressing Mr Gilligan directly, Judge Gabbett told him that if an alibi formed a part of his defence that he needs to provide details in writing to the State within 14 days. Judge Gabbett said that Mr Hassett would explain to him about that. No legal aid application was made for the circuit court case on behalf of Mr Gilligan who works as an auctioneer and farmer. In court in July, State Solicitor for County Clare, Aisling Casey told the court that one of the injuries the boy was treated for in the aftermath of the alleged stick assault by Mr Gilligan was a fractured left hand. Solicitor for Mr Gilligan, Mr Hassett told the court that the sequence of events set out by the State is not accepted by his client and there is a complete dispute in relation to what is alleged to have happened here. As part of the State case, a medical report and photos of the boys injuries were handed into court in July and Judge Gabbett said at the time: I am looking at photographs here and what I am seeing is a child with significant injuries over and above what the district court should be dealing with so I am going to refuse jurisdiction. Mr Gilligan is charged with the assault causing harm of a 12-year old boy at the Jamaica Inn Hostel, Mt Ivers Rd, Sixmildebridge contrary to Section 3 of the Offences Against the Person Act on October 5th last. Mr Gilligan is also charged with producing a wooden stick during the course of a dispute contrary to Section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act at the same location on the same date. Mr Gilligan denies both charges. Outlining the background to the charges against Mr Gilligan, Ms Casey said the charges relate to a matter alleged to have happened on October 5th 2023 at 5.30pm. She said that the alleged injured party, who was aged 12 at the time, was with a friend also aged 12 and they were on a disused property, the Jamaica Inn in Sixmilebridge owned by the accused. Ms Casey said: When the boys were on the property, it will be alleged that the accused confronted the two boys and produced a wooden stick and the boys attempted to flee." She said that it will be alleged that the alleged injured party slipped on muddy ground and while lying on the ground, it will be alleged that the accused struck him several times with the wooden stick he had in his possession. Ms Casey stated the boy returned home on foot and was brought first to the VHI clinic and subsequently transferred to University Hospital Limerick that evening. Ms Casey said that the injuries reported was a loss of consciousness by the boy on the occasion along with significant bruising at the top right shoulder, the buttocks and lower back. Ms Casey said that injuries also included a 2cm long wound was on the boys forearm and a 2cm long wound to the right shin which both required suturing She stated that following orthopaedic intervention, a fracture was identified on the boys left hand and he made a full, uneventful recovery concerning the left hand. In July, Ms Casey confirmed that both juvenile witnesses will give evidence by video link in the circuit court. Mr Gilligan was a star forward for the senior Clare hurling team which defeated Tipperary to win the 1997 All-Ireland Final and was named an All-Star in 1999. The Sixmilebridge clubman also won two Munster titles with Clare and multiple honours with his club over a long, distinguished hurling career. Over half of domestic violence refuge centres nationwide are full, with many women and children staying in these centres for long periods of time due to housing shortages. Refuges are designed to provide short-term accommodation for women facing emergency situations. They typically consist of small apartments with shared communal areas. Leitrim is one of nine counties in Ireland that does not have a refuge centre for women and children facing domestic violence. Other counties lacking a refuge centre include neighbouring regions such as Cavan, Roscommon, Longford and Sligo as well as Offaly, Carlow, Monaghan and Laois. This underscores Irelands failure to fully implement the Istanbul Convention, which was ratified in 2019, leaving hundreds of women without refuge. The Istanbul Convention states that there should be one refuge unit for every 10,000 women and girls aged 15 years and over. In June 2022, the Government published a five-year strategy on zero tolerance against domestic, sexual and gender based violence. The strategy aims to double the number of refuge spaces to 280 by 2026. However, the Istanbul Convention requires Ireland to have 675 spaces. In July, Sinn Fein Cllr Roisin Kenny asked senior figures in Leitrim County Council when a refuge centre can be expected in County Leitrim, and if it can be included in the County Development Plan. In this meeting, she referred to the Governments five-year strategy as very welcome, and a very useful document, but noted that without proper implementation, it would merely remain a piece of paper. In June, Womens Aid published their impact report for 2023 which showed record high domestic abuse disclosures of over 40,000. This was a jump of 18 percent on the previous year. Thats only those who reported to Womens Aid, Cllr Kenny said. It doesnt include those suffering in silence. Mary Quinn, Director of Housing, Corporate, Community and Cultural Services for Leitrim County Council explained that the Council is waiting for the national strategy to be published. Once it is, they will review it in detail to understand where their responsibilities may lie with setting up a refuge centre in the county. The County Development Plan was only recently adopted, so it may be addressed in a further review. Leitrims lack of a refuge centre for women and children facing domestic violence highlights a significant gap in available support services. As the Council awaits further guidance, addressing this shortfall will be essential in providing adequate support for those who need it. READ NEXT - Experience the magic of Leitrim's culture night Irish lessons will begin in Ballinamore library on Tuesday, October 8 at 8pm. The classes are beginner level and are completely free of charge. Ballinamore Library has built up a reputation for its Irish classes over the past 20 years. Hundreds of people have attended their classes and Ciorcail Chomhra and speak of the atmosphere generated by tutors and attendees. From the start date to Christmas, the focus will be on beginners, and those at a similar skill level. Some of the beginners will be newly arrived immigrants who have never encountered the Irish language before coming to Ireland. Others will be Irish people who learned Gaeilge in school and think they have forgotten it all, but they will soon discover they havent. Anyone interested in taking part in these classes can contact Sean O Suilleabhain at 087 6821566 or email ballinamorelibrary@leitrimcoco.ie to book a place. Beidh Failte romhat! READ MORE - Commercial Vacancy Rate in Leitrim increases to 17.5% Rentokil, Irelands leading pest control provider, advises the public and businesses in Leitrim and across Ireland to remain vigilant about gull activity as we enter autumn. While the peak nesting season may be over, gulls will remain active in urban coastal areas, as they scavenge for food, which can lead to aggressive behaviour. Gull droppings (also known as guano) also present a hazard as they can contain bacteria including E. coli and Salmonella, which can spread infection through surface contamination or inhaling bacteria from dried droppings. The nests and roosting sites of birds also attract several pest insects such as bird mites, textile beetles, and fleas, so the presence of gulls at a residential or business premises can bring about infestations from other unwanted visitors. Rentokil employs several safe and eco-friendly methods to help protect premises from gulls, including installing bird netting. Another solution offered by Rentokil, as part of an overall treatment strategy, is the Rentokil Intelligent Bird Scaring (RIBS) device. This innovative technology provides an effective and sustainable approach to bird deterrence without harming the birds. The RIBS device is designed to guard buildings 24/7 and can be controlled and monitored remotely via a tablet or smartphone app. It has an intelligent built-in listening system that recognises different bird species from their calls and identifies the best scare tool from a broad range to deter them. It can detect a flock of birds within a 250-metre radius. Colm Moore, Area Technical Manager with Rentokil, said: "While the summer season has passed, gulls continue to search for food and can remain territorial. It is important to stay vigilant and implement preventive measures to minimise potential risks. There are steps you can take yourself to prevent the presence of gulls at your home or business premises, such as: Removing food sources: Secure bins with a well-fitting lid and avoid leaving rubbish bags in the open. Blocking potential roosting sites: Use barriers over window ledges or other potential roosting spots. Consider decoys: Deploy fake birds of prey as deterrents in conjunction with the above steps. . You can find out more about preventative measures for gulls and other birds on Rentokils website. Rentokil controls gull species in accordance with the EU Birds Directive and the Irish bird derogations and uses non-lethal methods to control all other species of birds if they become public health pests. The Apple tax revenues, care for children waiting for spinal surgery and an infamous parliamentary bike shed were among the issues first raised as politicians returned from the summer break. There was a heightened security presence around Leinster House on Wednesday, as barriers were erected and footfall on Kildare Street was limited in response to anticipated protests marking the return of the Dail. There is a new bustle with the parliaments return as the political system gears up ahead of a general election. The selection of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail candidates by September and other factors have fuelled speculation that polling day could fall soon after the Budget is announced in two weeks. Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tanaiste Micheal Martin have said the Government should go full term, and Martin said he felt February would be the ideal time to go to the people. Ahead of polling day, the focus in the Dail will be on housing, the details of the Budget, childcare and how to spend 14 billion euro in Apple tax revenues. After politicians flocked into the Dail chamber on Wednesday, Mr Harris faced questions on how to care for children waiting for spinal surgeries, and how to provide redress to people who suffered abuse in schools run by religious orders. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the number of children with scoliosis and spina bifida waiting for treatment was disgraceful. The longer they wait, the worse their condition gets a race against the clock, a race against the child becoming inoperable and the prospect of permanent paralysis. There are too many children in this awful situation. She raised the case of Harvey Sherratt, eight, who has spina bifida and scoliosis and whose spine has curved by 110 degrees. Harveys parents, Stephen and Gillian, were present in the Dail gallery for Leaders Questions. Ms McDonald said that in 2017, Harveys parents were told that his ribs were crushing his lungs, and in the same year Mr Harris, as Health Minister, promised that no child with scoliosis would wait longer than four months for an operation. Between October and Christmas of last year, Harvey was rushed to hospital five times, twice by ambulance and on one occasion, on Christmas Day. This child desperately needs his operation and yet his parents recently found out that he was silently removed from the waiting list. Mr Harris said that he was aware of Harveys case and has been in contact with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and HSE chief Bernard Gloster, but he cannot order an operation when the decision to do so is a clinical matter. I very much regret the children can experience long waiting times for treatment. Im conscious that the burden this places on them and their families, and Im very conscious as a parent, how any of us would do anything and go to the ends of the earth if our child needed any sort of treatment or care. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns raised the scoping inquiry into shocking levels of sexual abuse at 308 schools run by religious orders in previous decades, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s. She described the Irish States approach to abuse scandals involving religious orders as one of cowardice, and criticised the Taoiseachs comments urging Christian values in relation to orders contributions to future redress. Why are these orders not being raided by gardai, why are their assets not being seized, and why on earth are they still running our schools? Mr Harris said: Anyone who thinks anyones going to get off the hook here in relation to their responsibility and obligation, moral or otherwise, is wrong, that is a misplaced view. He said there was a live Garda investigation into the allegations since the report was published earlier this month. When asked by Ms Cairns whether the Government would look at laws to constrain the use of legal technicalities to delay court action against religious orders, Mr Harris said: Have you, deputy? This isnt just a debating chamber. Youre a legislator and anybody can bring forward legislation in relation to this House. So if you have ideas in relation to how you think the law should be changed, bring it forward. Independent Ireland TD Michael Collins raised the lack of services by the National Ambulance Service in some communities and said morale among staff at the organisation was low. Heads have to roll at the National Ambulance Service, he told the Dail. Labour leader Ivana Bacik brought up the record number of homeless people, including more than 4,000 children, and asked when the Government would announce its much-awaited revised housing targets. Central Statistics Office figures on Monday showed house prices had risen by 9.6% in the year to July, with reduced supply one of the main factors cited in pushing up prices. A debate in the Dail is being held later on what to do with 14 billion euro of Apple tax revenues. Innovent Delivers Oral Presentations on Clinical Data of IBI354 (HER2 Monoclonal Antibody-Camptothecin Derivative Conjugate) in Advanced Ovarian Cancer, Breast Cancer and Other Solid Tumors at the 2024 ESMO Congress SAN FRANCISCO and SUZHOU, China, Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent") (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes high-quality medicines for the treatment of oncologic, autoimmune, cardiovascular and metabolic, ophthalmologic and other major diseases, announced that clinical data of IBI354 (HER2 monoclonal antibody-camptothecin derivative conjugate) in advanced solid tumors was presented at the 2024 ESMO Congress (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05636215). The data presented is from a Phase 1/2 study aimed at evaluating the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of IBI354 in participants with advanced solid tumors. A total of 368 participants with advanced solid tumors were enrolled and received different doses of IBI354 monotherapy, including 178 with breast cancer, 92 with ovarian cancer, 38 with colorectal cancer, and 60 with other tumors. Among them, 42.7% of the participants had previously undergone five or more systemic treatment regimens. IBI354 monotherapy demonstrated excellent safety profile. The dosage was escalated to 18mg, with no DLT events observed. with no DLT events observed. The most common treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were nausea, decreased white blood cell count and anemia. The incidence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) was only 1.6%, all of which were grade 1 . . Overall, 21.5% of patients experienced TRAEs ? grade 3, 2.4% experienced TRAEs leading to dose reduction and 1.6% experienced TRAEs leading to discontinuation, with no TRAEs leading to death. IBI354 monotherapy showed promising efficacy signals in multiple tumor types. In platinum-resistant ovarian cancer cohort (n=87, treated at 6~12mg/kg IBI354), the overall objective response rate (ORR) was 40.2% and the disease control rate (DCR) was 81.6%. In the 12mg/kg subgroup (n=40), the ORR reached 52.5% and the DCR was 90.0%. In participants with HER2 1+ (n=27), the ORR reached 55.6% and the DCR was 88.9%. As of the data cutoff date, the median follow-up time was 6.5 months, and both progression-free survival (PFS) and duration of response (DoR) had not yet matured. In HER2-positive breast cancer cohort (n= 59, treated at 6~15mg/kg IBI354), the ORR and DCR were 67.8% and 88.1%, respectively. In HER2-low breast cancer cohort (n=67, treated at 6~15mg/kg IBI354), the ORR and DCR were 41.8% and 82.1%, respectively. In the 12mg/kg subgroup (n=26), the ORR and DCR were 61.5% and 88.5% , respectively. , In HER2-positive gastrointestinal malignancies cohort (n=35, treated at 6~15mg/kg IBI354), the ORR and the DCR were 57.1% and 91.4%, respectively. 26 participants were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, of which 14 achieved an objective response (1 subject with HER2 IHC2+ FISH+ achieved a confirmed objective response), resulting in an ORR and DCR of 53.8% and 92.3%, respectively. As of press date, another participant with HER2 low expression (IHC2+ FISH-) colorectal cancer achieved a confirmed objective response. Professor Qi Zhou, Chief Physician at the Gynecologic Oncology Center of Chongqing University Affiliated Cancer Hospital and the Principal Investigator of the gynecologic oncology cohort study, stated, "Approximately 70% of ovarian cancer patients experience relapse within 3 years following surgery and platinum-based adjuvant therapy, eventually developing platinum resistance after multiple recurrences[1]. These patients have limited effective treatment options. Current evidence indicates that non-platinum single-agent chemotherapy or the addition of anti-angiogenic therapy results in an ORR of just 4-13.2% and a median OS of merely 10.9-14 months[2]-[3][4][5][6]. As a fully-validated target, HER2-targeted therapy has proven effective in breast and gastric cancers. IBI354, an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody-camptothecin derivative conjugate, has shown good anti-tumor activity in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer with HER2 expression of 1+. In our Phase 1 study, the ORR was 67.5%, DCR was 88.9%, and median rate is 39.0% at the 12mg/kg Q3W dose level, while maintaining a favorable safety profile. Extending the PFS and OS remains a critical clinical challenge in platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer. The development of antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of resistant recurrent cancers has become a hot spot, and promising results have been observed. The clinical efficacy of antibody-drug conjugates targeting HER2 low expression warrants further clinical research and exploration, which could benefit more patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer." Doctor Daphne Day from the Medical Oncology Department at Monash Health in Melbourne, Australia, stated: "Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer globally, the most common cancer in women, and a cause of cancer-related deaths. HER2 amplification or overexpression has been proven to play a significant role in the occurrence and progression of breast cancer, underscoring the importance of HER2-directed therapy. IBI354, as an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody-camptothecin derivative conjugate, has shown promising preliminary results, with meaningful objective response and disease control rates in HER2-positive and -low breast cancer. Additionally, IBI354 has demonstrated excellent clinical safety and tolerability. Existing clinical data suggest that IBI354 has substantial development potential in the breast cancer population." Professor Lin Shen from Peking University Cancer Hospital, stated, "Colorectal cancer (CRC) has become the second most common malignant tumor in China, and its incidence and mortality rates are still rising annually[7]. The HER2-targeted therapy plays an important role in the later-line treatment of CRC. Preliminary results suggest that IBI354, an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody-camptothecin derivative conjugate, has shown positive efficacy in HER2-positive gastrointestinal malignancies. Notably, IBI354 has also demonstrated antitumor effects in HER2-low CRC populations, where HER2-targeted therapies are relatively less effective. IBI354 has exhibited good clinical safety and tolerability in later-line CRC patients, supporting further exploration and development in this population." Dr. Hui Zhou, Senior Vice President of Innovent, stated: "With the rapid advancements in ADC drugs for oncology treatment, Innovent is strategically positioning itself in the ADC field. At this year's ESMO conference, we are showcasing, for the first time, the safety and efficacy data of IBI354 across various advanced solid tumors, fully demonstrating Innovent's platform capabilities in ADC drug development. We will continue to invest in research and development of ADC innovative molecules, with the aim of providing patients more and better treatment options." References [1] Armstrong DK, et al. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2019;17(8):896-909. [2] Gaillard S, et al. Gynecol Oncol. 2021 Nov;163(2):237-245. [3] Pujade-Lauraine E, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2014;32(13):1302-8. [4] Pujade-Lauraine E, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2021 Jul;22(7):1034-1046. [5] Cannistra SA, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2010;28(19):3101-3. [6] Naumann WR, et al. Drugs. 2011;71(11):1397-1412. [7] Han B, et al. J Natl Cancer Cent. 2024 Feb 2;4(1):47-53. About IBI354 (Anti-HER2 Antibody-Camptothecin Derivative Conjugate) IBI354 is an innovative HER2-targeted antibody?drug conjugate developed using Innovent's proprietary novel topoisomerase inhibitor NT3 platform. With a drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) of 8, IBI354 delivers a high payload of effective drugs to tumors. The highly hydrophilic linker design contributes to its excellent biophysical and pharmacokinetic (PK) properties, while the hydrophobic payload enhances its bystander effect, targeting adjacent antigen-low or negative tumor cells. IBI354 exhibits extremely low exposure of free toxin in circulation and has an ideal safety profile based on pre-clinical and clinical studies. IBI354 has demonstrated remarkable anti-tumor activity in various tumor-bearing mice models, particularly in those resistant to HER2-targeted therapies and in metastatic tumors. Innovent Biologics is conducting clinical research in China, the United States, and Australia to assess the efficacy and safety of IBI354 for treating various advanced malignancies. Additionally, multiple new ADC molecules from Innovent's NT3 platform are under clinical development and have shown promising safety and efficacy signals. About Innovent Innovent is a leading biopharmaceutical company founded in 2011 with the mission to empower patients worldwide with affordable, high-quality biopharmaceuticals. The company discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes innovative medicines that target some of the most intractable diseases. Its pioneering therapies treat cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic, autoimmune and eye diseases. Innovent has launched 11 products in the market. It has 3 new drug applications under regulatory review, 4 assets in Phase III or pivotal clinical trials and 18 more molecules in early clinical stage. Innovent partners with over 30 global healthcare companies, including Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Incyte, Adimab, LG Chem and MD Anderson Cancer Center. Guided by the motto, "Start with Integrity, Succeed through Action," Innovent maintains the highest standard of industry practices and works collaboratively to advance the biopharmaceutical industry so that first-rate pharmaceutical drugs can become widely accessible. For more information, visit www.innoventbio.com, or follow Innovent on Facebook and LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Innovent, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Innovent does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly. These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Innovent with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Innovent's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Innovent's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions. Innovent, the Directors and the employees of Innovent assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect. SOURCE Innovent Biologics 17 september 2024 at 20:00 News published onand distributed by: Skanska constructs new building for the University of North Texas in Texas, USA, for USD 87M, about SEK 920M STOCKHOLM, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska has signed a contract with the University of North Texas for the construction of a new building in Denton, Texas, USA. The contract is worth USD 87M, about SEK 920M, which will be included in the US order bookings for the third quarter 2024. The project involves the construction of a new 10,300 square-meter (111,000-square-foot) multidisciplinary research and teaching building on the university's Denton campus. This state-of-the-art facility will fulfill a critical need for more modern facilities that support collaborative and interdisciplinary research on the campus. The new building will expand research space for areas such as biology, biomedical engineering, chemistry, physics, data science, and computer science and engineering while creating experiential learning opportunities for students. The building will be constructed with a cast-in-place structure and showcase a facade combining masonry, curtain walls, and metal panels. Work is beginning in September 2024 and is expected to reach completion in October 2026. For further information, please contact: Peggy Cook, Communications Manager, Skanska USA, tel +1 (513) 222 5310 Andreas Joons, Press Officer, Skanska Group, tel +46 (0)10 449 04 94 Direct line for media, tel +46 (0)10 448 88 99 This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/skanska/r/skanska-constructs-new-building-for-the-university-of-north-texas-in-texas--usa--for-usd-87m--about-,c4038887 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/4038887/3006045.pdf 20240918 US university building https://news.cision.com/skanska/i/image---university-of-north-texas,c3334653 Image - University of North Texas SOURCE Skanska 18 september 2024 at 02:04 News published onand distributed by: Promino Nutritional Sciences Inc. Begins Preclinical Trial to Demonstrate Effectiveness of Prominotm Patented IP for Retention of Muscle Mass in Cancer Patients Undergoing Aggressive Chemotherapy Treatment Preclinical trials to be led by Dr. Patrick Gunning Affirming preclinical trial will trigger research and development of specialized Prominotm product for the North American practitioner market BURLINGTON, ON, Sept. 18, 2024 /CNW/ - Promino Nutritional Sciences Inc. (CSE: MUSL) (OTC: MUSLF) (FRANKFURT: 93X) (the "Company" or "Promino") has announced the commencement of the preclinical trial to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Prominotm patented IP for the retention of muscle mass in cancer patients undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatment. The preclinical trial will be led by Dr. Patrick Gunning, who was appointed as special advisor to the Company on May 8, 2024 to conduct these trials. Results of the preclinical trials are expected in 10 weeks. If testing affirms the effectiveness of the patented IP in retaining muscle mass in chemotherapy patients, the Company will likely develop a specialized formula specifically for marketing to the practitioner channel in North America. "Promino's patented essential amino acid blend may have value beyond being the purest1 source of digestible protein, but a powerful tool for patients undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatment," said Promino's Chief Executive Officer, Vito Sanzone. "Chemotherapy can cause significant muscle-wasting, further compromising the patient's much needed strength, and Promino may provide these patients a helpful tool in their fight." Furthermore, following the Company's latest corporate update on June 3, 2024, Promino has achieved the following milestones: Retail and e-commerce partnership announcements with Vitacost, iHerb and Jean Coutu Manufactured 65,000 units of Rejuvenatetm and Prominotm Re-launched of direct-to-consumer marketing in July 2024 Reached an agreement with the licensor of the patented muscle health blend used in Rejuvenate Muscle Activatortm and Prominotm products on an exclusive international rights provision for the ready-to-drink market, and strengthened the current terms for the powdered supplement business Prominotm became the "Official Protein Drink of the Las Vegas Lights" FC owned by Promino brand ambassador Jose Bautista Received results of a clinical trial demonstrating that on a gram-to-gram basis, the Company's proprietary patented essential amino acid blend was shown to be superior to whey protein isolate; specifically, a single 3.6 gram serving of Rejuvenate Muscle Activatortm is equivalent to 40 grams of whey protein in triggering muscle protein synthesis About Promino Promino is an innovative and research driven Canadian nutraceutical company specializing in the development of patented and science-based products for the global consumer packaged goods market, with a portfolio focused specifically on muscle health. Promino's lead product, Rejuvenatetm, is a patented proprietary formulation that is clinically proven to assist in the building, rebuilding, restoration and rejuvenation of natural muscle mass. Promino also offers Prominotm, an elite performance supplement for both professional and amateur athletes to accelerate muscle recovery, build strength and accelerate recovery from injury. Promino was founded in 2015 and is located in Burlington, Ontario. To learn more about Promino, visit http://www.drinkpromino.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. All statements that address activities, events, or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will, or may, occur in the future, are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's business prospects, potential for pre-clinical trial results to impact the business of the Company, potential growth in the functional beverage market, future trends, plans and strategies. In some cases, forward looking statements are preceded by, followed by, or include words such as "may", "will," "would", "could", "should", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "continues", or the negative of those words or other similar or comparable words. In preparing the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, that protein supplement market growth will continue as anticipated by the Company, and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. SOURCE Promino Nutritional Sciences Inc. 18 september 2024 at 06:00 News published onand distributed by: Canadian Premium Sand Inc. Announces Up to $272 million in Indications of Financial Support CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Premium Sand Inc. ("CPS" or the "Company") (TSXV: CPS) is pleased to announce that the Province of Manitoba and the Government of Canada intend to support the Company's integrated patterned solar glass manufacturing facility in Selkirk, Manitoba (the "Project") with up to $272 million in financial assistance. The Company is pleased to confirm that the Province of Manitoba intends to provide $72 million in non-dilutive financial support for the Project consisting of infrastructure investment and a low interest loan. The infrastructure investment results in a reduction of approximately $32 million in capital costs for the Project. The $40 million low interest loan consists of goal-oriented provisions for the Company to earn forgivable portions of up to 10% of the loan over time. Supplementing the support from the Province of Manitoba, the Government of Canada intends to provide non-dilutive financial support of up to $100M towards this project. Further, up to $100 million will be sought by CPS through the federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program with the potential to facilitate a meaningful ownership position in the CPS project for participating Indigenous groups. The Company has been in discussions with Manitoba Indigenous groups to explore investment in the Project through the proposed program. This program was presented in Budget 2024 to provide Indigenous communities with more opportunities to share in the benefits of major natural resource and energy projects taking place in or near their territories. In addition to the financial support outlined above, the Company also qualifies for existing Provincial tax incentives and economic development programs that are estimated to total $60 million in benefits over the life of the Project. "The Government of Canada and Province of Manitoba have demonstrated support for our Project. Their commitment ensures Canada plays a key role in the clean energy supply-chain leveraging Manitoba's renewable hydroelectricity, abundant critical mineral resources, and skilled and motivated workforce." stated Company President & CEO, Glenn Leroux. "Incorporating the combined financial support from the provincial and federal governments, the remaining total private capital required to fund construction of the Project is reduced from $880 to potentially $608 million, the majority of which could come in the form of long-term debt. Having received the federal and provincial indications of financial support, we can advance our project financing with the goal of putting shovels in the ground in 2025." About Canadian Premium Sand Inc. The Company is developing manufacturing capacity for ultra high-clarity, low carbon patterned solar glass through a Company-owned facility to be located in Selkirk, Manitoba. The manufacturing process will utilize the high-purity, low-iron silica sand from its wholly owned Wanipigow quarry leases, renewable Manitoba hydroelectricity and responsibly produced Western Canadian natural gas providing the Company a unique and sustainable manufacturing cost advantage. The Company is a reporting issuer in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Its shares trade on the TSXV under the symbol "CPS". 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. CONTACT INFORMATION: Canadian Premium Sand Inc. Glenn Leroux Cam Deller President and Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer [email protected] [email protected] Investor Relations [email protected] 587.355.3714 www.cpsglass.com Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements relating to, without limitation, expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs, including information as to the future events, results of operations and the Company's future performance (both operational and financial) and business prospects. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "seeks", "projects" or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's beliefs, estimates and opinions regarding its future growth, results of operations, future performance (both operational and financial), and business prospects and opportunities at the time such statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or circumstances should change. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions made by the Company that are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements pertaining, but not limited, to: the expectation that significant shareholder value will be created in 2024 by commercializing the Project; the financing of the Project; the anticipated market for the Company's patterned solar glass; future development plans; industry activity levels; industry conditions pertaining to the solar glass manufacturing industry; the ability of and manner by which the Company expects to meet its capital needs; and the Company's objectives, strategies and competitive strengths. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous current assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this document speak only as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to applicable laws. 18 september 2024 at 07:00 News published onand distributed by: Rebuilding after the fire: Government of Canada introduces legislation to enable the transfer of land use planning and development authorities to the Municipality of Jasper Bringing amendments to the Canada National Parks Act is an important step in giving the Municipality of Jasper enhanced power to accelerate the rebuilding process. OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 18, 2024 /CNW/ - Residents and local business owners of Jasper continue to face the devasting impacts following the wildfire that went through the Municipality of Jasper and Jasper National Park in July 2024. With rising average temperatures creating drier conditions and more intense wildfires, firefighter crews did a heroic job in saving 70% of the infrastructure in the townsite. Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, introduced new legislation, a Bill entitled "An Act to amend the Canada National Parks Act", during debate at first reading in the House of Commons. The Bill will enable the transfer of land use planning and development authorities from Parks Canada to the Municipality of Jasper, which will help rebuild the 30% of the town that was destroyed by fire. This legislation is an important step in delivering on the Government of Canada's commitment to support the community and local businesses in the National Park as they rebuild over the coming years. By transferring these planning and development authorities to the municipality, it gives the town of Jasper, businesses and residents greater control to manage the rebuilding process and shape the future of Jasper, in partnership with Parks Canada and when the community is ready to exercise these powers. It creates a simplified process for residents and developers for residents to rebuild, while removing any potential barriers. Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper have been working towards the transfer of land use planning and development authorities to the municipality since 2022, however, following the devastating wildfire in July, the Government has made it a legislative priority for the first week of the Parliamentary session. Authorities will be officially transferred once the Municipality of Jasper develops a Community Plan, that complies with Alberta's Municipal Government Act. Once the bill receives Royal assent, the Municipality of Jasper and Parks Canada will develop a new local government agreement for the Municipality of Jasper that addresses land use planning and will work together to ensure an orderly transition for this important function. Quotes "The residents of Jasper have shown incredible spirit and resiliency during such a difficult time after the terrible fire. We are here to support them every step of the way to rebuild the town as quickly and as best as we can. The legislation we pushed to introduce today helps to streamline and simplify processes that will allow the Municipality of Jasper to rebuild quickly to meet the needs of local residents and business owners." The Honourable Steven Guilbeault Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada "The Government of Canada, through Parks Canada, will continue to work with the Municipality of Jasper, the Province of Alberta, and other key groups to meet the urgent need to support the people of Jasper in restoring their community." The Honourable Randy Boissoneault Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages and Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre "As a municipality, we've always valued the opportunity to increase our role in planning and development in a manner consistent with our unique form of shared jurisdiction with the federal government. We welcome this legislative change which will enable the migration of some land use planning and development responsibilities to Jasper which will be so critical as we continue to work with Parks Canada to recover from the summer's wildfires and rebuild our iconic national park community." Richard Ireland Mayor, Municipality of Jasper Quick Facts Land use planning is a process of regulating the use of lands by providing guidance on appropriate zoning, with the goal of ensuring efficient use of space, environmental conservation, minimization of sprawl, and maximization of economic, social and community opportunities. Development relates to requirements for activities on lands within a land use framework. For example, while land use planning may designate an area (zone) for single family use, development rules strive to ensure that the homes have a particular architectural motif and support consistency in the provision of municipal services and utilities. Parks Canada and the Municipality have been discussing approaches to sharing responsibilities since 2002. Public and Indigenous consultations were held in early 2023 and a What We Heard Report published in October 2023 . Related Document Backgrounder: An Act to amend the Canada National Parks Act Related Links SOURCE Parks Canada (HQ) 18 september 2024 at 18:20 News published onand distributed by: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presents her new team at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg (eastern France) on September 17, 2024. FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP For those who were still doubting it, Ursula von der Leyen has just demonstrated that she is a woman of power and that she knows how to navigate the balance of power. Reappointed by the 27 member states following the European elections of June 9, which saw her camp the Christian Democrats of the European People's Party (EPP, center right) claim victory, the Commission president now intends to assert her authority. Her new team, which will surround her for her second term of office starting on December 1 at the latest, and which she presented on Tuesday, September 17, reflects this intent. "We feel as if we're witnessing the beginning of Ursula Jupiter's reign," said French left-wing MEP Raphael Glucksmann. The current context is favorable for her, despite the European Union (EU) facing economic decline and two wars on its borders. Between a France weakened by Emmanuel Macron's political challenges and Germany entangled in the dysfunctional coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, von der Leyen has more space. Notably, as she is not expected to seek re-election in 2029, she no longer needs to secure the support of Paris, Berlin, Rome and the rest. Surrounded by 'yes men' If the European Parliament approves the composition of the next college, there should be very few heavyweights to overshadow von der Leyen. As political scientist Alberto Alemanno said, she will be surrounded by "yes men," while the leading figures of her first mandate the Dutchman Frans Timmermans and the Dane Margrethe Vestager have all left the Community ship. France's Thierry Breton should certainly have retained his position, but his poor relation with von der Leyen made Macron bend: She made it clear to him that if France wanted a major portfolio, it would be without Breton. The Elysee Palace sacrificed Breton in favor of Macron loyalist and resigning foreign affairs minister Stephane Sejourne who. Von der Leyen confirmed on Tuesday that Sejourne will be one of her six executive vice presidents, in charge of "prosperity and industrial strategy." Read more Subscribers only Thierry Breton's resignation marks the end of a stormy relationship with Ursula von der Leyen He will be in charge of the internal market and will oversee four commissioners responsible for trade (Slovakia's Maros Sefcovic), research (Bulgaria's Ekaterina Zaharieva), economic affairs (Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis) and financial services (Portugal's Maria Luis Albuquerque). But as the past has shown, in Brussels, a title is no guarantee of influence. There's nothing to suggest that Sejourne, who speaks poor English and lacks expertise in economic matters, will have any more power than Breton, who directly oversaw three strategic branches (internal market, digital and defense). He will also have to assert his authority over the commissioners from his team, three of whom are from the EPP and may not necessarily align with the French vision when it comes to public finance or trade issues. He "is going to be eaten alive and French influence is going to pay the bill", said conservative Les Republicains MEP Celine Imart. "The Commission's work program includes very French software," said the Elysee Palace. You have 57.35% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. Le directeur electoral du comte de Maricopa Scott Jarrett explique le fonctionnement du nouveau bulletin de vote que les electeurs en Arizona utiliseront cette annee, le 11 septembre 2024 a Phoenix. GABRIEL SANDOVAL / AP Nearly 100,000 voters who haven't submitted citizenship documents might be prevented from participating in Arizona's state and local elections, a significant number for the battleground state where races have been tight. The announcement Tuesday, September 17, of an error in state-run databases that reclassified voters comes days before county election officials are required to mail ballots to uniformed and overseas voters. Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Stephen Richer, the Republican recorder for Maricopa County, disagree over whether the voters should have access to the full ballot or the ability to vote only in federal races. Arizona is unique among states in that it requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Those who haven't but have sworn to it under the penalty of law are allowed to participate only in federal elections. Arizona considers driver's licenses issued after October 1996 to be valid proof of citizenship. However, a system coding error marked 97,000 voters who obtained licenses before 1996 roughly 2.5% of all registered voters as full-ballot voters, state officials said. Error could tip scales in hotly contested races in state Legislature While the error between the state's voter registration database and the Motor Vehicle Division won't impact the presidential race, that number of voters could tip the scales in hotly contested races in the state Legislature where Republicans have a slim majority in both chambers. It also could affect ballot measures before voters, including the constitutional right to abortion and criminalizing noncitizens for entering Arizona through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry. Read more US presidential candidate Kamala Harris makes immigration pitch in Arizona Fontes said in a statement that the 97,000 voters are longtime Arizonans and mostly Republicans who should be able to fully participate in the general election. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who said his office identified the issue earlier this month, said he plans to sue Fontes' office Tuesday afternoon, asking a court to classify the voters as federal-only. "It is my position that these registrants have not satisfied Arizonas documented proof of citizenship law, and therefore can only vote a 'FED ONLY' ballot," Richer wrote on the social platform X. Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan to UL students: So, when you leave here, become critical thinkers, become problem-solvers. Mercedes-Benz has called it quit from its Chinese electric vehicle joint venture with BYD, the German luxury car brand has said Tuesday. Mercedes-Benz has sold the remaining 10 per cent stake it had held after unloading the bulk of its stake of the joint venture back in 2021. With this move, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has taken the full control of the venture. However, none of the two automobile giants have revealed the value of the deal. Mercedes-Benz has sold its remaining 10% stake to BYD, giving the Chinese electric car giant full control of the joint venture, under which the two au Under this joint venture, Mercedes-Benz and BYD were developing and manufacturing luxury electric cars under the Denza brand, which is now wholly owned by the Chinese auto major. Mercedes-Benz has stated that its technology has not been incorporated into the current Denza cars. Also check these Cars Find more Cars Mercedes-Benz A-Class Limousine 1950 cc 1950 cc Multiple Multiple 45.80 Lakhs Compare View Offers UPCOMING BYD Seagull 38 kWh 38 kWh 405 km 405 km 10 Lakhs Alert Me When Launched Audi A4 1984.0 cc 1984.0 cc Petrol Petrol 42.34 Lakhs Compare View Offers BMW 3 Series 2998.0 cc 2998.0 cc Multiple Multiple 42.30 Lakhs Compare View Offers UPCOMING Toyota Camry 2024 2487 cc 2487 cc Petrol Petrol 50 Lakhs Alert Me When Launched Audi A6 1984 cc 1984 cc Petrol Petrol 54.42 Lakhs Compare View Offers This move ends a 13-year partnership between Mercedes-Benz and BYD. Denza was established by the two automakers as a joint venture in 2011, with each OEMs holding a 50 per cent stake in the JV. The joint venture company was incorporated as Shenzhen BYD New Energy Co. It focused on manufacturing premium electric cars but lacklustre sales numbers forced Mercedes-Benz to reduce its stake in the venture to 10 per cent in 2021 and now, the company sold the remaining share too. Also Read : EV tariffs will damage Germany, China, says Chinese commerce minister Denza is now working on its Z9GT model, which is slated to launch later this week with a sticker price of $47,900. Also, the company has found slight popularity with the D9 minivan, which ranked as the bestseller in its category in China in 2023. Mercedes-Benz's move comes at a tough time This move from Mercedes-Benz comes at a time when an increasing number of global automakers are dialling back their exposure to the world's biggest automobile market. Also, this move comes at a time when made-in-China electric cars are being slapped with steep tariffs across the world. European Union has already proposed a high tariff on made-in-China electric cars amounting to 36.3 per cent, while Canada also slapped 100 per cent import duty on Chinese EVs. These moves have heightened trade tensions between China and European countries. Get insights into Upcoming Cars In India, Electric Vehicles, Upcoming Bikes in India and cutting-edge technology transforming the automotive landscape. First Published Date: SANTA Claus had barely departed Limerick last Christmas morning when a motorist was caught speeding on a busy road in the city, a court has heard. In evidence, the operator of a GoSafe speed van told Kilmallock Court he was on duty at Ballysimon Road, Limerick at 9.48am on December 25, 2023 when he detected a vehicle which was travelling at 62km/h in a 50km/h zone. Judge Patricia Harney was told the registered owner of the car, who has no previous convictions, had not paid the fine and was not present in court despite having been summoned. The judge, having formally recorded a conviction, imposed a 320 fine, giving the woman four months to pay. READ ALSO: PICTURES: Fun for all ages at the Northside Family Resource Centre Harvest Fair in Limerick Separately, another prosecution which was before the court on the same day related to a speeding offence which was detected on February 14 this year - Valentine's Day! In that case, evidence was heard that the offending vehicle was clocked travelling at 68km/h in a 50km/h zone at Dock Road, Limerick at 7.03am. The driver, who was present in court, did not not offer any explanation but asked to be given a chance "to fix it". He was fined 200. While not a matter for the court, penalty points will also be applied to the licences of those convicted of speeding offences arising from GoSafe detections. FORMER All-Star and Clare All-Ireland winning hurler Niall Gilligan has been sent forward for trial concerning an alleged stick assault on a 12 year old boy. At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, September 18, Judge Alec Gabbett returned Mr Gilligan (47) for trial to the next sittings of Ennis Circuit Court. Judge Gabbett sent Mr Gilligan of Rosroe, Sixmilebridge, for trial after the Book of Evidence was served in the case. Mr Gilligan denies the assault causing harm charge of the boy. Garda Emmet Roche gave sworn evidence that he had served the Book of Evidence on Mr Gilligans solicitor, Daragh Hassett before court on Wednesday. The DPP had initially directed that the case be heard in the district court but Judge Gabbett declined district court jurisdiction in the case after hearing an outline of the State case against Mr Gilligan in July. Sgt John Burke told the court that the DPP consents to Mr Gilligans case going forward to the circuit court on the same bail terms. Addressing Mr Gilligan directly, Judge Gabbett told him that if an alibi formed a part of his defence that he needs to provide details in writing to the State within 14 days. Judge Gabbett said that Mr Hassett would explain to him about that. No legal aid application was made for the circuit court case on behalf of Mr Gilligan who works as an auctioneer and farmer. In court in July, State Solicitor for County Clare, Aisling Casey told the court that one of the injuries the boy was treated for in the aftermath of the alleged stick assault by Mr Gilligan was a fractured left hand. Solicitor for Mr Gilligan, Mr Hassett told the court that the sequence of events set out by the State is not accepted by his client and there is a complete dispute in relation to what is alleged to have happened here. Read Also: Bah humbug! Limerick motorist fined for speeding on Christmas Day As part of the State case, a medical report and photos of the boys injuries were handed into court in July and Judge Gabbett said at the time: I am looking at photographs here and what I am seeing is a child with significant injuries over and above what the district court should be dealing with so I am going to refuse jurisdiction. Mr Gilligan is charged with the assault causing harm of a 12-year old boy at the Jamaica Inn Hostel, Mt Ivers Rd, Sixmildebridge contrary to Section 3 of the Offences Against the Person Act on October 5th last. Mr Gilligan is also charged with producing a wooden stick during the course of a dispute contrary to Section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act at the same location on the same date. Mr Gilligan denies both charges. Outlining the background to the charges against Mr Gilligan, Ms Casey said the charges relate to a matter alleged to have happened on October 5th 2023 at 5.30pm. She said that the alleged injured party, who was aged 12 at the time, was with a friend also aged 12 and they were on a disused property, the Jamaica Inn in Sixmilebridge owned by the accused. Ms Casey said: When the boys were on the property, it will be alleged that the accused confronted the two boys and produced a wooden stick and the boys attempted to flee." She said that it will be alleged that the alleged injured party slipped on muddy ground and while lying on the ground, it will be alleged that the accused struck him several times with the wooden stick he had in his possession. Ms Casey stated the boy returned home on foot and was brought first to the VHI clinic and subsequently transferred to University Hospital Limerick that evening. Ms Casey said that the injuries reported was a loss of consciousness by the boy on the occasion along with significant bruising at the top right shoulder, the buttocks and lower back. Ms Casey said that injuries also included a 2cm long wound was on the boys forearm and a 2cm long wound to the right shin which both required suturing She stated that following orthopaedic intervention, a fracture was identified on the boys left hand and he made a full, uneventful recovery concerning the left hand. In July, Ms Casey confirmed that both juvenile witnesses will give evidence by video link in the circuit court. Mr Gilligan was a star forward for the senior Clare hurling team which defeated Tipperary to win the 1997 All-Ireland Final and was named an All-Star in 1999. The Sixmilebridge clubman also won two Munster titles with Clare and multiple honours with his club over a long, distinguished hurling career. THE BOARD of the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), the representative body for the research-based biopharmaceutical industry in Ireland, is pleased to announce Shane Ryan as its new President. Shane is the General Manager for Takeda in Ireland and has retained this role for over six years, carrying with him a track record of success through clarity of purpose and vision. Country President for Amgen in Ireland, Caitriona Duggan, is the new Vice-President. Mr Ryan takes over the role from Biogens Michael OConnell after his two-year term. He is from Fedamore, married and has four young children. Mr Ryan was educated at St Munchin's College in Limerick before studying at Trinity College Dublin. Transparent partnerships and building trust with stakeholders across Government, the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive will play a key role in Shanes presidency, which will focus on driving forward decisions that both value innovation and improve health outcomes for all. Commenting on this, General Manager, Takeda Ireland, Shane Ryan, shared: I am honoured to serve IPHA members, representing a sector at the forefront of discovering, developing and bringing life-changing medicines and innovation to patients, clinicians and the communities that support them. It is a pivotal time. The recent elections of the European Parliament and the upcoming Irish general election present exciting opportunities for us to work in collaboration with others to achieve our vision of creating an environment which helps patients and places Ireland as the investment destination for life sciences. Chief Executive of IPHA, Oliver OConnor, welcomed the appointments. I am delighted to welcome Shane and Caitriona to their respective new roles. They bring experience and expertise at a critical time for the industry in Ireland and globally. As we continue to engage in the reform of the EU Pharmaceutical Legislation, plan ahead to work with the next Government in Ireland and prepare for a new Framework Agreement, I look forward to supporting their goal in creating an innovative, competitive ecosystem which benefits all patients in Ireland, said Mr OConnor. READ MORE: Limerick City and County Council shortlisted for Local Authority of the Year IPHA also published its General Election manifesto and central to this is an ask for the next Government to commit to a continuous and faster flow of new life-enhancing medicines, and vaccines, for patients in Ireland. The manifesto outlines innovative proposals on how this can be achieved. Commenting on the launch of the IPHA General Election Manifesto, Mr OConnor said: Next year, IPHA members expect to make applications for reimbursement for 36 medicines which, according to most recent estimates, would positively benefit as many as 3,700 patients in Ireland, alongside their families and carers. However, we need to ensure that patients in Ireland will have fast and fair access to these new life-enhancing medicines next year, and in subsequent years, through multi-annual funding and reform of the current reimbursement process. Over the next couple of months, in the lead up to the next General Election in Ireland, we look forward to presenting to candidates, and other stakeholders our proposals on how this can be achieved. We believe that doctors should have the right medicine available for prescription for their patients at the right time and are therefore calling for a new voice for doctors in prioritising new medicines for patients. We would also like to see a levelling-up of care for patients with rare diseases through faster access to the medicines they need. To further these goals, industry is ready to play its part in speeding up the process and reaching a new Framework Agreement with the State in 2025. Since the last Agreement in 2021, IPHA member companies have actively delivered significant savings to the State well above what had been anticipated for the full four-year period of the Agreement. As we start planning for the next Agreement, we remain ready and willing to collaborate to achieve certainty for clinicians and patients to bring newly-authorised medicines to the Irish healthcare system as quickly as possible. An innovative life-science sector is of strategic importance to Ireland and Europe. IPHA companies are key contributors to R&D and clinical trials which improve patient outcomes and quality of life here and around the world. However, currently in Ireland we need to do better in terms of the numbers of clinical trials being conducted. "We want to give patients hope through faster access to research treatments. We welcome the recent establishment of a new National Clinical Trials Oversight Group by the Minister for Health to support innovation and patient outcomes and we look forward to seeing its outputs. In particular, we support the Ministers goal of doubling the number of clinical trials in Ireland. We believe this can be achieved over the lifetime of the next Government with clear and sustained political support. In order to achieve all this and remain at the forefront of innovation and efficiency, it is crucial that we continue to upskill, both through the development of the next generation of talent and the adoption of new technologies. To place our sector at the cutting edge of data, digital and technology we need to work with all partners to develop the next generation of pharmaceutical leaders. This will be fundamental to creating better experiences for patients, providers and payers while also driving investment and supporting the establishment of a globally competitive ecosystem. SENATOR Paul Gavan has called on Government both locally and nationally to take urgent measures to tackle traffic congestion in the city suburbs. He has described traffic across major routes in and out of the city as chaos, with significant tailbacks in the morning and evening peak. Each morning and evening the Mick Mackey roundabout has cars tailing well back on to the M7 motorway which creates a potentially hazardous situation. Meanwhile traffic queues at the Groody roundabout tail back in both directions at peak times. In addition parts of Dooradoyle and Corbally are in gridlock as a matter of course on a daily basis, Mr Gavan said. READ MORE: Hair loss saviour Joseph Guthrie specialist trichologist is here to help! He said the gridlock impacts both commuters and businesses. The worsening traffic chaos is impacting on commuters and businesses in a significant way. Workers are struggling to get to work on time and its leading to increasing levels of stress all round. As we head into the winter with dark mornings and wet weather this situation will only get worse, he warned. The Castleconnell man says the fault lies at the door of the government, and what he feels has been a lack of forward planning. This Government decided to drop the Northern Distributor road from its plans for Limerick - a route that is desperately needed. This road would alleviate traffic congestion in the city while providing a quick link between the northside and the University of Limerick, the National Technological Park and Annacotty Business Park. The decision to exclude this piece of infrastructure from the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy has proven to be an unmitigated disaster, he said. Mr Gavan also criticised the proposed BusConnects model, which its hoped will lead to improvements to local bus services. LIMERICK Civic Trust are planning to give the memorial to its founder a welcome facelift. Denis Leonard, who founded the heritage group in 1983, sadly died in 2009, and is remembered with a stone plaque at the Peoples Park in the city centre. But sadly in recent times, the stonework has broken (as shown in picture below) Its current chief executive David OBrien says the group is working with Irish Natural Stone to restore the memorial to its former glory, and also prevent it from future damage. Rather than just fixing what is there which will be damaged again as it's on the ground, I want to talk to the council about lifting it up. Frank McCormack from Irish Natural Stone up in the Burren is committed to doing it, explained Mr OBrien. READ MORE: EPA confirm investigation into incident at Irish Cement plant in Limerick It won't be instant, but we will take care of it. The chief executive says they always look to stand on the shoulders of Mr Leonard, who hailed from Raheen. Denis was a deep thinker. He had an incredible work ethic. What Denis started the Civic Trust to do wasn't the big building projects. What he did was gather volunteers to take down the fly-postering in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They just went around tidying things up and fixing them, and that led to the first big project, the Potato Market, which was a halting site at the time, Mr OBrien said. Historian, businessman and ecclesiastical decorator Randel Hodkinson, who is based in Henry Street, also called for the repair of the plaque. Limerick Civic Trust was set up by Denis Leonard in 1983. For the next 26 years, up to his passing in 2009, Denis worked tirelessly looking after the heritage & environment of the city . I always felt this was a very poor memorial to a man who gave so much to #Limerick . pic.twitter.com/ldBrRJNfEJ Randel Hodkinson (@RHODLIMERICK) September 8, 2024 Denis was an absolute gentleman. He was a visionary for the time. In the 1980s when he set up the Civic Trust. He was a man absolutely committed to Limerick city and improving the heritage and environment of the city, said Randel. I don't think there has been anyone like him since who has been at the helm of the trust. It was like a vocation to him. He wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. This Friday, the Civic Trust will welcome Mayor John Moran to its business lunch at the Savoy Hotel. A WHOPPING 5.1million in LEADER funding is available to support rural development projects across the whole of County Limerick. Limerick Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) in Partnership with West Limerick Resources is now seeking expressions of interest for funding support. The LEADER programme is a community-led initiative designed to support rural development projects. It aims to improve the quality of life and economic activity in rural areas by funding projects that align with local development strategies. Supports under LEADER 2023 2027 will be provided under three main funding themes: Economic Development and Job Creation: Projects that promote rural tourism, enterprise development, agricultural diversification, and the green economy. Rural Infrastructure & Social Inclusion: Initiatives that improve rural infrastructure, accessible services, digital connectivity, and support for rural youth. Sustainable Development & Climate Change: Efforts focused on environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Mayor of Limerick, John Moran, is welcoming the allocation of funding for Limerick, saying: Communities across Limerick know that securing funding is critical to moving projects forward. The 5.1 million in LEADER funding for County Limerick marks a significant investment in our rural towns and villages. The LEADER programme empowers communities to drive forward innovative and impactful initiatives. I invite all local groups, individuals and businesses to engage with West Limerick Resources to learn how this fund can support projects that will have a positive impact on the locality. The fund provides an opportunity to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality of our beautiful rural areas. READ MORE: Limerick talent nominated for Apprentice of the Year Awards The LEADER Programme for County Limerick was officially launched by the Chairperson of the Limerick Local Community Development Committee, Cllr Stephen Keary, at Roots Shop and Cafe in Kilmeedy, a community run social enterprise established with support of LEADER 2013 - 2022. Limerick LCDC Chief Officer, Limerick City and County Council, Seamus OConnor, commented: Over the last 30 years, LEADER has supported rural resilience and enabled communities and entrepreneurs to bring innovative projects to life. The new LEADER programme aims to build upon the achievements from the previous programmes and to continue to support new ideas and initiatives from businesses and communities across County Limerick. Communities and businesses across the whole county are encouraged to make contact with West Limerick Resources to discuss their funding needs and find out what LEADER has to offer. Manager of West Limerick Resources, Shay Riordan, explained: LEADER funding is open to all, from community and voluntary groups to private individuals and small to medium enterprises. We would particularly like to hear from areas and communities who have not previously benefitted from LEADER funding or who have not engaged with the programme in a long time. Full details of the new programme will be provided at an upcoming LEADER Funding Information Event scheduled to take place in Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel in Adare on October 3 at 7.30pm. LEADER development officers will be in attendance to meet individual groups and businesses to provide information, answer questions and schedule follow up meetings to explore proposals in further detail. The programme will open with a time limited targeted call across all programme themes. Anyone who wishes to apply for support under this initial call must submit an expression of interest before December 16, 2024. Supports will be available from West Limerick Resources throughout the application process and information workshops will be held at various locations around the county to assist those interested. It is highly advisable to make contact as soon as possible to capitalise on the advice and guidance available. For further information please click here Two people have been arrested following the discovery of a growhouse in county Monaghan this Tuesday. As part of ongoing investigations into the sale and distribution of drugs, gardai in Monaghan have arrested a man and a woman and seized suspected cannabis plants and dried herbal cannabis with an estimated street value of 88,000 during a search of a premises on Tuesday, September 17. During the course of the search of a residence under warrant in Castleblayney, a growhouse was discovered containing 50 cannabis plants, with a street value of 42,000, as well as 46,000 worth of dried cannabis herb and 1,000 worth of MDMA (all subject to analysis), a garda spokesperson said. The operation was carried out by local gardai, assisted by the members from Community Engagement Monaghan, Crime Unit Monaghan and Divisional Drugs Unit. The drugs seized will now undergo further analysis by Forensic Science Ireland. The man and woman, both aged in their 30s, were arrested in connection with the investigationare detained at a Garda station in the county Monaghan area pursuant to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. Investigations are ongoing, gardai said. Virgin Media Televisions Gogglebox Ireland will see the return of fan favourites from Clare Tadhg and Ettie, this Wednesday at 9pm. As the series celebrates a 10th season on air, Tadhg and Ettie, the Clonlara granny and grandson team, are making a return to Gogglebox Ireland after a few years away from the show. Tadhg joined the show when he was still in school and visiting Granny Ettie as often as he could and theyre still as close as ever. Read Also: Susan O'Neill to perform in intimate Limerick venue Tadhg is working and living in Limerick now, and has set up Limericks only drag haus. Ettie, who is a retired nurse, is still enjoying spending time with all her grandkids. When it comes to TV, Ettie is a big fan of The Chase, Antiques Roadshow and WW2 documentaries. Tadhg enjoys reality TV and is a Quintin Tarantino fan. Ettie and Tadhg enjoy movies together. New episodes of Gogglebox Ireland air at 9pm Wednesdays on Virgin Media One and Virgin Media Play. BlackRock , Microsoft and United Arab Emirates state-backed investor MGX are partnering on a new artificial-intelligence infrastructure fund that aims to raise $30 billion to invest in data centers and related power infrastructure. After raising the private-equity capital from investors, the partnership could deploy up to $100 billion in total capital when including debt financing, the parties said Tuesday. Most of the infrastructure investments will be made in the U.S. The systems powering new AI products are highly energy intensive. The recent frenzy to build data centers to serve the exploding demand for AI is causing a shortage of the parts, property and power that the sprawling warehouses of supercomputers require. Microsoft and other big tech players have been investing billions in their own data centers. The new partnershipdubbed the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnershipwill pool capital from investors like pension funds and insurance companies that seek steady, modest returns from private infrastructure investments. It will finance projects across the AI infrastructure ecosystem, including energy infrastructure. By 2030, data centers alone could increase U.S. power demand by 8% , researchers say. The goal is to finance some of the capital intensive infrastructure needs with money from outside the tech sector, BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said in an interview. Were providing the vehicle in which the AI hyper-scalers can use their capital elsewhere and we have the pension funds and insurance companies invest in the infrastructure and enjoy the long-term returns that are perfect for their retirement plans," Fink said. Microsoft is investing in the fund, though the companies declined to reveal how much. The partnership will provide full-access on a nonexclusive basis to a range of companies that want to lease data centers and other infrastructure. We see artificial intelligence as a fundamental driver of economic growth for the country," Brad Smith , vice chair and president of Microsoft, said in an interview. And all of this needs to be built out in order for the country to expand." If it reaches its goal, the fund would be the biggest alternative investment fund ever raised by BlackRock. The worlds largest asset manager has been pushing into the more lucrative world of managing private investments over the past few years. BlackRock spent $12.5 billion to acquire alternative investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners earlier this year, which will also be a partner in the new fund. BlackRock estimates that trillions of dollars are needed to finance the growth of data centers and energy resources long term. Miriam Gottfried and Tom Dotan contributed to this article. Write to Jack Pitcher at jack.pitcher@wsj.com and Connor Hart at Connor.Hart@wsj.com New Delhi: The Adani group will manufacture microchips for its own businesses ranging from ports to power and mining, as well as for global and domestic customers at its proposed fabrication plant in Maharashtra, multiple officials aware of the plans said. The ports-to-cement conglomerate has tied up with Israels Tower Semiconductor to build the foundry in Maharashtra's Raigad district. The state government last week said that of the total 83,947 crore investment, 58,763 crore will be infused in the first phase and the balance in the second phase. The project will have a total capacity of 40,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM) in the first phase, which will be doubled later. Adani will work as a contract manufacturer, like a foundry service, catering to global clients. Tower has technology in optical and analog mixed-signal chips, and they also have captive consumption from contracts with some of the chip manufacturers, which can be done from the India fab with Adani," the person said. This will diversify Adani's portfolio and give Tower an entry to the India market where it can cater to local demand, he said, adding the proposal was yet to get government approval. Several global companies such as Apple, Nvidia and Qualcomm design chips and get them manufactured by another company, in a so-called fabless model, and Adani hopes to tap this market with the new chip plant. Adani's chip business, to be led by a group company operating in allied sectors such as data centres, is expected to become one of its largest, the person cited above said. Serving in-house demand from Adani companies also gives Tower a ready commercial base, the second person said. Adani-Tower would specifically target government contracts such as in smart meters and smart cities," a third person said, adding Adani has product-making resources, and IP-driven, electronics and semiconductor capability through entities like Adani Green Energy Ltd; so, it will be able to leverage the Tower partnership in solar energy applications. Access to Indian market Tower makes chips in 45-300 nm range of nodes, used in products and components across sectors such as automotive, consumer electronics and display devices, medical devices and industrial equipment, which has a large market in India. The move may also help the Taiwanese company assess the Indian chip market. The partnership also opens the door to crucial government contracts in digital transformation in sectors like railways, aviation, defence, mining, telecommunications and oil and gas. Queries sent to an Adani group spokesperson remained unanswered. Adani Enterprises earlier informed the exchanges that it was evaluating the project at a group level. The company has not signed any binding document(s) in this regard; hence, we are unable to comment on the same at this stage," Adani said. Tower Semiconductor CEO Russell C. Ellwanger was in India last week, and attended a roundtable discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and nearly a dozen other CEOs of global semiconductor companies, where India was pitched as a trusted partner in the semiconductor supply chain that could offer predictable and stable policy regime. Modi has also pegged semiconductors as crucial building blocks for the Indian electronics ecosystem, which he said was expected to become a $500 billion industry by 2030, making an attractive pitch for global majors to make in India. Having a local manufacturing and supply chain has become a strategic requirement for countries post-covid, since concentration of chips with some countries like China and Taiwan had led to disruptions across world markets when supplies snapped due to the pandemic. It makes a lot of sense if Adani goes into semiconductor space. In the new world order, companies are diversifying their semiconductor strategy, and not only just from the growth perspective, but semiconductor has now become so important for any nation to have a good hold on the value chain, and India is also aiming to do the same," said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research. India's semiconductor demand Semiconductor demand in India alone is likely to exceed $100 billion by 2030 from $45 billion in 2023, he noted, outlining the commercial value potential of the Indian market, but also the challenges that a complex business of semiconductors will bring. No startup or small firms will have the means required to set up semiconductor operations in India, and the big industrial groups of India will therefore be our only bet. In the next three to five years, we should expect the Adani group to expand significantly into the semiconductor business ecosystem," the second executive quoted earlier said. Kanishka Chauhan, principal analyst, semiconductor and electronics group at Gartner said that for global firms, India is crucial due to the need for geopolitical decentralization, but an Indian partner will be needed. Everyone is looking to get into the semiconductor business, and for global firms, partnering with a large Indian entity is fruitful in order to better navigate the Indian political and business intricacieswhich they may otherwise struggle to do independently," he said. Adani will join the likes of Tata group, Murugappa group, Kaynes Technologies, L&T group and HCL Technologies that have plans for semiconductor manufacturing. Mint reported on Monday that Tata group intends to build two fabs in addition to the first fab coming up in Dholera, Gujarat with an investment of 91,000 crore. Indian conglomerates like HCL group, Tata group, Murugappa group and now Adani group, getting in semiconductor manufacturing is the biggest breakthrough for us, and a complete shift in dynamic because most of the global integrated design manufacturers are yet to commit to India," Ashok Chandak, president of India Electronics and Semiconductor Association said. This will make Indian semiconductor companies that can go global," he added. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On September 16, GAC Group celebrated the grand opening of two new showrooms in Hong Kong's Hung Hom and North Point, marking a significant milestone in the company's expansion into the Hong Kong market. Photo credit: GAC Group The Hung Hom showroom, located at 6 Metropolis Drive, enjoys a prime position near landmarks such as the Hong Kong Coliseum and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, connecting key areas in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Meanwhile, the North Point showroom is situated in a bustling commercial and residential hub, offering high foot traffic and business potential. With the launch of these showrooms, GAC aims to introduce a broader range of advanced new energy vehicles (NEVs) and provide enhanced services to local customers. Photo credit: GAC Group GAC remains committed to its customer-first philosophy, focusing on improving its sales and service network to increase customer satisfaction. The company plans to introduce various NEV models, including the Trumpchi E9, Hyper HT, and AION V, to cater to Hong Kong's growing demand for green mobility and support the city's sustainable automotive transition. With five showrooms already established across Hong Kong, GAC Group continues to expand its footprint and plans to further enhance its presence by introducing a full lineup of NEVs. The company also views Hong Kong as a gateway to international markets, supporting the global expansion of Chinese electric vehicles. New Delhi: The Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) and Coal India Ltd have signed an agreement to open a Jan Aushadhi Kendra in the premises of every coal field, select hospitals or any suitable location as specified by the state-run miner. A Jan Aushadhi Kendra is a dedicated outlet that sells generic medicines at affordable rates. PMBI, under the department of pharmaceuticals, ministry of chemicals and fertilizers, has been given the mandate to ensure the availability of quality medicines at affordable prices at Jan Aushadhi Kendra stores. Generic medicines are 50-90% cheaper than branded drugs. The objective of this MoU (memorandum of understanding) is to provide high-quality generic medicines to the workforce and communities associated with Coal India, through the establishment of Jan Aushadhi Kendras across Coal India premises. These medicines will help workers, residents, and families save out-of-pocket expenditure and give employment opportunities to entrepreneurs in the project areas, the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers said in a statement on Tuesday. Also Read: This reviled pharmaceutical firm holds promise of a healthier future The kendras will be established at 12 locations of Coal India operations across West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Assam. Jan Aushadhi Kendras in MP Separately, the Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday inaugurated 50 Jan Aushadhi Kendras in as many district hospitals of the state. These Jan Aushadhi Kendras will benefit the people of Madhya Pradesh. More than 2,000 quality generic medicines and 300 surgical, nutraceuticals and devices will be made available at rates 50% to 90% cheaper than those of branded medicines. This will help them to save out-of-pocket expenditure on medicines, the government said. The initiatives are aimed at increasing the number of these drug outlets to 25,000 across India by 2026, from more than 12,000 currently. Earlier in June, Mint reported that PMBI aims to retain the minimum stock for at least 200 commonly-used medicines at Jan Aushadhi stores 24/7. Online orders for categories such as fashion, accessories, home decor and kidswear are likely to be harder to return this festive season as companies look at maximising earnings and minimising logistics hurdles, experts said. Direct-to-consumer companies as well as e-commerce platforms Flipkart and Amazon may set a higher bar for accepting returns than in previous festive seasons to maintain margins by eliminating the costs of reverse logistics, staffing and packaging, according to two executives aware of the matter. Product returns tend to spike by as much as 30% in the last three months of the calendar year, when e-commerce companies typically run sales during major festivals such as Dussehra and Diwali compared to business-as-usual days, according to Shashwat Swaroop, co-founder of GoKwik-owned Return Prime, a returns and exchange optimisation platform. Common ways to curb returns include shortening the return window, charging a return fee to customers who do so frequently, offering only store credit, and disallowing payments at the time of delivery, the executives said. Swaroop added that in some cases, sellers may choose to be lenient with loyal customers while restricting the option for others. E-commerce companies, especially marketplaces, have tried to curb returns over the past few years. Last year, Myntra introduced a fee ranging from 199 to 299 for customers with a high rate of returns. However, with the rate of returns rising, they are scrutinising consumer behaviour more closely now than ever. Amazon, Flipkart and Nykaa did not respond to queries sent by Mint seeking comment on the matter. Growing problem Product returns are becoming increasingly tedious for e-commerce companies to manage. Started as a feature to attract customers, it could cost Indian e-commerce companies $20-30 billion in revenue by 2025, according to estimates by Return Prime. E-commerce in India is expected to be worth $188 billion by 2025, according to Brand Equity India Foundation, which cited Grant Thornton estimates. And even though e-commerce sales grew by 38% during the pandemic, the rate of returns doubled. There are more returns during the festive season, according to the founder of an online apparel company who did not want to be identified. Attractive deals on online platforms have led to an increase in impulse shopping and hence higher chances of buying something you did not really like or need. In apparel, its also possible that customers bought something to be worn only for an event," the executive added. The cost of reverse logistics can be pinching. Right from picking up the product, shipping it back to the warehouse, conducting quality checks, and eventually refunding the money, companies tend to lose out on margins, according to Satish Meena, an advisor at Datum Intelligence. Returns generally account for 10-12% of the entire product cost, leaving brands very little earnings. In some cases, brands may have to pay out of pocket to facilitate the return," Meena noted. The biggest online purchases during the festive season are in the fashion category, followed by groceries and personal care, according to Datum Intelligence's 2024 festive sales report. Also Read: Amazon sees jump in demand for premium clothing and beauty products The highest number of returns are in fashion, which includes accessories, handbags, and footwear. Personal care and electronics can be returned only in exceptional cases of defect or damage during transit. The net sales value (NSV) of Nykaas fashion business accounted for 30% of its gross merchandise value (GMV) in the quarter ended June. The higher the ratio, the better, as it will indicate that brands are losing less money on each returned order," Datum Intelligences Meena said. While NSV includes discounts and cancellations, it could be a good metric to assess a companys returns-to-earnings capacity. Tough to implement To be sure, consumer companies are not likely to implement aggressive strategies to curb returns but instead adopt a more gradual and silent approach. Returns and replacements are key value drivers for online companies. Many consumers opt for shopping online only if they have the option to return the order," Meena said, noting that any big policy change could have a direct impact on sales. Return Primes Swaroop said eliminating returns entirely leads to a drop in GMV of up to 50% and that almost 85% of shoppers remain loyal to companies that offer easy returns. However, many companies are incorporating the cost associated with returns in their pricing. E-retailers including Nykaa and Myntra now charge a platform fee to customers to account for possible order returns. Gandhinagar: State-run Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (Ireda) is looking at making a foray into financing projects abroad through its GIFT City subsidiary along with raising finance from international green funds. In an interview, Ireda chairman and managing director (CMD) Pradip Kumar Das said that the company would largely finance solar component manufacturing and green hydrogen businesses in India through the subsidiary, Ireda Global Green Energy Finance IFSC Ltd, which would largely cater to export demand. "We have already opened our GIFT City office, we need to operationalize it. When it starts we will borrow from here and lend from here. What it would do is there will be no requirement for foreign currency conversion. Indian developers setting up projects here would get loan through GIFT City. We will also prefer to lend promoters from India setting up projects abroad," Das said adding that this would help the company make its debut in the international market. "We will approach green funds, and we will source it through Gift City, so that borrowing is less and hedging cost is also saved. There are several developers who put up domestic projects in which they have export earnings and there capex is in forex. So, they would invest in forex and repay us in forex when they export, mostly manufacturing of solar components and green hydrogen." Maiden transaction awaited The government-owned company had incorporated its subsidiary at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) located in GIFT City, Gujarat in May this year. The company is yet to make its first transaction through the Ireda Global Green Energy Finance IFSC Ltd. Das said Ireda Global Green Energy Finance IFSC Ltd is in talks with several companies for financing. Tie-ups would follow in the days ahead. A number of public sector enterprises have set up subsidiaries at IFSC for investment and financing purposes. Power Finance Corporation has already set up a subsidiary while REC Ltd has received the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) approval for one. Speaking on the company's planned follow-on public offering, the CMD said that the Centre's approval for the proposed stake dilution is expected soon. He said that the company is looking to raise about 4,500-5,000 crore from the FPO. "We will come to the market by the end of this year. We need fresh equity of about 4,500-5,000 crore. When we raise equity the stake of government of India will reduce. For that we have requested them to allow us to sell up to 10%. It depends upon the government how much stake sale they allow. We hope to get to get the approval soon," he said on the sidelines of RE Invest 2024, adding that the company may be able raise more than the targeted 5,000 crore. Listed last November The company was listed on the stock exchanges in November last year. Its share on the BSE closed at 227.75 on Tuesday, lower by 0.22% from its previous close. Regarding the company's request to the government for its inclusion under Section 54EC of the Income Tax Act, Das said that the request in advanced stages of discussion with the Centre and an approval is expected within a month. Inclusion of the company under the section would exempt investors buying bonds from it from capital gains tax, making their bonds more attractive. "By October-mid we may get some result in this because before going for FPO we need to have this," he said. Among other financial institutions and banks, Ireda also made a commitment to increase its support for green transition. It has pledged to finance additional 5 trillion by 2030. So far it has tied up for projects worth nearly 2 trillion and financed a cumulative renewable energy capacity of 27 GW. The energy transition projects financed by the company comprise of 58% conventional renewable energy projects including solar, wind and hydro power, while emerging sectors like CNG, ethanol, e-mobility and charging infrastructure make up for 18%. The remaining 24% have been provided to state utilities for their renewable energy projects. State-owned Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has received government approval to raise up to 4,500 crore by issuing equity shares through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). The government aims to dilute its stake in IREDA by 7 per cent on a post-issue basis, which will be carried out in one or more tranches. The approval was given by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), which deals with all matters related to managing central government equity investments. A company statement said the approval was given on the basis of a high-level committee's recommendations. This is to inform you that the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) vide their OM dated September 18, 2024, conveyed the approval of the alternative mechanism upon the recommendation of a high-level committee on the proposal of the raising of funds by IREDA, the statement said. The money will be raised through the QIP route, which is a measure through which companies can raise capital by selling shares or other securities to qualified institutional buyers. . alternative mechanism has allowed for the dilution of GOI shareholding in IREDA, owing to issue fresh equity through qualified institutional placement (QIP) route up to 7 per cent of the paid-up equity of IREDA on a post-issue basis in one or more tranches, the state-owned company said. Also Read | Ireda eyes overseas lending, borrowing from green funds via GIFT City arm IREDA aims to build up its capital base, which will help scale up its financing for renewable energy projects, according to a report by PTI. On September 2, Mint reported that IREDA has sought government approval to sell up to 10 per cent stake, as it plans to raise around 4,500 crore in equity to fund growth. Mumbai: ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, the largest privately held steelmaker in the country, is betting on growing demand for specialty grades of steel, bulk of which is imported, a top executive said. The value-added products not only bring higher margin, but also help the company differentiate itself in a highly competitive market, according to Ranjan Dhar, director and vice president, sales and marketing, AM/NS India. AM/NS India is a joint venture between two of the world's largest steel producersLakshmi Mittal-led ArcelorMittal and Japans Nippon Steel. The company launched a value-added line of steel, called Magnelis, on 16 September, with an estimated investment of nearly 1,000 crore. The production line at its flagship plant in Hazira, Gujarat has a capacity of 5 lakh tonnes per annum. The product is targeted at solar panel manufacturers. Also read | ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel to invest 1 trn to set up 24 MTPA integrated steel plant in Odisha AM/NS is in talks with potential customers such as Adani Green Energy, Reliance Industries, Sterling & Wilson, NTPC, NexTracker, Kirby Building, M&B enterprises and BG Shirke Construction Technology Private Limited, according to people in the know. In 2022, Aditya Mittal, chief executive of ArcelorMittal, had mentioned a plan to supply Magnelis to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project as well, according to news reports. AM/NS is also working on setting up a new line of value-added steel for the automotive sector by the first quarter of 2025. Currently, several leading automakers import steel from countries like South Korea. Value-added steel comprises 60-65% of AM/NS's sales. AM/NS provides specialty grade products to automotive, new energy and construction sectors, among others. When AM/NS came to India, we not only wanted to take part in the value chain added portion of the steel used in India, we wanted to propagate and move the market in the direction of the value of steel, Dhar said. AM/NS plans to nearly double its capacity in India from about 8.5 million tonnes (mt) a year to around 15.6mt by the end of next year, and subsequently to 24mt a year, he said. Earlier this year, the steelmaker had announced plans to build the world's largest single integrated steel plant in Hazira. Also read | SC allows ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, IOC to appoint arbitrators in Essar case The steelmaker also plans to expand operations in East India, Dhar said. Besides Magnelis, the company earlier launched two new products: zero spangle galvanized skin pass steel, a material used in appliances; and a patented product called Optigal, a steel coating produced by hot dip galvanization of the steel in a bath of zinc-aluminium-magnesium alloy. Adani Group has issued a statement today clarifying a local Kenyan media report that said the company had commented on the Kenya Airports Authority and its approval process of a proposal, calling it "entirely false". In a statement on its website, dated September 18, Adani Group said, "We have come across a report published by The Standard (Kenya) claiming that the Adani Group made a statement regarding the Kenya Airports Authority and the approval process of a proposal. We would like to clarify that this report is entirely false." "The Adani Group has neither issued any such statement nor engaged with the media on this matter. We urge media outlets to verify information through official channels before publishing to avoid the spread of misinformation," the statement added. Adani Warns of Fake Press Releases Earlier, on September 16, the company had issued a statement warning that "certain vested interests with malicious intent are circulating multiple fraudulent press releases" and said that "neither the Adani Group nor any of its companies or subsidiaries have issued any Press Releases related to Kenya". "We strongly condemn this deceitful act and urge everyone to disregard these fake fraudulent releases completely. We will take legal action against anyone involved in spreading false narratives. Our official Press Releases are available on our websites," it said. "We encourage the media and influencers to verify facts and sources before publishing or broadcasting any articles or news on the Adani Group," the statement added. Also Read | What is NPS Vatsalya? All you need to know of new pension plan launching today Kenya airport workers protest deal with Adani Group On September 11, hundreds of workers at Kenya's main international airport demonstrated against a planned deal between the government and Adani Group, with planes grounded and hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport. The government has said that the build-and-operate agreement with India's Adani Group would see the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport renovated and an additional runway and terminal constructed in exchange for the group running the airport for 30 years. Kenya Airport Workers Union, in announcing the strike, said that the deal would lead to job losses and inferior terms and conditions of service for those who will remain. The Kenya High Court on September 9 temporarily halted the implementation of the deal until a case filed by the Law Society and the Kenya Human Rights Commission is heard. The Delhi High Court's division bench has issued notices to the Registrar of Companies (RoC) and Religare Enterprises Ltd following a plea by MB Finmart, part of Burman Family companies, opposing the RoCs decision to extend Religares annual general meeting (AGM) by three months. The RoC had granted Religares request for the extension on 22 August, postponing the company's 40th AGM to December. Originally, the AGM was scheduled for 30 September, and Religare did not provide a reason for seeking the extension at the time. Read this | Religare upsets investors by delaying AGM MB Finmart, in its plea filed before the Delhi High Court, has argued that the RoCs extension was granted without adhering to Section 96(1) of the Companies Act, which only allows such extensions in "exceptional circumstances." A bench comprising Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Girish Kathpalia heard the case and issued notices to RoC and Religare, requiring them to file their responses within 10 days. MB Finmart has been given five days thereafter to file its reply, and the next hearing has been set for 21 October. The primary issue at stake is the reappointment of Religares chairperson, Rashmi Saluja, which was to be decided at the postponed AGM. MB Finmart, represented by Harish Salve, argues that the delay has negatively impacted shareholders' rights, especially in light of the ongoing tensions between the Burman family and Religares leadership. As of September 2023, the Burman family held a 21.54% stake in Religare Enterprises. On 25 September, they announced plans to increase their shareholding by 5.27%, taking their total stake to over 25%, which would trigger an open offer under the Securities and Exchange Board of India's Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers (SAST) Regulations. The Burmans open offer proposes acquiring 9 crore equity shares at Rs. 235 each, totalling 2,115 crore, representing a 26% stake in the company. This ongoing power struggle has placed Burman family members and Rashmi Saluja at odds. The Burmans have accused Saluja of obstructing the open offer, an allegation she has denied, countering that the Burman family is not 'fit and proper' to take control of the company. Delta Airlines has updated its appearance guidelines for prospective flight attendants, drawing flak for specific instructions amounting to defining the undergarment. In a newly released document, the airline has added a specific requirement regarding undergarments, stating that proper undergarments must be worn but should not be visible during interviews. Notably, the undergarment protocol was issued for prospective flight attendants during their interview process, DailyMail reported. Delta Airlines Memo: Key Appearance Requirements The guidelines issued by Delta Airlines covered a wide range of standards, from grooming and hygiene to dress codes. For instance, prospective candidates were instructed to maintain personal cleanliness, with particular attention to their hair and nails. - Hair: Should have a natural hue without stark highlights. Hair longer than shoulder length must be secured away from the face in styles such as ponytails or buns. - Nails: Must be clean, neat, and trimmed, with any polish being chip-free. Bright or multi-colored nails, as well as nail art, are not permitted. - Tattoos and Piercings: Visible tattoos must be covered, and no facial piercings are allowed beyond a single stud in the nose. Also Read | Rajasthan Temple new dress code: No entry to visitors wearing ripped jeans Delta Airlines Memo: Professional Attire Guidelines Delta Airlines also asked prospective candidates to wear clothing that fits well and maintain a professional appearance. The memo detailed specific requirements including: - Dresses and Skirts: Must fall at or below the knee. - Shoes: Closed-toe options are required, while athletic shoes are prohibited. - Jewelry: Limited to two earrings per ear, and earrings must be small studs in approved materials. Also Read | Dress code controversy in Noida society: No lungis and nighties Delta Airlines Memo: Conduct During the Interview In addition to appearance standards, Delta outlined behavioral expectations during the interview process. The Airlines said candidates are prohibited from using profanity, chewing gum, or engaging with their cellphones or earbuds. What Delta Airlines said? A Delta Airlines spokesperson explained to DailyMail that this change aims to enhance transparency and help candidates dress for success as they pursue a position with the airline. The detailed two-page document outlines a comprehensive set of appearance standards for potential hires, highlighting the role of flight attendants as the face of Delta. Lebanon pager blasts: At least 11 people were killed, and more than 4,000 were injured, including 400 critical cases, when hundreds of pagers simultaneously exploded in parts of Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday. The pagers involved in the attack bore the branding of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo but were actually manufactured by Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT. Gold Apollo confirmed on Wednesday that BAC Consulting KFT manufactured the pagers branded with its name, which exploded in Lebanon and Syria during the reported Israeli attack on Hezbollah's communications network. Here are a few facts about BAC Consulting KFT: BAC Consulting KFT is a firm based in Budapest, Hungary. 2. The AR-924 pagers used in the attack were produced and sold by BAC Consulting KFT, which was authorised to use Gold Apollo's trademark in certain regions, according to a statement released by Gold Apollo on Wednesday, as reported by AFP. 3. Gold Apollo Chair Hsu Ching-kuang stated on Wednesday that the company had a licensing agreement with BAC Consulting KFT for the past three years. However, Hsu Ching-kuang did not provide any evidence of the contract. 4. According to BAC Consulting's LinkedIn profile, the company is involved in environmental, political, and development projects with broad scope and complexity. 5. The firm works with experts in environmental, innovation, and international relations. With over a decade of consulting experience, we are on an exciting and rewarding journey with our network of passionate experts with a hunger for innovation and discovery for the Environment, Innovation & Development, and International Affairs, BAC Consulting's LinkedIn profile said. The AR-924 pagers caused the deaths of 11 people, including an 8-year-old girl, and injured more than 4,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel for the attack. Reports indicate that the blasts were mainly concentrated in the southern Beirut suburb, the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, and Damascusareas where the group has a sufficient presence. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday launched an AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) search tool that will help clear trademark applications at a faster pace and with greater efficiency. The minister said that AI will have to be accepted by all as it would help further promote ease of doing business in every field. It (AI/ML search tool) will help clear trade mark applications much faster, efficiently and accurately, Goyal said. AI is an existential tool and its faster adoption would improve the outcome of work, he added. The commerce minister also said that the search tool and IP (intellectual property) chat bot would further strengthen the IPR ecosystem of the country. The chatbot will help process queries faster. India is the third-largest trade mark and sixth-largest patent filer in the world. Last year, more than one lakh patents were granted as against 6,000 in 2014-15, Goyal pointed out. Startups On September 16, Piyush Goyal had launched the Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) initiative under the 'Startup India' programme. With the Sun comes enlightenment, light, growth and BHASKAR will help in collaboration, cooperation and also enable competition among each other, Goyal had said in a statement. BHASKAR has been designed to unify and empower India's rapidly growing startup ecosystem by offering a one-stop solution for seamless collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation. The minister said that the Centre would work to make the ecosystem socialised, democratic, and visible to the world. Technology and interconnectivity will help Indians build 'Brand India' as a tool to market our products and services across the world and help us change the image of India to the rest of the world, he had said. 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. Li Auto newly opens 15 supercharging stations last week From September 9 to September 15, Li Auto added 15 new supercharging stations in China. Additionally, 52 new charging piles were put into service during the same period. Photo credit: Li Auto ZEEKR delivers 1,000th ZEEKR 009 Grand Edition MPVs ZEEKR announced on September 16 that the 1,000th ZEEKR 009 Grand Edition new energy MPV was delivered to its user. The ZEEKR 009 Grand Edition is the four-seater high-spec variant of the 009 MPV lineup. First ZEEKR 7X mass-produced units roll off line ZEEKR's new 7X model has rolled off the production line, the automaker announced recently. The new model is scheduled to officially hit the market on September 20. GAC Group inaugurates two new showrooms in Hong Kong, China On September 16, GAC Group celebrated the grand opening of two new showrooms in Hong Kong's Hung Hom and North Point, marking a significant milestone in the company's expansion into the Hong Kong market. AVATR launches right-hand drive AVATR 11 model in Thailand On September 17, AVATR, the premium new energy vehicle brand jointly backed by Changan Automobile, Huawei, and CATL, held a brand launch event in Bangkok, Thailand, introducing the right-hand drive version of its AVATR 11 model. GAC AION opens first flagship showroom in Manila, Philippines GAC Group's new energy vehicle brand AION officially entered the Philippine market with the opening of its first flagship showroom in the Makati business district of Manila, the automaker recently announced. DeepWay delivers first smart electric trucks to UAE partner ATOMIX On September 18, Chinese smart electric truck manufacturer DeepWay announced that its first batch of vehicles for overseas markets has successfully arrived in the UAE. The trucks were delivered to ATOMIX, a subsidiary of TruKKer, the leading digital freight network in the Middle East. Hesai Technology launches OT128 360 LiDAR Automotive LiDAR supplier Hesai Technology recently unveiled its latest 360 LiDAR sensor, the OT128, designed for applications such as L4 autonomous driving, industrial robotics, smart ports, and ADAS development. Great Wall Motor signs MoU for CKD cooperation in Vietnam Recently, Great Wall Motor ("GWM") announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam's Thanh An Group to establish a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) assembly partnership in the country, according to a post on GWM's WeChat account. The deal aims to localize GWM vehicle production in Vietnam, with the first cars expected to roll off the assembly line by the end of 2025. CATL forges strategic partnership with Shandong Heavy Industry Group On September 14, CATL and Shandong Heavy Industry Group held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony in Ningde, Fujian, according to a post on CATL's WeChat account. BYD opens new showroom in Dubai On September 12, BYD, in partnership with Al-Futtaim, celebrated the grand opening of its flagship store on Dubai's prestigious Sheikh Zayed Road. This new location marks another significant milestone for BYD in the region, following the success of its Festival City showroom. BYD, CEVA Logistics team up on logistics, ground transportation in Europe On September 17, during the IAA Transportation 2024 in Hanover, Germany, BYD and CEVA Logistics announced a strategic partnership focused on logistics and ground transportation in Europe, according to a press release from BYD. Salesforce Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff has declared that the world is transitioning into an Indian era, reflecting the growing significance of India in the global economy. Speaking at Salesforce's annual Dreamforce event, which is being held from September 17-19 in San Francisco, Benioff expressed excitement about the company's opportunities in India, where Salesforce has made significant investments, per PTI. You can see that the world is moving into the Indian era. There is no question that we are going to move into an incredible moment in India, Benioff stated, as quoted by PTI. Salesforce, headquartered in San Francisco, expects to close the fiscal year 2025 with $38 billion in revenue. The company currently employs over 11,000 people in India, with the majority of these employees catering to the company's global clientele. However, increased adoption of digital technologies has also driven growth in Salesforce's Indian business, according to the report. We do all kinds of things in India, including engineering and support, but also we go to market in India, Benioff sai. He noted that the company serves major clients, such as Bajaj Group, in the country. Benioff also praised Arundhati Bhattacharya, the former chairperson of the State Bank of India, who now leads Salesforces operations in India. Arundhati is an incredible leader. She came out of the banking world... we are very, very fortunate to have her leading our operations, he remarked. Despite its rapid expansion, Salesforce did not disclose specific business growth targets for India or details on increasing its workforce in the country. Also Read | Google introduces AI content labels for enhanced transparency: How it works Launch of Agentforce At the same event, Salesforce launched its latest offering, Agentforce, an autonomous AI solution designed to simplify business functions such as sales, service, marketing, and commerce. According to the company, traditional tools like co-pilots and chatbots are now outdated because they require human input and cannot handle efficiently handle complex, multi-step tasks. The new Agentforce tool, compared to a self-driving car, can retrieve relevant data, create action plans, and execute tasks autonomously without human intervention. Also Read | Microsoft CEO says leadership should create meaningful experiences for employees Addressing concerns about AI's potential impact on employment, Benioff acknowledged the possibility of job losses but said outcomes would depend on how companies manage the transition. He cited an example where workers were shifted into sales roles, resulting in higher growth for the company. New Delhi: Ola Electric has assembled a new service team as the maker of battery-powered scooters grapples with a mounting pile-up of complaints from customers. The Bengaluru-based company has been receiving nearly 80,000 complaints every month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation, and its service centres are struggling to keep pace. On some days, the number spikes to 6,000-7,000 a day, causing long delays, leaving service staff overwhelmed and customers frustrated, they said. The maker of the S1 series of electric scooters has sharpened its focus on its service operations by assembling a new team, drawing employees from the product and operations divisions, among others, according to the people cited above. Mint has not received a response to queries emailed to Ola Electric on Monday. Ola Electrics problem of service delays coincides with a drop in sales. In August, it posted its worst monthly volumes this year, selling 27,506 unitsa 34% decline from Julyand saw its market share drop to 31% from 39%. Competitors Bajaj Auto Ltd and TVS Motor Company Ltd hold steady in the electric two-wheeler market. Ola Electric, which has sold over 6.8 lakh electric scooters since inception, operates 430 service stations across India, according to the company website. Service woes at the centres At least 10 customers of Ola Electric Mint spoke with said they have faced extreme difficulty in booking service slots despite being subscribers to Ola Care Plus, a paid service plan that allows users to book home pick-up and drop service appointments. Repair wait times are as high as 30-45 days for them. Many have taken to the social media, particularly X, to voice their frustration. For two to three months, my scooter was lying at the service centre. I sent them countless emails, calls, and messages. The stand sensor wasnt working, and it took me three months to get it fixed," Akhilesh Dabharde, 34, from Nagpur, told Mint. Small issues keep coming up, but I cant get them resolved. The battery went kaput once, the range dropped, and the rear wheel jammed. Every month or two, theres a new problem." Ola Electrics service centre in Nagpur has about 1,000 vehicles that need to be fixed, Dabharde claimed. The product is not as sturdy as petrol scooters." Neeraj Guptas scooter has been parked at his Pitampura, New Delhi home for a month and a half. It wont start. The handle lock wont open, and I cant drive or tow it. Whenever I complain, no one comes. I always have to post on Twitter to get a response," he said. He has even filed a complaint with the National Consumer Forum, but the problem remains unresolved. Ola closed his complaint, which he registered in August, without resolution, he said. Gupta said the staff at Olas service centre in Okhla, Delhi refused to take his scooter because it was at capacity" and unable to service any more issues. A customer's breaking point Nisha C. Shekhaar, a lecturer from Hos Kote in rural Bangalore, was so frustrated after battling with service issues for six months that she posted a photo of her vehicle on X, (formerly Twitter) with a placard that read, Never buy an Ola scooter." The post went viral. Shekhaar said Ola acted only after the consumer forum sent notice to the company on her complaint. The quality is the real problem," Shekhaar said. Ive already had the screen changed twice, and Im on my third one now. Ive lost my peace of mind. I dont trust the scooter anymore, and Ive demanded a refund." Despite Olas efforts to overhaul its service response, it has yet to fully address widespread dissatisfaction among customers. Earlier this month, a disgruntled Ola Electric customer torched a company dealership in Karnataka, citing his dissatisfaction with the EV maker's poor response to the issues his scooter was facing. Understaffed, undercapacity On New Delhi's Najafgarh Road, locals call an overcrowded Ola Electric service centre a graveyard of scooters". Close to 500-600 broken-down two-wheelers clog the basement and ground floor of the centre in Moti Nagar, which was formerly occupied by a Ford showroom. Inside, an employee said on the condition of anonymity, a team of four technicians struggles to keep up with repairs that require a staff of 10. The centers authorized service board has been taken down, leaving customers wondering when, or if, their vehicles will be fixed. The situation worsened after Ola Electric shuttered a nearby centre, and some customers even approached the police after waiting for more than six weeks for repairs, the employee said. Mixed calls by analysts Last week, brokerage firm HSBC flagged Ola Electric's recent market share loss as a risk" for the company and slashed its FY25-26 sales volume estimates by 15-20%. However, on Tuesday, the company's shares surged 10% to hit the upper circuit after Bank of America and Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on the stock. The brokerages project a 35-50% upside, betting on the company's market leadership and vertical integration efforts. Citing that Ola is the largest electric two-wheeler company in India with a share of about 40%, Bank of America said in its 17 September report that electric two-wheeler adoption of about 6.5% in India is at an important inflexion on EV curve" as e-scooters are now priced below petrol scooters. Despite being a new entrant, we believe Ola has sorted out key pieces of EV puzzleproven and expanding product portfolio (not just a concept), reasonable funding access, brand and distribution reach, R&D/technology focus and large addressable market," it said. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted the importance of leadership adaptability in today's rapidly changing world, urging leaders to embrace optimism, energy, and clarity to effectively manage teams. In a conversation with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Nadella outlined three key traits that leaders should focus on bringing clarity, generating energy, and solving complex challenges, as per a report by Hindustan Times. "The world needs leaders who can stay positive and energized despite difficulties," Nadella said. The real test of leadership is the ability to bring clarity to a situation, generate energy, and address problems that seem insurmountable. Leaders who can do this will ultimately make the world a better place, the report added. Soft skills' role Nadella also emphasized the importance of soft skills in leadership, encouraging leaders to understand that employees are motivated by connections with their colleagues rather than policies. "People come for people, not for policies," he stated. As leaders, we need to create meaningful experiences. It's not about scheduling meetings, it's about creating events that bring people together, the Microsoft CEO said. The Microsoft chief also touched on a growing challenge within the company, referring to it as the "productivity paradox." He explained that while many managers feel employees are underperforming, workers themselves report feeling overworked. This discrepancy, Nadella said, is something Microsoft is actively working to address, the report added. Microsoft and investment powerhouse BlackRock on Tuesday said they have teamed up to raise as much as $100 billion for data centers and infrastructure to power artificial intelligence, according to media reports. The alliance includes Global Infrastructure Partners and the advanced technology investment firm MGX, created in Abu Dhabi this year, according to a joint release. Also Read | PM Modi holds talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince "We are committed to ensuring AI helps advance innovation and drives growth across every sector of the economy," the Microsoft chief executive was quoted as saying by media outlets. Amazon has announced that Samir Kumar, a 25-year veteran of the company, will take over as head of its India consumer business starting October 1, 2024. The leadership change comes following the resignation of Manish Tiwary, who had been leading Amazon India for over eight years. Who is Samir Kumar? Samir Kumar has been with Amazon since 1999 and played a pivotal role in the company's growth. He was instrumental in the 2013 launch of Amazon India, the e-commerce giants Indian platform, which has since become one of Amazons most important markets globally. Kumar currently leads Amazons consumer operations across multiple regions, including West Asia, South Africa, and Turkey. In his new role, he will continue overseeing these areas while also managing the India business. Also Read | Amazon India appoints Samir Kumar to replace Manish Tiwary as India head Kumars extensive experience across emerging markets positions him as a critical player in Amazons strategy for India, a region that has been a key focus for the company. "With Samirs extensive experience across emerging markets, I am even more optimistic about the future and our plans to deliver for both customers and the business in India," Amit Agarwal, Amazons senior vice president for emerging markets, said. Leadership transition As part of this transition, several key executives from Amazon India will report directly to Samir Kumar. These include Saurabh Srivastava, who oversees categories; Harsh Goyal, responsible for everyday essentials; Amit Nanda, managing the marketplace; and Aastha Jain, leading growth initiatives. According to Amazon's official statement, Kishore Thota, head of emerging markets shopping experience, will report directly to Agarwal. Also Read | Envirotech Systems IPO Day 4. Details here The central government has increased the refund amount limit for small depositors of Sahara Group Cooperative Societies to 50,000 from 10,000, PTI reported on Wednesday, citing a senior cooperation ministry official. "With an increase in the limit of the refund amount to 50,000, about 1,000 crore payment will be made in the next 10 days," the report quoted the senior official as saying. The government raised the limit to 50,000 for small depositors last week, according to the report. The government has released 370 crore to 4.29 lakh depositors of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies through the CRCS-Sahara refund portal so far. The government is critically examining the claims of depositors before disbursing the refund amount. Following a Supreme Court directive issued on March 29, 2023, an amount of 5,000 crore was transferred to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS) from the Sebi-Sahara Refund Account on May 19, 2023. The CRCS-Sahara refund portal was introduced on July 18, 2023. It aims to allow genuine depositors of Sahara Group's four multi-state cooperative societies to submit claims for refunds of their deposits. Refund of claims examined by judge The refund of claims is digitally examined by Justice R Subhash Reddy, a Supreme Court judge. The cooperative societies under this initiative include Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Lucknow; Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Society Ltd, Bhopal; Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd, Hyderabad and Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Kolkata. In September 2020, the CRCS requested a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to look into investments in these four cooperatives linked to the Sahara Group. Also Read | Supreme Court asks Sahara Group for details on current executives and assets CRCS has got almost 15,000 complaints against the group. It is alleged that these cooperative societies have raised about 86,000 crore, according to a Mint report on November 15, 2023. The Vedanta group's massive dividends in Q1 pushed India Incs total payouts to a five-year high even as the number of companies rewarding shareholders fell to its lowest since April-June 2019, according to a Mint analysis. Vedanta Ltd. and its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Ltd together paid a third of India Inc's nearly 43,000 crore dividend, according to the analysis of BSE-listed companies that paid dividends in Q1FY25. 176 companies announced a reward, the fewest since Q1FY20. The data only includes Q1 interim payouts and not the final dividend paid by companies at the end of the financial year 2024. Vedantas promoters need to clear their debt, so they announced the highest amount of dividend," said Kranthi Bathini, equity strategist at WealthMills Securities Pvt. Ltd. Certain group companies give out dividends because their promoters need money. They dont say they need the money, theyll say we want to reward our shareholders." Vedanta paid nearly 7,821 crore in dividends in the first quarter, and HZL paid close to 8,028 crore. The metals and mining major had announced in May that it plans to raise 8,500 crore through equity or debt. Vedantas promoter Anil Agarwal made 6,800 crore via dividends in 2023-24. The companys gross debt was nearly 71,760 crore as of March 2024, while its net debt was 56,334 crore as of 31 March 2024. Vedantas promoter is not the only one making money through dividends. Cash-rich Tata Sons Pvt. led the race, with over 36,500 crore in earnings from dividends and share buybacks, according to reports by Business Standard. The Shiv Nadar family, which controls HCL Technologies, earned about 8,600 crore in 2023-24. Dividends in Q1 Vedanta Ltd, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Consultancy Services and HCLTech were among the top five companies that paid the most dividend in Q1, accounting for 64% of the total grant in the quarter. Other than group companies, public sector undertakings also paid out large dividends. Two out of the next top five companies on the dividend chart were PSUs like REC Ltd and Power Finance Corporation Ltd. The PSU companies tend to declare the highest amount of dividends, coupled with certain corporate groups," Bathini said. They have given the highest dividend yield, which also led the entire dividend outflow to a five-year high." The multi-year high dividend payout came at a time when most companies recorded muted earnings. Their revenue growth slowed to a single digit for the first time in six quarters, Mint reported earlier. An analysis of 1,475 BSE-listed companies showed a 9% year-on-year rise in revenue and a modest 5% rise in net profit. A relatively higher base in the previous year, rising input costs, weak global demand and a lagging rural consumer market dragged the profits. If there are more private players who paid out dividends, it could be that they are not planning any further expansion, at least as of now," Ajit Mishra, SVP of research at Religare Broking Ltd, said. That is the reason they are compensating the investors." Mishra said, If the company doesnt perform, then dividends give some reason to stick to the company." Firms that held back While some companies gave out a bounty dividend in the first quarter, many held back this time. 176 companies paid dividends in the first quarter of this financial year compared with 302 in Q1FY23, 523 in Q1FY22, 532 in Q1FY21 and 601 companies in Q1FY20. That shows a declining trend in companies that give out dividends. Companies in India find it hard to part with surplus cash, they hold it to invest at a subsequent point of time when they undertake new business ventures or extend capacities," said Sandeep Bagla, chief executive of Trust Mutual Fund. I dont like companies that keep piles of cash surplus which earns very little return for the shareholder." At a time when fewer companies have announced dividends, investors are advised to have a more balanced portfolio. I would prefer to invest in growth companies because India is a growth-oriented market," Bagla said. In terms of portfolio diversification, it would probably be a good idea to hold some dividend-paying company as well." Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir voted in the first phase on Wednesday, September 18, for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. The last assembly elections in the erstwhile state were held in 2014. The first phase of voting for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections was held across 6 districts. Polling took place for 24 assembly seats16 in Kashmir and 8 in Jammu. The second and third phases of voting in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on September 25 and October 1, respectively. The results will be announced on October 8. The Congress and the NC have formed an alliance, while the BJP and the PDP are among the other main parties in the 2024 three-phase election. Apni Party, People's Conference, and Engineer Rashid's AIP are also players in some sections of the Kashmir Valley. Jammu and Kashmir Election: Brief History The first elections in Jammu and Kashmir took place in 1962, marking the beginning of democratic governance in the region. Under Article 370, which the union government abrogatedon August 5, 2019, and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly had a six-year term. Initially comprising 75 seats, the assembly's strength was later increased to 87 seats, including representatives from Ladakh. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, enacted following the revocation of Article 370, bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories: Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh. Also Read | Timeline of events leading up to J-K assembly election announcement After the delimitation exercise in 2022, the assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, UT, were increased to 90. This means a political party or a coalition needs to cross the majority mark of 46 assembly seats to form government in the Union Territory. Also Read | How Jammu and Kashmir threw up hung verdicts since 2002 polls. 10 points Jammu and Kashmir Election: Party-wise performance since 1962 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made its debut in the Jammu and Kashmir Elections in 1983 polls, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) contested its first assembly elections in 2002. The two parties formed a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014. This year, the National Conference (NC) and the Congress are fighting the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir together. The Samajwadi Party (SP) also supported the Congress and National Conference alliance in the J-K polls. Here's a look at the performances of national and regional political parties in the past 10 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections: Voting is underway across 24 seats in seven districts in the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections today. The first phase covers 16 seats in Kashmir and eight seats in Jammu region. Assembly elections are being held in the erstwhile state in three phases. The other two phases will be held on September 25 and October 1. The results will be announced on October 8. In the 2014 assembly elections, the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP won 11 out of the 24 seats voting today. The BJP and Congress won four each, while the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference (NC) and CPI (M) won one seat each. The PDP-BJP government formed after the 2014 assembly elections could not last the full six-year term as BJP withdrew its support to former Chief Minister Mehbooba Muftis Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2018. PDP had won 21 assembly seats If one considers the delimitation exercise in 2022, the PDP won 21 assembly seats in the 2014 assembly polls corresponding to the post-delimitation seats going to vote in the first phase today, according to a report in Indian Express. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, held prior to the abrogation of Article 370 and the 2022 delimitation, the Congress was the leading party among the assembly segments going to polls in the first phase today with most votes in at least nine assembly segments, followed by the NC in six, the PDP in four and the BJP in two segments. In 2024 LS polls, NC led in 11 assembly segments The PDP-BJP government formed after 2014 assembly elections could not last the full 6-year term as BJP withdrew its support. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the NC led in 11 assembly segments, followed by the PDP in five, the Congress in four and the BJP in three segments, according to a report in Indian Express. BEIRUTA picture began to emerge Wednesday of a highly complex attack carried out by Israel, after thousands of pagers carried by members of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exploded around the same time a day earlier. Many of the affected pagers were from a new shipment that Hezbollah had received recently, part of a nearly yearlong process to swap out older devices. The group said they detonated in rough unison at 3:30 p.m. Survivors reported hearing the pagers beep and display a series of numbers on their screens about five seconds before they detonated. According to people familiar with Hezbollahs investigation, the initial assessment is the pagers detonated because an explosive device was planted in the new models. The scenario indicates Israel found its way into Hezbollahs supply chain to modify the devices that were delivered. Osher Assor, managing partner at Israeli cybersecurity consulting firm, Auren, said that based on the footage of the explosions it was clear that the explosives were inserted into the devices ahead of time since lithium batteries catch fire before exploding. Assor said that such an operation would have taken a long period to plan, at least a year, according to his assessment. He noted that the batch of tampered pagers continued to work regularly until the moment they were activated with a specific signal. The moment the specific message arrived, the devices were activated," he said. This is unprecedentedboth the size and the scalewe havent seen something like that before." Hezbollah operatives said the group was still reeling from the attack Wednesday, trying to comprehend the extent of the breach and how Israel had managed it. The group threatened again to retaliate for the attack. Hezbollah ordered more than 5,000 new pagers in the past year, which were distributed to its members as replacements for older models, according to people familiar with the matter. Hezbollah now believes most of them were sabotaged, which resulted in the explosions. The new pagers hadnt reached all of Hezbollahs ranks, and those carrying older devices were spared. Some of those carrying the new devices were spared as well when they didnt go off because batteries were dead or they hadnt been turned on, people familiar with the matter said. When the devices did explode, those who immediately checked their pagers suffered injuries to their hands and eyes, while those who delayed suffered leg and waist injuries. Ultimately the attack killed at least 12 people and injured roughly 2,800. The blasts were spread out across Lebanon and in areas where Hezbollah has a heavy presence, causing chaos as the wounded poured into emergency rooms at hospitals. Funerals were organized Wednesday for those who died in the explosions, which included a 9-year-old girl. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel. The apparent attack by Israel on Tuesday risks escalating the low-simmering conflict between the two sides and frustrating U.S. efforts to seal a cease-fire in Gaza that could also allow a diplomatic solution to end the almost-daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah. Hezbollah said Wednesday it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza by firing on the Israeli military. The firing between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border. The Israeli government this week said one of its new war aims in Gaza was to return Israelis to their homes in the north of the country. Former Israeli military officials said Israels attack was likely aimed at forcing Hezbollah to stop the cross-border firing that has displaced Israelis and was designed to show the Lebanese group that there is a price for its support for Hamas. The purpose of such an operation was not to escalate, it was to reach a settlement that will allow people to go back to their houses," said Yossi Kuperwasser, a former head of research for Israeli military intelligence. This act is meant to convince Hezbollah to accept an arrangement that makes that possible." The attack in Lebanon came hours after Israels internal security service, Shin Bet, said it had thwarted a bombing attack by Hezbollah targeting a former senior official in Israels security establishment. The agency said the attack was expected to be carried out in the coming days. Hezbollah hasnt commented on the allegation. Anat Peled contributed to this article. Write to Rory Jones at Rory.Jones@wsj.com and Joyu Wang at joyu.wang@wsj.com Bank holiday today: All public and private banks in Maharashtra, including the State Bank of India (SBI), will remain closed today on September 18, for Eid-e-Milad celebrations. This means banks in Mumbai, Pune and other cities in the state will all remain closed on the occassion. For cash emergencies, all banks operate their online websites and mobile banking services apps regardless of weekend or other leaves unless notified to users for particular reasons. You can also access any bank's ATMs for cash withdrawals. Notably, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Maharashtra government shifted the public holiday for Eid-e-Milad to September 18 from the originally listed date (September 16), after Muslim community leaders met and decided to avoid a clash with Ganesh Visarjan celebrations during the week. Also Read | Bank Holidays in 2024. Check the full list here Bank Holidays in September 2024 Further, banks in Kerala have listed holiday on September 18 for Sree Narayana Guru Jayanti, and will also remain closed. Since bank holidays vary from state-to-state, since not all holidays are observed pan-India, please check with your local bank branch or app notifications for a confirmed holiday schedule. Also Read | Bank Holidays in September 2024: Check the full list here Besides these, the next week also offers a long weekend in some states with holidays on September 21 (Shree Narayana Guru Samadhi Kerala), September 22 (Sunday pan-India), and September 23 (Heroes Martyrdom Day Haryana). Overall, all banks in India (public and private) will be closed for at least 14 days in September 2024, including weekend holidays for second and fourth Saturdays and the Sundays, besides religious and regional festivals. It is thus advisable to plan your bank visits accordingly. Also Read | Are SBI branches near you open today? Read here Full List of Bank Holidays in September 2024 September 18 Eid e Milad (Monday) All over India; and Sree Narayana Guru Jayanti (Wednesday) Kerala September 21 Shree Narayana Guru Samadhi (Saturday) Kerala September 22 Sunday All over India September 23 Heroes Martyrdom Day (Monday) Haryana September 28 Fourth Saturday All over India September 29 Sunday All over India Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On September 12, BYD, in partnership with Al-Futtaim, celebrated the grand opening of its flagship store on Dubai's prestigious Sheikh Zayed Road. This new location marks another significant milestone for BYD in the region, following the success of its Festival City showroom. BYDs New Showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road; photo credit: BYD The Sheikh Zayed Road flagship store spans over 1,100 square meters and is fully equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including more than 50 exclusive parking spaces for customer test drives and parking. Inside, the store features dedicated zones for showcasing new energy vehicles (NEVs), a technology experience area, a customer lounge, and professional sales consultation spaces. The layout is designed to blend technology, comfort, and convenience. Hasan Nergiz, General Manager of Al-Futtaim Electric Mobility Company, commented on BYDs success in the UAE market since its launch last year: BYD has received a positive response in the UAE. With this flagship store located in a prime spot on Sheikh Zayed Road, we are poised to achieve even greater milestones. In the future, we will continue to expand customer touchpoints, offering more convenient showrooms, premium services, and innovative solutions to provide customers with exceptional experiences in new energy vehicles. At the grand opening, visitors were treated to an exclusive preview of the highly anticipated YANGWANG U8, marking the model's official debut in the UAE. The U8 is expected to go on sale in the country in 2025. BYD currently offers five NEV models in the UAE, including three pure electric vehiclesthe Yuan PLUS, Seal, and Hanand two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles the Qin PLUS DM-i and Song PLUS DM-i. The diverse lineup provides UAE customers with a wide range of new energy vehicle options. Additionally, BYD plans to open new outlets by the end of the year in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and Ras Al Khaimah, further expanding its local sales network and offering customers more convenient and efficient purchase, driving, and after-sales experiences. Mumbai: The share of low-cost deposits in the banking system could decline further and go below the levels seen before covid-19 on the back of efficient cash management by the government, the chairman of Indias largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) C.S. Setty said. Setty was referring to current and savings account (Casa) deposits of banks which typically are priced less than term or fixed deposits. To be sure, current account deposits do not earn interest. In the past few years, the governmenta major source of current account depositshas changed the manner in which it releases funds for various schemes, moving to a model where funds are sent only when they are required. I was just looking at our (SBIs) numbers again which is a proxy to the Indian banking system. The pre-covid level Casa ratios were at 40%, whereas it built up to 45% post-covid; obviously, it is going back to 40% and it may further go down if the efficient cash management, just-in-time cash management of the government comes into picture," Setty said at an event in Mumbai. Read more: Sebi's proposed changes can spruce up investment advisory regulations According to Setty, who took over as SBI charman after Dinesh Khara retired last month, a lot of small businesses would still like to be formalized and become part of the banking system, which is an opportunity for the lender. They may be keeping cash, said Setty. Casa ratio SBIs Casa ratio stood at 40.7% as on 30 June, down from 42.9% from the same period last year. Its loan book expanded by a robust 15.4% year-on-year, outpacing deposit growth of 8.2% in the June quarter. On 1 August, Mint reported SBI managing director Ashwini Kumar Tewari saying that although the system-level Casa ratio is about 40%, the actual share of low-cost deposits with banks is just over 30%, considering the sweep facilities (where funds are automatically transferred from one account to another) and high savings rates on certain deposits. Read more: Sumitomo wanted to take Yes Bank's reins. Will it settle for less? Banks have been battling a deposit crunch as credit growth continues to outpace deposit growth. However, the gap between the two is now narrowing. Mint reported on 16 September that the difference between non-food credit and deposit growth shrank from 311 basis points on 26 July to 275 bps on 23 August, latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. While credit grew 13.6% year-on-year as of August-end, deposits expanded 10.8% in the same period. On deposit growth, Setty said that one must not look at data for the last one or two years but go further back. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the beneficiaries of the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana during his recent visit to Gujarat. Sharing his experience about the interaction, PM Modi on Wednesday said that he had gone to the home of a beneficiary, Jagshibhai Suthar, who has directly benefitted from the scheme, and interacted with them. He also interacted with other beneficiaries of the scheme. In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), PM Modi said: During my recent Gujarat visit, I went to the home of Jagshibhai Suthar. He and his family have benefitted from the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. I also met other beneficiaries of this scheme. The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijlee Yojana is a central government scheme that aims to provide free electricity to one crore households that install rooftop solar power units. The Modi government launched the scheme on February 29, 2024, to increase the share of solar rooftop capacity and empower households to generate their own electricity. The PSGMBY has an outlay of 75,021 crore and will be implemented until 2026-27. The scheme is being implemented by the National Programme Implementation Agency (NPIA) at the national level and by the State Implementation Agencies (SIAs) at the state level. PSGMBY Under the scheme, households will receive a subsidy of 60 per cent of the solar unit cost for systems up to 2kW capacity and 40 per cent of the additional system cost for systems between 2kW and 3kW capacity. The subsidy has been capped at 3kW capacity. At current benchmark prices, a 30,000 subsidy will be given for a 1kW system, 60,000 for a 2kW system, and 78,000 for a 3kW system or higher. A spate of family disputes in Indias corporate sector involving the KK Modi family, the Oberois, the Kalyanis, and the Chhabria brothers at Finolex Cables has captured public attention. These high-profile battles for ownership and governance highlight critical issues around succession planning and the lack of corporate governance structures in India. Though family-run businesses are ubiquitous in India, a staggering 97% lack formal family constitutions or succession planning, according to a 2018 report by BAF Consultants. PwCs Family Business Survey 2023 found that only 60% of Indian family business leaders have implemented formal governance structures. Mint spoke with experts to examine the causes of these disputes and explored how improved succession planning and governance frameworks could help avoid legal battles and maintain business stability. What triggers family feuds? Family feuds in large corporations are typically triggered by several interrelated factors. One major cause is ambiguous or absent succession planning. Ruby Singh Ahuja, senior partner at Karanjawala & Co, said, The war of succession often lands in court when the new generation is ready to take over. The death of a patriarch can lead to intense disputes among heirs." This is evident in the Oberoi and Chhabria cases. Also read: Kalyani family feud could take a fresh turn as a crucial will surfaces Financial disagreements also play a major role. Differences in vision and management style can create rifts among family members. Shaishavi Kadakia, partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said, Conflicts can also occur if some members want to sell the business while others wish to retain it." Performance discrepancies across different business segments can further exacerbate these issues. Control issues are another significant factor. A desire to control the business, coupled with unclear succession plans, often drives family members toward litigation. The KK Modi family dispute is an example of this. View Full Image Modi Enterprises transformed a sleepy village in Gujarat into an industrial township, but a family feud after KK Modi's death triggered a downward spiral for both the company and Modinagar. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint Personal relationships within the family, including issues of trust and communication, can also exacerbate business conflicts. Nilanjan Paul, a chartered accountant and consultant, said, Conflicts in family businesses are often driven by unmet personal needs rather than poor performance. They typically arise from unclear situations and miscommunication among the family, owners and management." These issues can be further complicated by personal grudges or differences in lifestyle, which make resolution more difficult. Whats the legal framework governing family disputes? In India, family disputes involving business assets are governed by a combination of statutory laws and judicial precedents. Succession laws vary based on religion, with the Hindu Succession Act, 1956; Parsi Succession Act, 1856; and Indian Succession Act, 1925 providing guidelines for inheritance and the division of assets. These laws play a crucial role in addressing disputes over business assets. The Companies Act, 2013 governs corporate operations, including the relationship between directors and shareholders. It provides a legal framework to resolve corporate disputes, ensuring that corporate governance is maintained even amid family conflicts. Sebis listing regulations also include measures to enhance transparency and succession planning in listed companies. Although initially aimed at enforcing a separation between the chairman and CEO, this requirement was later made voluntary owing to widespread resistance. However, Sebi now mandates a succession planning policy to ensure smooth transitions in leadership and protect investors from disruptions. It also requires the disclosure of any family settlement agreements that could affect management control of listed entities, thus promoting greater transparency. How are family disputes resolved in India? Indian courts generally favour a pragmatic approach to resolving family disputes, often encouraging mediation or arbitration over prolonged litigation. Courts and mediators typically facilitate private settlements to resolve conflicts amicably, aiming to preserve family relationships and minimise disruptions to business operations, said Akshat Pande, managing partner at Alpha Partners. View Full Image Courts and mediators typically facilitate private settlements to resolve conflicts amicably. A landmark case that illustrates this approach is Cyrus Investments vs Tata Sons. The Supreme Court upheld the removal of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons, ruling that his removal did not constitute oppression of minority shareholders and was in the best interests of the company. Also read: Godrej family settlement agreement: Lessons to learn to prevent disputes and save tax Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, sons of Reliance patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani, divided the $20 billion industry among themselves in 2005. A more recent example of an out-of-court settlement is that of the Murugappa family, promoters of Chennais Murugappa Group, who closed their dispute through an agreement among members in November 2023, ending a fight that arose after the death of MV Murugappan. And earlier this year the Godrej family, owners of the 127-year-old Godrej Group, settled a dispute amicably and split its operations into two portions after five years of negotiations. How can such feuds be prevented? Experts recommend several strategies to prevent and manage family disputes. For starters, robust succession planning is essential. Creating a comprehensive succession plan, including drafting will and trust structures, helps prevent conflicts over control and inheritance. Families should undertake robust estate and succession planning," advised Ruby Singh Ahuja of Karanjawala & Co.This involves making a will, appointing nominees for assets, and possibly creating a trust structure." Effective governance structures are also crucial. Establishing clear governance frameworks, such as family charters or constitutions, helps define roles, principles and processes. These documents should address family employment policies, business entry and exit provisions, and conflict resolution mechanisms. Shaishavi Kadakia of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas said, A governance exercise should outline the values, principles and processes guiding the management of a familys shared assets and businesses." Also read: We mustn't forget that family business disputes have no winners Separating management from ownership is another recommended strategy. By distinguishing between family-led boards and business management, companies can ensure more professional oversight and reduce the risk of internal disputes. Separating management from family-led boards helps achieve longevity and minimises the risk of disputes," said Akshat Pande. For effective leadership succession, patriarchs must create opportunities for the next generation or consider external successors, experts said. This involves years of careful decision-making and mentorship. The participation of younger family members, especially Gen Z, is essential for successful succession planning. The importance of including daughters in succession planning as seen in companies such as Godrej and Abbott is also increasing. How do family disputes affect the business? Ketan Dalal, managing director at Katalyst Advisors, wrote in an op-ed for Mint in December 2023 that disputes in family-run businesses can have profound effects such as weakening relationships, damaging reputations and disrupting management. These conflicts can cause financial instability and erode stakeholder trust, ultimately diverting focus from strategic goals. Ketan Dalal said, Family disputes are not just internal matters they ripple through the entire business ecosystem, affecting every stakeholder involved." Addressing these conflicts swiftly and effectively is crucial for maintaining business stability and ensuring long-term success. Past incidents have shown that investors suffer in a prolonged family feud, resulting in the share price languishing and shareholder value eroding. Sadly, these disputes can also destroy the reputation of a business as it disintegrates into smaller, less effective units. Several family disputes have ended up in courts, which impose strict rules on the management of the assets under dispute. In many cases, the assets are frozen until the dispute is resolved, which severely curtails exit opportunities for shareholders," said Nilanjan Paul, a consultant. Status of major family disputes in courts Kalyani family dispute: This dispute centres on the inheritance of assets from the late Sulochana Kalyani, which include multibillion-dollar holdings in companies such as Bharat Forge, Kalyani Steel and Automotive Axles. Tensions escalated when Baba Kalyani refused to transfer shares in Hikal to his sister Sugandha Hiremath. View Full Image Baba Kalyani, chairman and managing director of Bharat Forge, the flagship company of the Kalyani Group. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint In February, the executor of Sulochana's will filed for probate of a 2012 will favouring Baba Kalyani. However, Gaurishankar Kalyani, his brother, contested this will in July, alleging it was obtained through coercion and manipulation. He also highlighted a later will from December 2022 that purportedly bequeathed assets to him. In August, Viraj Kalyani, Gaurishankar's son, sought probate for the December will. A court hearing is scheduled for 23 September to discuss the validity of the two wills. Probate of a will is a legal process that involves validating it, appointing an executor, and distributing the assets. Oberoi family dispute: This battle revolves around the inheritance of the renowned Oberoi hotel empire. It centres on conflicting wills of the late Prithvi Raj Singh (PRS) Oberoi, who passed away in November 2023. He left behind two wills dated 20 March 1992 and 25 October 2021 supplemented by a codicil from 27 August 2022. A codicil is a legal document that adds to, changes, or revokes parts of a will so that a new one isnt needed. Also read: Amid family feud, EIH-owned Oberoi Hotels to develop two hotels in Pune, London Anastasia Oberoi, PRS Oberois daughter from his second marriage, is contesting the validity of the older will, arguing that the most recent will and codicil should dictate the distribution of assets. Her step-siblings Vikramjit Oberoi and Natasha Oberoi, along with cousin Arjun Oberoi, dispute her claims, arguing that the older will should prevail. Vikramjit Oberoi, managing director and CEO of EIH Ltd (the flagship company of the Oberoi Group), asserts that the shares in Oberoi Hotels were held in trust for him and Arjun Oberoi and should be transferred to them. The Delhi High Court issued an interim order in favour of Anastasia Oberoi on 12 September, preventing the transfer of any shares in EIH Ltd, Oberoi Hotels and Oberoi Properties until the dispute was resolved. The court also protected the rights of Anastasia and her mother to their family home in Kapashera, Delhi. This interim order aimed to maintain the status quo while the court reviewed the evidence and arguments from both sides. KK Modi family dispute: A dispute erupted in the Modi family following the death of patriarch KK Modi, with his widow Bina Modi and their sons Lalit and Samir clashing over the division of Modi Enterprises. The conglomerate spans sectors such as tobacco, FMCG and hospitality, with an estimated value between 11,000 crore and 30,000 crore. View Full Image Bina Modi, managing director of Godfrey Phillips India. Recent legal proceedings have focused on the division of assets, particularly within Godfrey Phillips India. Bina Modi, who continues to manage the company, was recently granted permission by the Delhi High Court to exercise her voting rights at the companys annual general meeting on 6 September. This decision came amid challenges to her leadership, with proxy advisory firms recommending that she be removed as MD. The dispute dates back to 2014, when KK Modis family executed a trust deed to ensure equal distribution of assets. Since then, legal battles have ensued over family members exclusion from key roles and asset management. The Delhi High Court is expected to hear the case again next month. Chhabria family dispute: The Finolex Cables dispute involves legal battles over share transfers and governance following founder Pralhad Chhabrias death. He initially appointed his daughter Aruna Katara, son Prakash Chhabria, and nephew Deepak Chhabria as successive chairpersons of the Pralhad Chhabria Trust in his succession plan, but this was altered before his death. Pralhad transferred 80% of his shares to his son, Prakash, and nominated him to the board, bypassing the 2012 trust deed. On 28 August the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) refused to overturn a decision made at the company's AGM in 2023, when shareholders voted against Deepak Chhabrias reappointment. Hinduja family dispute: This is a high-profile legal battle among the Hinduja brothers Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok for control of the $18-billion Hinduja Group. The conflict arises from a 2014 family agreement that stated, "Everything belongs to everyone." Srichands daughter Vinoo has challenged this agreement as she seeks to assert control over her fathers assets. The diversity of the groups interests banking, automotive and energy adds to the complexity of the dispute. View Full Image Ashok and Srichand Hinduja. Photo: AFP Singhania family dispute: This dispute centres on Gautam Singhanias leadership of Raymond Ltd, arising from allegations by his father Vijaypat Singhania about financial mismanagement and control over a Mumbai property. Munjal family dispute: The dispute involves the descendants of Hero Groups founders, who are fighting for control of Hero MotoCorp. The car industrys effort to decarbonise revolves around replacing petrol with batteries. A growing number of customers want both. Buyers who cannot afford a fully electric car, or worry about the availability of charging points, are turning to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), sales of which are rocketing. But the hybrid ride may prove to be short. Last year global sales of cars running purely on batteries (BEVs) were more than double those of PHEVs. But the gap has been closing. Sales of PHEVs were up by almost 50%, year on year, in the first seven months of 2024, compared with just 8% for BEVs, according to Bernstein, a broker. Carmakers have been cooling on BEVs and warming to hybrids. This month Volvo backtracked on its commitment to go all-electric by 2030. It now says BEVs and PHEVs will together account for 90% of its sales by the end of the decade. Last month Ford announced that it was abandoning plans to make a large fully-electric SUV, opting instead for hybrid power. Hyundai is doubling its range of hybrids from seven to 14 models. Volkswagen, too, has pledged to increase investments in hybrids as it rethinks its plans for bevs. Consumers are turning to hybrids partly because they are cheap. The big batteries required to run fully-electric vehicles make them far more expensive than petrol cars. That is a problem when it comes to selling to the mass market; most buyers will not pay a premium", says Jim Farley, the boss of Ford. Plug-in hybrids, by contrast, run on much smaller batteries: they typically have a 20-kilowatt-hour unit, around a third of the size of those in BEVs. As a consequence, PHEVs are only a little more expensive than petrol-powered cars, and cost less to run. Although hybrids can typically travel only around 40 miles on their batteries, the option of using petrol avoids the anxiety many drivers of BEVs have about running out of charge. For their part, carmakers like hybrids because they are typically as profitable as petrol-powered carsunlike BEVs, most of which are loss-making. Smaller batteries mean lower production costs. Hybrids also allow legacy carmakers to draw more on their existing expertise and supply chains. The fashion for hybrids may prove fleeting, however. Rules in California, adopted by 16 other American states, stipulatethat by 2035 only 20% of the new vehicles sold by carmakers can be plug-in hybrids; the remainder must be fully electric. The EU plans to slam the brakes on even harder: the bloc will ban the sale of all cars with petrol engines, including hybrids, by 2035. Hybrids may already be less competitive by then. Battery prices have been falling, and will fall further as production expands and new chemistries are developed. Carmakers such as Renault have plans to roll out BEV models that cost significantly less than their current offerings, spurred on by Chinese competition. Charging networks are continuing to expand. View Full Image Graphic: The Economist Bernstein predicts that PHEVs will capture a growing share of the car market until 2030, but that sales will then stabilise and eventually decline as those of BEVs speed up (see chart). Hybrids are winning now, but BEVs will win eventually", reckons Patrick Hummel of UBS, a bank. Xavier Smith of AlphaSense, a consultancy, thinks that carmakers current obsession with hybrids will prove short-sighted. Those that lose focus on electrification could soon fall behind. 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com New Delhi: New safety rules for machinery and electrical equipment, set to kick in from August 2025, could hurt the country's small manufacturers hard, industry experts said, calling for more preparation time. The heavy industry ministry introduced the Machinery and Electrical Equipment Safety (Omnibus Technical Regulation) Order, 2024, in August saying it will help align Indian safety practices with global standards. But industry experts told Mint the move is likely to impact over 50,000 types of machinery and electrical equipment produced by more than 150,000 manufacturers and take up compliance costs. Also Read: Automotive sector needs to look at safety of its workers The regulation imposes strict safety standards on machinery and electrical equipment produced or imported into India. Challenge for MSMEs The regulation is expected to hit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) the hardest, as most MSMEs adhere to ISO 9001, a management-focused standard that does not address safety concerns in manufacturing. For smaller firms, adapting to the three tiers of machine safety standards, as stipulated by the regulation, within the one-year deadline poses a major challenge, experts said. "The financial and technical barriers will pose significant hurdles for MSMEs, with compliance costs ranging from 50,000 to 50 lakh, depending on the type of machinery and the standards required," said Ajay Srivastava, founder of Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a think tank. "Many smaller firms lack access to the advanced machinery or technology needed to meet these new safety standards, further exacerbating the challenge," he added. Srivastava said while export-oriented machinery is exempted under the regulations, the new order provides little relief as most Indian companies produce for both domestic and export market, requiring full Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification across their entire product range. In fact, it increases the regulatory burden. While India exported engineering products worth $35.76 billion during April-July 2024, registering a 4.08% annual growth, their imports stood at $46.57 billion, rising by 8.17% annually in the same period, according to commerce ministry data. Also Read: Why India needs safety protocols for EV charging Meanwhile, the MSME sector has raised concerns about the new regulations with the government, while also seeking an extension of the deadline. We are in discussions with senior officials from the ministry of heavy industries, highlighting the significant challenges these rules are posing for the sector," said Rajnish Goenka, founder- chairman of the MSME Development Forum, a lobby group. "The MSME sector is already in a neglected state, and these regulations could push it further backwards," he added. A spokesperson of the ministry of heavy industries didn't respond to emailed queries. According to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), MSMEs contribute to about 30% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and over 45% of exports, which in volume terms stands next only to agriculture. The order has long-term benefits for businesses despite the challenges in the short run, other experts said. With Bharti Airtel folding up its Wynk Music app, the audio industry in India is on the brink of major disruption with the market having reached a stage of maturity where its turning away from the free model, experts said. Companies will have to push for paid subscriptions to monetise the business and depend less on advertising. And, as price hikes by YouTube Premium show, greater focus will be required on differentiating one app from another, whether it is product and user experience, payment mechanisms or supporting independent artists creating exclusive content. All existing platforms are focusing on subscriptions but what is important is to own your place and identity, otherwise all services shall look the same," said Mandar Thakur, chief executive officer of Times Music. The need is to stand for something as a brand and demonstrate some differentiation, else why will the customer pay?" This would mean helping more artists to break out with music that is independent of films, and investing in seamless user experiences and payment mechanisms, experts including Thakur said. Spotify has tried to innovate by launching premium features such as Your Sound Capsule, which presents each user with their listening statistics for the year, including the most listened-to artists and songs. It has tried to ease the process of payment by making UPI an option. When Spotify launched in India in 2019, our focus was on building our premium proposition such that local consumers would see the value in paying for music," said Amarjit Batra, managing director - India, and general manager - South Asia, Middle East, and Africa, Spotify. Ever since, we have experimented with local premium plans (the Mini plan allows streaming on one mobile device) and launched seasonal offers so users could upgrade to a better listening experience at affordable prices, including annual offers and trials. Such plans and offers then became common in the local music industry, encouraging more users to pay for music." Highly competitive Bharti Airtel said last month it will shut down Wynk Music and transition its users to Apple Music, making the US-based service a larger rival to Spotify, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and others. In India, Swedens Spotify led with a 26% share of all streams, according to a report by RedSeer Strategy Consultants as of March 2023. Music streaming is a highly competitive business because a vast majority of the supply is controlled by a small group of companies and there is very high competition with limited or no differentiation, said Ranjeet Pratap Singh, co-founder and CEO of Pratilipi, an online self-publishing and audiobook portal. Other types of audio streaming services have much better odds because supply is more distributed. The main challenge for audio streaming services is to continue to get high quality content at scale, which can improve user retention. Acquiring customers and monetising them is relatively easy but retention is an extremely challenging problem to solve with high quality and differentiated content," Singh added. Additionally, Indian customers are value conscious and are happy to pay for a subscription only if they get significantly more value from it than the price they pay, experts said. Music streaming has an audience of about 185 million in India, but only 7.5 million paid for a subscription, according to a Ficci-EY 2024 report. Audiences are less likely to pay for content unless it is exclusive to a platform. By ensuring exclusive content that connects deeply with our audience, we are confident that our listeners will continue to have the appetite to pay for the content they will love to consume," said Suyog Gothi, head - India at Pocket FM, an audio series platform. However, Gothi added that the subscription model presents significant challenges in India, often hindering growth and limiting access for listeners who pay without enjoying the full library at any given point of time. The platform experimented with micropayment for content monetisation, hiving off the conventional subscription model, and said both experiments paid off and today complement each other. The approach allows users to purchase coins on the Pocket FM platform to unlock one or multiple episodes of any audio series. The prices vary across markets and are more localised in nature. The success of the microtransaction model not only reflects the preference of the Indian audience, but the same has been replicated across global markets, including the US. This flexibility has contributed to the widespread adoption of the model which has become a preferred choice for users worldwide," Gothi said. New Delhi: One of the world's most expensive yachts is owned by an Indian-origin industrialist. But steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal would probably think twice before parking his superyacht in Indian waters. Reason: The country with a 7,500-km-long coastline doesn't have a single international-standard marina. This means rich Indians who own yachts have no choice but to park them in Europe, Singapore and Dubai, rather than Mumbai or Goa. The Modi government plans to change this state of affairs with a policy to promote yacht tourism" and personal yachting. The ministry of ports, shipping and waterways (MoPSW) proposes to build marinas at several locations along the eastern and western coastlines that would provide global quality infrastructure for sailing and parking yachts from across the world, union shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said. We are adding a new dimension to our plan to promote cruise tourism. This includes developing the ecosystem for yachts with the development of marinas along the Indian coastline. This will be developed on the lines of facilities existing in several European countries," Sonowal said in an interview. A policy for yachts will be included in the Cruise India Mission that aims to promote cruise tourism by developing airport-like facilities at ports to attract international passengers. The Mission is expected to be launched later this month. The plan for marinas or small port-like facilities for yachts and smaller boats is also aimed at providing people who move to Dubai and Singapore to get this yachting experience. The programme is not only aimed at facilitating luxurious yachts but is also aimed at creating ample employment opportunity within the country with our estimates suggesting that each yacht would require at least 20 crew members. "So, even if initially we have facilities like that in Croatia that has marinas supporting 15,000 yachts, enormous employment opportunities would be created," Sonowal said. Shipping secretary T.K. Ramachandran said these marinas would be developed along all harbours. The ministry will identify key locations for putting up the infrastructure on a public-private partnership model. People aware of the development said marinas in places like Goa, Mumbai and other places frequented by business leisure travellers would also host customers and immigration facilities, while effort would also be made to rope in the private sector to commercially develop the area around marinas with hotels, shopping arcades and recreational and business and conference facilities. We hope that first set of marinas would come up soon. This should align with development of facilities for promoting cruise tourism," Sonowal said. To be sure, owning a yacht isn't cheap they can cost anything upward of $15,000 to $1.5 billion (the price of Eclipse, the world's most expensive) but the shipping ministry says yacht sales have been rising in India in recent years. Mostly, yachts are imported. The Indian yacht market generated a revenue of $115.1 million in 2023 and is expected to reach $162.9 million by 2030, according to report by Grand View Research, an India and US-based market research and consulting company. However, this is tiny by global standards just 1.2% of the global yacht market in 2023. China is the fastest growing market in Asia Pacific, projected to reach $810.0 million by 2030. Super-rich Indians who own yachts include industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Laxmi Mittal, Gautam Singhania, Anil Ambani, and film star Salman Khan, industry reports said. According to the report, Indian nationals own about 1% of all yachts that are 40 meters or longer.India's superyacht industry is still in its early stages, with fewer than 300 boats registered in the country. This includes around 120 luxury yachts and over 150 speed boats. In India, limited infrastructure is available for yachts to park at Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Chennai. At several other places, yachts are parked at ports having temporary arrangements for yachts. Some of the key global companies operating in the yacht market are Damen Shipyards Group, Azimut Benetti Group, and Ferretti S.p.A. The government wants some of these companies to set up shop in India and offer their yachts and yachting and services here. Yachting has tremendous potential for growth in India where this becomes a status symbol for the upwardly mobile, said AnilDevli, CEO of Indian National Shipowners Association (INSA). "But in all this, the government should ensure that any policy on yachts should give a boost to domestic production of these at our shipyards. Also, the government should look at easing visa regulations to bring in technicians and non-engineering workers who are conversant to servicing these complex vessels," Devli said. It is expected that ministry would also discuss security-related issues with agencies including coast guard and Indian navy to facilitate uninterrupted movement of Yachts along Indian coast. A protocol would also be developed to facilitate this service. If you develop facilities as per global standards, then definitely you get all the stakeholders around," Sonowal said. Arkade Developers IPO: Arkade Developers Ltd, a real estate firm, has completed two full subscription days with non institutional investors taking the lead, followed by retail investors. The closing date for the issue is Thursday, September 19. Before its IPO, the company raised 122.40 crore from anchor investors. The company established a price range of 121-128 per share for its 410-crore IPO. The issue's lot size is 65 equity shares and in multiples of 65 equity shares thereafter. Arkade Developers IPO has reserved 50% of the shares in the public issue for qualified institutional buyers (QIB), 15% for non-institutional Institutional Investors (NII), and 35% of the offer is reserved for retail investors. The employees have been allocated equity shares worth up to 2 crores, and they are being given a discount of 5 per share. Arkade Developers, an expanding real estate development company, has established a strong presence in Mumbai. As of July 31, 2023, the company has successfully completed the development of 1.80 million square feet of residential property, including projects in which Arkade has a controlling interest in partnership entities. Between 2017 and Q1 2023, the company has introduced 1,040 residential units and has sold 792 residential units in various markets within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in Maharashtra. The founder of Kejriwal Research and Investment Services, Arun Kejriwal, noted that although he was not entirely familiar with Arkade Developers' operations, the company's anchor investors were promising. Comparably, Mohit Gulati, CIO and managing partner of ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, said it is another real estate firm joining the market at its peak. It is similar to 2007. Gulati believes that the real estate market will slow down since MMR demand has bottomed down. According to Mohit, it will be difficult for Arkade to surpass projections in the upcoming year given this pattern. Arkade Developers IPO Subscription Status By 11 am on day 3 on Wednesday, the initial public offer of Arkade Developer was subscribed by 19.39, as per BSE data. The portion for retail investors received 23.56 times subscription while the quota for non-institutional investors got subscribed 34.80 times. The QIBs part is booked 0.45 times. The employee portion has been subscribed 22.95 times. Arkade Developers IPO Review SMIFS Ltd Based on the brokerage's information, Arkade intends to use the Net Proceeds to pay for a portion of the identified ongoing project's total cost as well as six upcoming projects with per-unit prices ranging from 9.44 million to 62.53 million in the MMR. For comparison, Arkade's revenue for FY24, FY23, and FY22 was 6,357.12 million, 2,240.13 million, and 2,371.82 million, respectively. As a solid long-term investment, the brokerage advises subscribing to the issue because of the company's presence in the most profitable real estate market in the nation, as well as its excellent valuations at issue price, favourable return ratios, and levels of debt. GEPL Capital Private Ltd Arkade Developers Limited, according to the brokerage, specialises in upscale residential projects in desirable areas of Mumbai, including both brand-new construction and the renovation of existing structures. The business is well known for finishing projects ahead of time. The reduction in its borrowings from 149 crores in FY23 to 69 crores in FY24 is advantageous for the firm. Arkade has shown strong financial success, with sales growing at a 39% CAGR and PAT growing at a 34% CAGR. The company's increasing net worth highlights both its sound financial standing and exciting expansion prospects. Though presently limited to Mumbai, growth into more locations may improve margins even further. The firm has a solid track record and is well-positioned for future expansion given Mumbai's rising real estate demand. For this reason, the brokerage advises giving the issue a "Subscribe" rating. Arkade Developers IPO details The Arkade Developers IPO, worth 410 crore, includes a fresh issuance of 32,031,250 equity shares with a face value of 10. There is no "offer for sale" component. There is no offer-for-sale (OFS) component to the IPO; it is a wholly new issue of equity shares valued at 410 crore. The issue's proceeds will be utilised for general corporate objectives, supporting the purchase of new real estate projects, and the advancement of the business's current and future initiatives. As the book running lead manager for the Arkade Developers IPO, Unistone Capital Pvt Ltd is in charge of it, while Bigshare Services Pvt Ltd is the registrar. Arkade Developers IPO GMP today Arkade Developers IPO GMP today or grey market premium is +85. This indicates Arkade Developers share price were trading at a premium of 85 in the grey market, according to investorgain.com. The expected listing price of Arkade Developers' shares, based on the upper end of the IPO price band and the current premium in the grey market, is estimated to be 213 per share, representing a 66.41% increase from the IPO price of 128. Today, the IPO GMP indicates a positive trend based on the last 12 sessions of grey market activities, suggesting a strong listing. According to analysts at investorgain.com, the GMP ranges from 0 to 86. 'Grey market premium' indicates investors' readiness to pay more than the issue price. Arkade Developers IPO details Emami Ltd is gearing up for a better FY25, eyeing double-digit domestic revenue growth after clocking a 4% increase in FY24. So, whats the game plan? More focus on direct-to-consumer (D2C). Emami recently acquired the remaining 49.6% stake in The Man Company for 180 crore, cementing its position in the premium male grooming marketa segment that's doing well as men become more conscious about grooming. Emami aims to scale The Man Companys revenue to 500 crore over the next three years. In FY24, Emami's consolidated revenue was 3,578 crore with domestic business contributing over 80%. The FMCG company is also tapping the booming pet wellness trend, taking a stake in Cannis Lupus. The company is set to launch natural and ayurvedic products under the Fur Ball Story brand. With a zero-debt status and healthy cash pile, Emami has the flexibility to invest. It plans to inject over 200 crore into new categories like healthcare and nutrition. This suggests a strategic pivot to align with changing consumer trends. As such, modern trade and e-commerce now account for about 22% of Emami's domestic revenue, a leap from just 5% five years ago. Further, to fuel growth, Emami has a steady pipeline of digital-first product launches in FY25, aiming to drive overall volume growth to 6-7%. The company expects lower raw material costs to aid gross margin expansion, but substantial rise in advertising and promotional spends could curb Ebitda margin increase. Meanwhile, the La Nina effect, bringing above-normal rainfall and a potentially cold winter, is expected to boost demand for Emami's winter and healthcare portfolios. Products like 'Zandu' and 'BoroPlus' should benefit from this in the coming quarters. After a subdued Q1FY25, Emamis pain management' range is expected to rebound in Q2 and Q3 as seasonal illnesses associated with cold and rain boost demand. Also Read: Rural demand is finally taking off. FMCG firms capitalize with strategic moves Also, the impact of the Bangladesh crisis is expected to be small for Emami in Q2 given the modest 4% revenue exposure to the market. The governments emphasis on boosting rural growth could act as a catalyst for Emamis domestic business. Rural markets contribute about 50% of Emami's revenue. Buoyed by competent management and favourable seasonality, Emami is one of the better rural recovery plays," said an Emkay Global Financial Services report on 16 September. Investors seem to have taken note. The stock has climbed 32% in 2024 so far. Valuation gap with listed mainstream FMCG peers has reduced and is likely to narrow further, with better performance," added Emkay. Earnings delivery will be crucial hereon. Also Read: Consumer goods makers are hopeful a normal monsoon will heat up demand Tracking the portfolios of Indias Warren Buffetts over a period, its evident that no super investor is similar to another when it comes to picking stocks. Their strategies are known only to them. But it is clear that most of them are sector- and market cap-agnostic and pick stocks based on their own selection criterion. Despite their different approaches to picking what stocks to invest in, a pattern emerges while comparing the portfolios of a long list of super investors. A top view reveals five stocks in which these super investors have pumped in huge sums of money. In fact, as per Trendlyne.com, these five stocks have the highest holding among the super investors. The five stocks detailed below could be well worth following in the years to come, considering these are trusted by the Warren Buffets of India. But whether these will emerge as winners or mistakes can only be concluded in the long run. Capacite Infraprojects Ltd Capacite is a leading engineering, procurement, and construction company specialising in turnkey solutions for housing, high-rise buildings, and urban infrastructure projects. Serving both private and public sector clientsincluding the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the Oberoi Group, and K Raheja Corpthe company has established a strong market presence. As of the first half of 2023-24, Capacite boasted a robust order book of 10,233 crore, including 1,725 crore worth of new orders secured in that period. The company has recorded a compound sales growth of 30% in the last 3 years and 1% in the last 5 years. Its Ebitda increased from 251 crore in 2018-19 to 331 crore in 2023-24a compound annual growth rate of 5.7% in the last 5 years. For the year ended March, it recorded a profit after tax of 120 crorea compound profit growth of 4% in the last 5 years. Over the past five years, Capacites shares have gained about 77%. (as of 17 September). The stock is trading at a price-to-earnings (PE) multiple of 21x. The median PE for the last 10 years is 17.7x, which suggests that the current valuation multiple is at a premium to the stocks long-term median. The company is not paying dividends despite repeated profits. Investor Mukul Agarwal holds 6.21% of Capacites shares, while Vikas Khemani holds 1.10%. Apart from them, Quant Small Cap Fund holds a 2.4% share. View Full Image Capacite Infraprojects's stock market performance. (TradingView.com) Polylink Polymers (India) Ltd Polylink Polymers, established in 1993 and based in Gujarat, is a specialised manufacturer of polymeric compounds and colour masterbatches. It produces a range of compounds for power cables, telephone cables, and engineering plastics. The company has established a global presence, exporting its products to Europe, Russia, Africa, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Clients include Nilkamal Ltd, Supreme Industries Ltd, Havells India Ltd, and Polycab Wires Ltd. Polylink Polymers has achieved a compound sales growth of 26% in the last 3 years and 10% in the last 5 years. Its Ebidta increased from 2.25 crore in FY19 to 3.30 crore in FY24a CAGR of almost 8%. Its profit after tax in the June quarter was 1.73 crorea CAGR of 9% in the last 5 years. Polylink Polymerss shares have gained 166% over the past five years. The stock is trading at a PE of 38x, with its 10-year median PE at 33.8x. Seasoned investors Hitesh Jhaveri and Harsha Jhaveri together hold about 4.25% of the companys shares. View Full Image Polylink's market performance. (TradingView) Titan Intech Ltd Titan Intech, founded in 1984, has evolved from its roots in textile manufacturing to become a key player in the information technology and data centre sectors. Initially a joint venture focusing on thread production, the company pivoted dramatically, forging strategic alliances in LED technology and industrial consulting. Currently, Titan Intech specializes in safeguarding IT infrastructure and business data for a diverse clientele, including tech firms Ajel Ltd and Logixhub LLC. The company has registered a compound sales growth of 296% in the last 3 years and 48% in the last 5 years. Its Ebitda surged from 48 lakh in FY19 to 10.10 crore in FY24, denoting a 5-year CAGR of about 84%. Its profit after tax in the June quarter was 5.63 crore. Titan Intech shares have jumped 990% in the last 5 years. The stocks current PE is 20x and the median PE over the last 10 years is 13.5x. Ashok Jain holds 3.19% of the companys shares. View Full Image Titan Intech's stock market performance. (TradingView) Awfis Space Solutions Ltd Awfis, established in December 2014, offers a comprehensive range of flexible workspace options tailored for diverse clients, from individuals to large corporations. It has 169 centres across 16 cities in India, including 31 fully-fitted centres with 25,312 seats, and is rapidly expanding. Awfis aims to further expand in high-demand micro-markets in Tier 1 cities and enter new Tier 2 cities, while also upgrading its existing workspaces in prime locations. ICICI Securities Ltd, Axis Capital Ltd, IIFL Securities Ltd, and Emkay Global Financial Services served as book-running lead managers for its public issue. Awfis shares debuted on BSE on 30 May. The company has delivered a compound sales growth of 68% in the last 3 years and 41% in the last 5 years. Its Ebitda increased from 33 crore in FY19 to 246 crore in FY24, expanding at a CAGR of about 49.5%. But for the financial year that ended in March, Awfis recorded a loss of 18 crore. The companys share price is 72% higher than its listing price of 421. Ashish Kacholia holds 4.83% of Awfis shares. HDFC Small Cap Fund holds a 2.51% share in the company, Nippon India Multi Cap Fund owns 2.12%, and Invesco India Multicap Fund has 1.83%. View Full Image Awfis at the stock markets. (TradingView) Krypton Industries Ltd Krypton Industries, a diversified manufacturer specializing in tyres, rims, wheels, footwear, and hospital equipment, was established in 1990. The companys product range includes MCP tubeless tyres and a comprehensive line of hospital and rehabilitation care products. Krypton actively pursues government tenders for wheelchairs and support equipment. In January 2022, it secured a significant order for 6,000 wheelchairs worth about 3.29 crore from the Artificial Limbs and Manufacturing Corporation of India. Krypton has performed at a compounded sales growth of 11% in the last 3 years and 3% in the last 5 years. Its Ebitda grew from 3.83 crore in FY19 to 4.96 crore in FY24a CAGR of almost 5.3%. For FY24, it recorded a profit after tax of 1.53 crorea CAGR of 10% in the last 5 years. The stock price has jumped 369% over the past 5 years. Currently, Krypton is trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 55x. Its median PE for the last 10 years, however, is 32.2x. Investor Sangeetha G. holds 4.79% of Krypton. View Full Image Krypton's market performance. (TradingView) Also Read Ace investor Ashish Kacholia recently dumped these five stocks. Heres all you need to know. 5 microcap stocks that Indias Warren Buffetts are betting on These five stocks could be on the verge of a breakout in this euphoric market These five stocks could be on the verge of a breakout in this euphoric market Note: The purpose of this article is only to share interesting charts, data points and thought-provoking opinions. It is NOT a recommendation. If you wish to consider an investment, you are strongly advised to consult your advisor. This article is strictly for educative purposes only. Manvi Agarwal has been tracking the stock markets for about two decades. For about 8 years during this period, she was a financial analyst at a value-style fund managing money for international investors. Presently, she is devoting her time to writing on potentially ignored and/or misunderstood investment opportunities in the Indian stock markets. Disclosure: The writer or her dependents do not hold the stocks discussed in this article. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On September 17, during the IAA Transportation 2024 in Hanover, Germany, BYD and CEVA Logistics announced a strategic partnership focused on logistics and ground transportation in Europe, according to a press release from BYD. BYD at IAA Transportation 2024; photo credit: BYD As part of this collaboration, BYD will deliver four pure electric ETH8 trucks by January 2025, supporting CEVA Logistics' efforts to achieve its decarbonization goals. BYD, a global leader in sustainable transportation, is known for its cutting-edge new energy vehicle technologies and over 29 years of experience in battery R&D. The company has developed a comprehensive range of pure electric trucks. Specifically designed for the European freight logistics market, the ETH8 truck features BYD's proprietary electric truck platform, offering a range of 250 kilometers and fast-charging capabilities. The trucks are highly regarded for their performance, energy efficiency, and low maintenance costs. Once delivered, the four electric trucks will be integrated into CEVA Logistics' existing ground transportation operations in the Netherlands. Michael Shu, Managing Director of BYD Europe comments, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, We are excited to collaborate with CEVA Logistics. As global leaders in our respective fields, both companies are committed to reducing carbon emissions and making logistics systems more sustainable. BYD will continue to introduce a series of pure electric trucks tailored to the European market to support the regions green transition. Sandra Villeminot, global head of sustainability for ground and rail at CEVA Logistics, highlighted the importance of the partnership in achieving their long-term environmental goals. "Decarbonizing our ground transport fleet is a crucial step toward our goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Our collaboration with BYD is essential for the industry's decarbonization, as we explore more sustainable freight solutions together." BYD's new energy vehicles are now present in over 90 countries across six continents. Globally, BYD has delivered more than 8 million new energy vehicles, including over 85,000 pure electric commercial vehicles. When we talk about the largest and most influential companies in India, we often refer to Maharatna companies . These leading enterprises, closely associated with the national government, are considered the crown jewels of India's business world. They play a crucial role in driving the countrys economy and development. Maharatna companies include government-owned businesses, like public sector banks, central public sector enterprises, and state-level public enterprises. These are the elite government-owned entities, often referred to as public sector undertakings (PSUs), and are awarded this special status due to their significant financial and operational importance. The term "Maharatna," meaning "big gem" in Hindi, aptly describes their significance. They are the most powerful and prestigious PSUs, enjoying more autonomy and financial flexibility than their counterparts. Oil India was the last company that was awarded the Maharatna status in August 2023. According to reports, the next big company set to be promoted from Navratna to Maharatna could be multi-bagger defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. About HAL Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the premier aircraft manufacturer in the country, is the undisputedking of Indian defence aviation. This PSUs market position is so dominant that its competitors are either non-existent or far behind. It's the only company in India that can build fighter jets and helicopters for the Indian armed forces. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the world. The company develops, designs, manufactures, and supplies aircraft, helicopters, drones, avionics, and communications equipment for military and civil markets. It also builds certain components of the PSLV rocket for ISRO. Its aircraft product line includes the Tejas light combat aircraft, Hawk advanced jet trainer, Su-30 MKI, HJT-36 intermediate jet trainer, Dornier DO-228 multi-purpose light transport aircraft, and the HTT-40 basic flight trainer. It has also produced helicopters, including the Chetak, Cheetah, the indigenous advanced light helicopter, and Dhruv, along with many variants for the army, navy, air force, and coast guard. Apart from this, one of the company's main lines of business is the maintenance, upgrade and overhaul of various aircraft. This includes changes like avionics upgrades integrating new weapon systems, software upgrades, etc. HAL shares have surged 123% in the past one year, delivering multibagger returns to shareholders. What does Maharatna status mean for HAL? The Maharatna brings with it enhanced financial autonomy and operational freedom, allowing companies to make strategic decisions independently. Currently, India boasts 13 Maharatna PSUs, including major names like Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, Coal India, GAIL, Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil, NTPC, ONGC, Power Grid, Steel Authority of India, Oil India, REC, and PFC. The elevation to Maharatna status would unlock several opportunities for HAL. Increased Investment Capabilities: HAL will be able to invest up to 15% of its net worth in new projects without needing prior government approval, unlocking major growth opportunities. Global Expansion: The company will be able to independently make foreign investments of up to 5,000 crore, enabling it to pursue international partnerships and expand its global footprint. Mergers & Acquisitions: With greater financial flexibility, HAL can engage in mergers and acquisitions, both domestically and internationally, strengthening its market position. Access to Competitive Financing: The Maharatna tag will allow HAL access to better financing options, fuelling its efforts to innovate and enhance its production capabilities in the high-tech aerospace sector. As India prioritises defence modernisation and pushes for self-reliance in defence manufacturing, HAL's Maharatna status will further empower the company to drive technological advancements and scale production. This elevation marks a crucial step in HAL's journey as it continues to be a cornerstone of India's aerospace and defence sector. HAL's defence breakthroughs Recently, the ministry of defence (MoD) has awarded a major contract to HAL to manufacture 240 AL-31FP Aero Engines for Su-30MKI aircraft, valued at over 26,000 crore. This contract is a key step towards achieving self-reliance in the defence sector. The engines will be produced at HAL's Koraput Division, aiming to support the Indian Air Forces operational needs for its Su-30 fleet. HAL intends to increase the indigenisation content of these aeroengines to up to 63%, enhancing the local content of their repair and overhaul processes. Additionally, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved 10 capital acquisition proposals totalling 1.5 trillion. These include the procurement of future ready combat vehicles, air defence fire control radars, Dornier 228 aircraft, and next generation fast patrol and offshore patrol vessels. Most of the funding for these projects will be sourced domestically, underscoring Indias commitment to self-reliance in defence manufacturing. HAL has also partnered with SAFHAL Helicopter Engines Pvt Ltd to jointly design, develop, manufacture, and support a new-generation high-power engine named Aravalli. This engine will power the 13-ton Medium Lift class Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) and the Deck-Based Multi-Role Helicopter (DBMRH). The company's order book as of 31 March 2024, was 94,000 crore. With the addition of a new order worth 260 bn, the total order book now stands at 1.2 trillion. A close look at financials For the June 2024 quarter, HAL reported an 11% (YoY) increase in revenue, reaching 4,350 crore compared to 3,920 crore in the same period last year. During this quarter, net profit surged by 77%, rising to 1,440 crore from 810 crore a year earlier. HAL has demonstrated a robust growth trajectory over the three years from FY22 to FY24. The company's net sales increased from 24,620 crore in FY22 to 30,380 crore in FY24, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.2%. This growth was driven by higher demand for HAL's aerospace and defence products, which includes significant contracts, and projects. HAL's operating profit has shown substantial improvement, rising from 6,400 crore in FY22 to 11,640 crore in FY24. This represents a CAGR of around 31.9%, indicating efficient cost management and operational improvements. The net profit of HAL has also seen a strong upward trend, growing from 5,080 crore in FY22 to 7,620 crore in FY24, a CAGR of approximately 27.4%. View Full Image Source: Equitymaster Road ahead HAL is strategically pivoting towards the development of its own products, including advanced fighter aircraft and helicopters. In February 2021, the Indian Air Force (IAF) placed an order for 83 Mk-1A fighters valued at 48,000 crore. Additionally, in April, the Defence Ministry issued a tender to HAL for the acquisition of 97 LCA Mk-1As, aimed at enhancing the IAFs capabilities amid a shortage of fighter squadrons. The new fighters are anticipated to cost around 67,000 crore. The first Mk-1A aircraft, part of the 2021 order, was initially scheduled for delivery by 31 March 2024. However, delays due to pending certifications have affected this timeline. HAL plans to deliver 16 Mk-1A fighters to the IAF in the financial year 2024-25. To meet the growing demand, HAL has established a new production line in Nashik for the LCA Mk-1A, complementing the existing line in Bengaluru. This expansion will enable HAL to increase its production capacity from 16 to 24 LCA Mk-1A jets annually, with the delivery of the 87 jets expected to be completed by 2028. To support this ramp-up, HAL is also expanding its manufacturing facilities. A new helicopter manufacturing facility is being set up in Tumkur. Conclusion In September 2024, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved a substantial 1.4 trillion in proposals aimed at enhancing the operational capabilities of the Indian Armed Forces. With 99% of these acquisitions to be sourced from domestic companies, HAL is well-positioned to benefit from this significant government investment. HAL is expected to see gains from the governments procurement of Dornier-228 aircraft and other domestic contracts. The ongoing global emphasis on defence spending ensures a steady revenue stream for defence firms like HAL. India's ambition to achieve a defence export target of 35,000 crore by 2024-25 highlights its commitment to increasing indigenisation. This drive includes phased import bans on weapons, a dedicated budget for locally manufactured military hardware, raising foreign direct investment limits from 49% to 74%, and streamlining business processes. With a projected turnover of 1.8 trillion in defence manufacturing by 2024-25, HAL is poised to strengthen its position and capitalise on these transformative developments in the defence sector. Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com Stock Market Today: Reliance Infrastructure Ltd share price gained 6% in the morning trades on Wednesday. The company has settled and paid its entire obligations with Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (Edelweiss) with respect to the Non Convertible Debentures issued by the Company The Reliance Infrastructure share price opened at 244 on Wednesday on the BSE, slightly higher than the previous closing price of 235.65. The Reliance Infrastructure share price thereafter gained further to 2254.40 level , thereby marking gains of more than 6% Notably the Reliance Infrastructure share price had ended with gains of more than 9% on Tuesday. Reliance Infrastructure share price has gained more than 18% in past 5 trading session and is inching towards its 52-week highs Reliance Infrastructure settlement with Edelweiss Reliance Infrastructure share price gained momentum as Reliance Infrastructure in its release on the exchange on Wednesday announced settlement of 235 crore dues to Edelweiss. The Company has settled and paid its entire obligations with Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (Edelweiss) with respect to the Non Convertible Debentures issued by the Company, in consideration of an amount of Rs. 235 crore said Reliance Infrastructure in its release on the exchanges. Reliance Infrastructure further said that Edelweiss does not hold any equity shares in the Company and is neither a related party nor part of the promoter group. Reliance Infrastructure on Tuesday already had said that "One Time Settlement (OTS) proposal has been agreed upon today between the Company and Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (Edelweiss) in settlement of the entire obligations with respect to the Non Convertible Debentures issued by the Company. Reliance Infrastructure settlement with Adani In another development, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd has also reached an agreement with Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML) and Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL) (Earlier known as Adani Transmission Limited). The agreement is towards Settlement of disputes and withdrawal of arbitration claims against each other as mutually agreed on September 17, 2024. Other developments Reliance Infrastructure also has said the , the company has received a communication dated September 17, 2024 from Invent Assets Securitisation and Reconstruction Private Limited (Invent ARC), a lender of the Company, regarding the novation of certain charged security in order to recover its dues and now its fund based outstanding is zero. Innomet Advanced Materials IPO listing: Shares of Innomet Advanced Materials made a robust debut on the bourses today. It listed at 190 on NSE SME, a premium of 90 percent from its IPO price of 100. The SME IPO, valued at 34.24 crore, was open for subscription from September 11, 2024, to September 13, 2024, with a price set at 100 per share. During the 3 days of bidding the IPO closed with overwhelming demand, with the SME issue subscribed 323.92 times overall. The IPO received bids for 105.34 crore shares against the 32.52 lakh shares on offer. The retail investor segment saw a subscription of 226.97 times, while the 'others' category was booked 367.77 times. About the IPO The Innomet Advanced Materials IPO consists entirely of a fresh issue of 34.24 lakh shares, with no Offer for Sale (OFS) component. Retail investors could apply with a minimum lot size of 1,200 shares, requiring a minimum investment of 1.2 lakh. The funds raised from the IPO, known as "Net Proceeds," will be used for various purposes, including meeting working capital needs, financing capital expenditure for machinery and equipment purchases, and partially or fully repaying certain borrowings. Additional funds will be allocated for general corporate purposes and issue-related expenses. Expert Global Consultants Private Limited is the book running lead manager for the IPO, with Prabhat Financial Services acting as the market maker. About the Company Established in 1984, Innomet Advanced Materials Limited manufactures metal powders and tungsten heavy alloys under two divisions: Innomet Powders and Innotung. The company is ISO 9001:2015 certified and offers over 20 products, including copper, bronze, brass, nickel, and stainless-steel powders, focusing on custom grades with elements like iron, copper, and zinc. They serve domestic and international markets, including the US, UK, Germany, and Japan. Despite a 9 percent revenue increase in FY 2024, the companys profit after tax (PAT) saw a 22 percent decline compared to the previous year. Also Read | Why Indias IPO mania is similar to the dotcom bubble In July this year, Samsungs Galaxy Z Fold 6 showcased everything that artificial intelligence (AI) can do to enhance the smartphone experience of a foldable phone. Yet, the brand kept the design consistent with what it has established: a polished metal body, with a super-tall form factor that gives the Z Fold 6 a distinct baton-like design. This, however, was upended when the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold entered the fray earlier this month. The two smartphones have taken a different approach with their designs. With the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 also being two of the most expensive smartphones in India right now, design takes centrestage. After all, at the most premium prices, the slightest of user experience differences can make or break a smartphones stature. Finding finesse It is here that the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold (called Pixel Fold for simplicity, henceforth) surpasses the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Straight off the bat, the Pixel Fold offers a more usual designwith an aspect ratio of the display that is closer to that of any other smartphone. This is key, because a change in the aspect ratio of any display beyond the conventional leads to a considerable change in the way we use any device. Changes in the way we use our everyday devices is not particularly ideal in terms of user experience (UX) design. The latter, now regarded largely as an intersection of science and art rather than a technical act, offers us a fine balance that could define a device as good or bad. To this end, the Pixel Fold aces its task at hand. Over the last 20 years, the landscape of what I see in therapy sessions has shifted. The prominent change has been in the point at which people reach out for therapy and the reasons that propel them to seek support from a mental health professional. In the last 8-10 years, I have observed a sharp increase in the number of people reaching out because they feel they are unable to do enough. Clients talk about feeling unhappy or dissatisfied as they feel there is much more they should achieve in their personal and professional life. Whether it is finances, self-care, friendship, travel or micro influencing (how people position and brand themselves), there is this pervasive sense of not doing enough. Fulfilment is no longer limited to having a good personal life or a meaningful job. Clients feel that they are under pressure to excel in various areas of their life. This sense of unhappiness seems to have been amplified by social media where people engage in what I call death by social comparison. People find themselves stuck in a spiral and feel their own life is boring or hard compared to others on social media. This shows up during sessions with clients saying, No matter how much I achieve, I constantly feel that there is someone juggling so much more than me. Also read: What does it mean to be actively empathetic? As I hear clients talk about this, I wonder if people are on a hedonistic treadmill seeking an illusory perfect state which they believe will make them happy. As a result, even when they are doing well, they dont give themselves permission to feel happy or savour the moment when they achieve something. No matter how much is done, this thirst for perfectionism is not quenchedit is fuelled further. My experience tells me that many people, consciously or unconsciously, strive for perfection and, even more challenging, effortless perfection. Both are dangerous and a recipe for feeling that one is constantly failing. Global research shows that there is a sharp rise in the desire for perfectionism among college students and young people. This is supported by my experience in therapy too, with clients in their early to late 20s talking consistently about how they are not doing enough and have been failing at life. This reveals how our narratives of control, perfection and perception of others are getting in the way of living a fuller life. One of the first steps to remedy this is learning to recognise and acknowledge that our feelings require a pause, rather than rushing to the next achievement. Most people are so busy that they forget to check in with themselves if they are finding joy in what they do. The next step is becoming aware of self-sabotaging beliefs and social media comparisons that keep us stuck. We need to recognize how all our achievements and struggles need to be understood in terms of the unique struggles we all had, our upbringing, various factors and conditions which are different across individuals. When we start making stories about other peoples success in our heads and not trust our own journey, we are letting our critical inner voice take over. Remembering that perfectionism is the enemy of good is a good starting point. Its okay if you are excelling in one area and still figuring out other areas. Our ability to strive and flourish comes from this desire to learn and get better. At the same time, we need to remember that we can pause, be kind to ourselves, savour our success while working towards achieving goals and striving for a better life. The initial public offering (IPO) frenzy is pushing more investors to test their luck, but despite the enthusiasm, most applicants seem to miss out amid heavy oversubscription, and the process remains largely a game of chance. While strategies like using multiple Permanent Account Numbers (PANs) or shareholder quotas might slightly improve allotment chances, the odds still remain slim. Bajaj Housing's recent blockbuster IPO, for example, saw prices double, but few managed to secure the shares. So much so, that X (formerly Twitter) was flooded with memes highlighting the struggle to secure an allotment. Bloomberg data showed that the IPO was oversubscribed more than 60 times. However, understanding how allotments work and avoiding common mistakes is key for those looking to boost their odds and avoid rejections in today's crowded IPO space. Apply using multiple PANs To increase your chances, applying through multiple PAN-linked demat accounts is a popular strategy. Instead of applying for the entire amount through one account, splitting it across several accounts gives you more "lottery tickets." Just ensure each account is linked to a unique PAN, as multiple applications under the same PAN will be rejected. Sample this: Let's say you had 60,000 and planned to apply for the Bajaj Housing IPO, here are two options: Option 1: Apply for .60,000 from a single demat account. Option 2: Split the 60,000 across four accounts (minimum lot size is 14,980). Option 2 would have been better, as applying through multiple PAN-linked demat accounts could increase your chances of getting an allotment. Some investors even use family members' or friends' demat accounts for this purpose. However, according Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rules, you cannot apply through multiple demat accounts linked to the same PAN. Doing so will result in rejection. Also, even if the public offer is heavily oversubscribed, each successful applicant receives only one lot. Having four separate applications improves your odds compared to just one. Boosting chances with shareholders quota Another option is the shareholder quota. If you hold shares in the parent company of the IPO, you may be eligible for a reserved allotment. For instance, the Bajaj Housing IPO had set aside 7.62% for shareholders of Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance. Similarly, electric vehicle startup Ather, which is preparing for its IPO, has reserved a portion for Hero Motocorp shareholdersone of its key promotersfollowing the successful listing of its larger EV peer, Ola Electric. Now, here's a success story that highlights the effectiveness of this strategy: Aadesh Jain, a 30-year-old freelancer from Chennai, capitalised on it by buying Bajaj Finserv shares across 14 demat accounts held by friends and family. This move allowed him to apply for the shareholder quota, and he managed to receive allotments for 11 out of the 14 applications. Note, though Jain made a smart move, he was definitely lucky. (see infographic) View Full Image The maximum amount one can apply for in the shareholder category is 2 lakh even if you apply from another category. To ensure you are eligible for the shareholder quota, you will need to hold a share of Hero Motocorp on the day Ather files its prospectus. When would that be? We cannot know for sure. But if you keep a share of Hero Motocorp in your account, you will be eligible whenever the prospectus is finally filed," said Mohit Mehra, vice president, primary markets and payments, Zerodha. The maximum amount one can apply for in the shareholder category is 2 lakh even if you apply from another category. Interestingly, Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC)s IPO also included a quota for policyholders. Big non-institutional investor (NII) category As the saying goes: Aksar, jo dikhta hai wo hota nahi hai, aur jo hota hai wo dikhta nahi hai (often, what you see is not reality, and what is real is not visible)". This rings true for IPO investors assessing the Bajaj Housing IPO in the big-HNI category. This category (applications of over 10 lakh) was oversubscribed 50 times, while the small-HNI category ( 2-10 lakh) was subscribed 32 times. Despite the smaller subscription figures in the small-HNI category suggesting better chances, the reality is more complex. The exchange reports oversubscription based on value, not the number of applicants. Since allotments are determined by the number of applicants rather than the total amount applied, the perceived advantage in the small-HNI category may be misleading. Sample this: If an IPO reserves 10 crore for the big-HNI category and 5 crore for the small-HNI category, and 1,000 investors apply for 1 crore each, the Big-HNI category would show a total demand of 1,000 crore, resulting in a 100x oversubscription (1,000/10). However, in the small-HNI category, 1,000 investors applying for 9 lakh each would create a total demand of 90 crore, resulting in 18x oversubscription (90/5). In an oversubscribed issue, a lottery is conducted where both big-HNI and small-HNI will get a minimum of 2 lakh allotment if they win. In other words, 500 applicants can get an allotment in the big-HNI category and 250 applicants in the small-HNI category. The value-based subscription number that exchanges show can mislead investors into thinking that the small-HNI category is more favourable, but considering that allotments are based on the number of applicants, not the amount applied, Big-HNI investors face a one in 2 (1000/500) chance of getting an allotment, while small-HNI investors face only one in 4 (1000/250) chance. So, displaying the number of applicants would provide a clearer picture. In the Bajaj Housing IPO, for instance, three investors applied for 50 crore each in the Big HNI category, significantly skewing the reported subscription numbers. However, once oversubscribed, the allotment process becomes a lottery, treating all applicants equally. Despite their large applications, these three investors did not receive a single lot. Since the exchange does not disclose the number of applicants, many retail investors mistakenly believed that Big HNIs faced worse odds compared to the small HNI category. In reality, the probability of receiving an allotment was 3.6% in the small HNI category and 12% in the Big HNI category. When evaluating IPO subscription numbers, it's more important to look at the total number of valid applications than just the oversubscription value," said Mehra. Large applications can inflate the oversubscription numbers, making it seem higher for individual investors." During a live IPO, the exchange shows value-based data, but after the IPO closes, you can check the basis of allotment released by the registrar. In the Bajaj Housing Finance IPO, for example, the Big HNI category showed a 50x oversubscription in value." Also Read: How Indian students can get work visas after studying abroad However, the actual chance of allotment based on valid applications was around 12%. This means the oversubscription was about 8x based on the number of applicants who could receive a single lot," he added. Larger bids, higher success rate for SME IPOs Unlike mainboard IPOs, where allotments are determined by lottery, SME IPOs generally use a pro-rata basis for allotments, except for single lot retail applications. For example, in the recent Trafiksol ITS Technologies IPO, the NII category (applications of over 1.4 lakh) was oversubscribed 699 times. This means that for every 699 lots applied for, one lot was guaranteed. Hygiene check Many investor applications are rejected due to common mistakes. One key error is submitting multiple applications from a single PAN-linked demat account. Besides, the name on the demat account must match the name in the bank account used for the application. Applying using a family members account or UPI ID is not allowed. Mehra advises investors to avoid canceling their orders and, instead, wait for the mandate to arrive. Investors can accept the mandate any time between 10 am on the first day of the IPO and 5 pm on the final day. Delays in receiving the mandate can occur due to the involvement of various entities in the IPO process. Bengaluru SpaceX 2024 Edition will be open for space enthusiasts and other visitors from Wednesday, September 18 to Friday, September 20. More than 250 delegates and companies from across the world will join the eighth edition of the biennial international exhibition hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Also Read | Bengalurus Electronic City on high alert after leopard spotted roaming The event will be open for visitors and will provide a common platform for industry leaders, innovators, and enthusiasts to explore and discuss the latest developments in space technology. The exhibition will also witness several new product launches and announcements. Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 The Space Exhibition, which will be organised at BIEC in Bengaluru, will also showcase several cutting-edge technologies and capabilities driving the future of space exploration. The event will consist of exhibits, workshops, and networking opportunities and will be open for business visitors on all three days. However, general visitors will have limited access. Also Read | Bengaluru woman criticises Swiggy as delivery agent did not know Kannada Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 fair timings Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 will begin at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 18. Business visitors can visit the expo on any day at any time of the fair, whereas the general public (including students) can visit on the last day of the event, Friday, September 20. Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 Exhibitors detail The Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 will feature exhibitors from a wide range of fields, including allied services, DTH providers, electronics and optics, GPS navigation, IT and Automobiles for space, Launching facilities providers, space equipment manufacturing, research organisation, satellite parts and components, research organisations, etc. Also Read | 15 mobiles, knives seized from Bengaluru prison holding actor Darshan The Indian Space Sector is currently valued at $9.6 billion in 2020 and contributes 2-3% to the global space economy. The Indian space economy is projected to reach $13 billion by 2025. The income tax department has hiked the minimum threshold for filing appeals by the department in tribunal, high courts and the Supreme Court. As per a circular by the CBDT, tax authorities can file appeals before the ITAT, high courts and Supreme Court, if the disputed tax demand exceeds 60 lakh, 2 crore and 5 crore, respectively. In 2019, the government had set the threshold for filing appeals at Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) at 50 crore, high courts ( 1 crore) and Supreme Court ( 2 crore). The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) also said that monetary limit with regard to filing appeals/SLP (Special Leave Petition) shall be applicable to all cases including those relating to TDS/TCS. Also Read | What is NPS Vatsalya? All you need to know of new pension plan launching today It further said that SLPs/appeals pending before Supreme Court, high courts, and tribunals that are below the prescribed threshold should be withdrawn. "As a step towards management of litigation, it has been decided by the Board to revise the monetary limits for filing of appeals in income tax cases...," the CBDT said. It also said that an appeal should not be filed merely because the tax effect in a case exceeds prescribed the monetary limits and instead should be decided on merit of the case. "The officers concerned shall keep in mind the overall objective of reducing unnecessary litigation and providing certainty to taxpayers on their income tax assessments while taking a decision regarding filing an appeal," the CBDT circular said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on July 23 had announced an increase in the monetary limits for filing appeals related to direct taxes, excise and service tax in tax tribunals, high courts and Supreme Court to 60 lakh, 2 crore and 5 crore, respectively. Moore Singhi Executive Director Rajat Mohan said for taxpayers, these higher limits reduce the likelihood of prolonged litigation, promoting quicker resolutions at earlier stages. "While these changes are a welcome shift, the true impact will depend on how judiciously the tax authorities exercise their discretion in deciding which cases to escalate. This policy could lead to a more balanced and efficient litigation environment, where both sides can avoid unnecessary delays and focus on significant legal issues," Mohan added. Nangia Andersen LLP Partner Sandeep Jhunjhunwala said this revision in monetary limit is expected to significantly ease the burden on judicial bodies, allowing for more efficient adjudication of larger tax disputes. "By formalizing the increase in monetary limits for filing appeals, the government signals its intent to adopt a more pragmatic approach to tax litigation," Jhunjhunwala added. He further said this circular continues to maintain the exceptions outlined in previous CBDT circulars, allowing the Revenue department to pursue appeals in cases that fall below the revised monetary thresholds, which notably include cases involving TDS/TCS, undisclosed foreign income or assets, tax evasion, and instances where courts have issued specific directions. The CBDT had in March issued a circular permitting income tax authorities to file appeals irrespective of monetary threshold in cases relating to TDS/TCS, undisclosed foreign income, or information received from investigating agencies like ED and GST Intelligence. The circular said that the prescribed monetary limits will not be applicable for filing appeals in cases where prosecution has been filed by the department in the relevant case, and trial is pending and conviction order has been passed and the same has not been compounded. Around 2.7 crore direct tax demands totalling about 35 lakh crore are being disputed at various legal foras. As Jammu and Kashmir holds its first assembly election in a decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday encouraged voters to exercise their right to vote. PM Modi, in a post on X on Wednesday, said, As the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections begins, I urge all those in constituencies going to the polls today to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. I particularly call upon young and first-time voters to exercise their franchise. Meanwhile, polling for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections commenced on Wednesday with stringent security measures in place. Voting began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm, as per the Election Commission of India. The first phase covers 24 Assembly constituencies16 in the Kashmir region and 8 in the Jammu region. By the September 12 deadline, 486 candidates had submitted their nominations. After scrutiny on September 13, 449 nominations were deemed valid. Following the withdrawal of 34 candidates, 415 candidates remain in contention for this phase. In total, 873 candidates are competing in the assembly elections across 90 constituencies: 219 candidates for 24 seats in the first phase, 239 for 26 seats in the second phase, and 415 for 40 seats in the final phase. Polling for the second and third phases of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled for September 25 and October 1, respectively, with vote counting set for October 8. This election marks the first Assembly contest in the region since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. The Congress and National Conference are contesting the elections in an alliance, while other major parties in the race for the 90 Assembly seats include the PDP, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the People's Conference. In the 2014 assembly elections, the last held in the erstwhile state, 831 candidates competed, including 274 Independents. For the current elections, 367 candidates are vying for 43 seats in the Jammu division, where the BJP has a strong presence, and 541 candidates contesting for 47 seats in the Valley. In Kashmir, there is an average of five Independent candidates per assembly segment, whereas in the Jammu division, the average is about 2.93 per constituency. The Sopore assembly segment, historically known for militancy and election boycott campaigns, has the highest number of candidates, with 22 running, including 14 Independents. Notably, among the Independents in Sopore is Ajaz Guru, the brother of Afzal Guru, convicted for the Parliament attack. In the Sonawari segment of Bandipora district, there are 20 candidates competing, including 11 Independents, in an area with a significant presence of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami. However, four constituenciesBudhal, Kangan, Ramangar, and Srigufwara-Bijbeharahave no Independent candidates. In Srigufwara-Bijbehara, located in Anantnag district, there are three candidates, including Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti. Doda West, Nowshera, and Ramgarh each feature one Independent candidate. Notably, Ravindra Raina, president of the BJP's Jammu and Kashmir unit and a leading candidate for chief minister if the BJP wins, is contesting from Nowshera. Days after meeting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking the removal of Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Division) Abhishek Gupta and others, junior doctors sent a fresh letter to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant for the next meeting with the state CM. On 18 September, the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front held a press conference and announced that they would continue their protest until all their demands were met. While pressing their new demands, the junior doctors have sought security in hospitals, the development of the healthcare system, the resignation of the state Health Secretary, among others. The WBJDF in their letter to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant wrote, as quoted by Indian Express, In reference to our last meeting with our Honble CM, we would like to reiterate there were certain key points regarding our five-point demands which were left unresolved. Particularly our fourth and fifth point, concerning the development of the healthcare system, safety, security, and prevailing threat culture. We were assured in the meeting (that) a special task force presided by you will be formed to address these issues and further discussions with us would take place regarding its formulation and function. We would like to sit in a meeting with you and other members of the task force today regarding the same. We are eagerly waiting for your positive response. Government ready for talks: Meanwhile, reports arrived that Chief Secretary Manoj Pant has invited the junior doctors agitating on September 18 over the RG Kar incident for a meeting at the state secretariat at 6.30 pm. In his response, Pant reiterated the state government's appeal to the protesting junior doctors to return to work. You are aware that many districts of South Bengal are facing a flood-like situation with vast areas inundated. In the light of the above situation, while we again appeal to you to join duties in larger public interest and provide services to common people, I along with the other members of the task force will meet your delegation of 30 members at Nabanna Sabhaghar today at 6.30 pm, PTI quoted Pants email, sent at 2.49 pm as saying. WB govt transfers Kolkata CP: Earlier on September 17, the West Bengal government appointed Manoj Kumar Verma as new Commissioner of Police (CP) of Kolkata Police, PTI quoted an official notification as saying. While former Kolkata CP, Vineet Kumar Goyal, had been transferred to Special Task Force as Additional Director General (ADG). He was under fire over handling of the rape and murder of the doctor at the RG Kar hospital. Apart from this, the Home and Hill Affairs Department of the West Bengal government also transferred five other officers. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On September 14, CATL and Shandong Heavy Industry Group held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony in Ningde, Fujian, according to a post on CATL's WeChat account. Photo credit: CATL Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate across multiple areas, including heavy trucks, construction machinery, buses, logistics vehicles, and forklifts. Their partnership will focus on product development, ecosystem building, and innovation in business models, aiming to drive the green transition in the equipment manufacturing sector. CATL highlighted that both companies will leverage their respective strengths in resources, technology, and quality to support one another in advancing new energy commercial vehicles and construction machinery. This cooperation will help accelerate the green transformation of the equipment manufacturing industry. Shandong Heavy Industry Group is a globally influential multinational industrial equipment conglomerate, with a portfolio that includes well-known brands such as SINOTRUK, Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile, Weichai Lovol Intelligent Agricultural Technology, Shantui Construction Machinery, Zhongtong Bus, and KION Group. It leads the world in sales of heavy-duty engines, transmissions, and trucks. The group's extensive business scope includes power systems, commercial vehicles, agricultural equipment, construction machinery, smart logistics, and marine transport equipment. It is also at the forefront of new energy and smart connected commercial vehicles. Junior doctors protesting the murder at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday stated that they would persist with their sit-in and refrain from returning to duty, even after the state-appointed Manoj Kumar Verma as the new police chief of Kolkata, replacing Vineet Goyal, fulfilling one of the key demands of the protesters. The state government also dismissed two senior health department officials in response to their demands. Here are the top ten updates: 1. West Bengal Junior Doctors Front sent another email to the West Bengal Chief Secretary requesting one more meeting with CM Mamata Banerjee as some demands remain unresolved, ANI reported. 2. The doctors continued to demand the removal of the state health secretary NS Nigam, saying Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured them on Monday that action would be taken on the matter. 3. Senior TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said on Tuesday that he has resigned as the editor of the party's publication, Jago Bangla (Wake up, Bengal), citing personal reasons. He recently garnered attention for supporting the junior doctors' protests following the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. 4. I am leaving the post as editor of Jago Bangla for personal reasons as I cannot do justice to my post since taking over in 2022. Not that I am faced with any interference in discharging my responsibility. Someone else, who can perform this role in a better way, should take over, Roy said. 5. Earlier, IPS officer Manoj Kumar Verma was appointed the new Commissioner of Police (CP) for Kolkata following the removal of Vineet Kumar Goyal from the position. 6. The Bengal chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday urged the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) to revoke the registration of Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The CBI arrested Ghosh on September 2 for alleged financial irregularities at the hospital. In response, the WBMC issued a show-cause notice to him on September 7, asking for his explanation within three days regarding why his medical registration should not be cancelled. 7. The father of the deceased trainee doctor from Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College on Tuesday said that her daughter would have been alive if West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had taken action against former RG Kar Medical College principal Sandeep Ghosh in 2021. 8. CBI is doing its job, we cannot say anything about this (investigation)... Whoever is connected to this murder in some way or those who are involved in tampering with evidence, all are under investigation... They are sitting in protest (protesting junior doctors) with pain, they are like my children, we feel pain seeing them... The day the accused will be punished, that day will be our victory... In the year 2021 also, many allegations were levelled against former principal Sandeep Ghosh; if the Chief Minister had taken action against Sandeep Ghosh, then, today, my daughter would have been alive, the victim's father told reporters. 9. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court noted that the CBI's investigation is to unearth the absolute truth. SC said it has gone through a status report filed by the CBI and said that the Central agency has responded to all of the issues raised by the top court, including the process of post-mortem. The top court said that CBI is not sleeping over, and they are required to give time to unearth the truth. The top court also sought a status report on the probe into financial irregularities in the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. 10. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court denied stopping live streaming of the proceedings, saying it is a matter of public interest. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal raised concern about live streaming, saying it had huge implications and clarifying that he was not representing the accused but representing the state of West Bengal. NEW DELHI : In what may result in the first review of the new Indian criminal codes, the Centre has started discussions on the misuse of Sections 85 and 86 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) that criminalize domestic violence against women by their husbands and in-laws, said Union law and justice minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in an interview. The development comes after the Supreme Court expressed concerns over the replication of Section 498A of the now-repealed Indian Penal Code in the BNS without adequate safeguards for husbands and their relatives against frivolous complaints. In the nearly three months since the BNS came into force, the ministry has received feedback from the apex court about the provision, said Meghwal, who is the minister of state with independent charge of the ministry of law and justice. We have received one judicial pronouncement to date about Section 498A that it was kept unchanged in the new law, and we take up issues raised in all judicial pronouncements that come to us. The issue of Section 498A is related to crimes of cruelty against women. We are currently discussing it," he said. On 1 July, the Union government enforced the BNS, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), which replaced the IPC, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. However, it was notified that cases filed before 1 July will continue to be adjudicated according to the IPC. Section 498A, which was added to the IPC in 1983 to curb the surge in dowry-related crimes against women, was used as it is in the new law. It had a penal provision and an added explanation to define "cruelty". In the BNS, these two components have been split into Sections 85 and 86, respectively, under the category of crimes against women and children. To be clear, the law remains unchanged. Cruelty against women by their husbands or in-laws is punishable with three years of imprisonment and a fine. Last week, the Supreme Court noted in a judgment that Section 498A was one of the most misused provisions in the country, involving a considerable number of frivolous cases. Earlier in May, the top court said it was worrisome that Section 498A was kept unchanged in the BNS without any provision for the husband's protection. Arbitration push To address the mounting pendency of lawsuitsover 50 million casesin Indian courts, Meghwal said the ministry is conducting an ageing analysis" to identify cases that have been running for a long time. We are conducting an ageing analysis...how old are pending cases...and the reason for pendencyto understand the cause of delay. It is possible that the person who filed the case does not exist, or that one witness is not appearing before the court...and the court cannot decide before it has heard all witnesses." There were 27.3 million pending magisterial cases, including petty crimes, in district courts on 18 September, according to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). Meghwal said the use of community service as punishment in petty crime cases has increased after the implementation of new criminal codes. Over 5.6 million civil suits, over 2.5 million criminal cases, and as many as 2.5 million criminal appeals were also pending in Indian courts, showed the NJDG data, which indicated that the most common reason for delays was the unavailability of legal counsel. The law ministry is also focusing on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms such as arbitration and mediation to curb the burgeoning litigation pendency, Meghwal said. Arbitration and mediation are out-of-court dispute resolution methods. Parties choose a person or group to render a decree or to come to an amicable consensus. When asked about the steps taken to make India a global arbitration hub, a key focus for the ministry when Meghwal took charge, he said: This is all a part of ADR mechanisms. We are working on constituting the Mediation Council of India and discussing ways to improve the arbitration ecosystem after the Union finance ministry pointed out certain issues." Meghwal told Mint that the law ministry is drafting rules under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, the nation's key law on arbitration, and trying to resolve issues raised by the finance ministry's June advisory. The department of expenditure in the finance ministry issued an office memorandum to all government arms, including state governments and public sector undertakings (PSUs), in June to avoid arbitration worth over 10 crore because it is expensive and time-consuming and instead use mediation in such cases. The advisory even urged recipients to litigate in courts instead of arbitration. Under the Mediation Act passed in 2023, the government planned to create a Mediation Council of India to decide how mediation will be conducted across the country and register mediators, among other duties. Mint previously reported that the government will constitute the council by year-end. To be sure, some rules about the council, such as the salaries of its to-be officers, have been notified, but the council has not been constituted. Hundreds of people were injured across Lebanon on Tuesday, September 17, when their pagers exploded, Health Minister Firass Abiad said. A source close to Hezbollah told news agency AFP that its members were targeted and that dozens of Hezbollah members were injured in the incident. Reuters reported, citing sources, that Israel's Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations. The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters. According to the Associated Press, on Wednesday, Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria were made by a company in Budapest. Here's all you need to know about the pager explosions in Lebanon 1. Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said at least nine people were killed and some 2,800 were injured in pager explosions across the country on Tuesday, September 17. Among those wounded was Irans ambassador to Lebanon. 2. The sons of Hezbollah lawmakers Ali Ammar and Hassan Fadlallah were among the dead, a source close to the group told AFP. "Hundreds of Hezbollah members were injured by the simultaneous explosion of their pagers" in the group's strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs, in south Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah source said. 3. In neighbouring Syria, 14 people were wounded "after pagers used by Hezbollah exploded", said a Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 4. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, blamed Israel for the attack. Hezbollah earlier said its members used the pagers. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the wave of explosions. "We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression," Hezbollah said in a statement, adding that Israel "will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression". 5. "Fourteen people whose nationalities are unknown have been wounded in Damascus and its countryside after pagers used by Hezbollah exploded," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. 6. The US, Israel's close ally, said it was 'not involved' and 'not aware' in advance of Lebanon pager blasts. "I can tell you that the US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, we're gathering information," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. 7. The US also urged Iran to avoid furthering 'tensions' after Hezbollah pager blasts. "We would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region," US State Department sp Matthew Miller said. 8. The UN said Lebanon pager blasts mark 'extremely concerning escalation'. "The developments today mark an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context," UN special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement. 9. Hezbollah had earlier instructed its members to avoid mobile phones after the Gaza war began and to rely instead on the group's own telecommunications system to prevent Israeli breaches. According to the Associated Press, the pagers that blew up had apparently been acquired by Hezbollah after the groups leader ordered members to stop using cell phones in February. A Hezbollah official told the Associated Press the pagers were new but declined to say how long they had been in use. Royal family's wishes for Prince Harry's 40th birthday may have "projected" a positive image for the Duke of Sussex, but according to The Royal Observer, it may be done by King Charles II and heir to the throne, Prince William to "protect themselves" from potential future accusations. The warmer that the royal family is to Harry, the more they protect themselves from any future attacks by him, royal correspondent Jack Royston told an outlet. Royston reasoned, saying that because King Charles II and Prince William are nice to Harry, and are showing themselves as a side that's interested in peace, while he keeps attacking them, he will destroy himself. He will only destroy his own reputation and not just in Britain, but in America too, he said. After Spare came out, the royal correspondent highlighted, they had a massive crash in their popularity in America. Prince Harry, the fifth in line to the throne, earned millions of dollars for his 2023 memoir, but despite monetary riches, one biographer felt that the rebel Duke is paying the ultimate price for penning the tell-all. "I think what people really dislike is he dissed his family," royal author Ingrid Seward said adding that he's paid for it and is paying for it still. Shortly before the "incendiary" autobiography had hit the shelves, Prince Harry had told Anderson Cooper that none of anything he wrote was ever intended to hurt his family. According to the report, Prince William and Prince Harry allegedly haven't spoken a word to one another privately since Queen Elizabeth II's funeral nearly two years ago. It is said that Harry's disparaging remarks against the future king, his wife, Kate, Princess of Wales, and sharing personal details about other senior royals are "of course," a few of the reasons why. Also Read | Prince Harry would be happier if King Charles "He doesn't speak to his family, doesn't speak to his brother, has never met Meghan's father. I mean, it is very strange. Is Meghan ashamed of her father? Why hasn't Harry met him?" the royal expert observed. Kate Middleton has resumed her Royal duties after finishing cancer treatment. The Princess of Wales held a meeting at Windsor Castle focused on her early childhood project, The Telegraph reported. This marks her first official engagement since starting chemotherapy. On September 9, Prince Williams wife shared a video message announcing the completion of her preventative treatment. Also Read | Royal Family fans not impressed as William, Kate wish Harry on birthday She said: Doing what I can to stay cancer-free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long, and I must continue to take each day as it comes. I am, however, looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can. The meeting at Windsor Castle was recorded in the Court Circular, the official log of Royal activities. Her team from the Centre for Early Childhood and staff from Kensington Palace joined her. Also Read | British Royal Familys future king not allowed to use iPads The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this morning held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle, the publication quoted the official entry as stating. This engagement is seen as a significant step towards normality for the princess. She had stepped back from public life earlier in the year due to major abdominal surgery followed by chemotherapy. During her illness, she stayed updated on her early years' project whenever she felt well enough to work from home. Kates future engagements Looking ahead, the future queen consort plans to ease back into a light schedule of Royal duties. Sources close to her say she will undertake engagements "when she can", acknowledging that it's challenging to plan for the future after chemotherapy. Also Read | Kate Middleton slammed for doing a Meghan Markle in latest video No specific engagements have been confirmed, allowing her to decide based on her health and doctors' advice. Anna Sebastian Perayil, a Chartered Accountant (CA) from Kerala, died nearly four months after joining her first job at EY India, a professional services firm, in Pune. The young CA was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted after being overburdened with excessive workload, alleges her mother. Several industry professionals have raised their voices against Anna Sebastian Perayil's death due to the alleged toxic work culture at EY India. Many also reshared a letter apparently from Anna Sebastian's mother, Anita Augustine, to Rajiv Memani, EY India Chairman. LiveMint could not independently verify the claims made on social media. In the letter, Perayil's mother, Anita Augustine, shared her daughter's experience at EY India. She wrote that her daughter was a brilliant student who always stood first in college and school examinations. She had also cleared the CA examination with distinction. However, Anna started experiencing anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress soon after joining the company, read the letter. Also Read | Amazon faces growing worker pressure in shadow of Alabama union vote Augustine also explained how she witnessed her daughter suffering from the extreme workload and how she sincerely tried to match the unreasonable expectations of her seniors. The letter also mentioned that Anna started suffering from chest pain, which doctors identified as the result of her hectic schedule. To excel at work, Annie tried her best to manage her work by sleeping late at night and working tirelessly for hours. She even managed to work on her convocation day and could not even spend the day with her parents, claimed Anita in the letter. No one from EY attended Anna's funeral On Saturday, July 6, my husband and I reached Pune to attend Anna's CA Convocation. Since she had been complaining of chest constriction upon reaching her PG late at night (around 1 am) for the past week, we took her to the hospital in Pune. Her ECG was normal, and the cardiologist came to allay our fears, telling us she wasn't getting enough sleep and was eating very late. He prescribed antacids, which reassured us that it wasn't anything serious. Though we had come all the way from Kochi, she insisted on going to work after seeing the doctor, saying there was a lot of work to be done and she wouldn't get leave, Anita wrote in the letter. In the letter, Anita also alleged that no one from EY had attended her daughter's funeral and didn't even bother to talk to her about the tragedy. She wrote that the company officials had not responded when she tried to connect with her daughter's senior. EY has said it is "deeply saddened" by the death of its employee Anna Sebastian and "will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace". The audit firm's first response comes after the parent of Anna Sebastian wrote to EY India Chairman and Regional Managing Partner Rajiv Memani, flagging off the workload that may have led to her untimely death. "Burdening newcomers with such backbreaking work, making them work day and night even on Sundays has no justification whatsoever...the management took full advantage of the fact that she was new and overwhelmed her with both assigned and unassigned work," said the letter written by the employee's parent. What EY said in a statement We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family. Anna was a part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on 18 March 2024. That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us. While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so. Elon Musk's fervent support for Donald Trump in the upcoming US election could extend far beyond incendiary tweets and campaign cash if the former president returns to the White House. The world's richest person has become increasingly present in Trump's campaign, essentially putting his personal X account, with its nearly 200 million followers, at the candidate's service. Following a second apparent assassination bid on Trump Sunday, Musk questioned why Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden have been spared such attempts on their lives. He later deleted the post. Musk has also used his personal account to endorse the unfounded conspiracy theory that a community of Haitian immigrants in Ohio had been stealing and eating the predominantly white population's pets. Role in a Trump admin Less publicized is Musk's agreement with Trump to lead a special commission on reducing federal spending, which would implement "drastic reforms," according to the former president. The idea originated from a freewheeling conversation between Musk and Trump broadcast on X in August. Musk proposed a "government efficiency commission" to ensure taxpayers' money would be well spent. Trump embraced the idea, praising Musk as "the greatest cutter," in reference to the Tesla and SpaceX founder's ruthless approach to running his companies. "When your employees stop working, you say 'That's OK... every one of you is gone,'" Trump said admiringly of Musk. While Trump didn't name the company, the reference was clearly to Musk's 2022 takeover of Twitter, which he later renamed X. In that acquisition, Musk eliminated 75 percent of staff, retaining only those willing to abide by his "hardcore" workplace ethos. The mass layoffs decimated its content moderation teams and ushered in Musk's reign over the platform, leading to a rise in misinformation and an exodus of advertisers. No rule by fiat According to the New York Times, the two men have had regular conversations about Musk's workplace philosophy, with the hope that the multi-billionaire can impose it on the US government in a second Trump administration. When asked on the "All-In" podcast if this meant cutting as much as 5 percent of federal staff annually (about 150,000 workers), Musk replied, "I think we'd need to do more than that." He declined to be more specific, claiming doing so would put him at risk of being "assassinated," but said that workers would have time to find new careers. "The number of disgruntled workers, former government employees will be quite a scary number," he added ominously. Public policy scholars cautioned that Musk may be overestimating his potential influence. In the United States, the power to cut government jobs lies with Congress, which controls the government's purse strings. "Our system doesn't allow that concentration of power into any one office or any one individual that allows them to just rule by fiat the way that Musk can do at X, Tesla or SpaceX," said Casey Burgat, director of the legislative affairs program at George Washington University. However, others worry that a second Trump administration could reset the rules, especially now that a conservative-led Supreme Court has the final say over the laws of the land. The nine-member top court is now dominated by conservatives, including several Trump appointees, and has made recent decisions increasing the powers of the White House. Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor at Syracuse University, suggests that Trump could decide to "do whatever he wants and let somebody file a lawsuit and bring it to the Supreme Court, who have been pretty favorable to Trump on matters of executive power." No fouls? Neither Trump nor Musk seem to be bothered by questions of conflict of interest, which are glaring to many observers. Musk's diverse businesses are deeply intertwined with government, whether as a supplier to NASA in the case of SpaceX or as a subject of regulation as with Tesla, which often faces scrutiny over safety issues. Trump, meanwhile, has a history of appointing family members to top government positions and faces regular accusations of overlapping his business interests with his role as a public servant. Enforcing conflict-of-interest rules requires the political will of Congress, which Burgat said did little against obvious breaches in the first Trump administration. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to travel to New York later this month where he will also address an event at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During his visit, Modi is likely to have some bilateral meetings. However, according to reports, the Prime Minister is not expected to meet Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus. In the second week of September, Bangladesh made a formal request to India for a meeting between Yunus and Modi, according to Dhaka Tribune. But, the meeting seems unlikely on the backdrop of recent remarks made by Yunus. Also Read | Bangladesh: Hindu boy hacked to death in police station over blasphemous post The PM is expected to have some bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the General Assembly in New York but a meeting with the head of Bangladeshs interim government isnt on the schedule, reported Hindustan Times quoting sources familiar with the matter. On August 16, Modi and Yunus also held a telephonic conversation, during which the Prime Minister reaffirmed Indias support for a democratic, stable, peaceful and progressive Bangladesh. Yunus, in turn, assured that the Interim Government would prioritise protection, safety and security of Hindus and all minority groups in Bangladesh. However, the recent narrative comment by Yunus has reportedly not gone will with New Delhi. In an interview to PTI, Yunus insisted that New Delhi must abandon the narrative that only Hasinas leadership ensures the countrys stability. The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative. The narrative is that everybody is Islamist, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is Islamist, and everyone else is Islamist and will make this country into Afghanistan. And Bangladesh is in safe hands with Sheikh Hasina at the helm only. India is captivated by this narrative. India has to come out of this narrative. Bangladesh, like any other nation, is another neighbour, Yunus told PTI. On August 8, Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel laureate, was sworn-in as the head of the interim government after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India following widespread protests against her government. PM Modi's US visit Modi will be visiting the United States from September 21 to 23 during which he will take part in the Quad Summit at Wilmington in Delaware. Quad is a diplomatic partnership between four countries--Australia, India, Japan, and the United States which is being hosted by US President Joe Biden Hezbollah faced a significant setback as a series of pager explosions rocked Lebanon, resulting in 12 fatalities and over 2,800 injuries, including 400 critical cases. The Ministry of Public Health, Lebanon, confirmed the updated figures on Wednesday. This alarming incident, which also affected Syria, coincided with Israel's renewed focus on combating Hezbollah following intense airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza. On Tuesday, a series of deadly blasts began at about 3:30 pm local time and lasted for around an hour. As tensions rise in the region, the implications of these attacks could reshape the ongoing conflict. What are pagers, why are they used? Pagers are a mode of communication that cannot be hacked. The devices display a short text message for the user, relayed by telephone through a central operator. Unlike mobile phones, pagers work on radio waves. The operator sends a message by radio frequencyrather than the internetunique to the recipients device. The basic technology used in pagers and reliance on physical hardware means they are harder to monitor, making them popular with groups such as Hezbollah, where both mobility and security are paramount. How Israel's Mossad planted explosives in pagers? Hezbollah's recent communications strategy took a dangerous turn when it was revealed that the groups pagers, ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, had been tampered with. According to reports from The New York Times and Reuters, Israel's Mossad spy agency implanted small amounts of explosive RDX (hexogen) in 5,000 pagers before they arrived in Lebanon. Most of the devices were the AR-924 model, with three additional models included in the shipment. The devices were programmed to beep for several seconds before exploding, NYT said. The explosives, reportedly as little as three grams, were strategically placed next to the battery in each pager. A remote-trigger switch was also embedded, allowing for the detonation of the pagers. What is RDX? Royal Demolition Explosive (RDX), also known as cyclonite or hexogen, is a highly powerful white powder commonly used in military applications. Classified as a nitroamine, RDX is more energetic than traditional explosives like TNT and is often utilised in demolition and munitions due to its stability and effectiveness. How did Mossad cause pagers to explode simultaneously? At 3:30 pm in Lebanon, the pagers received a message that appeared as though it was coming from Hezbollahs leadership, NYT reported. Instead, the message activated the explosives. Some speculation has focused on the radio network that pagers rely on, suggesting that it may have been hacked, causing the system to emit a signal that triggered a response within the already doctored pagers. The modification allegedly done by Mossad included a remote-trigger mechanism in the pager that was activated by a seemingly innocuous message received on the pagers. The devices were programmed to emit three beeps before exploding, NYT reported. How do pagers explode? If a pager's lithium battery overheats, it can initiate a process called thermal runaway, resulting in a chemical chain reaction that increases temperature and can lead to a violent explosion, explains Al Jazeera. However, triggering this reaction in multiple devices that have never been connected to the internet is a complex challenge. Who manufactured pagers purchased by Hezbollah? The recent pager explosions in Lebanon and Syria were linked to devices manufactured by Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT, according to a statement from Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, whose branding was featured on the devices. Workplace Stress: In China, a 55-year-old food delivery driver in Hangzhou, tragically passed away while napping on his electric bike after enduring grueling 18-hour shifts. The incident, which occurred earlier this month, has sparked widespread outrage and concern about the working conditions faced by delivery drivers in the gig economy. The incident gained attention when a mother reached out to the India head of Ernst and Young, revealing that her 26-year-old daughter, a Chartered Accountant, had succumbed to overwhelming workplace stress. The delivery agency in China, identified as Yuan, gained notoriety online under the nickname Order King due to his relentless dedication to his job. Reports from the South China Morning Post reveal that he was often seen working late into the night, handling numerous orders. Witnesses indicated that Yuan was on the clock from around 9 PM on September 5 and was discovered unresponsive by a fellow driver at 1 AM the next day. Despite his demanding schedule, Yuan earned between 500 and 600 yuan (approximately 5,900 to 7,000) daily, with earnings rising to over 700 yuan on rainy days. His commitment to his work was evident; he would sometimes push himself to work until 3 AM, only to wake at 6 AM for another shift. Friends noted that he often took brief naps on his bike whenever fatigue set in, ready to resume as soon as another order came through. Also Read | Norfolk Southern Fires CEO After Workplace Misconduct Probe Just a month prior to his death, Yuan had suffered a leg fracture in a traffic accident while making a delivery, the Chinese daily reported. After taking about ten days to recover, he returned to the job to support his 16-year-old son, who is studying in Hangzhou after relocating from Hubei province. The local authorities, specifically the Xianlin Sub-district Office in the Yuhang district, confirmed that Yuan collapsed despite attempts at emergency treatment. Also Read | Indias workplace unhappiness problem persists Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Recently, Great Wall Motor ("GWM") announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam's Thanh An Group to establish a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) assembly partnership in the country, according to a post on GWM's WeChat account. The deal aims to localize GWM vehicle production in Vietnam, with the first cars expected to roll off the assembly line by the end of 2025. Photo credit: GWM GWM had already laid the groundwork for its entry into the Vietnamese market. In early 2023, the company signed a partnership agreement with local dealers to begin operations in Vietnam. By August of the same year, GWM officially launched its GWM brand in Hanoi, introducing the globally oriented Haval H6 HEV model and celebrating the grand opening of the first GWM dealership in Vietnam. GWM's strategic presence in Southeast Asia has steadily grown, starting in Thailand and expanding into markets like Malaysia, Laos, Brunei, and Vietnam. In January 2024, GWM also signed a CKD cooperation agreement with Malaysia's EP Manufacturing Berhad ("EPMB"), marking its first CKD project in the ASEAN region. Additionally, GWM has built an assembly plant in Indonesia, which is set to begin operations in the second half of the year. With the new Vietnam plant on the horizon, GWM is further strengthening its production and sales network across Southeast Asia. Notably, GWM is not the only Chinese automaker eyeing Vietnam. Since the beginning of the year, other Chinese brands such as Chery and BYD have also been making moves in the Vietnamese market. Chery's subsidiary Omoda & Jaecoo signed a joint venture agreement in April with Vietnam's Geleximco Group to establish a car manufacturing plant in Thai Binh province. The $800 million project is expected to produce 200,000 vehicles annually, with the first phase scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2026. In July this year, BYD opened its first stores in Vietnam, and by October, it plans to expand its product lineup to six models, including the compact crossover ATTO 3. BYD aims to grow its dealer network in the country to around 100 stores by 2026. At least nine people were killed and over 300 injured in fresh explosions in Lebanon on Wednesday as walkie-talkies and solar energy systems exploded in multiple regions, including Beirut. The explosions of communication devices used by Lebanon's Hezbollah group took place a day after series of similar pager blasts. Nine people were killed and more than 100 wounded in the latest attacks, APF quoted health ministry as saying. Also Read | Lebanon pager blasts: Israeli forces suspected of infiltrating Hezbollah supply One of the explosions in an hand-held radios used by Iran-backed Hezbollah detonated at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed in pagers explosions. Devices also exploded inside two cars in the area, reported AFP. Reuters reported that the hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time that the pagers were bought. Meanwhile, stating that these attacks will certainly be uniquely punished, Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollahs Executive Council, said there will be a bloodily unique revenge, Times of Israel reported. Iran condemned the attacks in Lebanon. "The terrorism of the Zionist regime causes aversion and disgust. Iran strongly condemns yesterday's criminal explosion of communication devices and today's criminal explosion of walkie-talkies, which resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of Lebanese civilians," Reuters quoted government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani as saying. Israel's spy agency Mossad is suspected to have planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah. The death toll in pager attacks rose to 12, including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Tuesday's attack wounded nearly 3,000 people, including many of the militant group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. A Taiwanese pager maker Gold Apollo said that the devices were manufactured by a Hungary based company called BAC and denied that it had produced the pager. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October, fuelling fears of a wider Middle East conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran. Pager blast injured shifted to various hospitals Many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes, and others had limbs amputated, said Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad. Citing fundamental and unforeseen changes in the circumstances, India has sent a formal notice to Pakistan to seek a review of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), said a report by news agency PTI. India has also cited the impact of persistent cross-border terrorism as one of the reasons for demanding the reassessment of the pact. The notice was issued to Pakistan on August 30 under Article XII(3) of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), the report cited government sources as saying. Also Read | India issues notice to Pakistan for modification of Indus Waters Treaty The notification highlights fundamental and unforeseen changes in circumstances that require a reassessment of obligations under various articles of the treaty, the report said. New Delhi has raised several issues, including change in population demographics, environmental issues and the need to accelerate the development of clean energy to meet Indias emission targets, it said. The Indus Water Treaty was signed by India and Pakistan on September 19, 1960 after nine years of negotiations. The World Bank is also a signatory to the pact. Also Read | India plans 10 hydro plants to utilize water treaty with Pak The treaty had set out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two nations on the use of the waters of a number of cross-border rivers. The notification was issued in the background of a separate prolonged controversy with respect to the Kishanganga and Ratle hydro projects, the PTI report quoted a source. In this regard, the World Bank has simultaneously activated both the neutral-expert mechanism and the Court of Arbitration on the same set of issues, the source added. The Indian side has, therefore, also called for a reconsideration of the dispute-resolution mechanism under the treaty, the source said. Earlier, India had said that the start of the two concurrent processes to resolve the dispute violates the provision of the three-step graded mechanism prescribed in the Indus Water Treaty. Scientists surprised themselves when they found they could instruct a version of ChatGPT to gently dissuade people of their beliefs in conspiracy theoriessuch as notions that covid was an attempt at population control or that 9/11 was an inside job. The most important revelation wasnt about the power of AI, but about the workings of the human mind. The experiment punctured the popular myth that were in a post-truth era where evidence no longer matters, and it flew in the face of a prevailing view in psychology that people cling to conspiracy theories for emotional reasons and that no amount of evidence can ever disabuse them. Its really the most uplifting research Ive ever I done," said psychologist Gordon Pennycook of Cornell University and one of the authors of the study. Study subjects were surprisingly amenable to evidence when it was presented the right way. The researchers asked more than 2,000 volunteers to interact with a chatbot GPT-4 Turbo, a large language model (LLM)about beliefs that may be considered conspiracy theories. The subjects typed their belief into a box and the LLM would decide if it fit the researchers definition of a conspiracy theory. It asked participants to rate how sure they were of their beliefs on a scale of 0% to 100%. Then it asked the volunteers for their evidence. The researchers had instructed the LLM to try to persuade people to reconsider their beliefs. To their surprise, it was pretty effective. Peoples faith in false conspiracy theories dropped 20%, on average. About a quarter of the volunteers dropped their belief level from above to below 50%. I really didnt think it was going to work, because I really bought into the idea that, once youre down the rabbit hole, theres no getting out," said Pennycook. The LLM had some advantages over a human interlocutor. People who have strong beliefs in conspiracy theories tend to gather mountains of evidencenot quality evidence, but quantity. Its hard for most non-believers to muster the motivation to do the tiresome work of keeping up. But AI can match believers with instant mountains of counter-evidence and can point out logical flaws in believers claims. It can react in real time to counterpoints the user might bring up. Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, has been studying the power of AI to sow misinformation and even false memories. She was impressed with this study and the magnitude of the results. She considered that one reason it worked so well is that its showing subjects what they did not know, thereby reducing their overconfidence in their own knowledge. People who believe in conspiracy theories typically have a high regard for their own intelligenceand a lower regard for others judgment. After the experiment, some of the volunteers said it was the first time anyone or anything had really understood their beliefs and offered effective counter-evidence. Before the findings were published in Science, the researchers made their version of the chatbot available to journalists to try out. I prompted it with beliefs Ive heard from friends: that the US was covering up the existence of alien life and that after the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, the mainstream media deliberately avoided saying he had been shot because reporters worried it would help his campaign. And then I asked the LLM if immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating cats and dogs. When I posed the UFO claim, I used the military pilot sightings and a National Geographic special as evidence, and the chatbot pointed out some alternate explanations and showed why those were more probable than alien craft. It discussed the physical difficulty of travelling the vast space needed to get to Earth and asked whether its likely aliens could be advanced enough to figure this out yet clumsy enough to be discovered. On the question of journalists hiding Trumps shooting, the bot explained that making guesses and stating them as facts is antithetical to a reporters job. If theres a series of pops in a crowd, and its not yet clear whats happening, thats what theyre obligated to reporta series of pops. As for the Ohio pet-eating, the AI did a nice job of explaining that even if there were a single case of someone eating a pet, it wouldnt demonstrate a pattern. Thats not to say that lies, rumours and deception arent important tactics used by humans to gain popularity and political advantage. Searching through social media after the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, many people believed the cat-eating rumour, and what they posted as evidence amounted to repetitions of it. To gossip is human. But now we know they might be dissuaded with logic and evidence. bloomberg Also read: How India plans to make AI accessible for all The government has reportedly initiated preliminary discussions to examine the viability of establishing Indias own sovereign wealth fund (SWF). An SWF is a government-owned investment fund comprising funds or surpluses created by that entity to meet desired allocation outcomes. SWFs mark a seminal development in 21st century international finance and can play a pivotal role. Many capital exporting countries, including the US, are looking to establish SWFs and more systematic ways of enhancing returns on a long-term basis. In fact, there is rare bipartisan unanimity on using an SWF as an economic tool in the US. It isnt the first time that this idea has been broached in India. Decibel levels on an SWF rose in policy circles during a phase in 2007-08, when our capital inflows exceeded $108 billion in a single year but waned after the Global Financial Crisis. It gained momentum again in 2010-11, when the Planning Commission revived the idea of setting up a $10 billion non-commodity SWF that it said could draw upon a part of the countrys surplus foreign exchange reserves (about $300 billion then). The commission suggested that it could also be funded by cash-rich public sector undertakings or through budgetary allocations. The idea has waxed and waned thereafter. The typical pushback has been that SWFs are for countries that have mineral wealth or run trade and budget surpluses. But India runs persistent current account deficits and a sizeable fiscal deficit. Another argument against it has been that Indias domestic markets are deep, so we do not need an SWF. There have also been other concerns related to its governance, structure, investment goals and policies. Note, India has had structures similar to an SWF wherein the government has taken corporate India and financial institutions along in the creation of a pure-play investment vehicle, such as the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, a government-backed fund set up in 2015. As for the question of an SWF, a lot of water has flown since the 2000s and the global as well as domestic backdrops have changed significantly. The world is grappling with the mega-trends of decarbonization, de-globalization and demographic changes. Indias own aspirations, needs and concerns have transformed. It is now a far bigger economy and a vital global player. India must nurture a large population, veer to a greener growth path, secure its supply chains and find avenues to generate employment at scaleaimed at lifting and broadening its wealth pyramid. Importantly, it is not pragmatic to take a narrow view of an SWF by seeing it strictly in terms of the financial value, currency diversification and market returns it could generate via investments in equity, infrastructure, foreign currency and other assets. There is a growing need to view its role in a much broader light. Also read: Why India needs a sovereign wealth fund now First, an Indian SWF can play a key role in maximizing social, political, commercial and economic benefits, and not just financial returns. Second, an SWF can be used to make direct investments in entities with specialized knowledge, specific resources, and critical technologies to bring them to India. It can invest in disruptive fields such as quantum computing, GenAI, telecom, space-tech and green-tech, among others. Americas Joe Biden administration has spent months on designing a fund that would provide capital to advance US strategic interests like early-stage technologies. Third, such a fund can be used to increase Indias global heft and help the country achieve deeper economic integration. It can create and leverage opportunities to develop specific infrastructure projects that are of mutual interest to India and other countries, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and invest in other vital projects overseas as part of Indias look-east policy. Fourth, it can specifically help address the issues of resource dependence and diversification of economic risk. The weaponization of critical mineral supplies, especially by China, is a major concern. Current Chinese dominance over a large number of product categories creates a risk of economic coercion and its monopolistic practices considerably limit the space for new entrants to emerge as manufacturing powerhouses. This can hurt green transition efforts. Resource-rich nations are also toying with the idea of a buyers club to avoid a bidding war among G7 countries or strategic stockpiling by others. The US and EU are promoting localization and friend-shoring, even as they make moves to secure critical minerals and technology. Lastly, an SWF can and should have a complementary relationship with the Reserve Bank of India, with a distinct mandate that attaches relative weights to liquidity, security and returns that differ from those of the central bank. Also read: Why India needs a sovereign wealth fund now In a nutshell, there is more to the SWF debate than just spouting words on foreign exchange reserves and the Greenspan-Guiddotti rule. Indias approach to an SWF needs to be guided not by where the country currently is, but where it aspires to be in the years and decades to come. These are the authors personal views. Arvind Kejriwal has resigned as Delhis chief minister, and cabinet minister Atishi has been chosen as his replacement until elections, which are likely to be held in early 2025, when Kejriwal will seek a fresh mandate from the people. Faced with corruption charges, his surprise announcement after emerging from behind bars on bail has put him in the news spotlight again, helping him sustain a public profile that other state leaders may envy. With the term of Delhis current assembly set to end soon, he may have seen a chance to blunt somewhat the attack of political rivals over his exercising power while still in the legal dock. It is not for voters to acquit him, as his words suggest he would like, but it makes for political theatre of the sort that his Aam Aadmi Party has made its trademark. Now, with Atishi in the top seat, governance can resume while Kejriwal prepares for polls. For the people of Delhi, who have been inundated with civic problems lately, it will be a relief that a leader has taken charge, since Kejriwals bail conditions had barred him from most official duties. Functionally, Atishis taking over offered the party a way out. But how it works politically is the real question. Outgoing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has decided to move out of his official residence in a week and give up all facilities, said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Wednesday. Yesterday, after tendering his resignation, Kejriwal said he will leave all the facilities that a chief minister gets, including security, and live as a commoner among the people, Singh said. Singh said that Kejriwal's life is also under threat. He said that AAP leaders tried to convince Kejriwal that the official residence is important to ensure his security. Not once, but he has been attacked many times...BJP workers have also attacked...We are concerned about his security, Singh said. We tried to persuade him, saying a lot of attempts to harm him physically have taken place in the past, but he was not deterred, the AAP leader said. But he [Kejriwal] said that God will protect him..., Singh said, adding that the outgoing CM will leave the official residence and live among common people. When asked if Kejriwal had demanded another residence, Singh said leaders of other national political parties had been allotted residence. But it has not yet been decided where Kejriwal will live, Singh said. Kejriwal, accompanied by a delegation of AAP legislators, visited the L-G Secretariat on Tuesday to tender his resignation and formally stake claim to form a new government under Atishi's leadership. Kejriwal proposed Atishi's name at the meeting of the legislature party, and AAP MLAs unanimously accepted it. Sources said there would be no Deputy Chief Minister, and Atishi, who represents the Kalkaji constituency, would take oath during a special Assembly session on September 26-27. Delhi Chief minister-designate Atishi is likely to address her first session as the leader of the house in the Delhi Assembly on September 26. The new chief minister will prove the majority of her government in the Delhi Assembly and its session has been called by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on September 26-27. A senior party member was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying that the agenda for the meeting has not been decided. Atishi will be speaking at the house on issues being faced by Delhi and the way ahead. It is not yet clear whether the oath-taking ceremony would be complete by then, as it will depend on the dates provided by LG VK Saxena after concurrence from the President, the member was quoted as saying. Arvind Kejriwal resigned as the Delhi Chief Minister on Tuesday. Following this, Atishi staked claim to form the new government before Delhi L-G VK Saxena. She was elected as the leader of the Delhi AAP legislative party and the new chief minister of the national capital. The date for oath-taking ceremony is yet to be needs to be fixed. In her first address after becoming the CM-elect, Atishi said, "I would like to thank the popular CM of Delhi, AAP national convener and my guru - Arvind Kejriwal. He gave me such a huge responsibility and trusted me for it." "This can be done only in AAP, only under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, that a first-time politician becomes the CM of a state," Atishi said. As a minister in Kejriwal's Cabinet, Atishi, with 14 portfolios including finance, education and revenue, was amongst those holding the fort while he was in jail. On Monday, the party said Kejriwal's decision to resign as chief minister was borne out of compulsion and not driven by principle. The BJP described his move as "drama" and a "confession of crime" and wondered if he had offered to quit because of infighting in AAP. Atishi was inducted into the Delhi cabinet in March last year and has been playing a crucial role both in the government and the party when AAP convener Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 in connection with the excise policy case. Members of the Indian Youth Congress and other Congress workers held protests against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders over their statement against Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. In videos shared by news agency ANI, people could be seen holding Congress' flag, standing on barricades and raising slogans in Delhi. 'Congress files complaint' In a complaint, Congress leader Ajay Maken said Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu had called Rahul Gandhi the "number one terrorist of the country" while speaking publicly to media on September 15. "Mr. Bittu deliberately made statement to provoke public hatred and outrage against Mr. Gandhi, with the aim to incite violence and breach of peace. The said statement was widely publicized on TV channels and social media," Maken said. Similarly, UP minister Raghuraj Singh had "also publicly said that Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi is the number one terrorist of India," Maken said in the complaint. The Congress leader added that Sanjay Gaikwad, an MLA the Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena had publicly announced a bounty of 11 lakh "for anyone who will cut the tongue of Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi". Maken also claimed that BJP Leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah had on September 11 openly issued "assassination threat against Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi, wherein he said that Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja, nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua, [you better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother] (assassinated like former PM Indira Gandhi). What did MK Stalin say Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister MK Stalin, who is also a leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), expressed shock over "media reports of a BJP leaders threat that Rahul Gandhi 'will meet the same fate as his grandmother,' and a Shinde Sena MLAs bounty for cutting his tongue, along with other intimidating threats. Stalin posted on X, My brother Rahul Gandhis charisma and growing public support have clearly unsettled many, leading to such vile acts of intimidation. The Union government must act swiftly to ensure protection for the Leader of the Opposition and reaffirm that intimidation and violence have no place in our democracy, he said. A day after being announced chief minister-designate following Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's resignation, the Office of Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has proposed September 21 for swearing in of Aam Aadmi Party legislator Atishi. The Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has in a communication to President Droupadi Murmu proposed the date for the swearing-in of CM-designate Atishi. Meanwhile, reports arrived that the AAP legislature party has not proposed any date for the oath-taking ceremony of the CM-designate. On Tuesday, Kejriwal tendered his resignation to the LG and Atishi staked claim to form a new government in the national capital. With Kejriwal tendering his resignation, a delegation of AAP legislators met the Lt Governor to stake a claim for forming a new government led by Atishi. AAP leader Gopal Rai said that all AAP MLAs have together decided upon nominating Atishi as the new CM. Rai said, as quoted by ANI, "... Arvind Kejriwal has submitted his resignation to Delhi LG... All MLAs have together decided upon nominating Atishi as the new CM... Atishi has staked claim to form the government" What Atishi said after staking claim to LG? AAP legislator Atishi addressed the media after staking claim to form the government in Delhi, following AAP convenor resigned from his post. She said, as quoted by ANI, ...Today Arvind Kejriwal has submitted his resignation. This is an emotional moment for the party and the people of Delhi...At the same time, the people of Delhi are resolving to make Arvind Kejriwal the chief minister again...Till the elections are not held I will be looking after Delhi and we have a stake claim to form government. "False corruption charges were levelled against him (Arvind Kejriwal). The central government deployed all its agencies after him and kept him in jail in a false case. The Supreme Court not only granted bail to Arvind Kejriwal, but sharply criticised the central agencies likening them to 'caged parrot' and Arvind Kejriwal was arrested with an ill-intention..." said Delhi CM-designate Atishi after meeting LG Vinai Saxena. New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday defended the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) suggesting the new government scheme carefully balances the interests of the government employees and taxpayers, and ensures future generations are not burdened with a big pension bill. Speaking at the launch of the NPS-Vatsalya, a new pension scheme (NPS) derivative that allows parents and guardians to invest for their children, the finance minister said that the UPS had the best elements of the earlier OPS (Old Pension Scheme) and the current NPS. The UPS was proposed in the annual budget as a measure for Central government employees. It has raised governments contributions towards pension fund while also assuring minimum gurateed pension to central government employees. The new proposals will mean an additional expenditure annually for the government which economists fear would hurt government finances and raise deficit that is already high and stood at 5.6% of GDP in FY24. The impact of UPS could also raise deficit target of 4.9% of GDP for FY25. It provides an assured pension after retirement, which is what OPS did, but here it has other features as well, Sitharaman said. Also Read | Pension alert: Even the unified scheme could acquire a sell-by date over time What UPS does is take care of the government employees interest, and as the finance minister, I have a responsibility to say this: it also takes care of the taxpayer's interest so that there is no overburdening of the future generations of heavy pension bill," she said. As the finance minister, I am taking care of finances now, but I have to be conscious that what I do now doesn't burden these young people when they grow up and end up paying for these fancy or fantastic schemes that any government comes up with. Expenditure on pension UPS, to be rolled out in April next year, will see the government's pension contribution rise from 14% to 18.5% of employees' basic pay plus dearness allowance (DA). This adjustment will lead to an additional annual expenditure of 6,250 crore for the Centre, with a one-time cost of 800 crore for arrears, according to a calculation provided by the government. Also see: India's pension puzzle, in charts However, industry estimates that UPS could burden the government's finances by approximately 45,000 crore, affecting the fiscal deficit for FY25 by around 15 basis points. But the pension bill is expected to be stable at around 2.4 trillion. A Macquarie report also highlights concerns over the scheme's impact on fiscal health. While the UPS is not a complete return to the OPS, which was a fully defined benefit plan, it is expected to strain the exchequer. The finance minister said the NPS-Vatsalya scheme encourages a habit of saving by parents for their children. The scheme, she said, begins contributions towards a childs pension 15-20 years earlier than others as savings begin much earlier for the child before he/she gets employed. Let me highlight that the NPS scheme has generated competitive returns and has provided on an average compounded annual return of 9.5% to government employees since its inception and CAGR of 14%, 9.1% and 8.8% for investments in equity, corporate debt and government securities respective for the non- government sector. If the money is invested 30% each in each of the schemes, the average return would have been -around 10.5%. So, this is the kind if returns you get under NPS and the child will get under NPS Vatsalya, the minister said. Early investments for minors Parents and guardians can open pension accounts for their minor children under this scheme and start contributing at an early stage to reap the benefits of compounding growth. The child's account can be converted into a routine pension account under the national pension scheme once they reach they reach the age of 18 years. The scheme will fall under the purview of the pension fund regulator Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). In an effort to democratize the benefits of NPS-Vatsalya, the scheme for early investments for minors will allow parents and guardians to invest 1,000 every year, making it accessible for families from all economic strata. It also offers flexible contribution options. Sitharam said the government has been focusing on providing schemes for different segments of the society. It had also launched Atal Pension Yojana for the poorer sections of tue society. The finance minister informed that the scheme today has 6.90 crore subscribers since launch in 2015 and accumulated money with the scheme stands at 35,149 crore. Also Read: UPS could give states fiscal respite, but pensions still fraught with challenges Similarly, the NPS scheme today has 1.34 crore subscribers with asset under management of over 13 trillion. Sitharaman said that in the last 10 years the CAGR growth that NPS has provided is to the tune of 37%. The 13 trillion scheme has also grown at CAGR 43% and 27% for private sector and the government sector respectively. Beijing (Gasgoo)- GAC Group's new energy vehicle brand AION officially entered the Philippine market with the opening of its first flagship showroom in the Makati business district of Manila, the automaker recently announced. Photo credit: GAC AION AION also announced partnerships with dealers in three major Philippine cities, showcasing its rapid market expansion and commitment to promoting new energy vehicles in Southeast Asia. The Philippines, the fourth-largest automotive market in ASEAN, offers significant potential due to its large population and the 17.8% year-on-year growth in passenger vehicle sales in the first half of 2024. Additionally, the Philippine government has been actively encouraging the development of new energy vehicles. In September, the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) is reportedly drafting new guidelines requiring gas stations to install and operate electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities. If passed, this would accelerate the adoption of EV infrastructure across the country. The DOE is also expected to release an updated EV Industry Roadmap, outlining specific goals for a sustainable transition to electrification in the transport sector. Moreover, the Philippine government recently extended its tax exemption on EV imports until 2028, providing a further boost to the sector. Jin Rongbo, Sales Director of GAC AION Southeast Asia, stated that the Philippines, with its market potential and government support for EVs, presents a vast growth opportunity. AION plans to continue expanding its sales and service network in the region. New Delhi: The government has restored wheat allocations under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)the free food scheme for the pooreststarting from October until March after a gap of more than two years. A total of 3.5 million tonnes of wheat has been allocated. In May 2022, the government reduced wheat allocations to 10 states under the National Food Security Act, 2013, saying lower productivity and reduced procurement had impacted budgetary provisions. The 10 states Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu account for 67% or 551 million of the 813 million poorest who are the beneficiaries covered under the NFSA. The government had stopped giving wheat under the scheme, switching to rice instead. Now, those beneficiaries who were getting only rice, will get wheat too. "The Centre has decided to allocate 3.5 million tonnes of wheat to beneficiaries of the PMGKAY under the NFSA. This will be in addition to the existing annual allocation of 18.4 million tonnes," said Sanjeev Chopra, secretary, department of food and public distribution. Also Read | Subsidies and MSP:It makes most sense for farmers to keep growing rice and wheat He was briefing reporters on the ministry's achievements in the first 100 days of the new government. Wheat availability Chopra said the decision was made because of the availability of a sufficient quantity of wheat in the country. Roughly, 10 million tonnes of wheat are available with traders in the country, which is higher compared to the same time last year," he said. Under the scheme, each beneficiary gets 5kg of rice or wheat in a month, and the restriction on wheat was lifted with an eye on the coming festive season. Also Read: Switch from rice, wheat, cane to get MSP on select crops: govt tells farmers Food security The PMGKAY was launched during the pandemic and has been extended to ensure food security for the poor. This free food grain scheme covers about 820 million people, providing essential items like wheat, rice, and coarse grains through the public distribution system (PDS). The official also gave some assurances on the prices of essential commodities during the festive season starting in October. Also Read | Food security: Its efficient management is a win for India The prices of edible oils will not increase by more than 20% as global prices have started softening," he said. Other commodities The government has recently imposed a 20% import duty on edible oil, which had led to speculation about a potential price hike. Regarding the lifting of the export ban on non-basmati and parboiled rice, Chopra said the decision is still under consideration. In the first 100 days of this government, he said, grain silos with a total capacity of 300,000 tonnes were added at six locations. The food department plans to develop silos with a total capacity of 11.1 million tonnes under the hub and spoke model, with tenders awarded for 3.4 million tonnes in Phase I. Currently, 2.1 million tonnes of silo capacity is operational, with 750,000 million tonnes under construction, he said. The department has also approved a new Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS-NPF) to boost confidence among lenders, encouraging them to extend pledge finance against electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWRs) for produce stored in WDRA-registered warehouses. Also Read | Red rice, black rice: Govt mulls ways to free them from export ban The scheme covers both lending and warehousemen risks and aims to enhance trust in warehousemen, increasing post-harvest finance through e-NWRs. It is projected to raise pledge finance from 3,962 crore to Rs1.05 trillion over the next 10 years," he said. Kharif Marketing Season For the Kharif Marketing Season 2024-25 (KMS 2024-25), the Centre has set a target to procure 1.9 million tonnes of coarse grains or millets. During KMS 2023-24, the total procurement of coarse grains reached 1.2 million tonnes, marking a 170% increase compared to KMS 2022-23 and the highest procurement in the past decade. Ethanol production capacity has also expanded significantly to 16.2 billion litres, against the 100-day target of 16 billion litres. For the current Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2023-24 (November-October), 13.59% ethanol blending has been achieved, with 5 billion litres of ethanol blended as of 31 August, he said. Ricki Mudd was born in 1993 in China during the one-child policy era. She remembers her early childhood only in fragments, but has been told she had spent some of it hidden in a bag. At age 5, she was adopted from a Chinese orphanage, one of the more than 150,000 children China sent overseas. Most were girls. In the West, they were one of the most visible consequences of the one-child policy, which ended in 2016. This month, Beijing put an end to foreign adoptions. China is grappling with a demographic crisis, with dropping birthrates and a rapidly aging population. The policies to control the population have given way to new ones in the opposite direction. But a legacy of the one-child policy is a dearth of women of childbearing age. Because of a government decree that led to forced abortions and sterilizations, millions of girls were never born or were hidden from authorities. In the process, Chinas gender ratio became increasingly skewed, with 117 boys born for every 100 girls in 2004, compared with 106 in 1980, United Nations data showed. A U.N. Population Fund study based on Chinas 2010 census estimates the countrys missing girls," or females who in regular circumstances would have been born but who were absent from the population, at 24 million. The girls sent overseas constitute a small part of that void and many embody the impossible choice for many families. International adoptions had declined in recent years and came to a virtual halt in the pandemic. In the two decades before that, American families adopted more than 80,000 Chinese children, U.S. State Department data show. More than 80% were girls. As Chinese girls became part of American life, the perception was that they had escaped a society where girls werent valued. I did have some inkling that women were considered inferior in China," said Mudd. That there was more to her own story became clear after her birthparents tracked down her adoptive familys address and she went to China to meet them. There, at age 12, she learned that her birth had put the family in a bind. Her mothers side of the family wanted to keep her, but her fathers mother, her nainai, argued they should save their birth quota for a son. It was an attitude especially common in rural China, where sons are seen as carrying on the bloodline. In Rickis Promise," a 2014 documentary by Changfu Chang, a professor at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, Mudd described how her parents kept her hidden from authorities, carrying her in a grocery bag on the rare occasions they took her out. They put her in a foster family when she was 3, but after local officials discovered her existence, she was sent to an orphanage. Her father tried in vain to get her back. Two years later, she flew to Seattle with her new parents. By the time Mudd met her birthparents, they were divorced, unable to overcome the rift that had developed between the two sides of the family over her fate. Mudd was moved when her maternal grandfather burst into tears when he saw her. He must have been really worried about me," she said. He really loved me." She bonded with her younger brother, born two years after her, over karaoke, together belting out the popular song, I Love You Like the Mice Love Rice." On a second trip to China, when she was 18, her parents apologized to her for giving her up. She finally met her nainai, who cooked her a meal. Mudd was upset when her brother said their parents loved her more than him. She told him they were just feeling guilty. At the end of the visit she told her birth mother to treat him better. Her birthparents declined to be interviewed. History of adoption In the 1990s, a decade after the launch of the one-child policy, family-planning officials started more severe crackdowns, including on informal arrangements in which baby girls were raised by parents relatives or neighbors. That sent many children to state orphanages and opened the door to international adoption. The [Chinese] government at no point wanted to send a lot of babies abroad for foreign adoptions," said Martin Whyte, a sociology professor emeritus at Harvard University. But it was a particular consequence of their very coercive enforcement of the one-child policy combined with the existing customs in rural villages." Whyte and his wife were among the first Americans who adopted girls from China in the early 1990s. Kay Johnson, who wrote several books on the implications of Chinas one-child policy, including the 2004 Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son," found that many of the children in orphanages came from parents or foster families who wanted to keep them, but had little or no choice. Johnson died in 2019. Her daughter, LiLi Johnson, a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was one of the first Chinese girls adopted overseas. In an alternative universe, she said, it is possible she would have been adopted by a Chinese familyor that I wouldnt have been abandoned at all in the first place." Orphanages were underfunded and overcrowded. Fees and donations collected from overseas adoption groups helped relieve financial pressure. Chinas central adoption agency and local orphanages seemed to regard [international adoption] as a commercial practice," said Xue Xinran, a writer and co-founder of Mothers Bridge of Love, a nonprofit organization based in London dedicated to supporting Chinese adoptees. Chinas Center for Childrens Welfare and Adoption, an agency under the Ministry of Civil Affairs handling overseas adoption, didnt respond to a request for comment. The increasing flow of children from state orphanages bothered many Chinese, including some officials, according to Robert Glover, founder of Care for Children, a charity based in Norwich, England. In 2003, Chinese authorities hired Glover as a consultant on a national effort to place children in need with families in China. One of the officials Glover worked with was Yan Mingfu, who had been the vice minister of civil affairs in the early 1990s. Glover said Yan told him that it pained him to watch Chinese children leaving China for adoption. Yan died last year. Most of the adoptions were handled out of the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, where one hotel, the White Swan, was so regularly filled with American parents getting to know their new children that it became informally known as the White Stork. In 2006, official media documented how a trafficking ring had been selling babies to six orphanages in Hunan province, a revelation that shocked the overseas adoption community. In 2007, China tightened international adoption rules and adoptions started to decline. Only 16 Chinese children were adopted by American families in the fiscal year ended September 2023. After announcing the end of international adoptions, Chinese officials told U.S. diplomats in China that the policy applies to all pending adoption applications as well, according to a State Department spokesperson. Parallel lives Very few adoptees have reconnected with their biological parents. Orphanages often have moved or closed. Records are frequently incomplete and inconsistent. Kati Pohler is one of the few who has any insight into the parallel existence she might have had, because of her reunion with her biological sister in China. Soon after Pohler was born in a rural town in eastern China in 1995, the second of two daughters, her father left her at a market with a note written with a brush pen. Due to the poverty of our family and the pressure of worldly affairs, we had no choice but to abandon our daughter in the street," it said. Pohler, now 29 and working as a music teacher in Prague, was adopted by an American couple when she was 1. Two decades later, her birth fathers note offered enough clues to bring about a reunion. A moment that touched Pohlercaptured by Chang, the filmmaker, in a 2017 documentary, Meet Me on the Bridge"was when her birthparents presented her with a traditional red envelope full of bills, some of them so old they were no longer in circulation. They represented Lunar New Year gifts they had saved for her every year since her birth. Her sister, Xu Xiaochen, said she didnt know she had a younger sister until she was in the fourth grade. One surprise was that her younger sister was the taller of the two. The sisters, both soft-spoken and self-described introverts, arent blaming their parents for deciding to abandon one of their daughters, citing instead the restrictions of the era. Its still hard for me to comprehend something so strict for an entire generation, the government making personal choices for people," Pohler said. She cant help wondering what it would have been like to grow up with her sister in China. I miss that part of me, that could-have-been sometimes," she said. In August, Pohler became an aunt when her sister, who now lives in Hangzhou, had a baby boy. I hope Chinas choice to close their international adoption program means that China and her people are ready to take care of those who society often overlooks," Pohler said. A few years ago, Mudd, now a manager at a tech firm, arranged for her younger brother to stay with her adoptive parents and study in the U.S. He has since returned to China and is now working in e-commerce. I think he looks at me as the one with a lot of the privileges because American culture is a lot less prescriptive about how you go about your life than I feel Chinese culture is," she said. She said she was lucky because she got all the love and support she needed from her adoptive parents. Orphanages still exist in China, mostly populated by children with medical issues. Im worried about the many special-needs children in orphanages, given the lack of resources devoted to them in a Chinese society," said Chang, the filmmaker. The number of children in state care dropped 73% over a 10-year period, to 144,000, last year, with more than 70% placed with local families rather than in orphanages, official data showed. In Hunan, where the child-trafficking ring was busted in 2006, one former orphanage has been converted into a nursing home. Write to Liyan Qi at Liyan.qi@wsj.com Chinese tech giant Xiaomi surpassed Apple in global smartphone sales for August 2024, according to Counterpoint Research. This marks the first time Xiaomi has held the second spot since August 2021, despite maintaining flat sales from the previous month. Meanwhile, Apple saw a typical seasonal decline in sales, which contributed to its fall to third place. Counterpoint ResearchsSmartphone 360 Monthly Tracker highlighted Xiaomi as one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands this year. Its growth was driven by successful promotions in Latin America, helping to offset downturns in its other key markets. "Xiaomis strategic focus on simplifying its product lineup, concentrating on one standout model per price segment instead of multiple devices, has been crucial to its recent success," said Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research. He added that the companys enhanced marketing and expansion into new territories have further bolstered its performance. Xiaomis dominance has been particularly noticeable in the lower-cost smartphone market, where its Redmi 13 and Note 13 series have gained significant traction. These competitively priced 5G devices have bolstered Xiaomi's position across India, Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Meanwhile, Apple shares dropped nearly three per cent on Monday amid concerns over demand for its new iPhone 16 Pro models. Analysts pointed to shorter delivery times for the latest models as a possible indicator of weaker-than-expected interest. Early data from BofA Global Research showed that shipping times for the iPhone 16 Pro were around 14 days, compared to 24 days for last years iPhone 15 Pro. The iPhone 16 Pro Max also saw shorter shipping times, at 19 days, compared to 32 days for the previous model. Ming-Chi Kuo, a prominent Taiwan-based analyst, suggested that the delay in rolling out Apples much-anticipated AI feature, Apple Intelligence, could be dampening demand for the iPhone 16 Pro series. 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! Positive Effect on $CAUD Market Price: Increased Market Relevance : The partnership with ID5 positions Collective Audience at the forefront of privacy-compliant advertising solutions, which could attract more investors interested in companies adapting to new privacy norms. : The partnership with ID5 positions Collective Audience at the forefront of privacy-compliant advertising solutions, which could attract more investors interested in companies adapting to new privacy norms. Growth Potential : The expansion into new markets and the integration of advanced technology suggest potential for revenue growth, which typically has a positive effect on stock prices. : The expansion into new markets and the integration of advanced technology suggest potential for revenue growth, which typically has a positive effect on stock prices. Enhanced Operational Efficiency : By streamlining advertising processes and enhancing targeting capabilities, Collective Audience could see operational cost savings and efficiency improvements, potentially leading to better financial performance. : By streamlining advertising processes and enhancing targeting capabilities, Collective Audience could see operational cost savings and efficiency improvements, potentially leading to better financial performance. Investor Confidence : The strategic moves outlined in the article, combined with existing industry accolades and a strong client base, could boost investor confidence, often reflected in an uptick in stock valuation. : The strategic moves outlined in the article, combined with existing industry accolades and a strong client base, could boost investor confidence, often reflected in an uptick in stock valuation. Future Prospects: The CEOs comments on building out global cloud infrastructure indicate a vision for continued growth and innovation, which can be a bullish signal for investors. Collective Audience, Inc. (OTCQB:CAUD), a leading innovator of audience-based performance advertising and media, announced that through its newly-acquired BeOp subsidiary that specializes in cookieless, conversational advertising, the company has launched a strategic partnership with ID5, the leading identity provider for addressable advertising. The collaboration includes integrating ID5 ID, a next-generation, privacy-by-design identifier, into BeOps software development kit (SDK). BeOps conversational formats provide brands and publishers new avenues for engaging and converting audiences on premium media. Augmented by the ID5 ID solution, BeOps SDK now facilitates seamless and privacy-centric user targeting across external DSP. Our new partnership with ID5 underscores our commitment to pioneering the most effective and privacy-compliant advertising solutions on the market today, stated BeOp CPTO, Sebastien Robert. Our customers can now benefit from powerful solutions that respect user privacy yet optimize advertising performance like never before. ID5s robust identity framework empowers advertisers to achieve meaningful, measurable, and profitable omnichannel campaigns while sustaining the free internet ecosystem. By leveraging the unique power of ID5 ID, BeOp can deliver more precise and scalable addressable advertising with greater audience engagement and monetization. According to ID5 co-founder and CEO, Mathieu Roche: ID5s partnership with BeOp allows us to integrate our identity solutions into the AudienceCloud infrastructure and become an integral part of a new advertising format for the open web. This will enable ID5 to reach a wider range of premium publishers and advertisers. Together, we are enhancing the advertising ecosystem with solutions that prioritize user privacy while improving targeting efficiency. Collective Audience CEO, Peter Bordes, commented: We are thrilled to launch our ID5 collaboration as our first major infrastructure integration following our recent acquisition of BeOp. We see this as the first of many, as we continue to build out our global cloud infrastructure for advertising on the open web. This infrastructure empowers our partners with bespoke solutions, cookies, cookieless, all audience data and ID solutions on a single, unique platform. So, wherever the market goes or shifts, our partners will always have the best-of-kind infrastructure that enables them to reach, monetize and transact. BeOps media customers include more than 200 premium global publishers across the UK, Europe, North America and Australia, with more than 50 million unique visitors per month. Its expert teams, based in France (Paris/Montpellier) and New York City, dominate the French market, working with more than 90% of Frances premium publishers. BeOps premium publishers include Forbes, Le Monde, Amaury Media, Reworld Media, Prisma Media, McClatchy and Bauer Media UK. Top agency clients include Havas, Publicis, GroupM, Dentsu and Mediabrands, and top advertisers include Yoplait, LOreal, Club Med, International Olympic Committee, Paramount, and the government of France. BeOps conversational approach to advertising and marketing creates new communication possibilities for brands and media, enabling them to engage and convert consumers based on their personal interests. Featured examples of such conversational ad experiences BeOp has created for leading brands, including Range Rover, Tommy Hilfiger and Samsung, can be experienced here. BeOps leading-edge technology and services have been recognized with numerous industry awards, including the Innovation Competition by BPI France in 2018 and Cas dOr du Conversationnel competition in 2022, and it was a finalist in the Start & Pulse by Sofinco competition in 2021. Highlights Strategic Partnership with ID5: Collective Audience, through its BeOp subsidiary, has partnered with ID5, a leading identity provider for addressable advertising. This partnership involves integrating ID5s privacy-focused identifier into BeOps software, enhancing user targeting capabilities. Privacy-Centric Advertising: The integration of ID5 ID into BeOps SDK allows for cookieless, conversational advertising that respects user privacy while optimizing ad performance. This move aligns with increasing regulatory scrutiny and consumer demand for privacy, potentially broadening the market appeal. Market Expansion and Reach: By leveraging ID5s identity solutions, BeOp can now offer more precise and scalable advertising solutions, reaching a wider range of premium publishers and advertisers. This expansion could lead to increased revenue and market share. Industry Recognition and Client Base: BeOps technology has been awarded for innovation, and it serves a significant portion of premium global publishers and top-tier agency clients. This established reputation and client base suggest a robust foundation for growth and market confidence. Technological Innovation: The mention of BeOps conversational advertising approach as innovative and effective for brands like Range Rover and Samsung highlights the companys ability to stay ahead in technology trends, which could attract more investors looking for growth in tech-forward companies. About ID5 ID5 was created to improve online advertising for consumers, media owners, and advertisers, with the ultimate goal of helping publishers grow sustainable revenue. ID5 provides the advertising ecosystem with a transparent, scalable, and privacy-compliant identity infrastructure. Its solutions enable user recognition across media properties and devices, bringing addressability across all digital advertising channels. This enables media owners to better monetize their audiences, advertisers to run effective and measurable campaigns, and platforms to maximize the value of data and inventory for their customers. Created in 2017 by seasoned ad tech professionals, ID5 services clients globally. For more information about ID5 and its solutions, visit www.id5.io About BeOp BeOp, a whole-owned subsidiary of Collective Audience, offers MarTech and AdTech solutions that deliver cookieless, conversational advertising on premium media. BeOps conversational approach opens up new communication opportunities for brands and media. To learn more, visit beop.io. About Collective Audience Collective Audience is [re]imagining digital advertising for the open web. Its innovative AudienceCloud is one of the leading audience-based advertising and media cloud infrastructure platforms for brands, agencies and publishers on the open web. Its modular suite of data driven applications eliminates many inefficiencies from the traditional digital ad buyer and seller supply path, and the process for brands, agencies and publishers. It empowers partners with all the advanced tools and audience data they need on a single cloud platform, and drives focus on increased performance metrics, brand reach, traffic and transactions. For the AdTech providers and media buyers who come onto Collective Audiences platform, they will be able to leverage audience data as a new asset class, powered by AI as an intelligence layer to guide decision making. To learn more, visit collectiveaudience.co. Image: Rudys Performance Parts YouTube Youd think after the huge scandal that was VWs Dieselgate that the automotive industry as a whole would have learned something. A multi-billion dollar corporation getting hit with billions in fines wasnt scary enough it seems, as diesel emission cheating keeps happening, albeit at a smaller scale. The latest bust is out of North Carolina. The Drive reports that the Department of Justice and the EPA hit Aaron Rudol, owner of North Carolina-based Rudys Performance Parts with a $2.4 million fine. Rudol pleaded guilty on September 10 for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act. Through his shop, he installed and sold diesel emissions cheating devices on vehicles at his shop. From the DOJ: Rudolf, sole owner and chief executive officer of Rudys, previously pleaded guilty for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act by tampering with monitoring devices on approximately 300 diesel trucks, which involved the installation of defeat devices on those trucks. ADVERTISEMENT According to the Department, between 2014 and 2019, Rudol manufactured and sold over 250,000 of these emissions cheating devices. The devices had parts such as plates that block a vehicles exhaust gas recirculation system and pipes that replace pollution treatment components in a vehicles exhaust system. Justice is a long time coming for Rudol. In 2022, the Justice Department filed suit against him on behalf of the EPA. Because of this suit, along with the violations and failing to respond to DOJ requests, Rudol has to pay another $7 million in civil penalties ontop of the $2 million fine. In a statement, Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann of EPAs Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance called the agreement and settlement a message to any other shops engaging in the practice. For too many years, companies like Rudys have installed illegal defeat devices to evade the public health protections of the Clean Air Act, to the detriment of communities across America. Todays announcement demonstrates that EPA will vigorously pursue criminal and civil penalties until this blatant illegal behavior comes to an end. While small shops across the country have engaged in the cheating practice, the last few years have shown that even some automakers are also still gaming the diesel emissions, even after the mess that was Dieselgate. In 2022, Hino Commercial Trucks was found to have falsified diesel engine emissions data. Later that year, Stellantis was hit with over $800 million in criminal charges and civil penalties for falsifying diesel emissions on Grand Cherokees and Ram trucks. Then earlier this year, Toyota was found to have engaged in emissions cheating for diesel engines that power the companys Land Cruiser and HiACE vans. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Georgias state school superintendent says he wants the state to spend more money to guarantee security officers and wearable panic alert buttons after a school shooting killed four at Apalachee High School outside Atlanta. Republican Richard Woods says he also wants to expand a mental health program for students and for agencies to better share information about threats to schools. Woods' ideas on expanding mental health and information sharing mirror those voiced last week by state House Speaker Jon Burns. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says he will review any proposals. Democrats argue the violence stems from the GOP loosening Georgias gun laws. Woods isn't proposing changes to gun laws. Carriers and manufacturers like Apple offer trade-in credits, but these aren't always the best deals. GM drivers now have access to Tesla Superchargers. ANDREW TRAHAN PHOTOGRAPHY LLC GM is the latest company to get access to Tesla's Superchargers. Most major automakers said last year they would adopt Tesla's NACS. Adoption has been slow after Tesla shrank its charging team. General Motors is the latest car company to grant its drivers access to Tesla's vast Supercharger network. The company announced Wednesday that GM electric-vehicle drivers, including those from brands like Chevrolet and Cadillac, could use a $225 adapter to charge at any of Tesla's 17,800 Supercharger stations. This is the latest move by GM to improve charging access for its EV customers. With the addition of the Supercharger network, GM drivers can now charge at more than 231,800 Level 2 and DC fast chargers across North America, according to the Detroit automaker. ADVERTISEMENT That number is expected to grow even more in the coming months as GM expands its network of public charging stations with EVgo. Earlier this month, the companies announced they were working together on a network of fast-charging hubs that would look and operate like gas stations (minus the gas). These back-to-back charging announcements from GM should signal to customers that the car company is committed to improving the public-charging experience, GM's energy vice president, Wade Sheffer, said. "It is our intent to be the leader in providing fast, convenient, and safe charging in the public infrastructure," Sheffer told Business Insider. Car companies working together is rare but necessary for EV charging GM was among the many car companies that partnered with Tesla last year to adopt the North American Charging Standard. Its rival Ford was the first to join Tesla with the NACS, in May 2023, and companies such as GM, Rivian, Volvo, and BMW later followed suit. The agreements to use Tesla's Superchargers were met with some reticence from Tesla owners, who worry about longer lines at the already-crowded stations. GM sold nearly 40,000 electric vehicles in the first half of 2024. Story continues Adoption has been slow, however, as Tesla shrank its Supercharger team earlier this year. GM is only the third company to gain access after Ford and Rivian drivers started using Superchargers earlier this year. Efforts to patch holes in the US charging infrastructure have been haphazard over the past decade, and access to public charging on longer drives has long been a pain point for EV drivers. The past few years have seen rapid improvements, with the number of charging stations in the US more than doubling since 2020 and $7.5 billion in promised federal funding for 500,000 new EV stations by 2030. In the meantime, though, Sheffer said otherwise aggressive competitors would have to work together to solve the charging problem. "Even though there is fierce competition when it comes to our vehicles," Sheffer told BI, "we can all align on wanting to provide the best charger experience for our customers collectively." Read the original article on Business Insider If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. How do you define culture? Is it an aspect of human expression that binds us together, and as such all that makes us who we are? It's our heritage and the threads that weave their way through society defining us. Culture Night is an opportunity to investigate who we are through those expressions. Corlea bogway, laid in 148 BC, is an exclamation point of our local heritage. As such it emphasises the importance of peatland to our identity. Boglands make up 5% of the Irish landscape, and Longford is blessed with an abundance of the resource. We are of it, it has shaped who we are. The Irish Peatland Conservation Council describes bog as an important area of peatland, as much a part of Irish natural heritage as the Book of Kells. A Longford drama professional is taking the significance of our bogs on a performative journey that explores the Irish bog landscape through scent. 'Distillation' is his response to the recent cessation of the peat harvesting industry in Ireland. Over the past year, Luke Casserly has collaborated with renowned perfume maker Joan Woods to create a unique distillation of the Midlands bog as the starting point for an olfactory encounter, which looks at our human relationship to place. I'm really excited to share it with audiences in Longford, Luke told the Leader, We're staging it in the Temperance Hall as part of Culture Night, but also the following night. It'll be lovely to share the work with people in Longford. Part lecture, part performance, the project is an ambitious attempt to look at our human relationship to landscape through scent. The project came about in 2020, during the pandemic, Luke explains the origins of the piece, I was spending time in Longford. I was going for lots of walks on the bog, which is where I live, in Lanesboro. Bord na Mona were shutting down their operations, so there was a conversation locally about the closure of the peat harvesting industry and the impact that was going to have on the local community. Striking a balance between providing employment and the rewilding and healing of the landscape are themes considered in Distillation: I wanted to make a project that encapsulated both of those perspectives. I also wanted, as a performance maker, to transport an audience to the bog landscape without actually being there. This is where perfume maker Joan Woods entered the story: I began researching scent and smells, how there is a direct link to parts of the brain around memory. Luke collaborated with Joan over the past year to create a unique distillation of the Irish bog, the starting point for an olfactory performance, which attempts to translate the landscape for a live audience in an intimate and inventive way. We collected different samples of flora and botanicals and began to put together a unique custom-made perfume that was made from botanicals from the Irish bog, he said, As part of the experience, the audience would get to smell that perfume that we made. Audience members will be invited to smell the custom-made perfume. The idea is to evoke a time and place as a setting for the performance: The piece is very autobiographical. I'm speaking about my specific experience with that landscape, which is the Irish bog and translating it through scent. The exploration of scent and memory, or even of drama and Longford's bogland are not unique, however the manner Luke brings them all together is innovative. Distillation is not a drama, nor a traditional theatrical production, it is its own multi-sensual art: Different artists in various genres have worked with scent in their work. I suppose in contemporary terms we have a very visual culture at the moment, and increasingly a culture dominated by sound. I was intrigued by the idea of achieving connection through scent. I thought what would it be like to bring that into the theatre? I'm really looking forward to having people from Longford sharing the experience. Tickets for Distillation at Temperance Hall, Longford on Saturday, September 21 at 8pm are available on 043 33 47888 or backstage.ie Local News By Chris Boyle Published: September 18 2024 Dee Shapiros Getting There On Display from September through November. Sid Jacobson JCC is proud to unveil Getting There, a thought-provoking art exhibition by celebrated painter Dee Shapiro. The exhibition, which is featured within the space of SJJCCs 90-foot art gallery, runs from September through November, highlighting Shapiros unique exploration of urban landscapes and geometric abstraction. Renowned for her intricate patterns and cityscape renderings, Dee has spent decades captivating audiences with her artistic range. Getting There brings together two distinct elements of her workher early large-scale bicycle paintings from the 1980s and her small renderings of cities and landscapes, which reflect a period of artistic growth from 2000 to 2010. I am so pleased to be showcasing my early large bicycle paintings flanking my smaller cityscapes in this exhibition, said Shapiro. Its about getting from there to here, and its an honor to present my journey at Sid Jacobson JCC. Shapiros work is steeped in geometry and structural abstraction. Her bicycle paintings, notable for their vivid architectural forms and basic geometric shapes, stand in contrast yet complement the more intimate renderings of cities in her later works. The combination of these themes invites viewers to explore how we experience urban life through movement, whether by foot, car, or bicycle. Shapiros work has been exhibited widely at prestigious institutions such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Heckscher Museum of Art. Her art, featured in both corporate and private collections, continues to inspire viewers with its dynamic patterns and meticulous attention to form. We are thrilled to kick off the 2024-25 season with Dee Shapiros 'Getting There.' Her innovative approach to urban and geometric themes perfectly embodies the spirit of exploration and creativity that artSPACE strives to celebrate, said Jaime Teich, SJJCC Associate Executive Director, Marketing + Communications. This exhibition offers a unique opportunity for our community to engage with the evolution of Shapiros work and experience her artistic journey. Sid Jacobson JCCs artSPACE serves as a platform for diverse and inclusive exhibitions, inviting artists to share their works with the community in a space that celebrates creativity and connection. Getting There is open to the public during regular JCC hours. For more information about this exhibition, visit SJJCC.org/artspace . About Sid Jacobson JCC Local News By Chris Boyle Published: September 18 2024 More Than 500 Students Across SUNY Campuses Will Participate in Paid Public Service Opportunities; Program Recognized Through AmeriCorps. Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the inaugural class of Empire State Service Corps members, with 515 students selected from State University of New York campuses statewide to participate in paid public service opportunities. During its first application cycle, almost 2,000 SUNY students submitted applications for the program, which provides assignments in high need areas such as K-12 tutoring, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and basic needs outreach, peer mental health, sustainability, anti-hate and anti-bias prevention, nonpartisan civic engagement, and Free Application for Federal Student Aid completion. Working in state government as a young person was a formative experience that catalyzed my interest in public service and serving the people of New York, Governor Hochul said. By expanding our initiatives to get more young people involved with the Empire Service Corps, we made a forward commitment to their well-being and to the betterment of our State as a whole. Im proud to welcome the inaugural class of the Empire State Service Corps, including 515 students from New York States very own SUNY schools. Congratulations and thank you for your public service. The SUNY Oneonta team, the largest class of the Empire State Service Corps with 48 students participating, met with Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado and SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. as the program starts this month. They were joined by NYS Chief Service Officer Matt Schaffer, SUNY Oneonta President Alberto Cardelle, participating students and campus coordinators. National and community service has the power to unite New Yorkers, address pressing social issues, and improve the lives of those who participate in it, Lieutenant Governor Delgado said. Today we celebrate the launch of the Empire State Service Corps, which will in its first year create 500 new meaningful, paid service opportunities for SUNY students, while also addressing critical community needs. I am grateful for Governor Hochuls leadership in establishing the new Office of Service and Civic Engagement, which will expand and enhance service opportunities across New York State, to make service more accessible, inclusive, and widespread. The Empire State Service Corps is a wonderful first step toward expanding service opportunities and creating a stronger, more unified and resilient state. Empire State Service Corps connects participating SUNY students with impactful public service opportunities for over 300 paid public service hours over the course of a year. The New York State FY25 enacted Budget allocated $2.75 million to launch the program. Currently, more than 45 SUNY campuses have signed on to host Empire State Service Corps members. In addition, the Empire State Service Corps was awarded $2.5 million as an AmeriCorps program by the New York State Commission on National and Community Service. These federal funds will support the administration of specific service projects, and at the end of the AmeriCorps service term, eligible students will receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which may be used to repay qualified loans and to pay current educational expenses at eligible institutions of higher education and training programs. SUNY Chancellor John King said, Civics and service are integral to the mission of public higher education and to the work of SUNY. SUNY is proud of the students selected for the first-ever Empire State Service Corps who will be answering the call to service and bettering their communities. I am especially grateful for Governor Hochul, Lieutenant Governor Delgado, and the Legislatures leadership in creating a service program that will both expand opportunities for hands-on experiences while also meeting the needs of New Yorkers across the State. SUNY Oneonta President Alberto Cardelle said, "Making a difference by serving others is at the heart of our mission at SUNY Oneonta. We appreciate the paid public service opportunities made possible through this effort, championed by the Governor's Office and SUNY. I am proud that our students responded to this call to serve Oneonta and the surrounding region so enthusiastically." State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky said, The Empire State Service Corps provides valuable hands-on experience for our SUNY students while helping people who benefit from their work. This program is another example of SUNY's extensive, robust menu of educational opportunities for our students. Assemblymember Patricia Fahy said, Through the Empire State Service Corps, New York students are engaging in meaningful public service opportunities that are connecting them to their communities and neighbors. Experiential learning opportunities like this help expand a students skillset and their ability to secure employment upon graduation, while cementing a commitment to serving ones community and others through meaningful public service. I was proud to collaborate with Chancellor King and Governor Hochul to fund the Empire State Service Corps in this years final Budget, and congratulations to the inaugural class on your achievement! AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith said, SUNY has innovatively integrated national service into its operations by initiating the FAFSA Completion Corps and offering AmeriCorps alumni benefits through the Schools of National Service Initiative. The Empire State Service Corps initiative continues this work by allowing hundreds of students to serve their communities as AmeriCorps members, where they gain valuable professional and personal skills while earning educational funds. AmeriCorps looks forward to learning from SUNY's efforts and hopes other higher education systems will follow in their footsteps." Campus Compact President Bobbie Laur said, The Empire State Service Corps showcases the transformative potential of higher education civic engagement. The hundreds of SUNY students who will participate in this program will acquire valuable skills and hands-on practical experiences and be instilled with a lasting commitment to civic involvement. As they make a positive difference in the lives of New Yorkers and their communities, this innovative initiative inspires us all to explore new and impactful ways to serve. NYS Commission on National and Community Service Executive Director Linda Cohen said, The Commission is very pleased to partner with SUNY and the Office of Service and Civic Engagement on this bold new AmeriCorps initiative. A network of hundreds of SUNY students across the State will bring services and support to New Yorkers and their communities on a scale that will surpass our previous efforts. The Empire State Service Corps is a fitting successor to the thousands of New Yorkers who have served in AmeriCorps in the past thirty years and an inspiring start to the next thirty and beyond. Partners for Campus-Community Engagement Executive Director Dr. David Harker said, Partners for Campus-Community Engagement (PCCE) applauds this commitment by the SUNY system and the Lieutenant Governors office to deepen high-quality community engagement throughout our State. The Service Corps program acknowledges the importance of supporting engaged students financially, ensuring equitable access to mutually beneficial experiential education opportunities. These Corps members will make a tremendous impact in their communities, while developing crucial skills and experiences that will benefit them greatly. This is another huge step forward in the State of New York and SUNYs commitment to higher education as a public good. Multi-State Collaborative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Senior Advisor Carol Geary Schneider added, Education has always had a public good mission but today, New York is revitalizing that mission to make community engagement and service central to it. We in the Multi-State Collaborative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement are elated to see that New York is breaking new ground in preparing students to act with others to improve the quality of life for all. The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens Author Richard Haass said, Public service can foster community, develop skills, address real needs and build bridges between citizens and their government. All of which is to say I am heartened to see my own State of New York and the State University of New York come together to launch the Empire State Service Corps. Public service programs of this sort transcend politics and deserve broad support. The Empire State Service Corps was launched as part of Governor Hochul and Chancellor King's commitment to increasing service opportunities for students across the State. In addition to the Empire State Service Corps, the university system has launched additional programming for civic education, civil discourse, and civic awareness across campuses. This spring, Chancellor King announced 10 faculty fellows would become the first-ever Civic Education & Engagement and Civil Discourse Fellows. The fellowship aims to promote civic discourse among students, faculty, and staff across SUNY campuses. More information about the program and SUNYs work to expand civic engagement opportunities is available here. In addition to the State-funded 500 Empire State Service Corps members, the philanthropy Ibis Group is supporting 15 additional Corps members to serve in nonpartisan voter outreach and civic engagement roles. About The State University of New York The State University of New York, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNYs 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the countrys oldest school of maritime, the States only college of optometry, and manages one U.S Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2022, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit www.suny.edu. A photo released by JNIM shows one of the groups fighters in front of a burning plane used by Malis interim president. The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), al Qaedas West African branch, claimed responsibility for a coordinated assault in Malis capital city of Bamako yesterday. The attack comes as JNIM continues to push further south within Mali, threatening the stability of Interim President Assimi Goitas military regime. The assault marks the first such operation inside Bamako in several years, though JNIM did strike at a major military base just outside of the capital in 2022. In the early hours yesterday morning, gunshots rang out almost simultaneously at the gendarmerie school in Bamakos Faladie District and the military side of the citys main airport. The jihadists did not target the civilian side of the airport, according to both Malian security officials and JNIM. JNIM was quick to claim credit for the operation, stating that its inghimasi, or suicide commandos, were able to raid the gendarmerie school, killing dozens of troops and alleged Russian Wagner mercenaries. At the airport, it also said its men burned at least six aircraft, including drones, along with several other military vehicles. Malian officials have not given a precise casualty count as of this time of publishing, instead only stating that a number of military personnel were killed in the assault. Most of the casualties appear to have occurred at the gendarmerie school based on witness testimony and photos released by JNIM. At the airport, Al Qaedas men mainly targeted aircraft, especially the presidential aircraft used by Assimi Goita, which can be seen burning in a photo released by JNIM. A few charred bodies at the airport can also be seen in unofficial videos published online, however. In photos released after the raids, JNIM states that the operation was carried out by two teams of inghimasi from its Katibat Macina, a subunit responsible for central and southern Mali. The first, led by Salman al-Bambari, an ethnic Bambara, the main ethnic group of Bamako, targeted the gendarmerie school. The second raid, led by Abdul Salam al-Fulani, an ethnic Fulani (also known as Fulbe or Peulh), one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa, assaulted the airport. The two are representative of JNIMs diverse recruitment pools and thus meant to highlight the diversity within its ranks. Another photo shows additional militants, but the group did not name them. It also confirmed that all of its men were subsequently killed in the path of God after Malian forces responded to the scene. A dire security situation in Mali and the wider Sahel In many ways, the assault in Bamako acts to highlight the growing incapability of the Sahelian military regimes to beat back the ever-increasing advances of both al Qaedas JNIM and the Islamic State Sahel Province. With the Goita regime particularly concerned with its own protection, the fact that JNIM was able to strike at two military sites simultaneously in the Malian capital only signals the growing weakness of security in Bamako. JNIM has steadily pushed further southward inside Mali over the last two years, establishing clear attack zones that have essentially encircled Bamako in the southern region of Koulikoro. JNIM has also more regularly attacked in the nearby regions of Kayes and Sikasso. In the eyes of JNIM, the encirclement of Bamako with this violence puts additional pressure on the ruling junta to either capitulate to the groups demands of governing the Malian state by Sharia law or collapse entirely. Mali is not alone in this dilemma. JNIM has also largely followed the same strategy of pushing closer to Burkina Fasos capital of Ouagadougou, with its men contesting or even directly controlling territory surrounding it. According to estimates from late last year, jihadists controlled at least 40% of Burkinabe territory, the majority of which is controlled by JNIM. The military regime of Ibrahim Traore has also failed to contain the jihadist violence inside Burkinabe territory, with violence regularly seeping into Benin and Togo. Though JNIM has been able to build bases in both countries, much of the violence in those countries still emanates from Burkina Faso. In nearby Niger, also led by a military regime commanded by Abdourahamane Tchiani, the capital of Niamey is also steadily threatened by jihadists. Early last month, for instance, JNIM was able to abduct two Russian nationals working as geologists in the country, just 40 miles from Niamey. JNIMs rival, the Islamic States Sahel Province, also regularly attacks sites inside Nigers Tillaberi Region outside of Niamey. As the three Sahelian juntas, who collectively call themselves the Alliance of Sahelian States (AES), continue to push aside international supportexcept for help from Russias paramilitariesthey continue to find themselves in worse security situations. The three juntas will either have to eventually accept additional assistance to combat the jihadist threat or face the very real prospect of their regimes eventually falling. Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa. In what appears to be the most extensive breach of Hezbollahs communication system by the State of Israel, pagers assigned to members of the Lebanese group exploded on September 17, injuring more than 2,500 people and causing an undetermined number of deaths. The attack injured Hezbollah members across Lebanon and Syria. The affected pagers were recently shipped to Hezbollah and may have contained malware that caused them to heat up and explode, The Wall Street Journal reported. Among those wounded was Irans ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, the Iranian semi-official Mehr News Agency posted on X. Hours after the attack, Hezbollah issued a response blaming Israel for the event and vowed to respond against the Jewish State. After examining all the facts, current data, and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression [] This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive his just punishment for this sinful aggression, whether he expects it or not, and God is witness to what we say, said Hezbollah. The Israeli government has not commented on the assault. Hours before the attack, Israels Shin Bet intelligence agency published two key pieces of information that suggest Israel was behind the operation targeting Hezbollah. The Shin Bet accused Hezbollah of orchestrating a plot to target a former senior Israeli official in the coming days. The Shin Bet said that it recovered a Claymore-style anti-personnel mine that was connected to a remote detonation system, cellular technology, and a camera, enabling Hezbollah to activate it from Lebanon. Furthermore, the agency acknowledged that Hezbollah was behind an explosion in Yarkon Park on September 15, 2023. These two details, published on the same day as a significant attack against Hezbollah and coupled with the ongoing war, make it difficult to conclude Israel was not behind the operation. In Middle East wars, especially those between Israel and the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, messaging and symbolism routinely intertwine on the battlefield. In this case, Israel demonstrated that it could reach thousands of Hezbollah fighters in a matter of seconds and that it could do it without physically being present. Embarrassingly for Hezbollah, which is used to creating symbolic gestures and phrases to use against its foes, the pager has become a trending topic on social media, emerging as the weapon that maimed and injured its fighters. Despite being a terrorist organization, Hezbollah is pragmatic and chooses its conflicts carefully. However, this does not mean the group does not make mistakes. Hezbollah has handcuffed itself to Hamas in Gaza and has effectively put Lebanon on the path of a regional war. A significant Israeli assault that has potentially injured thousands of Hezbollah fighters is unlikely to go unanswered. Jerusalem, Washington DC, and Beirut will wait and see whether Hezbollahs response will be measured or disproportionate. Joe Truzman is an editor and senior research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian armed groups and non-state actors in the Middle East. DW Burnett Over the past few months, Massachusetts has been cracking down on the registration of Kei cars. In some cases, the state has reportedly even refused to hand out titles and threatened to revoke existing registrations. As of Wednesday, however, that policy has been reversed: Kei cars and trucks are once again legal in Massachusetts. The change was announced by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday, September 18. In the announcement, the department says that the reversal came after a "preliminary assessment of industry standards" was completed. Owners are now free to register and renew the registrations on their vehicles throughout the state. The original Japanese car ban announced in July has also been unpublished from the Massachusetts RMV website. Although Kei car owners are safe for now, this ruling may ultimately change again. The announcement of the reversal also states that plans are underway for a future formal study, the details of which will be announced later down the road. That study could lead to another change in the rules, once again putting owners of these cars in jeopardy of losing access to Massachusetts roads. ADVERTISEMENT The ruling comes just two weeks after the Massachusetts RMV denied the registration of an R34 Skyline, a sedan that is much larger than a Kei car. The owner of that car claimed to get in contact with their state senator, who in turn claimed to "formally [request] a determination on this matter" from the state's RMV and Secretary of Transportation. Several petitioners later proposed a bill that could change the law to directly legalize Kei vehicle registration in the state, although that bill has not yet gone to a vote. You Might Also Like AI is todays buzzword. And if you have an iPhone, Apple Intelligence is buzzing all over. The iPhone 16 is the first phone built with Apple Intelligence in mind, and whether youre buying one this week or not, its hard to escape it. Back in June, when Apple previewed its AI suite coming to compatible devices next month I was confident that the company would reserve exclusive Apple Intelligence features for the iPhone 16. After all, the ever-expanding Google Pixel line just unveiled a ton of AI features that are surely appealing to certain iOS users, so I expected Apple would surely have some exclusive AI tricks up its sleeve to keep them from jumping ship. Boy, was I wrong. Nothing new If youre looking for a comprehensive list of exclusive iPhone 16 AI perks, theres just one: Visual Intelligence. The tool, which wont be available at launch like the rest of Apple Intelligence, is activated using the new Camera Control button to allow users to scan an object or place to take a relevant action or learn more about it. For example, you could point your iPhone 16s camera at a dog to identify its breed. Similarly, you could check a restaurants OpenTable listing after scanning its sign, or add an event to your calendar based on a concert posters details. Theres also an integrated math-solving utility that relies on ChatGPTs smarts to help students with their assignments. While Visual Intelligence is undoubtedly a welcome addition, its too underwhelming compared to rivaling companies progress in the AI department. Google Lens operates similarly and has existed on all relevant smartphones for years. In fact, iPhone 15 Pro users can already map the Action button to trigger the feature if theyve installed the official Google app. So, Apple cloning and offering it as the sole exclusive AI feature is disappointingto say the least. Apple Intelligence is built into the iPhone 16but most of the features wont be available until next year. Apple Intelligence is built into the iPhone 16but most of the features wont be available until next year. YouTube / Apple Apple Intelligence is built into the iPhone 16but most of the features wont be available until next year. YouTube / Apple YouTube / Apple A tale of two intelligences Perhaps the most significant difference between Googles and Apples philosophies is, to use one of Apples iconic words, courage. The former company is infamous for developing and putting out all sorts of wild features, then randomly killing thempresumably based on internal metrics. Google isnt necessarily afraid of releasing a bad product. It tries, adapts accordingly, and moves on when it needs to. Apple, on the other hand, has a reputation to maintain. The firm is known for running extensive experiments internally rather than using its user base as alpha testers. As a result, it typically comes up with reliable solutions that are either late or lacking when juxtaposed with those of other brands. They tend to be mild and stable, however, and iPhone users appreciate that. But with Apple Intelligence, it seemed like Apple was willing to take chances to catch up with Google and Samsung, starting with the iPhone 16. That didnt happen. The Pixel phones are packed with AI features that truly enhance the phones best feature, the camera. You can repaint an object in a photo (Reimagine), change the background (Magic Editor), add yourself to a group photo (Add Me), minimize pixelation in zoomed shots (Zoom Enhance), stitch several shots into one (Best Take), etc. Thats not to mention the dual exposure video feature that maintains accurate colors throughout the frame. These options truly give users pretty much full control over their camera output, allowing them to come up with some creative and more enhanced results. I then look at the pitiful iPhone, which only supports removing intrusive objects with Clean Up when it comes to AI photo edits. The Pixel feels more like an AI phone than the iPhone 16. The Pixel feels more like an AI phone than the iPhone 16. Google The Pixel feels more like an AI phone than the iPhone 16. Google Google Beyond media-related features, the recent Google Pixel phones can also perform some neat tasks using AI. These include answering the phone and responding to calls on users behalf, having more natural conversations with Gemini, and so on. It really feels like a true AI smartphone rather than a smartphone with a sprinkle of perfunctory AI on top. Apple Intelligence isnt AI-nough All of this isnt to say Apple Intelligence isnt a great start. Writing Tools in the iOS 18.1 beta has been proofreading my articles for weeks now. And AI on the iPhone also skillfully summarizes notifications, emails, messages, and articles on the web, all useful features that perfectly complement my text-based workflows, and most of them work offline. Its also worth noting that Apple Intelligence is free, while some of Googles AI features require a Gemini Advanced subscription (or will once the Pixel 9 grace period runs out). In Googles defense, though, analysts suggest that Apple could start charging for new AI features as well in a few years, once its product matures. And given the complexity of Googles current AI features, the fee is arguably justified and plenty of Geminis great features are free. The Pixel 9 is loaded with useful AI features. The Pixel 9 is loaded with useful AI features. Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry The Pixel 9 is loaded with useful AI features. Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry Apart from Apple Intelligence being significantly less intelligent than its Google counterpart, the full feature set wont debut until mid-2025. So, while Apple is already advertising the smarter Siri that can pull user data from apps, the feature wont actually arrive until next year. In fact, iPhone 16 users wont get any Apple Intelligence features before next month, with the most exciting image-generation features coming after that. Googles Pixel features are all available now. Apple is trying to sell a promise for an iPhone that is objectively less advanced than its present rivals, and thats not a good look. Its all symptoms of scrambling to keep up with the fast-paced AI race. The company has been boasting about Siris improved smarts at events every few years, and yet it still continues to fail at executing the most basic tasks on my end. What guarantees the upcoming Siri wont be as bad? Apple had a chance to put Google and the rest of the AI world on notice with the iPhone 16. Instead, it only showed how much Apple Intelligence still needs to learn. The iPhone is available to order, with shipments starting on Friday (though if you order now, you wont get it until October). The media was given the go-ahead to post their reviews on Wednesday, and the reviews are positive (did you really expect otherwise?), with the non-pro 16 being the big winner. iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus Allison Johnson of The Verge kicks off her review by saying, its a good year for the basic iPhone [16], and its a good year to upgrade. However, shes not convinced that Camera Control will be useful. I do like using it to launch the camera, said Johnson, but once Ive done that, Ive mostly gone back to using the onscreen shutter. John Velasco of Toms Hardware points out that the iPhone 16s display is pleasant looking OLED panel that gets the job done for most things. Velasco thinks Camera Control is a step in the right direction but he wishes Apple added more controlslike access to the shutter speed and ISO. Lisa Eadicicco of Cnet said that the lack of an always-on display on the non-pro phones is the one Pro feature I truly miss on a daily basis when switching from the iPhone 15 Pro to the iPhone 16. Eaadicicco also stated that the iPhone 16s A18 chip performed smoothly and swiftly whether I was playing games, launching apps or scrolling through settings menus and photos. The Wall Street Journals Joanna Stern took a different approach to presenting the iPhone 16 review. Stern used this opportunity to introduce Joannabot, a generative-AI buddy who never tires of answering your iPhone 16 questions. Unfortunately, thats the last readable sentence before youre faced with the WSJ paywall, though Apple News subscribers can read it. Joannabot concludes that the iPhone Pro models are the best iPhones you can buy right now though the standard models are are more appealing than in years past. iPhone 16 128 GB Schwarz Price When Reviewed: 949 Best Prices Today: Read our full Read our full iPhone 16 128 GB Schwarz review iPhone 16 Plus 128 GB Schwarz Price When Reviewed: 1099 Best Prices Today: iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max Florence Ion of Gizmodo thinks that because the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max have bigger displays than last years models, the iPhone 16 Pro is now what I would consider the perfect size without any compromises on the camera system. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is for those who secretly want an iPad as a phone. Ion also found that because [the camera is] more capable of processing multiple brackets at a time, it produces brighter photos than I was used to with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Cherlynn Low of Engadget does not sound like a fan of Camera Control, stating that its placement is unintuitive and that, Even for those with the strongest claws, swiping and half-pressing and double-half-pressing on the sensor is tricky. Low also found it difficult to swipe through different settings when holding the device with one hand, and it also reacts to accidental touches and swipes. David Snelling of Express said that Apple continues to embarrass its Android rivals when it comes to performance. Snelling found that the iPhone 16 Pro Maxs A18 Pro chip is around 17 percent faster than the A17 Pro chip and the GPU offers up to 20 percent better performance than [the iPhone 15 Pro Max]. Wireds Julian Chokkattu took a departure from most reviewers who held off on making evaluative statements about Apple Intelligence in the iPhoneits not officially available and is only accessible through the iOS 18.1 developer beta. Chokkattu tested the 16 Pro with the iOS 18.1 beta, however, and said that, How useful [Apple Intelligence] will be depends a lot on your workflow. Chokkattu also points out that with Apple Intelligence, Apple is deploying these features in a way that is arguably more private and secure than anything that has come before. YouTuber Brian Tong says the iPhone 16 Pros new support for 4K video recording at 120 frames per second offers footage that is crispy and clean and is so damn impressive. He also provides a helpful demonstration of the new Audio Mix feature and how the iPhone 16 Pros four microphones work to change how audio is mixed in your videos. iPhone 16 Pro 128 GB Titan Natur Price When Reviewed: 1199 Best Prices Today: Read our full Read our full iPhone 16 Pro 128 GB Titan Natur review iPhone 16 Pro Max 256 GB Titan Wustensand Price When Reviewed: 1449 Best Prices Today: Macworld will have full, in-depth reviews of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro coming soon. In the meantime, Macwelt, our sister publication in Germany has posted their reviews. Check them out: You can use Safaris translate feature to read Macwelts reviews. When you visit those links, click the Translate icon in the right side of the address bar. Its next to the reload icon. Discover which we rate as the best cases for iPhone 16. Read the full story on The Auto Wire Is This Person Auditioning For Fast 11? Everyone once in a while a police chase surfaces where the driver has more skills behind the wheel than the average person who doesnt pull over for cops. Thats exactly the case with this fleeing fugitive who uses a Saturn to absolutely embarrass a whole group of police officers pursuing him on a highway in Blaine, Minnesota. Watch a Jeep Wrangler run from police here. First off, a little Saturn with its anemic four-banger engine should be easy to take down. Its slow, handles like garbage, and weighs little, so using a higher-powered police car to PIT or otherwise stop the vehicle seems like a simple task. Normally, wed agree, but this fugitive mustve been a Hollywood stunt driver or at least an instructor at a racing school, because this guy has moves. Even though officers keep doing PITs on the little Saturn, this person knows how to keep going. Were going to go out on a limb and say this isnt the guys first rodeo, or in other words hes run form the cops before. ADVERTISEMENT At one point he dives into the grassy median, a move which usually ends the chase with cars that dont have great ground clearance and only two-wheel drive. But somehow this guy coaxes the gerbil-powered engine to keep those tire-free wheels turning. Its simply amazing to watch. Just when you think the chase is finally done as at least seven police cars surround this guy on the grassy median, the suspect slips away again. Finally, it takes one of the officers in an SUV absolutely T-boning the Saturn to put the chase to an end. And the car starts catching fire from all the damage. What makes all of this even more impressive is if you look closely, and we know the video resolution isnt great, you can see the Saturns wheels are tireless. In other words, police already successfully spiked the tires on the fleeing fugitives ride, and they fell off, so hes doing all this on bare rims as theyre deforming. Thats some seriously impressive skills. Now if only this guy could find a constructive, legal use for his talents. Story continues Follow The Auto Wire on Google News. Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook. Malaria Consortium partners with Ethiopian government to strengthen critical malaria preparedness and response 18 September 2024 Increasing malaria in Ethiopia threaten to undo the progress that has been achieved against the disease over the past two decades. In response, the Ethiopian government has launched a comprehensive approach to combat these outbreaks. Indoor residual spray technician prepares to spray houses with insecticides to protect the residents from mosquitoes, Arba Minch Zuriya district, South Ethiopia Between 2016 and 2019, Ethiopia made significant progress in reducing confirmed malaria cases, with numbers decreasing by 47 percent and malaria-related deaths decreasing by 58 percent. However, disruptions to health service access largely due to conflict and resulting displacement of people socioeconomic disparities and extreme weather events resulting from climatic changes, have seen malaria cases spike to 4.7 million in 2024. Between 1 January and 18 August 2024, the country recorded more than 4.7 million cases and 918 malaria-related deaths. Four regions in Ethiopia account for more than 80 percent of cases: Oromia, Amhara, South Ethiopia and the newly formed Southwest Ethiopia Peoples region. Tedila Habte, Country Technical Coordinator for Malaria Consortium Ethiopia, commented, This evolving public health challenge emphasises the critical need for strong health systems that are prepared and ready to respond to potential outbreaks, and the collaborative efforts required to achieve this. Ongoing concerted efforts between Ethiopias Ministry of Health and other stakeholders, including the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, underscore the importance of improving surveillance networks that strengthen early detection and warning of possible outbreaks, and enhanced capacity to respond swiftly and appropriately, so that health systems are not overwhelmed. Health facilities need sufficient stocks of medicines and an adequately trained work force to ensure that sick patients receive the care they need. Alongside strong surveillance, consistent use of preventive measures such as long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying a core vector control measure that can rapidly reduce malaria transmission remains critical in turning the tide on these outbreaks. Working with communities to understand how they can protect themselves and their families with these tools, and where to seek treatment if they fall ill, is critical to supporting wider preparedness efforts. According to the 2023 World Malaria Report, LLIN use has remained largely unchanged since 2015, with approximately 56 percent of young children and pregnant women reporting that they slept under a net in 2022. In support of outbreak response efforts, Malaria Consortium is collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Health and other stakeholders to implement two projects in the South Ethiopia and Amhara regions. Both projects seek to accelerate the reduction of the malaria burden offering greater protection to women, children and mobile workers through integrated surveillance, improved outbreak detection and response, and tailored approaches to ensure uptake of malaria prevention measures within communities. In Amhara region, the Health Development and Anti-Malaria Association (HDAMA) and Malaria Consortium are implementing the Sennay project. While the project began in July 2023, before the spate of outbreaks, the activities complement ongoing outbreak response efforts in region, which has contributed 15 percent of new malaria cases since January. A key focus of the Sennay initiative is to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality among seasonal mobile workers, who migrate from their homelands in the highlands to the malaria-endemic lowlands of the Amhara region for employment opportunities during peak farming periods. This seasonal movement is crucial to the agricultural sector, but poses significant health challenges for seasonal workers. They are at a heightened risk of contracting malaria, given their low immunity to the disease and the fact that current malaria services do not consider their mobile lifestyles. This can lead to their introducing malaria into their communities when they eventually return home. Dr Chalachew Sisay, Malaria Consortiums Ethiopia Project Manager for Sennay, commented: The Sennay project is a game-changer in our fight against malaria. By focusing on seasonal mobile workers, who are among the most vulnerable populations, we are addressing a critical gap in malaria prevention and control. This initiative not only aims to reduce the malaria burden but also empowers these workers by involving them in shaping the solutions. We are creating sustainable health improvements and ensuring that no one is left behind in this critical fight. As part of wider efforts to provide emergency support across the country, the Federal Ministry of Health has partnered with Malaria Consortium and local health authorities to strengthen malaria surveillance, case management and quality vector control across 18 districts in South Ethiopia. The project will provide training to health workers and health extension workers on malaria surveillance, epidemic detection and tailored response. Targeted social and behaviour change communication will support efforts to engage communities on the benefits of collaboration during IRS operations and consistently using LLINs, which remain among the most effective and cost-effective methods to prevent malaria. In addition, engagement efforts will support individuals to recognise when to seek treatment in cases of illness, and the importance of adhering to prescribed antimalarial medicines. Find out more about the Sennay project: Sennay: Reducing the malaria burden among seasonal mobile workers in the Amhara region WASHINGTONCounsel representing TikTok and its parent company, the Chinese-owned tech giant ByteDance, pleaded its case against the U.S. Monday before a panel of three federal appeals judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. TikTok sued the federal government, namely U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, after Congress and the Biden administration implemented a so-called ban on the popular social media video platform. Transcripts of the oral arguments reveal the panel of judges were skeptical of arguments made by lawyers representing the app and its content creators that the law singles them out. The law adopted by the government earlier this year doesn't explicitly ban TikTok, but it requires the U.S.-based operating company of the app to be divested from ByteDance and owned by a non-Chinese companypreferably a company based in the United States. "[Part] of the issue in this case, and we think it's a Constitutional flaw and not just a problem, is that Congress didn't do any of the things that the First Amendment requires," said attorney Andrew Pincus, who represents TikTok, before the panel. At issue is whether TikTok can continue to operate in the United States when its highly-developed content recommendation algorithm remains owned by ByteDance, which supposedly has links to the central organs of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army of China. The attorney representing TikTok content creators, Jeffrey Fisher, argued the federal government's targeting of TikTok and foreign companies doesn't negate First Amendment rights for its users or the business itself. "Well, the creators' interest here is the First Amendment right to publish and coordinate with their publisher of choice, as in the net choice sense of TikTok," Fisher said. "[There] is no First Amendment interest in foreign speakers speaking abroad, but once that speech is directed into the United States, and certainly once that speech is in concert with other Americans, and indeed propagated by other Americans, the speech on TikTok is not Chinese speech." Fisher added, "It is American speech that at most is curated by a foreign company and, the government says, potentially by a foreign government as well, but it's American speech. You're way, way, way on the First Amendment protective side of the equation." Daniel Tenney, the attorney representing the U.S. government and the Justice Department, disagreed with Fisher and Pincus. Tenney presented a legal theory of how the law specifically targeting foreign-owned applications, like TikTok, only implicated the free speech of ByteDance. He said that since ByteDance is a Chinese firm, it doesn't have First Amendment protection. Tenney contends this, despite ByteDance having a huge market of users in the U.S. and the majority of TikTok's North American operations currently being located in U.S. cities. Tenney said TikTok's creators produce content that "is not expression by Americans in America." Pointing to the algorithm, he added, "It is expression by Chinese engineers in China. This code is written in China, and the determination about how it should be changed, how it should be altered ... is done in China." TikTok's senior leadership has maintained that this violates the First Amendment rights of its 170 million users living in the United States alone. AVN has covered the TikTok case because adult content creators, producers and brands have used TikTok as a popular safe-for-work marketing tool to draw traffic to their not-safe-for-work premium fan pages and membership websites. TikTok, et al. v. Garland is proving to be a landmark First Amendment case. Lawyers representing the parties in the case expect a decision by December 2024. Those observing the case expect the parties to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, depending on how the D.C. Circuit rules. This school year, RCP activists have launched a campaign for a student strike for Palestine. We have hit the ground on multiple campuses around the country and are happy to report that thousands of students are already supporting this campaign. But this campaign will only succeed as a mass movement of tens of thousands of active participants. We urge everyone reading this to get in touch to help build the student strike for Palestine! Whether you are on a campus in which the campaign is already under way or want to start it on your campuswe all have a role to play! Early successes In the first few weeks of classes, our activists have been using every means possible to popularize the idea of a student strike. Thousands of students are signing petitions calling on their student unions to organize strike general assemblies. Teams of campaign agitators can be seen every day on campuses. They have distributed tens of thousands of leaflets. Help build the student strike for Palestine posters blanket campuses around the country. Activists have unfurled huge banners and made speeches denouncing the genocide in Palestine in cafeterias and other busy areas. Organizing meetings have been held with hundreds of students turning out on campuses around the country. For example, at York University in Toronto, over 30 people present from the RCP, YorkU Muslim Students Association, YorkU NDP, Osgoode Hall Law Union and the Trotskyist League voted unanimously to launch the campaign, and even raised $300 to support the movement! Similar meetings took place at Concordia University in Montreal and the Toronto Metropolitan University where 40 people and 30 people respectively came to the first organizing meetings. Equally, a sit-in at the Universite de Montreal campus attracted 30 people to begin mobilizations on the campus. At Sherbrooke University, the Front daction collective has officially joined the strike campaign and 25 people attended the first organizing meeting in preparation for strike action. So far the most impressive organizing meeting was held at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver with over 100 people in attendance! This was after only a week of mobilization, where the administration systematically removed the 500 or so posters that were put up. But they cannot stop the students who want to mobilize against the genocide in Palestine! An excellent example of successful mobilization comes from Toronto Metropolitan University. Just a handful of students managed to organize a walkout on Friday, Sept. 6 which drew out 150-200 students. The mood at the rally was ecstatic as students marched through the corridors calling on students to walk out of classes and join the rally. This even garnered sympathy from some professors, at least two of which let their students leave class to join the mobilization. The rally then marched to the University of Toronto where we joined forces with a demonstration at the University of Toronto. Repression But fighting against genocide doesnt only win supporters. It also has attracted the attention of those who want to silence us, starting with security and police on every campus. We already reported the case of our comrade Francis, arrested at Carleton University for committing the crime of leafleting. But more examples of repression are piling up daily. Recently, a student at the University of Alberta was threatened with expulsion from campus just seven months before his graduation! Almost everywhere we go, campus security and even police officers disrupt our activities, remove our posters and threaten pro-Palestine activists. In a scandalous move, Concordias Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights group has been denied official student club status. In response to this attempt to silence us we have a clear message: we will not be silenced! We will not back down! In fact, repression only strengthens our resolve. We will respond by building a movement so broad that its impossible to ignore or suppress. This is just the beginning! The movement for a student strike for Palestine is still in its infancy, but the first steps have already been made. What is needed now is to take the movement to the next level! So far, the biggest successes have come from places where the broadest possible layer of students have taken the campaign into their hands. This cannot be stressed upon enough. We seek to build a movement, the likes of which we have not seen for a long time. We need not simply a mass movement, but a movement of the masses. Too often, the movement is monopolized by a clique of activists. This ultimately weakens the movement and makes it easier for the administration, the government or the capitalists to subvert or crush. The strength of a mass movement is to be found to the degree in which the masses are involved actively in building the movement and determining its direction. The Black Panther Party has something to teach us herethe two by two method. For every rally they held, their members would speak to the crowd and tell them that each of them should bring two people to the next rally. With this simple formula, the next rally would be three times as large! This helped everyone to see that they had a role to play. This is why we appeal to all students and to all pro-palestinian groups. Join the movement! Help build the student strike for Palestine! If we all join together, we can build a powerful movement, unlike any we have seen for a long time that will make the imperialists shudder! Learn more: StudentStrike4Palestine | Linktree Open letter to all pro-Palestine groups: Unite for a student strike! [Originally published on Marxist.ca on 12 September 2024] Dear Eric: I have a group of three girlfriends from middle school/high school. We stayed close during college and were in each others weddings, etc. I have known these women for more than 50 years. There is one person in the group that I have been consistently close with over the many years. The other two I did not and there was a more than 15-year gap in our friendships when I moved away. The problem is that I have outgrown those two. These two always insist that we get together as a group four times a year, usually around birthdays. It is always a headache trying to coordinate schedules. Theyre very difficult to deal with and inflexible with their schedules but insist on these get-togethers. I no longer have anything in common with them except the length of time that weve known each other. I would like to withdraw from these gatherings. We dont see or talk to each other on a consistent basis except for these birthday gatherings. Ive tried to beg off in the past, but they insist on waiting for me to be available. Its ridiculous and Im exhausted from it. These are people that dont take no for an answer. How do I end this madness? Over It Dear Over It: Sometimes you have to be very clear that a friendship is over. A breakup, if you will. That sounds like where you are with these two people now. But, unlike romantic breakups, which often have clear beginnings and endings, the dissolution of friendships can be hazy and imprecise. So, youll have to be clear about what you want. I asked friendship expert Anna Goldfarb, author of the book Modern Friendship: How to Nurture Our Most Valued Connections and the Substack newsletter Friendship Explained for a kind but clear breakup script. We arent socialized to withdraw from friendships, Anna told me. So, I can see why this situation makes the letter writer uncomfortable. As women, we have a lot of societal pressure to keep the peace and not rock the boat. But, she says, you can do this. Be polite yet firm. Say, Thanks for the invitation, ladies, but Im unavailable for these kinds of events. While I appreciate you thinking of me, these birthday get-togethers arent my thing. Anna also said that you shouldnt be afraid to disengage if they push back. You may need to mute the invites. They are adults, and managing their disappointment is not your responsibility. (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. A Boston sandwich shop is helping people propose in one of the most New England ways possible. Made of roughly four lobsters, The USS Lobstitution is a normal fixture on the menu at Paulis North End. The massive roll is 28 ounces of lobster meat served on a grilled long sub roll that sells for $99.99. But if youre willing to shell out a bit more cash, you can propose to your significant other with Paulis diamond engagement lobster roll in honor of National Lobster Day on Wednesday, Sept. 25. For one day only, Paulis Lobstitution roll will be crowned with a certified 1-5/8 carat, round-cut diamond halo engagement ring. Pauli's North End is offering a 28-ounce engagement lobster in honor of National Lobster Day on Wednesday, Sept. 25.David Cifarelli Paulis has done similar promotions in the past, but this time around owner Paul Barker really wanted to get his claws into lobster lovers hearts. Weve always had a good time creating these types of promotions, and the idea of filling the restaurant with friends and family and popping the question in the most Boston way ever, seems like a fun idea, Barker said in a press release. The engagement lobster roll is available for 24 hours only on National Lobster Day. The roll is available for $10,000. Those looking to make the shellfish proposal must order the roll ahead of Sept. 25. Future fiance/es can contact Barker via email at pauliscatering@paulisnorthend.com to order the roll. Paulis North End is at 65 Salem St. in Boston. CONCORD, N.H. (AP) The former office manager of Dartmouth Colleges student newspaper has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for stealing over $223,000 from the paper over four years. Nicole Chambers, 41, who was sentenced in federal court in Concord, New Hampshire, on Monday, also faces three years of supervised release and has to pay back the money. She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in April. Chambers was the office manager for The Dartmouth, the colleges primary newspaper, from 2012 to 2021. It is a nonprofit run by student volunteers and earns its money through advertising, alumni donations and investment income, according to court documents. Prosecutors said Chambers had full access to The Dartmouths bank account, PayPal and Venmo accounts, and debit card. They said Chambers stole money from the paper between 2017 and 2021, making unauthorized transfers from its accounts to others she controlled. She paid for personal expenses, including plane tickets, hotels and a mattress. She also used some money to pay for legal fees for her husband. Chambers resigned as office manager in September 2021. This was a crime motivated by the defendants greed, plain and simple, U.S. Attorney Jane Young said in a statement. The defendant stole to fund her high lifestyle, including trips across the United States and Caribbean and purchasing luxury items. Chambers took advantage of the students and made a mess of the papers finances, former students who worked for The Dartmouth said. Nicoles fraud, which weakened The Dartmouth, thus made victims of the community the newspaper serves, former Editor-in-Chief Kyle Khan-Mullins said in his statement, the paper reported. Chambers lawyer, Jaye Rancourt, asked for a six-month home confinement sentence, followed by three years of probation. She said that would have allowed for Chambers to continue to seek work, enabling her to pay restitution. Rancourt also noted that Chambers had no prior criminal record and had suffered from untreated mental health issues at the time. She read a statement by Chambers in court expressing the deepest remorse for her actions. An audit of Brockton Public Schools $18 million budget deficit released last week indicates that Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan knew the school departments 2023 fiscal year budget was headed for a deficit months before he claims to have known. The third-party audit, which was conducted by Boston-based financial fraud law firm Nystrom Beckman & Paris, did not find any misappropriation of funds. It did, however, lambast Brockton Public Schools finance department for failing basic principals of responsible accounting, as well as the Brockton School Committee which Sullivan leads and Superintendent Michael Thomas for their lack of oversight. The firm, which began investigating the deficit at the request of the city after the deficit was disclosed to the public in August 2023, concluded that many more people including the school committee, Mayor Sullivan and Brockton Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Troy Clarkson should have known about about the deficit long before they did. Due to their lack of inquiry into the school departments spending, they remained unaware of the impending shortfall, and in doing so failed their legally-mandated fiduciary duties to the city, according to the audit. The auditors write that Sullivan knew months earlier in March or April that the deficit existed, based on evidence such as meeting agendas, calendar invites and interviews with Sullivan, Clarkson, former Brockton Superintendent Mike Thomas, school department Chief Financial Officer Aldo Petronio and school department Deputy Chief Financial Officer Christopher Correia. Given its hands off approach, the School Committee was in the dark about the looming deficit. The City CFO and Mayor, however, were not, the firm wrote. Thomas, Petronio, and Correia relayed concerns about the school budget to the Mayor and the City CFO in March/April of FY23 that should have prompted tough questions and an action plan to address the deficit. Yet no meaningful steps were taken during FY23 to confront and mitigate the looming financial crisis. The audits findings contradict Mayor Sullivans continued claim that he was unaware of the deficit until Aug. 8 an assertion he made in a February school committee meeting and again to MassLive on Wednesday. In his interview with MassLive, Sullivan declined to outright disagree with the audits findings, but said he thought the phrase looming deficit was vague. There were definitely some concerns raised of overspending, and its clearly outlined in the report, but that was in the course of normal budget discussions while we were prepping for FY 24. So there was no looming crisis type of concerns to me, he said. Nystrom Beckman & Paris did not respond to multiple requests for further explanation about their findings. Conflicting narratives During interviews with auditors, Thomas, Petronio and Correia all insisted that they told Sullivan and Clarkson about a nearly $8 million school department budget deficit during a meeting in April 2023. In an interview with MassLive on Monday, former Superintendent Thomas who resigned from his position over the weekend after months of paid leave reiterated this timeline. Correia has also since reaffirmed this claim in a whistleblower lawsuit, The Boston Globe reported. But Sullivan and Clarkson both emphatically denied that this conversation ever happened, according to the audit. On Wednesday, the mayor used these same words to deny that he was informed of the deficit in April 2023. [Thomas, Petronio and Correia] didnt say You know, we have a serious issue with two months to go in the fiscal year. If they did, I would have filed an order to do some transfers or appropriations, he said. In their interviews with auditors, both Clarkson and the Mayor were adamant that they were not told about any deficit figure until after the fiscal year ended. Mayor Sullivan stated that you only know what you are told, and indicated that he could not ascertain what was going on because the School Department was not sharing information, the audit reads. The law firms review of documents shows that a meeting between the five officials about the school department budget occurred in April 2023, but none of the documents could verify what was actually discussed at the meeting, according to the audit. A third-party investigation into the deficit by a different law firm reported similar findings, including the conflicting accounts of when the mayor and CFO were informed about the deficit and that documents from the meeting do not verify what was discussed. A political calculation? In interviews with auditors and separately with MassLive, Thomas said that the deficit was not immediately disclosed to the school committee, City Council or public at Sullivans direction. For the mayor, the timing of when the deficit problem would be disclosed was a political calculation, Thomas said. The audit mentions Petronio giving a similar account. According to Thomas and Petronio, the Mayor expressed concern that it was an election year and directed Clarkson, Petronio, and Correia to work on the deficit problem and figure it out, the audit reads. Sullivan and Clarkson both denied these claims to auditors, and on Wednesday, the mayor said this characterization of the situation is absolutely false. There was never any instance of me as the mayor or as the chair of the school committee withholding any type of information intentionally or otherwise, he said. The audit is as critical of Petronio and Thomas in their findings as they are of Sullivan, if not more-so. Petronio is described as engaging in bad accounting practices to obscure the fact that the school committee-approved budget wasnt being followed, and Thomas leadership is described as being guided by gut instinct, force of personality, and a commitment to people who viewed the world his way and did not question his decision making. With no tolerance for dissent, Thomas led with an iron fist and made spending decisions regardless of cost, existing policies, or good business judgment, the auditors wrote. What the former superintendent said In an interview with MassLive following his resignation, Thomas claimed that the mayor wanted to keep other Brockton city and school officials in the dark about the deficit out of fear that a political rival might see it as a crack in his armor and seize on an opportunity to unseat him as mayor. His actual, exact words were I dont need any more candidates pulling papers to run against me, Thomas said. In 2023, the deadline to file nomination papers for Brockton political office was Aug. 1, and the meeting at which Sullivan claims to have been made aware of the deficit took place on Aug. 8. The audit also points to a text exchange between Clarkson and Petronio following an Aug. 15, 2023, school committee meeting in which Petronio mentions that there are deficits in several school department accounts. Petronio says it will not be possible to clear these accounts while closing out the fiscal year, but no school committee member responds with questions about the deficits. That night, Petronio sent a text message to City CFO Clarkson, writing: My report went well tonight. Clear, concise, went right over their heads. Not a single question. Clarkson responded, Excellent. Well, done! the audit reads. On Wednesday, Sullivan said he did not know anything about the text exchange, nor could he think of an explanation for it. Additionally, Petronio said during this school budget update which was prompted by the mayor in the last few minutes of the meeting that he informed the mayor and city CFO about these deficits last Thursday. While the deficit remained under wraps, Clarkson, Petronio and Correia came up with the plan to address the deficit and get it down to a smaller dollar amount, Thomas said. None of the four men ever opposed Sullivans plan not to disclose the deficit to other officials, according to the former superintendent. The chain of command is that you go to the chair of the school committee, which is the mayor, and you basically follow his directive. He is one of my bosses. He signs my contract. He gave us a directive and we followed it, Thomas said. In hindsight, I shouldnt have trusted him. I should have brought it to the entire school committee. Another reason Thomas didnt push back was because he believed the plan to cover it would work, he said. He later regretted staying silent about the deficit after, in his words, Sullivan continued to lie about when he found out about the deficits and use Thomas, Petronio and Correia as scapegoats. On Wednesday, Sullivan said he wholeheartedly rejects Thomas claim that information was withheld for the mayors political benefit. If people know me, they know that it would not have happened, he said. Which is worse? The auditors dont paint a flattering picture of the mayor even when taking him at his word. Sullivan had access to information that other school committee members didnt, but still failed to inquire about overspending or do anything to address the problem after Petronio and Correia raised red flags, they wrote. A more important question than, Did [the mayor] know or did he not know [about the deficit] is, Which is worse? Brockton Ward 6 City Councilor John Lally said in an interview with MassLive last week. For example, according to the audit, Sullivan met with Clarkson, Thomas, Petronio and Correia to discuss the school departments budget and the citys appropriation approximately nine times during the 2023 fiscal year. These budget meetings provided the Mayor with an opportunity to ask probing questions about BPS finances and spending, but the Mayor was complacent, the auditors wrote. Additionally, during the 2023 fiscal year and specifically in April and May 2023, Sullivan learned about overspending issues with payroll, out-of-district tuition and transportation the areas in which the school department overspent the most, according to the audit. When informed of each of these issues, Mayor Sullivan did not ask about the costs, the magnitude of the problem, or the potential impact on the FY23 Budget, the auditors wrote. He did not direct Clarkson to exercise oversight in response to these concerns, nor did the Mayor follow-up to assess whether these overspending issues had been rectified. A divide between the city and its school department The auditors attribute this disconnect to a sharp and deeply rooted divide between the City and the School Department. This split between the school departments operations and the operations of all other city departments persisted despite legal and common sense reasons for collaboration, they wrote. With respect to budgeting, both the Mayor and City CFO knew that the structure of the School Departments budget which made up almost 50% of the Citys overall budget was substandard and lacked detail. But they did not believe it was their job to do anything to correct deficiencies within the School Department, so they remained silent as fiscal problems festered, the audit reads. On Wednesday, Sullivan repeatedly admitted fault for not keeping a closer eye on the school departments finances. The discovery that people he trusted were not acting responsibly or providing necessary information was a big learning lesson, he said. In hindsight, more oversight should have happened and information should have been scrutinized more carefully by myself, as the chair of the school committee, and also my fellow school committee members, he said. But Sullivan and Clarkson also used the divide as an excuse to leave it up to the school department to fix these issues despite the fact that, by law, the school departments fiscal health is also their responsibility, the auditors wrote. On Wednesday, Sullivan made similar comments while acknowledging that the rift between the school department and the rest of city government needs to be bridged. When asked how Petronio was able to continue using bad accounting practices which the audit said were a major factor in creating the deficit after they were flagged by the state education department in a 2020 review of the school district, he said youd have to ask the superintendent. Folks on the school side did not work for the mayor of the city of Brockton, right? he said. Theyre not hired by the mayor. Theyre hired by the superintendent. For Thomas part, when asked this same question, he cited other past audits of the school finance department that were positive. But when asked why nothing was done to ensure the state-recommended changes to Petronios accounting were made, he answered I dont know. Winning back trust During a press conference following the release of the audit last week, the mayor voiced support for a long list of recommendations meant prevent Brockton Public Schools from going into deficit again that were detailed in the audit, such as merging the school department and citys finance offices and having an outside firm review the school departments spending on a regular basis. He also said some changes had already been implemented, such as redeveloping the school departments budget planning process. On Wednesday, Sullivan repeatedly expressed a desire to make the changes necessary to stop a future school department budget deficit and move forward from the situation. Read more: Brockton schools audit finds even higher deficit than previously reported In an interview with MassLive last week, Brockton City Councilor-at-Large Winthrop Farwell Jr. said that, while the mayor deserves criticism based on the audits findings, the existence of the audit alone shows a large degree of honesty on Sullivans part. Farwell highlighted that the mayor not only cooperated with both the citys audit and the school committees investigation, but also published both reports publicly despite their sharp criticisms of himself and other city officials as he had promised from the outset. For all of his faults, the mayor is a very honest person, Farwell said. No, he doesnt like criticism, like the rest of us. And no, he doesnt like to get caught short in situations like this. But when it happens, he does take the attitude of Let it all come out, let the public know what happened, let them know whos involved because its the only way were going to try to earn back trust and go forward. Farwell said regardless of whether the mayor was among the group of city and school department officials and employees that knew about the deficit prior to August 2023, some people did know about it, and none of them alerted the school committee or City Council before then. That is very troubling, because if no one had the courage to step forward and say anything, it kind of leaves us wondering, Where was the integrity? he said. A day after a gun threat made to Nock Middle School in Newburyport was deemed as not credible, a child was charged in connection with the threat, Newburyport police Lt. Matt Simons announced Wednesday. At around 7:30 p.m. on Monday, police learned of the threat and opened an investigation, working with the Massachusetts State Police Fusion Center and the FBI, the department said in a statement released Wednesday. The child threatened to bring a gun to school on Snapchat, police said. During the investigation, authorities found that the student who made the threat was not a Newburyport Public Schools student, the statement read. No information about the charges was available due to the suspects age. "Parents and guardians are urged to have regular conversations with their children regarding appropriate social media use and encourage them to report alarming or threatening behavior, the statement read. About 10 months after a former Massachusetts nurse pleaded guilty to taking liquid oxycodone from syringes and replacing the drug with saline, she was sentenced to three years of probation on Monday, according to Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy. Jaclyn McQueen, 44, of Dedham, pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to one count of tampering with a consumer product on Jan. 5. U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick sentenced her on Monday, Levys office said in a statement. Between February and May 2020, McQueen was a registered nurse at a Dedham rehabilitation center which provided patients with long-term chronic and post-acute care, Levys office said. McQueen has access to oxycodone, a Schedule II narcotic prescribed to patients at the rehabilitation center, from syringes, the statement read. During her work shifts, she would remove the liquid oxycodone meant for patients, consume it, and refill the syringes with water. McQueen placed the diluted syringes in the medication carts, where they could have been administered to patients. Regular service on the MBTAs Red Line resumed between two stations in Dorchester Wednesday morning after a water issue near a station led to track flooding. A pipe elbow near the Ashmont station in Dorchester let go Tuesday evening, a spokesman for the Boston Water & Sewer Commission told reporters at the scene. The water issue caused flooding along nearby roads and into the MBTA station, where it created a dangerous condition as it rose to the level of the electrified third rail, according to a spokesman for the transit agency. As of around 7:20 a.m. Wednesday morning, the MBTA said regular service had resumed, replacing shuttle buses that had been in use between Ashmont and JFK/UMass late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. The disruption came as another stretch of the subway line is shut down for repairs. Since Sept. 6, shuttle buses have replaced train service between JFK/UMass and Braintree. Regular service on that branch of the line is expected to resume on Sept. 29. The MBTA first alerted commuters to the water issue at around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday. Around 8 p.m., the transit agency blamed delays on water from an external pipe near the station that entered the northbound track area at Ashmont. Shuttle buses began replacing service minutes later. The states police oversight agency is scheduled Thursday to consider disciplinary action against William Farwell, the former Stoughton police officer whose brother was charged last month with killing Sandra Birchmore. The Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or POST, will review a voluntary decertification or suspension agreement with Farwell during a closed-door executive session, according to the agenda for its Thursday meeting. MassLive recently asked readers to identify people they consider Hispanic and Latino leaders in Massachusetts, working to make a difference across the state. Profiles of these leaders will be published over the course of Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. These are people readers have identified as inspirational, who may be doing good acts for their communities. They are being recognized for their accomplishments, leadership and commitment to inspire change. Ricard Torres-MatelunaSebastian Restrepo Ricard Torres-Mateluna Age: 51 Community: Springfield His story: Since the early 2000s, Ricard Torres-Mateluna has dedicated his time and efforts towards helping people with disabilities from underserved communities. I forge meaningful connections between individuals, their unique stories, and our diverse communities through the specialized services our organization offers, Torres-Mateluna said. Together, were not just providing services; were building bridges, fostering understanding, and creating a more vibrant, interconnected community where everyone has the chance to thrive beyond limits. Torres-Mateluna is the vice president of marketing and communications of Viability a non-profit organization located in Springfield that provides human services to individuals with disabilities. Serving in this role for three years now, Torres-Matelunas mission is to, cultivate a more equitable and inclusive society, where people with disabilities and other disadvantages are empowered to reach their full potential. My particular focus is on breaking down language barriers by ensuring our vital services are accessible to Spanish-speaking communities, Torres-Mateluna told MassLive. By bridging this gap, we open doors to opportunities and support that might otherwise remain out of reach. Torres-Matelunas advocacy journey began in Watsonville, California, where he worked with migrant workers looking for services for themselves and their families. These services ranged from lactation, immigration and accessible services for parents and children with disabilities, according to Torres-Mateluna. His journey would then take him to Reno, Nevada, where he would help create exhibits, educational materials and programs at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum. The exhibits feature braille and audio spoken in Spanish, Tagalog, Basque and Paiute the last of which is spoken by a Native American nation in the Reno Area, according to Torres-Mateluna. As an immigrant, Latino and a father of two children with disabilities Ive made my mission to be active in making accessibility and inclusion possible for those who need our help getting access, recognition and services, Torres-Mateluna told MassLive. Recently, Torres-Mateluna has been serving as a member of the Northampton Jazz Festivals board of directors. In this role, he has worked to ensure people with disabilities can volunteer at the festival in different capacities and that this years musical offerings are broad and welcoming to different styles and musicians worldwide. Torres-Mateluna told MassLive that as an immigrant who has witnessed firsthand the barriers certain groups face in accessing vital services, he has dedicated his career to bridging these gaps and empowering underserved communities. Every day, I witness how improved access to information and services can transform lives, Torres-Mateluna told MassLive. By breaking down language barriers and cultural misunderstandings, were not just providing services were opening doors to opportunities and fostering a more inclusive society. In his words: Immerse yourself in the communities you serve. Theres no substitute for direct engagement with people. Listen actively to their stories, challenges, and aspirations. This firsthand experience is invaluable it will inform your work and fuel your passion. Were always open to hearing about more inspiring people. If youd like to suggest someone else who should be recognized, please fill out this form. LOS ANGELESDoc Johnson on Tuesday announced the availability of Bundles, a new way to help retailers build their stores walls. Doc Johnsons first bundles are groupings of the companys top-selling brands: Classics, Merci, Rock Solid, In a Bag, Main Squeeze, Signature Strokers, and Signature Cocks. More will be announced quarterly, and each bundle will include a planogram and every item in the planogram. Working hand-in-hand with buyers for as long as I have, I know this is a huge deal for both Doc Johnson and our customers, said Kerin DeFrancis, director of sales at Doc Johnson. Not only are Bundles easier to order, but they also provide an easy way to market and make the products stand out in-store. There are many benefits to ordering products as a Bundle, including the ease of order, as each Bundle is only one SKU. Additionally, everyone who purchases a bundle will also receive an added discount, free tester item, free promotional item, and branded header sticker. For sales inquiries, contact your sales representative or email [email protected]. Additional marketing materials can be found at our online resource center, B2BDocJohnson.com. Tupperware, the once-popular plastic container brand, is seeking to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy after years of declining sales, according to media reports. Tupperware plans to continue to operate as it goes through the process of bankruptcy and will seek court approval for a sale to protect its brand, the company said, according to the Associated Press. The company is trying to file for bankruptcy after years of financial ups and downs, according to the AP. Tupperware sales grew somewhat during the pandemic as more families cooked in their homes. But, overall sales have declined since 2018 due to competition. Even with a recently restructured balance sheet and a temporary financial boost, Tupperwares high leverage, declining sales and shrinking profit margins were too much to overcome, James Gellert, executive chairman at financial analytics firm RapidRatings, told Reuters. The company was popular in the 1950s when women, as a sign of their independence, held Tupperware parties to sell the products, Reuters reported. But in recent years, the company has tried to turn around plummeting sales, Reuters added. The companys stock jumped for some time in 2023 after retail investors coordinated behind social media and focused their bets on struggling companies with high short interest, Reuters reported. As the first day of fall approaches and people soak in those final summer trips to the beach, the presence of white sharks off the Massachusetts coasts is going to peak for at least another month. The reminder from adjunct scientist at the New England Aquarium John Chisholm in an X post as sharks were spotted off Crane Beach in Ipswich on Tuesday, prompting a beach closure. Its peak white shark season throughout [Massachusetts], not just on Cape Cod, he wrote. Please be #SharkSmart and review shark safety guidelines before entering the water. Crane Beach closed on Tuesday after Ipswich police confirmed that a shark was spotted at the eastern end of the beach in about 5 to 7 feet of water, according to a statement on Facebook. After the sighting, the beach was closed for the rest of the day and on Tuesday out of an abundance of caution, according to The Trustees at Crane Beach in an X post. We continue to collaborate with local Public Safety Officials to determine a safe reopening time, to be announced ASAP, The Trustees posted. The beach remains open for all other recreation. Crane Beachs property director Chris Moore said in a statement that the beach will remain closed for swimming through Monday, Sept. 23. Todays patrol by the harbormaster indicated there were still sharks present in the immediate area of the beach, Moore said. We will continue to work closely with local law enforcement and the harbormaster to determine the safest and most responsible plan to reopen the beach for swimming. Crane Beach does remain open for other forms of recreation, such as hiking on the dune trails. Chisholms comments echoed the Atlantic White Shark Conservancys remarks at the end of August, also in an X post. As the summer season comes to a close, it is important to remember: August-October are peak months of white shark activity off the coast of Cape Cod, the Chatham-based conservancy wrote. We remind people to pay attention to signs posted at the beach, listen to lifeguards, and follow safety tips. Shark sightings leaped in 2023 between July and August, from 17,073 detections to 29,837, according to the conservancys numbers. After a slight drop in September with around 25,559 detections, October 2023 saw the highest number of detections all year with 40,322. They really start to pick up this time of year, Chisholm told the Boston Globe on Sept. 7. If you go back and look at tagging data, theres nowhere near the numbers of individuals that are detected like there are off the Cape. But if you look at Scituate, Marshfield, Plymouth, Sandwich, youll see that in mid-August into September and October, the numbers of detections increase. While detections and sightings increase, it does not mean beaches are safer with fewer people, Chisholm added. He told the newspaper that beachgoers must be more vigilant this time of year than ever. I still see a lot of misinformation on social media about, you know, the waters getting cool, the sharks are leaving, he told the Globe. No, this is what the sharks like. They like this time of year. In the week since Sept. 11, there have been around 18 shark sightings and at least six detections, according to the shark-tracking app run by the conservancy, Sharktivity. The closure also occurred after 14 bottlenose dolphins were stranded off Brewsters coast, leaving three dolphins dead. Later, the surviving 11 were stranded off of Lieutenant Island in Wellfleet. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is headed to must-win Pennsylvania on Wednesday for an abortion rights rally headlined by Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz. The rally in the state capital of Harrisburg is part of the Democratic presidential campaigns Fighting for Reproductive Freedom bus tour, the campaign has announced. The event is set to take place on Wednesday afternoon in a yet-to-be-disclosed location in the Harrisburg area. Healey, a former two-term state attorney general, has been an outspoken advocate for reproductive rights. Abortion remains safe and legal in Massachusetts in the wake of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that toppled Roe v. Wade. In addition to Healey and other supporters, Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who survived a rape and subsequent miscarriage and has campaigned with Democrats against Republican-led abortion bans, also is set to appear. President Joe Biden carried Pennsylvania in 2020, taking its 19 electoral votes, and clinching his White House win. Both Harris and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, have spent significant time in Pennsylvania, one of several battleground states that are essential to winning the White House. Harris holds a statistically insignificant lead of less than 1% in Pennsylvania, according to the latest FiveThirtyEight polling average. The fight over reproductive rights continues to be a key issue for a core bloc of voters, particularly among women aged 18-49, according to KFF polling. About a fifth of this voting bloc say abortion is their most important voting issue and half say they will only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion. And 90% of those respondents said they want a federal law restoring a nationwide right to abortion similar to what was protected by Roe v. Wade. That same polling shows more voters trust Harris and Walz, 53%3-34% more than Trump on reproductive rights. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro kicked off the reproductive rights tour in Philadelphia on Sunday, where he noted that Pennsylvania has seen a flood of women from West Virginia and Ohio seeking abortion-related medical care since those states enacted severe limits. PennLive Reporter Zach Hoopes contributed to this story. SPRINGFIELD The city of Westfield is now defending itself against three alleged wage theft lawsuits involving the Police Department, after two new cases were filed last week. The city of Westfield just continues to violate wage and hour laws when it comes to paying those who work for the police department, said Springfield lawyer Jeffrey Morneau, who initially filed a wage theft lawsuit in Hampden County Superior Court on behalf of Westfield Police officer Jason Perron in September 2023, and has now filed two more on behalf of other officers. The citys Law Department declined to comment on the two new lawsuits, citing a policy of not speaking about ongoing litigation. WESTFIELD School Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski proposed moving the preschool classes at Fort Meadow Early Childhood Center into two of the citys elementary schools at the Sept. 17 meeting of the Westfield School Committee. The committee has been discussing closing Fort Meadow for several years. The preschool center is currently slated to close at the end of this school year unless the School Committee votes otherwise, but there is no plan yet on where to place the classrooms serving 3- and 4-year-olds. Its a difficult time to be a card carrying member of the Catholic Church. The recent Scoping Inquiry on Religious Schools is simply shocking. The hurt suffered by innocent children is devastating. It is so harrowing to even imagine the depths of pain and suffering meted out by people who professed faith in Jesus Christ. There are no words for that level of contradiction. Those of us who escaped such experiences have no idea of the depth of agony, pain and betrayal felt by those who were victimised. To have to carry that pain for a generation, as many had to, is unimaginable. Too often they were not believed and their suffering was compounded. For some they had to watch helplessly as abusers were moved from one parish or school to another in a sick attempt to protect perpetrators rather than support the victims. It wasnt just Church authorities, but society at large, including successive governments, that thought nothing of heaping layer upon layer of pain on hearts and minds already shattered and broken. No one stood up. No one listened, Church or State. Both institutions bear the responsibility. Hopefully, the forthcoming Commission of Investigation will be configured in such a way that victims set the parameters, not the wishes of the State or the fears of the Church. Our history on effective tribunals, inquiries and commissions has been haphazard, at best. Senior politicians who take cheap pot-shots at the Church would do well to remember that it was religious women and men drawn from Irish families who stepped in to provide education to Irish children ahead of any State educational involvement. Those same families also supplied the women who became nursing sisters and provided healthcare to all long before the State ever accepted it had a responsibility to do so. The same politicians are slow to admit that the State has a huge responsibility in all the tragedy of child abuse. In some cases, the State created a system that it gladly fed. It propped up a system that appeared to solve a State problem even if in doing so it created other problems for children. This is not to minimise or attempt to make any excuse for any abusive action carried out by a priest, brother or sister. There is not, and never will be, an excuse for abuse carried out by religious people. Hearing senior ministers calling out the Church solves nothing. They werent as vociferous when Tusla revealed (as of May 9) that 23 children in the Separated Children Seeking International Protection service remain missing from care. Of these one child is missing since 2022, 13 from 2023, and nine to date in 2024. These are children in State care, but there is no outcry from Government ministers about their own level of incompetence. Abuse in not confined to Church-run institutions. Naturally, RTE and the usual Church-bashers within the media had a field day. It seems that its always acceptable to denigrate the Church, especially by our national broadcaster and certain strands of the national press. Now is not the time for unconsidered reactions to a serious problem. Its so easy to get involved in the blame game when the issue of abuse needs more than simple polarisation. It requires serious attention and serious supports. Reparation and healing are needed, not retribution. Any further State probe needs to include ALL schools, not just religious schools. Abuse, in all its horrific incidents, was not confined to religious schools. It happened in all kinds of schools. Abuse, whether we like it or not, is a societal issue. Scapegoating a particular sector will justify our anger for a short period, but it wont serve the best interests of victims. We can no longer avoid the core problem. Writing recently, Padraig McCarthy stated: The Murphy [Dublin] report on the handling of allegations of abuse dealt overwhelmingly with how Dublin diocese handled allegations, while failing to scrutinise equally the handling of those cases by the State, which was also in the terms of reference. The result is a serious imbalance. We only find what we look for. All victims need to be heard, thats the whole truth. Mayo radio host and podcaster Laurita Blewitt has welcomed a baby girl with husband and former Derry All-Ireland winning star and RTE pundit, Joe Brolly. The couple welcomed their first baby together after an 'emergency' birth, but both mother and daughter are doing well. Speaking of the happy occasion on his 'Free State Podcast' with Dion Fanning on Monday, Mr Brolly described the feeling of holding his child for the first time 'as close to paradise as any human being can get.' The Knockmore woman, who is a relative of US president Joe Biden, married the GAA pundit in an intimate ceremony of 100 family and friends at the Ice House Hotel in Ballina two years ago. Mr Brolly, who has five children from his former marriage, told the podcast of the worry and then wonder of the new arrival. "It's something that takes you out of yourself and gives you a sense of peace and joy that is hard to communicate with anyone who hasn't had that. "As these things are when you have control over them at one point it got very scary and became an emergency, and they couldn't get the baby out. It was a huge collection of doctors and anaesthetists then in the theatre," added the Derry man. "Whenever I went in, it looked like the first scene of childbirth - the musical, and me being me, the fear and all that, I cracked a joke which went down like a lead balloon obviously at that stage. It's a funny thing. When it all turned out well, they are both bruised and battered, it's as if it never happened. We are very good at putting traumas behind us. "I still haven't burst out crying yet, and I'm not going to on this podcast, but it's all very overwhelming. I think also now because I'm older now and have seen a lot of the world, you are able better to roll with it, he told the Podcast. Ms Blewitt, who works for Mayo Roscommon Hospice, was a former employee of The Mayo News, having worked in the advertising department for a number of years. She is best known for her part in the hugely successful 'Tommy, Hector and Laurita' podcast, with comedians Tommy Tiernan and Hector Hector O hEochagain, which came to an end five months ago. The podcast had consistently been one of the most listened to in the country since its inception in September 2020. A MAN who was caught begging outside Dunnes Stores in Castlebar has been sentenced to two weeks imprisonment. Bucan Gheorge (34) of no fixed abode appeared before Castlebar District Court where he pleaded guilty to begging in Castlebar on June 15, 2021. Court presenter, Inspector David Tiernan, explained that the defendant was observed by Garda John McNamara on Hopkins Road outside Castlebar with a paper cup in his hand collecting coins. Insp Tiernan said that Garda McNamara observed adults giving money and he approached the defendant to tell him he was committing an offence. The court heard that there was 10.05 in the cup and Mr Gheorge was directed to leave the area. Insp Tiernan outlined that Mr Gheorge, a Romanian national, has previous convictions for begging in the UK and his solicitor Cathy McDarby said that her client was now looking for work after returning from Romania. She said that he is living with friends in Cork and had travelled by public transport to Mayo to face the charge. She said he understood he should not be begging and will not do it again. Judge Fiona Lydon sentenced Mr Gheorge to a two-week term of imprisonment and told him there are many resources available to him without having to go begging. Ballinrobes Friars Lodge Nursing Home held a photographic exhibition to celebrate Nursing Home Ireland Week. The theme, Celebrating Life through Pictures saw residents, their families and staff celebrate a number of events to mark the week. The week kicked-off with an exhibition featuring past and present photos of residents. At the Friar's Lodge Nursing Home, Ballinrobe, Sony Sebastian (Nurse), Patrick Wall and Maeve Stevens (Activities) (Photo:Trish Forde) Residents enjoyed freshly baked scones and tea while we set up a photobooth to take more snaps. Local photographer Trish Forde visited the nursing home to take some professional shots, and Matt Keane delighted the residents with his songs and stories in the afternoon. Adrian and his Ice-cream Van made a surprise visit during the homes music event. Friars Lodge was opened in 2004 by Tanya and Gerry Gallen, natives of York and Donegal, as a purpose-built single storey Nursing Home providing quality long term and respite care for up to 64 residents. Many staff members are employed from the surrounding locality and further afield. Celebrating Nursing Home Ireland Week was Evelyn Sears (Photo:Trish Forde) Alongside 24-hour nursing care we provide a varied activity program such as daily exercise classes, gardening, bowling, baking, card playing, bingo, sing-songs and more. Services such as hairdressing, chiropody and physiotherapy and others are also available on request. For more information on Friars Lodge nursing home, see their Facebook page. There was huge interest this afternoon in the event unfolding in Killala Bay. The live-streams on the web saw some serious traffic as people were watching the former smuggling ship slowly sinking. At 16:10 the MS Shingles was completely immersed into the waters off Killala. Mayo Minister for State Dara Calleary (Fianna Fail) TD has hailed the sinking of the former smuggling ship, the MV Shingle, off the coast in Killala Bay, as a remarkable achievement and momentous day for North Mayo and West Sligo. Calleary said: This project proves what can be achieved when state bodies and public representatives work collaboratively Revenue, the Department of Justice, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Community and Rural Development who have provided ORIS Funding and both local authorities have played a role in bringing the project to fruition and it is fantastic to see good resulting from something that began its story in Ireland as something so wrong! The MV Shingle has the potential now to bring prosperity to our locality and I know that the project has enjoyed widespread approval among tourism and hospitality operators in North Mayo and West Sligo the exposure from the sinking of the vessel alone is publicity that you just cannot buy. I am really excited about the potential of the project and congratulate all involved in making it a reality. CREDIT: WWE When WWE and NBCUniversal announced SmackDown would return to the USA Network this fall after five years on Fox, the press release also mentioned that NBC would air quarterly WWE specials throughout the deal. On Tuesday, WWE officially announced that the first special to air on NBC will be on December 14 and will feature the return of Saturday Nights Main Event. WWE also released a video to accompany the announcement. SATURDAY NIGHTS MAIN EVENT IS BACK! As reported by @Variety, the legendary WWE event returns on December 14 at @NassauColiseum in Long Island, NY. MORE INFO: https://t.co/I7BSY8VO6l SIGN UP FOR TICKETS: https://t.co/HGkyy1TTA1 pic.twitter.com/6dEi8Kgqft WWE (@WWE) September 17, 2024 From 1985 to 1991, WWE and NBC partnered to bring fans 29 SNME shows, and they played a pivotal role in promoting Hulk Hogan or WrestleMania as they attempted to woo WWE mainstream exposure. On NBC, SNME would air during the Saturday Night Live timeslot, taking over when the show was in its off-season or otherwise not airing that week. That seemingly wont be the case this time, as the reveal trailer noted that December 14s show would start at 8 p.m. ET, be available on Peacock as well as NBC, and will take place at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, the site of the first SNME. Two SNME episodes also aired on Fox in 1992, and the company briefly rebooted the event for five unmemorable shows on NBC from 2006 to 2008. [WWE] by Tanya Gazdik , September 16, 2024 So long flex scheduling, at least for Amazon corporate employees. Starting Jan. 2, they will have to return to the office five days a week, a change from the company's current pandemic-era hybrid policy that requires them to be in the office just three days a week. CEO Andy Jassy made the announcement about the new policy Monday, writing that the change will help its thousands of employees invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other and our culture to deliver the absolute best for customers and the business. Although companies in certain sectors, particularly on Wall Street, have emphasized a full return, companies have largely let up on demanding that employees work five days a week in the office, according to CNN Business. Just 4% of US CEOs and 4% of CEOs worldwide at the beginning of the year said they will prioritize bringing workers back to the office full time, according to a CEO survey from The Conference Board. advertisement advertisement In February 2023, Amazon asked all employees to come back to the office for three mandatory days, resulting in some protests from workers. Jassy acknowledged that before the pandemic, when full-time in-office work was the norm, remote work exceptions were made for employees who had extenuating circumstances, according to CBS News. Such leniency will continue. The move marks the first of the Big Tech companies to require a full week in office post pandemic, notes The Washington Post. At least some Amazon workers seem dismayed by the summons to return to the office, expressing unhappiness in an internal messaging channel, according to The New York Times. "The whole situation is just very depressing and de-motivating to say the least," one message read, the newspaper reported. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, September 18, 2024 Negative keywords are coming to Google Performance Max campaigns, along with new insights and reporting. Google also plans to strengthen brand controls on Broad Match, expand AI features and much more. The announcements -- made at DMEXCO in Europe to bring more controls and insights -- should improve advertising performance across Googles AI-powered products, but also squash an ongoing complaint from advertisers that the company doesnt do enough to support transparency. Advertisers want more controls across AI-powered campaigns that can provide more insights into how campaigns run. Google today announced the launch of campaign-level negative keywords in Performance Max that will start rolling out by the end of the year. The idea is to ensure ads align with specific brand and audience needs in Search inventory. advertisement advertisement New optimization levers are also coming to Demand Gen campaigns. Omnichannel bidding will be available in beta in the coming months to help maximize online and in-store conversions. In October, Google plans to roll out support for buying Demand Gen campaigns in Display & Video 360, providing greater flexibility and reach within existing workflows. Among the announcements made Wednesday, visibility into campaign performance will likely strike the strongest chord. It begins with an overhaul of performance insights without having to dig through multiple reports. Google combined insights, explanations and recommendations into one view to help advertisers understand and address campaign fluctuations. Target pacing insights allow advertisers to track progress against cost per acquisitions (CPAs) and return on ad spend (ROAS) goals to help explain if a campaign is on track with expected bid targets. If not, Brendon Kraham, vice president of search and commerce, Global Ads Solutions, writes: integration with explanations reveals the contributing factors whether it's bid strategies adjusting to recent market shifts or budget limitations influencing results, then recommendations will provide ways to improve the campaign. Impression share reporting is coming to Performance Max for the first time, Kraham explains in the post, to enable advertises to see how they serve up for text and Shopping ads on Search results pages. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, September 18, 2024 A House Committee on Wednesday advanced the controversial Kids Online Safety Act, which would regulate how social media platforms display material to minors under 17. The proposed law, which the Energy and Commerce committee passed by a voice vote, aims to protect young people from harms that some observers have associated with social media use. The current House version of the bill, which was revised shortly before the vote, would require large platforms to implement design features (such as notifications, automatic scrolling and personalized recommendations) with an eye to preventing a list of specific harms. That list includes physical violence and harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse, and the promotion of inherently dangerous acts that are likely to cause serious bodily harm, serious emotional disturbance, or death. advertisement advertisement That revised version would appear to impose a narrower obligation on technology companies than the Senate bill, which was passed 91-3 earlier this year. The Senate's iteration of the law would require platforms to use reasonable care to avoid causing a broader range of harms -- including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and suicidal behaviors -- via design features. The bill's ultimate fate remains uncertain. Ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) said Wednesday he couldn't support the bill in its current form. I obviously firmly support protecting kids online, but I have serious concerns that this bill will not have its intended effects, and may have unintended consequences, he said. Pallone also said he was concerned that the last-minute amendment prevented the public from having a chance to weigh in on the proposed law. Pallone wasn't the only lawmaker to express concerns about the bill. Several House members criticized the new amendment Wednesday, arguing that it weakened the measure. Others who objected to the bill said its language was ambiguous and likely to face court challenges. The committee also advanced by voice vote the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, which would prohibit websites and apps from collecting personal information -- including data stored on cookies, device identifiers and other pseudonymous information used for ad targeting -- from teens between the ages of 13 and 15, without first obtaining their explicit consent. That bill would also restrict some forms of marketing to children and teens, but would allow companies to serve contextually targeted ads to young people. The youth advocacy group Fairplay -- which supports both bills -- cheered Wednesday's vote as a step forward, but added that the Kids Online Safety Act has not yet been finalized. We will continue to work with House and Senate leaders to make sure the bill provides the online protections that all young people deserve, Fairplay Executive Director Josh Golin stated. The ad industry self-regulatory group Network Advertising Initiative separately praised the committee for advancing the teens' privacy bill, stating that members of the organization don't want to harness minor's data for targeted advertising. The legislation would also preserve the ability for child-directed sites and services to utilize contextual advertising, which is essential for monetizing free and low cost content for children, Leigh Freund, the group's president and CEO stated. The tech industry organization NetChoice had urged the committee to reject both bills, stating they are false promises to American families. Parents need laws that are meaningful and constitutional, but [Kids Online Safety Act] is neither, Amy Bos, director of state and federal affairs at NetChoice, stated. Judges have invalidated other state laws that aimed to regulate how social media platforms display content to minors. For instance, last month a federal appellate court blocked key portions of a California law that would have required online companies likely to be accessed by users under 18 to evaluate whether the design of their services could expose minors to potentially harmful content, and to mitigate that potential harm. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in that case that those provisions likely violated the First Amendment's prohibition on censorship. Alia Bhatt is one of the best actresses in Bollywood today. Be it her looks, acting or her roles, the woman has an aura like no other on the big screen. She digs deep into her characters and has got a lot of praise for bringing them to life on screen. Be it Highway, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Udta Punjab, Darlings or Raazi, Alia has delivered some exceptional performances that have left the audience in awe of her. And why not? She brings a natural simplicity to her roles and that sets her apart from the current crop of actresses. Eros International Her improvement as an actress is commendable when one considers that her performance in her first lead role back in 2012 left a lot to be desired. She played the female lead in Student of the Year. The movie got mixed reviews and Alia did not make too many fans for her acting skills. But in her coming movies she proved her detractors wrong and by 2016, she was one of the best Bollywood had to offer. She even ventured in Telugu films with RRR and Hollywood with Heart of Stone. But believe it or not, while Student of the Year is her first lead role on the big screen, it is not her first Bollywood film. In fact, when she made her Bollywood debut, Alia was only five years old. For that we need to rewind to 1999. The name of the movie was Sangharsh which was similar to the 1991 thriller The Silence of the Lambs. Sangharsh starred Preity Zinta and Akshay Kumar in lead roles while Ashutosh Rana played the villain. Alia had a cameo in the childhood role of Preitys character. She is not there for too long in the film, but that scene does hold a significant part in the backdrop of Preitys character in the movie. Sangharsh got mixed reviews as well but many critics did praise it for the plot and storyline. Rana was hailed for his portrayal of a psychotic antagonist. It was a movie where the female lead had more screen time and significance than the male lead. Not something we saw often back then. In fact, the entire film is from Preitys point of view. Alia was part of a flashback. The country woke up to startling news on 16th September 2024 as Arvind Kejriwal announced that he would be stepping down from the post of Delhis Chief Minister. Kejriwal had been Delhis CM since 2013 and his resignation led to the inevitable question who will succeed him as the national capitals CM? Arvind Kejriwal proposed AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) leader Atishis name as his successor for the CMs post. The Lt. Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena, proposed that Atishi be sworn in as Delhis Chief Minister on September 21, 2024. As Atishi gears up to become Delhis new Chief Minister, lets take a look at five of the most interesting facts about her. 1. Why Atishi Marlena Singh dropped her middle name Instagram/Atishi The AAP leaders full name is Atishi Marlena Singh, but you wont find her middle name in official records or her social media handles. Thats because Marlena is a portmanteau of two names Marx and Lenin. Until 2018, Marlena was her last name and she had dropped Singh, her familys Punjabi Rajput surname. However, she dropped Marlena from her name amid allegations that she was trying to polarise voters. 2. Atishi is a Harry Potter fan Negotiation with my 12-year old niece about Netflix Niece: Masi, lets watch the last Harry Potter movie Me: Niece: MLAs So now watching Harry Potter pic.twitter.com/u19Nq109JO Atishi (@AtishiAAP) February 18, 2020 Atishi, in her Instagram bio, proclaims that she is a Harry Potter fan. A few years ago, she had also tweeted about enjoying the film with her 12-year-old niece after becoming the Kalkaji MLA in 2020. 3. Atishi will be Delhis youngest female CM Arvind Kejriwals successor, Atishi, will create a new record by becoming Delhis youngest female Chief Minister. She is the citys third female Chief Minister after Congress Sheila Dixit (1998 to 2013) and BJPs Sushma Swaraj, who took office for 52 days in 1998. 4. Atishi brought in several educational reforms Hi guys, my phone has been hacked. Please ignore all the weird texts and calls you receive from this number until further updates. One of the most heartbreaking bios you can add to your Instagram account is a warning like this. Its a jumpscare you dont want in your life. But welcome to the digital world. Your personal information, your contacts, intimate messages and pictures are all in the hands of a stranger/hacker with intentions youre unaware of. GIFDB Were living in times when our brains cease to function without our phones. Contacts and calculations, memory and memorieswe are not in a position to let a hacker take over our smartphones. But God forbid, if it ends up happening to you then how would you know and what would you do? Panic, of course. But then? Let us tell you some of the basics of how to know if your phone is hacked and what you can do in a situation if it is. Can my phone be hacked? iStock In todays time when the information is spread in the for of MBs, GBs and TBs like air, there are many ways for cyber criminals to steal, take control and misuse whatever is stored in your phone or even deleted from it. Despite stronger security promised by Apple, all phoneiPhone or Androidare vulnerable. One of the most common hacking techniques is by fooling the user into clicking on a link or downloading software from a fake app store or elsewhere through social engineeringa form of cyber attack in which criminals manipulate victims into handing over sensitive information. Social engineering is one of the biggest headaches for cybersecurity professionals. This can happen through a phishing email. Public wifi networks that are fake can fool users too. SIM swap is also a hacking technique in which an attacker persuades a victim's mobile provider to transfer their SIM card to a device under their control. And there are other ways which well discuss later. But know that once a hacker finds its way into your phone, all your information is exposed and at risk, regardless of whether its been delated or not. How to know if your phone is hacked iStock When I was using my phone today, many important apps started opening on their own very quickly and even the apps I havent used in past 7 days, kept popping. I had no control on my phone. After a struggle for a few minutes, I managed to restart my phone after which things worked fine. I think my phone was hacked. This is what a hacked phone looked like for an android user. For you it can also look like this: 1. Things you dont recognise, appear Apps you never downloaded, purchases you never made, text messages you never sent and calls on numbers you dont recognise are some of the most common and basic signs. Check for new apps in your phones app library. 2. Slow functioning, more battery consumption Your phone starts working at an unusually slow speed and the battery drains more quickly. You might even notice that your phone has become hotter than normal. This happens because malware working in the background may reduce its power drastically. To be sure youre dealing with a malware issue, go into your battery settings and see the apps that are using extra battery life. If you notice anythin you dont recognise, it could be malware. In case your phone is hotter than usual: On iPhone, turn off background app refresh to see if your phone cools down and the issues are fixed. Android users can enable developer options and look into services that are running. 3. Higher than usual data usage iStock Red flag alert. Without any significant change from your end, data usage could spike because process of tracking what you do going on in the background is consuming your mobile data. Check into your phone settings which apps are using more of your mobile data. 4. Uncontrolled activities Apps are switching on and off unexpectedly, not tunning at your command, are crashing and failing to load. To be sure, try rebooting your android device in Safe Mode. This will only run limited apps and processes. If your phone is working fine with Safe Mode, youre likely dealing with a corrupt app or file that needs to be removed. If not, its a malware. 5. Pop-ups Random pop-ups ads appearing on your phones screen is a sign of spyware, malware or adwaremalicious app hackers use to generate revenue by disrupting ads without users consent. These ads can even direct you to pages designed to steal your personal information. So avoid tapping on them. Check for adware in your mobile browsers extensions. On iOS devices, go to Settings > Safari > Extensions and delete any unknown extensions you see. 6. Issues with online accounts iStock Spyware in infected phones can skim account credentials and transmit them to the hacker, leading to credit and debit fraud. In some cases, hackers may change the password and lock out the owner as well. If you notice that youre unable to access your accounts with your original password, consider a strong possibility of a hacked phone. Immediately reset our account passwords and secure the services with a stronger password, two-factor authentication (2FA) and secure backup accounts. 7. Getting locked out of your Apple ID or Google account Like your bank IDs, hackers can brak into your Apple ID or Google account with an intention to change password and lock you out. If you cant access your ID, immediately follow the account recovery instructions from Apple and Google. 8. Receiving 2FA codes you didnt request If youve received 2FA codes, hackers already know your password and credentials. Theyre attempting to change it and lock you out. But your account is safe for now. Upon receiving unrequested password reset requests or 2FAs, perform a security checkup on your iPhone or Android. 9. Your camera/microphone light turns on iStock This could happen when a hacker is using stalking and monitoring apps. If the indicator lights go on eandomly, consider it a sign. You may spot random photos and videos in your gallery too. Check the app permissions on your iPhone or Android. If there are any unfamiliar apps that have access to your phones camera or microphone, disable them. 10. You cant get texts or calls Scams like SIM swapping allow hackers to take access to your phone number and divert calls and texts to their devices. If you feel you are not getting the calls and texts that you usually do, check your ohone and SMS settings. You may notice an unknown number in the forwarded section. If so, contact your carrier to see if theyve given access of your SIM to someone else. 11. Your personal information leaked in a data breach This isnt a sign of your phone being hacked. But it does expose you and your phone to hackers through Dark Web. While you cant remove your data from Dark Web yourself but knowing that you are more likely to get cyber attacked will make you more cautious. 12. By running antivirus software iStock Installing and running a trusted security software package can give you surety of whether your phone has actually been hacked or not. It can also find and remove any malware or spyware that may have infected your phone. Make sure software has done its job welldelete anything suspicious, restart your phone, run the software again. You can try these popular ones: Norton McAfee AVG Bitdefender Kaspersky How easily can someone hack into your phone? iStock With advanced technology, your phone can be hacked in many ways and some of them dont even require you to click any link. These are some of the most common methods used by hackers to scam you: 1. Sim swap This attack allows hackers to transfer your phone number to their own SIM card and take over your accounts. 2. Spyware Spyware apps are easy to get and navigate. Anyone can use it without any advanced IT knowledge. It allows hackers to remotely monitor your phone. They can install apps, transfer information and even get access to your passwords. 3. USB Cable This is one of the popular techniques you often see in movies and shows. A USB cable or charger lead can be used to hack your device. While a phone is connected to another device like a laptop or a disk through a USB cable, data transfer can happen. A computer or disk infected with viruses or malware can automatically infect your phone when connected. 4. Fake public Wi-Fi networks or charging stations iStock Your phone can easily get malware via fake public Wi-Fi services or charging stations. Fake networks setup by hackers are called evil twin networks. This hacking method is called man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack where hackers intercept communications sent from devices on unsecured internet connections. They redirect you to malicious websites. When they steal data through USB cable used at a public charging station, its called juice jacking. Hackers load malware into public chagrin stations. 5. Phishing attacks A phishing text, popup, email or WhatsApp message with malicious link can be sent to you with an intention of installing malware that can snatch your data. As reported by ZScaler, a cloud security company, in 2023, India was the third most targeted country for phishing attacks with more than 79 million reported incidents. With artificial intelligence, these attacks are becoming more sophisticated and subtle. 6. Malware infection While downloading certain apps, you may accidentally download malware yourself by clicking on malicious popups or links. Spyware, ransomware and adware are typical types of malware that are hidden by hackers in free, bogus apps and get distributed this way. In the first few months of 2024, ZScaler identified more tham 90 such apps with over 5.5 million download in the Google Play Store. 7. Bluetooth pairing iStock Hackers can take advantage of nearby devices with open-Bluetooth pairing enabled. Through Bluetooth attacks, hackers can send malicious links and softwarethis attack is called Bluejacking. This can be avoided by simply disabling open-Bluetooth connections. 8. How to know if your camera is hacked A few telltale signs for this would be random photos and videos in your gallery that you never clicked. Were not talking about the screenshots you accidentally take, these will be the ones that keep showing up and you keep finding new ones. You may also notice flash lighting up even when youre not using your phone. Can a phone be hacked when its switched off? iStock No. Phone hacking, remote or physical, only works when the device thats being targeted in switched on. This, however, doesnt put you into the safe zone entirely. Cybercriminals may spoof your number and make calls in your name from their device to extract important information or money from others. If your phone is jailbrokenmodified to remove restrictions and give hackers access to the devices operating systemthey can install malware that would activate as soon as your device is switched back on. Can a hacker hack your phone by calling you? iStock No, your phone cannot get hacked just by attending a call from a hacker. They cant break into into your phones software and modify anything through a phone call. Phone calls themselves dont have the power to spread malware. A hacker can call you and impersonate an official to gain your personal details, OTPs etc. With the information they dig out of you, they can hack your online accounts What to do if your phone is hacked? iStock Now that youve discovered how to check if your phone is hacked and learnt about ways hackers can use to take over your phone and all the important details in it lets discuss how to remove a hacker from your phone. 1. Remove suspicious apps Uninstall anything that you dont recognise in your phone, this could be a resource-draining app. To be sure that the app youre deleting is the right one, Google it or read about it on your respective app stores. Restart your phone and check if the removal was done properly. 2. Delete history Malware can hide in places you dont use often or even check regularly. Clear your cache, browsing history and downloads. Doing so will remove hidden malicious software. 3. Run an antivirus/anti-malware program iStock Download security software and run an antivirus scan. It can find, isolate and remove malware and spyware from your Android. For iPhones, there isnt any antivirus software, if a security app markets itself as one, it might not be as reliable as you may think. 4. Clear unrecognised devices Remove any unrecognised device from your Google Account or Apple ID. Hackers with access to your Apple and Google accounts can access them by connecting them in their devices. Logged in or not, get rid of the accounts that are new and not yours from your device. Upgrading the operating system and software will safeguard your phone as malware and hackers often work with outdated software. Once bug fixes are made by the developers and released in the form of software updates, apps become less vulnerable to hacks. You can also set your device to update automatically. 6. Change your passwords iStock Update all your passwords quickly, especially for the accounts you feel may have been accessed by the hackers. Enable 2FA. The extra layer of security becomes highly important when someone repeatedly tries to get into your online accounts. 7. Set up a password manager The tool creates and stores your passwords securely. It also alerts you when an account is more vulnerable. Some good ones even stop you from automatically filling your passwords on known phishing sites. 8. Turn off your mobile data and Wi-Fi when not in use Doing so will stop a malicious app from using your data and may even disrupt the activity running in the background if it relies on an internet connection. 9. Go nuclear With a heavy heart, resent your phone to its factory settings if you dont want to deal with any lingering issues on your phone. This step will wipe all files and settings on your phonemake sure you have a secure, virus-free backup. How to restore your phone to its factory setting iPhone: Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings > Enter your passcode or Apple ID password Samsung Android 5.0 or above: Apps > Settings > Backup and Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset Device > Erase Everything Samsung Android 14.0 or above: Settings > General management > Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset 10. Freeze your credit iStock If youve noticed any unusual activity in your accounts, immediately reach out to your bank and notify them. Even if you have not detected any transactions on your phone, reach out to your banks to double-check if your accounts have been accessed at all. 11. Alert your knowns Let your friends, family and other important contacts know that your phone has been hacked as soon as possible so they can ignore and remove anything that comes from your phone. The hackers may try to reach others and scam them too in your name. How to stop hackers from hacking your phone iStock Detecting malware and preventing it from entering your phone are two very different experiences. If you want to stop the hacker from entering your phone from the get-go or stop spyware from finding its way to your device again, here are all the things you can do: 1. Keep your hotspot off in public If a need arises to turn it on, make sure youve secured the settings and random people cant discover your network. 2. Skip public Wi-Fi and charging stations If you need to use them, never do it without a VPN. Disconnect the public Wi-Fi as soon as youre done using it. 3. Switch off your Bluetooth As it is one of the access points for hackers, keep Bluetooth off when youre not using it. 4. Lock your phone Most of us have passcodes and passwords on our phones. If you didnt, make sure you have your lock screen locked now and keep changing your phones passcode from time to time. 5. Never leave your phone Unattended or with people you dont know. iStock Your apps and operating systems should be updated regularly as upgrades come from service providers with bug fixes and added security. 7. Review apps on your phone Remove any app that you dont use or dont recognise. 8. Skip public USB charging stations If you must use it, do so with a USB data blockera small electronic device that connects your device to a USB charging port and is designed to block data transfer allowing only power transmission through them. 9. Dont click on anything suspicious Messages, links or files that come across as suspicious can be malware or spyware in disguise. 10. Lock your SIM If you suspect that your device might be compromised, ask your service provider to lock your SIM card. Once your device is safe, you can ask them to unlock it for you. 11. Install anti-malware software These apps are designed to remove malware quickly after its installed and prevent viruses from infecting your system. 12. Avoid suspicious sites iStock Such sites are a potential source of malware. To stop it from entering your phone, avoid getting lured by unknown sites. 13. Use VPN For both iOS and Android, a VPN is recommended so you can browse privately and safely enjoy the perks of added security. 14. Enable a SIM lock/PIN Doing so on your device will add the requirement for a four-digit PIN before your SIM can be used regardless of which device is using it. 15. Go for an authenticator app Its safer than 2FA. When you receive 2FA codes via text, hackers who have access to your phone can manage to enter your account security. Authenticator apps require stronger security measures for the code like biometric identification. 16. Disable voice assistant on the lock screen If Siri or Google Assistant are available before you unlock your phone, anyone including a stranger can physically access your phone. You can follow these steps to disable these voice assistants: iPhone: Settings > Face ID & Passcode/Touch ID & Passcode > Turn off Siri Android: Settings > Personalisation > Personal Results > Turn on Lock Screen Personal Results Apps to check if your phone has been hacked iStock Some apps can be installed on your phone to increase device security. Such apps protect your phone by notifying you of unusual activity and ensure that youre using basic security features like face/touch ID, 2FA and screen lock. Spyware apps are also available to scan your phone for hidden malware and help you identify hacks on time. Avast One: Scans devices for threats, detects malicious apps and protects against infected links. Norton 360 Deluxe: Makes browsing safer by protecting your phone from malware. VeePN Antivirus: Finds and removes malware used by hackers to take over your phone. How to browse privately on phone The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Freight and Logistics has been re-established following the General Election, to bring together parliamentarians and stakeholders from across the UK, to highlight the importance of the Freight and Logistics sector to the UK economy. The group will also focus on the wider benefits this critical industry brings to the daily lives of people throughout the country. The Meeting was addressed by Lilian Greenwood MP, the Minister for the Future of Roads. The Minister highlighted how road freight and logistics are central to the mission led government, particularly their plans to grow the economy. She also spoke about the sector being a key enabler to growth, pointing at the importance of it reliably transporting goods across the country. The Minister addressed the challenges facing the industry, including the incoming Entry Exit System changes at ports, poor driver facilities, diversity in the sector and economically stifling planning policy. Rachel Taylor MP has been elected Chair. Also elected to officer roles were Andrew Pakes MP, Lord Taylor of Holbeach and Richard Holden MP. Fifteen MPs joined inaugural meeting in person, with the group totalling forty members, a record number for the Group. Over the next year, the groups programme of work will include sessions on facilities, international issues, the road to net zero and diversity in the sector. The group will also launch a new freight crime report and a driver welfare campaign "I am delighted to receive the unanimous support of members for the APPG for Freight and Logistics as Chair, " APPG Chair, Rachel Taylor MP said. "It's important to work across all parties to ensure the needs of the sector are addressed especially in relation to freight crime, insolvency and addressing the needs of workers. "Logistics is central to the economy in my constituency of North Warwickshire and Bedworth, and I look forward to representing the views of local businesses and the wider industry across the country over the next Parliament. "It was a pleasure for the Group to be addressed by Minister Lilian Greenwood. As Lilian rightly outlined this sector is a key economic growth enabler and I look forward to working with her and all members of the APPG to support the industry in Westminster and at home. "Since the General Election we have worked hard to raise the profile of our sector with new MPs," RHA Public Affairs Manager, Ferdy Willans said. "We are therefore delighted that the APPG for Freight and Logistics inaugural meeting was so popular and a real indication that the importance of our sector is recognised by so many in Westminster. "It was also useful for APPG members to hear from Minister Greenwood who highlighted the impact the sector will have on the governments plans for growth as well as outlining the shared challenges that we face in the sector including the lack of good quality facilities, freight crime and insolvencies." The Air Force says it has met its active-duty, Guard and reserve recruiting goals this year following a historic slump -- and is aiming to get even more people to join up in 2025. Recruiters had a goal of hitting 27,100 non-prior military enlisted active-duty airmen. The service said it officially squeaked by with 27,139 as of Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein, commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service, said there wasn't one specific policy change that helped the service reach the recruiting goals. But data provided to Military.com by the service showed that 2023 changes to body composition were a major contributing factor. Read Next: Fired West Point Garrison Commander Found Not Guilty on Drunk Driving Charges Additionally, the service had a goal of 7,200 new Air Force reservists and 9,359 new Air National Guardsmen, and surpassed it with 7,351 and 9,729, respectively. Similarly, the Space Force -- the smallest of all the services whose recruitment is handled by the Department of the Air Force -- surpassed its goal of 659 new Guardians and ultimately netted 716 recruits. Of all the major policy updates in recent years, the 2023 change that allows applicants to have a greater percentage of body fat -- up to 26% for men and 36%for women -- contributed to the most new recruits: 5,196 across the Air Force, Space Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. Past Pentagon studies, reported on by Military.com, showed that only 23% of American youth were eligible to serve either due to being overweight and physically unfit, using drugs, or having mental and physical health problems. "We've had one fitness failure out of all of those [recruits]," Amrhein told Military.com in an exclusive interview at the Air and Space Forces Association conference on Tuesday in Maryland. "I think that kind of reinforces, when you remove a barrier, but you're still upholding a standard." Last year, the Air Force announced it had missed its recruiting goals for the first time since 1999, coming up about 10% short of its goal. The shortfall triggered modified policies, new bonuses, college programs and more staffing aimed at turning the tide. Officials attributed that historic slump in 2023 to issues that lingered from the COVID-19 pandemic, surprisingly high employment numbers, increased salaries in the private sector, and issues convincing Gen Z to join the military. Outside of changing body mass index standards, another policy that contributed to more recruits signing up was altering the Air Force's existing hand and neck tattoo policy -- leading to 660 new recruits -- and the service's 2023 policy reinstating the enlisted college loan repayment policy, which brought in 540 new troops. After hitting this year's goal, the service now wants to bring in more recruits in fiscal 2025, which starts at the end of this month. The enlisted active-duty goal will expand to 32,500, and the Space Force will also increase its goal to 800 Guardians in 2025. Air Force Reserve goals will expand to 7,600. To help accomplish that, Amrhein said "we're in the process right now of onboarding the additional recruiting footprint" necessary to hit those ambitious goals. The Air Force Recruiting Service will be bringing on 370 more people -- roughly 150 of those being recruiters, and another 55 specializing in scouting out future special operations talent -- to meet those needs. The Air Force also has about 11,000 airmen in its delayed-entry program, or DEP -- the waiting area where recruits get ready to ship out to boot camp -- as a head start for 2025. It's a significant uptick from the little more than 8,000 last year. "It's impressive the team made goal this year, and they were able to increase the DEP even from where it was starting last year," Amrhein told Military.com. "I believe that the recruiting force has operationally postured itself as best as possible to start [fiscal] 2025." Related: Air Force to Miss Recruiting Goals for First Time in More Than 2 Decades The Air Force's top enlisted leader said there's a desire to let trainees at the service's boot camp carry real rifles, a change that would mirror long-standing norms for other military branches. Last month, Air Education and Training Command officials announced that airmen and Guardians will start carrying practice M4 Carbine weapons during their nearly eight weeks of basic military training -- a previous practice that had stopped in 2012. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Flosi said during a media roundtable at the annual Air and Space Forces Association conference in Maryland on Tuesday that there's an end goal to get real weapons in recruits' hands. Read Next: Marine Crew Chief Who Died Trying to Save Trapped Pilots in Osprey Crash Awarded Service's Highest Noncombat Honor "We really would want to get the real ones because the threats are real," Flosi said. "The environment is dangerous." Under the change unveiled last month, airmen and Guardians are now handed a nonfunctioning M4 rifle shortly after stepping off the bus at basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas. Troops are required to keep tabs on the weapon and carry it everywhere "except when at medical and processing appointments, when wearing any combination of the service uniform" or if they have any waivers that prevent them from hauling it around, Military.com previously reported. The nonfunctioning weapons are kept in the recruits' wall lockers in the barracks. Flosi said the change is aimed at making airmen recognize that they're taking on a profession of arms and may be called to face combat. "Understanding lethal means, and understanding the responsibility that comes along with it, that's time well spent," Flosi said. It has been a long-standing practice for Army and Marine Corps attendees at boot camp to carry and maintain real rifles, but they are given live ammo only when on the firing range and under close supervision. The Navy does not make its enlisted recruits carry rifles during basic training. The nonfunctioning weapons policy announced last month also applies to Space Force Guardians, who also go through basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Military.com has previously reported from Space Force basic military training, which is conducted at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland under the Department of the Air Force, and saw Guardians were tasked with assembling and disassembling a combat rifle. Notably, many will never be assigned to an austere area and likely will not be assigned an M4 during their career. Chief Master Sgt. John Bentivegna, the Space Force's top enlisted leader, told Military.com during another media roundtable Tuesday that assembling and disassembling a weapon is a vital exercise for that service's troops to practice critical thinking and solving complex tasks as a way to transition civilians into military culture. "The transformation from civilian to Guardian is significant," Bentivegna said, "because we're an all-volunteer force, and these are men and women who have decided they want to come join the Space Force team and become a Guardian." It's unclear when airmen, and potentially Guardians, could be carrying real, functioning rifles at boot camp. "I don't know anything about a timeline if we'll be able to do that for sure, but that's the desired end state," Flosi said. "I can tell you that." Editor's note: This article has been updated with context to clarify the Space Force senior enlisted leader's comments. Related: During Basic Training, Airmen and Guardians Now Required to Carry Practice M4 Rifles at Most Times A neo-Nazi group headed by two ex-Marines took credit for helping spread unfounded claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, after former President Donald Trump said the residents were "eating the dogs" during a presidential debate last week. Christopher Pohlhaus, a neo-Nazi and former Marine, wrote on social media following the debate that the group, Blood Tribe, "pushed Spingfield into the public consciousness" after sharing a clip of the former president spreading the pet-eating story on national television. Armed and hidden behind masks, aside from its leaders, Blood Tribe marched under swastika flags in Springfield weeks prior to the debate in an effort to instigate anti-immigrant sentiment in the small city and demonize the Haitian population there, according to social media and videos posted by the group, which were reviewed by Military.com. Read Next: Air Force Top Enlisted Leader Says Trainees Carrying Real Rifles at Boot Camp Is 'Desired End State' As the claims have swept across the country, the city along with its Haitian community have received at least 33 bomb threats, according to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. The threats forced evacuations of local schools last week and Monday, as well as the closure of City Hall last week. The threats and security concerns also forced the city to cancel its annual "CultureFest" celebration that was slated for the end of September. And DeWine announced Monday that the bomb threats against area schools prompted him to send a contingent of 36 Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers "to provide added security at each of the district's 18 school buildings" by sweeping the facilities. The false rumors about the Black Haitians in Springfield were fueled and celebrated by Blood Tribe, a self-proclaimed white supremacist group that pushes racist Nazi propaganda aimed at stoking violence and discord in local communities -- all under the swastika flag, extremist experts told Military.com. Days and weeks before the debate, the group shared social media posts claiming Haitians ate "the ducks out of the city parks," as well as an AI-generated image of what was meant to depict a Haitian man cooking a cat. Local law enforcement; some of the state's Republican leaders, including DeWine; and the city's mayor have denounced the claims as false. One Blood Tribe post said that the group will "always be at war" with the Haitian community. The group's motto is "there will be blood," and Pohlhaus later claimed that "Springfield, Ohio, belongs to Blood Tribe." Pohlhaus leads the group alongside his number two, Drake Berentz, also a former Marine, who claimed that the country was given away to "savage n---ers" during an armed march in Springfield last month. While it appears the group did not originate the false pet-eating rumor, it pushed it in an effort to take advantage of an already-reeling city by attempting to insert its own racist ideologies into the fray, the experts said. "It is a Nazi organization," Kristofer Goldsmith, an Iraq War veteran and founder of the Task Force Butler Institute, which investigates extremist groups and their illegal activities, told Military.com on Friday. "That's not something that they hide," he said. "They fly the swastika when they march through these towns and do these flash mob publicity events, and their goal is to ultimately destroy American democracy." Goldsmith said that the group looked to spread its ideology by "helping to amplify disinformation to the point that Donald Trump is repeating it in front of 67 million people watching live." Pohlhaus served for four years as a combat engineer between 2005 and 2009, and Berentz served in the Marine Corps for less than three years until 2022 as a ground electronics transmission systems maintainer, according to their service records, which were provided to Military.com. Outside of a six-month stint in Japan for Berentz, neither deployed, and their awards reflect common accolades for their period of service. "We have gotten our fill of violence; we're done with it," Goldsmith, a combat veteran, said. "As we have withdrawn from our nation's two longest wars in history, we have a generation of young men who grew up watching soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors, etc. head into war zones and come home as heroes, as combat veterans. And they're not getting that." Instead, they're trying to bring home a war they never fought, Goldsmith said. Previous Military.com reporting showed that extremist groups often try to recruit veterans to legitimize their causes. Military.com found that troops and veterans are not more or less likely to join extremist organizations than the average American, but the few who do are often targeted by extremist gangs so they can capitalize on their social status and training. Military.com asked Blood Tribe whether it recruits veterans; what its overall goal is -- which experts said is to create a white ethnostate through violence; and if it was concerned that its rhetoric is endangering Springfield residents. The group did not answer those questions after repeated inquiries. Instead, Blood Tribe told Military.com that it had been "monitoring" Springfield since a Haitian man without a valid license killed an 11-year-old boy, Aiden Clark, in a car accident last year. When the father of that child spoke out last week denouncing the politicization of his son's death and about his regret over an immigrant being responsible for it instead of a white man, given the vitriol cast on the Haitian community, Blood Tribe said the father deserved the death penalty. "I've come to bring a word of warning," Berentz said at a Springfield City Commission meeting late last month before being kicked out for being threatening. "Stop what you're doing, before it's too late. Crime and savagery will only increase with every Haitian you bring in and with it public frustration and anger." Despite cheerleading Trump's use of the trope on air and taking credit for it, Blood Tribe seemed to shy away from the acclaim when Military.com asked it about the narrative being debunked by law enforcement and state officials. The group instead pointed the finger at Springfield residents. "The origin of these stories about the Haitians which 'reporters' claim we have mainstreamed come from the citizens of Springfield themselves," the gang said in an email to Military.com on Monday. The woman who spread initial claims of pet-eating on Facebook told NBC News that she had no firsthand knowledge of such accounts and regretted sharing the narrative. A Springfield city website also noted that a local game warden with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources says there is no evidence to support claims that immigrants were killing geese in the city's parks for food. Still, Blood Tribe doubled down and said, "We have every intention of continuing to uncover the financial corruption behind the Haitian invasion there, making sure they are all repatriated, and ensuring those who are responsible are held accountable for their actions against the citizens of Ohio." Goldsmith and Luke Baumgartner, an Army veteran and research fellow at the George Washington University's Program on Extremism, both told Military.com that it is common for extremist groups to try to portray themselves as good-faith representatives of the communities they terrorize, when in reality they seek only to amplify their ideologies before moving on to the next town. "Blood Tribe doing this isn't anything new, and what they try and do is create this veneer of respectability politics," Baumgartner said. "It's really hard for a group like Blood Tribe to convey this sort of thinly veiled racism when they're just marching around with swastikas and Runic tattoos all the time. ... But they utilize the same structure or appeal to the masses as trying to be this community defense organization." "These propaganda campaigns don't hide the fact that they are vile racists," Goldsmith added. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Trump's vice presidential pick -- whom the gang called a "f--got" and "race traitor" for being married to a woman of Indian heritage -- also spread the narrative. Experts whom Military.com spoke with said that the spread of the story is an important case that spotlights extremist groups trying to foment white supremacism in local communities in the hope it will gain national attention and cause violence. Springfield has seen a major increase in immigration over the last several years, placing a strain on the city's resources, raising concerns and stirring anti-immigration sentiments. A city website said that the influx of between 12,000 and 15,000 legal immigrants over the last several years has created "challenges" for health care, housing, school and public safety resources that are inadequate to handle the new population growth. Extremist experts said that Blood Tribe flocked to Springfield to push violence and racism amid those challenges. "Blood Tribe and these groups identify these already fractured towns [where] they feel that the locals will be sympathetic toward their ideologies," Kate Ross, an extremism researcher who has studied Blood Tribe, told Military.com on Monday. "They're opportunists," and they conduct marches "for attention and recruitment purposes to accelerate what they want: a race war." The pet-eating claims align with a long history of thinly veiled rhetoric meant to fuel anti-immigrant fears, ones that go back to at least the 1800s in the U.S., The Washington Post reported Saturday. "Hate groups coming into Springfield, we don't need these hate groups," DeWine said in an interview last week debunking the Haitian pet-eating claim. "Springfield is a good city. They are good people. They're welcoming people. We have challenges every day. We're working on those challenges." Last week, DeWine also announced that he was sending $2.5 million in state funds to the city to expand health care access, and he ordered the Highway Patrol to help local police with traffic enforcement. Related: Marine Kicked Out of Corps and Indicted in Alleged Neo-Nazi Infrastructure Attack Plot Pleads Guilty to Weapons Charge Some of Ukraines allies are starting to talk about how the fight against Russias invasion might end, raising concerns in several other Western capitals that these efforts could lead to Kyiv being forced into a premature cease-fire. As part of their discussions of strategy for the next year, officials are more seriously gaming out how a negotiated end to the conflict and an off-ramp could take shape, according to people familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The people made clear that any decision to negotiate would be for Kyiv to make and that nobody is pressuring Volodomyr Zelenskyy into talks. Ukraines president has been adamant, publicly and privately, that ceding territory to Russia would be unfair, the people said. With no sign that Russia has scaled back its objectives, the prospect of real negotiations still remains distant, they said. But as the war heads toward another winter, theres little sign of breakthrough on the battlefield. Thats prompting some allied officials to start exploring ways in which diplomacy could break the deadlock. Though Kyivs surprise incursion into the Kursk region of Russia upended the perception the war had settled into a stalemate that played to the Kremlins strengths, theres little immediate prospect of Kyiv dislodging Russian troops from all the land they occupy and some allies remain unclear about the operations longer-term strategic purpose. Moscow has struggled to advance on the ground but its missiles have destroyed large parts of Ukraines energy infrastructure, raising fears about how the country will weather this winter. Zelenskyy is expected to push for NATO and E.U. membership, economic and security agreements and a continued supply of more advanced weapons as part of his victory plan, two of the people said. Hes due to present it to U.S. President Joe Biden when they meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later this month. He is also keen to share the plans with presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. A negotiation to end the fighting would have to resolve a key conundrum: how to ensure that Ukraine wont be vulnerable to a future Russian attack while reassuring its allies that they wont be dragged into a direct conflict with the Kremlin. The latter concern is a major reason why several allies have so far been cautious about allowing the use of the long-range weapons they provide in Russia and the possibility of Ukraine becoming part of NATO - with its security guarantee - anytime soon. Any talks also would have to get over the bitter legacy of the Minsk Accords that were agreed after Vladimir Putins annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. For Kyiv and its supporters, that agreement, signed seven years before the full-scale invasion, points to the hazards of entering negotiations with the Russians. Zelenskyy has warned that Putin would again use the time provided by any cease-fire to regroup and eventually attack again. One European defense official said their government shares the concern that following any deal, Putin would prey on insecurities in the West as he prepared for a new conflict. Whats more, the official noted, it would be politically difficult for Zelenskyy to sign any agreement that includes territorial concessions while Putins goal to subjugate Ukraine in its entirety remains unchanged. At the very least, it would make sense for Putin to wait to see who wins the U.S. election and what their actual policies are, said the official. Some allies believe that the time between the November U.S. election and next Januarys presidential inauguration may provide a window of opportunity during which the outgoing Biden administration may have more political leeway to make a deal. Continued military and financial support for Ukraine could face uncertainty with a change of administration in the U.S. and the rise of far-right forces in Europe. Should he win the election, Trump has also suggested he would seek a deal in that time, without providing details. JD Vance, his running mate, recently said the former presidents plan could include Russia retaining what it has taken and a demilitarized zone established along current battle lines. On Sunday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is among those to have resisted providing Ukraine with longer-range missiles, told broadcaster ZDF that now was the moment to discuss how to get out of the war faster. A senior U.S. official said they expected Zelenskyys plan to be quite maximalist and conceptual rather than detailed. But the trajectory the war takes over the next two months will be quite significant, the official said. The base case is that the inauguration passes and the war continues to grinding on, but chances of alternative scenarios are not negligible, the official added. Allies immediate concern is to help Ukraine restore some of its energy capacity ahead of winter and fend off Russian advances around the strategic town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. Still, discussions over the medium-term strategy are also fueling disagreements within some Western governments, officials said. One camp is more persuaded by Putins threats of escalation if allies allow Ukraine to use the weapons they provide deep inside Russia and more likely to favor a push toward a diplomatic resolution. Other allies oppose negotiations anytime soon and want to increase the supply of arms to Ukraine. That split over potential talks points to a long-standing frustration among some officials, and many in Ukraine, over the allies reluctance to give Zelenskyy more weaponry to deploy against Russian forces. The Ukrainian president himself has criticized allies for delays to fulfilling commitments made earlier this year to provide Kyiv with more air defense systems and their ongoing indecision over lifting restrictions on the use of western-provided missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia. Moscow, in contrast, has been able to ramp up its production of missiles and artillery ammunition. It also receives military support from the likes of North Korea and Iran as well as key technologies from China that are needed to manufacture weapons. Ukrainians are strongly opposed to any territorial concessions, with 55% of respondents rejecting the idea in a poll released by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in July. However, the number of those categorically against giving up land drops to 38% if Kyiv is granted NATO and European Union membership as part of the deal. With assistance from Jenny Leonard, Daryna Krasnolutska, Michael Nienaber and Donato Paolo Mancini. ___ 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Chris Murray was homeless, living on Lower Wacker Drive, after his mother died from COVID-19 in 2020. Her death, he said, caused him to go off the deep end. His heroin addiction grew worse, and he lost his job. Nonprofit and social service groups would come around to offer housing support, but Murray, now 37, said he was skeptical of their offers. It sounded too good to be true, Murray said. And for him, the street wasnt so different from his time in the U.S. Army. The military kind of conditions your standard of living to be lower, Murray said. Eventually, after three years of being homeless, Murray was tired of living on the street and took a leap of faith. He allowed a nonprofit worker to help connect him to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Now, Murray is living in an Uptown studio thanks to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, a rental aid program that is the federal governments primary tool for ending veterans homelessness. The rental aid comes in the form of a housing voucher, known as the HUD-VASH voucher, where the tenant allocates 30% of their income to rent costs and the federal government picks up the rest of the tab. The veteran voucher program is a special subset of HUDs Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8, which provides housing vouchers to low-income residents. Murray, a full-time nursing student, is one of more than 1,600 veterans in Chicago and Cook County currently in the veterans housing program, which had over 85,000 participants nationwide as of June. He called the voucher life changing. Since the voucher program launched in 2008, the government has made dramatic strides in addressing veterans housing needs. Homelessness among veterans has fallen by roughly 50% in Illinois and nationwide, according to HUD data. But as the COVID-19 pandemic hit and housing costs skyrocketed, some of those strides started to reverse. The number of veterans without housing started to creep up again and the use of the HUD-VASH vouchers continued to decline. Over the last year, HUD has been working with VA medical centers and public housing authorities in Chicago and beyond to boost the use of vouchers and renew efforts to get veterans off the streets and into their own homes. High turnover among voucher holders, rising rents and a need to align veterans housing with supportive services have posed challenges, but the use of the vouchers has already improved, both locally and nationally. Roughly 86% of the Chicago Housing Authoritys vouchers were in use in June, up from around 82% in August 2023. The voucher usage rate in Cook County was around 84% in July, the highest it has been since 2019, according to yearly averages. Compared with the public housing authorities for the city and county of Los Angeles the two agencies with the most vouchers Chicago and Cook County are well ahead in using their vouchers. Voucher usage rates in Los Angeles are in the 50% range. Nationwide, usage of HUD-VASH vouchers stood at 75.9% in June 2024, the latest available data from HUD, up from around 73.6% a year earlier. All told, more than 700 public housing authorities nationwide receive vouchers, with Chicago receiving the seventh-most vouchers and Cook County receiving the 39th most. Richard Monocchio, a principal deputy assistant secretary at HUD who was the executive director of the Housing Authority of Cook County until May 2023, said HUD would like voucher usage rates for public housing authorities to be at least around the mid-80 percentages. He is optimistic more vouchers will be in use soon. This administration believes that one veteran that is unhoused is too many, Monocchio said. We are not going to stop making improvements to the program until we beat that goal. High voucher turnover Compared with other vouchers offered by HUD, the veterans program has a uniquely high turnover rate, an indicator of not only how tricky it can be to adequately address the housing needs of this population, but also the success of the program. Veterans come and go from the program for a variety of reasons, including addiction and mental health issues, and they dont always provide notice when they vacate. And some, regretfully, die, officials at Chicago and Cook County housing authorities say. The Chicago Housing Authority sees a 10% annual turnover rate among its HUD-VASH voucher participants, compared with a 4% rate for its regular housing voucher program beneficiaries, said Cheryl Burns, the head of the authoritys Housing Choice Voucher Program. Sheryl Seiling, rent assistance director at the Housing Authority of Cook County, said that over the last 18 months, the agency has added 138 new participants to the HUD-VASH program. Around the same number of veterans left the program in that time. Some of the turnover is tied to the programs success. Seiling said veterans often withdraw from the program voluntarily, once they are back on their feet. They use the program as intended, Seiling said. They get stable employment and address any other challenges they have so they can become self-sufficient. Nicole Bowden, 42, had a HUD-VASH voucher through the Chicago Housing Authority for nine years and relinquished it when she was able to buy a two-flat in Calumet City in April. Bowden, an Army veteran, said she originally came into the program after she left an abusive relationship in Texas to live with her mother in Chicago in 2014. Her mother kicked her out after a few months. Bowden said she bounced between abandoned buildings and then slept in her car. She was meeting with a therapist from Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, the Chicago Housing Authoritys VA partner, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as related to her military sexual trauma. She was also drinking to cope with the emotions associated with that trauma, Bowden said. While receiving mental health and substance-use support services, Bowden had a caseworker help her apply for a voucher, which she received in January 2015. Two months later she had her own place, the first time her name had been on a lease in three years, Bowden said. To Bowden, who now works as a peer specialist in the HUD-VASH program, the voucher was a lifeline. First and foremost, it provided me and my (kids) with some stability, Bowden said. It minimized the fear of being homeless. Now, she is grateful to not only have a place to call her own, but also to offer a home to someone else in her second unit. To go from not knowing where you are going to sleep to now looking for someone to rent your unit is only God, Bowden said through tears. Services and housing needed While housing vouchers have emerged as a key tool, they are just one component of a broad strategy for addressing homelessness among veterans. Both the Chicago and Cook County housing authorities said veterans without housing often require mental health counseling, substance-use treatment and other health care services. The things that may have been casual to their homelessness, they are still dealing with those (once they are housed), said Tracey Scott, CEO of the Chicago Housing Authority. Thats why developments that set aside units specifically for veterans and provide on-site support services are crucial, Scott said. Vouchers awarded for housing in these types of developments, which are known as project-based vouchers, are available through both the Chicago and Cook County housing authorities. The most recent building to open and accept project-based vouchers through the Chicago Housing Authority was in November 2023 at the Historic Lawson House in the Rush & Division neighborhood, according to the Chicago Housing Authority. Cook County hopes to welcome veterans with these types of vouchers to Otto Veterans Housing in Chicago Heights later this month, Seiling said. But while some are able to find housing in veteran-focused developments, others must find units in the private rental market, where they contend with a problem that all voucher recipients face: high rent costs and lagging landlord participation. Higher rents make it harder for voucher holders to find places where they can use their vouchers. And Matthew Moeller, acting communications director at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, the Housing Authority of Cook Countys VA partner, said that some landlords may hesitate to participate in the voucher program because they wish for more immediate payment. All voucher program units have to go through an inspection process that can take weeks to complete. To Murray, the veteran living in the Uptown neighborhood who moved in last August, there is no one-size-fits-all model for helping veterans find housing, as everyone has their own unique circumstances. Guilt and shame can get in the way of accepting a voucher if a veteran has served in the military and is now on the corner, holding a sign, Murray said. There can be trust issues with service providers, including the VA, he and Bowden said. What worked for me isnt going to work for the next person, Murray said. Everybody is going through their own struggles and their own life stories. Hiring additional caseworkers is also helping to get more veterans into housing. Local housing authorities administer the HUD-VASH vouchers and receive referrals for the program from their VA partners. The Chicago Housing Authority was recently able to boost its voucher usage as the Jesse Brown medical center hired more caseworkers. Regina Freeman, deputy chief manager of the Jesse Brown social work program, said in an email that the medical center is partnering with other VA and non- VA organizations to increase case management capacity. The medical center has increased its number of case managers from 44 to 53 since August 2023. At the end of the day, the coordination and communication is the key to this, Scott said. Continually evolving HUD has continuously tweaked the veteran voucher program since its inception, and on Aug. 8 more policy changes were announced for the HUD-VASH program in an effort to expand access. HUD will now require public housing authorities to accept veterans who earn up to 80% of the area median income for the voucher program. Previously, the requirement was up to 50% of the area median income, according to a news release. Additionally, when determining eligibility for the program, HUD will no longer count service-connected disability benefits toward annual income for veterans. HUD also increased the value of all vouchers across the country by 28% over the last two years to keep pace with rising rents, Monocchio of HUD said. The days of a veteran having to choose between getting the VA benefits they deserve and the housing support they need are finally over, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in the news release. This is a critical step forward that will help veterans nationwide and bring us one step closer to our ultimate goal of putting an end to Veteran homelessness for good. Along with the policy changes, HUD allocated an additional $20 million to 245 housing authorities, including the Housing Authority of Cook County, to better aid veterans in their search for housing. Services include landlord recruitment and landlord-tenant mediation support. I emphasize this wherever I go and also send a message out to all public housing authorities (that says), We expect you to use this flexibility to help house people with vouchers and increase utilization rates, Monocchio said. For Murray, receiving the voucher was transformative. (I literally went) from the bottom of society, living on Lower Wacker, to living a two-minute walk from Lake Shore Drive, Murray said. That was a huge mark in my life to try to rebuild everything. 2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class John Thompson on Wednesday became the fifth Coast Guardsman to receive the service's highest honor for noncombat operations, the Coast Guard Medal, for action during last year's devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii. Thompson, then assigned to Coast Guard Station Maui, was credited with devising a rescue plan to pluck residents fleeing from the burning town, positioning his rigid hull inflatable boat to avoid reduced visibility in the smoke and coordinating with a rescue swimmer and civilian Samaritans to save five individuals, including two children, while helping more than three dozen others reach safety, according to his citation. "There are people who are home today with their families because of Petty Officer Thompson and his crew's heroism," Rear Adm. Joseph Buzzella, Coast Guard District 11 commander, said during an award ceremony Wednesday at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach, where Thompson is now stationed. Read Next: Air Force Will Start Deploying Ospreys Within Weeks After Safety Checks Triggered by Deadly Japan Crash "This is the first time I have awarded a medal of this level to anyone, and Petty Officer Thompson and his crew are most deserving. They demonstrated bravery, came together, took action and made a significant difference during the fires," Buzzella said in a statement. Multiple fires erupted on Maui on Aug. 8, 2023, as the result of sparking power lines driven by high winds from an offshore hurricane. Residents of historic Lahaina received little to no warning of the approaching firestorm, according to a report from the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General. The fire, the deadliest in the U.S. in a century, trapped hundreds of residents, killing 102 and destroying the town. As the fire approached the seaside village, Coast Guard Sector Hawaii began receiving emergency calls from Lahaina. Members assigned to Station Maui, located on the island's southern shore, were dispatched, along with helicopters from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu. As the Coasties approached, they saw flames engulfing the town and dozens of cell phone lights along the seawall in the distance. "I don't think we had any concept of how bad it was until we got there," Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Theodore Kirkbride said in a video on the rescue. "We could hear explosions. We could hear folks on the breakwall yelling towards us," Machinery Technician 2nd Class Mason Anthony said in the video. The team began using all possible means, including surfboards, to rescue the residents. Across three days, the Coast Guard searched 791 nautical miles, saved 17 people, and assisted the evacuation of dozens more, according to the service. "I've never been more proud of a group of men and women that I've ever worked with," said Chief Boatswain's Mate Matt Casper, who served as acting officer in charge of the operation. The Coast Guard Medal is awarded to members who distinguish themselves during voluntary acts of heroism that are not combat related. According to the service, to earn the honor a Coast Guardsman must "face ... great personal danger of such a magnitude that it stands out distinctly above normal expectations." The other Coast Guardsmen assigned to Station Maui who were awarded the Coast Guard Medal for the Lahaina rescue on July 27 include Anthony; Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Kaleiopio Guth; Electrician's Mate 3rd Class Gregory Goicoechea; and Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Lia Baez-Calvo. Kirkbride is expected to receive his medal within the next week and Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Joshua Marzilli will be awarded it Thursday. Marzilli previously was selected as the USO's Coast Guardsman of the Year and also received the 2024 Gold Medal from the Association for Rescue at Sea. Related: Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Honored for Saving 3 Imperiled Sailors in Alaska Editor's note: This article contains references to sexual assault. An active-duty Marine Corps recruiter who penned a self-published "memoir" detailing an inappropriate relationship with a teenage recruit was charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice last month and will face a court-martial hearing next week, service officials told Military.com on Tuesday. Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Champagne, 37, was charged with violation of a general order and prohibited activities with a recruit by a person in a position of special trust after military law enforcement investigated his alleged misconduct, the officials said. The recruit was 17 years old when Champagne began to "groom" her, the former recruit's family previously told Military.com. Read Next: Air Force Will Start Deploying Ospreys Within Weeks After Safety Checks Triggered by Deadly Japan Crash The charges come nearly a year after Champagne published a book that described his own pursuit of a recruit who was not old enough to sign up for the military without her parents' permission. The family and the former recruit alleged that Champagne sexually assaulted, stalked, extorted and plied the teenager with alcohol during that year, among other abusive behavior. The mother of the former recruit told Military.com on Wednesday that the charges were "absolutely not" adequate for the "year of hell" that Champagne put them through. "The military doesn't care. They don't care about these girls. They don't care about these kids. They don't care about my daughter," Kathlyn, the former recruit's mother, said. "They don't care about my family. None of it. It's disgusting to me. The whole thing is disgusting. And they're not held accountable. The military is not held accountable." Champagne's former in-laws also told Military.com that the charges for the alleged abuse toward the recruit were insufficient, especially after his ex-wife reported multiple complaints against him through local law enforcement and military entities years ago to no avail, including sexual assault, partner abuse and intrusive cameras Champagne allegedly installed in private spaces in their home. Military.com is withholding the name of Kathlyn's daughter -- as well as the family's last name -- given her age when the alleged abuse started and the publication's policy not to print the names of alleged sexual assault victims. Military.com attempted to contact Champagne on Wednesday afternoon via a phone call, but was unsuccessful. Champagne has previously denied the allegations against him, and last year his command confirmed that he was pulled from recruiting duty but remained in active service. He is a meteorological and oceanographic forecaster and is assigned to the Marine Corps' Western Recruiting Region. He was assigned to a recruiting station in Texas during the alleged abuse. Champagne showed up at the recruit's home last summer, according to a police report obtained by Military.com and the recruit's family. They took it as a threatening sign and reported it to law enforcement. It was the culmination of more than a year of what the recruit's family described as predatory behavior that included violating military protective orders, stalking, sexual extortion and manipulation. "He didn't just abuse his position of power, he exploited her by writing a book about her," Kristi Champagne, a Marine veteran and the gunnery sergeant's ex-wife, told Military.com in a phone call Wednesday. "He exploited a 17-year-old girl publicly to the world; anybody in the entire world had access -- for at least a while -- to be able to download and read about a 17-year-old girl and her trauma." Kristi Champagne is a victim of alleged sexual assault but consented to be quoted by name by Military.com. Both families told Military.com that the service and law enforcement failed to hold Champagne accountable, properly investigate him, and provide a sense of safety for them amid the allegations. "It says that the Marine Corps doesn't care about you once you're out -- because that's how it came across to me," Kristi Champagne said, adding that she believes the service is trying to sweep the case under the rug. "Once you're out, you're no longer a brother or sister in arms. ... I was out, so my word meant nothing." Kathlyn told Military.com that her daughter was given a Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS, telephone number to deliver evidence of the allegations but -- after sending the evidence they compiled -- found out the number went nowhere. "Nobody was picking it up. Nobody was transcribing it, nobody was using it as evidence or anything," Kathlyn said, adding that by last summer NCIS had collected the information that her daughter had been trying to relay to it. Military.com contacted NCIS and the Marine Corps' Western Recruiting Region for comment regarding the charges and claims of failure in the investigative process. The Marine Corps takes allegations of misconduct "very seriously and does not tolerate deviation from the standards and policies of our recruiting environments, the service, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice," Steve Posy, a service spokesperson, told Military.com late Wednesday. "All allegations of deviation from such policies and directives are investigated thoroughly and adjudicated appropriately. "We are committed to ensuring that every case is handled with the utmost diligence, fairness and transparency, with the well-being of all parties involved being of the highest priority," he continued, adding that he encouraged anyone with safety concerns to bring them forward. "The safety of our prospective applicants is a top priority, as it is for all commanders across the force, and the Marine Corps has measures in place to protect individuals throughout the judicial process." NCIS confirmed that the investigation is complete and pending adjudication, but would not comment further while the legal process is ongoing. Champagne published the memoir last October and billed it as a "true story." It included graphic sexual details and -- through his own words -- apparent violations of military policy. Rob Kersch, Kristi Champagne's father and a 13-year Navy veteran, said that he believes the memoir was Champagne's attempt to "control a narrative" about his inappropriate behavior and paint himself as a victim. "Recruiters have a responsibility to respect and treat the recruits with dignity and to honor the agreements that they have with the recruit," said Kersch, who compiled his own documentation of Champagne's alleged behavior and shared it with Military.com. "This really should be something that recruiters throughout the military should be looking at and taking as an example of what not to do." The Marine Corps places special trust in recruiters to usher in the next generation of Marines. Department of Defense policy strictly prohibits recruiters from engaging in inappropriate relationships with recruits or those who have yet to ship to basic training, also known as "poolees." The policy is meant to prohibit recruiters from taking advantage of their inherent position of power over a young person looking to join the service. The recruit and her family filed a $5 million complaint against the Marine Corps, Military.com reported in February. Kathlyn said the service has not responded to the lawsuit, adding that she is concerned that what she considers to be light charges against Champagne will result in a short sentence and further harm to her, her daughter and her family. "She's trying to get her life better, and she still is in fear that this guy is going to come after her and kill her, or kill us, or kill her sister, as soon as he gets out, because he's going to be that mad," Kathlyn said. She's still completely wrecked by this. Champagne was charged Aug. 9 and will face a court-martial hearing Sept. 26. The former recruit intends to attend the hearing to make a statement, which was shared with Military.com by her mother. "When the Marines recruited me, I thought I would be part of something important, be able to serve my country, be a part of a group that took care of each other. That's what I wanted," part of the statement said. "I didn't want you. ... When you forced me to sleep with you, I didn't choose that ... when you gave me alcohol, I didn't want to drink it. ... When you demanded to know where I was, I didn't want to tell you. "I am no longer yours, and I never will be," the former recruit's statement continued. "Because that is what I want. That is my choice. Forever." Related: A Marine Recruiter's 'Grooming' of a Teenage Recruit Led to an Investigation. The Family Says He's Still Terrorizing Them. SEOUL, South Korea North Korea on Wednesday test-fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern seas, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, adding to its military demonstrations as tensions with Washington and neighbors escalate. The launches come days after North Korea offered a rare view into a secretive facility built to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs as leader Kim Jong Un called for a rapid expansion of his nuclear weapons program. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected North Korea firing multiple short-range ballistic missiles from north of its capital, Pyongyang, and said they traveled about 400 kilometers (244 miles) while flying toward the northeast. The joint chiefs said it was closely communicating with the United States and Japan while analyzing the launches but didnt immediately provide further flight details. Japans defense ministry said it detected at least two launches but didnt immediately say what types of missiles they were and how far they flew. Japans coast guard said the missiles were believed to have already fallen into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan and urged vessels to watch out for falling objects. Japans NHK television said the missiles were believed to have landed outside of Japans exclusive economic zone. The South Korean joint chiefs condemned the launches as a provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula." It said in a statement that South Korean and U.S. militaries were closely monitoring North Korean activities while maintaining a combined defense posture to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation. North Korea didn't immediately confirm the launches. They followed a previous round of ballistic tests last week as Kim vowed to have his nuclear force fully ready for battle with its rivals. The North said the launches on Sept. 12 involved its super-large 600mm multiple rocket launchers, which it describes as capable of delivering tactical nuclear warheads. Experts say North Koreas large-sized artillery rockets blur the boundary between artillery systems and ballistic missiles because they can create their own thrust and are guided during delivery. Since 2022, North Korea has ramped up its weapons testing activities to expand and modernize its arsenal of nuclear missiles targeting the U.S. and South Korea. The allies have expanded their combined military exercises and are updating their nuclear deterrence strategies based on U.S. assets to counter the Norths growing threat. Analysts say Kims long-term goal is to force the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength. While disclosing the uranium enrichment facility last week, Kim called for stronger efforts to exponentially increase its number of nuclear weapons in the face of what he described as U.S. threats. State media published photos that showed Kim talking with military officials and scientists between long lone lines of centrifuges used to produce weapons-grade uranium, but the reports didnt say where the facility was located or when Kim made the visit. Analysts say North Korea could conduct a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November with the intent of influencing the outcome and increasing its leverage in future dealings with the new U.S. administration. ___ Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. KYIV, Ukraine Ukrainian drones struck a large military depot in a town deep inside Russia overnight, causing a huge fire and forcing some residents to evacuate, a Ukrainian official and Russian news reports said Wednesday. At least 13 people were injured, Russia's Health Ministry added. Meanwhile, a senior U.S. diplomat said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a workable plan to end the war, now in its third year, although its details have not been publicly disclosed. Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russias Tver region about 380 kilometers (240 miles) northwest of Moscow and about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine. The attack was carried out by Ukraines Security Service, along with Ukraines Intelligence and Special Operations Forces, a Kyiv security official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the operation. According to the official, the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs and artillery shells. He said the facility caught fire in the strike and was burning across an area 6 kilometers (4 miles) wide. Among the destroyed ammunition were North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, another official, in Ukraines Intelligence Office, told AP. He also was not authorized to comment publicly and didnt provide evidence to support his claim. Russia and North Korea signed a landmark pact in June that envisioned mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang. More than 100 domestically produced exploding drones were deployed in the attack on the depot, the Ukrainian intelligence official added. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted regional authorities as saying air defense systems were working to repel a massive drone attack on Toropets, which has a population of about 11,000. The agency also reported a fire and the evacuations, and the Health Ministry said 13 people were hospitalized in the region after the attack. Tver regional Gov. Igor Rudenya later said all evacuees could return home. Successful Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia have become more common as Kyiv developed its drone technology. Zelenskyy also is seeking approval from Western nations for Ukraine to use the sophisticated weapons they are providing to hit targets inside Russia. Some Western leaders have balked at that, fearing they could be dragged into the conflict. Part of Kyivs strategy is targeting of military equipment, ammunition and infrastructure deep inside Russia, as well as making civilians feel some of the consequences of the war that is being fought largely inside Ukraine. The swift push by Ukrainian forces into Russias Kursk border region last month fits into that plan, which apparently seeks to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down. Putin, however, has shown no signs of that and has been trying to grind down Ukraine's resolve through attritional warfare and also sap the Wests support for Kyiv by drawing out the conflict. That has come at a price, however, as the U.K. Defense Ministry estimates the war has probably killed or wounded more than 600,000 Russian troops. On Tuesday, Putin ordered the countrys military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million by Dec. 1. Zelenskyy announced his war plan in his nightly address on Monday, saying its 90% ready and will be presented to allies over the next week. He said Ukraine's plan for victory includes not only battlefield goals but also diplomatic and economic wins. The plan has been kept under wraps but the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said at a news conference Tuesday that Washington officials have seen it. We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work, she said, adding that the United States will bring it up with other world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. She did not comment on what the plan contained. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Yemen's Houthi rebels shot down two American MQ-9 Reaper drones in under a week, the United States military acknowledged Wednesday, further highlighting the regional spread of the Israel-Hamas war. As the one-year anniversary of the war approaches, Houthis continue a campaign to target ships traveling through the Red Sea as U.S.-led airstrikes pound their positions in Yemen. That's imperiled a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion of trade pass through it, as well as crucial shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and Yemen. The U.S. military said Houthis shot down the first Reaper on Sept. 10, and the second on Monday. Online video showed the downing and the flaming wreckage on the ground afterward in Yemen's Dhamar province. General Atomics Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the U.S. military and the CIA over Yemen for years. U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's press secretary, said authorities continue to investigate Monday's downing, but declined to elaborate. He added that a claim by the Houthis that they shot down 10 Reapers since the start of their campaign in November over the Israel-Hamas war was not accurate. For operation security reasons, Im not going to be able to provide a specific number, Ryder said Tuesday. Since Houthis seized the countrys north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has seen Reapers shot down in Yemen in 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024. Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israels campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. Those attacks include a barrage that struck the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea. Salvagers have towed away the burning oil tanker, hoping to avoid a catastrophic leak of its 1 million barrels of oil on board. ANCHORAGE, Alaska The U.S. military has moved about 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in the Aleutian chain of western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching American territory. Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska in the past week as Russia and China conducted joint military drills. None of the planes breached U.S. airspace and a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday there was no cause for alarm. Its not the first time that weve seen the Russians and the Chinese flying, you know, in the vicinity, and thats something that we obviously closely monitor, and its also something that were prepared to respond to, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference. As part of a "force projection operation, the Army on Sept. 12 sent the soldiers to Shemya Island, some 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, where the U.S. Air Force maintains an air station that dates to World War II. The soldiers brought two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, with them. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said the U.S. military also deployed a guided missile destroyer and a Coast Guard vessel to the western region of Alaska as Russia and China began the Ocean-24 military exercises in the Pacific and Arctic oceans Sept. 10. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it detected and tracked Russian military planes operating off Alaska over a four-day span. There were two planes each on Sept. 11, Sept. 13, Sept. 14 and Sept. 15. The planes operated in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, a zone beyond U.S. sovereign airspace, but within which the U.S. expects aircraft to identify themselves, NORAD said. The Russian Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. NORAD has said the number of such incursions has fluctuated yearly. The average was six to seven intercepts a year. Last year, 26 Russian planes came into the Alaska zone, and so far this year, there have been 25. Often in such encounters, the military provides photos of the Russian warplanes being escorted by either U.S. or Canadian planes, such as during a July 24 intercept of two Russian and two Chinese planes. However, none was released in the past week and a NORAD spokeswoman, Canadian Maj. Jennie Derenzis, declined to say whether jets were scrambled to intercept the Russian planes. The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday its homeland security vessel, the 418-foot (127-meter) Stratton, was on routine patrol in the Chukchi Sea when it tracked four Russian Federation Navy vessels about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Point Hope, Alaska. The Russian vessels, which included two submarines, a frigate and a tugboat, had crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, which is permitted under international rules and customs. Two years ago, a U.S. Coast Guard ship about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of Alaskas Kiska Island in the Bering Sea came across three Chinese and four Russian naval vessels sailing in single formation. Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said the recent spike is something that well continue to keep an eye on, but doesnt pose a threat from our perspective. Sullivan called for a larger military presence in the Aleutians while advocating for the U.S. to respond with strength to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the past two years, weve seen joint Russian-Chinese air and naval exercises off our shores and a Chinese spy balloon floating over our communities, Sullivan said in a statement Tuesday. These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the U.S., Russia, and China. Sullivan said the U.S. Navy should reopen its shuttered base at Adak, located in the Aleutians. Naval Air Facility Adak was closed in 1997. ___ Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Lolita Baldor contributed from Washington, D.C. HOUGHTON, MI A new experience allows families to experience the majestic beauty of Michigans Isle Royale from the comfort of their homes. The National Park Service is celebrating National Wilderness Month by launching the Isle Royale Wilderness Adventure, a new online experience that offers kids and families a chance to explore the remote island in Lake Superior virtually. Isle Royale is closed annually from November until mid-April, but the online experience can be accessed 365 days a year. The wilderness adventure simulates a backpacking and paddling experience with the goal of traveling across the island over five days. It challenges users to make decisions that backpackers or paddlers may experience in-person while on Isle Royale. Each choice affects how your online adventure unfolds. The Isle Royale Wilderness Adventure and Wilderness Adventure Training can be accessed, here. CHARLEVOIX, MI - The Harbor Princess cruise boat will motor over to Charlevoix next month for a nostalgic homecoming thats designed to offer new fall color tours from the water. The Harbor Princess normally does day cruises and sunset trips out of Petoskey, where its part of the Little Traverse Bay Ferry Company fleet. But from Oct. 3-13, it will be making Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix its home port while its crew offers daytime autumn color trips, kids-themed trips, and evening sunset cruises in this picturesque spot. Tickets can be purchased in advance online here. Northern Michigan is renowned for its spectacular fall colors, as the area transforms into a vibrant tapestry of reds, oranges, and yellows that attracts visitors from across the country, the cruise boat company said. This year, visitors can board the Harbor Princess for a picturesque cruise and take in the stunning fall foliage of Northern Michigan in a truly unique way. The Harbor Princess will do color tours, sunset cruises and kid-friendly cruises in the Charlevoix area in October.Little Traverse Ferry Co. So why is the return of the Harbor Princess to the Charlevoix area such a celebrated homecoming? Its because thats where this historic boat started her Great Lakes journey nearly 70 years ago. The Princess used to be known as the Emerald Isle and it was tailor-built in 1955 to run the Charlevoix to Beaver Island route, bringing islanders and vacationers back and forth between the island and the mainland port. The Harbor Princess invokes nostalgia in many locals and visitors who remember her as the Emerald Isle, so were excited to bring her home and offer guests the opportunity to experience this little piece of Northern Michigan history against the backdrop of the breathtaking fall foliage our area is known for, said Chris Chamberlain, the captain and fleet owner. The Harbor Princess has double decks as well as covered seating areas. The trips come with some perks, too. The kids-themed cruises offer free cider and donuts. The other color tours and sunset cruises will offer a spiked cider drink for purchase. These trips will come with a side of history. The captain will narrate parts of the cruise, even tossing in a little shipwreck lore if you ask. If You Go: Fall Color Tour Details Date/Time: October 3-13. Check the website here to view the schedule and make a reservation. Departure Location: 103 Bridge Park Drive in Charlevoix. Tickets: Prices range from $10-$37 depending on the passengers age and cruise selected. Little Traverse Bay Ferry Company's newest boat is the Harbor Princess. Cruise With History The Harbor Princess arrived in Northern Michigan to join the Little Traverse Bay Ferry fleet last summer. People familiar with tour boats that ply the Great Lakes know that vessels can change hands and change names several times over the decades they are on the water. The same is true of the Princess. This boat has a pretty cool history that includes two well-known islands and Michigans biggest city. Built for the Beaver Island Boat Company, the 65-foot vessel could carry up to 125 passengers and nine vehicles between that remote island in northern Lake Michigan and Charlevoix, its mainland port. It was later bought by the Arnold Transit line to ferry people, horses and other cargo between Mackinac Island and mainland docks in the Straits of Mackinac. Its most recent incarnation under Chamberlain and his team was as the Diamond Jack, a dinner and river cruise boat in Detroit. After heading north to St. Ignace, where it spent a stint in dry dock for a little refurbishing last year, the boat left as the Harbor Princess and joined the ferry company in Petoskey last summer for its next chapter on the water. The Harbor Princess carries a rich history that unfolds with every voyage, Chamberlain said. From her beginnings as the legendary Emerald Isle, tailored specifically for the Charlevoix to Beaver Island route, to a Mackinac Island ferry for Arnold Line, then as the beloved Diamond Jack touring the heart of Detroit. Her journey is a special testament of maritime history around the state of Michigan. FRANKFORT, MI Two conservation officers took on great risk when they attempted to rescue a capsized kayaker in high waves on Lake Michigan. Sgt. Dan Bigger and officer Logan Turner of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources each received a DNR Distinguished Service Award for their efforts. DETROIT - History tours will soon be offered inside one of Michigans most historic buildings. Following a summer which saw more than 165,000 people take free, self-guided tours of the newly restored Michigan Central Station, the public will now be able to take historic, guided tours. Experts with Detroit History Tours will conduct the tours of the Stations ground floor, including areas not accessible to the general public. Personal photography will be allowed. Detroit History Tours is honored to be powering tours of The Station, said Bailey Sisoy-Moore, the Hamtramck-based companys owner. From The Stations legendary past to its exciting future, we are excited to share this landmarks story with the world. Unlike the tours over the summer, tickets will be required. Tickets ($20) for individuals can be purchased here. Tickets ($450 to $480 for up to 25 people) for group tours can be purchased here. Meantime, Michigan Central is getting its first eatery. Yellow Light Coffee and Donuts will open up inside the Stations historic retail arcade this fall, located immediately off the Stations east entrance. Yellow Light opened as a drive-thru in 2020 in Detroits Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood. It was co-founded by In-Laws Hospitality owners Christine and Jacques Driscoll, and outside partner Niko Dimitrijevic. Its the sister restaurant of the Driscolls other restaurants, Green Dot Stables and Johnny Noodle King. Michigan Central first opened back in 1913 and was once one of the grandest depots in the world, seeing thousands of people coming and going daily. It closed in 1988 where it lay abandoned until Ford purchased it in 2018. After a six year painstaking and meticulous restoration, the Station is now open to the public. DETROIT A Michigan man has been found guilty of distributing fentanyl that caused the deaths of two people and seriously injured a third. Melvin Lamar Triplett, 42, of Detroit, was convicted in federal court after a two-week trial, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced Tuesday. Triplett is guilty of distributing crack cocaine and fentanyl resulting in the death and injury, conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and fentanyl. Evidence at trial showed that in November 2022, Triplett distributed fentanyl-laced crack cocaine that caused the overdoses. DEA investigators traced the lethal drugs back to Triplett, a previously convicted drug dealer. The sentencing of Melvin Triplett, whose criminal activities led to the deaths of two individuals, is a clear example that this behavior will never be tolerated, said DEA Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene. Two people lost their lives and their families are suffering due to this poison being accessible. We will continue to investigate and hold these offenders accountable to keep our communities and residents safe. Triplett is facing a mandatory 20-year prison sentence, with a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment. The case prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Caitlin Casey and Eaton Brown. PONTIAC, MI -- Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald Tuesday brought additional charges against a Waterford man accused of sexually abusing underage boys. Logan Sutherland, 21, was arrested on Aug. 27 and charged with multiple felonies over the alleged assaults, and two more charges were brought against him on Sept. 17. In total Sutherland is charged with four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, three counts of aggravated possession of child sexually abusive material, and one count of child sexually abusive activity. Sutherland is accused of assaulting multiple underage boys over several years after gaining the trust of the victims and their families. Along with assaulting the boys, Sutherland allegedly took pictures of the victims. Sutherland is currently being held at the Oakland County Jail. This defendant took advantage of vulnerable children and parents, McDonald said. I applaud the immense bravery of those victims who have come forward. Sexual assault cases, particularly involving children, are among the most traumatic cases my office handles. These cases are being handled by a dedicated Assistant Prosecutor with my offices Special Victims Unit (SVU) and we are devoted to working to secure justice for the victims, their families, and the community. In announcing the additional charges, McDonald also asked any other possible survivors or victims to come forward and contact police. WDIV-Detroit reports four victims have already been identified, but investigators found photos of numerous other victims who have not been identified. GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The Genesee Intermediate School District has a new website that provides students and families with information and resources that will assist them as they plan for college or a career after graduation. The district officially announced the launch of the website on Monday, Sept. 16. BeyondGrad.org was created by the Genesee Intermediate School District in partnership with the Genesee County College and Career Access Network and the Michigan College Access Network for residents between the ages of 14 and 26. The website will guide residents to a variety of resources, including college and apprenticeship applications Basically, its career planning, exploration and training, GISD Associate Superintendent Eddie Kindle said. We offer employment support services and skill trades apprentice information. That information is there as well. In addition to helping residents apply for college or a trade school, the website connects users with opportunities for financial assistance, including several scholarships. Theres also transition planning for students with individualized educations plans or IEPs or 504s, and theres also resources for young adults who are relaunching their career or college plans, Kindle said. The GISD has already helped connect students with many of the resources on the new website, but now these resources have all been compiles into BeyondGrad.org, which Kindle describes as kind of a one-stop-shop for residents planning their futures. Kindle said the website was also created to help with the state of Michigans initiative aimed at increasing the percentage of working-age residents with a college degree or skill certificate to 60%. This number was at 51.1% in 2022. We just hope that people use it and find it engaging and interesting because where theres a will, theres a way, Kindle said. Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter. GRAND RAPIDS, MI A man maintained his innocence, claiming he never threatened anyone, is headed to prison for making threats of violence to court staff. Daniel Callahan, 60, was sentenced Wednesday, Sept. 18, up to 20 years in prison on charges of false report or threat of terrorism and using a computer to commit a crime. I feel I saved lives in what I did, Callahan told Kent County Circuit Judge Paul Denenfeld. RELATED: Man accused of making terrorist threats in Grand Rapids court turns himself in The case started in February 2023 while Callahan was appearing before a Michigan Court of Appeals panel when he made the statement: What is it going to take, somebody to get shot before the State acts on it? Then later, in pleadings in the same case, he wrote that if the state Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court did not act lawfully to grant him legal relief, they would earn a future Performance Award for MSU Stage Act 2, West Michigan 2023. Anthony McRae, 43, of Lansing, killed three Michigan State University students and wounded five others in a mass shooting on Feb. 13, 2023, on the East Lansing campus. McRae took his own life that night. RELATED: Man who made threats of violence to court staff convicted of terrorism charge A Kent County jury found Callahan guilty as charged at trial in July. Several times during Wednesdays hearing Callahan reiterated that he didnt do anything wrong or threaten anyone. Callahan raised concerns with the Michigan Attorney Generals Office who prosecuted the case and mentioned claims of alleged crimes being committed by judges in Michigan. Callahan will serve a minimum of seven years behind bars before he is eligible for parole. 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. SAGINAW, MI Early this year, a simmering beef between former friends exploded in gunfire inside a Buena Vista Township apartment. The shootout left one of the combatants dead, his killer charged with murder. On the opening day of the shooters trial, attorneys sparred on whether the killing was cold-blooded murder or a desperate act of self-defense. LANSING, MI More than 100 servers and bartenders took to the Michigan Capitol on Wednesday with a simple message for lawmakers: save our tips. The rally outside the building was intended to pressure lawmakers into stopping the upcoming changes to tipped wages that servers said will harm their livelihoods and the restaurant industry. The Detroit Tigers 10-inning win on Tuesday night in Kansas City was exhilarating. A loss would have felt catastrophic. Get ready to live that feeling over and over for the rest of September. The Tigers (79-73) are no longer on the periphery of the playoff race. Theyre right in the thick of it. But each of the final 10 games will carry make-or-break implications for their playoff hopes. So when the Minnesota Twins (80-71) beat the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday while the Tigers were still battling the Royals, players felt the pressure to win and keep pace. Heres where things stand going into Wednesdays games: WILD CARD STANDINGS Team Wins Losses Games behind Kansas City 82 70 +1.5 Minnesota 80 71 -- TIGERS 79 73 1.5 Seattle 77 74 3 Boston 75 76 5 (Full standings available here) With the Tigers and Twins both winning on Tuesday night, the Mariners desperately needed to avoid losing ground. Instead, they were crushed, 11-2, by the New York Yankees. The Royals still hold a comfortable position compared to the Twins and Tigers. But all that could change fast if the Tigers complete a sweep on Wednesday and the Twins pick up a couple more wins against the Guardians. The Twins, for all their late-season struggles, win the tiebreaker in virtually all scenarios, including head-to-head tiebreakers against the Tigers and Royals. The Tigers, even if they sweep the Royals on Wednesday, get the short end of the stick in most scenarios: They would lose a tiebreaker to the Royals; lose a tiebreaker to the Twins; and be left out if they were in a three-team tie with KC and Minn for the last two wild-card spots. Those hurdles are baked into the projections, which remain cautious about the Tigers despite their late surge. CURRENT PLAYOFF ODDS (final two wild-card spots) Team PECOTA Fangraphs Kansas City 91.5 percent 93 Minnesota 78.3 82.3 TIGERS 23.6 21.2 Seattle 7.1 4.4 Boston 0.8 0.9 Note: The totals exceed 200 percent because the Royals, Twins, and Mariners still have a very slim chance of winning their divisions. Boston is on the verge of falling out of the picture completely, but they host Minnesota for a three-game series this weekend. The Red Sox could help the Tigers, even if they can no longer help themselves. The Tigers will play one more game in Kansas City, followed by a three-game series in Baltimore. Theyll then wrap up the season with a six-game homestand against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago White Sox. Lauren Sondheims Musicals Lunch and recess were opportunities to play Stephen Sondheims Sweeney Todd, so we murdered our friends. Wed bake the dead into meat pies and scream cacophonously, WE ALL DESERVE TO DIE! Nine-year-old me even teased my hair, donned my Mrs. Lovett costume for Halloween, and rambled on about Australian penal colonies and how dead fiddle players make for stringy meat. You cannot imagine my disappointment when everybody thought I was Frankensteins Bride. Like Gypsy Rose Lee, my siblings and I spent our formative years at rehearsals and performances, where I was indoctrinated into the cult that worships Sondheim. In our household, Sondheimian theatre was a religion (Im not sure how I feel about God, but I do believe in Sondheim.) My brother and I read Sondheims autobiography, Finishing the Hat, like the bible, reading the book cover to cover and returning to page one the moment we finished. At six, he introduced me to Sondheims West Side Story, which illustrates the harms of poverty and systematic racism. Initially, I only appreciated Jerome Robbins choreography (Sorry, Mr. Shakespeare). When I revisited the musical years later, I had a visceral reaction as I witnessed young adults engaging in deadly gang rivalries. Experiencing Tonys gruesome death forced me, a middle-class suburbanite, to feel the devastating effects of inner-city violence, and my belief in the need for early intervention programs to prevent urban gun violence was born. I began to discover political and historical undertones in all of Sondheims work. For example, Assassins whirlwinds from the Lincoln era up to Reagans Presidency. Originally, I simply thought it was hysterical to belt Lynette Frommes love ballad to Charles Manson. Later, I realized how much history I had unknowingly retained from this musical. The song November 22, 1963 reflects on Americas most notorious assassination attempts, and alludes to each assassin being motivated by a desperate attempt to connect to a specific individual or culture to gain control over their life. Assassins awakened me to the flaws in some of our quintessential American ideals because the song Everybodys Got the Right illustrates how the American individualism enshrined in our Constitution can be twisted to support hate, harm, and entitlement. I internalized Sondheims political commentary, and I see its relevance in America's most pressing issues. The misconstrued idea of limitless freedom can be detrimental to public health, worsening issues such as the climate crisis, gun violence, and the coronavirus pandemic. These existential threats largely stem from antiquated ideas that the rights of the few outweigh the rights of the majority. Ironically, a musical about individuals who tried to dismantle our American political system sparked my political interests, but this speaks to the power of Sondheims music and my ability to make connections and draw inspiration from unlikely sources. Absorbing historical and political commentary set to music allows my statistical and logical brain to better empathize with the characters, giving me a deeper understanding of the conflicts portrayed on stage, almost like reading a diary. Theatremakers are influenced by both history and their life experiences. I internalize their underlying themes and values, and my mindset shifts to reflect the art that I adore. Im an aspiring political changemaker, and Sondheims musicals influence my political opinions by enabling me to empathize with communities living drastically different lives from my own. I sang Sondheim melodies before I could talk. As I grew intellectually and emotionally, Sondheims musicals began to carry more weight. With each viewing, I retained new historical and political information. This ritual drives me to continue studying Sondheim and enables me to confidently walk my own path because Sondheims work passively strengthens my ethics as I continue to extrapolate relevant life lessons from his melodies. Sondheims stories, with their complex, morally ambiguous characters, have solidified my ironclad set of morals which, together with my love of history, have blossomed into a passion for human rights and politics. ELAAP Lit Comphomework essayA+AOA SurpriseSurpriseA- inner-city intervention_______ SkyOak Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,599 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $334,000. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAVA. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in CAVA Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in CAVA Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of CAVA Group during the second quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 101.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 505 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 73.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get CAVA Group alerts: Insider Activity In related news, CFO Tricia K. Tolivar sold 5,949 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.47, for a total transaction of $562,002.03. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,114,272. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Brett Schulman sold 201,504 shares of CAVA Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.53, for a total transaction of $25,294,797.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 702,590 shares of the companys stock, valued at $88,196,122.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Tricia K. Tolivar sold 5,949 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.47, for a total value of $562,002.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 297,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,114,272. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 400,943 shares of company stock valued at $47,062,986 over the last quarter. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered CAVA Group from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CAVA Group from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on CAVA Group from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $111.58. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CAVA Group CAVA Group Stock Performance Shares of CAVA stock opened at $122.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.66 and a beta of 3.34. CAVA Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.05 and a 52 week high of $128.18. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $98.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.93. CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.04. CAVA Group had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 5.04%. The firm had revenue of $233.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that CAVA Group, Inc. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year. About CAVA Group (Free Report) CAVA Group, Inc owns and operates a chain of restaurants under the CAVA brand in the United States. The company also offers dips, spreads, and dressings through grocery stores. In addition, the company provides online and mobile ordering platforms. Cava Group, Inc was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CAVA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for CAVA Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CAVA Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tredje AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE Free Report) by 69.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,543 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after buying an additional 42,295 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden owned 0.06% of Alexandria Real Estate Equities worth $12,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,210 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the second quarter worth about $1,475,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,738,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,382 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 6,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 124.2% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 154,503 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $17,909,000 after purchasing an additional 85,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.54% of the companys stock. Get Alexandria Real Estate Equities alerts: Alexandria Real Estate Equities Stock Performance Shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities stock opened at $124.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $118.90 and a 200 day moving average of $119.85. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.73 and a 12 month high of $135.45. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Dividend Announcement Alexandria Real Estate Equities ( NYSE:ARE Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($2.09). The business had revenue of $766.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $775.03 million. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a return on equity of 0.68% and a net margin of 5.09%. Alexandria Real Estate Equitiess quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. Alexandria Real Estate Equitiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 485.98%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth ARE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America cut shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the company from $151.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $126.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wedbush cut shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the company from $140.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price target for the company from $136.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $130.70. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Alexandria Real Estate Equities Alexandria Real Estate Equities Profile (Free Report) Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc (NYSE: ARE), an S&P 500 company, is a best-in-class, mission-driven life science REIT making a positive and lasting impact on the world. As the pioneer of the life science real estate niche since our founding in 1994, Alexandria is the preeminent and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer of collaborative life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Alexandria Real Estate Equities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alexandria Real Estate Equities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.04. A number of research analysts have recently commented on APH shares. Evercore ISI reissued an outperform rating on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a hold rating on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $45.00 to $57.50 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Amphenol in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a hold rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Amphenol from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Get Amphenol alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on Amphenol Amphenol Stock Up 1.4 % Shares of APH stock opened at $63.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Amphenol has a 1 year low of $39.34 and a 1 year high of $70.84. The firms fifty day moving average price is $64.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.26, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. Amphenol (NYSE:APH Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 24.08%. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Amphenol will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year. Amphenol Cuts Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Amphenols dividend payout ratio is currently 40.49%. Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol In other Amphenol news, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 750,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.54, for a total value of $48,405,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,934,848 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $124,875,089.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Lance E. Damico sold 100,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total value of $6,563,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 51,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,382. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 750,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.54, for a total transaction of $48,405,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,934,848 shares of the companys stock, valued at $124,875,089.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,516,000 shares of company stock valued at $98,236,640 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.80% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphenol Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Trust increased its position in Amphenol by 91.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 68,145 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $4,591,000 after purchasing an additional 32,511 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Amphenol by 109.4% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,815 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares in the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Amphenol during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $269,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amphenol during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,731,000. Finally, Clear Rock Advisors LLC increased its position in Amphenol by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 63,221 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $4,259,000 after purchasing an additional 29,831 shares in the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Amphenol Company Profile (Get Free Report Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Amphenol Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Amphenol and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Baru Gold Corp. (EAS.V) (CVE:EAS Get Free Report) shares traded down 3.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as C$0.15 and last traded at C$0.16. 136,956 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 345,802 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.16. Baru Gold Corp. (EAS.V) Stock Performance The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$0.16 and a 200-day moving average price of C$0.16. The stock has a market cap of C$22.97 million and a PE ratio of -15.50. Baru Gold Corp. (EAS.V) Company Profile (Get Free Report) East Asia Minerals Corporation engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Indonesia. It holds 70% interest in Sangihe gold-copper project, which is located on the island of Sangihe covering an area of 42,000 hectares; and the Miwah gold project that consists of three contiguous exploration mining business permits covering 30,000 hectares located southeast of Banda Aceh in Aceh Province. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Baru Gold Corp. (EAS.V) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Baru Gold Corp. (EAS.V) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BlackRock Greater Europe (LON:BRGE Get Free Report) passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 596.53 ($7.88) and traded as low as GBX 580 ($7.66). BlackRock Greater Europe shares last traded at GBX 587 ($7.75), with a volume of 130,307 shares traded. BlackRock Greater Europe Stock Down 0.9 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.71 and a current ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of 584.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 645.05 and a beta of 1.02. The firms 50-day simple moving average is GBX 596.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 616.69. Get BlackRock Greater Europe alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, insider Sapna Shah purchased 4,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, September 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 599 ($7.91) per share, for a total transaction of 23,960 ($31,651.25). In other BlackRock Greater Europe news, insider Paola Subacchi bought 191 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 618 ($8.16) per share, for a total transaction of 1,180.38 ($1,559.29). Also, insider Sapna Shah bought 4,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 599 ($7.91) per share, for a total transaction of 23,960 ($31,651.25). Company insiders own 9.84% of the companys stock. BlackRock Greater Europe Company Profile BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust plc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched by BlackRock Fund Managers Limited. It is managed by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited. The fund invests in the public equity markets of Europe, excluding the United Kingdom. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Read More Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Greater Europe Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock Greater Europe and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Corpay, Inc. (NYSE:CPAY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,240,000 shares, a growth of 13.1% from the August 15th total of 1,980,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 455,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades CPAY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Corpay from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Corpay in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. They set an equal weight rating and a $285.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Corpay from $295.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Corpay from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Corpay to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $332.50. Get Corpay alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on CPAY Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corpay Corpay Stock Down 0.2 % Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CPAY. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Corpay in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,840,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Corpay during the 1st quarter worth approximately $149,000. Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in Corpay during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,327,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Corpay during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,398,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new stake in Corpay during the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 98.84% of the companys stock. Shares of NYSE CPAY opened at $306.88 on Wednesday. The companys 50-day moving average is $294.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $21.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.22. Corpay has a 52-week low of $220.39 and a 52-week high of $319.94. Corpay (NYSE:CPAY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.04. Corpay had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 38.93%. The firm had revenue of $975.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $973.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.85 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Corpay will post 17.81 EPS for the current fiscal year. Corpay Company Profile (Get Free Report) Corpay, Inc operates as a payments company that helps businesses and consumers manage vehicle-related expenses, lodging expenses, and corporate payments in the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers vehicle payment solutions, which include fuel, tolls, parking, fleet maintenance, and long-haul transportation services, as well as prepaid food and transportation vouchers and cards. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Corpay Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Corpay and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE:BAP Get Free Report) declared an annual dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a dividend of 2.9084 per share by the bank on Friday, October 18th. This represents a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. Credicorp has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 6.1% annually over the last three years. Credicorp has a dividend payout ratio of 44.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Credicorp to earn $21.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $9.29 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.8%. Get Credicorp alerts: Credicorp Stock Performance Shares of BAP opened at $175.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $170.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.14. Credicorp has a 52-week low of $116.42 and a 52-week high of $180.21. About Credicorp Credicorp ( NYSE:BAP Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The bank reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $4.64 by ($0.15). Credicorp had a net margin of 19.31% and a return on equity of 14.86%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Research analysts predict that Credicorp will post 18.81 EPS for the current fiscal year. (Get Free Report) Credicorp Ltd. provides various financial, insurance, and health services and products primarily in Peru and internationally. It operates through Universal Banking, Insurance and Pensions, Microfinance, and Investment Banking and Equity Management segments. The Universal Banking segment grants various credits and financial instruments to individuals and legal entities; and various deposits and current accounts. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Credicorp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Credicorp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Denali Advisors LLC cut its stake in Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT Free Report) by 62.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,200 shares of the companys stock after selling 35,200 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Haverty Furniture Companies worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 22.9% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,545 shares of the companys stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 79.9% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,772 shares of the companys stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 3,451 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. EMC Capital Management increased its position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 10.3% during the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,064 shares of the companys stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 6.1% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 12,388 shares of the companys stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. 80.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Haverty Furniture Companies alerts: Haverty Furniture Companies Stock Up 1.1 % NYSE:HVT opened at $26.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $432.69 million, a PE ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.45. Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.09 and a 12-month high of $37.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.61. Haverty Furniture Companies Dividend Announcement Haverty Furniture Companies ( NYSE:HVT Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $178.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $182.37 million. Haverty Furniture Companies had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 4.91%. On average, research analysts expect that Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. Haverty Furniture Companiess payout ratio is presently 46.55%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Haverty Furniture Companies Haverty Furniture Companies Company Profile (Free Report) Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc operates as a specialty retailer of residential furniture and accessories in the United States. The company offers furniture merchandise under the Havertys brand name. It also provides custom upholstery products and eclectic looks; and mattress product lines under the Tempur-Pedic, Serta, Sealy, and Stearns and Foster names. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Haverty Furniture Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Haverty Furniture Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Distil Plc (LON:DIS Get Free Report)s stock price traded down 7.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as GBX 0.20 ($0.00) and last traded at GBX 0.20 ($0.00). 916,327 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 19% from the average session volume of 767,100 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 0.22 ($0.00). Distil Price Performance The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 0.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 3.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of 2.04 million, a P/E ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 0.61. About Distil (Get Free Report) Distil Plc, together its subsidiaries, engages in the marketing and sale of spirits. The company offers its products under various brands, including RedLeg Spiced Rum, Blackwoods Vintage Gin, Blackwoods Vodka, Blavod Original Black Vodka, TRVE Botanical Spirit, and Diva Vodka. It markets and sells its products in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Spain, Australia, and Russia. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Distil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Distil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co trimmed its position in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEARCA:EWY Free Report) by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 337,841 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 85,215 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co owned 0.43% of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF worth $22,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EWY. Founders Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF during the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 460.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new position in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF during the second quarter worth $81,000. Get iShares MSCI South Korea ETF alerts: iShares MSCI South Korea ETF Stock Down 0.5 % EWY stock opened at $63.22 on Wednesday. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $64.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 1.25. iShares MSCI South Korea ETF has a twelve month low of $54.49 and a twelve month high of $69.51. About iShares MSCI South Korea ETF iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index (the Index). The Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Stock Market Division of the Korean Exchange. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI South Korea ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI South Korea ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Washington CORP lifted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF Free Report) by 16.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 342,381 shares of the mining companys stock after purchasing an additional 47,398 shares during the quarter. Cleveland-Cliffs comprises about 2.0% of First Washington CORPs portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. First Washington CORPs holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $5,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the second quarter worth $31,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 138.8% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the mining companys stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 247.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,885 shares of the mining companys stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Cleveland-Cliffs alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts have commented on CLF shares. B. Riley reissued a buy rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $18.00 to $12.50 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cleveland-Cliffs from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $17.75. Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance Shares of CLF opened at $11.81 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.21 and a 52-week high of $22.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.73. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.97. Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The mining company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.18 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 4.94% and a net margin of 0.21%. The businesss revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year. Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile (Free Report) Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CLF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Cleveland-Cliffs Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cleveland-Cliffs and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE Free Report) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,284,341 shares of the technology companys stock after selling 248,106 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.79% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise worth $217,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,853,093 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $2,869,655,000 after purchasing an additional 5,777,901 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,871,236 shares of the technology companys stock worth $399,507,000 after purchasing an additional 822,722 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,483,975 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $200,776,000 after purchasing an additional 237,321 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,723,120 shares of the technology companys stock worth $84,166,000 after buying an additional 517,734 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 18.4% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 4,448,812 shares of the technology companys stock worth $78,877,000 after purchasing an additional 691,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the companys stock. Get Hewlett Packard Enterprise alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages have commented on HPE. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Susquehanna reissued a neutral rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $21.08. Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise In other news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,037. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance HPE opened at $18.21 on Wednesday. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $22.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.85 and a 200 day moving average of $18.61. The firm has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.19. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 6.39%. The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 EPS for the current year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprises dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.96%. About Hewlett Packard Enterprise (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. Featured Stories 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. Dutch Bros Inc. (NYSE:BROS Get Free Report) Chairman Travis Boersma sold 18,223 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total value of $621,950.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 263,954 shares in the company, valued at $9,008,750.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Travis Boersma also recently made the following trade(s): Get Dutch Bros alerts: On Thursday, September 12th, Travis Boersma sold 9,610 shares of Dutch Bros stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.01, for a total transaction of $326,836.10. On Monday, September 9th, Travis Boersma sold 280,518 shares of Dutch Bros stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.36, for a total transaction of $9,077,562.48. On Thursday, September 5th, Travis Boersma sold 3,600 shares of Dutch Bros stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $115,200.00. On Friday, August 23rd, Travis Boersma sold 800 shares of Dutch Bros stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $25,600.00. On Monday, August 19th, Travis Boersma sold 426,891 shares of Dutch Bros stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.59, for a total transaction of $13,485,486.69. Dutch Bros Price Performance Shares of BROS opened at $34.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.64. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 192.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Dutch Bros Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $43.49. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dutch Bros Dutch Bros ( NYSE:BROS Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. Dutch Bros had a return on equity of 3.99% and a net margin of 1.95%. The firm had revenue of $324.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Dutch Bros Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in Dutch Bros during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dutch Bros by 3,321.7% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 787 shares of the companys stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dutch Bros during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Abound Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Dutch Bros in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Dutch Bros in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.54% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth BROS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Dutch Bros from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Dutch Bros from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Guggenheim upgraded Dutch Bros from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen restated a buy rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Dutch Bros in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Dutch Bros in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dutch Bros has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $39.73. View Our Latest Stock Report on Dutch Bros About Dutch Bros (Get Free Report) Dutch Bros Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates and franchises drive-thru shops in the United States. The company operates through Company-Operated Shops and Franchising and Other segments. It serves through company-operated shops and online channels under Dutch Bros; Dutch Bros Coffee; Dutch Bros Rebel; Dutch Bros; and Blue Rebel brands. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Dutch Bros Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dutch Bros and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE:PDT Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $13.37 and last traded at $13.36, with a volume of 4876 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.30. John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Stock Performance The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.84. Get John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund alerts: John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.0825 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund About John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 484,495 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $5,707,000 after purchasing an additional 48,169 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 1.9% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 223,925 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,637,000 after buying an additional 4,118 shares during the period. Shaker Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 81.8% in the second quarter. Shaker Financial Services LLC now owns 212,585 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,504,000 after buying an additional 95,639 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 1.7% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 120,791 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,423,000 after buying an additional 2,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund during the 4th quarter worth about $745,000. 12.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. (Get Free Report) John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors, with an emphasis on the utilities sector. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Marks and Spencer Group plc (LON:MKS Get Free Report)s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as GBX 357.90 ($4.73) and last traded at GBX 357.20 ($4.72), with a volume of 9984021 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 351.20 ($4.64). Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a buy rating and set a GBX 350 ($4.62) target price on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a report on Friday, June 28th. Shore Capital restated a house stock rating on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an overweight rating on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a report on Friday, June 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of GBX 322.50 ($4.26). Get Marks and Spencer Group alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MKS Marks and Spencer Group Stock Up 0.5 % Insider Buying and Selling The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 110.71. The firm has a market capitalization of 7.52 billion, a PE ratio of 1,758.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of GBX 327.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 290.63. In related news, insider Stuart Machin sold 619,188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 289 ($3.82), for a total value of 1,789,453.32 ($2,363,874.93). Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the companys stock. About Marks and Spencer Group (Get Free Report) Marks and Spencer Group plc operates various retail stores. It operates through five segments: UK Clothing & Home, UK Food, International, Ocado, and All Other. The company offers protein deli and dairy; produce; ambient and in-store bakery; meals dessert and frozen; and hospitality and Food on the Move' products. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Marks and Spencer Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Marks and Spencer Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its position in shares of iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSE:FXI Free Report) by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,480 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 3,175 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.s holdings in iShares China Large-Cap ETF were worth $688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 155.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 45,179,878 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,087,480,000 after buying an additional 27,495,924 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its stake in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 482.8% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 10,263 shares of the companys stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 8,502 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in iShares China Large-Cap ETF during the first quarter valued at about $494,000. Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 33.5% during the first quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,516 shares of the companys stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 5,146 shares during the period. Finally, Spear Holdings RSC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of iShares China Large-Cap ETF in the first quarter worth about $49,199,000. Get iShares China Large-Cap ETF alerts: iShares China Large-Cap ETF Stock Performance NYSE FXI opened at $26.34 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.92. iShares China Large-Cap ETF has a 12-month low of $20.86 and a 12-month high of $29.53. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FXI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSE:FXI Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares China Large-Cap ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares China Large-Cap ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS Free Report) by 104.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,170 shares of the casino operators stock after purchasing an additional 9,300 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 93.2% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 906 shares of the casino operators stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the casino operators stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Las Vegas Sands alerts: Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $41.40 on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.62 and a 12-month high of $55.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.74. Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend Las Vegas Sands ( NYSE:LVS Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The casino operator reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 14.08%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Las Vegas Sandss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.65%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $51.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Argus downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $55.25. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on LVS Las Vegas Sands Company Profile (Free Report) Las Vegas Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates integrated resorts in Macao and Singapore. It owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, the Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip, and the Sands Macao in Macao, the Peoples Republic of China; and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LVS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Las Vegas Sands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Las Vegas Sands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lessened its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report) by 24.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,952 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 8,274 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.8% during the first quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,672 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.1% during the first quarter. Paragon Capital Management LLC now owns 20,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.7% during the second quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,316 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. LGT Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 42.7% in the second quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC now owns 759 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,537 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 1.0 % Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $49.49 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.32 billion, a PE ratio of -15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.46. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $39.35 and a 52-week high of $59.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $12.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.54 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 14.06% and a positive return on equity of 12.51%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -77.42%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have weighed in on BMY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $45.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a neutral rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $55.00. Get Our Latest Analysis on Bristol-Myers Squibb About Bristol-Myers Squibb (Free Report) Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in non-valvular atrial fibrillation, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for various anti-cancer indications, including bladder, blood, CRC, head and neck, RCC, HCC, lung, melanoma, MPM, stomach and esophageal cancer; Pomalyst/Imnovid for multiple myeloma; Orencia for active rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Mexico ETF (NYSEARCA:EWW Free Report) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,093 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 491 shares during the quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI Mexico ETF were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Mexico ETF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $103,051,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC increased its position in iShares MSCI Mexico ETF by 6,834.4% in the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 946,963 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $65,634,000 after purchasing an additional 933,307 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in iShares MSCI Mexico ETF by 27.6% during the second quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 323,105 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $18,291,000 after purchasing an additional 69,792 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI Mexico ETF by 17.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 253,358 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $17,560,000 after purchasing an additional 38,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Mexico ETF by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 253,313 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $17,557,000 after buying an additional 9,776 shares in the last quarter. Get iShares MSCI Mexico ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Mexico ETF Stock Up 0.9 % iShares MSCI Mexico ETF stock opened at $55.03 on Wednesday. iShares MSCI Mexico ETF has a twelve month low of $50.78 and a twelve month high of $71.12. The companys 50-day moving average price is $55.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.25. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.87. iShares MSCI Mexico ETF Company Profile iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Mexico Capped Investable Market Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Mexico IMI 25/50 Index (the Index). The Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Mexican Stock Exchange. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EWW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI Mexico ETF (NYSEARCA:EWW Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Mexico ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Mexico ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its position in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG Free Report) by 184.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,227 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 4,041 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LPs holdings in Everest Group were worth $2,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EG. American National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Everest Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Everest Group in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Everest Group in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new position in shares of Everest Group in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 575.0% in the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 135 shares of the companys stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 92.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Everest Group alerts: Everest Group Trading Down 0.5 % Shares of EG opened at $387.54 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $381.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $379.63. The stock has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a PE ratio of 5.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.62. Everest Group, Ltd. has a twelve month low of $343.76 and a twelve month high of $417.92. Everest Group Announces Dividend Everest Group ( NYSE:EG Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $16.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $16.97 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. Everest Group had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 18.36%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $15.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 61.66 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Everest Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.89%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Everest Group from $392.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets restated a market perform rating and issued a $403.00 price objective on shares of Everest Group in a research note on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Everest Group from $419.00 to $405.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Everest Group from $454.00 to $438.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Everest Group from $450.00 to $445.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Everest Group presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $438.09. View Our Latest Research Report on EG About Everest Group (Free Report) Everest Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through two segment, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Everest Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Everest Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Seven Eight Capital LP increased its stake in UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH Free Report) by 118.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 458,562 shares of the healthcare companys stock after acquiring an additional 248,573 shares during the period. UiPath makes up approximately 0.6% of Seven Eight Capital LPs investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Seven Eight Capital LPs holdings in UiPath were worth $5,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PATH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UiPath in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $165,749,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UiPath by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,217,936 shares of the healthcare companys stock worth $911,741,000 after buying an additional 2,133,078 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of UiPath in the 4th quarter valued at $48,267,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UiPath during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,280,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in UiPath by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,783,571 shares of the healthcare companys stock worth $35,296,000 after acquiring an additional 754,519 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the companys stock. Get UiPath alerts: UiPath Stock Down 1.7 % Shares of UiPath stock opened at $12.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of -76.69 and a beta of 0.87. UiPath Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.37 and a 52 week high of $27.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.06. Insiders Place Their Bets UiPath ( NYSE:PATH Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The healthcare company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. UiPath had a negative net margin of 8.13% and a negative return on equity of 3.98%. The company had revenue of $316.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $303.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UiPath Inc. will post -0.23 EPS for the current year. In other news, CFO Ashim Gupta sold 47,671 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total value of $575,388.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 849,917 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,258,498.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 22.37% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets PATH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on UiPath from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Macquarie cut shares of UiPath from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of UiPath from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of UiPath from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on UiPath from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $17.71. Read Our Latest Report on PATH About UiPath (Free Report) UiPath Inc provides an end-to-end automation platform that offers a range of robotic process automation (RPA) solutions primarily in the United States, Romania, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company offers a suite of interrelated software to build, manage, run, engage, measure, and govern automation within the organization. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PATH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for UiPath Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UiPath and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tredje AP fonden decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT Free Report) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,451 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 4,400 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fondens holdings in American Tower were worth $14,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the companys stock. Get American Tower alerts: American Tower Stock Performance NYSE AMT opened at $239.44 on Wednesday. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $222.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The firm has a market cap of $111.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.83. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $243.56. American Tower Announces Dividend American Tower ( NYSE:AMT Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Towers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%. Insider Activity In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,424,177.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a buy rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $233.29. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on AMT American Tower Company Profile (Free Report) American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for American Tower Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Tower and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. You are already a Moneycontrol Pro user. OK Joel Giambra's pot store briefly lands on COD list over $938 bill Last month, Kenmore cannabis dispensary Honey had a bill for $938 that it wasn't sure how to pay. It was a small bill, but there was a question over where to pay it. The bill was for a pot brand formerly made and distributed by one company, Emerald City NY, but the brand had since received its processing license and parted ways with Emerald City. Did that mean Honey should pay the brand, or pay Emerald City? Before Honey could get an answer, it ended up on the Office of Cannabis Management's "Cash on Delivery" or COD list. Modeled after a COD list in the state's liquor industry, dispensaries that buy cannabis products on credit are required to pay their bill in full within 30 days after the cannabis is delivered. Those that don't are reported to the state, placed on the COD list, and must pay for all of their cannabis orders in cash until they're taken off the list. Honey wasn't notified it was being reported to the list, and wasn't notified when it was placed on it. "The first time we heard we were on a list was when you called me," Honey owner Joel Giambra told a Buffalo News reporter. By law, Emerald City should've notified Honey that it was in default by Aug. 17. Instead, Honey received a certified letter Sept. 6 after every supplier in the state had seen its name on a list of stores that allegedly don't pay their bills. The OCM is not required to inform dispensaries that land on the COD list. It's just the latest glitch in daily cannabis operations that some have said makes being in the cannabis business an uphill battle in New York State. "We didn't do anything wrong here," Giambra said. The COD list is restricted to suppliers only, but word gets around. And with Joel Giambra such a visible local figure because of his history in politics and cannabis advocacy, news about him landing on the list traveled fast. Despite what being on the list might do to a small business's reputation, Giambra said he has never had any problems paying substantial bills, or had any incidents with suppliers. Honey never ended up having to pay any bills in cash. Honey was removed from the COD list last week but without any public explanation. "I'm just trying to grow a business," Giambra said. Welcome to Buffalo Next. This newsletter from The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing Buffalo Niagara economy from real estate to health care to startups. Read more at BuffaloNext.com. Aqua-Tots opens in Amherst Aqua-Tots, an international swim school franchise, will open Oct. 14 in the Sheridan-Harlem Plaza, 4998 Harlem Road in Amherst. The 7,000-square-foot school features a 1,530-square-foot pool, 18 changing rooms and a spacious lobby where parents can watch classes. Lessons are available for every age and skill level, including lessons for adults and children with disabilities. Class sizes range from one student to four. Lessons are offered Monday through Saturday. Headquartered in Arizona, and with schools in 14 different countries, this is the first Aqua-Tots location in New York State. Ten Thousand Villages closes Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit, fair-trade retailer of handmade gifts and crafts, has closed its store at 736 Elmwood Ave. "Despite our best efforts to continue, the unfortunate decision has been made to close our storefront on Elmwood Avenue," the company wrote on its Facebook page. "This isn't the end for us. We're currently working on figuring out our next step so we can continue our mission of supporting fair trade in the area." The store opened in the former Urban Leisure and Luxury in 2017. Babies R Us adds Kohl's location Babies R Us will open a store-within-a-store at the Kohl's department store location at 3115 Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst this week. The store will carry baby gear, activity sets, bath supplies, furniture, feeding gear and safety merchandise. It complements Kohl's inventory of baby apparel, and its exclusive Motherhood line of maternity apparel, both of which are located adjacent to the Babies R Us shops inside the store. It's one of 200 shops opening up nationwide this fall. It follows a location at 3430 Amelia Drive in Orchard Park that opened last month. Fisher-Price recall Fisher-Price has issued a recall of a dumbbell toy that was sold as part of the Baby Biceps Gift Set, due to a choking hazard. The gray caps at the ends of the toy can come off, posing a hazard to infants. No injuries have been reported. More than 350,000 units are affected by the recall. The sets retailed for about $18. The dumbbell can be returned for a $10 refund. For more information, call 1-855-853-6224 or visit ConsumerSupport.Mattel.com. THE LATEST A huge Josh Allen ad banner went up on the Statler without a permit. Its owner has no regrets. Spectrum is hiking internet speeds and promising credits for service outages. An Amherst medical marijuana dispensary is bankrupt and facing eviction. Construction started on a health care facility in the Kensington-Bailey neighborhood. Tops Markets' parent company has launched a pilot program to test out a robot that manages store inventory. Mayor Byron Brown touted affordable housing in Buffalo as a statewide conference gathered in the Queen City. Multi-family and senior housing buildings have opened at Pilgrim Village to 230 residents. The buyer of the Aurubis Buffalo manufacturing plant plans to maintain the size of the sites workforce. A Cheektowaga commercial refrigeration installer and a Lockport general contractor are teaming up on a new project to create a cold-storage facility in Niagara County. Tenants, property managers at 201 Ellicott exchange blame for woes at affordable housing building. What the Evans Bank acquisition means to Western New York. A Southtowns home builder is planning an apartment project in North Tonawanda. KEI Advisors, a local investor relations firm, is being acquired. Evans Bank agreed to be acquired in a $236 million deal. ICYMI Five reads from Buffalo Next: 1. Five challenges facing legal cannabis dispensaries. 2. A look at developer Douglas Jemal's downtown Buffalo empire. 3. Canadian trade is a big deal for the Buffalo Niagara region and there are efforts afoot to make it even bigger. 4. Bitwise crashed and burned, but its local executive helped build a similar but smaller initiative to train tech workers anyway. 5. Orchard Park officials hope proposed zoning law changes will spur development around the new Buffalo Bills stadium. The new Buffalo Bills stadium will be protected by Florian, an AI-enabled incident command platform from Buffalo tech startup 3AM Innovation. The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to get the latest in your inbox five days a week. Follow us on: Anushka Sharma sends Chacha Chaudhary printed Tshirt to Priyanka Chopra, latter flaunts it on Citadel 2 set Follow us on: BTS' Jin 'nervous' as he jets off to Milan Fashion Week; shares selfie before his flight Follow us on: Shah Rukh Khan makes stylish return to Mumbai: Fans hail him as the OG Don Namita S Kalla is a senior journalist who writes about different aspects of modern life that include lifestyle, health, fashion, beauty, and entertainment. OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Bharti Airtel to award $1 bn in 4G network contracts to Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung: Report News Highlights: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has highlighted the benefits of the NPS Vatsalya scheme, encouraging parents to consider it as a meaningful investment in their childrens future. Parents can invest in NPS Vatsalya for children up to the age of 18 years. Investments can be made through a variety of channels, including major banks, post offices, pension funds offices, and the e-NPS portal. FM Nirmala Sitharaman says: -Fulfilling what is said in Budget within few months, shows that Budget speeches are not read but enacted upon -It is possible to reach that stage (developed India) and give our children a better future. -NPS in the last 10 years has grown at the CAGR of 37 percent. -NPS for private sector has grown much faster for last four years at 25 percent compared with 8 percent for government -Private sector has found NPS to be an attractive proposition. -I have to be conscious so that younger generation doesn't pay for future burden. -NPS scheme has generated competitive returns since inception. For government sector, 9.5% CAGR and for non-government since inception, CAGR return of 14%, for equity, 9.1% for corporate debt and 8.8% for government securities. -I appeal to all parents is to gift money for NPS Vatsalya on occasions like Birthdays or other occasions. Follow us on: Aditya Birla Capitals plan to merge Aditya Birla Finance with itself gets no objection from RBI Follow us on: Hindustan Zinc holds fresh consultations with govt on demerger; to split firm into two: CEO Arun Misra OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All AI an existential tool, needed to improve work outcomes, Piyush Goyal Says Meghna Mittal Deputy News Editor at Moneycontrol. Meghna has experience across television, print, online and wire media. She has been covering the Indian economy, monetary and fiscal policies, Finance and Trade ministries. She tweets at @Meghnamittal23 Contact: meghna.mittal@nw18.com OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Hindustan Zinc outlines $2.5 bn expansion plan to double output, work to begin in FY26 OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Ellenbarrie Industrial Gases plans to raise funds via IPO, files draft papers with SEBI OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Northern Arc Capital IPO bought 20.18 times on third day of bidding A Niagara Falls man accused of striking a pedestrian near Buffalo Niagara International Airport earlier this year pleaded guilty Monday in Erie County Court to a felony charge of leaving the scene of an incident with serious injury, the District Attorney's Office said. Travis Rosario, 51, admitted hitting a pedestrian at 4:56 a.m. Feb. 27 on Luiz Kahl Way, near Genesee Street, and leaving the scene without reporting it to police, prosecutors said in a news release. The victim, a 44-year-old Williamsville man, suffered a head injury, numerous broken bones and other serious injuries. Rosario is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 19. He remains released without bail. - Aaron Besecker Follow us on: FACT, NFL, other fertiliser stocks zoom up to 9% as Cabinet approves Rs 24,475-cr subsidy for P&K fertilisers Jinit Parmar is a correspondent based out of Mumbai covering the banking sector, fintechs, NBFCs, insurance and more, tweets @jinitparmar10 OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All EPF Claim Rejections: Key steps for employees before transferring or claiming provident fund Preeti Kulkarni is a financial journalist with over 13 years of experience. Based in Mumbai, she covers the personal finance beat for Moneycontrol. She focusses primarily on insurance, banking, taxation and financial planning News Highlights: The Union Cabinet has approved substantial funding for ISRO's future projects, with a focus on Chandrayaan-4. Chandrayaan-4 is described as a highly ambitious program, planned over a 12-year period. Former ISRO Scientist and Padma Bhushan Nambi Narayanan provided the following insights about the Chandrayaan-4 mission: The mission aims to land on the moon by 2028. OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All 'Despicable, bigotry': US lawmakers condemn BAPS Swaminarayan Temple vandalism in New York Follow us on: Kolkata doctor's father criticises Mamata Banerjee's inaction: 'Daughter would have been alive if...' One nation, One election gets Union Cabinet nod; Bill likely to be tabled in winter session OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Opposition sees red as Modi govt clears One Nation, One Election: Political gimmick, cheap stunt OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All PM Modi US visit: Quad, UNGA Summit, bilateral talks; here's the full itinerary from Sep 21-23 A Jamestown area man died Tuesday after he was hit by an SUV while riding an e-bike in North Tonawanda. Terry L. Crick, 58, was hit around 11:25 a.m. Monday in the area of Twin Cities Memorial Highway and Tremont Street, near DeGraff Memorial Hospital, according to North Tonawanda Police. An initial investigation found Crick was riding east on Tremont Street and failed to yield the right of way to the driver of a 2014 Ford Explorer, who was traveling south on the highway, according to police. Crick was taken by Twin City Ambulance to Erie County Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, where he died the next day. The North Tonawanda Police Departments accident investigation unit is still looking into the crash, but police said the driver has fully cooperated and will not face any charges. E-bikes or bikes with an electric motor that can reach speeds up to 25 mph have become increasingly popular in recent years. Mondays crash marks at least the third fatality involving a motorized bicycle in as many months in Western New York. In July, 15-year-old Luke Guetti was hit by a pickup truck in the Town of Tonawanda while riding what police described as a motorized bicycle. Police did not ticket or charge the driver who hit the boy. Town officials plan to install a four-way stop sign at the intersection where the crash happened. Then, on Aug. 5 in Niagara Falls, Yolanda Yvette Carr, 50, was riding an e-bike when she was struck by a motorist who fled the scene. Niagara Falls Police continue to investigate and have not announced any arrests. Like any other bicyclists, e-bikers must follow the rules of the road. Additionally, e-bikes cannot be ridden on roads with a speed greater than 30 mph or by those under 16 years old. OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Pregnant doctor brutally assaulted at Andhra hospital weeks after attack on Tirupati doctor OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Why Centre's inaugural Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar has run into controversy In Moneycontrol Pro Panorama October 7 edition: RBI adopts a wait and watch approach, markets look ripe for a bounceback, global u... The Indian economy perhaps had its best year after FY24: The year banks reclaimed their dominance as the financier for India Inc USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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In Moneycontrol Pro Panorama October 7 edition: RBI adopts a wait and watch approach, markets look ripe for a bounceback, global u... Industrial slowdown in India has been a subject of debate and controversy over the past few years, the stagnation symbolised by a persisting sluggishness in private investment and slowing industrial credit growth. Data from Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) Handbook of Statistics for 2023-24, while corroborating industrial slowdown through multiple variables, also reveals an emerging trend of divergent funding patterns depending on size of industry. This may provide a context for RBIs introduction of Unified Lending Interface ULI adds new dimension to a credit market that's in flux USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. 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For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Best cities to find a job in the US Follow us on: 'Bill for 5 nights was Rs 27.5 lakh': Techie reveals how he stayed at Marriott Masai Mara for free Follow us on: Gold Apollo says it did not make pagers used in Lebanon blasts How Israel carried out deadly pager explosions across Lebanon: 'Was a use it or lose it moment' Follow us on: OceanGates former operations director testifies, says tragic deaths could have been prevented if... Follow us on: Pager explosions in Lebanon and Syria: Gold Apollo says, pagers made by a company in Budapest Follow us on: US Polls 2024: Kamala Harris gains against Trump in key Iowa and Wisconsin surveys Salamanca killer Edward M. Kindt contends his ill-fated trek from Poughkeepsie to Cattaraugus County in July was not to abscond from parole but to visit his family, celebrate his birthday and mark a Native American holiday. Kindt, who served 23 years in prison for the 1999 rape and murder of Penny Brown, 39, was charged with violating parole on July 24 when authorities found him in his childhood home. He faces up to five more years behind bars if a judge determines he violated his parole conditions by intentionally failing to charge his GPS-monitored ankle bracelet, causing it to lose power. His failure to comply with the terms of his parole led to calls from politicians and others that he be returned to prison. But the judge in the case indicated that the law may preclude that from happening. At an Aug. 15 parole violation hearing in Poughkeepsie, Kindt told Administrative Law Judge Michael Marasa my intention was only to go home and visit my family, then return within a few days, according to transcripts of the proceeding obtained by the Buffalo News through a Freedom of Information Law request. But unfortunately, I wasnt able to be provided a ride to get back down here, which caused me to miss my date and thats what set forth this whole situation, he said. Kindt noted he was homeless and without a phone. Parole officers testified that Kindt was still wearing the ankle bracelet when arrested. His attorney, Dutchess County Senior Assistant Public Defender Lauren Jaeb, elicited testimony from a parole officer who said Kindt told DOCCS in January he was having trouble charging the device. I tried my best to keep the thing charged, Kindt told Marasa. I had no intentions of what the state alleges and I didnt abscond. I didnt run away, I didnt tamper or chop it off. Salamanca killer Edward Kindt breaks parole, taken into custody With his record as a vicious predator and murderer and disciplinary violations while in prison, this individual should have never seen the light of day again," State Sen. George Borrello said in a press release. Kindt added: I just went to visit for three reasons: one was for my birthday, two was for a religious holiday, a Native American religious holiday, and the third was also to get my tribal ID, and that was it. I couldnt get a ride back in time and that set forth the whole thing. Kindt told parole officers transporting him back to Poughkeepsie that he was going up to see his mom and did not bring his charger, Parole Officer Veronica Ahumada testified. Kindt turned 41 on July 8. The Seneca Nation of Indians, to which Kindt belonged, has banished him from its territories for his past crimes. On May 9, 1999, Kindt, then 15, raped and strangled Brown, a wife, mother, nurse and midwife out jogging with her two dogs. Kindt pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, leading to a sentence of nine years to life in prison. Parole officials released him in March 2023. Kindt, who had an earlier violation of parole, was assigned to the Poughkeepsie-based parole region where Kindts approved residence was, at least at some point, a shelter known as the Dutchess County PODS. Jaeb indicated that Kindt had also stayed in Ellenville in Ulster County. Parole Officer Michelle Bacon testified that Kindt was without a home when she met with him on July 16. She said she directed him to meet with the Dutchess County Department of Social Services to try to obtain housing. Their next meeting had been scheduled for July 23, but Kindt was not there when an officer checked, Senior Parole Officer Sabrina Wyns testified. Parole Officer Nanelly Cepeda, citing documents, testified that Kindt crossed the Mid-Hudson Bridge, separating Poughkeepsie from Ulster County, on July 19 just before 12:15 p.m. Investigator Matthew Garber of DOCCS Office of Special Investigations testified that he received a text message at 9:30 p.m. July 23 that Kindts ankle bracelet had died. He said he and a DOCCS partner went to locations of Kindt relatives in Salamanca to try to locate Kindt. He came to the door of the second location, with the bracelet still on his ankle, he said. He said they drove Kindt to the Cattaraugus County jail. Under the states Less is More Act, which Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law, parolees who violate conditions of their release are subject to less stringent penalties than in the past. Violations considered technical lead to only weeks in jail or less, while non-technical violations, which are related to misdemeanor and felony charges, can send a parolee back to prison for considerably longer periods. The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision charged Kindt with 15 parole violations, most of which were technical and carry no more than 30 days in jail. At issue before Marasa are non-technical violations of third-degree criminal tampering and second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, both criminal charges under the penal law. Salamanca killer could face up to five years or time served for parole violations Edward M. Kindt, 41, clad in an orange jail outfit, appeared Thursday before Administrative Law Judge Michael Marasa in a Department of Corrections and Community Supervision office in Poughkeepsie. We are not talking about a mere dead battery on the anklet of a releasee that was asleep in his residence in the middle of the night, DOCCS revocation specialist David Graubard told the judge. He said Kindt tampered with the device by allowing it to discharge, where it could no longer be a monitor. Jaeb told the judge she knew of two cases one in Syracuse, one in Rochester that support her argument that Kindts actions do not meet the standards for non-technical violations. The judge, in turn, questioned whether Kindt committed a tampering offense. You know, my issue with this is normally when I think of tampering, I think of someone actually trying to alter the device in some way, the judge said. You know, thats why I was curious to see what the condition was. This device wasnt touched, there wasnt a scratch on it. He asked Graubard if merely allowing a battery to die constituted tampering. Graubard said it became tampering when combined with Kindts fleeing his parole region. The judge made it clear to Kindt he was unsure whether the evidence showed Kindt was guilty of nontechnical violations. You did a lousy job of hiding where you were, Marasa told the killer. I have to be quite frank with you, because they tracked you all the way up to Salamanca if I were going to try to hide where I was, I wouldve taken the device off first; not to give you any ideas, so dont do that if you get released, OK? Yeah, I wouldnt do that, Kindt responded. I would have taken the device off, first, and then took off, or I would have let it die, first, and then took off, the judge continued. I guess you can argue under those circumstances, on the other side, that if you were still in the county and you let the battery die down, they might come and get you and so youre probably better off not doing that first, but there are other ways to hide, better ways to hide where you are than the way you handled it, so Im not sure there was intent. Community devastated after convicted Salamanca killer gets parole Edward M. Kindt of Salamanca was sentenced when he was a teenager to nine years to life in prison after pleading guilty to second degree murder in the 1999 rape and murder of Penny Brown. The circumstances of Kindts 1999 crime, also known as his instant offense, could have led to the Less Is More Act not affecting his case. Parolees whose prior or instant offenses were sex crimes can automatically be deemed non-technical violators. That does not apply to Kindt because, while he raped Brown, he did not plead guilty to the charge of rape. The judge reminded the parties of his need to follow the law. My hands are tied here, he said. My hands are tied by the law, theres just no way around that and frankly its not my job to find ways around it. My job is to look at the law and follow it. What kind of judge would I be if I all of a sudden decided, You know what, I dont like this guy, Im going to discard the law, Im going to ignore it, and Im going to do what I want here. It just doesnt work that way. Like I said before, this isnt a personal playground for the judge. I dont get to just do what I want. Im bound by the statute here. Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day 1/10 India's fairs are more than just events; they are vibrant celebrations of the countrys rich traditions, arts, and regional diversity. These cultural festivals offer visitors a glimpse into the nations heritage, bringing together communities from across India. Heres a look at 9 must-see fairs that highlight the country's cultural tapestry. (Image: Reuters) 2/10 1. Kumbh Mela, Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain, Nashik | Considered the largest religious gathering in the world, the Kumbh Mela rotates between four sacred cities: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik. Held every three years, millions of pilgrims gather to take a holy dip in sacred rivers, believing it purifies their souls. The fair is a spectacle of spirituality, featuring religious discourses, processions, and the grand display of Hindu traditions. (Image: Canva) 3/10 2. Pushkar Camel Fair, Rajasthan | The Pushkar Fair is one of the largest camel and livestock fairs in India, held in the desert town of Pushkar. Beyond the livestock trading, this vibrant fair features camel races, cultural performances, and colorful stalls selling handicrafts, making it a celebration of Rajasthani heritage. Visitors also enjoy folk music and dance performances, adding to the lively atmosphere. (Image: Canva) 4/10 3. Surajkund International Crafts Mela, Haryana | Held annually near Delhi, the Surajkund Crafts Fair is one of the largest celebrations of traditional arts and crafts in India. Artisans from across the country showcase their handmade products, from textiles to pottery, offering a vibrant marketplace for culture lovers. In addition to crafts, the fair also features folk dances, music performances, and food stalls, making it a must-visit cultural event. (Image: Canva) 5/10 4. Goa Carnival, Goa | The Goa Carnival is a vibrant celebration rooted in the states Portuguese heritage. Held before Lent, the carnival features lively street parades, music, and dance performances, with costumed participants filling the streets of Goas cities. Its a joyous, colorful celebration, reflecting Goas unique blend of Indian and Western cultural influences. (Representative Image: Canva) 6/10 5. Sonepur Cattle Fair, Bihar | An ancient tradition, the Sonepur Mela is Asias largest cattle fair, held annually on the banks of the Ganges River. Traders from across India come to buy and sell livestock, while visitors enjoy traditional performances, folk art, and a bustling marketplace filled with local crafts. The fair is a unique glimpse into rural life and traditions. (Image: Bihar Tourism) 7/10 6. Jonbeel Mela, Assam | Held annually in Assams Morigaon district, Jonbeel Mela is a unique fair where tribal communities practice the ancient barter system, trading goods without money. This 3-day event brings together tribes from Assam and Meghalaya, showcasing traditional customs, music, dance, and indigenous sports, offering a rare glimpse into the regions rich tribal heritage. (Image: VKIC) 8/10 7. Kolayat Fair, Rajasthan | Kolayat Fair is both a religious and cultural event, celebrated in honor of Sage Kapil Muni. Held in the town of Kolayat, the fair features processions, religious rituals, and the iconic floating lamps on Kolayat Lake. Devotees gather to bathe in the holy waters, while visitors enjoy a blend of religious devotion and vibrant festivities. (Representative Image: Canva) 9/10 8. Hemis Gompa Fair, Ladakh | Held at the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh, the Hemis Festival is a significant Buddhist celebration honoring Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism. The festival is famous for its traditional mask dances, religious rituals, and the vibrant display of Ladakhi culture. Set in the serene Himalayan region, the festival offers a unique spiritual and cultural experience. (Image: Reuters) News / Local by Staff reporter Migrant rights organizations in South Africa have strongly condemned recent immigration raids that predominantly targeted Zimbabwean nationals. The sweeping operations, conducted across central business districts in various towns and cities on Monday, led to the arrest of hundreds of undocumented foreign nationals, many of whom were found working in local businesses without proper legal documentation.The raids have sparked significant backlash, with critics accusing South African authorities of disproportionately targeting Zimbabweans. Gabriel Shumba, legal director at Global Immigration and Legal Consultancy, stated that the raids were disproportionately aimed at Zimbabweans and criticized the hurdles faced by Zimbabweans seeking to regularize their stay in South Africa."While we do not condone illegal immigration, it is important to note the significant barriers Zimbabweans face in legalizing their status," Shumba said. "These actions appear to target Zimbabweans unfairly and may be inconsistent with the Constitution and the Promotion of Access to Justice Act."Shumba also condemned the mass deportations, arguing that they violate international human rights standards and norms. The rights groups have voiced concerns over the fairness and legality of such actions.In response to the potential mass deportations, the Zimbabwean government has expressed readiness to manage the return of its citizens. Public Service Deputy Minister Mercy Dinha announced that the government is finalizing renovations of reception and support centers at Beitbridge and Plumtree to accommodate and reintegrate returnees. "Our capability to handle any number of returning citizens cannot be doubted," Dinha assured Parliament, highlighting Zimbabwe's previous successes in managing large returns during the COVID-19 pandemic.Amidst the political climate in South Africa ahead of this year's elections, some opposition parties have pledged to deport Zimbabweans and other Africans if they win. This has fueled fears and tensions among migrant communities.The situation remains fluid as both the South African and Zimbabwean governments navigate the complexities of immigration policy and human rights considerations. News / Local by Staff reporter A man posing as a doctor was arrested at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo on Tuesday after being discovered attending to patients in the outpatient department. The suspect, identified as Prosper Mpofu, had managed to infiltrate the hospital by donning a white coat and stethoscope, but his deception was uncovered when his actions raised suspicion among the hospital staff.The alarm was first raised when a patient presented a prescription that contained medications inconsistent with their diagnosis. This discrepancy prompted a closer examination by hospital staff, which eventually led to Mpofu's arrest.Thabani Ndlovu, one of the patients who interacted with Mpofu, shared his experience. He had been referred to the fake doctor by a church mate. Ndlovu's wife, who suffers from a heart condition, was seeking medical help when Mpofu offered his services. The couple initially joined the queue at the outpatient department, but they eventually saw a real doctor before Mpofu arrived. Mpofu later showed up and took the couple to a consultation room, where he was apprehended by hospital authorities.ZBC News obtained copies of prescriptions issued by Mpofu, which were filled with errors including incorrect dosages and misspelled drug names. Hospital officials revealed that Mpofu had been posing as a legitimate doctor for an indeterminate period, managing to blend in with the hospital staff until his suspicious behavior led to his arrest.Authorities are now investigating how Mpofu gained access to the hospital and the full extent of his unauthorized activities. The case has raised concerns about security and oversight within the hospital, highlighting the need for stricter measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. News / Local by Staff reporter Judge Cassim Moosa declared Mkhwanazi a dangerous criminal who was arrogant and threatened the wellbeing of other people in society.The plethora of charges against Mkhwanazi emanate from the discovery of six female bodies at the premises of his father's panel beating business in Rosettenville, Joburg, in October 2022.During the course of the trial, Mkhwanazi admitted to his father, Mark Khumalo, that he had killed the six women, but denied the murders were planned or premeditated.The case's leading investigating officer, Bongani Mbonambi, told the court that all victims had been bound, gagged, and strangled to death, pointing to an elaborate plan proving his theory that all the murders were premeditated.Mbonambi said based on the evidence and the circumstances surrounding the six deaths, Mkhwanazi was executing revenge against the women because of an earlier case of rape levelled against him.However, Mkhwanazi's defence counsel, Vuyo Maqetuka, argued that he killed the sex workers after they raised the prices they had initially agreed upon, and out of fear that he would be arrested.However, Judge Moosa differed, saying: "Six times, why didn't he stay away from the sex workers?"The accused was triggered in all six times that he might be arrested for rape again. When they wanted more money, that's when he was angered," Maqetuka said at the time. South Africa has issued 4,913 critical skills visas since 2020 to nationals from over 100 countries, with more than half (55%) of those going to people from Zimbabwe and India. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber revealed the information in a recent parliamentary Q&A, where he noted that the department exhausted all efforts to determine that no South African citizens or permanent residents had the necessary skills and qualifications to fill the positions before issuing the visas to foreign nationals. This was done in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education and Training. The methodology used to determine the critical skills is detailed in a Technical Report on Critical Skills published on the website DHET, he said. Out of the 4,913 visas issued since 1 January 2020, 1,794 were issued to Zimbabwean nationals for hundreds of different jobs. The biggest job category for which Zimbabwean nationals were issued a critical skills visa was trainee auditors, followed by integrated development, software developers, nursing, and ICT systems analysts. After Zimbabwe, the second biggest import country for critical skills in South Africa is India, where 918 visas have been issued. The table below outlines the top 20 countries that have been issued critical skills visas to South Africa: # Country Visas 1 Zimbabwe 1,794 2 India 918 3 The Democratic Republic of Congo 295 4 Nigeria 286 5 Cameroon 90 6 Germany 85 7 China 84 8 The United Kingdom 82 9 Kenya 75 9 The USA 75 11 Lesotho 63 12 France 62 13 Pakistan 58 14 Zambia 50 15 Swaziland 48 16 Angola 45 17 Uganda 41 18 The Netherlands 39 19 Ghana 36 20 Botswana 35 Critical skills South Africas critical skills list was updated for the first time since 2014 in February 2022, sparking controversy in the medical field at the time as most of the jobs cut from the list came from that sector. In response to this, the list was updated again in August 2022, where 39 more occupationslargely from the medical fieldwere added to the list. The last time the list was updated was in October 2023, when vets were added to the growing number of scarce skills in the countryhowever, general practitioners and doctors remain off the list. The department previously acknowledged that there has been fierce criticism of the critical skills list, mainly emanating from the professions that were cut. It said that the Critical Skills List ought to be updated every four years due to the ever-changing skills shortage in South Africa. In lieu of more regular updated to the critical skills list, the department is engaging in other ways to make it easier for the country to draw in the skills it needs. The department is forging ahead with the Trusted Employer Scheme (TES), which should help businesses acquire international workers to address their skill shortages. The country has also moved to implement a remote working visa, which should draw additional skills into the country. International workers are seen as a short- and medium-term solution to the current skills shortage that many corporations in South Africa face, with skilled workers especially those with STEM and IT skills often heading in the other direction. South Africas battle with skills is happening on all fronts. Within the country itself, there is a dearth of skills that match the growing needs of businessesand the skills that are present are either snapped up by companies, head for the exit due to various push factors, or are working remotely for international companies. Other countries outside of South Africa are also looking for skills, and local talent is ripe for the picking. Countries like Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK have all pointed to dire shortages of skills in certain fields and expressed a willingness to draw these skills to their shoresand for South African talent with itchy feet, the prospects are often too inviting to ignore. The critical skills list is pivotal to applicants being able to make an application under the critical skills visa or permit work category. The list is broken down into three requirement areas: The classification regarding the education subject matter (what you are qualified in); The relevant Occupation/Critical Skill; The Requirements pertaining to such things as memberships, experience and qualifications. Only applicants who meet all three criteria will be successful in their application. There are 12 educational subject matters: Agriculture, Agricultural Operations and Related Sciences Architecture and the Built Environment Business, Economics and Management Studies Information Communication & Technology Engineering Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences Life and Earth Sciences Professionals and Associate Professionals Trades Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Academics and Researchers Post-Graduates Below we list all the occupations that exist on the critical skills list. Agriculture, Agricultural Operations and Related Sciences Agricultural Engineer Agricultural Scientist Forestry Technician Sheep Shearer Architecture and the Built Environment Architect Construction Project Manager Land Surveyor Quantity Surveyor Urban and Regional Planner Business, Economics and Management Studies Actuaries and Risk Assessors Corporate General Manager External Auditor Financial Investment Advisor Information Communication & Technology CISCO Solution Specialist CISCO Engineers Solutions Architects in Telecommunications and ICT Integrated Developers (PHP, PERL, JAVA) Network Analyst IT Security Specialist System Integration Specialist Enterprise Architects Data Centre Operations Network Specialist (Security) Database Specialist Microsoft System Engineers Network Controllers AV Specialist (Anti-virus) Desktop Support Engineer Engineering Energy Engineer Metallurgical Engineer Chemical Engineer Civil Engineer Electrical Engineer Electrical Installation Inspector Electronics Engineer Geologist Industrial and Production Engineers Industrial Designer Manufacturing Managers Materials Engineer Mechanical Engineer Mining Engineer Production/Operations Manager Quality System Manager Research and Development Manager Ships Engineer Telecommunications Engineers Electrical Engineering Technologist Energy Engineering Technologist Mechanical Engineering Technologist Metallurgical Engineering Technologist Mining Engineering Technologist Air Conditioning and Mechanical Services Plumber Automotive Electrician Automotive Motor Mechanic Boiler Maker Chemical Engineering Technologist Civil Engineering Technologist Diesel Mechanic Electronics Engineering Technologist Fitter and Turner Materials Engineering Technologist Mechatronics Technician Metal Fabricator Physical and Engineering Science Technicians Pressure Welder Structural Plaster Toolmaker Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences Medical Superintendant/Public Health Manager Public Health Physician General and Specialist Medical Practitioner Hospital Pharmacist Nursing Professionals Veterinarian Registered Nurse (child and family health) Retail Pharmacist Life and Earth Sciences Environmental Engineers Environmental Manager Industrial Pharmacist Aquatic Scientist Animal Scientist Advanced Composites Engineering Archaeological/Paleontological Specialist Bioeconomist Biochemists Bioinformatician Bioinformaticist Biological Scientist Botanical Scientist Chemical Scientist Computational Biologist Environmental Scientist Ecological Scientist Food Scientist Engineering Geologist Geochemist Geohazards Specialist Geologist Geophycist Laboratory Technologist and Technician Marine Bioscientist Materials Scientist Metallurgical Scientist Metrology Microbiological Scientist Polymer Scientist Protein Scientist Seismologist Soil Scientist Toxicology Scientist Water Resource Scientist Professionals and Associate Professionals Land and Engineering Surveyors Electronic Engineering Technician Materials Engineering Technologist Electrical Engineering Technician Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Practitioner Draughtsperson Mechanical Engineering Technician Chemical Engineering Technician Organisation and Methods Analyst (Incl. scheduler, estimator) Surveying Technician Geomatics Technician Quantity Surveying Technician Civil Engineering Technician Materials Engineer Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Materials Engineering Technician Road materials Materials Tester Construction Safety, Health, Environment an Quality (SHEQ) Agent/Manager/Officer Aeronautical Engineering Architectural Senior Technologist Architectural Draughtsperson Astronomer Physicist (SKA) Geomagnetic Physicist Solar Physicist Space Physicist Plasma Physicist Space Technologist Space Weather Specialist Magnetic Technology Specialist Radar Engineering Radio Frequency Engineering Environmental Technologist Industrial Engineer Industrial Engineering Technologist Industrial Engineering Technician Landscape Architect Landscape Contract Manager Landscape Horticulturist Mining Technician Trades Millwright Boilermaker (For Strategic Infrastructure Projects) Industrial Machinery Mechanic Pipe Fitter Double Coded Welder Rigger Moulder Raise-bore Operators Raise-bore Foreman Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Software Development Engineers and Managers Systems Architects, Engineers and Managers Foreign Language speakers for specialist language support and technical or sales support (German, Swiss German, Flemish, Greek, Swedish, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin and French) Business Analyst Quality Analyst Quality Assurance Specialist/Auditor Customer Service Manager/Team Lead Academics and Researchers Doctoral Graduates (Acquired Abroad) Research in any of the following areas; Galaxy Formation and Evolution Galaxy Structure and Dynamics Pulsars and Black Holes Pulsars and Black Holes Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Deep Observations of the earliest Radio Galaxies Dynamic and Transient Burst VLBI Operations Search for CO to investigate role of Molecular Hydrogen Deep Surveyors of Neutral Hydrogen Gas in the Early Universe Cosmology and Dark Energy Cosmic Magnetism Calibration and Imaging of Radio Interferometer data Pulsar Research Pulsar and Gravitational Waves VLBI Operations Signal Processing Observational Radio Astronomy in General Algorithm for Radio Astronomy Signal Processing for Radio Astronomy Supercomputing for Radio Astronomy Software Development for Radio Astronomy Data and Streaming- Real-Time Processing of Massive Data Amounts Green Computing- Extreme Performance at Minor Energy Cost Performance at Minor Energy Costs EMC and Spectrum Management Beam Modelling Antenna Modelling Feeds for Radio Astronomy Systems Receivers for Radio Astronomy Systems Signal Processing for Radio Astronomy High Speed Data Transport Nano-photonics-Data Transport Power Nanotechnology Palaeosciences Reduction over Short and Long Distances Antenna Design Antenna Foundation Design RFI Shielded Buildings and Facilities Advanced Manufacturing Space Science and Technology Global Change Energy Security Information Communication Technology Earth Observation Natural and Applied Sciences Post-Graduates Doctoral Graduates (Acquired in RSA) You can view South Africas full Critical Skills List here. Breaking News via Email Related Zimbabwe Latest News The celebratory mood surrounding President Emmerson Mnangagwas birthday celebrations in Masvingo last Sunday took a sinister turn when the presidential helicopter crashed shortly after take-off, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and a chilling sense of unease. While the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and state security services are still investigating the incident, whispers of foul play have already begun to circulate within the Presidents inner circle. For you as media, its just a news story; a good story, but well for the President and us, its a chilling political and security issue. Its a big issue, an official close to Mnangagwa confided to The NewsHawks. That helicopter was supposed to fetch the President and his entourage after his birthday celebrations, so when such sort of a shocking thing happens, it rings the alarm bells. It worries all of us around the President. The officials concerns echo a growing sense of unease within Zanu PF circles, where the Presidents leadership has been increasingly challenged. The crash comes on the heels of a series of incidents that have fuelled speculation about a deep-seated power struggle within the ruling party. Was it a genuine crash caused by a technical failure, or it was foul play? Was it an accident or it was by design? Alternatively, was it a technical or political issue, or both? The question is: what happened? the official continued. The officials anxieties are not unfounded. In 2021, a similar incident occurred when the Presidents helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing due to technical failures. This incident prompted a security overhaul. Look, in 2021, we had another incident somewhere at Sandringham, just outside Norton, when the President was coming from his Precabe Farm in Sherwood, Kwekwe. And now this? the official said. These incidents, coupled with the 2018 Bulawayo grenade attack at a Zanu PF rally, have fueled speculation about a pattern of targeted attacks against the President. Prior to that, in 2018, there was the Bulawayo grenade attack at the White City rally. Frankly, what the hell is going on here? Are these isolated incidents, or there is now a pattern? When you put these things together, factoring some incidents we cant tell you as journalists, it really becomes worrying. We need to get to the bottom of this issue and act urgently and decisively, the official said. The Bulawayo grenade attack, which Mnangagwa described as an inside job, was widely seen as a manifestation of the internal power struggles within Zanu PF. The subsequent poisoning of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga in 2019 further solidified this perception. Mnangagwas ambition to extend his rule beyond his constitutional second term in 2028 has intensified the power struggle within Zanu PF. Chiwenga, who has publicly refused to support the ED2030 campaign, is widely seen as a potential rival for the presidency. Chiwengas absence from Mnangagwas birthday celebrations at Great Zimbabwe further fuelled speculation about the growing rift between the two men. The helicopter crash, while still under investigation, has cast a long shadow over Mnangagwas birthday celebrations and has raised serious concerns about the safety of the President and his entourage. The incident has also highlighted the deep-seated political tensions within Zanu PF, a party steeped in a history of internal power struggles and mysterious deaths. The cases of Herbert Chitepo, Josiah Magama Tongogara, and Solomon Mujuru, all prominent figures in the liberation struggle, are a reminder of the dangers of political ambition and the potential for violence within the ruling party. The helicopter, a Mil Mi-8, was preparing for a short flight to Bikita to pick up the President, who had earlier been in the area for a groundbreaking ceremony for a housing development. Mnangagwa had been accompanied by First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa, Vice President Kembo Mohadi, and Defence Minister Opah Muchinguri-Kashiri. President Mnangagwa had reportedly gone for a visit to Bikita, where his father Mafidi is buried. Bikita is Mnangagwas original home before they moved to the Mapanzure area in Zvishavane. However, there are several versions of where Mnangagwa is originally from. A source told The NewsHawks: The helicopter was supposed to take off at Masvingo Airport [on Sunday] late afternoon and go to Bikita to fetch the President back to Harare. There were actually two helicopters. Upon take-off, the presidential helicopter suddenly developed a technical failure and crashed to the ground, with big impact. There were three crew members and one was injured. There were no fatalities. The airport, located three kilometres east of Masvingo town, typically caters for small chartered and military aircraft. The incident has raised concerns about the safety of Zimbabwes ageing aircraft fleet. The helicopter crash in Masvingo is the latest in a series of incidents involving Zimbabwes Air Force, highlighting the need for urgent attention to aircraft maintenance and safety protocols. The incident has also sparked debate about the governments commitment to ensuring the safety of its officials and the public. It is important to note that the Vice-Presidents were not in the helicopter as reported by some media outlets. Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga did not even attend Mnangagwas birthday event and celebrations at the launch of Munhumutapa Day at Great Zimbabwe, located 30km southeast of Masvingo town. Vice-President Kembo Mohadi attended, but was also not in the helicopter. Breaking News via Email Related Zimbabwe Latest News This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1146 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, PayPal, Clover, or Wise. Read about why were doing this fundraiser, what weve accomplished in the last year, and our current goal, more original reporting. Yves here. Even though we had a lot of information about the Israel attack on Hezbollah via pagers-turned-bombs in Links, more detail is coming out. One element, which the Common Dreams article below highlights, is that the attack comes despite the captured-by-Israel supposed negotiator Amos Hochstein having had, the day before the pager blasts, told Israel not to escalate with Hezbollah. So its not hard to see this act as a raised middle finger to US calls for moderation, and the claim that some Hezbollah fighters had uncovered that the pagers had been tampered with, a fabrication. As many commentators have pointed out, Israel hard-liners and above all Netanyahu, is eager to get the US committed to backing Israel in a bigger conflict. It seems likely that they regard between now and the US election a prime time. The Biden Administration would have to act; the trick would be presenting Israel as threatened, as opposed to having picked a fight and gotten a punch back. Netanyahu is also under ever-increasing domestic pressure, so an increased external threat, even if he had ginned it up, would be welcome. Some additional information from The Cradle. Hezbollah maintains the attack has not affected its operations: Hezbollah stated on 18 September that its operations against Israel would continue normally, reiterating its vow to respond to the large-scale Israeli terror attack against Lebanon in a statement on 18 September. The Lebanese resistance will continue today, as in all the past days, its blessed operations to support Gaza, its people, and its resistance, and to defend Lebanon, its people, and its sovereignty, Hezbollahs statement read. Hazbollah also maintains that there were pager-users that were not Hezbollah members, as in innocent civilians. This is in addition to civilians in the detonation area of Hezbollah pagers, such as two children out of the 12 deaths so far: Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim al-Moussawi said that the pagers that exploded were not only in the possession of Hezbollah members but others as well. A consequence of the attack may be Egypt taking a particularly hard line regarding Israel demands for greater control of the so-called Philadelphia corridor, on the Gazas border with Egypt. This is a very fresh story from Middle East Eye: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Wednesday said that Cairo will not accept changes to the rules of operation in the Philadelphi Corridor that were in place before 7 October, particularly regarding the rules governing the operation of the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side. During a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Abdelatty emphasised Egypts complete rejection of any military presence on the other side of the crossing or in the corridor, which is the narrow strip of land over the entire 14 km border between Egypt and Gaza. Abdelatty added: We cannot hold the future of stability in a vital region like the Middle East hostage to the absence of political will on the part of some parties. Therefore, we will continue our efforts to exert influence and pressure until we can reach an agreement that ensures stability in the region. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is set to speak more or less now, so I will add an update. Update: Oopsie, the initial source was wrong. Nasrallah to speak Thursday. By Jake Johnson, staff writer at Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams Several news outlets confirmed late Tuesday what was widely suspected: Israels military and intelligence services were behind the explosions of pagers recently purchased by the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah. The explosions, reportedly set off earlier Tuesday by a message that appeared as if it was from Hezbollahs leadership, killed at least 11 peopleincluding an 8-year-old girland wounded thousands more. Citing both an unnamed former Israeli official with knowledge of the operation and an anonymous U.S. official, Axios reported that Israeli intelligence services planned to use the booby-trapped pagers it managed to plant in Hezbollahs ranks as a surprise opening blow in an all-out war to try to cripple Hezbollah. But in recent days, Israeli leaders became concerned that Hezbollah might discover the pagers, the outlet continued. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his top ministers, and the heads of the Israel Defense Forces and the intelligence agencies decided to use the system now rather than take the risk of it being detected by Hezbollah, a U.S. official said. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department publicly denied that the Biden administration was involved in the attack or aware of the operation in advance. Heidi Matthews, an associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, wrote Tuesday that each explosion constitutes an indiscriminate attack, pointing to video footage of a pager detonating in a crowded market. Under these circumstances, Matthews added, this is an act of terror. : @anastasia___stu @OmerShahar123 pic.twitter.com/OcjQsGLhvv (@kann_news) September 17, 2024 The New York Timesreported Tuesday that Hezbollah ordered thousands of pagers from the Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, but the company denied making the devices. According to the Times, which cited unnamed officials, Israeli operatives tampered with the devices before they reached Lebanon, planting in them as little as one to two ounces of explosive material and a switch that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives. Heightening fears of a broader conflict, Hezbollah pledged Tuesday to retaliate against Israel over the attack, which reportedly injured Irans ambassador to Lebanon as well as Hezbollah fighters and medics. The Guardians Andrew Roth noted Tuesday that just a day before the coordinated sabotage, Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to [U.S. President] Joe Biden, was in Israel urging Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials against an escalation in Lebanon. Netanyahu has repeatedly sabotaged cease-fire negotiations with hardline demands in recent weeks as the Israeli militaryheavily armed by the U.S.continues to assail the Gaza Strip. While U.S. officials have said that the basis for peace along Israels northern boundary with Lebanon would come through a cease-fire in Gaza, that agreement has proven elusive and appears no closer to fruition, Roth wrote Tuesday. The White House had hoped that a period of quiet around Israel would allow for cease-fire negotiators to achieve a breakthrough, as intermediaries shuttle between Hamas and Israel to thread the needle of both sides complex demands regarding a hostage exchange and territorial claims. That period of quiet has now been shattered with a breathtaking act of subterfuge and Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate, Roth added. By KLG, who has held research and academic positions in three US medical schools since 1995 and is currently Professor of Biochemistry and Associate Dean. He has performed and directed research on protein structure, function, and evolution; cell adhesion and motility; the mechanism of viral fusion proteins; and assembly of the vertebrate heart. He has served on national review panels of both public and private funding agencies, and his research and that of his students has been funded by the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and National Institutes of Health Naked Capitalism as an island of good sense in a heaving sea of nonsense. We have all learned much from the regular team of contributors Yves Smith, Lambert Strether, Nick Corbishley, Conor Gallagher, plus hoisted comments from IM Doc and others but just as essential to the vitality of NC is the Commentariat Essay-in-Parts. If you are already persuaded that Naked Capitalism is a worthy cause but you have not yet gotten around to donate, please first go to the Tip Jar to give your support and then return! My first contribution to NC was a review of The Illusion of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) The comments addressing EBM led us to a continuing discussion here of the corruption of Biomedical Science into what I have called Biomedicine. From Ghost in the Machine: I worked in biomedical research as a grad student, then post doc, then research faculty for just shy of 20 years. When I left, more colleagues were entering into agreements with companies for contract research. With NDAs of course. Most knew it was bad, but it was a matter of career survival. Also, the stories I heard from people coming back to academia from Pharma research. Ugh (A common question following the relaying of disappointing results to management: Why are your experiments not working?) Their experiments are not working because scientists of the Professional Managerial Class (PMC) generally cannot distinguish between Biomedical Science, the disinterested pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, and their performance as adjuncts of Biomedicine (Big Medicine plus Big Pharma). Those NDAs (Nondisclosure Agreements) are the tell. A scientist has completely lost the plot when the research becomes private intellectual property. The PMC was introduced to us by the late, great Barbara Ehrenreich (PhD in Cell Biology, Rockefeller University nearly fifty years ago and their growth as a class is described perfectly in Virtue Hoarders: the Case Against the Professional Managerial Class by Catherine Liu, a little book that repays re-reading. The Commentariat Essay-in-Parts began with GG: Performative is a key word throughout. The PMC isnt so different from the aristocracy of feudal times, which anxiously validated their own position in society via performative means: correct dress, speech, comportment, etc.Today, you must perform at work and in life to justify your meritocratic privilege: from using the correct corporate buzzwords and methodologies du jour to having the correct progressive-yet-not-radical liberal beliefs on social issuesYour living itself is a performance. From how you raise your child to what leisure activities you do and how you present these performances to your audience via social media. This Essay-in-Parts continued with PlutoniumKun, Michael Fiorillo, Thuto, Carla, ElViejito, Ignacio, and others on wokism and class: I would add that my own personal theory of the rise of wokism is that as the PMC now has more children trying to enter the PMC than there are jobs, there is now a frantic competition within that class to focus on insider class markers.. Wokism is a way to separate and elevate yourself, culturally and in terms of age, and advertise your special grooming, outlook and style of moral vanity. [T]here is a technological dimension to this. First AI came for the factory floor jobs and the PMC were put by the ownership class at the coalface of culling labour as the proverbial bearers of bad news. Now the technological shift is thinning the ranks of the PMCwith the result that the anxiety the members of this class feels about the future and the creeping precarity they thought would never encroach on their secure The remainder of the PMC, their children now working as baristas and Amazon warehouse hustlers, may turn their gaze once again to cutting the ruling class down to size. I think that caste is more precise than class. I have seen very few but good examples of company managers, general managers, that didnt adjust to the PMC description. This Commentariat Essay-in-Parts on our current predicament that was as lucid as anything anywhere on how being woke has obliterated any appreciation of class as the analytic construct that explains our world, despite the aversion of the PMC to the very notion of class. The only way to keep this community thriving is to subscribe or contribute! Please go to the donation page and give generously. The modern distemper exemplified by Hannah Arendt and Isaiah Berlin was the subject of a recent book that raised hackles among the usual suspects: Hannah Arendt & Isaiah Berlin: Freedom, Politics and Humanity by Kei Heruta of Aarhus University. I was reminded of this recently when someone in The Spectator (naturally) started a piece with importance of Isaiah Berlin and his negative freedom that allows people to do as they please by justifying their social and political prejudices. DJG, Reality Czar started the off the Commentariat Essay-in-Parts with: Hannah Arendt makes one change ones views. Maybe that was Berlins issue. Arendt is remarkable for retaining a certain affection (if thats the word) for humankind and for human needs. (Albert Camus, another nearly indispensable writer, shows the same affection for this fallen race.)The Human Condition is worth readingat times, it gets complicatedwith many ideas in play: If I recall, there is wealth versus simply being rich, and work as opposed to labor. Among others. Some discussion followed about whether CIA fronts paid Berlin and Arendt. Granted proof of the matter, there is no doubt Isaiah Berlin, Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory and fellow of All Souls, knew the source of the money, as he lived his thoroughly connected life as a wit while Dr. Hannah Arendt lived by her wits as a sometime professor in US universities and on royalties. The Commentariat Essay-in-Parts continued with Rob Urie, Cat Burglar, LifeLongLib, and JBird4049: Both Arendt and Berlin were paid by the CIA to create their views. They could have refused the money. It is worth remembering that many of the CIA-adjacent intellectuals were ex-members of Marxist-Leninist groups, and veterans of bitter factional infightingthey saw taking the money as a way of continuing that fightAnd the money must have been good, at a time when they felt few options existed. paid by the CIA to create their views Or to write what they were going to write anyway. If they did know who was paying them they were probably laughing all the way to the bank. Do not forget that the CIA did not advertise their supportas much as one should not accept payment from the enemy, small things like food, clothing, and shelter especially for ones family can be very persuasive counterarguments. Again, this is NC at its best, discussing contentious issues related to how Classical Liberalism led us directly to the Neoliberal crack in which we find ourselves today. The only way to keep this community thriving is to subscribe or contribute! Please do you part and chip in via the Tip Jar. Our Loss of Science in the 21st Century and How to Get It Back is a broad discussion of the work of Nancy Cartwright, who is one of the few modern philosophers who gets science, in the sense of what scientists and scientific workers actually do on a daily basis in professional lives (compared with a Bruno Latour, for example). As she notes: (1) There is no (one) scientific method, (2) Rigor is altogether the wrong notion as the sole virtue of science, and (3) The usual notion of objectivity the correct application of pre-agreed procedures for pre-agreed ends is not good enough for science. Science is messy and contingent, but when properly practiced it does lead to an approximation of truth, but only in matters that are amenable to a natural scientific approach. PlutoniumKun, Etrigan, funemployed, and others began the Commentariat Essay-in-Parts with: One key topic thats so often overlooked in science is just how radically different the perspective of different specialties can be, looking at the same problems. This can be healthy, but it can also throw hidden biases within the scientific method into stark contrast. Climate scientists, for example, often build in an assumption of linear climate processes, while geomorphologists are very familiar with evidence of extremely rapid and catastrophic climate changes within the Holocene nobody who has studied lake sediment cores in northern climes can feel as relaxed about climate change as some physicists seem to be. I have talked with scientist and engineer friends about this a lotIt has sometimes felt as if there is a large consensusthat this resistance to complexity is an alien force coming from supervisors, organizations, managers, and below the highest levels people have to grouse in private but play along or else. As an intellectually inclined person born in the early 80s, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that true spirit of scientific inquiry is about the best way a person of my generation could ensure that we would never sniff a penny of actual research funding, and never get the apprenticeship and mentorship experiences that are utterly essential to learning the craft. The only way to keep this community thriving is to subscribe or contribute! Please head to the Tip Jar and help out. Following PK here, it has always been clear that assumption of linear change in anything of the natural world is a fools game. Are we seeing this with anthropogenic climate change/global warming right now? Probably (linked here on August 23, 2024). Perhaps its not just the weather, as a member of this community makes the case ahead of time once again. The Rev Kev and others: I am going out on a limb here and say that what really undercut science the past few years was when politicians weaponized science and told us to trust it. And that meant that science became faith-based and if you did not believe the latest pronouncements, (masks are dangerous, if you get vaccinated you will never get sick, etc.) that you were almost an unbeliever. Finally, another example of the NC Commentariat being ahead of the curve from our discussion of local effects of climate change as an approach to making climate change real to people. Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island on the coast of Georgia is a popular tourist attraction. But these trees are not driftwood. They have been killed in situ by rising seawater on inundated land that was high ground forty years ago. One may doubt that this is due to rising sea level, but that is not the way to go. Clueless optimism is not a plan. As Eclair notes in the Commentariat Essay-in-Parts, local effects are everywhere for those who will pay attention: Chautauqua County New York, stretching from Lake Erie, south to the Pennsylvania border, covers four USDA Climate Zones. In the ten years since the 2012 zone list was published, each zone has bumped up into the next warmer zone. The two warmest zones run parallel to the shores of Lake Erie, always a prime area for grapes and cherries. The new zone there, 7a, eliminates the winter temps below zero degrees F. The Jamestown area has warmed from 5a in 1990, to 5b in 2012, to 6a in 2023. Last week, a conversation with an oldest resident (94 and still going strong) family member, had them shaking their head and admitting that they just didnt know when to plant the tomatoes anymore: Used to be wed put them in after Memorial Day, but now, the neighbors are planting them in a coupla weeks earlier. Yet another member of this commentariat telling the truth as it exists on the ground, ahead of the experts, in clear prose that does not attack anyone or call anyone names. The only way to keep this community thriving is to subscribe or contribute! The Tip Jar beckons. The original promise of the internet was that information would become available to anyone with a connection. Despite its thorough crapification, this is still the promise. Justin Early in his book The Common Rule: Habits of for an Age of Distraction, notes that one way to handle it is to cultivate practices of media curation by pointing out that we dont choose our stories as much as they choose us. Should we do nothing, someone elses stories will curate our lives for us. (quoted from Deep Reading by Rachel B. Griffis, Julie Ooms, and Rachel M. DeSmith Roberts). Maryanne Wolf in her Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World, argues that the way internet reading is designed assumes a distracted reader and thus provides few demands or opportunities for people truly to give themselves to a text and practice the kind of sustained attention required to [Take} on the perspectives and feeling of others. NC is the place where we can curate our approach to the world as part of a vivid community of equals, and the only way to keep this community thriving is to subscribe or contribute! As Rev Kev said, those snow leopards dont feed themselves. So give them a healthy meal via the Tip Jar. News / National by Staff reporter Human rights lawyers representing jailed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Jameson Timba and 65 party activists have expressed serious concerns regarding the conduct of anti-riot police officers stationed at the Harare Magistrates Court. The legal team claims that the heavy police presence, intended to maintain order, has instead posed a threat to their safety and compromised their ability to perform their duties effectively.Each court appearance has been marked by a substantial police presence, with officers strategically positioned outside the court premises, at the entrance to the court building, and even just outside the courtroom. Webster Jiti, one of the lawyers, criticized the police for their actions, stating that officers frequently obstruct media access to the courtroom and prevent journalists from interviewing lawyers after proceedings."We are being harassed outside the court," Jiti said. "We've been barred from addressing the media outside the court. Everyone has the right to know what's happening in court; where can we address the media?" His sentiments were echoed by Marufu Mandevere, who lamented the intimidating atmosphere now surrounding court visits. "We used to feel free at court, but now we are being treated in an intimidating manner," Mandevere remarked.Jeremiah Bamu also voiced concerns about the media's right to information, noting that police interference has made it difficult for lawyers to provide updates. "Ordinarily, the media come to court to witness proceedings, and as soon as we are done, we should update them. But that's when the police come in and manhandle the lawyers," Bamu said. He further criticized the police for jeopardizing their security and preventing communication with the media, suggesting that this has led to unwanted spectators entering the court premises.Lancelot Mutsokoti, representing the National Prosecuting Authority, assured that the State would engage with police officials to ensure that lawyers are able to work without interference.The court is expected to rule on the bail application for Timba and the other activists this Wednesday. This marks their third attempt to secure bail, citing changed circumstances since their initial requests were denied by both the magistrates and the High Court.Out of the original 78 suspects, 12, including Timba's son Sean, were acquitted at the close of the State's case. The remaining group, who faced charges of disorderly conduct, were acquitted of that charge but have been ordered to answer charges related to unlawful gathering. They are currently on defense trial before Magistrate Collet Ncube.The State alleges that the group held an unsanctioned meeting at Timba's residence and subsequently attacked police officers during their arrest. Macrons Impeachment Clears First Hurdle in Left-Dominated National Assembly Sputnik Unusually, roughly half, and its the first half, of Politicos EU morning newsletter is devoted to a single topic, admittedly with lots of supporting examples. Major header: DRIVING THE DAY: BUYERS REMORSE over the re-election of Queen von der Leyen. Some bits: VON DER LEYENS VISION CONFRONTS REALITY: The whole College is committed to competitiveness! Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared as she presented her new team on Tuesday. But now that their actual responsibilities are becoming more clear, were left asking: competitiveness, or competition with each other? Team Ursula: At first, von der Leyen seemed to come up with a magic solution to the jigsaw puzzle: a (relatively) balanced Commission devoted to both climate and industry, with enough snazzy executive VP slots to satisfy Pedro Sanchez and his stung Socialists; goodies for capitals that ditched their dude nominees; and a team of people she generally liked and trusted. Or is it Queen Ursulas court? But now that theyve read the fine print i.e. the so-called mission letters laying out the actual jobs attached to each title capitals are starting to feel buyers remorse. A picture emerges of a relatively weak slate of commissioners, with overlapping portfolios that make it hard for any individual to wield major influence. (POLITICOs Lucia Mackenzie made this organigram for you.).. PARIS PARANOID ABOUT BAIT AND SWITCH:.. Not just Paris: Von der Leyen appeared to reward Romania for swapping out its male nominee by giving Roxana Minzatu, a former minister of European funds and a first-term MEP, the title of executive VP for people, skills and preparedness. That has a lot of Socialist buzzwords, but in reality, Minzatus mandate is mushy and her only exclusive report is Maltas Glenn Micallef.. ALIENATING ANOTHER KEY CONSTITUENCY: Parliament wrote new rules this cycle to try to force von der Leyen to clue lawmakers in first about the new Commission. She rebelled on Tuesday morning, describing the structure of the new Commission to top MEPs, but demurring on names. She then walked into the press briefing room and delivered a PowerPoint with each commissioner-designates photo and proposed title. Apoplectic: It was an illustration of her contempt for our Parliament, Left leader Manon Aubry fumed to Eddy Wax, and we heard similar complaints from people on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Von der Leyens team said she was just trying to avoid leaks and chaos. Sen. John Kennedy reminds voters that Biden issued nearly 300 executive orders in 2021 TO ERASE AMERICAS BORDERS Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) has reminded the public about how the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris issued nearly 300 executive orders that have shaped the White House's "mass immigration" and "open borders" policies On Sept. 9, Kennedy brought up on his official account on X that Biden signed a flurry of executive orders to overturn the immigration and border policies of former President Donald Trump. "Reminder: The Biden-Harris White House wrote nearly 300 executive orders to open our border in just their FIRST YEAR in office," Kennedy wrote. A 2021 report from CBS News noted that, upon being inaugurated, Biden immediately dismantled major parts of the immigration legacy of the Trump administration. That day, Biden signed six immigration-related executive orders, including halting the construction of the border wall with Mexico, pausing most deportations from the interior of the United States for 100 days and rescinding the travel ban that targeted several Muslim-majority and African nations. (Related: Kamala Harris to reduce illegal immigration by LEGALIZING it, not stopping it.) Biden also announced the suspension of the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy, which forced non-Mexican asylum-seekers to await U.S. court hearings in Mexico. The president also took steps to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which shields over 640,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. The court blocked Trumps efforts to end DACA, while Biden strengthened the protections for DACA children, the so-called "Dreamers." Other executive actions included revoking a controversial Trump order to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count and ending the national emergency declaration that allowed Trump to redirect military funds to build the border wall. Biden-Harris administration promotes mass immigration and open borders A January 2022 press release from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) further proved these claims, when it found out that Biden issued 296 executive orders related to immigration during his first year as president. "Of Biden's 296 immigration actions, 89 have reversed or started to undo Trump policies, making clear the administration is doing more than unraveling his predecessor's policies," the report stated. "The Biden administrations actions cover a wide range of issues greatly narrowing the number of unauthorized immigrants vulnerable to arrest, detention and removal; lifting some barriers to U.S. entry and to accessing immigration benefits; and raising the refugee resettlement ceiling to 125,000." MPI also stated that many Trump-era policies remain in place, especially the more technical ones. This could be due to various reasons, such as a lack of prioritization, the difficulty of reversing them, bureaucratic resistance or even support for some of these policies by the Biden administration. Head over to InvasionUSA.news for more stories related to illegal immigration. Watch this clip from "Mornings with Maria" on Fox Business about Senate Democrats voting to count illegals in the U.S. census. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Violent criminals getting released from U.K. prisons to make room for peaceful protesters who oppose illegal immigration. Coming to America: Opposing illegal immigration, climate change, or mRNA vaccination to be considered THOUGHT CRIMES punishable by prison time. Illegal immigration is costing American hospitals billions of dollars in unpaid medical bills. Illegal immigration skyrockets under Biden to third-highest level in 97 years. Illegal immigration is RIGGING House seats in Congress, stealing power away from real Americans and handing it over to illegals. Sources include: TheNationalPulse.com CBSNews.com MigrationPolicy.org Breitbart.com Brighteon.com Childrens Health Defense symposium tackles RESISTING attacks on food supply and farmers A two-day symposium organized by Children's Health Defense (CHD) touched on the globalists' attacks on food and farmers and how Americans can fight back. The symposium titled "Attack on Food and Farmers and How to Fight Back" happened last Sept. 7 and 8, with over 40 speakers presenting. Both days of the symposium, which was co-organized with Dr. Meryl Nass' organization Door to Freedom, were later broadcast on CHD TV. The first day of the symposium touched on problems in the food supply, mainly coming from the globalists. Dutch sustainability researcher Elze van Hamelen gave a presentation on lab-grown meat, which she called "pharma foods." She detailed the production process for these "Frankenfoods," alongside their many known and potential dangers. Meanwhile, osteopathic physician Dr. Sherri Tenpenny touched on the vaccines injected into the animals people eat. Her presentation expounded on the hundreds of vaccines in the U.S. approved for cattle, chickens, swine and seafood. "We need to know more about what has been injected into our food for a long time," said Tenpenny. (Related: Dr. Mercola warns against eating mRNA-injected pork.) Other speakers, including Moms Across America founder Zen Honeycutt, gave presentations on the impact of the weed killer glyphosate on the food supply. According to her, the dangerous chemical has become ubiquitous. "Almost everything tested has been presenting with concerning levels of glyphosate," said Honeycutt. "This widespread contamination of glyphosate is happening practically in every meal if you're not eating organic. This is a national crisis." The speakers in the two-day symposium also touched on Big Government's assault on the food supply through regulation. Attorney Pete Kennedy's talk tackled the Food and Drug Administration's war on raw milk. Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance founder Julie McGeary mentioned that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has ordered that cattle and bison crossing state lines be tagged electronically. Americans urged to RESIST the food police Journalist James Corbett started the second day of the symposium by offering strategies people can follow daily to refuse participation in the toxic system. "Don't eat the bugs," he remarked, referencing the globalist World Economic Forum's agenda of making people eat insect protein. Corbet also suggested boycotting ultra-processed foods, genetically modified foods and others that contain toxins. Instead, Americans should support alternatives by buying from local farmers, pooling resources, working together with others and staying informed. According to the journalist, people can make these changes gradually. "It doesn't have to be an all-at-once, a 100-percent or nothing type of switch. It could be a gradual process of discovering something new in your area, [or] swapping out something from the supermarket for something that you can source from some local farmers market," he said. Former Assistant Housing Secretary Catherine Austin Fitts also graced the symposium and closed out its second day. She urged symposium attendees to "take action," noting that consumers can protect their own health and move markets. "It is very important we're fighting not just for our freedom. [We] are [also] fighting to make sure that we are not the victims of famine, either because we will not be able to get food or because we will be able to get food that is not worth eating," said Fitts, who runs the Solari Report. "Never underestimate what is possible, especially if a lot more people pile in whether you pile in as a consumer or you pile in as a citizen." Head over to FoodFreedom.news for similar stories. Watch former President Donald Trump promising to make the food supply cleaner by eliminating toxic chemicals from the system. This video is from the SecureLife channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: FDA says fresh milk is dangerous, but chemical BPA is perfectly safe! You WILL eat the bugs: Major brands quietly slipping insects into your food. Avoid harmful chemicals like glyphosate in food by ALWAYS choosing ORGANIC. EAT BUGS AND BE HAPPY: EU authorities approve crickets, mealworms in food. Herbicide in every bite: GLYPHOSATE detected in 100% of U.S. fast-food brands tested. Sources include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org Brighteon.com Doom is the Wests future As I said would happen, Putins refusal to quickly win the conflict with Ukraine has widened the conflict into the beginnings of WW III. (Article by Paul Craig Roberts republished from PaulCraigRoberts.org) Putin himself now acknowledges this fact. In response to a journalists question about the consequences of what appears to be a US-UK decision to permit missile strikes from Ukraine deep into Russia, Putin said: The Ukrainian army is not capable of using cutting-edge high-precision long-range systems supplied by the West. They cannot do that. These weapons are impossible to employ without intelligence data from satellites which Ukraine does not have. This can only be done using the European Unions satellites, or US satellites in general, NATO satellites. This is the first point. The second point perhaps the most important, the key point even is that only NATO military personnel can assign flight missions to these missile systems. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this. Therefore, it is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It is about deciding whether NATO countries become directly involved in the military conflict or not. If this decision is made, it will mean nothing short of direct involvement it will mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are parties to the war in Ukraine. This will mean their direct involvement in the conflict, and it will clearly change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict dramatically. This will mean that NATO countries the United States and European countries are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us. My comments are as follows: Putin has been at war with NATO since the 2007 Munich Security Conference when Putin announced that a multi-polar world was replacing Washingtons uni-polar order. In other words, he threw down the gauntlet to the neoconservatives and their agenda of Washingtons hegemony. Putin possibly did not comprehend how determined neoconservatives are about hegemony, as a hegemonic agenda undoubtably seems unrealistic to Putin. He did not foresee that his challenge would lead directly to Washingtons overthrow of the Ukrainian government and move to make Ukraine a member of NATO. Once Washington had Ukraine, Washington began building a large Ukrainian army with which to embarrass Putin by suppressing the Donbas Russians. Putin was like a babe in the woods. For eight years while Washington built a Ukrainian army, Putin put his trust in the Minsk Agreement and remained unprepared for the easily predictable war on the horizon. When Putin was finally forced to intervene, he did so in a foolish way that guaranteed increasing Western involvement, and by never enforcing any of his red lines now has his back to the wall and cannot ignore NATO/US missile strikes into Russia. Finally, he is forced to acknowledge the truth: the United States and European countries are at war with Russia. If Putin had been realistic instead of lost in liberal delusions, the war that seems ready to break loose could have been avoided. As the cautious Gilbert Doctorow wrote four days ago, a Third World War fought at least initially with conventional weapons is now just days, at most weeks away. And this is just the Ukraine scene. Another major war is brewing in the Middle East. Whether or not war is that close, Doctorows point is well taken. War cant be far off when the US and UK governments are discussing firing missiles at Russia. As I wrote two or three days ago, as talk has been forbidden, war is now a certainty. Unlike during the Cold War, the West no longer has independent foreign policy experts. With very few exceptions, such as Scott Ritter, Mearsheimer, Doctorow, and myself, the Western foreign policy community speaks with one voice: US good, Russia bad. Thats about it. Those few of us who are independent of think tanks and university faculties funded by the military/security complex and neoconservative foundations are labeled Russian agents/dupes and worse. We are gradually being criminalized. Scott Ritter on his way to a conference in Russia was taken off the flight by the Washington Gestapo. His passport was confiscated, and his home was invaded. Currently, charges are being made against Americans accused of cooperating with Russian disinformation, by which is meant reporting a fact or expressing an opinion that is inconsistent with the official narratives. As one thoroughly experienced with the 20th century Cold War, I know that talk between Americans and Russians was the solution, not the problem. When talk is defined as the problem, as Washington defines it today, war is the result. And that is where we are headed. Even the cautious and understated Doctorow sees in Washington an insane recklessness that threatens life on earth. What is the point of it? Ukraines fraudulent borders while our own go undefended? Americans, Europeans, Russians, indeed the entire world need to understand that in the government in Washington there is not one ounce of intelligence or integrity. The American president is senile. The National Security Council is a collection of morons. Not a single one of them has achieved any distinction other than being a mouthpiece for the military/security complex. The militarys officer ranks have been purged to make room for sexual perverts, women, and racial minorities. The notion among conservatives that the US military is going to save us is laughable. The military is tamed with fangs pulled and has been forced to accept zero promotions for white Americans until the military has achieved in the officer ranks equity for sexual perverts, women and racial minorities. The ruling establishment is determined to install their puppet Kamala in the White House. She has always prostituted herself to move ahead, and now is her big chance. Unless Democrats get a surprise from Trump winning in blue states, the 2024 election will be stolen in the swing states exactly as it was in 2020. Indeed, as local news reports have made clear, many of the theft mechanisms used in 2020 have been legalized. It is now legal in swing states for the Democrats to steal the election. When the election is stolen, what will Americans do about it? Nothing. They will accept tyranny before they will fight. Fighting requires belief, but Americans beliefs have been destroyed by decades of liberal/left education that has undermined Western civilization by presenting it as a racist, misogynist scheme of exploitation of women and minorities by white supremacists. White kids go to taxpayer-financed schools funded by their parents to learn that they have been born into the wrong body and that they, their parents and grandparents are racists who owe reparations to suppressed minorities. They are being prepared to pay an additional round of taxes to those declared to be their victims. They are being sexualized at an early age and prepared for pedophiles. We must be honest. This is a correct portrayal of America and the entire West today. Every Western government is on the side of immigrant-invaders against the ethnic citizens who comprise the countries. Now, tell me, how can a social, political, belief system this weak go to war with real people such as Russians, Chinese, Iranians? They cannot. The only future the Western world has is Doom. Read more at: PaulCraigRoberts.org FDA is still using emergency use authorization to release COVID-19 shots without meeting safety standards When the FDA announced that new COVID-19 vaccines addressing more recent variants of the virus were available last month, they left out one very important detail: like their predecessors, they were never officially established as being safe or even effective. How did they get away with it this time around? Much like the first COVID-19 vaccines, they took advantage of the emergency use authorization power that enables them to use a lower level of evidence than the traditional threshold for proving effectiveness in FDA product approvals. It essentially means that proving that they may be effective is justification enough to flood the market with these untested jabs. Although the reasoning for granting emergency use authorization might have made some sense when we were in the early days of the pandemic, a lot of people are wondering why this authority is still intact four years after the fact. After all, even the CDC and the World Health Organization have conceded that the virus is no longer a public health emergency -- more than a year ago. The latest statistics on the virus from health authorities back up the assertion that the virus is nowhere near the threat it once may have been. At the end of August, just 2.3% of visits to emergency rooms in the U.S. stemmed from COVID-19, while the hospitalization rate is on a downward trend and currently stands at just 0.005%. The death rate, meanwhile, has dropped from the 26,028 weekly deaths recorded at its peak in 2021 to just 663 and that number refers to deaths involving COVID-19 but not necessarily caused by it. In an article published by The Federalist, Kentucky Senator Dr. Rand Paul asked why the FDA is so reluctant to call off the emergency designation. Until the FDA stops approving new Covid vaccines under the EUA, and analyzes and reports the safety and efficacy of Covid mRNA vaccines based on established standards, there will remain a cloud of uncertainty about taking these medicines, he wrote. FDA is encouraging all Americans to get the latest shots despite declining hospitalizations and deaths In August, it was announced that Pfizer and Moderna would be shipping millions of doses of the updated vaccines, with Novavax releasing a modified version of its own vaccine shortly thereafter. The CDC wasted no time in recommending the shot for all Americans aged six months or older, despite the numerous health risks being linked to previous iterations of the vaccines. The new fall vaccines target Omicron descendants, a subtype known as KP.2, even though the KP.3.1.1 variant is spreading at the moment, accounting for 37% of cases in mid-August. Pfizer maintains that its data shows the current batch provides better protection against multiple subtypes of the virus but we should take that with a grain of salt considering how deceptive their data has turned out to be in the past. As part of the vaccine push, it is being noted that the versions released last fall target a different strain that is no longer in circulation. Moreover, uptake was low, with just over 22% of adults and 14% of children rolling up their sleeves last year. By now, many people already enjoy immunity from previous infections, and the virus itself has evolved to become more transmissible but less dangerous. When the latest vaccines were announced, the director of the FDAs Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr. Peter Marks, claimed in a statement: These updated vaccines meet the agencys rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. He conveniently forgot to mention that the standards remain way lower than usual thanks to their ongoing manipulation of emergency use authorization powers. Sources for this article include: TheFederalist.com APNews.com SEND HELP: Haitians get all the housing while Americans are left homeless in Ohio Over the last four years, over 20,000 Haitian nationals have settled in Springfield, Ohio which has created a housing crisis that will leave Springfield unable to meet its housing needs unless help is provided. Residents of the suburban Ohio town, now under the national spotlight because of being mentioned during the ABC News presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, are currently seeking assistance as they have been dealing with the consequences of mass immigration for years. This includes a housing crunch, a rise in car wrecks and other alleged crimes and hardships. According to reports, Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck sent a letter in July to GOP Sens. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Tim Scott of South Carolina, asking for federal assistance. "Twenty-five thousand people have invaded our sleepy little community here in Springfield," Barron Seelig, a local non-denominational pastor who is involved in helping feed and provide assistance to the town's homeless community, told the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF). "We're 55,000 people here and they sent an additional 25,000 people here," Seelig continued. "Our resources are taxed and people's nerves are on end." The pastor added that most of the wrecked cars in the lot were there because Haitian nationals "don't know how to drive" and claimed that there were accidents every day because of it. Back in August 2023, Hermanio Joseph, a Haitian national driving a minivan without a license, swerved in front of a school bus. This caused the death of 11-year-old Aiden Clark and injured about a dozen other students on their first day of school. A judge in May sentenced Joseph to more than 13 years in prison for the crash. Meanwhile, Zillow data indicate that median rental prices in the town have spiked over the past year, making it more expensive to live in an area that is historically known for its low cost of living. "I've been here since about March," said one homeless woman who had just arrived at a local soup kitchen with her daughter to grab a free meal. "We've been trying to find a place, but we can't find a place at all because the Haitians always get all the housing." According to her, they can't find housing because all the housing has gone to foreign nationals. "I had never in my life seen a Haitian, didn't even know what a Haitian was until I came here to Springfield and it's ridiculous," she said. Apart from bad driving and housing priority, other common complaints by locals about their new Haitian neighbors were constant late-night parties and public debauchery. A resident claimed he observed from his house migrants picking up women and having sex with them out in public, sometimes even in front of children. (Related: More horrifying details emerge about the 20,000 Haitian migrants INVADING Springfield, Ohio: Residents are fleeing due to overwhelming VIOLENCE.) The Biden-Harris administration in June announced an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 300,00 Haitians, giving them deportation protections in the U.S. as their home nation continues to experience upheaval. The White House already designated Haitians with TPS in 2021 and renewed it in late 2022. The latest order gave Haitian nationals deportation protection until early 2026. Haitians are also included in a mass parole initiative known as the CHNV program, which allows hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela legal authorization to fly into the country. Springfield's poverty rate was twice the national average in 2022 as Haitians began arriving in large numbers, according to NPR. Seelig described Springfield as "one of the highest in the nation" for drug overdose deaths in recent years. The pastor reiterated that the town is unable to handle the crisis on its own. "We're tired," Seelig said. "Send help. Help us fix this." Springfield police deny reports of pets stolen and/or eaten After Trump's explosive claim that Haitians are eating pets in Ohio during the debate, which was followed by a viral post shared by no less than the X CEO Elon Musk supporting the claim, the Springfield Police Division said on Monday, Sept. 9, that they have received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten. "In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," a released statement indicated. Another post has also become controversial as it claimed that a pet cat in the Ohio town had been found hanging from a branch near a Haitian neighbor's home and was being carved up for a meal. The user, who posted it, also said that "Rangers" and police told them that they have been doing it at Snyder Park, too, with ducks and geese. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue on Monday said claims of geese or ducks from parks being killed and eaten are unsubstantiated, according to a Springfield News-Sun report. In interviews last month, a city official said they had not been able to verify any of those reports and described them as "false" and "misleading" information amplified by social media. DCNF visited Springfield and interviewed several residents about the situation. No locals said they had personally witnessed any individuals eating house pets but they adamantly said that the massive influx of migrants has become a problem. Check out InvasionUSA.news for updates on migration policies and the current burgeoning migrant crisis. Sources for this article include: YourNews.com SpringfieldNewsSun.com News / National by Staff reporter The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is locked in a heated dispute with tenants at Lyndhurst flats in the central business district (CBD) over efforts to evict them. The residents are resisting the move, accusing the local authority of corruption and unfair treatment.Several tenants, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed the council's original plan was to evict only eight occupants to accommodate council workers. However, the residents allege that the council now intends to evict everyone from the building under unclear circumstances.One of the affected residents, 68-year-old Eileen Bishop, described her ordeal as traumatic. After living in the flat for 44 years, she was forced to vacate in May but is still being billed by the council. Now residing temporarily in Kingsdale, Bishop fears becoming homeless again when her current accommodation ends in December."I was evicted like a dog, and even now, the flat I moved out of remains unoccupied. I suspect something shady is happening. The council told me they are renovating, but I can't shake the feeling that I was unfairly pushed out," said Bishop.She added that her family, including her grandchildren who attend school in town, is now struggling with transportation challenges due to the eviction.Some residents have alleged that those with connections to corrupt officials are being given preferential treatment, while the vulnerable are being left in distress. One source noted, "Their argument was that they needed a few flats for council workers, but now it seems like a grand plan to evict everyone."Ward 1 councillor Josiah Mutangi, known for standing up for residents, condemned the city's actions, particularly pointing out the unfair application of the law."How do you evict a woman with a sick child who can't even move, or another with severe depression? These are the people who need support the most, yet they are being kicked out. The law should be applied fairly, not selectively," said Mutangi.He urged city management to find a solution and provide the affected residents with an alternative.The council has remained tight-lipped on the matter, but sources indicate the evictions may be linked to the accommodation of council employees and other beneficiaries.Residents who have sought legal intervention claim they were met with little success in court, while those still in the flats fear they will be next to face eviction. Kamala says quiet part out loud: Government oversight needed to police the internet and rein in thought crimes The global crackdown on free speech continues unabated and if you think its relegated to countries like China, Cuba and North Korea, think again. (Article by Leo Hohmann republished from LeoHohmann.com) A Brazilian Supreme Court panel on Monday upheld a decision to suspend Elon Musks social media platform X in the country. Last Friday, Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the platform blocked. Since the decision, Musk and his supporters have tried to paint de Moraes as a renegade and an authoritarian censor of political speech. But Brazil is no outlier. The European Union is also cracking down on free speech with its Online Service Act and we have our own free-speech haters here in the United States. In fact, one of them is a candidate for president. Kamala Harris came out in 2019 and admitted in the wide open that she wants to see the same type of state-sponsored censorship implemented in the United States as what we now see taking shape in Brazil. The government, Harris believes, should have ultimate control over what you and I are allowed to post on the internet, as well as more control over what we are allowed to see and hear. She doesnt trust us to decide for ourselves as to the truth or accuracy of what we see or read online. Take a look at the video below and let the gravity of what Harris is advocating sink in for a moment. So, shes very impressed with the socialist government of Brazils legal action to shut down Twitter, now called X. Shes telling us that social media platforms, which are where most people get their news today, are directly speaking to millions of people without any level of oversight or regulation, and that has to stop. That means, in her view, all voices must be sifted through a filter. The question becomes, who should we allow to be the official filter of news and information? Who should be allowed to be the overseer? I think Kamala is pretty clear on that. Its the government. And that is as anti-American and unconstitutional as you can get. But its not just Kamala Harris who thinks this way. This is the majority viewpoint among the self-appointed globalist elites worldwide. Robert Reich, the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor under Bill Clinton, said in an August 30th op-ed for The Guardian that Elon Musk should be dealt with harshly for his commitment to free speech on his X platform, which Reich described as out of control. Reich listed six things that can be done to rein him in, and one of them was for governments around the world to threaten Musk with arrest if he doesnt stop disseminating lies and hate on X. He cited Frances arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov last week as the model for what should be done to Musk and anyone else who dares to question the official globalist narratives on key issues such as vaccines, LGBTQ issues, certain election results, NATOs wars of aggression, etc. Current Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a July 2 statement that his department is working to create a program run by AI that will scan the internet looking for posts that counter the governments official narratives (he calls it disinformation) and then somehow punish or marginalize the authors of the unauthorized remarks. Fast-forward to the 3-minute mark and watch through the 7:07 mark to hear Blinken speak boldly of his anti-free speech, anti-First Amendment vision for America. He admits this vision originates with the United Nations. Only outright communists and techno-tyrants would admit to supporting such authoritarian ideas and concepts. Unfortunately, thats what todays puppet politicians have become as they continue to shill for the globalists at the World Economic Forum and United Nations. Both the WEF and UN are in the midst of a global campaign to wipe out all voices of dissent and redefine them as criminals. The regimes in China, North Korea, Iran and Cuba have never allowed people to speak critically of government authorities so nothing is changing there. Its the Western so-called democracies that are in the crosshairs of this global campaign. Will you submit to this beast system? Or will you double down on courage and speak truth to power, submitting only to the higher authority of God and His Son, Jesus Christ? Read more at: LeoHohmann.com Elon Musk shares video supporting Trumps claim about migrants eating cats in Ohio Tech mogul Elon Musk recently posted a video that supported former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been killing cats for food and even for their "voodoo rituals." A daughter of a Haitian migrant confirmed these practices in a video Musk shared on his social media platform X. The woman's father came to the United States in the 1960s. She explained that while her father did not engage in such practices, "most of the island" practices voodoo, which includes animal sacrifices often involving cats. "This is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. You can't just go to a food bank like you can here, or just go to McDonald's and get some free or cheap food," she said. "They do animal sacrifices for their religion, voodoo. They make these animal sacrifices to these gods for different reasons." She thinks that the religion is "demonic." Another X user posted a video where a Jamaican man recounted his firsthand knowledge of Haitians using animals for both food and witchcraft. "Not only are they harvesting cats for food, but also for witchcraft purposes, voodoo purposes," he said, adding that cat blood and bones are believed to bring good luck. "They consume these things because they believe it brings good luck and good juju. This is not a joke, it's a fact. This is their culture. This is what they believe. They will die on a hill on this belief." The clips went viral on X after Trump raised the issue during the presidential debate on ABC, in which he claimed that Haitian migrants were eating pets. Vice President Kamala Harris dismissed Trump's claim while suppressing a laugh. However, former Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson cautioned her party against dismissing these claims. In a post to X, Williamson warned that ignoring the concerns of Springfield residents could backfire on Democrats, especially as Haitian voodoo practices come to light. "Continuing to dump on Trump because of the 'eating cats' issue will create blowback on Nov. 5. Haitian voodoo is, in fact, real, and to dismiss the story out-of-hand rather than listen to the citizens of Springfield, Ohio, confirms in the minds of many voters the stereotype of Democrats as smug elite jerks who think they're too smart to listen to anyone outside their own silo," Williamson wrote. Trump wont debate Harris again Meanwhile, Trump said there would be no debate repeat with Vice President Kamala Harris. "There will be no third debate!" he posted on his Truth Social account. "When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, 'I want a rematch.'" Trump insisted that polls showed he won the recent faceoff. When he went to a campaign stop in Tucson, Arizona, the same day, Trump said he was successful in both the past debates and he will no longer do another one. "Too late anyway, the voting has already begun," he added. Shortly after Trump's post on Truth Social, Harris addressed a crowd at a rally in North Carolina, where she said she was open to another debate. "I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate," she said. (Related: U.S. election "Nostradamus" thinks Kamala Harris will win: But the outcome is up to you, he says.) Meanwhile, statistics from media analytics firm Nielsen show that 67.1 million people watched the debate, which is significantly higher than the 51.3 million who saw the controversial June debate between Trump and Biden. Surveys also suggest Trump and Harris are in an extremely tight race in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump.news contains more stories on the former POTUS' 2024 presidential campaign. Watch the video below where a media panelist slams debate moderators for not challenging Harris' lies. This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: NO SUBSTANCE: Kamala Harris to focus on personal attacks against Donald Trump in upcoming debate. Kamala Harris releases three pro-abortion ads targeting Trump while advocating a free-for-all of nationwide baby murder. RFK Jr.: Democrats have no platform; they are only united by HATRED of Donald Trump. RFK Jr. campaign ad calls on Americans to VOTE FOR TRUMP and "finish the story." Sources include: YourNews.com X.com 1 X.com 2 CBSNews.com Brighteon.com Survey: Many Americans have limited knowledge of constitutional rights A recent Annenberg Constitution Day Civics survey has revealed that Americans grasp the basic structure of the government, but their knowledge about constitutional rights, particularly the First Amendment, remains limited The survey, released ahead of Constitution Day on Sept. 17, reveals that 65 percent of Americans can correctly identify the three branches of the U.S. government: executive, legislative and judicial. This suggests a solid foundation in understanding the separation of powers. However, while 74 percent could name freedom of speech as a First Amendment right, far fewer Americans recognize other key rights. Only 39 percent mention freedom of religion, 29 percent identify freedom of the press, 27 percent recall the right to assembly and just 11 percent know the right to petition the government. (Related: Former Biden advisor claims First Amendment is OUT OF CONTROL.) Alarmingly, 22 percent incorrectly cite the right to bear arms, which is part of the Second Amendment. The survey also examined public awareness about the U.S. Supreme Court and their opinions on potential reforms. Notably, 86 percent of respondents correctly know that justices are appointed rather than elected, while 85 percent correctly know that judges serve life terms. Additionally, 56 percent recognize that the Supreme Court, not the president, has the ultimate authority in determining the constitutionality of presidential actions. In the court reform, public sentiment is clear: 82 percent of respondents support barring justices from ruling on cases where they have conflicts of interest; 77 percent favor implementing a formal ethics code for the justices; 69 percent endorse a mandatory retirement age; and 68 percent back the idea of term limits. However, opinions on court reform vary widely by political affiliation. Both Democrats (87 percent) and Republicans (83 percent) agree on the need to disqualify justices with conflicts of interest from certain cases, but Democrats show stronger support for other reforms. For instance, 88 percent of Democrats support a formal ethics code, compared to 70 percent of Republicans. The survey also revealed a connection between civics knowledge and attitudes toward court reform. Those with higher civics knowledge are more likely to back reforms, such as barring justices from cases with conflicts of interest, but are less inclined to support measures like allowing public votes to overturn controversial court rulings. Experts weigh in on gaps in civics knowledge, push for Supreme Court reforms In line with the results, R. Lance Holbert, director of the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics, stressed the importance of understanding fundamental rights. "Civics education needs to be a life-long pursuit. The education materials provided through Annenberg Classroom and the Civics Renewal Network can aid in building up the nations civics knowledge reserves that produce a wide range of direct and indirect benefits," Holbert said. Moreover, Matt Levendusky, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, warned that if public trust in the court's independence continues to erode, it could result in reforms that undermine the power of the judiciary. "The court's independence has long been sustained by its strong bipartisan support in the public. If that vanishes, the court may find itself reformed or constrained in ways that weaken its power," Levendusky said. Visit FirstAmendment.news for similar stories. Watch this video about the possibility of the TikTok ban bill being used to censor pro-free speech platforms like Rumble and Truth Social. This video is from the Thrivetime Show channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: First Amendment victory: Schools may no longer police students social media posts. Federal court orders California community college to stop censoring and violating students First Amendment rights. Missouri AG Andrew Bailey: Protect the First Amendment by disallowing Big Tech-Big Government collusion. Federal judge rules first-grader TOO YOUNG for protections guaranteed by the First Amendment. California court rules children have no free speech rights only old people covered by First Amendment? Sources include: StudyFinds.org Trudeau willing to make a deal with Quebec nationalists to prevent snap election Canada is facing the possibility of a snap federal election taking place before the fall of 2025 after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's confidence and supply arrangement with the left-wing New Democratic Party broke down. To avert this possibility, Trudeau and his Liberal Party are reportedly looking to the Quebec nationalists Following the 2021 federal election, Trudeau's Liberals were able to increase their seat share in the Canadian House of Commons but fell 10 seats short of the majority needed to prevent his government from being ousted. To prevent an early election that could have seen the Canadian Conservative Party ushered into power, Trudeau turned to the left-wing NDP, which agreed to temporarily support Trudeau in exchange for substantial policy concessions. However, as soon as the NDP achieved all of its goals, it immediately pulled out of the confidence and supply arrangement, leaving Trudeau vulnerable. In fact, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has already promised to table confidence votes against Trudeau's government in the hope of triggering a general election, which polling indicates the Conservatives will handily win. Quebec nationalists demanding substantial concessions in exchange for support To prevent his early ouster, Trudeau is reportedly turning to the Quebec nationalist party the Bloc Quebecois (BQ), which is seeking Quebec's independence from Canada. Its leader, Yves-Francois Blanchet, has stated that it is willing to cut a deal with Trudeau for support during confidence votes in exchange for significant policy concessions. As it stands, the BQ has 32 seats to the NDP's 24, which is more than enough to prop up the Liberals, who have 154 seats. In an interview ahead of the party caucus, BQ House Leader Alain Therrien said his party is happy to regain its balance of power. He called the situation created by the NDP's departure a "window of opportunity" for considerable gains for Quebec. (Related: Elections Canada UNABLE TO REFUTE allegations that CCP agents infiltrated the 2021 federal election.) "[The party's] objectives remain the same, but the means to get there will be much easier," said Therrien. A BQ strategist who spoke under anonymity with The Canadian Press noted the party is taking for granted that when the federal election comes, it will usher in a majority Conservative Party government led by Poilievre. Quebec is unlikely to factor into this impending victory, the strategist noted. All the BQ is hoping is to grab seats from the Liberals in Quebec. "It's going to happen with or without Quebec," the strategist said. "[The Conservatives] are 20 points ahead everywhere in Canada, with the exception of Quebec, and that won't change." It is not surprising that the Bloc sees excellent news in the tearing up of the agreement that allowed the Liberals to govern without listening to their demands, said University of Ottawa political scientist Genevieve Tellier. "The Bloc only has influence if the government, no matter which one, is a minority," she explained. "In the case of a majority government, the Bloc's relevance becomes more difficult to justify because, like the other parties, it can oppose, it can hold the government to account, but it cannot influence the government's policies." On the BQ's priority list is gaining royal recommendation for Bill C-319, which aims to bring pensions for seniors aged 65 to 74 to the same level as that paid to those aged 75 and over. The BQ is also likely to push for more powers for Canada's provinces on matters of immigration, particularly when it comes to temporary foreign workers. The BQ may also demand more federal funding for Quebec, cuts to tax credits given to oil companies, more health care funding for provinces and stemming or eliminating Ottawa's perceived encroachment of provincial jurisdictions. Watch this episode of "Maverick News" discussing the situation between Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. This video is from the Maverick News channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Canada's Online News Act benefits MAINSTREAM MEDIA at the expense of independent outlets. Canada's government virologists exposed for "clandestine relationship" with Chinese agents. Canada postpones expansion of euthanasia program to mentally ill people, but the Trudeau government promises to kill them eventually. Canada to begin inquiry into allegations that CCP agents meddled in Canadian elections. Canadas amended Online News Act favors CORPORATE MEDIA. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com CTVNews.ca NationalPost.com Brighteon.com Biden could allow Ukraine to use long-range Western missiles against Russia President Joe Biden could approve Ukraine's request to use long-range Western weapons deep inside the Russian territory as long as it will not use U.S.-supplied armaments for such operations. In the past, Biden has been hesitant to allow Ukraine to use American weapons for attacks against Russian borders due to a potential escalation. However, in recent months, U.S. officials have become more open to expanding the capacity of Ukraine for long-range strikes, particularly following the successful incursion of Ukraine into the Kursk region of Russia. (Related: Ukraine launches HUNDREDS of drones targeting energy infrastructure in Russia, including a major oil refinery in Moscow.) This development came after newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain visited Washington on Sept. 13. The U.K. has already supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of about 155 miles three times greater than the previous capabilities of Ukraine missiles. However, these missiles have been restricted from striking targets within Russia itself. Now, the U.K. and France have already signaled their willingness to allow Ukraine to use the said missiles to strike Russian targets far from the Ukrainian border. However, Ukraine still awaits explicit approval from Biden. The U.S. has so far provided Ukraine access to the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) missiles, which have a range of 190 miles, but it has been cautious about permitting strikes inside Russia. Concerns have centered around the possibility of escalating tensions with Moscow, particularly due to fears that Russia could respond with nuclear weapons. But on Sept. 10, Biden acknowledged the possibility of authorizing long-range missile strikes inside Russia. "We are working that out right now," he said. Putin warns of war if U.S., allies allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles In line with this, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. on Sept. 12 that allowing Western technical support for such missile strikes would mean that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries are at war with Russia. "We are not talking about allowing or not allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons," Putin said in an interview with propagandist Pavel Zarubin. "We are talking about deciding whether NATO countries are directly involved in the military conflict or not. This will mean that NATO countries, the U.S. and European countries are at war with Russia. And if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us." State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin echoed these statements in a Telegram post on Sept. 13. "NATO became a participant in military operations in Ukraine," Volodin wrote. "They are waging war on our country." The same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters that the message of Putin was "extremely clear, unambiguous and does not allow for any double readings." "We have no doubt that it has reached its intended recipients," Peskov said. Visit WWIII.news for more stories about the ongoing efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Watch this episode of "Alex in Cyprus" as host Alex Christoforou comments on the imminent transportation of JASSMs to Ukraine. This video is from the Oldyoti's Home Page channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Ukraine closing in on deal with U.S. for new advanced long-range missiles that could strike deep into Russia. Ukraine escalates long-range strikes, sends drones to attack Russian military air base. Ukraine to BAN CHRISTIANITY unless Ukrainian Orthodox Church cuts ties with Moscow. Ukraine fails to force ultimatum on Russia following August 11 attack on Kursk nuclear plant: "Most of the equipment has already been destroyed." Ukraine wants to start talks using Kursk nuclear plant seizure as ultimatum Akhmat head. Sources include: DNYUZ.com MSN.com NBCNews.com Fake news network CNN uses PHOTOSHOPPED image of Donald Trump to make him look grossly obese The fake news network CNN, which former President Donald Trump has denounced for peddling lies after lies, has reportedly used a photoshopped image of him alongside independent journalist Laura Loomer. According to Modernity News, the "completely fake" image of Trump standing alongside Loomer "had been photoshopped to make him look grossly obese." The picture was displayed during a Sept. 13 segment hosted by Anderson Cooper. "There's no way this is a 'mistake.' CNN knew the image was doctored and used it regardless," wrote Steve Watson of Modernity News. Even the parody X account behind the photoshopped image found it hilarious that Cooper credited them. Loomer herself later reacted to the image in a post on X, tagging Cooper. She wrote: "Why is CNN using photoshopped [pictures] of [former] President Trump? Very unethical of you." "The leftist media is going after Loomer, hurling all kinds of bizarre claims about her and Trump after she traveled with his campaign team on his plane to Philadelphia ahead of [the Sept. 10 presidential] debate," Watson continued. "They accused Loomer of being racist and spreading 'conspiracy theories,' and confronted Trump about her [on Sept. 13]." "Laura's been a supporter, just like a lot of people are supporters. She speaks very positively of the campaign," the former president told a reporter. "I can't tell Laura what to do. She's a free spirit." The same reporter pressed Trump about past "racist" remarks made by Loomer, which led him to answer: "I have to see what those remarks are. I dont even know what youre talking about." "She may have said something based on what youre telling me. I'll go take a look and Ill put out a statement later on." According to Modernity News, the previous "racist comments" by Loomer included a post on X that touched on Vice President Kamala Harris' Indian heritage which she often uses to curry favor with leftist voters. Loomer's post alleged that if the Democratic presidential nominee wins in November, "the White House will smell like curry and White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center." (Related: Kamala the Chameleon changes identity to "Indian or black depending on which group shes addressing.) Loomer denies "affair" with Trump which the mainstream media accused her of having Trump later issued a statement in response to Loomer's comments, which read: "Laura Loomer doesn't work for the campaign. She's a private individual citizen and longtime supporter. I disagree with the statement she made. But like the many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the radical left Marxists and fascists violently attack and smear me even to the point of doing anything to stop their political opponent." But Loomer herself isn't immune to the smears coming from the mainstream media. She was accused of having an affair with Trump, an accusation the journalist vehemently denied during the Sept. 14 edition of her "Loomer Unleashed" podcast. Loomer rebuked claims of her being in a romantic affair with Trump, saying that such accusations are "malicious" and "disrespectful" to the real estate mogul and his wife Melania. The independent journalist also framed the rumors as part of a media conspiracy. "They've taken it so far. You know, if I was a leftist journalist, if I was a Democrat oh my God, the media would be up in arms if the Republican media was doing this to a left-wing journalist. 'Oh my God, they're misogynist, they're bullying a woman, they're trying to Monica Lewinsky her, they're trying to discredit the fact that she's a working woman,'" Loomer claimed. "But some of us women, we actually work hard. And some [of] us women have no desire to have sexual affairs with politicians or men with elite political status to climb the ladder," she continued. These remarks were a swipe at Harris, who reportedly "slept her way to the top" with several politicians most prominent of them being former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Visit CNNSoFake.news for similar stories. Watch Laura Loomer reiterating that Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party during the ReAwaken America Tour below. This video is from the Thrivetime Show channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: CNN admits Trump on course for landslide win. Natural News announces economic boycott of CNN corporate sponsors, including GEICO, WellsFargo, Sprint, Dodge and ETrade. CNN's fake news Hall of Shame: The many times the network has purposefully lied about the Trump administration. Sources include: Modernity.news DailyMail.co.uk Brighteon.com Germany SUSPENDS Schengen Area access scheme, tightens border security The German government has suspended the passport-free Schengen Area access scheme and has imposed tighter border security measures following an Islamist stabbing last month. Citing German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, Reuters reported that controls within the Schengen zone would begin on Sept. 16 and would initially last for six months. Faeser said Berlin has also designed a scheme enabling authorities to reject more migrants directly at German borders. According to the interior minister, the border measures sought to protect Germany against Islamic extremism following a series of murders and attempted murders committed by immigrants in the last few weeks. One such attack happened in August, where a Syrian migrant killed three during a stabbing attack in the western German city of Solingen. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria reportedly claimed responsibility for the stabbing. (Related: Germany: Murder victims in the Solingen massacre were activists in favor of 'tolerance' and 'integration.') "The restrictions are part of a series of measures Germany has taken to toughen its stance on irregular migration in recent years following a surge in arrivals, in particular people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East," Reuters reported. "The intention of the government seems to be to show symbolically to Germans and potential migrants that the latter are no longer wanted here," said Marcus Engler at the German Center for Integration and Migration Research. Germany's neighbors also expected to close their borders Germany had taken in more than a million people, mostly fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, during the 2015-2016 migrant crisis. Since then, the German government has agreed to tighter deportation rules. The Germans have also resumed flying convicted criminals of Afghan nationality to their home country. Last year, Berlin also announced stricter controls on its land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Those, along with the controls on the border with Austria, had allowed Germany to return 30,000 migrants since October last year. According to Eurointelligence, the Schengen rules require an overriding national security interest. In line with that development, it added that the collateral damage will be huge. "Austria already said it would not take in any immigrants rejected by Germany. So Austria will almost surely do the same and close its border. Nobody to the east and south-east of Germany has the physical capacity and political willingness to absorb immigrants. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia will all do the same," Reuters reported. "[It is assumed] that Switzerland, not a member of the EU but a member of Schengen, will follow. Italy has no border to close, but France does. Germany has now become an active participant in the beggar-thy-neighbor refugee policies of EU member states. This is a serious threat to the whole idea of Schengen." Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, warned her colleagues not to endanger the European Union's migration deal and not to succumb to the illusion that European countries can solve the refugee problem at a national level. Head over to BorderSecurity.news for similar stories. Watch this video of two federal police officers at the German border estimating that around 500,000 soldiers are waiting for the day migrants can come in without any restrictions. This video is from the Auriga Books channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: German states report SURGE in citizenship applications after leftist government relaxes rules for migrants. Top German politicians demand "maximum" penalty for young people expressing their discontent with unrestricted migration. Germany: Nigerian migrant grabs 9-year-old boy and stabs 2 police officers, immediately released by the courts. Sources include: Mishtalk.com Reuters.com Brighteon.com Locals outraged as Californias iconic Joshua trees are cut down to build a solar farm This week, crews began cutting down California's iconic western Joshua trees to make way for a new solar farm in the Mojave Desert. Around 3,500 trees are expected to be destroyed despite outrage from locals, and it's all part of a project that aims to produce 530 megawatts of renewable energy. California's Joshua trees are a protected species, but Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsoms Fish and Game Commission gave the project's developer, Avantus, a controversial exemption to chop down the trees in 2020 following closed-door meetings between California wildlife officials and industry executives. Although the company claims it is trying to maintain the wildlife in the area and has reduced the scope of the project from its original proposal, it has done little to alleviate widespread criticism of numerous aspects of the project. Moreover, some critics are complaining that energy from the solar panels is going to be sent to the areas wealthier communities, meaning that the environment is suffering for something that will only benefit a privileged few. One area where the trees are being cut down, Boron, has a poverty rate that is double the state average, and its residents will not be able to access the green energy produced. It will be sent to wealthier communities in the Silicon Valley and Central Coast hundreds of miles away instead, where it will power around 180,000 homes. Petition against the project draws more than 52,000 signatures Residents have organized a petition against the project, and it has already attracted more than 52,000 signatures since being launched earlier this summer. It reads: Ancient Joshua Trees are going extinct, and we must save them. The Aratina Solar Project in Boron, California, is approved to destroy nearly 4,000 ancient Joshua Trees in this forestThese iconic trees have stood for centuries, providing habitat for numerous species and contributing to the unique biodiversity of our region. The petition points out that the trees are already under threat, with predictions that they could lose 90% of their habitat by the end of the century should current trends continue. This project will only accelerate their demise. They added: "We need sustainable energy solutions that do not come at the cost of irreplaceable natural treasures. In addition to their disappointment over losing the landmark trees, residents have expressed other environmental concerns related to the project. They are also worried about the threat of the respiratory infection known as valley fever, which is caused by a fungus and transmitted in dust. One local group discovered the fungus that leads to valley fever in samples of topsoil taken from numerous parcels where the solar panels are slated to go up. Avantus has said they intend to minimize their grading of the land in an attempt to reduce the amount of dust they produce. However, many residents say they wont let their children play outside due to the risk. Solar project is placing wildlife species in danger The Joshua trees also provide habitat for many types of species, so Avantus must work to relocate the wildlife that lives there. This is expected to be quite disruptive and will be overseen by state wildlife officials. Mohave ground squirrels and desert tortoises, which are both endangered, are among the species that call the Joshua tree site their home; 44 species in total live there. Although climate change alarmists claim that they are trying to help the planet with pursuits like solar farms, the truth is that they are endangering threatened plants and wildlife and tearing up undeveloped land which is not exactly a good way to support the environment. Sources for this article include: WattsUpWithThat.com FoxNews.com LATimes.com The big change ahead: NATO starting a war with russia? There is no other way to interpret it: Washington and its client NATO members are declaring war on Russia. That is the direct meaning of the forthcoming visit of Zelensky to Washington where the parties will agree on targets inside Russia. (Article by Stephen Bryen republished from Weapons.Substack.com) To say this is an insane, reckless move is understatement. This is the most dangerous step possible for the US and NATO and it will lead to World War III. Don't believe any garbage "justifying" the use of long range missiles on Russia. Putin has pointed out that while Ukraine will host the missiles, they will be fired by NATO personnel who will also insert the targeting data coming from overhead satellites covering Russian territory. Those satellites are American. The upcoming Zelensky-Biden meeting should also include Harris, so she takes full responsibility for starting a war. No one can presume what the outcome will be. Will Russia unleash nuclear weapons and bring a definitive end to the Ukraine war? Will it shoot down American satellites? Will Russia send rockets to hit supply depots in Europe, especially in Poland which is the jumping off point for military supplies to Ukraine? There are many other possibilities open to Russia. Russia could transfer nuclear weapons to Iran, for example, or to Syria. The truth is Washington wants to take up Zelensky's proposals for deep strikes on Russian territory because Ukraine is losing the war and could be defeated even before the Presidential elections in November. The Biden-Harris team will have to explain why they kept backing a loser, causing tens of thousands of casualties, instead of seeking a diplomatic settlement that was easily within their grasp. Here again Washington stopped a deal in the making between Ukraine and Russia, and Biden and Harris are directly responsible for that. Zelensky's strategy is easy to grasp. He knows everything is falling apart and Ukraine won't be able to fight anymore by winter, as the infrastructure of the country, especially electrical power, but also fuel, dries up. Polish Foreign Minister Rados?aw Sikorski says that Ukraines electrical power has been degraded by 70%, perhaps more. So Zelensky's strategy is to bring NATO directly into the war. And, stupidly and arrogantly, Washington is playing the same game. No one, other than the UK, wants to see a war in Europe. The UK is no longer an important European country and lacks a land army worth talking about. Instead its government built a couple of massively expensive aircraft carriers that function poorly, if at all, instead of strengthening its military and rebuilding its defenses. In any case, the UK dances to the US tune. The British are anxious to attack Russia, but havent bothered to figure what will happen when Russia blows up the UK. The big question is why Washington wants to fire missiles into Russia? It means that Biden, Sullivan and Blinken know that their Ukraine policy is a disaster. Instead of trying to open communications with the Russians, they are upping the ante and taking huge risks, with little idea how things will end up, unless they are really getting ready to send in NATO troops and use NATO airpower in the Ukraine war. Russia may not match the US in many military categories, but it occupies a large landmass and has strategic and tactical nuclear weapons. We have known for years that Russia's military does not really differentiate between tactical and strategic nuclear systems; rather they see them all along a continuum to be used as necessary. What this means is that Russia can launch ICBMs and submarine IRBMs against US continental targets. People in Washington should understand that the US has almost no continental air defenses capable of stopping a Russian nuclear attack. For years strategists have worried about a so-called "first strike" capability. I can't say Russia really has that, but no one should want to find out. The only hope is to persuade our current leaders, soon to be replaced, that they will be held accountable for starting a war without any grounds for doing so. One of the features of government is that people make decisions without taking responsibility. In the case of World War III, no matter what soap opera propaganda flows into US newspapers, our leaders will have a lot of blood on their hands if they go ahead with bombing Russia. Read more at: Weapons.Substack.com Nutrition Bible sermon: Mike Adams talks about the importance of putting on the molecular ARMOR OF GOD The Health Ranger Mike Adams discussed why it is important to put on the molecular Armor of God during the inaugural sermon of his 100 Sermons series on the "Health Ranger Report." The Bible nutrition educator based his first sermon on the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians in the New Testament, specifically where it touches on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:11). He called on people to don this armor and be strong in the Lord. "You must express courage and understand that you are acting in the power of his might, that He is with you. God is with us. And with God at your side, we put on the armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil," Adams said. "We avoid exposure to more toxins such as the vaccine jabs, pesticides, herbicides [and] toxic pharmaceuticals. We pursue clean food, clean supplements, superfoods that contain the miraculous molecules provided by God. Molecules of cleansing and of healing, molecules of protection." (Related: Mike Adams announces 100 sermons in 100 days with sermon #1 available now the MOLECULAR Armor of God.) The Health Ranger mentioned how certain molecules are found in certain foods, which means that eating them protects the body from within. Letting these molecules circulate through the body allows the molecular Armor of God to do its work. One such molecule is sulforaphane, which can be found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli sprouts. It protects the nerves from toxins and stressors. Another molecule is astaxanthin, a very rich red pigment that purifies the blood when ingested. This molecule also protects the cardiovascular, nervous and musculoskeletal systems. The Bible nutrition educator ultimately noted that whether it is sulforaphane or astaxanthin, these molecules are the Armor of God coursing through a person's veins. Evil forces used FEAR as a weapon against people The founder of Natural News and Brighteon.com said his sermon is about courage, the Armor of God and understanding the war being waged against humanity and God. According to Adams, "fear" was the weapon used by the evil forces during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to lock down businesses, churches, schools and people. These dark forces are led by Satan and his minions the globalists. "The fear was constant. The fear was the weapon. The fear was more dangerous than the virus," he said. "The plandemic wasn't real, but the fear was something that people would make real in their own minds as they allowed themselves to take in the fear because they were not wearing the Armor of God, and they did not have faith in the Armor of God." Adams reiterated that people must be able to withstand the time of great evil. He expressed optimism by pointing out that people are fighting against this spiritual wickedness. However, many mainstream churches have become vehicles to discourage people from wearing the molecular Armor of God. Ultimately, a person has to make a conscious decision to step forward and choose a path of courage paying no heed to things that discourage them from doing so. Adams stressed that if people put on the armor, they can stand against this evil. Follow Awakening.news for more stories about Christian beliefs and principles. Listen to the inaugural sermon from the Health Ranger Mike Adams about the molecular Armor of God. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Sermon 013: Mike Adams discusses why having PURE BLOOD is important. Pastor Steve Cioccolanti calls on the Christian Church in America to WAKE UP. America Unhinged: Members of globalist WEF are pretending to be gods Brighteon.TV. Sermon 18: Mike Adams discusses the POMEGRANATE fruit as natural medicine and miracle from God. Sermon 15: Mike Adams discusses how the use of toxic pesticides DEFILES the land God has given to humanity. Sources include: Brighteon.com BibleGateway.com News / National by Staff reporter In a major boost for Zimbabwe's agricultural sector, Dutch ambassador in Harare Margret Verwijk has announced that 6 million kilograms of Zimbabwean blueberries are en route to key international destinations including Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and the Middle East. This significant shipment, which underscores Zimbabwe's growing prominence in the global fruit market, is being facilitated by Dutch logistics firm FX Logistics.The blueberries, known for their quality and flavor, are expected to make a considerable impact in these diverse markets. Amsterdam, often referred to as the gateway to Europe, will serve as a crucial entry point for the fruit into the European market. Hong Kong and the Middle East represent important growth regions for fresh produce, further expanding the reach of Zimbabwean exports.FX Logistics, a prominent Dutch company with a robust international network, is providing essential logistical support to ensure the smooth and efficient export of these blueberries. Their expertise in handling and transporting perishable goods is instrumental in maintaining the high quality of the fruit during transit.Margret Verwijk's announcement highlights a growing trend of collaboration between Zimbabwean farmers and international partners, aiming to enhance the country's export capabilities and market presence. The partnership with FX Logistics exemplifies the positive impact of global cooperation on local agricultural industries.As Zimbabwe continues to build its reputation as a key exporter of high-quality produce, this development marks a significant step forward in expanding the country's agricultural export footprint and strengthening its economic ties with global markets. Cultural revolution redux: Southern Poverty Law Center denounced from within for fostering inhumane chaos Mao Zedong smiles from communist Valhalla, homoerotically, gratefully suckling through the zipper-hole in his gimp suit at his daily ration of state-owned grapes from the benevolent right hand of Marx. (Article by Ben Bartee republished from ArmageddonPRose.Substack.com) All Social Justice organizations that exist solely to grind grievance axes, as coalitions of untenable and mutually antithetical marginalized identities which is to say, all of them eventually self-destruct on a long enough timeline. Theyre houses built on sand. This week in The Revolution Eats Itself, we have the SPLC, self-professed supporter of organized labor, getting denounced by its own employers for union-busting. (Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks has done this same kind of hustle: loudly virtue-signaling his deep commitment to organized labor for other companies while denying his own employees the right to unionize because sophistry. Labor unions are manna from heaven for the left until they pop up in their own businesses.) Via The Post Millennial (emphasis added): Workers at the leftist activist Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) gave their CEO a vote of non-confidence after Margaret Huang* started to lay off staff last June. The staff have equated this with the union busting tactics they usually associate with conservatives. The SPLC union announced a 92 percent vote of non-confidence in Huang, The Guardian reported. With that response in hand, the union is now calling for Huang to resign or to be removed and replaced with a new CEO and to reverse the layoffs that have cut staff levels by 25 percent. The union is also appealing directly to the public with a petition to encourage people to support its demands. Lisa Wright, the chairwoman of the unions bargaining committee, worked for the SPLC for 23 years before being laid-off. Shock, horror, confusion. Its been sloppy, dispassionate, inhumane. It has been the absolute opposite of what the organization says they stand for and absolute chaos since then, Wright told The Guardian. *Its frankly bemusing that an East Asian is an aggrieved enough minority to qualify for SPLC leadership. While, granted, Margaret is a slight rung above whites on the oppression pyramid and she is, apparently, a bio-fronthole woman, for which she gets a precious few Diversity points, its definitely not enough to be the chief put-upon minority; non-tranny Asian ladies are as good as white per Social Justice dogma these days. Im sure the BIPOCs and non-binaries in the rank-and-file are bitter about being subordinate to a less-deserving identity token, in addition to whatever their stated grievances about labor unions are. Read more at: ArmageddonPRose.Substack.com The cat eaters of Ohio Donald Trump shocked audiences at this weeks presidential debate with the claim that foreign migrants were eating household pets in Springfield, Ohio, a small town currently reeling under the strain of an unprecedented number of new arrivals, mostly from Haiti. Theyre eating the dogs, Trump said. Theyre eating the cats. (Article by Christopher F. Rufo and Benjamin Roberts republished from ChristopherRufo.com) Reactions on both sides were spirited. Conservative social media accounts created memes that portrayed Trump, dressed in camouflage, and toting heavy weapons, as the savior of innocent pets. There was even a viral TikTok trend, which chopped up Trumps speech and set it to dance music. Theyre eating the dogs, theyre eating cats, the music thumped. Eat the cat! Eat, eat the cat! The establishment media was not amused. During the debate, ABCs David Muir dismissed Trumps rhetoric with his version of a fact check, citing the Springfield city managers statement that there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. Other publications went further, blasting the former president for spreading a racist smear, a century-old stereotype, and a cat-eating conspiracy theory. So, is there any truth to the charge? We have conducted an exclusive investigation that reveals that, yes, in fact, some migrants in Ohio appear to have been eating the cats, though not exactly in the manner that Trump described. Our investigation begins in a run-down neighborhood of Dayton, Ohio, the closest major city to Springfield, about a half-hours drive away. We identified a social media post, dated August 25, 2023, with a short video depicting what appear to be two skinned cats on top of a blue barbeque. Yoooo the Africans wildn on Parkwood, reads the text, referring to Parkwood Drive. The video then pans down to two live cats walking across the grass in front of a run-down fence, with a voice on the video warning: There go a cat right there. His ass better get missin, man. Look like his homies on the grill! We spoke with the author of the video, who asked to remain anonymous but confirmed its time, location, and authenticity. He told us that he was picking up his son last summer, when he noticed the unusual situation. It was some Africans that stay right next door to my kids mother, he said. This African dude next door had the damn cat on the grill. We then identified the home by matching it to the visuals in the video and cross-referencing them with the eyewitness. When we knocked on the door of the first unit, a family answered, telling us they were from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and that all of the surrounding units were occupied by other African migrants. One of the residents told us that her former neighbors, also from Africa, had lived in the adjacent unit until last month. They had a blue grill and the father would find meat in the neighborhood. Her dad was going to find meat, she said. Her dad was going, holding a knife. The current residents also showed us a blue grill of the same make and model as in the video, which the former neighbors had abandoned after they moved out. There were at least ten cats wandering around the complex and another resident complained that they were breeding on the property. Read more at: ChristopherRufo.com Top 5 prepping myths debunked Preppers don't always have a good reputation. In fact, non-preppers might even think preppers are paranoid hoarders or gun-crazy hermits. But that's the furthest thing from the truth. In reality, preparedness is about making sure your family is safe during emergencies. It's also focused on self-sufficiency. Below are common myths about prepping, debunked. (h/t to RoguePreparedness.com) They should have a military background Many preparedness ideas and phrases originated in the military. For example, tactical gear is popular in the prepping community. This could result in some people thinking that you need a military background to be considered a "real" prepper. But this isn't true. People from different backgrounds can start prepping. All you need is self-discipline, hard work and dedication to start your prepping journey. They need a lot of money Non-preppers also believe prepping requires a lot of money. But while you do need money for some preps, you can plan things based on your budget. You don't need to break the bank because you can also focus on learning new skills while slowly investing in important preps like a food stockpile for emergencies. When you're ready to start building your stockpile, you can take things slow and buy one to two extra cans of food or other food supplies while you buy your regular groceries. They need to hoard everything Hoarding isn't the focus of prepping. As a prepper, you learn how to get ready for common emergencies by stocking up on clean drinking water and food for your family. But you don't have to hoard items, because doing so can mean you might waste money when cans of food go to waste or expire if you have too many supplies. Before SHTF, you should make sure you have plenty of food, water and other supplies but you should never hoard. Purchase supplies as needed, dont panic buy and rotate all items regularly. They need to live in a bunker Not all preppers need or want a bunker. If a bunker is not possible with your budget or current skill levels, you can focus on other prepping projects instead. And if you do have a bunker on your homestead, you don't have to live in it because it's mostly for emergencies. Preppers have bunkers as fallout shelters or as shelters from natural disasters like tornados. (Related: Debunking the TOP 5 MYTHS about emergency food storage.) They can't wait for something bad to happen Not all preppers are excited for the end of the world. Most of them are regular people who do normal things. But unlike non-preppers, preppers also want to prepare for the worst, just in case disaster strikes when they least expect it. Where to buy lab-verified supplies for your prepping needs The Health Ranger Store is committed to helping you prepare for any emergency as you start your prepping journey. That's why were proud to introduce a variety of lab-verified supplies, such as Mini-Bucket Organic Almonds, Organic Maple Sugar Powder and Mega Bucket Organic Tri-color Quinoa. Crunchy organic almonds are healthy snacks that are full of "good" fats, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Health Ranger Select Organic Raw, Unpasteurized, Non-Irradiated Almonds have a wholesome flavor and a wealth of nutrients that have earned these nuts their title as a superfood. Our premium almonds contain no sugar, chemical flavoring, hydrogenated oils, or added sodium, and are not treated with preservatives. Our almonds are imported from trusted vendors in Italy and are not fumigated with PPO. They are raw, unpasteurized and non-irradiated. They are vegan, non-China, non-GMO and are certified organic and Kosher. You can also try organic maple syrup, a natural sweetener derived from the sap of the sugar maple tree (Acer saccharum). While this sap is often boiled into a sticky, sweet, amber-colored syrup, we've taken this process a step further and boiled this substance until all of its water content is evaporated. This leaves behind the crystalized remains of maple syrup, which are then turned into a convenient powder form. The Health Ranger Store recognizes the need for healthy alternatives to processed sugar, which is why we're thrilled to introduce Health Ranger Select Organic Maple Sugar Powder. Made from 100 percent pure organic maple syrup, our organic maple sugar powder is the perfect alternative to regular sugar and artificial sweeteners. Our Health Ranger Select Organic Maple Sugar Powder is non-GMO, non-China, certified Kosher and organic. This nutritious and delicious sweetener has also been thoroughly lab tested for glyphosate, heavy metals and microbiology. With its impressive nutritional profile, organic quinoa is one of the most protein-rich foods known to man. Unlike other grains, quinoa contains all the essential amino acids, making it a perfect food for vegans, vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. It also naturally contains no gluten and has a low glycemic index. Our Health Ranger Select Organic Tri-color Quinoa Mega Bucket contains over four thousand grams of organic tri-color quinoa. This extension to shelf life provided by our Health Ranger Mega Buckets makes it ideal for food preparedness and survival situations. Our organic Tri-color quinoa is carefully sourced from top growers in Peru. It is vegan, non-GMO, non-China, certified organic and Kosher. It has also been laboratory-tested for glyphosate, heavy metals and microbiology. Check out Preparedness.news for more stories about preparedness and survival. You can also visit Health Ranger Store and Brighteon Store for more clean food supplies for your stockpile. Click on this link to learn how to make a refreshing Southern Quinoa Salad. Watch the video below to learn more about Organic Maple Sugar Powder, a healthy alternative to refined sugar. This video is from the Health Ranger Store channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Creating an effective inventory system for your prepper supplies. How to pack a go-bag for quick evacuations. Budget-friendly tips to up your prepper game. When prepping goes extreme: How far is too far? Sources include: RoguePreparedness.com HealthRangerStore.com 1 HealthRangerStore.com 2 HealthRangerStore.com 3 HealthRangerStore.com 4 HealthRangerStore.com 5 Brighteon.com Russia says U.S. waging war on free speech after new sanctions imposed on RT Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova is promising retaliation against the West for its most recent round of sanctions againstand other Russian news outlets. Calling the new sanctions a declaration of war against free speech, Zakharova described what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is doing as "repressions unprecedented in scale." Blinken accused RT and other Russian news outlets of engaging in "covert influence activities" in Washington while "functioning as a de facto arm of Russian intelligence." In other words, RT is doing something right and the West does not like it one bit. At the start of September, Washington decided that RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and three other senior RT employees are trying to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential campaign. Since only Washington is allowed to engage in election interference, something had to be done to stop Russian media from having a voice in the West. "The U.S. has declared war on freedom of speech throughout the world, turning to open threats and blackmail against other states in an effort to set them against the domestic media and establish sole control over the global information space," Zakharova said. (Related: Did you know that the most recent attempt on Donald Trump's life came from a guy named Ryan Routh who is in bed with Volodymyr Zelensky?) Russia means business For at least the past several years, Russia has been promising retaliation against the many, many red lines that the West has crossed in its efforts to destroy Russia and everything it is trying to do to root out the deep state hive that pollutes Ukraine and beyond. To accuse RT of interfering with the 2024 election when all Washington ever does is interfere with elections to achieve pre-determined outcomes is insanity, and Zakharova knows it. Zakharova called the accusations a "witch hunt" while charging Washington with creating "spy-o-mania" to try to stop public opinion from shifting against Western corruption. These are the last gasping breaths of a dying Western empire, by the way, and it has been a long time coming. James Rubin, the deep state hack who heads up the State Department's Global Engagement Center (GEC), complained to reporters this week that he feels as though RT has too much "broad scope and reach." And since the West is the world's self-appointed police officer, Rubin and his ilk feel entitled to control what the American public reads and watches online. The issue at hand for the West is the fact that nobody supports Ukraine or any other deep state tentacles anymore. Western propaganda failed to brainwash the current generation into supporting the evil deep state agenda, and those behind it are panicking. Rubin revealed that he and his ilk are investing a lot of energy into trying to brainwash the peoples of Latin America, Africa and Asia "to try to show all of those countries that right now broadcast, with no restrictions or control, RT and allow (RT) free access to their countries. In Rubin's opinion, allowing RT to publish content that is viewable in the United States and all around the world has "had a deleterious effect on the views of the rest of the world about a war that should be an open and shut case." Poor little Rubin. The only open and shut case here is the fact that he and his ilk are going down whether they like it or not. It is only a matter of when, not if. "The idea that you can't achieve results without being part of the intelligence service has exposed them for what they are," Zakharova noted about the dying Western-controlled globalist empire. The latest news about the great fall of the West can be found at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: AzerNews.az NaturalNews.com Yemen hypersonic missile strike reaches central Israel as Houthis warn more is to come Yemen claims it fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at Israel at 6am local time on Sunday, making impact close to Tel Aviv in what marks the first time that Houthi missiles have reached central Israel. The Israel Defense Forces say the missile was hit by an interceptor but fragmented in the air before falling into an open area instead of being destroyed. Video footage showed large plumes of smoke and shattered glass at a train station. No direct injuries were reported, although nine people sustained light injuries while seeking cover. Sirens could be heard throughout northern and central Israel as well as at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, and passengers could be seen in video footage running to seek shelter. The Yemeni army took immediate responsibility for the attack in a statement, calling the operation against the Israeli enemy a success and highlighting the fear it instilled in those who were affected. The operation was carried out with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that succeeded, with Gods help, in reaching its target, and the enemys defenses failed to intercept and confront it. It covered a distance estimated at 2,040 km within 11 and a half minutes, and caused a state of fear and panic among the Zionists, the statement asserted, noting that the attack sent more than 2 million Israelis to shelters. However, the IDF insists the projectile that was fired at them was not a hypersonic missile and did not maneuver during its flight. Some experts agree, like Navanti Group Senior Middle East Analyst Mohammed Al-Basha, who told Al Jazeera that it is more likely the weapon was supersonic unless North Korea or Russia passed the technology to the Houthis. The Yemeni statement went on to caution that more strikes and other operations are in the works as the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Southern Israel approaches an operation they referred to as blessed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Houthis that they will be held accountable. He said: They should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us. He mentioned the retaliatory strike the Jewish state carried out against Yemen in the Hodeida port after a Houthi drone was lobbed at Tel Aviv in July, killing one person and wounding four. The retaliatory air strikes against Houthi military targets killed 6 and injured 80. Analysts believe that Israel's response could come in the form of long-range air strikes against key locations, or they could carry out covert operations or cyber attacks targeting missile launch sites in Yemen, assassinations against Houthi leaders, or disruptions to Iranian supply routes. Houthis may be acquiring more advanced weapons Although the Houthis have been firing drones and missiles at Israel on an ongoing basis since the war in Gaza broke out to express their solidarity with Palestinians, their missiles have not made their way deeper into Israeli air space until this weekends strike, except for one occasion this spring when a missile fell in an open area near the Eilat port in the Red Sea. The fact that they managed to successfully reach central Israel from 2,000 kilometers away indicates they may have been making advancements in their drone and missile technology, perhaps with help from Iran, and this is something that could have a psychological impact on Israel. The Houthis have also been attacking ships that they believe are connected to Israel in some way as they pass through shipping routes in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, disrupting global shipping and creating challenges for international commerce. Sources for this article include: TheCradle.co Reuters.com AlJazeera.com News / National by Staff reporter The United States has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening Zimbabwes healthcare system, with an annual investment exceeding US$200 million aimed at improving health outcomes across the country.This was highlighted during a recent visit by U.S. Ambassador Pamela Tremont to Mpilo Hospitals HIV Laboratory, which has now earned ISO 15189 accreditation, marking a significant achievement in its compliance with international standards.ISO 15189 is a globally recognised certification that sets the benchmark for quality and competence in medical laboratories. It ensures that such facilities provide accurate and reliable test results, meeting the highest standards of healthcare excellence.During her visit, Ambassador Tremont praised the long-standing partnership between the U.S. and Mpilo Laboratory, noting that the collaboration, which began seven years ago, has significantly enhanced the labs capabilities. "We are very proud that Mpilo Lab recently achieved ISO 15189 certification, which means it is now offering world-class laboratory testing for the people of Bulawayo," she said. "Supporting health services, particularly laboratories, is a key component of our commitment to improving the lives of Zimbabweans."Tremont also emphasized the critical role of viral load testing, especially for patients with potentially failing HIV treatments or for infants born to HIV-positive mothers, in the broader goal to eliminate HIV as a public health crisis by 2030. "This laboratory conducts over 10,000 viral load tests monthly, serving around 95% of the 80,000 people in Bulawayo who need this test. Its an impressive volume, and the labs ability to maintain ISO 15189 accreditation amidst such a workload is commendable."Mpilo Hospitals Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Narcisius Dzvanga, highlighted the laboratorys capacity to test for mother-to-child transmission of HIV and its advanced technology. "When I took office, we had just received brand-new, state-of-the-art equipment. These machines can process over 10,000 specimens a month, a significant upgrade from the previous machines, which could only handle 50 samples per day."Dr. Dzvanga further explained that the new equipment performs the work of ten machines, ensuring both speed and accuracy. "The ISO certification confirms the quality of results. The equipment meets international standards, with test results that are reproducible across different countries, whether in South Africa, Botswana, or elsewhere."Raiva Simbi, Director of Laboratory Services in Zimbabwes Ministry of Health and Child Care, highlighted the adaptability of the equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally designed for HIV testing, the machines were repurposed to handle COVID-19 tests and are now being used for other purposes, including HPV testing and potentially for hepatitis and MPOX in the future. "These machines are incredibly versatile. With advancements in IT, you can even load samples remotely, and the machines will begin processing them," Simbi said.Simbi added that similar advanced testing capabilities are now available in all provincial laboratories across Zimbabwe. "We call it real-time PCR testing. While originally for HIV, these machines can be configured to test for multiple viruses, including those responsible for diseases like cervical cancer and hepatitis." The focus comes after a summer of racially motivated violence [Pacemaker] A Stormont committee has been told that ethnic minority communities have seen a failure in addressing racism in Northern Ireland. The Executive Office committee has been hearing from local groups on how racist violence has affected their communities. It was also told that some ethnic minority groups have been "advised by the PSNI to consult, negotiate or listen to community leaders with a link to paramilitary organisations." The focus comes after a summer of racially motivated violence including disorder, street violence and targeted attacks. The PSNI has described a recent rise in the number of reported race hate crimes as "stark". One of the witnesses was Beverly Simpson, representing the North West Migrants' Forum, she told the committee "whether it is one member or a hundred members, proscribed organisations are engaged in repeat harassment, intimidation and attacks against ethnic minorities communities." She said it "is not acceptable" to be told to negotiate with leaders with paramilitary links. "Our community members report being advised by the PSNI to consult, negotiate or listen to community leaders with a link to paramilitary organisations. This is not acceptable in any democratic, peaceful society." She went on to say the executive has "a duty protect the human rights of all its citizens. We need robust action on paramilitary violence". The PSNI have been contacted for a response. Dr Naomi Green, from the Belfast Islamic Centre said there are nearly 12,000 Muslims in Northern Ireland and that 4000 of them are children. She said that because of violence and disorder "many are now contemplating leaving Northern Ireland." When speaking about the disorder in August she said: "The initial police response was disappointing but we are grateful that the police have responded swiftly since. "It's not enough to react when hate surfaces, the underlying causes that allow it to fester must be addressed. Racism and islamophobia intersect and there is a longstanding failure to address either of these in NI." She also called out superficial responses with the issue of racism and said there needs to be "real meaningful engagement to tackle racism...not tick box exercises". Dr Green also spoke about the discourse surrounding the August protests and violence. She said "there are voices within the political and media space who continue to speak of legitimate concerns in a way that subtly excuses attacks and prejudice on minority communities in NI. "There is nothing legitimate about fuelling resentment and scapegoating Muslims or other minorities for complex issues like housing shortages or economic difficulties and you will not resolve them by scapegoating us." Mr Atif is a business owner and said he had invested a lot in Northern Ireland [BBC] Mr Takura Donald Makoni, from the African and Caribbean Support Organisation NI, told the committee that funding is not getting to the organisations run by and for migrants and ethnic minority groups. "What benefit is an Open Botanic event, which is a cultural event, which costs 40,000...it's not for us, it's making yourself feel good for doing something which actually has no outcome for the community that you're being funded to service. "This is ubiquitous in the third sector," he added. Mr Muhammed Atif is a representative of the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association. He asked the committee: "When do I stop being an immigrant, is there a timeline? It's been 16 years. My kids have not seen any other country. "Please do not call us immigrants anymore." Mr Atif is a business owner and said he has invested a lot in Northern Ireland: "200 jobs I've created...I've opened and successfully run multiple business, I'm proud of that". "Do you know how many locals I employ? 99%, but I am not local," he added. Minister-led Rajasthan delegation visits UAE ahead of investment summit R ajasthan Minister of Industry and Commerce Rajyavardhan Rathore led a delegation to UAE and met Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade ahead of the 'Rising Rajasthan' Global Investment Summit 2024 on Tuesday. The delegation also held meetings with several leading companies in UAE as well as with members of the UAE chapter of the UAE-India Business Council. Speaking at the Dubai investors' meet, Rathore said: "Rajasthan is working under the overarching vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji to turn India into the third largest economy in the coming years and a developed country by the centenary year of independence. Rajasthan, being an economically prominent state, has its task cut out to contribute to the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'. The political will of the government to alleviate the business environment is amply demonstrated by the decision to host the investment summit in the very first year of the government's tenure. A complete revamp of the policy framework has been undertaken and new policies are going to be launched in the coming days to ensure that the investors are able to do business at the least possible cost and in the most hassle-free manner." A presentation was made, and a film was played before the investors' community, highlighting the core strengths of the state, and key investment areas and showcasing the collaborative potential across sectors such as chemicals and petrochemicals, oil and gas, real estate, logistics and hospitality. Making the presentation at the investors' meeting, Sourabh Swami, Additional Commissioner (Investments), Bureau of Investment Promotion said: "The scope of business collaboration between Rajasthan and UAE is immense due to the existing enabling factors such as local currency settlement system, Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and UAE and Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff arrangement among others. Under a proactive governance model, industry-friendly regime and key fiscal incentives, Rajasthan is going to emerge as one of the most industry-friendly business jurisdictions for the UAE investors." Speaking during the investors' meet, Satish Kumar Sivan, Consul General of India in Dubai said, "I urge the business groups and trade bodies based out of UAE to explore the investment opportunities in Rajasthan. The consulate office in Dubai will be more than willing to put the interested investors in touch with the officials in Rajasthan and help facilitate their investment into the state." Besides the Minister, the high-level government delegation also included Sidharth Sihag, Joint Secretary to the Chief Minister, and Sourabh Swami, Additional Commissioner, the Bureau of Investment Promotion (BIP), among others. The delegation will also visit Qatar after the UAE leg and invite the investors to do business in Rajasthan. Minister-led Rajasthan delegation visits UAE ahead of investment summit Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Assam CM donates blood to mark PM Modi's birthday A ssam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma donated blood at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 74th birthday. Interacting with media at the hospital, Sarma described the Prime Minister's life struggles as a source of inspiration for the people of the country. The Chief Minister emphasised that Prime Minister Modi's journey -- from his humble beginnings to his role in elevating India to a position of global prominence -- embodies a dream, resolve, and an unyielding quest. He expressed his gratitude towards Prime Minister Modi and highlighted that the BJP members observe this day as a 'day of service'. In this spirit, he referred to the blood donation drive as a modest yet meaningful effort to support those in need. He also thanked Cabinet Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah and party workers for participating in the blood donation drive. Sarma further mentioned about Prime Minister Modi's vision of making India a developed nation by 2047. "The Prime Minister has seen a dream of making our country a developed nation by 2047 when India will be celebrating 100 years of its independence. I believe that PM Modi has helped us to think about this dream and every BJP worker must make an aim to fulfil the Prime Minister's aspiration," he said. During the event, Guwahati Mayor Mrigen Sarania; Commissioner & Secretary, Medical Education & Research, Dr Siddharth Singh; Director of Medical Education, Dr Anup Kumar Barman; Principal of Gauhati Medical College, Dr Achyut Chandra Baishya; Superintendent of Gauhati Medical College & Hospital, Dr Abhijit Sarma; and other senior medical officers were also present. Assam CM donates blood to mark PM Modi's birthday Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Chris Jordan returns to TKR as CPL 2024 home leg begins on Wednesday A s the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024 home leg kicks off on Wednesday, the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) have received a significant boost with the return of England international Chris Jordan. The 35-year-old fast bowler, who previously played five matches for TKR in 2019, is set to make his mark again as he replaces the injured USA fast bowler Ali Khan for the remainder of the tournament. Jordan's return is eagerly anticipated, especially after his standout performance in June, where he achieved a historic T20I hat-trick against the USA. Jordan's reintegration into the TKR squad comes at a crucial time, adding depth to their bowling lineup as they gear up for their home fixtures. His experience and proven track record are expected to strengthen the team's prospects in the ongoing season. On the other hand, the defending champions, Guyana Amazon Warriors, are grappling with their own challenges. Their captain, Imran Tahir, has been ruled out for approximately ten days due to injury. The 45-year-old leg-spinner had already missed their recent match against Barbados Royals, where Shai Hope stepped in as captain. Hope will continue to lead the team in Tahir's absence, with the Warriors hoping to manage without their key spinner. Adding to the Amazon Warriors' woes, allrounder Romario Shepherd is also recovering from a toe injury sustained during training. Shepherd, who played a pivotal role in last season's title-winning campaign, has featured in only one game this season. To mitigate the loss, the Warriors have enlisted Nathan Sowter, an Australia-born English wrist-spinner, as a temporary replacement for Tahir. Sowter, known for his agility and impressive performances with Oval Invincibles and Desert Vipers, brings additional spin options to the squad. Chris Jordan returns to TKR as CPL 2024 home leg begins on Wednesday Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Harris 'entirely supportive' of hold on large munitions while standing by Israel's right to self-defence U S Vice-President Kamala Harris has said that she supports the decision in May this year made by President Joe Biden to withhold a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs from Israel but reiterated her support for Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas. "One of the things that we have done that I'm entirely supportive of is the pause that we've put on the 2,000-pound bombs," Harris said on Tuesday during an onstage interview at a National Association of Black Journalists event during which she was repeatedly pressed on why the US isn't using more leverage against Israel to end the war in Gaza. Harris begins her answer by going through what has become somewhat of a stump speech that she gives on the Israel-Hamas war when the issue comes up at campaign events. She stressed the brutal nature of Hamas's October 7 onslaught; that Israel has a right to defend itself; that how it does so matters; that too many Palestinian civilians have been killed; that the scenes coming out of Gaza are heartbreaking; that the US is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end the war as soon as possible; that there should ultimately be a two-state solution to the conflict; and that Iran is not empowered to sow instability. The Democratic presidential nominee added that she has been involved in talks with Israeli and Arab leaders regarding the post-war management of Gaza and reiterated that there can be no Israeli reoccupation of the Strip. "But ultimately, the thing that is going to unlock everything else in that region is getting this (cease-fire) deal done," Harris said. Biden said in May that he would withhold certain weapons shipments to Israel if Israel launched a major ground offensive in the densely populated southern Gaza city of Rafah. Some of those weapons have since been released. In August, the US approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel. At the start of a six-minute exchange about Israel and the war in Gaza, Harris asserted that "this war has to end," and that the only way for the violence in the region to end "is by getting a hostage deal and the cease-fire deal done". "Stepping back, October 7, 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered, and actually, some Americans, by the way, in that number. Slaughtered. Young people who were attending a concert. Women were horribly raped. And yes, so I have said, Israel has a right to defend itself. We would," said Harris. "How it does so matters, and far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed." Harris' comments reflected the same position she has staked out since the October 7 Hamas attacks last year, and that she has recently articulated as the Democratic presidential nominee: support Israel's right to defend itself, call for a two-state solution, stand with Biden's diplomacy in the region and condemn the killing of civilians in Gaza. Harris touted her role in discussions with Israeli and Arab leaders about the "day-after scenario" in Gaza, restating the Biden administration's position that Gaza should not be reoccupied, that the borders of Gaza remain unchanged and that all people in the region are secure. "Let us also recognise," added Harris, "that Iran is not empowered in this whole scenario in terms of the peace and stability of the region." Harris 'entirely supportive' of hold on large munitions while standing by Israel's right to self-defence Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! 'This is unacceptable', says WHO chief after Israeli tanks fired on Gaza aid convoy T he head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said Israeli tanks fired on an aid convoy on a mission to northern Gaza. Posting on X on Wednesday, he wrote that a WHO-led convoy encountered two Israeli tanks while on the way back from a mission last Saturday. Shots were fired from the tanks near the convoy, he said, adding that the convoy had received clearance. Nobody was hurt during the incident, he said. "This is unacceptable," he said, noting that humanitarian workers in Gaza deliver critical aid "amid extreme danger and life-threatening conditions". He added: "The minimum they deserve for their service is safety. The deconfliction mechanism needs to be adhered to. Ceasefire!" "Last Saturday, on the way back from a mission to the northern #Gaza and after a @WHO-led convoy got clearance and crossed the coast road checkpoint, the convoy encountered two Israeli tanks. Shots were fired from the tanks near the convoy. Luckily nobody was hurt. This is unacceptable," the WHO Chief said. The incident came just a week after the United Nations said that a convoy carrying workers for a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza had been held at gunpoint at an Israeli military checkpoint. During that encounter, in the context of a massive vaccination campaign after the first case of polio in 25 years was registered in the Palestinian territory, shots were fired and convoy vehicles were rammed by a bulldozer, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week. The "incident and the conduct of Israeli forces on the ground put the lives of our staff in danger," he added. "It is critical that Israeli forces take measures to protect humanitarian staff and assets to facilitate their work." In his post, the WHO Chief hailed the teams in Saturday's convoy who "despite the security risk" had managed to reach Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, to deliver supplies for the emergency room. "Supplies were also delivered to support the Palestine Red Crescent Society facilities in the north, including for the treatment of noncommunicable diseases," he said. "The teams also facilitated the rotation of emergency medical teams." The United Nations health agency chief hailed the "unwavering humanitarian workers in Gaza," who "amid extreme danger and life-threatening conditions... continue to deliver critical aid". They are "serving as the last hope for the survival for two million people in desperate need," he said in his post. The October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,252 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths. 'This is unacceptable', says WHO chief after Israeli tanks fired on Gaza aid convoy Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Trump to meet PM Modi next week U S Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said at a campaign event that he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, media reports said. Trump announced the meeting while addressing the people in Flint, Michigan, while he was speaking about US trade with India. He gave no details on where they would meet, the report added. Trump is likely to meet with PM Modi during the latter's visit to the US from September 21 to 23. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday shared a detailed itinerary of Modi's US visit. Donald Trump and Narendra Modi shared a strong personal rapport during Trump's presidency (2017-2021), evident in events like the "Howdy Modi" rally in Houston and "Namaste Trump" in India. Their relationship bolstered US-India ties, especially in defence and strategic cooperation, with both leaders focused on countering China's growing influence. Despite occasional trade disputes, their partnership remained solid, fostering deeper security collaboration through initiatives like the "Quad". US President Joe Biden will host a summit with leaders from Australia, India and Japan on September 21 in Delaware. Analysts say Washington has increasingly seen New Delhi as a counter to China's rising influence in Asia. Some other world leaders who have visited the US in recent months for meetings with Biden and other summits have ended up meeting Trump as well. The Republican nominee faces Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election. Polls show a tight race between Trump and Harris, who is of Indian descent. Despite criticising India over trade without being specific, Trump called Modi "fantastic". When Modi visited the US in 2019, he and Trump showered each other with praise at a "Howdy, Modi!" rally in Texas attended by more than 50,000. Modi has also enjoyed good relations with Democratic presidents like Barack Obama and Biden. The White House rolled out the red carpet for him last year, touting deals on defence and commerce. Trump's outreach to the Indian-American community, recognising its political significance, also played a role. Their (PM Modi and Trump's) time in office laid the groundwork for an enduring US-India strategic partnership based on mutual interests. Trump to meet PM Modi next week Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Nicole Kidman: My whole life, I wanted to be 5'2, curvaceous A cademy award-winning star Nicole Kidmman revealed that she was teased for being tall and that she wanted to be curvaceous as she hated her body, while growing up. The Oscar winner opened up about her insecurities in a new documentary series, "In Vogue: The 90s", reports people.com. Kidman's reign as one of the greatest rising talents of the '90s was in full swing, and she became the next in line to wear designer John Galliano's creation, which he designed for her to wear at the 1997 Oscars. The actress talked about what was going through her mind when Galliano reached out. She delved into some of her struggles from her youth regarding her body image and what it meant to her to have a dress designed specifically for her. "Can you believe it?" My whole life, I wanted to be 5'2" and curvaceous and suddenly, being 5'11 and completely sort of skinny and flat chested was like, 'Great, we can dress you.' " Kidman also spoke about the respect she had for those who had defined their style by the designers they chose and the fashion partnerships they forged. "I grew up watching Audrey Hepburn and Katharine Hepburn and Grace Kelly -- all these women whose style was created with the designers that they're affiliated with," Kidman said. "They just loved fashion. So I remember thinking, but of course, this should be brought into Hollywood now, and we should be wearing the things that are made in these gorgeous little salons in Paris. Because that's what they used to do, so why aren't we still doing it?" Kidman described the night she debuted her Galliano dress as something out of a fairytale. "I mean, I was a red-headed, fair-skinned girl who was almost 5'11 at the age of 14," she said. "I would get teased, and it wasn't kind. So every time I was given access to that whole world, you feel like a little girl who's been given the chance to step into this sort of fantasy world." Nicole Kidman: My whole life, I wanted to be 5'2, curvaceous Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Alliance leaders including Kamal Haasan to address DMK's public programme on Sep 28 A s part of the party's 75th anniversary celebrations, senior leaders of the DMK alliance will address a public meeting on September 28. Senior leaders of the DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu including Kamal Haasan will participate in the public programme. Other than Kamal Haasan, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan, Tamil Nadu Congress President, K. Selvaperunthugai, CPI-M state secretary, K. Balakrishnan, CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan, Indian Union Muslim League Leader Khader Moideen are likely to address the meeting. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin will preside over the meeting which will be held at the Pachiyappas College in Kancheepuram. The powerful Dravidian political party of Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) completes 75 years in politics on Wednesday. On September 17, 1949, a group of young Tamil men, led by C.N. Annadurai, gathered in Robinson Park at Royapuram in Madras to launch the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The party was formed as a breakaway faction of the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) floated by the legendary E.V. Ramasami Periyar. The DMK is now one of the most prominent political powers of Tamil Nadu and is a powerful constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc at the national level. In the 2024 general election, the DMK-led INDIA bloc won all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK which is the principal opposition party of Tamil Nadu has lost all the seats in the 2024 general elections in the state. C. Rajeev, Director, Centre for Policy and Development Studies told IANS that the DMK needs to showcase to the public that its alliance with coalition partners is intact given the recent outbursts by VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan and the State Congress office bearers pushing for a coalition government in the state. He further said that the DMK is planning massively for the 2026 Assembly elections and added that the DMK will commence its poll preparations after September 28. Alliance leaders including Kamal Haasan to address DMK's public programme on Sep 28 Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have previously used their platform to encourage voter registration Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation/Getty Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Cartagena, Colombia on Aug. 17, 2024. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Archewell Foundation is mobilizing voters before Election Day in the U.S. in November. On Sept. 17 otherwise known as National Voter Registration Day the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's charitable organization released a recap about how the Archewell team wrote personalized letters encouraging unregistered voters to register to vote. The group used Vote Forward's letter-writing tool as a resource. "Voting is not just a right; its a fundamental way to influence the fate of our communities," according to a statement shared on the Archewell Foundation website, along with photos from the effort. "At The Archewell Foundation, we recognize that civic engagement, no matter ones political party, is at the heart of a more just and equitable world. By participating in initiatives like this, we aim to amplify the message that every voice matters," the statement continued. Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty Images Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Bogota, Colombia on Aug. 15, 2024. Related: Meghan Markle Carries a Matchbook Keychain with a 4-Word Mantra: See the Exclusive Photos "We invite you to join us in this important effort," the message said, linking out to Vote Forward for more information as well as Vote.gov. "Together, lets make sure every eligible voter is informed and empowered to participate in shaping Americas future," the Archewell Foundation statement concluded. While Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, weren't pictured participating in the volunteer activity, they have previously used their platform to advocate around the importance of voting on National Voter Registration Day. In September 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared in a video shared during an ABC broadcast special announcing the 2020 TIME100 contingent, where they encouraged voter registration. It was significant as it marked the couple's first joint television appearance since stepping back from their royal roles in the U.K. earlier that year and relocating to Meghan's home state of California. Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Cartagena, Colombia on Aug. 17, 2024. "Now we're just six weeks out from Election Day, and today is National Voter Registration Day," Meghan said in the video shared by TIME. "Every four years we are told the same thing, that this is the most important election of our lifetime. But this one is," she continued, seemingly referring to the presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2020. "When we vote, our values are put into action and our voices are heard. Your voice is a reminder that you matter, because you do, and you deserve to be heard," Meghan said. "This election I'm not going to be able to vote here in the U.S. But many of you may not know that I haven't been able to vote in the U.K. my entire life," said Prince Harry, apparently referencing the British royal family's political neutrality. "As we approach this November, it's vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity." Diego Cuevas/Getty Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Bogota, Colombia on Aug. 15, 2024. Related: Why King Charles and the Royal Family Won't Vote in the U.K. Election That year, the Duchess of Sussex made modern royal history as the first member of the royal family to vote in a U.S. presidential election by casting a ballot. At the time, a source told PEOPLE that the duchess was "voting in this election," but declined to disclose whether she voted early or locally in California, where she and Prince Harry live with their children Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3. A friend further confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been following the run-up to the 2020 election cycle closely. "They have taken a keen interest in this election and I'm sure they are eagerly awaiting the outcome," the friend said. Before Election Day, Meghan's friend Gloria Steinem told Access Hollywood that she and the Duchess of Sussex cold-called voters together on the day of their backyard chat to discuss voting, representation at the polls and what it means to be a feminist. Around the same time, Meghan revealed her plans to vote in the U.S. presidential election when she joined 99 other influential women including Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey in sharing their reasons for heading to the polls with Marie Claire. Archwell A photo of Meghan Markle shared by the Archewell Foundation in November 2022. 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! "I know what it's like to have a voice, and also what it's like to feel voiceless," the Duchess of Sussex said in a statement. "I also know that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard. And that opportunity, that fundamental right, is in our ability to exercise our right to vote and to make all of our voices heard." "One of my favorite quotes, and one that my husband and I have referred to often, is from Kate Sheppard, a leader in the suffragist movement in New Zealand, who said, 'Do not think your single vote does not matter much. The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops,' " she continued. "That is why I vote." On Election Day in November 2022, the Archewell Foundation posted a photo of Meghan wearing an "I Voted" sticker in a news release titled "Vote." The short message encouraged Americans to go vote, along with tips for voting in person. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Following a three-hour meeting Monday that ended with a recommendation of disciplinary action "up to and including termination," Stephen Nacco transported items from his office to his car and wife Cindy told Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr.: "You're a disgrace." You can meet people from all over the world, you meet people of every religious or political opinion and you just get a chance to be helpful to people. Thats your job, just to be helpful, be curious. If you love doing that, its the most meaningful thing in the world, The Urbana Free Library's Carol Inskeep says. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 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. University of Melbourne launches centre in Delhi NewDelhi [India] Published : September 17, 2024 The University of Melbourne, a premier government-run institute in Australia, has opened a centre in Delhi, marking a significant expansion of its global presence. The Melbourne Global Centre - Delhi is strategically located in the heart of the Indian national capital. The Centre will facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange across education, research, industry, and the community, serving as the University's central hub in India. The Melbourne Global Centre is not designed for teaching or as an offshore campus. Instead, it is focused on enriching current and future initiatives within India for greater sustainable impact. As the University continues to deepen its ties within India, the Melbourne Global Centre in Delhi represents a firm commitment to support India in its long-term academic and research aspirations. As a centralised hub for collaboration, the Centre will lay the foundations for future generations of scholars and researchers, forging new bilateral connections and facilitating meaningful educational and cultural exchanges well into the future. A delegation of the University of Melbourne visited India to enhance partnerships and engagement with local students, alumni, government officials, and educational partners. The Delhi centre will also enable the Australian university to showcase its extensive educational offerings, research, and community engagement programs. The Centre will feature cultural performances, art exhibitions, and lecture series, serving as a platform to connect research with Indian corporations, industry partners and academic institutions. "Building on institutional partnerships that span up to 16 years, we are dedicated to empowering and enhancing capacity within India, aligning with our mission to collaboratively benefit society through education and research," said Professor Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global, Culture and Engagement), University of Melbourne. "The Melbourne Global Centre - Delhi embodies our partnership model in India, fostering capacity building and collaboration through mutually beneficial relationships that address the educational needs of this region," Professor Wesley said. Established in 1853, the University of Melbourne is ranked number one in Australia, 13th globally, and 8th in terms of graduate employability worldwide, the university's website cited QS World University Rankings 2025/QS Graduate Employability 2022. Find it Useful ? Help Others by Sharing Online Comments and Discussions Staphylococcus aureus, mostly known from its antibiotic-resistant variant Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is among the leading causes of both community- and hospital-acquired infections. According to the most recent data, MRSA killed around 120,000 people in 2022 globally and far more are killed by antibiotic-susceptible strains of S. aureus. So far however, all attempts at developing a protective vaccine for S. aureus have been unsuccessful. Research from Amsterdam UMC, in collaboration with UMC Utrecht, Leiden University, and the University of California, San Diego, have discovered an important immune component that offers protection against infection, suggesting a new direction for the future. These results are published today in Cell Reports Medicine. Our findings directly challenge the current way of thinking about staphylococcal infections. It is generally assumed that the recognition of S. aureus by IgG antibodies, which helps immune cells to kill Staph, is key to offering protection. In this study we propose that this might not be the answer. We show that not IgG, but IgM antibodies are required for clearance of S. aureus during an infection." Nina van Sorge, Professor of Translational Microbiology, Amsterdam UMC The research team, led by prof. van Sorge and Dr. Astrid Hendriks, a postdoc in her group, explored the presence of S. aureus-recognizing antibodies in the blood of healthy individuals. They focused on particular sugars, which form a sort of sugar coat around the bacterium. They found that almost all healthy individuals had both IgG and IgM antibodies that could recognize these sugar coats. "We all have high antibody levels against the S. aureus sugar coat, since we are exposed to this bacterium multiple times throughout our lives without getting ill. Yet we don't know which antibodies are in fact preventing us from getting ill," says Hendriks. In the lab, IgM antibodies were significantly more effective at killing the bacteria than IgG. "IgG antibodies offer protection against bacterial pathogens in general and are actually critical for the protective effect of vaccines against for example pneumococcal and meningococcal infections. But for S. aureus, it is more complex. This clever bacterium has developed ways to circumvent our defense system, and in particular IgG antibodies, which is part of the reason that it still causes so many problems." says van Sorge. However, researchers found that S. aureus did not counter the effects of IgM. Finally, they discovered that patients with life-threatening S. aureus bloodstream infections actually had much lower levels of sugar coat-specific IgM antibodies in their blood than healthy individuals. Importantly, patients that did not survive the infection had the lowest amount of IgM antibodies. The researchers hypothesize that insufficient levels of sugar-specific IgM antibodies increase the risk of serious staphylococcal infections, and even mortality. Although more research is needed to validate this hypothesis, these findings provide important new insights that may shape future development of vaccines and other immune-boosting therapies. Even after two years, individuals with long COVID display resilient immune responses, offering hope for long-term protection against reinfection. Study: SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells from people with long COVID establish and maintain effector phenotype and key TCR signatures over 2 years. Image Credit: p.ill.i / Shutterstock In a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers defined severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific B- and T-cell responses in individuals with long COVID. Long COVID is an ongoing global health burden; it impacts multiple organ systems, with affected people reporting diverse symptoms that persist from 12 weeks to two years or longer after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Fatigue, myalgia, impaired concentration, and chest pain are the most common symptoms. Long COVID may be attributed to multiple non-mutually exclusive mechanisms that cumulatively account for the large spectrum of symptoms, including immune perturbations, viral persistence, and inflammatory pathways. SARS-CoV-2-specific cluster of differentiation 8+ (CD8+) and CD4+ T cells have a major role in viral clearance and recovery. However, T cell recruitment and persistence in long COVID are less clear. Long COVID can last weeks, months, or even years, affecting multiple organ systems with a wide range of symptoms, including fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and chest pain. Further, the introduction of vaccines complicated efforts to understand long COVID. Although vaccination reduced the risk of infection, it also boosted certain T-cell responses and altered immunodominance hierarchies, though it did not reduce long COVID rates. This study provides critical insights into the long-term persistence and functionality of SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses in individuals with long COVID, highlighting the role of robust T-cell memory pools in potential protection against subsequent infections, even in the presence of viral mutations. The study and findings The present study defined SARS-CoV-2-specific B- and T-cell responses over two years in individuals with long COVID. The researchers analyzed 31 persons with long COVID for up to two years post-SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants were recruited in Melbourne and Hong Kong between February and October 2020. Meanwhile, 19 persons with no ongoing symptoms served as non-long COVID (non-LC) controls. The most commonly reported symptoms were headache, fatigue, memory issues, mental fog, confusion, tremors, dizziness, balance issues, loss of smell/taste, paresthesia, and problems speaking. Notably, two-fifths of the sample reported complete recovery by the study endpoint. They used SARS-CoV-2 peptidehuman leukocyte antigen (HLA) tetramers to examine T cell responses against 11 CD8+ and two CD4+ viral epitopes. They observed robust prototypical populations of viral epitope-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells at all time points in long COVID subjects and non-LC controls. The frequency of spike-specific CD8+ T cells increased 3.7-fold between three months and 18 months post-infection in long COVID subjects. Meanwhile, spike-specific CD4+ T cell responses were stable in long COVID subjects and non-LC controls over time. Next, the team examined the temporal changes in ex vivo phenotype and activation of SARS-CoV-2 tetramer-specific T cells and the impact of vaccination on activation and memory phenotypes. While vaccination did not significantly alter the overall activation state of T cells, it was associated with a stable phenotype of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells over time, underscoring the persistence of these immune responses in both long COVID and non-LC groups. Total CD4+ and CD8+ populations of T naive , T central memory (T cm ), T effector memory (T em ), T em cells re-expressing CD45RA (T emra ), and T stem cell memory (T scm ) subsets were not significantly different from acute infection to later time points in long COVID and control groups. Among non-spike- and spike-specific CD8+ T cells, the T cm phenotype was predominant (> 65%) at the acute time point but decreased (to 30% to 50%) at convalescent time points in the long COVID group. These convalescent T-cell phenotypes were stable from three months post-infection or after vaccination. Spike-specific CD4+ T cells were of T cm and T em phenotypes at the acute time point in the long COVID group. However, spike-specific CD4+ T cells were of the T cm phenotype from three months post-infection or after vaccination. Further, both groups had low spike- and nucleocapsid-specific CD19+ immunoglobulin D- (IgD-) B cells during acute infection. Nevertheless, spike-specific B cells increased during convalescence in long COVID subjects. Following the resolution of acute infection, the frequency of nucleocapsid-specific B cells remained stable over time, but spike-specific B cells increased at 18 and 24 months due to vaccination. This increase highlights the lasting impact of vaccination on the immune system's ability to generate and maintain protective B-cell responses. Long COVID and non-LC control groups had a higher frequency of spike-specific IgG+ B cells post-vaccination. Finally, the team investigated the T-cell receptor (TCR) signatures of antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. To this end, 424 SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells from 16 long COVID subjects and four controls were single-cell sorted and sequenced at different time points. They found that long COVID TCR clonotypes were evenly interspersed with control TCR clonotypes. Both groups exhibited two clusters based on CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes. Treatment for long COVID is largely symptomatic, focusing on managing individual symptoms due to the lack of a definitive cure. The presence of key TCR signatures and their persistence across the two-year period suggest that individuals with long COVID, similar to fully recovered individuals, maintain functional T-cell memory that could be critical for long-term immunity. The researchers compiled all individuals given the overlap of TCR repertoires between the two groups. The team generated alluvial plots per epitope to determine whether the same clonotype, TCR, or TCR sequence was observed within individuals at multiple time points. They observed a high degree of sharing within individuals for the TCR and TCR chains across distinct epitopes, even after vaccination. They identified seven CD4+ and 13 CD8+ TCR clones within individuals across time points, suggesting clonal persistence in both groups. Conclusions Together, the findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2-specific T and B cells are established in long COVID and maintained over two years, similar to those in non-LC controls. The results also demonstrate the establishment and persistence of antigen-specific T cell memory populations in long COVID at two years post-infection. These findings provide essential insights into the immune landscape of long COVID, suggesting that despite the ongoing symptoms, individuals are equipped with immune memory that could protect against future infections. Overall, the study provided key insights into CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in long COVID subjects and fully recovered persons. The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Career Development and Postdoctoral Awards to Promote Diversity in Lupus Research. Launched in 2021, the Diversity in Lupus Research (DLR) Awards aim to foster the development and productivity of exceptional early-career and postdoctoral scientists from underrepresented minority groups in science. Lupus is a debilitating autoimmune disease that disproportionately affects Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and Asian/Pacific Islander people. The LRA inaugurated the DLR Awards three years ago to foster a diverse scientific community that mirrors the populations most impacted by lupus. We are delighted to recognize the talented recipients of the 2024 LRA Diversity in Lupus Research Awards. By supporting these outstanding individuals, we are not only broadening the diversity of our scientific community, but also paving the way for innovative approaches to drive advancements in lupus research." Teodora Staeva, Ph.D., LRA Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer This year, three individuals will be awarded the DLR Career Development Award, which provides each investigator up to $600,000 over four years to help establish a competitive research program. The recipients are: Carlos Castrillon, Ph.D., Emory University Paul Hoover, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital Renita Horton, Ph.D., University of Houston Additionally, two postdoctoral fellows will receive the DLR Postdoctoral Award, which provides each fellow up to $170,000 over two years to support their transition to independent research roles. The recipients are: Rodrigo Cervantes-Diaz, Ph.D., Boston Children's Hospital Jonathan Lagos Orellana, M.D., Ph.D., Seattle Children's Hospital What award recipients aim to discover Career Development Award to Promote Diversity in Lupus Research: Carlos Castrillon, Ph.D., Emory University B cells are immune cells that produce antibodies to identify and mark for destruction foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. B cells sense these invaders using their surface receptors, which then instruct B cells to activate. This process is kept in check by signaling inhibitors, which act like brakes to prevent B cells from overreacting. In lupus, these brakes are often less effective, and B cells are overly responsive. Dr. Castrillon aims to understand how these signaling inhibitors are controlled in lupus and explore whether restoring their effectiveness can help normalize B cell activity. Paul Hoover, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital Lupus nephritis is a severe kidney disease affecting many people with lupus and often leads to kidney failure. Dr. Hoover helped discover a type of immune cell in the kidneys of people with lupus nephritis and mouse models called injury-associated monocytes, which are linked to severe disease. He will use cutting-edge technology to study how systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) risk genes impact these cells and identify new therapies targeting them. Renita Horton, Ph.D., University of Houston Expectant mothers with certain lupus-related autoantibodies (antibodies that mistakenly target the body's own cells and tissues) are at a higher risk of having babies with congenital heart block, a serious heart condition. Dr. Horton developed a novel model called the congenital cardiac fibrosis chip to identify key factors that contribute to cardiac fibrosis (the formation of scar tissue) and heart disease in newborns. Her research aims to find biomarkers and therapeutic targets in order to treat or prevent fibrosis associated with neonatal (newborn) lupus. Postdoctoral Award to Promote Diversity in Lupus Research: Rodrigo Cervantes-Diaz, Ph.D., Boston Children's Hospital B cells, which play a key role in the development of lupus, are activated (turned on) by certain innate signals. Dr. Cervantes-Diaz will study how B cells respond to these signals in healthy people and those with lupus, tracking changes over time to understand how they go off course. He will also examine the impact of genetic variants (mutations) linked to lupus on B cell behavior so that targeted treatments can be developed. Jonathan Lagos Orellana, M.D., Ph.D., Seattle Children's Hospital The role of B cells extends beyond antibody production. B cells also present small pieces of pathogens (foreign invaders) to other immune cells (in a process called antigen presentation), triggering an immune response. Antigen presentation may go awry in lupus. Dr. Lagos Orellana will explore how changes in antigen processing are related to the activation of self-reactive B cells (B cells that produce autoantibodies) in lupus in order to identify new therapeutic targets. The process of food intake appears to be organized at the cellular level like a relay race: during eating, the baton is passed between different teams of neurons until we have consumed the appropriate amount of energy. This is the conclusion of a recent study by researchers at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg (FAU). Through this complex mechanism, the brain likely ensures that we neither eat too little nor too much. Malfunctions of this process may lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or binge eating. The findings appear in the Journal of Neuroscience. To survive, we need to regularly replenish our energy by eating. This process is coordinated in the hypothalamus, an important control center in the brain. The hypothalamus constantly receives important information from our body and environment, such as whether it is day or night, or whether our blood sugar levels are low. Based on this data, it triggers certain innate behaviors, such as going to bed when it's dark or heading to the refrigerator when we're hungry. But how does the brain make sure we don't stop eating once the initial hunger subsides and stretch receptors in the stomach signal that food has arrived? "When we eat, we quickly switch from what we call 'appetitive' behavior to 'consummatory' behavior," says Prof. Dr. Alexey Ponomarenko who holds the Professorship of Systemic Neurophysiology at the Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology at FAU. "We know little about how the brain controls the duration of this consummatory phase. It should neither be too long nor too short so that we receive the right amount of energy." Led by Prof. Ponomarenko, the FAU scientists together with a team from the University Hospital of Cologne investigated what happens in the brain during eating. The researchers studied the mouse hypothalamus, which is similar in structure to the human hypothalamus. "We analyzed the electrical activity of a specific region of the hypothalamus using an artificial intelligence method," explains mathematician Mahsa Altafi, a doctoral student at FAU and a joint senior author of the study. "This allowed us to determine which neurons fire that is, generate electrical impulses at specific times during food intake." Sequential activation of four teams of neurons The scientist was able to identify four distinct teams of neurons that become active in sequence during the eating process. These groups of neurons work together much like relay runners, each participating in different phases of the race. "We suspect that these teams weigh the information they receive from the body differently for example, the blood sugar level, the amount of hunger hormones, and how full the stomach is," says Prof. Ponomarenko. The fourth team, for example, might give more weight to the stretch sensors than the first team. "That's how the hypothalamus may ensure we eat neither too little nor too much." The researchers also looked at how the neurons within each team communicate with each other. It has long been known that neurons have a rhythm of activity: there are times when they are particularly excitable and times when they barely fire. These phases alternate regularly-often tens of times per second or more. To communicate, neurons must oscillate in the same rhythm. It's like using a walkie-talkie: both devices must be tuned to the same frequency or you'll only hear static. "We were now able to show that the teams of neurons involved in food intake all communicate on the same frequencies," says Prof. Ponomarenko. "In contrast, groups of neurons responsible for other behaviors such as exploring the environment or social interaction prefer to communicate on a different channel." This probably makes it easier for the neurons involved in eating to exchange information and stop the eating process at the right time. This finding may even have therapeutic potential: it is already possible to influence the rhythm of neurons from the outside, for example through oscillating magnetic fields. Perhaps the communication of these "feeding teams" could be improved in this way. If successful, this could help alleviate eating disorders at least that is the long-term hope. In mice, the oscillatory behavior of neurons can be influenced even more directly by optogenetic manipulations. We are now planning a follow-up study to investigate how this affects their feeding behavior." Prof. Dr. Alexey Ponomarenko, FAU scientist Thanks to a serendipitous discovery and a lot of painstaking work, scientists can now build biohybrid molecules that combine the homing powers of DNA with the broad functional repertoire of proteins -; without having to synthesize them one by one, researchers report in a new study. Using a naturally occurring process, laboratories can harness the existing molecule-building capacities of bacteria to generate vast libraries of potentially therapeutic DNA-protein hybrid molecules. The findings are detailed in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. Two of the most common building blocks in biology are nucleic acids -; used for making RNA and DNA -; and amino acids, which make up proteins. We have these two sets of biological molecules that do very different things, and, for decades, chemists have been trying to integrate them into the same molecule. If you can make a complex protein and then put a nucleic acid on it that makes it go exactly where you want it to go because it will bind to specific regions of DNA or RNA, you can build a precision drug." Satish Nair, Professor, Biochemistry, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Such drugs can be used to interrupt various disease-promoting processes in the cell, blocking the transcription of mutated genes, for example, or binding to pathogenic noncoding RNA molecules to stall their activity, Nair said. The initial discovery was serendipitous, he said. He and his colleagues had been looking for proteins that bind to metals when they noticed that a team at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, England, had reported on a bacteria-generated molecule of interest that appeared to be a DNA-protein hybrid. The Illinois team contacted the Innes Centre scientists, Natalia Vior and Andrew Truman, suggesting they re-examine the molecule to determine if it was in fact what it appeared to be. Once that initial discovery was confirmed, the American and English scientists collaborated on a more in-depth analysis to discover the molecular mechanisms that formed the hybrid. Finding a naturally occurring DNA-protein hybrid and determining how a bacterium can be induced to make it would streamline what is now a slow, labor-intensive process, Nair said. "Lots of high-powered laboratories all over the world have been using various synthetic chemical methods to make biohybrid molecules, and that's great: They're all proof-of-concept and it works," he said. "The problem is that you can't do it at large scale. You can't make 100 million compounds because that would require you to do the chemical synthesis 100 million times." In a series of experiments, Nair and his colleagues found that two bacterial enzymes together convert certain peptides into DNA-protein hybrids. The first enzyme, YcaO, modifies an amino acid in the peptide to convert the peptide into a ring structure like the bases that allow DNA and RNA to pair with other DNA or RNA molecules. The second enzyme is a protease that cuts off one part of the newly modified molecule, converting it into a fully functional nucleobase-protein hybrid. The team was able to make the conversion in a test tube by adding only three ingredients: the original peptide and the two enzymes. But they also demonstrated that the process could be carried out by the bacterium E. coli. Understanding this process will allow laboratories to create hybrid molecules that can attach to any region of the genome or any RNA molecules in cells, Nair said. Using bacteria to streamline the pipeline will speed the process of discovery. "Now, we're off to the races," he said. When screening pregnant women for gestational diabetes, casual blood glucose testing misses 70% of the cases. This Kobe University study should encourage obstetricians to depend on more reliable tests to help prevent pregnancy complications and the development of type II diabetes in mothers and children. Gestational diabetes mellitus is a condition where previously healthy women exhibit high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. If treated, most women deliver healthy babies, but if left unmanaged, this can lead to pregnancy complications, babies growing larger than usual, and increased risk of developing type II diabetes later for both the mother and the child. Therefore, the International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups recommends that all women who have not been diagnosed with diabetes previously undergo a so-called oral glucose tolerance test between weeks 24 and 28. This multi-step procedure requires women to fast for 8-12 hours before a baseline blood sample is taken, then they drink a solution containing a standardized amount of glucose, and after a set amount of time another blood sample is taken to see how well the body metabolizes the sugar. However, a large fraction of health facilities use a much simpler "casual" blood glucose test for which blood is taken and analyzed for glucose levels only once and at any time without consideration to what or when the women have eaten before, making this both cheaper and quicker. Only if women test positive in that simple screening, they are asked to undergo the more rigorous glucose tolerance test. The Kobe University obstetrician TANIMURA Kenji and his graduate student TOMIMOTO Masako were concerned that this two-tier approach potentially misses cases with diabetes in the first screening. Working in the perinatal center of Kobe University Hospital, they combined the casual blood glucose screening and another standard test for gestational diabetes, the much more sensitive glucose challenge test, into a single protocol for all participating women visiting their center. Tanimura, Tomimoto and their team then asked women who tested positive in the glucose challenge test to also take the actual glucose tolerance test, which allowed them to ascertain how many positive cases would have been missed had they used only the convenient casual blood glucose screening. Their results, published in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation, showed that out of the 99 women who in the end were diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus, 71.7% had blood sugar levels in their first blood sample that would have resulted in a negative (no diabetes) diagnosis. Tomimoto explains, "Although there have been studies showing that the casual blood glucose test is less sensitive than others, no studies have directly compared the results in the same individuals. Our study confirmed that this screening method, which is widely used in practice, frequently misses the condition it is meant to detect." To see how widespread this issue is, the team also conducted a survey amongst health care facilities in Hyogo Prefecture, where Kobe University is based. They found that 43% of the respondents who used blood glucose tests relied only on the casual screening. "In Japan, where about half of all deliveries take place in obstetric clinics rather than in hospitals, the more accurate but complicated and time-consuming tests are not widely used," says Tomimoto. However, this is not a problem unique to Japan, as similar surveys showed that in the UK, 48% of clinics also rely on only the casual blood glucose test for the first screening. Tanimura says about the implications of their study: "We would like to educate healthcare professionals and patients about this danger and encourage them to promote the use of the more accurate glucose tolerance screening method. We hope that our data can contribute to improvements in the management system and to the revision of the guidelines for gestational diabetes mellitus screenings. The goal is to protect more mothers and babies from gestational and childbirth issues caused by this form of diabetes, and in general reduce the risk of developing the disease in the future." In his doctoral dissertation completed at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, Tero Sievanen demonstrates that the cancer risk of Lynch syndrome carriers can be assessed based on circulating microRNA profiles. This helps in developing current screening methods and targeting screenings for high-risk individuals. Additionally, the study corroborates previous findings by demonstrating that a healthy lifestyle can mitigate cancer risk in Lynch syndrome carriers. Lifestyle factors, such as weight gain, and their association with cancer development were found to be particularly pronounced in men Lynch syndrome is a hereditary cancer syndrome that predisposes its carriers to various cancers, especially colorectal cancers. Due to the hereditary cancer risk, Lynch syndrome carriers undergo cancer screenings throughout their lives. However, current research indicates the need to improve the current screening methods to better account for individual cancer risk and more effectively target high-risk carriers. It has been shown that circulating microRNA profiles can be used in predicting non-hereditary colorectal cancer development. MicroRNAs are small molecules that regulate gene expression in their target tissues, in response to factors such as diseases and physical activity. Circulating microRNAs are also an important part of intercellular communication, which is why their levels can reflect changes occurring in tissues. The aim of this study was to assess whether circulating microRNA profiles can be used to predict cancer development in Lynch syndrome carriers during a four-year follow-up period. Additionally, the study investigated the potential association between circulating microRNA profiles and lifestyle factors related to cancer risk, such as high body mass index and low physical activity." Tero Sievanen The study observed that that the circulating microRNA profiles of cancer-free Lynch syndrome carriers differed significantly from healthy controls but were similar to those of patients with non-hereditary colorectal cancer. Additionally, circulating microRNAs predicted colorectal cancer development during the prospective surveillance period. "These results align with previous research findings in that changes in microRNA profiles predict the development of colorectal cancer," Sievanen notes. "In Lynch syndrome, colorectal cancer can develop much more rapidly than in those without a hereditary predisposition to the disease. When cancer is detected early, it is easier to treat." Physical activity and weight maintenance might reduce Lynch syndrome cancer risk Previous studies suggest that Lynch syndrome cancer risk can be reduced through a healthy lifestyle. Thus, the thesis also examined how changes in adulthood body weight and physical activity impact overall cancer risk and colorectal cancer risk. It was observed that weight gain was associated with a higher cancer risk in adulthood only in men but not in women. Additionally, it was found that men who participated in guided leisure-time physical activity were less likely to develop cancer. "Lifestyle factors and their association with cancer development differ between men and women," Sievanen explains. "This may be due to physiological differences, such as variations and changes in body composition over the life course. Adhering to healthy lifestyle is important also for Lynch syndrome carriers." A $5.3 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences will support advanced cancer research in Oklahoma. The Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant is designed to build research capacity and help early-career researchers establish independently funded laboratories. This is the third and final phase of the COBRE grant, which was first awarded in 2012, followed by phase two in 2017. The grant has supported and paralleled the growth of OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, Oklahoma's National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center. Danny Dhanasekaran, Ph.D., a professor of cell biology at the OU College of Medicine and deputy director for basic research at Stephenson Cancer Center, has led the grant's work since its beginning. The phase three COBRE grant is a testament to the tremendous progress we have made over the past decade in advancing cancer research in Oklahoma. With the continued support of the NIH, we are poised to make significant strides in understanding and overcoming the challenges of cancer, ultimately improving outcomes for cancer patients in Oklahoma and across the nation." Danny Dhanasekaran, PhD, Professor, Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma As part of the COBRE grant, established researchers mentor early-career researchers on important steps and pitfalls to avoid as they launch their careers. Early-career researchers conduct research and publish studies that they leverage to apply for larger grants to sustain their labs. They also become immersed in the collaborative world of team science. "Research has become so multifaceted that one group won't have all the expertise," Dhanasekaran said. "For example, one researcher may be very good at teasing out how a cancer cell 'talks' to another cancer cell to promote growth, but they may not be as good at drug delivery, so they partner with a lab that is good at that. If we want to alleviate the burden of cancer in our society, we need this collaborative approach." Another central aim of the COBRE grant is building technology infrastructure that is specific to cancer investigations. Stephenson Cancer Center has supported this effort to acquire advanced equipment, often sophisticated imaging technology that monitors cell growth over time and shows the internal structure of cancer cells. New research technicians have been hired to operate the equipment, a workforce-building effort that benefits Oklahoma. Since the first COBRE grant was awarded, seven of the 10 participating early-career researchers have earned a combined $22 million in grants, allowing them to fully operate their labs at OU Health Sciences with funds resulting from the strength of their studies. Their research has also resulted in 250 journal publications that focus on the grant's theme of drug resistance and mitigating strategies. "Drug resistance is a major issue in cancer treatment," Dhanasekaran said. "A patient can have surgery or receive chemotherapy to kill the primary cancer, but if it comes back, it is often drug-resistant. Our researchers are looking at several types of cancers to understand more about how they become resistant to drugs. In doing so, they hope to find a vulnerable point in the cancers where we could deliver more effective therapy." Advances in cancer treatment remain a great need in Oklahoma, where cancer is the second-leading cause of death. In 2023, an estimated 23,420 residents were diagnosed with cancer and 8,620 lost their lives to the disease. Oklahoma has the fourth-highest rate of death from cancer in the United States. Approximately one of every six Oklahomans diagnosed with cancer receive treatment at Stephenson Cancer Center, which offers a high level of care driven by research discoveries. The success of the COBRE grant has contributed to the milestones of the cancer center, including National Cancer Institution designation in 2018 and its renewal in 2023. That support will continue as Stephenson Cancer Center works toward NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center status, the highest institutional honor in oncology. "The work of the COBRE grant under Dr. Dhanasekaran has been essential to our mission at Stephenson Cancer Center," said director Robert Mannel, M.D., a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the OU College of Medicine. "Promising new researchers have established their carers on our campus, and we have built a solid research infrastructure to advance their studies. Ultimately, their discoveries will advance our ability to prevent and cure cancer for the people we serve." The University of Oklahoma is home to four other COBRE centers: On the Norman campus, the Oklahoma Center of Biomedical Research Excellence in Structural Biology and the Oklahoma Center of Medical Imaging for Translational Cancer Research; and on the OU Health Sciences campus, the Oklahoma Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunity and the Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging Join Bettersize upcoming webinar, Pharma Characterization with Light Scattering on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 | 11:00-12:00 (ET). Bettersize Instruments, a leading manufacturer of particle analysis instrumentation, will host an informative webinar on enhancing pharmaceutical development with advanced particle analysis. The webinar will focus on the critical role of particle size, zeta potential, and light scattering in pharmaceutical development and manufacture. Register Now! WEBINAR DETAILS Pharma Characterization with Light Scattering Wednesday, September 25, 2024 11:00-12:00 (EDT) Online This webinar features two expert speakers who will explore the crucial roles of particle size, zeta potential, and light scattering techniques in pharmaceutical development, focusing on their impact on drug formulation, stability, and quality. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore case studies demonstrating how light scattering is used to understand drug interactions and enhance product effectiveness. A live question-and-answer session with the speakers will also be included, providing a platform for participants to engage and seek advice. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Dr. John F. Miller, founder of Enlighten Scientific, brings over 35 years of expertise in colloid and nanoparticle science, as well as pharmaceutical product development. A pioneer in his field, Dr. Miller earned his Ph.D. in colloid chemistry from the University of Bristol and revolutionized zeta potential measurement with his invention of Phase Analysis Light Scattering (PALS). His distinguished career at GlaxoSmithKline included leading the development of blockbuster pharmaceutical products, such as the ADVAIR HFA Inhalation Aerosol. Zhibin Guo, MS, is a highly regarded Senior Application Scientist at Bettersize Instruments, the co-author of A Practical Guide to Nanoparticle Characterization by Light Scattering Techniques, and an expert in the dynamic light scattering product line. With a master's degree in pharmaceutical synthesis from Seoul National University, he brings deep understanding and extensive experience in nanoparticle analysis and drug delivery system characterization using light scattering techniques. WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Pharmaceutical professionals, researchers, and anyone interested in advancing their knowledge of particle characterization in drug development are encouraged to attend. Participants will gain valuable insights into the latest technologies and methods for enhancing pharmaceutical product quality and ensuring regulatory compliance. Register Now! ABOUT BETTERSIZE INSTRUMENTS Bettersize Instruments is a leading manufacturer of particle characterization instruments, offering advanced solutions for precise measurement of particle size, shape, and powder characteristics. Their reliable and innovative tools support industries such as pharmaceuticals and chemicals, helping scientists and engineers optimize research and production processes globally. With a strong commitment to advancing particle analysis technology, Bettersize continues to meet the evolving needs of its clients worldwide. For more information and to register for the webinar, please visit the webinar registration page. After the pandemic, the gap between rich and poor has widened dramatically worldwide, and Norway and the United States are no exception. In the U.S., about one in five kids are growing up in families that struggle to afford even basic needs. In Norway, that number is around eleven percent. How does this impact children and their lifelong education? In this episode, we talk with professors and psychologists Eric Dearing from Boston College and Henrik Daae Zachrisson from the University of Oslo about the challenges of growing up in a low-income family and the critical importance of high-quality preschool education. The gift that lasts a lifetime When looking at different families living in poverty, the ways they experience disadvantage can vary greatly. One family might struggle with housing, while another might face food insecurity. And it also varies for individual families over time. They may find ways to make ends meet one month and then be in crisis the next." Eric Dearing, Professor, Boston College Dearing visited the University of Oslo in September 2024 to accept his honorary doctoral degree. In general, however, children in low-income families face higher rates of homelessness, food insecurity, and have fewer resources at home that are enriching for children. "We might find fewer books, a lower likelihood of having a tablet or some other access to the internet, and they're at greater risk of being exposed to environmental toxins. There are also tremendous differences depending on luck and bad luck," Dearing said. Having a homeor not The housing situation in Norway is different from that in the United States; homelessness among families with children is very rare. However, home ownership is low compared to the general population. Norway is a country where most people own their homes. "We should emphasize that while we often talk about families living in poverty as a homogeneous group, some parents with little money will provide great homes for their kids and do everything in their power for them to thrive," said Henrik Daae Zachrisson. "It's very important to keep that in mind," he added. The two psychologists have been working together for many years on early childhood education, social inequality in early education, and the consequences of childhood poverty. Their research suggest that high-quality preschooling is a resource with the potential to truly transform lives. Education is widely seen as having the power to even out socioeconomic differences. How true is that? "I think it's true and not true," Dearing said. "Education and loving care for children are key to equity and thriving. Any small efforts we make will lead to small improvements. Larger efforts lead to bigger improvements," he said during the podcast conversation. "But the ways in which poor children are disadvantaged compared to children in middle-income familieseven those not the most affluentare dramatically different. The number of opportunities those children have is vastly greater than those in low-income and poor families," he explained. School readiness skills "Even in Norway," Zachrisson said, "if we compare children growing up in families where parents have few years of education or limited income to those growing up in more affluent and educated families, we find substantial gaps in all areas of what we call school readiness skills." These skills include self-regulation, the ability to focus and pay attention, organizing thoughts and feelings in behavior, as well as early reading and language comprehension abilities. So, what experiences promote those skills? "In Norway, kids from low-income families or those with less-educated parents who enter daycare before age two see great benefits from kindergarten," Zachrisson explained. "Our early education programs, which promote language development throughout early childhood and academic skills once the kids are a few years into schooleven as early as first grademake a real difference for these kids. We have very strong evidence for this in Norway," he said. Among the active ingredients are a high proportion of educated childcare teachers, quality interactions in the childcare center, and ample availability of quality learning materials, to name a few. Diversity of experience is critical While researchers are still trying to figure out what the ideal early education and care environment looks like, plenty of qualified suggestions can be found in the available literature. "We also know," added Dearing, "that conversation with adults is critically important. Having chances to playfully learnhaving child-led opportunities where adults follow the children more than the reverseand providing many diverse opportunities to enrich their experiences are crucial." "Diversity of experience is really critical," he said, "and so is a warm and loving environment." Professors Dearing and Zachrisson are both involved in CREATE Center for Research on Equality in Education, a brand-new Centre of Excellence and the first of its kind within educational sciences in Norway. Arrhythmias, a group of disorders that disrupt the normal rhythm of the heart, can lead to serious health complications such as heart failure, stroke, and sudden death. The global prevalence of arrhythmias, particularly atrial fibrillation, is on the rise, contributing to substantial health and economic burdens. While the cardiovascular dangers of air pollution are well-documented, the long-term effects of different pollutants on arrhythmia subtypes remain insufficiently explored. Addressing this knowledge gap is crucial for advancing prevention and management strategies. This study (DOI: 10.1016/j.eehl.2024.05.006), conducted by the Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, was published in Eco-Environment & Health on June 11, 2024. Leveraging data from the UK Biobank cohort of over 442,000 participants, the research examined the association between long-term exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 2.5-10 , NO 2 , and NO x and the incidence of various arrhythmias. The findings highlight the critical need to consider air pollution as a modifiable risk factor in arrhythmia prevention. The study revealed that prolonged exposure to air pollutants, especially PM 2.5 , is linked to a higher risk of arrhythmias. A 10 g/m increase in PM 2.5 corresponded to a 26% rise in the hazard ratio (HR) for arrhythmias, while NO 2 and NO x increases were associated with 3% and 2% higher risks, respectively. The composite Air Pollution Score (APS), which aggregates exposure levels to these pollutants, indicated that individuals in the highest quintile of exposure faced significantly elevated risks of atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, and other less studied arrhythmias such as supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular premature beats. Notably, women, older adults, and those with preexisting conditions were particularly susceptible. Our results underscore the critical public health implications of air pollution. The clear associations between air pollutants and a broad range of arrhythmiasnot just atrial fibrillationsuggest that current preventative measures should be expanded to address broader cardiac risks. Reducing exposure to harmful pollutants could play a significant role in lessening the burden of these potentially severe heart conditions." Dr. Renjie Chen, study's principal investigator The study highlights the pressing need for stringent air quality control measures, especially in densely populated urban areas where pollution exposure is highest. By curbing emissions of hazardous pollutants such as PM 2.5 and NO 2 , significant progress can be made in preventing arrhythmias and reducing related healthcare costs. Targeted public health strategies should focus on protecting vulnerable groups, including the elderly and individuals with cardiovascular conditions, to mitigate the far-reaching health impacts of air pollution. Northern Arc Capital IPO: The initial public offering of non-bank financial institution Northern Arc Capital Ltd, which was opened for public subscription on Monday, will be closed on Thursday. The price band of the Rs 777-crore IPO has been fixed at Rs 249 to Rs 263 per share for the public issue. Till 5:00 pm on the third day of bidding on Wednesday, the IPO received an 21.31 times subscription garnering bids for 43,27,38,471 shares as against the 2,03,04,754 shares on offer. The category for non-institutional investors received 52.63 times subscription, while the portion for retail individual investors (RIIs) got subscribed 19.63 times. The QIB category was subscribed by 32 per cent. Northern Arc Capital IPO: Key Dates The IPO was opened for public subscription on September 16 and will be closed on September 19. The share allotment of the Northern Arc Capital IPO will likely be finalised on September 20, while its shares will be listed on both BSE and NSE on September 24. Northern Arc Capital IPO: Price Band The price band of the Rs 777-crore much-awaited IPO has been fixed at Rs 249 to Rs 263 per share for the public issue. Northern Arc Capital IPO: GMP Today According to market observers, unlisted shares of Northern Arc Capital Ltd are trading Rs 190 higher in the grey market than its issue price. The Rs 190 grey market premium or GMP means the grey market is expecting a 72.24 per cent listing gain from the public issue. The GMP is based on market sentiments and keeps changing. Grey market premium indicates investors readiness to pay more than the issue price. Northern Arc Capital IPO: Analysts Recommendations Most brokerage houses have given a subscribe recommendation to the IPO. Brokerage firm Anand Rathi in its report said, Over the past 15 years, North Arc Capital Limited have significantly contributed to the Indian retail credit market, facilitating financing of more than 1.73 trillion since 2009, impacting over 101.82 million lives. As of March 31, 2024, they have established an ecosystem that includes 328 originator partners, 50 retail lending partners, and 1,158 investor partners. Their multi-channel offerings encompass lending, placements, and fund management, supported by proprietary technology solutions and a robust data repository containing over 35.17 million data points. At the upper price band company is valued at P/BV of 1.4X with a market cap of Rs 42,428.6 million post issue of equity shares. Thus, we recommend an SUBSCRIBE rating to the IPO, Anand Rathi said. Another brokerage firm Nirmal Bang in its report said Northern ARC is well-positioned for growth, leveraging sector expertise, digital platforms, and a strong partner ecosystem to access Indias underpenetrated credit markets. Its diversified funding sources and improved credit rating support sustainable expansion, despite high operational costs, said Nirmal Bang Securities. Northern Arc has respectable ROA and ROE along with loan growth of 28 per cent CAGR over FY22-24. Its asset quality is impressive with low GNPA and NNPA. The price-to-book value (1.8 times) indicates the company is undervalued compared to peers. Thus, we recommend subscribing to the issues, Nirmal Bang stated. SBI Securities also recommended the subscribe the IPO. It said, Northern Arc has a robust ecosystem of 328 originator partners, 50 retail lending partners and 1,158 investor partners. The issue appears to be fairly valued when compared with close peers on most valuation and financial matrices. We recommend subscribing to the issue for a long-term investment horizon. Northern Arc Capital IPO: Anchor Investment Northern Arc Capital collected Rs 229 crore from anchor investors, days before the opening of its share-sale for public subscription. SBI General Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance Company, Reliance General Insurance Company, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte, Societe Generale, and Quant Mutual Fund are among the anchor investors. According to a circular uploaded on BSEs website, the company has allotted 87.02 lakh equity shares to 15 funds at Rs 263 apiece, which is also the upper end of the price band. This aggregates the transaction size to Rs 229 crore. Northern Arc Capital IPO: More Details The IPO is a combination of a fresh issue of equity shares valued at Rs 500 crore and an Offer For Sale (OFS) of up to 10,532,320 equity shares worth Rs 277 crore, at the upper end of the price band, by investor shareholders. This aggregates the issue size to Rs 777 crore. Those offering shares through the OFS are Leapfrog Financial Inclusion India (II) Ltd, Accion Africa-Asia Investment Company, Eight Roads Investments Mauritius II Ltd, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, 360 ONE Special Opportunities Fund (formerly known as IIFL Special Opportunities Fund), and Dvara Trust. Proceeds from the fresh issue would be used to meet future capital requirements of the company towards onward lending. The price band for the offer is at Rs 249 to Rs 263 per equity share, Northern Arc Capital said in a statement. Investors have the option to bid for a lot size of 57 equity shares and in multiples thereafter. Registered with the RBI as a systemically important, the company is a non-deposit taking non-banking finance company (NBFC) and has been operating in the financial inclusion space for over a decade. Northern Arc is a leading player amongst the countrys diversified NBFCs, with a business model diversified across offerings, sectors, products, geographies and borrower segments. It provides access to credit to under-served households and businesses directly and indirectly through Originator Partners. Northern Arc Capital filed draft papers with Sebi in July 2021 to float its maiden public issue. It got the regulators nod to float the public issue in September same year. However, it didnt go ahead with the launch. ICICI Securities, Axis Capital and Citigroup Global Markets India are the book-running lead managers to the issue. Stocks To Watch On September 18: Domestic markets remained subdued for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, ending slightly in the green. In todays trade, shares of VST Industries, Torrent Power, REC, Tata Power, Mankind Pharma among others will be in focus due to various news developments. IndiGo: Aviation watchdog DGCA is probing the incident of tail strike involving an IndiGo aircraft on September 9 and the flight crew has been derostered, a senior official said. VST Industries: Ace investor Radhakishan Damani has reduced stake in VST Industries by 0.65% at the end of June quarter. Mankind Pharma: Mankind Pharma said it will consider raising funds via NCDs, commercial papers, other debt securities among others on September 20. REC: The company has signed non-binding memorandums of understanding worth approximately Rs 1.12 trillion ($13.37 billion) with renewable energy developers, that involve projects in solar, wind, hydroelectric, battery energy, and green ammonia sectors. REC plans to increase its renewables loan book to over Rs 3 trillion by 2030, aiming for renewables to make up 30 per cent of its portfolio by then. Tata Motors: The vehicle manufacturer is making strides in the used electric vehicle (EV) market, collaborating with online marketplaces like Spinny to facilitate the resale and exchange of EVs. The company has already started listing used Tata Nexons on these platforms. Additionally, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) are set to manufacture electric vehicles in India for global markets, with production expected to start at the Sanand facility. Hindalco Industries: The company is planning to enter the solar module manufacturing sector with a new plant in Mundra, Gujarat. The company, a leading aluminium producer, is evaluating a five-year plan for this venture. The plant would mark Hindalcos first move into green energy components manufacturing. NTPC: Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and NTPC have been approved to establish a joint venture, ASHVINI, to build four 700 MWe nuclear power plants at Mahi Banswara, Rajasthan. This joint venture aims to enhance Indias nuclear power capacity as a part of the countrys goal to achieve 22,800 MW of nuclear power by 2031-32. Tata Power: The company plans to invest up to $9 billion to expand its renewable energy capacity to over 20 GW over the next five to six years. Tata Power aims to increase its renewable energy capacity from 5 GW to more than 20 GW by 2030, with a goal of achieving 100 per cent clean power generation by fiscal year 2045. Jupiter Wagons: The company has announced a Rs 2,500 crore capacity expansion plan to build a new facility in Odisha for producing forged wheelsets. The expansion will increase production capacity from 20,000 to 100,000 wheelsets per year and is expected to be operational by 2027. Torrent Power: The company has received a letter of intent for a 1,500 MW pumped hydro storage project from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDCL). The project, which will supply power for 40 years, is part of Torrent Powers strategy to enhance energy storage capabilities. SpiceJet: The company has set a floor price of Rs 64.79 per share to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). Additionally, the airline is facing financial difficulties and it said it has substantial unpaid statutory dues. Funds from the QIP are intended to address various financial obligations and expand the airlines fleet. Infosys: The IT services company has announced a long-term collaboration with Metro Bank to digitise its operations using Infosys Topaz, its AI-first offerings. The partnership aims to enhance Metro Banks digital capabilities, improve automation, and save costs, targeting annualised savings of 80 million pounds. DCM Shriram Industries, Life Insurance Corporation: LIC has reduced its stake in DCM Shriram Industries from 6.68 per cent to 4.66 per cent over three years, selling shares at an average price of Rs 110.072. DCM Shriram Industries is engaged in the production and sale of sugar, alcohol, and industrial fibers. EaseMyTrip: The online travel portal has entered the medical tourism sector with acquisitions totaling Rs 90 crore. The company has acquired a 49 per cent stake in Pflege Home Healthcare and a 30 per cent stake in Rollins International, expanding its offerings to include medical and wellness services. RattanIndia Enterprises: Revolt Motors, owned by RattanIndia, has launched its first electric motorcycle, the RV1, priced at Rs 84,990. The company also introduced a premium variant, RV1+, at Rs 99,990. This move marks Revolts entry into the commuter e-motorcycle segment, aiming to expand its product line over the next five years. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to launch the Centres NPS (National Pension System) Vatsalya Scheme today, ie- September 18 in a Delhi event. According to a finance ministry release- In pursuance of the announcement in the Union Budget 2024-25, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman will launch the NPS Vatsalya scheme on September 18, in New Delhi. School children will also join the launch. The Central Government talked about the NPS Vatsalya Scheme in the Union Budget 2024. The finance ministry release also mentioned that audiences at other locations, including the school children, will virtually join the Delhi broadcast. At the launch event, the Finance Minister will release the scheme brochure and reveal an online portal for subscribing to NPS Vatsalya. The minister will also distribute PRAN cards to new minor subscribers. NPS Vatsalya events will be organised at nearly 75 locations in India. Other locations will join the launch via video conference and distribute PRAN membership to new minor subscribers in that location. NPS Vatsalya Scheme is considered a monumental step in the pension system. According to the reports, this new scheme has been started to secure the financial future of children. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority will manage this scheme. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority promotes, develops, and regulates organised pension funds in India. This scheme will allow parents and guardians to secure their childs future by investing in a pension account. About the NPS Vatsalya Scheme Under the NPS-Vatsalya Scheme, a parent or guardian will be able to open an account in the childs name with a minimum amount of Rs 1,000. After that, till the age of 18 years, the parent or guardian will have to deposit a minimum of Rs 1,000 in the childs NPS-Vatsalya account every year. According to the State Bank of India Pension Fund platform, there is no limit on the maximum amount deposited in this account. NPS Vatsalya Scheme can also be converted into a non-NPS scheme when the child turns 18. They can then manage the account independently. According to the SBI (State Bank of India) Pension Fund website, there is a partial withdrawal option available as well. This can be availed 3 times. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday launched the NPS Vatsalya scheme, which will allow parents to save for their childrens future by investing in a pension account. Parents can subscribe to NPS Vatsalya online or visiting a bank or post office. The minimum contribution to open Vatsalya account is Rs 1,000. Subscribers will have to contribute Rs 1,000 annually thereafter. The guidelines for withdrawal from NPS accounts are being finalised. Launching the scheme, Sitharaman said NPS has generated very competitive returns and offers the option to people to save while ensuring future income. NPS has generated 14 per cent, 9.1 per cent, and 8.8 per cent returns for investments in equity, corporate debt and G-Secs, respectively, Sitharaman said. Financial Services Secretary Nagaraju Maddirala said the government will be receptive of subscriber feedback and improve pension scheme accordingly. Ever since we have announced the proposed launch of PM Vatsalya scheme, we have been getting feedback and suggestions to improve the scheme. As we go along and implement the Vatsalya scheme, we will try to improve so that concerns expressed in the last one week are taken care, Maddirala said. What is NPS Vatsalya? NPS Vatsalya is a specialised variant of the National Pension System (NPS) tailored for minor children. Parents or legal guardians can open and contribute to this account until the child attains the age of 18. Once the child reaches adulthood, the account can seamlessly transition into a standard NPS account. Salient Features of NPS Vatsalya Early Start: Begin saving for your kids retirement as early as possible. Long-Term Growth: Benefit from the power of compounding over a long investment horizon. Tax Benefits: Enjoy potential tax deductions under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Flexibility: Choose from various investment options to align with your risk appetite. Government Backing: The scheme is backed by the Government of India, ensuring safety and credibility. Eligibility Criteria To open an NPS Vatsalya account, you must fulfill the following conditions: You must be a parent or legal guardian of the minor child. The child must be below 18 years of age. You can be an Indian citizen, Non-Resident Indian (NRI), or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI). Where to open account? The NPS Vatsalya account can be opened through Point of Presence (POPs) registered with PFRDA either online or physical mode, which include major banks, India Post, Pension Fund etc. (List of PoPs is available on PFRDA website). It can also be opened through online platform (eNPS) of NPS Trust. Choose a Pension Fund Manager (PFM): Guardian can choose any one of the Pension Fund registered with PFRDA. Select a PFM from the list of authorised ones. Gather Required Documents: Prepare the necessary documents, including the childs birth certificate, your identity proof, and address proof. Complete the Application Form: Fill out the NPS Vatsalya application form with accurate details. Make Initial Contribution: Deposit the minimum required amount to initiate the account. Account Activation: Once the formalities are complete, your NPS Vatsalya account will be activated. Investment Options Similar to the standard NPS, Vatsalya offers a mix of investment options: Equity: Invest in stocks for higher potential returns but with associated risks. Corporate Debt: Opt for investments in corporate bonds for moderate returns and lower risk. Government Securities: Choose government bonds for stable returns and minimal risk. Benefits of NPS Vatsalya Secure Retirement: Build a substantial corpus for your childs retirement. Tax Savings: Avail tax benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Financial Discipline: Cultivate a habit of saving for the future from a young age. Flexibility: Choose investment options based on your risk tolerance. Despite the share of women in the voters list being almost at par with men in Jammu and Kashmir, political parties across the spectrum failed this time when it comes to fielding female candidates in the assembly elections that began in the union territory on Wednesday. Of every 100 candidates contesting the polls, just five are women, and half of them are fighting independently. Tuesday was the last date for the withdrawal of candidature for the third and final phase of the polls. On Wednesday, the numbers of contesting candidates were issued by the Election Commission of India. A total of 873 candidates, including 40 women, are contesting in the assembly elections being held in J&K after almost a decade. In the three-phase polling, that started on Wednesday, the highest number of women candidates, 25, are in the third phase, which will be held on October 1. Of the 40 women in the fray, 20 are from various political parties and 20 are contesting independently. In addition to these, the candidatures of 18 women were rejected, which usually happens if the documents submitted are incorrect or incomplete. The J&K assembly polls are being held in three phases for 24 seats on September 18, 26 seats on September 25, and 40 seats on October 1. There are 219, 239, and 441 candidates, respectively, in each phase. Nine women contested in the first phase, while in the second phase, to be held on September 25, there will be just six women. In 2014 the last time the erstwhile state went to polls there were 803 candidates in the fray including 28 women. The total number of women nominees has improved this time, but it remains low among the total candidates. In 2014, there were just seven independent women aspirants in the fray while this time the number has gone up to 20. Last year, Parliament passed the womens reservation bill that paved the way for 33% reservation for women in assemblies and the Lok Sabha. It has not been implemented so far. Almost all the political parties supported the idea of womens reservation but hardly met the 33% criteria while distributing tickets. Jammu and Kashmir has 88.03 lakh voters, and almost half of these, 43.13 lakh, are women. Yet politics remains male-dominated in the union territory. In 2014, just two MLAs were women. Later, when Mehbooba Mufti became the chief minister after her father died, she contested and won from the Anantnag. The results to be announced on October 8 will reveal the fate of these 40 women in the fray. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday said the pace of development in the ethnic strife-hit state had slowed over the past one-and-a-half years and appealed to people for the recovery of lost time now that the situation is gradually improving. Addressing a press conference at the launch of cleanliness drive Swachhata Hi Seva, Singh said, This slowdown is unfortunate. Now that the situation has improved, we should not only focus on solving the existing problems related to the ethnic crisis, but also prioritise development. We must recover the lost time. He noted that development in areas such as startups, self-sustainability, MSMEs, business support schemes, sports, education, and agriculture had slowed due to recent disturbances. Singh emphasised the need to focus on economic revival, particularly in agriculture, food processing, horticulture, and handloom sectors, to regain the earlier pace of development. He expressed confidence that a resolution to the crisis will come, with both the government and the public working towards it. Singh also highlighted the states focus on constructing concrete roads in Imphal, which he said would prevent road damage from annual rains. Savings from this project will be redirected to rural and hill areas. Proposals are also underway for cement roads in district headquarters in the hills, he added. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for approving the opening of 16 new Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar canteens in the state. Earlier, there were 21 canteens accessible to the public. Now, 16 more have been approved, eight in the valley and eight in the hills. I appreciate Modi, Shah, and the relevant central government officials for this initiative to provide essential commodities to the common people at cheaper rates, he said. He underscored the role of media, stating, Media has a constructive role to play. For instance, if protests become violent, live coverage should be stopped, and defamatory or inciting statements should be curtailed. Unfortunately, such measures are not always taken. Conveying his warm wishes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday, Singh said Swachhata Hi Seva cleanliness drive, which commenced today, will continue until October 2. In a shocking incident, a doctor at a Gujarat hospital was allegedly thrashed after he asked the family members of a patient to remove their slippers before entering the emergency room. The incident occurred on Saturday at a private hospital in Bhavnagars Sihor. The family of the patient arrived at the hospital for her treatment after she suffered a head injury. As per the CCTV visuals, a few men can be seen standing next to the woman on the bed inside the emergency room. A few seconds later, Dr Jaideepsinh Gohil enters the room and asks them to remove their footwear. Young Doctor assaulted at Sihor hospital in #Bhavnagar district;Altercation erupts over removing shoes.A verbal altercation turned violent when relatives of a female patient were instructed to remove their footwear before entering the emergency ward.#MedTwitter @JPNadda pic.twitter.com/b91PU6eECD Indian Doctor (@Indian__doctor) September 16, 2024 According to NDTV, the police have arrested three persons in connection with the attack. This led to a heated exchange between the doctor and the patients family. The group of men then started attacking the doctor and kept beating him even as the woman kept lying down on the bed. The accused have been identified as the Hiren Dangar, Bhavdeep Dangar, and Kaushik Kuvadiya. They have been arrested under sections 115 (2) (act with the intention of thereby causing hurt to any person), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351 (3) (criminal intimidation ), and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Notably, the attack on the doctor came amid ongoing protests in Kolkata where doctors have taken to the streets demanding laws for their safety and security following the rape and murder of a resident doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court against disqualified IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, accusing her of perjury and attempting to manipulate judicial system. The UPSC claimed that Khedkar filed false documents to gain favourable outcomes in her case. The Delhi High Court on September 12 sought former probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkars response on a plea by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) seeking initiation of perjury proceedings against her for allegedly giving false statement and affidavit in the court. Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to Khedkar on the UPSCs application and granted her three weeks to file reply to it. The court listed the matter for further hearing on November 26. The UPSC contended that the July 31 communication by which Khedkars candidature was cancelled was communicated to her on her registered email id the same day. It said it was the same email id, which was registered in her online application for the Civil Service Program (CSP) 2022. Khedkar had earlier approached the high court challenging the UPSCs press release stating that her candidature has been cancelled. She had claimed that the cancellation order was never communicated to her and she came to know about it only through the press release. The court had disposed of the petition after noting the UPSCs submission that it will communicate within two days its order cancelling her candidature. On July 31, the UPSC cancelled Khedkars candidature and debarred her from future exams. She was accused of misrepresenting information in her application for the UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2022. Khedkar was also accused of cheating and wrongly availing of OBC and disability quota benefits. On August 1, a trial court here had denied her anticipatory bail, saying these are serious allegations that require a thorough investigation. (with inputs from PTI) India has sent a notice to Pakistan, demanding a modification of the Indus Waters Treaty. Top sources with the government have said India, in its notice, said in todays scenario, it is not feasible to maintain the same treaty and thus it needs modification. The notice from the Indian side was served on August 30, 2024. The notice also mentioned that a one-sided water treaty has been there since its inception in 1960 and that various articles of the treaty need real assessment. The use of the Indus waters and the demography are changing, India mentioned in its notice, adding, We should look to change the treaty as India is going forward for clean energy. India also mentioned the continuous terrorist activities from Pakistans side and said Pakistan was taking undue advantage of Indian generosity, and that a relook was required. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between the governments of India and Pakistan on September 19, 1960, concerning the most complete and satisfactory utilisation of the waters of the Indus systems of rivers. Under Article XII (3) of the Treaty, its provisions may from time to time be modified by a duly ratified Treaty concluded for that purpose between the two governments. Referring to the allegations of financial irregularities against Sandip Ghosh, the father of the Kolkata rape and murder victim has said his daughter would have been alive had the West Bengal government taken action against Ghosh earlier. The allegations of financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital came to light after the body of a woman doctor was found there on August 9. In the year 2021, RG Kar Hospitals former principal, Sandip Ghosh, was accused was financial irregularities at the institute. Had the Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) taken action against Ghosh then, my daughter would have been alive today, a grieving father of the victim told reporters. Also reacting to the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case, the doctors father said, The CBI is doing its job, we cannot say anything about the investigation. Whoever is connected with this murder, in some or the other way, or those who are involved in tampering with evidence, all are being interrogated. About the ongoing doctors protest, he said, They (junior doctors) are sitting in protest. They are all like my children and we feel pain seeing them like this. West Bengal | Kolkatas RG Kar rape and murder incident | Victims father says, CBI is doing its job, we cannot say anything about this (investigation) Whoever is connected to this murder in some way or those who are involved in tampering with evidence, all are under pic.twitter.com/c7VUjEjwAj ANI (@ANI) September 17, 2024 ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SANDIP GHOSH Ghosh is under investigation for alleged financial mismanagement and irregularities during his time as principal of RG Kar Medical College. He has also been questioned by the CBI in connection with the rape and murder of the doctor at the hospital on August 9, leading to his arrest in that case. A probe was initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the college authorities filed a complaint accusing Ghosh of misappropriating funds meant for development and research projects at the institution. Even though the Kolkata top cop and two health officials were removed from their posts, the doctors remained defiant in their stance, continuing the protest. In a letter, the doctors requested a second meeting with the chief minister to present a few more of their demands. The union cabinet on Wednesday approved the Narendra Modi governments one nation, one election bid for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls by accepting the report of a high-level committee led by ex-President Ram Nath Kovind. The government has now appointed senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Kiren Rijiju, and Arjun Meghwal to consult with political parties across the spectrum to build consensus. Union minister for information and broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw after the cabinet meeting described the decision to adopt the report and go forth with a possible legislation on it as a historic step. Sources said that the entire cabinet, including ministers from parties like TDP and JD(U), lauded the decision. This is indeed a much-needed, much sought-after, long-pending reform and it is only for the cause of the people, Prime Minister Modi told colleagues in the meeting, sources said. Several opposition leaders have called the push for simultaneous polls a desperate attempt to hang onto power. The Prime Minister is said to have told his cabinet colleagues that there is no need for anybody to look at it from the prism of politics. This is not a politically motivated decision, nor is it for political benefit. It is to ensure that the welfare of the people takes centre stage. Despite the fact that the report submitted by the high-level panel is also in the public domain, there is need to have a wider consultation, especially to educate the common man about the merits of this legislation, the PM reportedly advised his cabinet colleagues. Sources also indicated that the government is not in a hurry to bring this legislation into Parliament as being speculated through various quarters. It wants to open up a wider consultation so that various stakeholders, especially the common man, can also further give their opinions. Consultations and meetings with various stakeholders and seminars across the country will be held, Vaishnaw said in the cabinet briefing. Since the government will be bringing amendments to the Constitution to get this legislation passed, the entire focus will be on consensus, the sources said. Multiple numbers at multiple levels will be made to get consensus on the issue from political parties to legal representatives to the common man, they added. As and when the bill will be brought in Parliament for introduction and passage, it will have to be passed by a two-thirds majority, as there will be a constitutional amendment. With the majority in the Lok Sabha and a good number of MPs in the Rajya Sabha, the NDA is confident of passing this legislation. The government also highlighted that: Elections were held simultaneously between 1951 and 1967. Law Commission 170th report (1999): One election to Lok Sabha and all legislative assemblies in five years. Parliamentary Committee 79th Report (2015): Suggest methods for simultaneous elections in two phases. The committee chaired by Kovind extensively consulted a broad spectrum of stakeholders including political parties and experts. The report is available online at: https://onoe.gov.in Extensive feedback has shown there is widespread support for simultaneous elections in the country. Recommendations and the way forward as listed by the government include: Implement in two phases. In the first phase conduct Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously. In the second phase conduct local body elections (panchayat and municipalities) within 100 days of general elections. Common electoral rolls for all elections. Will initiate detailed discussions throughout the country. Constitute an implementation group. The adoption of the report by the cabinet is just the first step. Once the draft of the bill is prepared, it will be brought to the cabinet for approval. After the approval of the cabinet, the bill will be brought to Parliament for passage. Once Parliament has passed the bill, rules will be notified for its implementation. The implementation is also a multilevel process. A common voter list will have to be prepared for both the central and assembly elections. Also in some places, delimitation needs to be done and the deployment of forces, etc, will also have to be discussed in detail. Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, who sparked a controversy with his remarks on Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday said any person who exposes the Gandhi family faces threats of arson and violence. Bittus recent statement came after a video on news agency ANI showed members of the Indian Youth Congress holding a protest against the Union Minister. #WATCH | Delhi: Members of the Indian Youth Congress hold protest against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and other BJP leaders over their statement on Lok Sabha LoP & Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/Y0i7Bg8pGb ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2024 Congress is back to its old tricks:- Anyone who exposes the Gandhi family faces threats of arson and violence, reminiscent of the 1984 Sikh riots, Bittu wrote on X. Is this what they call their mohabbat ki dukan? People are watching and taking note! he added. Congress is back to its old tricks:- Anyone who exposes the Gandhi family faces threats of arson and violence, reminiscent of the 1984 Sikh riots. Is this what they call their mohabbat ki dukan?People are watching and taking note! https://t.co/fR4FZTfjC3 Ravneet Singh Bittu (@RavneetBittu) September 18, 2024 BITTUs REMARK ON RAHUL GANDHI On September 15, Bittu slammed Rahul Gandhi over his statement while he was on a visit to the United States, about the condition of Sikhs in India. Reacting to Gandhis statement, Bittu said if those manufacturing bombs were supporting him, he is the number one terrorist. Bittu, the MoS for railways, made the remark in Bihars Bhagalpur where he came to attend the flagging-off ceremony of a Vande Bharat Express train to Howrah. Speaking to reporters, Bittu said, Rahul Gandhi spent most of his time outside the country. His friends and family are there. I think he does not love his country much because he goes abroad and says negative things about India. I think he is not a Hindustani. Now, he has got support from separatists, who always talk about dividing this country. They (separatists) and the most-wanted persons are also appreciating Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against Sikhs. When such people, who are also experts in manufacturing bombs, are supporting Rahul Gandhi, then he is the number one terrorist of the country. He is talking like a separatist. There should be a reward for catching him as he is the biggest enemy of the country, he added. Bittu alleged that Congress earlier tried to use Muslims, but as that could not happen, it was now attempting to divide Sikhs. Gandhi talks about Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and other castes. He has not been able to understand the pain of a cobbler, carpenter or mechanic, even after being the leader of the opposition. This is a joke, he said. CONTROVERSY OVER BITTUs REMARK As soon as Bittus remarks hit the headlines, the Congress party blasted him, saying his statement was derogatory and unacceptable. The party also demanded an apology from him. Condemning the recent remarks made by Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday said, The language used by Union Minister Bittu against Rahul Gandhi is not befitting. He should apologise because he is a minister. The government should apologise. It is not right to use such cheap language against the leader of the opposition. Pilot also claimed the BJP is on the back foot in the Haryana elections. It is lagging in the elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. It finds itself behind the Congress, so in frustration, the BJP leaders have no option left, except to target Rahul, he said. BJP SAYS AGAINST PARTYs CULTURE Bittus remarks were also condemned by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as party leader MA Naqvi on Monday said the comments were against his partys culture and asserted that such dirty talk was in bad taste. This is neither the BJPs culture nor that of our country. We can be political rivals and opponents but indulging in such dirty talk and using such a language is in bad taste, Naqvi told news agency PTI when asked about Bittus remarks targeting Gandhi. Those who talk like this, it is injurious to their political health. The BJPs culture of politeness is its USP and must be adhered to by all, he said, without taking anyones name. On his recent Odisha visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested a tailor to sew a kurta for him. With his visit to Kashmir slated for Thursday, heres a heartwarming story about the pheran worn by the Prime Minister during a previous trip, which was gifted by a Kashmiri farmer. Irshad Hussain Naikoo, a farm labourer from Anantnag, Kashmir, had dreamed of meeting Narendra Modi since 2013. Despite his financial hardships, his admiration for Narendra Modi was so deep that he began saving money to buy a gift for him. After a few years of saving, he thought of different things which he could present to PM Modi. Finally, he decided to make the traditional dress, pheran, for the Prime Minister. He carefully selected the fabric, but faced a dilemma he didnt know PM Modis measurements. He had no idea what size the Prime Minister wore. Then it occurred to him that his fathers build was quite similar to the Prime Ministers. So, he took his father to the tailor for measurements and explained exactly how he wanted it made. Once the outfit was ready, he began his journey from Anantnag to Delhi to deliver it. And he reached the gate of the Prime Ministers residence. The security arrangements were such that he couldnt go in. So he decided to return to Kashmir and send it by courier. A few days later, he received an unexpected call. The person on the phone asked, You came to the Prime Ministers residence, right? Irshad had sent the gift, enclosing a letter with his full address and phone number. The call was from the Prime Ministers Office. After enquiring about his details, the official from the Prime Ministers Office informed him, The Prime Minister is wearing today the gift that you sent him. Hes currently in Kashmir and addressing a rally in Srinagar wearing the pheran gifted by you. Irshad was in his fields when he received the call and could hardly believe it. The Prime Minister was wearing the gift he had sent. Overjoyed, he went home and asked a friend to check the event online. To his delight, he saw that the person he admired most had indeed worn the pheran. Irshad still cherishes the memory of the day his gift was worn by the Prime Minister. Weve uncovered Aditya Roy Kapurs favourite hair styling spot: Aalim Hakims salon in Mumbai. Just weeks after he was seen outside the salon with fans, the actor was spotted again on September 17. Sporting a fresh-bearded look, he turned heads as he made his way to his car. The clip features Aditya Roy Kapur stepping out of the salon, dressed casually in a white T-shirt and olive green joggers. His new look, with a crew-cut hairstyle and a thick beard, showcased his suave and charismatic personality. The actor drew attention as he warmly greeted fans and paparazzi before getting into his car. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bivash Biswas (@bivash.biswas_6969) Earlier, Aditya Roy Kapur turned up the heat in an uber-chic look while leaving the same place after his salon session. For his last visit, he wore a black oversized T-shirt with denim shorts elevating it with a black cap and matching slippers. His vibrant smile for the cameras was truly heart-melting. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aalim Hakim (@aalimhakim) Besides his style, Aditya Roy Kapur has been in the news for his personal life. The actor who was reported to have been dating Ananya Panday allegedly broke up earlier this year. Despite the buzz, the actor makes sure to remain silent on the rumours. Previously, in a conversation with Lifestyle Asia India, the actor said, I guess Ive always been quiet about my personal life. Thats the way I like it. Ive never really found the need the urge or the want to have people know all about me and my personal life. So maybe thats why I keep stuff to myself rather than, you know, put it all out there." In terms of acting career, Aditya Roy Kapur is gearing up for MetroIn Dino. The rom-com drama, helmed by Anurag Basu, will hit the theatres on November 29. Apart from Aditya, the film also stars Sara Ali Khan, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Neena Gupta, Pankaj Tripathi and Konkona Sensharma in lead roles. Reports also suggest that the actor has signed another project with the director duo Raj and DK, marking their first collaboration. The ongoing month is extra special for RM as he recently celebrated his 30th birthday and marked the halfway point of his military service. Adding on to these, September 17 brought another important moment for the BTS leader as he met the South Korean president. RM was spotted flaunting a smile in photographs from the South Korean Presidents visit to the 15th Infantry Division in Gangwon Province. This visit, timed with Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), had President Yoon Suk Yeol inspecting the newly established medical battalion and encouraging soldiers during the holiday. In the photos that are now going viral, RM, who is currently serving in the 15th Division, was prominently featured alongside the President. Fans quickly took to social media and shared their excitement and reactions about the meeting. Bro hes so done LMAOOOOO, a fan jokingly wrote, while another one said, NAHHHHHH free him. Right hereis it Joon? He looks sooo done, Me baby, wrote a user. Right hereis it Joon? He looks sooo done Me baby pic.twitter.com/d85FAEfoyd Ann (@Joons_thighs_) September 17, 2024 These images were also posted on the Presidents official website and included in news coverage. It shows RM and his comrades enthusiastically posing with President Yoon. On the music scene, RM continues to impress. He recently collaborated with American rapper Megan Thee Stallion on the track Neva Play, which debuted at 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the highest debut for an Asian Hip-Hop act in 2024. Additionally, RM appeared on Billboards 2024 R&B/Hip-Hop Chart Toppers THE HONOR ROLL List alongside BTS member V. Beyond his musical career, RM is also reportedly gearing up for a significant moment on the big screen. This October, at the 29th Busan International Film Festival, he will release his documentary, RM: Right People, Wrong Place. The documentary goes beyond the music, offering viewers a rare behind-the-scenes view of RMs life before his military enlistment. It shows not only the creative process behind his album but also personal moments and insights into his life during that period. Its premiere at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival is expected to draw attention from both fans and film enthusiasts. RM enlisted in December 2023 and his military service is expected to end in June 2025. Eva Mendes may have stepped away from the big screen for the past decade, but she is still open to a potential return to Hollywood. In a recent appearance on Good Morning America (GMA) to promote her debut childrens book, Desi, Mami and the Never-Ending Worries, Mendes was asked by GMAs George Stephanopoulos if she would consider making a comeback to acting. I dont know. If theres interesting roles. I left at a time where, 10 years ago, I kind of felt like I did it, ya know, I just worked with Ryan Gosling. Hes like the best. It was such a high off my career to work with him and what we created together that I was like, this is a good time to Seinfeld it and just walk out. So, who knows?" Mendes said. Mendes acting career was highlighted by roles in films like 2 Fast 2 Furious, Ghost Rider, the Spirit, The Other Guys and many others. In 2012, she starred in crime drama, The Place Beyond the Pines alongside Gosling, who is now her husband. She later took a step back from acting to focus on their two daughters, Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 7, and pursuing career endeavours. Although she has lent her voice to the Bluey franchise, Mendes hasnt appeared in movies for a decade. Her last film was Lost River in 2014, a fantasy thriller directed and co-produced by Gosling. In a March interview on the Today show, Mendes talked about her decision to step back from acting. She described her choice as a no-brainer," expressing gratitude for the opportunity to spend more time with her children. Im so lucky, and I was like, if I could have this time with my children and I still work, I just didnt act, because acting takes you on location. It takes you away. It was almost just like a non-verbal agreement that it was like, OK, hes [Gosling] going to work and Im going to work. Im just going to work here," she had said. Talking about her childrens book, Mendes described it as a story about a young girl and her thoughts. The book follows a girl named Desi, who deals with never-ending" worries, a theme Mendes revealed personally relates to. She tries to work with her brain to kind of like, you know, make sure its not being a bully to her by sending all these negative thoughts her way and that its being like a BFF to her. And so its about that relationship," Mendes added. Vijay Varma starrer IC184 The Kandahar Hijack is the re-telling of the infamous incident in Indias defence history. It has piqued the nations interest and the Indian officials involved in the negotiations are recalling the ordeal. In a recent chat with Vijay Varma, Captain Devi Sharan shared how the hijackers were using information that was being reported by the media. Captain Devi Sharan said, The hijackers were getting every information, they had a transistor type of radio where they were listening to the news. That time what was being told by the media, so much information shouldnt have been given out. It caused us a lot of damage. He mentioned that when the plane landed in Amritsar for 45 minutes, he was lauded on the news for stopping the hijackers, which in turn angered them. When I landed the plane in Amritsar, some people of importance (in the news) said that the Captain had done his job, and the hijackers couldnt stop him. The hijackers took this the wrong way, they said that me landing the flight in Amritsar was an attempt to get them killed. They were getting to know all of this through the news so they would threaten me again and again, and it prevented me from doing my job, he said and added that this also put the lives of the passengers at risk. The series briefly touched upon this when a top-ranking officials name was hidden from the passengers list lest the hijackers should have leverage over the negotiators. In a recent chat, the chief of the R&AW at the time, AS Dulat, spoke about the ghost passenger whose identity was kept a secret. In an interview with Barkha Dutt, Dulat revealed that this passenger was Shashi Bhushan Singh Tomar, then the R&AW station chief in Kathmandu. He was reportedly seated on 16C. Dulat said that Tomar had two brothers-in-law in high offices, one was NK Singh from the PMO and the other was the head of the NSG. When asked if the high-profile mans presence on the plane was why the commandos werent deployed in Amritsar, Dulat said, NK Singh, we were both in the PMO, was certainly concerned. But that concern was only exhibited to me. He would ask me now and then, what was happening. I understood why he was worried; it was his sisters husband. But at that point in time, let me tell you, when the plane was in Amritsar, nobody in the government knew that there was an R&AW officer on board that flight. I knew, but nobody else did. I didnt tell anybody. There was no need to tell anybody, there was no need to advertise it, he said. ViTrox Showcases Cutting-Edge VisionXpert Smart Code Readers at SMTA Penang 2024 Published: 17 September 2024 by Mike Buetow by Mike Buetow PENANG, MALAYSIA - SEPTEMBER 2024 ViTrox, which aims to be the Worlds Most Trusted Technology Company, is excited to announce its participation in the SMTA Penang at Table #37 in the AC Hotel, Penang on 25th and 26th September 2024. ViTrox will showcase its core technologies that are driving the future of smart manufacturing. Our V310i Advanced 3D Solder Paste Inspection (SPI), V510i Advanced 3D Optical Inspection (AOI), V810i Advanced 3D X-ray Inspection (AXI), V9i Advanced Robotic Vision (ARV) and Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Intelligence Solutions (V-ONE) are now renowned for their ability to enhance inspection accuracy, efficiency and connectivity across production lines. Our experts will be onsite to provide insights on these advanced PCB SMT inspection solutions. Visit our booth (Table #37) to meet with our experts on how our advanced technologies can optimise your production processes. In addition, we are excited to showcase the VisionXpert Smart Code Reader (XS Series), designed to revolutionise the manufacturing process with its AI-driven capabilities. This innovative solution optimises code reading across various environments by excelling in decoding complex codes, deep learning and adaptive auto-tuning. These advanced features significantly enhance inspection accuracy and efficiency, minimising errors and maximising throughput, making VisionXpert an essential tool for ensuring the reliability of production lines. Furthermore, we are also thrilled to announce that Mr. Calvin Anak Rigar, will be delivering a technical presentation titled The Road to Manufacturing Process Self-Healing with A.I. at 2:00 PM on 26th September, delving into the evolution of Smart Manufacturing driven by Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Attendees will gain insights into how automation in manufacturing has progressed beyond equipment-level processes and closed-loop Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications. Through strategic architecture and environment planning, the implementation of AI can enable the creation of self-healing production lines that automatically optimise processes. Additionally, the conventional method of Statistical Process Control (SPC) data analysis can be automated and conducted in real-time, leading to more efficient process optimisation. Dont let manufacturing challenges slow you down! Our ViTrox experts are on-site to answer your questions and offer live product demonstrations. For further inquiries, feel free to reach out via enquiry@vitrox.com and join in the excitement. We look forward to seeing you there! About ViTrox Technologies ViTrox is committed to being the Worlds Most Trusted Technology Company and the leading solutions provider through the most innovative, advanced, and cost-effective machine vision solutions of excellent quality to its customers by integrating ViTroxs technologies, people, and strategic alliances. ViTrox offers a full spectrum of solutions, ranging from Middle & Back-end Semiconductor Inspection Solutions, SMT PCB Assembly Vision Inspection Solutions, Integrated Industrial Embedded Solutions, and Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Intelligence Solutions. ViTrox is headquartered in Penang, Malaysia, with offices in Asia, Germany, and the United States and sales and support sites worldwide. For more information about ViTroxs products and services, please visit www.vitrox.com. It seems like Kangana Ranauts challenges with regards to the release of her film Emergency are never ending. On Wednesday, the actress is facing new problems. Her film has been accused of tarnishing the Sikh community. Emergency is set against the backdrop of the Emergency period in India that was imposed by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In a new development, reported by NDTV, a district court in Chandigarh has issued a notice to Kangana regarding Emergency. Former president of the District Bar Association and advocate Ravinder Singh Bassi has reportedly filed an application claiming Kangana has tried to tarnish the image of Sikhs in Emergency. He has also claimed that the upcoming release features several false allegations against the community and has urged to register a case against Kangana. The actress not only stars in the film but is also directing it. The report added that the matter will be taken up for discussion on December 5. The advocates plea comes just days after Shiromani Akali Dal accused Kangana and the film of misrepresenting the community and twisting historical facts. The actress spoke about the films delay during News18 Indias Chaupal event. She said, It is our history which has been intentionally hidden. We are not told about this. Bhale logo ka zamaana nahi hai, Kangana said and then added, My film is ready to be released. It has received certification from the censor board. 4 historians supervised our films. We have the proper documents. There is nothing wrong with my film. But some people call Bhindranwale a saint, revolutionary or a leader. They threatened via pleas (to ban her film). I have also received threats. Previous governments have declared Khalistanis as terrorists. He was not a saint who was sitting in a temple with an AK47. Emergency was slated to release on September 6. The Kannada film industrys #MeToo moment, which is bringing out stories of sexual harassment, underscores the need for boundaries and change in mindset of influential producers and directors, women actors told News18. Neethu Shetty, a prominent Kannada actor, who has won several awards, including the Karnataka State Film Award for Koti Chennayya, spoke of the industrys sweeping under the carpet" attitude. Shetty told News18: Once when I requested a producer for some time for a film group that wanted to read out a script to him for a small-budget film, his response was that I should leave it and join him for a holiday in Goa instead." ALSO READ | Hema Committee Report: Kannada Film Body Demands Similar Probe Ask any woman who has acted in Kannada films. They will have a story of harassment to tell. Those who think they can act without accountability need to learn boundaries," said a visibly upset Kannada actor, who has appeared in several southern language movies. She did not want to be named, fearing it could affect her ongoing project. The mentality of certain groups in the industry, who believe they can speak or behave inappropriately and get away with it because they are known to be rich, powerful and influential, has to change, Neethu reiterated. She spoke of how the Hema Committee report on the Malayalam film industry serves as an example for every industry to introspect and provide women a platform to air their concerns, without being silenced by the systems hypocrisy. Many women actors did not want to speak about their experiences of sexual and mental harassment, as they felt the time was not right yet". However, the move by the Karnataka State Commission for Women to set up a Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) committee and the demand made by an independent collective called Film Industry for Rights and Equality (FIRE), advocating for a safer work environment, are seen as a significant step towards change. #WATCH | Karnataka: Actor Chetan says, "Our FIRE (Film Industry for Rights and Equality) organisation yesterday have all put it up that we want Hema community report of our own in Karnataka from a retired judge who has commissioned commitment to gendered rights and gender pic.twitter.com/6YVuKHPSYX ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2024 NOT ALLOWED TO RAISE ISSUES On September 4, shortly after the release of the Justice Hema Committee Report in Kerala, a collective of over 1,550 film personalities approached Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking the governments assistance in establishing a committee led by a retired judge to address sexual harassment in the Kannada film industry, similar to the one formed in Kerala. The Karnataka State Commission for Women, headed by Nagalakshmi Chowdhary, instructed the office-bearers of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) to set up a PoSH committee to address complaints related to sexual harassment within the industry. This move was met with severe pushback. At the meeting, it was reported that many members of FIRE were not allowed to speak, with some even being shouted down as the KFCC officials did not recognise FIRE as an official group. Shetty, who was among those who spoke at the meeting, was told to sit in her place", the actor recalled. We knew what we were going up against. Sa Ra Govindu and N. M. Suresh made it clear that I should keep my mouth shut and that I wasnt allowed to speak at the meeting because I was from FIRE. The film chamber claimed nobody had approached them. But we know what their response would be if we did. Why would we go to them? Thats why we are seeking a PoSH panel that will hear our grievances with empathy and sensitivity. We want stricter rules to ensure that no form of harassment takes place from this day forward," Shetty said. TRYING TO DEFAME KANNADA FILM INDUSTRY When News18 asked KFCC chairman N. M. Suresh about the establishment of PoSH and the events of the meeting, he responded by stating that the film chamber was the mother body and any complaints could be addressed directly to them. Has anybody come to us so far? No! They are trying to defame the Kannada film industry, which has some of the most creative and illustrious artistes in the country. I havent received a complaint to date, so what are they talking about?" Suresh said. According to Suresh, the KFCC has a forum to address the industrys problems and provide appropriate solutions, so he questioned the need for a new womens committee or any other forum. ALSO READ | Actress Sangeetha Bhat Demands Hema Committee-like Report In Kannada Film Industry He said they had heard from the Karnataka Womens Commission, but were yet to receive the letter requesting details on the PoSH committee. We will set it up, headed by a retired judge, but all this takes time, and we will do it after consultations. We dont need any organisation called FIRE, we do not recognise them at all," he added. It has come to the point where if a man hugs an actress to express happiness during the success of a movie or pats her back, it is perceived as #MeToo. There are intimate scenes in films, and if they are being shot, and suddenly the actress feels uncomfortable and cries foul saying a line has been crossed, how do we tackle this," Suresh asked. LIST OF 17 DEMANDS The collective FIRE, led by filmmaker Kavita Lankesh, has been relentlessly pursuing the issue of creating safe working environments for women in Kannada films since its formation in 2018. What does the Womens Commission plan to do? According to Nagalakshmi Chowdhary, who, along with FIRE members led by Lankesh, submitted a list of 17 demands concerning the working conditions of women in the industry, the Womens Commission has set a 15-day deadline for the Karnataka Film Chamber to set up a PoSH committee, which is mandatory according to the law. There is no PoSH committee in Kannada cinema. There are men objecting to the formation of the committee and I have asked them who they are to say no when it has been made mandatory by law. I need to know why theres no PoSH committee. Will it be formed? Why will it not be formed? The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce must submit details about the PoSH committee within 15 days," Nagalakshmi told the media. ALSO READ | Malayalam Cinemas #MeToo Moment: Dont Need Godfathers, Wake-Up Call For Every Workplace, Say Women Actors Lankesh spoke of the Womens Commissions decision to conduct a confidential survey where all women actors, junior artistes, production assistants and others involved in the film industry will share their experiences. They will conduct a detailed survey on what is being done for womens welfare, their grievances and how they can be addressed. While actors may be bold and speak up, there are other artistes whose livelihood depends on the industry and dont know where to express their experiences if they have faced sexual or mental harassment. This survey will help focus on that," Lankesh told News18. FIRST CASE FILED IN 2018 ENDS IN NO EVIDENCE One may recall the case filed by actor Shruthi Hariharan against actor Arjun Sarja in 2018, which brought a #MeToo allegation in the Kannada film industry into the spotlight. Hariharan accused veteran star Arjun Sarja of lewd and unprofessional" behaviour during the shooting of the film Vismaya two years earlier. She alleged that during the rehearsal for the movie, while delivering their lines, Sarja inappropriately pulled her close and hugged her without her consent. She claimed that Sarja also asked the director if they could introduce a shot of foreplay for the scene to increase its effectiveness. Hariharan stated that she did not appreciate the way the scene was discussed and called it completely unprofessional. Two years after the incident, at the peak of the MeToo movement in India, the actor decided to speak out, hoping to prevent other actors from crossing the line with their women co-stars. Sarja, a popular multilingual actor, denied the allegations as false and filed a defamation suit against Hariharan. ALSO READ | Malayalam Film Industrys #MeToo Moment: Actor Radikaa Says Secret Cameras Were Used In Vans | Exclusive Sarja stated that having worked with over 60-70 women actors in more than 150 movies, he was appalled by the allegation. He said he was a professional actor and had told the director that he was not comfortable performing certain intimate scenes mentioned in the script. In 2021, three years after Hariharan filed her sexual harassment complaint against Sarja, the Bengaluru police, after investigating the case, filed a B report, stating they could not find sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations made in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the complainant. Whichever way you cut it due process loses. Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal who is not trusted by the Supreme Court to enter his office or sign a file has today made a decision that will be supremely consequential for New Delhi. Kejriwal has unambiguously entrusted himself with the delicate task of deciding on the peoples behalf who will replace him as chief minister. But the crown will sit uneasy atop Atishis coiffed head. As Kejriwals selected stand-in, Atishis legitimacy to hold office is being questioned by rivals. This is unfair on her and on Delhis voters. Even if she is to rule for five months, wouldnt it have been so much better if the succession had been put to an honest vote in the AAP legislature party? What if there were other deserving candidates who enjoyed the confidence of the legislators? This we will never know. Rishi Sunak for example won the Prime Ministers post in the UK after he won a closely fought Conservative Party leadership election in October 2022. Under the rules of the British Conservative Party leadership contest, Sunak needed to have the support of at least 100 Conservative MPs. There may have been question marks around Sunaks future electability but certainly never any around his legitimacy as PM. But back to AAP and the succession tamasha. Can Atishi govern persuasively for the remainder of the AAP governments tenure or is she, as her detractors point out, a mere puppet CM? A proxy with little authority to veto a policy that may be good for AAP but not the public interest. The stealthy transfer of post and power is also uncharacteristic of how AAP likes to do things. Usually, when it comes to making consequential decisions, the party likes to seek a referendum. That is, go to the people. A few months ago, AAP asked people nationwide if CM Kejriwal should run the Delhi government from jail if he were arrested. One fails to understand why it couldnt seek a similar referendum to pick his successor. Anyway, as they say, whats done is done. AAPs top boss Arvind Kejriwal is now free to head to the peoples court to, in his words, seek a certificate of honesty from Delhi voters. In other words, if Kejriwal steers AAP to win the assembly polls in Delhi, he can claim the moral authority to reclaim the CMs post. Kejriwal wont be the first or the last to play the jail ka badla vote card. In fact, he is in August company. Or not so August company. Kashmiri separatist, Engineer Rashid, booked under UAPA for alleged terror funding, won the Lok Sabha 2024 election from Baramulla. His sons went to the people with the audacious jail ka badla vote plank. The people responded overwhelmingly by cocking a snook at the Indian judicial system. Khalistani separatist, Amritpal Singh, booked under UAPA and for sedition, won the Lok Sabha 2024 election from Khadoor Sahib as his supporters projected him as a Sikh nationalist and anti-drug crusader. Clearly, the people were convinced of his bona fides. The impish Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo, Lalu Prasad Yadav, won the Lok Sabha election from Madhepura in 2008. He won even though he had stepped down as CM in connection with the fodder scam case years earlier. After Lalu was convicted in 2013, he was barred from contesting elections for six years. But in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections, RJD still made a major comeback by emerging as the single largest party. The RJD claimed the people had avenged the Supreme Court. Mohammad Shahabuddin, the Professor Moriarty of murder, won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Siwan despite contesting from jail where he was lodged eight months earlier in connection with one of many high-profile political homicide cases. Such was the fear of the dreaded don that the opposition largely stayed away from the contest in Siwan. These are but a few examples. Going by ex-CM Kejriwals logic, these worthies must also be honest and free to reclaim the moral high ground because the public exonerated them. The question begs to be asked: Isnt it dangerous to let demagoguery undermine due process? Rising Threat of Embedded Explosives in Electronic Equipment: A New Form of Warfare? In todays rapidly evolving technological landscape, the very devices we rely on for daily convenience, communication, and commerce could pose unexpected and catastrophic threats. Recent attacks involving Hezbollah, supposedly carried out by Israel, demonstrate how electronic equipment may be tampered with, embedding life-threatening explosives within their core components. This growing concern raises critical questions about the security of electronic devices, the evolution of warfare, and the safety of civilian consumers. The Danger of Embedded Explosives in Electronics As we witness unprecedented advancements in electronics, we are also beginning to see the darker side of this technological revolution. Modern electronic devices, from smartphones to military-grade drones, often rely on compact, powerful batteries to function. This reliance on batteries presents an alarming vulnerabilityone that malicious actors could exploit by embedding explosives within them. Take, for instance, the development of lithium-ion batteries, which are widely used due to their high energy density and lightweight nature. These batteries, however, have already shown the potential for volatility, as seen in the infamous case of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices, where design flaws caused batteries to overheat and, in some cases, catch fire. Now, imagine if such an occurrence wasnt the result of a manufacturing defect but a deliberate act of sabotage. In a hypothetical yet plausible scenario, a new consignment of electronic equipment, destined for a military base or civilian infrastructure, could include seemingly ordinary batteries that have been modified to contain explosives. These batteries could either be programmed to detonate at a specific time or triggered remotely through software embedded within the device. Such a scenario could cause significant loss of life, disrupt critical systems, and instill widespread fear. Another real-world example of the potential for embedded explosives comes from the infamous printer cartridge bomb plot in 2010, where explosive devices were hidden within the cartridges of printers being shipped on cargo planes. While this plot was foiled, it serves as a chilling reminder of how everyday objects can be turned into deadly weapons. The Imperative of Thorough Inspections Given the dangers posed by tampered electronics, it is absolutely essential to thoroughly inspect every aspect of any electronic device before it is inducted, whether for civilian or military use. The threat is not merely theoretical but grounded in reality, as evidenced by past terrorist plots and emerging technological vulnerabilities. Consider the vast array of electronic devices that are imported globally every day. Many of these devices come from manufacturers in regions with varying degrees of regulatory oversight. While large corporations like Apple or Samsung have strict quality control protocols, there are countless smaller suppliers whose products may not undergo the same level of scrutiny. If even one compromised device makes it through the supply chain undetected, the consequences could be dire. Military contractors and defence agencies, in particular, must be vigilant. In 2018, the US military discovered that Chinese-manufactured microchips, which were used in critical systems, had backdoor vulnerabilities that could allow remote tampering. If such microchips were also rigged with explosives, the result couldve been catastrophic. This underscores the need for comprehensive testing and validation of all components before they are deployed in sensitive environments. Moreover, even in a civilian context, devices that are not rigorously inspected can cause harm. In 2017, a wave of malware known as Petya spread globally, disabling thousands of computers in businesses and government offices. While Petya did not physically damage hardware, it illustrated how easily software vulnerabilities could be exploited on a massive scale. Now, imagine if such vulnerabilities were combined with physical explosives hidden within the hardware. The potential for harm grows exponentially. The Emergence of Hardware-Software Combo Warfare One of the most alarming developments in modern warfare is the convergence of hardware and software as weapons. Historically, warfare was fought with physical weaponsguns, bombs, tanks, and planes. In recent decades, cyber warfare has emerged as a powerful tool, with hackers targeting critical infrastructure, financial systems, and government databases. However, we are now entering an era where the lines between physical and digital attacks are blurring, leading to a new form of warfare: hardware-software combo attacks. This emerging form of warfare can be exemplified by the Stuxnet virus, which was first discovered in 2010. Stuxnet was a piece of malicious software that targeted the industrial control systems of Irans nuclear facilities, causing physical damage to centrifuges. This was one of the first instances where software was used to cause real-world, physical destruction. Now, imagine a similar attack, but with the added element of explosives embedded within the hardware. In this scenario, malicious software could trigger the detonation of an explosive embedded within a critical piece of electronic infrastructurebe it a server, a drone, or even a communication device. This hardware-software combo could enable attackers to cause not just digital disruption, but physical devastation on a massive scale. For example, consider a military base receiving a shipment of advanced drones from an overseas supplier. The drones appear to function normally, passing initial inspections and being deployed for reconnaissance missions. However, unbeknownst to the military personnel, the drones contain hidden explosives within their battery compartments. At a critical moment, the enemy activates a software trigger, causing the drones to detonate mid-mission, taking out key personnel and equipment. Could this spiral into a larger, more sinister design? As the potential for embedded explosives in electronic equipment becomes more apparent, there is growing concern that this tactic could spiral into a larger, more sinister strategy. The weaponisation of everyday devices could extend far beyond military applications and into the civilian sphere, creating a widespread sense of vulnerability and fear. Consider the proliferation of smart devices in modern homes. From smart refrigerators and thermostats to voice-activated assistants like Amazons Alexa, these devices are increasingly connected to the internet and integrated into daily life. What if malicious actors begin targeting these devices, embedding explosives or other harmful elements within them? The potential for chaos is immense, as millions of households could suddenly find themselves at risk from the very devices that are supposed to make their lives easier. Additionally, the combination of hardware and software vulnerabilities could be used to target critical infrastructure. Power grids, water treatment plants, and transportation systems all rely on complex networks of electronic devices to function. If these devices were compromised with embedded explosives or malicious software, entire cities could be brought to their knees in a matter of minutes. The rise of this new form of warfare also raises ethical questions. As more and more devices are produced with the potential for dual-useboth civilian and militaryhow can governments and regulatory bodies ensure that they are not weaponised? The international community will need to come together to establish new norms and standards for the production and inspection of electronic devices, or risk facing an unprecedented wave of destruction. Are Civilians Safe? Finally, the question that looms large for most people is whether civilian consumers are safe when using everyday electronic devices like smartphones and laptops. The short answer is: for now, yes, but with caveats. While there have been no widespread instances of consumer electronics being weaponised, the possibility is real, especially as malicious actors become more sophisticated in their tactics. For example, the battery explosion incidents in the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, though caused by a design flaw, provide a glimpse into the potential dangers of tampered electronics. If a major corporation with rigorous safety protocols can accidentally produce a device capable of causing harm, its not difficult to imagine what a determined adversary could do with malicious intent. Innocent consumers may also be at risk due to the growing presence of counterfeit or low-quality electronics in the market. Many of these devices are produced with little oversight, making them easy targets for tampering. A report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that nearly 3.3 per cent of world trade involves counterfeit goods, with electronics being one of the most commonly faked items. In the event that hardware-software combo attacks extend to consumer devices, civilians could find themselves in the crossfire of a much larger geopolitical struggle. Regulatory agencies and manufacturers must work together to ensure that the devices people use every day remain safe, both from accidental malfunctions and malicious exploitation. Conclusion The potential for embedded explosives in electronic equipment, combined with the rise of hardware-software combo warfare, represents one of the most alarming developments in modern conflict. As technology continues to evolve, so too do the methods by which it can be weaponised. Thorough inspections, greater scrutiny of electronic imports, and advancements in detection technology will be essential to preventing these threats from becoming a reality. As we move forward, the world must remain vigilant, ensuring that the conveniences of modern electronics do not become instruments of terror. In the end, the safety of both military personnel and civilians depends on our ability to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit the very devices we rely on every day. The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah. We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in #Myanmar, #Gaza, #India, or any other place. In one single post on social media platform X, Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has made two loud assertions with regard to India this week. The first is that India is an enemy of Islam and second, the Muslims are enduring suffering in the country. Not just this, he has also made the most ridiculous comparison by putting India, a thriving stable democracy, in the league of war-torn countries such as Myanmar and Gaza. This is not the first time an Iranian leader has criticised India over its treatment of Muslims. In 2019, after India repealed Article 370 in Kashmir, Khamenei condemned the move and expressed concern for the Muslim population in the region. He made similar remarks after the 2020 Delhi riots, where police investigations revealed a broader Islamist conspiracy to incite violence in Indias capital, but Khamenei blamed it on extremist Hindus. This years remark, made on the occasion of Prophet Mohammeds birth anniversary, echoes a similar call concerning the plight of Indian Muslims that Khamenei made in 2018. Meanwhile, India has condemned Khameneis remarks in the strongest terms, calling them misinformed and unacceptable. India has also urged Iran to reflect on its own track record before commenting on India. According to a United Nations report, over 400 people have been executed in Iran in the past year alone, including around 15 women. Human rights activists in the country claim that due process was not followed in these cases, with people being charged with petty crimes such as not wearing a hijab or consuming drugs. Even minors have faced the same fate, with a 16-year-old executed last year on murder charges. Ironically, on the same day Khamenei made these remarks indicting India over the treatment of its Muslim minorities, people in Iran were observing the second anniversary of Mahsa Aminis death in police custody. Several girls and young women raised the slogan, Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom) and went on hunger strike on Monday to mark Aminis tragic death in 2022, after she was brutally tortured by Irans morality police for not wearing a hijab. This incident sparked a wave of protests across the country, with many taking to the streets to voice their opposition to state repression and express dissatisfaction with the regime. Interestingly, while people in Iran are fighting against the repressive state, Kashmiri Muslimswhose cause Khamenei has championed in recent yearsare enjoying a much better quality of life, with new opportunities emerging. In fact, Kashmir is set to witness a major electoral exercise starting this month, with around 219 candidates contesting for 24 assembly segments. Over 2.3 million people have registered to vote in the upcoming elections, with about 150,000 first-time voters aged 18 or above. Unlike in Iran, where women are struggling to have their voices heard in the countrys political system, more than 1.1 million female voters in Kashmir will be freely exercising their right to vote. Moreover, there has been a 57 per cent increase in the number of women candidates compared to the last election in 2014. Observing the vibrant democratic landscape in Kashmir, one could easily point out to Khamenei that Indian Muslims enjoy far more political freedom than Iranian Muslims can dream of in their lifetime. Despite being aware of how well India treats its minorities, including Muslims, it is difficult to expect an Iranian leader to not make it a matter of politicking. After all, Iran is locked in a battle for supremacy with the Arab world over who is the true leader of the Islamic community. This signalling to fellow Islamic countries prompts Iranian leaders to repeatedly raise the plight of Palestinians, Rohingyas, and Kashmiri Muslims. Yet even in this, Khamenei comes across as hypocritical. If he truly cared for the plight of Muslims, he would also address the persecution of Shia Muslims in Pakistan or the state-led suppression of Uighur Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang province. Genuine concern would also lead him to thank, rather than criticise, India because, outside Iran, the safest place for Shia Muslims is, arguably, India. In my conversations with Kashmiri Muslims, a vast majority of whom are Shia, I have often been told how they feared the prospect of Azadi or a merger with Pakistan in the past, as it was the Indian state that ensured their safety. Iran is a friendly country for India and an important part of the nations strategic outreach in West Asia. Despite strengthening ties with the Arab world and Israel over the last decade, the current Modi government has worked to maintain first-order relations with Iran. A significant motivation behind this is Indias desire to secure connectivity to Central Asia and beyond, into Eurasia, via the Chabahar Port in Iran. India has also positioned the port as part of the International North-South Trade Corridor, which could help Iran mitigate its economic isolation by the West. Yet, Iran has chosen to criticise India based on unfounded allegations regarding the treatment of Muslims. Perhaps this is a heat of the moment reaction, given Irans current difficulties in the region, particularly with Israel and its allies. Israel has intensified its actions against Iranian proxies, including Hezbollah and Hamas, which may have rattled Iran. Recently, a section in India also criticised the countrys arms exports to Israel, which are being utilised in the conflict. It is highly likely that this may be Irans way of avenging Indias arms supply to Israel. But again, this is not justified, as India is not violating any international laws and is merely pursuing its national interest of building a robust defence industrial base. As for Irans repeated calls regarding the Ummah, it is inappropriate to raise such concerns with a pluralistic country like India. India is home to multiple religions and ensures equality and freedom through its constitution. Indian Muslims, like all other citizens, deserve to live with dignity, free from repression, but it is Indias constitutional framework that is best suited to arbitrate this, not any external country. The author is a New Delhi-based commentator on geopolitics and foreign policy. She holds a PhD from the Department of International Relations, South Asian University. She tweets @TrulyMonica. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. In the 100 days of Modi 3.0, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again proven that his leadership is synonymous with progress, determination, and transformation. With an impressive list of accomplishments across infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, youth empowerment, and security, the Modi government has set the foundation for a thriving, self-reliant India. Lets take a closer look at how these initiatives reflect a deeper vision for Indias future. In the last Lok Sabha election, farmers, reservation, and unemployment were the central issues, and Prime Minister Modis third term, within its first 100 days, has focused intensely on addressing these challenges. While previous governments introduced various schemes, Modi 3.0 has taken bold steps to empower farmers, launch development programs that generate employment, and personally spearhead conversations on reservation reforms. A milestone achievement during this period was Indias hosting of the first-ever World Semiconductor Expo, showcasing Indias technological strides. On the global stage, Modi has emerged as the leader many nations turn to, with Ukraine, Russia, and Europe believing in his potential to mediate the conflict. His leadership is further recognised, with the US backing Indias bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, underscoring Modis growing global influence. A Bold Push for Infrastructure and Economic Growth One of the standout achievements of Modi 3.0s first 100 days is the clearance of projects worth Rs 3 lakh crore, with a sharp focus on expanding the countrys roads, railways, ports, and airways. This massive investment in infrastructure is not just about physical developmentits about creating opportunities, boosting employment, and laying the groundwork for future economic growth. By increasing capital expenditure to 11.11 lakh crore, the government is set to generate jobs and catalyse industrial development, helping India maintain its status as one of the worlds fastest-growing economies. Additionally, the government has worked tirelessly to promote ease of doing business. With the abolition of the angel tax and a reduction in corporate tax, it has created a more favorable environment for businesses. A Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund for space sector startups is another bold step, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Empowering Farmers and Revitalising Agriculture Modis deep connection to Indias farmers has been evident from day one. Over the past 100 days, Modi 3.0 has made remarkable strides in revitalising the agricultural sector. The release of Rs 20,000 crore to 9.3 crore farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, along with an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif crops, demonstrates the governments commitment to improving farmers livelihoods. The approval of the Digital Agriculture Mission and major irrigation projects like the Polavaram Irrigation Project in Andhra Pradesh further solidifies Modis long-term vision for sustainable agricultural development. The soon-to-be-launched National Cooperative Policy promises to strengthen the cooperative sector, enabling better access to resources and empowering farmers to take charge of their own destinies. Youth Empowerment: Building Indias Future Indias youth are the backbone of the nations future, and Modi 3.0s first 100 days have seen significant efforts to uplift and empower them. With a Rs 2 lakh crore package aimed at promoting employment and skill development, the government is investing in the future of 41 million youth over the next five years. Programmes like the Gen-Next Support for Innovation Startups (GENESIS) and internships for 1 crore youth in top companies underline Modis resolve to provide meaningful opportunities to the next generation. By setting targets for skilling 20 lakh youth and modernising 1,000 industrial training institutes, the government is ensuring that young Indians are equipped with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world. Women Empowerment: Building an Inclusive Nation Modi 3.0 has not only focused on economic and infrastructure development but has also made strides in promoting women empowerment. The recognition of over 1 crore Lakhpati Didiswomen earning more than Rs 1 lakh annuallyshows the tangible results of initiatives aimed at improving womens financial independence. By doubling the MUDRA loan limit from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, the government has further enhanced opportunities for women entrepreneurs across the country. Modis focus on empowering women reflects his belief that true progress can only be achieved when every section of society, including women, is equally uplifted. Focus on Healthcare: Strengthening the System Healthcare has been a major focus in Modis third term, with significant developments aimed at improving the quality and accessibility of medical services in the country. The addition of 75,000 new medical seats is a game-changer, helping to address the shortage of doctors and reduce dependency on foreign medical education. The creation of the National Medical Register will bring transparency and efficiency to the healthcare system, ensuring that medical resources are more effectively utilized. Tribal Development: Laying the Groundwork for Inclusivity Modi 3.0 has also made tremendous strides in uplifting the socio-economic status of Indias tribal communities. Through the Prime Ministers Developed Tribal Village Campaign, the government has set ambitious targets to develop 63,000 tribal villages, directly impacting the lives of 5 crore tribal citizens. This holistic approach to tribal development is part of the broader goal of making Indias growth story inclusive and equitable. Ensuring National Security and Cybercrime Mitigation National security remains at the heart of Modis governance. In a historic move, a peace agreement with NLFT and ATTF was reached in Tripura, bringing an end to 35 years of conflict and enabling 328 armed cadres to renounce violence and rejoin mainstream society. In the digital realm, the government has taken proactive steps to address the growing threat of cybercrime. The Samanvay platform, alongside the Cyberdost mobile app and the Cyber Fraud Mitigation Center, are part of a broader strategy to protect citizens from cyber threats. Training 5,000 cyber commandos over the next five years will further bolster Indias defense against digital crime. Major Railway Projects and Housing Initiatives Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to demonstrate his commitment to inclusive development, as he laid the foundation stone for and dedicated several landmark railway projects worth over Rs 660 crore in Tatanagar, Jharkhand, via video conferencing. These projects promise to enhance connectivity and drive economic growth in the region. During the same event, PM Modi distributed sanction letters to 32,000 beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), reaffirming his governments dedication to providing housing for all. In a significant boost to Indias modern railway infrastructure, the Prime Minister also flagged off six Vande Bharat trains from Tatanagar Junction, setting a new benchmark for speed and efficiency in rail transport across the nation. This encapsulates the Modi governments dual focus on infrastructure and social welfare, ensuring that the benefits of growth reach every corner of the country, particularly regions with historical and cultural significance like Jharkhand. Ayushman Bharat Becomes Bigger, Better In a landmark decision on September 11, 2024, the Union Cabinet approved a major expansion of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), extending health coverage to all senior citizens aged 70 and above, irrespective of their income. This move will benefit approximately 4.5 crore families, covering 6 crore senior citizens, who will now receive free health insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh per family. With this approval, every senior citizen in this age group will have access to the schemes benefits, ensuring inclusive healthcare coverage across socio-economic strata. A Vision for Indias Future As Modi 3.0 completes its first 100 days, the governments efforts are a clear indication of its commitment to transforming India into a global powerhouse. From infrastructure and agriculture to youth empowerment, womens development, and national security, Modi has laid out a roadmap for inclusive growth that touches every aspect of Indian society. Modis leadership continues to inspire confidence, and his transformative vision promises to elevate India to new heights. With each passing day, Modi 3.0 is proving that this government is not just meeting expectationsit is exceeding them. Indias journey under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of bold reforms, visionary leadership, and unyielding dedication to building a better future for all its citizens. The next chapter promises even greater achievements, as India moves forward with a renewed sense of purpose and direction. Dr Naresh Bansal is Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, and National Co-Treasurer, BJP. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just turned 74. Fifty-three years ago, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and rose through the ranks, eventually witnessing up close the various hues of Indian politics. Along the way, he absorbed ideologies, aspirations, and skills that make him the leader he is today. But this is not a biography of the prime minister. Thats not what I intend to talk about today. This is a reflection on Indias journey with Modi as Prime Minister and what I believe is the greatest and deepest impact of his leadership on this nation. This is about India reclaiming its position as a civilisation state. Lets quickly examine what a civilisation state means. There are two fundamental concepts used to describe a country: the nation-state and the civilisation state. A nation-state is held together by a common identity, such as a language, culture, ethnicity, or political system, and does not necessarily reflect the ancient roots of the country. Borders are clearly defined, and territorial sovereignty is paramount for a nation-state. In contrast, a civilisation state extends beyond the modern construct of the nation-state. Its national identity is defined not only by contemporary ideals but also by a continuous civilisational legacy. Considering Indias millennia-old continuous civilisation, the fact that a majority of its people still follow Indic religions, and the common historical experiences that bind the country together, you will agree that India checks all the boxes to be seen as a civilisation state and not just a nation-state. And yet, by restricting itself to its modern anti-colonial roots which are mostly political, and ignoring its vast wealth of ancient philosophies, India missed out on the bigger picture for decades, which was to unapologetically reclaim its cultural greatness before it was struck by foreign invasions. Around the world today, nations are increasingly drawing on their civilisational roots. Some of these claims are substantial, while others are less so. However, the recognition of such roots is seen as a way to bolster national unity. For example, the United States, which has been a nation for only about 246 years, is increasingly viewing itself as a civilisation state due to its European lineage and its quest to build democracy, establish basic rights, and promote capitalism. Similarly, Communist China, despite being even younger, has recently emphasised its ancient heritage and teachings to project itself as a civilisation state. Under Mao Zedong, China aggressively sought to purge traditional Chinese culture, including Confucianism, Taoism, ancient customs, and symbols of its cultural past. However, in recent decades, particularly under President Xi Jinping, China has re-embraced elements of its ancient roots. Xis government highlights Confucian values, traditional Chinese philosophy, and Chinas ancient history to assert its distinct identity on the global stage. Why has Communist China done this? Because it had been sitting on a wealth of ancient knowledge and philosophies which had to surface at some point, with or without it. To resist revolutionary change against communist rule, the Chinese regime transformed itself to rally public support. And it helps internationally too because by embracing what it once tried to bury, China gets to showcase its historical continuity and strength, contrasting with Western nation-state models. This brings us to Narendra Modi in India. For many Indians, Narendra Modis tenure as prime minister signifies a civilisational resurgence unmatched since the nations independence. His decisive victory in May 2014 reflected more than just a call for improved governance; it marked a profound shift in Indias worldview. His ascent, marked by three consecutive electoral victories as prime minister, has revitalised Indias identity as an ancient civilisation poised for a modern revival. If there has been a quiet movement for civilisational resurgence brewing in India, Modis ascent has helped bring it into the mainstream. There has been a shift in narratives, symbolism and imagery supported by the office of the Indian Prime Minister. The PM wearing religion on his sleeve, the introduction of the International Yoga Day, the culmination of the Ram Mandir movement into a grand temple in Ayodhya, the mural of Akhand Bharat in the new parliament building, the list is endless. Indias theme for its G20 presidency was another major reflection of this transition. We followed the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, referencing old Hindu texts, to remind the world that we are one. The mural of Konark temple and the statue of God Nataraj at the G20 summit venue in New Delhi all showcased Indias vast wealth of philosophies pre-dating our modern history by thousands of years. Under his reign, Indias cultural heritage, truly borne out of this land, has returned to the surface. He has invoked leaders from Indias past like Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, and Chhatrapati Shivaji. He has frequently invoked ancient Indias accomplishments in science, mathematics and medicine. He has taken all of this to the world stage, popularising the use of the name Bharat for India and wearing a sense of pride that Indians have yearned for decades. This nationalistic movement is often called Hindutva and is seen by its critics as an exclusivist movement, aiming to remove Indias linguistic, cultural and religious diversity, to the detriment of its minorities. However, ten years in office, Modis message has been consistent. Indias rich civilisational heritage is not a threat but a binding thread for all Indians. It has come to be all-apparent but it is not overbearing on Indias diversity. In fact, it seeks to protect this diversity. That is how flagbearers of the movement see themselves. Turn towards Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh where diversity has rapidly eroded in a span of just decades, and youll see a marked difference in Indias civilisational values. Now, why is it significant that India is falling back on its civilisational roots? You see, while some change may be temporary, a decade of Modis rule has made a lasting mark on how the nation sees itself. Indias evolution into a civilisation state, Bharat, in a movement invigorated by Modi, will continue to influence Indias policy decisions ahead and more importantly, endlessly fuel its aspirations for growth and greatness, and as a result, guide its future leaders to continue this legacy. With the introduction of Hindutva into the mainstream and its unparalleled electoral success, the remnants of the last decade are expected to reverberate for decades. The impact of such transformation is evident in Indias rising aspirations, balancing tradition with modernity. Today, India wants to compete. It wants to Make in India, be it toys, semiconductors or fighter jets. It wants a permanent seat at the UNSC table. It has rapidly digitised across sectors including governance. All in the quest to achieve greatness. Hinged on this self-awareness, we also see a more assertive India on the world stage and it is celebrated and envied for its independent foreign policy. A re-emerging civilisation state, drawing from its rich heritage, is bound to leave a distinct mark on the world. Of course, there is work to do for Indians. But the change in mindset, embodied by Modi himself, has started an era of rejuvenation, revival and revolution all in one decade. Ever since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023, the deployment of Assam Rifles and the state police in vulnerable areas has been a bone of contention between the warring tribes of Kuki-Zo and the Meitei. Meitei leaders and legislators have alleged that in many sensitive areas, Assam Rifles are not responsive and remain mute spectators when unarmed civilians are indiscriminately fired upon by the Kukis who, because of their involvement in drug trafficking, are skilled in the use of sophisticated firearms. On January 22, 2024, 34 MLAs passed a resolution stating, These forces and their leadership (chain of command) need to give strict instructions and be held accountable and replaced with forces that have the ability to act by returning suppressive fire when they observe that unarmed civilians are being fired upon, to enable civilians to get to cover and safety. It is against this background that the decision to replace Assam Rifles with the CRPF has been taken. Two battalions, one posted in Churachandpur and the other in Kangpokpi districts, are being replaced with CRPF. The Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) is strongly opposing this move. But, it cannot be downplayed that the Kuki-unleashed violence has killed at least 226 people, and more than 60,000 people were displaced. Despite the presence of an estimated 36,000 personnel from the Indian Army and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), the Kuki violence continues unabated. In September 2024, six people were killed in fresh violence in Manipurs Jiribam district. Suspected Kuki insurgents attacked Nungchappi village in the district, about 229 km from state capital Imphal, and even used rocket-propelled bombs. Suspected Kuki insurgents attacked villages in Imphal West district with weaponised drones making it the first time insurgents used drones outside of Kashmir. Protesters in the Imphal Valley are blaming the state and the Centre over the drone and rocket attacks, and civilians were left with no choice but to defend themselves. Students, taking a cue from the happenings in neighbouring Bangladesh, took to the streets in Manipurs Imphal protesting against the escalation of violence in the state and have demanded the removal of the DGP and the Security Advisor. The state of Manipur never developed the infrastructure or material capacity to address existential security threats stemming from illicit narcotics traffickers. The Assam Rifles and the state police should have been trained to track and interrupt narcotics trafficking in the region, apart from enhancing their capability to counteract transnational crime. The countrys geography, and its neighbours struggles with narco-terrorism, are also crucial to understanding the crisis. Myanmars forcible eviction of the violent Rohingya tribe, Bangladeshs strong addiction with the addictive drug Yaba, the recent disclosure of a new Christian country being plotted by Western agencies, should have upped the ante for our security and intelligence agencies. While the Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force of India, the CRPF is the largest paramilitary force of India. Assam Rifles has the onerous responsibility for border security, counter-insurgency and maintaining law and order in the Northeast. Its primary duty involves guarding the Indo-Myanmar border. But it was only in 2022 that the Assam Rifles was empowered with police powers to keep a check on the escalating drug trafficking in the North East. The Union government in 2022 conferred on the Assam Rifles powers under Section 42 of the NDPS Act that empowers the force to search the premises, seize drugs, detain any person or arrest the person, who has committed the offence without a warrant. But, both the central government and the state government did nothing to quell the rivalry between the state police and the Assam Rifles. On many occasions, Manipur Police kept registering FIR against Assam Rifles. The police accused the central forces of helping Kuki militants to escape freely to a safe zone during combing operations. The Manipur Police and the Assam Rifles on more than one occasion in the recent past have had face-offs as they tried to defend the respective geographical zones assigned to them for the maintenance of law and order. This is a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs, which the violent Kuki militants have exploited to the hilt. To worsen the complication, the CRPF is being inducted and the government is also planning to empower CRPF by limiting the jurisdiction of the Assam Rifles. Is this the way to tackle the spectre of narco-terrorism, and the added threat of dismemberment and creation of a new country in the North-East? The Union government and the Manipur state government have now to tackle the metastasising criminal elements within Manipurs society, economy and state. This should include more than mere expressions of sympathy and solidarity. For patrolling bordering countries such as Myanmar and Bangladesh, it would require mobilising better border controls via troops and air surveillance. A hostile Bangladesh government, though it adds to the policing woes, can be easily throttled, by conniving at the flourishing Yaba trade, which will impact that country very badly, as well as deliver a stunning blow to those meddling in trying to create a new country. Reinforcing and stepping up interdiction or maintaining discrete passivity is a convenient lever that can be used effectively to pressurise the Bangladesh government and their recalcitrant students. There is a clear risk that the North-East could disintegrate into a narco-zone, which would have international implications for India and its neighbours. Just as the reasons for the current troubles are domestic and international, so are the responsibilities and solutions. Mediation and negotiations are difficult in armed tribal conflicts, as they tend to be complex with different causes. The Centre and the Manipur government, should firmly restrain the police forces from playing FIR games, but instead focus on the borders, where alliances between state and non-state armed actors, who do not respect humanitarian values or the rules of war and who have fragmented command chains, are waiting to unleash a gory civil war. The government needs to firmly remind all divisive forces, whether local or international, that we had successfully partnered once with the British in the Opium Wars that devastated China. It is a tested modus-operandi to compel obstinately defiant enemies into humiliating submission, as also to compel them into acquiescing for mutually beneficial terms of peace. The writer is a retired officer of the IRS and the former director-general of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Nehrus Blunder and Indias Ongoing Struggle for a UNSC Seat India would have been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) today, had our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, shown the strategic foresight to accept American and Soviet offers first in 1950, and then in 1955. For reasons best known to him, and despite warnings from Sardar Patel, Nehru preferred China being given a seat at the powerful UNSC. Almost 75 years later, India is still struggling to find its rightful place at the Council. Ironically, the country that India gave up a UNSC seat offer for, has emerged as the biggest stumbling block in the path to structural UN reforms. While there is a consensus among four permanent members of the UNSC over the need to include India, China has consistently blocked any move in this direction. Today, there is a widespread consensus, at least among democratic countries, that India deserves to be a permanent member of the UNSC. The United States only this month came out with another call to reform the UN, and include countries like India, Germany and Japan as permanent members of the UNSC. The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield even said, There are no justifiable grounds for denying Indias place, given its global importance." Despite the fact that clamour around the idea of expanding the UNSC has grown in recent years, concrete action on the issue has remained largely absent. Essentially, the UNs reformation is being stonewalled by one country that wants to remain the only Asian power represented at the UNSC. That the UNSCs four other permanent members the US, UK, France and Russia have not been able to bypass China only shows how redundant and toothless the Council really is. The UNSC in its present form is a relic of the past. It has more proximity to the 1940s and the era of the world wars than todays times. This is further evidenced by the UNSCs inability to prevent conflicts from erupting around the world, or taking any concrete action to stop ongoing wars. Take the conflicts in West Asia and Europe for example. The UNSC has neither been able to stop the war between Israel, Hamas and Irans many proxies, nor has it proven itself as a remotely useful body in bringing a settlement of the Russia-Ukraine war. The UNSCs inability to act on these fronts is due to its hegemonistic composition, where the five permanent members perpetually cater to their own national and strategic interests rather than maintaining global peace and preventing wars. In such a scenario, it becomes all the more important for countries like India to be given a seat at the Council. India can be the voice of reason, mediation and consensus-building that the UNSC so desperately requires. After all, only last year, India was able to make the African Union a permanent member of the G20 and even get a joint declaration signed by all member countries including the US, Russia and China. At present, India is trying to find a solution to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, something which the UNSC cannot even claim to be doing. The world we live in is going through a fundamental change. The balance of power is shifting. However, the UNSC simply does not reflect the changing realities of the world. Instead, it is struggling with an image crisis while also being handicapped. A growing number of countries are realising that the UNSC, in its present form, is nothing more than a monopolistic clique of five superpowers", some of whom may not even qualify as superpowers any longer. Take the example of the United Kingdom. India has already overtaken it to become the worlds fifth-largest economy. In a few years, India will overtake Japan and displace Germany to emerge as the worlds third-largest economy. Who will then be more qualified to be called a superpower"? Then there is Russia, which is struggling to win over Ukraine nearly two years after it first invaded it. Surely, that is not a marker of a superpower". This is not to say that the existing UNSC members need to be kicked out. However, the expansion of the Security Council is absolutely necessary to bring balance and a fresh, multilateral approach to global challenges, reinforcing the UNSCs relevance in todays world. In its present form, the UNSC is simply irrelevant and redundant. India has said so in as many words. In 2022, Indias External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, warned that the UN will become irrelevant without reforms". Earlier this year, India doubled down on the same rhetoric, saying the UNSC risks slipping into oblivion and irrelevance" in the absence of urgent reforms. PM Modi to Give UNGA Address a Miss: Is India Sending a Message? The United Nations has been dragging its feet on the reforms front for over three decades now. The idea to reform the UN first arose after the fall of the Soviet Union. In 1992, the UN General Assembly created a working group to address the question of reforming the United Nations, particularly the Security Council. Despite several meetings, little progress was achieved. About 15 years later, in 2008, the UN formally authorised the working group to begin intergovernmental negotiations to address this issue. That was 16 years ago, and the United Nations has still not been reformed. Given the snails pace at which the UN reforms initiative is progressing, India is beginning to run out of patience. In what could very well be a sign of Indias angst, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be addressing the UNGA debate this year, despite being in the United States. Instead, S Jaishankar will take the dais in what is expected to be a very reform-centric speech, highlighting the urgent need for drastic changes at the United Nations. Importantly, PM Modi has previously on two occasions addressed the UNGA after winning national elections back home. He did so in 2014, and then in 2019. Therefore, for the prime minister to opt out of the UNGA debate this year signals New Delhis growing frustration at the lack of progress on the reforms front. Instead, PM Modi will be addressing the Summit of the Future on September 23. World leaders are set to adopt the Pact of the Future after the summit, which many believe will include a chapter on transforming global governance". Here, a pitch for reforming the United Nations is expected to be made. However, merely talking about UN reforms, without actually implementing them, has been standard practice at the multilateral organisation for decades now. Nevertheless, if a host of nations do come together and actually commit to reforming the UN, with a special focus on the Security Council, the Summit may emerge as a turning point. Again, one must watch out for what stand countries like China take. Add to that, there are at least 12 other countries part of the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) group that have been pushing for the expansion of UNSCs non-permanent members from 15 to 26. Recently, this group had opposed the addition of new permanent members to the Security Council a proposal that India openly rejected. India was right to junk such a proposal, as it would do nothing to actually reform the UNSC. Instead, it would only add to more noise within the Council even as the five permanent members continue vetoing resolutions and stonewalling initiatives as per their liking. The most that India is willing to forego is the veto power that comes along with a permanent membership of the UNSC and that too, for a limited period of time. Indias pursuit of a permanent seat at the UNSC has spanned decades, and the frustration is now palpable. As the world shifts, the composition of the UNSC remains a relic of a bygone era, unrepresentative of modern geopolitical realities. India, a rising global power, the worlds largest democracy with an expanding economy and a history of diplomatic leadership, is well-positioned to bring fresh perspectives and stability to the council. The onus is now on the United Nations General Assembly itself. For its own sake, it must amend the UN charter to make way for reforms in the UNSC, while the world community ensures China is brought on board for the same. That might be an incredibly difficult task, perhaps more complicated than getting two-thirds of the member nations to agree to amend the UN charter. However, without reforms, the UN will continue slipping down the road of irrelevance and will eventually land in a situation where neither the developed nor the developing world takes it seriously. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Atishi on Monday staked a claim to form the government in Delhi after the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal. (Photo: News18) Arvind Kejriwal, who walked out of Tihar Jail on Friday and resigned from the post of Delhis chief minister on Tuesday, pulled off a surprise by picking his youngest Cabinet colleague Atishi as his successor. Even though there was widespread anticipation that Kejriwal would nominate his wife Sunita as the chief minister, he defied expectations by choosing Atishi, raising eyebrows. The move breaks from the norm seen in Indian politics where senior politicians, holding crucial positions in the government or in the party and accused of corruption or criminal charges and arrested for the same, often turn to family members, especially wives, to safeguard their political legacies. So why did Kejriwal pick Atishi, and what does this say about his strategy? Here, the AAP convenor seems to be following in Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Sorens footsteps. Both Soren and Kejriwal steered clear of dynastic politics, consciously avoiding Lalu Prasad Yadavs legacy of family succession. Soren, after being arrested by the ED in connection with a land deed scam, resigned from his position and chose his senior party colleague Champai Soren as his successor despite support for his wife Kalpana. It is also Kejriwals political strategy to have a young and trusted party colleague as successor, and that will serve two purposes for him. First, his resignation is likely to evoke public sympathy by showcasing him as a principled figure who made a personal sacrifice. Second, choosing his wife as successor could have sparked sharp criticism from the BJP, labelling him as just another dynast who wants to keep power within the family. Chose merit, ditched dynasty By nominating Atishi as his successor, Kejriwal wants to send a signal to his party colleagues that AAP values capability and performance over family dynasties, a stark contrast to leaders who often install their spouses to protect the partys control. This message will boost the partys morale and also bring loyalty to him. Atishi is known for her contributions to Delhis education reforms, a key pillar of AAPs governance, making her not just a loyal party member but someone with tangible achievements. Kejriwal probably dodged the nepotism allegation but his political opponents still call Atishi the puppet chief minister. However, for Kejriwal, that is way better than being compared to Congress and battling allegations of dynastic politics, said a retired IAS officer, who closely worked with the former Delhi CM as part of his government and later his party. Indian politics has long been associated with dynastic leadership, with numerous examples of politicians elevating family members to power. It has also been one of the central and focal points for the BJP to attack the Opposition. Kejriwals choice to bypass this trend distances AAP from accusations of nepotism, reinforcing its position as a party rooted in clean, merit-based politics. His party which is now under political and public scrutiny for several corruption-related charges needed the reassurance of promoting merit-based politics over nepotism. Youth and gender at the forefront Apart from the political and personal aspects related to Kejriwal himself, Atishis elevation also sends a strong message about inclusivity, youth, and gender representation. Her appointment could strengthen AAPs appeal among young voters and women, while portraying the party as progressive on future leadership, unlike traditional parties that lean on family names or old hands to consolidate power. Installing a trusted party colleague like Atishi could also be a tactical decision to ensure the smooth functioning of the party and government without overshadowing Kejriwal. If his wife or a close family member were to step in, it could lead to increased scrutiny and raise questions about his long-term intentions. In addition, Atishi who has a bright academic career graph and is known as an articulate young politician managed the public perception, addressed the media and handled governance in the time of crisis. Kejriwals decision reflects his trust in Atishis leadership and loyalty. She represents continuity in policy and governance while projecting the image of a youthful, capable leader who can maintain AAPs voter base and governance model even in his absence. Unlike family members, whose selection may invite public scepticism and internal conflicts, Atishis appointment is likely to be viewed as a step toward preserving AAPs credibility. Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to move out of his Civil Lines residence in the national capital within a week, confirmed AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Wednesday. The development came after Kejriwal resigned as the Chief Minister of Delhi on Tuesday, days after he was released from the Tihar Jail on bail in the excise policy scam. I have full faith that the people of Delhi will give Arvind Kejriwal a certificate of honesty with a huge majority. He has served the people of Delhi with complete honesty and sincerity. Yesterday, when he resigned, the first thing he said was he would leave all these facilities, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said. Stating that Kejriwal will vacate his official residence in a week, Singh said, There is also a question about his security. He was attacked not once but many times, we told him and tried to explain that his security is in danger. But he decided that God will protect him. Explaining Kejriwals decision, Singh said that he said he was in jail for 6 months and lived among dreaded criminals, but despite this, God protected him. He said only God will protect him, he is not worried about the house, so he decided to leave the house. He will leave the house and live among the common people. It is not yet decided where he will live, he added. Kejriwal Picks Atishi As His Successor Arvind Kejriwal, who walked out of Tihar Jail on Friday, resigned from the post of Delhis Chief Minister on Tuesday pulled off a surprise by picking colleague Atishi as his successor. Even though there was widespread anticipation that Kejriwal would nominate his wife Sunita as the chief minister, he defied expectations by choosing Atishi. Atishi, the Kalkaji lawmaker known to have a clean image, currently holds key portfolios such as finance, education, Public Works Department, power, revenue, law, planning, services, Information and Publicity, and vigilance in Delhi government. It is being speculated that Atishis selection might be a planned move by Kejriwal to appeal to the women voters in the capital ahead of the elections early next year. A month after he met Lakhpati Didis in Maharashtras Jalgaon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Wardha city in the poll-bound state on September 20 to mark the first anniversary of the PM Vishwakarma Scheme and inaugurate several development projects including a mega textile park in Amravati. According to a government release, Modi will virtually perform the bhoomi pujan of the PM Mitra Park coming up in Amravati. He will inaugurate several development projects in the two cities, including the mega PM textile park that will come up on 1,020 acres of land, said the Amravati district information officer. He will also address a public meeting on Swavlambi grounds in Wardha city to mark the PM Vishwakarma scheme anniversary. It envisages to provide end-to-end and holistic support to the traditional artisans and craftspeople in scaling up their conventional products and services. He will also launch two key programmes Acharya Chanakya Kaushalya Vikas scheme and Punyashlok Ahilyabai Holkar Women Startup scheme. During the Vishwakarma programme in Wardha city, the prime minister will release certificates and loans to beneficiaries. Symbolising the tangible support extended to artisans under this scheme, he will distribute credit to 18 beneficiaries in 18 trades. As a tribute to their legacy and enduring contribution to society, he will release a commemorative stamp dedicated to mark one year of progress under PM Vishwakarma. In Amravati, Modi will lay the foundation stone of PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (MITRA) Park, which is being developed by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) as the state implementation agency. The central government had approved setting up of seven PM MITRA parks for the textiles industry. These are a major step forward in realising the vision of making India a global hub for textiles manufacturing and exports and will help create world-class industrial infrastructure that will attract large-scale investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and encourage innovation and job creation within the sector. He will launch the Acharya Chanakya Skill Development Centre scheme of the state government. Skill development training centres will be established in renowned colleges across the state to provide training to youth aged 15 to 45, enabling them to become self-reliant and access various jobs. At least 1,50,000 youths will receive free skill development training each year. The PM will also launch Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Women Startup Scheme, which will provide early-stage support to women-led startups in Maharashtra. Financial aid up to Rs 25 lakh will be given, with 25 per cent of the total provisions under this scheme reserved for women from backward classes and economically weaker sections. (With PTI inputs) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (September 18) said the proposal of One Nation One Election is an important step towards making Indias democracy even more vibrant and participative. His statement came amid intense criticism from the opposition, which slammed the Centres move as an attack on Indias federalism and a cheap stunt by the ruling BJP. Several BJP leaders lauded the decision as another example of Modi doing what he promises, with allies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) welcoming the nod to the Kovind panels recommendations for simultaneous polls. The Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. I compliment our former President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders. This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative, Modi said in a post on X. The Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. I compliment our former President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders. This is an important step towards making our Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 18, 2024 With the government formally moving on one of its more ambitious agenda items for this term, it will be keenly watched as to how much progress the proposal makes in the face of stiff protest from opposition parties, which have enough numbers in Parliament to stall any constitutional amendment bill. The government will need to get Parliaments approval to the constitutional amendment bill for bringing to fruition simultaneous Lok Sabha, assembly and local body polls. BJP president JP Nadda said the decision aims to streamline the electoral process and ensure better governance. The current system of holding elections at different times across states hampers development efforts and burdens the national treasury. Adopting One Nation, One Election will help lower election-related expenses and financial burden on the government, he said on X. Union Cabinet, chaired by Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji has accepted the recommendations of the High Level Committee on 'One Nation One Election' initiative. The current system of holding elections at different times across states hampers development efforts and burdens the Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) September 18, 2024 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised the decision as among the big reforms being undertaken by India under Modis visionary leadership like never before. PM Modis unwavering resolve to strengthen our democracy is reflected in this progressive decision, he said on X. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi India is undertaking big reforms like never before. Today the Union Cabinet accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on One Nation One Election. PM Modis unwavering resolve to strengthen our Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 18, 2024 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the decision will prove to be a milestone in ensuring political stability, sustainable development and prosperous democracy in the country. @narendramodi One Nation, One Election , Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) September 18, 2024 Union minister Giriraj Singh said simultaneous polls will ensure that development programmes go unimpeded and took a swipe at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for opposing the measure. In a post on X, he asked Kharge to rise above political biases, claiming that first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had started the process of one-nation-one-election and the exercise continued till after his death. Will Kharge Ji prove Nehru Ji wrong, he asked. Lauding the Cabinets nod, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra shared an old video of Modi advocating the concept. We implement what we say, he said, a view echoed by several other party leaders on X. , !Gratitude to PM Shri @narendramodi Ji and the government led by him for approving the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on 'One Nation One Election'. This historic initiative will indeed enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of our democratic pic.twitter.com/HeKvA6IQCD Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) September 18, 2024 What are NDA allies saying? The BJPs allies in the NDA government Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), JD(S) and Shiv Sena welcomed the Cabinet decision. LJP president and Union minister Chirag Paswan said it is a big and historic step in the countrys interest. JD(U) spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said simultaneous polls will rid the country of frequent polls, obviate the drain on the public exchequer and result in policy continuity. He said the step will have long-term consequences and bring the country comprehensive benefits, as well as help boost polling. The JD(U) is among the parties that have been supportive of the idea of simultaneous elections and has said so in its submission before the committee. JD(S) leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said it is a historic step towards improving Indias electoral system. Within the first 100 days of its third term in office, the Narendra Modi government has delivered on its election promise, he said. Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said it is a game-changer for the countrys democratic structure, ensuring that governance is not compromised by the demands of frequent elections. It will enhance the quality of decision-making and provide much-needed political stability, he added. All BJP allies, including Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Shiv Sena and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), have in principle supported the concept, which was on the BJPs manifesto for the recent Lok Sabha polls. Impractical, cheap stunt, says opposition Directing heavy criticism at the BJP-led Centre, Kharge said this plan cannot work in a democracy. Elections need to be held as and when required if we want our democracy to survive. We dont stand with this, he said. He said the proposal is not practical and alleged that the BJP comes up with such things to divert attention from real issues when polls approach. It is not practical, it will not work. When elections come and they (BJP) do not get any issue to raise, they divert attention from real issues, he told a press conference. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek OBrien called it a cheap stunt of the BJP and questioned why the Maharashtra polls were not announced with those in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir if the government wants simultaneous elections. One nation, one election is just another cheap stunt by the anti-democratic BJP. Why were the Maharashtra elections not announced along with the elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir? he asked. You cannot do three states in one go and you talk about one nation, one election. He also sought to know how many constitutional amendments and curtailments of the terms of state assemblies will be required for the implementation of the proposal. And also tell us, how many Constitution amendments, including curtailing or extending terms of state Assemblies, will be done! Classic Modi-Shah jumla, the TMC leader said in a statement. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the proposed move will destroy federalism. I have consistently opposed One Nation One Election because it is a solution in search of a problem. It destroys federalism and compromises democracy, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution, he said in a post on X. I have consistently opposed #OneNationOneElections because it is a solution in search of a problem. It destroys federalism and compromises democracy, which are part of the basic structure of the constitution. Multiple elections arent a problem for anyone except Modi & Shah. Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 18, 2024 Owaisi said multiple elections are not a problem for anyone except Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as they want to campaign in every election. Multiple elections arent a problem for anyone except Modi and Shah. Just because they have a compulsive need to campaign in even municipal and local body elections does not mean that we need simultaneous polls. Frequent and periodic elections improve democratic accountability, he said. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sandeep Pathak wondered how all elections would be held together when the Maharashtra polls could not be held with those in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. They were incapable of holding simultaneous polls in four states and managed to hold elections only in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. My submission is that when they are unable to hold simultaneous polls in four states, how is one nation, one election even possible? he asked. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray appeared critical of the move. This is a joke in itself because the Election commission which cannot hold simultaneous elections in 4 states is talking about one nation, one election. We have 30 municipal elections pending in Maharashtra, why cant they take that now? he asked. Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja said the proposed move would curtail the rights of the states. One Nation, One Election is an impractical and unrealistic idea in our constitutional setting, he said in a post on X. He added: One Nation, One Election goes against this vision and curtails state rights. For these reasons, the CPI is in opposition of the imposition of ONOE. , , , Mayawati (@Mayawati) September 18, 2024 Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati voiced support to the move. Our partys stand is positive on the approval given today by the Union Cabinet to the proposal to hold simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha, Assembly and local bodies in the country under the system of One Country, One Election, but its objective should be in the interest of the country and the public, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said in a post on X. Actor-turned-politician Vijay has made a significant political move by garlanding Periyars statue in Chennai to mark the Dravidian idealogues birth anniversary. Periyar has been an unshakable Dravidian icon promoted by Tamil Nadus leading parties DMK and ADMK to symbolise commitment to equality, secularism and social justice, and, more importantly, as a political signalling against the BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits. Vijays political party announcement (Thamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam) and flag-unveiling ceremony triggered a political reading that he had steered clear of any Dravidian affiliation. However, with the garlanding move on Wednesday, he has kicked off a clever political manoeuvre that widens his field of play: while not antagonising the Periyarist/Dravidian roots in Tamil Nadu, he has clearly said he would not get sucked into the Aryan/Dravidian ideological battle, which DMK undoubtedly owns. This positioning places Vijay at an advantage as he can speak to the large urban and rural working classes and upwardly mobile social classes that he will work for them, without having to affiliate to either of the political dugouts Dravidian or otherwise. It is also expected that he will disclose Tamil nationalist leanings, something Naam Tamilar Katchi Seeman has said they will welcome. Vijay has made it clear that he will be a tough competitor to the DMK, a source close to the actor told News18. This is not the first time that the actor has showed affiliation towards Periyar. Vijay identified three political idols BR Ambedkar, Periyar EV Ramasamy, and Congress leader K Kamaraj while felicitating Class 10 and Class 12 toppers in March last year in a clear indication of where his ideologies lie. The actor also joined the bandwagon of parties opposing NEET. Taking a jibe at the BJP government, he urged the Centre to scrap the medical entrance test, calling it anti-poor. Vijay and his team are preparing for the partys state conference scheduled for October. The actor, in a statement on September 8, said Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam has been officially registered by the Election Commission of India. Calling this registration the first step towards victory, Vijay urged his party cadre to wait for an official announcement of the date of the state conference, adding that preparations are underway. The state conference will reveal TVKs ideologies and the partys vision for the 2026 state assembly polls. So far, the state has seen a bipolar contest. With Vijay ticking the right boxes until now, it remains to be seen if the political landscape may well change in Tamil Nadu. As Vijay further unravels his political pack of cards, it would be interesting to see how the Dravidian majors and caste-based political outfits align to the newcomer. Microsoft got a reality check about the security measures of Windows when the massive Crowdstrike issue caused billions of PCs going offline. The company is clearly working towards making sure that another Crowdstrike-like outage doesnt ever occur and for that it has decided to make some changes to reduce the control of its third-party vendors. Microsoft even got everyone together at a security summit earlier this month where the company had talks about changing the dynamics of who can access the Windows kernel and control the changes. Windows Kernel In The Spotlight Microsoft realises that unrestricted access to Windows kernel is the big reason why the Crowdstrike outage occurred in the first place. It was even pointed out that Apple will never give that kind of access to its partners and vendors, which explains why no Mac machine was down on that day. When you have 8.5 million Windows systems going offline, which includes the airlines, healthcare and more, changes are critical and the need of the hour. Ideally, Microsoft should block this level of access to hardware and system memory on Windows for these partners but the company is looking to balance out the changes without diminishing the value of these vendors. So, what we might see is a new platform that allows Microsoft to keep a check on the level of access its partners like CrowdStrike, Sophos and Broadcom have, but also ensure the Windows systems dont suffer because of any major security lapse, which is resolved/looked into by these vendors for the company. Having said that, these new changes do sound like a compromise on Microsofts part but if it can ensure that another major Windows outage doesnt hit the world, everyone will be happy. A software engineer from Tamil Nadu was forced to work as a delivery partner for Swiggy after he was laid off from his previous job. Riyazuddin A, decided to work for Swiggy after rejections piled up and he had bills to pay. Though it was not easy for Riyazuddin to balance hope, rejection and grind daily, he somehow stayed afloat. A few months ago, life took an unexpected turn when I was laid off from my job, wrote Riyazuddin on LinkedIn. He added, I found myself in a difficult financial position. During that time, I made the decision to become a Swiggy delivery partner to meet my financial needs. Read| 26-year-old EY Pune Employee Succumbs to Work Stress Four Months After Joining, Mother Writes to Firms India Boss He recounted the challenges he faced as a delivery partner: I still remember those early morning rides, the blazing afternoon sun, the pouring rain, and those late-night deliveries. Each delivery wasnt just about the earnings, it was a step forward in reclaiming my resilience. Swiggy gave me an opportunity to stay afloat when everything else seemed to sink. Riyazuddin also reflected on how each order he delivered made him stronger and imparted invaluable lessons: It was not easybalancing hope, rejection, and the grind of the day-to-day. But those months as a Swiggy delivery partner gave me more than just financial support; they gave me invaluable lessons in patience, persistence, and humility. Every order I delivered made me stronger, he further said. The engineer, who is proficient in Python, also announced that he has joined a new company. Today, Im incredibly grateful to announce that Ive started a new chapter with a new company. While Im excited about this fresh start, I want to take a moment to bid a proper farewell to my time with Swiggy. I owe a lot to those tough, heartful memories of the streets, the customers, and the support Swiggy provided when I needed it most. Also Read| Australian Womans Dirt Spices Remark on Indian Food Outrages Foodies: Go Have Bland Food He concluded with a powerful message for those facing tough times. The software developer said, Hang in there. Sometimes, lifes unexpected detours lead us to places of growth and strength we never imagined. Riyazuddins journey of resilience on LinkedIn gained significant traction, so much so that Swiggy dropped a comment on his post. The company said that it is grateful to have him as an employee: What an inspiring story, Riyazuddin! Were grateful to have been part of your journey and are proud of the strength, persistence, and resilience youve shown. Wishing you all the success in your new chapter onwards and upwards, indeed! Check out how others have reacted to this story: Wow, your story is a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day! Im beyond proud of you Riyazuddin A for turning a setback into a comeback. Your resilience and determination are contagious! Remember, every detour is a chance to discover new strengths and rise stronger. Keep shining, and I cant wait to see the amazing things youll achieve in this new chapter! said a LinkedIn user. Also Read| Wear Proper Undergarments: Delta Airlines Memo for Flight Attendants Comes Crashing Down After Outrage Another joined, Tough situations in life build you up & make you a strong man. Inspiring story. All the very best! You will see all these Swiggy days were worth it! In general, you learnt big time How to survive rather than sinking, expressed a third. A fourth commented, Your words are so inspiring bro! Best of luck! Life teaches a lot of things in different moments. Ernst & Young (EY), one of the Big Four accounting firms, has released a statement following the tragic death of their 26-year-old Pune employee. Anna Sebastian Perayil, who succumbed to work-related stress as claimed by her mother in an email to EY India boss Rajiv Memani, was a Chartered Accountant (CA) from Kerala. The accounting firm said that Anna Sebastian Perayil was part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi. The company expressed deep sorrow over the irreparable loss of the young employee and emphasised that they assisted the family during this tragic time. Read| 26-year-old EY Pune Employee Succumbs to Work Stress Four Months After Joining, Mother Writes to Firms India Boss While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so. We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastians tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family, the company said in a statement. The company expressed that the passing of their young employee is an irreparable loss for all: Anna was a part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on 18 March 2024. That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us. The company, which is headquarted in London, United Kingdom, further hinted at changes to improve and provide a healthy workplace for its employees: We are taking the familys correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India. Mother Writes To EY India Boss Rajiv Memani After the tragic loss of her daughter, Anita Augustine wrote an email to Rajiv Memani, the head of EY India. In her letter, she criticised the firm for glorifying overwork and pointed out how the companys human rights values starkly contradicted the reality her daughter faced. Her mother claimed that since many employees resigned due to the excessive workload, her daughters boss told her to stick around and change everyones opinion about the team. She also stated that her daughter worked late into the night and even on weekends. Her assistant manager once called her at night with a task that needed to be completed by the next morning, leaving her with barely any time to rest or recover. When she voiced her concerns, she was met with the dismissive response: You can work at night; thats what we all do, Augustine recounted in the email. The grieving mother said that her daughters death should serve as a wake-up call for the company: It is time to reflect on the work culture within your organisation and take meaningful steps to prioritise the health and wellness of your employees. While the exact cause of her death is not clear, Perayil had been complaining of chest constriction weeks before her death. We took her to the hospital in Pune. Her ECG was normal, and the cardiologist came to allay our fears, telling us she wasnt getting enough sleep and was eating very late. He prescribed antacids, which reassured us that it wasnt anything serious, Augustine added. The woman died on July 20. Anna Sebastian Perayils LinkedIn account has been memorialised as tribute to her professional legacy. Before joining EY as an executive, she spent over two years at G Joseph & Associates from January 2020 to December 2022, working as an audit assistant. A graduate of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Perayil had more than three years of experience in taxation, statutory audits, and internal audits. Additionally, she was a national-level debater. Her last LinkedIn post was her job update at EY. Im happy to share that Im starting a new position as Audit and Assurance Executive at EY! Walkie-talkies and handheld radios, acquired along with pagers aimed at over 3,000 Hezbollah members, exploded in three areas of Lebanon on Wednesday, resulting in 20 fatalities and injuring at least 450 people. Wednesdays casualties brought the total toll from the back-to-back attacks to 32. Lebanese media reported that the blasts occurred in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and Southern Lebanon. The wave of enemy explosions that targeted walkie talkies killed 20 people and wounded more than 450," the countrys health ministry said in a statement. These explosions come just a day after exploding pagers reportedly killed 12 people and injured 3,000 Hezbollah members. It also reported that home solar energy systems exploded in several areas of Beirut. Hours after the fresh blasts, the United States government stressed that it was not involved in the mass detonation of devices belonging to Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. We were not involved Meanwhile, there was no comment from Israel, which only hours before Tuesdays explosions had announced it was broadening the aims of its war in Gaza to include its fight against Hamass ally Hezbollah. The centre of gravity is moving northward," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to an air base on Wednesday. We are at the start of a new phase in the war." We were not involved in yesterdays incidents or todays in any way," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a press briefing, repeatedly declining to comment further on the matter. Speaking more broadly, Kirby said the White House will continue its efforts to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah from broadening and thinks that diplomacy is the best path for doing so. ALSO READ | Walkie-Talkies Used By Hezbollah Explode Across Lebanon: What Are These Devices And How Do They Work? Earlier on Wednesday, a live stream of the Beirut skyline provided by the Reuters news agency on Wednesday evening showed plumes of smoke have appeared in several locations across the city, however News18 cannot independently confirm if these are linked to new reports of explosions. The Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that old pagers" exploded inside homes in the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon. It said that a number of injured were transferred to hospitals in the capital and in Baalbek, which is in the Bekaa Valley. Two people were injured after a device exploded on a road in the village of Ali al-Nahri in Bekaa. A pager also exploded inside a car near a cemetery in Jdeidet Marjeyoun, in the southern Bekaa. The blast occurred at a funeral procession in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, where crowds gathered to bid farewell to four of the people killed in Tuesdays pager explosion when another blast took place. A report by BBC said children, women and men of all ages were at the procession and the blast occurred as the funeral procession was just starting. Lebanon has blamed Israel for the blasts and a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters that Israels spy agency Mossad planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesdays detonations, highlighting that it has a long history of sophisticated operations on foreign soil. Former US President Donald Trump said that he would meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week during his US visit and praised him saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a fantastic man". Speaking on Tuesday at his first public appearance following the recent apparent assassination attempt, Trump said, He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Prime Minister Modi, hes fantastic. I mean, fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic." PM Modi To Visit US Next Week The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday announced PM Modis three-day visit to the United States from September 21 to 23. PM Modi and the leaders of Australia and Japan are scheduled to be in the United States for the Quad Leaders Summit. PM Modi will begin his trip with the Quad Leaders Summit being hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. The summit will be attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. Modi will then travel to New York and address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22. He will address world leaders at the landmark Summit of the Future event at the UN headquarters the next day. Modis visit comes less than two months before the US heads into presidential elections with Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the top job. The US general elections will take place on November 5. PM Modi Most Popular, Reports Survey Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again emerged as the most popular leader across the world, leaving behind US President Joe Biden and newly appointed UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The rankings were released by Morning Consult, a global decision intelligence firm that tracks the major decisions of global leaders. The survey is based on data collected from July 8-14. According to the firm, PM Modi ranked number one with an approval rating of 69 per cent while Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador grabbed the second spot with an approval rating of 63 per cent. (With agency inputs) 8 2024 :, , , , , , 1906 . 1955 , . 1958 . . 1972 . 1996 . 2005 7,6 , 50.000 . Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry. Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($363.5 million), including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022, according to data from the Economy Ministry, which approves export licences. However approvals have dropped this year, with only 14.5 million euros worth granted from January to Aug. 21, according to data provided by the Economy Ministry in response to a parliamentary question. Of this, the weapons of war category accounted for only 32,449 euros. A source close to the ministry cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel pending a resolution of legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law. The ministry did not respond to requests for comment. In its defence of two cases, one before the International Court of Justice and one in Berlin brought by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the government has said no weapons of war have been exported under any licence issued since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, apart from spares for long-term contracts, the source added. Israels assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, according to the local Hamas-controlled health ministry. It has also displaced most of the population of 2.3 million, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court, which Israel denies. No case challenging German arms exports to Israel has yet succeeded, including a case brought by Nicaragua at the ICJ. DISAGREEMENT ON ARMS EXPORTS IN GERMAN GOVERNMENT But the issue has created friction within the government as the Chancellery maintains its support for Israel while the Greens-led Economy and Foreign ministries, sensitive to criticism from party members, have increasingly criticised the Netanyahu administration. Legal challenges across Europe have also led other allies of Israel to pause or suspend arms exports. Britain this month suspended 30 out of 350 licences for arms exports to Israel due to concerns that Israel could be violating international humanitarian law. In February, a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to halt all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns about their use in attacks on civilian targets in Gaza. President Joe Bidens administration this year paused but then resumed shipments of some bombs to Israel after U.S. concerns about their use in densely populated Gaza. Approvals and shipments of other types of weapons, in more precise systems, continued as U.S. officials maintained that Israel needed the capacity to defend itself. Alexander Schwarz, a lawyer at ECCHR, which has filed five lawsuits against Berlin, suggested that the significant decline in approvals for 2024 indicated a genuine, though possibly temporary, reluctance to supply weapons to Israel. However, I would not interpret this as a conscious change in policy, Schwarz added. Explosions targeting thousands of handheld pagers used by Lebanons Hezbollah group for communication are shrouded in mystery, igniting questions about how the explosives were planted in this bold and coordinated attack blamed on Israeli spy agency Mossad. The blasts that killed 11 and wounded over 4,000 have made headlines in international media, sparking widespread speculation regarding the methods used to carry out this unprecedented attack. Analysts cited by the Times Of Israel suggested that the operation reflects a sophisticated infiltration of Hezbollahs supply chain. Yet, there are many unanswered questions, while analysts have pieced together what they say could be the probable modus operandi. Supply Chain Infiltrated Experts assert that the simultaneous explosions of the pagers indicate a highly planned and executed operation. Reports indicate that the pagers, part of a new shipment acquired by Hezbollah, were tampered with before reaching the group, allowing for remote detonation. This reeks of a planned IED event, said Jerry Back, a fire investigation expert. He told The New York Post that the nature of the blasts suggests explosives were deliberately integrated into the devices. Reports indicate that Mossad may have intercepted the shipment, planting explosives during transit. A source close to Hezbollah stated that the pagers involved were recently imported, and an investigation is underway to determine how the explosive charges were activated. Types of Explosives Used According to multiple reports, the explosives used in the pagers were identified as Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN), a potent plastic explosive commonly utilized in military applications. Mossad reportedly placed a small amount of PETN on the batteries of the pagers, which could be detonated by raising the battery temperature remotely. This operation demonstrates a significant intelligence achievement for Israel, suggesting that they have penetrated Hezbollahs logistics and supply chains, said Jon Alterman, director of the Center for Strategic Studies Middle East programme. How Batteries Overheated Witnesses reported that some Hezbollah members felt their pagers heating up before the explosions, prompting them to dispose of the devices. This raises questions about the mechanisms behind the detonation, as the odds of lithium batteries spontaneously exploding are exceedingly low. Adding to the mystery was Taiwanese company Gold Apollos denial that it had produced the pagers used by Hezbollah members. Initially, it was reported that the devices by Gold Apollo were rigged and packed with explosives. They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours? company head Hsu Chin-kuang told reporters in Taipei after the NYT reported that his companys pagers were involved in the blasts. The Taiwanese company later added that another firm based in Budapest manufactured the devices. The pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungarys capital, according to a statement released by the company. Mystery Behind The Attack This development leaves unclear how the pagers were modified and specifics surrounding its infiltration, including at which point the devices were rigged in their journey from the factory to Hezbollah members. This was a classic sabotage operation, said former CIA analyst Mike Dimino in a post on X, highlighting the complexity of such a task, which could take months or years to plan. Analysts believe that Israels ability to execute this operation may not only reflect advanced technical capabilities but also an in-depth understanding of Hezbollahs internal communications practices. Hezbollah Retaliation After Tuesdays attack, Iranian proxy Hezbollah was reeling from the violence, which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised, or dead. In Tuesdays attack, Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani lost one eye and his other was seriously wounded when a pager he was carrying exploded yesterday. Amanis injuries are more serious than initially reported, and he would be taken to Tehran for treatment. Son of Hezbollah parliament member Ali Ammar was also among the deceased. The Iran-backed outfit has promised to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. Hezbollah said in a statement that the resistance will continue today, like any other day, its operations to support Gaza, its people and its resistance which is a separate path from the harsh punishment that the criminal enemy should await in response to Tuesdays massacre. One Hezbollah official said the detonation was the groups biggest security breach since the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas erupted on Oct. 7. (With agency inputs) A9 highway connects Kandy, the cradle of Sinhalese culture and history, to Jaffna, the crucible of Tamil culture and history. This 321-kilometre-long beautiful highway runs through middle of the island nation, vertically dividing the country. It was known as the highway of death till the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was defeated in 2009. There cant be a better metaphor to describe the deep racial divisions still present here. After the decimation of LTTE, geographically, the island has become one, but it still remains a divided nation, mentally. ALSO READ | Sri Lanka Presidential Polls: Perception Favours Anura, Numbers Sajith & Ranil, Namal Under No Pressure To Win Vavuniya is the southernmost Tamil-dominated town in the overwhelmingly Tamil dominated northern province whose capital is Jaffna. During 25 years of civil war, Vavuniya was held by the Sri Lankan government. The Tigers territory started a few kilometres after Vavuniya. It was almost impossible to cross the border without trouble. Both sides had built multiple check points, bunkers, watch towers and had stationed a large contingent of troops. Moreover, one had to obtain an entry permit or an LTTE visa. If you drive on the highway now, you dont even notice the border. It is a seamless road. The physical barrier has long disappeared, but the mental barriers still remain. Once you cross Vavuniya, new houses, commercial establishments, schools, colleges and hospitals greet you on both sides of the road. Dozens of KFC and Pizza Hut outlets have sprung up along this stretch. Only a few crumbled buildings with bullet marks have kept the bloody past alive. THE TRANSFORMATION OF JAFFNA Since the end of Eelam war Jaffna has undergone a dramatic transformation. Once a ghost city, it is now bustling with people and commercial activities. The intimidating military check points and police posts have disappeared. Except traffic cops, you dont see much of army or police presence anywhere in Jaffna peninsula. But the local Tamil community still seems to be in a state of shock. Jaffna residents dont come out of their homes unless they have a work to do. Except commercial areas, they city is mostly quiet in rest of Jaffna. It is a conservative city, which goes to sleep early. Youth blame lack of places to go in the night for this. This is the fourth Presidential election since the end of LTTE. But there is no enthusiasm among the people about the election. Majority people look indifferent and dont even want to talk about it. The Tamil political parties have also been deeply divided over whether to support their own nominal candidate or one of the Sinhalese candidates who can win. Some Tamil parties have fielded their own candidate P Ariyanethiran to make a statement. The TNA (Tamil National Alliance) and ITAK (Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi) have also divided again over this. Tamil Parliamentarian and lawyer A Sumanthiran of TNA has declared its support to Sajith Premadasa of SJB. But all his colleagues are not with him. All four top contenders Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka and Namal Rajapaksa have visited Jaffna seeking Tamil votes. For Anura and Namal, it was just a courtesy visit where they have little support. But Ranil and Sajith are fighting for the big chunk of Tamil votes. During elections, no Sinhalese presidential candidate admits that the Tamils have been denied their rightful share in the nation fearing a majority voters backlash. What they say in Jaffna will be forgotten once they return to Colombo. Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (1995-2005), is the only exception. Speaking to this reporter many years ago, she had said It would have been politically fatal for me, but I said that Tamil had been treated badly. SRI LANKAN TAMILIANS & POLITICS Sri Lankan Tamils, who are about 15% of the total population of 22 million people, have in the past voted as a block for one candidate to retain some bargaining power in the future. In 2005, the LTTE had forced them to boycott the elections. The Tamil votes would have made Ranil the President. Since the end of war, the Tamils have more or less voted against Mahinda Rajapaksa or his family members. They hold Rajapaksa clan responsible for their misery. However, this time there is no unanimity. Both incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and leader of the opposition Sajith Premadasa have been sending feelers to the Tamil community. If the Tamils throw their entire might behind one of them, they can prevent Sinhalese radical Anura Kumara Dissanayaka of JVP from coming to power. But many want to back their own Tamil candidate who has no chance of winning. VOICES ON GROUND The disillusioned young Tamil voters want to try their own candidate. They have no memories of Eelam war and its impact on their parents. But some older voters feel that it will be suicidal for them to choose their own candidate over a winnable Sinhalese candidate. It is a dangerous move. We the Tamils should unitedly vote for either Sajith or Ranil to defeat Anura. If we dont vote as a block, we will lose our bargaining power. It will make the deep divisions between us a permanent thing. Hereafter, all future elections will be a Sinhala only affair in which Tamils will have no say, said Nixon who works at a hotel in Jaffna. Mahendralingam, an elderly Tamil from Karainagar, north of Jaffna also agrees with him. Ranil Wickremesinghe seems to have some takers in the Tamil areas for his moderate views and his efforts to bring long lasting peace. The long-time Rajapaksa loyalist and a powerful Tamil minister Douglas Devananda of EPDP is campaigning for Ranil in the peninsula. Though majority Tamils hate the slain President Ranasinghe Premadasa, they have no such issues with his son Sajith. They find him a reasonable man to deal with. Sri Lanka has about 70% Sinhalese voters, remaining 30% votes are divided among Sri Lankan Tamils about 15%, Indian Tamils or Estate workers now known as Malaiyaha Tamils about 4.5% and Muslims almost 10%. Sri Lankan Tamils who are the original inhabitants of the island like the Sinhalese people (both came from India over 2500 years ago) vote differently than the upcountry or Indian Tamils whose issues are entirely different. During every election or in the time of national crisis, Sinhalese people preach us nationalism and claim we should stand together as one country. Once it is over, they go back to their old majoritarian chauvinism and continue to treat us like second class citizens. Ideally, we should not vote for any Sinhalese candidate. We should vote for our own Tamil candidate. But it can alienate us from the rest. It is a catch-22 situation for us, said Rajasingham, a retired government employee from a village near Point Pedro, Sri Lankas northern most tip. The minority Tamils, who are a majority in the north, are deeply divided over the choice of their presidential candidate, unfortunately, making it a Sinhalese-only election. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the blasts caused by explosive-laced paging devices belonging to Lebanons Hezbollah is a sign of collapse of humanity. He also said that Western backers of Israel should feel shame after paging devices exploded, in a deadly attack the Tehran-aligned group blamed on Israel. Western countries and the Americans fully support the crimes, killings and indiscriminate assassinations of the Zionist regime, Pezeshkian said in a statement, referring to Israel, adding that the explosions should bring them shame. The nation earlier accused Israel of mass murder after hundreds of paging devices owned by the Tehran-aligned Hezbollah group in Lebanon exploded, killing 11 people and wounding nearly 4,000 others. In a statement released on Wednesday, Israels foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani condemned the terrorist act of the Zionist regime as an example of mass murder. This response came hours after Hezbollah promised to punish Israel for a deadly attack in which hundreds of paging devices used by the militant groups members exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the wave of explosions that also killed the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member. Kanaani, while expressing sympathy and solidarity with the government and people of the allied country, emphasised that Iran is ready to provide any necessary assistance to Lebanon. Hamass October 7 Attack The attack came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war in Gaza sparked by Hamass October 7 attacks. The Netanyahu government has said that Israel will include its fight against the Palestinian groups ally Hezbollah along the countrys border with Lebanon. We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, the group said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that Israel will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression. On Wednesday, the group vowed in another statement on Telegram it would continue its fight in support of Gaza while reiterating it would avenge Tuesdays blasts. Iranian ambassador to Lebanon The wave of blasts has critically wounded 200, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said Tuesday. In Tuesdays attack, Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani lost one eye and his other was seriously wounded when a pager he was carrying exploded yesterday. Amanis injuries are more serious than initially reported, and he would be taken to Tehran for treatment. This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override, said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute. A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page. Israels spy agency Mossad infiltrated the supply chain, he said. (With agency inputs) Militant group Hezbollah vowed to retaliate against Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing 11 people and wounding over 4,000 others. However, following Hezbollahs retaliation warning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday braced for a response and said that the country is ready for attack and defence in all arenas. Israels action came after the Lebanese armed group blamed accused the country of planting explosives in its pagers to underme the groups operational capabilities. Israel Would Receive Its Fair Punishment Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary condemned the late-afternoon detonation of the pagers handheld devices that Hezbollah and others in Lebanon use to send messages as an Israeli aggression. Hezbollah said Israel would receive its fair punishment for the blasts. The death toll rose from eight to 11 on Tuesday night while the number of injured are reported to be over 4,000. Hezbollah in a statement confirmed that the deaths included at least two of its fighters and a young girl. Pager Attacks In Lebanon According to the reports, the pagers exploded in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa Valley all Hezbollah strongholds. A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident was the biggest security breach for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. Israel Planted Explosives in Pagers, Suggests Report Israels Mossad spy agency hid nearly three grams of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by the Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesdays detonations, according to American and other officials briefed on the operation. The pagers, ordered by Hezbollah from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, were tampered with before arriving in Lebanon, Reuters reported, citing officials. In addition to this, the report also suggested that Israels Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside the Taiwan-made pagers five months before Tuesdays detonations. World Reacts The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is waging war with Israel in Gaza, said the pager blasts were an escalation that will only lead Israel to failure and defeat. UN special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert deplored the attack in a statement and said it marked an extremely concerning escalation in the conflict. Washington said it was not involved in the explosions and did not know who was responsible. The US renewed calls for a diplomatic solution to tensions between Israel and Lebanon. Hundreds of handheld pagers used by members of Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon and parts of Syria on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and injuring over 3000. The blasts were a result of new devices that the Lebanese outfit had recently acquired, which were modified to include small explosives. Explosive-packed pagers Israeli intelligence is believed to be behind the attack, having planted explosives within the pagers before their delivery to Hezbollah. Initial reports said this operation involved injecting explosive materials into 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by the Lebanese group months before the detonations. However, Taiwanese company Gold Apollo on Wednesday denied a report that it had produced hundreds of explosive-packed pagers used by Hezbollah members which simultaneously exploded, killing at least nine people. They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours? company head Hsu Chin-kuang told reporters in Taipei after the New York Times reported that his companys pagers were involved in the blasts. Earlier, it was reported that the Israeli spy agency placed a highly explosive material, on the batteries of the devices, and detonated them by raising the temperature of the batteries from afar. Israel tampered with the devices that Hezbollah ordered, according to the New York Times. They reportedly placed two ounces of explosive material next to the battery in each pager. A switch was also embedded that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives, the report said. Hezbollah fighters received a message at 3:30 p.m. local time that appeared to come from the groups leadership. The message was followed by a brief pause, likely intended for the fighters to raise their pagers to their faces before the devices detonated. REPORT: Israel apparently intercepted the pagers from Taiwan that detonated in the pockets of thousands of Hezbollah fighters before they reached Lebanon.According to the New York Times, Israel tampered with the devices that Hezbollah ordered. They reportedly placed two pic.twitter.com/hE1DmFhxDL Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 17, 2024 Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously warned members against using cellphones due to concerns over surveillance by Israeli forces. As a result, the group had transitioned to using pagers for secure communication. However, this shift backfired when the devices began to heat up and explode in users pockets or hands. An unnamed Hezbollah official told The Wall Street Journal that some Hezbollah members felt their pagers heating up and disposed of them before they exploded. A coded message was sent to them Hezbollah officials have accused Israel of executing a security operation targeting their communication devices. The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. Its very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner, an unnamed source told Reuters. They said that 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives. This incident marks a significant escalation in hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel amid ongoing tensions related to the conflict in Gaza. Israeli officials have not commented on the allegations but have indicated that they may intensify military operations against Hezbollah in response to ongoing rocket fire from Lebanon. According to Israeli media, this attack shows a new level of operational sophistication by Israel, potentially indicating a shift in tactics against its adversaries. As investigations continue into how these pagers were compromised and detonated, Hezbollah has vowed to respond with fair punishment for what it views as an act of aggression against its members and sovereignty. Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo on Wednesday denied a report that it had produced hundreds of explosive-packed pagers used by Hezbollah members that simultaneously exploded. They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours? company head Hsu Chin-kuang told reporters in Taipei after the New York Times reported that his companys pagers were involved in the blasts. Imported pagers This came after multiple reports said Israels Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by the Lebanese group months before Tuesdays detonations. The operation was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing 11 people and wounding nearly 4,000 others, including the groups fighters and Irans envoy to Beirut. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. The plot appears to have been many months in the making. The senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers from Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country earlier this year. Earlier, Gold Apollo founder said the pagers used in the explosion were made by a company in Europe that had the right to use the Taipei-based firms brand, the name of which he could not immediately confirm. The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it, he was quoted as saying by Reuters on Wednesday. The senior Lebanese security source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AP924, which like other pagers wirelessly receive and display text messages but cannot make telephone calls. Hezbollah fighters have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking. The senior Lebanese source told Reuters that the devices had been modified by Israels spy service at the production level. The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. Its very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner, the source said. (With agency inputs) At least fourteen people have died and over 450 have been injured after walkie-talkies used by the armed group Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon. The latest attack comes a day after the explosion of hundreds of paging devices used by Hezbollah, which killed 12 people, including two children, and injured around 3,000 others across Lebanon. This unprecedented attack has been blamed on Israel. While Israel has not commented on either attack, it had announced plans to expand its military actions against Hezbollah before the explosion of the paging devices, as part of its ongoing conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. What is a Walkie-Talkie? A walkie-talkie is a handheld radio that allows people to communicate wirelessly over a specific frequency. Developed in the 1930s by inventors in Canada and the US, these devices are also known as two-way radios. They gained the name walkie-talkie because users can talk while moving. Each walkie-talkie is powered by a battery and includes a transmitter, an antenna, a loudspeaker that also acts as a microphone, and a push-to-talk button. This button allows users to send their voice over radio waves, enabling instant communication without the need for a phone line. How They Work? To use them, people communicating by walkie talkie must be on the same channel or frequency. When not in use, the device emits static noise. To talk, the user presses a push-to-talk button, which switches the device from speaker to microphone mode, eliminating the static. When someone speaks, their voice is converted into radio waves and transmitted at the speed of light. The receiving handset converts the waves back into sound. Once finished speaking, the user says over and releases the button, allowing the device to return to listening mode. Since walkie-talkies are two-way radios, only one person can talk at a time on the same channel. Many modern systems allow for multiple channels to reduce interference. Who Uses Them? Walkie-talkies are widely used in various fields, including emergency services, security, the military, and transportation. They are also commonly used in construction, hospitality, and manufacturing sectors. Their durability and ease of use make them popular with families as well, especially for keeping in touch during outings or camping trips. Israels Mossad spy agency hid three grams of explosives inside hundreds of pagers ordered by the Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesdays detonations, according to American and other officials briefed on the operation. The pagers, ordered by Hezbollah from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, were tampered with before arriving in Lebanon, The New York Times reported, citing officials. Most were the AP924 model, though the shipment also included three other Gold Apollo models, the report added. However, Taiwanese company Gold Apollo on Wednesday denied a report that it had produced hundreds of explosive-packed pagers used by Hezbollah members. They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours? company head Hsu Chin-kuang told reporters in Taipei after the NYT reported that his companys pagers were involved in the blasts. Three grams of explosive Without providing any detail, Hezbollah has accused Israel of orchestrating the attack that killed 11 people and wounded 4,000 others. Meanwhile, Israel has not commented on the attack or confirmed its involvement. But the NYT report states that Israel intercepted the pagers from Taiwan that detonated in the pockets of thousands of Hezbollah fighters before they reached Lebanon. Israel tampered with the devices that Hezbollah ordered and placed three grams of explosive material next to the battery in each pager. The United States said Tuesday it was not aware in advance and had no involvement in mass explosions of pagers used by Lebanons Hezbollah, as it urged restraint by Iran in response. I can tell you that the US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, were gathering information, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. Miller declined to comment on widespread suspicion that the blasts were carried out by Israel, which has been regularly trading fire with Hezbollah after the October 7 attack on Israel by another Iranian ally, Hamas. The blasts came after weeks of private diplomacy by the United States to discourage a major Iranian retaliation against Israel for the killing of the Hamas political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, on a visit to Tehran. Miller said the US message to Iran remained unchanged. We would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region, Miller said. A senior US envoy, Amos Hochstein, a day earlier met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials as he sought to discourage a full-scale war against Lebanon. We do want to see a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Miller said. We want to see one that allows the tens of thousands of Israelis whove been displaced from their homes and the tens of thousands of Lebanese who have been displaced from their homes to be able to return home, Miller said. But Miller suggested that Hezbollah was fair game to strike, without confirming Israeli involvement. Terrorist members of a terrorist organization are legitimate targets for countries to launch operations against, Miller said. (With agency inputs) The University of Virginia has brought on an international law firm to investigate claims that the heads of its hospital and medical school committed a number of egregious and illegal acts and allowed a culture of fear and retaliation to flourish, endangering patients. At the same time, disgruntled faculty and health care workers at UVa say the university is not doing enough, or anything, to actually address their concerns, even after providing multiple examples of their claims. The Washington, D.C.-based outfit of Williams & Connolly, recognized as one of the worlds premier litigation firms, has been called in to probe the complaints those faculty and health care workers lodged against UVa Health CEO Dr. Craig Kent and School of Medicine Dean Melina Kibbe. Its work has already begun. The University Board of Visitors and President [Jim] Ryan have agreed to retain outside counsel to conduct an independent review of the complaints and allegations raised by members of the UVa Medical School faculty in their letter dated Sept. 7, 2024, UVa spokesman Brian Coy told The Daily Progress in a prepared statement. University leaders, including Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Craig Kent and Medical School Dean Melina Kibbe, agree on the need to pursue a thorough and independent review, he added. The review comes not even two weeks after 128 UVa professors and health care workers penned an anonymous letter of no confidence in Kent and Kibbe, claiming that the pair committed a slew of procedural, ethical and legal violations. With 1,400 School of Medicine faculty members, 30,000 UVa Health employees and thousands more who seek medical services from the Charlottesville-based health system, the letter sent shockwaves through UVa, Charlottesville and the commonwealth of Virginia. Despite the public interest, the university has already said that the findings of the investigation will not be disclosed to the public. The report will be delivered only to President Ryan and the Board, said Coy. They will work with leaders in the health system to implement any needed changes. Those changes will likely not include the removal of Kent or Kibbe, as the letters authors have demanded. In response to the letter of no confidence, Ryan sent a letter of his own to faculty at the School of Medicine, saying that Kent and Kibbe are the reason the university health system is in the best shape it has ever been in. He also denounced the manner in which the 128 signatories set about making their concerns heard. They have besmirched the reputations of not just Melina and Craig, Ryan says in his letter. Instead, through some of their allegations, they have unfairly and I trust unwittingly cast a shadow over the great work of the entire health system and medical school. Kent and Kibbe are accused of: Allocating money to their cadre of executive colleagues despite shortages at the clinical level. Turning a blind eye as senior leaders tampered with billing and patient records to modify adverse outcomes and productivity. Wielding promotions as a means to intimidate and retaliate against those who spoke up out of concern for patients. Pressuring medical personnel to not officially report concerns regarding patient safety. Ignoring integrity and quality standards during the hiring process. And explicitly threatening those who spoke out against them. The letter goes on to claim that UVa Health and the School of Medicines failure to protect those making confidential reports and their practice of fraudulent billing stands in direct violation of the professional code of conduct detailed in the UVa faculty handbook. The handbook is approved by the schools governing Board of Visitors. Although the contents of the letter have sent shockwaves through the community, they came as no surprise to Ryan. Over the past several months, the president and UVa Provost Ian Baucom have been meeting with groups of UVa Health and School of Medicine employees to listen to and address some of their concerns, many of them listed in the letter. The signatories appear to feel that these conversations have not been producing the change they want to see in the institution that employs them. They said the letter of no confidence was a last resort. Some leaders have dismissed many of these concerns as those of a disgruntled few, according to the five-page document. This letter and these signatures demonstrate that these leaders are disconnected from the organization that they have been entrusted to lead. Though he did not use the term a disgruntled few in his own address, Ryan did say that employee dissatisfaction is to be expected in any organization. He cited a national statistic showing that roughly 8% to 9% of medical school faculty are dissatisfied the same percentage of UVa professors and health care workers who anonymously signed the letter of no confidence. At this point in time I find it difficult to believe that the right answer here is to force yet another change in leadership, only to bring in new leadership who will inevitably fail to satisfy 1,400 faculty members and thousands more health system team members, Ryan wrote. Ryans response to the letter of no confidence failed to assure the 128 professors and health care workers that UVa is taking their concerns seriously and destroyed what little trust in him remained, they wrote in a second letter to the Board of Visitors. In the follow-up letter, the group pushes back on one of Ryans points that there is little to no evidence to substantiate their claims. They provide 22 examples, dating back to September of 2021 less than a year after Kents arrival in Charlottesville of emails and meetings regarding no confidence, toxic culture, retaliation by Craig Kent and Melina Kibbe and retaliation and intimidation tactics used by Craig Kent, Melina Kibbe and Department of Surgery Chair. According to the second letter, a number of university officials aside from Ryan, Baucom, Kent and Kibbe were involved in or aware of these meetings, including Chief Compliance Officer for UVa Health Krista Barnes, Chair of the Health System Board Babur Lateef, Chief Human Resources Officer John Kosky, and Victoria Harker, a member of the Health System Board and vice chair of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. There has been negligible, if any, follow-up from university administration, reads the second letter to the Board of Visitors. We are once again putting the University of Virginia Board of Visitors on notice and imploring you to get control of our leadership before further damage is done. Mpilo Hospitals Chief Medical Officer, Dr Narcisius DzvAnga, has criticised the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) for failing to exempt the hospital from water and power cuts. His comments came after a power outage interrupted a visit by U.S. Ambassador Pamela Tremont, who was touring the hospitals HIV laboratory, which is supported by the U.S. government. Due to the outage, Ambassador Tremont was unable to see the laboratory equipment in operation. As I was coming here, I had my secretary send a reminder to the parent ministry about our request for exemption from outages, Dr. Dzvanga said. We have several key institutions here, including lines that serve the State House and even water supply, but they cant separate us from the general grid. Dr. Dzvanga highlighted that while the Bulawayo mayor David Coltart indicated its possible to dedicate water supply to Mpilo without disconnection, ZESA has raised complications. He urged higher-level discussions to ensure that all hospitals, not just Mpilo, receive uninterrupted power. At the ministerial and cabinet level, it has been long agreed that all health institutions must be exempt from power cuts, including cases of non-payment for water and electricity, Dzvanga added. He also revealed that Mpilo Hospital has a solar farm capable of powering the entire facility, but a vital cable for connection is still being sourced from Germany. The irony is we have a complete solar farm right here, but the missing piece is the cable, which is coming from Germany. Once were connected, Mpilo Hospital will no longer experience power outages, he said. CITE Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday decried Donald Trump for inflammatory rhetoric about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, and on other topics, saying voters should make sure he "can't have that microphone again." Harris said the Republican attacks on the city and migrants there were "lies that are grounded in tropes that are age old." Sitting down for a rare extended campaign interview Tuesday with a trio of journalists from the National Association of Black Journalists, Harris said her heart breaks after threats of violence have disrupted the city following comments amplified by Trump and his running mate alleging, without evidence, that immigrants are kidnapping and consuming people's pets. The father of Ahmad Alissa, who killed 10 people in a Colorado supermarket in 2021, testified in court on Tuesday that he thought his son might have been possessed. Moustafa Alissa described instances where his son behaved oddly, such as talking to himself and breaking objects he feared were being used to track him. He recalled an eerie moment when Ahmad claimed there was a man in his room, despite the room being empty. "We thought he probably was just possessed by a spirit or something," he said, through an interpreter. Ahmad Alissa was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia following the shooting and was only deemed mentally competent to stand trial last year after receiving potent antipsychotic medication. Although there is no dispute that Alissa was the gunman, he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His defense argues he was unable to differentiate between right and wrong due to legal insanity, while prosecutors maintain he was aware of his actions, citing his planning and research prior to the attack. Testimony also revealed cultural stigma as a reason Moustafa did not seek treatment for his son's mental illness. When asked why he did not attempt to take guns away from Ahmad despite knowing his condition, he acknowledged it was "shameful in our culture" to have a mentally ill family member. District Attorney Michael Dougherty questioned the severity of Ahmad's condition based on his family's actions, to which Moustafa responded that while his son was "not normal," they didn't anticipate the tragic outcome. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) A significant eruption has occurred at Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes. The volcano began erupting briefly on Sunday night in a secluded area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and resumed activity on Monday night, according to the US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. By early Tuesday, eruptive activity had increased; however, officials confirmed there was no immediate danger to homes or infrastructure. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory cautioned that volcanic gas, known as "vog," could potentially impact downwind neighborhoods near the park. Despite the potential for vog, the eruption's location, more than six miles from the nearest road, renders it inaccessible for public viewing. This section of the park remains closed to visitors due to its remote wilderness nature. In a Tuesday morning helicopter flyover, geologists observed fountaining lava fissures and active flows within the Napau Crater. Park officials have highlighted that while Kilauea and Mauna Loa are among the park's primary features, the current eruption's site is too isolated to pose a direct viewing opportunity for visitors. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) The federal government has urged a US District Court to temporarily halt the merger of Kroger and Albertsons, arguing it would benefit shareholders but not everyday shoppers. The Federal Trade Commission's lawyers, in closing remarks after a three-week hearing Tuesday, suggested the $24.6 billion deal would reduce competition and drive up food prices for consumers. Judge Adrienne Nelson stated she would work "expeditiously" on the preliminary injunction request. Kroger and Albertsons countered, claiming that their merger would help them compete against larger rivals such as Walmart, Costco, and Amazon. Kroger attorney Matt Wolf emphasized the need to act to protect local grocery stores, arguing that the combined entity would focus on reducing prices from day one. However, FTC's chief trial counsel, Susan Musser, warned that the merger would eliminate local competition, causing the companies to prioritize shareholder profits over consumer benefits. Kroger indicated plans to invest $1 billion in price reductions if the merger proceeds, but Musser expressed skepticism, noting these promises were not legally binding. Union leaders and state attorneys general from nine states joined the FTC, contending that the merger could depress wages, shutter stores, and create "food deserts." Shares in both companies dropped by 2% on Tuesday following the closing arguments. If the injunction is granted, FTC hearings on the merger will commence on October 1. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) The US military has moved about 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in the Aleutian chain of western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching American territory. Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska in the past week as Russia and China conducted joint military drills. None of the planes breached US airspace and a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday there was no cause for alarm. "It's not the first time that we've seen the Russians and the Chinese flying, you know, in the vicinity, and that's something that we obviously closely monitor, and it's also something that we're prepared to respond to," Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said, per the AP . As part of a "force projection operation," the Army on Sept. 12 sent the soldiers to Shemya Island, where the US Air Force maintains an air station that dates to World War II. The soldiers brought two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said the US military also deployed a guided missile destroyer and a Coast Guard vessel to the western region of Alaska as Russia and China began the "Ocean-24" military exercises in the Pacific and Arctic oceans Sept. 10. NORAD said it detected and tracked Russian military planes operating off Alaska over a four-day span. There were two planes each on Sept. 11, Sept. 13, Sept. 14, and Sept. 15. NORAD says the number of such incursions has fluctuated, with an average six to seven intercepts a year. Last year, 26 Russian planes came into the Alaska zone, and so far this year, there have been 25. The Coast Guard said Sunday a vessel was on routine patrol in the Chukchi Sea when it tracked four Russian Federation Navy vessels. The Russian vesselstwo submarines, a frigate, and a tugboathad crossed the maritime boundary into US waters to avoid sea ice, which is permitted. Meanwhile, Sullivan wants a larger military presence in the Aleutians. "In the past two years, we've seen joint Russian-Chinese air and naval exercises off our shores and a Chinese spy balloon floating over our communities," Sullivan said. "These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the US, Russia, and China." (More Alaska stories.) Threats against Springfield have prompted intervention from the state's governor after the dissemination by Donald Trump, JD Vance, and others of an unsubstantiated allegation that Haitian immigrants are abducting and eating pets there. Now, two women involved in jump-starting that rumor are speaking out, with one saying she never meant for it to spiral so out of control. "I was not raised with hate," 35-year-old Springfield resident Erika Lee tells the New York Times. "My whole family is biracial. I never wanted to cause problems for anyone." Neighbor No. 1: Lee says that a "game of telephone" began after she heard that a neighbor's daughter's cat had vanished, with whispers that a Haitian local may have taken the pet. She says she posted the rumor on Facebook, then afterward decided to ask the neighbor for "proof." Lee says that a "game of telephone" began after she heard that a neighbor's daughter's cat had vanished, with whispers that a Haitian local may have taken the pet. She says she posted the rumor on Facebook, then afterward decided to ask the neighbor for "proof." Neighbor No. 2: That neighbor, Kimberly Newton, now tells misinformation watchdog NewsGuard, "I'm not sure I'm the most credible source because I don't actually know the person who lost the cat." Newton says the cat owner wasn't her daughter but "an acquaintance of a friend." Per NewsGuard, Newton "heard about the supposed incident from that friend, who, in turn, learned about it from 'a source that she had.'" Newton now admits: "I don't have any proof." A North Carolina man who once bragged about attacking a prominent left-wing activist has become the latest person charged in Albemarle County for his participation in the torch-carrying mob of White supremacists that marched across University of Virginia Grounds back in 2017. Vasillios George Pistolis, who was 19 at the time of the hundreds-strong march, turned himself in for arrest Sept. 5 after he was charged with using fire to racially intimidate, according to Albemarle County Circuit Court records. His file shows that the now-26-year-old Pistolis, who lists a residential address in Charlotte, was indicted back in February 2023, but the records dont indicate why 19 months elapsed before his arrest. Whole crux of crime was intimidation, wrote a magistrate on an intake form. But he drove up here to turn himself in; has been calm, polite, and cooperative in hearing. The charge against Pistolis marks the 12th confirmed prosecution under the administration of Albemarle County Commonwealths Attorney Jim Hingeley, who successfully campaigned on prosecuting the 2017 marchers who shouted Jews will not replace us as they made their way through UVa and ultimately came to blows with counterprotesters at the base of a statue of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. Hingeleys office has won seven convictions. In one case in which Hingeleys office was forced to recuse itself, the defendant Jacob Joseph Dix argued that he was being prosecuted for First Amendment-protected speech. A judge dismissed the case against Dix last month after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. In the wake of the 2017 march and the following days aborted Unite the Right rally, both in protest of Charlottesvilles decision to remove its Confederate memorials, Pistolis was investigated by ProPublica and PBS Frontline. The two news outlets found that the former Marine had boasted online about having cracked 3 skulls and dropped kicked left-wing activist Emily Gorcenski, who had encouraged her followers to counterprotest the White supremacists on the UVa Lawn. The Unite the Right rally slated for the next day, Aug. 12, 2017, was called off after rioting broke out on the streets of Charlottesville and self-avowed neo-Nazi James Fields drove his car through a crowd, killing counterprotester Heather Heyer and injuring others. As for Pistolis, the news outlet investigations in 2018 did not only find his self-incriminating statements about injuring counterprotesters in Charlottesville but also that he was a member of the Atomwaffen Division. An international consortium of neo-Nazis, the group has advocated for the overthrowing of the U.S. government; some adherents have perpetrated acts of violence, including the 2018 murder of Blaze Bernstein, a gay and Jewish college student. When he sat for a deposition in the Sines v. Kessler case, the sprawling civil suit against the organizers of Unite the Right which awarded the plaintiffs millions, Pistolis was asked about his advocacy in a leaked Discord chat for blowing up a Jewish house of worship. So you did advocate blowing up the synagogue at Unite the Right? a lawyer asked him. I plead the Fifth, he replied, referring to the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which protects against self-incrimination. During that same deposition, he confirmed that he carried a staple-encrusted flag pole at Unite the Right, and an interrogator asked him about something he posted three days after the murder of Heyer. This guy is a hero, Pistolis wrote. Too bad he killed just one land whale, right? At the time of his arrest on the torch charge, Pistolis was working for the city of Tega Key, South Carolina, according to an Albemarle County court filing, which noted that he has no prior arrest record. However, Pistolis does have a troubled history in the Marine Corps. His 2017 visit to Charlottesville and his affiliation with Atomwaffen led the Corps, in which he was then serving as a lance corporal, to initiate a court martial that demoted him to the rank of private, forced him to forfeit two thirds of a months pay and confined him for 28 days. Under its Prohibited Activities and Conduct Prevention and Response Policy, the Corps asserts a zero-tolerance policy on participation in what it considers hate groups. It eventually ousted Pistolis. Reporting on the military investigation, an independent publication called the Marine Corps Times revealed that until he claimed to have been assaulted at a 2016 rally by a member of antifa, Pistolis had expressed interest in communism and antifa, short for anti-fascism. He allegedly told the investigators that he left Atomwaffen in October 2017 after leaders of the group intentionally leaked his chat logs to journalists. Pistolis, who is free on an unsecured bail, may get a trial date when his case gets called early next month. The Daily Progress left messages with his lawyer, Richmond-based Paul Galanides, but they were not returned. "Please evacuate your belongings, yourselves, your loved ones." That was the message earlier this week from Kordian Kolbiarz, mayor of the Polish city of Nysa, where an evacuation order was issued Monday as floods spurred by Storm Boris wreaked havoc throughout central Europe. An embankment near the city that keeps water from a massive lake at bay was in danger of collapsing, so local officials told the 44,000 or so residents to get out of town or seek higher ground, as such a breach could cause floodwaters at least 10 feet high. Some Nysa residents, however, went directly against the order: They rushed to the embankment on Monday night to shore it up. "Together, thousands worked through the rainy night, passing sandbag after sandbag along a lengthy human chainincluding the city's professional men's volleyball team," the New York Times notes. By the next day, "the danger seemed to have passed and disaster had been averted, thanks in no small part to the heroic efforts of its inhabitants." "Everything indicates that Nysa is saved," Kolbiarz wrote Tuesday on Facebook. "Yesterday's 'chain' on the top of the embankment did its job!" Other towns in that part of southern Poland were also evacuated after a reservoir overflowed. Poland isn't the only nation being slammed by Boris' wrath, which dumped a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours, per the Independent. Austria, Romania, and the Czech Republic have also been inundated. Authorities say the total death toll in those four countries is nearly two dozen people so far, per the AP. The outlet cites the EU's head office in calling the combination of the floods and dangerous wildfires in Portugal as "joint proof of a 'climate breakdown' that will become the norm unless drastic action is taken." More here on how Nysa residents saved their homes. (More Poland stories.) Putting a figure on the precise number of dead and wounded in Russia's 2.5-year war on Ukraine is no easy task, but the Wall Street Journal believes it has now hit the 1 million mark. It arrived there using a "confidential" Ukrainian estimate from earlier in 2024 that noted 80,000 dead troops and 400,000 wounded; for Russian figures, it relied on Western intelligence estimates that put those numbers at up to 200,000 and 400,000, respectively. The Journal calls it "a staggering toll that two countries struggling with shrinking prewar populations will pay far into the future." The Journal notes those declining populations were a major driver for Vladimir Putin from the start: The Russian president has long said that combating Russia's receding numbers is a priority, and one of his intentions in invading Ukraine was to absorb that population into his own. His 2014 annexation of Crimea added an estimated 2.4 million people to Russia's population. But in addition to Russia's heavy troop losses, it has also lost 600,000 largely young people who have exited Russia since the war's start; at least 10 times that many Ukrainians have left Ukraine over the same period. The Journal notes Volodymyr Zelensky's own population concerns have impacted how the country's military mobilization has taken shape. The Ukrainian president "refuses to mobilize the key cohort of men aged between 18 and 25typically the bulk of any fighting force ... because most of these people haven't had children yet," former officials tell the Journal. Losing that group en masse could cause serious damage to the country's future population. As such, the estimated average age of a Ukrainian fighter right now is 43. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.) It will be the "most expensive international coin collection ever sold," per CNN . And it's one that has been patiently waiting to hit the auction block for a century. As the network explains, it belonged to Danish butter magnate Lars Emil Bruun, who specified in his will that the 20,000 coins, notes, and medals he'd collected should serve as an emergency reserve for the Royal Danish Coin and Medal Collection for 100 years. With the knowledge of what transpired in World War I, Bruun feared the national collection could potentially be bombed or looted one day. In such an event, his collection would be a stand-in. If not, it could be sold to benefit his descendants 100 years later. Bruun died in 1923, and the first chunk of his collection was sold Tuesday in Copenhagen for $16.5 million. The collection is insured for around $72.5 million, and auctioneer Stack's Bowers Galleries characterized Tuesday's sale of 286 lots as "truly a landmark event for the world coin market." Subsequent auctions will follow over a period of several years, and Reuters expects "some of the world's wealthiest people" will bid on it. Per the auction house, the collection includes "pieces from Denmark and related territories, Norway, Sweden, as well as medieval coins from the era when Danish kings ruled in England." The collection was originally held within the walls of Frederiksborg Castle, then was kept by the Danish Central Bank in Copenhagen. Since 2011, it has "remained securely stored in a secret location." Deutsche Welle gives examples of just how rare some of the coins are: a 15th-century gold coin known as a "Hans Noble" that sold for $1.3 million is one of three known to exist in the world. story continues below CNN pulls this colorful quote from Bruun that was reprinted in Stack's Bowers' catalog: "The good thing about collecting coins is that when you are upset about something or you feel unsettled, then you go and look at your coins, and then you calm down by studying them again and again, pondering the many unsolved problems they present. People who are exclusively devoted to their business make a great mistake. I, for one, could never imagine thinking about nothing but butter until my dying days." (More coins stories.) The death toll from exploding pagers in Lebanon now stands at 12, two of them children. Some 3,000 people are said to have been injured in Tuesday's attack involving pagers used by hundreds of members of Hezbollah. CNN reports its sources say the explosions were the work of a coordinated effort by Israel's intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military. The Israeli military has declined comment. More on the pagers, and what is being pieced together about their origins: The pagers appear be marked with the Taiwanese brand Gold Apollo. The firm on Wednesday said it had no hand in making the devices in question but rather licensed its brand to the Hungarian firm BAC Consulting. Per Gold Apollo's statement, reported by the Guardian: "Regarding the AR-924 pager model mentioned in the recent media reports, we clarify that this model is produced and sold by BAC. Our company only provides the brand trademark authorization and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product." The pagers used in the attacks "have never been to Hungary," Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government said Wednesday. A spokesman said "the company in question is a trading-intermediary company, which has no manufacturing or other site of operation in Hungary." The government said it will cooperarate with investigations, per Reuters. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono is BAC's CEO, according to LinkedIn. NBC News managed to reach her by phone and reports Barsony-Arcidiacono confirmed BAC worked with Gold Apollo. But when asked about the pagers specifically, she said, "I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong." Communications devices used by Hezbollah exploded a second day in Lebanon, with Reuters reporting that explosions were heard in multiple regions of the country. Lebanon's Health Ministry says one person was killed and more than 100 were wounded on Wednesday. Multiple explosions went off Wednesday at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to AP journalists at the scene. Hezbollah's Al Manar TV reported explosions in multiple areas of Lebanon, and a Hezbollah official told the AP that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded as part of blasts heard in Beirut. The new blasts come with Lebanon still thrown into confusion and anger after Tuesday's pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members. At least 12 people were killed, including two children, and some 2,800 people were wounded as hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members began detonating in several parts of Lebanon and Syria. The attack, which Israel hasn't commented on, renewed fears that the simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could escalate into all-out war. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the US is still assessing how the attack could affect efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements. (More Hezbollah stories.) Alaska Airlines finalized its $1 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines on Wednesday, following the removal of the last significant regulatory hurdle by the federal government. The deal will include Alaska assuming approximately $900 million in Hawaiian debt without rebranding Hawaiian planes. Alaska Airlines plans to maintain Hawaiian Airlines as a separate brand. To gain approval from the Transportation Department, the airlines agreed to keep current service levels on vital routes within Hawaii and between Hawaii and the US mainland, especially where competition is limited. The Justice Department, previously critical of airline mergers like JetBlue's attempt to acquire Spirit Airlines, did not contest this deal on antitrust grounds. Moreover, Alaska and Hawaiian have pledged various consumer protections such as preserving the value of frequent-flyer programs and providing compensation for cancellations or significant delays caused by the airlines. Alaska Air Group's shares dropped slightly, by over 1%, post-announcement. The acquisition cements Alaska Airlines' status as the fifth-largest US airline by revenue. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Canadians are invited to participate in a free, multi-media 'Dove Day' workshop on Oct 10, 2024 to support the self-esteem of the young people in their lives TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2024 /CNW/ - Body confidence could be the most important lesson kids learn all year, which is why today, Dove is inviting educators, carers, parents and students across Canada to participate in the nation's largest free body confidence and self-esteem building workshop to-date. Taking place on October 10, this year's first ever 'Dove Day' events will bring together classrooms across the country for a transformative one-hour virtual session, designed to help students grades 6-8 build the body confidence they need to reach their full potential. The workshop will focus on critical topics that impact self-esteem such as appearance ideals, the influence of social media, and how to become a body confident champion - all based on Dove Self-Esteem Project academically accredited tools. DOVE MARKS 20 YEARS OF BUILDING THE BODY CONFIDENCE OF CANADIAN YOUTH WITH NEW MOST LIKELY TO FILM AND CALL TO PARTICIPATE IN LARGEST DOVE SELF-ESTEEM PROJECT WORKSHOP TO-DATE (CNW Group/Dove Canada) The Dove Self-Esteem Project was started in 2004 and has since reached over 114 million young people worldwide with no-cost resources and workshops proven to increase body confidence. This year's inaugural 'Dove Day' workshop was developed to make it as easy as possible for young people to receive body confidence education in the classroom, and is part of the overall Dove Self-Esteem project mission to build the body confidence of 250 million young people by 2030. 2024 The Real State of Beauty: A Dove Global Report shows the need for this type of support for young people, with 2 in 3 Canadian girls stop participating in school due to low body confidence. Further findings from the Dove Self-Esteem Project Research reveal: 3 in 10 Canadian girls would give up good grades to achieve the ideal appearance or body size/weight. 62% of Canadian girls aged 14-17 have refrained from social engagements or public activities due to a lack of confidence in their appearance. To spark the conversation ahead of the virtual 'Dove Day' workshop and show the impact of these issues as young people across Canada head back to school, Dove has released Most Likely To. This new film reimagines the traditional high school yearbook superlative to expose the often-unseen struggles faced by young people due to low body confidence. The film features real stories from Canadian girls, and highlights the deep impact low self-esteem and body confidence can have on their lives. "Body confidence is crucial, especially for young people who are negatively impacted by a narrow beauty definition seen in today's society," said Divya Singh, Head of Personal Care, Unilever Canada. "Dove Day is our opportunity to provide the resources and support needed to build this body confidence and self-esteem, ensuring that every young person can thrive both in and out of the classroom. We are so grateful to the brave young people who shared their real stories with us in our Most Likely To film to help bring awareness to the extent of this issue." Dove has partnered with Kids Help Phone, Canada's only 24/7 national, bilingual, e-mental health service to support youth who may be struggling with their mental health and well-being during the back to school period. This collaboration ensures that young people across the country have access to confidential support with any feeling or issue, whenever they need it. For help, visit KidsHelpPhone.ca or call 1-800-668-6868. Youth can also text 686868, and adults can text 741741. Canadians are invited to register for the virtual Dove Day event at doveday.ca, available in both French and English. Learn more about what Dove is doing to build the body confidence and self-esteem of young people with the Dove Self-Esteem Project at Dove.ca/selfesteem. About Kids Help Phone Kids Help Phone is Canada's only 24/7 national, bilingual, e-mental health service offering free, confidential, multilingual support to young people. As the country's virtual care expert, we give millions of youth a safe, trusted space to Feel Out Loud by phone, through text or in self-directed support for any moment of crisis or need. The Feel Out Loud campaign is the largest movement for youth mental health in Canada's history it will raise $300 million to unlock hope for young people to thrive in their worlds. Kids Help Phone gratefully relies on the generosity of donors, volunteers, stakeholder partners, corporate partners and governments to fuel and fund our programs. Learn more at KidsHelpPhone.ca. About the new research: 2024 The Real State of Beauty: A Dove Global Report Online survey conducted by Edelman DXI (Data x Intelligence), a global, multidisciplinary research, analytics, and data consultancy, in November / December 2023. This 25-minute survey was completed in 20 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, KSA, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, Turkiye, the USA, and the UK. Researchers spoke with more than 33,000 respondents: 19,306 respondents aged between 18 to 64 years old (14,673 women, 3,776 men*) and 14,292 respondents aged 10 to 17 years old (9,475 girls, 4,753 boys*). 15 experts ranging from academic experts to consultants on body image and activists in the field were consulted on the research questions and outputs, and we ensured the survey was representative of various subgroups e.g. people with larger bodies, disabilities, mental health conditions, LGBTQ+ people and people of colour. All interviews were conducted in local languages and dialects, with only appropriate questions asked in each market and the methodology was consistent with the level of national online penetration required to avoid sampling bias. *Note: Other gender identities and non-binary respondents were surveyed but are not reported due to the limited sample sizes. About Dove Dove started its life in 1957 in the US, with the launch of the Beauty Bar, with its patented blend of mild cleansers and moisturizing cream. Dove's heritage is based on moisturization, and it is proof not promises that enabled Dove to grow from a Beauty Bar into one of the world's most beloved beauty brands. Women have always been our inspiration and since the beginning, we have been wholly committed to providing superior care to all women and to championing real beauty in our advertising. Dove believes that beauty is for everyone. That beauty should be a source of confidence and not anxiety. Dove's mission is to inspire women everywhere to develop a positive relationship with the way they look and realize their personal potential for beauty. For more than 65 years, Dove has been committed to broadening the narrow definition of beauty in the work they do. With the 'Dove Real Beauty Pledge,' Dove vows to: Portray women with honesty, diversity and respect. We feature women of different ages, sizes, ethnicities, hair color, type, and style. Portray women as they are in real life, with zero digital distortion and all images approved by the women they feature. Help young people build body confidence and self-esteem through the Dove Self-Esteem Project, the biggest provider of self-esteem education in the world. About Dove Self-Esteem Project As the world's leading provider of self-esteem education for girls, Dove continues to support girls wherever their self-esteem is at stake and ensure the next generation grows up enjoying a positive relationship with how they look. Since 2004, Dove has reached over 100 million young people globally, in over 150 countries through the Dove Self-Esteem Project, with a goal of reaching 250M young lives by 2030. About Unilever in North America Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition and Ice Cream products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. We have 127,000 employees and generated sales of 59.6 billion in 2023. Our leading brands in North America include Dove, Hellmann's, Vaseline, Degree, Axe, TRESemme, Knorr, Magnum, Ben & Jerry's, Nutrafol, Liquid I.V., Paula's Choice, and Dermalogica. For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com. For more information on Unilever Canada and its brands visit: www.unilever.ca. SOURCE Dove Canada Contact : Maddie Watson ([email protected]) Carl Beam: Life & Work, the new open-access online art book by his daughter, Anong Migwans Beam, is publishing on September 18, 2024, in the lead-up to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It tells the story of this trailblazing artist who helped bring national attention to the experiences of residential school survivors. A selection of press images is available through the link at the bottom of this release. TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2024 /CNW/ - Carl Beam: Life & Work , a new free, open-access online art book, available in English and French at www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/ , recounts the career of Ojibwe artist Carl Beam (19342005) and his fierce resolve to create art for "thinking people." A survivor of the residential school system, Beam was one of the first artists in Canada to shine a light on the abuses endured by more than 150,000 children. Through his art and his activism, Beam broke down institutional barriers so that other Indigenous creators could follow in his footsteps. Cover of "Carl Beam: Life & Work" by Anong Migwans Beam. Estate of Carl and Ann Beam / CARCC Ottawa 2024. (CNW Group/Art Canada Institute) Written by Beam's daughter, artist and scholar Anong Migwans Beam, Carl Beam: Life & Work the latest addition to the Art Canada Institute's growing library of titles that are redefining Canadian art in a contemporary contextinterweaves family stories with a critical reading of Beam's groundbreaking mixed-media works. This timely book provides insight into one of the most important creative voices to fight against systemic violence and injustice. It is sure to inspire a deeper commitment to moving the world towards change. Surviving residential school Born in M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Carl Beam was sent at age 10 to Garnier High School, an all-boys boarding school operated by the Jesuits. It was there that he endured the assimilative cultural and physical violence of Canada's residential school system. As an act of rebellion, Beam left Garnier in grade 10 and finished high school through correspondence courses. Beam's experiences at Garnier would later drive his questioning of the status quo. While working a series of labour-intensive jobs in Ontario and British Columbia, he turned to painting to reclaim a sense of agency. In many of his works, such as Survivor of Education, Beam spoke out against the ways in which he and other residential school survivors were kept from knowing their languages and cultural practices. Art and activism "Carl Beam believed that being an artist made it morally imperative for him and his viewers to interact with and deconstruct national myths," says author Anong Migwans Beam. "In his paintings, prints, and performance works, he tackled contemporary and historical themes that he felt had not been previously explored, making it possible for Indigenous creators to be recognized as contemporary artists in national dialogues." In 1977, after completing formal training at the University of Victoria, Beam decided to become a full-time artist. His monumental mixed-media work The North American Iceberg, 1985, was later acquired by the National Gallery of Canada for its contemporary art collectiona watershed moment that opened the door to building more equitable relationships between Indigenous creators and the nation's art institutions. Creative innovation Beam's early embrace of collage as an art-making strategy allowed him to forge a distinct creative identity and constantly experiment with different mediafrom painting and printmaking to ceramics and video. Beam took many conceptual and technical leaps throughout his career, developing new techniques (such as painting in reverse on Plexiglas) that aligned with his interest in understanding how art makes meaning. "Beam's entire creative output developed in step with his resolve to make contemporary Indigenous art a critical part of the national conversation," says Sara Angel, Founder and Executive Director of the Art Canada Institute. "Shedding light on Beam's singular vision, Carl Beam: Life & Work joins the ranks of Art Canada Institute books that offer insight into how art has been embraced by many Indigenous creators as a platform for speaking out against colonialism and affirming the resilience of Indigenous Peoples." Carl Beam: Life & Work advances ACI's mission to create a central digital resource to share Canada's most important artists, and works of art, with the world. To date, ACI has published sixty-two expert-authored digital books that are available free of charge. As well, ACI develops Canada's only comprehensive art education guides for teachers and students from kindergarten to grade 12content that is also free and available online, and that serves educators across the country. To explore the Art Canada Institute's open-access digital book Carl Beam: Life & Work by Anong Migwans Beam, please visit: https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/carl-beam/ About Anong Migwans Beam Anong Migwans Beam is a painter, art historian, and arts administrator from M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island. She was born to artist parents Carl and Ann Beam, and was raised with a meaningful connection to her artistic familial roots and rich ancestral heritage. Beam attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Ontario College of Art and Design, the Institute of American Indian Arts, and York University. Alongside her art practice, Beam has been actively involved in curatorial work and teaching. She served as the Art Director and Executive Director of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation from 2016 to 2018 and was a guest instructor in painting at Harvard Art Museums in June 2023. She launched BEAM Paints, her own line of watercolour and oil paints, in 2017. About the Art Canada Institute The Art Canada Institute is the only national institution whose mandate is to promote the study of an inclusive, multi-vocal Canadian art history to as broad an audience as possible, on a digital platform, and free of charge in both English and French, across Canada and internationally. To accomplish this, ACI works with Canada's leading cultural institutions, art historians, curators, and visual culture experts, and is dedicated to the creation of authoritative original content on the people, themes, and topics that have defined Canadian art history. To learn more about ACI and to access our free digital library, please visit us! aci-iac.ca IMAGES Download image files here. SOURCE Art Canada Institute For media requests or for an interview with Anong Migwans Beam, author of Carl Beam: Life & Work, please contact: Lindsay Hill: [email protected] or [email protected] The Tim Hortons Orange Sprinkle Donut fundraising campaign was developed in 2021 by a group of Indigenous Tim Hortons restaurant owners and to date has raised over $3.6 million for Indigenous organizations. for Indigenous organizations. 100% of proceeds from Orange Sprinkle Donut sales on Sept. 30 will be donated to the Orange Shirt Society, the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, New Pathways Foundation in Quebec, and new this year, the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, and Ulnooweg Education Centre. TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2024 /CNW/ - Tim Hortons and its restaurant owners across Canada are proud to share that for a fourth year in a row, the Orange Sprinkle Donut fundraising campaign is returning on Sept. 30 in support of Indigenous organizations. On Sept. 30, 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of Orange Sprinkle Donuts will be donated to the Orange Shirt Society, the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, New Pathways Foundation in Quebec, and new this year, the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, and Ulnooweg Education Centre. 100% of proceeds from Orange Sprinkle Donut sales on Sept. 30 will be donated to the Orange Shirt Society, the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, New Pathways Foundation in Quebec, and new this year, the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, and Ulnooweg Education Centre. (CNW Group/Tim Hortons) "We're proud to be launching the Tim Hortons Orange Sprinkle Donut campaign for a fourth consecutive year and to be supporting two new additional Indigenous organizations the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, and Ulnooweg Education Centre so we can create even more impact right across the country," said Hope Bagozzi, Chief Marketing Officer for Tim Hortons. The Tim Hortons Orange Sprinkle Donut fundraising campaign was first developed in 2021 by a group of Indigenous Tim Hortons restaurant owners and to date has raised over $3.6 million for Indigenous organizations. "Last year, we raised more than $1 million through the Tim Hortons Orange Sprinkle Donut fundraising campaign and we're so thankful for the support from guests and Tims restaurant owners across Canada." QUOTES "We are grateful to be part of Tim Hortons 2024 Orange Sprinkle Donut campaign. Through the Legacy Schools program, we are ensuring that the next generation of youth in Canada not only know the true history of this country but understand the value of Indigenous knowledge and cultures. This year, we sent resources to over 8,000 educators from coast to coast to coast to help them weave Indigenous perspectives into all subject areas. With the support of Tim Hortons, team members and guests, we can't wait to see how many youth we can reach in the future. Together, we can move reconciliation forward." Sarah Midanik, President & CEO, Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund "The generous support from Tim Hortons is poised to create a transformative effect on our young people and their communities. It will ensure the ongoing success of initiatives that foster comprehensive well-being encompassing the physical, mental, social, and spiritual aspects of health. This support also establishes a vital space for community elders and knowledge keepers to share their stories, forge meaningful connections with youth, and play a crucial role in the resurgence of our cultural and linguistic heritage. Such efforts are instrumental in nurturing overall community health. Thanks to this assistance, we will have the capacity to engage a greater number of young individuals, equipping them with the essential resources they need to emerge as the leaders and professionals of tomorrow." Chris Googoo, Chief Operating Officer of Ulnooweg Education Centre "The Orange Shirt Society is deeply grateful for Tim Hortons support with the Orange Sprinkle Donut. Every donut sold helps us continue to support programs for survivors, fostering healing and hope within our communities. Together, we can make a meaningful difference." Shannon Henderson, President of Orange Shirt Society "Tim Hortons Orange Sprinkle Donut campaign has been instrumental in supporting the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS). The unrestricted funding from this partnership fills crucial gaps, allowing us to meet growing needs and deliver services to remote communities. It also enables us to support those impacted by crisis situations, where grants and other funding often fall short. This support not only sustains our work but also raises awareness of our mission. With Tim Hortons help, we've made a real difference in the lives of survivors, families, and communities across BC. Together, we're fostering healing, justice, and hope." Angela White, Executive Director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) "I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Tim Hortons family for their continued support of our mission. Their commitment during the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation not only strengthens our mission but also raises awareness throughout Quebec about this important day. Thank you - Tshinashkumitinau - for helping to create a better future for First Nations youth in Quebec." Danisse Neashit, New Pathways Foundation, Responsable des communications et du developpement philanthropique For more information on the Orange Sprinkle Donut campaign visit: https://www.timhortons.ca/orange-sprinkle-donut About Tim Hortons In 1964, the first Tim Hortons restaurant in Hamilton, Ontario opened its doors and Canadians have been ordering Tim Hortons iconic Original Blend coffee, Double-Double coffees, Donuts and Timbits in the years since. Over nearly 60 years, Tim Hortons has captured the hearts and taste buds of Canadians and has become synonymous with serving Canada's favourite coffee. Tim Hortons is Canada's largest restaurant chain operating in the quick service industry with nearly 4,000 restaurants across the country. More than a coffee and bake shop, Tim Hortons is part of the Canadian fabric and guests can enjoy hot and cold specialty beverages including lattes, cappuccinos and espressos, teas and our famous Iced Capps alongside delicious breakfast, sandwiches, wraps, soups and more. Tim Hortons has more than 5,700 restaurants in Canada, the United States and around the world. For more information on Tim Hortons visit TimHortons.ca. SOURCE Tim Hortons [email protected] Atlantic Citys mayor and his wife were indicted Tuesday by a Grand Jury on child abuse charges, the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office announced Wednesday. Jurors indicted both Mayor Marty Small Sr., 50, and LaQuetta Small, 47, on second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, the prosecutors office said. Small Sr. was also indicted for terroristic threats and aggravated assault. The alleged abuse involved their teenage daughter and took place between December of 2023 and January, it was previously reported. Ed Jacobs, an attorney representing the mayor, reiterated Wednesday that that the Smalls were innocent, a statement made in April. Jacobs again said both the mayor and his wife would be vindicated, adding that he does not intend to resign despite calls for him to do so. The indictment against a Mayor Small has nothing to do with the City of Atlantic City, Jacobs said in to NJ Advance Media. Small gave a similar statement to reporters at a press conference on Wednesday following the indictment. This has nothing to do with job as mayor of the great city of Atlantic City, Small said. This is a personal family matter, just as Im sure youve had personal family matters that never got out, but because Im who I am and my wife is who she is, it got out. Its politics and Ill leave it at that. The mayor also said that his daughter is in a safe environment and is doing well. My daughters fine, my daughters thriving academically through all of this and more importantly my daughters in a safe environment at home and has always been in a safe environment at home, Small said. Post-indictment court dates in the case have yet to be scheduled, records show. Atlantic City High School Principal Constance Days-Chapman was indicted last week on official misconduct charges related to the investigation into the mayor and his wife, who is superintendent of public schools. Court documents filed as part of the investigation state she allegedly did not notify state child protection services in an attempt to avoid a criminal investigation into the couple. Days-Chapman previously worked on the mayors reelection campaign. Small, a Democrat, has been mayor since 2019, winning reelection in 2021. The indictment drew questions from Gov. Phil Murphy, known for being a Small ally, about whether or not the mayor should considered stepping down. While Mayor Small is entitled to due process under the law, given the seriousness of these criminal charges, Governor Murphy believes that Mayor Small should consider whether he can continue effectively serving the people of Atlantic City as mayor, Natalie Hamilton, a spokesperson for Murphys office, said in a statement Wednesday. At the press conference, Small told reporters that the investigation has not interfered with his job as mayor and that he and his administration launched several positive programs and initiatives as the case the was being investigated. So clearly its not a distraction, he said. Clearly were doing a great a job. We got all the love, respect and support from the people of Atlantic City, which matters. Im not worrying about the outsiders. Marty Small also resigned several months ago from a role with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulops campaign for governor. A campaign spokesperson confirmed Smalls resignation as campaign co-chair to NJ Advance Media on Wednesday. Fulop is seeking the Democratic nomination in New Jerseys 2025 gubernatorial election. Even though this concerns a family matter and has nothing to do with his service as Mayor, it is clear that the allegations contained in the indictment are obviously serious, Ashley Manz, a Fulop campaign spokesperson, said in a statement to NJ Advance Media. Similarly to the rest of the public, we will wait from here to see how the case unfolds. Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com. A woman charged with attacking a couple for unknown reasons inside an Atlantic City casino an act captured in a widely-shared video online is a Monmouth County corrections officer, authorities said Tuesday. Police said 47-year-old Keila Diaz followed a man accompanying her in attacking a woman at the Tropicana hotel-casino early Sunday morning. Diaz and the man with her, 35-year-old Damian Pineyro, are both charged with aggravated assault. Police said Pineryo instigated the fight, harassing a woman and punching her in the face. An attorney for Diaz was not listed as of Tuesday. Monmouth Sheriff Shaun Golden on Tuesday confirmed Diazs employment, adding that she has been suspended without pay in light of her charges and ensuing criminal investigation. This type of behavior is inexcusable from anyone, but, particularly from a member of law enforcement, who at all times, on or off duty, should exhibit the highest level of professionalism, with honor and integrity, Golden said in a statement to NJ Advance Media. Any conduct that does not meet that expectation will not be tolerated. The sheriffs office announced Diazs employment in 2014. She graduated as one of 27 recruits from a basic training course for corrections officers. Her latest annual salary is slightly over $64,000, according to New Jersey pension records. In her graduating class, police in 2014 said Diaz was one of three graduates whod be hired by the Monmouth County Department of Corrections. Atlantic City police alleged Diaz dealt the woman she attacked several blows to the head by kicking her, rendering her unconscious. The woman was brought to AtantiCares hospital in Atlantic City for non-life-threatening injuries, police said. A bystander video of the fight was shared by Barstool Sports, the popular social media channel, on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The video gained north of 2 million views, as of Tuesday. Pineyro, police said, began harassing the woman and a man with her while inside the Quarter, a portion of the hotel that leads to the casino floor that features shops and restaurants. He then suddenly attacked the woman first, then punch the man several times, police alleged. Pineryo at one point lunged at the man with a knife, unsuccessfully striking him, police said. Diaz then began assaulting the woman lying on the ground, police said. Several people are seen on video joining the fight. At one point, an unknown woman attacks another with a pizza box. A spokesperson for Tropicana told NJ Advance on Monday that none of the casino-hotels property was damaged and no establishments near the fight were forced to abruptly close for safety reasons. Diaz and Pineyro have yet to be assigned court dates, records show. Atlantic City police declined to comment further on the investigation when contacted by NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. An affidavit or probable cause describes Pineyro as an acquaintance of Diaz. Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com. A disgruntled former employee of a business in Norwood showed up with his pit bull earlier this month and threatened to have the dog attack the owner and workers if he wasnt given $7,000 he was allegedly owed, authorities said. Wayne Gordon, 57, entered a business suite on Broad Street shortly before 2 p.m. on Sept. 6, removed the pit bulls muzzle and began making verbal threats, Norwood police chief Christian Federici said. The ex-employee claimed hed kill the people in the room and send people to kill their family members as he held them against their will for about 45 minutes, police said. Eventually, the business provided Gordon with a check for $7,000 and he fled with the pit bull. Clarkstown, New York, police later arrested Gordon at his home in New City, New York. He was extradited to New Jersey four days later and is charged with robbery, criminal restraint and terroristic threats, the chief said. Attorney information for Gordon wasnt immediately available. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. A South Jersey charter school was closed Wednesday after a worker was found dead in the building as faculty arrived ahead of the school day, according to authorities. The body was that of a woman maintenance worker at the Mastery High School on Erie Street in Camden, Camden County police said Wednesday. Her body was discovered in the hallway around 7 a.m., police said. Her death is not considered suspicious. The womans name and age were not released because of an active investigation into her death, authorities said. Mastery High School is one in a network of alternate-learning institutions for early grades up to high school between Philadelphia and Camden, according to its website. About 14,000 students are enrolled across its facilities. The building, which has 850 enrolled students, was expected to reopen Thursday, school administrators said in a statement Wednesday morning. A message to school officials from NJ Advance Media was not immediately returned. The company is listed as a nonprofit, according to data from ProPublica. Investigators believe the woman died sometime between late Tuesday and early Wednesday. The cause of death remained unknown Wednesday afternoon. Police did not know when the woman began her shift Tuesday. Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com. Did social media get wide receiver Jalen Reagor in trouble? Hours after a now since-deleted social media post that included a Bugatti in a mobile home park, the New England Patriots released Reagor from their practice squad Tuesday. A 10-year-old student is in custody and facing criminal charges after allegedly circulating a threat against a Gloucester County school over social media, according to police. Franklin Township School District officials learned of a social media post that depicted a disturbing video of a school in our district, township police said Wednesday. The post was determined to be a potential threat. District officials contacted township police shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday and safety protocols were put in place. Police responded to all three township schools to secure the areas as students arrived. Law enforcement officers remained in place until the schools were given the all-clear to lift safety measures, police said. In less than half an hour, investigators identified a 10-year-old student who allegedly posted the video of the threat to the school, police said. Police did not identify the 10-year-old. The child is from Franklinville and is currently enrolled in the school district, according to police. The student was immediately removed from school and taken to police headquarters. At the completion of the investigation, the juvenile will be criminally charged with causing a false public alarm, police said. Several schools in Gloucester County have been targeted by threats since the start of the school year and at least three students were charged in connection with those incidents. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. The state has permanently suspended the license of a doctor who was accused of improperly performing invasive cosmetic surgeries, including non-surgical penile and breast enhancement procedures at dozens of offices in New Jersey and neighboring states, officials said. Dr. Muhammad A. Mirza, a board-certified internist from Cedar Grove, has not practiced medicine in New Jersey since his license was temporarily suspended in 2021 amid these allegations, according to a statement from the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office. The revocation of this doctors medical license sends a clear message that we will not allow doctors to take advantage of patients desires to look and feel better about themselves by subjecting them to medically inappropriate procedures that expose them to the risk of grave harm and permanent disfigurement, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a statement. Public safety demands that cosmetic procedures be performed in a safe and appropriate manner by properly trained professionals who put patient health and safety above all else. Professionals who deviate from these standards face serious consequences. The Enforcement Bureau of the Division of Consumer Affairs opened an investigation into Mirza and Mirza Aesthetics in April 2021, after the State Board of Medical Examiners received numerous consumer complaints about the doctor and his practice of aesthetic medicine, the office said. Mirza advertised and performed a variety of costly and invasive cosmetic enhancement services through his Mirza Aesthetics practice, which he operated primarily from rental spaces in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, investigators said. Traveling from office to office, carrying medical products in duffle bags, Mirza allegedly saw up to 30 patients daily in makeshift spaces where he failed to observe proper protocols for medical record keeping, patient follow-ups, and storage of medical supplies including products that required refrigeration and strict temperature control, officials said. The state alleged that Mirzas improper use of certain dermal fillers for off-label purposes poses a clear and imminent danger to the public. In one case, he used an injectable dermal filler in a nonsurgical penile enhancement procedure that caused permanent harm to a patient, authorities said. The man suffered complications that required his hospitalization, where he underwent two emergency surgical interventions, the Attorney Generals Office alleged. When asked about it by an emergency room doctor, Mirza did not accurately disclose the exact filler he used, which made it harder for physicians to care for the patient, officials said. In other situations, he used an off-label injectable dermal filler close to patients eyes which, if done incorrectly, could have led to loss of vision or permanent blindness, the office said. He also allegedly used an off-label filler for breast enhancement that could obscure patients mammogram results and another without performing skin allergy tests on patients before starting procedures. Other patient complaints included that he failed to wear a mask or surgical gloves while performing procedures, used high pressure tactics, failed to respond to post-procedure complaints and/or requests for records and performed aesthetic procedures in an area described as a small storage closet and closet area with a bench, authorities said. In an Interim Consent Order filed with the board on October 13, 2021, Mirza, who denied the allegations against him, agreed to the temporary suspension of his license until his case was heard by an Administrative Law Judge and until further action of the board, officials said. In February 2022, Mirzas case was transferred to the Office of Administrative Law for a hearing before the judge and, at Mirzas request, the matter was stayed in August 2022 pending the resolution of unrelated criminal charges filed against him in federal court in June 2022. Those charges stemmed from Mirzas alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar healthcare fraud scheme to defraud Amtrak. As part of this scheme, Mirza submitted fraudulent claims to health benefit plans for services not rendered or not medically necessary, investigators said. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the office said. As part of his guilty plea, Mirza was sentenced to two years and two months in prison and owes $1,371,544 in restitution, officials said. Now that his license has been permanently suspended, he is prohibited from seeking a medical license in New Jersey at any time in the future. Hes also barred from all patient contact and from rendering medical care in the state, including dispensing or issuing prescriptions for medications of any type, investigators said. He is also prohibited from entering the premises of his medical practice during business hours when patients may be present and is precluded from charging, receiving, or sharing in any fee for professional services rendered by others, authorities said. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. The father of a Gloucester County high school student has been indicted after he walked into a classroom in March and allegedly threatened a student who was involved in a dispute with his daughter. The 39-year-old Gibbstown man was at Paulsboro High School on March 11 to sign out his child, according to court documents. But, he ended up in a classroom where he ordered a teenage boy to apologize to his daughter, according to video of the incident shared on social media. The video also shows the angry father nearly getting into a fistfight with a second student. A Gloucester County grand jury indicted the man Sept. 4 on two third-degree charges of making terroristic threats. Police originally charged him with those offenses, along with simple assault, trespassing and disorderly conduct. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment about the indictment on Wednesday. The father, who was released from jail to await trial in March, is scheduled to return to court Oct. 7 for a post-indictment arraignment hearing. The mans daughter was having a problem with another student over photos allegedly shared with others, according to police. Instead of leaving the school after signing out his daughter on the day of the confrontation, the father allegedly headed upstairs to a classroom. Video shared on social media shows the father being directed to a classroom, then someone knocking on the door. Its not clear who let the parent and the person recording the video into the locked room. Once inside, the parent confronted a teen student. You got a problem with my daughter? he asked the teen. Apologize to my daughter. I didnt do nothing to her, the student replied. You heard what the f--- I said. Apologize to my daughter, the father repeated, his voice getting louder. Now. The man then confronted another student who spoke to him, according to the video. It was more than a minute into the two minute and 51 second video before an adult tried to intervene. A man put his arm on the fathers back and attempted to escort him from the room as the parent verbally sparred with the second student, trading vulgar retorts, the video shows. If I gotta come up here again, Im gonna slap fire on both of yall, the father said as he began to leave the classroom. One of the students the father confronted then tried to encourage him to fight, according to the video. The man, who was almost out of the classroom, returned to face the teenager. The parent and the teen appeared to make physical contact and police alleged the father made threats and grabbed the students arm. The schools head of security was not notified of the incident until the father was already off school grounds, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed with the charges. Police were dispatched to the school about the matter hours later. The teacher in the classroom did not have his school radio within reach to communicate with school security and did not want to escalate the situation by reaching for it, according to the affidavit. Instead, the teacher said he tried to defuse the confrontation by speaking to the father, police said. The first teen the father confronted was identified as a 15-year-old student, according to his parents, who filed a police report about the incident. They said their son faced anonymous threats after the confrontation and told NJ Advance Media in March they were considering pulling him out of the school. They condemned school officials for failing to quickly intervene and protect their son. A day after the incident, district Superintendent Phillip C. Neff sent a letter to parents stating that the incident gives us an opportunity to reflect and analyze current practices to further strengthen the districts safety and security procedures to ensure that our schools are a safe place for all students and staff. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. The Hoboken Historical Museum presents This is Just to Say: Honoring William Carlos Williams on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 4 p.m. The live event, hosted by the museums Poet in Residence, Danny Shot, will feature four New Jersey poets celebrating legendary poet William Carlos Williams, who made his home in Rutherford and wrote the 20th Century epic Paterson. Williams was a leading poet of the Imagist movement and often wrote of American subjects and themes. He was born the first of two sons of an English father and a Puerto Rican mother of French, Dutch, Spanish and Jewish ancestry, and he grew up in Rutherford. In addition to writing poetry, he was also a medical doctor, novelist, essayist and playwright. While overshadowed by other poets early in his career, he became an inspiration to the Beat generation in the 1950s and 60s. In comparison to artists of his own time who sought new environments such as Europe to inspire their creativity, Williams lived a more conventional life. As a doctor for more than 40 years serving the residents of Rutherford, he relied on his patients, his country and his own imagination to create his American verse. The poets who will participate in Sundays program have been profoundly influenced by Williams works. They include Catherine Doty of Paterson, the author of Wonderama, winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize, and Momentum. She is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and many other prizes and has taught poetry. Frank Rubino co-hosts a weekly poetry workshop, helps organize monthly readings at The Red Wheelbarrow Poets in Rutherford, and, as one of the Gang of Six, co-edits the Red Wheelbarrows annual poetry journal. Rubinos poems have been published in Thimble, Chaleur, The Aesthetic Apostle and DMQ Review, He was The Red Wheelbarrows featured poet in 2021. His book, Franks Lunch Service is forthcoming in 2025. He lives in Montclair with his wife and works as a technology consultant. Claudia Serea is a Romanian American poet, translator, and editor with work published in Consequence Forum, The Southern Review, Field, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, Oxford Poetry, among others, as well as being featured on The Writers Almanac. She is the author of seven poetry collections and four chapbooks, most recently In Those Years, No One Slept (Broadstone Books, 2023). Serea won a Pushcart Prize, the Joanne Scott Kennedy Memorial Prize from the Poetry Society of Virginia and the New Letters Readers Award for her poems. She is a founding editor of National Translation Month, serves on the board of The Red Wheelbarrow Poets, and co-hosts their monthly readings. Joel Lewis is a writer based in Hoboken. He is the author of several poetry books, the most recent being Well You Neednt which will be out in a matter of weeks. His prose writings have appeared in publications including Poets & Writers, WIRE (UK), Mojo, Utne Reader, Talisman and No Placebos (Australia). The name of the event comes from Williams iconic sorry/not sorry poem This is Just to Say, which has been interpreted in various ways over the years but may have simply been a note he left for his wife on the refrigerator door. The Hoboken Historical Musuem is located at 1301 Hudson St., Hoboken. Jersey City moved a huge step closer to establishing a mental health crisis response program when the state approved the citys second application for $2 million in funding from a law that bears the name of a city victim of police violence. The new application was produced by Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition Movement Founder and Executive Director Pamela Johnson after the city face-planted spectacularly on its first attempt. Notices of potential layoffs have been distributed to the 2,602 employees of the struggling CarePoint Health hospital network that owns Bayonne Medical Center, Christ Hospital and Hoboken University Medical Center. The letters are alerting employees they may laid off effective Dec. 12, and the letters were issued as CarePoint Health, which converted from a for-profit to nonprofit two years ago, has begun seriously exploring bankruptcy or other forms of financial restructuring. Officials at the healthcare network which has been stung by dozens of lawsuits from frustrated creditors say they have not determined whether layoffs will be necessary or how many there would be if deemed necessary. However, they are taking the precautionary step to put employees on notice as they prepare to make a decision by the end of the month about whether to file for bankruptcy, merge with another network, or rearrange debts in another way. Well be evaluating the hospitals with the possibility of layoffs and/or service line reductions, said Justin Drew, CarePoints chief of staff and its vice president for marketing, strategy and patient experience. These options are necessary to ensure our long-term financial stability, but no decisions have been made and there could be no layoffs at all. An employee who attended one of the staff meetings at Bayonne Medical Center said the staff was told there would be layoffs, but a number was not provided. In 2019, when a sale of two of the three hospitals to RWJBarnabas was anticipated, 2,100 WARN notices were issued. The sale never went through. CarePoints significant financial strife has been evident for some time, evidenced by the state Department of Healths admission early this year that the state had to step in and subsidize CarePoints payroll for a period of time. CarePoint Health owes creditors tens of millions of dollars, according to lawsuits filed in New Jersey and other states. Earlier this year a state court judge in Utah issued a $7.5 million default judgment against CarePoint Health that included an order that Hudson Countys largest hospital network return hundreds of leased medical devices and equipment. One orthopedic surgeon told The Jersey Journal that the return of the equipment would severely hinder the hospitals ability to perform surgeries. Last week CarePoint officials held a meeting with its board to discuss the possibility of filing for bankruptcy soon, and the state Department of Health held a meeting to brief elected officials on the matter. Drew said as of Friday a decision had not been made about what form of financial restructuring CarePoint to pursue. Combining operations with Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus is also still on the table after being set aside for months and is in fact more of a possibility than its ever been, he said. The state WARN Act requires employers with more than 100 employees to provide employees at least 90 days notice prior to a mass layoff. We may not have any layoffs at all, Drew said. It turns out that Latonia Bellamys court triumph a new sentencing was little more than a moral victory. The woman convicted of the one of most depraved, cold-blooded killings in Hudson County memory the 2010 fatal shootings of 25-year-old Nia Haqq and 27-year-old Michael Muchioki when they had returned home after their engagement party was resentenced Monday after an appellate court panel last year tossed the life-plus-30 years prison term. Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez sentenced the now 33-year-old Bellamy to 70 years in state prison for her role in the killings that shocked a county that had seen its fair share of brutal criminality. One other person was convicted and another pleaded guilty in the murders. Shiquan Bellamy, 34, is serving a life plus 30-year sentence and Darmellia Lawrence, 35, is serving a 20-year sentence for their roles in Muchioki and Haqqs deaths. Latonia Bellamy, Shiquans cousin, is now sentenced to 30 years for felony murder related to the death of Muchioki, which will run concurrent to a 10-year sentence for robbery. She was also sentenced to a consecutive 40-year prison term (with 85% parole ineligibility) for the murder of Nia Haqq. There are also a concurrent 10-year sentence for carjacking, a 10-year sentence for robbery, and a 5-year sentence for unlawful possession of a weapon. Bellamy will not be eligible for parole until 64 years of the sentence is served. Bellamy received another sentencing hearing when the appellate panel in 2021 ruled Hudson County Superior Judge Paul DePascale should not have rejected her request for access to her Division of Child Protection and Permanency records. The records which show that Bellamy spent years in the care and/or custody of DCPP, and some years in the care and custody of a family member who sexually abused her could have been used to argue for a more lenient sentence. The appellate panel also pointed out that mitigating and aggravated factors used to determine Bellamys sentence were incorrectly applied or ignored; and that the convictions were improperly merged for the purpose of sentencing, leading to a stiffer sentence. Bellamy began serving her sentence in 2013, after she was initially convicted. If she serves the entire 70 years, she would be 92 years old when released. She was 19 at the time of the shootings and even after she was convicted, she claimed did not shoot either of the two victims. Bellamy admitted during the trial to firing a gun at the scene, but she said it wasnt toward the victims. Testifying in her own defense, she said she went along with her cousin and Lawrence because she was afraid she would be harmed if she didnt. Bellamy said she, her cousin and Lawrence had taken a walk and when they came across Haqq and Muchioki unloading gifts from their car, Shiquan Bellamy ordered them to the ground and fired a shotgun blast at Muchiokis head. She said he turned to her and said You want to shoot a gun. Shoot the (expletive) gun. The defendant said the three got into the couples vehicle, but could not take it because of a steering lock so they all fled together. The state was represented at resentencing by Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leonardo Rinaldi. Authorities have identified the 74-year-old man struck and killed by a vehicle last week while riding an electronic bicycle near the Henry Hudson Trail in Monmouth County. Guanglie Zhang was crossing School Road East from the Henry Hudson Trail in Marlboro when he was hit in the area of Buckley Road just before 9:45 a.m on Sept. 9, the prosecutors office said. Zhang, of Marlboro, was flown to a hospital where he died of his injuries the following day. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, a spokesman for the prosecutors office said Wednesday. Four of New Jerseys 18 fatal crashes involving bicyclists this year have happened in Monmouth, the most of any of the states 21 counties, according to State Police fatal crash data. Anyone with information that might help the ongoing investigation is asked to call Monmouth County Prosecutors Office Sgt. Kristian DeVito at 800-533-7443 or Marlboro police officer Brandon Attardo at 732-536-0100. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. A Marlboro Township man has been found guilty of sexually and physically abusing an underage girl for several years, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office said Wednesday. Andrey Penkin, 51, was found guilty of multiple counts of sexual assault and child endangerment following a trial before state Superior Court Judge Christie Bevacqua, authorities said. The abuse began in 2016 and lasted until 2023, according to a news release. Authorities said during that time, Penkin sexually and physically assaulted the girl in Sayreville, East Brunswick and Marlboro. An investigation revealed that in 2023, Penkin physically assaulted the child resulting in a concussion and facial injuries, stated in a news release. Penkin was arrested in April 2023. The jury returned a guilty verdict at trial after evidence such as medical records, witness testimony, and the childs diary were presented against him, the prosecutors office said. Penkin faces up to 25 years in prison at his sentencing, officials said. Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Deion Johnson may be reached at djohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Instagram at @DeionRJohnson or X @DeionRJohhnson LAS VEGAS (AP) In the heart of Las Vegas Chinatown, on the second floor of a sprawling shopping plaza that serves as a hub for the citys Asian community, residents gather for a celebration of the annual Dragon Boat Festival. Some stop in to grab shiny, red packages of premade zongzi, a rice dish wrapped in bamboo leaves often eaten during the Chinese holiday. Others talk with advocates who are on hand to educate people about the importance of elections. They grab flyers decorated with a colorful dragon boat and something else: a QR code taking them to information about how to vote all translated into Chinese. Longtime community leader Vida Lin walks in and flashes her own I Voted sticker, having already cast her early ballot in the state primary. Nine years ago, Lin founded the Asian Community Development Council, and since then, she has fought for the very information attendees are getting today: details about how to register to vote and cast a ballot on Election Day, translated into their primary language. For Lin, these resources help increase civic engagement among one of the fastest-growing demographic groups in the state and nation. That, she says, is the only way her community can gain power. If you dont come out to vote, you dont get your voices heard, youre not going to get these issues that we have taken care of, Lin says. Itll be like what happened 30 years ago when I came here with no services, no help, nowhere to go. Well be stuck there. Nevada, like the nation, is growing ever more diverse. These population shifts bring their own challenges to ensuring democracy is open and available to all American citizens, no matter what language they speak. This November, under a provision of the federal Voting Rights Act, some 24 million citizens are entitled to assistance that will allow them to vote in their primary language. Section 203 of the act requires communities meeting certain population thresholds and other requirements to provide language assistance to groups that have suffered a history of exclusion from the political process specifically Spanish-speaking, Asian and Indigenous populations. This is a way of compensating for past and ongoing discrimination that does occur in the electoral process, says Angelo Ancheta, a California lawyer and expert on the federal language provisions. Were trying to figure out, not just in voting but in a larger sense, how we incorporate immigrants into the American population. And what do we do as a country for new immigrants, and immigrants whove been here for a long time, whose language skills are still not where they might need to be to participate fully in the process? But in an ever-changing America, some question whether the federal law is doing its job. Compliance varies from place to place. Some officials argue its too expensive to provide such assistance, or they point to a lack of qualified translators. Others may be caught off guard if sudden shifts in demographics trigger the mandate. I remember talking with a county clerk and as soon as I mentioned my colleagues and I are looking at bilingual ballots, it was almost like he wanted to throw salt over his shoulder like, Dont bring that up, says Matthew May, who researched Section 203 as part of his work at the Idaho Policy Institute at Boise State University. Hes thinking about it from an administrative side. Thats a nightmare to implement as Im already trying to implement new voter security systems or upgrade the ballot systems. Many argue the federal law doesnt go far enough and leaves out tens of thousands who may need translations in Arabic, Farsi or other languages not covered by the Voting Rights Act. And there are places that barely miss the federal governments threshold to force a community to provide language assistance. Those places include Clark County, Nevada, which fell just 434 citizens short of requiring officials to provide election materials this year in Chinese. In such places, local groups like Lins are stepping in to push for change on their own. What we love about our community: If theres a need, we all come together, Lin says. Cizhuo Cheng, field manager for One APIA Nevada, reviews a sample ballot with Sue Deng during the annual Dragon Boat Festival in Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. (Christopher Lomahquahu/News21 via AP)AP Turnout does go up Congress added Section 203 to the Voting Rights Act in 1975 after determining that citizens belonging to certain language groups had been excluded from participating in elections. The mandate requires towns, cities and counties to provide assistance in a certain language if the population of that language group meets the following requirements: more than 5% of voting-age citizens, or at least 10,000 people, have limited English proficiency, and the illiteracy rate among those individuals exceeds the national rate. At the state level, the mandate applies if more than 5% of voting-age citizens statewide have limited English proficiency and the illiteracy rate among those individuals exceeds the national rate. California, Texas and Florida are required to provide voting assistance in Spanish. Additionally, any city or county containing even part of a Native American reservation must provide language assistance if the population and illiteracy thresholds are met. Under the law, any election information provided in English must also be provided in the specified language. Generally, that means providing bilingual poll workers on Election Day and translated ballots, sample ballots, voter registration forms and voter information pamphlets. Every five years, the U.S. Census Bureau releases a list of jurisdictions that must provide language assistance. The latest list came out in 2021 and requires 331 jurisdictions in 30 states to provide language aid through 2026. From 2000 to 2019, the number of people who speak a language other than English at home went from 44 million to about 68 million. The latter figure is nearly 22% of the entire U.S. population. During the same period, the number of people who speak Spanish at home grew by more than 15 million. And the number of people who speak Chinese at home increased by more than 1 million. Chinese is now the third most-spoken language in the country, behind English and Spanish. Many of those covered by the federal language provisions live in battleground states, including Arizona and Georgia, which have seen razor-thin election margins in recent years, Ancheta points out. Its not conclusive, but theres a fair amount of research that says turnout does go up and registration goes up when you have materials available in another language, he says. Another battleground state, Wisconsin, saw the largest increase in covered jurisdictions on the current Census Bureau list, going from three to 50. Forty-four of those must provide assistance in the language of the Ho-Chunk Nation. But not all such communities adhere to the requirements. In at least 50 cases since 1978, the U.S. Department of Justice has sued counties or cities to enforce the language requirements. In one of the latest cases, the department alleged that Pawtucket, Rhode Island, had failed to provide required translations and enough bilingual poll workers to assist Spanish-speaking voters. The Hispanic population in Rhode Island grew by 4 percentage points in the 2010s, and in 2020, it made up nearly a quarter of the population of Pawtucket, the states fourth-largest city. Under a tentative agreement, the city has pledged to use a certified translator, provide all election information in both English and Spanish, and assign at least one bilingual election official to each of its 28 precincts. City officials did not return messages from News21. In other instances, advocacy organizations have sued to ensure communities provide the required help. In Alaska, groups have sought to enforce Section 203 in sprawling rural areas that are home mostly to Alaska Natives, many of whom still speak their native languages. In 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska and the Native American Rights Fund sued the state and the city of Bethel on behalf of four elders whose primary language was Yupik, arguing officials had failed to provide the required materials or bilingual poll workers. The population in the Bethel region is 84% Indigenous. Elders are the most consistent voters in Alaska Native communities, says Michelle Sparck, Alaska director of Get Out the Native Vote, a nonpartisan voter education group. We should move mountains to make it easier for them, Sparck says. Alaska settled the case and agreed to follow the law, but the fight didnt end there. A few years later, Alaska Native voters in three neighboring communities claimed the state had again failed to provide the required language assistance, including a translated version of the states voter guide. Alaska Native language speakers were only receiving a small subset of the information, says Megan Condon, an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund. They might get a notice about when and where the election was going to be, but there wouldnt be the same information regarding questions on the ballot. A settlement, reached in 2015, required election observers at polling locations and established a list of language assistance requirements to ensure the state meets its obligations. Since then, we have been working really hard to provide all these materials, says Wild Iris Anderson, the states language assistance compliance manager. It really just kind of kick-started Alaskas language accessibility. Last year, a state district court determined officials have still failed to provide effective language assistance and extended the agreement through 2026. Some election officials say funding shortages make it difficult to meet the federal requirements. Gila County, Arizona, which contains parts of the Fort Apache, San Carlos Apache and Tonto Apache reservations, is required to provide assistance in the Apache language, but the county has operated without a translator and outreach worker for about two years. We just simply dont have deep pockets to provide the pay commensurate with positions, said county Elections Director Eric Mariscal. Other officials reject the idea of providing translation help, arguing that voters in America should vote in English only. Several years ago in Elko County, Nevada, a Democratic official asked the all-Republican County Commission to consider providing Spanish ballots even though federal law doesnt require it in the county, where nearly 11% of voting-age citizens speak Spanish at home. The commissioners rejected the idea. Most cited budget concerns, but Commissioner Rex Steninger had other reasons. This is America; we speak English, he said in the meeting. The immigrants to this country need to assimilate and join us. In an email to News21, Steninger says, I still feel that English is our official language and voters should be able to read a ballot printed in English. For more than 20 years now, Iowans have been locked in a battle over whether the state can provide voter registration forms in both English and Spanish. At issue is a 2002 law that requires all official documents to be produced in English. The law provided an exception to protect citizens constitutional rights; despite that, a judge in 2008 prohibited the state from using languages other than English on voter registration forms. In 2021, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa filed a lawsuit challenging the directive. The case is still pending with the state Supreme Court. The state argues providing materials in a language other than English is not necessary to secure the right to vote. Ancheta, the California lawyer, says that argument is shortsighted. There are plenty of folks who are U.S. citizens who came in as seniors, or theyre older, and their ability to acquire English skills is more challenging, he says, particularly when trying to navigate something like a complicated ballot initiative. Theyre Americans, just like everybody else, Ancheta adds. Giving them a fair shake because they need a little bit of help is a relatively minor governmental burden. We welcome you all Those whose first language is not English say the importance of voting in their primary language goes beyond ensuring they feel comfortable at the polls; its about helping them belong in a country that too often leaves them feeling like outsiders. Voting rights advocate Lin was born in California after her parents moved to the U.S. from China for a better life. Her father was a dishwasher; her mother worked long days in a sewing sweatshop to make ends meet. Lin moved to Las Vegas 30 years ago to help her extended family through a hard time. She began selling insurance, and to get to know the Asian community, she joined several groups. It was then, she says, that she saw how Asian people were excluded from civic participation. Growing up, Lins family had received support from a San Francisco Asian community center. In Las Vegas, she noticed a lack of such support. So in 2015, after Lin sold her insurance agency, she started the Asian Community Development Council. The same year, she obtained a small grant to fund voter registration drives. What we did changed the dynamic of Nevada for our Asian population, she says. We helped our community build power. In Nevada, the portion of residents who speak a language other than English at home grew by nearly 26% in the 2010s. Today, more than 16,000 households have at least one person who speaks Chinese at home; in more than 5,000 of those, no one older than 13 speaks English well. Nearly 94% of the limited-English households are in Clark County, the states largest and home to Las Vegas. The Voting Rights Act requires Clark County to provide election materials only in Spanish and Filipino. So, local organizations stepped up to fill the gap. In 2022, All Voting is Local, a nonpartisan voting rights organization, partnered with the Asian Community Development Council to produce a voting guide in Chinese. Translated by members of Lins organization, the guide provided information on statewide races and ballot initiatives, along with information about how to vote. The group distributed about 10,000 copies. Last year, All Voting is Local partnered with Lins group again to advocate for a bill that would have lowered the population threshold for counties to provide translated materials to 5,000, a level the Chinese-speaking population in Clark County far exceeds. The bill proposed setting aside nearly $450,000 in state funding for the effort. There are laws that set a lower threshold for language assistance in states such as California and Colorado, but in Nevada, Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed the bill, saying state laws sufficiently accomplish the goal of ensuring language accessibility in accordance with federal law. The two groups then sought help at the local level, pushing Clark County to provide materials in Chinese voluntarily. The county agreed, and in January, ahead of the states presidential primaries, the county released voter resources in Chinese on its website. Now that Chinese speakers can access voter information in their language, Lins group is working to ensure they know such resources exist. From registering people to vote at casinos or hip-hop clubs to educating the community at celebrations such as the Dragon Boat Festival, Lin has one message for hesitant voters. I ask them: Why did you come to America? she says. Or why did your parents come to America? Or your ancestor, right? For a better life. And if you dont have your voice heard, whats the point? Now, Lin hopes to expand the services available to her community and continue advocating for more languages to be available, both for voting and on items such as prescription bottles. Tell us how much it costs to do something, and we will put it together ourselves, she says. Lin wants to remind people in her community that democracy means a sense of belonging, being part of America. For us to be really American, we have to open up and say, We welcome you all, she says. That is the reason why this country is so strong. ___ By CELIA FRAZIER/News 21 News21. News21 reporter Juanita Hurtado Huerfano contributed to this story. This report is part of Fractured, an examination of the state of American democracy produced by Carnegie-Knight News21. A New Jersey man who chewed off a strangers ear and spat it out onto a deserted light-rail platform last year was sentenced to just over three years of prison Wednesday. Both prosecution and defense say Koryn Kraemers gruesome attack at the Cleveland Avenue MAX platform about 2 a.m. on Jan. 3, 2023 was largely attributed to his schizophrenia causing him to tell responding officers that he believed his victim was a homicidal robot. Kraemer, now 27, initially gave Gresham police a fake name, El Baker, acknowledging that he was under the influence of alcohol, fentanyl and marijuana at the time, according to a probable cause affidavit. Court records show that Kraemer was found mentally incompetent to stand trial following his arrest. He was transported to the Oregon State Hospital for about four months, and said during the hearing that he now takes two medications that treat schizophrenia. I feel really horribly about what happened, and I know now that by medicating my condition Ill be able to manage my illness and ensure that nothing violent happens in the future, Kraemer told Multnomah County Circuit Judge Shelley Russell. The victim lost his right ear down to bone, according to court records. The 78-year-old has since died of pneumonia. Kraemer, originally of Westfield, New Jersey, spent two years assisting the Oberlin College Yeomen as a goalie, but didnt graduate from the Ohio school and became homeless once his delusions took over, defense attorney William Walsh said. He had previously been arrested in Georgia after dropping out. He is appropriately embarrassed and remorseful for things that occurred when he wasnt in his right state of mind, Walsh said, adding that his client plans to return to New Jersey and live with family following his sentence. Originally charged with felony assault, Kraemer pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree attempted assault under the terms of a deal with prosecutors. The judge sentenced him to three years and four months behind bars with credit for time served and the possibility of time off for good behavior. He could be released by next summer. Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane. Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe. Two of the airports that serve the state of New Jersey placed dead last in this years J.D.Power airport customer satisfaction rankings. Newark Liberty International Airport continued its reign as the least satisfying mega airport in the 19th North America Airport Satisfaction Study results, announced Wednesday. Philadelphia International also ranked dead last among large airports. Newark received a 552 score out of 20 mega airports where 595 was average and top score was a 671, won by Minneapolis-St. Paul. Newarks ranking is a little better than last years 542 score. By comparison, JFK Airport came in fourth with a 628-customer satisfaction score in the mega airport category. One issue that might be holding Newarks airport back from a better ranking is transportation to the airport and to the terminals, said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power. Access (as in road traffic) has put a damper on Newarks newest terminal which has outstanding design and impressive food, beverage and retail, he said. But, if New Jersey traffic makes you late for your flight, youre not likely to have time to enjoy what Newark offers. Another problem is the AirTrain airport monorail system doesnt go directly to the new Terminal A, requiring travelers to walk over a sky bridge or take a shuttle bus. The AirTrain isnt complete and that makes accessing the terminals difficult. Thats putting a damper on the positive effects of a New Terminal A, Taylor said. That is on the Port Authoritys pending list after the bi-state agency that runs the metro area airports awarded contracts on Dec. 14 for a $950 million new AirTrain transit system to serve the airport, which will go right to Terminal A. Philadelphia International Airport received a bottom-of-the-list 541 score, last out of the 27 airports in the large category. There, the average score was 629 and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California was ranked best with a 687 score. New Yorks LaGuardia airport received a 631-ranking, continuing an upward trajectory since an $8 billion redevelopment of the airport was completed in 2022. Among the problems faced by the City of Brotherly Loves airport may be that travelers love it too much. Its design simply cant handle the demand and crowding it experiences today, Taylor said. Departure gates in the older terminal are too small, ticketing lobbies can be overwhelmed at peak times and TSA needs more room to do the job they need to do, he said. More investment in terminal re-design is needed. Taylor praised the airport for very good choices in food, beverage and retail, calling them a bright spot. Coping with crowds and demand was an issue for all airports evaluated in this years survey. Crowding has a significant effect on airport scores, resulting in higher overall satisfaction scores when airport terminals are perceived as not at all crowded. An airports score plummets when terminals are perceived to be severely crowded. Just 5% of passengers say they experienced severely crowded conditions in 2024. Huge air travel demand has not slowed down in North America, despite the steadily rising costs of flights, ground travel, hotel rooms and pretty much anything you can buy in an airport, Taylor said. Port Authority airport passenger volume in 2023 blew away 2022 and 2019s pre-pandemic numbers with a total of 144 million air passengers flying through Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports last year. That growth continued this year, most recently when the bi-state authoritys four commercial airports served a record 2.5 million travelers during the six-day Labor Day holiday period from Aug. 29 to Sept.3, surpassing the 2.4 million passengers who traveled during the 2023 holiday. Airlines at the authoritys airports have added 37 new domestic and international alternative destinations and expanded services, authority officials said. Philadelphia airport was used by 28.1 million passengers in 2023, a 12.6% increase over 2022. It also added new routes to Copenhagen, Naples and Nice, airport officials said in a release. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @CommutingLarry. The U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens to exercise increased caution when traveling to Italy due to the potential for terrorism. The travel advisory comes at the end of the countrys peak tourism season. Terrorist attacks are possible in Italy. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, the Level 2 travel advisory reads. They may target tourist spots, transport hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of religious importance, parks, major sporting and cultural events, schools, airports, and other public areas. Summer is high tourist season in Italy, with most travelers to the country deciding to visit in the months of June through August, according to Travel Journal. But according to travel writer Rick Steves, the tourist crowds often choose September and October to visit the area, as well. The State Department recommends doing the following if you plan on visiting Italy: Be aware of surroundings when traveling to tourist locations and crowded public spaces Listen to local authorities. Keep an eye on local media for breaking events and be ready to adjust plans based on new information. Review the Country Security Report for Italy. Visit the CDC page for the latest Travel Health Information related to your travel. Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations based on the Travelers Checklist. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Katherine Rodriguez can be reached at krodriguez@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips. Like the proverbial dog with a bone, the right wing fever swamp is refusing to give up on the whole Haitian immigrants are eating our pets thing. There is zero evidence of any incidents involving pets being consumed in Springfield, OH -- the alleged site of the cursed feast -- because it never happened, obviously. The rumor was dreamt up, by whatever addled minds conjure such things, for the express purpose of stoking xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment in the Republican base. MAGA mission accomplished. Give the GOP writers room credit, they know how to please their audience. Reasonable people who have yet to succumb to brain worms, not so much. When Donald Trump went full 4chan at the debate, he was openly and rightfully mocked by the section of the viewing public whose podcast feeds are blissfully devoid of Dan Bongino. The interwebs are chock full of videos captured at crowded bars hosting debate viewing parties -- which I didnt know were a thing -- and as the former president gets to his pet material, the room laughs at him. Not with him, not near him, at him. Not a group to take open mockery lying down, right wing Twitter trolls doubled and tripled down on Trumps baseless claims and started circulating grainy video, filmed at a distance like a police stakeout, of people literally grilling chicken and citing it as proof that criminal immigrants are flooding over the border to eat your teacup Yorkie. J.D. Vance, patient zero when it came to spreading this dog whistle of an urban legend, went on CNN earlier this week and admitted he makes up stories to drive media coverage. But in this case, he was simply relaying the concerns of his constituents, the good people of Springfield, Ohio, who are now dealing with armed neo-Nazis marching in their streets and daily bomb threats in their schools. The general public needed to know about this perfectly sane and not-at-all racist story, just in case a hoard of hungry criminals from a strange and foreign land wandered into town and started eyeing their calicos. Vance and his minions werent trying to appeal to voters worst inclinations by spreading divisive lies, they were performing a public service. If you believe that, youll believe anything. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Paul Mulshine is in desperate need of a history lesson. In a recent column, he suggested that by urging continued U.S. military support for Ukraine against Russia, Kamala Harris was following the questionable Cold War-era notion that allowing South Vietnam to fall to communist North Vietnam would result in more neighboring countries to fall to communism; the domino theory. A more relevant historical parallel is Neville Chamberlains policy toward Adolph Hitlers Germany. On Sept. 9, 1938, Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement, in which Germany would be given the Sudetenland a largely German-speaking section of Czechoslovakia in exchange for renouncing any further territorial demands. We have seen photographs of Chamberlain waving a sheet of paper and proclaiming, Peace in our time! A 21-year-old Passaic County man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Paterson Police Department, alleging he was beaten by officers after questioning the arrest of his brother over a minor traffic infraction. Haneif Booker, a city resident, says in court filings he was brutally assaulted by several Paterson police officers on Aug. 28, 2022, after asking why his brother was being arrested for pulling his vehicle onto a street where a block party was being held. Booker was 19 at the time. The beating and arrest was lacking in any justification or need to control (Booker) or maintain safety under the circumstances, states the suit, filed Aug. 23, in U.S. District Court. Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said Wednesday the city has no comment on the pending lawsuit. The suit states Booker was attending a block party organized by neighbors who had obtained an appropriate permit from the city. The event had been held for several years, according to the suit. The purpose of the party was to raise money to buy school supplies such as book bags and other items ahead of the start of the school year, according to the suit. The party was held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and covered an area that included Sparrow Street at the intersection with Highland Street. There were a number of uniformed Paterson police covering the block party, the lawsuit says. During the party, Bookers brother entered the party area in his car and was stopped by police for allegedly making an illegal U-turn, according to the suit. As a crowd surrounded the vehicle, Paterson police officers insisted Bookers brother get out of his car and then attempted to drag the man from the vehicle, the suit says. At some point, Booker asked the police why they were harassing his brother and/or why they were arresting him, the lawsuit says. As the crowd grew, Booker continued to question police about why they were arresting his brother. About the same time, an unknown person threw a water bottle that struck a Paterson police officer, the suit says. The lawsuit says after the bottle was thrown, several Paterson police officers followed Booker into an open garage in the 100 block of Sparrow Street and began to beat him up. The beating and assault upon plaintiff was made in retaliation for his complaints about police mistreatment of his brother, the suit says. Video of the event shows officers attacking Booker in the garage. The officers elbowed Booker in the back of the head, punched him in the face, and kicked him, the suit alleges. One of the officer grabbed Bookers feet and legs, causing him to fall, the lawsuit says. As Booker moved his arms to cover his face, he was being punched and kicked by at least five officers according to the lawsuit. He was also pepper-sprayed in the face and mouth as officers handcuffed him and then continued to beat him after he was cuffed, the suit says. Booker is subdued and compliant the entire time, is not resisting arrest or the officers in any way, the lawsuit states. Bookers hands are behind his back/neck. Booker claims in the suit he sustained injuries to his ear, nose, neck, ribs and back, along with a blurry left eye. Booker pleaded guilty in March to an unspecified charge in connection with the water bottle incident, according to the lawsuit. Information about the plea or sentence were not immediately available on Wednesday. The lawsuit alleges violations of Bookers civil rights under federal law, including retaliation for questioning police conduct, excessive force and unlawful seizure, violation of due process and equal protection rights. Bookers rights were similarly violated by Paterson officials under state law, including negligence for failure to properly supervise officers, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and physical harm inflicted without justification, the suit states. The matter is currently under investigation by the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, which has yet to offer a resolution of the investigation as of the filing of the lawsuit, attorneys state in court papers. The lawsuit says Paterson Police Departments Internal Affairs division had to be supervised and superseded by outside agencies due to alleged corruption, criminal behavior and gross violation of policies and procedures. The incident occurred several months before New Jersey State Attorney General Matthew Platkin seized control of the Paterson Police Department following years of problems, including criminal charges against a dozen officers and dozens of lawsuits and legal settlements. Booker and his father, William, on Wednesday told NJ Advance Media they hope the lawsuit will result in change within the Paterson Police Department. The entire situation was trying and very costly. From the lawyers to the police not giving us answers, its been a lot. Im just glad to have my son home, William Booker said. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Pop star Billie Eilish is dipping her toes into the political arena as throws her support behind Vice President Harris. Eilish and Finneas endorsed Harris for the White House in a video posted Tuesday to commemorate National Voter Registration Day. Their endorsement comes just a week after Harris clinched the coveted endorsement of Taylor Swift. We are voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because they are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet and our democracy," Eilish said in the video. We cant let extremists control our lives and our freedoms and our future," Finneas added. "The only way to stop them and the dangerous Project 2025 agenda is to vote and elect Kamala Harris. The duo concluded the video with Eilish urging her fans to register to vote in November. Vote like your life depends on it because it does, Eilish added. Eilish joined many other public figures on Tuesday urging people to register to vote and became the latest celebrity to back Harris in the presidential race. Swifts endorsement of Harris last week drove thousands of people to a link to check their voter registration status. Swift also urged her fans to vote during a speech at the VMAs last week. If youre over 18 please register to vote for something else that is important the presidential election, she said last week. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Donald Trump wants to bring back a tax deduction that largely helps people living in blue states after he gutted the program when he was president. Trump, posting to social media on the heels of a rally in New York, voiced support for the SALT deduction cap which stands for State And Local Tax. It capped property taxes at $10,000 for higher-income households but was nixed as part of Trumps 2017 tax cuts. I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your Taxes, and so much more. Ill work with the Democrat Governor and Mayor, and make sure the funding is there, Trump posted to Truth Social on Tuesday. The SALT cap was imposed in 2017 to help pay for the sweeping package of individual and corporate tax cuts that the Republicans muscled through Congress. The Republican-written tax law gave Trump his signature legislative achievement. hahahaha. incredible stuff. "get SALT back" - uhhhh who took it away? https://t.co/P6oWjHDITS Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 17, 2024 It led to bigger tax bills for many residents of New York, New Jersey, California and other high-cost, high-tax states, and is an important campaign issue in those states. The law that took effect Jan. 1, 2018, was the most extensive rewrite of the U.S. tax code in three decades, adding an estimated $1.5 trillion to the ballooning deficit. It provided steep tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families. While the law slashed the corporate tax rate permanently from 35% to 21%, its tax cuts for individuals expire in 2026. Conservatives argue that unlimited state and local deductions amount to a federal subsidy for the wealthy in high-tax states. However, many middle-class families in those states face disproportionately high housing costs and have depended on deducting their state and local taxes. If states and localities reduce taxes to ease those families burden, cuts to social programs and public services could follow. Despite Republican arguments to the contrary, high-tax states have tended to send more money to Washington than they receive back in federal spending. 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. George Clooney is sending a message to former President Trump after he hurled insults at the actor over the summer. Clooney reacted on Tuesday to Trumps Truth Social post from July telling the actor to get out of politics and go back to television. I will if he does, Clooney quipped on Jimmy Kimmel Live, prompting laughter and cheers from the audience. Clooney penned an op-ed for The New York Times in July that called on President Biden to drop out of the race for the White House following a disastrous debate performance. Clooney, a strong supporter of Democrats, had hosted fundraisers for Bidens campaign before the op-ed. Clooney also spoke about the op-ed with Kimmel on Tuesday night and praised Biden for his decision. The bottom line is that that its very hard to let go of power, and President Biden did something really extraordinary, he said. Kimmel also asked if Clooney has thought about whether Trump was going to come after him if he is elected to the White House in November. Yeah, I have, but I just, Im comforted in the fact that hes coming after you first. I know that theory about you dont have to be faster than the bear, you just have to be faster than the one kid, Clooney joked. Youre that one kid. Kimmel later questioned whether Clooney write another op-ed, but targeting Trump this time. Have you thought about writing an op ed in The Times asking him to step down because it worked once? Why not try it again? Kimmel quipped. Just days after Clooney wrote the op-ed for The New York Times, Biden revealed on July 21 that he would be withdrawing from the presidential race and endorsing Harris. Since then, Harris has closed the gap across many national and swing-state polling as she attempts to make her appeal to voters. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Benton County and the city of Corvallis have albeit begrudgingly voted to establish a school support fee rate for enterprise zones in the city. This fee, a result of state legislation, reallocates some of the responsibility of funding schools from the state itself onto local businesses. An enterprise zone creates tax exemptions for new property that a job-creating business might build or install within that zone. Standard enterprise zones may receive tax abatement for three to five years. Corvallis has three enterprise zones one in South Corvallis, primarily in the industrial area, one surrounding the Hewlett-Packard campus, and one near the Benton County Commissioners office. The Corvallis-Benton County Economic Development Office is the zone sponsor, and Benton County Board of Commissioners and the Corvallis City Council are the governing bodies that oversee the sponsorship. In 2023, the state passed a broad tax incentives package that implements a new school support fee for some property tax abatement recipients, including standard enterprise zones. The fee must be between 15% and 30% of the property tax a company in an enterprise zone wouldve otherwise paid, and companies must pay the fee to the local school district in this case, the Corvallis School District in years four and five of their abatement. Schools will invoice businesses directly for these payments. It sounds good for the school district, but in most cases, revenue from these fees will be offset by reduced state funding, according to the Oregon Economic Development Association and League of Oregon Cities. In the opinion of these organizations, that's the impetus for this legislation, Corvallis Economic Development Manager Christopher Jacobs said. Without an established fee rate, zone sponsors will be prevented from offering tax exemptions to businesses that apply in years four and five. In that sense, the hands of cities and counties are tied, despite the potential for negative impacts to local businesses. The deadline to establish a fee rate is Sept. 23. The city of Philomath, which has an enterprise zone that covers most of the city, according to Jacobs, has not yet done so. The Corvallis Economic Development Office is its zone sponsor as well. Tax exemptions in enterprise zones are really valuable to businesses, Jacobs said. And when those incentives are diluted, the industry for which they were designed to serve is potentially harmed. It makes a difference for those folks. And when you start to carve into that, even just by 15 to 30%, that comes directly out of their pockets, Jacobs said. It increases their costs of doing business. The Corvallis School District opted for the minimum 15% fee rate. If not for this being a state mandate, Jacobs said, I certainly wouldnt advocate for such a policy. During the Corvallis City Council meeting on Monday, Sept. 16, councilors expressed similar sentiments. Councilor Gabe Shepherd called the fee rates benefits a net zero. We just have to do it, he said, otherwise it makes things even worse. Councilor Paul Shaffer took his criticisms a step further. I would disagree with Gabe about this being zero sum. This is a net loser for Corvallis and everyone else with an enterprise zone, he said. We giveth and the state taketh away. And shy of legislation, theres not much we can do about that. Im terribly disappointed in this program. Despite councilors' trepidations, the resolution to establish a fee rate was passed unanimously. The same action occurred at the Benton County Board of Commissioners meeting the next morning. Before the motion to adopt, Commissioner Pat Malone posed the question: Are we voting for a necessary evil? At the City Council meeting, Shepherd told Jacobs that if he had any ideas regarding how to make the situation better, the City Legislative Committee which he chairs would love to hear them. Ill use this as an opportunity to highlight the importance of lobbying, Jacobs responded. Most economic development programs are not clear and objective, theyre political appropriations in Oregon. "And so having a seat at the table with those decision-makers brings resources to communities, and helps to influence policies like this, that are not business-friendly, that dont improve schools, that are just a transfer of responsibility. The fee rate will go into effect immediately for any new enterprise zone applications that are received, according to Jacobs. Staff writer Alex Powers contributed to this report. Related stories: Growing firms land tax breaks Even before the initial three-year enterprise zone designations expired on their new product Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. WASHINGTON At a Senate hearing on hate crimes, U.S. Sen. John N. Kennedy repeatedly suggested the head of a Muslim civil rights group supports terrorism and, despite her repeated denials, told her to hide her head in a bag drawing calls Wednesday for censure from an Arab-American association. During the hearing, Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, a nonpartisan civil rights representing about 3.7 million Arab Americans, said three times that she didnt support terrorist groups such as Hamas, but also offered that it was disappointing a senator would suggest she might simply because she was of Arab descent and Muslim. Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support, Berry said. Dogs Trust Ilfracombe is calling on local children to partake in a new fundraising challenge called PAW Patrol on a Stroll. The UKs largest dog welfare charity, Dogs Trust, is again partnering with PAW Patrol to raise important charity funds. Inspired by the animated preschool series PAW Patrol on Nickelodeon and Milkshake!, PAW Patrol on a Stroll will see young families partake in a sponsored walk throughout October, with all ages welcome to join. Dogs Trust, which rehomes around 11,000 dogs annually and has a rehoming centre in Ilfracombe, is encouraging young families and nurseries to become their pup heroes and make a big difference in the lives of dogs in need. Above. Image: Dogs Trust Participants will receive a fun-filled activity pack, along with their own fundraising page. Theyll also get a fundraising guide packed with creative ideas and helpful tips to support their efforts. All of the donations that your little heroes in training raise will help dogs get the love and care they need. Dogs Trust wants to help children understand how to form safe and healthy friendships with dogsjust like PAW Patrols Ryder does with rescue pups. In 2023, Dogs Trust delivered dog safety workshops to 481,534 children. Owen Sharp, Chief Executive of Dogs Trust, said: Were delighted to be partnering with PAW Patrol for a second year. Its fantastic to see young people coming together through this engaging initiative with the aim of raising essential funds for the important work we do at Dogs Trust. "As the UKs largest dog welfare charity with decades of expertise and experience at our fingertips, we do everything we can for every dog in our care to prepare them for the future they deserve, as quickly as we can, so that they spend less time in kennels. And, once they are in forever homes, we support them for as long as they need. The funds raised through this activity will be crucial to ensuring we are able to meet the needs of all the dogs we support. You can visit their website for more information on how to get. Gov. Eric Holcomb appointed a Porter County judge Wednesday to a vacant seat on the Indiana Court of Appeals. The Republican chief executive selected Porter Circuit Judge Mary DeBoer to join the state's 15-judge appellate court, whose three-judge panels annually rule on more than 2,000 appeals of criminal and civil trial court decisions from all 92 Indiana counties. "Judge DeBoer is a person of immense integrity, intellect and energy. I'm proud to appoint her to the Court of Appeals," Holcomb said. "Judge DeBoer's commitment to the law and justice will serve her fellow Hoosiers with distinction as she joins the second highest bench in Indiana." DeBoer was appointed judge of the Porter Circuit Court by Holcomb in 2019 following the retirement of Judge Mary Harper. Porter County voters elected DeBoer, a Republican, to a six-year term on the county bench in 2020. She said following the governor's office ceremony certifying her appointment to the Court of Appeals that she is "eternally grateful that the people of Porter County elected me to be their circuit court judge." "I feel like I have hit my stride both in the courtroom and in my community. I can't wait to work with my colleagues on the Court of Appeals and to discover the many ways I can contribute to the court as well as to the entire state of Indiana," DeBoer said. The judge currently oversees the juvenile justice center in Porter County, manages three problem-solving courts, and leads the alternative dispute resolution program and the local domestic violence committee, in addition to presiding over criminal and civil trials on a regular basis. "(These duties have) provided me with a platform where I acquired a varied and deep knowledge of many areas of the law and administration which will serve me well on the appellate court," DeBoer said. The Valparaiso University Law School graduate also previously worked as a Porter Superior Court magistrate, a deputy prosecutor in Porter and Starke counties, and an associate attorney in private practice. In July, the seven-member Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission, led by Chief Justice Loretta Rush, recommended DeBoer to the governor for the Court of Appeals vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Patricia Riley, a Rensselaer native, after 30 years on the Court of Appeals. The other candidates recommended to Holcomb out of eight applicants for the vacancy were Lake Superior Judge Stephen Scheele and St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Stephanie Steele. DeBoer said the extensive application and vetting process for the Court of Appeals "has been a labor of love for me for the past year." "I am deeply honored to have been selected by Governor Holcomb for this appellate judgeship. With Judge Riley's retirement, I have big shoes to fill. I will continue to infuse my energy and enthusiasm into all I do in Indianapolis and throughout the state," DeBoer said. A date for DeBoer's swearing-in and robing ceremony at the Indiana Court of Appeals has not yet been set. Holcomb will appoint DeBoer's successor at the Porter Circuit Court in coming months. The governor also will have the opportunity to select one more Court of Appeals judge before his second and final term as Indiana's chief executive ends Jan. 13, 2025. The Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission currently is considering a total of seven applicants to replace Appeals Judge Terry Crone, a South Bend native, following his retirement. Six of the seven also applied for the Riley vacancy, including Lake Superior Judge Gina Jones, of Crown Point; attorney Anna Mandula, of Crown Point; LaPorte Superior Judge Jaime Oss, of LaPorte; attorney Elizabeth Underwood, of Fort Wayne; as well as Scheele and Steele. Allen Superior Judge Andrew Williams is the final Court of Appeals applicant. The nominating commission is slated to interview the candidates in October and then recommend three to Holcomb, who will have 60 days to weigh which potential judge to put on the Court of Appeals for an initial two-year term. Hoosier voters will decide at a subsequent general election whether DeBoer and the other new judge should be retained on the appellate bench for another 10 years. Times staff writer Bob Kasarda contributed to this report. Gallery: Indiana historical markers in the Region First Physician Great Sauk (Sac) Trail St. John's Lutheran Church Tolleston Dutch in the Calumet Region St. John Township School, District #2 The Lincoln Highway/The Ideal Section The Lincoln Highway/The Ideal Section Froebel School - side 1 Froebel School Stewart Settlement House Stewart Settlement House Origin of Dr. MLK Day Law Origin of Dr. MLK Day Law Bailly Homestead Iron Brigade Willow Creek Confrontation Ogden ski jump.jpg Teale 1.jpg Teale 2.jpg Steel 1.jpg Steel 2.jpg Civil War camps.jpg Old lighthouse.jpg Railroad.jpg Camp Anderson.jpg Boundary line 1.jpg Boundary line 2.jpg LaPorte courthouse 1.jpg LaPorte courthouse 2.jpg Carnegie 1.jpg Carnegie 2.jpg Rumely Co 1.jpg Rumely Co 2.jpg Lincoln train 1.jpg Lincoln train 2.jpg LaPorte university 1.jpg Laporte university 2.jpg Gary Roosevelt 1 Gary Roosevelt 2 Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus 1.jpg Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus 2.jpg Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company that American and other officials named as the supplier of pagers used in attacks in Lebanon that killed at least 11 people, sought on Wednesday to distance itself from the devices. American and other officials briefed on the attack had said that Israel had inserted explosive material into a shipment of pagers from Gold Apollo, in an apparently coordinated operation aimed at Hezbollah. Gold Apollo denied that it had made the pagers, pointing instead at another manufacturer that it said had made that model of pager, using Gold Apollos brand, as part of a licensing deal. Explosive material that had been concealed inside a batch of the pagers detonated after they received a signal. Around 2,700 people were also injured by the attack. Ballistic armor companies are marketing protective products designed for the military to parents and schools. Some people see the items as unsettling but prudent; others find them infuriating. There have been more than 230 school shootings in the United States over the past decade and active shooter drills have become routine in students lives. Now, technologies developed to protect soldiers in war are being incorporated into everyday objects of childhood school days. At a recent educational trade show, a booth displaying backpacks with removable ballistic shields riddled with bullet marks from testing was set between booths for the textbook company McGraw Hill and the learning toy Speak & Spell. Some of these products come from major brands like 3M; others are designed by entrepreneurial parents. One thing they all have in common: theyre expensive ($185 for a pencil case, $450 for a bulletproof hoodie, $60,000 for a classroom shelter). Despite advertisements that tout official protection ratings by the National Institute of Justice, a federal agency, the institute declared such claims false and said that it has never tested nor certified any bullet-resistant items except body armor for law enforcement. School security measures and so-called target hardening are extraordinarily expensive and so far, there is not scientific evidence that they make schools safer, said Dewey Cornell, an expert in classroom safety at the University of Virginia who has trained threat assessment teams in thousands of schools. Steve Naremore, owner of the ballistic shield company TuffyPacks, acknowledged that it was a morbid industry. He said that he sold tens of thousands of products to parents within a week of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. People say, Oh, youre just profiting off the carnage, he said. And you know what I say? Look, dont blame me. Im just the fire extinguisher manufacturer, OK? One common marketing tactic is to emphasize kid-friendly aesthetics whimsical colors, patterns and adorable characters. Bulletproof Backpacks This backpack all unicorns and eyelashes also comes in 13 other patterns, from yellow puppies to blue dinosaurs an exclusive collection of artwork to engage children, touts the company, Atomic Defense. You can also choose a purported level of protection from pistols up to AR-15-style and AK-47 rifles. Kenneth Trump, a national school safety consultant, said he was skeptical that a backpack would have the surface area or fortuitous positioning to be effective. If you have the backpack, dont you also need a front pack, a helmet, and a Captain America shield? he said. The backpack is not particularly helpful when it is hanging on a hook in the back of the room. An image from a demonstration on the website of Tuffy Packs, a company that manufactures ballistic shield inserts for backpacks. Bulletproof Backpack Inserts The New York Times Tank the Turtle is a kindergarten-friendly ballistic shield mascot that encourages children to use their shells. Do you know how I stay safe? Tank asks in an animation video for the company, A Safe Pack, as he poses on a kitchen counter and skips into school alongside a child. I take my thick, hard shell on my back everywhere I go. Now, you can, too! Carrie Gaines, a mother of two with a military background, designed the turtle shields for her sons and has since sold thousands. If theres ever a real active shooter, her son Gunnar, 10, said in an interview, I can just tuck my arms, head and legs behind the shield and it will protect me. Bulletproof Clipboards The company Hardwire has made its bulletproof clipboard for teachers look pretty, with painterly palm fronds that supposedly protects against gunfire from handguns and shotguns. Dont worry, be happy with this extra slice of paradise-themed protection in hand, says the sales pitch. It also comes in Pink Sunrise and Starry Night. Mr. Trump, the national school safety consultant, was not persuaded. There really isnt evidence to show a high level of effectiveness. Are you telling me the entire class is going to go stand in a perfectly straight line behind the teachers clipboard? Some products boast a James Bond-like quality, with videos showing everyday items suddenly transforming into supposed lifesaving instruments. Bulletproof Three-Ring Binders This binder cover has a hidden strap so it can hang from a childs neck and, in theory, act as a body shield against handguns. 100% COVERT, the marketing materials proclaim. A demonstration image from the manufacturers website of Premier Body Armor. That was attractive to Aaron Taormino of Redding, Calif., who said he bought them for his grandchildren because he was constantly hearing about school shootings. He only wished they were lighter to carry, he said, and that they came in pink. Bulletproof Classroom Desks These desks, created in response to the Parkland shooting, have a lever that, when pulled, rotates the surface upright, transforming them into vertical bulletproof shields for students and staff. The manufacturer, First Line Furniture, said they were tested against high-caliber handguns, AR-15s, submachine guns, hand grenades and .308 sniper rifles. One marketing video shows 18 children behind upright desktops, as well as a drill in which kindergarten students hear a doorbell chime and run for cover within four seconds. A snippet from a series of demonstration video on First Line Furniture's website. Many thanks to our mini-friends and Mrs. Seals at Lineville Elementary School, the caption says, who demonstrated how quickly and easily our tables transform into deployable ballistic shields. Some are advertised as light and easy to carry but they have so little surface area that their potential effectiveness can be head-scratching. Bulletproof Pencil Pouches This quotidian-looking three-ring pencil pouch from Premiere Body Armor is hardly larger than a piece of letter paper. Youre talking about kids, whose executive function in the brain is still being developed, and youre asking them to make tactical decisions in that moment, Mr. Trump, the safety expert, said. A kid is not going to instinctively know, in this scenario, should I hold this in front of my head or my chest? But Daniel Leventry, a father and gun owner in Tampa, Fla., said he chose this for his 10-year-old son and plans to have his daughter, 5, carry one as soon as she is old enough to bring a binder to school. Having a discussion with a 5-year-old, or a 10-year-old, about, Hey, Im giving you body armor in case theres an attack in your school. Its not a conversation any parent wants to have at any level ever, you know what I mean? he said. Bulletproof Hoodies Wonder Hoodie claims its childrens sweatshirts will protect all the vital organs. The company promises: If you get shot (God forbid) with our hoodies on, well send you a replacement hoodie FREE of charge. Just include the police report or news clip. Many companies say the armored products will simply blend into the classrooms and in some cases can be used for educational purposes but some sales videos can be jarring. Bulletproof Portable Dry-Erase Boards This white board is made of ballistic armor panels that were designed for army recruitment centers, but blends into a classroom so that children dont feel like theyre in an army bunker, said J.C. Velazquez, the director of sales for the company, RTS Tactical. Lets just say, parents are not going to notice this at the P.T.A. meeting. But a product review video of a competing white board shows it undergoing bullet tests in front of a teddy bear. Bulletproof Collapsible Safe Rooms A snippet from a demonstration video on the KT Security Solutions website. This rapid access safe room can be installed either as a four-sided structure or a flat panel set flush against two existing classroom walls until needed for protection. In the meantime, its manufacturer, KT Security Solutions, suggests other classroom-enhancing uses, including as a reading space, sensory-friendly area for special needs children, free time room and more. A school district in Alabama purchased two of them for about $60,000 each. Blast Mitigation Window Film The clear window film, made by 3M, is a micro-layered laminate intended to prevent glass from shattering when struck by bullets from a semiautomatic rifle. The company claims it could delay an intruder attempting to shoot their way in. After the shooting in 2023 at Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., administrators at Salisbury Christian School in Maryland, added bullet-resistant laminate to the schools external doors. They plan to do the first-floor windows next. It costs a chunk of change, said Ross Kaelin, the schools principal of operations. But its worth every penny for the peace of mind. Bullet Resistant Hand-Held Shields While most of the products are designed to be discreet, this emergency response shield is emblazoned with the label ACTIVE SHOOTER PROTECTION and it depicts the very weapons it claims to fend off. Police officers in Uvalde, Texas, said they needed shields like these during the school shooting there in 2022, according to a federal report. Dr. Steven Lamkin, the head of Salisbury Christian School in Salisbury, Md., said 10 of the rifle-grade shields are now hanging near various school entrances, and countless smaller handgun-grade shields that double as dry-erase boards are distributed to classrooms. Ill be honest, I was hesitant at first, with these images of rifles and handguns on them, hanging around the school, he said, But I came to understand that, like with fire extinguishers, the visuals are important. A snippet from a demonstration video on the Hardwire website. Still, with another back-to-school season in full force, some educational leaders are deeply troubled by the proliferation of armored products. Arm us with books, counselors and resources, not bulletproof vests, said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. It is infuriating that rather than having the courage to solve the gun violence problem, we now have to confront the monetizing of fear. Product sources: atomicdefense.com, tuffypacks.com, premierbodyarmor.com, wonderhoodie.com, covenantsecurityequipment.com, rtstactical.com, firstlinefurniture.com, premierbodyarmor.com, ktsecuritysolutions.com, 3m.co.uk, asafepack.com, hardwirellc.com. A North Carolina man claims that a woman he has never met before filed legal documents claiming ownership of his $4 million home and managed to obtain the deed to his property. Raleigh dentist Dr. Craig Adams recently learned that the 8,300-square-foot home he has been living in for years is no longer in his name. Instead, it shows up in the name of a total stranger who allegedly filed a false warranty claim deed against the house and basically tried to steal it. Adams only learned that he apparently didnt own his property anymore after a neighbor called to ask him if he had sold it and informed him that a woman named Dawn Mangum had asked for the gate access codes. Shockingly, the owner also presented what appeared to be a legal deed in her name. To Adams surprise, the deed had indeed been legally obtained from the Register of Deeds and could not be revoked. They say theres absolutely nothing they can do to reverse this, Dr. Adams told local reporters. Once its filed their only solution is that I have to go hire a private attorney, and the first quote I got was about $8,000 to file a civil suit against this woman. The North Carolina dentist suspects that Mangums intention was to squat in the house and use the deed to slow down the eviction process, but the woman told ABC 7 Chicago that she only filed paperwork for the deed because she thought it had been abandoned and the law states that one can claim foreclosed properties. Furthermore, she insists that she wants to return the ownership to Adams, but the law doesnt allow it. The Register said they cant remove a document once it has been recorded. What the rightful property owner finds most frustrating about the whole situation is that the local Register of Deeds didnt bother running the simplest check before issuing a deed for a $4 million property to a complete stranger. He says that his case should be a warning to all North Carolina citizens because anyone can go downtown and make a false claim for someone elses property. There was no inquiry about who owns the property. If there had been just this one simple check, my name would have popped up, Adams said. There is no accountability measures none. However, the North Carolina Register of Deeds takes no responsibility for the situation, claiming that according to state law, its staff is under no obligation to verify the legal sufficiency of a deed when it is presented for registration or the capacity of the drafter. It can refuse to record a document if fraud is suspected, but there was apparently no such suspicion in this case. A couple of days ago, the Wake County Sheriffs Department detained Dawn Mangum of Louisburg after she was charged with knowingly filing a fraudulent deed against Adams $4 million property. 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. Online posters have claimed that an Irish teacher has been arrested and jailed for refusing to use a transgender pupils preferred pronouns. One person wrote: Irish Christian teacher arrested for refusing to endorse and affirm transgender ideology. Another, who is a German Member of the European Parliament, said: In Ireland, a teacher is being jailed for the third time because he refused to address a #Transgender student with the pronoun they. Madness in the #EU, the sick work of gender ideologues trying to abolish biology! Evaluation The teacher Enoch Burke has been repeatedly sent to prison for failing to comply with a restraining order which banned him from entering the school at which he had previously worked. He had been suspended and later dismissed from the school. The suspension followed his disruptive behaviour after being asked to refer to a pupil as they. The facts The school Enoch Burke was suspended as a teacher of history and German at Wilsons Hospital School in Co Westmeath in August 2022. After being asked by the school principal to refer to one pupil as they, Mr Burke interrupted a staff meeting in an agitated manner to speak about the request which he objected to and later interrupted a religious service. He also twice interrupted the principal when she was speaking to guests of the school and interacted with her in a manner which she and others who were present considered inappropriate, according to a court document. Mr Burke was suspended with pay by the schools board and dismissed in January 2023, a decision which he appealed against. The courts Mr Burke was ordered to stay away from the school premises by a judge in August 2022 and in a second ruling in September that year. He was jailed in September 2022 for failing to comply with the first order. A ruling on his continued imprisonment in December that year stated that Mr Burke has consistently refused to agree to stay away from the school. As part of the ruling it was ordered he be released from prison. The judge thought Mr Burke was exploiting his imprisonment for his own ends and he had become a household name. That ruling was clear that the prison sentence was not made because he refused to use the childs preferred pronouns, but rather over his repeated attempts to go to the school: Mr Burke asserts that his religious beliefs prevent him from describing transgender people as they, and projects his imprisonment as some sort of punishment visited upon him because he has stood up for these beliefs. He is incorrect in this as his jailing has been brought about by his own decision to attend the school when he knew that he had been ordered not to do so. Shortly after his release, on January 5 and 6, 2023, Mr Burke again attended the school, in defiance of a court order. A new court order issued that month said he should be fined 700 euros (591) for every day that passed until he started to comply. On July 19, 2023, Mr Burke was banned from entering or trespassing on premises at the school without permission but again he did not comply. In September 2023 he was jailed for a second time until he purges his contempt of the court order. Between then and June 2024 there were six subsequent occasions when Mr Burke was given the opportunity to say he would comply with the court order. He declined to give the undertakings sought. He was released from prison on June 28, 2024. The following month, a judge said of the restraining order: It is for repeated breach of this order, and for no other reason, that Mr Burke has been imprisoned. The court added: It is not open to Mr Burke to conclude unilaterally that the order of the court breaches his constitutional rights and is thus void ab initio (void from the beginning), such that he does not have to comply with it. On September 2 2024, Mr Burke attended Wilsons Hospital School and was arrested by gardai, a video released by his family to the media showed. Following a High Court hearing, he was sent to prison for a third time, media reports showed. Links Post on Facebook (archived) Post on X (archived) Wilsons Hospital School and Enoch Burke Judgment delivered on July 19, 2024 (archived) Wilsons Hospital School and Enoch Burke Judgment delivered on December 21, 2022 (archived) Enoch Burke and Mediahuis Ireland and others Judgment delivered June 13, 2024 (archived) Daily Mail family release video of arrest Sky News Enoch Burke jailed for third time for breaking court order RTE Enoch Burke jailed for third time for breaking court order Wilsons Hospital School and Enoch Birke Judgment delivered on May 19, 2023 (archived) A new Troubles legacy commission could have dealt with the Pat Finucane murder case but such a move may have caused a problem with the Irish government, the bodys chief commissioner has said. Sir Declan Morgan told a Stormont Assembly committee that it would have been within the competence of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to investigate the collusion-linked loyalist paramilitary murder of the Belfast solicitor in 1989. The UK government ordered a public inquiry into the murder last week following a long campaign by the Finucane family. The Government has turned down requests for public inquiries in other Troubles killings, such as that of murdered GAA official Sean Brown in 1997, arguing that those cases should be dealt with by the ICRIR. Explaining the rationale, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the Finucane case was exceptional because the UK had committed to holding a public inquiry into the circumstances of the murder as part of an international agreement with the Irish government more than 20 years ago. On Wednesday, Sir Declan told members of the Executive Office committee that failing to order a public inquiry could have undermined the principle of international law. However, he made clear that his commission would have been capable of taking on the case. He said he was not aware of any other significant reason, other than the international agreement, that made the case exceptional in the context of Troubles investigations. Sir Declan, who is Northern Irelands former lord chief justice, also challenged the suggestion that public inquiries had more powers than the ICRIR to disclose classified information, highlighting that the Government effectively retained a veto on disclosure in regard to both. The Secretary of State can give a ministerial direction as to what is to be disclosed and what isnt (in a public inquiry), he said. Thats the point about a public inquiry it doesnt do what it says on the tin. And sometimes what happens is that people go and create expectations with families about things that are going to happen, that cant happen, and its not fair to the families for that to happen. In regard to the Finucane case, he added: The commitment to a public inquiry in relation to Mr Finucane was made about 20 years ago between the two governments. It is an intergovernmental commitment. The delivery of that commitment represents an adherence to the concept of the rule of law on an international basis, and if that commitment hadnt been honoured, then I think it might well have been undermining of the approach to the rule of law. But when two governments make a commitment to each other, the expectation is that they will do what they say. The ICRIR was created by the Conservative governments Legacy Act which halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths. It has powers to look into more than 3,500 killings and can accept requests for the next five years. It has had more than 100 approaches from families since it was set up and has moved into the information recovery stage with eight cases to date. The new Labour government has vowed to repeal the most contentious aspect of the Legacy Act, the offer of conditional immunity from prosecution for perpetrators, but it has pledged to retain the ICRIR. Prior to the general election, the Irish Government brought an interstate legal case against the UK, claiming the Legacy Act breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The case remains active, with the Dublin administration awaiting the new UK government to follow through with its repeal pledge before dropping it. Sir Declan suggested that case was likely a factor in the UKs considerations ahead of ordering the Finucane public inquiry. The ICRIR, in my view, could have dealt with the Finucane case in terms of its competence to do it, he told the committee. I have no doubt about that. But I can certainly see that from the point of view of the Irish government, who are challenging the Act and implicitly the commission that for the Secretary of State to refer the matter to us might have been a problem. TUV committee member Timothy Gaston asked Sir Declan whether he viewed the Finucane case as exceptional. Apart from the fact that there was an intergovernmental agreement, Im not aware of any other significant feature of the Finucane case that springs to mind, he replied. A site in Tullamore for the multi-million Midlands hospice development is expected to be chosen by the Department of Health in the near future. A SITE in Tullamore for the multi-million Midlands hospice development is expected to be chosen by the Department of Health in the near future. Two locations at Arden Lane and at the Wellwood Health Park, both in Tullamore have been identified as sites for the multi-million development. It is understood that an independent review commissioned by the Health Service Executive selected the Arden Lane site as the preferred location for the hospice. This week, Offaly Hospice Foundation, released a statement giving nine reasons why the Wellwood Health Park is its preferred location for the new hospice. The Arden Lane site is the preferred option of the Irish Hospice Foundation, Laois Hospice, the two hospices in county Westmeath and Tullamore Lions Club's Hooves4Hospice fundraising campaign which has raised substantial funds through the sale of cattle for the hospice development. The retired Chief Executive Officer of the Midland Health Board, Denis Doherty, who is a member of the Hooves4Hospice committee, said the Arden Lane site, measuring 3.7 acres, was twice the size of the Wellwood site. Speaking to the Tribune on Tuesday afternoon, he said the hospice planned for there would be single storey in keeping with guidelines issued by the Department of Health for such developments. He revealed that the Hooves4Hospice committee has an agreement in principle to purchase the Arden Lane site for the development if this location is chosen. Humphrey O'Connor, Chairman of Offaly Hospice Foundation, also speaking to the Tribune on Tuesday, said, if the Wellwood location is chosen, they will purchase the site from the Flanagan Group at a discount price and donate it free of charge to the Health Service Executive. He added; "Since its foundation 34 years ago Offaly Hospice has been the key fundraising organisation promoting palliative care services in Offaly and more widely across the Midlands region. A statement from Offaly Hospice listed nine advantages of the Wellwood site as follows: 1. In keeping with national guideline, the site on Wellwood is co located with Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore giving access to all essential medical services and support when necessary. 2. The site is zoned appropriately for healthcare developments 3. There is no obstacle to making an immediate planning application 4. There are no external infrastructure challenges for delivering this development. 5. Irish Water has given a connection agreement for both sewer and possible water 6. Direct access from the N52 bypass will give stress free access to families from throughout the region 7. Public connectivity to this site is excellent 8. There is good precedent for planning related development with the recently granted planning for a hospital on Wellwood 9. Wellwood also has plans for onsite accommodation for hospital staff. Professor O'Connor added: Apart from our campaign to build and commission the Midlands regional hospice, Offaly Hospice over the years has supported the important Community and Health Care Team. For instance, over the past 10 years Offaly Hospice has donated over 1.3m to the HSE to help provide those services and will continue to do so. Meanwhile, Deputy Carol Nolan blasted what she termed a "copy and paste reply" from the Health Minister to her Dail question last week on the planned hospice development. This reply is just not acceptable. Indeed, the Minister issued almost the precise same reply a number of months ago. It is the kind of copy and paste response that so many public representatives receive on critical matters. We need absolute clarity on this issue not stock responses that advance us no further, said Deputy Nolan. In his written reply, Minister Donnelly said: "The development of a new specialist palliative care inpatient unit at Tullamore is a named priority area for action in the HSE National Service Plan (NSP) 2024, HSE Capital Plan 2024 and Three-Year Palliative Care Services Development Framework (2017 2019). It is also a commitment in the Programme for Government. "As Minister, I am fully committed to the building of a new Midlands Hospice. In September 2022, the Government announced 20 million in capital funding for the development of a 20-bed specialist palliative care inpatient unit in the Midlands. The development will provide a hub for the provision of specialist palliative care services across the Midlands, including day care, outpatient, inpatient and community services. In 2024, the palliative care budget increased to a total allocation of 155.5m. "It is anticipated that a decision on the chosen site for the new Midlands Hospice will be announced shortly. The selected site will provide the best palliative care to the people of the Midlands. The Department of Health will continue to progress developments for palliative care services in Ireland, working towards the highest possible quality of end-of-life care and support for people with life limiting illnesses across the country." Meanwhile, Fine Gael General Election candidate in Offaly, Cllr. John Clendennen has called on the Minister for Health to urgently announce the preferred location for the construction of a new regional hospice facility in Tullamore. "The development of a dedicated hospice facility to serve the Midlands has been under consideration for some time. However, no decision has yet been made on the preferred location." Commenting on the need for immediate action, Cllr Clendennen stated: "The region needs to move forward now with the delivery of this vital hospice facility for the Midlands, which will be based in Tullamore. I have written to Minister Donnelly to express my support and the urgency of making a decision on the location. I have also remained in contact with An Taoiseach Simon Harris regarding this critical matter." Cllr Clendennen emphasised the importance of the project, highlighting that "this hospice facility represents a Government investment in excess of 20 million and is long overdue. Currently, hospice patients from the Midlands are relying on services provided in other regions across the country. On a basic level of human rights, this dignified and sensitive medical care must be provided as a matter of urgency." Cllr Clendennen concluded by stressing the time-sensitive nature of the decision, stating, "With the Government nearing the end of its full term, it is essential that Minister Donnelly makes this decision as a matter of urgency." Denis Doherty said the Midlands is the only region in the country without a hospice. "We are very far behind," he outlined. Recognising the potential boost for the economy, Malaysia broke the mould by opting to push mobile network operators to deploy 5G through a single network strategy. This was a move the government bet on to elevate Malaysia as a global leader in telecoms, bolster digital infrastructure and support emerging technologies; to shape Malaysia as a digital economy hub to attract foreign investment and businesses. The Malaysian government under then Prime Minster Muhyiddin Yassin created Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), the state-owned wholesale company tasked with building and managing Malaysias national 5G network. The single network strategy was created to lower cost to deploy 5G infrastructure, provide consumers with high average speeds, and efficiently spread coverage. But it wasnt all plain sailing as Malaysias largest operators pushed back against the controversial plan, delaying deployment, while neighbouring nations pushed on with their rollouts. Developing Telecoms has compiled all the key moments in Malaysias unique 5G journey. Founding DNB DNB was established in early March 2021 with its first task outlined to launch Malaysias 5G network in populated areas from December 15. The DNB model essentially was intended to avoid duplicating mobile sites from operators and allow telcos to access the national network on a wholesale basis. Ericsson was named as the companys exclusive equipment vendor in July 2021 ending its rigorous tender process. Citing a report published in conjunction with consultancy firm EY, DNB said that the adoption of 5G technologies will increase Malaysias GDP by 5% to MYR122 billion (US$29 billion), and create 148,000 jobs. Pushback from operators Malaysias largest operators Celcom, Maxis, Digi, and U Mobile protested against a single company holding sole power to deploy 5G. They argued the model was inefficient and does not encourage competition, demanding the traditional model of each operator building its own 5G infrastructure. Industry body the GSMA noted at the time Single Wholesale Networks (SWN) in other markets had a track record of failing. It was reported that operators didnt exactly push to the front of the queue for capacity from DNB, leading to the wholesale company to reportedly offer pricing incentives. The government was apparently mulling scrapping the SWN plan due to the lack of support from operators. YTL Communications said Yes 5G The majority of Malaysias operators chose to stick to their guns and did not sign purchase agreement deals with DNB. The wholesale company did launch 5G in certain locations around Kuala Lumpur with state-owned Telekom Malaysia and YTL Communications but it was a rather damp affair without the backing of all operators. Not wanting to miss out, operators continued to fight their corner. Celcom, Digi, Maxis and U Mobile proposed the formation of a second 5G wholesaler to provide competition and avoid DNB having a monopoly over the deployment of 5G. Major operators finally got onboard a year later It took almost a whole year since the initial small-scale launch of Malaysias 5G network, but major telcos finally agreed to sign up to DNBs 5G network in October 2022 in 10-year access deals and launched commercial services. A key enabler for the deal was the government allowing Celcom, Digi, Telekom Malaysia, Maxis and YTL Communications distributing equally among themselves 65% of shares in DNB. But then new Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim accused DNB of not being transparent and called for a review after DNB revealed that it will spend MYR16.5 billion over the next decade to deploy 5G infrastructure. The network will be funded by revenues generated by the sale of 5G capacity the MNOs. There is no government funding or guarantees anticipated or expected, other than an initial start-up investment of MYR500 million, said DNB at the time. By January 2023, DNB claimed it had achieved 50% coverage in populated areas reaching over 15 million people. It then outlined ambitions to connect 80% of populated areas by the end of 2024. Shifting to a dual-network model Prime Minster Ibrahim initiated a review of DNBs SWN model and announced in May 2023 that Malaysia will transition to a dual-network model, in what seemed to be a massive concession to get operators more onside. Under this plan, after DNB reaches 80% population coverage by the end of 2023, a second provider will be launched to increase competition and improve 5G quality. DNB hit its target in December 2023 and in the following month the Malaysian government unveiled the dual-network model in January 2023. But baggage remained in DNB, as Channel News Asia reported the wholesale company was failing to strike enhanced Share Subscription Agreements (SSA) with operators. A report DNB went on to deny and stated these deals are currently undergoing negotiations. Telekom Malaysia, CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile and YTL Power International signed their SSA in December 2023 to take a 14% stake each in DNB for a collective 70% stake. In March 2024, industry bench markers Ookla ranked Malaysias 5G network as a leading example in South East Asia and one of the best performing 5G networks globally. Malaysias 5G median download speed was 451.79 Mbps, which was higher than Singapores 329.73 Mbps, Thailands 129.40 Mbps, and the Philippines 125.14 Mbps. Malaysia also had the best upload speed in the region with 51.84 Mbps, compared to 27.57 Mbps in Singapore, 23.63 Mbps for Thailand, and 12 Mbps for the Philippines. Innovators in the agrifood sector have the opportunity to showcase their cutting-edge solutions at evokeAG. 2025. This annual convergence of innovation, science, technology, and ideas shaping the future of agrifood has recently been awarded Startup Event of the Year at Startup Dailys 2024 Best in Tech Awards. Applications are now open for the evokeAG. 2025 Startup Program, where 40 high-potential agrifood tech startups will receive a free pass to participate in evokeAG. 2025 in Brisbane on 18-19 February 2025. The evokeAG. 2025 Startup Program offers a unique platform for Startups and Scaleups to showcase their solutions to key challenges in agriculture, attract investment, forge commercial partnerships and drive positive change in the agrifood sector. Australian-based innovators in agritech, foodtech, spacetech, climate tech, biotech and sustainability are encouraged to apply, with ten places offered to international startups. The evokeAG. 2025 Startup Program features: Startup Alley: A diverse cohort of 40 Startups tackling global agricultural challenges will have the chance to showcase their solutions at evokeAG., meet investors, engage with industry leaders, and join the network of evokeAG. alumni. Scaleup Station: Twelve agrifood Scaleups that have previously participated in Startup Alley will have the opportunity to demonstrate their technology at evokeAG., connect with potential partners, and accelerate their growth. Demo Stage: A demo stage in the exhibition hall will give Startups and Scaleups the opportunity to present their agrifood technologies to potential customers, and facilitate connections with investors, potential partners and industry experts. Culinary Capital: The 2025 Culinary Capital dinner has been reimagined to create deeper connections between startups, investors, producers, and corporates. Five Startups and/or Scaleups including two international companies from the Program will be given the opportunity to participate in an interactive dinner, featuring rotating tables designed to facilitate meaningful discussions about their products and foster valuable relationships. Agventure Downunder: A new initiative for 2025 will see ten international agrifood tech Startups be given the opportunity to expand their technology into the Australian markets. Startups will gain insights on navigating the Australian market, building networks with key stakeholders, and receive tailored support for market access and technology trials, all within a program that positions Australias diverse landscapes as a global test bed for agrifood innovations. Harriet Mellish, General Manager of Global Innovation Networks at AgriFutures, encourages Startups and Scaleups from local and global markets to seize this opportunity to showcase their technology alongside world-leading thought leaders, innovators and companies, and accelerate the success of their ventures. evokeAG. is where the future of agriculture takes shape. Our Startup Program is not just about showcasing innovation, its about empowering the next generation of agrifood leaders to tackle the sectors most pressing challenges, Mellish said. By bringing together the brightest minds and the most groundbreaking technologies in the agrifood tech sector, we are building a stronger and more interconnected ecosystem for the future. Since its inception in 2019 the evokeAG. Startup Program has been instrumental in fostering a thriving agrifood innovation community, supporting the growth of 142 Startups globally. Fern Ho, Co-Founder and CEO of The Leaf Protein Co. and 2024 Startup Program alumni, spoke on how the program has boosted her startups success. As an early-stage startup, evokeAG. has helped us make some of the best connections in the agrifood industry. A number of these experts we now work closely with as mentors or they have joined the business. Id absolutely recommend any agrifood startup in Australia to apply for the opportunity to give your business fantastic exposure to the agrifood industry, not just in Australia but also with many of the delegates who come from overseas, Ho said. In June, The Leaf Protein Co. raised $850,000 in a pre-seed round to support the expansion of their pilot plant and the start of commercial production. The raise was led by the University of Melbournes Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, LaunchVics agtech sidecar fund, Loyal VC and the Hugh Victor Mckay Fund. evokeAG. is where the global agrifood tech and innovation world converges to find common ground to address challenges and drive a more productive, profitable and sustainable agrifood supply chain. Applications for the evokeAG. 2025 Startup Program are open from Monday, 16 September 2024, until Sunday, 20 October 2024. For more information on eligibility criteria, the program, and how to apply, visit evokeag.com. Google Australia has announced the inaugural cohort of eight AI-focussed Aussie startups who will join a 10-week accelerator program offering mentorship from Google AI experts, technical support, networking and workshops. Eight finalists will join the Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First program, an equity-free, hybrid accelerator program tailored for Seed and Series A Aussie startups building AI and ML-driven platforms and products. The AI First program is part of Google Australias $1 billion Digital Future Initiative and is designed to help Aussie startups that are building and discovering AI and ML solutions grow rapidly and responsibly. It expands on Googles commitment to foster local AI innovation through initiatives such as the recent AI Sprint and Google Certificates. Australia is a trailblazer in AI innovation and has a vibrant startup industry. Under the Digital Future Initiative, were excited to be fostering that potential, said Scott Riddle, Google Australia and New Zealand. The AI Accelerator will give these AI-focused startups support, mentorship, and resources to grow rapidly and responsibly. We look forward to working with these incredible Australian businesses to help shape the future of AI innovation in Australia. The eight finalists who will join the accelerator are: Asseti: Overview : Asseti focuses on improving asset management by offering automated condition reporting and predictive maintenance solutions. : Asseti focuses on improving asset management by offering automated condition reporting and predictive maintenance solutions. Key Features: Automated reporting, predictive maintenance, streamlining asset management processes. BuildShip: Overview : BuildShip provides a low-code platform for creating backend APIs, automating complex workflows, and integrating various tools using AI. : BuildShip provides a low-code platform for creating backend APIs, automating complex workflows, and integrating various tools using AI. Key Features: Low-code development, workflow automation, AI-driven tool integration. FetchPet: Overview : FetchPet aims to simplify pet health management through an app that offers insight-backed pet insurance and other health-related features tailored to Australian pets. : FetchPet aims to simplify pet health management through an app that offers insight-backed pet insurance and other health-related features tailored to Australian pets. Key Features: Pet health management, insight-backed pet insurance, tailored services for Australian pets. GigaBuddy: Overview : GigaBuddy is an AI-powered platform designed to enhance online community management by providing intelligent and empathetic tools for community managers. : GigaBuddy is an AI-powered platform designed to enhance online community management by providing intelligent and empathetic tools for community managers. Key Features: AI-driven community management, tools for empathy and intelligence, community enhancement. LoveHeart: Overview : LoveHeart is an intelligent teaching assistant that helps educators gain insights into a childs development and plan appropriate teaching strategies. : LoveHeart is an intelligent teaching assistant that helps educators gain insights into a childs development and plan appropriate teaching strategies. Key Features: Developmental insights, teaching strategy planning, intelligent assistance for educators. Marqo: Overview : Marqo offers a platform for training, embedding, and retrieving vector embeddings, facilitating the creation of powerful search, recommendation, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications. : Marqo offers a platform for training, embedding, and retrieving vector embeddings, facilitating the creation of powerful search, recommendation, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications. Key Features: Vector embeddings, search and recommendation applications, RAG capabilities. Sauce: Overview : Sauce provides real-time AI-driven customer insights tailored for product and customer-facing teams, helping them understand and respond to customer needs. : Sauce provides real-time AI-driven customer insights tailored for product and customer-facing teams, helping them understand and respond to customer needs. Key Features: Real-time AI insights, customer understanding, support for product and customer-facing teams. Springboards: Overview : Springboards is an AI-powered creative agency designed to inspire and accelerate creative minds, providing tools and support for the best creative work. : Springboards is an AI-powered creative agency designed to inspire and accelerate creative minds, providing tools and support for the best creative work. Key Features: AI-driven creative support, inspiration for creative minds, acceleration of creative processes. For more information about how Googles programs are helping startups globally, see Googles recent Accelerator Impact Report. Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Over three months have passed since Houthi militants rounded up scores of United Nations staff, all of whom were working to bring life-saving assistance to the Yemeni people at the time of their detention. Speaking to the UN Security Council, Ambassador Robert Wood, U.S. Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs, called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees, including eleven U.S. diplomatic staff members held since 2021. The Houthis continue to not only mistreat these detainees, but also seek to exploit them through the release of so-called confession videos. This shameless propaganda is appalling and should be universally condemned, he said. Houthi intimidation tactics have also increasingly focused on the remaining Yemeni staff of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations. Humanitarian workers in the Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen are increasingly worried about their safety. There is absolutely no justification for the threatening and intimidation of UN workers and others carrying out their lawful humanitarian work. The Houthis continued attacks against ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways also continue to threaten regional peace and security, as well as international navigational freedoms, warned Ambassador Wood: These continued unjustified actions have already resulted in the tragic deaths of innocent mariners and continue to threaten the lives of Member States citizens and interests of the international community. Every time the Houthis launch an attack, they not only threaten the lives of mariners from many nations, but also risk creating an environmental catastrophe from damage to oil tankers and other ships carrying hazardous materials. The Houthis have made clear they care only about themselves, said Ambassador Wood. They are willing to destroy the fishing industry and regional ecosystems that Yemen and other communities in the region rely on for their livelihoods, just as they have undermined the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to the region. Ambassador Wood urged Council members to make clear to the Houthis backers in Tehran that they hold Iran responsible for arming and enabling the Houthis to carry out attacks. Recent flooding in Yemen has made support and technical assistance from the United States and other international partners more crucial than ever. This is not the time for political posturing and disunity, warned Ambassador Wood. It is time for the Council to work together to address the political, security, and humanitarian challenges that plague Yemenis. Anti-Semitism was as prevalent as an ocean breeze in South Florida during the '30s, '40s and '50s. But an historic property, built by Hollywood founder Joseph Young, soon became a port of entry for Jewish patrons who were mostly unwelcome here. Built in 1925, the "Grand Lady" was sold after the "Big Blow" hurricane of 1926 and the depressed real estate market that followed. Interestingly, though, Joseph Young turned over the keys to his creation to two Jewish businessmen, according to Clive Taylor, the president of the Hollywood Historical Society. And these new owners challenged the prevailing winds of their era - they welcomed Jewish patrons to what was then called the Hollywood Beach Hotel. The property changed hands a number of other times, and lived on in a variety of incarnations. But now it sits abandoned and in poor shape. A major real estate developer from New York City owns most of it. And some residents worry the current owner wants to build two 35-story tower buildings on Hollywood's shrine to anti-Semitic resistance. What follows is an email interview with Taylor. The Hollywood Beach Hotel had a grand design for its era. Talk about that. The Hollywood Beach Hotel, designed by Rubush and Hunter in the Spanish mission style, stood out in the 1920s for its unique and elaborate design, including features like offset towers, bell niches, and detailed ornamentation. As Joseph Young's flagship project, it became a landmark and a key part of Hollywood's early identity. Its detailed architecture, including statues and intricate columns, contributed to its prominence. Almost immediately the man who built the hotel had to unload it. Discuss that history, including the people who bought it. Young's ownership of the hotel was brief, ending due to the 1926 hurricane and subsequent real estate crash. The hotel was auctioned in 1930, and purchased by Ed Rosenthal and Kaufman of Kaufman Jewelers, two Jewish businessmen. The new owners did something brave during the '30s, '40s and '50s. What was that? Why is that history significant? During a time of prevalent anti-Semitism, the decision to open the hotel to Jewish patrons was notable and progressive, reflecting broader social changes and the role of Jewish entrepreneurs in shaping Hollywood. The Hollywood Beach Hotel's welcoming stance towards Jewish patrons during an era of exclusion was significant. This decision, alongside other Jewish contributions to the city, helped shape Hollywood's demographic and cultural landscape. What happened next? After World War II, the hotel was sold to Ben Tobin, who continued Jewish ownership until the 1980s. The hotel eventually became the Florida Bible College and then faced various ownership changes. The property has since become fragmented, with various parts sold off separately, complicating potential redevelopment efforts. However, a major part of the property, including what is now called the Hollywood Beach Resort, was purchased by a New York City developer with a history of building and purchasing tall structures. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). To make it shorter, I use a referencing style so only if interested in more information you can go to the links. The Zionist colonial carnage in our region continues in many fronts from Gaza Strip to Lebanon [1]. Yoav Litvin argues that the opposite of war is not "peace" but creation [2]. But peace is a big subject and our definition is actually a condition of sustainability of and harmony between humans and also with nature! The creation we engage in as activists and building institutions like ours (palestinenature.org) is a form of resistance not just to war but to oppression, ethnic cleansing, destruction of lives, theft of cultural heritage and more. All of this must start with decolonizing our minds (those of oppressed people and oppressors) [3]. Then it must involve truth telling. That involves challenging the myriad of lies that are told about for example what is happening in Palestine [4]. An example is that we must challenge the media and government lies told about Israeli assassination of US/Turkish citizen Aysa [5]. It includes the media blackout on the fact that a third person self-immolates in the US in protest US support of genocide [6]. Then it must be followed by actions and there are dozens of ways to act towards creation of a new reality [7]. Israeli authorities have been attacking Aid workers create new reality and that is why the war machine fights them. Israel killed 170 UN workers alone and are now restricting or denying entry of international humanitarian organizations into the Palestinian occupied territories. Many international organizations besides the UN (and UNRWA that is especially targeted) give support to people [8]. Local organizations also work diligently to build the new reality. Some governments and businesses took measures [9]. There is a growth of people dissolution with colonial zionism and finally turning towards what we Palestinians have advocated for decades: a pluralistic democratic country of its people [10]. But most of the positive energy and optimism I receive is from the amazing resiliency and beauty of our people [11]. The man from Bethlehem and the dangers of hypocrisy: Last April a man from Bethlehem visited Australia. Like an earlier man born in Bethlehem, he delivered some well-directed words that did not always settle on welcoming ears. [1] The latest Israeli massacre and Gaza officials release lists of known victims and the Israeli regime terror attack using pagers injured 2800 Lebanese and killed 10 (many civilians including doctors and nurses who use pager). [2] see his interview and read his take on Gaza. [3] See our research paper on this and also see "Manufactured Water Scarcity and Mental Colonization: A Conversation with Mazin Qumsiyeh." The Free Library. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom 16 Sept. 2024. [4] See ongaza.org. [5] New video, witnesses challenge Israels account of U.S. Activist's killing (WaPo). [6] Aaron Bushnell. [7] What you can do. [8] For example Quakers have been in Gaza and the rest of Palestine since 1948 working to provide humanitarian assistance as well engage in robust programming in the US to tell about the ongoing ethnic cleansing and horrors. [9] See bdsmovement.net for BDS successes and examples of who took measures (businesses and governments) for Palestinian rights here (interactive map). [10] See Sharing the Land of Canaan, and one-state, and Anticipating Israels Counter-Attack: Make the One Democratic State Solution Mainstream Again by Mazin Qumsiyeh and Alain Alameddine, promotional video for article. [11] See this to uplift your spirit. Stay Human 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 For almost eight decades, the United Nations has served as a shared global platform to promote international peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights. This month, the United Nations will hold its annual General Assembly. During this years session, the United States will focus on three overarching policy priorities. The first is working together to address conflict and crises in places like Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burma, where hundreds of millions of people face danger and uncertain futures. The United States is committed to working with partners and the UN to promote stability in pursuit of a free, open, secure, and prosperous world. Another goal of the UNGA must be to revitalize overstretched humanitarian support systems. The United States remains the largest single donor of humanitarian aid through the UN. At the same time, the U.S. is committed to working toward a global system that brings more tools and resources to bear and prioritizes cooperation and burden sharing. The United States firmly believes that the UN, including the Security Council, must be inclusive in order to be credible, legitimate, and effective. This is why President Joe Biden re-affirmed U.S. support for an expanded Security Council during last years General Debate, when he called for more voices and more perspectives at the table. The United States remains committed to accelerating progress on the sustainable development goals and to reinvigorate the multilateral system so that it is better positioned to deliver solutions on the issues that matter most to the lives and livelihoods of people. The United States looks forward to the Summit of the Future during which the UN membership will reaffirm its commitment to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Recognizing the need for reforms, the U.S. is urging the UN and its member states to pursue a modernization agenda to adapt to the evolving challenges. That includes modernizing the Security Council, which should remain central to addressing threats to international peace and security. It also includes an evolution of the multilateral development bank system to better address poverty and promote prosperity. The U.S. will continue to support the UN as a global platform to promote international peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights. Karachi, [18-09-24] - Jab Chaho, a leading provider in the laundry and dry cleaning industry, is thrilled to announce the expansion of its services to better meet the needs of its customers. As a top name in dry cleaning and laundry services, Jab Chaho now offers a range of new and improved services including same-day dry cleaning, premium laundry options, and efficient pickup and delivery services. Jab Chaho continues to set [Sugar Land, Texas] - Publishing Mojo of the book publishing company has affirmed its unique strategy towards the use of innovation to transform the book publishing business. As a publishing company that is devoted to authors and the enhancement of the publishing process, Publishing Mojo has an array of services that enable the advancement and promotion of literature masterpieces and their dissemination to the world. Having specialized in book publishing, Publishing Bangalore, India - September 18, 2024: A Travel start-up based in Bangalore, Trip Cabinet has closed a funding of $6M. $5 million in a funding round aimed at increasing its market share of the market as well as developing its travel offerings. The travel industry is gradually recovering and Trip Cabinet intends to be an industry leader that focuses on providing unique value Propositions to the travel industry. Three more federal civil rights lawsuits were filed against Oregon Youth Authority staff Wednesday, alleging three different employees groomed and sexually abused youth and young adults who were in custody. The latest litigation brings the total to six lawsuits filed against the Oregon Youth Authority this year. The suits also accuse supervisors of failing to intervene and report the sexual abuse. A man who used a sledgehammer to bust through the wall of a Southeast Portland pawn shop and helped steal 47 guns was sentenced Tuesday to nearly five years in prison. Kory Dean Boyd, 39, was one of five people involved in the gun heist at Pawn Central off Southeast Stark Street but the only one identified and prosecuted. After 4 years in which they were offered $1.62 billion, school districts around Oregon have just 13 more days to spend down the last of use-it-or-lose-it federal aid intended to get students and staff through the pandemic and its aftermath. Oregon is not among the 25 or so jurisdictions that requested and were granted extensions. That means districts must spend their funds by the end of September or risk having to return the money. After a series of leadership changes and fundraising concerns put the Oregon Shakespeare Festivals season last year at risk of cancellation, the 90-year-old theater company is entering a new act. Gabriella Calicchio, who was selected following a national search, will become the companys new executive director in November. Calicchio will take the place of Tyler Hokama, who was named interim executive director in June 2023 amid several staff departures and layoffs within the Ashland theater company. She will spend the next few months working closely with Hokama and senior staff as she familiarizes herself with the role, according to a statement released Tuesday. Kaitlin Olson, who has shown her talent for both comedy and drama in such projects as Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia and her Emmy-nominated work in Hacks, gets an opportunity to play to both of those strengths as the star of the new series, High Potential, which premieres Tuesday, Sept. 17, on ABC. High Potential, which is inspired by a French series, stars Olson -- who was born in Portland and attended Tigard High School and the University of Oregon -- as Morgan, a single mother who works as a cleaning lady. But Morgans abilities as a high potential intellectual, as the pilot tells us, means she possesses advanced cognitive gifts. In the first episode, Morgan is at work cleaning a police officer, when she comes across a case file, and -- brainiac that she is -- figures out on the spot that the woman the police believe is a crime suspect is actually a victim. Various complications ensue, but by the end of the episode, Morgan has helped a Los Angeles police detective (played by Daniel Sunjata) solve a murder, and agreed to the suggestion made by his boss (Judy Reyes) that she work as a consultant with the department to find solutions to crimes. The show, whose executive producers include Drew Goddard (whose credits include screenplays for Cloverfield, The Martian, and more), blends elements of police procedurals with moments of drama and comedy. During a panel in which creators and cast members discussed the show at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, Olson said of Morgan that the character is very flawed, very mouthy, and also very grounded. She is a very loving mother. Im a very loving mother. That wasnt so hard to jump into. High Potential premieres at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, on ABC, and episodes stream the following day on Hulu. There is an alarming rise in book bans and censorship across the country, and Oregon is not immune. There is a temptation to say that we are a blue state and that we are safe and that that kind of thing doesnt happen here, but we have seen a 33% increase in total book bans in the country over the last year. Oregon recorded the highest number of official challenges in more than three decades for the 2022-2023 school year, with people seeking to remove 93 titles, according to an Oregon State Library report. Book bans and classroom censorship efforts work to effectively erase the history and lived experiences of women, people of color and LGBTQ people and censor discussions around race, gender and sexuality that impact peoples daily lives. Despite what book banners would have you believe, actions such as removal, relocation, access restriction and soft censorship - such as not buying new books that would be considered problematic - are all forms of book bans. They are all an insult to our state and to our children. I call for a renewed effort to pass Senate Bill 1583 in the upcoming legislative session. I encourage everyone to be aware of what is happening in their school districts and their counties, and to speak up for books and learning. Annie Wach, Beaverton To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion. Delta Air Lines passengers said a pressurization issue on a flight to Portland from Salt Lake City on Sunday left them with bloody noses and ears. A spokesperson for the airline said that Flight 1203 was unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet. We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on flight 1203 on Sept. 15, a statement from a Delta spokesperson sent to CNN and NBC affiliate KSL-TV of Salt Lake City said. The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC where our teams on the ground supported our customers with their immediate needs. As a result, passengers were accommodated on another aircraft. Delta technicians fixed the pressurization issue on the aircraft and the plane was returned to service the following day, according to the airline. Passenger Jaci Purser told KSL-TV and CNN that she felt her right ear pop and then bubble due to the pressure in the cabin. She said it felt like someone was stabbing her in the ear. I grabbed my ear, and I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it, she said. Purser, who was on a business trip, said her colleagues and other passengers also experienced the same issues. Our ears just started hurting really, really bad. Everybody around us was grabbing their ears, peoples ears started bleeding, peoples noses started bleeding, she said. Caryn Allen, another passenger, told KSL-TV that she looked over at her husband, who was leaning over and covering both ears with his hands. Allen also noticed others were experiencing the same issues. I looked about a row behind me, over on the other side of the aisle, and there was a gentleman that clearly had a very bad bloody nose, and people were trying to help him, Allen told the news station. Medical personnel met the flight at the gate and treated or evaluated 10 people. The aircraft had 140 passengers aboard. No serious injuries were reported. Right now, its currently unclear what caused the pressurization issue. Chris Villarreal stood in the driveway of the house hed lived in for 10 years and surveyed the damage as about a dozen firefighters sawed and hacked at the roof, hours after a fire forced the occupants into the street. It looks pretty bad, Villarreal said. I lost everything. One of six residents in the Montavilla neighborhood house on Southeast Morrison Street between 82nd and 84th avenues, Villarreal said he expected the American Red Cross would help find him shelter for the night. Soon after dispatchers got the call about the fire around 11 a.m., they learned that a woman was trapped in the basement with a dog. A neighbor and a resident had already tried to rescue her before firefighters arrived, but they had to turn back because of the heavy smoke and high heat, Portland Fire & Rescue spokesperson Rick Graves said in a statement. After firefighters arrived, a four-person crew was assigned to find and rescue the woman and anyone else inside the house, while two firefighters doused the flames with water. The stairs to the basement were outside the house and were surrounded by flames, said firefighter Giancarlo Scrobogna, 36, a member of the four-person crew tasked with finding the woman. While crews pumped water onto the flames, Scrobogna searched for stairs to the basement inside the house. Finding none, he went back outside, and found that the flames had been beaten back. A lieutenant stood at the top of the stairs coordinating the team while two firefighters looked for the woman in the basement. Giancarlo Scrobogna, 36, was one of four three firefighters sent into the house to find and rescue a woman trapped in a basement bathroom.Fedor Zarkhin The firefighters in the basement found the bathroom with the woman and dog, and one of the rescuers went inside the bathroom and closed the door to talk to her. Firefighters had originally planned to bring her an oxygen tank to get her out of the house, but then asked the woman if perhaps she wanted to just go for this, given the smoke was not so severe as to make a quick exit impossible. She agreed, and the firefighters led her and the dog she was holding in her arms out to the stairs, where Scrobogna was waiting. Please get me out of here, she said, Scrobogna recalled. He led her up to the lieutenant waiting at the top of the stairs, then went inside the basement to search for anyone else who might need to be rescued. The woman, who hasnt been named, was taken to a hospital, as was the occupant who had initially gone inside the house to try to rescue the woman. The fire was put out within about 10 minutes of the womans rescue, Graves said. Sofia Rangel said she lived in the house with her 17-year-old daughter, 10-year-old son, husband and mother. Rangels mother was in the house at the time of the fire, Rangel said. A neighbor went into the house and led her out, she said. Standing on the front lawn of the house, Rangels daughter, Brenda Hernandez Rangel, cried. The Leodis V. McDaniel High School student was in school when her mother called and said the house was on fire. After she came home, Hernandez Rangel learned that her 6-year-old cat, Luna, had died. Hernandez Rangel said she had lived her entire life in the house, where the garage had been converted into her bedroom. According to her GoFundMe page, Hernandez Rangel has been trying to raise money to study abroad in Italy. I am very grateful for this opportunity and it would be a dream come true, she wrote earlier this year. However, I live in a low-income household, and paying for my education has always been a struggle. Firefighters hacked a massive hole in the garage door and flipped Hernandez Rangels bed, which ended up upside down at an angle on the driveway. Hernandez Rangel said was heartened to see that her things seemed, for the most part, to be undamaged, but she teared up when talking about her cat. The source and cause of the fire is still unclear. Fedor Zarkhin is a breaking news and enterprise reporter. Do you have a story? Reach him by phone or text at 971-373-2905 or by email at fzarkhin@oregonian. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com. The United States is seeing a rise in a respiratory virus that causes polio-like symptoms and paralysis in children. U.S. wastewater samples have detected a rise in EV-D68, an enterovirus that has been linked to acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). Of 372 samples collected in the past two weeks, 282 tested positive for the virus, per data from Wastewater Scan, a nonprofit monitoring network. "We are detecting EV-D68 nucleic acids in wastewater across the country now, and the levels are increasing," Alexandria Boehm, program director at the nonprofit, told NBC News. What Is Acute Flaccid Myelitis? AFM is a serious neurologic condition that affects the spinal cord. While AFM cases caused by EV-D68 are rare, children who are infected with the virus can suffer from muscle weakness in the arms or legs, loss of muscle tone, and loss of reflexes. Similar to polio, AFM can lead to permanent paralysis in some patients, according to Mayo Clinic. Most of the time, however, the virus causes mild symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, and headache. There is no specific treatment for the paralysis caused by AFM. Intensive physical therapy can be suggested by health providers, but many still suffer from life-altering disabilities. Who Are at Risk of Getting Infected? EV-D68 infections often peak in summer and fall. Infants, children, and teenagers, especially those with asthma, are at highest risk of getting infected. AFM cases have spiked in waves, with cases soaring every other year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began monitoring the condition in 2014. The number of AFM cases hit a peak of 238 in 2018. In 2020, AFM cases fell to just 32 reports amid the COVID-19 lockdowns but surged again in 2022 after the pandemic-related restrictions were lifted. As of September 2024, the CDC has confirmed 13 cases of AFM nationwide. This brings the total number of AFM cases logged since 2014 to 758. There are still 22 patients under investigation. There is currently no vaccine for EV-D68. Health professionals recommend regular hand washing and avoiding close contact with people who are sick to avoid contracting the virus. I want to remind you, yet again, of the Orem, Utah, fireside that is approaching in little more than a week now and of the Interpreter Foundation conference that will follow on the weekend thereafter, on the campus of Brigham Young University: Unveiling History: Six Days in August Fireside (Wednesday, 25 September 2024). Incidentally, Ive just seen a 32-minute slide show, created by Russ Richins, the producer of Six Days in August, that will, as I understand it, be running prior to the beginning of next weeks fireside. It contains still photos from the movie, as well as photos of cast and crew and sets and so forth, with music running behind them. I liked it very, very much. It gives a sense of the remarkably complex operation and the many people that are required for the production of a feature film. And ours was a relatively small shoestring production team. Temple on Mount Zion: Seership, Craftsmanship, and Fellowship: The Seventh Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference (Saturday, 28 September 2024) And I call your attention to two new items that have just gone up on the monotonously unchanging website of the Interpreter Foundation: Interpreter Radio Show September 8, 2024 During the 8 September 2024 installment of the Interpreter Radio Show, Terry Hutchinson, Kevin Christensen, and Mark Johnson discussed Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson 40, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and several other topics. Recorded and with commercial breaks removed, the 8 September 2024 show has now been archived and made available for your listening pleasure. The Book of Mormon in Context portion of this show, for the Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson 40, will also be posted separately on Tuesday, 24 September 2024. Each and every week of the year, the Interpreter Radio Show can be heard on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640. If that doesnt work for you, you can still listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Come, Follow Me Study and Teaching Helps (2024): Lesson 39, September 23-29: 3 Nephi 8-11: Arise and Come Forth unto Me Editors Note: Four years ago, Jonn Claybaugh began writing the Study and Teaching Helps series of articles for Interpreter. We now have these wonderful and useful posts for all four years of Come, Follow Me lessons. Beginning this year we will be reposting these articles, with dates, lesson numbers, and titles updated for the current years lessons. Jonn has graciously agreed to write new study aids for those lessons that do not directly correspond to 2020 lessons. Prediction, as the saying goes, is very difficult. Especially when its about the future. Somewhat more than eleven and a half years ago on a far-away message board, a pseudonymous critic took it upon himself to prophesy. And this is what he said. This is what that critic said: By Jan. 1, 2014 Interpreter will be dead. . . . Either totally dead or down to token blog style postings. (Bond James Bond, 25 January 2013) The Interpreter Foundation was about five and a half months old when he pronounced his oracle. Today, its somewhat more than twelve years of age. He seems to have disappeared for quite a while, not emitting even token blog-style postings. But hes now back (under an abbreviated but recognizable pseudonym). And, obviously buoyed by the precision, accuracy, and success of his previous exercise in vaticination Interpreter has long been almost totally dead, and barely on life-support he has recently returned to prophecy. Within a hundred years, he predicts, there will be only a million members in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although it will have an investment fund of a trillion dollars. Alas, though, it will obviously be a little bit difficult a century from now for him, or for anybody who saw his latest prophecy when it appeared, or for any of us here to confirm or deny his accuracy. Happily, though, one of Bonds disciples Deutero-Bond, one might call her has stepped forward to revise the initial prophecy: Says Deutero-Bond, the Church will count only a million members (and a trillion dollars in assets?) within just ten years! Now, this is a prophecy that many of us living today will still be around to verify. Curiously, the zest for prophesying seems to have become contagious. Another in the same online location has declared that Dallin H. Oaks will prove the downfall of the Church. Which should, given even a minimal knowledge of actuarial science, be a testable prediction. Im reminded of a little-known textual variant of 1 Samuel 10:10-11: And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of Bond came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Shirts? Is Kerry also among the prophets? Im also reminded of an editorial that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune following the death of Brigham Young on 29 August 1877. It read, in part, as follows: The Mormon church was stronger at four oclock Sunday afternoon than it ever will again become; the remarkable will and organizing force of the dead leader departed with him, and have been transmitted to none other in his church; and we may now watch with complacency, if not with joy, the gradual disintegration of the whole Mormon fabric. Ive been accused by at least one (predictable) anonymous critic of being obsessed with Hulus miniseries The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. The accusation is (predictably) false; I havent watched so much as a second of it, and I very likely never will, not just out of principle and protest but because Im just not interested and I have too many other, better, things to do. And I probably wont ever think about it again after it has receded into the rear-view mirror. My world will go on quite unchanged. Right now, though, my news feed is absolutely bursting with articles about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, very often to the exclusion of anything else, and its apparently drawing considerably more attention than its subject merits. (As Ive said before, Im astonished and somewhat discouraged at the interest it seems to have generated in some circles.) Here are two pieces on the subject that I did read, however, and that I can recommend to you and to others: Hildegard of Bingen died on the 17th of September in 1179. Today this day is observed as a feats for one of most interesting and complex individuals in the annals of Christian mysticism. Itself a complex subject. The mystical life is often mixed up. In any number of ways. Hildegard was born in the vicinity of 1098 within our common era to a family of lower nobility, within the confines of the Holy Roman Empire in what is today Germany. Sickly and afflicted with visions from well before her adolescence her parents enrolled her as an oblate in the Benedictine order. As it happens this seemed exactly what she needed and at around fourteen Hildegard took her life vows. Between her mentor the anchoress Jutta von Sponheim and the monk Volmar, who examined her closely and both felt her visions did indeed contain truths and so they helped the young nun to live with them and through them. Upon Juttas death, Hildegard was elected leader of the community. Eventually she would also found a second community. She became a powerful figure within the religious world of her day with influence that extended beyond her convents. Something it should be noted that was astonishingly rare for a woman in those days and in that place. As to the visions, Hildegard reported her experiences started at the age of three. She called it the shade of the living light, and described this light as something experienced through her conventional senses. Some modern physicians including Olive Sacks reading her detailed accounts of her experiences diagnosed her as suffering from severe migraines. Actually that makes a lot of sense. But, these experiences also, in my opinion, allowed the results of her deeper reflections a means of expression, breaking through societal and religious barriers, and to erupt into consciousness, and, most importantly, given a voice. These remained private revelations until 1141 when she felt the call to write them down, which she did. She also illustrated them. Critically, the pope Eugenius approved her publication of these visions. And with that approval her teachings began to be shared widely. Her interests and the subjects of her visions were wide, ranging from medical considerations, to music, to ecology, to natural science, to writing, including among her theological speculations, what some consider the oldest surviving morality play. She continued to break past the conventions of gender and became a popular preacher, taking three major tours to lecture on her teachings. She became counselor to bishops and kings. She even had the popes ear. When Hildegard died she was quickly venerated as a saint by many. And, finally, in 2012 was declared a doctor of the church, a signal honor extended to only thirty-five people, and counting her only the fourth woman to be so honored within the history of the Catholic church. Me, I place her roughly within the family of pantheists, and therefore part of the family I claim as my blood kin. Certainly she saw the power and beauty of the natural world, and whether she genuinely held the dualism inherent in the Christian tradition or it dissolved at some point in her giving herself over to the ecstatic moments of her visions, there is a sense to her that seems to me to sacralize the natural in a way not so common among her co-religionists. And, you know, in my experience, and by my observation, we all fail in significant ways to find the balance. Although I would throw in it is actually at those spots of failure the way is revealed. We are to compound the mystery only able to ascertain the whole through or actually as our brokenness. Such is life. Such is the way And, all that said, Im so glad today is an opportunity to pause and recall one of the significant mystics of the Western world, one who looked deep into the broken and saw the beauty and the mystery of the whole. A gift, actually, to the whole world. The Ayensuano District Assembly in collaboration with the Ayensuano District Security Committee, DISEC in the Eastern Region has placed a temporary ban on all sand winning activities in the district until further notice. The decision became necessary after the Management of Ayensuano District Assembly and the Ayensuano Sand Winners Association had a meeting on Thursday, January 11, 2024. The Assembly noted that the decision was necessitated after a careful consideration of the ongoing challenges posed by sand winning activities and the blatant disregard for established regulations by culminating into the destruction of farmlands and the creation of tensions within the communities which threatens the peace and stability that the district enjoys. In an interview at Kraboa Coaltar in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region, the District Chief Executive, DCE, Josephine Awuku Ansaa Inkoom, noted that the issue of sand winning in the district has been a headache for the Assembly since she resumed office as the activities poses serious security threat to people in the area especially landowners. However, on Monday, 16th September, 2024 at midnight residents at Samson Panpanso No. 2 in the Teacher Mante area were awoken by sporadic gun shots by landguards supervising the winning of sand by illegal sand winners. According to information gathered, the landguards numbering about ten(10) and allegedly led by one 'One Million', Yaw Okisi and another Sakyiama Offei accompanying heavy duty machines and tipper trucks entered an oil palm plantation and nearby lands to cause destruction. Plantain and cassava farms and an erected fence wall have all been destroyed with this illegal activity posing a danger to food security and safety. Speaking to some residents, several calls to the Teacher Mante police to stop the activites of these sand winners have proved futile as the officers are afraid and reluctant in fighting the menace. One resident said the landguards and a particular Chief in the area come round openly telling them they will be winning sand on their lands and nothing can stop them. This illegal activity has ressurected in the midst of the ongoing fight against Galamsey in most parts of the country. National Security, the Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Police Service led by IGP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, Ayensuano District Security Committee and other security agencies are being called on to take steps in stopping this illegal activity and challenges posed by sand winning activities and the blatant disregard for established regulations by culminating into the destruction of farmlands and the creation of tensions within the communities which threatens the peace and stability that the district enjoys. Source: Alex Ofei-Kwayisi/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 NPP presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated that Ghana will rely on solar power if he becomes President in 2025. Interacting with community stakeholders in Ada during his tour of the Ada Constituency on Wednesday, Dr. Bawumia lamented the high cost of electricity for businesses and households, explaining the high tarrif is as a result of the high cost of oil and gas. He promised his government will prioritize solar energy by generating about 2000 megawats which he said will significantly reduce the cost of electricity. "The reason why our electricity bills are high is that we import oil and gas to produce electricity and those are expensive...So, I want Ghana to take the bold decision which I am going to take by the grace of God next year to move Ghana away from a dependency on oil and gas for electricity to solar power, the sun, which God has given to us for free. So, let us use solar power to generate electricity", he stated. He added; "I want to inject 2000 megawatts of solar power into our generation mix and once we do that, we are able to bring down the cost of electricity by 50% if we bring solar power into the mix." 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 TikTok argued in court on Monday that a US law - which would see it banned unless it is sold by ByteDance - would have a staggering impact on the free speech of its US users. The law was prompted by concerns that US users' data is vulnerable to exploitation by China's government. TikTok and ByteDance have repeatedly denied links to the Chinese authorities. The companies sued to block the legislation in early May, calling it unconstitutional and an effective ban on the speech of its 170 million US users. A panel of three judges heard its arguments at an appeals court in Washington DC on Monday. "This law imposes extraordinary speech prohibition based on indeterminate future risks," TikTok and ByteDance's lawyer Andrew Pincus told the court. Concerns around China came up early, with Mr Pincus stating that the firm "is not owned" by the country. "The owner of TikTok is ByteDance Limited, a Cayman Islands holding company, he said. But Judge Sri Srinivasan responded that the firm was "subject to Chinese control". Mr Pincus said the US government does not allege any malfeasance has taken place - and the firm was being punished over the suggestion that there might be issues in the future. But he was challenged on his argument that the law would be an unprecedented ban on a single speaker - and his claim that it would be "unfeasible" to divest the US arm of the firm. Judge Ginsberg argued the law is "an absolute bar on the current arrangement of control" of the company, not the company itself. He also said it targeted a group of companies controlled by a so-called foreign adversary, rather than TikTok alone. Constitutional right Jeffrey Fisher, representing creators concerned by the law, said it could impede their constitutional right to work with the editor and publisher of their choice such as TikTok under its current ownership. TikTok creator Tiffany Cianci, who is not among the creators involved in the lawsuit, was livestreaming outside the hearing to update viewers on proceedings. She told the BBC that 65,000 people tuned into her TikTok Live. "The American people care about this issue," she said. "They're tuning in because they're worried about losing something." Ms Cianci added that the platform's use by politicians in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election felt "hypocritical" and made her doubt the security concerns at the heart of the controversial law. "If it were dangerous, they wouldn't be there," she said. Department of Justice lawyer Daniel Tenny argued against TikTok's defence that the code behind its platform is based in the United States. "Theres really no dispute here that the recommendation engine is maintained, developed, and written by ByteDance rather than TikTok US," he said. "It is not expression by Americans in America - it is expression by Chinese engineers in China." Mr Fisher had claimed posts on the platform in the US were American speech that was "at most curated by a foreign company". In addition to data concerns, officials and lawmakers have expressed alarm at the prospect of TikTok being used by the Chinese government to spread propaganda to Americans. However, advocates of America's powerful free speech rights, enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, have said upholding the divest-or-ban law would be a gift to authoritarian regimes everywhere. Xiangnong Wang, a staff attorney at Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute, said repressive regimes worldwide may use it to "justify new restrictions on their own citizens right to access information, ideas, and media from abroad." 'High stakes' But according to James Lewis, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, the law was drafted to withstand judicial scrutiny. "The substance of the case against TikTok is very strong," Mr Lewis said. "The key point is whether the court accepts that requiring divestiture does not regulate speech." Mr Lewis added that the courts usually defer to the president on national security matters. Regardless of how the appeals court rules, most experts agree the case could drag on for months, if not longer. Gautam Hans, clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School, told the BBC he believes an appeal is likely either way. The government's ability to legislate and regulate where national security is concerned is "paramount," he said. "They cannot have that limited by the courts." But the issues are also "existential" for TikTok, he added, with the company saying it cannot divest and would as such have no choice but to shut down. Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at analysis firm Forrester, added the "high stakes" case would likely progress to the US' highest court, the Supreme Court. 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 Professor Joseph Osafo has shared disbelief in the notion that the Electoral Commission is planning to rig the December 7 elections. The Senior Psychologist, speaking in relation to the National Democratic Congress' threat to embark on demonstration against Electoral Commission (EC) citing irregularities in the voter's register, doubted the possibility of the Commission to subvert the authority of the electorates. The NDC has scheduled its protest on Tuesday, September 17. According to the party's General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, we had a very good meeting with the regional Police bosses and the agreement is that we are going to proceed with our demonstration on the 17th of this month. And its going to happen not just in Greater Accra but in all the other Regions of the country at the same time." He continued; We wanted to have a confirmation about the endpoint in terms of the route. We had an agreement that we are going to start from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, proceed through Farisco Traffic Light through to TUC, continue through the Ministry and come all the way to Parliament and end up in front of the premises of the Electoral Commission. But to Prof. Osafo, it is highly unlikely for the EC to interrupt the elections to favor a party, hence called on the politicians to desist from inciting their supporters to wreak mayhem. "Nobody will subvert Ghana's supreme will. We are the ones going to vote and will vote accordingly", he emphasized on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show. 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 National Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, has condemned as unacceptable and pathetic, comments made by the former President John Dramani Mahama which sought to suggest that the bad governance of the current administration is a recipe for a coup d'etat. To him, the former President should not have uttered those words because the country has come a long way democratically. Speaking on Okay FM's Ade Akye Abia programme, he explained that having witnessed military takeovers and the excesses of it, no one will even suggest that the country should experience anything remotely linked to that. "I am a victim of former president Jerry John Rawlings' coup and I can tell you that it is not a pleasant thing to remember. "My father a renowned business man went into exile, so many businesses collapsed. Some children even became fatherless because they did not have the chance to leave with their parents. "You cannot make such reckless statements because you are desperate for power. Ghanaians can clearly testify to the good works of the New Patriotic Party and nothing will sway them from voting vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and his running mate Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh to continue the good works of President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo," he stated. Former President John Dramani Mahama shocked many Ghanaians when he inferred the possibility of a coup d'etat happening in Ghana because of the unprecedented number of corruption-related incidents perpetuated by government officials. The former President, at a rally in the Okaikwei North Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, accused the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government of engaging in embezzlement and other illegal activities, adding that had such levels of corrupt acts been recorded during his tenure, a coup would have occurred. In a viral video monitored by Peacefmonline, Mahama told his supporters that "if all these corrupt acts happening under NPP government had occurred under the NDC regime, the Military would have overthrown our government by now. He reiterated; Im telling you the truth! If this level of corruption and all the bad things we are seeing under the Bawumia/Akufo-Addo government had happened under NDC, there would have been a coup d'etat. Watch Video Below Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] 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 Veteran Nollywood actor Emmanuel France has reportedly passed away. The news was confirmed by Nigerian filmmaker Olufemi Ogedengbe, who shared the tragic announcement on Instagram. Ogedengbe, who referred to France as a legend and an uncle, reminisced about their collaboration in Tanzania in 2006, where they worked on three film projects together: Cross My Sin, She Is My Sister, and The Director. He expressed his condolences, stating, Rest in peace to one of Nollywoods legends, Uncle Emmanuel France. One of the actors I took to Tanzania in 2006. We shot three movies together: Cross My Sin, She Is My Sister, and The Director. R.I.P. Ghanaian by birth, Emmanuel France, believed to be in his 80s, was celebrated for his roles in numerous Nollywood films. The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear, and his passing has left fans and colleagues in shock and grief. This sad news comes just days after the death of another Nollywood actor, Big Larry. France's contributions to the film industry have left a lasting impact, and he will be remembered for his dedication and talent. 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 Pennsylvanias first-ever distribution of student teacher stipends has hit a roadblock, putting in jeopardy the $10,000 payments that some expected to receive. Five student teachers enrolled at Messiah or Shippensburg universities who are doing their teaching assignments this fall in Cumberland Valley School District received word on Friday that the district is not participating in the stipend program this year. Archaeologists in Poland recently came upon the remains of two children. One of them, they later discovered, appeared to be that of a vampire child. According to a statement published to Archaeology News, the site where this discovery took place is in Gora Chelmska a terminal moraine ridge in Chelm, Poland and the analysis of the remains led by Dr. Stansilaw Golub, an archaeologist with the Lublin Voivodeship Conservatory of Monuments. The two skeletons believed to be from around the 1200s were initially found by workers performing a renovation project in the area. Dr. Stanislaw and his team, continues to the statement, were perplexed at the discovery as according to historical records the area hadnt been previously associated with any known cemeteries. On top of that, a translated Facebook post from the Palace of the Uniate Bishops in Chelm the organization overseeing the renovation explains that one of the childrens body indicated that its head was cut off, its skull placed facedown in the grave. Heavy stones, too, were placed upon the childs chest, a practice associated with anti-vampire and -reanimated corpse rituals that took place around medieval Europe during those times. The burial clearly shows signs of anti-vampire practices, which were aimed at stopping the dead from rising again, said Dr. Stanislaw via statement. Adds the statement on Archaeology News: Researchers hope to gain more information about burial practices and living conditions at the time. This find adds to the body of evidence from archaeological excavations across Eastern Europe, documenting the widespread fear of vampires and the lengths to which communities went to protect themselves from the perceived threat of the undead. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville is expecting 80,000 people to attend concerts on Friday and Sunday - each night. Morgan Wallen will bring his One Night At a Time tour to Neyland Stadium on Friday, Sept. 20, and Sunday, Sept. 22. Show time is 6:30 p.m. The concerts are two of five remaining in the tour. The others will be on Friday, Oct. 4 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida; and Oct. 18 and Oct. 19 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. One note on Knoxville - fans attending the Sept. 20 concert are being asked by the university not to arrive before 2 p.m. after classes let out for the day. Fans hoping to attend any of the last five concerts can buy tickets here (prices are as of the time of this publication): Friday, Sept. 20 - Knoxville, Tennessee Sunday, Sept. 22 - Knoxville, Tennessee Friday, Oct. 4 - Tampa, Florida (rescheduled from July 12) Friday, Oct. 18 - Charlotte, North Carolina (rescheduled from July 18) Saturday, Oct. 19 - Charlotte, North Carolina (rescheduled from July 19) Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded almost simultaneously Tuesday across Lebanon and in parts of Syria, killing at least 12 people, government and Hezbollah officials said. Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. The Israeli military declined to comment. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them. Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes. Gazas Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas Oct. 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. Heres the latest: Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused the U.S. and its allies of backing the exploding pagers attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria. Using devices, made for welfare of human beings, as a tool for assassination and annihilation of those who dont hold the same views of the U.S., Israel and the West is an indication of the collapse of humanity as well domination of savagery and barbarism, the website of the president quoted him as saying Wednesday. The incident once again showed that Western nations and Americans fully support crime, killings and blind assassinations by the Zionist regime, in practice, Pezeshkian added. Iran is the chief supporter of Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese group that Israel sees it as its most direct threat. Many of the groups fighters were killed and injured in Tuesdays explosions. Iran has already sent a group of Iranian medics to Lebanon to help victims of the explosions. A Civil Defense first-responder carries a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)AP Death toll in Lebanon includes 2 children Lebanons health minister says the death toll from the exploding pager attack on Hezbollah has increased to 12 people, including two children and an unspecified number of healthcare workers.. Health Minister Firas Abiad said that two-thirds of the wounded needed hospitalization, adding that the scale of the incident was far greater than the thousands wounded in the massive Beirut Port explosion in 2020. Most of the wounded were in Beirut and its southern suburbs, he said. Israeli military says it has intercepted 2 suspicious drones TEL AVIV, Israel Israels military said they had intercepted two suspicious drones that approached Israel from Lebanon and Iraq on Wednesday morning, the day after pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said they intercepted a drone launched from Lebanon over the Mediterranean Sea near the coast of northern Israel. Another drone launched from Iraq was intercepted by Israeli air force fighter jets. There were no injuries or damage reported. Israel also began moving more troops to the northern border with Lebanon in preparation for a possible retaliation. As a precautionary measure, the Israeli military moved its 98th division to the northern border, an official said. The division, which includes infantry, artillery and commando units, has until recently been fighting in Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel on Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counteroffensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes near-daily, killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displacing tens of thousands on each side of the border. Where the pagers came from The pagers were used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah. The AR-924 pagers used by the militants were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungarys capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo. According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, the statement read. Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. The AR-924 pager, advertised as being rugged, contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollos website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive text messages of up to 100 characters and claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. Thats something that would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common as the tiny nation on the Mediterranean Sea has faced years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them. By Kate Payne, The Associated Press/Report for America TALLAHASSEE, Fla. A Florida sheriff fed up with a spate of false school shooting threats is taking a new tactic to try get through to students and their parents: hes posting the mugshot of any offender on social media. Law enforcement officials in Florida and across the country have seen a wave of school shooting hoaxes recently, including in the wake of the deadly attack at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, that killed two students and two teachers. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood on Floridas Atlantic Coast said hes tired of the hoaxes targeting students, disrupting schools and sapping law enforcement resources. In social media posts Monday, Chitwood warned parents that if their kids are arrested for making these threats, hell make sure the public knows. Since parents, you dont want to raise your kids, Im going to start raising them, Chitwood said. Every time we make an arrest, your kids photo is going to be put out there. And if I can do it, Im going to perp walk your kid so that everybody can see what your kids up to. Chitwoods name is likely recognizable to many who live in the Philadelphia area. The son of one of the citys most highly decorated officers, he worked for the Philly police department from November 1988 to May 2005, according to his bio. He was the recipient of 58 official commendations for valor, bravery, heroism and merit before leaving to become police chief in Shawnee, Oklahoma. A year later, he was named chief of the Daytona Beach Police Department, where he worked for 10 years before being elected to his current job in August 2016. Chitwood made the announcement in a video highlighting the arrest of an 11-year-old boy who was taken into custody for allegedly threatening to carry out a school shooting at Creekside or Silver Sands Middle School in Volusia County. Chitwood posted the boys full name and mugshot to his Facebook page. In the video, which had more than 270,000 views on Facebook as of Monday afternoon, the camera pans across a conference table covered in airsoft guns, pistols, fake ammunition, knives and swords that law enforcement officers claim the boy was showing off to other students. Later, the video cuts to officers letting the boy out of a squad car and leading him handcuffed into a secure facility, dressed in a blue flannel button-down shirt, black sweatpants and slip-on sandals. The boys face is fully visible at multiple points in the video. Right this way, young man, an officer tells the boy, his hands shackled behind his back. The boy is led into an empty cell, with metal cuffs around his wrists and ankles, before an officer closes the door and locks him inside. Do you have any questions? the officer asks as he bolts the door. No sir, the boy replies. The video prompted a stream of reactions on social media, with many residents praising Chitwood, calling on him to publicly identify the parents as well or press charges against them. Others questioned the sheriffs decision, saying the 11-year-old is just a child, and that the weight of the responsibility should fall on his parents. Under Florida law, juvenile court records are generally exempt from public release but not if the child is charged with a felony, as in this case. Law enforcement officials across Florida have been tracking a stream of threats in the weeks since the 2024-2025 school year began. In Broward County, home to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, officials said last week they had already arrested nine students, ages 11 to 15, for making threats since August. For my parents, to the kids who are getting ready for school, Im going to say this again, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said at a press conference, nothing about this is a laughing or joking matter. Parents, students, its not a game, he added. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. By Bassem Mroue, Abby Sewell and Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press BEIRUT Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people including an 8-year-old girl and wounding several thousand, officials said. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack. Among those wounded was Irans ambassador to Lebanon. The mysterious explosions came amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which have exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza. The pagers that blew up had apparently been acquired by Hezbollah after the groups leader ordered members in February to stop using cellphones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence. A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press the pagers were a new brand, but declined to say how long they had been in use. At about 3:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles in the afternoon traffic, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if others also carried the pagers. The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. The Israeli military declined to comment. The explosions came hours after Israels internal security agency said it had foiled an attempt by Hezbollah to kill a former senior Israeli security official using a planted explosive device that could be remotely detonated. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States was not aware of this incident in advance and was not involved. At this point, were gathering information, he said. Experts said the pager explosions pointed to a long-planned operation, possibly carried out by infiltrating the supply chain and rigging the devices with explosives before they were delivered to Lebanon. Whatever the means, it targeted an extraordinary breadth of people with hundreds of small explosions wherever the pager carrier happened to be that left some maimed. One online video showed a man picking through produce at a grocery store when the bag he was carrying at his hip explodes, sending him sprawling to the ground and bystanders running. At overwhelmed hospitals, wounded were rushed in on stretchers, some with missing hands, faces partly blown away or gaping holes at their hips and legs, according to AP photographers. On a main road in central Beirut, a car door was splattered with blood and the windshield cracked. Lebanons health minister, Firas Abiad, told Qatars Al Jazeera network at least nine people were killed, including an 8-year-old girl, and some 2,750 were wounded 200 of them critically by the explosions. Most had injuries in the face, hand, or around the abdomen. Civil Defense first-responders carry a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)AP It appeared eight of the dead belonged to Hezbollah. The group issued a statement confirming at least two members were killed in the pager bombings. One of them was the son of a Hezbollah member in parliament, according to the Hezbollah official who spoke anonymously. The group later issued announcements that six other members were killed Tuesday, though it did not specify how. We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians, Hezbollah said, adding that Israel will for sure get its just punishment. Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said that the countrys ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, was superficially wounded by an exploding pager and was being treated at a hospital. Previously, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had warned the groups members not to carry cellphones, saying they could be used by Israel to track and target them. Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordnance disposal expert, said videos of the blasts suggested a small explosive charge as small as a pencil eraser had been placed into the devices. They would have had to have been rigged prior to delivery, very likely by Mossad, Israels foreign intelligence agency, he said. Elijah J. Magnier, a Brussels-based senior political risk analyst, said he spoke with Hezbollah members who had examined pagers that failed to explode. What triggered the blasts, he said, appeared to be an error message sent to all the devices that caused them to vibrate, forcing the user to click on the buttons to stop the vibration. The combination detonated a small amount of explosives hidden inside and ensured that the user was present when the blast went off, he said. Israel has a long history of carrying out deadly operations well beyond its borders. This year, separate Israeli airstrikes in Beirut killed Saleh Arouri, a senior Hamas official, and a top Hezbollah commander. A mysterious explosion in Iran, also blamed on Israel, killed Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas supreme leader. Israel has killed Hamas militants in the past with booby-trapped cellphones and its widely believed to have been behind the Stuxnet computer virus attack on Irans nuclear program in 2010. The pager bombings also likely stoke Hezbollahs worries about vulnerabilities in security and communications, as Israeli officials are threatening to escalate their monthslong conflict. The near daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah have killed hundreds in Lebanon and several dozen in Israel, and have displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, deplored the attack and warned that it marks an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context. On Tuesday, Israel said that halting Hezbollahs attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal. Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said this week the focus of the conflict is shifting from Gaza to Israels north and that time is running out for a diplomatic solution with Hezbollah, saying the trajectory is clear. Associated Press writers Hussein Malla, Hassan Ammar, Fadi Tawil and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Michael Biesecker in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. Lebanons health ministry said Wednesday that at least nine people were killed and 300 wounded by exploding electronic devices in multiple regions of the country. The explosions came a day after an apparent Israeli attack targeting pagers used by Hezbollah killed at least 12 and wounded nearly 3,000. Associated Press journalists reported multiple explosions at the site of a Beirut funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before. Hezbollahs Al Manar TV reported explosions in multiple areas of Lebanon, and a Hezbollah official told the AP that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded in Beirut. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes. Gazas Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas Oct. 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. Hezbollah fighters carry the coffins of four people who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)AP Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollahs Executive Council, said Wednesday that the militant group will respond to Tuesdays pager explosion attack with special punishment. The group is in a new confrontation with the enemy, Safieddine said. Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded almost simultaneously Tuesday across Lebanon and in parts of Syria. Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. The Israeli military declined to comment. The U.N. human rights chief is calling for an independent investigation into the mass explosions. Volker Turk said in a statement Wednesday that the fear and terror unleashed is profound and urged world leaders to step up in defense of the rights of all people to live in peace and security. The U.S. State Department recently updated its travel warning for several Western European countries, cautioning about potential terrorist attacks. Federal officials routinely issue updates or travel advisories for other countries. The advisories range from Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions up to Level 4: Do Not Travel. Earlier this month, the State Department raised its warning level for the United Kingdom and Italy to Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution. It did the same for Denmark on Tuesday. The reason for the increased alert in all three cases was a concern over terrorism. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas, the warning said in all three instances. Travelers are advised to be aware of their surroundings at all times, follow local authorities instructions, monitor breaking news, and adjust plans based on any new information. The State Department added that there is a risk of isolated violence in the U.K. by dissident groups in Northern Ireland, focused primarily on police and military targets. Other countries that also received a Level 2 advisory include: Lesotho Sri Lanka Jordan Saudi Arabia Bahrain Tanzania A variety of alerts was also issued for Mexico, warning about violent crime and kidnapping in several areas. By LEA SKENE and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, The Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday sued the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse, seeking to recover more than $100 million that the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the citys port. The lawsuit filed in Maryland alleges that the electrical and mechanical systems on the ship, the Dali, were improperly maintained, causing it to lose power and veer off course before striking a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. This tragedy was entirely avoidable, according to the lawsuit. This satellite image provided by Maxar shows the bow of the container ship Dali underneath sections of the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge, while salvage crews and barges with cranes continue removing some of the bridge debris and hundreds of shipping containers still onboard the vessel, in Baltimore, Monday, April 8, 2024. (Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies via AP, file)AP The collapse snarled commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore for months before the channel was fully opened in June. With this civil claim, the Justice Department is working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the Port of Baltimore are borne by the companies that caused the crash, not by the American taxpayer, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in written statement. The case was filed against Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore. The companies filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history. The ship was leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss. Six members of a road work crew on the bridge were killed in the collapse. The men were working an overnight shift filling potholes on the bridge deck when it suddenly crumbled beneath them, sending them tumbling into the water. This accident happened because of the careless and grossly negligent decisions made by Grace Ocean and Synergy, who recklessly chose to send an unseaworthy vessel to navigate a critical waterway and ignored the risks to American lives and the nations infrastructure, said Chetan Patil, the acting deputy assistant attorney general. Maria del Carmen Castellon, center, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. Bridge collapse victims' families have said they intend to sue the cargo ship company. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)AP On Tuesday, the victims families declared their intent to file a claim seeking to hold the ships owner and manager fully liable for the disaster. Several other interested parties, including city officials and local businesses, have filed opposing claims accusing the companies of negligence. The families are also calling for more robust workplace protections, especially for immigrant workers. All the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the United States in search of better-paying jobs and opportunities. A York County man died Saturday when he lost control and crashed his motorcycle on a Maryland highway, police said. Jason Irizarry, 40, of Dover, was passing another vehicle on a BMW motorcycle around 5:30 p.m. when he crashed into a guard rail on Route 30 west in Worcester County, according to Maryland State Police. Police said Irizarrys crash caused his companion, a 49-year-old man from Columbia, Lancaster County, to lose control of his own BMW motorcycle. Delta Air Lines passengers said a pressurization issue on a flight that took off Sunday from Salt Lake City, Utah to Portland, Oregon, left them with bloody noses and ears. A spokesperson for the airline company said that Flight 1203 was unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet. We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on flight 1203 on Sept. 15, a statement from a Delta spokesperson sent to CNN and NBC affiliate KSL-TV of Salt Lake City said. The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC where our teams on the ground supported our customers with their immediate needs. As a result, passengers were accommodated on another aircraft. Delta technicians fixed the pressurization issue on the aircraft and the plane was returned to service the following day, according to the airline. Passenger Jaci Purser told KSL-TV and CNN that she felt her right ear pop and then bubble due to the pressure in the cabin. She said it felt like someone was stabbing her in the ear. I grabbed my ear, and I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it, she said. Purser, who was on a business trip, said her colleagues and other passengers also experienced the same issues. Our ears just started hurting really, really bad. Everybody around us was grabbing their ears, peoples ears started bleeding, peoples noses started bleeding, she said. Caryn Allen, another passenger, told KSL-TV that she looked over at her husband, who was leaning over and covering both ears with his hands. Allen also noticed others were experiencing the same issues. I looked about a row behind me, over on the other side of the aisle, and there was a gentleman that clearly had a very bad bloody nose, and people were trying to help him, Allen told the news station. Medical personnel met the flight at the gate and treated or evaluated 10 people. The aircraft had 140 passengers aboard. No serious injuries were reported. Right now, its currently unclear what caused the pressurization issue. A 27-year-old man pretended to be a Nebraska high school student to prey on teenage girls. As a result, he was sentenced to 85 to 120 years in prison, according to multiple reports. Identified as Zachary Scheich, and known by peers as 17-year-old Zak Hess, the man disguised himself as a high school student for more than 50 days to exploit and sexually assault multiple girls, with some being as young as 13, according to the Washington Post and KOLN. Scheich was sentenced on Sept. 11 on charges of sexual assault, child enticement with electronic communication and generating sexually explicit images of children, the Washington Post reported. The extensive sentence comes after Scheich pleaded no contest in July as part of a plea deal to reduce the number of felony counts against him from 15 to five. The children you exploited were not equipped to protect themselves because they thought you were their peer, Lancaster District Judge Darla S. Ideus said during the sentencing hearing, per the Washington Post. Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Amber Schlote added that the harm Scheich caused to victims were immeasurable, and resulted in the girls missing school, suffering failing grades, experiencing anxiety and shame, and developing a deep mistrust of adults. It has undeniably altered their lifes trajectories, Schlote said, according to the Washington Post. Due to his height of 5 feet 4 inches and 120 lbs. stature, Scheich was able to blend in with the student body and attended multiple schools throughout the Lincoln Public Schools District. Even though Scheich looked like a student, he actually graduated from the district back in 2015, according to what Lincoln Police Department Assistant Chief Brian Jackson said during a July 2023 news conference. Scheich was caught amid an investigation that kicked off on June 1, when the school district contacted Lincoln police after it had discovered that someone was impersonating a student during the 2023-2024 school year using the name Zak Hess. Scheich, who was disguised as Hess, enrolled at Northwest High School during the first semester as a junior and later transferred to Southeast High School during the second semester. It wasnt long before investigators uncovered that Hess was a 26-year-old man who had already graduated. He attended the schools under the fake name for 54 days. He was then arrested in July 2023. Lincoln Public Schools then sent out an alert to families at Northwest and Southeast high schools, giving the a timeline of everything that happened from October 2022 to July 2023, according to documents provided to USA Today. Along with Scheich, a 23-year-old woman also faces criminal impersonation charges related to the case. Angela Navarro pleaded not guilty, claiming that she was manipulated by Scheich, KOLN reported. She was arrested on Sept. 29, 2023. Navarro, who was 22 at the time, posed as Scheichs mother under the fake name Danielle Hess to attend meetings with school counselors, KOLN said, per an arrest affidavit. She remains free on bond and is awaiting trial. According to officials, school administrators said the district follows state and federal requirements for enrolling students, which can be done online or in person. Whether someone applies online or in person, the district requests a birth certificate, physicals, immunization records and transcripts. Scheich exploited the enrollment process by using fake documents. As a result, enrollment processes will be reviewed. Want a say in the news? Email Claudia at todayinpa@pennlive.com to have your thoughts on the stories covered here or on PennLive heard. You can listen to the latest episode of Today in Pa on any of your favorite apps including Alexa, Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and YouTube. Episodes are available every weekday on PennLive. Feel free to subscribe, follow or rate Today in Pa. as you see fit! Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | September 18, 2024 A Walmart in Pennsylvania has locked up even its mens underwear because of all the theft. A prominent newspaper is paying out a settlement over claims it sold subscribers information to Facebook without them knowing. Universities have started to adopt neutral political stances. Also legend has it that a descendant of fugitive slaves used to fight monsters around Keating Township. Those are the stories we cover in the latest episode of Today in Pa., a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Claudia Dimuro. Today in Pa. is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories pertaining to Pennsylvania that lets you know, indeed, whats happening today in Pa. Todays episode refers to the following articles: If you enjoy Today in Pa., consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Amazon. Reviews help others find the show and, besides, wed like to know what you think about the program, too. As sponsored by Renewal by Anderson of Central PA. The Pittsburgh Steelers have released cornerback Zyon Gilbert and wide receiver Shaquan Davis and signed cornerbacks DShawn Jamison and James Pierre to their practice squad before the teams game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Pittsburgh signed Pierre to help on special teams after losing starting gunner Ben Skowronek to a shoulder injury. In addition, special teams ace Tyler Matakevich was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury and will miss at least the next four games. BETTING: Check out our guide to the best PA sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks. How is this years crop of rookie quarterbacks stacking up in the Offensive Rookie of the Year betting market after two weeks? Gilbert had been with the team since training camp when they signed him amid a flurry of injuries. He was one of three cornerbacks on the practice squad, which has now increased to four cornerbacks. The former Packers cornerback earned a spot on the practice squad after the Steelers cut him following cut-down day. Meanwhile, Davis was brought in last wee to help simulate the size that the Denver Broncos had at wide receiver. The team is re-signing Jaray Jenkins, who will likely replace Davis spot on the practice squad. Pittsburgh has three other wide receivers on the practice squad in Skowronek, Brandon Johnson, and Quez Watkins. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The China-Laos Railway has so far handled over 10 million tonnes of imported and exported goods since it was put into operation in December 2021, according to local authorities. The goods were valued at about 40.77 billion yuan (about 5.74 billion U.S. dollars) in total as of Monday, customs data showed Tuesday. Goods transported via this railway have expanded from the initial 500 varieties to more than 3,000 currently, thanks to a series of measures implemented by Kunming Customs, such as the construction of a smart port. In the first eight months of 2024, the railway handled over 3.58 million tonnes of imported and exported goods, up 22.8 percent year on year. As a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the 1,035-km China-Laos Railway connects Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, with the Laotian capital Vientiane. RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Making its Way to Hollywood Casino St. Louis Sept. 24-29 Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S. Copy link The RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) is heading back to "The Lou" next week for an exciting series that features a $200,000 guaranteed Main Event and 10 other ring events. Play inside Hollywood Casino St. Louis kicks off Sept. 24 and concludes with the Main Event final table and the last two ring tournaments on Sept. 29. PokerNews will be in attendance providing live reporting duties. Hollywood Casino, one of the top spots for poker in Missouri, is a popular RGPS destination. The mid-stakes poker tour hosted a series at the midwestern cardroom back in May. Iman Alsaden won the Main Event for $77,192. RGPS St. Louis Series Highlights Satellites for the upcoming series begin at Hollywood Casino on Sept. 20. Poker players can win a seat into the Main Event and other tournaments for just $100. The series kicks off with the $250 Seniors Ring Event ($10,000 guaranteed), open to the 50+ crowd, at 10 a.m. on Sept. 24. Next up will be the $300 Series Opener No-Limit Hold'em at 1 p.m. ($10,000 guaranteed), followed by Day 1a of the $400 Deepstack Ring Event ($50,000 guaranteed) at 6 p.m. Day 1b for the Deepstack event takes place the following day, but players can enter a Turbo Satellite for $100 on the 24th at 3 p.m., and one in five will earn a seat. The highlight of the series is the $800 buy-in Main Event starting Sept. 26. This $200,000 guaranteed no-limit hold'em tournament features four Day 1 starting flights, two on Sept. 28. All remaining players will come back to Hollywood Casino on Sept. 29 to play it down to a winner, and PokerNews will recap all the action from start until a champion is crowned. Final day action also includes a popular $400 Black Chip County No-Limit Hold'em tournament and the $250 Closer No-Limit Hold'em, both RGPS ring events. Poker players traveling to St. Louis to compete in the RunGood Poker Series can get a discounted group hotel rate at Hollywood Casino by using code PDRUNPLAY0924 when booking a room on the casino's website. Full Series Schedule DATE EVENT 24-Sep $250 Seniors Ring Event (50+, $10k GTD) 24-Sep $300 Series Opener Ring Event ($10k GTD) 24-Sep $400 Deepstack Ring Event Day 1a ($50k GTD) 25-Sep $200 Ladies Ring Event 25-Sep $200 Turbo Ring Event 25-Sep $400 Deepstack Ring Event Day 1b ( $50k GTD) 26-Sep $400 Deepstack Day 2 Restart 26-Sep $800 Main Event Day 1a ($200k GTD) 26-Sep $300 One-Day Ring Event 27-Sep $500 Pot-Limit Omaha Ring Event 27-Sep $800 Main Event Day 1b 28-Sep $800 Main Event Day 1c (11 a.m.) 28-Sep $800 Main Event Day 1d (5 p.m.) 28-Sep $200 Turbo Ring Event 29-Sep $800 Main Event Day 2 Restart 29-Sep $400 Black Chip Bounty NLH Ring Event 29-Sep $250 Closer NLH Ring Event *Feature image courtesy of RunGood Poker Series/8131 Media. Share this article During a Michigan campaign appearance, JD Vance tried to falsely blame the media and foreign countries for the bomb threats that he and Donald Trump incited in Springfield, OH. While taking questions, Vance unprovoked brought up members of the media: Who pretend to be fair journalists. You know what theyve been saying for the last few days? Springfield has been experiencing an unbelievable number, something like 35 40 bomb threats. in Springfield and just the last in just the last few days. And you know what? The governor of Ohio came out yesterday and said every single one of those bomb threats was a hoax. And all of those bomb threats came from foreign countries. So the American media For three days has been lying and saying that Donald Trump and I are inciting bomb threats when in reality, the American media has been laundering foreign disinformation. It is disgusting. And every single one of them owes the residents of Springfield an apology. Video: JD Vance lies and claims that all the Springfield bomb threats came from foreign countries. The Ohio governor said the vast majority, not all, came from foreign countries. Link: https://t.co/GDWVuRqEjc pic.twitter.com/osrZqstFNI Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 17, 2024 Vance is now trying to blame the media and foreign countries for the bomb threats, but according to the AP, Trumps running mate was lying: Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said that a foreign actor was largely responsible, but he declined to name the country. The vast majority of the bomb threats came from foreign countries. Not 100%, but its the vast majority, Dan Tierney, DeWines spokesperson, said Tuesday. Vance was also trying to move the goalposts. Incitement of a bomb threat is incitement of a bomb threat. It doesnt matter if the threat comes from across the world or across the street. Donald Trump and JD Vance incited bomb threats against an American community with a story that was made up. Trying to blame the media does not change the reality of what Trump and Vance have done. Donald Trump and JD Vance are causing innocent people to be terrorized for political gain, and the fact that Vance tried to justify this behavior is a disaster for the Republican campaign. To comment on this story, join us on Reddit. Kamala Harris delivered a moving and powerful answer when she was asked about Trump and Vances racist lies about Springfield, OH. Video of Vice President Harris: Kamala Harris calls what Trump and Vance have done to Springfield, Ohio with their lies a crying shame. Here is her full and powerful answer while speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists. pic.twitter.com/1SOlJK1iau Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 17, 2024 Harris told the Association of Black Journalists when she was asked about Springfield: Its a crying shame. I mean, my heart breaks for this community. You know, there were um, Children, elementary school Children. Who, it was, it was school photo day. You remember what thats like? Going to school on picture day. Who are dressed up in their best, got all ready, knew what they were going to wear the night before. And had to be evacuated. Children, children. A whole community put in fear. And Ill say a couple things about it. One, you know, I learned a long time ago in my career, having a background as a prosecutor. When you have these positions, when you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a very deep level how much your words have meaning. I learned at a very young stage in my career, The, the meaning of my words could impact whether somebody was free or in prison. As Attorney General of California, fifth largest economy in the world. I was acutely aware that my words could move markets. When you are bestowed with a microphone that is that big, there is a profound responsibility that comes with that. That is an extension of what should not be lost in this moment. This concept of the public trust to then understand what the public trust means. It means that you have been invested with trust to be responsible in the way you use your words, much less how you conduct yourself. And especially when you have been and then seek to be again President Of The United States of America. And so I go back to, its a crying shame, literally whats happening to those families, those children in that community, not to mention what is happening in terms of, look, you say you care about law enforcement Law enforcement resources are put into this because of these serious threats that are being issued against a community that is living a productive, good life before this happened and spewing lies that are grounded in tropes that are age old. And look, I said it not very far from here the other day at the debate. This is not new. This is not new in terms of these tropes. This is not new in terms of where its coming from. And, you know, whether it is refusing to rent to people, rent to black families, whether it is taking out a full page ad in the New York Times against five innocent black and Latino teenagers, the Central Park Five calling for their execution. Whether it is referring to the first black President Of The United States with a lie, birth their lies. And look, the American people deserve, and I do believe want better than this. I do believe that. I know, I know, the vast majority of us as Americans know we have so much more in common than what separates us. I know that. I know that regardless of someones background, their race, their gender, their geographic location. I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio. And its got to stop. And weve got to say that you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the president of the United States of America engaging in that hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country, is designed to have people pointing fingers at each other. Its designed to do that. And I think most people in our country, regardless of their race, are starting to see through this nonsense. And, and to say, you know what, lets turn the page on this. This is exhausting and its harmful and its hateful and, and, and, and grounded in some age old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for. So lets turn the page and chart a new way forward and say, you cant have that microphone again. Trump and Vance continue to lie about Springfield because they dont care about what their lies are doing to the community. Kamala Harris gave a very powerful and human answer about what is happening in Springfield. Her point about how Trump and Vances lies are an abuse of the public trust does not get discussed often enough. Trump and Vance are attempting to dehumanize immigrants. Kamala Harris told the nation why it should reject their efforts. To comment on this story, join us on Reddit. The question on voters minds should be WHY did over 100 Republican former national security officials just endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president? On Wednesday morning, the Reagan, Bush, McCain & Romney Alumni for Harris coalition published a letter from over 100 Republican former national security leaders. While some of them have previously supported Harris, for others its their first showing for Harris that follows on the heels of more than a dozen Republicans who served under President Reagan endorsing Harris. Most of the are recognizable names for anyone following U.S. politics, like William Webster, CIA and FBI Director under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence under George W. Bush and Robert Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative under George W. Bush and White House Deputy Chief of Staff under George H.W. Bush. Also signing onto the letter are former Republican members of Congress who focused on national security and foreign affairs like former Congressmen Bill Paxon of New York. Whats going on here? Its certainly not a domestic policy re-alignment. Its notable that these endorsements come from people focused on national security and foreign policy, days before the UN will meet in New York, with world leaders nervous about a possible Trump return. They write that they expect to disagree on foreign and domestic policy but they are endorsing Harris because they believe the President must be a steady leader who will defend American security and values, We believe that the President of the United States must be a principled, serious, and steady leader who can advance and defend American security and values, strengthen our alliances, and protect our democracy. In the other corner is ex-president Donald Trump, who brings up the specter of WWIII, a civil war, and Putin using nuclear weapons should Trump lose the 2024 election. They firmly oppose the election of Donald Trump, the write. Noting the chaos that defined his presidency and undermined our allies, As President, he promoted daily chaos in government, praised our enemies and undermined our allies, politicized the military and disparaged our veterans, prioritized his personal interest above American interests, and betrayed our values, democracy, and this countrys founding documents. Unlike the majority of Republicans now, they do not whitewash January 6th, In our view, by inciting the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and defending those who committed it, he has violated his oath of office and brought danger to our country. As former Vice President Pence has said anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.' Trump has repeatedly aligned with leaders hostile to the freedom the U.S. represents, including his claim that he and Kim Jong Un fell in love, his consistent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his admiration for Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban. They mention Trumps affinity for dictators and the ease with which said dictators manipulate Trump to warn that Trump is unfit, Donald Trumps susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making are dangerous qualities as many honorable Republican colleagues and military officers who served in senior national security positions in his administration have frequently testified. While many voters are just recently getting to know Harris, the letter writers say, Vice President Harris has demonstrated a commitment to upholding the ideals that define our nation freedom, democracy, and rule of law. Her experience as Attorney General of California and her leadership on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and as Vice President have helped prepare her to be President. Speaking of false claims, the Russians are behind a false claim that Harris was involved in an alleged hit-and-run in San Francisco in 2011, according to new research by Microsoft. And this discovery reveals the truth about Putins claim to support Harris, even as Trump continues to platform giving Putin his biggest wishes (weakening NATO, not supporting Ukraine). Russia has pivoted from attacking President Biden to making up fake stories about Kamala Harris because they are afraid of Biden an Harris. To that point, the Republicans in the letter spell out the specific reasons they are setting aside party differences to support Harris: We are prepared to support her as President because she has: Consistently championed the rule of law, democracy, and our constitutional principles; Pledged to ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world and to honor and respect those who wear the uniform; Committed to sign the bipartisan Border Security package, drafted under the leadership of Republican Senator James Lankford and other Republicans, which would hire 1,500 new Customs and Border Protection personnel and provide more resources for law enforcement but was opposed by Donald Trump to avoid giving President Biden any political advantage; Supported a strong NATO to stand up to Russia and protect European and American security and been firm in her support of Ukraine; Declared her intention to ensure that the United States will meet the economic and military competition with China; Declared her intention to always stand up for Israels right to defend itself and to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists; Demonstrated that she can engage in orderly national security decision-making, without the constant drama and Cabinet turnover of the Trump Administration; and Committed to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet in order to encourage a diversity of views and restore a measure of bipartisanship and comity to our domestic politics. There are ALSO some 230 former Republican staffers from Republican administrations and campaigns who have endorsed Harris, as well as former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney. John McCains son endorsed Harris. They finished with a rather alarming but accurate and thus all the more alarming warning, Donald Trump cannot be trusted to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic . . . and bear true faith and allegiance to the same. We believe that Kamala Harris can, and we urge other Americans to join us in supporting her. Its not just Republicans who are putting aside ideological differences to prioritize American freedom and democracy; Democrats have welcomed Republicans to their big tent and compromised on their wish lists. As the letter noted, Harris has promised to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet and to sign the bipartisan Border Security package that gave conservatives easily 80% of what they asked for, but was tanked by Donald Trump for his own personal benefit. WHY? A coalition of grown ups are prioritizing a forward agenda for the United States with a strong leader who supports our allies, upholds global democracy and protects this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. And thats why Republicans are coming out of the woodwork to support the Vice President. They, too, dont want to go back. Read the full letter here. Before you come at me: Ive seen the thirst trap TikToks about Drew Starkey as the erratic Rafe in Netflixs Outer Banks. I know hes been White Boy of the Month for a select group since 2020. Sure, Outer Banks has a cast of overly attractive adults playing teenagers ripping off The Goonies. Its terrific television due to how outrageously good-looking the cast isand every viewer has their own personal favorite. For many, that is Drew Starkeys reckless, violent and unstable Rafe Cameron. If you search Rafe Cameron edit on TikTok, there are a multitude of videos with millions of likes. His Outer Banks clips alone have been repurposed and replayed billions of times. While Drew Starkey made a name for himself as a heartthrob in the industry, hes on his way to becoming a serious actor. This time, hes in the same league as Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagninos Queer. The film which received a nine-minute standing ovation at this years Venice Film Festival is the most daring movie of either actors career. Famous for his portrayal of LGBTQ relationships, Guadagninos Call Me By Your Name is a highly regarded film for this generation. You already know who Daniel Craig AKA 007 isbut with the serious buzz around Starkey, everyones wondering: who the hell is he and more importantly is he single? What is Queer About? Queer is a historical romance drama that follows American expat William Lee in 1940s Mexico City as he falls in love with a younger man Eugene Allerton. The film is based on a short novel that was written in the 50s by William S. Burroughs and published in 1985. The book is semi-autobiographical and tracks Lee as he travels through South America and Mexico in search of sexual gratification and drugs. Lee played by Daniel Craig grows infatuated with fellow drug-addict, Allerton, who is played by Starkey. Its a complex, controversial novel for many reasons: mainly being that the novel came out during the rampantly homophobic 80s. This wont be an easy love story to consume by any means. The film debuted at Venice Film Festival on September 3, 2024 to rave reviews. Many are saying its the best performance from either actor. And theres already Oscar buzz for Craig. As the film ended in Venice, Guadagnino was met with chants of Luca! Luca! His recent success with Challengers starring Zendaya, Josh OConnor, and Mike Faist was another amazing homoerotic blockbuster. But theres another pressing fact thats becoming increasingly prevalent: Drew Starkey is about to become the peoples princess. Here Comes Drew Starkey Season If you thought the thirst traps were bad when Drew Starkey starred as deranged sociopath Rafe Cameronwait till you see Eugene Allerton in Queer. The ladies have been swooning over his red carpet outfits, his press circuit quips, and steamy photos of him during this era. And while the films release date has not yet been set, Im sure theaters will be packed. His appearance at Venice Film Festival already stirred up internet memes, with his blue suit giving people PTSD flashbacks to last years Harry Styles Dont Worry, Darling SpitGate drama. He has all the makings for the next Hollywood heartthrob that weve been yearning for. Yes, Brad Pitt may be old and a terrible personbut there is a whole new wave of young, handsome actors to usher in. So, while we gear up for the Drew Starkey inevitable renaissance, lets answer the question were all here for: Is Drew Starkey Single? People ship the entire Outer Banks cast togetherbut dont let it confuse you. Essentially, no one in the cast is dating in real life anymore. Since his 2022 appearance in Hellraiser, Starkey has been linked to fellow co-star Odessa AZion. With multiple Instagram appearances on each others accounts, it looked like the pair were an item.until recently. Neither AZion nor Starkey had confirmed their relationship in the first placeso fans are safe to assume that Drew Starkey is single until proven otherwise. According to Vietnam News Agency, the hosting of the event has been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade with support from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, it said. Photo for illustration The congress is scheduled to take place at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi from October 6-10, 2025. The event, considered the Olympics of logistics, is expected to see the presence of about 1,000 delegates and have a positive impact on various socio-economic aspects of Vietnam. VLA Chairman Dao Trong Khoa will receive the Talking Stick from the FWC 2024 leadership at the closing session of the 2024 FIATA World Congress taking place in Panama from September 23 to 29. For almost 100 years, FIATA has been gathering industry leaders and innovators in logistics at its flagship FIATA World Congress to discuss industry challenges and trends, hear perspectives from top industry leaders and their solutions, and exchange and network with supply chain actors from different parts of the logistics industry from all around the world. This annual event, which takes place around September or October, brings together around 700 to 1,000 participants from the logistics, transport, and cargo industries, as well as observers from other sectors and a number of institutional attendees. Vietnam-China trade turnover hits nearly 130.8 billion USD Dragon fruit is one of the items with large export turnover to China (Photo: VNA) The import-export turnover between Vietnam and China reached nearly 130.8 billion USD in the first eight months of this year, Vietnam News Agency quoted the latest statistics from the General Department of Customs. Of the figure, Vietnams export value was 38.28 billion USD, up 3.9% year-on-year. Vietnam had 10 items with export turnover of more than 1 billion USD each, including phones and components; computers, electronic products and components; cameras, camcorders and components; fruits and vegetables; and machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts. Meanwhile, the country imported goods worth 92.5 billion USD from China, surging by 34.25% compared to the same period last year. As a result, Vietnam ran a trade deficit of 54.22 billion USD with China in the reviewed period, exceeding the figure of 2023 by nearly 5 billion USD. Imported goods from the Chinese market are mainly products and raw materials for production of exports such as machinery, equipment, chemicals and chemical products, plastics of all kinds and plastic products, textile materials, leather and footwear, iron and steel, and construction materials. In recent years, despite the sluggish global trade, Vietnam's import-export growth with China has remained one of the standout bright spots. Last year, the two-way trade hit 171.2 billion USD. Of the figure, Vietnam's exports stood at 61.2 billion USD (up 6.4%), and imports 110.6 billion USD (down 6.6%). Currently, China is the first market with two-way trade with Vietnam exceeding 100 billion USD in the January - August period. The import-export turnover between the two countries averagely reaches about 16 billion USD per month. With the strong improvement in trade during the first half of 2024, the Vietnam-China trade is forecast to approach the 200-billion-USD mark this year. Vietjet opens sales early for 2.6 million Tet tickets To help people and tourists planning their flights for Lunar New Year (Tet) 2025, Vietjet opens sales early for 2.6 million tickets for the flying period from January 15, 2025 to February 12, 2025 (December 16 of the Year of Dragon to January 15 of the Year of Snake), reported Vietnam News Agency. Photo for illustration. (Source: VNA) People and tourists can easily book Vietjets Lunar New Year flight tickets at the website www.vietjetair.com, the Vietjet Air mobile app, booking offices and the official agents worldwide. Accordingly, ticket prices for flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku, Nha Trang and Dalat start from 890,000 VND (36.22 USD) and from 1.79 million VND for flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong. The vice versa tickets start from VND0. Book early to enjoy discounted prices and convenient flight times for family reunions or spring travel across Vietnam and internationally, the airline said in its release. With over 168 routes, Vietjet is ready to serve passengers traveling across Vietnam and worldwide, refresh yourself in the journey to Australia, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, and Southeast Asia with incredibly attractive fare prices and frequent promotions. Book your tickets now and celebrate the Lunar New Year with Vietjet on joyful flights filled with smiles and reunions, enjoy peace of mind with free Sky Care travel insurance, and savor delicious and hot meals featuring traditional Vietnamese flavors like Chung cake, Pho Thin, Vietnamese Banh Mi and Coffee, Milo milkshake, and iced milk tea,... all served by a dedicated fligh crews delivering heartfelt services, complemented by unique cultural performances at an altitude of 10,000 meters. The new-age carrier Vietjet has not only revolutionized the aviation industry in Vietnam but also been a pioneering airline across the region and around the world. With a focus on cost management ability, effective operations, and performance, applying the latest technology to all activities and leading the trend, Vietjet offers flying opportunities with cost-saving and flexible fares as well as diversified services to meet customers demands. Vietjet is a fully-fledged member of International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate. As Vietnams largest private carrier, the airline has been awarded the highest ranking for safety with 7 stars by the worlds only safety and product rating website airlineratings.com and listed as one of the world's 50 best airlines for healthy financing and operations by Airfinance Journal in many consecutive years. The airline has also been named as Best Low-Cost Carrier by renowned organizations such as Skytrax, CAPA, Airline Ratings, and many others. Thailand becomes Vietnams largest export market in ASEAN Thailand is Vietnams largest export market in ASEAN with a value of 5.23 billion USD, up 7.2% year on year. According to the General Department of Customs, in the first eight months of 2024, Vietnam - ASEAN trade reached 54.9 billion USD, up 12.5% year on year. Vietnam had a trade deficit of 5.6 billion USD in goods from this bloc. Thailand is Vietnams largest export market in ASEAN. (Photo: congthuong.vn) In the eight months, Vietnam earned 24.6 billion USD from exporting goods to the bloc, up 12.6% year on year. Thailand continued to be the largest export market with a value of 5.23 billion USD, up 7.2% year on year. It was followed by Indonesia with 4.15 billion USD and the Philippines with 4.07 billion USD, up 23.6% and 17% respectively year on year. Also in the billion-USD group, goods exported to Cambodia were valued at 3.52 billion USD, up 3.9% year on year; Malaysia, 3.48 billion USD, up 4.2% and Singapore, 3.46 billion USD, up 26.3%. Goods exported to six markets with a turnover of a billion USD in the bloc reached a total of 23.93 billion USD, accounting for 97% of the exports to ASEAN. In the bloc, Myanmar was the only export market with a decrease in turnover, down 36.7% from the same period last year, to 197 million USD. In contrast, export turnover to Brunei increased by 569% year on year, to 87.7 million USD. Vietnam also earned 429 million USD from exporting goods to Laos, up 20.6% year on year. During the period, Vietnam spent 30.2 billion USD importing goods from ASEAN, up 12.4% year on year. Thailand was the highest import market with 7.8 billion USD, up slightly by 1.3% year on year. The other two markets with import turnover of over 6 billion USD were Indonesia with 6.5 billion USD, up 14.5% and Malaysia with 6.14 billion USD, up 22.4% year on year. Vietnams exports to Japan hit over 16 billion USD Vietnams export turnover of goods to the Japanese market reached 16.01 billion USD in the first eight months of 2024, a year-on-year rise of 4.8%. According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in August 2024, Vietnams export turnover of goods to Japan reached more than 2.27 billion USD, a month-on-month decrease of 1.6%; bringing the figure in the first eight months to 16.01 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%. Vietnams exports to Japan hit over 16 billion USD. (Photo: nhandan.vn) With a population of over 126 million people, Japan is a market with a large demand for imports and consumption of products such as fish and processed fish products, shrimp, eel, meat, meat products, soybeans, cereal products, fresh and processed vegetables, and coffee. Meanwhile, Vietnam is considered a country with strengths in the above-mentioned products and has the ability to supply the Japanese market. In August, garments and textiles topped Vietnams commodities export turnover to Japan with 453 million USD, a year-on-year rise of 7.3%. They were followed by means of transport and spare parts, nearly 278 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%; and the group of machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts, 250.6 million USD, a year-on-year rise of 12.1%. In the first eight months of 2024, textile and garment export turnover in the market reached 2.74 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 6.6%, accounting for 17.1%. Following was means of transport and spare parts, 1.95 billion USD, up 3.2%, accounting for 12.1%. In addition, some items achieving export turnover growth in the eight months were computers, electronic products and components, 36.5%; coffee, 41.1%; fertilizers of all kinds, 350.1%; and glass and glass products, 73.3%. Japan is a potential export market for Vietnam thanks to the preferential tariff advantages from the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) between the two countries (four FTAs to date, including VJEPA, AJCEP, CPTPP and RCEP). However, Vietnam's export turnover to this country is still quite modest, accounting for only 6.6% of Vietnams total export turnover to the world in 2023./. COLUMBIA South Carolina police and corrections officials are investigating the death of a state prison inmate who was fatally stabbed at the Lee Correctional Institution on Sept. 17. The Department of Corrections identified the victim as Idris Wasim Ballard-Gallardo, 23. The agency had not named a suspect in the homicide case as of mid-morning Sept. 18. Ballard-Gallardo was stabbed to death around 10 a.m. Sept. 17 in a common area of his housing unit at Lee Correctional, the corrections department said in a news release. Ballard-Gallardo was pronounced dead shortly after 10 a.m., and his body will undergo an autopsy, the department said. The inspector general's office of the corrections department and the S.C. Law Enforcement Division are investigating along with the Lee County Coroner's Office. When asked mid-morning Sept. 18 whether investigators have already identified a suspect, if the person was also an inmate and if charges have been filed, corrections department spokesperson Chrysti Shain said she had no updates on the case. Ballard-Gallardo had been serving a 25-year sentence for a voluntary manslaughter conviction out of Greenwood County when he was killed, inmate record shows. He had been placed in multiple state correctional facilities since he was imprisoned in September 2023, according to the record, and was moved to Lee Correctional for less than a month in May and again in mid-June. Ballard-Gallardo, from Greenwood, was accused of fatally shooting Brandon Derrel Moton, 30, in June 2020. He pleaded guilty ahead of trial, local media reported. Lee Correctional, located near Bishopville, is one of the state's high-security prisons. It was the site of a 2018 riot where seven prisoners were killed, an episode linked to gang activity, staffing shortages and overcrowding. This file photo taken on Dec. 5, 2021 shows a part of the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory in northwest China's Gansu Province. (Photo by Wang Ju/Xinhua) The involved facilities span areas such as basic nuclear research, isotope production, nuclear environment simulation, equipment testing, and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. VIENNA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will open 12 nuclear research facilities and testing platforms to international scientists and institutions to enhance global cooperation, a senior Chinese official said here on Monday. These include the China Advanced Research Reactor, the new-generation tokamak device Huanliu-3, and the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory, Liu Jing, vice chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA), said at a meeting on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) annual general conference. The facilities span areas such as basic nuclear research, isotope production, nuclear environment simulation, equipment testing, and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. Monday's meeting, themed "Share for Development," was organized by the CAEA to promote international cooperation in nuclear technology research and development, as China marks the 40th anniversary of its accession to the IAEA. This photo taken on Aug. 10, 2023 shows the assembly site of the core module of the world's first commercial small modular reactor, Linglong One, in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, south China's Hainan Province. (China National Nuclear Corporation/Handout via Xinhua) Yu Jianfeng, chairman of China National Nuclear Corporation, said at the event that the company aims to deepen cooperation with the IAEA and expand international collaboration. He expressed hope that opening China's nuclear research facilities will contribute to advancing nuclear technology globally. IAEA's Deputy Director General Mikhail Chudakov commended China's remarkable achievements in nuclear energy development and highlighted the long-standing, fruitful relationship between the IAEA and the CAEA. Welcoming China's decision to open up more of its nuclear research and development facilities, Chudakov said the move will further strengthen the agency's technical capacity to support its member states. On Monday evening, the CAEA and China's permanent mission to the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations in Vienna jointly held a reception at the UN headquarters in Vienna to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's accession to the IAEA. More than 200 participants, including IAEA representatives and foreign envoys to Vienna, attended the event. Li Song (R, front), China's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), speaks during a special meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria, on April 11, 2024. (Chinese Permanent Mission to UN and other International Organizations in Vienna//Handout via Xinhua) Li Song, China's permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, said at the reception that China and the IAEA have expanded practical cooperation and jointly promoted the development of nuclear energy over the past 40 years. China, he said, will continue to strengthen collaboration with the IAEA and its member states to address emerging challenges in international security, safeguard the global non-proliferation regime, and promote the use of nuclear energy and technology for the benefit of the Global South. At the reception, Liu, Li and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi jointly unveiled a bronze statue of Qian Sanqiang, a renowned Chinese nuclear physicist and one of the founders of China's nuclear industry. The statue, donated by China, will be permanently displayed at the IAEA headquarters, alongside sculptures of Polish-French physicist Marie Curie and other prominent figures who have made significant contributions to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Editor: WXY In 2004, Charleston County passed its first half-cent sales tax, launching the countys first land conservation initiative. Since then, the greenbelt program has proven to be one of the most effective, efficient and visionary land conservation initiatives in America. In contrast, the Charles Read moreCommentary: Proposed half-cent sales tax punishes success and rewards failure Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 02:00:40 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 963 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / September 17, 2024 / Barton Gold Holdings Limited (ASX:BGD)(OTCQB:BGDFF)(FRA:BGD3) (Barton or the Company) confirms its Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, 28 November 2024.TIME:1:00pm (AWST) / 3:30pm (ACDT) / 4:00pm (AEDT)LOCATION:Hilton AdelaideBalcony Room 4233 Victoria SquareAdelaide SA 5000In accordance with ASX Listing Rule 14.3, the Company advises that valid nominations for the position of director must be received by the Company on or before 5:00pm (AWST) Wednesday, 25 September 2024, being at least 45 business days before the date of the Annual General Meeting.Pursuant to the Company's Constitution, nominations must be provided to the Company's registered office.This notice is given in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 3.13.1.Authorised by the Managing Director of Barton Gold Holdings Limited.For further information, please contact:Alexander ScanlonManaging Director a.scanlon@ bartongold.com.au +61 425 226 649Shannon CoatesCompany Secretary cosec@ bartongold.com.au +61 8 9322 1587About Barton GoldBarton Gold is an ASX, OTCQB and Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed Australian gold developer targeting future gold production of 150,000oz annually, with ~1.6Moz Au JORC Mineral Resources (52.2Mt @ 0.94 g/t Au), multiple advanced exploration projects and brownfield mines, and 100% ownership of the only regional gold mill in the renowned central Gawler Craton of South Australia.*Tarcoola Gold ProjectExisting brownfield open pit mine within trucking distance of Barton's processing plantUnder-explored asset with untapped scale potentialTunkillia Gold Project*1.5Moz Au Mineral Resources (51.3Mt @ 0.91 g/t Au)Scoping Study for competitive ~130kozpa Au mineInfrastructure650ktpa CIP process plant, mine village, and airstripTarcoola ~40 person lodging to support mine operationsTunkillia camp to support dedicated project teamCompetent Persons Statement & Previously Reported InformationThe information in this announcement that relates to the historic Exploration Results and Mineral Resources as listed in the table below is based on, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation prepared by the Competent Person whose name appears in the same row, who is an employee of or independent consultant to the Company and is a Member or Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) or a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO). Each person named in the table below has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to quality as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 (JORC).ActivityCompetent PersonMembershipStatusTarcoola Mineral Resource (Stockpiles)Dr Andrew Fowler (Consultant)AusIMMMemberTarcoola Mineral Resource (Perseverance Mine)Mr Ian Taylor (Consultant)AusIMMFellowTarcoola Exploration Results (until 15 Nov 2021)Mr Colin Skidmore (Consultant)AIGMemberTarcoola Exploration Results (after 15 Nov 2021)Mr Marc Twining (Employee)AusIMMMemberTunkillia Exploration Results (until 15 Nov 2021)Mr Colin Skidmore (Consultant)AIGMemberTunkillia Exploration Results (after 15 Nov 2021)Mr Marc Twining (Employee)AusIMMMemberTunkillia Mineral ResourceMr Ian Taylor (Consultant)AusIMMFellowChallenger Mineral ResourceMr Dale Sims (Consultant)AusIMM / AIGFellow / MemberThe information relating to historic Exploration Results and Mineral Resources in this announcement is extracted from the Company's Prospectus dated 14 May 2021 or as otherwise noted in this announcement, available from the Company's website at www.bartongold.com.au or on the ASX website www.asx.com.au . The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Exploration Results and Mineral Resource information included in previous announcements and, in the case of estimates of Mineral Resources, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates, and any production targets and forecast financial information derived from the production targets, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the applicable Competent Persons' findings are presented have not been materially modified from the previous announcements.Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking InformationThis document may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "expect", "target" and "intend" and statements than an event or result "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. Forward-looking information is subject to business, legal and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things, risks relating to property interests, the global economic climate, commodity prices, sovereign and legal risks, and environmental risks. Forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and opinions at the date the statements are made. Barton undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements for events or circumstances that occur subsequent to such dates or to update or keep current any of the information contained herein. Any estimates or projections as to events that may occur in the future (including projections of revenue, expense, net income and performance) are based upon the best judgment of Barton from information available as of the date of this document. There is no guarantee that any of these estimates or projections will be achieved. Actual results will vary from the projections and such variations may be material. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied upon as, a promise or representation as to the past or future. Any reliance placed by the reader on this document, or on any forward-looking statement contained in or referred to in this document will be solely at the readers own risk, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.___*Refer to Barton Prospectus dated 14 May 2021 and ASX announcements dated 4 March and 16 July 2024. Total Barton JORC (2012) Mineral Resources include 824koz Au (26.8Mt @ 0.96 g/t Au) PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 15:00:26 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 494 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 The success of the Model-MM10 in Japan led to its first U.S. release in September 2023 in collaboration with a well-known U.S. retailer. The initial stock sold out within a month, prompting AXE YAMAZAKI to further streamline its U.S. operations. The company began offering the Model-MM10 on Amazon.com and has now enhanced its sales presence with the launch of a dedicated U.S. website.OSAKA, JAPAN / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / On May 1, 2024, AXE YAMAZAKI CO. LTD. began offering its Model-MM10 AXE YAMAZAKI Sewing Machine on its newly activated U.S.-based website https://axeyamazakisewing.com AXE YAMAZAKI MM-10 The AXE YAMAZAKI sewing machine is a thoughtfully designed tool for hobbyists, especially those with busy lifestyles like parents. Its compact size and minimalist design make it convenient for people with limited space.AXE YAMAZAKI CO. LTD., established in 1946 and located in Osaka, Japan, primarily tailors its product line to the needs of novices learning to sew with a machine. The company has been manufacturing and selling very easy-to-use, high-quality, household sewing machines for over 78 years.According to Kazushi Yamazaki, the third President of AXE YAMAZAKI CO. LTD., the Model-MM10 AXE YAMAZAKI Sewing Machine, pictured here, was developed primarily to make sewing with sewing machines easier than in the past. This design, like the other models (currently only available in Japan), is lightweight, making them easy to pick up and move around and set up. They are also very compact so they can fit on a bookshelf, are practically plug-and-play and simple to operate, and feature external design languages that are easy on the eyes if displayed.From the time of its first release, the Model-MM10 sewing machine was a huge hit in Japan, with customers purchasing over 100,000 units in three years and initially enduring a three-month waiting period for orders.The Model-MM10 was then featured in numerous Japanese magazines that cover trending products, high-quality designs, award-winning products, home appliances, etc.It has also gone on to receive numerous awards that recognize it for its design addressing the undesirable characteristics of conventional sewing machines. Some of the awards include the 2023 German Design Award for Excellent Production Design, the 2023 German Design Award for Lifestyle & Fashion, and the 2022 Architecture Design Collection Gold Award for Product Design Built.This huge success and validation prompted Mr. Kazushi to spearhead his company's venture of bringing the Model-MM10 into the U.S. market. The subsequent September 2023 U.S. release of the Model-MM10, which was done in collaboration with a known U.S. retailer, resulted in all available units being sold out within a month. AXE YAMAZAKI then went on to offer the Model-MM10 sewing machines for sale in the U.S. via Amazon.com and has now streamlined its sales operations in the U.S. with the activation of its new website at https://www.axeyamazakisewing.com Contact InformationKazushi YamazakiCEOny-yamazaki@ axeyamazaki.co.jp 9146062540Related FilesMM-10 informationSOURCE: AXE YAMAZAKI CO. LTD.View the original press release on newswire.com Kuroi Akio, descendant of WWII Japanese invader Kuroi Keijirou, removes his shoes and socks and kneels down to kowtow before the Chinese people in Gongzhuling, northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Tang Mingze/Xinhua) CHANGCHUN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Under the Chinese national flag, 76-year-old Japanese man Kuroi Akio removed his shoes and socks and knelt down to kowtow before the Chinese people. In this way he sought to offer an apology on behalf of his father at a historical site in northeast China's Jilin Province, where Japanese forces once committed atrocities during the invasion of China. Ahead of the anniversary of the September 18th Incident, Kuroi, along with eight other descendants of Japanese soldiers who invaded China, embarked on a five-day journey of remorse and apology. On Sept. 18, 1931, Japanese troops bombarded the barracks and began the bloody invasion in China, foreshadowing WWII and making the country the first to resist fascism. The Japanese army had deployed 1.86 million troops in China, accounting for more than 50 percent of a total of 3.58 million Japanese troops sent overseas. During the war of resistance against Japanese aggression that lasted until 1945, China suffered a total of 35 million military and non-military casualties, accounting for a third of the total casualties of all the countries in WWII. Kuroi's father, Kuroi Keijirou, had participated in two separate campaigns in northeast China in 1932 and 1941. These campaigns included violent acts against civilians, something Kuroi Akio is determined to address and atone for. Kuroi Akio, descendant of WWII Japanese invader Kuroi Keijirou, cries after attending an apology ceremony in Gongzhuling, northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Tang Mingze/Xinhua) Walking through former sites of the Japanese military occupation, including the command headquarters and barracks, Kuroi reflected on the horrors his father's unit had inflicted. "They carried out assaults on the farmers and residents of Gongzhuling City, depriving them of their lives and robbing their property. The actions of my father were inhumane, and as his son, I offer my sincerest apologies to the people of Gongzhuling. What he did can never be forgiven," Kuroi said. Okayama Teruaki, 70, another member of the group, noted that the countless Chinese people who lost their lives to the Japanese military should have had the futures they had hoped for. He emphasized that ignoring these innocent souls and attempting to find solace by "honoring" Japanese soldiers who died in the war is futile. The true way to "comfort the souls" is to acknowledge the invasion, offer sincere apologies and compensation, mourn the victims, and renounce war. According to Li Suzhen, vice president of the Chinese and Japanese Oral History Culture Institute, Okayama's two uncles died in the invasion. After the war, Japan's disregard of the facts of invasion deeply disappointed Okayama, leading him to dedicate his life to anti-war activism. Okayama used his position as a teacher before retirement to tell high school students in Tokyo about Japan's war crimes. His outspoken activism has resulted in multiple reprimands from the Japanese government. Kuroi Akio, descendant of WWII Japanese invader Kuroi Keijirou, delivers an apology speech in Gongzhuling, northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Tang Mingze/Xinhua) While they apologized at the site, the group members held white flags with characters that read "white flags against war, reconciliation through dialogue" in a poignant act of calling on the international community to remember history and cherish peace. In addition to their acts of atonement, the descendants brought with them a trove of historical documents collected in Japan related to the Japanese invasion of China. These materials were presented to Changchun Normal University (CNU) to support academic research and deepen the understanding of this painful period in history. Professor Zhang Xiaogang from the School of History and Culture at CNU said that the personal stories and testimonies shared by the group offer a new dimension to the study of Japan's war crimes. "Their visit is a positive step towards shaping an accurate and honest historical memory for both nations," Zhang noted. Editor: WXY PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 21:36:15 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 522 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Leading securities law firmBleichmar Fonti & Auld LLPannounces an investigation into Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) for potential violations of the federal securities laws.If you invested in Franklin Resources, you are encouraged to obtain additional information by visiting https://www.bfalaw.com/cases-investigations/franklin-resources-inc Why Did Franklin Resources's Stock Drop?Franklin Resources is a $1.7 trillion asset management company better known as Franklin Templeton. One of its key divisions is Western Asset Management ("WAM"), which is a fixed income manager.On July 26, 2024, Franklin Resources revealed that "following the launch of an internal investigation focusing on certain past trade allocations of treasury derivatives in select" WAM accounts, "WAM received notification of parallel investigations by the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice." Then, on August 21, 2024, Franklin Resources disclosed that WAM co-Chief Investment Officer Ken Leech had been placed on leave "effective immediately" after he "received a Wells Notice from the Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission." The company further stated that, "[i]n light of Mr. Leech's leave of absence, the Company has determined that closing its Macro Opportunities strategy (approximately $2.0 billion in AUM as of 7/31/2024) is in clients' best interests." On the same day, Bloomberg reported that federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are investigating whether Leech allocated winning trades to favored accounts, as part of a criminal probe into a practice known as " cherry-picking." The news caused a precipitous decline in the price of Franklin Resources stock. On July 26, 2024, the price of the company's stock fell 2.4%, from a closing price of $23.64 per share on July 25, 2024, to $23.08 per share on July 26, 2024. Then, on August 21, 2024, the price of Franklin Resources stock fell 12.5%, from a closing price of $22.62 per share on August 20, 2024, to $19.78 per share on August 21, 2024.Click here for more information: https://www.bfalaw.com/cases-investigations/franklin-resources-inc What Can You Do?If you invested in Franklin Resources, Inc. you may have legal options and are encouraged to submit your information to the firm. All representation is on a contingency fee basis, there is no cost to you. Shareholders are not responsible for any court costs or expenses of litigation. The firm will seek court approval for any potential fees and expenses.Submit your information by visiting:Or contact:Ross Shikowitzross@ bfalaw.com 212-789-3619Why Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP?Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP is a leading international law firm representing plaintiffs in securities class actions and shareholder litigation. It was named among the Top 5 plaintiff law firms by ISS SCAS in 2023 and its attorneys have been named Titans of the Plaintiffs' Bar by Law360 and SuperLawyers by Thompson Reuters. Among its recent notable successes, BFA recovered over $900 million in value from Tesla, Inc.'s Board of Directors (pending court approval), as well as $420 million from Teva Pharmaceutical Ind. Ltd.For more information about BFA and its attorneys, please visit https://www.bfalaw.com Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.SOURCE: Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 13:45:55 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1047 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Electric Royalties Ltd. (TSXV:ELEC)(OTCQB:ELECF) ("Electric Royalties" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the signing of a binding letter agreement dated September 17, 2024 (the "Agreement") with Minera Cobre Verde ("MCV"), a subsidiary of Cobre y Metales, to acquire a copper stream (the "Stream") on the Minera Cobre Verde Mine ("MCV Mine"), located in the Antofagasta Region of Chile (the "Transaction").Under the terms of the Agreement, Electric Royalties will pay consideration to MCV of US$2.1 million to acquire the Stream, whereby Electric Royalties will have the immediate right to acquire a fixed amount of 76,000 pounds of copper monthly at a fixed price of US$2.75 per pound for a term of four years. The Stream will be cash-settled and is not dependent on actual copper production at the MCV Mine.The parties will also have the opportunity (by mutual agreement) within 30 days of closing of the Transaction to increase the amount of the Stream by an additional 76,000 pounds of copper monthly (the "Opportunity") by Electric Royalties paying an additional US$2.1 million in cash to MCV.Brendan Yurik, CEO of Electric Royalties, commented, "With this transaction, Electric Royalties is gaining direct exposure to copper prices over the next four years and is progressing towards becoming cash flow positive ahead of our numerous advanced royalties expected to enter or re-enter production over the next six to 48 months."We are thrilled to be partnering with MCV on our first streaming acquisition - a transaction that's expected to significantly boost our revenue and cash flow on a per share basis, while also providing long-term potential to partner and help fund production expansion in the future. MCV routinely lowers risk by buying production material from multiple local sources, an approach in which Franck Lancon and his management team have tremendous experience." Neither MCV nor Cobre y Metales is a Non-Arm's Length Party of the Company or its Associates or Affiliates, within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange policy.Transaction Highlights:Accretive to Electric Royalties' cash flowElectric Royalties expects to potentially benefit from copper prices projected to reach US$10,100 per metric ton in 2025, according to a Goldman Sachs note published on September 2, 20241.The Stream will have a term of four years from closing. Payments will be settled in cash rather than physical copper and will be calculated each month as copper payable multiplied by the difference between the average LME monthly spot price and the fixed copper price of US$2.75 per pound.Illustrative potential revenues from the Stream are as follows:at a copper price of US$11,000 per metric ton, equating to approximately US$5 per pound, the Stream (without exercise of the Opportunity) would equate to a monthly revenue stream of approximately US$162,450 (approximately US$1.95 million annually).at a copper price of US$11,000 per metric ton and if the Opportunity is exercised, the monthly revenue stream will be approximately US$324,900 (approximately US$3.9 million annually).at a copper price of US$8,800 per metric ton, equating to approximately US$4 per pound, the Stream (without exercise of the Opportunity) would equate to a monthly revenue stream of approximately US$90,250 per month (approximately US$1.1 million annually).at a copper price of US$8,800 per metric ton and if the Opportunity is exercised, the monthly revenue stream will be approximately US$180,500 (approximately US$2.2 million annually).Provides Electric Royalties immediate cash flow over the next four years while portfolio royalties mature and provides high leverage to potentially increasing copper prices, provided there is no guarantee that copper prices will increase or even maintain at current prices over the term of the Stream.Minera Cobre Verde highlightsExcellent mining jurisdiction in Region II, Antofagasta Chile, situated 40km away from the Port of Antofagasta.Former Ivan SX-EW plant and Rayrock mine acquired in 2023 from FIP Neith including:SX-EW plant capable of producing 10,000 tonnes per annum of copper cathode2.existing agglomeration and leaching circuits with expansion potential3.The Transaction noted herein (including any finder's fee) is subject to completion of due diligence, securing necessary financing, and approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and other customary conditions.Finder's FeeThe company has agreed to pay a finder's fee to Phaedrus Dynamic Inc. ("Phaedrus") in connection with the Transaction. The finder's fee will be payable by the Company to Phaedrus as and when the Company receives payment under the Stream, on the basis that the Company will pay to Phaedrus the cash value of 3,800 pounds of copper, net of US$2.75 per pound, in respect of each month during the term of the Stream. This equates to 5% of the 76,000 pounds per month of copper that the Company will receive under the Stream (cash settled against the fixed price of US$2.75 per pound).In the event that the Opportunity is exercised to increase the Company's monthly entitlement under the Stream by a further 76,000 pounds of copper per month, the finder's fee payable to Phaedrus would be increased by a further 3,800 pounds of copper per month (in each case on the same cash-settled basis, net of US$2.75 per pound).Phaedrus is not a Non-Arm's Length Party of the Company, MCV, Cobre y Metales or their respective Associates and Affiliates, within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange policy.FinancingElectric Royalties may syndicate the transaction to finance the acquisition. The Company has the right to divide the Stream interest among such parties.David Gaunt, P.Geo., a qualified person who is not independent of Electric Royalties, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release.About Electric Royalties Ltd. Electric Royalties is a royalty company established to take advantage of the demand for a wide range of commodities (lithium, vanadium, manganese, tin, graphite, cobalt, nickel, zinc and copper) that will benefit from the drive toward electrification of a variety of consumer products: cars, rechargeable batteries, large scale energy storage, renewable energy generation and other applications.Electric vehicle sales, battery production capacity and renewable energy generation are slated to increase significantly over the next several years and with it, the demand for these targeted commodities. This creates a unique opportunity to invest in and acquire royalties over the mines and projects that will supply the materials needed to fuel the electr PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 15:50:10 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 766 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Market allows local partners to "shop" for needed itemsOKLAHOMA CITY, OK / ACCESSWIRE / September 17, 2024 / Feed the Children, a leading anti-hunger organization, held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony today for the organization's first "Partner Market." Through this program, participating local nonprofit partners can stock their community pantries and programs with the items that will have the greatest impact on the families they serve including food, essential personal care, household products and more.Feed the Children representatives including Gary Sloan, Chief U.S. Operations Officer, board members Amanda Rodriguez and Rhonda Hooper and Chief Growth & Strategy Officer Colleen Ridenhour cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the Partner Market.The partners can choose the items needed for their community programs from Feed the Children's Oklahoma City distribution center. Through the Partner Market, Feed the Children aims to alleviate food insecurity in the community by providing shelf-stable food and essential items to support children and families. This model aims to drive impact on child hunger by testing distribution methods that provide more flexibility in the quantity and selection of product.Currently, one in five children in Oklahoma County experience food insecurity and more than 15 percent of local families live below the poverty line. For many in the community, hunger remains a serious issue and price hikes in food, housing and energy are stretching the budgets of families to the breaking point."Feed the Children is committed to ending childhood hunger and each day we work to help create a world where no child goes to bed hungry," said Tamara Sandberg, Vice President of U.S. Program Development. "We are excited to launch this new program along with our incredible partners from across Oklahoma City. Together, we will be able to reach more families and serve more children right here in our own back yard." Feed the Children's Community Partner Development team oversees the partner application process to ensure all our partners align with Feed the Children's program standards to support the community.As part of the partner selection process, Feed the Children identified organizations that serve populations and/or geographic areas experiencing food insecurity based on a recent landscape analysis study. In the first year of the program, Feed the Children set a goal to include up to 10 participating community partners based on geographic area, population served, and capacity. Current partners include OK City Center, Sisu Youth Services, Light and Salvation Church, Pivot, City Care and the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic.Since the soft launch of the Partner Market in August, more than 8,500 pounds of food and 6,600 pounds of supplies, personal care items and children's books have been distributed.The nonprofit recently launched The Feed Initiative - OKC which represents a commitment to creating measurable and sustained impact on child food insecurity in Oklahoma's capital. As part of this initiative, Feed the Children will implement multiple programs that support children and their families with access to food and resources. This initiative will focus on designing and testing new, community-driven solutions to hunger. Feed the Children's Partner Market is the first program to launch as part of the Feed Initiative - OKC.About Feed the ChildrenAs a leading anti-hunger organization, Feed the Children is committed to ending childhood hunger. We provide children and families in the U.S. and around the world with the food and essentials kids need to grow and thrive.Through our programs and partnerships, we feed children today while helping their families and communities build resilient futures. In addition to food, we distribute household and personal care items across the United States to help parents and caregivers maintain stable, food-secure households. Internationally, we expand access to nutritious meals, safe water, improved hygiene, and training in sustainable living. Responsible stewards of our resources, we are driven to pursue innovative, holistic, and child-focused solutions to the complex challenges of hunger, food insecurity, and poverty.For children everywhere, we believe that having enough to eat is a fundamental right.Learn how you can help create a world without childhood hunger at feedthechildren.org ###Contact InformationCarrie SnodgrassSr. Communications & PR Managercarrie.snodgrass@feedthechildren.org (405) 213-9757Related ImagesFeed the Children representatives including Gary Sloan, Chief U.S. Operations Officer, board members Amanda Rodriguez and Rhonda Hooper and Chief Growth & Strategy Officer Colleen Ridenhour cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the Partner Market.Partners shop at Feed the Children's Partner Market in Oklahoma City.Local partners shop at Feed the Children's Partner Market in Oklahoma City.Partners shop at Feed the Children's Partner Market in Oklahoma City. SOURCE: Feed the Children PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-19 01:00:26 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 478 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Fortitude Gold Corp. (OTCQB:FTCO) (the "Company") today announced it has received all regulatory approvals and permits to mine deeper in its Isabella Pearl deposit. Fortitude Gold is a gold producer, developer, and explorer with operations in Nevada, U.S.A. offering investors exposure to both gold production and dividend yield.A positive decision was granted by the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation allowing the Company to mine approximately 80 feet deeper than previously authorized in the Pearl portion of the Isabella Pearl deposit. Deeper oxide and oxide transitional ore in the Pearl zone may now be mined and sequenced for processing along with ore from the Civit Cat portion of the Isabella Pearl deposit. The Pearl deep contains high-grade oxide, oxide-transitional, and sulphide gold ores, a portion of the former two are expected to be processed using the Company's existing heap leach operation.About Fortitude Gold Corp.: Fortitude Gold is a U.S. based gold producer targeting projects with low operating costs, high margins, and strong returns on capital. The Company's strategy is to grow organically, remain debt-free and distribute substantial dividends. The Company's Nevada Mining Unit consists of seven high-grade gold properties located in the Walker Lane Mineral Belt and an eighth high-grade gold property in west central Nevada. The Isabella Pearl gold mine, located on the Isabella Pearl mineralized trend, is currently in production. Nevada, U.S.A. is among the world's premier mining friendly jurisdictions.Cautionary Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. If you are risk-averse you should NOT buy shares in Fortitude Gold Corp. The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are 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. When used in this press release, the words "plan", "target", "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the statements regarding the Company's strategy, future plans for production, future expenses and costs, future liquidity and capital resources, and estimates of mineralized material are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to the Company on the date of this press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this press release.CONTACT: Greg Patterson719-717-9825 greg.patterson@fortitudegold.comwww.Fortitudegold.com SOURCE: Fortitude Gold Corporation PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 19:33:32 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 441 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Family-owned Company Top-rated Residential Roofing Company Expands in the Pacific NorthwestSEATTLE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Drawing from more than two decades of experience in the Pacific Northwest, family-owned Guardian Roofing, Gutters & Insulation is expanding its service area to include Portland, Oregon, from its newest location at 27350 SW 95th Ave #3022, Wilsonville, OR, 97070.The rapidly growing company has been making headlines for its commitment to the communities it serves, both operationally and philanthropically, while earning numerous awards and accolades throughout its two decades of service to the Pacific Northwest. With Guardian's newest outpost in Portland comes increasing jobs and economic support to the Portland area."At Guardian Roofing, Gutters & Insulation, our mission is to help homeowners address all their roofing, gutter, and attic insulation needs, whether it's fixing a small leak, removing moss, or replacing an entire roof. We stand behind every repair and installation with a commitment to complete satisfaction, which is why Guardian is recognized as one of the most trusted roofing contractors in the industry," says Lori Swanson, Founder of Guardian Roofing, Gutters & Insulation."We know that the market for roofing contractors is both healthy and thriving so we strive to provide quality and value in the communities we serve and our experience in Seattle will provide a roadmap of success to the business we will build in Oregon," says Matt Swanson, Co-founder of Guardian Roofing, Gutters & Insulation."We couldn't be prouder of our exceptional team and the strides we have all made together to accomplish this growth. We fully realize that our amazing clients, team and community have been and will continue to be vital to our business as we grow," concludes Lori Swanson.About Guardian Roofing, LLCFounded in 2005, Guardian Roofing, LLC is an award-winning professional roofing contractor in the Portland and Seattle markets serving Washington state counties of King, Pierce, Snohomish, Kitsap, Clark, and Thurston; and now Oregon counties of Marion, Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas and Yamhill, as well.Founders Lori and Matt Swanson have more than 60 years of combined roofing experience and employ a team of more than 100 skilled and professionally certified craftsmen who assist customers with their roof, gutter, attic, masonry, and skylight needs. In 2024, Guardian Roofing, Gutters & Insulation, an A+-rated company by the Better Business Bureau, was named as a top 100 Roofing Contractor in the U.S. by Roofing Contractors Magazine. The family-owned company was also recognized in 2022 as one of the fastest-growing private companies by the Puget Sound Business Journal. For more information, visit www.GuardianHome.com . Licenses: WA UBI 604-059-205 | FEIN #81-4469822Media Contact:Dana CobbThe Barber Shop Marketing dana@ thebarbershopmarketing.com 972.955.9747SOURCE: Guardian Roofing PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 14:32:14 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1032 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE IN THE UNITED STATESVANCOUVER, BC / PERTH, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Sarama Resources Ltd. ("Sarama" or the "Company") (ASX:SRR)(TSX-V:SWA) is pleased to report that on 18 September 2024, it had completed the issue of shares in part settlement of deferred executive salaries and director fees (the "Compensation Shares" or the "Shares for Debt") as previously announced in a news release dated 16 July 2024.The Shares for Debt arrangement comprised the issue of 22,348,980 Chess Depository Instruments ("CDIs") at a deemed issue price of A$0.02 per CDI, equivalent to A$446,979.60 as detailed in Table 1 below. Each new CDI issued under the Placement will rank equally with existing CDIs on issue and each CDI will represent a beneficial interest in one common share of the Company. The issuance of the Shares for Debt was subject to TSXV and shareholder approval which was obtained at the annual general meeting held on 11 September 2024 (the "Meeting").Table 1NameCDIsUnit Price per CDI (A$)Value (A$)Simon Jackson3,052,5000.0261,050.00Adrian Byass1,110,0000.0222,200.00Steven Zaninovich2,220,0000.0244,400.00Andrew Dinning5,193,4670.02103,869.34Paul Schmiede5,000,0000.02100,000.00John Hamilton5,076,8800.02101,537.60Lui Evangelista696,1330.0213,923.66The Compensation Shares and Shares for Debt were issued upon receipt of shareholder approval, as required by the Australian Securities Exchange Listing Rules, at the Meeting. An Appendix 2A was announced to the ASX on 18 September 2024 and provides further detail on the issue of the Compensation Shares and Shares for Debt.The Share for Debt arrangement will reduce the Company's liabilities.The CDIs issued under the Placement are subject to a TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") "hold period" of 4 months and one day from the date of issue of the CDIs.The Securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from registration is available. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Securities within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined under Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act), nor shall there be any sale of these Securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.Notice under section 708A(5)(e) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)The Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) restricts the offer for sale of securities without a disclosure document unless the relevant sale satisfies an exemption set out in section 708 or section 708A of the Corporations Act. ASIC Class Order [CO 14/827] (Class Order) provides relief so that an offer of CDIs over underlying foreign securities is regulated as an offer of securities under the Corporations Act. The Company seeks to rely on an exemption in section 708A of the Corporations Act (as modified by the Class Order) with respect to any sale of the CDIs.As required by section 708A(5)(e) of the Corporations Act as modified by the Class Order, the Company gives notice that:1. The CDIs were issued without disclosure to investors under Part 6D.2 of the Corporations Act.2. The Company, as at the date of this notice, has complied with:a) the provisions of section 601CK of the Corporations Act as they apply to the Company; andb) sections 674 and 674A of the Corporations Act.3. As at the date of this notice, there is no information, for the purposes of section 708A(7) and 708A(8):a) that has been excluded from a continuous disclosure notice in accordance with the ASX Listing Rules;andb) that investors and their professional advisers would reasonably require for the purpose of making an informed assessment of:(i) the assets and liabilities, financial position and performance, profits and losses and prospects of the Company; or(ii) the rights and liabilities attaching to the CDIs.Where applicable, references in this notice to sections of the Corporations Act are to those sections as modified by the Class Order.This announcement was authorised by the Board of Sarama.Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.For further information, please contact:Andrew Dinning Sarama Resources Ltde: info@ saramaresources.com t: +61 8 9363 7600CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATIONInformation 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 anticipated reduction of the Company's liabilities. 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 a PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 21:15:30 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 612 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SPIR Investors with Losses Encouraged to Contact the FirmSAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Hagens Berman urges Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE:SPIR) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Class Period: Mar. 6, 2024 - Aug. 14, 2024Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Oct. 21, 2024Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/SPIR Contact the Firm Now: SPIR@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Class Action Lawsuit Against Spire Global, Inc. (SPIR):Spire Global, the beleaguered space data provider, has managed to stave off financial distress by securing a waiver and amendment to its debt obligations with Blue Torch Capital. The agreement, reached on Aug. 27, 2024, provides immediate relief from leverage ratios in exchange for a hefty price tag.The company will now be required to pay an amendment fee of 3.5% of the outstanding term loan principal and it had to make a $10 million principal payment by August 31. This comes at a time when Spire's cash reserves are already stretched thin, with only $46 million in cash and equivalents as of June 30.The debt relief comes amidst a growing accounting scandal that has rocked the company. Spire recently admitted that virtually all of its previously reported financial statements for 2022 and 2023 would need to be restated due to improperly recognized revenues for pre-space mission activity. This revelation marks a significant escalation from the company's initial announcement in early August, when it announced that it would not timely file its Q2 2024 quarterly report. The company said then it was in the process of reviewing its accounting practices and procedures with respect to revenue recognition related to certain contracts in its "Space as a Service" business. The company further explained that "[t]he re-evaluation relates to the potential existence of embedded leases of identifiable assets in the Contracts and the related recognition of revenue for pre-space mission activities." The accounting irregularities have not only led to financial covenant violations but have also triggered a class-action lawsuit against the company. Investors are alleging that Spire misrepresented and failed to disclose the true nature of certain contracts and the related revenue recognition.Shareholder rights firm Hagens Berman is now investigating whether the company and its executives violated U.S. securities laws."Spire Global's recent admissions of accounting irregularities raise serious concerns about the company's corporate governance and financial practices," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation. "We are looking into whether Spire's recent disclosures and stock performance warrant lengthening the alleged class period." If you invested in Spire Global and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, submit your losses now If you'd like more information and answers to frequently asked questions about the Spire Global case and our investigation, read more Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Spire Global should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email SPIR@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation firm focusing on corporate accountability. The firm is home to a robust practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and other wrongdoings. Hagens Berman's team has secured more than $2.9 billion in this area of law. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Contact:Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-18 17:37:27 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 626 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2024 / Xtra Energy Corporation (OTC Pink:XTPT), an antimony exploration company focused on the development of the American Antimony Project, is thrilled to announce the unveiling of a new mine discovery on the recently completed expansion project announced earlier this year ( see 3/6/24 Press Release ). This significant find marks a major milestone in the company's efforts to identify high-grade antimony resources for its growing project.To provide investors, stakeholders, and the public with an inside look, Xtra Energy has produced a "First Look" video showcasing the site, geological formations, and historical workings. The video features:Footage: Capturing the discovery's scale and location.Geological Insights: Commentary from the company's Head of Exploration, explaining the potential.Underground Exploration: Highlights of the exploration team's work, giving viewers an up-close look at exploration activities.Mac J. Shahsavar, P.Eng., Chairman and CEO of Xtra Energy Corporation Commented "We are incredibly excited to share this discovery with our shareholders and the mining community. The results so far are highly encouraging, and we are confident that this new find will significantly contribute to the growth of Xtra Energy. Our team's hard work continues to pay off, and we look forward to advancing this project as quickly as possible." The First Look video is now available on the company's YouTube channel: CLICK HERE.Xtra Energy will continue to provide regular updates as the project progresses, with results from the focused geological mapping and sampling at the AAP due up next.Contact & Learn More:Xtra Energy CorporationPhone: 512-412-3636Corporate Website: https://americanantimony.com/ Corporate Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xtra-energy-corp/ Corporate Twitter: https://twitter.com/xtra_corp Corporate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xtraenergycorp/ Corporate Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093057374695 About Xtra Energy CorporationXtra Energy Corp. is an antimony exploration company focused on developing its flagship project "American Antimony", approximately 31 miles northeast of Eastgate, Nevada. Xtra Energy Corp. holds a 100% ownership in 214 lode claims or 4,021 acre antimony project including the historically documented Antimony King Mine and covering all other documented antimony producers of the Bernice Mining District. The Company is seeking to develop this expanding portfolio of potential antimony-rich assets to become a major supplier of antimony-based products.FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements relate to future events, including our ability to raise capital, or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause materially different results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume 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.For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the OTC Markets Group Inc. Our public filings with the OTC Markets Group Inc are available from commercial document retrieval services and at the website maintained by the OTC Markets at https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/XTPT/disclosure SOURCE: Xtra Energy Corp. The federal government, states, and local governments in Nigeria shared a total of N1.203 trillion in revenue generated for August 2024, according to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC). The revenue distribution was announced following the committees September meeting in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, on Tuesday. It comprises several income streams, including statutory revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), and the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL). The breakdown of the distributable revenue reveals that N186.636 billion came from statutory sources, while VAT contributions amounted to N533.895 billion. The EMTL added N15.017 billion, with a significant N468.245 billion attributed to exchange rate differences. The communique issued by FAAC highlighted that total revenue available for August stood at N2.278 trillion. However, after deductions for the cost of collection (N81.975 billion) and transfers, interventions, and refunds (N992.617 billion), the distributable sum stood at N1.203 trillion. The gross statutory revenue for August 2024 was N1.221 trillion, representing a drop of N165.994 billion compared to Julys figure of N1.387 trillion. Similarly, VAT collections in August were down by N51.988 billion from July, amounting to N573.341 billion. In terms of the distribution, the federal government received N374.925 billion, while the states secured N422.861 billion. Local governments were allocated N306.533 billion, with N99.474 billion distributed to oil-producing states as derivation revenue, accounting for 13% of mineral revenues. 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 From the statutory revenue of N186.636 billion, the federal government claimed N71.624 billion, with the States receiving N36.329 billion and local governments N28.008 billion. Oil-producing states also benefited from a further N50.675 billion in derivation. From the N533.895 billion VAT pool, the federal government took N80.084 billion, the states received N266.948 billion, and the local governments were allocated N186.863 billion. Additionally, from the N15.017 billion EMTL, the federal government obtained N2.252 billion, while N7.509 billion went to the states and N5.256 billion to the local governments. The N468.245 billion from exchange rate differences was shared as follows: the federal government received N220.964 billion, the states N112.076 billion, and the local governments N86.406 billion. Oil-producing states received a further N48.799 billion from this revenue source. The report also noted a decline in revenues across several key sectors, including oil and gas royalty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), VAT, Import and Excise Duties, EMTL, Common External Tariff (CET) levies, and Companies Income Tax (CIT). As of August 2024, the balance in Nigerias Excess Crude Account (ECA) stood at a modest $473,754.57. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Drug maker Fidson Healthcare is betting that its new partnership with a trio of Chinese organisations will drive the quest to tame the spread of HIV/AIDS cases in Nigeria and the rest of the African continent. The partnership is expected to help Nigeria, which leads the West and Central African sub-region in terms of HIV/AIDS cases, find remedy for its teeming patients. We eagerly look forward to this collaboration and believe that the comprehensive strengths of all parties will inject new vitality into the healthcare delivery sector in Africa, CEO Fidelis Ayebae said in a statement on Wednesday. In addition, the deal will address the medical needs of over 1.9 million HIV-infected individuals in Nigeria, a focus of Aidea PharAidea. The joint venture partners with Fidson include Jiangsu Idea Pharma, Nanjing PharmaBlock and the China-Africa Development Fund. Fidson, which is listed in Lagos where its stock has shed 24.6 per cent this year, is valued at N30.3 billion. The four parties to the agreement struck on 2 September will muster their individual strengths in setting up an ultramodern factory in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, with a continental self-sufficiency in healthcare delivery as the big picture. 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 Nigeria is currently finding succour in a number of potential foreign direct investment from Asia, notably from China and India as portfolio investment especially equity participation in quoted companies continues to vanish. Consumer goods giants Procter & Gamble and GSK were among the multinationals that shut down their operations in the country last year. Diageo, the British-based manufacturer which had been the majority owner of Guinness Nigeria for years, recently sold its stake in the beer manufacturer. The blow of divestment is perhaps strongest in the energy sector, where supermajors including Eni, ExxonMobil and Shell are awaiting regulators approval to sell onshore and shallow-water assets. The joint venture investment with the Chinese firms will involve sharing of information and resources, Fidson said. By integrating our expertise and experience in the field of innovative drugs, we are confident in bringing greater well-being to African patients, said Heliang Fu, the chairman of Jiangsu Aidea Pharma. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The moon rises above Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Fang Dongxu/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huai'an City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by He Jinghua/Xinhua) The silhouette of a cormorant is pictured in front of a full moon in Qiqihar, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Wang Yonggang/Xinhua) The moon rises above a paddy fields park in Fujin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Qu Yubao/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huangyan District of Taizhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Pan Kanjun/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Yi Fan/Xinhua) An aerial drone photo shows the moon rising above Changzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Chen Wei/Xinhua) The moon rises above the Harbin Grand Theater in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Zhang Shu/Xinhua) A drone photo taken on Sept. 17, 2024 shows the moon rising above Wenling, east China's Zhejiang Province. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Xu Weijie/Xinhua) The moon rises above Yuping Dong Autonomous County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hu Panxue/Xinhua) A mother and daughter enjoy the full moon by the sea in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Xing Shoumiao/Xinhua) A drone photo taken on Sept. 17, 2024 shows the moon rising above Fenghua District of Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hu Xuejun/Xinhua) The moon rises above Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Su Yang/Xinhua) The moon rises above Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hang Xingwei/Xinhua) The moon rises above Yuqing County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by He Chunyu/Xinhua) The moon rises above Jiamusi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Chen Zhiguo/Xinhua) Editor: ZAD The Booker Prize organisers announced the shortlist for the 2024 edition on Tuesday at Somerset Houses Portico Rooms in London. The shortlist includes five women and one man, making it the highest number of females ever shortlisted in its 55-year history. Authors from five countries were shortlisted alongside the first Dutch writer and the first Australian author in a decade. Others are the first Australian in 10 years and British, Canadian and American authors. Two of the authors have been shortlisted previously. The Booker Prize aims to encourage more publishing and reading of quality works of imagination worldwide and to recognise translators roles more fully. The contribution of both author and translator is given equal recognition, including a 50,000 cash prize, split between them and the iconic Iris trophy, named after renowned author Iris Murdoch. In addition, each shortlisted author will receive:2,500 a custom-bound, bespoke edition of their book. While no Nigerian made this years longlist and shortlist, multiple Nigerian writers have been involved with the Booker Prize in the past, including winners and finalists. Chinua Achebe won in 2007, Ben Okri in 1991, and Bernardine Evaristo, a British-Nigerian author, won the Booker Prize in 2019, sharing the award with a Canadian novelist and poet, Margaret Atwood. Ayobami Adebayo was shortlisted in 2023, and Chigozie Obioma in 2015 and 2019. 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 shortlisted works The 2024 judging panel selected six books from 156 works published between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024. The panel is chaired by artist and author Edmund de Waal, award-winning novelist Sara Collins; Fiction Editor of the Guardian Justine Jordan; world-renowned writer and professor Yiyun Li; and musician, composer and producer Nitin Sawhney. The shortlisted works are James by Percival Everett, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, Held by Anne Michaels, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden and Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. The 2024 International Booker Prize is a literary award for the best English-language novel published between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024 in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The prize has been awarded each year since 1969 to the best novel written in English by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations or the Republic of Ireland. The Booker Prize 2024 winner will be announced at a ceremony on 12 November at Old Billingsgate in London and broadcast in a special edition of BBC Radio 4s Front Row at 9.30 p.m. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former Lagos State first lady and mother of billionaire businessman Femi Otedola Christine Otedola was recently honoured by Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church. Last week, the 92-year-old received the Catholic Churchs highest honour, Papal Honours, from the Catholic Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, on behalf of Pope Francis, at the Holy Cross Cathedral in Lagos. The Papal Honours system recognises individuals who have made notable contributions to the Catholic Church and society. The matriarch of the Otedola family was honoured as a Medalist in the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice category. She was acknowledged for her remarkable dedication to her faith, upholding the highest standards and values within the Catholic community. Mrs Otedolas dedication to her faith is in her multifaceted contributions to the church. At 85, she erected the Grotto in honour of Mother Mary, and on her 90th Birthday, she single-handedly financed the construction of an ultra-modern auditorium of St. Peters Catholic Church in Epe, Lagos State. Her son shared his excitement about celebrating her achievement, recounting how the family was overjoyed when they received the news. Congratulations, Mummy Dame Christine Doja, on your award of the Papal Honour of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by His Holiness Pope Francis. This is an honour well deserved. 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 Congratulations Mummy Dame Christine Doja on your award of the Papal honour of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by His Holiness Pope Francis. This is a honour well deserved F.Ote pic.twitter.com/lMg6DehQXq Femi Ote$ (@realFemiOtedola) September 17, 2024 Dame Otedolas faith journey began with her baptism as a Catholic in July 1958 at St. Dominics Priory, Southampton Road, London. Mrs Otedola, the wife of the late Michael Otedola, a former governor of Lagos, has remained deeply committed to her faith, serving in various Catholic organisations. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A string of coups in the central Sahel continues to reverberate in West Africa. The central Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger all of which are now ruled by military juntas are grappling with multifaceted conflicts as various rebel movements and jihadi groups challenge state authority, adding fuel to a dire humanitarian crisis. Military officers seized power in coups in the three countries between 2021 and 2023. Each of the junta leaders justified their military takeovers by claiming to seek to restore security. However, the conflicts continue and the juntas are far from fulfilling their promises to improve stability and security. Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Conflict Index (ACLED) shows that insurgencies in the Sahel have worsened as conflict fatalities from political violence increased to 38 per cent in 2023, and civilian fatalities grew to 18 per cent in 2022. In 2023, the head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel warned that armed conflicts have worsened human suffering and forced millions to flee. Roughly 2.7 million people have been displaced and 1.6 million children are malnourished, according to UN estimates. As a result of the deteriorating conflict, the epicentre of global terrorism has now conclusively shifted out of the Middle East and into the Central Sahel region, according to the Global Terrorism Index. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 47 per cent of global terrorism deaths in 2023, more than South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa combined. Five of the ten countries most affected by terrorism in 2023 are in Africa: Burkina Faso (first place), Mali (third), Somalia (seventh), Nigeria (eighth), and Niger (tenth). Although Nigeria is facing its own internal insurgencies, Africas most-populous country is also threatened by the instability in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. For instance, If Niger collapses or continues to lose central authority, it could allow Jihadists in the Sahel to enter Nigeria more freely, as Niger has served as a buffer between the instability in the Central Sahel and 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 Both IS-Sahel and Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) probably have ambitions to expand into Nigeria and other coastal states but are constrained at the minute by distance and the fight against the Malian, Burkinabe, and Nigerien governments, Nathaniel Powell, Africa analyst at Oxford Analytica told PREMIUM TIMES. Certainly, some JNIM elements in Benin are very close to the Nigerian border, as with some IS-Sahel fighters in Niger. Also, in the longer term, major jihadist expansion into Benin and across Niger would pose a clearer threat to Nigeria, he said. Although rich in mineral resources, the central Sahel has a long history of political instability, armed rebellions and bad governance. Insurgents have taken control of large parts of the region and fought against government forces and local populations for resources. Civilians are often caught in the middle. Despite long-standing international and regional efforts to combat insurgents, these groups continue to expand their presence across the region. Traditional anti-terror campaigns have failed to stop the violence and a broken relationship with the main political and economic bloc in the region has further exacerbated regional tension. On 28 January, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced that they were exiting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). These events are especially salient for Nigeria, the largest country in ECOWAS and the site of its headquarters. The three Sahelian countries exit from ECOWAS could hurt regional cooperation in curbing the activities of jihadists, bandits and transnational crime syndicates, worsening insecurity, especially in northern Nigeria. Many Nigerians who have commercial, cultural and even marital affinities with Niger have welcomed the lifting of ECOWAS sanctions, which were hurting their livelihoods as well. But diplomats and analysts in Abuja have also expressed concerns that the attempts to placate Nigers junta may have set a dangerous precedent, weakening the bloc and adversely affecting Nigerias position therein. Arguably, security is the sector most affected by the exit of the three Sahelian countries from ECOWAS. Following their exit, they announced the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Their withdrawal from ECOWAS, particularly that of Niger, could diminish security cooperations and curb operations of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which has been helping counter the jihadist insurgencies in the Lake Chad basin. Mr Powell said the three Sahelian countries desperately need security cooperation and economic ties with other states in the region. West Africas disintegration into two sorts of blocs does not make that easy, even if ties are easing between Nigeria and Niger. In August, a Nigerian delegation led by defence chief Christoper Musa was in Niger to further negotiate with the junta. Analysts said despite efforts to try to heal ECOWASs rift with the three departed states, success is likely to remain elusive. Whatever one thinks of it, I dont think the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) will be returning to ECOWAS in the near future, and certainly not with their current governments, Mr Powell told PREMIUM TIMES, adding, One can only hope that their promises of enhanced cooperation and coordination in a variety of domains, not least of which is security, will actually prove effective because they desperately need it. The deterioration of relations between Abuja and Niamey also jeopardises and could eventually scuttle two important projects: a 284-kilometre railway connecting the two countries second-largest cities (Kano in Nigeria and Maradi in Niger); and the ambitious 4,100-kilometre Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline that could deliver as much as 30 billion cubic metres of Nigerias natural gas to Europe each year. Amid the regional melee, international alliances also remained in flux after military juntas in the three Sahel countries cut ties with former colonial power France. Instead, they befriended Russia, buying weapons and deploying fighters with the mercenary Wagner Group, now known as the Africa Corps. For the past decade, pro-Russian sentiments have been growing in West Africa, where coup leaders increasingly welcome Moscow. Ties between the United States and the Sahelian countries have also worsened. Following the coups, the Biden administration suspended the countries free trade access to US markets. Large-scale human rights issues also triggered laws that prohibit the provision of US military or training assistance to countries of concern. While US officials have expressed alarm about Russias presence in the Sahel, the Biden administration appears neither inclined nor able to provide any alternative security assistance, according to a report by Carnegie Endowment. Similarly, despite Russias increasing involvement in the region, armed groups have stepped up their attacks, particularly in Burkina Faso, demonstrating their might, regardless of whether incumbent regimes are quasi-democratically elected or led by the military. In August, Russia withdrew 100 of its paramilitary officers from Burkina Faso to help in the war in Ukraine. They are part of about 300 soldiers from the Bear Brigade a Russian private military company who arrived in the West African nation in May to support the countrys military junta. Reports said their sudden departure is linked to the recent Ukrainian offensive in Russias Kursk region. There are fears the pull-out could embolden insurgents in Burkina Faso, who recently killed up to 300 people in one of the biggest attacks in years. Bulama Bukarti, a security expert and senior fellow at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalates, Russia may be forced to completely withdraw from the Sahel, especially if Ukraines offensive gains further momentum. This leaves Burkina Faso, along with Niger and Mali with limited options to address the growing security vacuum, likely empowering groups like JNIM and ISGS, who will be further emboldened by Russias retreat, Mr Bukarti said. The sooner these countries retrace their steps and repair their strained alliances, the better for everyone. Analysts said the tumult in the central Sahel is, at least in part, a reflection of Nigerias diminished influence in West Africa. Nigerias influence has been slipping for over a decade as the country has grappled with security and economic challenges. Nigeria has been unable to lay out and rally the bloc to a strategic vision for regional development and security. The West African giant has been preoccupied with several domestic security challenges, including the Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgency in the North-east, banditry in the North-eest, herder-farmer tensions in the North-central zone, and deepening insecurity associated with the IPOB agitation in the South-east. Embattled at home, Nigeria also sometimes pursued its priorities with apparently scant regard for collective interests. For instance, from August 2019 to December 2020, the country closed its land borders with neighbours Chad, Cameroon, Benin and Niger in a bid to curb the smuggling of produce, firearms and refined petroleum products. The closure, which did little to reduce smuggling, violated an ECOWAS agreement guaranteeing freedom of movement, hurting the economies of nearby countries and sowing mistrust. Analysts said a break-up appears inevitable between ECOWAS and the Sahel countries. If that happens, the two parties must strive to engage in constructive dialogue in the interest of a stable region. Obviously, the AES breakaway will negatively affect regional cooperation, but this was never as effective or cooperative as its proponents hoped for or claimed in the best of times. At least bilateral ties between Niger and Nigeria seem to be improving, with the prospect of resumed security cooperation. This is vital, although not sufficient for addressing both countries shared threats, Mr Powell said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) has appealed for $2.5 million donations to support the flood victims in Borno State, North-east Nigeria. According to the President of the society, Prince Adeaga, the donations are geared towards providing shelter, food, and livelihoods to 4,500 targeted households. This is contained in a statement by the organisations Coordinator, Communications and Advocacy, Chima Nwankwo, on Tuesday. Mr Adeaga said: We urgently need the support of individuals, organisations, and the international community to help us reach those in desperate need. Every donation will make a difference and could save a life. Borno flood PREMIUM TIMES reported that NRCS had deployed disaster response teams to Borno State to provide critical assistance to thousands affected by the devastating floods The flood which occured earlier in September has left many without access to basic necessities like clean water, food, and shelter, displacing communities and destroying homes. According to the statement, a team has been sent to Maiduguri and are expected to engage in building temporary shelters, offering psycho-social support to people affected by floods in Damboa, Bayo, Jere, Maiduguri and helping the populace rebuild their livelihoods. 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 organisation said the dire situation has left families struggling to survive. He said: The situation on the ground is critical, with many families struggling to survive. In the wake of this disaster, the Nigerian Red Cross is on the front lines, delivering emergency relief such as food, water, first aid and providing temporary shelter to those who have lost their homes. However, the scale of the disaster far exceeds the resources currently available. Our teams are working tirelessly to respond to this emergency, but we cannot do it alone, said Mr Adeaga. Addressing urgent needs NRCS said many families are currently living in makeshift shelters or out in the open, exposed to the elements, adding that donations will help provide temporary housing and essential items like blankets and clothing, ensuring vulnerable communities receive vital protection and support. It further urged everyone to contribute to this critical cause. It urged those donating should donate through their official website or contact their fundraising team directly at info@redcrossnigeria.org. Every Naira counts in this moment of crisis. By coming together, we can provide the relief and hope that these communities desperately need, the statement reads in part. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Malis security situation remained unclear on Wednesday after insurgents attacked an elite police training academy and other strategic areas on Tuesday, killing trainees, overrunning part of the airport, and setting the presidential jet alight. Analysts and diplomats described the attack as a major blow to the junta. Regional bloc ECOWAS and the European Union issued statements condemning it. Mali has not confirmed the death toll but said on state television on Tuesday evening that there had been some deaths. A video circulated online showed sleeping quarters with around two dozen bunk beds in a tight formation that had been torched. Several charred bodies can be seen, some under the beds. Reuters has not authenticated the videos. Flights resumed on Wednesday morning to Bamakos main airport, where much of the violence claimed by Al Qaeda affiliate Jamaa Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) took place a day earlier. The al Qaeda-linked group said in another statement on Wednesday that hundreds of enemy soldiers were killed and wounded in the attack that also saw the destruction of six military aircraft including a drone, while four others were partially disabled. The attack came on the 64th anniversary of the founding of Malis gendarmerie. It came days after junta leader Assimi Goita had said his army had considerably weakened armed terrorist groups, in a speech marking the anniversary of Malis decision together with junta-led neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger to form a security and political alliance. 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 timing of the attack was likely symbolic, and also indicates that the attack and specific target was likely planned, the United Nations said in a note to staff on Wednesday, describing the incident as a strong show of force by JNIM. Malis army and the Wagner mercenaries it employed experienced a major battlefield defeat in July, suffering heavy losses at the hands of Tuareg rebels in the northern outpost of Tinzawaten. In my personal opinion, this is seriously impacting their credibility on the security front, a diplomat in Bamako told Reuters. Well see how the population reacts to these events. Either they will support the regime against the jihadists or start wondering if they have the right protection they deserve. At least one man was set alight by a mob in Bamako on Tuesday, suspected of being involved in the attack, Reuters witnessed. The UN cited other reports of reprisals. On Tuesday, videos posted to JNIMs social media accounts showed armed men shooting into a VIP terminal at the airport and setting fire to a government-owned Boeing 737 plane on the tarmac. Other footage showed an armed man in camouflage firing shots near a WFP turbo-prop plane. Reuters confirmed the location of the videos from the road layout and paint on the tarmac that matched satellite imagery. This attack is also way more ambitious than the previous attacks back in the second half of the 2010s. It directly targets military objectives in Bamako, said Jean Jezequel, Sahel Project Director at International Crisis Group. It seems the jihadists demonstrated capacity to hold the airport for some time, possibly multiple hours, which is a huge blow. Wagners base is located at the airport, as well as some Malian drones and warplanes. Even if it does not ruin all the Malian armys efforts to redeploy these last few years, it is a serious blow that stresses the absolute need for serious adjustments in the Malian counter-insurgency strategy. Jezequel said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, is set to buy 500,000 doses of the Bavarian Nordic Mpox vaccine as part of its efforts to tackle the outbreak in parts of Africa. In a statement issued on Wednesday, GAVI said it made an advance purchase agreement to secure the shots and have them supplied to African countries affected by the outbreak of the Mpox virus. According to the group, the vaccine purchase will be funded by GAVIs first response fund, a new financial mechanism established to help secure funds for health emergencies in June. The global vaccine alliance stated that Bovarian Nordic will be ready to provide vaccines, as soon as the arrangements for distribution across Africa have been finalised with the United Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF). UNICEF, a UN agency that works in partnership with GAVI will be responsible for distributing the vaccines to the countries or regions in need. However, GAVI affirmed that the doses will be supplied to Africa in 2024. Speaking on this, the Gavi CEO, Sania Nishtar, said the group is focused on supporting African leaders to tackle the spread of infectious diseases in their countries by providing vaccines that would be administered to the citizens within a short time frame. 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 She said, We are committed to working with affected governments and our partners to turn these vaccines into vaccinations as quickly and effectively as possible and, over time, to build a global vaccine stockpile if sufficient funding is secured for Gavis work through 2030. We thank our donors for enabling us to act rapidly by committing funds to the First Response Fund before an emergency occurred. Mrs Nishtar added that the First Response Fund was designed in collaboration with Gavi donors and partners specifically to provide rapid early funding for emergencies such as mpox. Using it today to fund the first direct transaction for vaccines in support of equitable access and the global response, just over a month since mpox was declared a public health emergency, takes us a long way towards our goal of protecting those most at risk, she said Vaccine unavailable in Africa The recent Mpox outbreak first began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in November 2023 before eventually spreading to several other African countries including Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has recorded over 26,544 suspected cases and 5,732 confirmed cases across 15 African countries. Also, at least 724 deaths have been recorded so far. Despite the high burden of the disease on the continent, the arrival of the vaccine into the continent has been slow. Health experts told Reuters that the vaccine has been difficult for many low-income nations due to its high cost. However, the struggle for access is worsened by the delay in WHO approval for international agencies to procure and distribute the vaccine to poor countries. This has forced African governments and the African CDC to resort to seeking donations of vaccines from wealthier countries. So far, only DR Congo and Nigeria have received doses of the vaccine. Mpox in Nigeria Meanwhile, suspected and confirmed cases of the Mpox virus have continued to rise in Nigeria. The recent situation report issued by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that at least 1,031 suspected cases have been recorded in the country. Also, the country has reported 64 confirmed cases of the infectious disease with zero case fatality across 47 local government areas in 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). NCDC also reported that children and men are the most affected by the Mpox virus, raising concern about the susceptibility of young children to the disease. Out of the total 64 confirmed cases recorded in 2024, children below age five accounted for the highest cases with a total of 15 confirmed cases. Also, 67 per cent of Mpox cases recorded since January 2024 were reported in males. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Imo State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, called for urgent government intervention to rescue Primary Schools 1 and 2 in Umuna, Orlu Local Government Area of the state, from submersion by flood. Ikenna Ihezuo, a member representing Orlu State Constituency, made the call while moving a motuon regarding the recent flooding in the schools. While moving the motion, Mr Ihezuo said the rainy season had set in again with all its attendant hazards and destructive floods. He described the affected schools as highly vulnerable and susceptible to flooding that usually left both the pupils and teachers stranded and helpless. The lawmaker further expressed concern that teaching and learning in schools would soon become difficult if urgent measures were not taken to stop the menace from escalating. He said that it was surprising that the situation had not been brought to the attention of Governor Hope Uzodinma, who, he said, had carried out rehabilitation on roads and other public amenities across the state. Therefore, he prayed the House to urge the governor to direct the Ministries of Works and Education or other relevant government agencies to rescue the flood-ridden schools. 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 Chief Whip, Chigozie Nwaneri, supported the motion and agreed that urgent action was needed before the buildings in the schools became compromised due to the flooding. Mr Nwaneri feared that the buildings could collapse at any time if nothing were done urgently to arrest the situation. Also, the Majority Leader, Kanayo Onyemaechi, said that although the structures were still strong, serious threats could be avoided through immediate action. He also called for remedial measures to commence before miscreants would take advantage of the situation to vandalise the buildings. Following other contributions in support of the motion, the Speaker, Chike Olemgbe, ruled in favour of the prayers sought. Mr Olemgbe directed the Clerk, Chinelo Emeghara, to convey the assemblys resolution to the Office of the Governor and the relevant ministries. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Abia State Government said it would henceforth initiate legal action against any individual or organisation found encroaching on lands belonging to state-owned schools. The Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, disclosed this on Tuesday in Umuahia, while briefing reporters on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting. Mr Kanu said that the committee set up by Governor Alex Otti on the Recovery of School Land had made remarkable progress with new discoveries. He said the committee discovered that individuals were not the only suspects in the act. According to him, market associations, religious organisations and communities are also involved. The committee is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that all those involved in taking over school land are brought to book, he said. The commissioner further said that the committee was divided into three groups for effective coverage of the three senatorial districts. 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 Abia North, Central and South Senatorial Districts committees are headed by Chaka Chukwumerije, Kingsley Agomuo and Uche Ukeje, respectively, he said. He further warned that the government would sanction any school proprietor who resumed academic activities earlier than the 23 September resumption date announced by the government. Mr Kanu also announced that the state would host the forum of the South-East Council of Traditional Rulers meeting, which is scheduled for 28 September. He said that the government would continue to provide the necessary conducive environment for development activities. READ ALSO:Rebuilding Aba is difficult but necessary Gov Otti He said the JAC Building, built by the present government, had been inaugurated for public use. You can now go there and transact business with the ministries, departments and agencies that have their offices in the building, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The federal government has donated 19 trucks of rice to Kano State as part of measures to reduce hunger. Maryam Shettima, a member of the committee inaugurated by the government to supervise the distribution to residents of the state, disclosed this in an interview with Arise Television on Monday. Nineteen trucks are sent to Kano, I am not sure of the figures that have been sent to other states but this is just the beginning. So imagine if 19 trucks of rice would be sent to Kano, how many more would be needed to be sent across the 36 states of the nation? She said. Mrs Shettima, who was dropped from Mr Tinubus ministerial list just before senate screening last year, assured that with the modalities already implemented by the committee, the palliative would get to the poor households and vulnerable residents in the state. The modalities implemented are quite incredible and I believed that with time, this will be applied in the rest of the zones in the country because its quite transparent, its doable and its honest. You cant place better measures in place to ensure that this rice truly reaches the people that need it throughout the nooks and crannies of Kano State, throughout the nook and cranny of the North-west and Nigeria at large, she said. She was silent on the sizes of the bags of rice, which could be 10kg, 25kg or 50kg. 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 Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, had recently expressed concerns about alleged diversion of palliatives meant for the poor households in Kano State to personal use. Mr Jibirin, who represents Kano North Senatorial District, chaired the federal government palliative distribution committee in the state. Two other senators from the state Kawu Sumaila (Kano South) and Rufai Hanga (Kano Central) were members of the committee. No diversion, favouritism While responding to the concerns of possible diversion of the rice sent to the state, Mrs Shettima assured that the committee members would be fair in the distribution. She said there would neither be cases of favouritism nor nepotism in the distribution irrespective of political parties. When you look at the composition of the members of this committee, you would realise that the government is really serious about the poor. It cares; It means business that these palliatives need to reach the targeted citizens. The most interesting thing is that when you talk of the composition of the committee, it cuts across party lines , it is irrespective of anyones party affiliation, so there is no favoritism, there is no nepotism. It is not just the deputy senate president who happens to be a member of the APC but there is also Senator Kawu Sumaila who happens to be senator from NNPP in that committee and there is another senator from Kano Central, Senator Rufai Sanni Hanga who is also an NNPP member, and also several House of Representatives members. Nothing encourages transparency more than being inclusive and carrying everyone along, she said. More rice Mrs Shettima said more bags of rice would be distributed to the residents in the coming days. This government is purely concerned about the condition of the vulnerable and it is doing the best it can to address the issues. This is the second time this has been done and its just the beginning. More are going to come as times goes by, she promised. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print US Marine Corps General Michael Langley, commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), concluded a key visit to Somalia from September 9-11, underscoring Americas ongoing commitment to combat terrorism in East Africa. Joined by a high-level delegation, including Claude Tudor, a US Air Force major-general, and Rose Keravuori, US Army brigadier-general, Mr Langley reiterated AFRICOMs dedication to bolstering Somalias fight against extremist groups like al-Shabaab. During his stay, Mr Langley met with Somalias President Hassan Mohamud, discussing strategies to address the persistent threat posed by al-Shabaab. According to AFRICOMs Public Affairs Office, Mr Langley emphasised the importance of supporting Somalias federal government in its counterterrorism efforts and capacity-building initiatives, affirming the collaborative goal of delivering timely stabilisation assistance to the country. Together, we are committed to ensuring Somalia meets its critical security milestones, he noted. Mr Langley expressed confidence in Somalias approach, particularly in the efforts to strengthen the Somali National Army (SNA). Comparing the process to building a plane while flying it, he acknowledged the complexities of force generation but expressed optimism in the direction President Mohamuds administration is taking. In addition to meeting with Somali leadership, Mr Langley received operational briefings from a Somali army general regarding the current campaign against al-Shabaab in southern Somalia and Jubaland. In a teleconference with journalists, Mr Langley praised the generals tactical approach and emphasised AFRICOMs role in supporting Somalias military operations. AFRICOMs mission in Somalia comes at a critical juncture, with terrorism remaining a significant threat despite some progress. The US military continues to support the country by providing training and resources to local forces. 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 Mr Langley stressed, AFRICOMs approach is focused on empowering African nations to take the lead in their security operations, with US assistance acting as an enabling force. Recent data from the Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center (GTTAC) highlights both the challenges and successes in Somalias fight against terrorism. While terrorist incidents peaked at 2,087 in 2018, they have since declined to 1,063, showing progress but also revealing the ongoing risks posed by groups like al-Shabaab. This downward trend is a sign of gradual improvement, but AFRICOM and its Somali partners must remain vigilant in the face of an enduring threat. Mr Langley emphasised that the US continues to focus on Somalias long-term security by equipping the SNA to face evolving challenges. AFRICOMs strategy, as Mr Langley reiterated, is African-led and U.S.-enabled, with the goal of building Somali self-reliance in addressing security concerns. Mr Langley also discussed the broader scope of AFRICOMs work, extending beyond Somalia to other parts of Africa. He highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in counterterrorism and the role AFRICOM plays across North, East, Southern, and West Africa. The general pointed out that the US approach integrates development, defence, and diplomacy, aligning AFRICOMs efforts with the US National Security Strategy under President Biden. In his travels to countries like Libya and Kenya, Mr Langley has worked to strengthen security partnerships, focusing on regional stability and combating terrorist threats. These visits reflect AFRICOMs commitment to fostering long-term collaboration and addressing Africas security challenges at their roots. Mr Langleys recent visit to East Africa reaffirms AFRICOMs dedication to helping Somalia and other nations achieve lasting peace and stability. Despite the challenges, AFRICOMs partnership with Somalia is a testament to the USs enduring role in supporting African nations as they confront terrorism and build resilient defence capabilities. Pearl Matibe is a Washington, DC-based correspondent and media commentator with expertise in US foreign policy and international security. You may follow her on X: @PearlMatibe Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In todays interconnected world, cyberattacks are more frequent and more dangerous than ever before. Businesses, regardless of size or industry, are prime targets for cybercriminals. These attacks can cause widespread damage and create long-lasting consequences. Kaspersky (www.Kaspersky.co.za) dives into the impact of cyberattacks on business and reveals the key losses that an unprotected business can suffer. When we consider the impact of cyberattacks on business, the first thing we pay attention to is financial losses. An example of an incident with huge financial losses is the attack on Johnson Controls, a major player in the building technology sector that faced a significant ransomware incident (https://apo-opa.co/3XnrMJm) perpetrated by the Dark Angels hacking group. The attackers claimed to have stolen 27 terabytes of sensitive data and demanded a $51 million ransom. This breach resulted in severe disruptions to the companys systems and cost over $27 million in damages. The attack impacted Johnson Controls business operations, including disruptions to its billing systems and increased recovery expenses. As a company with a global presence, the breach significantly affected its business relationships and operations. Below, Kaspersky explores several key ways a cyberattack can hurt your business. Financial losses Cyberattacks often result in direct financial losses. Ransomware attacks, where hackers demand payment to restore access to data or directly steal funds, are a clear example. But this is only the beginning, as there are numerous other consequences that may result in considerable indirect financial losses. These can easily exceed what the company has lost as an immediate outcome of the incident. Operational disruption Cyberattacks can grind your operations to a halt. Many businesses depend on their digital infrastructure for daily activities. If systems are compromised, productivity falls. In severe cases, entire operations may be disrupted for days or even weeks (https://apo-opa.co/3MQRkKo), resulting in lost revenue, diminished service quality and disappointed clients and partners an additional impact on your companys reputation. Indirect long-term costs Even following the immediate aftermath of a cyberattack, businesses often face long-term financial impacts. Restoring systems, improving cybersecurity infrastructure, and managing the legal fallout are just some of the lingering costs. Additionally, lost business and damaged customer relationships can take months or years to rebuild. Reputational damage The trust your clients place in you is invaluable. If customer data is stolen in a breach, it can severely damage your brands reputation. This loss of trust can lead to customers leaving and a long-term decline in business. In some cases, a single breach is enough to ruin a companys public image beyond repair. 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 If your business falls victim to an attack, it can also impact your relationships with partners and vendors. Third-party partners might lose confidence in your ability to protect shared data. Similarly, business-critical relationships could be jeopardised if you fail to recover quickly or if your systems compromise their operations. Legal and compliance issues With data protection regulations such as the GDPR in Europe, POPIA in South Africa or HIPAA in the U.S., a data breach can lead to heavy fines. Failing to protect sensitive customer or employee data may result in penalties and lawsuits. Furthermore, companies that fall victim to breaches often face lengthy legal battles, which add to the financial and reputational strain. Loss of intellectual property For many businesses, intellectual property (IP) is among their most valuable assets. Cyberattacks targeting IP can steal product designs, marketing strategies, and proprietary information. This is particularly harmful in competitive industries like technology and pharmaceuticals, where IP theft can erase the advantage a company has spent years building. Attackers are never idle theyre like wolves who must be constantly active to catch their prey off-guard. So, companies need to be ever more alert and agile. They must be sure they have the right solutions and processes to allow for effective threat discovery and containment, as well as swift recovery. At Kaspersky, were deeply committed to delivering the agile security that businesses need. Proactive assessments and multi-layered protective solutions, plus managed security and actionable threat intelligence we have it all. Whats more important, we have the expertise to put together the exact cybersecurity structure for your individual profile. Only a consistent and comprehensive approach, like this one, can ensure true business resilience against todays cyber risks, comments Oleg Gorobets, Security Evangelist at Kaspersky. Below, Kaspersky offers some recommendations to help your business stay ahead of cyberthreats and remain resilient: Always keep the software updated on all the devices you use to prevent attackers from infiltrating your network by exploiting vulnerabilities. Install patches for new vulnerabilities as soon as possible. To protect the company against a wide range of threats, use robust solutions, like that from the Kaspersky Next (https://apo-opa.co/4gr9zDD) product line, that provide real-time protection, threat visibility, and the investigation and response capabilities of EDR and XDR for organisations of any size and industry. Kaspersky solutions are regularly awarded, leading in independent tests ( https://apo-opa.co/3XyqJXl). product line, that provide real-time protection, threat visibility, and the investigation and response capabilities of EDR and XDR for organisations of any size and industry. Kaspersky solutions are regularly awarded, leading in independent tests ( For protection of very small businesses, use solutions intended to help you manage your cybersecurity even without having an IT administrator on board. Kaspersky Small Office Security ( https://apo-opa.co/4gxRLqz) provides you with hands-off security due to install and forget protection and saves the budget, which is crucial, particularly in the early stages of business development. provides you with hands-off security due to install and forget protection and saves the budget, which is crucial, particularly in the early stages of business development. If your company doesnt have a dedicated IT security function and only has generalist IT admins who may lack the specialist skills required for expert-level detection and response solutions, consider subscribing to a managed service such as Kaspersky MDR (https://apo-opa.co/3zzkfiN). This would instantly boost your security capabilities by an order of magnitude, while allowing you to focus on building in-house expertise. This would instantly boost your security capabilities by an order of magnitude, while allowing you to focus on building in-house expertise. Educate your employees to have protection against human-related cyberattacks. Specialised courses can help, such as Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform (https://apo-opa.co/3XtzFgw) that instills safe Internet behaviour and includes a simulated phishing attack exercise. that instills safe Internet behaviour and includes a simulated phishing attack exercise. Set up offline backups that intruders cannot tamper with. Make sure you can quickly access them in an emergency when needed. Conduct cybersecurity audits. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Rivers State have busted a job racketeering syndicate that allegedly specialises in advertising non-existent employment vacancies to defraud unsuspecting job seekers. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Olatunji Disu, disclosed this at a news conference in Port Harcourt on Tuesday. Mr Disu said that police operatives in Rivers successfully rescued 16 victims held by the gang during a raid on its hideout. He said that the police uncovered the syndicate when officers from the Octopus Strike Force responded to a distress call from concerned residents who suspected a hostage situation. Police operatives acted swiftly and raided a compound in Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area, arresting one Chukwudi Okoli, who had been posing as an employee of Ojoseansel International Global Limited. During the operation, one Amiye Joseph and 15 other victims, comprising 13 males and two females, were rescued and taken to the station. Preliminary investigations revealed that each of the victims had paid between N650,000 and N850,000 to the fraudulent company, Mr Disu 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 further alleged that the company had falsely promised the victims jobs in the oil and gas industry, with salaries purportedly paid in US dollars. The fraudsters operated by randomly selecting phone numbers and contacting potential victims, introducing them to fake job opportunities. They would then invite the victims to Port Harcourt for bogus interviews. Investigators further discovered that after extorting large sums of money, the victims were detained in a facility, where they were closely monitored, Mr Disu said. He further disclosed that the company also allegedly subjected its victims to training sessions in its hideouts. Also, he alleged that the victims were taught how to deceive their friends into believing in fraudulent job offers, with the promise of earning 450 US dollars per week. Mr Disu said that items recovered from the gangs operational base included mobile phones, laptops, television sets, generators, industrial fans, and office furniture. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone C, has destroyed 1,015 sacks of dried donkey meat and skin in Edo A statement by the Public Relations Officer, NCS, FOU, Zone C, Jerry Attah, on Wednesday, said that the items were part of contraband seized between 15 July and 15 September in the zone. Mr Attah quoted Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, who oversees NCS, FOU, Zone C, as saying the destruction was carried out in the presence of representatives of other regulatory agencies. He underscored the need for collaborative efforts to protect wildlife. Mr Ugbagu said the initiative also aligned with efforts to combat the illegal trade of endangered species. He said that Nigeria, as a signatory to the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), prohibits the trade in donkeys. The National Council on Agricultural and Rural Development in 2017 has also banned the large-scale slaughter of donkeys in the country to prevent their extinction. 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 as you may be aware, donkey parts are highly valued in Asia, particularly in China, where they are used for consumption and medical purposes, he said. The comptroller further said that smugglers had become creative, now using luxurious buses to transport donkey meat at night to evade arrest. We cannot afford to lose our donkeys on the altar of illicit exports, especially considering their economic importance for agricultural purposes, he said. Mr Ugbagu reiterated the units resolve to protect the countrys wildlife and economy. He thanked the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, and the services management for their support in the fight against smuggling. Mr Ugbagu also called on the media and Nigerians to assist Customs with intelligence to curb smuggling activities. He issued a stern warning to smugglers planning illegal activities during the ember months, stating that its officers would remain vigilant and committed to enforcing the law. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has deployed 6,433 operatives to provide security ahead of Saturdays Edo Governorship Election. This is contained in a statement by the NSCDC spokesperson, Afolabi Babawale, on Wednesday in Abuja. Mr Babawale quoted the NSCDC Commandant General (CG), Ahmed Audi, as charging the personnel to be nonpartisan and professional while discharging their duties. The corps has a vital role to play in ensuring the protection of election materials, both sensitive and non-sensitive, before, during and after the election. Since we do not have a general election, we have enough personnel to deploy across wards, polling units, collation centres, INEC office and other areas. Our deployment for the Edo Governorship Election will cover all nooks and crannies, including flashpoints. All personnel deployed are to work in synergy with other security agencies to ensure a peaceful conduct of the election. 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 Officers and men deployed were drawn from the corps headquarters special forces, the CGs special intelligence unit, anti-vandal squad, Chemical Biological Radiological and Explosive Unit, Kennel (K9) unit, amongst others, Mr Audi said. The commandant general also said the special forces and anti-vandal units were to ensure the protection of government facilities and infrastructure and should pay more attention to the identified flashpoints and volatile areas. The undercover officers have also been deployed before now to maintain round-the-clock surveillance and provide up-to-date intelligence reports and real-time security situations from the 18 local governments in Edo. Citizens should shun all forms of violence, thuggery, snatching of the ballot box and any other form of electoral malpractices that could disrupt the peaceful conduct of the election. It is very vital to also warn, in strong terms, that parents and guardians should keep their children from being used as instruments of violence. They should also refrain from being sponsored by desperate politicians who might want to cause mayhem and electoral violence. Anyone arrested would be charged accordingly in compliance with the extant laws, Mr Audi warned. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian has said strengthening cooperation between Tehran and Moscow would help mitigate the impacts of Western sanctions and unjust measures imposed on both nations. Mr Pezeshkian made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council Sergei Shoigu, according to a statement on the website of his office. Emphasising the background of constructive relations between Iran and Russia, Mr Pezeshkian said bilateral ties would be developed on a permanent, continuous, and lasting path. He affirmed that his administration is committed to advancing cooperation and enhancing the relationship between the two nations. Mr Shoigu, for his part, conveyed a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, affirming that Moscows position on cooperation with Iran on regional issues remains unchanged. Earlier in the day, Mr Shoigu met with the Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, Ali Ahmadian, to review the agreements between the two countries, according to local media. In response to US sanctions, Iran and Russia have recently strengthened their political and economic relations to counter the U.S. moves. 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 (Xinhua/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, has provided clarity on the issue of the tenure of the current Governing Board of the Commission, stating that the members were appointed for a four-year tenure. Addressing a press conference at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Mr Ogbuku said the insinuations in some quarters that his tenure as the Managing Director would end this year were false and without any foundation. He stated that subject to the provision of section 4 of the NDDC Establishment Act, a member of the board other than an ex-officio member, shall hold office for a term of four years at the first instance and may be reappointed for a further term of four years and no more. Mr Ogbuku said that those pushing for the truncation of the tenure of the NDDC Board were not happy that members were working harmoniously to deliver on the mandate of President Bola Tinubu for the people of the Niger Delta region. Distraction from people with selfish motives The NDDC chief executive officer lamented that despite the efforts of the NDDC Board and management to deliver quality projects and programmes, some people with selfish motives were working behind the scenes to return the commission to the days of instability and non-performance. He stated that nothing would distract the NDDC board and management from holding fast to its mantra of Transiting from Transactions to Transformation. Mr Ogbuku advised those scheming for a change of batons at NDDC to hold their horses as President Tinubu re-appointed him for another term of four years, noting that the region should be ready to see more people-oriented projects and programmes. 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 assured that as soon as the 2024 budget of the Commission was signed into law, the ongoing efforts to complete legacy projects would gain momentum, pointing out that the plan in the budget was to raise N1 trillion from development and commercial banks for the completion of legacy projects spread across the Niger Delta region. Mr Ogbuku explained that the legacy projects included regional roads, bridges, electricity projects, school buildings, hospitals, shore reclamation and protection, among others. He also outlined recent initiatives of the Board, including the Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit, which was a culmination of other engagements with the youth groups and women. He assured that the resolutions of the summit would inform future actions, stating that the communique would be presented to President Tinubu. Speaking on the NDDC Healthcare Programme, which caters to the needs of rural communities, Mr Ogbuku said that the recent free medical outreach across the nine states of the region, was successful, leading to plans for holding the event biannually. He said further that the Commission had acquired and distributed 13 ambulances to regional hospitals in response to a cholera outbreak and was working to secure more ambulances and cholera vaccines to prevent further incidents. In the education sector, the NDDC boss highlighted the Foreign Post-Graduate Scholarship Programme of the Commission, noting that 2,323 students in the region had so far benefited from it. We have released the initial funds for beneficiaries of the 2024/2025 scholarship programme. In response to the rising costs of foreign education, we are considering offering local undergraduate scholarships, he added. The NDDC boss assured that the era of not having data or evidence of projects and programmes was gone, adding the current Board and Management of the Commission had adopted strategies to showcase its activities. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Turkish police on Wednesday rounded up 22 suspects in the western province of Izmir over their alleged links to a network accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016. The state-run TRT reported that the police conducted several raids in Izmir city and five districts of the province to apprehend the suspects who were allegedly linked to the Gulen movement, which the Turkish government accused of attempting a coup on 15 July 2016. The detained allegedly used the movements crypto communication programme, ByLock and conducted suspicious transactions in Bank Asya, which the Turkish government said is operated by the Gulen movement The movement is allegedly led by and named after Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom his followers regard as a spiritual leader. Ankara has accused the US-based preacher of masterminding the attempted coup, in which at least 250 people were killed. The Turkish government has launched a massive crackdown on suspects with links to the network in the aftermath of the coup attempt. (Xinhua/NAN) Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Kwara State Government on Wednesday began the distribution of 42,000 bags of fertilisers to farmers across the state. The fertilisers were donated to the state government by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. The Senior Special Assistant to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Community Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, who supervised the distribution, said each farmer will get at least three bags of fertilisers at no cost. This is a federal governments intervention that complements what the state government has already done on three different occasions, Mr Olohungbebe said. Here we have 50 trucks of NPK fertilisers and 20 trucks of Urea fertilisers, making 70 trucks altogether, donated by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to the people of Kwara State, he sat at the inauguration ceremony. This would be a continuous exercise. At the state level, we have distributed fertilisers and other farm inputs in three batches. But this one is coming from the federal government. The federal government has given it to the state free of charge, and we are giving it to real farmers free of charge, too. Mr Olohungbegbe said the distribution of the items would be handled by a Fertiliser Distribution Committee in each local government area, headed by the directors of Personnel Management with community leaders as members. 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 listed members of the committee as local government development officers, traditional and community leaders, community-based organisations, representatives of CAN and Jamaatu Nasrul Islam, civil society organisations, people living with disability and farmers, among others. He thanked the federal government for the gesture and promised that the exercise would be properly monitored to ensure that the item gets to the real farmers. On behalf of citizens of Kwara State, led by the Chairman of NGF, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, CON, we appreciate the federal government for this gesture, and we look forward to more collaborative efforts shortly, he said. We assure the federal government that these items would get to the grassroots. In Kwara, we dont joke with the grassroots because we are running a community-based government. The directors of Personnel Management in Baruten and Kaiama LGs, Olanike Olashade and Felicia Aina, in their separate remarks, described the exercise as a welcome development, saying it will enhance farmers output and improve food security in the country. The Development Officer for Patigi Local Government, Fatimoh Jiya, for her part, said the intervention is laudable and will drive food sufficiency. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has arrested one Taimako Mato, said to be leader of a gunrunning syndicate. The police also recovered a weapon handling instructor at an undisclosed Boko Haram camp. Mr Mato was arrested with four other members of the syndicate. The Force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. Mr Adejobi said that the police operations in August across Nigeria led to the arrest. In more recent events, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have made outstanding breakthrough in the fight against several types of violent crimes across the country, one of which is the dismantling and arrest of a gunrunning syndicate operating in the Bauchi-Plateau region. The suspects, identified as Taimako Mato m, John Danladi m, Mohammed Munkail m, Manasseh William m and Muhammadu Haddi m were arrested with 1 PKT Machine Gun, 40 rounds of 37.2mm and 95rounds of 62mm cartridge ammunition. The leader of the syndicate, Taimako Mato, was a weapon handling instructor at a Boko Haram camp, who procures these prohibited weapons and passes them on to the other members of the syndicate to sell to various buyers, he stated. Robbery suspects, kidnappers nabbed According to the police spokesperson, the Force In separate operations across the country also arrested 295 armed robbery suspects, 186 kidnappers, 271 murder/Homicide suspects, and recovered 4087 ammunition in last month. 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, the police also apprehended 71 suspects for unlawful possession of firearms, 199 for alleged sexual-related offences, 143 for alleged involvement in cultism, and 1575 suspects arrested for other various crimes. The Force also recovered 185 firearms, 4,087 rounds of ammunition of various calibres, 111 vehicles and rescued 129 kidnapped victims. As part of the effort to curb insecurity, Mr Adejobi said, the Inspector General Of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has implemented several strategies and tactics targeted at fighting against all forms of crimes across the country. The Inspector General of Police once again reassures members of the public of the Police Forces dedication to protecting the lives and property, and to this effect, the IGP has emplaced several strategies and tactics, aimed at combating various forms of crimes in all spheres. The IGP hereby calls for citizens full support in actualizing this goal and establishing a utopia in our dear country, he stated. Read the statement in full here. PRESS RELEASE NIGERIA POLICE BUST MAJOR GUNRUNNING SYNDICATE, RECORDS ARREST OF 2,740 SUSPECTS IN VARIOUS PROMINENT CRIMINAL CASES IN ONE MONTH. As IGP Diversifies Tactics to Tackle All Forms of Crime The Nigeria Police Force, under the leadership of the 22nd Indigenous Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, PhD, NPM., remains relentless in its effort towards ensuring that the perpetrators of heinous crimes across the country are brought to book. Over the last month, the Nigeria Police Force recorded the arrest of 295-armed robbery suspects, 186 kidnappers, 271 Murder/Homicide suspects, and 71 suspects for the unlawful possession of Firearms. Also arresting 199 suspects for sexual-related offences, 143 suspects for cultism, and 1575 suspects arrested for other various crimes. The Force also recovered 185 firearms and a total number of 4,087 ammunition of various calibres, 111 vehicles were recovered and 129 kidnapped victims rescued. In more recent events, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have made outstanding breakthrough in the fight against several types of violent crimes across the country, one of which is the dismantling and arrest of a gunrunning syndicate operating in the Bauchi-Plateau region. The suspects, identified as Taimako Mato m, John Danladi m, Mohammed Munkail m, Manasseh William m and Muhammadu Haddi m were arrested with 1 PKT Machine Gun, 40 rounds of 37.2mm and 95rounds of 62mm cartridge ammunition. The Leader of the syndicate, Taimako Mato, was a weapon handling instructor at a Boko Haram Camp, who procures these prohibited weapons and passes them on to the other members of the syndicate to sell to various buyers. The Inspector General of Police once again reassures members of the public of the Police Forces dedication to protecting the lives and property, and to this effect, the IGP has emplaced several strategies and tactics, aimed at combating various forms of crimes in all spheres. The IGP hereby calls for citizens full support in actualizing this goal and establishing a utopia in our dear country. The Nigeria Police Force will not relent in the pursuit of ensuring crimes and criminalities are brought to its lowest in accordance with the Rule of Law, and upholding the highest standards of professionalism in carrying out extant duties of protection of lives and properties. ACP OLUMUYIWA ADEJOBI, mnipr, mipra, fCAI, FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER, FORCE HEADQUARTERS, ABUJA. 17TH SEPTEMBER, 2024. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State said Wednesday that he has surrendered to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after about five months of snubbing court in Abuja where he was repeatedly scheduled to be arraigned on N80.2 billion money laundering charges pending against him. According to a press statement from Mr Bellos media team, the former governor was accompanied by high profile Nigerians to honour EFCCs invitation at the commissions headquarters in Abuja. This decision was made after due consultations with his family, legal team and political allies. The former governor, who has great respect for the rule of law and constituted authority, had, all the while, only sought the enforcement of his fundamental rights in order to ensure due process, the statement signed by the Director, Yahaya Bello Media Office, Ohiare Michael, said Wednesday. The spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, could not be reached for comment as of the time of filing this report. He did not respond to repeated calls to his telephone on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the development comes exactly a week ahead of the next hearing in Mr Bellos case that has been stalled by his repeated absence from court since April. At the last hearing in July, the trial judge, Emeka Nwite, adjourned till 25 September after dismissing a request by Mr Bellos legal team to order a stay of proceedings. 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 EFCC charged Mr Bello with 19 counts of money laundering before the Federal High Court in Abuja after he completed his second and final term as governor in January. The commission alleged in the charges that the former governor diverted more than N80 billion from the Kogi State Governments treasury as governor of Kogi State. However, since filing the charges, the commission has not been able to bring him to court for arraignment. Since April, the former governor has snubbed six court sessions scheduled for his arraignment, as he intensified legal efforts, including filing legal actions before the trial judge, Kogi State High Court and the Court of Appeal, to stop the trial. At a point, he wrote the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, to transfer the case to the Lokoja Division of the court. But the Chief Judge rejected the request and asked him to present the request before the trial judge. The trial judge, Emeka Nwite, similarly refused the application. In April, EFCC declared him wanted after a failed attempt to arrest him at his residence in Abuja. Coming forward to clear his name The statement by Mr Bellos media aide tried to explain his continued absence from court since April. The case has been before a competent court of jurisdiction, and Alhaji Yahaya Bello had been duly represented by his legal team at every hearing, the statement said. The statement added, It is important for the former Governor to now honour the invitation of the EFCC to clear his name as he has nothing to hide and nothing to fear. The former Governor believes firmly in the efforts of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to place Nigeria on the path of sustainable economic development; and supports the fight against corruption in the country. It is on record that he was the first Governor of Kogi State to put in place an anti-corruption mechanism to check graft and ensure that the resources of the State work for the people of the State. He was accompanied to the EFCC Headquarters by high profile Nigerians. The statement expressed hope that the Commission will be as professional as necessary and respect his fundamental rights as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Court snubbing and legal efforts He was scheduled to appear on 18 April, a day after the trial court ordered his arrest. Mr Bello has skipped other court sessions scheduled for his arraignment on 23 April, 10 May, 13 June, 27 June, and 17 July. In June, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ruled against him in a fundamental rights case, which he held on to as an excuse for staying away from court. He also unsuccessfully sought the transfer of his trial from the Abuja division of the Federal High Court to the Lokoja division. On 17 July, the trial judge, Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, also rejected an application by the former governors legal team to halt his trial. In August, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reaffirmed the power of the EFCC to prosecute the former governor. A three-member bench of the court which sat on the case unanimously dismissed Mr Bellos appeal against certain decisions of the trial judge. The appeal court threw out the former governors preliminary objection to the trial. Mr Bello challenged the Federal High Courts decision ordering the service of the charges and proof of evidence on his lead counsel. However, the Court of Appeal validated the service as ordered by the trial court. What is more? Section 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) allows service on the Defendant or his legal practitioner, Mr Amadi held in the lead courts lead decision. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, postponed the judgement in a suit seeking the removal of Abdullahi Ganduje as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) till 23 September. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the matter, which was earlier fixed for today (Wednesday), was not on the cause list. NAN gathered that the court registrar had informed parties in the suit that the judgement was not ready and communicated the new judgement date to them. We have already called the parties on phone to inform them of the development. A new date is next week, 23 September, a reliable court of official said. The judge, Inyang Ekwo, had, on 5 July, fixed today (18 September) for the judgement. Mr Ekwo fixed the date after lawyers to the plaintiff, Benjamin Davou, and lawyers to the defence adopted their processes and made their submission for and against the case. The plaintiff, the North Central APC Forum led by Saleh Zazzaga, had filed the suit to queried the propriety of Mr Gandujes appointment as the National Chairman of the APC when he is not from the North Central geo-political zone, whose turn, suit said, was to fill the position. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/599/2024, the plaintiff listed Mr Ganduje, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the 1st to the 3rd defendants respectively. The plaintiff wants the court to, among others, restrain Mr Ganduje from further parading himself as the chairman of the APC. It also prays the court to issue an order directing INEC not to accord recognition to all actions taken by the APC, including congresses, primaries and nominations, since Mr Ganduje became APC Chairman on August 3, 2023. The plaintiff is contending among others, that Mr Ganduje is occupying the office of the APC chairman illegally, not being from a state in the North Central geo-political zone. READ ALSO: NEC meeting not convened to remove Ganduje APC secretary It argued that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC breached the partys constitution when it appointed Mr Ganduje, from Kano State in the North West geo- political zone to replace Abdullahi Adamu from Nasarawa State in the North Central geo-political zone. It also argued that Gandujes appointment to replace Abdullahi was contrary to Article 31.5(1) f of the APC constitution and ultra-vires the powers of the NEC of the party, among other prayers. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Human Rights Watch on Wednesday said jihadist groups in Burkina Faso have escalated attacks on civilians, often in retaliation against communities for refusing to join their ranks or allegedly collaborating with government troops. The junta-led West African nation has been grappling with Islamist insurgents, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, since they spread into its territory from neighbouring Mali almost a decade ago. Military leader Ibrahim Traore has pushed for civilians to play a role in fighting the insurgency, recruiting thousands of volunteer army auxiliaries known as VDPs and requiring civilians to dig defensive trenches. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the jihadists have been retaliating with increasingly deadly attacks on civilians. The watchdog documented seven jihadist attacks between February and June that led to at least 128 civilian deaths. Insurgents targeted villages, a displaced peoples camp and worshippers in a Catholic church. Al Qaeda affiliate Jamaa Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for six of the attacks. The group has issued several warnings against civilians seen as collaborating with the army in the past, and witnesses told HRW this motivated the attacks. 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 Some villagers were killed after authorities forced them to return to areas from which jihadists had evicted them because some had joined the VDPs. We are between a rock and a hard place, a 56-year-old villager told HRW. ISIS-affiliated Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) claimed the February Church massacre was an apparent retaliation against Christians who did not abandon their religion, according to witnesses. The junta, which has previously condemned HRW reports on military forces summarily executing civilians suspected of collaborating with jihadists, sent the watchdog a rare written response to the report in August. In a letter, the justice minister rejected HRWs claim that the prosecution of serious crimes had been sluggish since the start of the conflict. It added that all alleged human rights violations and abuses insurgents had committed were being investigated. The minister also said displaced people had returned voluntarily to areas that security forces had taken back and secured. The HRW report did not include a JNIM attack on civilians ordered to dig trenches around the north-central town of Barsalogho at the end of August. Hundreds of people were shot dead, making it one of the deadliest in Burkina Fasos history. Mr Traore vowed to do better than his predecessors when he seized power in September 2022, the second coup in Burkina Faso that year, stoked in part by anger against authorities for worsening violence. However, the security situation has deteriorated further under his regime, which has also cracked down on dissent, analysts, rights groups and humanitarian workers say. (Reuters/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is constructing emergency shelters to provide temporary accommodations for victims of flooding in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states. Samuel Ogbuku, the managing director of NDDC, told journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday that the commission would also supply relief items for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). He said that the NDDC had initiated these projects to alleviate the hardships faced by IDPs during periods of flooding in the Niger Delta. We are constructing two flood emergency shelters in each of the states of Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers to ease the suffering our people have endured over the years. The shelters, designed as mini-communities, will feature facilities such as schools, police posts, and a cafeteria, among others. NDDC is taking proactive measures to mitigate the impact of flooding on the population, rather than waiting for people to suffer before we intervene, he explained. Mr Ogbuku also said that the NDDCs efforts aimed to end the use of primary and secondary schools as temporary shelters during floods. 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 developed this concept after realising that over the years, IDPs take refuge in schools, preventing pupils and students from resuming their studies after the floods. This occurs because the IDPs defecate and damage school buildings, making it impossible for academic activities to resume under such conditions, he added. The managing director said the shelters were constructed in areas prone to heavy flooding. He assured that the project would be expanded to other NDDC states. He described the shelters as multi-purpose facilities that could also serve as camps for various events and programmes after the flood season. Mr Ogbuku clarified that while the commission could not prevent natural disasters, it could intervene to reduce their impact on the population. This is why NDDC intervened to rehabilitate the East-West Road, making it accessible so that when the floods come, their effects will be less severe. We do not want our people to face undue hardship or suffering when the floods hit the Niger Delta region, he reassured. Mr Ogbuku also said that NDDC was currently addressing the issue of rising ocean levels, which may soon flood communities in Bayelsa, Delta, and Ondo states. According to him, the commission has already commenced ecological study of the affected states. He, however, expressed concerns about the substantial cost involved in addressing the ocean surge. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A journalist who was granted bail after being remanded in prison for sharing contents deemed critical of Kano State government officials, including Governor Abba Yusuf, and the reinstated emir, Lamido Sanusi, has been sent back to prison. Muktar Dahiru of Radio Nigeria, Pyramid FM Kano, was initially arrested by the police and remanded in a correctional facility on 29 August for allegedly sharing on Facebook the contents considered offensive by the state government. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Dahiru was secretly arraigned before Magistrate Court 24 at Gyadi Gyadi, Court Road, for criminal conspiracy, defamation of character, and intentional insult. The government said the alleged offences contravene sections 97,391 and 115 of the Penal Code Law. The magistrate, Ummah Kurawa, on 2 September granted Mr Dahiru a N1 million bail and banned him from posting content on social media that may be deemed offensive to the officials of the state government. Other bail conditions include the provision of three sureties, one of whom must be the chairperson of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr Dahirus wife, and a reputable individual endorsed by the Kano Hisbah Board. The court adjourned the sitting to 2 October. But on Tuesday, his lawyer, Yusuf Isah, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Muktar was re-arrested two days after he was released on bail and sent to Kurmawa correctional facility. The lawyer said the court ordered the re-arrest of his client for allegedly failing to fulfil bail conditions. 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 alleged crime In several posts, Mr Dahiru shared a broadcast audio interview with an opposition politician accusing the governor of corruption. The opposition politician challenged the governor to allow federal anti-corruption agencies to investigate the Novomed scandal instead of the state anti-corruption agency. Novomed Pharmaceutical, owned by Musa Kwankwakso, a younger brother of the former governor, Rabiu Kwankwakso, is being investigated over a contract with the state government. In another video post, Mr Dahiru shared a radio programme by the governors political adviser, Anas Abba-Dala, speculating that the Nigerian vice president, Kashim Shettima, is not a Nigerian. In the programme, Mr Abba-Dala alleged that Mr Shettima betrayed his political godfather, Ali-Modu Sheriff, adding that it was Mr Shettimas relatives who invaded a mosque in Kano and killed an Islamic cleric, Jaafar Adam, in 2007. Mr Dahiru captioned the post: This is beyond politics. In another post, Mr Dahiru shared an audio programme in which one person accuses the reinstated emir of pretentiousness by portraying himself as sympathetic to the poor while living an expensive lifestyle like a woman. In another post, Mr Dahiru shared an audio recording of an opposition politician, Yusuf Fasaha, accusing the former governor, Mr Kwankwaso, of fraud. When we were in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kwankwaso collected N320 million from our group for the interest nomination form, but he later shared the seats with people he liked and refused to conduct a primary election. We requested a refund of our money in several meetings, but Kwankwaso refused to refund it, Mr Fasaha said in the audio recording posted by the journalist. The political adviser to the governor, Abba-Dala, complained against Mr Dahiru to the police that Mr Dahiru, in a Facebook post, called him an illiterate person and that he tarnished his image by stating that he impregnated a woman (out of wedlock). Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A group of student leaders at the University of Ibadan has written to the management of the institution to request an extension to the deadline for the payment of school fees as the first semester examinations for the 2023/2024 academic session commence on Monday. The deadline for payment, as announced by the university, is Friday 20 September. Last month, the university council approved an increment in the fees payable by students, sparking another round of protests since the fee hike was first announced in April. The protest in August forced the university to shut down the campus for three weeks, asking them to resume on Friday, 20 September, ahead of the examinations on Monday. As the deadline draws near, more students and student bodies are seen on social media crowdfunding for their members to pay the school fees. Meanwhile, the student leaders alleged that the students who applied for loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have not had their applications treated by the body for more than two months. But efforts to get the reaction of the financial agency were unsuccessful as calls to the phone number of an official of the public relations unit, Nasir Ayitogo, were not answered as of the time of filing this report. 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 universitys spokesperson, Joke Akinpelu, did not respond to a phone call by our reporter. She has also yet to respond to a text message seeking the institutions official response. Students write VC In a letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, Kayode Adebowale, the Council of Departmental Presidents asked that the university management permit students who are yet to pay the school fees to sit for the General Studies (GES) examinations scheduled for next week. The letter, titled: Request for Extension of School Fee Payment and Permission to Sit GES Exam, was jointly signed by Iyun Samuel, the Chairperson of the council; Akpokodje Innocent, the Vice Chairperson; Agbajeola Rofiat, the Secretary, and Badru Olamide, the Public Relations Officer. Given the current economic situation, we understand the review in the amount of school fees being paid by the students recently made by the school governing council. However, a significant number of students are struggling to pay their full fees by the deadline, especially the indigent students of the University of Ibadan. This situation is leading to considerable stress and making it difficult for students to concentrate on their studies, reads part of the letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES. They said students who applied for student loans through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have their applications still awaiting approval. In light of these circumstances, we kindly request an extension on the fee payment deadline. We also plead for your consideration on students who are yet to pay their school fees be permitted to sit for the GES exam next week, the letter added. Fee hike The management of the institution had in April increased school fees from an average of N20,000-N30,000 to about N200,000-N400,000, which also sparked protests at the time. The protests forced the university to suspend the August payment deadline it earlier set for the payment. However, in the last week of August, the university governing council, chaired by Bisi Akande, a national leader of Nigerias ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), approved the increments, sparking another round of protests on 30 August. The university responded by shutting down the campus and asking students to vacate the hostels for three weeks. In the circular directing students to vacate the hostels, the registrar, Ganiu Saliu, asked the students to resume on 20 September, the same day registration is scheduled to close. Mr Saliu added that examinations begin on Monday, 23 September. Students crowdfund On social media, PREMIUM TIMES reviewed several posts by student bodies asking social media users to donate so they can pay for their school fees. Some of the student bodies observed are; The Pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria Students (PCANS), Nigerian Universities Nursing Students Association, University of Ibadan Medical Students Association, and the Nigerian Institute of Mechanical Engineers. READ ALSO: Lagos govt speaks on boarding fee hike Meanwhile, some social media users have also expressed concern about the situation with some of them accusing the university of being insensitive. University of Ibadan students crowdfunding their school fees isnt something I thought Id see so soon. The country is hard, and the fees are worsening, an X user, @DibiaErnesto, posted. Another user, @Yourdesigngurl posted: Everyone wanted a federal university then because the fees are reasonable and in some states almost free, seeing University of Ibadan students crowdfund for school fees is a stark reminder of how far gone this country is. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for unified efforts to address the escalating threats posed by climate change across Nigeria, particularly in the North-east region. Speaking on Wednesday at the North East Development Commission (NEDC) Climate Change Summit in Gombe, Mr Shettima emphasised the urgent need for innovation and resilience to counter the growing environmental challenges. The past few days have reminded us of the harsh realities of climate change, Mr Shettima said, lamenting the recent tragedies caused by natural disasters. He urged Nigerians to take decisive action as lives, livelihoods, and communities face increasing risks. None of us is immune to this existential threat to our ecosystem, he added. The vice president praised the NEDC for organising the summit, highlighting the regions vulnerability to climate change, exacerbated by years of conflict and environmental degradation. He also stressed Nigerias commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2060 through the Energy Transition Plan and National Climate Change Policy. 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 Shettima underscored the importance of initiatives like the Great Green Wall in combating desertification and urged for stronger solutions to bolster the countrys climate resilience. He concluded by reaffirming the federal governments support in ensuring the success of the NEDCs climate action initiatives. In his speech, Paul Tarfa, the chairperson of the NEDC, emphasised the significance of the North-East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan (NESDMP) in addressing the regions climate and security challenges. Mr Tarfa, a retired army major-general, said the Commission is committed to addressing the dual challenges of climate change and the devastation caused by years of insurgency in the region. This retreat is an essential milestone for the NEDC as we come together to reflect, strategise, and set the course for the effective implementation of the NESDMP, Mr Tarfa stated. In his remarks, Muhammad Alkali, managing director of the commission, highlighted the dire environmental challenges confronting Nigerias North-east region. Mr Alkali emphasised the urgency of addressing key issues such as desertification, drought, biodiversity loss, climate-induced displacement, and weak institutional capacity that are hindering sustainable development in the region. The North-east region has been severely impacted by desertification due to the encroaching Sahara Desert, leading to land degradation and reduced agricultural productivity. This presents a direct threat to food security and the livelihoods of rural communities, Mr Alkali stated. Water scarcity, exacerbated by the shrinking of Lake Chad, has further intensified these challenges, leaving millions of people struggling for access to safe drinking water, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print An aide of former Sokoto State governor Aminu Tambuwal remanded in prison for sharing media content considered offensive to the sitting governor, Ahmad Aliyu, has been released on bail. Shafiu Umar was remanded in a correctional facility on 28 August for allegedly insulting the governor, his wife, and his deputy in a Facebook post. Mr Umar allegedly shared a video of the governor struggling to deliver a speech in English and also posted Mr Aliyus senior secondary school leaving certificate online. Mr Umar was also accused of sharing a document that indicated that Governor Aliyu failed his senior secondary school examination as he scored F9 in English Language. A magistrate, Fatima Hassan, granted Mr Umar a N1 million bail, the News Agency of Nigeria reported. The prosecution said the defendant circulated a video of the governors wife, Fatima Aliyu, spraying money during her birthday ceremony despite the present hardships faced by citizens. Ruling on the bail application, the magistrate also ordered that the surety to Mr Umar be a resident of Sokoto and that the accused person deposit his National Identity Card along with two copies of passport photographs in the court. 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 She adjourned the case to 10 October for a hearing. The magistrate ordered that the defendant should be remanded in a corrections facility until the bail conditions are met. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asked him to leave its office in Abuja after surrendering himself for interrogation on Wednesday. The former governor, who was declared wanted by the EFCC over N80.2 billion money laundering charges in April, said this in a statement by the director of his media office, Ohiare Michael. The statement, the second to be issued on Wednesday by the ex-governors team regarding his running battle with the EFCC, said Mr Bello was accompanied by his successor, Governor Usman Ododo, to the anti-graft agencys headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday. The EFCC did not, however, interrogate him as officials told him he could leave. We dont know what this means yet, Mr Bellos media team wrote., adding, As we write, HE Alhaji Yahaya Bello has left the EFCC office. He was accompanied there by the Governor of Kogi State, HE Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo. Yahaya Bello not in EFCC custody A few hours after Mr Bellos first statement disclosing that he honoured the commissions invitation was reported by several news outlets on Wednesday, the EFCC issued a terse statement to deny having the former governor in custody. EFCCs spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said in his two-paragraph statement that the news of Mr Bello surrendering to the EFCC is incorrect. Neither confirming nor denying if Mr Bello surrendered himself to the EFCC on Wednesday, the statement added, The Commission wishes to state that Bello is not in its custody. 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 Bello, already declared wanted by the Commission for alleged N80.2 billion money laundering charges, remains wanted with a subsisting warrant for his arrest. Hazy matter However, Mr Bello, in his follow-up statement, insisted he was at the EFCC office on Wednesday. The statement repeated the same reasons given in the earlier statement for Mr Bellos refusal to attend court since April. Recall that the case has been before a competent court of jurisdiction, and Alhaji Yahaya Bello had been duly represented by his legal team at every hearing. The former Governor decided to honour the invitation to clear his name as he has nothing to hide and nothing to fear, it read. So far, EFCCs statement leaves the issues hazy, and is bound to spark speculations about why it let the former governor go on Wednesday despite its months of frantic but unsuccessful efforts to arrest him. With the trial scheduled to resume in a week, the public can only second-guess EFCCs next move except it provides more elaborate explanations. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Wednesdays development comes a week ahead of the return date set by the Federal High Court in Abuja for Mr Bellos arraignment. At the last hearing in July, the trial judge, Emeka Nwite, adjourned till 25 September after dismissing a request by Mr Bellos legal team to order a stay of proceedings. The stalled trial The EFCC charged Mr Bello with 19 counts of money laundering before the Federal High Court in Abuja after he completed his second and final term as governor in January. The commission alleged in the charges that the former governor diverted more than N80 billion from the Kogi State Governments treasury as governor of Kogi State. A nephew of the former governor, Ali Bello, is standing trial along with others in a related case also at the Federal High Court in Abuja. However, since filing the charges against Mr Bello, the commission has not been able to bring him to court for arraignment. He has snubbed six court sessions scheduled for his arraignment, as he intensified legal efforts, including filing legal actions before the trial judge, Kogi State High Court and the Court of Appeal, to stop the trial. At a point, he wrote the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, to transfer the case to the Lokoja Division of the court. But the Chief Judge rejected the request and asked him to present the request before the trial judge. The trial judg, Mr Nwite, similarly refused the application. In April, EFCC declared him wanted after a failed attempt to arrest him at his residence in Abuja. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A new experimental brain implantation device, Blindsight, designed to restore vision has been awarded the US Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) breakthrough device designation. The device was created by Elon Musks brain chip company, Neuralink, which specialises in developing a brain-chip interface that can be implanted within the skull. Blindsight is designed to allow individuals who have lost both eyes and optic nerves to regain sight. On Tuesday, in a post made on X announcing the new development, Mr Musk said Blindsight can help blind people regain their sight as long as their visual cortex is still intact. He said, The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see. He said: Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time. To set expectations correctly, the vision will at first be low resolution, like Atari graphics, but eventually it has the potential to be better than natural vision and enable you to see in infrared, ultraviolet or even radar wavelengths, like Geordi La Forge. 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 designation of Blindsight as a breakthrough device has been described as a significant milestone in the step towards the development of Neuralinks technology aimed at treating severe medical conditions. FDA award The FDA grants breakthrough device designation to medical innovations which seek to diagnose or treat life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating conditions. This designation is intended to fast-track the development and review process, providing hope to patients with limited treatment options. According to the brain-chip company, technology has the potential to help people with disabilities regain mobility, communicate, and even restore vision. The chip processes neural signals and transmits them to external devices such as computers or smartphones. It is, however, yet to be disclosed when Neuralink will commence human trials for Blindsight. Device for paralysed people Meanwhile, Neuralink also has another brain-computer interface which aims to enable paralysed individuals to control computers and other devices with their thoughts. Earlier in the year, Neuralink successfully implanted the brain chip in a patient, who has been using it to play video games and learn new languages. In a nine-minute live stream on X in March, the patient, Noland Arbaugh, was shown to be using the cursor to play chess online. Mr Arbaugh, who became paralysed below the shoulders after a diving accident, said The surgery was super easy. Also, Mr Musk, in August, announced that the second implant of the device in a human was successful and the patient is now able to design 3D objects and play video games such as counter-strike 2. The goal of Mr Musks neurotechnology company is to connect human brains to computers to help tackle complex neurological conditions. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Vice President Kashim Shettima has tipped Nigeria to become number one hub of opportunities in the global halal economy. He said the nations economic and demographic size puts it in a vantage position to map out a vibrant investment sector for the global halal economy projected to reach a market value of $7.7 trillion by 2025. Mr Shettima who stated this on Wednesday during the Halal Economy Stakeholders Engagement Programme held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, noted however that Nigeria must first reassess its weaknesses and prioritise its strength to achieve this economic feat. For Nigeria to become a hub of opportunities in the global halal economy, we must prioritise our strengths and reassess our weaknesses. Todays engagement provides a platform for us to collaborate with key international organisations. This will allow us to develop a comprehensive halal ecosystem and agree on strategies that will position Nigeria as a top halal exporter, targeting high-value markets, he stated. The Vice President commended the private sector for its immense contributions to driving the halal economy, particularly in the financial sector, even as he encouraged all stakeholders to partner with the administration of President Bola Tinubu in delivering the halal ecosystem. His words: To ensure this, we must attract international investment by showcasing the vast opportunities within Nigerias halal sector through investor summits, roadshows, and business matchmaking events. 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 expansion of regional trade, particularly through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), also provides us with a pathway to become a leading supplier of halal goods and services across Africa. Therefore, we must increase public awareness through strategic orientation campaigns, specialised training programmes, and deeper engagement with the global market to elevate the visibility and competitiveness of Nigerias halal ecosystem. Describing halal as an economy that accommodates all actors and stakeholders, VP Shettima noted that the halal market holds vast potential that aligns with the overarching agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. On why the nation will become a leading hub for investment in the halal economy, the VP said, Nigerias economic and demographic size gives us a unique advantage in developing a vibrant halal investment sector. With the global halal economy projected to reach a market value of $7.7 trillion by 2025, this opportunity is not only recognised by Muslim-majority countries but also seized by non-Muslim nations, which have become leading exporters of halal products. They understand that the halal ecosystem is designed to meet the highest standards of quality, safety, and sustainability preferred by specific consumers. This alignment with ethical principles and rigorous standards provides a compelling avenue for investment and commerce and reinforces our commitment to fostering a dynamic halal economy in Nigeria. The Vice President further noted that the lack of clarity and understanding surrounding compliance with investments in the halal economy had stifled vast potential in savings, business ventures, and investments. Mr Shettima, however, expressed delight that in an era of knowledge and enlightenment, more Nigerians are now getting rid of outdated concerns and are, instead, embracing the need to have a say in how their money is invested. He continued: They seek secure products and services that align with the principles of transparency and ethical certainty, free from interest-driven practices. We must, however, note that Nigeria has already embraced the halal economy. We have flourishing financial institutions that offer profit-sharing and investment opportunities that resonate with the expectations of savers and investors, regardless of their faith. The remarkable success of Islamic finance instruments, such as Sukuk, which have funded infrastructure projects across the country, is a testament to the widespread appeal of halal finance. As Islamic banks continue to penetrate international markets, we are inspired to position ourselves as leaders in this growing sector, ensuring that Nigerians fully explore the opportunities it provides. Earlier, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Ibrahim Hadejia, who emphasised the importance of this initiative, said, Nigeria, as one of the largest economies in Africa, is launching this programme to engage with the global Halal market. We are determined to position Nigeria as a leader in the Halal economy, not just in Africa but globally. Also, Special Assistant to the President on Export Expansion, Aliyu Sheriff, highlighted halal economic potential, noting that if we can increase our halal exports to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries from 2 per cent to 6 per cent over the next four years, it could boost our GDP by $548 million. Mr Sheriff listed some of the key objectives of the initiative to include establishing a robust regulatory framework for halal certification, increasing consumer awareness about halal products, enhancing production capacity and partnering with international halal organisations. The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, provided key statistics, saying, Nigerias domestic spending on Halal products and services reached approximately 107 billion dollars in 2022. This sector is projected to grow at a rate of 10.7 per cent, reaching 180 billion dollars by 2027. This positions Nigeria as the 8th largest domestic halal economy globally and the second largest in Africa, he added. The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said, Halal products are not just for Muslims. There are over 125 products that are produced in the Halal way. This presents a huge opportunity for rapid growth and improved competitiveness, enhancing our ability to export. He explained that the government is collaborating with international bodies such as the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB), Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), and Halal Product Development Company, Saudi Arabia (HPDC) to ensure Nigerian halal products meet global standards. In a keynote speech, the Secretary-General of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, Isiaka Imam, emphasised the D-8s economic significance based on its statistics, saying with a combined population of 1.16 billion people and a GDP of $4.92 trillion in 2023, the D-8 holds substantial economic potential. He said the organisation, of which Nigeria is a member, has also advanced trade facilitation through the Preferential Trade Agreement and is working to boost intra-trade to $500 billion by 2030. To do that, one of our programmes is to deepen our trade in the Halal industry and for this purpose, we have established the D8 Comprehensive Strategy on Tourism and the Crescent Moon Initiative. Currently, the intra-trade among the D-8 Members stands at US$146 billion. This does not reflect the true potential of a market with 1.16 billion people, Mr Imam said. Other dignitaries present at the event were Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; former Minister of Finance and Vice President of Islamic Development Bank Group, Mansur Muhtar; Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Abba Bello; Deputy Governor (Corporate Services) of Central Bank of Nigeria, Bala Bello; Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund, Mohammed Ibrahim; former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, and former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission and Co-chairman of the committee to coordinate the implementation of livestock reforms, Attahiru Jega, among many others. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) FCT chapter, have embarked on an indefinite strike starting Wednesday, 18 September. The decision comes after the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum earlier issued by the teachers to the six area councils in the FCT without the fulfilment of their demands. In an interview with the NUT FCT Chairperson, Stephen Knabayi, he explained that the strike is not the unions first, having suspended the strike in January due to an agreement with the government. However, he lamented that none of the demands have been met since then. He said: It was a resumption of the suspended strike. We suspended it some time ago, and we are back at it because the government authority did not keep their agreement with us. We have made several follow-ups and sent several letters, but they have refused to implement what was agreed upon. Everything was worked out on paper, but within these months, none of it has been implemented. He noted that the unions demands include the payment of arrears related to promotions and the national minimum wage, among others. We have about six demands, including arrears of promotions, arrears of the new national minimum wage, and others. All of them were put together on a template on how they would be paid monthly, but within this number of months, none has been implemented, he said. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The union, in a communique shared with PREMIUM TIMES and issued after its State Wing Executive Council (SWEC) meeting on 17 September, highlighted the key issues that led to the resumption of the strike. The union acknowledged the intervention of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who facilitated the payment of 40 per cent of the 25 months minimum wage arrears. However, it expressed dissatisfaction with the area councils failure to respond to the unions 14-day ultimatum. The communique was co-signed by Abdullahi Ashafa, the State Chairperson; Margaret Jethro (secretary), and Ibukun Adekeye, publicity secretary. Unresolved demands In the communique, the union listed the demands, including the payment of the remaining 60 per cent of the 25-month minimum wage arrears, implementation and payment of arrears of the 25 per cent and 35 per cent salary increases, implementation and payment of arrears of the 40 per cent peculiar allowance, payment of arrears of the N35,000 wage award, and correct and continuous implementation of the template on outstanding entitlements of teachers as agreed in 2022. The union emphasised the unions frustration with the lack of communication from government officials. We gave an ultimatum of two weeks, but there was nothing from the government. None of the government officials or area council chairmen called for a discussion with us. Following deliberations, the union directed all primary school teachers in the FCT to resume the strike, resulting in the closure of all public primary schools in the territory. The union also urged parents to remain informed of the situation and disregard any counter-directives. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Sokoto State government and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which the immediate past governor, Aminu Tambuwal, belongs to, have accused each other of fraud and wasteful spending. The conflict began on Tuesday, when the state government petitioned the State Commission of Inquiry, alleging that the administration of Mr Tambuwal diverted 16.1 billion worth of shares through the states investment company. The counsel to the commission, Amanzi Amanzi, said the proceeds from the sale of government shares between 2018 and 2023 were allegedly unaccounted for. He said the commission received the petition from the Permanent Secretary (Political), Abdullahi Yabo, who called for an investigation into the entire process of the transfer and eventual sale of the state governments shares, as well as the whereabouts of the proceeds. The petition, which was written by the Permanent Secretary (Political), Abdullahi Yabo, from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, calls for an investigation into the sale of government shares through the Sokoto State Investments Company Limited, sometime in 2018. The Accountant General at the time transferred all the state governments shares through a letter to the Sokoto State Investment Company Limited. Between 2018 and 2023, all the shares were sold, and the proceeds were not accounted for. The commission was called to investigate the sales and the whereabouts of the said proceeds, which were estimated at 16.1 billion, the state government 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 Reaction However, in a swift response on Wednesday, the PDP under which Mr Tambuwal governed Sokoto in that period in turn accused the state government of financial recklessness. It said the state is catching the attention of the entire nation for negative reasons under the administration of Ahmad Aliyu and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP publicity secretary, Hassan Sanyinnawal, in a statement, said the governor was sustaining the negative tempo by spending billions of naira on wire fencing of streets in the Sokoto metropolis. He said it is ironic this was happening in one of the states hardest hit by the effects of the bad economic policies of the APC government at the federal level. We find it regrettable that under Ahmed Aliyu, Sokoto State is right now, proving to be the pace-setter in governmental financial recklessness. The people have not gotten over the debacle of the Governors spending of N1.2 billion on the repair of 25 boreholes, the rationale for which he is still struggling to explain to the entire nation. That is against the unfolding scandal of the Governors wife trailing the media space for the infamy of partaking in a reckless birthday dollar spray, inspite of the dire economic conditions of the masses of her state. The PDP, shares the indignation of the masses of Sokoto State over the fact that rather than addressing this squandamania, the embattled governor is falling back on his usual desperate but feeble efforts to deflect public anger from his administration through the shadow chasing ploy of making false allegations against his predecessor, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. Ahmed Aliyus regime is reported to have ordered a probe by its organ of inquisition in the form of a Commission of Inquiry, of an alleged sales of the state governments shares worth N16 billion by the previous government. Our party is however bold to assert that Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and his entire cabinet have never shied away from subjecting themselves to any investigation of their tenure in the government of Sokoto State. The former governor, members of his executive council and senior officials have willingly appeared before the Commission of Inquiry, whenever summoned, even though no tangible progress has been made in proving the trumped up allegations of wrongdoing against them both individually and collectively, the PDP said in the statement. The statement added that everyone who served under Mr Tambuwal was willing to testify before any commission of inquiry, claiming that the former administration in the state ran an open government. Consequently, all officials of the former government are ready and willing to report to the Commission to lay the facts bare on the orchestrated and attention diverting matter of the states shares in question. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal ran the most accountable and transparent government in the history of Sokoto State, a fact acknowledged by global assessment agencies and thus none of its operatives will be found to evade lawful inquiry. The reverse is however, proving to be the case with the current administration of Ahmed Aliyu, whose expenditure profile is the most controversial and procurement standards the most scandalous in the history of leadership in Sokoto State. The current government in Sokoto has, not even halfway through its tenure, recorded milestones in mindless and suspicious misappropriation of public funds. Apart from the N1.2 billion for the repair 25 boreholes racket and billions of Naira expenditure on the erection of wire fences on the streets of Sokoto Metropolis, close to a billion Naira has been allocated to the installation of street lights in the state capital, even though the poles were old and repainted. Ahmed Aliyus spending spree includes the allocation of N1.2 billion on the repair of five roundabouts in Sokoto Metropolis and another over N500 million to erect archways on all streets leading to the Government House. Our party deems as the most unfortunate, aspect of these outrageous and white elephant projects, their execution in total defiance of due process and the best practices of procurement. Firstly, none of the project contracts was awarded with the requisite approval of the State Executive Council or the call for tender. The works are carried out by faceless contractors, who are selected by patronage and according to the whims of the controllers of government. The PDP notes that Ahmed Aliyus mindless squandering of Sokoto States finances is also causing concern and drawing opposition from within his own political party, the APC, as discontent is fast spreading through the ranks of the party. The Governor is currently under a two weeks deadline issued by the APC member of the House of Representatives for Gudu Tangaza Constituency, Sani Yakubu, to account for the over N200 billion federal allocations to local governments in the state. There is however, not much to account for Ahmed Aliyus one-and-a-half years regime. All his cosmetic projects are concentrated in the state capital and virtually confined within the vicinity of the Government House and GRA. The rural areas, as Sani Yakubu observed, are totally neglected, without any development project carried out with their huge allocated funds. The current government in Sokoto State is without doubt, the most financially irresponsible administration in the states entire history of governance, whether military or civilian and should therefore be probed by the relevant agencies. Our party is therefore, demanding that the EFCC and ICPC should investigate the financial practices of Ahmed Aliyus administration. We are particularly calling on the anti-graft agencies to discharge their statutory obligation by immediately commencing the probe of the N30 billion expenditure on the wire fencing of streets in the state capital in terms of cost and procedural propriety. This, our party feels, is in the interest of fairness and justice to the masses of Sokoto State and Nigeria at large, the PDP stated. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print She was a role model, a source of good counsel when I was growing up, and a confidant when I came of age, started work, and began to raise a family She played a big part in my childhood, ensuring that I stayed on the right track and achieved whatever goals I set for myself She had enormous confidence in my abilities. She encouraged me to stay grounded and focused. I would like to start by thanking Alhaji, Junior, Adama, Daddy and the rest of the Bangura family for organising this memorial and birthday celebration event. Im very honoured and pleased to give a brief tribute to our dear sister, Haja Kadie, as we called her, who sadly left us 35 years ago. My memory of, and feelings for, Haja remain fresh, even after so many years. They are unlikely to fade or diminish in my life time. She was a role model, a source of good counsel when I was growing up, and a confidant when I came of age, started work, and began to raise a family. She played a big part in my childhood, ensuring that I stayed on the right track and achieved whatever goals I set for myself. She had enormous confidence in my abilities. She encouraged me to stay grounded and focused. 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 Our bonding started when we moved to Freetown from Batkanu in 1956. My father was a forester a job that took him to many of Sierra Leones forestry towns. In Freetown, his new assignment was to protect the Peninsular forest. I was about six years old. Haja was 14, and attending the Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG). Since we were living on Waterloo Street at the time, which was not very far from Brookfields, where her school was located, she joined our family in the two bedroom apartment on the upper floor of the backhouse that our father had just built. He had built the main building with a shop, facing the street, in the late 1940s, when he was working in the provinces, and rented it out. Haja; my elder sister, Adama; my younger brother, Alusine; and I shared the same bed. It was a very big bed, or so it seemed to me as a young boy. I recall that Haja occupied the front part of the bed; Adama slept right behind her; Alusine slept next to Adama; and I was at the back, next to the wall. Nothing promotes feelings of family togetherness more than sharing the same bed. That experience in my formative years endeared me greatly to Haja as an elder sister and someone whom I grew up to profoundly respect. I recall one incident when we were growing up on Waterloo Street. Some young children and I were fond of teasing a few older people in the compound. She didnt like our behaviour and admonished us to stop; she told us that we would not remain young forever; and if we persisted in disturbing others, the same treatment would be meted out to us later in life. That simple advice stayed with me into adulthood. Haja was highly disciplined, hard-working and incredibly well organised. She seemed to have developed a professional outlook, even before she embarked on her career. After graduating from the FSSG, she decided to pursue a career in nursing by enrolling at the National School of Nursing. Her quest for knowledge led her to seek further studies in Ibadan, Nigeria. She was diligent, had a deep respect for rules, and cared a lot about others. These attributes made me believe that she was cut out for her chosen profession, and brought into this world to serve humanity in the medical field. Her specialisation was in public health. As a Nursing Sister, she did a great deal of work with pregnant women, lactating mothers, and under-five children at the Antenatal Clinic on Fourah Bay Road in Freetown and various clinics around the country. Haja was the daughter of one of my fathers brothers. Her mother, Ya Mabinty, was very fond of me when we were growing up. I once spent a months holiday with her at Pepel, where she lived. Haja Kadies alma mater Four things stood out for me during that holiday: the rich breakfast of coffee, bread and sardines that she served every morning; my visit to Lunsar to see the iron ore mines and the port at Pepel, where iron ore was processed for shipment; my interactions with numerous holidaymakers from different schools in the country; and my daily job of taking Ya Mabintys sheep to the fields for them to graze and going for them in the evening. I was amazed that the sheep always recognised me by walking towards me when I went for them, and they led the way home to their sheds without me pulling them by their ropes. I couldnt believe that they were that intelligent. That holiday exposed me to life in a semi-urban/semi-rural environment. Perhaps, the most important contribution that Haja made to my life was introducing me to my wife, Kadie. Its an interesting story. Haja was one of the few relations that was always frank and open with me. She did not hesitate to challenge me on issues she felt strongly about. I was 28 years old when I completed my doctoral studies. She felt then that it was time to settle down with a wife and start a family. But she didnt seriously broach the subject until I turned 30. Every interaction with her whenever I visited home would not be complete without a question on the girl I was dating and the need to get married. I laughed off her persistent questions and advice every time she brought up the subject. Interestingly, my mother exerted no pressure on me to get married. She once remarked that she had been seeing girls coming to visit me without even greeting her; but since I had not introduced anyone to her, she assumed that my relationship with them was not serious. But Haja would not allow me to remain a bachelor for a long period after completing my education. In 1980, when she raised the issue, I retorted that she liked to pressure me to get married but had not introduced me to any girl. She took the challenge, responded that I had given her an assignment and would report back during my next visit. And she did. When I visited in 1981, she confidently told me she would like me to meet a beautiful and well-mannered girl at the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital complex where she was working. We arranged a time for the visit. She briefly introduced Kadie to me outside one of the hospital buildings and left us. Kadie was irresistible. We instantly connected and agreed to go out for a meal. The rest, as they say, is history: a wedding the following year, two lovely and successful children, and three beautiful grandchildren. We celebrated 42 years of our marriage five days ago. How I wished she were around to see the finished and joyous product of her work, as well as her wonderful children Adama, Daddy, Alhaji, and Junior, who are all very successful in their careers. Unfortunately, her fifth child, Isata, passed away 23 years ago. Haja was devoted to her family. She and her husband, Korth Alpha, whose 89th birthday we are also celebrating today, raised their children amazingly well. Happy birthday Korth Alpha, and may Haja and Isata rest in eternal peace. Yusuf Bangura wrote from Nyon in Switzerland. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Emperors in ancient times Medieval or Renaissance era were very powerful. They exercised absolute powers in political, legal, financial, military, and religious matters. They were said to hold both imperium maius (supreme power of command) and tribunician potestas (tribunician power). In Rome during the period of Emperor Augustus, the tribunician power permitted him to dictate to the civil apparatus and preside over as well as dominate the Assemblies and the Senate. The Emperors of Old were the state and they were second only to God. That is why in Oriental civilizations like Japan and China, they were referred to as the Son of Heaven Among those who enjoyed such absolute, imperial powers were Genghis Khan of the Mongol Empire (1162 1227), Augustus Caesar of the Roman Empire (63 BC- AD 14), Ashoka the Great of the Maurya Empire (India) (c.268 BCE c. 232 BCE), Charlemagne of the Carolingian Empire (c. 742 814) and Kublai Khan, also of the Mongol Empire (1215 1294). Why am I dwelling on the Emperors of old and their immense powers? What relationship did they have with Nigeria of today where we are supposed to be practicing American-type democracy founded on liberty of the citizen, separation of powers, checks and balances, adult suffrage system, and rights of the citizens to elect and remove their leaders? Well, it is because, since the return of democracy in 1999, Nigeria has gradually descended into producing Emperors, particularly at sub-national levels who rule with absolute powers like the aforementioned emperors of the Medieval and Renaissance eras. Most of our state governors elected since 2007 have been governing like emperors in their respective states. In the first eight years of the present republic, Governors were under strict check by the strong personality of the then Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, an army General. While Obasanjo was accused of being too autocratic, his strong-arm tactics curbed the excesses of the governors to a large extent. Since his exit, the governors have risen above the laws in the various states. 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 Like the Emperor of old, our state governors have a strong control of the purse of their respective states and they spend the money the way they like. They exercise powers like the tribunician potestas (the tribunician powers) as they have subdued the legislature and the judiciary. The governors determine the leadership of the state legislature and remove Speakers of their respective state Houses of Assembly at will. No member of the legislature can speak against the governor and survive, politically. The governors make the legislators feed from their palms and the legislature do their will at all times. In some states, lawmakers elected on the platform of the opposition parties as opposed to the ruling one in the states are given persona non grata treatment. In some cases, they are denied the privileges and other perks of offices extended to their colleagues who belong to the ruling party. They are harassed, suppressed, oppressed, intimidated, and forced to either defect to the ruling party or become pliable to the wishes of the governor. Also, one can hardly get the state high courts to give any ruling or judgment against the state government or its emperor-governor, no matter the merit of ones case. The Emperors have extended their meddling schemes to the judiciary. No institution is so sacred as to escape the interference of these omnipresent Emperors. The traditional and religious institutions are frequent victims of the rampaging Emperors. The governors could order the suspension, removal, or interdiction of any traditional ruler who fell out of favour. Even, journalists are not exempted from the long arm of the Lords of the Manor. Nosy and prying journalists are detained or imprisoned on the orders of the governor. In some states, few journalists have been murdered and there have been no trace of the perpetrators. These modern-day Emperors in Nigeria brook no opposition. Members of the opposition or their estranged friends are served a dose of their raw anger. Some of such hapless people have their landed property demolished on the orders of the governors to cripple them economically. The Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) on the choice properties owned by the opposition elements or aggrieved friends are revoked. Those in this category who have one business or the other that require government approval would have to wait in vain or pray for regime change when they probably will fall on the favoured side. Such opposition elements have their businesses denied government patronage and if they have any pending money owed them by the state government, they should just forget about it. These men of power use their posts to settle personal scores and family feuds. Governors have become so careless that they order their security aides to assault or maltreat other citizens for making noise while the Emperor was talking at a public event. Such unruly citizens would be fortunate to only suffer some slaps and kicks and not be further thrown into detention for speaking above the whisper in a gathering where the Emperor is present. Our governors prove they are the state like their predecessors in the Byzantine era by spending state money the way they like. They live large by using state funds to hire aircraft which they fly to places that have nothing to do with state functions. Some of the governors during their tenure build personal estates or houses where they display ridiculous opulence. They spend money lavishly in a manner that they could not have dreamt of doing if they had not been elected as Governor. The state money is the Governors money. No House of Assembly could dare activate the provisions of the constitution to query the governors profligacy. The governors do not stop the misuse of funds belonging to the state government. They have also appropriated the funds from the federation account due to the Local Government Areas (LGA). Governors spend LGA funds the way they like and if any LGA chairman dares speak out, he will get the boot. Either his councilors would be induced to remove him or the State Legislature is used to suspend him. It is the reason why across the 36 states, the candidates of the opposition parties do not win chairmanship seats during LGA polls. The state electoral commission whose members were appointed and controlled by the governors would simply write the results and announce that the Emperors party has won all the seats. That is the trend across the country. When a new governor who belongs to a different party from the past governor under whom the current local government officials were elected assumes office, one of the first decisions he takes is to suspend all the elected LGA officials. That is another violation of the constitution and a demonstration of the fact that a new Emperor has taken control of the Empire. He then appoints caretaker chairmen and councilors to take over. Another aberration. Why must the governor who would, rightly so, refuse the control by the president dictate to the local government chairmen and councilors? It is the emperors mentality. The emperor is a totalitarian. He is a conqueror. The new Emperors in town see their deputies as their errand boys. Any Deputy Governor who proves to be clever or has any sense will bite the bullet. He will be removed by the subservient House of Assembly which sometimes bends the law to achieve the impeachment of the deputy as desired by the governor. A lucky deputy governor may just simply be sidelined and reduced to a newspaper-reading, indolent office worker. Another illegality that is frequently perpetrated by the new emperors. Incumbent Governors now single-handedly select all candidates contesting for seats in the Senate, House of Representatives, state House of Assembly, LGA chairmanship, and councilorship on the platform of their political parties. Even under the military, the governors did not have the type of control that these current elected governors appropriate and exercise. Military governors were then subjected to control from the Supreme Headquarters. They report to the Deputy Head of State then known as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, or the Chief of General Staff. Their crucial decisions needed approval and could be vetoed. The present governors in Agbada report to no one. They are all in all. They are supreme rulers and Sons of the Heavens. The control to which the military governors were subjected indicated that this totalitarianism we now witness at the state level has not always been so. In the Second Republic, the elected governors could not toy with members of the House of Assembly. Each of them played different roles and where they were members of the same party, the governor could not unilaterally deny a member his return ticket. In Ogun State, a state legislator, Hon. Muftau Ajibola openly dared Governor Olabisi Onabanjo and told him only the electorate in his constituents could stop his re-election. He won his seat at the general elections before the governor even won his own. In the same Second Republic, deputy governors like Chief Akin Omoboriowo of Ondo State and Chief Sunday Afolabi in then Oyo State challenged their governors for the gubernatorial tickets at the party primaries and they were not impeached. They voluntarily resigned when they wanted to get the tickets of rival parties to enable them to stand for election in the 1983 polls. Also in May 1983, when Alh. Muhammadu Rimi left the PRP and got the gubernatorial ticket of the NPP, his deputy, Alh. Abdul Dawakin Tofa did not follow him and was not impeached. He simply replaced Rimi. In 1982, during what is known as the Day of the Long Knives, then Oyo State governor, revered Chief Bola Ige (of blessed memory) and his deputy, Chief Sunday Afolabi stood for hours before the disciplinary committee of the Unity Party of Nigeria during the NEC meeting of the party in Maiduguri to answer charges of indiscipline because they allowed then General Olusegun Obasanjo who was regarded as an enemy of the party to intervene in their feud. That was the period of the supremacy of the party. When the governors were only senior members of the party and subject to the party constitution, organs, and control. Today, what you have is the supremacy of the governors. The Governor, like the ancient Emperor, is now the party in their respective states, except in a few cases like Lagos State where there is an overriding godfather. Well, most of these emperor governors forget they will leave office one day. And when they leave they find it difficult to adjust to life after power. The few ones who managed to get elected into the Senate find out they cannot call any shot in the 109-member assembly. They are just one out of the lot. There has been a case of a former governor who got elected into the Senate alongside the police officer who served as his Aide-De-Camp (ADC) while in office. If he had not been good to the ADC, it would have been very odd for him to sit side by side as a colleague of the man who used to carry his file around and saluted him now and then. A few of the ex-governors got appointed as Ministers and had to now report to many line bosses in the Presidency before they could get to the overall boss, the President. The majority of the ex-Emperors ended up as ordinary men. Of course, they are rich after they have cornered state wealth. Yet, they no longer enjoy the attention and relevance they used to have. The bid to remain the centre of attraction after their tenure most times set the former governors against the new Emperors, and their successors, who they enthroned by all means, to ensure and assure their continued control of state affairs. The clash with the reigning emperors usually make past emperors become more ordinary and pitiable sights. It usually results in more humiliation and more trouble. After all, a Yoruba adage says nobody gives way to the man who rode the horse yesterday and walks the street today like every other person. These governors who have turned themselves into oppressors of the people, bad managers of state finances, and riders of the high horses should remember that they will end up leaving the exalted office. For example, among the 1999 set of governors, except for the likes of Chief Olusegun Osoba, Chief Bisi Akande, and Chief James Ibori, how many of them still command national attention as they did while in office? The case of the incumbent President of the country, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who was also part of the 1999 set is a special one. When these Emperors leave office, they cease to board private jets. The operators of the commercial planes they resort to traveling with do not delay flights to await their arrival at the airport as they used to do when the governors were the reigning emperors. Also, as former governors, nobody will delay public functions to await their arrival. If they are unlucky to lock horns with their successors, that is when they will realise how bitter nemesis can be as they are made to swallow the poisonous pills they forced down the throats of their predecessors. The main reason why our country is not developed is because of the misplaced priorities of its state governors. Instead of focusing on development issues, the governors expend so much energy and time on the display of raw power, demonstrating how they are the all-time conquerors, the unquestionable ruler, and the ones to whom all others must submit. I have always believed that if all our governors become genuine, honest, and humble servants of the people who devote more time to serving the people, searching for solutions to problems confronting the people, the country will become developed and the people will become happier. The state governments will be engaged in healthy competition with Ideas and initiatives that will solve daily problems confronting the people. If the various states are doing well for their people by providing good governance, then the majority of the citizenry will be happy. Also, I believe we just need governors in ten states working so hard and making lives meaningful for the residents of their states. The multiplier effect will be felt in the remaining 26 states. The ten states where the government is effective would be good models for others to emulate. The initiatives and ideas behind the success of the government in one state can be copied and replicated by the other states. We experienced this in the First Republic among the three regional governments. Where we have people with ancient Emperor mentality in our various Government Houses, what do we expect other than a state of anomie and inertia as defined by Emile Durkheim? Yusuph Olaniyonu writes from Abuja. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerians want to see Chinas much-vaunted technological advancement replicated in Africa through mutual collaboration. However, we all must shun corruption and embrace transparency, moving forward. China should not take advantage of the greed of a few unpatriotic Nigerians. Optics matter. To think that Nigeria is shunning the West and leaning towards China because of the intricate web of corruption woven around the relationship is damning. For members of the Nigerian political class, all roads seemingly lead to China and other countries worldwide, often in pursuit of foreign direct investments, vain pleasure, or international conferences. Indeed, their charity begins away from home. For business opportunities in particular, China attracts Nigerian leaders like a magnet. The Asian giant also appeals to the Nigerian business community, who love to import everything from matches to pencils and brooms. Chinas influence permeates Nigeria: in infrastructure (especially roads and railways), production, project funding through loan finance, telecoms, manufacturing, construction, mining, IT, and even in our kitchens. China simply holds the ace. President Muhammadu Buhari, during his first four years, travelled or detoured to over 50 countries and visited China twice. One such visit reportedly yielded $6 billion in investments spanning power, solid minerals, agriculture, and rail transportation. About 100 Nigerian businessmen and 300 Chinese firms participated in that forum. However, it remains doubtful whether tangible impacts followed that visit or how many jobs were created afterward from the signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). For example, in the power sector, North South Power Company Limited had an agreement with Sinohydro Corporation Limited worth $478,657,941 for the construction of a 300-megawatt solar power plant in Shiroro, Niger State. In addition, an agreement between Granite and Marble Nigeria and Shanghai Shibang in the solid mineral sector was worth $55 million. Despite these agreements, the power sector has remained stagnant, and criminality has infested the solid minerals sector. Most of these agreements have been repudiated, with others abandoned. We must not forget the controversial Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investments and Ogun State Free Trade Zone agreement, which is now a subject of litigation in international arbitration. Doubts, confusion, and lack of transparency have also plagued partnership agreements Nigeria signs with China. Some question their authenticity, and the quality of goods and services that China provides. Others blame Nigerians for negotiating in self-interest, instead of being patriotic; and these Nigerian representatives allegedly shortchange Nigeria, inflate contract values, fail to provide counter-funding, and engage in under-the-table shady deals. President Bola Tinubu has recently returned from the Forum for Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC), hosted by China, bringing back promising deals, at least on paper. He visited the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), Huawei, and Digital Truck to discuss digital literacy, among other topics. President Tinubu also conferred with President Xi Jinping on moving beyond strategic partnership, signing MoUs, including those related to Navigation Satellite System, nuclear energy, gas, iron ore, steel projects for solid mineral development, the Lagos green metro line project, and solar power. Today, the Nigeria-China trade volume is estimated at $23 billion, but much of it favours China to Nigerias disadvantage. Both Buhari and Tinubu merely built upon previous governments penchant and passion for China. Meanwhile, instead of attempting to replicate a bit of China in Nigeria, they leave debts in their wake. This has fuelled fears in Nigeria about the possibility of becoming beholden to China, including potentially converting national assets to Chinas possession, due to Nigerias inability to liquidate accumulated debts and liabilities. This concern was recently highlighted when presidential jets were seized in the execution of a court injunction over debts owed by a sub-national government. Curiously, it was not clear whether President Tinubu discussed this matter with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Doubts, confusion, and lack of transparency have also plagued partnership agreements Nigeria signs with China. Some question their authenticity, and the quality of goods and services that China provides. Others blame Nigerians for negotiating in self-interest, instead of being patriotic; and these Nigerian representatives allegedly shortchange Nigeria, inflate contract values, fail to provide counter-funding, and engage in under-the-table shady deals. 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 There is nothing wrong with Nigeria looking towards the East, particularly China, but Nigerians want an equal trade balance relation, not one skewed in favour of one party. The MoUs should be transparently executed so that the much-talked-about job creation and development through these means become a reality. As much as possible, China should be concerned about its image in Africa and not be seen as the second coming of imperialism on the continent. During a recent visit to China, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali M Ali, indirectly called out the Chinese in this respect through a social media post. His journalistic instincts questioned the cozy, luxurious comfort of the first-class section of the train he boarded. He compared that to the China-built trains in Nigeria and asked a rhetorical question: Why didnt the Chinese give us this same quality? The question is legitimate, but perhaps the governing APC, and top government officials like Rotimi Amaechi, the former Minister of Transportation who inked the agreements on behalf of the Nigerian people and superintended over the China railway projects in Nigeria for eight years, should answer that question and others agitating the minds of Nigerians over the trade misnomers between Nigeria and China. There is nothing wrong with Nigeria looking towards the East, particularly China, but Nigerians want an equal trade balance relation, not one skewed in favour of one party. The MoUs should be transparently executed so that the much-talked-about job creation and development through these means become a reality. As much as possible, China should be concerned about its image in Africa and not be seen as the second coming of imperialism on the continent. China should be intentional in helping to build Africa and be mindful of its reputation. If colonialism was imposed on Africa, the continent should not willingly invite Chinese economic colonialism upon itself through trade imbalance, opaque business deals, and the dumping of low-quality products. Nigerians want to see Chinas much-vaunted technological advancement replicated in Africa through mutual collaboration. However, we all must shun corruption and embrace transparency, moving forward. China should not take advantage of the greed of a few unpatriotic Nigerians. Optics matter. To think that Nigeria is shunning the West and leaning towards China because of the intricate web of corruption woven around the relationship is damning. Already, there is a flurry of cultural exchanges occurring; openness and sincerity should be added values in the Nigeria-China engagement. Zainab Suleiman Okino (FNGE) chairs the Blueprint Editorial Board and a syndicated columnist. She can be reached through zainabokino@gmail.com Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Tinubus vision is to spread prosperity, create a robust credit system, strengthen the financial architecture, and empower Nigerians sustainably, while removing the incentive for corruption. And CREDICORP is that confluence between credit, dreams, and empowerment. Every Nigerian citizen deserves a decent standard of living. And for a better life, the gulf between opportunity and access must be bridged. The Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) is the link between opportunity and access to essential facilities for a decent life. It is the novel instrument of upward progression for working Nigerians. It is the means to an auspicious end. The Consumer Credit Scheme was conceived by President Bola Tinubu to facilitate credit access to Nigerians and engender a system in which citizens will not need to have cash readily available to finance a need or to make important purchases. With access to up to N3 million of credit facility, they can fund their needs now and pay back later. To birth and realise goals, citizens must wield the resources to dream dreams and capitalise vision. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), about 70 per cent of bank account holders in Nigeria lack access to credit. Prosperity can obviously not be shared when there is a canyon between credit and access. President Tinubus vision is to spread prosperity, create a robust credit system, strengthen the financial architecture, and empower Nigerians sustainably, while removing the incentive for corruption. And CREDICORP is that confluence between credit, dreams, and empowerment. President Tinubu approved the take-off of the Consumer Credit Scheme in April 2024 and appointed the board of CREDICORP, the implementing institution, in July. The mandate of CREDICORP is to remove structural, market, and policy barriers and accelerate access to consumer credit to 50 per cent of all working Nigerians by 2030. So far, over 150 banks, both money deposit and microfinance institutions, have expressed interest to be part of the lending ecosystem that is being created to undergird the national consumer credit system. And five financial institutions, such as FCMBs Credit Direct, Wema Bank, Accion MFB, Letshego MFB, and Abbey Mortgage Bank have begun offering consumer credit to Nigerians, especially under the prevailing challenge of high energy cost. Under the first phase, many Nigerians have applied for credit and payments to beneficiaries have commenced. By May 2025, it is estimated that over 500,000 Nigerians will have benefitted from consumer credit access, and this number is expected to be surpassed. 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 Consumer Credit Scheme becomes more poignant and critical in the face of high petrol price, wrought by market forces. The President launched the compressed-natural-gas initiative as an analgesic measure of support to Nigerians, as well as to ensure energy security, drive utility, and cut high energy costs. The initiative is also in furtherance of Nigerias effort to transition to cleaner energy, as CNG-enabled vehicles have been adjudged to produce lower emissions, and CNG is a more affordable alternative for Nigerian energy consumers. The Consumer Credit Scheme dovetails with the measures actioned to alleviate the burden of high transportation costs and enhance the standard of living of the majority of Nigerians. With access to credit, Nigerians can enjoy ease of transition to CNG and renewable energy sources. For times like this and beyond, CREDICORP stands as a crucial vehicle for shared prosperity. Fredrick Nwabufo is senior special assistant to the President on Public Engagement. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has restated his condolence with the victims of the Gummi boat mishap, which claimed the lives of 13 people last Sunday at Uban Dawaki community in Gummi local government area of the state. Mr Lawal, represented by Mani Mummini, the deputy governor, visited the area on Tuesday where he made a donation of N20 million to the affected families on behalf of the state government. Addressing the Emir of Gummi, Lawal Hassan, the governor described the incident as tragic and monumental, adding that the news of the accident was shocking. He pointed out that the purpose of the donation was to lessen the hardship and pains faced by the families of the victims. To avoid a repeat of similar accident in future, Governor Lawal said that the state government would collaborate with the Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to provide life jackets and other safety gadgets at all water transport stations in the state. He stressed that their use would be made compulsory for passengers and boat operators in the state. In addition, Mr Lawal said his government would work together with relevant agencies and experts to sensitise boat operators and passengers on safety measures and the need for their utilization. In his response on behalf of the victims families and people of the area, the emir appreciated Governor Lawal for his gesture and empathy. He expressed relief over the introduction of life jackets and more safety measures. Mr Hassan, a retired justice, said the widely reported number of deaths in the mishap was exaggerated. While correcting the figures, he explained that 13 people died and not 40 or 50. He stated that there were 20 passengers only on the boat, not 40. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has released N260 million to the Niger State Government to establish 40 new primary healthcare centres (PHCs) across the state. The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NPHCDA, Muyi Aina, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to Governor Mohammed Bago at the Government House in Minna. Mr Aina, who said he was on a working visit to the state, said resources the agency mobilised from development partners would directly fund the project. Mr Aina said more PHCs in Niger State would benefit from the Basic Health Care Provision Funds, as the federal government intends to double the number of PHCs receiving the funds as well as increase the amount each receives from N300,000 to between N600,000 and N800,000 quarterly, based on the number of patients they attend to. He urged the governor to monitor how the funds are being expended and provide feedback to the agency. Mr Aina commended the governors efforts in the economys critical sectors, especially agriculture, health, and education. He appealed for more effort to close the human resource gaps and increase the density of level two facilities. 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 Aina said the PHCs in Niger State are decent, based on the assessment NPHCDA carried out across the country. However, he observed the need for more human resources, an increase in the density of the level two facilities to address maternal issues, the operation of the facilities 24 hours a day, and accommodation for health workers, among other things. Responding, Governor Bago said his administration is investing in health and education, adding that between 70 and 80 per cent of its capital expenditure next year will go into the two sectors. He said discussions were underway with international organisations to deploy technology in the sectors, pointing out that all PHCs will soon have telemedicine. The governor said his government has invested in the internet and fire optics facilities and that technologies would be deployed to PHCs in rural areas, especially those faced with insecurity, for effective service delivery. He said other provisions to be made to the PHCs across the state include renewable energy for a 24-hour power supply, a security outpost, mini ambulances, and accommodation. Mr Bago added that doctors will be trained in China to use the equipment to be deployed and that farms have been dedicated to hospitals under the Niger Foods Agriculture initiative to handle their recurrent expenditure. While thanking NPHCDA for the additional 40 PHCs, the governor said his government would ensure the design is in tandem with the set standard. He also expressed readiness for continuous collaboration with the agency to benefit the people. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, (NGSA) has allayed fears over earth tremors experienced in Abuja, Nigerias capital city, urging residents not to panic. The NGSA Director-General, Olusegun Ige, in a statement on Wednesday, said the agency has been monitoring the tremors and found them to be low and non-threatening. Earth tremors, also known as seismic tremors, are small earthquakes or vibrations in the earths surfaces. On Wednesday, the agency said its monitoring station (NGSA-5) at Katampe recorded several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes from 13 to 17 September, noting that the intensity and frequency of the tremors increased from 13 to 16 September with multiple epicentres identified around Mpape and Katampe axes. The monitoring station (NGSA-5) at Katampe has been capturing several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes (Mw) in the past five days, beginning from 13 September 2024 till date. Only one mild event was recorded on 13 September. Six of these events were captured on the 14th of September, while over 21 events were captured on the 15th with higher intensities. More than twenty events were recorded on the 16th of September. The intensity and frequency of the tremor appear to increase from the 13th to the 16th of September. There are a few weak events recorded today, 17th September, the statement said. It said preliminary analysis of the waveforms showed that the sources of the ground motions are less than 5 km away from the monitoring station. 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 According to the statement, the NGSA team also visited the affected areas for on-the-spot assessments of the events. It said from the accounts of the residents of the affected areas, the observations by the NGSA team, and findings from earlier interpretations of the airborne geophysical data over the area and adjoining areas, the following conclusions were made: The tremors are a result of accumulated stress along the identified faults and released seismic energy, which may have travelled through associated fractures to areas where the tremors were felt around the FCT. There are multiple epicentres associated with the recent tremor. Most of the epicentres are located northeast of the NGSA-5 Seismic Station around the Mpape axis, while a few are located southwest of the station around the Katampe axis. The intensities of the tremors are weak to light, ranging from III-IV on the Modified Mercalli Scale, and pose a very low-level threat. The residents of Mpape, Katampe, Maitama, and other areas where the tremors were felt are advised not to panic as the tremors can be generally described as low, it said. The agency said it is keeping a close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary. The general public should also be aware that the NGSA seismic stations are being monitored in real-time to ensure prompt alerts on any major event, it said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A former minister of power, Barth Nnaji, has spoken on the allegations of land grabbing against him by Nkomoro Community in Enugu State. The allegations Last Friday, Nkomoro, a community in Enugu East Council Area of the state, alleged that Mr Nnaji, a professor, had forcefully taken over their ancestral land. Nkomoro is located near Onugba Nike Community in the same council area. Members of the Nkomoro Community, which migrated from Ezza in Ebonyi State, claimed the former minister visited the community with armed security personnel and started pulling down their houses and levelling their farmlands. They claimed that they had a land dispute with the Onuogba Community, which then sold the land to Titus Alinta. The matter, according to them, was still pending in unnamed courts when Mr Nnaji began demolishing the property. Ex-Minister speaks But reacting during a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Nnaji refuted the allegations. 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 Speaking through his lawyer, Benjamin Nwobodo, the former minister said the claim by the Nkomoro Community that they owned the parcel of land was incorrect. He said the Nkomoro people are tenants to the Onuogba Nike Community, the original owners of the land. Mr Nnaji explained that, in 2005, he bought the parcel of land from Mr Alinta who had purchased the land from Onuogba Community in I977. The former minister said he acquired the land to build a manufacturing industry and power project. He recalled Mr Alinta, now late, had faced resistance from the people of the Nkomoro Community when he began farming on the land, which was a virgin land. The former minister narrated how Mr Alinta, instituted a suit against the Nkomoro Community and won at the Enugu State High Court in 2004 and a subsequent appeal at the Court of Appeal in Enugu the following year. Another resistance Mr Nnaji said when he entered the land to exercise act of ownership, Nkomoro Community appealed against the Court of Appeal judgement and asked for a stay of its execution The court looked at it and saw that there was no merit in their appeal for a stay of execution and the court dismissed the appeal (in 2011), he said. The former minister said the community again appealed the judgement to delay my enjoyment of the property. Mr Nnaji argued that the appeal by the community, which they allegedly abandoned, did not get any order staying the execution of the previous court judgements. The former minister claimed that the community later began to sell parts of the land to strangers. He said he appealed to the community to stop the illegal sale. but they ignored the appeal. Mr Nnaji said he offered to pay N1 million each to those who illegally purchased parts of the land from the Nkomoro people, but they declined, which prompted him to move into the land to take possession of it. The action (taking over the land and demolishing structures in the area) is not illegal because it is in compliance with the court ruling, he stated. He added that the parcel of land being contested by the Nkomoro Community was not part of the land which the Onuogba Community gave to them to settle in. Onuogba Community backs ex-minister Meanwhile, Emmanuel Ubochi, a representative of the Onuogba Nike Community which earlier sold the land to Mr Alinta, said Mr Nnaji lawfully purchased the land from Mr Alinta. Speaking at the press conference, Mr Ubochi, the president-general of the community, said that in the olden days, the community invited the Nkomoro people from Ebonyi State to help wage war against some neighbouring communities who were encroaching on their lands. The community leader said the war subsequently failed to hold, but Nkomoro people settled in a land which was given to them for farming activities on the condition of paying rent annually to the Onuogba Nike Community. READ ALSO: Enugu governor gives security agencies 48 hours to produce killers of market leader He said they allegedly failed and began bringing in their relatives from Ebonyi State and later started laying claims to surrounding lands, including Ogbanu and Ndume. Mr Ubochi said the community consequently sued the Nkomoro people in various courts and obtained judgements against them. So, the land that Prof. Barth Nnaji bought is in Ndume and was never part of the place we gave to Nkomoro people to settle in for farming activities, he said. And again, there was no building there when our people sold it to Alinta. He was cultivating citrus and pineapple there in the 1980s. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Lagos State Government has issued contravention notices to over 280 property owners and occupiers of the Mayegun Waterfront Scheme in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area and the Lekki waterfront setbacks. Speaking on the Mayegun Waterfront Scheme, the state government announced on Tuesday via its X handle that the move was to forestall the creation of slums, distortion of the Lagos State Masterplan and erosion of the states coastal area. The occupants are required to provide relevant documentation and approvals that justify their occupation of the properties in question within 7 days of the notice, failure of which a demolition notice will be served on them, the statement said. Lekki waterfront In another post, the state government named those illegally occupying the Lekki waterfront setbacks. In its continued efforts to sanitise the Lagos State Waterfront corridor, the Lagos State Government served contravention notices on Farm City, Jonah Court, DHL, Polo Avenue and 65 others at Admiralty Way and Wole Olateju in Lekki Phase 1 abating Lekki Cowrie Creek encroaching on Lekki Waterfront setback, the post reads. According to the commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Yacoob Alebiosu, all the companies served are occupying the waterfront setbacks illegally, thereby contravening Lagos State Waterfront law No 3 of 2009 for the regulation of Waterfront Development in Lagos State and connected purposes. Mr Alebiosu urged them to report to the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Block 10, the state secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, with available documents or titles authorising them to use the setback. He warned that failure to do so may result in their properties being sealed or demolished. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Lagos State Government, through its Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), says it attends to an average of 300 new cases of sexual and domestic violence monthly. The Executive Secretary of DSVA, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, gave the figure during a symposium tagged: Are We Doing Enough? A Consideration of Lagos States Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Last Decade. The event was held on Wednesday in Lagos. Ms Vivour-Adeniyi said that the figure was a testament to increased faith in the governments system. She noted that the states Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team was established in September 2014, and it metamorphosed into a full-fledged statutory agency in 2021. According to her, in the past 10 years, there has been the gradual breaking of the culture of silence on sexual and gender-based violence in Lagos State by virtue of the increase in formal and informal reporting of cases. As of last year, we provided services to over 6,333 survivors. We now attend to an average of 300 new cases monthly. 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 People are more confident in the system. People are becoming more aware of support services that exist which they can take advantage of. We also have people serving as mandated reporters, good samaritans, whistleblowers, people seeing something and saying something and ensuring that something is done. Lagos State Government has declared zero tolerance for all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, she said. The executive secretary said that sexual domestic violence violated the fundamental rights of individuals and had far-reaching consequences on their physical, emotional and psychological well-being. She said that the acts of violence often occurred behind closed doors, making it difficult for victims to seek help or justice. Lagos State, as a vibrant and cosmopolitan city, faces unique challenges in addressing domestic and sexual violence. Our growing population and rapid urbanisation have created pressures that can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities. This symposium provides a valuable platform for us to discuss the root causes of domestic and sexual violence, explore effective prevention strategies, and enhance our response mechanisms. By sharing knowledge, experiences and best practices, we can strengthen our collective efforts to combat these crimes. The fight against sexual and gender-based violence is truly a collective responsibility, and I am confident that by working together, we can create a safer Lagos for all, she said. The keynote speaker, Ayodele Atsenuwa, deputy vice-chancellor (Department Services), University of Lagos, said that, in the last 10 years, the agency had evolved and delivered on its mandate to protect the vulnerable, particularly women and children being abused. Atsenuwa said that the state governments interventions had raised the bar of understanding of the problems and proffered solutions. She, however, called for the sustainability of the system by expanding its capacity. Panelists at the symposium commended the strides of the government in the last 10 years to reduce cases of domestic and sexual violence. They called for an increase in funding and logistics for relevant agencies to carry out proper investigations on cases of sexual and domestic violence. The panellists also sought localisation of DSVA activities in local communities, as well as more public awareness of the issue. They called for a community accountability model. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 2024 marks 60 years since the first generation 'Series 0' Shinkansen, or 'bullet train', entered into service on the Tokaido Shinkansen line and Japan House London is celebrating in a number of ways, including the display of a special edition 'Series 0' nose cone and a family fun day. 60 Years of the Tokaido Shinkansen Series 0 Shinkansen Nose Cone Special Edition 'Series 0' Shinkansen nose cone now on display on the lower ground floor. 22 September: 60 Years of the Tokaido Shinkansen: Family Fun Day with drop-in activities for train enthusiasts of all ages. 2 October: Looks Delicious! exhibition opens, including a window display of eki-ben bento boxes which are sold at train stations in Japan . The Tokaido Shinkansen line was the world's first high-speed rail line inaugurated just 10 days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in October 1964. The first generation 'Series 0' Shinkansen completed the 515-km journey between Tokyo and Osaka in just 4 hours, shattering the previous travel time of 6 hours 30 minutes and transforming domestic travel. On Thursday 12 September, a special edition 'Series 0' Shinkansen nose cone was installed at Japan House London the first time this nose cone has been displayed outside of Japan. Standing at over 1m tall and weighing 80kg, the nose cone was used for the very last journey of the 'Series 0' Shinkansen on the Tokaido Shinkansen line and is commemoratively printed with the date. Visitors can see this display until January 2025. On Sunday 22 September, Japan House London will host a fun activity day in which adults and children can celebrate the establishment of Japan's bullet trains and learn about their history and innovation. Activities on offer include a display of models (including interactive models), make your own paper Shinkansen, short film screenings and the opportunity to try on an official Shinkansen driver's uniform. On Wednesday 2 October, Japan House London's next exhibition Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan's food replica culture opens. The exhibition takes visitors on a mouth-watering journey through the uniquely Japanese phenomenon of shokuhin sanpuru the unexpectedly realistic food replicas displayed in front of restaurants across Japan. As part of the exhibition, one of Japan House London's ground-floor window displays will be dedicated to replicas of ekiben, the bento boxes which are sold specifically at train stations in Japan. MaryAnn Broughton, Head of Partnerships at Japan House London, said: "We would like to thank Central Japan Railway Company for their collaboration and support with these activities commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Tokaido Shinkansen and highlighting Japanese technology and innovation within Japan House London." Notes to Editors Japan House London Japan House London is a cultural destination offering guests the opportunity to experience the best and latest from Japan. Located on London's Kensington High Street, the experience is an authentic encounter with Japan, engaging and surprising even the most knowledgeable guests. Presenting the very best of Japanese art, design, gastronomy, innovation, and technology, it deepens the visitor's appreciation of all that Japan has to offer. This year, Japan House London marks six years of bringing the best of Japan to the UK and beyond. Central Japan Railway Company Established in 1987, Central Japan Railway Company operates the Tokaido Shinkansen, the main transport artery of Japan's economy, as well as conventional lines, where it serves communities in and around Nagoya and Shizuoka. It has developed a diverse group of businesses that work in symbiosis with its railway operations. It is now making a determined push to promote the 500kp/h Chuo Shinkansen Project, employing the Superconducting Maglev System, further strengthening its role as a key transport provider. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2507729/Japan_House_London_Shinkansen_60_Years.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2340450/JAPAN_HOUSE_London_Logo.jpg The Giant Heart and Baldwin Locomotive take center stage in Body Odyssey and Hamilton Collections GalleryOpening November 23 PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its bicentennial celebration, The Franklin Institute, one of the nation's premier science museums and a national leader in science education, is set to unveil two new exhibits around its most celebrated artifacts: the Baldwin Locomotive and the Giant Heart. Opening to the public on Saturday, November 23, 2024, Hamilton Collections Gallery and Body Odyssey represent a major milestone in the museum's multi-year transformation, setting the stage for a new era of exploration and discovery as it enters its third century. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia is preparing to unveil a two-story showcase of the museums vast collections, curated for public view on a scale never before seen in its 200-year history. Hamilton Collections Galleryopening November 23, 2024, during the museums bicentennial year. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia is set to open an immersive new exhibit on the human body surrounding its iconic Giant Heart. Body Odysseyopening November 23, 2024, during the museum's bicentennial year. "As we celebrate The Franklin Institute's bicentennial year, unveiling these iconic exhibits marks an exciting chapter in our history. With the Hamilton Collections Gallery and Body Odyssey, we're not just showcasing our two most celebrated artifacts but reimagining the exhibits surrounding them," said Larry Dubinski, President and CEO of The Franklin Institute. "Body Odyssey is a state-of-the-art exhibit on the human body with immersive experiences that not only educate but also inspire, while the Hamilton Collections Gallery offers unprecedented access to hundreds of artifacts from our storied collections, showcasing the rich history of innovation and discovery at the museum." Hamilton Collections Gallery A magnificent two-story showcase of the museum's vast collections, curated for public view on a scale never before seen in its 200-year history. At the heart of the $12 million gallery is the Baldwin 60000 Locomotive, a cornerstone of its collections since 1933, now overlooking hundreds of historically significant artifacts spanning two centuries of science and technology breakthroughs, including Benjamin Franklin's Glass Armonica and Lightning Rod, the Light Bulb and other inventions by Thomas Edison, and wing models from the Wright Brothers Aeronautic Collection. Designed by the award-winning architectural firm SmithGroup, the innovative two-story gallery integrates storytelling with interactive elements to bring the museum's artifacts to life. It also offers guests a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a museum collections center, providing a unique insight into how these historical objects are preserved. The gallery unveiling will reveal the Baldwin atop a modern architectural designa cutaway floor with a two-story storage system rising from the foundation level, equipped to showcase thousands of artifacts now visible to the public for the first time. The cutaway provides an overhead view of the five original steel and concrete bridge structures supporting the 350-ton locomotive, a striking example of 19th-century engineering, now fully visible for the first time in decades. The gallery overlooks a collections studio, offering opportunities for researchers and advancing the museum's digitization efforts to make its collections accessible to a global audience. Inaugural Exhibit: 200 Stories for 200 Years The Hamilton Collections Gallery's inaugural exhibit, 200 Stories for 200 Years, showcases a curated selection of the museum's vast collections, offering interactive elements that reveal unexpected connections between objects from diverse scientific fields. Artifacts such as the Weigel Celestial Globe, Franklin's Printing Press, and Wax Cylinder Records are brought to life through immersive storytelling, weaving together narratives that capture the pioneering spirit of The Franklin Institute and its namesake as the museum celebrates its 200th anniversary. The gallery marks a significant milestone in the museum's long history of support from four generations of the Hamilton family, beginning with Samuel M. Vauclain's donation of the Baldwin Locomotive in 1933now a Philadelphia landmark. In 2017, a $6 million gift from The Hamilton Family Charitable Trust made the gallery possible, and additional support received during the project brought the total contribution to $8.1 million. Body Odyssey Curiosity meets discovery in an imaginative new $8.5 million exhibit, Body Odyssey, featuring the iconic Giant Heart. The exhibit is a fascinating journey through the intricacies of the human body in a quest to achieve balance in life and well-being. The 8500-square-foot exhibit features larger-than-life installations, ultramodern simulations, and transportive experiences designed for collaboration and synchronization across three distinct areas: biological systems, biotech innovation, and personal health. Guests will explore the body's network of structure and function, discover actionable ways to promote mental and physical health, and learn, hands-on, how cutting-edge technologies in AI, robotic surgery, and wearable techas well as rising industry leadersare shaping the future of healthcare. Body Odyssey and the Giant Heart Originally beating as "The Engine of Life" in 1954, the papier-mache sculpture was giant enough to walk through, 15,000 times larger than a real heart, enhanced with the sound of a beating heart, and beloved by millions. Now in its 70th year, the Giant Heart is the centerpiece of this comprehensive exploration of health and the human body, and, in an immersive new addition, generations old and new can experience their own heartbeat pulsing from the Heart in a stunning new display of light and sound, energized through movement and synchronization with others. The award-winning experiential design firm MDSX spearheaded the exhibit, with direction from Abby Bysshe, TFI's Chief Experience and Strategy Officer, and Jayatri Das, Ph.D., TFI's Chief Bioscientist and Director of Science Content. The experience was shaped by input from an expert advisory board and insight gathered from student workshops, which guided the focus toward mental health, the future of the human body, and the interconnectedness of its systems. Body Odyssey joins the multi-award-winning Wondrous Space as the first two of six all-new exhibits of a multi-year master plan. This ambitious vision encompasses upcoming new exhibits on earth systems, advanced machines and robotics, the built environment, and computer science. All aim to create a holistic and engaging educational experience for guests, and together, they will set the stage for the new Franklin Institute experience. The Morel Family Foundation is the Lead Supporter of Body Odyssey, with additional support from Mrs. Sandra K. Baldino, Tobey and Mark Dichter, Independence Blue Cross, Marvin Samson Foundation, and Merck Foundation. The Franklin Institute received funding from the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, housed within the Department of Community and Economic Development, to promote the Hamilton Collections Gallery and Body Odyssey exhibits. Additionally, through the Redevelopment Assistant Capital Program, financial assistance has been provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Honorable Josh Shapiro, Governor. Conservation of the Baldwin Locomotive is by the Heritage Conservation Collective. Daniel J. Keating is the general contractor for the transformation of the Hamilton Collections Gallery, and Becker & Frondorf is the project manager. About The Franklin Institute Located in the heart of Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute is a renowned and innovative leader in science and technology learning and a dynamic center of exploration. As Pennsylvania's most visited museum, it is dedicated to creating a passion for learning about science by offering access to hands-on science education. For more information, visit www.fi.edu. SOURCE The Franklin Institute FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai is proud to announce that the 2024 Hyundai Sonata HEV Limited has won the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) category at the Southern Automotive Media Association's (SAMA) inaugural Charged Up Miami event, held on August 28, 2024. The Sonata HEV Limited outperformed its competitors, including the Toyota Camry HEV, reinforcing Hyundai's commitment to excellence in hybrid technology and design. The 2024 Hyundai Sonata was photographed in California City, Calif. on Aug. 1, 2023. Charged Up Miami, a flagship event organized by SAMA, brought together industry experts, automotive journalists, and influencers to evaluate and highlight the latest advancements in electric and hybrid vehicles. The event served as an educational platform to enhance public awareness of the benefits of EVs and hybrids, in line with SAMA's mission to foster understanding of sustainable automotive technology. The Sonata HEV Limited emerged as a standout winner in the HEV category, recognized for its innovative design, advanced technology, and outstanding fuel efficiency. "With the Sonata Hybrid, we set out to prove that you don't have to choose between power, style, and sustainability. Its sleek design, advanced tech, and smooth, quiet ride deliver an eco-friendly experience without sacrificing the thrill of driving," said Olabisi Boyle, senior vice president, product planning and mobility strategy, Hyundai Motor North America. "We're honored to be recognized by SAMA as leaders in sustainable automotive innovation, and we're committed to inspiring drivers to embrace hybrids and EVs as the future of mobilitybecause you can have it all: performance, responsibility, and style." "The Sonata HEV Limited impressed our members with its combination of efficiency, innovative features, and overall driving experience," said Woodie Lesesne, president, SAMA. "Hyundai has demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing hybrid technology, and we are delighted to recognize their achievement with this award. Our Charged Up Miami event is more than a competition; it's an opportunity to educate and inspire consumers about the significant advancements and benefits of EVs and hybrids." The 2024 Hyundai Sonata HEV Limited features a sleek and modern design, a suite of advanced safety features, and an impressive EPA-estimated combined fuel economy of up to 52 MPGi. Equipped with a 2.0L GDI Atkinson Cycle engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission, the Sonata HEV delivers a smooth and efficient driving experience. The vehicle also includes the latest technology, such as the Digital Key 2.0 Premiumii, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 10.25-inch touchscreen navigation system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Southern Automotive Media Association The Southern Automotive Media Association (SAMA) is a non-profit group of journalists, manufacturers, public relations professionals, and others in the automotive industry. SAMA aims to provide a platform for members to discuss the latest trends and advancements in the automotive industry, focusing on promoting sustainable and electric vehicle technologies. Hyundai Motor America Hyundai Motor America offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles, while supporting Hyundai Motor Company's Progress for Humanity vision. Hyundai has significant operations in the U.S., including its North American headquarters in 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 Hyundai's 835 independent dealers, contribute $20.1 billion annually and 190,000 jobs to the U.S. economy, according to a recent economic impact report. For more information, visit www.hyundainews.com. Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok i 2024 SONATA SEL FWD: 25 City/36 Hwy/29 Combined MPG. 2024 SONATA SEL AWD: 25 City/34 Hwy/28 Combined MPG. 2024 SONATA N Line: 23 City/32 Highway/27 Combined MPG. 2024 SONATA Hybrid SEL: 44 City/51 Hwy/47 Combined MPG. SONATA Hybrid Limited: 44 City/51 Hwy/47 Combined MPG. All figures are EPA estimates and for comparison purposes only. Actual mileage may vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits and vehicle's condition. ii Near Field Communication (NFC) digital smartphone key requires a compatible smartphone and an appropriately equipped 2024 SONATA vehicle. Not all smartphones are compatible. Feature is only compatible with iPhone XR and later, Apple Watch Series 5 and later and Samsung Galaxy S20 and later. Vehicle must be equipped with smart key with push button start, wireless device charging, and Audio Video Navigation System 5.0 (or newer) or Display Audio 2.0. Lock/unlock functionality works on front doors only. Features and specifications subject to change. See your Owner's Manual for additional details and limitations. SOURCE Hyundai Motor America 5C Data Centers' expansion into Phoenix will prioritize cloud companies and continued climate commitments PHOENIX, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - 5C Data Centers ("5CDC"), a provider of state-of-the-art data center services, has announced plans to launch a new region in Phoenix, Arizona. The first facility in the region, PHX01, is scheduled to go live in 2025. PHX01 (CNW Group/5C Data Centers) Located in one of the fastest growing hyperscale data center regions in North America, and within miles of downtown Phoenix, the first data center will comprise 140,000 square feet and 20MW of critical IT power capacity. With 5CDC's experience designing for the latest GPUs and direct-to-chip liquid cooling, PHX01 will be able to accommodate the most demanding AI and machine learning workloads, supporting power densities of up to 132kW per cabinet. "Expanding our footprint to Phoenix marks a significant milestone for 5C Data Centers as we continue to support the growing demand for high-performance and sustainable data center solutions," said Steve Perez, Chief Executive Officer of 5C Data Centers. 5CDC continues to prioritize its commitments to climate responsibility in its expansion to Phoenix. Adiabatic trim cooling and heat-tolerant coolant inlet temperatures will minimize both water and power usage. Known for its access to renewable energy, availability of talent, and low natural disaster risk, Phoenix has established itself as a key data center region. By expanding into the region, 5CDC will join the rapidly growing industrial ecosystem of Greater Phoenix. "I am thrilled to welcome this 5C Data Center to my district. This project will bring economic growth and high-quality job opportunities to the area. We are excited to see this substantial investment and infrastructure improvements to the neighborhood," said Councilwoman Laura Pastor. "Data center investment is a vital component to meeting the growing advancements of the technology cluster," said Greater Phoenix Economic Council President & CEO Chris Camacho. "5C Data Centers' work and commitment to operating with sustainable practices will help Greater Phoenix's high-tech ecosystem continue to grow." About 5C Data Centers 5C Data Centers is an industry-leading data center provider serving hyperscalers, cloud providers, and enterprise customers. Built on a foundation of exceptional talent and backed by strong investors, the company specializes in fast deployment of state-of-the-art data centers. With a focus on sustainable and energy-efficient solutions, 5C Data Centers is committed to innovation and customization, meeting the unique needs of each client. For more information about 5C Data Centers, please visit www.5cdatacenters.com. About the Greater Phoenix Economic Council The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), globally recognized as a top economic development organization (EDO), works to attract and grow quality businesses and advocate for the competitiveness of Greater Phoenix. A data-driven regional EDO, GPEC works with 22 member communities, Maricopa and Pinal counties, and more than 220 private investors to accomplish its mission and serve as a strategic partner to companies across the world as they expand or relocate to Greater Phoenix. Over the past 35 years, GPEC has fueled the regional economy by helping over 1,000 companies, creating nearly 190,000 jobs and $69.4 billion in capital investment. Greater Phoenix is in a relentless pursuit of innovative and entrepreneurial-focused companies looking to thrive and scale in a vibrant, dynamic region. There is an undeniable spirit about Greater Phoenix; one rooted in strength, collaboration and resilience. Greater Phoenix is Greater Together. For more information about GPEC and how we can assist your businesses, visit www.gpec.org. Press Contacts: 5C Data Centers, Tanya Naami, Director, Business Operations, [email protected] Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Logan Newman, Manager, Marketing & Communications, [email protected] SOURCE 5C Data Centers PHOENIX, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AccountabilIT (AIT), a leading Managed Security Service Provider, is excited to announce Shannon Murray-Doffo as its new Chief Revenue Officer. With a commitment to excellence, innovation, and unparalleled customer service, AIT carefully selected Murray-Doffo for her outstanding leadership and expertise. The Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) plays a pivotal role in driving AccountabilIT's growth by aligning and integrating all revenue-generating functions, including marketing, sales, pricing, and revenue management. This role focuses on developing and implementing effective sales strategies, leading teams to meet targets, fostering key customer relationships, and analyzing performance metrics for continuous improvement. By ensuring coordination across departments, the CRO is instrumental in scaling the company and achieving its revenue goals. Murray-Doffo brings nearly 20 years of experience of driving growth at tech giants like Ingram Micro, AWS (Amazon Web Services), and Palo Alto Networks. With expertise across sales leadership and marketing strategy from Account Strategist to Fractional CMO roles Murray-Doffo's goal is simple: to ignite revenue growth and build a high-performance culture where over achievement is the norm. AccountabilIT CEO Chuck Vermillion remarked, "As AIT's CRO, Shannon is laser-focused on hitting and surpassing revenue goals, setting the foundation for AIT's trajectory toward $100M and beyond. She is committed to fostering a team that thrives on collaboration, performance, and a little bit of fun along the way. She leads with humor, high standards, and a clear vision: to drive growth, exceed expectations, and build a winning team." Murray-Doffo expressed her enthusiasm for joining the company, "AIT is setting a new standard in the cybersecurity industry, emphasizing integrity, and prioritizing both people and customers. I am proud to join a team that values expertise, contribution, and character while consistently going the extra mile for its employees and customers." About AccountabilIT AccountabilIT (AIT) is a managed IT & cybersecurity firm headquartered in Arizona. AIT has grown into a leader in cybersecurity and has earned multiple distinctions in the Microsoft Partner program. AIT takes pride in being an early adopter of Microsoft security solutions. With a 24x7 Security Operations Center (SOC) and their MSP (Managed Service Provider) practice, AIT is the go-to partner for any business's technology outsourcing. AccountabilIT's "Customer First" strategy is instrumental in leading the industry in customer satisfaction, as measured by the Net Promoter score of 82. Visit AIT online Contact Claire Spahr Marketing Manager [email protected] (720) 235-8924 SOURCE AccountabilIT CAMARILLO, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Alair Homes, North America's largest privately held custom home building and renovation company, proudly announces the launch of Alair Tri Counties as AAA Development, Inc. joins Alair's network of builders. This marks Alair's second location in California, establishing its footprint in the prestigious regions of Malibu, Santa Barbara, and Ventura County. Left to Right: Kahle Steinmetz (Partner, Alair Encinitas), Stacy Eakman (Regional Partner, Washington), Shane Duff (Director of Partner Services), Mike Seay (Partner, Alair Tri Counties), Mike Hansen (Partner, Alair Tri Counties), Steven Hayhoe (Partner Performance Specialist), Stu Hopewell (Chief Operations Officer) (CNW Group/Alair Enterprises Ltd.) California, home to the nation's highest number of in-state architects, is a hub for cutting-edge architectural design. By launching Alair Tri Counties in this elite market, Alair solidifies its status as a premier builder partner, offering unparalleled collaboration opportunities in luxury residential construction across Malibu, Santa Barbara, Calabasas, Ventura County, and beyond. "The launch of Alair Tri Counties is more than just an expansion it's a strategic move into one of the most architecturally vibrant regions in the country," said Rob Cecil, president of Alair Homes. "With the team from AAA Development now representing us as Alair Tri Counties, we're not only expanding our reach but also elevating the Alair brand. Their deep-rooted legacy in this prestigious market makes them an invaluable addition to our network." AAA Development is a legacy construction firm based in Camarillo, California, with over 25 years of experience serving Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles Counties. Led by Mike Hansen and Mike Seay, the company has successfully completed more than 1,000 residential and commercial projects, earning a reputation for quality craftsmanship and client satisfaction. "Joining the Alair network allows us to elevate our service and offer homeowners a truly custom, high-end homebuilding experience," said Mike Seay, partner at Alair Tri Counties. "We are excited to bring Alair's renowned approach to this market, which is home to some of the most creative and discerning clients in the world." Mike Hansen, partner at Alair Tri Counties, added, "Our region has always been at the forefront of architectural excellence, and with Alair, we are now even better equipped to deliver exceptional results for homeowners in the Tri-County Area of California. This partnership is a game changer for us and our community." AAA Development is a five-time Best of Houzz Award winner in service and design categories. In 2023, the national online magazine Home Builder Digest named AAA Development one of the Best Custom Home Builders in Ventura County, CA. About Alair Founded in 2007, Alair Homes is North America's largest, privately held custom home building and renovation company. With a rapidly growing network of franchises since 2012, Alair has become a trusted name in over 100 locations across North America. Our distinctive approach is cemented in partnerships with esteemed architects, proficient trade partners, and innovative designers, ensuring homeowners a distinctive construction management experience. Striving for continuous improvement through our proprietary Client Control construction project management methodology, Alair is dedicated to delivering meticulously crafted, beautiful homes while ensuring a transparent, client-focused journey from conception to completion. Learn more at www.AlairHomes.com For more information on Alair Tri Counties, please visit alairtricounties.com. SOURCE Alair Enterprises Ltd. CHICAGO, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Osteopathic Information Association (AOiA) is set to host a two-day Digital Health Innovation Hub and Thought Leadership Theater at the OMED24 conference in San Antonio, Sept. 20-22, 2024. Launched in 2024 to advance digital health innovation in osteopathic medicine, the AOiA's Digital Health Innovation Community of Practice (DHI CoP) and steering committee are hosting the first public-facing series of educational events and networking opportunities at the OMED24 Innovation Hub. Mari Greenberger, AOiAs Digital Health Innovation Lead Seven educational sessions featuring leading experts in the field, including physicians, residents, students, and other key members of the osteopathic community, will be offered at the Innovation Hub's Thought Leadership Theater. The sessions are anchored around the DHI CoP's strategic priorities: education and training, policy, and the integration of digital health into practice. "Osteopathic medicine is shaping the digital health landscape through these core pillars. We are showing the world what makes osteopathic medicine unique with our effective convergence of osteopathic principles and technology," said Cole Zanetti, DO, MPH, co-chair of the DHI CoP. Friday, 9/20 9:30 am A World with AI: The Rebirth of Osteopathy 11:15 am #FirstToTheFuture: Pioneering Digital Health UME with RVUCOM's Digital Health Track 1:15 pm Approaches to Teaching AI in Medical Schools & Residency Training for All Specialties Saturday, 9/21-- 9:30 am Digital Health Policy Update: What's in the Pipeline & Why It Matters 11:15 am Addressing Inconsistent Quality of Digital Health Software Products: Understanding the DiME Seal 1:15 pm The Transformation of Healthcare System by Generative AI 2:15 pm AOIA's Emerging DO Initiative: What We Heard & Where We Are Going Mari Greenberger, AOiA's Digital Health Innovation Lead, encourages participants to look beyond the technology and tools. "Empowering osteopathic physicians with innovative digital tools is not just about advancing technology it's about elevating patient care and propelling the entire field of osteopathic medicine into the future." After OMED24, education and training will continue via webinars and other opportunities available to Community of Practice members. For more information on the DHI Community of Practice and upcoming webinar schedule, please visit www.aoiassn.org/innovation/. About AOiA The American Osteopathic Information Association (AOiA) is a not-for-profit trade association formed in 2000 to advance the use of information technology in the practice of osteopathic medicine. AOiA supports the osteopathic profession through advocacy, member-focused resources, strategic partnerships and data driven innovation including digital health initiatives. For more information about AOiA and Digital Health Innovation, please visit, www.aoiassn.org/innovation/ About OMED24 Hosted by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), OMED is an annual medical conference bringing together thousands of osteopathic physicians, medical students and other health professionals from across the country. This year's conference is being held in San Antonio, September 20 22, 2024. To learn more about OMED24, please visit https://omed.osteopathic.org . SOURCE American Osteopathic Association WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The famous Ukrainian rock band ANTYTILA, known for their collaborations with Ed Sheeran and U2's Bono, is visiting Washington DC and other U.S. cities as part of their "Culture vs War" Tour. This project was created to rally support for Ukraine through powerful stories of heroism and the sounds of courage and hope amidst a brutal war. The event will showcase Ukraine's heroic struggle and support its Defense Forces through the power of culture and music. Culture VS War. Antytila Film Trailer The "Culture vs War" event in DC will be taking place on Sunday, September 22nd, 2024, starting at 6:00 pm, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center's Amphitheater. ANTYTILA's DC Event is organized by United Help Ukraine with support from the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA and others in the Ukrainian community in the U.S. More information on the DC event can be found here . ANTYTILA's event will also kick off the 5th Ukraine Action Summit on Capitol Hill. The Summit will bring over 500 participants from 45 states to Washington DC to advocate for Ukraine and highlight why its victory is crucial to U.S. interests. The event features a screening of the short film "Culture vs War," followed by an exclusive acoustic performance by ANTYTILA. Attendees will then participate in an open conversation with the band, including a Q&A session where they can discuss Ukraine's resistance, the band's musical journey, and their experiences in military service. Taras Topolia, frontman of the band, shared more about the project: "When ANTYTILA was withdrawn from the frontline, our mission was clear: to use every means possible to communicate the reality of the war, gather resources for the Defense Forces, and draw global attention to the Ukrainian struggle. With the support of thousands worldwide, we have raised over $2 million to aid the Armed Forces. We're excited to share our stories and music and hear your opinions, questions, and hopes. Collectively, we represent humanity, freedom, and democracy." Launched in April 2022 by the Association "Watch Ukrainian!", the "Culture vs War" Project conveys the truth about the war between Russia and Ukraine through artists' experiences with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and volunteer efforts, highlighting Ukrainian resilience and culture to rally global support. About ANTYTILA: ANTYTILA is a renowned Ukrainian rock band known for their powerful music and impactful lyrics. During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the band remained at the forefront of cultural diplomacy efforts, using their platform to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces and raise awareness about the ongoing war. They have collaborated with prominent international artists, along with various humanitarian organizations. ANTYTILA's commitment to their country has been demonstrated through fundraising efforts, military service, and their inspiring performances that unite and uplift audiences around the world. Website for ANTYTILA: antytila.com Website for ANTYTILA Charity Foundation: antytila.ua/en/ For inquiries to ANTYTILA Yevhen Antypenko: [email protected] | +1 (224) 536-0392 About United Help Ukraine: Founded in 2014, United Help Ukraine (UHU) is a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to provide the people of Ukraine with critical support, enabling them to survive in the face of adversity, defend and regain their sovereign territory, and rebuild and thrive in the future. UHU has provided over $69.5 million in humanitarian, medical, psychological, and other assistance to those harmed by Russia's unprovoked aggression and advocates for a free, democratic, and independent Ukraine. Website for United Help Ukraine: unitedhelpukraine.org For media inquiries Orest Mahlay: [email protected] SOURCE United Help Ukraine Overwhelming majority support in new survey underscores longstanding commitment to sustainable practices PHOENIX, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) today shares an update from its latest 2024 Arizona Voters' Agenda survey , offering analysis and new insights into voters' views on water and environmental issues in the lead-up to the November general election. In line with CFA's longstanding research on Shared Public Values , the data highlight strong support across political and generational lines for policies that safeguard Arizona's natural resources and address the growing threats of wildfires and the long-term management of water resources. Arizona voters' overwhelming majority support in new survey underscores longstanding commitment to sustainable practices. Arizona voters overwhelmingly agree on the importance of actively managing forest land and groundwater protection, underscoring a shared urgency for policies that can mitigate environmental risks while securing Arizona's future. These findings are consistent with the state's broader public values around sustainable practiceswhich CFA has tracked for nearly two decades in its research on The Arizona We Want . "Arizona voters agree on key environmental challenges, and this consensus gives candidates a clear mandate to act," said Dr. Sybil Francis, Chair, President & CEO of CFA. "When it comes to protecting our water and managing our forests, voters are telling us loud and clear: these are urgent priorities for Arizona's future, and they expect leaders to take real action." Key Policy Areas Where Voters Agree The 2024 Arizona Voters' Agenda survey, conducted in collaboration with HighGround, Inc., an award-winning public opinion polling firm based in Arizona, reveals overwhelming support for two policies that have surpassed CFA's rigorous threshold for agreement to be deemed Voters' Agenda items and central to the electorate's priorities in this election cycle: The survey found that 93% of voters support stronger groundwater protection measures and securing our long-term water supplies, with 77% strongly supporting such policies. Younger voters are remarkably unanimous, with 95% of voters aged 20-29 backing this position. The findings highlight an opportunity for candidates to champion comprehensive water management strategies that reflect these shared priorities. Voters across the board support active forest management, with 92% of voters agreeing and 72% expressing strong support. This majority support includes 90% of Republicans, 93% of independent/unaffiliated voters, and 95% of Democrats, underscoring that forest management is not a partisan issue but a shared priority. Read more Contact: Heather Thornton, [email protected], 602.538.2274 SOURCE Center for the Future of Arizona Pioneering Functional Fitness Franchise Announces Continued Expansion Across the Atlanta Market ATLANTA, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- After having just debuted its first studio location in the Westside Provisions District, Pvolve, the fitness franchise that pairs low-impact, functional movement with resistance equipment to build strong, mobile bodies, today announced the continued development of the brand's Atlanta footprint. A new franchise agreement has been signed with local entrepreneur Clo Caesar, who expressed interest in Glenwood Park and Krog Market as possible locations for her studio. After 20 years on corporate payroll, Clo knew it was time she turned her lifelong passion for health and fitness into a new career path. Struck by Pvolve's science-backed methodology and ample opportunity for the brand's growth in Atlanta, she jumped at the chance to partner with the franchise, spearhead the development of its newest studio location, and further the role that functional fitness plays in the city's workout space. "Pvolve is in a league of its own. The brand's in-studio experience, patented equipment, and clinically proven health benefits set it firmly apart within the larger fitness landscape," said Clo. "Becoming a part of such a concept is more than a business opportunity; it's the chance to improve the lifestyles and wellbeing of friends and neighbors here at home." Recently, the brand made headlines after announcing the results of a University of Minnesota Clinical Study, which looked at the impacts of Pvolve on chronic lower back pain. This marks the third clinical study that Pvolve has taken part in over the last several years; a part of the franchise's effort to validate its efficacy and further the understanding of functional fitness and its full range of health benefits. * "We're thrilled to be expanding our Atlanta footprint with the introduction of our second studio location," said Pvolve President Julie Cartwright. "It's an exciting time for the Pvolve brand and Atlanta is already showing success with our first location. Having Clo, a passionate wellness and fitness enthusiast, at the helm will no doubt make this studio a success." Cartwright credits the efficacy of Pvolve's signature method and its partnership with world-renowned actress, producer, and director, Jennifer Aniston, as the reason the brand has been experiencing explosive growth. In addition, the franchise offers a multi-revenue stream business model, proprietary equipment, and hybrid class experiences that further fuel its expansion. For more information on Pvolve and its franchising opportunities, please visit https://pvolvefranchise.com/. About Pvolve Pvolve is a workout method that pairs low-impact, functional movement with resistance equipment to build strong, mobile bodies, so members can live younger, longer. After being introduced to functional fitness in 2017, founder Rachel Katzman was determined to help others experience an approach that respects the body's holistic needs while making you look and feel great. The Pvolve Method is supported by a Clinical Advisory Board of doctors, as well as highly credentialed trainers, to offer effective workouts that help you break a sweat, not your body. In June 2023, world-renowned actress, producer, and director, Jennifer Aniston, officially partnered with Pvolve after falling in love with the method as a member. Through its hybrid fitness model, Pvolve can be experienced through a streaming membership that offers over 1,300 on-demand classes, a two-way, live virtual studio, and targeted series, all available via the web and mobile apps. Additionally, Pvolve has physical studio locations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and franchises across the US and Canada, with 35+ locations in development. For more information, please visit https://www.pvolve.com/, https://pvolvefranchise.com/. *Results from a 12-week randomized clinical trial (16 individuals ages 18-75) with chronic lower back pain who practiced Pvolve's Lower Back Support Series 3 times a week for 12 weeks. MEDIA CONTACT: Conner Gossel, Fishman PR, [email protected] or 937-545-9812 SOURCE Pvolve BOSTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Beacon Biosignals Inc., the leader in at-home EEG and computational neurodiagnostics, is proud to announce the launch of HEADFIRST, the Home EEG Application and Dreem Feasibility In Research Study. The HEADFIRST basket study aims to explore the usability of home-based EEG recordings in pediatric patients with neurodevelopmental disorders and neurotypical controls. The initial phase of the study, in partnership with the Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) Foundation, focuses on assessing the Dreem headband's usability, reliability, and clinical utility in tracking sleep and brain activity in a pediatric cohort with LGS. At study launch, two biopharma partners have signed on to participate in data sharing to gain key learnings and evaluate candidate sleep EEG biomarkers. HEADFIRST harnesses Beacon's Dreem 3S headband, a low-profile, wireless EEG device designed for comfortable, at-home use and longitudinal monitoring*. The Dreem 3S is an FDA 510(k)-cleared medical device cleared to study sleep in adults, and is being evaluated for research purposes in pediatric populations. In this study, Beacon will assess the extent to which the Dreem3S overcomes the challenges posed by traditional wired EEG systems, which can be intrusive and disruptive for patients and their caregivers while limiting longitudinal data collection. Additionally, the study will harness Beacon's machine learning analytics platform to measure quantitative sleep and EEG endpoints, potentially paving the way for novel therapeutic approaches and improved patient outcome measures. "Sleep disturbances play a critical role in neurodevelopmental disorders, significantly affecting patients and their families. However, the challenges associated with reliable data collection have led to a substantial gap in research," said Jacob Donoghue, MD, PhD, CEO of Beacon Biosignals. Dr. Donoghue added, "The Dreem 3S allows us to deploy clinical grade EEG monitoring while minimizing burden on patients. With HEADFIRST, we'll assess broad applications for our platform to support novel measures of brain function and trial endpoints for traditionally underserved patient populations." The HEADFIRST trial will enroll up to 300 participants across multiple neurodevelopmental disorders. The LGS Foundation will raise awareness for the study's first cohorts, ensuring that families affected by LGS have the opportunity to participate. "Beacon's HEADFIRST study represents a significant advancement in our mission to improve the lives of those impacted by LGS," said Tracy Dixon-Salazar, PhD, Executive Director of the LGS Foundation. "The need to easily and reliably measure EEG in those with LGS is paramount to our research efforts and we are excited to support this innovative study." About Beacon Biosignals: Beacon Biosignals is the leading at-home EEG platform for precision drug development. Its FDA 510(k)-cleared Dreem 3 EEG headband and FDA-cleared algorithms enable first-in-human through Phase 3 clinical trials for treatments that transform the lives of patients with neurological, psychiatric, and sleep disorders. Beacon's Clinico-EEG database contains nearly 100,000 patients' brain activity data, and its cloud-native analytics platform empowers rapid interrogation of RWD/RWE for retrospective and predictive studies. Beacon Biosignals is changing the way that patients are treated for disorders of the brain. For more information about Beacon Biosignals and the HEADFIRST study, please visit Beacon Biosignals' website. About the LGS Foundation: The LGS Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals affected by Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) through research, advocacy, education, and family support. The Foundation aims to promote awareness and foster research to develop better treatments and ultimately find the cures for LGS. *Dreem 3S is being utilized for research use only in the HEADFIRST study SOURCE Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) Foundation Acquisition Propels Legacy Bike Share Leader into New Era as the Only U.S. Company Offering End-to-End Dock-Based Services for Cities Expanding and Electrifying Fleets PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, leading bike share operator Bicycle Transit Systems, Inc. ("Bicycle Transit Systems") announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire BCycle from Trek. The acquisition makes Bicycle Transit Systems North America's only docked bike share company with fully integrated end-to-end operations. The acquisition will allow Bicycle Transit Systems to better support the expansion of mobility options in cities nationwide with seamless solutions for building, installing, and managing docked, electrified bike share. Bicycle Transit Systems' new end-to-end services improve real-time solutions to equity, safety, and climate challenges. Post this Orange bicycle gears make up the Bicycle Transit Systems logo Bicycle Transit Systems currently operates bike share systems in some of the largest markets in the country, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas. It also provides the nation's only full-service bike share customer service center to an additional 24 U.S. cities. Following the acquisition's anticipated closing in October, Bicycle Transit Systems will become the largest docked bike share provider in the U.S., by number of communities served, taking on: Ten BCycle-owned bike share systems in communities across the U.S., including Santa Barbara , Santa Cruz , Madison , and Boulder. , , , and Boulder. Bikes, docking stations, and software support for 15 other communities, including Indianapolis , Salt Lake City , Cincinnati , and Milwaukee . Bringing all of the interconnected aspects of bike share together under one company expands Bicycle Transit Systems' ability to deliver innovative and affordable solutions that meet cities' needs, advance electrification efforts, reduce operating costs, and improve riders' customer experience. "With greater flexibility and oversight of end-to-end services, we can design real-time solutions to the pressing equity, safety, and climate challenges cities face today," said Bicycle Transit Systems Founder and Chair Alison Cohen. "The bottom line is, this will allow us to better meet our core mission as a company - to deliver the best customer experience possible for riders and advance bike share as a mobility option in the cities we serve." Bicycle Transit Systems' executive team, led by CEO Kristin Gavin-Wisniewski, will continue to manage the company. BCycle Executive Director Brian Conger will join the leadership team as Chief Business Officer. "Since 2008, BCycle has helped millions replace car trips with the climate-friendlier option of bikes," said Trek President John Burke. "We're excited for Bicycle Transit Systems to take this mission even further as they continue to grow and make meaningful change for the benefit of our planet and future." About Bicycle Transit Systems Bicycle Transit Systems has paved the way for bike sharing in the United States, and its leaders have launched bike sharing systems in almost every major American city. Bicycle Transit Systems currently has over 140 employees and operates three major systems: Los Angeles' Metro Bike Share, Philadelphia's Indego, and Las Vegas' RTC Bike Share. 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, dedicated staff maintain bicycles to be safe and smooth, service customers, and get more people riding bikes. Bicycle Transit Systems' hallmarks are innovation, equity, and operational excellence. All systems have the same mark of safe, clean bikes and stations, maintained with the utmost care and professionalism. Bicycle Transit Systems imagines a world with more bikes on streets than cars and a bike share program in every city. SOURCE Bicycle Transit Systems North America's Leading Blow Dry Bar Franchise Acquires Emerging Innovative Lash Concept to Fuel Future Growth TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a strategic move to fuel continuous growth, Blo Blow Dry Bar has acquired emerging California-based brand, LashBar, an innovative lash extension franchise equipped with the highest quality resources, patented lash systems, and signature product line. As a veteran franchise, Blo Blow Dry Bar plans to leverage its 15 years of success to benefit the emerging brand, as it offers another avenue for people to achieve entrepreneurial success. Behind the LashBar Brand The founders of LashBar are California natives and a husband-and-wife team, Joseph and Lina Mai. After spending nearly 20 years as a hair stylist, Lina discovered a passion for lash extensions while preparing for their wedding. Even though the Mai's had been considering opening a hair salon, they knew there was a great opportunity to introduce lash services to the greater San Diego market. With their combined experiences, Lina designed and built out the first LashBar which opened in 2017 while Joseph worked on perfecting the operations and customer experience. Blo Blow Dry Bar expands as a parent company with the acquisition of emerging concept, LashBar. Post this With business on a positive trajectory and receiving many inquiries about the concept, the Mai's started to look into options to help them scale and were drawn to the franchise model. Since launching their franchise opportunity in 2018, the brand has grown to 13 open and operating locations, with more in various stages of development. "With our franchise opportunity, we wanted to give entrepreneurs the platform to fulfill their dreams of running a business that didn't compromise their creativity," said Joseph. "Creating a family-like environment was a top priority for us from a customer and employee perspective and we of course wanted to ensure our franchisees were profitable. We've built a streamlined model that, with the support of Blo, is primed to reach new heights." Blo Blow Dry Bar Evolves as a Parent Company In October of 2022, Blo acquired Canadian-based MYNC Beauty Inc. and launched its U.S. franchise opportunity through a new brand named LashKind in June of 2023. By becoming a platform company with the addition of LashKind, and now LashBar, Blo will provide franchisees with numerous paths to achieving entrepreneurial success. "We wanted to acquire a brand whose customers, staff and franchisees resembled our own, and shared the same values," shared Vanessa Yakobson, CEO of Blo Blow Dry Bar. "Joseph and Lina have built a powerful brand with a carefully crafted service and business model. We knew that our systems, resources and expertise would marry nicely with the LashBar platform, leading to growth in unit economics and unit count." In the coming months, LashBar will merge with and be known as LashKind. The existing LashBar locations will begin to operate under the brand name "LashKind A Lash Bar," and LashKind's private label products will be stocked in LashBar locations. The expertise and experience of LashBar's skilled founders coupled with the Blo team's resources, brand success and proven business model arms both existing and aspiring entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to thrive. For more information about Blo Blow Dry Bar and LashKind franchise opportunities, visit franchise.blomedry.com and lashkindfranchise.com. 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. About LashBar LashBar is an innovative lash extension franchise equipped with the highest quality resources and patented lash systems. Rooted in a family-oriented culture, LashBar was founded by a husband-wife team based in California. Their expertise in the lash extension industry combined with innovative technology offer a seamless and one-of-a-kind experience for guests. LashBar also has a signature line of products that are used in all of its services. For more information, visit www.lashbar.com. Media Contact: Marisa Beaumont, Fishman Public Relations, 847.945.1300, [email protected] SOURCE Blo Blow Dry Bar ROYAL OAK, Mich., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bonal Technologies, Inc. has just signed a distributorship agreement with DME Company LLC ("DME"), the global mold base supplier. Under the agreement, DME will be an international distributor of Bonal's patented Meta-Lax stress relief equipment to mold manufacturers, tool and die makers, and die casters. DME, headquartered in Madison Heights, Michigan, is part of the Hillenbrand Group of Batesville, IN. DME is considered the world's #1 global supplier of molding products. DME employs over 600 sales and technical support employees with two manufacturing plants. "Adding DME as an international distributor will provide Bonal an opportunity to vastly increase the accessibility and exposure of our Meta-Lax equipment to the mold manufacturing and maintenance industry," said Torsten Warnatsch, Bonal's President and CEO. "DME has an enormous footprint worldwide in the mold and die making industry. Bonal's current mold making customers have experienced extraordinary time and cost savings. With the assistance of DME, we look forward to providing these savings throughout the industry on a global scale." "DME sees distributing Meta-Lax equipment as another example of how DME strives to bring our customers superior mold and die making solutions from design to product, in this case stress relieving," said Mike McCutcheon, DME's Business Development Manager. "In addition to supplying more than 100,000 high quality parts used in making and running molds and dies, DME has a reputation of offering its customers high-tech, state-of-the-art complementary products that are valuable to the industry we serve. Meta-Lax stress relief technology is a perfect fit. " Bonal International, Inc., (OTC: BONL) through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bonal Technologies, Inc., is the patent holder and world's provider of sub-harmonic vibratory stress relief and weld conditioning technology. Bonal's Meta-Lax technology is applied to eliminate thermal stress in metal parts, thereby preventing distortion and cracking, at a fraction of the time, cost and energy consumption of competing technologies. For more information visit www.Bonal.com or call 1-800-Meta-Lax. SOURCE Bonal International, Inc. 2019 Vintage SGE Fund 1 Investment "Returns the Fund" DENVER , Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bow River Capital's Software Growth Equity Team ("SGE") announces that it has closed on the full-sale transaction to Luminate Capital, a growth buyout firm focused on market-leading enterprise SaaS companies. Today, AbsenceSoft, a global leader in Leave and Accommodation Lifecycle Management, serves 300+ of the world's largest companies and helps support over five million lives. Bow River Capital's SGE team originally acquired a majority of AbsenceSoft in Q2, 2019. Post the execution of multiple transformative maneuvers, the company grew by 400% and recapitalized 28 months later in Q3, 2021, re-investing alongside its investment partner, Norwest Venture Partners ("NVP"). In conjunction with the hiring of CEO Mark Schiff and key business leaders to manage the company's global scale, the team focused on accelerating growth as it secured numerous global 500 companies as customers, leveling-up its operational infrastructure, and delivering new compliance-enabled product innovations to market. John Raeder, Vice Chairman and Head of Software Investments for Bow River Capital, stated, "We initially discovered AbsenceSoft right in our backyard in Golden, Colorado and developed a close relationship with founder Seth Turner, understanding they lacked the experienced team and resources to take it to the next level of growth." Raeder further said, "During our five-year hold period, we helped build and scale the SaaS firm into the dominant absence management and employee accommodation market leader; scaling the company's revenues by 12.5-fold and expanding the firm's global market presence. We are pleased to announce our fourth successful exit from our SGE Fund I, a 2019 vintage, further validating our value creation strategies, performance playbook, and esteemed PE partnerships." Seth Turner, Founder of AbsenceSoft said, "The company has been on a significant growth trajectory over the last five years, and I am very proud of what the team has achieved by combining deep domain expertise and an employee-centric ethos that has differentiated us since 2013. Turner then stated, "This transformation would not have been possible without the support of John Raeder and his team at Bow River Capital since Q2, 2019, and the superb team at Norwest Venture Partners." Mark Schiff, CEO of AbsenceSoft stated, "Today, AbsenceSoft's market-leading cloud platform underpins an innovative leave and accommodation lifecycle system designed to address ever-changing legislation and compliance requirements globally." Schiff further said, "We want to profusely thank NVP, the SGE team at Bow River Capital, and the Board of Directors for a highly productive and successful partnership. We look forward to joining forces with Luminate Capital and building upon our robust momentum." Raymond James provided investment banking expertise throughout the AbsenceSoft transaction. Goodwin Proctor, LLP served as legal counsel to AbsenceSoft. About Bow River Capital Founded in 2003, Bow River Capital is a private alternative asset manager based in Denver, Colorado, focused on investing in the lower and middle market in five asset classes: defense technology, private credit, private equity, real estate, and software growth equity. Through its subsidiary Bow River Advisers, LLC, Bow River Capital also offers a registered, closed-end mutual fund Bow River Capital Evergreen Fund (EVERX) designed to provide institutional-quality private market access to a broader set of investors. Collectively, the Bow River Capital team has deployed capital into diverse industries, asset classes and across the capital structure. Bow River Capital Evergreen Fund is distributed by Foreside Financial Services, LLC which is not affiliated with Bow River Capital or its affiliates. For more information on Bow River Capital, please visit www.BowRiverCapital.com. About AbsenceSoft AbsenceSoft is a leading provider of leave and accommodations management SaaS solutions. We deliver scalable, easy-to-use, and configurable software to easily and efficiently manage 190+ statutory policies like FMLA, ADA, and PWFA. Our software streamlines and automates leave and accommodations processes, ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations while elevating the employee experience. Built by leave professionals, for leave professionals, AbsenceSoft is trusted by employers across industries, Third Party Administrators (TPAs), and Professional Employee Organizations (PEOs) to manage over five million lives. We are widely recognized for our top-tier customer service and robust customer community engagement. Learn more at www.absencesoft.com Media Contact: Jane Ingalls, Bow River Capital 303-861-8466 SOURCE Bow River Capital SAN DIEGO, Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Bioscience USA announced that it has signed an MOU with the University of California San Diego (UCSD) to conduct an investigator-initiated trial to evaluate the efficacy of Xafty, a niclosamide-based antiviral developed by its Korean headquarters, in treating "Long-COVID". The trial will be led by UCSD Professor Ajay Bharti, an infectious disease specialist and clinical trialist. Dr. Bharti's particular expertise in the neurocognitive effects of viral illnesses make him perfectly suited to run the investigator initiated trial. "This is an outstanding opportunity for UC San Diego and Hyundai Bioscience to partner together to tackle Long-COVID," Professor. Davey Smith, Director of the UCSD Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute (ACTRI) of UCSD and an authority on viral illnesses, especially COVID, said about the collaboration. "There is no therapy currently available for the condition, which affects millions of people around the world." Xafty, an oral antiviral agent, is a new drug that improved the bioavailability of niclosamide, which is known to have antiviral efficacy against more than 30 viruses. It is currently in a phase 3 clinical trial in Korea targeting high-risk groups for COVID-19 and is expected to apply for phase 3 to the U.S. FDA soon. In a previous phase 2 clinical trial, Xafty successfully met the FDA's primary endpoints, demonstrating a faster symptom improvement rate than other existing treatments, especially in high-risk groups. "Being able to reduce symptoms during acute COVID-19 is an impressive accomplishment," Dr. Smith, who has helped run numerous antiviral trials in COVID-19, HIV, and Mpox, said. "Many large recent trials testing antivirals have not had such success. This may point to Xafty's effectiveness in Long-COVID as well." Long-COVID is a complex disease that is suggested to be caused by residual virus, excessive inflammation, and consequent nerve damage. Patients suffer from various symptoms such as chronic fatigue, inflammation, and cognitive decline, but existing treatments rely on a single mechanism and fail to resolve these complex symptoms. This is one of the reasons why a clear treatment for Long-COVID has not yet been developed. Xafty is expected to resolve the complex symptoms of Long-COVID through inflammation inhibition and neuro-protection mechanisms, rather than simply suppressing the virus. It is because niclosamide, Xafty's main pharmaceutical ingredient, is anticipated to provide practical therapeutic effects to patients through multiple mechanisms such as virus removal, suppression of immune hypersensitivity, and recovery of nerve damage. In a recent Parkinson's disease preclinical study conducted by Hyundai Bioscience, Xafty demonstrated to promote dopamine production and nerve cell recovery. When Xafty was administered to a Parkinson's animal model with suppressed dopamine production, a higher dopamine level was confirmed than in the group administered with the existing Parkinson's disease treatment, dopamine precursor (Madopar), suggesting that it can make a significant contribution to improving symptoms such as brain fog and cognitive impairment due to nerve damage in people with Long-COVID. Dr. Ajay Bharti, the PI of this study, said, "We already knew about the broad-spectrum antiviral efficacy of niclosamide, but after seeing data showing that Xafty, having improved the long-standing problem of bioavailability, showed excellent symptom improvement in a COVID-19 clinical trial, especially in the high-risk group, we came up with the idea of using the drug to treat Long COVID." He added, "In particular, the fact that Xafty recovered neurons in a preclinical study of Parkinson's disease and promoted dopamine production, resulting in higher dopamine levels than the control group that took Madopar, was an important trigger for this clinical study." Dr. Smith added, "The goal of this study is to confirm that niclosamide can solve the complex symptoms of Long COVID through multiple mechanisms such as virus suppression, inflammation suppression, and neuroprotection. We hope that the clinical trial will be successful and provide a practical treatment option for Long COVID patients, which will be historic." About Hyundai Bioscience Hyundai Bioscience is a biotechnology company that develops drugs based on its novel drug delivery system technologies to deliver active ingredients safely and efficiently to targeted areas of the human body. Founded in 2000, Hyundai Bioscience focuses on repurposing or expanding indications of existing drugs using its proprietary organic-inorganic hybrid technologies. Hyundai Bioscience is a public company listed on KOSDAQ (symbol: 048410) in South Korea. For more information, please contact Ms. Joobin Jung, Global PR Manager ([email protected]). SOURCE Hyundai Bioscience Ricard Janson Joins as Senior Vice President in EMEA Capital Formation Group focused on the Nordics and the Netherlands DALLAS and LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Canyon Partners ("Canyon"), a $26 billion global alternative investment manager founded in 1990, announced Ricard Janson has joined the firm as Senior Vice President in the EMEA Capital Formation group. This hire continues the meaningful expansion of Canyon's EMEA platform in recent years. Mr. Janson will primarily focus on the Nordic and Dutch markets. He will report to James Anderson, who was appointed Head of EMEA Capital Formation in December 2023. "The Nordic and Dutch markets are among the most sophisticated in Europe, with many institutions in the region overseeing well developed liquid and illiquid credit portfolios," said James Anderson, Managing Director and Head of EMEA Capital Formation. "Ricard's addition to the team will enable us to deepen our partnerships with our growing client base, and to meet their appetite for access to differentiated areas of public and private markets through innovative investment strategies." Mr. Janson brings to his role more than 15 years of private markets and capital formation experience in the Nordic region and across Europe. Most recently, he established and led business development and investor relations in the Nordics and the Netherlands at CAPZA, a European private investment platform. The EMEA Capital Formation group is based out of Canyon's London office along with Canyon's European investment team, which has deployed approximately $20 billion of capital over the last decade across Canyon's corporate and structured credit-oriented strategies. About Canyon Partners, LLC Founded in 1990, Canyon employs a deep value, credit intensive approach across public and private corporate credit, structured credit, and direct real estate lending and investing. The firm seeks to capture excess returns available to those investors with specialized expertise, rigorous research capabilities, and the ability to underwrite complexity. Canyon invests on behalf of a broad range of institutions globally. For more information visit: www.canyonpartners.com. Media Contact Kris Cole Prosek Partners [email protected] SOURCE Canyon Partners LLC HOUSTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CB&I, a wholly owned unrestricted subsidiary of McDermott, and Korean world-class shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean have received Approval in Principle (AiP) for the design of a cargo containment system and an 80,000 m3 liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier from DNV, a leading classification society for shipping. DNV formalized the AiP with executives from each company at the Gastech Exhibition & Conference held in Houston on September 17. Executives from C&I and Hanwha Ocean are presented Approval in Principal from DNV. The AiP confirms CB&I's cargo containment systems meets applicable safety standards including class rules, the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC Code), as well as the Interim Recommendations for Carriage of Liquefied Hydrogen in Bulk, Resolution MSC.420(97), issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). "Hanwha Ocean's expertise in gas carriers perfectly complements CB&I's expertise in large-scale storage and handling systems for liquid hydrogen," said Mark Butts, Senior Vice President for CB&I. "Together we have created a safe, efficient liquid hydrogen carrier design with low boil-off of 0.05% per day. This carrier makes plans for international liquid hydrogen supply chains possible today." CB&I is supporting Hanwha Ocean's carrier design with its cargo containment system consisting of vacuum-insulated double-wall spheres for LH2 transport, which has also been approved by DNV. CB&I has more than 60 years of experience in onshore LH2 storage tank design and construction worldwide. "Since last year, we have been working in a tripartite agreement with CB&I and DNV to develop an 80,000 m3 medium-sized liquid hydrogen carrier," elaborated Youngchang Shon, CTO, Head of Product & Technology Strategy at Hanwha Ocean. "Our comprehensive research has included verifying the basic performance and structural safety, cargo handling system (CHS), and the conceptual design of an eco-friendly electric propulsion system incorporating hydrogen fuel cells." "Collaboration has always been a key to overcoming new challenges. We are now witnessing an exemplary scene of cooperation where two global leaders in hydrogen and shipbuilding sectors work together closely to realize the shipping of liquid hydrogen, the future medium of renewable energy," expressed Vidar Dolonen, Regional Manager of DNV Korea and Japan. "At DNV, we are pleased to join CB&I and Hanwha Ocean in their efforts to improve the level of technical maturity and also present the way for the future of liquid hydrogen transportation by showing various propulsion options for LH2 carriers." About CB&I CB&I is the world's leading designer and builder of storage facilities, tanks, and terminals. With more than 60,000 structures completed throughout its 130-year history, CB&I has the global expertise and strategically located operations to provide its customers world-class storage solutions for even the most complex energy infrastructure projects. CB&I is a wholly owned unrestricted subsidiary of McDermott. To learn more, visit www.cbi.com. About McDermott McDermott is a premier, fully-integrated provider of engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. Our customers trust our technology-driven approach engineered to responsibly harness and transform global energy resources into the products the world needs. From concept to commissioning, McDermott's innovative expertise and capabilities advance the next generation of global energy infrastructureempowering a brighter, more sustainable future for us all. Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally-focused and globally-integrated resources include more than 30,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels, and fabrication facilities around the world. To learn more, visit www.mcdermott.com. About DNV DNV is the world's leading classification society and a recognized advisor for the maritime industry. We enhance safety, quality, energy efficiency and environmental performance of the global shipping industry across all vessel types and offshore structures. We invest heavily in research and development to find solutions, together with the industry, that address strategic, operational or regulatory challenges. For more information visit: www.dnv.com/maritime About Hanwha Ocean Hanwha Ocean is the world's premier shipbuilding and offshore company. Started in 1973 at Okpo Bay, Geoje Island, located on the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula, the shipyard of Hanwha Ocean was completed in 1981. Hanwha Ocean has grown into the world's premier shipbuilding and offshore contractor who is specialized in building various vessels, offshore platforms, drilling rigs, FPSOs/FPUs, submarines and destroyers. The shipyard, which spans an area of 4.9 million meters squared, encompasses the world's largest dock with a million-ton capacity and is optimized for building high-tech motor vessels using cutting edge equipment. Hanwha Ocean manufactures high-quality products based on its vast IT expertise, well-managed shipbuilding technologies, superb fixed-platform construction capabilities, large-scale project management know-how, submarine/destroyer construction technologies. To learn more, visit www.hanwhaocean.com. Forward-Looking Statements McDermott cautions that statements in this communication which are forward-looking, and provide other than historical information, involve risks, contingencies and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements about the expected scope of the project discussed in this press release. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Those statements are made by using various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous risks, contingencies and uncertainties, including, among others: adverse changes in the markets in which we operate or credit or capital markets; our inability to successfully execute on contracts in backlog; changes in project design or schedules; the availability of qualified personnel; changes in the terms, scope or timing of contracts, contract cancellations, change orders and other modifications and actions by our customers and other business counterparties; changes in industry norms; actions by lenders, other creditors, customers and other business counterparties of McDermott and adverse outcomes in legal or other dispute resolution proceedings. If one or more of these risks materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. This communication reflects the views of McDermott's management as of the date hereof. Except to the extent required by applicable law, McDermott undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. For media inquiries, please use the contact information below: Global Media Relations Reba Reid Senior Director, Global Communications and Marketing +1 281 588 5636 [email protected] Local Media Relations Kristi Krupala Global Corporate Communications Manager +1 346 313 9636 [email protected] SOURCE McDermott International, Ltd Featuring doorstep deliveries, easy-to-follow recipes, special deals, and more, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative shares numerous ways to enjoy Maine Lobster on September 25. PORTLAND, Maine, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) is celebrating the 9th annual National Lobster Day on September 25, honoring the hardworking individuals who sustain Maine's iconic lobster fishery. This day invites lobster lovers nationwide to savor the iconic staple at its seasonal best. For over 150 years, Maine's lobster fishery has been a cornerstone of the state's coastal identity, upheld by generations of families dedicated to their communities and the preservation of this vital resource. Join us in celebrating the 9th Annual National Lobster Day with the irresistible taste of sweet Maine Lobster! "National Lobster Day highlights the hardworking individuals and communities that make the fishery thrive," said Marianne LaCroix, Executive Director at the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. "We encourage lobster fans across the country to show their support for the families who make it all possible by choosing sustainably harvested Maine Lobster." This National Lobster Day, Sept. 25, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) is making it easier than ever for consumers across the country to participate: Cook at Home: Prepare Maine Lobster with MLMC's curated recipes and bring a taste of Maine to your kitchen. Whether you're making lobster bisque, tacos, or trying your hand at cooking lobster for the first time, our step-by-step guides have you covered. Check out companies that will ship Maine Lobster to your door here. Prepare Maine Lobster with MLMC's curated recipes and bring a taste of Maine to your kitchen. Whether you're making lobster bisque, tacos, or trying your hand at cooking lobster for the first time, our step-by-step guides have you covered. Check out companies that will ship Maine Lobster to your door here. Dine Locally: From Sept. 22-29 , Maine restaurants are celebrating Maine Lobster Week with unique lobster dishes. Check out the list of participating restaurants here. Not in Maine ? Discover our first Taste of Maine Lobster Tour stops popping up across the U.S.! From , restaurants are celebrating Maine Lobster Week with unique lobster dishes. Check out the list of participating restaurants here. Not in ? Discover our first Taste of Maine Lobster Tour stops popping up across the U.S.! Maine Lobster Promotions & Products to Savor Costco: Savor the flavor with East Coast Seafood Lobster Roll Sliders, available at Costco locations nationwide (in-store only). Each kit includes succulent cold lobster meat, six soft brioche rolls, and a touch of rich lobster butter. Greenhead Lobster: Enjoy a special offer on 6-count or 12-count live New Shell Quarters (1.25-1.4 lbs. each) and New Shell Halves (1.5-1.75 lbs. each), featuring freshly harvested Stonington, Maine lobsters. With tender, sweet meat and firm shells, it's the perfect time to indulge in this coastal treat! Hancock Gourmet : From September 24-27 , enjoy 15% off their National Lobster Day collection. From Lobster Grilled Cheese Appetizers to a Maine Shore Dinner for Two, discover the full range here. Luke's Lobster : Celebrate National Lobster Day with a BOGO special on four-pack lobster rolls at Luke's Online Market from September 19-25! Enjoy a special half-pound lobster roll in Portland during Maine Lobster Week ( September 22-29 ). Plus, in celebration of their 15th anniversary, Luke's Lobster shacks nationwide will be offering a limited-time treat: Split Lobster Tails, available from September 25 to October 1 . See more details here. Marin Skincare : If lobster isn't your taste, try it in skincare! Maine -based Marin Skincare will honor their key Lobster Glycoprotein ingredients with free shipping to celebrate. For a full list of nationwide Maine Lobster suppliers, visit LobsterfromMaine.com. Stay updated on the Maine Lobster fishery, including its pioneering sustainability efforts and ways to enjoy lobster, by following the MLMC on Instagram @LobsterfromMaine and Pinterest @LobsterfromMe About the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC), established in 2013, is funded by Maine Lobster harvesters, dealers, and processors to increase demand for both whole live lobster and a variety of value-added products. The MLMC supports that objective by promoting the core values of the Maine Lobster industry: sustainability deeply rooted in tradition. Media Contact: Ashleigh Kathryn White, [email protected] SOURCE Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Long-standing team member Alexander Stephens steps into key leadership role, bringing deep company knowledge and financial expertise LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CellPoint Digital, the leading global provider of Payment Orchestration solutions for travel, today announced the promotion of Alexander Stephens to Chief Financial Officer. This strategic appointment underscores CellPoint Digital's commitment to fostering internal talent and leveraging deep company knowledge to drive its next phase of growth. Proven Track Record of Financial Leadership Alexander Stephens has been an integral part of CellPoint Digital for over seven years, previously serving as Finance Manager and most recently as Head of Business Intelligence and FP&A. His promotion to Chief Financial Officer comes at a pivotal time as the company continues to expand its global footprint and innovate in the payment orchestration space. Key Achievements and Contributions During his tenure, Alexander Stephens has played a crucial role in several key initiatives, including: Providing critical data insights to inform strategic decision-making across the business Driving investor and management reporting Leading group budget creation and management Guiding commercial partnering across the business Supporting fundraising Building robust financial processes and supervising a successful transition to a new ERP system Strategic Vision for Financial Innovation In his new role, Stephens will prioritise the automation of the finance function, aiming to provide near real-time data insights to enhance decision-making across the organisation. This initiative aligns with CellPoint Digital's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology not only in its products but also in its internal operations. Alignment with Growth Objectives As a Chartered Accountant (ACA), Stephens brings a wealth of expertise in financial planning, risk management, and compliance to the Chief Financial Officer role. His experience aligns perfectly with CellPoint Digital's focus on growth and scalability, ensuring the company can expand efficiently while maintaining strong financial health. Kristian Gjerding, CEO of CellPoint Digital, commented on the appointment: "Alex's journey with CellPoint Digital over the past seven years has been nothing short of remarkable. His unique blend of financial acumen and deep understanding of our business operations makes him the ideal candidate to lead our financial strategy as we enter our next growth phase. His promotion is a testament to our commitment to nurturing talent within our organisation and his ability to drive financial excellence while supporting our ambitious goals." Alexander Stephens expressed enthusiasm about his new role: "I am honoured to step into the Chief Financial Officer position at such an exciting time for CellPoint Digital. Having been part of the company's transformation over the years, I am keenly aware of both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. I look forward to leveraging my experience to balance our need for flexibility with maintaining strong financial parameters, ultimately driving sustainable growth and value for our stakeholders." Strengthening the Executive Team This appointment comes as CellPoint Digital continues to see strong growth in the travel and airline sectors, having recently expanded its global revenue team and enhanced its account management function to better serve clients worldwide. Stephens' promotion to Chief Financial Officer further solidifies the company's executive leadership, positioning CellPoint Digital for continued success and innovation in the payment orchestration space. For more information about CellPoint Digital or to speak with company executives, please get in touch with Steven Osei at [email protected] About CellPoint Digital CellPoint Digital is a fintech leader in payment orchestration and optimisation. CellPoint Digital's main solution is a powerful Payment Orchestration Platform that optimises digital payment transactions from cards or alternative payment methods and accelerates the deployment of new payment options. Merchants can easily scale their own payment ecosystem across the world, unify the customer payment experience across their website, mobile apps and other channels, optimise the routing of each transaction, increase conversion rates and minimise payment costs. CellPoint Digital has offices in Copenhagen, Dallas, Dubai, London, Miami, Pune and Singapore. Visit www.cellpointdigital.com to learn more. SOURCE CellPoint Digital Organization Recognized for Extraordinary Leadership in Helping Abused Children, Awarded $50,000 Prize PHOENIX, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for the Rights of Abused Children, a groundbreaking charity dedicated to protecting abused children, has been awarded the prestigious Norman Borlaug Humanitarian Award from Vizient, accompanied by a $50,000 prize. This recognition honors the organization's transformative impact on the lives of abused children under the leadership of founder and CEO, Darcy Olsen. Vizient, a leader in healthcare performance improvement, presents this annual award to organizations that demonstrate a profound commitment to humanitarian efforts, profoundly impacting communities and transforming lives. The Center embodies this mission, advocating tirelessly for a world where every child is safe and loved. "We are deeply grateful to receive the Norman Borlaug Humanitarian Award today from Vizient," said Darcy Olsen. "Every one of those reasons has a first and last name, and every one of them deserves to be safe and loved." The $50,000 prize will further the Center's initiatives to improve the lives of abused children across the nation. The Center for the Rights of Abused Children provides pro bono legal aid to children, while its robust advocacy work has inspired dozens of child-centered laws and protections. These advancements have improved living conditions, enhanced education opportunities, and secured permanent homes for countless children. The Center notably pioneered the nation's first state law protecting children in care from losing their Social Security, disability, and survivor benefitsresources routinely taken from children by states. Thanks to the generosity of thousands of supporters, the Center's life-changing work continues to expand, impacting nearly 1 million children nationwide. Olsen founded the Center in response to a child protection system that often fails its most vulnerable. Inspired by her experience fostering ten children and adopting four, Olsen saw firsthand the devastating impact of sibling separations, repeated re-entries into care, and the lack of legal representation. She established the Center for the Rights of Abused Children to unite people to do more, be more, and change more for these children. Click here to watch a video about the Center's inspiring work and for more information visit https://www.thecenterforchildren.org/. SOURCE The Center for the Rights of Abused Children Fast casual concept to celebrate the grand opening of its 13th restaurant in Louisiana on September 25, offering free chicken salad for a year ATLANTA, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicken Salad Chick , the nation's only fast casual chicken salad restaurant concept, announced today it is opening its 13th restaurant in Louisiana and first in Lafourche Parish, located at 1050 S Acadia Road. The Thibodaux community is invited to celebrate this grand opening on Wednesday, September 25 where the first 100 guests in line will win free chicken salad for a year*. During grand opening week, guests can expect to experience the Southern hospitality that Chicken Salad Chick is known for, as well as a community focused mindset with various specials and giveaways. These include: Wednesday, September 25 Free Chicken Salad for a Year to the first 100 Guests The first guest in line will receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per week for an entire year. The next 99 guests in line receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per month for a year.* The first guest in line will receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per week for an entire year. The next 99 guests in line receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per month for a year.* Thursday, September 26 The first 75 guests to purchase a Chick Meal will receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick 40oz Tumbler.** The first 75 guests to purchase a Chick Meal will receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick 40oz Tumbler.** Friday, September 27 The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Meal will receive a FREE Chick Tote bag!** The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Meal will receive a FREE Chick Tote bag!** Saturday, September 28 The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Meal will receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick Picnic Blanket! The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Meal will receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick Picnic Blanket! Monday, September 30 The first 50 customers to purchase a Chick Meal will receive a bounce-back card that can be redeemed for a free scoop of Classic Carol.** Chicken Salad Chick of Thibodaux is owned by Chad and Amanda Ducote. Their journey with the brand began unexpectedly during a visit to their daughter Grace's doctor in Lafayette. After stopping by Chicken Salad Chick for lunch and trying the Dixie Chick and Fancy Nancy varieties, they fell in love with the flavors and welcoming atmosphere. These visits soon became a regular family tradition. With Chad's long-standing passion for cooking and the restaurant industry, owning a Chicken Salad Chick restaurant felt like a natural next step. "Giving back and staying engaged with our community means everything to Amanda and me," said Chad Ducote, co-franchise owner of Chicken Salad Chick of Thibodaux. "Our commitment to this community runs deep, as we both serve as pastors and manage a small portfolio of rental properties in our spare time. After Hurricane Ida, we were more determined than ever to make our small businesses thrive and wanted to offer something in town. When Amanda and Grace discovered Chicken Salad Chick, it felt like fate. The franchise's core values of 'Spread Joy, Enrich Lives, and Serve Others' align perfectly with our own beliefs, which made it the ideal choice for us. Thibodaux is a growing, health-conscious community, and we're thrilled to offer more healthy dining options to our fellow residents soon." Chicken Salad Chick is known for its dozen-plus variety of made-from-scratch chicken salad flavors, fresh side salads, gourmet soups, signature sandwiches, and desserts. The new Thibodaux restaurant offers in-restaurant and outdoor patio dining, drive-thru, take-out, curbside pickup, third-party delivery, and catering options. "We're thrilled to continue expanding Chicken Salad Chick's footprint in Louisiana, and we're eager to bring our delicious menu to communities across the state," said Scott Deviney, president and CEO of Chicken Salad Chick. "Chad and Amanda are the ideal franchise owners to help us grow our brand, as we're confident they will embody our values and share them with their community. We're thankful they were able to keep their grand opening on track following the most recent storm, and we know Chicken Salad Chick will become part of unique fabric of Thibodaux and Lafourche Parish." Giving back to the community is an important focus for the Thibodaux team and the Chicken Salad Chick brand, which established the CSC Foundation to support CURE Childhood Cancer and local food banks with fundraisers throughout the year. As part of pre-opening Friends & Family events in Thibodaux, the restaurant will be raising money for MacDonell Children's Services, a residential home for children whose circumstances leave them in need of a safe, loving and nurturing environment. Donations help fund the organization's services, such as hiring staff, maintaining facilities, and improving services for children. Chicken Salad Chick of Thibodaux will be open Monday Saturday from 10:30am 8pm. For more information, visit www.chickensaladchick.com . Follow Chicken Salad Chick on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and trends. For more information on giveaways and specials, visit https://www.facebook.com/ChickenSaladChickThibodauxLA/ *Guests should arrive early to secure a place in line. The first 100 guests must remain in line and download the Chicken Salad Chick app. Wi-Fi will not be available on site. Once the restaurant opens, guests will make a purchase of "The Chick" or anything of equal/greater value and enter a code in the Chicken Salad Chick app to officially secure their spot. If you leave the line for any reason, your spot will be awarded to the next guest in line. Guests will receive their first free Large Quick Chick electronically to their app the Monday following Grand Opening Day. The reward will be valid for redemption for 30 days upon delivery. **Must download the CSC App and be 16 years or older to purchase. Not valid with any other offers. Limit 1 reward per guest present, per day. The bounce-back card must be presented in-store before March 31st, 2025. About Chicken Salad Chick Chicken Salad Chick serves full-flavored, Southern-style chicken salad made from scratch and served from the heart. With more than a dozen original chicken salad flavors as well as fresh side salads, gourmet soups, signature sandwiches and delicious desserts, Chicken Salad Chick's robust menu is a perfect fit for any guest. Founded in Auburn, Alabama, by Stacy and Kevin Brown, in 2008, Chicken Salad Chick has grown to more than 270 restaurants in 19 states. Today, under the leadership of Scott Deviney and the Chicken Salad Chick team, the brand is continuing its rapid expansion with both franchise and company locations. Chicken Salad Chick has received numerous accolades including rankings in the 2023 Entrepreneur Franchise 500, Franchise Times' Fast & Serious for the third consecutive year, Fast Casual.com's top Movers and Shakers from 2018 to 2023, QSR's Best Franchise Deals in 2019, 2020 and 2022, and Franchise Business Review's Top Food Franchises in 2020. See www.chickensaladchick.com for additional information. Contact: Alexis Paul Fish Consulting 954-893-9150 [email protected] SOURCE Chicken Salad Chick SHANGHAI, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- China is set to host the FDI World Dental Congress Shanghai 2025 (FDIWDC25) from September 9-12, 2025. The event will feature a major international congress and an extensive exhibition, both expected to be record-setting in their scope and impact. Spanning 60,000 square meters, the venue will accommodate over 700 international and Chinese exhibitors. Following successful editions in San Francisco, Sydney, and Istanbul, China's dynamic dental market and rapid industry growth make it an ideal destination for this prestigious global gathering. This event offers a prime platform for engaging with Chinese dental professionals, and provides international attendees opportunities to explore cutting-edge technologies and digital innovations from local suppliers. China: The Emerging Giant in Global Oral Care China's emphasis on health has evolved significantly in recent years, particularly in oral care, positioning it as a key growth market in the global healthcare landscape. In 2023, the scale of China's oral care industry reached approx. 49.15 billion yuan. Even niche products like mouthwash are becoming essential items. The trend is supported by a rising number of consumers investing in premium products and services. Fuelling Innovation and Demand China's dental sector is rapidly expanding, supported by both public and private healthcare initiatives. Major dental hospitals in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Wuhan integrate diagnosis, treatment, research, and education. The private sector is also thriving, with over 120,000 private dental hospitals and clinics across the country. However, the number still falls short of meeting the growing demand. As the sector continues to develop, there is a clear need for more and improved dental products and services. Leading Chinese companies like Bondent, Upcera, and Zumax are driving innovation in orthodontics, implants, dental digitalisation, and prosthodontics. Their competitive pricing and high-quality offerings are earning international acclaim. Global brands such as Straumann and Solventum are also expanding their reach in China, targeting markets beyond first-tier cities. FDIWDC25, Where East Meets West FDIWDC25 will host professionals from over 130 countries at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Shanghai. The exhibition will serve as a platform for Chinese companies to showcase high-quality products at competitive prices, demonstrating innovation and strengthening their global presence. International companies will also present innovative dental products and technologies, offering an exceptional learning experience for professionals across China. Join the Global Dental Community at FDIWDC25 FDIWDC25 promises to be a dynamic event, featuring over 100 CE-accredited academic sessions, 300 international and domestic speakers, and a vast 60,000 square exhibition area hosting more than 700 exhibitors. The event provides a perfect opportunity for dental professionals to network, learn, and shape the future of oral health. For more information: https://2025.world-dental-congress.org/En About FDI: FDI is the leading global voice for the dental profession and envisions a world with optimal oral health. It serves as the principal representative body for over 1 million dentists worldwide, comprising close to 200 member associations and specialist groups from more than 130 countries. SOURCE FDI World Dental Congress Shanghai 2025 Expansion of USDA EQIP Solution Creates Stronger Applications and Simplifies the Process for Farmers and NRCS Offices Across the Midwest and Northeast U.S. MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CIBO Technologies , the climate software company for agriculture, today announced that it has substantially increased the scope of its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) solution, now available across 19 states. The EQIP expansion within CIBO Impact will help to improve farmers' application strength and enable more farmers to combine government financial incentives with corporate funding programs. By connecting farmers with financial incentives designed to scale conservation practices, CIBO is helping to facilitate the transition to more resilient farmlands. Maximizing Farmer Support with Government and Corporate Financial Incentives With the USDA increasing the EQIP budget by $1.65 billion in 2024, more farmers can receive federal funding to expand their conservation practices. CIBO Impact addresses major pain points of the traditional process to benefit farmers, their trusted advisors, the USDA, and private companies with Scope 3 emissions goals. The new application strength rating feature lets farmers explore "what-if" scenarios and see how each practice they are considering changes the strength of their application relative to state ranking pool priorities; farmers can apply for practices that fit their farm and best position them for funding. lets farmers explore "what-if" scenarios and see how each practice they are considering changes the strength of their application relative to state ranking pool priorities; farmers can apply for practices that fit their farm and best position them for funding. Farmers save time and trips to the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office, as CIBO reduces steps and potential omissions. CIBO streamlines the application process by identifying and pre-populating forms, handling digital submissions to USDA service centers, and ensuring their receipt. as CIBO reduces steps and potential omissions. CIBO streamlines the application process by identifying and pre-populating forms, handling digital submissions to USDA service centers, and ensuring their receipt. Applicants are more prepared for their first NRCS site visit because working with the CIBO platform and trusted advisors gives them a more complete understanding of the EQIP program. The CIBO EQIP solution is syndicated via the company's Grower Network Partners (GNPs). GNPs are co-ops, associations, agronomists, and retailers who are trusted advisors to farmers and support them in the application process. "As an agronomist helping farmers with conservation programs, I want all of my farmers to understand both the privately funded and government funded programs - like EQIP - available to them," said Noah Goza, Agronomist, FarmComp Manager, NRCS Technical Service Provider of Heartland Soil Services. "I want them to see and understand the rules for each program, and the payments each program offers so they can choose the one best suited to their operation. CIBO helps me navigate multiple public and private programs at the same time to see what is available and how they can stack for each farmer on a field-by-field basis, allowing me to focus on helping farmers implement practices." "CIBO is committed to empowering farmers with the tools they need to maximize incentives," said Daniel Ryan, CEO of CIBO Technologies. "We are opening the door for critical funding and helping farmers leverage incentives from both public and private programs. Our goal is to ensure that farmers can start with EQIP and secure the highest payments possible." Expanding from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio, CIBO's EQIP solution is now available in Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. CIBO plans on expanding to additional states and more programs in 2025. For more information on CIBO Impact or becoming a GNP, please visit: https://www.cibotechnologies.com/grower-network-partner-usda-programs-landing-page/ About CIBO Technologies CIBO applies advanced software to deliver a deep understanding of agricultural systems at scale. We focus on delivering solutions that drive regenerative agriculture in order to help mitigate climate change, advance food system resilience and improve grower outcomes. CIBO is a 2021 Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards finalist, was named 2021, 2022 and 2023 AgTech "Company of the Year," 2023 Fast Company Brands that Matter honoree, a Thrive 50 company, 2023 Bold Award finalist and named one of TIME's Top 100 GreenTech Companies in America in 2024. Learn more at https://www.cibotechnologies.com/ . Media Contact CIBO Technologies [email protected] SOURCE CIBO Technologies BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has honored Rick Siclari, (CEO of Care Resource from 1999-2024) with their Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes long-term commitment, dedication, and contributions to the Community Health Center Movement with their vision, dedication and commitment to health equity. Mr. Siclari was presented the award during NACHC's 2024 Community Health Institute (CHI) & Expo in Atlanta, GA. The annual conference draws thousands of health center leaders from around the country to gather and focus on strategies that expand access to affordable primary care services in underserved communities. Rick Siclari (center) receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). During his tenure as CEO of Care Resource, Mr. Siclari was responsible for the overall management and leadership of all aspects of the 120+ million dollar comprehensive 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization and Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with locations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Mr. Siclari spearheaded the successful merger in July 1998 of the former Health Crisis Network (HCN) and Community Research Initiative of South Florida (CRI) into the present-day Care Resource Community Health Centers, Inc. Health centers are the largest primary care network in the U.S., serving 32.5 million people at nearly 1,500 sites nationwide. Health centers promote efficient, high-quality, comprehensive health care that is accessible, culturally, and linguistically competent, community directed, and patient-centered for all, regardless of ability to pay. About Care Resource: Care Resource is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with locations in Midtown Miami, Little Havana, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. The health center provides comprehensive health and support services to meet the needs of South Florida's pediatric, adolescent, and adult populations. SOURCE Care Resource The Shahul brothers began franchising with Cousins Maine Lobster in 2018, and this truck will mark their 17th unit with Cousins Maine Lobster. With a focus on developing best-in-class food truck teams that deliver outstanding guest experiences. Franchisee Yunus Shahul shared, "We're excited to announce the addition of another Cousins Maine Lobster truck to the Miami area, now serving Fort Lauderdale! This expansion means more trucks, more locations, and more opportunities to enjoy our authentic Maine lobster dishes throughout Florida. With the new truck, we'll reach even more cities like Boca Raton and the greater West Palm Beach area, reconnecting with loyal customers and welcoming new ones across the state!" The CML Truck is set to relaunch this Saturday, September 21st, at Coastal Karma Brewing in Lake Park, FL. Yunus Shahul invites the community to join in the celebration where Cousins Maine Lobster will be providing free, apparel, menu items, and other fun prizes while supplies last. CML invites the community to join them as they celebrate with an official ribbon cutting and launch party at Coastal Karma Brewing in Lake Park, FL. Chosen for its outstanding brews, unique interior design, and a shared belief in providing great customer service and creating a welcoming atmosphere. Cousins Maine Lobster Fort Lauderdale Launch Celebration Saturday, September 21st, 2024 12:00 8:00 PM Karma Brewing. 796 10th St #798, Lake Park, FL 33403 More information on upcoming events can be found on the CML Miami Facebook page. Miami, FL Cousins Maine Lobster Facebook Page Cousins Maine Lobster has food trucks and restaurants across the U.S., and they are currently seeking new franchise partners for Southwest Florida. Find more information on franchise opportunities here: https://www.cousinsmainelobster.com/franchise/ DISCLAIMER: This news is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy a franchise. Any actual offer or solicitation can only be made through a Franchise Disclosure Document. If you reside in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, or Wisconsin, we may not be able to offer you a franchise until it has been registered in your state. For more information, contact: Jacob Conley [email protected] 207-387-2707 SOURCE Cousins Maine Lobster With a focus on helping entrepreneurs build human bridges and enduring enterprises, Lubetzky becomes the show's first new regular Shark in over a decade LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Daniel Lubetzky, founder of KIND Snacks, a company Lubetzky grew from an idea into an iconic multi-billion-dollar brand, officially joins ABC's critically acclaimed, multi-Emmy Award-winning business-themed unscripted series, Shark Tank, as the show's first new regular Shark in over a decade. Lubetzky becomes part of the regular cast, including Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Kevin O'Leary, following five consecutive seasons as one of the show's most popular recurring guests. Lubetzky's notable Shark Tank investments have included his $1M in Yellow Leaf Hammocks and his deals with FitFighter, Tandm Surf, Toast-It, and HummViewer. Daniel Lubetzky, a Mexican American immigrant and son of a Holocaust survivor, says, "It's an honor to be part of a production that continues to educate, entertain, and unite Americans behind the spirit of building together. I am so excited to be part of this fun, hilarious, exceptionally smart cast and crew. Most of all, I am looking forward to partnering with entrepreneurs from all walks of life as they come to Shark Tank for their chance to realize the American dream." Also a founder of the global civic initiative, the Builders Movement , Lubetzky seeks to bring to the tank a focus on building both human bridges and enduring enterprises. His investment company, Camino Partners , operates with a similar lens toward building long-term enterprise value by investing in values-aligned leaders. Shark Tank, produced by MGM Television in association with Sony Pictures Television, has become a culturally defining series, amassing an amazing $11 billion in retail sales from deals offered in the Tank. Shark Tank Executive Producer, Clay Newbill, says, "As a Guest Shark for the past five seasons, Daniel has earned his spot with the Sharks. He is a self-made founder of a multi-billion dollar company, has all the qualities we look for in a Shark, and possesses an authentic desire to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Daniel is a welcome addition to our panel and we look forward to working with him for many seasons to come." Shark Tank fans can look for Lubetzky on new episodes throughout Season 16, which kicks off Friday, October 18 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on ABC and is available to stream next-day on Hulu. SOURCE Daniel Lubetzky RUNNING SPRINGS, Calif., Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, as the Line Fire continues to burn in San Barnardino County now covering 39,111 acres with 49% containment as of 5:00 PM on September 17,2024 -- the Dovid Oved Retreat Center, a Jewish camp located in Running Springs, hosted a special barbecue to express their heartfelt gratitude to over 110 firefighters from various agencies who have worked tirelessly to protect the camp and surrounding communities from the recent wildfires. In addition to the meal, the retreat center has provided ongoing support: offering essential resources such as water for trucks, beds for rest, bathrooms, parking and staging areas for vehicles, and other facilities to the firefighters battling the blaze. The wildfire, which began earlier this month, posed a serious threat to the retreat center and nearby areas. However, due to the swift, coordinated response from CAL FIRE, Running Springs Fire Department, and other agencies, the retreat center was miraculously spared from damage. "We are deeply thankful to these brave men and women who risked their lives to save our retreat and the surrounding community," said Joe Zapeda, head of maintenance of the Dovid Oved Retreat Center. "In addition to offering them a meal today, we are committed to continuing to support their efforts in any way we can. Providing a place for them to rest and recharge is a small token of our immense gratitude." While the wildfire continues to pose challenges, the collaboration between the retreat center and firefighting agencies demonstrates the power of community support in times of crisis. In showing their gratitude to the firefighters, who have been working under extreme conditions, the retreat center has given them the much-needed respite and nourishment they need to keep pushing forward. About Dovid Oved Retreat Center: The Dovid Oved Retreat Center is an 85-acre facility located in the scenic mountains of Running Springs, California. It serves as a retreat for both Jewish and non-Jewish groups, offering a space for community building, fostering friendships, and outdoor education. The center hosts Moshava Alevy during the summer months and is available year-round for community events and private bookings, providing a serene and versatile environment for various gatherings and programs. For further information, please contact: Revital Danker Email: [email protected] Phone: (424) 466-1158 SOURCE Dovid Oved Retreat Center & Bnei Akiva of Los Angeles LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center has announced its inaugural Foundation Endowed Chair, Dr. Linda Chan, medical director of radiation oncology at MemorialCare Cancer Institute at Saddleback Medical Center. The MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center Foundation has established the Endowed Chair Program as an important milestone in the 50-year history of the hospital, increasing the impact of philanthropy to positively impact patient care. MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center has announced its inaugural Foundation Endowed Chair, Dr. Linda Chan, medical director of radiation oncology at MemorialCare Cancer Institute at Saddleback Medical Center. Endowed chairs are typically named for a single donor family, but this Foundation Endowed Chair represents the impact of thousands of Foundation donors over 50 years, and the earnings from this $1 million endowment will empower the chair holder to develop dynamic, hospital-based programs that benefit patients. "We are immensely proud to honor Dr. Chan as the inaugural Foundation Endowed Chair in recognition of her exemplary achievements and dedication to advancing medical excellence," says Christy Ward, president, MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center Foundation. "As we celebrate this momentous occasion, it reinforces the power of donors to fuel innovation, education, and the well-being of our community." Dr. Chan, in partnership with program leaders, will use the Foundation Endowed Chair funds to invest in revolutionary technology and clinical program expansion, and provide education to patients within the south Orange County community to ensure a healthier future. "Dr. Chan has always been dedicated to identifying the best, most effective treatments of cancer," says Marcia Manker, CEO, MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center. "While she is a phenomenal radiation oncologist, her work in cancer research transcends programmatic growth and development and is deeply tied to our mission. In addition, her commitment to excellence as a physician partner allows us to collectively focus on providing high-quality, compassionate care to the community we serve." On Sept. 17 the Foundation hosted an Investiture Ceremony, with physicians formally processing in together in their white coats, to recognize Dr. Linda Chan as the chair holder. White coat ceremonies are typically reserved as a rite of passage that marks the transition of medical students into the clinical phase of their studies and the medical profession. For Dr. Chan, this white coat ceremony honored her work and dedication to providing exceptional care to the community. "I am so honored and humbled to be recognized by the Saddleback Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors, our executive leadership team, and my colleagues," says Linda Chan, M.D., medical director, Radiation Oncology, Saddleback Medical Center. "This Endowment emphasizes the commitment of our Board and our leadership to advancing personalized cancer care. The funds will support innovative research challenging established dogma in our quest for optimal cancer care. I appreciate that Saddleback Medical Center wants to take the next step forward in transformational medicine." Originally from Orange County, Dr. Chan obtained her medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School. She did research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Department of Radiation Oncology, under an NIH Cancer Research Fellowship and Grunebaum Cancer Fellowship. Dr. Chan has authored multiple scientific publications on breast cancer, prostate cancer, and the molecular markers used to diagnose and track cancer. She also works on several committees of national health care policy, both through the American Society of Radiation Oncologists and the American College of Radiology. About Saddleback Medical Center Foundation Saddleback Medical Center Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, raises philanthropic support for MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center, a community-based, nonprofit hospital. The generous support of donors enables Saddleback Medical Center Foundation to support the medical center's leading edge health care, technology and medical expertise, as well as provide programs and services for the community. To learn more about supporting Saddleback Medical Center through the Foundation, please call (949) 452-3724 or go to memorialcare.org/smcf. About MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center is a member of MemorialCare, a not-for-profit, integrated healthcare delivery system proudly serving the residents of South Orange County for 50 years. Centers of Excellence include cancer, heart, orthopedics, spine, neurosciences, gastroenterology, emergency and critical care, breast health, imaging, women's health, obstetrics, geriatrics, and minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgery. Saddleback Medical Center received U.S. News & World Report high-performance rankings for cardiology, diabetes, knee replacement, and stroke to name a few. It also was named among Healthgrades America's 250 Best Hospitals, Top 50 U.S. Cardiovascular Hospitals and received Magnet Nursing Excellence designation. In addition, it is a certified geriatric ED Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center and holds Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation. Currently, Saddleback is building the first of its kind Women's Health pavilion bringing women's specialty care under one roof, set to open in Fall 2024. To learn more, visit memorialcare.org/saddleback . SOURCE MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center ST. LOUIS, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial services firm Edward Jones was named among the 2024 Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work. The firm ranked No. 7 in the large company category, up nine spots from 2023. The Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance award is based on an analysis of survey responses from 1.3 million employees throughout the U.S. In that survey, 89% of Edward Jones associates said the firm is a great place to work 32 percentage points higher than the average U.S. company. Survey questions probed areas such as leadership, well-being, personal development, compensation, recognition, place of belonging and meaningful work. "We're extremely proud of this recognition and the work we've done to create a culture and work environment where our associates can thrive," said Suzan McDaniel, Chief Human Resources Officer at Edward Jones. "We care deeply about our associates and are focused on enabling development opportunities, promoting career pathways for growth and providing meaningful benefits and programs that align to our culture, values and our firm's purpose to partner for positive impact to improve the lives of our clients, colleagues and communities." The firm's more than 19,500 financial advisors deliver planning, advice, products and services to more than 8 million clients with the support of tens of thousands of client support team members and home office professionals. With local offices in 68% of U.S. counties, Edward Jones financial advisors are approaching conversations holistically to help clients achieve what's most important to them financially. With 54,000 colleagues in the U.S. and Canada, fostering a workplace where every colleague feels valued, respected, seen and heard in a culture of caring is foundational to the associate experience. The spirit of partnership also guides our community involvement opportunities, such as the Walk to End Alzheimer's a firmwide effort that has helped raise $2,019,974 in the fight to end Alzheimer's disease. "Congratulations to the Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance," said Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. "These companies not only outperform the average for their industry but have created workplaces that outshine the average in every category, proving the importance of building trust with workers, no matter the industry." About Edward Jones Edward Jones is a leading financial services firm in the U.S. and through its affiliate in Canada. The firm's more than 19,500 financial advisors throughout North America serve more than 8 million clients with a total of $2.1 trillion in client assets under care as of June 28, 2024. Edward Jones' purpose is to partner for positive impact to improve the lives of its clients and colleagues, and together, better our communities and society. Through the dedication of the firm's approximately 54,000 associates and our branch presence in 68% of U.S. counties and most Canadian provinces and territories, the firm is committed to helping more people achieve financially what is most important to them. The Edward Jones website is at www.edwardjones.com, and its recruiting website is www.careers.edwardjones.com. Member SIPC. About the Fortune Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance List Great Place To Work selected the 2024 Fortune Best Workplaces for Financial Services & Insurance by analyzing confidential survey responses from more than 1.3 million employees, representing the experiences of 8.2 million employees in the U.S. in 2023 and 2024. Of those responses, more than 194,000 responses were received from employees at Great Place To Work Certified companies in the financial services and insurance industry, and these rankings are based on that feedback. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place To Work Trust Index Survey. Companies with 10 to 999 employees competed in the small and medium categories. Companies with 1,000 or more employees were considered for the large category. Read the full methodology. About Great Place To Work As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Its proprietary platform and Great Place To Work Model help companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified and receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces List. Follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram or visit greatplacetowork.com and sign up for the newsletter to learn more. About Fortune Fortune upholds a legacy of award-winning writing and trusted reporting for executives who want to make business better. Independently owned, with a global perspective and digital agility, Fortune tells the stories of a new generation of innovators, builders and risk takers. Online and in print, Fortune measures corporate performance through rigorous benchmarks and holds companies accountable. Fortune creates communities by convening true thought leaders and iconoclasts those who shape industry, commerce, and society through powerful and prestigious lists, events and conferences such as the iconic Fortune 500, the CEO Initiative, and Most Powerful Women. For more information, visit fortune.com. 2024 Fortune Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance, published September 2024, research by Great Places to Work, data as of August 2023. Compensation provided for using, not obtaining, the rating. From Fortune, 2024 Fortune Media IP Limited. All rights reserved. Used under license. SOURCE Edward Jones HOUSTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast-growing Emerus Holdings Inc., the pioneering operator of small-format neighborhood hospitals in partnership with leading health systems, proudly announces a remarkable milestone: four million patients served across the nation. This achievement underscores Emerus' unwavering dedication to improving the healthcare experience for patients and families. "What we do makes our communities and our patients better," said Emerus CEO Vic Schmerbeck. "Our incredible employees work together as one team, focused on treating and interacting with people in their time of need. We do it with courage, empathy and compassion. This drives our mission of providing the care patients need, in the neighborhoods they live, by teams they trust. That's the core of what we do, and it's why we exist." Emerus, in partnership with its esteemed network of 12 leading health system partners, has redefined the healthcare landscape through its innovative, capital-efficient small-format hospitals and emergency departments. These facilities bridge the gap between urgent care centers and larger medical centers by providing emergency care, inpatient care and other essential medical services within local communities. Since its founding in 2006, Emerus has rapidly expanded its footprint across multiple states, leveraging health system partnerships to open small-format hospitals. This growth reflects the scalability and effectiveness of its healthcare model. Emerus' partnerships have been pivotal in providing capital efficiency to expanded patient access, enhanced service delivery closer to home, improved operational efficiency and the integration of advanced healthcare technology ultimately leading to better patient outcomes and sustainable healthcare operations. With its foot on the accelerator, the journey to four million patients served has been marked by exponential growth and a steadfast focus on excellence. It took 12 years for the healthcare disruptor to serve its first million patients. It took another three years to reach the next million. Eighteen months later, in February of 2023, Emerus celebrated three million patients being served. Now, another new milestone has been reached, illustrating why The Wall Street Journal has hailed the Emerus model as the blueprint for future hospitals. David Hall, Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer who oversees companywide strategic growth and development initiatives, said, "Our goal isn't just to be big, but to be exceptional. We truly value our employees and partner with leading health systems who share our commitment to expanding patient access and value-based care. We believe in the possibilities of healthcare, and that when you're passionate about the care you provide, who you do it with, and who you do it for amazing things will happen." Through the extraordinary efforts of its leadership and employees, Emerus hospitals consistently receive accolades such as the Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award for Superior Patient Experience and the prestigious Pinnacle of Excellence Award for Inpatient Experience, along with a five-star designation. CONTACT: Richard Bonnin: 281-840-9820 [email protected] SOURCE Emerus NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- energyRe today announced an impactful series of events and activations during Climate Week NYC 2024 (September 22-29) in partnership with leading organizations accelerating the global clean energy transition. The co-hosted events will feature panel discussions, round tables, keynotes, and receptions featuring renewable industry representatives, policymakers, and advocates advancing sustainability efforts in the United States and around the world. "Climate Week NYC ignites important discourse on opportunities and challenges in the clean energy transition and brings together thought leaders, industry experts and community partners to create progress," said energyRe Chief Executive Officer Miguel Prado. "energyRe is proud to host a thoughtful exchange of ideas that spurs innovation and necessary climate action." Sustainability Summit NYC Monday, September 23Wednesday, September 25 Hosted by the Consulate General of Denmark in New York, energyRe, Danish Industry and the Danish Chamber of Commerce, Sustainability Summit NYC will convene global decision-makers from governments, NGOs, civil society, and the private sector to discuss best practices and actionable solutions for emission mitigation, energy efficiency, green financing, renewables, green hydrogen and biosolutions. Sustainability Summit NYC delves into the potential of public-private partnerships to ignite climate action and realize a decarbonized future. To learn more, please visit: https://sustainabilitysummitnyc.com/. "We are proud of hosting Sustainability Summit NYC and creating a platform for fostering actionable solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges," said Ambassador Helle Meinertz, Consul General of Denmark in New York. "Partnerships between the public and private sectors are crucial in accelerating the green transitions. Therefore, we look forward to partnering with more than 30 innovative organizations within energy, life science, food and agriculture, tech, and design for the 2024 summit." Reception: New York Celebrates Climate Action Tuesday, September 24 The New York League of Conservation Voters, the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, and energyRe will host an invite-only reception celebrating environmental progress in New York with policymakers, businesses, renewable energy industry representatives, and community partners. To learn more, please email [email protected]. "It's important to come together and celebrate the progress we have made, while recognizing the challenges and tasks we have ahead of us," said Marguerite Wells, Executive Director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York. "We thank all supporters of clean energy in New York including policymakers, advocates, business leaders, and the public." "What better way to mark Climate Week than to celebrate renewable energy and all the progress we've made in New York State, from offshore wind and solar power, to hydro and geothermal," said Julie Tighe, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters. "Fighting climate change is an all-hands-on-deck effort and we look forward to joining with ACENY, energyRe, and so many incredible partners that are helping to make our clean energy future a reality." Energized & Empowered: Women Building a Clean Energy Future Wednesday, September 25 The British Consulate-General New York, energyRe, National Grid, and WRISE will host an evening reception celebrating and amplifying the voices of women at the forefront of the renewable energy sector. As the future of energy evolves, the need for diverse and inclusive voices driving meaningful change becomes paramount. Hear from women leaders and allies who are committed to fostering innovation and sustainability in the clean energy industry throughout the UK, US and beyond. To learn more, please visit: https://www.events.great.gov.uk/ehome/200280172. "As the first major economy to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half while continuing to grow, the UK recognizes that economic growth and the energy transition can go hand-in-hand," said Niall Mackenzie, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner for North America. "We are committed to driving sustainable and equitable economic growth while pushing forward on our clean energy objectives. This event provides a valuable opportunity for UK and US businesses and policymakers to collaborate in developing an inclusive clean energy sector and promoting female leadership." "The energy transition is a monumental global challenge, and we need every voice and diverse perspective brought to the table in order to achieve our collective goals," said Rhian Kelly, Chief Sustainability Officer of National Grid. "National Grid is committed to being a responsible business in everything we do, and that includes making sure that our people are a reflection of the communities we serve." "We have seen tremendous growth in the renewable energy sector, with women and allies playing a pivotal role in driving this progressa milestone truly worth celebrating. However, there is much more to be done to ensure the industry continues to expand in a just and equitable way. Achieving this requires a collective and sustained commitment to creating inclusive environments within our organizations and across the sector," said Doseke Akporiaye, Executive Director of WRISE. "WRISE is proud to collaborate with energyRe and our partners during Climate Week NYC 2024 to highlight the critical role that we all play in shaping a more inclusive and resilient clean energy future. By working together, we can ensure a more sustainable and equitable path forward." Climate Week NYC is hosted by Climate Group, an international non-profit whose purpose is to drive climate action, fast. Climate Group hosts the official program during the week that brings together the most senior international figures from business, government, civil society and the climate sector. The event takes place every year in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly and is run in coordination with the United Nations and the City of New York. About energyRe energyRe is a leading independent energy company focused on solving complex sustainability challenges and providing clean energy solutions in utility-scale transmission, onshore wind and solar, offshore wind, energy storage and distributed generation. Guided by the principles of innovation and partnership and backed by expertise and experience, energyRe is committed to creating a reliable, renewable energy future for all. energyRe has offices in New York, Houston, Indianapolis, and Charleston. For more information about energyRe, visit www.energyre.com SOURCE energyRe Collaborative Network Leverages Equifax Commercial Data and Credit Card Transaction Data from Leading Data Providers to Create More Complete Financial Picture of Small Businesses ATLANTA, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax (NYSE: EFX) has launched a new Merchant Data Network, an Equifax Cloud -based data network to help provide greater visibility into the financial profiles of U.S small businesses. Designed to give lenders and service providers the increased confidence they need to extend capital in a rapidly changing economic environment, Equifax research shows that the Merchant Data Network can improve traditional commercial scoring by more than eight percent by providing valuable insights into the revenue small businesses generate from aggregated credit card transactions at the point of sale. The collaborative network combines the power of the Equifax Commercial Financial Network with aggregated credit card transaction data from Fiserv and other leading data providers to bring new visibility to more than 5.5 million businesses from more than 50 billion credit card transactions per year. "Small businesses in the U.S. employ nearly half of the country's workforce making their financial health paramount to the health of our economy," said Sal Hazday, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Equifax U.S. Information Solutions (USIS) Commercial Business. "Opening up new credit opportunities for small businesses is increasingly important, but making responsible lending decisions requires a strong understanding of true revenue and cash flow. With the Merchant Data Network, we're partnering with organizations like Fiserv to make the most complete financial picture of a business available to lenders and service providers. Our shared goal is to advance the credit opportunities that small businesses need to thrive." The Merchant Data Network helps lenders make faster and more informed decisions by providing up to 60 months of aggregate credit card transaction history, providing critical sales insights into organizations that may have limited traditional credit information. The aggregated credit card transaction data provided through the network is valuable because it helps to verify merchant income and establish a business' ability to pay. This information can be used alongside other business data, such as firmographics, credit history and more, to: Help verify a business, as well as simplify and shorten the underwriting process; Increase lift in scoring merchants with no trades or firmographic-only data; Identify leading indicators of business fraud and failure; and and failure; and Provide greater confidence in business sustainability and assessing commercial risk. "Access to capital, especially for small businesses, has never been more critical than it is today," said Prasanna Dhore, Chief Data Officer and President of Data Commerce Solutions, Fiserv. "By contributing low-latency payment data to business credit reports, we are helping Equifax deliver deeper insights into the financial health of small businesses, which will enable lenders to make smarter loan decisions and improve access to credit for businesses with limited credit histories." Equifax plans to expand the small business revenue insights provided through the Merchant Data Network through additional contributors in the future. The launch of the network expands on the Equifax commitment to furthering access to credit for small businesses, joining innovative Commercial solutions, including: the Business Verification Solution and OneScore for Commercial . Learn more about the Merchant Data Network and Equifax USIS Commercial solutions here . ABOUT EQUIFAX INC. At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employers, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by nearly 15,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com . FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tiffany Smith for Equifax [email protected] SOURCE Equifax Inc. Era brings a unique investment thesis to bear with the largest woman-led first-time fund. NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Era Ventures, a pioneering venture capital firm focused on investing in a broad range of business model innovations to catalyze positive change in the built world, today announced the launch of its inaugural $88 million fund. Era Ventures will deploy capital across multiple stages and a full spectrum of sector-focused innovations, from enablement technologies that improve existing processes to truly disruptive platforms that reshape the industry. The firm has identified seven core business models driving change, including but not limited to SaaS and AI, marketplaces, embedded fintech, and hardtech ventures leveraging new technologies to optimize physical assets, and will actively invest across all of these categories. Founded by industry veteran Clelia Warburg Peters, Era Ventures has already garnered support from a broad roster of leading institutional investors, including one of the country's leading Ivy League Endowments, ICG Advisors, The Ashforth Company, BentallGreenOak (BGO), Continental General Insurance Company (CGIC), Pelwood Holdings, First American, Bain Capital Ventures, Fenwick & West LLP and others. It marks a notable achievement during a year when very few new venture funds of this size were raised. "We are proud to have invested in and to support Era Ventures in its mission to drive transformational change in the real estate sector," said Jeff Assaf, Chief Investment Officer at ICG Advisors, one of the leading multifamily offices in the country. "We've seen specialist venture funds consistently outperform in similarly complex sectors like financial services and healthcare, and Era's approach positions it to drive fundamental disruption in a massive, yet technologically lagging, industry." Peters has been a leading investor in the PropTech space since its early days first as a co-founder of MetaProp, one of the original, strategically backed PropTech funds, and then as a Venture Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, a leading generalist venture firm. She is an authority on innovation in the real estate category and is the first woman to raise an initial fund of this size in the category. "I've seen firsthand the need for a new approach to physical world innovation that combines the creativity and quality of the generalist investing approach with the sector knowledge and relationships brought by specialist funds," said Clelia Warburg Peters, founder and Managing Partner at Era Ventures. "Era Ventures is leveraging our unique blend of institutional backing, top-tier venture experience, and deep real estate expertise to bring both rigor and care to driving transformational change in the physical world." The fund's launch comes at a critical juncture for the nearly $380 trillion global real estate industry, which has long resisted technological disruption. With productivity in construction rising just around 1% annually over recent decades and buildings consuming 30% of global energy , the need for innovation has never been more urgent. "Era is not about playing it safe we're not just looking to digitize old processes in real estate and construction," said Raja Ghawi, Partner at Era Ventures. "As innovation in our built world enters a new generation, we believe founders and startups will learn from their predecessors' mistakes, bringing more transformational, efficient, and profitable businesses to market." Era Ventures is building a concentrated, high-conviction portfolio of transformative startups reimagining how we build, manage, and interact with our physical environment. Fund I has already backed founders across multiple stages: Marketplaces and tech-enabled services: Honey Homes , a digital handyman subscription service provider. , a digital handyman subscription service provider. Latii , a cross-border construction-materials marketplace. , a cross-border construction-materials marketplace. Welcome Homes , a platform to manage and build custom homes online. , a platform to manage and build custom homes online. Ostrich , a next-generation real estate listing service in the UK. Fintech: Shepherd , an embedded insurance platform designed for the construction industry. , an embedded insurance platform designed for the construction industry. Truehold , a single-family rental company that combines home sales and rental leases. , a single-family rental company that combines home sales and rental leases. Homeward , an embedded financial platform powering residential real estate transactions. Hardtech: PassiveLogic , an AI-enabled platform for autonomous buildings. , an AI-enabled platform for autonomous buildings. ViaBot , a Robotics-as-a-Service facility management platform. Vertical AI and SaaS: Indigo , an AI-powered platform to facilitate residential real estate transactions. "Clelia and Raja have a deep and considered viewpoint on what makes companies great. They use a qualitative and quantitative approach to understand their portfolio companies and apply that to provide helpful guidance and advice," said Vishwas Prabhakara, the Founder and CEO of Honey Homes . "In particular, I've appreciated how they have helped Honey Homes better understand our target customers and informed our pricing strategy. Just as important, they have shown themselves to be a steady partner amidst the ups and downs of a startup journey." About Era Ventures: Era Ventures is a venture capital firm dedicated to transforming the physical world through collaboration with companies that have the potential to disrupt outdated business models and create new systems. Founded by industry veteran Clelia Warburg Peters with a rare combination of expertise across real estate, technology, and venture capital, Era backs visionary entrepreneurs reimagining how we build, manage, and experience physical environments. The firm invests across stages, from seed to growth, in startups poised to revolutionize the $380 trillion global real estate industry. For more information about Era Ventures, visit www.eraventures.com. SOURCE Era Ventures CINCINNATI, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its biggest school year ever, First Student, the trusted school transportation provider to millions of families, is visiting even more school districts in 2024-25 to promote safe bus behavior through its Safety Dog Bus Tour. The program uses fun and interactive activities to teach bus riding basics to elementary school students, empowering them to feel confident and safe riding to and from school. The Safety Dog Bus Tour kicks off Wednesday, September 25 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and will travel across North America this school year. Some of the school districts First Student's safety mascot will visit include: Calgary Catholic School District in Calgary, Alberta Corona-Norco Unified School District in Corona, Calif. KIPP Texas in Austin, Texas in Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison, Wis. Metropolitan School District in Norristown Area School District in Norristown, Pa. School District in Palm Springs Unified School District in Palm Springs, Calif. Stamford Public Schools in Stamford, Conn. Public Schools in The Point College Prep and Leadership Academy in Jamestown, N.C. Toronto Catholic School District Board, in Toronto, Ontario Waterloo Community Schools in Waterloo, Iowa "At First Student, we understand the significant role school bus safety plays in ensuring the well-being of the students we transport," said First Student Senior Vice President of Safety and Security Darryl Hill. "We are proud to expand the Safety Dog Bus Tour this school year, helping even more students feel comfortable and secure on our buses, which is especially important for young riders who may be on the bus for the first time. By partnering with school districts to teach these effective safety tips in a memorable way, we hope to instill safe bus-riding behavior for this school year and beyond." School buses are the safest way for children to and from school. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are approximately 70 times safer than passenger cars. During Safety Dog Bus Tour stops, students learn how to be a safe bus rider through various hands-on activities. They receive a safety demonstration on the school bus, sign a safety pledge, have a photo taken with Safety Dog, and get a special gift bag to remember the information shared during the event. There have been more than 50 stops on the Safety Dog Bus Tour to date. Nearly 16,000 students have signed the safety pledge. About First Student As the leading school transportation solutions provider in North America, First Student strives to provide unmatched care and the safest ride to school to 5.5 million students every day. With a team of highly trained drivers, the company will complete 1 billion student trips during the 2024-25 school year. First Student delivers reliable, quality services, including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, fleet electrification, route optimization, and scheduling, maintenance, and charter services with a fleet of about 45,000 buses. For more information, visit firststudentinc.com. CONTACT Jen Biddinger 513.362.4600 SOURCE First Student WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VoLo Foundation is proud to announce its participation in New York Climate Week, reaffirming its commitment to advocating climate action within the Latino community. Thais Lopez Vogel, Founder and Trustee of VoLo Foundation, will join Adam Lake, Head of Communications for North America at Climate Group, for a dynamic session titled "Enhancing Latino Climate and Economic Engagement." This collaboration highlights the urgent need for climate action in Florida, a state particularly vulnerable to climate impacts. As VoLo Foundation prepares to host Florida Climate Week from October 7-13, an event bringing together leaders, experts, and citizens to tackle the growing challenges of climate change in one of the world's most at-risk regions. Latino Voices Leading the Fight Against Climate Change As the climate crisis intensifies, Latino communities have become key stakeholders in advocating for environmental justice and climate solutions. VoLo Foundation's participation in New York Climate Week, followed by Florida Climate Week, highlights the increasing role of Latinos in the global climate conversation. With their deep cultural connection to the land and a growing voice in U.S. policy, Latinos are pushing for climate action, not only addressing environmental challenges but also fostering economic resilience. "Latinos are disproportionately affected by climate change, especially in Florida, where rising sea levels, extreme heat, and hurricanes devastate the communities we live in," said Thais Lopez Vogel, Co-founder of VoLo Foundation. "As we lead the charge in advocating for climate justice, it's essential that Latino voices shape the solutions that will protect our homes, our families, and our future." The Unfolding Reality of the Climate Crisis The world is battling a significant climate crisis depicted by rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and long-term environmental changes. This crisis is driven primarily by human hands, such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Florida is particularly on the frontline of the climate crisis, bearing an annual cost of approximately $75 billion due to climate-related damages. The state is grappling with increasingly extreme heat, with South Florida experiencing record-breaking consecutive heat advisories and alarming sea level rise. These changes are not only affecting the environment but also disrupting the lives of residents through soaring insurance premiums and destroying essential infrastructure. "Residents and tourists alike are noticing the shrinking number of cold days and intensifying summer heat. South Florida has endured scorching temperatures, including a record number of consecutive heat advisories in July 2023. The trend is relentless," said Irene Sans, Editorial Manager/Meteorologist at Weather & Radar. "Climate change is also resulting in heavier-than-average rainfall. The increased water vapor from warmer oceans leads to more intense rainfall, which impacts residents financially through higher insurance premiums and repair costs." John Morales, Atmospheric and Environmental Scientist at ClimaData and Hurricane Specialist at WTVJ, NBC 6, Miami, added, "Florida is facing increasingly severe heat, accelerating sea level rise, stronger hurricanes, and more frequent damaging floods. These impacts, while once part of life in Florida, are now unprecedentedly severe. The urgent need for climate solutions is evident as we adapt to a rapidly warming world." "This year, the stakes for Florida Climate Week are higher than ever. With the recent bill removing climate change from Florida's state laws, towns, and municipalities struggle to secure the necessary support. The impact is most severe in smaller, rural communities. We must be bold and courageous, championing climate action and resilience across Florida," said Thais Lopez Vogel, Co-founder of VoLo Foundation. Statewide Commitment Numerous Florida cities have issued proclamations acknowledging the importance of Florida Climate Week, and thousands of residents have endorsed The People's Pledge, recognizing October 7-13 as Florida Climate Week. Event Highlights Florida Climate Week 2024 promises to be a landmark event with participation from over 70 esteemed organizations, including Climate Central, Wildbluesea, FloridaRightToCleanWater.org, Nielsen, Oceanic Global, Take Action Global, Seaworthy Collective, Nexuma, and others. The week will feature dynamic discussions on mangrove conservation, wetland protection, extreme heat, economic impacts, policy, and sea level rise, offering local and global perspectives on Florida's climate emergency. ABOUT : VoLo Foundation, a private family foundation dedicated to educating the public on creating a sustainable and secure future, continues to lead efforts in promoting climate awareness and action. The Foundation's mission is to empower individuals to engage in climate solutions for the benefit of future generations. For more information on Florida Climate Week 2024 and to register for events, visit www.floridaclimateweek.org SOURCE VoLo Foundation Accomplished customer experience leader with track record of driving industry-best gross retention rates joins the company to fuel its next phase of growth HERNDON, Va., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- FranConnect, the leading provider of sales, operations, and marketing solutions for franchise and multi-location businesses, announces the appointment of Lisa Maynard to its executive leadership team as Chief Customer Officer (CCO). Maynard will lead FranConnect's global professional services, technology services, training, customer success and customer support teams. She will also oversee all facets of the customer experience strategy, focusing on enhancing the value delivered to customers and supporting innovation and growth. Lisa Maynard, accomplished customer experience leader with track record of driving industry-best gross retention rates joins FranConnect to fuel its next phase of growth "As FranConnect continues to expand its global market presence and customer base, delivering an exceptional customer experience remains a critical driver of our success," said FranConnect CEO Gabby Wong. "Lisa is a distinguished industry leader with a profound understanding of the growth and operational challenges our customers face. With her leadership, I am confident that our services and customer success organization will not only drive significant value and growth for FranConnect but also strengthen our role as a trusted partner to our customers. I am thrilled to welcome Lisa to this pivotal role." Maynard is a highly esteemed veteran in the SaaS industry, boasting over 15 years of experience in building customer experience organizations spanning onboarding, implementation, training, customer satisfaction, and account management. Most recently, she led the Customer Success organization at Prove, a high-growth SaaS company, where she directed post-sale strategy and execution for over 350 Fortune 500 clients in Financial Services, FinTech, and eCommerce. Prior to this, Maynard served as the Chief Customer Officer at ID.me, a leading digital identity provider, where she managed post-sale strategy for more than 600 Fortune 500 clients across eCommerce, Healthcare, Federal, and SLED sectors. Previously, she spearheaded the Digital Transformation Program at Accenture, advising on and implementing technology solutions to address strategic, operational, and organizational challenges in Finance, Security, and HR. Lisa's exceptional ability to build top-performing customer experience teams earned her recognition as one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Cyber Security by The Software Report in 2022. "I am thrilled to take on the role of Chief Customer Officer at FranConnect, an industry-leading company that has already achieved remarkable success," said Maynard. "I am deeply committed to leveraging my passion for customer advocacy to further enhance FranConnect's customer and engagement strategies and deliver exceptional value to our clients." Maynard joins FranConnect during a landmark year of market and product expansion. In 2024, FranConnect acquired RizePoint, a leading provider of Quality Management Systems. Additionally, FranConnect launched several innovative products, including Analytics, a redesigned Royalty Manager, and an Operator/Frontline Employee Training solution. These advancements further cement FranConnect's position as the sole provider offering a unified view of the entire operations lifecycle for multi-location businesses, encompassing everything from supplier management and lead management to payment reconciliation and frontline employee training. FranConnect has a focused market expansion plan and an ambitious product roadmap as it continues its push toward reaching over 2,000 brands and 1.5 million locations worldwide. For more information on FranConnect's or to schedule a demo, visit www.franconnect.com. About FranConnect FranConnect is the leading enterprise software provider for franchise and multi-location businesses. For over 20 years, the FranConnect platform has served as the sales, operations, and marketing backbone for over 1500 brands and over 1 million units worldwide. These brands rely on FranConnect to expand locations, streamline unit operations, enhance collaboration across the network of locations, and improve profitability. FranConnect's customers are some of the most iconic and recognized brands in the industry, including SPARC/Authentic Brands (Forever 21), Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Authority Brands, and Papa John's. Backed by private-equity investor Serent Capital, FranConnect is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with global offices in Australia, India, Colombia, and Canada. For more information on FranConnect, visit www.franconnect.com . Contact: Lorena Garcia FranConnect 571-659-3830 [email protected] SOURCE FranConnect Seven-year-old mission-driven global outsourcing leader says its 2023 Impact Report proves business case for doing good while doing well LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In its continuing commitment to drive meaningful and sustained impact across careers, clients and the community, Boldr has released its 2023 Impact Report. The largest global B Corp Certified business process outsourcing (BPO) company, Boldr says its business model innovatively combines humanity and performance, with its impact report proving that business case. Glo Guevarra, Head of Impact, Boldr Boldr's 2023 Impact Report - cover image "At Boldr, impact has a requisite seat at the table," says Glo Guevarra, Global Head of Impact for the seven-year-old company. "I'm proud that in 2023, we delivered our commitment of paying a living wage to 100% of all team members across all regions Asia-Pacific, South Africa, North and South America. It is the right thing to do and so our team members can thrive and live dignified lives. We also continue to foster a line between our impact and our clients' impact, as they share amazing stories of growth. And for the communities we serve across the globe, we've impacted 116,606 people!" Guevarra notes that, while an annual report centers on an organization's fiscal health, an impact report takes a deeper, broader look at how an organization affects its people, its communities and the bottom lines of all involved, with special emphasis on societal and environmental outcomes. "Boldr's commitment to ethical outsourcing which is the heart of our innovation emerges from a deep understanding of global labor arbitrage, both maximizing efficiency for our clients while minimizing costs," says serial entrepreneur David Sudolsky, Founder & CEO of Boldr. "And instead of the race to the bottom frequently seen in BPO, we help clients succeed by ethically building teams, improving the welfare of people and communities." Sudolsky holds that Boldr continues to exemplify the achievability of business success in BPO without prioritizing profits over people. It's not "either/or," he says, it's "both." "In 2023, we solidified our Theory of Change or 'Boldr Economics' demonstrating how we as a business make an impact holistically for team members, clients, the community and the BPO industry," Guevarra says. "We can model these win-win partnerships because our equitable stance is baked into the vision David Sudolsky had and that he shares with COO Mari Parker, who helps steer us to that North Star." As affirmation of its impactful growth, Boldr is included on Inc. magazine's 2024 Inc. 5000 list, recognizing the nation's fastest-growing private companies; it is the company's third consecutive year on the list. "I'm proud to continue building the business case not just for impact, but for impact within the global BPO community," Sudolsky says. "Everything we have accomplished in 2023 would not have been possible without our incredible team members and forward-thinking client partners, like Afresh, BabyBjorn, brooklinen, interfolio, Kindred, Meetup, Mentor Collective, NBCUniversal, ShiftMed and Urbanstems. Our vision has always been to redefine outsourcing in a way that added more to society than it took. Thank you for continuing to make that a reality." Get Boldr's 2023 Impact Report. The report also dives into Negative Impact and how Boldr mitigates it, as well as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) alignment for a positive global impact. Boldr believes talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not, and is changing that paradigm by building global teams through ethical outsourcing, including paying a living wage in every country & region. In addition to being the largest global B Corp Certified BPO and the first B Corp Certified BPO in the Philippines, Boldr is a supporter of the Global Living Wage Coalition and the Living Wage Network, committed to social and environmental responsibility. www.BoldrImpact.com #ImpactReport #EthicalOutsourcing #Boldr #BoldrEconomics #ImpactSourcing #davidsudolsky #BPO Boldr Impact example: "Boldr, in partnership with the Good Work Foundation, has provided the opportunity for 30 learners to be part of a Call Centre Academy over the last 12 months," says Kate Groch, CEO of that Foundation. "Seventy-five percent of graduates of the academy are working on Boldr Season Ramp activity, have gained employment in the Bushbuck Ridge area or are part of a learnership. The opportunity for training, practical skills and experience provides stepping stones for employability. The impact is significant to the wider community as those employed are able to contribute to their families' financial wellbeing." "By providing educational support here in our community of Tacloban, we're able to have tools and resources that would not have been possible otherwise," says Neva Homeres-Johannesen, Executive Director, Streetlight, one of Boldr's long-term partners dedicated to child protection and education. "In a short time, it has resulted in improved academic performance, access to the internet, increased school retention rates, and safekeeping and empowerment of 315 Streetlight beneficiaries. Media inquiries Drew Plant [email protected] 678-637-5532 SOURCE Boldr FAIRFAX, Va., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GovCIO, a provider of advanced technology solutions, cyber, and digital services for the federal government, has been awarded a five-year, single award, $2 billion General Services Administration (GSA) Alliant 2 task order in support of the Department of Defense (DoD). Under the existing SANDBAR program, supported by GovCIO since 2019, the DoD utilized streamlined acquisition methods to tackle mission-critical IT gaps. This program empowered civilian, defense, and intelligence agencies to enhance IT infrastructure, strengthen partner nation capacity, and enhance security and intelligence capabilities while meeting the evolving demands of national security. The next generation task order, MAVERICK, represents the next phase of this mission-enabling initiative, aiming to capitalize on the successful SANDBAR contract while broadening the scope to address promising innovative solutions addressing cyber security, data analytics, and artificial intelligence in addition to the innovative IT solutions and approaches delivered on SANDBAR. GovCIO will partner with academic institutions, small businesses, and other entities with novel and disruptive technologies that have the potential to transform the federal IT landscape and integrate them into solutions that meet emergent warfighter and intelligence requirements. To ensure the government receives a comprehensive solution, GovCIO will also provide overall task order management and training, along with procurement of equipment and assets in support of project requirements. Work will be performed globally. "This award stands as a testament to the unwavering dedication of the GovCIO team, showcasing our commitment to exceptional performance, customer expansion, and innovation," said John Anderson, GovCIO Sector President, National Security Sector. "We are honored that the DoD recognized the mission-first culture that permeates our company and chose to trust us with this important mission." GovCIO will apply its many years of experience in providing IT services to develop, sustain, and advance IT, AI and cyber infrastructure to support DoD-wide critical technology initiatives. "This contract award reaffirms GovCIO's unwavering dedication to advancing national security, a testament to the relentless effort and expertise of our team," said Jim Brabston, GovCIO CEO. "We are eager to provide innovative solutions that fortify the DoD's mission effectiveness and safeguard our nation's interests." Visit GovCIO National Security Services to learn how this sector helps law enforcement, defense agencies, and military branches combat terrorism, respond to disasters, and defend the nation. About GovCIO GovCIO is a rapidly growing provider of advanced technology solutions and digital services for the federal government. Combining our extensive federal experience with the latest innovations in IT and disruptive approaches, our experts develop comprehensive solutions to meet the most pressing demands of today's government agencies. From the U.S. military to Health and Human Services, we have an impressive track record of helping our customers optimize how they operate. GovCIO is transforming government IT, empowering our federal customers to meet the challenges of today while building the government of tomorrow. Let us show you what we can do. Visit www.govcio.com for more information. Media Contact Emyly Hall Sr. Communications & Marketing Specialist [email protected] SOURCE GovCIO Personal training franchise paves the way for a new era of innovation and expansion Launches the GG DRIVE platform, offering actionable, data-driven insights Enables franchisees to analyze key marketing, sales, and operational metrics enhancing return on investment MELVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GYMGUYZ, the world's largest in-home and on-site personal training franchise, introduced its newest proprietary technology today to franchisees the GG DRIVE platform. Engineered to drive success, this state-of-the-art business intelligence platform provides unprecedented insights into franchisee business operations with its detailed and comprehensive data. It also fosters productive, data-driven discussions throughout the GYMGUYZ franchise system, "connecting the dots" between clients, trainers, managers, owners, vendors, and corporate staff. The DRIVE platform reveals critical opportunities and trends that will significantly boost our franchisees' success. Post this Following expansion into 155 new cities, GYMGUYZ will showcase this new data platform at their eighth annual Recharge Convention in Cancun, held from September 18th to 20th. This launch is a pivotal element of the brand's ambitious goal to enhance franchisee support and reach 400 new cities served by 2025. "The DRIVE platform reveals critical opportunities and trends that will significantly boost our franchisees' success," said Gregg Bushyeager, Director of CRM and Analytics at GYMGUYZ. "It simplifies performance assessment and highlights areas for improvement, offering a holistic view of a franchise's operations. Beyond measuring overall performance, the platform also ensures consistency of data and key metrics throughout our entire franchise network." The new platform leverages Snowflake, a fully managed service that powers the AI Data Cloud, to aggregate and streamline data from various business partners. On the franchisee-facing side, Sigma Consulting provides the business intelligence tools that create an intuitive and easy-to-use user interface. This system enables franchisees to gain comprehensive insights into leads, sales funnels, client interactions, cash collections, fitness package utilization rates, and digital marketing efforts. "Innovation has been the key to our growth and success," said Phil Brojan, President of GYMGUYZ. "GG DRIVE embodies this by consolidating our marketing, operational, and financial data into one analytical platform, generating key dashboards used to drive performance. This allows our franchisees to streamline operations, identify opportunities, and provide valuable insights to their team members. For our franchise support team, it enhances our support services and allows us to drive franchise system revenue. We're excited to integrate GG DRIVE into our proprietary technology stack and leverage its potential as we continue to build on our successes this year." Franchisees can now dive deeply into their data to evaluate the effectiveness of various lead sources and enhance their marketing ROI. By analyzing marketing expenditures and monitoring advertising impressions through to sales, they can now more effectively manage their finances and pinpoint where to focus their resources for maximum business growth. "Launching GG DRIVE marks a significant milestone in GYMGUYZ's evolution," said Josh York, Founder & CEO of GYMGUYZ. "Our commitment to innovation and franchisee success is at the heart of this new platform, which allows franchisees to seamlessly analyze sales data, track growth trends, and optimize training session utilization. It allows our franchisees to focus on business growth and solidify GYMGUYZ's leadership in the fitness industry." To learn more about franchise opportunities with GYMGUYZ, visit gymguyz.com/franchise-opportunities. About GYMGUYZ: GYMGUYZ is proud to be the largest in-home and on-site personal training company in the world. GYMGUYZ brings the workout to their clients and provides convenient, customized and creative workouts. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., and founded in 2008 by fitness specialist Josh York, the brand utilizes a fleet of branded vehicles that bring enough state-of-the-art fitness equipment to provide a fantastic workout 365 days per year, along with an expert personal trainer to their customers' doors. In 2019, the brand was recognized as No. 5 on Inc. Mag's 10 Hottest Franchise Businesses in America, which highlighted their growth of more than 801% over the last three years. GYMGUYZ also scored the first and second place spots on Franchise Gator's annual list of the Top 100 Fastest-Growing Franchises. The fastest-growing fitness concept in the U.S., GYMGUYZ is now servicing over 1,300 cities internationally, including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. For more information on GYMGUYZ and franchising opportunities, visit http://www.gymguyz.com/. SOURCE GYMGUYZ LAKE CITY, S.C., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Holland Industrial Group, a leader in industrial revitalization, has successfully completed the acquisition and renovation of a once-distressed rubber factory in Lake City, South Carolina. This project aligns with the company's mission to revitalize underutilized properties and stimulate local economies by supporting community growth. Holland Industrial Group Holland Industrial Group Located in the heart of Lake City, a town with a rich agricultural and industrial heritage, the factory was once central to the local economy. However, it had fallen into disrepair over the past decade, leaving a void in the community and threatening local jobs. Holland Industrial Group recognized the potential to rejuvenate this site and transform it into a source of new opportunity. Bringing Jobs and Economic Growth Following extensive renovations, Holland Industrial Group has secured a major tenant for the property: a prominent packaging company. This new tenant is set to create significant job opportunities for the community, bringing renewed hope for residents. The packaging firm's presence is expected to stimulate further economic activity in Lake City, attracting new businesses and increasing demand for local services. "We are proud to be part of this community's revitalization," said Alex Holland, Senior Vice President of Holland Industrial Group. "This project isn't just about restoring a building. It's about contributing to the local economy, providing employment, and helping Lake City thrive as an industrial hub." Operations at the new packaging company are scheduled to begin by late 2024. The company's arrival is expected to create a ripple effect, boosting foot traffic to local shops, restaurants, and service providers, contributing to the town's ongoing economic revival. A Commitment to Revitalizing Communities Holland Industrial Group is known for its expertise in transforming distressed industrial properties across the United States, with a focus on sustainable development and community investment. By restoring these facilities, the company fosters long-term positive change in the communities where they operate. Holland added, "We're honored to be part of the town's bright future. Such a beautiful town with such amazing people deserves as much". For more information, please contact Holland Industrial Group (305) 638-5838 SOURCE Holland Industrial Group LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading global provider of elite private tutoring, Tutors International, announced a sharp rise in the number of enquiries from parents facing school fee increases of 20% who believe pooling resources with other parents can give them a better deal. Why the Socratic method used by great private tutors fosters independent learning and better academic outcomes than a traditional classroom of 30 children. Watch Joanna Dunckley-Phillips at Tutors International explain. Private school fees in the UK are rising The removal of VAT-free status on private school fees that could start as soon as January 2025 is pushing many parents to explore alternative educational options. Homeschool pods, guided by a full-time private tutor, present a flexible and cost-effective alternative that often surpasses traditional schooling in quality. Top-tier London day schools, such as St Paul's School and Westminster School, can charge over 40,000 per year, and VAT could further increase these costs. This financial burden, combined with concerns about the current educational quality, is prompting families to reconsider their options. One emerging solution is the homeschool pod. A homeschool pod brings a small group of children together to learn under the direction of a highly qualified tutor in a private home. This setup can avoid the complexities and costs of registering as a formal independent school while allowing a more customised educational experience. Many parents are turning to this model, recognising its potential to offer better educational outcomes at a competitive cost. Why consider homeschool pods? Smaller class sizes: Tutors working with a small group can provide personalised, focused instruction. Research shows that small class sizes positively impact both academic performance and mental well-being. Adam Caller , CEO of Tutors International, notes that focused tuition can achieve more in a few hours than a traditional school day. Tutors working with a small group can provide personalised, focused instruction. Research shows that small class sizes positively impact both academic performance and mental well-being. , CEO of Tutors International, notes that focused tuition can than a traditional school day. Flexibility: Families are not bound by traditional school calendars, allowing holidays during off-peak times. Pods can tailor the curriculum, explore subjects in depth, and avoid the costs of uniforms, school trips, and lengthy commutes. This flexibility is ideal for children who may struggle in conventional school settings. Families are not bound by traditional school calendars, allowing holidays during off-peak times. Pods can tailor the curriculum, explore subjects in depth, and avoid the costs of uniforms, school trips, and lengthy commutes. This flexibility is ideal for children who may struggle in conventional school settings. Shorter school days: A 3-hour study day is sufficient for high-quality learning, leaving children free to pursue other interests. Caller emphasises that the length of the school day is less important than the quality of interaction between tutor and pupil. A 3-hour study day is sufficient for high-quality learning, leaving children free to pursue other interests. Caller emphasises that the length of the school day is less important than the quality of interaction between tutor and pupil. A tailored curriculum: Homeschool pods focus on strength-based education, emphasising learning through experiences and natural aptitudes rather than simply teaching to pass exams. Setting up a homeschool pod Homeschool pods operate outside formal school frameworks, giving families the freedom to design an educational experience that meets their child's needs. For those interested in setting up a homeschool pod, Tutors International provides expert guidance and access to highly qualified tutors. Notes for editors About Tutors International Tutors International is a leading provider of bespoke private tutoring services, offering personalised education solutions to clients worldwide. Founded by Adam Caller, an expert in educational practice and private tutoring, Tutors International specialises in matching highly qualified tutors with students for full-time, residential placements. Media Enquiries Web: www.tutors-international.com Email: [email protected] Phone: +44 (0) 1865 435 135 Tutors International Prama House 267 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7HT England Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2507783/homeschool_pods_vs_private_school.jpg Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ-FNcrtHjc SOURCE Tutors International FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai and its U.S. Hispanic marketing agency, Lopez Negrete Communications, launched a new creative campaign for the enhanced 2025 Tucson SUV. The campaign is designed to empower Latino consumers across all age and demographic segments to right-size their ride without sacrificing or settling in a sea of underwhelming safe-bet alternatives. Titled "Rightsizing," the campaign is brought to life in both Spanish and English and highlights the Tucson's bold design, innovative technology, connectivity and safety features, that perfectly fit Hispanic lifestyles. Hyundai Tucson Campaign Rightsizing | Hyundais :30 TV ad with Lopez Negrete Communications, Aug. 7-9, 2024. Hyundai Tucson Campaign Rightsizing | Screen grab of Hyundais TV ad with Lopez Negrete Communications, Aug. 7-9, 2024. The new Hyundai Tucson "Rightsizing" commercial creatively captures the concept of finding the perfect fit in life. The ad begins with a series of relatable moments where everyday objects, like a cookie, a couch, or a return package, fail to fit just right in their intended places. These visuals set the stage for the introduction of the new Hyundai Tucson, which is presented as the vehicle that "fits your lifestyle to perfection", when a woman effortlessly unlocks the Tucson with her smartwatch, using the advanced features to seamlessly integrate the vehicle into her life. The closing message, "Isn't it exciting when everything in your life simply fits?" reinforces the Tucson as the ideal choice for those seeking a vehicle that aligns with their lifestyle without compromise. "The 2025 Tucson is a perfect reflection of our commitment to providing vehicles that meet the diverse needs of our Hispanic consumers," said Sean Gilpin, chief marketing officer, Hyundai Motor America. "This campaign emphasizes not just the advanced technology, safety, and bold design of the Tucson, but also its ability to seamlessly fit into the varied lifestyles of Latino drivers across the nation. By focusing on 'rightsizing,' we're empowering Hispanic consumers to choose a vehicle that doesn't require them to compromise on their vision or needs, ensuring they can confidently embrace their journey in a vehicle that truly resonates with who they are." "With the launch of the 'Rightsizing' campaign for the 2025 Tucson, we are proud to connect with the Hispanic community through a culturally rich and impactful narrative," said Erik Thomas, director, experiential and multicultural marketing, Hyundai Motor America. "This campaign reflects our commitment to understanding and celebrating the unique experiences of Latino consumers, offering them a vehicle that not only meets their practical needs but also resonates with their cultural identity. By showcasing the Tucson's innovative features and robust design, we are empowering Hispanic drivers to choose a vehicle that complements their journey without compromise." "As with all our Hyundai campaigns we emphasize key elements within our Hispanic culture, such as a desire to seek out that which is cutting edge while being a refined and true expression of ourselves," said Alex Lopez Negrete, president and CEO of Lopez Negrete Communications. "As Latinos, we do not settle for blending in. By highlighting the 2025 Tucson's redesigned exterior, rugged capabilities and innovative technology, we give the Hispanic consumer the power to make their journey richer without breaking the bank. We are also very proud of this production and of the visually powerful and very relatable work of Latino director Jorge Aguilera, and production house Madre, a diverse-owned company." Hyundai Tucson "Rightsizing" Campaign :30 English TV Spot Hyundai Tucson "Rightsizing" Campaign :30 Spanish TV Spot The TV campaign was filmed in Miami, Florida, and consists of 15- and 30-second TV commercials, radio commercials, streaming audio, digital and social media assets, including influencers, that will be shared nationally in English and Spanish. The "Rightsizing" campaign is live and will be in-market through September of 2025. Lopez Negrete Communications Lopez Negrete Communications stands as one of the premier Hispanic-owned-and-operated, full-service agencies in the United States. The agency specializes in providing marketing services to corporations wishing to reach and engage with America's large and influential Hispanic consumer segment. Founded in 1985 by Alex and Cathy Lopez Negrete, the agency offers thought leadership and a full range of marketing, advertising and communications services. The wide array of services includes strategic planning, brand strategy, creative and production, research and consumer insights, media planning and buying, digital/social/mobile marketing services, public relations and promotions. Hyundai Motor America Hyundai Motor America offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles, while supporting Hyundai Motor Company's Progress for Humanity vision. Hyundai has significant operations in the U.S., including its North American headquarters in 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 Hyundai's 835 independent dealers, contribute $20.1 billion annually and 190,000 jobs to the U.S. economy, according to a recent economic impact report. For more information, visit www.hyundainews.com. Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok SOURCE Hyundai Motor America LONDON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- i2 Group, a global leader in intelligence analysis software, today announced the launch of a new i2 Analyst's Notebook bundle to complement their existing perpetual and monthly term license options. The new subscription offering provides analysts and investigators with a comprehensive suite of tools, including the Analyst's Notebook desktop application, access to secure, hosted connectors for searching commercial data providers, and TextChart for unstructured text importing and analysis. By integrating its intelligence analytics tools and adding a subscription payment option, Analyst's Notebook bundle is responding to rapidly increasing demand for affordable technology that can help detect and combat increasingly sophisticated global threats. Analyst's Notebook continues to address the real-world challenges investigators and analysts face when confronted with multiple, disparate data sources across many formats, sources and types. By providing industry leading tools to import, fuse, analyse and present findings, i2 is providing rapid time to value to bring clarity for analysts to the chaos of data they are faced with daily. With multiple licensing options perpetual, subscription and monthly term-based licensing organisations can now buy i2 in a way that best suits their budgets and requirements. Competitive pricing is available to organisations based on the quantity and term they require. Key Benefits of i2 Analyst's Notebook subscription bundle: Accelerated analyst workflows - quickly enrich data and conduct powerful searches with direct access to third-party data providers Subscription licensing - enjoy competitive upfront pricing and flexible annual subscriptions Connected searches on demand access to an ever-expanding library of data sources to start and add context to investigations and analysis in Analyst's Notebook* Enhanced data analysis in addition to Analyst's Notebook, leverage TextChart to analyze unstructured text data, providing a more comprehensive understanding of information Robust security - benefit from industry-leading security standards, including ISO 27000.1, Cyber Security Essentials (UK), and SOC-2 Type 2 Jamie Caffrey, i2 Executive Vice President, said: "We want to provide the industry leading visual analysis capabilities of i2 to all analysts and investigators. This new offering, along with our existing monthly term license option, allow organisations to access Analyst's Notebook in a way that commercially suits them, whether that is buying into the long-term benefits of a perpetual license, the low up-front costs of a subscription license or the flexibility of a rolling, monthly license." For more information about this new i2 Analyst's Notebook bundle, visit the website here. About i2 i2 Group is the global leader in advanced visual analysis solutions, with a presence in more than 140 countries. Its innovations empower analysts and investigators to discover, create, and disseminate actionable intelligence to combat threats, such as serious crime, terrorism, war and fraud. Notes to editors *An internet connection is required, and some of the data sources require an external, paid for license key. The Connected Searches feature is not available yet in all regions as it depends on the data providers agreements. SOURCE i2 Group Support for Higher Child Tax Credit, Universal Preschool, Subsidized Childcare, Paid Leave COLLEGE PARK, Md., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As many costs for families, especially those with children, continue to rise faster than wages, a new public consultation survey by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC) finds bipartisan majorities of Americans in the six swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, as well as nationally, support the Federal government: Raise Child Care Tax Credit Paid Family and Medical Leave reinstating the higher pandemic-era Child Tax Credit providing funding for free universal preschool subsidizing childcare for low- and middle-income families creating a national 12-week paid family and medical leave program for all workers Director of the Program for Public Consultation, Steven Kull, comments, "There is strong bipartisan support for the Federal government taking a more active role in strengthening the support system for families, especially those with children." [ More Detailed Report ] This survey is the seventh in a series the Swing Six Issue Surveys being conducted in the run-up to the November election in six swing states on major policy issues. Unlike traditional polls, respondents in a public consultation survey go through an online "policymaking simulation" in which they are provided briefings and arguments for and against each policy. Content is reviewed by experts on different sides to ensure accuracy and balance. All Americans are invited to go through the same policymaking simulation as the survey sample. Reinstating Higher Child Tax Credit The annual tax credit provided to parents with children under the age of 18 - the Child Tax Credit was temporarily increased by Congress during the Covid pandemic, from a maximum credit of $2,000 per child to a maximum of $3,600 per child. The higher tax credit was also made fully refundable, so parents who did not pay income taxes still got the full benefit. Those changes expired in 2022. Bipartisan majorities in every swing state support reinstating this pandemic-era Child Tax Credit (69-77%), including majorities of Republicans (60-71%) and Democrats (80-85%). Nationally, 74% are in favor, including 64% of Republicans and 83% of Democrats. Respondents were informed in advance that the pandemic-era tax credit both reduced child poverty by about a third and significantly reduced federal revenues, and would likely have the same effects if reinstated. In addition, majorities in every swing state (57-71%) support providing a $6,000 tax credit per child to parents of children under age one, including majorities of Democrats (65-79%). However, views are more mixed among Republicans. Majorities of Republicans are in support in Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan (60-66%), and they are statistically divided in Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (47%-53%). Nationally, 65% are in favor, including a modest majority of Republicans (55%), and a large majority of Democrats (75%). [ BAR GRAPH ] Federal Funding to Support Free Universal Preschool A proposal for the Federal government to provide $25 billion to help states or local governments that want to set up or expand free preschool programs, available to all 3-4-year-olds, is favored by 76 to 83% in the swing states. This includes majorities of Republicans (63-78%) and Democrats (90-94%). Nationally, a bipartisan majority of 82% is in favor (Republicans 74%, Democrats 92%). [ BAR GRAPH ] Subsidizing Childcare for Low and Middle-Income Families Bipartisan majorities in every swing state (74-80%) support the Federal government providing funds to states that want it, to subsidize childcare programs for young children so they are free for low-income parents, and middle-income parents pay no more than 7% of their income. This includes majorities of Republicans (63-72%) and Democrats (85-93%). Nationally, 76% are in favor (Republicans 66%, Democrats 88%). [ BAR GRAPH ] Paid Family and Medical Leave for All Workers Majorities in every swing state (68-75%) favor creating a national paid family and medical leave program that would: require employers to allow all workers to take up to 12 weeks of leave provide workers on leave with two-thirds of their wages (up to $4,000 a month), with funds from a new 0.2% payroll tax on both employees and employers In the swing states, this proposal is favored by majorities of Republicans in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (55-67%), while Republicans are statistically divided in Nevada (52%). The proposal is favored by a majority of Democrats in all six states (81-86%). Nationally, 72% are in favor, including majorities of Republicans (61%) and Democrats (85%). In advance, respondents were informed that current Federal law requires most employers to allow most workers to take up to 12 weeks of family or medical leave, but this law does not apply to workers who are in small companies, are new to their job, or work part-time. In addition, current law does not mandate that workers receive any pay while on leave. They were informed that, while not required, some employers provide paid family and medical leave to their workers. But currently, less than half of workers have access to such paid leave. About the Survey The survey was fielded Aug 17-29, 2024 with 4,624 adults by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, including approximately 600 in each state of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and 1,197 nationally. Samples were obtained from multiple online opt-in panels, including Cint, Dynata and Prodege. Sample collection and quality control was managed by QuantifyAI under the direction of the Program for Public Consultation. Samples were pre-stratified and weighted by age, race, gender, education, income, metro/non-metro, marital status, home ownership, and partisan affiliation (nationally and in some states) to match the general adult population. The survey was offered in both English and Spanish. The confidence interval for the national sample is +/- 3.2%, and for the state samples it ranges from +/- 4.5 to 4.6%. About the Program for Public Consultation The Program for Public Consultation (PPC) at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, develops and conducts public consultation surveys, seeking to improve democratic governance by consulting representative samples of citizens on key public policy issues. It shares its findings with officials in government, the media, other academics, and the general public. SOURCE Program for Public Consultation Intel 471's CTI platform empowers organizations to navigate complex threats, improve visibility across digital assets, and proactively secure their environments against evolving cyber risks. SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Frost & Sullivan assessed the cyber threat intelligence (CTI) industry and, based on its findings, recognizes Intel 471 with the 2024 Global Enabling Technology Leadership Award. The company is a leading global CTI solution provider that drives growth by extending the impact of operationalized threat intelligence across various business functions. By addressing a broad spectrum of use cases, such as threat hunting, security operations, and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), Intel 471 empowers organizations to align their security efforts with overall business operations. This comprehensive approach enables Intel 471 to strategically broaden its innovation scalability by expanding its solution portfolio to cater to both early-stage CTI maturity organizations and those requiring more sophisticated CTI solutions. Intel 471 Intel 471's cyber intelligence cloud platform provides customers with granular insights and finished intelligence on the latest cyber threats via a unified web portal or API integration. Intel 471's external attack surface management (EASM) solution enables organizations to discover common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs), such as internet-exposed hosts, expired digital certificates, and weak encryption, while continuously monitoring trends regarding newly weaponized CVEs. With its EASM solution, organizations can set up automatic alerts relevant to specific domains, monitor third-party external attack surfaces, evaluate vendor security postures, and monitor externally exposed information such as email addresses and compromised credentials. This comprehensive approach ensures that organizations gain the much-needed visibility of their digital footprint to secure it proactively. The SaaS platform's core intelligence domains include: Adversary intelligence Malware intelligence Credentials intelligence Vulnerabilities intelligence Marketplace intelligence Cyber Geopolitical intelligence Martin Naydenov, senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, observed, "While many CTI vendors rely on third-party and open-source data, Intel 471 stands out for its human-intelligence-centered approach and timely, actionable reports. Leveraging a global team of skilled analysts, Intel 471 extracts insights directly from threat actors and conducts tailored research upon request, ensuring its intelligence's relevance, timeliness, and exclusivity." Intel 471's Collection Management Team (CMT) offers unique insights into attackers' intent and motivation, aiding in the swift detection and prevention of breaches. This saves investigation time and costs and prevents payments for illegitimate ransom demands. By providing timely insights and detailed leak information, Intel 471 helps organizations understand breaches and adjust strategies promptly, enhancing their security posture and mitigating risks effectively. With Intel 471, organizations can continuously map out their digital assets, monitor various intelligence sources, understand adversary motivations, and identify vulnerabilities. Additionally, Intel 471 enables organizations to rapidly deploy advanced intelligence-driven threat hunting and detection, furthering its customers' ability to operationalize CTI and proactively hunt for stealthy threats in their environmentthreats that go undetected by traditional tools but can be identified and removed before greater damage is done. "Intel 471 has established itself as a leading global provider of CTI solutions through its human-centered intelligence approach, capturing a significant global revenue share and achieving robust growth rates. Intel 471 enables organizations beyond just technology, serving as a trusted partner and offering services such as RFIs and threat hunt packages, supported by a team of expert analysts who provide comprehensive insights and protection against sophisticated threats," added Naydenov. For its strong overall performance in the CTI industry, Intel 471 earns Frost & Sullivan's 2024 Global Enabling Technology Leadership Award. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has developed a pioneering technology that not only enhances current products, but also enables the development of new products and applications. The award recognizes the high market acceptance potential of the recipient's technology. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. About Frost & Sullivan For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, megatrends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact us: Start the discussion . Contact: Camila Tinajero P: +54911 6713 2748 E: [email protected] About Intel 471 Intel 471 empowers enterprises, government agencies, and other organizations to win the cybersecurity war using the real-time insights about adversaries, their relationships, threat patterns, and imminent attacks relevant to their businesses. The company's platform collects, interprets, structures, and validates human-led, automation-enhanced intelligence, which fuels our external attack surface and advanced behavioral threat hunting solutions. Customers utilize this operationalized intelligence to drive a proactive response to neutralize threats and mitigate risk. Organizations across the globe leverage Intel 471's world-class intelligence, our trusted practitioner engagement and enablement and globally dispersed ground expertise as their frontline guardian against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats to fight the adversary -- and win. Learn more at https://intel471.com/. Your voice of reason and truth. Contact: Erica Stuchel W2 Communications E: [email protected] SOURCE Frost & Sullivan JACKSON, Miss., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackson State University is proud to be named as a Fulbright Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Institutional Leader for 2024. Each year, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) recognizes the strong engagement of select HBCUs with the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange program. Dr. Marcus L. Thompson, 13th President of Jackson State University (Charles A. Smith/University Communications) "We are deeply honored to be recognized as a 2024 Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader. This distinction reflects the academic prowess of our faculty, staff and students, who advance our international outreach. As we continue to expand our footprint, it further reaffirms our commitment to generate intercultural awareness and prepare our scholars to make a meaningful impact on the world. We thank the U.S. Department of State for this acknowledgment," said Jackson State President Marcus L. Thompson, Ph.D. Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders demonstrate noteworthy support for Fulbright exchange participants and promote Fulbright program opportunities on campus. The initiative encourages administrators, faculty and students at HBCUs to engage with Fulbright. It also highlights the strength of HBCUs as a destination for international students and scholars and showcases their deep intellectual traditions and proud history to audiences abroad. Jackson State was also named a Fulbright leader in 2023, 2020 and 2019. In 2023, Rico Chapman, Ph.D., dean of the College of Liberal Arts at JSU, was named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award recipient. Chapman traveled to South Africa over the summer to continue his research surrounding a comparative study of contemporary student activism in the United States and South Africa, assessing popular movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. and movements held by South African students, such as the "Fees Must Fall" movement. "Being recognized as a Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader is an honor and a testament to our commitment to fostering global engagement and academic excellence. This distinction highlights the dedication of our faculty, students, and staff in advancing cross-cultural understanding and leadership worldwide," said Pamala Heard, Ph.D., director of Honors Student Services and Activities at JSU. "At Jackson State University, we believe in the transformative power of international education, and this recognition reinforces our mission to cultivate future leaders who are prepared to make a meaningful impact nationally and globally." The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program. Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds and in all fields the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations worldwide also provide direct and indirect support to the program. Scott Weinhold, senior bureau official for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), announces the 19 Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders, commending their noteworthy engagement with the Fulbright Program. "On behalf of President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken, I'm pleased to congratulate the Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders for 2024. Historically Black Colleges and Universities are vital contributors to America's higher education community. They are dedicated institutions working to develop the leaders of tomorrow." The Fulbright Program implements a wide range of initiatives to ensure that its participants reflect all aspects of the diversity of U.S. society and societies abroad. To achieve this goal, the program collaborates with external stakeholders, including the White House Initiative on HBCUs, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, the American Association of Community Colleges, Mobility International, and Diversity Abroad, among many others. Learn more about the Fulbright Program at https://fulbrightprogram.org , including information about Fulbright's efforts to further DEIA within the program and about the Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders initiative. Follow the Fulbright Program's social media accounts and websites for highlights on HBCUs and Fulbright: SOURCE Jackson State University CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Just Transition Fund (JTF) , the only national philanthropic initiative focused solely on coal community economic transition, is pleased to reveal its inaugural cohort of " Coal Communities Get Ready! " Challenge winners. Through the JTF's Federal Access Center , this initiative supports organizations in developing bold ideas to transform their local economies and prepare to apply for and manage federal investment within one year. The 12 winners are located in hard-hit coal communities throughout the United States and will receive a one-year award, valued at $250,000, that includes grants for capacity support and customized technical assistance to help build readiness to apply for complex federal funds at the end of the grant period. The 12 winners are located in hard-hit coal communities throughout the U.S, in areas experiencing economic distress. Post this "Local leaders in coal communities have ambitious ideas to transform their economies. What they often lack are the resources and technical assistance to bring ideas to reality and then help them scale," said Heidi Binko, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Just Transition Fund. "It takes capacity, expertise, and experience to access federal resources. We designed the Coal Communities Get Ready! Challenge to provide this needed capacity and build the pipeline of the next generation of innovative, community-led projects that have the potential to spark economic revitalization." The JTF prioritized funding visionary projects with the potential to generate significant economic impact, produce measurable outcomes, and serve as models for other communities in transition. Funded projects will focus on building toward federal investment by connecting rural and urban markets, stimulating entrepreneurship, training workers for careers in the new economy, and planning for transition amid a plant or mine closure. Winning projects span a range of projects including community planning, and sectors including tourism, clean energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare. The 2024 Coal Communities Get Ready! Challenge Cohort Winners include: Allamakee Energy District ( Iowa ): The Allamakee Energy District will pilot a technical assistance program to reduce energy costs for households and business, and train workers to address energy-related infrastructure throughout the county, aiming to boost economic vitality and reduce housing costs and business activities in Allamakee County, Iowa following the closure of Lansing Generating Station. ( ): The Allamakee Energy District will pilot a technical assistance program to reduce energy costs for households and business, and train workers to address energy-related infrastructure throughout the county, aiming to boost economic vitality and reduce housing costs and business activities in following the closure of Lansing Generating Station. Backroads of Appalachia ( Kentucky ) : Backroads of Appalachia will lead the revitalization of the former Evarts High School and redevelop existing coal camp cottages into spaces for the creative arts to thrive, transforming it into an arts hub to drive community renewal. ( ) Backroads of will lead the revitalization of the former and redevelop existing coal camp cottages into spaces for the creative arts to thrive, transforming it into an arts hub to drive community renewal. Boom KY ( Kentucky ): Boom KY is partnering with school districts in Eastern Kentucky to implement technology training and develop Boom GPT, an AI-driven entrepreneurship program to foster tech-based economic growth. ( ): Boom KY is partnering with school districts in to implement technology training and develop Boom GPT, an AI-driven entrepreneurship program to foster tech-based economic growth. City of Becker ( Minnesota ): The City of Becker, Minnesota , is developing a hybrid business accelerator and education training center to support new business growth and innovation as the city transitions with the planned closure of the Sherburne County Generating Station. ( ): The , is developing a hybrid business accelerator and education training center to support new business growth and innovation as the city transitions with the planned closure of the Sherburne County Generating Station. Center for Community Growth ( Pennsylvania ): In partnership with W.H.O.L.E. Unity, the Center for Community Growth is launching "Indiana County Thrives" a community-driven initiative to identify and develop economic and workforce opportunities following the closure of the Homer City Generating Station. ( ): In partnership with W.H.O.L.E. Unity, the Center for Community Growth is launching "Indiana County Thrives" a community-driven initiative to identify and develop economic and workforce opportunities following the closure of the Homer City Generating Station. Gillette College Foundation ( Wyoming ): In partnership with The Gillette College Foundation Office of Economic Transition and the University of Wyoming , The Gillette College Foundation will establish an entrepreneurial ecosystem to nurture entrepreneurship for a more diverse economy through educational programs, meetups and mentoring services, entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) support, grant funding support, internships, and hackathons, in northeastern Wyoming amid a declining coal market. ( ): In partnership with The Gillette College Foundation Office of Economic Transition and the , The Gillette College Foundation will establish an entrepreneurial ecosystem to nurture entrepreneurship for a more diverse economy through educational programs, meetups and mentoring services, entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) support, grant funding support, internships, and hackathons, in northeastern amid a declining coal market. Itasca Economic Development Corporation ( Minnesota ): The Itasca Economic Development Corporation is leading a planning and development project to engage the community in co-creating a diversified economic future as it prepares for the Boswell Energy Center's closure, supporting development in tourism, manufacturing, innovation, and education. ( ): The Itasca Economic Development Corporation is leading a planning and development project to engage the community in co-creating a diversified economic future as it prepares for the Boswell Energy Center's closure, supporting development in tourism, manufacturing, innovation, and education. Keep Your Faith Corporation ( West Virginia ): Keep Your Faith Corporation is developing a culturally competent workforce model that addresses the unique needs of diverse rural communities through behavioral health services, skill development, and workforce readiness programming, creating a resilient and sustainable workforce for a strengthening economy in West Charleston. ( ): Keep Your Faith Corporation is developing a culturally competent workforce model that addresses the unique needs of diverse rural communities through behavioral health services, skill development, and workforce readiness programming, creating a resilient and sustainable workforce for a strengthening economy in West Charleston. New Roots Community Farm ( West Virginia ): New Roots Community Farm is redeveloping an abandoned two-acre farmhouse site located on their 82-acre community farm into a convening space called the New River Gorge Agriculture and Culinary Center that will provide small farms and food businesses with access to consistent sales channels and fill a gap in the local food market by sourcing products from regional producers, while also supporting the community's health outcomes and bolstering the growing tourism and outdoor recreation industries in the region. ( ): New Roots Community Farm is redeveloping an abandoned two-acre farmhouse site located on their 82-acre community farm into a convening space called the New River Gorge Agriculture and Culinary Center that will provide small farms and food businesses with access to consistent sales channels and fill a gap in the local food market by sourcing products from regional producers, while also supporting the community's health outcomes and bolstering the growing tourism and outdoor recreation industries in the region. Plenty Doors Development Corporation ( Montana ): The Plenty Doors Development Corporation is launching the Apsaalooke Energy Justice Project in partnership with Little Big Horn College and Montana State University to develop an Indigenous-owned utility company and train workers in sustainable energy and housing development on the Crow Reservation in Montana . ( ): The Plenty Doors Development Corporation is launching the Apsaalooke Energy Justice Project in partnership with and to develop an Indigenous-owned utility company and train workers in sustainable energy and housing development on the Crow Reservation in . RiverWise ( Pennsylvania ) : RiverWise's Rural Innovation through Solar Empowerment (RISE) Project aims to revolutionize solar energy access in Beaver County, Pennsylvania , by supporting rural energy ventures and developing a Solar Justice40 Toolkit for community use. ( ) RiverWise's Rural Innovation through Solar Empowerment (RISE) Project aims to revolutionize solar energy access in , by supporting rural energy ventures and developing a Solar Justice40 Toolkit for community use. Routt County, CO ( Colorado ): In collaboration with the Northwest Colorado Development Council, Routt County, Colorado will establish a Rural Innovation Center to drive sustainable economic development and entrepreneurial assistance programs in response to coal mine closures in the region. More than 70 organizations applied to be part of the inaugural cohort, with 12 winners selected. Eligible organizations included 501(c)3 organizations, local, county, and Tribal governments in coal-affected areas, that have little or no experience applying for federal funding, with priority given to community-based organizations in areas experiencing the greatest economic distress. As a hybrid initiative - part grantmaker, part catalyst - the JTF supports locally led initiatives that empower coal-dependent communities to navigate complex transitions and promote sustainable, equitable, and low-carbon solutions for a resilient future. Through its Federal Access Center, the JTF helps coal communities overcome barriers to accessing historic amounts of federal funding to strengthen and diversify local economies. About the Just Transition Fund The Just Transition Fund (JTF) launched in 2015 to help communities secure funding through the Obama administration's POWER Initiative, the first federal program aimed at helping communities impacted by the changing coal economy. The JTF has since evolved its approach to catalyze and support the national just transition movement more broadly, while helping more communities tap into an expanding number of federal funding opportunities. The JTF has developed a proven approach utilizing complementary grantmaking, technical assistance, and field-strengthening strategies, all of which are informed by a belief that the most sustainable solutions come from local leaders and are built from the ground up. For more information, visit justtransitionfund.org or follow on X and LinkedIn . SOURCE Just Transition Fund HOUSTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR (NYSE: KBR) announced today it has been awarded an estimated $230 million cost-plus-fixed-fee recompete contract under the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center's (DoD IAC) multiple-award contract (MAC) vehicle. These DoD IAC MAC task orders are awarded by the U.S. Air Force's 774th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron to develop and create new knowledge for the enhancement of the DTIC repository and the R&D and S&T community. KBR will perform information systems modernization for Logistics Information Technology (LOG IT) programs supporting Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Program Executive Office for Manpower, Logistics and Business Solutions (PEO MLB) and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC). The work will be primarily performed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland and Huntsville, Alabama over a period of five years. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide optimized IT solutions across the NAVAIR enterprise. KBR's LOG IT team will perform research and development for data movement of real-time flight and maintenance information and publications, deployable hosting solutions for applications and a fleet representative environment in which to perform end-to-end testing of software releases, cybersecurity updates and refinement of business solutions for the maintenance and logistics environment. These essential in-service systems engineering, modernization, testing and sustainment capabilities will be delivered through the Joint Technical Data Integration (JTDI), the Joint Delivery Management Service (JDMS) and the Naval Air Systems Command Fleet System Array (NFSA) programs, which are the bedrock of current and future LOG IT operations. "For the past 21 years, KBR has supported these and similar essential requirements as a trusted partner to the U.S. government," said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO. "We are proud to be selected again by NAVAIR to further demonstrate our ability to deliver high-end, technical capabilities while implementing and enabling large complex enterprise systems." KBR deploys technical support and data transportation to over 83,000 users across U.S. Navy, Army, and Marine Corps units deployed ashore, afloat, and expeditionary environments. This award spotlights success with large, complex distributed systems, which enable mission accomplishment while maintaining a cost-conscious mindset. ABOUT THE DOD IAC PROGRAM "The DoD IAC, sponsored by the Defense Technical Information Center, provides technical data management and research support for DoD and federal government users. Established in 1946, the IAC program serves the DoD science & technology (S&T) and acquisition communities to drive innovation and technological developments by enhancing collaboration through integrated scientific and technical information development and dissemination for the DoD and broader S&T community". About KBR We deliver science, technology and engineering solutions to governments and companies around the world. KBR employs approximately 36,000 people worldwide with customers in more than 80 countries and operations in over 30 countries. KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, and long-term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver. Visit www.kbr.com Forward Looking Statements The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding performance periods, contract values and future operations, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and assumptions, many of which are beyond the company's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those set forth in the company's most recently filed ANNUAL Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which discuss some of the important risks, uncertainties and assumptions that the company has identified that may affect its business, results of operations and financial condition. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason. SOURCE KBR, Inc. SPARKS, Md., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- KCI Technologies Inc., a multi-disciplined engineering firm with offices located throughout the nation, is pleased to announce the acquisition of the construction management and inspection (CMCI) portion of Navarro & Wright's Pennsylvania region. The team will leverage their technical expertise and knowledge to support a wide range of infrastructure projects, ensuring high-quality construction oversight and delivering innovative solutions to meet the growing needs of the region. Earlier this week, Paul Navarro of Navarro & Wright and Chris Griffith of KCI came together to finalize the acquisition, marking a significant milestone for both companies. Navarro & Wright was originally established in 1996 by Paul Navarro and Chuck Wright. The company initially focused on providing civil engineering and environmental consulting services, rapidly earning industry recognition for excellence in infrastructure and regulatory compliance. Over time, Navarro & Wright expanded to include sectors such as transportation, land development, and energy, reflecting the needs of their diverse client base. "Through strategic growth and a commitment to innovative solutions, Navarro & Wright has firmly established itself in the engineering industry, gaining recognition for its forward-thinking approach to challenges and dedication to serving transportation clients," said Barry Schoch, PE, Transportation Design North Service Line Leader. "These principles align seamlessly with KCI's core values, creating a mutually beneficial partnership. I am excited to welcome the Navarro & Wright team to KCI and look forward to collaboratively expanding our services across the Pennsylvania region." Michael J. Phillips and Lauren Antenucci, PE, will lead the transition of their team of construction managers and inspectors to KCI. After 30 years at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission overseeing major projects such as the I-95/I-276 Connector, Phillips became head of Navarro & Wright's Construction Services in 2018. He expanded services in public, private, and industrial sectors, focusing on CMCI, QA/QC, materials testing, and facility inspections. Phillips earned a bachelor's degree in structural design and construction engineering technology from Pennsylvania State University. Antenucci, with both a bachelor's and master's in civil engineering from Villanova, joined N&W in 2020 as assistant director of construction services after 19 years at Urban Engineers. She has been key in expanding CMCI services for major clients like the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, while also promoting QA/QC and testing services. Antenucci is a professional engineer registered in five states. "We are thrilled about the opportunity to drive the success of construction management and inspection services in Pennsylvania," said Phillips. "We believe the strongest partnerships aren't built on shared goals alone, but on a foundation of equality, resilience, and passion. This is just the beginningprogress comes from teamwork, and lasting success is achieved through ongoing collaboration." The Pennsylvania CMCI personnel will be joining the firm's Construction Management North group, led by Regional Practice Leader Peter Bourne and will immediately begin operating as KCI within the company's existing Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, office. Photograph attached. KCI Technologies With sales in excess of $467 million in 2023, KCI Technologies Inc. is ranked among the top 100 engineering firms in the country by Engineering News-Record. Roughly 2,000 employee-owners support clients from more than 60 offices throughout the U.S. KCI offers environmental, water, transportation, telecommunications, technology, construction, facilities and land development services to government, institutional and private-sector clients. For more information, visit www.kci.com. SOURCE KCI Technologies, Inc. According to details on new website of top presettlement funding firm, lawsuit loans are viable option for plaintiffs looking to receive their settlement money well in advance of their trial's outcome. TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal-Bay Pre Settlement Funding announces their expansion throughout the Florida market with a revamped website focused on the sunshine state. With the ever-increasing number of requests for lawsuit loans, Legal Bay has also brought on additional staff to meet the demand. For plaintiffs who have an active lawsuit and need cash now, a lawsuit loan provides a way to access money from your anticipated settlement long before your case even makes it to trial. What if you're out of work due to personal injury? What if your legal or medical bills are piling up? Why wait indefinitely for your own money to be paid to you? These and any other questions can be answered at Legal Bay's new, comprehensive, Florida-focused website: Florida Lawsuit Loans From Jacksonville to Miami to every place in between, Legal-Bay is known to many as the best lawsuit loan funding provider in the industry for their helpful and knowledgeable staff, and one of the best lawsuit loan companies overall for their low rates and quick turnaround, sometimes within 24-48 hours once all documents have been received. Chris Janish, CEO of Legal-Bay, commented, "We've been a part of the Florida legal scene for a long time, and we know how frustrating the court system can be. We've dealt with hundreds of clients up and down the state from coast to coast, treating each case with the individual attention it deserves. We're proud to be a leader in the funding industry, but even prouder to boast about the many, many people we've helped out with financial assistance during stressful and uncertain times." If you're a lawyer or plaintiff involved in an active lawsuit of any kind and need an immediate cash advance lawsuit loan against an impending lawsuit settlement, please visit Legal-Bay here: Florida Lawsuit Loans Legal-Bay offers cash settlement funding and lawsuit loans for all types of cases including: personal injury, slip and falls, premise liability construction accidents, worker's comp medical malpractice car accidents, truck accidents, bus collisions, boat accidents police brutality, wrongful incarceration, judgement on appeal sexual harassment, sexual abuse, workplace discrimination, unlawful termination class action, and many more. Legal Bay's "lawsuit loan" funds are, in fact, non-recourse. That means there's no risk because there is no obligation to repay the money if the recipient loses their case. Therefore, terms like settlement loan, loans for lawsuit, or loans on settlement don't necessarily apply, as the "loan on lawsuit" isn't really a loan at all, but rather a stress-free cash advance. To apply right now for a loan settlement program, please visit the company's website at Florida Lawsuit Loans or call toll-free at: 877.571.0405 where agents are standing by to answer any questions. SOURCE Legal-Bay, LLC SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Letterform Archive Books is thrilled to announce the trade publication of Citizen Printer, a powerful monograph on popular letterpress artist Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. A self-described "humble negro printer," Kennedy has earned global recognition for his spirited posters, which feature bold calls to action printed over dynamic typographic backgrounds. Citizen Printer draws from Letterform Archive's collection of more than 2,000 unique posters, handbills, maps, and artist's books printed by Kennedy over the course of his prolific 35-year career. Donated to the Archive in 2020, this archive includes seminal works amplifying the words of civil rights heroes, such as the Quotations of Rosa Louise Parks portfolio (2015); rarely seen early artist's books Strange Fruit (1994), Riddle Ma Riddle (1996), and Mask (2000); crowd-pleasing prints featuring colloquial expressions, like the African Proverbs (2014) and I Am as Southern As (2015) series; and now-collectible gig and festival posters that celebrate the power of community, such as the infamous Ladies, No Fighting in the Bathroom poster (2003). Released in conjunction with the 2024 Letterform Archive exhibition, Citizen Printer collects these vital prints into an unprecedented overview of Kennedy's work. Colorful reproductions allow readers to almost smell the ink of his printshop, while illuminating texts situate his output within the centuries-old legacy of abolitionist printing. A specially commissioned series of process prints demonstrates Kennedy's unique "imperfectionist" approach to his craft, and original portraits capture his generous spirit and humorous character. Encased in chipboard covers that echo Kennedy's humble print materials, with a bright pop of his signature pink printed along the pages' edges, Citizen Printer is a playful yet serious tribute to one of the nation's most exuberant makers. The publication features: More than 800 reproductions of Kennedy's work, including new commissions A powerful artist manifesto penned by the author A foreword from New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon bestselling author Original portraiture of the maker at work A biography of Kennedy from American studies scholar Myron M. Beasley and an overview of Black protest in print by design educator Kelly Walters and an overview of Black protest in print by design educator A type-forward design from award-winning designers Gail Anderson and Joe Newton For more information, to schedule an interview with Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., or to obtain a review copy, please contact Katie Peeler at 415.223.2283 or [email protected]. Additional details are available at letterformarchive.org/press. Hardcover $60 | 9 12 inches | 292 pp (including a double gatefold), 800 images | ISBN: 978-1-7368633-8-1 About Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., was working a corporate job when, at nearly forty, he discovered the art of letterpress printing on a tour of Colonial Williamsburg. Kennedy then devoted himself to the craft, earning an MFA in graphic design at the University of WisconsinMadison. He now operates Kennedy Prints!, a letterpress printshop in Detroit. He has been featured in outlets like Hyperallergic, The New York Times, and The Economist, and he has exhibited in dozens of museums and galleries across the United States, including Poster House, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Library of Congress, and the libraries of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. About Letterform Archive Books Founded in 2015, Letterform Archive is a nonprofit center for preserving and sharing the history of the graphic arts. Letterform Archive Books produces exquisite titles based on its collection of more than 100,000 artifacts, as well as bold new books on design, type, and lettering. Distributed worldwide by D.A.P. (Distributed Arts Publishers), the Archive's publications include Bauhaus Typography at 100; Die Flache: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 19021911; Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest; The Complete Commercial Artist: Making Modern Design in Japan, 19281930; and Growing Up in Alphabet City: The Unexpected Letterform Art of Michael Doret. SOURCE Letterform Archive The live cell imaging market is driven by advancements in cell biology research, increasing demand for high-content screening, and the growing focus on personalized medicine. Technological innovations, such as high-resolution imaging and automation, are further fueling market growth. Additionally, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases and cancer spurs the need for live cell imaging in drug discovery and development. However, the market faces restraints due to the high cost of imaging systems, a lack of skilled professionals, and the complexities associated with live cell imaging procedures. LEWES, Del., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Live Cell Imaging Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.52% from 2024 to 2030, according to a new report published by Verified Market Reports. The report reveals that the market was valued at USD 2.57 Billion in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 4.42 Billion by the end of the forecast period. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/download-sample/?rid=847280 Verified Market Reports Logo Browse in-depth TOC on Live Cell Imaging Market 202 - Pages 126 Tables 37 Figures Scope of The Report REPORT ATTRIBUTES DETAILS STUDY PERIOD 2021-2030 BASE YEAR 2023 FORECAST PERIOD 2024-2030 HISTORICAL PERIOD 2021-2022 UNIT Value (USD Billion) KEY COMPANIES PROFILED Leica Microsystems, Nikon Corporation, Becton, Dickinson and Company, GE Healthcare, Olympus Corporation SEGMENTS COVERED By Type, By Application, By Geography. CUSTOMIZATION SCOPE Free report customization (equivalent to up to 4 analyst working days) with purchase. Addition or alteration to country, regional & segment scope Global Live Cell Imaging Market Overview Market Drivers Fueling Growth in the Live Cell Imaging Market Advancements in Imaging Technologies Recent innovations in imaging technologies, including high-resolution microscopes and fluorescence techniques, have revolutionized live cell imaging. These advancements allow scientists to observe cellular processes in real time with greater precision and accuracy. The availability of advanced software for image analysis and automation is further enhancing the efficiency and usability of live cell imaging systems, making them indispensable tools in biomedical research and drug discovery. Rising Demand for Personalized Medicine The shift towards personalized medicine is a major driver in the live cell imaging market. As medical treatments increasingly focus on tailoring therapies to individual patients, the ability to observe live cellular responses to drugs or treatments in real time is crucial. Live cell imaging enables researchers to study disease mechanisms at the cellular level, leading to more targeted and effective treatments. This demand is pushing pharmaceutical companies and research institutions to invest heavily in live cell imaging technologies. Growing Investment in Cell-Based Research There is a growing focus on cell-based research, particularly in cancer research, stem cell therapy, and regenerative medicine. The ability to visualize and analyze live cells is critical in these fields to understand cell behavior, growth patterns, and therapeutic responses. Governments and private organizations are increasingly funding cell-based research, further accelerating the adoption of live cell imaging tools. This investment is expected to drive the market as researchers seek better tools to uncover insights at the cellular and molecular levels. To Purchase a Comprehensive Report Analysis: https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/download-sample/?rid=847280 Market Restraints Limiting Expansion in the Live Cell Imaging Market High Costs of Advanced Imaging Systems The cost of high-end live cell imaging systems is a significant barrier to market growth. Advanced microscopes, fluorescence imaging systems, and the accompanying software can be prohibitively expensive for smaller research institutions or laboratories. Additionally, the cost of maintaining and operating these systems, along with the need for skilled personnel to handle complex equipment, adds to the financial burden. This limits the adoption of live cell imaging technologies, especially in developing regions or small-scale facilities. Complexity of Technology and User Training The sophisticated nature of live cell imaging technologies requires highly specialized skills to operate the equipment and analyze data effectively. This creates a steep learning curve for researchers and technicians, making it difficult for organizations with limited technical expertise to fully utilize the potential of these systems. The lack of trained professionals can result in underutilization of equipment and ineffective data interpretation, hindering the broader adoption of live cell imaging solutions. Ethical Concerns and Regulatory Challenges Live cell imaging often involves the use of live organisms, cells, and tissues, which can raise ethical concerns, particularly in stem cell research or genetic modification studies. Stricter regulatory frameworks governing the use of live cells in research can create obstacles for researchers, slowing down the progress of experiments and increasing compliance costs. These regulatory challenges, combined with ethical considerations, can limit the expansion of live cell imaging in certain research areas, restricting its overall market growth. Geographic Dominance The Live Cell Imaging Market demonstrates significant geographic dominance, with regions like North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia each contributing to its growth and development. North America leads the market, driven by advanced healthcare infrastructure, technological innovations, and high investment in research and development. Europe closely follows, benefiting from strong academic research and increasing adoption of live cell imaging in clinical applications. Meanwhile, Asia, particularly countries like China and India, is experiencing rapid market expansion due to a growing emphasis on biotechnological advancements and increasing demand for personalized medicine. Africa, though still emerging, shows potential for growth with improving healthcare systems and increasing interest in cellular research. Each region's unique contributions are shaping the global landscape of the live cell imaging market. Live Cell Imaging Market Key Players Shaping the Future Major players, including Leica Microsystems, Nikon Corporation, Becton, Dickinson and Company, GE Healthcare, Olympus Corporation. and more, play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the Live Cell Imaging Market. Financial statements, product benchmarking, and SWOT analysis provide valuable insights into the industry's key players. Live Cell Imaging Market Segment Analysis Based on the research, Verified Market Reports has segmented the global Live Cell Imaging Market into Type, Application and Geography. Live Cell Imaging Market, By Type Time lapse Microscopy Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) High content screening (HCS) Live Cell Imaging Market, By Application Cell Biology Developmental Biology Stem Cell & Drug Discovery Live Cell Imaging Market, By Geography North America U.S Canada Mexico Europe Germany France U.K Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India Rest of Asia Pacific ROW Middle East & Africa Latin America Browse Related Reports: Global Live Cell RNA Detection Market By Type (Linear Oligonucleotide Probe, Linear FRET Probe), By Application (Biotechnology Companies, Academic Institutes), By Geographic Scope And Forecast Global Live Cell Imaging Consumables Market By Type (Assay Kits, Reagents), By Application (Cell Biology, Stem Cells), By Geographic Scope And Forecast Global Live Cell Imaging Equipment Market By Type (Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopes, Spinning-Disk Confocal Microscopes), By Application (Hospitals, Pharmaceutical Companies), By Geographic Scope And Forecast Global Live Cell Imaging Devices Market By Type (Fluorescent Microscopy, Phase Contrast Microscopy), By Application (Cell Biology, Stem Cells), By Geographic Scope And Forecast About Us Verified Market Reports stands at the forefront as a global leader in Research and Consulting, offering unparalleled analytical research solutions that empower organizations with the insights needed for critical business decisions. Celebrating 10+ years of service, Verified Market Reports has been instrumental in providing founders and companies with precise, up-to-date research data. With a team of 500+ Analysts and subject matter experts, Verified Market Reports leverages internationally recognized research methodologies for data collection and analyses, covering over 15,000 high impact and niche markets. This robust team ensures data integrity and offers insights that are both informative and actionable, tailored to the strategic needs of businesses across various industries. Verified Market Reports' domain expertise is recognized across 14 key industries, including Semiconductor & Electronics, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Energy, Technology, Automobiles, Defense, Mining, Manufacturing, Retail, and Agriculture & Food. In-depth market analysis cover over 52 countries, with advanced data collection methods and sophisticated research techniques being utilized. 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Contact Us Mr. Edwyne Fernandes Verified Market Reports US: +1 (650)-781-4080 US Toll Free: +1 (800)-782-1768 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/ Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2486715/VM_Reports.jpg SOURCE Verified Market Reports FREDERICKSBURG, Texas, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Longneck Manor, home to one-of-a-kind, personal encounters with giraffes and rhinos, is proud to announce it has been awarded accreditation by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). This prestigious honor has been granted to less than 10% of facilities with animals in North America. Earning AZA accreditation is a testament to the professionalism, commitment, and focus of the entire staff at Longneck Manor. Longneck Manor, in collaborative partnership with SSA Group, has focused on earning AZA accreditation since its opening in 2021. Every aspect of Longneck Manor's operation was studied and assessed, including the care and well-being of its animals, educational programs, conservation efforts, and guest service programs. Earning this important accreditation demonstrates that Longneck Manor is committed to providing the highest standards of care for its animals, staff, and guests. "We are proud and honored to be recognized by the AZA for our unwavering commitment to animal care, conservation, and the guest experience," said Rick Barongi, founder and executive director, Longneck Manor. "As an animal care professional for more than 50 years, I understand and appreciate the significance of this milestone. It is a testament to our team's hard work and dedication, and the impactful way we touch the heart and mind of every guest that visits us." "SSA Group has been an active member and supporter of the AZA for many years," said Sean McNicholas, president and CEO of SSA Group. "Part of SSA's mission is to partner with companies so that we can help enhance our positive impact on global conservation. Our partnership with Longneck Manor is a special one. We are proud to work alongside Rick, Heather Crocker [director], and the entire team as they inspire and educate their guests." "Becoming an AZA-accredited facility celebrates Rick's leadership and Longneck Manor's passionate team," he added. "All of us at SSA believe in Longneck Manor's commitment to conservation and we're excited about our shared future together." There are currently 251 AZA-accredited facilities and 15 AZA-accredited related facility members throughout the U.S. and 12 other countries. The announcement of Longneck Manor's accreditation was made on Sunday, September 15, during the AZA Annual Conference in Calgary, Canada. Longneck Manor's accreditation will remain active for the next five years. A complete list of accredited AZA facilities can be viewed here. Download Photos Here: https://bit.ly/3MPIwnK About Longneck Manor Located on over 100 acres in the beautiful hill country of Texas, Longneck Manor provides daily tours and personal interactions for guests and one-of-a-kind overnight experiences in villas. Longneck Manor is home to six giraffes, three white rhinos, and one sloth. The unique destination is exclusive to tour participants and overnight guests and provides daily personal and customized experiences. Since 2021, Longneck Manor has been a getaway and conservation retreat for animal lovers and luxury travel seekers. Longneck Manor also runs a non-profit foundation, headed by Barongi and a board of directors, that supports global conservation projects and animal organizations. Each year, Longneck Manor donates revenue from onsite tours and merchandise sales to recognized organizations including the International Rhino Foundation, Save Giraffes Now, and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. To learn more visit: Longneck Manor.com. About SSA Group SSA Group partners with cultural attractions to maximize their mission and elevate the guest experience through an ecosystem of integrated hospitality services and technologies. With a focus on sustainability, cutting-edge technology, and people, SSA Group creates and delivers special moments of hospitality for 100 million guests annually. Built by families, for families, SSA Group is a family-owned business headquartered in Denver, CO. To learn more, visit: thessagroup.com/ SOURCE Longneck Manor New data shows U.S. adults prioritize price, quality, and style options when buying clothes LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- When we look our best, we feel our best, according to recent research conducted on behalf of global fashion and lifestyle online retailer SHEIN by The Harris Poll. The research, which asked more than 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older across all 50 states about their shopping habits, reveals that 92% of those surveyed feel that when they buy the clothing they want, it helps them feel good. And 90% agree that even when they don't have a lot of money to spend, they should be able to buy clothes that make them feel good. Infographic - New data shows U.S. adults prioritize price, quality, and style options when buying clothes. (PRNewsfoto/SHEIN) Among the key findings, a strong majority of Americans (93%) say that clothes don't have to be expensive to offer long-lasting value. When asked the most important consideration for selecting a clothing retailer, price and quality ranked highest at 79% each, followed by having a variety of styles and options to choose from (58%). When Americans find clothing that is unique, 68% say they wear it more often, and among those who shop at SHEIN, this rises to 76%. For those who find the items they love, they are consuming mindfully 91% of Americans try to avoid throwing clothes in the trash and instead will donate, sell, swap, or alter clothing they are finished with. "Following the latest fashion trends has always come at a steep cost," said George Chiao, president of SHEIN U.S. "Through SHEIN's on demand business model, we've been able to overcome this challenge. By only producing the products customers want, we're able to reduce waste while offering a variety of products and keeping costs low." For more on the survey, view here. Note: Two surveys were conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of SHEIN among U.S. adults aged 18 and older. The first survey was conducted from June 17-25, 2024, among 2,013 adults and the second survey was conducted Aug. 6-8, 2024, among 2,091 adults. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For these studies, the sample data is accurate to within + 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact [email protected]. ### About SHEIN SHEIN is a global fashion and lifestyle online retailer offering SHEIN-branded apparel and products from a global network of vendors at affordable prices. Headquartered in Singapore, SHEIN is committed to making the beauty of fashion accessible to all, promoting its industry-leading, on-demand production methodology for a smarter, future-ready industry. To learn more about SHEIN, visit www.sheingroup.com. SOURCE SHEIN NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Maitong Sunshine Cultural Development Co., Limited (OTC Markets: MGSD, the "Company") today announced that the Company begins trading on the OTC Markets. The Company is a professional enterprise that provides cultural and tourism services with distinctive cultural characteristics. The Company is always committed to creating unique and in-depth cultural experiences for tourists or cultural experiencers. Huang Fang, President of MGSD, stated, "We are pleased to announce that we begin trading on the OTC Markets, effective on September 18, 2024. We have been looking forward to expanding our markets exposure and increasing investor access. We believe trading on the OTC Markets is an important milestone for companies and investors. We will continue to update our shareholders on our progress." OTC Markets Group Inc. operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for over 12,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, they connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. They also enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. About Maitong Sunshine Cultural Development Co., Limited: Maitong Sunshine Cultural Development Co., Limited was incorporated in the State of Nevada on October 26, 2023. The Company through its operating subsidiary, which is headquartered in Beijing of China, is engaged in the business of providing cultural tourism, art exhibitions service and sale of Chinese cultural and creative products. The founding team has many years of entrepreneurial experience and experience in the education and cultural industry. With years of experience in education and cultural industry, the team has rich experience and accumulated a large number of customer resources. The team has maintained cooperative relations with more than 300 art training institutions and more than 200 kindergartens, linked 500,000 families and 1 million customers. Combined with the rapid development trend of the current culture and tourism industry, the team will transform resources in the cultural tourism industry and create an excellent cultural travel service provider. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains "forward-looking" statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in, or anticipated by, the forward-looking statements. Factors that could materially affect such forward-looking statements include certain economic, business and regulatory risks and factors identified in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release and the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Contact: [email protected] RELATED LINKS: www.maitongsunshine.com SOURCE Maitong Sunshine Cultural Development Co.,Ltd HOUSTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Introducing LinktoLawyers, a pioneering startup from Houston, Texas, dedicated to transforming the way customers find legal assistance. Launched in 2024, LinktoLawyers's mission is to simplify legal searches and make legal services more affordable to customers. LinktoLawyers's free platform allows customers to compare legal fees and negotiate with multiple law firms for Immigration, Criminal, Family, and Personal Injury law, all from one convenient platform. Navigating the legal landscape can be overwhelming, with expensive legal fees, slow response times from law firms and endless searches across numerous websites. Often, pricing is only revealed during a consultation, which can lead to surprises, only to find out that it doesn't fit within your budget. Traditional methods of finding an attorney rely on word-of-mouth referrals, countless phone calls, and visiting law firms in person. With LinktoLawyers, you can avoid these pitfalls. Their goal is to empower customers by providing them with free legal quotes from a variety of law firms, in each geographical area, ensuring that customers have the most current and transparent pricing based on each customer's specific legal situation. The platform facilitates real-time submissions from law firms, enabling customers to compare legal fees and negotiate with attorneys they're most interested in before committing to any in person or virtual consultation. LinktoLawyers invites customers to be part of their transformative experience. Start your free legal search with LinktoLawyers today. As a forward-thinking startup, LinktoLawyers is committed to providing customers with all the tools they need to find the best legal representation at a competitive and affordable price. To learn more and join their mission, visit www.linktolawyers.com. SOURCE LinktoLawyers BISMARCK, N.D., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE: MDU) today announced the retirement of Peggy Link, vice president and chief information officer, effective Jan. 10, 2025. Dyke Boese, currently director of enterprise infrasture and operations, will succeed Link. Joining MDU Resources in 2005, and throughout her tenure, Link has been a pivotal member of the company overseeing information technology functions for the company and its business units. Named as the first chief information officer for MDU Resources Group in 2016, she has led the enterprise technology services function since 2007 and previously served as the assistant vice president of technology and cybersecurity officer. With her more than 30 years of experience and extensive knowledge in the information technology arena, Link also has contributed to the broader IT community through her roles on the board of the Information Technology Council of North Dakota and as a member of the State Information Technology Advisory Committee. "Peggy's leadership and expertise have been instrumental in advancing our IT and cyber-readiness capabilities and ensuring the smooth operation of our technology functions," said Nicole Kivisto, President and CEO of MDU Resources Group. "Her people and project management skills have been a key strength, and her contributions will be greatly missed. We wish Peggy all the best in her well-deserved retirement." Reflecting on her time at MDU Resources, Link said, "It has been an incredible journey working with such a talented and dedicated team. I am proud of what we have achieved together and confident that the company will continue to thrive." Boese will succeed Link as chief information officer. Boese brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the company's IT landscape. He started his career with WBI Energy in 1999 and transferred to MDU Resources in 2005, accumulating over 25 years of experience. Boese holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Black Hills State University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Mary. He is also a graduate of the 2015 Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program and the Energy Executive Course at the University of Idaho in 2019. Additionally, Boese serves as a board member of the Technology Council of North Dakota (TechND). "I am honored to take on this new role and excited to lead our IT team into the future," said Boese. "Peggy has set a high standard, and I look forward to continuing the work she has started to drive innovation and support the company's strategic goals." Kivisto added, "Dyke brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the company's IT landscape, and he is well-positioned to continue building on Peggy's legacy of excellence." About MDU Resources MDU Resources Group, Inc., a member of the S&P MidCap 400 index, provides essential products and services through its regulated energy delivery and construction services businesses. Founded in 1924, the company is celebrating its 100th anniversary; learn more at www.mdu.com/100th-anniversary. For more information about MDU Resources, visit www.mdu.com or contact the Investor Relations Department at [email protected]. Investor Contact: Brent Miller, assistant treasurer and director of financial projects and investor relations, 701-530-1730 Media Contact: Byron Pfordte, manager of integrated communications, 208-377-6050 SOURCE MDU Resources Group, Inc. WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Media are invited to the kickoff event of a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Department of Education at 4 p.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 23, at the Wheatley Education Campus in Washington. The interagency project, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, aims to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education during after-school hours. Students are recognized for their hard work in STEM-related extended-day programs at their school through a partnership with NASAs Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Credit: NASA During the event, media will have the opportunity to learn about the STEM collaboration, hear remarks from leadership, and have one-on-one interviews with NASA and Education Department officials upon request. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to engage in educational activities, as well as participate in an engineering design challenge. Officials providing remarks at the event include: Kris Brown , deputy associate administrator, NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, Headquarters in Washington , deputy associate administrator, NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, Headquarters in Cindy Marten , deputy secretary, U.S. Department of Education Media interested in covering the event must RSVP no later than Friday, Sept. 20, to Abbey Donaldson: [email protected]. Through the project, NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and the Education Department will align resources to provide STEM activities, professional development, and funding for after-school programs nationwide. NASA will offer staff training, continuous program support, and opportunities for students to engage with NASA scientists and engineers. The initiative also will include student activities that demonstrate practical applications of STEM concepts. In May 2023, NASA and the Education Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding, strengthening the collaboration between the two agencies, and expanding efforts to increase access to high-quality STEM and space education to students and schools across the nation. NASA Glenn signed a follow-on Space Act Agreement in 2024 to support the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Learn more about how NASA's Office of STEM Engagement is inspiring the next generation of explorers at: https://www.nasa.gov/stem SOURCE NASA NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As Q4 fast approaches, NewCo Capital Group ("NewCo") and Australia-based Bizcap are finalizing year-end initiatives to strategically position both companies for an ambitious expansion in 2025. Both companies have celebrated a highly successful 2024, marked by remarkable and accelerated growth. This momentum has been driven by Bizcap's unique Line of Credit product, NewCo's introduction of their "Line of Capital" product and the launch of NewCo's new mobile app. CEO Albert Gahfi emphasized the importance of closing 2024 on a high note to set the stage for future growth. "We've had an exceptional year so far, but our focus is on what comes next. We're building the foundation for 2025 and beyond, ensuring that NewCo and Bizcap are positioned for continued global expansion." As we expand globally, our goal remains the samehelping small businesses scale, create jobs, and thrive. Post this The plan for Q4 includes deepening their presence in existing markets while making calculated moves into new territories, including Singapore, Germany, and Luxembourg. "There are new opportunities in emerging markets that are currently underserved, where we believe we can make a significant impact. As a result, 2025 promises to be an exciting year for SMB financing globally." By reinforcing their operational and technological infrastructure, the companies are preparing to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global financing landscape. "2024 has been a year of strong growth, but we're not stopping here," Gahfi said. "We are focused on delivering innovative financing solutions that not only meet the needs of today but also anticipate the demands of tomorrow. As we head into 2025, we're ready to expand our reach and provide even more businesses with the capital they need." Part of a multinational collaboration, NewCo and Bizcap have successfully deployed over $1.5 billion to over 35,000 businesses worldwide. Gahfi commented, "We're moving capital faster and more effectively than any other sector and our clients are benefiting from that growth." NewCo's strength lies in its ability to adapt quickly, using a unique mix of proprietary technology, nuanced underwriting, and an experienced risk management team. The companies' hybrid approach is challenging outdated financing models, making NewCo a preferred partner for SMBs looking for custom capital solutions that truly fit their needs. "We're not just growing; we're leading," Gahfi added. "As we expand globally, our goal remains the samehelping small businesses scale, create jobs, and thrive." With a clear strategy and a relentless focus on delivering value, NewCo Capital Group is primed to deepen its market influence and capitalize on emerging opportunities. As the company prepares for its next wave of market entries, Q4 will serve as a pivotal launchpad for an even more ambitious 2025, setting the stage for continued growth and global leadership. For more information, visit www.NewCoCapitalGroup.com . Contact: NewCo Capital Group Email: [email protected] Website: www.NewCoCapitalGroup.com SOURCE NewCo Capital Group AI-driven insights now available to help reps prioritize the most relevant HCPs, enhance pre-call planning, and optimize their route planning SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ODAIA today announced its expanded product and AI partnership with Veeva and the availability of ODAIA Engagement Intelligence in Veeva CRM, and soon in Veeva Vault CRM . The integration provides an AI agent that delivers predictive insights directly in Veeva CRM, helping pharma sales teams drive more targeted, relevant, and timely engagement with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Now commercial teams can provide every sales rep with AI-generated call lists, personalized pre-call summaries, and dynamic route planningall within their existing Veeva CRM workflows as they prepare for their week, day, or individual calls with HCPs. "Veeva's AI partner solutions integrate seamlessly with Veeva applications so that customers can quickly add capabilities directly into their workflows and business processes," said Matt Farrell, executive vice president of commercial strategy at Veeva. "Our partnership with ODAIA gives mutual customers actionable insights to drive customer-centric HCP engagement." ODAIA Engagement Intelligence works seamlessly with existing commercial processes so organizations can move beyond suggestions to AI-driven insights in a sales rep's real-time workflow without significant change management or disrupting their current tools and routines. The solution adapts to each company's brand strategy and integrates directly with Veeva CRM so sales reps can start using on-demand, actionable insights in weeks. The following features and capabilities are part of ODAIA Engagement Intelligence and available now in Veeva CRM: AI-powered, dynamic call lists ODAIA machine learning automatically creates personalized call lists for reps by combining existing segmentation and targeting data with HCP behavioral trends and leading indicators such as website visits, recent benefits verifications, and event attendance. These lists are updated in real time as customer data refreshes, ensuring reps always have the latest actionable insights tailored to their unique territory so they can prioritize the right HCPs that are ready for meaningful engagements. ODAIA machine learning automatically creates personalized call lists for reps by combining existing segmentation and targeting data with HCP behavioral trends and leading indicators such as website visits, recent benefits verifications, and event attendance. These lists are updated in real time as customer data refreshes, ensuring reps always have the latest actionable insights tailored to their unique territory so they can prioritize the right HCPs that are ready for meaningful engagements. GenAI pre-call insights ODAIA's AI agent autonomously pulls and processes data from multiple sources, delivering clear, easy-to-understand summaries and personalized recommendations to sales reps before every HCP interaction. Unlike chatbots that rely on human prompts, ODAIA's AI agent provides on-demand, contextual insights without any human intervention to simplify pre-call planning. Sales reps get specific recommendations on discussion points with concise explanations on what matters most to HCPs so they can have more effective, meaningful conversations. ODAIA's AI agent autonomously pulls and processes data from multiple sources, delivering clear, easy-to-understand summaries and personalized recommendations to sales reps before every HCP interaction. Unlike chatbots that rely on human prompts, ODAIA's AI agent provides on-demand, contextual insights without any human intervention to simplify pre-call planning. Sales reps get specific recommendations on discussion points with concise explanations on what matters most to HCPs so they can have more effective, meaningful conversations. Dynamic route planning Reps can now visualize high-value HCPs across their unique territory using an interactive map to optimize their schedules and routes, maximizing productivity. With insights tailored to local dynamics of each territory, ODAIA helps reps identify the most relevant physicians to visit. Reps can seize impromptu opportunities, prioritize high-value engagements, and make informed decisions on the go, ensuring every moment spent in the field is as efficient as possible. "Our goal is to help simplify the sales process and enhance the last mile of field execution with AI-driven, predictive insights," said Philip Poulidis, CEO at ODAIA. "ODAIA Engagement Intelligence bridges the gap between commercial strategy and field operations. Teams can leverage their existing data, run ODAIA's AI agent, and deliver intelligence to sales reps in Veeva CRM so they can discuss relevant topics with the right HCPs without learning new tools or changing their workflow. Together, we can offer a highly efficient, productive, and targeted approach to HCP engagement." Engagement Intelligence is available now for Veeva CRM. Availability for Vault CRM is planned for late 2024. To learn more about how Engagement Intelligence helps sales find high-valued HCPs, understand why, and plan their best routes in Vault CRM, visit odaia.ai/integrations/veeva. About ODAIA ODAIA is the leading AI company building the Customer Science Cloud for pharma. Innovative biopharmaceutical companies, including three of the top 15 global organizations, use ODAIA cloud solutions to enhance commercial engagement strategies by delivering predictive field intelligence as soon as your data refreshes. We provide sales teams with ML-driven territory targeting, personalized call lists, GenAI-driven pre-call insights, and real-time territory assessmentsdirectly within existing CRM workflows. To learn more, visit www.odaia.ai and follow us on LinkedIn . SOURCE ODAIA New research from CYPHER Learning warns that women, over 55's, and clerical or manual workers believe the AI race puts them at risk PLANO, Texas, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CYPHER Learning , provider of the leading modern learning platform for business and academic settings, today released a new study on workers' concerns and aspirations around using AI in the workplace. The study found that while AI is reshaping job roles in a positive way to remove repetitive tasks, workplace digital divides between ages, gender and seniority are deepening. CYPHER Learning surveyed 4,543 workers aged 18 and above, from a cross-section of industries across the US, UK and Mexico, and found: Reshaping of Roles: 63% of workers say the introduction of AI technologies has already impacted the skills required to perform their role, while over half (52%) believe it will either 'totally transform' or have a 'major impact' on their role within two years . Consequently, 38% expect they will need to retrain as their jobs will become obsolete and almost half (45%) are concerned about their future job security. of workers say the introduction of AI technologies has already impacted the skills required to perform their role, while over half believe it will either 'totally transform' or have a 'major impact' on their role within two years Consequently, expect they will need to retrain as their jobs will become obsolete and almost half are concerned about their future job security. Cautious Optimism: Despite the upheaval, many workers felt positive about the changes. 67% of workers view AI as a 'friend' rather than a foe. Moreover, 41% of workers use GenAI for their work, with 46% saying that AI as a whole is making their jobs easier, and 43% noting that it's taking away boring administrative tasks so they can focus on more high-value work. Despite the upheaval, many workers felt positive about the changes. of workers view AI as a 'friend' rather than a foe. Moreover, of workers use GenAI for their work, with saying that AI as a whole is making their jobs easier, and noting that it's taking away boring administrative tasks so they can focus on more high-value work. AI Digital Divides: Yet not all workers are equally benefiting from AI. Younger workers, men, and senior management are more likely to use AI at work and enjoy experimenting with AI, compared to women, over 55, and manual or clerical workers. Similarly, fewer women, older workers and manual or clerical workers felt technology is changing their roles for the better. Yet not all workers are equally benefiting from AI. Younger workers, men, and senior management are more likely to use AI at work and enjoy experimenting with AI, compared to women, over 55, and manual or clerical workers. Similarly, fewer women, older workers and manual or clerical workers felt technology is changing their roles for the better. Lack of Guidance: Workers also felt clearer guidance is needed around use of AI in the workplace, with 69% feeling clear AI policies are still needed while one in three (33%) think the use of AI in the workplace should be banned entirely. Interestingly, one in four (25%) workers admit to using AI without their boss's knowledge. "Each technological leap such as we are currently experiencing with AI does change the workplace," explains Graham Glass, Founder and CEO, CYPHER Learning. "Trade-offs have had to be made throughout history as jobs and roles shift. But over the long term these changes generally prove to be for the better." Michael Rochelle, Chief Strategy Officer and Principal HCM Analyst at Brandon Hall Group adds: "Artificial intelligence is not just about automationit's about augmentation. Brandon Hall Group research underscores AI's ability to enhance the workforce by freeing employees from mundane tasks and empowering them to focus on more strategic, creative endeavors. The true value of AI lies in its ability to enrich the employee experience and provide actionable insights that elevate organizational performance. CYPHER Learning's report highlights a key issue: all employees should have the opportunity to benefit from training and support to maximize AI's value in the workforce." With the influence of AI on the workforce expected to grow in the coming years, 73% of workers believe AI skills will be important to their role within five years with 45% believing such skills will be 'essential' or 'very important'. However, only 25% have had training in this area. Again, workforce divides were apparent: Only 11% of workers over 55 have had AI training, compared to 30% of those aged 18 to 44. More men than women report exposure to AI training 36% compared to 18%. Senior management have had more training than anyone else 58%, compared to 11% of clerical or manual workers. The survey also revealed frustrations and concerns around how technology training is delivered at present. Nearly half of workers (48%) worry about their company's future due to a lack of leadership investment in new technology skills. Moreover, 46% of workers said they find it impossible to keep up with the tech and digital skills required for their roles, and 53% say their tech training quickly becomes outdated. "As AI increasingly permeates the workplace, fostering a culture of continuous learning through training and education will be essential to boost worker confidence," Glass concludes. "Some workers may feel overwhelmed by technology when training is not delivered in a way that is relevant to them and their role. For example, helping people understand the purpose of AI, and how to assess and validate outputs, will be more useful to some workers than extensive training in prompt engineering. When training is delivered in ways applicable to each individual and their role, at the right time in the right context, it's more likely to help them progress." Findings are detailed in the new CYPHER Learning report: Bridging The AI Digital Divide About CYPHER LEARNING CYPHER Learning exists to give learners the power to succeed in a rapidly changing world. Trainers, learning and development (L&D) pros, HR pros, and educators get everything they need in one platform to deliver faster, more personalized, and better learning outcomes. The company provides the only all-in-one AI learning platform that is easy-to-use, beautifully designed, and built to power hundreds of millions of learning moments every day. Create courses faster. Train and teach better. Learn even quicker. Experience the CYPHER Learning "just in time, just for you, just the way you want to learn" approach that puts people first at www.cypherlearning.com . SOURCE CYPHER Learning Plus, Panera unveils a new kids menu featuring enhanced portions and new sandwiches ST. LOUIS , Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fall is here and that can only mean one thing the start of soup season. Panera, known for its iconic soups including favorites like Broccoli Cheddar and Creamy Tomato, is thrilled to make this soup season the coziest yet with a delicious lineup of three new and returning favorites. Starting today, guests can savor the comforting flavors of Autumn Squash Soup, a beloved seasonal staple, alongside two new warm and flavorful additions, Hearty Fireside Chili and Rustic Baked Potato Soup. New Fall Flavors Panera Hearty Fireside Chili This hearty chili is packed with a rich and savory blend beef, kidney beans, fire roasted tomatoes and green chili peppers, simmered in a broth flavored with a blend of chilis, and cilantro. This hearty chili is packed with a rich and savory blend beef, kidney beans, fire roasted tomatoes and green chili peppers, simmered in a broth flavored with a blend of chilis, and cilantro. Rustic Baked Potato Soup Creamy, cheesy and satisfying, this soup features the classic flavors of a baked potato. Homestyle cuts of potatoes with bacon, chives and seasoning are simmered in a creamy Monterey Jack cheese sauce and topped with melty asiago cheese. Creamy, cheesy and satisfying, this soup features the classic flavors of a baked potato. Homestyle cuts of potatoes with bacon, chives and seasoning are simmered in a creamy Monterey Jack cheese sauce and topped with melty asiago cheese. Plus, returning Autumn Squash Soup A seasonal favorite, this soup features a rich blend of butternut squash and pumpkin simmered in vegetable broth with honey, apple juice, cinnamon, and a hint of curryfinished with sweet cream and topped with roasted, salted pumpkin seeds. In addition to the new fall lineup, Panera, an authority in all things soup, offers a portfolio of comforting and classic soups sure to warm guests up this season. Classics like Broccoli Cheddar, Creamy Tomato, Homestyle Chicken Noodle, Cream of Chicken & Wild Rice and Bistro French Onion offer a range of flavor profiles perfect on their own or paired with a salad or sandwich. "When it's soup season, it's peak Panera season, and we're excited to celebrate by adding even more flavor and variety into our iconic lineup of soups, including hearty new offerings and seasonal favorites we know our guests love coming back for," said Mark Shambura, Chief Marketing Officer, Panera Bread. "Whether you are craving a hearty soup or satisfying sandwich, Panera has options for the whole family to feel good about eating, all at a great value." New Kids Menu Offers Great Value As the school year begins, Panera is also excited to announce a new and updated kid's menu, now offering double portions on select items, bringing more value for families and delicious options thoughtfully crafted for its youngest fans. Menu options include: Double the portion kid's sandwiches, including: Whole Sized Grilled Cheese sliced American cheese grilled on thick-sliced Classic White Miche. NEW Kids Turkey & Cheese Sandwich - Oven-roasted turkey breast and American cheese on thick-sliced Classic White Miche. NEW Kids Ham & Cheese Sandwich - Black Forest ham and American cheese on our thick-sliced Classic White Miche. Craveable Panera favorites including Mac & Cheese and Broccoli Cheddar Soup . As with every Panera meal, kids will have the choice of a side between apple, French baguette or chips. Plus, at participating locations, add and enjoy a beverage for only $0.89 (price varies by location).* Want another great reason to visit Panera? The brand is currently offering its most valuable Unlimited Sip Club deal yet. New monthly subscribers who sign up through October 31 will get 3 FREE MONTHS of endless refreshing drinks!** In April, Panera began its largest menu transformation ever, and throughout the year the brand has refocused on innovating and enhancing core Panera items while giving guests the right combination of taste, quality and value. Filled with new and enhanced offerings including bakery items, breakfast, soups, sandwiches and salads, Panera's New Era menu offers guests better value through enhanced portions and lower price points. For more information or to place your order today, download the Panera Bread app or visit PaneraBread.com. About Panera Bread Our first bakery-cafe opened in 1987, founded with a secret sourdough starter and the belief that the best part of bread is sharing it. That vision led to the invention of the Fast Casual category with Panera at the forefront, serving as America's kitchen table centered around our delicious menu of chef-curated recipes that are crafted with care by our team members. We make food that we are proud to serve our own families, from crave-worthy soups, salads and sandwiches to mac and cheese and sweets. Each recipe is filled with ingredients we feel good about and none of those we don't because we are committed to serving our guests food that feels good in the moment and long after. While our company is now nearly 2,200 bakery-cafes strong, our values and belief in the lasting power of a great meal remain as strong as ever. We spend each day filling bellies, building empowered teams and inspiring communities. Nothing beats breaking bread together. As of August 27, 2024 there were 2,172 bakery-cafes, company and franchise, in 48 states and Washington D.C., and in Ontario, Canada, operating under the Panera Bread or Saint Louis Bread Co. names. Panera Bread is part of Panera Brands, one of the largest fast casual restaurant companies in the U.S., comprised of Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels. For more information, visit panerabread.com or find us on Twitter (@panerabread), Facebook (facebook.com/panerabread) Instagram (@panerabread) or TikTok (@panerabread). Media Contact Panera PR [email protected] *Includes regular sized fountain and bubbler beverages, milk, chocolate milk, apple and orange juices, select bottled water. All others excluded. Pricing and selection vary by cafe. **3MONTHSFREE: Offer valid only for a new subscriber, which is a person that has never had an Unlimited Sip Club subscription through any name, email address, address, or phone number, that signs up for a monthly Unlimited Sip Club subscription through 11:59 p.m. CST October 31, 2024 will receive their first three months of an Unlimited Sip Club monthly subscription for free. Offer will be revoked if Panera determines, in its sole discretion, that person has ever had an Unlimited Sip Club subscription for any amount of time. Offer may expire without notice due to error, fraud, computer error, electronic or technical malfunctions, or other unforeseen circumstances. Other restrictions may apply. UNLIMITED SIP CLUB TERMS: Unlimited Sip Club subscription is available for registration and redemption in participating U.S. Panera Bread bakery-cafes. Must be MyPanera member and at least 18 years of age to register. Registration available online only (including in-cafe kiosk). You may cancel at any time. If you do not cancel either before your renewal date or the expiration of any promotional or trial subscription offer, your stored payment method will automatically be charged $14.99 plus tax for a monthly subscription and will be charged on a recurring monthly basis every 30 days thereafter. To cancel subscription online, visit Manage Subscription section at www.panerabread.com/UnlimitedSipClub or on the Panera Bread app. Subscription provides eligible subscribers the following subscription benefits: drip hot coffee, iced coffee, hot tea, fountain soda beverages, and bubbler drinks (e.g., iced teas, lemonades, and other bubbler beverages) once every two hours during normal bakery-cafe business hours, including unlimited refills. Beverages may vary by location and time of day. Excludes all other beverages, including, without limitation, packaged beverages, smoothies, frozen blended drinks, hot chocolate, cold brew iced coffee, and espresso and cappuccino beverages. Customizations, including, without limitation, added espresso and syrups (e.g., vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, and caramel) are not included in subscription monthly or annual price. Upcharges apply. Other additions (e.g., milk, skim milk, almond milk, half & half, and sweeteners) are included in monthly or annual subscription price, but availability may vary by location and time of day. Limit one subscription per person. Excludes catering orders and orders placed on third-party delivery sites. Panera reserves the right in its sole discretion to offer additional or different subscription benefits to members based on geographic location, home bakery-cafe, program participation, period of recurring subscription, or other criteria. Other restrictions may apply. Visit here for complete terms: https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/mypanera/subscription/terms-and-conditions.html. SOURCE Panera Bread SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- From September 18, 2024, the 10th Anniversary of the HWPL World Peace Summit is being celebrated in South Korea and various locations worldwide reaching 122 countries. Under the theme 'Creating World Peace Community Through Regional Collaboration', this event commemorates, global leaders' and citizens' commitment to peace that lasted for a decade, with an eye towards future strategies to promote global harmony. HWPL forms partnership with G7+ and PALATINO at the organization's 10th Annual Commemoration About 30,000 participants in South Korea for HWPL's 10th Annual Commemoration Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) stated that the purpose of the anniversary is to review achievements since 2014 and discuss future plans. Various sessions are being held in each country at different levels to gather regional talents and establish networks essential for tailored peace strategies, strengthening regional networks to tackle local peace threats and harnessing collective capacities. Through 10 years of international cooperation for peace, HWPL has 500,000 members in 170 countries and is carrying out peace projects through MOAs or MOUs with 1,014 organizations in 105 countries. Chairman Lee Man-hee of HWPL pointed out that division of religion caused tremendous loss of life, emphasizing that religions must take the lead in dialogue and understanding. "We must work together to create a world of peace and leave it as a legacy for future generations," he said. "This is to fulfill our mission as a light that brings life to the global village. Only through love and peace can the world become one." In line with the heart of regional cooperation, HWPL formed a partnership with the intergovernmental organization Group of 7+(G7+) and high-level political forum organization, The Latin American Parliament (Parlatino), to develop peace initiatives. G7+ was established to unite conflict-affected countries by a vision of peace, stability, and development, with 20 member states, and PALATINO was founded to promote development and integration within a framework of full democracy, having 23 member states. "I believe that peace education will play a crucial role, not just as a simple subject, but in helping students grow into future global citizens and in laying the foundation for peace and stability across society," Dr. Jose Honorio da Costa Pereira Jeronimo, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture said, who presented a peace project in the Timor-Leste. This peace summit engages social representatives in peace projects in different countries. In South Korea, the 'Together: Connecting Korea' officially launched for a national campaign for social harmony. Aligning with 230 civil society organizations, this campaign connects generations and diverse cultures, and carries out various environmental protection activities. Contact: Shane Sanchez 714-947-3646 [email protected] SOURCE Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A landmark partnership has been formed in Philadelphia that addresses the evident need for inclusive workforce development solutions tailored for individuals with past convictions. The Philadelphia Fair Chance Series and Employer Engagement Program, an initiative led by Philadelphia Works in collaboration with JPMorganChase, Envoy, National Reentry Workforce Collaborative (NRWC), and the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, is set to revolutionize fair chance hiring practices in Philadelphia. Employer Cohort convenes to kick off the Philadelphia Fair Chance Series and Employer Engagement Program, which supports the career growth of justice-impacted individuals in Philadelphia. Recognizing a significant gap in career mobility for justice-impacted individuals, Philadelphia Works, highlighted the critical need to develop and disseminate employer-facing guidance and resources. The initiative also bridges the historical divide between businesses and community-based organizations, setting a new precedent for creating mutually beneficial partnerships that drive access to economic opportunity. Supported and primarily funded by the JPMorganChase, and facilitated by Envoy, the initiative aims to provide employers with the tools and knowledge to harness the potential of job seekers impacted by the justice system. Participating employers will gain knowledge that enables them to modernize internal HR practices, diversify talent pipelines, and build community-based partnerships that bolster inclusive hiring. "Employers and community-based organizations are doing great work in the reentry space, but that work is often accomplished in silos, which informs only part of the solution; we want a complete solution," said Tyrone Hampton, Director of Workforce Partnerships at Philadelphia Works. "We're setting the stage for employers to implement best practices, learn from one another, and encourage the necessary changes to policies that move fair chance hiring from an initiative to a norm." The Series, which will take place over the next nine months, commenced yesterday with an event that brought together the full cohort of employers. Participating companies range from medium to large businesses across industries, showcasing the broad-based endorsement and confidence in the initiative's potential to generate significant positive societal impacts, providing career seekers with access to meaningful, long-term employment opportunities, and empowering employers to foster a shift in their hiring culture. Join us in pioneering a future where every individual has the opportunity for redemption, career development, and the ability to contribute positively to the economy of Philadelphia. - Businesses sign up to learn more here - Community-based organizations sign up to learn more here For questions or immediate engagement about the Fair Chance Hiring Series and Employer Engagement Program, please contact: Cara Bowmore, Senior Manager at Envoy, at [email protected] PR Contact: Dawn Thomas Director, Communications and Outreach [email protected] Voicemail: 215-557-2587 SOURCE Philadelphia Works The pin collection cheekily dubbed the Second Amendment Defender Collection is available for limited-time purchase on the Change the Ref website. Buyers can select to purchase a personal pin collection or can opt to send the collection to a lawmaker to remind him or her of what and who is at stake this election season. The campaign's media centerpiece is a video featuring Change the Ref student advocates surprising lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have voted against responsible gun safety with the graphic pin collection. Featured lawmakers include Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who noted on record the day of the Covenant School shooting in his home state, that Congress is "not gonna fix" school shootings and that he homeschools his daughter to keep her safe; Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN); Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA); Blake Moore (R-UT); Troy Nehls (R-TX); and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH). Also featured in the video is Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who represents the Apalachee High School district where four people were killed in a school shooting just two weeks ago. In the video, Collins proudly suggests arming teachers to keep schools safe. Like the students in the video say, "You can't make this sh*t up." "While we believe lawmakers should be free to take action and express their beliefs, we also believe in telling the complete story, including the dark reality of where those beliefs and corresponding actions may lead," said Change the Ref Co-Founder Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the Parkland High School massacre on Feb. 14, 2018. "We know a majority of Americans want responsible gun safety legislation, but those with the power to pass laws have failed to act, so we must pin the blame where it belongs on the legislators who refuse to stop mass shootings." The campaign comes on the heels of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's landmark Advisory on Firearm Violence declaring gun violence in America a public health crisis. Earlier this summer, students from Change the Ref were on hand at Rep. Maxwell Frost's (D-FL) press conference applauding the advisory where they presented him with a Second Amendment Defender Collection box of his own. "As kids head back to school this fall, we need to remember the real and devastating threat that gun violence poses to our students, teachers, and families. Communities like Parkland and Orlando are tired of our leaders only offering thoughts and prayers for the lives lost because of a gun," said Rep. Frost. "Legislators in Washington D.C., who proudly wear their AR-15 pins can't ignore the kids murdered and families destroyed as a result of that weapon. That's the cost of refusing to take action on gun safety legislation." A complete library of Pin It On Them assets, including videos, stills and more can be found here. The full Washington, D.C., video can be found on Change the Ref social channels linked here: Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube. For more information on Change the Ref and its initiatives, visit www.changetheref.org. About Change the Ref Change the Ref (CTR) was formed to amplify and support youth efforts and movement building. They use urban art and nonviolent creative confrontation to advocate for the eradication of the gun violence epidemic and to expose elected officials who are bought and paid for by the NRA and gun manufacturers. #NeverAgain SOURCE Change the Ref ATLANTA, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Randstad, the world's largest talent partner, has officially launched its new app , a cutting-edge two-sided marketplace platform designed to address the evolving needs of the workforce and clients. This 24/7 online platform gives job seekers unprecedented control over their employment journey and provides employers with immediate, reliable access to the digital marketplace of over 450,000 vetted, skilled workers. The Randstad App gives job seekers control over their job search and employers access to 450,000 vetted workers. Post this Randstad App Client Mobile Images The Randstad App data insights show over 80% of talent exploring job opportunities and 50% accepting positions outside the conventional 9-to-5 workday when traditional businesses are operating. In response to these evolving dynamics, the app is a vital link, connecting workers with opportunities that align with their specific skills, location preferences, and desired compensation through an AI-driven, personalized matching experience. "Seeing the patterns in our recent Workmonitor data , it's clear that what people want from their jobs and how they look for work is changing flexibility is at the top of their list," notes Marc-Etienne Julien, Chief Executive, Randstad North America. "With our app, we're turning those wants into reality. It's designed to offer freedom and flexibility, allowing individuals to find jobs in their local markets that not only match their skills but also fit seamlessly into their personal lives. This platform is about giving talent the choice and control they've been asking for directly from the palm of their hand." The app boasts features that allow employers to quickly fill positions with qualified candidates who can self-match to job openings based on their skills, availability, and career aspirationseven outside traditional business hours. This capability expedites the hiring process and enhances the fit between job roles and candidate qualifications. This digital marketplace facilitates a seamless job-matching process and introduces a new level of efficiency and reliability in staffing. With features designed to keep workers informed about their shifts and punctuality, the app enhances accountability and streamlines communication between employers and their workforce resulting in faster and more reliable delivery of talent. Greg Dyer, Chief Commercial Officer at Randstad US, highlighted the operational benefits of the app. "With our app, clients gain real-time, on-demand support for their staffing needs, with transparency into shift schedules and immediate access to pre-screened vetted workers. This is about more than filling positions quickly; it's about driving more efficient growth and equipping our teams to focus on delivering their best for our clients and talent," stated Dyer. Key features of the Randstad app include: 24/7 Job Searching: The power to search and apply for jobs, regardless of the time or day. The power to search and apply for jobs, regardless of the time or day. Streamlined Hiring : A fast, easy hiring process for employers to connect with a bench of qualified candidates. : A fast, easy hiring process for employers to connect with a bench of qualified candidates. Real-Time Updates: Employers can check the status of their staffing requests in real-time, ensuring constant alignment with their needs. Employers can check the status of their staffing requests in real-time, ensuring constant alignment with their needs. Data Analytics: Leveraging extensive data analytics, Randstad and its clients can gain insights into hiring trends and candidate preferences, enabling informed decision-making and continuous platform improvement. "This platform is the first step in transforming the traditional staffing experience. With Randstad's specialization strategy and end-to-end talent solutions, along with the largest pool of skilled workers globally, we are uniquely positioned to fill in-demand roles while helping our clients meet the challenging demands of today's workforce," added Julien. The Randstad app is now available across 39 states and the District of Columbia, a testament to Randstad's expansive vision to shape the world of work. To learn more about the app, visit the Randstad Workers App and Hire Workers with Randstad App . About Randstad: Randstad North America, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Randstad N.V., the world's leading talent company. Randstad is a global talent leader with the vision to be the world's most equitable and specialized talent company. As a partner for talent and through our four specializations - Operational, Professional, Digital and Enterprise - we provide clients with the high-quality, diverse and agile workforces that they need to succeed in a talent-scarce world. Randstad's North American operations comprise 6,470 associates and a deployed workforce of 71,900 in the U.S. and Canada. Learn more at www.randstadusa.com or www.randstad.ca . Headquartered in the Netherlands, Randstad operates in 39 markets and has approximately 40,000 employees. In 2023, we supported 2 million talent to find work and generated a revenue of 25.4 billion. Randstad N.V. is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam. For more information, see www.randstad.com SOURCE Randstad US VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - September 18, 2024 Sydney, Australia Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Patriot") (TSX: PMET) (ASX: PMT) (OTCQX: PMETF) (FSE: R9GA) is pleased to announce results of voting at its Annual General Shareholder Meeting held on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 4pm (Eastern Time) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (the "Meeting"). All matters submitted to shareholders for approval as set out in the Company's Notice of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and Information Circular (the "Circular"), dated August 5, 2024, were approved by the requisite majority of votes cast at the Meeting. A total of 49,735,927 common shares were voted at the Meeting, representing approximately 35.237% of the total issued and outstanding common shares of the Company as of the record date of the Meeting. As required under ASX Listing Rule 3.13.2, we advise details of resolutions passed, the proxies received and the total number of votes cast for each resolution as set out at Appendix 1, which includes detailed voting results for the election of each director nominated in the Company's Circular. A report with the final results on all matters voted on at the Meeting will also be filed on SEDAR+ under Patriot's profile at www.sedarplus.ca. About Patriot Battery Metals Inc. Patriot Battery Metals Inc. is a hard-rock lithium exploration company focused on advancing its district- scale 100% owned Shaakichiuwaanaan Property (formerly known as Corvette) located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, Canada, which is accessible year-round by all-season road and is proximal to regional powerline infrastructure. The Shaakichiuwaanaan Mineral Resource1, which includes the CV5 & CV13 spodumene pegmatites, totals 80.1 Mt at 1.44% Li2O Indicated, and 62.5 Mt at 1.31% Li2O Inferred, and ranks as the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas, and the 8th largest lithium pegmatite resource in the world. Additionally, the Shaakichiuwaanaan Property hosts multiple other spodumene pegmatite clusters that remain to be drill tested, as well as significant areas of prospective trend that remain to be assessed. 1 Shaakichiuwaanaan (CV5 & CV13) Mineral Resource Estimate (80.1 Mt at 1.44% Li2O and 163 ppm Ta2O5 Indicated, and 62.5 Mt at 1.31% Li2O and 147 ppm Ta2O5 ppm Inferred) is reported at a cut-off grade of 0.40% Li2O (open-pit), 0.60% Li2O (underground CV5), and 0.80% Li2O (underground CV13) with an Effective Date of August 21, 2024 (through drill hole CV24-526). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. For further information, please contact us at [email protected] or by calling +1 (604) 279- 8709, or visit www.patriotbatterymetals.com. Please also refer to the Company's continuous disclosure filings, available under its profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.asx.com.au, for available exploration data. This news release has been approved by the Board of Directors. "KEN BRINSDEN" Kenneth Brinsden, President, CEO, & Managing Director Qualified/Competent Person The technical information in this news release is based on, and fairly represents, information from the report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Shaakichiuwaanaan Project, James Bay Region, Quebec, Canada" with an Issue Date of September 12, 2024, and Effective Date of August 21, 2024 reviewed and approved by Mr. Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and member in good standing with the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec (Geologist Permit number 01968), and with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (member number 87868). Mr. Smith is Vice President of Exploration for Patriot Battery Metals Inc. and holds common shares and options in the Company. Mr. Smith has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralization, type of deposit under consideration, and to the activities being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as described by the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code). Mr. Smith consents to the inclusion in this news release of the matters in the form and context in which they appear. APPENDIX 1 Results of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Resolution Resolution Result Number of votes cast in Meeting Instructions given to validly appointed proxies For Against Withheld/Abstain For Against Withheld/Abstain Discretion 1a Election of Director - Pierre Boivin Pass 43,256,149 95.60% N/A 1,992,860 4.404% 43,256,149 95.60% N/A 1,992,860 4.40% -- 1b Election of Director - 44,024,359 N/A 1,224,650 44,024,359 N/A 1,224,650 -- Brian Jennings Pass 97.29 % 2.71 % 97.29 % 2.71 % 1c Election of Director - 44,173,979 N/A 1,075,030 44,173,979 N/A 1,075,030 -- Ken Brinsden Pass 97.62 % 2.38 % 97.62 % 2.38 % 1d Election of Director - 43,336,514 N/A 1,912,495 43,336,514 N/A 1,912,495 -- David Blair Way Pass 95.77 % 4.23 % 95.77 % 4.23 % 1e Election of Director - 42,978,599 N/A 2,270,410 42,978,599 N/A 2,270,410 -- Melissa Desrochers Pass 94.98 % 5.02 % 94.98 % 5.02 % 2. Appointment of Auditor Pass 49,651,546 N/A 66,064 49,651,546 N/A 66,064 -- 99.87 % 0.13 % 99.87 % 0.13 % 3. Ratification of previous -- issuance of Shares under the Flow-Through Financing Pass 34,004,868 94.79 % 140,496 0.39 % 1,728,248 4.82 % 34,004,868 94.79 % 140,496 0.32 % 1,728,248 4.82 % Placement 4. Ratification of previous -- issuance of Shares for Pass 45,160,720 63,882 24,407 45,160,720 63,882 24,407 acquisition of blocks at the 99.81 % 0.14 % 0.05 % 99.81 % 0.14 % 0.05 % Eastmain Project 5. Ratification of previous issuance of Shares for Pass 45,010,275 64,327 24,407 45,010,275 64,327 24,407 -- acquisition of JBN-57 claim 99.80 % 0.14 % 0.05 % 99.80 % 0.14 % 0.05 % block 6. Approval to issue FY24 38,804,897 2,757,072 9,653 38,804,897 2,757,072 9,653 -- Options and DSUs to Ken Pass 93.35 % 6.63 % 0.02 % 93.35 % 6.63 % 0.02 % Brinsden 7. Approval to issue FY24 28,196,818 13,365,152 9,653 28,196,818 13,365,152 9,653 -- Options and DSUs to Pierre Pass 67.83 % 32.15 % 0.02 % 67.83 % 32.15 % 0.02 % Boivin 8. Approval to issue FY24 Options and DSUs to Melissa Desrochers Pass 28,197,082 67.83% 13,364,888 32.15% 9,653 0.02% 28,197,082 67.83% 13,364,888 32.15% 9,653 0.02% - 9. Approval to issue FY24 DSUs to Brian Jennings Pass 38,628,852 92.92% 2,933,118 7.06% 9,653 0.02% 38,628,852 92.92% 2,933,118 7.06% 9,653 0.02% - 10. Approval to issue DSUs to non-executive Directors for FY25 Pass 38,633,556 92.93% 2,927,964 7.04% 10,103 0.02% 38,633,556 92.93% 2,927,964 7.04% 10,103 0.02% -- 11. Approval to issue Salary Sacrifice DSUs to non- executive Directors for FY25 Pass 38,698,451 93.09% 2,862,228 6.89% 10,944 0.03% 38,698,451 93.09% 2,862,228 6.89% 10,944 0.03% -- 12. Approval to issue RSUs and PSUs to Ken Brinsden for FY25 Pass 38,351,700 92.255% 3,210,269 7.72% 9,653 0.02% 38,351,700 92.26% 3,210,269 7.72% 9,653 0.02% - SOURCE Patriot Battery Metals Inc. BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Salon Freedom, the largest operator of Sola Salons, is excited to announce that Erin Bracke has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After two years as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Bracke is stepping into this role, bringing a deep understanding of Salon Freedom's operations and a vision for continued growth and excellence. David Raduziner, who has been instrumental in the company's growth and success, will assume the role of Vice Chair of the Board, continuing to support Salon Freedom's future growth. After 2 years as COO, Bracke has been named CEO, bringing an understanding of Salon Freedom's operations and vision Post this Erin Bracke Erin Bracke's promotion to CEO is a significant milestone for Salon Freedom, as her leadership over the past two years as COO has positioned the company for sustainable, long-term success. During her tenure, Bracke streamlined processes, implemented cutting-edge operational systems, and fostered a culture of care and empowerment that resonates with Salon Freedom's mission. "We couldn't be more thrilled to welcome Erin into the role of CEO," said David Raduziner, Vice Chair of the Board. "Her strategic vision, combined with her passion for operational excellence, has proven invaluable during her time as COO. I have no doubt that Erin's leadership will take Salon Freedom to even greater heights, as she continues to empower our team and the professionals we serve." Todd Recknagel, Chair of the Board, added, "Erin has consistently demonstrated her ability to drive results while nurturing the collaborative spirit that defines Salon Freedom. Her focus on growth, culture, and innovation ensures we are in good hands as we move into the next exciting chapter of our company's journey." Bracke will continue to build on the strong foundation of operational efficiency and market expansion, with a renewed emphasis on supporting Salon Freedom's community of beauty and wellness professionals. Her leadership will be instrumental in scaling the company, increasing market presence, and driving future growth initiatives. "I am honored and grateful for the trust and support of the Board," said Erin Bracke. "David has laid an incredible foundation, and I'm excited to lead this next chapter with a focus on operational excellence, growth, and maintaining the culture of care that makes Salon Freedom so special." ABOUT SALON FREEDOM Salon Freedom was formed in 2008 to develop franchised Sola Salon locations. The company announced a major investment in March 2022 by Three20 Capital Group, Geneva Glen Capital, and Stonehenge Partners. Salon Freedom operates 60 Sola Salon Studios locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Texas. ABOUT THREE20 CAPITAL GROUP Three20 Capital Group ("Three20") is a private equity firm led by franchise veterans Todd Recknagel and Kristi Mailloux. Three20 has a depth of experience in franchising, distribution, energy efficiency, and multi-unit businesses. A sampling of Brands they have partnered with include Massage Envy, Office Pride, Take 5 Oil Change, Mr. Handyman, Molly Maid, Quatrro Business Services, and AM Conservation Group. www.Three20group.com ABOUT GENEVA GLEN CAPITAL Geneva Glen Capital ("GGC") is a Chicago-based private equity firm that invests in proven private companies with leading market positions, significant growth potential, and stable cash flows. GGC makes control investments and targets companies headquartered in the U.S. or Canada with EBITDA between $2 million and $20 million. The firm works closely with management teams to establish and execute a clearly defined value creation and growth plan. www.genevaglencapital.com ABOUT STONEHENGE PARTNERS Stonehenge Partner ("Stonehenge") is an Ohio-based private equity firm serving the lower middle market. Founded in 1999, Stonehenge has a long history of partnering with leading entrepreneurs and managers who are focused on building winning teams, accelerating growth, and creating shareholder value. Stonehenge provides flexible capital that meets the needs of all stakeholders, including majority equity, minority equity, debt, and combinations thereof. Stonehenge has raised more than $1.4 billion of committed capital and is currently investing out of its sixth institutional fund. www.Stonehengepartners.com MEDIA CONTACT: Brittanie Gioioso, Sola Salons, [email protected] SOURCE Salon Freedom Holdings, LLC The UAE BioTech Symposium will be hosted in partnership with AmCham Abu Dhabi's BioTech Committee and Masdar City The UAE BioTech Symposium will attract U.S. and international BioTech owners and executives exploring opportunities in the rapidly growing BioTech sector in Abu Dhabi The inaugural symposium will be followed by quarterly events with Roadshow destinations across the Middle East ABU DHABI, UAE, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Secondcell Bio, a U.S. BioTech company scaling-up the its platform technology invented at The Rockefeller University in the United Arab Emirates, is pleased to invite U.S. and international BioTech owners and executives to participate in the inaugural UAE BioTech Symposium, in partnership with AmCham Abu Dhabi's BioTech Committee and Masdar City, taking place on November 6-8, 2024 in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi. Further details regarding the symposium and registration information may be found at https://www.uaebiotechsymposium.com. Competitiveness Talks Series at IRENA at Masdar City in February, 29, 2024. Masdar City will host all quarterly editions of the UAE BioTech Symposium in partnership with AmCham Abu Dhabi's BioTech Committee. Registration is free for qualified BioTech entrepreneurs new to the UAE market. To learn more visit https://www.uaebiotechsymposium.com. Masdar City in February, 29, 2024. (PRNewsfoto/UAE BioTech Symposium,Secondcell Bio, LLC) (PRNewsfoto/UAE BioTech Symposium,Secondcell Bio, LLC) The exclusive event focusing on advancing the biotechnology sector in Abu Dhabi, UAE is expected to attract approximately 150 qualified attendees interested in exploring opportunities in the rapidly growing BioTech and Life Sciences sector in the UAE. The symposium will offer an unparalleled platform to foster collaboration, innovation, growth and catalyze progress within the sector among entrepreneurs, researchers, governmental representatives and strategic investors. The inaugural symposium will be followed by quarterly events at destinations across the Middle East. "Abu Dhabi and Dubai attract the best of the best worldwide. Our forum is for BioTech owners and company builders. Join the adventure, #comeridewithme!" says Dr. Kambiz Shekdar, Chairman of the event and recipient of the first BioTech Inventor Golden Visa via a nomination from Abu Dhabi Competitive Office (COAD) who has transitioned to Abu Dhabi with support from Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO)/Abu Dhabi Residents Office (ADRO), "If even the UAE invests a tiny fraction of its wealth, we can move from Oil to Medicine." The symposium will be held at Masdar City, a pioneering sustainable urban community and world-class business and technology hub that has cultivated a thriving ecosystem of leading global organizations dedicated to evolving research and innovation: As the leading Life Sciences cluster hub in Abu Dhabi, Masdar City is proud to host a rapidly growing number of 55 companies across key clusters such as Basic Research, Pre-Clinical Research, Clinical Trials, and Logistics and Service Delivery. Pioneering organizations like the region's first Biobank, Attentive Sciences, G42, Insilico Medicine and the Emirates Drug Establishment are part of our growing ecosystem have chosen Masdar City due to its supportive ecosystem which contributes to cutting-edge advancements in the life sciences sector industry. In close collaboration with key government entities such as the Department of Health (DOH), the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), we are fully aligned with Abu Dhabi's vision for a knowledge-based economy. Masdar City Free Zone offers the right ecosystem, with unparalleled incentives, a strategic location, and a dynamic environment that empowers businesses to excel and deliver lasting impact both locally and globally. United States Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Martina Strong, whom Dr. Shekdar first met at AmCham Abu Dhabi's ADIPEC Kick-Off Dinner in 2023, has expressed her possible interest in making our US-UAE initiative an 'ABC' (America, Britain, Canada) initiative. UAE BioTech Symposium wishes to go one step further: We invite BioTech pioneers from around the world to come join us as the exciting new BioTech and Life Sciences sector takes root and flourishes in Abu Dhabi and throughout the region. AmCham Abu Dhabi CEO, Liz Beneski will provide opening remarks for the symposium, which is the first forum of its kind in the region. The symposium will provide attendees the opportunity to hear from distinguished international experts as well as founding members of the AmCham Abu Dhabi BioTech Committee. Key discussion topics will include growth of the BioTech sector across various regions, Emirati genomic research initiatives and the future of medicine in the UAE. Networking opportunities will be available for BioTech sector leaders to gather, discuss and explore potential areas of collaboration along with exclusive immersive visits to local laboratories and research hospitals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for an up-close view of the cutting-edge capabilities and facilities in the UAE. "It has been a privilege working alongside Dr. Shekdar where his expertise and genuine altruistic dedication to advancing science for the benefit of all humanity have been invaluable in inspiring our team to advance our organizational objectives," says Fabienne Duchini of Secondcell Bio, "Under Dr. Shekdar's visionary leadership, the symposium will offer novel insights and a compelling vision for the future of BioTech. I hope you will join us to see all of what the UAE has to offer." Several UAE government-linked entities will have information available about their services and business incentives for companies looking to expand to the UAE, including Masdar City, Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Abu Dhabi Residents Office and [LIST-IN-FORMATION]. The symposium will offer an optional weekend program featuring a variety of cultural, leisure and lifestyle experiences in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The weekend activities have been selected by luxury travel agency 2xceed Destination Management to enable participants to explore all that these two Emirati destinations have to offer outside the official program. We are grateful for the support of our generous corporate sponsors and exhibitors. Sponsors include Halia Therapeutics and Innova Therapeutics. International knowledge partners and corporate exhibitors include Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL), AtkinsRealis, GRUNECKER Patent Attorneys and Attorneys-at-Law, Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH, BioTech Clusters and university technology transfer offices [LIST-IN-FORMATION]. PRESS BRIEFINGS We invite members of the press to learn more. Private one-on-one briefings are available for scheduling as follows: 1) Members of UAE and GCC press: 10am to 8pm, Monday September 16, 2024, 10am to 8pm, Monday September 23, 2024 and 10am to 8pm, Monday October 7, 2024, GCC Time Zone 2) Business & technology press: 7am to 5pm, Tuesday October 8, 2024, EST Time Zone 3) All members of the press: 10am to 10pm, Wednesday October 9, 2024, GCC Time Zone To schedule a private one-on-one press briefing, please contact Fabienne Duchini at [email protected]. At a closed-door press briefing, Dr. Shekdar will share his personal experience navigating business opportunities in the UAE, adapting to the culture and his impression of the opportunities and challenges for others considering the move. We encourage members of the media including business press, U.S. and local outlets to join for a firsthand account of his experience pioneering a new sector of the knowledge based economy in the most mature market in the Arab Gulf States. Additional information for members of the press is available here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abu-dhabi-to-host-new-quarterly-forum-to-attract-us-biotech-firms-302248957.html About UAE BioTech Symposium UAE BioTech Symposium in partnership with the AmCham Abu Dhabi BioTech Committee and Masdar City will host quarterly panel discussions and lab tours in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and roadshow destinations throughout the GCC and Middle East. The events are free with attendance limited to prioritize U.S. and international BioTech owners and executives. Program details will be posted online in Arabic and in English as registration for each event goes live via the AmCham Abu Dhabi website. Arabic site for scientific program: http://www.uaebiotechsymposium.ae English site for scientific program: https://www.uaebiotechsymposium.com About AmCham Abu Dhabi AmCham Abu Dhabi (the trademark of the American Business Group of Abu Dhabi) is a member of the global network of American Chambers of Commerce. Active since 1986, AmCham Abu Dhabi's Mission is to promote commerce, investment, and goodwill between its membership, the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates. Our vision is to be an innovative organization creating trusted commercial partnerships that broaden U.S. - U.A.E. relationships. AmCham Abu Dhabi is an independent, not-for-profit association, comprised of Fortune 500 corporations, small and medium sized companies and prominent business leaders and entrepreneurs. For more information, visit: https://amchamabudhabi.org/ About Masdar City Masdar City is a pioneering sustainable urban community, a world-class business and technology hub, and a "green-print" for cities that want to be part of the solution to climate change. With one of the largest clusters of LEED Platinum buildings in the world, we are dedicated to creating a new kind of city, a new way of working and living, and a more sustainable future for everyone. The Masdar City Free Zone is a diverse, innovative, and ambitious group of over 1,000 organizations that benefit from comprehensive business support as well as the city's rich ecosystem. Tenants include the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UAE Space Agency, Siemens Energy, G42, the Advanced Technology Research Council, several Fortune 500 companies, and the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. The Masdar City Free Zone also includes The Catalyst, a clean-tech start-up investor powered by both Masdar City and BP. Masdar City hosts a growing residential community and has piloted two generations of autonomous vehicles. It also manages the Masdar Green REIT, a real estate investment trust dedicated to investing in sustainable real estate assets. Currently the Masdar Green REIT is worth nearly AED 2.9 billion. https://masdarcity.ae/ About AmCham Abu Dhabi BioTech Committee The AmCham BioTech Committee was formed to establish a BioTech sector in Abu Dhabi with a focus on promoting opportunities for U.S. BioTech companies with a vision to be a thought leader and facilitator for U.S. corporate interests in the emerging BioTech sector in Abu Dhabi and throughout the Middle East. Since its founding, the BioTech committee has seen a notable uptick in interest from U.S.-based companies seeking to broaden their service offerings within the region. AmCham BioTech Committee founding members include Seconcell Bio, Intelligenix Advanced Diagnostics, Extend Biosciences, Halia Therapeutics and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (JLL). https://amchamabudhabi.org/biotech/ AMCHAM ABU DHABI BIOTECH COMMITTEE FOUNDING MEMBERS About Secondcell Bio Secondcell Bio is building public-private partnerships worldwide to scale-up the demonstrated and largely automated platform biotechnology originating from The Rockefeller University. The company was formed by Dr. Kambiz Shekdar, PhD, inventor of Chromovert Technology. Secondcell Bio owns Chromovert Technology. https://www.secondcellbio.com/ About Intelligenix Advanced Diagnostics Intelligenix Advanced Diagnostics is a biotechnology company currently developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic technology for breast and prostate cancer under the rubrics of personalized and precision medicine. Intelligenix AD is developing cutting-edge, targeted therapeutics and companion diagnostic tests that encompass five critical areas: 1) determining cancer risk, 2) cancer early detection and diagnosing, 3) determining the best course of treatment, 4) molecular-based therapeutics, and 5) monitoring treatment effectiveness. Intelligenix Advanced Diagnostic's technology aims to significantly advance cancer disease management via its impressive patented technology platform, which covers these critical areas for precision medicine and ultimately improves patient outcomes and survival rates. https://intelligenix-adx.com/ About Extend Biosciences Extend Biosciences Inc. is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a novel drug delivery platform technology (D-VITylation) that significantly improves the pharmacokinetic properties of peptides and proteins. The Company's lead D-VITylated drug candidate, EXT608, targets the rare disease Hypoparathyroidism (HPT) characterized by inappropriately low circulating levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). EXT608 is being developed as a subcutaneously self-administered once-weekly dosing regimen for improved patient compliance and superior efficacy. Phase 2 trials in patients are underway. https://extendbio.com/ About Halia Therapeutics Halia Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing innovative therapies for neuroinflammation, metabolic diseases, and chronic inflammation. Through a unique approach targeting inflammatory pathways, Halia aims to deliver groundbreaking treatments to improve patient outcomes in areas of high unmet medical need. https://haliatx.com/ About Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL) / JLL MENA / JLL Healthcare and Lifsciences For over 200 years, JLL (NYSE: JLL), a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company, has helped clients buy, build, occupy, manage and invest in a variety of commercial, industrial, hotel, residential and retail properties. A Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $20.8 billion and operations in over 80 countries around the world, our more than 108,000 employees bring the power of a global platform combined with local expertise. Driven by our purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world, we help our clients, people and communities SEE A BRIGHTER WAYSM. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit https://www.us.jll.com/ JLL MEA. Across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) JLL is a leading player in the real estate and hospitality services markets. The firm has worked in 35 countries across the region and employs over 1900 internationally qualified professionals across its offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Cairo, Casablanca, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Nairobi. https://www.jll-mena.com/en JLL Healthcare and Lifesciences. JLL's Healthcare and Life Sciences consulting team offers a global network of experts with extensive regional expertise. We provide best-in-class advisory services for companies in these sectors, including feasibility studies, market entry and expansion strategies, technical and commercial due diligence. Our comprehensive consulting services help clients navigate complex challenges in the healthcare and life sciences industries. AMCHAM ABU DHABI BIOTECH COMMITTEE NEW MEMBERS About Innova Therapeutics Innova Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing a monoclonal antibody (mAb) platform targeting a novel protein that is highly expressed in both solid and hematological cancers. Innova's platform technology is initially focused on targeting cancers including pediatric osteosarcoma, sarcomas, triple negative breast cancer, multiple myeloma and pancreatic cancer. Current cancer therapies only target either the tumors directly or one component of the tumor microenvironment, while the pathway targeted with our therapy impacts both the tumor and tumor microenvironment simultaneously through a common pathway. In addition, a diagnostic is in development which has the tremendous potential for early cancer detection, as well as a prognostic marker for assessing therapeutic benefit of treatments and assessment of potential reoccurrence of cancer. https://www.innovatherapeutics.com/ UAE BioTech Symposium Cultural, Tourism and Logistics Partner About 2xceed Destination Management 2xceed delivers bespoke luxury travel, event planning, and corporate services with a focus on exceptional local expertise in UAE and all Middle East, innovative itineraries, and VIP experiences. Their offerings include tailored holidays, special event access, meetings & incentives, congress management, and comprehensive event logistics, all while adhering to principles of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. https://www.2xceed.com/ SOURCE Secondcell Bio, LLC; UAE BioTech Symposium HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shopoff Realty Investments ("Shopoff"), a national manager of opportunistic and value-add real estate investments, has secured City Council approval for its mixed-use master plan project, Magnolia Tank Farm, located on 29 acres near Magnolia Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, California. The council voted 7-0 in favor of the project. It was our ability to build a coalition of diverse groups that led to our ability to garner unanimous support. Shopoff secured California Coastal Commission approval in July 2024. With City Council approval now in place, plans for this vibrant future community in Huntington Beach can now move into the next stage of development. The project anticipates approximately 200+ for-sale single-family detached and attached homes, a 50-unit affordable multifamily community, and a 215-key boutique hotel with 19,000 square feet of retail. "We are grateful to the city of Huntington Beach for their support of this project, which we believe will be a fantastic addition to the city, brightening this historically blighted stretch of the coast," explained Shopoff President and CEO William Shopoff. "This approval marks a major milestone for the project, and we'd like to thank all our many supporters who saw the immense value in this new community, including affordable housing advocates, labor unions, construction and hotel workers, Huntington Beach residents and businesses, as well as the California Coastal Commission. Being able to build such as diverse coalition of groups to support this project ultimately led to our ability to garner unanimous support." This new community in southeastern Huntington Beach will provide quality housing for Huntington Beach residents, with a much-needed affordable housing component. This includes a first-of-its-kind program which will dedicate 50% of the affordable housing to hotel workers on-site and within the coastal region of Huntington Beach. Shopoff believes this innovative program is vitally important to the success of this project, as it will allow workers to live in the city where they are employed, avoiding lengthy daily commutes. Shopoff intends to break ground on the project in summer/fall 2025. About Shopoff Realty Investments Shopoff Realty Investments is an Irvine, California-based real estate firm with a 32-year history of value-add and opportunistic investing across the United States. The company primarily focuses on proactively generating appreciation through the repositioning of commercial income-producing properties, the entitlement of land assets, and development projects. The 32-year history includes operating as Asset Recovery Fund, Eastbridge Partners, and Shopoff Realty Investments (formerly known as The Shopoff Group). Performance has varied in this time frame, with certain offerings generating losses. For additional information, please visit www.shopoff.com or call (844) 4-SHOPOFF. Disclosures This is not an offering to buy or sell any securities. Such an offer may only be made through the offering memorandum to qualified purchasers. Any investment in Shopoff Realty Investments programs involves substantial risks and is suitable only for investors who have no need for liquidity and who can bear the loss of their entire investment. There is no assurance that any strategy will succeed to meet its investment objectives. The performance of this asset is not indicative of future results of other assets. Securities are offered through Shopoff Securities, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC, 18565 Jamboree Road, Suite 200, Irvine, CA 92612. Contact: Jill Swartz Spotlight Marketing Communications 949.427.1389 [email protected] SOURCE Shopoff Realty Investments STOCKHOLM, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska has signed a contract with the University of North Texas for the construction of a new building in Denton, Texas, USA. The contract is worth USD 87M, about SEK 920M, which will be included in the US order bookings for the third quarter 2024. The project involves the construction of a new 10,300 square-meter (111,000-square-foot) multidisciplinary research and teaching building on the university's Denton campus. This state-of-the-art facility will fulfill a critical need for more modern facilities that support collaborative and interdisciplinary research on the campus. The new building will expand research space for areas such as biology, biomedical engineering, chemistry, physics, data science, and computer science and engineering while creating experiential learning opportunities for students. The building will be constructed with a cast-in-place structure and showcase a facade combining masonry, curtain walls, and metal panels. Work is beginning in September 2024 and is expected to reach completion in October 2026. For further information, please contact: Peggy Cook, Communications Manager, Skanska USA, tel +1 (513) 222 5310 Andreas Joons, Press Officer, Skanska Group, tel +46 (0)10 449 04 94 Direct line for media, tel +46 (0)10 448 88 99 This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/skanska/r/skanska-constructs-new-building-for-the-university-of-north-texas-in-texas--usa--for-usd-87m--about-,c4038887 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/4038887/3006045.pdf 20240918 US university building https://news.cision.com/skanska/i/image---university-of-north-texas,c3334653 Image - University of North Texas SOURCE Skanska Franchisors, the Saldivar Brothers, Expand the Beloved Texas Barbecue Chain in the San Antonio Area AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Smokey Mo's BBQ, the beloved Texas barbecue chain known for its smoked in-house classic Texas barbecue and fast and friendly service, is excited to announce the opening of a new franchise location near the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) campus. The franchisee location will officially celebrate with a grand opening event for the local community on Saturday, Sept. 21. With this opening, Smokey Mo's BBQ franchisors, the Saldivar Brothers, will grow their store count to two from their successful current location on Stone Oak Parkway in San Antonio, bringing the total Smokey Mo's BBQ locations in the San Antonio area to six. Switchback Capital, Smokey Mo's BBQ's owner, has significant expansion plans to bring the fan-favorite barbecue to even more local communities through franchising and corporate locations. The new UTSA location will offer Smokey Mo's BBQ's signature menu of fan favorites. Highlights include delicious in-house smoked meats, homestyle sides, freshly made breakfast tacos, Smokey Mo's BBQ's famous oversized Chopped Baker loaded with smoked meats, and all the fixins'. "We are so excited to open our second Smokey Mo's location, and to bring the best neighborhood barbecue in Texas to our new location near UTSA," said Bobby Saldivar, Smokey Mo's BBQ franchisee. "We know our new neighbors will love our in-house smoked meats and friendly service, and we look forward to supporting our new community!" As an integral part of the San Antonio community, Smokey Mo's BBQ will donate all proceeds from a gift basket fundraiser to Branden Esquivel, a local student at Clark High School, and his Fiesta Especial Royal Court campaign. Fiesta Especial is an educational outreach program of disABILITYsa, a 501(c)3 charitable organization working to educate, advance, and engage the disability community in the greater San Antonio area. The donations from Smokey Mo's BBQ will help the program demonstrate how people with disabilities hold positions of leadership and contribute to the San Antonio community. "We're thrilled to work with our longtime franchise partners to bring our signature slow-smoked barbecue to the UTSA community," said Craig Haley, president of Smokey Mo's BBQ. "We look forward to more expansion from our franchise partners in coming years." For more than 20 years, Smokey Mo's BBQ has served smoked in-house classic TX barbecue to guests across Texas. With 19 locations and counting, Smokey Mo's BBQ is continuing to expand with plans for corporate-owned growth in Temple, Texas, and Harker Heights, Texas, both opening later this year. To learn more about Smokey Mo's BBQ franchising, please visit https://smokeymosbbq.com. About Smokey Mo's BBQ Based in Austin, Texas, Smokey Mo's BBQ started serving the best neighborhood BBQ in Texas in 2000. Now, with 19 total locations in the Austin, San Antonio, and Houston areas, Smokey Mo's BBQ pitmasters smoke classic Texas barbecue in-house every day and serve it fast and friendly. As the first-place winner of Boerne Star's Best of Barbecue in both 2023 and 2024, Smokey Mo's BBQ is committed to providing a modern ordering platform, speedy delivery options, and robust catering offerings for groups of all sizes. The company emphasizes the importance of community involvement by supporting local high schools, charitable organizations, and houses of worship. Smokey Mo's BBQ is expanding with carefully vetted franchise partners who are committed to the communities in which they serve. For more information about becoming a franchisee, visit smokeymosbbq.com. SOURCE Smokey Mo's TX BBQ Dan Dumbacher to Drive Innovation and Growth for SAS, Bringing Decades of Human Spaceflight Expertise to the Role HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Special Aerospace Services (SAS), a leader in space and defense engineering, hardware, and mission critical communications technology is proud to announce the appointment of Dan Dumbacher as its new Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer (CISO). Dumbacher, a renowned figure in the aerospace industry, brings over 30 years of experience, including significant contributions to NASA's human spaceflight programs and his current role as CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Dan Dumbacher, SAS Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer In his new role at SAS, Dumbacher will focus on accelerating the company's innovation strategy, integrating diverse capabilities, and leveraging his vast technical expertise to assure the successful delivery of SAS products and services. As the former Program Director for NASA's Exploration Systems Development, Dumbacher helped lead high-profile efforts including the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion spacecraft, and ground systems integrationkey programs pivotal to the future of human space exploration. His depth of knowledge and leadership will help drive SAS's growth trajectory and foster a culture of collaboration within the organization. "I am thrilled to welcome Dan to the SAS leadership team," said Heather Bulk, CEO of Special Aerospace Services. "His unparalleled experience with NASA's human spaceflight initiatives, combined with his leadership at AIAA, uniquely positions him to help us take SAS to the next level. Dan's ability to unite diverse teams, foster innovation, and drive successful outcomes will be critical as we continue to expand our efforts in the space and defense industries." At SAS, Dumbacher will lead strategic initiatives to enhance product and service delivery while driving innovation across the company's portfolio. His background at AIAA will also help SAS explore new growth opportunities and establish itself as a global leader in aerospace solutions. Dumbacher will continue his involvement with the NASA Advisory Council and other volunteer boards, furthering efforts to grow a diverse and inclusive aerospace workforce. "SAS is at an exciting point of growth, and I look forward to joining the team to help drive the next wave of innovation," said Dan Dumbacher. "With a focus on delivering technical excellence and fostering an innovative environment, we are well-positioned to meet the needs of our clients and contribute to the future of the space industry. I'm also committed to continuing my work with the NASA Advisory Council and volunteer organizations to further the development of the aerospace workforce, which is crucial for our nation's future competitiveness." Dumbacher's recent accolade as the 2024 recipient of the Allyship Award by Women in Aerospace further underscores his commitment to inclusion and support of underrepresented groups within the aerospace community. About Dan Dumbacher: Dan Dumbacher was most recently CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and has had a distinguished career in aerospace, including serving as Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Division. At NASA, Dumbacher led the development and integration of the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, and other critical ground systems, overseeing a team of 5,000 and managing a $3 billion annual budget. Dumbacher is a recipient of multiple awards, including NASA's Silver Snoopy Award and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. About Special Aerospace Services (SAS): SAS provides engineering services, missile defense solutions, mission critical communications technologies, and manufacturing support to NASA, the Department of Defense, and the commercial space sector. The SAS team is committed to furthering humankind's dreams and endeavors in space and keep the dream of space exploration alive for future generations. To learn more about SAS, please visit: https://sasaerospace.com. Contact Michelle Nielson [email protected] SOURCE Special Aerospace Services Partnership supports Danone in its efforts to address consumer products that are healthy and sustainable by design CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SPX FLOW has signed a joint business development plan with Danone, a leading global food and beverage company focused on essential dairy and plant-based products, waters and specialized nutrition. As part of its Partner for Growth (P4G) program, SPX FLOW is positioned to support the global company's P4G strategic pillars: science and technology; precision capacity creation; cost competitiveness and sustainability. Danone will leverage SPX FLOW expertise to optimize value engineering and speed time to market. The partnership allows capacity creation to be paired with technology know-how to unlock high-value products and feed Danone's sustainability agenda by exploring new energy and water-saving technologies. "SPX FLOW is focused on helping customers like Danone solve their most complex challenges," says Simon Phillips, President of Nutrition and Health Solutions, SPX FLOW. "We are proud to extend our longstanding relationship with Danone and help them accelerate carbon reduction across its factories with our sustainable technologies." SPX FLOW has provided innovative process solutions and been a trusted partner of Danone essential dairy and plant-based products for years. Additionally, SPX FLOW has been instrumental in medical capacity creation and localization efforts in Turkey and Poland, helping Danone meet consumer demands. Throughout the Renew Danone journey, SPX FLOW has supported Danone across its entire portfolio, ensuring efficient, sustainable and forward-thinking solutions from end to end. About SPX FLOW, Inc. Based in Charlotte, N.C., SPX FLOW, Inc. improves the world through innovative and sustainable solutions. The company's product offering is concentrated in process technologies that perform mixing, blending, fluid handling, separation, thermal heat transfer and other activities that are integral to processes performed across a wide variety of nutrition, health, and industrial markets. SPX FLOW has operations in more than 25 countries and sales in more than 140 countries. To learn more about SPX FLOW, please visit www.spxflow.com . Media Contact: Melissa Buscher, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer [email protected] SOURCE SPX FLOW, INC. International Union Cites Strong Political Divides, Few Commitments from Candidates WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday elected not to endorse any candidate for U.S. President. After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up nearly a year of rank-and-file roundtable interviews with all major candidates for the presidency, the union was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harrisand found no definitive support among members for either party's nominee. In data publicly released earlier in the day, President Joe Biden won the support of Teamsters voting in straw polls at local unions between April-July prior to his exit from the race. But in independent electronic and phone polling from July-September, a majority of voting members twice selected Trump for a possible Teamsters endorsement over Harris. The union's extensive member polling showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for President Trump. "The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables. Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business. We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industriesand to honor our members' right to strikebut were unable to secure those pledges," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. "Our mission as union representatives is clear: to be honest and upfront, to be inclusive and, above all, to be transparent with our membership. As the strongest and most democratic labor union in America, it was vital for our members to drive this endorsement process. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents proudly call our union home, and we have a duty to represent and respect every one of them. We strongly encourage all our members to vote in the upcoming election, and to remain engaged in the political process. But this year, no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters' International Union." During the Teamsters Rank-and-file Presidential Roundtables, the union shared feedback from members in the railroad and airline industries who work under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and are at the mercy of government intervention that often prevents work stoppages. While 10,000 Teamsters at United Airlines are currently negotiating a new agreement, tens of thousands of railroad Teamsters were forced to accept a new contract implemented by Congress without member support in 2022. In roundtable discussions with Trump in January and Harris this month, neither candidate promised not to intervene to force similar RLA contracts, which undermines workers' bargaining leverage. While Harris pledged, if elected, to sign the PRO Act, an essential piece of labor legislation strengthening union protections, and criticized dangerous "right to work" laws that are enacted to bankrupt unions, Trump would not commit to veto national "right to work" legislation if he returned to the White House. "'Right to work' laws only exist to try to kill labor unions," said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. "It is a red line for the Teamsters and must be for any union when a candidate for elected office does not oppose such anti-worker legislation. It's too important an issue for the labor movement as a whole to be left up to state legislatures." Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters . Contact: Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610 [email protected] SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters CARROLLTON, Texas, Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tech Safety Lines, a leading provider of proprietary training and patented safety equipment for workers at height, proudly announces the release of the updated SRK-15 Micro Rescue Kit. This enhanced version now meets the newest ANSI Z359.9 standard and has undergone rigorous third-party testing by UL and TUV SUD, ensuring compliance with both ANSI and CE standards up to an impressive height of 210 meters. Tech Safety Lines announces the release of the updated SRK-15 Micro Rescue Kit for workers at height Post this SRK-15 Evacuation Descent Image SRK-15 Assisted Rescue Kit Transparent-G With over 50,000 SRK-15 kits sold globally, this trusted rescue solution is used by workers across more than 35 countries. The recent improvements highlight Tech Safety Lines' ongoing commitment to innovation, safety, and reliability. Key Features of the SRK-15 Micro Rescue Kit: Military Compact Descender (MCD): Enables both self-rescue and assisted rescue operations. Enables both self-rescue and assisted rescue operations. Customization Options: Kits can be tailored in terms of rope length and packaging. Kits can be tailored in terms of rope length and packaging. Dual Braking System: Includes both an active and passive brake for enhanced safety. Includes both an active and passive brake for enhanced safety. Technora Rope: Engineered for strength retention even under chemical exposure. Engineered for strength retention even under chemical exposure. High-Heat Aramid Fiber Rope: Offers tensile strength exceeding 6,700 lbs. (3045 kg). Offers tensile strength exceeding 6,700 lbs. (3045 kg). ANSI Minimum Temperature Rating: -40C. -40C. EN Minimum Temperature Rating: -35C -35C Certifications: CE Certified by TUV SUD to EN 341:2011/2D and UL certified to meet ANSI/ ASSP Z359.9-2021. MCD-G Specifications: ANSI Load Rating: 130 310 lbs to 180 meters. 130 310 lbs to 180 meters. EN Load Rating: 60 125 kg to 180 meters. MCD-G+ Specifications: ANSI Load Rating: 130 310 lbs to 210 meters. 130 310 lbs to 210 meters. EN Load Rating: 60 125 kg to 210 meters. 60 125 kg to 210 meters. EN Load Rating: 60 141 kg to 160 meters. The SRK-15 includes the Military Compact Descender, a personal lowering device. The SRK-15 micro rescue kit ensures an independent, immediate, and adaptable evacuation and self-rescue capability. This versatile rescue kit can also be paired with a StepWise Fall Arrest Lanyard to perform a self-rescue after a fall. Additionally, the SRK-15 micro rescue kit can be inverted and used for an assisted rescue. During ladder rescues, the rescuer can perform a hands-free, active assisted rescue while maintaining three points of contact. "We are excited to launch the latest version of the SRK-15 Micro Rescue Kit," said Diane Waghorne, CEO of Tech Safety Lines. "Meeting the newest ANSI Z359.9 standard and achieving CE compliance up to 210 meters showcases our dedication to advancing safety for workers at height. This enhancement reaffirms our commitment to providing the highest quality safety equipment." Training Requirements: To ensure the effective and safe use of the SRK-15, training is mandatory. Tech Safety Lines has established a global network of Authorized Training Partners, providing comprehensive programs tailored to our clients' specific needs. Our state-of-the-art facility in Carrollton, Texas, spanning 40,000 square feet, continues to attract hundreds of trainees each month across industries, ensuring they receive the best training and equipment available. For more information about the updated SRK-15 Micro Rescue Kit or to find an Authorized Training Partner near you, please visit www.TechSafetyLines.com . About Tech Safety Lines Tech Safety Lines is ISO 9001:2015 certified for rescue training, rescue design systems, fall protection equipment, and rescue consulting services. Our products are proudly manufactured in Texas and sold in over 35 countries. As a Woman-Owned Small Business, we are committed to supporting our community and enhancing the safety of workers worldwide. SOURCE Tech Safety Lines SHENZHEN, China , Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TerraMaster, a leading brand in home and enterprise storage solutions, has recently announced the launch of 9 new NAS models, all equipped with its latest TOS 6 operating system. This lineup includes two 8-bay all-flash NAS models specifically designed for high-performance needs. All new products were officially launched on September 19, 2024, on the TerraMaster official website and various global e-commerce platforms. Comprehensive Range TerraMaster 2024 Fall New Product Lineup The new TerraMaster product series covers a wide spectrum of users, from individual consumers and SMBs to high-end devices for business and enterprise sectors, fully addressing different needs. 8-Bay All-Flash NAS The two 8-bay all-flash NAS models, F8 SSD and F8 SSD Plus, are designed specifically for creative and media professionals. The F8 SSD Plus features an Intel 8-core, 8-thread CPU, supports 4K hardware decoding, AES NI hardware encryption, and comes with 16GB DDR5 and a 10GbE Ethernet port. It is the most powerful compact 8-bay NAS in the industry. New 10GbE NAS Series The new 10GbE NAS series is tailored for home users and SMB (small and medium-sized business) environments, featuring Intel's latest 12th-generation processor technology. The F4-424 Max and F6-424 Max models are equipped with a 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, offering a robust configuration of 10 cores and 12 threads. 4 Backup All-in-One Models The new backup all-in-one models, designed specifically for enterprise backup needs, include two tower modelsT9-500 Pro and T12-500 Proand two rackmount modelsU8-500 Plus and U12-500 Plus. Each model is equipped with a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor with 10 cores and 12 threads, and 16GB of expandable DDR5 memory. New TOS 6 System TOS 6 features a completely redesigned user interaction model and introduces a comprehensive BBS commercial backup suite. It also includes a full upgrade of its security mechanisms, with innovative features such as TRAID+, SPC-Security Privacy Control, ACL-13 Permissions, OTP Two-Factor Authentication, HyperLock WORM, and system snapshot TFSS. Notably, TOS 6 offers full compatibility with Ubuntu root file systems, making the operating system more familiar and easier to maintain. Time-Limited Offer On September 19, 2024, the first 100 buyers will receive a $100/100/100 time-limited discount. More information, please visit: https://support.terra-master.com/2024_fall_newlineup/ Amazon Links: US, UK, CA, AU, DE, IT, RU, FR, ES, TerraMaster Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tiktok SOURCE TerraMaster Convene Business, Government and Community Leaders to Discuss Ways to Address the Mental Health Crisis Impacting Employees Across America WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Business Roundtable and The Cigna Group brought together senior business executives, federal policymakers and community leaders last night for a Workforce Mental Health Summit in the nation's capital. The event was part of the Business Roundtable Mental Health Initiative, a CEO-led effort to help companies promote and support employee mental health, championed by David M. Cordani, Chairman and CEO of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI). During the event, leaders in business and government provided perspectives on the impacts of the mental health crisis and strategies to ensure a healthy and productive U.S. workforce. The Cigna Group and Business Roundtable Host Workforce Mental Health Summit "Mental health and the many complex issues surrounding it touches every aspect of our lives, and each and every one of us can share a story about facing mental health challenges," said Cordani. "Employers have an unmatched relationship of trust with their workers and are integral to supporting their access to care. Yet this cannot be a one-and-done initiative if we truly want to move the needle, and build a stronger, more resilient, healthier nation, it will take all of us pulling together in the same direction." "CEOs understand the important role they play in addressing employee mental health and dismantling the stigma, and they are committed to being a part of the solution," said Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten. "Business Roundtable launched our Mental Health Initiative earlier this year to equip business leaders with resources, expert best practices and peer insights to enhance their companies' mental health efforts." Throughout the event, panelists discussed the importance of building workplace cultures that support employee mental health and the need for public-private sector collaboration to mitigate the crisis. To shed light on the role of government, Cordani led a fireside chat with U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE), who shared policy recommendations to address loneliness and other mental health challenges, and support access to care and substance use disorder treatments. Another panel discussion featured Julie Sweet, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Accenture; Wayne Peacock, President and Chief Executive Officer, USAA; and Blake Moret, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rockwell Automation. The CEOs shared their views on the impact of mental health challenges on businesses and the economy and information on their companies' efforts to promote workforce mental health. More than one in five U.S. adults and youths live with a mental illness, and 76% of U.S. workers in 2021 reported experiencing at least one symptom of a mental health condition. Beyond the profound personal impact, mental health challenges have far-reaching consequences on business that impact the whole economy. Missed work due to employee depression alone was estimated in a 2022 analysis to cost the U.S. economy $47.6 billion annually in lost productivity. Learn more about Business Roundtable Mental Health Initiative here. About The Cigna Group The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) is a global health company committed to creating a better future built on the vitality of every individual and every community. We relentlessly challenge ourselves to partner and innovate solutions for better health. The Cigna Group includes products and services marketed under Cigna Healthcare, Evernorth Health Services, or its subsidiaries. The Cigna Group maintains sales capabilities in more than 30 countries and jurisdictions and has more than 189 million customer relationships around the world. Learn more at thecignagroup.com. About Business Roundtable Business Roundtable is an association of more than 200 chief executive officers (CEOs) of America's leading companies, representing every sector of the U.S. economy. Business Roundtable CEOs lead U.S.-based companies that support one in four American jobs and almost a quarter of U.S. GDP. Through CEO-led policy committees, Business Roundtable members develop and advocate directly for policies to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans. Learn more at brt.org. Media Contacts Madeline Ziomek, The Cigna Group (202) 615-1473 [email protected] Jennifer Cummings, Business Roundtable (202) 496-3249 [email protected] SOURCE The Cigna Group; Business Roundtable PANAMA CITY, Fla., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Patrick Tamim is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Life Member for his contributions to the Vascular Surgery Field. Patrick M. Tamim, MD Dr. Tamim attended Southern Methodist University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry. He continued his education at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School where he earned a Medical Degree; completed a general surgical residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and Abbington Hospital in Pennsylvania; and finished a one-year critical care fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He capped his scholarship with a fellowship in vascular surgery at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. Dual board-certified in vascular surgery by the American Board of Surgery, the doctor explained that the ABS is an independent, non-profit organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded for the purpose of certifying surgeons who have met a defined standard of education, training, and knowledge. Among his many responsibilities and skills, the doctor provides treatment for carotid disease; aortic aneurysms; and peripheral artery disease surgery. He is an expert in aortic aneurysm; carotid endarterectomy; deep vein thrombosis; dialysis; access surgery; peripheral vascular diseases; peripheral artery disease; spider vein removal; stroke; and varicose veins. Dr. Tamim explained that vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which diseases of the vascular system, including the arteries, veins, and lymphatic circulation, are managed by medical therapy; treated with minimally invasive catheter procedures; and surgical reconstruction. Vascular surgeons, like the doctor, also diagnose, treat, and manage conditions in the arteries and veins, also called the blood vessels, and treat a range of health problems, from spider and varicose veins to life-threatening aneurysms, and can help patients manage chronic conditions throughout their lives. The doctor is affiliated with Bay Medical Sacred Heart and Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center where he has worked for 13 years in private practice locally in the Panama City Florida area serving Bay and surrounding counties. During his 23-year career, Dr. Tamim has received many accolades including the Patients Choice Award (2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008); Compassionate Doctor Recognition (2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010); Top 10 Doctors in the State (2014); and On-Time Doctor Award (2018, 2017, 2016) and is associated with the Society for Vascular Surgery and Emerald Coast Medical Association. Also a civic-minded professional, Dr. Tamim participates in a lecture series through the Council on Aging at his local hospital and speaks multiple languages, including English, French, and Arabic. When considering his extraordinary success, the doctor asserts that his philosophy to treat patients as if they are members of his own family has been a critical piece of his achievements. When he is not actively serving his patients, Dr. Tamim enjoys reading the Journal of Vascular Surgery and traveling to Lebanon and Greece. The doctor would like to dedicate this honor to his father, Marwan Tamim, MD, for all his inspiration and also to his mentors, David Drezner, MD; Phillip Allmendinger, MD; and Mary Windels, MD. For more information, please visit his website at www.pcvascular.com. Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] SOURCE The Inner Circle Charitable Donation to Support 52 Local Organizations Additional PG&E Funding Supports Food Banks' Emergency Preparedness OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The PG&E Corporation Foundation (The PG&E Foundation) is providing $1.3 million to local food banks, tribal food banks and senior meal programs to help feed individuals and families struggling with food insecurity. The contribution is the equivalent of approximately 2.67 million meals for individuals and families in need. The funding will support 52 food distribution organizations representing 45 counties in Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E) service area. The contribution comes during Hunger Action Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness about hunger in America and inspire action to combat it. According to the California Association of Food Banks, while California produces nearly half of the nation's fruits and vegetables, on average, one in five residents do not know where their next meal will come from. Communities of color face even higher levels of hunger. "PG&E has been a consistent major supporter of Community Action's North State Food Bank for the last half decade. Through their generous support the North State Food Bank has increased its cold storage capacity and supply of fresh and stable foods that are distributed throughout our 8,000 square-mile service region. Their support has been great towards increasing the food bank's purchasing power and for the hundreds of families who receive food, creating a greater collaborative impact for our communities," said Timothy Hawkins, CEO, Community Action of Butte County. "We're grateful for our ongoing partnership with food banks and meal distribution organizations that provide a critical safety net to families struggling to make ends meet. These local food support organizations fulfill a critical role in ensuring individuals and families are fed, can lead a healthy life and reach their full potential," said Carla Peterman, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, PG&E Corporation and Chari of The PG&E Corporation Foundation Board. Grant amounts consider county poverty and unemployment levels, using the California Department of Social Services' formula, to promote equity among counties with higher need. Supporting Emergency Preparedness In addition to the support for local food banks throughout PG&E's service area, the company has agreements with 25 local food banks in high fire-risk areas to provide food replacement during and up to three days after a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). These PSPS events may be called when dry, windy weather is forecast, and PG&E may need to turn off power in certain areas to prevent wildfires and keep customers safe. You can find a local food bank in your county here. Check with your local food bank to learn if they have income restrictions. Food is available why supplies last. Meals on Wheels delivers meals to seniors enrolled in the program. Seniors who are enrolled and experience a PSPS will receive an extra meal for each day of a PSPS outage. You can enroll in a Meals on Wheels in your area. PG&E also opens Community Resource Centers during PSPS events to provide basic supplies, charging stations and information to customers. Transportation support and hotel accommodations and discounts may also be available. You can learn more here and sign up for outage alerts. About PG&E Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than sixteen million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company New executives bring immense experience and opportunities to the global ad tech platform NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TripleLift , the ad tech platform elevating digital advertising across every screen, today announced that it has hired five new leaders to join the company's executive team across the global organization. The new hires include Ron Lissack, EVP of Technology, Frazer Locke, SVP of International Sales, Prune Nouvion, Country Manager, France, Richard Ottoy, UK Country Manager and Sofia Rabellino, SVP of Business Development. Ron Lissack. As TripleLift's first EVP of Technology, Lissack is responsible for the people and systems that develop and operate the TripleLift platform. He is based out of TripleLift's New York office and reports directly to Jaison Zachariah, Chief Technology Officer. Lissack joins TripleLift from Scope3, where he served as Chief Architect. He also has experience working as Chief Architect/SVP Engineering at Xandr and AppNexus. Frazer Locke. An industry veteran, Locke is TripleLift's new SVP of International Sales, where he focuses on developing the international business through retail media and advertising sales. He is based out of TripleLift's London office and reports directly to Ed Dinichert, Chief Revenue Officer and Member of the Office of the CEO at TripleLift. Prior to joining TripleLift, Locke spent 11 years at Amazon, with the last five years as Director of EU & APAC Ad Tech Sales, with his regional teams responsible for delivering programmatic advertising revenue through Amazon's Ad Tech suite including their DSP, ad server (AAS) and data clean room (AMC). Prune Nouvion. Prune takes on TripleLift's first-ever role of Country Manager of France where she will design and deliver the vision, strategy and execution that drives exceptional growth for France through advertisers and DSP partnerships. Before joining TripleLift, she was the Head of Southern Europe at VidMob, where she had a number of accomplishments, including winning the LVMH Innovation Award during Vivatech, the largest startup and technology event in Europe. Richard Ottoy. With more than two decades of experience in adtech, Ottoy joins TripleLift as UK Country Manager, leading all strategy for the company's business in the UK. He is based out of TripleLift's London office and reports directly to Frazer Locke. Most recently, he led the international expansion efforts for Sharethrough as the General Manager of EMEA, where he delivered significant growth in the region over his two year tenure. Ottoy also previously held leadership positions at OpenX, where he spent nearly eight years running the European publisher development business. Sofia Rabellino. Rabellino has been appointed as TripleLift's SVP of Business Development, a new global position where she is responsible for driving revenue through new and existing Enterprise Partnerships, DSP relationships and by facilitating business opportunities across TripleLift's core business such as CTV, Retail Media and Data. Based out of TripleLift's New York office, she will report directly to Ed Dinichert, Chief Revenue Officer. Rabellino comes to TripleLift from Criteo, where she spent nearly 15 years of her career and where she led the Global Supply business as SVP of Global Supply. "TripleLift has seen immense change and growth over the last several years and we needed to expand our leadership team to match the exciting evolution we are currently in," said Ed Dinichert, Chief Revenue Officer and Member of the Office of the CEO at TripleLift. "Ron, Prune, Richard, Frazer and Sofia each bring unique experiences and perspectives to our business and having them as part of our leadership team will help us not only expand our offerings, but improve them based on the needs of our clients. Not only that, but they will help us continue to improve and expand our culture, a critical part of what makes TripleLift so unique." To learn more about TripleLift and our leadership team, please visit www.triplelift.com . About TripleLift We're TripleLift, an advertising platform on a mission to elevate digital advertising through beautiful creative, quality publishers, actionable data, and smart targeting. Through over 1 trillion monthly ad transactions, we help publishers and platforms monetize their businesses. Our technology is where the world's leading brands find audiences across online video, connected television, display, and native ads. Brand and enterprise customers choose us because of our innovative solutions, premium formats, and supportive experts dedicated to maximizing their performance. We are part of the Vista Equity Partners portfolio. As an NMSDC-certified minority-owned business, we qualify for diverse spending goals and are committed to economic inclusion. Find out how TripleLift raises up the programmatic ecosystem at triplelift.com. SOURCE TRIPLELIFT The addition of Baxxodur polyetheramines to Univar Solutions CASE portfolio will help meet the rising demand for epoxy and polyurea curing and accelerating agents. DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Univar Solutions, LLC ("Univar Solutions" or "the Company"), a leading global solutions provider to users of specialty ingredients and chemicals, announced today that it is expanding its partnership with BASF to distribute its full line of Baxxodur amine-based curing agents in the United States and Canada. North American customers will enjoy access to BASF's full line of curing and accelerating agents, crucial elements in developing and enhancing epoxy, polyurea, and polyurethane systems. Baxxodur performance additives bring versatility to the forefront by adjusting formulations with these premium products, manufacturers can tailor the properties of final polymer materials to meet specific requirements in various industries, including automotive, construction, electronics, and consumer goods. The addition of Baxxodur polyetheramines to Univar Solutions CASE portfolio will help meet the rising demand for epoxy and polyurea curing and accelerating agents. Brian Jurcak, senior vice president of global product management and fulfillment for Univar Solutions, highlighted the importance of this partnership in upholding Univar Solutions' commitment to providing high-quality, innovative, and sustainable solutions to its customers. "We are excited to embark on this expanded partnership with BASF, which is significant given BASF's stature in the global chemical industry. Our customers rely on us to deliver quality ingredients and innovative and sustainable solutions, and relationships with key suppliers like BASF are integral to helping us deliver on these cornerstones of growth and success," said Jurcak. "The Baxxodur name is well-recognized in the chemical industry. This premium range of products is known for its versatility in a wide range of applications, making it a very valuable option for our customers." Univar Solutions and BASF have worked together for years, continually seeking new and innovative solutions that can deliver on customer demands. As formulators in CASE markets are increasingly seeking high-performance, multi-functional, and more environmentally friendly ingredients for their products that are designed to withstand extreme temperatures, UV radiation, and other harsh environmental factors, the Baxxodur line is a premium addition to Univar Solutions' already expansive product portfolio for industrial applications. According to Matthew Oliver, global vice president of Performance Materials for Univar Solutions, the strategic partnership with BASF signifies growth for Univar Solutions and its customers and reinforces the value of strategic collaborations in the chemical industry. "Working with BASF over many years, we recognize the level of innovation that goes into their products. Baxxodur materials are prized due to their performance-enhancing properties and versatility across applications," said Oliver. "We're excited to offer products that provide this level of reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness for industrial business customers requiring advanced polymer solutions, and we look forward to growing the Baxxodur product line through our leading technical sales and marketing teams and the strong support provided by BASF," he added. "We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Univar Solutions as the exclusive distributor for our Baxxodur product line in the U.S. and Canada. Univar Solutions' proven logistics capabilities coupled with its technical selling team are well aligned with our overall Baxxodur growth strategy," commented Kevin Anderson, vice president, Amines & Specialty Intermediates, Americas, for BASF. BASF's Baxxodur portfolio, including polyetheramines and isophorone diamine, is utilized by customers as highly efficient curing agents and chain extenders in epoxy and polyurea applications for the wind, electrical, composites, adhesives and flooring industries. The usage of Baxxodur allows customers to achieve a wide range of benefits in their formulation, including curing time, hardness, flexibility, peel strength, chemical and temperature resistance. BASF offers the broadest portfolio of amine-based curing agents for these industries. Baxxodur is a trademark of BASF SE. Learn more about the longtime collaboration between Univar Solutions and BASF. About Univar Solutions Univar Solutions is a leading global specialty chemical and ingredient distributor representing a premier portfolio from the world's leading producers. With the industry's largest private transportation fleet and technical sales force, unparalleled logistics know-how, deep market and regulatory knowledge, formulation and recipe development, and leading digital tools, the Company is well-positioned to offer tailored solutions and value-added services to a wide range of markets, industries, and applications. While fulfilling its purpose to help keep communities healthy, fed, clean and safe, Univar Solutions is committed to helping customers and suppliers innovate and focus on Growing Together. Learn more at univarsolutions.com . About BASF BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has approximately 16,000 employees in North America and had sales of $20.5 billion in 2023. For more information about BASF's North American operations, visit www.basf.com/us. At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of 68.9 billion in 2023. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com. Forward-Looking Statements and Information This communication contains "forward-looking statements" under applicable law regarding financial and operating items relating to the Company's business. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or other comparable terms. All forward-looking statements made in this communication are qualified by this cautionary language. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may be beyond the Company's control, that could result in expectations not being realized or could otherwise materially and adversely affect the Company's business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Although the forward-looking statements are based on what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, we caution you that the forward-looking information presented in this communication is not a guarantee of future events or results, and that actual events or results may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking information contained in this communication. For additional information regarding factors that could affect the Company, please see the Company's most recent annual report and other financial reports, including the information set forth under the caption "Risk Factors." Any forward-looking statements represent the Company's views only as of the date of this communication and should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any subsequent date, and the Company undertakes no obligation, other than as may be required by law, to update any forward-looking statement. SOURCE Univar Solutions LLC WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- URAC, the nation's largest and most comprehensive independent health care accreditation organization, today announced the launch of its updated Telehealth Accreditation program. The revised accreditation includes new standards and guidelines to address the evolving needs of telehealth, including responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI); promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); and enhancing data privacy protections. The updated Telehealth Accreditation introduces key standards on the use of AI, ensuring that organizations not only comply with applicable laws and regulations but also provide clear disclosures to consumers, providers and regulators about how data is processed, used, shared and stored. These standards are designed to align with the latest national and international guidelines on AI governance and ethical use, reflecting URAC's commitment to patient-centered safety and unbiased technology applications. "As the use of AI in health care continues to grow, it is critical that organizations adhere to uniform standards that protect patients and ensure ethical use of technology," said Shawn Griffin, MD, President and CEO of URAC. "Our updated Telehealth Accreditation provides a framework that guides organizations in implementing AI in ways that enhance patient care while safeguarding their rights and safety." Additionally, the new DEI standards are aimed at fostering inclusive practices within telehealth services. These standards require organizations to establish and promote workforce practices that support diversity, equity and inclusion, both at the employee level and in consumer interactions. The accreditation measures how well organizations incorporate DEI principles into their operations, helping them create a more inclusive health care environment. To further emphasize consumer trust and privacy, the updated accreditation requires that telehealth platforms and applications must not share consumer health data for marketing purposes. This new standard prioritizes privacy in an era where data security is paramount, particularly considering recent industry violations involving data being sold to third parties. "Privacy and trust are foundational to effective telehealth services," said Dr. Griffin. "Our updated standards ensure that organizations maintain the highest level of data protection, reinforcing the trust that consumers place in telehealth services." The updated telehealth standards come as the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) highlights the value of virtual care through Telehealth Awareness Week (September 15 21). As part of this effort, URAC held a webinar on September 10, Let's Talk Techquity: Addressing Specialized Population Needs through Digital Health, with a panel of experts from URAC-accredited organizations, including Children's National Hospital, AbleTo and Texas Tech University, to share how they are working to improve quality and access to care for children, people experiencing mental health challenges and incarcerated individuals. URAC also recently released a white paper on "techquity" featuring several of these experts. URAC's Telehealth Accreditation continues to be the gold standard for evaluating the quality and safety of telehealth services, offering independent third-party validation of an organization's commitment to excellence in health care delivery. The program's updated standards reflect the dynamic nature of health care innovation and the increasing importance of ethical AI use, inclusivity and privacy in telehealth. About URAC Founded in 1990 as a nonprofit organization, URAC is the independent leader in promoting health care quality and patient safety through renowned accreditation programs. URAC develops its evidence-based standards in collaboration with a wide array of stakeholders and industry experts. The company's portfolio of accreditation and certification programs spans the health care industry, addressing health care management and operations, pharmacies, telehealth, health plans, medical practices and more. URAC accreditation is a symbol of excellence for organizations to showcase their validated commitment to quality and accountability. For more information, visit urac.org. CONTACT: Laura Wood: [email protected], 202-326-3968 SOURCE URAC SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VeraScore, an innovative application designed to measure and manage financial health, has announced a strategic partnership with Labor Credit Union, a member-owned financial cooperative committed to serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. This collaboration represents a significant milestone in addressing the financial challenges faced by the underbanked and underserved populations in the region. VeraScore's AI-enabled SaaS-based technology empowers lenders to more accurately evaluate the true strength of a borrower's financial position. By promoting financial literacy and helping consumers build their financial health, VeraScore makes it easier for individuals to become more attractive to lenders, thereby opening doors to new financial opportunities. VeraScore, designed to measure and manage financial health, announces partnership with Labor Credit Union. Post this "We are thrilled to join forces with Labor Credit Union in our mission to empower individuals with better financial tools and education," said Geff Woodward, CEO of VeraScore. "This collaboration offers a unique opportunity to bring meaningful change to communities that have long been overlooked by traditional financial systems. With Labor Credit Union's support, we can expand our reach and help more people take control of their financial futures." Labor Credit Union has made a strategic investment in VeraScore as part of this partnership, marking a significant step in their commitment to the financial well-being of their members. A 3-month paid pilot program will be launched in early Q4, allowing Labor Credit Union members to use VeraScore to gain real-time insights into their financial health. The program provides personalized recommendations to help members improve their financial standing and access better financial products and services. "Our commitment to the financial well-being of our members goes beyond offering standard financial services," said Thomas Domingue, President & CEO of Labor Credit Union. "We recognize the unique challenges faced by underbanked communities and believe that tools like VeraScore are essential in helping these individuals build stronger financial foundations. By investing in VeraScore and launching this pilot program, we are taking proactive steps to ensure all our members can achieve financial success. Success does not just mean having access to favorable lending terms. We believe the platform has many applications that will empower our members with information and resources to make healthier financial decisions." About VeraScore: VeraScore (https://www.myverascore.com/) is an innovative AI-enabled, SaaS-based application for measuring and managing financial health. The SaaS-based technology allows lenders to more accurately assess the true strength of a borrower's financial position while promoting financial literacy for consumers and helping them to build financial health and become more attractive to lenders. About Labor Credit Union: Labor Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative dedicated to providing affordable and responsible financial services to the Washington, D.C. region. With a commitment to excellence and service, Labor Credit Union offers a wide range of financial products and services designed to engage, empower, and create opportunities for its members and contribute to their financial well-being. For more information, please visit www.laborcu.org. SOURCE VeraScore CONROE, Texas, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VGXI, Inc., a leading provider of plasmid DNA manufacturing and development services, is proud to announce its participation in the upcoming Alliance for Regenerative Medicine Annual Meeting on the Mesa. This prestigious event, renowned for its executive-level discourse and networking opportunities, will be an ideal platform for VGXI to showcase its plasmid manufacturing roadmap and celebrate over two decades of innovation in plasmid DNA technology. With a legacy spanning over 20 years, VGXI has been at the forefront of plasmid manufacturing, contributing to the advancement of gene therapy, DNA vaccines, and cell-based therapies. VGXI's commitment to quality and excellence has established it as a trusted partner in the regenerative medicine community. At the Meeting on the Mesa, VGXI aims to highlight its strategic vision for the future, emphasizing its ongoing investments in capacity expansion and process optimization to meet the growing demands of the industry. "VGXI is thrilled to participate in the Meeting on the Mesa," said Young Park, CEO. "Our presence at this event underscores our commitment to excellence and leadership in plasmid DNA manufacturing. We look forward to engaging with industry innovators and contributing to the advancement of regenerative medicine." The Alliance of Regenerative Medicine's Meeting on the Mesa is an exclusive gathering that brings together top-tier companies, investors, and delegates from around the world to engage in high-level discussions and collaborations. VGXI recognizes the importance of such interactions and is eager to contribute to the conversations that will shape the future of regenerative medicine. The company's representatives are looking forward to engaging with peers, sharing insights, and exploring new opportunities for growth and partnership. ABOUT VGXI, INC. VGXI is a leader in plasmid DNA contract manufacturing, with 20+ years of experience providing high-quality products to biomedical researchers worldwide. We support clients that develop DNA vaccines, immunotherapies, cell therapies, and gene therapies. VGXI's manufacturing process and quality controls are coupled to a continuous, low-shear AIRMIX patented lysis technology, and proprietary purification processes that provide highly supercoiled plasmid production and exceptional purity. VGXI's portfolio includes high-quality plasmid for preclinical research, Highly Documented (HD) plasmid as a critical raw material for GMP viral vector production or pharm/tox studies, cGMP plasmid DNA for clinical utilization through commercial supply, and custom services. To learn more, visit https://www.vgxii.com. ABOUT GENEONE LIFE SCIENCE GeneOne Life Science Inc. ("GeneOne" KOSPI: 011000) headquartered in Seoul, South Korea is an international biotechnology company and a leading contract manufacturer of DNA plasmids for use in vaccines, gene therapies, and cell therapies. GeneOne has recently expanded into the manufacture and development of mRNA. GeneOne has maintained a focus on vaccines against emerging infectious diseases to address global needs, including in resource challenged regions. Its small molecule portfolio of immunomodulators address diseases such as prevention of upper respiratory bacterial and viral diseases, and treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. GeneOne has three products against COVID-19 in clinical development: GLS-5310 DNA vaccine (Phase I/IIa), GLS-1200 nasal spray to prevent COVID-19 infection (Phase II), and GLS-1027 to prevent the inflammation and clinical worsening for those infected with COVID-19 (Phase II). For more information, visit https://www.genels.com. Media Contact: Justin Smith, Director of Marketing, [email protected] SOURCE VGXI, Inc. ROARING SPRING, Pa., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- WellPact, a leader in health and wellness fulfillment solutions, and IHDLab, a California-based laboratory specializing in at-home specimen self-collection services, proudly announce their collaboration to support colorectal cancer screening for patients at Highlands Health Clinic. This partnership reflects a mutual commitment to improving public health and providing critical services to underserved communities. Highlands Health Clinic, a free clinic in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, offers healthcare services to individuals who might otherwise lack access to essential medical care. The clinic plays a vital role in its community, ensuring that those in need receive the support and treatment necessary to maintain their health and well-being. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women in the United States, according to the CDC. Early detection of this disease significantly increases the chances of successful treatment, making screening an essential preventive measure. The collaboration between WellPact and IHDLab will enable Highlands Health Clinic to provide at-home colorectal cancer screening kits to their patients. These FDA-approved kits allow individuals to collect small samples in the comfort of their homes, facilitating early diagnosis and timely intervention. Through this partnership, WellPact will provide the packaging and fulfillment services necessary to distribute the screening kits, while IHDLab will handle the laboratory analysis of the collected specimens. This combined effort ensures that the screening process is efficient, accessible, and tailored to the needs of Highland Health Clinic's patient population. "We are honored to partner with IHDLab and Highlands Health Clinic to advance colorectal cancer screening," said Jenna Houseknecht, President and Owner of WellPact. "Our goal is to make critical health services more accessible and to contribute to the fight against cancer. By leveraging our expertise in healthcare packaging and fulfillment, we hope to support the clinic's vital mission." "IHDLab is thrilled to collaborate with WellPact and Highlands Health Clinic to provide this crucial screening service," added Jim Chen, MD, MPH, Chief Business Development Officer of IHDLab. "At-home specimen collection is a game-changer in making preventive health measures more accessible. We are committed to delivering high-quality lab services that support early detection and improve health outcomes." Highlands Health Clinic Director, Rosalie Danchanko, expressed gratitude for the partnership, stating, "The support from WellPact and IHDLab represents a significant enhancement to our screening capabilities. By offering at-home colorectal cancer screening kits, we are taking an important step in ensuring that our patients receive the care they need. We are deeply appreciative of the dedication and generosity of our partners." This collaboration highlights the power of community-driven efforts to improve public health. Through their combined resources and expertise, WellPact and IHDLab are making a meaningful impact on colorectal cancer screening and patient care at Highlands Health Clinic. About WellPact WellPact, based in central Pennsylvania, is a women-owned, FDA Re-Packager, and a leader in health and wellness fulfillment solutions. Driven by a mission to empower people to take charge of their health, WellPact provides high-quality custom kitting and logistics solutions that ensure the safe and reliable delivery of at-home test kits, patient care kits, and other custom medical kits. We are committed to helping our customers simplify the path to better health for patients. About IHDLab IHDLab is a California-based laboratory specializing in at-home specimen self-collection services. Their mission is to offer convenient and accurate laboratory testing solutions, improving access to essential health screenings and diagnostics. About Highlands Health Clinic Highlands Health Clinic is a free clinic located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, providing healthcare services to individuals in need. The clinic is committed to delivering compassionate and comprehensive care to underserved populations. For more information, please contact: Carol Kingsley WellPact VP, Strategy & Execution [email protected] SOURCE WellPact Download an Illustrative overview: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=23819831 Browse in-depth TOC on "Window Lift Motors Market" 289 - Tables 88 - Figures 258 - Pages Window Lift Motors Market Scope: Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 USD 3.5. Billion Estimated Value by 2030 USD 3.8 Billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 1.6% Market Size Available for 20192030 Forecast Period 2024-2030 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered by Type (12 V, 24 V), Vehicle Type (PC, LCV, HCV), Vehicle Class, Window Position, Regulator Type, Aftermarket by End Use, Aftermarket by Sales Channel, Aftermarket by Vehicle Type and Region - Global Forecast to 2030 Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Advancements in window lift motor technologies Key Market Drivers Consumer inclination toward premium vehicles The 24 V segment of window lift motors is anticipated to show the largest growth in the North American window lift motors market. Due to the increased growth rate in the e-commerce and last mile delivery industries within the US and Canada, the 24 V window lift motors are expected to dominate the North American market more than ever, therefore, enhancing the comfortability of commercial vehicles drivers. Light and heavy commercial vehicles are shifting from 12V to 24V electrical systems in order to improve power output and efficiency. In January 2024, Volvo North America, a branch of Volvo, introduced a new VNL Truck featuring a 24 V electric system aimed at reducing electrical problems. This will, in turn, lead to higher usage of 24 V Motors and will guarantee that these motors are compatible to prevent failure hence leading to growth on this particular segment. For instance, IFB Industries Limited based on India provide window lift motor which involved 24V high torque serration type, drum pulley. Rear windows segment is anticipated to be the fastest growing position in the global window lift motors market. The rear windows is expected to see the highest increase in growth in the near future due to increasing demand from customers for better vehicle comfort and convenience. The segment of back window motors in the passenger vehicle window lift motors market includes motors that control power window functions for rear doors. This part is particularly noticeable in medium-priced and luxury passenger cars, where rear power windows are commonly included as a standard feature. Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG from Germany supplies the rear power window motor for the 2024 BMW 430i.. Some of these models also come with one-touch window control and anti-pinch features. Auto makers are including a greater number of these characteristics in various car models, leading to a growth in this sector. The Opel Mokka (2024 model year) is a case in point, using power window motors from Inteva Products (US) for both the front and rear windows. Germany to lead the window lift motors market in Europe. Germany is expected to experience the largest growth due to its extensive vehicle production and strong automotive industry. The country is home to leading automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz. Additionally, as well as key window lift motor manufacturers like Robert Bosch GmbH and Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG. Germany's high vehicle ownership rate and extensive sales of premium passenger cars further contribute to the growing market for window lift motors in the country. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=23819831 Window Lift Motors Market Dynamics: Drivers: 1. Consumer inclination toward premium vehicles Restraints: 1. Disruptions in supply chain Opportunities: 1. Advancements in window lift motor technologies Challenge: 1. Intense competition and price pressures Key Market Players Window Lift Motors Industry: Prominent players in the Window Lift Motors Market include as Denso Corporation (Japan), Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG (Germany), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Mitsuba Corp. (Japan), and HI-LEX Corporation (Japan), and Antolin (Spain). The break-down of primary participants is as mentioned below: By Respondent Type: OEMs 24%, Tier 1 42% and Tier 2 and 3 34%, OEMs 24%, Tier 1 42% and Tier 2 and 3 34%, By Designation: CXO's 37%, Managers 49%, and Executives 14% CXO's 37%, Managers 49%, and Executives 14% By Region: North America 28%, Europe 36%, Asia Pacific 32%, and Rest of the World 4% Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=23819831 Window Lift Motors Industry Recent Developments: In May 2024 , Denso Corporation ( Japan ) established a new office in Minato-ku, Tokyo , to integrate sales, engineering, business, and corporate divisions, supporting face-to-face communication with customers, partners, and government agencies in the Greater Tokyo Area . , Denso Corporation ( ) established a new office in Minato-ku, , to integrate sales, engineering, business, and corporate divisions, supporting face-to-face communication with customers, partners, and government agencies in the . In February 2024 , STMicroelectronics ( Switzerland ) announced the AEK-MOT-WINH92 evaluation board aimed at driving DC motors for car window lifters, featuring an anti-pinch mechanism using three types of current sensing without motor encoders and offering flexible configuration options and fault detection capabilities. , STMicroelectronics ( ) announced the AEK-MOT-WINH92 evaluation board aimed at driving DC motors for car window lifters, featuring an anti-pinch mechanism using three types of current sensing without motor encoders and offering flexible configuration options and fault detection capabilities. In January 2024 , Han Yale Ind . Co., Ltd. ( Taiwan ) announced that it will showcase a new smart window lift motor and window regulator at the AAPEX event in 2024. , . Co., Ltd. ( ) announced that it will showcase a new smart window lift motor and window regulator at the AAPEX event in 2024. In December 2023 , Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co., KG ( Germany ) signed an agreement for contract renewal with HASCO Co., Ltd. ( China ) for 25 more years. Both companies have a joint venture, Shanghai Brose Automotive Components, which develops and manufactures door modules, window regulators, seat structures, and latches. , Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co., KG ( ) signed an agreement for contract renewal with HASCO Co., Ltd. ( ) for 25 more years. Both companies have a joint venture, Shanghai Brose Automotive Components, which develops and manufactures door modules, window regulators, seat structures, and latches. In April 2022 , SONTIAN AUTOMOTIVE CO., LTD. ( China ) announced its move to a new factory in Rui-An City, China , to expand production capabilities. Window Lift Motors Market Size - Key Benefits of Buying the Report: The report will help the market leaders/new entrants with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall window lift motors market and the subsegments. This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to position their businesses better and plan suitable go-to-market strategies. The report also helps stakeholders understand the market pulse and provides information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. This report provides insights on: Analysis of key drivers (Increasing consumer demand for comfort and convenience, Growing vehicle production, Shifting customer preferences for premium and luxury vehicles), restraints (Declining automobile sales, Supply chain disruptions), opportunities (Untapped growth potential in aftermarket, Rising demand for window lift motors from emerging markets), and challenges (Intense competition and price pressures, High consumer demand for durability and efficiency) influencing the growth of the window lift motors market. (Increasing consumer demand for comfort and convenience, Growing vehicle production, Shifting customer preferences for premium and luxury vehicles), restraints (Declining automobile sales, Supply chain disruptions), opportunities (Untapped growth potential in aftermarket, Rising demand for window lift motors from emerging markets), and challenges (Intense competition and price pressures, High consumer demand for durability and efficiency) influencing the growth of the window lift motors market. Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product & service launches in the window lift market. Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product & service launches in the window lift market. Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative markets the report analyses the window lift motors market across varied regions. Comprehensive information about lucrative markets the report analyses the window lift motors market across varied regions. Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products & services, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the window lift motors market. Exhaustive information about new products & services, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the window lift motors market. Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies, and service offerings of leading players like Denso Corporation ( Japan ), Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG ( Germany ), Robert Bosch GmbH ( Germany ), Mitsuba Corp. ( Japan ), and HI-LEX Corporation ( Japan ), and Antolin (Spain) among others in the window lift motors market. In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies, and service offerings of leading players like Denso Corporation ( ), Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG ( ), Robert Bosch GmbH ( ), Mitsuba Corp. ( ), and HI-LEX Corporation ( ), and among others in the window lift motors market. Strategies: The report also helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the window lift motors market and provides them with information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. Related Reports: Electric Vehicle Market - Global Forecast 2030 Electric Bus Market - Global Forecast to 2030 Automotive Motors Market - Global Forecast to 2027 Get access to the latest updates on Window Lift Motors Companies and Window Lift Motors Industry Growth 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. 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Contact: Mr. Rohan Salgarkar MarketsandMarkets Inc. 1615 South Congress Ave. Suite 103, Delray Beach, FL 33445 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1951202/4609423/MarketsandMarkets.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets San Francisco Business Times Recognizes Narayan's Leadership and Impact on Modernizing Student Transportation Nationwide REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Zum , the leader in modern school transportation, announced that Zum CEO and Founder Ritu Narayan has been named one of 2024's Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business. The San Francisco Business Times' annual awards recognize "the most powerful, inspiring and influential women" in the region. Past honorees include Fortune 500 CEOs, Nobel laureates, founders and funders, scientists, C-suite executives and others from across the Bay Area business and nonprofit community. Today Zum, the leader in modern school transportation, announced that Zum CEO and Founder Ritu Narayan has been named one of 2024s Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business. Honorees will be recognized at a gala on Oct. 10 and featured in a special edition of the San Francisco Business Times. "It is an honor to be part of the 2024 class of Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business alongside so many inspiring and innovative leaders," said Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO at Zum. "I founded Zum to solve the decades-long problem of student transportation. We got our start in the Bay Area with tremendous support from schools and families and, today, Zum is leading the industry forward by delivering safe, reliable, sustainable and equitable rides in school districts nationwide." Zum unifies parents, students, school administrators, and drivers on a single personalized end-to-end technology platform, enabling never-before achieved levels of visibility and data-backed accountability. Through the Zum app, parents can view a profile of their child's bus driver, along with real-time tracking and notifications about their school bus location and their child's pickup or dropoff status. Zum also allows administrators to optimize routes and provides staff with real-time data and performance reports. In August, Zum launched the nation's first fully electrified school bus fleet in Oakland, California, that is also equipped with groundbreaking vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, enabling the buses to return energy to the grid at scale. Additionally, this year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program awarded $58 million to Zum to accelerate the electrification of its school district partners nationwide. Zum manages and operates student transportation in 14 states and is rapidly expanding nationwide. To learn more about how Zum is working with thousands of schools across the nation to deliver safe, reliable and modern student transportation, please visit Zum's website . San Francisco Business Times' complete list of 2024 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business can be viewed here . Bio: Ritu Narayan Ritu Narayan is the founder and CEO of Zum, a technology company modernizing school transportation and the energy grid to make them both more sustainable. An accomplished entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience as a tech industry leader, Narayan was recognized on CNBC's 2024 Changemakers: Women Transforming Business list. She has been named one of the Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2023 by Goldman Sachs, Inc.'s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur's 100 Women of Influence, and she received the 2023 Power of Women Award from GSV ASU, among other accolades. Before Zum, Narayan led teams at Oracle, Yahoo, IBM and eBay. A graduate of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Narayan earned her undergraduate degree in computer science at the Delhi Institute of Technology. She lives in California with her husband and two children who, thanks to Zum, commuted to school safely, reliably and sustainably. About Zum Zum is a modern transportation solution transforming school transportation, the largest mass transit system in the U.S. Today, the company provides turnkey modern transportation solutions to school districts in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Utah, and Virginia, and is expanding rapidly nationwide. Recognized globally for its innovative transportation and energy as a service platform, Zum has been featured among Fast Company's World Changing Ideas, CNBC Disruptor 50, CNBC Changemakers, World Economic Forum and Financial Times' Fastest Growing Companies. Learn more about Zum at www.ridezum.com . CONTACT: Jenny Mayfield, Vice President of Communications - [email protected] SOURCE Zum 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 New York, Sep 18 : The United Nations has said that pager explosions that killed nine people and wounded 2,800 across Lebanon on Tuesday marked "an extremely concerning escalation" nearly one year into the Gaza war. "The developments today mark an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context," UN special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement. She urged "all concerned actors to refrain from any further action, or bellicose rhetoric, which could trigger a wider conflagration that nobody can afford". Hennis-Plasschaert "underlines the urgency of restoring calm and calls on all concerned actors to prioritise stability as paramount," the statement said, concluding that "too much is at stake to do anything less". At least nine people were killed in the attack in Lebanon, officials said. Among those killed was an 10-year-old girl, according to Lebanon's Health Minister, Firass Abiad. The latest casualty figures by officials include about 2,750 injured, including Iran's ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani. Hezbollah fighters in Syria were also injured in the attack, with several reportedly being treated in hospitals in Damascus. Iran's Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Saberin News reported that some guards in Syria had also been killed. A Hezbollah official said the detonation of the pagers was the "biggest security breach" for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. The blasts appeared to exploit the low-tech pagers that Hezbollah has adopted in order to prevent the targeted assassinations of its members. The pagers were reportedly a new brand. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel. Hezbollah said two of its fighters were among the dead and threatened a "just punishment" for Israel. "We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians," the group said. The son of the Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar reportedly also died in the explosions, as did two sons of other prominent Hezbollah figures. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the blasts. The attack took place just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah. The attack followed months of targeted assassinations by Israel against senior Hezbollah leaders. Lebanon's Health Ministry put hospitals across the country on "maximum alert" and instructed citizens to distance themselves from wireless communication devices. Hezbollah maintains its own communication network separate from the rest of Lebanon. It also comes as US officials try to de-escalate tensions between the two sides, and could derail US efforts to prevent Iran from retaliating against Israel for the July bombing in Tehran that killed the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. The US said it "was not aware of this incident in advance". A US State Department Spokesperson, Matthew Miller, told in a press briefing that the US was not involved and did not know who was responsible. He added that it was "too early to say" how it would affect Gaza ceasefire talks. Beirut, Sep 18 : Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel after pagers used by its members exploded across Lebanon simultaneously, killing at least nine people and leaving almost 3,000 injured in a dramatic and unprecedented attack at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the blasts, which came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by the Hamas attacks on October 7 to include its fight against Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon. Lebanon's Health Minister, Firass Abiad, said the blasts on Tuesday killed a 10-year-old girl, among others. He told a press conference: "About 2,750 people were injured... more than 200 of them critically," with injuries mostly reported to the face, hands and stomach. The apparent sabotage attack followed months of targeted assassinations by Israel against senior Hezbollah leaders and came as US officials try to de-escalate tensions between the two sides and remain concerned that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, could order a ground invasion of Lebanon. It threatens to derail efforts by the US to prevent Iran, which backs the Lebanese Shia militia, from retaliating against Israel for the July bombing in Tehran that killed the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. The blasts appeared to exploit the low-tech pagers that Hezbollah has adopted in order to prevent the targeted assassinations of its members, who could be tracked by mobile phone signals. Those wounded in the attack include Iran's ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, according to reports. It also ratcheted up tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, interrupting an uneasy calm which had prevailed over the last three weeks when both parties had appeared to step back from the brink of a regional war after a limited Hezbollah response in late August to Israel's assassination of its top military commander, Fuad Shukur, in Beirut. Lebanon's Information Minister Ziad Makary called the explosions an act of "Israeli aggression". Hezbollah said two of its fighters were among the dead and threatened a "just punishment" for Israel. Later media reports said the son of the Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar also died in the explosions. Hezbollah fighters in Syria were also injured in the attack, with several being treated in hospitals in Damascus, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Iran's Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Saberin News reported that some guards in Syria had also been killed. The US State Department Spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said it was "too early to say" how it would affect Gaza ceasefire talks. He told a briefing the US was not involved and did not know who was responsible. Hamas described the attack as an "escalation" that would lead to Israel's defeat. Israeli media reports on Tuesday evening said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and other security chiefs had been huddling at the Defence Ministry headquarters at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv after the blasts. The Israeli military said senior commanders had held a situational assessment "focusing on readiness in both offence and defence in all arenas" but there was no change in instructions to civilians. The Israel Defense Forces' home front command told local authorities there was a possibility of an escalation after the incident. A Hezbollah source said they believed the attack was in response to an alleged assassination attempt by the Shia militia on a former top Israeli defence official, revealed on Tuesday by the Israeli Shin Bet security agency. It accused Hezbollah of attempting to kill a former security official using a claymore anti-personnel mine that could be detonated remotely, publishing photos of a dismantled bomb and wiring wrapped in tape that it claimed showed the attack was prevented in its "final stages". Hezbollah has not commented on the alleged assassination attempt. The attack was the third time Beirut had been targeted since the beginning of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on October 8. The Lebanese militia had launched rockets at Israel on October 7, "in solidarity" with Hamas's attack on southern Israel, which began the current Gaza war. Hospitals across Lebanon were overwhelmed with an influx of patients, and a field hospital was set up in the southern city of Tyre to accommodate the wounded. The sound of ambulance sirens was constant in Lebanon's capital city more than three hours after the initial attack. Videos of patients, including children, with mangled hands, gaping wounds in their sides and bandaged heads circulated on Lebanese social media. A doctor in Beirut's Geitawi hospital said the emergency room was tending "several critical patients". A senior security source said pagers all over the country exploded, primarily wounding members of Hezbollah. They added that security agencies would investigate how the sophisticated attack was carried out, but that forces were currently occupied ensuring wounded people could reach hospitals. Lebanon's Health Ministry put hospitals across the country on "maximum alert" and instructed citizens to distance themselves from wireless communication devices. Hezbollah maintains its own communication network separate from the rest of Lebanon. Suspicions that Israel has managed to penetrate the group's telecommunications have been held since October, as several Hezbollah commanders have been assassinated in targeted strikes. The incident came as the Israeli Prime Minister was holding a series of high-level security consultations with the heads of the security forces amid rising tensions with Hezbollah, according to Israeli media reports. The consultations were called a few hours after Israel, during an overnight meeting of the security cabinet on Tuesday, approved the decision to expand its war goals to include the return of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from towns along the northern frontier that have been badly damaged by rockets fired by Hezbollah -- a move that suggests a large-scale military operation against the Lebanese militant group is likely. Hezbollah officials have said in the past that the group would stand down if a Gaza ceasefire was reached, while Israel says it cannot allow militants to remain in the border area in southern Lebanon. The violence has killed hundreds -- mostly fighters -- in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side. The fighting has also forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes. In recent days, according to media reports in the country, Netanyahu has been allegedly considering dismissing Gallant as Defence Minister. The move would be the biggest leadership shake-up in the country since the October 7 attacks, and could pave the way to an all-out conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Gallant is believed to have consistently opposed a big military operation in Lebanon while the fighting is continuing against Hamas in Gaza, West Bank violence and military activities are escalating, and Israel is fighting off Houthi missile attacks and dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions and threats. Washington, Sep 18 : The US was "not involved" in the series of pager explosions in Lebanon and was "not aware" of any attack in advance, said a State Department spokesperson "The US was not aware of this incident in advance, and at this point, we're gathering information," said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who repeatedly referred to the matter as an "incident" not an "attack". Miller did not say what information the US has so far, and would not say whether the US assesses that Israel is responsible or not. Hezbollah and Lebanon have both blamed Israel for the attack, which injured about 2,800 people and killed at least nine people, according to the Lebanese Health Minister. The Israel Defense Forces did not comment. "I don't have any assessment to offer one way or other at this point," said Miller. Miller would not say if the US would make its own assessment, but said it was "gathering information through all of the ways in which we usually gather information". "We're gathering information through diplomatic channels as well as other channels about this incident," he said, but would not say if the US has had conversations with Israeli or Lebanese officials. "I don't want to prejudge what we'll say in the days to come," the State Department Spokesperson said. Asked if there were indications that Iran could retaliate, given reports that the Iranian ambassador was injured, Miller said he did not want to speculate until those reports were confirmed. "I've seen the reports. I don't want to speak to what the implications might be before a report is confirmed. But certainly, as is always the case, we would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident, any instability, to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region. That has been our message to Iran since October 7," he said. Miller also reiterated that the US believes there needs to be a diplomatic solution to the conflict in northern Israel with Hezbollah, and that it is important for Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire in order to make a diplomatic resolution in the north easier. He said it is "very, very difficult to get a diplomatic resolution in the north absent a resolution to the conflict in Gaza, absent a ceasefire in Gaza, which is why we continue to push for that ceasefire, because we think it'll help make it much easier to reach a resolution". Miller did not say how the US views this attack affecting the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. The US continues to believe that there needs to be a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday. Lebanon's Hezbollah promised to retaliate after blaming Israel for detonating pagers on Tuesday that killed at least nine people and wounded 2,750 others, including many of the militant group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. "So we continue, we continue to believe that there should be a diplomatic resolution to this," Jean-Pierre said. Washington, Sep 18 : US Vice-President Kamala Harris has said that she supports the decision in May this year made by President Joe Biden to withhold a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs from Israel but reiterated her support for Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas. "One of the things that we have done that I'm entirely supportive of is the pause that we've put on the 2,000-pound bombs," Harris said on Tuesday during an onstage interview at a National Association of Black Journalists event during which she was repeatedly pressed on why the US isn't using more leverage against Israel to end the war in Gaza. Harris begins her answer by going through what has become somewhat of a stump speech that she gives on the Israel-Hamas war when the issue comes up at campaign events. She stressed the brutal nature of Hamas's October 7 onslaught; that Israel has a right to defend itself; that how it does so matters; that too many Palestinian civilians have been killed; that the scenes coming out of Gaza are heartbreaking; that the US is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end the war as soon as possible; that there should ultimately be a two-state solution to the conflict; and that Iran is not empowered to sow instability. The Democratic presidential nominee added that she has been involved in talks with Israeli and Arab leaders regarding the post-war management of Gaza and reiterated that there can be no Israeli reoccupation of the Strip. "But ultimately, the thing that is going to unlock everything else in that region is getting this (cease-fire) deal done," Harris said. Biden said in May that he would withhold certain weapons shipments to Israel if Israel launched a major ground offensive in the densely populated southern Gaza city of Rafah. Some of those weapons have since been released. In August, the US approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel. At the start of a six-minute exchange about Israel and the war in Gaza, Harris asserted that "this war has to end," and that the only way for the violence in the region to end "is by getting a hostage deal and the cease-fire deal done". "Stepping back, October 7, 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered, and actually, some Americans, by the way, in that number. Slaughtered. Young people who were attending a concert. Women were horribly raped. And yes, so I have said, Israel has a right to defend itself. We would," said Harris. "How it does so matters, and far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed." Harris' comments reflected the same position she has staked out since the October 7 Hamas attacks last year, and that she has recently articulated as the Democratic presidential nominee: support Israel's right to defend itself, call for a two-state solution, stand with Biden's diplomacy in the region and condemn the killing of civilians in Gaza. Harris touted her role in discussions with Israeli and Arab leaders about the "day-after scenario" in Gaza, restating the Biden administration's position that Gaza should not be reoccupied, that the borders of Gaza remain unchanged and that all people in the region are secure. "Let us also recognise," added Harris, "that Iran is not empowered in this whole scenario in terms of the peace and stability of the region." Seoul, Sep 18 : North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in a northeastern direction on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, further ratcheting up tensions already heightened by its rare disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility last week. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches at about 6:50 a.m. from the North's Kaechon area in South Phyongan province, north of Pyongyang. It did not provide further details, including the number of missiles fired, Yonhap news agency reported. "While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance against additional launches, our military will share North Korean ballistic missile information with the US and Japanese sides and maintain a full readiness posture," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters. North Korea disclosed its uranium-based nuclear facility on Friday, a day after its test-firing of a new 600 mm multiple rocket launcher. The latest bouts of its saber-rattling have added to cross-border tensions caused by the North Korea's launches of trash-filled balloons to South Korea. The series of Pyongyang's provocative acts came amid lingering concerns that the recalcitrant regime could engage in major provocations to bolster its leverage ahead of the November 5 presidential election in the US. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on September 13 called for increasing the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment in order to increase its nuclear weapons for self-defence, the state media said. Kim made the call during a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the "production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials", according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The dispatch did not release the location of the facility or date of the visit. It marks the first time North Korea has publicly revealed details of its uranium enrichment facility. Kim also "stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges in order to exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defence true to the Party's line of building up nuclear-armed forces," the KCNA said. A uranium enrichment facility is used to produce highly enriched uranium by placing uranium in centrifuges and spinning it at high speeds. Highly enriched uranium is essential for the manufacture of nuclear warheads. South Korean and US intelligence agencies believe North Korea operates uranium enrichment facilities at the Kangson nuclear complex near Pyongyang and at the Yongbyon nuclear site. In 2010, North Korea invited Siegfried Hecker, a renowned American nuclear scientist, to inspect its uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon. Additionally, Kim called for improving the separation capacity of the centrifuges and accelerating the development of a new type of centrifuge to "further solidify the foundation for producing weapons-grade nuclear materials." The sudden public disclosure of the uranium enrichment facility is seen as a move to flaunt North Korea's nuclear capabilities ahead of the US presidential election in November. Earlier this month, during a key deterrence dialogue between South Korea and the US, the allies warned of the possibility that North Korea could conduct significant provocations, such as a nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile launch, close to the election. Ramallah, Sep 18 : Gaza's Health Ministry has identified 34,344 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in the territory, publishing a list of names, age, gender and ID numbers that cover more than 80 per cent of Palestinians killed in the war so far, Ministry officials said. The remaining 7,613 people included in its death toll, which is now above 41,000, are Palestinians whose bodies have been received by hospitals and morgues, but whose identities have not yet been confirmed. The identified people include 169 babies born after the Hamas attacks of October 7 that began the war, and a man born in 1922 who had survived more than a century of war and upheaval. The document runs to 649 pages, with the dead listed largely by age. Gaza's population is youthful, and the register underlines the high toll of Israeli attacks on Palestinian children. More than 100 pages are filled with the names of victims under 10 years old, and the first adult names do not appear until page 215. Israeli officials question the death toll given by the authorities in Gaza, arguing that because Hamas controls the government there, Gaza's health officials cannot provide reliable figures. However, doctors and civil servants in the territory have a credible record from past wars. After several conflicts between 2009 and 2021, United Nations investigators drew up their own lists of the dead and found they closely matched ones from Gaza. "Unfortunately, we have the sad experience of coordinating with the Ministry of Health on casualty figures every few years," Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for the UN secretary general, has said. "Their figures have proven to be generally accurate." Palestinian authorities have been regularly updating the lists of those confirmed dead. This latest release adds more than 2,000 names. It does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but a majority of the 34,344 dead can be identified as civilians based on age and gender alone. It includes 11,355 children, 2,955 people aged 60 or older, and 6,297 women. There are also many civilian men of fighting age who have been killed. Israel claims it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. It does not provide an estimate of civilians killed in Gaza. The official death toll provided by health authorities does not tell the full story of Palestinian losses, because it excludes people buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings, and those not directly killed by bombs or bullets. About 10,000 people killed by airstrikes are thought to remain entombed in collapsed buildings, because there has been little heavy equipment or fuel to dig through steel and concrete ruins to look for them, according to health officials. Hunger, lack of shelter and medication, the rapid spread of infectious diseases and the collapse of the healthcare system has claimed many other lives. Palestinian authorities plan to count those dead when the fighting stops, Marwan al-Hams, the director of field hospitals at the Ministry of Health, has said. United Nations, Sep 18 : The head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said Israeli tanks fired on an aid convoy on a mission to northern Gaza. Posting on X on Wednesday, he wrote that a WHO-led convoy encountered two Israeli tanks while on the way back from a mission last Saturday. Shots were fired from the tanks near the convoy, he said, adding that the convoy had received clearance. Nobody was hurt during the incident, he said. "This is unacceptable," he said, noting that humanitarian workers in Gaza deliver critical aid "amid extreme danger and life-threatening conditions". He added: "The minimum they deserve for their service is safety. The deconfliction mechanism needs to be adhered to. Ceasefire!" "Last Saturday, on the way back from a mission to the northern #Gaza and after a @WHO-led convoy got clearance and crossed the coast road checkpoint, the convoy encountered two Israeli tanks. Shots were fired from the tanks near the convoy. Luckily nobody was hurt. This is unacceptable," the WHO Chief said. The incident came just a week after the United Nations said that a convoy carrying workers for a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza had been held at gunpoint at an Israeli military checkpoint. During that encounter, in the context of a massive vaccination campaign after the first case of polio in 25 years was registered in the Palestinian territory, shots were fired and convoy vehicles were rammed by a bulldozer, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week. The "incident and the conduct of Israeli forces on the ground put the lives of our staff in danger," he added. "It is critical that Israeli forces take measures to protect humanitarian staff and assets to facilitate their work." In his post, the WHO Chief hailed the teams in Saturdayas convoy who "despite the security risk" had managed to reach Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, to deliver supplies for the emergency room. "Supplies were also delivered to support the Palestine Red Crescent Society facilities in the north, including for the treatment of noncommunicable diseases," he said. "The teams also facilitated the rotation of emergency medical teams." The United Nations health agency chief hailed the "unwavering humanitarian workers in Gaza," who "amid extreme danger and life-threatening conditions... continue to deliver critical aid". They are "serving as the last hope for the survival for two million people in desperate need," he said in his post. The October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Israelas retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,252 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territoryas Health Ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths. Jerusalem, Sep 18 : The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was braced for a response after Hezbollah accused Israel of being behind a wave of exploding pagers that killed at least nine and injured thousands. Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the IDF's Chief of Staff, on Tuesday, insisted Israel remains ready "for attack and defence in all arenas" without mentioning the pager attacks which occurred across Lebanon and in parts of Syria. "We will update immediately on any change to (Home Front Command guidelines)," the IDF added. Lebanon and Hezbollah have both accused Tel Aviv of being behind the attack, with the Lebanese Prime Minister labelling it as "criminal Israeli aggression" and a "serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty". Hezbollah, whose fighters were injured and killed in the attack, also said it holds the "Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression". "This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression," they said in a statement. The US said it was investigating the attacks and denied claims made in Iranian media that it had advanced knowledge of the explosions. "The US was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, we're gathering information," the State Department said. The White House has urged restraint from Hezbollah and Iran, whose ambassador to Beirut, was hurt in the attack. The Foreign Office has called for "calm heads and de-escalation" after hundreds of pagers exploded simultaneously across Lebanon in what appeared to be a coordinated attack. An FCDO spokesperson said: "We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing." "We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time." Washington/New Delhi, Sep 18 : US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said at a campaign event that he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, media reports said. Trump announced the meeting while addressing the people in Flint, Michigan, while he was speaking about US trade with India. He gave no details on where they would meet, the report added. Trump is likely to meet with PM Modi during the latter's visit to the US from September 21 to 23. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday shared a detailed itinerary of Modi's US visit. Donald Trump and Narendra Modi shared a strong personal rapport during Trump's presidency (2017-2021), evident in events like the "Howdy Modi" rally in Houston and "Namaste Trump" in India. Their relationship bolstered US-India ties, especially in defence and strategic cooperation, with both leaders focused on countering China's growing influence. Despite occasional trade disputes, their partnership remained solid, fostering deeper security collaboration through initiatives like the "Quad". US President Joe Biden will host a summit with leaders from Australia, India and Japan on September 21 in Delaware. Analysts say Washington has increasingly seen New Delhi as a counter to China's rising influence in Asia. Some other world leaders who have visited the US in recent months for meetings with Biden and other summits have ended up meeting Trump as well. The Republican nominee faces Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election. Polls show a tight race between Trump and Harris, who is of Indian descent. Despite criticising India over trade without being specific, Trump called Modi "fantastic". When Modi visited the US in 2019, he and Trump showered each other with praise at a "Howdy, Modi!" rally in Texas attended by more than 50,000. Modi has also enjoyed good relations with Democratic presidents like Barack Obama and Biden. The White House rolled out the red carpet for him last year, touting deals on defence and commerce. Trump's outreach to the Indian-American community, recognising its political significance, also played a role. Their (PM Modi and Trump's) time in office laid the groundwork for an enduring US-India strategic partnership based on mutual interests. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The second day of the international conference Black and Caspian Freight Forum 2024: corridors, cargos, infrastructure has ended in Baku, Trend reports. According to the information, the key issues of the conference are: - new opportunities for the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor), - Azerbaijan's potential as a transit space for international transport corridors, - transit through Kazakhstan and Georgia as a vital link in the transport route, - development of Turkiye's logistics infrastructure, - export of grain and oilseed crops from Kazakhstan and Ukraine in the current realities, - import of fertilizers: main suppliers and routes, - containerization as a factor of cargo flow growth, - development of seaports and terminals in the region; adaptation of capacities to new cargoes, - new trends in legal issues, and risk insurance. As Ukrainian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Yuriy Husyev stated, Ukraine will become an important part of the Middle Corridor after the restoration of ferry communication with Georgia. Transportation and logistics is an extremely important topic for countries, especially for my country, Ukraine, as well as for other states with huge transit potential. We expect the ferry service between Ukraine and Georgia to be restored soon. This will allow our country to become an important part of the global Middle Corridor and transit route. We hope that this meeting, this significant event in Baku, will help us to improve logistics links between China and the EU market, as well as between the Caucasus and Ukraine, between Turkiye and Ukraine as part of Europe, he said. Advisor to the chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Emil Mammadov stated that CJSC and China are discussing the possibility of increasing the number of railroad services to Europe. As you know, over the last year we have been dealing with the maintenance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) corridor. We have completed the work, focusing on key operational and maintenance aspects, and from June 2024 the basic service has been resumed and is now operational. This has increased the capacity of the line from 1 million tons to 5 million tons, he said. According to him, the BTK is currently the shortest and perhaps the most convenient route to deliver cargo from Central Asian countries to Europe or Africa. In terms of the connection between Turkiye and the region of Azerbaijan or Central Asia, it also remains the shortest landline that allows not only traditional freight transportation but also continental rail deliveries. Moreover, we are negotiating with our Chinese partners on the possibility of increasing the number of railroad routes to Europe, which will be an additional opportunity for China to enter the European market, he added. In addition, Mammadov noted that the Czech Republic has shown interest in a joint venture on Baku-Tbilisi-Kars. Azerbaijani Railways CJSC and Georgian operator Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway established a joint venture BTKI Railways LLC on August 14 this year. The joint venture aims to increase the volume of cargo transportation from China to European countries. The idea is to find opportunities to cooperate with European partners to ensure the delivery of goods from the Western side. Central Asian countries play a key role in this process, and the Czech Republic has recently shown interest in the project, expressing its desire to become part of this important international venture, he said. Further, Mammadov stated that active work on the development of the Middle Corridor will start next year. From 2025, it is planned to expand the joint project. The most important goal is to launch a new wave of development of the Middle Corridor by June, which will include institutional development. We are talking about organizing new facilities, improving operational efficiency, implementing a reliable and transparent policy on delivery time - all these tasks will be solved within this ambitious project, he said. Mammadov noted that special attention was paid to terminals, which play a strategic role in the logistics chain. Although the main points have already been covered, it is important to note that the project involves much more than just the creation of a transportation route. It is a step towards strengthening international cooperation and developing the economies of the participating countries, he added. MSC Georgia Managing Director Alkan Alicik noted that the Caspian Sea and the Middle Corridor play a key role as important transportation arteries connecting continents and facilitating international trade. The Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Middle Corridor play a key role as important transportation arteries connecting continents and facilitating international trade. This region has always had a significant impact on the global economy. MSC, as the market leader in container transportation in this region, has in recent years become one of the leading players in a dynamically developing market. We are actively developing innovative solutions and strengthening strategic partnerships in this region, he emphasized. Chairman of the Supervisory Board of NurZholCompany and head of the Board of the National Association of Exporters KazGrain Kanat Kobessov, stated that the Middle Corridor, which also passes through Kazakhstan, demonstrates active growth of cargo flows. According to him, global trade is projected to grow annually in the coming years, despite the current economic difficulties. In recent years, the Eurasian region has become an increasingly important part of the global transportation system, and three key corridors play a significant role in this process. The Northern Corridor, passing through eastern Russia, is losing ground due to geopolitical and economic changes. In contrast, the middle corridor through Kazakhstan is growing strongly. The emerging Southern Corridor, which connects the Caucasus with Central Asia through Kazakhstan, is also an important element of development. An important role in the development of this infrastructure is played by railroad communication, which is actively developing and is expected to be expanded with new routes, he said. Kobessov noted that experts expect that trade growth in the Eurasian region could be at least 2 percent a year, which underscores the need to adapt transport logistics to the increasing volume of goods. Maersk's Central Asia and Caucasus Business Development Manager, Irakli Danelia, emphasized that Maersk focused on developing a transit route through the Middle Corridor. When it comes to the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Southern and Middle Corridors, we focus on developing transit routes through these regions. However, we should not limit ourselves to their transit role; the markets of these countries are important in their own right, given the export and import flows associated with different parts of the world. We offer the market one major solution - global connectivity for Central Asia. We provide a direct rail link between China and countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, providing container transportation and supporting export flows from Central Asia to China, he said. According to Danelia, Maersk develops not only the eastern direction but also actively promotes connections of the Caucasus and Central Asian countries with Europe, Africa, and America through the Western Corridor. At the moment, the development of this transit corridor is at a high level. The main reason is the availability of political support, which plays the role of a key factor for the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia. This allows us to effectively organize uninterrupted transportation and solve all logistical problems for shippers. In this context, we can mention the so-called cross-border transportation services (CBT), which contribute to the development of the Middle Corridor, he added. The forum will continue tomorrow. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel New Delhi, Sep 18 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for "playing politics" over the Agnipath scheme and said that is the BJP's responsibility to ensure jobs for Agniveers from Haryana, who are not retained after their four-year tenure in the armed forces under the short-term military recruitment plan. Addressing a rally in Loharu in Bhiwani district of Haryana, which goes to the polls on October 5, Home Minister Shah accused the Congress of spreading fake narratives. "They claimed that Agniveer soldiers would have neither work nor pensions. But I want to tell you that under the Agnipath scheme, soldiers are receiving 20 per cent reservations in police services... If any Agniveer returns, he will not be without a job and the BJP takes responsibility for this," he said. Targeting Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Shah said: "The Congress, especially Rahul 'Baba', is playing politics. I want to tell Haryana's youth that 'Hooda and company', whose job is to spread lies, are saying what will happen to Agniveers later... but what I say, I do it." He was referring to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The Agnipath scheme was introduced by the Central government on June 14, 2022, for short-term induction of personnel in the armed forces. It seeks to recruit soldiers for only four years, with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them in regular service. Those recruited under the new scheme are called Agniveers. The government said replacing the legacy system would lower the age profile of the armed forces, ensure a fitter military and create a technically skilled war fighting force capable of meeting future challenges. But the decision sparked widespread protests and forced a concerted outreach by the government to scotch apprehensions about the scheme. The controversy became a major electoral issue in Haryana, where tens of thousands of young men train for years to get into the armed forces. The Congress promised to scrap Agnipath scheme if it came to power and the discontent around the scheme was seen as a major reason why the BJP slipped from 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 to just five in 2024. The issue is expected to play an even bigger role in the Assembly polls, when the BJP will vie for a third term. Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Home Minister Shah said soldiers were seeking "One Rank, One Pension" for 40 years, but the party never fulfilled the demand. "The people elected (Narendra) Modi ji as PM in 2014, and by 2015, he made it a reality," he said. Referring to the J&K elections, Shah said Rahul Gandhi and NC leader Omar Abdullah have an agenda to release all terrorists after the polls and also hold talks with Pakistan. Cairo, Sep 18 : Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has urged the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor. Abdelatty made the remarks during his meeting in Cairo with Tor Wennesland, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday in a statement. During the meeting, the Egyptian Minister stressed the need for Israel to accept the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to manage the Rafah crossing, which would allow the resumption of the crossing's operation, Xinhua news agency reported. He also stressed support for the efforts of the UN coordinator to preserve the status of the PA as the central government for the administration of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Abdelatty reiterated Egypt's commitment to facilitating a ceasefire and delivering humanitarian aid to the strip, emphasising the importance of enabling all UN agencies, particularly the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to carry out their responsibilities. Since May 2024, Israel has taken control of the Palestinian part of the Rafah crossing, leading to the obstruction of the main point for aid distribution, along with the Philadelphi Corridor, a buffer zone on the Egypt-Gaza border. Senior Egyptian sources have consistently expressed opposition to Israel's control of these regions. Nevertheless, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained steadfast in maintaining Israeli presence in the corridor to prevent alleged weapon smuggling. Netanyahu's unwavering stance regarding the Philadelphi Corridor has impeded a ceasefire agreement, a move that has been urged by the international community and by families of captives detained in Gaza since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. During a ministerial meeting focused on the Palestinian cause and the two-state solution hosted by Madrid, Spain, Abdelatty emphasised that Israel's positioning in these areas is designed to obstruct the legitimate return of the Palestinian authority to Gaza. Earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez convened a session for foreign ministers of countries participating in the Madrid discussions. In this meeting, Abdelatty emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid. Abdelatty urged immediate actions to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people and establish an independent Palestinian state. Srinagar, Sept 18 : Bright sunshine on a clear autumn sky greeted voters as they started entering the polling stations in Jammu and Kashmir's first of the three-phase Assembly elections on Wednesday. Security forces posted at the polling stations in Pampore Assembly constituency and Koil polling stations of the Pulwama district exchanged smiles with voters as they came out in the morning to exercise their franchise. Voters also started coming out at all other places in Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian districts to elect their representatives to the Assembly, which are being held after a gap of 10 years. In Banihal constituency of Ramban district, Doda and Kishtwar districts of Jammu division, voter enthusiasm was visible right from the beginning of polling. Majority of the voters were men in the morning as women are expected to come out in the noon after completing their household chores. As many as 23.27 lakh voters in 24 Assembly constituencies of seven districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian in the Valley and Banihal, Kishtwar and Doda in Jammu division will decide the fate of 219 candidates on Wednesday. Authorities have made extensive arrangements of security for the first phase of the elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Given the high voltage campaign done by various political parties and their candidates, voter turnout is likely to exceed the 58 per cent recorded during the recent Lok Sabha polls. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will launch the New Pension Scheme (NPS) 'Vatsalya' on Wednesday here, which will be joined by school children, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Finance. Announced in the Union Budget 2024, the scheme will allow parents to contribute a certain amount on behalf of their children towards National Pension Scheme (NPS) to secure their future and help them develop a retirement fund. As part of the launch in New Delhi, NPS Vatsalya events will be organised simultaneously at nearly 75 locations throughout the country, according to the Ministry of Finance. The Finance Minister will also launch an online platform for subscribing to NPS 'Vatsalya', release of scheme brochure, and distribute PRAN cards to new minor subscribers. Other locations will join the launch through video conference and will also distribute PRAN (permanent retirement account number) membership to new minor subscribers in that location. "NPS 'Vatsalya' will allow parents to save for their children's future by investing in a pension account and ensure long-term wealth with the power of compounding," said the Ministry. NPS 'Vatsalya' offers flexible contributions and investment options, allowing parents to make investment of Rs 1,000 annually in the name of the child, thus making it accessible to families from all economic backgrounds. This new initiative is designed to start early in securing financial future of children, marking an important step in India's pension system. The scheme will be run under the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). "The launch of NPS Vatsalya highlights the Union government's commitment to promote long-term financial planning and security for all," said the Ministry. The scheme allows children to withdraw a portion of the accumulated corpus as a lump sum and receive the rest as regular pension payments. New York, Sep 18 : Former President Donald Trump has said he will meet "fantastic man" Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week when he visits the US. New York, Sep 18 (IANS) Former President Donald Trump has said he will meet "fantastic man" Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week when he visits the US. "He happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic, man," Trump said on Tuesday at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan. PM Modi will be in the US from Saturday to Monday, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. The Ministry's programme listed only PM Modi's participation in the Quad Summit in Delaware on Saturday, his speech to the Indian diaspora on Long Island on Sunday, and his address to the United Nations Summit of the Future on Monday. It did not mention meeting with Trump but said, "On the sidelines of the Summit, the Prime Minister would be holding bilateral meetings with several world leaders and discuss issues of mutual interest." Trump's campaign calendar shows him in North Carolina on Saturday and in Pennsylvania on Monday evening, with nothing pencilled in for Sunday. The former president mentioned the meeting with PM Modi while talking about trade imbalances and how he would hike duties on imports from India through a Trump Reciprocal Tax Act. He called India "a very big abuser" of the tariffs system because of the high duties it imposes on some imports from the US and said New Delhi "is very tough" in negotiations. "If anybody charges us 10 cents, if they charge us $2, if they charge us 100 per cent 250, we charge them the same," he said. Listing India among them, he said that countries the US was trading with are "the sharpest people. They're not a little bit backward they're at the top of their game, and they use it against us". He added, "China is the toughest of all, but we were taking care of China with the tariffs, so we're going to do a reciprocal trade." While in office Trump tangled with India over tariffs, putting a spotlight on the duties on Harley-Davidson motorcycles and whiskey. He hiked duties on steel and aluminium imports and eliminated the Generalised Scheme of Preferences that provided for concessional tariffs for some Indian exports and New Delhi retaliated by raising duties mostly on agricultural exports like apples and almonds. Even though they had differences on trade, PM Modi and Trump developed strong personal ties. With elections about five weeks away and Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in almost a tie, PM Modi has a tightrope walk ahead -- not appearing to favour either party but also having to keep his lines of communication open to both. Before the 2020 election that Trump lost, PM Modi appeared alongside him at a community event billed as "Howdy Modi", in Houston in 2019 and, in a play of his own election slogan, cheered him, "Abki baar, Trump sarkar" (This time, Trump's government"). That and a spectacle for Trump with over 1,00,000 people in Ahmedabad in 2020 became an embarrassment when Biden defeated him. But Biden and PM Modi brushed it aside and further developed ties between their nations. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis) Los Angeles, Sep 18 : For actor Colin Farrell, it was quite "weird" to transform into the comic book villain The Penguin. The actor hit the red carpet premiere in New York City for his upcoming series centering on the character he first played in 'The Batman'. He called catching a glimpse of his transformation into Oz Cobb startling, reports 'People' magazine. "Do you ever see cats looking at themselves in the mirror? How they recoil and they just don't know (it's them)?", he said, adding, "It was strange". As per 'People', despite the dramatic costumes and makeup, he added, "It's not like I ever fully lost sense of myself, but it was a very powerful thing to know yourself a certain way for 45 years and to see a reflection. And it also kind of made me aware of how much I identified with how I look". "As soon as I looked into the mirror and none of me was there, then, I had more of a blank slate than I usually have (going) to work," he added, before crediting showrunner Lauren LeFranc and her team of writers to fill that "blank slate". "It was amazing", he added. "It was really, really powerful. It was something very powerful and very kind of hypnotic to the experience". The 'Sugar' star credited artist Mike Marino with transforming the actor into the Penguin. "He created this beautiful puppet and I got to animate it, and it was of joy", Farrell said of the artist, who previously worked with Farrell on 'The Batman' in 2022. The 'True Detective' actor also told 'Variety' last year that he craved more opportunities to play the character after working with Marino and makeup artist Mike Fontaine for only a handful of scenes in 'The Batman'. He said, "Honest to God, any thought I had about an extended series was to do with Mike Marino's work. I just knew there was so much to do with it age it up, age it down". Milan, Sep 18 : Liverpool opened up their Champions League campaign with an impressive 3-1 victory over AC Milan at San Siro under Arne Slot in style on the Dutchman's 46th birthday. A goal apiece from central defensive pairing Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk gave the Reds a half-time lead, having overcome an earlier Christian Pulisic opener. Liverpool began well after the break and immediately saw a chance fall to Jota inside the box after the restart. Milan attempted to find a way back into the match and wanted a penalty after Gakpo and Alvaro Morata tangled in the box, but protests were swiftly waved away by the match officials. It was Liverpool, however, who would be next to add to the scoreline thanks to a swift breakaway with the hosts caught short at the back. Gakpo drove forward in the 67th minute, delivered well and Szoboszlai had matched his run into the middle to guide home a cushioned volley in off the post. In response to the two-goal lead, Darwin Nunez and Diaz were introduced from the bench. Liverpool continued to push forward in search of a fourth with Van Dijk again going close with a header from another corner delivery. There was still time for Milan to threaten in the closing stages too, Tijjani Reijnders shooting a low drive past the diving Alisson's far post. Substitute Matteo Gabbia also planted a header over the bar following a short-corner routine, while Rafael Leao saw a chance pushed onto the post by Alisson, though it was as near as either side came to adding to the score further before the full-time whistle. Lisbon, Sep 18 : Wildfires are continuing to ravage central and northern Portugal while at least seven people have been killed and more than 40 injured, local authorities reported. The fires also destroyed dozens of homes and forced the closure of major roads and highways on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency. As of Tuesday afternoon, the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority is coordinating efforts to control four significant fire outbreaks in the Aveiro district. The fires have spread over an area with a perimeter of approximately 100 km. Authorities have arrested three people in connection with the fires: two women and a man from the municipalities of Pombal, Alvaiazere, and Condeixa-a-Nova. In response to the escalating crisis, the Portuguese government has extended the national alert level until Thursday. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, along with other political and religious leaders, has expressed condolences and solidarity with those affected. Cairo, Sep 18 : Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II warned of the dangers of the ongoing Israeli war in the Gaza Strip and escalating violations in the West Bank. During a phone conversation on Tuesday, the two leaders stressed the recent developments could escalate the conflict, negatively affecting all peoples of the region as well as international peace and security, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement. They reiterated their rejection of all attempts to undermine the Palestinian cause or turn the Palestinian territories into uninhabitable areas to force the displacement of the Palestinians, reports Xinhua news agency. Both leaders emphasised the urgent need to end the war immediately and save Gaza from the devastating humanitarian catastrophe. Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 kidnapped. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 41,252, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The Congress has lodged a police complaint against four BJP leaders, including Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu, for making objectionable remarks against the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi. Congress treasurer and former Union Minister Ajay Maken went to the Tughlak Road Police Station in Delhi on Wednesday morning with this complaint. Maken stated that BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah had issued a death threat to Rahul Gandhi in Delhi last week. According to Maken, this BJP leader said, "Rahul Gandhi, be careful, or the same fate will happen to you as it did to your grandmother." (Translation of Marwah's Hindi statement) Talking to the reporters outside the Tughlak Road Police Station, the Congress Rajya Sabha MP said, "We all know that Indira Gandhi was martyred after taking 34 bullets to her chest. Rajiv Gandhi was blown to pieces because he initiated peace talks. Rahul Gandhi's family has made sacrifices for the country, and today, Rahul Gandhi is being told to be careful, or he will meet the same fate." Maken further stated that politics in India cannot stoop any lower than this. He criticised the BJP for not condemning the statement or taking any action against it. "How can you say things like this to a person whose grandmother and father laid down their lives for the country?" he questioned, adding that maybe the statements were Bittu's "personal remarks, but even the BJP high command did not stop him from saying these things." Following this, the Congress leader also pointed out another leader from a BJP ally, who said that anyone "who cuts off Rahul Gandhi's tongue would be rewarded with 11 lakh rupees." "If someone doesn't like what Rahul Gandhi says because he speaks in the interest of the country, the poor, and the labourers, it doesn't justify issuing a threat to cut his tongue," Maken pointed out. Congress warned the BJP, stating that both the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi are not afraid of such threats. Maken emphasised that their voice would not be silenced, and Rahul Gandhi would continue to raise his voice for the backward, Dalits, and the poor. He also mentioned that Bittu called Rahul Gandhi a terrorist just because he didn't like what the LoP in the Lok Sabha said. Consequently, Congress has filed a police complaint to ensure strict action is taken against these individuals. Maken stressed that if someone says that Rahul Gandhi will meet the same fate as his grandmother, it is a "direct death threat." Congress has filed this complaint against four individuals, including Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, Tarvinder Singh Marwah, a former BJP MLA from Delhi, BJP-supporting Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad, and Raghuraj Singh, a minister from Uttar Pradesh. Maken approached Tughlak Road Police Station to file an FIR against BJP leader and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu for his controversial statement about Rahul Gandhi. It is noteworthy that recently, Union Minister and BJP MP Ravneet Singh Bittu called Rahul Gandhi the "number one terrorist" in the country. Bittu stated that Rahul Gandhi is the country's "number one terrorist." Bank Respublika held another event within the framework of the "Year of Solidarity for a Green World". Bank Respublika, one of the leading banks in the country, continues a series of events within the "Year of Solidarity for a Green World". Thus, within the framework of cooperation with the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), a two-day seminar on green financing was held for Bank Respublika employees. During the seminar, experts from FMO shared their experience in implementing green financial projects and discussed the prospects for the development of this area in the banking sector. Participants reviewed modern tools and mechanisms for supporting sustainable projects, as well as their role in the development of the financial sector of Azerbaijan. Green financing today includes a number of measures and instruments aimed at supporting initiatives that contribute to improving the social and environmental landscape. Within this concept, banks and financial institutions play a key role in stimulating sustainable development. The seminar became an important step in the exchange of knowledge and experience aimed at further implementation of environmentally responsible solutions in the activities of Bank Respublika and in the financial market of Azerbaijan as a whole. You can get more detailed information on the official website of the bank, as well as on facebook, instagram, linkedin, telegram pages or by calling the Bank's Call Center at 144. Tehran, Sep 18 : Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will depart for New York on Sunday to attend and deliver a speech at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 79), the official news agency. His speech is scheduled for September 24, the first day of the high-level General Debate, during which he will expound on the Iranian people's viewpoints, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting IRNA. During his stay in New York, Pezeshkian is expected to meet with Iranian nationals living in the United States, media and think tank directors, high-ranking officials from other countries, and religious leaders. The President told a press conference in Tehran on Monday that his participation in the UNGA 79 would be aimed at defending the rights, attitudes, and beliefs of Iranians. Pezeshkian was sworn in as Iran's ninth President on July 30, replacing Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. Moscow, Sep 18 : Russia reserves the right to take asymmetric measures in response to US sanctions targeting Russian journalists, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday. "We reserve the right to respond asymmetrically, strictly in line with Russia's national interests," he said. Antonov said Russia would thoroughly assess the US sanctions, including undisclosed visa restrictions imposed by the State Department, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting TASS. He added that the United States might continue its efforts to suppress alternative viewpoints presented by Russian media outlets. "The attempts to stifle the voices of Russian media, which offer much-needed perspectives in the United States, are likely to persist. I do not foresee an improvement in this situation anytime soon," he said. The ambassador criticised the ongoing tit-for-tat exchange of sanctions between the two countries, especially those targeting the media. "The cycle of retaliatory sanctions, now extending to journalists, serves no good purpose. It does nothing to stabilise or bring predictability to our bilateral relations," Antonov said. As the US presidential election approaches, Antonov noted a growing tendency by US authorities to play the "Russia card." "There is confusion in their narrative -- either Russia is meddling in US affairs, or it's failing in its attempts," he said. "The heightened anti-Russian hysteria, particularly directed at journalists, appears to be part of a broader strategy to undermine the legitimacy of the election outcome." On September 4, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT broadcast, along with two of her deputies. Additionally, the US State Department tightened regulations on the operations of Russian media outlets, including Russia Today, RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik. New Delhi, Sep 18 : As voting was underway for the first phase of the Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, many first-time voters expressed hope for a change, particularly in addressing key issues like unemployment and regional development. After a decade without elections, young voters in constituencies like Kulgam are casting their ballots with excitement, eager to see new leadership that prioritises their concerns. Aryan Jamwal (22), a first-time voter from Kulgam Constituency expressed his expectations from the leader he voted for. "This is my first opportunity to vote in an election, and we are voting for the party we believe can bring change -- one that will create employment and work towards development in our region," he said. "Itas also my first time voting in the Assembly elections, which are happening after 10 years," said another young voter. "Voting was very convenient. Although there was a long queue due to the excitement of the people here, I cast my vote comfortably. Everyone votes for the leader they believe will work in their favour and for development, and I did the same," he added. Mayur, another young voter shared his experience after casting his first vote, he said, "This was my first time voting, and we hope to choose a leader who will work for the youth. It was extraordinary to vote for the first time." He further highlighted the main issue in his region which is unemployment. "Many young people have to migrate to other places in search of jobs. We hope the leader we voted for will prioritise providing employment," he added. Meanwhile, emphasising the importance of voting, Komal, another first-time voter, expressed how crucial it is for everyone to participate in the process. The first phase of the long-awaited elections in the union territory is currently in progress, with seven districts casting their votes on Wednesday. This marks the first Assembly election following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Canberra, Sep 18 : The Australian government has announced that imports of fake stone products linked to the lung disease silicosis will be banned from 2025. Murray Watt, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Wednesday said that engineered stone bench tops, slabs and panels will be stopped at Australia's border from January 1, 2025, according to Xinhua news agency. A report published by the government agency Safe Work Australia in 2023 found that the risk of silicosis linked to the cutting process of engineered stone poses an unacceptable risk to stonemasons. Silicosis is a long-term potentially lethal lung disease caused by inhaling large amounts of crystalline silica dust. The report from Safe Work Australia prompted the government to introduce a world-first domestic ban on the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone products, which took effect in July. Watt and Burke said in a joint statement that the ban on imports would offer workers extra protection from silicosis. "Evidence strongly suggests exposure to respirable crystalline silica when working with engineered stone can lead to silicosis and other serious lung diseases," Watt said. "These illnesses have been devastating and debilitating for Australian workers and their families, and we cannot continue to allow it to happen." The federal budget for the current financial year included 32.1 million Australian dollars (US$21.7) in funding for the Australian Border Force to enforce the import ban. Hyderabad, Sep 18 : Immersion of Ganesh idols in Hussain Sagar Lake here continued for the second day on Wednesday. Huge idols were still being brought to the lake in the heart of the city for immersion. The process continued on NTR Marg and Necklace Road. Traffic curbs remained in force on roads around Hussain Sagar and traffic was being diverted at various points. People heading to offices, workplaces and school children were caught in traffic snarls on several key roads adjoining Hussain Sagar in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) said more than 1.05 lakh idols were immersed in Hussain Sagar and other lakes and artificial ponds since Tuesday morning. The immersion process in Hussain Sagar is likely to continue till the afternoon. Police have appealed to devotees to cooperate with them in completing the process at the earliest. The immersion of idols, which began early Tuesday, continued through the day and night. Thousands of devotees thronged Hussain Sagar, the central point of the Ganesh Shobha Yatra procession. As Wednesday is a working day, police had appealed to Ganesh mandapam organisers to ensure the completion of immersion on Tuesday night. However, the delay in moving the idols from some places spilled over the festivities to the second day. Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand said the entire 25,000-strong force of city police and other units worked continuously throughout the night to expedite the immersion of thousands of idols. He revealed on aXa that by 5 a.m., the situation was so much better than last year as the tail end had reached Moazzam Jahi Market and a few hundred vehicles on the other approach roads. The police chief said he walked from Moazzam Jahi Market Junction to Tank Bund to speed up the procession pace by giving appropriate directions. According to GHMC officials, 1,05,707 idols were immersed till Tuesday night at 72 points in GHMC limits. These include lakes, excavated ponds, and portable ponds. As many as 12,320 idols were immersed at three points around Hussain Sagar. IDL Lake in Moosapet saw the highest number of idol immersions at 26,546. Elaborate arrangements have been made by the municipal authorities for immersion at five big lakes and 73 exclusive ponds. As many as 468 cranes were set up for the immersion in GHMC limits. This includes 38 cranes set up at Hussain Sagar. According to GHMC Commissioner Amrapali Kata, 15,000 personnel, including sanitation, engineering, and others, are working in three shifts. Chennai, Sep 18 : Notorious gangster Kakathope Balaji, wanted in more than 50 criminal cases including murder, was killed in an encounter with the police in Chennai. The encounter occurred in the wee hours of Wednesday. A team of cops had gone to Vyasarpadi in Greater Chennai to arrest Balaji in a pending case. According to the Greater Chennai Police, the gangster attacked the cops with deadly weapons and police had to resort to firing which led to the death of the gangster. Kakathope Balaji was earlier attacked by a rival gang led by Sambo Senthil, a wanted criminal in the murder of BSP state president K. Armstrong, in the busy Anna Salai in Chennai in March 2020. Bombs were hurled at Balaji and another gangster CD Mani but the duo had escaped unhurt. Notably, this is the second encounter death by the Greater Chennai Police in recent days. History-sheeter K. Thiruvengadam, who was a prime accused in the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP president, K. Armstrong, was gunned down by cops on July 14 near Madhavaram Lake premises where he was brought as part of evidence collection. Police had then said that Thiruvengadam, wanted in several criminal activities including murders, tried to attack them after his handcuffs were removed and that they had to fire at him leading to his death. The Greater Chennai Police have been monitoring the activities of around 4000 history sheeters in the city to prevent crimes as well as breakout of gang-wars and also maintain law and order in the city. The city police have developed software, aParandhua (Hawk). Police officers told IANS that this software has helped them to keep an effective watch on history-sheeters according to their crime history and that this has helped the police stay a few steps ahead in getting vital information regarding these history-sheeters. Police officers said that aParandhua( Hawak) has features that help them follow up cases against history sheeters which are under investigation and also pending trial. This, according to cops, is increasing the rate of conviction in the city. Tehran, Sep 18 : Ten people were killed and 36 others injured after a bus overturned in the Iranian province of Yazd. The incident occurred at around 2:20 a.m. local time on Tuesday at an intercity road near Saghand village in Ardakan County, as the bus veered off the main road, entered a mining access road, and overturned, Iran's Traffic Police Chief Hassan Momeni was quoted as saying. Momeni said that the bus was travelling from the southern Iranian province of Bushehr to the northeastern city of Mashhad, adding that the injured had been transferred to medical centres in Yazd, reports Xinhua, quoting state-run IRNA. The cause of the incident will be announced later in the day following investigations, he said. Speaking to the Iranian Students' News Agency, Managing Director of Yazd's Red Crescent Society Mohammad Eshqi said 51 people were on the bus, of whom five were not injured. Warsaw, Sep 18 : Two more flood victims were found in Poland, raising the death toll to seven. Senior Inspector Wioletta Martuszewska of the Klodzko County in Lower Silesian province told local media that one victim was found in a car in Ladek-Zdroj, and the other in the riverbed in Stronie Slaskie. According to police, authorities have confirmed their identities, reports Xinhua, quoting Polish Press Agency. These are the sixth and seventh victims of the flood caused by heavy rainfalls over Europe, as per the police data. The flooding has led to evacuations, widespread damages, and significant disruptions. However, Polish local media reported that the death toll may have risen to ten. During a crisis management meeting in Wroclaw, Lower Silesia, in the morning, Minister of Interior and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak announced the expansion of the natural disaster zone to include seven more counties. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that ministries are working on a reconstruction program for the flood-affected areas. The program will be presented once the rescue operations are completed. Lower Silesia Governor Maciej Awizen described the situation in the province as "very critical" but the weather forecast indicates an improvement in the meteorological situation. Shivamogga : , Sep 18 (IANS) Former Karnataka Home Minister and senior BJP leader Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday demanded action from the ruling Congress in connection with the installation of a 'Free Palestine' banner near a Dargah in Hanagere Katte village, Shivamogga district. Araga Jnanendra also sought an investigation into the case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) considering the sensitivity of the region. The accused involved in the Mangaluru cooker blast case and the Bengaluru cafe blast case hailed from Thithahalli, located close to Hanagere Katte. Araga Jnanendra wrote a letter to Shivamogga SP, G.K. Mithun Kumar, condemning the incident and urging action against those responsible for installing the banner. Authorities removed the banner on Tuesday, which had been put up during the Eid Milad celebrations. Security has been tightened in the area. Several banners were installed near the Dargah during Eid Milad on Monday, including the 'Free Palestine' poster, which sparked outrage among Hindu organisations. In the letter, Araga Jnanendra said, "Hanagere Katte is a place that symbolises Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. The Dargah and the Bhootappa temple are located within the same compound. Thousands of devotees from both Hindu and Muslim communities visit this holy place daily. It is a pilgrimage centre." He further claimed that miscreants had installed the pro-Palestine banner during the Eid Milad festival. He also pointed out that Theerthahalli, a nearby area, has been associated with subversive activities, such as the cooker blast incident in Mangaluru and the Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Whitefield, Bengaluru, an IT corridor. "What is the background of the miscreants who installed the 'Free Palestine' banner? Who is supporting them? The investigation should be thorough. This case should be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)," he demanded. Multiple incidents of pro-Palestine posters and the waving of Palestinian flags on arterial roads were reported during the Eid Milad festival in Karnataka. The police have taken action and filed cases against those involved. United Nations, Sep 18 : UN humanitarians said that for the first time in four weeks, they were able to reach Northern Gaza, leading an inter-agency assessment mission to Gaza City. However, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday said it was only able to reach the north by waiting for more than five hours before and at an Israeli checkpoint on the Coastal Road. Access to the north remains extremely limited for aid workers from the United Nations and beyond, reports Xinhua news agency. OCHA said that during the first half of the month, out of nearly 50 missions led by seven different UN agencies -- all of which were fully coordinated with the Israeli authorities -- only a quarter could cross into the north through the Israeli checkpoints along Wadi Gaza. "Even when these missions could cross, they often faced impediments along the way, with some convoys stopped at gunpoint, shot at, or forced to wait for hours in the middle of a war zone," the office said. "These incidents posed unacceptable risks to our staff's safety and prevented these missions from completing their life-saving work." OCHA said 20 missions were denied access before they even hit the road. Only two of the nearly 50 missions were fully facilitated as required. The office said that when humanitarian missions in Gaza are not facilitated, it deprives Palestinians of the food, water, shelter, health and other services essential for their survival. "People in Gaza need more supplies, including items as basic as soap, to enter the (Gaza) Strip," OCHA said. "It is also critical that these humanitarian goods and services are able to reach all parts of Gaza, wherever they are needed. Without exception, security assurances provided to aid organisations and humanitarian missions must be reliable and fully respected." BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The first Caspian Gas Industry Forum, organized by the Caspian Energy Club and Enermus, the energy company, has been launched in Baku, Trend reports. The event speakers include Head of the Azerigaz Production Union of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Azer Mammadov, Head of Enermus Zaur Mustafayev, Deputy Director of Azerbaijans Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBIA) Samir Humbatov, and Head of the Industrial Safety Association Orkhan Khalilzade. The topics include the development of the gas industry with consideration for new 'green' trends. According to the head of the SOCAR Azerigaz Production Association (PA), Azer Mammadov, the PA is following a new decade-long strategy that incorporates "green" technologies and decarbonization measures relevant to Azerbaijans gas sector. He also announced that in mid-October, "Azerigas" will test technology from the American company Picarro on its pipelines. "We plan to monitor pipeline conditions using the latest GPS systems," he noted. Mamedov further added that "Azerigas" is actively advancing the gasification process in Azerbaijan, including in the liberated territories. "Currently, we serve 2.6 million subscribers," Mammadov stated. 14:08 The first Caspian Gas Industry Forum, organized by the Caspian Energy Club and Enermus, the energy company, has been launched in Baku, Trend reports. The event speakers include Head of the Azerigaz Production Union of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Azer Mammadov, Head of Enermus Zaur Mustafayev, Deputy Director of Azerbaijans Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBIA) Samir Humbatov, and Head of the Industrial Safety Association Orkhan Khalilzade. The topics include the development of the gas industry with consideration for new 'green' trends. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is set to attend the 'Rozgar Mela' at the Ghantaghar Ramlila Ground in Ghaziabad on Wednesday, where he will distribute appointment letters to thousands of youths and lay the foundation stone for multiple development projects. According to the Ghaziabad District Administration, the event is expected to draw around 8,000 attendees. Additionally, the Chief Minister will also distribute mobiles and tablets to the youth present at the programme. The Chief Minister's visit is seen as significant, particularly in light of the possible announcement of the upcoming Assembly by-elections for 10 seats -- Ghaziabad, Milkipur, Karhal, Sisamau, Kundarki, Katehri, Phulpur, Manjhwa, Meerapur, and Khair. The Ghaziabad Assembly seat became vacant following the election of local MLA Atul Garg to the Lok Sabha in the 2024 general elections. Chief Minister Adityanath will inaugurate and lay the groundwork for 111 projects valued at approximately Rs 757 crore. This includes the foundation stone for 69 projects worth Rs 503 crore and the inauguration of 43 projects totalling Rs 254 crore. The initiatives will benefit sectors such as Ghaziabad Police, GDA, municipal corporation, health, water, and education. District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh inspected the venue and provided guidelines to officials in preparation for the Chief Minister's visit. He mentioned that a robust security arrangement has been established, featuring a five-layer security protocol with around 1,000 police personnel deployed at the site. Additionally, route diversions have been implemented to accommodate the event. Notably, over 100 companies are slated to participate in the Rozgar Mela, offering appointment letters to approximately 15,000 youths. Registrations are open for individuals aged 18 to 40, with opportunities for those holding qualifications from high school to graduation, including ITI and diploma holders, to secure jobs based on their skills and educational backgrounds. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi on Wednesday issued summons to former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his sons Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, and other accused in the land-for-job case. Special Judge Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Court stated that in its prima facie view, it had emerged that Lalu Yadav was in a position to facilitate public employment by his position. The judge mentioned, "Various persons had parted with land parcels for Laluas family at cheaper rates than prevailing market rates while dictating the summoning order." Among those summoned are Akhileshwar Singh, his wife Kiran Devi and Lalu Prasad Yadav's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav. The court has also indicated that the involvement of Tej Pratap Yadav cannot be ruled out. The court has ordered all to appear before it on October 7. Responding to the development, JD-U MLC and spokesperson, Neeraj Kumar, commented that the competent court has ordered the hearing. "It's not just land-for-jobs, the court has summoned them because Lalu Yadav and his sons were involved in money laundering also," the JD-U leader alleged. "You were about to go abroad before the hearing but have to get permission from the court. Naturally, if you define corruption as social justice, you will face such difficulties. So, appear before the court physically, suspend your foreign trip, and respond to the political questions arising from this situation," the JD-U leader claimed. Other accused involved in the money laundering case are -- former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, Lok Sabha MP Misa Bharti, Lalu Prasadas daughter Hema Yadav, Amit Katyal, and Hridayanand Choudhary. The charges involve alleged money laundering of Rs 600 crore. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a chargesheet on August 6 against 11 accused in the case. The allegations are related to Lalu Yadav's time as Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009. It is alleged that several people were offered Group-D jobs in various railway zones in exchange for transferring their land to Lalu's family members or a related company. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed October 3 for hearing a batch of petitions seeking review of the 2022 judgment in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case, which had upheld the ED's powers related to arrest, searches, seizures, and attachment of property, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), requested a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant to adjourn the hearing to allow him more time for preparation. The request met opposition from senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of the review petitioners, as he said that the pleas were repeatedly adjourned at the EDas instance and he was ready to argue the matter on merits. In the previous hearing, the special bench, also comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Ujjal Bhuyan, did not assemble due to the non-availability of Justice Ravikumar. Thereafter, it was decided to re-list the clutch of review petitions for hearing on September 18. A three-judge bench, in the case of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary & Others vs Union of India & Others, had turned down the challenge to vires of Section 50 of the PMLA giving power to the ED to summon an accused and record the statement, which is admissible evidence in the court of law. The 2022 decision, rendered by a bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar (now retired), affirmed the stringent provisions of PMLA in connection with the definition of proceeds of crime, power of arrest, search & seizure, attachment of properties and also the twin bail conditions. Subsequently, a bench headed by then CJI N.V. Ramana had agreed to review its PMLA judgment for two main concerns -- non-providing of ECIR to the accused at the time of arrest, and negation of presumption of innocence. A special bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna is dealing with another batch of petitions seeking reconsideration of the 2022 PMLA judgment and its reference to a larger bench. Khartoum, Sep 18 : An estimated 3.4 million children under five are at high risk of deadly epidemic diseases in Sudan, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). With heavy rains and flooding in the country, diseases such as cholera, malaria, dengue fever, measles and rubella "can spread more rapidly and severely worsen the outlook for the children in the affected states and beyond," UNICEF Representative to Sudan Sheldon Yett was quoted as saying in a statement on Tuesday. The crises stem from significant declines in vaccination rates and the destruction of health, water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure due to the ongoing internal conflict, he said, adding that the deteriorating nutritional status of many children in Sudan puts them at even greater risk. UNICEF delivered 4,04,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine to Sudan on September 9, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the statement. According to UNICEF, the vaccination coverage in Sudan has plummeted to some 50 per cent from 85 per cent before the internal conflict. More than 70 per cent of hospitals in conflict-affected areas are non-operational, and frontline healthcare workers have not been paid in months, it said. Since the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, epidemic diseases such as cholera, malaria, measles, and dengue fever have spread, leading to hundreds of deaths. The conflict has resulted in at least 16,650 deaths and displaced millions of people. Sudan's Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim officially declared a cholera outbreak in the country on August 17. The ministry attributed the spread of cholera to deteriorating environmental conditions caused by the conflict and the use of unclean water. Sudan's Health Ministry said on Tuesday that 10,022 cases of cholera, including 328 deaths, had been recorded in the country between July 15 and this Monday. Sydney, Sep 18 : Thousands of Australian workers on Wednesday walked off job sites to join protests against the federal government's crackdown on a major construction trade union. Members and supporters of the Construction, Forestry, and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) joined rallies in Sydney and Melbourne to protest against the government's decision to force the construction arm of the union into administration. The government in August placed all branches of the construction arm of the CFMEU into administration in response to allegations of corruption and criminal infiltration. Workers on Wednesday walked off job sites for the second time to support the CFMEU after similar protests in August. Speaking to protesters in Melbourne, CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said that the government's move would lead to worse wages and conditions for Australian workers, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. "An attack on one union is an attack on all," he said. "Our victory is assured if we stand together and fight together and today we will be sending a very clear message across those corporate board rooms, across the halls of parliament that we're drawing a line in the sand," Xinhua news agency reported quoting local media. Troy Gray, secretary of the Electrical Trades Union in the Australian state of Victoria, reportedly threatened a three-day strike from next Wednesday if employers don't stop the "attack" on working conditions, according to the Guardian Australia. Responding to Wednesday's protests, Australia's Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said that the government is not targeting CFMEU members, union members or construction workers at all, the Age reported. "We're doing this to ensure that their union gets back to its job, which is representing the interests of those workers," he told reporters in Canberra. Unions previously said that they would go to court to challenge laws that allowed the government to take control of the construction union for a minimum of three years. Vadodara, Sep 18 : Small traders affected by the recent floods in Gujarat's Vadodara city have received direct financial aid of Rs 5.25 crore from the state government so far. The financial aid was given under the special relief package announced by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The amounts have been directly deposited into the traders' bank accounts, said officials here on Wednesday. Municipal Commissioner Dilip Rana and Collector Bijal Shah ordered 200 surveyors to assess the damage and expedite the relief process. These surveyors began their work on Saturday, and despite many shops being closed due to the weekend and festival, they continued their operations. Resident Deputy Collector Dr B.S. Prajapati informed that 3,555 traders have received the assistance so far. This includes Rs 1.19 crore credited to 2,370 handcart vendors, Rs 80.60 lakh to 403 small cabin traders, Rs 3 crore to 752 large cabin traders, and Rs 25.50 lakh to 30 traders with permanent shops. City Sub-Divisional Officer V.K. Sambde stated that the surveyors are working swiftly to ensure the traders receive assistance as soon as possible. The state government has allocated Rs 25 crore for this relief effort. Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has established a five-member committee to conduct a thorough field investigation into the causes of flooding in Vadodara city and propose measures to mitigate future flood risks. A senior official stated that the committee will assess the water-carrying capacity of these bodies, conduct site inspections, and submit a comprehensive report with recommendations for mitigating future flood risks. The committee will be chaired by B.N. Navalawala, former advisor to the chief minister and former secretary in the Government of India. Other members include S.S. Rathore, advisor to the Chief Minister; M.N. Rai, an engineer from the Central Water Commission; Prof. Gopal Bhatti from the civil engineering department at Maharaja Sayajirao University; and the municipal commissioner of Vadodara. The committee's mandate includes a detailed examination of the Ajwa Reservoir, Pratappura Sarovar, and the Vishwamitri River, along with their catchment areas. Abuja Abuja, Sep 18 : At least four bandits were killed and 20 hostages rescued by Nigerian troops during separate anti-terror raids in the northwestern state of Kaduna. The troops combed thick bushes suspected to be the hideouts of some bandits in Birnin Gwari and Giwa local government area to carry out the "successful operations" on Tuesday, reports Xinhua, quoting Samuel Aruwan, the commissioner for internal security and home affairs in Kaduna. He said the forces recovered two AK-47 rifles, three motorcycles, three magazines, and a radio from the bandits. He also mentioned that the troops saw bandits around Kwaga, and after pursuit, the forces neutralised two of them. Citing credible intelligence by the military ahead of the operations, the official said a special clearance raid was held in one of the locations, and an ambush was carried out along a withdrawal route of bandits in another location. He added that the rescued victims of abduction had been reunited with their families. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari on Wednesday slammed the BJP and its allies for "chop off Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's tongue" remark and said they are creating an environment of hatred and violence in the country. "First a Cabinet Minister of State in the Government of India, then a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Then BJP leader Marwah threatened to kill him like his grandmother. Now, a Shiv Sena MLA has announced a reward of Rs 11,00,000 to cut off his tongue. BJP and its alliance partners are creating an environment of hatred and violence in the country and this is dangerous," he told IANS. He asserted that if there is any lapse in the security of LoP Rahul Gandhi then the Indian government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah would be responsible for it. "Let me make it very clear, we lost former PM Rajiv Gandhi and his mother late PM Indira Gandhi to terrorism. We are not afraid of terrorism. We do not even bow down and salute terrorism like the BJP," he stated. "We keep speaking out against terrorism, we are speaking and will continue to speak. Yes, some Jai Chands like Ravneet Singh Bittu who have gone to the BJP are now speaking the same things as much as they are being asked to," Tiwari added. He also hit out at PM Modi and HM Shah and said, "Amit Shah, you do not even answer during press conferences. PM Modi, you eat kheer after going to Odisha but you do not say anything about this bitterness." Tiwari asserted that the Congress has filed an FIR and fulfilled its duty by taking whatever legal action is expected. aWe have provided all the details where we received the threats from various BJP leaders and its allies, calling for bodily harm and assassination of Rahul Gandhi and calling the LoP a 'terrorist' at New Delhias Tughlak Road police station. "Now, it is the responsibility of the Indian government to take cognisance of it. Tughlak Road comes under the Home Ministry of the Indian government. We have fulfilled our responsibility and now it's up to the Centre what they will do in this matter," Tiwari concluded. On Wednesday, adding fuel to the already raging controversy over calls to harm LoP Rahul Gandhi, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Anil Bonde has called for aburninga the tongue of the Congress leader. Sparking a fresh row and leaving the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders fuming, Bonde made the controversial remarks while reacting to ruling Shiv Senaas Buldhana MLA, Sanjay Gaikwadas comments against the LoP. Sanjay Gaikwad announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh to anybody who could asnip offa Rahul Gandhias tongue for his purported stand against reservation during his recent US tour. Bonde said that instead of chopping off Rahul Gandhias tongue, it should be inflicted with burns (achatkaa), as he had gone abroad and allegedly insulted the country. Taipei City, Sep 18 : A Taiwanese company on Wednesday denied manufacturing the pagers involved in detonations across Lebanon, which resulted in the deaths of at least nine people and left nearly 3,000 others, including Hezbollah fighters and medics injured, local media reported. Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co. said that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon were not made by it, but by a Hungarian company which has a license to use its brand. "The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," Gold Apollo founder and President Hsu Ching-Kuang was quoted as saying by the Taipei Times as he addressed the media at the company's offices in New Taipei City on Wednesday. Citing images of the destroyed pagers, which included stickers and designs quite similar to those produced by Gold Apollo, some reports had asserted that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from the Taiwan-based company. However, Gold Apollo issued a statement refuting these claims, clarifying that the pagers in question were manufactured by Hungarian company BAC under a brand trademark agreement. Gold Apollo emphasised that it only authorised the use of its brand but was not involved in the design or production of the AR-924 pager model linked to the blasts. "Gold Apollo Co., Ltd. has established a long-term partnership with BAC Consulting KFT. According to the cooperation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC," the statement read. "Regarding the AR-924 pager model mentioned in the recent media reports, we clarify that this model is produced and sold by BAC. Our company only provides the brand trademark authorisation and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product. Gold Apollo Co., Ltd. always complies with relevant regulations and maintains transparent and compliant partnerships with our collaborators," it added. Hsu Ching-Kuang mentioned that the company had no knowledge of how the pagers had been rigged to explode. Expressing the company's embarrassment over the situation, Hsu stated: "We may not be a large company, but we are a responsible one". Meanwhile, Hezbollah has announced that it is conducting a "security and scientific investigation" into the cause of the explosions, which were allegedly triggered by explosives planted inside the pagers months earlier. Gold Apollo, which claims it is also a victim of the incident, said it will cooperate fully in any follow-up investigations. Taipei Times reported that Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has confirmed there were no records of direct exports to Lebanon, and it plans to assist the company in its investigation. The pagers were reportedly powered by ordinary double-A batteries, further deepening the mystery surrounding their explosive nature. Kochi, Sep 18 : The Kerala High Court has directed the Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee to prohibit videography by vloggers in the Nadapanthal (outer courtyard) of the famed Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur. However, the Court pointed out that videography will be permitted during marriage functions and other religious ceremonies. The Court pronounced the order on a plea moved by the devotees of Lord Guruvayurappan raising concerns over non-Hindus, including a Muslim woman entering Guruvayoor Temple and its premises. The Court ruled, "We deem it appropriate to direct the 2nd respondent Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee and the additional 5th respondent Administrator to take necessary steps to ensure that videography other than that in connection with marriage functions and other religious ceremonies are not permitted in the Nadapanthal of Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple. The videography by vloggers, by following celebrities, shall not be permitted in the Nadapanthal." "Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple is a Special Security Zone notified invoking the provisions under Section 83(1) of the Kerala Police Act, 2011. The videography of the interior places of the temple, especially through the eastern 'Deepastambham' cannot be permitted. It is for the Managing Committee to ensure, through the security wing of Guruvayoor Devaswom, that no activity causing any disturbance to the devotees, which includes children of tender age, senior citizen and persons with disabilities, takes place in the Nadapanthal of Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple," ruled the Court. The petitioners had also submitted a "video" showing the woman allegedly "picking up a quarrel with the devotees, who were waiting for darshan" in the temple courtyard. The order notes that the video showed the woman "celebrating her birthday by cutting a cake in the Nadapanthal". The Court also pointed out that it is the duty of the temple's managing committee, "subject to the custom and usage in the temple", to arrange for "proper performance of the rites and ceremonies in the temple. "Unless a contrary intention, either expressly or by necessary implication, arises from the provisions of the statute in any particular subject or context, Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee is legally bound to administer and manage the Devaswom and its properties following the settled legal principles relating to the administration of Hindu Religious Trusts. The Committee, being the trustee in the management of Devaswom properties, is legally bound to perform its duties with utmost, care and caution," added the Court. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Anti-terrorist measures carried out by Azerbaijan last September put an end to Armenian separatism that had been lasting for many years, political analyst Azer Garayev told Trend. He noted that in less than 24 hours the Azerbaijani army completely disarmed illegal Armenian armed formations in the region. Professionalism and swiftness of the Azerbaijani army's actions can be considered as an example in military history. The result of these localized measures was the collapse of the so-called regime and the complete failure of Armenia's revanchist intentions, Garayev said. Garayev also noted that the failure of the Armenian side to fulfill its obligations under the Trilateral Statement of November 2020 has jeopardized all efforts to ensure peace. Despite Azerbaijan's repeated appeals for peace, the Armenian side ignored these appeals, making revanchist plans. The terrorist attacks in September 2023, which resulted in the death of two civilians and four policemen, overflowed the cup of patience, and anti-terrorist measures were launched. The victory of the Azerbaijani army in a short time restored the full sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Karabakh and put an end to Armenian separatism, the political analyst added. New Delhi, Sep 18 : In a medical marvel, doctors at a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh's Kakinada performed a complex brain surgery -- awake craniotomy -- while the patient watches a film by Jr. NTR. New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) In a medical marvel, doctors at a government hospital in Andhra Pradeshas Kakinada performed a complex brain surgery -- awake craniotomy -- while the patient watches a film by Jr. NTR. Awake Craniotomy is a method where the patient remains conscious during the procedure. The 55-year-old patient A. Ananthalakshmi underwent surgery for a brain tumour at Kakinadaas Government General Hospital (GGH). She had been suffering from symptoms like numbness in her limbs and persistent headaches and was later diagnosed with a 3.3 x 2.7 cm tumour on the left side of her brain. Due to high treatment costs at private hospitals, she chose the government hospital for the operation. To keep Anantalakshmi calm and focused during the surgery, the doctors screened scenes from Jr NTRas Adhurs, her favourite film. The doctors successfully removed the tumour in a procedure, which lasted a two-and-a-half-hour operation. The doctors anticipate that the patient will be discharged within five days. Awake craniotomy, also called awake brain surgery, was initially used for the surgical treatment of epilepsy and is now most commonly performed for the resection of tumours. When the patient remains awake, it allows the neurosurgeon to maximise tumour resection while preserving neurological function. A week ago, a similar surgery was performed by doctors at Kalyan Singh Cancer Institute in Uttar Pradesh to remove a tumour. Throughout the innovative surgery, the 56-year-old patient remained fully awake and engaged with his mobile phone. This helped reduce the risk of nerve damage. Earlier this year in January, a five-year-old girl underwent awake surgery at AIIMS Delhi to remove a deadly tumour from her brain. During the complex surgery, the girl spoke with the doctors and also recognised a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bengaluru, Sep 18 : Coming down heavily on the BJP, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday that the BJP is conspiring to eliminate the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Speaking to media in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah further stated, that Rahul Gandhi has received death threats and malicious defamation attempts, and he strongly condemns it. "Rahul Gandhi, who comes from a family of sacrifice and martyrs, will not be intimidated by such threats," he maintained. He said that Rahul Gandhi comes from a family that has made immense sacrifices for the nation, with late PMs Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi becoming martyrs for the country. Rahul Gandhi is tirelessly fighting for the country, continuing that legacy, Siddaramaiah added. "BJP has threatened Rahul Gandhi, saying that he will meet the same fate as his grandmother, Indira Gandhi. A Union Minister of State for Railways has called Rahul Gandhi a terrorist. These kinds of death threats are part of a BJP conspiracy to incite their workers and supporters," CM Siddaramaiah slammed. "Sanjay Gaikwad, a Shiv Sena MLA from the Shinde faction, has called for cutting off Rahul Gandhi's tongue and announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh for anyone who does so. This too is a death threat," he stated. Siddaramaiah demanded immediate criminal charges be filed against Sanjay Gaikwad and that he should be jailed. "A minister from Uttar Pradesh has called Rahul Gandhi the country's number one terrorist. However, neither the BJP party nor the central government has taken any strict action against this statement. They have just brushed it aside, filing cases only for show," he alleged. Sanjay Gaikwad has also threatened Congress workers who protested against the BJP, saying they would be buried alive, he noted. "BJP is conspiring not only to politically destroy Rahul Gandhi but also to create fear for his life, which is deeply concerning. There is a need for criminal cases to be filed immediately against all those who issued death threats to Rahul Gandhi and for them to be arrested without delay," CM Siddaramaiah demanded. Rahul Gandhi, coming from a family known for its sacrifices, is not someone who will be frightened by these threats, he emphasised. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not complete his five-year term this time. Given the current political developments in the country, there is doubt that Prime Minister Modi will complete his term. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu are unlikely to stay with the central government for long, CM Siddaramaiah opined. There is also a demand for the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe BJP MLA from Bengaluru, Munirathna, who has made highly derogatory remarks against women, Dalits, and the Vokkaliga community. Legal action has already been taken against Munirathna. The police have investigated, and Munirathna has been presented before the court. The court has remanded him to jail, Siddaramaiah maintained. New Delhi, Sep 18 : In an effort to develop the capability for an Indian crewed landing on the Moon by 2040, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the development of a reusable next-generation launch vehicle (NGLV) with a total fund of Rs 8,240 crore. Space agency ISRO will develop a launch vehicle that will support a high payload and will be cost-effective, reusable, and commercially viable. The funds will include the development costs, three developmental flights, essential facility establishment, programme management and launch campaign. According to the cabinet, the NGLV will have three times the present payload capability with 1.5 times the cost compared to LVM3, and will also have reusability resulting in low-cost access to space and modular green propulsion systems. The NGLV development project will be implemented with maximal participation from the Indian industry, which is also expected to invest in the manufacturing capacity at the outset itself, thereby allowing a seamless transition to the operational phase subsequent to the development. The reusable rocket will be demonstrated with three development flights (D1, D2 and D3) with a target of 96 months (8 years) for the completion of the development phase, the government said. Currently, India has achieved self-reliance in space transportation systems to launch satellites up to 10 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 4 tonnes to Geo-Synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) through the currently operational PSLV, GSLV, LVM3 & SSLV launch vehicles. The NGLV will enable national and commercial missions, including the launch of human spaceflight missions to Bharatiya Antariksh Station, lunar/inter-planetary exploration missions along with communication and earth observation satellite constellations to Low Earth Orbit that will benefit the entire space ecosystem in the country. The goals of the Indian space programme require a new generation of human-rated launch vehicles with high payload capability and reusability. Hence, the development of NGLV is taken up which is designed to have a maximum payload capability of 30 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit, which also has a reusable first stage. Kolkata Sep 18 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Wednesday, blamed the Union government for the flood-like situation in certain pockets in the state, especially in South Bengal The Chief Minister visited some of the inundated pockets at Pursurah block in Hooghly district and blamed the Centre-run Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for the flood situation due to the release of huge quantities of water from its dams in one go. "DVC this time has released over 3.5 lakh cusecs of water in one go, the highest ever. I have personally talked to the Jharkhand Chief Minister and the DVC authorities. Why don't DVC authorities start releasing water gradually when around 80 per cent of their barrages are filled up? The Union government is trying to save the states ruled by the ruling party, as a result of which the people of West Bengal are suffering," the Chief Minister said. She is slated to visit other flood-affected districts during the next couple of days. She is leaving for the West Midnapore district on Wednesday night. Certain pockets in the districts of Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and West Midnapore had been flooded following the release of water by DVC. The worst-affected blocks are Amta and Udaynarayanpur in Howrah, Pursura in Hooghly, Ghatal in West Midnapore and Panskura in East Midnapore. At Panskura, which had already been witnessing heavy rainfall during the last few days, the situation worsened from early Wednesday morning following the release of water from the Kansavati Dam. According to local sources, the Karnavati embankment collapsed at the Jarda area of Panskura around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, which led to the disaster. Meanwhile, the situation has also started deteriorating in Bankura district following unrelenting rain during the last few days. Bankura has witnessed 1,123 mm of rainfall since June 1, which, according to the records, is 200 mm above average. Chennai, Sep 18 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has said that he was "deeply shocked" by media reports of two BJP leaders threatening Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The CM on Wednesday said the charisma and growing popularity of Rahul Gandhi was the reason behind such threats. CM Stalin in a post on social media platform X said, "Deeply shocked by media reports of a BJP leader's threat that @RahulGandhi 'will meet the same fate as his grandmother,' and a Shinde Sena MLA's bounty for cutting his tongue, along with other intimidating threats." He said the Congress leader's growing support has unsettled many. "My brother Rahul Gandhi's charisma and growing public support have clearly unsettled many, leading to such vile acts of intimidation." Calling upon the Centre to act swiftly, CM Stalin said further in the post, "The Union government must act swiftly to ensure protection for the Leader of the Opposition and reaffirm that intimidation and violence have no place in our democracy. It may be recalled that Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) leader Sanjay Gaikwad had on Monday announced a bounty of Rs 11 lakh to anyone who will "chop off" the tongue of Rahul Gandhi. Gaikwad issued a bounty on Rahul Gandhi's statements in the United States during his tour. BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah, on September 11 reportedly issued an assassination threat against Rahul Gandhi. The BJP leader publicly said, "You better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother." The leader mentioned former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was assassinated on October 31, 1984. The Congress party is an alliance partner of DMK in the INDIA bloc and CM Stalin is aid to be personally close to Rahul Gandhi. The DMK had allocated eight Lok Sabha seats to the Congress in the 2024 general elections which won all. This has helped Congress increase its tally at the national level and Rahul Gandhi had publicly acknowledged the support of the DMK. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva on Wednesday criticised AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, accusing the party of orchestrating a "drama" over vacating the Chief Minister's residence to portray former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as a "martyr." Sachdeva claimed that AAP leaders, including Sanjay Singh, were engaging in theatrics to elevate the AAP National Convener's image following his arrest in the Delhi excise policy case. "The drama will continue for a month. The Chief Minister, who was arrested for corruption, will now be shown as a martyr as if he has made great sacrifices," Sachdeva said. On Wednesday, Sanjay Singh announced that Kejriwal would vacate his official residence within a week and relinquish all government facilities he was entitled to as Chief Minister. Responding to this, Sachdeva said, "It will take him around 15 days to vacate the residence. During this time, his supporters will urge him to stay, and Kejriwal will stage a show of moving to a slum or a small flat to project himself as a simple man." The Delhi BJP President further mocked the AAP's strategy, suggesting that Kejriwal would adopt symbolic gestures, such as travelling in a modest car and shopping from street vendors, to craft an image of humility. "This is only the first part of their drama. It will go on for a month to present a corrupt CM in a good light. But the people of Delhi know that Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, and Manish Sisodia are accused in the liquor policy case and are out on bail," he added. He also compared the former Delhi CM's situation to other political figures like Mohammad Shahabuddin, Atiq Ahmad, and Lalu Yadav, who were also granted bail but eventually punished for their crimes. Sanjay Singh had also accused the BJP of attempting to defame Kejriwal for the past two years, calling him corrupt and attacking his honesty. Addressing AAP Rajya Sabha MP's "thick-skinned" remark, Sachdeva retorted, "This is the same Sanjay Singh who once promised Delhi voters that AAP leaders wouldn't take any government security, housing, or cars. Yet they took all the benefits they could." Sachdeva also assured the public that a BJP government would deliver better services, including electricity, water, healthcare, education, housing, and ration supplies. He urged voters to give the BJP a chance, promising comprehensive development through a "double-engine government." Regarding complaints filed against Congress and BJP leaders, Sachdeva said the law would take its course. He also criticised Rahul Gandhi for making "divisive" statements during foreign visits, urging him to stop damaging the country's reputation. New Delhi, Sep 18 : After successful missions to the Moon and Mars, India is now set to explore Venus, with the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approving the development of the Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM). The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the mission to Venus for scientific exploration. The mission, expected to launch in March 2028, will help unravel the "Venusian atmosphere, geology and generate large amounts of science data probing into its thick atmosphere", according to a Cabinet communique. The Cabinet has also "approved a fund of Rs 1,236 crore for the VOM, of which Rs 824 crore will be spent on the spacecraft". "The cost includes development and realisation of the spacecraft including its specific payloads and technology elements, global ground station support cost for navigation and network as well as the cost of the launch vehicle," the Cabinet said. Venus is the closest planet to Earth and is believed to have formed in conditions similar to Earth. The probe offers a unique opportunity to understand how planetary environments can evolve very differently, and to find the causes for the transformation of Venus -- believed to be once habitable and quite similar to Earth. The VOM mission will be accomplished by the Department of Space and is envisaged to orbit a scientific spacecraft in the orbit of planet Venus. "ISRO will be responsible for the development of the spacecraft and its launch. The project will be effectively managed and monitored through the established practices prevailing at ISRO. The data generated from the mission would be disseminated to the scientific community through existing mechanisms," the Cabinet communique said. The mission would also enable India for future planetary missions with larger payloads, and optimal orbit insertion approaches. Los Angeles, Sep 18 : Hollywood star Halle Berry has spoken up about her beau Van Hunt and said that he is the man she should've married. Berry was speaking to etonline.com at the New York premiere of her new film, "Never Let Go," which is all set to hit the theaters on September 20. Talking about contemplating marriage after meeting Van Hunt, Berry said: "He's the man I should've married. I hope I do because he's the man I should've married for sure." How has Van Hunt changed her thought of what it means to be a great partner, the actress added: "He hasn't changed my thought I have changed my thought about it The work has been mine, all mine alone. And I've done it and I feel really good about it." Last month, Berry revealed that she is still close friends with her childhood sweetheart. The 58-year-old actress was initially married to David Justice from 1993 until 1997, then to Eric Benet from 2001 until 2005, and then to Olivier Martinez from 2013 until 2016. She has been in a relationship with Van Hunt for over four years. "I think it's something we have all fantasised about, if we're honest about it. Wondering what happened to the one that got away and how things would have turned out had you stayed together," she told Britain's HELLO magazine. "Or what you would say if you suddenly ran into them now. We're still close friends so it's different. I feel grateful for the time we had together, but I don't have any regrets. It was fun at the time, but I needed to move on and discover life beyond my own backyard," Berry added. New Delhi, Sep 18 : A renowned chemist and professor from Nainital has claimed making major headway in finding a cure and treatment for Parkinson's disease. He said that the 'drug in making' has completed its phase of clinical human trials and soon second phase will be undertaken. Clinical trials in animals yielded positive and promising results, Professor Rawat told IANS. Parkinson's disease is a nervous disorder that severely impairs the patient and incapacitates them over a period of time. According to renowned chemist and Vice-Chancellor of Nainital's Kumaun University, Professor Diwan Singh Rawat, the human trials have shown promising results. The drug is expected to enter its final phase of clinical trials next year, and soon after, it will be available in the market. Parkinson's disease affects over 10 million people globally. Symptoms include tremors, slowed movements, and difficulty in walking, with some patients even experiencing severe depression. The disease is primarily caused by the death of neurons in the midbrain, which leads to a significant reduction in dopamine levels - a chemical crucial for coordinating movement. Current treatments only manage the symptoms to some extent but fail to stop the progression of the disease, leaving patients to suffer for life. Professor Rawat explained that certain proteins play a critical role in the survival of dopamine neurons. The new compound developed through their research activates an important neuro-enzyme that prevents the death of these dopamine-producing neurons. Tests on animals revealed that the compound has no significant side effects and can halt the death of neurons. "We started this research in 2012, in collaboration with an American professor," Professor Rawat stated. "As chemists, we design molecules, but developing a drug is a challenging task that can take up to 16-18 years." Their research was conducted in collaboration with a hospital in Houston, where it was proven that the compound has a curative effect on animals without causing side effects. In 2021, they successfully transferred the technology for further development. "Last year, three American pharmaceutical companies joined the project to turn this molecule into a marketable drug. As drug development is an expensive process, the Michael J. Fox Foundation funded the trials," Rawat added. Human clinical trials began in October last year after receiving regulatory approvals. Bloomberg also reported on the initial findings, which confirmed that the drug's toxicity is within acceptable limits. From next year, the treatment will be administered to Parkinson's patients who have volunteered for the study, and the drug's effectiveness in improving their condition will be closely monitored. "Based on the data and the mechanism of action, we are hopeful that this molecule will soon become a marketable drug. This could be one of the most significant breakthroughs in Parkinson's treatment, as no cure exists for this disease. We have cleared critical phases, and there will be no competition in the market." Discussing the challenges faced during the patenting and technology transfer process before 2020, Professor Rawat noted that while the journey was difficult, his team is now well-prepared to bring the drug to market. Regarding the drug's cost, he mentioned that developing an average drug costs around $450 million, but efforts are being made to ensure the treatment remains affordable. Mumbai, Sep 18 : Indian equity indices closed in the red on Wednesday as investors were cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve monetary policy decision later in the day on Wednesday. At closing, Sensex was down 131 points or 0.16 per cent at 82,948 and Nifty was down 41 points or 0.16 per cent at 25,377. Intraday, Sensex and Nifty made a new all-time high of 83,326 and 25,482 respectively. Nifty Bank was the only major index that closed in the green, up 561 points or 1.08 per cent at 52,750. Selling was seen in the midcap and smallcap stocks. Nifty smallcap 100 index was down 75 points or 0.39 per cent at 19,389 and Nifty midcap 100 index was down 427 points or 0.71 per cent at 59,752. India VIX was up by 6.20 per cent at 13.37. Among the sectoral indices, PSU banks, fin service and private banks were major gainers. IT, auto, pharma, FMCG, metal, energy and infra were major laggards. In the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, L&T, M&M, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were the top gainers. TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Wipro, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Titan were the top losers. According to market experts, "The Indian market experienced a minor profit booking with underperformance by midcaps. Mixed signals from global markets emerged ahead of the anticipated FOMC rate cut decision which is seemingly priced in a 25-bps cut. aInvestors assess the potential for a short-term underperformance of equity given the elevated valuation and correction of metal prices." "Commodities, including oil prices, are steadily declining, suggesting a potential tempering of economic growth. Investor caution is evident as gold prices rise, likely due to anticipated dollar weakness following the rate cut," they added. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree On Amendments to the decree On Establishment of City Days in the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation, Trend reports. According to the decree, the date September 20 is established as the Day of the cities of Khankendi, Khojaly, Khojavand, and Aghdara. The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, together with relevant special representations of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, should take necessary measures to solve issues arising from this decree. The Cabinet of Ministers should solve the issues arising from this decree. Bhopal, Sep 18 : A three-year-old girl student was allegedly raped by a teacher at a private school here. The matter came to light after the minor girl's parents lodged a police complaint on Wednesday. An official said that the accused teacher was arrested after the medical test report of the victim confirmed rape. "Upon receiving a complaint, a medical test on the victim was conducted, which confirmed the sexual assault. Subsequently, the accused has been arrested from the school premises," Police Commissioner Harinarayanchari Mishra told IANS. Mishra said the accused, identified as Kasim Rehan, used to teach 'Information Technology'. "School management and staff members are being questioned. Investigation into the matter is still underway," the police commissioner said. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav condemned the incident and assured that the accused would be handed rigorous punishment by the court. "I have instructed Chief Secretary to speak with the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh and urged hearing into this case at a fast-track court. I assure that the accused will be given rigorous punishment," CM Yadav added. Meanwhile, a police officer attached to Kamla Nagar police station where the complaint has been lodged said the school principal and other senior staff members were questioned about the incident. The police have also been trying to find out if some other girl students were sexually assaulted by the same school teacher. The police officer further said the FIR was registered two days ago. "When the girl returned home from school, she complained about pain in her private parts. Her mother noticed blood oozing from her private parts. Subsequently, she took her to the police station and lodged a complaint," the police official said. The incident has sparked a political controversy with the opposition Congress in the state raising questions about the safety of women and girls in the state. Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari said the law and order situation has worsened in the state. Patwari said President Droupadi Murmu is on a visit to Madhya Pradesh and "I would request her to speak about the safety of women in the state". "I wrote to the President to seek permission for a meeting as I wanted to brief her about the safety of women in Madhya Pradesh," Patwari told the media. Gurugram, Sep 18 : Three candidates fielded by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Sohna and Pataudi Assembly constituencies in Gurugram district have never attended college, according to the affidavits they submitted at the time of nomination. Also, two Congress party candidates from Sohna and Badshahpur have also not attended college, as per their affidavits. A total of 47 candidates are in the fray for four Assembly seats in the upcoming Assembly elections in Gurugram as 15 nominations were withdrawn on Monday. BJP candidates Mukesh Sharma from the Gurgaon seat is 12th pass, Tejpal Tanwar from the Sohna seat in his affidavit that his highest educational qualification is class 10 from a govt school in Badshapur and Bimla Chaudhary from Pataudi Assembly constituency is also Metric pass from open school. The three candidates have never attended college. Likewise, Congress candidate Vardhan Yadav from Badshahpur seat has 12th pass from DPS School and Rohtash Khatna has only passed Class 9, which he completed in 1973-74 at a govt school in Rithoj village. Residents have expressed concern over the candidates' educational qualifications. "Education is important in life no doubt. BJP and Congress have fielded candidates who have never been to college and studied only up to school level which is quite shocking. Gurgaon district is much more developed than other districts in Haryana and educated candidates should represent Assembly constituencies," said Umang Narang, a resident. "Gurugram district needs candidates who have some vision. The lack of educated candidates means there is no vision for the development of the district. The district is struggling for a good candidate who can deliver at least basic facilities. The entire district is grappling with a poor drainage system resulting huge water mess during rains. One should vote for an educated candidate," Anil Chug, a resident said. Ahmedabad, Sep 18 : Gujarat Education Department has approved 162 new government secondary schools for the academic year 2024-25. Of these, 130 will be in non-tribal areas, while 32 will be in tribal regions. Four new government secondary schools have been sanctioned for the Vadodara district, including three in Vaghodia taluka - Government Secondary School Limda, Government Secondary School Sangadol, and Government Secondary School Vyara. One school in Akoti village, Dabhoi taluka, has been approved. The inauguration ceremonies for these schools were held in the presence of Member of Parliament Hemang Joshi, MLA Dharmendrasinh Vaghela, District Education Officer R.R. Vyas, Executive Chairman Nileshbhai Purani, and former Taluka Panchayat President Anupama Parmar. During the event, around 45 students from the newly approved schools were enrolled, and educational kits were distributed by the dignitaries. The ceremony saw participation from parents, students, Limda Primary School staff members, and Limda village residents. In June 2024, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Ahmedabad Municipal School Board had developed 30 smart schools at a cost of Rs 36 crore under the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Nine are located in the Ghatlodiya Assembly constituency, 10 in Vejalpur, 4 in Naranpura, and 7 in Sabarmati, all of which were inaugurated this year. Of the 69 schools in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, 59 have already been transformed into smart schools, with the remaining schools set to be upgraded soon. The curriculum of these innovative schools now includes skill development, vocational training, and digital empowerment. Additionally, they feature enhanced learning tools such as mathematics practice, science laboratories, future classrooms, 3D educational charts, 3D paintings, and various elements of Indian culture. Meanwhile, the government informed the Assembly this year that as of December 2023, 341 state-run primary schools in Gujarat were operating with single classrooms, and over 1,400 administrative officer positions in the Education Department remained vacant. These details were provided in a written response by Education Minister Kuber Dindor to a question posed by Congress MLA Kirit Patel during Question Hour of the ongoing Budget session. The minister cited several reasons, including demolishing dilapidated classrooms, low student attendance, and a lack of available land for constructing new classrooms. Bengaluru, Sep 18 : Karnataka BJP MLC N Ravi Kumar on Wednesday alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was "Hindu drohi" (anti-Hindu) and the state was not safe under his government. Addressing a press conference in BJP headquarters, Ravi Kumar referring to the recent violence and rioting during the Ganesh Visarjan procession in Nagamangala town of Mandya district, charged that Siddaramaiah was anti-Hindu as under his rule, the revered Ganapati idol was placed in police van. A fact-finding committee led by BJP leader and former Deputy CM C. N. Ashwathnarayan visited Nagamangala following the incident. "Another fact-finding committee led by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) President Abdul Majeed, who supports terrorists and opposes Ganapati processions, also went there which might report that Hindus had done an injustice," Ravi Kumar feared. "Siddaramaiah under your governance, there are people who raise slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad'; those who hoist the Palestinian flag; those who place Hindu god Ganesh inside police van; under your regime the Rameshwaram Cafe blast took place," he said while claiming that the state is not a safe place now. Ravi Kumar stated that Siddaramaiah has no connection whatsoever with freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna and does not have the moral right to even mention his name. "Sangolli Rayanna was a great soldier who fought selflessly for the state without any personal gain. Sangolli Rayanna was a commander for Kittur Rani Chennamma, fighting for the survival of Karnataka and Kittur. Unlike CM Siddaramaiah, Sangolli Rayanna did not receive any land grants or properties; he fought without desire for personal benefit, selflessly sacrificing himself for the state's welfare," Ravi Kumar said. Sangolli Rayanna did not receive plots of land or personal gains, unlike certain politicians today, he stated. "Sangolli Rayanna's descendants never petitioned the government for compensation or recognition for their ancestoras sacrifice. Therefore, CM Siddaramaiah does not have the moral right to speak of Sangolli Rayanna," Ravi Kumar stated referring to the alleged role of the CM in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam. Ravi Kumar also challenged Siddaramaiah's recent statements, where the Chief Minister claimed that he had been betrayed similarly to how Sangolli Rayanna was betrayed. Ravikumar demanded that Siddaramaiah should reveal who was plotting against him and who was responsible for his alleged betrayal. "Someone might have betrayed Sangolli Rayanna and helped the Britishers to arrest him. But, who is betraying CM Siddaramaiah now? Whether it was CM Siddaramaiah's political rivals or other aspirants to the chief minister's position," Ravi Kumar asked. Mumbai, Sep 18 : The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has hailed the Union Cabinet's decision to approve the Ramnath Kovind Committee's recommendations on the 'One Nation, One Election' initiative. The Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party Leader Shrikant Shinde said that this significant policy shift is seen as a watershed moment in India's electoral reform journey, promising more streamlined governance and political continuity. "The Cabinet decision marks the dawn of a new era for our democracy. Simultaneous elections across the nation will not only drastically reduce administrative and financial burdens but will also ensure that governments can focus on long-term governance instead of being repeatedly disrupted by election cycles. It's a crucial reform that aligns with India's vision of progress and stability," added Shinde. He further emphasised that this initiative will foster national unity by synchronising the election process, reducing political polarisation, and allowing governments to remain focused on development agendas without the frequent interruptions caused by staggered elections. "The initiative is also expected to bring down enormous election-related costs and avoid the policy paralysis that occurs when various elections overlap. By holding simultaneous elections, the nation can focus on its long-term goals of economic and social development, ensuring that governance remains effective throughout elected terms," he said. Shinde further said, "This is a forward-thinking reform, a game-changer for our democratic structure, ensuring that governance is not compromised by the demands of frequent elections. It enhances the quality of decision-making and provides much-needed political stability." He said that the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party has been an ardent supporter of this idea, having submitted affirmative suggestions to the Ramnath Kovind Committee earlier this year on January 24, 2024. Shinde expressed confidence that all political stakeholders will come together to ensure its successful implementation for the betterment of the nation. "As the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party, we are committed to supporting this historic reform and working towards its smooth execution. This initiative is not just an electoral reform, it is a step toward national unity and the continued growth of India's democratic ethos," he concluded. The Shiv Sena expressed deep gratitude to the Ramnath Kovind Committee for their "diligent work" and to the Union Cabinet for this timely, "strategic decision" that will have far-reaching positive impacts on India's democratic landscape. Vadodara, Sep 18 : Vadodara Cyber Crime Police in Gujarat arrested an accused for duping a resident of Rs 1.69 lakh in a fake job case. The police identified the accused as Muhammad Junaid Ahmed Malek, who was arrested at Ahmedabad Airport upon his return from Dubai after a Look Out Circular (LOC) notice was issued against him. The scam began when the victim received a message offering money to complete tasks online. After registering using a link provided by the fraudsters, the victim was instructed to carry out various tasks related to online purchases, during which Rs 1.69 lakh was transferred to multiple accounts. When the victim attempted to withdraw their earnings, the scammer stopped answering calls, leading the victim to realise they had been duped. A complaint was filed with the Cyber Crime Police which used technical and human sources to trace the fraud back to Malek, who had been residing in Dubai. Further investigation revealed that Malek had been involved in a broader network, sourcing bank accounts and SIM cards from Indian afriendsa in exchange for commissions. He also collaborated with a Chinese agent in Dubai, using the accounts for fraud. According to the NCCRP portal, Malek has 23 complaints filed against him across 11 states. An official said that the arrest is part of a larger crackdown on a Dubai-based fraud network, with 11 suspects arrested across four states. The Cyber Crime Police have issued multiple LOCs against the accused operating from abroad, and two other members of the same Dubai network were previously arrested. Further legal proceedings against Malek are underway. A report tabled in the Lok Sabha earlier this year revealed that people in Gujarat lost Rs 156 crore due to financial cyber frauds in 2023. This was the highest amount frozen in such frauds for any Indian state, accounting for 17 per cent of the total funds under lien (frozen or suspended by banks or financial institutions) across India. Gandhinagar, Sep 18 : The"RE-Invest 2024" summit, organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, concluded here on Wednesday. The event, in which over 200 companies participated, witnessed the signing of MoUs worth Rs 59,000 crore for 94,460 MW pumped hydropower projects. The summit focused on the crucial role of renewable energy in combating global warming and climate change. The event included more than 500 business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) meetings. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who chaired the closing ceremony, emphasised that renewable energy is not just an option but a necessity for the survival of living beings, urging citizens to contribute to environmental protection. During his address, V-P Dhankhar highlighted the country's global leadership in the renewable energy sector under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, noting "India's call for a shift toward sustainable energy practices". The Vice President stressed that natural resources should be used responsibly to avoid catastrophic consequences and called for global unity in tackling climate change. He also praised Gujarat's historical significance and its present-day leadership in renewable energy. Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi emphasised that the firm commitment to green energy drives India toward a more sustainable future. "India has transformed renewable energy into a global movement, bringing multiple countries together through initiatives like the International Solar Alliance. This has positioned India as a leader in global renewable energy efforts, earning international respect," he said. Pralhad Joshi referenced Mahatma Gandhi's life as an inspiration for sustainability, noting the latter's minimal carbon footprint as a model for self-reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat). He stressed that India is following this path by leveraging natural resources for sustainable development. The Union Minister also expressed optimism in advancing India's renewable energy journey and fulfilling PM Modi's vision of a "Developed India by 2047" (Viksit Bharat@2047). Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel expressed confidence that the summit would give momentum to PM Modi's "One Sun, One Earth, One Grid" vision, further cementing his state's role as a leader in renewable energy. CM Patel referenced Gujarat's solar and hydropower projects, including establishing the country's first solar energy park in Charanka and recent hydroelectricity achievements. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan, with a total outlay of Rs 79,156 crore, that will empower more than five crore tribal people. The scheme will cover around 63,000 tribal-majority villages in Aspirational Districts announced in the Budget 2024-25. It will cover 549 districts and 2,740 blocks spread in tribal-majority villages across 30 states and UTs, a Cabinet communique said. The total outlay will have a Central component at Rs 56,333 crore and states share at Rs 22,823 crore for improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities, by adopting saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts, according to the Cabinet decision. The tribal villages covered under the Abhiyan would be mapped on the PM Gati Shakti Portal with the gaps identified by the concerned department for its scheme-specific requirements. The country has a Scheduled Tribes (ST) population of 10.45 crore, as per the 2011 census, and there are more than 705 tribal communities, spread across the country, living in remote and hard-to-reach areas. According to the government, the Abhiyan envisions saturation of critical gaps in social infrastructure, health, education, and livelihood, through different government schemes by convergence and outreach and ensuring holistic and sustainable development of tribal areas and communities based on the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PMJANMAN). As part of the scheme, one of the major aims in the next five years is to provide pucca houses for eligible households with other entitlements. Eligible ST households will have access to pucca housing under the PMAY (Gramin) with the availability of tapped water (Jal Jeevan Mission) and electricity supply (RDSS). Eligible ST households shall also have access to Ayushman Bharat Card (PMJAY), according to the government. In order to improve village infrastructure, the scheme will ensure all-weather road connectivity to ST majority villages (PMGSY), provide access to mobile connectivity (Bharat Net) and internet infrastructure for improving health, nutrition, and education (NHM, Samagra Shiksha and Poshan). As part of skill development, the mission will provide access to training (Skill India Mission/JSS) and ensure that ST boys/girls get access to long-term skill courses after Class 10/12 every year. It also aims to increase the gross enrollment ratio (GER) to the national levels in school and higher education and to make quality education affordable and accessible to ST students (Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan) by setting up tribal hostels in schools at district/block level. In order to ensure enhanced access to quality health facilities to ST households, the mission offers mobile medical units in areas where the sub-centre is more than 10 km in plain areas and 5 km in hilly areas (National Health Mission). Nicosia, Sep 18 : Cyprus will support and participate in the Great Sea Interconnector, a multi-billion euro electric transmission project connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This announcement was made by Energy, Commerce and Industry Minister George Papanastasiou following a Council of Ministers meeting that approved the regulatory framework for the interconnection between Cyprus and Greece's Crete Island, aimed at ending Cyprus's energy isolation, an energy official said on Tuesday. The decision follows weeks of extensive consultations involving the governments of Cyprus and Greece, the European Commission, Greece's Independent Power Transmission Operator, the operator of the project, and the manufacturers of the special deep-sea cable, Xinhua news agency reported. The interconnector, with an estimated cost of 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion), is slated for completion by 2030. It will connect the transmission grids of Greece via Crete, Cyprus, and eventually Israel. Under the agreed terms, Cyprus will contribute 125 million euros (about $139 million) in five instalments of 25 million euros (about $28) each over the next five years, Papanastasiou said. The European Commission has termed the project as one of common interest and has earmarked 657 million euros ($731 million) to subsidise it. Upon completion, the project will be the world's longest undersea electrical conductor stretching 1,240 km and reaching depths of up to 3,000 metres. According to French cabling specialist Nexans, which has won a 1.43 billion euros ($1.6 billion) contract for a section of the project, the interconnector will exchange up to 1,000 MW of electricity between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, with the capability to expand to 2,000 MW, equivalent to the average electricity consumption of 3 million households. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) mourned the passing of its former Secretary General, Baljit Singh Sethi, who died at 8:40 AM on Wednesday, at the age of 89. Sethi was revered as the longest-serving Secretary General in the organization's history, holding the position for an impressive 24 years from 1985 to 2009. He is survived by his wife, daughter, and son. Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, senior vice president of the NRAI, expressed deep sorrow, stating, "It is an irreparable loss to our Shooting family. His contribution to the development and growth of the sport in the country is immeasurable. Till his last breath, he had been advising and guiding juniors like us on how to continuously improve the running of the sport and provide better support to the Shooting athletes. It will be tough to find another like Baljit ji. Deepest condolences to his family and may his soul rest in peace." Raninder Singh, former president of the NRAI, reflected on Sethi's lasting impact on Indian shooting. He noted, "It was under Shri Baljit Sethi's reign that shooting began to gain recognition as a popular sport in the country. His vision, dedication, and passion saw India win its first-ever Olympic medal in shooting and the first individual Olympic gold for the country. He not only advanced the sport for the benefit of the athletes but also groomed administrators like us to ensure the mantle gets passed on. May Waheguru grant his soul eternal peace." Current secretary general Kr. Sultan Singh also conveyed his grief, stating, "The entire Shooting fraternity is indebted to Shri Sethi for his contributions to the sport, and he will be sorely missed by all of us. He has made the NRAI Secretary General's shoes too huge to fill, and we can only feel blessed that we had the good fortune of learning from him and witnessing his work. On behalf of the NRAI, our deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones." BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. An Azerbaijani delegation led by Anar Alakbarov, Executive Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, met with an Uzbek delegation led by Tamila Alieva, Head of Executive Organ of the Zamin International Public Foundation, Trend reports. During the meeting, the sides inked a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two Foundations. The meeting focused on contribution of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Zamin International Public Foundation to the bilateral relations and high-level interactions between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Moreover, the parties discussed the collaboration in such domains as healthcare, education and culture, as well as exchange of experience and reciprocal visits between young people from the two countries. They also mulled cooperation with the Zamin Foundation within the COP29 conference, scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan this November. The main objective of the Zamin International Public Foundation is to contribute to the sustainable development of Uzbekistan and to promote higher living standards for the countrys population. The Foundation focuses on the long-term, strategically important and sustainable projects by supporting environmental and social spheres. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Ulaanbaatar, Sep 18 : Mongolia is experiencing an early onset of winter, with the first snowfall blanketing several provinces. This shift signals the transition from autumn to the colder winter months. As of Wednesday, the provinces of Uvs, Khovd, and Zavkhan in the west, along with Khuvsgul in the north, have seen snowfall of up to 3 cm, according to the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring. Looking ahead, snow is expected to affect western and central provinces over the next three days, along with a sudden drop in temperatures. The weather monitoring agency is urging the public, particularly nomadic herders and farmers, to take extra precautions against potential weather-related hazards, Xinhua news agency reported. Mongolia's climate is characterised by a strong continental influence, featuring long, frigid winters and short, warm summers. Bengaluru, Sep 18 : The Special Court for MLAs/MPs in Bengaluru has reserved the order of BJP MLA N. Munirathna's bail petition till Thursday. Judge Santhosh Gajanana Bhat passed the order as the MLA Munirathna is presently lodged at the Central Prison in Bengaluru. Counsel Surya Mukundaraj appearing for the complainant submitted to the court that if bail is granted to MLA Munirathna, there is a high chance of destruction of evidence. He should not be provided with bail since the incident had taken place in the premises of the legislators' office. Senior Counsel Ashok Harnalli, appearing for MLA Munirathna stated that in the complaint it is not mentioned when exactly the abuse was made since 2015. The notice should have been issued to Munirathna under the provision of 41 A. The sections imposed on Munirathna can't be invoked against him in the case and hence the bail should be granted to him. After hearing arguments and counterarguments, the bench reserved the order for Thursday. Meanwhile, talking to reporters, Home Minister G. Parameshwara said that if the voice samples of BJP MLA Munirathna matched the voice in the audio clip, the government would surely initiate action against him. "The voice sample of BJP MLA Munirathna has been collected and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). If the FSL tests confirm his involvement, we will take action," he reiterated. An audio clip of Munirathna purportedly making casteist slurs against Vokkaligas and Dalits while giving life threats to the contractor also went viral. He was arrested at Nangali village near Mulbagal town in Kolar district. The court had earlier handed him over to two days police custody on Sunday. The accused MLA was arrested while trying to escape to Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. The police tracked him through his phone location. After making the arrest, Kolar Police handed over Munirathna's custody to Bengaluru Police. Cheluvaraju, the contractor who lodged a police complaint against MLA Munirathna, met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah last Saturday and made a submission that even as the police had filed two FIRs, no action was initiated. Karnataka Police had earlier on Saturday filed two FIRs against the BJP MLA from the Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) constituency. The cases were registered at the Vyalikaval police station in Bengaluru. Cheluvaraju claimed that the police are not initiating any action against the BJP MLA even after registering FIRs and demanded Siddaramaiah give directions to initiate legal action in this regard. Siddaramaiah assured him of legal action and protection. In addition to Munirathna, cases have also been filed against his Personal Assistant Vijaykumar, security personnel Abhishek, and Vasanth Kumar. Cheluvaraju, the contractor, had earlier lodged a complaint with Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayananda, seeking protection. Cheluvaraju alleged that Munirathna demanded Rs 20 lakh from him and threatened that if he did not comply, he would face the same fate as Renukaswamy. Incidentally, Renukaswamy was kidnapped and killed by Kannada superstar Darshan and his associates for sending derogatory messages to Pavithra Gowda, Darshan's partner. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The Narendra Modi government has approved the report from a high-level panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind on the concept of 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE). A bill to implement simultaneous elections is expected to be introduced in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament. This initiative aims to synchronise Parliamentary and Assembly elections, which has been a part of the Modi governmentas 100-day agenda. Prime Minister Modi has frequently emphasised the need for this system, arguing that the country incurs significant costs and disruptions from ongoing election seasons. The panel submitted its report in March, recommending that the Election Commission of India (ECI) work with state election authorities to create a common electoral roll and voter ID cards. The Kovind-led committee argued that simultaneous elections would conserve resources, eliminate electoral interruptions, and align with the vision of "India, that is Bharat." The idea of simultaneous elections dates back to the 1980s, and the last time such elections were held was in 1951-52, 1957, 1962, and 1967, before being disrupted by the early dissolution of some assemblies. To help readers understand this initiative better, IANS presents an explainer on 'One Nation, One Election.' What is ONOE In simple terms, 'One Nation, One Election' means that all Indians would cast their votes for both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the same year, if not simultaneously. Currently, only a few states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha, have elections for a new state government coinciding with the Lok Sabha elections. Most states, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Telangana, follow a staggered five-year election cycle, with elections held at different times. Implementing a synchronised electoral cycle presents various challenges, including logistical and financial issues, as well as constitutional and practical hurdles. Why Is the government advocating for 'One Nation, One Election'? The government has previously highlighted several potential benefits and challenges. The government is of the view that conducting simultaneous elections could lead to significant financial savings. This approach would reduce the need for deploying poll officials and security forces multiple times a year, thereby lowering costs for both the public exchequer and political parties during campaigns. Holding elections at different times, according to the government, results in the Election Code of Conduct being in effect more frequently. This situation can hinder the implementation of welfare schemes by both central and state governments. The government also believes that a single election could enhance voter turnout, which currently varies widely between states and even during general elections. How can it be implemented? Implementing 'One Nation, One Election' would require an amendment to the Constitution, which must be ratified by the governments of all states and union territories, as well as potentially by major political parties. Legal experts have cautioned that without amending certain key Articles, the proposal could face legal challenges regarding its compliance with India's federal structure. One of the significant challenges is determining how to proceed if a state government or the central government is dissolved or faces a no-confidence motion before its term concludes. It would be impractical to mandate that all other states hold fresh elections in such a scenario, complicating the synchronisation of electoral cycles. Poll panel's 2015 report Nine years ago, the Election Commission of India (ECI) submitted a feasibility report on the 'One Nation, One Election' concept. In this report, it proposed that if a no-confidence motion were to pass, the process should include the nomination of a new Chief Minister or Prime Minister to take over immediately, requiring the new leader to face a confidence vote right away. Moreover, in the event of early dissolution of a government, the report recommended holding a short-term election solely to establish a government for the remainder of the term. Several measures were proposed, including the extension or shortening of terms to help synchronise electoral cycles New Delhi, Sep 18 : HD Kumaraswamy, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel on Wednesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'One Nation, One Election' initiative as a historic step towards improving India's electoral system. He further mentioned that the Janata Dal (Secular) welcomes the 'One Nation, One Election' system. Speaking to the media after attending a meeting on Electric Vehicles (EVs) organised by the Ministry of Heavy Industries at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Kumaraswamy responded to questions about this initiative. "A committee was formed under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and Assemblies. The committee has submitted its report, and the Union Cabinet has approved it," Kumaraswamy stated. He added that within the first 100 days of its third term in office, the Modi government has delivered on its election promise by taking this historic decision. Kumaraswamy further stated, "The central government will take all necessary steps to protect the domestic steel sector, including addressing the challenges posed by cheap Chinese steel." Speaking at the Domestic Alloy Industry Conference organised by the Indian Primary Alloy and Ferroalloy Association (IPAFA) in New Delhi on Wednesday, the minister responded to a question about the uncontrolled import of steel from China. He mentioned that the government will soon discuss the possibility of imposing higher import duties on Chinese steel with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, stressing that the domestic steel sector will not be allowed to face any danger. He added, "It is our responsibility to protect both the domestic steel and alloy industries. We must safeguard the industry from challenges, and in this regard, we will discuss with the Finance Minister the imposition of a minimum import duty on steel. Preliminary discussions are already underway, and efforts will be made to convince the Finance Minister." When asked about the ongoing protests against the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam National Steel Plant (Vizag Steel), the minister responded, "I am aware of the situation. We face challenges, but we are making every effort to stabilise and save the plant." Ajit Kumar Saxena, Chairman and Managing Director of Manganese Ore India Ltd. and Manish Sarda, President of IPAFA, were also present at the event. Mumbai, Sep 18 : Shiv Sena Deputy Leader and Spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam on Wednesday strongly condemned Congress leader Sunil Kedar's recent statement, vowing to halt the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana if MVA comes to power. Nirupam asserted that Kedar's remarks cement Congress' anti-women stance, urging women across the state to stay vigilant against the party's 'deceitful' agenda. Nirupam at the press conference highlighted that from the inception of the Ladki Bahin scheme, Congress has consistently attempted to undermine it. "Right from the moment this revolutionary scheme was launched by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, alongside Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Congress has been trying to mislead the public, claiming the state lacks funds and labelling the initiative as a gimmick," he said. Despite these claims, the scheme has gained overwhelming support from women across Maharashtra. Before Raksha Bandhan, financial assistance was successfully deposited into the bank accounts of 1.6 crore women. Congress's efforts to stop the scheme, including a petition in the Bombay High Court, were swiftly dismissed by the court, Nirupam added. Nirupam also noted that another Congress worker has filed a petition against the scheme at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, showing the party's deep-rooted animosity towards the welfare of women. "As long as Eknath Shinde remains Chief Minister, no one will be able to stop the Ladki Bahin scheme," Nirupam assured. He also reiterated the government's commitment to enhancing the scheme post-elections, with the Chief Minister guaranteeing an increase in the financial aid to Rs1,500. Nirupam further criticised Congress' double standards, pointing out that the party supports the 'Mayya Samman Yojana' in Jharkhand, where they govern alongside Hemant Soren while opposing a similar initiative in Maharashtra. "In Jharkhand, Congress is happily providing financial assistance to women, organizing events to celebrate their scheme. Yet, when Maharashtra's women receive financial aid, it seems to hurt Congress' interests," he remarked. He accused Congress of discriminating against women based on state lines. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The Centre on Wednesday asked the platform aggregators like Zomato and Ola to onboard gig workers on the e-Shram portal within the next three months to help them access social security benefits. In a meeting with platform aggregators such as Urban Company, Swiggy and Instamart, Zomato and Blinkit, Porter, Amazon, Uber and Ola as well as organisations such as FICCI, CII and Employeras Federation of India, Minister of Labour and Employment Dr Mansukh Mandaviya emphasised the need for registering gig workers on the e-Shram portal. The minister stressed that the workers' registration is crucial for extending further benefits under various government initiatives. Aggregators were urged to assist in this registration drive and to ensure that all eligible workers are registered on the portal, according to the ministry. The meeting also focused on developing a comprehensive framework to address the unique needs of this growing workforce, aiming to ensure that these workers have access to essential social security protections. Dr Mandaviya directed the Ministry to form a dedicated committee so that views of all stakeholders can be obtained. The committee will deliberate on key issues and work towards establishing a robust social security framework for these workers. Talking about the flagship National Career Service (NCS) portal, the minister encouraged aggregators to list their job vacancies on the NCS portal for broadening employment opportunities for millions across the country. After the registration, platform workers will receive a Universal Account Number (UAN), which will allow them to access key social security benefits. The central government, working with few aggregators, has successfully completed testing for API integration and is advancing the registration process. Tokyo, Sep 18 : Japan's Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Masataka Okano on Wednesday summoned Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed his serious concerns about the attack on a Japanese national in Shenzhen city in the south-central Guangdong province of China. A student at the Shenzhen Japanese School in China was stabbed and injured by a 44-year-old man on Wednesday morning. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately dispatched staff from its Consulate-General in Guangzhou to the site of attack to provide the necessary support. "Vice-Minister Okano called for appropriate measures to prevent a recurrence, and strongly urged that security be strengthened around Japanese schools throughout China and that every effort be made to ensure the safety of Japanese people. Ambassador Wu responded that it was heartbreaking that such an incident occurred, and that he would work to strengthen the safety of Japanese people and other foreigners in the area," Japan's Foreign Ministry stated after the meeting. "Furthermore, Vice-Minister Okano reiterated to Ambassador Wu the Government of Japan's serious concerns regarding the passage of a Chinese Navy aircraft carrier between Yonaguni Island and Iriomote Island in the early hours of the September 18th, in light of a series of recent actions by China, and strongly urged Ambassador Wu to improve the situation," it added. Japan's Foreign Press Secretary Kitamura Toshihiro revealed that the suspect has already been detained by the local authorities and is currently being interrogated. "It is important how we respond to this case. The Consulate-General of Japan in Guangzhou has requested the local authorities to share detailed information from the perspective of protecting Japanese nationals, and is strongly requesting that they take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals," said Kitamura. Considering the sensitivity of the issue, the Foreign Press Secretary refrained from answering any speculative questions at this point about the background to the crime or the impact it may have on Japan-China relations. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan on Wednesday said that India is a 'Vishwa Mitra' and a 'Vishwa Bandhu' in the global world order. "India's position is of a 'Vishwa Mitra' and a 'Vishwa Bandhu' in the global world order. India's focus is on operational readiness, modernisation and strategic autonomy through 'Aatmanirbharta'," said the CDS while addressing a conclave for Foreign Service Attaches (FSAs) hosted by the Defence Intelligence Agency of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff at New Delhi. He added that in the most violent decade since World War II, there is a growing propensity amongst nations to use force to contain conflicts. The growing uncertainty and insecurity is leading nations to renew their national security strategy and increase expenditure on defence. The CDS said this while highlighting four distinct areas of India's Defence vis-a-vis operational preparedness, modernisation, transformation and indigenisation. He emphasised the significance of Data-Centric Warfare and the role of Artificial Intelligence in revolutionising warfare. The CDS gave an insight into India's Atmanirbharta for defence capability development and strategic autonomy. Director General Defence Intelligence Agency (DG DIA) Lt Gen DS Rana apprised the FSAs that India's Defence Diplomacy was expanding steadily in terms of the nature of activities as well as geographic coverage wherein security cooperation was a key component. He highlighted the vision of Atmanirbharta and indigenisation in Defence and implored FSAs to gain first-hand experience in modernisation programmes. A holistic overview of India's strategic perspective was given to the FSAs by Defence Subject Matter Experts. Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd) spoke on 'India's National Security, Challenges and Opportunities', Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan (Retd) deliberated upon 'Indo-Pacific Region Competition, Cooperation and Challenges' and Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma (Retd) gave insights on 'Grey Zone Warfare and Impact on Security Dynamics'. Mumbai, Sep 18 : Two days after he sparked controversy by announcing a cash reward of Rs 11 lakh to anyone who chops off Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's tongue over remarks on reservation, Shiv Sena MLA from Maharashtra's Buldhana constituency, Sanjay Gaikwad, on Wednesday said he will take back his words if the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha apologises to B.R. Ambedkar by visiting the Chaityabhoomi -- a Buddhist chaitya (sacred spot) and the cremation place of the country's first Minister of Law and Justice. Gaikwad's statement came ahead of the state government function scheduled to be at Buldhana on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar for the promotion of Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. Gaikwad's statement came at a time when the Congress strongly condemned his remarks while targeting the MahaYuti government over lack of any action against him. Congress workers have registered offences against Gaikwad in various parts of Maharashtra. Undeterred by registration of offences against him and the Congress adopting an aggressive posture, Gaikwad announced that he would apologise to Rahul Gandhi but in a certain condition. "Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the architect of the Indian Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, by personally visiting Chaityabhoomi. If he does that I will take back my words," the Shiv Sena MLA said. "I made a statement of giving a cash reward of Rs 11 lakh to anyone for chopping off Rahul Gandhias tongue. Now I am making another announcement today. Rahul Gandhi has insulted Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Ambedkar. He has also insulted the Constitution of India. Rahul Gandhi has also insulted the entire oppressed community of the country. He should go to Chaityabhoomi and bow there or bow at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur (a sacred monument of Navayana Buddhism) and apologize to BR Ambedkar. If he does that, I will take back my words," said Gaikwad. Maharashtra unit BJP president Chandrashekar Bawankule said he does not support the MLA's remarks. However, there has been no statement by Shiv Sena or Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Though Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is yet to react, another Deputy CM, Ajit Pawar, expressed displeasure saying: "I always say that no one, including me, should make insane statements. Everyone should follow the tradition of cultured Maharashtra, taught by Yashwantrao Chavan. Don't make statements having the potential to widen the gap between castes and communities. Such statements lead to accusations and disputes among political parties. The atmosphere becomes muddy. New questions arise. I am against that." Meanwhile, Maharashtra unit Congress chief Nana Patole urged CM Eknath Shinde to rein in Gaikwad. Patole also said that Shinde should clarify the statements made by his party's legislator. "Millions of Congress workers across Maharashtra and the entire country are ready to stand as a shield to protect Rahul Gandhi. Don't even think about trying to harm Rahul Gandhi in any way, no one can even touch his hair," Patole said. Chennai, Sep 18 : The Madras High Court has dismissed a writ petition to declare the day of the Anusham star in the Tamil month of Vaikasi as the birthday of Saint Tiruvalluvar, who is believed to have penned 'Tirukkural.' Chennai, Sep 18 (IANS) The Madras High Court has dismissed a writ petition to declare the day of the Anusham star in the Tamil month of Vaikasi as the birthday of Saint Tiruvalluvar, who is believed to have penned 'Tirukkural.' The judge dismissed a writ petition filed in 2021 by Samy Thiagarajan, the president of Tiruvalluvar Tirunatkazhagam. The petitioner is a Tamil professor with 36 years of teaching experience and a doctorate for his research on Tirukkural. Justice M. Dhandapani of the Madras High Court on Wednesday also refused to issue a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to shift the annual celebration of 'Tiruvalluvar Day' from the second day of Tamil month Thai to the Vaikasi Anusha Natchathiram Day. It was also brought to the notice of the court that Tiruvalluvar Tirunatkazhagam was founded by Padmasri Subbaya Pillai in 1935 and that the birthday of Tiruvalluvar was celebrated on Vaikasi Anusham which fell on May 18, 1935. Tamil scholar Maramalai Adigalar had participated in the celebration. The petitioner said that a Government Order issued on March 18, 1966, after the conclusion of the first Tiruvalluvar conference, had ordered that 'Tiruvalluvar Day' would be celebrated on June 2, 1966, which was a Vaikasi Anusham day. "However, in the subsequent years, it was shifted to the second day of Thai month," the petitioner said. Advocate General P.S. Raman told the court that the government had been celebrating 'Tiruvalluvar day' only to hail the greatness of Tiruvalluvar, the author of the couplets, and the wonderful life values that his literary work intends to spread. The Advocate General made it clear that 'Tiruvalluvar Day' was not being celebrated as the birthday of Tiruvalluvar and added that it would always be open to the petitioner and others to celebrate the birth anniversary as they may think fit. He said no government order prohibits the celebration of Tiruvalluvar's birth anniversary. After recording the submissions made by both parties, Justice Dhandapani said that he undertook some research on the subject but could not lay his hands on any authentic material with respect to the family background, religious affiliation, birthplace, or birthday of Tiruvalluvar. The judge pointed out that even the material submitted by the petitioner to support his case dates back only to 1935 and not beyond that. The court also said that in the absence of any such authentic material with respect to the birthday, no declaration as sought by the writ petitioner could be issued by the court Justice Dhandapani also said that the state government could not be forced to shift the 'Tiruvalluvar Day' from Thai to Vaikasi as the government had clearly stated that the day had been earmarked not to celebrate the birth of the author but to commend his greatness and the literary work that he had produced. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Despite the ongoing efforts to foster positive dynamics and explore cooperation prospects, the biased opinions from certain US officials negatively impact bilateral relations, Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at a meeting with a delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Joshua Hack, Trend reports. Bayramov referred specifically to anti-Azerbaijani comments made by Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for Policy and Programming Isobel Coleman during her recent visit to the Armenian embassy in the US. He noted that such statements disrespect Azerbaijans territorial integrity and sovereignty and aim to distort facts related to counter-terrorism efforts that ended the illegal presence of Armenian Armed Forces on Azerbaijan's sovereign territory. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday, reacting to the assault of a journalist in the US allegedly by Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) workers, said that the Congress must take cognizance of the incident and take necessary action. The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) also said that he received a memorandum from journalists, seeking action over the manhandling of scribe Rohit Sharma on foreign soil. Speaking to the press, Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the manhandling of journalist on foreign soil in the presence of IOC President Sam Pitroda was a matter of concern and urged the Congress and its president to initiate action. "We will forward the memorandum to the Press Council of India for taking legal action in the case," he added. Rohit Sharma, a journalist with 'India Today', was roughed up in Texas while interviewing IOC chief Sam Pitroda, ahead of Rahul Gandhi's US visit. The shocking assault of journalist initially got hushed up and came out in the open only when the scribe chose to speak out about his ordeal at the hands of Congress members, some of whom, he claimed, were from Rahul's team. Rohit Sharma said that the trouble began when he questioned Pitroda on Congress' silence over persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh. He claimed that his mobile phone was snatched, and was directed to delete the footage from the device. US National Press Club also corroborated the incident in a press statement and said that IOC members including Rahul Gandhi's staff were behind the assault. "Several members of the IOC were listening to the interview as well as several members of Rahul Gandhi's advance staff. On the last question, members of the audience objected to the subject of the question and stopped the interview by shouting at Sharma and pushing him while taking his phone. The group, which included Rahul Gandhi's staff, deleted files from Sharma's phone and kept it from him," said a statement by US Press Club. Amaravati, Sep 18 : In a big jolt to YSR Congress, senior leader and former Andhra Pradesh minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy resigned from the party on Wednesday and announced his decision to join the Jana Sena Party. He sent his resignation letter to the party President and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, stating that he is resigning from the primary membership of the party. He, however, did not specify the reasons for his resignation. Srinivasa Reddy, a relative of Jagan Mohan Reddy, only mentioned that he was satisfied with serving people by becoming a public representative five times and serving as minister twice. He wrote that politics and family relations are different. He said despite being close to the YSR family, he opposed the wrong decisions of Jagan Mohan Reddy. The former minister was reportedly unhappy with the party leadership for not backing him when he filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India doubting the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines. Following his defeat in Ongole in recent Assembly elections, Srinivasa Reddy had demanded a thorough examination of EVMs and cross-checking of VVPAT slips. Meanwhile, Srinivasa Reddy said he has decided to join the Jana Sena Party. He said he would meet Jana Sena President and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and join the party. Last year, Srinivasa Reddy resigned as YSRCP coordinator for Chittoor, Nellore, and Tirupati, following differences with some leaders. He was unhappy after Jagan Mohan Reddy dropped him from the Cabinet in 2022 and was reported to be even planning to quit as MLA. Srinivasa Reddy, who had served as a minister in the Cabinet of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, was miffed over Jagan Reddy dropping him while retaining many others who were junior to him. He was miffed over Jagan retaining Adimulapu Suresh, who also hails from the same district, in the Cabinet. Jagan Mohan Reddy, however, had pacified him and appointed him the regional coordinator of the party. Several leaders have quit the YSRCP since the party lost power to the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP combine in June this year. Rajya Sabha MPs Mopidevi Venkataramana and Beeda Mastan Rao and a couple of MLCs are among the leaders who have quit. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Tech giant Apple on Wednesday announced that its generative AI offering called 'Apple Intelligence' will be available in more languages next year, including English (India). Geared up to make its iPhone 16 lineup available to customers on September 20, the company said new additions to Apple Intelligence include English (India), English (Singapore), German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, while "others" yet to be announced. The feature will launch in American English, when it arrives as part of the iOS 18.1 software update. Apple had announced that localised English support for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK will arrive later in 2024. Apple Intelligence is currently available in the EU via the macOS Sequoia 15.1 developer beta. Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system, will start rolling out next month with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features launching in the coming months. With systemwide Writing Tools powered by Apple Intelligence, users can rewrite, proofread, and summarise text nearly everywhere they write. In Photos, the Memories feature now enables users to create the movies they want to see by simply typing a description. Also, natural language can be used to search for specific photos, and search in videos gets more powerful with the ability to find specific moments in clips. The new Clean Up tool can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo without accidentally altering the subject. The Clean Up tool in Photos can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo without accidentally altering the subject. In the Notes and Phone apps, users can record, transcribe, and summarize audio. Siri becomes more natural, flexible, and deeply integrated into the system experience, according to the company. Meanwhile, Apple has released the next version of its operating system, iOS 18, which is a free download and offers iPhone users around the world new ways to personalise their devices. Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 18 : The first case of MPox was confirmed in Kerala on Wednesday evening after the State Health Minister Veena George informed it on social media. This is the second case of MPox in the country. George said elaborate arrangements have been made in the state with 14 state-run hospitals fully geared to meet any emergency. "People, especially those arriving from abroad, have any symptoms and have to seek medical attention, then all arrangements for isolation have been prepared across the state in hospitals. Nodal officers are also appointed to tackle this," said George. Incidentally, this 38-year-old man arrived from the UAE last week and was put under observation for suspected MPox. After a few days, he developed rashes and also had a fever. On September 16, he was admitted to the state-run Manjeri Medical College Hospital where he has been kept in isolation. Doctors treating the patient said that his fever had come down. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed the government's approval of simultaneous elections as a significant step toward enhancing India's democracy. He also thanked former President Ram Nath Kovind for painstakingly spearheading the nationwide consultation process. In a post on X on Wednesday, PM Modi said, "The Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. I compliment our former President, Ram Nath Kovind Ji for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders." "This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative," he added. Earlier, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee on simultaneous elections under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind. The committee in its report had said that elections had been held simultaneously between 1951 and 1967. The Law Commission in its 170th report (1999) had also said that One election to Lok Sabha and all Legislative Assemblies in five years should be held. Parliamentary Committee's 79th Report (2015) suggested methods for simultaneous elections in two phases. The High-Level Committee chaired by Ram Nath Kovind extensively consulted a broad spectrum of stakeholders including political parties and experts. Extensive feedback has shown there is widespread support for simultaneous elections in the country. The Kovind committee had recommended common electoral rolls for all elections and an implementation group to supervise the whole process. A bill to implement simultaneous elections is expected to be introduced in the Winter session of Parliament. This initiative aims to synchronise Parliamentary and Assembly elections, which has been a part of the Modi government's 100-day agenda. Prime Minister Modi has frequently emphasised the need for this system, arguing that the country incurs significant costs and disruptions from ongoing election seasons. Mumbai, Sep 18 : Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha, who was recently seen in the period streaming show 'Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar', is sharing content from her archives. On Wednesday, the actress took to her Instagram and shared a Reel of herself with her husband, Zaheer Iqbal in which they can be seen in Egypt. The video is from their dating phase and the couple can be seen enjoying paramotoring to the fullest over the pyramids. The video begins with the duo holding each other's hands while they ecstatically go for the adventure ride. The actress wrote in the caption, "The absolute BEST way to see the pyramids is to fly over them... #Throwback to Egypt!! All the fun stuff coming out of the archives now... perks of being married #sonazahtraveltales #pyramidsofgiza #paramotoring." Meanwhile, Sonakshi and Zaheer tied the knot on June 23 in Mumbai after seven years of dating. They first met at a party hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. Interestingly, both Sonakshi and Zaheer started their careers with Salman. While Sonakshi made her debut opposite Salman in the box-office phenomenon 'Dabangg', Zaheer made his debut with Salman Khan's home production 'Notebook'. The couple reportedly dated for seven years, and lived together for a year before tying the knot. Their wedding ceremony was followed by a grand reception ceremony that was attended by several Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kajol, Tabu, Yo Yo Honey Singh and more. Meanwhile, on the work front, the actress is set to share the screen with her husband in 'Tu Hai Meri Kiran' The two have previously worked together in the film 'Double XL', which also starred Huma Qureshi, and a music video titled, 'Blockbuster'. New Delhi, Sep 18 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday welcomed the Cabinet nod for 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE), saying this will pave the way for a giant leap towards landmark electoral reforms in the country. Taking to X, the Home Minister wrote: "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharat has been witnessing transformative reforms. Today, in this direction, Bharat takes a giant stride towards landmark electoral reforms with the Union Cabinet accepting the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on One Nation One Election." The proposal for conducting simultaneous Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections under the ONOE and the recommendations of the former President Ram Nath Kovind-led panel were accepted by the Union Cabinet earlier in the day. The committee headed by former President Kovind had submitted the report in March and was placed before the Cabinet on Wednesday, for getting its nod. A Bill to the same effect is likely to be brought in the next session of Parliament. Amit Shah further said that the ONOE clearance reflects PM Modi's iron will to bolster democracy through clean and financially efficient elections, adding it will accelerate economic growth through more productive allocation of resources. BJP President J.P. Nadda also appreciated the move and said that this will go a long way in streamlining the electoral process. "The current system of holding elections at different times across states hampers development efforts and burdens the national treasury. This landmark decision aims to streamline the electoral process and ensure better governance," J.P. Nadda said. He further said that adopting "One Nation, One Election" will help lower election-related expenses and financial burden on the government. Notably, the recommendations made by a high-level panel led by Ram Nath Kovind lays out a comprehensive roadmap for the implementation of simultaneous elections. The panel has recommended conducting concurrent elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies as the first phase, to be followed by synchronised local body polls within a 100-day period. Patna, Sep 18 : Shivanand Tiwari, the RJD's national Vice President, on Wednesday criticised the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, claiming it is part of an RSS agenda which the BJP is attempting to implement in the country. Shivanand Tiwari, while speaking to IANS, argued that the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal challenges the country's federal structure. Responding to the NDA's claim that simultaneous elections would reduce the financial burden, Tiwari said: "While BJP leaders boast about India will become the world's third-largest economy, with a multi-trillion-dollar economy and numerous billionaires have been come up under the Modi government, can our country not afford the estimated Rs 4,500 crores required to sustain its democratic processes." Shivanand Tiwari emphasised that states like Bihar and Tamil Nadu have significant differences in tradition, culture, language, and infrastructure. He argued that each state faces unique challenges, making separate state elections necessary so people can choose their respective governments. Tiwari stated that 'One Nation, One Election' is not feasible which is why the RJD consistently opposes the concept. Tiwari further claimed that the BJP introduced the 'One Nation, One Election' concept due to uncertainty about its performance in the next election. "The BJP aimed to win over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha, it only managed to secure around 240 seats. The 'One Nation, One Election' concept aligns with the RSS's long-standing ideology of promoting "one nation, one language, one leader, one election," he said. "This idea originally stemmed from Jan Sangh and was proposed in 1962, including a plan to merge states and govern through a unified administration. The BJP is appointing governors in states who obstruct the functioning of elected governments in various states and using central investigating agencies against opposition leaders. Their ultimate goal is to centralise power under one leader and one flag," Tiwari said. The One Nation One Election Concept proposes simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and other legislative bodies in the country. Meanwhile, Neeraj Kumar, MLC of JD-U, reiterated his party's support for the 'One Nation, One Election'. "Our party's senior and union minister leaders Lalan Singh and national working president Sanjay Jha presented the party's views to the committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind. JD-U firmly believes this concept would lessen the country's financial burden and eliminate obstacles to development. The implementation is expected in 2029, and if the Bihar Assembly election takes place in 2025, the next government's term would align with the Lok Sabha election in 2029," he told IANS. BJP leader and spokesperson Prabhakar Mishra told IANS that 'One Nation, One Election' would be a significant decision by the Union government in the public's interest. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the concept during the Independence Day celebration at the Red Fort, urging all political parties to unite on this issue. Cairo, Sep 18 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday made it clear that the United States had no prior knowledge of Tuesday's incident in Lebanon which saw pagers of over 4,000 Hezbollah members explode, resulting in 12 deaths till now. "The United States did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents. We are still gathering the information and gathering the facts," Blinken told reporters during a joint press conference in Cairo along with Egyptian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. The Cairo visit marks Blinken's 10th trip to the region since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, last year. However, he is not scheduled to visit Israel this time around. "Broadly speaking we have been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we are trying to resolve in Gaza, to [not] see it spread to other fronts. It is clearly not in the interest of anyone involved to see that happen and that is why, again, it is imperative that all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict," said the US Secretary of State. From Egypt, Blinken will travel to Paris on September 19 to meet with French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to discuss the Middle East, Ukraine, and other shared priorities. He is also scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron. A few hours after the explosion of pagers in Lebanon on Tuesday, Washington had denied having any kind of involvement in the incident. "We are gathering information on this incident. I can tell you that the US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance. And at this point, we are gathering information," US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during the department press briefing. Citing that Washington did not want to either comment or speculate about the impact of the incident, especially in its early stages, the State Department Spokesperson had reiterated that the overall policy of the US remains consistent on the issue. "We do want to see a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. We want to see one that allows the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been displaced from their homes and the tens of thousands of Lebanese who have been displaced from their homes to be able to return home. And that's what we are continuing to pursue," said Miller. Shimla, Sep 18 : Slamming the derogatory remarks by the BJP and the Shiv Sena leaders against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said such utterances do not contribute to strengthening the democratic setup. He sought the intervention of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command to pull the reigns of the leaders for irresponsible remarks. "In my personal capacity and on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, I strongly denounce the unconstitutional language used against Rahul Gandhi," the Chief Minister told the media here. "Undoubtedly, he is the senior and one of the most respected Congress leader. Under Rahul Gandhi's visionary leadership, the ideology of the Congress has strengthened the social fabric, and he represents the voice of millions of people who are disillusioned with the authoritarian policies of the Union government led by the BJP," he said. The Chief Minister said that Minister of State Ravneet Bittu had all praise for Rahul Gandhi when he was the Member of Parliament representing the Congress. "But now he has compromised all his moral values in pursuit of power," Sukhu said. He said Ravneet Bittu was concentrating on his image and position in the BJP and to secure his berth in the Rajya Sabha, ignoring public welfare. "Every political entity in a democracy has the right to agree or disagree, but it is essential that dignity and respect is maintained in political discourse," he added. The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister further said that Rahul Gandhi undertook 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' to spread the message of peace and harmony among the people and "has been continuously raising his voice against the oppressive and anti-people policies of the BJP government". "Being afraid of Rahul Gandhi's fame, the BJP leaders seem to be perplexed and unable to digest his rising popularity, resorting to un-parliamentary language against him merely to attract the media's attention," he added. Sukhu also urged the BJP leaders to "stop such mudslinging in pursuit of power", and refrain from using undemocratic remarks against Rahul Gandhi who has always stood for national unity and has emerged as a leader for the poor and the underprivileged. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Joshua Huck met with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation, the post-conflict region, and normalization prospects with Armenia, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, Trend reports. "The meeting discussed issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States, as well as the regional situation in the post-conflict period, and prospects for the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The collaboration between Azerbaijan and the United States in the preparations for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which Azerbaijan will host this year, was much valued. It was noted that notwithstanding attempts to foster positive dynamics in bilateral relations and explore avenues for collaboration, the biases of certain US officials adversely impact these connections. Specifically, the remarks made by Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Isabelle Coleman, at the Armenian Embassy in the United States on September 16 regarding Azerbaijan were highlighted as disrespectful to Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty, constituting a distortion of the facts concerning local anti-terrorist operations that terminated the illegal presence of Armenian armed forces on the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. During the meeting, the delegation was briefed on the regional situation in the post-conflict period and the ongoing normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. As the initiator of key elements in the peace process, Azerbaijan is committed to fostering peace and stability in the region. The presence of landmine threats was highlighted, and potential cooperation to address this issue was explored. It was emphasized that, despite significant advancements in peace negotiations, the most pressing obstacle to finalizing an agreement remains Armenia's continued territorial claims outlined in various legal and political documents, including its constitution. Additionally, it was pointed out that Armenia's militarization policy undermines efforts toward regional peace and stability. The discussions included a range of other bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest," the ministry stated. New Delhi, Sep 18 : With 200 academic and research collaborations between Australia's Victoria and India, it is the top choice for students from India, said Premier Jacinta Allan on Wednesday. She was speaking at Didac India, recognised as Asia's largest exhibition and conference focused on education and skilling resources, today at the India International Convention and Expo Centre, Yashobhoomi, New Delhi. "I have come to India with three big priorities, and that is: 'Education, Education, and Education'," Allan said. "There are 200 academic and research collaborations between Victoria and India. Victoria stands as the number one destination for Indian international students, and we see the brightest opportunity for growth and partnerships," she added The first day of the 14th edition of Didac India kickstarted with an exciting convergence of education leaders, policymakers, and industry experts worldwide. "Technology provides us with comfort, but we also need a calm mind to focus. Educational institutions should prioritise addressing the mental health issues of teachers, students, and parents," said renowned Indian guru and spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. "It is crucial to establish a platform to help students develop mental resilience for their intellectual growth," he added. The event witnessed exclusive panel discussions addressing the needs of the entire education system including sessions like, 'Beyond NEP- Pathways to light and tight governance model', 'Fostering emergent, distributed and authentic leadership in education' and 'Teaching in the age of AI-redefining the classroom'. The participating countries include Maldives, Germany, Finland, the State of Victoria, the State of New South Wales and the UK. Over 300 brands from 20 countries including Google, Apple, HP, Samsung, IBO, BenQ, Janatics, Pearson, and Roombr also plan to showcase over 5000 products and technologies at the event. --IANS rvt/dan Kolkata Sep 18 : West Bengal Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for blaming the Union government over the flood situation in the state and labelling the crisis as a 'man-made flood'. "Neither you have taken any preventive or precautionary measures before the monsoons nor have you taken any steps to boost the infrastructure in order to tackle the annual problem," the LoP wrote on X. Earlier, the Chief Minister had blamed the Union government for the flood-like situation in the state while describing it as 'man-made floods'. Adhikari said that the flood-like situation in the state is essentially because of the failure of the state Irrigation & Waterways Department which failed to take preemptive measures. He has also pointed out that the World Bank approved Rs 5,000 crore loans to the state government to build and operate new irrigation structures like flood walls, river embankment armouring, de-silting the adjoining rivers, creating small-scale storage structures, creek rehabilitation and digging canals, among others to manage the flood situation in the Lower Damodar Basin area. "75 per cent of the funds have been drawn and there are no results visible on the ground," the LoP alleged. He said that every time Burdwan, Bankura, Hooghly, Howrah, East Midnapore and West Medinipur gets flooded, the Chief Minister sees it as a photo session opportunity to reach the spot with a 50-vehicle convoy and start blaming others for her inefficiency. He also said that the people of West Bengal are tired of the Chief Minister's public relations events and demanded that her administration should help people and make arrangements for baby food, drinking water and dry food items. Adhikari has also advised the Chief Minister to shift people from the submerged areas on war footing. "Set your ego aside and seek assistance from the army and NDRF," Adhikari advised the Chief Minister. Mumbai, Sep 18 : Maharashtra unit BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said that former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi -- all have made anti-reservation statements, adding the Gandhi family is against the reservation. "When Rahul Gandhi comes to Maharashtra, we will ask him to explain his stand on the reservation for the OBC and ST communities together," he remarked. "Whenever Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he makes anti-India statements. He should be banned from going abroad for a few days," said Bawankule. He also challenged Maharashtra unit Congress chief Nana Patole to clear his stand on reservations "before eyeing the post of Chief Minister". Bawankule, meanwhile, also said that the party did not support statements made by BJP MP Anil Bonde and Shiv Sena legislator Sanjay Gaikwad about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Bonde had said that Rahul Gandhi's tongue should be singed while Gaikwad announced to pay a cash reward of Rs 11 lakh to anyone who chops off the Congress MP's tongue for his statement abolishing the reservation system. Bawankule also presented the 100-day account of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's third tenure, saying that most of the works in the BJP's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections have been completed. "We are approaching the people with the work of PM Modi's government at the Centre and the MahaYuti (grand alliance) government during the Assembly elections campaign. He cautioned that if the Maha Vikas Aghadi government comes to power after the Assembly elections, it will stop all pro-development schemes launched by the Central government. "The people believe that the development of Maharashtra will be done by the double-engine government. The work of the Central government is significant in infrastructure, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Airports, Metro, Railway. The government has approved seven major schemes worth Rs 14,200 crore for farmers. Giving a big relief to the middle class, tax has been waived on income up to Rs 7 lakh. "A Unified Pension Scheme has been launched. Sanctions have been given for 1 crore houses in urban areas and 2 crore houses in rural areas. Schemes are designed to provide startup financial incentives and incentives for innovation," said Bawankule, while listing out a slew of initiatives of the BJP-led NDA government in its 100 days. He further added that the government has announced a package of Rs 2 lakh crore for the youth which will boost employment and skill development. Bawankule said that the BJP will work to remove negativity spread by the opposition in the minds of the tribal community. Jaipur, Sep 18 : Two-and-a-half-year-old girl fell into a borewell in Rajasthan's Bandkui town in Dausa on Wednesday and is trapped at a depth of around 35 feet inside the pit, an official said. The administration has rushed to the spot and is making all attempts to save the girl. An official said that the digging work has also been started using JCBs. He said that the rescue operation is facing challenges due to rain. "Oxygen is being supplied to the girl via a pipe. SDRF and NDRF have also been called for the rescue operation," he said. The minor girl has been identified as Neeru who was playing inside a farm near her house when she fell into the borewell which was situated in one corner of the farm. Bandikui police station inspector Premchand said information was received about the girl falling into the pit at 5 pm. "We immediately reached the spot and started the rescue work. Efforts are being made to rescue the girl soon. Disaster management team has been called from Dausa," he said. He added that oxygen is being supplied to the toddler through a pipe while a camera has been placed inside the pit. "Efforts are being made to see the girl's movement with a torch. It is raining and it has also become dark. A tent has been put up to ensure that rainwater does not enter the pit," he said. Additional District Collector Sumitra Pareek and Basava SDM Rekha Meena have also reached the spot. The official said that with the help of three JCBs and a tractor, digging has been started about 15 feet away from the borewell as a part of the rescue operation. Bhopal, Sep 18 : Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has urged the Madhya Pradesh Chief Justice to conduct the trial in the case pertaining to the rape of a three-year-old minor girl by her school teacher in a fast-track court and hand rigorous punishment to the accused. In a video message, CM Yadav said: "The incident is shocking and condemnable. I have asked the Chief Secretary to urge the Chief Justice of MP High Court to hear this case in a fast track court. I assure that the accused would be given exemplary punishment." The Chief Minister said this while responding to the alleged rape of a three-year-old girl by a school teacher at a private school in the state capital Bhopal. The accused teacher, identified as Kasim Rehan, was arrested after a team of doctors confirmed the sexual assault of the victim, Bhopal Police Commissioner, Harinarayanchari Mishra told IANS on Wednesday. "Upon receiving a complaint, a medical test on the victim was conducted, which confirmed the sexual assault. Subsequently, the accused has been arrested from the school premises," Mishra said. Police said the incident occurred on September 16 (Monday). However, it came to light after victim's parents lodged a complaint at Kamla Nagar police station on Wednesday. Sources told IANS that before filing a complaint at the police station, the victim's parents approached the school management and demanded action against the accused teacher. However, no action was initiated, and then she turned to the police station. "When the girl returned home from school, she complained about pain in her private parts. Her mother noticed blood oozing from her private parts. Subsequently, she took her to the police station and lodged a complaint," a police officer said. The police eventually went to the school, conducted an initial probe into the matter and recorded the statements of the staff. Thereafter, they apprehended the accused teacher for further investigation. An FIR has been lodged under the POCSO Act and the probe is underway. The victim is currently undergoing treatment, the police said. Bengaluru, Sep 18 : Karnataka IT & BT, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said that the state government aims to create an economic value of 17 billion US dollars by controlling 40 per cent of the national space market. "The Karnataka government has played a crucial role in driving industrial development and is making significant efforts to establish the state as a hub for future space technology," he underlined. Speaking at the inauguration of the Space Expo 2024, organised by the Department of Information Technology in Bengaluru, Priyank Kharge highlighted Karnataka's commitment to innovation and advancement in space technology. The establishment of a "Space Power Centre" showcases Karnataka's dedication to progress in space technology. The state has built an ecosystem supported by government policy, MSME backing, and infrastructure development to drive this progress, he said. "Karnataka has emerged as a key player in the space industry. Through new policies and programmes, the government continues to support space technology and start-up ventures. The state is working toward creating a dedicated space policy, promoting investments and innovation, and setting up a central hub for space technologies," Priyank Kharge stated. He added that Bengaluru-based space-tech start-up 'Pixxel' recently signed a deal with NASA, joining their 476 million dollar commercial programme. This milestone, achieved from ISRO's space start-up hub, highlights Karnataka's growth and reaffirms its global leadership in the space sector, Kharge underlined. "The Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 serves as a platform to demonstrate Karnataka's commitment to fulfilling India's ambitious space goals and showcases advancements in space technology," Kharge concluded. Jerusalem, Sep 18 : The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that four of its soldiers were killed by an explosion in the southern Gaza Strip the previous day. Three male soldiers and one female combat paramedic died on Tuesday in the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, where a hidden explosive device detonated when they raided a building, according to a military statement. The explosion also caused partial collapse of the structure. In the same incident, an officer and two soldiers were seriously injured, while two other soldiers sustained moderate injuries, Xinhua news agency reported. The latest incident brings the death toll of Israeli soldiers in Gaza to 348 since the beginning of the military's ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave on October 27, 2023, according to Israeli figures. The ground offensive followed a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 41,272, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday. Bengaluru, Sep 18 : Deputy Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday said the 'One Nation, One Election' concept is not feasible in our "Constitution and democratic system". "It is ridiculous that the BJP, the mastermind behind 'Operation Lotus', is now advocating for 'One Nation, One Election'," Shivakumar said. Interacting with the media here, he said: "The BJP has been working to destabilise governments in many states. The Central government led by the BJP is making this move to suppress the growth of regional parties." "All parties in the country must be given an opportunity. In the past, we did have a 'One Nation, One Election' system. Even in our state, elections were held together. Was it possible after that? No, it wasn't. Because some governments went to elections six and three months earlier than the rest, and some states dissolved their governments. In such a scenario, how can this system be implemented? "The BJP's attempt is not right. The Central government should call for an all-party meeting to seek consensus. Without that, such proposals are meaningless," the senior Congress leader said. "First, they should take steps regarding women's reservations and the delimitation of constituencies. As for the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, we agree with the meaningful statements of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi," he said. Asked about the delegation of Vokkaliga leaders' meeting regarding BJP legislator Munirathna's alleged casteist slurs against the Vokkaliga community, he said: "I have given time for the meeting with the Vokkaliga leaders' delegation on Thursday (Sep 19) evening. You have all heard Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka's and others' statements on the matter. I will speak about it later." Regarding BJP's allegations that D.K. brothers -- D.K. Shivakumar and D.K. Suresh -- are plotting against BJP MLA Munirathna, the Karnataka Deputy CM said: "So, is he (Munirathna) delivering dialogues as per our instructions? I have seen his statements; apparently, even the seers have seen them. Did we tell him to speak like this?" Bengaluru, Sep 18 : Karnataka BJP chief B.Y. Vijayendra on Wednesday praised the decision of the Union government to implement 'One Nation, One Election,' calling it not only a sensible decision but also a historic one. He said that the primary objective behind this decision was the nation's interest while pointing out that simultaneous elections were held in 1951 and 1967, and the Law Commission in its 170th report in 1999 had recommended holding elections for the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies every five years referring to the points from the report submitted by the high-level committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind. "The plan is to first conduct simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies, followed by elections for district panchayats, taluk panchayats, gram panchayats, municipalities, and other local bodies within 100 days of the general elections. This is a highly commendable step," he said. He said that the use of a single voter list for all elections is possible under this system. Vijayendra also emphasised that India, with its 28 states and 140 crore people, is a vast democratic nation, and conducting Lok Sabha and state assembly elections involves substantial costs. "A significant amount of labour from government employees is also spent during the elections," he added. He said that the political parties and candidates have had to spend thousands of crores of rupees on elections while PM Modi's visionary decision is to save the country's money and use it for development, transforming costly elections into more economical ones. Bhubaneswar, Sep 18 : Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday welcomed the Union Cabinet's nod to the 'One Nation, One Election' report by former President Ram Nath Kovind. "The approval of #OneNationOneElection by the Union Cabinet under the leadership of the illustrious Prime Minister of India Shri @narendramodi is a significant and welcome step," the Chief Minister wrote on X. The Chief Minister further stated that the decision to approve the 'One Nation, One Election' policy will strengthen the security of the country. He said the decision will ensure rapid development in the country by bringing political stability. "This decision will definitely help in strengthening the security system of the country and accelerating the pace of development. By achieving political stability, it will also give a new direction to the economic development of the country. I wholeheartedly thank the Hon'ble Prime Minister for such a historic decision," added the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, the opposition Biju Janata Dal's spokesperson Lenin Mohanty told media persons that much before PM Modi's cabinet passed this 'One Nation, One Election', BJD had successfully implemented it in Odisha. Mohanty further stated that the party in 2004 went for the elections after the completion of just four years to implement the 'One Nation, One Election' policy. The senior BJD leader said that the party won in 2009, 2014 and 2019 following the same policy. He claimed the party also supported the 'One Nation, One Election' because of its merit in the 2024 elections as well despite the defeat. Mohanty however questioned that many things have been passed by the BJP government in the past but they have not been implemented. Notably, the PM Modi government approved the report from a high-level panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind on the concept of 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE) on Wednesday. A bill to implement simultaneous elections is expected to be introduced in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament. This initiative aims to synchronise Parliamentary and Assembly elections, which has been a part of the Modi government's 100-day agenda. --IANS gyan/dan BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, attended the opening of the newly built "Kepenek" kindergarten in Bakus Narimanov district. Yuliya Aliyeva, Director of the Kepenek Preschool Educational Institution, highlighted the kindergartens mission to provide broad opportunities for both academic and social-emotional development, facilitating a smooth transition for children into the school environment. The kindergarten will service children aged 3-6, with specialized groups for 3-4, 4-5, and 5-6 year-olds. Yuliya Aliyeva emphasized the focus on high-quality education and comprehensive child development, alongside active participation in social events. The "Kepenek" kindergarten is designed to be a safe and nurturing environment, offering extracurricular activities that foster mental and creative growth. Leyla Aliyeva toured the two-story facility, which includes rooms tailored to different age groups, and provided valuable recommendations on educational practices. She was informed about the kindergartens commitment to the continuous professional development of its staff, including participation in various trainings and online courses to align with innovative educational trends and the Cambridge program. New Delhi, Sep 18 : During the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE) policy as a long-standing demand of the people. According to sources, he emphasised that there is no political motive behind its approval. PM Modi stated that the ONOE initiative is designed with the interests of the public in mind. He highlighted that frequent elections can hinder effective governance and disrupt law and order, which is detrimental to the country. Moreover, PM Modi mentioned that a key aspect of this policy will be to educate citizens about its important features, sources said. He concluded by asserting that the policy respects the wishes of the people, who have long sought this change. PM Modi's assertion of no political motive behind the approval of the One Nation, One Election (ONOE) policy gains importance in light of Opposition allegations that the government's agenda is "politically motivated". Earlier, PM Modi wrote in a post on X: "The Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. I compliment our former President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders. This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative." Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind. The Cabinet has approved the 'One Nation, One Election' initiative, which aims to synchronise elections for both the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Wednesday following the cabinet meeting. A committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind has recommended amendments to the last five articles of the Constitution to facilitate simultaneous polling across the country. The report was submitted to President Droupadi Murmu in March, in advance of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Reports indicate that a bill to implement this initiative is expected to be introduced in Parliament during the upcoming winter session. Chandigarh, Sep 18 : Experts from across the globe on Wednesday discussed advanced cardiac interventions with sessions highlighting technological innovations like transcatheter aortic valve implantation, thoracic endovascular aortic repair and robotic-assisted and thoracoscopic surgeries. Around 400 leading experts in cardiovascular care taking part in the three-day 14th annual cardiomersion conference on cardiovascular in Mohali, near here. The conference patrons Dr D.K. Satsangi, a former professor and head at AIIMS Rishikesh, Dr T.S. Mahant, executive director at Fortis Mohali, and Dr Achintya Moulick, chairman, of Physician Forum, US, shared exchanges for new collaborations. They also underscored the global importance of addressing the rising burden of lifestyle diseases, especially cardiovascular conditions, through evidence-based, patient-friendly, and cost-effective treatments. Experts from the U.S. presented the latest research on improving surgical outcomes through minimally invasive techniques and the integration of advanced imaging technologies, which have been transforming the field of cardiovascular surgery. Discussions by Deepak Puri, global chairman of cardiomersion and senior director at Max Hospital, centred around the global rise in sudden cardiac deaths among younger populations and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on heart failure and other cardiovascular conditions. Eric Lehr from Seattle presented his experience on thoracoscopic maize procedure for management of rhythm problems of the heart, while Dr Sandeep Tirath from IOWA University in the US spoke on pulmonary interventions for complex problems related to thorax. The dayas program also included a series of expert presentations. Dr S.S. Sodhi, president of the IMA Mohali, provided a comprehensive update on aguideline-directed medical therapy for heart failure. Tomoko S. Kato, director of heart failure at Kurume University, Kyushu, Japan, delivered insights on aheart transplant recipient selection and pre-operative evaluationa. Nidhi Puri, Dean, AIIMS Bilaspur, presented the embryological basis of congenital heart defects. Yangon, Sep 18 : Over 100 individuals in Chaungchar village in Tatkon township of Nay Pyi Taw were hospitalized due to food poisoning, according to a release issued by the country's State Administration Council's Information Team on Wednesday. The villagers in Chaungchar village, a flood-affected region, experienced symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea after consuming biryani, chicken and potatoes, and tomato egg curry donated by the well-wishers on the morning of September 17, the information team said, Xinhua news agency reported. As of Wednesday, all affected individuals are in stable condition, it added. The Ministry of Health urged donors to provide warm and fresh food to flood victims and to work with supervising and management teams during the donation process. Ranchi, Sep 18 : With Prime Minister Narendra Modi setting the tone for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly polls in Jamshedpur during a public rally on September 15, Home Minister Amit Shah's two-day visit (September 19-20) to the eastern state is expected to add momentum to the BJP's preparations for the ensuing electoral contest. The Home Minister will launch the party's 'Parivartan Yatra' from Bhognadih in the state's Sahibganj district -- the land of Santhal Rebellion (1855-56) heroes, Sido Murmu and Kanhu Murmu. The Santhal Revolt had opposed the corrupt Zamindari system and British Rule. Sources in the Jharkhand BJP said that HM Shah will arrive here on Thursday. The Home Minister will be in Ranchi for the overnight stay. He is also expected to meet the Jharkhand BJP leaders and the core team members to review the preparations for the Assembly elections. On Friday (September 20) morning, Amit Shah will leave for Bhognadih. After paying tributes to the martyrs of the Santhal Rebellion there, the senior BJP leader will address a public rally at the Police Line Field in Sahibganj. A Jharkhand BJP leader said that all arrangements and preparations for the programme have been completed. There is also a wave of excitement among the BJP leaders in the state who are trying to gather a large crowd for HM Shah's programme. Meanwhile, Jharkhand unit BJP president Babulal Marandi, after reviewing the preparations for the event, held a meeting with the party workers and leaders in Giridih. He also offered prayers at the Jharkhand Dham there. Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash said that HM Amit Shah's visit to Jharkhand will infuse energy among the party workers. Several BJP heavyweights like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Chhattisgarh CM Vishu Deo Sai, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav and Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi are also scheduled to take part in the Parivartan Yatra in different parts of Jharkhand, and address rallies. Besides, the BJP has also been attacking Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for the last 15 days with an aggressive campaign with the punch-line -- "Mila Kya?" (What has been achieved?). The campaign has been questioning the achievements of Hemant Soren-led government in the last five years. A party source said that through this campaign, the BJP has been trying to reach out to the people of the state. Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly, Amar Kumar Bauri said: "The current government has deviated from its promises. It has cheated all sections of society in the state. Through Parivartan Yatra, we will reach out to every single individual in the state." Pune, Sep 18 : In a breakthrough after five months of probe, the Directorate-General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) Pune Zonal Unit has secured the custody of the absconding second master-mind in the Rs 167 crore GST scam, senior official sources revealed on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Virendra H. Kumar, 26, was nabbed in Barmer district of Rajasthan on September 13 and finally brought to Pune to face the laws here. "He was produced before a local court and granted police custody till September 27 and lodged in the Yerawada Central Jail. Further investigations are underway," the officials said. The sources said that he was among the two most wanted scamsters in the fraud unearthed by the DGGI PZU in May in which one was arrested from Jaipur in May 2024, and now both are in the agency's custody. As the DGGI sleuths were hot on his trail, Kumar was constantly on the move, changing his identity and contact details repeatedly to avoid detection, but after deploying tech intel and a Bollywood-style chase, they zeroed in and swooped on him in Barmer. Kumar and his associate Rahul Kumar are involved in creating a syndicate of more than 50 bogus firms using fake/morphed/amended documents to carry out the massive GST fraud that was detected after extensive data analyses and surveillance of a few fake firms identified in Pune and Goa. Without an actual supply of goods or services, they passed Input Tax Credit (ITC) and their tentacles spread in Maharashtra, Delhi, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Rajasthan. The DGGI PZU sleuths probed the CDRs, CAFs, and pattern of filing returns and analysed bank accounts to conclude that the syndicate, operating from different cities/states in the country, was creating bogus firms using aliases or fake identities using forged legal documents and even by-passing the unique biometric requirements for issuing SIM cards. They also uncovered their unique modus operandi whereby they created multiple fake identities of purported proprietors/authorised signatories, using SIM cards based on forged Aadhar cards to have full control of filing the GST registrations, returns, payments, cancellations, getting OTPs, etc at any time as per their convenience. "We are questioning the accused to help unravel more fake firms that could have been created for committing the frauds, involvement of other associates in this huge racket, mapping the end beneficiaries, tracing the proceeds of the crime and recovering it for the government exchequer," the sources said. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Wednesday condemned the incident of rape of a three-year-old minor girl by her teacher at a school in Bhopal. Taking to X, Chairperson of NCPCR, Priyank Kanoongo, wrote: "The incident of sexual abuse of a 3-year-old girl by a school employee Kasim Rehan in Bhopal is highly condemnable. The Commission has taken cognizance of this. I have discussed this with the Chairman of Madhya Pradesh State Child Commission over the phone. A team of the State Child Commission will go to investigate this and action will be recommended as per the facts." Reacting to the incident, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav urged the Madhya Pradesh Chief Justice to conduct the trial in the case pertaining to the rape of a three-year-old minor girl by her school teacher in a fast-track court and hand rigorous punishment to the accused. In a video message, CM Yadav said: "The incident is shocking and condemnable. I have asked the Chief Secretary to urge the Chief Justice of MP High Court to hear this case in a fast-track court. I assure that the accused would be given exemplary punishment." The accused teacher, identified as Kasim Rehan, was arrested after a team of doctors confirmed the sexual assault of the victim, Bhopal Police Commissioner, Harinarayanchari Mishra told IANS on Wednesday. "Upon receiving a complaint, a medical test on the victim was conducted, which confirmed the sexual assault. Subsequently, the accused has been arrested from the school premises," Mishra said. Police said the incident occurred on September 16 (Monday). However, it came to light after the victim's parents lodged a complaint at Kamla Nagar police station on Wednesday. Sources told IANS that before filing a complaint at the police station, the victim's parents approached the school management and demanded action against the accused teacher. However, no action was initiated, and then they went to the police station. "When the girl returned home from school, she complained about pain in her private parts. Her mother noticed blood oozing from her private parts. Subsequently, she took her to the police station and lodged a complaint," a police officer said. The police eventually went to the school, conducted an initial probe into the matter and recorded the statements of the staff. Thereafter, they apprehended the accused teacher for further investigation. An FIR has been lodged under the POCSO Act and the probe is underway. The victim is currently undergoing treatment, the police said. New Delhi, Sep 18 : The Congress on Wednesday announced seven guarantees that it will fulfill if it comes to power in Haryana, which include Rs 2,000 monthly payment to women in the state and houses for everyone. The guarantees were announced by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in the presence of senior party leaders, including K.C. Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Udai Bhan, Ashok Gehlot and Partap Singh Bajwa. Announcing the guarantees, Kharge said these guarantees have been named as 'Saat vaade, pakke iraade' as the party's sincere commitment to fulfil them. As part of women empowerment, Kharge announced that women would be entitled to monthly assistance of Rs 2,000. Besides, the monthly social security pension of old-age people, handicapped and widows will be raised to Rs 6,000. He said gas cylinders would be provided at Rs 500 each. The party promised to provide 300 units of free electricity every month to every household. The Congress government will provide Rs 25 lakh health insurance cover to every individual in the state, like the Congress government had done in Rajasthan, Kharge said. The party has promised legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) to the farmers, besides holding a caste census. It announced that it will increase the minimum income limit for the creamy layer among Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The party also promised to provide 100 square yard plots with Rs 3.5 lakhs cash assistance to every poor and homeless person for constructing a two-bedroom house. Announcing the guarantee for a secured future of the youth, the party promised that 2 lakh posts lying vacant in government departments would be filled, and permanent jobs would be provided. Kharge said: "Other than these seven guarantees, named 'Saat Waade, Pakke Iraade', our 53-page manifesto will be explained in detail later in Chandigarh, but these promises will surely be fulfilled by us." He said the manifesto would focus on providing benefits to families, empowering women, supporting the youth, strengthening social security, and improving the lives of the backward classes, farmers, and the poor. Earlier, state party chief Udai Bhan said: "On the lines of the Chiranjeevi scheme in Rajasthan, started during the stint of Ashok Gehlot, Rs 25 lakh free treatment will be provided in Haryana, besides 300 free units of electricity, plots of 100 yards to poor families, and we will ensure legal MSP guarantee." The Congress was at the helm in the state for two consecutive terms till 2014. Haryana will go to the polls for the 90-member Assembly on October 5 with the ballot count on October 8. Amaravati, Sep 18 : The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Wednesday unanimously approved the new excise policy which will come into force on October 1. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu gave its approval. Minister for Information and Public Relations, Kolusu Parthasarathi, told mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting that the Cabinet decided to adopt a private retail system for the sale of liquor as part of an attempt to increase management efficiency. Of the 3,736 retail outlets in the state, 10 per cent will be allotted to the toddy-tappers community, the Minister stated. The Chief Minister directed the Excise officials to see to it that quality liquor is available in the market at a very reasonable price, Parthasarathi said, adding that the allotment of retail outlets will be done most transparently. For this, a lottery system will be adopted, he added. The proposal to provide 33 percent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in legislative bodies also got the Cabinet nod. This apart, the meeting resolved to establish an Artificial Intelligence (AI) University and a Skilling Academy in the state. The Cabinet also decided to cancel the order issued by the previous government for payment of Rs 200 each every month to village volunteers and secretariats as newspaper allowance. It felt that this was causing Rs 102 crore loss to the state every year. The Cabinet approved naming Bhogapuram Airport as the Alluri Seetharamaraju International Airport and setting up the Andhra Pradesh Ex-Servicemen Corporation with a corpus fund of Rs 3 crore. The meeting also decided to rename the Vision Document Vikasitha Andhra-2047 as the Swarnandhra@2047 and also release the Swarnandhra Vision Document on November 1, the Minister told media persons. Before releasing the Vision Document, talks will be held with the stakeholders from September 21 to October 5, he added. The Cabinet gave its nod for the GOs released on June 12 and August 25 to fill 58 posts in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on a temporary basis only to strengthen the official machinery in the CMO to resolve the issues of the Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF) and the complaints lodged with the CMO, Parthasarathi said. The Chief Minister advised the Cabinet to initiate steps to strengthen the systems by utilising technology and good practices that are available now. The Ministry also okayed the proposal for the creation of a preliminary corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for the 2024-25 financial year only to take the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on the progressive path extending the benefits received under the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme of the Centre to these MSMEs. With this, the MSMEs will get the loan facility to the extent of Rs 5 crore without providing any collateral security, Parthasarathi explained. The Council of Ministers cleared the proposal for establishing the second MSME Technology Centre-cum-Testing Facility at Amaravati instead of at Mega Industrial Hub at Kopparthy in Kadapa district. The Cabinet approved the move to hand over 20 acres of land to this through the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in Amaravati. The Cabinet approved the ratification orders of the Polavaram Chief Engineer to continue the present agency for the construction of a new diaphragm wall works of the Polavaram project on which is considered to be the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh. The fresh works to be taken up will be carried out transparently through bidding, he added. New York, Sep 18 : Nassau County Police refuted reports that an explosive device was found at or near the venue of former President Donald Trump's rally on Wednesday. New York, Sep 18 (IANS) Nassau County Police refuted reports that an explosive device was found at or near the venue of former President Donald Trumpas rally on Wednesday. The police in a Facebook post said: "Reports that an explosive device was found at the Nassau Coliseum are FALSE." A spokesperson told media outlets that police responded to the reports of the explosive but their investigations found nothing and they were not sure how the rumours originated. Trump is scheduled to speak Wednesday evening at the Nassau Coliseum a" where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to address a diaspora rally on Sunday. The venue is about 45km from New York City at Uniondale on Long Island. Security has been tightened at the venue following the foiled assassination attempt on Trump last Sunday. Rumours about the explosive had swirled on social media without proper attribution creating a scare. Earlier, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said: "We will make sure that it is safe and it will be swept, we will have aviation over top during arrival and during the time of the event and we will also have our K-9 dogs out in the wooded areas" around the arena. "Every inch" of the Coliseum and its perimeter will be swept, he said. The area has been under a lockdown and those not connected to the rally or attending it have been removed. More than 60,000 requested tickets but only 16,000 with tickets could be accommodated in the arena and the others who come will have to watch on giant screens. Trump spent the night at his penthouse in the Trump Towers in Manhattan amid heavy security. There was heavy police presence in the area and entry for foot traffic was regulated. Sanitation trucks filled with sand blocked approaches to it. Patna, Sep 18 : Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will launch its membership program on Thursday with the party's national president Lalu Prasad Yadav kick starting the event in New Delhi while Tejashwi Prasad Yadav will initiate the program in Patna. During the launch of the membership program in New Delhi, RJD national general secretary Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, Lok Sabha MP Misa Bharti, along with other MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and officials of the national and Delhi state executive committees, will be present. In Patna, the event will be held under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav at Karpoori Sabhagar in the RJD office located on Veerchand Patel Path. At the Patna event, RJD state president Jagadanand Singh, along with MLAs, MPs, MLCs, and officials from the party's youth wing, women's cell, minority cell, and other units, will be present. RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan stated, "Tejashwi Yadav will be present in Patna. He will reach the party office around 11 am and will start the membership drive. All party leaders have been asked to be present on the occasion." Chitranjan Gagan mentioned, "Currently, we have over one crore members nationwide, with 85 lakh in Bihar alone. We expect to double this number through the membership drive. Following the launch in Delhi and Patna, the drive will simultaneously continue at the district and block levels." Tejashwi Yadav recently concluded a week-long Aabhar Yatra in Bihar, where he engaged with grassroots party workers and urged them to reach out to people from all segments of society. The goal is to expand the party's base before the 2025 assembly elections. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy appears to be throwing his weight behind Azerbaijan's moves in Karabakh, dubbing them a liberation on Substack, according to the Politico publication, Trend reports. "Azerbaijan has managed to liberate the territories it lost back in the early '90s," Lammy wrote, commenting on Azerbaijan's 2023 anti-terrorist measures in the nation's Karabakh. Following this statement, it's a no-brainer to picture the possible uproar among Armenian revanchists, who are still licking their wounds from Armenia's defeat and keep trying to peddle their tall tales to the international community. Lammy's words once again demonstrate that the global community is accepting the new realities created by Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus, while Armenias interpretation of events is of little interest to anyone outside of Armenia itself. Hence, Armenians have been dealt another tough blow, and it seems this won't be the last time they find themselves in a pickle with the leading Western countries theyve been counting on. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Kolkata Sep 18 : Former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Jawhar Sircar, who had recently resigned as a Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member, on Wednesday said that he was feeling "relieved" after quitting the party and regretted his decision to join it. "You know why I have quit. I am so relieved now. I should not have joined the party at all. In 2021 when there was such a wave in the country of all anti-BJP forces joining hands, I joined. I was sent to the Rajya Sabha where I could express my views," said Sircar at a convention of Kolkataas iconic Presidency College, of which he is an alumnus. Sircar also demanded that the real culprits behind the ghastly rape and murder of the junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata last month should be identified and punished. Earlier this month, Sircar communicated his decision to resign from the Rajya Sabha as well as to quit politics through a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee where he cited the recent ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor at R.G. Kar and the general corruption in state governance as the reason that prompted him to take this decision. "I have never witnessed such grievance and non-confidence against any government ever in my life. After carefully observing the sequence of events on the R.G. Kar issue for the last month a question came to my mind on why you are not directly interacting with the protesting junior doctors as you used to do before," Sircar said in his message to the Chief Minister. He also said that since the current protests on this issue have been totally apolitical and spontaneous in nature, it would be unfair to resist this movement by giving it a political tag. Bhubaneswar, Sep 18 : Aiming to provide a safe workplace environment for doctors, medical students and other healthcare professionals in Odisha, the Health & Family Welfare Department (H&FW) on Wednesday issued a set of guidelines for healthcare institutions and medical colleges of the state. The state H&FW Department in its notification has advised the hospitals and medical colleges to stop the use of their institution premises for thoroughfare by constructing perimeter boundary walls with entry and exit gates. "All employees/workers of the health institution should be provided with an ID card. Dress codes where applicable, should be strictly followed. Visitors pass system is to be followed for indoor patients. Only two entry passes are to be issued per patient, for attending the patient during official visiting hours," advised the H&FW Department. The department also suggested that the attendants entering the ward should be frisked by the internal security guards to check for possession of any dangerous or objectionable items. It advised the healthcare institutions to install CCTV cameras at strategic locations of the hospitals including all hostels, main gates, roads, roundabouts, stairwells and on each floor of the hostel for monitoring of the activities in the hospital. "Security guards must be posted in all OPDs and 24x7 outside wards. As far as possible, both male and female security guards must be posted. The security guards should patrol the campus and take steps for the removal of unauthorized vehicles and vendors. If required, security hubs may be set up near high-case load departments. The telephone number of these hubs may be made available through the display of signage," suggested the H & FW department. It further asked the healthcare institutions to create a control room for security personnel 24x7 to keep watch on CCTV footage regularly. The state H&FW department further suggested that a dedicated public redressal system be developed where aggrieved attendants may approach the Superintendent or Head of the institutions at the time of any emergency. The designated phone number should be displayed in conspicuous places on the campus. The health institutions have been advised to maintain a close liaison with the IIC or the Officer-in-Charge of the nearest police stations. "In all Government Medical College Hospitals, a police outpost may be established within the premises of the institution. At least one female police staff must be available on duty at all times," reads the guidelines. The department also advised regular safety audits at the healthcare institutions to identify and address the potential security risks. Healthcare institutions have been advised to develop a clear emergency response plan which may include panic buttons, emergency phones, mobile apps etc. to respond quickly to any threat and in emergency situations. "Any incident of violence against medical students should be promptly investigated by the college management and an FIR should be lodged with the Police within six hours by the Head of the Institution. A detailed action taken report on any incident of violence should invariably be sent to the National Medical Commission (NMC), within 48 hours of the incident," directed the H&FW Department. The department further suggested that all the district superintendents of Police shall take immediate and appropriate action as per law against miscreants in case of any violent incident. An Institutional Monitoring committee chaired by the institution head should also be constituted to undertake a monthly review of all the above measures and take follow-up action thereon. The committee should be chaired by the head of the institution and should have representatives of doctors/faculty, paramedics, students and other relevant groups. Chandigarh, Sep 18 : Amid media reports that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been hospitalised in New Delhi, the Opposition questioned his whereabouts and "misuse" of public money on his travel expenses, besides wishing him a speedy recovery. Chandigarh, Sep 18 (IANS) Amid media reports that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been hospitalised in New Delhi, the Opposition questioned his whereabouts and "misuse" of public money on his travel expenses, besides wishing him a speedy recovery. However, there has been no statement either by the party or the government over the media reports. Mann is reported to have been admitted to a leading private hospital in Delhi. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that Chief Minister Mann had consumed liquor illegally during a chartered flight from Delhi to Chandigarh due to which he fell down on the tarmac after alighting from the aircraft. He demanded an appropriate probe into the case. Talking to the media in Patiala, Majithia claimed, "The Chief Minister partook liquor along with his OSD during the flight from Delhi to Chandigarh." Professing that the Chief Minister was tense for the past two days after party supremo Arvind Kejriwal informed him that he would also have to resign, Majithia said, "This could have been the trigger point for the subsequent liquor binge. Punjabis are witness to how the Chief Minister was in an inebriated state during his interview with an electronic channel one day earlier." Stating that the Chief Minister was taken back to Delhi in a chartered plane which he described as a criminal waste of state resources, Majithia said, "The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government must explain why he was not admitted in any hospital in Chandigarh or Punjab? The reason is simple. If the Chief Minister had been admitted to any state hospital, the truth would have come out that he had fallen down under the influence of liquor." The SAD leader said in a statement that this was not the first time the Chief Minister had made a spectacle of himself under the influence of liquor. He said earlier Mann was de-boarded from a Lufthansa flight because he was inebriated. Taking a jibe over the claims of the AAP governments in Punjab and Delhi for the best state-run hospitals and clinics, Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa wrote on X, "CM @BhagwantMann and former Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal have repeatedly claimed that government hospitals in Punjab and Delhi are at par with private ones. "Yet when it comes to their own health, CM Mann opts for a private hospital in Delhi! The hypocrisy is staggering. It's clear now that these so-called 'champions of the common man' have been misleading the public with their tall claims. "The reality is far from the picture they've painted. AAP's promises are nothing more than political theatrics, and the people of Punjab and Delhi deserve better. The cat is finally out of the bag -- Kejriwal and Mann are compulsive liars who've failed to deliver." Praying for his swift recovery, Leader of Opposition Bajwa said, "As he (Mann) grapples with recurring health issues, including those affecting vital organs like the liver, it's a stark reminder that while his personal health is crucial, Punjab's health has deteriorated beyond repair under his leadership. A sensitive border state like ours demands full strength -- physical, mental, and political." Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 18 : NCP-SP national President Sharad Pawar has asked top leaders of the Kerala unit of his party to come to Mumbai for a meeting to be held on Friday. In Kerala, the NCP-SP is part of the ruling CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front. The primary reason for this meeting is to settle the rumblings in the state unit over a cabinet berth for its legislator Thomas K. Thomas. NCP in Kerala has two legislators - A.K.Saseendran, who is the state Forest Minister, and Thomas. Since November last year, affairs in the party's Kerala unit have been turbulent after Thomas put his foot down, demanding the earlier decided formula where Saseendran will step down after two and half years and Thomas will take over as minister. But while two other LDF constituents who have just one legislator made way for two other parties having just one legislator, Saseendran did not make way for Thomas. At that point in time, state NCP-SP President and former Congress leader P.C. Chacko was siding with Saseendran, but he has now shifted his position and is now with Thomas. Saseendran, however, dismissed that he was moving out and also dismissed any agreement of his making way for Thomas. When the pressure mounted from his party, he threatened that he would quit as a legislator if he was removed as a minister. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has also expressed his displeasure and that was how Pawar decided to play the trouble shooteras role. Thomas is the brother of late former state minister Thomas Chandy who passed away in 2019. Chandy was an NRI businessman-turned-legislator and because he was busy with his business interests in Kuwait, it was Thomas who was always looking after the Kuttanadu Assembly constituency in Alappuzha district. The NCP did not have to look elsewhere for the 2021 Assembly polls and on expected lines Thomas won the seat. However, when Vijayan constituted the Cabinet in 2021, the NCP decided to stick with outgoing Minister Saseendran for another turn. Meanwhile, Thomas appears confident that he is certain to get the prized post of a state minister, to pacify Saseendran he will be asked to take on the presidentas post of the Kerala NCP and Chacko is expecting to get a top national-level party post. Kolkata Sep 18 : West Bengal Medical Council on Wednesday evening announced the cancellation of the medical registration of the former and controversial principal of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital Sandip Ghosh. Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police also announced the suspension of inspector Abhijit Mondal, the former SHO of Tala Police Station. Both Ghosh and Mondal are currently in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), following an investigation against them about misleading the initial investigation carried out by Kolkata Police in the rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G Kar as well as for making attempts to tamper with the evidence. Sources said that the suspension was inevitable since any government official or staff against whom any investigation agency initiates any criminal investigation case and remains in custody for 48 hours or more has to be suspended. West Bengal Medical Council had issued a show cause notice to Ghosh on September 7 asking him to give a reply to the notice within three days. After not receiving a reply, the council has cancelled the medical registration of Ghosh. On Tuesday, a special court in Kolkata extended, by three days, the CBI custody for Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station for further interrogation on the ghastly rape and murder case. In the remand note of Ghosh and Mondal, CBI said that both remained evasive and uncooperative during the course of the investigation. The central agency has also maintained that some suspected mobile numbers have come to light during the course of the investigation and investigating officials have sought the Call Record Details (CDR) of those numbers to confront Mondal. Abu Dhabi/Jaipur, Sep 18 : A day after hosting the investors' meet in Dubai, Rajasthan Industries and Commerce Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore-led delegation held meetings with key investment, energy and petrochemical firms from the government and private sector based in Abu Dhabi, UAE on Wednesday. Abu Dhabi/Jaipur, Sep 18 (IANS) A day after hosting the investorsa meet in Dubai, Rajasthan Industries and Commerce Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore-led delegation held meetings with key investment, energy and petrochemical firms from the government and private sector based in Abu Dhabi, UAE on Wednesday. The delegation held meetings with top officials of TAQA, a UAE-based international energy and water company, TAaZIZ, which is a global petrochemical firm based out of UAE, as well as investment firms like Mubadala Investment Company PJSC, Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). The delegation shared the business prospects and opportunities available in Rajasthan, particularly in the focus sectors like Renewable, Education and Skilling, Auto and EV, Infrastructure, Chemical and Petrochemical, Tourism, Startups, Mining and ESDM/IT and ITeS etc. during these meetings and invited the representatives of TAQA, TAaZIZ, ADIA, ADIC and Mubadala to Jaipur to partake in the aRising Rajasthana Global Investment Summit 2024. It also interacted with the members of the Indian Business & Professional Group (IBPG), most of which were of Rajasthan origin, and praised them for earning fame and name in UAE by dint of their hard work and talent. The minister also urged the members of the community to explore the possibility of bringing investment in Rajasthan. On Tuesday, the delegation also attended a session with the Non-Resident Rajasthani (NRR) community and urged its members to become a bridge between Rajasthan and the UAE-based business community. The delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Ambassador of India to UAE, Sunjay Sudhir earlier in the day deliberated on ways to bring investors to Rajasthan. The delegation will also attend the dinner hosted by the Indian Embassy. With these meetings, the UAE leg of the international outreach of aRising Rajasthana Global Investment Summit 2024 has come to an end and the delegation will proceed to Doha, Qatar to invite the investor and business community of Qatar. Patna, Sep 18 : More than 25 houses were set on fire by a group of strong men in the village in Bihar's Nawada district on Wednesday following a property dispute. An official said that the incident was reported in Manjhi Mahadalit Tola village, which falls under the Dedaur Gram Panchayat, Mufassil police station in Nawada district. The incident caused widespread panic among the villagers while many victims remained fearful for their safety and sought shelter in neighbouring villages, leading to a serious law and order challenge in the area. Sunil Kumar, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Sadar-2, Nawada district, confirmed that the incident stemmed from a property dispute. The accused have allegedly fired several rounds in the village to terrorise the victims. The district police claimed that no one was injured or killed in this attack. Sunil Kumar said: "Following the incident, we have deployed a large police force in the village to prevent any further incidents. More than 25 houses were gutted in an act carried out forcibly by some individuals in the village. Preliminary investigation reveals that the incident was triggered by a land dispute between two groups. We are conducting further investigation to uncover any other potential reasons behind the incident." Sunil Kumar added, "We have detained two alleged individuals. The victims have provided the names of some suspects. Multiple teams have been formed to apprehend the accused. The district administration will take strong action against them." He added that the police have appealed to people to stay calm and avoid rumours. "The law and order situation is completely under control in the village. The district administration is closely monitoring the social media platforms. Anyone who violates the norms or provokes people will face strong action," he said. Meanwhile, Arvind Kumar Singh, the BJP Spokesperson said, "The district police is closely monitoring the incident. The accused will soon face legal action." New Delhi, Sep 18 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi is likely to take oath on Saturday as Delhi's second AAP Chief Minister, and third woman CM -- after Sheila Dikshit of Congress and Sushma Swaraj of BJP -- as Lt Governor V.K. Saxena has proposed September 21 as the swearing-in date for the Delhi CM-designate, sources said on Wednesday. Atishi will be taking over as the new Chief Minister of Delhi as AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal officially stepped down from his chief ministerial position on September 17 (Tuesday). The ruling AAP in Delhi is already into its fourth year of power, and Atishi will lead the government for the remaining term of the party. Sources in the know of things hinted that the oath ceremony of Atishi is likely to be held at Raj Niwas. The programme is expected to be a "low-key affair" in the backdrop of Kejriwal's resignation. According to a source in the L-G Secretariat, V.K. Saxena in an official note to President Droupadi Murmu, proposed September 21 as the date for Atishi's swearing-in as Delhi Chief Minister. The source mentioned that outgoing CM Kejriwal's resignation letter was also sent to President Murmu. The fresh development came just a day after Atishi, during a meeting with L-G Saxena, staked claim to form the new government. Reports suggested that Atishi -- the AAP legislator from Kalkaji constituency -- after taking charge of the office of CM, will prove her government's majority in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The Assembly Session has been called by the AAP government on September 26-27. The Assembly's term will end on February 23 next year while elections are likely to be held in early February 2025. Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, was on September 13 granted bail by the Supreme Court. The AAP convenor, however, was restricted from going to his office or the Delhi Secretariat, or sign files without L-G V.K. Saxena's consent. Aizawl, Sep 18 : The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Mizoram Police in a major drug haul, have seized huge drugs worth over Rs 6.13 crore and arrested three people including a Myanmar national and a juvenile, officials said on Wednesday. A senior CID official said that the drugs -- 40.034 kg Methamphetamine tablets valued at over Rs 5.20 crore and 3.098 kgs of heroin valued at Rs 92.94 lakh a" were seized from two different places in Aizawl district. The official said that the two arrested persons as well as the juvenile in conflict with the law along with the seized drugs were handed over to a special narcotics police station. The highly addictive Methamphetamine tablets, also known as Yaba tablets or party tablets, contain a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine and are largely misused as high-dosage drugs in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, besides India. Smuggling of drugs from Myanmar is rampant in Mizoram and the Assam Rifles, Mizoram Police and other law enforcing agencies regularly confiscate various drugs including heroin and methamphetamine tablets, a popular drug among the drug addict people. Officials, citing the drug peddlers, said that the Methamphetamine tablets, heroin and areca nuts were smuggled from neighbouring Myanmar. Mizoram shares 510 km and 318 km of unfenced border with Myanmar and Bangladesh respectively. Out of the state's 11 districts, most of the smuggling of drugs, explosives and other contraband from Myanmar takes place through Champhai district, adjoining Myanmar. After the military takeover in conflict-ridden Myanmar in February 2021, the smuggling of various drugs including Methamphetamine tablets and heroin as well as areca nuts from the neighbouring country increased to a large extent. Dubai, Sep 18 : England's Liam Livingstone has surged to the top of the T20I All-Rounder rankings following a series of outstanding performances against Australia. In the second T20I, Livingstone was named Player of the Match after scoring 87 runs off 47 balls and taking 2 wickets for just 16 runs in 3 overs. Dubai, Sep 18 (IANS) Englandas Liam Livingstone has surged to the top of the T20I All-Rounder rankings following a series of outstanding performances against Australia. In the second T20I, Livingstone was named Player of the Match after scoring 87 runs off 47 balls and taking 2 wickets for just 16 runs in 3 overs. His impressive showing not only helped England clinch victory but also marked a significant milestone in his career. Livingstoneas standout performances throughout the series, including taking 3 wickets for 22 runs and scoring 37 runs in the first T20I, propelled him up the rankings. His new rating of 253 points represents a career-high, giving him a commanding 42-point lead over Australiaas Marcus Stoinis, who holds the second spot with 211 points. Following Stoinis are Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza (208) and Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan (206). In addition to his success as an all-rounder, Livingstone also made significant strides in the Batting Rankings, jumping 17 places to 33rd. Meanwhile, Australiaas Josh Inglis made a remarkable leap into the top ten after scoring 37 and 42 runs in the series. On the bowling front, Adam Zampa has moved ahead of Anrich Nortje, ensuring that the top six in the T20I Bowling Rankings are all spinners. Zampaas rating of 662 puts him just one point behind Sri Lankaas Wanindu Hasaranga, while Englandas Adil Rashid remains the leader with a rating of 721 after consistently claiming wickets throughout the series. In the world of ODIs, there have also been notable movements. Namibiaas Gerhard Erasmus climbed to fifth in the All-Rounder rankings after contributing both with bat and ball against the USA. Additionally, USA captain Monak Patel has broken into the top 50 following a half-century in the same match. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. On September 19, 2023, local anti-terrorist measures carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in Karabakh significantly weakened the remaining Armenian armed formations and separatists, resulting in the disintegration of their resistance. This illustrated Azerbaijan's robust standing in both military and diplomatic strategic domains. Consequently, the Armenian forces capitulated after less than 24 hours of anti-terrorist measures, incurring significant casualties. The cessation of Armenian separatism in Karabakh resulted in Azerbaijan achieving complete territorial integrity. On November 10, 2020, a trilateral statement following the Second Karabakh War established new realities in the region. The agreement called for the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Karabakh, a requirement Armenia failed to meet. Specifically, Article 4 of the trilateral statement stipulated the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijani territories. Armenia's failure to fulfill this obligation became an obstacle to lasting peace. Yerevan sought to delay its commitments, ignoring Azerbaijan's genuine calls for peace. Furthermore, Armenia's revanchist claims and the maintenance of the status quo hindered the realization of a peace agreement. The Armenian armed forces continued provocations, transporting weapons and ammunition through the Lachin-Khankendi road. Azerbaijan took concrete steps to prevent these provocations. The establishment of the Lachin border checkpoint in April 2023, as well as the proposal to use the Aghdam-Khankendi road for humanitarian purposes, disrupted Armenia's plans. Armenia tried to accuse Azerbaijan on the international stage of allegedly creating a "blockade" and "humanitarian crisis," but these claims were baseless, as Azerbaijan was clearly providing humanitarian assistance. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces fully respected international humanitarian law during their anti-terrorist measures. The targets were illegal military facilities and infrastructure, with no harm to civilians. The Azerbaijani Army's high-tech capabilities and professionalism enabled them to successfully complete the anti-terrorist measures in a short time. At the same time, the government of Azerbaijan, in the face of false accusations by Armenia of "blockade" and "genocide," informed the international community of the real situation in the region. The illegal Armenian armed formations withstood for only 23 hours and 43 minutes before surrendering. This Victory created the conditions for the complete restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and ended separatism in Karabakh. This Victory, achieved under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, was the result of Azerbaijan's military strength and political will. The professionalism and power of the Azerbaijani Army thwarted Armenia's military, political, and ideological plans in the region. This Victory also once again demonstrated to the international community the strength and determination of Azerbaijan. The successful anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh prevented further Armenian provocations and illegal actions that had been ongoing in the region for years. These measures fully restored Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty, thereby ending Armenian separatism in the region. Mumbai, Sep 18 : Despite verbal duels and 'credit war', especially about the launch of a slew of welfare and development schemes among the MahaYuti partners, NCP national president and Deputy Maharashtra Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday told his party legislators that the NCP will contest upcoming Assembly election in the MahaYuti grouping along with the alliance partners. Pawar at the special meeting with the party legislators also said that the NCP has already reached an understanding with the BJP and Shiv Sena whereby the party will get 54 seats which it had won in the 2019 Assembly election. He also hinted that the party would settle at 60 seats instead of pressing for its earlier demand of 80 to 90 seats. Pawar has scoffed at media reports that the BJP may ditch the NCP ahead of the Assembly election. He also ruled out the possibility of the NCP proposing friendly fights in a few seats. A senior party functionary said: "There is a clarity now among the legislators as party president and Ajit Pawar has made it amply clear that the NCP's 54 seats, which it bagged in the last Assembly election, will remain with it and there is no question of exchange with BJP or Shiv Sena. Further, he also clearly announced that the NCP along with the BJP and Shiv Sena will together contest Assembly elections in MahaYuti with the sole objective of retaining power after the Assembly elections." He further said that the party president has directed all the legislators and party office bearers to avoid war of words over various issues including the CM's face and also to not go on making statements giving credit to him (Ajit Pawar) for the launch of Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana and other schemes as it is the MahaYuti's initiatives. Pawar told the legislators that nearly 2.50 crore eligible women beneficiaries will be covered under the Ladki Bahin scheme, and they will get Rs 7,000 for the period July-November. He was of the view that the NCP along with BJP and Shiv Sena will benefit as these women beneficiaries will vote for the MahaYuti. The meeting also discussed a survey done by a digital marketing and political management firm with nearly 3.25 lakh samples especially from the districts where Ajit Pawar has so far carried out his Jansanman Yatra promoting the Ladki Bahin scheme. "Wherever the Jansanman Yatra has gone, the ratings of Ajit Pawar in particular and NCP in general have increased from 20 per cent to over 50 per cent. Ajit Pawar has an average 48 per cent rating, and it will come handy for NCP to get a political mileage in the upcoming assembly election,"said a senior NCP minister. (Sanjay Jog can be reached at sanjay.j@ians.in) For 11 years, the Stratus Awards have celebrated the visionaries who are pushing boundaries, building cutting-edge solutions, and empowering businesses to thrive in the cloud era. Congratulations to all the winners for their outstanding performances. Post this The 2024 Stratus Award winners are: Top Executives Amol Waishampayan, Chief Product Officer, fullthrottle.ai Pradeep Kumar Saraswathi, PMTS Software Engineering, Salesforce Preyaa Atri, Senior Data Engineer, HSAD (LG Electronics) Top Organizations Aviatrix Systems, Inc. - Cloud Integrator Effectual Inc. - Cloud Company Ellucian - Software as a Service InFlux Technologies - Cloud Company MinIO - Storage Technology TEKsystems Global Services - Managed Service Provider VAI Cloud LLC - Platform as a Service Vultr - Cloud Disruptor Top Products/Services a3Marketplace - Platform as a Service Anteriad Marketing Cloud - Managed Service Provider AuditBoard Modern Connected Risk Platform - Platform as a Service Baffle Data Security - Cloud Security Service BigPanda - Artificial Intelligence Blecon - Internet of Things (IoT) Data Dynamics - Security Enablon ESG Excellence - Software as a Service EY.ai EYQ - a Generative AI ecosystem - Artificial Intelligence fullthrottle.ai - Software as a Service IBM Cloud File Storage for VPC - Infrastructure as a Service Impel - Software as a Service Parallels RAS - Cloud Integrator Skyhigh Security Service Edge (SSE) Portfolio - Cloud Security Service SpheraCloud Integrated Sustainability - Software as a Service Tangoe One Cloud - Managed Service Provider Temporal - Cloud Company Wolters Kluwer CCH iFirm AML - Cloud Collaboration ZEMA Global Data - Private Cloud Provider The Stratus Awards panel of judges also recommended that the following companies and services be recognized as "Finalists" for their documented performances. Stratus Award Finalists include: Acumatica, BillingPlatform, CloudZero, Forward Enterprise, Impel, LogicMonitor - Edwin AI, MYOB Acumatica, Nozomi Networks Vantage IQ Platform, SingleStore, Sigma Computing, SolarWinds Observability, and Wolters Kluwer - Twinfield DossierFlow. About Business Intelligence Group The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs, business executivesthose with experience and knowledgejudge the programs. The organization's proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those whose achievements stand above those of their peers. Media Contact Eliana Starbird, Business Intelligence Group LLC, 1 9095292737, [email protected], www.bintelligence.com Twitter, LinkedIn SOURCE Business Intelligence Group LLC In honor of Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month, we spoke with four authors about how they foregrounded different aspects of culture and history in their new and recent books for young readers. Alexis Castellanos What was the catalyst for this book? I needed some levity in my life. I had just come off writing Isla to Island, a very emotionally and physically challenging book. It was the height of Covid restrictions, and my fiance was working at an ice cream shop, when I got the idea for Guava and Grudges. It was the perfect cure for my life at the timea joyful romp in a fun fictional town full of vibrant characters. How did you want to celebrate Cuban culture throughout the story? I wanted to throw everything infrom the most mundane detail to Celia Cruz references. From food to customs to family relationships. I sprinkled in a little of everything. I live by the rule that specificity is the key to universality. The more sincere and genuine I can make my writing, the more connection a reader can find in it, even if they arent Cuban American. What role does food play in Ana Maria? and her familys life? Food is such a perfect vessel for memory. I know I have certain meals that almost feel like time traveling when Im preparing them and eating them. I think of when I learned how to make the dish from my grandmother, the special occasions we made the dishes together, and the first time I made it for friends. Its a connection to my culture and heritage thats easy to tap into, and thats exactly how it works for Ana Maria and her family. Her father is trying to keep alive the slice of Cuba his family brought over when they came to this country, and changing that food in any way ruins this time capsule. This is why he and Ana Maria butt heads when she starts dreaming up new recipes. Food for her is less of a perfectly preserved memory, and more of an exploration of identity. Guava and Grudges by Alexis Castellanos. Bloomsbury, $19.99 Sept. ISBN 978-1-5476-1371-7 J.C. Cervantes What was the catalyst for this book? I wanted to create an origin story with a different kind of magic, one that reflected a wider view of witchcraft beyond the European and of course, that was influenced by the stories I was told growing uptales I wanted to see more of. It was such fun to play with a new mythology. How did you want to highlight Mayan and Aztec mythology? The Place of Agonized Souls and even the Valley of Ghosts were both inspired by the Aztec and Mayan underworlds (Mictlan and Xibalba), in which a soul must journey through many places and hardships to reach heaven. Ive always been fascinated by after-death experiences, which were at the center of my familys stories growing up. Why was it important to center brujeria in the fantasy space? It is such a rich and vibrant world, one that is centered on conviction and personal power, an anchor that allows us to believe in something so much greater than ourselves. So often we are presented with an ethnocentric version of witchcraft, when in fact, witchcraft was and is a powerful practice in many cultures around the world. The Daggers of Ire by J. C. Cervantes. HarperCollins, $19.99 Sept. ISBN 978-0-06-331207-4 Edel Rodriguez What was the catalyst for this book? The catalyst for my book is my familys migration from Cuba to America. I wanted to tell a story about the best friend I left behind and the place where we had built a magical world of our own. Why did you want to portray your own childhood experiences for young readers? There are many young readers who have gone through similar circumstances and others who are yearning to learn from a story like this one. Id like readers to understand that children who arrive from other countries have many things in common with them. They want to have fun, play, and go on adventures. I hope this book helps young readers see that newcomers should be welcomed with open arms because they may have magical stories to tell. What does the mango tree represent to you? The mango tree represents home, safety, joy, and silliness. It was a place that felt peaceful, high above all the goings on in our village. It also represents a journey and a new start, planting roots in a strange new land and sharing what you can with others. The Mango Tree (La mata de mango) by Edel Rodriguez. Abrams, $18.99 May ISBN 978-1-4197-4586-7 David Dorado Romo What was the catalyst for this book? I wrote this book because almost everything we hear and have been taught about the U.S.-Mexico border is wrong. I wanted to correct the record. I wanted to write a book that centers the histories and the viewpoints of the people who live in the borderlands today and whose ancestors have lived there long before borders existedespecially the stories of young Mexican Americans, who in the past have been left out of the history books. I dont want young people to grow up, like I did, thinking that Mexican American history is marginal or insignificant. Its not. Mexican Americans are central to the history and identity of the United States. Its time that schools across the country start teaching it in a way that does it justice. What kind of research was involved? I have been conducting research for many years in dozens of archives across the United States and Mexico to dig up stories that havent been fully told before. Among the most important archives that Ive visited are the Special Collections Department at UT El Paso, the National Archives in the Washington, D.C. area, and the Archivo General de la Nacion in Mexico City. I love going to archives where you can pore through documents that are hundreds of years old. Today a lot of the historical newspapers, in both English and Spanish, are easy to access online as well, but I still prefer being able to hold the original documents. I have also conducted oral history interviews with many people who lived through some of the historical events that I write about. Its hard to beat the power of a first-hand testimony. What misconceptions around immigration were you aiming to correct? When you watch TV news reports and read the newspapers you get a sense that the immigration crisis is something new that needs urgent and immediate solutions. No one seems to ask any deeper questions, such as how did the border become a border in the first place? El Paso, for instance, has been called the other Ellis Island. But the kind of back-and-forth transnational migration that has been going on along the south-north axis along the borderlands for thousands of years is fundamentally different than the unidirectional kind carried out by European immigrants, who crossed an ocean and joined the melting pot. This country has ignored or deliberately silenced the histories of brown people of mixed-Native and Hispanic ancestry in the borderlands because otherwise then the whole question of immigration becomes much more complicated. If you write these communities back into the national historical narrative, then we have to ask uncomfortable questions that the politicians who want simple solutions prefer not to. Borderlands and the Mexican American Story by David Dorado Romo. Crown, $8.99 Aug. ISBN 978-0-593-56775-3 With new European Union Deforestation Regulations (EUDR) set to kick in for large companies on December 31, 2024, and for smaller organizations June 30, 2025, industry associations in the U.S. and U.K. are alerting members about how to prepare for the new rules. A recent briefing paper from BIC, the U.K. counterpart to the U.S.-based Book Industry Study Group (BISG), details how the new regulations will impact all members of the publishing supply chain who manufacture or sell books in the European Economic Area (EEA). In the U.S., BISG held an early September webinar, which provided an overview of EUDR and how the use of the ONIX standard may help industry players comply with the new regulations. And how EUDR will impact U.S. printers and paper suppliers will be discussed at the Book Manufacturers Institute Book Manufacturing Mastered meeting to be held October 1 in Boston. As the BIC report notes, EUDR replaces European Union Timber Regulations (EUTR), and as part of that update, printed matter, which had been excluded from EUTR, is now part of the EUDR. The goal of EUDR is to prevent forest degradation by mandating that only "deforestation-free" products can be sold in the EEA, which includes the European Union and a small portion of Great Britain (primarily Northern Ireland), said Graham Bell of EDItEUR, which establishes and oversees international standards for the publishing industry, including ONIX. Both BIC and Bell stressed that EUDR impacts every player in the book supply chain. All players will be responsible for providing detailed information about the location of every tree used to make paper was cut down since June 2023 (when EUDR was approved). Companies will also be responsible for making sure every kind of element in a particular book, ranging from pages to covers, can be traced back to its original source. This process, Bell repeatedly said, is going to require a lot of recordkeeping. The only escape from these requirements is if a book is made from 100% recycled material. But even here, if one part of the book is not made from recycled material, that part will need documentation, Bell advised. The EU is creating a centralized database where all members of the book business can supply information. The ultimate goal of the process is to create a Due Diligence Statement that will enable authorities to see whether every element in a book comes from an acceptable source. To comply with the regulation, Due Diligent Statements are going to be required with information passing down the supply chain, the BIC report states. Bell noted that this process must be followed for every new ISBN. While various entities will be required to supply data, the BIC report states that the primary responsibility for ensuring everything is correct, lies with the company placing the product on the EU market. Failure to comply with EUDR means offending books will be barred from the EU. Companies could also face fines. Bell acknowledged that meeting the EUDR requirements is going to be a challenge. And much like the requirements for the European Accessibility Actset to go into effect next Junenot all regulations have been finalized. Bell expects training sessions on how to use the registry will begin in October, registration will begin in November, and the database will go live in December. To help publishers and others comply with the EUDR, the Forest Stewardship Council has developed a guide to help organizations start planning for the implementation of EUDR. The BISG webinar where Bell explains how ONIX may help with EUDP implementation is available here. For Jewish publishers, fall brings a wave of titles highlighting holidays from somber to joyful. There are four holidays this year in October alone, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, ten days later. Then comes the harvest holiday of Sukkot followed by Simchat Torah, celebrating annual cycle of reading the entire scroll over the course of the year. In December, families delight in Hanukkah, often called the festival of lights, enjoying traditional foods and games and lighting an eight-branch candelabra, a menorah, that signifies a miracle: God rewarded Jew's devotion to their faith, allowing a tiny bit of oil to burn for eight days. Here's a look at 2024's offerings from Jewish presses: Apples and Honey Press, an imprint of Berman House The Baddest Wolf of All? (out now, ages 6-8) by David Sherrin, illustrated by Martin Moron. The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are devoted to self-reflection and the wolf wonders about whether he really is so evil. Lucky Penny (out now, ages 7-9) by Aimee Lucido, illustrated by Jon Davis. A little Jewish girl looks to her good luck charms at Rosh Hashanah when everyone wants a fresh start. Avital the Pirate (out now, ages 4-6) by Pamela Moritz, Illustrated by Damien Jones. A child joins a pirate crew but misses her family at Rosh Hashanah and sails home in time for the holidays. Challah, Challah for You and Me (out now, ages 2-3) by Barbara Bietz and June Sobel, illustrated by Ruth Waters. A rhyming book with animals enjoying the rich traditional braided bread served at Rosh Hashanah and Sabbath meals. The Day I Became a Potato Pancake (Oct.,ages 7-9) by Arie Kaplan, illustrated by Beilin Xu. A Hanukkah-themed sci-fi adventure when a boy playing in a science lab is transformed into a latke. Dont Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah (Nov., ages 3-6) by Karne Rostoker-Gruber, illustrated by Carles Arbat. A child learns a lesson about hospitality when a bear joins in his family's Hanukkah party. Intergalactic Afikoman Oy, Santa, or There's a Latke to Learn about Hanukkah (Oct., ages 4-9) by Joyce Schriebman, illustrated by Gila von Meissner. A Jewish child and Santa learn to respect and appreciate their distinct holidays. Kalaniot Books A Turkish Rosh Hashanah by (out now, ages 5-9) by Etan Basseri, illustrated by Zeynep Ozatalay. Two children whose families are in the Sephardic (Spanish and North African tradition) shop for ingredients for a Rosh Hashanah celebration. Uri and the King of Darkness: A Hanukkah Story (Oct. ages 4-9) by Nati Bait , illustrations by Carmel Ben Ami. Two children show courage and spirit fighting an evil force to bring home the light of Hanukkah. Kar-Ben An Etrog from Across the Sea (out now, ages 4-10) by Deborah Bodin Cohen and Kerry Olitzky, iIllustrations by Stacey Dressen McQueen. A New York family eagerly awaits their father to be home from Europe with the special citrus fruit, the etrog, that stars in the celebration of Sukkot.' Charley and Seymour's Hanukkah Miracle (Oct. ages 4-8) by Melody Howard Ritt and Nia Gould. Two cute critters gather all kinds of goodies for a Hanukkah party but suddenly discover they're missing candles for the menorah. Hanukkah Hippity-Hop (Oct., ages 1-4) by Barbara Kimmel, Illustrated by Ana Zurita. This is a dance party book inviting to stomp like Hanukkah's legendary heroes, the Maccabees, and shake like jelly in a doughnut, the traditional holiday dessert. Menucha One Batch of Brownie Bars (out now) by C.B. Lieber, illustrated by Faigy Levy, shows a family enjoying traditional treats every month of the Jewish calendar year. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The first day of the 3rd meeting of the Board of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage concluded in Baku on September 18, Trend reports. Even though the decision to establish the fund, set up to assist developing countries particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change, was made at COP27 and the decision to launch it was made at COP28, its practical activities have not yet been launched. Azerbaijan's holding of the 3rd board meeting on the eve of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) is of historical significance for the launch of practical activities of the Fund. At the same time, this is an indicator of faith and trust in Azerbaijan and is also a result of the country's attention to climate change issues and, in particular, the attention it pays to developing countries, including small island states. The organization of the event in Baku also enhances Azerbaijan's geopolitical importance as a global player and strengthens its position. The three-day board meeting is expected to make important decisions on the Fund's acquisition of the status of a financial fund in the World Bank system and the start of full-fledged practical activities. The appointment of the Fund's executive director is also expected to take place during the meeting. Moreover, the third meeting of the board discusses important points related to the High-Level Dialogue on Financial Mechanisms for Loss and Damage, which is planned to be officially launched in the country during the COP29 summit of world leaders in the field of climate action. Addressing the meeting with an opening speech, COP29 President and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, Mukhtar Babayev, drew attention to the importance of global solidarity and increasing efforts in the fight against climate change, as well as the need to start practical activities of the fund. At COP29, we will try to make progress on all points of the Paris Agreement; thus, we will build on the successes of the previous COPs and contribute to the implementation of the results of the UAE Consensus. We also need to make progress on loss and damage, as the devastation caused by climate change is already being felt by many people. Based on the successes of COP27 and COP28, we must fully launch the fund to respond to loss and damage. We are frequently reminded how urgent this task is. These events also carry significant economic costs, often applied to those with low ability to pay and those with very little impact on climate change. As announced, we will hold Leadership Dialogues to develop work in this area. We will continue to support coordination on the big picture of loss and damage. We hope to be able to take steps towards full operation of the fund in the coming days to eliminate losses and damages. We have only 54 days until the launch of COP29. Communities around the world are relying on us to make progress. Let's urgently and decisively move forward together, Babayev added. To note, about 200 representatives of developed and developing countries, the UN and other international organizations, the World Bank, international non-governmental organizations, and like-minded groups attended the meeting. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate Instagram / Jonathon Johnson By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 09/17/2024 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. alum Jonathon Johnson has revealed what he thinks changed for Devin Strader that led to his brutal dumping of Jenn Tran Jenn had flipped the script and proposed marriage to Devin at the Final Rose Ceremony that filmed in May, and then after a tumultuous two months -- in which Jenn claimed Devin never prioritized her and slowly ghosted her -- Devin broke up with her in a brief phone call in early August.On the September 3 : After the Final Rose special, Jenn announced that Devin's behavior before and after their split was devastating, especially when he had followed The Bachelor alum Maria Georgas and allegedly sent multiple women DMs on Instagram."I think it's really hard from the outside to just judge based on hearing just one side," Jonathon said during a recent appearance on "The Viall Files" podcast."That's not to write off Jenn's point of view, and it's not to write off Devin's either. But there's always more involved in a story that could have been the case."Jonathon said, however, "the way that [Devin] handled himself" after the breakup was "not smart at all" and inexcusable."[Devin] after the fact was, in my opinion, not respectable," Jonathon told former The Bachelor star Nick Viall "You're on this public platform, and whatever led to that, that's their business. I don't know [the reason why] and so I can't judge on that."But Jonathon confirmed that he was totally shocked by Devin and Jenn's breakup when he attended the After the Final Rose taping."Honestly, yeah, [I was surprised] because Devin did a fantastic job of not letting us know a thing," Jonathon recalled."So when it came down to it, all I know is this dude was madly in love with her on the show and then won't tell us how it ended or what happened. In my mind, they were still together.""And so when that happened [on AFR]," Jonathon continued, "I was like, 'Whoa sh-t!' The way everybody else reacted, I was just sitting there in the audience, like, 'No way?!'"Jonathon didn't hold back when sharing his feelings about how Devin had treated Jenn in the weeks after their early August split."I can judge how it was handled after because that has all come out. You have this platform where this girl is putting herself and her heart on the line, and you have an obligation now, at this point, where you committed to somebody to try to make them look as good as you possibly can after the fact," Jonathon explained."I don't care if there's other women in your life or whatever. Keep that sh-t under wraps! I've seen people pull together 30-year sh-tty marriages! You can hold out for months until this girl's journey is over."Jonathon said that Devin should've respected Jenn and supported her."Just make her look as respected as possible, and then do whatever you need to do with your life," Jonathon shared."But don't go on there and do a bunch of lashes. Don't go out there to a club and hit people up and do all of these things or be caught out with other women in that setting."Jonathon suggested a smart man would at least "wait a little bit" after to pursue that type of path."Make sure this girl feels like you have her back, at least a little bit!" Jonathon complained.Nick agreed that would be the "bare f-cking minimum" for a winner of , and Jonathon agreed.Jonathon didn't hesitate to criticize Devin for his actions even though the men had become good friends on 's 21st season."We were [friends], surprisingly," Jonathon quipped."I am a very open-minded person just in general, so Week 2 when we went to Australia, people were like, '[Devin], is kind of loud. He's an ass,' and I was like, 'You know, there is probably something else there.'"Jonathon said he and Devin had "a lot of guy chats" and they both tend to talk a lot."He and I got close and started to get to know each other pretty well, but there's no part of me that would've guessed the ending [happened] the way that it did. I think he does have a good heart and I think he means well, but he made some mistakes along the way," he concluded.After finale aired and Jonathon posted a sweet message to Jenn on Instagram in attempt to rally support on her behalf, he also called Devin on the phone "to make sure he was okay.""I wish he said something where I could sit here and say, 'Yes! This is exactly what he was trying to do!' And that he just wanted to win or whatever, but I honestly have no idea," Jonathon elaborated."In the moment, unless he is the world's best liar, I thought he was 100% genuine. He seemed head over heels and got upset when other things would happen... He was so upset [when I stole Jenn for a kiss]. You wouldn't react that way if it's a game."Jonathon presumably feels even stronger about Devin's behavior now that Devin has release months of private text messages with Jenn in attempt to tell his "truth" and dispute "false narratives" out there about him. (Jenn called Devin's 13-minute, tell-all video a huge "invasion" of her privacy ).When Jenn appeared on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe " podcast last week, she explained how there were "a lot" of reasons why she sent Jonathon home in third place -- behind runner-up Marcus Shoberg and winner Devin -- after overnight Fantasy Suite dates.Jenn recalled of her connection with Jonathon, "It just wasn't there."But a lack of chemistry wasn't the only thing standing in the former couple's way of progressing in process."I don't think he'll mind me saying this, but he just wasn't sure about doing long distance," Jenn revealed of the California-based creative director who works in ads and marketing."I was like, 'I live in Miami and I'm not going to be moving,' and he's not going to be moving."Jenn elaborated, "So we were both kind of just like -- we didn't know if long distance-wise [how it would work]. If his heart wasn't in it and mine wasn't, then it wasn't going to work."Jonathon seemed to agree with Jenn's assessment when he told Nick on the September 10 episode of "The Viall Files" podcast, "I genuinely think it was just the connection wasn't there [between us]."Jonathon regrettably waited too long to fully open his heart and express his feelings to Jenn, and so he left 's 21st season after Fantasy Suite dates lamenting about how he had gotten in his own way of finding true love.But Jenn and Jonathon reunited in California following 's September 3 finale and posted flirty TikTok videos, allowing fans to believe there may be something still there between them.Since Jenn and Jonathon's recent hangout session got fans buzzing about whether they're going to try again, the pair both addressed the dating gossip during their separate podcast appearances."We're on such good terms," Jenn told Kaitlyn Bristowe , adding how she wants to remain friends with some of the guys from her season."I'm like, 'People are going to think I'm weird,' but no, I just want to be their friend!"Jenn pointed out how fans will probably see her "grabbing a beer" with not only Jonathon, but her fourth-place finisher Jeremy Simon as well."I want so badly to keep those friendships but nothing more than that," she noted.When asked if he'd like to turn his friendship with Jenn into a romance on "The Viall Files," Jonathon replied, "I'll tell you this: it's a hard position to be in when -- and I'm not just trauma dumping right now -- but when, like, I think people have been in love with the idea of me before and then not actually myself."Jonathon noted that getting eliminated from in third place made him feel like "everyone else can see" his worth "except for the person" he really wanted to see it."It's hard to go back on that... I'm not saying [getting back together] could never happen. I'm not saying that," Jonathon acknowledged.Jonathon, however, confirmed he and Jenn have not had a real conversation about the possibility of exploring their relationship again."But she's going to be in L.A. for the next few months [for Dancing with the Stars], and that's where I live. So at some point, [we will]," Jonathon noted.Nick advised Jonathon not to tease Bachelor Nation for too long about his relationship with Jenn -- if nothing is going to happen, like in the case of alums Hannah Brown and Tyler Cameron -- because people might turn on them."What if we don't know though?" Jonathon asked. "What if we can't make our minds up?"Nick therefore asked Jonathon point blank, "Do you want to try? Do you want to explore it?""I don't know," Jonathon replied. "Open-minded is probably where I stand... I genuinely have no idea."Jonathon clearly still thinks very highly of Jenn, even after she dumped him on .Jonathon's sweet message to Jenn via Instagram on September 5 included how he feels "so incredibly honored to have been a part" of her journey to find love."She has been an inspiration to women everywhere and I'm so proud of the way she carried herself throughout this process," Jonathon gushed."She experienced a situation on a national scale that I would never want to see someone go through, but this WOMAN walked on stage, with her head held high, and handled herself with so much class and beauty that my jaw is on the floor."Jonathon continued in his upload, "Jenn, from me, my family, and anyone that has had the absolute privilege of meeting you, you're an incredible woman and we are SO proud of your journey. I will be cheering you on as you shake it down on DWTS and all the success after."Jonathon admitted on the August 29 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast that he knew he was going home after Fantasy Suite dates."I think there was just an X factor missing. Especially watching it back, you can kind of see it. She's confessing her love for Marcus, and Devin's saying that he's in love with her," Jonathon said.Jonathon explained that while their romance was fun and light, it was clear they were behind her relationships with other men.If Jonathon and Jenn only remain friends, Jonathon has an official invitation to appear on Bachelor in Paradise's tenth season next year.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. One more mobile medical examination campaign was organized by AzerGold Closed Joint Stock Company in Dashkasan with the support of Baku Health Centre. Residents of Chovdar village, Shadakh settlement, Chaykand, Gushchu, Bayan and other villages near the Chovdar gold deposit benefited from free medical services for three days under Health First! slogan. On the first day of the campaign, families of martyrs, including veterans and war participants, were examined. More than 300 residents were examined by a team of professional doctors, including general surgeon, otorhinolaryngologist, general practitioner, endocrinologist, cardiologist, neurologist, pediatrician, and also ultrasound examination, echo- and electrocardiogram were provided, general analysis of blood and urine, viral hepatitis in blood, blood pressure and glucose levels were checked. A total of 1 226 services were provided to residents within the campaign. The mobile medical examination campaign, which is held regularly from 2021, aims at increasing the access of remote village residents to quality health services, early diagnosis of diseases and promoting awareness of preventive examination. More than 2 000 Dashkasan residents benefited from free medical services within the four years of campaigns. During the examinations, citizens who were diagnosed with various diseases were provided with relevant treatment courses. Note that the residents of the villages near the Chovdar Integrated Regional Processing Area take advantage of regular projects on environmental protection, education, health, employment, promotion of entrepreneurship, etc. by AzerGold CJSC. Our main goal is to support the residents of the region, especially socially vulnerable families, and to make additional contributions to the state policy in this direction. The chances of former workers getting jobs depends on the model under which Ford would restart its Chennai plant operations -- under Ford India or as a joint venture or under any other model. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters Will they get a second innings at the Ford India's Chennai plant is the thought that is going in the minds of a large number of former workers after the recent announcement by Ford Motor Company. The US auto major recently announced its decision to restart production at its Chennai plant. The announcement has come as music to the ears of a large number of former workers at the plant as a majority of them are not properly employed after their severance from Ford India. "Majority of the workers were in the age band of 35 to 40. While some have found good jobs, a large number of workers have not found a proper job similar to the ones they had at Ford India," says A Satish Kumar, a former official of the workers' union. "Our phones are ringing after Ford announced its decision to restart production at its Chennai plant. Workers are anxious to know the possibility of them getting employed at Ford's Chennai plant," says K Selvaraj, former president of the Chennai Ford Employees Union (CFEU). Their hopes hinge on the agreement that was signed in 2022 between CFEU and the Ford India management with a provision that the workers will be given preference in employment if production at the plant is restarted within three years, said an office bearer of the union not wanting to be named for this report. The agreement was signed at time of severance prior to the plant halting car production. The re-employment clause has a rider. The former workers will be rehired based on the company's assessment of the worker's efficiency, knowledge and other attributes. The provision may be sought to be implemented through a court order as the union had signed off its relationship with the company, a union official said. According to him, the union has not been wound up. While the restarting of production announcement is welcome, everything is unclear. IMAGE: Workers make final inspections on Figo cars on the assembly line at the Ford India plant in Chengalpattu on the outskirts of Chennai, March 5, 2012. Photograph: Babu/Reuters Further, the chances of former workers getting jobs depends on the model under which Ford would restart its Chennai plant operations -- under Ford India or as a joint venture or under any other model. Only a few experienced hands in the quality control, maintenance may be hired, it is said. If Ford decides to roll out just the Endeavour from the Chennai plant then only 200 workers would be needed. But if EcoSport and other models are to be manufactured then the headcount would increase, a union official added. The other important question is whether Ford would require 300 acres to run its operations for exports alone which is expected to be on a reduced scale. On September 13, 2024, Ford announced that it has given its letter of intent to the Tamil Nadu government to utilise the Chennai plant for manufacturing for export. The announcement follows a meeting between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and Ford Motor officials in the US. According to Ford, the Chennai plant will be repurposed for restarting production and the type of manufacturing and other details will be disclosed in due course. IMAGE: Workers assemble cars at the Ford India plant in Chennai, March 5, 2012. Photograph: Babu/Reuters At the time of the Chennai plant's closure, it had 2,592 permanent employees. Except for some workers, all others accepted the severance package announced by Ford India. About 60 workers refused the severance package and many have gone to court. Balasundaram Radhakrishnan, transformation officer, Ford India, had earlier said the final settlement package (an average equivalent of 140 days of gross wages per completed year of service and additional Rs 1.5 lakh lumpsum per employee) signed translates to an average of about 5.2 years/62-months of salary for each employee (from a minimum of 4.1 years -- 49 months -- to a maximum of 9 years -- 108 months). The cumulative severance for each employee ranged from a minimum amount of Rs 34.5 lakh and a maximum of Rs 86.5 lakh, Ford India had said earlier. Ford said its global business operations in Tamil Nadu has a headcount of about 12,000 and in three years' time, the number will increase by 2,500 to 3,000. According to the US auto major, combined with the engine manufacturing operations in Sanand in Gujarat, India represents Ford's second largest salaried workforce worldwide. IMAGE: An employee at Ford India's Chennai plant. Photograph: Babu/Reuters In September 2021, Ford India announced its decision to wind down vehicle assembly in Gujarat's Sanand vehicle and engine manufacturing in Chennai. Ford India had set up four plants in the country -- vehicle and engine plants in Chennai and Sanand. The company sold its Gujarat facility for Rs 725.70 crore to Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. The plant in Sanand includes the entire land and buildings, the vehicle manufacturing plant, along with its machinery and equipment, and transfer of all eligible employees of Ford India's vehicle manufacturing operations. Ford India is operating its powertrain manufacturing facility by leasing back the land and buildings of the powertrain manufacturing plant from Tata Passenger Electric. Be that as it may, Ford Motor seems to have a special link with the month of September with regard to the Chennai plant. In September 2021, the company announced its decision to close down vehicle assembly in Gujarat's Sanand vehicle and engine manufacturing in Chennai. The next September saw Ford India ink the agreement with the workers union at Chennai plant. And two years later, this September, Ford Motor announces its decision to restart operations at its Chennai plant for exports. Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, visited the family of Mubariz Ibrahimov, a National Hero of Azerbaijan, in the Aliabad village of Bilasuvar district, Trend reports. During her visit, Leyla Aliyeva toured the house-museum dedicated to Mubariz Ibrahimov, designed to instill a sense of patriotism and heroism in the younger generation. She reviewed Mubariz Ibrahimov's personal belongings and exhibits that showcase his life and achievements. Leyla Aliyeva also visited the family home, where she spoke with the parents of the National Hero. Mubariz Aghakarim oglu Ibrahimov was born on February 7, 1988, in the Aliabad village of Bilasuvar district. In 2009, he voluntarily entered military service on the front line. On the night of June 19, 2010, Ibragimov crossed a one-kilometer minefield between the two armies in the direction of Tartar, destroying a large number of enemy soldiers and officers of the Armenian Armed Forces in the initial attack. Mubariz Ibrahimov, who inflicted heavy losses on the enemy in a five-hour battle, was heroically martyred in an unequal struggle. In recognition of his bravery, President Ilham Aliyev awarded Mubariz Ibrahimov the title "National Hero of Azerbaijan". His memory was further honored by another Order of the President. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The nature of war and its purpose remains unchanged. The change is in the character of war in terms of a man-machine mix, domination of sensors and certain automation of the tactics and methods of war, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd). IMAGE: An AI-enabled drone of the Swarmer company flies over the Kyiv region, Ukraine. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters Lieutenant General Anil Chait's article on Armed Forces Transformation in Rediff.com on September 5, 2024 is a very welcome effort at a wider public debate on the crucial issue facing the nation. It is appropriate that this debate is carried out on a general news platform like Rediff.com and not in a purely military media. National security involves not just the military but wider public involvement, necessary in a democracy. The backdrop to this debate is the Agnipath reform that was ushered in a couple of years ago. The Agnipath reform had the twin objective of reducing the pension bill and keeping the armed forces young. The savings made through this are expected to be plowed back in modernising equipment. By itself these are unexceptional goals and the need of the hour. However, the whole gamut of changes in warfare are far more complex. Agnipath is narrow vision reform that essentially wishes to shift the resources from manpower to equipment. It is far too simplistic a solution to the complex challenge. It is intended in this article to understand the changes that have taken place already and changes that are likely to occur in the future. I wish to make a caveat though, my own expertise is limited to the land aspect of warfare and therefore this article will predominantly concern itself with the army and land warfare. I recently came across a remarkable You Tube interview of General Mark Milley, the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, by Mike Allen co-founder of Axios. The cerebral American general besides his military experience has impressive academic credentials, a 'Thinking General', a phrase made popular during times of General K Sunderji in India. General Milley draws attention to revolutionary changes taking place in the military with a new ability to see and strike at long range with precision. The proliferation of sensors, developing robotics including drones, sailor less ships, unmanned tanks and finally an AI controlled battlefield with autonomous robots performing tasks of both soldiers and generals. I wish to add that not only have these systems become available (or will soon be) but they are also affordable. General Milley thinks that in the coming decade the requirement of manpower on the land battlefield will see a 30% reduction. What is most significant about these predictions is that General Milley makes a clear distinction between 'the nature of war' and 'character of war'. By nature of war he means the basic definition of war as organised violence by a State to achieve a political aim of subduing the will of the adversary. This nature of war and its purpose remains unchanged. The change is in the character of war in terms of a man-machine mix, domination of sensors and certain automation of the tactics and methods of war. General Milley gives the classic example of World War II when the Germans combined the mobility of tanks and close air support to create a form of warfare called 'blitzkrieg'. The point to remember while carrying out any military reform in the face of the changing character of the war due to technological advances is that the nature of war remains unchanged. No military reform -- be it induction of women in the armed forces or changing the manpower mix from long term to short term soldiering -- should ignore the fact that war is a violent activity carried out by a State to impose its will on the opponent. As we see two contemporary conflicts, one between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the other between Ukraine and Russia in Europe, it becomes clear that even the change in the 'character of war' is not uniform. The fighting in Gaza is almost old style with tanks, infantry clearing block by block and large civilian casualties. Israel had all the latest sensors on the border and a very high tech military. Yet Hamas overwhelmed this force with the ingenious use of simple bulldozers. Israel has been forced to fight a hand to hand conflict in the congested Gaza areas. It is back to WWII style attacks, collateral damage and civilian deaths. At the same time the Russia-Ukraine conflict shows all the characteristics of 21st century warfare with drones, missiles, long range artillery. One can see live pictures of soldiers with laptops controlling loitering ammunition from the safety of bunkers. Many of the soldiers on the Ukraine side are in their late 60s. Manpower shortages on both sides has forced such veteran soldiers back into battle. The fact remains that these old soldiers are effective. So much for the notion of a young army. The Russia-Ukraine war has shown that a battlefield need great skills to operate machines. Soldiers have become controllers of machines. The balance between men and machines has decisively shifted in favour of machines. While all this is a novelty for army and land forces, changes like fire and forget missiles, radar guided fire fights at beyond visual range has been the norm in aerial warfare for quite some time. With drones becoming common place, close air support has now become an integral part of the land forces, obviating the need for the air force for this role. These indeed are revolutionary changes in land warfare and a full picture is yet to evolve. But one thing is certain: A modern soldier equipped with these sensors and machines can dominate a much larger area. Thus, the old ratio of troops to length of the border have become meaningless. A time will come when a brigade (editor's note: About 3,000 troops plus support staff) will be able to defend an area that earlier needed a division ( editor's note: About 22,000 troops and support staff). IMAGE: Army personnel patrol the Line of Control in Kupwara, Kashmir. Photograph: ANI Photo Before we get carried away by the vision of a 'Brave New World' (mentioned in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel) it is time to pause and reflect. Will we see a future where armies of robots replace soldiers? What about insurgencies and guerilla wars? Why did the US army with all its gadgets, sensors and fire power fail to win against the Taliban in Afghanistan? In a counterfactual scenario, if the Vietnam war was to be fought with 21st century weapons would the outcome be different? There are no easy or clear answers. Chances are that all these spectrums of war, control and domination of cyber space, a high tech robotic army to good old counterinsurgency based on infantry will exist simultaneously. In addition to this, a country like India has a task of manning thousands of kilometres of border at peace time, both the Line of Control with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control with China are un-demarcated borders. Such a situation is not faced by any major power, least of all the US that faces no land border threats. Even from this very cursory discussion, it is clear that for various spectrums of war very different kind of soldiers would be needed. For machine predominant battlefields, long term engaged and skilled man/woman power would be needed. Counterinsurgency or manning hostile mountainous borders would have different requirements. Could we organise the army on a functional basis like an automated battlefield force, a counter insurgency force, a cyber force rather than the conventional way of geographical organisation of theatre based forces? These are the questions that need to be asked, widely debated and a deliberate action taken. Reform by executive orders is a recipe for disaster. Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) is a military historian whose earlier columns can be read here. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com 'The whole Kashmiri population is seemed to be a suspect community. This status is not good.' Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, the Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate from Kulgam, speaks at an election meeting in Kulgam, September 16, 2024. Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, 77, has been continuously winning assembly elections from 1996 onwards from Kulgam, which is a record of sorts in Kashmir. This election, his challenger has come from the most unexpected quarter -- the Jamaat-E-Islami, a banned outfit in Jammu and Kashmir. For the last 30 years, the JeI did not believe in Indian democracy and even if it did, it was a silent supporter of the Peoples Democratic Party in south Kashmir. This time, the Jamaat has backed an Independent candidate, Sayar Ahmed Reshi, a teacher turned politician, for the elections on September 18. Engineer Rashid, the Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla who is out on interim bail and drawing large crowds on the campaign trail, has decided to do an alliance with the Jamat-E-Islami. The people of Kulgam say it is a battle of Red versus Green -- red for Tarigami's CPI-M and green for the Jamaat supported Independent nominee. "Jamaat has been saying for the last 30 years that the Indian Constitution is unacceptable. They said that anyone who takes oath on the Indian Constitution is a criminal... If you go through the pages of history you will find out what Jamaat-e-Islami said yesterday and what they are saying today. There is a shift in their stance and this shift of stance they have to explain to the people of Kashmir," Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com. The first of a two-part interview. People in your constituency speak highly about you as the Kulgam MLA. After Article 370 was abrogated, what has been the situation in your constituency? We have been unable to do anything in our constituency from 2018 as there was no Jammu and Kashmir assembly after President's rule was imposed. We MLAs had no powers. Post the abrogation of Article 370 the government claimed that they will create more investment and better infrastructure for Jammu and Kashmir but that has not happened in the last five years. They had also propagated that terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir was due to Article 370 while post abrogation we still face terrorism cases. There is some relief though in terms of number of incidents of terror cases, but those pauses were there earlier too. The claim of development does not match the ground situation in Kashmir. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: Tarigami gets a special greeting while on the campaign trail in Kulgam. What about peace? Is it not to be seen on the ground? Peace has to be sustained. It cannot be seasonal. We have experienced in the past that even at the height of militancy there have been situations of lull. Effort needs to be done where people feel that peace is important for their own development. Peace is important for the younger generation. Peace is important for businesses. Peace is important for education. Unfortunately, since August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated there is more denial of facts. This denial was there earlier too, but now it has compounded in the last five years. The whole Kashmiri population is seemed to be a suspect community. This status is not good. Almost every Kashmiri politician is making statements that Article 370 needs to come back. Is it possible now? It is not the question of the near future or not. What actually has been done in our view is that it is not only an assault on the Constitutional rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but also an assault on the Indian Republic itself. How? As far as Article 370 is concerned, it has not emerged out of some favour or vacuum. It did emerge when the country was divided and a Muslim majority area under Hindu ruler (Maharaja Hari Singh) was reluctant to accede to India. It was then the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir negotiated with the leadership of the Indian Union where certain sessions were held at the residence of the then home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, to bring in Article 370. When this draft of Constitutional agreement was given final shape and done between the two leaders of the Union of India and Jammu and Kashmir it was drafted and unanimously passed. Mind you, Syama Prasad Mookerjee too was a part of this Cabinet who happens to be the founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh which is now the BJP. There was unanimous voice on Article 370 and there might be debate and criticism here and there on the question of voting and all. IMAGE: Communist Party of India-Marxist supporters at Tarigami's election meeting, September 15, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo But Mookerjee formed his party (today's BJP) after breaking with the Congress because he wanted Article 370 to be abrogated, isn't it? This was always the core value of the BJP. Jan Sangh is neither a Constitutional institution nor my political party. We, just like the Jan Sangh, are a political party with a political agenda. Jan Sangh has a right to say whatever they want to and that is their right, but that is not binding for the country as a whole. And there is a Constitutional structure of India which was incorporated neither by accident nor by design. Article 370 was the will of the Constituent Assembly of India. It was put in temporary category and why? If you read the Article in full you will find the President of India can abrogate Article 370 only after the approval of and consent of the J&K assembly. And on August 5, 2019, they abrogated Article 370 when there was no assembly in J&K as it was under President's rule. The governor of J&K took such a big step. The BJP has its agenda, but the BJP has no authority to impose its decision on the people of J&K. They have to follow the Indian Constitution. They cannot have veto power as to whatever they like, they will impose it. People think the abrogation can be undone, which is surprising. I met Engineer Rashid for an interview and he said that INDIA can bring back Article 370 and only then he will support the Opposition alliance. Engineer Rashid is now a proxy of the BJP. Let us not take him seriously. My point is, how long the BJP or Jan Sangh tried for their core agenda of a Ram temple and abolishing Article 370. It took them decades to bring that in effect. What stops us from dreaming for a while that Article 370 will be restored? Red versus Green is an issue in your constituency as your opponent is from the Jamaat-e-Islami. We have been fighting against all odds all these years against the Jamaat. They (Jamaat) were here earlier too. I was in jail in 1972 and that time too Jamaat was being favoured by the establishment. They were offering their services to the then government and this at a time when I was in jail. I was a part of the Plebiscite Front then which is now called National Conference. Jamaat has been saying for the last 30 years that the Indian Constitution is unacceptable. They said that anyone who takes oath on the Indian Constitution is a criminal. Many of our legislators got killed. Many of our voters and activists too were killed. If you go through the pages of history you will find out what Jamaat-e-Islami said yesterday and what they are saying today. There is a shift in their stance and this shift of stance they have to explain to the people of Kashmir. People cannot be taken for granted. Junior doctors agitating over RG Kar murder early Wednesday said they will continue their sit-in and not join duty, despite the state appointing Manoj Kumar Verma as the new Kolkata Police chief, replacing Vineet Goyal, and removing two senior health department officials, giving in to the medics' earlier demands. IMAGE: Protesting junior doctors celebrate after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee agrees to their demands in Kolkata. Photograph: ANI Photo According to a statement issued following the conclusion of their general body meeting, which had started around 6.30 pm and went on till well past midnight, the protestors called the state's administrative measures "only partial victory" of their movement. The doctors demanded the removal of the state health secretary NS Nigam, saying they were assured by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the Monday of an action on it. The doctors said they will send an email to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant after daybreak seeking an appointment with the CM for another meeting later in the day. They also demanded discussions on safety and security of doctors inside hospital premises and including a thorough rundown on how the government wants to spend the Rs 100 crore it has allocated for tightening doctors' safety in state-run hospitals. "No effective security measures can be implemented in hospitals without a thorough overhaul of public healthcare delivery mechanism including streamlining of the referral system, the appointment of health workers and professional patient counsellors, plugging of admission corruption and ensuring availability of life-saving drugs," the statement read. The doctors demanded immediate notification of the chief secretary-headed task force in medical colleges which was promised at the meeting at Banerjee's residence on Monday. They also demanded the student body elections be held and adequate representation of junior doctors in the highest policy-making bodies of those institutions be ensured. Earlier in the day, the state government appointed Verma as the new city police commissioner, replacing Goyal, a day after Banerjee held a meeting with the agitating junior doctors and agreed to their demands, in a bid to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the RG Kar hospital incident. Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak and Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police's North Division Abhishek Gupta were also removed as promised by Banerjee during the meeting. Swapan Soren was appointed the interim DHS, while no appointment was announced for the position of the DME. Banerjee, following a long discussion with the doctors Monday night, had announced the decision to remove Goyal, who had been under fire over handling of the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar hospital. A series of explosions rocked Lebanon and Beirut on Wednesday with the health ministry confirming nine deaths while news agencies put the toll at higher. The fresh round of blast came just a day after a deadly attack involving exploding pagers claimed the lives of at least 12 people. IMAGE: People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon September 18, 2024. Photograph: Hassan Hankir/Reuters The exact number of casualties from the latest explosions remains unclear. The United States is currently assessing the potential impact of the attack on ongoing efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. In response to the heightened tensions, Israel has begun deploying additional troops to its border with Lebanon as a precautionary measure. New details about the attack have emerged. The pagers were manufactured by a Hungarian company, and an American official confirmed that Israel had informed the United States about the operation. The company has been involved in a licensing agreement with Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm, for the past three years. While Gold Apollo authorized BAC to use its brand for product sales, the design and manufacturing of the pagers were solely the responsibility of BAC. The company was registered in Hungary in 2022 and has a history of financial transactions. The attack in Lebanon began on Tuesday when pagers in people's possession started to heat up and explode, causing widespread panic and injury. The majority of victims were associated with Hezbollah, but it is unclear if civilians unrelated to the group were also affected. The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) targeting Rahul Gandhi. IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi speaks with students at the Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Photograph: Courtesy @INCIndia/X The party alleged that the statements were aimed at jeopardising the safety and security of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and to disturb peace throughout the country, especially in view of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana. In the complaint submitted to the Station House Officer of the Tughlaq Road police station by All India Congress Committee treasurer and general secretary Ajay Maken, the Congress cited the recent remarks by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Raghuraj Singh, as well as that of Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad. Maken sought registration of first information reports (FIRs) against the leaders. Speaking with the media after filing the complaint, Maken said, "We all know that late Indira Gandhi ji and late Rajiv ji have sacrificed their lives for the country. Even after that, they are giving such threats." Politics in India cannot stoop to a lower level than this, he said. "Not just one BJP leader, but many leaders have said such things, but BJP did not take any action," he said. "Rahul Gandhi talks about SC, ST, OBC, tribal and minority people. That is why BJP people do not like his words. This is the reason why they are threatening him," he said. "But let me tell you -- This is the Congress party and we are not going to be scared or cowed down," Maken said. In the police complaint, Maken said, "On September 11, Marwah in a BJP event openly issued assassination threat against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, wherein he said that 'Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja, nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua (you better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother)'." It also cited Sena MLA Gaikwad's announcement of a bounty of Rs 11 lakh for anyone who will cut the tongue of the Leader of Opposition. The complaint cited Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu's remarks, calling the Leader of Opposition the 'number one terrorist of the country'. 'Bittu deliberately made the statement to provoke public hatred and outrage against Mr Gandhi, with the aim to incite violence and breach of peace. The said statement was widely publicised on TV channels and social media,' the complaint said. It cited Uttar Pradesh government minister Raghuraj Singh's remarks that Gandhi was the 'number one terrorist of India'. 'The above statements/ threats issued by various BJP Leaders and its allies, calling for assassination and/or bodily injury onto Rahul Gandhi and also calling the Leader of Opposition of the country a terrorist, exhibits personal hatred by the BJP/NDA alliance partners against Gandhi, and such utterances are made only with the aim to cause unrest among the general masses to provoke rioting, breach of peace etc. through the hate-filled remarks,' the Congress said in its complaint. Gandhi has been continuously raising issues pertaining to deprived sections of the society such as women, youth, Dalits and other marginalised sections and the failure of the BJP to address such public-centric issues, the Congress said. However, the same has not gone down well with the BJP and its allies, therefore the above-named people have been deputed to make such hate-filled comments on the Leader of Opposition of India, the Congress alleged. 'Further, through the said events, the leaders of BJP/its allies, intend to jeopardise the safety and security of the Leader of Opposition, as well as, seek to disturb public peace throughout the country, especially in view of the ongoing elections in state of Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana,' the complaint read. Not only have the leaders made the statements but also played an active role, through their associates, in spreading the same among the general public through social media and other means, in order to deliberately incite public aggression or outrage against Gandhi and supporters or members of the Congress on basis of false, untrue, motivated and hate-filled statements, it said. 'Hence, it is imperative that an FIR under relevant provisions of the BNS, 2023 be registered immediately, without any delay,' the party said. 'In addition to the above, it is also stated that calling the Leader of Opposition of India, a 'terrorist', 'number one terrorist' etc. not only undermines the public office he holds but the above-named persons deliberately seek to obstruct Rahul Gandhi in discharge of his public duties,' the party said. 'The above intentional and well-thought acts of criminal intimidation, public mischief are deliberate attempts by BJP/NDA Leaders to create enmity, breach of peace, incite aggression, hatred and ill-will among the general public against Rahul Gandhi, the Congress and its leaders on the instructions of top bosses of the BJP/NDA,' the complaint said. 'In view of the above, the above-named persons, all connected with a common thread to the ruling BJP, hatched a well-planned criminal conspiracy, with other known/ unknown associates to commit the above acts. Accordingly, I request you to register an FIR, inter-alia, u/s 351, 352, 353, 61 of BNS, at the earliest, against the above-named persons and their associates,' the complaint by Maken said. Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Tuesday claimed that Atishi, who has been chosen as Delhi's new chief minister, will be a "dummy" CM. IMAGE: Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi addresses the media after she was elected as the leader of Delhi AAP legislative party and the new Chief Minister, at Civil Lines, in New Delhi on September 17, 2024. Photograph: Ritik Jain/ANI Photo Reacting to the allegations, AAP leader Dilip Pandey said if Maliwal has a little bit of shame, she should quit the Upper House seat. The AAP on Tuesday chose Atishi as Delhi's new chief minister replacing Arvind Kejriwal who resigned from the post. "Today, it is a very sad day for Delhi. A woman is going to be the chief minister of Delhi whose family fought for terrorist Afzal Guru in order to save him from capital punishment. "Her parents sent mercy petition to the President of India several times that Guru should not be hanged, he is innocent and has become the victim of a political conspiracy," Maliwal alleged. She further alleged, "Today Atishi will become the chief minister, but we all know that she will be a dummy CM." Reacting to Maliwal's allegations, Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey stated that Maliwal is a person who takes ticket from the AAP to go to Rajya Sabha, but takes the script from the BJP to speak. "I want to say that if she (Maliwal) has a little bit of shame, she should give up her AAP's Rajya Sabha ticket and should resign from the post of member of Parliament. She should ask for ticket from the BJP for the Rajya Sabha if she has a desire to be there," Pandey said. Kejriwal, who was released from jail on Friday, announced on Sunday that he would resign from the CM post within 48 hours and would only return if people give him a "certificate of honesty". As the Union cabinet approved the recommendations of the Ram Nath Kovind panel on 'one nation, one election' on Wednesday, opposition parties called the proposed move impractical and a 'cheap stunt' by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. IMAGE: Former President Ram Nath Kovind, head of the high-level committee on 'One Nation, One Election', presents the report to President Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 14, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo The Union cabinet accepted the high-level panel's recommendations for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced. Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition party Congress, said the proposal is not practical and alleged that the BJP comes up with such things to divert attention from real issues when polls approach. "It is not practical, it will not work. When elections come and they (BJP) do not get any issue to raise, they divert attention from real issues," Kharge told a press conference in New Delhi. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien called it a 'cheap stunt' of the BJP and questioned why the Maharashtra polls were not announced with those in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir if the government wants simultaneous elections. "One nation, one election is just another cheap stunt by the anti-democratic BJP. Why were the Maharashtra elections not announced along with the elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir?" he asked. "You cannot do three states in one go and you talk about one nation, one election," O'Brien said. He also sought to know how many Constitution amendments and curtailments of the terms of state Assemblies would be required for the implementation of the proposal. "And also tell us, how many Constitution amendments, including curtailing or extending terms of state Assemblies, will be done! Classic Modi-Shah jumla," the TMC leader said in a statement. Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja said the proposed move would curtail the rights of the states. 'One Nation, One Election is an impractical and unrealistic idea in our constitutional setting,' Raja said in a post on X. 'One Nation, One Election goes against this vision and curtails state rights. For these reasons, the CPI is in opposition of the imposition of ONOE,' he added. Raja said the CPI had opposed the proposal before the Law Commission as well as the panel headed by former president Kovind. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asadudin Owaisi said the proposed move will destroy federalism. 'I have consistently opposed One Nation One Election because it is a solution in search of a problem. It destroys federalism and compromises democracy, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution,' he said in a post on X. Owaisi said multiple elections are not a problem for anyone except Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as they want to campaign in every election. "Multiple elections aren't a problem for anyone except Modi and Shah. Just because they have a compulsive need to campaign in even municipal and local body elections does not mean that we need simultaneous polls. Frequent and periodic elections improve democratic accountability," the member of Parliament from Hyderabad said. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sandeep Pathak wondered how all elections would be held together when the Maharashtra polls could not be held with those in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. "They were incapable of holding simultaneous polls in four states and managed to hold elections only in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. My submission is that when they are unable to hold simultaneous polls in four states, how is one nation, one election even possible?" he asked. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji alleged that the BJP is pushing for simultaneous polls as it wants to be the only party to rule in India. "The BJP has been trying this since long. It wants only one party to rule the country. Recently, it broke the NCP and the Shiv Sena, while the BJD has nearly been wiped out in Odisha. Similarly, it is trying to destroy the JMM in Jharkhand and it will try to destroy the regional parties using one nation, one election," she said. Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati voiced support to the move. 'Our party's stand is positive on the approval given today by the Union Cabinet to the proposal to hold simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha, Assembly and local bodies in the country under the system of 'One Country, One Election', but its objective should be in the interest of the country and the public,' the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said in a post on X. The high-level committee headed by Kovind has recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step, followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days. The panel has also proposed the formation of an 'Implementation Group' to look into the execution of the recommendations made by it. As the Union Cabinet on Wednesday accepted a high-level panel's recommendations for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise, here is a look at what has happened so far: IMAGE: Former President Ram Nath Kovind, head of the high-level committee on 'One Nation, One Election', presents the report to President Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 14, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo India has served a formal notice to Pakistan seeking a review of the Indus Water Treaty, arguing that 'fundamental and unforeseen' changes in the circumstances require a reassessment of the pact. IMAGE: Delegations of India and Pakistan during the two-day 118th Permanent Indus Commission meeting, in New Delhi on May 31, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo The notice was issued to Pakistan on August 30 under Article XII(3) of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), government sources said on Wednesday. India and Pakistan signed the IWT on September 19, 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory to the pact, which sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two sides on the use of the waters of a number of cross-border rivers. India's notification highlights fundamental and unforeseen changes in circumstances that require a reassessment of obligations under various articles of the treaty, the sources said. Among various concerns, the important ones include a change in population demographics, environmental issues and the need to accelerate the development of clean energy to meet India's emission targets, they said. India has also cited the impact of persistent cross-border terrorism as one of the reasons for demanding the review. "The notification was issued in the background of a separate prolonged controversy with respect to the Kishanganga and Ratle hydro projects," a source said. "In this regard, the World Bank has simultaneously activated both the neutral-expert mechanism and the Court of Arbitration on the same set of issues," the source added. "The Indian side has, therefore, also called for a reconsideration of the dispute-resolution mechanism under the treaty," the source said. India has not cooperated with the Court of Arbitration process to resolve the dispute. New Delhi considers that the start of the two concurrent processes to resolve the dispute violates the provision of the three-step graded mechanism prescribed in the IWT. India has been pushing for the resolution of the dispute through the neutral-expert proceedings. With this notification, India has called on Pakistan to begin government-to-government negotiations in order to review the treaty under the provisions of Article XII(3), the sources said. Maratha leader Manoj Jarange on Wednesday gave a four-day ultimatum to the Maharashtra government to fulfill his demands even as Other Backward Class activists launched their own hunger strike to counter his agitation. IMAGE: Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil speaks to the media at Galaxy Hospital, Aurangabad on February 27, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Jarange on Tuesday launched a fresh indefinite fast, sixth in a span of over a year, to press the demand of reservations for the Marathas under the Other Backward Classes category. Speaking at his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, he said the community will not forgive the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress Party government in the state if its demands were not met. "Fulfill our demands in the next four days, otherwise you will have to face serious repercussions in the elections....Marathas will not forgive you," he said. A group of five OBC protesters, led by Mangesh Sasane, started an indefinite hunger strike at nearby Sonianagar. Their demands included the cancellation of the controversial 'sage-soyare' notification which seeks to grant OBC status to the kin of those Marathas who have established that they belong to the Kunbi community. The ruling coalition is prioritizing the Marathas while neglecting OBC issues, Sasane alleged. "Our hunger strike is a protest against Jarange's demands. The government should not favor one group over another," he said, calling for equitable treatment to all communities. The agrarian Kunbi community falls in the OBC category. OBC leaders in the state, however, have been demanding that the Marathas should not share in the existing reservation for the backward classes, instead they should be given a separate quota. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. TotalEnergies has taken another step in expanding its long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) business, announcing a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with Turkiyes state-owned energy company BOTAS. Under the agreement, TotalEnergies will supply 1.1 million tons of LNG annually to Turkiye for a period of ten years, starting in 2027, Trend reports. This partnership solidifies TotalEnergies' long-term presence in the Turkish LNG market, positioning the company to play a key role in the countrys energy transition. Natural gas is increasingly seen as a bridge fuel, helping to stabilize renewable energy sources while reducing reliance on coal for electricity generation. Gregory Joffroy, Senior Vice President of LNG at TotalEnergies, expressed his optimism about the deal. We are pleased to initiate a new long-term collaboration with BOTAS, a key partner for our company in Turkiye. This agreement allows us to secure consistent sales and reduce exposure to spot market gas price fluctuations, Joffroy stated. A court in Chandigarh has issued notices to Bharatiya Janata Party MP and actor Kangana Ranaut and others on a complaint accusing them of maligning the image of Sikhs in her upcoming movie Emergency. IMAGE: BJP MP and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut poses with 'Prime Minister Narendra Modi: From the Red Fort' book, edited by Ranaut herself. Photograph: @KanganaTeam/X The notices were issued by the Chandigarh district court on Tuesday on a plea filed by advocate Ravinder Singh Bassi, who is also the president of the NGO Lawyers for Humanity. The respondents have been asked to file their replies by December 5. Bassi in his petition alleged that Ranaut and other respondents have in the movie Emergency tried to "malign the image of Sikhs" and particularly "targeted" the former Jathedar of the Akal Takth by portraying him as a "terrorist". "The accused without studying the proper historical facts and figures had portrayed Sikhs in bad shape and also made wrong and false allegations against the supreme temporal seat of the Sikh community as in the trailer of the movie it was shown that the sitting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takth Sahib was demanding separate state which is totally false and it was shown just to malign the image of Sikhs and the Akal Takth Jathedars," Bassi alleged in the plea. "That by this act and conduct of the accused, they hurt the sentiments and feelings of the Sikh community in general and the deponent," the petition filed by Bassi, the former president of the District Bar Association, Chandigarh, said. He also alleged that "the actress, producer and director of the film Emergency, whose trailer has been released on the social media platform is a trouble creator and many times, created differences between communities by uttering provoking statements and speeches against the minorities". The petitioner has demanded an FIR against Ranaut and two other respondents under section 196(1) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language and doing acts of prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 197(1) (punishment for making or publishing false or misleading information that could jeopardise India' sovereignty, unity, integrity or security), 302 (uttering words etc with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. The police arrested a 28-year-old teacher from a private school in Bhopal for allegedly raping a three-year-old girl student, an official said on Wednesday. Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo While Chief Minister Mohan Yadav promised strict action in the matter, the Opposition Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of failing to protect children in the state. The child's mother approached the police on Monday after the school management allegedly ignored her complaint, deputy commissioner of police Priyanka Shukla said. The child is three years and seven months old, the police official said. Acting on the complaint, police visited the school to gather information and arrested the accused, Kasim Rehan, a computer teacher. According to the child's mother, she approached the school after spotting injury marks in her daughter's private parts, but the management ignored her complaint, the official said. The accused has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for rape, she said, adding that further investigation is underway. Meanwhile, CM Yadav in a statement said that the rape of a three-year-old innocent girl by a school teacher has come to his notice. I have ordered strict action and will also try to get justice in this case through a special court. This act is extremely disgusting, shameful and condemnable, Yadav said. State Congress president Jitu Patwari alleged that Madhya Pradesh has now become the country's rape capital. How unfortunate that 3-year-old innocent Munni (name changed) became a victim of rape in Bhopal. I feel ashamed to learn that the accused is Munni's teacher," Patwari said in a post on X. Patwari said he is also a father, and this incident filled his heart with pain. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao has remained only a government lie because it has completely failed to keep innocent daughters safe in this state. Munni, I will go to any extent to get you justice. Today Munni needs us, so my entire state stands united to get justice for our daughter, he added. Kerala reported a confirmed case of monkeypox (Mpox) on Wednesday, marking the second known such case of infection in the country following the recent global outbreak of the disease. Image only for representation. Photograph: Alet Pretorius/Reuters Last week, a new case of monkeypox (Mpox) emerged in the national capital when a 26-year-old resident from Hisar, Haryana, tested positive for the virus and was admitted to the LNJP Hospital, a government facility in Delhi. This was the first such case reported in India since the WHO declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Official sources the initial case does not belong to the ongoing outbreak, as genomic sequencing indicates it is a distinct viral strain from a separate clade. Sources added that in the Kerala case, the clade was yet to be confirmed. According to the Kerala Health Department, a 38-year-old man from Malappuram district, who had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates, tested positive for the virus. He had been hospitalised with symptoms consistent with monkeypox, Kerala health minister Veena George said in a statement. The minister appealed to the public, including those returning from abroad with any symptoms, to inform the health department and seek treatment at the earliest. In a social media post, she also released a list of state-run hospitals in various districts where treatment and isolation facilities for the affected persons have been arranged. Besides this, treatment was available in all medical colleges in the state, the minister said. Urging people to be vigilant, George said the state health department has already stepped up surveillance in airports in the state in accordance with the Centre's guidelines in the wake of the outbreak of Mpox in many African countries. Those arriving from the nations where the infection was reported, have been instructed to report at the airport if they develop any symptoms, she said. As soon as the outbreak of the Mpox was reported in 2022, the southern state had brought out a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) in this regard. Isolation, sample collection and treatment, in accordance with the SoP, have been ensured in the state, the minister said and urged every hospital to follow this protocol without any fail. George also cautioned people, especially health workers who handle the samples of the affected persons, to strictly follow infection control precautions. The minister on Tuesday said that the man, on noticing the symptoms, had taken precautionary measures by isolating himself from his family and was currently hospitalised in the Manjeri Medical College here. His samples were sent for testing and the results confirmed positive on Wednesday. Mpox infections are generally self-limiting, lasting between two and four weeks, and patients usually recover with supportive medical care and management. It is transmitted through prolonged and close contact with an infected patient. It typically manifests itself with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. After the Mpox was reported last week from the national capital, the Union Health Ministry had termed it an isolated case, similar to the earlier 30 cases reported in India from July 2022 onwards and said that it was not part of the current public health emergency reported by WHO which is regarding clade 1 of mpox. The 26-year-old Hisar native tested positive for mpox virus of the West African clade-2, it had said. Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajya Sabha member Anil Bonde has said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's tongue should be singed as what he said about reservation was "dangerous". IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Photograph: ANI Photo His remark comes in the wake of Shiv Sena's Buldhana MLA Sanjay Gaikwad kicking up a row by announcing a Rs 11 lakh reward to anyone chopping off Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's tongue for his remarks on scrapping the reservation system. During his recent visit to the USA, Gandhi told students at the Georgetown University there that the Congress would think of scrapping reservation when "India is a fair place", which he said is not the case right now. Reacting to Gaikwad's statement of chopping off Gandhi's tongue, BJP leader Bonde said at Amravati in Maharashtra on Tuesday, "The language of cutting tongue is not proper, but what Rahul ji said against reservation is dangerous." "Hence, if anyone speaks anything absurd in a foreign country, then rather than chopping off his tongue, it should be singed. It is necessary to certainly singe the tongues of such people - be it Rahul Gandhi, Dnyanesh Maharao or Shyam Manav and people who hurt the feelings of the 'bahujan' and majority," he said. Maharao, an author, is accused of making derogatory comments on Hindu deities recently, while Manav is an anti-superstition crusader. A video of Bonde's remarks also went viral on social media. The high-level committee on "one nation, one election" approached 62 political parties, of which 47 responded -- 32 voicing support to holding simultaneous polls and 15 opposing it -- according to the panel's report that was accepted by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo Fifteen political parties did not submit a response, said the report by the panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind. Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National People's Party supported it. "Responses were received from 47 political parties. Barring 15 political parties, the remaining 32 political parties not only favoured the system of simultaneous elections, but also advocated its adoption for saving scarce resources, protecting social harmony, and stimulating economic development," the report said. "Those who opposed simultaneous elections raised apprehensions that its adoption could violate the basic structure of the Constitution, be anti-democratic and anti-federal, marginalise regional parties, encourage the dominance of national parties, and result in a presidential form of government," it said. According to the report submitted by the panel to President Droupadi Murmu in March, the AAP, the Congress and the CPI-M rejected the proposal, saying it undermines democracy and the basic structure of the Constitution. The BSP did not explicitly oppose it, but highlighted concerns regarding the large territorial extent and population of the country, which could make its implementation challenging. The Samajwadi Party said if simultaneous elections are implemented, state-level parties will not be able to compete with national parties as far as electoral strategy and expenditure are concerned, leading to an increased discord between these two sets of parties. Among the state parties, the All India United Democratic Front, the Trinamool Congress, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the Communist Party of India, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Naga People's Front, and the SP opposed the proposal. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, All Jharkhand Students' Union, Apna Dal-Soney Lal, ASOM Gana Parishad, Biju Janata Dal, Lok Janashakti Party-R, Mizo National Front, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, Shiv Sena, Janata Dal-United, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, Shiromani Akali Dal and United People's Party Liberal supported the proposal. Others, including Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Indian Union Muslim League, Jammu And Kashmir National Conference, Janata Dal-Secular, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Kerala Congress-Mani, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Sikkim Democratic Front, Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress Party, did not respond. Among other parties, the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist-Liberation and the Social Democratic Party of India opposed it, while the Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, Bharatiya Samaj Party, Gorkha National Liberal Front, Hindustani Awam Morcha, Rashtriya Lok Jan Shakti Party and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) were among those who opposed. The report also said at an all-party meeting in 2019, which was attended by 19 political parties to discuss critical reforms in governance, holding simultaneous elections was among the issues discussed and 16 of the parties had favoured it. Only three parties had opposed the idea, it said. According to the report, at the 2019 meeting, the parties that had supported the idea were -- the BJP, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal-United, YSR Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Lok Janashakti Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Apna Dal, All Jharkhand Students' Union, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, National Democratic Progressive Party, National People's Party, People's Democratic Party, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and Republican Party of India. The CPI-M, AIMIM and RSP were the only parties that had opposed it. Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday blamed Congress leaders in Maharashtra for the delay in Maha Vikas Aghadi's seat-sharing talks for the upcoming assembly elections. IMAGE: Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut unveils the party's new voting symbol during a felicitation ceremony of the Class 10 and 12 students, in Nagpur on Sunday, August 18, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Talking to reporters, he said the opposition alliance comprising the Shiv Sena-UBT, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, along with some regional players, will sit together in Mumbai on Wednesday to iron out issues related to seat-sharing. Assembly elections are likely to be held in November. "The Congress is very busy these days, but still we have called them to put an end to it (talks). We have invited Congress leaders. They are so busy that everyday there is 'tarikh pe tarikh' (date after date). So we decided that we will sit together for the next three days," Raut said. Raut on Tuesday said the leaders from the Congress, the Shiv Sena-UBT and the NCP-SP will hold seat-sharing talks from Wednesday to Friday. He said the talks on Mumbai have more or less been finalised but there was a need to hold region-wise discussion as Maharashtra is a vast state. The Maharashtra assembly polls are likely to be held in October-November. Russia on Wednesday said it would support Pakistan's bid to join BRICS as the two countries decided to further strengthen their ties by promoting bilateral trade and cultural links. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, China's President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 23, 2023. Photograph: Alet Pretorius/Pool/Reuters "We are glad that Pakistan has applied (for membership). BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are friendly organisations. We will support this, Russian deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said at a press conference after talks with his Pakistani counterpart and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. "Over the past year, we have seen a significant expansion of BRICS, and countries from all over the world are showing great interest in joining, Overchuk was quoted as saying by Russia's state-owned TASS news agency. BRICS was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, and South Africa joined in 2011. On January 1, 2024, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia became its full members. During the press conference, deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar stated that discussions with his Russian counterpart focused on expanding economic relations between the two countries. He said that Pakistan-Russia trade reached the $1 billion mark last year, and expansion of trade ties by working out logistics and other related issues was a priority for both nations. "Energy cooperation with Russia holds potential, and we aim to explore this avenue further, he said, adding that Pakistan is also eager to develop connectivity projects, including rail and road networks between the two countries and beyond. Dar also said Pakistan views Russia as an important player in the West, South and Central Asia, and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia remains an important priority for Pakistan's foreign policy. He said Islamabad aims to continue cooperation with Moscow on realising the common goal of peace and stability in Afghanistan. He also highlighted Russia's historically strong relations with the Muslim world and its position on the Palestine conflict, saying Pakistan greatly appreciates Russia's stance that freedom of speech must not be an instrument to disrespect a revered personality or religion and not to hurt the sentiments of Muslims. Dar hoped to continue high-level contacts and reiterated Pakistan's commitment to strengthen relations with Russia. The Russian deputy prime minister said he discussed prospects for collaboration between Pakistan and the Eurasian Economic Union, which consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Caucasia and Russia. We have discussed opportunities for implementing the free trade agreement between Pakistan and these five countries and we look forward to further discussing and finalizing the agreement, he said. Overchuk said an inter-governmental commission meeting later this year in Russia will provide an opportunity to further trade and economic relations between the two countries. He also said Pakistan and Russia have the same goals and visions for development and economic ties within the SCO, including connectivity, addressing the climate agenda, food security, energy transition and energy security. Radio Pakistan reported that the two sides, during delegation-level talks between Dar and Overchuk, agreed to pursue robust dialogue and cooperation in areas of trade, industry, energy, connectivity, science, technology and education. The two sides reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation and agreed to continue coordination on multilateral fora including at the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation. Overchuk's visit is taking place in pursuance of the vision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Vladimir Putin on transforming bilateral relations into a solid, mutually beneficial economic partnership. Relations between Pakistan and Russia have recently improved after estrangement during the Cold War. The visit comes ahead of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which will be held in Islamabad. The two countries are not just exploring options to deepen economic ties, but Russia is also keen to sell arms to Pakistan. The two countries have already been holding regular joint military exercises since 2016, which is another sign of deepening ties between Moscow and Islamabad. Former United States president Donald Trump has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet him next week during his upcoming three-day visit to the US. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes the then President of United States of America Donald Trump, at Hyderabad House New Delhi on February 25, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo While the Republican presidential candidate slammed India as an "abuser" on the issue of import tariffs, he described Modi as a "fantastic man". Modi will be visiting the US from September 21 to 23. Speaking on Tuesday at his first public appearance following the recent apparent assassination attempt, Trump said Modi will meet him next week when he is in the US. So when India, which is a very big abuser. He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic," Trump said, reiterating that India imposes heavy tariffs on imports. The former president revealed the information as he spoke about trade and tariffs while responding to a question at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan. He went on to say, These people are the sharpest people. They're not a little bit backwards...You know the expression, they're at the top of their game, and they use it against us. But India is very tough. Brazil is very tough.China is the toughest of all, but we were taking care of China with the tariffs. So we're going to do a reciprocal trade. If anybody charges us 10 cents, if they charge us USD 2, if they charge us a hundred per cent, 250, we charge them the same thing. And what's going to happen? Everything's going to disappear, and we're going to end up having free trade again. And if it doesn't disappear, we're going to take in a lot of money, he said. Modi will begin his trip with the Quad Leaders' Summit being hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. The summit will be attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. Modi will then travel to New York and address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22. He will address world leaders at the landmark Summit of the Future event at the UN headquarters the next day. Modi's visit comes less than two months before the US heads into presidential elections with Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the top job. The US general elections will take place on November 5. Moving ahead with its 'one nation, one election' plan, the government on Wednesday accepted a high-level panel's recommendations for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise. IMAGE: Women voters show their ink-marked fingers after casting their vote for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, in Kulgam on Wednesday. Photograph: ANI Photo Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the cabinet's decision, saying it will be a giant stride towards landmark electoral reforms in the country. Various opposition parties, however, said holding simultaneous polls is not practical. Asserting that several political parties are already on board, the government said even those parties that are opposed to it may now feel pressure from within to change their stand due to the widespread support on the issue from the people of the country. Announcing the Union Cabinet's approval to the proposal, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said an implementation group would be formed to take forward the recommendations of the panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind and detailed discussions would be held on various fora across the country over the next few months. "We will seek to create a consensus over the next few months.... Our government believes in creating a consensus on items which affect democracy and the nation in the long run. This is a subject, a topic that will strengthen our nation...," Vaishnaw said. Responding to a question on the stand of opposition parties, the minister said, "The opposition might start feeling internal pressure (about 'one nation, one election') as more than 80 per cent of the respondents who responded during the consultation process have given their positive support, especially the youth. They are very much in favour of this." Asked by reporters when the recommendations could be implemented and whether a bill would be brought in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, Vaishnaw evaded a direct reply but pointed out that Shah has said the government would implement it in its current tenure. After the discussions are completed, implementation would follow in steps and it would be the government's endeavour to build a consensus over the next few months, he said. Once the consultation process is over, the law ministry will draft a bill, place it before the cabinet and subsequently, take it to Parliament for simultaneous polls to come into effect, the minister added. Sources in the government later said a singular bill or a set of bills will be brought before Parliament. Key National Democratic Alliance constituent Janata Dal-United welcomed the Union cabinet's decision, saying such a measure will rid the country of frequent polls, obviate the drain on public exchequer and result in policy continuity. JD-U national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said 'one nation, one election' will have long-term consequences and bring the country comprehensive benefits. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said simultaneous elections are not practical and alleged that the ruling BJP comes up with such things to divert attention from real issues when polls approach. "It is not practical, it will not work. When elections come and they (BJP) do not get any issue to raise, they divert attention from real issues," Kharge told a press conference in New Delhi. TMC leader Derek O'Brien called it a 'cheap stunt' of the BJP and questioned why the Maharashtra polls were not announced with those in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir if the government wants simultaneous elections. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the proposed move will destroy federalism. Owaisi said multiple elections are not a problem for anyone except Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah as they want to campaign in every election. "Multiple elections aren't a problem for anyone except Modi and Shah. Just because they have a compulsive need to campaign in even municipal and local body elections does not mean that we need simultaneous polls," the member of Parliament from Hyderabad said. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sandeep Pathak wondered how all elections would be held together when the Maharashtra polls could not be held with those in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. In its report submitted to the government in March, just before the general election was announced, the Kovind panel recommended implementing 'one nation, one election' in two phases -- simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies in the first phase and elections for local bodies like panchayats and municipal bodies within 100 days of the general election in the second phase. It also recommended a common electoral roll, which would need coordination between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and state election commissions. At present, the ECI is responsible for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, while the local body elections for municipalities and panchayats are managed by the state election commissions. The Kovind panel has recommended 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by state Assemblies. However, these would require certain Constitution amendment bills that would have to be passed by Parliament. Some proposed changes regarding the single electoral roll and single voter ID card would need ratification by at least half of the states. Separately, the Law Commission is also likely to come up soon with its own report on simultaneous polls, of which Prime Minister Modi has been a strong votary. Sources said the Law Commission is likely to recommend holding simultaneous polls for all three tiers of the government -- the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies and local bodies like municipalities and panchayats -- starting 2029 and a provision for a unity government in cases like a hung house. The issue of simultaneous polls has been on the BJP's election manifestoes as part of electoral reforms. The country had simultaneous elections between 1951 and 1967 but thereafter, polls started getting dispersed due to various reasons, including mid-term elections. Holding all polls simultaneously will require a lot of manoeuvring, including advancing some elections and delaying some others. While the Lok Sabha polls were held in May-June this year, states like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh also went to polls along with the parliamentary election. The assembly election process for Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana is currently underway, while Maharashtra and Jharkhand are also scheduled to go to polls later this year. Delhi and Bihar are among the states that are scheduled to go to polls in 2025. The terms of the current assemblies in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry will end in 2026, while the terms of the Goa, Gujarat, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assemblies will end in 2027. The terms of the state assemblies in Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Telangana will end in 2028. The terms of the current Lok Sabha and the state assemblies that went to polls together this year will end in 2029. In 1999, the then Law Commission, in its 170th report, had proposed a single election to the Lok Sabha and all legislative assemblies every five years. A parliamentary committee, in its 79th report in 2015, had suggested methods for simultaneous elections in two phases. The Delhi battlefield may not be a cakewalk for the Rhodes Scholar. IMAGE: Delhi chief minister-designate Atishi is a key face of the Aaam Aadmi Party as well as the government. Photograph: ANI Photo Fresh out of his five-month incarceration in Delhi's Tihar Jail, Arvind Kejriwal, the wily politician that he has become since his 2011 India Against Corruption days, ensured that his party remained unbreakable while he was inside jail, and was not found wanting of a public spectacle, the hallmark of AAP's militant politics, soon after his release. Women Empowerment: The AAP Way IMAGE: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, second from right, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with newly sworn-in Delhi cabinet ministers Atishi Marlena, left, and Saurabh Bharadwaj, at Raj Niwas in New Delhi, March 9, 2023. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo/Rediff Archives In one stroke, Kejriwal and AAP have scored over their opponents not just in Delhi but also in Haryana, a state headed for a triangular electoral fight among the Congress, BJP and AAP this October. With an eye on the women voters and youth, Atishi's elevation, though surprising -- senior and experienced AAP campaigners Gopal Rai, Sanjay Singh and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, the latter two also, just like Kejriwal, fresh out of their jail stints on charges of corruption in the Rs 100 crore excise policy scam, many experts believed, were the frontrunners -- has pitched the AAP as the champion of women empowerment. The decision is also expected to attract the youth towards it what with Atishi being the youngest Delhi chief minister and only the third woman to hold the post after the Congress's Sheila Dixit and the BJP's Sushma Swaraj. With Kejriwal being portrayed as a modern-day equivalent of Sita, with his sacrificial agnipariksha act of returning to the chief minister's post only after he gets a mandate from the people's court in the 2025 Delhi assembly election, Atishi, as chief minister, given her distinguished record as the education minister and the encomiums she has collected with her work with Delhi's municipal schools and overall education policy, would further ensure that the AAP will strengthen its stranglehold over Delhi, where the party now prides itself of winning 62 out of 70 assembly seats in 2020 with a little over 53 per cent vote share, absolutely decimating the BJP and Congress. From IAC Activist to Chief Minister IMAGE: Atishi Marlena displays the victory sign. Photograph: PTI Photo/Rediff Archives Atishi's promotion as Delhi's chief minister, say commentators, now makes the AAP invincible. The Delhi battlefield, however, will not be a cakewalk for the Rhodes Scholar from Oxford University where she pursued her master's in education. But then Atishi has now spent 13 years honing her political skills -- fought two elections: Lost to the BJP's Gautam Gambhir in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from East Delhi and won the Kalkaji assembly seat in 2020 against the BJP's Dharamveer Singh -- in the furnace of AAP politics, after trying her hands at farming with her environmentalist husband and now full-time social activist Praveen Singh, an IIT Delhi and IIM-A alumnus, and as an educator and policy consultant. The IAC movement, which called for transparency and accountability in government with its call for a Lokpal (Corruption Ombudsman), resonated deeply with Atishi. She was drawn to the idealism of the cause and the wave of hope it inspired. Speaking about her involvement in the movement, Atishi has said, 'It wasn't just about corruption. It was about a collective aspiration for a government that serves its people, not the other way around.' It was here that she met Arvind Kejriwal and other future leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, whose vision for a people-driven political movement aligned perfectly with her own ideals. Coming Into Her Own IMAGE: Arvind Kejriwal along with his wife Sunita Kejriwal and AAP leaders Atishi, Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia and others meet Congress MP and advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi in New Delhi, September 14, 2o24. Photograph: ANI Photo Atishi, however, came into her own as an educator par excellence when she was appointed as an advisor to Delhi's then education minister Manish Sisodia after the AAP formed the government in 2015. One of her most significant contributions in this stint is her introduction of the 'Happiness Curriculum,' that prioritised emotional well-being and holistic development over rote learning. Her educational reforms received widespread acclaim, not just in India but internationally as well. 'The future of our nation lies in the quality of education we provide to our children. If we fail in that, we fail as a society,' is how Atishi has often articulated AAP's ideals. Soon enough, under her leadership, public schools in Delhi saw an unprecedented turnaround, with improved infrastructure, teacher training programmes, and a renewed focus on student development catapulting her into the big league in the AAP. Her efforts paid off: by 2019, Delhi's government schools were outperforming many private ones, a feat that had once seemed impossible. And so, when the AAP won the 62-seat landslide in the 2020 Delhi polls, Atishi was made the education minister. In the five years since assisting Manish Sisodia in framing educational policies till her elevation as Delhi's education minister, women and child welfare, culture, tourism and public works department minister in 2020, Atishi has travelled a long distance. A Pragmatic Politician IMAGE: Atishi on the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign trail in East Delhi. She contested against the Congress's Arvinder Singh Lovely and the Bharatiya Janata Party's Gautam Gambhir. Photograph: @AtishiAAP/Twitter Born on June 8, 1981, to Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, educators and activists in their own right influenced by Marxist thoughts, Atishi developed a strong sense of social justice and public welfare. Interestingly, her parents named her Atishi Marlena -- a combination of Marx ('Mar') and Lenin ('Len'); nobody has any explanation from where the last letter 'a' came from, making her Marlena. Equally interestingly, as her political career progressed in the AAP, Atishi was pragmatic enough to drop 'Marlena' to avoid unnecessary political controversies what with the BJP's strident 'Communism equal to urban Naxalism equal to anti-nationalism' pitch getting an audience among Delhi's voters. In an interview later, she explained her pragmatism thus: 'I didn't want my name to be the subject of political debate. It's my work that should speak for me, not my name.' Ironically, it is not just Atishi but even the AAP that distances itself from anything that even paints it with principles enumerated in Communism and socialism even as they prominently and proudly display portraits of an avowedly atheist and socialist Shahid Bhagat Singh and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in their ministerial offices, press conferences and make no bones about being vocal with their chants of 'Inquilab Zindabad'. It is this assimilation of contradicting intonations to Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman and other Hindu deities with slogans that godless Communists gave in the same breath, even while shunning away godless Communism, that underlines the political acumen with which the AAP has embedded its electoral victories with, that Atishi will now have to learn at the AAP's altar to carve out her own history as Delhi's youngest woman chief minister. Trial By Fire IMAGE: Arvind Kejriwal worships at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Photograph: Courtesy, Aam Aadmi Party on Twitter. Many political commentators observe that Atishi's shrewd display of political acumen was at its zenith when she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with other second rung AAP leaders like Saurabh Bharadwaj, Jasmine Shah and others when they prevented an 'almost certain disintegration' of the party with Kejriwal, Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh behind bars as part of the BJP's alleged 'Operation Kamal' being played out in Delhi. It is to the credit of leaders like Atishi, who proved their courage and determination to not buckle under pressure, that the party held together in its darkest hour of leader-less existence. Atishi and Bharadwaj led from the front; they were seen everywhere: Holding press conferences to defend Kejriwal, Sisodia and Singh's 'illegal arrests' by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation, holding party meetings to plan and strategise the party's political course when party stalwarts were behind the bars, stridently attacking the BJP using its own language and idioms, hobnobbing with legal eagles and integrating the families of the arrested leaders in their fight for their release. Atishi was equally expressive and fiery with her public speeches when these leaders were in jail and she was equally expressive when these leaders were released on jail when she could be seen hugging leaders like Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia on their release from jail. It was this period when the second rung AAP leaders went through their own agniparikshas with courage and grit. The same courage and grit will be on show, hopefully, as Atishi, a student of history from Delhi's St Stephen's College, now takes over the reins of Delhi's administration as its eighth chief minister and attempts to make her stint a historic one. She will once again be subjected to a 'vicious campaign' by the BJP, its arch political opponent in Delhi, believe some observers, just like the ones she was subjected to over 'Marlena' and publication of obscene pamphlets during the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2020 assembly election. AAP's Rajya Sabha MP, Swati Maliwal, who is now almost a certainty to join the BJP, has already fired the first salvo targeting Atishi for her parents' vocal support for relief to Afzal Guru who was given a death sentence by the Supreme Court for his role in the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack. It is, without doubt, just the beginning of such attacks. And nobody would know this better than Atishi. How Chief Minister Atishi Singh will handle such attacks will be for everyone to see but how gracefully and stoically she had handled the mudslinging against her during the two elections she contested has already proved that she has the stomach and the gumption to match her critics. As Atishi herself once put it, 'Politics should be about making people's lives better. Everything else is secondary.' BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The State Agency for Water Resources of Azerbaijan, the European Union (EU), and the World Bank (WB) have presented a report titled Transitioning to Efficient Water Sector Institutions and Programs for Addressing Water Security Challenges, Trend reports. According to the information, the report was driven by important institutional reforms that are currently underway in Azerbaijan to improve services in the water supply and sanitation sector. One of the objectives of these reforms is to eliminate fragmentation and duplication of functions in the institutions responsible for the country's water sector. Meanwhile, it is noted that institutional reforms are particularly important for Azerbaijan as it is highly dependent on transboundary water resources due to its geographical and climatic features. A total of 78 percent of the country's groundwater comes from the transboundary rivers Kura and Araz, which flow through three neighboring states. Due to increasing demand and the effects of climate change, water availability will decrease. This makes sustainable water management even more urgent. The report consists of two thematic blocks: improving institutional efficiency of service delivery in the water sector and digital tools for water resources management. These thematic clusters include recommendations on strengthening water sector institutions to ensure effective service delivery with a focus on water supply and sanitation, models for sustainable drinking water supply and wastewater management in rural areas, and information on digital tools for water accounting, assessment, and management. However, the report was prepared within the framework of the Azerbaijan Rapid Technical Assistance Facility (AZTAF) program. To note, the AZTAF program was launched to support the Government of Azerbaijan in achieving the development goals "Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development". BRATTLEBORO One of Rose Watson's abstract paintings is named "Peppermint Ice Cream." It really does resemble the old timey ice cream flavor, with acrylic streaks of light pink, dark purple and pieces of red. Watson, of Marlboro, thinks the image may have been painted from a zoomed-in photo of a rose petal. Another piece, called "Look Beyond" the title piece of the exhibit calls to mind water with a strong current. Watson recalls it may have started with a photo of leaves. A piece called "Float Between Shores," which began with a photo of a tree trunk, calls to mind water with vegetation, and faintly, the design "Jazz" popularized on disposable cups in the 1990s. For the collection of works now on display at Harmony Collective, Watson would zoom in very closely on photos, many in nature, until only colors and abstract shapes could be identified, and paint the new image. Each piece has taken on such a life of its own, Watson struggles to remember the photos that inspired them. "I would take another screenshot, and then I would just do it again," Watson said, describing her process on a recent day at Harmony Collective. She notes that the original photo is "definitely lost, but you can see it. So it is abstract, but it's kind of there, too." The sentiment of something being lost, but still there in another way, mirrors what she recently learned about grief and loss: She started zooming in and screenshotting her photos while processing the death of her younger sister, Martha "Muffy" Watson Lewis, in May 2023. "I personally have been always afraid of death, and so I had to do a lot of processing, because she's only a year younger than me, and we've always shared a room together. That's why I say we were almost like twins," Watson said. On her wrist that day were beaded bracelets that spell "MUFF DAWG," made by her niece in honor of her mother. To help her process the loss, she listened to published interviews with people who had near-death experiences to get an idea of what exists beyond this life. Many interviewees shared similar experiences, leading the artist to form her own conclusion. "I was just thinking: OK, she's not solid anymore. She's not physically here, but that doesn't mean she's not here. But if I keep focusing on wanting her to be here in a solid way, I'm not going to see her, because she's not there," she said. "I need to expand them so the solids become particles, and that's kind of where she'll be." That's when she got the idea to zoom in on what's there, and how the exhibit, "Looking Beyond: Lessons from the Death of a Sister," came to be. The exhibit is up at Harmony Collective, 49 Elliot St., through the rest of the month. Growing up in Chicago, Rose and Muffy were among five siblings, and always paired together, sharing rooms. Watson laughed recalling how she was the messy one to Muffy's neatness. One of her favorite memories was singing songs in harmony from their beds when they were supposed to be sleeping. "She had this way of helping people feel at home. She was really a connector of people and people just loved her," Rose recalled. "She could be just very at ease with people, and funny." For the last few months of Muffy's fight with brain cancer, Watson went to her sister's condominium complex in Florida to be a caregiver. She met Muffy's neighbors, who credited her with helping to pull the community together, particularly at "yappy hour" gatherings, in which dog owners would bring out their pooches and socialize. Though the gatherings existed before Muffy arrived, a neighbor told Rose they became more cohesive after her sister showed up. "I can't pinpoint exactly what it was, but she always made people feel like you were really special, if you were there," Watson said. And, of course, Muffy was always supportive of Rose's art. The style of paintings in the exhibit at Harmony Collective draws on Monet as an influence. Kay Curtis, of West Brattleboro, coordinator at the gallery, had loaned Watson a book on Monet's work ahead of a book group meeting. "She started, like, the next day, sending me photos of the paintings she made from being influenced by Monet's work," Curtis said. "I said, 'These are fantastic.' I said, 'We need to show these.'" The Harmony Collective, according to a description provided by the gallery, is a group of local artists working in a wide variety of mediums. Member artists work in and run the gallery, open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. More information is available at HarmonyArtsBrattleboro.com. You are the owner of this article. Letter to the Editor: Netanyahu continues genocidal war to save his own skin Silk Way West Airlines will be Global Air Cargo Partner An additional partner of COP29 in Azerbaijan has been announced, with Azerbaijans Silk Way West Airlines named as the Global Air Cargo Partner, underscoring Silk Way West Airlines commitment to sustainable practices and global climate goals. Silk Way West Airlines, a leader in global cargo transportation with extensive experience in handling complex logistics, has been appointed as the Global Air Cargo Partner for COP29. Specializing in oversized and critical freight, the airline offers comprehensive cargo services to over 40 global destinations across Europe, the CIS, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas, managing an annual cargo turnover exceeding 500,000 tons. This partnership aligns with the airline's core values of Sustainability, Efficiency, and Global Engagement, reinforcing its commitment to minimizing its ecological footprint. Partners at COP29 will be using this opportunity to engage with global climate policies, highlight their ongoing efforts on sustainability and support the delivery of climate action in their key business areas. By partnering with COP29 in Baku, these businesses can demonstrate the critical role they play in advancing green policies and supporting the global community in keeping the 1.5C target within reach. COP29 Partners will be joined in the Green Zone by businesses from around the world that have committed to this years Green Zone as exhibitors. Such businesses join a diverse mix of organisations that will showcase climate-friendly products and solutions. Collectively they will contribute to making the Green Zone a space where all stakeholders will connect, share and learn to advance climate action. In addition to the leading global organisations that will showcase products and services, a full schedule of focused programmes will take place across the Green Zone, including presentations, networking events, workshops, briefings and music. Other opportunities for businesses taking part include hosting their own events with access to conference booking facilities including theatre-style seating arrangements that maximise visibility and engagement. Together with a range of bilateral and multilateral meeting room formats for collaboration, knowledge-sharing and networking opportunities. Commenting on the announcement of the partner, Chief Operating Officer for COP29 Azerbaijan Narmin Jarchalova said, "We are delighted to announce Silk Way West Airlines as our Global Air Cargo Partner for COP29 in Azerbaijan. This conference is poised to be a transformative event, offering a unique platform to advance global climate agreements, implement forward-thinking climate strategies, and enhance international cooperation towards a greener future. Our collaboration with Silk Way West Airlines will be crucial in achieving our targets at COP29, and we are enthusiastic about the opportunity to work together to drive meaningful climate progress." Announcing their COP29 partnership, Zaur Akhundov, President of Silk Way Group, commented, "We are honored to serve as the Global Air Cargo Partner for COP29. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at Silk Way West Airlines, and this partnership affirms our dedication to reducing the environmental impact of air cargo. By participating in this landmark event, we aim to contribute to a greener future for the global logistics industry and support Azerbaijans environmental goals." Further opportunities to take part in and partner with the Green Zone at COP29 in Azerbaijan are still available, with additional information on the Green Zone is available here: COP29 Green Zone | 11 - 22 November 2024 BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The hosting of COP29 in Azerbaijan underscores the countrys ambition to emerge as a key player in the global fight against climate change, EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko said at the presentation of the new report "Transitioning to Efficient Water Sector Institutions and Programs for Addressing Water Security Challenges", Trend reports "The government of Azerbaijan is aware of the importance of water security challenges and is making every effort to address them and will continue to do so. This is also evidenced by Azerbaijan's desire to play a crucial role in the global battle against climate change by organizing a significant world eventCOP29," he noted. According to Michalko, water security issues in Azerbaijan are a priority of both the government and society, as well as the countrys partners, including the European Union. "The EU, through numerous regional and bilateral initiatives, is sharing its knowledge and experience with local partners to protect and manage valuable water resources effectively," he emphasized. Michalko also mentioned that the EU is proud to support Azerbaijani initiativesfrom enhancing human capital and improving disability assessment systems to expanding digital connectivity and implementing the innovative 'Smart Villages' program. "Our commitment to strengthening resilience and inclusivity in Azerbaijan remains steadfast. The progress we have achieved is a testament to what can be accomplished by working together towards common goals," he added. Auckland-based cyber security specialist Amaru has inked a collaboration with Google Cloud to use its security operations platform to protect A/NZ organisations. Google Security Operations is powered by threat intelligence from Mandiant, which it bought in 2022. The platform uses generative AI and machine learning to improve the security posture of organisations in an increasingly complex threat environment as well as to streamline operations and mitigate risks. With Mandiant integrated, the platform provides deep insights into emerging threats and empowers organisations to detect, investigate and respond more effectively. This partnership represents a significant step forward in our mission to disrupt and take down cybercrime, said Ray Dussan, Amarus CEO and chief information security officer. Amaru was founded as Simplify Security in 2018 and rebranded in early 2023. It provides security assessments, penetration testing, managed security and security compliance services. Israel stepped up its massive air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs in its drive to wipe out Hezbollah's capabilities and leadership, even as the world awaits with trepidation the October 7 anniversary of the bloody attack on Israel by Hamas -- which, like Hezbollah, is a U.S.-designated terror group with ties to Iran. Meanwhile, Tehran said it had lifted all flight restrictions after earlier announcing it was closing Iranian airports as of 9 p.m. on October 6 until 6 a.m. on October 7, citing "operational restrictions," at a time when Israel is weighing options for its response to Iran's recent massive missile strike on its territory. State media said the restrictions were lifted after ensuring favorable and safe conditions. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav 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. "The Iranians did not touch the air force's capabilities. No aircraft were damaged, no squadron was taken out of order," Gallant said in reference to the Iranian missile strike, which caused few injuries and slight damage to two air force bases. "Whoever thinks that a mere attempt to harm us will deter us from taking action should take a look at [Israels operations] in Gaza and Beirut, where Israel is battling fighters of Hamas, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and EU. Israel earlier said conducted a series of targeted strikes on weapons storage facilities and infrastructure sites that belong to Iran-backed Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been designated by the United States as a terror group, while the European Union has blacklisted its armed wing but not its political unit, which holds seats in the Lebanese parliament. Lebanon's official National News Agency said Hezbollah's stronghold in the area was hit by more than 30 strikes. A petrol station and a medical supplies warehouse were hit by the air raids. Video footage showed huge flames and plumes of smoke billowing into the night sky, as residents fled their homes in panic with explosions echoing in the background. Many observers said the attacks were the strongest yet of Israel's recent air strikes. "Last night was the most violence of all the previous nights," Hanan Abdullah, a resident of the Burj al-Barajneh area in Beirut's southern suburbs, told Reuters. "Buildings were shaking around us and at first I thought it was an earthquake. There were dozens of strikes -- we couldn't count them all -- and the sounds were deafening," Israel has bombed Beirut suburbs for days, killing Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and possibly his potential successor, Hashem Safieddine. Security sources have said Safieddine had been out of contact since October 4, after an Israeli air strike near Beiruts international airport that was reported to have targeted him. Hezbollah has not commented on Safieddine. Israel says Nasrallah was killed in a strike on the group's central command headquarters in Beirut on September 27. Two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters on October 6 that Ismail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force -- the overseas arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) -- also had not been heard from in recent days since traveling to Lebanon. Senior Hezbollah member Mahmoud Qmati, when asked about Qaani's whereabouts, told Reuters: "I have no information. We are also searching for the truth of this matter. Statements on October 6 out of the United States -- Tel Aviv's most important ally -- indicated some frustrations with the scope of Israel's military action. "Military pressure can at times enable diplomacy. Of course, military pressure can also lead to miscalculation. It can lead to unintended consequences," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in statement. The spokesperson said Washington supported Israeli actions in going after extremist elements but added that U.S. leaders but did not approve of the targeting of civilian infrastructure. "Every civilian casualty is one too many," the spokesperson said. Israel said on October 5 that its forces had killed 440 Hezbollah fighters in ground operations in southern Lebanon and destroyed 2,000 Hezbollah targets. Nine Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon so far, the authorities said. According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest conflict, most of them since September 23. Israel says the attacks on Hezbollah are aimed at enabling the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to homes in northern Israel, bombarded by the group since last October. The Israeli forces were on high alert ahead of the first anniversary of an attack on October 7 last year, which sparked the war and was carried out by Hamas. According to Israel tallies, some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage in the unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel. Israeli police on October 6 said several people had been injured in a suspected shooting attack in Beersheba, a city in southern Israel. One attacker was killed, the ambulance service said. Separately, health officials in Hamas-run Gaza reported on October 6 that at least 41,870 Palestinians have been killed in the territory in the yearlong war between Israel and Palestinian militants. Palestinian officials said that an Israeli strike on a mosque in Gaza early on October 6 killed at least 19 people who were sheltering after being displaced from their homes near the town of Deir al-Bala. The Israeli military said the strike was targeting militants. The reports could not immediately be confirmed, but the Associated Press said one of its journalists counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. AP also reported that hospital records showed that the fatalities from the mosque strike were all men. Israel said its forces on October 6 surrounded the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza in response to indications that Hamas was rebuilding its operational capabilities in the area. Israel is also considering a retaliatory strike on Iran, which fired at least 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1. Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad visited Kharg island on October 6, amid concerns that Israel could target Iran's largest oil terminal there. "The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] Navy plays an important role in the security of oil and gas facilities," Paknejad was quoted as saying at the facility, from which around 90 percent of Iranian oil exports are shipped. In Syria, state media and local rights monitors said an Israeli air strike targeted three cars in the city of Homs, although details remained sketchy. Israeli forces have for years been striking Iran-linked targets in Syria and have intensified such actions since the October 7 attacks. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now. The Changing Face of The China-Russia Relationship The United States accused China of providing "very substantial" aid to Russia's war effort as Beijing and Moscow wrapped up massive naval and air drills spanning both hemispheres. Here's what's going on. Finding Perspective: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told a group of journalists in Brussels on September 10 that Beijing was no longer supplying just dual-use goods that could be repurposed for military use but was now working explicitly to "help sustain, build, and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine." "We're seeing efforts at the highest levels of both governments to try to both hide and protect certain elements of this worrisome collaboration," Campbell said. In return, the senior official said Moscow had begun to provide Beijing with access to submarine, missile, and other closely guarded military tech it has historically resisted giving to China. "The capabilities that Russia is providing is support in areas where previously they had been frankly reluctant to engage directly with China," Campbell said. "We are concerned about a particular number of military arenas where there appears to be some determination to provide China with greater support." The accusations are the most unambiguous comments yet from a U.S. official about how deeply China and Russia are cooperating militarily and the growing extent of Beijing's help for Moscow's war effort. Expanding The Scope: The new technologies that Campbell claims Russia is now sharing with China could also have a major effect in the Pacific, which was part of the focus from the recent "Ocean-24" exercises. The naval and air drills spanned the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic seas while consisting of over 400 warships, submarines, and support vessels, more than 120 planes and helicopters, and over 90,000 troops. The exercises began on September 10 and finished on September 16. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments to military officials that the war games are the largest of their kind in three decades, and that China's warships and planes were taking part. China confirmed this, saying the two countries' navies would sail together in the Pacific, but gave no details. Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said the drills were aimed to train "repelling large-scale aggression of a potential enemy from ocean directions, combating unmanned boats, unmanned aerial vehicles, defending naval bases, conducting amphibious operations and escorting transports." Why It Matters: Both announcements highlight how the two countries are growing closer and crossing what were once deemed red lines. This also points to the widening scope and symbiotic nature of China and Russia's ties. The joint exercises help Moscow's long-cherished goal of building up its bonafides as a Pacific power, and Russia benefits from tensions in the Asia-Pacific because they distract the United States from paying full attention to Europe. Similarly, China benefits from the war in Ukraine, as American resources and attention are diverted from being more solely focused on the Asia-Pacific. At the recent Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, both Chinese and Russian defense officials took swipes at the West, with Russia saying the United States was shifting military conflicts to the Asia-Pacific. There are still clear limits to the Beijing-Moscow relationship, especially for how China has approached navigating U.S. sanctions, but with neither on course to dial back their tensions with Washington, the two countries are set on a path of expanding partnership. Three More Stories From Eurasia 1. A Landmark Case Moves Forward In Serbia A Serbian court recently opened proceedings in the country's first publicly documented case of sex trafficking involving Chinese nationals, reports Mila Manojlovic, my colleague from RFE/RL's Balkan Service. The Details: A criminal indictment obtained by RFE/RL through a freedom of information request says two Chinese women were trafficked to Serbia from China and then had their passports taken away from them, given only one meal per day, and forced under the threat of death to provide sexual services to men. The indictment adds the two women were trafficked by a male Chinese citizen who "misled the victims" by promising to "find them a job as a masseuse" in Serbia and "provide housing and food" for them. He then forced them to have sex with men shortly after arriving in the Balkan country by threatening "to kill them" and warning "that he is powerful and can do anything to make them disappear." The Chinese man, who has not been identified, was arrested in March by Serbian police in the eastern city of Bor and began his closed-door preliminary hearing on September 12 after being charged with human trafficking. The legal case involving Chinese nationals is likely to test the increasingly friendly relations between China and Serbia. 2. China Steps Up Cooperation On Policing China announced that it plans to train 3,000 foreign law enforcement officials over the next year to tackle global security issues and better protect Chinese interests beyond its borders. What It Means: Chinese Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong made the pledge in an opening speech at the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in Lianyungang on September 10. Wang said Beijing would also send police consultants and working units to countries to help improve their law enforcement capacity, conduct joint patrols and investigations, and tackle cross-border crime. Central Asia was in focus at the Forum, with Wang meeting his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. "China is willing to enhance the capability for counterterrorism and transnational crime fighting and build an efficient and pragmatic cooperation platform with Central Asian countries to achieve the vision of universal security," Wang said. The forum coincided with police drills between Chinese and Serbian units in Guangzhou, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reported. 3. Xi Is Going Back To Russia Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Russia in October to attend the summit for BRICS, the bloc of emerging economies that has Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as founding members. What You Need To Know: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed Xi's attendance on September 12 while he was in St. Petersburg meeting with Putin. After 13 years without expansion, the bloc welcomed four new members into its ranks -- Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates -- and a growing list of countries, such as Azerbaijan and Turkey, have applied to join since then. While not an explicitly anti-Western organization, BRICS is seen as part of Beijing's drive to counter U.S. influence around the globe. This year's summit will be held in Kazan on October 22-24. Xi last visited Russia in March 2023, and Putin reciprocated with his own trip to China in October that same year. The two leaders have since also met in Beijing in May and in Kazakhstan in July. While meeting with Putin, Wang said the two leaders will also have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit. Across The Supercontinent Hytera In Bosnia: Sarajevo police have chosen to use body cameras from a controversial Chinese company that is under scrutiny in Canada and the European Union and blacklisted in the United States over national security concerns, Meliha Kesmer and Andi Mioc from RFE/RL's Balkan Service report. Brasilia Brushed Off: Speaking in an interview with the Brazilian media outlet Metropoles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a Chinese-Brazilian peace proposal announced last month was "destructive" and "mostly pro-Russian." Steering Clear: While Putin is aiming to turn this year's BRICS summit into a larger diplomatic gathering that he hopes can show that he isn't isolated on the world stage, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he will not attend. Off The Rails: China is no longer supplying Belarusian Railways with 15 locomotives because the trains contain American components that are not allowed to be exported to Belarus and the Chinese manufacturer CRRC is afraid of violating U.S. sanctions. One Thing To Watch Former Italian Premier Mario Draghi outlined his blueprint for improving the European Union's competitiveness through closer cooperation and massive investment. The long-awaiting report on economic competitiveness calls for "radical change" as the EU faces aggressive economic competition from China and the United States. Speaking to the European Parliament on September 17, Draghi said "Europe faces a choice between exit, paralysis, or integration." He took particular aim at relying on China to supply green technologies. While this might be the cheapest path forward to meet its climate goals, he said the bloc needs a more nuanced response to Chinese state-sponsored competitors to retain its own clean tech jobs. The former European Central Bank chief said that for some products such as solar panels, where Chinese producers were too far ahead, the EU should let foreign taxpayers finance cheaper installation of cheap energy. Whereas for other sectors, such as batteries, Europe should not be dependent on foreign technology and should retain its know-how, with Draghi leaving the door open for tariffs on some subsidized Chinese firms. "We do not want to become protectionist in Europe, but we cannot be passive if the actions of others are threatening our prosperity," Draghi said. That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have. Until next time, Reid Standish If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday. 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. Siamak Namazi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arbitrarily arrested while visiting his native country of Iran for a memorial service in 2015. Subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison for "collaborating with a foreign government," unclear charges he denied, Namazi ended up being the longest-held Iranian-American prisoner until his release along with four other Americans last year in a controversial prisoner exchange. In a rare interview with RFE/RL's Radio Farda ahead of the anniversary of his September 18, 2023, release, Namazi described the ill-treatment and interrogations he endured at Tehran's Evin prison during his eight years of incarceration and his mixed feelings upon being freed after being held "hostage" by Iran. "I was in disbelief. I was both very happy to be released and deeply troubled that I was being traded like a slave," Namazi said. "I consider myself a child of Iran and an adopted child of the United States. I love both countries and tried to be a good citizen to both. Incredible Yet Sad Namazi said that while the feeling of being freed "was incredible," he was also stepping into a world that "no longer felt familiar." "There was also a deep sadness that it ended this way," he said of a process in which he felt he was denied justice by a system trying to profit from his imprisonment. "I served eight out of a 10-year sentence before being exchanged. I lost Iran in the process. Eight years of prison, filled with harsh treatments," Namazi recalled, describing his incarceration in one of the most notoriously harsh wards of Evin prison. "It wasn't normal. I spent 27 months in ward '2A,' where those who were detained and interrogated [know what it's like]. I was interrogated for more than two years." He initially struggled to convince his guards and some of his fellow inmates that he was a "real" Iranian and that his treatment was unjust. About six weeks prior to being flown out of Iran, Namazi was released from Evin prison and taken to a highly secured hotel in central Tehran. Under constant watch by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Namazi and the four other U.S. citizens who would be part of a prisoner swap awaited their fate under what he described as ridiculous circumstances. "Some of their actions, you dont know whether to laugh or cry," he said of his IRGC guards. The guards would not tell the prisoners where they were, and made it clear that "if anyone found out where we were, they'd move us," Namazi said. Iran's judiciary had ordered that the prisoners be fitted with ankle monitors and allowed to move within a 1-kilometer radius, but the IRGC was wary that hackers would be able to determine their location. And while the IRGC wanted no attention paid to the prisoners, when they were eventually allowed to move around, they were followed closely by IRGC members whose distinctive presence drew public attention, Namazi says. Controversial Exchange Namazi and the four other Americans -- Morad Tahbaz, an environmental activist detained in 2018; Emad Shargi, arrested while visiting Iran in 2018, and two others not publicly named -- were ultimately freed in exchange for the release of around $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets. The funds were transferred to Qatar where they were to be closely supervised and released only on condition that they be used for humanitarian purposes. After Hamas -- a U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group with ties to Iran -- carried out a deadly assault on Israel on October 7, the deal came under heavy criticism that it was aiding Iran's regional ambitions. Shortly afterward, the United States and Qatar agreed to deny Iran access to the $6 billion. Under the deal that led to the release of the five Americans, clemency was also granted to five Iranians or Iranian-Americans who had been charged or convicted in the United States of violating sanctions against Iran. Some with U.S. citizenship were allowed the possibility of remaining in the United States. "From the perspective of the Islamic republic, we were like $6 billion walking on two legs," Namazi said. "That's why there was such bizarre protection over us. It's kind of funny; there's always some comedy and absurdity in their system. On one hand, they play these spy games, and on the other, we had to eat in the hotel lobby. Where else could we go?" After being denied the right to leave the hotel for weeks, Nazami was eventually allowed two nights a week to visit Saei Park, which abuts Tehran's Valiasr Street, the scene of unprecedented antiestablishment protests that had erupted in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. On the anniversary of Amini's September 16 death in police custody for allegedly improperly wearing her hijab, Namazi saw ordinary Iranians singing protest songs and got to see the reactions of his IRGC guards. "We had a guard who was twice my size, a true giant," Namazi recalled. "He said: 'Siamak, can people in your country protest and not get told off?'" Namazi was incredulous at the idea that he was not considered to be an Iranian by his captors. "I said, let's start from here; what do you mean by 'your country'? You weren't even born when I grew up in this park," Namazi said he told the guard. "I truly grew up in Saei Park. I have childhood memories of every inch of this park since before you even existed. I was born in Apadana Hospital. What do you mean?" Namazi said he demanded that the guard declare that "this place belongs to Siamak" or he would begin shouting. "You need to understand that you are selling out a child of Iran," he told the guard, who declared his innocence. "You're responsible for protection, for transport. You have a role in this ugly historical act," Namazi responded. While on a trip to Iran to see his imprisoned son in 2016, Siamak's father, Baquer, was also arbitrarily detained, sentenced, and imprisoned for allegedly cooperating with U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on Iran. Baquer, at the age of 85, was released in October 2022 for medical treatment as the antiestablishment protests were spreading across Iran. 'Us And Them' The younger Namazi, who just turned 53, says that he had been accustomed to being seen as an outsider while living in Africa in his youth with his father, a former provincial governor in Iran prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and a representative for UNICEF who worked in Kenya, Somalia, and Egypt. "This philosophy of 'us and them' gets so thick that it enables you to bring calamity upon another human being," Namazi said. "To do these things to another human, you have to strip them of their humanity. They dont see him as a human. And in the Islamic republic, what happens is that we have these circles of 'us and them.' The interrogators certainly saw us as 'them.'" It did not matter if "you were Iranian or not," Namazi said, adding that his interrogator "knew that at least 99 percent of what he was saying was completely fabricated." Since his release, Namazi has strongly advocated for the release of other prisoners, including the Swedish-Iranian physician Ahmadreza Djalali, held by the Iranian authorities. His year out of prison has left Namazi with a message for Tehran, which he said had made the "selling" of its own people, like himself, "routine." "Don't trade them. Don't barter them," Namazi said of Iranians with foreign citizenship who remain imprisoned under false pretexts in Iran. "Release them using the laws of the Islamic republic, then we can sit down and talk, and in my opinion, this is a very reasonable starting point." BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan has rolled out the preliminary figures on the state and consolidated budgets for 2025, and one of the key points on the agenda is the earmarking of funds for the social sector next year, along with the potential to broaden the social package, the Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament's Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, and Entrepreneurship Vugar Bayramov wrote on social network account, Trend reports. The state budget estimates social safety and security spending at 4.9 billion manat ($2.8 billion). This direction will receive 4.3 billion manat ($2.5 billion) in 2024. Thus, social spending will rise 14 percent. The State Social Protection Fund allocates most of the cash to the social sector, even though the preliminary data does not specify the structure of social protection and security expenses. To note, the state budget expenditures in 2025 are projected at 39.6 billion manat ($23.2 billion). Of these, 24.9 billion manat ($14.6 billion) or 63 percent will be spent on current expenditures, 12.3 billion manat ($7.2 billion) or 31 percent on capital expenditures, and 2.4 billion manat ($1.4 billion) or 6 percent - on expenditures related to servicing the state debt and liabilities. Massive explosions and a huge fire tore through Russia's Tver region, west of Moscow, early on September 18. The region's governor said debris from a downed drone had struck an arms depot, but a Ukrainian military expert said the warehouse had been successfully targeted. Ukrainian drones were reported in several other Russian regions in attacks that Russian officials said they had repelled. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on September 18 that Kyiv has "fully prepared" its "victory plan" to end the war with Russia and the most important thing now is the determination to implement it. All points of the plan have been "worked out," Zelenskiy said in his evening address. "There is and cannot be any alternative to peace, any freezing of the war or any other manipulations that will simply move Russian aggression to another stage. We need reliable and long-term security for Ukraine, and therefore for all of Europe," the president said. The Ukrainian leader said last week that he planned to discuss the plan with U.S. President Joe Biden this month. He also said he would present it to U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Zelenskiy is expected to be in the United States next week for the UN General Assembly meeting. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has dragged on for more than 30 months, and Zelenskiy's announcement came as Ukraine controls parts of Russia's Kursk region and as Moscow has pressed an advance into eastern Ukraine. Zelenskiy added that "there cannot be any alternative to peace, any freezing of the war or any other manipulations that will simply move the Russian aggression to another stage. We need reliable and lasting security for Ukraine, and therefore for the whole of Europe." Zelenskiy has said he aims to host another international peace summit outlining his vision to end the war in November, and that Russia is to be invited. His comments came after a suspected Ukrainian strike reportedly involving more than 100 drones rocked Russia's Tver region after an arms depot was hit and set off a string of violent explosions and caused a fire 6 kilometers wide. Emergency services launched a partial evacuation of local residents on September 18 hours after the overnight strike that appeared to target Toropets, a town about 400 kilometers west of Moscow that hosts two Russian military units and an arms depot. The Astra Telegram channel and other social media published videos that showed massive explosions and flames erupting into the night sky near the town of Toropets, located in the west of the Tver region. Other footage posted on social media showed rows of apartment buildings in the town with windows blown out from blast waves. Footage later posted on social media showed large plumes of smoke rising from the scene and rows of apartment buildings in Toropets with windows blown out from blast waves. RFE/RL's Schemes project received satellite images from Planet Labs showing smoke over the territory of Toropets. Earlier, satellite imagery from NASA showed multiple heat sources from the location and earthquake monitoring stations picked up seismic waves equal to a minor earthquake. Tver regional Governor Igor Rudenya was quoted by the local government as saying in the afternoon that no deaths or serious injuries had been reported as a result of the incident, which he earlier said was caused when debris from a downed drone sparked a fire. He also said evacuated residents were being allowed to return home and all public services and infrastructure were operational. "The air-defense system worked, the UAVs were shot down, and a fire occurred when they fell," Rudenya wrote on Telegram around 3:30 a.m. local time, without saying what was burning. Rudenya said Russian air defenses were working to repel a "massive drone attack." Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here. Reports indicated that the town is home to two Russian military units, one of which has been targeted by drone strikes twice in the past six months. Russias state news agency RIA Novosti reported in 2018 that an arms depot was being constructed in Toropets, which has a population of around 11,000 people. While Kyiv has not officially commented on the incident, a source in Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on condition of anonymity that the SBU in cooperation with Ukraine's Intelligence and Special Operations Force launched the attack and "wiped the depot off the face of the Earth." The source said the depot stored Iskander and Tochka-U tactical missile systems, antiaircraft missiles, and artillery ammunition. "The SBU, together with its counterparts from the Defense Forces, continues to methodically reduce the enemy's missile potential, which it uses to destroy Ukrainian cities," the source said. Other reports cited Ukrainian intelligence sources saying the arms depot held significant stocks of ballistic missiles obtained by Russia from North Korea as well as glide bombs, and that an area 6 kilometers wide was engulfed in flames. Russian state media reported early in the morning that kindergartens and schools were temporarily closed in the Zapadnodvinsk district, which borders the Toropetsk district in the Tver region, without indicating why. Residents of the village of Tsikarevo, which is located along a lake to the east of Toropets and only 200 meters from the arms depot, were initially experiencing difficulties being evacuated and were awaiting help. RFE/RL's North Realities reported that locals had written on local chat groups that safe access was only possible by boat and that "there was nothing left of the village." One local wrote that people were stranded on the water waiting for help, and described seeing minor damage to homes in neighboring villages. Another, however, said that he had become "homeless." Russia's Defense Ministry has not specifically commented on the incident, saying only that 54 Ukrainian drones had targeted five western Russian regions overnight and that all of the drones had been destroyed. The Defense Ministry, without mentioning the Tver region, said half the drones had been shot down over the Kursk region, where Russian forces have launched a counterattack to push out Ukrainian forces that entered the region and took control of large swaths of Russian territory in a surprise incursion in August. The rest of the drones, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, were shot down over the Bryansk, Smolensk, Oryol, and Belgorod regions. Regional authorities in the western Smolensk region bordering Belarus and in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine also said drones had been shot down. Kyiv has previously said its strikes against Russia are intended to hit military, energy, and transportation infrastructure that are key to Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine. Meanwhile in Ukraine, Russian drone and missile strikes targeted energy facilities in the northeastern city of Sumy. One person was killed in Kropyvnytskiy, the capital of the Kirovohrad region in central Ukraine. Tajikistan's top Islamic leader has not been seen in public since an unprecedented stabbing attack last week that witnesses say left him with a knife wound on his forehead. Police seem to be downplaying the September 11 assault on Saidmukarram Abdulqodirzoda, head of the state-backed Ulema Council of the Islamic Center -- the highest Islamic authority in the predominantly Muslim country -- describing it as an act of "hooliganism." The police said in a statement that he was "lightly wounded" in the attack and was discharged from hospital on the same day after being examined by doctors. But many Tajiks doubt the attack in Dushanbe's central mosque shortly after the afternoon prayers was a random act of hooliganism. Critics suspect the assault is linked to the Ulema Council's role in supporting the staunchly secular government's increasingly restrictive policies on religion. Authorities said the perpetrator is in custody but have not released any details about him or his motives or any affiliations. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. Eyewitnesses told RFE/RL that a knife-wielding young man stabbed Abdulqodirzoda in the courtyard of the packed mosque as he was speaking to mosque-goers after the prayers. "Abdulqodirzoda sustained a knife wound on his forehead. Mosque-goers immediately subdued the attacker. Police were on the scene very quickly because the district police headquarters are located nearby," an eyewitness said on condition of anonymity. A source close to the matter said the attacker is a resident of the Dushanbe suburbs but did not give further details. Contacted by RFE/RL late on September 11, Abdulqodirzoda, 61, said in the brief phone call that he was "doing fine" and that there was "nothing to worry about." Police and other government officials declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation. Independent In Name Only The absence of official information has led to speculation about reasons behind the attack on Abdulqodirzoda, who has led the council since 2010. He is also referred to as the mufti, a term used in Central Asia for a country's top religious leader. Many Tajiks believe Abdulqodirzoda may have been targeted for his and the council's unequivocal support for government policies that are widely criticized for restricting religious freedom. In a recent move, Abdulqodirzoda angered many Muslims -- both in Tajikistan and internationally -- by backing the authorities' long-standing and unpopular campaign against "clothes alien to Tajik culture," a term used by officials to describe Islamic clothing. In July, the council issued a fatwa -- a religious edict -- against "black clothing," a Tajik euphemism for the Islamic hijab. The fatwa came just days after parliament officially outlawed "alien garments" following nearly two decades of an unofficial ban on the hijab in schools and the workplace. Muhamadjon Kabirov, chief editor of the Tajik-language news website AzdaTV, which is based in Poland, said he believes the motive behind the attack on Abdulqodirzoda reflects a discontent in society with the council and its chief. "Tajik society sees the mufti as a government official, not a religious leader," Kabirov said. "People believe that his aim is not to defend citizens' religious liberty. On the contrary, they believe his mission is to promote the government's policies, which include undermining people's religious traditions." In the northern province of Sughd, a schoolteacher who requested anonymity told RFE/RL the attack may have been carried out "by someone who is angry with the mufti's work, but it does not mean all people support such acts." "Personally, I don't trust the mufti or the Islamic Council, but I don't believe that violence is the answer," the teacher said. "People are condemning this attack even if they are unhappy with him." The Ulema Council is, legally, an independent body. But like the other official religious bodies in Central Asian countries it operates under strict government control. Tajik authorities also tightly control the operation of all mosques. Imams are appointed with the tacit agreement of local government officials. The council and government officials often conduct tests they say are aimed at evaluating the imams' knowledge of religious and state matters. All recommendations and edicts by the council -- the only fatwa-issuing body in Tajikistan -- reflect the government's policies. The religious edicts are nonbinding but have symbolic significance. In 2018, the council recommended the workers at the construction site of the Roghun hydropower plant "postpone" their fasting during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. The council said the dawn-to-dusk fasting puts a strain on the well-being of the workers engaged in tough physical labor. The massive Roghun is an important strategic project for the government. In 2014, the council announced that revolting against authorities and cooperating with domestic or foreign organizations -- including media outlets whose goal is to "destabilize" the country is considered a "major sin." Abdulqodirzoda has said the "the duty of Islamic figures is to promote moderate Islam that wishes peace and stability for all." BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has issued licenses to new financial organizations, Trend reports the CBA statement. According to the statement, the licenses were issued to K Group LLC to operate as an electronic money organization, M.A.X Systems Plus LLC and Cibpay as payment organizations, and Azericard LLC as an electronic money organization and operator payment system. "Evaluation of applications of other organizations that submitted requests for a license to provide payment services is ongoing," the statement reminded. To note, earlier the CBA issued perpetual licenses to A-Solutions, United Payment, Modenis, PashaPay, Mobile Payment Solutions, Paysis, Mpay, and PulPal to operate as e-money organizations. The companies Token Azerbaycan," Global Innovations, and Drakaris were granted licenses to operate as payment organizations. For more information on the "On Payment Services and Payment Systems" law, refer to the interview with a CBA representative. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The German company Uniper is eager to boost its procurement of Azerbaijani gas, Head of Uniper Office in Azerbaijan Rashad Huseynli told local journalists, Trend reports. In late August, the president of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), Rovshan Najaf met with a member of Uniper's board and Chief Commercial Officer, Carsten Poppinga in Baku. The two parties highlighted the successful implementation of a gas purchase agreement related to the Shah Deniz field. Our contract for gas procurement from Shah Deniz involves annual purchases of one and a half billion cubic meters from this field. We are currently in negotiations with SOCAR to increase supplies of Azerbaijani gas, Huseynli stated. He did not disclose any further details until the completion of the relevant negotiations. To note, since December 2020, nine European companies have been reaping the benefits of gas flowing from Shah Deniz through the Southern Gas Corridor. Increases in Azerbaijan's gas exports since 2023 have led to a growth in the number of registered businesses. In 2023, the gas exported to Europe hit the ground running at 11.8 billion cubic meters, with hopes high to surpass the 12.5 billion cubic meters mark in 2024. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The family of an 87-year-old Roosky man, who was found dead at his home four years ago, have issued an appeal to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to open a fresh investigation into his death. The appeal comes in the wake of an inquest held last week into the death of elderly farmer Liam Farrell, Aughamore, Rooskey whom the family believe died in violent circumstances on January 12th, 2020. The inquest heard that the widower was found by his daughter at the back door of his home, covered in blood, with his shoes and socks removed, his watch broken and bruising to his left eye and his feet. Despite the jury at Carrick-on-Shannon Coroners Court delivering an open verdict into his death last week, the Farrell family was seeking a verdict of unlawful killing. Evidence at the inquest from former state pathologist for Northern Ireland Professor Jack Crane, indicated that Liam Farrells injuries were consistent with an assault. The Farrell family had appointed Professor Crane to review the initial autopsy. Speaking to the Roscommon Herald , Brendan Farrell, a son of the deceased, said that the family would now be appealing to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to open a new, fresh investigation into their fathers death. We were seeking an unlawful death at the inquest because we know Daddy was assaulted and Professor Cranes report goes very far with that. He said that my father suffered blunt force trauma and there were defensive type wounds on his hands. He is saying that he didnt directly die from that but the stress involved from that trauma would have led to his death. Mr Farrell said the family would be seeking a new investigation because they feel that fresh eyes are needed, theres more people to talk to and there is a lot more in this case to be sorted. He also said that there were two sets of footprints near the house before any paramedics or Gardai got to the scene of his fathers death. Some of these were running type footprints, he said. These footprints were not investigated and were devastated. They werent used in the inquest or the investigation that we know of, he said. On behalf of his family, he is also appealing to people who may have any information on their fathers death. It mightnt mean much to them but to the detectives, it could mean a lot. You would not want to see what we saw that day, we will never forget it. It was absolutely horrendous, he said. The inquest into Liam Farrell last week heard that Consultant Pathologist Professor Paul Hartel, who carried out the initial autopsy, said that Mr Farrell died of a heart attack relating to severe coronary heart disease. Professor Hartel also said had he been informed at the time that Mr Farrells body was discovered in suspicious circumstances, he would have referred the autopsy to a forensic pathologist. Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan later reviewed the autopsy report following a request from An Garda Siochana, and said there were two possible scenarios. She said Mr Farrell either suffered a heart attack, and in a confused state, may have fallen, or there was another party involved that led to a stressed induced heart attack. Ballaghaderreens Patsy McGarry has released a new autobiography entitled Well, Holy God, in which he gives a personal account of growing up in the Catholic Church and of a faith lost when the stark realities of that church became apparent to him. Patsy takes the reader through his formative years and education to his time as Religious Affairs Correspondent with The Irish Times in a period of massive social upheaval. He argues that as an agnostic he was possibly better equipped to deal impartially with the seismic events that rocked the very foundations of the Catholic Church during his tenure. The church he experienced as a young man was a cold house for Catholics because of its deep distrust of the body as the greatest threat to eternal salvation. His paternal grandfather, also known as Patsy, was a legendary local figure because of his exploits during the War of Independence. On one occasion during the 1930s he openly challenged the authority of the parish priest during a Mission Mass in the area, because of the clerics recommendation to the congregation that they vote Fine Gael in the upcoming election. Patsy stood up and asked: Father, where does it say that in the Gospel? As a founder member of the first Fianna Fail cumann in Mullen, he was not going to stay silent in the face of such blatant propaganda. It was a courageous stance at that time. His mother was deeply religious, but never pious. For a time, he believed he had a vocation. This book covers his journalistic career, from the horrors of the various clerical child sex abuse cases and the muted reaction of the Church of Ireland to the violence at Drumcree, to the role of women in the Catholic Church and the tragedies of the Mother and Baby Homes and the Magdalene laundries. There is a whole chapter dedicated to disgraced Bishop Eamonn Casey, the subject of recent sexual abuse allegations. Mr McGarry told the Roscommon Herald that he applied for the role of Religious Affairs Correspondent back in 1997 to hold religious leaders to account in the same way as their political counterparts were. I had been writing political journalism up until then and I would have interrogated politicians. I questioned them without deference but with respect and hopefully I continued that when I became Religious Affair Correspondent. I questioned church leaders the same way I would question politicians. I treated them the same as any other powerful group in society. My early years coincided with the emergence of the abuse scandals. It took over my job. When I went into the job in 1997, Fr. Brendan Smyth was jailed that year for the abuse of children. I thought it was a once off, an aberration, but it was only the beginning. It became a tsunami. There were people coming forward with allegations of abuse that went through the courts process and priests were convicted so it was a massive story to be covering, he explained. The Ballaghaderreen native is an admirer of former President Mary McAleese. He remarked that being a Belfast-born President of Ireland and taking Communion at a Church of Ireland Eucharist - was one of the first big stories he covered in his role with The Irish Times. He added that the former President was somebody who worked hard to bridge the religious divide north and south of the island of Ireland. I think she was very courageous and still is in terms of raising her voice against the Catholic Church and for gay people in particular. One of my first great scoops was when she received the Communion in the Church of Irelands Christ Church (Cathedral). The Catholic Church lost the head about it at the time, but she was trying to reach across the divide. She was one of those people involved at the outset when the peace process was concerned. I think Mary had a hugely positive influence where peace was concerned and her husband Martin, who refused RUC protection when he went into loyalist areas, also played a significant role. I think the McAleeses are enormously positive influential people in Ireland, he explained. He worked as Religious Affairs Correspondent through three separate popes. He states that Pope Francis has proven a steady influence during a time of turbulence for the church. John Paul II was a hugely influential figure politically and played a big part in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ironically a man who was opposed to priests being involved in politics will be remembered for his own role in politics. He was a very conservative man. Then Pope Benedict XVI came along and he was seen as a continuance of John Paul II but he was a number two man. He became isolated and was a reserved, shy man. He did one of the most radical things any pope has done in 600 odd years by resigning. I like Francis a lot. He wont make any huge changes, but he has changed the whole mood of the church. He is much more tolerant and has made the church a much more compassionate institution where gay people are concerned and where women are concerned. I met him personally and that is the way he is, Patsy explained. Patsy's new autobiography entitled 'Well, Holy God'. He states that although the churchs influence has reduced within society, he believes that faith and Catholicism will not disappear in Ireland. The church will not have the same influence in young peoples lives today that it had when I was young. There are still very good people in the church and the survival of the Catholic Church is due to the priests on the ground with whom the people identify with. Faith wont die. People need to believe and as long as that necessity is there, there will be religion and a Catholic Church. It will take a different form. In the future it will be much more women led. There isnt a parish in Ireland that isnt dominated by women when it come to looking after churches. It is the same for all Christian denominations. Women are the backbone of religion wherever you have it. I do believe the church will last. Let us not forget Catholic religion survived shocking persecution in Ireland during the penal period and its survival came in part from the stubborn character of the Irish people. If you want to take Catholicism away from the Irish people, they will fight tooth and nail to keep it, he said. By Cillian Sherlock, PA The exploding pager attack in Lebanon and Syria showed a wanton disregard for the lives of civilians, Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said. Pagers used by militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack, in which small amounts of explosive concealed in the pagers were detonated. Mr Martin said he wished to express deep concern over a clear escalation in Lebanon, describing the attack as a new shocking front in an explosive Middle East situation. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence said it was a logical conclusion that Israeli forces were behind the incident, noting everything is pointing in the direction that Israel had the capability to carry out the attacks. Mr Martin said: The nature of the attack illustrates a wanton disregard for the lives of people because these pagers with explosives put into them went off in public areas and supermarkets and around people going out about their daily lives. It meant that many innocent civilians men, women and children were caught up in this. Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, he added: This is a new form of warfare, I think we have to be extremely worried and concerned about that and the international community needs to reflect on the nature of the attack. Asked if he considered it to be a breach of Geneva Convention rules on indiscriminate attacks, Mr Martin replied: In my view, yes, absolutely. It cannot be condoned. It also, again, indicates that there are no boundaries on how this could escalate. Appealing for a de-escalation in the region, Mr Martin said: I would appeal to the Israeli Government to desist and not to engage in war in Lebanon and likewise to Hezbollah to desist and not to do anything to further escalate the situation. He said the attack was a new departure from back-and-forth bombardments between Israel and Lebanon. That kind of warfare and the creation of that terror in the midst of communities, commercial areas and normal human behaviour is unacceptable. Taoiseach Simon Harris speaking to the media in the courtyard of Government Buildings, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) Also speaking before the Cabinet meeting, Taoiseach Simon Harris said the was an extraordinarily worrying development. What we have seen is significant explosions in civilian areas, including in a supermarket, and weve seen very distressing and upsetting scenes of civilians and children being caught up in the situation. What the Middle East needs to see is de-escalation, not escalation, and as I get ready to go to the United Nations General Assembly next week, thats certainly the message that Ireland will be taking to that. We all must work to step back from the brink in terms of the Middle East. I think its extraordinarily concerning what weve seen. Obviously a countrys rights to defend itself, a countrys rights to address terrorism, is a legitimate right, but when explosives are being detonated, civilians being impacted, and take place in locations with many many civilians, its extraordinarily concerning. He added that he has previously voiced his concern about Israels disproportionate actions in Gaza. We need stability in the Middle East, we need all parties to de-escalate. By Cillian Sherlock, PA The first of approximately 30 Gazan children will receive medical care in Ireland within the coming weeks under plans set out by the Health Minister. Stephen Donnelly will seek Government approval for the plans on Wednesday. Mr Donnelly said Ireland would be providing care for 30 very sick children who need complex care, some of whom may have been injured by attacks or can no longer be treated in Gaza for underlying health issues as their hospital has been destroyed. He thanked Irish healthcare professionals and the Irish Red Cross, who have been working behind the scenes for quite some time on the proposals. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr Donnelly said Ireland was responding to a request from the World Health Organisation regarding the care of the children, whom Egyptian health authorities needed assistance with. He said: It is a modest step, obviously in the scale of the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent children, women and men. But it is an important step and another way Ireland is playing a role in [responding to] this horrific conflict. Mr Donnelly said the scheme will run on a child-by-child basis. He said all of the 30 children are expected to begin to be treated and accommodated by the end of the year. We will assess how it has worked out for the children and the parent or guardian that has come with them, with the view to potentially doing more. The Irish Red Cross is to provide accommodation for the children across the country. Asked what the post-care plan for the children was, Mr Donnelly said they would be fully entitled to apply for international protection. He said: We all know that in some of these cases some of these children, their homes, their villages, their towns, have been levelled by the Israeli military forces, so there may well be people who have nowhere to go back to. Tanaiste Micheal Martin said: We would hope they would be in a position to go back to an area that would have a ceasefire in place. We would not be putting them back into harms way immediately or anything like that. It is reported that the plan will not allow for orthopaedic patients, due to domestic waiting list pressures in the area. Tom Tuite A former prosecutor claiming he faces years in jail following the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey has been further remanded in custody pending a plea to breaking Irish immigration law. Sadullah Ovacikli, 44, from Turkey, who has no fixed address in Ireland, was stopped at Dublin Airport on September 11th after arriving at Terminal 1 and was charged with two offences. He did not apply for bail and faced his second hearing when he appeared before Judge Alan Mitchell at Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday. However, he deferred making a bail application. Defence barrister Eloise Flynn said her client sought an adjournment because a potential address was available for her client. The defendant listened to the proceedings with the aid of an interpreter but did not address the court. Judge Mitchell remanded him in custody to appear again on September 25th and said gardai must have 48 hours notice of any intention to apply for bail. He also said the case would be listed for a plea to be entered. Mr Ovacikli was accused of not possessing a valid passport or other equivalent document to establish his identity and nationality and failing to produce a passport on demand. At his first hearing last week, Garda Christopher Glennon said the accused made no reply when charged, and the officer objected to bail. He cited flight risk concerns, saying Mr Ovacikli had no ties to the State or any ID documents. However, he added, Yes, we have established his identity. The defence had asked the prison authorities to note that the accused would be a vulnerable person in custody due to his background, and there were potential safety concerns. The proceedings heard the accused had to flee after working for the government in Turkey as a prosecutor until the attempted coup there in 2016, and he had received a seven-year sentence, which has recently been affirmed. His charges in Ireland are under the Immigration Act and carry 12-month sentences and a maximum 3,000 fine. Legal aid has been granted. Romania. The Eastern Flank: Cooperation, intervention and integration A roundup of military news Photo: Army Media Agency -Agentia Media a Armatei Lacramioara Simion, 18.09.2024, 14:00 The structure for the integration of NATO forces in Romania has completed 9 years of existence. Established in 2015 as NATOs response to changes in the security environment and to threats from the east and south, the unit is a multinational NATO command and control structure. The decision to establish this command and another five on the eastern flank of the Alliance was made at the September 2014 summit in Wales, where the Rapid Reaction Plan was approved, which includes a series of collective defense measures, including the increase in NATOs reaction forces to about 40,000 soldiers and the creation of a rapid reaction force of about 5,000 soldiers able to intervene in a very short time in the event of a crisis. Throughout this time, the NATO Force Integration Unit in Romania has played a key role in improving NATOs readiness and response capabilities on the Eastern flank, ensuring the collective defense of our Allies and promoting regional stability. For 18 days, a detachment belonging to the 151st Infantry Battalion Razboieni participated, together with the other Romanian structures deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the multinational exercise QUICK RESPONSE 24. Troops from all 23 countries of EUFOR (European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina) were involved, that temporarily received reinforcements from the Austrian, Hungarian and Romanian reserve forces. The continued presence of EUFOR members in local communities gives them a better perspective on the situation on the ground and gives them the opportunity to assist local partners in ensuring a stable and secure environment. In the first part of the exercise, we carried out training with all the soldiers from the participating nations, and in the second part, the soldiers carried out the whole spectrum of missions specific to the Bosnia and Herzegovina theater of operations. On the Day of Distinguished Visitors, a complex exercise took place in which, based on a fictitious scenario, a series of military actions were carried out, Lieutenant-Colonel Ioan Levarda, the commander of the Romanian detachment, said. For two weeks, the National Training Center for non-commissioned and warrant officers in Pitesti, southern Romania, hosted the third Development Course for drill instructors, in cooperation with soldiers from the Alabama National Guard. This session is part of the training of the associated military instructors who will carry out training activities in the general military training module with the students who are being trained at the National Training Center for non-commissioned and warrant officers in the new academic year. The future associate instructors completed this module under the direct guidance of the American partners and Romanian colleagues, former graduates of this course. The purpose of these actions is to implement this course in the training of non-commissioned and warrant officers in the Romanian Army, being a form of training based on objectives that are based on the recognized international competences of the instructors. We also inform you that two military students in the second year at the Mircea cel Batran Naval Academy, from Constanta (southeast), will spend a semester of study at the Theresan Military Academy in Austria, through the Erasmus+ program. Students will be able to improve their knowledge of military leadership and have the opportunity to see how officers from other countries train at one of the oldest military academies in the world, founded in 1752. (Teodora Mazere, LS) Romanias new faces A look at Romania's latest efforts to complete its workforce and the new challenges it has to face (sursa foto pixabay@Vertax) Daniel Bilt and iulia.hau, 18.09.2024, 14:00 Romania has been facing a workforce deficit for quite some time now, created by a negative birthrate, a dramatic ageing of the population and a massive inflow of migrants. That is why, in recent years, finding a solution to the problem represented a priority for the Romanian Government, given the workforce shortage in certain fields. That explains why Romanian streets, from the regional capitals to the small country towns, today look different than they looked a couple of years ago. In the confectioners shop windows, riding the food delivery bicycles, in the restaurant kitchens and in all sorts of factories, as we speak, people from afar have a job. All their hopes are pinned on Romania. That is why in each of the last three years, 2022, 2023 and 2024, a contingent of 100,000 work permits was approved of, for workers from non-European countries. Other data pointed to the fact that the number of work permits Romania issued to Sri Lankan citizens in 2022 accounted for more than 50% of the total number of such permits issued to Sri Lanka in the entire European Union. According to data provided by the General Inspectorate for Immigration, in 2023, 101, 253 work permits were issued for citizens from outside the European Union. Most of such workers were from Nepal, over 23,000, Sri Lanka 22,000, Bangladesh 18, 000, and Pakistan, over 8,250. The same data point to a significant gender gap: in 2023, almost 90% of the newcomers are men. Of the main fields these workers are employed in are tourism and the hospitality industry, factories, equipment, construction, cleaning. Notwithstanding, we find it hard to tackle the topic of the foreign works ignoring the issue of their right to fair and safe working conditions, capable of protecting them from the employers prospective abuses. Quite a few of the press articles and investigations that have been recently published highlight how the vulnerability circumstances of these people, in a country whose language and legislation they do not know, expose them to exploitation, fraudulency and illegality circumstances. Many times, that happens for reasons they are not responsible for. Oftentimes, the foreign citizens pay rip-off sums to the go-between employment agencies, which, for them, translates into loans ranging from 4,000 to 10,000 Euros. They plan to return the sums in installments provided by the wages they get in Romania. When asked how it was possible for them to make the loans, foreigner answered they pawned family jewels, sold their plots of land, went to the bank or guaranteed with the legal documents of the houses and plots of land where their families lived. Such circumstances have placed them in a dependence relationship with the Romanian employers, who can infringe upon their fundamental rights. Anatolie Cosciug is a researcher and deputy director of the Comparative Studies Migration Center. Here he is, speaking about the abuse cases as they have been highlighted in the surveys: Anatolie Cosciug: We tried to find out whether those cases of abuse weve heard of including from other researches, other reports are exceptions or isolated cases or its actually a system thing; and if its a system thing, why is this happening? Here there are factors of migration or social policies in general, so not only about migration, but as we are organized as society. This is rendering immigrants and people who came to work here, very vulnerable. And I proposed to have an approach centered on human rights. This is surreal somehow as nobody speaks about them as people with rights, who are vulnerable and need protection to some extent. This seemed absolutely exceptional in the interviews with them, the NGOs and other stakeholders no one has this human rights approach. Asked about the main abuse cases he discovered, Anatolie Cosciug answers: Anatolie Cosciug: We tried to tackle all the human rights, the main forms of human rights and see what the situation is for each of them and identify specific cases for each of these rights. So, we took for instance, the right to a decent job, to a decent dwelling place, family rights, education. And surprisingly or not, we found out situations in which some of these rights were being violated, particularly in the case of dwelling. There were difficult situations in this respect, you know. Most of them said they were living in overcrowded areas and there were extreme cases in which people didnt have access to water, the right type of food for the efforts they are making. There are also cases in which these human rights infringements arent that visible, you know. Such as those regarding family reunification, which involves very complicated procedures and is not encouraged by the employer, their governments or the Romanian government. Many believe that improvements are not going to appear very quickly; that all the sides involved, from institutions to the private environment, including the collective outlook, we all have a long road to walk in order to learn how to have a healthy approach towards the new-comers. (EN&bill) September 18, 2024 UPDATE A roundup of local and international news. Newsflash Newsroom, 18.09.2024, 19:48 Defence. The Bucharest Nine meeting of defence ministers was hosted in Bucharest by Romanias defence minister Angel Tilvar. The B9 initiative includes Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia. The talks focused on the security situation in the region, amid the growing threat posed by Russia. Minister Tilvar called for a coordinated and robust response from NATO. He also said that the B9 states are deeply concerned about the repeated incursions of Russias drones and rockets into NATO airspace and the escalation of tensions along NATOs borders. A number of NATO states neighbouring Ukraine have seen Russian drones and rockets entering their airspace, with Romania and Latvia being the most recent cases. Ukraine. In Bucharest, on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, called on the Romanian partners to consider the possibility of shooting down Russian drones near the countrys airspace. After the meeting with the Romanian foreign minister Luminita Odobescu, Sybiha said that he was grateful for Bucharests historic decision to donate a Patriot system to Ukraine. It is very important to strengthen the defence of Ukraine. It is a shield not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe, the Ukrainian official said. Minister Odobescu reiterated Romanias support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and again firmly condemned Russias war of aggression, which is an attack against the international rules-based order. Romania recently looked into the possibility to amend the legislation to allow the military to destroy suspicious drones entering its territory, after several Russian drones have illegally ended up in the Romanian airspace in the last year. Storm Boris. More than 20 people have been killed in the torrential rain and flooding in Central and Eastern Europe brought over by storm Boris, the worst in Europe since 1997. Romania reported seven deaths, with casualties also reported in Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy. Flood warnings are still in place in Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia. In Romania, the authorities have begun assessing the damage caused by the floods in Galati county, in the east, which was worst hit. The government has approved emergency aid for the families affected. Electricity. Electricity prices in the south of Europe are almost five times higher than in the Scandinavian countries and almost twice as high as in central and western Europe, according to an analysis made by Eurelectric, the European electricity industry association. Recently, the Greek government called on the European Union to react urgently to the increase in electricity prices in Central and Eastern Europe, also as a result of Russian strikes against Ukraines energy infrastructure. It also announced an initiative to create an intervention mechanism in partnership with Romania and Bulgaria, to be activated in the event of high prices. According to its own estimates, the European Union needs to invest almost 600 billion euros in modernising its electricity grids by 2030 to be able to take over more energy from renewable sources. Industry. The Romanian government is planning to take measure to reindustrialise the economy, said prime minister Marcel Ciolacu on Wednesday. He said a national plan for big industry would be launched, consisting in a package of measures worth some 2 billion euros and centres around three main pillars. These include a support scheme for strategic investments in the processing industry, with a budget of 500 million euros; a national programme to support big industry, with a budget of 1 billion euros for the big companies; and, thirdly, a state-aid scheme worth 250 million euros for companies seeking investments in the production of industrial raw materials. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The Azerbaijani-German SOCAR-Uniper JV plans to commission a steam generator unit at the Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant in Azerbaijan's Sumgayit city as part of COP29 activities, Head of Uniper's Azerbaijan Office Rashad Huseynli told reporters, Trend reports. "This is a major SOCAR-Uniper project aimed at improving energy efficiency for the Azerkimya Production Union (SOCAR). The project is currently undergoing final testing, and an official launch ceremony for the electricity and steam generation unit may take place during COP29," Huseynli pointed out. He explained that the aim of building the unit is to boost the efficiency and production capacity of the steam generation complex, which keeps the plant's lights on. This project is a big fish in the pond when it comes to boosting the energy efficiency of industrial plants across the nation. To note, SOCAR and Uniper established the SOCAR-Uniper joint venture in 2016 to implement the steam generator unit construction project at the Ethylene-Polyethylene plant. The project aims to increase the design capacity of the steam generation complex from 32 MW to 65 MW. This was achieved by installing an additional turbogenerator and modernizing the existing technological system. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel While MG Motor scored highest in the 4 wheeler segment, HMSI lead the 2 wheeler and Ashok Leyland ranked highest in the commercial vehicle segment Following an earlier study of 2024 Customer Experience Ranking, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), the apex national body of Automobile Retail in India has now conducted a Dealer Satisfaction Study for 2024. This year, the assessment was done in association with PremonAsia, a Singapore based consumer-insight led consulting and advisory firm. The survey assessed 1,377 dealer principals across 4,500 dealer outlets in India. FADA Dealer Satisfaction Study 2024 Assessment was done on the basis of marketing, product, sales and order planning along with after sales, training, business viability and policy. Dealer satisfaction was positive across each of these factors. However, dealer principals cited improvement in two areas of slow moving inventory and policies and sharing inventory pressures. The results also indicated the need for a better liaison between OEM and dealers and better support in terms of buy back policies on unsold spare parts. It also called for an improvement in inventory management of new vehicles. Each of these factors would relate to an improvement in financial stability of company dealerships. 4 Wheeler Mass Market Results Taking into account the results of FADA Dealer Satisfaction Study 2024 conducted in the 4 wheeler mass market, JSW MG Motor scored the highest with 866 points. It was followed by Mahindra and Hyundai with 837 and 834 points respectively. Hyundai had been a No.1 position in last years studies, dropping to No. 3 in this years assessment. Tata Motors (826), Kia (764) and Kirloskar (724) also featured high on this list while Maruti Suzuki was at No. 7 with a 706 score. Dealer study showed off some constraints faced in terms of buy back and write off policies for unsold spare parts. It also indicated a need for support to cover carrying costs of stocks in transit and urged for better involvement in terms of OEM policy making. Dealers however, shared more positive feedback where extended warranty and range of products were concerned. 2 Wheeler Mass Market Results In the two wheeler segment, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) leads with 805 score. It has retained this top position over the past 4 years. While HMSI scored 805 points, Royal Enfield was at No. 2 with a 711 score. Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor tied at 670 points. The two wheeler segment survey showed discontent in terms of buy back of dead stock of parts while they also showed dissatisfaction terms of policy making and multi brand outlets. The dealerships were however, more content with OEMs decision in terms of acceptance and rejection of warranty claims, product reliability and range. Training programs were also conducted in a satisfactory manner. Ashok Leyland Leads in Commercial Vehicle Segment FADA Dealer Satisfaction Study 2024 saw Ashok Leyland with a 817 score, the highest in the CV segment. It was followed by Bharat Benz with 784 points and Eicher and Tata Motors with 757 and 686 score respectively. In this segment, while dealers showed satisfaction in terms of product range and quality of vehicles, they also regaled responsiveness of OEM sales teams. However, improvement was sought in areas of vehicle sales margins, dealership profitability and better involvement of dealerships in policy making. Owners of affected motorcycles are being contacted individually to inform them about the recall and next steps in the process As part of its commitment to improve customer experience, Honda has issued a voluntary recall for select 300cc and 350cc bikes. While owners of affected bikes will be contacted via call, email and SMS, users can also check by entering their VIN number on the Honda BigWing website. Front and Rear wheel speed sensor This issue affects Honda CB300R, CB300F, CB350, CB350RS and Hness 350. Following an investigation, it has been found that an improper molding procedure was used during the manufacturing of the speed wheel sensor. The issue is seen with motorcycles manufactured during the period from October 2020 to April 2024. However, Honda has not provided any details about the total number of bikes that have this issue. Due to the improper molding process, it is possible that the speed wheel sensor could be exposed to water. When this happens, the speed sensor may start to malfunction. It can impact multiple systems such as traction control, speedometer and ABS. Honda has also clearly mentioned a worst-case scenario, where the malfunctioning speed sensor can lead to ineffective braking. As both front and rear wheel speed sensors are impacted, it poses significant risks in extreme cases. While Honda has not asked customers to stop using the impacted units, it is advisable that owners take proper care. Owners can wait to get a message from Honda or check on Honda BigWing website using their VIN number. Honda has requested owners of affected units to book their service appointment in advance. This will help avoid overcrowding at dealerships. The affected part will be replaced completely free of cost, irrespective of the warranty status of the bike. This recall will be carried out pan-India at BigWing dealerships. However, Honda has not mentioned any estimated time for the replacement of the affected part. Camshaft Comp This issue impacts specific units of CB350, CB350RS and Hness CB350. An investigation has revealed that an improper manufacturing process was used for the manufacturing of the camshaft. It can lead to a situation where the vehicles optimal functioning could be impacted. Honda has stated that this recall is being carried out as a precautionary measure. This recall applies to units manufactured between June 2024 and July 2024. Honda dealerships across India will replace the affected part completely free of cost. This recall is applicable even for bikes that are out of their warranty period. Owners of the affected units are being contacted by Honda via call, SMS and/or email. Honda had issued a recall for CB350 and CB350RS last year in December as well. At that time, issues were noticed with the brake light and bank angle sensor. Replacement was provided free of cost to all affected customers. Excluding the change in the automatic gearbox, South Africa-spec Swift is largely the same as the model sold in India Maruti Suzuki exports its cars to various locations around the world. One of the important markets is South Africa that also works as an access point to other African countries. Maruti Suzuki is set to introduce the new Swift in South Africa soon. Swift gets CVT in South Africa Most of the Maruti cars available in India are exported to South Africa as well. Much of the equipment is largely the same in most cases, although there could be some slight variations. This seems to be the case with the 4th-gen Swift that is set to debut soon in South Africa. Ahead of its launch, it has been revealed that 4th-gen Swift for South Africa will have a CVT transmission. It will be different from the 5-speed AMT offered in India. The latter works out to be more affordable in comparison to the more sophisticated CVT gearbox. The 5-speed manual transmission will be the same for South Africa, as is offered here in India. A CVT gearbox is usually considered better in terms of smoothness and fuel efficiency. Depending on the engine configuration, a CVT can support the engines peak power and torque for longer durations. Users can expect relatively smoother acceleration with a CVT in comparison to an AMT gearbox. It remains to be seen if theres a change in power and torque output with the CVT gearbox. India-spec 4th-gen Swift delivers 81.58 PS and 111.7 Nm. Fuel efficiency is 24.8 km/l with the 5-speed manual and 25.75 km/l with the AMT gearbox. Maruti has introduced the CNG Swift as well, which is offering best-in-segment mileage of 32.85 km/kg. It is to be noted that South Africa has right-hand drive (RHD), similar to India. This ensures that the India-spec model can be exported to South Africa with minimal changes. Right-hand drive can be seen in various other African countries such as Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Maruti Suzuki exports its cars to various other right-hand drive markets such as select countries in Europe, Japan, etc. Equipment list mostly same Excluding the CVT gearbox, most other features of South Africa-spec Swift are the same as offered in India. Exterior highlights include a glossy black grille, projector headlamps with boomerang DRLs, precision-cut dual-tone alloy wheels and sporty C-shaped tail lamps. Inside, the new Swift has a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, wireless charger, rear AC vents, USB ports (Type A and C), cruise control and connectivity features via Suzuki Connect app. A comprehensive range of safety features are available such as 6-airbags as standard, electronic stability program, hill hold assist, and reverse parking sensors and camera. Suzuki has not yet announced the prices of the 4th-gen Swift in South Africa. The current Swift model sold in South Africa is available at a starting price of R213 900 (Approx. Rs 10.19 lakh). In India, the new Swift starts at Rs 6.49 lakh. Swift CNG is available at a starting price of Rs 8.20 lakh. Toyota India Records 36.34% Growth in August 2024 HyRyder and Hycross Lead Sales Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported impressive sales figures for August 2024, with total sales reaching 28,589 units, marking a significant 36.34% year-on-year (YoY) growth compared to the 20,969 units sold in August 2023. Several models in Toyotas lineup contributed to this growth, while a few experienced declines. Toyota Sales Breakup Aug 2024 HyRyder and Hycross Drive Growth Toyota HyRyder led the sales surge, with 6,534 units sold in August 2024, representing a 58.55% YoY increase. The HyRyder added 2,413 units compared to 4,121 units sold in August 2023, capturing a 22.85% share of Toyotas total sales for the month. Toyota Hycross also performed exceptionally well, with 5,236 units sold in August 2024, marking a 41.59% YoY growth. Hycross added 1,538 units to its tally compared to 3,698 units sold in August 2023, securing an 18.31% market share. Toyota Glanza, despite being one of the top-selling models, saw a slight decline in sales, with 4,624 units sold in August 2024. This represented a 6.24% YoY drop, with 308 fewer units sold compared to 4,932 units in August 2023. Glanza accounted for 16.17% of Toyotas sales. Toyota Crysta also faced a 10.39% YoY decline, selling 4,451 units in August 2024, down by 516 units from the 4,967 units sold in the same period last year. Crysta maintained a 15.57% market share, reflecting its continued demand despite the drop. Toyota Taisor sales were at 3,213 units. Taisor captured an 11.24% share of Toyotas total sales. The Toyota Fortuner, one of the most popular full-size SUVs in India, experienced a 17.24% YoY decline in sales. Fortuner sold 2,338 units in August 2024, down by 487 units from the 2,825 units sold in August 2023. Fortuners market share stood at 8.18%. Toyota Rumion posted remarkable growth, with sales surging by 1436.61% YoY. Rumion sold 1,721 units in August 2024, a sharp increase from just 112 units in August 2023, which is when it was launched in India. Rumion contributed a 6.02% share of Toyotas total sales. Lifestyle and Premium Range Toyota Hilux also recorded strong growth, with sales rising by 53.38% YoY. Hilux sold 204 units in August 2024, up by 71 units compared to 133 units sold in the previous year. Hilux accounted for 0.71% of Toyotas total sales. On the other hand, the Toyota Camry, a premium sedan, saw a 14.92% YoY decline, with 154 units sold in August 2024, down by 27 units from 181 units sold in August 2023. Camrys market share stood at 0.54%. The Toyota Vellfire, a premium MPV, made its presence felt with 114 units sold in August 2024, capturing a 0.40% share of Toyotas total sales. This model has become an attractive option in the luxury MPV segment. Buyers in this segment will soon have an affordable alternative as Kia is getting ready to launch new Carnival. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The US, Azerbaijan and China will hold a triple-hosted event at COP29, Sue Biniaz, the US State Departments Principal Deputy Special Envoy for Climate, said in an exclusive interview with Trend, as she visited Baku. "It's been a real pleasure to have another opportunity to talk to the Azerbaijani team about COP29. We've discussed several issues, as we normally do when we're able to get together. We, first of all, talk about several issues that are under negotiation at COP29. One of them relates to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Not to get too technical, but that article deals with market mechanisms and emissions trading between parties. It's almost done, but has a few outstanding issues, and we have a common interest with the host country in getting those issues done at this COP. We also talk about mitigation. That was a very important outcome of last year's COP," she said. Biniaz pointed out that the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement led to something, a rather lengthy decision, a part of which was devoted to mitigation and reduction of emissions and it almost provides a roadmap to keeping the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees. "We want to make sure that it stays alive and that part of the COP29 outcome refers to it, recalls it, and implements it. The biggest issue that's under negotiation this year is on the new collective quantified goal, which many people call NCQG for short. The developed countries in 2009 committed to a goal of mobilizing $100 billion for the benefit of developing countries every year starting in 2020. When the Paris Agreement was concluded, the question was do they continue this goal? Who contributes? How much? In 2015 they decided to extend the goal through 2025 and then revisit it and update it this year, in 2024, so basically at COP29. The issues this year include what kind of goal are we talking about, how much money, who contributes, etc. That's the big marquee item that is up for negotiation at COP29," said the deputy special envoy. Biniaz went on to add that the other thing that the US has been talking to the Azerbaijani team about are things that are not actually part of the COP, technically speaking, but the COP can add momentum to these issues. "One of them is that the first transparency reports under the Paris Agreement are due on December 31, just a few weeks after the COP. So we have a common interest in promoting timely submission by parties to the Paris Agreement of these reports. These are called Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs). Also, the next round of Paris Emission Targets, or Nationally Determined Contributions, are due in a couple months after the COP, February 10 to be exact. So we have also a common interest with Azerbaijan in promoting timely submission of NDCs that are ambitious and help to keep this 1.5 degree limit within reach," she said. US priorities at COP29 Biniaz highlighted that one area of focus for the United States and other parties at COP29 is going to be the negotiation issues. "Those are kind of the mandatory things that need to be decided at COP29. Then there's a whole set of other things that we're focused on that, broadly speaking, are called the action agenda. Those are the things that are not, strictly speaking, negotiated, and definitely not negotiated among 200 countries. They may be negotiated among smaller groups of countries, or they might just be events or announcements by one or two or several countries. As part of the action agenda, Azerbaijan has its own priorities, and we're involved in some of those, and those will be priorities for us. We'll also have some US priorities at the COP. Some of those relate to mitigation, some of them adaptation, some of them finance. In fact, we are doing an event with China and Azerbaijan, kind of triple-hosted, focusing on the gases other than carbon dioxide. This is going to be one of the high-level events during the first two days, during the Leaders' Summit, and we're looking forward to that. Another thing we're focusing on is the US Center. Every year at the COP, we have our own show place, where we put on many events. This year, I think it will be about 50 events that the US puts on. It's a chance to showcase what the United States is doing at home, what our subnational governments, cities, states are doing and what we're doing internationally with other countries," she explained. Concrete outcomes expected from COP29 She pointed out that the major issue under negotiation is this new collective quantified goal, the NCQG, and that's the successor to the existing $100 billion goal. "So there we see a concrete outcome in the form of a decision of the parties. We're focused on maybe four aspects at least. One is that we think this goal needs to have more than one layer. We think it has to have one component that focuses on how much money in the world needs to go into the climate issue, both to keep 1.5 degrees alive and also to promote global resilience and adaptation to climate impacts, and we've been referring to that as a global investment goal. That includes all countries. It includes international finance, domestic finance, etc. It's a large number. The second layer we refer to as the support goal, and that's more like the $100 billion. It's more like what certain contributors end up contributing towards developing countries in terms of public finance, but also the private finance. The third point is that that support goal, the inner layer, needs to be a realistically achievable number. It needs to kind of stretch the parties to a little beyond their comfort zone, but it can't be some kind of number that is just unachievable and will interfere with the credibility of the Paris Agreement process. The fourth point is that that support goal, we think, needs new contributors. We think we need more countries to join the group of contributors, those that are capable of being contributors," the deputy special envoy added. Carbon pricing mechanisms Further, Biniaz noted that high-integrity carbon markets represent a potentially promising channel to unlock significant additional capital and greenhouse gas mitigation. "I say potentially promising because they have to be done right. If they're done right, carbon markets can support decarbonization, help limit global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees, and leverage private sector action. So it's important to the United States that we shape responsible design, implementation, and use of market-based measures. And we're pursuing that goal in a number of different ways. Internationally, we're deeply involved in ensuring the integrity of the CORSIA mechanism. That's something that was designed within the International Civil Aviation Organization as an offset mechanism for emissions from the international aviation sector. We're also working with global certification mechanisms under the World Bank and high-quality carbon market initiatives like the LEAF coalition, which has to do with avoiding deforestation, and the Energy Transition Accelerator, which helps developing countries move towards clean energy. This COP is going to be focused very much on completing the guidelines under Article 6, and we're pushing for high-integrity outcomes with respect to the Article 6 guidelines," she said. US-Azerbaijan cooperation within COP29 Biniaz highlighted that the US is working with Azerbaijan in many different ways to promote the success of COP29. "From the very beginning, after Azerbaijan was named as the COP29 president, we've been discussing the issues that are under negotiation, ones that I've already mentioned, including ways to promote the successful submission of these biennial transparency reports, NDCs in February, etc. The second thing is that we've been co-leading, or we will be co-leading certain initiatives with the government of Azerbaijan. We co-hosted a workshop recently for the benefit of African countries on getting their biennial transparency reports ready to go for the deadline at the end of this year. As I mentioned, with China, US and Azerbaijan, we're putting together this high-level event on non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases. It's the second time we will be doing that kind of event. We did one at COP28 when the UAE was the president, and this time we're going to do it with Azerbaijan," she said. Biniaz went on to add that the third thing is that the US is supporting many of the Azerbaijani initiatives and events for this COP. "We'll be attending many of them next week in New York at Climate Week, and we're supporting many of the declarations that the COP presidency has put forward for adoption at COP29. We're very impressed with the Azerbaijani team. I think they've done a great job. They were given this COP29 assignment kind of abruptly, pretty late by the standards of the COP, and they really jumped in and have really done a great job learning the issues and exercising leadership," she said. The deputy special envoy pointed out that the push toward green energy will definitely feature at COP29, so it's great to see Azerbaijan taking a leadership role on this issue. "The US and Azerbaijan have a long history of cooperation on energy security, and we support, of course, the transition into green energy. US companies, whether they're big or small, are interested in entering the green energy market and cooperating with Azerbaijan on new technologies, and we definitely encourage these partnerships. Azerbaijan has shown with the Southern Gas Corridor that it's a reliable supplier of gas to Europe, and this lends a lot of credibility to Azerbaijan's plans to expand the model into the renewable energy sector and become a green energy supplier to Europe," she said. Further, Biniaz noted that the US looks forward to learning more about the Green Energy Corridor project, including potential opportunities for the US government and the US private sector to get engaged. "More broadly, we're interested in continuing to learn about the potential of offshore wind to help decarbonize the Azerbaijani power system, to advance the industrial transition, and to spur potential export opportunities. We also want to underline that there's strong potential in Azerbaijan for other renewable energy deployment, given solar and wind resources. US companies of all sizes and shapes are interested in entering the green energy market and cooperating on new technologies. Our excellent cooperation on COP29, is a proof of concept that when we work together on shared interests, we can have a successful outcome that benefits both our countries and beyond. And there are many areas beyond climate where we have a common interest, including clean energy innovation, regional peace and security, and we would like to continue to cooperate on these shared interests," she concluded. Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The EU will provide financial and technical support for the implementation of projects of green energy corridors from the South Caucasus and Central Asia, the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said in his online address to the participants of the 12th Caspian Energy Forum in Baku, Trend reports. The European Commissioner noted the important role of the South Caucasus and Central Asia region in the implementation of energy and transport corridors of key importance for the EU. The EU will provide financial and technical support for the implementation of projects of green energy corridors from these regions, as well as the implementation of the Middle Corridor within the framework of the EU TEN-T strategy, he said. He emphasized the importance of increasing the supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, taking into account the reduction of gas supplies from Russia. Varhelyi expressed high expectations related to COP29 in Baku in November, as this climate summit will help make progress on clean renewable energy projects. Bubble use evolved in many small invertebrates to enable underwater breathing, but, until recently, there has been no evidence that vertebrate animals use bubbles in a similar manner. Only one group of vertebrates, semi-aquatic Anolis lizards, may be an exception: these lizards dive underwater when threatened and, while underwater, rebreathe a bubble of air over their nostrils. In new research, Binghamton University scientist Lindsey Swierk demonstrated that such rebreathing serves to extend dive time in a semi-aquatic anole, Anolis aquaticus. Dr. Swerk studies water anoles, a type of semi-aquatic lizard found in the tropical forests of southern Costa Rica. In 2021, she documented the anoles using a bubble underwater. When these lizards feel threatened by a predator, they dive underwater and breathe a bubble over their heads. We know that they can stay underwater for a really long time. We also know that theyre pulling oxygen from this bubble of air, Dr. Swierk said. We didnt know whether there was actually any functional role for this bubble in respiration. Is it something that lizards do that is just a side effect of their skins properties or a respiratory reflex, or is this bubble actually allowing them to stay underwater longer than they would, say, without a bubble? To investigate whether the bubble serves a functional role in respiration or is merely a byproduct, Dr. Swierk applied a substance to the lizards skin surface that would prevent bubble formation. Lizard skin is hydrophobic. Typically, that allows air to stick very tightly to the skin and permits this bubble to form, Dr. Swierk said. But when you cover the skin with an emollient, air no longer sticks to the skin surface, so the bubbles cant form. Dr. Swierk recorded the number of bubbles that the lizards could produce and how long they could stay underwater, and compared them to lizards in a control group that were allowed to breathe normally. She found that the lizards in the control group could stay underwater 32% longer than those with impaired bubble formation. This is really significant because this is the first experiment that truly shows adaptive significance of bubbles. Rebreathing bubbles allow lizards to stay underwater longer. Before, we suspected it we saw a pattern but we didnt actually test if it served a functional role, Dr. Swierk said. She confirmed that the bubble helps lizards stay underwater for longer periods, providing them with a refuge from predators. Anoles are kind of like the chicken nuggets of the forest. Birds eat them, snakes eat them, Dr. Swiek said. So by jumping in the water, they can escape a lot of their predators, and they remain very still underwater. Theyre pretty well camouflaged underwater as well, and they just stay underwater until that danger passes. We know that they can stay underwater at least about 20 minutes, but probably longer. The paper will appear this week in the journal Biology Letters. _____ L. Swierk. 2024. Novel rebreathing adaptation extends dive time in a semi-aquatic lizard. Biol. Lett 20: 20240371; doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0371 BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Azerbaijans Ministry of Energy is actively is working on preparations for COP29, collaborating with partners on two main areas of focus, Deputy Minister of Energy Orkhan Zeynalov said during the 12th Caspian Energy Forum in Baku, Trend reports. "The first area is related to energy initiatives on the agenda of the COP29 presidency, while the second concerns energy events that will be organized within the framework of COP29 and pre-COP,," Zeynalov explained. He noted that Azerbaijan plans to implement three global energy initiatives at COP29, which include green corridors, energy storage, and energy networks, as well as a global hydrogen declaration. The Deputy Minister mentioned that the Ministry aims to conduct a total of 15 events during COP29. This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 7080,000 foreign guests. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COP - the Conference of the Parties - is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin with its secretariat in Bonn. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. ACWA Power is ready to take part in the project of export of green energy from the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through Turkiye to the EU, which is being prepared together with SOCAR and Masdar, Business Development Director of ACWA Power Azerbaijan, Polina Lyubomirova, said during the 12th Caspian Energy Forum in Baku, Trend reports. Meanwhile, the project concerns the possibility of supplying 1 GW of "green" electricity from the autonomy to the EU. Lyubomirova also informed about the progress of works on the construction of wind farms in Khizi and Absheron Peninsula with a total capacity of 240 MW, which will be put into operation in 2025. Projects in Azerbaijan are among the priorities of global ACWA Power. In addition to the creation of renewable energy sources and export of energy from renewable energy sources, we are studying issues on the development of hydrogen strategy in Azerbaijan, creation of energy storage facilities, and water desalination, the company's representative said. According to her, ACWA Power is ready to share its global experience in the implementation of projects in Azerbaijan. We are optimistic about the diversification of the economy in Azerbaijan; many technological innovations are being implemented here. We believe in the success of our projects in this country, Lyubomirova emphasized. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Azerbaijan has introduced 14 global initiatives for the upcoming COP29, Co-chair of the Global Initiative Group of the COP29 Action Program, Elmar Mamedov said during the 12th Caspian Energy Forum in Baku, Trend reports. Azerbaijan has proposed 14 global initiatives within COP29. In preparing these initiatives, we considered five fundamental principles. First, we aimed to find a balance between key areas of the climate agenda, including financing. The second principle involves analyzing the balance between raising ambitions and pragmatism, he stated. According to him, the third principle is based on balancing economic, social, and environmental goals of sustainable development. The fourth principle indicates that our initiatives address not only global but also regional issues. The fifth principle ensures harmony between people and nature, Mamedov emphasized. This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 7080,000 foreign guests. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COPthe Conference of the Partiesis the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin, with its secretariat in Bonn. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 18. Kazakhstans President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the law "On ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic on the establishment and regulation of the activities of the industrial trade and logistics complex in the area of the Karasu and Ak-Tilek road checkpoints," Trend reports via Akorda. According to the draft law, the proposed complex will span roughly 7.6 square kilometers, with the Kazakh section taking up around 3.6 square kilometers and the Kyrgyz section covering about 4 square kilometers. The facility is set to provide industrial cooperation in areas such as warehousing, storage, consolidation, processing, and the manufacturing of new products, ensuring effective integration into international supply chains. Services offered by the complex will include temporary storage, logistics, rental of trading spaces, pre-sale preparation (including calibration, sorting, packaging, and product certification), consolidation and redistribution of wholesale goods, loading and unloading, and handling of export-import documentation, as well as legal and financial consultations. The MI Mental Health series highlights the opportunities that Michigan's children, teens, and adults of all ages have to find the mental health help they need, when and where they need it. Robert Sheehan Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority serves six northern Michigan counties. Danis Russell While the state legislature has already appropriated sufficient funds to cover these costs, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services must take action to release them. Kevin Fischer Marianne Huff According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one out of five children have a mental, emotional or behavioral health disorder. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The center has been established at the Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn (KNU), which will function under the auspices of the International Fund for Turkic Culture and Heritage, which has structural divisions in several countries around the world, Head of the center, Kairat Osmonaliev said Trend reports via official media. According to him, the tasks of the center will include conducting fundamental research in archeology, history, ethnography, folklore, languages, and literature of Turkic peoples. Osmonaliev noted that the work will not only be in the plane of theoretical research; it is planned to support programs aimed at studying and preserving historical and cultural sites and monuments of intangible heritage. In 2022-2023, the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Azerbaijan worked out the issue of establishing partnership relations between the International Foundation for Turkic Culture and Heritage (IFTCH), the headquarters of which is located in Baku, with KNU named after J. Balasagyn. Consequently, a memorandum of cooperation was signed, and, as a result, the Center of Turkic Heritage was established by the decision of the Academic Council of the university in early September this year. Soon it is expected to receive the corresponding grant of the IFTCH. I was offered to head this center, he said. Osmonaliev also mentioned that the center's activities are aimed at the mutual enrichment of Turkic cultures, learning traditions, and strengthening the bonds of friendship between the two nations. Shares in Meyer Burger fell sharply on Wednesday after the solar panel manufacturer announced plans to axe around a fifth of its workforce and shake up management, including replacing its chief executive. As at 1400 BST, shares in the Swiss firm had tumbled 11%. The Thun-based business, one of Europes largest manufacturers of solar panel makers, said the restructuring programme was intended to return the firm to profitability. A "significant" streamlining of the group structure will cut the global workforce of around 1,050 to about 850 by the end of 2025. Chief executive Gunter Erfurt is also stepping down and will leave the company, although he will continue to advise the board during a transition period. Erfurt has been with Meyer for nearly nine years and was appointed chief executive in 2020. He is being replaced by Franz Richter, the supervisory board chair at German manufacturer Dr Honle. Meyer said Richter, who has taken over as executive chair, brought "extensive experience in restructuring industrial companies". Chief financial officer Markus Nikles is also leaving the company. His departure, at the end of September, will leave a slimmed down board of just three members focused on "achieving profitability as quickly as possible", Meyer said. Although demand for solar power has grown significantly in recent years, manufacturing capacity has also expanded, weighing on prices. China has led much of the growth. In a post confirming his departure on X, formerly Twitter, Erfurt said: "I believe that we have been able to convince many people in Europe and the USA in recent years that production outside of China is not only technically and economically possible, but also absolutely necessary. "Unfortunately, European politicians were too afraid of China and were not prepared to protect the European solar industry against unfair competition. "For a second time, an industry of the future has been sacrificed to China." Kettle control and water filtration technology specialist Strix Group reported adjusted revenue of 67.2m for its first half on Wednesday, marking a 3.5% increase at constant exchange rates, though it warned of a weaker third-quarter performance. The AIM-traded firm said that growth was driven by a strong performance in its kettle controls division, and a positive shift towards higher-margin sales in regulated and less regulated markets. Adjusted gross margins improved to 40%, up 320 basis points from the same period last year, maintaining 2023 levels despite seasonally lower trading. Its adjusted profit before tax rose 15.9% to 8m at constant exchange rates. Net debt decreased significantly to 68.8m, from 83.7m at the end of 2023, reducing the net debt leverage to just under 2x - well ahead of the company's year-end target. Following a successful equity placing that generated gross proceeds of 8.7m, leverage further decreased to 1.76x. The company said it had undertaken several restructuring initiatives to strengthen its core business and support medium-term opportunities for profitable growth. They included the planned disposal of its Halopure division, expected to be completed by the end of the financial year, and the streamlining of its consumer goods division to drive ongoing profitability. Strix had also partially relocated manufacturing activities from its Ramsey factory to its facility in China to improve shipping times, reduce costs, and lessen its environmental footprint. The integration of Billi, a recent acquisition, had been successfully completed. Despite slight delays in launching new products, Billi had secured initial distribution agreements in Europe and was expected to report high single-digit growth for the full year. Strix had also started capital investment in new next-generation kettle controls, with revenue streams from the initiative anticipated in the second half of 2025. Looking ahead, Strix said it expected continued progress in rebasing its business and was optimistic about achieving a net debt leverage target of 1.5x ahead of the end of the 2025 financial year. While it experienced relatively lower trading in parts of the third quarter, it said it anticipated gaining further clarity on sales trends in the kettle controls market as it entered its peak season, bolstered by upcoming product launches. Despite challenges from currency headwinds and commodity prices, Strix said it was implementing strategies to mitigate the obstacles where possible. The company's strengthened balance sheet would allow for continued investment in technology and innovation, positioning it well for future growth. Its board confirmed that, notwithstanding macroeconomic uncertainties, Strix was on track to report results for the full 2024 financial year in line with market expectations. Strix has made considerable progress on a number of fronts in the first half of the year, namely the continued rebasing of the business and the reduction of our debt position which I'm very pleased to report is ahead of our target, said chief executive officer Mark Bartlett. Operational improvements have been made across the group, better positioning us for medium and long term growth opportunities including new product launches, rationalisation of the consumer goods division and the roll out of Billi in key markets. Bartlett said the company continued to see profitable growth opportunities in all of its core markets, and looked forward to executing on its strategy in the second half of the year, further improving its competitive position, strengthening the balance sheet and delivering profit growth. Notwithstanding the macro uncertainties, including the relatively lower trading for parts of the third quarter in regulated kettle controls, the board expects to deliver full year results for the year in line with market expectations. At 1037 BST, shares in Strix Group were down 5.26% at 79.2p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Hostmore , which owns the UK franchise of TGI Fridays, said on Wednesday that it was filing for administration. The news came less than two weeks after Hostmore said it was abandoning its pursuit of TGI Fridays after it lost an important revenue stream. It said at the time that it expected the company to be wound up and delisted, with TGI Fridays continuing its operations in the UK under new ownership. Hostmore said the filing of administration will have no direct impact on the operations of its trading subsidiary, Thursdays. "Unfortunately, all of the board's efforts to implement a lasting solution to support the long-term financial future of the business came against a highly challenging trading and macroeconomic backdrop, and efforts to create value for shareholders through the proposed acquisition of TGI Fridays, while well-advanced, encountered adverse events outside of the board's control," it said. Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "It's a highly unwelcome Wednesday for the chain inspired by the expression Thank God Its Friday. Its owner Hostmore has thrown in the towel and appointed administrators after plans to buy the chain collapsed last month. "TGI Fridays bounded onto the UK restaurant scene in the mid-eighties with its Americana inspired decor and menus sating the appetite for US cuisine dining. UK consumers were in the middle of a love affair with all things American, with the brat-pack films top billing in cinemas, and Madonna and Whitney Houston top of the charts. "Almost 40 years on, plenty of other rivals have stolen a march on its menu, the once unique decor seems dated and Asian fusion food seems to be a bigger draw for younger diners." Streeter said that even though the chain had focused on reducing costs, and significantly reducing losses from unprofitable stores, it wasnt enough to keep the business afloat. "Clearly there was still a certain level of loyal love for the chain from long-time fans with guest scores having risen to record levels, but the turnaround wasnt sharp enough to lure enough people through the doors," she said. "Given the brand recognition, its continued operation in more than 50 other countries, and the level of loyal custom, its unlikely to disappear from the UK scene completely. However, a new owner is likely to significantly reduce the number of outlets across the UK, and focus on its more successful restaurants such as in Londons Leicester Square." Employers who force staff to return to the office five days a week have been called the dinosaurs of our age by one of the worlds leading experts who coined the term presenteeism. Sir Cary Cooper, a professor of organisational psychology and health at the University of Manchesters Alliance Manchester Business School, said employers imposing strict requirements on staff to be in the office risked driving away talented workers, damaging the wellbeing of employees and undermining their financial performance. Guardian One of Americas biggest carmakers, Stellantis, could face fresh strikes after the United Auto Workers (UAW) announced plans for members to vote on authorizing a walkout. The UAW president Shawn Fain accused executives at the automotive giant of being out of control on Tuesday evening. The company wants you to be scared, he told his unions members, but we are 100% within our rights and within our power to take strike action if necessary. Guardian Britains worklessness crisis is costing taxpayers 16bn a year through lost tax revenue and an inflated benefits bill, top economists have warned. The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and the Commission on the Future of Employment Support warned that the countrys workforce was shrinking at the fastest rate since the 1980s, leading to a shortfall in employment-related taxes. At the same time, the number of people claiming benefits because of ill-health has also spiked, leading to a rapid rise in the cost of benefits, while a growing number has never worked. Telegraph The boss of ITV has hit out at plans to ban junk food adverts on TV before 9pm, warning it could force the broadcaster to make programming cuts. Dame Carolyn McCall said the company had been fighting the ban for some time and warned it would lead to millions of pounds in lost revenues. Speaking at the Royal Television Society convention in London on Tuesday, she said: Weve done loads of research to say this is not going to make a dent in childhood obesity. But it is a political thing and so were going to have to mitigate it in any way we can. Telegraph Philip Morris International has offloaded Vectura for just 150 million, three years after its contentious 1 billion acquisition of the respiratory drugs company triggered a backlash from the public health sector. The maker of Marlboro cigarettes has sold the Chippenham-based company to Molex, a US company that owns the contract development and manufacturing organisation Phillips Medisize, in a setback for its transformation away from tobacco. The Times BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, September 18. Plans are underway to modernize the infrastructure of the Bedel checkpoint at the Kyrgyz-Chinese border, Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan and Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry, Bakyt Torobayev said during the 16th meeting of the Intergovernmental Kyrgyz-Chinese Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation with the participation of Deputy Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative of China for International Trade Negotiations Lin Ji, Trend reports. Torobayev pointed out that the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project is moving along step by step as part of a three-way partnership. He shone a light on the newly opened Bedel checkpoint, which has made crossing the Kyrgyz-Chinese border a walk in the park. Now, we face the task of modernizing the infrastructure of the new Bedel checkpoint and jointly working on the construction of the Barskoon-Uchaturfan-Aksuu road, he stated. Additionally, the minister noted that Kyrgyzstan has significant potential for enhancing trade and economic relations with China in areas such as the digital economy, agriculture, tourism, renewable energy, and border trade. Cooperation in these areas can benefit both sides. To achieve this, we need to finalize the creation of protocols for the supply of certain types of agricultural products and food from Kyrgyzstan to China, he added. During the meeting, it was reported that trade turnover between the two countries reached $20 billion in 2023, marking a 32 percent increase compared to the previous year, with nearly $11 billion achieved from January through July of this year. The 16th meeting protocol of the Intergovernmental Kyrgyz-Chinese Commission was signed following the negotiations. The parties agreed that the final treaty outlining important areas of cooperation will act as a "roadmap" for the near and medium term actions of the two countries' governing bodies. Amazon has appointed Samir Kumar as the new Country Manager for India, following the sudden departure of Manish Tiwary. Kumar, who has been with Amazon since 1999, will officially take on his new role starting October 1, as announced by the company. Kumar, a veteran of Amazon with extensive experience across various markets, will oversee the company's consumer business in India. This role marks an expansion of his responsibilities, as he will continue to manage Amazons consumer operations in the Middle East, South Africa, and Turkey. Manish Tiwary, who has led Amazon India since July 2020, resigned on August 6 after reported disagreements with Amit Agarwal, Amazon's Senior Vice President for Emerging Markets. Agarwal praised Tiwary's contributions, noting his role in establishing Amazon.in as a premier online shopping destination for Indians. Amazon India. Kumar will oversee the existing leadership team, including Saurabh Srivastava (Categories), Harsh Goyal (Everyday Essentials), Amit Nanda (Marketplace), and Aastha Jain (Growth Initiatives). Kishore Thota (Emerging Markets Shopping Experience) will now report directly to Amit Agarwal. The leadership transition will introduce a dual management structure within. Kumar will oversee the existing leadership team, including Saurabh Srivastava (Categories), Harsh Goyal (Everyday Essentials), Amit Nanda (Marketplace), and Aastha Jain (Growth Initiatives). Kishore Thota (Emerging Markets Shopping Experience) will now report directly to Amit Agarwal. Agarwal emphasized the strategic importance of India to Amazon's global operations and expressed confidence in Kumars ability to drive future growth. "With Samir's extensive experience and our strong local leadership, I am optimistic about our continued success and our ability to deliver for customers and the business in India", Agarwal stated. Kumar was also instrumental in the launch of Amazon.in in 2013, underscoring his deep-rooted connection to Amazons growth in the region. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A Staten Island man is facing multiple charges after being arrested in connection with a robbery at the Staten Island Mall, authorities allege. Luis Ramos, 37, of the 100 block of Brabant Street in Mariners Harbor, stands accused of committing a knifepoint robbery at Macys on Aug. 13 around 11:50 a.m. The crime ultimately came to a head when the defendant displayed the knife to the loss prevention officer and fled the scene on foot with the stolen items, the criminal complaint alleges. A loss prevention officer watched on video surveillance as Ramos entered the store and proceeded to remove two pairs of sunglasses, the complaint details. According to police, the sunglasses were worth approximately $755. Ramos allegedly walked past all cash registers without paying for the items. Ramos then pulled the knife after the man confronted him outside of the Macys exit in an attempt to retrieve the merchandise, the complaint alleges. The worker was in fear for his physical safety and proceeded to back away from the defendant, according to court documents. Ramos faces charges of robbery, menacing, petit larceny and possession of stolen property and a weapon. The defendants attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. The Richmond County District Attorneys Office requested bail be set at $25,000 cash or $75,000 bond. The defendant is due to appear in Supreme Court, St. George, on Oct. 2. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A 17-year-old boy allegedly walked into Curtis High School with a loaded gun on Wednesday morning, according to police. Police took the boy into custody at about 10:15 a.m. at the high school at 105 Hamilton Ave. in St. George, according to preliminary information provided to a spokesman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The boy, who is a student at the school, is being questioned as the investigation continues, the police spokesman said. The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and all students and staff are safe, said a statement from the city Department of Education. NYPD safely recovered this item after brave students voiced a concern. All safety procedures were followed, and we are working closely with NYPD regarding follow-up actions. Reaction outside school Reactions from students and parents outside the school ranged from surprise to concern. I got an email and then I saw it on the Advance, said the mother of an 11th grade girl. I dont know, times that were in right now, like, its a little much, you know? A Mariners Harbor father who was outside Curtis to pick up his daughter called for more metal detectors in general in the public school system. I dont understand why they dont have a metal detector in all these schools. That makes no sense, why would they bring a gun inside the house? Inside the school? So personally, I think all schools should have metal detector. People can just come in and you cant touch people these days, so they need to have that. A former student, 19, of Mariners Harbor, picking up her little brother, 15, said, I am shocked. I just want my little brother and the other students to be safe. When I was a student I wasnt concerned about safety, but today I am. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Borough President Vito Fossella honored Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, longtime educator and former principal of Monsignor Farrell High School, with the 2023 Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award on Tuesday night during a ceremony at the Oakwood high school. Whalen is a West Brighton native, educator and man of faith who has spent years in service to the Catholic church and in service to the community both on Staten Island and abroad. Fossella presents the award to Whalen. (Courtesy/The Office of the Staten Island Borough President)The Office of the Staten Island Borough President The Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award was created in 1986 in honor of Staten Islands ninth borough president, Albert V. Maniscalco, whose tenure from 1955 to 1965 saw the creation of the Greenbelt and the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The annual award celebrates civic-minded Staten Islanders who have dedicated their lives in service for the betterment of their community. Whalen is shown here with Farrell students. (Courtesy/The Office of the Staten Island Borough President)The Office of the Staten Island Borough President Whalen was ordained in 1983 and spent many years in the church learning and educating others across the borough and the globe. He served those who were underprivileged in Kenya, as a deacon to the Bukusu tribe. After years of religious service and education, Whalen became the principal of Monsignor Farrell High School in 2010. He served in the role until his appointment as vicar for clergy in 2019. The Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award was created in 1986 in honor of Staten Islands ninth borough president, Albert V. Maniscalco, whose tenure from 1955 to 1965 saw the creation of the Greenbelt and the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. (Courtesy/The Office of the Staten Island Borough President)The Office of the Staten Island Borough President According to the borough presidents office, Whalen helped instill in many Staten Islanders the value of culture and good character. He remains a cornerstone of the Farrell community and of Staten Island. Whalen became the principal of Monsignor Farrell High School in 2010. He served in the role until his appointment as vicar for clergy in 2019. (Courtesy/The Office of the Staten Island Borough President)The Office of the Staten Island Borough President A German woman lost her life after she was attacked by a shark while sailing off the coast of the Canary Islands over the weekend, according to a report in euroweeklynews.com. The 30-year-old woman, who wasnt identified, was a part of a catamaran crew when she was attacked. The predatory fish attacked the catamaran and the victim was pulled into the water before losing her leg to a bite. The catamaran sent out a Mayday at approximately 4:05 p.m. The woman was a crew member on a British-flagged vessel named Daliliance Chichester. There apparently was a quick medical response, but the woman sadly lost her life after going into cardiac arrest while being flown to Gran Canaria Hospital on a Spanish Air Force helicopter. She was officially pronounced dead at the hospital on Monday night. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two new healthcare laws signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul will help emergency medical personnel save lives in dire situations and ensure that New Yorkers relying on Medicaid can receive ambulatory services without worrying about the bill. My administration is committed to addressing health care disparities in our state and ensuring all New Yorkers can access the care that they need and deserve, Hochul said. This legislation ensures essential treatment and transportation, and allows New Yorkers to focus on their well-being during an emergency rather than worrying about the financial cost or availability of critical health care when they need it most. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A 10-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after being struck by a car while aboard a bike in New Brighton, police said. The crash occurred around 3:10 p.m. on Richmond Terrace at Nicholas Street, according to a spokesman for the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. According to police, a preliminary investigation determined the bicyclist was traveling northbound on Nicholas Street when he collided with a 2011 Honda Accord that was traveling westbound on Richmond Terrace. EMS transported the boy to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, police said. Police said the 49-year-old male driver of the Honda, which could be seen with front-end damage, remained on the scene. A bicycle could be seen leaning up against a tree on the sidewalk. There have been no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing, the spokesman said. It was bad, said a man who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the crash. Emergency officials respond to the scene of a crash reported on Richmond Terrace in New Brighton on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)Staff-Shot This is a developing story and additional information will be posted as it becomes available. *** Want to stay up to date on breaking news or submit tips to our breaking news team if you see an emergency response on Staten Island? -- Sign up for free breaking news text messages BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, September 18. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto will visit Kyrgyzstan, Trend reports via the country's Foreign Ministry. "At the invitation of Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev, Peter Szijjarto will visit Kyrgyzstan on September 19, 2024, for an official visit," the ministry said. During the visit, the fourth meeting of the Kyrgyz-Hungarian Strategic Council will be held, where the foreign ministries of both countries will discuss the prospects for bilateral and economic cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Hungary. Data from the National Statistics Committee of Kyrgyzstan shows that trade turnover with Hungary from January through July amounted to $7.7 million, a decrease of 7.4 percent compared to the same period in 2023 ($8.3 million). Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel STATEN ISLAND Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-North Shore/Southern Brooklyn) will be teaming up to host a safe document shredding and electronic waste disposal event on Saturday, Sept. 21, to help residents protect their identity and personal finances. The free event will be held in the Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church parking lot, located at 1091 Forest Ave., in West Brighton, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is open to the public. Attendees are invited to bring documents and personal devices, including cell phones, tablets, laptops, hard drives, memory cards, CDs and DVDS. Printers, TVs or monitors will not be accepted. While Staten Island remains the safest community of its size in the country, identity theft and scams continue to be some of the most common crimes impacting our neighbors and loved ones, McMahon said in a statement promoting a similar event this past May. It is vitally important that we continue to avoid suspicious phone calls, emails and texts to prevent falling victim to these pesky con artists,' he said. Scammers are savvy and while my office has successfully prosecuted dozens of scammers and helped return hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution for Staten Island scam victims, prevention remains the strongest tool in combatting these lowly larcenists. To request more information, contact James Clinton at (718) 556-6350 or jamesclinton@rcda.ny.gov or Kelly Henry at (718) 727-9406 or khenry@nysenate.gov STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Election Day is rapidly approaching. Do you know whos on your ballot? The presidency is in the hands of all Americans, but there are three races that Staten Islanders can make their voices heard in this November. Heres what you need to know about the faces behind the races youll see in the polling booth. U.S. President This combination of photos shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center on Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)AP Former President Donald Trump will represent the Republicans for the third time this fall as he battles Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, for the Oval Office. Should Trump succeed in reaching 270 electoral votes, it will be his second term in office. He tapped Ohio Sen. JD Vance to be his vice president over his previous vice presidential pick, former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Harris entered the race in late July after President Joe Biden bowed out of the running. She is the first female Democratic nominee of Black and South Asian descent. Her running mate is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. New York State Federal Senator Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, left, is facing off against Republican challenger Mike Sapraicone for her senatorial spot this November. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) (Photo by Keisha Clukey/Newsday RM via Getty Images)(AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) (Photo by Keisha Clukey/Newsday RM via Getty Images) Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is seeking to defend her senatorial seat in our nations congress against Republican Mike Sapraicone. According to Gillibrands website, she is a lifelong New Yorker dedicated to fighting for middle-class families in the United States Senate. Shes supporting our men and women in uniform, creating safer communities, and advocating for seniors and children alike. Sapraicone, on the other hand, is a retired New York Police Department Detective, community volunteer, small business founder, and nationally-recognized security expert, his website states. 11th New York Congressional District Democrat Andrea Morse, right, will battle incumbent Republican, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, for her U.S. congressional seat. (Courtesy of Katrina Hajagos) (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)(Courtesy of Katrina Hajagos) (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) Incumbent Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, will face off against political newcomer Andrea Morse, a Democrat, in the race for Malliotakis seat in the House of Representatives. Malliotakis defeated former Rep. Max Rose in 2022, winning 61.7% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. Malliotakis had unseated incumbent Rose, a Democrat, in 2020, taking his seat with 53.1% of the vote. Before serving in the House, Malliotakis represented Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn in the state Assembly for five terms. She was the Republican candidate for mayor against Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2017. Malliotakis has been consistently active in advocating for the Staten Island community throughout her tenure, recently giving $1 million in federal funding to the Mid-Island Bluebelt and $750,000 in federal funding to Lifestyles for the Disabled a group that has helped Staten Islanders with disabilities for the past three decades. She will run on the Republican and Conservative Party lines. A third-generation Staten Islander, Morse is vying to flip the seat back to blue this November. A 62-year-old lawyer, she is a lifelong Staten Islander who has served the community for many years. Her campaign is going to center on the issues that matter to Staten Islanders, while fighting for the people who are the bedrock of Staten Island, Morse told the Advance in April. Those issues, according to Morse, are immigration, womens rights, more stringent gun laws, protecting democracy and public safety. 23rd New York State Senate district Republican Marko Kepi is vying for Democratic Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton's state senate seat this November. (Staten Island Advance/ Jan Somma-Hammel) (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)(Staten Island Advance/ Jan Somma-Hammel) (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, the Democratic incumbent, faces a challenge from Republican Marko Kepi in this race. Scarcella-Spanton narrowly won the seat in 2022 against Republican and Conservative Party candidate Joseph Tirone 50.8% to 49%. The seat was previously held by Democrat Diane Savino. Scarcella-Spanton, whos been working in government since 2009, spoke with the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com in January after completing her first year in office, during which 22 of her sponsored bills passed in the State Senate. Scarcella-Spanton is a co-sponsor of a piece of legislation, brought by State Sen. Pete Harckham, of Westchester and Hudson Valley, that would prevent localities from reducing municipal retirees healthcare benefits below certain standards. Additionally, Scarcella-Spanton is the prime co-sponsor of the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which would allow mentally competent, terminally ill patients over the age of 18 the choice of self-administering prescribed life-ending medication. Kepi ran for the Mid-Island City Council seat in 2021 and the East Shore/Brooklyn state Assembly seat in 2020. Kepi, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, recently graduated from the NYPD Police Academy where he trained to be an officer. The Staten Island Democratic Party shared a letter in late August with the Advance/SILive.com from chair Laura Sword to District Attorney Michael McMahon, a Democrat, asking for him to investigate allegations of petition fraud against Kepi. Staten Island Democrats allegations against the Republican candidate werent the first time Kepi has been connected to political misdeeds. McMahon shared information from a grand jury report in November 2022 after it convened to consider fraud in an unidentified 2021 Staten Island primary. The grand jury said it found that fraud had occurred in that primary, but that it did not affect the outcome of the election due to the safeguards in place at the time. Despite that, the group concluded that an overhaul of the states electoral system is needed. The report cited several specific incidents of alleged signature fraud in the unspecified 2021 election that, according to the panel, included a man signing an election document after his death, and multiple signatures for different people that looked to have been written by the same person. The grand jury made recommendations instead of filing charges because the alleged fraud could not be ascribed to any individual, officials said. Though the courts empaneled the grand jury, McMahon announced the report and his office helped guide the jury through its proceeding. Under the states grand jury law, their reports can propose legislative action based on their findings, but cannot be critical of an identified or identifiable person when doing so. Despite that requirement, the case described closely mirrors the 2021 Republican primary for the Mid-Islands City Council seat that came down to sitting Mid-Island Councilman David Carr, also a Republican, and Kepi. That race marked the first citywide experience with ranked-choice voting. After the first count round, Kepi led Carr and three other competitors, including Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo, who represents Mid-Island, before taking his current office, but that changed as the count rounds went on, according to New York City Board of Elections records. No charges have ever been filed against Kepi, who has not won the support of the Staten Island Republican Party. 63rd New York State Assembly District Democrat Matthew Mobilia, right, is seeking to uproot Republican incumbent Sam Pirozzolo from his assembly seat. (Staten Island Advance/Erik Bascome) (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)(Staten Island Advance/Erik Bascome) (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) Sam Pirozzolo won the State Assembly seat in 2022, following the retirement of longtime Democratic Assemblyman Michael Cusick. Pirozzolo had run against Cusick in 2012. Pirozzolo in 2021 was unsuccessful in his bid for the Mid-Island City Council seat. Pirozzolo will also run on the Republican and Conservative Party ticket, according to Ballotpedia. He has spoken out against congestion pricing, the migrant crisis and bail reform, according to previous Advance/SILive.com reporting. When asked about the first-year accomplishment of which he is most proud, Pirozzolo pointed to his efforts helping secure $12 million from state funds related to the ongoing opioid crisis. Staten Island had been excluded from $2.6 billion in funds Attorney General Letitia James secured from a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, because funding went through the citys public hospital system, none of which are on Staten Island. James, Mayor Eric Adams and a host of local elected officials, including Pirozzolo, announced the funding for Staten Island at Richmond University Medical Center on Dec. 6, 2023, and the assemblyman said his work with local service providers helped him advocate for the funding. He also pointed to grant money he secured for Staten Island non-profit organizations (many of which rely on public money to function) and borough public schools as first-year accomplishments. Pirozzolos challenger is another fresh face to the Staten Island political scene, Democrat Matthew Mobilia. Mobilia, a lifelong Staten Islander, runs his own law firm on Forest Avenue and began his law career as an assistant district attorney under District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, moving from Criminal Court to the Trials Bureau. He prosecuted crimes involving guns, narcotics, burglaries and robberies. Uncontested races New York State Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Charles Fall, Assemblyman Michael Tannousis, State Sen. Andrew Lanza, and Assemblyman Michael Reilly will run uncontested this November. (Staten Island Advance/Dr. Gracelyn Santos) (Staten Island Advance/Paul Liotta) (Staten Island Advance/Carol Ann Benanti)(Staten Island Advance/Dr. Gracelyn Santos) (Staten Island Advance/Paul Liotta) (Staten Island Advance/Carol Ann Benanti) State Sen. Andrew Lanza, a Republican who serves the 24th District; Assemblyman Michael Tannousis, a Republican who serves the 64th district; Assemblyman Michael Reilly, a Republican who serves the 62nd district, and state Assemblyman Charles Fall, a Democrat who serves the 61st district, are all running without opposition this November, as they did during the June primary. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D Staten Island/Brooklyn) officially received endorsements for re-election from five law enforcement agencies, including the Police Benevolent Association. Dozens of city officials and officers gathered with the senator on Forest Avenue to offer words of praise and encouragement in her election battle against Republican Marko Kepi this fall. We endorsed her right away, before we even knew that a police officer was deciding to run for office, but from the beginning, Jessica was a fighter for us. She was there for police officers; she understands what police officers are going through on a daily basis Shes trying to help us get a better quality of life for our police officers, and thats what were about, PBA President Pat Hendry said. Her ultimate goal is to try to keep the people of Staten Island and all the areas that she covers, and all New Yorkers, safe. This marks the second time Kepi, newly graduated from the NYPD Police Academy, has been snubbed by what would have been vital political allies after the Staten Island Republican Party did not offer him their endorsement. Detectives Endowment Association vice president, Det. Rick Simplicio had this to say about Kepi: Unfortunately, for the other candidate, hes not a proven member yet, and Jessica has [been] so we have to go with what we know. Jessica is 100% backing the blue. Democratic State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton smiles after a press conference at the Staten Island Democratic County Committee on Sept. 17, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Jillian Delaney)Staten Island Advance/Jillian Delaney Democratic State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton smiles after a press conference at the Staten Island Democratic County Committee on Sept. 17, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Jillian Delaney)Staten Island Advance/Jillian Delaney Scarcella-Spanton is looking to pass legislation akin to the PBA bill she passed, that would bring more tier equity to policing positions like detectives, sergeants, and more, in a single sweep. Listen, this means the world to me. I said from the beginning that I was going to run and be an elected official based on public safety, but its just beyond public safety, too. Its making sure that these officers get the benefits they need in their retirement, and making sure we improve the pensions for current officers who are young right now and looking for a reason to stay on this job, Scarcella-Spanton said. Im proud of what we were able to accomplish in the first two years, but these elections come up fast, and I have so much more that I want to do. In total, the PBA, DEA, Captain Endowments Association, the Sergeant Benevolent Association, and the Lieutenants Benevolent Association gave Scarcella-Spanton a double thumbs-up. In response to the PBAs endorsement of Scarcella-Spanton, Kepi said: The people of Staten Island and Brooklyn are well aware that Jessica supported the Defund the Police movement, specifically the anti-police rally in front of the 122nd precinct, and publicly tweeted her support for it. Im confident police officers and their families will vote for me as the only tough on crime candidate. The tweet Kepi is referring to is about when Scarcella-Spanton tweeted her approval of then-Congressional Rep. Max Roses participation in a Black Lives Matter rally on Staten Island in 2020. Her campaign told the Advance in light of Kepis comment, Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton has the support of all law enforcement unions because she has a track record of providing the police with the resources they need to keep Staten Island and Brooklyn safe. Embroiled in controversy A former U.S. Marine Corps member, Kepi ran for the Mid-Island City Council seat in 2021 and the East Shore/Brooklyn state Assembly seat in 2020. The Staten Island Democratic Party shared a letter in late August with the Advance/SILive.com from chair Laura Sword to District Attorney Michael McMahon, a Democrat, asking for him to investigate allegations of petition fraud against Kepi. Republican Marko Kepi is vying for Democratic Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton's state senate seat this November. (Staten Island Advance/ Jan Somma-Hammel) (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)(Staten Island Advance/ Jan Somma-Hammel) (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Staten Island Democrats allegations against the Republican candidate werent the first time Kepi has been connected to political misdeeds. McMahon shared information from a grand jury report in November 2022 after it convened to consider fraud in an unidentified 2021 Staten Island primary. The grand jury said it found that fraud had occurred in that primary, but that it did not affect the outcome of the election due to the safeguards in place at the time. Despite that, the group concluded that an overhaul of the states electoral system is needed. The report cited several specific incidents of alleged signature fraud in the unspecified 2021 election that, according to the panel, included a man signing an election document after his death, and multiple signatures for different people that looked to have been written by the same person. The grand jury made recommendations instead of filing charges because the alleged fraud could not be ascribed to any individual, officials said. Though the courts empaneled the grand jury, McMahon announced the report and his office helped guide the jury through its proceeding. Under the states grand jury law, their reports can propose legislative action based on their findings, but cannot be critical of an identified or identifiable person when doing so. Despite that requirement, the case described closely mirrors the 2021 Republican primary for the Mid-Islands City Council seat that came down to sitting Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island) and Kepi. That race marked the first citywide experience with ranked-choice voting. After the first count round, Kepi led Carr and three other competitors, including Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid-Island) before taking his current office, but that changed as the count rounds went on, according to New York City Board of Elections records. No charges have ever been filed against Kepi, who has not won the support of the Staten Island Republican Party. DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, September 18. Representatives of the Tajikaeronavigatsiya state unitary enterprise and the Uzbekistan Air Navigation Center signed an agreement on procedures for cooperation in the air traffic service area between Dushanbe and Tashkent, Trend reports. During the meeting in Uzbekistan, the sides discussed technical aspects of an air route that starts in Uzbekistan and ends in Tajikistan at the point "AGVUT". It was noted that this route offers significant benefits for operators in terms of time and fuel savings. Tajikaeronavigatsiya also presented its automated flight planning system and achievements in implementing PBN (performance-based navigation) in Tajikistan. Additionally, the working group visited the aeronautical information service and the training center at the Uzbekistan Airways facility. On August 29, 2024, the Government of Tajikistan adopted the National Civil Aviation Security Program for 2025-2030. The program aims to ensure the safety of passengers, flight crews, and ground personnel, protect airport facilities and infrastructure, and enhance the efficiency of international civil aviation flights in Tajikistan. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size This years festival has kicked off, with almost 500 shows on offer across Melbourne and greater Victoria. Here, our writers take a closer look. See all 4 stories . Artistic fashions wax and wane, but theres one subject that will feature in any fringe festival. We might have been at it for millions of years, but theres always something new to say about sex. This years Melbourne Fringe is awash with all things erotic, but as youd expect, most of its a long way from the narrow version of sex that dominates the mainstream. Jodee Mundy is curator of Disabled and Sexy, a party that will take over Arts House in North Melbourne for a night celebrating sexuality in all its diverse forms. I think intimacy and sexuality is both very public and very private, Mundy says. Theres a major industry that revolves around it. Its on our screens and our televisions ... what is not seen as often is the visibility of deaf and disabled people having intimacy and sexuality in our public realm. Mundy says Disabled and Sexy is about reclaiming that birthright that we all have to intimacy and sexual expression. Shell co-host the night with deaf drag queen Mademoiselle Coco, alongside artists drawing on the many forms that have long been associated with the erotic: kink and seduction, striptease, burlesque. The party might be an opportunity to improve the visibility of under-represented artists, but its first and foremost a chance to blow off steam. The deaf and disabled community spend the majority of their time advocating, constantly pushing and explaining ourselves, Mundy says. And I really wanted to throw a night where we didnt have to do that. Where everyone could just really let their hair down, have a good laugh, dress up. Sexologist Dr Martha Tara Lee performs in Orgasmic AF. Credit: Kristin Cornejo Youre going to meet people that youve never met before, youre going to have conversations youve never had before, and its going to open your eyes to how awesome it is to be human. And how sexy we can all be too. Advertisement Dr Martha Tara Lees solo show, Orgasmic AF, has a similar aim. Lee is Singapores leading sexologist, but shes also very familiar with Melbourne (she holds two degrees from Monash University) and the contrasting attitudes to sex in each country. Asians tend to be much more inhibited, because of the lack of sex education. But with Australians, I find you have better work-life balance and people prioritise their relationships and sexuality a lot more. Theyll have plenty to learn at Lees Fringe debut, a collection of eye-opening tales, tips and humour shes collected over her years at the front line of sexuality. The show will feature audience interaction, but Lee wont be hanging anyone out to dry. Shes used to making herself the butt of the joke. I dont have an issue laughing at myself and having people laugh at me. Thats the way Ive been doing it for a really long time. I dont want to embarrass my client during workshops and client stories are confidential, so a lot of times I end up sharing my stories. The mixed messages around sex often leave Lees clients in a state of confusion: I get asked a lot how often people should be masturbating, how often they should be having sex. As if theres some kind of a benchmark. Bianka Ismailovskis Working Girl explores her career as a sex worker. Perhaps the mismatch between sex in the media and our lived experiences in part explains the perennial appetite for art that promises to demystify the whole business. Its certainly found an audience for Bianka Ismailovskis solo show Working Girl, which explores her career as a sex worker. Advertisement People love hearing sex work stories, she says. I think a lot of people struggle to understand how someone does that for a job because they cant necessarily envision themselves doing it. Loading Like many of her peers, Ismailovskis sex education was skewed by the kind of advice she received from Dolly Doctor, an advice column in the Dolly teen magazine that guided young women between 1970 until 2016. Sex for female pleasure was unheard of. I didnt even know that I could orgasm, and so I didnt have one until I was 21. Because it was just all about how to service him ... and I think for women especially, its a real learning curve to understand that sex requires a lot of vulnerability. Working Girl is comedy, but it is also potentially empowering. Speaking about sex and normalising it and allowing people to know that, yeah, this doesnt have to be something that lives in the shadows, its a pleasurable experience that were all doing, I think it actually helps audiences to feel seen and to allow them to feel OK about it, Ismailovski says. TOMATO is a three-hander exploring lust. Chou Kuan-Jous dance education in Taipei was hardly an exercise in empowerment and self-expression. Students had to maintain the same haircut throughout high school and college, while their weight was posted publicly each week, with punishments meted out to those who failed to conform to expectations. She quickly realised shed be forging her own path after graduation. Im a lazy dancer, Im not really into training, and what interested me more was performing arts ... What really inspired me was when I started to study feminism and started to reflect on my perspective on my body and my relationship experiences. Advertisement Her Melbourne Fringe debut is TOMATO, a three-hander exploring lust. Between friends we talk a lot about our personal sex lives, but in public or in a dance piece, to talk about lust or desire is not really common, she says. Maybe talk about sexuality or gender identity, but not about lust. The starting point for the work was the act of masturbation, and Chou wanted to capture the awkwardness and secrecy that usually accompanies solitary sex. I dont want to provide something beautiful about desire and the dancing body. I want to provide the reality of the difficulties, the insecurities, whether its sex or masturbating. TOMATO is playful and messy, extending in new directions each time its performed. Our attitudes towards sex are culturally loaded, and the show played differently in Taiwan (the audience are really tense), Chou says, than it did in Edinburgh (the audience were half drunk and there was a lot of laughter). Were probably going to get into a fair bit of trouble doing this show, says Temple of Desire director Govind Pillai. Credit: James Henry That cultural baggage might also come into play with Temple of Desire, in which Bharatanatyam dance is given an erotic spin. While the show starts in a very spiritual place, director Govind Pillai says, it ends up in a hot queer mess. Temple of Desire features 16 performers trained in classical Indian dance, where practitioners often begin their training at age four or five. Breaking form can be tough when youve been immersed in a particular mode of dance for so long. A lot of our dancers struggled to move in different ways because they said, Im not trained that way, thats a little too salacious, Pillai says. Advertisement Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt has backed Labors move to put the CFMEU into administration, staring down thousands of demonstrators who marched through Sydney and Melbourne today supporting the construction unions ousted leadership. Taking questions from the media after his National Press Club address this afternoon, Watt was asked if he had misjudged the mood of his partys trade union base given some demonstrators supporting the CFMEU had told reporters at rallies today they wont be voting for Labor at the next election. Heres how Watt responded, edited for length and clarity: The first point is that we havent done this based on what we have decided was politically convenient to do, or not. We did it because it was the right thing to do. There is no way that any government of any political persuasion could have ignored the allegations that weve seen come through the media and congratulations to the media for their work on that and not take action. But, again, as I said in my speech, were not targeting CFMEU members or union members or construction workers at all. Were doing this to ensure that their union gets back to its job, which is representing the interests of those workers. You know, I saw on 60 Minutes the other night, a long-serving CFMEU official Ive forgotten if he was an official or a delegate who was scathing about some of the stuff that has gone on there. So, were not concerned about the politics, of it. Were concerned about doing the right thing. And I noticed Brisbane rally yesterday was significantly smaller in number than the last one. We want to get this union back to what it should be doing which is putting forward the interests of its members. A long-delayed plan for a mini-city of 11,000 homes in Liverpool is one step closer to fruition after the state government agreed to put the proposal on public exhibition after years of back-and-forth over flooding and contamination concerns. The decision followed months of lobbying by proponent Coronation Property and Labor-linked lobbyists including former premier Morris Iemma, whose dealings with the Minns government recently came under the spotlight at budget estimates. An impression of the 11,000-home Moore Point development proposed by Coronation Property across the Georges River from Liverpool. The 32-hectare former industrial site known as Moore Point is across the Georges River from the Liverpool CBD and train station, and has been slated for high-density redevelopment since 2015. Revised plans were submitted to Liverpool Council in 2020 but, because of the complexities of the project and the NSW planning system, the Department of Planning had to clear the proposal for public exhibition first. How long is too long to wait for medical imaging and other essential medical diagnosis tests in Western Australia? The answer to that question is continuing to frustrate health workers and patients as wait times in under-resourced medical sectors continue to blow-out, say the Health Services Union WA. Delays at public hospitals are leading to increased wait-times for medical imaging. Credit: Nic Walker Frustrations are building after award-winning journalist and Greens candidate Sophie McNeill shared her experience of waiting four days at Fiona Stanley Hospital for an MRI before being sent to another centre for imaging recently. In an opinion piece published by this masthead today, McNeill recalls nurses breaking down in tears and doctors lamenting the closure of Fremantle Hospitals emergency department. Photo: Agency for Chemical, Biological, Radiation, and Nuclear Safety of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, September 18. Tajikistan is interested in the use of nuclear technologies for the development of industry, the statement of Tajikistan's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Safety and Security Agency of the National Academy of Sciences said, Trend reports. Director of the Agency Ilhom Mirsaidzoda is taking part in the 68th session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is held from September 16 through 20, 2024 in Vienna. Tajikistan's delegation also includes Deputy Minister of Industry and New Technologies Aziz Nazar and Head of Tajikistan's Permanent Mission to the IAEA Idibek Kalandar. Within the framework of the conference, Professor Ilhom Mirsaidzoda will hold high-level meetings with international colleagues, where he will emphasize Tajikistan's readiness to strengthen its capabilities in the field of nuclear safety and security, the statement emphasizes. Moreover, it is expected that Idibek Kalandar will make efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with key international partners. To note, Tajikistan became a member of the IAEA in 2001. The Agency for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (ANRS) was established in 2003 and is responsible for ensuring nuclear and radiation safety. The Agency was renamed the Agency for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Safety and Security (ACBRNS) in 2021 as it was given additional chemical and biological safety functions. A sweeping review into Australias military justice watchdog kept secret for the last six months has been accidentally published online, revealing recommendations to make the body truly independent and allow it to investigate more deaths in the defence force. The 141-page report into the office of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, which investigates deaths and complaints of misconduct, was briefly uploaded to the website of the royal commission into veterans suicides on Tuesday before being taken down. Senator Jacqui Lambie has released a report the government kept secret for six months. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The independent report, which Defence Minister Richard Marles has refused to release for six months, calls for the inspector-generals office to be granted greater independence from the Department of Defence via new legislation, its own physical offices and a separate email system. These changes recommended by former attorney-general and Federal Court judge Duncan Kerr are designed to combat the perception of critics, including the families of some dead soldiers, that the inspector-generals office was umbilically linked to the command structure of the ADF. 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 A secret recording of a tense 70-minute meeting between Victorian Liberal leaders and now-ousted party room member Moira Deeming has been released by the Federal Court, as her defamation case against Opposition Leader John Pesutto heated up on Tuesday. Moira Deeming, right, and her barrister Sue Chrysanthou arriving for the high-profile defamation case on Wednesday. Credit: Jason South Why was the secret recording played? The recording of the meeting on March 19, 2023 the day after the Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis was handed to Deemings lawyers a week ago. On Monday, Deemings lawyer Sue Chrysanthou, SC, told the court the recording would show Pesutto had given false statements. Deeming was expelled from the Liberal party room in May last year for her role in the rally. She remains a crossbench MP in the Victorian upper house and a broader member of the Liberal Party. Opposition Leader John Pesutto with wife Betty arriving at court on Wednesday. Credit: Jason South Advertisement She is suing Pesutto, alleging the Liberal leader defamed her as a Nazi sympathiser, which Pesutto rejects. That meeting ended with the leadership team telling Deeming they would seek to expel her. How the meeting unfolded is a key plank in Deemings case. Who was there? John Pesutto, opposition leader David Southwick, deputy Liberal leader Georgie Crozier, leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Former MP Matt Bach, who was deputy leader of the upper house at the time Pesuttos then-chief of staff Rodrigo Pintos-Lopez, a Harvard-educated lawyer Moira Deeming, who was a Liberal MP in the Upper House at the time What happened? With dinging Melbourne trams rattling along Spring Street in the background, the audio opened with Pesutto explaining the implications of Deemings attendance at the rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Advertisement Deeming asked Pesutto why she was being blamed for some random horrible people showing up. Deeming: Very obviously, Im not a Nazi. And I dont support Nazis. Moira Deeming addresses the Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne in March last year. Credit: Youtube Pesutto then moved the discussion to the rally organisers and sought an assurance that none of the people Deeming associated with including those she celebrated with after the event had links to the neo-Nazis. Deeming replied that there were no links she could have reasonably known about. Pintos-Lopez, who had only been in the job a few days, can then be heard going through some basic research he compiled on UK anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull. Advertisement Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull outside Parliament House in Canberra last year. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen There was also a discussion about a tweet from Melbourne woman Angela Jones who Deeming celebrated with after the rally and who has attended court this week as an observer that said: Nazis and women want to get rid of pedo filth, why dont you? Southwick told the meeting that, as a Jew, the language in the tweet was seriously offensive to Jewish people. For you to go and have a little champagne with them, Southwick said a reference to footage of Deeming celebrating with rally organisers after the event. The leadership team expressed their fears just months out from the 2022 election that Labor would weaponise Deemings attendance at the rally. Pesutto: They have been itching for something to clobber me with and this is it. Advertisement He said it was the perfect weapon. Deeming said she wanted to fix it and was open to suggestions. Crozier could then be heard expressing her disappointment and anger at Deeming, arguing that the opposition had the Andrews government on the ropes, particularly on integrity matters. Pesutto then raised the prospect of Deeming potentially becoming an independent MP. Pesutto seemed particularly annoyed with her association with Katherine Deves, with whom she also celebrated with after the rally. A year earlier, Deves, then the federal Liberal candidate for Warringah, had been found to have compared her anti-trans activism to resistance against the Nazis. Advertisement How were the pagers tampered with? Social media was, predictably, filled with security people discussing this very question. Could such simple devices have been hacked to somehow explode? Did they have some design flaw that allowed someone to send a message that caused the battery to overheat and enter thermal runaway? Cybersecurity architect Jace Powell, a former counter-IED instructor, said his immediate suspicion was less complicated; a bomb planted in each device. Video of the attacks, and photos of devices following the attacks, seem to support this. Thermal runaway creates burning, popping, hissing and smoke before the battery catches fire and becomes a very hot and hard-to-extinguish flame ball. This attack appeared to feature a small, unexpected concussive force. I highly doubt these pager explosions were due to batteries alone. Lithium-ion batteries just dont have the energy density to produce the observed blast effects, Powell said. My guess is a small plastic explosive payload was inserted in the supply chain. The really interesting part is the detonation mechanism, both software and hardware. The New York Times cites anonymous officials as saying that a small amount of explosive material was inserted next to the battery in each pager, along with a switch that could be triggered remotely. How were they exploded? According to various reports, the pagers received a message and beeped several times before exploding, which could be part of the design of the attack (i.e. to make sure the pagers owner was holding and looking at the device when it blew up), but could also simply be the result of the trigger. Reuters cites sources, including a senior Lebanese security source as saying the tampered pagers not only contained explosives but a special circuit board used as a switch. When the board received a specific signal, which would be embedded in a message sent to the pager, it would cause a heat source significant enough to detonate the explosives. One thing we do know is that each of these devices has cellular connectivity, so you do have a remote trigger built into the device by design. The question is: how do you execute that trigger? said Troy Hunt, an Australian security researcher. You would have to imagine then that this is a combination of not just hardware but software as well [being implemented in the attack], to be able to near simultaneously set all these things off at once. An ambulance carries wounded people in Beirut. Credit: AP What brands were targeted? The pagers reportedly carried the brand of Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company, and some people online claimed the pagers were specifically a model called the AR924, which is marketed as a rugged design with long battery life. However, in a statement to Reuters, Gold Apollo denied that it had made the pagers. Loading A shipment of pagers was reportedly ordered by Hezbollah months ago. Its unknown how or when they were tampered with, with some on social media theorising that factory staff could have been bribed to insert the explosives during manufacturing. Are pagers dangerous? There are no indications so far that any pagers outside the shipment sent to Hezbollah have exploded or are at risk of exploding. Assuming the detonations are the result of physical tampering and not exploiting a flaw in the devices regular hardware or software, it would seem unlikely any pagers outside that shipment are affected. There were trail-blazers, like UK-born Jeremy Davidson, who established The Collective at Palm Beach at Christmas 2016. He rebuilt the old post office into a trendy communal space with five kitchens on the same menu, modelled on the markets of Madrid. And Brisbane-born Nick Woodward and his schoolmates who opened a pan-Asian gourmet restaurant with a colonial twist on the beach at Burleigh (Rick Shores). It soon became Queenslands number-one ranked restaurant. When NZ-born couple, Isla and John Wilson, opened a cafe (Dust Temple) that was also an art gallery and live music space out of a T-shirt factory in Currumbins industrial estate, locals especially us transplants celebrated like we built it ourselves. Each opening was its own cultural revolution. For so long its been about surf culture here, John Wilson said. But we want to help make this area a destination for art and culture. A group of local surfers, including world champions Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson, opened a craft beer brewery with a bar (Balter) 300 metres down the road which soon produced Australias top-rating beer. A new whiskey bar (Scottish Prince) hidden behind red curtains in Palm Beach finally gave us a drinking option that wasnt a surf club (it closed this year). In 2018, Restaurant Labart a Parisian-style bistro which relied solely on its food, not water views opened in Burleigh. It was created by Sydney chef (former head chef of Monopole and Marque) Alex Munoz who soon declared the Gold Coast had more fine dining options than Byron Bay and Noosa combined. Surfers are never far away from anywhere youll dine on the southern Gold Coast. Credit: Siblings Kirra The south was gentrifying fast we could barely keep up with the openings yet seven minutes drive west, there were still farmers selling horse poo for $5 at honesty stalls by the side of country roads, and our beaches were mostly empty, even on weekends. House prices were low, rent was cheap, culture was coming thick and fast into a community keen to corral it. Life began to feel like the Byron Bay of my childhood (the 1980s) when it began its slow metamorphosis from humble blue-collar town to global coastal cultural HQ. But no one outside of here knew; even Byron folk barely 40 minutes drive south still thought we were a bunch of bogans. Hospitality entrepreneur Dave Galvin moved to the southern Gold Coast from the north (hed left Sydney to open QT Gold Coast and never moved back). There were beautiful little micro-environments happening down this side of the coast, he says. Its a hidden secret still. I own a restaurant in Broadbeach, when I talk about the southern Gold Coast with people there they all say, yeah, I have to get down that way soon. Kirra Beach House is proof the southern Gold Coast is changing. Then COVID hit, and Melbourne and Sydney began buying up the southern Gold Coast, sight-unseen. Over 50,000 (across the whole Gold Coast) of you moved; celebrities like Buddy Franklin and Jesinta Campbell bought apartments in southern Gold Coast suburbs no one had heard of, like Bilinga. Hospitality entrepreneurs arrived, and culinary (and hospitality) talent of a level wed never experienced. We were becoming a little bit Melbourne, with better beaches. Galvin opened an ambitious 1200-square-metre beach house near the NSW border at Kirra (Kirra Beach House) with capacity for 750 people, with wine and cocktail bars and lounge areas with cabanas and DJs and an enormous terrace looking across the ocean. It wouldnt have worked in the previous era. I sensed it [gentrification] was starting to happen, I just never imagined it was going to be expedited so quickly through something like COVID, he says. Before COVID, it used to be when we hired anyone, if they were good, not great, I was going to lose them to Brisbane. If they were great, Id lose them to Sydney or Melbourne. Now were getting really talented people coming here to stay, and at a really senior level. But this southern part stays under the radar because theres no big hotels to stay at. So where are we at in 2024? The influx of new arrivals has stemmed the flow of the Gold Coast Highway the main thoroughfare through the southern Gold Coast. And forget about parking in Burleigh Heads take an Uber. And book at least three weeks ahead at Rick Shores, and Restaurant Labart (these arent tourists taking the tables, theyre new locals). Palm Beach local Matty Roberts moved back to open retro-style motel, Cheshire Cat. But I have a French bakery next door to me whose owners actually come from France, and an Italian cafe round the corner whose staff all come from Italy (via Melbourne) this in a region where diversity even just five years ago meant not having blonde hair. And theres a bona fide nightlife here now: restaurants stay open after 8.30pm. Many long-term locals bemoan the transformation, but gentrification is always a double-edged sword. Matty Roberts grew up in Palm Beach (the suburb had a shady reputation until the mid-2010s), then moved back during COVID to open a retro-style motel, The Cheshire Cat. Im not sure I couldve lived here before, he says. Tallebudgera Creek is near where the Gold Coast splits into two distinct sides. Credit: Tourism and Events Queensland Most of us who moved away now have more to go back to. With everyone moving up from down south theyre opening bars, and restaurants and cafes. But I like that everythings still understated, and sea-based, even semi-rural. We have the sensibilities of the Byron Shire, and everyone still wears thongs. While Roberts says the southern Gold Coast now reminds him a little of Sydneys eastern suburbs, were nowhere near there yet (though Burleigh Heads will get its first big chain hotel, Mondrian, later this year, offering 209 rooms). Our beaches are mostly still deserted except the sheltered ones families prefer around our two waterways, Currumbin and Tallebudgera Creeks. Theyre still selling horse poo on the drive out to Currumbin Valley, but its $10 now. The southern Gold Coast is gentrifying fast, but unless you packed up and moved here, most of you still dont even know we exist. And we dont mind a bit. The details More destinationgoldcoast.com Fly Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar fly several times daily to the Gold Coast from Sydney and Melbourne. See qantas.com/au; virginaustralia.com/au; jetstar.com/au Loading Stay Stay in a three-bedroom villa five minutes from the airport beside the regions most underrated beach from $500 per night. See bilingabeachabodes.com.au Stay in a recently restored 1960s motel beside the beach at Palm Beach from $270 a night. See cheshirecatmotel.com Eat + drink Choose between a wine and cocktail bar and eat overlooking Kirras World Heritage listed waves. See kirrabeachhouse.com Have a coffee at the cafe that started the revolution. See dusttemple.com.au Book ahead at the regions best restaurants: Rick Shores. See rickshores.com.au Restaurant Labart. See restaurantlabart.com Enjoy views across the ocean to Surfers Paradise. See siblingskirra.com.au At least nine people were killed and nearly 3000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members - including fighters and medics - detonated simultaneously across Lebanon. An ambulance carrying people wounded when their handheld pagers exploded arrives at the American University hospital in Beirut, Lebanon. Credit: AP What happened in Lebanon and Syria? The detonations started about 3.30pm local time (10.30pm AEST) in the southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, and in the eastern Bekaa valley - strongholds of the anti-Israel militant group Hezbollah. Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official told AP there had also been blasts in Damascus, Syria. They lasted about an hour, with witnesses and residents of Dahiyeh telling Reuters they could still hear explosions at 4.30pm. The Baku Initiative Group (BIG) that recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Bonaire Human Rights and Bonaire Movement for Change has called on the Dutch government to respect the freedom of the peoples it has long held under colonial rule and to stop creating obstacles to the islands' struggle for independence within international organizations. The Dutch government recently submitted a new program to the country's parliament. The Cabinet approved the program of Ministers and must now be discussed and approved in parliament. The statement by the BIG reads: The Netherlands, a colonial country for centuries, failed to show even the slightest indication that it would respect the freedom of the peoples it has held in captivity and remove the barriers it has imposed on the independent living of territories located tens of thousands of kilometers away. The parties forming the new Dutch government - the Freedom Party, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, the New Social Contract, and the Farmer-Citizen Movement - claim to fight for freedom in their charters, yet continue to stifle the freedoms of the peoples of the 6 states located in the Caribbean - Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The new program submitted by the government claims it will implement legislative and strategic initiatives aimed at increasing the welfare of the islands based on the principles of good governance and cooperation in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. A General Administrative Law will be prepared for this, which envisages the application of the comply and explain principle. Thus, the new right-wing nationalist Cabinet of Ministers of the Netherlands is preparing to continue the colonial policy of the previous government. Although the government claims that some of these islands have autonomous status, these territories have been made completely dependent on the Kingdom of the Netherlands. These islands have even been removed from the UN list of territories to be decolonized. An international conference titled Bonaires pathway from Baku through UN General Assembly to self-determination was held in Baku on August 22 this year to bring the real situation in the Dutch colonies to the attention of the world community. These peoples fighting for their freedom, especially the island of Bonaire, plan to submit a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly in October this year to re-include it in the UN list of territories to be decolonized. The Baku Initiative Group demands that the Dutch government respect the freedom of peoples and not create obstacles to the islands struggle for independence within the framework of international organizations. James Finies Bonaire Human Rights Organization Bonaire Human Rights Organization ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, September 18. A Turkmen delegation met with IAEA Deputy Director General Hua Liu during the 68th General Conference of the agency to discuss key areas of cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Trend reports via Turkmenistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting focused on fields such as medicine, agriculture, environmental protection, and water resource management. The parties highly valued ongoing efforts to develop a framework cooperation program aimed at enhancing collaboration. The Turkmen delegation also participated in the opening ceremony of the 68th regular session of the IAEA General Conference, emphasizing the importance of international partnership in nuclear technologies for sustainable development. Commentary By Erika Shaker Its September and the start of a new academic year. Leaves are starting to fall but tuition fees are not. Fees charged to students continue to increase across the country by an average of about three percent since last year. But the price tag varies from province to province as a direct result of how much individual governments have chosen to download the costs onto students and their families. According to Statistics Canada, undergraduates can pay from $3,594 in Quebec to $9,762 in Nova Scotia. And with an average of $1,000 in additional compulsory fees thrown in, students in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan have pushed through the $10,000 mark, with Ontario and Alberta not far behind. But in this race to the top, the losers are students and their families. Tuition fee increases accelerated after 1995 when the federal government altered the funding mechanism and the amount of funding it provided to the provinces. Depending on how provincial governments responded, students in some provinces were charged significantly more than those in others in an increasingly entrenched user-fee system. The financial burden on students and their families became even more onerous as additional payment tiers were introduced. These included the deregulation of fees for international students, higher costs for some specialized programs, and extra compulsory fees. More recently, out-of-province students have faced significantly higher fees, especially in Quebec and Nova Scotia. In 2022, Newfoundland reversed its transformative early 2000s policy, which had reduced fees by 25 percent and frozen them for all students. As a result, the amount students pay varies depending on their place of residence, the location of their chosen school, and the program they plan to study. However, these costs pale compared to the extreme fees charged to international students, the original canaries in the fee deregulation coal mine. Currently, they range from $18,000 in Newfoundland and Labrador to over $48,000 in Ontario, with a national average of $40,000. International students have been a major revenue stream for Canadian universities, helping offset insufficient public funding. However, with a sharp decline in international student enrollment due to political uncertainty and policy changes, according to Universities Canada post-secondary institutions now face serious economic challenges. In this pay to play system, the financial strain on students goes beyond just program fees. Everything else costs more, too, from soaring rents to high grocery prices. And food banks, now a fixture on campuses, are not a solution. On top of that, youth unemployment has climbed to 14.2 percent the highest rate since September 2012, excluding the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 making the situation even more difficult for students. These economic pressures are exponentially worse for racialized students, Indigenous youth, and recent immigrants. International students, who are unfairly blamed for a housing crisis beyond their control, also face significant financial challenges. These threats to the economic survival of students are directly linked to insufficient levels of public support for post-secondary education. As the burden of costs increasingly shifts onto students and their families, it raises serious concerns about intergenerational equity. With rising tuition and living expenses, individual student debt continues to grow, creating long-term financial challenges for future generations. Debt carries both individual and societal costs. When young people are burdened by debt, they lack the disposable income needed to buy a car or a home, delaying major life decisions such as starting a family. This income scarring the long-term reduction in earning potential caused by early financial struggles weakens the overall economy. Thats why governments must reinvest in funding post-secondary education and provide adequate support to students and their families. The social and economic benefits of a well-educated population are undeniable, yet they are being jeopardized by forcing an entire generation into crippling debt. This isnt just unfair its reckless and short-sighted policy-making that will have long-term consequences for society. Erika Shaker is the national office director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Encrypted 'Ghost' app: What we know Paris, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Police revealed Tuesday they had infiltrated and taken down an encrypted chat app called Ghost used by criminals across the world. The operation, coordinated by the European Union's police agency Europol, is the latest in a string of takedowns of chat apps that have led to hundreds of criminal prosecutions. - What is Ghost? - The market for encrypted chat apps is booming, with WhatsApp being the most widely known and popular service. These apps encrypt messages to prevent outsiders reading private chats, and are not illegal. But several features of the Ghost service, which first landed on the scene in 2021, made it much more appealing to criminals, according to Europol. Users would buy a customised phone rather than simply downloading an app from a provider online. The police agency said in a statement that Ghost was effectively its own ecosystem "with a network of resellers based in several countries". Users could get Ghost without giving any personal information or an existing phone number, making it 100 percent anonymous, Europol said. The service employed three separate encryption standards and users could remotely "self-destruct" all messages and reset the phone remotely if, for example, it were seized by the authorities. Europol said Ghost used servers "hidden away" in Iceland and France, its founder was in Australia, and the money trail led to the United States. - Who used it? - According to the police, Ghost was used pretty much exclusively by criminals. "Across many months, and indeed hundreds of thousands of intercepted modes of communication, we've no evidence to suggest this was used by anyone other than criminal enterprises," said Assistant Commissioner David McLean from the Australian Federal Police. Europol said the app had several thousand users worldwide with around 1,000 messages being exchanged each day. Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Europol deputy executive director, said the operation had taken down "a tool that was a lifeline for serious and organised crime". "This tool enabled drug trafficking, weapons dealing, extreme violence and money laundering on an industrial scale," he said. So far, 51 people have been arrested in connection with the operation, most of them in Australia. - Has this happened before? - Several other major apps have been taken down in similar operations in recent years. EncroChat was a service reputedly used almost exclusively by criminals and like Ghost came with specially altered phones. When it was taken down, police said criminals moved over to Sky ECC, which was then dismantled. Three years ago another service, ANOM, was taken offline and hundreds were arrested. But the twist in the tail was that ANOM had been set up and run by the FBI from the start. Police said in a news conference Tuesday that Ghost was not as big or as widely used as these other services and that the landscape for encrypted apps had become "fragmented". "For us, the size is not the main thing," said Lecouffe. "Sometimes the smaller networks get the most important criminals and most interesting information." - Why was Ghost taken down? - WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram are part of a crowded field of apps marketing themselves on the privacy of their chats. Although their services are legal, some of the content is not. The founder of Telegram, which offers some encrypted services though is not private by default, was arrested recently in France for allowing criminal content on his platform. The big difference is that the vast majority of users of these apps are presumably not criminals, whereas Ghost's purpose appears to have been to enable private chats among criminals. But during Tuesday's news conference Lecouffe sent a message to all encrypted services, saying access to messages between criminals was the "lifeblood" of investigators. He said the police were committed to "building a system that respects privacy while upholding justice". But private companies had "the responsibility to ensure their platforms are not becoming playgrounds for criminals". Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees Santa Monica, United States, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Snapchat, the popular teen-focused social network, is positioning itself as a healthier alternative to platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which have faced criticism for their impact on youth mental health. However, not everyone is convinced. At parent company Snap's annual conference in Santa Monica on Tuesday, CEO Evan Spiegel emphasized the platform's unique approach. "When we started Snapchat, we wanted something different, and we didn't like the way that social media made us feel," Spiegel said. Snapchat is often seen as a better alternative by authorities, associations and parents concerned about the harmful effects of social networking on young people. And its reputation as a "safer" social media option has been bolstered by recent research. A University of Amsterdam study, cited by Spiegel, found that while time spent on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube negatively impacted mental health, Snapchat use showed positive effects on friendships and well-being. That said, critics like Matthew Bergman, founder of an organization representing social media victims, argue that the ephemeral nature of Snapchat -- where stories disappear after 24 hours -- facilitates criminal activities. "In particular, the disappearing message serves to provide an open air drug market for drug dealers to sell drugs," he said. Bergman's group represents 180 parents whose children allegedly died from fentanyl poisoning after purchasing drugs via the app. Whether Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat, "all are based on the same business model, which is maximizing engagement over and above safety," he added. Industry analyst Jasmine Enberg of Emarketer noted the challenges facing Snapchat. "At the end of the day, Snapchat like Meta is a business and so one of the biggest challenges is balancing the privacy, safety and security of its users, especially young users, with generating revenue," she said. Despite the platform's successes, it remains unprofitable and struggles to compete for crucial advertiser dollars with tech giants Meta, Google and TikTok. - 'Least worst' - Snapchat remains popular among youths, with three-quarters of 13-to-34-year-olds using the app in more than 25 countries. The platform pioneered vertical videos and in 2013, created "Stories" that disappear in 24 hours, a feature that has been widely copied since. "No likes or comments, so you can share your perspective without social pressure... and it's working," Spiegel said. He added that the app boasts an impressive 850 million monthly active users and continues to grow. Fourteen-year-old user Lily (who declined to give her last name) told AFP she prefers Snapchat for casual communication, appreciating its lower-pressure environment compared to text messaging. "You can also just kind of send photos back and forth," she said. She also loves augmented reality filters and games, and brushes aside the problem of malicious actors. "People do try to add you and talk to you and try to get you to do stuff, but I always just block them," she said. Content creator Adriana Vecchioli praised Snapchat's approach at the conference, noting that its disappearing messages feature "gives more freedom" and reduces pressure on users, particularly young women. It's the "least worst" of the platforms, she said. juj/arp/bfm/bgs Meta US to host global AI safety summit in San Francisco San Francisco, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 US officials on Wednesday announced plans for a global AI safety summit in November, as authorities strive to keep pace with rapidly developing technology. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will co-host the first gathering of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes on November 20-21 in San Francisco. "With AI evolving at a rapid pace, we... are pulling every lever," Raimondo said in a statement. "That includes close, thoughtful coordination with our allies and like-minded partners," she said. The network's initial members include Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Secretary Raimondo established the group during the AI Seoul Summit in May, aiming to prepare participating countries to develop better regulation of the sector and coordinate policy. The initiative follows the explosive popularity of ChatGPT after its 2022 release, which sparked a global AI race with tech companies investing billions in generative AI models capable of producing human-like content from simple prompts. While proponents tout AI's potential to improve lives and businesses, critics warn of misuse risks, leading to calls for international standards to govern AI development and usage. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, September 18. A Turkmen delegation discussed the future of bilateral cooperation with the Director of the Department curating the Russian Federation, Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus, Eastern Partnership, Turkiye and Central Asia, Gerhard Sailer, at Austria's Federal Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs, Trend reports. The talks focused on political, trade-economic, and cultural-humanitarian collaboration between Turkmenistan and Austria. The parties also addressed cooperation within international organizations, including support for each other's candidates for elections to the UN and other international bodies. Both sides agreed to hold further political consultations between their foreign ministries in the first quarter of 2025. Eastern Europe's Russia hawks flex muscles in top EU team Strasbourg, France, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 After claiming key posts, including EU foreign policy and defence in Ursula von der Leyen's new commission, eastern European countries most wary of Russia look set to carry more sway. As Moscow's war on Ukraine grinds on through a third year, some of Kyiv's staunchest supporters have risen up the pecking order as Brussels has reshuffled its deck. Most prominent is Estonia's ex-prime minister Kaja Kallas, who was tapped by EU leaders to be the bloc's new top diplomat for the next five years. Set to work closely alongside her, von der Leyen on Tuesday named another Baltic former premier, Lithuania's Andrius Kubilius, to a new post aimed at bolstering the EU's defence industry. On top of that, Finland's candidate scooped a broad role handling security, while Latvia's pick got an economy role and Poland laid its hands on the budget -- all subject to EU parliament confirmation in weeks ahead. "I would say it's not a power shift, rather more power balanced," a diplomat from eastern Europe told AFP. Placing representatives from countries that view Russia as an existential threat in weighty roles is seen as an acceptance in Brussels of the new reality. "It shows that there is a broad understanding in the EU of what kind of threats we're facing -- that the biggest threats for the time being, unfortunately, are coming from the east, from Russia," Kubilius told journalists after his nomination. "It's good that the EU is ready to use our knowledge, our expertise, for the common good, for really resolving challenges to our security." - Locking in Ukraine support? - One of the winners of the new shake-up looks like it could be Ukraine. As Russia's invasion rumbles on, fatigue has grown among some allies and there are major question marks over continued backing from the United States ahead of elections in November. "It's clear that von der Leyen would like to lock in continued support to Ukraine into the structure of the new European Commission," said Daniel Hegedus, an expert on central and eastern Europe at The German Marshall Fund think tank. That said, even having fervent advocates for Kyiv at the helm in Brussels does not mean that EU states cannot change their minds on backing Ukraine in the future. "She's trying to shape future policies and politics, but it's not a fait accompli," Hegedus said of the EU chief. He added that not only countries in the east -- but also those in the south -- had increased their prominence in the incoming commission. That was in part due to the current weakness of governments in traditional powerhouses Germany and France. But also because the regions once viewed as "peripheral" had clear visions of countering Russia or turning their back on years of frugality, Hegedus said. While countries that have been strong voices on backing Kyiv and opposing Russia made gains -- those who have kept closer ties with Moscow lost weight. Chief among them is Hungary, which saw its man in Brussels demoted from handling the enlargement brief to covering health and animal welfare. The rising prominence of Russia hawks on foreign policy and defence has stirred some concern in Brussels that the EU could lose sight of reaching out to other parts of the globe. But analysts played down those fears, arguing the EU has the bandwidth to deal with multiple issues. "The attention to Russia is a clear signal," said Stefania Benaglia from the Centre for European Policy Studies. "But I don't think that this will come necessarily to the exclusion of other regions -- we all know that foreign policy cannot be regional policy." North Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles Seoul, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles early Wednesday, Seoul's military said, Pyongyang's second such weapons test in a week. Leader Kim Jong Un's regime has staged dozens of launches this year, part of a testing spree that experts say could be linked to North Korea's alleged illicit supplying of weapons to ally Russia for use in Ukraine. Pyongyang has denied any sanctions-busting weapons trade with Russia, but with diplomacy long stalled, it declared South Korea its "principal enemy" this year and recently moved nuclear-capable weapons to border areas. The launch follows North Korea's recent dispatch of its foreign minister to Moscow -- a key supporter of Kim's regime -- for her second visit in less than a year. The North is also preparing for a parliamentary meeting in October that is expected to approve measures likely to escalate tensions with South Korea, including incorporating the hostile relationship between the two Koreas into its constitution. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it had "detected and (was) analysing several short-range ballistic missiles launched to the northeast around 06:50 (2150 GMT)". "In preparation for additional launches, our military has strengthened monitoring and vigilance, while closely sharing information," with allies Tokyo and Washington, it added. Tokyo also confirmed the launch, with the country's coastguard saying one missile had splashed down already. "Vessels please pay attention to information coming ahead and if you spot fallen objects please don't approach closer but report it to the coastguard," it said in a statement. Japan's Defence Minister Minoru Kihara later said the missiles "appear to have landed on around the eastern coast of North Korea's inland area," and therefore "are outside Japan's EEZ", adding no damage was reported. Seoul's military said the missiles were fired from the North's Kaechon area in South Phyongan Province, and flew about 400 kilometres (250 miles). "North Korea's missile launch is a clear act of provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and we strongly condemn it," Seoul's JCS said in a statement. Last Thursday, the North fired what Seoul described as multiple short range ballistic missiles into waters east of the Korean peninsula, the nuclear-armed country's first major weapons test since early July. North Korean state media later claimed that this had been a test of a "new-type 600mm multiple rocket launcher" which was overseen by Kim. - Moscow ties - North Korea has recently bolstered military ties with Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin making a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, where he signed a mutual defence agreement with Kim. Experts have long said North Korean missiles are being deployed in Ukraine. "Considering the resurgence of the war in Ukraine and Shoigu's recent visit to North Korea, the latest missile launches could be for exports to Russia," Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP. "Today's missile launch may also be intended to strengthen anti-South sentiment among North Koreans as part of efforts to solidify the regime ahead of what is understood as the 'constitutional formalisation' of the hostile two-nation theory of the Koreas in October," he added. A report released last week by Conflict Armament Research employed debris analysis to show "that missiles produced this year in North Korea are being used" on the battlefield against Kyiv. Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang last weekend, state media reported, and met Kim for talks. Moscow is seeking ammunition to continue its more than 30-month offensive in Ukraine. - Trash balloons - Since May, North Korea has sent more than 5,000 trash-carrying balloons southward, saying they are retaliation for propaganda balloons launched by South Korean activists. Last week, the North released images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time, showing Kim touring it as he called for more centrifuges to boost his nuclear arsenal. The country, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and is under rafts of UN sanctions for its banned weapons programmes, has never publicly disclosed details of its uranium enrichment facility. "In light of the recent disclosures regarding its uranium enrichment facilities, (the latest missile launches) may be paving the way for North Korea's seventh nuclear test", said Yang, of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes are banned by UN sanctions, but the country has long flouted the restrictions, thanks in part to support from allies Russia and China. Chinese navy flotilla sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan Tokyo, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, Japan's military said Wednesday, in the latest move by Beijing to rile the close US ally. The passage of a flotilla on Tuesday to Wednesday took place near a group of uninhabited islands disputed by Japan and China that have long been a source of friction. The Liaoning carrier and two Luyang III-class missile destroyers were seen sailing southwards between the islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote, the defence ministry's joint staff said. "This is the first time that an aircraft carrier belonging to the Chinese Navy has been confirmed to have sailed through the waters between Yonaguni and Iriomote," a statement said. Public broadcaster NHK and other media, citing unnamed defence sources, reported that it was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered Japan's contiguous waters. Contiguous waters are a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond territorial waters where a country can exert come control according to international maritime law. The ministry was unable to immediately confirm the news reports. Taipei's government said earlier a Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning sailed through waters northeast of self-ruled Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards Japan's Yonaguni Island. China's growing economic and military clout in the Asia-Pacific region and its assertiveness in territorial disputes -- most recently with the Philippines -- has rattled the United States and its allies. Tense incidents have involved Japanese and Chinese vessels in disputed areas, in particular the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known by Beijing as the Diaoyus. Tokyo has reported the presence of Chinese coastguard vessels, a naval ship, and a nuclear-powered submarine around the remote chain of islets. In August, Japan scrambled fighter jets after the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, with Tokyo calling it a "serious violation" of its sovereignty. Japan is ramping up its defence spending with US encouragement, moving to acquire counter-strike capabilities and easing rules on arms exports. Tokyo is also providing funding and equipment such as patrol vessels to other countries in the region. In July, Japan agreed on a deal with the Philippines allowing troop deployments on each other's soil. Japan last week also scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years. The Tu-142 planes did not enter Japanese airspace but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, Japan said. This month Russian and Chinese warships held joint drills in the Sea of Japan, part of a major naval exercise that President Vladimir Putin said was the largest of its kind for three decades. The Japanese defence ministry said it had observed five Chinese naval ships entering the Sea of Japan and likely on their way to the joint manoeuvres. Chinese navy sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan Tokyo, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, Japan's military said on Wednesday, in the latest move by Beijing to anger the close US ally. Japan's government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area within 24 nautical miles of the Japanese coast. "This incident is totally unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region, and we have expressed our serious concerns to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels," Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya said. China said the passage, which came less than a month after the first confirmed incursion into Japanese airspace by a Chinese surveillance aircraft, complied with international law. The Liaoning carrier and two Luyang III-class missile destroyers were seen sailing southwards between the islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Japanese defence ministry's joint staff said. Yonaguni and Iriomote are near the uninhabited and disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known by Beijing as the Diaoyus, which have long been a source of friction between the two countries. Taipei's government said earlier a Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning sailed through waters northeast of self-ruled Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards Yonaguni. Contiguous waters are a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond territorial waters where a country can exert some control, according to international maritime law. - Rattled - China's growing economic and military clout in the region and its assertiveness in territorial disputes -- most recently with the Philippines -- have rattled the United States and its allies. Tokyo has reported the presence of Chinese coastguard vessels, a naval ship, and a nuclear-powered submarine around the remote Senkaku islands. Japan scrambled fighter jets in August after the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, with Tokyo calling it a "serious violation" of its sovereignty. It is ramping up its defence spending with US encouragement, moving to acquire counter-strike capabilities and easing rules on arms exports. Tokyo is also providing funding and equipment such as patrol vessels to other countries in the region. In July, Japan agreed on a deal with the Philippines allowing troop deployments on each other's soil. Japan also scrambled fighter jets last week after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years. The Tu-142 planes did not enter Japanese airspace but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, Tokyo said. Russian and Chinese warships held joint drills in the Sea of Japan this month, part of a major naval exercise that President Vladimir Putin said was the largest of its kind for three decades. The Japanese defence ministry said it had observed five Chinese naval ships entering the Sea of Japan and likely on their way to the joint manoeuvres. nf-kaf-burs-stu/pbt 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. China sanctions nine US defence firms in response to Taiwan sales Beijing, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 China imposed sanctions on nine US defence firms on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, describing the measures as retaliation for Washington's approval of military equipment sales to Taiwan this week. "Weapons sales by the United States to China's Taiwan region have seriously violated the one-China principle,... seriously infringed upon China's sovereignty and security interests, (and) damaged China-US relations," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news conference. "China strongly condemns and firmly opposes this and has lodged solemn representations with the United States," Lin said. He said Beijing was "taking resolute countermeasures" by imposing sanctions on nine US defence firms, which were announced in an earlier foreign ministry statement. The companies, which include aerospace firm Sierra Nevada Corporation, will have their assets in China frozen and all transactions with China-based people and entities will be prohibited, the statement said. The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but has remained Taiwan's most important partner and its biggest arms supplier, sparking repeated condemnations from China. Beijing and Washington have repeatedly butted heads in recent years on a range of other issues related to trade, access to advanced technology and China's increasingly assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea. Top White House aide Jake Sullivan met high-ranking Chinese military official Zhang Youxia last month during the first visit to China by a US national security adviser since 2016. Zhang warned during that meeting that the status of the self-ruled island was "the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations", demanding that the United States "halts military collusion with Taiwan". Chinese navy sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan Tokyo, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, Japan's military said on Wednesday, in the latest move by Beijing to anger the close US ally. Japan's government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area up to 24 nautical miles from the Japanese coast. "This incident is totally unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region, and we have expressed our serious concerns to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels," Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya said. China said the passage, which came less than a month after the first confirmed incursion into Japanese airspace by a Chinese surveillance aircraft, complied with international law. The Liaoning carrier and two Luyang III-class missile destroyers were seen sailing southwards between the islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Japanese defence ministry's joint staff said. Yonaguni and Iriomote are near the uninhabited and disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known by Beijing as the Diaoyus, which have long been a source of friction between the two countries. Taipei's government said earlier a Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning sailed through waters northeast of self-ruled Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards Yonaguni. Contiguous waters are a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond territorial waters where a country can exert some control, according to international maritime law. - Rattled - China's growing economic and military clout in the region and its assertiveness in territorial disputes -- most recently with the Philippines -- have rattled the United States and its allies. Analyst Yee Kuang Heng, of the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Public Policy, said China "definitely expected this massive carrier to be detected" by Japan. The ships may form part of a "strike group practising how they might deploy during a Taiwan contingency, and also pushing the envelope how far they can go needling Japan", Heng told AFP. "Diplomatically, it may be a form of 'gunboat diplomacy' signalling to Japan to stay out of any potential Taiwan contingency, and a reminder that Yonaguni, which hosts important (Japanese military) bases, could find itself right on the frontlines," he said. Tokyo has reported the presence of Chinese coastguard vessels, a naval ship, and a nuclear-powered submarine around the remote Senkaku islands. Japan scrambled fighter jets in August after the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, with Tokyo calling it a "serious violation" of its sovereignty. It is ramping up its defence spending with US encouragement, moving to acquire counter-strike capabilities and easing rules on arms exports. Tokyo is also providing funding and equipment such as patrol vessels to other countries in the region. In July, Japan agreed on a deal with the Philippines allowing troop deployments on each other's soil. Japan also scrambled fighter jets last week when Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years. The Tu-142 planes did not enter Japanese airspace but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, Tokyo said. Russian and Chinese warships held joint drills in the Sea of Japan this month, part of a major naval exercise that President Vladimir Putin said was the largest of its kind for three decades. The Japanese defence ministry said it had observed five Chinese naval ships entering the Sea of Japan and likely on their way to the joint manoeuvres. nf-kaf-burs-stu/pbt CORRECTED: US MQ-9 drone crashes near Yemen: Pentagon Washington, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 A US MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed near Yemen, the Pentagon said Tuesday, after Iran-backed Huthi rebels claimed to have downed several of the aircraft in recent days. "Yesterday, an MQ-9 did crash in the vicinity of Yemen. That is being investigated, but I don't have any additional details to share," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists. The Huthis said Monday that they had shot down three MQ-9s in a week and 10 since last year. Ryder said he could not provide a specific number for security reasons, but that the Huthis' claim of downing 10 US drones "is not accurate." The latest drone crash came after the Pentagon confirmed in February that another MQ-9 -- which can be used for both reconnaissance and strikes -- went down off the Yemeni coast after apparently being struck by a Huthi missile. The Huthis -- who are opposed to government forces in Yemen and are one of several militant groups arrayed against Israel -- began attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November. They say they are attacking Israel-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war, but ships from multiple countries that have no ties to the conflict have been targeted. Rival militia violence in DR Congo kills 11 Bunia, DR Congo, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Attacks said to have taken place between rival militia factions have killed 11 people in north-east Democratic Republic of Congo, sources told AFP Wednesday. The attacks took place on Monday and Tuesday in Ituri province between the Zaire Militia -- established in 2019 -- and the Codeco. The Zaire militia claims to be fighting to defend the interests of the Hema ethnic community against the rival Lendu tribe, while Codeco claims to protect the Lendu against the Hema. Early Monday morning men from the Zaire militia killed a member of the Lendu community, residents in Gina where the attack took place told AFP. Members of Codeco retaliated by killing 10 people in the small town of Fataki including children, local sources told AFP. "We buried 10 bodies," a humanitarian source told AFP on condition of anonymity. The source added that seven of those buried were children - four from one family and three from another. The victims, "killed with machetes (were) buried on Wednesday", Justin Gudza, a local leader, told AFP. Gina is some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Fataki where there are Congolese army and UN bases. A Congolese army spokesman condemned the attacks. "It has been more than two years since Fataki became a very calm environment, activities have resumed, communities live together, socialise", lieutenant Jules Ngongo told AFP. At least six other people have been killed in the region by armed men since Sunday, Ruphin Mapela, an administrator of the Djugu territory in the Ituri region, told AFP. The army will "hunt down all these armed groups that are resistant to the peace process," Ngongo said. Inter-communal violence killed thousands in gold-rich Ituri from 1999-2003 until an intervention by European forces restored calm. The conflict erupted again in 2017, resulting in thousands more deaths and the mass displacement of residents. Czechs to develop small nuclear reactors with Rolls-Royce Prague, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 The Czech government said Wednesday it endorsed Britain's Rolls-Royce as a partner for the state-owned power group CEZ to develop small modular nuclear reactors (SMR). The Czech Republic depends on CEZ's two nuclear plants for 30 percent of its electricity generation. "The government has acknowledged and endorsed the partnership with Rolls-Royce SMR," Prime Minister Petr Fiala told reporters. Prague does not want to buy SMRs but to enable Czech companies to develop and produce them, he added. "This is what the strategic cooperation with Rolls-Royce enables," said Fiala, adding the first Czech SMR could be built in the first half of the 2030s. CEZ, which runs nuclear plants in the southern villages of Temelin and Dukovany, is planning to install the first SMR at Temelin. Other bidders for the partnership included US giant Westinghouse, the US-Japanese grouping GE Hitachi and France's EDF. CEZ said earlier it was planning to install up to 10 small modular reactors by 2050. Compared with conventional nuclear reactors, the SMRs are relatively simple to build, as their systems and components can be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation. They are also more affordable than large power reactors and bear low risk of a serious accident. In July, CEZ announced it had chosen South Korean power giant KHNP to build two conventional nuclear units at a cost of almost nine billion dollars at Dukovany. The new units will raise the share of nuclear energy to half as coal-fired power stations are gradually phased out as part of a shift towards greener energy resources. The government expects the first new KHNP reactor to be launched in trial operation in 2036. frj/gv ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS CEZ NATO members call for response to stray Russian drones Bucharest, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Defence ministers from NATO's eastern flank on Wednesday called for a collective response to repeated violations of their airspace by Russian drones and missiles targeting Ukraine. Since invading in February 2022, Moscow has carried out near daily drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including targeting areas close to Ukraine's western borders with EU and NATO members. Romania and Latvia said earlier this month that Russian drones and missiles flew through their airspace during an overnight attack on Ukraine. Ministers from nine countries on NATO's eastern flank expressed their "profound concern over the repeated incursions" into allied airspace by "Russian drones and missiles", and urged "a collective answer within NATO". They also called on the alliance to help "boost our capabilities of detecting, identifying and, if necessary, engaging low and slow flying objects". "A robust and coordinated response on an allied level is needed, as well as the swift implementation of NATO's Integrated Air and Missile Defence rotational model," Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tilvar told reporters after a meeting of the defence ministers in Bucharest. The group -- the so-called "Bucharest Nine" -- consists of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga earlier on Wednesday asked Kyiv's neighbours to explore the possibility of shooting down Russian missiles and drones. Kicking off a regional tour in Romania, he described Russia's aerial attacks as a "global threat". Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor a Russian drone that flew across its airspace towards Ukraine earlier this month, an incident that has reignited a discussion over whether the country should intercept stray Russian drones. The current legal framework prevents such engagements during peacetime. Though officials have stressed any drones that intentionally target Romanian territory will be shot down. Several drone fragments have also been found in Romania throughout the war. NATO has said it had no indication any of the incidents were an "intentional attack" by Russia against alliance states. UN 'disappointed' at S.Sudan election delay Nairobi, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 The United Nations expressed its "regret and disappointment" on Wednesday over South Sudan's decision to delay its first-ever elections for another two years. The world's newest nation won independence from Sudan in 2011, but was plunged into a civil war two years later that killed some 400,000 people. A peace deal in 2018 brought together President Salva Kiir and his bitter rival, Vice President Riek Machar, but their feuding has repeatedly delayed efforts to write a constitution and hold elections. Last week, Kiir's office announced that voting planned for December would be pushed back by another two years. International supporters have grown increasingly exasperated at the delays. "Two years ago, we were in a similar situation as we are today and gave our support specifically under the condition that there would be no more extensions," said UN special representative Nicholas Haysom in a statement. "Today, it is sadly evident that the country is not ready for elections that we could confidently expect to generate a credible and peaceful outcome." Haysom said South Sudan's leaders had only achieved one of 10 priority areas laid out by international bodies last year to prepare for the vote. "Urgency rather than a pause is required," he said. "The South Sudanese political class must take responsibility for the failures of the past two years," Haysom added. Embassies of eight Western nations, including the US, Britain and the European Union, also voiced disappointment at the delay and called for the vote to be held "as soon as possible". "A 24 month extension would mean 24 months more expenditure on the institutions that implement the peace process," they said in a joint statement. South Sudan has battled flooding, hunger and violence, while its leaders have appeared reluctant to risk going to the polls and are accused of massive corruption. Earlier this month the UN's humanitarian agency warned more than 700,000 people had been impacted by flooding, with aid failing to meet many in need. South Sudan boasts plentiful oil resources, but the vital source of revenue was decimated in February when an export pipeline was damaged in war-torn Sudan. Iran nuclear chief says country has no 'covert objectives' Vienna, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Iran has no "covert objectives" when it comes to its nuclear programme and the country is ready to resume its nuclear commitments once Western sanctions are lifted, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organisation told AFP. "Uranium enrichment is not necessarily for weapons purposes," Mohammad Eslami said on Wednesday in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) general conference in Vienna. "We are doing it for research and the production of various isotopes for nuclear industry applications," he said. Tensions between Iran and the IAEA have repeatedly flared since a 2015 deal curbing Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanction relief fell apart. In recent years, Tehran has decreased its cooperation with the IAEA, while significantly ramping up its nuclear programme, including amassing large stockpiles of uranium enriched to 60 percent, which is close to the 90 percent needed to develop an atomic bomb. The rapid expansion of Iran's nuclear programme has no "credible civilian justification", according to the UN nuclear watchdog. Amid the impasse, the IAEA's board of governors in June adopted a resolution critical of Iran. Despite the restrictions on inspections since 2021 and the barring of UN inspectors, the IAEA continues to "daily monitor" Iran's nuclear programme, at a level that exists "nowhere else in the world," Eslami stressed. - Iran deal 'not dead' - "Our work is completely transparent. It is not as if we were producing a material with covert objectives," Eslami told AFP. He said Iran was in discussions with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to organise his visit to the country in the near future, where he is expected to meet President Masoud Pezeshkian. Since Pezeshkian's election in July, Iran has said it was willing to relaunch talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal it reached with world powers in 2015. The landmark deal -- also known under the acronym JCPOA -- started to unravel in 2018 when then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions, and Iran retaliated by stepping up its nuclear activities. Efforts to revive the deal -- bringing the United States back on board and Iran back into compliance -- have so far been fruitless. Eslami, however, told AFP that "the JCPOA is not dead". "As soon as the others resume their obligations, we will act accordingly", he said, stressing that "it is not possible for them to expect us to keep our commitments" when they themselves have reinstated sanctions. But Western powers have deplored the "absence" of positive concrete signs from Tehran. "Patience has its limits, and we will not stand by while Iran continues to obfuscate," the United States, Britain, France and Germany warned in a joint statement last week. Experts say a resumption of talks seems unlikely before the US presidential elections, amid a sharp deterioration in Iran's relations with Europe and the US. However, its his unexpected mentorship of Victor (Rhenzy Feliz), a young man who lost everything to the disaster, that adds a poignant layer to the narrative. Victor initially joins Oswald out of sheer necessity, driven into the shadows of Gotham's criminal activities to survive. Unlike typical partnerships in crime dramas, Oswalds interaction with Victor evolves into something resembling a twisted father figure role. Despite Victors reluctance and visible discomfort with the criminal lifestyle, Oswald takes him under his wing, guiding him through the complexities of Gothams underworld. The Penguin Season 1, Episode 1 Pictured Colin Farrell and Rhenzy Feliz Photograph by Macall Polay HBO Network 2024 Network. All Rights Reserved This mentorship, however, is far from conventional. Oswald's motivations are murkyhis mentoring interwoven with manipulation as he grooms Victor to serve his own ambitious goals. This creates a fraught relationship filled with tension and unpredictability, as Victor grapples with his dependency on Oswald while navigating his own moral compass. The dynamic between them adds a rich, emotional depth to the series, highlighting the complexities of their characters and their intertwined fates in Gothams dark alleys. The stakes are raised with the return of Sofia Falcone, played by the fierce Cristin Milioti. Sofia, having spent the last ten years in Arkham Asylum for a series of gruesome murders, comes back with a vengeance, threatening to upend Oswalds plans. Cristin Milioti brings a compelling blend of unpredictability and ruthlessness to the role, giving Sofia an edge that makes her a formidable force in Gotham's shifting power dynamic. The Penguin Season 1, Pictured Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti Photograph by Macall Polay HBO Network 2024 Network. All Rights Reserved Colin Farrells performance as Oswald Cobblepot is nothing short of transformative. The layers of makeup and prosthetics are stunning, but its his ability to dive into the characters raw, messy emotions that really shines. Oswald is ruthless, but theres a fragility beneath his ambitiona man who wants power but cant escape his insecurities. Farrell plays him as both tragic and dangerous, balancing moments of rage with vulnerability, making Oswald feel like a real product of Gothams harsh environment. What sets Farrell's performance apart isnt just the visual transformationits the way he moves and speaks. His portrayal of Penguin has a swagger that feels natural, yet menacing. His thick accent and deliberate movements, especially the way he walks, give the character an unmistakable presence. It adds to the gritty, mob-like atmosphere of the show, which feels like a crime drama with a distinct Gotham twist. Farrells take on Oswald might feel exaggerated, as his Penguin is larger-than-life, full of bold gestures and outsized emotions. However, its exactly this dramatic energy that makes the character so gripping. The intensity might not be for everyone, but theres no denying Farrell's commitment to the role. Id be genuinely surprised if it doesnt land him an Emmy nomination. One of the standout relationships in the series is Oswalds complicated bond with his mother, played by Deirdre O'Connell. Their scenes together are filled with an emotional charge that cuts through the violence and crime, giving the show a personal, more intimate layer. The family dynamics provide a stark contrast to the otherwise cold, calculating world Oswald inhabits. The Penguin Season 1, Pictured Colin Farrell Photograph by Macall Polay . HBO Network 2024 Network. All Rights Reserved While Farrells performance may divide some audiences, theres no question that The Penguin is a must-watch for those looking for a raw, gritty dive into Gothams criminal underworld. The show thrives on its blend of intense character development, high-stakes power struggles, and a constant feeling of danger lurking around every corner. With exceptional performances across the boardespecially from Farrell and Miliotithe series stands out as a fresh, character-driven look at Gothams darker side. The balance between her fierce ambition and vulnerability makes her a compelling character, and she absolutely deserves recognition as a supporting actress. Both characters are given richly developed backstories, allowing viewers to momentarily feel sympathy for them, only to be reminded of their villainous nature. This limited series will span eight episodes starting on September 19, 2024. This is definitely one of the standout shows of the year, blending drama and crime in a way thats sure to keep viewers hooked every week. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 18. Austrias International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will visit Uzbekistan, Trend reports via Uzatom Agency. "Preparations are actively underway for the IAEA Director General's visit to Uzbekistan to ensure successful meetings and strengthen bilateral cooperation," the agency stated. Additionally, a meeting took place in Vienna between the director of the Atomic Energy Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan, Azim Akhmedkhadjaev, and Rafael Grossi. Key issues regarding the development of nuclear energy in Uzbekistan were discussed during the meeting, including the reorganization of Uzatom and a project for constructing a small modular nuclear power plant. Preliminary work on this project has commenced in collaboration with Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom, and in full accordance with IAEA recommendations. The support for a trilateral approach to the project was confirmed to ensure compliance with international safety standards. Moreover, plans for joint IAEA events focused on nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, were considered to highlight the international significance of these technologies and attract interest from other nations. * 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. Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting high into the night sky and detonations thundering across a lake in the region that lies northwest of Moscow and not far from the border with Belarus. The European project "The Big Green", which brings together people from the cultural and creative fields from all over Europe, begins its second year of activity, with the UNESCO International Geopark Tara Hategului, part of this project, seeking innovative solutions to support sustainable development and protect the environment, informs Agerpres. As part of the project, artists involved in environmental issues will collaborate to use art as a vehicle for promoting environmental sustainability, as this year's theme is "The Soil," the Tara Hategului UNESCO International Geopark informed on Wednesday. "One way to achieve this goal, artivismwhich combines art with activismdiffers from ordinary activism in that it conveys complicated messages in a creative, understandable, and moving way. While traditional activism relies on direct action and protest to bring about social and political change, artivism uses art to raise awareness and stimulate thinking. Thus, the public is invited to imagine solutions and get involved in the change." The project follows a different approach to the relationship between man and nature, inviting reflection on the responsibility we have towards the environment, what we learn from local communities and what we leave behind for future generations. "The Big Green" also explores how art can influence environmental behaviours and shares ideas and solutions to encourage collaboration between artists and scientists. It is a large-scale European cooperation project, carried out under the Creative Europe programme, which brings together more than 15 countries in Europe and a vast network of partners from the cultural and creative sectors. The project uses a new approach and has a different theme every year - "Air", "Soil", "Water" and "Ecosystem." Its aim is to change the way culture and creativity contribute to transforming Europe into a more environmentally friendly continent. The University of Bucharest, through the Tara Hategului UNESCO International Geopark , is one of the important partners of the project due to its extensive experience in the field of geological, natural and cultural heritage conservation, having the ability to develop sustainable initiatives that inspire local communities and the general public. The project is in line with the activities carried out by the Geopark and the University of Bucharest in support of the Sustainable Development Goals for the 20th anniversary of the Global Geoparks Network. The ministers of defense from the Bucharest 9 (B9) format signed, on Wednesday, in Bucharest, a joint Statement in which they emphasized the importance of strengthening the defense industry and the existence of a common air defense system and reiterated their support for Ukraine. The ministers from Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary met at the Palace of the Parliament and discussed including the incidents with Russian drones that fell on the territory of some NATO countries. Moreover, a point in the joint declaration is dedicated to this topic. ''We express our profound concern over the repeated incursions of NATO airspace, in Poland, Romania, Latvia and other NATO countries by the Russian Federation's drones and missiles, and the escalations of tensions along NATO's borders. This is a new reality that cannot be left disregarded. We need a collective answer within NATO to challenges posed by modern weapons and technologies including through boosting our capabilities of detecting, identifying and, if necessary, engaging low and slow flying objects," the Statement reads. In this sense, the signatories call for the consolidation of NATO's integrated air defense system and for the "fastest possible" implementation of the system through rotation in this regard. ''We support initiatives to utilize all available opportunities and resources within the EU and NATO to increase European air and missile defence capabilities. We reiterate the need for Russia's full compliance with international law, including the inviolability of NATO airspace,'' the Statement reads. At the same time, the B9 ministers are committed to supporting, at NATO, the consolidation of the Eastern Flank. They also mention the commitment to allocate at least 2% of the national GDP, annually, for defense and the commitment to boost the national armament production industries. The Statement also mentions the efforts to create corridors to facilitate military mobility, but also to ensure supplies for the energy system. "Recognizing that military aid is granted voluntarily and is a sovereign decision [of a state], the allies intend to continue providing non-lethal, political, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine," the document states. The defense ministers who met in Bucharest also include the Republic of Moldova in the Statement. "We will also cooperate closely to support our partners from the region, who are most exposed to Russia's attempts at destabilisation, such as the Republic of Moldova. Strengthening their defence capacity and resilience is relevant to the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic area,'' the joint Statement reads. The states that are part of the Bucharest 9 (B9) format are deeply concerned about the repeated incursions of Russian drones and missiles into NATO airspace and in this case a "robust" response is needed, Romania's Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said on Wednesday, informs Agerpres. He held a joint news conference with his Polish counterpart Pawel Zalewsky on the sidelines of a meeting in Bucharest of the B9 defence ministers. Tilvar said that the B9 Format "has a key role in shaping the collective approach of NATO's eastern flank." He reiterated that the security situation in the Black Sea region remains worrying, mentioning "a constantly evolving set of threats" mainly generated by Russia's aggressive actions: hybrid tactics such as disinformation, cyber-attacks and continuous efforts to destabilise the Black Sea region, as well as the entire eastern flank. "The B9 states are deeply concerned about the repeated incursions of Russian drones and missiles into the NATO airspace in Poland, Romania, Latvia, as well as the escalation of tensions along NATO's borders. That is why a robust and coordinated response at NATO level is needed, as well as the implementation as soon as possible of NATO's integrated air and missile defence model." According to Tilvar, the meeting discussed coordinating support to Ukraine, "so that the Ukrainian armed forces have the necessary resources for the front." At the same time, he also called for support for Moldova's accession to the European Union, "a safe investment in the security of the Black Sea region and Europe." In his turn, Zalewsky said that the B9 Format confirms its role as a discussion forum of the eastern flank, especially in the context of future discussions at NATO and the European Union. The Polish official also mentioned the incidents involving Russian drones in the NATO space in the vicinity of Ukraine. "I mentioned the attack on the airspace by Russia. What we mean here is not Romania and Poland only, but also Latvia. Lithuania is also threatened. We agreed that a response from NATO is needed. It is necessary that at the next meeting of NATO defence ministers we establish some concrete ways to support us firstly in detecting these attacks on airspace and the destruction of enemy objects. This is a particularly important aspect that is now growing and has a special significance," he said, according to the official translation. He added that "when we say that not an inch of NATO territory can be attacked by Russia and must be defended, we also mean the airspace." The Ministry of Finance (MF) has put forth a measure to support the business community that would encourage innovation and technological progress by expanding the number of taxpayers who qualify for tax incentives for research and development investments. It suggests to regulate the decrease from the minimum turnover tax of the value obtained by applying the 16% rate on the amount representing the additional deduction of 50% of eligible expenses for research and development activities. The measure is proposed because at this moment the taxpayers who pay the minimum turnover tax do not qualify for research and development tax incentives. "After a series of consultations with the business community, we come up with this proposal, which can help us bridge the gap with other EU member states that encourage research and development much more strongly. Tax incentives for these activities have existed for many years in Romania and our data show that there are 800 companies that have benefited so far, with annual deductions of over RON 1 billion being recorded. Technological progress is the main engine of economic growth, which is why we must do everything we can to provide Romanian companies with a competitive framework that allows them to compete on an equal footing with companies from other countries. This is the reason why we proposed to extend the incentives to include those who pay the the minimum turnover tax, in order to support large companies dealing with innovating such as Dacia, Bosch, Farmec, Chimcomplex, Continental, Uipath, etc." according to Finance Minister Marcel Bolos. The implementation of this measure would allow the continuation of the stimulation, starting from the date of application, 2024, of the research and development activities carried out by large companies that have to pay the minimum turnover tax. According to the Ministry of Finance, given that the fiscal result for 2024 has not yet been finalised, the decrease would also determine the corporate income tax at the level of the minimum turnover tax for the fiscal year 2024/modified fiscal year starting in 2024. "The incentive effect of the proposed measure regarding the tax deduction applicable to the payment of the minimum turnover tax will consist of: reinvesting the funds deducted in research and development; increasing research and development investments and expenses; attracting new research and development projects to Romania; acknowledging that research and development is of strategic importance," according to the ministry. The proposal is supported and was discussed with the Concordia Employers' Confederation, the Association of Romanian Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (ACAROM), the French Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Romania (CCIFER), the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK), the Employers' Association of the Software and Services Industry (ANIS). The draft bill is posted on the MF website and was drafted following consultations with the business community. Romania's Defence Ministry (MApN) on Wednesday requested Parliament's prior approval for the initiation of the procedure for awarding a procurement contract for 44 AAV-7 assault amphibious vehicles. MApN has sent a letter to the leadership of the two chambers of Parliament in which it requests prior approval for the initiation of the procedure for awarding the contract for the procurement of 44 AAV-7 assault amphibious vehicles from the Marine Corps of the United States of America, under the Foreign Military Sales security assistance programme, of an estimated value of USD 210 million, VAT excluded. Romania's Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT) has approved a memorandum supplementing AAV-7 assault amphibious vehicles. "The defence equipment acquisition for the creation of flexible force structures, with means to ensure their survival in the tactical field, with mobility and extensive situational awareness and increased firepower, requires the operationalisation of the capability targets pledged to NATO and EU defence planning process for the achievement of the objectives in the programme on the transformation of the Romanian armed forces until 2040," the letter reads. The Parliament's standing bureaus have decided to send the request to the defence committees to draw up a report. It is to be included on the agenda of a joint plenary session on Monday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Wednesday in Bucharest that he is calling on Romanian partners to analyse the possibility of shooting down Russian drones near our country's airspace, informs Agerpres. He held a press conference alongside his Romanian counterpart, Luminita Odobescu. The Ukrainian Foreign minister voiced his gratefulness for the "historic" decision of our country to donate a Patriot system to Ukraine. "It is very important to strengthen Ukraine's defence. It is a shield not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe. Today we are defending not only Ukraine but also Europe. We have numerous cases of Russian missiles or drones violating the airspace of NATO states. That is why this system, especially as winter nears, will allow us to strengthen our defence capabilities. It defends our energy infrastructure and, as you can see, Russia's efforts are now aimed at preventing us from producing electricity," Andrii Sybiha said. He emphasised that Russian missiles and drones "are passing or falling near Ukraine's atomic power stations and can be extremely dangerous". "That is why I would like to ask our Romanian partners to analyse the possibility of shooting down Russian drones and missiles near Romanian airspace," the Ukrainian Foreign minister added. Promoting fiscal and financial resilience in the public sector is vital to ensure stability and the ability of governments to respond effectively to crises in the system, as well as to ensure the provision of essential services to society, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Wednesday at the event dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the Court of Accounts of Romania, informs Agerpres. The head of the Executive participates at the Romanian Athenaeum, together with President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, Senate President Nicolae Ciuca, Chamber of Deputies Speaker Daniel Suciu, and Court of Accounts President Mihai Busuioc, and other high guests, in the event "Responsibility. Relevance. Resilience in a challenging world," marking the anniversary of the Court of Accounts. "I am pleased to be here with you today to celebrate 160 years since the founding of this fundamental institution of the State, the Court of Accounts of Romania. These are 160 years in which the Court has undergone profound reforms and transformations, becoming today an example of good practice for everything that the Romanian institutional system stands for. Therefore, I would like to congratulate the entire management of the Court of Accounts for the efforts made in continuing the process of modernisation of this institution. I know that you have had to face major challenges, but through dialog and balance you have always managed to find solutions to meet the expectations of this institution," said Marcel Ciolacu. Ciolacu welcomed, in particular, the changes that have taken place both in the audit of public funds and in the communication between the Court and the decision-makers in society. "We can have in Romania's supreme audit institution a partner in auditing public policies in order to know how we can better support the final beneficiary, the citizen," Ciolacu added. The PM emphasised the importance of the Court of Accounts in ensuring good governance. "Promoting fiscal-financial resilience in the public sector is vital to ensure stability and the ability of governments to respond effectively to crises in the system, as well as to ensure the provision of essential services to society. This is an integral part of good governance in the public sector," Ciolacu said. At the same time, the chief of the Executive appreciated the modernisation process undertaken by the Court of Accounts in recent years and affirmed the need for a more applied collaboration among central institutions for Romania's development. During the event, a philatelic album dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the establishment of the Court of Accounts of Romania was launched. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 18. The International Chodiev Foundation (ICF) has announced the completion of construction and the opening of a new educational block at Secondary School No. 23 in the Khiva district of Uzbekistans Khorezm region, the ICF told Trend. The project was jointly implemented with the Ministry of Preschool and School Education of Uzbekistan. Furthermore, the new school will help address the current issue of overcrowding in schools and the lack of available spaces in the Khiva district. It will create 270 new places for children, enabling them to study in comfortable and spacious rooms equipped with modern facilities. The new educational block is a three-story building that includes nine classrooms, a science class facility, a teachers' room, an administration room, a medical center, toilets, and a library. The building, totaling 537 m, has modern, high-quality equipment. The block was constructed on a free area of the school territory and is connected to the existing school building through a ground-level covered passage. "We are delighted to support Uzbekistans efforts to develop education and assist in the effort to improve the future of the children of the country. We believe that good education can change lives. For many years, the ICFs activities have been focused on nurturing the potential of the next generation, the ICFs founder, Patokh Chodiev, said. The construction project is part of a comprehensive educational program implemented by the ICF in Uzbekistan in support of the State Programme for the Development of School Education in 2022-2026. Apart from that, the relevant ICF projects include the sponsorship of two rural residential care schools, a boarding school, and a preschool education facility, as well as several student scholarship programs. President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday sent a letter to Parliament's standing bureaus and the Senate asking Parliament for the approval of the establishment in Romania of a naval training facility for the training of Ukrainian personnel. The president says that the recent developments in the war of aggression waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine have highlighted the need to intensify and diversify the training of the Ukrainian armed forces. "Following the analysis carried out, it resulted that Romania has the possibility to contribute to the Maritime Capability Coalition by hosting a naval training facility, as well as by supporting the training process of the Ukrainian Marine Infantry, within the limits of the existing capabilities," he said. The proposed concept and the provisional approvals of the partner forces provide for the facility to operate for two years, with Romania free to express its right to terminate the commitment at any time during the training process or after the expiry of the established period. "Contributions from the international community will support the operation of the facility, and funding and planning of support for initial development will be provided entirely by the UK. The training facility will make Romania a regional leader in the training process in the field of naval operations, contributing to increased cohesion, demonstrating unity and strengthening the Euro-Atlantic deterrence and defence posture," the president's letter reads. At a joint meeting on Wednesday, the standing bureaus approved another letter from the President asking for the approval of Romania's participation in the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine - NSATU mission, starting this year, by making available the infrastructure and equipment necessary for hosting and operating on the national soil of the Logistic Enabling Node-Romania (LEN-R) facility within the 71st Campia Turzii Air Base. A staff of up to 100 military personnel will also be made available - staff personnel within the mission commands, trainers under training modules outside Romania, as well as specialist detachments for the operation of LEN-R . Both letters will be included on the agenda of a joint plenary session on Monday, September 23. Also on Wednesday, Parliament received two more letters under which Iohannis informs Parliament that he has approved the transit of equipment and material goods donated to Ukraine by Sweden and also that he has approved the conduct of training activities and exercises with the American partner, including a two-year prepositioning in Romania of a US contingent of naval forces for special operations. Both documents are also to be included on the agenda of the joint plenary session of Parliament. National Liberal Party (PNL) parliamentarians Daniel Fenechiu and Gabriel Andronache submitted on Wednesday to the Parliament the legislative proposal by which the President of Romania can run, in the last 3 months of the term, as an independent on the lists of a party or alliance in the parliamentary elections. The bill modifies, in this sense, article 52 of the law on the election of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. "The president of Romania, depending on the date of the election of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, if he/she is in the last 3 months of the term, can run as an independent on the lists of a political party, a political alliance or an electoral alliance to obtain a senator's mandate or of deputy. In case he/she is elected senator or deputy, the president of Romania is obliged, after validation, to choose between the quality of senator or deputy and that of president", the draft states. The bill will first be debated by the Senate and then by the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body Public-private partnerships can develop Romanian cities, said Mihai Precup, secretary of state with the Prime Minister's Chancellery, who met members of the Association of Romanian Municipalities at the Victoria Governmental Palace on Wednesday, informs Agerpres. According to a press release sent to AGERPRES, the meeting focused on issues related to the implementation of public-private partnerships. "During the meeting, we showed that we have a public-private partnership law, passed by Parliament and promulgated by the President, so that, starting this year, we have a modern legislative framework, which opened the way for the implementation of projects that can develop, in the most concrete way, the Romanian cities," said Mihai Precup. According to him, once the legislative obstacle has been overcome, all that remains is for the local authorities to identify the needs they have and the necessary projects that can be developed in a public-private partnership system. One of the issues discussed was the financing of projects carried out by local authorities in partnership with private companies, so the meeting presented a number of options available to local authorities, ranging from municipal bonds and pension fund financing to attracting funds from International Financial Institutions (IFIs). "Pension funds are looking for investments to put their money in for the long term and secure investments with predictable cash-flow. In the pension funds regulation, 15% of the portfolio can be allocated to public-private partnership projects, which means around 3 billion euro, money that could be allocated to large infrastructure projects, investments for Romania," said Mihai Precup. The state secretary assured the representatives of the local authorities of all the support they need from the central institutions to implement PPP projects. "The Romanian Government, the World Bank and other international financial institutions, as well as central state authorities support local authorities and urge them to focus as much as possible on PPP projects, as Romania has a huge potential for development through this type of projects," he said. The debate held on Tuesday was attended by members of the Association of Romanian Municipalities, officials and experts from the Financial Supervisory Authority, as well as consultants with expertise in public-private partnerships from IFC-World Bank. The government on Wednesday approved the suspension of a double tax avoidance agreement between Romania and Belarus that also provided for the prevention of tax evasion with regard to income and capital taxes. According to the Romanian government, the new piece of legislation calls for the total suspension of the application of the provisions of the agreement and an annexed protocol signed in Bucharest on July 22, 1997 and ratified on May 26,1998. "The Romanian party's proposal comes in reaction to the decision of the Belarusian government to suspend, from June 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026, three articles of the agreement relating to dividends, interest and capital gains. The decision of the Belarusian party was notified to the Romanian party on March 22, 2024. The reason given by the Belarusian side is the need to adopt a countermeasure to the 'unilateral coercive measures illegally imposed, in a coordinated manner, by the EU, US, UK and their allies against Belarus, outside the UN charter'." Romania believes that there is no legal basis for the suspension measure and that Belarus supports the same sanctioning line adopted by Russia as a result of Romania's position towards the Russian aggression in Ukraine. "Thus, Belarus is in substantial violation of its obligations under the agreement and, as a consequence, Romania will notify Belarus of the full suspension of the application of the bilateral agreement. The date of termination of the suspension of the agreement by Romania will be January 1, 2027, unless Belarus notifies by then another date regarding keeping the suspension of the agreement in place, other than the one mentioned in its notification of March 22, 2024," according to the government The Court of Accounts is a vital entity in ensuring the functioning of public institutions in Romania, and its role is that of "guardian of the public interest", said Senate President Nicolae Ciuca on Wednesday, informs Agerpres. "I am glad to be here with you to honour the Romanian Court of Accounts, a fundamental institution of the Romanian state, guarantor of the good management of public money and genuine partner of Parliament. The Court of Accounts is a vital entity in ensuring the functioning of public institutions in our country, its role is that of guardian of the public interest, constantly ensuring that public finances are used correctly for the benefit of taxpayers, of all citizens. This is essential, especially in this period in which we are extremely attentive to public spending in which we cannot afford to waste the state's funds, namely those of the Romanians," Nicolae Ciuca affirmed at the event "Responsibility. Relevance. Resilience in a world of challenges", dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the establishment of the Romanian Court of Accounts. According to the Senate president, the Court of Accounts is "a flagship institution", which not only controls, but also educates from a financial point of view, helping other institutions to be more efficient in the use of financial resources. He also said that, in order to fulfill its mission as well as possible, the Court of Accounts is itself in a constant process of modernisation. "The Court of Accounts of Romania understands that excellence is constantly being cultivated and that good practices are constantly being refined. Thus, financial control becomes more careful, the transparency of institutions in the use of public money increases, cases of abuse and corruption in public institutions are reduced. We, in the Romanian Parliament, appreciate the professionalism and dedication of the Court of Accounts expressed in the reports submitted to Parliament. The opinions and recommendations of the Court of Accounts help to streamline fiscal and budgetary policy. The expertise of the Court of Accounts is valued and, therefore, sought when we want to improve other aspects of public finances," the Senate president said. Nicolae Ciuca also mentioned that the institution of the Court of Accounts of Romania has a "vocation" to collaborate with a wide range of institutions and individuals, from the President of Romania, Parliament and Government, to the academic world, the business world and non-governmental organisations, as well as with the institutions of justice, with representatives of professional bodies in the fields of finance, accounting and auditing, and with external partners. "Romania's Court of Accounts can be proud of what it has achieved so far, of its reputation among Romania's public institutions, of the rigor and neutrality that it cultivates permanently. The Court of Accounts thus honours its mission, being a stable pillar of the Romanian state," Nicolae Ciuca added. Tony Messenger Metro columnist Follow Tony Messenger 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 SPRINGFIELD, Ohio The sign on the bridge startled me out of an early-morning stupor. We were driving on Interstate 70 at dawn on Saturday on the way to a college visit for our youngest daughter. The sun was barely coming up when we pulled over to get some gasoline and coffee. Heading back to the interstate, the bridge overhead had one of those welcome signs in big print: Welcome to Springfield. We were driving in the town that had become the center of a national immigration storm, fueled by false and racist stories about Haitian immigrants that were pushed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, who represents Ohio in the Senate. Theyre eating the dogs, Trump said in last weeks presidential debate, suggesting the immigrants were stealing pets for food. Vance doubled down in the Sunday talk shows, with the perhaps unintentional admission that the stories were made up. The impact in Springfield has been dire: Schools closed because of bomb threats; Haitian families fearful for their lives; a cultural festival canceled out of an abundance of caution. The Haitians in question, said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, also a Republican, were invited to Springfield to help a struggling town increase its population and work force. They are refugees, resettled legally in the state as part of a federal program. Some of those Haitians seeking escape from a war-torn country, as well as larger numbers of refugees from Venezuela, Afghanistan, Syria, and other Central and South American countries, have come to St. Louis under similar programs. On Monday, the citys top business organization, Greater St. Louis Inc., announced that those efforts have been more successful in recent years than ever before, as a percentage of population growth. According to recent Census Bureau estimates, St. Louis led the nation among the top 30 metro areas in the country for growth in foreign-born population last year, with the biggest increase coming in Hispanic population. Its a victory, or the beginning of one, that has been a long-time coming. For more than a decade now, business leaders in St. Louis, and advocates for immigration, have pointed to the need to increase immigrant population in the city to spur economic development. The Mosaic Project was created in 2012 with the precise goal of increasing the foreign-born population in St. Louis. The population at 5.7 percent of the metro area as of last year is still behind several major cities that have larger than 20 percent foreign-born populations, but the increase last year of 23 percent year-over-year, was nearly double that of the second-place region Pittsburgh and significantly higher than every other major metro in America. This, like the refugee resurgence in Springfield, Ohio, is worth cheering. Its an American success story. These numbers show that the focused and intentional work taking place to make our metro a destination for immigrants is paying major dividends, said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc., in a news release announcing the citys success at recruiting immigrants. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and city of St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones joined in the celebration, thanking the new immigrants to St. Louis for helping this region point toward a better future. Amid this backdrop, its disheartening to see one of the nations major political candidates and too many members of his party using their platforms to decry immigrants, while so many cities and states are doing what America has always done, turning to the next batch of immigrants looking for opportunity in what former President Ronald Reagan famously referenced in his farewell speech to the nation as the shining city on a hill. If that city had to have walls, Reagan said in that speech, then the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. In St. Louis, despite having to fight through some ill-advised rhetoric from Republicans in Jefferson City and St. Charles County, the doors to immigrants are open. Whether its Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, or Bosnians, Venezuelans and Afghans in St. Louis, the future of cities is built on immigrants who come here looking to fulfill their version of the American Dream, while adding to the beautiful and ever-changing mosaic of a country that believes mostly in welcoming its neighbors. We came here to work hard, to improve ourselves, and to have a better life, Pedro Reyes told me in May. He, his wife and their daughter, who traveled the dangerous migrant route from South America to the U.S. over a harrowing couple of months, are part of that record-breaking wave of immigrants changing St. Louis for the better. They were recruited here by the International Institute of St. Louis, a refugee resettlement nonprofit, and had good jobs waiting when they arrived. Since the Reyes came here in 2024, they dont even show up on the 2023 growth statistics, and Arrey Obenson, the president and CEO of the International Institute, says the numbers should keep going up. Between January and August, we resettled over 800 refugees in the St. Louis area more than double the number of refugees we served during the same period in 2023, and the highest level we have seen since the 1990s, Obenson said in an email. After escaping violence or persecution, we welcome refugees as they embark on a new chapter in their lives and help them find safety and opportunities to thrive. We also know that the presence of immigrants in our community provides value. St. Louis leaders are putting out the welcome mat for the next generation of immigrants to the worlds melting pot. Thats the American way. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 18. Uzbekneftegaz JSC (the oil and gas company of Uzbekistan) held a meeting with representatives of investment companies Fidelity Management & Research, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and Artisan Partners, Trend reports. During the meeting, the parties shot the breeze about the latest corporate triumphs of Uzbekneftegaz, their production hustle, industry trends, and investment priorities for the future. Also, it was mentioned that the Uzbekneftegaz JSC team is getting ready to meet in London in October with global rating agencies, banks, and investors. The meeting partakers highlighted that this partnership will not just put some extra coins in the companys pocket, but it will also serve as a key motivator for rolling out new projects down the line. Noteworthy that not long ago, the World Bank threw its hat in the ring, signaling its willingness to back the projects rolled out by Uzbekneftegaz JSC aimed at cutting down on methane emissions. The parties kicked around the idea of pouring resources into projects that would boost energy efficiency, ramp up gas production, and cut down on methane emissions. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel ST. LOUIS COUNTY The teenager accused of threatening to shoot Ritenour High School on Tuesday is now facing criminal charges. St. Ann police Chief Aaron Jimenez said charges of terrorist threat in the first degree, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest have been filed against the 16-year-old suspect in juvenile court. The suspect is currently at the juvenile detention center in St. Louis County, but he may be charged as an adult, Jimenez said. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, the teen, a former Ritenour student, posted a video in which he recorded himself rapping and pointing a gun at Husky Academy and a school resource officers vehicle, police said. He tagged Ritenour High School with a hashtag in the post. Jimenez said the suspect was armed with a Glock with a fully loaded chamber, in addition to one extended magazine that held at least 15 bullets. Think about if we did not do what we did and jumped on this threat, Jimenez said. It was only a matter of time before he went in to shoot students, or the school or the staff. Twenty-four minutes had elapsed between when the threat was reported through a Courage2Report tipline and officers arrested the suspect. A deputy chief, George Ravens, found the suspect in his car in the Husky alternative schools parking lot, according to Jimenez. The juvenile immediately jumped out of his car and ran. Ravens pursued the suspect, who tossed his gun as he ran. He was arrested around 2 p.m. Tuesday about a block away from the school. Jimenez said its unclear why the teen threatened the high school, or if hed gotten into trouble with police before as hes a juvenile. Officers are also investigating how the 16-year-old obtained his gun. Theres a lot more to this and were looking to charge more people, Jimenez said. Ritenour High is just one of several schools in the area targeted in recent threats posted to social media. One school locked down and another school went virtual Wednesday after a series of threats posted on social media targeted at least eight schools in the metro area over the past 24 hours. Mitch McCoy with St. Louis Metropolitan Police said officers are investigating copycat threats sent to multiple schools. Police are still looking for whoever posted on social media that theyd shoot Lift For Life Academy in the city, causing the school to transition to virtual learning for the day. McCoy said the threat against the charter school was separate from copycat threats seen locally and nationwide. Weve added police presence in some of those schools, McCoy said. Were working with the security teams at St. Louis Public Schools for adding security presence there. Other schools in St. Louis and across the U.S. have reported bomb or shooting threats over as reports of school violence spike nationwide. Florida schools have been flooded by threats of violence in recent days, Politico reports. A wave of threats have also been reported at schools in California, Indiana, and Illinois. In the St. Louis area, East St. Louis Senior High went on lockdown Wednesday morning after a post on social media threatened violence against the school, district officials said in a statement this morning. In St. Louis city, acting St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Millicent Borishade said in a letter to families this morning that some of SLPS schools were also threatened. The district will heighten security in response, Borishade said. Tuesday afternoon, after school dismissal, University City School District officials learned of an online bomb threat against the districts high school on Instagram. And earlier that day, the Ladue Horton Watkins High School also received a bomb threat and canceled classes. On Wednesday, Premier Charter School in the citys Northampton neighborhood said a situation was brought to the attention of the schools middle school principals and police were notified. Other threats were made last week against Ritenour and Normandy High schools. This week, according to a message to parents, Normandy restricted hallway movement during class time, kept recess indoors and had staff act as hallway monitors. Jimenez, St. Anns police chief, said shooting threats in his jurisdiction have reflected a national rise in shooting threats. Last year, he said his department received up to six threat reports, which resulted in only one gun found at a home. This year, theres been eight threats against schools and students. This is not something we should become so adept at dealing with, Ritenour Superintendent Chris Kilbride said at a press conference Tuesday. But were willing to do whatever it takes to keep our students and our community safe. Blythe Bernhard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. ST. LOUIS Mayor Tishaura O. Jones on Wednesday announced plans to demolish part of the old City Workhouse, which could free up space for abandoned animals, derelict vehicles and other city services. A news release said that demolition of the jail, long derided by activists as dirty and inhumane, will begin by Dec. 16 and next steps will be formally announced at the beginning of next year. The release said plans are being developed for an animal shelter, which could alleviate crowding issues at the current Midtown site, and additional space for the citys often overstuffed tow lot. Satellite photos show dozens of beat-up cars have already been parked on the property. Conner Kerrigan, a spokesperson for Jones, said a plan to put tiny homes on the site for homeless residents also remains under consideration. Jones spent years campaigning with activists to close the workhouse, which they derided as a sweltering, rat-infested disgrace rife with abuse. She emptied the facility as mayor, transferring its inmates to the downtown City Justice Center in June 2022. And on Wednesday, she said it was time to eradicate much of it. Our community deserves better than to see the facility continue to stand as it did, Jones said in the release, so I am pleased that we can now move forward with the demolition. Leading activists for the facilitys closure applauded the move. Im struggling to put words together but this is so so good, Kayla Reed, who leads Action St. Louis, wrote on social media. The city said the vast majority of the Workhouse would be demolished, including the guard towers, former womens quarters, the main building, the mens quarters and the entrance building, where the much-photographed Medium Security Institution sign sits. The only buildings that arent on the demo list, yet, Kerrigan said, are smaller pods behind the main buildings. Meanwhile, the administrations tiny home idea remains controversial. Community organizers and activists, with whom Jones once campaigned to close the jail, dont want anyone living there. A plan drawn up by activists, at the mayors request, said the sites environmental concerns, sordid history and out-of-the-way location on the industrial north riverfront meant no one should be living there unless theres nowhere else for them to go. That plan also called for the complete demolition of the Workhouse save for structures absolutely necessary for the handful of future uses it endorsed: an animal shelter, a solar energy farm, or industrial work. Activists also want a memorial marker for those held there, and a new community resource hub elsewhere on the North Side. The city is indeed working on the marker: Jones asked anyone interested to submit concepts, drawings, designs, poetry or written descriptions for a memorial mark on the city website at stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/mayor/initiatives/msi/msi-public-idea-submission.cfm. Ideas will be evaluated with the help of the Regional Arts Commission, the Missouri History Museum and the Griot Museum of Black History, among others, the release said. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 1. Aldermen are set to hold a hearing Thursday on a resolution calling for the full adoption of the activists plan. Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, of downtown, is the sponsor. CHICAGO During a recent public appearance, Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell recalled the early days of working to pass, defend and then implement Illinois historic bail reform law amid intense furor. When I got a call from my aunt in North Carolina asking me if I was involved in a law that legalized murder, I knew it was crazy, Mitchell said. The states sweeping bail reform measure took effect a year ago, eliminating money as a factor in whether a defendant is released from jail while awaiting trial and ushering in broad changes in how pretrial justice is handled. Its passage and eventual implementation took an arduous path, with controversy over the law reaching a fever pitch and yielding misinformation campaigns as well as legal challenges. Now that a year has passed since Illinois became the first state to legislatively outlaw bail, state and local officials are taking stock, hoping to leave the politics behind and evaluate the impact guided by data and other evidence. With the caveat that studying such an impact can take years, researchers say the rate of defendants failing to appear in court has not increased. They point out without giving it a causal link that violent crime and property crime did not increase in the months after the laws passage. The impact on jail populations across the state has also been significant, with daily populations dropping in most places. Officials have contended with a learning curve throughout the past year while implementing major changes in a massive and slow-to-change criminal justice system. Some rural counties have contended with a shortage of resources to handle the changes. Appeals of detention decisions overwhelmed the appellate courts in the early days before the states high court made changes. Even as counties continue to adjust, those who work in the system mostly say that the courts have settled into the new normal. We were given this big open highway called the PFA, said Cook County Judge Mary Marubio, presiding judge of the pretrial division. Slowly, were all finding where the lanes are and where the guardrails are. The politics of reform In a 2022 political ad released by a group supporting then-Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, big white letters set across scenes of violence proclaimed: Chicago violence is coming to the suburbs. The year before, Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law the sweeping criminal justice reform legislation known as the SAFE-T Act, which included a measure that eliminated cash bail. The reform bill, and particularly the bail provisions, was lauded by proponents as a vehicle for making the criminal justice system more fair and equitable, but the legislation spurred controversy, particularly taking a prominent role in the governors race between Bailey and Pritzker. Some stakeholders raised concerns about the ability for judicial discretion, the public safety impact, resources and the implementation and logistics of making massive changes throughout the state. But the ambitious reform, timed with a contentious election season, also became fodder for misinformation campaigns. In fall 2022, political mailings designed to look like newspapers were sent to voters around the state. With titles such as the Will County Gazette, McLean County Times and Macon Reporter, photos of mostly Black men were placed with false stories containing misinformation about the law. Its a scare tactic. Its meant to have people (show) concern for their safety. Its disgusting. Its a terrible thing to do, Pritzker said at the time. Reflecting on the pushback, Mitchell said it was difficult to have policy debates, discussions and disagreements about the proposals amid the uproar. It was well-organized, well-funded and very intentional, he said of the opposition. On the policy side, officials designated a two-year ramp-up period to allow counties across the state time to prepare to train personnel, work through logistics and decide how to allocate resources. A task force convened by the Illinois Supreme Court led training and preparation efforts. But on New Years Eve in 2022, one day before the Pretrial Fairness Act was set to take effect, the states high court delayed implementation to allow legal challenges from prosecutors across the state to be resolved. The court order came after a Kankakee County judge sided with prosecutors in over 60 counties, mostly from downstate, who sued to stop the no-cash bail policy and other provisions of the act. The judge ruled, among other things, that the state legislature violated the separation of powers clause in the Illinois Constitution when it eliminated cash bail and interfered with the judiciarys ability to set bail. How did we go from the most noble of goals to the most unconstitutional of outcomes? Kankakee County States Attorney James Rowe argued in court in December 2022. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled against the prosecutors in summer 2023, finding that the cash bail measure was constitutional. Though the use of money bail has been eliminated or reduced in other jurisdictions, Illinois became the first state to fully outlaw it. After a nine-month delay, the law took effect Sept. 18, 2023. Initial findings With a year in the rearview mirror, researchers are reviewing preliminary data throughout the state to try to answer big questions surrounding the laws effectiveness and impact on public safety. During a summit last week, David Olson, co-director of Loyola University Chicagos Center for Criminal Justice Research, presented findings from approximately the first year, as part of a multiyear endeavor to examine the law. The results will come into full focus over time, Olson said, and some metrics, particularly on whether a defendant released from jail committed any new crimes while awaiting pretrial, require longer periods of time for accurate findings. Among the findings so far: Since the law took effect, defendants are spending significantly less time in jail while awaiting trial. The number of defendants detained for more than three days after the initial hearing decreased from 31% to 8% in 21 counties examined. In 21 counties, during the first nine months following implementation, the elimination of cash bail resulted in $6.7 million in avoided bond costs. In 21 counties studied, warrants issued for failure to appear in court decreased slightly from 17% to 15%. Pretrial jail populations fell by about 14% in Cook County and other urban counties and more still in rural counties, about 25%. Concerns about overuse of electronic monitoring have not materialized at this point in time. Olson also noted that violent and property crime decreased in the year after the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect when comparing January to June 2023 to the same time period in 2024, though he added that hes not asserting any causal relationship. Were not saying the Pretrial Fairness Act reduced crime and were also not saying the drop in crime might not have been larger had the law not been in effect, he said. But this is at least to put out there that crime has not gone up. Some stakeholders pointed out that fears of rampant increases in crime appear thus far unfounded. The sky did not fall, Marubio said. People are coming to court and communities are keeping more money within the community, which was a reason for the reform. How the law works During a recent detention hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, an assistant states attorney described a random crime of opportunity: A nurse leaving a hospital one morning was forced into her vehicle by a masked man holding a knife and made to drive to ATMs to take out cash. This was a hardworking person, in this case an employee at this hospital, Judge Antara Nath Rivera said as she ordered the man detained while awaiting trial. The defendant poses a threat. This is an example, most stakeholders say, of what is generally happening that the most dangerous offenders are being held in jail. Here, in a nutshell, is what the law does: Previously, judges usually had the option of detaining a defendant without the option of posting bail, or ordering a monetary bond the defendant would have to post in order to be released. Now, prosecutors decide on which cases they will ask a judge to hold a defendant before trial, if the defendant is charged with a detainable offense. Some offenses are not identified as detainable, meaning prosecutors dont have the option of seeking detention. The cases for which prosecutors seek detention go to a hearing, which the law designed to be more robust, allowing defense attorneys more of a chance to argue the merits of the case. All other cases go to an initial appearance hearing, where judges will decide on conditions for release, such as electronic monitoring or other less restrictive conditions. Proponents of the measure say that this system allows judges to make decisions based on risk to the community, rather than wealth. There was a fear on one side that everyone would be detained, and there was a fear on the other side that no one would be detained and the jail doors would open, said Alison Shames, director of The Center for Effective Public Policy. What were seeing is that people are exercising their discretion, as they should be doing. Still, some prosecutors hope for more discretion in which types of cases for which they can seek detention. Judges have discretion in a lot of cases, but not all, DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin said, though adding that the law is strong on violent offenses. I firmly believe that a judge is in the best position to make that decision on detention in each individual case." ST. LOUIS The St. Louis Symphony Orchestras expansion wing will be named the Jack C. Taylor Music Center, officials were set to announce Wednesday. Taylor, founder of Enterprise Mobility, was a longtime patron and gave a $40 million grant to the symphony to re-establish its endowment trust in 2000. That money helped save the venue from bankruptcy and set the course for a more successful trajectory, said Marie-Helene Bernard, the Symphonys president and CEO. We are honored to remember Jack and celebrate his legacy in this way and remain immeasurably grateful for his visionary belief in the greatness of St. Louis and the SLSO, she said in a statement. Sign up for the Brick City newsletter Steph Kukuljan and other business reporters bring you insights into St. Louis-area real estate and development. The Powell Hall name will stay, officials said. The more than $134 million renovation will feature a 64,000-square-foot addition, new learning center, lobby and expanded backstage area that will be more inviting to visitors, musicians and the Grand Center neighborhood. The Symphony has been playing at various venues across the region during construction. This spring, the organization will test acoustics of the expansion and prepare to move back, said Bernard. Were anxious to get back to Powell Hall, she said in an interview. Built in 1925, Powell Hall was initially known as the St. Louis Theatre, a vaudeville house and movie theater. It was renovated in 1968 when it became the Symphonys permanent home. Powells expansion marks the organizations first major project since. St. Louis-based BSI Constructors started construction in 2022. Snohetta, a Norway-based firm, is the projects architect. The new wing is expected to open in September 2025 in time for the SLSOs 146th season and the centennial of Powell Hall. Dad loved St. Louis, said Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Jack Taylors daughter. It was important to him to ensure that St. Louis would continue to enjoy an internationally recognized orchestra. WASHINGTON Republicans have blocked for a second time this year legislation to establish a nationwide right to in vitro fertilization, arguing that the vote is an election-year stunt after Democrats forced a vote on the issue. The Senate vote was Democrats latest attempt to force Republicans into a defensive stance on womens health issues and highlight policy differences between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the presidential race, especially as Trump has called himself a leader on IVF. The 51-44 vote was short of the 60 votes needed to move forward on the bill, with only two Republicans voting in favor. Missouris Republican senators, Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, voted no; Illinois two Democrats, Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, voted yes. Democrats say Republicans who insist they support IVF are being hypocritical because they wont support legislation guaranteeing a right to it. They say they support IVF here you go, vote on this, said Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the bills lead sponsor and a military veteran who has used the fertility treatment to have her two children. The Democratic push started earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. Several clinics in the state suspended IVF treatments until the GOP-led legislature rushed to enact a law to provide legal protections for the clinics. Democrats quickly capitalized, holding a vote in June on Duckworths bill and warning that the U.S. Supreme Court could go after the procedure next after it overturned the right to an abortion in 2022. The bill would establish a nationwide right for patients to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies and a right for doctors and insurance companies to provide it, an effort to pre-empt state efforts to limit the services. It would also require more health insurers to cover it and expand coverage for military service members and veterans. In a statement after the vote, Harris said Republicans in Congress have once again made clear that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments many couples need to fulfill their dream of having a child. Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who missed the vote because he was campaigning, said during a stop in Wisconsin that the measure was not a serious IVF bill, but a measure designed to make Republicans look bad. The Senate blocked a ridiculous showboat bill that had no chance of passing, Vance said. Republicans argued that the federal government shouldnt tell states what to do and that the bill was an unserious effort. Only Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted with Democrats to move forward on the bill both times. Meanwhile, Republicans have scrambled to counter Democrats on the issue, with many making clear that they support IVF treatments. Trump last month announced plans, without additional details, to require health insurance companies or the federal government to pay for the fertility treatment. In his debate with Harris earlier this month, Trump said he was a leader on the issue and talked about the very negative decision by the Alabama court that was later reversed by the legislature. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said that Democrats are trying to create a political issue where there isnt one. Let me remind everybody that Republicans support IVF, full stop, Thune said just before the vote. The issue has threatened to become a vulnerability for Republicans as some state laws passed by their party grant legal personhood not only to fetuses but to any embryos that are destroyed in the IVF process. Ahead of its convention this summer, the Republican Party adopted a policy platform that supports states establishing fetal personhood through the Constitutions 14th Amendment, which grants equal protection under the law to all American citizens. The platform also encourages supporting IVF but does not explain how the party plans to do so. Republicans have tried to push alternatives on the issue, including legislation that would discourage states from enacting explicit bans on the treatment, but those bills have been blocked by Democrats who say they are not enough. Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, said in a floor speech then that his daughter was currently receiving IVF treatment and proposed to expand the flexibility of health savings accounts. Republican Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas have tried to pass a bill that would threaten to withhold Medicaid funding for states where IVF is banned. Cruz, who is running for reelection in Texas, said Democrats were holding the vote to stoke baseless fears about IVF and push their broader political agenda. MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) The election director in Cobb County, an Atlanta suburb where votes will be fiercely contested in this year's presidential race, recently organized a five-hour training session. The focus wasn't solely on the nuts-and-bolts of running this year's election. Instead, it brought together election staff and law enforcement to strategize on how to keep workers safe and the process of voting and ballot-counting secure. Having a local sheriffs deputy at early voting locations and panic buttons that connect poll managers to a local 911 dispatcher are among the added security steps the office is taking this year. Tate Fall, Cobb Countys election director, said she was motivated to act after hearing one of her poll workers describe being confronted during the state's presidential primary in March by an agitated voter who the worker noticed was carrying a gun. The situation ended peacefully, but the poll worker was shaken. That made it really real for me that its so easy for something to go sideways in life, period, let alone the environment of Georgia and elections, Fall said. I just cant have someone being harmed on my conscience. Across the country, local election directors are beefing up their security in advance of Election Day on Nov. 5 to keep their workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures won't be tampered with. Their concern isn't just theoretical. Election offices and those who run them have been targets of harassment and even death threats since the 2020 presidential election, primarily by people acting on former President Donald Trump's lies that the election was stolen from him through widespread fraud or rigged voting machines. The focus on security comes as threats of political violence have been on the rise. Trump was the target of a potential assassination attempt over the weekend, just nine weeks after another threat on his life. Federal agents last year fatally shot a Trump supporter who threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden, and the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was severely injured in a hammer attack by a man promoting right-wing conspiracy theories. In just the last year, a gun was fired at a window of the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, election office, several election offices in five states were sent letters filled with a white powder that in some cases tested positive for the powerful opioid fentanyl, and bogus 911 calls were made to the homes of top state election officials in Georgia, Maine, Michigan and Missouri in a potentially dangerous situation known as swatting. This is one of the things that I have to say is just crazy, outrageous to me the election threats to workers of both parties and their families, the bullying, the harassment, Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, said during a recent agency-sponsored online event. These folks, they are not doing it for pay. Theyre not doing it for glory. Theyre doing it because they believe its the right thing to do to defend our democracy. Her agency has completed more than 1,000 voluntary physical security assessments for election offices since the start of 2023. Election officials have been using that help to identify gaps and request money from their local governments to make upgrades. They also have been aided by a U.S. Election Assistance Commission decision in 2022 that allowed certain federal money to go toward security features such as badge readers, cameras and protective fencing. California's Los Angeles County and Durham County, North Carolina, will have new offices with significant security upgrades for this year's election. They include bulletproof glass, security cameras and doors that open only with badges. Election workers across the country also will have new procedures for handling mail, including kits of Narcan, the nasal spray used for accidental overdoses. In Durham County, a central feature of the new office will be a mail processing room with a separate exhaust system to contain potentially hazardous substances sent in the mail. We have countless reasons why this investment was critical, said the county's election director, Derek Bowens, pointing to threats against election officials in Michigan and Arizona and the suspicious letters sent to offices in Oregon, Washington, California and Georgia. Bowens and others who have worked in elections for years said their jobs have changed significantly. Threats and harassment are one reason why some election officials across the country have been leaving. In some places, election workers are being trained in de-escalation techniques and how to respond to an active shooter. Security to this extent wasnt on the list before. Now it is, said Cari-Ann Burgess, the chief election official in Washoe County, Nevada. We have drills that we work through, we have emergency plans that we have prepared. We are a lot more cautious now than we ever have been. In Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, about a four-hour drive from where Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in July, election officials estimate they now spend about 40% of their time on security and working with local law enforcement and emergency managers on election plans. This involves regular trainings to prepare for anything that might interfere with voting or counting ballots. Its very volatile, and Luzerne County reflects what is going on across the country said County Manager Romilda Crocamo, who oversees the election office staff. It seems that people are very emotional, and sometimes that emotion escalates. Crocamo is considering purchasing panic buttons for poll managers who will be at some 130 voting locations throughout the county on Election Day. State law in Pennsylvania prohibits law enforcement from being inside polling locations, but Crocamo and her team are speaking with local officials about having emergency responders with their radios at the sites should something happen. Many local officials said they have increased the law enforcement presence at election offices, including on election night when poll workers are bringing in ballots and other material from voting locations. Added law enforcement also is planned in the weeks after Election Day, during the canvass of the votes and certifying the results. In Los Angeles, law enforcement canine teams will be helping scan incoming mail ballots for suspicious substances. Its part of an updated approach that includes a new $29 million election office that consolidates operations that previously had been spread across the county. Dean Logan, who oversees elections for Los Angeles County, said security remains a top concern. He pointed to social media posts suggesting ways to damage ballot drop boxes and hamper mail voting. He said the letters with white powder were designed to disrupt election operations, and it's the responsibility of election officials to ensure that doesnt happen. The office will have round-the-clock security and additional staffing from the county sheriffs department for the November election. Its important to me that we can tell voters they dont have to be worried about the security of their ballots," he said. "Weve taken steps to keep them safe. Election officials say security is a balancing act, ensuring safety while making sure polling places are welcoming spaces for voters and providing enough access to election offices so the public can trust the process. In Michigan four years ago, a large crowd of Trump supporters created a tense and chaotic scene when they gathered outside Detroit's ballot counting operation the day after the election, chanting Stop the count! as they banged on the windows and demanded access. Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey said her office is much better prepared this time, with more cameras, armed security and bulletproof glass. Observers will now be checked in and screened by security outside a large room used for counting ballots at the city's convention center. My biggest concern was to protect the staff and the process," Winfrey said. "And in doing so, our building it may look the same, but its not the same. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 18. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan and the Uzbekistan-France Economic Chamber signed a memorandum of cooperation, Trend reports. The document was signed during a meeting between the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan Davron Vakhabov with President of the Uzbekistan-France Economic Chamber Joanna Golas. The memorandum lays the groundwork for nurturing relationships in key areas, setting the stage for future growth and collaboration. Moreover, during the meeting, the sides discussed developing trade and economic relations between Uzbekistan and France. In addition, both parties reviewed issues of holding round tables with the participation of representatives of business circles and government agencies, promotion of products and services of Uzbek and French companies, as well as establishment of joint ventures. Meanwhile, the Uzbekistan-France Economic Chamber was opened in Uzbekistan in April this year. This initiative was proposed by the heads of state during the visit of the President of France Emmanuel Macron to Uzbekistan in November 2023. The Uzbekistan-France Economic Chamber unites more than 50 French companies, entrepreneurs, and Uzbek partners. Marine veteran and Democratic U.S. senatorial candidate Lucas Kunce joins Lynn Schmidt to share why he's running for the U.S. Senate, the opioid crisis, and how he would like to reinvest in Missouri communities. EQS-Ad-hoc: Varta AG / Key word(s): Restructure of Company VARTA AG: VARTA AG announces an amendment to the restructuring concept and commercial agreement on bridge financing 18-Sep-2024 / 15:58 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. VARTA AG, Ellwangen, ISIN: DE000A0TGJ55 Publication of inside information pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 VARTA AG announces an amendment to the restructuring concept and commercial agreement on bridge financing Ellwangen, September 18, 2024 VARTA AG announces that it has today reached an agreement with almost all syndicated loan lenders, a company controlled by the current indirect majority shareholder of VARTA AG (MT InvestCo) and Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (Porsche) on an amendment to the commercial agreement on a restructuring concept published on August 17, 2024. The amended restructuring concept is structurally essentially the same as the restructuring concept of August 17, 2024 and also contains an improved offer to the lenders of the promissory notes to participate in a consensual restructuring of VARTA AG as part of the notified restructuring plan in accordance with the German Corporate Stabilisation and Restructuring Act (StaRUG). Overall, the existing debt burden shall now be reduced by approximately 255 million from 485 million to a total of approximately 230 million as part of the haircut. As previously envisaged, a new senior loan (super senior) in the amount of 60 million shall be taken out in parallel to cover liquidity requirements. In addition, claims of 25 million from lenders of promissory notes shall rank pari passu with the valuable claims of the syndicated loan lenders, which are secured by guarantees. In addition, the already agreed value recovery instrument after the restructuring period for the financing parties subject to the haircut was adjusted. A large proportion of the lenders of the promissory notes have expressed an interest in this offer. The restructuring concept continues to include a simplified reduction of the share capital of VARTA AG to 0, which will lead to the compensation-free exit of the current shareholders of VARTA AG and the delisting of VARTA AG shares, in combination with an immediately following capital increase by MT InvestCo and Porsche. On the basis of the amended restructuring concept, VARTA AG today reached an agreement with almost all syndicated loan lenders, MT InvestCo and Porsche on the essentially final draft of an amended restructuring term sheet. VARTA AG will enter into a lock-up agreement with the aforementioned syndicated loan lenders as well as other relevant parties. Among other things, the lock-up agreement will include an obligation of the undersigned syndicated loan lenders to support the restructuring of VARTA AG in accordance with the notified restructuring plan and in application of the StaRUG. MT InvestCo and Porsche will enter into an investor agreement with VARTA AG containing similar terms. On the basis of the agreed draft of the restructuring term sheet, VARTA AG will finalise the restructuring plan, submit it to the restructuring court after conclusion of the lock-up agreement and the investor agreement, and apply for a discussion and voting meeting. In addition, an agreement in principle has been reached with a part of the syndicated loan lenders to provide short-term bridge financing of up to 30 million, which shall secure the Company's financing until conclusion of the StaRUG proceedings. The agreement on the restructuring term sheet, as well as the conclusion of the lock-up agreement, the investor agreement and the bridge financing are still subject to the approval of the parties governing bodies and the finalisation of the documentation. On the basis of the agreement reached with the syndicated loan lenders and MT InvestCo and Porsche as investors as well as the interest expressed by the lenders of the promissory note loans in the improved restructuring offer, the management board of VARTA AG assumes that the majorities required for approval of the planned restructuring plan in the StaRUG proceedings are secured. Contact: Investors: Emanuel Sican Head of Investor Relations IR@varta-ag.com Press and media: Dirk Schmitt Press Spokesman (interim) PR@varta-ag.com End of Inside Information 18-Sep-2024 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.eqs-news.com The Child Development Center at Sagamihara Housing Area near Camp Zama, Japan, is pictured Sept. 18, 2024. (Juan King/Stars and Stripes) TOKYO The Army Criminal Investigation Division is probing an allegation of abuse at a Child Development Center affiliated with U.S. Army Garrison Japan just outside Tokyo. A CID spokesman confirmed that an investigation is underway into an allegation that arose at the facility at Sagamihara Family Housing Area, about 2 miles from Camp Zama, the U.S. Army headquarters in Japan. CID spokesman Thomas Hamilton III, in an email to Stars and Stripes on Tuesday, said he could provide no further details while the investigation is underway. Parents with children enrolled at the center were notified of the investigation by email Tuesday from Eric Hill, director of Family and Morale Welfare and Recreation at Camp Zama. His email, a copy of which was obtained by Stars and Stripes, offers few details. Neither Hill nor Hamilton disclosed the nature of the abuse allegation. Hills email said CID had communicated directly with families and that per standard policy, some personnel have been temporarily removed from their duties and contact with children as the investigation is carried out. Hill declined further comment, citing the open investigation, when reached by phone Wednesday by Stars and Stripes. CDCs are age-appropriate environments that prepare children to master life skills through hands-on activities and learning environments, according to the Sagamihara centers website. Its activities and programs are available for children ages 6 weeks through 6 years old. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group steams in formation with the Italian navy ships in the Red Sea in June 2024. (Courtesy photo from Italian navy) WASHINGTON Tackling delays in ship maintenance, using more drones, and improving recruiting are part of the Navys plan to prepare the fleet in three years for a potential fight with China, the chief of naval operations announced Wednesday in a new initiative called Project 33. The chairman of the Peoples Republic of China has told his forces to be ready for war by 2027 we will be more ready, said Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the sea services top officer. Project 33 was wrapped into the 2024 Navigation Plan, a framework of Franchettis priorities during her tenure as chief of naval operations. The plan identified seven areas of focus that fall under Project 33, including eliminating delays in ship maintenance, integrating more drones and autonomous systems into the force, and building upon existing quality-of-service initiatives to recruit and retain the sailors needed to man warfighting ships. The 30-page plan, which Franchetti described as ambitious but necessary, sets a goal to implement all seven priority areas by 2027. Project 33 sets new targets but we do not need new levers to reach them. This is core to my guidance. We will deliver results using the tools and resources we have to gain ground without losing speed, she said. A key is to have 80% of the force ready enough at any given time to deploy for combat if needed. The Navy is structured to have one-third of the fleet in maintenance, one-third in training and one-third on or ready for deployment. But maintenance delays could mean ships are not ready for a fight. We must accelerate our efforts to deliver the ready force we need now. We must do so to deter potential adversaries and be ready when called, Franchetti said. Driving Franchettis Project 33 are the tensions and wars around the globe now. The plan notes while Russia is wounded and isolated following its invasion of Ukraine, the country remains dangerous. And nefarious networks between Iran and Russia amid relentless attacks on merchant shipping in the Middle East make peace brittle. Components of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group and a French navy ship transited the Strait of Hormuz in November 2023. (Daniel Goodin/U.S. Navy) The pace of war is accelerating. What that means for our warfighting ecosystem is something we are actively learning, Franchetti said. Drawing on lessons from fleet experimentation and real-world developments in the Black and Red seas, Franchetti said the Navy must deliver a proven hybrid fleet that incorporates robotic and drone capabilities by 2027. The Ukrainian navy used a combination of missiles, robotic surface vessels, and agile digital capabilities to deny the Russian navy use of the western Black Sea and threaten Russias supply lines to occupying forces in Crimea. For months in the Red Sea, aircraft carrier strike groups and amphibious groups have battled Iran-backed Houthi rebels launching drone and missile attacks from Yemen that threaten maritime merchant shipping. We have seen breakthroughs in battlefield innovation over the last two years, with profound implications for the changing character of war. Cheaper, more accessible technology is pushing asymmetric capability, at lower cost, to state and nonstate actors alike, Franchetti said. In response, the Navy established an enlisted robotics warfare specialist rating this year and the service is exploring how to grow robotics expertise in the officer ranks. The Navy has also moved from experimentation to integrating robotic and autonomous systems across the fleet and the services special warfare forces are pushing to test new systems to counter drones, according to Franchetti. As chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. CQ Brown says, accelerate change or lose, and we have no intention of losing, she said. The Navy is also working to fill all active-duty and reserve forces ratings and staff deploying units to 95%. In line with this effort, the service aims to reach 100% of recruiting goals and fill the delayed entry program to 50%. This effort is already gaining traction. The Navy Recruiting Command reported in August that it was on track to surge the force by 40,000 sailors and meet the 2024 recruiting goal after years of shortfalls that forced the service to empty its delayed-entry pool of troops. The service is also working to eliminate involuntary living aboard ships in homeport and ensure no first-term sailor is forced to spend more than two years assigned to a ship undergoing an extended modernization period. Allowing sailors to escape lengthy tours in a shipyard furthers quality-of-life initiatives launched in recent years following clusters of sailor suicides across the country. Given the competitive recruiting environment we face, we cannot afford to have a single sailor leave our Navy because we failed to provide for them, Franchetti said. Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the chief of naval operations, testifies in September 2023 at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Stars and Stripes) Beyond Project 33, the 2024 Navigation Plan builds on the previous plan from 2022 to push Congress for continued investments in the industrial base and capability modernization. The Navy has tried to balance its budget by divesting in older ships to invest in procuring new more capable ships something lawmakers have challenged as China already has more warships than the United States. Getting ships out of maintenance on time, while working with Congress to get the resources necessary to support the fleet, is critical to ensuring the Navy can respond to conflict and crises and win decisively in war. It will be hard work but if we follow through, we will deliver a Navy that is ready today and postured to achieve overwhelming advantage tomorrow, Franchetti said. Kaaxooutch, who also goes by Garfield George, with the beaver prow in Angoon, Alaska, in 2018. (Courtesy of Garfield George) Billy Jones stood overlooking the Alaskan village of Angoon and took stock of what the U.S. Navy had wrought. Long spruce houses blasted apart by U.S. warships. Food stores burned. The U.S. troops responsible had gathered canoes the villages lifeblood and smashed them to pieces. At least six children died, according to historical accounts, asphyxiated by the smoke of their smoldering homes. Jones, then 13 years old, committed to memorializing what he witnessed in October 1882, including how fellow members of the Deisheetaan clan would later die of hunger and exposure. Before his death in the 1960s, Jones shared the story with others in the community, including a young boy who would grow up to become a prominent local leader and help preserve the oral history and its sorrowful final lines: Wul-laa-xooooo Almost all the people starved A-adeiiiiii yei yu toowunnooku ye This is how we were wounded in mind, body, soul and spirit On Saturday, the Navy will issue the first of two formal apologies to the Lingit communities (also called Tlingit) who its forces targeted in harrowing assaults on Kake in 1869 and Angoon 13 year later. The message will be delivered by Rear Adm. Mark Sucato, a senior officer overseeing the Navys shore presence in Alaska. The apologies are a rare concession from the U.S. military. American troops committed atrocities against Native people for decades, and in many cases celebrated their deaths as achievements. To that end, the Pentagon also has undertaken a review of close to two dozen battlefield commendations awarded for actions in the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. In a statement, Navy officials acknowledged that its wrongful actions at Kake and Angoon had inflicted multigenerational trauma. A spokeswoman, Julianne Leinenveber, said the pain and suffering inflicted upon the Tlingit people warrants these long overdue apologies. In interviews, community leaders in the isolated islands south of Juneau, Alaskas capital, said they welcome the gesture but also called attention to enduring challenges. It will mean a lot, said Garfield George, who as house master of Deishu Hit, or End of the Trail House, is known as Kaaxooutch. He will help lead the ceremony in Angoon on Oct. 26 to commemorate the attacks 142nd anniversary. The Navys apology, George explained, will correct the record and finally wipe away what he called long-standing exaggerations and lies. The way they wrote it up in official military accounts, George said, it was like we deserved what happened to us. And thats just not true. The Lingit people, along with other local tribes, trace their lineage to the Alaskan panhandle, west of British Columbia, dating back at least 10,000 years. The communities there, dependent on subsistence living, harvested salmon, cod and herring from the Pacific Northwests frigid waters, and dried fish and meat ensured their survival through winter. The tragedies in Kake and Angoon were set into motion after the Alaskan territory was purchased from Russia in 1867, putting the region under the control of the federal government with the U.S. Army and Navy providing oversight early on. In 1869, after a period of simmering tension between the Lingit people and American soldiers, a sentry at the military fort in Sitka killed two unarmed Lingit men in a canoe. In accordance with local customs, a leader from the clan demanded blankets and other goods as recompense, but American commanders refused. The Lingit then captured four fur traders and killed two to settle the dispute. The Army dispatched the USS Saginaw that February. The sloop-of-war trained its guns on Kake, and afterward troops went ashore to torch the village. They burned everything. All the shelters, all the food caches, the canoes, said Joel Jackson, president of the Organized Village of Kake. While no one was killed in the bombardment, the eradication of boats and food supplies in wintertime condemned the community to suffering. We know we lost people, Jackson said. The episode became known as the Kake War, a misnomer, Jackson said, because it was a one-sided attack against civilians. U.S. Army officials are in talks with local leaders to make a meaningful and appropriate apology for a separate assault that year that devastated the Lingit village of Wrangell, spokesman Matt Ahearn said. Our goal, he added, is to build trust and support long-term healing. Ahearn said the Armys focus is on the violence in Wrangell and deferred to the Navy questions about what happened at Kake. Thirteen years later, a medicine man named Tilxtlein from the nearby settlement in Angoon was killed in an explosion aboard a whaling ship. Though the death was an accident, Lingit custom was to seek payment equal to his stature, said his descendant Eunice James. The sum: 200 blankets. As in Kake years earlier, misunderstanding shaped what happened next, James said. Military officials wrongly sensed the tribe was preparing for war, their fears buttressed by claims that two White men had been kidnapped and held for ransom. Community leaders have long disputed this, maintaining that although the Lingit confiscated whaling boats during their period of mourning, the vessels were returned. Historians, too, have concluded an abduction was unlikely to have occurred as there was never any report of an attempted rescue or other details to support such a claim. E.C. Merriman, commander of U.S. forces in the region, rejected the Lingit appeal for 200 blankets. Instead, he demanded twice that number from them by the next day and said he would destroy Angoon if they did not comply, according to government accounts from the time. It is unclear whether community leaders understood the ultimatum, and when they provided only a fraction of what was sought, Merriman ordered the assault. The military responded probably the only way they knew how, James said, without having an understanding of the culture and the people and the language. Jones, the boy who witnessed Angoons destruction, was helping his mother prepare the communitys herring catch for winter storage when the attack occurred, he later told an anthropologist. They left us homeless on the beach, he recounted. Washington deemed it a success. As long as the native tribes do not feel the force of the government and are not punished for flagrant outrages, so much the more dangerous do they become, William Morris, the regions federal revenue collector, wrote in a letter to the U.S. treasury secretary praising Merriman. A single canoe with a beaver carved into the prow survived a salvation for the community, who used it for collecting timber to rebuild their homes and boats, and to gather new food, said George, the community leader in Angoon who carries on its oral history. When the canoe was no longer usable, it was cremated like a person. The beaver prow later disappeared under mysterious circumstances and was sold to the American Museum of Natural History in New York with little detail about its origin, the museum says. The beaver was repatriated in 1999 and is once again celebrated in ceremonies to honor The Canoe That Saved Us, George said. The community in Angoon received a $90,000 and 23,000 acres in a settlement with the Department of the Interior in 1973, but an apology remained elusive. A spokesperson for the agency declined to comment for this report. Leaders in Angoon and Kake say the attacks are but one calamity in a series of injustices tied to the Americans arrival. Diseases took hold, and alcoholism remains a scourge. There is little infrastructure Kake and Angoon are reachable only by seaplane or ferry and high unemployment. Jackson, the village president in Kake, said local leaders have yet to decide whether they will accept the Navys apology, noting there are additional needs they would like the federal government to address. Its a start of what they need to do to help us heal our people, Jackson said. But by no means can it erase what they did. The Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Kaga transits the South China Sea, Oct. 30, 2021. (Haydn N. Smith/U.S. Navy) YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan One of Japans largest warships, modified to carry fifth-generation fighters, is expected in California later this year for a test run. The helicopter destroyer JS Kaga, which resembles a small carrier, is scheduled Oct. 5 to Nov. 18 for flight tests with F-35B Lightning II multirole jets off San Diego, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force announced Sept. 10. The stateside testing will employ F-35Bs from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23, Naval Air Systems Commands largest flight-test squadron, according to a Maritime Self-Defense Force spokesman. Some Japanese government spokespeople may speak to the media only on condition of anonymity. Testing will include short-range take-off and landing and vertical landing, he told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. Multiple tests are planned throughout the 45-day trial. Further evaluations will determine if the fighters can be adequately secured while the Kaga is underway, whether the jets are moved smoothly into the hangar bay and if the maintenance space is adequate, the spokesman added. About 20 Japanese airmen are expected to join the maritime force for introductory training with the F-35Bs. Japan on March 29 completed a variety of upgrades to the Kaga to accommodate F-35Bs, including new heat-resistant paint on its flight deck, lights for nighttime operations and reshaping the flight decks bow. The B variant is capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, ideal for Japans 814-foot helicopter destroyers. The U.S. Nimitz-class carriers, in comparison, are 1,092 feet long. The Kagas overhaul came three years after a similar retrofit to its sister ship, the JS Izumo. Both flattops require another round of modifications; the Izumos final step is scheduled to begin this fiscal year and the Kagas to begin after the Izumo is complete, a Maritime Self-Defense Force spokesman told Stars and Stripes in April. The upgrades are one of the final chapters in Japans mission to acquire F-35B capability. The Defense Ministry views the ability to use the jets at sea as necessary in order to be fully prepared to protect Japans seas and skies, including the vast Pacific Ocean, while ensuring safety of the self-defense forces personnel, according to a 2022 white paper. The Defense Ministry asked for about $795 million in 2020 to purchase six F-35Bs from the U.S. and about $29 million for upgrades to the Izumo. The following year, the ministry sought another $474 million for four more F-35Bs and $61 million for upgrades to the carriers flight decks. Japan has since purchased 42 F-35Bs, with the first six expected to be delivered at the Air Self-Defense Forces Nyutabaru base in Miyazaki prefecture by the end of this fiscal year, the Japan Times reported April 9. Japans fiscal year begins April 1 and ends March 31st. North Korea tests a multiple launch rocket system in this image released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, March 19, 2024. (KCNA) CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles on the final day of a three-day thanksgiving holiday, according to the Souths military. The show of force came less than a week after Pyongyang offered a rare glimpse into what state-run media said is a secretive facility to produce weapons-grade uranium. Wednesdays missiles were launched at 6:50 a.m. from South Pyongan province and flew northeast approximately 250 miles, the South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters that morning. The incident is a clear provocation that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, the Joint Chiefs said. The missiles were assessed to have landed near North Koreas eastern coast and did not fall within Tokyos maritime exclusive economic zone, Japans Ministry of Defense said in a news release. The weapons posed no immediate threat to the United States or its allies, according to a statement from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. It condemned the launches and called on North Korea to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts. South Korea observed Chuseok, its mid-autumn harvest holiday, from Monday to Wednesday; government and businesses are widely closed for the holiday. North Korea observed the holiday for one day on Tuesday. Pyongyang has fired more than 40 ballistic missiles in 10 separate days of testing so far this year. Wednesdays launches happened five days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for ramping up production of nuclear materials necessary for the manufacture of tactical nuclear weapons, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Friday. Images released with the report show Kim touring what the North purports to be a uranium enrichment facility in an undisclosed location. A day before KCNAs report, the North launched several short-range ballistic missiles that flew roughly 220 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 18. Uzbekistan and Russia discussed coordinated measures for developing efficient transport corridors in Central Asia, Trend reports. The discussion was held during a meeting between the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and a Russian delegation that included Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev, Presidential Advisor Igor Levitin, and Chairman of Russian Railways Oleg Belozyorov. The delegation members conveyed the sincere greetings and best wishes of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Mirziyoyev. Next, the parties reviewed the practical implementation of agreements reached during high-level meetings in Tashkent on May 26-28 of this year. The participants highlighted the importance of accelerating industrial cooperation projects in transportation, further expanding partnerships in automobile, rail, and air transport, as well as in training highly qualified engineering personnel. To note, the foreign trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Russia from January to July 2024 amounted to $6.8 billion, an increase of 30.7 percent compared to the same period last year ($5.2 billion from January through July 2023). Russia ranked second among the countries with the largest trade volume with Uzbekistan, accounting for 18.5 percent of Uzbekistan's total trade turnover. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel A Taiwan air force pilot climbs out of a Mirage 2000 fighter jet after a flight over Hsinchu Air Base, Taiwan, Jan. 11, 2022. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes) The United States plans to sell Taiwan spare aircraft parts and related military equipment worth an estimated $228 million, according to statements this week from both countries. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which assists with arms transfers to U.S. allies, has notified Congress of the possible sale, the State Department announced Monday. Taiwan asked for the return, repair and reshipment of spare parts for aircraft and related equipment. It also requested engineering, technical and logistics support, the announcement states. This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipients continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability, the announcement states. The parts would be for various types of fighter aircraft, said Ming-Shih Shen of Taipeis Institute for National Defense and Security Research. Because Taiwan Air Force fighter aircraft perform various counterattack gray zone missions, the wear and tear of spare parts is relatively serious, and some logistical support is needed to improve the spare parts availability rate and reserves, he told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday. China routinely sends military aircraft across the Taiwan Strait, forcing the island democracy to scramble fighters to intercept the threat. On Sept. 5 and 6, for example, Taiwans Ministry of National Defense reported 19 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters, drones and helicopters, approaching the island. Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the proposed aircraft parts sale Tuesday in a post on X. Were determined to safeguard #TaiwanStrait peace & contribute to #IndoPacific stability & prosperity, the ministry wrote. This marks the 16th announcement of an arms provision to Taiwan by President Joe Bidens administration, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. U.S. Special Operations Forces assigned to 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), participate in a combat marksmanship exercise at Panzer Range, in Boeblingen, Germany, Feb. 15, 2024. A leadership makeover aimed at improving how U.S. special operators work with allies in Europe would change U.S. Special Operations Command Europe into a three-star headquarters with its commander serving in a dual-hatted role as head of NATOs special operations command. (Michele Wiencek/U.S. Army) STUTTGART, Germany A leadership makeover aimed at improving how U.S. special operators work with allies in Europe is in the works, military officials said this week. The change involves turning the Stuttgart-based U.S. Special Operations Command Europe into a three-star headquarters with its commander serving in a dual role as head of NATOs special operations command. The change will better align SOF operations, activities and investments, SOCEUR spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Bogart said in a statement Wednesday. Furthermore, it ensures a more efficient allocation of resources and personnel, where SOF assets can be rapidly deployed in support of NATO or U.S. missions as needed, he said. The move is in line with how other top positions are structured, such as U.S. European Command, whose leader also serves as NATOs supreme allied commander from an office in Belgium. The heads of the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force in Europe lead corresponding NATO commands. Last week, the Pentagon announced that Army Maj. Gen. Richard E. Angle had been nominated for a third star to head up SOCEUR and the Allied Special Operations Forces Command. If confirmed, he will command from NATOs military headquarters in Belgium. Since August, he has served as a special assistant to Gen. Darryl Williams, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and NATOs Allied Land Command, according to the Army. Then-Brig. Gen. Richard E. Angle participates in a working lunch during the Joint Warfighting Assessment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., in 2019. Now a major general, Angle was nominated for a third star to take up the position of Special Operations Command Europe boss and also head up Allied Special Operations Forces Command, the Pentagon announced last week. (Torrance Saunders/U.S. Army) Meanwhile, Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Lock, who took over SOCEUR in July, will remain in Stuttgart and serve as Angles deputy upon confirmation. The reorganization for SOCEUR is the latest development for a command thats been adapting how its forces are positioned in Europe. SOCEUR is moving some of its operators from Stuttgart to Baumholder, a more rural area with access to larger training grounds. Army officials have said the move, which will add about 1,000 people to the services Baumholder garrison, is expected to happen by 2026. Tim Hunt urges lawmakers on the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China to take action to secure the release of his sister from imprisonment in China, Sept. 18, 2024. (Congressional-Executive Commission on China via YouTube) (Tribune News Service) Retired Chicago police Officer Tim Hunts testimony Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill was the latest step on his decadelong journey to bring his sister home from a Chinese prison. Dawn Michelle Hunt, a lifelong South Side resident, was arrested by Chinese authorities on dubious drug smuggling charges in 2014. She was raped, had multiple blood transfusions and may have cancer, according to her family and medical documents. The Hunt family is calling on the U.S. to do more to secure her release. Gentlemen, this isnt political for me and my family, a teary-eyed Hunt said to Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, and Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey who chairs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Im just asking as a brother. Bring my sister home. Do whatever it takes. Bring her home. Time is of the essence, both for his sisters health and because prisoner release negotiations historically falter during changes in presidential administrations like the inevitable one early next year. The Hunt family told the Tribune earlier this week that they have been advocating for her release tirelessly and that they are not giving up. Ive been praying for my daughter for 10 years, and one of my prayers has always been that well be reunited, said her father, Gene Hunt, 90. I never gave up on that. On Wednesday morning, the family and advocates urged the U.S. lawmakers to consider engaging with a 2018 Chinese law that opens the door to prisoner transfers. France has already used it, according to Peter Humphrey, a former Chinese prisoner turned activist who testified Wednesday morning. Hunt was also joined by the father of Nelson Wells Jr. and the son of Kai Li, two other Americans who have been detained in China for several years on similarly murky grounds. The release of American David Lin from a Chinese prison last weekend after nearly two decades on contract fraud charges cast a bittersweet mood on the hearing. The families of fellow imprisoned Americans celebrated his return home but also questioned when it would be their loved ones turn: What about my dad? When will it be his turn? asked Harrison Li, a doctoral student at Stanford University. His father, Kai, was detained on espionage charges in 2016. Harrison, who is in his 20s, reminded the lawmakers hes spent nearly a third of his life without a father. The short time they had together as a family was spent in Long Island, New York. Kai Li is one of two on the State Departments list of Americans wrongfully detained in China. Until this weekend, Lin was also on the list. Hes also the first American to be released from Chinese prison under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, Dawn Michelle Hunt and Wells, a New Orleans native, are two of the more than 200 Americans held in China whose detention is not officially recognized as unjust by the federal government, according to a count from the U.S.-based advocacy organization Dui Hua. Hunt and Wells were arrested on similar drug trafficking charges. All the families present Wednesday called for more transparency on how wrongful detention is determined, and Smith said he was introducing a bill directing the State Department to shed light on its process and the tools at its disposal. By virtue of Chinas questionable rule of law, all Americans should be deemed wrongfully detained, the families and Rep. Smith agreed. The State Department does not comment on case designations out of privacy concerns, but all Americans have access to consular services regardless of whether or not theyre deemed a wrongful detainee, a spokesperson told the Tribune. The families, however, lamented a lack of access to their loved ones, which they partially credited to constant turnover in the consular office. Phone calls are monitored, visits are nearly impossible, and wellness checks by U.S. officials are too infrequent. I feel like Im one little woman all against China, said Kathrine Swidan in a recorded video message. Her son Mark will have been imprisoned on drug trafficking charges for 12 years in November. Tim Hunt was the only family member on Capitol Hill Wednesday who had been able to visit his sister, a rocky trip that took several months to set up. That will likely be his last visit to China. After this hearing, I dont believe it will be advisable for me to visit my sister again, said Hunt. He hopes the next time he sees her is in Chicago. 2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A proposed rule at the Department of Veterans Affairs to make it easier for veterans with a rare lung condition to qualify for disability benefits is being criticized by some veterans and a pulmonologist because the change requires tests and assessments that often fail to detect the chronic disease. (Stars and Stripes) WASHINGTON A proposed rule at the Department of Veterans Affairs to make it easier for veterans with a rare lung condition to qualify for disability benefits is being criticized by some veterans and a pulmonologist because the change requires tests and assessments that often fail to detect the chronic disease. The lung ailment is called constrictive bronchiolitis, which is a toxic injury from exposure to burn pits, dust storms, jet fuel exhaust and industrial pollutants. Patients with the disorder experience inflammation, emphysema and scarring of the lungs. Dr. Robert Miller, a scientist and physician at Vanderbilt Medical University who was part of the team that first identified the disease in troops 20 years ago, said the VA will require routine respiratory tests that are unreliable to confirm the diagnosis. The rule change also adds a diagnosis code for constrictive bronchiolitis to process veterans claims more efficiently. Some veterans who have been exposed to toxins and developed constrictive bronchiolitis received 0% disability or a very low rating. Miller said he does not expect that to change without the proper testing and criteria. Jim Raines, 61, of Alabama, a retired Army chief warrant officer, said he has been battling the VA for 12 years for recognition of the disease and how it has impacted his life. His battle continues. Jim Raines with his daughter, Jenna, in Alabama in 2007 while he was on leave during a two-year deployment to Afghanistan. (Provided by Jim Raines) Raines had an open lung biopsy that diagnosed him with constrictive bronchiolitis, but the VA did not accept the findings, he said. They were only interested in the pulmonary function tests, said Raines, who served in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007. They agreed that I had a service-connected condition but then rated me at 0% because the PFT a catch-all test for lung conditions was normal. Some of the service members who Miller treated could no longer meet minimal physical fitness tests because of their breathing problems. Veterans with the incurable condition will still be denied health care and benefits once the VA changes the rule, he said. I have seen several patients who received one rating from the [Defense Department] only to have it downgraded by the VA. I have seen patients who have received a rating for constrictive bronchiolitis only to have their rating reduced without explanation, said Miller, who previously conducted research at Fort Campbell, Ky., that looked at disabling respiratory illnesses reported by hundreds of service members returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, Terrence Hayes, the VA press secretary, said the agency approved 307 veterans for disability compensation of constrictive bronchiolitis since passage of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, also known as the PACT Act. I was being bounced around to different VA doctors because my [pulmonary function tests] were showing me as normal, said Cynthia Daniels, who had to quit her job as a police officer after leaving the military because of breathing problems. Daniels, 46, of Montana, was a former specialist in the Missouri Air National Guard from 2000-06. During deployments to the Middle East, Daniels said she developed wheezing and shortness of breath that did not go away. She described coughing up a black substance from her lungs. Daniels underwent a lung biopsy in 2014 that showed she has constrictive bronchiolitis. The biopsy found remnants of dust and metal fragments in her airways. But the VA did not accept the findings as confirmation of the condition. She instead was given pulmonary tests that patients receive during routine medical checkups, which did not flag a problem. After two years of appeals, Daniels said the VA connected her lung disease to her deployment, and she received a 100% disability rating. Daniels described the appeals process as frustrating and brutal. Miller has since testified before lawmakers about the need for better medical criteria to support veterans claims for constrictive bronchiolitis. He told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in 2019 that many service members who deployed to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan were exposed to particulate matter that damaged their small airways. Dr. Robert Miller at Vanderbilt Medical University. (Vanderbilt Medical University) But their symptoms were dismissed by clinicians who misinterpreted initial normal test results for assessing oxygen levels, when a more comprehensive evaluation was needed, he said. The VA relies on a pulmonary function test to diagnose many respiratory conditions, according to a notice published last week in the Federal Register on the new diagnosis code for constrictive bronchiolitis. PFTs are the cornerstone for evaluating respiratory impairment, the notice reads. But a VA study in 2022 recommended specialized medical teams for testing, diagnosing and treating veterans with the illness. Doctors would determine who might need lung biopsies and who might be eligible for a presumptive diagnosis of deployment-related lung injury. In the VA, there is not broad knowledge, understanding or recognition of constrictive bronchiolitis or of the group of service members with this condition, Miller said. Raines was diagnosed with constrictive bronchiolitis in 2012 after developing a chronic cough and fatigue after a deployment to Afghanistan. The findings from a lung biopsy determined that Raines had constrictive bronchiolitis, emphysema, blood vessel damage and scarring from pneumonia. But the VA did not accept the findings for a diagnosis of constrictive bronchiolitis, he said. The VA denied his disability claim in 2012, which he appealed and was turned down. Raines refiled with the VA in 2016 and was denied again. He appealed again. In 2023, he was awarded a 10% disability rating, 11 years after the original claim was filed. He has since sought a higher rating but was turned down again in August. They only want to use the tests they have the PFTs. That is their primary focus. The tests they use will never show anything with this disease, Raines said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Iran is seriously following and will continue to monitor the cooperation in the direction of raising the level of relations with Russia, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Tehran on September 17, Trend reports. According to him, strengthening cooperation and relations between Iran and Russia can lead to a reduction in the impact of steps and sanctions imposed against the two countries. Relations between Tehran and Moscow will develop continuously, uninterruptedly, and eternally. Pezeshkian stated that the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of the BRICS heads of state summit in Kazan will be productive. Furthermore, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu declared at the meeting that Russia's position on cooperation with Iran on regional issues has not changed. The DPP had initially directed that the case be heard in the district court but Judge Gabbett declined district court jurisdiction in the case after hearing an outline of the State case against Mr Gilligan Niall Gilligan played for the senior Clare hurling team which defeated Tipperary in the 1997 All-Ireland final. Former All-Star and Clare All-Ireland winning hurler Niall Gilligan was today sent forward for trial concerning an alleged stick assault on a 12 year old boy. At Ennis District Court today, Judge Alec Gabbett returned Mr Gilligan (47) for trial to the next sittings of Ennis Circuit Court. Judge Gabbett sent Mr Gilligan of Rosroe, Sixmilebridge, for trial after the Book of Evidence was served in the case. Mr Gilligan denies the assault causing harm charge of the boy. Garda Emmet Roche gave sworn evidence that he had served the Book of Evidence on Mr Gilligans solicitor, Daragh Hassett before court on Wednesday. The DPP had initially directed that the case be heard in the district court but Judge Gabbett declined district court jurisdiction in the case after hearing an outline of the State case against Mr Gilligan in July. Today, Sgt John Burke told the court that the DPP consents to Mr Gilligans case going forward to the circuit court on the same bail terms. Addressing Mr Gilligan directly, Judge Gabbett told him that if an alibi formed a part of his defence that he needs to provide details in writing to the State within 14 days. Judge Gabbett said that Mr Hassett would explain to him about that. Niall Gilligan played for the senior Clare hurling team which defeated Tipperary in the 1997 All-Ireland final. No legal aid application was made for the circuit court case on behalf of Mr Gilligan who works as an auctioneer and farmer. In court in July, State Solicitor for County Clare, Aisling Casey told the court that one of the injuries the boy was treated for in the aftermath of the alleged stick assault by Mr Gilligan was a fractured left hand. Solicitor for Mr Gilligan, Mr Hassett told the court that the sequence of events set out by the State is not accepted by his client and there is a complete dispute in relation to what is alleged to have happened here. As part of the State case, a medical report and photos of the boys injuries were handed into court in July and Judge Gabbett said at the time: I am looking at photographs here and what I am seeing is a child with significant injuries over and above what the district court should be dealing with so I am going to refuse jurisdiction. Mr Gilligan is charged with the assault causing harm of a 12-year old boy at the Jamaica Inn Hostel, Mt Ivers Rd, Sixmildebridge contrary to Section 3 of the Offences Against the Person Act on October 5th last. Mr Gilligan is also charged with producing a wooden stick during the course of a dispute contrary to Section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act at the same location on the same date. Mr Gilligan denies both charges. Outlining the background to the charges against Mr Gilligan, Ms Casey said the charges relate to a matter alleged to have happened on October 5th 2023 at 5.30pm. She said that the alleged injured party, who was aged 12 at the time, was with a friend also aged 12 and they were on a disused property, the Jamaica Inn in Sixmilebridge owned by the accused. Ms Casey said: When the boys were on the property, it will be alleged that the accused confronted the two boys and produced a wooden stick and the boys attempted to flee." She said that it will be alleged that the alleged injured party slipped on muddy ground and while lying on the ground, it will be alleged that the accused struck him several times with the wooden stick he had in his possession. Ms Casey stated the boy returned home on foot and was brought first to the VHI clinic and subsequently transferred to University Hospital Limerick that evening. Ms Casey said that the injuries reported was a loss of consciousness by the boy on the occasion along with significant bruising at the top right shoulder, the buttocks and lower back. Ms Casey said that injuries also included a 2cm long wound was on the boys forearm and a 2cm long wound to the right shin which both required suturing She stated that following orthopaedic intervention, a fracture was identified on the boys left hand and he made a full, uneventful recovery concerning the left hand. In July, Ms Casey confirmed that both juvenile witnesses will give evidence by video link in the circuit court. Mr Gilligan was a star forward for the senior Clare hurling team which defeated Tipperary to win the 1997 All-Ireland Final and was named an All-Star in 1999. The Sixmilebridge clubman also won two Munster titles with Clare and multiple honours with his club over a long, distinguished hurling career District Judge Steven Keown said: This could only be described as any parents worst nightmare A woman who snatched a one-year-old child at a west Belfast shopping centre has been given a two-year probation order. The sentence was imposed on Noeleen Creen, 38, for abducting the infant inside the Park Centre before his alarmed mother managed to grab him back. District Judge Steven Keown said: This could only be described as any parents worst nightmare. Creen, with an address at Andersonstown Road in the city, was detained during the drink-fuelled incident on May 20 this year which reportedly led to the shopping centre going into temporary lockdown. Belfast Magistrates Court heard CCTV footage showed her initially trying to beckon the little boy out of one of the shops at the retail complex on the Donegall Road Creen then went back into the store and carried him outside. The infants mother immediately pursued and stopped her about five to ten metres away. Security staff called to the scene located Creen at one of the malls seating areas. Defence counsel Aileen Smyth claimed it was inflammatory for the prosecution to describe it as a snatching incident. She did take and remove the child from the store while it seems the mothers back was turned, the barrister said. But the child was immediately (recovered). Stressing that her client acted while heavily intoxicated, Ms Smyth argued the incident was less sinister than initial media reports suggested. She remained in the area and was at a loss herself to explain during interviews exactly what was going through her mind, counsel submitted. Creen was convicted on a single charge of child abduction. Mr Keown was told the mother of four has struggled with long-term alcohol problems which have fractured relationships with her own children. But after viewing footage of the incident, he stated: She hangs about outside the shop trying to get the child to come out, and then goes in and lifts the child. I dont think its outrageous to call it snatching the child out of the shop. The judge stressed: There is a victim in this as well who also went through an extremely traumatic ordeal. One can hope it wouldnt have happened except for what was clearly somebody under the influence of alcohol. Based on recommendations in a pre-sentence report, he ordered Creen to complete two years probation. Mr Keown added: Hopefully she gets the help that she needs. Kathleen Furlong (84), a widow and mother of five from Tallaght, Dublin 24, died after she was struck by a car at the junction of Cheeverstown Road and Fortunestown Way An elderly Dublin woman suffered fatal injuries after she was involved in a traffic collision in Tallaght last year, an inquest has heard. Kathleen Furlong (84), a widow and mother of five from Tallaght, Dublin 24, died after she was struck by a car at the junction of Cheeverstown Road and Fortunestown Way in Tallaght shortly before 11am on September 8, 2023. An inquest into Ms Furlongs death at Dublin District Coroners Court on Wednesday heard postmortem results showed she died from multiple traumatic injuries sustained in a road traffic collision. The deceaseds son, Philip Furlong, gave evidence of formally identifying the body of his mother a great-grandmother who came originally from Glenealy Road in Crumlin to gardai at Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall. Superintendent Jason Miley, applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25 (2) of the Coroners Act on the basis that criminal proceedings have already been instituted in relation to Ms Furlongs death. Supt Miley told the coroner, Crona Gallagher, that an accused was already before the courts in relation to the case. Philip Ormond (43) of Deerpark Place, Kiltipper, Tallaght was charged with dangerous driving causing death at a sitting of Tallaght District Court three days after the fatal incident. The coroner granted the application and adjourned the inquest until a date to be determined after the conclusion of related criminal proceedings. At the opening of another inquest in relation to a fatal traffic incident in Dublin last year, Dr Gallagher was informed that DNA samples were needed to confirm the identity of the victim. Mary Hardy (67) of Georges Hill, Halston Street, Dublin 7, died after being struck by a truck on Manor Street in Stoneybatter at around 11.15am on December 11, 2023. Sergeant Cheryl ODwyer of the Bridewell garda station gave evidence of obtaining a DNA sample from the deceaseds son, Mark Hardy, who was described as her closest living relative. The mother of two has been pre-deceased by her other child her daughter, Rachel. Sgt ODwyer said a subsequent report from Forensic Science Ireland confirmed that the DNA samples matched and confirmed Ms Hardys identity. No members of the deceaseds family attended the brief hearing. Inspector Michael Costelloe applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25 (1) of the Coroners Act on the basis that criminal proceedings in relation to Ms Hardys death were being considered. Insp Costelloe said a file on the case had already been submitted to the DPP and a direction on the matter was awaited. Dr Gallagher granted an adjournment for a period of six months and listed the case for further mention on March 20, 2025. Father of five John Wedick from Camolin, Co Wexford, was a well-known figure in sailing circles A former commodore of a yacht club in Dublin drowned after falling into the water at a marina on the River Liffey while trying to get onto a boat after a social event last year. An inquest at Dublin District Coroners Court heard the body of John Wedick (78) a well-known figure in sailing circles and a senior member of the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club was found floating in the water at the clubs marina on Pigeon House Road, Ringsend on the morning of November 19, 2023. The widower and father of five from Camolin, Co Wexford, who had been commodore of the club on several occasions, had attended a social function to mark its 50th anniversary on the previous evening. The deceaseds son, John Wedick Junior, who gave evidence of formally identifying his fathers body to gardai, told the coroner, Clare Keane, that his father was in good health and spirits when he last saw him, which was the day before his death. He described how his father was looking forward to attending the event at the yacht club as the anniversary celebrations had been delayed for a number of years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Wedick said the deceased would have known the area around the marina and the yacht club well and he had also grown up in the area. In reply to a question from the coroner, he said the area around the marina was relatively well lit. The inquest heard that Mr Wedick was due to stay the night on board his sons boat which was moored at the clubs marina. The deceaseds son said he understood that his father slipped while getting into the boat and fell in the water. He confirmed to Dr Keane that his father was able to swim. In a written statement, a bar manager at the yacht club said Mr Wedick had attended a private members function in the clubhouse and was in great form and did not appear in any way upset or distressed when leaving the event sometime after 1am. Garda Paul Fay of Donnybrook garda station, gave evidence of being alerted to the discovery of a body in the River Liffey at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Clubs marina at around 9am on November 19, 2023. Garda Fay said he saw a body laying face down in the water between a pontoon and rocks when he arrived at the scene. He also recalled noticing a large cut on the victims forehead. The inquest heard the victims body was recovered from the water by Dublin Fire Brigade personnel and brought ashore at the Jeanie Johnston marina where Mr Wedick was formally pronounced dead at 9.27am. Garda Fay said CCTV footage from the yacht club had caught the deceaseds last moments and showed him going through a gate that led to a pontoon in the marina before going to his sons boat. He described how the footage did not show Mr Wedick falling into the river but that his body was visible in the water afterwards. Garda Fay said the victim looked fine as he was walking to the boat and did not look unsteady on his feet. He also confirmed that the weather was dry at the time. John Wedick Jnr leaving the Dublin District Coroner's Court after the inquest into the death of his father, John Wedick who died on November19, 2023. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin The deceaseds son pointed out that his father would generally wear sailing shoes when he was in the marina but was wearing dress shoes on the night because he was attending a black tie event. Im not sure what grip they had, he observed. Although two other people had gone into the marina around the same time, Garda Fay said they had gone in a different direction on the pontoon and he was satisfied there was no third party involvement in Mr Wedicks death. It just looks like a tragic accident, the garda remarked. Dr Keane said postmortem results showed he had sustained some abrasions on his scalp but it had not been possible to determine how they had been caused. The coroner said there was some evidence of chronic heart disease but she did not regard it as a contributory factor in his death. Dr Keane said Mr Wedick had mild alcohol intoxication but the levels were certainly not at the high end. The late John Wedick Returning a verdict of accidental death, she said the deceased had died as a result of drowning. She offered her condolences to members of Mr Wedicks family who attended the inquest and acknowledged how traumatising such an out of the blue and unexpected death was for them. Mr Wedick, who was known as Johnny, was also a founding member of the Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Club and was involved in the restoration of a 50-foot fishing vessel, The Bracan Lass, which had been docked in a dilapidated state in Grand Canal Dock for many years. His love affair with sailing was formed in his youth where he grew up in his grandmothers house in Ringsend and he joined the local sea scouts at the age of 10. A former chef who set up his own wholesale meat distribution business, Mr Wedick moved from his home in Artane to Wexford in his retirement but remained actively involved in the Ringsend club until his death. Kevin Barry McIntyre, from Miller Street in the Bishop Street area of the city, is alleged to have committed the offences on May 2 and May 4 of this year An insurance broker charged with posting racist and menacing messaged about the mayor of Derry City and Strabane, Lillian Seenoi-Barr, has appeared in court. Kevin Barry McIntyre, from Miller Street in the Bishop Street area of the city, is alleged to have committed the offences on May 2 and May 4 of this year, just days after the SDLP announced that Kenyan-born councillor Seenoi-Barr had been selected as the partys candidate as mayor for 2024. Councillor Seenoi-Barr became Northern Irelands first elected black mayor four weeks after the defendant was alleged to have posted the comments about her on social media. At the first appearance hearing, a police officer told District Judge Barney McElholm that he could connect the 31-year-old defendant to both charges. The defendant was released on continuing bail and the case was adjourned until October 2. As he left the court building, the defendant then confronted a press photographer. After the brief confrontation, the defendant walked away but returned minutes later and videoed the photographer, as well as a court reporter, before again walking away. Andrew Stafford (38), formerly of Carrickmannon Road in Crossgar, had pleaded guilty to charges of possessing cocaine and herbal cannabis with intent to supply A Co Down lorry driver caught with a 1.1m haul of cocaine and cannabis was today jailed for 18 months. Andrew Stafford (38), formerly of Carrickmannon Road in Crossgar, had pleaded guilty to charges of possessing cocaine and herbal cannabis with intent to supply. Belfast Crown Court heard that on Saturday, February 12, 2022, the PSNIs Organised Crime Unit, along with Belfast Harbour Police, were conducting vehicle checkpoints at Terminal 4 at Belfast Harbour Port and screening vehicles as they disembarked a ferry. Prosecutor Gareth Purvis said Stafford was the driver of an articulated lorry towing a single trailer which contained a Peugeot Partner van. A search of the Peugeot van uncovered drugs and the defendant was arrested at the scene, said Mr Purvis. A forensic analysis was conducted of the drugs and there was approximately 10kg of cocaine, which had a purity of 70-74%, and 120kg of herbal cannabis. The court heard that the drugs haul had an estimated street value of up to 1.1m. During police interviews, Stafford admitted the offences, saying he was approached by people who knew I needed the money. He told detectives he was in financial difficulties, saying his haulage business had got off to a bad start and his lorry kept breaking down. The defendant told police he was being paid to transport the drugs, adding: It was just meant to cover the cost of repairing the lorry, as it had broke down, and these boys said they would cover the cost of the repairs, which was 5,000. Stafford said he feared for his life if he gave any details about the arrangements for transporting the drugs, adding: You dont mess with these boys. The court heard that Stafford had 18 previous convictions, with one entry in 2010 for possessing class A and class B drugs. In a pre-sentence report, Stafford told a probation officer that he accepted responsibility for his actions and that he had accrued a large debt in buying the lorry when he set up his own haulage business in 2021. He said he was approached by persons unknown to transport cannabis in his vehicle from England to Northern Ireland and in return he was assured his financial debts would be taken care of. The probation officer said Stafford expressed remorse and regret for his actions, was ashamed of getting involved in this criminal enterprise, and regretted the impact his actions had had on his family, his ex-partner and their two children. Defence barrister Sean Doherty said Stafford suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following an incident at the age of 17 when he was involved in an accident in which a cyclist suffered fatal injuries. He added that Staffords mental health had declined since his arrest for the drug offences. Mr Doherty said that while he recognised the seriousness of the offending, he added that the defendant played a subordinate role as a courier and his financial vulnerability made him ripe for exploitation by this criminal enterprise. Judge Sandra Crawford said the quantity of drugs involved represented a significant aggravating factor. This case involves a substantial quantity of class A drugs, namely cocaine with a high level of purity, along with a substantial quantity of class B drugs, said Judge Crawford. The enormously harmful effects of these drugs is well recognised. The significant quantities seized plainly demonstrate the commercial scale of the operation. Addressing Stafford, Judge Crawford told him: I accept the prosecutions characterisation of your role as a trusted courier on behalf of an organised crime gang, given the very large quantities of drugs entrusted into your care. Stating that the custody threshold had been met, Judge Crawford imposed a 36-month sentence, divided equally between custody and supervised licence following his release from prison. The court also granted a prosecution application for the destruction of all the drugs seized. Mark McCourt, 33, from Edencrieve in Co Down, and 27-year-old Conor O'Brien, from Kilpatrick, Ardee in Co Louth, were arrested on July 19 A man charged over a seizure of components for 18 semi-automatic firearms and over 900 rounds of ammunition in Co Louth has been granted 115,000 bail with a range of strict conditions. Mark McCourt, 33, from Edencrieve in Co Down, and 27-year-old Conor O'Brien, from Kilpatrick, Ardee in Co Louth, were arrested on July 19 by Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau officers. Both men face the same 23 charges, possession of gun components and ammunition. It is also alleged there was a silencer among the weaponry found at a shed on John Street, Blackstick, Ardee. They were remanded in custody following a District Court appearance on July 24. Mr McCourt has not sought bail, but co-defendant Mr O'Brien made an application during this week's bail list at the High Court in Cloverhill. Keith Branagan BL, for the State, told Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo that there was a garda objection. Citing the seriousness of the case and flight risk fears, Detective Garda Suzanne Lyons alleged that gardai received confidential information about the importation of firearms shipped to Ireland to be sold to criminal groups. Officers went to the property, which was said to have been rented by Mr O'Brien. It was alleged the defendants failed to let gardai in, and there was an attempt to conceal two mobile phones. Gardai gained entry and found a suitcase containing parts for six semi-automatic assault rifles and 12 semi-automatic pistols. The court heard that serial numbers showing their true origin had been removed. The court heard that there were also 904 rounds of ammunition and two Airsoft rifles. Detective Garda Lyons alleged Mr O'Brien had a "central role", and there were flight risk concerns because he had travelled to the UK and has dual Irish-US citizenship. He lived in the United States, where his mother is from, until he was five, and regularly went to America two or three times a year to visit his grandparents. Cross-examined by Michael Bowman SC for Mr O'Brien, it emerged that the accused had set up an LED lighting business after he left a job with Intel. The officer agreed that Mr O'Brien had no prior criminal convictions and his travel documents had been seized. His lawyers had a letter from the American embassy stating that Irish authorities would be notified if he applied to travel to the United States. Conor O'Brien and Mark McCourt His father offered to stand bail using funds from an insurance payout and confirmed he could live at his address. Mr Justice Naidoo noted the seriousness of the case, but he held bail could be granted with conditions. It was set in Mr O'Brien's bond of 40,000 with a 75,000 independent surety. He must obey a 9 pm 9 am curfew, sign on daily at his local garda station, not associate with his co-accused, not leave the state, and not apply to replace his travel documents, which have been handed over already. His father must notify gardai of any breaches and let them into the house if Mr O'Brien does not present himself. John Robinson, 31, was granted bail on charges of stirring up hatred as migrant-owned businesses in Belfast were attacked and set alight. Disorder taking place during the racist rioting in the Sandy Row area of Belfast in August. (Photo by Kevin Scott) A man accused of inciting racist rioters to smoke the hotels in Facebook posts is to be released from custody, a High Court judge ruled today. John Robinson, 31, was granted bail on charges of stirring up hatred as migrant-owned businesses in Belfast were attacked and set alight. But Mr Justice Humphreys warned that anyone found guilty of using social media to spur others into targeting properties will be jailed. Those people who sit at home and encourage others to burn buildings and attack businesses need to be aware of the consequences of their actions, he stressed. These are not crimes that can be brushed off as keyboard warriors under the influence of drink. Robinson, from Rathgill Park in Bangor, Co Down, was arrested as part of an investigation into messages published online during last months racially-motivated disorder. The court heard one of his associates had posted on Facebook about property burning in south Belfast following an anti-immigration protest on August 3. Robinson allegedly replied: Good, it's about time smoke the hotels next. Prosecution counsel Adrian Higgins said police believe the defendant was referring to accommodation offered to migrants. In another social media exchange about shops in the Sandy Row area being set on fire, Robinson was said to have commented: Thats more like it. Mr Higgins claimed further sinister contact took place the following day. Robinson allegedly messaged a second associate to declare: Violence is the answer. It is the only way to make the government see we are serious. He faces charges of encouraging or assisting rioting, sending threatening messages, publishing written material intended to stir up hatred, and possession of fireworks without a licence. Opposing bail, the prosecutor argued: All the posts have racial or religious overtones, and showed prejudice against the migrant community. A defence barrister acknowledged there was no excuse for Robinsons distinctly unpleasant online activity. He argued, however, that his client has no connections to any organisations and was not at the scene of the rioting. There is no suggestion that he did anything else other than type of horrible messages on Facebook, counsel added. In a direct warning to those who incite others to take to the streets and cause harm, Mr Justice Humphreys declared there will be real world consequences. He stated: They will come before the courts and spend time in prison because their actions often influence vulnerable young impressionable people to carry out wanton and despicable attacks on those in our community who are working hard, providing services and jobs, and paying their taxes. Sadly the same cannot be said of many of the people who are attacking their businesses. But based on the reduced tensions, he granted bail to the accused on strict conditions. Robinson was ordered to abide by a curfew and banned from using any device capable of accessing the internet. John Noble Lindsay, of Prince Andrew Way, Carrickfergus, was brought into Belfast Crown Court in a wheelchair for todays hearing A Co Antrim pensioner has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a schoolgirl by careless driving last year. John Noble Lindsay, of Prince Andrew Way, Carrickfergus, was brought into Belfast Crown Court in a wheelchair for todays hearing. The 92-year-old originally faced the charge of causing the death of eight-year-old Scarlett Rossborough by dangerous driving on High Street in Carrickfergus shortly before noon on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. At the request of the prosecution, a second charge causing Scarlett Rossboroughs death by careless driving was added to the bill of indictment. When the fresh charge was put to him, Lindsay, who was allowed to remain outside the dock, replied: I plead guilty. He pleaded not guilty to causing the schoolgirls death by dangerous driving. Defence counsel Frank ODonoghue KC said that by entering his plea the defendant was not challenging the fact that his driving caused the death of the schoolgirl. The only issue is whether his driving is to be properly labelled in law as dangerous or careless, Mr ODonoghue told Belfast Recorder Judge Patricia Smyth. We have a report from a consultant geriatrician who comments and reports about pedal misapplication. Pedal misapplication is where an elderly person presses the accelerator rather than the brake, thinking they are pressing the brake. And in this case there are features of that. It is my intention to serve that on the Crown in the next seven days and make that part of the evidence in this case. Prosecution counsel David Russell KC said that, in light of Lindsays guilty plea, he was making a formal application to have the defendant disqualified from driving. Setting the trial date for the charge of causing death by dangerous driving for November 4, 2024, Judge Smyth formally disqualified Lindsay from getting behind the wheel. The case will be reviewed early next month. Scarlett, from Larne, attended Linn Primary School. Following her tragic death, teachers at the school paid tribute, saying she was a much-loved pupil who would always be remembered for her infectious giggles and sense of fun. The school added that Scarlett was very popular with both staff and pupils and that she will be deeply missed by all who knew her. She and other children are understood to have been out walking while on a community centres summer scheme trip when the collision occurred. Stephen McCormick has 196 previous convictions including 118 for driving offences which encompasses some 39 for driving while disqualified A recidivist offender with more than 100 driving offences including more 30 for driving while banned was handed a 14 month sentence today. Describing the criminal record of Stephen McCormick as appalling and quite disgraceful, Judge Alistair Devlin ordered the 49-year-old to serve seven months in jail and a further seven under supervised licence conditions. In addition to the jail sentence McCormick was also banned from driving for eight years after the Antrim Crown Court judge revealed how the 49-year-old has 196 previous convictions including 118 for driving offences which encompasses some 39 for driving while disqualified. At an earlier hearing McCormick, from Clonaver Crescent South in Belfast, entered guilty pleas to taking his ex-partners Citroen DS3 without consent, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and obstructing police, all arising from a speed check on the M22 motorway at Randalstown on 21 July last year. Summarising the case during his sentencing remarks, Judge Devlin outlined how police were contacting a speed checkpoint when they caught a Citreon DS3 travelling at 98 mph so the car was stopped and the driver spoken to. McCormick gave the name of his brother and claiming the car belong to his partner, he told cops his own insurance policy for a Mercedes car covered him to drive it and further claimed he could not remember the registration number of the vehicle. Having made a phone call McCormick came back with what appeared to be a personalised number plate so police are all the more suspicioussuspecting it was unlikely to be easily forgotten. Police enquiries uncovered McCormicks true identity, that he was banned, that he had no insurance and also that the car belonged to his ex-partner who was sick in bed with Covid and was not even aware her car had been taken. Jailing the banned driver, Judge Devlin highlighted how he had lied to police repeatedly and consistentlya deliberate series of consummate lies, lies which were compounded by the fact that he tried to implicate his brother. The judge said while usually the offences faced by McCormick would be dealt with in the lower courts, he readily accepts that given the extensive and highly relevant record, quite clearly takes this matter well into Crown Court territory. He revealed that according to the pre-sentence probation report, McCormick remained at a high risk of further offences despite the fact that over the last 30 years, the defendant had received every possible sentence from fines and community service to probation orders and immediate custody. Imposing the 14 month sentence, Judge Devlin told McCormick he could easily have given him consecutive sentences but he would take a global approach to the case instead. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. In order to become a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Iran must implement significant reforms within the nation and guarantee transparency, the Iranian expert Farshid Bagherian told Trend. According to him, the clarity of finances, expenses, and taxes in Iran leaves much to be desired. Bagherian added that behind closed doors, a number of circles, institutions, and organizations in Iran are pulling the strings to secure their budgets in the shadows. This is a real can of worms when it comes to financial transparency. In this regard, financial transparency inside Iran is still at the level of an idea. All the financial transparency work has to be done, and then FATF inspectors have to confirm this transparency. Because if the financial transparency inside the country and all related issues are not in order, Iran's joining FATF is not possible, he noted. The Iranian expert stated that it will take several years to implement these financial and FATF-related works inside Iran. First of all, the rules of banking networks, interbank communications, people's dealings with banks, liquidity, money printing, and so on should be observed. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is an intergovernmental body that regulates rules against money laundering and financing of terrorism. At the last meeting of this organization, Iran was warned that if Iran's program of steps is not improved, Iran may be added to the list of non-cooperating countries. Iran has complied with 37 out of 41 FATF steps. The remaining four steps or conventions fall under the area of legislation. Amendments to the Law on Combating Money Laundering," Amendments to the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, Accession to the International Convention on Combating Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo), and Accession to the International Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) have been drafted by the Iranian government and sent to the parliament. Although the four conventions have been approved by the parliament and sent to the Advisory Council, the CFT conventions and the Palermo Convention have not yet been approved by the mentioned council. FATF was established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 group to combat money laundering. The organization has 37 members and its secretariat is located in Paris. Iran has been on the FATF blacklist since 2007, and since 2009, retaliatory measures have been officially applied against Tehran. Therefore, countries had to be cautious in their financial and banking transactions with Iran. Since 2016, the implementation of diplomatic measures against Iran has been postponed. To note, the financial group FATF added Iran to the list of non-cooperative countries (blacklist) on February 21, 2020. Colm McElroy (70) struck the man when tempers boiled over amid a dispute over noise and barking dogs A retired assistant school principal who hit his neighbour in the face with a torch in a doorstep attack has been given a conditional discharge under the Probation Act. Colm McElroy (70) struck the man when tempers boiled over amid a dispute over noise and barking dogs. He carried out the assault after being confronted for making a racket at bins outside their homes at night. The court was told he had paid 1,000 in compensation if the victim wished to receive it McElroy, of Oak View, Santry, had pleaded not guilty to assaulting Graham Gordon on February 5, 2023. His defence had claimed it was the victim who had actually assaulted him. Judge John Hughes found McElroy guilty following a non-jury trial at Dublin District Court earlier this year. When the case came back before the judge, a probation report was handed in and the court was told the accused had paid 1,000 in compensation if the victim wished to receive it. Judge Hughes imposed a conditional discharge order of three years under the Probation Act. McElroy must report to the Probation Service every six months, have no contact with the victim and stay out of his neighbours address. If Mr Gordon declines the compensation, the money is to go to charity. There was history between the neighbours Previously, the court was told Mr Gordon heard a noise in the lane and saw the accused at the bins with his barking dog. Mr Gordons own dogs started barking and he approached McElroy about the noise. McElroy looked shocked, smelled of alcohol and told him get out of my way. Mr Gordon called him a pathetic, drunken old man, and McElroy then attacked him from behind, hitting the back of his head before striking him in the face with a metal torch, causing a laceration to the bridge of his nose. There was history between the neighbours. Mr Gordon and his husband worked at home on zoom meetings and complained that McElroy would disturb them by frequently going to the bins with his dog, making their dogs bark. Ms Simpsons body was discovered on Castlereagh Road on Friday The family of Rachel Simpson, who was killed in her home last week, have released an image of the 43-year-old. Ms Simpsons body was discovered on Castlereagh Road on Friday, September 13. Police had been called to a house and discovered the victim in the garage of the property. Her 21-year-old son Nathan Simpson, with an address given as Castlereagh Road, has been charged with her murder. He appeared in court on Monday having only been released from prison a week earlier. Simpson entered the dock in handcuffs and wearing a grey custody tracksuit. When asked if he understood the allegations against him, Simpson replied: Yes, your honour. As other members of the victims family watched on from the public gallery, an investigating detective sergeant said he could connect the accused to the murder charge. Police at the scene in east Belfast last weekend. Image: Pacemaker There was no application for bail, with the court told that there was no available bail address for the accused, who the court was told was released from custody seven days ago. No further details about the circumstances surrounding the alleged killing were disclosed during the brief hearing. Defence solicitor Chris McCann did not question the detective or seek bail for his client due to the lack of any suitable address. Womens Aid NI expressed their sincere condolences to the family of the 43-year-old last week the third woman to be killed in a month in Northern Ireland. "Rachel is the 23rd woman to be killed in Northern Ireland since 2020. She is the third woman killed in Northern Ireland within the past four weeks, said a spokesperson for Womens Aid NI. The news was horrific, they added and called for anyone with any information to contact the PSNI. If you have any information, no matter how small it may seem, that could assist the police with their investigation, please contact the PSNI by dialling 101. Even the smallest detail could be important to the case. The accused was remanded in custody to appear again via videolink on October 14. Ireland had second largest user base of encrypted platform Gardai have seized drugs worth 16m and arrested 11 people after an encrypted communication platform known as Ghost which was used by some of Irelands biggest drugs gangs was cracked. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol were also present in Ireland for the operations which involved over 300 specialist gardai and targeted four gangs based here. This includes The Family crime group, led by brothers from west Dublin, who are now considered one of the most significant traffickers of cocaine and heroin into Ireland. The Ghost platform was being used by Irish gangs as well as the Italian mafia, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and Korean mobs to organise drug shipments, money laundering, and murders. The owners of Ghost were based in Australia which has the largest number of users, followed by Ireland. After a lengthy international investigation, the network was taken down during operations across nine countries. 51 suspects have been arrested in Australia, 11 here, one in Canada and one in Italy linked to the Sacra Corona Unit mafia. 16m euro of drugs seized in Ireland after global crime platform Ghost infiltrated The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) has been coordinating investigations into the Ghost platform here and have identified four separate organised crime gangs using the network. These gangs, based in Dublin and in the east of the country, are suspected to be involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and related criminality. On Monday over 300 gardai were involved in a series of searches including detectives attached to the DOCB, the Cyber Crime Bureau, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the National Surveillance Unit and the Gardas Intelligence Services. Members of Europol, the Australian Federal Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations were also in Ireland to support the operation. Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly, in charge of the Garda investigations into organised and serious crime, said that Ireland had the second largest user base of the Ghost platform, making the operations particularly significant here. He said that the Irish crime groups involved have purposely based themselves abroad and try and thwart the efforts of gardai, placing an emphasis on international law enforcement cooperation. Mr Kelly added that the operations have also helped dismantle a primary drug trafficking route into Ireland and targeted the key facilitators of the encrypted platform here. The senior investigator also paid tribute to the garda units involved, international law enforcement partners, Revenue, and the men and women who put themselves in harms way to protect the public from organised crime gangs. The Australian Federal Police has said the complex investigations helped prevent a total of 50 murders with a further 50 people now facing criminal charges in relation to these kill plots. A 32-year-old man living in Sydney is believed to have set up the Ghost network nine years ago and is also under investigation. In total gardai have seized almost 16m worth of drugs, mostly cocaine, and searched 33 properties with a further 350k in cash recovered. 11 people have also been arrested with 42 Ghost devices seized along with 126 mobile phones, 27 laptops, 200 SIM cards. Proceeds of crime investigations are also being carried out into two crypto currency keys recovered as well as six Rolex watches and one 2021 Range Rover 4x4. As part of the operation on Monday gardai seized over 7m worth of cocaine and arrested five suspects in an operation targeting the major crime group known as The Family. One of the men in custody is a transport company owner and considered one of the gangs key facilitators here. The Ghost platform used to facilitate a wide range of criminal activities, including large scale drug trafficking, money laundering, instances of extreme violence and other serious criminality. The Ghost app was used by crime groups because of its advanced security features, with users able to purchase it without providing any personal information. The platform also used three encryption standards along with an option to send messages followed by a specific self-destruction code. Europol estimate that thousands of criminals used the tool worldwide, including four Irish crime gangs, with more arrests expected as part of the international operation. As soon as they started grilling up the rashers and bacon, the smell wouldve alerted every officer and prisoner on the wing Authorities in Mountjoy are investigating after officers uncovered a food smuggling ring reminiscent of scenes from the mob movie Goodfellas. Incredulous officers discovered a George Foreman grill, sausages, rashers, hashbrowns and chicken fillets hidden inside a laundry delivery due to be dropped up to a protection landing on A-wing on Tuesday morning. Sources said the bemused officers immediately alerted the governor of the prison who ordered an internal probe into the discovery. A source said: Everyones a bit baffled by it to be fair. God only knows how whoever was behind this thought they would get away with it. As soon as they started grilling up the rashers and bacon, the smell wouldve alerted every officer and prisoner on the wing. People have their ideas about what can go on in a prison but this is like something out of Goodfellas. Theres no conceivable theyd have gotten away with it. Mountjoy Prison In the movie, released in 1990, one of the most iconic scenes features a gang of mobsters cooking steak and enjoying glasses of alcohol in a private area just for the wise guys. The movie is based on the novel Wiseguy which told the life story of real-life gangster Henry Hill. His claim that the mafia really did turn prisons in the US into their own personal social club was backed up by a 1997 New York Times article about a 10 month sting operation dubbed 'Operation Badfellas'. As a result of Operation Badfellas, eleven federal corrections officers were arrested, including a union leader. Scene from Goodfellas Some of the contraband seized during the operation included ''20 pounds of pasta, a gallon of olive oil, a box of garlic and approximately 25 pounds of Italian food including meatballs, sausage, mozzarella and manicotti.''. According to the article, guards would look the other way while mafia prisoners used makeshift hotplates (and even a microwave) to prepare elaborate meals, and help them set up meetings so they could still run their criminal enterprises. According to sources, officers believe it is likely the food found in Tuesdays laundry delivery had been sourced from the prison kitchen. Paul Sorvino cuts garlic with a razor blade. (Warner Bros.) An inventory is now being carried out to establish whether the George Foreman grill had also come from prison stocks or had somehow been smuggled in from outside. Its an unusual example of a contraband seizure within a prison, a source said. But it goes to show that as far as the inmates are concerned, some of the old tricks remain the best ones. And as for the officers, that even the laundry is being checked in the fight to prevent contraband making its way around the prison. A spokesperson for The Irish Prison Service said it is committed to preventing the access to contraband in 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." The spokesperson added: 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." Jay Je Yoon Jung has been charged with allegedly creating and administering the app, called "Ghost," from a room in his parents quiet suburban home. Meet the computer geek suspected of masterminding the Ghost encrypted phone network used by Irish and international crime gangs to smuggle drugs and weapons. Jay Je Yoon Jung, (32), from Sydney in Australia, was one of 51 people arrested in co-ordinated raids across the globe as part of a crackdown on the Ghost network this week. They included 11 people arrested by gardai who also seized more than 16 million worth of drugs mostly cocaine after the encrypted phone network was infiltrated by police. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol were also present in Ireland for the operations which involved over 300 specialist gardai and targeted four gangs based here. However, unlike many of the other suspects taken into police custody, Mr Je Yoon Jung is anything but a hardened criminal. Described as a computer geek, Jung has been charged with allegedly creating and administering the Ghost network from a room in his parents quiet suburban home. Even while running the Ghost network, he continued to work for his parents' commercial cleaning business in the Sydney suburb of Narwee. Jay Je Yoon Jung According to neighbours, he was the polite and quiet perfect son who was well-known for his love of karaoke. Speaking to Australia media, police have described him as "quite socially awkward". It is alleged that Jung was just 23 years old when he first created the platform, and created a business model that involved selling handsets installed with his app for $AUS2345 (1,427), which included a six-month subscription. "We will be alleging that the administrator has reaped significant financial wealth from running this platform and selling the services," Australian police Commander Paula Hudson said. Speaking to ABCs 7:30 program, a witness to Jungs arrest claimed officers used stun grenades while carrying out their raid. The witness, a neighbour of Jung's parents, said law enforcement took a panel out of the fence and simultaneously entered the Sydney property through the front and rear entrances. The operation was overseen by Australias Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives better known as ATF. AFP Covert and Technical team head Commander Rob Nelson said a group within the force, nicknamed the "uber nerds," were responsible for a big breakthrough in cracking down on the app. Commander Nelson said Jung allegedly handed the group its win by regularly pushing updates to devices with the app installed. Officers within the "uber nerds" were able to successfully modify the software updates, allowing them to access content on devices in Australia. The Ghost platform was being used by Irish gangs as well as the Italian mafia, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and Korean mobs to organise drug shipments, money laundering, and murders. After a lengthy international investigation, the Ghost network was taken down during operations across nine countries. 51 suspects have been arrested in Australia, 11 here, one in Canada and one in Italy linked to the Sacra Corona Unit mafia. The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) has been coordinating investigations into the Ghost platform here and have identified four separate organised crime gangs using the network. These gangs, based in Dublin and in the east of the country, are suspected to be involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and related criminality. On Monday over 300 gardai were involved in a series of searches including detectives attached to the DOCB, the Cyber Crime Bureau, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the National Surveillance Unit and the Gardas Intelligence Services. Members of Europol, the Australian Federal Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations were also in Ireland to support the operation. Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly, in charge of the Garda investigations into organised and serious crime, said that Ireland had the second largest user base of the Ghost platform, making the operations particularly significant here. Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly He said that the Irish crime groups involved have purposely based themselves abroad and try and thwart the efforts of gardai, placing an emphasis on international law enforcement cooperation. Mr Kelly added that the operations have also helped dismantle a primary drug trafficking route into Ireland and targeted the key facilitators of the encrypted platform here. The senior investigator also paid tribute to the garda units involved, international law enforcement partners, Revenue, and the men and women who put themselves in harms way to protect the public from organised crime gangs. The Australian Federal Police has said the complex investigations helped prevent a total of 50 murders with a further 50 people now facing criminal charges in relation to these crime plots. In total gardai have seized almost 16m worth of drugs, mostly cocaine, and searched 33 properties with a further 350k in cash recovered. 11 people have also been arrested with 42 Ghost devices seized along with 126 mobile phones, 27 laptops, 200 SIM cards. Proceeds of crime investigations are also being carried out into two crypto currency keys recovered as well as six Rolex watches and one 2021 Range Rover 4x4. As part of the operation on Monday gardai seized over 7m worth of cocaine and arrested five suspects in an operation targeting the major crime group known as The Family. One of the men in custody is a transport company owner and considered one of the gangs key facilitators here. The suspect remained in custody at a garda station in Co Wexford last night and is understood to be the focus of a long-running investigation Gardai believe 'The Family' are working directly with South American drug gangs. Photo: Getty A trucking boss arrested as part of a seizure of 7m worth of cocaine and 300,000 in cash is suspected of playing a key role in the importation of millions of euro of heroin and cocaine to Ireland. The suspect remained in custody at a garda station in Co Wexford last night and is understood to be the focus of a long-running investigation into international drug trafficking by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. The suspect, who was one of five people arrested, has no major criminal convictions, but has been on the garda radar over alleged links to organised crime and the west Dublin-based organised crime group The Family, who were the targets of yesterdays operation. Details of the international operation co-ordinated by Europol, the EU police agency, as well as agencies in the US and Canada, will be revealed today at press conferences in Dublin and in the Hague. Law enforcement agencies, including An Garda Siochana, infiltrated an encrypted messaging platform used by organised crime groups to order murders and drug shipments. The target was The Family gang, who have established one of Irelands biggest drug-trafficking networks, profiting from the downfall of the Kinahan cartels Irish operation. The gangs leaders are two convicted criminals who are facing serious unrelated charges before the courts. It is understood the trucking boss allegedly began working for them through the crime gangs own connections in Wicklow and Wexford. The gang have used aircraft to smuggle drugs into Ireland from mainland Europe Two middle-aged men were allegedly caught red-handed when officers observed them moving the massive haul of cocaine from a truck into a van at a remote farmyard near Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford, on Monday evening. The drugs are believed to have entered the country via Rosslare Europort, and the suspects caught in the cocaine transfer were arrested at the scene. It was one of at least 13 raids carried out by gardai in Wexford, Wicklow, Meath and Dublin yesterday. Around 300,000 in cash was seized when a house was raided in west Dublin in the early hours. While this is a blow to the criminal organisation known as The Family, they have been in this situation many times before and have shown they can regroup and keep on going even after huge seizures in the not-so-distant past, a source said. As well as using Irish ports to import drugs, the crime gang, who are based in Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, have used aircraft to smuggle drugs into Ireland from mainland Europe. Gardai believe they are dealing directly with Mexican and South American cartels, having moved away from drug importation routes through the UK, from where drugs were smuggled into Ireland using cars. Europol said the operation is the latest law enforcement initiative to disrupt the activities of high-risk criminal organisations operating across the world. The countries that took part are Ireland, Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the US. Lawyers for his mother, Yolanda, had claimed she was simply a woman of 60 years of age who had arrived in Chile to care for her brother who was recovering from heart surgery. The mother and uncle of Kerry Sinaloa-Cartel man Morris OShea Salazar have lost their appeal against their drug trafficking convictions in Chile. Lawyers for his mother, Yolanda, had claimed she was simply a woman of 60 years of age who had arrived in Chile to care for her brother who was recovering from heart surgery. Yolanda and her brother, Ricardo Salazar, were jailed for 18 and 23 years respectively last year. Killorglin-raised OShea Salazar is also wanted for his alleged role in the plot to ship six tons of cocaine to Europe. Morris OShea Salaza's mother Yolanda Salazar is doing time in Chile As part of Yolandas appeal, it was denied she was the Sinaloa Cartels envoy in Chile and that the only evidence against her had been that she had lived in the gangs territory. Yolanda is the sister of the infamous Cartel boss Joaquin El Chapo Guzmans first wife, Maria Alejandrina Salazar Hernandez. Two of Marias sons, Jesus and Ivan Salazar, are leading members of the notorious Mexican drugs cartel. It was argued at an appeal court in Chile that there was no evidence of Yolanda having contact with anyone linked to drug dealing. Morris OShea Salazar's uncle Ricardo Salazar is doing time in Chile Similarly, they said there was nothing to show she used the encrypted Encrochat or SkyECC phone system used by conspirators in the drugs plot. It was also put forward that access was made illegally to apps on a phone seized from her. Investigations were carried out in the Netherlands, France and Spain and she was not a target of those, they argued. She had lived for 15 years in Europe and was never brought to court for any reason. However, the court ruled that the convictions and sentences against her and her brother should remain in place. They were arrested in Chile in 2021 as they tried to leave the country after attempting to send a consignment of cocaine to Europe. Five phones, an electronic tablet and cash were seized from the siblings. Their trial heard how between October and December 2020, Bolivian suppliers sent a total of 350 kilos of cocaine to Chile to Ricardo. El Chapo was extradited to the US from Mexico, his arrest left his sons in charge of the cartel, which led to the infamous Battle of Culiacan During the first quarter of 2021, Ricardo and Yolanda coordinated the shipment of more than a ton of drugs to Europe. In a court document following her conviction it stated how Yolanda told how she came to Europe after graduating in sociology in 1982. She first lived in Spain before moving to France where she met an Irishman with whom she had a 17-year relationship and with whom she had children, including Morris. She said she had settled in Ireland for a period from the early 2000s, where she practised holistic therapies. Meanwhile, her son Morris OShea Salazar remains on the run from the Chilean authorities, most likely in Mexico, for his alleged role in drugs trafficking. Chilean prosecutors allege that OShea Salazar headed the Sinaloa cartels operation in Europe, overseeing major drug shipments into several countries. He lived in Killorglin, Co Kerry, with his sister and his mother after the family moved from Mexico to the Kingdom in 2005 following the death of his Irish father in a car crash. Morris OShea Salazar is believed to be hiding out in Mexico They lived in An Bhainseach housing estate a few kilometres from Killorglin for about a decade where Morris also went to secondary school. While in Ireland he ended up facing minor charges in the local District Court. Several intercepted encrypted phone messages between Morris and other gang members noted references to Dublin in plans by the cartel to target ports in Europe. Other ports mentioned included Rotterdam, Antwerp, Valencia, and Liverpool. The encrypted messages also referred to Sinaloa cartel leaders. Cocaine seized from Sinaloa Cartel Former gang boss El Chapo is currently in prison in the US where he was extradited from Mexico in 2017, leaving his sons known as Los Chapitos to oversee the operation of their faction of the cartel. This includes OShea Salazars first cousin Ivan Guzman Salazer, who US authorities say led a series of gun battles against the Mexican security forces. The notorious Battle of Culiacan in October 17, 2019, came after the arrest of his half-brother and co-conspirator Ovidio Guzman Lopez in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. The response by Ivan Salazar and his brothers, saw hundreds of gunmen engage Mexican authorities in gun battles throughout the city forcing Ovidios release. The US State Department has issued a reward of $10,000,000 for information that could lead to Ivan Salazars arrest and conviction. US authorities say that the cartel is the biggest narco-terror group in the world. The fire, at the location of the now-defunct Forster Green Hospital, started on Wednesday morning and was battled by 40 firefighters. The site spreads across 47 acres in the south of the city The scene at the former Forster Green Hospital site A large fire at a derelict building close to Belfasts city centre was started deliberately, according to the fire service. The fire, at the location of the now-defunct Forster Green Hospital, started on Wednesday morning and was battled by 40 firefighters. The site spreads across 47 acres in the south of the city. A Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) Spokesperson said on Wednesday afternoon: A large fire on the ground floor of a three-storey derelict building on the Saintfield Road area of Belfast has now ended. NIFRS received the initial call at 2.56am this morning, Wednesday September 18 2024. At the height of the incident, approximately 40 Firefighters were involved in the operational response with fire appliances from Central Fire Station, Knock Fire Station, Cadogan Fire Station, Carryduff Fire Station, Downpatrick Fire Station and Whitla Fire Station. The aerial appliance from Knock Fire Station and the Command Support Unit were also in attendance. The cause of the fire is thought to be deliberate ignition. Firefighters left the scene at 11.08am today. A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service said earlier that the incident has been scaled back, however two Fire Appliances and an Aerial Appliance remained at the incident. Julian Garcia Perezs family flew to Ireland from their home in Salobrena near the southern Spanish city of Granada after the 25-year-old disappeared A Spanish man who sparked a Gardai appeal about his whereabouts after going missing from his Dublin home has been found safe and well in Birmingham. Julian Garcia Perezs family flew to Ireland from their home in Salobrena near the southern Spanish city of Granada after the 25-year-old disappeared. He had last been seen on September 13 around 9pm. His girlfriend is understood to have reported him missing after he left work and failed to return to his home in the capital. Gardai admitted in an appeal earlier this week they were concerned for Julians welfare, saying he may have travelled to the Newbridge area in a silver Opel Corsa car although they did not say why. Early today his family confirmed he had been located in Birmingham. He is said to have been taken to hospital so he can be examined by doctors but is said to be safe and well. It was not immediately clear where in the English city he had been found and how and what he had been doing since he was last seen. Salobrena Town Council and Julians family had asked for maximum publicity for the appeal on his whereabouts while he was still missing. A Garda spokesperson said after he disappeared: Gardai are seeking the public's assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 25-year-old Julian Garcia Perez, who is reported missing from the Dublin 1 area since Saturday 14 September. The 25-year-old is believed to have moved to Ireland after finishing a university degree in Granada. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Iran continues diplomacy on gas export, import, and transportation, Iran's Deputy Oil Minister and Executive Director of the National Gas Company Saeed Tavakoli said, Trend reports. According to him, a gas agreement was recently signed between Iran and Russia. This agreement is of great importance, and it is expected to be realized soon. Iran wants to become the energy center of the region in the coming years. One of the ways to do this is through gas exchange with Russia. Tavakoli added that Iran has a gas exchange agreement with Turkmenistan, and a timeline for the implementation of this agreement should be determined, and work is underway in this direction. The deputy oil minister stated that Iraq has no debt to Iran for exporting Iranian gas to Iraq. Iraq is one of Iran's best customers and pays on time for the exported gas. When it comes to the issue of Iranian gas exports, decisions are not made only by the National Company of Iran. This company is trying to turn most of the country's natural gas into revenue. However, this issue depends on many factors, he said. Iran is considered the second-largest gas reserve country in the world, with about 34 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves. A total of 22 gas fields are currently operating in Iran. To note, Executive Director of Iran's National Gas Company Majid Chegeni and Executive Director of Russia's Gazprom Alexey Miller signed a document on June 26 on the transportation of Russian gas to Iran. Russian gas will be transported to Iran along the Caspian Sea bed. Under the 30-year contract signed between Iran's National Gas Company and Russia's Gazprom, 300 million cubic meters of gas will be transported daily from Russia to Iran. They believe Mr Phelan may have suffered a medical event and then fell off the bike. Tributes are being paid to a Dublin man who lost his life in an accident in Co Roscommon on Sunday. The man in his 50s was found dead at around 2am on Sunday September 15th at Cloonchambers, Castlerea, County Roscommon. He has been named locally as Marcus Phelan who is originally from Courtown in Wexford but had resided in Churchtown in Dublin for a number of years. Locals said he was a very quiet man who loved the west of Ireland. Another said he was Such a lovely person who loved to stop for the chat. Will miss him in Cloonchambers. Mr Phelan worked at Trinity College Dublin and also worked for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). One colleague wrote: He was a wonderful young man and always full of helpful information. He was a great friend and colleague to us in Anatomy over many years. He was happy to share photos and stories of holidays with his beautiful wife and children. Thinking of his Family at this very difficult time. It is such sad and shocking news. Marcus's bright smile and spirit will live on in his lovely family and in our memories. May his gentle soul rest in peace. It is understood that Mr Phelan visited Castlerea a lot, as he bought a holiday home in Cloonchambers on the outskirts of the town. His body was taken to Roscommon University Hospital, and a postmortem examination took place on Monday. It is understood gardai do not believe his death was suspicious. They are satisfied no other vehicle was involved, as the only damage to his bike was minor damage to the handlebars which they say is likely due to a fall. They believe Mr Phelan may have suffered a medical event and then fell off the bike. Mr Phelan is survived by his Catriona and Children Liam, Anna, Emily and Ayla and parents Pat and Anne. A Quaker Meeting for Worship to give thanks for the life of Marcus will be held in Churchtown Friends Meeting House, 82, Lwr. Churchtown Road, (D14 F620) at 2pm on Thursday. Family flowers only. Burial private. Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to this incident to come forward. Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the Castlerea area from 12 a.m.(midnight) to 2 a.m. on Sunday, September 15th are asked to make this footage available to Gardai. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Castlerea Garda Station on 094 9621 630, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. Horticulture New Zealand supports the Governments decision to pause the freshwater farm plan rollout. We agree with the Government that we need a fit-for-purpose system for freshwater farm plans that works for horticulture and delivers on environmental outcomes, said HortNZ acting chief executive Michelle Sands. We believe that the optimal approach to making progress on regulatory issues is to establish a pathway to enable growers to use industry assurance programmes like New Zealand Good Agricultural Practice and GLOBALG.A.P. to meet market and regulatory requirements via one integrated farm plan. We are encouraged to hear that the government is wanting to integrate existing industry assurance programmes into the Freshwater Farm Plan System. "We want to see recognition of programmes like the NZGAP Environment Management System, which is trusted, robust and meets the desired policy outcomes. It would fit with the Governments goals and enable growers to find the right solutions for their farms and catchments. HortNZ is also calling for commercial vegetable production to become a permitted activity for growers with a Freshwater Farm Plan. Over 80 per cent of NZ-grown vegetables are grown for the domestic market, said Sands. New Zealands growers are committed to operating to good management practices and the industry is committed to supporting them. That includes through product group research like the Sustainable Vegetable Systems programme and the HortNZ/Ministry for the Environment Growing Change project, which is supporting growers to develop their FWFP through a catchment-led approach. "We encourage growers to maintain their ongoing efforts in environmental management via GAP and the EMS, supported by Growing Change, and to continue their sustainability journey despite the policy uncertainty. HortNZ wants a nationally consistent approach to planning rules to provide certainty for commercial vegetable production in New Zealand, said Sands. Regional councils have been unable to develop workable rules for vegetable production. Some regions constrain crop rotation, constrain nutrient supply to a level which reduces the amount of vegetables that can be produced and constrain expansion so growers cannot grow more vegetables to feed our growing population. Regional councils are not well-placed to balance national benefit with local effects. The risk is regions make unworkable rules for commercial vegetable production, without taking into account the national importance of vegetable production in securing a resilient supply of healthy fresh food for New Zealanders. A New Zealand-first study commissioned by youth mental health advocate I Am Hope shows climate anxiety is severely affecting young Kiwis. Conducted by truwind-Research First and Dynata, the online survey of 600 people aged 18 to 25, reveals nearly 60 per cent of respondents consider climate change the most important issue facing the world and 42 per cent see it as the major problem facing New Zealand. Nearly 25 per cent of respondents feel some impact on their mental health from climate change and a similar number say they are not handling things effectively, mentally. There was a clear picture from responses of worry, frustration, and helplessness about the future due to climate change. Nearly 35 per cent of respondents feel worried, scared, or anxious and over a third are experiencing regular stress because of it. More than half feel a sense of moral duty to address climate change, yet many feel the Government and industry are not doing enough, adding to their sense of frustration and helplessness. I Am Hope launches nation-wide tour to support youth anxiety over climate change. Photo supplied. In response, I Am Hope is launching the I Am Climate Hope Tour, a 5000km national ride led by Mike King on an electric Ubco motorbike. The tour will run from October 1 to October 29, travelling from Auckland to Cape Reinga, down to Bluff, and back to Auckland. This research paints a disturbing picture of the mental health crisis brewing among our rangatahi, driven by climate anxiety. Its clear that their well-being is deeply intertwined with the health of our planet, King said. Our Climate Hope Tour is about acknowledging these fears and offering hope and tangible solutions for a sustainable future. We want to meet with people from all walks of life, listen to them and hear their concerns. We want to let them know that we are here to support them, and show that together, we can face these challenges, he said. Genesis, the key partner in this initiative, emphasised the importance of addressing both climate change and mental health. The company is on a pathway to decarbonising itself and helping its customers reduce emissions. Genesis chief executive Malcolm Johns and comedian Mike King. Genesis has a goal of having 95 per cent of its generation being renewable by 2035. Chief executive Malcolm Johns said addressing climate change was crucial for the future of New Zealand and the companys strategy was directly linked to supporting the countrys net-zero 2050 goal legislated under the Zero Carbon Act. That includes supporting the mental health of those most affected by climate change as the country works toward that goal. This tour will touch thousands of New Zealanders and provide some useful tools to manage the anxiety that is being experienced by many young Kiwis, Johns said. The tour is also being supported by Ubco, which is providing electric motorcycles for the journey, and Ara Ake, New Zealands future energy centre, showcasing sustainable energy solutions. Were thrilled to be a part of the I Am Climate Hope tour, providing sustainable transport solutions with our electric bikes, said Grant Payton, General Manager of Global Fleet and Business Development at Ubco. This journey aligns perfectly with our mission to make a positive impact on the environment, and were proud to support an initiative that addresses both climate action and mental health in New Zealands youth, As the national innovation centre for energy, Ara Ake aims to showcase Kiwi innovations during the I Am Climate Hope tour to inspire young New Zealanders to take positive action towards a sustainable future and foster hope, Ara Ake chief executive Cristiano Marantes said. For more information on the I Am Climate Hope tour, destination list, and to follow the journey visit rideforhope.co.nz Federated Farmers is marking 125 years since the establishment of New Zealands most influential rural advocacy organisation. It's timely to reflect on the journey that has shaped the organisation into what it is today. From 1899 in Kaitaia, to Canterbury, then on through the post-World War Two years, Federated Farmers has grown and adapted with technology and market changes, advocating for farmers and supporting NZ rural communities. The founding era: the birth of the New Zealand Farmers Union The story begins in Kaitaia on September 18 1899 with the formation of the New Zealand Farmers Union by Thomas Portland Smith, an early pioneer of the dairy industry who had settled on raw land in the Far North. By the late 19th century, our budding agricultural sector was facing increasing headwinds with market fluctuations, land management issues, and the emerging challenge of navigating complex government policies. The New Zealand Farmers Union conference in Wellington 1926. Photo: Supplied. Smith, a forward-thinking farmer and rural advocate, quickly recognised the need for a single unified voice to strengthen farmers position to create leverage when engaging with the government. The NZFU provided a platform for farmers to come together, discuss common issues, and negotiate collectively for better pricing and fair land management rules. Founding members understood that a strong, organised group could better negotiate with suppliers, government officials, and other stakeholders. The union quickly gained traction, particularly in the North Island, offering services and becoming a powerful advocate for farming families. The organisations first national conference was held in 1902. A South Island collective: the Sheep Owners' Federation Only a decade later, in 1910, similar manoeuvring was happening in Canterbury with the formation of the New Zealand Sheep Owners Federation by Henry Acland, of Mt Peel station. The founder of the Sheep Owners Federation Henry Acland of Mt Peel Station. Photo: Supplied. During this era, Canterbury, with its expansive pastoral lands, was a major hub for sheep farming - the cornerstone of the New Zealand economy at the time. Like Smith, Acland recognised the need for a unified voice to promote the interests of sheep owners and address issues like fluctuating wool prices, disease outbreaks, and the need for improved farming practices and infrastructure. Early members banded together to share knowledge and leverage their collective influence to negotiate better terms for wool and mutton, and to secure more favourable conditions for their operations. Acland served as President of the Sheep Owners Federation until his death in 1942. The Merger and birth of Federated Farmers: 1945 In the aftermath of World War 2 a significant milestone was reached as the New Zealand Farmers Union and the Sheep Owners Federated merged into one organisation: Federated Farmers. Although controversial at the time, the merger was driven by a desire, and need, to form a more united and influential agricultural body that could effectively address the needs of all farmers, not just one sector. Womens Division of the Farmers Union meeting in Wellington in 1926. Photo: Supplied. The formation of Federated Farmers marked the beginning of a new era for farming advocacy in New Zealand, with the organisation emerging as a stronger, more cohesive body with a broader mandate to represent all farmers. In the decades following the merger, Federated Farmers continued to grow and adapt to the changing agricultural landscape, with developing technologies, shifting market dynamics, and evolving government policies. A proud legacy: celebrating 125 years of farmer advocacy The journey of Federated Farmers, beginning with the vision of both Thomas Portland Smith and Henry Acland, is a testament to the enduring importance of organised farmer advocacy in New Zealand. The merger of the two organisations lead to the formation of a powerful and inclusive cross-sector body that remains committed to advancing the interests of farmers, supporting rural communities, and contributing to the growth of our agricultural sector to this day. Federated Farmers said they are incredibly proud of their 125-year legacy of advocating for farmers - and they are looking forward to the next 125 years too. Melchor Saiz-Pardo Granada Wednesday, 18 September 2024, 21:47 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X (antes Twitter) LinkedIn Telegram Threads The Guardia Civil in Granada province has uncovered a gang selling fake organic fruit and vegetables across Europe. In the last six months alone the gang have sold two million kilos of conventionally grown produce with an 'organic' label all over the continent at much higher prices than those on the normal market. Officers have arrested four people and are investigating 16 others for crimes of aggravated fraud, falsification of documents, falsification of certificates, use of false certificates, offences against Spain's Hacienda tax office and its Seguridad Social (social security system) as well as membership of a criminal gang. According to the Guardia Civil, the network, based in the coastal town of Motril, was "systematically" dedicated to "falsifying" the production and sales certificates that must be issued by the organic production control bodies on the traceability of these fruits and vegetables. Zoom Among those arrested are the owner of the company and his key staff including the 'operators' who supplied the conventional fruit and vegetables as 'organic' to the company owned by those detained, as well as the heads of the private companies that issued the false organic certificates that accompanied the fruit and vegetables. Laboratories During the investigation, the Guardia Civil's nature and environment protection unit, Seprona, discovered that those arrested also worked with a number of approved laboratories. These laboratories carried out multiple analyses of the products until they gave negative results for phytosanitary products, as their application is incompatible with organic production. Investigators also found that this company supplied fruit and vegetables harvested from plots that were not included in the official registers of the information system for organic production in Andalucia (SIPEA), which is compulsory. What is more, these fruits and vegetables subsequently left the warehouses in Motril with a lack of traceability and falsified documentation. The operation started following an inspection carried out by Seprona officers at the company under investigation as part of the Guardia Civil's Operacion Opson XI. During the inspection irregularities were detected that led the Guardia Civil to suspect that food fraud could be taking place with the sale of supposedly organic products. Operacion Opson XI aims to combat the production and trafficking of counterfeit foodstuffs and the resulting economic fraud. Seprona has had the assistance of the agriculture, livestock, industry and quality service of the Andalusian regional government in Granada and Hacienda in Granada. Eugenio Cabezas Nerja Wednesday, 18 September 2024, 17:54 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X (antes Twitter) LinkedIn Telegram Threads Nerja Museum, which belongs to the Cueva de Nerja Foundation on the eastern stretch of the Costa del Sol, is opening a new temporary exhibition to commemorate the life of the American artist Roberty Harvey who lived in the Axarquia for many years. The exhibition coincides with the centenary of the birth of the artist who lived in Frigiliana and Macharaviaya in the Axarquia. The exhibition, Robert Harvey, One Hundred Years will run from Thursday 19 September until 17 November in the museums Sala Ana Maria Marquez Hall and is free of charge. The exhibition includes 23 acrylics and eight engravings by Harvey. It is a retrospective in which pieces from different years have been selected, from 1973 to 2003, just one year before Harvey's death, according to a press release from the Cueva de Nerja foundation. They are creations marked by the painter's unique style, where he reflects a dreamlike, somewhat intangible space, in which he reveals, blurs and suggests at the same time. Between the frames he traps a halo of mystery and creates works that go beyond time with ochre, green, grey tones. He draws silhouettes of people, of natural elements, of inanimate objects, all with one thing in common: immateriality, the veiled, the concealed. Harvey manifests and conceals at the same time. And so, he conceives works that trap and question the spectator, that create transcendence, the foundation highlighted in a press statement. Clear vocation Harvey was born in Lexington, North Carolina, on 16 September 1924. From the age of six, it was clear to him that he already was a painter when he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. Thus, with such a clear vocation at such an early age, he began studying fine art in 1942, at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. In 1944 he moved to New York and began working at the House of Heydenryk, a Dutch frame manufacturer through which he met numerous European artists who had come to America in those years to escape Nazi Europe. This sparked his interest in Europe and in travelling. His first solo exhibition was in 1948 in New Mexico. In this way doors opened for him and dreams came true getting exhibitions in well-known international galleries. In 1971 Harvey moved to Spain for good, choosing the Axarquia, where he rented a house in Frigiliana and bought an orchard in Macharaviaya. For this reason, the director of the Nerja Museum, Juan Bautista Salado, has defined him as American by birth, but Axarqueno by life and heart. The opening is taking place on Thursday 19 September at 7pm and is open to the public. Pilar R. Quiros Malaga Wednesday, 18 September 2024, 16:36 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X (antes Twitter) LinkedIn Telegram Threads Residents in the Churriana, Haza de Cuevas (Carranque) and Parque de Huelin areas of Malaga city are complaining about an increase in the number of rats and other pests. Malaga city councillor Penelope Gomez pointed out it is an issue affecting the whole of Europe and could be linked to the increase in temperatures. In order to tackle the problem, the environment department will triple the budget it allocates annually to rodent eradication, increasing it from 142,000 euros to 400,000 euros, Gomez told a council meeting. "We are afraid because the rats run between our feet, as happened last week to one of the children (in the Parque de Huelin)," pointed out Maria del Carmen Aguilar, who said she was speaking on behalf of the mothers and grandmothers who take their children to the park. Francisco Giron, representing the residents' association of Haza de Cuevas, in Carranque, also pointed out an increase in cockroaches and said a cleaning crew went to the area just when the Socialist party had presented the idea to a council meeting two or three days ago. They were also concerned about the appearance of mosquitoes which transmit the West Nile virus in Malaga, about which the Churriana resident, the long-standing veteran of the plenary hall, Carmela Fernandez, said she wanted more information because of the anxiety it caused her local residents. Councillor Begona Medina said the increase in rodents and insects was a big concern in the neighbourhood, which had already been raised in several council meetings and that Malaga city hall should take action on the matter. She also asked Gomez to provide more information on the mosquito that transmits the West Nile virus, which has already caused the deaths of seven people in Andalucia. Deputy spokesperson for Vox, Yolanda Gomez, demanded more fumigation and pest control actions, while deputy spokesperson for Con Malaga, Nicolas Sguiglia, said his party had received complaints about the presence of rats in more than 20 locations in the city, and criticised the "shoddy outsourcing" of rat extermination services of which the company responsible, Andasur, had collapsed on 5 July due to bankruptcy. Penelope Gomez: 'Malaga is outside the risk area; there have been no bites to date' (of the mosquito that transmits the West Nile virus). Gomez pointed out the detection of the mosquitoes which transmit the West Nile virus in the area around the Guadalhorce river, in Campanillas, was carried out as part of preventative measures which have been carried out in the past four years. Their presence was reported (at the start of September), with Gomez criticising "the disinformation coming from the opposition groups". "Public health issues should never be used as a weapon of war because it is unnecessary and the neighbours are concerned," she added. Gomez also pointed out that biological larvicides had been placed in the area, as well as traps, and said Malaga is outside the risk zone. "There have been no bites to date," she added. The councillor for environment said the company that went bankrupt was urgently replaced by another, and that 2,219 actions have been carried out against rodents and insects in the city. "Their proliferation is something common, which is happening all over Europe" and which may be due to the increase in temperatures," Gomez added. From the socialist motion, it was approved that Malaga city council should continue to provide information on the presence of the mosquito that transmits the West Nile virus and allocate resources to combat it, that cleaning and rubbish removal controls should continue in the area where there are a presence of rats, and that measures should continue to be taken "to resolve the serious problem of rodents in our city". Swedens Jessika Roswall (M) is proposed to be the Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy. Swedens Jessika Roswall (M) is proposed to be the Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy. Photo : Mikaela Landestrom / TT BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The EU4Culture network festival will take place on September 20-21, Trend reports. According to the information, the two-day festival will sum up the results of four years of work of the European Union project EU4Culture in the field of culture. The event will present the achievements of the EU4Culture project and demonstrate its impact on the cultural and creative sector in Georgia. It is reported that over the course of two days, the work of mobility program participants, projects implemented by civil society organizations, as well as joint initiatives with other Eastern Partnership countries will be shown. The EU-funded EU4Culture project aims to support the cultural and creative sector, with a particular focus on the development of regional cities in the Eastern Partnership countries 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. Famous Syracuse football fan Stephen Amell is not happy with jokes at the expense of his biggest acting role. Amell, who starred on The CWs Arrow as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and helped launch TVs Arrowverse, revealed in a new interview that he didnt like it when another DC superhero show, Peacemaker, called out his character. Peacemaker, played by John Cena, joked in the season 1 finale that the Green Arrow is a My Little Pony fan who goes to Brony conventions dressed as the back half of Twilight Sparkle with a four-inch wide butthole drilled into the costume. By Theresa Braine | New York Daily News (TNS) Juror 16, aka comedian David Letterman, has missed the J-time once again, rejected with no explanation by a prosecutor in a federal criminal trial. Judge P. Kevin Castel grilled the former late-night talk show host in Manhattan federal court on Monday to see if he were suitable. Letterman, who helmed The Late Show With David Letterman from 1993 to 2015, was auditioning to serve on the jury for a cryptocurrency fraud case. Letterman first pretended to live in Hartford when asked, which would have disqualified him if it were true. Nice try, Castel said, pointing out that Letterman had snubbed Queens, another jurisdiction that would have put him out of the running. Letterman also deadpanned that he earned his living working for a company called Netflix, referring to his talk show on the streamer, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. When asked if this were the first time hed been called as a juror, Letterman replied, Been called many times. Just couldnt make it happen. One of those times was in 2000, when he vied for a spot as the last alternate needed to complete the jury in a car-accident case in Superior Court in Connecticut. He didnt make the cut then either, though mainly because the alternate was picked before his turn for questioning came. Either way, attorneys then were dubious of his celebrity influence. You want people paying attention to the witnesses, not a fellow juror, said attorney Philip French. You dont take a distraction like that and throw it into the case. In New York City on Monday, Letterman greeted passersby as he sauntered down the street on his way to court. I was taking the dog out for a lunchtime walk and walking back to the office and I saw him approaching. Like why do I know this person? dog walker Jim Kontnier told AM New York. And as he got closer, I realized it was David Letterman. ------ 2024 New York Daily News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Syracuse.com|The Post-Standard police blotter of arrests from police agencies around Central New York was updated today. The arrests added this week were dated between Aug. 15 through Sept. 14. Those charged ranged from 18 to 79 years old. One person was arrested for menacing a police or peace officer. 68-year-old Clay man arrested after threatening police with knife and barricading himself in home, troopers say - syracuse.com Perth, N.Y. A woman and man died in a suspected murder-suicide this week in Upstate New York, troopers said. The investigation started at 8:24 a.m. Monday after a 911 caller reported hearing gunshots fired outside 245 Voorhees Road in Perth, the New York State Police said in a news release. Perth is a small town in Fulton County about 23 minutes northeast of Schenectady. When troopers arrived at the one-story home, they found two people dead in the backyard: Barbara J. Lawrence, 76, and Guy E. Lawrence, 75. A handgun was found near Guy Lawrences body, troopers said. "The preliminary investigation has determined that both individuals were deceased from a gunshot wound, troopers said, and the scene was consistent with a murder-suicide. Guy Lawrence and Barbara Lawrence were married, a state police spokesperson told the Times Union. The investigation remains open, troopers said. The state police did not immediately specify a motive or what led up to the shooting. If you or someone you love is experiencing suicidal thoughts, reach out for help by: Jett Williams, the top-ranked prospect in the New York Mets system according to one ranking, made his debut with the Syracuse Mets Tuesday night. Williams was promoted from the Mets AA team, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, earlier in the day and started at shortstop against against the Charlotte Knights. Williams went 1-for-4, including an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning that increased the Mets lead to 8-6. Syracuse would go on to win 15-7. On Sept. 6, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation police (ECOs) arrested two North Country men for multiple offenses related to alleged deer poaching in Jefferson County. Jonathan M. Lille, 23, and Tyler S. Monica, 20, both of Adams, have been charged with the unlawful taking of two deer in the towns of Henderson and Hounsfield on Dec. 30 and 31, 2023. The men were charged with taking big game from a motor vehicle, taking big game from a highway, taking big game with the aid of artificial light, discharge of a firearm over a public highway, possessing a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, and taking big game during the closed season, all misdemeanor crimes. Lille received an additional violation for trespassing on posted property. The investigation began earlier this year when ECOs received complaints about the duo from a member of the sporting community that Lille and Monica had used artificial lights to shoot the deer from a vehicle, at night, and during the closed season. Local ECOs are familiar with both men, having charged them with similar offenses in the past. In 2021, Lille pleaded guilty to three unlawful hunting charges and Monica lost his hunting license until 2023 due to similar charges. In this new case, both men face up to $9,000 in criminal fines and could have their hunting licenses revoked for up to five years. Tickets received in the town of Henderson were returnable to Henderson Town Court on Sept. 9, and those received in the town of Hounsfield are returnable to the Town of Hounsfield Court on Sept. 24. Sign up for the CNY Outdoors Newsletter Enter your email address to get weekly updates on CNY outdoors news delivered to your inbox: Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post-Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors. OMEGAs passion for ocean exploration has been a driving force behind many of its most innovative timepieces. The Swiss brands timekeeping role at the worlds most famous regatta has led to the release of countless watches, designed specifically to meet the challenges of high-speed boat racing. OMEGAs latest release continues this tradition. Launched to mark the 37th Americas Cup, OMEGAs 46.75 mm Seamaster Regatta is fully equipped for life at sea. An instrument watch for sailors featuring both analogue and digital displays. Cased in grade 5 titanium, the Seamaster Regatta is replete with invaluable tools, including a moonphase indicator, a chronograph, a sailing logbook, temperature gauge, accelerometer, 3 alarms, and of course a regatta race function. Seamaster Regatta OMEGA For OMEGAs President and CEO Mr. Raynald Aeschlimann, the new Seamaster is a timely addition to the brands impressive range of instrument watches. Our new Seamaster Regatta belongs to the same family of watches as the Speedmaster X33. Its essentially a multifunctional tool that you can wear on your wrist. As its name makes clear, this is the perfect timepiece for sailors, and the timing is right for its release. The great boat race in Barcelona is sure to inspire sailors all over the world, and this watch is all about meeting their needs. Easy to see. Reading a timepiece can be a challenge under sail, especially in turbulent seas, so OMEGA has ensured the Regatta can deliver data at-a-glance. The watchs unique dial has an LCD display with black markings on a white-grey background to show its multiple digital readings, as well as Diver 300M- inspired hour, minute, and central seconds hand, which can be cleared from the display when in backlit mode to increase the legibility of the digital readouts. Seamaster Regatta OMEGA Easy to operate. Theres little use having multiple functions to hand if the watch is difficult to operate while on deck. To help sailors navigate through the functions, the Regatta has four pushers, one in red and three in blue, all cast in rubber for ease of use at sea. And a sandblasted crown with laser-engraved OMEGA logo, operated with push and turn actions. Easy to hear. In addition to its digital and analogue readings, the Regatta can provide a sailor with audio cues. Turning the watch over reveals a wave pattern caseback designed along the principles of Helmholtz resonance. It has a resonating cavity to help increase the volume of the alarms which also serve multiple functions. Seamaster Regatta OMEGA This raised back is embossed with the distinctive 37th Americas Cup logo and engraved with the words SEAMASTER REGATTA and 37th AMERICAS CUP. Also engraved is the name of the watchs brand-new multifunctional quartz movement: OMEGAs CALIBRE 5701. Quick-Change ocean-proof strap To complement the dial, pushers, and blue polished ceramic bezel ring, OMEGAs ultimate instrument for sailors is presented on an integrated blue rubber strap fixed with OMEGAs patented Quick-Change system. By Kathleen Moore | Times Union, Albany Bethlehem, N.Y. Law enforcement has determined the six calls threatening violence at Bethlehem High School from last Tuesday to Thursday have no evidence of a local connection and are not credible. Authorities are still working on arresting the caller, but the investigation has led them outside the Capital Region, Bethlehem Police Chief Gina Cocchiara said in a statement. While we cannot get into specifics, we are confident that the school and community are safe, she said. As of midday Tuesday, there was no further information available. Police are continuing their investigation. There is still more work to be done, but I want to reiterate that the entire department is working diligently to ensure the person or persons responsible are held accountable for their dangerously disturbing actions, Cocchiara said in the statement. On Monday, officials from the FBI and Bethlehem police met with district Superintendent Jody Monroe and assured her the schools can safely begin a return to normalcy, Monroe said in the joint statement. The FBI determined there is no imminent threat to Bethlehem and characterized the calls as a swatting hoax, she said. Swatting is when someone makes a false report in an attempt to get a large number of armed law enforcement to an address where they are not needed. Some swatters then watch for news or social media reactions to the sudden appearance of police and thus make multiple calls about the same address, while others try to get a reaction in many places at once. Return to normalcy Bethlehem schools will continue to have an increased police presence this week. However, outdoor activities resumed Tuesday, including recess, physical education classes and after-school sports. All after-school and evening activities were canceled Monday, a continuation of the situation since Sept. 11. That afternoon, police urgently evacuated more than 200 students and sent them to hiding places after receiving one of the six calls threatening violence. Students and a handful of parents hid under bleachers in the gym and in other small spaces for an hour before police declared the situation safe and began releasing children to their parents. The high school made counseling sessions open to students during the school day Monday for those who were at the high school last Wednesday and experienced the police response to one of the swatting calls. On Thursday and Friday, about half of the high schoolers skipped school, citing fear for their own safety. Monroe discussed the possibility of reconfiguring classrooms to allow some students to attend via computer but said Friday that in-person learning is so much more effective and that she would only do that as a last alternative. ___ (c)2024 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at www.timesunion.com A former Ontario County clerk, who died last year, embezzled more than $450,000 over the course of a decade, according to a report released by the county on Tuesday. Matthew Hoose was found dead at his home on Feb. 21, 2023. A cause of death was not given. His death came less than a week after a vote of no-confidence from the Ontario County Board of Supervisors, which had approved an audit into accounts that he controlled. At the time, the board said delays in required payments and providing reports to state agencies was the reason for the no-confidence vote. According to the report, the on-site audit was scheduled to begin on the day that Hoose was found dead. Instead, the audit began the next month. In the report, released on Tuesday, the county said that not only was Hoose delinquent in filing reports and making payments, but the forensic audit determined that he had embezzled $453,364 from the county in a period of 10 years. The report was done by The Bonadio Group, which found 637 instances in which the money deposited in accounts controlled by the clerk was less than the amount received by the office. Hoose was county clerk from 2012 until his death. The county turned the results of the audit over to the New York State Police and the FBI, according to the report, and a state police investigation found no evidence that anyone other than Hoose was involved. The FBI told the county that a living suspect was required to pursue a criminal investigation. The report states that Based on the recommendation of outside counsel, there are no viable legal options the County can pursue at this time to recover these stolen funds. Jefferson City, Mo. The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on Tuesday were investigating the origin of suspicious packages that have been sent to or received by elections officials in more than a dozen states, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or that any of the packages contained hazardous material. The latest packages were sent to elections officials in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Rhode Island. Mississippi authorities reported a package was delivered there Monday, and the Connecticut Secretary of States office said the FBI alerted it of a package that was intercepted. The FBI is collecting the packages, some of which contained an unknown substance, agency spokesperson Kristen Setera in Boston said in a statement. We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters, she said. As this is an ongoing matter we will not be commenting further on the investigation, but the public can be assured safety is our top priority. Its the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple states. The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices, causing disruption in an already tense voting season. Local election directors are beefing up security to keep workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures wont be tampered with. The National Association of Secretaries of State condemned what it described as a disturbing trend of threats to election workers leading up to Nov. 5, as well as the second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. This must stop, period, the group said. Our democracy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind. On Tuesday, the FBI notified the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealths office that postal service investigators had identified a suspicious envelope delivered to a building housing state offices. The package was intercepted. No employees from the office had contact with the envelope, which is now in the hands of the FBI. Packages also were sent to secretaries of state and election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming this week. The packages forced evacuations in Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Hazmat crews in several states quickly determined the material was harmless. The Mississippi Secretary of States Elections Division said it received a package similar to those sent to other states and that the state Department of Homeland Security was testing it. The division said it has notified county election officials to be on the lookout. Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour. We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines. A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement. Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees were exposed to it and were being monitored. In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said. Testing determined the substance was flour. State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home Monday pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of states office. Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections. One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nations most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting. The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone. Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase security amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged. Einat Klein, a journalist, businesswoman, and wife of Andrey Makarevich, the leader of the rock band Mashina Vremeni, who lived in Kyiv until she was 20, has a clear answer about the Russian language in Ukraine. She does not support the thesis that it is necessary to introduce the language of the enemy as the state language. ADVERTISIMENT Although she has been living in Israel for many years, and the last time she was in her homeland was before the full-scale war, she remembers her native language perfectly. Einat Klein spoke about this in an interview with OBOZ.UA. Despite the fact that there are various theses on the language issue in society, the Kyiv native does not share them. "As you can see, I'm answering your questions in Ukrainian (smiles). In my opinion, Ukrainian should be the state language of Ukraine," the wife of the Time Machine frontman explained to. The journalist had no chance to forget her native language. Until 2022, her closest relatives remained in Kyiv, and she visited them several times a year. Today, our interlocutor's older relatives continue to live in the Ukrainian capital. ADVERTISIMENT "My father's relatives, his mother, sister, and her children remain in Kyiv. Of course, every day brings new worries about their lives," Einat Klein admitted. After Ukraine's victory over Russia, she plans to return to her hometown to have coffee in her favorite coffee shop. At the moment, she considers such "tourism" to be unethical. Read the full interview with Einat Klein on OBOZ.UA on Sunday, September 1. Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that Andrey Makarevich's wife explained what Ukraine and Israel have in common. By the way, the artist himself recently asked a pointed question to the residents of the Kursk region and supported the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Don't fall for fakes! ExOblivione BHPian Join Date: May 2022 Location: Rishikesh Posts: 31 Thanked: 143 Times Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Review Quote: Nilesh5417 Originally Posted by Has anyone felt a numbing pain in moving their right thumb after a long ride on the H450? I did a 200km ride 3-4 weeks ago, felt a persistent pain in my right thumb halfway and then had a stiff thumb that hurt on movement for 2-3 weeks. I simply could not figure out what caused this but feel it's probably the vibes in the accelerator that hit the thumb. This happens because you are gripping the accelerator too tightly, and the thumb joint is digging into the hard accelerator grip. Sustained pressure there will cause pain after some time. There are four things you can do, and I recommend doing all 4: 1) Get in the habit of gripping the handlebar lightly. You really dont need to grip hard. Motorcycle in motion is self-balancing, and you only need a light touch for steering input. You can see a thousand videos by experts explaining this in detail. 2) During deceleration, grip the tank with your knees/thighs, whether its using the brakes or engine braking. Your inertia throws you forward during braking, and if you take the weight on the hands, it will put pressure on your palms and fingers (and your shoulders and back, tiring you quickly). 3) Get foam grips. Something like Grip Puppies (on the high-end, and much cheaper generic ones are available). They will give a softer point of contact to your palm and finger joints. The increased thickness feels strange for the first ride, but then will feel natural quickly. 4) Get a throttle assist. You might have seen these, they look like a pedal on the accelerator, where you can rest your palm. This helps using a very light touch to keep the throttle open, since you dont really need to even actually grip the accelerator. A real boon for all-day rides. I have been using BYKE'IT! Throttle Assist from Bikenbiker(no affiliation with product or site) for almost 1 year. Cost 500, and so far it has not broken. There are cheaper, generic ones available, but quality is uncertain. I have personally done all 4 of these things, consciously making effort to ride correctly (had to create habit for the second point), and they are really good for avoiding undue stress on your hands during long rides. I would suggest implementing these ASAP, because, while the thumb ache is a common symptom, the fact that pain persisted for 2-3 weeks is abnormal, pointing to significant damage/inflammation. Repeated stresses and injuries to the same area have a tendency to become chronic/permanent. EDIT: I saw, after posting, that you have been riding for sometime and are likely familiar with all this (newbie advice), so perhaps this post was unnecessary. I will leave it up anyway, in case it helps someone else. While I dont have a H450, I am familiar with this syndrome. Its not because of the vibes (though that might make it worse).This happens because you are gripping the accelerator too tightly, and the thumb joint is digging into the hard accelerator grip. Sustained pressure there will cause pain after some time.There are four things you can do, and I recommend doing all 4:1) Get in the habit of gripping the handlebar lightly. You really dont need to grip hard. Motorcycle in motion is self-balancing, and you only need a light touch for steering input. You can see a thousand videos by experts explaining this in detail.2) During deceleration, grip the tank with your knees/thighs, whether its using the brakes or engine braking. Your inertia throws you forward during braking, and if you take the weight on the hands, it will put pressure on your palms and fingers (and your shoulders and back, tiring you quickly).3) Get foam grips. Something like Grip Puppies (on the high-end, and much cheaper generic ones are available). They will give a softer point of contact to your palm and finger joints. The increased thickness feels strange for the first ride, but then will feel natural quickly.4) Get a throttle assist. You might have seen these, they look like a pedal on the accelerator, where you can rest your palm. This helps using a very light touch to keep the throttle open, since you dont really need to even actually grip the accelerator. A real boon for all-day rides. I have been using BYKE'IT! Throttle Assist from Bikenbiker(no affiliation with product or site) for almost 1 year. Cost 500, and so far it has not broken. There are cheaper, generic ones available, but quality is uncertain.I have personally done all 4 of these things, consciously making effort to ride correctly (had to create habit for the second point), and they are really good for avoiding undue stress on your hands during long rides.I would suggest implementing these ASAP, because, while the thumb ache is a common symptom, the fact that pain persisted for 2-3 weeks is abnormal, pointing to significant damage/inflammation. Repeated stresses and injuries to the same area have a tendency to become chronic/permanent. Last edited by ExOblivione : 5th September 2024 at 14:14 . Reason: Context Ready to turn your dumb lock into a smart one? Heres your chance. Now available for $120 at Amazon, the Eufy Smart Lock E30 is $50 off its MSRP. In order to get the discount, youll need to use the following code at checkout: eufyLockE30. The Eufy Smart Lock E30 will work with all the big smart home ecosystems, including Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and SmartThings, all thanks to Matter. In fact, the E30 is Eufys first product to come with Matter support, thus opening up its integrations. This versatile smart lock allows you to open the door in a variety of ways, such as by entering a code on the keypad, using the app, scanning your fingerprint, or by issuing a voice command through Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. Heck, you can even unlock the door using an old-fashioned key. The beauty of this lock is that you can unlock your door for others even if youre not there. For instance, if youre on vacation and your neighbors are coming over to water the plants, you can just unlock the door remotely, or give them a guest PIN. Installing the Eufy Smart Lock E30 is a snap, while the batteries should keep the lock going for up to 8 months (the system will warn you when the locks battery level falls below 20 percent). So go ahead and add one of these to your cart at Amazon, but dont forget to use the eufyLockE30 discount code at checkout to get the Eufy Smart Lock E30 for $120. This cool smart lock works with all major smart home systems The big picture: It turns out that if you completely uproot the way data centers have been built for the past 10 years, there are bound to be some growing pains. While headlines are all about the rise of AI, the reality on the ground involves plenty of headaches. When speaking to systems integrators and others scaling up large compute systems, we hear a constant stream of complaints about the difficulties in getting large GPU clusters operational. The main issue is liquid cooling. GPU systems run hot, with racks consuming tens of thousands of watts of power. Traditional air cooling is insufficient, which has led to widespread adoption of liquid cooling systems. This shift has driven up the stock prices of companies like Vertiv, which deploy these systems. Editor's Note: Guest author Jonathan Goldberg is the founder of D2D Advisory, a multi-functional consulting firm. Jonathan has developed growth strategies and alliances for companies in the mobile, networking, gaming, and software industries. However, liquid cooling is still relatively new for data centers, and there aren't enough people familiar with installing them. As a result, liquid cooling has become the leading cause of failures in data centers. There are all kinds of reasons for this, but they all essentially boil down to the fact that water and electronics don't mix well. The industry will sort this out eventually, but it's a prime example of the growing pains data centers are experiencing. There are also many challenges in configuring GPUs. This isn't surprising most data center professionals have a wealth of experience configuring CPUs, but for many of them, GPUs are unfamiliar territory. On top of that, Nvidia tends to sell complete designs, which introduces a whole new set of complications. For instance, Nvidia's firmware and BIOS systems aren't entirely new, but they are just different and underdeveloped enough to cause delays and an unusually high number of bugs. Add Nvidia's networking layer into the mix, and it's easy to see how frustrating the process has become. There's simply a lot of new technology for professionals to master in a very short timeframe. In the grand scheme of things, these are just speed bumps. None of these issues are serious enough to halt AI development, but in the near term, they will likely become more pronounced and more high-profile. We expect hyperscalers to delay or slow down their GPU rollouts to address these challenges. To be more precise, we're likely to hear more about these delays because they've already begun. AMD's recent $5 billion bet on the data center Recently we were getting asked about the logic behind AMD's acquisition of ZT Systems, because this and the the growing complexities of installing AI clusters are closely related, we can use ZT as a lens to view the broader problems in the industry. Let's say Acme Semiconductor wants to enter the data center market. They spend a few hundred million dollars to design a processor. Then they try to sell it to their hyperscaler customer, but the hyperscaler doesn't want just a chip they want a working system to test their software. So, Acme goes to an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) and pays a few hundred thousand dollars to design a working server, complete with storage, power, cooling, networking, and everything else. Acme builds a few dozen of these servers and hands them out to their top sales prospects. At this point, Acme is out around $1 million, and they notice that their chip accounts for only 20% of the system's cost. The hyperscalers then spend a few months testing the system. One of them likes Acme's performance enough to put it through a more rigorous test, but they don't want a standard server; they want one designed specifically for their data center operations. This means a new server design with a completely different configuration of storage, networking, cooling, and more. The hyperscaler also wants Acme to build these test systems with their preferred ODM. Eager to close the deal, Acme foots the bill for this new design, though at least the hyperscaler pays for the test systems Acme finally has some revenue, maybe $100,000. While the first hyperscaler is running their multi-month evaluation, a second customer expresses interest. Of course, they want their own server configuration with their own preferred ODM. Acme, needing the business, covers the cost of this design as well. Acme approaches all the OEMs to see if any will design a catalog system to streamline the process. The OEMs are all very friendly and interested in what Acme is doing. Great job guys, but they'll only commit to designing once Acme secures more business. Finally, a customer wants to buy in volume a big win for Acme. This time, because there's real volume involved, the ODM agrees to do the design. However, the new server will use the hyperscaler's internally designed networking and security chips, which were kept secret. Acme has never seen them and knows little about the new server, which was designed directly between the customer and the ODM. The ODM builds a bunch of servers, then wires them up inside the hyperscaler's data center, flip the power switch on, and things immediately start to break. This is expected; bugs are everywhere. But quickly, everyone starts blaming Acme for the problems, ignoring the fact that Acme was largely excluded from the design process. Their chip is the least familiar component to the ODM and the customer. Acme worked with the customer to iron out bugs during the evaluation cycle, but this is different. Much of the system is new, and the stakes are much higher, so everyone is operating under stress. Acme sends its field engineers to the super-remote data center to get hands-on with the system. The three teams work through the bugs, finding more along the way. Eventually, it turns out Acme's processor enters an obscure error mode when interacting with the hyperscaler's security chip, the networking components are fragile and perform well below spec, and of course, every chip is running a different firmware, which is incompatible with the others. To top it off, liquid cooling something no one on the debugging team has worked with before probably causes 50% of the problems. The deployment drags on as the teams work through the issues. At some point, something significant needs to be entirely replaced, adding more delays and costs. But after months of work, the system finally enters production. Then Acme's second customer decides they want to do a deeper evaluation, and the whole process starts all over. And if that doesn't sound painful enough, we haven't even mentioned the lawyers. Just to start the project, Acme had to spend nine months negotiating strenuous terms with the hyperscaler from a very weak position. When it came to designing the custom server, the three companies (Acme, the ODM, and the customer) likely spent six weeks negotiating the NDA. This is how servers have been built for years. Then Nvidia entered the market, bringing their own server designs. Not only that, but they brought designs for entire racks. Nvidia has been designing systems for 25 years, dating back to their work on graphics cards. Their team also builds their own data centers, so they have an in-house team experienced in handling all of these issues. To compete with Nvidia, AMD can either spend five years replicating Nvidia's team or buy ZT. In theory, ZT can help AMD eliminate almost all of the friction outlined above. It's too soon to tell how well this will work in practice, but AMD has gotten pretty good at merger integration. And honestly, we would gladly pay $5 billion to avoid negotiating a three-way NDA and Master Service Agreement ever again. The big picture: For over a decade, it seemed like standalone digital cameras were on the verge of extinction. As smartphone imaging capabilities soared, point-and-shoot models fell out of favor with the general public. Total digital camera sales plummeted by a staggering 93 percent from their peak. But upon closer inspection, a surprising renaissance is unfolding in the premium camera market. While entry-level cameras have all but disappeared, elite models are making a strong comeback, as highlighted in a report by The Economist. The report notes that brands like Leica, Fujifilm, and Nikon have shifted their focus to high-end offerings and it's paying off. According to the Camera and Imaging Products Association, the average selling price of a new camera has tripled over the past six years. Their latest data shows that total global camera shipments from January through May 2024 increased nearly 12 percent year-over-year, reaching over three million units the highest level in three years. This growth is largely driven by sustained demand for premium mirrorless cameras, which now outsell DSLRs 5-to-1 worldwide as that format continues to decline. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this premiumization trend is the German brand Leica. Their latest model, the Leica Q3 full-frame camera, retails for a staggering $6,000 (and that's before optional add-ons like a $245 thumb rest). Despite the hefty price tag, demand has been so intense that there were six month waiting lists when it launched in 2023. In fact, Leica reported record sales last year, with revenue reaching 485 million euros, up nine percent from the previous year's 444 million euros. Fujifilm has experienced similar demand for its premium X100 line. When the latest $1,600 model was released in February, it quickly sold out worldwide. Ironically, what's driving this renewed appetite for expensive cameras is the ubiquity of mobile photography at least according to Nikon President Muneaki Tokunari. "We are now in an age where smartphones and digital cameras can coexist," explained Tokunari in a recent Japanese interview with Yomiuri. As he sees it, smartphone cameras gave a wider population a taste for creative photography as a passion rather than mere utility. "I think smartphones have broadened the base of photography. As a result, our high-end models, which are at the top of the camera pyramid, are selling well," he added. The enthusiasm for high-end gear among younger, culturally savvy audiences certainly supports this theory. Videos showcasing Fujifilm's iconic X100 series have garnered millions of views on TikTok. Premium cameras have become as much a fashion statement as professional tools. TL;DR: Chinese tech company TCL is under the microscope following allegations from a South Korean quantum dot film manufacturer that some models of its QLED TV lineup do not contain quantum dot technology. The company denied the claims, citing results from a different test confirming that its QLED TVs use quantum-dot tech. South Korean news site ET News notes that testing by two independent certification agencies, SGS and Intertek, found that the TCL C755, C655, and C655 Pro QLED TV models do not contain any signs of the elements indium and cadmium, which are essential to the creation of quantum dot nanocrystals. Hansol Chemical, which supplies quantum dot films to Samsung and other QLED TV manufacturers, commissioned the tests. The television manufacturer denied the false advertising allegations, claiming all its quantum dot TVs contain actual quantum dot films. "The QD content may vary depending on the supplier, but it definitely contains cadmium," the company explained. The TLC press release also questioned Hansol's testing methodology, claiming it wasn't accurate enough to detect the exact amount of cadmium in the panels. The company provided findings from a different test commissioned by one of its quantum dot film suppliers, also conducted by SGS, one of the agencies employed by Hansol. Its analysis reportedly found trace amounts of cadmium, while a spectrogram conducted on the QD film is also said to have confirmed the presence of quantum dots. However, there is a critical difference between the two tests and the materials used to detect the presence of cadmium. Hansol's original analysis used actual TCL TV panels. The report TCL quoted examined QD films from its suppliers. It's unclear whether the films used in the models in question are from the same supplier as the ones TCL had tested. After the ET News report broke in the west, TCL released a statement to Tom's Guide, claiming it doesn't sell any of the models in question in the US. Quantum dot LED, or QLED, is a relatively new technology that offers enhanced color reproduction and superior picture quality. Quantum dots are manufactured nanocrystals that produce different colors depending on the particle size. They can emit precise colors because particle sizes adjust at quantum-level velocities, producing accurate and efficient light emission. What just happened? The US is not the only country feeling the effects of the tech contraction. The ailing print industry is losing another of its historical, leading players. Ricoh, a Japanese company founded in 1936, has announced a massive restructuring effort with a significant cut to its headcount. Ricoh will soon start restructuring plans that include laying off around 2,000 employees from its global workforce, scaling down the office device business, and focusing on assisting third-party companies with digital transition processes. The job reduction announced by the Tokyo-based firm will affect around three percent of the 79,544 people employed as of March 2024. Nikkei Asia broke the news, noting that Ricoh is in a very tight spot. The market for printers and other office machines is shrinking, while enterprise customers are finally adapting to a fully digital business model. The recent remote and hybrid work experiments during the pandemic delivered a seemingly finishing blow to the printing industry, and printer manufacturers are now scrambling to deal with the consequences. Ricoh's job cuts will run until the end of its current fiscal year in March 2025. The company will offer around 1,000 Japanese workers an early retirement plan. The one-time cost for the entire restructuring effort amounts to 16 billion yen ($112 million). It expects the staff reduction to boost annual profits by 9 billion yen over the next fiscal year. Ricoh isn't leaving the printing industry, though. In July, the company announced a joint venture with Toshiba Tec Corporation to create a new entity called Etria. Ricoh transferred around 8,400 employees to the new firm, which will develop and manufacture new office printers. Etria will remain unaffected by Ricoh's latest job cuts. The Japanese corporation wants to refocus its business on digital market transformation, offering digitization support for essential office operations like data management for invoices and bills of delivery. Ricoh is also toying with AI since data analysis, and other advanced algorithmic technologies are the way to go for a bountiful and paperless future. The pandemic gave the printer industry a temporary elation period, as people found themselves printing more paper documents than before. However, as HP CEO Enrique Lores recently highlighted, printed page levels have dwindled lower than before the Covid lockdowns. The DR ICH-X K3 crossover is Chery's new cheap crossover model. The car, which looks like a copy of Land Rover, is ready to go to the European market. This Chinese car has already managed to impress with its price. ADVERTISIMENT This is reported by Motor1. For Italy, the Jetour T2 from Chery has changed its name to DR ICH-X K3. In Europe, many Chinese automakers are embarrassed about their origins and real names. But even more surprising is the change in price. The Jetour T2 price in China is from $25,500. The Italian price starts at 48,500 euros! This is inexcusably expensive for a car from the PRC. It is not worth counting on high sales. Especially considering that much more affordable DR models have not been successful. Chinese crossover is very similar to the Land Rover Defender. The similarity is seen from all sides so clearly that it cannot be called a coincidence. Chery Jetour T2 is powered by a 2-liter gasoline engine with an output of 245 hp. ADVERTISIMENT In the equipment of the model - cameras round-view, adaptive cruise control, heated seats in the cabin, automatic braking and lane keeping systems. Facebook, now under its company Meta, banned Russian state media claiming that the latter is engaging in misleading techniques in order to help spread Russia's propaganda. Early reports say that this move comes as part of the actions in Meta which has sought to fight covert influence operations originating from Russia. This action elicited a swift reaction from the Kremlin, which called the action wrong. Meta Goes After Russian State Media Meta, the parent company of Facebook threatened to block all Russian media outlets on its platforms. These outlets, the company says, have been twisting content to spread propaganda espousing the Russian Federation's views and their war against Ukraine. According to ABC News, the ban will come into force within the next few days, which will take effect in Meta's efforts to fight fake news. The social media giant's move comes after a series of sanctions by the US administration against Russia's state-funded media, which has been accused of playing a role in Russia's military action and spreading of propaganda. These schemes aim to destabilize democratic administrations in various world regions, with a focus on Europe, Africa, and South America. "After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets: Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," Meta said in a prepared statement. Related Article : Russian Court Convicts Meta Spokesperson in Absentia Over Terrorism Justification Kremlin's Backlash: Moscow Vents over Meta's Action Meta's announcement was met with an instant response from the Kremlin, The actions were described as 'unacceptable.' The spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov expressed his disapproval towards Meta saying that such selective actions 'discredit' it. This, according to Peskov, will complicate relations between Russia and Meta going forward. U.S. Sanctions and Allegations Against Russian Media Meta's move comes after the US government enhanced its investigations on Russian media outlets. On the previous week, the US authorities unveiled a new batch of restrictions against RT which simultaneously accused the outlet of constituting a part of Russia's military-industrial complex. Some of these officials alleged that RT not only broadcasts fake news that is friendly to the Kremlin but also engages in fundraising for Russia's military operations, including offering sniper rifles and body armor to Ukrainian soldiers. Also, the US authorities reported that RT websites, which were disguised as credible news outlets, were playing the role of propagandists in the international arena. This year in June, two employees of RT were accused of providing a content creation company in Tennessee with $1.25 million; the company allegedly specialized in producing English language material popularising Kremlin-oriented messages. Previous Attempts Made by Meta to Combat Russian Propaganda Meta has been actively seeking to restrict Moscow's internet presence for a couple of years. Since the year 2020, it has flagged content from state-funded media organizations such as RT and Sputnik. The app maker has shut down Russian state media from advertising for their pages and has reduced their content's share in the feed in 2022. Meta also denied access to RT's channels for EU audiences together with other similar platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Meta's latest move is in line with its efforts to curtail Russian disinformation channels. A Russia-based network that posted fake news about the invasion of Ukraine was dismantled by Meta in 2022. Russia Labels Meta an 'Extremist Group' However, Meta tried to fight this by banning Russian State media from its platforms; in response to this Moscow declared the company an 'extremist' organization in March 2022, right after Russia invaded Ukraine. In turn, Facebook and Instagram were banned in Russia. The two, among other social media platforms, as well as Elon Musk's X which used to be called Twitter, were some of the most commonly used in the country before the ban. Now, such platforms are only available for Russians practically with the help of a VPN connection. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he passed the two latest AI bills that arrived at his office, focusing on fighting against AI digital cloning and deepfakes. Through this campaign, California is looking to protect actors, artists, and performers from having their likeness digitally replicated by online users. These two bills are known for being supported by SAG-AFTRA, offering ironclad legislation against AI deepfakes. California Passes Two AI Bills That Fight Against Cloning, Deepfakes Gov. Gavin Newsom shared on his latest Instagram post that he has passed two AI bills to help fight against illegal replication of artists, performers, and more. According to the California governor, these are AB 2602 and AB 1836, now laws in the country. This followed its passing in the California legislature in August, according to The Verge, and this was said to be the further reinforcement of its AI regulations in the state. According to Gov. Newsom, this will help protect a person's "name, image and likeness" from bad actors using AI. Read Also: AB 1831: New California Bill Aims to Take Down AI-Generated Child Porn, Fix Previous Loophole No to AI Digital Cloning for Artists, Supported by SAG-AFTRA Both laws are known for being supported by the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) since they were bills. AB 2602 would prevent companies from using a digital clone of an artist or performer unless the person knows this,and they have legal representatives present. On the other hand, AB 1836 focuses more on personalities who have passed away, with companies now required to obtain explicit permission from their family or estate before creating their "digital replicas," also including artworks. There is still another AI bill in California that awaits Governor Newsom's approval, and it is the controversial SB 1047 that its State Assembly and Senate already passed. If the law gets passed by Gov. Newsom, it will require AI companies to observe precautions and safety measures on their machine learning training, applying to California-based corporations and startups. Among those who criticized the bill are companies operating from California's Silicon Valley. Bills, Laws Against AI Deepfakes, and Digital Cloning California is among the US states who have gone forth with progressing on their bills and legislations against AI deepfakes and unauthorized digital cloning. These specific legislations are looking to protect artists and the public from having their image cloned digitally, especially with the potentially massive implications that it may bring. Last year, a significant bipartisan bill was brought forth by US Senators against generative AI copying or replicating artists and their works without their consent. This is called the "No Fakes Act," which protects individuals from having their face, voice, and behavior copied, protecting the people throughout their lifetime and even 70 years after their passing. Generative AI's evolution has caused massive problems as deepfaking and digital replications became more advanced, and have since been easily accessible to illegally copy people. However, the US is working on ways to prevent this, including individual states like California which recently passed two bills that would encompass loopholes in its AI laws. Related Article: California SB 1047, a.k.A. The Controversial AI Safety Bill, Recently Passed in State's Assembly and Senate If Western partners used Russia's frozen assets to purchase F-16s for Ukraine, they could theoretically buy all the F-16s in the world. We are talking about about $300 billion of the Russian central bank's funds that have been blocked in Western accounts. ADVERTISIMENT According to OBOZ.UA, this amount would be enough to buy 10 thousand repaired and modernized F-16A/B aircraft, which are about 35 years old. If we talk about new planes, Russian $300 billion could be enough to purchase 4687 aircraft. At the same time, according to publicly available data, there are only about 4,600 F-16s in use in the world. It should be borne in mind that not all of them are new, so the cost of some of the fighters will be lower. The calculations were based on data from the Militarny portal. Experts noted that a 35-year-old F-16A/B costs $20-30 million. And the manufacturer's estimated cost of the new F-16V Block 70/72 is $64 million. However, this does not include weapons, personnel training, and related costs. Of course, all figures are approximate. In addition, it is obvious that no country will sell Ukraine the fighters it needs for its own defense. However, this once again emphasizes how voluminous a resource frozen Russian assets are. ADVERTISIMENT So far, Western partners have promised to provide Ukraine with about 80 F-16 fighter jets by the end of 2024. And according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the short-term need for such aircraft was 128 aircraft. If only used aircraft are supplied, it would cost $3.84 billion, which is a little more than one hundredth of the total amount of Russian assets. Confiscation of Russia's assets: Ukraine is demanding $300 billion, but so far has received only $50 billion. Ukraine's goal is to confiscate all $300 billion of frozen Russian assets. This position was once again voiced by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at a press conference on September 10. He emphasized that the $50 billion loan secured by Russia's funds is still considered by Kyiv as an advance. And a number of conditions are attached to the disbursement of these funds. ADVERTISIMENT "Our ultimate goal remains unchanged - to confiscate all $300 billion of frozen Russian assets. We see 50 billion as the first step towards this and as our airbag for the coming years in terms of delays in financing and other unforeseen factors that may occur," the Prime Minister said. To recap, the European Union (EU) alone has frozen Russian assets worth more than $260 billion. In total, the amount in Western countries is about $300 billion. The United States proposes to use them to issue bonds that will be used to help the Armed Forces. However, despite the obvious opportunity to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities without spending their own money, the EU countries are in no hurry to approve the confiscation of seized Russian assets. A similar decision has not been made at the level of the Group of Seven (G7: Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan, and the United States). ADVERTISIMENT At the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in Washington, DC , European Central Bank (ECB) Governor Christine Lagarde directly criticized the US proposal to use frozen Russian assets to finance military aid to Ukraine. According to Lagarde, this would violate international law. "So far, the G7 has limited itself to stating that the Russian central bank's funds will not be released. "The G7 countries will keep Russian assets frozen until they get Moscow to pay for the damage caused to Ukraine," reads the joint statement following the meeting in Washington. As reported by OBOZ.UA, Russia will essentially be repaying the $50 billion loan to Ukraine. Creditors will receive money from the profits from Russia's seized assets in the EU, the US and partner countries. ADVERTISIMENT Thus, under the terms of the agreement, the United States, the European Union and other participants will provide Ukraine with loans using the proceeds of frozen Russian assets, which will be subsequently returned to the creditors. The loans will be structured in accordance with the internal procedures of each participant. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! 'Disappeared completely': melting glaciers worry Central Asia Adygene Glacier, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Near a wooden hut high up in the Kyrgyz mountains, scientist Gulbara Omorova walked to a pile of grey rocks, reminiscing how the same spot was a glacier just a few years ago. At an altitude of 4,000 metres, the 35-year-old researcher is surrounded by the giant peaks of the towering Tian Shan range that also stretches into China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The area is home to thousands of glaciers that are melting at an alarming rate in Central Asia, already hard-hit by climate change. A glaciologist, Omarova is recording that process -- worried about the future. She hiked six hours to get to the modest triangular-shaped hut that serves as a science station -- almost up in the clouds. "Eight to 10 years ago you could see the glacier with snow," Omorova told AFP. "But in the last three to four years, it has disappeared completely. There is no snow, no glacier," she said. The effects of a warming planet have been particularly visible in Central Asia, which has seen a wave of extreme weather disasters. The melting of thousands of glaciers is a major threat to people in the landlocked region that already suffers from a shortage of water. Acting as water towers, glaciers are crucial to the region's food security and vital freshwater reserves are now dwindling fast. - 'Measuring everything' - Equipped with a measuring device, Omorova kneeled over a torrent of melted water, standing on grey-covered ice shimmering in strong sunshine. "We are measuring everything," she said. "The glaciers cannot regenerate because of rising temperatures." A little further on, she points to the shrinking Adygene glacier, saying it has retreated by "around 16 centimetres (six inches)" every year. "That's more than 900 metres since the 1960s," she said. The once majestic glacier is only one of thousands in the area that are slowly disappearing. Between 14 and 30 percent of glaciers in the Tian-Shan and Pamir -- the two main mountain ranges in Central Asia -- have melted over the last 60 years, according to a report by the Eurasian Development Bank. Omorova warned that things are only becoming worse. "The melting is much more intense than in previous years," she said. With scientists warning that 2024 is likely to be the hottest year on record, professions like hers have hugely grown in importance. But resources are scarce in Kyrgyzstan, one of the poorest countries in former Soviet Central Asia. "We lack measuring equipment and there is not enough money to transport things to our observation station, where we don't even have electricity," Omorova said. She hopes the Kyrygz government will draw up a law to protect the ice-covered giants. - Dangerous torrents - The shrinking glaciers have also created a new threat for Kyrgyz towns and cities, with meltwater forming new lakes before tumbling down mountains in dangerous torrents, including towards the capital Bishkek. Further down the valley -- in a grass-covered part of the mountain at 2,200 metres -- two scientists, brothers Sergei and Pavel Yerokhin, worked on the banks of the fast-flowing water. The elder brother, 72-year-old Sergei, warned of the dangers of the torrents. "This water mass takes rocks with it, flows down the valley and can reach towns," he told AFP. He said their task was to monitor and predict the water flow and to "draw up maps to ensure people and infrastructure don't end up in these dangerous areas". His brother Pavel had a sensor installed about 50 centimetres above the water that would send radio signals in case of flooding. - 'Halve by 2050' - For the Kyrgyz government, the melting glaciers threaten more than infrastructure damage. Water distribution in the region -- devised in the Soviet era -- remains a thorny issue and is a frequent source of tension between neighbours. Mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- home to around 10,000 glaciers each, according to Omorova -- are the main water providers for Central Asia. "We share water with our neighbours downstream," Omorova said, referring to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, home to most of Central Asia's population. Aside from rising temperatures, the glaciers also face another threat: a growing appetite for immense natural resources in the region, including for gold, whose extraction with chemicals accelerates the melting of ice. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have stepped up efforts to draw attention to a looming catastrophe. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov warned last year that forecasts show Central Asian glaciers "will halve by 2050 and disappear completely by 2100". How single-use plastic still rules the world Bangkok, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Each year the world produces around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste, much of it discarded after just a few minutes of use. Negotiators hope to reach the world's first treaty on plastic pollution this year, but across five very different countries, AFP found single-use plastic remains hugely popular as a cheap and convenient choice, illustrating the challenges ahead: Bangkok On a Bangkok street lined with food vendors, customers line up for Maliwan's famed traditional sweets. Steamed layer cakes -- green with pandan leaf or blue with butterfly pea -- sit in clear plastic bags alongside rows of taro pudding in plastic boxes. Each day, the 40-year-old business uses at least two kilos of single-use plastic. "Plastic is easy, convenient and cheap," said 44-year-old owner Watchararas Tamrongpattarakit. Banana leaves used to be standard, but they are increasingly expensive and hard to source. They are also onerous to use because each one must be cleaned and checked for tears. It "isn't practical for our pace of sales", said Watchararas. Thailand started limiting single-use plastic before the pandemic, asking major retailers to stop handing out bags for free. But the policy has largely fallen by the wayside, with little uptake among the country's street food vendors. Thailand produces two million tons of plastic waste a year, according to the country's Pollution Control Department. The World Bank estimates 11 percent goes uncollected, and is burned, disposed of on land or leaks into rivers and the ocean. Watchararas tries to consolidate purchases into fewer bags and said some customers bring their own reusable containers and totes. But Radeerut Sakulpongpaisal, a Maliwan customer for 30 years, said she finds plastic "convenient". "I also understand the environmental impact," the bank worker said. But "it's probably easier for both the shop and the customers". Lagos In the Obalende market at the heart of Nigeria's economic capital Lagos, emptied water sachets litter the ground. Each day, Lisebeth Ajayi watches dozens of customers use their teeth to tear open the bags of "pure water" and drink. "They don't have the money to buy the bottle water, that's why they do the pure water," said the 58-year-old, who sells bottles and bags of water, soap and sponges. Two 500-millilitre sachets sell for between 50 to 250 naira (3-15 US cents), compared to 250-300 naira for a 750-ml bottle. Since they appeared in the 1990s, water sachets have become a major pollutant across much of Africa, but they remain popular for drinking, cooking and even washing. Around 200 firms produce the sachets in Lagos, and several hundred more recycle plastic, but supply vastly outstrips capacity in a country with few public wastebins and little environmental education. Lagos banned single-use plastic in January, but with little impact so far. The United Nations estimates up to 60 million water sachets are discarded across Nigeria every day. Rio Each day, vendors walk the sands of some of Rio de Janeiro's most beautiful beaches, lugging metal containers filled with the tea-like drink mate. The iced beverage, infused with fruit juice, is dispensed into plastic cups for eager sun worshippers dotted along the seafront. "Drinking mate is part of Rio de Janeiro's culture," explained Arthur Jorge da Silva, 47, as he scouted for customers. He acknowledged the environmental impacts of his towers of plastic cups, in a country ranked the fourth-biggest producer of plastic waste in 2019. But "it's complicated" to find affordable alternatives, he told AFP. The tanned salesman said mate vendors on the beach had used plastic for as long as he could remember. He pays a dollar for a tower of 20 cups and charges customers $1.80 for each drink. Bins along Rio's beaches receive about 130 tons of waste a day, but plastic is not separated, and just three percent of Brazil's waste is recycled annually. Evelyn Talavera, 24, said she does her best to clean up when leaving the beach. "We have to take care of our planet, throw the garbage away, keep the environment clean." Plastic straws have been banned in Rio's restaurants and bars since 2018, and shops are no longer required to offer free plastic bags -- though many still do. Congress is also considering legislation that would ban all single-use plastic. Paris In France, single-use plastic has been banned since 2016, but while items like straws and plastic cutlery have disappeared, plastic bags remain stubbornly common. At Paris' Aligre market, stalls are piled with fruit, vegetables and stacks of bags ready to be handed out. Most are stamped "reusable and 100-percent recyclable", and some are described as compostable or produced from natural materials. But experts have cast doubt on the environmental relevance of some of these claims. Vendor Laurent Benacer gets through a 24-euro ($26) box of 2,000 bags each week. "In Paris, everyone asks for a bag," he told AFP. "I'd stopped, but my neighbours continued, so I had to restart." There are alternatives like paper bags, but some customers are simply not convinced. "Plastic bags remain practical, so everything doesn't spill everywhere," insisted 80-year-old customer Catherine Sale. Dubai At the Allo Beirut restaurant in Dubai, plastic containers are piled high, waiting to be filled and delivered across the city. "We receive more than 1,200 orders a day," said delivery manager Mohammed Chanane. "We use plastic boxes because they are more airtight, and better preserve the food," he said. With few pedestrians and an often-scorching climate, many of Dubai's 3.7 million residents rely on delivery for everything from petrol to coffee. Residents of the United Arab Emirates have one of the highest volumes of waste per capita in the world. And single-use plastic accounts for 40 percent of all plastic used in the country. Since June, single-use plastic bags and several similar items have been banned. Polystyrene containers will follow next year. Allo Beirut is considering using cardboard containers, a move customer Youmna Asmar would welcome. She admitted horror at the build-up of plastic in her bins after a weekend of family orders. "I say to myself, if all of us are doing this, it's a lot." burs/sah/sco/fg Three activists risking their lives for the planet Paris, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Almost 200 environmental activists were murdered last year, with the toll especially heavy in South America, according to rights group Global Witness. Here are the stories of three campaigners who have faced violence and repression trying to stop wildcat gold mining in Ecuador, illegal shrimp farming in Indonesia and a controversial oil project in Uganda. - 'We have a responsibility' - Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan has been assaulted, arrested and prosecuted for his activism to protect a national park, but he is unbowed. "Why be afraid? Why back down? Your home should be defended," the 51-year-old told AFP in Jakarta, where is awaiting a new ruling in legal proceedings against him. Born and raised in the Indonesian capital, he "fell in love at first sight" with the remote Karimunjawa Islands National Park off Java on his first visit in 2011 and settled there. Daniel began to notice the growing impact of illegal shrimp farms, which began to proliferate around 2017. Run-off from the farms killed off seaweed and forced marine life to move further from shore, impacting the livelihoods of fishing communities, he said. In 2022, Daniel helped start the #SaveKarimunjawa movement, which pushed for a local zoning law banning the shrimp farms. But his activism made him a target -- he was threatened, assaulted and put in a chokehold, and fellow environmentalists received death threats. He was arrested in December 2023 over allegations of hate speech stemming from a Facebook post criticising illegal shrimp farming. A local court sentenced him in April to seven months behind bars. The conviction was overturned on appeal but prosecutors took the case to the Supreme Court, insisting he should not be recognised as an environmental activist. "This is a price that must be paid," Daniel said of the threats and legal battles. And his activism has had some success, with recent government inspections forcing many illegal operations to shut. "We have a responsibility to our children, grandchildren and future generations," he said. "If you give up... you say goodbye to your future." - 'Hell on Earth' - Abdulaziz Bweete grew up in Kawempe, a shanty town in the Ugandan capital Kampala, and saw first-hand the devastating impact of environmental change in poorer communities. "I have grown up seeing floods around but I had not interested myself in what is causing floods," he told AFP. It took two things to galvanise the 26-year-old -- going to university, and seeing the Uganda government's response to climate protests. Bweete was among a group of student organisers who marched on parliament in July with a petition opposing a multi-billion-dollar oil project that campaigners say will badly affect a delicate environment. He and several other young activists were arrested, charged with illegal assembly, and held in Kampala's maximum-security Luzira prison until August. He told AFP he and fellow protesters were beaten by police. The activist was previously imprisoned and arrested following rallies in the capital. "All I can say is prison is a hell on Earth," he said. "We don't have freedom of protest in this country," he said, glancing around nervously in Kyambogo University's lush campus setting. Demonstrations in Uganda -- ruled with an iron fist by President Yoweri Museveni for four decades -- are often met with a heavy-handed police response. Bweete said politics and climate change go hand in hand. "If we have good leaders, we can have good climate policies. This is a long struggle, but we are determined to win," he insisted. - 'Defend life' - Alex Lucitante, a leader of the Cofan Indigenous people on the border between Ecuador and Colombia, won a historic legal victory in 2018 over mining companies in the Amazon, striking out 52 gold mine concessions. It helped win him the Goldman Environmental Prize -- the Nobel of environmental defenders -- two years ago. But despite setting up a system of patrols and even drone surveillance, it has not stopped gold prospectors violating their territory. "The destruction is still going on all around our land, and the threat is stronger," he told AFP, telling of illegal mining, deforestation and threats from armed groups. "Today, the situation is particularly critical in our territories," said Lucitante. "It all happens in plain sight and with the knowledge of the authorities," which are "sometimes linked to illegal actors operating in the area", he added. The environmentalist has urged global leaders to listen to the "voice of Indigenous communities" and hear their plea to "defend life". EU chief to visit Poland to meet leaders of flood-hit nations Warsaw, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will on Thursday meet leaders of several flood-hit nations in the Polish city of Wroclaw, Poland's government said Wednesday. High winds and unusually heavy rainfall have hit swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia since last week. At least 22 people have died because of the extreme weather and flooding let loose by Storm Boris in central Europe. "Von der Leyen will visit Wroclaw on September 19," the Polish government's press office said on Wednesday. It added that she would hold talks in the western city with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Brussels said Wednesday the visit was at the invitation of Tusk. "President von der Leyen will visit the area at risk in Wroclaw to assess the situation created by the recent heavy floods and rains that have hit Poland," Commission deputy chief spokesperson Arianna Podesta told reporters. Together with the four leaders, "she will discuss the actions taken by the authorities to respond to this crisis," she added. burs-amj/rox Nigeria issues flood warning as Cameroon opens dam Lagos, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Nigerian authorities have warned that at least 11 states along one of its main rivers are at risk of flooding as neighbouring Cameroon begins releasing water from one of its dams. Umar Ibrahim Mohammed, director general of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), a federal body managing water resources, said Cameroonian authorities plan "regulated water releases" from the Lagdo dam in the northern region of the country. The release was scheduled to start from September 17, Mohammed said in a statement released on Tuesday. The water is expected to course down to River Benue in central Nigeria and could flood communities in the country's northeast, north-central, south-south and southeast regions. "It is highly imperative for all states that are contiguous to the river Benue system... to step up vigilance and deploy adequate preparedness measures to reduce possible impacts of flooding," Mohammed said. Cameroon officials were not immediately available for comment on the dam waters release. Despite his warnings for states to make preparations, Mohammed said he did not expect the release of dam waters to cause major damage. A spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Ezekiel Manzo said they had been preparing for any eventual flooding. "We've been warning the states," he told AFP. Google's Flood Hub projection application, which monitors areas at risk of flooding, shows communities along the river in southeastern and north-central regions are in danger of floods from rising river water levels. Abundant rainfall and opening of the Cameroon dam have caused massive flooding in the past in Nigeria. In 2022, more than 500 people died and 1.4 million were displaced in the country's worst floods in a decade. The latest severe flooding disaster in Nigeria killed at least 31 people and forced 400,000 out of their homes in northeastern city of Maiduguri, with an emergency official saying that about a million people could be displaced. This year, at least 285 people have been killed by floods with more than 640,000 displaced in the country as of September 18, figures published by NEMA showed. Around 127,500 hectares of farmlands have also been affected. The 300-metre (985-feet) Lagdo dam, 50 kilometres south of the Cameroonian city of Garoua, was completed in 1982 and supplies electricity to the country's north. Spain's Ribera emerges as EU strongwoman -- under scrutiny Brussels, Belgium, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 Teresa Ribera has emerged as one of the EU's most powerful figures from a reshuffle of the bloc's top roles that tasked the Spaniard with boosting Europe's competitiveness as it goes green, analysts say. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen handed Ribera, a socialist climate campaigner, a sprawling brief in the new European Commission that will require the juggling of competing pressures from all sides. The 55-year-old was put in charge of the mighty antitrust apparatus and additionally named as one of von der Leyen's six key lieutenants. Ribera has "the most influential" portfolio, Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told AFP. As competition commissioner she will be responsible for one of a few areas where Brussels has exclusive competence over the EU's 27 member states, and vast powers. She takes over from Denmark's Margrethe Vestager, who became one of the EU's most recognisable faces over the past five years, sparring with US tech giants and helping to turn the bloc into a regulatory behemoth. An ally of Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Ribera will also have the title of executive vice president for a clean, just and competitive transition. This lands her at the heart "of the most important policy challenge of the coming five years", said Tagliapietra. - 'Broker difficult deals' - Ribera will handle energy and climate issues, as well as industrial strategy at a time of growing tension within the bloc over how to combine growth and climate ambitions. "Teresa Ribera has the rare ability to broker difficult deals: on just transition with Spanish coal workers and a fossil fuel phase out with major petrostates. She will need these skills in Brussels," said Linda Kalcher, executive director of Strategic Perspectives think tank. "She will be under scrutiny from all sides". Von der Leyen's first term was marked by a landmark "Green Deal" including measures such as a ban on selling new combustion engine cars from 2035. But the plan has come under fire from the fossil fuel industry and the agricultural sector, as well as from political parties on the right and far right -- which were the big winners in European elections in June. Leftist and environmental groups fear climate ambitions will be watered down, as the bloc contends with other issues, from Russia's war in Ukraine to competition from China. Setting a roadmap for her second term, von der Leyen pledged to "stay the course" on the environment -- while reconciling "climate protection with a prosperous economy." A new "Clean Industrial Deal" has been promised in the first 100 days of her latest tenure. - Happy and powerful - Conveying European state aid towards green investments with a continental breadth, and persuading nations to make taxation more climate-friendly by phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, will be among Ribera's main tasks, said Tagliapietra. Ribera, who has argued the Green Deal can be combined with economic competitiveness, will have to deliver in a commission dominated by the centre-right. She will have to liaise with other heavyweights with overlapping competences, such as French centrist Stephane Sejourne, who will be in charge of "prosperity and industrial strategy", and Raffaele Fitto, a hard-right ally of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. "The question is how the commissioners will work with each other," said Michael Sicaud-Clyet, climate and energy policy officer at WWF. Ribera's fellow socialist Jean-Marc Germain, a French EU lawmaker, said he was confident she would have no trouble making her voice heard. "We have an extremely strong personality; Ribera will be someone very powerful," he said. For her part, the media-savvy mother-of-two, a pillar of Sanchez's Spanish government currently serving as ecological transition minister, declared herself "very happy" to take up the challenge. "It's a good opportunity to continue building the European dream," she said of her nomination, which needs to be confirmed by the European parliament. Rockslide in Crete gorge kills tourist Athens, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 A tourist hiking on the Greek island of Crete was fatally hurt in a rockslide after a sudden downpour, officials said Wednesday. The woman in her early 30s was given first aid but died before she could be taken to hospital, the head of staff at Samaria Gorge, one of the island's most popular destinations, told Mega TV. "A falling rock...cut into her thigh," Alkiviadis Pentarakis told the station. "The area can be dangerous in poor weather," he added. "It was a sudden downpour." There was confusion regarding the woman's nationality, described in some reports as a Ukrainian living in Germany. The state agency monitoring Greek national parks, OFYPEKA, in a statement said there were no other significant injuries among over 1,000 hikers in the ravine at the time. The fire service told AFP it had assisted other visitors to exit the gorge, but nobody was trapped by the rockslide. The 16-kilometre (10-mile) gorge, one of Europe's longest, will remain closed pending an inspection by geologists, OFYPEKA said. India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report Bangkok, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2024 India's plans to expand coal mining could double emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from its domestic coal sector by 2029, threatening its climate goals, a report warned Thursday. Methane is the second-most abundant greenhouse gas produced by human activity, after carbon dioxide. It breaks down faster but has a more powerful effect in the short term. Coal mining is a key source of methane, which leaks from vents, open pits and cracks in the ground. India is already one of the world's leading sources of coal-mine methane emissions, as well as the second-biggest producer, importer and consumer of the fossil fuel. To meet rapidly growing energy demand, it plans to boost domestic coal production from 982 million tonnes to more than 1.5 billion tonnes by 2030, according to the coal ministry. The planned expansions could more than double coal mine-related methane emissions by 2029 from a decade earlier, the report by independent energy think tank Ember said. That projection is based on the methodology India uses to calculate its existing coal mine-linked methane emissions. India has committed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. But the planned coal expansion "poses a considerable risk for the country's domestic emissions reduction plans and will have a profound short-term warming impact", Ember warned. India, the world's most populous country, faces a conundrum as it seeks to honour its climate commitments while meeting skyrocketing demand for energy and supporting its fast-growing economy. Ember acknowledged that the "unprecedented increases" in demand for electricity in India are outstripping renewables capacity. It proposed that India should invest in mitigation technology that could capture methane and even allow it to be used in place of imported gas, potentially saving money. The European Union and the United States launched a "Global Methane Pledge" in 2021 under which countries commit to slashing emissions of the greenhouse gas 30 percent from 2020 levels by the end of this decade. More than 150 countries have signed up -- but not China, India or Russia. Researchers found this month concentrations of methane are rising at an accelerating pace and quicker than those of any other major greenhouse gas. While methane is also produced by agriculture and landfills, much of the increase is linked to coal extraction and oil and gas production. A report last week also sounded the alarm on methane emissions from planned Chinese coal mine expansions. Global Energy Monitor, an NGO, said China has an additional 1.2 billion tonnes of coal capacity in development, more than half the global pipeline. The "extremely funny news" came from the Antarctic Akademik Vernadsky station. Not far from the Ukrainian polar explorers, the first Weddell seal pup of this year was born. ADVERTISIMENT Scientists reported that it was a boy who was born on Winter Island, which is located opposite Galindez Island, where the Vernadsky station is located. On their Facebook page, the polar explorers showed the first photos of the newborn furry and called on all subscribers to join in choosing a name for him. "The pregnant female has been on Vinter since about September 1. We monitored her condition every day, either on foot or with a drone. On September 17, in the morning, we saw from the drone that she was already with a baby, and immediately went to them," said Svitozar Davydenko, a biologist with the 29th UAE. ADVERTISIMENT Ukrainian scientists monitor the annual breeding success of Weddell seals, which depends heavily on the availability of sea ice. After all, it is on the ice or on the shores with a convenient descent into the water that seal pups are born. According to scientists, in the early days, babies usually weigh 25-30 kg and grow very quickly on their mother's nutritious milk, which has a fat content of up to 54%. And by the end of feeding, which lasts about 3 months, they can reach 90 kg. For comparison, adult Weddell seals weigh 400 kg. ADVERTISIMENT Most seals are born in early Antarctic spring. And traditionally, with the arrival of new residents, scientists from the Akademik Vernadsky station offered to choose a name for the newborn together. "Write your options in the comments until 23:59 on September 22. The polar explorers of the 29th UAE will choose the most interesting idea, and its author will receive a gift from us - a chevron of this expedition," the scientists wrote in a Facebook post. Among the names already suggested, these received the most likes: Verny (in honor of the station), Heather (because he was born in September), Peaceful (as a symbol of peace), Winter (in honor of the island where he was born), and Puffy (because he is so soft). However, there is still time to offer your own version, so do not waste time. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Ryanair has stated the situation with the detention of WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. On the evening of September 17, the Ukrainian boxer was arrested at the airport in the Polish city of Krakow. ADVERTISIMENT Ryanair explained that the conflict was caused by an incident with Usyk's friend, who "was rightly denied boarding a Buzz flight from Krakow to Thessaloniki (September 17) by a Krakow airport employee due to his inappropriate behavior." "Mr. Usyk was not denied boarding, but he decided not to board. After boarding, an airport employee called for help, where the passengers were met by airport police," Tribuna.com quoted the airline as saying. The day before, MP Zhan Beleniuk posted two videos showing Usyk being taken away in handcuffs by law enforcement officers. ADVERTISIMENT Usyk himself called what happened at the Krakow airport a misunderstanding. On his Instagram, the boxer wrote a short post thanking everyone for their concern. The next day, promoter Oleksandr Krasiuk explained what happened. According to him, Usyk's friend fell asleep while waiting for his board turn, and the airline staff decided that he was intoxicated. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Tupperware Brands Corp and some of its subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, giving in to dwindling demand for its once-iconic food storage containers and mounting financial losses. The companys struggles resumed after a short-lived pandemic boost, when increased home cooking briefly drove demand for its colourful, airtight plastic containers. A post-pandemic jump in costs of raw materials such as plastic resin, as well as labour and freight, further dented Tupperware margins. In recent decades, Tupperware shed its reputation as a design trendsetter, much less an engine of female empowerment. Over the last several years, the companys financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment, chief executive officer Laurie Goldman said in a press release. The Penguin Binge, Friday Sometimes absence is an opportunity. The Penguin is a spin-off from the 2022 superhero movie The Batman. It is set a week after the blockbusters story concluded in a cataclysmic reckoning, but it does not feature Robert Pattinsons caped crusader in any material way. And its all the better for it. In focusing on Colin Farrells bulky gangland lieutenant, Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, the series thankfully finds its own pulpy purpose as a gangland saga built around a pair of compelling lead performances. The Penguin (Colin Farrell), right, moulds his young sidekick Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) through both fear and reward. Credit: Binge Anyone who has endured the often-tepid spin-off series culled from the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be delighted at how self-contained and thorny these eight episodes are. Starting from a franchise-driven directive, creator Lauren LeFranc (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) nods to Batman lore and Penguins eclectic history, but there are also plenty of mob movie grace notes, particularly from The Godfather and Goodfellas, while theres a juicy edge to Farrells turn that calls up black-and-white era hoods such as James Cagney. His face scarred, hobbling because of a stirrup on his leg, Oswald is a mid-level guy in the Falcone crime family. Being underestimated is his superpower; decisions driven by anger his Kryptonite. With his boss killed during The Batman, Oswald wants to climb to the top, preferably over the bodies of his superiors. The plot gives him a sidekick, Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), a working-class teen from one of the many Gotham City neighbourhoods left ruined by The Batmans finale. Oswald moulds him through both fear and reward. Television executives contort themselves explaining the reappearance of shows that went off the air. Reboot? Reimagining? Revival? Does it matter what the re word is, as long as the program works? For a sitcom, that means staying funny. Frasier remains so in the second season of this version, which returned to Paramount+ on Thursday, September 19, with new episodes dropping weekly. Toks Olagundoye, Kelsey Grammer and Nicholas Lyndhurst in Frasier: the haughty psychiatrist has barely lost a step. Credit: Paramount+ Forty years after first playing the pontificating psychiatrist on Cheers, Kelsey Grammer keeps him fresh. Partly thats because Grammer still gets a genuine kick out of the character, which is obvious when he and the cast gather on the Paramount lot at Soundstage 18 for the table read, a first run-through of the script. We were standing on the stage at 31 last year, and I thought to myself, What does 31 mean numerologically? Grammer says beforehand. I looked it up and it meant new beginnings. I thought, Oh, well then this is a very auspicious stage for us. So, they kicked us out of there. Fantastic! I thought. 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 Shortly before Friends premiered in September 1994, director James Burrows took the cast of six on a trip to Las Vegas. Unbeknownst to them, it would be their last chance to truly enjoy obscurity. I made a reservation for just the seven of us at Spago [a popular Las Vegas spot]. I asked for the centre table in the restaurant, where everyone could see us, Burrows wrote in his memoir, Directed by James Burrows. I knew the show had a chance to really take off and told the kids, This is your last shot at anonymity. Once the show airs, you guys will never be able to go anywhere without being hounded. Thirty years have since passed, and Burrows could not have been more correct. After that fateful night in Las Vegas, each of the cast members Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry would never be able to inconspicuously sit in a restaurant again. Over the decade it aired, Friends, created by Marta Kauffman and David Crane, became one of the most famous sitcoms ever. Its 236 episodes have collectively attracted more than 100 billion views across all platforms. The finale alone, which aired in May 2004, was watched by 52.5 million Americans. Still afloat: Some of the jokes have dated, but Friends continues to pick up new fans. Credit: NBCUniversal via Getty Images What was once a show has become a brand. In London, New York and Melbourne, Friends pop-ups invite fans, both young and old, to immerse themselves in replicas of the sets. Theres a Friends musical parody, an actual Central Perk coffee shop and various Friends-themed card games. So powerful is its legacy that when Perry, who played Chandler Bing, died from the acute effects of ketamine in October last year, the entire world seemed to stop and mourn. Fans flooded social media with tributes, and left flowers and notes outside the Manhattan building used for the series exterior shots. Thanks to its timeless premise the idea that some friends become so close, theyre family the sitcom continues to resonate across generations. By the time I began watching Friends in 2010, its 90s and early-2000s aesthetic already seemed old-school. Advertisement But I found comfort in watching six people not much older than myself build unshakeable bonds while muddling their way through early adulthood. For Gen Zs like me, the show offers a glimpse of a simpler time, when people connected IRL rather than online, and social media presence didnt dictate friendship. We could never revert to that, but its a refreshing fantasy, and the reason Ive since seen the series at least 10 times. However, loving Friends now usually comes with a caveat. As funny as it is to watch Ross repeatedly scream pivot while manoeuvring a couch, or to see Joeys smell the fart acting technique, these jokes are no longer as effective at concealing the shows flaws. Take any episode that mentions Chandlers father, for instance. Friends treated this trans character as a punchline rather than a person, using humour to position their sexuality and gender as abnormal. Similarly, the episode in which Ross ex-wife Carol gets married to her long-time girlfriend is riddled with jokes about homosexuality: Tell me if this is too cute lesbian wedding, chicken breasts, Monica quips. Transphobic and homophobic comedy was not unusual for the 90s and early 2000s, but it makes for uneasy viewing in 2024. In fact, co-creator Kauffman has said the shows transphobic jokes are the one aspect shed most like to change. Then there are the flashback episodes, which depict Monica as a ditsy overweight teen whose love for mayonnaise eclipses all. As writer Kelsey Miller says in Vox, she isnt just Monica, fat, shes Fat Monica a caricature of fatness, a faceless vessel to fat-shame. Advertisement The shows general lack of racial diversity has also turned heads, especially given the degree to which its creators and cast have defended the casting since the beginning. During season one, Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller, told Rolling Stone the lack of diversity didnt necessarily bother him. You cant do everything to please everybody, and I know that in casting, they did look at all sorts of different people. This just happens to be the group they ended up with. Sure, some of the guest stars were racially diverse, such as Lauren Tom (who played one of Ross girlfriends, Julie) and Aisha Tyler (who played another one of Ross girlfriends, Charlie). Tyler was the most prominent of all racially diverse guest stars, and she only featured in nine episodes. Considering there were 236 episodes, representation was clearly lacking. The One With Monica and Chandlers Wedding. Credit: NBCUniversal via Getty Images On the surface, the combination of homophobia, transphobia, fat-shaming and lack of diversity is more than enough to socially cancel a show. Yet Friends remains a cultural juggernaut fans still request The Rachel cut at hairdressers, deck out their hands with rings like Phoebe, and humorously court love interests like Joey (say it with me: How you doin?). So, how has it weathered the storm? As regressive as it often was, it attempted to be equally progressive. Friends sensitively explored various issues, such as infertility, surrogacy, blended families and single parenthood. It struck a tenuous balance between remaining mainstream enough to be palatable for a broad audience at the time, and radical enough to satisfy more left-leaning audiences, both then and now. In his book Still Friends, Saul Austerlitz wrote that in its embrace of the aggressively normal in its storytelling, it was able to expand the spectrum of normalcy until it could also include a lesbian wedding. It may have done so clumsily, but at least it tried. Similar could be said of Chandlers dad and Ross interracial relationships. Their representations were deeply flawed, but an imperfect depiction is arguably preferable over total exclusion. Advertisement Malta is an island nation on the eponymous archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It has risen sharply in the ranking of the most popular tourist destinations. Malta offers a clean sea, a warm climate, numerous resorts, unique architectural, and historical monuments. ADVERTISIMENT First of all, experts advise visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Hal Saflieni, Valletta, and the megalithic temples of Malta, which are among the oldest single-stone structures in the world. The details were reported by the Mirror. A study conducted by Uswitch.com showed that the capital of Malta has the most predictable weather all year round, making it a safe destination for tourists who want to forget about the winter gloom and enjoy the sun. The central square of Malta's capital, Valletta, divides the city in two, ending at Fort St. Elmo, where a military museum has been set up. The buildings in the central part of Valletta are a striking example of the Southern European style. The city gate leads to the Freedom Square, opposite which is the Palazzo Ferreria, an example of Italian classical architecture, where the armory of the knights used to be. A little further you can see the building of the Royal Opera House. ADVERTISIMENT The modern National Museum of Archaeology, the Auberge de Provence building, was once the center of Malta's social life the Union Club. On Palace Square is the Grandmaster's Palace, built between 1570 and 1580. It is now the residence of the President and Parliament of the Republic of Malta, and some of the palace's halls are open to the public. Valletta is home to the only university in the whole country, founded in 1769, which is internationally recognized for the quality of medical education. The National Library, St. Paul's Cathedral, Church of Saint Catherine of Italy, and St. John's Cathedral are also worth a visit. The best way to explore Malta is to rent an ATV. This way you can visit all the popular places, all the while contemplating the magnificent scenery. Another efficient way to get around Malta is with an electric scooter, which can usually be rented for a few euros. ADVERTISIMENT You can go down to the famous St. Peter's pool to add some excitement and jump off the rocks with a group of friends. This area is popular with tourists, but it is worth noting the fact that it is a ten-minute drive from the less visited Marsaxlokk Harbor. You can then head further north from St. Julian's and relax on the beaches of the Bay of Paradise, which boasts golden sands, picturesque views, and rocky coastlines. On your way to the "Quiet City" of Mdina, don't miss the Il Majjistral Natural and Historical Park. ADVERTISIMENT Pembroke Pool is the best place to enjoy warm evenings. Here, locals gather in small groups to watch the sunset. Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels on Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events. Two new, locally produced crime series are worlds apart: in the way they look, the style of their storytelling, and their creative foundations. One is a pragmatic clone of a proven crowd-pleaser and something of a laydown misere for its broadcaster; the other is a pioneering production that hasnt received the attention or the kudos that it deserves. One is a relatively safe bet; the other is a gutsy gamble that pays off handsomely. The former is Return to Paradise (ABC, Sundays, 7.30pm and ABC iview), a six-part Down Under offshoot of the globally successful whodunnit series Death in Paradise, which is regularly one of the ABCs most popular programs. So a joint ABC-BBC effort, capitalising on the existing and enthusiastic audience and extending its footprint, is a monty for our national broadcaster. Its not an audacious choice, but it is an understandable one. Early ratings seem to endorse the move, with the spin-off attracting more than a million viewers less than a week after its premiere. Meanwhile, Stan, one of the few Australian streamers in a pool dominated by multinationals, has opted for something completely different with the gritty and uncompromising six-part Critical Incident. Set in Sydneys tense west, it offers a darker view of the city than the one seen from the golden, tourist-magnet sands of Bondi. Created by Sarah Bassiuoni, a lawyer steering her first series, it opens by seamlessly setting the scene, introducing the Blacktown police station and its literal poster boy, senior constable Zilficar Zil Ahmed (Akshay Khanna), a celebrated face of the force. Akshay Khanna stars as Senior Constable Zilficar Zil Ahmed in Critical Incident. Credit: Stan The shocking accident of the title occurs in the opening episode during a police pursuit, and unwise decisions rapidly accumulate to trap characters in what feels like a vice-like grip. This tough and troubled setting is no paradise. Advertisement Eating outSandwich watch The $2 optional extra that makes this anchovy sandwich worth crossing town for Collingwood focaccia bar The Continental has created the ultimate tapas-packed sandwich, given extra crunch with the optional (but not really optional) addition of potato crisps. Tomas Telegramma September 19, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share As featured in the October hit list. See all stories . Given the origins of focaccia, there are no prizes for guessing why the sandwich shops fluffing up Melbournes focaccia scene are putting Italian fillings front and centre. But while six-month-old Collingwood focaccia bar The Continental by the same team as next-door bar Gum definitely has a bit of la dolce vita about it, Spain is the main game. That was our whole point of difference, says co-owner Miles Brooks. The addition of crisps makes the white anchovy sandwich a fun play on fishnchips. Simon Schluter In a refurbed Turkish kebab shop on Johnston Street, the mostly made-to-order sangers star Spanish imports such as jamon and manchego. And, most excitingly for Sandwich watch (a column dedicated to the essential sandwiches you need to know about), Melbournes favourite fish in a white anchovy focaccia that strays from the pack. Its essentially a tapas sandwich Advertisement Every element required for a good tapas bar order is ticked off in this creation except the ice-cold pint of Estrella. Theres something carby (a wad of focaccia from Brunswick bakery Iris), something fishy (marinated white anchovy fillets), something cheesy (a liberal dollop of whipped ricotta), something briny (capers), something fresh (red onion and herbaceous verde sauce) and something leafy (a pile of rocket). A tradie hotspot makes one of Melbournes top chicken schnitzel sangers But its all about the optional add-on (which, lets face it, isnt actually optional) The above ingredients make for an enviable lunch. But theres one thing missing: an almighty crunch. So, in what Brooks calls a fun play on fishnchips, you can add a handful of crisps to your sandwich for an extra $2. And what a difference it makes. Usually, its Spanish brand Bonilla a la Vista (those chips in a tin). But the day Sandwich watch visits, its the even crisper, even more delicious Chappys sea salt chips, kettle-cooked in Melbourne. Brooks says you can request them specifically and you should. Hearing the golden-brown wish chips shatter as you smoosh the gapingly full sanger down to a size you can get your gob around is but a sign of the crunch time to come. Advertisement The secret to its irresistible crunch? Kettle-cooked sea salt chips. Simon Schluter And how about that verde sauce? Its a mix between pesto and chimichurri, says Brooks. And because we want to be zero-waste as much as possible, we use yesterdays bread as a thickener, instead of pine nuts. A vibrant vegan feature on a number of The Continentals sandwiches, its a whiz-up of basil and parsley galore with a glug of red wine vinegar and a gentle hit of chilli and garlic. In other words: a superb bedfellow for the white anchovies, which have a lighter, brighter flavour profile than their umami-bomb tinned counterparts. How do I get one? Advertisement The white anchovy focaccia ($20 with crisps, $18 without) is available to dine in or take away at The Continental, 171 Johnston Street, Collingwood, from 10am to 3pm Tuesday to Saturday. You can order online for pickup or local delivery. This is the latest instalment of Sandwich Watch, a column dedicated to the Melbourne sandwiches you need to know about. If theres a sandwich youre dying to tell us about, please get in touch here: Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Following the biggest reforms in 30 years, aged care and who pays for it will be redefined in once in a generation changes to take effect next year. The fundamental difference is that the government will pay for aged care for everyone, regardless of means but those receiving care will have to fork out more for services defined as non-care, such as help with medications, showering and dressing, shopping and preparing meals. Under the new rules, care is strictly defined as clinical care such as that provided by a nurse or therapist. This narrow definition means the list of non-care services becomes extensive. Most aged care services are delivered at home. Credit: Mario Borg Heres what you need to know about the new aged care rules. A stadium-sized asteroid and another the size of a skyscraper that rocketed by Earth in the past 24 hours have been branded potentially hazardous objects by NASA, ahead of another cosmic event next week that will see Earth gain a second moon. The flurry of cosmic activity comes as Australian researchers unveil evidence gleaned from ancient craters suggesting Earth was once encircled by a Saturn-style ring. An animation of the 35,000 known near-Earth objects. There are at least 50 asteroids larger than a kilometre and 14,000 smaller unknown asteroids still to be discovered and tracked, NASA estimates. Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab dubs any asteroid larger than 150 metres, which is big enough to destroy a city, a potentially hazardous object if it passes within 7.5 million kilometres of the Earth, equivalent to about 20 times the distance between our planet and the moon. There was no chance of a strike from the two asteroids this week, but Juan Luis Cano from the European Space Agency said the fact the stadium-sized asteroid, 2024 ON, was only discovered in July and zipped relatively close to Earth on Tuesday had important implications for ongoing research into planetary defence. A man is in custody following a house fire in northwest Victoria, where a mans body was found on Wednesday afternoon. Emergency services were called to a house on Domaille Crescent in Swan Hill about 5.40pm after reports of a fire. A mans body has been found following a house fire in Swan Hill this afternoon. A Victoria Police spokesperson said officers searched the property after the fire was extinguished and found a mans body. At this stage, the fire is being treated as suspicious and another man, who is believed to have been at the property at the time, has been taken into custody, the statement said. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size This story is part of the September 21 edition of Good Weekend. See all 15 stories . When our daughter was a non-sleeping newborn, we used to make a pilgrimage each morning just before dawn. She was born in midwinter, so it was still dark as we left the house, but after a few minutes of walking, a yellow glow would appear: the light from the bakery at the top of the hill. Looking back, I still remember the way that glow, each day, would pierce my fog of sleep-deprived despair. It was the light of sanity and life and comfort after the endless dark of the night before. It was the light of human kindness and returning hope. It was the light of croissants. Because of this, I suspect Im slightly susceptible to bakeries. I have a tendency to ascribe magical and, frankly, unrealistic properties to them. Even so, theres something pretty terrific about Flour and Stone at five in the morning. It has the requisite golden gleam, like a lantern in a forest, a beacon on a storm-tossed sea you get the idea. Amid the tall, dark buildings of Sydneys Woolloomooloo, it looks small and warm and comforting. Inside, the thing that hits you is the smell. Smell is the wrong word. Fragrance? Aroma? Elixir? Its viscous enough to be liquid, as if the air is undergoing a state-change, from gas to some concoction of treacle, vanilla and browned butter so rich you need to swallow in order to breathe. Imagine plunging your whole face up to your ears into your favourite cake while its still warm from the oven. Thats what it smells like. The Flour and Stone shop frontages there are two, the Pantry and the Annex, 20 metres apart both have kitchens attached. Neither has windows, and despite their industrial ovens and stainless steel benches, they feel like subterranean refuges: Moles home in Wind in the Willows, just down the road from Bilbos Bag End. This morning, the Annex is bursting with various forms of freshly cooked, un-iced cakes. Theyre sitting in rows on benches, layered in tiers on trolleys, rising with the light behind them in ovens. All of them are brown not dull brown, but shades of shiny conker brown, glossy as a ponys flank. Around them are piles of silvery cake tins, trays of golden butter and great bowls of creamy uncooked cake mix. Behind the scenes at Flour and Stone. I didnt enjoy [owning it] for the longest time, Ingram says. Because I was really trying to drive the business to be successful Then your heart becomes engaged. Credit: James Brickwood Several figures in black are moving around the kitchen, and in the midst of them is a small woman in brown brown linen smock, brown knitted elf beanie wielding a large serrated knife. This is Nadine Ingram, founder of Flour and Stone, illustrious mythmaker of cakes (or maker of myth-cakes, or both), and lifelong dreamer of the baking dream. Advertisement Nadine Ingram is an intensely romantic person. This romance finds its most famous expression in her cakes, so its not surprising that her long-awaited, luxuriously produced new baking book conjures wolves and goddesses and fables from the sea. My cake for the siren Parthenope has a wreath of sour cherries for immortality, she writes in Love Crumbs, published next month. She can still be seen running along the sand and watching over Naples from the stars. For a Flour and Stone novice, its easy to be suspicious of such flights of food-related fancy. How much mythology can you really cram into a cake, after all even a sour-cherry, Valrhona Manjuri chocolate cake? A fair bit, as it turns out. Ingrams cakes are ridiculous: the sorts of creations a wild-eyed, Michelin-trained sorceress trapped in a gothic fairytale might make. The display counters of Flour and Stone are loaded with wrinkled, raspberry-studded chocolate and buttermilk cakes, pressed up against shaggy, panna cotta-soaked lamingtons, crowded next to bobbly walnutted carrot cakes, jostling in among drifts of creamy lemon meringue. Every single thing looks like something a cloaked figure on a blasted heath at midnight might offer you in exchange for your immortal soul which could explain the fact that most of the people standing at the counter look like spirits in torment, agonised by the necessity of choosing between the prim, gingham-aproned perfection of the lemon drizzle cake, and the blowsy come-hither sinfulness of the pear tatin. (They resolve this agony, almost inevitably, by ordering both.) Its felt like cutting off my arm, Ingram says of trying to spend more time out of the kitchen. Credit: James Brickwood The fame of Flour and Stone is based on this romance: on the idea that, as Ingram writes, the intentions of the baker become infused into the cake through all the mixing and folding, our emotions find their way into the crumbs. These days, Flour and Stone is synonymous among foodies everywhere for a certain kind of generous, home-made deliciousness. A Nadine Ingram cake is recognisable in a line-up of patisserie produce precisely because it doesnt look like it was produced by a patissiere: the meringue is too extravagant, the chocolate shavings too luxuriant, the sponge too pillowy and wonky and buttery. Professional chefs buy each other Flour and Stone cakes; so do midlife CWA blue-ribbon winners; so do 18-year-olds with 18-inch waists. So do international celebrities: Nigella Lawson rhapsodises frequently about Ingrams exquisite baking. I love absolutely everything @nadineingram does, she posted last year. Nadine is still the first one to be scrubbing the back dock or washing the dishes. Ingrams longest-serving employee, Samantha Denmark In person, the creator of all this sweet-treat transcendence could be a character from her own fairytale: flyaway hair, unlined skin, apple cheeks. But Nadine Ingram, 51, comes from coal-mining country near Newcastle in NSW, where fairies are thin on the ground (though it might be good gnome territory), and her first seven years were spent living at a truck stop halfway between Putty and Singleton owned by her maternal grandparents. Her parents worked the petrol bowsers, she explains, and on my birth certificate, it actually has pump attendant for Mum and Dads professions. She laughs. I mean, what would people imagine that even was? Some aerobics exercise, maybe? Ingrams own vocation has led her far from these origins though she has a kind of pragmatism and lack of pretension that feels more gnome than fairy, and perhaps its the combination that has made her successful. For day after day, year after year, shes been willing to do the back-breaking work of building effervescent edible dreams: meditating on the magic of scones while hauling bags of flour out of the loading dock; channelling the goddess Athena while cleaning out the cold storage and scouring 20-litre jam pans. Shes worked so hard, says her longest-serving employee and friend Samantha Denmark, the illustrator whose beautiful botanical pictures feature in Love Crumbs, and who began icing gingerbread biscuits in Ingrams first business, Cookie Couture, 16 years ago. Nadine is still the first one to be scrubbing the back dock or washing the dishes. Advertisement Flour and Stones extravagant meringues and carrot cake. Credit: James Brickwood But now, things are changing. For the past few years, Nadine Ingram has been trying to move herself off her own roster and out of her own kitchen. It has felt necessary, she says, but it has not felt easy. Basically, its been like cutting off my arm. Since Flour and Stone made her famous, Nadine Ingram has done lots of podcasts and TED Talks and cooking classes. My favourite video is one in which she demonstrates the cooking of three cakes in just over an hour, encouraged by her friend and publisher, Julie Gibbs. In this video, you can see Ingram working hard to get everything done; theres a lot of heres one I baked earlier substitutions of sponge and pastry cream and compote. But there are some things she clearly cant skim over, whatever the time pressures. She spends several minutes, for instance, explaining in detail how to combine butter, sugar and eggs: how the butter and eggs must be truly room-temperature to prevent curdling (which would make a heavy cake, interjects Gibbs in tones of doom. Yes, yes it will! says Ingram). As she ices lemon drizzle cakes in the Annex kitchen at 5.30am, you can see this perfectionism in action. Ingram stands square to the bench, shoulders back. She taps each cake out of its tin, flips it onto a cake board, wipes the bench for crumbs. She slices away the uneven top surface, feeling the level with the flat of her left hand. She lifts off the waste crumb with the knife, flips the cake onto a second board, brushes it off, and sets it down with its bottom side up. Then she pours a thick blob of drizzle icing, loosened with lemon juice, onto the cakes centre, massaging it towards the edges with a spoon she keeps specifically for this purpose because it has the right angle and weight in the hand. Gently, the icing slides over the edges and down the sides of the cake in delicate tears. I know from bitter experience how hard it is to achieve these tears, instead of (my signature look) heavy globs that smother your cake and puddle on the plate beneath. But Ingram does it swiftly, almost unconsciously, with a kind of easy mastery. The whole process takes about three minutes. Advertisement This kind of technique, of course, is the result of her training, and more than three decades on the job. She comes from a world of classically trained chefs, working in Michelin-starred restaurants, in which perfectionism is often indistinguishable from fanaticism. Having done her apprenticeship in the Hunter Valley (at Kirkton Park under chef Susan Tulloch, the first female sous chef at Londons Savoy), she moved to England at 19, and worked for Michel Roux jnr at the two-Michelin-starred Le Gavroche. (It was later awarded three stars.) Her station was suitably Dickensian: down in the basement of the Georgian building, with pheasants hanging over the chopping block and chestnuts roasting in the winter dark. My ego got away from me early on because of the models of the chefs (with whom I trained) I thought yelling was how you got results. But I realised I was losing staff. Nadine Ingram On my very first day at Gavroche, they gave me this huge tub of onions to brunoise, she recalls. (Brunoise is French for fine dice: a classic brunoise involves cubing vegetables into 1mm3mm squares.) My knife skills were so bad that my brunoise was a disaster, and at the end of the day they were just looking at it, and they were like, Did you actually apply for a position in the pastry section? So I straightaway said, Yes! Because they would have sacked me otherwise, and I was desperate not to go home. And so I became a pastry chef. She would be in England for six of the next 10 years, working at Le Caprice, The Ivy, and Lindsay House. It was a thrilling time, but also traumatic. Fresh from her modest rural background, she was suddenly encountering the full glamour of international haute cuisine. But just as she was falling in love with European culinary tradition (and falling in love, full stop: she knew she was destined to be with now-husband and fellow chef Jonathan Ingram after a single shared glance over a pan of artichokes), she was also discovering that this glamour had a dark side: a poisonous professional culture in which being belittled and abused was par for the course. Flour and Stones lemon drizzle cake. Credit: James Brickwood In old interviews with Ingram, that abuse looms large. But actually, Ive changed the way I look at those years now, she explains after shes finished the lemon drizzle cakes and were eating breakfast in the cafe, sharing a piece of leek and gruyere tart so delicious that every time I take a mouthful, I momentarily lose track of the conversation. Part of the storyline of Flour and Stone which I stopped talking about because I dont feel like its me any more is how my ego got away from me early on because of the models of the chefs that I worked with over those years. I thought yelling was how you got results. But some years ago, I realised I was losing staff because I was being a dick. She takes a bite of tart. It was terrible; I knew I had to do something. I think you can tell a story in various different ways, she says after a moment. And for a long time, I told the story of London being so hard, and how it impacted me. I often think about when I worked at Lindsay House in Soho. Richard [Corrigan, the head chef] was a tyrant. She shakes her head. But I loved that place. And I learnt from Richard how to only put on the plate something that belongs there which helps me think about what Im putting in a cake: does it really belong? Advertisement And while I was reflecting on that, a friend said to me: What is the purpose of this whole [Flour and Stone] thing? What do you love, what do you want to pass on? Id thought the purpose was just executing my clever recipes, and showcasing all these things that Id learned. Id forgotten that theres this whole community around me that I wanted to nurture and be part of. Not just the community out there she gestures out of the cafe window but in here as well. She looks down at her plate. I think I have a high level of self-awareness. And I could see what my attitude was doing to people around me. So I decided that building that community, and our connection with each other thats what I find really satisfying. Loading One of Ingrams enduring characteristics, says Sam Denmark, is that shes always trying to improve: herself, her business, her life. She always wants to do something new, something fresh. And she doesnt let anything stand in her way. She just decides, Well, Im going to do this. And she does it. And so Ingram decided to become a better boss. She changed the way she interacted with staff so much so that today, she does not criticise anyone in the kitchen, ever. Instead, she takes any issue to her managers, and lets them handle it. She also runs in-house projects like the bakerys spring carnival, where staff are encouraged to bake their own recipes to sell in the cafe. This initiative, it must be said, while thrilling for young pastry chefs, drives Ingrams husband Jonathan to something near despair. The pair married in 1997 and Jonathan gave up his own career as head chef at the Verandah restaurant in Sydney to look after their daughters Poppy, now 22, and Ruby, 18, (after whom Flo(we)r and Stone is named) and become the Swiss Army knife of Flour and Stone. He really is a saint, says Ingram. He supported me through Cookie Couture, which never made any money, then he turned round and supported me again with Flour and Stone. Jonathan does the ordering for the bakery, and he explains that Nadine never thinks about the price of anything. If one of her staff wants to use fennel pollen in their recipe, shes like, Go for it! Fennel pollen is $12.50 for three grams. If you sneeze, you lose it all. With husband and fellow chef, Jonathan, and daughters Poppy (centre) and Ruby. Credit: Courtesy of Nadine Ingram In pursuit of greater kitchen harmony, Ingram has even made all her 30-odd staff sit the Myers Briggs personality test the results of which are pinned up in the Annex to help everyone understand each other. Almost all of us are Feeling rather than Thinking, she says. And Introverted rather than Extroverted. Lots of introverts in pastry. Advertisement At my sons year 12 graduation dinner back in 2017, I was seated with him, my ex-husband and a group of parents Id never met. It was a long, awkward evening of making polite conversation, avoiding eye contact with my ex, and glancing repeatedly at my watch wishing both hands would accelerate. I recalled that evening when I read of the new rules for Sydneys Catholic archdiocese, banning students from bringing dates to their year 12 formals and more alarmingly banning alcohol for parents at all school functions. These include graduation dinners, year 12 formals and end-of-school celebrations for year 6. An A+ in 3-unit sobriety. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Im not a big drinker but if there was ever a need for alcohol its at year 12 graduation dinners, particularly for us divorced parents who want to be there for the kids we made together but would rather see when apart. There was wine on the table at my sons graduation, and that wine helped me get through the night. I dont believe in a ban on alcohol for parents, at graduation dinners, or at formals, although Im not sure why parents would even be at a formal in the first place. Formals are celebrations for the kids, who get to dress up and party after the horrors of the HSC (a torment I still dream about, nearly 40 years later). We parents are rightly invited to the pres a gathering generally at the home of one of the braver parents, in which we can check out the kids, marvel at how theyve grown, and mutter about time moving fast. Warning: Graphic content A woman might have briefly thought she was safe as she hid in a bathroom from her jealous boyfriend before he tore holes through the door and murdered her, motivated by an ill-founded belief that by serving customers in a restaurant she was being unfaithful, a judge has said. Manthana Nancy Khantharat, 37, was killed by her boyfriend Natthawut Nook Tammajanta as a result of a sustained assault in their Shellharbour townhouse on the night of December 18, 2022. Natthawut Tammajanta beat down the bathroom door to continue his fatal assault. Crime scene photographs, obtained by the Herald, show the destruction Tammajanta left behind as he assaulted Khantharat across both floors of the home, including beating holes through an upstairs bathroom door while she hid inside. The number of Australians with student loans exceeding $100,000 has more than doubled in just five years as the countrys outstanding debts soar beyond $81 billion. The latest data from the Australian Tax Office reveals almost 57,000 Australians have higher education loan program (HELP) debts of more than $100,000 compared to 22,514 in 2018-19. It is also becoming increasingly common for students to amass debts of more than $50,000. Five years ago just 7 per cent of student debts were above $50,000 compared to 14 per cent last financial year. Labor has faced political pressure from independents and the Greens to unwind Morrison government Job-ready Graduates reforms, which have seen the cost of arts degrees soar to above $50,000, and address unmanageable student debts. A magistrate will determine whether a diabetic driver will face trial for the deaths of five people as the defence calls for the case to be dismissed because the 66-year-old was suffering from a medical episode when the crash occurred. William Swale faced Ballarat Magistrates Court for the third day on Wednesday flanked by his family and seated metres from the relatives of those who were killed while dining outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel, in regional Victoria, on November 5. William Swale outside court. Credit: Justin McManus. In calling for the case to be discharged, defence barrister Dermot Dann, KC, said the prosecution had failed to establish that his clients actions were conscious, deliberate and voluntary when he careered down a hill in Daylesford and into a crowd of pub patrons. Dann said there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction against Swale for all charges, including five counts of culpable driving and seven of reckless conduct endangering life. Two expert witnesses earlier told the court that at the time of the crash, 6.07pm, the 66-year-old was in the grip of a severe hypoglycaemic episode. A trailer for the upcoming science fiction film Mickey 17, directed by South Korean Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho, has been shown online. The film, starring English actor Robert Pattinson, is based on the novel of the same name by Edward Ashton. ADVERTISIMENT Work on the project began in 2022, and viewers will be able to see the film on world screens in January 2025. The trailer was published on the YouTube channel of Warner Bros, the company that produces the thriller. In 5 hours after its publication, the video gained more than 2 million views. The protagonist of the film, Mickey Barnes, is a "recovering employee" of a space expedition that aims to colonize the icy planet Niflheim. The man, played by Robert Pattinson, is sent on the most dangerous expeditions, which result in his death every time. After Barnes' death, his physical body is destroyed, and his mind is rebooted into a new one, retaining all his memories. ADVERTISIMENT After multiple reincarnations, the hero begins to ask himself questions: "Does he remain the same person he was at first? Or does he die and get reborn as a slightly different person each time?" Mickey Barnes finds the answer to his thoughts when, after one of his missions, he loses contact with the base and realizes that he has been replaced by an identical replacement. Director Bong Joon-ho, 55, said that he invited Robert Pattinson to become the lead actor of his new film because he liked the "crazy in his eyes." In addition to the British actor, the star team also included: Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, and Naomi Ackie. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Wilderness on Dodds The moat of the Arts Centre had wonderful large, colourful sculptures in it for many years. However, when they were removed, the elegant, simple facade of the building regained its place in St Kilda Road. Maybe Dodds Street could make its mark with locals and tourists by the creation of a beautiful, peaceful Australian wilderness garden rather than by shouty, intrusive sculptures. Heather Barker, Albert Park Stand with the ICJ Australia says it supports a rules-based system for international relations and the critical role the International Court of Justice has in upholding international law (Australia seeks changes as UN motion on Gaza withdrawal looms, 18/9). The ICJ was clear Israel must immediately halt its attacks on Palestinian civilians. It ruled Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and must come to an end as rapidly as possible and that Israel must pay reparations to those affected by its illegal actions. Israel has refused to abide by these decisions. The ICJ ruling also said that no state should do anything to assist either in the occupation or actions that may amount to genocide taking place in Gaza. The only way to do this is to apply sanctions just as we have done with Russia and with Myanmar. The argument that nothing should be done and the situation be left to negotiations was explicitly refuted by the ICJ. The Australian government should not be working in the background to water down this resolution but must stand up and demand Israel abide by international law and back a resolution that fully supports the ICJ and the Palestinians right to freedom and equality. Bruce Francis, Brunswick Act of terrorism Devices made to explode on a centrally controlled signal, sold randomly or made available to unsuspecting people, and which explode killing many and injuring thousands, is the very definition of terrorism. What could be more terrifying for any society. If, as all the evidence points to, this has been done by Israel, then Israel strands condemned as a terrorist state. Australia and the UN must act accordingly. No weasel words from apologists will be acceptable. Paul Kennelly, Caulfield North Staying behind the wheel Your correspondent (Letters, 18/9) suggests that older drivers should consider giving up their independence on the grounds that it would be cheaper to use taxis, Ubers and public transport than their own vehicle. This conversation is worth having, and Ive had it with my mother, who is now in her 90s. But there are several obstacles, quite apart from the natural reluctance to hand over the keys and the car and be stuck at home. Convenience, peace of mind and flexibility are three such problems. Taxis and Ubers need to be ordered for a given time and ahead of time, and the cost blows out massively if plans change midstream. There is also little public transport in country towns buses only in Mildura and my mother does not live on or near an existing route. She also travels out of town to attend events, to visit relatives and friends, or (shock horror) just for fun. It would be cheaper for her to give up driving if she only needed to leave home to do the shopping or attend an appointment once a week, but unfortunately or rather, fortunately this is far from the case at the present time. Lindsay Zoch, Mildura Is there a plan B? With a $2 million kangaroo sculpture commissioned by the City of Melbourne morphing into a massively extensive, and expensive, public artwork sculpture installation costing a staggering $22 million and a mad scramble to pay for it Melbourne City Council has a desperate four-stage contingency plan to extract money from the citys wealthiest philanthropists. However, what if it doesnt work? Is there a plan B? Coincidentally, City of Melbourne elections loom, and Lord Mayor Nick Reece has announced plans to sell the councils share of Regent Theatre to fund arts projects, which is estimated at between $20 million and $25 million. But what of funding for other arts projects Reece has mentioned or for providing some relief for the homeless of Melbourne? Perhaps theres something else that could be sold off? Deborah Morrison, Malvern East We put the industry on notice. Victorian construction workers are some of the most productive and most efficient construction workers anywhere in the world. Loading If you want to f--- with us, we will f--- with you. Any stoppage would put further pressure on the raft of major projects being rolled out by the state government, many of which are already over budget, including Melbourne Metro Tunnel, the North East Link and the increasingly costly Suburban Rail Loop. A Victorian government spokesperson said industrial relations were a matter for its project partners, but it would work with them to understand any impacts. We support the strong actions the Federal Government is taking to stamp out corruption within the CFMEU, they said late Wednesday. We are taking steps to stamp out rotten culture in construction in Victoria with our independent review and new laws to remove bikies from construction sites. Gray also took umbrage with references in this mastheads reporting to the presence of organised crime figures and known bikies within the CFMEU, sometimes as delegates on worksites, saying the 12 bikies kicked out of the union represented a fraction of the total membership. We in this union believe in second chances. And if you have tattoos on your face you probably cant work in real estate, Gray said. He also said to cheers that there has been no better union official than John Setka, who resigned from his position as the head of the CFMEU on the eve of the Building Bad investigation being published. Workplace Minister Murray Watt who was delivering an address at the National Press Club in Canberra during the protest was surprised to hear about the potential 72-hour stoppage, saying it was the first he had heard of it. Workers have got rights to take protected action under our legislation, and its a matter for Mr Gray how he chooses to describe those kind of things, he said. And I feel that the role that Ive got in this is ensuring that workers continue to get paid fairly, that we have safe workplaces for construction workers to go to, that employers can negotiate without fears of violence and intimidation, that workers and unions can negotiate free of fear of union of violence and intimidation. Master Builders Victoria chief executive Michaela Lihou said the organisation was disappointed with the rally. Any workers who walked off construction sites to attend todays rally took part in unlawful industrial action, she said. Further industrial action through strikes or rallies is a lose-lose scenario. It means workers dont get paid and it also means that projects that benefit Victorians are further delayed and cost even more. Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said Victoria was in danger of becoming the protest state. Whilst we recognise the right to protest, its now having a marked impact on CBD business viability and our reputation, he said. A key focus for the rally were new laws to allow for the federal government to appoint an administrator to a union following the Building Bad joint investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes. Building Bad detailed allegations of corruption, intimidation and criminal infiltration involving the construction union and building sites across the country, including government projects. Officials from the CFMEU, the ETU, and the AMWU said there were increasing concerns that employers were hoping the administration will lead to weaker pay. AMWU Victoria secretary Tony Mavromatis was one of those to share those concerns, despite his unions apparent support of the ACTUs backing of the administration, telling the crowd he had been overseas for the past five weeks and had been biting his tongue until his return. Jasmine, a CFMEU member, spoke about her concerns about the cost of living and the need for strong pay deals. Credit: Justin McManus Weve got good memories. Today you touch the CFMEU with these dirty laws, tomorrow another union. Repeal these laws. The unions do not need administrators. We had problems before and weve fixed them before. Get the f--- out of our way and let us do it. One protester, who did not identify, himself blamed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the problems the union was facing. Albo needs to go, and he needs to go fast, he told this masthead. Loading Another worker, only identified as Jasmine, spoke at the rally to share her concerns about the potential unravelling of pay deals. Its the ability to send our kids to better schools, give us the peace of mind to know that were going to be able to feed our families, pay our rent and pay our mortgages, she said. Victorian shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell said that the union leadership in Victoria didnt care about the impact of illegal industrial action on Victorian taxpayers. The Victorian government must explore every avenue available to stop this illegal action. If they dont, they are complicit, he said. This story is part of the September 21 edition of Good Weekend. Miner Dean ODonnell, 44, spent eight years in jail for drug-trafficking after a raid on his home in Hervey Bay. When he was released in February, his ex-fiancee, Miss Australia winner and counsellor Felicia Djamirze, 36, was waiting. Felicia Djamirze and Dean ODonnell. It broke my heart to know shed been hurt, says ODonnell. I felt completely helpless. Credit: Paul Harris Dean: I started dealing weed when I was 13. Dad was in prison, and my mum and her new partner were heroin addicts. Six kids. Dealing was the fastest way to make money. Felicia and I were friends for a year before we became lovers [in 2014]. When youre friends, you find out what a persons really like. It costs you nothing to judge a person when theyre your friend; it costs you your heart once youre lovers. I never expected to be raided; I was naive. The police launched a couple of hand grenades through our bedroom window as we slept. One of them blew up in Felicias face. I try not to think about it; I dont want to carry any anger. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has expressed regret that Australia was unable to vote for a United Nations resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza within a year, saying the nations diplomats had tried and failed to redraft the motion to make it less contentious. Australias ambassador to the United Nations insisted that, despite the countrys abstention, it was only a matter of time until Australia recognised a Palestinian state. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia was disappointed it could not secure amendments to the resolution. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The non-binding motion, which also called for Israel to make reparations to Palestinians for damages incurred by the occupation, passed the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly on Wednesday, with 124 nations voting in favour and 14 voting against. Forty-three nations abstained from the vote after a push by Australia and other countries failed to convince the Palestinian Authority to water down its motion, intended to force Israel to comply with International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion in July that found its occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank was illegal. When he made his way back to Brisbane, Moffatt talked his way into a producers job at a recording studio run by Bruce Window in West End, on the south side of the Brisbane River. The core business there was cutting commercial jingles, with nary a band to be seen. But one Tuesday afternoon a drummer and bass player turned up in their transit van and said, Wed like to make a record. When their guitarist plugged in, Moffatt decided that his amplifier wasnt up to the task (too clean). So he loaned Ed Kuepper his Fender Super 10, which he turned up to 10. The 16-track studio had a concrete hallway, which made the recording sound even angrier and louder. The Saints blasted away, with Moffatt deftly capturing vocalist Chris Baileys sneer and guitarist Kueppers layers of distortion. Today the gritty and urgent (Im) Stranded by the Saints, released on their own Fatal Records imprint, has become this seminal record thats in the National Film and Sound Archives Sounds of Australia registry, Moffatt gently boasted. Certainly, he was the right man, in the right place at the right time. Id seen the New York Dolls and Id been around the early British pub rock scene with Ducks Deluxe and Brinsley Schwarz. It all made sense to me, which is why I didnt dismiss these guys as just a bunch of noise. A copy found its way to England, where rock publication Sounds declared it the single of this and every week. You like Quo or the Ramones? the reviewer asked. This pounds them into the dirt. Hear it once, and youll never forget it. As one chronicler has said, it captured a moment when Australia was in the vanguard of a style and attitude which changed the face of popular music. Kuepper would note: The Saints were lucky that Mark Moffatt was in the producers chair that night and not some drone. It just keeps coming up, it never seems to go away, said Moffatt, which is interesting because its one of those things that wasnt planned or thought through in any way. It just happened one night. Im really thankful that I had one of those in my life. The stars aligned, and Im glad it was in Brisbane. The whole two-hour session cost $170. After the success of The Saints, EMI asked Moffatt if hed go to Melbourne to produce the outlaw country band Saltbush. He landed at TCS Studios, where manager Barry Coburn offered him a job. One track, Fiddle Man, stayed in his mind. He would later take Slim Dusty into the studio to make his first and only dance track. After a stint at TCS, Moffatt was fired for working on his own projects out of hours and moved to Sydney, where he became Festival Records in-house producer and also worked on some of the biggest Australian records of the era. It all really started with what would become his first platinum album, Chemistry by Mondo Rock, and included pivotal albums by Tim Finn, Jenny Morris, Swanee, Stephen Cummings, Neil Murray, Shane Howard, Anne Kirkpatrick, Mental As Anything, and Keith Urban and The Ranch. His ears were always attuned to the demands of radio and the hits just rolled. He produced Bop Girl for Pat Wilson, Rosss wife, which reached No.2. The group Split Enz was not unfamiliar with hit singles, but when founder Tim Finn opted to record a solo album, Escapade, Moffatt said: I felt a bit of antipathy from the rest of the Enz. I think they felt it broke the band up. But it was a very inspiring and stimulating time for Tim. There was stuff happening. Of the 15 songs recorded, Fraction Too Much Friction and Made My Day soared up the charts. The Monitors: Mark Moffatt, Ricky Fataar (middle) and Terry McCarthy in 1982. Credit: Festival Records By this time, Moffatt had teamed up with South African drummer Ricky Fataar from the Beach Boys and The Rutles, in a writing and production partnership. He also joined The Monitors, a studio group Moffatt had cooked up with advertising professional Terry McCarthy. It was a Buggles-type outfit that had impressed radio with a couple of irresistible pop creations, Nobody Told Me and Singin In The 80s. Punk, blues, seamless adult pop, techno, troubadour, power-pop and all blends of country and roots were all within Moffatts grasp. There werent many idioms left but a couple remained. As a producer, I always had ideas, he once explained. In 1994 I decided to do a techno-yodelling track with Australias internationally famous yodeller Mary Schneider. Schneider recalls: He asked me to write a yodelling number and my daughter, Melinda, and I wrote a rap called Tighten Up Your Pants, which Moffatt released under the name Audio Murphy. She was about 18 years old and it was her first time on the charts. Moffatt formed a close relationship with Roland, the Japanese company that made synthesisers and instruments. They took him to Hamamatsu, where he assisted with research. After leaving Festival, Moffat set up The Vault, his own 24-track studio in Balmain. Mark Moffatt with country vocalist Anne Kirkpatrick, the daughter of Slim Dusty and songwriter Joy McKean, in 1990. Credit: Fairfax The stars aligned a second time. When Yothu Yindi leader Mandawuy Yunupingu heard Shane Howards album River he decided that he wanted the guy who produced that record. Midnight Oils Jim Moginie, one of the players on those sessions, has said: He was always an incredibly supportive person who taught me the important art of being selfless. As Moffatt would explain: This was life-changing, really. I spent time with the band and learnt their tribal beliefs. The didgeridoo player, Milkay Mununggurr, was unbelievable. He was the master. Yothu Yindi performing in 2008. Treaty raced up the charts and rewrote the rules of Australian rock. They even appeared on Countdown. I remember I was with the band at Tullamarine airport and these white schoolkids came running up to these Aboriginal guys to ask for their autographs. That was a very special moment, Moffatt said. When Moffatt decided to move base to Nashville in 1996, it was initially to do with songwriting. As a writer, he had apart from his Australian success two top 10 UK and European singles, and would compose scores for seven major films and TV series. He said the couple agreed Pesutto appeared willing to bully and humiliate an innocent woman to serve political purposes and that it seemed like a large-scale coordinated attack on her. Liberal senator Sarah Henderson said in her affidavit that she was shocked to be called a Nazi sympathiser on social media after her support for Deeming was reported by the ABC. In court earlier on Wednesday, Deeming faced a second day of cross-examination and was questioned about the rally on March 18 last year, which was hosted by British activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull. Matthew Collins, KC, acting for Pesutto, took Deeming through evidence that some members of the public had already been accusing her of fraternising with fascists for promoting the rally in the days beforehand. Deeming disputed the rally was anti-trans or that a group of neo-Nazis who attended performing Nazi salutes and speaking out against trans people were there to support the rallys cause. She had previously told the court she became aware of the neo-Nazis only when they were escorted away by police, and on Wednesday questioned why they had not been arrested for incitement. The court was also shown a statement from Thomas Sewell one of the neo-Nazis present that day and the self-appointed leader of the National Socialist Network claiming the group of men were acting as a vanguard for the women at the rally. On Tuesday, the court was played a 70-minute secret recording of a meeting with state Liberal leaders on the afternoon of March 19, 2023 the day after the rally in which Pesutto gave Deeming the option of resigning from the Liberals parliamentary team to avoid being expelled over her role in the event. On Wednesday, the court heard that then-premier Daniel Andrews, federal Greens leader Adam Bandt, and Labor member for the federal seat of Macnamara Josh Burns had publicly connected the womens rally to the neo-Nazis before Deeming was hauled into the meeting. Deeming could not recall if she saw these statements before the meeting, but accepted that others had connected her and the rally to the neo-Nazis before Pesutto had. She told the court being connected to neo-Nazis was terrible and would have made her furious. Loading Earlier on Wednesday, the court heard Deeming had alerted parliament that police and security had raised concerns about security threats. Collins earlier suggested Deeming must have known the rally would be divisive and that alarm bells should have been ringing for her in the days leading up to it. Knowing there were threats from counter-protesters in some way made me more determined to be brave, Deeming said in reply. She accepted she had booked the event on the steps of parliament and paid the upfront costs for security and sound. But she said she considered there was no need to keep Pesutto up to date on her role in the event because she had no reason to think he was concerned with it, the court heard. Deeming was also asked in cross-examination if she was aware that a member of far-right group the Proud Boys had previously attended and spoken at a Let Women Speak rally in Miami alongside Keen-Minshull. Deeming told the court she was not aware of this, but later accepted this was incorrect when shown her response to a social-media post pointing out the connection before the rally. The court was shown footage that appeared to show a police officer had told Deeming early in the rally that a big group of right-wing people were there. Deeming told the court she would not assume from that that neo-Nazis were there. She disagreed that Keen-Minshull was trying to stoke division at the rally by addressing counter-protesters. Collins read out outrageous things he said Keen-Minshull had said publicly. He told the court Keen-Minshull claimed trans people did not exist and were part of a dirty fetish and a cult, and that fascist is a new word for legend. He also read out comments from Keen-Minshull that he said had been publicly derided as Islamophobic, and referenced a catch cry that counter-protesters and trans rights activists had been known to shout at Keen-Minshulls rallies: You cant hide, youve got Nazis on your side. Deeming said she was not aware of this. Collins said it was reckless of Deeming to help organise the rally without checking Keen-Minshulls record, particularly as a member of parliament. Pesutto has previously settled defamation claims from Keen-Minshull and Melbourne woman Angela Jones. The Allan government is yet to convince the Commonwealth that its flagship Suburban Rail Loop East project is worth building, with its failure to submit a credible business case holding back $2.2 billion in promised federal funds. In a report published on Wednesday, national acting Auditor-General Rona Mellor said the Albanese governments funding commitment to the $34.5 billion rail line had not been formally approved, more than two years after it was included in the federal budget. Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop Danny Pearson at the Box Hill construction site in July. Credit: Penny Stephens As at June 2024, SRL East had yet to go through the formal project approval process, and the department is awaiting a project proposal report from the Victorian government, the report says. This process must occur before funding can be expended. Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has previously said Victorias request for a further $9 billion would be contingent on an assessment from federal advisory body Infrastructure Australia. Delhi: Victoria will reserve a quarter of its regional skilled work visas for international students who come to the states universities and TAFEs in a bid to lure them to our shores in the face of federal caps on placements. Premier Jacinta Allan made the commitment on Wednesday while touring a Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan school in Delhi as she ramps up her efforts to market Victorias education sector to the worlds most populous nation. Premier Jacinta Allan speaks with nuns from a local convent at an International Education and Skills Summit. Credit: Kieran Rooney Under the plan, the state government will commit to reserve at least 25 per cent of the Victorian places for the Skilled Work Regional Visa, also known as subclass 491, for graduates of local universities and TAFEs in the 2024-25 financial year. The government estimates this would offer an inside running to at least 500 visas this year for international students. The current and nine-time consecutive winner of the Skytrax Best Airport Hotel award opened in 2008 with an extension completed in 2016. It debuted a $22 million enhancement in early 2024. The money has mostly been spent where it counts in the lodgings. Twelve guest rooms have been added, to bring the total to 575. Three of these are Premium Pool Access there are now 11 in this category. The look A relocated Club Lounge features comfortable and chic furnishings and great tech. Singaporean architectural firm WOHAs original clever shot of the steamy tropics (as they put it) building design has rooms running off open (though undercover) corridors, reminiscent of Singapores pre-war flats. Inside the rooms, earlier green-dominated mid-century interiors have given way to a blue and beige, ocean-inspired aesthetic designed by Singapore-based Park + Associates. Its relaxing and cool, ideal for breaking up a long journey. There are no plans to cut off electricity in Ukraine on September 18. However, power companies have asked Ukrainians to reduce consumption during certain hours. At the same time, power facilities in 8 regions of Ukraine came under Russian shelling over the past day, leading to emergency shutdowns. ADVERTISIMENT According to Ukrenergo's statement, Ukrainians should save electricity. The fact is that electricity consumption in the country is growing. Thus, on September 18, as of 9:30 a.m., it was 2.6% higher than at the same time on Tuesday, September 17. "Please use electricity sparingly during the evening hours of maximum consumption. Do not turn on several powerful electrical appliances at the same time from 16:00 to 22:00," the statement said. The Ministry of Energy also asks to save electricity during the morning peak: from 7 to 10 am. "We call on Ukrainians to continue to consume electricity economically and responsibly, especially during peak hours - from 7:00 to 10:00 and from 18:00 to 22:00, reducing consumption fluctuations that affect the operation of the power system," the ministry said. According to the ministry, over the past day, energy infrastructure in Dnipro, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions came under enemy fire. In particular: ADVERTISIMENT In Sumy region , equipment, household and industrial consumers lost power as a result of shelling of a substation. The power supply was partially restored. During the repeated shelling of the substation, a fire broke out. It was extinguished. , equipment, household and industrial consumers lost power as a result of shelling of a substation. The power supply was partially restored. During the repeated shelling of the substation, a fire broke out. It was extinguished. In Poltava region, an overhead line was disconnected during an air raid. An inspection revealed traces of a grassroots fire caused by shelling. an overhead line was disconnected during an air raid. An inspection revealed traces of a grassroots fire caused by shelling. In Donetsk Oblast, the hostilities caused a power outage at a substation, household consumers and a mine. At the time of the incident, there were 89 workers in the mine and they were brought to the surface. The power supply has been partially restored. the hostilities caused a power outage at a substation, household consumers and a mine. At the time of the incident, there were 89 workers in the mine and they were brought to the surface. The power supply has been partially restored. In Kyiv region, substations were de-energized during an alarm, which resulted in power outages for household consumers in two regions. The power supply has been restored. ADVERTISIMENT "At night, the enemy attacked the power facility in Sumy region again. A fire broke out as a result of the UAV attack, and the State Emergency Service units were involved in the firefighting. There were no blackouts. Consumers in Sumy and Sumy district, who were left without electricity supply after the previous day's shelling, have now been supplied with power," Ukrenergo added. In addition, 6 settlements in Dnipropetrovska oblast were cut off from power supply due to adverse weather conditions. Problems with power supply also occurred due to technological disruptions: Several substations, household consumers and local industry lost power in the northern region. The power supply has been restored. In the southern regions, a high-voltage overhead line connecting the power systems of Ukraine and Moldova was disconnected for technical reasons. ADVERTISIMENT In western Ukraine, a substation, household consumers, and the railroad lost power (there were disruptions in train traffic). Power has been restored. In the northeast, several substations, household consumers and local industry lost power, while power facilities were reducing the voltage level. The power supply has been partially restored. "Over the past day, power engineers have restored power to 127,477 consumers who were cut off as a result of hostilities, weather conditions and technological disruptions. In total, 522 settlements remain partially or completely de-energized as of this morning due to hostilities and technical violations ," the Ministry of Energy calculated. ADVERTISIMENT Thanks to the efforts of power engineers, the situation in the power system remains stable, but significant damage caused by massive enemy attacks, including one of the largest attacks on the energy sector on August 26, continues to complicate the operation of the power system. In addition, Russian troops continue to shell energy infrastructure facilities on a daily basis. In total, since October 2022, Russia has carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities. This year alone, 9 GW of generating capacity was lost as a result of hostile attacks. As OBOZ.UA previously reported, a number of media outlets have spread information that Romania has allegedly refused to help Ukraine and will no longer export electricity. In fact, Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said that energy prices are higher in Eastern Europe, so it is necessary to create equal conditions and reduce the cost of electricity for his country. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Russian war criminals massively attacked Zaporizhzhia region on Tuesday evening, September 17. The occupiers' bombing of the Komyshuvakha community left two dead and five wounded, and more people are being searched for under the rubble. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration Ivan Fedorov. He also added that the invaders hit residential buildings and one infrastructure facility of the community. "Komyshuvaske community: several private houses and an infrastructure facility were destroyed. Preliminary, two people were killed and five civilians were wounded. We are searching for people under the rubble," said Fedorov. Komyshuvakha heard the explosions immediately after the air raid was announced in the region. At 9:25 p.m., Fedorov warned of the threat of guided aerial bombs in Zaporizhzhia region. Two minutes after the warning, he reported the first explosions. From 21:27 to 22:20, a series of explosions were recorded in the region. ADVERTISIMENT The alarm in the region was raised only at 23:00. In total, according to Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, the occupants struck 178 times in 12 localities over the past day. In particular, they carried out 3 air strikes on Kamianske and Pyatikhatky. 81 UAVs of various modifications attacked Magdalynivka, Yasynuvate, Huliaipole, Novoandriivka, Novodanylivka, Robotyne, Mala Tokmachka, and conducted 17 attacks with multiple rocket launchers and 76 artillery attacks. "Last night, the enemy began an unusual activation, when they started shelling the territory of Zaporizhzhia region with multiple rocket launchers. Why unusual? Because it hasn't happened in the last 4-5 months. The enemy has not fired at the frontline settlements of Zaporizhzhia region with multiple rocket launchers. The enemy fired at least 8 multiple rocket launchers at the territory of Komyshuvakha community, which is located 15-20 km from Zaporizhzhia. The enemy hit civilian infrastructure, destroyed houses and injured people. We currently have information about at least two dead and five wounded. Four of the victims refused hospitalization, one person was hospitalized and is being treated by our doctors," Fedorov said during a telethon on the morning of September 18. ADVERTISIMENT He later clarified that a man born in 1953 was hospitalized. He was diagnosed with mine-blast trauma, shrapnel wounds and rib fractures. Doctors assess his condition as moderate. The victim is being provided with all necessary assistance. Fedorov also noted that there may be people under the rubble at the site of the hit, and a search and rescue operation is underway. ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZ.UA reported earlier, on Tuesday, September 17, Russian occupation forces attacked the Kyiv district of Kharkiv and a village in the Kharkiv region with multiple rocket launchers. Seven people were injured as a result of the enemy attack, including four rescuers. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Imports of cheap second-hand cars from the US to Ukraine are reviving. Such cars are once again very popular as demand has increased. Experts have named the most popular American used cars. ADVERTISIMENT Traditionally, our motorists prefer inexpensive cars. Used models from the US are much more affordable. According to Ukravtoprom, the demand for such cars increased by 83% compared to 2023. In August 2024, Ukrainians imported 5.2 thousand used cars from the United States. 42% are equipped with gasoline engines (without electric motors, i.e. hybrids - 8%). Only 6% of diesel cars were imported. The number of electric cars is 38%. The most popular American used cars in Ukraine: Tesla Model Y - 567 units Tesla Model 3 - 547 units Ford Escape - 329 units Tesla Model S - 265 units Jeep Cherokee - 259 units Tesla is traditionally responsible for the popularity of American electric vehicles. Its models have again become in demand both in their segment and in the absolute statistics of American imports. ADVERTISIMENT In Ukraine, there are less than 14 resumes for 10 vacancies in construction. And in the hotel and restaurant business, there are generally more vacancies than resumes. There are less than 7 resumes for 10 vacancies. In fact, a third of jobs may remain unfilled. A significant problem is also observed in logistics: there are less than 8 resumes for 10 vacancies. ADVERTISIMENT This is stated in the material of OBOZ.UA. There is also a critical shortage of workers among blue-collar occupations. There are about 7 resumes for 10 vacancies. In the field of safety and security, the ratio of vacancies to resumes is 10 to 5. That is, every second vacancy may remain open. For comparison, back in 2021, before the great war, in September, there were almost 23 resumes for 10 vacancies in logistics (now there are 8). That is, then Ukrainians were competing for jobs, and now employers are forced to compete for workers. The category with the largest number of vacancies, "hotel and restaurant business, tourism," was included in the list of areas with the lowest competition. At the same time, job seekers are competing for telecommuting jobs, according to a study by Work.ua analysts. ADVERTISIMENT Most candidates arrived in the frontline regions: Kherson (+4%), Zaporizhzhia (+4%), Mykolaiv (+3%), and Odesa (+2%) regions. There was a noticeable increase in the number of job seekers in the categories of Education and Science (+7% of candidates) and Culture, Music, and Show Business (+4%), which saw the largest increase in job offers in August. The downward trend in the number of young people in the labor market began in July and continued throughout August. This is due to the end of student vacations. Statistics show that the number of workers under the age of 18 decreased by 36%. The number of job seekers aged 18 to 24 also decreased by 7%. A related trend is a 12% decrease in job seekers without experience. As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the State Employment Center published more than 266 thousand vacancies. International organizations and companies also post their vacancies on the unified portal of the government agency. Most of them offer salaries starting at UAH 50 thousand. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! PM transfers 1st installment ofMor Awas Mor Adhikar Staff Reporter RAIPUR, Rs 2,044 cr directly tranferred into bank accounts of over 5,11,000 houseless families of Chhattisgarh PRIME Minister Narendra Modi online transferred the first installment of Rs 2,044 crore directly into the bank accounts of more than 5,11,000 houseless families of Chhattisgarh to build their own permanent houses on the occasion of his birthday, on Tuesday. The Mor Awas- Mor Adhikar programme was held at the Indoor Stadium in Raipur. Prime Minister Modi virtually participated in this programme. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Assembly Speaker Dr Raman Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma were present in the programme at the Indoor Stadium. While transferring the amount of the first installment to the selected beneficiaries for housing construction, the Prime Minister congratulated the beneficiaries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that his governments primary goal has been to improve the lives of the poor and marginalised sections of society. Over the past 10 years, significant strides have been made towards this objective. In a recent event, more than 23,000 urban families received keys to their newly constructed homes, along with house completion certificates, door arches, and worship materials. During the occasion, the Chief Minister conveyed heartfelt greetings to the people of Chhattisgarh on the dual celebrations of Vishwakarma Jayanti and Prime Minister Modis birthday. Today brings double joy for the people of Chhattisgarh. It is both the Prime Ministers birthday and the day when the dream of owning a home is becoming a reality for thousands in the state. We extend our deepest gratitude to the Prime Minister. As a mark of respect, we welcomed the beneficiaries by ceremonially washing their feet, the Chief Minister said. He further highlighted that 32 million houses have been sanctioned across the country under the PM Awas Yojana, with Chhattisgarh accounting for about 30% of these homes. This is a significant achievement for the state. Since taking office, our government has approved 1.8 million houses under this scheme, he added. The Chief Minister reaffirmed his governments unwavering commitment to the successful implementation of the PM Awas Yojana, warning that any negligence or irregularities would not be tolerated. If even a single rupee of irregularity is detected, strict action will be taken against the district collector, he stated. Additionally, a cleanliness pledge was administered during the event. The Chief Minister urged the public to prioritize cleanliness not only in their homes but also in their surroundings, including schools, hospitals, and public spaces. Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Speaker Dr. Raman Singh remarked that this day marks a historic moment for the state. A new light will shine in the lives of the homeless in Chhattisgarh. The state government has fulfilled its promise, making this a significant step towards social justice and harmony. Over the past decade, the Central government has transformed the lives of the poor by constructing 4 crore homes, he said. Along with this, 3 crore new houses have been approved in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, due to which this scheme is becoming more effective, said Dr Raman Singh. In his address, Deputy Chief Minister and Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Vijay Sharma said that the State government is fulfilling one more Modi Ki Guarantee on the occasion. Chief Minister Sai also released the technical guide on the PM Awas Yojana and launched the GRIHA portal. The Chief Minister said that this portal will be helpful in making the housing scheme more effective and the beneficiaries will be able to complete the construction of their houses without any difficulty.Chief Minister Sai and Assembly Speaker Dr Raman Singh also had lunch with the beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana. Food Minister Dayaldas Baghel, Commerce and Industries Minister Lakhanlal Dewangan, Women and Child Development Department Minister Laxmi Rajwade, MPs Brijmohan Agrawal, Roopkumari Choudhary, MLAs Purandar Mishra, Motilal Sahu, Anuj Sharma, Indrakuamr Sahu and Guru Khushwant Saheb were present. TRAGEDY AVERTED Huge tree falls,crushes two cars Staff Reporter : A MAJOR accident was averted in the city on Tuesday when a huge lush green tree suddenly fell onto the road, creating chaos at the site. The incident took place near Income Tax Square, where the tree fell and severely damaged two cars. Fortunately, several people narrowly escaped otherwise it could have been a fatal accident. After the tree fell, area residents immediately informed the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) and the Electricity Department. Later, teams arrived on the scene and began the process of clearing the tree from the road. Eyewitnesses stated that if people standing under the tree had not moved in time, their lives could have been in danger. It is alleged that the tree was many years old and the cementing around its base may have contributed to its collapse. A large crowd gathered at the site following the incident. Area people informed that at around 1.45 pm on Tuesday, they heard a loud noise. Many people thought it was thunder. But when they looked, people saw that a massive tree had fallen on top of an electric pole and two cars. There were sparks and the power in the area went out. People said just two minutes before the tree fell, several people were standing under it to take shelter from the rain, but had moved away once the rain stopped. It was fortunate that people had already left with their vehicles, preventing a much more tragic accident. Shopkeepers informed that after the tree fell, there were continuous electrical sparks and it seemed as though a fire could break out anytime. Panicked people immediately informed the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation and Electricity Department, who disconnected the power supply of the area to start the operation. The fallen tree also crushed two cars parked on the road. The JMC team had to toil hard for hours to remove the tree from the road and the route from Income Tax Square to Russell Chowk could be cleared late in the night. Power supply was also restored in the night. UGLY CONSPIRACY OBVIOUSLY, the Government needs to do much more than it currently does to dispel international negativism against India as regards treatment of minorities in the country.The reference is to New Delhis strong rejection of the remarks by Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneis remark on the subject. The Ministry of External Affairs has strongly deplored the remark by Mr. Ayatyollah Ali Khamenei describing it as coming from gross misinformation. This strong rejection apart, it is clear that many countries across the world have become victims of a conspiratorial propaganda that theminority communities are suffering inIndia. Itis,therefore,essentialthatIndiaputs togetheranassertive drive to propagate the correct picture of the minorities in the country. And this drive needs to be much stronger than whatever India has done so far in this connection. Judging from the reports pouring in from different parts of the world, one can say that a massive, ugly conspiracy is operating to create a bad image of India in terms of treatment to the minority communities, especially the Muslims. Thisis something India can hardly allow to continue.Hence the strong need to build a counter-narrative based on facts and figures so that the world knows the truth. This drive will have to be promoted in every possible place where an antagonistic narrative is being dished out to malign India. Itis true that many elements in India are behind this conspiracy -- as is common knowledge in all sections of the largerIndian society. Those elements are totally political in nature and are engaged in anti-India propaganda not just within the country but also elsewhere. Shamelessly, these elements paint India as a place where the minorities are being subjected to lots of atrocities and harassment on every possible count. The facts are absolutely different. In fact, it can be said safely thatIndiais possibly the only placein theworldwhere the minorities are absolutely safe and enjoy great dignity like all other citizens. Yet, there are elements that do not miss a chance to spread canard about Indias absence of social harmony. Political leaders such as Mr. Rahul Gandhi spend a lot of their energies travelling all over the world to appeal to their friends abroad tosave India andits democracy and its minorities. Obviously, such leaders are among the masterminds of the anti-India propaganda. All these efforts need to be countered by the Government as well as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its associate-partiesin theNationalDemocraticAlliance (NDA). Common ofIndia, too, need to put up a strong front against such propagandism, not just in India but also elsewhere in the world. The world must know thatIndia has always been a safe haven for people of each and every community and religious leaning. Such aninitiativecan succeed onlywhen theGovernment leadsitaggressively from the front.Merediplomaticresponse may not serve this purpose. For, what is required is a wellorganised international initiative to place before the world the correct picture of what India actually is -- a sanctuary of all faiths and a fully democratic domain in which every shade of opinion is equally respected. A part of such an initiative must also be put into operation within the country as well so that domestic anti-India elements are given the right and tight answer to their dirty propaganda. Forsuchaninitiative tobelaunched, theModiGovernment will have to emerge from the somber mood it got caught in post-Lok Sabha polls. It has the majority, and it must lead the nationalistic forces from the front. Union Minister Kumaraswamylauds BSPs consistentperformance, contributions Staff Reporter BHILAI, UNION Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries, H D Kumaraswamy, lauded Bhilai Steel Plants (BSP) consistent performance and significant contributions to the Central Governments exchequer. The Minister praised BSPs strong standing among other steel plants in India. Kumaraswamy emphasised that BSPs Blast Furnace-8 and other Modex Units, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, are operating at full capacity, driving the plants ever-increasing production. He expressed confidence in BSPs ability to surpass its previous best performance. Addressing concerns about the proposed privatisation of certain Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), including Ferro Scrap Nigam Limited (FSNL), the Minister assured that any decisions would be made in the best interests of the common people and the nation. Regarding the ongoing operations of BIT in Bhilai House Campus despite the contracts expiration and the increasing encroachment in the township, Kumaraswamy acknowledged the concerns raised by associations, trade unions, and other organisations. He promised that these issues would be addressed promptly. The Minister recognised the challenges faced by BSPs township and indicated that management-level measures, in co-ordination with relevant agencies, would be implemented to improve living conditions and surroundings. The Union Minister was accompanied by SAIL Chairman Amarendu Prakash and senior officials Union Minister visits BSP BHILAI, UNION Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel, H D Kumaraswamy, visited SAILBSP. He was accompanied by Amarendu Prakash, ChairmanSAIL; Anirban Dasgupta, Director I/c (SAIL-BSP), Anjani Kumar, ED (Works) and Senior Officers of the Plant welcomed H D Kumaraswamy, and Amarendu Prakash, upon arrival at BSP H D Kumaraswamy also took part in Vishwakarma Puja at the Plant. It is worth mentioning that this was Kumaraswamys maiden visit to BSP after assuming his office as Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel. Also, it was the first time that Amarendu Prakash visited BSP after taking charge as Chairman-SAIL on May 31, 2023. At the outset Union Minister Kumaraswamy and Chairman-SAIL Amarendu Prakash reached the Safety Excellence Centre, where they were briefed about necessary safety instructions for visiting the Plant. During the Plant visit, Union Minister took keen interest in operations at Modex Units, including Battery 7 and 8 of Coke Oven and Coal Chemicals Department, Blast Furnace8, Steel Melting Shop-3, and Universal Rail Mill. He witnessed the production of hot metal at B F-8, production of crude steel at SMS-3, rolling of the worlds longest 130- metre rail at URM. Vijay Baghel, Member of Parliament (Durg) was also present at URM. This was followed by visit to Ispat Bhawan where during an interaction with a cross-section of Senior Officials, an Overview Presentation on highlights of the performance, process of steel production, and Application of BSPs products in projects of National Importance, CSR & HRD Initiatives, Employee Engagement Initiatives and other areas was made. Union Minister Kumaraswamy, interacted at length with Chairman-SAIL Amarendu Prakash, Director I/c of SAIL-BSP Anirban Dasgupta, S Mukhopadhyay, ED (Projects), AK Chakraborty, ED (MM), Pawan Kumar, ED (HR), BK Giri, ED (Mines), DN Karan, Acting ED (F&A and Senior Officials on different aspects of current performance, as well as about plans for the future. Kumaraswamy, in his address to Senior Management, stated that He is satisfied to see the progress achieved by SAIL-BSP in the Steel Sector as regards its performance, products, and homely working atmosphere. BSP is not only producing high-quality steel but also contributing amply to the growth and development of the nation and the entire Chhattisgarh Region. Chairman-SAIL Amarendu Prakash apprised the Union Minister about various Awards and Accolades earned by BSP Employees in national and international Quality Circles and stated that BSP is the Flagship Unit of SAIL. Bhilai being a cosmopolitan city is like a Mini India with people from various regions of the country living in harmony with each other, added Amarendu Prakash. Anirban Dasgupta, Director I/c (SAIL-BSP), in his address, stated that the Safety Circles as initiated by SAILBhilai Steel Plant are also working efficiently in line with Quality Circles. Besides safety it focuses on quality, productivity, motivation, and Communication, said Dasgupta. Union Minister Kumaraswamy was given Guard of Honour by CISF Jawans at Bhilai Niwas, before his departure for Raipur Airport. Pratibha Agrawal, DIG (CISF), and Vijay Baghel, MP (Durg) was also present during the Guard of Honour Ceremony at Bhilai Niwas. Not Egypt or Turkey, but no less attractive to tourists. Jordan is a country where there are almost no green landscapes that we are used to in Ukraine or Europe. We'll tell you where to start your trip below. ADVERTISIMENT Aqaba The city is located in the Red Sea Bay of the same name. It is also home to the only port in the country. The average air temperature from September to November ranges from 24C to 34C. Therefore, this is a great time for a beach vacation. There are many beaches along the coast. Entrance to most of them is free. Intercontinental Beach has a gentle entrance to the water and white sand. There are sun loungers and umbrellas. There are also lifeguards on site. The public Al-Ghandour Beach has canopies where you can hide from the scorching sun. Here travelers can go boating or snorkeling. From north to south, the sandy shore gradually changes to rocky. Here you can find the legendary coral reefs - the real pride of Aqaba. It is thanks to these underwater wonders that the location has become a popular tourist destination. There are currently 6 diving centers in the city. ADVERTISIMENT We recommend visiting the house-museum where the great-grandfather of the king and prominent ruler of the country, Hussein Ben Ali, once lived. Be sure to visit the Wadi Rum desert. Here tourists can explore the unique landscapes that are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. For history lovers, we recommend going on an excursion to the archaeological sites of ancient Jordanian settlements. To do this, you need to climb Tell al-Khalifa Hill. We also suggest going on a trip to Mars to the Wadi Rum Protected Area. The rocky desert with red sand became a movie set for the Star Wars and The Martian movies. Amman ADVERTISIMENT The industrial center of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The hottest months in the region are July and August, with average temperatures around 31C. In the fall, the weather is much more pleasant: September soars to 27C, while November lows to 17C. We recommend starting your visit with a visit to the ruins of the Roman theater. It once accommodated more than 6 thousand spectators at a time. Tourists can climb to the upper levels and enjoy panoramic views of the capital. Next to the amphitheater are museums of folk traditions and folklore, which house exhibits of Jordanian customs, as well as clothing and jewelry. We also recommend a trip to the Jebel al-Qalaa citadel, one of the city's main historical monuments. Here you can see the remains of unique buildings: the Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad palace complex. ADVERTISIMENT Wadi Musa The town is located in the Ma'an province in the south of Jordan. Interesting fact: the name of the settlement means "Valley of Moses" in Arabic. Just 3.5 kilometers away, there is a famous historical landmark - Petra. The location is also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The ancient city is translated from Greek as "stone". It was founded by an association of Idumean tribes around 1200 BC. Excavations are still being carried out here. Archaeologists have examined more than 800 buildings and their facades. Also visit the Treasury, an exquisite temple in the rock. Researchers suggest that there was once a mausoleum here. By the way, this object can be seen in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade by Steven Spielberg. ADVERTISIMENT Irbid The third largest city in the country. The average temperature from September to October ranges from 27C to 32C. If you are traveling with children, we recommend visiting the Irbid Aquapark. There are attractions for both kids and adults. There are outdoor pools and restaurants on site. Also visit the Happy Land theme park. There are many attractions here. Tips for traveling to Jordan To enter the country, you need to apply for a visa. When visiting Muslim cities, it is better to follow local customs. Women should avoid wearing too revealing clothes: short skirts, shorts, and clothes with a deep neckline. Men are advised to cover their shoulders and knees, especially when visiting religious places. Do not greet people by shaking hands, just smile. Keep valuables in a safe. Take care of cash in advance, ATMs are rare here. Do not postpone your trip for later! Choose a destination and go to meet new adventures! ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available in our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,010,000 shares, a decrease of 9.4% from the August 15th total of 9,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,993,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 238.8% in the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 869,045 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $33,954,000 after purchasing an additional 612,575 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4,198.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 571,589 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 558,291 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 319.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 674,055 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $26,335,000 after purchasing an additional 513,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $262,789,000 after buying an additional 357,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the companys stock. Get Alaska Air Group alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $54.00. Alaska Air Group Price Performance Shares of Alaska Air Group stock traded down $0.36 on Tuesday, hitting $40.98. 2,984,382 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,234,160. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.59. Alaska Air Group has a 1-year low of $30.75 and a 1-year high of $46.15. Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.14%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. About Alaska Air Group (Get Free Report) Alaska Air Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates airlines. It operates through three segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The company offers scheduled air transportation services on Boeing jet aircraft for passengers and cargo in the United States, and in parts of Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, and the Bahamas; and for passengers across a shorter distance network within the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Alaska Air Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alaska Air Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of American Shared Hospital Services (NYSEAMERICAN:AMS Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. The firm set a hold rating on the stock. American Shared Hospital Services Stock Down 0.3 % AMS stock opened at $3.03 on Monday. American Shared Hospital Services has a fifty-two week low of $2.16 and a fifty-two week high of $4.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $19.27 million, a P/E ratio of 37.88 and a beta of 0.67. Get American Shared Hospital Services alerts: American Shared Hospital Services (NYSEAMERICAN:AMS Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.06. American Shared Hospital Services had a return on equity of 5.39% and a net margin of 18.41%. The business had revenue of $7.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Shared Hospital Services will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Shared Hospital Services American Shared Hospital Services Company Profile Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMS. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of American Shared Hospital Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in American Shared Hospital Services by 4.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 179,637 shares of the companys stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 8,436 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in American Shared Hospital Services by 31.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 55,501 shares of the companys stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201 shares during the period. 23.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. (Get Free Report) American Shared Hospital Services provides stereotactic radiosurgery and advanced radiation therapy equipment. It operates in two segments, Medical Equipment Leasing, and Retail. The company offers radiosurgery equipment for the Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery, a non-invasive procedure to treat malignant and benign brain tumors, and arteriovenous malformations, as well as for trigeminal neuralgia. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for American Shared Hospital Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Shared Hospital Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. H-CYTE (OTCMKTS:HCYTD Get Free Report) and Haemonetics (NYSE:HAE Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends. Institutional & Insider Ownership 99.7% of Haemonetics shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of H-CYTE shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Haemonetics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Get H-CYTE alerts: Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of current ratings for H-CYTE and Haemonetics, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score H-CYTE 0 0 0 0 N/A Haemonetics 0 2 5 0 2.71 Volatility and Risk Haemonetics has a consensus target price of $106.14, suggesting a potential upside of 38.62%. Given Haemonetics higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Haemonetics is more favorable than H-CYTE. H-CYTE has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Haemonetics has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Profitability This table compares H-CYTE and Haemonetics net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets H-CYTE -450.40% N/A -777.68% Haemonetics 8.61% 21.86% 9.04% Valuation & Earnings This table compares H-CYTE and Haemoneticss revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio H-CYTE $1.61 million 0.32 -$4.80 million N/A N/A Haemonetics $1.33 billion 2.92 $117.56 million $2.29 33.44 Haemonetics has higher revenue and earnings than H-CYTE. Summary Haemonetics beats H-CYTE on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks. About H-CYTE (Get Free Report) H-CYTE, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops and delivers various treatments for patients with chronic respiratory and pulmonary disorders in the United States. The company develops and implements treatment options in autologous cellular therapy to treat chronic lung disorders. It has a product supply agreement with Rion, LLC to develop and distribute a biologic for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The company is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. About Haemonetics (Get Free Report) Haemonetics Corporation, a healthcare company, provides suite of medical products and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers automated plasma collection systems, donor management software, and supporting software solutions including NexSys PCS and PCS2 plasmapheresis equipment and related disposables and solutions, as well as integrated information technology platforms for plasma customers to manage their donors, operations, and supply chain; and NexLynk DMS donor management system and Donor360 app. It also provides automated blood component and manual whole blood collection systems, such as MCS brand apheresis equipment to collect specific blood components from the donor; disposable whole blood collection and component storage sets; SafeTrace Tx blood bank information system; and BloodTrack blood management software, a suite of blood management and bedside transfusion solutions that combines software with hardware components, as well as an extension of the hospital's blood bank information system. In addition, the company offers hospital products comprising TEG and HAS hemostasis analyzer systems that provide a comprehensive assessment of a patient's overall hemostasis; and TEG Manager software, which connects various TEG analyzers throughout the hospital, providing clinicians remote access to active and historical test results that inform treatment decisions. Further, it provides Cell Saver Elite +, an autologous blood recovery system for cardiovascular, orthopedic, trauma, transplant, vascular, obstetrical, and gynecological surgeries; and VASCADE products comprising VASCADE and VASCADE MVP, a technology platform which offers catheter-based delivery system and leverages the natural clot-inducing properties of collagen. The company sells its products through direct sales force, independent distributors, and sales representatives. Haemonetics Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Receive News & Ratings for H-CYTE Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for H-CYTE and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shah Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Antero Midstream Co. (NYSE:AM Free Report) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 795,038 shares of the pipeline companys stock after selling 4,962 shares during the period. Antero Midstream makes up about 2.5% of Shah Capital Managements holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Shah Capital Management owned about 0.17% of Antero Midstream worth $11,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Antero Midstream by 360.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Antero Midstream during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. City State Bank purchased a new position in Antero Midstream during the second quarter worth $51,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Antero Midstream in the first quarter worth $48,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Antero Midstream by 24.2% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,528 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. 53.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Antero Midstream alerts: Antero Midstream Trading Up 1.2 % AM stock opened at $15.06 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82 and a beta of 2.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.31. Antero Midstream Co. has a 52 week low of $11.50 and a 52 week high of $15.21. Antero Midstream Dividend Announcement Antero Midstream ( NYSE:AM Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pipeline company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.04). Antero Midstream had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 36.19%. The firm had revenue of $269.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Antero Midstream Co. will post 0.85 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 24th were given a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 24th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.98%. Antero Midstreams dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.50%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Antero Midstream from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Antero Midstream from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.88. Read Our Latest Stock Report on AM Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, insider Sheri Pearce sold 23,518 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.59, for a total value of $343,127.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 130,349 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,901,791.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders. Antero Midstream Company Profile (Free Report) Antero Midstream Corporation owns, operates, and develops midstream energy assets in the Appalachian Basin. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Water Handling. The Gathering and Processing segment includes a network of gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collects and processes production from Antero Resources' wells in West Virginia and Ohio. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Antero Midstream Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Antero Midstream and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Argent Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD Free Report) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,101 shares of the fast-food giants stock after selling 1,138 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Cos holdings in McDonalds were worth $10,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCD. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonalds during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,612,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in McDonalds by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,180,928 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $350,157,000 after purchasing an additional 15,863 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in McDonalds by 411.4% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 7,497 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 6,031 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in McDonalds by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $5,608,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in McDonalds during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,898,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get McDonald's alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have issued reports on MCD. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on McDonalds in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a neutral rating and a $288.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their target price on McDonalds from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on McDonalds from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on McDonalds from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on McDonalds from $275.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $306.11. McDonalds Stock Performance Shares of MCD stock opened at $293.73 on Wednesday. McDonalds Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $302.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $274.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $270.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.72. McDonalds (NYSE:MCD Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonalds had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.17 EPS. The companys revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that McDonalds Co. will post 11.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. McDonalds Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonaldss dividend payout ratio is presently 56.71%. Insider Transactions at McDonalds In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 of the companys stock, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 of the companys stock, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,291 shares of company stock valued at $1,689,073. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the companys stock. 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 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Barnwell Industries (NYSE:BRN Free Report) in a research note released on Sunday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock. Barnwell Industries Stock Performance Barnwell Industries stock opened at $2.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.48. Barnwell Industries has a one year low of $2.06 and a one year high of $3.20. The stock has a market cap of $22.06 million, a PE ratio of -6.67 and a beta of 0.09. Get Barnwell Industries alerts: Barnwell Industries (NYSE:BRN Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter. Barnwell Industries had a negative net margin of 15.55% and a negative return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $5.53 million during the quarter. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barnwell Industries Barnwell Industries Company Profile An institutional investor recently raised its position in Barnwell Industries stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Barnwell Industries, Inc. ( NYSE:BRN Free Report ) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 355,534 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 6,612 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 3.55% of Barnwell Industries worth $836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 40.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. (Get Free Report) Barnwell Industries, Inc acquires, develops, produces, and sells oil and natural gas in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Oil and Natural Gas, Land Investment, and Contract Drilling. It also acquires and develops crude oil and natural gas assets in the province of Alberta, as well as invests in land interests in Hawaii. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Barnwell Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Barnwell Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ukraine continues to be a donor of global food security for dozens of countries around the world, even despite a full-scale war and Russian terror. In particular, for more than a year of operation of the export maritime corridor, 70 million tons of cargo have been transported to various countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. ADVERTISIMENT This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He noted that thanks to the humanitarian initiative Grain from Ukraine, at least "hundreds of thousands of families and millions of people have received the necessary food" in Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan. At the same time, the country is increasing its export capabilities. "More than 2,500 ships have left Ukrainian ports. The ports of Asia, Africa, Europe, and America accept our Ukrainian cargo. Countries from Egypt to Indonesia, from Tunisia and Libya to India, from Algeria to China have received our Ukrainian grain," the President said. The export corridor was organized after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in the summer of 2023. After that, Russia began actively attacking Ukrainian ports, including the Danube ports of Reni and Izmail, with missiles or drones. ADVERTISIMENT However, this has not prevented Ukraine from successfully supplying food to countries in need, and which are home to about 400 million people, according to Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN, Serhii Kyslytsia. In particular, last summer alone, it sent 1,300 ships along the new sea route, which exceeded the volume of exports for the entire year of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Blair William & Co. IL decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR Free Report) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,529,521 shares of the insurance providers stock after selling 38,677 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 1.0% of Blair William & Co. ILs investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.26% of Progressive worth $317,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 119.6% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank lifted its stake in Progressive by 126.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the companys stock. Get Progressive alerts: Progressive Stock Performance NYSE:PGR opened at $256.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $150.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The firms fifty day moving average price is $231.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.02. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $137.59 and a 1-year high of $260.46. Progressive Dividend Announcement Progressive ( NYSE:PGR Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressives payout ratio is 4.09%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC raised Progressive from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $253.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $256.12. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Progressive Insider Activity In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares of the companys stock, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,453 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,808,963.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $33,367,408 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. About Progressive (Free Report) The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PGR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Progressive Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Progressive and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW Free Report) by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 727,533 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 193,243 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.12% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $67,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EW. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter valued at $34,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the companys stock. Get Edwards Lifesciences alerts: Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance EW opened at $67.22 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.41 and a 200 day moving average of $83.22. The stock has a market cap of $40.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences Edwards Lifesciences ( NYSE:EW Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year. In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total transaction of $330,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,101,530.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total transaction of $330,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $87,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 29,333 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,051,843.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,218,138 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.29% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EW shares. TD Cowen cut Edwards Lifesciences from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $73.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $80.29. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Edwards Lifesciences Edwards Lifesciences Profile (Free Report) Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of aortic heart valves under the Edwards SAPIEN family of valves system; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases under the PASCAL PRECISION and Cardioband names. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Edwards Lifesciences Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Edwards Lifesciences and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275,411 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 4,723 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CTs holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,175,000. IMA Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth $1,453,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 12,744 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,363,928,000 after buying an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $3,601,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the companys stock. Get Bank of America alerts: Bank of America Trading Up 1.2 % Bank of America stock opened at $39.58 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.80. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America ( NYSE:BAC Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The companys revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year. Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the companys board believes its shares are undervalued. Bank of America Increases Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of Americas previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of Americas payout ratio is presently 35.99%. Insider Activity at Bank of America In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock valued at $4,719,796,383. Insiders own 0.29% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $42.22. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Bank of America About Bank of America (Free Report) Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Bank of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM Get Free Report) (TSE:BAM.A) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,460,000 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the August 15th total of 10,450,000 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 11.5 days. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Asset Management Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 98.2% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 777 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 57.6% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 780 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 574.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 890 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 368.3% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 960 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. 68.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Brookfield Asset Management alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades BAM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities boosted their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Brookfield Asset Management from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $46.00 to $45.50 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an underweight rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $43.81. Brookfield Asset Management Stock Performance Shares of NYSE BAM traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.54. The companys stock had a trading volume of 643,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,316,209. The company has a market cap of $20.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.56. Brookfield Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $28.35 and a fifty-two week high of $45.75. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $41.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.34. Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM Get Free Report) (TSE:BAM.A) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). Brookfield Asset Management had a net margin of 51.29% and a return on equity of 92.37%. The company had revenue of $916.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Brookfield Asset Management Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Brookfield Asset Managements payout ratio is 140.74%. About Brookfield Asset Management (Get Free Report) Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is a real estate investment firm specializing in alternative asset management services. Its renewable power and transition business includes the operates in the hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed generation, and sustainable solution sector. The company's infrastructure business engages in the utilities, transport, midstream, and data infrastructure sectors. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Asset Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Asset Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC Free Report) by 696.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,491 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 31,037 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LPs holdings in Centene were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $127,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,256,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 51,641 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,832,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the companys stock. Get Centene alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a neutral rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $85.58. Centene Price Performance CNC stock opened at $75.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $63.45 and a 1 year high of $81.42. Centene (NYSE:CNC Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Centene Profile (Free Report) Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, childrens health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CNC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Centene Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Centene and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI Get Free Report) and Comba Telecom Systems (OTCMKTS:COBJF Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends. Profitability This table compares Motorola Solutions and Comba Telecom Systems net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get Motorola Solutions alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Motorola Solutions 14.04% 337.36% 15.88% Comba Telecom Systems N/A N/A N/A Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Motorola Solutions and Comba Telecom Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Motorola Solutions 0 0 7 0 3.00 Comba Telecom Systems 0 0 0 0 N/A Insider and Institutional Ownership Motorola Solutions currently has a consensus target price of $466.17, suggesting a potential upside of 6.15%. Given Motorola Solutions higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Motorola Solutions is more favorable than Comba Telecom Systems. 84.2% of Motorola Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.0% of Comba Telecom Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Motorola Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Valuation & Earnings This table compares Motorola Solutions and Comba Telecom Systemss revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Motorola Solutions $10.42 billion 7.03 $1.71 billion $8.09 54.28 Comba Telecom Systems N/A N/A N/A ($0.01) -11.28 Motorola Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than Comba Telecom Systems. Comba Telecom Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Motorola Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Summary Motorola Solutions beats Comba Telecom Systems on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks. About Motorola Solutions (Get 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. Its land mobile radio communications, and video security and access control devices include two-way portable and vehicle-mounted radios, fixed video cameras, and accessories; communications network core and central processing software, base stations, consoles, and repeaters; and video analytics, network video management hardware and software, and access control solutions. The Software and Services segment provides public safety and enterprise command center, unified communications applications, mobile video equipment, and video software solutions; repair, technical support, and maintenance services; and monitoring, software updates, and cybersecurity services to government, public safety, and commercial communications networks. It serves hospitality; manufacturing; military and defence; public safety; mining; oil and gas; transportation and logistics; utilities industries. The company was formerly known as Motorola, Inc. and changed its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc. in January 2011. Motorola Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. About Comba Telecom Systems (Get Free Report) Comba Telecom Systems Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, research, develops, manufactures, and sells wireless telecommunications network system equipment and related engineering services in Mainland China, rest of Asia Pacific, the Americas, the European Union, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Wireless Telecommunications Network System Equipment and Services, and Operator Telecommunication Services. The company provides base station antennas and subsystems; open radio; ScanViS; and network system products, as well as cell site and enterprise solutions; consultancy, DAS network design, maintenance, and network optimization; and technical support, value-added, and repairing services. It engages in assembling, trading, and marketing of wireless telecommunications network system equipment; manufacture and sale of intelligent machinery; research and development, and trading of digital microwave system equipment; marketing; and provision of hardware and software solutions and services. It serves the airport, education, government and public safety, healthcare, hospitality, retail, stadium, and transportation industries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Tai Po, Hong Kong. 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. Squarespace (NYSE:SQSP Get Free Report) and CS Disco (NYSE:LAW Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability. Profitability This table compares Squarespace and CS Discos net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get Squarespace alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Squarespace -0.45% N/A -0.52% CS Disco -19.88% -14.18% -12.37% Institutional & Insider Ownership 92.3% of Squarespace shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.0% of CS Disco shares are held by institutional investors. 45.0% of Squarespace shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.3% of CS Disco shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Earnings & Valuation Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Squarespace $1.01 billion 6.35 -$7.08 million ($0.05) -928.00 CS Disco $142.26 million 2.42 -$42.15 million ($0.54) -10.63 This table compares Squarespace and CS Discos revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Squarespace has higher revenue and earnings than CS Disco. Squarespace is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CS Disco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Risk & Volatility Squarespace has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CS Disco has a beta of 2.08, meaning that its stock price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Squarespace and CS Disco, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Squarespace 0 10 4 0 2.29 CS Disco 1 1 1 0 2.00 Squarespace currently has a consensus price target of $43.14, indicating a potential downside of 7.03%. CS Disco has a consensus price target of $6.83, indicating a potential upside of 19.05%. Given CS Discos higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CS Disco is more favorable than Squarespace. Summary Squarespace beats CS Disco on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks. About Squarespace (Get Free Report) Squarespace, Inc. operates platform for businesses and independent creators to build online presence, grow their brands, and manage their businesses across the internet in the United States and internationally. It enables users to manage their projects and businesses through websites, domains, e-commerce, marketing tools, scheduling, and hospitality services, as well as tools for managing a social media presence. It serves a range of industries and sizes from sole proprietors to enterprises. Squarespace, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York. About CS Disco (Get Free Report) CS Disco, Inc. provides cloud-native and artificial intelligence-powered legal solutions for legal hold, legal request, ediscovery, legal document review, and case management in the United States and internationally. It offers DISCO Request, a solution that automates response compliance for legal requests; and DISCO Ediscovery, a solution that automates the ediscovery process and saves legal departments from manual tasks associated with collecting, processing, enriching, searching, reviewing, analyzing, producing, and using enterprise data that is at issue in legal matters. The company also provides DISCO Hold, a solution that automates manual work to preserve data, notify custodians, track holds with a defensible audit trail, and collect data when ready; DISCO Review, an AI-powered document review solution that delivers legal document reviews; and DISCO Case Builder, a solution that allows legal professionals to collaborate with teams to build a compelling case by offering a single place to search, organize, and review witness testimony and other legal data. The company's solutions are used in various legal matters comprising litigation, investigation, compliance, and diligence. It serves enterprises, law firms, legal services providers, and governments. CS Disco, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Receive News & Ratings for Squarespace Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Squarespace and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at UBS Group from $34.00 to $31.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a buy rating on the stock. UBS Groups price target would indicate a potential upside of 34.37% from the companys current price. Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Roth Capital raised Coterra Energy from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Coterra Energy from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Coterra Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reissued a buy rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Coterra Energy in a report on Friday, June 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $32.59. Get Coterra Energy alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on CTRA Coterra Energy Stock Performance Shares of NYSE CTRA traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.07. The stock had a trading volume of 389,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,286,353. The firm has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.46. Coterra Energy has a twelve month low of $22.30 and a twelve month high of $29.89. Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.02). Coterra Energy had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 23.18%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Coterra Energys quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Coterra Energy will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTRA. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Coterra Energy by 154.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 933 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 98.0% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Coterra Energy during the first quarter worth $44,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coterra Energy by 869.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the companys stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Coterra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.92% of the companys stock. About Coterra Energy (Get Free Report) Coterra Energy Inc, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company's properties include the Marcellus Shale with approximately 186,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania; Permian Basin properties with approximately 296,000 net acres located in west Texas and southeast New Mexico; and Anadarko Basin properties with approximately 182,000 net acres located in Oklahoma. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Coterra Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coterra Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eldorado Gold Co. (TSE:ELD Get Free Report) (NYSE:EGO) Senior Officer Ryan Swedburg sold 3,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$23.43, for a total value of C$83,234.71. Eldorado Gold Price Performance Eldorado Gold Co. has a 1 year low of C$11.38 and a 1 year high of C$25.04. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 56.20 and a beta of 1.23. The firms fifty day moving average price is C$22.96 and its 200 day moving average price is C$20.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 3.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.85. Get Eldorado Gold alerts: Eldorado Gold (TSE:ELD Get Free Report) (NYSE:EGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported C$0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.36 by C$0.09. Eldorado Gold had a return on equity of 4.99% and a net margin of 15.68%. The business had revenue of C$406.56 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eldorado Gold Co. will post 2.154321 EPS for the current year. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ELD shares. National Bankshares upped their target price on shares of Eldorado Gold from C$26.00 to C$27.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Eldorado Gold to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eldorado Gold from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from C$14.00 to C$20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Eldorado Gold from C$23.00 to C$26.50 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$22.54. View Our Latest Report on ELD Eldorado Gold Company Profile (Get Free Report) Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, development, and sale of mineral products primarily in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. The company primarily produces gold, as well as silver, lead, and zinc. It holds a 100% interest in the Kisladag and Efemcukuru mines located in Turkey; Lamaque complex located in Canada; and Olympias, Stratoni, Skouries, Perama Hill, and Sapes gold mines located in Greece, as well as the 80.5% interest in Certej development projects located in Romania. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Eldorado Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eldorado Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co reduced its position in shares of Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB Free Report) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,259 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 3,020 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Cos holdings in Chubb were worth $8,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CB. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chubb in the 4th quarter valued at about $597,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in Chubb by 159.5% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 9,361 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,116,000 after buying an additional 5,753 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Chubb by 25.8% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,329 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chubb during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chubb by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 594,574 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $134,374,000 after acquiring an additional 61,129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.81% of the companys stock. Get Chubb alerts: Insider Transactions at Chubb In other Chubb news, CEO Evan G. Greenberg sold 30,318 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.60, for a total value of $8,780,092.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,664 shares in the company, valued at $160,341,094.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Evan G. Greenberg sold 30,318 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.60, for a total transaction of $8,780,092.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 553,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,341,094.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael G. Atieh sold 261 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.49, for a total transaction of $75,034.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,172 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,261,558.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 94,836 shares of company stock valued at $27,055,900. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several analysts recently issued reports on CB shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Chubb from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Chubb from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Chubb from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Chubb from $266.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Chubb from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $274.70. Check Out Our Latest Report on Chubb Chubb Trading Down 0.2 % Shares of CB stock opened at $290.78 on Wednesday. Chubb Limited has a 1 year low of $204.15 and a 1 year high of $294.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.66. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $273.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.59. Chubb (NYSE:CB Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $13.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.04 billion. Chubb had a net margin of 18.14% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The firms revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Chubb Limited will post 21.2 EPS for the current year. Chubb Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Chubbs payout ratio is 16.16%. Chubb Company Profile (Free Report) Chubb Limited provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical risk, cyber risk, surety, and casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Chubb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chubb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. In the winter of 2024, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa may face serious energy supply problems due to generation shortages and military threats. In the event of an external power outage, residents of these cities could be left without electricity for up to 16 hours a day. Therefore, you should be as prepared as possible. ADVERTISIMENT In particular, the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) advises to stock up on water and food. First of all, you need to stock up on food that will not spoil without a refrigerator and will not require electricity for cooking. These can be: canned meat, fish and vegetables; dried and jerky; freeze-dried foods (cereals, instant noodles and soups that need to be poured with boiling water, or buckwheat that can be poured with water at room temperature) breads, cookies, crackers; dried fruits, nuts; chocolate, candy; energy bars. Water should be prepared for at least 3 days. Not only drinking water, but also technical water. It is emphasized that one adult needs 3 liters of drinking water per day (including liquid consumed with food). As well as 10-12 liters of technical water for hygiene and cooking. ADVERTISIMENT What else to stock up on However, in order to go through the blackout as comfortably as possible, the KCSA advises to stock up on a number of "additional" things. In particular: buy a battery-powered FM radio to keep up to date with current events in case of a mobile phone and Internet outage; stock up on flashlights, battery-powered or rechargeable lamps, candles, matches, batteries, etc; fill your home first aid kit with all the necessary medicines; prepare a burner with a gas cylinder or dry alcohol; take care of safe movement on the street in the dark - buy reflective clothing or reflective tapes for sleeves, bags or backpacks. ADVERTISIMENT You also need to take care of fire safety. In particular, buy a home fire extinguisher and keep it near places where candles are lit or a burner is used. There may be no light for 16 hours a day For his part, Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center, said earlier that in the event of an external power outage, residents of large cities may be left without electricity for up to 16 hours a day. We are talking, in particular, about: Kyiv; Kharkiv Odesa. He explained that these cities are the most vulnerable in winter. "Kharkiv is under direct fire. Any substation and any generating capacity can be destroyed at any time. The military risks are the highest there," says Kharchenko. ADVERTISIMENT According to him, Odesa is also experiencing a significant shortage of energy resources - the almost complete absence of its own generation in the city makes it dependent on external supplies. And in Kyiv, the country's largest city, the capacity deficit can reach 700-900 megawatts in winter. "These capacities need to be brought in from outside. If there is nowhere to bring them from, let's be honest, if Kyiv is cut off from external power supply, Kyiv residents will be without electricity for 16 hours a day, and this will be normal," Kharchenko emphasized. As reported by OBOZ.UA, the blackout has also made the issue of buying charging stations (popularly nicknamed "eco-flow" after one of the manufacturers) relevant again, especially for those who live in apartment buildings and cannot afford a generator. However, for many people, the choice of such a device becomes a problem, as the price depends on its power. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Eloro Resources Ltd. (CVE:ELO Get Free Report) shares rose 5.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$3.55 and last traded at C$3.50. Approximately 144,358 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 36% from the average daily volume of 106,080 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$3.32. Eloro Resources Trading Up 5.4 % The company has a market cap of C$260.58 million, a PE ratio of -18.42 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$3.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$3.50. About Eloro Resources (Get Free Report) Eloro Resources Ltd. engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties. It explores for gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, tin, bismuth, indium, and other base metal properties. The company holds 99% interest in the Iska Iska project, a polymetallic property consisting of one mineral concession covering an area of approximately 900 hectares located in Potosi Department, southern Bolivia; and 82% interest in the La Victoria Gold/Silver project that consists of 16 concessions covering an area of 8,933 hectares located in the North-Central Mineral Belt of Peru. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Eloro Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eloro Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ESS Tech, Inc. (NYSE:GWH Get Free Report) Director Sandeep Nijhawan sold 7,000 shares of ESS Tech stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.72, for a total value of $40,040.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,537 shares in the company, valued at $88,871.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. ESS Tech Stock Performance Shares of GWH traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $6.18. 94,457 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 65,544. ESS Tech, Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.20 and a 1 year high of $31.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $0.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.73 and a beta of 1.48. Get ESS Tech alerts: ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.01). ESS Tech had a negative net margin of 982.87% and a negative return on equity of 77.52%. The firm had revenue of $0.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 million. On average, analysts forecast that ESS Tech, Inc. will post -6.74 EPS for the current year. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several analysts have commented on GWH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of ESS Tech from $0.08 to $0.06 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of ESS Tech from $0.08 to $0.07 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of ESS Tech from $0.13 to $0.10 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of ESS Tech to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of ESS Tech in a research note on Friday, July 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $0.10 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $0.12. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on GWH Institutional Trading of ESS Tech A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWH. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in ESS Tech in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in ESS Tech in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in ESS Tech during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in ESS Tech during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, CWM LLC bought a new position in shares of ESS Tech in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. 46.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About ESS Tech (Get Free Report) ESS Tech, Inc, an energy storage company, designs and produces iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications worldwide. It offers energy storage products, which include Energy Warehouse, a behind-the-meter solution; and Energy Center, a front-of-the-meter solution. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for ESS Tech Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ESS Tech and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Express (NYSE:EXPR Free Report) in a research note released on Sunday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the stock. Express Price Performance EXPR stock opened at $0.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $0.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $0.67. Express has a 12 month low of $0.35 and a 12 month high of $17.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $205,655.40, a P/E ratio of 0.00 and a beta of 1.40. Get Express alerts: About Express (Get Free Report) Read More Express, Inc operates as a fashion retail company that offers apparel and accessories in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company sells its products under the UpWest and Express brands for men and women through its retail and factory outlet stores; express.com, an online store; and Express mobile app, as well as franchisees Express locations in Latin America. Receive News & Ratings for Express Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Express and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. (NYSE:AVAL Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 339,000 shares, an increase of 12.4% from the August 15th total of 301,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 62,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores Trading Down 4.0 % Shares of NYSE:AVAL opened at $1.94 on Wednesday. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $2.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25 and a beta of 0.99. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a 52-week low of $1.94 and a 52-week high of $2.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 0.89. Get Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores alerts: Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The bank reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores had a return on equity of 1.46% and a net margin of 1.30%. The business had revenue of $953.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $994.03 million. Analysts expect that Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores will post 0.2 EPS for the current year. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores Cuts Dividend Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.0084 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valoress payout ratio is 125.00%. Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVAL. Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fermata Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores in the first quarter worth $26,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores by 64.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 51,000 shares of the banks stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 54,549 shares of the banks stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 8,268 shares during the period. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores Company Profile (Get Free Report) Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores SA provides a range of financial services and products to public and private sector customers in Colombia and Central America. It offers traditional deposit services and products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and other deposits. The company also provides commercial loans comprising general purpose loans, working capital loans, leases, loans funded by development banks, corporate credit cards, and overdraft loans; consumer loans, such as payroll loans, personal loans, automobile and other vehicle loans, credit cards, overdrafts, leases, and general purpose loans; and microcredit and mortgage loans. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Seven Eight Capital LP increased its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES Free Report) by 584.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,964 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after acquiring an additional 34,982 shares during the quarter. Hess makes up about 0.6% of Seven Eight Capital LPs portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Seven Eight Capital LPs holdings in Hess were worth $6,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $4,903,793,000 after acquiring an additional 294,146 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Hess by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $1,194,619,000 after buying an additional 340,490 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Hess by 34.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Hess by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $265,359,000 after purchasing an additional 181,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $227,273,000 after acquiring an additional 663,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the companys stock. Get Hess alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms recently issued reports on HES. Wolfe Research started coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $172.77. Hess Price Performance Shares of HES opened at $130.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $40.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $167.75. Hess (NYSE:HES Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year. Hess Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. This is an increase from Hesss previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hesss dividend payout ratio is presently 30.63%. About Hess (Free Report) Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HES? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hess Co. (NYSE:HES Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Hess Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hess and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO Free Report) by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,145,117 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after buying an additional 194,974 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.36% of Valero Energy worth $179,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 53,600 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $8,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 38,442 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $5,782,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 80,124 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $12,543,000 after buying an additional 16,654 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 14,891 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $2,334,000 after buying an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 6,960 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,091,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the companys stock. Get Valero Energy alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In VLO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $171.36. Valero Energy Trading Up 1.6 % Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $135.85 on Wednesday. The companys 50-day moving average price is $146.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.37. The company has a market cap of $43.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.73, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.40. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $119.88 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 4.25%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Valero Energy Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%. Valero Energy Company Profile (Free Report) Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Valero Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Valero Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE:IHG Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of Reduce by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of InterContinental Hotels Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Get InterContinental Hotels Group alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on InterContinental Hotels Group Institutional Trading of InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group Trading Down 0.2 % A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IHG. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in InterContinental Hotels Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $229,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 3.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 22,756 shares of the companys stock worth $2,411,000 after buying an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 8.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,699 shares of the companys stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,148,000. Finally, Marietta Investment Partners LLC increased its position in InterContinental Hotels Group by 7.3% during the second quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC now owns 27,340 shares of the companys stock worth $2,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.09% of the companys stock. Shares of InterContinental Hotels Group stock opened at $104.26 on Wednesday. InterContinental Hotels Group has a 12-month low of $70.06 and a 12-month high of $112.08. The businesss 50 day moving average is $100.74 and its 200-day moving average is $101.92. InterContinental Hotels Group Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.532 per share. This represents a yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from InterContinental Hotels Groups previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. About InterContinental Hotels Group (Get Free Report InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels under the Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, voco, HUALUXE, Crowne Plaza, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, EVEN, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Garner, avid hotels, Atwell Suites, Staybridge Suites, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Candlewood Suites brand names. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for InterContinental Hotels Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for InterContinental Hotels Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:IVV Free Report) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,319 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 5,898 shares during the period. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF comprises 4.2% of Waterloo Capital L.P.s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Waterloo Capital L.P.s holdings in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF were worth $35,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IVV. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its stake in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 103 shares of the companys stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the companys stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 0.9% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,134 shares of the companys stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Unionview LLC raised its position in shares of iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 0.6% during the first quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the companys stock worth $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 308 shares of the companys stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Get iShares Core S&P 500 ETF alerts: iShares Core S&P 500 ETF Trading Up 0.0 % NYSEARCA IVV opened at $566.20 on Wednesday. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has a 1 year low of $411.02 and a 1 year high of $569.69. The company has a market cap of $488.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $553.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $536.15. About iShares Core S&P 500 ETF iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poors 500 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization sector of the United States equity market. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core S&P 500 ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Japan Real Estate Investment Co. (OTCMKTS:JREIF Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,100 shares, a decline of 24.4% from the August 15th total of 4,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 0 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently days. Japan Real Estate Investment Stock Performance Shares of JREIF remained flat at $3,881.42 during midday trading on Tuesday. 8 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 100. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3,881.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,881.42. Japan Real Estate Investment has a one year low of $3,881.42 and a one year high of $3,881.42. Get Japan Real Estate Investment alerts: About Japan Real Estate Investment (Get Free Report) Featured Stories Japan Real Estate Investment Corporation (the "Company") was established on May 11, 2001 pursuant to Japan's Act on Investment Trusts and Investment Corporations ("ITA"). The Company was listed on the real estate investment trust market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ("TSE") on September 10, 2001 (Securities Code: 8952). Receive News & Ratings for Japan Real Estate Investment Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Japan Real Estate Investment and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kering SA (OTCMKTS:PPRUY Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of Reduce from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reiterated an underweight rating on shares of Kering in a report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group cut Kering from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating on shares of Kering in a report on Monday, September 9th. Get Kering alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on Kering Kering Stock Up 0.7 % About Kering OTCMKTS PPRUY opened at $25.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Kering has a twelve month low of $24.88 and a twelve month high of $50.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.65. (Get Free Report Kering SA manages the development of a series of renowned houses in fashion, leather goods and jewelry in France, the Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, North America, Japan, and internationally. The company offers ready-to-wear products apparel and accessories for men and women. It also offers leather goods and shoes; watches and jewelry; eyewear products; and fragrances and cosmetics. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Kering Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kering and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. On Wednesday, September 18, members of the Verkhovna Rada failed to vote on a resolution to de-Russify the names of 333 Ukrainian settlements. "Only 208 MPs out of the required 226 voted in favor. ADVERTISIMENT After the failed vote, the dissatisfied MPs blocked the rostrum, demanding that the resolution be reintroduced to the session hall. They chanted "Shame". According to MP Oleksiy Honcharenko, discussions on the adoption of draft law No. 11188 are ongoing in parliament . He himself supported the vote. "But what I want to say is that I don't understand why in some cases we are de-imperializing in such a way that we remove Russian and add German (I mean the renaming of Yuzhnyi to Port-Anental). Let's start Ukrainizing already. We need to learn our own language. Sometimes avoid other people's. Because somehow it's not the same," Honcharenko wrote on his Telegram channel. ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, MP Roman Lozynsky said that the Ukrainian parliament "failed a historic chance to throw off the map of Ukraine everything that was imposed by Moscow over centuries of enslavement." According to Lozynsky, the informal union in the Rada, the "deputies of the Moscow Patriarchate," "by all means and means, cheated their colleagues," which is why there were not enough votes to rename 333 settlements. "This is a total disgrace for Ukraine. This is revenge. I will definitely publish a list of all those who were against/abstained or cowardly did not vote for this resolution or pretended to be dead," the MP wrote on Facebook. ADVERTISIMENT Lozynskyi also published the details of the vote. In particular, 75 MPs did not vote, five abstained, and three were against. Most of those who did not vote were from the Servant of the People faction (40) and the Platform for Life and Peace (15), which united people from the OPFL after the party was banned. After the vote failed, dissatisfied MPs blocked the parliamentary rostrum, chanting "Shame." They demanded that a conciliation board be convened and that the relevant committee be instructed to re-examine the resolution immediately and reintroduce it to the session hall. ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZ.UA reported, earlier in Kharkiv region, it was decided to change 36 place names in the Lipetsk and Merefiansk communities. The OVA stated that community residents and representatives of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory voiced their own proposals for names and the deputies took them into account. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Kingfisher plc (LON:KGF Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of GBX 3.80 ($0.05) per share by the home improvement retailer on Friday, November 15th. This represents a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. The official announcement can be viewed at this link. Kingfisher Stock Performance KGF opened at GBX 322.30 ($4.26) on Wednesday. The businesss 50 day moving average is GBX 274.98 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 256.82. The stock has a market cap of 5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 1,797.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 37.49. Kingfisher has a twelve month low of GBX 198.30 ($2.62) and a twelve month high of GBX 325 ($4.29). Get Kingfisher alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KGF shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a hold rating and set a GBX 250 ($3.30) price target on shares of Kingfisher in a report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an underweight rating on shares of Kingfisher in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Kingfisher to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from GBX 245 ($3.24) to GBX 310 ($4.10) in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Kingfisher Company Profile (Get Free Report) Kingfisher plc, together with its subsidiaries, supplies home improvement products and services primarily in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and internationally. It also operates retail stores under the B&Q, Castorama, Brico Depot, Screwfix, TradePoint, and Koctas brands. The company sells its products through stores and e-commerce channels. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Kingfisher Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kingfisher and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP raised its position in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE:TEVA Free Report) by 0.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,462,600 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 38,065 shares during the period. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries comprises approximately 14.4% of Lingotto Investment Management LLPs holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Lingotto Investment Management LLP owned about 2.34% of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries worth $430,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TEVA. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 105.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,388 shares of the companys stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the period. 54.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Teva Pharmaceutical Industries alerts: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Price Performance Shares of NYSE TEVA opened at $17.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.54, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.63 and a 200-day moving average of $16.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $19.08. Analysts Set New Price Targets Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ( NYSE:TEVA Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had a positive return on equity of 39.66% and a negative net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.99 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Several brokerages recently commented on TEVA. Barclays raised their price objective on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $18.89. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on TEVA Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Eric A. Hughes sold 24,537 shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $423,263.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,060 shares in the company, valued at $777,285. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. About Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Free Report) Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes generic medicines, specialty medicines, and biopharmaceutical products in North America, Europe, Israel, and internationally. It offers generic medicines in various dosage forms, such as tablets, capsules, injectables, inhalants, liquids, transdermal patches, ointments, and creams; sterile products, hormones, high-potency drugs, and cytotoxic substances in parenteral and solid dosage forms; and generic products with medical devices and combination products. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lmcg Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS Free Report) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,862 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLCs holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $512,867,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $159,714,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Morgan Stanley alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the companys stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades MS has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and lowered their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $101.73. Get Our Latest Stock Report on MS Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2 % NYSE MS opened at $99.88 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The company has a market capitalization of $162.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $100.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.59. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firms revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year. Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanleys previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanleys dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%. 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. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS Free Report). 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. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG Free Report) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,088,336 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after buying an additional 4,382 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV owned 0.19% of EOG Resources worth $136,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its holdings in EOG Resources by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 10,163 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in EOG Resources by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 820 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in EOG Resources by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 19,899 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $2,505,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank grew its holdings in EOG Resources by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 6,163 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in EOG Resources by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,152 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.91% of the companys stock. Get EOG Resources alerts: EOG Resources Stock Performance Shares of NYSE EOG opened at $123.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.94 and a 12 month high of $139.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.44. The stock has a market cap of $70.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.28. EOG Resources Dividend Announcement EOG Resources ( NYSE:EOG Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy exploration company reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.18. EOG Resources had a net margin of 30.33% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.49 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 12.2 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 17th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 17th. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several brokerages have issued reports on EOG. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $143.00 to $135.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EOG Resources from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $159.00 to $158.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $143.58. Read Our Latest Report on EOG Resources Insider Activity at EOG Resources In related news, EVP Michael P. Donaldson sold 11,037 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.50, for a total value of $1,429,291.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,615,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other EOG Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 6,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $816,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,892 shares in the company, valued at $7,648,035.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael P. Donaldson sold 11,037 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.50, for a total transaction of $1,429,291.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,250 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,615,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,537 shares of company stock worth $2,751,612 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the companys stock. EOG Resources Profile (Free Report) EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily in producing basins in the United States, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and internationally. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for EOG Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EOG Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS Free Report) by 29.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 363,000 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after acquiring an additional 83,000 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. owned 0.08% of Kosmos Energy worth $2,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Kosmos Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,462,835 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $8,104,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Kosmos Energy by 26.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 341,300 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 71,632 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Kosmos Energy by 13.5% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 13,620,854 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $75,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624,495 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in Kosmos Energy during the second quarter worth about $95,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 17.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,814,072 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $137,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636,663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.33% of the companys stock. Get Kosmos Energy alerts: Kosmos Energy Stock Up 3.9 % Shares of KOS opened at $4.38 on Wednesday. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $4.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.50. Kosmos Energy Ltd. has a one year low of $3.75 and a one year high of $8.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Kosmos Energy ( NYSE:KOS Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.04). Kosmos Energy had a return on equity of 40.16% and a net margin of 13.56%. The business had revenue of $450.94 million during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year. Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Kosmos Energy from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $8.56. Get Our Latest Report on KOS About Kosmos Energy (Free Report) Kosmos Energy Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas along the Atlantic Margins in the United States. The companys primary assets include production projects located in offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, as well as gas projects located in offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Kosmos Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kosmos Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV Free Report) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,700 shares of the insurance providers stock after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 324.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 301,584 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $61,324,000 after buying an additional 230,612 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.7% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 39,404 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $8,012,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,044,839 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $619,241,000 after buying an additional 165,708 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 29.3% during the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 1,508 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 3.2% during the second quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,700 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $953,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Travelers Companies alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts recently commented on TRV shares. StockNews.com cut Travelers Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Travelers Companies from $213.00 to $207.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Travelers Companies from $202.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen cut Travelers Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $252.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, William Blair reissued a market perform rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $227.05. Travelers Companies Stock Down 0.3 % Shares of TRV opened at $241.59 on Wednesday. The businesss 50 day moving average is $219.66 and its 200 day moving average is $217.13. The company has a market capitalization of $55.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.33 and a 12-month high of $243.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The insurance provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.23 by ($0.72). Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 8.37%. The firm had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Travelers Companiess payout ratio is 31.20%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.44, for a total value of $2,114,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,798 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,820,409.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.33% of the companys stock. 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. Read More 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. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,764 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLCs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $22,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,531 shares of the companys stock worth $3,499,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the companys stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Philip Morris International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 28,913 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,930,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 10,830 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the companys stock. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International In other Philip Morris International news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total value of $1,038,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at $9,877,305.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total transaction of $2,260,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total transaction of $1,038,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at $9,877,305.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Philip Morris International Trading Down 2.2 % PM stock opened at $123.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $191.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $128.22. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $117.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.13. Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.32% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year. Philip Morris International Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. This is a boost from Philip Morris Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts have recently commented on PM shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $117.05. View Our Latest Report on PM Philip Morris International Company Profile (Free Report) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN Free Report) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,287 shares of the information technology services providers stock after selling 2,918 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLCs holdings in Accenture were worth $24,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,718,732 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $20,699,110,000 after purchasing an additional 635,349 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,912,962 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $3,311,102,000 after purchasing an additional 131,544 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Accenture by 2.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,652,537 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $2,999,056,000 after acquiring an additional 173,107 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 4.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,797,028 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,316,086,000 after acquiring an additional 148,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Accenture by 6.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,044,810 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,055,362,000 after acquiring an additional 178,003 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the companys stock. Get Accenture alerts: Accenture Stock Performance ACN stock opened at $336.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $211.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.24. The firms fifty day moving average is $329.94 and its 200 day moving average is $322.59. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. Accenture Dividend Announcement Accenture ( NYSE:ACN Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The firms quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. Research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. Accentures payout ratio is 47.25%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms recently commented on ACN. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $354.91. Read Our Latest Research Report on Accenture Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,070 shares in the company, valued at $12,390,445.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the companys stock. Accenture Company Profile (Free Report) Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Accenture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Accenture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com lowered shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday. A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NJR. Argus raised New Jersey Resources to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Get New Jersey Resources alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on New Jersey Resources New Jersey Resources Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:NJR opened at $48.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 0.59. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $45.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.41. New Jersey Resources has a fifty-two week low of $38.92 and a fifty-two week high of $48.68. New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $275.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.56 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The businesss revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year. New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. This is a boost from New Jersey Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. New Jersey Resourcess dividend payout ratio is presently 71.15%. Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,305 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,788,725. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,305 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,788,725. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $1,198,596.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,705 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,601,847.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.75% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $620,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,033 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 176.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 185,637 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $7,934,000 after buying an additional 118,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 119,574 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $5,111,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the companys stock. About New Jersey Resources (Get Free Report) New Jersey Resources Corporation, an energy services holding company, distributes natural gas. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Distribution, Clean Energy Ventures, Energy Services, and Storage and Transportation. The Natural Gas Distribution segment offers regulated natural gas utility services to approximately 576,000 customers in Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, and Sussex counties in New Jersey; provides capacity and storage management services; and participates in the off-system sales and capacity release markets. Read More Receive News & Ratings for New Jersey Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for New Jersey Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS Free Report) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,698 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 124 shares during the quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Incs holdings in Novartis were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the companys stock worth $57,127,000 after buying an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the companys stock worth $17,485,000 after buying an additional 11,080 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Novartis by 314.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the companys stock worth $5,563,000 after buying an additional 41,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,968,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Novartis alerts: Novartis Price Performance Novartis stock opened at $115.70 on Wednesday. The companys fifty day moving average price is $113.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.21. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. Analyst Ratings Changes Novartis ( NYSE:NVS Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a strong sell rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $120.70. View Our Latest Stock Report on Novartis Novartis Company Profile (Free Report) Novartis AG engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It focuses on therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, as well as ophthalmology and hematology. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Novartis Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Novartis and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The offensive of Russian troops in the Kursk region has been stopped. Part of its territory remains under the control of the Ukrainian military. ADVERTISIMENT This was stated by a representative of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Commandant's Office Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi in a commentary to AFP. He noted that the Russian army tried to attack the positions of Ukrainian units from the flanks. However, these attempts were stopped. "The Russians did have some successes: "Russians entered one of the settlements. They started fighting for another settlement, but that's all," Dmytrashkivskyi added. He also said that there are still many civilians in the part of Kursk region controlled by Ukraine. In some settlements, there are more than a hundred or even more than 500 residents. "In some settlements, there are more than 100 people, in some more than 200, and in some places more than 500," Dmytrashkivskyi said. Russia has also not said how many of its civilians remain in the Kyiv-controlled areas of Kursk, saying only that about 130,000 have fled. According to Dmytrashkivskyi, food is being brought to the area from Ukraine's neighboring Sumy region. ADVERTISIMENT "Sumy regional state administration allocates funds for bread every week. The armed forces provide water, and the administration gives out food packages. Nothing works there, neither shops nor pharmacies, nothing," he said. According to the representative of the Ukrainian commandant's office, 23 civilians were killed as a result of Russian strikes on the seized territories of the Kursk region. Dmytrashkivskyi said that they "are dying together with the Ukrainian military." In addition, it has become known that the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who are participating in the operation in the Kursk region (Russia), continue to replenish the exchange fund. One day they surrendered 13 Russian soldiers who had been trying to shoot back for five days. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! ADVERTISIMENT Perennial Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Franklin FTSE Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:FLJP Free Report) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,677 shares of the companys stock after selling 416 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in Franklin FTSE Japan ETF were worth $623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin FTSE Japan ETF by 0.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 911,069 shares of the companys stock valued at $28,270,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin FTSE Japan ETF by 3.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 672,744 shares of the companys stock valued at $19,348,000 after acquiring an additional 24,383 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin FTSE Japan ETF in the first quarter valued at approximately $18,553,000. Arvest Trust Co. N A boosted its stake in Franklin FTSE Japan ETF by 0.5% in the second quarter. Arvest Trust Co. N A now owns 522,799 shares of the companys stock valued at $15,036,000 after acquiring an additional 2,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin FTSE Japan ETF by 0.3% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 503,184 shares of the companys stock valued at $14,472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares in the last quarter. Get Franklin FTSE Japan ETF alerts: Franklin FTSE Japan ETF Stock Down 1.0 % Shares of FLJP opened at $29.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 0.75. Franklin FTSE Japan ETF has a twelve month low of $25.10 and a twelve month high of $31.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.68. Franklin FTSE Japan ETF Profile The Franklin FTSE Japan ETF (FLJP) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the FTSE Japan RIC Capped index. The fund tracks a market-cap-selected and -weighted index of Japanese equities. FLJP was launched on Nov 2, 2017 and is managed by Franklin Templeton. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FLJP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Franklin FTSE Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:FLJP Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Franklin FTSE Japan ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Franklin FTSE Japan ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Plancorp LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:SMLF Free Report) by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,998 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Plancorp LLCs holdings in iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF in the 1st quarter valued at $24,098,000. Valmark Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF during the second quarter worth about $22,149,000. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF during the second quarter worth approximately $21,283,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,541,000. Finally, Fox Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,100,000. Get iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF alerts: iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF Price Performance SMLF stock opened at $65.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.18. iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF has a fifty-two week low of $47.77 and a fifty-two week high of $66.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.19. iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF Company Profile The iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap Multifactor ETF (SMLF) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the STOXX U.S. SmallCap Equity Factor index. The fund tracks an index of small-cap US equities. Stocks are selected and weighted to increase exposure to four factors (quality, value, momentum, and low volatility). Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SMLF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:SMLF Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its stake in shares of Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA Free Report) by 10.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,714,909 shares of the companys stock after selling 197,200 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLCs holdings in Coterra Energy were worth $45,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coterra Energy by 154.9% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 933 shares of the companys stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Coterra Energy by 98.0% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Coterra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 869.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the companys stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coterra Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.92% of the companys stock. Get Coterra Energy alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes CTRA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Capital raised shares of Coterra Energy from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Coterra Energy to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Coterra Energy from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Coterra Energy from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Coterra Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $32.76. Coterra Energy Stock Up 0.4 % CTRA stock opened at $23.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Coterra Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.30 and a twelve month high of $29.89. Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.02). Coterra Energy had a net margin of 23.18% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Coterra Energy Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Coterra Energy Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Coterra Energys payout ratio is currently 48.55%. Coterra Energy Company Profile (Free Report) Coterra Energy Inc, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company's properties include the Marcellus Shale with approximately 186,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania; Permian Basin properties with approximately 296,000 net acres located in west Texas and southeast New Mexico; and Anadarko Basin properties with approximately 182,000 net acres located in Oklahoma. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CTRA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Coterra Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coterra Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF (NYSEARCA:PCY Free Report) by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,954 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,425 shares during the quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLCs holdings in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 16,899 shares of the companys stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 30,278 shares of the companys stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 106,122 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 35,786 shares of the companys stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 14,652 shares of the companys stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Get Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF alerts: Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF Stock Up 0.1 % Shares of Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF stock opened at $21.61 on Wednesday. The stocks fifty day moving average is $20.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.41. Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF has a 52 week low of $17.30 and a 52 week high of $21.67. Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF Company Profile The Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF (PCY) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in broad credit fixed income. The fund tracks a tier-weighted index of US-dollar-denominated sovereign debt in emerging markets with at least 3 years to maturity. PCY was launched on Oct 11, 2007 and is managed by Invesco. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PCY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF (NYSEARCA:PCY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 128,600 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the August 15th total of 121,500 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 48,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Separately, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Saul Centers from $43.50 to $45.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Get Saul Centers alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on BFS Saul Centers Stock Down 1.1 % Shares of BFS stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.27. 56,681 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 52,122. The stock has a market cap of $965.76 million, a P/E ratio of 23.28 and a beta of 1.10. The stocks fifty day moving average is $39.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.74. Saul Centers has a 52-week low of $33.56 and a 52-week high of $41.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.40, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.29). Saul Centers had a net margin of 20.49% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The company had revenue of $66.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $65.54 million. Equities analysts predict that Saul Centers will post 3.12 EPS for the current year. Saul Centers Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.86%. Saul Centerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.42%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saul Centers Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BFS. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Saul Centers in the 1st quarter valued at $1,293,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Saul Centers in the 2nd quarter valued at $597,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Saul Centers by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 10,427 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in Saul Centers by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 9,132 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,010 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.99% of the companys stock. About Saul Centers (Get Free Report) Saul Centers is a self-managed, self-administered equity REIT headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Saul Centers currently operates and manages a real estate portfolio comprised of 61 properties that includes (a) 57 community and neighborhood Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use properties with approximately 9.8 million square feet of leasable area and (b) four land and development properties. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Saul Centers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Saul Centers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. China Feihe Limited (OTCMKTS:CHFLF Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,253,500 shares, a drop of 14.7% from the August 15th total of 16,709,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently days. China Feihe Price Performance Shares of CHFLF stock remained flat at 0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday. The businesss 50-day moving average is 0.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is 0.47. China Feihe has a one year low of 0.41 and a one year high of 0.65. Get China Feihe alerts: China Feihe Company Profile (Get Free Report) Further Reading China Feihe Limited, an investment holding company, produces and sells infant milk formula products in Mainland China, Canada, and the United States. It operates through two segments, Raw milk; and Dairy Products and Nutritional Supplements Products. The company provides a range of raw milk, adult milk powders, children's milk powder, liquid milk products, maternity milk powder, and health care products, as well as soybean powder and goat milk powder. Receive News & Ratings for China Feihe Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Feihe and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Decisive Dividend Co. (OTCMKTS:DEDVF Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the August 15th total of 4,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days. Decisive Dividend Trading Up 1.6 % Shares of Decisive Dividend stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.56. The companys stock had a trading volume of 200 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,176. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $4.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.94. Decisive Dividend has a one year low of $4.35 and a one year high of $8.55. Get Decisive Dividend alerts: About Decisive Dividend (Get Free Report) See Also Decisive Dividend Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells wood burning stoves, fireplace inserts, and gas fireplaces in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Finished Product and Component Manufacturing. The company also designs, manufactures, and markets air blast sprayers for use in agricultural industry under the Turbo Mist brand; and wastewater evaporator systems that are used in mining, oil and gas, and waste management industries. Receive News & Ratings for Decisive Dividend Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Decisive Dividend and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hua Medicine (Shanghai) Ltd. (OTCMKTS:HUMDF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 267,400 shares, a decline of 10.4% from the August 15th total of 298,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently days. Hua Medicine (Shanghai) Stock Performance HUMDF remained flat at C$0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday. Hua Medicine has a one year low of C$0.20 and a one year high of C$0.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$0.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$0.20. Get Hua Medicine (Shanghai) alerts: About Hua Medicine (Shanghai) (Get Free Report) See Also Hua Medicine (Shanghai) Ltd. operates as a drug development company that focuses on therapies for the treatment of diabetes in China. It develops Dorzagliatin or HMS5552, an oral drug for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D); and Dorzagliatin in combination with Metformin, Sitagliptin, and Empagliflozin for treatment of T2D. Receive News & Ratings for Hua Medicine (Shanghai) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hua Medicine (Shanghai) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Strathcona Resources Ltd. (TSE:SCR Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$34.25. SCR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Strathcona Resources from C$35.00 to C$30.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Strathcona Resources from C$37.00 to C$34.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Strathcona Resources to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Standpoint Research lifted their price target on shares of Strathcona Resources from C$40.00 to C$42.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Get Strathcona Resources alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on Strathcona Resources Strathcona Resources Trading Up 1.4 % TSE SCR opened at C$28.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 50.29, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 11.09. The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.04 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.56. The firms 50-day moving average is C$30.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$31.20. Strathcona Resources has a 12 month low of C$20.16 and a 12 month high of C$37.69. Strathcona Resources (TSE:SCR Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported C$1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$992.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$978.00 million. Strathcona Resources had a net margin of 11.62% and a return on equity of 12.32%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Strathcona Resources will post 4.0757143 earnings per share for the current year. Strathcona Resources Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. Strathcona Resourcess payout ratio is currently 23.26%. Insider Transactions at Strathcona Resources In other news, Director Navjeet Dhillon acquired 3,455 shares of Strathcona Resources stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$31.75 per share, for a total transaction of C$109,696.25. In related news, Senior Officer Scott Seipert bought 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$30.50 per share, with a total value of C$152,500.00. Also, Director Navjeet Dhillon purchased 3,455 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$31.75 per share, with a total value of C$109,696.25. Insiders own 91.34% of the companys stock. Strathcona Resources Company Profile (Get Free Report Strathcona Resources Ltd. acquires, explores, develops, and produces petroleum and natural gas reserves in Canada. It operates through three segments: Cold Lake Thermal, Lloydminster Heavy Oil, and Montney. The Cold Lake Thermal segment includes three producing assets in the Cold Lake region of Northern Alberta; and Lindbergh, Orion, and Tucker. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Strathcona Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Strathcona Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Free Report) by 54.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,752 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after selling 26,781 shares during the quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,487 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.4% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 508,812 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $52,871,000 after purchasing an additional 43,764 shares in the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% during the second quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 56,553 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $5,876,000 after buying an additional 4,672 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 113,244 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $11,767,000 after buying an additional 1,626 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Abbott Laboratories alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $121.80. Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance ABT stock opened at $118.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $109.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.56. The company has a market capitalization of $205.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.80, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year. Abbott Laboratories Profile (Free Report) Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. When he opened Waterloo Bridge in December 1945, Britains then-deputy prime minister, Herbert Morrison, made a short speech which included the following statement: The men who built Waterloo Bridge are fortunate men. They know that although their names may be forgotten, their work will be a pride and use to London for many generations to come. Morrison certainly got one thing right: although it is not the most spectacular, the new Waterloo Bridge is a source of pride for Londoners mainly because it was built under Nazi bombings in World War II. But why was it built at such a dangerous time? Because the war came later. Opened in 1817, the old Waterloo Bridge was strategically positioned next to Westminster. It not only connected the north and south banks of the city, but also allowed traffic to be diverted from Westminster Bridge, when necessary. However, from 1874 onwards, scour from the river flow of the Thames damaged the foundations of the old bridge, and by the 1920s, the damage had become dangerous. So much so that a parallel steel bridge was built as a temporary solution. Construction of the Waterloo Bridge in 1942. Express (Getty Images) In the 1930s, the authorities decided to demolish the old viaduct and build a new one. The project was carried out by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who designed an elegant concrete and steel bridge with five spans; a small structural feat at the time. With a workforce of around 500 men, work on the new Waterloo Bridge began in 1937 and was due to be completed by 1942, but World War II broke out in the middle of construction. Initially, the work was planned to be halted, but when the Nazis began bombing London in 1940, the British government decided that completing the bridge was a matter of national importance. It wasnt just about finishing a feat of engineering, it was about showing to both the Germans and the British that nothing, not even bombs, was going to stop them. It was about sticking to the governments motivational slogan of Keep Calm and Carry On. The problem was that there was no one to build it. According to records, of the 500 men who began the work, only 150 had not been assigned to military work, either at the front or at British bases. In effect, there were no men to finish the bridge. But there were women. Female welder Dorothy cleans her face while working on the bridge's construction. Daily Herald Archive (SSPL via Getty Images) For while many women took an active part in the war as nurses, clerks, telephone operators and even pilots all women made a vital contribution to the war effort: they not only kept the war machine going, they kept their own countries going. With a large part of the male population at the front, hundreds of thousands of women joined the factories where ammunition was made, airplanes were built and tank parts were riveted together. This was the era of Rosie the Riveter. And it was women who built Waterloo Bridge, too. According to the Womens Engineering Society, some 350 women began work there in early 1941. Welding, erecting, shuttering, riveting. Sometimes the days were clear, sometimes they had to run to shelters to escape the Luftwaffe bombs. They worked eight-, 10- and 12-hour days, Monday to Sunday. With the sole aim of finishing the job in 1942. And they succeeded. The new Waterloo Bridge was officially opened in September 1942, although it was not fully completed until December 1945. And although the deputy prime minister forgot (so to speak) about women in his speech, Londoners did not. During the post-war years, people in London referred to the bridge as The Ladies Bridge. Indeed, when riverboats on the Thames passed under the Waterloo Bridge, captains commonly announced it by its nickname. Dorothy welding in 1944. Daily Herald Archive (SSPL via Getty Images) But Morrison got something else right: their names were forgotten. There was no record of these women, no document to prove what Londoners knew. By 2000, the story had become practically a rumor, an urban legend. Until, in 2005, filmmakers Karen Livesey and Jo Wiser decided to find how much truth there was in the story. They looked for women who had worked on the bridge, for their relatives, for anyone who had a story about the women on the bridge. And they recorded these testimonies in their documentary, The Ladies Bridge. But it was still just oral memory. The filmmakers needed concrete evidence. They tried looking into the archives of Peter Lind & Company, the bridge contractor, but discovered that the company went bankrupt in the 1980s and all its documents were missing. Then, in 2015, they were contacted by historian Christine Wall, who had been researching the same matter for some time. She had found a lead in the archives of the National Science and Media Museum. And there, one morning in 2015, they found Dorothy. Amid a web of photos and online listings, Wall found several Daily Herald photographs of women working on the Waterloo Bridge. Among them were three photos dated 1944 of a female welder identified only as Dorothy. Following the discovery of Dorothy and the other images, Historic England the body responsible for protecting Englands heritage officially recognized womens contribution to the construction of the bridge, and gave it a Grade II listed status. So if you ever go on a boat on the Thames and the captain talks about The Ladies Bridge, you should know that it is not an urban legend. That it was there that Dorothy and 350 other women worked alongside 150 men, building Waterloo Bridge amid the Nazi bombings. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Free Report) by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,585 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 20,889 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up approximately 1.4% of SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLCs holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $6,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 69,360,233 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,771,985,000 after buying an additional 17,369,091 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 4,691,362 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $326,284,000 after buying an additional 2,322,156 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 28,736.1% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,485,637 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $107,471,000 after buying an additional 1,480,485 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 1st quarter valued at $105,563,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,668,610 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $802,800,000 after buying an additional 1,373,223 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other Charles Schwab news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.49, for a total transaction of $652,410.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 570,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,366,925.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger acquired 25,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.26 per share, for a total transaction of $1,656,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,822,000.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.49, for a total value of $652,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 570,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,366,925.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,636 shares of company stock worth $6,533,064 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets SCHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $71.00 price target (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler lowered Charles Schwab from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their price target on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a market outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $73.75. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Charles Schwab Charles Schwab Price Performance SCHW opened at $63.84 on Wednesday. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $64.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.03. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $48.66 and a 12-month high of $79.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $113.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.97. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 26.30%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Charles Schwabs revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year. Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.84%. About Charles Schwab (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. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Free Report). 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. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK Free Report) by 13.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,126 shares of the asset managers stock after buying an additional 1,521 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLCs holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset managers stock worth $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset managers stock worth $3,181,346,000 after purchasing an additional 749,654 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 24,171.5% in the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset managers stock worth $346,831,000 after purchasing an additional 414,300 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset managers stock worth $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1,829.7% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 297,985 shares of the asset managers stock worth $241,904,000 after purchasing an additional 282,543 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the companys stock. Get BlackRock alerts: BlackRock Trading Up 1.1 % BLK stock opened at $904.83 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $908.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The company has a market capitalization of $134.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $862.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $815.73. BlackRock Dividend Announcement BlackRock ( NYSE:BLK Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.28 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. BlackRocks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.84%. Insider Activity at BlackRock In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Company insiders own 0.90% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets BLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $902.13. Get Our Latest Research Report on BlackRock 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. Further Reading 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. Wealth Alliance cut its stake in shares of iShares Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEV Free Report) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,026 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,244 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance owned 0.11% of iShares Europe ETF worth $1,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canal Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in iShares Europe ETF by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 7,024 shares of the companys stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in iShares Europe ETF by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 30,457 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,668,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in iShares Europe ETF by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. now owns 41,845 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in iShares Europe ETF by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,598 shares of the companys stock valued at $854,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Balentine LLC bought a new position in iShares Europe ETF during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Get iShares Europe ETF alerts: iShares Europe ETF Price Performance IEV opened at $57.28 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 0.83. iShares Europe ETF has a one year low of $45.43 and a one year high of $58.38. iShares Europe ETF Profile iShares Europe ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares S&P Europe 350 Index 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 Europe 350 (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the stocks of companies in the countries, which includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IEV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEV Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Europe ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Europe ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (NYSEARCA:BINC Free Report) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,014 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 723 shares during the period. WealthPLAN Partners LLCs holdings in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF were worth $732,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BINC. SigFig Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,028 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,611,000 after buying an additional 2,804 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock Flexible Income ETF by 1.0% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 226,775 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Advisors increased its position in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF by 444.6% during the second quarter. Financial Life Advisors now owns 56,604 shares of the companys stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 46,210 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners raised its stake in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 14,858 shares of the companys stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,949,000. Get BlackRock Flexible Income ETF alerts: BlackRock Flexible Income ETF Stock Performance Shares of NYSEARCA:BINC opened at $53.44 on Wednesday. BlackRock Flexible Income ETF has a 12-month low of $49.54 and a 12-month high of $53.47. The companys 50 day moving average price is $52.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.39. About BlackRock Flexible Income ETF The BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (BINC) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in high yield fixed income. The fund provides an actively managed approach to multisector fixed-income exposure globally. It may hold debt and income-producing securities, of any credit quality or maturity, with the objective of maximizing long-term income and capital appreciation. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Flexible Income ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock Flexible Income ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Zega Financial LLC lifted its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW Free Report) by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,172 shares of the information technology services providers stock after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Zega Financial LLCs holdings in ServiceNow were worth $922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NOW. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the first quarter valued at approximately $11,030,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in ServiceNow by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 11,650 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $8,882,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 375.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 1,365 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in ServiceNow by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,283,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in ServiceNow by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 14,394 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $10,595,000 after buying an additional 2,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the companys stock. Get ServiceNow alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp cut their price target on ServiceNow from $950.00 to $920.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on ServiceNow from $920.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on ServiceNow from $820.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a sell rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $855.44. ServiceNow Stock Down 0.6 % NOW stock opened at $886.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $812.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $768.20. The stock has a market cap of $181.79 billion, a PE ratio of 94.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.98. ServiceNow, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $527.24 and a fifty-two week high of $899.61. ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.61 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 11.51%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow In other news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $825.00, for a total value of $1,485,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,490 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,479,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other ServiceNow news, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 135 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $822.00, for a total transaction of $110,970.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,850,474. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $825.00, for a total transaction of $1,485,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,490 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,479,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,914 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,936 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock. About ServiceNow (Free Report) ServiceNow, Inc provides end to-end intelligent workflow automation platform solutions for digital businesses in the North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates the Now platform for end-to-end digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, process mining, performance analytics, and collaboration and development tools. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NOW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for ServiceNow Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ServiceNow and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Suspicions within Hezbollah that Israel had tapped its internal communications systems precipitated the Tuesday attack that killed at least nine people, including several Hezbollah members and a child, and wounded around 3,000 more people, regional intelligence sources confirmed to Al Monitor, as cited by the Israeli daily Haaretz. The report added that Israels intention had not originally been to detonate the devices at this time, but rather right before carrying out a major attack on Lebanon to damage the capabilities of the Shiite party-militia supported by Iran, with which it has been engaged in a low-intensity war for almost a year. This same theory is supported by Axios, which cites three unnamed U.S. officials familiar with the decision-making process. According to one of these sources, it was a use it or lose it moment. For weeks, tensions have been rising, particularly along the border between Israel and Lebanon, given the possibility that the daily launching of missiles and drones could lead to a more intense conflict. A total of up to 5,000 devices that have arrived in Lebanon in recent months may have been altered by the Mossad, Israels intelligence service, at some point along the supply chain, a Lebanese security source explained to Reuters. The Mossad included a plate inside the device that has explosive material and that is very difficult to detect by any means. Even with any device or scanner, added the same source. The explosion of the pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria has served to uncover, on the one hand, the weakness of the Lebanese guerrillas communications system, despite all the precautions they implement, and, on the other, it shows the true power of the Israeli secret services. Until now, their last major blow was delivered on July 31, when the top leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, was killed in Tehran in an attack that remained unclaimed. The resistance will continue today, like any other day, with its operations to support Gaza, its people and its resistance against Israel, which should expect a response, the Lebanese militia said in a statement. Its top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is scheduled to give a speech on Thursday. The Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo, the brand name found on the devices, has tried to deflect responsibility. In a statement, it pointed to the European company BAC Consulting, based in Budapest (Hungary), which has a license to use the Gold Apollo brand. According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, the statement says. Israel has killed its enemies in a variety of ways over the decades, from dropping one-ton bombs that killed dozens of people around the targets, to using precision-engineered explosive phones. It has also carried out cyberattacks, poisonings, used high-precision drones, and designed remote-activated weapons. Its agents on the ground often resort to disguise and deception to carry out attacks undetected, in real-life plots that seem straight out of a movie. But there has never been a remote operation as sophisticated as the one carried out on Tuesday, whose authorship nobody has questioned even if the Israeli authorities remain silent on the matter. If Israel is really responsible, the pager attack was certainly one of the most original, surprising and painful moves of this shadow war. This is the kind of operation that is reserved for use only in emergency cases, says Ronen Bergman, an analyst for the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot. In an attempt to circumvent close monitoring by the Israeli secret services of their enemies, the Lebanese guerrillas have opted for pagers, a rudimentary communication system that was prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s, and which does not even allow the user to make calls. Tracking them is more complex than mobile phones, which are generally connected to the internet. But everything indicates that even this precaution has not been enough. Sinwar communicates in writing In recent days, details have emerged about how Yahia Sinwar, the top Hamas leader and one of Israels most coveted players, who took over a week after Haniyas assassination, tries to evade surveillance and monitoring. He communicates through handwritten notes that he sometimes sends to his recipients through close and very trusted associates. One of these letters, which could even serve to set the conditions for negotiations with Israel on a possible ceasefire, recently reached the hands of Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, as the guerrilla shared on its social media last week. In it, the Palestinian showed his gratitude for the support during the war as part of the axis of which they are part under the guidance of Tehran. A similar note appeared on the profiles of the Houthi guerrilla in Yemen last weekend after the Hamas leader congratulated them for managing to get one of their missiles into Israeli territory. Sinwar is trying to avoid any electronic communication that might give Israel the opportunity to locate and either capture or kill him. The Hamas chief is accused of being one of the masterminds behind the massacre of around 1,200 people on October 7 in Israel, which set the current war in motion. The fact that a state like Israel, obsessed with security and capable of carrying out operations like the one on Tuesday, was the victim that day of the biggest attack in its 76-year history continues to raise many eyebrows. Many are still asking themselves, almost a year later, whether its secret services, its army and its government really knew nothing of what Hamas had been cooking up for months in a small territory like Gaza, only 365 square kilometres in size and under constant surveillance. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Not a day goes by when Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his government do not publicly and privately pressure Joe Biden to give Ukraine the green light to use NATOs long-range missiles to strike targets on Russian soil. While the Ukrainian leader tries to convince the U.S. president to cross this red line, Moscow has reinforced its offensive with weapons supplied by North Korea and Iran. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministrys intelligence services, said Saturday that new deliveries of North Korean artillery shells to Russian troops are helping the invaders advance on multiple fronts in Donetsk province. They supply huge amounts of artillery ammunition, which is critical for Russia, Budanov said at a press conference in Kyiv. The intelligence chief added that North Korea is also supplying ballistic missiles, but in smaller volumes. Out of all of Russias allies, our biggest problem is North Korea because of the volume of military supplies they are providing, which truly affects the intensity of the fighting, Budanov said. Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about it at the moment. North Korea has vast quantities of Soviet-made artillery ammunition, including the weapons used by Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un strengthened bilateral trade and military ties this year. Sergei Shoigu, the head of Russias Security Council, visited Kim in Pyongyang last week, and on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his visiting North Korean counterpart, Choe Son-hui. Budanov was also referring to North Korean Hwasong-11 ballistic missiles identified in the Russian arsenal. Four of these missiles were identified in the August 18 bombing raid on Kyiv. Remnants of these missiles have been found on previous occasions, but in the case of the August 18 bombing, the weapons had been manufactured this year, according to The New York Times. The Hwasong-11 is a long-range missile with a flight range of around 450 miles. With respect to shorter-range missiles, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Commission believe that Tehran delivered the Iranian-made Fath-360 which has a range of 75 miles to Moscow in September. Sky News reported that Russia may have received more than 200 Fath-360s. Both the Kremlin and Iran have denied this. So far, there are no reports that these missiles have been fired on Ukrainian soil. Ukrainian defense experts argue that Russia could use the Faths to strike targets close to the front from Russian soil. In addition to the alleged deliveries of the Fath-360s, Iran has provided Russia with its Shahed bomb drones, which have been used extensively in Russias war against Ukraine. The Russian military now uses several adaptations of the Shaheds produced by its own forces. On Tuesday, Shoigu met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and according to state media, the Iranian leader told him that relations between Tehran and Moscow would develop in a continuous and lasting way. Supply problems Russias alliance with Iran and North Korea comes as Ukraine struggles with a shortfall of Western weapons. Zelenskiy told CNN on Sunday that they were expecting supplies to rearm 14 brigades, but have barely enough to rearm four. The Ukrainian stressed that the country must increasingly rely on strengthening its own weapons production, particularly drones. It was Zelenskiy himself who announced in August that a new Ukrainian-made ballistic missile and a missile-drone had been successfully tested. In 2023, Ukraines Ministry of Defense launched an adaptation of the Neptune anti-ship missile to hit land targets. Ukrainian authorities themselves admitted that the production capacity of these rockets was limited due to the lack of resources and the risk of a Russian attack. Zelenskiys military industry adviser, Oleksandr Kamyshin, told AFP on September 14 that Ukraine needs $20 billion to operate at full capacity, but that only $7 billion is available in the state budget. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund also said this weekend that 18 Ukrainian-made Bogdan howitzers had entered service in the past two months thanks to funding from his government. Long-range missiles But for Zelenskiy, the top priority is getting Bidens approval to use NATO long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia. Washington has so far allowed its war technology to be used in border regions, including in the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk province, but the U.S. president is still weighing up his decision. Opinions within his administration are divided, according to reports in the main U.S. media. Putin has warned that striking Russian territory far from the front with NATO weapons would be a declaration of war. The Ukrainian president raised the issue again on Sunday after four precision-guided aerial bombs fell on civilian areas in the city of Kharkiv. The Ukrainian government and military insist they must be able to destroy Russian aircraft firing on their country from hundreds of miles away. Every Russian strike of this nature, every instance of Russian terror [...] proves that there must be long-range capability and it must be sufficient, Zelenskiy said in a video message released on Sunday. We are waiting for the relevant decisions, especially from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy everyone whose decisiveness can help save lives. Zelenskiy even hinted at a conference on September 13 that the future of the war depends on this decision: We need enough long-range missiles to change the course of the war and force Russia to negotiate peace. The Ukrainian leader believes that an arsenal of long-range missiles could act as a deterrent to push Russia to withdraw from the occupied territories in Ukraine. The British government has signalled that it is in favor of allowing Ukraine to fire its Storm Shadow missiles against targets in Russia, although it is awaiting a decision from Washington. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday expressed her support for giving the green light to Ukraines request at a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Italy has supplied Storm Shadow units to Kyiv. France which is involved in producing and delivering Scalp missiles, a variant of the Storm Shadow, to Ukraine has avoided taking a position. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made it clear that he will not deliver Germanys Taurus long-range missiles and that under no circumstances does he want German weapons to be used on Russian soil. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The threat of a global H5N1 bird flu epidemic is increasing. The United States has identified the first infected patient whose route of infection is unknown. Apparently, the patient had not had contact with farm animals, nor had he consumed raw cows milk, the most likely ways to get infected. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) disclosed that a household contact of this individual also developed symptoms on the same day; although this second person was not tested for bird flu, it raises the possibility of person-to-person infection. U.S. authorities said there was no evidence of human transmission, but the lack of data does not allow this possibility to be ruled out. The world is experiencing the worst avian influenza epidemic known to date. It originates from a subtype of the H5N1 virus known as 2.3.4.4b, which has already killed hundreds of millions of wild and domestic birds. The virus should in theory only be able to infect birds, but multiple jumps to mammals have been recorded, from seals and sea lions in South America to minks on a farm in Spain. One of the main hotspots of infection is dairy farms in the United States, with 207 herds affected in 14 states. The pathogen has gained the ability to infect birds and mammals alike, it accumulates in the cows udders and in their milk, and spreads without clear transmission pathways. Last July, a team of American scientists who analyzed viruses detected in cows warned that the pandemic potential of the pathogen was increasing. H5N1 has jumped from birds to humans on at least 889 occasions since 2003, and killed 463 people (52% of cases). Even so, both the United Nations and the U.S. authorities consider that the risk to human health remains low. So far, 13 people have been infected with the highly pathogenic variant in the United States. All the patients were associated with farms and had only mild symptoms. But last week the CDC confirmed the case of a patient from Missouri who had been hospitalized with chest pain, vomiting and diarrhea, and was found, after extensive testing, to have developed bird flu. The virus had the same genetic profile as the variants detected in farm cattle, which this patient had not been exposed to. The CDC has also reported two other suspected cases. The first is a close contact of the Missouri patient who experienced symptoms on the same day, but was not tested to confirm infection. A health care worker who treated the patient also experienced symptoms, but tested negative. According to the federal authority, there is no indication that the virus was transmitted, but rather that the patient and his contact were probably infected at the same time. After 10 days, no further cases have been reported. It is not yet possible to explain how the patient from Missouri, a state with no farm infections for months, could have become infected. The new case has also exposed the lack of coordination and transparency by authorities. The Missouri patient was identified in mid-August, but the state only reported the case on September 5 and assured that no one else had become ill. A day later, the CDC admitted the existence of the second patient, the household contact. The initial data only indicated that it was H5 influenza, one of the two external proteins that characterize influenza viruses. Confirmation that the other key protein was N1 and the publication of the complete genetic sequence of the virus in an international database took another week, partly due to the low viral load of the first patient. Maria Van Kherkove, acting director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention at the World Health Organization (WHO), has expressed her concern about the U.S. case. More work needs to be done by the agricultural sector to get to the bottom of and put a stop to transmission of H5N1 bird flu in dairy cattle in the United States, she said in statements reported by STAT. She also called for greater collaboration and transparency between veterinary and health authorities in order to have the complete picture of what is happening. One close contact of H5N1 case without animal link was also ill but not tested. Can anyone here from Missouri please work on the state government and bring CDC in!! We cannot sit and wait in the rest of the world to watch a potential pandemic evolve, tweeted the Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans, who worked for the WHO to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. The virus isolated from the Missouri patient has two new mutations. One of the mutations has been shown in animal studies to reduce the virus-neutralizing ability by 10- to 100-fold, said computational virologist Jesse Bloom, a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, in a preliminary analysis published in X. The importance of these mutations is that they help prepare vaccine candidates if H5N1 begins to spread among humans, although by themselves they do not allow us to say whether this is more likely than before, the researcher explained in an email. Elisa Perez, a veterinary virologist at the CSIC Animal Health Research Center in Spain, considers the situation to be very worrying. The scientist sees parallels with what happened in April 2009, when two children in California were infected with an H1N1 flu virus of swine origin without having had any contact with these animals. It was not possible to determine how they became infected. Two months later, the WHO declared a global swine flu pandemic in which there were more than 60 million infections and 12,000 deaths, although the number of deaths not confirmed by testing may have exceeded half a million, according to the CDC. Perez focuses on the epidemiological surveillance in the United States, which she considers disappointing and suffering from a lack of transparency. It could be the first evidence that there is human-to-human transmission of H5N1. It is incredible that no samples were taken from the close contact. I understand that the general risk remains low, but it is one more step on the risk scale. We still lack information on this case in Missouri. I do not know if we will ever know how the person was infected, but at least the epidemiological investigation must be as complete as possible and the data must be shared quickly, she explains. There is still the possibility of confirming the infections by doing a blood test in search of antibodies against H5N1. With the new flu season just around the corner, the veterinarian stresses the importance of vaccinating all people who work on animal farms or have contact with livestock. Otherwise, she explains, a terrifying scenario could occur: human viruses infecting animals already infected with H5N1 and recombining, which could give rise to even more transmissible pathogens. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The boost to the Democratic campaign triggered by President Joe Bidens decision to withdraw from the race and make way for his vice president, Kamala Harris, has not only been reflected in the polls. The organization Voto Latino, which works to promote voting among Hispanics, has increased voter registration by 200% since Harris took over from Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee. The announcement comes on the day that is celebrated as National Voter Registration Day. As of today, Voto Latino claims to have registered 112,000 new voters. The majority of those registered, 56%, are young people between the ages of 18 and 29, and three-fifths are between 18 and 39 years old. The states where there has been the most registration activity are Texas, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina and Florida. In addition to young people, women have been the main drivers of the registration movement. This enthusiasm that we are seeing emerged on July 21, when President Biden decided to step aside and nominate and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, said Ameer Patel, program director for Voto Latino. Pattel explains that the month of July started with 39,000 new registrations, but between July 21 and 31 alone, there were 50,000 new registrations, of which 70% are women. To compare the figures, in July 2016, when Hillary Clinton was nominated, there were 2,252 new registered voters, and in 2020, after Joe Biden was nominated, there were 25,116. The organization focused on reaching younger voters using digital media, which is widely used by this population group. We started targeting young people immediately after the announcement, explains Patel. Voto Latino, which has publicly supported the Democratic candidate, compares the numbers with those achieved during Barack Obamas campaigns. Despite the enthusiasm that Harris nomination injected into the Democratic campaign at the beginning, most Latino voters acknowledged that they knew nothing about her program. According to Maria Teresa Kumar, president of Voto Latino, this began to change after Harris spoke about her proposals, such as providing affordable housing. At first, when we saw the enthusiasm, it was like we like her, shes very authentic, but now they are starting to see how she really is and they like her even more, says Kumar. According to their surveys, the issues that interest young Latinas the most are the economy and reproductive rights. Security and gun control are in third place. Philadelphia Councilwoman Quetcy Lozada and State Representative Danilo Burgos pose with attendees at the Pennsylvania Democratic Latino Campaign Rally on Sept. 7, 2024. Jaclyn Licht Latinos are the demographic group that has grown the most since the last election, and with 36.2 million voters they represent 14% of all citizens eligible to vote in the country. Since 2020, four million new voters have joined the ranks: every 30 seconds a Latino turns 18, the age required to vote. However, and despite the progress made in recent weeks, there are only 26 million Latinos registered to vote and only 16 million voted in the last election. Their vote is decisive in some key states such as Arizona, where they reach 25% of voters, and Nevada, where they are 22%, which will end up deciding the outcome of the presidential election. Kumar points to misinformation as one of the factors that most hinders Latino participation at the polls. And the fact that Republicans spent a week talking about deportations gave Latinos pause. Voting advocacy organizations recognize that there is still a long way to go for Latinos to reach the level of participation of the rest of the population. Theirs is the group that has shown the most apathy, based on the idea that none of the candidates reflected their needs. The fact that they do not feel represented, the lack of information on how to register and the reluctance to provide personal data that could potentially harm them at some point have been the main reasons for not doing so. In the 2020 elections, only 61% of eligible Latinos registered to vote, compared to 74% of non-Hispanic white citizens. Obstacles to participation In addition to the lack of interest that Latinos may have in the elections, there are also difficulties that they encounter in some states, which are more reluctant to let immigrants vote, even if they are citizens. One example is the identification that must be presented at the time of registration, which in 21 states, including the key states of Georgia and North Carolina, must have a photo. The most common form of identification is a drivers license, but not everyone has one. Another option is a passport, but the process is not cheap and many do not have one either. Kumar criticizes attempts by some Republican states to suppress voting with tactics such as Texass disallowing voters from having temporary addresses, which he says refers to student residences. We know there is an effort to purge records, not just by state authorities but by local organizations as well, and part of our effort is to contact voters when that happens before Election Day and make sure they are registered even if they havent voted in the past two elections, a task he says they were not prepared to take on. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The Sealdah Court today again ordered three days of CBI custody for former RG Kar hospital principal Sandip Ghosh and Tala police stations former OC Abhijit Mondal. Previously, they were remanded to CBI custody for three days. The case was heard again today at Sealdah Court. When the accused were brought to the court, the public began protesting. On this day, the CBI again requested three more days of custody for Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal. The CBI stated in court that, so far, there is no evidence of gang rape in the R G Kar incident. However, they allege that Sandip Ghosh and Mr Mondal conspired after the rape and murder of the doctor. The CBI added: Based on mobile phone call records, both individuals have been interrogated. The hard disks recovered from Tala police stations CCTV cameras need to be investigated. Advertisement The judge of the Sealdah court inquired whether OC of Tala police station was directly involved in the rape and murder. In response, the CBI mentioned that some reports from Delhi are still pending, and the investigation is going on in phases. They further stated that the OC knew Sanjay (the civic volunteer) beforehand, which allowed him unrestricted access to R G Kar. They also mentioned that the accused civic volunteer was often seen roaming around the hospital in an intoxicated state. Seeking further custody of Abhijit Mondal, the CBI asked, Why did Sanjay visit the hospital on the night of 9 August? Did someone send him to the hospital that night? Why were there multiple phone calls between the OC and the arrested civic volunteer? To answer these questions, the CBI requested that the OC be remanded into their custody again. It is notable that on Saturday night, the CBI arrested the OC and former principal Sandeep Ghosh on charges of tampering with evidence. On Sunday morning, as the OC was being taken for a medical test from the CGO complex, a crowd gathered outside and protested fiercely, some even showing their shoes in disapproval. Manoj Kumar Verma, a 1998-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, has been named as the new commissioner of Kolkata Police. He replaces Vineet Kumar Goyal, who has been transferred to the Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police as the additional director general (ADG). On Monday night, after meeting with the protesting junior doctors chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced the removal of Mr Goyal as commissioner of city police. Advertisement Verma held the post of additional director general of police (law and order) and Jawed Shamim will now be occupying that chair. As announced by the chief minister on Monday, deputy commissioner (north division) of Kolkata Police Abhishek Gupta has also been replaced. Gupta has been transferred as the commanding officer of the second battalion of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR). He will be replaced by Dipak Sarkar, who is currently posted as the deputy commissioner at the Siliguri Police Commissionerate. The state government, at the same time, has announced two other reshuffles in the state police. Gyanwant Singh, the director of the directorate of economic offense, has been transferred to the intelligence branch of the state police as the ADG. Singh will be replaced by Tripurari Athrav, the erstwhile ADG (STF). The famous food storage containers business, Tupperware Brands Corp., and some of its subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It gives in to dwindling demand for its once-iconic food storage containers and mounting financial losses. Notably, the post-pandemic jump in costs of raw materials such as plastic resin, as well as labour and freight, had only further dented Tupperware margins. Advertisement The journey had a short-lived pandemic boost when increased home cooking briefly drove demand for its colorful, airtight plastic containers. As per the reports, Tupperware has been planning to file for bankruptcy protection after breaching the terms of its debt and enlisting legal and financial advisers. Chief Executive Officer of the company, Laurie Goldman, in a press release said, Over the last several years, the companys financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment. It is to be highlighted that Tupperware listed $500 million-$1 billion in estimated assets and $1 billion-$10 billion in estimated liabilities, according to bankruptcy filings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It showed the number of creditors to be between 50,001-100,000. In 2023, the company had finalized an agreement with its lenders to restructure its debt obligations and signed investment bank Moelis Co to help explore strategic alternatives. The designated Chief Minister of Delhi, Atishi on Wednesday announced a Rs 10 lakh compensation amount to the deceased in the Karol Bagh building collapse incident. She also met the injured people and their families at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here late in the evening. Delhi Government will provide a compensation amount of Rs 10 lakh to the deceased while based on the seriousness of injury, an appropriate compensation amount will also be provided to injured persons, announced Atishi. Advertisement She assured of a legal action against the owner of the building. I am in touch with the Mayor and an inquiry into the matter will be taken up and strict action will be taken against the concerned civic officials, said Atishi. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), on Wednesday, successfully completed the first twin tunnels breakthrough under Phase-IV construction. The two tunnel boring machines (TBMs), Bhoomi and Srishti, emerged concurrently at Pulbangash Metro Station, marking the completion of the 3 km twin tunnels connecting Derawal Nagar to Pulbangash on the Janakpuri West R K Ashram corridor (Magenta line Extension). The event was graced by the presence of Dharmendra, Chief Secretary of Delhi and Dr. Vikas Kumar, MD, DMRC. Advertisement This is one of those rare occasions when two TBMs have emerged simultaneously after boring parallel tunnels. It is a major tunnelling feat as the engineers have to meticulously monitor the movement of two parallel machines, a DMRC spokesperson said. Both TBMs were successfully retrieved at Pulbangash Metro Station today, in just over 14 months, covering a length of approx. 2997 metres, at an average rate of8.2 metres per tunnel per day. This is also the longest tunnelling drive (almost 3 km) in DMRC Phase IV works, the spokesperson said. The tunnels were built at a depth of around 14-15 metres below the ground, passing through densely populated areas, including Rana Pratap Bagh and Punjabi Basti Colony. They also passed beneath the Najafgarh drain, a sensitive section due to the uncertain structural condition of the drain. Despite tunnelling in submerged water conditions, no damage was caused to any existing structures. The TBMs also had to bore through the under construction Ghanta Ghar station as retrieving them at that location was not feasible. The tunnels have an internal finish diameter of 5.8 metres, and a total of six cross passages are being constructed to connect the two tunnels for passenger safety. The contractor for this civil package is M/s Afcons. This breakthrough follows another major achievement on August 21, when DMRC completed a TBM breakthrough at the Chhatarpur Mandir site on the Delhi Aerocity- Tughlakabad Corridor. With this twin tunnel breakthrough at Pulbangash, the DMRC has built on the success of its earlier tunnelling achievements. The tunnelling work on this stretch had begun with the deployment of TBM Bhoomi on June 18, 2023, followed by Srishti on August 19, 2023. Allu Arjun recently has committed to providing opportunities to the victim of a high-profile harassment case involving renowned choreographer Jani Master, whose real name is Shaik Jani Basha. The victim, who has previously worked on Pushpa 2: The Rule, will now have the chance to collaborate with Allu Arjun on various future projects under the banner of Geetha Arts, founded by his father, Allu Aravind. This commitment from Allu Arjun comes in the wake of serious allegations against Jani Master, who has sexually assaulted a 21-year-old woman multiple times. The incidents reportedly took place during film shoots across various cities, including Chennai, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, as well as at the victims residence in Narsingi. Following her complaint, the Cyberabad Raidurgam police filed a Zero First Information Report (FIR) against him. The case is now under the local Narsingi police for further investigation. Advertisement According to official reports, the victims allegations are grave, leading to Jani Master charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including those related to rape and criminal intimidation. Shikha Goel, the Director General of the Women Safety Wing in Telangana, has been consulted for guidance on the case. She emphasized the importance of launching an internal inquiry under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act while also pursuing criminal charges. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maddock Films (@maddockfilms) This is not the first time Jani Master has faced allegations of misconduct. Earlier this year, another dancer, Satish, lodged a complaint against him, claiming harassment and interference in his career. Jani Master has denied all allegations, asserting his innocence in a recent press conference. Furthermore, he previously received sentence of six months in jail over an unrelated brawl in 2019. Jani Master has choreographed popular tracks for films such as Stree 2 and Jailer. His work includes collaborations with major stars, including Allu Arjun himself. The Orissa High Court on Wednesday took strong exception to the custodial abuse of the woman fiance of a serving officer in the Indian army, during her visit to a police station in Bhubaneswar to register a complaint against a group of anti-socials in a road rage case. The single bench judge of High Court Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra, while granting bail to the woman allegedly arrested in a trumped up case after being assaulted and molested in lockup in Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar, observed that the allegation made by the accused-petitioner in the present case is an anathema to the very concept of a democratic and orderly society. As per the case records, a serving Army officer of Sikh regiment and his female friend had rushed to the Bharatpur police station to seek protection from unsocial elements after they encountered a road rage on the highway passing through the city. Advertisement As the policemen on duty at the police station insisted on a written complaint, a verbal duel ensued. The policemen, unable to digest the show of resistance, allegedly beat up the duo and confined the Army officer in lockup in the police station. Later the army officers female friend was badly beaten, stripped and molested as she vehemently protested the police highhandedness. Later the woman was arrested and was sent to jail on 16 September after a local Court rejected her bail application. Taking into consideration the seriousness and gravity of the allegation, the custodial detention of the petitioner (arrested woman) infringes upon the fundamental right of the petitioner as guaranteed under Article 21. On a careful examination of the record, it appears that the allegations are very serious in nature, Justice Mohapatra ruled. This Court observes that individual liberty of the citizens is of paramount consideration and the same is to be protected while enforcing the rule of law in the society. The allegation made by the accused-petitioner in the present case is an anathema to the very concept of a democratic and orderly society. Therefore by taking a departure from the well-established practice of considering the bail application only after the same is rejected by the District & Sessions Judge, this Court deems it proper to take up the bail application of the petitioner on its own merit. This Court is of the view that the allegation with regard to police atrocities shall be dealt with utmost seriousness and the same shall be taken to its logical conclusion, the Court concluded. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan for improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities, by adopting saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts. The total outlay for the project is Rs 79,156 crore with Central Share at Rs 56,333 crore and the State Share at Rs 22,823 crore). This will cover around 63,000 villages benefitting more than 5 crore tribal people as announced in the Budget Speech 2024-25. It will cover 549 districts and 2,740 blocks spread across all tribal majority villages across 30 States and UTs. Advertisement India has a ST population of 10.45 crore as per 2011 census and there are more than 705 tribal communities, spread across the country, living in remote and hard-to-reach areas. The Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan envisions saturation of critical gaps in social infrastructure, health, education, livelihood, through different central schemes by convergence and outreach and ensure holistic and sustainable development of tribal areas and communities based on learnings and success of PMJANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan). The Mission comprises of 25 interventions which will be implemented by 17-line ministries. Each Ministry or Department would be responsible for implementation of schemes related to it in a time-bound manner through funds allocated to them under the Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) in the next 5 years to achieve the goals. The goals include Developing Enabling Infrastructure, Promotion of Economic Empowerment, Universalisation of Access to Good Education and Healthy Lives and Dignified Ageing. The tribal villages covered under the Abhiyan would be mapped on PM Gati Shakti Portal with the gaps identified by the department concerned for its scheme specific requirements. The physical and financial progress will be monitored by the PM Gati Shakti platform and the best performing districts will be awarded. In the wake of what authorities have described as a second apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, concerns have been raised about the ability of the Secret Service to protect the former president and Republican presidential candidate. In response, Joe Bidens administration has asked Congress for special authorization to increase Secret Service funding, and warned that without it, the agency would not have sufficient resources to enhance its protective operations. All of this has sparked curiosity about how the Secret Service was forged and what its specific role is within the United States government. Here is an explanation of the origins of the agency and what its security responsibilities are: How was the Secret Service born? The U.S. Secret Service, one of the oldest federal law enforcement agencies in the country, has played a key role in ensuring both the physical security of senior government officials and the integrity of the nations financial systems. Created in 1865 as a branch of the U.S. Treasury Department, its original mission was to combat the widespread counterfeiting of U.S. currency after the Civil War. The role of the Secret Service expanded in 1901, following the assassination of President William McKinley. This event led to it being assigned the responsibility of guarding the president of the United States, marking the beginning of its protective mission. Over time, this goal has expanded to include not only the president, but also other high-ranking officials and foreign dignitaries. Today, the Secret Service is charged with two primary missions: first, to provide protection for the president, vice president and others; and second, to investigate crimes that threaten the financial infrastructure of the United States. Members of the Secret Service watch the takeoff of Marine One carrying President Joe Biden from the White House in Washington, Sept. 16, 2024. Nathan Howard (Reuters) Who is the Secret Service protecting? By law, the Secret Service protects several individuals, primarily the president and vice president, along with their immediate family members. This defense also extends to the president-elect and vice president-elect after the general election, according to the agencys official website. On the other hand, former presidents and their spouses are protected for life unless they choose to waive protection, as authorized by Congress in 1965, while children of former presidents receive protection until the age of 16. The Secret Service also provides protection to visiting foreign heads of state or government, their spouses and other distinguished foreign visitors during official travel to the United States. During a presidential campaign, major presidential and vice-presidential candidates and their spouses receive protection in the 120 days prior to the general election. This protection is determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security with an advisory committee. Finally, the Secret Service is responsible for ensuring security at special national security events, which are designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The Service also works in coordination with other federal, state and local agencies. The Secret Services Uniformed Division, along with agencies such as the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police, patrol areas near key sites such as the White House. The agency regularly consults with security experts and employs advanced techniques to ensure the protection of protectees. The military also plays a supporting role by providing assistance through explosive ordnance disposal teams and communications resources. When the president travels, a team of Secret Service agents works with local law enforcement and public safety officials to enforce strict measures. A Secret Service agent guards an area prior to a Donald Trump press conference, in Los Angeles, California September 13, 2024. Mario Tama (Getty Images) Other activities The Secret Service is also involved in the investigation of a wide range of financial crimes. These include counterfeiting of U.S. currency; counterfeiting or theft of U.S. Treasury checks and bonds; credit card, telecommunications, computer and identity fraud. The agency also investigates crimes affecting federally insured financial institutions. What power does it have? Under Title 18, Section 3056 of the United States Code, Secret Service agents and officers have the authority to carry firearms, execute warrants, and make arrests without warrants for any crime committed in their presence. They may also arrest individuals for felonies if they have reasonable grounds to believe they are guilty. In addition, the agency is authorized to offer rewards for information leading to the arrest of criminals involved in violations of laws that the Secret Service is responsible for enforcing. It has jurisdiction to investigate fraud involving identification documents, fraudulent commerce and fictitious instruments, among other crimes. In its investigative and protective functions, the agency works closely with the U.S. Attorneys Office. Threats against Secret Service protected persons are taken very seriously, and anyone with legitimate information about threats or plots to harm protected persons is encouraged to contact the nearest Secret Service field office. However, it is important to note that the agency does not seek information related to political opposition or criticism of government policies, focusing only on threats that pose a danger to persons under its protection. A Chhattisgarh Armed Force personnel opened indiscriminate fire on his fellow comrades at the Bhutahi Camp in the Naxal-affected Balrampur district, killing two and critically injuring one. The incident occurred on Wednesday at around 11:30 AM when CAF personnel Ajay Sidar, assigned to the 11th Battalion stationed at Bhutahi Camp, turned his service INSAS rifle on his colleagues. Rupesh Patel died on the spot, while Sandeep Pandey succumbed to his injuries while being rushed to the Kusmi Community Health Centre. Guard Commander Ambuj Shukla, who sustained bullet wounds in both legs, has been transferred to Ambikapur Medical College for advanced treatment. Advertisement According to initial reports, fellow soldiers, upon hearing the gunfire, immediately subdued Sidar and handed him over to the authorities. However, the motive behind the shooting remains unclear, and an investigation has been launched by local police. The Bhutahi Camp is located near the border with Jharkhand, where anti-Naxal operations are ongoing. CAF forces are stationed in the region to curb Naxal activities, and tensions often run high due to the complex and dangerous nature of these operations. Balrampur Superintendent of Police Rajesh Agarwal confirmed that a full-scale inquiry is underway to determine the cause of the shooting and prevent future occurrences. The incident is being thoroughly investigated, and necessary measures will be taken to ensure the well-being of our personnel, said Balrampur SP. This shocking incident adds to a disturbing pattern in Chhattisgarh, where four soldiers have died in the past 25 days under various circumstances. Last Saturday, a CRPF soldier in Sukma took his own life using his service rifle, marking the fourth such suicide in the last three weeks. The mounting toll among security personnel is raising serious concerns about the mental health challenges faced by those deployed in conflict areas. Opposition parties have reacted sharply to the Union Cabinets approval of the One Nation One Poll recommended by the Kovind Committee on Wednesday afternoon, describing it as impractical and undemocratic. However, barring the INDIA bloc ally Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, the entire Opposition flayed the move of the BJP-led Central government while the main Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Congress, called it a diversionary tactic by the government. Advertisement Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge rubbished the decision saying, We dont stand with this. One Nation One Election cannot work in a democracy. Elections need to be held as and when required if we want our democracy to survive. Party General Secretary KC Venugopal said, It is not at all practical in this country. They want to divert attention from present issues. Registering its strong opposition to the decision, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that it compromises democracy. Stressing that he has always opposed it, he said: I have consistently opposed One Nation One Election because it is a solution in search of a problem. It destroys federalism and compromises democracy, which are part of the basic structure of the constitution. The TMC described the decision as a cheap stunt by the anti-democratic BJP. Its MP Derek OBrien said, it is a classic PM Modi-Amit Shah jumla. He wondered why Maharashtra polls were not announced along with elections in Haryana and J-K in keeping with the BJPs policy. The AAP MP Sandeep Pathak also opposed the move. It questioned the sincerity of the government, saying only a few days back polls for four states were to be announced but the government announced elections only for Haryana and J-K and leaving Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The point is if they cant conduct elections in four states simultaneously, how then they would manage the same in the entire country? He asked what if a state government falls before completing its full term. Will the Presidents rule be imposed in that state, he asked. However, the Samajwadi Party, an ally of the INDIA bloc, came out in support of the decision saying the party is all for conducting of the elections simultaneously. The party, however, said all modalities in this context should be made clear. The BSP chief Mayawati also hailed the move. In a post on X, she said, Our partys stand on the approval given today by the Union Cabinet to hold simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha, Assembly and local bodies in the country under the system of One Country, One Election is positive, but its objective must be in the national and public interest. Congress workers held a countrywide protest on Wednesday against the intemperate remarks made by Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and other BJP leaders targeting Rahul Gandhi. While Bittu had called the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha a terrorist, other BJP leaders had made derogatory remarks against him. During a rally held in Delhi as part of the protest , the Delhi Police detained several Congress workers. Advertisement The demonstrators condemned Bittus remarks calling them a direct attack on Rahul Gandhi and the values he stands for. Leading the protest demonstration, Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav said, We are fighting to protect the Constitution by following the path shown by Rahul Gandhi. We are not afraid of BJPs intimidatory tactics. Every Congress worker stands in unwavering support of Rahul Gandhi. During a similar protest held in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh Congress President YS Sharmila led the party workers in a demonstration against the BJP. Addressing the rally, Sharmila reiterated the Congress resolve to defend Gandhis leadership and the partys commitment to uphold constitutional principles. Members of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) also staged protests in Delhi echoing their resistance to Bittus comments. Ravneet Singh Bittu had allegedly called Rahul Gandhi number one terrorist. Rahul Gandhi spent most of his time outside the country. His friends and family are there. I think he does not love his country much because he goes abroad and says negative things about India. I think he is not a Hindustani, he said while speaking to reporters. Now, he has got support from separatists, who always talk about dividing this country. They (separatists) and the most-wanted persons are also appreciating Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against Sikhs. When such people, who are also experts in manufacturing bombs, are supporting Rahul Gandhi, then he is the number one terrorist of the country. He is talking like a separatist. There should be a reward for catching him as he is the biggest enemy of the country, he added. Another BJP leader, Tarvinder Singh Marwah, in a purported video, threatened Rahul Gandhi with Indira Gandhi-like consequences. Mrs Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. Sanjay Gaikwad, an MLA of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), BJPs ally in Maharashtra, announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh for anyone who chops off Rahul Gandhis tongue. In a tragic incident, five members of the same family were killed in a road accident near Gudemaranahalli village in Magadi taluk of Ramanagar district, Karnataka, on Tuesday. However, a pet dog travelling with the family in the car survived the crash. The deceased hailed from Kunigal town in Tumakuru district. Police reported that the victims were on their way to a temple after attending a family function. The driver lost control of the vehicle, causing the car to crash into a roadside tree. Authorities stated that speeding was the cause of the accident. The car was travelling from Magadi towards Bengaluru. The bodies of two men and three women were recovered and sent to the Nelamangala government hospital. The identities of the deceased have yet to be confirmed. Advertisement The impact of the accident was such that all the passengers in the car died on the spot despite the airbags release. The pet dog was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment. In another tragic incident, a couple and their son from Kerala were killed after being hit by a tipper truck on the outskirts of the bordering town Gundlupet town in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka, on Tuesday. The deceased were identified as Dhanesh, his wife Anju, and their son Ishan. According to police, the victims were riding a motorcycle towards Gundlupet from Kerala. The preliminary investigation suggested that the driver of a tipper truck, allegedly in an inebriated state, rammed the bike from behind. The victims were dragged under the wheels of the stone-laden truck for about 300 meters. The victims bodies were severely damaged to the point that they could not be identified. Gundlupet police have launched an investigation into the incident. Senior CPI-M leader and former LDF convenor EP Jayarajan has rejected the statement of his party colleague P Jayarajan that Political Islam has become a big challenge in the state as it attracts youths towards terror outfits. Speaking to media persons here, Jayarajan said Kerala is a state where terrorists cannot extend their activities as the state government is vigilant. Kerala is a state where terrorists cannot extend their activities. The government here is working with great vigil to create religious tolerance, and to provide happiness and satisfaction for the people. This government will not allow any terrorist activities in Kerala, said EP Jayarajan. Advertisement In an interview to a local media, Jayarajan said the other day that Political Islam has become a big challenge in the state as it attracts youths to terror outfits. Talking about his upcoming book related to Muslim politics and political Islam, the CPI-M strongman said though only a few youths from Kannur joined terror outfits like Islamic State (IS), the influence of political Islam is a matter of concern and an issue in Kerala. He said political Islam wields its influence among youths by taking advantage of the social situation following the Babri Masjid demolition. A few youths from Kannur had joined IS and went to Syria and Afghanistan. Four others joined terror groups in Kashmir and they were killed in an encounter with the Indian Army. We dont want to exaggerate it. But, youths are being influenced by political Islam, he said. Meanwhile, Catholic Church mouthpiece Deepika daily welcomed Jayarajans remarks. In an editorial published on Wednesday, Deepika said someone like Jayarajan coming to change the face of Islamic extremism gives expectation. Along with this, comes the criticism that the CPI-M cannot see the political Islam as seen by P Jayarajan. The editorial says Jayarajans statement is relevant despite the fact that secular parties have fuelled Islamic extremism and that Jayarajans statement conforms to the churchs position. Congress and the Left parties in India did not modernise their stances according to the devastation wrought by Islamic extremism globally. This helped the growth of right-wing thinking, politics and communalism in Indian politics. Although the word Islamophobia cannot be dismissed completely, its misuse has grown to the level of political Islam, the editorial further says. Stating that those who failed to recognize Islamic extremism did a disservice to secular politics, the editorial said even after ruling for decades, Congress could not fight terrorism. Christians, who suffer religious persecution the most, have been left out of international reporting. Instead, the perpetrators were portrayed as victims, the editorial says Christians in the Middle East face genocide-like persecution. There is no doubt about the lives lost in the Israel-Hamas war, the editorial further says. The editorial also accused the Kerala media of not writing about Christians who are being killed by Islamic terrorist movements all over the world. In a bid to woo the voters for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday released the seven guarantees as part of the partys manifesto for Haryana Assembly elections at AICC headquarters, in Delhi. Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan were also present during the manifesto launch event. Speaking on the occasion, Congress President Kharge said, Every household will be given 300 units of free electricity The poor will be given a 100 sq yard plot each and Rs 3.5 lakh as construction cost We guarantee MSP to the farmers of the state We will also conduct a caste census. Advertisement Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan said that if the party comes to power, every woman above 18 years of age will receive Rs 2000 per month. Congress government in Haryana will provide Rs 2000 per month to every woman above 18 years to empower them. LPG gas cylinders in Rs 500. Rs 6,000 pension to senior citizens. Old Pension scheme will be restored. 2 lakh vacant government jobs will be filled. Haryana will be made drug-free, he said. On the lines of Rajasthans Chiranjeevi scheme, the Congress will provide free treatment upto Rs 25 lakh, he added. The party has made key promises across various sectors, including electricity, housing, womens empowerment, farmers rights, and social security. The key highlights of Congress manifesto for Haryana Assembly elections are: 300 units of free electricity to every household Free treatment upto Rs 25 lakh in hospitals 100 square yard plots and offer financial assistance up to Rs 3.5 lakh for housing construction Congress has committed to providing Rs 2,000 per month to every woman in the state. LPG gas cylinder in Rs 500 For Haryanas farmers, Congress has assured the legal guarantee of Minimum Support Prices (MSP) along with timely fertilizer distribution to ensure agricultural sustainability Congress plans to increase the monthly social security pensions. Elderly, widows, and other beneficiaries will receive a monthly pension of Rs 6,000 Additionally, the party has also promised to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) To combat rising unemployment, Congress aims to fill 2 lakh government job vacancies and introduce the Right to Employment Act to secure jobs for the youth of Haryana. Congress promised to conduct a caste census and set creamy layer limit to Rs 10 lakh Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday condemned BJP leader and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu for his remarks against Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Addressing media persons, Sukhu criticised Rajya Sabha MP Bittu, who joined the BJP earlier this year after leaving the Congress, stating that Bittu calling Rahul Gandhi terrorist number one demonstrates appeasement and renunciation of principles just to gain publicity to maintain his political position within the BJP. Bittu had targeted Rahul Gandhi recently during an event in Jharkhand over his remarks on Sikhs in the United States. Advertisement The turncoat (Bittu), a former two-time Congress MP, used to heap praises on Rahul Gandhi while in Congress. The hunger for power has now forced him to stoop to such a level. It seems that principles can be sacrificed at any time just for the love of the chair, Sukhu charged. In a democracy, criticism is obvious; however, one should refrain from making such remarks against political opponents, he added. Rahul Gandhi, a respectable political leader and the son and grandson of former Prime Ministers, is the voice of the people. He had embarked on padayatra not to gain any position but to save democracy and strengthen the ideology of the Congress party, Sukhy remarked. The BJP, flustered by Rahul Gandhis popularity, is using its leaders to make remarks against him to divert public attention and hide its failures during elections, he added. He said, Our government and the Himachal Pradesh Congress condemn his remarks and urge BJP national president J P Nadda to rein in such leaders, as personal attacks do not attract any political mileage. Replying to a media query on campaigning in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, Sukhu said that he would perform the task entrusted to him by the party and would soon visit the state for the election campaign. They said that the works which were stalled by the BJP when Kejriwal went to jail will be completed before the assembly elections. By Statesman News Service 07 October, 2024 8 mins read The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it would consider listing of the pleas challenging the validity of Exception 2 of Section 375 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and that of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that protects a husband from criminal prosecution for having non-consensual sex with his wife. Besides, challenge to the Exception 2 of Section 375 of the IPC and that of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that replaced the IPC and retains provision granting immunity to husband from prosecution for non-consensual sex with his wife, the issue has landed in the Supreme Court in the wake of May 11, 2023, split verdict by a division bench of Delhi High Court on the criminalising marital rape. Heading a bench comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, the Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said they were seized of a part-heard matter and would assess the workload next two days after conducting the hearings. Advertisement Chief Justice Chandrachud said this after senior advocate Indira Jaising mentioned the matter for urgent hearing. It may be recalled here that on August 5, 2024, the CJI had said as the bench would be busy this week in dealing with a batch of matters on taxation law so next week the marital rape matter would be taken up for hearing. In the hearing held on March 22, 2023, Indira Jaisinh and Karuna Nandy had told the court that the issues that need to be adjudicated have been agreed upon between the parties, and a common compilation is ready. The Supreme court, on January 16, 2023, had asked the Centre to respond to the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Exception 2 to Section 375 of Indian Penal Code on the touchstone of Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on January 16 , 2023, had told the court that the issue has legal as well as social implications and the government would like to file its response to the petitions. The Union of India shall file a counter affidavit by February 15, 2023. The batch of petitions will be heard on March 21, the court had ordered. One of the pleas has been filed by Khushboo Saifi, who was one of the petitioners before the Delhi High Court. Another plea has been filed by a man against the Karnataka High Court verdict which paved way for his prosecution for allegedly raping his wife. The Karnataka High Court had on March 23, 2022 said exempting a husband from the allegation of rape and unnatural sex with his wife runs against Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution. The others are PILs including one by AIDWA filed against the IPC provision and have challenged the constitutionality of the marital rape exception under Section 375 IPC (rape) on the ground that it discriminates against married women who are sexually assaulted by their husbands. Under the exception given in Section 375 of the IPC, sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife, the wife not being minor, is not a rape. A Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh has announced a reward of Rs one crore to anyone who cuts the tongue of Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MLA Sanjay Gaikwad who had announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh to anyone who cuts the tongue of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Dewas district Congress Chief Manoj Rajani made the offer on Wednesday, even as the entire Congress reached out to various police stations in Madhya Pradesh to lodge FIRs against the Shiv Sena MLAs derogatory slur towards Rahul Gandhi. According to reports, Gaikwad had announced in Maharashtra two days ago to offer Rs 11 lakh to the person who cuts the tongue of Rahul Gandhi. The police on Monday night registered a case against him over the remark. Advertisement Gaikwad courted further controversy on Tuesday by declaring to bury any Congress dog who tried to enter any event of the Maharashtra government and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. If any Congress dog tries to enter my programme, I will bury them then and there, Gaikwad could be seen saying in a purported video. Reacting to Gaikwads controversial statements, Manoj Rajani said in Dewas today that he would offer Rs one crore to the person who dismembers Gaikwads tongue. The day anyone cuts his (Gaikwads) tongue and brings it to me, I will pay Rs one crore to that person, Rajani avered. Rajani said the Congress is staging dharnas at police stations across Madhya Pradesh today. He said if the police give the assurance of protection for Rahul Gandhi, the Congress would end the protests. A case of Mpox has been confirmed in Kerala on Wednesday with a 38-year-old youth in Edavanna of the Malappuram district, who is under observation at Manjeri Medical College Hospital, being confirmed to have Mpox, said state Health Minister Veena. The youth, who returned from Dubai last week, approached Manjeri Medical College Hospital with fever and rashes on his hands on Monday. Dermatologists who examined him grew suspicious and isolated him for further examination. Following the confirmation of Mpox, the state government has set up isolation rooms for Mpox at district and general hospitals in all 14 districts. Treatment facilities are also available at medical college hospitals. Advertisement Unlike airborne diseases such as COVID-19 or H1N1 influenza, Mpox is primarily transmitted through direct physical contact with an infected person, including through touch or sexual activity, according to the WHO. The symptoms include a distinctive rash, high fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes. Blisters and red spots typically appear on the body within a week of fever onset, commonly affecting the face, limbs, palms, genitals and eyes. To prevent the spread, close contact with infected individuals should be avoided, and appropriate safety precautions must be followed In the wake of the Union Cabinet approving the proposal for one nation, one election as recommended by the Ramnath Kovind panel, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday came out against the decision stating that it is aimed at weakening the countrys federal system. Chief Minister Vijayan said the Union Government has a hidden agenda behind its decision to implement one nation, one election in the country. Behind the Bill, there is a hidden agenda to neutralize the federal system of the country and give all power to the Central government, he said. Advertisement In a Facebook post, CM Vijayan said that the One Election slogan is designed to destroy the diversity of Indian parliamentary democracy. The Sangh Parivar is making a clandestine effort to change the present electoral politics in India into Presidential mode, he alleged. The Sangh Parivar is making a covert attempt to take electoral politics in India to a presidential style. Each state has a different situation and background. Without considering it and without taking into account of the political issues arising in the states, holding elections automatically or imposing the central rule by overturning the popular vote will destroy democracy. The democratic society of the country needs to come forward against the Sangh Parivar moves to subvert Indias parliamentary democratic system and the very idea of India, he said. In a move that has far-reaching implications for the democracy in the country, the Centre has given its nod to simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies recommended by the High-Level Committee formed to go into the proposal. The committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind advocated elections to urban bodies and panchayats within 100 days. Following the approval of the committees recommendations by the government, a Bill on the simultaneous polls for the lower house and the assemblies is likely to be introduced in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament. Once cleared by both houses of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, it will become a law. Advertisement The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee. The committee extensively consulted a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including political parties and experts, before preparing the report. It received extensive feedback indicating overwhelming support for simultaneous elections in the country. Confirming the approval of the recommendations of the Covind Committee report by the Central government at a press conference here, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, The Union Cabinet has accepted the recommendations by the high-level committee on One Nation, One Election. Cabinet approved the proposal unanimously. He said that the proposal would be implemented in two phases. In the first phase, Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections will be held simultaneously, and in the second phase, local body elections (panchayat and municipal polls) will be held within 100 days of the general elections, the Union Minister said. There will be a common electoral roll for all the elections. Vaishnaw said recommendations of the Ram Nath Kovind panel would be discussed across India on various forums. Implementation group will be formed to take forward the recommendations of the Kovind panel on simultaneous polls, the Union minister said. He further said that a large number of parties across the political spectrum have supported the One Nation, One Election initiative. When they interact with high-level meetings, they give their input in a very succinct manner and with a lot of clarity. Our government believes in creating a consensus on items that affect democracy and the nation in the long run. This is a subject, a topic that will strengthen our nation, the Union Minister added. The panel on One Nation-One Election, in its report, said frequent elections create an atmosphere of uncertainty and impact policy decisions. Simultaneous elections would bring enhanced certainty in policy making. The report, comprising 18,626 pages, is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work over 191 days, since the constitution of the High-Level Committee on September 2, 2023. Highlighting the advantages of simultaneous elections, the committee stated that One Nation One Election ensures ease and convenience to voters, avoids voter fatigue, and facilitates greater voter turnout. The Committee was briefed by these bodies that intermittent elections have adverse consequences on economic growth, quality of public expenditure, and educational and other outcomes, besides upsetting social harmony. The panel had submitted the report in March ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. It recommended preparation for common electoral rolls and voter ID cards by the Election Commission (ECI) in consultation with state election authorities. Simultaneous polls will help save resources, remove the impediments and help realise the aspirations of India, that is Bharat, the panel said. The idea of one nation, one election was first proposed in the 1980s. Previously, the simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies were held in 1951-52, 1957, 1962 and 1967. However, the cycle was disrupted due to premature dissolution of some assemblies. After his formal resignation on Tuesday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal will vacate the CMs official residence, 6 Flag Staff Road, Civil Lines, in the coming weeks and will give up the facilities he was entitled to as the chief minister of Delhi. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here on Wednesday, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh confirmed that the outgoing chief minister would vacate his official residence. We are concerned about his safety as his current residence is not compatible from the security point of view but (we have no option since) he has chosen to leave it. He will live among the people of Delhi. He said while Kejriwal, along with his family, would reside in Delhi for now, efforts are on to find a suitable accommodation for them. Advertisement Kejriwal, who is currently covered by security provided by the Union Home Ministry, will have to seek approval from Central agencies for relocating. Citing multiple attacks the AAP chief was subjected to in the past, particularly from alleged members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Singh said, We tried to convince him that his official residence was crucial not only from the perpective of his stature as the former chief minister but also for his safety and security. However, he chose to vacate the official bungalow in compliance with the rules and opted to live among the people. God is with him. He spent six months in jail among dreaded criminals. He doesnt care for the house or government perks. He will vacate the residence and live with the common people. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are eager to safeguard their rights and embark on a true era of development, as the voting for the first phase of Assembly polls in the Union Territory gets underway. He called upon the voters to exercise their franchise and be the catalysts for change. Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, wrote in a social media post, The people of Jammu and Kashmir are eager to safeguard their rights and embark on a new era of true development and full statehood. As the first phase of voting in 24 Assembly constituencies commences, we urge everyone to exercise their democratic right and vote in large numbers. Advertisement He stated that every single vote holds the power to shape the future and bring about an era of peace, stability, justice, progress, and economic empowerment. We appeal to all, especially first-time voters, to participate in this crucial election and be the catalysts for change. For the first time ever, a state was downgraded to a Union Territory, when you cast your vote, do remember who is responsible for this travesty. Let us unite and shape a brighter future for Jammu and Kashmir, where voices of all citizens are heard, he added. Former Congress chief and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi also appealed to people to exercise their democratic right. In a post on X, he wrote, My brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir, today the first phase of voting is taking place. For the first time in the history of the country, the statehood of a state has been snatched away and it has been made a Union Territory. This is a violation of the Constitutional rights of all of you and an insult to Jammu and Kashmir. Your every vote to INDIA will restore your rights, will bring a flood of employment, will strengthen women and will bring you out of the injustice period. Today, come out of your homes in large numbers and exercise your democratic right. Vote for INDIA, Gandhi said. The National Conference (NC) and Congress sealed an agreement under which the NC is contesting on 51 seats and Congress on 32 constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held in three phases. The second phase of voting is scheduled to be held on 25th September and third phase on 1st October. Counting of votes in Jammu and Kashmir will take place along with Haryana on 8th October. Notably, in December last, the Supreme Court had ordered the Commission to hold Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir by 30th September, 2024, while pronouncing the judgement in the cases concerning the abrogation of Article 370. This is the first Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. President Droupadi Murmu arrived in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on Wednesday evening on a two-day visit to the state. MP Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav welcomed the President at the Indore airport. Advertisement From the airport, the President went directly to the Mrignayani Emporium in Indore city. She met artisans and the staff of the showroom and appreciated their hard work and art. According to reports, the President also bought two sarees, said to be worth around Rs 33,000, from the Mrignayani showroom. The President is scheduled to take the nights rest at the Residency Kothi in Indore. On Thursday morning, she is scheduled to visit Ujjain to offer worship at the world-famous Lord Mahakal Temple. She is also scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the Indore-Ujjain six-lane road project. Later, she will return to Indore to take part as the Chief Guest in the convocation ceremony of Devi Ahilya University. The President will leave Indore for Jharkhand on Thursday evening. In a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday that the party has become a gang of those perpetrating atrocities on women. Likening Congress and the SP to Bhasmasur (a mythical character), he said they harm the very people who give them power. Yogi made the remarks while addressing a gathering at the mega Rozgaar Mela held at Ramlila Ground, Ghantaghar, in Ghaziabad. Advertisement During the event, he distributed appointment letters to over 10,000 youth, loans exceeding Rs 327 crore to 632 beneficiaries, and tablets/smartphones to more than 6,000 young individuals. The chief minister pointed out that all the individuals recently apprehended for endangering the safety of daughters have links with the SP. Reflecting on their values, he said, SP leaders are labelling Indias religious leaders and cultural icons as mafia indicating that the soul of Aurangzeb has taken hold of them. He said Congress and the SP have become Bhasmasur as whenever entrusted with power, they misused it to undermine the peoples faith. The chief minister emphasised that the ongoing Rozgaar Melas in the state are elevating Prime Minister Narendra Modis Mission Employment to new heights. He reminded the audience that the people of Uttar Pradesh still recall the misdeeds of the pre-2017 governments. The mafia and rioters were a primary source of income for the opposition, he said. When someones income stream is threatened, their leaders lose composure and resort to irrational outbursts. Today, these political patrons are distressed by the disappearance of the mafia and rioters, he added. He said the SP and Congress aim to incite class conflict under the guise of caste, giving rioters the freedom to loot. However, the double-engine government is committed to dismantling this model of the Samajwadi Party. CM Yogi emphasised that the next three years are crucial when as Uttar Pradesh should become the nations top economy within this timeframe. Reflecting on past governance, Yogi said, Before 2014, the Congress-led Central government enacted laws to suppress Hindus, sought to dismantling of the Ram Setu, obstructed the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, and promoted terrorism in Kashmir besides undermining the nations security. Similarly, before 2017, the SP followed in the footsteps of Congress in Uttar Pradesh by fostering lawlessness and chaos. Riots were frequent, and SP leaders were seen submitting to dangerous criminals, forest mafias, animal mafias, and land mafias. In a fresh escalation of violence, suspected militants attacked Mongbung Meitei village in Manipurs Jiribam district, prompting an exchange of gunfire between the attackers and local volunteers, police said Wednesday. The militants opened fire with sophisticated weapons around 7 pm on Tuesday, but no injuries were reported. Security forces swiftly responded and managed to bring the situation under control by 8 pm. Authorities have urged residents to cooperate with ongoing security operations in the area, as tensions remain high. Advertisement Villagers reported increased drone activity in recent days, raising concerns of further threats. Meanwhile, security forces conducted search operations in nearby Chanung and C Zoulen villages in Imphal East district, seizing a locally made single barrel gun, an SLR magazine, and live ammunition on Monday. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that Himachal Pradesh was working to promote Health Tourism to capitalize on its natural environment, as the state is blessed with a favorable climate for TB patients. He said this while inaugurating the two-day meeting of the National Task Force under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program here on Wednesday. The meeting is being attended by TB experts across the country. Advertisement Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister launched the offline mode of the Meri TB Ki Kahani Phase-II initiative, aimed at dispelling stigmas associated with TB and creating public awareness about the disease. Himachal Pradesh is the first state in the country to launch the second phase of this campaign besides being host to the meeting for the second time. The Chief Minister expressed confidence that valuable recommendations in the workshop would be instrumental in combating this dreaded disease. The state government is extending all possible support to eradicate TB, with around 15,000 TB patients being treated annually in the state. The efforts made by Himachal Pradesh in tackling TB have been recognized at the national level, he said. Over the past two years, molecular testing facilities have been introduced in the state for early detection of TB, and artificial intelligence enabled portable X-ray machines have been made available in five districts of the state and this service would also be expanded to remaining districts soon, he stated. Sukhu emphasized the need to adopt modern technology for providing better healthcare services and said that the state government has signed an agreement with AIIMS Delhi for the latest medical equipment. He said that the health facilities at Tanda Medical College and IGMC Shimla were being strengthened and efforts were underway to create a conducive environment for the health staff for their efficient functioning. The process for filling up 2,700 posts in the health department is underway to further improve healthcare services, he added. The Chief Minister said that special attention was being paid to the healthcare needs of elderly citizens above the age of 70, with plans to introduce a scheme that would provide doorstep medical testing facilities. Expressing concern over the increasing number of cancer patients in the state, he said that initiatives like promoting electric vehicles and renewable energy are in progress, including the establishment of a one-megawatt green hydrogen plant in Nalagarh of Solan district. Health and Family Welfare Minister Colonel (Dr.) Dhani Ram Shandil said that the changing societal perspective on TB was largely due to the efforts of the National Task Force. Stressing on the need for greater public awareness and outlined the steps being taken in the state to eradicate the disease, he said that TB patients in Himachal Pradesh receive financial assistance of Rs 1,500 from the government, and the state was working diligently to enhance healthcare facilities, especially in remote areas. At least nine people were killed and over 300 others were injured after explosions in their walkie-talkie devices across Lebanon, according to the countrys Health Ministry. The walkie-talkie explosions reportedly targeted members of Lebanons armed group Hezbollah. The blasts, which occurred today, followed a series of similar incidents involving pagers that exploded on Tuesday, killing 12 people. Advertisement Multiple reports suggest that the explosions may have been part of a secret operation by Israeli intelligence agency Mossad targeting Hezbollah fighters. However, Israel has not directly commented on the allegations. The Jewish country was also blamed for Tuesdays pager blasts. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that a new phase of the war is beginning and that Israels focus has moved to the northern front. The center of gravity is moving north. We are diverting forces, resources, and energy toward the north, Gallant told Israeli Air Force personnel, according to remarks published by his office. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will meet later this week to discuss the explosions in Hezbollah devices across Lebanon. In other related news, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution demanding that Israel brings to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory without delay and within the next 12 months. Israel has been fighting a war against Hamas in Gaza in response to the Palestinian militant organisations deadly attacks last year. KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2024 - 06:14 | All, World, Japan LATEST UPDATE: Japanese boy dies after being stabbed by man in China's Shenzhen TOKYO/SHENZHEN, China - A Japanese boy was stabbed by a man while on his way to school in a southern Chinese city on Wednesday morning and taken to a local hospital, the Japanese and Chinese governments said, adding that the attacker was apprehended at the scene. The 10-year-old student is receiving medical treatment at a hospital and is in "very serious condition," Yoshiko Kijima, Japan's consul general in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, told reporters early Thursday. The boy was attacked on a street about 200 meters from the Japanese school he attended in Shenzhen, another city in the province, according to local authorities. The suspect was subdued by police who had been on guard near the school, Kijima said, adding that she has not obtained any information from them about the possible motive. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a press conference in Beijing that the case is "still under investigation." China will "continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners" in the country, he added. The Japanese school in Shenzhen decided to close for the rest of the week. In Tokyo, Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao and conveyed "serious concerns" over the stabbing incident in Shenzhen. The boy's mother was with him at the time of the attack, according to eyewitnesses. Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi told reporters, "We repeated our call on the Chinese side to guard Japanese residents." The Japanese consulate general has asked authorities to share details and dispatched staff to the area to gather information and provide necessary assistance, Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya told a press conference in Tokyo. The incident followed a knife attack in Suzhou near Shanghai in June, in which a Japanese mother and child were injured, and a Chinese woman died while attempting to stop the assailant. Wednesday marked the 93rd anniversary of the Japanese bombing of a railroad track near Shenyang, the start of the Manchurian Incident that led to Japan's invasion of northeastern China in 1931. Some comments posted on Chinese social media urged people to "not forget national humiliation." Hateful messages like "Japanese people should leave China" and "Be careful of spies at Japanese schools" also appeared on Weibo, China's equivalent of X. Moriya, a deputy chief Cabinet secretary, pledged that the Japanese government will continue to make every effort to ensure the safety of its citizens in China. He added that 350 million yen ($2.5 million) has been included in budget requests for fiscal 2025 starting next April to enhance security measures for buses serving Japanese schools in China, following the knife attack at a bus stop and aboard a Japanese school bus in Suzhou. Following Wednesday's incident, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing issued an alert, saying there have been stabbings across China and encouraging people to be vigilant. Other Japanese schools, including those in Guangzhou and Beijing, urged students and their parents to avoid being heard speaking Japanese outdoors and recommended that children not go out unless accompanied by an adult. It is feared that the series of attacks on Japanese nationals in China may further strain bilateral relations and hinder Japanese investment in the country, as well as personal exchanges between the two nations. A senior official at a Japanese electronics company said, "If a series of similar incidents occur, it's no coincidence. We have no choice but to be cautious about our business in China." Related coverage: Women, boy stabbed at Japanese school bus stop near Shanghai Japanese chef Kakiuchi stabbed to death on street in Vancouver Indonesia recorded its 52nd consecutive month of trade surplus in August, amounting to 2.90 billion US dollars, the Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Tuesday. This figure is higher than the previous month but lower than the same period last year, which was 3.12 billion dollars. The surplus from non-oil and gas trade transactions was actually higher, at 4.34 billion dollars, but it was reduced by the oil and gas trade deficit of 1.44 billion dollars, said BPS Deputy for Distribution Statistics and Services Pudji Ismartini at a press conference. Advertisement Cumulatively, from January to August 2024, the total surplus reached 18.85 billion dollars, with 32.54 billion dollars from non-oil and gas sectors and a reduction due to the oil and gas sector deficit of 13.69 billion dollars, Xinhua news agency reported. Exports for the month amounted to 23.56 billion dollars, supported by the largest increase in the animal/vegetable fats and oils group, although the precious metals and jewelry/gemstones group decreased by 11.88 per cent. The largest non-oil and gas exports were to China (5.33 billion dollars), the United States (2.61 billion dollars), and Japan (1.80 billion dollars). Meanwhile, imports for the month reached 20.67 billion dollars, supported by increase in the precious metals and jewelry/gemstones category by 34.44 per cent and decreased in the machinery/mechanical equipment group by 6.30 per cent. The main suppliers of commodities to Indonesia for the month were China (6.43 billion dollars), Japan (1.42 billion dollars), and Australia (0.98 billion dollars). The average overall price of land in Japan as of July 1 rose 1.4 per cent from the previous year, marking the third consecutive year of advance, government data showed Tuesday. The prices for commercial land climbed 2.4 per cent and those for residential land 0.9 per cent, both advancing for the third straight year and at the sharpest pace since 1992, when land prices tumbled as the countrys asset-inflated bubble burst, according to a report released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. In Japans three largest metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, residential land prices have risen for three consecutive years and commercial land prices for 12 years, the report said, Xinhua news agency reported. Advertisement Regional land prices also rose for the second year in a row, with residential land prices up 0.1 per cent and commercial land prices up 0.9 per cent. Meanwhile, the report showed a significant decline in land prices in affected areas following an earthquake that struck Japans Noto region on New Years Day. The 10 locations with the largest decline in residential land prices were all in Ishikawa prefecture, according to the report. Prefectural governments surveyed the prices for 21,436 benchmark locations nationwide, and the land ministry compiled the statistics. Three people have been killed and hundreds of Hezbollah members injured as the pagers that they were using to communicate exploded across the country, the Lebanese media reported on Tuesday evening. Lebanons Al-Jadeed TV channel accused the Israeli military of targeting the batteries of these pagers, leading to the explosions, adding that the injured were being transported to hospitals in Lebanons capital Beirut and Dahieh in its southern suburbs. It mentioned that Hezbollahs competent agencies are currently conducting a wide-ranging security and scientific investigation to determine the reasons that led to these simultaneous explosions. Advertisement Israeli multi-language online newspaper Times of Israel quoted a Reuters report, saying that a prominent Hezbollah member is one of the major casualties of the pager explosions. Separately, a young girl was killed in northeastern Lebanons Baalbek District, according to Lebanese media, it said. It was also reported that top Hezbollah leaders and their advisors were injured in the detonation of hundreds of pagers in Lebanon. KYODO NEWS - Sep 18, 2024 - 12:52 | All, Japan, World The U.S. committee assessing whether Nippon Steel Corp.'s planned acquisition of United States Steel Corp. poses any national security threat has allowed the Japanese producer to reapply for a review, a source familiar with the decision said Wednesday. The panel's decision means the administration of President Joe Biden will be unable to block the plan, with any decision most likely now coming well after the U.S. election in November. It also means that the two companies, which announced the $14.1 billion acquisition deal in December, will have more time to convince the U.S. government that their plan to create the world's third-largest steelmaker by volume does not pose a national security threat. Despite the agreement between the two firms and strong shareholder support, the proposed merger has met stiff opposition from the United Steelworkers union. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, have also said U.S. Steel should remain domestically owned. Former President Donald Trump, Harris' Republican rival for the White House, has said he will block the deal if elected. U.S. Steel and the powerful labor union are both headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a key battleground state in the Nov. 5 election. With votes from blue-collar workers and labor unions seen as critical in the tight race for the presidency, the deal has become a highly political issue. According to the source, Nippon Steel will withdraw its filing with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States by next Monday. For approval to buy U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel will resubmit an application to the committee, also known as CFIUS, and its review will not likely conclude before the election. Nippon Steel, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, declined to comment on CFIUS' procedures. Citing a person with knowledge of the matter, Reuters said CFIUS needs more time to understand the planned takeover's impact on national security. The new development came after Nippon Steel Vice President Takahiro Mori met CFIUS members earlier this month in Washington and some media reports suggested that Biden was set to foil the sale on national security grounds. CFIUS, chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, is in charge of examining whether foreign investment transactions in U.S. companies pose a threat to national security. Japan is a close U.S. ally, and Tokyo and Washington have been deepening cooperation to counter security challenges posed by China, including those related to supply chains and advanced technologies. Should the U.S. administration decide to block the agreement between the two steelmakers, it would be a rare rejection of a proposed buyout by a company from Japan. Related coverage: Biden decision on U.S. Steel buyout unlikely before election: report Nippon Steel sends letter to Biden over U.S. Steel acquisition Nippon Steel exec meets U.S. officials over U.S. Steel buyout plan KYODO NEWS - Sep 18, 2024 - 20:11 | All, Japan The number of foreign visitors to Japan jumped 36.0 percent from a year earlier to 2.93 million in August, a record high for the month, as the yen's depreciation gave travelers from overseas more purchasing power, government data showed Wednesday. The total also represents a 16.4 percent rise from August 2019, before the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. August is a peak season for holiday travel in the Asian nation. By country and region, 745,800 people visited Japan from China, roughly double the number from the previous year, as flights between the two neighbors increased during the month, the institution said. China retained the top spot for the second consecutive month. South Korea ranked second with 612,100 visitors, up 7.6 percent, followed by Taiwan with 564,300, up 42.4 percent, and Hong Kong with 246,600, up 19.6 percent, the organization's preliminary data showed. The cumulative number of visitors from January to August surpassed 24 million, an increase of 58.0 percent compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the number of Japanese traveling overseas in August rose 19.7 percent from a year earlier to 1.44 million but plunged 31.9 percent compared to 2019 as the yen remained weak against other major currencies, making people reluctant to spend abroad. In Japan, the weather agency in early August issued its first-ever advisory warning of the heightened risk of a megaquake along the Nankai Trough that stretches from central to southwestern Japan in the Pacific. In the wake of the advisory, accommodation facilities in tourist spots, particularly those along the Pacific coast in central and western Japan, experienced cancellations, while some beaches in the regions were closed and swimming was prohibited. Related coverage: Japan, China, South Korea set 2030 goal of 40 mil. cross-border tourists Foreign visitors to Japan top 3 mil. in July, single-month record Domestic travel top Japan leisure pursuit but under pre-COVID level Job Title: National Content Officer Organization: Avanti Energy Services Limited (Avanti) Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda About the Company: Avanti Energy Services Limited (Avanti) is a Ugandan national company, which engages in providing services to the upstream oil and gas production industry within Uganda. Avanti was awarded a contract by a major oil and gas service company to source and employ in excess of 100 Ugandan engineers, technicians, operators and laborers to support their oil drilling operations within Uganda. Job Summary: Monitor the implementation of National Content development requirements. Provide support in inclusion of national content in procurements in line with the regulations, Company & Project strategy, and Company & Project national content program. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Ensuring that local suppliers, contractors, and workforce are utilized in the industrys operations. Managing vendor contracts and relationships, ensuring high-quality service delivery. Help in developing and implementing administrative policies and procedures, aligning with organizational goals. Developing and implementing local content strategies in alignment with national regulations and company policies. Monitoring compliance with local content regulations and guidelines. Preparing and submitting reports on local content performance to the National Content Manager for review before submission to the regulatory bodies and stakeholders. Engaging with local communities, government agencies, and industry stakeholders to promote local content initiatives. Help in designing and implementing training programs to build the capacity of local workforce and suppliers. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: Bachelors degree in in any discipline Post graduate diploma in any relevant field is an additional advantage Proven 5 10 years working experience in a similar role preferably in Oil & Gas Industry Solid experience in human, organizational, and community capacity development or knowledge transfer is required. Skills and Competencies: Good knowledge of the policies, laws, regulations, and guidelines regarding national content in Uganda. Innovative and able to work both individually and in a team. Good analytical and problem-solving mindset and skills. Good public speaking and presentation skills. Excellent interpersonal and written & oral communication skills. Good negotiation and administrative skills. Good computer skills, including advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office. Excellent research and analytical skills. How to Apply: Interested candidates should send their cover letters, CVs and scanned copies of academic documents (all in one pdf) to thembo.kato@avantiesl.com Deadline: 21st September 2024 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Date Posted 2024-09-18T12:12 Valid Through 2024-09-22T00:00 Employment Type FULL_TIME Hiring Organization Avanti Energy Services Job Location Kampala, Kampala, Kampala , 0256, Uganda Related Jobs All of us know that a soldiers life is not easy to adopt and live. But some do, which is why they are called Bravehearts. The men in uniform are respected and loved by everyone, be it a child or an elder. We are not talking of the aura around them that comes with the uniform that they wear, but it is the work that they do, on and off duty. Lets meet one such Soldier: Sunil Kumar, DIG, CRPF. He was born to Late Shri Rambriksha Prasad and Smt. Shanti Devi in the Bhagalpur district in Bihar. After graduation, he joined CRPF as Assistant Commandant in 1994. The life of Sunil Kumar reflects the journey he has covered till now and his aspirations for his future career. In his 29 years of illustrious service, he ensured the unity of the country through his able leadership and maintaining integrity with the best services dedicated to the country. Kumars is studded with countering terrorism, extremism, and Naxal-affected provinces like Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Nagaland, Tripura, and Gujarat. He has also served in Chhattisgarhs extremely remote, difficult, and disturbed areas. Initially, Kumar served in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, including highly sensitive parts of the region like Srinagar, Badgam and Doda. As a commanding officer, he successfully led anti-terrorism operations and maintained peace in the area. During the devastating earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, Kumar served as the Deputy Commandant. He and his team risked their lives, rescuing 74 civilians trapped in the debris of the earthquake. Kumar and his team quelled the violent riots that broke out after the Godhra incident in 2002. While in the RAF, he and his team played an important role in restoring law and order in Surat within 48 hours, which was praised by the current Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi (then Chief Minister of Gujarat). As a Commandant, Kumar successfully campaigned against Naxalites in the highly Naxal-affected and sensitive areas like Dantewada, Sukma, and Bijapur of Chhattisgarh, and was successful in maintaining peace and order. Commendable efforts were made to bring the misguided youth of far-flung regions into the nations mainstream. The lost glory of ancient and historical heritage located in Barsoor of South Bastar was re-established with the help of the local administration and the public. The Battisa temple organised the first Barsoor Mahotsav with his sincere and continuous efforts. Barsoor came up on the tourist map for the first time in January 2012. Sunil Kumar was assigned to Command 06 Battalion, CRPF, deployed for comprehensive security duty of the Shrine, Katra, and pilgrims visiting for Darshan of Mata Vaishno Devi. Kumar with his team thwarted anti-national forces from their nefarious designs with his operational acumen and leadership qualities. He never allowed the anti-India forces to succeed. Under his devoted leadership, the pilgrims from different parts of the country and abroad were ensured safety. Kumar is still in touch with Maa Vaishno Devi Seva Samiti Patna and offers social services. He is associated with an organisation that operates a non-commercial blood centre named Maa Blood Centre near Bramhasthan Temple under Pirbahor Police Station. It provides blood free of cost to the poor and needy people suffering from serious diseases like Thalassemia, Haemophilia, and Aplastic Anaemia. This institution also organises weddings of 51 men and women from the economically weaker sections of society every year. During his command of 87 Battalion, deployed in the highly insurgency-infested areas of Manipur, the Economic Blockade was handled effectively with the help of the State Government bringing normalcy to the State. As Nodal Officer in the Manipur Assembly and Lok Sabha Elections, he played an important role in ensuring free, fair, and peaceful elections successfully without any untoward incidents. Kumar understands the importance of all round development of troops. Hence, he organised counselling sessions in 13 institutes/units of CRPF located in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh in collaboration with Dr Gaurav Saxena, International Counsellor. The counselling sessions benefited 8,688 officers/jawans of CRPF and their family members. The initiative taken by Kumar was well recognised at the international level. The initiative set five World Records in the name of CRPF. For his initiative, Kumar was awarded the World Record Appreciation Certificate. Sunil Kumar has been decorated with 122 Commendation/Appreciation Certificates, Discs, and best entries by the higher authorities of the Force as well as the State and Central Governments for praiseworthy work. Even as there appears to be some sort of thaw in the tenuous ties between India and China, with both sides agreeing to disengage troops at various locations along the border, reports suggest that China is building up military might near the Line of Actual Control in the easternmost corner of Arunachal Pradesh, known as the 'Fishtails'. Prominent open-source intelligence (OSINT) analyst Damien Symon took to X to publish satellite imagery of China constructing a new heliport near Arunachal Fishtails sector, just 20 kilometers from the Indian border. ALSO READ: China not a future military threat, it is a threat today, says US Air Force official This facility will help China mobilise troops rapidly to forward positions and boost border patrols. China is constructing a new heliport near Arunachal Pradesh's Fishtails sector, merely 20 kilometers from the Indian border, this facility will likely enhance Chinas ability to swiftly mobilize troops to forward positions & would improve its border patrols pic.twitter.com/xpSSQGLkS4 Damien Symon (@detresfa_) September 16, 2024 This is China's latest attempt to strengthen infrastructure along its borders with India. A few days ago, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in Geneva that nearly 75 per cent of the disengagement problems with China have been sorted out, but the bigger issue has been the increasing militarisation of the frontier. According to media reports, the heliport is being constructed at Nyingchi Prefecture in the southeastern part of Tibet Autonomous Region. Fish Tail-I and II border the region. There has been frequent patrolling by both Indian and Chinese forces at the Fish Tail-II region. The construction of the heliport is said to have begun after December 1, 2023. READ MORE: China's new J-35 stealth fighter set to amplify capabilities of Chinese aircraft carriers Reports have suggested that as part of the process of ramping up the infrastructure along the borders, China has constructed over 10 helipads near the Line of Actual Control (LAC). These will help China ensure rapid deployment and logistical support for its troops in the forward region. China is particularly focusing on the strategically significant Chip Chap sector of Patrol Point 13 and the Hot Springs and Gogra regions. New Delhi has always said India's relationship with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the standoff. DGCA-certified drone company Garuda Aerospace aims to make India a drone hub by 2030, said its CEO Agnishwar Jayaprakash, who recently met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed in detail the company's role in developing defence drones. Garuda Aerospace, which was established in 2015 and offers as many as 30 different drone models, claims that it is building advanced drone solutions for the armed forces in collaboration with global giants in the defense and aerospace sectors. The company aims to become a market leader in the defence sector. ALSO READ: China strengthening border infrastructure with new heliport just 20 km away from Arunachal Pradesh? During his meeting with the defence minister, Jayaprakash spoke about the new defence drone facility the company set up in Chennai for design, design, and testing. The company plans to develop drones that have ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities, underwater drones, and swarm drones. Agnishwer Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss on the upcoming Defence Drone Facility in Chennai, which will span 30,000 square feet and feature state-of-the-art design, manufacturing, and testing facilities. pic.twitter.com/IRYG2hBMa0 Garuda Aerospace (@garuda_ops_sale) September 18, 2024 Jayaprakash shared with Singh his vision of making India a drone hub by 2030 and added that the latter greatly appreciated Garuda Aerospace's 'make in India' initiatives. In a leap for Indias defence technology, Agnishwar Jayprakash, CEO of Garuda Aerospace, held discussions with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the future of drone technology in the defence sector #AgnishwarJayprakash #GarudaAerospace #DefenceDrones #RajnathSingh #IndiaDefence pic.twitter.com/iLpq2AMiXR Garuda Aerospace (@garuda_ops_sale) September 18, 2024 "The interaction emphasised the crucial role of defence drone technology and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for the world. Garuda Aerospace will be at the forefront of enabling the prime minister and defene minister's vision for its armed forces," news agency ANI quoted Jayaprakash as saying. Nigeria may soon become the first country to export light combat helicopter (LCH) Prachand, designed and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). According to media reports, discussions between Nigerian officials and HAL over procuring India's first indigenous multi-role light attack helicopter are nearing completion, and an agreement regarding this is likely soon. READ MORE: When will LCA Tejas Mk 1A fighter jet be delivered to Indian Air Force? Financial Express reports that Nigeria is looking to purchase four combat helicopters through a soft credit agreement. An announcement regarding this will be made soon, reported EurAsian Times. If HAL gets the deal, it would have beaten Turkish T-129 ATAK helicopter and Airbus' Tiger HAD multi-role attack helicopter as these were the other options before Nigeria. Earlier, officers of the Nigerian Army were trained on HAL's a twin-engine, multi-mission Dhruv helicopters. About Prachand LCH Based on the Dhruv helicopter, Prachand is a two-seater anti-infantry and anti-armour helicopter. It is capable of precisely hitting targets at high altitudes and can also be used for bunker-busting operations at high altitudes. Designed and developed in response to the operational needs identified during the Kargil War in 1999, the first prototype of HAL Prachand made its maiden flight in 2010. ALSO READ: Will Russia's Su-75 Checkmate fighter aircraft soon be added to Indian Air Force arsenal? The aircraft, powered by two HAL/Turbomeca Shakti turboshaft engines, features advanced avionics and a design that allows it to operate effectively in challenging environments, including high altitudes up to 5,000 meters. Prachand LCH features advanced electronic warfare capabilities and cutting-edge weaponry, including chin-mounted and twin-barrel M621 20mm cannon, FZ231 rocket launcher built by Forges de Zeebrugge and is equipped with air-to-air, air-to-surface, and anti-radiation missiles. In a significant step in advancing the Indian Armys rescue and survival operations in mountainous terrains, the Army has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tiranga Mountain Rescue (TMR). Under the MoU, TMR will cooperate with the Indian Army to provide training programmes for Army instructors, aimed at improving their ability to mentor troops in avalanche rescue and survival skills. The MoU aims to utilise TMRs expertise to boost the Indian Armys capacities in conducting effective rescue operations under tough conditions. ALSO READ: China strengthening border infrastructure with new heliport just 20 km away from Arunachal Pradesh? This MoU builds on the initial agreement made with Northern Command in 2016, which established dedicated avalanche and rescue support by the TMR. The collaboration was further expanded with subsequent agreements with Central Commands in 2021 and 2024. Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi hailed the efforts of TMR and lauded the collaboration between the Indian Army and TMR. Lieutenant General Tarun Kumar Aich, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy), observed that the MoU is a mutually advantageous agreement for both organisations, and praised TMR for its dedicated service in saving numerous lives by providing unwavering support in training and rescue efforts. READ MORE: Drone maker Garuda Aerospace eyes defence dominance; aims to make India drone superpower by 2030 This partnership highlights a commitment to further enhance the readiness of personnel operating in mountainous terrain besides enhancing the standards of training and rescue operations in high-altitude environments, the defence ministry said in a release. A 38-year-old man from Malappuram district of Kerala has been confirmed to have contracted monkeypox (Mpox), state health minister Veena George said on Wednesday. The patient, a native of Edavanna, who recently travelled to the state from the UAE, is already undergoing treatment at Manjeri Medical College Hospital with Mpox symptoms, George said. The minister requested people, including those coming from abroad, to seek immediate medical care if they have Mpox symptoms. The health department has arranged treatment and isolation facilities at one hospital in each district. The man's samples were sent for testing and the results confirmed positive on Wednesday. A district health official said that the patient arrived in Kerala a few days ago and, after falling sick, was first admitted to a private hospital. "From there he was admitted to the Manjeri Medical College. On suspecting that it might be a case of monkeypox, we sent his samples to the Kozhikode Medical College for testing," he said. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had last month declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for the second time in view of its prevalence and spread across many parts of Africa. According to the world health body, common symptoms of Monkeypox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last 24 weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes. Earlier this month, a man who recently travelled from a country experiencing Mpox transmission had tested positive for the disease. The Union health ministry had said that it was an isolated case, similar to the earlier 30 cases reported in India from July 2022 onwards. It is not a part of the current public health emergency reported by WHO which is regarding clade 1 of Mpox, it had underlined. KYODO NEWS - Sep 18, 2024 - 20:01 | All, Japan, World A Chinese aircraft carrier entered the contiguous zone just outside Japan's territorial waters for the first time Wednesday when it sailed between remote islands in southern Japan from the East China Sea, the Japanese Defense Ministry said. The ministry confirmed that Chinese Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning and two destroyers passed southward through the contiguous zone between Okinawa Prefecture's Yonaguni and Iriomote islands early Wednesday and headed for the Pacific, but did not enter Japanese territorial waters. The warship movements came at a time of heightened tensions after a Chinese military spy plane violated Japanese airspace over waters in the East China Sea off islands in Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan in late August. Tokyo conveyed "serious concerns" to Beijing over the passage of the ships, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya told a press conference after the fourth such incident by the Chinese Navy this year. He called such actions "utterly unacceptable in terms of our nation's security environment." The contiguous zone refers to an area beyond the 12 nautical mile territorial waters and extends within 24 nautical miles of shore. Foreign vessels are allowed to navigate a contiguous zone so long as they do not threaten the nation's safety. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a news conference that the carrier's passage was "in compliance with China's domestic and international laws." Yonaguni is Japan's westernmost island located about 150 kilometers southwest of the uninhabited Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands. It is also about 100 km east of Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that China views as a breakaway province to be eventually reunified with the mainland. Before the passage through the contiguous zone, the Self-Defense Forces had spotted the three Chinese warships in waters some 210 km northwest of the Senkakus, the Japanese ministry said. Commissioned in 2012 as China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning is a refurbished Russian-made vessel purchased from Ukraine in 1998 and features a "ski-jump" takeoff ramp. Related coverage: Hotline not used over Japan airspace breach by China military plane China says ship passage through Japan territorial waters "legitimate" China enters Japan waters days after air violation protested The opposition Congress on Wednesday slammed the Union cabinets decision to approve the proposal for 'one nation, one election', saying such an excercise is not practical in the country. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the ruling BJP comes up with such things only to divert attention from real issues when elections approach. "It is not practical. It will not work. When elections come, and they are not getting any issues to raise, then they divert attention from real issues, Kharge said at a press conference in Delhi. Earlier in the day, the cabinet approved the proposal for simultaneous polls as recommended by the Ram Nath Kovind committee. READ - Union Cabinet clears 'One Nation, One Election' proposal The high-level committee, set up in September 2023, had submitted its report March ahead of the announcement of Lok Sabha elections. The panel has recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days. Senior Congress leader T.S. Singhdeo said, "It is only a strategy of political convenience, and what I can see is nothing beyond that. The same party which is governing the country as part of the NDA has been talking about this for the past few years." READ - How 'One Nation, One Election' can transform political, governance patterns in India Another party leader Harish Rawat said the BJP has realised that they will lose elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. "After losing one state after another, the BJP was not in a position to sustain that pressure that would've resulted in collapse of their coalition government. That's why the rattled government has opted for 'one nation, one election' formula," he said. READ - 'One nation, one election': Understanding the high-level panel recommendations on simultaneous polls The Kovind panel had recommended preparation of a common electoral roll and voter ID cards by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in consultation with state election authorities. It proposed as many as 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by state Assemblies. However, these would require certain Constitution amendment Bills that would need to be passed by Parliament. Acknowledging that drug menace was rampant in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Wednesday, warned police officers of strict action if they failed to curb drug trafficking in their respective areas. Siddaramaiah, who chaired a meeting of senior police officers and ministers to discuss drugs menace and control, in Bengaluru, said, Drug trafficking and peddling cannot happen without the knowledge of the station house officer. So, we will fix the responsibility on the SHO, DySP, ACP and SP if the menace is not curbed immediately. We will amend the laws if need be. A new task force, headed by the home minister and comprising health, medical education, and education ministers, has been constituted to evolve strategies to curb drug trafficking and peddling. The chief minister told reporters later that the government was planning to amend the laws or formulate a new law to punish peddlers and increase the severity of punishment to life imprisonment. The drugs are trafficked into our state from Andhra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, and Bengaluru accounts for the highest number of cases reported in the state ( 50 per cent), and Mangaluru comes second and accounts for 22 per cent of all cases. In 2021, 7,751 Indians and 190 foreign nationals were arrested in drug-related cases. In 2022, the numbers were 7,737 and 123, and in 2023, as many as 8,016 Indians and 105 foreigners were booked. In 2024, 1,021 and 21 were arrested till March, said Siddaramaiah, adding that the drug menace was impacting the lives of the youth. In an effort to build peer support groups and enhance vigilance on educational campuses to curb drug abuse, the state government is hoping to expand and strengthen the NCC and NSS in schools and colleges, besides planning events to interact with parents, teachers and students for their suggestions. The chief minister also highlighted the tendency of drug abusers to be involved in criminal activities. We have given the police a free hand to curb drug trafficking and every other criminal activity. There is no question of any political interference, asserted the CM. The Congress seven poll promises for the Assembly elections in Haryana, which it prefers to call guarantees, are in keeping with what the party believes is by now a formula tried and tested in state elections as also the Lok Sabha polls. The seven guarantees for Haryana polls unveiled today at the Congress headquarters in Delhi by party president Mallikarjun Kharge include Rs 2000 per month for women from the age of 18 to 60 years, gas cylinder at Rs 500, Rs 6,000 monthly pension to senior citizens, filling up of two lakh vacancies in government jobs, legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price for crops, up to 300 units of electricity free of cost, housing for the poor and free healthcare of up to Rs 25 lakh. The party has also promised to conduct a caste survey and enhance the creamy layer limit for reservation for the Other Backward Castes from an annual income of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. A much detailed manifesto for the election will be declared in Chandigarh later. However, it is felt within the party that the guarantees it announced in other state elections as also in the Lok Sabha polls have found resonance with the people. The assessment is that the party organisation has also found it easier to communicate the poll promises in the form of guarantees to the people and campaigns can be designed around the themes that the guarantees embody. Previous elections have seen the party come out with campaign material focusing on the different guarantees that cater to different segments of the society. The seven guarantees for Haryana carry forward the main themes of the partys campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, recognising economic distress and farmers problems as amongst the most important issues on which the people are expected to vote. Also, the promise of carrying out a caste survey takes forward the emphasis placed on the issue of social justice by the Congress, especially Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. The Congress won five out of a total of ten seats in Haryana in the Lok Sabha elections, which is a marked improvement over its performance in the polls in 2019 when it had not won a single seat in the state. The assessment of the party is that the issues on the ground had come into play in the parliamentary elections. In the intervening period, the party has been in campaign mode and has doubled down on the issues. Even in the Assembly polls that took place in 2019, it was felt that economic distress was a big issue and was the reason why the BJP that had swept the state in the general elections failed to get to the majority figure in the state polls. After a decade, the people of Jammu and Kashmir's Chenab valley and south Kashmir began exercising their voting rights in the first phase of the assembly elections on Wednesday. Chenab, which has 7.14 lakh voters across 1,328 polling stations, covers eight assembly constituencies in Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar. South Kashmir's four districts Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, and Shopian has 16 assembly seats. Around 16.13 lakh voters will cast their votes across 1,948 election booths. Amid recent terrorist attacks in the state, the central and state security forces have beefed up security across Jammu and Kashmir. Six army personnel and four terrorists were killed in the past three months. The first phase will also see more than 35,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandits voting across 24 polling stations in other parts of the state and the national capital. Delhi has four polling stations while Jammu has 19 and Udhampur has one. The community members are registered as voters in the 16 constituencies of south Kashmir. The polling will conclude at 6 pm. Junior doctor who are protesting the murder-rape of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, last month said the agitation will continue and sought a second meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The TMC government had earlier appointed Manoj Kumar Verma as Kolkata Police Commissioner after the doctors wanted to former city top cop Vineeth Goyal removed. Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak and Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police's North Division Abhishek Gupta were also removed. Calling the state's administrative measures "only partial victory" of their movement, the protesters said they want the government to remove State Health Secretary N.S. Nigam as assured by Mamata during their Monday meeting. The doctors sent an email to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on Wednesday for an appointment with Mamata for a second meeting. They also sought discussions on how the government will implement security measures for doctors on hospital premises and demanded a detailed rundown on how the Rs 100 crore allocated for the safety of doctors will be spent. The protesting medics stated that the public healthcare delivery mechanism should be overhauled thoroughly to ensure effective security measures. Their demands included streamlining of the referral system, the appointment of health workers and professional patient counsellors, cracking down on corruption in the admission process and ensuring availability of life-saving drugs. They also sought immediate notification of the chief secretary-headed task force in medical colleges which was promised at the meeting at Banerjee's residence on Monday. The doctors said that student body elections should be held with adequate representation of junior doctors in the highest policy-making bodies of the institutions. On the 101th day in power, Modi 3.0 set in motion the plan to implement the Prime Ministers pet issue One Nation, One Election (ONOE). Prime Minister Narendra Modi led cabinet unanimously accepted the recommendations of the high-powered panel led by former president Ramnath Kovind which studied the contentious issue. For its implementation during this tenure, the Modi government will take the consensus route. The cabinets decision showed that the government has not given up on its key electoral promise and also gave a message that its reduced numbers in the last Lok Sabha polls was not an impediment to pushing the core agenda. The big political message is that it is generating a debate in the country on the issue which may find resonance among the youth and sections of society which is convinced by the argument that regular elections are a drain on the exchequer and leads to frequent disruptions of policy implementation. The government would attempt to create a "positive" debate in its favour. However, the Opposition was quick to attack the government. Congress president Malikarjun Kharge said, "the ONOE was against the federal spirit, constitution and democracy. The country will not accept it. It was an attempt to divert attention." The One Nation, One Poll has two components: phase1 includes holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The second phase will include municipal and panchayat elections. For the first phase, the move would need constitutional amendments where the bill must be passed by both Houses of the parliament. The constitutional amendments would need ratification by half of the States if the local bodies and panchayat polls were also to be held along with the general elections in the second phase. The second phase is much more difficult for the government as the Opposition ruled states are against the proposal. Even the first phase where it would need passing by both the houses, the government would need some deft manoeuvring and political management as BJP does not have a majority on its own. It is dependent on its allies for support. Allies who are part of the government have expressed support for the move. However, even the first phase would need logistical support from the states as common electoral rolls have to be created. The Kovind panel recommended the preparation of a single electoral roll and electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) for use in elections for all three tiers of government. For this, amendments in the Constitution will have to be made to enable the Election Commission of India to prepare a single electoral roll and EPIC. These amendments will require ratification by not less than one-half of the states. So, even for the first phase, separate ratification by half of the states will be needed. This is expected to be a deeply lengthy and tedious issue. Currently, the BJP-led NDA is in power in 20 states including one union territory out of 31. Kovind panel had received representations from 47 parties out of which 15 including the Congress, the Left parties, and the TMC had opposed the simultaneous elections saying it was against the federal structure. The proposal received the support of 32 political parties including the BJP, BJD, JD(U), and the NCP. NDA currently has a majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but the situation may change in the upper house if it suffers reversals in upcoming assembly elections. The process to implement the decision however would be different from the earlier route adopted by the government. The buzzword is consensus. The government will initiate discussion across the country where academia, intellectuals, political parties and social groups would be roped in to create a favourable atmosphere. We will be creating a consensus. We will go by consensus. More parties may join, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Information and Broadcasting minister said. Vaishnaw did not give a timeline on when the government would bring the legislation to the parliament but reiterated Home Minister Amit Shahs statement: "We will bring this in the current tenure." The government is taking the consensus route as it was forced to send another contentious issue the Waqf Bill to the joint parliamentary committee at the insistence of other political parties including allies. The exercise to create a wider consensus and debate also marks a departure for the government as it has brought some legislation without consensus which then led to protests, particularly on the abrogation of Article 370 and Citizenship Amendments Bill. Vaishnaw insisted that consensus was the key to the process of bringing the legislation in the parliament. We had got a historic mandate. This will help in becoming a developed country by 2047. The simultaneous elections will remove impediments to developments. It is necessary for the progress of the nation. Youth has supported it. The minister said the government will also create an implementation group for the process. The second round of talks between the agitating junior doctors and the West Bengal government to resolve the RG Kar impasse was held on Wednesday for two-and-a-half hours, officials said. The details of the meeting were not immediately known. The delegation of around 30 medics reached the state secretariat Nabanna around 7.15 pm. The meeting with Chief Secretary Manoj Pant started around 7.30 pm and ended around 10 pm. The protesting medics were again accompanied by stenographers to record the minutes of the meeting. On Monday, during the meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the agitators were accompanied by stenographers as well. In the Haryana assembly election, the Bahujan Samaj Party sees a chance to hold on to its status as a national party because of the big number of Dalit voters in the state. This is in line with the partys decision to also fight the byelections on 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh. At its peak, the BSP kept its focus on assembly and Lok Sabha polls and did not participate in the in-between or lower-level elections. A national party is one which has 11 Lok Sabha seats from at least three states or had six percent of the vote in any four or more states in addition to four Lok Sabha seats or is recognised as a state party in four states. The BSP in alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal and the Haryana Lokhit Party will fight 37 seats in the Haryana elections. This includes all the reserved seats. In the last Vidhan Sabha election, BSP went at it alone and put up candidates on 87 of the states 90 seats. On 82 seats the party forfeited even its deposit. The partys vote share was 4.14 per cent. In the 2014 election it had also fought on 87 seats and won from a single constituency. Its vote percentage was 4.37 per cent. This time the party is banking on the alliance to get it votes of the Dalits and the marginalised. Almost one fifth of the states voters are from these categories. Mayawati herself will address four large rallies in the state with the first being on September 27. The partys main focus, however, is on small meetings and direct contact which will be undertaken by Mayawatis brother Anand Kumar and nephew Akash Anand. The BSP has largely been unable to capitalise on the Dalit vote in the state mainly because of the pary's own mistakes. In 2004, 2009 and 2014 the BSP contested the most number of seats, that is 10 in the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana. The percentage of votes it mopped up went from under two percent to over 15 per cent. However, the only time it had a MP from Haryana was in 1998, when the party contested on three seats and polled 7.68 per cent of the votes. The assembly elections however is a chance for the party to demonstrate its seriousness to the state's voters besides emerging as a credible challenger to other parties. At least nine people were killed and around 3,000 injured after pagers used by Hezbollah operatives exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday. How does a pager work? A pager is pre-mobile phone era telecommunication device which transmits radio signals from its network through a specific frequency. The AR 924 pager used by the Hezbollah did not allow phone calls and were used to communicate via text messages. ALSO READ: How Israel's Mossad planted explosives in Hezbollah devices and detonated them remotely Iran-backed Shia group Hezbollah believes that the explosives were planted by Israeli spy agency Mossad in the pagers during the production stage itself. Lebanon security officials claimed the pagers were manufactured by Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm. However, Gold Apollo stated that it did not manufacture the AR 924 pagers, which it claimed were actually produced by BAC, a company which has a licence to use Gold Apollo's brand. Why did Hezbollah use pagers instead of smartphones? Resurfaced. A video of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah calling on his network of terrorists to abandon cell phones because " it is a deadly agent." He pushed Hezbollah to adopt low tech communications, like pagers pic.twitter.com/wPrj5kA9MF Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) September 18, 2024 Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on February 13 warned the group's supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies. He advised them to break, bury or lock them in an iron box. Following this, the paramilitary group ordered around 5,000 Taiwanese AR 924 pagers. The choice to switch to pagers was simple: They allowed Hezbollah evade location tracking by Israel as they did not have cameras or allow telephone calls. They also have a low digital signature. Amidst the mysterious explosion of communicative devices across Lebanon claimed several lives and injured thousands of people, Israel defence minister Yoav Gallant declared the start of a new phase of the war. The"centre of gravity is shifting to the north through the diversion of resources and forces," the Netanyahu cabinet member added. Israel and Mossad are accused of targeting Hezbollah members across Lebanon in a series of highly sophisticated low-scale explosions targeting walkie-talkies and pagers. ALSO READ | Fresh Lebanon blasts: Walkie-talkies that exploded in Beirut were bought at same time as pagers targeted Tuesday: Report We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance, AlJazeera quoted Yoav Gallant as saying on Wednesday. The centre of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces, he reportedly stated. However, there were no direct mentions of the explosions that rocked Lebanon. Gallant made the comments during an official visit to the Israeli military's Ramat David airbase. The results are very impressive, the Israeli leader reportedly told reporters while praising the defence units of his country and security agencies. "We will need consistency over time, this war requires great courage, determination, and perseverance," he added. ALSO READ | Lebanon-Hezbollah pagers blast: Why Europe-based BAC Consulting used Middle Eastern bank to pay Gold Apollo? Thousands of Hezbollah cadres including fighters and leaders were targeted in a massive and meticulously planned attack involving pagers that exploded, killing at least nine, injuring over 2,750 people and critically injuring more than 200. The extensive explosions signal a new form of offensive action in the annals of modern warfare. Reports said the devices heated up before exploding. The Ministry of Public Health requested that all citizens who own wireless communication devices stay away from them. On Wednesday, fresh blasts rocked Beirut, killing at least nine and injuring over 200 as hand-held radios exploded in similar fashion. The walkie-talkies that went off on Wednesday were Hezbollah around the same time as the pagers, reports said. KYODO NEWS - Sep 18, 2024 - 15:50 | All, Japan The president of the operator of a tourist boat that sank off Hokkaido in 2022 was arrested Wednesday over the fatal accident that left 20 people dead and six others unaccounted for, the Japan Coast Guard said. Seiichi Katsurada, 61, who heads the boat operator Shiretoko Yuransen, failed to ensure the safety of the vessel, the 19-ton Kazu I, which sank on April 23, 2022, with 26 people aboard, according to the 1st Regional Coast Guard Headquarters. Katsurada had previously terminated contracts with experienced crew members to cut costs, as his company was reeling from a plunge in the number of customers during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released last September by the Japan Transport Safety Board. He appointed himself to the posts of safety manager and operations manager, even though he was not adequately qualified for the positions, the report said. Noriyuki Toyoda, the then-54-year-old captain who died in the accident, did not have sufficient experience, and departed for a three-hour cruise around the Shiretoko Peninsula, a World Natural Heritage site on Japan's northern main island, despite bad weather being forecast. According to the report, a hatch near the vessel's bow was not properly closed before departure leading the boat to take on water. Katsurada told Kyodo News in March last year that he was not aware of any abnormalities with the Kazu I. He apologized to the families of the victims in a letter in the summer of 2023, adding that "the captain was responsible for inspecting the vessel." Related coverage: Victims' families seek damages over fatal 2022 Hokkaido boat sinking Who and where were the pager devices that exploded on Tuesday across Lebanon made? According to reports, Taiwanese company Gold Apollo has confirmed that it it had authorized the use of its trademarked branding on the pagers that were involved in the blasts that rocked Beirut and other parts of the Arab country. However, they were not made in Taiwan but by a Hungarian firm called BAC Consulting KFT. According to reports, the Budapest-based organisation was also responsible for selling the devices. ALSO READ | How does a pager work? Here's why Hezbollah used low-tech devices instead of smartphones According to an official release by Gold Apollo, its deal with BAC Consulting KFT allowed the latter to use their brand trademark on AR-924 pager model in designated regions. Confirming that it was AR-924 pagers that exploded in Beirut, Gold Apollo said that the design and manufacturing of the devices was the responsibility of BAC alone. The pagers involved in the blast were entirely different in designs used by Gold Apollo, the firm's founder and CEO Hsu Ching-kuan reportedly said on Wednesday. Distancing the company from the incident in which over 2,300 people were hurt, Hsu Ching-kuan mentioned that the chips found in the exploded devices wer not the ones used by Gold Apollo in its own models. ALSO READ | How Israel's Mossad planted explosives in Hezbollah devices and detonated them remotely "There was nothing in those devices that we had manufactured or exported to BAC," CBS News reported Hsu as saying about his company's three-year-long deal with BAC Consulting KFT. Pager blasts shock Hezbollah, Lebanon Thousands of Hezbollah cadres including fighters and leaders were targeted in a massive and meticulously planned attack involving pagers that exploded, killing at least nine, injuring over 2,750 people and critically injuring more than 200. The extensive explosions signal a new form of offensive action in the annals of modern warfare. Reports said the devices heated up before exploding. The Ministry of Public Health requested that all citizens who own wireless communication devices stay away from them. FULL REPORT | Pagers explode across Lebanon, many Hezbollah fighters killed, thousands injured In order to escape the sophisticated Israeli electronic and cyber warfare dragnet, Hezbollah militants had resorted to using pagers as the main means to communicate as they cannot capture sound, dont have cameras and leave very low digital signatures. A possible explanation is that devices containing explosives were introduced into the Hezbollah networks, which were then triggered at the same time through a sophisticated command and control channel. Dozens of members of Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorists have been injured after handheld pagers they use to communicate exploded simultaneously. A Hezbollah official says the incident, like something out of a James Bond film, constituted the "biggest security breach yet". pic.twitter.com/jrEK5pKNOR Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra) September 17, 2024 Hundreds of members of the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah were targeted after their pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday. At least nine people were killed while around 3,000 more were injured. One of the injured was Iran's envoy to Beirut. Why did Hezbollah operatives use pagers? A few months ago, Iran-backed Shia group Hezbollah had ordered around 5,000 made-in-Taiwan AR 924 pagers, sources told Reuters. The decision to use pagers instead of mobile phones came after Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on February 13 warned the group's supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies. He advised them to break, bury or lock them in an iron box. THE WEEK had earlier reported that Hezbollah militants had resorted to using pagers as the main means to communicate as they cannot capture sound, dont have cameras and leave very low digital signature. Like other pagers, AR 924 wirelessly transmits and displays text messages while telephone calls are not allowed. It allowed Hezbollah operatives to avoid getting location-tracked by Israel. Is Mossad behind Hezbollah pager blasts? Israel's spy agency Mossad reportedly planted three gram of expolsives inside the AP924 pagers procured by Hezbollah, sources told the news agency. Senior Lebanese officials believe the pagers, manufactured by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, were modified by Mossad "at the production level." Gold Apollo, however, came forward, saying the pagers used in the detonations in Lebanon on Tuesday were not manufactured by them. It clarified that a company called BAC, which has a license to use its brand, made the pagers. The Mossad reportedly inserted a board into the explosive-laden pager that recieves a coded message. This board could not be detected by the devices or scanners used by Lebanese security agencies. Around 3,000 pagers exploded simultaneously after a message activated them on Tuesday. Amidst the mysterious explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon, two incidents of solar panel blasts were also reported in the Hezbollah stronghold on Wednesday. While no deaths were reported, Lebanons National News Agency (NNA) confirmed that a girl was injured in the development. Pictures of exploded solar panels, fingerprint readers and other devices circulated through social media in Lebanon, news reports said. ALSO READ | Fresh Lebanon blasts: Walkie-talkies that exploded in Beirut bought at same time as pagers targeted Tuesday: Report Devices used for communication by Hezbollah members were targeted across Lebanon claiming several lives and injuring thousands of people. Israel and Mossad are accused of executing highly sophisticated low-scale explosions targeting walkie-talkies and pagers in particular. Thousands of Hezbollah cadres including fighters and leaders were targeted in a massive and meticulously planned attack involving pagers that exploded, killing at least nine, injuring over 2,750 people and critically injuring more than 200. The extensive explosions signal a new form of offensive action in the annals of modern warfare. Reports said the devices heated up before exploding. The Ministry of Public Health requested that all citizens who own wireless communication devices stay away from them. On Wednesday, fresh blasts rocked Beirut, killing at least nine and injuring over 200 as hand-held radios exploded in similar fashion. The walkie-talkies that went off on Wednesday were Hezbollah around the same time as the pagers, reports said. ALSO READ | Lebanon-Hezbollah pagers blast: Why Europe-based BAC Consulting used Middle Eastern bank to pay Gold Apollo? The solar panel explosions were not linked to the suspected Mossad-orchestrated blasts in Beirut. There were no confirmation whether they caught fire from one of the devices and exploded or went off on their own. "A girl from the town of Al-Marwaniyah was injured as a result of the explosion of the solar energy system in her family's home, the NNA report from Lebabon's Zahrani read. Meanwhile, Israel defence minister Yoav Gallant declared the start of a new phase of the war. The"centre of gravity is shifting to the north through the diversion of resources and forces," the Netanyahu cabinet member added. We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance, AlJazeera quoted Yoav Gallant as saying on Wednesday. The centre of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces, he reportedly stated. However, there were no direct mentions of the explosions that rocked Lebanon. Delta Air Lines, believed to be America's oldest operating airline, has landed itself in the eye of a storm, thanks to a memo on the 'appearance requirements' of its flight attendants. A two-page memo titled Flight attendant hiring appearance requirements outlines the expectations of the Delta Air Lines from the flight attendants, in interviews and in-flight service. From guidelines on grooming and dressing for aspiring and current flight attendants, the memo has a say in every aspect. But, a line on 'proper undergarments' seems to have irked most netizens. Delta gives prospective employees an interview guide. The first item is wear underwear, but dont flaunt it This needs to be said? What job do these people think theyre applying for? pic.twitter.com/sYgPB9hDHC Pitt Griffin (@pittgriffin) September 17, 2024 Calling the flight attendants the "face of the airlines", the memo urges them to be passionate about enhancing the customer's experience, which begins the moment a flight attendant puts on their uniform. It goes on to add that the airlines will accommodate a "specific manner of dress or physical appearance in keeping with religious beliefs or practices unless it causes a safety hazard or other undue burden on the company". Delta Air Lines also shared specific guidelines for the interview process, training and throughout the career as a flight attendant for one of the oldest operating airlines in the world. Here are a few of them, including the one on undergarments: Hair must be naturally coloured, without bold highlights or artificial shades. For longer hair, it must be pulled back and secured above the shoulders. If it extends past the mid-back, it needs to be pinned up. Facial hair must be neatly trimmed and well-maintained. Eyelashes should look natural. Tattoos must be covered. Nails should be properly trimmed. If polished, a single, subtle colour is permitted with no adornments, glitter, or hand-painted designs. No neon colours, multi-colour, glitter, or hand-painted designs are allowed. Only a single nose piercing is permitted, and the allowed studs include gold, silver, white pearl, or clear diamond/diamond-like. No other visible body piercings are allowed. Dresses and skirts should be at or below the knee, and button-collared dress shirts must be paired with a tie. Proper undergarments must be worn and should remain completely invisible. Footwear should consist of closed-toe flats, heels, or sling-backs. The memo also says that on interview day, aspiring flight attendants should abstain from chewing gum, profanity, using phones and ear buds. Even as former president Donald Trump slammed India as an "abuser" on the issue of import tariffs, he described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "fantastic man", and said that the Indian PM will meet him next week during his upcoming three-day visit to the US. Modi will be visiting the US from September 21 to 23. Speaking on Tuesday at his first public appearance following the recent apparent assassination attempt, Trump reiterated that India imposes heavy tariffs on imports but said, He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic." ALSO READ: Ryan Wesley Routh: What we know about suspect in Donald Trump assassination attempt The former president revealed the information as he spoke about trade and tariffs while responding to a question at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan. These people are the sharpest people. They're not a little bit backwards...You know the expression, they're at the top of their game, and they use it against us. But India is very tough. Brazil is very tough. China is the toughest of all, but we were taking care of China with the tariffs. So, we're going to do a reciprocal trade. If anybody charges us 10 cents, if they charge us USD 2, if they charge us a hundred per cent, 250, we charge them the same thing. And what's going to happen? Everything's going to disappear, and we're going to end up having free trade again. And if it doesn't disappear, we're going to take in a lot of money, he said. PM Modi's US visit itinerary Modi will begin his trip with the Quad Leaders' Summit being hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. The summit will be attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. Modi will then travel to New York and address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22. He will address world leaders at the landmark Summit of the Future event at the UN headquarters the next day. Modi's visit comes less than two months before the US heads into presidential elections with Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the top job. The US general elections will take place on November 5. - PTI SINGAPORE, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Offering a deep dive into the evolving Southeast Asian ecommerce landscape, leading global MarTech and customer engagement company, Netcore Cloud has released its comprehensive report, "Ecommerce Mindscape SEA 2024." Featuring insights from key industry players such as Puma, Senheng, Zalora, Kanmo, Vietjet Air, Photobook, and Pomelo, the report provides a roadmap for businesses to thrive in this rapidly growing market, projected to reach $180 billion by 2025. As Southeast Asia's ecommerce sector witnesses exponential growth, the report highlights how marketers leverage Generative AI (Gen AI), hyper-personalization, and seamless cross-channel integration to meet the evolving needs of digitally savvy consumers. The region's unique urban-rural divide is being bridged by rising mobile penetration, diverse payment methods, and the increasing dominance of mobile apps. Key insights from the report: TikTok Shops dominate, but Instagram and WhatsApp Shops are fast gaining ground, with close to 90% of consumers praising their shopping convenience. Consumers in SEA demand personalized shopping journeys powered by Gen AI, focusing on swift product discovery, relevant recommendations, and minimal marketing intrusions, 70% of CEOs plan to increase investments in Gen AI to boost personalization, predictive analytics, and customer journey optimization, 93% of consumers find online shopping too complicated with excessive steps. Saket Kumar Jha, Chief Revenue Officer - Emerging Markets at Netcore Cloud, commented on the report's findings: "As the Southeast Asian ecommerce market grows, personalization and innovation remain critical for brands aiming to differentiate themselves. Gen AI is at the forefront of this transformation, empowering brands to create more immersive, tailored consumer experiences. This report outlines essential strategies for marketers to stay competitive and capture the opportunities presented by this dynamic market." The report emphasizes that retention and repeat purchases are key to sustained profitability, particularly as customer acquisition costs (CACs) rise across the region. Brands are encouraged to invest in Gen AI-powered Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools to improve engagement and enhance customer loyalty. To access the 'Ecommerce Mindscape SEA 2024' report, visit [LINK]. About Netcore Cloud Netcore Cloud is a bootstrapped SaaS company that helps B2C brands and marketers create AI-powered new-age customer experiences at every touchpoint of a customer's journey. Netcore Cloud's full-stack marketing platform enables highly personalized digital experiences that are easily scalable and provide actionable analytics, real-time reporting, and quick-to-implement solutions across channels. Brands using Netcore Cloud can have a unified view of their customers and optimize their user experience. Headquartered in Mumbai, India, with 11 offices across the USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Nigeria, Indonesia, UAE, UK, and Germany, Netcore Cloud serves 6500+ customers across the globe. It delivers 35+ bn emails and tracks 100+ billion marketing events every month. Netcore Cloud is a trusted partner across industries with some of the most respected brands like MaxLife Insurance, ICICI Bank, Standard Chartered, Flipkart, Myntra, Miss Amara, Airtel, Disney Hotstar, Canon, Puma, Tobi, EaseMyTrip, PizzaHut and McDonald's. For more information, visit https://netcorecloud.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2002062/3884930/Netcore_Logo.jpg (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR Gandhinagar, Sep 18 (PTI) Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) has announced a green financing fund at the 4th Global Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo (RE-INVEST). The dedicated fund -- envisioned in partnership with sovereign wealth funds, green funds, and multilateral agencies -- will provide financial resource directly to the developers who win GUVNL's renewable energy (RE) bids. This came as the concluding point of a crucial roundtable discussion on 'Climate Finance Opportunities for Gujarat', which was chaired by Kanubhai Desai, Minister of Finance, Energy and Petrochemicals for the state, GUVNL said in a statement. Desai outlined Gujarat's priority of installing 100 GW of renewable energy by 2030, emphasising that the goal will require substantial financial support. "A tripartite agreement between GUVNL, the fund, and project developers, structured around an escrow account, will ensure that funds for energy supplied to GUVNL flow into the escrow account. This arrangement will provide secure repayment of loans by developers, offering comfort to investors," GUVNL MD Jai Prakash Shivahare said. This innovative approach aims to ultimately lift the state's position as a leader in India's renewable energy sector, the statement said. REC Ltd, a Maharatna company under the Ministry of Power, has decided to anchor the fund. REC Ltd CMD V K Dewangan said in the statement, "We are happy to be playing the role of the anchor financier for RE projects being developed in Gujarat under the holding company GUVNL." This initiative comes at a time GUVNL is planning to add 44 GW of RE capacity and 11 GW/55 GWh of energy storage systems by 2030. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday launched the NPS Vatsalya scheme, which will allow parents to save for their children's future by investing in a pension account. Parents can subscribe to NPS Vatsalya online or visiting a bank or post office. The minimum contribution to open Vatsalya account is Rs 1,000. Subscribers will have to contribute Rs 1,000 annually thereafter. The guidelines for withdrawal from NPS accounts are being finalised. Launching the scheme, Sitharaman said NPS has generated very competitive returns and offers the option to people to save while ensuring future income. NPS Vatsalya is an extension of the already existing NPS to children. In the last 10 years, NPS has 1.86 crore subscribers with an Asset Under Management (AUM) of Rs 13 lakh crore. Children below the age of 18 years can open NPS Vatsalya account, which will automatically get converted to regular NPS account on completion of 18 years of age. Pension will come from the account only upon attainment of 60 years of age. NPS has generated 14 per cent, 9.1 per cent, and 8.8 per cent returns for investments in equity, corporate debt and G-Secs, respectively, Sitharaman said. NPS Vatsalya was announced in the FY25 Budget presented in July. Many lenders, including ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, have joined hands with the PFRDA to launch National Pension Scheme (NPS) - Vatsalya. ICICI Bank inaugurated the scheme's commencement in Mumbai at its service centre by registering a few children's accounts under NPS Vatsalya. Financial Services Secretary Nagaraju Maddirala said the government will be receptive of subscriber feedback and improve pension scheme accordingly. "Ever since we have announced the proposed launch of PM Vatsalya scheme, we have been getting feedback and suggestions to improve the scheme. As we go along and implement the Vatsalya scheme, we will try to improve so that concerns expressed in the last one week are taken care," Maddirala said. Male, Sep 18 (PTI) A delegation of the Maldives' ruling party on Wednesday embarked on an eight-day visit to China to seek the strategies utilised by the communist state to achieve its current economic development and enhance bilateral ties. The team from the People's National Congress (PNC) is visiting on the invitation of the Chinese ruling party, the Communist Party of China (CPC), state-run Public Service Media (PSM News) said. The PNC team, which will be led by Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Ameen and includes ministers, MPs and officials of the President's Office, will meet Liu Jianchao, China's Minister of International Department of the CPC. Ever since President Mohammad Muizzu assumed charge in November last year, China has increased its stake in the archipelagic nation. Muizzu himself visited China in January going against the precedent of Maldives president making India as the first port of call. "PNC revealed that the primary objective of the trip is to seek the strategies utilised by China, to achieve its current economic development, all while enhancing the bilateral ties between the two countries," the PSM News said. The team will visit five Chinese cities and hold talks with senior officials of CPC and will observe the developmental works of the cities. PNC's secretary general Zeenaz Adnan and Mohamed Firzul, Under Secretary for Public Policy at the Presidential Office are also part of the delegation that has over a dozen members. The team will conclude its visit on September 26, the PSM News added. China is Maldives' one of the largest trade partners with bilateral trade exceeding USD 700 million. On Tuesday, it was announced that the Free Trade Agreement with China will be implemented on January 1, 2025, following which the bilateral trade is expected to rise to USD 100 billion. Chennai, Sep 18 (PTI) As the strike by the employees at Korean electronics giant Samsung entered its 10th day on Wednesday, the CITU demanded the government's intervention to resolve the issue amicably. The protests led by the employees of Samsung's factory near here got more support on Wednesday, with trade unions affiliated to CITU extending their support to the indefinite strike by the workers. A section of workers at the Samsung India factory located in Sriperumbudur near here, have gone on indefinite strike since September 9 demanding better pay, recognition of their union, better work amenities among others. On Wednesday, the strike entered its 10th day and the Confederation of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which is spearheading the workers' strike, demanded the Tamil Nadu government's intervention. "We have written to the Labour department to recognise the Samsung India Workers Union. It has been 90 days since we have given our application but so far there has been no response. As per the Law, it should have been done within 45 days," CITU State President A Soundararajan told reporters here. The employees have resorted to the indefinite strike for the first time in the 16 year-old history of the factory in Sriperumbudur, he claimed. He flayed the police personnel for detaining about 120 employees, including CITU district secretary E Muthukumar, on September 16 and for warning of action if the workers staged a protest in the city. "Even today, police personnel said the employees should not come (near Valluvar Kottam in Chennai city), leaders of CITU affiliated unions should not take part in the protests. This kind of attitude by the police personnel is not acceptable. The employees are only demanding for their basic rights and they should not be treated like this." Soundararajan, also the Honorary President of Samsung India Workers' Union, said. He urged the state government's intervention on the issue and take measures to solve the matter. "The government should take the efforts to register the union without any further delay and try to resolve the issue amicably" he said. To a query, he said that the affiliated unions of CITU would decide on further course of action including on holding protests across Tamil Nadu. "All the democratic forces, political parties should also extend their support to the strike," he said. Samsung had responded to the strike earlier, stating the welfare of its employees was 'top priority' and that it actively engages with the workers to address any grievances. "At Samsung India, the welfare of our employees is our top priority. We actively engage with our workers to address any grievances they may have and comply with all laws and regulations. We will also ensure that there is no disruption to our consumers," a Samsung India spokesperson had said. KYODO NEWS - Sep 18, 2024 - 22:33 | All, World Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plan for victory in the war will include a detailed list of military resources vital for defeating Russia, along with a request for permission to attack Russian territory using long-range missiles, a top government official said Wednesday. The plan, the outline of which was revealed for the first time, will also stress the necessity of investment to strengthen Ukraine's domestic weapons manufacturing capabilities. It will be presented during a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden later this month. As the war, launched in February 2022, drags on, Ukraine aims to take the lead in peace efforts by proposing concrete measures to pressure Russia militarily, economically, politically, and diplomatically, according to the official. Zelenskyy is expected to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York in late September, and will present his victory plan to Biden and the two candidates in the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. On the military front, the plan will specify the required quantity and types of weaponry, including long-range missiles provided by the United States and Britain, to achieve victory, as well as their delivery deadlines and their expected impact on the battlefield. Highlighting the success of Ukraine's attack on Russia's western Kursk region, the plan will also suggest that increasing attacks on Russian soil will be effective in generating social unrest in the nation led by President Vladimir Putin. Regarding economic measures, the plan will call for investment from allies to expand Ukraine's production of weapons such as drones and missiles, while demanding the implementation of new sanctions to weaken Russia's ability to continue the war. Political moves in the plan will include requesting Ukraine's early membership into NATO. Diplomatically, it will emphasize the need to bolster relations with the "Global South" emerging countries, on which Russia is trade dependent, to maximize pressure on Moscow. Related coverage: Japan arranging to shoulder $3.3 billion in G7 loans for Ukraine OPINION: Ukraine peace process must start with Swiss summit Ukraine hopes to ink security pact with Japan before July NATO summit Karachi, Sep 18 (PTI) Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan-starrer "The Legend of Maula Jatt" is set to become the first Pakistani film in over a decade to release in Indian theatres. Director Bilal Lashari, Mahira and the film's official Instagram page shared the news on their social media pages. "Releasing in India, Punjab on Wednesday 2nd Oct! Two years in, and still house full on weekends in Pakistan! Now, I cant wait for our Punjabi audience in India to experience the magic of this labor of love!" Lashari captioned the poster on Instagram. According to the poster, the film is a "Zee Studios release in collaboration with Zindagi", which also brought Fawad back to audiences in India with its latest show "Barzakh". "Maula Jatt" would be the first Pakistani film to release in India after 2011's "Bol", starring Humaima Malick and Atif Aslam. The Fawad-starrer, which released in Pakistan in 2022 and became a massive hit, is a remake of the 1979 cult classic Maula Jatt. It is ranked as Pakistans highest earning movie by raking in Rs 400 crore globally. "Two years on, 'The Legend of Maula Jatt' is still unstoppable! Witness the epic saga on the big screen in India from 2nd October 2024. Cinema listing to be shared soon," read the announcement on the official Instagram page of the film. Besides Fawad and Mahira, a hit pair in Pakistan thanks to their pairing in "Humsafar", the film also features Hamza Abbasi in a pivotal role. "India is a massive market for films and we are confident that 'Maula Jatt' will be appreciated by Indian audiences, one of the people associated with the film said. There was a ban on Indian film releases in Pakistan and vice versa after a spate of terror incidents that also led to a controversy around Fawad's casting in "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil". The actor's flourishing career in India suffered a setback due to the tensions between the countries. Both Fawad and Mahira, who starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan in "Raees", continue to enjoy popularity in India and the film is expected to create a buzz. The film was earlier slated to arrive in Indian theatres in December 2022 but its release was postponed. Vancouver, Sep 18 (AP) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he's focused on the work ahead after the ruling Liberals lost in another by-election, raising more questions about his ability to lead the party into the next federal election. For the second time in recent months the Liberals lost in a former stronghold when the Bloc Quebecois won the vote in the electoral district of LaSalle-Emard-Verdun Monday in Montreal in a tight three-way race with the New Democratic Party. Obviously it would have been nicer to be able to win . . . but there's more work to do, Trudeau said in Ottawa. The big thing is to make sure that Canadians understand the choice they get to make in the next election," Trudeau said. "That's the work we're going to continue to do. Election Canada results show the Bloc candidate Louis-Philippe Sauve finished with 28% of the vote. Liberals' candidate Laura Palestini collected 27.2% and finished just 248 votes behind the winner. The NDP collected 26.1% and was about 600 votes behind the winner. It's the second time in three months that Trudeau's party has lost a by-election in a riding they held for years. In June, the Conservatives narrowly defeated the Liberals in Toronto-St. Paul's. The Liberals won every seat in Toronto and almost every seat on the Island of Montreal in the last election. Monday's loss is a major blow for the Liberals, said Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. This is a riding we would expect them to win under normal circumstances, Beland said in an email. Not only did this not happen, they lost by nearly 16 percentage points in popular votes compared to their score in the riding back in 2021, when they had easily won there. Andrew Perez, a longtime Liberal supporter and strategist, posted on social media that the loss is yet another nail in Justin Trudeau's coffin. If Trudeau's Liberals can't hold this safe seat, it will spell even bigger trouble for the party's prospects in Quebec and across Canada in a critical election year, Perez said in a statement before the final vote. Beland doesn't believe Trudeau will step down as party leader before the next election, which is scheduled for next fall. Some Liberals might try to convince him to step down but it's not sure at all he would, said Beland. Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne was asked Tuesday if Trudeau should remain as prime minister. Champagne said there is concern, there's anxiety among Canadian voters. They're ready for a positive vision of the country, he said. I think if there's someone who can really inspire Canadians, it's Justin Trudeau. Most polls show the federal Conservatives well ahead of the Liberals. Trudeau is also very unpopular with many Canadians. The NDP recently ended its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals that helped keep the minority government in power. That led to speculation there could be an early federal election. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said his party plans to put forward a non-confidence motion at the earliest possible opportunity in hopes of bringing down the Liberal government. Neither the NDP nor Bloc, a party based only in Quebec and devoted to Quebec sovereignty, has said if they will help bring the government down. Beland said it's difficult to predict if there will be an early election. It seems that only the Conservatives want a federal election right now so either the Bloc or the NDP could still decide to support the Liberals at the next confidence vote, he said. They (the Liberals) only need the support of one of these opposition parties to stay alive. In another by-election Monday, the NDP held onto its seat in Winnipeg in a race closer than previous votes. The NDP defeated the Conservative candidate by 1,200 votes. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took to social media to call the decision a big victory. (AP) NSA NSA Canberra/Brisbane, Sep 18 (The Conversation) Last week, some 2,000 government officials and experts from around the world met for the REAIM (Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain) summit in Seoul, South Korea. This was the second event of its kind, with the first one held in the Netherlands in February 2023. During this years summit, 61 countries endorsed a Blueprint for Action for governing the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) by the military. However, 30 countries sent a government representative to the summit but didnt endorse the blueprint, including China. The blueprint is an important, if modest, development. But there is still a gap in the understanding of what constitutes responsible use of AI and how this translates into concrete actions in the military domain. How is AI currently used in military contexts? Military use of AI has increased over the last few years, notably in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts. Israel has used AI-enabled systems known as Gospel and Lavender to help it make key military decisions, such as which locations and people to target with bombs. The systems use large amounts of data, including peoples addresses, phone numbers and membership of chat groups. The Lavender system in particular made headlines earlier this year when critics questioned its efficacy and legality. There was particular concern around its training data and how it classified targets. Both Russia and Ukraine also use AI to support military decision making. Satellite imagery, social media content and drone surveillance are just some of the many information sources which generate copious volumes of data. AI can analyse this data much more quickly than humans could. The results are incorporated into existing kill chains the process of locating, tracking, targeting and engaging targets. It means military officials can make faster decisions during active armed conflict, providing tactical advantages. However, the misuse of AI systems can also result in potential harm. Civil society and non-governmental organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross have warned about the risks. For example, algorithmic bias can exacerbate the risk to civilians during active warfare. What is responsible AI in the military domain? There is no consensus on what constitutes responsible AI. Some researchers argue the technology itself can be responsible. In this case, responsible would mean having built-in fairness and freedom from bias. Other studies refer to the practices around AI such as design, development and use being responsible. These would mean practices that are lawful, traceable, reliable and focused on mitigating bias. The blueprint endorsed at the recent summit in Seoul aligns with the latter interpretation. It advocates that anyone using AI in the military must comply with relevant national and international laws. It also highlights the importance of human roles in the development, deployment and use of AI in the military domain. This includes ensuring human judgement and control over the use of force are responsibly and safely managed. This is an important distinction, because many narratives around AI falsely imply an absence of human involvement and responsibility. What can governments do to use military AI responsibly? Discussions at the summit focused heavily on concrete steps governments can take to support responsible use of military AI. As military AI use is currently increasing, we need interim steps to deal with it. One suggestion was to strike AI regulation agreements within different regions, rather than taking longer to reach a global, universal consensus. To improve global cooperation on military AI, we could also heed lessons from previous global challenges such as nuclear non-proliferation, saving the ozone layer and keeping outer space and Antarctica demilitarised. Eighteen months since the inaugural summit last year, governments and other responsible parties have started putting into place risk-mitigation processes and toolkits for military AI. The blueprint reflects the progress since then, and the ideas discussed at the summit. It proposes a number of tangible steps, which include: -universal legal reviews for AI-enabled military capabilities -promoting dialogue on developing measures to ensure responsible AI in the military domain at the national, regional and international levels -maintaining appropriate human involvement in the development, deployment and use of AI in the military domain. However, progress is slow because we still dont have a universal understanding of what responsible military AI actually looks like. The need to cut thorough these issues is now putting pressure on the next summit (not yet announced). The Netherlands has also set up an expert body to further a globally consistent approach to military AI. Humanity can benefit from AI tools. But we urgently need to ensure the risks they pose dont proliferate, especially in the military domain. (The Conversation) NSA NSA Islamabad, Sep 18 (PTI) Imran Khan's crimes alone are enough to keep him behind bars, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said, as he dismissed the former prime minister's accusation that the government was pushing to amend the constitution to keep him in prison. Khan, 71, has been in jail since August last year after being convicted in some of the nearly 200 cases slapped on him since his ouster in April 2022. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder on Monday rejected the anticipated constitutional changes, claiming that it was an effort to keep him in prison by controlling the judiciary. Responding to the allegation, Asif on Tuesday said, "Given PTI founder's long list of crimes, constitutional amendments won't be necessary." "The incarcerated former premier wants to attach himself not just to constitutional amendments but to everything (that's happening) in Pakistan as he considers himself the centre of everything," Geo News quoted Asif as saying. Khan should reflect on what chaos he created in the last four years, he said, adding there was an attempted rebellion against the state on May 9 last year. Khan is facing several cases in connection with the May 9 violence in which supporters of his party allegedly attacked military installations following his arrest. Asif said: "Since the PTI founder has been in custody, he has repeatedly like three to four thousand times said that he will talk to the establishment." He also rejected the opposition parties allegations of keeping the constitutional amendments under wraps, saying that the draft legislation was a public document whose contents are not a secret. Despite Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government's failure to get the required number to pass the amendments which led to the indefinite postponement of its tabling on Monday, Asif was optimistic about the passage of new legislation through the parliament, come what may. Defending the coalition governments move to make judiciary-centric constitutional amendments, Asif said that the changes are aimed at maintaining a balance of power among institutions, not just at ensuring accountability. Claiming that the PTI was willing to support the constitutional package, he said that "the former ruling party has requested the government to postpone the amendment until December." In response to Asifs statement, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said: "Neither have we been involved in any discussions with Asif, nor has PTI assured support for the government's constitutional amendments until December," he said. He categorically rejected Asifs claims, asserting that any statement about PTIs approval would be false, as the "draft, suggestion, or package has not yet been disclosed." Taipei, Sep 18 (AP) Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorised its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them. Pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding more than 2,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary's capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo. According to the cooperation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, the statement read. Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. At about 3:30 pm Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers. The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media. Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration. The AR-924 pager, advertised as being rugged, contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo's website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters. It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries and that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon. For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to sidestep what's believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon. The phone that we have in our hands I do not have a phone in my hand is a listening device, warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech. He later added: I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wife's hands, and in your children's hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it. (AP) GRS GRS Taipei (Taiwan), Sep 18 (AP) Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said on Wednesday that it authorised its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria in an apparent Israeli operation targeting Hezbollah's communications network but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them. Pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously on Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. An American official said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the conclusion of the operation, in which small amounts of explosive secreted in the pagers were detonated. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly. The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary's capital, according to a statement released on Wednesday by Gold Apollo. According to the cooperation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, the statement read. Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists on Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. At about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers. The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media. Hezbollah, which has pointed the blame at Israel, said in a statement on Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as in all the past days as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza. This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday that it committed against our people, our families and our fighters in Lebanon, it said. This is another reckoning that will come, God willing. Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel on October 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counteroffensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes near-daily, killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displacing tens of thousands on each side of the border. At hospitals in Beirut on Wednesday, the chaos of the night before had largely subsided, but relatives of the wounded continued to wait. Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad told journalists during a tour on hospitals Wednesday morning that many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes, and others had limbs amputated. Journalists were not allowed to enter hospital rooms or film patients. The health minister said that the wounded had been distributed among all the area hospitals to avoid any single facility being overloaded and added that Turkiye, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt offered to help in treating the patients. Earlier on Wednesday, an Iraqi military plane landed in Beirut carrying medical equipment, airport officials said. Abiad said the plane was carrying 15 tons of medicine and medical equipment. Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration. The AR-924 pager, advertised as being rugged, contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo's website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters. It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries and that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon. For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to sidestep what's believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon. The phone that we have in our hands I do not have a phone in my hand is a listening device, warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech. He later added: I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wife's hands, and in your children's hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it. (AP) PY PY New York, Sep 18 (AP) In what appears to be a sophisticated, remote attack, pagers used by hundreds of members of Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria Tuesday, killing at least nine people including an 8-year-old girl and wounding thousands more. The Iran-backed militant group blamed Israel for the deadly explosions, which targeted an extraordinary breadth of people and showed signs of being a long-planned operation. How the attack was executed is largely uncertain and investigators have not immediately said how the pagers were detonated. The Israeli military has declined to comment. Here's what we know so far. Why were pagers used in the attack? Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group's members not to carry cellphones, saying they could be used by Israel to track the group's movements. As a result, the organisation uses pagers to communicate. A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press the exploded devices were from a new brand the group had not used before. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the press, did not identify the brand name or supplier. Nicholas Reese, adjunct instructor at the Center for Global Affairs in New York University's School of Professional Studies, explains smart phones carry a higher risk for intercepted communications in contrast to the more simple technology of pagers. This type of attack will also force Hezbollah to change their communication strategies, said Reese, who previously worked as an intelligence officer, adding that survivors of Tuesday's explosions are likely to throw away "not just their pagers, but their phones, and leaving their tablets or any other electronic devices. How could sabotage cause these pagers to explode? With little disclosed from investigators so far, multiple theories have emerged Tuesday around how the attack might have been carried out. Several experts who spoke with The Associated Press suggest that the explosions were most likely the result of supply-chain interference. Very small explosive devices may have been built into the pagers prior to their delivery to Hezbollah, and then all remotely triggered simultaneously, possibly with a radio signal. By the time of the attack, the battery was probably half-explosive and half-actual battery," said Carlos Perez, director of security intelligence at TrustedSec. A former British Army bomb disposal officer explained that an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge. A pager has three of those already, explained the ex-officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he now works as a consultant with clients on the Middle East. You would only need to add the detonator and the charge. After security camera footage appeared on social media Tuesday purporting to show one of the pagers explode on a man's hip in a Lebanese market, two munitions experts also said that the blast appeared to be the result of a tiny explosive device. Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge, said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert. This signals involvement of a state actor, Moorhouse said. He adds that Israel's foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, is the most obvious suspect to have the resources to carry out such an attack. N R Jenzen-Jones, an expert in military arms who is director of the Australian-based Armament Research Services, agreed that the scale and sophistication of the attack almost certainly points to a state actor, and that Israel had been accused of carrying out such operations in the past. Last year, AP reported that Iran accused Israel of trying to sabotage its ballistic missile programme through faulty foreign parts that could explode, damaging or destroying the weapons before they could be used. How long was this operation? It would take a long time to plan an attack of this scale. The exact specifics are still unknown, but experts who spoke with the AP shared estimates ranging anywhere between several months to two years. The sophistication of the attack suggests that whoever is behind it has been collecting intelligence for a long time, Reese explained. An attack of this calibre requires building the relationships needed to gain physical access to the pagers before they were sold; developing the technology that would be embedded in the devices; and developing sources who can confirm that the targets were carrying the pagers. And it's likely the compromised pagers seemed normal to their users for some time before the attack. Elijah J Magnier, a Brussels-based veteran and a senior political risk analyst with over 37 years experience in the region, said he has had conversations with members of Hezbollah and survivors of Tuesday's pager attack. He said the pagers were procured more than six months ago. The pagers functioned perfectly for six months," Magnier said. What triggered the explosion, he said, appeared to be an error message sent to all the devices. Based on his conversations with Hezbollah members, Magnier also said that many pagers didn't go off, allowing the group to inspect them. They came to the conclusion that between 3 to 5 grams of a highly explosive material were concealed or embedded in the circuitry, he said. (AP) VN VN Islamabad, Sep 18 (PTI) Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk on Wednesday arrived in Islamabad on a two-day visit during which he will hold talks with Pakistan's top leadership and discuss ways to enhance bilateral ties. According to the Foreign Office, a high-level delegation is also accompanying the Deputy Prime Minister during the visit on September 18-19. It said that Overchuk will hold meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The discussions will centre on boosting cooperation in various critical sectors, reflecting the growing trust and goodwill between the two nations. "Pakistan and Russia enjoy cordial relations based on goodwill, amity and trust, which is reflected in the multi-faceted bilateral cooperation including in trade, energy and connectivity, FO said. Relations between Pakistan and Russia have recently improved after estrangement during the Cold War. The visit comes ahead of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which would be held in Islamabad. The two countries are not just exploring options to deepen economic ties, but Russia is also keen to sell arms to Pakistan. The two countries have already been holding regular joint military exercises since 2016, which is another sign of deepening ties between Moscow and Islamabad. Islamabad, Sep 18 (PTI) A Pakistan high court on Wednesday restrained a trial court from delivering its verdict in a case of alleged corruption against former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. The move comes after Khan and his wife petitioned the Islamabad High Court to stay the proceedings of the Al-Qadir Trust case and acquit them. An anti-corruption court has been hearing the Al-Qadir Trust case against the former first couple which is based on the charges that Khan caused a loss of over Rs 50 billion to the national exchequer. During the hearing, a two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Amir Farooq rejected the plea to stay the legal proceedings against Khan and his wife. However, in a relief to them, the High Court restrained the accountability court hearing the case from delivering its final verdict. The lawyers of the accused had taken a position in the court that after the amendments in the anti-corruption laws, the case of alleged corruption against the former prime minister and his wife did not arise. They argued that the approval of the federal cabinet was taken in this matter and this is clear in the new amendments that the National Accountability Bureau cannot investigate the decisions made in the federal cabinet. The lawyers of Khan and Bibi said that they should be acquitted from the case on which the court has issued notices to the parties made in these petitions. The trial of the case is currently in progress and so far statements of 35 witnesses have been recorded in the case and only the investigating officer has to be cross-examined by the accused's lawyers. The case is based on a probe by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) into the Al-Qadir University Trust in March 2023. It accused that Khan and his wife acquired substantial sums of money and large tracts of land for real estate tycoon, Malik Riaz Hussain of Bahria Town, in exchange for Rs 50 billion. The amount had been paid as part of a settlement with the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and was subsequently adjusted against a fine imposed on Riaz by the Supreme Court. Dhaka, Sep 18 (PTI) Bangladesh's interim government on Wednesday appointed prominent Bangladeshi-American professor Ali Riaz as head of the Constitutional Reform Commission, replacing Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik. It was announced in a circular issued by the Cabinet Division as per the directive of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. However, the circular did not mention any reason for the change. Riaz is a professor of political science at Illinois State University, US. Yunus, 84, recently announced the formation of six commissions to reform the judiciary, election system, administration, police, anti-corruption commission and the constitution. The following day, the interim government named Malik head of the Constitutional Reform Commission. Nobel laureate Yunus said the interim government has taken steps to form six commissions to overhaul six key sectors. Underlining that the core aim of the reforms is to ensure equal rights for all, he said, We have a lot of work ahead of us. We want to move forward together toward the same goal. We want to create a structure that enables the untapped talents within us, especially within our new generation, to be expressed without obstacles, with the support of the state and society. Yunus took oath as the head of the interim government on August 8, three days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India following widespread protests against her government. BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- More than 400 new products and technologies will debut at the third Global Digital Trade Expo, scheduled from Sept. 25 to 29 in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Tang Wenhong, assistant minister of commerce, said on Wednesday. Among the new products and technologies, approximately one quarter originate overseas, a significantly higher proportion than the previous edition, Tang told a press conference. Leading companies from 32 countries and regions will participate in the expo, with international companies accounting for over 20 percent of both the total number of exhibitors and exhibition areas, he added. A dedicated zone for future industries will be established for the first time this year, showcasing cutting-edge technologies in areas such as intelligent robots and low-altitude economy, according to Tang. A report on China's digital commerce will also be released during the expo, which will focus on the achievements and future prospects of China's digital commerce and show Chinese wisdom to bridging the global digital divide. Launched in 2022, the expo, featuring Kazakhstan and Thailand as guests of honor this year, is co-hosted by the government of Zhejiang Province and China's Ministry of Commerce. Washington, Sep 18 (PTI) Two US lawmakers on Tuesday condemned the alleged manhandling of an Indian journalist in Dallas last week by members of the Indian Overseas Congress and said that deletion of his recordings was a violation of the First Amendment. "I stand with Rohit Sharma, the reporter with India Today group, and am unequivocal in my support for the 1st Amendment," Congressman Ro Khanna, a co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said. "He is a fair journalist. It's unethical and a betrayal of free speech for handlers to have snatched his phone, shoved him, and deleted his recordings," Khanna said. Congressman Shri Thanedar termed the attack "totally unacceptable." "Security staff must be aware that reporters working in the US are protected by the First Amendment, regardless of the nationality of the interview subject, reporter or security teams," he said. Thanedar said Sharma had an "on-the-record interview" with Congress leader Sam Pitroda and the security team had no role in moderating content or duration of the interview. "They had no right or standing to take Sharma's phone from him or delete content," said Emily Wilkins, president of the National Press Club. Ajay Bhutoria, a prominent Indian-American community leader, too in a statement condemned the assault on India Today journalist Rohit Sharma, allegedly by the members of Rahul Gandhi's team during the Leader of Opposition's visit to the United States. "I unequivocally condemn the assault on Rohit Sharma. A free and independent media is the backbone of any democracy, and the mistreatment of a journalist for asking a question is an attack on press freedom," he said. Bhutoria also urged the US Department of Justice to investigate the matter. He added, "Rahul Gandhi has been tarnishing India's image in the US with his divisive rhetoric and irresponsible statements. This incident is yet another example of the disregard for democratic principles and freedom of speech that he and his team have demonstrated during his visit. It is essential that this behaviour is called out and addressed swiftly." Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi in a post on X said: "I stand with the First Amendment and the rights of the free press, including @DcWalaDesi. No journalist should ever face such harassment." According to US Press Freedom Tracker, Sharma was physically prevented from leaving an interview on September 7 by some attendees, who halted his questioning of the overseas head of one of India's main opposition parties, then stole his phone and deleted the interview recording. "I was made to sit on a chair there were two persons, one on my left side and one on the right and I couldn't get up. I tried getting up and they said, 'No, sit down, sit down. You can't move,'" Sharma told the Tracker. According to the news website, the men locked his phone while passing it around, so one of them held it up to his face to unlock it using Face ID. "They deleted the recording from Sharma's Photos app, and once again used his Face ID to access his Recently Deleted folder to permanently delete the recording. He said his phone was in aeroplane mode, and so the recording was not uploaded to his iCloud," the Tracker wrote. Pitroda called Sharma to apologise for the incident a few days after and told the journalist that he believed in press freedom and that he would investigate and hold the responsible parties accountable, the Tracker said. "Pitroda did not respond to an email from the Tracker requesting additional information on the status of that investigation," it added. Frankfort (US), Sep 18 (AP) Democratic Governor Andy Beshear banned the use of conversion therapy on minors in Kentucky on Wednesday, calling his executive order a necessary step to protect children from a widely discredited practice that tries to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity through counselling. The governor took action using his executive powers after efforts to enact a law banning the practice repeatedly failed in the state's Republican-dominated legislature. Beshear signed the executive order during a statehouse ceremony attended by activists for LGBTQ+ rights. Let's be clear: conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science, and it has been shown to increase rates of suicide and depression, Beshear said in a statement. "This is about doing what is right and protecting our children. Hate is not who we are as Kentuckians. The executive order signed by Beshear bans the practice and makes it illegal to use state or federal funds to provide the therapy on minors. It also gives the state's board of licensure the authority to take action against anyone found to have practiced conversion therapy on minors and gives the board the authority to bring disciplinary action against anyone found in violation of the order. Such therapy has been discredited and is opposed by, among others, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, citing research that shows it leads to increased risk of suicide and depression. At least 23 states and the District of Columbia prohibit the use of conversion therapy with minors, Beshear's office said. Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, praised Beshear for taking "bold and necessary action to protect Kentucky's LGBTQ youth from the harmful practice of conversion therapy. Today Governor Beshear sends a crystal-clear message to all of Kentucky's LGBTQ kids and their families you are perfect as you are, Hartman said. (AP) SCY SCY Kathmandu, Sep 18 (PTI) Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will travel to the US on Friday on his maiden foreign visit to attend the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, breaking the tradition of visiting a neighbouring country first. It will be his first foreign trip after assuming office for the fourth time in July. Oli will address the UN General Assembly on September 26. This year's General Debate theme is Leaving No One Behind: Acting Together for the Advancement of Peace, Sustainable Development, and Human Dignity for Present and Future Generations. The 79th UN General Assembly will be held in New York from September 10 to 28. Oli will attend the opening session of the General Debate on September 24 and a reception hosted by US President Joe Biden on September 25, according to a press release issued by the Foreign Ministry. He will address the Summit of the Future as the Chair of the Global Coordination Bureau of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in New York. He will also address the High-Level Plenary Meeting on Addressing the Existential Threats Posed by Sea-Level Rise and the High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) among others. On September 23, Oli will deliver a keynote address on "Nepal's Journey to Democracy and Economic Prosperity at Columbia University. He will speak at the John F Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University on "Nepals Perspective: From Transitional Justice to Climate Justice on 27 September 2024. He will meet United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UNGA. Oli would be accompanied by his spouse, Radhika Shakya; Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba; the prime minister's Chief Adviser Bishnu Prasad Rimal; Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal; and other senior government officials. He will return home on September 30. Oli was supposed to visit Thailand in the first week of September to attend the BIMSTEC Summit (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). However, after the Summit was postponed following the political developments in Bangladesh and Thailand, Oli cancelled his visit to Bangkok. Flint (MI), Sep 18 (AP) Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he's meeting next week with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when Modi visits the US. Modi is scheduled to be in the United States this weekend, along with the leaders of Australia and Japan, for a summit of the so-called Quad hosted by President Joe Biden in his Wilmington, Delaware, hometown. The group is formally called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, and it began as a partnership after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The popular and polarising Indian prime minister has advanced Hindu nationalism in his decade-long tenure. The meeting between Modi with Trump had not been previously reported. The Republican presidential nominee referenced it for the first time while speaking at an unrelated event in Flint, Michigan. The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. Earlier this year, Trump met with other foreign leaders, including Hungary's nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban, whom he regularly mentions in speeches, and Polish President Andrzej Duda, who once proposed naming a military base in his country "Fort Trump." Trump also met with British PM and Foreign Secretary David Cameron. Foreign leaders have argued that meetings with Trump are part of standard encounters they have with opposition figures. (AP) VN VN Dallas, Sep 18 (AP) Boeing's CEO said Wednesday that the company will begin furloughing a large number of employees to conserve cash during the strike by union machinists that began last week. Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg said the layoffs would be temporary and affect executives, managers and other employees. About 33,000 Boeing factory workers in the Pacific Northwest began a strike Friday after rejecting a proposal to raise pay by 25 per cent over four years. They want raises of at least 40 per cent and other improvements in the deal that they voted down. The furloughs are expected to affect tens of thousands of Boeing employees. Ortberg said employees will be furloughed for one week every four weeks, and he and other senior executives will take pay cuts during the duration of the strike. The strike is halting production of several Boeing models, including its best-selling plane, the 737 Max. The company gets more than half of the purchase price when new planes are delivered to buyers, so the strike will quickly hurt Boeing's cash flow. Ortberg said in a memo to employees that the company is talking to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers about a new contract agreement that could be ratified. However, with production paused across many key programs in the Pacific Northwest, our business faces substantial challenges and it is important that we take difficult steps to preserve cash and ensure that Boeing is able to successfully recover, he said. Boeing's chief financial officer warned employees earlier this week that temporary layoffs were possible. The company, which is based in Arlington, Virginia, but has most of its commercial-airplanes business located in the Pacific Northwest, is also cutting spending on suppliers, freezing hiring and eliminating most travel. (AP) GSP Beirut, Sep 18 (AP) Walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in an apparent second wave of attacks targeting electronic devices a day after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and Hezbollah officials said. At least nine people were killed and more than 300 people wounded in the second wave, the Health Ministry said. The attacks, which were widely believed to be carried out by Israel targeting Hezbollah, have hiked fears that the two sides' simmering conflict could escalate into all-out war. Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said, We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance. He made no mention of the explosions of electronic devices but praised the work of Israel's army and security agencies, saying the results are very impressive. In Wednesday's attacks, several blasts were heard at a funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them. A girl was hurt in the south when a solar energy system blew up, the state news agency reported. The new blasts hit a country still roiling with confusion and anger after Tuesday's pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members that caused civilian casualties, too. Tuesday's bombings killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,800 others. The second wave also deepens concern over the potentially indiscriminate casualties caused in the attacks, in which hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby. While the pagers were used by Hezbollah members, there was no guarantee who was holding the device at the time of the blast. Also, many of the casualties were not Hezbollah fighters, but members of the group's extensive civilian operations mainly serving Lebanon's Shiite community. At least two health workers were among those killed Tuesday. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, charity workers, teachers and office administrators work for Hezbollah-linked organisations, and an unknown number had pagers. The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, called for an independent investigation into the mass explosions. The fear and terror unleashed is profound, he said in a statement, urging world leaders to step up in defence of the rights of all people to live in peace and security. Iran-backed Hezbollah Lebanon's strongest armed force and Israel's military have exchanged fire almost daily since October 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Since then, hundreds have been killed in strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced. Hezbollah said its strikes are in support of its ally, Hamas. Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must put a stop to the exchanges to allow people to return to homes near the border. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. In his comments, Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top security officials at Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the country's army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. is still assessing how the attack could affect efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas. New details on the pager bombings began to emerge. An American official said Israel briefed the United States after the attack, in which small amounts of explosive had been hidden in the devices. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly. The AR-924 pagers used in Tuesday's attack were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, which is based in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, according to a statement released by Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm that authorized the use of its brand on the pagers. Gold Apollo's chair, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists Wednesday the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years. "But the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, Gold Apollo said in a statement. At the headquarters of a building in a residential neighborhood of Budapest, the names of multiple companies, including BAC Consulting, are posted on pieces of paper on a window. A woman who emerged from the building and declined to give her name said the site provides headquarter addresses to various companies. BAC's parent company is registered to Cristiana Rosaria Barsony-Arcidiacono, whose describes herself on her LinkedIn page as a strategic advisor and business developer. The Associated Press has attempted to reach Barsony-Arcidiacono via the LinkedIn page and has been unable to establish a connection between her or BAC and the exploding pagers. The attack in Lebanon started Tuesday afternoon, when pagers in their owners' hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that most of those hit were members or linked to members of Hezbollah whether fighters or civilians but it was not immediately clear if people with no ties to Hezbollah were also hit. The Health Ministry said health care workers and two children were among those killed. In the village of Nadi Sheet in the Bekaa Valley, dozens gathered to mourn the death of one of the children, 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah. Her mother, wearing black and donning a yellow Hezbollah scarf, wept alongside other women and children as they gathered around the little girl's coffin before her burial. Hezbollah said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza. This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday, it said. This is another reckoning that will come, God willing. (AP) GSP Ahmedabad, Sept 18 (PTI) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has launched the 'Swachhata Hi Seva 2024' campaign, aimed at fostering a sense of responsibility towards cleanliness among all citizens. 'Swachhata Hi Seva 2024' is a nationwide campaign launched on September 17 which will culminate on October 2. In Gujarat, this cleanliness drive will be held from September 17 to October 31, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a government release stated. Patel formally kicked off the drive by cleaning a road near the vegetable market in sector 7 of Gandhinagar on Tuesday night. Local MLA Ritaben Patel, Mayor Miraben Patel and office-bearers of various committees of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation along with senior officials also joined the CM in cleaning the road with brooms. Additionally, the chief minister rewarded the five best-performing sanitary workers with Rs 10,000 cheques and ration kits. The Chief Minister has called for a mass cleanliness movement with the help of people in urban and rural areas of the state, the release stated. Patel suggested cleanliness drives under "Swachhata Hi Sewa" be held at night in busy commercial areas due to heavy traffic during the day, the release added. Raipur, Sep 18 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Congress chief president Jitu Patwari on Wednesday condemned the BJP over its leaders reckless remarks against Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Talking to reporters at Raipur airport, he said Congress will continue to fight against dictatorship with Gandhiwadi (ideas of Mahatma Gandhi). The BJP leaders statements against Rahul Gandhi are a ploy to tarnish the senior Congress leaders image through social media by spending crores of rupees, claimed Patwari. One (BJP) MLA of Modi says dadi jaisa haal kar denge (will make him meet the same fate as his grandmother, a reference to ex-PM Indira Gandhi), the other dubs him as biggest terrorist, while another says will cut his tongue, Patwari said. All these statements are being made on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he claimed. The entire country is witness to how Modi has been murdering democratic values, he said. I believe Congress party, its workers and like-minded people will continue to fight against such forces and destructive mindset, he said. Patwari questioned why action is not being taken against the BJP politicians despite complaints lodged by Congress leaders. He also claimed that the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh has failed to fulfil the promises it had made ahead of last years assembly polls in the state. Patwari later went to Raipur central jail where he met Congress MLA Devendra Yadav, who was arrested last month in connection with the June 10 violence in Balodabazar city in the state. The Congress leader said the story of vendetta politics and dictatorship has begun in Chhattisgarh and Yadavs arrest is its evidence. Those who were involved in the arson in Balodabazar are roaming freely and to hide its failure, the state government has put the blame on Yadav, he said. The court's decision will ultimately prove that the government was itself responsible for the incident (arson), he said. Patwari was accompanied by his Chhattisgarh counterpart Dipak Baij during his visit to the jail. Ratlam (MP), Sep 18 (PTI) Police have registered a case against unidentified persons for allegedly waving a Palestinian flag during an Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi procession in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam, an official said. The incident occurred on September 17, he said. Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rakesh Sakha said that based on a complaint lodged by one Sanjay Patidar, a case against the unidentified persons was registered at Station Road police station on Tuesday. "A video in this connection also came to light and further investigation is underway on the basis of CCTV footage," he said. The case was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 197 (2), he said. Earlier, similar cases were registered in Mandla and Balaghat districts. In Balaghat, the police arrested three men and detained a minor on Tuesday in connection with waving the Palestine flag during Eid-e-Milad procession on Monday. According to police, they waved the Palestine flag after being inspired by seeing videos on Instagram. Amravati, Sep 18 (PTI) BJP's Rajya Sabha member Anil Bonde has said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's tongue should be singed as what he said about reservation was "dangerous". His remark made on Tuesday invited criticism from the opposition parties. It comes in the wake of Shiv Sena's Buldhana MLA Sanjay Gaikwad kicking up a row by announcing a Rs 11 lakh reward to anyone chopping off Gandhi's tongue for his remarks on scrapping the reservation system. During his recent visit to the USA, Gandhi told students at the Georgetown University that the Congress would think of scrapping reservation when "India is a fair place", which he said is not the case right now. Reacting to Gaikwad's statement of chopping off Gandhi's tongue, BJP leader Bonde said at Amravati in Maharashtra on Tuesday, "The language of chopping off tongue is not proper, but what Rahul ji said against reservation is dangerous." "Hence, if anyone speaks anything absurd in a foreign country, then rather than chopping off his tongue, it should be singed. It is necessary to certainly singe the tongues of such people - be it Rahul Gandhi, Dnyanesh Maharao or Shyam Manav and people who hurt the feelings of the 'bahujan' and majority," he said. Maharao, an author, is accused of making derogatory comments on Hindu deities recently, while Manav is an anti-superstition crusader. A video of Bonde's remarks went viral on social media, inviting criticism from the opposition parties. The MP also did not find support from his own party - BJP. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said he does not support the statements made by Bonde and Gaikwad against Rahul Gandhi, but said the Congress leader should also refrain from giving "anti-India statements" and asked him to clarify his stand on the issue of reservation. Speaking about these remarks, he said, "I do not support the statements made by Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad and BJP's Rajya Sabha member Anil Bonde. They should refrain from making such statements again." Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut condemned the remarks made by BJP-Shiv Sena lawmakers against Gandhi. He alleged that there was a conspiracy against Gandhi and threat to his life. He also questioned the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the comments made by Bonde and Gaikwad. He also alleged conspiracy against Gandhi and threat to his life. Gaikwad kicked up a row by announcing a Rs 11 lakh reward to anyone chopping off Rahul Gandhi's tongue for his remarks on scrapping the reservation system, while Bonde said the Congress leader's tongue should be singed. Meanwhile, several Congress leaders and workers staged a sit-in protest outside the Amravati police commissionerate demanding action against Bonde. Amravati MP Balwant Wankhade, Amravati MLA Yashomati Thakur and former minister Sunil Deshmukh along with Congress workers took part in the protest. They demanded that a case be registered against Bonde for his remarks. GAZA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli drone struck a car in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring 11 others, according to Palestinian security sources. The sources claimed the targeted vehicle belonged to civilians. The Israeli army has not yet commented on the incident. This strike is part of a large-scale offensive by Israel against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, initiated in retaliation for a Hamas attack that breached the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and about 250 hostages taken. Gaza-based health authorities reported on Wednesday that the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 41,272. Kolkata, Sep 18 (PTI) The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) reduced releasing water from its barrages which has led to a flood-like situation in several southern districts of West Bengal, an official said on Wednesday. The situation is likely to worsen in the next 2-3 days as the water released over the past two days is now reaching some of the already affected districts. "The DVC released 2.1 lakh cusec of water last night. However, since this morning, there has been a gradual reduction, as the rainfall has stopped in the upper catchment areas. At 8:30 am on Wednesday, the release rate was 1.7 lakh cusec, which further decreased to 1.4 lakh cusec by 10:45 am from the Panchet and Maithon dams," DVC Maithon Chief Engineer Anjani K Dubey told PTI. Any water release above 1.5 lakh cusec is considered a "red alert," while that between 1 lakh and 1.5 lakh cusec trigger an "orange alert." Parts of Birbhum, Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, and Paschim Bardhaman districts are inundated, according to Alapan Bandyopadhyay, the Chief Advisor to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "The situation will remain grim, and the condition will worsen over the next two days before we see improvement. The water released over the last two days is now reaching Medinipur, Hooghly, and Howrah," an irrigation official said. Water released from Maithon Dam reaches Durgapur Barrage in 10 hours and takes about 59 hours to reach Amta in Howrah. Two persons have died so far in the flood-like situation, Bandyopadhyay told reporters on Tuesday. Bandyopadhyay had said disaster relief teams are working in affected areas. The state government said it is closely monitoring the situation and has already relocated 25,000 people to safer places. Local MLAs and officials have visited their respective areas to monitor the situation and listen to residents' demands. People in the Debra constituency of Paschim Medinipur protested before MLA Humayun Kabir after a river embankment was washed away. "The people have rightfully protested, as the river embankment, which was under repair, could not be completed. We are moving people to relief centres, monitoring the situation, and will provide all necessary support," Kabir told reporters. Kolkata, Sep 18 (PTI) Junior doctors on Tuesday night said they will continue their strike till all their demands are met, despite the West Bengal government appointing senior IPS officer Manoj Kumar Verma as the new Kolkata Police chief. The state also removed two senior health department officials, acceding to the medics demands. The doctors made the announcement following the conclusion of their governing body meeting, which had started around 6.30 pm and ended at around 1 AM early Wednesday. "Till all our demands are met with, the agitation and cease work will continue. We want fresh talks with the state government," a doctor said at a press conference. The state government appointed Verma as the new city police commissioner a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with the agitating junior doctors to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the RG Kar hospital incident. Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak, and Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police's North Division Abhishek Gupta were also removed as promised by Banerjee during the meeting. Swapan Soren was appointed the interim DHS, while no appointment was announced for the position of the DME. Banerjee, following a long discussion with the doctors Monday night, had announced the decision to remove Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, who had been under fire over handling of the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar hospital. Imphal, Sep 18 (PTI) The Manipur unit of the Congress on Wednesday criticised the proposal for 'one nation, one election', saying it will be very difficult to provide security to all polling booths if simultaneous polls are held. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one election' as recommended by a panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. Manipur Congress working president Kh Devbrata Singh told reporters, "It will be very difficult to hold simultaneous elections in a country like India which has over 90 crore voters." "It will be very difficult to provide sufficient security to all polling booths simultaneously," he added. The high-level Kovind committee had recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days. The panel had also proposed setting up of an 'Implementation Group' to look into the execution of the recommendations made by the committee. It also recommended the preparation of a common electoral roll and voter ID cards by the Election Commission of India in consultation with state election authorities. Manipur has been hit by an ethnic conflict between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kukis since May last year. The conflict has claimed over 200 lives and rendered thousands of people homeless. Kohima, Sep 18 (PTI) The working committee of Naga National Political Group (NNPG) claimed that the demand for a new interlocutor at a consultative meeting convened by the state government to solve the decades-old Naga political issue was nothing but another ploy to "intentionally subvert and delay political solution." The working committee of the NNPG is composed of at least seven Naga groups. "The pre-mediated and pre-drafted resolution of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) demanding appointment of new interlocutor at the political level is nothing but another ploy to intentionally subvert and delay political solution," the working committee of NNPGs said on Tuesday in reference to the resolution adopted on September 12 consultative meeting on Naga Political Issue convened by the state governments PAC. "Rather than resolving to urge the Government of India to expedite a solution on the basis of the concluded talks, demanding for new interlocutors is nothing new but as expected to sabotage the solution and to drag the Naga political process back to square one," it said. The working committee of NNPGs entered into negotiations with the Centre in 2017 and inked the Agreed Position in November the same year. "It is common knowledge to the central government, the Nagaland government PAC, the negotiating entities and the Naga people at large that the Naga political dialogue has officially been concluded on October 31, 2019," the working committee of NNPG said in a statement Tuesday. The working committee of NNPG also said that it must be understood that former Interlocutor R N Ravi was fully empowered by the PMO with the cabinet status, however, with the completion of interlocution phase A K Mishra has now been tasked by the Centre as its representative to fast-track solution and therefore the need for new interlocutor do not arise at all. The Centre and the Naga political groups entered into a ceasefire in 1997, and held separate talks with different groups for a solution to the decades-old political problem. After almost 70 rounds of talks, the Centre entered into a Framework Agreement with NSCN-IM in 2015, and also signed the Agreed Position with the Working Committee of Naga National Political Groups (WC NNPGs) in 2017. In October 2019, the then interlocutor of the Centre for Naga peace talks and Nagaland Governor R N Ravi declared that talks had concluded. However, the Centre has not accepted the NSCN-IM's persistent demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas. Nawada, Sep 18 (PTI) Twenty-one houses were set on fire in Bihar's Nawada district on Wednesday evening, police said. Preliminary investigation suggested that a land dispute could be the cause behind the incident that happened in Manjhi Tola in Mufassil police station area, they said. No one was injured in the incident, they added. Ten people were detained, and a search was on to nab the other accused persons, police said. "A call was received around 7.30 pm that some houses were set on fire in Manjhi Tola. Police immediately reached the spot along with fire engines. It took some time to douse the blaze. According to villagers, a group of people started setting the houses on fire around 7 pm," said SP Abhinav Dhiman who also visited the area. "Preliminary investigation suggests that land dispute is the reason for the incident. A case has been registered and an investigation is underway," he said. Another police officer said shots were also fired in the air when the houses were being torched. Dhiman said the situation was now under control and a large contingent of the police was deployed in the area to prevent any flare-up. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people in Jammu and Kashmir to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. Voting began for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, first time since the abrogation of Article 370, as 24 constituencies spread over seven districts of the Union Territory went to polls in Phase 1 amid tight security arrangements. "As the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections begins, I urge all those in constituencies going to the polls today to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," Modi said in a post on X. "I particularly call upon young and first-time voters to exercise their franchise," he said. This is the maiden assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory. It is also the first poll to elect an assembly in the last 10 years. The Centre abrogated Article 370, that gave special status to J-K, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UTs J-K and Ladakh -- on August 5, 2019. In the first phase of the three-phase polls, seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir, located on either side of Pir Panjal mountain range, are voting to choose their representatives. Over 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents, who are running for 24 assembly segments -- eight in three districts of Jammu region and 16 in four districts of the Kashmir valley. The other two phases are scheduled to be held on September 25 and October 1, while the counting of the votes will take place on October 8. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) India's military preparedness must be of very high order and it should be ready to confront short and intense conflicts as well as long duration wars, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said on Wednesday amid the dragging border row with China in eastern Ladakh. In an address at an event, Gen Chauhan also identified operational preparedness, modernisation of the armed forces, transformation and indigenisation of military hardware as key pillars to boost national security. "In the most violent decade since World War II, there is a growing propensity amongst nations to use force to contain conflicts," he said. "The growing uncertainty and insecurity is leading nations to renew their national security strategy and increase expenditure on defence," he noted, according to the defence ministry. The Chief of Defence Staff was addressing a conclave for foreign service attaches (FSAs) hosted by the Defence Intelligence Agency of headquarters Integrated Defence Staff. "Our operational preparedness has to be of very high order," he said. "We got to be prepared for short and intense conflicts to a long duration kind of a war," he said. India has been significantly enhancing combat capabilities, especially along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China following the eastern Ladakh border row. The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a standoff since May 2020 and a full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points. The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. In his remarks, Gen Chauhan also emphasised the significance of data centric warfare and the role of artificial intelligence in revolutionising warfare. The CDS also gave an insight into India's Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence capability development and strategic autonomy. Gen Chauhan has attained the position of 'Vishwa Mitra' (friend of the world) in the global order. "The world is at a pivotal moment in history. We all are at the centre of it. India sees the world as a global village -- 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is one family)." "It (India) understands its participative role in the larger good of the world," he said. Director General of Defence Intelligence Agency Lt Gen DS Rana apprised the FSAs that India's defence diplomacy was expanding steadily in terms of the nature of activities as well as geographic coverage. He highlighted the vision of Atmanirbharta and indigenisation in defence and implored upon FSAs to gain first-hand experience in modernisation programmes. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling NDA targeting Rahul Gandhi. The party alleged that the statements were aimed at jeopardising the safety and security of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and to disturb peace throughout the country, especially in view of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana. In the complaint submitted to the SHO of the Tughlaq Road police station by AICC treasurer and general secretary Ajay Maken, the Congress cited the recent remarks by BJP leaders Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Raghuraj Singh, as well as that of Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad. Maken sought registration of FIRs against the leaders. Speaking with the media after filing the complaint, Maken said, We all know that late Indira Gandhi ji and late Rajiv ji have sacrificed their lives for the country. Even after that, they are giving such threats. Politics in India cannot stoop to a lower level than this, he said. Not just one BJP leader, but many leaders have said such things, but BJP did not take any action, he said. Rahul Gandhi talks about SC, ST, OBC, tribal and minority people. That is why BJP people do not like his words. This is the reason why they are threatening him, he said But let me tell you -- This is the Congress party and we are not going to be scared or cowed down, Maken said. In the police complaint, Maken said, "On September 11, Marwah in a BJP event openly issued assassination threat against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, wherein he said that 'Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja, nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua (you better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother)'". It also cited Sena MLA Gaikwad's announcement of a bounty of Rs 11 lakh for anyone who will cut the tongue of the Leader of Opposition. The complaint cited Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu's remarks, calling the Leader of Opposition the "number one terrorist of the country". "Bittu deliberately made the statement to provoke public hatred and outrage against Mr Gandhi, with the aim to incite violence and breach of peace. The said statement was widely publicised on TV channels and social media," the complaint said. It cited Uttar Pradesh government minister Raghuraj Singh's remarks that Gandhi was the "number one terrorist of India". "The above statements/ threats issued by various BJP Leaders and its allies, calling for assassination and/or bodily injury onto Rahul Gandhi and also calling the Leader of Opposition of the country a terrorist, exhibits personal hatred by the BJP/NDA alliance partners against Gandhi, and such utterances are made only with the aim to cause unrest among the general masses to provoke rioting, breach of peace etc. through the hate-filled remarks," the Congress said in its complaint. Gandhi has been continuously raising issues pertaining to deprived sections of the society such as women, youth, Dalits and other marginalised sections and the failure of the BJP to address such public-centric issues, the Congress said. However, the same has not gone down well with the BJP and its allies, therefore the above-named people have been deputed to make such hate-filled comments on the Leader of Opposition of India, the Congress alleged. "Further, through the said events, the leaders of BJP/its allies, intend to jeopardise the safety and security of the Leader of Opposition, as well as, seek to disturb public peace throughout the country, especially in view of the ongoing elections in state of Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana," the complaint read. Not only have the leaders made the statements but also played an active role, through their associates, in spreading the same among the general public through social media and other means, in order to deliberately incite public aggression or outage against Gandhi and supporters or members of the Congress on basis of false, untrue, motivated and hate-filled statements, it said. "Hence, it is imperative that an FIR under relevant provisions of the BNS, 2023 be registered immediately, without any delay," the party said. "In addition to the above, it is also stated that calling the Leader of Opposition of India, a 'terrorist', 'number one terrorist' etc. not only undermines the public office he holds but the above-named persons deliberately seek to obstruct Rahul Gandhi in discharge of his public duties," the party said. "The above intentional and well-thought acts of criminal intimidation, public mischief are deliberate attempts by BJP/NDA Leaders to create enmity, breach of peace, incite aggression, hatred and ill-will among the general public against Rahul Gandhi, the Congress and its leaders on the instructions of top bosses of the BJP/NDA, the complaint said. "In view of the above, the above-named persons, all connected with a common threat to the ruling BJP, hatched a well-planned criminal conspiracy, with other known/ unknown associates to commit the above acts. Accordingly, I request you to register an FIR, inter-alia, u/s 351, 352, 353, 61 of BNS, at the earliest, against the above-named persons and their associates," the complaint by Maken said. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday alleged that the idea of 'one nation, one election' is an "onslaught on the federal system" and the push by the Modi government is aimed at augmenting "one party and one leader". In a statement, Moily, who was the law minister in the Congress-led UPA government, said the move of the present government will work against the ethos of the well-cherished principles of the Constitution. Moving ahead with its 'one nation, one election' plan, the government on Wednesday accepted a high-level panel's recommendations for holding simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise. "Under UPA II, the government of India undertook the agenda of electoral reforms in about seven national consultations across the country. The first consultation was held in Bhopal and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and the present Union minister, took active interest in the deliberations," Moily said. The consultation process was held among all the stakeholders of the political parties, activists, political thinkers and judges, he said. The concept of 'one nation, one election' never cropped up during the seven national consultations, said Moily, who was the minister of law and justice between May 2009 and May 2011. The main focus was on free and fare elections, and other important reform agenda, he added. Moily alleged that the high-level committee on simultaneous elections, headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, did not have a wide range of consultations and it confined itself to consultations at the bureaucratic level. None of the major political parties or the regional parties have been consulted on such a crucial issue, he claimed. "The main concern of the nation is criminalisation, corruption and also the issues pertaining to EVMs in the elections. The focus of elections to the assemblies and Parliament are totally different," he said. The present concept of 'one nation, one election' is definitely intended to suppress regional issues and to focus on national agendas of the ruling regime, as also hero worship, Moily said. "National issues and regional issues are different and the present Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) would want to trample upon regional issues at the cost of the Constitution to build his own image. I don't think that the image of one leader could be bolstered up at the cost of the nation," he said. "It is an onslaught on the federal system of the country. It has now become a fashion for the present regime to bring about uniformity in a diverse country," he said. If the present proposed electoral reforms are encouraged, the BJP may come out with 'one language, one culture and one nation' and bulldoze the diverse culture of the country, Moily said. "The move of the present government is targeted for building one party, one nation and one leader and will work against the ethos of the well-cherished principles of the Constitution of India," said Moily. Lucknow, Sep 18 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday questioned the intention of the Centre behind the simultaneous elections proposal and asked if it is also a "jumla" (gimmick) like women's reservation "to be put on hold for the future". Yadav took a swipe at the ruling party, saying what will happen if the BJP "topples" the elected government in any state, and asked if elections in the entire country would be held again in such a case. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one election' as recommended by the Ram Nath Kovind panel. Most of the opposition parties have called the proposed move impractical and a "cheap stunt" by the ruling BJP. In a post on X, Yadav said, "They (BJP) should have also declared by-elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and UP". "When BJP topples the elected government of any state midway in tenure, will the elections of the whole country be held again? "If Presidents rule is imposed in any state, will people have to wait for an elected government till the next general elections or will there be elections again in the whole country?" He asked if any time limit has been set for the constitutional amendments that will have to be made to implement this or if it is also just a "jumla (gimmick) to be put on hold for the future like womens reservation". "Is this a plan to change the results by privatising the elections? Such apprehensions are arising because tomorrow the government will say that it does not have human and other required resources to conduct elections on such a large level, that is why we are giving the job of conducting elections on contract (to our people)," Yadav said. The BJP should first conduct such elections within its party at district, city, state and national levels simultaneously and then talk about the whole country, he said. Attacking the BJP, he said, "The public is also asking why the election of your own National President has not been held till now, whereas it is heard that 'one person, one opinion' principle prevails there." "Is there a fight between 'two persons, two opinions' in the weakened BJP now?" he added. HANOI, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The 13th Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee commenced its 10th plenum in Hanoi on Wednesday with focus on document and personnel affair preparations for the 14th National Party Congress, Vietnam News Agency reported. General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee, Vietnamese President To Lam chaired the meeting. In his opening remarks, Lam said the session would discuss 10 topics, including speeding up to successfully implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, which has been set as the highest goal of the entire Party, people and army in 2025. Personnel affairs for the upcoming national Party congress is a key task and holds a decisive significance for the successful implementation of the Party's policies and orientations, he said. The session is scheduled to last until Friday. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) The entire 1,643 km porous India-Myanmar border, known for the smuggling of arms, ammunition and narcotics, will be fenced at a cost of Rs 31,000 crore, sources said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said fencing work had been completed in 30 km of the border, which he termed the root cause of the ethnic violence in Manipur. The Cabinet Committee on Security has, in principle, approved the construction of border fencing and roads along the 1,643-km international border between India and Myanmar at an approximate cost of Rs 31,000 crore, sources said. About 10 km of fencing has already been completed near Moreh and work is underway to fence another 21 km of the border in other areas of Manipur. The India-Myanmar border passes through Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The Central government has already scrapped the the India-Myanmar Free Movement Regime (FMR), which allows people residing close to the border to venture 16 km into each other's territory without any documents. It was implemented in 2018 as part of India's Act East policy. Home Minister Shah has been regularly reviewing the security situation in Manipur and necessary actions are being ensured, the sources said. Two battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have already been deployed in Manipur. In addition, around 200 companies (about 100 personnel in one company) of central police forces were deployed in the restive states. The Manipur government has started using 25 mobile vans as shops to provide essential commodities at fair prices to the general public. These shops on wheels are operating in all districts of Manipur, sources said. As a new initiative, the Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandars (KPKB, police canteens) have been opened from Tuesday to provide essential commodities to the people of Manipur at fair prices, they said. In addition to the 21 existing such police canteens, 16 new stores are being opened. Of the 16 new police canteens, eight will be in the valley districts of Manipur, and the remaining eight in hilly areas. Ethnic violence started in Manipur on May 3 last year after a tribal solidarity march in the hill districts of the state to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Since then, over 220 people belonging to both the Kuki and Meitei communities and security personnel have been killed in the continuing violence. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) India has pledged a deeper engagement with Denmark in the water sector to boost ties between the two countries, Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil said here, following a meeting with Danish Minister for Industry, Business, and Financial Affairs Morten Bodskov. The discussions focused on innovative solutions for water resource management, with both sides expressing commitment to expanding cooperation. "We explored the establishment of a Centre of Excellence to promote innovation in smart water resource management," Paatil said in a post after the meeting. The proposed Centre is expected to drive advancements in water technology and solutions for efficient resource management, he said. The ministers also discussed the creation of a Clean Rivers Laboratory in Varanasi, inspired by the Smart City Lab in Panaji, Goa. According to Paatil, the laboratory would serve as a hub for research and innovation aimed at restoring and maintaining the health of India's rivers, a crucial element in the country's environmental sustainability efforts. Jammu, Sep 18 (PTI) Voting commenced Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Chenab valley, having over 7.14 lakh eligible voters, to decide the fate of 64 candidates in the first phase of the assembly elections being held after a decade. Polling started at 7 am at all 1,328 polling stations set up across eight assembly seats of Chenab valley districts of Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban amid heavy security, as the region has witnessed a spurt in terror activities over the past three months, leaving six army personnel and four terrorists dead. Besides Chenab valley, the first phase of assembly elections also covered four districts of south Kashmir's Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, and Shopian, which have 16 assembly constituencies. Meanwhile, 24 polling stations -- 19 in Jammu, one in Udhampur, and four in Delhi -- have been set up to facilitate more than 35,000 Kashmiri Pandits to exercise their franchise in the first phase. Members of the displaced community are registered as voters in 16 constituencies of south Kashmir. The voting is scheduled to end at 6 pm, the election officials said, adding separate polling stations managed by women, specially-abled persons and youth, green polling stations to spread messages about environmental concerns, and other unique polling stations have been set up in the three districts. This is the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. The last assembly election was held in 2014. The second phase covering 26 seats is slated for September 25, the third and final phase in 40 segments on October 1 followed by counting of votes on October 8. Prominent leaders among those trying their luck are former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najid Suharwardy (NC), Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress), Abdul Majid Wani (DPAP), Sunil Sharma (BJP), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda west), and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, a three-time MLA who is fighting as an Independent after he was denied ticket by DPAP which he had joined after quitting Congress in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad two years ago. Former MLA Daleep Singh Parihar (BJP), former MLCs Firdous Tak and Imtiyaz Shan (PDP), NC's Pooja Thakur, the sitting chairperson of district development council Kishtwar, BJP's young face Shagun Parihar, whose father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were killed by terrorists in November 2018, and Mehraj din Malik of AAP, are among other prominent faces in the fray. Ten candidates are in fray from Doda district, 51 from Bhadarwah Assembly Constituency, nine from 52-Doda, and eight from 53-Doda West. In Kishtwar district, nine candidates are contesting from 48-Inderwal, seven candidates from 49-Kishtwar, while six from 50-Padder-Nagseni. In Ramban district, eight candidates are contesting from 54-Ramban and seven from 55-Banihal. Doda has a total of 3,10,613 registered voters, comprising 1,60,057 male, 1,50,521 female, and 8 transgender persons, with 534 polling stations, officials said. A total of 1,79,374 electors, composed of 91,935 male and 87,435 female, and 4 transgender voters are poised to exercise their right at 429 polling stations in Kishtwar district, while the Ramban district has 2,24,214 registered voters -- 1,16,019 male, 1,08,193 female, and one transgender person. A total of 365 polling stations are spread across the district. Shimla, Sep 18 (PTI) The communal tension due to protests in Himachal Pradesh over unauthorised constructions in mosques has cast a shadow on tourist inflow in state capital Shimla, according to hoteliers. They said though the protests have been by and large peaceful, but the news has impacted tourism as many tourists are wary of coming to Shimla at this point of time. "The occupancy in September normally is between 40-50 per cent but this year, it has dropped to 10-20 per cent due to the prevailing atmosphere," Shimla Hotel and Tourism Stakeholders Association president M K Seth said on Wednesday. "Things can become worse if the situation escalates as tourists look for peaceful places to travel," he told the PTI, adding many bookings are getting cancelled. The tourism industry has crippled after the Covid pandemic and last year's monsoon disaster wreaked havoc and caused heavy losses to the tourism sector, he said. Seth claimed weekend tourism from neighbouring states has already been hit as tourists were harassed by rules of the district administration in the past. Ten people were injured during a protest demanding demolition of a portion of mosque in Sanjauli area of Shimla last week. Last Friday, water cannons were used in Mandi on protestors demanding demolition of encroachment by a mosque on government land in Mandi town. On Tuesday, the residents of Kasumpti in Shimla submitted a memorandum to demolish a mosque in Kasumpti area and similar demands are also coming in from Sunni and other areas in the state. "The way the issue is spreading to other areas of the state, if not managed timely, there would be no atmosphere for tourists to visit," said local hotelier Ashwani Sood, adding that the bookings are getting cancelled. "Himachal only offers natural beauty and peace to people and that is the reason that every year lakhs of tourists visit the state but if Hindu-Muslim disputes would start here, then who would visit the state?" said another hotelier seeking anonymity. A dispute that started with a scuffle between a barber from the minority community and another local businessman in Malyana area in the suburbs of Shimla on August 30 turned into a communal issue with Hindu groups demanding demolition of unauthorised mosques and residents at large demanding identification and verification of outsiders coming in the state. Banihal (J&K), Sep 18 (PTI) Former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Vikar Rasool Wani was among the early voters to cast their ballot at a polling station here in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district on Wednesday. Wani, a former minister who won the Banihal constituency seat in the 2008 and 2014 elections, expressed confidence in securing the seat for a third consecutive term. He faces competition from six other candidates, including National Conference's Sajjad Shaheen, PDP's Imtiyaz Shan, and BJP's Mohd Saleem Bhat. "Who is at fault that assembly elections are taking place in J&K after a gap of 10 long years? BJP is responsible for this otherwise the elections should have taken place in 2019," the Congress leader told PTI after casting his vote at Tulbagh-Rallu polling station. Wani said he could not visit all parts of the constituency due to paucity of time but expressed confidence that the people of the segment will vote in favour of the Congress given its developmental track record. Banihal is one of the five seats where both the NC and the Congress alliance partners have fielded their candidates under what they called 'friendly contest'. "National Conference and PDP had done nothing for Banihal and all the developmental work in the region was done by Congress. The people will vote for that work as NC and PDP have zero contribution in developmental works in Banihal," he said, claiming that NC and BJP candidates are no threat to him. "BJP has no base in Banihal and their presence is mostly in Jammu," he said. After casting his vote, a local resident, Sajjad Ahmad, emphasised the importance of development and the formation of a popular government in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, the NC candidate from Kishtwar and former minister Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo said people are happy that assembly elections are taking place after a decade. "The last elections were held when Jammu and Kashmir was a full fledged state and now the elections are taking place under the status of Union Territory. People are enthusiastic and voting to ensure a strong government is formed which can resolve all their problems and issues including unemployment," he said, lauding the arrangements made by the election authorities. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) A 45-year-old man, who lived with a bullet lodged dangerously close to his heart for 16 years, has finally undergone a successful surgery to remove it at a private hospital. Shailender Singh, a resident of Kanpur, was shot in 2008 and came to Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket with chest pain and coughing up blood, according to the hospital statement. Over the years, Singh had sought multiple opinions from specialists in Kanpur, but due to the bullet being lodged near the vital structures, including his heart and lungs, doctors advised against surgery, the statement said. Singh received non-surgical treatment and remained symptom-free for years. Elaborating on the case details, Dr. Shaiwal Khandelwal, Associate Director of Thoracic Surgery at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, who removed both the bullet and the damaged section of Shailender Singh's lung, said, the patient remained asymptomatic until the last year when he developed left-sided chest pain and began coughing up blood (hemoptysis). The quantity and frequency of blood in his cough progressively increased. "He then consulted us, and his CT scan revealed a bullet in the left lung hilum with collapse and consolidation of the lung. He was advised of surgery, but the patient went back to his hometown to get a second opinion. Soon after, he started coughing up a massive amount of blood, made a distress call, and was admitted to hospital," Khandelwal said. "His bronchoscopy revealed the bullet was pressing upon the airway, causing active bleeding from the left upper lobe of the lung. An emergency surgery was performed to remove the bullet and the damaged part of the lung. His condition improved significantly after the surgery," Dr. Khandelwal said. Dr Khandelwal also pointed out that bullets located in dangerous areas and causing no symptoms are usually left untreated. However, in some cases, these bullets may trigger foreign body reactions, migrate, and invade vital structures, as happened with this patient. "It is extremely rare to see a long-standing impacted bullet cause life-threatening bleeding. As a life-saving measure, emergency surgery is performed, and sometimes the entire lung may need to be removed. In this case, we removed only the cause of the bleeding and the already damaged lung," he said. Following a successful surgery, Singh has been discharged and is recovering at home, he added. Gurugram, Sep 18 (PTI) Angered by not getting a BJP ticket from Pataudi assembly constituency, a party worker for 37 years resigned along with a large number of his colleagues on Wednesday. Sumer Singh Tanwar made it clear that he will not join any political party but will remain dedicated to social and national interests. In a press conference, Tanwar lashed out at Union minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh and alleged that in this Haryana assembly election, the BJP leadership has harmed the party's chances by giving tickets to Singh's family, relatives and people associated with his organisation 'Insaaf Manch' on all the assembly seats in South Haryana. Hardworking and dedicated workers have been ignored, he added. In his resignation letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tanwar said Singh won the elections three times from 2014 to 2024 due to Modi wave and hardworking workers of the BJP. "Honorable Prime Minister, this is the pain of thousands of workers of Haryana. Due to the fear and intimidation of Rao Inderjit, the workers are not able to say anything," he said. Bengaluru, Sep 18 (PTI) City police have arrested a 29-year-old man, who worked as a system administrator at a multimedia firm, for allegedly stealing about 50 company laptops worth nearly Rs 22 lakh, officials said. According to police, he is said to have incurred losses to the tune of Rs 25 lakh from his unsuccessful tomato farming and cyber centre business, which allegedly drove him to steal the laptops from the company located at Whitefield here, where he was employed, to clear his debt. They said as the in-charge of the private company's inventory, the suspect, identified as Murugesh M, a BCA graduate from Hosur in Tamil Nadu, had access to laptops. Murugesh, who is said to have confessed stealing laptops over a period of time, has revealed that he sold them to a gadgets repair shop in Hosur, police sources said. As he stopped attending to work suddenly from August 22, and on noticing about the missing laptops, company officials checked the CCTV footage of the area where the laptops were stored, and came to know about his alleged involvement. On receiving a complaint from the company, police registered a case and began the investigation, and subsequently apprehended him from a cinema house in Hosur and brought him to Bengaluru, officials said. Police had recovered five laptops from him at the time of the arrest, they said, adding, he confessed to selling 45 laptops after stealing. "The estimated value of stolen laptops is said to be Rs 22 lakh, and they have been recovered," a Police official said. He is currently in judicial custody, the sources added. New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Police here arrested five men for allegedly stealing mobile phones in Delhi-NCR and then illegally selling them in other areas including in Nepal and Bangladesh, officials on Wednesday said. Around 150 stolen phones were also recovered from their possession by the police in two separate operations. In the first case, police arrested Piyush (24) and Mayank (20), from Rohini. The police said that both were previously involved in criminal cases. "On September 14, a patrolling team nabbed Piyush. He disclosed his involvement in mobile theft cases committed in various areas in Rohini and selling them to Mayank. The team nabbed Mayank from Sector 1 in Rohini," a senior police officer said. According to the police, the accused used to sell stolen mobile phones in Nepal, Bangladesh and different states of India. The police recovered 76 stolen mobile phones from their possession, they said, adding further investigation is underway. In the second case, three members of a mobile snatching gang were arrested from the Shastri Park area of northeast Delhi, police said. The accused were identified as Aman (22), Aaftab (22) and Harjeet Singh (29), the police said. Police recovered 77 stolen/snatched mobile phones and a laptop from their possession. "Accused mainly operated in the night for easy targets and committed crime in various parts of Delhi, NCR and other border areas," Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said. On September 14, a tip-off was received about a person having stolen mobile phones. A team was formed, and three men were nabbed, said the DCP. Police said that during their search, 77 mobile phones were recovered from their possession. "They (accused) revealed that they are part of a nexus involved in snatching/theft. They also used to buy stolen/snatched mobile phones from snatchers/thieves at dirt cheap prices and used to sell them at a high price to random customers," said the DCP, adding that further investigation is in progress. Kolkata, Sep 18 (PTI) The CBI on Wednesday questioned a senior government doctor in connection with its investigation into the rape-murder of the medic at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, officials said. Dr Anjan Adhikari, the medical superintendent-cum-vice principal (MSVP) of Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, was questioned by the CBI at its office in the CGO Complex in Salt Lake, they said. He was summoned for questioning after CBI officers found his phone number in the call list of TMC MLA Sudipto Roy, who is also the chairman of the patient welfare committee of the RG Kar hospital, they added. "He was asked about his relationship with Sudipto Roy, and what subjects they used to talk," a CBI officer said. While coming out of the CBI office after the questioning ended around 9.15 pm, Adhikari told reporters that no specific question was asked about the RG Kar hospital case. "They suddenly called me to appear this evening. I was asked about my calls with Dr Roy. There was no specific question regarding the RG Kar case," he said. The body of the post-graduate trainee doctor was found at the RG Kar hospital on August 9. Meanwhile, a court extended the jail custody of the 44 people arrested in connection with the vandalism at the hospital on the eve of Independence Day till September 24. A mob ransacked parts of the hospital while protests were going on outside it over the rape and murder of the doctor. An artist from central China's Hubei Province dances in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Suva Civic Center Auditorium in Suva, Fiji, Sept. 17, 2024. (Photo by Sang Qinlong/Xinhua) SUVA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Fijian people spent an unforgettable night at the Suva Civic Center Auditorium in Suva, the capital city of Fiji, on Tuesday as the Mid-Autumn Festival came alive with a stunning performance by artists from central China's Hubei Province. Co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Fiji, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Hubei Province, the China Cultural Center in Fiji, and the Suva City Council, the gala featured 18 splendid performances that lasted over more than two hours, including vocal and instrumental music, dances, acrobatics, martial arts and magic show, which left a lasting impression on all who attended. "It's a great performance, showing us the very rich culture of China. And I also like the amazing acrobatic showcase very much," Viliame Taufa, an audience from Fiji, told Xinhua. A Chinese audience said the event was not only an audio-visual feast but also evoked her homesickness. "When I saw the Fijian audience cheering loudly, I was very proud of my compatriots for their outstanding performances," she said. More than 500 people, including Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Zhou Jian, Attorney-General of Fiji Graham Leung, as well as other senior officials from Fijian ministries and overseas Chinese in Fiji, attended the event. An artist from central China's Hubei Province performs a magic show in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Suva Civic Center Auditorium in Suva, Fiji, Sept. 17, 2024. (Photo by Sang Qinlong/Xinhua) Artists from central China's Hubei Province perform in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Suva Civic Center Auditorium in Suva, Fiji, Sept. 17, 2024. (Photo by Sang Qinlong/Xinhua) Kolkata, Sep 18 (PTI) The second round of talks between agitating junior doctors and officials of the West Bengal government to resolve the impasse due to the RG Kar issue ended on a "positive note" on Wednesday night after the latter agreed to implement seven of the eight demands put forward by the protestors on issues concerning safety and security of the medics at state-run hospitals, officials said. The state government, however, refused to accept the demand to initiate departmental proceedings against Health Secretary N S Nigam which the stirring medics insisted upon in the wake of the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, they said. Allegations of widespread corruption at government healthcare facilities and arm-twisting practices on students and trainee doctors compromising their safety and security on campuses by a section of power corridor personnel at state-run hospitals have also subsequently come to light, intensifying the clamour for action against the health secretary. It wasn't immediately clear whether, based on the meeting's outcome, the stirring junior doctors would end their ongoing 'cease work' and resume duties. The meeting between Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and a delegation of 30 junior doctors started at the state secretariat, Nabanna, around 7.30 pm, an hour after the scheduled time fixed by the state, and lasted for over two hours, sources said. The protesting medics were again accompanied by stenographers to record the minutes of the meeting. On Monday, during the meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence, the agitators were accompanied by stenographers as well. "We want the issue of safety and security in hospitals to be addressed. The chief minister had announced the formation of a task force, but there is no proper clarity on it. We want the state government to accept our legitimate demands," an agitating doctor said before leaving for the meeting venue. The West Bengal government on Wednesday invited the junior doctors agitating over the RG Kar rape-murder incident for a meeting at the state secretariat at 6.30 pm, responding to their request for a fresh round of talks. This was the second round of talks between the medics and the state government in 48 hours. Amazon is reverting to its pre-pandemic policy and will require corporate employees to be in the office five days a week starting next year, CEO Andy Jassy said Monday. Jassy said in a message shared with employees that the companys leadership had been thinking in recent months about how to better invent, collaborate and be connected enough to each other to deliver the best results for customers and the business. The company decided that bringing employees back into Amazon offices five days a week instead of the three currently required was a way to address that issue, the CEO said. When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant, Jassy wrote in the memo, which Amazon also shared on its website. The policy takes effect on January 2, 2025. Like many other companies, Amazons corporate employees worked remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the company saw massive gains from a boost in online shopping. In 2021, the tech giant implemented a policy that allowed leaders to determine how their teams worked. In February 2023, Amazon asked all employees to come back to the office for three mandatory days, resulting in some protests from workers. A few months later, Jassy said employees who were not happy about the change should learn to disagree and commit. He also issued somewhat of a subtle threat, saying it was probably not going to work out for those who refused to do so. In his note on Monday, Jassy said the company has observed that it is easier for employees to learn, model, practice and strengthen Amazons culture and brainstorm when theyre together in person. If anything, the last 15 months weve been back in the office at least three days a week has strengthened our conviction about the benefits, he said. (AP) The Marine Corps in a ceremony at the commandants headquarters on Monday presented their highest noncombat medal to the parents of Cpl. Spencer Collart, who died last year after his V-22 Osprey crashed in Australia. Collart, 21, survived the crash but went back into the burning aircraft to try to save the pilots, who were trapped. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith spoke with emotion in addressing the fallen Marines parents, Bart and Alexia Collart, who are from Arlington, Virginia. You raised a Marine who in the final moments of his life thought not of himself but of this fellow Marines, Smith said. He didnt stop to think of the fire or the danger. During the ceremony, Smith, who is the Marine Corps top military officer, cried twice. The crash in August 2023 was one of four fatal accidents since 2022 that have drawn increased scrutiny of the Osprey, which flies both like a helicopter and an airplane. The Associated Press has reported on the mechanical and safety issues the program has faced, and there are multiple reviews underway to see if the complex aircraft has the resources needed to improve its reliability. Bart Collart called his son one of the best knuckleheads you ever wanted to hang out with. He said the pilots and Spencer lost their lives while managing to save the lives of every Marine they were transporting, and he credited the pilots with leveling out the Osprey before it hit the ground, to give the troops they were transporting a better chance of surviving. Collarts Osprey was participating in an Australian military exercise when it ended up following too closely behind the lead aircraft and maneuvered to avoid it, ultimately putting it in an unrecoverable fall. Seconds after the Osprey hit the ground, the aircraft filled with smoke and flames. According to witness reports in the crash investigation. Collart, the crew chief, had been standing in the tunnel even as the aircraft 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. Collart escaped the burning aircraft and immediately began ensuring the safety of the Marines around him, Smith said. But Capt. Eleanor LeBeau and aircraft commander Maj. Tobin Lewis were still trapped inside, and Collart went back in to try to save them. Investigators believe he may have unbuckled Lewis from his restraints before he succumbed to the smoke and flames. One of the Marines who was riding in the back and survived is the son of Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Ben Watson, who most recently served as the commanding general of the First Marine Division. Watson attended the ceremony to honor Collarts service. (AP) Last year had the worst decline in credible elections and parliamentary oversight in almost a half-century, driven by government intimidation, foreign interference, disinformation and the misuse of artificial intelligence in campaigns, an organization promoting democracy said Tuesday. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, or International IDEA, said election credibility is threatened by turnout dropping and results are increasingly being contested. One in three elections are being disputed in some way, it said. The organization with 35 member governments said the average percentage of the voting age population who actually cast ballots has declined from 65.2% in 2008 to 55.5% in 2023. Elections remain the single best opportunity to end democratic backsliding and turn the tide in democracys favor, said International IDEAs Secretary-General, Kevin Casas-Zamora. The success of democracy depends on many things, but it becomes utterly impossible if elections fail. The Stockholm-based organization said its Global Report on the State of the Democracy, which measures democratic performance in 158 countries from 1975 till today, found that 47% of countries have experienced a decline in key democratic indicators over the past five years, marking the eighth consecutive year of global democratic backsliding. Globally, nearly 20% of elections between 2020 and 2024, one of the losing candidates or parties rejected the result, and elections were being decided by court appeals at the same rate. The report said 2023 was the worst year when it came to free and fair elections and parliamentary oversight. There were threats of foreign interference, disinformation and the use of artificial intelligence in campaigns. The declines span both traditionally strong democracies as well as fragile governments around the globe. In Africa, democratic performance has generally remained stable over the past five years, with notable declines in the Sahel, particularly in coup-affected Burkina Faso which is one of a growing list of West African countries where the military has taken power, accusing the elected governments of failing to keep their promises. IDEA noted that Burundi and Zambia have made notable improvements. As to Western Asia, over a third of countries performed poorly, while Europe has seen widespread declines in democratic aspects like the rule of law and civil liberties. However, progress have notably been reported in Montenegro and Latvia. The study noted that the Americas have mostly maintained stability, but countries like Guatemala,Peru and Uruguay have experienced declines, particularly in rule of law and civil liberties. Most countries in the Asia-Pacific region have seen minor declines or stability, with notable improvements in Fiji, the Maldives, and Thailand, the organization said. However, the declines were significant in Afghanistan where the Taliban have not been recognized by any country as the legitimate rulers since they seized power in 2021, and in Myanmar, where opposition to a military takeover has deteriorated to a civil war. (AP) A judge has rejected a bid by Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, to move his charges in Arizonas fake elector case to federal court, marking the second time he has failed in trying to get his charges out of state court. In a decision Monday, U.S. District Judge John Tuchi said Meadows missed a deadline for asking for his charges to be moved to federal court, didnt offer a good reason for doing so and failed to show that the allegations against him related to his official duties as chief of staff to the president. Meadows faces charges in Arizona and Georgia in what authorities allege was an illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Trumps favor. He had unsuccessfully tried to move charges in the Georgia case last year. Its unknown whether Meadows will appeal the decision. The Associated Press left phone and email messages for two of Meadows attorneys. While not a fake elector in Arizona, prosecutors said Meadows worked with other Trump campaign members to submit names of fake electors from Arizona and other states to Congress in a bid to keep Trump in office despite his November 2020 defeat. Meadows has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Arizona and Georgia. In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,457 votes. The decision sends Meadows case back down to Maricopa County Superior Court. In both Arizona and Georgia, Meadows argued his charges should be moved to federal court because his actions were taken when he was a federal official working as Trumps chief of staff and that he has immunity under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says federal law trumps state law. Arizona prosecutors said Meadows electioneering efforts werent part of his official duties at the White House. Meadows last year tried to get his Georgia charges moved but his request was rejected by a judge whose ruling was later affirmed by an appeals court. Meadows has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling. The Arizona indictment says Meadows confided to a White House staff member in early November 2020 that Trump had lost the election. Prosecutors say Meadows also had arranged meetings and calls with state officials to discuss the fake elector conspiracy. Meadows and other defendants are seeking a dismissal of the Arizona case. Meadows attorneys said nothing their client is alleged to have done in Arizona was criminal. They said the indictment consists of allegations that he received messages from people trying to get ideas in front of Trump or seeking to inform Mr. Meadows about the strategy and status of various legal efforts by the presidents campaign. In denying the former chief of staffs request, Tuchi said Meadows wasnt indicted for facilitating communications to and from the president or staying updated on what was going on in Trumps campaign. Instead, the State has indicted Mr. Meadows for allegedly orchestrating and participating in an illegal electioneering scheme, the judge wrote. Few, if any, of the States factual allegations even resemble the secretarial duties that Mr. Meadows maintains are the subject of the indictment. In all, 18 Republicans were charged in late April in Arizonas fake electors case. The defendants include 11 Republicans who had submitted a document falsely claiming Trump had won Arizona, another Trump aide and five lawyers connected to the former president. In August, Trumps campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors that led to the dismissal of her charges. Republican activist Loraine Pellegrino became the first person to be convicted in the Arizona case when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation. The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty to the forgery, fraud and conspiracy charges in Arizona. Trump wasnt charged in Arizona, but the indictment refers to him as an unindicted coconspirator. The 11 people who were nominated to be Arizonas Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were duly elected and qualified electors and claimed Trump had carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored. Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin have also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme. (AP) Instagram is making teen accounts private by default as it tries to make the platform safer for children amid a growing backlash against how social media affects young peoples lives. Beginning Tuesday in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, anyone under under 18 who signs up for Instagram will be placed into restrictive teen accounts and those with existing accounts will be migrated over the next 60 days. Teens in the European Union will see their accounts adjusted later this year. Meta acknowledges that teenagers may lie about their age and says it will require them to verify their ages in more instances, like if they try to create a new account with an adult birthday. The Menlo Park, California company also said it is building technology that proactively finds teen accounts that pretend to be grownups and automatically places them into the restricted teen accounts. The teen accounts will be private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. Sensitive content, such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a sleep mode will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. While these settings will be turned on for all teens, 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to turn them off. Kids under 16 will need their parents permission to do so. The three concerns were hearing from parents are that their teens are seeing content that they dont want to see or that theyre getting contacted by people they dont want to be contacted by or that theyre spending too much on the app, said Naomi Gleit, head of product at Meta. So teen accounts is really focused on addressing those three concerns. The announcement comes as the company faces lawsuits from dozens of U.S. states that accuse it of harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. In the past, Metas efforts at addressing teen safety and mental health on its platforms have been met with criticism that the changes dont go far enough. For instance, while kids will get a notification when theyve spent 60 minutes on the app, they will be able to bypass it and continue scrolling. Thats unless the childs parents turn on parental supervision mode, where parents can limit teens time on Instagram to a specific amount of time, such as 15 minutes. With the latest changes, Meta is giving parents more options to oversee their kids accounts. Those under 16 will need a parent or guardians permission to change their settings to less restrictive ones. They can do this by setting up parental supervision on their accounts and connecting them to a parent or guardian. Nick Clegg, Metas president of global affairs, said last week that parents dont use the parental controls the company has introduced in recent years. Gleit said she thinks teen accounts will create a big incentive for parents and teens to set up parental supervision. Parents will be able to see, via the family center, who is messaging their teen and hopefully have a conversation with their teen, she said. If there is bullying or harassment happening, parents will have visibility into who their teens following, whos following their teen, who their teen has messaged in the past seven days and hopefully have some of these conversations and help them navigate these really difficult situations online. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last year that tech companies put too much on parents when it comes to keeping children safe on social media. Were asking parents to manage a technology thats rapidly evolving that fundamentally changes how their kids think about themselves, how they build friendships, how they experience the world and technology, by the way, that prior generations never had to manage, Murthy said in May 2023. (AP) House Speaker Mike Johnson will move ahead with a temporary spending bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, despite the headwinds that prompted him to pull the bill from consideration last week. The bill includes a requirement that people registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship, which has become a leading election-year priority for Republicans raising the specter of noncitizens voting in the U.S., even though its already illegal to do so and research has shown that such voting is rare. I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections, Johnson said Tuesday. Johnson told reporters he was not ready to discuss an alternative plan to keep the government funded other than what will come before the House on Wednesday. Im not having any alternative conversations. Thats the play. Its an important one. And Im going to work around the clock to try and get it done, Johnson said. The legislation faces an uphill climb in the House and has no chance in the Senate. The vast majority of Democrats oppose it, and some Republicans do, too, but for different reasons. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the only way to prevent a government shutdown was for both sides to work together on an agreement. He said the House vote announced by Johnson was doomed to fail. The only thing that will accomplish is make clear that hes running into a dead end, Schumer said. We must have a bipartisan plan instead. The legislation would fund agencies at current levels while lawmakers work out their differences on a full-year spending agreement. Democrats, and some Republicans, are pushing for a short extension. A temporary fix would allow the current Congress to hammer out a final bill after the election and get it to President Joe Bidens desk for his signature. But Johnson and some of the more conservative members of his conference are pushing for a six-month extension in the hopes that Republican nominee Donald Trump will win the election and give them more leverage when crafting the full-year bill. Schumer said a six-month measure would shortchange the Pentagon and other government agencies that need more certainty about funding levels. You simply cannot run the military with six-month stopgaps, Schumer said. Johnson said last week that he was not giving up on his proposal just yet and would be working through the weekend to build support. He said ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections is the most pressing issue right now and were going to get this job done. On Sunday, he traveled to Florida to meet with Trump, who had earlier seemingly encouraged a government shutdown if Republicans dont get assurances on Election Security. Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social that they should not go forward with a stopgap bill without such assurances. The House approved a bill with the proof of citizenship mandate back in July. Some Republicans who view the issue as popular with their constituents have been pushing for another chance to show their support for the measure. Still, other Republicans are expected to vote no because they view the spending in the bill as excessive. (AP) Fox News reporter Peter Doocy and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday clashed over the Biden administrations labeling of former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy. Doocy pressed Jean-Pierre on why the administration continues to refer to Trump as a threat while simultaneously calling for a cooling of political rhetoric. Its been only two days since somebody allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump again, and youre here at the podium in the White House briefing room calling him a threat, Doocy said. How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and the vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump other than threat? I actually completely disagree with the premise of your question. The way that youre asking it is incredibly dangerous because the American people are watching, Jean-Pierre said. She noted the administrations condemnation of political violence, citing their responses to events such as the January 6 Capitol attack and the assault on Paul Pelosi. Doocy continued, suggesting that calling Trump a threat might be interpreted literally by individuals who may act violently. Jean-Pierre defended the characterization, pointing to January 6 as a key example of the danger posed to democracy. Were using examples. Jan. 6, Peter, Jan. 6 wait, Jan. 6. How many times do I Jan. 6, 2021. That is a fact, what was reported, what happened on that day by some of your colleagues. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) North Korea on Wednesday test-fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern seas, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, adding to its military demonstrations as tensions with Washington and neighbors escalate. The launches come days after North Korea offered a rare view into a secretive facility built to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs as leader Kim Jong Un called for a rapid expansion of his nuclear weapons program. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected North Korea firing multiple short-range ballistic missiles from north of its capital, Pyongyang, and said they traveled about 400 kilometers (244 miles) while flying toward the northeast. The joint chiefs said it was closely communicating with the United States and Japan while analyzing the launches but didnt immediately provide further flight details. Japans defense ministry said it detected at least two launches but didnt immediately say what types of missiles they were and how far they flew. Japans coast guard said the missiles were believed to have already fallen into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan and urged vessels to watch out for falling objects. Japans NHK television said the missiles were believed to have landed outside of Japans exclusive economic zone. The South Korean joint chiefs condemned the launches as a provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. It said in a statement that South Korean and U.S. militaries were closely monitoring North Korean activities while maintaining a combined defense posture to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation. North Korea didnt immediately confirm the launches. They followed a previous round of ballistic tests last week as Kim vowed to have his nuclear force fully ready for battle with its rivals. The North said the launches on Sept. 12 involved its super-large 600mm multiple rocket launchers, which it describes as capable of delivering tactical nuclear warheads. Experts say North Koreas large-sized artillery rockets blur the boundary between artillery systems and ballistic missiles because they can create their own thrust and are guided during delivery. Since 2022, North Korea has ramped up its weapons testing activities to expand and modernize its arsenal of nuclear missiles targeting the U.S. and South Korea. The allies have expanded their combined military exercises and are updating their nuclear deterrence strategies based on U.S. assets to counter the Norths growing threat. Analysts say Kims long-term goal is to force the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength. While disclosing the uranium enrichment facility last week, Kim called for stronger efforts to exponentially increase its number of nuclear weapons in the face of what he described as U.S. threats. State media published photos that showed Kim talking with military officials and scientists between long lone lines of centrifuges used to produce weapons-grade uranium, but the reports didnt say where the facility was located or when Kim made the visit. Analysts say North Korea could conduct a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November with the intent of influencing the outcome and increasing its leverage in future dealings with the new U.S. administration. (AP) By Rabbi Yair Hoffman The events of today will go down in history as one of the most brilliant battle tactics ever conceived. Four thousand hardened Hezbollah terrorists and murderers were near-simultaneously put out of commission by somehow being fooled with a shipment of Motorola paging equipment containing a hidden explosive device. The miraculous success of this operation sparked such happiness and delight that students of Religious Zionist Yeshivos were dancing out of sheer joy. There were, however, people that questioned the propriety of the dancing as well as whether Yeshiva World News should have posted these articles in the first place. People commented and asked, Doesnt Shlomo HaMelech advise us not to rejoice at the fall of our enemy? How could this have been posted? While keeping in mind that the 4000 were terrorists bent on murdering civilians, there is a verse in the 24th chapter of Mishlei written by Shlomo HaMelech. It is pasuk 18 and it states: In the falling (death) of your enemy do not rejoice. We must also keep in mind another seemingly contradictory earlier verse. It was also written by Shlomo HaMelech In the death of evil-doers exhuberance! (Mishlei 11:10). How are these two verses to be understood together? THE RALBAGS UNDERSTANDING TOO MUCH IS NO GOOD The Ralbag (1288-1344) in interpreting the pasuk just before pasuk 18 in chapter 24, writes that inappropriate rejoicing over the matter will lead to Hashem removing His Divine Anger against that enemy and placing it upon you. It is clear from this Ralbag that too much rejoicing is wrong and dangerous. But what is too much? It is interesting to note that the Alshich (1508-1593) in Megilas Esther (5:3) writes that this is exactly why Esther wished to make Haman rejoice at the party. She did so in order that the Divine Will be turned against the evil Haman on account of his rejoicing at the fall of Israel. APPROPRIATE REJOICING IS OKAY We can infer from the Ralbag that although inappropriate rejoicing is wrong appropriate rejoicing, where one is on the correct spiritual level, is fine. This is the type of rejoicing that is indicated in Chapter eleven. THE MAHARSHAS AND RABBEINU YONAHS VIEWS But what exactly is the correct spiritual level? The Maharsha (1555-1631) in his comments to Megillah 28a understands the verse in Chapter 24 as referring to someone who is rejoicing because of his feeling of hate toward his enemy. Rabbeinu Yonah (1180-1263) in his comments on Pirkei Avos 4:19 writes that that the high level in which rejoicing is permitted is if one does so in celebration of the Kavod Shamayim of the honor due to G-d at the fall of this evil-doer. This may be very much in line with our Ralbag. THE ALSHICHS VIEW The Alshich (1508-1593) in his comments to Tehillim 5:11 qualifies the verse in Mishlei to refer only to a personal enemy, but one whose evil is so much against G-d the opposite feeling is in order one should, in fact, rejoice. Thus, the Chapter eleven verse refers to one who is so evil in the eyes of G-d. The Alshich does not distinguish between our own levels, but rather the type of enemy that the pasuk refers to. THE OTHER VIEW THE MESHECH CHOCHMA AND GERRER REBBE The Meshech Chochma in his comments to Shmos 12:16 writes that upright individuals do not rejoice at the death of others as do, say, some of the other nations. This seems to be across the board. Thus, on Passover, we celebrate the freedom of the Jewish people and not the fact that G-d punished the Egyptians. Similarly, on Chanukah, we celebrate the miracle of the oil lasting and not the fall of the Syrian Greeks. However, we can certainly draw a distinction in that the Egyptians as a whole may not have been considered terrorist and murderers just enemy combatants. The Gerrer Rebbe on Sukkos 5658 also expressed this thought. He explained that even though Yom Tovs must all have Simcha, the word is used only regarding Sukkos and not Pesach. Why? The death of the Egyptians that occurred on Pesach caused the use of the word Simcha in regard to Pesach as not appropriate. The Yalkut Shimoni (Mishlei 960) also points out that we do not recite a full Hallel on Pesach except for the first day because of the notion of not overly rejoicing over the deaths of enemies. Also, the Midrash points out, that Noah refrained from marital intimacy during the time that the evildoers in the world were being destroyed on account of the notion of the verse in chapter 24. Seemingly, this Midrash is not in accordance with the distinctions made by the Alshich and the Ralbag. PERHAPS NOT ALL AGREED TO It may also be suggested that the notion was perhaps not necessarily universally adhered to by all of Israel. How so? In Pirkei Avos (4:19) Shmuel HaKatan says almost the exact same thing as King Solomon did in Mishlei. The Rambam and the Bartenura point this out but remark that Shmuel actually utilized and taught this approach. The fact that the Mishna singles Shmuel HaKatan out for this indicates that it may not necessarily have been kept so universally. In fact, it could be that King David himself, the father of King Shlomo may have erred in his reciting of joyful song at the fall of Kush Ben Yemini, as pointed out in Midrash Tehillim (7). The conclusion? It seems that if one rejoices at the Kavod Shamayim the honor that finally justice has been accomplished with the knowledge that the honor of Heaven has been further enhanced and uplifted with this mans death then one may certainly rejoice, but nonetheless, it should still be tempered. All this is for enemy combatants, but rejoicing at the fall of terrorists and murderers would seem to be fully sanctioned by the meforshim. Let us also realize that close to 1332 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7th, and undoubtedly the vast majority if not all of these students lost someone close to them. It would be wholly insensitive to censure them for seeing the yad Hashem and appreciating this miraculous turn of events. The author can be reached at [email protected] ADEN, Yemen/TEHRAN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has concluded a series of "frank and constructive" discussions in Iran's capital Tehran, for advancing peace efforts in Yemen, according to a statement from his office on Wednesday. During his visit to Tehran, Grundberg met with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi and other senior Iranian officials and diplomats to discuss ways to overcome challenges posed by the ongoing conflict and to ensure a peaceful settlement in Yemen, the statement said. The UN envoy highlighted several pressing issues, including regional developments that pose risks to mediation efforts and recent escalations in the Red Sea, stressing that dialogue is "the only sustainable path to achieving peace and stability in Yemen." He called for "unified regional and international efforts" toward a comprehensive solution to the Yemen crisis. Grundberg also mentioned the ongoing detention of UN staff and other aid workers by Yemen's Houthi group, saying, "Their release must happen without delay to restore the hope and trust needed for moving forward." The Houthis have since June detained dozens of employees from UN agencies, international organizations, and local NGOs in Yemen. The United Nations has repeatedly called for their "immediate and unconditional release." In his talks with Grundberg, Araghchi expressed Iran's strong support for sustainable peace and security in Yemen, appreciating the UN's efforts to that end, according to a statement by his ministry late Tuesday, Araghchi pointed to the sensitivity and interconnected nature of regional developments, highlighting the negative impact of the continuation of Israel's "crimes" in the Gaza Strip on the entire region. Yemen has been embroiled in a civil conflict since 2014, when the Houthis seized control of the capital, Sanaa. Despite diplomatic endeavors over the years, neither side has demonstrated the will to revive negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict, which, according to UN estimates, has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. By Rabbi Yair Hoffman Artscrolls latest English Halacha sefer is entitled, The Priceless Treasure of Bircas Kohanim but the name applies to the sefer as well. This sefer, replete with more than 550 Teshuvos from Maran HaRav Chaim Kanievskt ztl is a priceless treasure in and of itself. It is not just a halacha sefer, it is a kol-bo. It is filled with inspiration, stories, history and minhagin. This type of combination-format, in this authors opinion, is path-breaking and will possibly entirely re-define how halacha seforim can be written. Most of all, anyone reading it is is overcome by a tremendous urge to run out for Shacharis to a sefardic minyan to attend Bircas Kohanim. Somewhere in the introduction, the author, Rabbi Naftali Weinberger, explains that he had asked Rav Chaim Kanievsky ztl which sefer should be published first the one on Shidduchim or the one on Bircas Kohanim. Everyone thought that he would certainly answer Bircas Kohanim because of the Mitzvah of vekhibadto that one must honor a Kohain. In fact, Rav Chaim zatzal used to sort his letters by names that could possibly be that of a Kohain in order to respond to them first. To everyones shock, Rav Chaim responded that the Shidduchim sefer should be published first because the delay in our girls getting married causes enormous damage to Klal Yisroel. Wow. Each page of this remarkable is filled with remarkably inspiring nuggets of information. The Alter of Slabodka had formed his own, quicker minyan for Neilah so that he could hear Bircas Kohanim before shkiyah. But when the Yeshiva saw what the Alter was doing the main minyan followed suit (p. 107). Rav Nachum ztl, yes the famed Rav Nachum, explained that the Mir Yeshivas minhag of going faster through Neilah was to give the tzibbur an extra Chessed of helping out the Kohanim fulfill their three Mitzvos. The zchus that the Tzibbur receives is on account of this Chessed to the Kohanim. Wow. It is reminiscent of Rav Chatzkel Levenstein ztls explanation of mechalkel chaim bchessed Rav Chatzkel Levenstein ztl explains the three words we are all so familiar with in the shmoneh esreh differently than others do. Mechalkel chaim bchessed Hashem sustains life with chessed. What do these words mean? Some have it that through Hashems middah of chessed He sustains life. Others have it as Hashem could sustain life in many ways but He does so with extras with steak instead of with macaroni. Rav Chatzlel zatzal explained it differently He explained that it is the acts and the performance of Chessed which is the life-sustaining, life-giving force that sustains and gives purpose and direction to life and to the universe itself. Some interesting halachos are that an Ashkenazic Kohain living in the USA may never duchen in an Ashkenazic minyan except for on Yom Tov without exception (p. 142). An Ashkenazic Jew may attend a sefardic minyan in the USA even for the express purpose of hearing Bircas Kohanim. Chapter fourteen of this sefer goes into great detail all of the explanations as to why Kohanim do not duchem in Chutz LaAretz. In Chapter eight, the author deals with the Doraisah form of the bracha wherein it must be delivered by two Kohanim. The Rabbinic form of the Mitzvah is just with one Kohain. Uman The Exception The author notes that Dayan Fisher ztl ruled that in Uman, where the shuls were established primarily for those visiting from Eretz Yisroel for a short period of time the Israeli Kohanim may duchen. Uman is not the only exception. In the Hague, they also did duchen because they thought it protected them from the Cholera epidemic. The practice ended at the second World War. But Where do the Fingers Go? Most people that learned through Mishna Brurah Seder when they were in Yeshiva remember the 5 air spaces Avirim that are discussed in Siman 128:12 but didnt pay to much attention to where the five space were. Rabbi Weinberger brings two different readings of the Mishna Brurah on this issue. (The pictures, drawn by Yoav Ilan, are on p. 301 where all 7 different minhagim are depicted.) Of course the first and last spaces are between the middle finger and the ring finger on each hand. The second and fourth spaces are between the thumbs and the index finger? But where is the third space? The simple reading is that it is in the concave area below where the thumbs touch. But the alternative reading is that the thumbs form an X and area 3 is at the top of the X. (The author does not address the fact that according to the alternative reading there would be a fourth concave area at the bottom of the X). The Zohars view is that the thumbs dont touch at all. The fact of the matter is that this Sefer is an essential read before Yom Tov and this reviewer predicts that it will be an instant sellout. Artscroll will have to reprint very soon. Also, for all wives of Kohanim out there it is the perfect gift, just be prepared not to see your husband for two days. The one deficit of this remarkable Sefer is that it is currently missing its index, but no doubt in the next printing Artscroll will rectify that. So for those looking for any mention of Yehudah Leib Ben Mordechai, it probably will not be found. The reviewer can be reached at [email protected] The IDF announced on Wednesday morning that four soldiers were killed in combat in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The soldiers were killed in Rafah after a building they were inside exploded, the IDF said. Five others were injured in the blast, three seriously and two moderately. The soldiers were on a mission to find weapons in the Tel Sultan neighborhood when they entered the booby-trapped building. The casualties include the first female IDF soldier to be killed during the ground war in Gaza: Staff Sgt. Agam Naim, Hyd, 20, from Mishmarot, a kibbutz in north-central Israel, who served as a paramedic in the 52nd Battalation in the 401st Armored Brigade. The other three soldiers served in the Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade. They were identified as Staff Sgt. Amit Bakri, Hyd, 21, from Yoshivia, a religious moshav in southern Israel; Staff Sgt. Dotan Shimon, Hyd, 21, from Elazar, a religious yishuv in Gush Etzion; and Cpt. Daniel Mimon Toaff, 23, Hyd, from Moreshet, a religious yishuv in northern Israel, who served as a deputy company commander. Their deaths increase the death toll of soldiers killed in Gaza since the ground war began to 346 and the number of soldiers killed since October 7 to 713. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Israel developed the plan to remotely detonate thousands of Hezbollah pagers months ago but was forced to activate the plan on Tuesday after two Hezbollah members grew suspicious, various media outlets reported. Axios quoted a US official as saying: It was a use it or lose it moment. Israel planned on using the operation as the first blow in an all-out war to try to disable Hezbollah. But when Israel received intelligence that two Hezbollah members had expressed suspicion about the pagers, they decided to execute the plan rather than lose the opportunity altogether. Israeli officials did not inform the US about the plan, not even telling US envoy Amos Hochstein about it, who was in Israel to discuss the security situation with Hezbollah. In order not to keep the US completely in the dark, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin moments before the explosions began and said that Israel was about to carry out an operation in Lebanon. However, he refused to provide any details. The pagers that blew up bore the trademark of the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. However, the company stated on Wednesday that the pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Budapest, Hungary. According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, the statement read. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them. The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungarys capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo. According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, the statement read. Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration. Media reports said that a tiny amount of explosives, one to two ounces, was implanted next to the battery in each pager together with a switch to be used to detonate the explosives remotely. Two sources, including a senior Lebanese security source, told Reuters that the Mossad planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers months ago. Hezbollah ordered the pagers from Gold Apollo and they arrived in the country earlier this year. The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. Its very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner, the source said. The AR-924 pager, advertised as being rugged, contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollos website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters. Ynet quoted Oleg Brodet, from the Cyber Labs at Ben-Gurion University, as saying that the operation may have taken years to execute, noting the complexity of supply chain cyberattacks. To send a compromised device, changes must be made during manufacturing or shipping. We believe something similar happened here, where devices intended for the terrorist organization were altered, he said. Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Eyal Pinko told Ynet: This isnt science fiction. Many countries possess such capabilities. If we go back 14 years, there was a virus that targeted the Natanz nuclear facility, an operation attributed to Israel, which crippled Irans enrichment program. Taiwans Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries and that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon. On February 14, Hezbollah leader Nassan Hasrallah ordered the terror groups members to avoid using their cell phones after Israel carried out a series of targeted eliminations, killing 170 Hezbollah members, including a senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut. Following the speech, pagers were distributed to all Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria. The phone that we have in our hands I do not have a phone in my hand is a listening device, Nasrallah said in the speech. I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wifes hands, and in your childrens hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it. Is Israel about to launch a ground operation in Lebanon? Reuters quoted analysts as saying that they dont view the daring operation as a signal that a ground war is imminent. Instead, it is simply a sign of how deeply Israeli intelligence services have penetrated Hezbollah. It demonstrates Israels ability to infiltrate its adversaries in a remarkably dramatic way, said Paul Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the U.S. intelligence community, mainly at the CIA. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem & AP) The IDF is preparing for the possibility of an all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon following the exploding pagers operation on Tuesday that wounded over 3,000 Hezbollah terrorists. The IDF decided to transfer the elite 98th Division from the Gaza Strip to the northern front, where it will join the 36th Division under the Northern Command. The decision is significant as the IDF had planned to continue using the Division for further combat in the Strip. The 98th Paratroopers Division, also known as the Fire Formation ( ), is a commando division that specializes in parachute jumps, aerial drops, guerilla warfare, and combat in urban environments. Arutz Sheva reported that soldiers from other divisions have been ordered to deploy north as well. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) BRUSSELS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Google will not be required to pay the nearly 1.5 billion euro (1.67 billion U.S. dollars) fine imposed by the European Commission, according to a ruling by the European Union's General Court on Wednesday. The court stated that the Commission "failed to consider all the relevant circumstances" regarding the contract clauses it had labeled as abusive. The case revolves around Google's advertising platform AdSense, which was launched in 2003 and included an online ad intermediation service called AdSense for Search (AFS). To use AFS, publishers could negotiate contracts with Google that contained clauses restricting or prohibiting ads from competing services. In 2016, the Commission initiated an investigation into these clauses, leading Google to remove or revise them by September 2016. However, in March 2019, the Commission imposed a fine of nearly 1.5 billion euros, claiming Google had violated regulations from January 2003 to September 2016. While the court upheld most of the Commission's conclusions, it found that the Commission did not adequately prove that the clauses in question stifled innovation, strengthened Google's dominance in national markets, or harmed consumers. (1 euro = 1.1 U.S. dollar) Enditem. BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Wednesday held a phone conversation with British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves on enhancing trade and economic cooperation. He, who leads the Chinese side to China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue, said that China is ready to work with Britain to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and restart the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue. China is also willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Britain, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and expand cooperation in finance, green economy, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, among others, he noted. Reeves, who leads the British side to the dialogue, said that Britain is willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China to lay a stable and lasting foundation for the development of long-term and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries. Press Release September 17, 2024 Bong Go reminds DSWD to ensure provision of assistance for indigent patients in Malasakit Centers in accordance with the law During the Senate Finance Committee deliberations on Monday, September 16, on the proposed 2025 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Senator Christopher "Bong" Go raised concerns regarding the department's personnel deployment in Malasakit Centers nationwide in accordance with the Malasakit Centers Law. Malasakit Centers are one-stop shops that aim to support impoverished patients in reducing their hospital costs to the least possible amount. Go is the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program. The DOH reports that the Malasakit Center program has already provided aid to nearly 12 million Filipinos. Go's primary concern focused on the status of personnel deployment from the DSWD in each of the 166 Malasakit Centers established nationwide. He stressed the importance of having DSWD representatives in these centers, making government services more accessible to Filipinos, especially those in remote areas. "Alam mo naman, Secretary Rex (Gatchalian), na malaking tulong po ito na hindi na nila kailangang pumunta pa ng regional offices, provincial offices ninyo para humingi sila ng tulong. Inilapit na nga natin 'yung serbisyo sa kanila through a one-stop shop," said Go. "Kung pwedeng malaman po natin kung kumusta na 'yung status ng number of representatives or personnel ninyo sa bawat 166 na Malasakit Center sa buong Pilipinas po," he inquired. In response to Go's query, Gatchalian provided updates on the department's deployment efforts. Gatchalian confirmed that, as of September 2024, the DSWD has successfully deployed personnel to nearly all Malasakit Centers. However, he clarified that there was still one hospital where deployment had yet to occur. Go, however, noted discrepancies between the DSWD's figures and data provided by the Department of Health (DOH). "Ang mula sa DOH, 155 (Malasakit Centers ang merong DSWD personnel as of) last month, pero ngayon po, naging 161 na po out of 166... kindly confirm po," Go stated, seeking further verification. In response, Gatchalian assured the senator that the DSWD's data was accurate and even exceeded expectations. "I'm not sure where they got the data, but as of September 2024, we have deployed to 166 hospitals, and that's 219 personnel," Gatchalian reaffirmed. Go, in turn, pressed for more details to ensure that each of the Malasakit Centers indeed had at least one DSWD representative present to properly implement the law. "I mean, out of 166 na Malasakit Center, may personnel ba? Or at least one personnel sa bawat Malasakit Center?" Go asked, to which Gatchalian confirmed that many centers had more than one representative. "Yes, more than one pa ho ang meron kasi ang total deployment is 219," Gatchalian responded. The discussion also touched on the status of personnel deployment at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, which is currently undergoing renovations. According to Gatchalian, once construction is completed, the last remaining DSWD social worker will be deployed to the hospital. "'Yun, malaking tulong rin 'yan sa mga veterans natin na hindi na nila kailangan pumunta pa ng inyong regional offices," Go remarked, recognizing the value of ensuring that veterans have easy access to government services. People attend a funeral of those who were killed in pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024. The death toll from Tuesday's pager explosions in Lebanon has risen to 12, including two children, with 2,750-2,800 others injured, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced Wednesday. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich) BEIRUT, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Tuesday's pager explosions in Lebanon has risen to 12, including two children, with 2,750-2,800 others injured, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced Wednesday. Of the total wounded, around 750 were reported in the south, 150 in the eastern Bekaa region, and 1,850 in the capital Beirut and its southern suburbs, Abiad said in a press conference, mentioning that about 300 injured are in critical condition. Four of the victims were health sector workers, he noted, adding that more than 90 percent of the injured were treated in Lebanon, while some were transferred to Syria and even to Iran. The minister praised the country's health sector, which has "performed a tremendous job" in handling this surprise attack, noting that the strike was "a major test of the emergency plan." He noted that medical aid has begun to arrive in Lebanon, including shipments from Iraq and Jordan. "Israel is moving towards escalation, and we as the Lebanese government do not want war," he said. In a statement on Tuesday, Hezbollah accused Israel of being "fully responsible for the criminal aggression that also targeted civilians," threatening to retaliate, while Israel has not yet commented on the explosions. People attend a funeral of those who were killed in pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024. The death toll from Tuesday's pager explosions in Lebanon has risen to 12, including two children, with 2,750-2,800 others injured, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced Wednesday. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich) People attend a funeral of those who were killed in pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024. The death toll from Tuesday's pager explosions in Lebanon has risen to 12, including two children, with 2,750-2,800 others injured, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced Wednesday. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich) People attend a funeral of those who were killed in pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024. The death toll from Tuesday's pager explosions in Lebanon has risen to 12, including two children, with 2,750-2,800 others injured, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced Wednesday. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich) People attend a funeral of those who were killed in pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024. The death toll from Tuesday's pager explosions in Lebanon has risen to 12, including two children, with 2,750-2,800 others injured, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced Wednesday. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich) Ghanaian student Clement, a big fan of the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, began his own journey to the East 17 years ago. Now studying in northeast China, he's also exploring business opportunities, with hopes of contributing to stronger China-Africa collaboration. Produced by Xinhua Global Service BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China has decided to impose countermeasures against nine U.S. military companies for arms sales to China's Taiwan region, according to a decision published on the Chinese foreign ministry website on Wednesday. The decision said that the United States recently has once again announced arms sales plans to the Taiwan region, which has seriously violated the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, interfered in China's internal affairs and undermined China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pursuant to Articles 3, 4, 6, 9 and 15 of China's Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, China decided to take the following countermeasures against Sierra Nevada Corporation, Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC, Cubic Corporation, S3 AeroDefense, TCOM, Limited Partnership, TextOre, Planate Management Group, ACT1 Federal and Exovera: Their movable, immovable and all other types of property in China will be frozen. Organizations and individuals in China will be prohibited from engaging in transactions, cooperation or other activities with the above-mentioned enterprises. The decision will become effective from Sept. 18, 2024. In response to a query concerning recent U.S. plans to sell arms to China's Taiwan region, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press briefing that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, particularly the August 17 Communique of 1982; seriously violates China's sovereignty and security interests; damages China-U.S. relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait; and sends an erroneous signal to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. "China strongly condemns and firmly opposes this, and has lodged stern representations with the U.S. side. China has taken firm countermeasures and announced that it will impose sanctions on nine U.S. military companies," he said. The United States continues to arm Taiwan, supporting Lai Ching-te and Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in their stubborn pursuit of "Taiwan independence" and their provocations regarding the one-China principle, Lin noted. This once again proves that the biggest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the greatest saboteur of the status quo across the Taiwan Strait are the separatist activities of "Taiwan independence" forces and the conniving support of external forces led by the United States, he added. It should be noted that the DPP authorities are attempting to seek "Taiwan independence" through military build-up, and the United States is determined to help advance that agenda by arming Taiwan, Lin said, adding that any such actions will only backfire and lead to disastrous consequences, ultimately ending in failure, Lin said. He stressed that the Taiwan question is at the heart of China's core interests, and it is the most important red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations. No one should underestimate China's firm will and strong ability to oppose "Taiwan independence" and defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. China urges the United States to abide earnestly by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, immediately end its dangerous trend of arming Taiwan, cease its conniving with and its support of "Taiwan independence" forces, and stop undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Lin said. China will take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, he said. JERUSALEM, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that four of its soldiers were killed by an explosion in the southern Gaza Strip the previous day. Three male soldiers and one female combat paramedic died on Tuesday in the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, where a hidden explosive device detonated when they raided a building, according to a military statement. The explosion also caused partial collapse of the structure. In the same incident, an officer and two soldiers were seriously injured, while two other soldiers sustained moderate injuries. The latest incident brings the death toll of Israeli soldiers in Gaza to 348 since the beginning of the military's ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 27, 2023, according to Israeli figures. The ground offensive followed a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 41,272, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday. Qian Xiayu paints peonies on a rubbing work at the Luoyang Huaxia Rubbing Culture Museum in Luoyang City, central China's Henan Province, Sept. 11, 2024. Jinshi Bogu, an intangible cultural heritage of Luoyang, refers to the painting created on the paper already marked with inked characters and patterns that are made with rubbing techniques. The combination of the characters and patterns, initially engraved on stones or ancient artifacts, with the hand painting images and calligraphy by an artist, represents the integration of the different traditions of Chinese art. Qian Xiayu, an inheritor of Jinshi Bogu painting, keeps trying with her mentor to apply this traditional technique to various cultural products and daily life objects as Chinese fans and lamps. (Xinhua/Li Jianan) LIMA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and 28 others injured on Tuesday after two buses collided in north Peru's La Libertad region, said the National Police of Peru (PNP). The accident occurred on a road in the Chicama District, Ascope Province, involving a passenger bus traveling between the Gran Chimu and Trujillo provinces, and another vehicle transporting workers from an agro-industrial company. "We have a report of 28 wounded," PNP Commander Carlos Odria told a local media outlet. "Personnel from two mobile units are at the scene, providing support and assistance to the wounded." The PNP has not ruled out speeding as a possible cause and is continuing to investigate the incident. Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during the UN General Assembly emergency special session on the Palestinian question, at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 17, 2024. Fu on Tuesday urged Israel to heed the strong call of the international community by immediately ending its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. (Xinhua/Xie E) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Tuesday urged Israel to heed the strong call of the international community by immediately ending its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. In remarks at the UN General Assembly emergency special session on the Palestinian question, Fu said decades of occupation and oppression have inflicted untold sufferings on the Palestinian people, and made the long-cherished dream of independent statehood ever more elusive. "Ending the occupation is not an option, but a legal obligation for Israel," he stressed. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its advisory opinion issued on July 19, unequivocally concluded that Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is a violation of international law, and that Israel is under an obligation to immediately bring to an end its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, the ambassador said, adding that the ICJ's advisory opinion affirms the long-standing consensus of the international community and pinpoints the crux of the Palestinian question. "We urge Israel to heed the strong call of the international community by immediately ending its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory," he said. Fu noted that ending the occupation is to redress historical injustice and, more importantly, lay the foundation for peace. Underscoring that independent statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people as a nation, the ambassador said the prolonged illegal occupation has hindered the realization of self-determination of the Palestinian people and given Israel an exclusive veto over Palestine. "This is unacceptable." Only a complete end to the occupation and the establishment of the Independent State of Palestine will truly make it possible for Palestine and Israel to live side by side in peace, for the two peoples to live together in peace and tranquility, and for lasting peace to be achieved in the Middle East, he said. Fu emphasized that the implementation of the two-State solution is the only viable way to resolve the question of Palestine, and is the broad consensus of the international community. He called on the international community to make greater efforts and demand that Israel implement the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, cease its military operations in Gaza, and stop its illegal settlement activities in the West Bank. "China advocates the convening of a more broad-based and effective international peace conference to revitalize the political prospects of the two-State solution and to work out a timetable and a roadmap for its implementation," he said. "Today is a historic moment," Fu said, noting that the State of Palestine has taken a seat among UN member states and introduced a draft resolution to the General Assembly that focuses on the implementation of the advisory opinion of the ICJ. He said China will vote in favor of the draft resolution, and hopes the resolution will give new impetus to ending the occupation, implementing the two-State solution, and advancing the Middle East peace process. Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during the UN General Assembly emergency special session on the Palestinian question, at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 17, 2024. Fu on Tuesday urged Israel to heed the strong call of the international community by immediately ending its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. (Xinhua/Xie E) BEIRUT, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and more than 100 others wounded in explosions of wireless communication devices across Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said. Among the wounded, 10 people were reported in the town of Sohmor of the eastern Bekaa region, the ministry noted. Local media said the devices involved were identified as ICOM V82 models, walkie-talkie devices reportedly made in Japan. Emergency services were dispatched to the scene to transport the injured to local hospitals. The explosions followed a previous attack on Tuesday, in which the Israeli military allegedly targeted pager batteries used by Hezbollah members, resulting in the deaths of 12 individuals and approximately 2,800 injuries. JERUSALEM, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A senior Israeli commander stated on Wednesday that Israeli forces are "at peak readiness" along the Israel-Lebanon border, following a day in which thousands of pagers exploded across Lebanon in an alleged Israeli attack. "We are determined to change the security reality as soon as possible," said Ori Gordin, commander of the Israeli Northern Command, after two brigade exercises focused on simulating ground combat in Lebanese terrain. The military's statement noted that the exercises included operations in enemy territory, evacuating wounded under fire, coordinating various headquarters, and defending the northern region. "There is full commitment from the commanders and troops here, who are at peak readiness for any mission they may be assigned," Gordin said. Additionally, the Israeli army said it has moved the 98th Division, previously engaged in combat in the Gaza Strip, to the Israel-Lebanon border. This shift follows a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet to concentrate most military capabilities in the northern region. On Tuesday, at least 12 people, including two children, were killed and nearly 3,000 injured when handheld pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon. Reports of further pager explosions emerged on Wednesday afternoon. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks. However, the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency, reported thwarting an assassination attempt on a former senior Israeli security official, alleging that Hezbollah planned to carry out the attack "in the next few days." BRUSSELS, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen revealed the long-awaited lineup for the new European Commission in France's Strasbourg on Tuesday, after weeks of negotiations with member states over candidates and their portfolios. "Together, we have defined core priorities. They are built around prosperity, security, democracy," von der Leyen said at a news conference, adding, "The entire college is committed to competitiveness!" Among the 27 posts in the proposed college, 40 percent being held by women, are six executive vice-presidents, of which four are female. The executive vice-presidents include Teresa Ribera of Spain, Henna Virkkunen of Finland, Raffaele Fitto of Italy, Roxana Minzatu of Romania, Stephane Sejourne of France and Kaja Kallas of Estonia. Stephane Sejourne was appointed as the executive vice president overseeing industrial strategy after Thierry Breton, who was France's initial nominee for the new European Commission, resigned on Monday. Breton's departure followed several public disputes with von der Leyen. Last week, Slovenia also put forward a new candidate for the European Commission after its initial nominee, Tomaz Vesel, withdrew. Vesel cited disagreements with von der Leyen's vision for how the Commission should operate. The proposed commissioners will face tough scrutiny in the coming weeks as EU lawmakers must approve each nomination. The nominees need a two-thirds majority in the relevant European Parliament committees to move forward. Some appointments are already facing resistance. French member of the European Parliament Valerie Hayer, leader of the EU Liberals, said, "We have already warned of this political decision by Ursula von der Leyen. She has confirmed it. We take note of that." This note might seem like a typical meeting notice but we think our www.TonysKansasCity.com readers might take interest given so many controversies confronting this office over the years. A fair quandary . . . WHAT KIND OF TRAINING COULD THE JACKSON COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE PROVIDE?!?! That's a tough question given that everybody from small biz to longtime neighborhood denizens seem to contend that this town is soft on crime. Nevertheless, in fairness, we're sharing this presser with word from the Courthouse so that readers can decide for themselves . . . Check-it: Prosecutors from across Missouri attend training here focusing on complex homicide cases As many as three dozen prosecutors from all parts of the state of Missouri will take part this week in a special three-day training in Kansas City led by Jackson County prosecutors, a rare instruction session focused on developing core skills in handling complex homicide trials. This training, which opens tomorrow in the Downtown Jackson County Courthouse, was initiated by the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the Jackson County Prosecutors Office. We are proud to collaborate with the Jackson County Prosecutors Office and the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys on this essential training," said Nikki Parisi, appointed CEO of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. "Complex homicide cases demand the highest level of skill and dedication, and this training provides a unique opportunity for Missouri's prosecutors to sharpen their trial techniques, Parisi added. By investing in this kind of hands-on, immersive training, we are strengthening the entire criminal justice system and ensuring that prosecutors are equipped to handle these complex cases with confidence and precision to ensure justice. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said she has encouraged many of her own prosecutors to participate. But many others from the office are helping to conduct the training. Jackson County prosecutors are some of the most experienced in the state due to the volume of crime they prosecute, Baker said. Providing the space, trainers and hard-earned expertise is our way to give back to the collective criminal justice system throughout Missouri. I hope that others may gain useful benefits from this training that they will take back to their own jurisdictions. Participants will come from many counties across the state of Missouri, including Clay, Platte, St. Louis, Boone, Jasper and St. Louis City. Veteran attorneys locally are lending their time to critique and advise the participants. Participating prosecutors will pursue at trial a fictional case developed from actual cases prosecuted in Jackson County. We are pleased to partner with the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorneys Office and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys in providing this opportunity for Missouris prosecutors to hone their skills in trying complex murder cases, said Darrell Moore, Executive Director of the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services and the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. The training will give prosecutors an opportunity to improve their skills in areas such as opening and closing statements, as well as direct and cross examinations of witnesses. Inside courtrooms in the Jackson County Courthouse, 415 E. 12th St., these prosecutors will pursue their cases under the watchful guidance of veteran prosecutors. Expert witnesses, such as a forensic specialist and a police detective, will participate in those roles during these mock trials. ############# Developing . . . Just to keep up appearances . . . We power up with a quick peek at late night, early morning pop culture, community reporting and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . Kansas City First Responder Support Network Kicks Into Action Family of fallen KCMO fire fighter will be eligible for financial support from 'SAFE' program The Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment Fund will deliver a $40,000 check within 24 to 48 hours for the family of a first responder who dies in the line of duty. More Meth Town Gunfire Independence police investigating shooting that critically injured woman She was transported to a local hospital and is in critical but stable condition. Not So Perfect Village?!? Short-term rentals under fire from residents in Prairie Village Prairie Village could soon put an end to short-term rentals. Tonight's Sky Show . . . Kansas City will get a celestial trifecta on Tuesday: A supermoon, lunar eclipse and blood moon This month's harvest moon will not only coincide with a supermoon, but also with a blood moon and partial lunar eclipse. For viewers in Missouri and Kansas, the eclipse will peak at 9:44 p.m. CT, according to NASA. Home Team Drop One Bundles of baserunners beached by boys in blue, beaten 3-1 Seven hits and six walks with little to show for it. Angel Maintains Tonight Heidi Klum Flashes Sideboob on Pre-Emmys Red Carpet Heidi Klum Flashes Sideboob on Pre-Emmys Red Carpet Show Must Go On . . . Trump, Harris to return to the campaign trail following assassination attempt at Florida golf course Former President Trump will host his first campaign event Tuesday since the latest assassination attempt against him over the weekend. Vice President Kamala Harris is also returning to the campaign trail, as experts say the Sunday attack was "just another chaotic day" in the race. GOP Against Narrative Gov. DeWine urges Trump and Vance to end 'very hurtful' comments about Haitian migrants Springfield, Ohio, remains on edge as Donald Trump and JD Vance continue spreading racist lies about Haitian migrants. Throughout the turmoil, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has called for calm, sent additional law enforcement resources and condemned hate. Amna Nawaz spoke with DeWine about the threats Springfield is dealing with. Collateral Damage Sparks Outrage After Tech Attack OR Tonight's Reason To Only Buy Name Brands Hezbollah pagers explode across Lebanon, causing nearly 3,000 casualties. Lebanese officials say Israel is to blame for the explosions. Hezbollah members had turned to pagers, believing they were more secure than phones. Israel has declined to comment. Eastern Europe Forever War?!? Ukraine war briefing: Blinken briefed on Kyiv's plan to push Russia to end war Zelenskiy expected to present plan to UN general assembly next week; Microsoft says Russia behind Harris disinformation. What we know on day 938 South Of Border Crackdown Venezuela relying on "most violent" repression after Nicolas Maduro's claimed election win, U.N. experts say Venezuela's government has intensified use of the "harshest and most violent" tools of repression in the wake of a disputed election, U.N. experts say. Hip-Hop Feud Has Winner 50 Cent trolls Sean 'Diddy' Combs over massive lube stash found at his homes during federal raids 50 Cent trolled Sean "Diddy" Combs after federal agents revealed the Bad Boy Records founder had more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant in his homes prior to arrest for sex trafficking. Another Artsy Season Begins Fall Arts Preview | Dance Whether you're a seasoned dancer, an enthusiastic fan, or simply looking for a fresh cultural experience, Kansas City's fall dance events are not to be missed. From the grace of ballet at the Kauffman Center to the high-energy beats of local dance crews, this season's offerings showcase the rich diversity and artistic spirit that define... Cool Down Coming Up FIRST WARN FORECAST: Chance for strong storms, wet weekend ahead While normal morning low temperatures are in the 50s this time of year, Wednesday will kick off closer to 70. And this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. There's a lot to consider in this local crime update as this town copes with legal battles and cold cases amid ongoing police investigations. Check TKC news gathering . . . Body pulled out of Kansas City's Blue River The Kansas City, Missouri Police and Fire pulled a body out of an area near the Blue River just after 10:30 Tuesday morning. Kansas judge outlines rules for cameras in courtroom in case of former Marion police chief Gideon Cody A Kansas judge Monday outlined the rules for cameras in the courtroom during proceedings in the case of former Marion, Kansas, police chief Gideon Cody. Court appeal, clemency petition seek to halt execution of Missouri man who claims innocence The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office will appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court a judge's ruling upholding the conviction and death sentence for Marcellus Williams, whose execution is one week away Kansas cult leaders convicted of forcing children to work 16-hour days without pay Prosecutors say the group beat children as young as eight years old and imposed strict rules on what they did and ate Kansas man's plea solves cold case murder of KC-area teenager A Kansas City, Kan., man pleads no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 16-year-old Dee Dee Kelley in 2014. Police searching for KC-area man missing since June The Missouri State Highway Patrol is searching for a missing 42-year-old man who was last seen almost three months ago in Independence, Missouri Man who claims he's innocent in Blue Springs killing of his wife argues for new trial During an appeal, Ken Middleton turned down a plea deal. He said Monday in court that he couldn't take the deal because he is "totally innocent." MSHP alleges woman was drunk when she struck, killed bicyclist in Riverside A Kansas City, Missouri, woman is being held in the Platte County jail facing charges she allegedly struck and killed a bicyclist early Monday morning in Riverside. Developing . . . First, allow us a quick tribute because this is a blog after all. In fact . . . Some of our snarkiest of snarky readers claim that all we do here is aggregate but there are plenty of cheap Chinese apps and AI garbage that can do that same thing. Our TKC goodness was earned the hard way by watching the Kansas City metro closely over a lifetime, doing a sh*t ton of research, sharing resources, knowing more than a bit about the voodoo of local politics and mixing all together with dumb jokes and a high tolerance for abuse . . . Do all that and you MIGHT be able to make about $75 per month with the right ad server. But I digress . . . What TKC will not do anymore is bother the Almighty with prayers for patience whilst sitting through HOURS UPON HOURS OF PUBLIC TESTIMONY from neighborhood d-bags and busybodies in order to FINALLY get a decision from the bottom-rung of local politicos. However . . . We all owe a debt of gratitude to reporters like KCTV5's @CWatkinsNews for suffering through a Lenexa City Hall meeting until past 1AM whilst the council juiced every second worth of drama out of their decision regarding homeless housing. BTW . . . Shame on Lenexa City Council for keeping people up that late on weeknight. Sadly, we've watched many people ruin their lives for a career in local politics and here's a secret: IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!! Seriously, a stamp collection, maybe a visit to a swinger's club with a curious & consenting spouse or a cooking class would be much more rewarding AND probably keep family relationships intact. Again . . . Sorry for the digression but if the Lenexa council was going to tease this one like a g*damn episode of The Bachelor then we can't be blamed for doing the same. Accordingly . . . Here's the crux of the public drama anti-climax wherein the apex lasted more than 6 hours . . . And that kinda sounds impressive but it's not because, like most things, it only needed to last about 15 minutes. Check the supercut version that is 5 hours, 59 minutes and 55 seconds more succinct . . . "By a vote of 5 to 2, the Lenexa City Council adopted the Planning Commission's denial of the proposed homeless shelter and denied the special use permit." Actually . . . It's kinda sad to think that prayer vigil outside this public meeting clearly didn't work. But it gets worse . . . Here's a bit of word salad from the top lady honcho in Lenexa that should give anyone enough reason to give up on Democracy altogether . . . Even if they agree with the outcome . . . Summary of statement by Lenexa Mayor Julie Sayers "On behalf of the Lexexa professional staff, planning commission and governing body, I hope our message is not one of failure by the applicant or rejection by our team, but rather a chance to learn from this process how all the relevant stakeholders in Johnson County can work together to find a countywide solution to the problem of homelessness . . ." Ugh . . . With the ability to serve up that kind of rhetorical gumbo . . . She could be President one day. And then maybe she might be able to do something about so many Lenexa apartments filled with around 20 Honduran-guys-a-piece as they rest from working 12 hour shifts at various corporate chicken dispensaries. But again . . . I digress . . . Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Lenexa.com: City Council decision and statement from Mayor Sayers Developing . . . Recap of a tense day on the Hill for Missouri's top ranking MAGA Senator. Check the quick description and more deets . . . Hawley responded by telling the protesters: You are funded by Chinese money. Youve got blood on your hands from the Uyghurs, every single one of you, Hawley continued. Hawley then looked one of the activists in the face and said: Youre a disgrace. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Press Release September 18, 2024 Dela Rosa wants ex-PNP chief under ex-Mayor Alice Guo's payroll named Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa on Tuesday wanted the identity of the former Philippine National Police chief who was allegedly under ex-Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo's monthly payroll revealed to the public. The former PNP chief-turned-senator made the call after former Armed Forces of the Philippines Intelligence Service commander and now PAGCOR Senior Vice President Raul Villanueva disclosed this information and added that there are reports that the same former PNP chief had helped Guo in escaping the Philippines in exchange for a huge sum of money. "Merong sinabi si General Villanueva na meron daw isang former Chief PNP receiving a monthly payroll from you. Pwede bang malaman kung sinong former Chief PNP?" Dela Rosa asked Guo during the Senate investigation on the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country. Guo refuted the claim and denied that there was a monthly payroll for PNP officers. Dela Rosa also asked Villanueva to reveal the identity of the former PNP chief. The PAGCOR official said he has not confirmed the information yet but he was certain that it was not Dela Rosa. "I don't have any confirmation but I'm sure you're not the one, I think so," Villanueva said. Dela Rosa, in turn, thanked Villanueva for clarifying that he was not the former PNP chief that he was referring to. The Mindanaoan lawmaker sought the identity of the said PNP chief as he raised concerns that he might be dragged into Guo's controversy considering that he also headed the national police force in the past. "I am concerned because I am a former Chief PNP. Baka mamaya merong lalabas na script diyan na si Bato ay tumatanggap ng pera galing sa'yo (Alice Guo)," Dela Rosa said. Dela Rosa was among the senators who called for accountability against Guo over her alleged involvement in the illegal POGO operations in the country as he believed that this gambling industry has elevated from a public order issue to a national security concern. For the former PNP chief, Guo cannot deny that she is involved in the illegal POGO operations in Bamban, Tarlac where she previously held office. "You cannot remove the fact na ikaw ay involved sa POGO. Whether you deny it or not, kaming lahat dito naniniwala talaga na involved ka sa POGO. Kung mag-insist ka, you can tell that to the marines [but] not to the policeman," Dela Rosa said. NICOSIA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus will support and participate in the Great Sea Interconnector, a multi-billion euro electric transmission project connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, an energy official said on Tuesday. This announcement was made by Energy, Commerce and Industry Minister George Papanastasiou following a Council of Ministers meeting that approved the regulatory framework for the interconnection between Cyprus and Greece's Crete Island, aimed at ending Cyprus's energy isolation. The decision follows weeks of extensive consultations involving the governments of Cyprus and Greece, the European Commission, Greece's Independent Power Transmission Operator, the operator of the project, and the manufacturers of the special deep-sea cable. The interconnector, with an estimated cost of 2.4 billion euros (2.7 billion U.S. dollars), is slated for completion by 2030. It will connect the transmission grids of Greece via Crete, Cyprus, and eventually Israel. Under the agreed terms, Cyprus will contribute 125 million euros (about 139 million dollars) in five installments of 25 million euros (about 28 million dollars) each over the next five years, Papanastasiou said. The European Commission has termed the project as one of common interest and has earmarked 657 million euros (731 million dollars) to subsidize it. Upon completion, the project will be the world's longest undersea electrical conductor stretching 1,240 km and reaching depths of up to 3,000 meters. According to French cabling specialist Nexans, which has won a 1.43 billion euros (1.6 billion dollars) contract for a section of the project, the interconnector will exchange up to 1,000 MW of electricity between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, with the capability to expand to 2,000 MW, equivalent to the average electricity consumption of 3 million households. Burns surgeon Ye Chunjiang examines the foot of Wu Fagui, a victim of Japanese germ warfare in WWII, in Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Yu Aicen) HANGZHOU, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ye Chunjiang, a dedicated burns surgeon, made the 50-minute drive one Thursday afternoon from his hospital in the city of Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, to the home of local villager Wu Fagui, to examine his foot. It is a journey that Ye has made many times over the past several years. Now in his 80s, Wu's left foot bears the indelible marks of a bygone era. A stark, gruesome lesion stretches from his foot to his calf, with a pink, delicate center that speaks of the fragility of new skin. His affliction is believed to be the direct consequence of the germ warfare waged by Japan in Zhejiang over eight decades ago. During the early 1940s, the Japanese military conducted multiple instances of germ warfare in the province, employing tactics such as the aerial dispersal of bacteria-tainted grain and fleas, contaminating local well water, and distributing infected foodstuffs. These actions led to outbreaks of plague, typhoid, cholera and anthrax among the local populace. While historical records vary in terms of the exact death toll, it is widely agreed that the atrocities claimed over 50,000 lives in Quzhou alone, where Wu's hometown is located, according to local museum data. When untreated, the plague can swiftly claim lives, but anthrax inflicts a chronic, tormenting ordeal, characterized by persistent skin ulcers -- a plight shared by Wu and many other survivors of this heinous war crime throughout most of their existence. "The leg was constantly bleeding, emitting a foul odor. People refrained from visiting, and my father avoided going out," Wu Xiaorong, Wu Fagui's son, recounted, describing his father's previous state. Historical accounts also reveal that many locals, like Wu Fagui, who were exposed to anthrax, suffered from enduring foot sores and unbearable odors, leading to psychological trauma and social ostracism, with many never marrying. However, Wu Fagui's fortunes began to improve with the start of a free treatment program by Zhejiang Quhua Hospital in 2015, supported by charitable foundations. The program identified over 80 victims and performed skin-graft operations on the majority, with only a few deemed unsuitable due to advanced age or health conditions. Wu Fagui, a victim of Japanese germ warfare in WWII, and his wife are seen in Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Yu Aicen) "My father's condition is vastly improved," Wu Xiaorong said. "Before the surgery, he had multiple, sizable sores. Now that he's better, he can go outside and socialize with other seniors." "My old man is indeed fortunate," the son added. Ye, the visiting burns surgeon, has been volunteering within this program alongside his colleagues at the hospital. They visit anthrax victims who have undergone surgery and monitor their recovery. "Many doctors are involved in the program out of sheer passion, without concern for personal gain or loss," the doctor added with conviction. Accompanying Ye was Wu Jianping, the curator of a museum in Quzhou commemorating the victims of Japan's germ warfare. Wu Jianping, who lost his young uncle and aunt to the warfare, played a pivotal role in nurturing the program and identifying eligible patients for treatment. He expressed immense pride in his work for the victims. "Seeing their smiles as they leave the hospital after treatment, I feel something indescribable," he said. "They've suffered for a lifetime, and finally, they've been relieved of their pain. What a feeling!" he added. During his visit, Wu Jianping displayed the warmth of a playful family friend. "You used to stink! Keep away!" he jested with Wu Fagui, reminiscing about the changes in life post-surgery. Due to his advanced age, Wu Fagui has long given up storytelling, and he normally wears a stoic, blank expression. However, at Wu Jianping's jest, he laughed for the first time, his teary eyes gleaming with joy. An Opposition MP is claming that pensioners of the company that once ran the State-owned oil In August 2024, Ukraines gross domestic product increased by 3.5% on year. This was reported by the Ministry of Economy, according to Ukrinform. "In August 2024, the Ukrainian economy grew by 3.5% [1%] against August last year. Over the eight months of this year, GDP growth is estimated at 3.9% [1%] year-on-year," the statement reads. According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine, the key factors of economic growth included industrial development and positive trends in transport, construction, and domestic trade. Also, business expectations and consumer sentiment improved in August for the first time in months, to which minimal power outages observed throughout the month contributed. Read also: VR endorses draft bill on raising taxes on second attempt "The economy growth dynamics seen over the first eight months of 2024 at the level of 3.9% currently corresponds to the updated government outlook. In 2024, the growth of real GDP is expected at 3.5%," Svyrydenko noted. The lack of highly qualified personnel remains a challenge for business, which restrains economic growth and affects outlooks by entrepreneurs, the report adds. Svyrydenko also noted positive trends in industry thanks to stable access to electricity, operations of the Ukrainian Maritime Corridor, and high investment demand for engineering products and construction materials. In the transport sector, the volume of domestic rail transport and cargo handling in seaports increased. The construction sector saw an increase in the volume of construction and assembly works, while a rise in turnover was observed in domestic trade. The Ministry of Economy noted that, despite the drop in agricultural production due to weather conditions, positive dynamics remain in place in animal husbandry thanks to stable demand on the domestic market and government support for producers. As Ukrinform reported earlier, despite the challenges associated with scheduled power outages in July, the economy showed stability Ukraine's gross domestic product grew by 2.7% year-on-year. Enterprises successfully adapted to challenges, in particular thanks to the direct import of electricity, which allowed for minimizing the negative impact of the energy deficit on economic activity. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has proposed that Slovakia sign a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine. He said this at a press conference following negotiations with his Slovak counterpart Juraj Blanar and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava on Wednesday, Ukrinform reports. Sybiha said that today the parties discussed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula as the only way to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, as well as Slovakia's contribution to its implementation. "I also proposed that the Slovak side join the G7 Vilnius declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine and sign a bilateral security agreement. We have already signed 26 such agreements with partner countries," he said. Sybiha thanked Slovakia for its firm support for Ukraine on the country's road to joining the European Union. "Ukraine as part of the European Union is in the common interests of Kyiv and Bratislava. [...] I am also convinced that Ukraine's membership in NATO is in the interests of both of our countries and the whole of Europe, as it will lead to lasting peace and strong security. We are counting on Bratislava's support," Sybiha said. He also expressed hope that Slovak companies would continue to actively participate in joint defense and industrial projects in Ukraine. "This is mutually beneficial cooperation, which has already proven its effectiveness. We invite Slovak businesses to come and work in our country and take an active part in the reconstruction of Ukraine," the minister said. Sybiha is on a working visit to Slovakia as part of his first foreign tour after being appointed as Ukraine's foreign minister. Before that, he visited Romania. | By Holly Moody-Porter The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has been awarded $2 million in matching funds from the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund (MEIF), administered by the Maryland Department of Commerce. The funds, totaling $4 million when combined with UMB qualified funding, will enable the establishment of three endowed research professorships, all within the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). These endowed professorships support research in very meaningful areas of public health. Attracting the most innovative researchers also enables us to maintain leadership and a competitive edge in critical areas of health sciences research, UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, said. These matching grants will support some of the most significant areas for biomedical innovation, discovery, and commercialization where Maryland is leading the way, said Mark T. Gladwin, MD, the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean of UMSOM, and vice president for medical affairs, UMB. This funding will enable us to build on our success in advancing xenotransplantation, discover innovative cancer therapies, and establish a new center to develop novel treatments for our warriors living with sickle cell disease in Maryland, Nigeria, and globally. (l-r) Bruce Jarrell, Mark Gladwin, Christine Lau, and Stuart Martin To continue the schools impact in xenotransplantation, commerce has awarded $750,000, matched by $750,000 in qualified funding from UMB, to support the Bartley P. Griffith, MD Professorship in Surgery, Transplantation, and Innovation in the Department of Surgery. The funding will allow UMSOM to recruit an internationally recognized surgeon-scientist and innovator specializing in cardiothoracic surgery and heart and lung transplantation, with a focus on new applications toward clinical use and potential commercialization. We are thrilled to have this new funding to give us a competitive edge to recruit a true innovator who can help us continue our world-class efforts to advance the field of heart and lung transplantation, said Christine Lau, MD, MBA, the Dr. Robert W. Buxton Chair of Surgery and professor of surgery at UMSOM. The Commerce Department also provided $500,000, matched by $500,000 in qualified funding from UMB, to support the Brown Capital Management, LLC Professorship in Sickle Cell Disease. This position will lead the University of Maryland Sickle Cell Disease Center, a multidisciplinary Center of Excellence to enhance and expand the treatment, education, and research programs for sickle cell disease (SCD) in a community with a high prevalence of the disease. The endowed professorship will be fully dedicated to improving care and finding a cure for SCD. Finally, commerce also provided $750,000, matched by $750,000 in qualified funding from UMB, to support the Mordecai P. Blaustein Faculty Scholar Professorship. This position will allow an innovative physician-scientist specializing in research of biological systems on cellular and molecular mechanisms with a strong emphasis on integrative membrane physiology. This will give the newly created Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Drug Development a competitive edge with a focus on commercialization of scientific discoveries. We will be looking for a new faculty member with a strong background in basic research on fundamental physiological mechanisms and a passion for developing potential new drug therapies, said Stuart Martin, PhD, interim chair of the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Drug Development and deputy director at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Four other local colleges and universities in the state joined the Maryland Department of Commerce in endowing a total of $17.9 million to fund nine new research professorships. The schools receiving matching funds are the University of Maryland, College Park; Bowie State University; Johns Hopkins University; and Washington College. The endowments were made through MEIF, a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at the colleges and universities. All five schools including UMB raised a total of more than $9.1 million in private funding for the positions and Maryland Commerce approved matching grants of $8.75 million to support the endowments. Sebastian Vergara speaks to Xinhua during an interview in Panama City, Panama, on Aug. 22, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) PANAMA CITY, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- More than three decades after the United States invaded Panama, the families of victims continue to suffer from the wounds inflicted by the tragic event. Among them is Trinidad Ayola. Ayola, president of the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Fallen on December 20 and whose husband was killed by U.S. invasion forces, says the pain and injustices of the 1989 military incursion will always haunt her. Families suffered both emotionally and financially during the invasion, she told Xinhua, detailing how the dead were denied proper burials and the population was prevented from accessing their bank accounts. "There were so many bodies that they cremated them, and the Americans themselves also cremated bodies," she said of the contemptible way the victims were treated. In addition, "they blocked us. The savings that were in the banks -- one could withdraw them," Ayola recalled, describing a country plunged into chaos. "Remembering the invasion is very unpleasant because all this tragedy comes to mind: the absence of our relatives ... It will always feel like it was yesterday. I have to live with that pain all my life," she said. The U.S. invasion of Panama, dubbed "Operation Just Cause" by Washington, began on Dec. 20, 1989, and continued into January 1990, with the stated objective of capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime. More than 26,000 American troops participated in the operation, which resulted in Noriega's arrest and the dissolution of the Panamanian Armed Forces. The invasion significantly impacted the history of the Central American country, causing an undetermined number of victims and political fallout. The association Ayola leads is dedicated to honoring and remembering the victims of the invasion, supporting their families, and seeking justice and recognition for their loss. It organizes commemorative events, community activities and campaigns to raise awareness of the victims' sacrifices while advocating for official recognition of the damage and reparation for the loss. Ayola has dedicated 34 years of her life to ensuring her husband and all those killed in the invasion are remembered. Keeping their memories alive, she said, is the great struggle of the families of the victims, along with managing the cross-generational psychological and emotional scars that persist in their children and surviving relatives. "Many children were psychologically impacted ... over time, the impact comes to light," she said. The trauma of missing persons is another lasting wound that continues to plague Panama. "Still today, there are many missing persons on the list whose bodies have not been found," Ayola said, noting that families continue the painful task of identifying the remains of their loved ones, often hoping for DNA matches. Unfortunately, the process is fraught with obstacles, ranging from a lack of personnel to a scarcity of resources to continue the search. Sebastian Vergara, who presided over the association from 1996 to 2001, told Xinhua that his father, a civilian, was one of the many innocent casualties of the invasion. "I lost my father. My father's name was Sebastian Vergara Hinestrosa," he said, adding, "I came to heal everything that had to do with my dad in 1989," the year he joined the fight to commemorate the fallen and ensure their sacrifice was not forgotten. While that mission has helped him cope with the pain, Vergara cannot erase the image of his father's body being taken out of "a large truck, one of those used to load livestock, filled with many bags of bodies." "According to the United States, the purpose was to remove Noriega ... but in reality, what they wanted was to destroy the defense forces," Vergara said. For many Panamanians, the military intervention was nothing more than an excuse to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal and the region. Rolando Murgas, president of the December 20 Commission, a group investigating the truth behind the invasion, believes that "the invasion ... aimed to crush all of our past demands and national dignity." Murgas recalled heartbreaking cases: "There were people who were pressured into recognizing a corpse ... then after DNA tests were done, it turned out that it was not their relative." Despite the uphill battle, the victims' relatives have not given up on their demands. In recent years, they have made significant progress on the historical record. In 2022, after decades of struggle, the Panamanian government declared Dec. 20 a National Day of Mourning, which was a significant achievement for Ayola, Vergara, Murgas, and many others. However, Vergara said much remains to be done, noting, "There are people who were injured and are still suffering from the consequences." The families' efforts are not limited to obtaining recognition or justice for the victims. They also seek to educate future generations about the invasion. "If it is taught as a subject in schools, young people will be aware that these situations should not be repeated," Vergara said. Murgas stressed the importance of Panama demanding reparations from the United States. "We have recommended that Panama make a claim from state to state," he said. But beyond reparations, what relatives seek is justice and dignity for the dead. "Forgetting is forbidden," Ayola often says, repeating the motto that summarizes the association's mission. "Forgetting is forbidden." Trinidad Ayola, president of the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Fallen on December 20 and whose husband was killed by U.S. invasion forces, speaks to Xinhua during an interview in Panama City, Panama, on Aug. 22, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhao Kai) Rolando Murgas, president of the December 20 Commission, speaks to Xinhua during an interview in Panama City, Panama, on Aug. 22, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) This photo taken on Aug. 22, 2024 shows the office of the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Fallen on December 20 in Panama City, Panama. (Xinhua/Zhao Kai) COLOMBO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) partnered with the Ministry of Crab restaurant through the Global Environment Facility funded Small Grants Program (SGP) for mangrove restoration in Mannar in northern Sri Lanka, according to a statement from the UNDP on Wednesday. The UNDP said it will be conducted in the form of an 18-month project that will empower communities in the area, with a strong focus on mangrove restoration. The program participants will lead their communities in mangrove propagation, reforestation, and protection, according to the UNDP. The project will work with two grassroots organizations, the Human Development Organization (HDO) and WeCAN, which will plant 1,000 mangrove plants with community participation, forming youth groups for the maintenance and monitoring of planted mangroves. This will be carried out through creating tree bands on five hectares of saline land and supported by constructions of a storage pond by low-lying areas to capture rainwater as well as the establishment of a plant nursery, said the UNDP. Mangrove forests play a critical role in Sri Lanka's ecological system; however, they are rapidly degrading due to climate change and pollution, according to the UNDP. The trial for accused quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger will be moved to Boise, Idaho, weeks after the defense argued for a change in venue, the Idaho Supreme Court announced in its ruling Thursday. District Judge Steven Hippler will preside over the case, according to the filing. As a result of the location switch-up, Kohberger, 29, has been ordered to be transferred to the custody of the Ada County Sheriff. "Considering the undisputed evidence presented by the defense, the extreme nature of the news coverage in this case, and the smaller population in Latah County, the defense has met the rather low standard of demonstrating 'a reasonable likelihood' that prejudicial news coverage will compromise a fair trial in Latah County," Judge John Judge ruled Monday, according to ABC News. "Thus, the Court will grant Kohberger's motion to change venue for presumed prejudice." Kohberger's defense attorneys began arguments last month that Latah County residents possessed a general hostility and "mob mentality" toward the alleged killer, and therefore could not guarantee him a fair trial, according to a theoretical phone study, NBC News previously reported. If a jury failed to convict Kohberger, respondents said they'd "burn the courthouse down" and that "they would probably find him and kill him." Another said, "There would likely be a riot and he wouldn't last long outside because someone would do the good ole' boy justice." Kohberger, a former criminal justice PhD student, allegedly stabbed Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, to death in their University of Idaho off-campus apartment in November 2022. He was arrested six weeks later during a visit with his parents in Pennsylvania, after DNA evidence, surveillance video and cell phone records allegedly tied him to the scene of the crime. Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary for the college students' slayings. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in May 2023 and a motive remains under investigation. Originally published on Lawyer Herald. Drones, a breaching tool to open barricaded rooms, and a "hazardous devices" robot are among military equipment that University of California police departments are requesting this year from the state. According to a report released by the UC Council of Chiefs of Police this month, schools within the university system are also requesting specialized firearms and ammunition of less than .50 caliber, including assault weapons. The UC Board of Regents will decide whether to approve the requests at its Thursday meeting. UC Berkeley is seeking a second hazardous devices robot to upgrade their outdated technology and ensure readiness in case their current 20-year-old robot fails, and a "kinetic breaching tool" to use in the event of a "barricaded subject or unresponsive individual due to a medical issue." UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz and UC San Francisco, are collectively requesting drones as well. Dan Mogulof, assistant vice chancellor from UC Berkeley, told University Herald on Wednesday that the drones would be unarmed and used to "assist first responders in enhancing public safety by providing an aerial perspective." UC Merced, UCLA and UC San Francisco are additionally requesting new launchers which shoot non-lethal munitions such as sponge rounds, chemical agents and pepperballs. Such requests aren't new --- the university system's police departments have been required to record their inventory, requests and use of military equipment by state law since 2021. However, this year's weapons requests follow confrontations between law enforcement and pro-Palestinian student protesters at multiple UC campuses, resulting in dozens of arrests and suspensions in the spring. Protests have continued to crop up during the fall semester. "The University of California just announced a list of military weaponry it wants in order to escalate its warfare on its students," a Los Angeles group that opposes police surveillance, posted on X on Friday. The UC Student Association also expressed opposition to the weapons requests, telling the San Francisco Chronicle "we are troubled to see campuses invest money in weapons, rather than student basic needs." Its president, UC Davis senior Aditi Hariharan, asked the regents to reject the requests. Each university will hold a public community engagement meeting on Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. regarding the report, according to the UCPD website. LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2024) The Punjab Health Department confirmed on Wednesday that 31 new cases of dengue were recorded across the province in the last 24 hours. According to official data, Rawalpindi accounted for 30 of the cases, while one case was reported in Lahore. Over the past week, 266 new cases of dengue virus infections have been identified, bringing the total number of cases in Punjab in 2024 to 786. A spokesperson for the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department reassured the public that the department has made all necessary arrangements for dengue prevention, with government hospitals well-stocked with necessary medicines, including treatments for Dengue. In response to the rising number of cases, the Health Department issued an advisory,urging the public to maintain clean and dry surroundings to help prevent the spread of the virus. They emphasized the importance of citizen cooperation with health teams actively working to control the outbreak. Additionally, the department had provided a free helpline (1033) for those seeking treatment, information, or wishing to register complaints related to Dengue. Health officials stressed that vigilance and proactive measures are crucial in containing the virus's spread across the province. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2024) The district administration has launched a crackdown on professional beggars across Islamabad, resulting in the arrest of 23 individuals. The arrests were made as part of efforts to curb begging activities in the Federal Capital, said the spokesman of ICT administration. In a recent move to address the growing issue of begging in Islamabad, the district administration, under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner (Rural), has arrested 23 professional beggars. The arrests were carried out in the jurisdictions of Lohibher, Sihala, Koral, and Humak police stations. On the occasion, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Islamabad, Irfan Nawaz Memon urged the citizens to discourage professional beggars. He emphasized that such activities could create an undesirable environment and could often be linked to organized groups. The administration has taken this step to not only clear public spaces but also to ensure that vulnerable people, who may be exploited through begging networks, were not harmed. Memon called on the public to avoid giving money to individuals begging in public places, as it could inadvertently support these networks. Instead, he encouraged people to support recognized charitable organizations that work to address poverty and provide assistance to those in need.The district administration has also requested the cooperation of citizens in reporting professional beggars. (@FahadShabbir) PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2024) On the occasion of World Patient Safety Day, Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC) successfully organized the first Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Conference in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This conference, held with the theme "Improving Diagnosis for Patient Safety" as per WHO guidelines, brought together healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally, including experts from the UK, India, and the USA. Young doctors, nurses, and practitioners were also present in large numbers. The conference aimed to discuss innovative approaches and experiences in ensuring patient safety and improving the healthcare system. Various experts presented case studies, research material, and presentations, all focused on making healthcare services safer and more effective. Professor Dr. Hafizullah, Chairman of the board of Governors at PIC, commended the entire PIC team, stating that the conference represents a significant step forward in patient health and safety. He emphasized their commitment to implementing best practices from around the world to provide high-quality healthcare services to their patients. International experts participating through online links highlighted modern medical techniques and steps taken to ensure patient safety in their presentations. They shared experiences related to optimal patient diagnosis, medication use and testing, infectious diseases, artificial intelligence in healthcare, and patient safety, emphasizing the need for international collaboration to ensure patient safety. The presentations included various case studies and their analyses, focusing on the prevention of incidents affecting patients and the successful measures taken for their protection. Dr. Babar Alam, WHO representative in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, commended PIC management for organizing the important conference. He reiterated WHO's commitment to providing full support to PIC for organizing such crucial conferences in the future to further improve the health system in the country and the province. At the end of the conference, participants expressed their commitment to working together to further improve the quality of patient care in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This conference has paved the way for a new approach to patient safety, promising improvements to the province's healthcare system. Shields and certificates were awarded to participants and members of the organizing committee. RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2024) The communication teams of Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC), carried out its cleanliness and anti-smog awareness campaign in the area of Union Council-23 Dhoke Kashmiria area here on Wednesday. According to the RWMC spokesman, the teams asked the shopkeepers and residents of the area to play their part in educating the people about the importance of cleanliness. He said the objective of the activity was to reach out to a maximum number of people, to educate the general public about the precautionary measures to avoid smog. The teams also distributed waste bags and leaflets among the people to educate them about the importance of cleanliness. The teams also asked the residents to ensure the spraying of water to prevent dust and to use masks and glasses. He said that the promotion of tree plantation was vital for avoiding smog and checking environmental pollution. He said a grand cleaning operation had been started in Rawalpindi to prevent the looming threat of smog this year under the title Smog Safe Punjab, adding to keep the city away from dust roadside scraping, and mechanical sweeping were underway on city roads including Murree Road, Liaquat Road, Rawal Road, Sixth Road, Jamia Masjid Road, Iran Road, Iqbal Road, Said Pur Road, Eidgah Road, Asghar Mal Road, Peer Vadhai Road and others. In a message, RWMC has appealed to the people to not burn waste and chemicals in the open as they were the major cause of smog, adding burning garbage was a legal offence as smoke and dust contributed to smog which was harmful to the environment and human health. Rio de Janeiro, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Sep, 2024) Brazil's raging wildfires are being driven by people seeking to clear land for agriculture or arsonists out to sow havoc, a top police official told AFP, calling for harsher punishments for environmental crimes. Flames have ripped through vast areas of forest and farmland due to the country's worst drought in seven decades, which experts attribute to climate change. But the spark was lit by people. "There are economic motivations, to clear areas for pasture, or even to appropriate public lands. But there are also people who set fires just to sow chaos," said Humberto Freire, police chief in charge of the environment and the Amazon rainforest, in an interview with AFP. "We have indications of possible coordinated actions, due to many fires starting at the same time, in areas close to each other. These coordinated actions could be aimed at destabilizing certain areas, by overloading the firefighters." Clearing land for agriculture is normally only possible with prior authorization, but is currently banned due to the drought. The fires have left major cities Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the capital Brasilia choking on fumes, destroyed crops and left jaguars with burn injuries in the Pantanal wetlands. Freire said the Federal police had opened 50 investigations so far. "We have received information about suspects being arrested by local police forces," in various states. - 'Increased sentences' - Freire said that Brazil's laws had not kept up with the evolution of environmental crimes in the country "while we are experiencing a climate emergency worldwide." "Often, environmental crimes are perceived as less serious, less important, and the time has come to reflect on the harmful consequences of these crimes, which affect all of humanity and can cause many deaths," he said. "Unfortunately, in the absence of harsher penalties, we do not have the legal means necessary to carry out our investigations." Freire said that environmental crimes should be linked to organized crime in order to impose harsher sentences. "Organized crime has understood that environmental crimes are very profitable, while the legislation provides for sentences that are too low." Illegal gold panning is punishable by six months to a year in jail and arson by two to four years. "Depending on the convicted person's criminal record, he will not get a prison sentence. And by the time the investigation is completed, the statute of limitations is likely to have run out," said Freire. "That is why we really need increased sentences." Satellites from the Institute for Space Research (Inpe) have detected 61,572 fires in Brazil since the beginning of September. (@FahadShabbir) Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2024) The European Union's foreign policy chief on Wednesday condemned explosions of pagers carried by Lebanese Hezbollah that the group blamed on Israel. "Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims," Josep Borrell said. "I consider this situation extremely worrying. I can only condemn these attacks that endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region." Borrell added that the "European Union calls on all stakeholders to avert an all-out war, which would have heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond". LONDON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2024) The New York based attorney and General Counsel of pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, through his attorneys has filed a civil lawsuit in the US Federal District Court against the Government of India and senior Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) officials for their unprecedented attempt to assassinate a US citizen on the US soil. The legal action announcement was made at a global press conference addressed by the Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and his lawyers Matthew Borden, Partner & co-founder BraunHagey & Borden LLP and Richard Rogers, Partner at Global Diligence LLP. The law action at United States District Court, New York, by Pannun and his lawyers against the Indian government and senior officials of Indian intelligence agency namely, Ajit Doval, Samant Goel, Vikram Yadav and Nikhil Gupta. The complaint alleges that senior officials at Indias spy agency RAW, who report directly to Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi, engaged weapons trafficker and RAW agent Nikhil Gupta to hire assassins in the US to murder Pannun in New York. This scheme was foiled when the hitmen Gupta hired turned out to be undercover federal agents. According to the complaint, the plot was part of a broader effort to kill prominent Sikh activists who advocate for the right to self-determination for Sikh people over the Indian region of Punjab, critically speak against the persecution of religious minorities, and condemn human rights abuses by the regime of Prime Minister Modi. Attorney Pannuns murder was supposed to occur around the same time as Indias (successful) assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar a close ally of Pannun and Khalistan Referendum Canada chapter head - in Canada on June 18, 2023. The US Department of Justice has indicted Gupta in New York on murder for hire charges for the plot targeting Pannun, while Canada has recently arrested and charged four Indian nationals with first-degree murder for killing Nijjar. The Government of India denies responsibility [for the hit it ordered on Mr. Pannun], the complaint alleges, even as Prime Minister Modi boasted at a political rally that even Indias enemies know this is Modi, this is the new India, it can come into your home and kill you. This case is about holding India accountable for its crime of transnational repression against pro Khalistan Sikhs. The Government of India cannot stop the Khalistan Referendum through threats and intimidation. I will continue to organize the global Khalistan Referendum voting for liberation of Punjab from India. And if the cost of independence is death, I am ready to face it. India tried to kill me for organising the Khalistan Referendum. I am taking legal action to hold the Modi government and RAW officers accountable for their involvement in transnational terrorism against Sikhs at home and abroad, said Pannun upon the filing of his lawsuit. In this country we have freedom of speech and the rule of law. When a foreign government seeks to export tyranny and murder, our citizens have a right to seek redress in the courts, said Pannuns counsel, Matthew Borden. We aim to hold everyone involved in this plot accountable. I am aware Modi you are still trying to kill me and trying to hire agents to eliminate me but keep in mind I will not stop at any cost and will not compromise, he said. According to Richard J. Rogers, Pannuns international lawyer: India has been trying to silence Pannun for years initially by abusing Interpols red notice system by falsifying evidence against him, and now by abusing its friendship with the US by hiring assassins to kill him. Pannun runs Khalistan Referendum campaign. Its a peaceful campaign and involves no terrorism or guns or violence. India has showed no proofs Pannun has ever broken the law. Indias murder plot is a worrying trend, targeting Sikhs. The case states that in November 2023, the US Department of Justice filed indictment against an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, on the charges of committing and conspiring to commit Murder For Hire of a US citizen, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, on the US soil. According to the US DOJ indictment, acting on behalf of the Indian Government officials, Gupta attempted to orchestrate the assassination of attorney Pannun for his political opinion on Khalistan and his activismnotably, promotion of the global Khalistan Referendum. The complaint says it was RAW agent Gupta who hired the assassins to kill Pannun, a Canadian and US national, at the same time of killing Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canda but these efforts were overseen by Defendant Yadav, a senior officer in Indias RAW, and approved by Defendant Goel, the Chief of RAW, and Defendant Doval (the National Security Advisor), both of whom reported directly to Modi. The lawsuit says: RAWs assassins killed Nijjar in Canada on June 18, 2023, but the scheme to murder Mr. Pannun unravelled when the hitmen India tried to hire turned out to be undercover US law enforcement agents. The US captured and indicted Gupta. But the Government of India denies responsibility. Pannun brings this action to hold the Government of India, Doval, Goel, Yadav, and Gupta, accountable for their unprecedented attempt to assassinate a US citizen on the US soil. Defendants efforts to kill Pannun are part of a broader policy by successive Indian governments to violently suppress dissent that has resulted in the June 1984 Indian militarys attack and massacre of pilgrims at the holiest Sikh Shrinethe Golden Temple of Amritsarthe Sikh Genocide in November 1984, arbitrary detentions, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions of Sikhs, misuse and manipulation of the criminal justice system, use of colonial era sedition laws, use of the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and issuing INTERPOL Red Notices based on trumped-up charges, including against Pannun. The lawsuit says India probe confirmed that a rogue operative was solely responsible to target India but this investigation was a sham and a recent Washington Post investigation revealed that the assassination plot was implemented by Yadav while working at RAW and directed from within the Indian spy service. The New York Court has jurisdiction over the claims against Doval, Goel, Yadav, and Gupta pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1332(a) and the Court has jurisdiction over the claims against the Government of India pursuant to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. 1605. Pannun at this time has not named Narendra Modi as a defendant due to the immunity he now enjoys under US and international law as head of a foreign sovereign government. However, Mr. Pannun reserves his right to amend the complaint to include Narendra Modi as a defendant should his status as head of state change during the course of these proceedings, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit says that India has committed genocide of Sikhs at home but has not limited its attempt to silence Sikh activism to its own borders; India has turned diplomatic missions in foreign countries into spy networks for its government; India has sent Indian consular officials to Sikh Gurdwaras (temples) in the United States to recruit members of the community to spy on fellow Americans who support the Khalistan Referendum. These consular officials have sought to intimidate members of the Sikh community by warning them that their relatives in India will face severe consequences if they support the referendum. Consular officials abroad have also denied official documents (such as birth or death certificates) to supporters of the Khalistan referendum. India has also attempted to use the INTERPOL Red Notice system to force many Sikh activists abroad back to India to be prosecuted. The legal action states: Unable to force Pannun and other activists back to India through the INTERPOL system, India has resorted to orchestrating the murder of Sikhs in North America and other foreign countries. A recent expose by the Guardian newspaper has revealed that India has now turned to extrajudicial killings as a means of quashing dissent. The government agency responsible for these murders is RAW. The Guardians investigation, based upon intelligence documents provided by intelligence officials within both India and Pakistan, has tied RAW to more than 20 killings outside of India since 2020. The lawsuit lists the cause of actions as: the Defendants have intentionally caused Pannun to become concerned that Defendants or their cohorts are about to cause a harmful or offensive bodily contact to Pannun and as a result of Defendants conduct, Pannun has suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial; the Defendants intentionally tried and are trying to cause Mr. Pannun extreme emotional distress and the Defendants conducted themselves in a manner so shocking and outrageous that it exceeds all reasonable bounds of decency; and as a direct result of Defendants conduct, Pannun has suffered severe emotional distress. SHENYANG, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- On Wednesday morning, as sirens howled in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, drivers honked their horns while pedestrians stopped their steps to commemorate the 93rd anniversary of the September 18 Incident that marked the start of Japan's 14-year invasion of China. On Sept. 18, 1931, Japanese troops blew up a section of railway under their control near Shenyang and accused Chinese troops of sabotage as a pretext for the attack. Later that night, they bombarded barracks near Shenyang. In 1995, Hao Songqing, a worker who had retired from a tape factory in Shenyang, wrote a letter to the Shenyang municipal committee of the Communist Party of China, suggesting ringing air-raid alarms to remind people not to forget the national humiliation. His suggestion was approved, and Shenyang has sounded the air-raid alarm to commemorate the September 18 Incident for 30 consecutive years, starting in 1995. In the 9.18 Historical Museum in Shenyang at 9:18 a.m. Wednesday, people gathered and held a ceremony to commemorate the September 18 Incident and the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. He Zhongling, one of the designers of the 9.18 Monument in the museum and a retired professor of Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, said the skeleton and bone elements on the monument's base symbolize the martyrs who died in the war. Its main body is shaped like a calendar with bullet holes, representing the pain of the war. "The purpose of designing this monument is to tell people to remember history and not forget the national humiliation," said He. About 3 km from the museum lies the Beidaying (Northern Grand Barracks) site that the Japanese troops bombarded. At the exhibition hall of the site, visitors can revisit the gruesome history through more than 400 historical photos, over 200 relics, electronic maps, scene restorations, panoramic sand tables and other modern techniques. "For peace, people commemorate the war," said Fan Lihong, curator of the 9.18 Historical Museum, adding that the number of visitors to the museum has continued to surge and many people come here to remember history and salute the martyrs. "Telling the history is not to perpetuate hatred, but to remember the truth and give strength to today's people," said Fan. When the siren sounded on Wednesday, Gong Zhigang was driving a high-speed train passing areas near the 9.18 Historical Museum. "At that time, the Japanese built railways on Chinese land to plunder resources and wage war. Today, our high-speed railway is one of the leaders in the world with a maximum design speed of 350 km per hour," said Gong. "We have to draw experience and strength from history and pursue for a better future," he added. The commemoration was also held across the country on Wednesday. In Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, 500 people gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. Six delegates struck the Bell of Peace to mourn the victims and remind the public not to forget national humiliation. Many other Chinese cities, including Haikou and Chengdu, also sounded sirens on this day to remind people to remember history and cherish peace. The September 18 Incident in 1931, at which Japanese troops began the bloody invasion of China, foreshadowed World War II and made the country the first to resist fascism. During the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression which lasted until 1945, China suffered a total of 35 million military and non-military casualties, accounting for a third of the total casualties of all the countries in World War II. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Prague, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Sep, 2024) The toll from storms in central and eastern Europe rose to at least 24 people on Wednesday, as the Czech Republic reported its fourth and fifth victims. Since last week Storm Boris has brought widespread flooding and torrential rain, with victims also in Austria, Poland and Romania. Czech police spokesman Jakub Vincalek told AFP on Wednesday that eight people were still missing after the deluge. The fourth Czech victim, a woman from the northeastern village of Kobyla nad Vidnavkou, had been missing since Sunday morning. "Unfortunately the 70-year-old woman was found dead," regional police spokesman Libor Hejtman told AFP. The CTK news agency said the woman was found caught in a fence near her house, which had been destroyed by the Vidnavka river. Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan then announced a fifth Czech victim during a tv debate, without offering any details. The heavy rain pounded the Czech Republic on Friday and Saturday and raised river levels mainly in the north and northeast of the EU member country of 10.9 million people. The flooding -- which tore down houses, disrupted road and railway traffic and caused power outages -- has since receded, revealing extensive damage. Budapest, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2024) A Taiwanese company and its Hungarian partner on Wednesday reportedly denied making pagers that exploded while being used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon. The New York Times, citing American and other anonymous officials, reported that Israel had inserted explosive material into a shipment of pagers from Taiwan's Gold Apollo. Taiwanese prosecutors launched an investigation. Gold Apollo denied producing the devices and instead pointed the finger at its Budapest-based partner BAC Consulting KFT. Gold Apollo head Hsu Ching-kuang said the pagers were "100 percent not" made in Taiwan. "They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours?" Hsu told reporters in Taipei. The company said in a separate statement that it has established a "long-term partnership" with the Hungarian company to use its trademark and the model mentioned in media reports "is produced and sold by BAC". But BAC Consulting CEO Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono told US broadcaster NBC news that her company worked with Gold Apollo but did not make pagers. "I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong," NBC cited Barsony-Arcidiacono as saying on the phone. Barsony-Arcidiacono did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. The explosions in Lebanon killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack. - Sole employee - At BAC Consulting's registered postal address in a Budapest suburb, a woman there told reporters that the two-storey semi-detached building belongs to a company providing virtual business addresses. Barsony-Arcidiacono appears to be the only employee of the company founded in 2022, according to legal documents consulted by AFP, which also report an annual revenue of 210 million forints ($590,000) and profit of around 18 million forints. On an archived version of a currently inaccessible website, the consultancy described itself as "agents of change with a network of consultants", while Barsony-Arcidiacono touted her experience as a "strategic advisor" for international organisations. The Times reported about 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, mostly its AR924 model. "Our company only provides the brand trademark authorisation and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product," Gold Apollo said. The company declined to comment further, citing ongoing investigations. "We have assigned the case to the chief prosecutor of the national security team to actively investigate. Our office will clarify the facts of the case as soon as possible," Taipei's Shilin District Prosecutors Office said in a statement. "If there is any illegality involved, it will be severely punished in accordance with the law," the office added. Taiwan's economic affairs ministry said Gold Apollo's pagers made in Taiwan only have "a receiving function" and the capacity of their built-in battery "is about that of an ordinary AA battery that is not possible to explode to cause death or injury". "After reviewing media reports and pictures, we think it's very questionable that (the model used) is the company's product," the ministry said, adding that there is no record of the company directly exporting to Lebanon. A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, previously told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source". There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions. (@FahadShabbir) Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2024) Those responsible for a deadly wave of explosions across Lebanon targeting paging devices used by members of the Hezbollah group "must be held to account", the UN rights chief said Wednesday. Hezbollah has accused Israel and vowed to retaliate over the explosions that killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others. There was no immediate comment from Israel. In a statement, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk described the blasts as "shocking", and said their impact on civilians was "unacceptable". "The fear and terror unleashed is profound." The UN rights chief stressed that the "simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law". "There must be an independent, thorough and transparent investigation as to the circumstances of these mass explosions," he said. "Those who ordered and carried out such an attack must be held to account." Turk highlighted that Tuesday's attack had come at an "extremely volatile time". The blasts came hours after Israel said it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks to include its fight against the group's ally Hezbollah along the country's border with Lebanon. "All states with influence in the region and beyond to take immediate measures to avert further widening of the current conflicts," Turk said. "Enough of the daily horrors, enough of the suffering. It is high time leaders stepped up in defence of the rights of all people to live in peace and security," he said. "The protection of civilians must be the paramount priority. De-escalation is today more crucial than ever." ANKARA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Wednesday rounded up 22 suspects in the western province of Izmir over their alleged links to a network accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016, state-run TRT reported. The police conducted several raids in Izmir city and five districts of the province to apprehend the suspects who were allegedly linked to the Gulen movement, which the Turkish government accused of attempting a coup on July 15, 2016, said the report. The detained allegedly used the movement's crypto communication program "ByLock" and conducted suspicious transactions in Bank Asya, which the Turkish government says is operated by the Gulen movement, the report added. The movement is allegedly led by and named after Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom his followers regard as a spiritual leader. Ankara has accused the U.S.-based preacher of masterminding the attempted coup, in which at least 250 people were killed. The Turkish government has launched a massive crackdown on suspects with links to the network in the aftermath of the coup attempt. Vietnam Briefing has developed into a premium source for insight on doing business in Vietnam. It publishes business news concerning foreign direct investment into Vietnam, including the most important tax, legal and accounting issues. The Vietnam Briefing Magazine was first published in 2009, and is contributed to by investment professionals based in Vietnam. One of the hurdles to improving health care systems for African countries is the shortage of scientists and lack of meaningful medical research on the continent, experts say. An organization hopes to change that by enabling researchers and policymakers in three large African countries to develop more extensive and relevant research. According to a 2017 report by the World Economic Forum, Africa is home to 15% of the worlds population and 25% of the worlds disease burden but produces just 2% of the worlds medical research. The report said of the medical research that does occur, much of it fails to prioritize diseases or health problems most pressing for Africans. A group of African health researchers and institutions are now pushing for the continents medical research to be more focused on the continents own medical problems. The African Population and Health Research Center is bringing together scientists, academics, policymakers and government officials from Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria. Their goal is to strengthen African leadership in research and development, ensuring that the findings from these researchers are relevant and accessible to decision-makers, leading to better health care systems across the continent. Catherine Kyobutungi, head of the organization, said African-led research can help solve health problems on the continent much more easily and quickly. "If we want the research to be done by Africans in Africa on African issues, that is [how] the priorities for what research should be done are defined, not just by academics, but by the people who are going to use that research for decision-making, she said. "What we are trying to achieve is to shift what research is and what it is for and to create an army of African scientists that do research to solve African problems in real time, not after 50 years," Kyobutungi said. Dr. Hadiza Galadanci, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Bayero University in Nigeria, said her country accounts for about 28% of maternal deaths worldwide each year. She and researchers from four African countries, Birmingham University in the United Kingdom and the World Health Organization published research on the best way to save women who were dying from postpartum hemorrhage, or excessive bleeding after childbirth. Their innovation a calibrated obstetric drape, which is placed beneath a birthing mother allows physicians to collect and precisely measure blood and fluid loss. "The drape is just put under ... the woman when she's going to deliver. And then, as soon as she delivers, any blood that comes out goes to the drape. So, we have an objective assessment, Galadanci explained, saying that the process allows for more specific treatment. When we did this, we found out that we could reduce the rate of severe [postpartum hemorrhage] leading to maternal death by 60%." African researchers face challenges ranging from a lack of reliable data and funding to poor infrastructure to cultural and religious issues. With the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Africa Research Connect was developed to connect and enhance the visibility of scientists, institutions, policymakers and donors. Jude Igumbor, an associate professor at Wits School of Public Health in South Africa, wants to improve the visibility of African scientists and their work. "What we give African scientists is they are able to find each other for collaboration, he said. The African Population and Health Research Center is calling on donors to fund African institutions and researchers directly instead of going through other organizations, saying that doing so helps the money create opportunities and hone the skills of researchers on the continent. Progress has been made on a Gaza cease-fire deal over the past month and a half, but now Israel and Hamas must show "political will" to get an agreement concluded, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. There are, I think, in the agreement, 18 paragraphs, 15 of them are agreed. But the remaining issues need to be resolved, Blinken said during a joint press conference in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. Abdelatty told reporters via a translator that Hamas has confirmed its full commitment to the cease-fire agreement reached on May 27 and to the amendments made on July 2. On Wednesday, Blinken and Abdelatty held talks in which they discussed the urgent need for cease-fires in Gaza and Sudan. While in Cairo, Blinken also held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Months of talks with United States, Egyptian and Qatari officials mediating have yet to bring a deal suitable to Israel and Hamas. The negotiations have focused on an outline that includes a halt in fighting and the release of hostages still being held by Hamas militants in Gaza. The U.S. has not provided a timetable for the revised proposal, although officials have indicated that it would be presented soon. The U.S. continues to engage with countries in the region, particularly Egypt and Qatar, regarding the proposal's contents to ensure it can lead Israel and Hamas to "an ultimate agreement, according to the State Department. The push for a cease-fire could be complicated by a series of deadly explosions involving pagers used by members of the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The explosions this week came hours after Israel announced the expansion of its war against Hamas to include the goal of making it possible for residents of northern Israel to return to homes they evacuated because of clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his concern about the attack, which has been widely attributed to Israel. Because obviously, the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a preemptive strike before a major military operation, he told reporters in New York. So as important as the event in itself, is the indication that this event confirms that there is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon, and everything must be done to avoid that escalation. Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, began its near-daily attacks shortly after the war in Gaza began, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. Hezbollah, which like Hamas is supported by Iran, has said it would halt the attacks if there were a cease-fire deal for Gaza. Hezbollah is a U.S.-designated terrorist group. Hamas has been designated a terror group by the U.S., the U.K., EU and other Western nations. On Thursday, Blinken will travel from Cairo to Paris for a meeting with the foreign ministers of France, Italy and Britain to discuss topics that include the Middle East and Ukraine. While in Paris, he also will meet with President Emmanuel Macron. Blinkens 10th trip to the Middle East marks the first time he has not visited Israel, Washingtons closest regional ally, since the start of the Gaza war nearly a year ago. UN meeting At the United Nations, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on Wednesday calling on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands within a year. The text also proposes sanctions and steps towards ending arms shipments to Israel if they could be used in Palestinian areas. The resolution was adopted with 124 votes in favor and 14 against, with 43 abstentions. The Palestinian-drafted resolution is trying to build on momentum from an advisory opinion issued in July by the U.N.s top court, the International Court of Justice. The court said that the annexation and occupation of Palestinian territories is unlawful and Israels discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians are tantamount to the crime of apartheid. We are committed to the rule of international law and to just and lasting peace in our region, Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said at the start of the two-day meeting on Monday. This requires ensuring that the same rules apply to all. No bias. No double standards. No exceptionalism. And no exception. Israel rejected the courts opinion, and their ambassador urged countries not to support the proposed resolution. This is a shameful decision that backs the Palestinian Authoritys diplomatic terrorism, Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement after the vote. The United States voted against the measure. There is no path forward or hope offered through this resolution today, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the assembly on Monday. Its adoption will not save Palestinian lives, bring the hostages home, end Israeli settlements or reinvigorate the peace process. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they carry the weight of the international community. Hamas triggered the Gaza conflict with its October 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israels counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,200 Palestinians, a death toll Israel says includes thousands of militant fighters. VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching, U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer, Kim Lewis and Natasha Mozgovaya contributed to this report. Boeing and its largest union will restart contract talks o Wednesday in the presence of federal mediators, after failing to agree on key issues such as wages and pensions, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said. The union, whose members went on strike last Friday, has been pushing for a 40% raise over four years in its first full contract negotiations with Boeing in 16 years, well above the planemaker's offer of 25%, which was resoundingly rejected. A prolonged strike could cost Boeing several billion dollars, further straining the planemaker's finances and threatening a downgrade of its credit rating, analysts said. "After a full day of mediation, we are frustrated, the company was not prepared and was unwilling to address the issues you've made clear are essential for ending this strike: Wages and Pension," the union representing more than 30,000 Boeing factory workers said on X following Tuesday's meeting. "The company doesn't seem to be taking mediation seriously. With a 96% strike vote, we thought Boeing would finally understand that IAM 751 Machinists are demanding more. We are fighting for what is right and just - for what we have earned over the past 16 years," it added. The strike, which entered its sixth day on Wednesday, is Boeing's first since 2008 and is the latest event in a tumultuous year for the planemaker that began with a January incident when a door panel detached from a new 737 MAX jet in mid-air. Boeing and the U.S. Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment outside normal business hours. The strike has halted production of Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX jets, along with its 777 and 767 widebody aircraft, delaying deliveries to airlines. Boeing said on Monday it was freezing hiring and weighing temporary furloughs to cut costs as its balance sheet is already burdened with $60 billion in debt and a prolonged strike could damage it further. The company has also stopped placing most orders for parts for all Boeing jet programs except the 787 Dreamliner, in a move that will hurt its suppliers. Shares are down about 40% this year. Cyprus' Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides (2nd L) is seen with his team in Nicosia, Cyprus, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by George Christophorou/Xinhua) NICOSIA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus' Supreme Constitutional Court, the country's top legal body, said in a ruling on Wednesday that Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides should be dismissed for inappropriate conduct. The decision plunged the EU-member island country into what legal experts called "a crisis of institutions" as it involved a dispute between the Attorney General and the Auditor General, two so-called independent officers. It also set a legal precedent as it defined the conditions under which it is possible to dismiss independent officers, who up to now could not be fired even by the president of the state who has the right to appoint them. The eight-member court panel said in a unanimous decision that the Auditor General displayed dangerous conduct, exceeding by far all limits of self-restraint in the performance of his duties. The decision is final as there is no higher court that could handle an appeal. Michaelides said after the ruling that the Court's decision was "a victory for the system and contradicts the citizens' demand to fight corruption." Michaelides was appointed Auditor General in April 2014 by former president Nicos Anastasiades. Since then he has been a vocal critic of the president of the state, the government, and other public officials and institutions, accusing them of multiple violations of the law and of mismanagement of public money. In recent years he has been at loggerheads with the Attorney General and his deputy, accusing the Deputy Attorney General of doing legal favors to a client of his former law office. The Court's decision came after a petition by Attorney General George Savvides before the Supreme Constitutional Court seeking the dismissal of the Auditor General for misconduct in the performance of his duties. "It is with sorrow that we observe the Auditor General did not limit himself the way he should. He showed a complete lack of self-restraint," Supreme Constitutional Court President Antonis Liatsos said in reading the 209-page ruling. He added that the Auditor General targeted and insulted the AG and showed a lack of objectivity, thus undermining the constitutional standing of the legal service's opinions, and causing public rifts. The Court ruled that the Auditor General "brutally violated the deputy attorney general's right to innocence" in the way he handled a complaint he submitted against him to the Anti-Corruption Authority. "The Auditor General was not limited to the role of accuser, but reserved for himself the role of judge, by challenging the Authority's decision," the Court said. Japan said Thursday a 10-year-old boy who was stabbed while on his way to school in Shenzhen, China, has died of his injuries. The attack happened Wednesday and authorities in China said a 44-year-old suspect was arrested. "I take the incident extremely seriously," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa told reporters. "This should never happen in any country, Kamikawa said. Particularly, I sincerely regret that this despicable act was committed against a child on his way to school." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a Wednesday news conference the case is still under investigation and that China will continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners. The stabbing follows two June knife attacks on foreigners in China. On June 11, four instructors from a U.S. college were attacked in northeastern China when walking through a park, in what China's Foreign Ministry called an isolated event. Two weeks later, a man attacked a bus used by a Japanese school in the eastern city of Suzhou, leading to injuries for a Japanese mother and child along with the death of a Chinese woman who tried to stop the assailant. Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hiroshi Moriya, said Japan has requested detailed information about Wednesdays stabbing and called for Beijing to prevent such an attack from happening again. Moriya added that "Japan will continue to work closely with the Chinese authorities and make every effort to ensure the safety of its overseas nationals. Other Japanese schools in China advised their students to be careful. The Guangzhou Japanese school, near Shenzhen, requested parents accompany their children to and from school for the rest of the week and avoid speaking Japanese loudly in public spaces. Earlier this year, for the first time, Japan subsidized bus security for Japanese schools in China, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested around $2.5 million in government subsidies to hire security guards for school buses in China. Wednesday marked the 93rd anniversary of a train bombing that Japan used as a pretext for invading northeastern China in 1931. Some information for this report was provided by from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters China's decision to raise the retirement age will give a brief boost to its strained pension system but risks further discouraging weary young workers and cannot arrest long-term demographic decline, experts say. The ruling Communist Party last week announced a gradual increase in the statutory retirement age starting next year rising from 60 to 63 for men, from 55 to 58 for white-collar women workers, and from 50 to 55 for blue-collar female employees. The government said the changes would bring a system that has changed little since the 1950s into line with decades of improvements in public health, life expectancy and education, and help society adapt to a shrinking population and workforce. Analysts told AFP that growing concerns over the sustainability of the nationwide pension system pushed Beijing to act. "The pension system is under a lot of strain," said Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asian Institute. "It is... clear to the leadership that the stakes for postponing the reform (were) getting increasingly high," he said. China's retirement age had been among the youngest in the world, and officials have discussed raising it for more than a decade. Opposition from lower-wage workers, a slowing economy and high youth unemployment had thwarted change, experts said. Officials could wait no longer, Zhao said, partly because "the pace of population-aging and population-decline is faster than previously anticipated." Pension tension China's sprawling pension system has three pillars: basic state pensions, mandatory plans for company employees, and voluntary plans for private personal schemes. But the state-led scheme lacks coordination at a national level, while the latter two pillars remain underdeveloped, critics say. A top government think tank said in a 2019 report that one main state pension fund may dry up by 2035 as the workforce shrinks. Around a third of Chinese provinces already run pension deficits, and local finances have come under more stress since the COVID-19 pandemic. Xiujian Peng, a senior research fellow at Australia's Victoria University, said the higher retirement age would ease pressure on the system "in the short and medium term." Under the new rules, the age will rise incrementally over 15 years from 2025, so younger people will end up working for longer than those currently close to retiring. Workers will eventually need to make a minimum of 20 years of contributions to draw their basic pension, up from the current 15 years. "After the government increases the retirement age, this decline (in the number of workers) will become... slower," Peng told AFP. But, she added, "the labor force is still declining this is a (longer-term) trend." Working harder, longer But economic necessity has not necessarily bred widespread acceptance. Many posts on Chinese social media have pointed to a perceived lack of transparency over how workers born from the 1990s onwards would be impacted. Those generations already face widespread joblessness or an intense work culture that leaves many feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. "For many Chinese individuals, these changes in retirement policies feel like a reneged commitment of social welfare provision kicking the problem down an already murky road," Yun Zhou, a sociologist at the University of Michigan, told AFP. "As gender- and age-based discriminations remain deeply entrenched in the Chinese labor market, it remains to be seen to what extent workers... can enjoy effective labor rights protection," she said. Dali Yang, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said the government faced a "loss of credibility" on pensions. Recent economic challenges have already prompted many Chinese to prioritize short-term cash over saving for retirement, Yang told AFP. Demography is destiny Chinese state media has said a rise in the retirement age was "inevitable" given the country's development. The current age was set decades ago when scarcity and poverty were common, before market reforms brought rapid gains in living standards. Life expectancy rose from around 50 in the early 1960s to 79 by 2022, according to World Bank data. But development coincided with families having fewer children, hastened by decades of birth restrictions under the former one-child policy. Now, China is stuck with a growing senior population and fewer young people to fill the gap. Experts said only a suite of bold policies from creating high-quality jobs to raising productivity, expanding public healthcare, fostering better work-life balance and raising the social position of women could help Beijing adapt to its alarming demographic destiny. Several told AFP that last week's announcement was unlikely to be the last of its kind. "There is still considerable room to further increase the retirement age," Zhao, of NUS, said. But, he added, "if (younger people) have to work longer and contribute more... they want to get answers for questions like job security and quality, and the level of future pension benefits." When activists, policymakers and representatives from across the globe gather next week in New York to participate in climate week, one pressing issue on the agenda that is less frequently discussed and known will be the environmental impact of seabed mining. As countries look for ways to lower emissions, critical minerals are playing a key role in that transition. Critical minerals are used in all kinds of green technologies, from solar panels and wind turbines to batteries in electric vehicles. And one place where those mineral resources are abundant is deep under the sea. The debate over accessing seabed resources is heated. Supporters say the technology exists to safely access these critical minerals undersea, but environmentalists and activists say the potential of undiscovered biodiversity on the seafloor is too important to endanger. During climate week, which will take place on the sidelines of U.N. General Assembly meetings, organizers are expected to host a roundtable on the environmental impact of seabed mining and other discussions about critical minerals. The World Economic Forum says that if the globe wants to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, two-thirds of vehicles must be powered by electric batteries. And the International Energy Agency says that to reach that goal, the world needs six times more mineral resources by 2040 than it has today. Some of the largest mineral deposits are found on the ocean floor in the form of polymetallic nodules, or rocks. Ocean of resources According to the International Seabed Authority, or ISA, there are 21 billion tons of polymetallic nodules strewn across the seabed of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, or CCZ. Each nodule contains a combination of electric vehicle battery components such as nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt. The ISA plans to release regulations for mining in the international waters of the CCZ by 2025. The ISA has already awarded 17 exploration contracts for polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone a large swath of the Pacific Ocean the size of the continental United States which sits between Hawaii and Mexico. Three of those exploration contracts went to The Metals Company, a Canadian deep-sea mining company. The Pacific Island Nations of Nauru, Kiribati and Tonga have sponsored The Metals Companys efforts to develop a portion of the seabed. In an interview with VOA, CEO Gerard Barron said the company is ready to begin as soon as the ISA allows mining. Our collector methodology is to put a robot on the seafloor which crawls around the ocean floor and fires a jet of water at the nodule and it creates an inverse pressure and lifts the nodule up, and so we dont go down and scour the seafloor, said Barron via Zoom, adding that TMC has spent the past decade focused on testing this equipment and collecting data on its environmental impact as part of its permit application to the ISA. Moratorium needed Critics worry scooping up these mineral-rich rocks will disrupt important biodiversity much of it still unnamed and some of it undiscovered. Researchers have found that 90% of the more than 5,000 species in the zone are new to science. Eddie Palu, president of the Tonga Fishery Association, wants a pause for more research. We demand a moratorium on the seabed mining until the environmental, economic and social risk are comprehensively understood, he said during a panel discussion at the recent Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga. Shiva Gounden from Greenpeace Australia Pacific, who also sat on the panel, agreed. We know only very little of the deep sea, and the race for the final frontier could cause irreversible damages to the people and to the communities of our Pacific, Gounden said. But scientists say no light and very little oxygen reaches the deep sea limiting the life there to mostly bacteria and small invertebrates. The Metals Companys Barron said combating climate change is a bigger threat to the planet than undersea mining, adding that the companys environmental impact studies show that we can safely collect these nodules and turn them into battery metals without having a negative impact on the ocean. The notion that we can do any extraction with zero impact is a dream, added Barron. The oceans are impacted by every single thing we do today, especially global warming. So, we need to address the main driver for climate change and reduce emissions. Fueling innovation Still, the quest to do just that access minerals on the seabed with minimal impact to the environment has created competition between technology companies. U.S. tech startup Impossible Metals is testing a robot which can avoid nodules where it detects life and harvests those where it does not. The vehicle hovers above the seabed, uses the camera and it actually picks up the nodules one by one. So this really minimizes all of the negative concerns around big sediment plumes, CEO Oliver Gunasekra told VOA in an interview. Gunaskeras company spun off Viridian Biometals. Its technology bypasses energy-intensive processes such as smelting with bacteria which can separate metal ore from the rock around it. The process creates no emissions or waste. The bacteria need oxygen just like we do to breathe. And when there's not enough oxygen in the water around them, the bacteria have learned that there's oxygen in the rocks, and they have adapted to breathe that oxygen, said Viridian CEO Eric Macris. Impossible Metals and Viridian Biometals say they are two to three years out from commercializing their technology, depending on funding. TMC says it could be ready to begin its collection operations as soon as international regulations are released next year. Two mighty beams of energy have been detected shooting in opposite directions from a supermassive black hole inside a distant galaxy the largest such jets ever spotted, extending about 140 times the diameter of our vast Milky Way galaxy. The black hole resides at the heart of a galaxy about 7.5 billion light-years from Earth. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometers). Because of the time it takes for light to travel, looking across great distances is peering back in time, with these observations dating to when the universe was less than half its current age. Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape. Most galaxies, including the Milky Way, have a large black hole at their core. Some of these shoot jets of high-energy particles and magnetic fields into space from their two poles as they devour material such as gas, dust and stars falling into them due to their immense gravitational strength. The two jet structures documented in the new study using the LOFAR (Low-Frequency Array) radio telescope, a network of antennas centered in the Netherlands extend 23 million light-years from end to end. These super-heated jets, caused by the violent events around the black hole, are composed of subatomic particles called electrons and positrons, and magnetic fields, moving at nearly the speed of light. The researchers have nicknamed these two jets Porphyrion (pronounced poor-FEER-ee-ahn), named after a giant from ancient Greek mythology. Porphyrion is about 30% longer than the previous record-holder for such jets. "Jet systems like Porphyrion appear to be among the most energetic spectacles that have occurred in the universe since the Big Bang," said Caltech astrophysicist Martijn Oei, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature, referring to the event that initiated the universe about 13.8 billion years ago. "The general understanding is that jets are formed when magnetized material falls onto a rotating black hole," added astrophysicist and study co-author Martin Hardcastle of the University of Hertfordshire in England. "They need to be sustained by a continued infall of matter into the black hole, something of the order of one solar mass [the mass of the sun] a year of material." Such jets, not visible to the naked eye, start out small and grow over time. "We've known for a while that black holes can generate these jets. But what is interesting is that to generate a large structure like this, the jets must stay on for a long time about a billion years," Hardcastle said. The Porphyrion jets reach far beyond their home galaxy, with an energetic output equivalent to trillions of stars like the sun. "That is equivalent to the energy released during the most cataclysmic cosmic collisions: for example, those that occur when two galaxy clusters, each sometimes containing thousands of galaxies, merge together," Oei said. "The fact that it extends so far from its parent black hole means that it may be carrying energy, particles and magnetic fields into the voids in the cosmic web, the gaps between groups and filaments of galaxies which we know make up the large-scale structure of the universe. This may help us to understand the ubiquitous magnetic fields in the present-day universe," Hardcastle said. Such jets could heat up gas in interstellar space, shutting down the formation of new stars that require cold clouds of gas, and could damage habitable planets, the researchers said. The Milky Way's supermassive black hole, in its current quiescent state, does not have such jets. "The key finding is that jets from black holes can, if circumstances are right, become as large as the universe's major cosmic structures galaxy clusters, cosmic filaments, cosmic voids," Oei said. "This means that individual black holes can have a sphere of influence that extends way beyond the galaxy in which they reside." Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by dozens of men recruited by her husband, said on Wednesday "forgiveness does not exist," rejecting claims by him and one of his chief accomplices that they regretted harming the women they loved. The trial in the southern French town of Avignon of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men accused of raping his wife has shocked the world. The case has also triggered protests across France in support of Gisele Pelicot, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence. "These men are degenerates. They committed rape," Gisele Pelicot, 72, told the court after her now ex-husband Dominique and the accomplice, Jean-Pierre Marechal, gave testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. "When they see a woman sleeping on her bed, no one thought to ask themselves a question? They don't have brains?" Dominique Pelicot, 71, is also accused of having raped Marechal's wife at her home after drugging her, with the collaboration of her husband. Gisele Pelicot insisted on a public trial to expose her former husband and the 50 men he is accused of inviting to rape her in a small village in southern France. "Today forgiveness does not exist," Gisele Pelicot told the court as she described how her former husband had taken mistresses without hiding the fact from her, and she defended herself from some of the criticisms leveled against her. "I have felt humiliated while I've been in this courtroom. I have been called an alcoholic, a conspirator of Mr. Pelicot," she said, adding her life had been "destroyed" for 10 years. "In the state I was in, I absolutely could not respond. I was in a comatose state; the videos show that." The Pelicots' daughter Caroline, whose photographs were found on her father's devices along with images of her mother being raped, was on the verge of tears in the courtroom as her mother spoke. Dominique Pelicot has denied drugging or sexually abusing Caroline. She has told French media that she started publicly campaigning to fight drug-induced sexual assault to cope with the shock following her father's arrest. In court, Dominique Pelicot admitted orchestrating the mass rape of his then-wife. He asked for forgiveness and said he ultimately hoped to win back his former partner, who filed for divorce after learning of the rapes from investigators. Because of a skirmish between some supporters of Gisele Pelicot and some of the accused on Tuesday evening, the court told attendees not to boo the suspects in the case, telling them they were innocent until proven guilty. But the court also said it was not a problem if supporters applauded Gisele Pelicot when she emerged from the courtroom, as some have been doing. Earlier on Wednesday, Marechal, 63, admitted to working with Dominique Pelicot to drug and both rape Marechal's wife, Cilia, after the men met on a now-shuttered website. Marechal blamed his mentor and a troubled childhood for his actions. Marechal is not among those accused of raping Gisele Pelicot. "I regret my actions. I love my wife," Marechal said in the courtroom. "If I had not met Mr. Pelicot, I would have never committed this act." Marechal met Dominique Pelicot on a website called Coco, where Pelicot shared with him images of the rapes of his wife by the men he had recruited, describing how he had drugged her. Marechal said in the courtroom he stumbled across the website by accident and initially refused Pelicot's request to rape his own wife before acquiescing. Prosecutors say Pelicot drugged Marechal's wife and raped her while Marechal watched. Gisele Pelicot said Marechal's explanation of his childhood was insufficient to explain his actions. "I've had trauma but I have not committed crimes," she said. Dominique Pelicot acknowledged his guilt in raping Marechal's wife and said he regretted his actions, adding that he cut contact with them after she woke up while he was in her room. Prosecutors say Dominique Pelicot was recorded in at least three of 12 assaults against Marechal's wife Cilia. Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded nearly simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people including an 8-year-old girl -- and wounding several thousand, officials said. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack. We talk to Michael DiMino with Defense Priorities. Mali said on Tuesday that its capital, Bamako, was under control after insurgents attacked. And a mission to Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, in the hope of finding the right conditions to support life. Almost 200 environmental activists were murdered last year, with the toll especially heavy in South America, according to rights group Global Witness. Here are the stories of three campaigners who have faced violence and repression trying to stop wildcat gold mining in Ecuador, illegal shrimp farming in Indonesia and a controversial oil project in Uganda. 'We have a responsibility' Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan has been assaulted, arrested and prosecuted for his activism to protect a national park, but he is unbowed. "Why be afraid? Why back down? Your home should be defended," the 51-year-old told AFP in Jakarta, where he is awaiting a new ruling in legal proceedings against him. Born and raised in the Indonesian capital, he "fell in love at first sight" with the remote Karimunjawa Islands National Park off Java, on his first visit in 2011. He later settled there. Daniel began to notice the growing impact of illegal shrimp farms, which began to proliferate around 2017. Run-off from the farms killed seaweed and forced marine life to move further from shore, impacting the livelihoods of fishing communities, he said. In 2022, Daniel helped start the #SaveKarimunjawa movement, which pushed for a local zoning law banning the shrimp farms. But his activism made him a target he was threatened, assaulted and put in a chokehold, and fellow environmentalists received death threats. He was arrested in December 2023 over allegations of hate speech stemming from a Facebook post criticizing illegal shrimp farming. A local court sentenced him in April to seven months behind bars. The conviction was overturned on appeal but prosecutors took the case to the Supreme Court, insisting he should not be recognized as an environmental activist. "This is a price that must be paid," Daniel said of the threats and legal battles. And his activism has had some success, with recent government inspections forcing many illegal operations to shut. "We have a responsibility to our children, grandchildren and future generations," he said. "If you give up... you say goodbye to your future." 'Hell on Earth' Abdulaziz Bweete grew up in Kawempe, a shanty town in the Ugandan capital Kampala, and saw first-hand the devastating impact of environmental change in poorer communities. "I have grown up seeing floods around but I had not interested myself in what is causing floods," he told AFP. It took two things to galvanize the 26-year-old going to university, and seeing the Uganda government's response to climate protests. Bweete was among a group of student organizers who marched on parliament in July with a petition opposing a multi-billion-dollar oil project that campaigners say will badly affect a delicate environment. He and several other young activists were arrested, charged with illegal assembly, and held in Kampala's maximum-security Luzira prison until August. He told AFP he and fellow protesters were beaten by police. The activist was previously imprisoned and arrested following rallies in the capital. "All I can say is prison is a hell on Earth," he said. "We don't have freedom of protest in this country," he said, glancing around nervously in Kyambogo University's lush campus setting. Demonstrations in Uganda, ruled with an iron fist by President Yoweri Museveni for four decades, are often met with a heavy-handed police response. Bweete said politics and climate change go hand in hand. "If we have good leaders, we can have good climate policies. This is a long struggle, but we are determined to win," he insisted. 'Defend life' Alex Lucitante, a leader of the Cofan Indigenous people on the border between Ecuador and Colombia, won a historic legal victory in 2018 over mining companies in the Amazon, striking out 52 gold mine concessions. It helped win him the Goldman Environmental Prize the Nobel of environmental defenders two years ago. But despite setting up a system of patrols and even drone surveillance, it has not stopped gold prospectors violating their territory. "The destruction is still going on all around our land, and the threat is stronger," he told AFP, telling of illegal mining, deforestation and threats from armed groups. "Today, the situation is particularly critical in our territories," said Lucitante. "It all happens in plain sight and with the knowledge of the authorities," which are "sometimes linked to illegal actors operating in the area," he added. The environmentalist has urged global leaders to listen to the "voice of Indigenous communities" and hear their plea to "defend life." Iran has no "covert objectives" when it comes to its nuclear program and the country is ready to resume its nuclear commitments once Western sanctions are lifted, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization told AFP. "Uranium enrichment is not necessarily for weapons purposes," Mohammad Eslami said on Wednesday in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) general conference in Vienna. "We are doing it for research and the production of various isotopes for nuclear industry applications," he said. Tensions between Iran and the IAEA have repeatedly flared since a 2015 deal curbing Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief fell apart. In recent years, Tehran has decreased its cooperation with the IAEA, while significantly ramping up its nuclear program, including amassing large stockpiles of uranium enriched to 60%, which is close to the 90% needed to develop an atomic bomb. The rapid expansion of Iran's nuclear program has no "credible civilian justification," according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Amid the impasse, the IAEA's board of governors in June adopted a resolution critical of Iran. Despite the restrictions on inspections since 2021 and the barring of U.N. inspectors, the IAEA continues to "daily monitor" Iran's nuclear program, at a level that exists "nowhere else in the world," Eslami stressed. "Our work is completely transparent. It is not as if we were producing a material with covert objectives," Eslami told AFP. He said Iran was in discussions with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to organize his visit to the country in the near future, where he is expected to meet President Masoud Pezeshkian. Since Pezeshkian's election in July, Iran has said it was willing to relaunch talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal it reached with world powers in 2015. The landmark deal also known by the acronym JCPOA started to unravel in 2018 when then U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions, and Iran retaliated by stepping up its nuclear activities. Efforts to revive the deal bringing the United States back on board and Iran back into compliance have so far been fruitless. Eslami, however, told AFP that "the JCPOA is not dead." "As soon as the others resume their obligations, we will act accordingly, he said, stressing that "it is not possible for them to expect us to keep our commitments" when they themselves have reinstated sanctions. But Western powers have deplored the "absence" of positive concrete signs from Tehran. "Patience has its limits, and we will not stand by while Iran continues to obfuscate," the United States, Britain, France and Germany warned in a joint statement last week. Experts say resumption of talks seems unlikely before the U.S. presidential elections, amid a sharp deterioration in Iran's relations with Europe and the U.S. A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan's contiguous waters for the first time on Wednesday, Japan's defense ministry said, the latest in a string of military maneuvers that has ratcheted up tensions between the neighbors. The carrier, accompanied by two destroyers, sailed between Japan's southern Yonaguni and Iriomote islands, entering an area that extends up to 24 nautical miles from its coastline where Japan can exert some controls as defined by the United Nations. Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya said Tokyo had conveyed its "serious concerns" to Beijing, describing the incident as "utterly unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region." "We will continue to closely monitor Chinese naval vessels' activities in the waters around our country and will take all possible measures to gather information and conduct vigilance and surveillance," Moriya told a news conference. Japan last month lodged a protest with China after one of its naval survey vessels entered Japanese waters, shortly after an airspace breach. In July, a Japanese navy destroyer made a rare entry into China's territorial waters near Taiwan, according to the Japanese media. An uptick in Chinese military activity near Japan and around Taiwan in recent years has stoked concerns in Tokyo. Japan has responded with a defense buildup it says aims to deter China from using military force to push its territorial claims in the region. Earlier on Wednesday, Taiwan's defense ministry said it had spotted the same Chinese aircraft carrier group sailing through waters off its east coast in the direction of Yonaguni, Japan's southernmost island, which is about 110 km east of Taiwan. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, has been staging regular exercises around the island for five years to pressure it to accept Beijing's claim of sovereignty, despite Taipei's strong objections. The ministry said the Chinese ships, led by Liaoning, the oldest of China's three aircraft carriers, were spotted in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday sailing through waters to the northeast of Taiwan. Taiwan tracked the ships and sent its forces to monitor, it said. China's defense ministry did not answer calls seeking comment. A Mississippi town has taken down a Confederate monument that stood on the courthouse square since 1910 a figure that was tightly wrapped in tarps the past four years, symbolizing the community's enduring division over how to commemorate the past. Grenada's first Black mayor in two decades seems determined to follow through on the city's plans to relocate the monument to other public land, a concrete slab behind a fire station about 5.6 kilometers from the square. But a new fight might be developing. A Republican lawmaker from another part of Mississippi wrote to Grenada officials saying she believes the city is violating a state law that restricts the relocation of war memorials or monuments. The Grenada City Council voted to move the monument in 2020, weeks after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. The vote seemed timely: Mississippi legislators had just retired the last state flag in the U.S. that prominently featured the Confederate battle emblem. The tarps went up soon after the vote, shrouding the Confederate soldier and the pedestal he stood on. But even as people complained about the eyesore, the move was delayed by tight budgets, state bureaucracy or political foot-dragging. A new mayor and city council took office in May, prepared to take action. On Sept. 11, with little advance notice, police blocked traffic and a work crew disassembled and removed the 6.1-meter stone structure. "I'm glad to see it move to a different location," said Robin Whitfield, an artist with a studio just off Grenada's historic square. "This represents that something has changed." Still, Whitfield, who is white, said she wishes Grenada leaders had invited the community to engage in a discussion about the symbol, to bridge the gap between those who think moving it is erasing history and those who see it as a daily reminder of white supremacy. She was among the few people watching as a crane lifted parts of the monument onto a flatbed truck. "No one ever talked about it, other than yelling on Facebook," Whitfield said. Mayor Charles Latham said the monument has been "quite a divisive figure" in the town of 12,300, where about 57% of residents are Black and 40% are white. "I understand people had family ... fight and die in that war, and they should be proud of their family," Latham said. "But you've got to understand that there were those who were oppressed by this, by the Confederate flag on there. There's been a lot of hate and violence perpetrated against people of color, under the color of that flag." The city received permission from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to move the Confederate monument, as required. But Representative Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes of Picayune said the fire station site is inappropriate. "We are prepared to pursue such avenues that may be necessary to ensure that the statue is relocated to a more suitable and appropriate location," she wrote, suggesting a Confederate cemetery closer to the courthouse square as an alternative. She said the Ladies Cemetery Association is willing to deed a parcel to the city to make it happen. The Confederate monument in Grenada is one of hundreds in the South, most of which were dedicated during the early 20th century when groups such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy sought to shape the historical narrative by valorizing the Lost Cause mythology of the Civil War. The monuments, many of them outside courthouses, came under fresh scrutiny after an avowed white supremacist who had posed with Confederate flags in photos posted online killed nine Black people inside the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. Visitors enjoy the natural geothermal sauna at Eburru Forest in Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya, Sept. 10, 2024. (Photo by Chrispinus Omar/Xinhua) Amos Omondi, a Nairobi resident, enjoys relaxing in urban saunas with sleek spa facilities. Recently, however, he opted for a more natural experience in the scenic Eburru Forest. NAIROBI, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Amos Omondi, a resident of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, enjoys relaxing in urban saunas, surrounded by sleek, well-equipped spa facilities. Recently, however, Omondi has traded city luxuries for a more natural experience, venturing into the scenic depths of Eburru Forest, located in the resort town of Naivasha, about 100 kilometers northwest of Nairobi. "This is better than the sauna in the city because you get to enjoy the scenic views of the forest," Omondi told Xinhua. He is among a growing number of visitors flocking to a hidden gem in Eburru Forest, a natural underground geothermal steam vent. To reach the site, visitors must descend a steep, rocky path, where steam rises from a crack in a rocky outcrop. "There was a rupture in the rock where geothermal activity occurred, allowing steam to escape at temperatures of up to 90 degrees Celsius," said Douglas Chege, a tour guide with over a decade of experience. A tour guide leads visitors at Eburru Forest in Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya, Sept. 10, 2024. (Photo by Chrispinus Omar/Xinhua) To counter the strong sulfuric smell common in geothermal sites, Chege employs a unique technique: squeezing mint leaves between the rocks, infusing the air with a refreshing, calming scent. After spending 20 minutes in the sauna, Omondi emerged drenched in sweat. "I feel very refreshed. I wish I could have stayed longer," he said as he climbed back up the rocks. Eburru Forest, covering roughly 8,000 hectares (80 square kilometers), sits on the rolling foothills of Mount Eburru, an active volcanic mountain. It is part of the larger Mau Forest, Kenya's largest water tower. Yet, the forest was not always as lush as it is today. In the late 1990s, uncontrolled logging and charcoal production nearly decimated it. The Kenya Forest Service (KFS), in collaboration with the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust, a conservation organization, launched restoration measures by installing a 43.4-kilometer electric fence to protect the forest and reduce human-wildlife conflict. The initiative has been a success, with biodiversity steadily returning, according to Josephat Wagura, a KFS fence attendant. Douglas Chege, a tour guide, points at the natural sauna in Eburru Forest, Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya, Sept. 10, 2024. (Photo by Chrispinus Omar/Xinhua) Wagura said that local communities have become key stakeholders in conservation efforts, benefiting from activities such as honey harvesting and eco-tourism. "People used to fear farming or building permanent homes because of wildlife attacks," Wagura said. "Now, they live peacefully with the animals and in better homes." Eburru Forest is also a haven for bird watchers and home to several species, including the critically endangered mountain bongos, as well as leopards, giant forest hogs and buffaloes. To access the natural sauna, visitors have to pay a small entry fee to KFS. "We have guests from Europe and America who come to enjoy the sauna. They always return because it works wonders," Chege said. He also advised that visitors should have a guard accompany them to the sauna, as wild animals frequent the forest. Chege further urged sponsors to help set up changing rooms for added guest comfort. At least nine people were killed and more than 30 others were injured in fresh fighting that erupted in Debark and Dabat towns of the North Gondar zone in Ethiopia's Amhara region between government forces and the Fano militias, witnesses and medical sources told VOA Horn of Africa Service. The fighting ignited Monday and continued into Tuesday. Witnesses and medical workers in Debark reported the fatalities and dozens of injuries. The general manager of Debark Hospital, Ale Amlak, told VOA that they have treated at least 30 combatants and civilians, including children that were injured in the clashes since Monday. Ale mentioned that some victims died before reaching the hospital. A church has been hosting a burial ritual since yesterday, he told VOA Horn of Africa Service. This morning, I saw six coffins being buried at St. Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He said that among those treated, one civilian and one combatant have died. He didn't however indicate whether the combatant was a member of government forces or the Fano militia. A Debark resident, who preferred not to be identified, also said that there was a clash between military personnel and the Fano militia. By 7 a.m., I had seen perhaps eight deaths, including one woman who was hit while holding her child, he said. Administrator of the Chilla locality in the Dabat district, Minale Ginbneh, confirmed the clashes, saying at least six houses were damaged Monday in heavy artillery exchanges by both sides. Businesses and government offices remained closed for the second consecutive day on Tuesday in the Debark and Dabat towns as a result of the fighting, three residents, who did not want to be identified for security reasons, told VOA. Debark, about 700 km. north of Addis Ababa, is the nearest town to the Semien Mountains National Park, one of the first sites to be named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, in 1978. Dabat district hosts the Alemwach Refugee Camp, which is reportedly home to more than 20,000 Eritrean refugees. Minale says the refugees are safe. A representative of the refugees, Mulugeta Gebresellassie, also told VOA, "no one is hurt." Meanwhile, residents in the main Amhara city of Gondar have also reported a third frontline, where government and Fano militias clashed. A resident in Gondar told VOA that fighting has been ongoing since Monday, with Fano entering parts of the city. Anteneh Dires, who said he is the head of the Amhara Fano in Gondar Zone, claimed that Fano militia were active in Gondar and Wollo zones. He alleged that government soldiers were to blame for injuries he said were sustained by innocent individuals during the fighting in Gondar. All the casualties reported were from the town of Debark. Casualty figures from clashes in Dabat and Gondar are not clear. Attempts to reach the federal government communication office and Amhara regional officials have not been successful. VOA could not independently verify which side started the fighting. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said last month that negotiations took place with armed militias in the Amhara region to peacefully resolve the ongoing conflict there. A spokesperson for Fano, an ethnic Amhara militia, denied holding talks with the federal government. Fighting between federal government forces and Fano broke out more than a year ago after reports emerged that the government was planning to disarm regional paramilitary forces to integrate them into other security structures, including the federal army. This story originated in the Horn of Africa Service. North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles Wednesday that landed in the sea off its east coast, South Korea and Japan said. The missiles lifted off from Kaechon, north of the capital, Pyongyang, around 6:50 a.m. local time and flew in a northeast direction, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, without specifying how many were fired. "Our military is maintaining full readiness posture while strengthening surveillance and vigilance in preparation for additional launches and closely sharing information with the U.S. and Japan side," it said in a statement. About 30 minutes after the first missile notice, Japan's coast guard said North Korea fired another ballistic missile, noting the projectiles appeared to have fallen. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on X that it was aware of the launches and consulting closely with Seoul and Tokyo. The North fired several short-range ballistic missiles last Thursday, the first such launch in more than two months, which it later described as a test of a new 600 mm multiple-launch rocket system. South Korea's JCS has said the launch might have been to test the weapons for export to Russia, amid intensifying military cooperation between the two countries. The United States, South Korea and Ukraine, among other countries, have accused Pyongyang of supplying rockets and missiles to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine, in return for economic and other military assistance. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, who is visiting Russia this week to attend conferences, met her counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday and discussed ways to promote bilateral ties, the Russian foreign ministry said on its website. Wednesday's missile launches also came days after the isolated country for the first time showed images of centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs, as leader Kim Jong Un visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for more weapons-grade material to boost the arsenal. As the U.S. presidential election approaches, North Korea will likely escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula in an attempt to get attention and increase leverage for future negotiations with the United States, analysts said. On Friday, North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and Rodong Sinmum newspaper released several photos showing leader Kim Jong Un visiting what the Norths media said is a uranium enrichment facility. It was the first time the North has disclosed a uranium enrichment facility publicly. In a recent speech marking the 76th anniversary of the founding of his government, Kim said North Korea will redouble its measures and efforts to make all the armed forces of the state, including the nuclear force, fully ready for combat. Kim said he was acting because of the grave threat posed by the reckless expansion of a U.S.-led regional military bloc, according to KCNA. It remains unclear what the revelation means for the Norths nuclear capability, but it drew international attention. Nuclear escalation Despite the disclosure, the European Union said Monday that North Korea will never have the status of an acknowledged nuclear weapon state. The EU position is that the DPRK must immediately comply with UN Security Council resolutions by abandoning all its nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missile programmes and existing nuclear programmes, in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and cease all related activities, said a spokesperson for the EU in an email to VOA Korean. Evans Revere, who served as acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said Kim probably believes that Trump, of the two presidential candidates, is more likely to help North Korea advance its agenda. Pyongyang wants to be accepted as a nuclear state and it is trying to undermine and eventually end the U.S.-ROK [South Korea] alliance and get rid of U.S. forces who are stationed on and around the Korean Peninsula, Revere told VOA Korean Friday on the phone. Which of the two U.S. presidential candidates does North Korea see as more likely to help achieve its goals? he asked. Revere, however, said he does not view North Koreas recent actions as aimed at swaying the U.S. presidential election, stressing that what North Korea does and says is not always about us. Sydney Seiler, who was the national intelligence officer for North Korea on the U.S. National Intelligence Council from 2020-2023, told VOA Korean in a Zoom interview Thursday it may be a step too far to assume North Korea is trying to influence the upcoming election in the U.S. through its provocative behaviors. However, Seiler said, Pyongyang could be tweaking the timing of its actions to remain on everybodys radar screen. Seiler predicted that North Korea will hold off on its next major provocations, such as a seventh nuclear test, until after the next U.S. president is elected. North Koreas intention Park Won-gon, a professor in the Department of North Korean Studies of Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told VOA Korean Friday that the North Korean regime may have considered testing its nuclear weapons for a seventh time to show that President Joe Bidens North Korea policy has not worked and to turn it to Trumps advantage. The situation, however, has now changed, Park said. Trump has been touting his close relationship with Kim Jong Un, so Pyongyang may have concluded that another nuclear test will not help Trump. Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, agreed that North Korea is not likely to conduct the seventh nuclear test before the November election. None of the countries that possess nuclear weapons have disclosed their nuclear facilities, especially enriched uranium facilities, but making such an unprecedented disclosure was to replace the nuclear test card, Hong told VOA Korean Friday. Kim In-tae, senior research fellow at South Koreas Institute for National Security Strategy, said a seventh nuclear test is still a possibility. North Koreas foreign ministry declared it will prepare itself for a long-term nuclear confrontation with the United States, Kim told VOA Korean Friday, referring to a Sept. 9 statement released by Pyongyang. They are now saying that they will strengthen their nuclear offensive from a longer-term perspective, regardless of the U.S. presidential election, Kim said there is a possibility that North Korea will gradually ramp up its provocations, up to the test of a nuclear weapon. North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in September 2017. VOAs Kim Hyungjin contributed to this report. Britain is facing growing pressure to address the issue of reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and other atrocities, as the former colonial power and many of its former colonies prepare to gather for the biennial Commonwealth heads of government meeting next month. The Commonwealth emerged from the ashes of Britains empire after World War II. The vast majority of its 56 members are former British colonies. The organization is set to choose a new secretary-general at its heads of government meeting October 21-25 in Samoa, as the term of incumbent Patricia Scotland comes to an end. All three candidates vying for the job all of whom are from Africa voiced strong support for reparations at a recent event at Londons Chatham House. Ghanaian Foreign Minister Shirley Botchwey said reparations could take various forms. Financial reparations is good. However, the conversation is now moving to other reparations in kind. And so, either way it's fine, but I stand for reparations, she said. Whether or not the Commonwealth has a role to play will depend on the heads of government who will give the secretary-general her marching orders: that we want you involved in the conversation of reparations, we want you to put forward a common voice on behalf of all Commonwealth countries, Botchwey added. Joshua Setipa, a candidate from Lesotho, said the Commonwealth was the right forum to address the issue. I support the idea of reparative justice, and I would not wait to be asked to participate, said Setipa, a former trade minister. More than half of the members around the table are calling for this to be addressed. Mamadou Tangara, Gambias candidate for Commonwealth secretary-general who is currently serving as the countrys foreign minister, agreed. I am fully in support of reparatory justice. But this is a cause, a noble cause, that has to be championed by member states. And the Commonwealth can use its convenient power to facilitate the dialogue and make it happen, he said. At the last Commonwealth summit, in Rwanda in 2022, Britains then-Prince Charles who is now king and therefore head of the Commonwealth spoke of his deep sorrow over the slave trade. I want to acknowledge that the roots of our contemporary association run deep into the most painful period of our history, Charles told delegates in Kigali. I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery's enduring impact. Britain, however, has rejected any form of reparations. The issue can no longer be dismissed, said Kingsley Abbott, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London. In my view, sitting here in 2024, the fact of transatlantic slavery, the harm it caused, the harm it continues to cause, and the need for this to be addressed in some way meaningfully, can't really be ignored any longer. And these expressions of support from the candidates I think mirror the fact that the global movement for reparations is growing, Abbott said. Reparations doesn't just equal monetary compensation under international law. It can take many forms, like restitution and compensation and rehabilitation and satisfaction, things like meaningful apologies, public acknowledgement, memorialization and things like that, Abbott told VOA. And so, therefore, of course the Commonwealth has a role to play. What the Commonwealth can benefit from is the tremendous amount of very important, thoughtful work that's been done by people, including from Commonwealth states, on this very issue. Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak argued in 2023 that trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward. His successor, Keir Starmer, is yet to make his position on reparations clear. The pressure will likely grow, as officials from Britain and many of its former colonies gather, as equals, at the Commonwealth summit next month. Republicans have blocked for a second time this year legislation to establish a nationwide right to in vitro fertilization, arguing that the vote is an election-year stunt after Democrats forced a vote on the issue. The Senate vote was Democrats' latest attempt to force Republicans into a defensive stance on women's health issues and highlight policy differences between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the presidential race, especially as Trump has called himself a "leader on IVF." The 51-44 vote was short of the 60 votes needed to move forward on the bill, with only two Republicans voting in favor. Democrats say Republicans who insist they support IVF are being hypocritical because they won't support legislation guaranteeing a right to it. "They say they support IVF here you go, vote on this," said Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the bill's lead sponsor and a military veteran who has used the fertility treatment to have her two children. The Democratic push started earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. Several clinics in the state suspended IVF treatments until the GOP-led legislature rushed to enact a law to provide legal protections for the clinics. Democrats quickly capitalized, holding a vote in June on Duckworth's bill and warning that the U.S. Supreme Court could go after the procedure after it overturned the right to an abortion in 2022. The bill would establish a nationwide right for patients to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies and a right for doctors and insurance companies to provide it, an effort to pre-empt state efforts to limit the services. It would also require more health insurers to cover it and expand coverage for military service members and veterans. In a statement after the vote, Harris said Republicans in Congress "have once again made clear that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments many couples need to fulfill their dream of having a child." Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who missed the vote because he was campaigning, said during a stop in Wisconsin that the measure was not a serious IVF bill, but a measure designed to make Republicans look bad. "The Senate blocked a ridiculous showboat bill that had no chance of passing," Vance said. Republicans argued that the federal government shouldn't tell states what to do and that the bill was an unserious effort. Only Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted with Democrats to move forward on the bill both times. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said that Democrats are trying to create a political issue "where there isn't one." "Let me remind everybody that Republicans support IVF, full stop," Thune said just before the vote. Several Kashmiri political figures, including former members of banned separatist groups, have abandoned long-held separatist leanings and joined mainstream Indian politics. This shift in the disputed Himalayan regions political landscape comes as three weeks of voting begin on Wednesday in the first legislative assembly election since 2019 when India stripped Jammu and Kashmir, or J&K, of its limited autonomy. One such Kashmiri figure is Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, a prominent cleric whose anti-India anthems became popular during a 2016 uprising. Wagay is running simultaneously from prison in two central Kashmir constituencies known as Ganderbal and Beerwah. His family says that Wagays decision to run was inspired by the success of Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who while imprisoned in New Delhis Tihar Jail won a J&K seat in the Indian parliament during national elections earlier this year. Rashids victory gave his family a hope that winning the election could help get him out of prison, a family member, Rehbar Ahmad, told VOA. People from Beerwah and Ganderbal visited our home and assured us of their support, Ahmad said. He was popular in these areas because he used to deliver religious sermons there. He is getting a lot of support from the like-minded people who want to see political prisoners out of jail. In the heart of Kulgam district, Sayar Ahmad Reshi, a member of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, is campaigning door-to-door. The socio-religious organization was banned by the Indian government in early 2019, accused of engaging in activities that threatened Indias security, integrity and sovereignty. More than three decades ago, Jamaat-e-Islami participated in the Indian elections of 1987, but the group attributed its defeat to vote-rigging and has boycotted subsequent elections. This year, Jamaat-e-Islami decided to again participate in the elections but could not field candidates as a party because of the ban. Instead, they encouraged at least 10 members of their organization to run as independent candidates across the Kashmir Valley. Jamaat-e-Islami has never had issues with India, yet the organization is accused of promoting anti-India activities, Reshi told VOA. If any individual was involved in such a movement, it was their own doing because there were no directives from our leadership, he added. If Jamaat-e-Islami hadnt been banned, I would have contested under its banner with a clear manifesto for social reform and justice, Reshi said. I am hopeful that independent candidates of Jamaat-e-Islami will emerge victorious. Political analyst Muzamil Maqbool told VOA that many people who long opposed the integration of Kashmir with central India have changed their minds since the regions special autonomy was repealed in 2019. Kashmiri people are a leader-driven population, and all those leaders have deceived people through and through, he said. Now the same people are exercising their power under democracy through voting and taking part in elections. The candidacies of individuals previously associated with separatism have caused alarm among the regions strongest traditional parties, the National Conference, or NC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP. Both parties suspect that the nationally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has encouraged the trend in a bid to divide the vote and marginalize the regional parties. New Delhi always wanted to create an alternative here through the newly registered political parties which failed to score ... in the recently held parliamentary elections, Maqbool said. However, there has been an entire paradigm shift where the focus has been shifted to many individuals, young faces and religious leaders to create an independent alternative force against regional mainstream parties. Earlier, veteran separatist leader Salim Geelani, switched to mainstream politics after spending 35 years in Hurriyat Conference, an amalgam of separatist political parties in the Valley. He said that his decision to join PDP was driven by common goals including promoting infrastructure development and resolving Kashmirs status within India. How can I deny the fact that I carry an Indian passport and use Indian currency? J&K remains a conflict zone and the people who lost their lives over the years, regardless of their identities, were our children, he told VOA. Had there been no Kashmir issue the situation would be different today. I favored dialogue between all stakeholders of the region to resolve the Kashmir issue and I shall be in its favor forever, he added. BJP national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi welcomed the decision of those who have chosen to show faith in Indian democracy rather than pursue separatist goals. Everyone has a right to contest elections in a democracy and our democracy allows that. Nobody has a right to make statements that are secessionist in nature that promote any kind of disintegration of the country, Ilmi told VOA. A recent attempt by a Chinese man to illegally enter Taiwan after crossing the 180-kilometer-wide Taiwan Strait in a rubber boat is raising concerns on the island about its coastal defense capabilities and overall preparedness amid rising tensions between Beijing and Taipei. Last Saturday, a 30-year-old Chinese man surnamed Wang was spotted in a dinghy about 100 meters offshore near Taiwans northern Linkou District in New Taipei City at about 6:30 in the morning. After being treated for severe dehydration at a nearby hospital, Wang was detained by local authorities for illegally entering Taiwan. Wang told authorities that he was in debt in China and wanted to start a new life in Taiwan. Wang is one of 18 Chinese nationals who have tried to illegally enter Taiwan since July of last year. When reached for comment on the cases, Taiwans Coast Guard Administration declined to share how many of them were able to reach Taiwans shores, like Wang. In June, a former Chinese naval captain was able to reach the Tamsui ferry pier in Northern Taiwan on a speedboat, shocking many because of how far he was able to get before being detected. At the time, a Chinese man surnamed Ruan said he was fleeing to Taiwan seeking freedom after being threatened by Chinese police for sharing articles critical of the Chinese government. On Wednesday, however, a court in Taipei sentenced Ruan to eight months in prison for illegally entering Taiwan. He confessed to the crime but claimed his deep knowledge of the Chinese military could help Taiwan cope with threats posed by Beijing. Some experts say the two Chinese mens attempts to illegally enter Taiwan expose loopholes in Taiwans coastal defense capabilities. Even though Taiwans defense ministry has highlighted the strategic importance of defending coastal areas in northern Taiwan, Taiwans coast guard, which is in charge of coastal defense, has not prioritized setting up advanced surveillance technologies, such as infrared thermal cameras, in these areas, which lead to their failure of detecting the two Chinese men before they reach Taiwanese shores, said Chieh Chung, a military researcher at the National Policy Foundation in Taiwan. Some lawmakers from Taiwans main opposition party Kuomintang, who favor friendly relations with China, say the two incidents show the Taiwanese government has failed to provide the coast guard with adequate funding and the right equipment to monitor attempted illegal entry. In response to opposition lawmakers criticism of underfunding the coast guard, Taiwans Premier Cho Jung-tai vowed to accelerate the review of the recent incidents and determine whether the coast guard needs more advanced technologies or personnel to support their work. Apart from accelerating the installation of advanced surveillance technologies along coastal areas in northern Taiwan, Chieh said Taiwans coast guard should consider strengthening coastal patrols by purchasing commercial drones and increasing coordination with Taiwanese fishermen. Taiwans coast guard can use commercial drones to help conduct patrols along coastal areas during the day and Taiwanese fishermen could immediately inform the coast guard if they spot any unusual vessels in waters near Taiwanese shores, he told VOA in a phone interview. Growing gray zone challenges Intrusions into Taiwanese waters by Chinese coast guard vessels also are posing a problem for Taiwans Coast Guard Administration and raising questions about preparedness. This is particularly true in waters off Taiwans outlying Kinmen and Matsu islands, which are just a few kilometers from Chinas coast. Late last week, Taiwan said four Chinese coast guard vessels entered restricted waters near Kinmen, prompting Taipei to deploy four coast guard vessels to drive away the Chinese vessels. The incident was the 39th incursion carried out by Chinese coast guard vessels this year, officials said. While Beijing describes the incursions, which include boarding Taiwanese vessels, as being part of law enforcement patrols, analysts in Taiwan say they challenge Taipeis territorial claims around its outlying islands and are unilaterally seeking to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. Chieh said since the Taiwanese government has focused on enhancing wartime coordination between the coast guard and the navy over the last few years, it has overlooked the need to strengthen the Taiwanese coast guards maritime law enforcement capabilities and upgrade its vessels and training. Some of the coast guard vessels that Taiwan purchased in previous years are not suitable to engage in close-range encounters with Chinese coast guard vessels because the structure of those vessels is not solid enough, he told VOA. Some analysts suggest Taiwan should carry out a series of reforms to rapidly enhance the coast guards capabilities. The Taiwanese government should enhance the coast guards budget, increase their manpower, and strengthen their law enforcement capabilities by arranging exchanges with other countries coast guard, Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told VOA by phone. Military analysts say China likely will maintain high-level pressure on Taiwan through repeated coast guard incursions in the coming months, and Taipei should ensure its coast guard has enough support to cope with the wide range of challenges that Beijing poses. Instead of letting the coast guard oversee both Taiwans maritime defense and coastal defense, the Taiwanese government should consider assigning some of the responsibilities to the army or the navy, Lin Ying-yu, a military expert at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told VOA by phone. Tensions are soaring in East Africa as neighbors Ethiopia and Somalia dispute a maritime pact. In the latest, Addis Ababa has warned its rivals there would be severe retaliation if any country attempted to invade Ethiopia. On September 8, in a televised address marking Ethiopias sovereignty day, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said, Anyone intending to invade Ethiopia should not only think just once but 10 times because Ethiopians know how to defend themselves, adding that any attack would be repelled. Abiy might not have directed his comments to any country in particular, but Ethiopia is locked in a dispute with Somalia and Egypt. With Somalia, the tensions center on a port deal that landlocked Ethiopia signed in January with Somalias breakaway region Somaliland. Its a deal that Somalia has described as an act of aggression. The tensions with Egypt are over a long-running dispute about a large dam that Addis Ababa built on a tributary of the Nile River. Ethiopia's chief of general staff of the National Defense Force, Birhanu Jula, accused an "old enemy" regarding an old problem. On September 8, while attending the 47th anniversary of the Eastern Command in Somali regions, he said: "Egypt made us landlocked by causing Eritrea to secede from Ethiopia. That is false. Egypt had nothing to do with Eritrea seceding from Ethiopia. On August 28, Egypt delivered its first military aid to Somalia in over four decades, a move that was likely to deepen strains between the two countries and Ethiopia, Reuters reported. Cairos aid included weapons and ammunition. It will also send 5,000 troops next year to join the AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, which will take over from the AU Transition Mission in Somalia or ATMIS, and another 5,000 to be deployed separately. Somalia had turned to Egypt for help protecting its waters after Ethiopia entered a maritime deal with its breakaway region, Somaliland, which Somalia considers part of its territory. In the deal, Somaliland agreed to give Ethiopia access to its port and lease section of its coast land to build a naval base for 99 years. In exchange, Ethiopia promised to be the first country to recognize Somaliland, which seceded from Somalia in 1991. In an exclusive interview with VOA Somali and Horn of Africa services, Richard Riley, the U.S. Ambassador to Somalia, said the U.S., which is the single largest donor to Somalia, is aware of the maritime deal and is working to find a diplomatic resolution to this current situation. We do not recognize it [maritime deal] and are trying to solve it through diplomatic channels, Riley said. He also said the U.S. would extend full support to any mission whose objective was to make Somalia peaceful. Eritrea's journey to independence, including the mobilization of a national liberation movement and a referendum observed by the U.N., entails a brutal 30-year war that started in 1961. Eritrea became independent in 1993, therefore leaving Ethiopia landlocked. Since then, it has been involved in conflict with its neighbors, primarily Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan. More recently, Somalia also has become embroiled in the dispute, as Ethiopia seeks to gain access to the Red Sea. Ethiopia has reignited a decade-long-running dispute with Egypt over Addis Ababa's construction of a vast hydro dam on a tributary of the Nile River, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, or GERD. On August 25, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy posted on X regarding the start of the fifth stage of the first filling of the GERD reservoir and the operation of the third and fourth turbines of the GERD. In protest, Egypt said it had exhausted all ways possible to stop the completion and filling of the dam, and it stands ready to exercise its right to defend and protect the rights and interests of the Egyptian people, per the U.N. Charter, according to a letter written on September 1 to the U.N. by Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Badr Abdel. Egypt and Sudan consider the dam a serious threat to their vital water supplies. On November 7 of last year, Abiy told a group of businesspeople that Ethiopia had a right to access the Red Sea, and that it would do so by force or peace. A Ukrainian drone attack Wednesday on a Russian warehouse sparked an earthquake-like blast and fire that forced the evacuation of a town in Russias Tver region. "The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets," said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, Reuters reported. "Everything that can burn is already burning there (and exploding)." Earthquake monitors picked up what was thought to be a small earthquake, and NASA satellites noted a huge heat source in the same area. Igor Rudenya, governor of the Tver region, said on Telegram that the drones had been shot down and a fire was burning, but the situation was under control. Reuters showed what it said was unverified video of the warehouse explosion to George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies who said the footage was consistent with 200 to 240 tons of explosives detonating. In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not mention the blast specifically. "A very important result was achieved last night on Russian territory and such actions weaken the enemy," he said. "I thank everyone involved. Such precision is truly inspiring." Ukraines state security service earlier said the warehouse held missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition. Previously, Russian media had called the site a major conventional arms arsenal. Earlier, Russias Defense Ministry said Wednesday it destroyed 54 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 27 over the Kursk region, 16 over Bryansk, seven over Smolensk, three over Belgorod and one over Oryol. Officials in those regions did not report any serious damage or casualties. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted border regions such as Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod. The attack on Tver, about 500 kilometers from the border, is not as common, but is an example of what Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said they want to do in order to hit Russian military infrastructure that could be used to attack Ukraine. Ukraines military said Wednesday that Russias latest round of overnight attacks included three guided missiles and 52 aerial drones. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 46 of the 52 drones, with intercepts taking place over the Cherkasy, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy and Vinnytsia regions, the military said. Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters Russia's military is bigger and stronger than it was prior to invading Ukraine in February 2022, the commander of United States Air Forces in Europe and Africa cautioned Tuesday. "Russia is getting larger, and they're getting better than they were before. They are actually larger than they were when [the invasion] kicked off," Air Force General James Hecker told reporters at the Air & Space Forces Association's annual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The improvements come despite heavy casualties inflicted by Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has estimated that since 2022, more than 350,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded. "The rates of casualties that they're experiencing are staggering," Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday in response to a question from VOA. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that the Russian army grow by 180,000 active-duty troops for a total of 1.5 million soldiers, making Russia's military the second largest in the world, behind China's. "Russia is going to be something that we're going to have to deal with for a long time, no matter how this thing ends," Hecker said. However, William Pomeranz, a senior scholar at the Kennan Institute, told VOA that "this move suggests that Vladimir Putin is losing the war." "This is an open signal from Vladimir Putin that his army and his military is in trouble and doesn't have the resources to maintain troops in the field," Pomeranz said. Despite Russian improvements on the battlefield, Ukraine has continued to put chinks in Russia's armor, shooting down more than 100 Russian aircraft since Moscow began its full-scale invasion, which amounts to dozens more aircraft than Russia has been able to down on the Ukrainian side, according to General Hecker. "So what we see is the aircraft are kind of staying on their own side of the line, if you will, and when that happens, you have a war like we're seeing today, with massive attrition, cities just being demolished, a lot of civilian casualties," he said. To gain even the slightest advantages in a war where no clear side dominates the skies, Ukraine has turned to low-cost solutions that also appeal to the U.S. military. "We have to get on the right side of the cost curve with this. Taking down $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 one-way UAVs [drones] with $1 million missiles, we just can't afford to do that in the long-term," the general told reporters. General Chance Saltzman, the chief of the U.S. Space Force, announced Tuesday that a Space Force pilot program that uses commercial satellite imagery and related analytics to create more situational awareness for military leaders has proven very cost-effective when compared with traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection via U.S. MQ-9 drones, which are expensive and limited in number. AFRICOM was able to use the $40 million Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking Program to maintain situational awareness during the full withdrawal of U.S. forces from two air bases in Niger in July and August. The drawback, however, was that instead of real-time situational awareness, the data took one to four hours to get to the security team. "Not as good as real time, right? With MQ-9 that you would have, but it's better than nothing, right?" Hecker said. Hecker also said the U.S. was looking into more cost-effective ways to sense incoming threats around bases, including methods like Ukraine's Sky Fortress system that uses thousands of inexpensive sensors to identify aerial threats. He says the technology has been demonstrated in Romania and other countries. BEIRUT, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A member of Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, was killed early Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike on a southern Lebanese village, according to military sources and the brigades. The military sources said an Israeli warplane targeted a house in the village of Blida with two air-to-ground missiles, killing a member of the brigades, destroying the house, and damaging other neighboring homes. The sources added a civil defense vehicle has worked to transfer the dead to the Tebnine Governmental Hospital in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Al-Quds Brigades mourned in a statement for one of its members, identified as Mohammed Abdallah Al-Abdallah, saying he was killed in southern Lebanon while performing his combat duty. The military sources reported that Israeli warplanes and drones also carried out airstrikes at dawn targeting the town of Adaisseh and the municipality of Chihine, both in southern Lebanon. In addition, Israeli artillery shelled the area of al-Labouneh in the western sector and tents in the eastern sector, causing only material damage, they noted. Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. The border tensions further mounted as deadly pager blasts allegedly carried out by Israel killed nine people and injured more than 2,800 others, including Hezbollah members, in Lebanon on Tuesday, according to tallies from the Lebanese Health Ministry. Shortly after the explosions, Hezbollah declared it was "at the highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon and its people," blaming Israel for the "criminal attack" and vowing to retaliate. U.S. lawmakers welcomed Vladimir Kara-Murza to Capitol Hill Tuesday, celebrating the release of the Russian activist from a Kremlin prison last month. Kara-Murza was part of the biggest prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia since the end of the Cold War. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin said Tuesday that Kara-Murza "was at the forefront of the human rights struggle and an inspiration for so many people around the world." In a letter written upon Kara-Murza's release, Cardin said, "Your return home is both a personal victory and a testament to the unwavering strength of the human spirit." Democratic Representative Bill Keating described Kara-Murza as one of the people Russian President Vladimir Putin most despises because of his ability to speak directly to the Russian people. Kara-Murza has twice survived suspected poisoning attempts. Kara-Murza, a deputy leader of the People's Freedom Party, was arrested in Russia in April 2022 and later faced charges of treason and spreading disinformation about the Russian military. Russian prosecutors suggested he face the maximum 25-year sentence in a prison colony. Kara-Murza was awarded the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in October 2022 and the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2024. "Surreal doesn't come close to describing what I feel just a few weeks ago sitting in a maximum-security prison in Siberia and now seeing so many friends in the halls of the U.S. Congress," Kara-Murza told a gathering of lawmakers, journalists and activists on Capitol Hill. Kara-Murza thanked the public for keeping their attention focused on his situation. "The only way we will be able to achieve long-term peace, stability, security and democracy on the European continent will be with a peaceful, free and democratic Russia," he said. The Biden administration secured the release of 16 detainees in return for the release of eight detainees and two minors on Aug. 1. James O'Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, thanked Kara-Murza for his work on the Global Magnitsky Act, bipartisan legislation that authorizes the U.S. government to sanction government officials throughout the world who are human rights offenders. "Vladimir, you gave us one of the main tools that we use to focus our advocacy for your freedom in the Global Magnitsky Act, and your work on that, I'm sure you didn't do it as a tool for yourself, but your work on that has helped us enormously as we work to free prisoners in the Western Hemisphere, in other countries across the world," O'Brien said. Democratic Senator Chris Coons said Putin is still holding untold numbers of political prisoners in Russia. "We must realize [Putin] does that, like all authoritarians, because he's afraid, afraid of his own people, afraid of accountability, afraid of the Ukrainians who just on the border of Russia are fighting with determination," Coons said. A senior U.S. State Department official said Wednesday that Beijing's support for Moscows defense industry comes directly from the top leadership of the Peoples Republic of China, or PRC. The official also pointed out that chips supplied by China have significantly bolstered Russia's battlefield capabilities in its war against Ukraine. For months, U.S. officials have accused the PRC of actively aiding Russia's war effort. Washington has sanctioned Chinese firms providing crucial components to Russia's defense industry. On Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told lawmakers that the U.S. had been slow to fully grasp the "absolute intensity of engagement" between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. "The most worrisome thing is that it [Chinas support for Russia] comes from the very top," Campbell said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. He added that chips, some design features, some capacities associated with the making of explosives have been enhancing Russia's battlefield operations. We see the role of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones] and other capacities that are penetrating the Ukrainian airspace. Much of that has been supported surreptitiously by China, and it raises real concerns. Chinese officials rejected Washingtons accusations, asserting that the U.S. should not "smear or attack the normal relations between China and Russia" or infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of China and its companies. Beijing also continues to call for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine leading to a political settlement, more than two and a half years into the war. Some members of Congress have urged President Joe Bidens administration to sanction Chinese banks for supporting Russias war on Ukraine. We've put many of their [PRC] financial institutions on watch. We've got to have Europeans with us. I think we're beginning to make headway, said Campbell. The State Departments second-ranking diplomat said the challenges posed to the U.S. by the PRC exceed those of the Cold War, following a large-scale joint military exercise between China and Russia. Dubbed Ocean-2024, the massive naval and air drills spanned a huge swath of ocean and involved more than 400 naval vessels, at least 120 military aircraft and upward of 90,000 troops, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Without naming specific countries, Chinese officials said that the military exercise between the two allies, which concluded Monday, was intended to address joint threats. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, elaborated during a recent briefing in Beijing, saying, China and Russia [held] this joint exercise in order to deepen their mil-to-mil strategic coordination and strengthen the capacity to jointly address security threats. The United States has identified and taken down a botnet campaign by China-directed hackers to further infiltrate American infrastructure as well as a variety of internet-connected devices. FBI Director Christopher Wray announced the disruption of what he called Flax Typhoon during a cyber summit Wednesday in Washington, describing it as part of a much larger campaign by Beijing. Flax Typhoon hijacked Internet-of-Things devices like cameras, video recorders and storage devices things typically found across both big and small organizations, Wray said. And about half of those hijacked devices were located here in the U.S. Wray said the hackers, working under the guise of an information security company called the Integrity Technology Group, collected information from corporations, media organizations, universities and government agencies. They used internet-connected devices this time, hundreds of thousands of them to create a botnet that helped them compromise systems and exfiltrate confidential data, he said. But Flax Typhoons operations were disrupted last week when the FBI, working with allies and under court orders, took control of the botnet and pursued the hackers when they tried to switch to a backup system. We think the bad guys finally realized that it was the FBI and our partners that they were up against, Wray said. And with that realization, they essentially burned down their new infrastructure and abandoned their botnet. Wray said Flax Typhoon appeared to build on the exploits and tactics of another China-linked hacking group, known as Volt Typhoon, which was identified by Microsoft in May of last year. Volt Typhoon used office network equipment, including routers, firewalls and VPN hardware, to infiltrate and disrupt communications infrastructure in Guam, home to key U.S. military facilities. The Chinese Embassy in Washington Wednesday rejected the U.S accusations. "Without valid evidence, the U.S. jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations" Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told VOA in an email, responding to the allegations about Flax Typhoon. "The U.S. itself is the origin and the biggest perpetrator of cyberattacks," Liu added. "We urge the U.S. to stop its worldwide cyber espionage and cyberattacks, and stop smearing other countries under the excuse of cyber security." The FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have previously warned that Chinese-government directed hackers, like Volt Typhoon, have been positioning themselves to launch destructive cyberattacks that could jeopardize the physical safety of Americans. Following Wednesdays announcement by the FBI, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) issued an advisory encouraging anyone with a device that was compromised by Flax Typhoon to apply needed patches. It said that as of this past June, the Flax Typhoon botnet was making use of more than 260,000 devices in North America, Europe, Africa and Southeast East. The NSA said almost half of the compromised devices were in the U.S. Another 18 countries, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Albania, China, South Africa and India, were also impacted. Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who stood against President Nicolas Maduro in July's election, on Wednesday said he was forced to sign a letter accepting a ruling from the country's top court that recognized Maduro's victory. "Either I signed or I faced the consequences," he said in a statement. Gonzalez is currently in Spain, where he was granted political asylum earlier this month following the issue of a warrant for his arrest in Venezuela. The national electoral council proclaimed Maduro the victor of the July 28 presidential election, prompting allegations of fraud and widespread protest as the opposition published vote tallies online that they said showed Gonzalez had won. Earlier this week, a U.N. report said Maduro's government escalated repressive tactics to crush peaceful protests and keep power in the aftermath of the South American country's disputed election. The declaration by Venezuela's top electoral authority was approved by the country's Supreme Court, even though officials have not published vote tallies showing Maduro's victory. Gonzalez said he was met at the Spanish embassy in Caracas by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and her brother Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly, who gave him the letter to sign. "There followed very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure," Gonzalez said, adding he felt he would be more useful in freedom than locked up. "A document produced under duress is totally worthless, due to a serious lack of consent," the statement added. In Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez presented a two-page letter signed by Gonzalez and said the former presidential candidate, 75, had 24 hours to retract his claims. "If you don't deny that in 24 hours, I'm going to release the audios, it's up to you, Mr. Gonzalez," Rodriguez said, referring to the meetings he and his sister held with Gonzalez. A group of young activists in Turkey known as 1000 Youth for Palestine is posing a rare and potent challenge to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by using social media to expose Turkey's ongoing trade with Israel. This, despite Erdogan's public claims that he has imposed a strict trade embargo on Israel over the war in Gaza. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the group's message is crossing the deep political, social and religious divides of Turkey. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Ohio Haitian Migrants: A small town in the Midwestern state of Ohio finds itself at the center of a controversy involving fake news about migrants eating residents pet cats and dogs. VOA Creole traveled to Springfield and has this report. A majority of Zimbabweans say they prefer democracy to any other kind of government, but only a minority are satisfied with the way democracy works in their country, a recent Afrobarometer study reveals. Majorities in the survey rejected one-man rule, one-party rule, and military rule. But many citizens do not see Zimbabwe as a well-functioning democracy. According to the Afrobarometer findings, more than eight in 10 Zimbabweans (85%) say they prefer democracy to any other kind of government but more than half of citizens (56%) believe Zimbabwe is not a democracy (23%) or a democracy with major problems. Fully half (50%) say they are not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with how democracy works in the country. Strong majorities reject one-man rule (88%), one-party rule (72%), and military rule (72%) (Figure 4). Urbanites are more likely than rural residents to reject one-party rule (77% vs. 69%) and military rule (77% vs. 69%), while opposition to one-man rule is similarly strong in both (89% urban vs. 87% rural). Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life. Nine survey rounds in up to 42 countries have been completed since 1999. Afrobarometers national partners conduct face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondents choice. The Afrobarometer team in Zimbabwe, led by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI), interviewed 1,200 adult citizens between 1 and 15 June 2024. More than 3,600 chemicals used in food packaging or preparation have been detected in human bodies, some of which are hazardous to health, while little is known about others, a study published on Tuesday said. Around 100 of these chemicals are considered to be of "high concern" to human health, said lead study author Birgit Geueke from the Food Packaging Forum Foundation, a Zurich-based NGO. Some of these chemicals are relatively well-studied and have already been found in human bodies, such as PFAS and bisphenol A -- both of which are the target of bans. But little is known about the health effects of others, Geueke told AFP, calling for more research into how chemicals used in packaging end up being swallowed along with food. The researchers had previously catalogued around 14,000 food contact chemicals (FCCs), which are capable of "migrating" into food from packaging made of plastic, paper, glass, metal or other materials. They can also come from other parts of the food-making process, such as from conveyer belts or kitchen utensils. The researchers then searched for these chemicals in existing biomonitoring databases, which track chemicals in human samples. The team was expecting to find a few hundred FCCs, Geueke said. Instead, they were surprised to find 3,601 -- a quarter of all the known FCCs. Geueke emphasised that this study could not show that all these chemicals necessarily ended up in bodies from food packaging, as "other exposure sources are possible". Among the "high concern" chemicals were numerous PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, which have been detected in many parts of the human body in recent years and linked to a range of health problems. Also detected was bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical used to make plastics that has already been banned from baby bottles in many countries. Another hormone-disrupting chemical was phthalates, which has been linked to infertility. Less is known about oligomers, which are also byproducts of plastic production. "There is almost no evidence on the health effects of these chemicals," Geueke said. - Reduce contact with packaging - When it comes to toxicology, an old saying is that "the dose makes the poison". A limitation of the study was that it could not say whether there were particularly high concentrations of any of the chemicals, Geueke acknowledged. But she warned that these chemicals can interact with each other, pointing to a single sample that had up to 30 different PFAS. Geueke recommended that people reduce their contact time with packaging -- and to avoid heating up food in the packaging it came in. Duane Mellor, an expert in evidence-based medicine at the UK's Aston University and not involved in the research, praised the "very thorough piece of work". "However, it does not cover how much of these chemicals we are exposed to and hints at other sources of these chemicals in our environment," he told AFP. Rather than being "unduly alarmed", Mellor suggested that people "demand better data and minimise unnecessary exposure to chemicals which may ultimately impact our health". Some of the chemicals are also already facing bans. The European Union is in the final stages of banning the use of PFAS in food packaging. The EU has also proposed a similar ban for bisphenol A from the end of this year. The study was published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. dl/rlp/bc Bad Monkey went a little Lost on us this week. No, I dont mean the potentially magical island or the wild character matchups. Im talking about meaningful flashbacks that provide rich and unexpected backstories. Sure, we got some flashbacks of Yancy doing his thing at the Miami PD and pushing Bonnies abusive husband into the ocean, and we did get a full episode detailing Eve and Nicks gross relationship origin story, but this episode takes a deep dive into the world of the Dragon Queen, formerly known as Gracie, and the revelations are tragic. This week, the narrator makes a point of calling the queen by her given name, Gracie. Hes referred to her in passing by that name before, most notably when she and her friend Asia drank rose and gossiped on the beach, but he doesnt diverge from it throughout this episode. As we learn more about Gracies history, we get the sense that she has struggled with her persona for a long time, perhaps since she was born. At the top of the episode, Gracie flashes back to her childhood: Ya-Ya is by her side at every step. Gracies mother dies, and Ya-Ya wants to train her granddaughter in the magical ways of the family. Ya-Ya is a constant, loving presence, but she also seems to be pushing her granddaughter into a life that she might not want. The flashback sequence is almost painful to watch. A young Gracie rebels, sneaking out to kiss a dipshit white boy from the mainland, and he subsequently breaks her heart when he basically tells her she was just a fun part of his vacation. She curses him, hoping he chokes to death. And then he does. No great loss. (Note: The dipshits death is not explicitly discussed in this episode but was mentioned by Ya-Ya back in the second episode. Doubting her power, Gracie chalks it up to coincidence, but we all know whats really up.) Gracie takes her heartbreak as a sign that she is ready to level up. Ya-Ya trains her, Miyagi-style, with lots of rules for the first phase of her training. She must speak with no one but Ya-Ya for a full year. She must wear white and stay out of the sun. Its isolating for a young woman, and the rest of the community begins to form opinions about her. As her life flashes before her in Eves trunk, the loneliness is what she remembers. After Gracie is released and finds out that Eve and Nick were the ones who kidnapped her Rob Delaney for the win with his goofy line reading of Whos got one thumb and can still kidnap the shit out of women? she and Eve have a chat. Eve was a bit taken aback by Gracies initial threats but counters with her own threat, stating that she would tell Gracie to ask around about what happens to people who fuck with her, but none of them are around anymore. Its a terrifying retort, and Gracie realizes how badly shes read this situation. Shortly thereafter, she decides to sell the land to Eve and Nick. Its kind of a blow to the overall moral standing of her character, but we can tell that shes never truly felt free and that she believes this money will help her to escape some of her demons. Ya-Ya, on the other hand, knows better. The wonderful L. Scott Caldwell has quietly been sitting on the sidelines, waiting to play the earth-shattering moments in this episode. As Ya-Ya confronts her granddaughter about the scam shes pulling with the land, Caldwell accesses a deep reserve of regret and sorrow, one of a caretaker regretting past decisions theyve made raising a child while futilely trying to warn them of future danger. Gracies resentment toward her grandmother clouds her ability to hear her words in the present. Ya-Ya tells her, in no uncertain terms, You have stepped into the middle of your own curse! That will be most difficult to undo! Then, she drops a truly chilling bomb, Mark my words, if you dont get off this path right now, it will cost you your life. Gracie, like most rebellious children, doesnt listen. She sells her soul to the failed actress and the one-armed man, but shes conflicted about the whole thing. When she seeks out her friend Asia, she finds that Asia has been listening to Drea, the daughter of the man whose land she sold. Asia was the only person who stayed by Gracies side throughout her year of magical training, but now shes (understandably) angry that her friend would steal from a dead man. Gracie reels on Asia, telling her that the Gracie she knew is gone and that she is now the Dragon Queen. Jodie Turner-Smith infuses this moment with sharp, layered meaning, her intense gaze unwavering but her lip trembling ever so slightly. Gracie is not actually ready to fully embrace her intimidating Dragon Queen persona in fact, shes struggling with the decision to cast off her life on Andros altogether but shes invoking it here to scare her friend into leaving her alone. It works. Later, Gracie goes back to her house and smashes up the mystical altar that she and Ya-Ya have maintained over the years. Egg finds her there, and they hook up. At this moment, it feels like Ya-Ya is right and that Gracie is going down a dark path from which she cant turn back. I could seriously talk about Ya-Ya and Gracie all day, but other things did happen in this episode. Sadly, the Bonnie story drags on, taking away screen time that could be used to further the intrigue on Andros, or to continue the hilarious feud between Evan Shook and Yancy, or really anything else other than more slog-like sex-offender drama. Bonnie returns to Key West, and Yancy helps her decide that she needs to atone for her sins by giving her the pickle speech, and she turns herself in when she sees the camera planted in her storage unit. The detective comes to take her back to Oklahoma while Cody and Scott Glenn (he has a name now, its Jim, but Im still calling him Scott Glenn, sorry, not sorry) head to Yancys. Yancy has had quite a day. He and Rogelio stake out the vet where Mendezs cat is being assessed. Mendez is a childless cat man, and he loves that cat more than anything, so even though hes on the run, he comes to check on his baby. Yancy and Rogelio arrest him, but then Mendez uses Rogelios daughters unicorn hair clip to undo his cuffs and steal a gun. Theres a shootout. Rogelio gets shot in the leg, and our old friend Donald gets shot in the arm. Yancy finally takes Mendez down, and as a prize for this capture and the information Neville brought in on the Striplings, Yancy gets his badge back. Its all hes ever wanted, and he also has Rosa by his side. Rosa has a heavy moment in this episode when she goes back to work and finds the cadaver of a 6-year-old child on her table: The parents got drunk at a BBQ and forgot he was in the pool. As the camera lingers on the tiny hands and feet, its a depressing beat that feels a bit out of step with the playful tone of the rest of the show, but it does get Rosa thinking about finding a new job. Meanwhile, Yancy meets with the Feds. A woman called Director Rhodes steps out of a black SUV and gives Yancy the rundown. They are aware that the Striplings are in Andros and that they probably killed a mess of people before escaping. Theyre investigating the insurance fraud because, lets face it, the government prizes companies over people but theyre not working to extradite the mass murderers at this time. This is half understandable and half infuriating. These two have demonstrated that theyre fully willing to kill people if they get in their way, and Neville has provided them with information that theyre working to upend the entire social, business, and environmental norms in Andros. It seems like they remain a pretty big threat, but I guess theyre not causing problems on American soil, so who cares? Yancy is angry, but it doesnt seem like theres much he can do, so he goes home to snuggle on the couch with Rosa. Its a full house when Cody and Scott Glenn show up, then some uninvited visitors case the place, automatic weapons in silhouette. Has Evan Shook finally lost his mind? Did the Striplings spend some extra cash to eliminate Yancy once and for all? Did Mendez call in a favor to some friends after getting nabbed by his rival? Yancy has quite a few enemies, so itll be a real guess who until next week. Monkeying Around The funniest moment of the episode is when Yancy says that the whole situation with the Striplings was pretty painless, to which Rogelio deadpans, I got shot. The camera then quickly shifts to Neville who says, Me too. The Striplings are causing all sorts of chaos! Before Yancy gets his badge back, he goes out on one more food-inspector job, checking out the heinous conditions of the rat-infested place that Sonny likes. Hes about to shut the place down the owner even agrees that the civilization of rats that have flourished in [the] kitchen is not a good thing but then Madeline and Pestov beg him to keep it open for Phinneys memorial service. Its fun to see these two paired together, and even funnier to think that another person might possibly die of food poisoning at this hellhole of a restaurant that just cant be closed. Im unsure why the pickle speech is called the pickle speech, presumably because you need to think about it if youre in a pickle? But it feels like a very Good Place mantra, and I like it, so here it is in its brief entirety: If you screw up, the easiest thing is to lie, but that never works, because the way that you feel about yourself, that sticks with you forever. Gracies bold and luminous eye-shadow choices are constantly on point. Forget the skin-care routine that Eve keeps begging for, I desperately need to know what color palette shes using. Tom Petty Cover Watch: There are two prominent Petty covers in this episode: Supernatural Radio, by Goldford, and Dont Fade on Me, by Chiiild. Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Pirapan Salirathavibhaga addresses the launch event of Chinese automaker Changan Automobile's premium electric vehicle (EV) brand AVATR in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sept. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Weitong) BANGKOK, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese automaker Changan Automobile officially launched its premium electric vehicle (EV) brand AVATR in Thailand on Tuesday in a move to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian country's upscale automotive market. The event showcased the debut of the AVATR 11, an SUV coupe that marks Changan's fourth model introduction in Thailand, following the launches of the Deepal L07 and S07 last year and the Lumin L earlier this year. Available in both standard and long-range variants, the AVATR 11 features a modern, luxurious design, state-of-the-art battery technology, and advanced driving assistance systems, positioning it as a strong contender in the luxury EV segment. "AVATR is committed to leading in the development of EVs, meeting current needs, and moving toward a future of smart automotive solutions connected to daily life," said Shen Xinghua, managing director of Changan Auto Southeast Asia. Together with its major partners, China's leading battery manufacturer CATL and technology giant Huawei, Changan has developed cutting-edge automotive innovations, signifying a new era of intelligent driving where technology and convenience are seamlessly integrated, Shen told the launch event. In his opening speech, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Pirapan Salirathavibhaga highlighted the importance of investments from Chinese carmakers in stimulating the economy and aiding the development of Thailand's industrial sector. Last year, Changan announced an investment of 8.86 billion baht (about 265 million U.S. dollars) to construct its first overseas EV production plant in Thailand, which is scheduled to start operation in 2025 with an initial capacity of 100,000 units per year. Thailand has long been a regional automotive manufacturing and export hub. With the government's investment promotion efforts, the nation aims to convert 30 percent of its annual auto production into EVs by 2030. An AVATR 11 model car of Chinese automaker Changan Automobile is seen in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sept. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Weitong) Photo-Illustration: Vulture This story was originally published in 2017 and has been updated with additional horror-movie remakes, including Speak No Evil. There are so many try-hard reboots and hollow sequels in horror that it can be hard to remember that some legacy properties can (and should) be properly dusted off. In that spirit, Vulture has compiled a list of scary-movie remakes that are truly worth your time: thrill rides that improved upon their source material, matched wits with the classics that came before them, or, in a few cases, nobly committed to turning bad first movies into highly entertaining second efforts. From alien parasites lurking in Antarctic research facilities to girls getting picked off on sorority row, here are the horror remakes that will make you glad Hollywood took a second stab at. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) The classic tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was remade a handful of times at the start of the 20th century, but well refer you to the 1920 version of the movie starring John Barrymore as Dr. Henry Jekyll. The silent film was groundbreaking in its presentation of Jekylls transformation from the good doctor to the fiendish Mr. Hyde, utilizing minimal makeup and almost no effects, relying instead on Barrymores ability to contort his face to properly monstrous effect. It was a shock for cinema fans of the day, and one of the first truly great American horror films. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) The original Body Snatchers came out in 1956, and it remains one of the great American horror films this day. In an incredibly impressive feat, the same can be said for the 1978 remake starring Donald Sutherland as a San Francisco man witnessing the takeover of humanity by an alien race in need of a new home planet to colonize. The performances are outstanding. The practical effects are chilling. And that final shot featuring Sutherland with his finger pointing and his mouth agape is iconic. The Thing (1982) While Howard Hawkss 1951 film The Thing From Another World is a great movie, John Carpenters 1982 remake is arguably the definitive adaptation of John W. Campbell Jr.s novella, Who Goes There? Kurt Russell stars as R.J. MacReady, a helicopter pilot at an Antarctic research station thats about to be laid to waste by an extraterrestrial parasite that infiltrates host bodies and imitates their traits. The slowly building paranoia that turns the Antarctic group against one another still holds up, and the groundbreaking VFX continue to provoke a sort of visceral terror. The Fly (1986) How do you top one of the great science-fiction horror films of all time, especially one starring the incomparable Vincent Price? You tap David Cronenberg to direct your remake and cast the just-as-incomparable Jeff Goldblum. The 1986 Fly focuses on a brilliant scientist who slowly morphs into a man-fly hybrid after a teleportation experiment goes terribly awry, and it showcases one of the most truly disturbing feats of practical effects in all of movie history. That part is no surprise, considering Cronenberg is the undisputed king of gruesome screen transformations (see: Videodrome, Scanners, Naked Lunch, The Brood, and so on), but the emotional weight that Goldblum and his co-star Geena Davis bring to the relationship between Seth Brundle and Veronica Quaife sets the physical horror up to be so very devastating in the end. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Cape Fear (1991) Even more crazy than the twisted reality of Cape Fear is the fact that it was a Spielberg movie before it landed in the much more logical hands of Martin Scorseses. Max Cady, played by Robert Mitchum in the original, is a convict who spent his years in jail obsessing over how he would get revenge on the lawyer who manipulated evidence to ensure his guilty verdict. For the 1991 update, Robert De Niro turns the terror up even higher for his take on Cady, and Scorsese puts out a bare-knuckle thriller thats pulpier than almost anything else in his repertoire. The entire cast is hitting the gas alongside De Niro in this Cape Fear. Jessica Lange, Nick Nolte, and young Juliette Lewis all end up circling the drain thanks to Cadys manipulations and attacks. Its as uncomfortable as it is harrowing. The Ring (2002) This Gore Verbinski remake of the 1998 Japanese classic may just be the scariest PG-13 movie of all time. Naomi Watts stars as a Seattle journalist whose niece dies after watching a mysterious tape. After she and her son both watch the same tape, Wattss character has one week to find out what happened to the creepy little girl from the home movie and how to keep herself and her son from falling victim to her curse. This stylish and disturbing winner may have opened the floodgates for a wave of lesser American attempts at bringing J-horror home (The Grudge, Dark Water, Pulse, etc.), but The Ring lives on as a triumphant adaptation. The Amityville Horror (2005) Another one from the Its the 2000s, so lets reboot all the classics! phase, The Amityville Horror is a respectable remake of the famous original from 1979. It tells the story of the Lutz family, a husband, wife, and daughter who move into a grand home in the woods where a man once murdered his entire family. The trauma of that heinous crime has infected the home in Amityville, and as the past surfaces, the new inhabitants are tormented. Like we said before, the years of music-video horror were great for putting attractive people in extreme duress, but Amityville became the example nonpareil, with star Ryan Reynolds showing off his iconic shirtless in pajama pants look. The movie mostly came and went, but its possible that naked torso Reynolds chopping wood and wearing those barely hanging on PJ bottoms launched his career as we know it today. Halloween (2007) There are eight movies in the original Halloween universe, starting with John Carpenters classic first film in 1978 and ending with Halloween: Resurrection in 2002. Instead of trying to elbow in and make number nine, director Rob Zombie chose instead to start from scratch. He reinvented the origin story of Michael Myers with his signature trash-horror style, but without taking it into full blown House of 1,000 Corpses territory. Everything in this reboot is a little more intense, a little more uncomfortable, and a lot more metal, as we get a closer look at Michaels time in psychiatric care as well as his murderously arrested development. Its also got Malcolm McDowell, which should tip you off to exactly how fucked up this movie is going to be. Quarantine (2008) The Spanish horror film [REC] is a found-footage zombie movie from 2007 that spawned three sequels and this American remake. And even though the Stateside version didnt kick off its own franchise, this tight, terrifying tale of an outbreak contained within an apartment building is one hell of a stressful good time. Quarantine accomplishes exactly what a great found-footage movie should: It makes you forget what youre watching is fake, and the frenetic, panicked pace is able to sustain an awful kind of tension throughout the duration of the film. When youre under quarantine, no one is coming to save you. Let Me In (2009) Based on the Swedish movie Let the Right One In from 2008, Let Me In could have easily become of those American remakes that just didnt get the original tone and traded in Scandinavian restraint for homegrown gratuitous violence. But it didnt instead, it became an early preview of the coming art-house horror renaissance were experiencing today. Before taking over the revived Planet of the Apes franchise or assuming the controls of the next Batman, director Matt Reeves delivered this quiet, modern vampire tale that doubles as an adolescent love story. Its tender, tense, and a fantastic update to the deeply entrenched vampire narrative thats been around longer than horror movies themselves. Sorority Row (2009) Most of the movies on this list had to accomplish the tall task of meeting or exceeding the quality of an excellent original film. Sorority Row, on the other hand, is a modernized take on one of the worst slashers youre likely to see. 1983s The House on Sorority Row is classic terrible horror, so low-budget that a boom mic drops into the frame of a shot near the beginning. And even though Sorority Row isnt great, it is a truly great time, the best of the aughts-era remake fever that brought forth stylized, sexy versions of crucial films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Its got one of those ridiculous ensemble casts that feels like names were pulled from a bin marked Trending!: Jamie Chung, Audrina Patridge, and Rumer Willis play sorority sisters starring, inexplicably, alongside a shotgun-toting Carrie Fisher, who plays the acerbic house mother. There is no greater good in Sorority Row, but there is a girl with the nickname Chugs and a foam party. The Crazies (2010) Anyone whos seen even one episode of Justified knows that Timothy Olyphant was born to play a small-town lawman. And just before he put on the signature Raylan Givens hat in 2010, he was local sheriff David Dutten of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, a small town on the brink of oblivion after the inhabitants contract a virus through the water supply that turns them into savage killers. The 1973 version of Crazies is a just-okay movie from legendary director George A. Romero, but the 2010 take is a perfectly gory white-knuckler thats got Olyphants likability as an X-factor that raises its game. Romero executive-produced this updated take on his work, and it did right by his legacy. Rape-revenge movies are largely a relic of horrors exploitation era. Movies like Ms. 45, Act of Vengeance, and the original I Spit on Your Grave from 1978 were a kind of dirty power grab for women, a cinematic fuck you for the constant persecution they endured in genre films and in real life, too. No matter the decade, though, I Spit on Your Grave is a hard movie to get through, as it follows a woman who is repeatedly raped by a group of disgusting townies, prompting her to seek backwoods justice. The 2010 remake serves up a modern amount of blood-lusting revenge for its heroine and her proxies in the audience to get righteously worked up about, if youre into that sort of thing. Piranha 3D (2010) Joe Dante of Gremlins fame directed the 1978 version of this movie, in which flesh-eating piranhas are released into the rivers of a popular summer-vacation destination. Alexandre Aja, the mad mind behind New French Extremity exhibit A, High Tension, directed this gonzo horror comedy that follows the same premise, except in an Arizona lake town right before spring break. It stars Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Ving Rhames, Jessica Szohr, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss, Dina Meyer, Eli Roth, and Jerry OConnell as a Girls Gone Wildstyle pornographer. Piranha 3D is totally ridiculous and totally fun. Has there ever been a vampire with a less-intimidating name than Jerry Dandridge? Both the original movie from 1985 and the 2011 remake focus on a teenage boy who discovers that his sexy, charismatic neighbor Jerry is actually a demon bloodsucker that he must kill if he wants to protect his neighborhood and his family. The strength of the newer version is its star, Anton Yelchin, whose too-short life and career were defined by quirky roles that ascended thanks to his odd, undeniable charm. Colin Farrell is excellent as an update for Chris Sarandons original Jerry, and the supporting cast is rounded out with Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Imogen Poots, David Tennant, and Toni Collette. Silent House (2011) This remake of the 2010 Uruguayan film La casa muda did not get a great reception when it debuted, and that is, frankly, an injustice. Elizabeth Olsen stars in this incredibly claustrophobic haunted-house thriller about a young girl named Sarah whos fixing up an old house with her father and uncle. After a series of strange sounds prompts Olsens character to try and flee, she finds she has been fully trapped inside the house, with the doors all locked and windows boarded up. As Sarah works her way through the house trying to evade capture by an unknown assailant, she experiences time jumps, witnessing past events in the house playing out before her. The head-swivel camera movement keeps you constantly terrified about what lies outside the frame, and the collapsing timelines lead Sarah to a terrible revelation. Evil Dead (2013) If this remake of The Evil Dead had tried to recapture the campy tone of the beloved original, theres a good chance it would have fallen flat. Instead, Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez pumped the concept full of steroids and turned it into a bloody, outright horror film. In the Sam Raimi original from 1981, a group of friends set out for a happy-go-lucky weekend in a secluded cabin, where Ash (Bruce Campbell) accidentally summons the dead by reading from the dreaded Necronomicon. In the reboot, a group of friends are gathered to help Mia (Jane Levy) kick her heroin habit once and for all but that same book of the dead is still sitting around, just waiting to be discovered by the wrong person. This movie isnt silly its dark and grotesque but Alvarez makes sure its still one hell of an aggressive good time. We Are What We Are (2013) The original Mexican version of this movie, 2010s Somos lo que hay, is good. The 2013 American remake is better. The movie revolves around a strange family living on the outskirts of a small town; after the death of the mother, Emma, her two daughters must step up and help their father carry out a dark family ritual thats persisted through generations. To say more would ruin the surprise, but this dark American gothic is like The Witch in its presentation of the family versus the self, of tradition versus autonomy, all playing out on a rural homestead. Bill Sage is an ominous, commanding presence as the Parker patriarch Frank, and Julia Garner and Ambyr Childers beguile as his fair-haired daughters who are coming into maturity just as they must decide whether to walk the path of their ancestors, or to set out on their own. Brace yourself for a truly special final scene. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) Even though the remake of The Town That Dreaded Sundown came out in 2014, it has a distinctly aughts horror feel, which is totally a compliment. And while a lot of movies of that era of remakes fell flat among critics (wrongly!), this one actually racked up a solid approval rating. To take some horrible nomenclature from the new Scream movies, this Sundown is like a requel; it was originally conceived as a remake but went on to add sequelized elements. At one point, the characters in the movie actually watch the 1976 original, about a murderer named the Phantom Killer who carved a bloody swath through their town, Texarkana, decades earlier. In the 2014 version, the Phantom has returned and the results are stylish and scary and contain kills that hit like hammers. It also doesnt waste any time, clocking in at a slight 84 minutes. Youre welcome. Suspiria (2017) Dario Argento traditionalists might scoff at Luca Guadagninos considerably more muted color palette for his 2017 Suspiria remake, but this movie thrives entirely as its own gruesome beast. This is not a resurrection of giallo black-gloved killers and sets soaked in vibrant primary colors. The 2017 Suspiria is a three-hour odyssey into tightly woven female relationships that create an insular hive of dancers and witches living against the backdrop of political unrest in 70s Berlin and everyone is in earth tones this time around! Dakota Johnson plays a mystically inclined Suzy Bannion, and shes sparring with earthbound extraterrestrial Tilda Swinton as the Tanz Akademies top instructor, Madame Blanc. This movie is fabulous coats, furious choreography, and some shocking body horror. Dont make your originals too precious. Check out this art-house horror epic. Hellraiser (2022) Hulus new Hellraiser lacks the psychosexual queerness of Clive Barkers original, but its a beautiful slasher version of the horror legends classic tale. Watching this movie is all about showing up for the Cenobites. Those who fear the creep of CGI effects into film need not worry because these hell demons were all handcrafted and shot in-camera. The gore is stunning. The Hell Priest and all their friends are works of art, and while the movie may not achieve classic status like its forebearer, its ending should make Barker proud. Behold the Leviathan! Speak No Evil (2024) The U.S. remake of the 2022 Dutch movie garnered strongly positive reviews but was also chided for Americanizing key moments that soften the originals outright bleakness. Vultures Alison Willmore, however, came around to see its adjustments as assets instead of liabilities: I didnt mind that, ultimately, because while the remake loses something in ditching the originals unrelenting drive toward darkness, it also avoids what it leaves unsaid, which is a borderline reactionary message about needing to overcome compliant liberalism to step up to protect oneself and ones family. Both films center on two families who meet on vacation then convene again rather quickly when one invites the other to hang out again, this time at their home. In this Blumhouse version, its an American couple and their daughter going to the West Country cottage of two Brits and their son. And pretty much immediately things start careening down a steep hill of acute discomfort horror. Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis are infuriatingly on point as the mincing Americans who would apparently rather be killed before engaging in confrontation, and James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi are viscerally destabilizing as a pair of chaos demons pushing their guests further and further toward the cliffs edge. Speak No Evil doesnt sacrifice its core in the name of playing American cinemas; it adjusts itself to meet the mores of an audience with different norms and expectations. Thats a good remake! The U.S. Helsinki Commission has announced that the recent sanctions imposed by the State Department on Georgian officials are a demonstration of American solidarity with the Georgian people.The commission emphasized that actions going against the will of the Georgian people violate the country's constitution.In a statement, the commission said: "The sanctions imposed yesterday by the State Department on representatives of the Georgian government are a clear show of American solidarity with the Georgian people. The citizens of Georgia should be able to exercise their right to peaceful assembly without fear for their health and safety. The Georgian people deserve a government that upholds its own laws and respects their freedoms. Acting against the will of the Georgian people contradicts the nation's constitution."The U.S. State Department has imposed sanctions on over 60 members of the Georgian government and parliament, including their family members, for undermining democracy. Additionally, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including Zviad Kharazishvili and his deputy Miller Lagazauri, as well as two members of the pro-Russian and violent group Alt-Info, Zura Makharaidze and Konstantine Morgoshia.Two Georgian citizens were unlawfully detained by Russian occupation forces near the village of Mejvriskhevi in Gori municipality, according to a report by the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) on September 17.Following standard protocol, the SSSG immediately activated the EU Monitoring Mission's "hotline" upon receiving the information. The Geneva International Discussions (GID) Co-Chairs and international partners have also been notified.The SSSG stated that "all available mechanisms have been activated" to ensure the swift release of the detained individuals, emphasizing that "the occupying power bears full responsibility for all destructive actions carried out in Georgia's occupied territories and along the occupation line." Burns surgeon Ye Chunjiang examines the foot of Wu Fagui, a victim of Japanese germ warfare in WWII, in Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Yu Aicen) HANGZHOU, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ye Chunjiang, a dedicated burns surgeon, made the 50-minute drive one Thursday afternoon from his hospital in the city of Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, to the home of local villager Wu Fagui, to examine his foot. It is a journey that Ye has made many times over the past several years. Now in his 80s, Wu's left foot bears the indelible marks of a bygone era. A stark, gruesome lesion stretches from his foot to his calf, with a pink, delicate center that speaks of the fragility of new skin. His affliction is believed to be the direct consequence of the germ warfare waged by Japan in Zhejiang over eight decades ago. During the early 1940s, the Japanese military conducted multiple instances of germ warfare in the province, employing tactics such as the aerial dispersal of bacteria-tainted grain and fleas, contaminating local well water, and distributing infected foodstuffs. These actions led to outbreaks of plague, typhoid, cholera and anthrax among the local populace. While historical records vary in terms of the exact death toll, it is widely agreed that the atrocities claimed over 50,000 lives in Quzhou alone, where Wu's hometown is located, according to local museum data. When untreated, the plague can swiftly claim lives, but anthrax inflicts a chronic, tormenting ordeal, characterized by persistent skin ulcers -- a plight shared by Wu and many other survivors of this heinous war crime throughout most of their existence. "The leg was constantly bleeding, emitting a foul odor. People refrained from visiting, and my father avoided going out," Wu Xiaorong, Wu Fagui's son, recounted, describing his father's previous state. Historical accounts also reveal that many locals, like Wu Fagui, who were exposed to anthrax, suffered from enduring foot sores and unbearable odors, leading to psychological trauma and social ostracism, with many never marrying. However, Wu Fagui's fortunes began to improve with the start of a free treatment program by Zhejiang Quhua Hospital in 2015, supported by charitable foundations. The program identified over 80 victims and performed skin-graft operations on the majority, with only a few deemed unsuitable due to advanced age or health conditions. "My father's condition is vastly improved," Wu Xiaorong said. "Before the surgery, he had multiple, sizable sores. Now that he's better, he can go outside and socialize with other seniors." "My old man is indeed fortunate," the son added. Ye, the visiting burns surgeon, has been volunteering within this program alongside his colleagues at the hospital. They visit anthrax victims who have undergone surgery and monitor their recovery. "Many doctors are involved in the program out of sheer passion, without concern for personal gain or loss," the doctor added with conviction. Accompanying Ye was Wu Jianping, the curator of a museum in Quzhou commemorating the victims of Japan's germ warfare. Wu Jianping, who lost his young uncle and aunt to the warfare, played a pivotal role in nurturing the program and identifying eligible patients for treatment. He expressed immense pride in his work for the victims. "Seeing their smiles as they leave the hospital after treatment, I feel something indescribable," he said. "They've suffered for a lifetime, and finally, they've been relieved of their pain. What a feeling!" he added. During his visit, Wu Jianping displayed the warmth of a playful family friend. "You used to stink! Keep away!" he jested with Wu Fagui, reminiscing about the changes in life post-surgery. Due to his advanced age, Wu Fagui has long given up storytelling, and he normally wears a stoic, blank expression. However, at Wu Jianping's jest, he laughed for the first time, his teary eyes gleaming with joy. Wu Fagui, a victim of Japanese germ warfare in WWII, and his wife are seen in Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Yu Aicen) Ryanair asks Italy to double flight limit at Rome airport ahead of Vatican's Jubilee next year. Low-cost airline Ryanair has called on the Italian government to double the daily flight limit at Rome's Ciampino airport from 65 to 130 in time for the Jubilee Year 2025. Michael O'Leary, CEO of the Irish carrier, launched the request in the Italian capital on Tuesday, saying it would allow Ryanair "to rapidly increase visitors to Rome" for Jubilee 2025 when the Eternal City expects to welcome 32 million tourists and pilgrims. "It is shameful that visitor growth to a major European city like Rome is currently being hampered by Ciampinos limit of 65 flights per day (just four flights per hour), which puts Romes growth for the Jubilee Year 2025 at risk", O'Leary said in a statement. Ryanair is seeking to double the number of daily flights at Rome's secondary international airport, to eight an hour, claiming that it would "increase traffic, jobs and tourism to Rome". Due to noise pollution the number of commericial flights at Ciampino are limited to 65 per day, reduced from 97 flights per day, following a decree from the environment ministry in 2018. In addition, night flights are currently prohibited, between 23.00 and 06.00. However O'Leary stressed that the Ryanair flights are operated by "new, quiet Boeing B737-8200 Gamechangers", adding that increasing the number of budget fares to Rome would be "vital to the success of the Jubilee Year". Separately, Ryanair announced 10 new winter routes from Milan's Malpensa airport: to Athens, Budapest, Paris, Fuerteventura, Krakow, Mallorca, Marrakech, Reggio Calabria, Rzeszow and Tallinn. Photo credit: Patryk Kosmider / Shutterstock.com. Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan welcomed the relics of St Bernadette Soubirous to the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, saying he hoped the relics presence would reawaken faith across Ireland. The relics arrived in Waterford on Tuesday, September 17, and will move on to continue on a pilgrimage to each of the 26 Catholic Dioceses in Ireland from September 18. The saints relics landed in Ireland at Knock Airport on Wednesday, September 4, before visiting Galway Cathedral. Before arriving in Waterford the relics also visited the dioceses of Killaloe, Limerick, Kerry and Cloyne. St Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes in 1844, and is said to have seen the Virgin Mary 18 times, starting from when she was preparing for her first Communion at age 14. She was canonised posthumously in 1933, 54 years after she died from tuberculosis, in 1879. Today, the Grotto of Lourdes, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to St Bernadette, is visited by millions each year. Of course, the Irish have a long association with Lourdes and with St. Bernadette. For decades, the Irish have been going to Lourdes, so they're well acquainted with the story of Lourdes and St. Bernadette, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan said while speaking to Waterford News & Star. The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore said the relics pilgrimage around Ireland will reawaken faith across the country and said: The relics have just arrived here and people are telling me things, people are coming in crying; one lady came in with a little baby who is going for an operation. People are coming in with all kinds of burdens and hoping that God will listen to them and give them strength." St Bernadette is notable as the Catholic Patron Saint of Illness and Poverty, as the Lourdes Medical Bureau has labelled nearly 70 cures at the grotto in Lourdes as inexplicable. As a result, February 11, the date of the first apparition, is dedicated as World Day of the Sick. She was 14 when Our Lady appeared to her, Bishop Cullinan said, I think Our Lady picked her out because she was so humble, so uncomplicated and honest. But certainly, she was an extraordinary character and was tough as nails, and she had to be. Bishop Cullinane explained that some people were not receptive to the stories of the apparitions St Bernadette experienced at the time. Now, however, in Waterford the reception the saints relics received was unexpected, the Bishop said: There has been a great buzz around [the Cathedral], [parishioners] will be streaming in all day today. We were hoping to close the doors at 10pm, but we will see, we might have to keep them open even longer, praise God. Bishop Cullinane said he had been researching more about St. Bernadette in anticipation of her relics arriving in Ireland. When I was reading about her, it became so obvious how concentrated she was on God, God's will and Heaven," he said. "She really has a message for Ireland; are we totally concentrated on this world, when there is something more for us," he added. When we think of the loss of meaning today, and the despair and hopelessness a lot of people have. St. Bernadette was full of hope, and reading that book really reminded me of that, because we can all lose focus. He said the relics bring a message of hope and healing, commenting: I think those two things are so needed in Ireland today and in the world, you know, in so many places. The relics of St. Bernadette are moving on the diocese of Cashel & Emly and will be staying in Holycross Abbey, Thurles, Tipperary from September 19. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Afghan counter-narcotic forces have seized 3,292 kg of illicit drugs and chemical substances over the past six months in south Afghanistan's Kandahar province, a spokesman for provincial police reported on Wednesday. The confiscated narcotics, included 1,365 kg of opium, 34 kg of methamphetamine, 14.5 kg of hashish, 2 kg of heroin, and a large amount of chemical agents used in producing narcotic drugs, such as heroin, said Mullah Asadullah Jamshidi, spokesman for the provincial police. Police have also arrested 256 suspects along with 31 vehicles and six motorbikes in connection with smuggling and hiding illegal drugs and chemical substances during the cited period, Jamshidi asserted. The counter-narcotics police aiming to fight illegal drugs have destroyed 1,074 acres of poppy farms and dismantled 15 drug processing factories in the province, the spokesman underlined. The Afghan caretaker government has vowed to fight against illicit drugs, and drug production and trafficking across the country. Councillors were searching for the signs at the September meeting of Waterford's Metropolitan District Council. Signage was a pressing issue for many at the meeting, particularly road signs and place notices. Cllr Joe Conway (Independent) flagged the issue of unauthorised signage on the approach into Tramore. He said: "Some small improvements have been made but it is still very much a dog's breakfast." Labour councillor Seamus Ryan broached the subject of signage, saying: "Again Mayor I would like to highlight the condition of road signage in the city, in particular, on the main approach roads to the city. "I know that there's one, for example, on the Cork Road, and the sign is actually in half. This signage should be updated and improved." He added: "I would like to ask that the entrance signage and entrance stone to my own estate of Ursuline Court would be examined and upgraded because it's in very poor condition." Larchville Councillor John Hearne spoke about the Knights Templar Project in Kilbarry. He said: "The locals have done a great job but for the people arriving there still wasn't a sign saying where it is. "It just needs a sign on the front of the back lane and on the roundabout after that, and that will look after that." Presentation Senior Executive, Dawn Wallace, responded to Cllr Ryan: "In relation to the entrance to Ursuline Court, I'll ask our presentation team to go out and have a look there and see what's happening." Council engineer Roger Noonan commented: "In regards to road signs, we'll take a look at that and see what necessary works can be done." Cllr Jim Griffin (Sinn Fein) raised the issue of pedestrian signage on Barrack Street. "That area is going to have 60 continuous buses passing through Barrack Street, with new routes in the near future, it'll be a very busy time there regarding bus routes and safety." Mr Noonan responded: "For the Barrack Street signage, that is on a list of jobs to do in the next couple of months." Cllr Mary Roche (Social Democrats) addressed Director of Services Michael Quinn: "Can I ask is it possible that we would rename the Quay to its proper name, like 'Meagher's Quay', 'Grey Quay', actually put on the proper sections of the Quay." Finally, Cllr Ryan asked about official signage to mark the twinning between Waterford and the Palestinian city of Ramallah: "The signage for recognising the twinning is due to go up, can someone tell me where it's at?" Council Officer, Honor Dunphy, replied that there were plans underway for signage to include all of Waterford's twin cities. It was a case of lights, camera, action recently for the Presentation Secondary School in Waterford when three teachers and four TY students were invited to a very special event in Dublin. The group were delighted to travel to the Irish Film Institute in Dublin, to make a presentation at the official Department of Education launch of two new leaving cert subjects: Drama, Film, and Theatre studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development. The subjects will be available to students in 100 schools from September, next year. The Waterford school was one of just 57 around the country to be selected to introduce Drama, Film, and Theatre Studies for 5th year students in 2025. However, it's not a new departure for the school, which prides itself on being at the forefront of developments in secondary education and was one of only 41 pilot schools introducing politics and society as a subject in 2016. Therefore, it was no surprise that staff and students were invited to make a presentation at the official launch of the subjects on September 11. The delegation included four TY students, Holly Coogan, Oreoluwa Olajide, Ola Balant, and Chloe Byrne, and three members of staff, Ms Orla Bolger (Principal), Ms Aura Matthey (Coordinator of Programmes), and Mr Mark Scanlon (Musical Director). Also in attendance at the event were a number of key educational stakeholders from the DES, NCCA, NAPD, and SEC. Minister for Education, Norma Foley, spoke at the event, and contributions and presentations were made by a wide variety of figures from the world of film and theatre, including David Puttnam CBE (film producer and educator), Colm Bairead and Cleona Ni Chrualaoi (director and producer of 'An Cailin Ciuin') and Dearbhla Walsh (Irish film director). Minister Foley acknowledged that the new subjects presented an "opportunity not just to reflect the talent and skills and interests of our young people, but to validate them, so that a student who takes drama film and theatre studies or takes climate action and sustainability, that their achievement in education is on a similar par of the student who takes science or languages". She said having such an opportunity to offer the new subjects as part of overall senior cycle redevelopment will place Presentation Waterford as a frontrunner in terms of offering unique educational opportunity for our senior students in creative arts education. Drama, Film, and Theatre Studies will be offered as a two-year course at LC, with both practical coursework and examination elements, allowing students to develop their skills and knowledge in the areas of drama, film and theatre. Speech and drama, film studies, and music have always been an integral part of the curricular offerings at the Presentation school and many current and past pupils are actively involved in extracurricular stage school activities. Several have also gone to, or intend to, pursue further studies in these fields. The Presentation also has strong and meaningful links the local community including long-standing partnerships with the Theatre Royal, Garter Lane Theatre and Waterford Spraoi Festival. Since 1974, the school has successfully produced annual school musicals as part of its Transition Year (TY) programme. Theatre and drama are integral to the curriculum and all TY students are involved in the annual show. A spokesperson for the school said student talents are utilised in every aspect of production, from singing, dancing, and acting to stage and prop design, costume creation, lighting, sound, and even marketing and sales. "This production is undoubtedly the highlight of the school year, with the 2025 production of 'Beauty and the Beast' already being touted as one to watch," she said. Tickets for that particular show will be on sale soon. Speaking at the event in Dublin, Coordinator of Programmes, Aura Matthey, said: "The addition of Drama, Film, and Theatre Studies to our senior cycle curriculum marks a significant milestone in arts education. It is an investment in our students' futures, an investment in their personal and professional growth, and an investment in the cultural fabric of our society." TY student, Chloe Byrne, said it was an exciting time for the school. "We can now look forward to further developing our skills, not just through another subject or through our activities outside of school, but as an official academic option," she said/ "From the time we are in primary school, we look forward to getting involved in arts education at second level, both at junior cycle through speech and drama and in TY with our much beloved school musical," she added. The school is now looking forward to its open night which will take place at 7pm on October 3. Speaking about the event and upcoming Open Night, Principal Orla Bolger stated: "Our school has always been a dynamic environment where all aspects of student development are celebrated, and we are delighted to be at the forefront of educational change once again." The Presentation Primary School in Waterford welcomed its incoming cohort of pupils through the doors for the first time recently and Waterford News & Star photographer, Joe Evans, was there to capture all the excitement of the occasion. For more photos from all the Waterford school debs pick up a print edition of Waterford News & Star and also look up www.waterford-news.ie Hard copy prints of the Debs photos are available to buy from our office in Gladstone Street. Andrea and Ava, who started school at the Presentation Primary. Eve and Bonnie, who started school at the Presentation Primary. Mya and Piper, who started school at the Presentation Primary. Kenzie and Grace, who started school at the Presentation Primary. Roisin and Charlie, who started school at the Presentation Primary. Fiadh, Annie and Millie, who started school at the Presentation Primary. Advertisement Eating outMeat Shock announcement leaves boutique WA meat producers in the lurch Farmers and independent producers were given less than a months notice that a South West abattoir would no longer process their beef, lamb and pork. Max Veenhuyzen September 19, 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 Dardanup Butchering Company a long-standing abattoir based in Picton near Bunbury has announced that it will no longer slaughter and process meat for small West Australian producers. The company contacted customers last week and informed them animals would not be accepted for processing as part of its custom kill service after October 11. Zoe Allington at Allington Family Farms. Hayley Gemma For producers like Zoe and Travis Allington of Allington Family Farm in Greenbushes, the timing of DBCs announcement gave them less than a month to find another abattoir to process the Berkshire pork and Merino-cross lambs they raise in the South West. The issue is that WA only has a handful of abattoirs that can handle small commercial meat production orders, with most of these abattoirs already at capacity. (Larger abattoirs such as WAMMCO in Katanning only process meat for their own brands and do not offer custom kill services.) Advertisement Regardless of where the Allingtons decide to send their pigs and sheep, its inevitable that switching abattoirs will have a knock-on effect on back pockets: both theirs and those of their customers. As small producers, were already charging a premium for our products because our costs are so high, said Zoe Allington, who sells her meat at farmers markets and direct to customers. We have to cover all the costs from the minute the animal is born to the moment you buy it from us. Every one of those costs has to be accounted for and none of them are cheap. 14 / 20 Review Hit Northbridge now for sushis greatest hits While rising prices are unquestionably bad news for everyone, its a better outcome than the alternative: seeing smaller, farm-to-table producers such as Marissa Taylor and Tony Passamani of Marrybrook Premium Produce disappearing from butchers displays and restaurant menus across the state. Advertisement Despite Marybrooks grass-fed lamb being nationally recognised, the couple stopped producing meat in April. Two factors that shaped their decision were the effects of the live sheep export ban, plus the demands of farming and selling full-time. Just as concerning were rumours that DBC would soon stop providing custom kills: a decision, says Taylor, that was a case of not if, but when. We could see the writing on the wall, Taylor said. [Now that the announcement has been made] its such a brutal blow for small producers. DBC general manager Brian Pittendreigh said the abattoirs decision to stop custom kills was made to protect the businesss 270 employees. Advertisement Capacity constraints at DBCs operations mean the company must prioritise its long-term service customers and its own production, Pittendreigh said. With spring, demand is growing and there is also a significant uplift in demand due to abattoirs across the board restricting volume. Sheep at Glenarty Road farm and cellar door in Karridale. Denni Van Huis For Sasha and Ben McDonald of Glenarty Road a farm, cellar door and restaurant in Karridale, south of Margaret River DBCs announcement meant they were now in the market for a new abattoir to send their grass-fed sheep to. The couple were doing their best to stay upbeat and find a silver lining in the situation. Advertisement Theres always something that can go wrong in farming, said Sasha, who has been in touch with other abattoirs and butchers to find a solution. I guess this is a good chance to look at what were doing and revise our model. Whatever that solution looks like, the key for many in the industry is to ensure that small-scale farmers can continue to live off the land and ensure eaters have a choice when it comes to what they buy and what they eat. The big issue here is our food security when it comes to food sovereignty and allowing people to have the choice about what food they want to purchase and where that food has come from, Allington said. The decision by DBC takes away from peoples choice, making us have to buy from the select number of people who are allowed to kill animals. Most of those places are big corporations. 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. Share License this article More: Meat Perth Max Veenhuyzen is a journalist and photographer who has been writing about food, drink and travel for national and international publications for more than 20 years. He reviews restaurants for the Good Food Guide. Three in 10 Australian families would get free childcare and others would get greater discounts under a $5 billion road map unveiled on Wednesday that the government has signalled will form a centrepiece of its re-election campaign. The Productivity Commissions report on the sector gives Labor a family-friendly policy that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can take to the next election if he is prepared to lift childcare spending by 37 per cent, having already committed $11 billion to boost pay in the industry and attract staff. Almost a third of Australian families will get free childcare under a model proposed by the Productivity Commission. Credit: Ryan Stuart Education Minister Jason Clare said the federal government would respond to the reports recommendations in the next few months, which would be before an election due by May. What this report says is that a universal early education system is one where every child gets access to three days a week, or 30 hours a week, of high-quality education and care, and that every parent can afford for their child to get access to that, Clare said. Lisbon: More than 100 bushfires have stretched thousands of firefighters to the limit in northern Portugal, the worst spate of fires in recent years that spread out of earlier in the week. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has declared a state of calamity for the hardest-hit areas, invoking powers to mobilise more firefighters and civil servants. He also called on police investigators to redouble their efforts to find those who started the blazes and pledged help for those who have lost their homes or have been evacuated. We are well aware that these difficult hours are not over yet, Montenegro told the nation in a televised address. We have to continue to give everything we have and ask for help from our partners and friends so that we can reinforce the protection of our people and property. Firefighters tackle a blaze in Agueda, in the Aveiro region of Portugal. Credit: Bloomberg The European Copernicus satellite service said more than 15,000 hectares had been scorched and a combined 13 kilometres of fire fronts had been detected. It added that an area home to 210,000 people was exposed to the fire risk. His wife, who has initiated divorce proceedings, and their three children, two sons and a daughter, looked on impassively. Ill health had forced the presiding judge to adjourn proceedings last week and on Monday. The sons of Gisele Pelicot, Florian, right, David, left, and her daughter Caroline Darian, centre, arrive in court earlier this month. Credit: AP Pelicot had been suffering from a bladder stone and kidney infection. But medical experts deemed him able to appear with a comfortable chair. He spoke with frequent pauses. While the hearing started with a promise of total transparency, as the day unfolded, Pelicots refusal to admit he drugged and took photos of his daughter, Caroline Darian, sparked scenes of high drama as she stormed out of court. Caroline, I never drugged you or raped you ... I never did that, he insisted. Youre a liar, she shouted as she left the room. Im going to throw up, she went on. Ill kill him. By contrast, Gisele Pelicot, who wore dark glasses, remained cool throughout. Experts warned that Dominique Pelicot was a canny manipulator and that the court should take what he says with a large pinch of salt. Given his Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde split personality, they said, it allowed him to act as genial patriarch by day and depraved rapist who invited strangers, one with HIV, into their home to commit 92 rapes. But he launched straight into an emotional apology. I am guilty of what I have done. I ask my wife, my children, my grandchildren to please accept my apologies. I ask for forgiveness, even if it is unforgivable, Pelicot said. Even if its paradoxical, I never considered my wife to be an object, unfortunately the videos show the opposite. People gather in Paris in support of Gisele Pelicot who was allegedly drugged by her ex-husband and raped by dozens of men while unconscious. Credit: AP In tears, he added: I was crazy about her, she had become everything. I loved her well for 40 years and badly for 10. I ruined everything, I should never have done it. I was very happy with her. I had three children and grandchildren that I never touched. My wife had a heart of gold. I was way out of line. By way of explanation for his decision to drug his wife for sex, Pelicot said: I had a fantasy of sharing my wife My wife was resistant to swinging, thats why I put her to sleep. Then it was Gisele Pelicots turn to respond to the man she thought she knew until the day a policeman showed her shocking images of strangers abusing her comatose body like a rag doll. For me, its difficult to hear what Mr Pelicot has just said, she stated. Ive lived with a man for 50 years ... I never imagined for a single second that he could have committed these acts of rape and barbarity. Not for a single second did I doubt this man. I would have given him both my hands to cut off. I trusted him completely. I was completely mistaken. Pelicot told the court that childhood trauma he says he was raped by a male nurse aged nine and forced to perform a sex act on a mentally handicapped woman as a teenage apprentice had created an A side and B side with the latter controlled by addictions. The addiction got the better of me, the need kept growing, he said. Youre not born this way. You become it. The pensioner also revealed he started planning the assaults after becoming totally idle in his retirement and turning to the internet to enlist dozens of strangers to rape his wife in her own bed. He came up with a final solution to give her a dose of anxiety-reducing pills in meals to send her to sleep. When reminded that he placed his wife under risk of death one of the defendants who raped her six times has HIV and she had a car crash due to the effect of the drugs he insisted he asked each to provide tests but one lied. Pelicot denied defendants key claims that they were under his sway. They agreed to undress in the kitchen with full knowledge of the facts, replied Pelicot. There was a tripod and a camera in the room for all to see, Pelicot said, insisting that his co-accused knew they were being filmed. Loading First of all, [filming] was a bit of fun, but it was also an insurance measure. Today, thanks to that, we can find those who took part, he said. Repeating a phrase employed by his wife earlier in the trial, he said: I didnt put a gun to their heads. The only question they asked was how much? He added that no money had changed hands though some tried to blackmail him. His assertions sparked tension among the co-defendants, who clearly disagree with his account. Loading So these people came to commit a crime without a condom, left traces that could identify them, and knowingly agreed to be filmed? said one defence lawyer. I told them I would clean her up afterwards, said the pensioner. And that was enough for them to think that they would never be bothered by the law, said the lawyer sarcastically. Some of the accused have admitted he told them he was drugging his then-wife, while others claim they believed they were participating in a swinger couples fantasy. Seventeen are in custody, as is Pelicot himself, while 32 other defendants are attending as free men. One co-defendant is being tried in absentia. The suspects include a fireman, a male nurse, a prison guard and a journalist. The tensest moments were when Pelicot was grilled over photos of his daughter and grandchildren found on his computer. His daughter had previously testified that her father had taken nude images of her sleeping and said she believes he drugged her. Loading Do you recognise that it was you who took this photo? asked her lawyer. No, it wasnt me, her father shot back. Youre lying! shouted Darian from across the room. Cant you act like a man and tell the truth? Dont you understand that your daughter is suffering, that her distress is crying out? said her lawyer in angry tones. BANGKOK, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's industrial confidence weakened in August due to a slowdown in domestic demand and stricter loan standards amid concerns over high household debt, data showed on Wednesday. The Thai Industries Sentiment Index dropped to 87.7 last month from 89.3 in July as all components of the index decreased, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). The reading was based on a survey of 1,330 entrepreneurs from 46 industry groups under the FTI. The decline in local demand was reflected through a 23.71 percent year-on-year slump in domestic auto sales over the first seven months of 2024, while household debt reached 90.8 percent of the southeast Asian country's gross domestic product in the second quarter, the FTI said in a statement. The index forecast for the next three months fell to 93.9 in August from 95.2 a month earlier as entrepreneurs were worried about an increase in national minimum wages, rising non-performing loans, along with ongoing and escalating geopolitical tensions, said FTI Chairman Kriengkrai Thiennukul. However, the government's cash stimulus scheme and the revival of the tourism industry during the peak season in the final quarter were seen as supportive factors, Kriengkrai told a news conference. LISBON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Lisbon Intellectual Property Court has ruled against Google Portugal for allowing access to a website that shared pirated content, including films, TV series, newspapers, and books, Portugal's Lusa News Agency reported on Wednesday. The court has ordered Google to block the website eztv, along with over 500 related subdomains, imposing a daily fine of 1,000 euros for each day the company fails to comply after the final ruling, Lusa reported. This legal dispute began in August 2020 when the Association for the Collective Management of Copyright of Film and Audiovisual Producers (GEDIPE) informed Google Portugal of the illegal activities on eztv. Despite efforts by the General Inspection of Cultural Activities to block the website through internet service providers, users continued to access it by using Google's public DNS service, which bypassed the blocks. In its ruling on Sept. 9, the court found that Google Portugal acted as an intermediary by providing an alternative DNS, enabling users to circumvent the block, according to Lusa. The court concluded that this service allowed users to continue accessing the banned website and its subdomains. Failure to comply with the order could result in substantial financial penalties for Google. A spokesperson for Google Portugal stated that the company would appeal the decision, arguing that it lacks the technical capability to block the domains since the public DNS service is managed by Google Ireland. The company also pointed out that blocking the DNS doesn't remove the illegal content, but only makes it harder to access. The court rejected these arguments, noting that Google Portugal failed to demonstrate its inability to enforce the block. The ruling emphasized that Google's alternative DNS circumvents existing restrictions, facilitating access to illegal content. GEDIPE welcomed the decision, calling it a victory for intellectual property protection and the creative industries reliant on copyright enforcement. The appeal is expected to address the broader issue of tech companies' responsibilities in fighting online piracy. BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government on Wednesday released guidelines to promote the high-quality development of educational travel in the field of archaeology. These guidelines highlight the benefits of utilizing China's abundant archaeological resources for educational purposes. The guidelines state that educational travel "is conducive to preserving and promoting traditional Chinese culture, as well as enhancing the public's scientific literacy and humanistic spirit." Educational travel, also known as study travel, combines education and tourism to provide students with opportunities to engage in hands-on educational experiences and research-based learning outside the traditional classroom setting. Provincial cultural relics administrative departments are instructed to compile and publish a list of suitable locations for archaeological study travel. Institutions involved in archaeology, including archaeological site parks, museums, research institutes, and excavation sites, are encouraged to organize educational travel activities, according to the guidelines. To ensure the quality of archaeological study travel, the National Cultural Heritage Administration will oversee the certification of qualified bases and incorporate such travel into the development and operation of national archaeological site parks and related museums. The administration will also support the establishment of industry organizations dedicated to archaeological study travel, aiming to improve curriculum development, design, and mentor evaluation. Moreover, the guidelines emphasize the importance of prioritizing public welfare in archaeological study travel. Efforts should be made to provide more affordable products and services targeting young people, while also offering appropriate fee reductions for special groups such as low-income families. In the guidelines, the government stressed safety and the orderly operation of study travel activities. Cultural relics administrative departments at all levels are required to closely monitor the facilities, visitors, and activities related to study tours, taking necessary measures to rectify any issues or suspend operations if necessary. China's 55 national archaeological site parks received over 67 million visitors in 2023, an increase of 135 percent compared to the previous year. The surge highlights the growing popularity of such parks as a new hot ticket in cultural tourism. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Kim Tae-nyeon, president of the South Korea-China Parliamentarians' Union, in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with a delegation led by Kim Tae-nyeon, president of the South Korea-China Parliamentarians' Union, on Wednesday in Beijing. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said he appreciated the contributions the union has made to promoting the friendship between the two countries. Wang said China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) should be good neighbors with mutual trust and good partners that undertake mutually beneficial cooperation, no matter how the international or regional situations change. Noting the continuity and stability of China's policy toward the ROK, Wang expressed the hope that the ROK side would meet China halfway, consolidate political mutual trust and push for the sustained, steady and sound development of China-ROK relations. China is willing to study measures to facilitate personnel exchange between the two countries further, and welcomes people from all walks of life in the ROK to visit the country, Wang said. It stands ready to expand comprehensive and mutually beneficial cooperation with the ROK, work together to safeguard the principles of free trade, and maintain stable, unimpeded production and supply chains, he added. Kim and other lawmakers in attendance said the union stands ready to join hands with the Chinese side to strengthen strategic communication, increase personnel exchange, tap into cooperation potential and promote the ROK-China friendship. They also said that the union is willing to adhere to multilateralism and safeguard free trade alongside China, and to jointly promote peace and stability in Northeast Asia. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit IFA President Francie Gorman will meet with Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tanaiste Micheal Martin separately to discuss key farming priorities in the immediate and medium term. The Budget will be delivered in three weeks time and IFA has a suite of specific proposals that we want the Government to implement. Francie Gorman said the meetings will be an opportunity to discuss the significant pressures on farm families because of the massive 57% drop in farm incomes over the last 12 months. The IFA President said there was a particular focus on the need to support our vulnerable sectors. They face the biggest challenge in trying to reach viability. We have targeted proposals that would add to existing supports, he said. The IFA President said he would also be discussing the ACRES scheme which has turned out to be akin to a lucky bag for many farmers and action is required to rebuild confidence in the scheme. He also said plans to exempt farmers from the RZLT and the range of incentives and reliefs that could help the sector to reach its climate targets and encourage new entrants will be discussed. In the medium term, the retention of the Nitrates derogation is a priority and we will discuss the visit of EU Commission officials. We will want to see a united show of strength by the Government parties in making the case to the Commission for its retention, he said. Francie Gorman said ahead of discussions on the next CAP, the Government must begin the groundwork to secure an outcome that recognises the attributes of Irish farming. Once the new EU Commission is in place, we expect the Government to make an early intervention in the debate and leave an imprint on the proposals, he said. Concluding, the IFA President said the pre-Budget campaign will continue around the country between now and October 1st. A coffee morning will take place in Ballycastle this Saturday in support of a local family who will travel with their young daughter to Newcastle so she can receive essential medical treatment. Coffee for Kayla takes place this Saturday, September 21 from 10am to 4pm in the Shambles, Ballycastle with all funds raised on the day going to support baby Kayla, who turned a year old in June, and who requires a bone marrow transplant. Kayla, the daughter of Elisha and Kevin, has had regular hospital appointments since birth and developed a serious infection in May 2024. She was diagnosed with an extremely rare, life-threatening condition which causes her immune system to be suppressed and she is at a high risk for dangerous infections, cancer and mortality. Kayla requires chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant to give her the best chance at a long, healthy life. As the bone marrow procedure is unavailable in Ireland, her family must travel to the Great North Childrens Hospital in Newcastle in the UK for the procedure and remain there for several months for ongoing treatment. It is hoped they will be able to travel in early 2025. All funds raised at the coffee morning will go towards supporting Kayla and her family while she is receiving this vital treatment. A GoFundMe page, 'Kayla's Bone Marrow Transplant', has also been set up to help with the fundraising effort. The sinking of a former smuggling vessel into Killala Bay for it to become an artificial reef is scheduled to take place today - Wednesday, September 18. The MV Shingle was seized by Customs officers at Drogheda Port as part of a 14m tobacco seizure in 2014 and was held by the Revenue Commission. It sat in the dry dock at New Ross in the years since. Earlier this year, a Maritime Area Consent licence was granted to the Killala Bay Ships 2 Reef project team, a group of diving enthusiasts, to allow them to tow the Shingle to Killala Bay for sinking. Planning permission was then granted by Mayo County Council in July of this year for the preparation, transportation, positioning and placement of the MV Shingle on the seabed of Killala Bay. As Irelands first artificial reef, it is hoped that the project can bring a boost in diving tourism to the west of Ireland as well as promoting local marine ecology. The sinking of the ship can be watched live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theoceansandshotelenniscro800/featured CAIRO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed on Wednesday mediation efforts for reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and the escalations in Lebanon, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement. The meeting in the Egyptian capital Cairo was also attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel. The two sides exchanged views on ways to reinforce the joint efforts among Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to step up the ceasefire negotiations to secure the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees and ensure the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. According to the statement, Sisi urged a decisive intervention to remove obstacles to aid flow to Gazans who are suffering a health and living catastrophe, and an end to the Israeli violation in the West Bank. The two sides agreed that the two-state solution remains the path to achieving sustainable peace and security. In the meeting, the president also renewed Egypt's support for Lebanon, which was heavily struck by deadly pager explosions on Tuesday, stressing his country's commitment to Lebanon's security, stability, and sovereignty. He voiced Egypt's rejection of attempts to escalate and expand the scope of conflicts in the region, calling on all parties to exercise responsibility. The two sides agreed on intensifying collaborative efforts to de-escalate tensions for regional peace and security. Blinken's ongoing visit to Egypt marks his 10th trip to the Middle East, since Israel launched a large-scale offensive on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 to retaliate against a sudden Hamas attack through the southern Israeli border, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. His visit comes amid the risk of a full-on front in the region as Israel threatened to shift its military focus from Gaza to Lebanon after an 11-month devastating war. Two schools in Mayo are among 100 post-primary schools selected to introduce new Leaving Certificate subjects from the start of the 2025/26 school year. Among the 57 schools selected to introduce Leaving Certificate Drama, Film and Theatre Studies is Sancta Maria College in Louisburgh. Additionally, Jesus & Mary Secondary School in Crossmolina is one of the 43 schools selected to introduce Leaving Certificate Climate Action and Sustainable Development. The introduction of new Leaving Certificate subjects to schools across the nation is phase one of the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme announced by the Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, in 2022. Minister Foley explained: These subjects are being introduced to provide greater choice for students to better reflect their range of interests and support the development of a wider range of talents and skills. Each application to participate in phase one was assessed by two selection committees consisting of members from the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme Management Office, Oide, NCCA and the Inspectorate. The applications received demonstrated the extraordinary talent, qualifications, experience, and commitment by teachers in schools across Ireland interested in introducing these two new subjects to their students, Minister Foley said. The level and variety of current subject provision in the selected schools and the enthusiasm shown by their school leaders, teachers, students and school communities was nothing short of exemplary and I have every confidence that the rollout of both subjects will be a success. All of the selected schools will be provided with the necessary resources to establish new subject departments and teachers will begin working with Oide, the teacher support service, this year. What started as a WhatsApp exchange between friends, Feile Butler in Sligo and Mohammed Timraz in central Gaza, is fast turning into a global phenomenon. Children from both families were swapping art until one particular image stopped Feile in her tracks. 7-year old Shahed had drawn a tank firing on a stick family trapped inside their home, their pet cat bleeding outside. Feile knew instantly that this intimate insight into the horror experienced by the most vulnerable, the most impacted and the most voiceless in this genocide had to be shared. She contacted Mohammed immediately with the idea of hosting an exhibition. The very real threat of imminent death is one hell of a motivator. It took only four weeks from that first text to HeART of Gazas debut show in early July; 55 framed pieces by 14 Palestinian artists aged 3 to 17 years, in The Weir Gallery, Sligo. All of the featured children have been displaced, many of their homes reduced to rubble. Two of the artists, aged 13 and 9, were murdered by an Israeli strike. Another has lost his father. Bios and statements by the kids accompany their artwork. The effect is profound. The success of that first show garnered an invitation to exhibit at Electric Picnic, as well as attracting international attention. In August, the artworks debuted in Montpellier while September will see London, Chicago, Turin and Bologna hosting the exhibition. Just last Tuesday, September 10, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories, Francesca Albanese, spoke at the HeART of Gaza event in Rome. Other UK, European and US cities are in the pipeline. Feile Butler. HeART of Gaza returns to Sligo, opening at 6pm in Abhainn Studio, Enniscrone, this Friday, September 20 (Culture Night). It will run over two weekends before heading on tour around Ireland. This third outing will include the artwork of 10 additional children, as well as previously exhibited and new art by the original 14. Attendees are encouraged to create their own artwork (all materials provided) in response to HeART of Gaza, with more than 40 paintings, drawings and messages of hope and support already sent back to Mohammed. He and the children are incredibly touched and bolstered by the solidarity from the Irish audience. Entry is free. Donations are encouraged to We Are Not Alone, a grass roots community campaign led by Mohammed Timraz. MACAO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Macao's Electoral Affairs Commission for the Chief Executive Election issued a notice on Wednesday announcing Sam Hou Fai as the only accepted candidate for the chief executive election. According to the commission, it had completed an eligibility review on Tuesday of the only application received to become a candidate for the post of chief executive. The review was concluded after the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) assessed and affirmed the nominated individual, namely in terms of his sincere support for the Macao SAR Basic Law and his loyalty to the People's Republic of China and its Macao SAR. The notice included a list of 386 members of the Chief Executive Election Committee that had nominated Sam. According to Macao SAR's Chief Executive Election Law, nominated candidates and members of the election committee may lodge appeals within one day of the notice. If no objections are received, the electoral commission will issue a notice announcing the final list of the accepted candidates for the chief executive election on Friday. The election is due to be held on October 13. Germany extended temporary border controls to all land frontiers for six months starting Monday. #GLOBALink ABUJA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least four bandits were killed and 20 hostages rescued by Nigerian troops during separate anti-terror raids in the northwestern state of Kaduna early Tuesday, local authorities said. The troops combed thick bushes suspected to be the hideouts of some bandits in Birnin Gwari and Giwa local government area to carry out the "successful operations" on Tuesday, Samuel Aruwan, the commissioner for internal security and home affairs in Kaduna, told reporters. Citing credible intelligence by the military ahead of the operations, the official said a special clearance raid was held in one of the locations, and an ambush was carried out along a withdrawal route of bandits in another location. He added that the rescued victims of abduction had been reunited with their families. How scientific racism's history shapes modern medical ethics Steve Bikos murder exposed deep racism in how medicine was taught and practised in South Africa. In 1966, Steve Biko began studying medicine at the University of Natal in South Africa, the same year that the general assembly of the United Nations declared apartheid a crime against humanity. As a young man, and a leading thinker, philosopher and activist, Biko made an indelible mark on the resistance against white minority rule and the racist system of apartheid. At a young age, Biko understood colonial thinking, racism and white supremacy and he knew how destructive they were to society and to individuals. In his book I Write What I Like, which has served as a guide for future generations of activists, he wrote: The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. His contributions to the Black Consciousness Movement in the 1960s and 1970s pushed back against the overwhelming influence of colonial and racist thinking. Biko also became a powerful symbol of resistance as a result of his death in detention at the hands of the apartheid security police, on 12 September 1977. Two days earlier, healthy and 30 years old, he had been arrested in a city on South Africas south-east coast, Port Elizabeth, now called Gqeberha. Biko died following savage beatings by the security police. The cause of death and the circumstances were repressed by the South African government. However, as more evidence began to emerge about the circumstances of his death it became clear that the medical profession was heavily implicated. Two doctors had been asked to examine him after his beatings, and neither acted to have his wounds treated. The security police drove Biko over 700km across the country to Pretoria where the security police had its headquarters. Biko made the trip, naked in the back of a van, where he was injured further. He died the next night, alone, in a hospital. It was the South African Medical and Dental Councils role to protect patients from improper medical conduct. But the council did not hold the doctors accountable. Instead, it did everything it could to try to cover up the negligence and complicity of the two doctors. This single death in detention, among many under apartheid, led to an outcry and prompted many efforts by activists and anti-apartheid organisations related to human rights, medicine and health. The relationship between the medical field, ethics and human rights has a much deeper history that goes back long before Biko. In the late 1800s and the first half of the 20th century, the concepts of comparative anatomy, race typology and a hierarchy of race flourished among scientists, physical anthropologists, anatomists and doctors in Europe, Britain, the US and South Africa. As a result, scientists promoted disturbing anthropological practices including the unethical collection of human skeletons and measuring physical characteristics without consent. These collections, originally gathered to prove the inequality of races, continue to be held locally and internationally. I explored these issues in my book Darwins Hunch, in the 2023 Steve Biko Bioethics lecture, and in a paper. On the anniversary of Bikos death, there is still a need to acknowledge and revisit this painful history of scientific racism to build a greater understanding of history, transparency and ethics for the future. The events As a result of domestic and international pressure after Bikos death, the South African government agreed to hold a public inquest later that year. Yet details of Bikos death remained unclear and the presiding magistrate refused to prosecute. Professor Yosuf (Joe) Veriava, who is now professor emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand, was one of the people to demand that the doctors and the South African Medical and Dental Council be held accountable. Submissions to the council were ignored but Veriava, a medical doctor, persisted. He was joined by other doctors including Tim Wilson and Dumisani Mzamane. Phillip Tobias, who was dean of medicine at the university at the time, joined along with professors Frances Ames and Trefor Jenkins. The group took their case to the Pretoria Supreme Court Veriava and others v. the South African Medical and Dental Council. After years of effort, to their surprise, on 30 January 1985, the court ordered the council to hold a formal disciplinary hearing for the two doctors involved and to pay the costs for the case. The two doctors Ivor Lang and Benjamin Tucker were found guilty. Lang received only a caution and continued to practise for five more years until he retired. Tucker was struck off the roll, but he issued a public apology and successfully applied to be reinstated. Addressing the issue of ethics In the late 1970s and early 1990s doctors at the University of Cape Town and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) saw the need to establish local medical ethics committees that would have status in the faculty and offer advice to doctors. Jenkins was involved in creating course material about medical ethics at Wits. Veriava again played a role in 1997 when the University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences was asked to make a submission to special hearings on the health sector held by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission was established to expose the truth about the human rights violations that had taken place under apartheid, from 1960 to 1994. Max Price, who was the dean, Jenkins and Veriava put together the material. In his submission, Price said: We look specifically at the failure of the faculty to address human rights and ethics as a substantive and formal component of the curriculum prior to 1984. Price shared that in preparation for the submission, many white staff members believed that the university had offered a liberal environment and an oasis of freedom to black staff and students during apartheid. However he said, in interviews, this proved untrue. Many Black staff and students felt angry and bitter because they experienced exclusion, humiliation and hurt by discriminatory practices. As a result, the university decided to conduct an Internal Reconciliation Commission. But the process was flawed. For example, it did not review the history of the collection of ancestral human skeletons, masks and casts that were built from the 1920s through to the 1980s, some of which was collected unethically. There was no review of the disturbing anthropological practices used at Wits Medical School and the Department of Anatomy as faculty and students conducted research trips across the continent in the same period. What still needs to be done The internal reconciliation commission was nevertheless an important process. As a result of its work the universitys Faculty of Health Sciences now carries a plaque at its entrance stating that it reaffirms its rejection of racism and other violations of human rights. In 2007, Professor Ames Dhai became the founder director of the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at Wits. Among other changes, over the past several years, new internal policies and ethics committees have been put in place to oversee the collections at the university. Yet there is still more to be done. We need to continue to talk about the history of scientific racism, not only to understand the present, but also to make changes to do better in the future. We owe that to future generations, and to our ancestors, including Steve Biko. Christa Kuljian, Research Associate, WiSER, University of the Witwatersrand. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Dr Stavros Nicolaou receives medal honour Each year the pharmaceutical congress honours a pharmacist who has made a significant contribution to the industrial sector globally. Dr Stavros Nicolaou (BPharm 1986, DSc Med 2019 honoris causa), senior executive of strategic trade at Aspen Pharma Group, was awarded the 2024 Industrial Pharmacy Section Medal for his leadership and making significant contributions to healthcare over nearly three decades in the pharmaceutical industry. The award was presented at the 82nd International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Congress in Cape Town, which took place for the first time in Africa during the first week of September. The FIP is a global federation representing over four million pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists and pharmaceutical educators around the world. Founded in 1912, FIP works to advance pharmacy practice and science globally, fostering excellence in healthcare delivery through education, research, and collaboration through their 156 national organisations, academic institutional members and individual members. Dr Nicolaou was acknowledged for his excellence in the practice of pharmaceutical sciences, his impact on industrial pharmacy developments, his leadership skills and ability to build links with other branches of the profession. He is a loyal Wits alumnus, and was guest speaker at 2023 Founders' Tea. He has almost 34 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, mainly in domestic and international general management. He has been recognised in the Global Top 100 Health Edition Honorees Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) in healthcare and received Greeces ARGO Public Service Award from the President of Greece in 2023. The award is given to exceptional Hellenics around the world, in recognition of their on-going humanitarian efforts. He serves on several industry boards and advisory councils. Dr Nicolaou is passionate about championing local production of medicines. At the conference he presented a blueprint for reform of vaccine and pharmaceutical procurement by international agencies asking: It's a really sad indictment that agencies procure next to no vaccines from Africa. Yet Africa, for example, sits with 70% of the world's HIV-infected [population] and has to import most of our ARVs. How could that ever make sense? In 2022 Professor Yahya Choonara (BPharm 2002, MPharm 2004, PhD 2009) was awarded the 2022 Distinguished Pharmaceutical Science Award from the FIP in recognition of his outstanding research and significant contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences globally. For the first time in the 82-year history of the FIP, two individuals from the same Pharmacy School, at Wits, have been recognised globally by the organisation. Sources: FIP and LinkedIn Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,540,000 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the August 15th total of 16,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Devon Energy Trading Up 2.1 % Devon Energy stock traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.47. The companys stock had a trading volume of 7,488,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,110,613. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.42. Devon Energy has a 12 month low of $39.02 and a 12 month high of $55.09. The stock has a market cap of $25.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Get Devon Energy alerts: Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.15. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 22.60%. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. Devon Energys revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Devon Energy will post 5.36 EPS for the current year. Devon Energy Dividend Announcement Institutional Inflows and Outflows The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Devon Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.79%. Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Devon Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Devon Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Devon Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Devon Energy by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 731 shares of the energy companys stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 66.7% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 750 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 69.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research analysts have weighed in on DVN shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Devon Energy from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America reissued a buy rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Devon Energy in a report on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Devon Energy from $64.00 to $51.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Devon Energy to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $57.63. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Devon Energy About Devon Energy (Get Free Report) Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Eagle Ford, Anadarko, Williston, and Powder River Basins. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Devon Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Devon Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 572,300 shares, a decrease of 10.5% from the August 15th total of 639,700 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 366,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Institutional Investors Weigh In On ITT Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ITT. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in ITT by 0.4% during the second quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,973 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $2,457,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in ITT by 5.9% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of ITT by 4.7% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,306 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of ITT by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 423 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in ITT by 2.7% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,608 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the companys stock. Get ITT alerts: ITT Stock Up 2.5 % NYSE ITT traded up $3.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $139.18. The companys stock had a trading volume of 482,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,279. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. ITT has a 1-year low of $91.94 and a 1-year high of $149.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $135.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $132.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. ITT Announces Dividend ITT ( NYSE:ITT Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.03. ITT had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 12.47%. The firm had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $916.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that ITT will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.319 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. ITTs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.90%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ITT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on ITT from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of ITT from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on ITT from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $151.00. Read Our Latest Stock Report on ITT ITT Company Profile (Get Free Report) ITT Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered critical components and customized technology solutions for the transportation, industrial, and energy markets in the United States and internationally. The Motion Technologies segment manufactures brake pads, shims, shock absorbers, and energy absorption components; and sealing technologies primarily for the transportation industry, including passenger cars, trucks, light- and heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles, buses, and trains. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for ITT Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ITT and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CCTV: Can you give us more details on the program of King of Malaysia His Majesty Sultan Ibrahims visit to China? How does China view the current China-Malaysia relationship and whats Chinas expectation for the visit? Lin Jian: China and Malaysia share time-honored friendship and are good neighbors and good partners who have always supported each other and pursued win-win cooperation. In March last year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reached important common understandings on building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, charting the course for the growth of bilateral relations in the new era. This year marks the 50th anniversary of China-Malaysia diplomatic ties and the Year of China-Malaysia Friendship, and Premier Li Qiang paid a successful official visit to Malaysia in June, injecting new impetus to the growth of China-Malaysia relations. King of Malaysia His Majesty Sultan Ibrahims upcoming visit is his first visit to a non-ASEAN country after he swore in. President Xi Jinping will hold a welcoming ceremony and a banquet for him, and the two heads of state will hold talks. Premier Li Qiang will meet with His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim. China stands ready to work with Malaysia to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen the synergy of development strategies and expand mutually beneficial cooperation through this visit, in order to further enrich the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership and strive for new progress in building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future. Kyodo News: According to information released by the Japanese government, a student at a Japanese school in Shenzhen was stabbed by a man this morning and taken to hospital. Can you provide more details about the incident? This is the second attack against Japanese student in China this year. How does China view this kind of incident? Lin Jian: As we have learned, on the morning of September 18, a ten-year-old student from the Shenzhen Japanese School was stabbed by a man at a spot about 200 meters from the school gate. The wounded student was immediately sent to hospital and is being rescued with all-out efforts. The perpetrator was caught at the scene. The case is under investigation, and relevant authorities of China will handle the case in accordance with law. TASS: The US army chief said earlier that the US is considering the possibility of deploying medium and short-range missiles in Japan. Whats the Foreign Ministrys comment? If the US decides to do so, what joint measures can Russia and China take to ensure their own security? Lin Jian: In recent years, the US has been hellbent on advancing military deployment, including Mid-Range Capability missile system, in the Asia-Pacific to pursue absolute military advantages. This move will heighten arms race, exacerbate regional tensions, threaten peace and security in this region, and disrupt global strategic balance and stability. China has made clear its opposition more than once. We urge the US to give up its deployment plan, and call on relevant country to have a clear understanding of the real intention of the US, act prudently in fields related to military and security and take concrete actions to uphold regional and international peace and stability. China will keep a close eye on relevant developments, and firmly safeguard its security, rights and interests. China News Service: Its reported that in a statement issued on September 17, US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said that the US State Department approved a military sale to Taiwan of return, repair, and reshipment of spare parts for aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost totaling US$ 228 million. Whats Chinas comments? Lin Jian: The USs arms sale to Chinas Taiwan region seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, especially the August 17 Communique of 1982. The sale severely undermines Chinas sovereignty and security interests, harms China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a wrong message to Taiwan independence separatist forces. China strongly condemns and firmly opposes this, and has lodged strong protests to the US side. As a firm countermeasure, China has announced sanctions against nine US military companies. The USs frequent arms sales to Taiwan embolden Lai Ching-te and the DPP authorities as they cling to the stance of Taiwan independence and make deliberate provocations on the one-China principle. This once again shows that the separatist moves for Taiwan independence and connivance and support for such moves from US-led external forces are the biggest threat facing cross-Strait peace and stability and cause the greatest disruption to the real status quo in the Taiwan Strait. Let me be clear, the DPP authorities attempt to seek independence through military buildup and what the US has done to assist that agenda will only backfire and lead nowhere. The Taiwan question is at the core of Chinas core interests, and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations. No one should underestimate Chinas firm determination and ability to oppose Taiwan independence and safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity. China urges the US to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, immediately stop the dangerous trend of arming Taiwan, stop conniving at and supporting Taiwan independence, and stop endangering cross-Strait peace and stability. We will take strong and resolute measures to firmly defend our national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. AFP: Japans Defense Ministry said today that Chinas Liaoning aircraft carrier entered the contiguous zone in Japans Okinawa region. Can you confirm this? What is Chinas comment? Lin Jian: Id refer you to competent authorities for your question. Let me stress that relevant activities of China are consistent with Chinas domestic law and international law. Beijing Youth Daily: The 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) was held in Beijing from September 12 to 16. World leading companies as well as SMEs exhibited their latest outcomes, technologies and applications at CIFTIS and explored cooperation with potential partners. As global free trade faces both opportunities and challenges, how does China view the significance of such platforms to expanding high-standard opening up? Lin Jian: It has been 12 years since CIFTIS was launched in 2012. Over the past decade and more, CIFTIS has attracted more than 900,000 exhibitors and audience from 197 countries and regions. In the same period of time, Chinas trade in services grew at an average annual rate of 6.2 percent, higher than the global average. As President Xi Jinping noted in his congratulatory letter, CIFTIS is a vivid portrayal of the high-quality development of Chinas service industry and service trade, making positive contributions to the building of an open world economy. CIFTIS is an epitome of Chinas commitment to high-standard opening up. On the one hand, China has opened its door wider to the world. We have set up 22 Pilot Free Trade Zones, established the Hainan Free Trade Port, and worked vigorously for the signing and entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. On the other hand, China has eased access for foreign businesses. We have cut short the negative list for foreign investment several times, and worked to eliminate all restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector. We have also hosted a number of fairs, including the China International Import Expo, the Canton Fair, the China International Consumer Products Expo, and the China International Supply Chain Expo, contributing to global development through Chinese modernization. Openness makes Chinas super-sized market a strong magnet in global trade, and turns Chinese modernization into new opportunities for the world development. Since the founding of New China 75 years ago, especially the reform and opening up, China has explored paths of opening up to the wider world and actively engaged in international trade and economic cooperation. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has been pursuing a more proactive strategy of opening up and working to build an open world economy. The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China this year spelled out in detail the next steps in improving the institutions and mechanisms for high-standard opening up. We stand ready to continue working with other countries to ride on economic globalization, share opportunities, explore cooperation and promote development through opening up, and contribute our part to global modernization. Bloomberg: An indictment announced recently by the US attorney claims that the employee of one of Chinas state-owned defense contractors tried to hack NASA, the US military and other targets to obtain computer software and source code. Does the Foreign Ministry have any comment? Lin Jian: Im not aware of the specifics. Bloomberg: Chinese officials will be speaking with EU officials in Brussels and US officials here in Beijing about Chinese industrial capacity and export tariffs. What messages does China hope to convey and what is China hoping to achieve with the talks? Lin Jian: Id refer you to competent authorities for the specifics. Let me stress more broadly that this probe is a typical protectionist and politically-motivated move. It disrespects facts, ignores WTO rules, contravenes the trend of history, and undermines the EUs green transition process and global response to climate change. China has, since the very beginning, shown utmost sincerity, been committed to settling the issue through dialogue and consultation, and made flexible proposals. The EU, however, has on the one hand, claimed it is willing to resolve differences through dialogue, while on the other hand, turned down the Chinese sides offers time and again without putting any meaningful counter offer on the table. We hope the EU will show sincerity, take actions, and take a serious look at the Chinese EV sectors legitimate concerns and proposals. If the European Commission is bent on the wrong decision, China will take what is necessary to firmly safeguard the lawful rights and interests of our companies and the EV sector. Regarding the dialogue between the Chinese and US economic authorities, Id refer you to them. Jordan's new Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan (R, Front) is sworn in before King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman, Jordan, on Sept. 18, 2024. (Royal Hashemite Court/Handout via Xinhua) AMMAN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's new Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan and members of his cabinet were sworn in on Wednesday before King Abdullah II, state-run Petra news agency reported. Hassan has previously served as director of the Office of the King, deputy prime minister for economic affairs, and minister of planning and international cooperation. He was tasked with forming the cabinet following the resignation of former Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh and his government on Sunday after the 20th parliamentary election. The new government includes five female ministers and nine who hold ministerial portfolios for the first time. Within this new administration, Ayman Safadi was appointed as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and expatriates, Saleh Kharabsheh as minister of energy and mineral resources, Abdulhakim Al-Shibli as minister of finance, Mohammad Al-Momani as minister of government communication, Zeina Touqan as minister of planning and international cooperation, Raed Abu Saud as minister of water and irrigation and Mothanna Gharaibeh as minister of investment, Petra reported. In a letter appointing Hassan as prime minister on Sunday, the king directed the new government to dedicate all efforts to supporting Palestinians and defending their rights. The king also said the government must work with the House of Representatives to deepen the foundations of democracy and its concepts and highlighted the importance of continuing the kingdom's prudent financial policies to maintain economic stability and control debt in the face of regional and international challenges. King Abdullah II (9th L, Front) of Jordan poses for a group photo with new Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan (8th R, Front) and members of his cabinet in Amman, Jordan, on Sept. 18, 2024. (Royal Hashemite Court/Handout via Xinhua) Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 86,903 shares of the utilities providers stock, valued at approximately $5,173,000. A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMS. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in CMS Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in CMS Energy by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,038,851 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $60,326,000 after buying an additional 18,636 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in CMS Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 372,364 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $21,623,000 after buying an additional 2,549 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its stake in CMS Energy by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 23,344 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,356,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in CMS Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 10,394 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the companys stock. Get CMS Energy alerts: CMS Energy Trading Down 0.3 % Shares of CMS Energy stock opened at $70.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.40. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.87 and a fifty-two week high of $70.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.68 and a 200 day moving average of $62.07. CMS Energy Cuts Dividend CMS Energy ( NYSE:CMS Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. CMS Energy had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. CMS Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.80%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms have commented on CMS. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim upped their price target on CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays upped their price target on CMS Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on CMS Energy from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, CMS Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $67.75. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on CMS Energy CMS Energy Company Profile (Free Report) CMS Energy Corporation operates as an energy company primarily in Michigan. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility; Gas Utility; and Enterprises. The Electric Utility segment is involved in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. This segment generates electricity through coal, wind, gas, renewable energy, oil, and nuclear sources. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for CMS Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CMS Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Argent Trust Co increased its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV Free Report) by 7.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,644 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Cos holdings in Elevance Health were worth $5,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ELV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,062,706 shares of the companys stock worth $1,117,698,000 after purchasing an additional 523,910 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth about $239,244,000. Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 1st quarter worth about $249,884,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 1st quarter worth about $203,389,000. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $173,753,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the companys stock. Get Elevance Health alerts: Elevance Health Price Performance NYSE ELV opened at $543.25 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $535.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $528.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.82. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $431.38 and a 52 week high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Elevance Health Dividend Announcement Elevance Health ( NYSE:ELV Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.99 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $43.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.99 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 20.64%. The firms quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.04 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.25 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Elevance Healths dividend payout ratio is 24.64%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Elevance Health from $621.00 to $611.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered Elevance Health from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $615.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Baird R W raised Elevance Health to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Elevance Health from $624.00 to $589.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $604.29. View Our Latest Research Report on ELV Insider Buying and Selling In other Elevance Health news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total value of $400,234.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,647,610.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Elevance Health news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total value of $400,234.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,647,610.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 305 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.76, for a total value of $154,561.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,721 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,926,213.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,058 shares of company stock valued at $17,588,116. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Elevance Health Profile (Free Report) Elevance Health, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. It offers a variety of health plans and services to program members; health products; an array of fee-based administrative managed care services; and specialty and other insurance products and services, such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health insurance benefits. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ELV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Elevance Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Elevance Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Argent Trust Co decreased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,467 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 1,346 shares during the period. Argent Trust Cos holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the companys stock. Get Pfizer alerts: Pfizer Stock Down 0.8 % Shares of PFE stock opened at $29.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $169.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -497.08, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.68. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.20 and a 52 week high of $34.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $29.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.18. Pfizer Dividend Announcement Pfizer ( NYSE:PFE Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 4.66% and a positive return on equity of 8.42%. The businesss revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Pfizers dividend payout ratio is -2,799.53%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth PFE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pfizer from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Pfizer from a moderate buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $34.54. Read 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. See Also 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. Auckland International Airport Limited (OTCMKTS:AUKNY Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, investing.com reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.0302 per share on Friday, October 11th. This represents a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. Auckland International Airport Stock Performance Shares of OTCMKTS AUKNY opened at $21.42 on Wednesday. The firms fifty day moving average is $23.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.45. Auckland International Airport has a 52-week low of $20.93 and a 52-week high of $26.56. Get Auckland International Airport alerts: Auckland International Airport Company Profile (Get Free Report) Further Reading Auckland International Airport Limited provides airport facilities, supporting infrastructure, and aeronautical services in Auckland and New Zealand. The company operates through three segments: Aeronautical, Retail, and Property. The Aeronautical segment provides services that facilitate the movement of aircraft, passengers, and cargo, as well as utility services, which support the airport; and leases space for facilities, such as terminals. Receive News & Ratings for Auckland International Airport Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Auckland International Airport and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bid Co. Limited (OTCMKTS:BPPPF Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 153,800 shares, a decrease of 9.0% from the August 15th total of 169,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 769.0 days. BID Stock Performance BPPPF stock opened at $25.00 on Wednesday. BID has a 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $25.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.09. Get BID alerts: About BID (Get Free Report) Featured Articles Bid Corporation Limited provides foodservice solutions in Australasia, the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally. The company distributes fresh ingredients, including fish, seafood, meat, produce, dairy products, and ambient goods for the hospitality, institutional, catering, and retail sectors. Receive News & Ratings for BID Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BID and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Black Diamond Group Limited (TSE:BDI Get Free Report) Senior Officer Michael Lenard Ridley sold 8,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$10.15, for a total value of C$81,200.00. Black Diamond Group Stock Down 1.6 % Black Diamond Group stock opened at C$9.80 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$9.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$8.74. Black Diamond Group Limited has a 12 month low of C$5.94 and a 12 month high of C$10.20. The stock has a market capitalization of C$587.12 million, a PE ratio of 20.42 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 84.84, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Get Black Diamond Group alerts: Black Diamond Group (TSE:BDI Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.11 by C$0.01. The business had revenue of C$95.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$93.70 million. Black Diamond Group had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 10.86%. On average, analysts anticipate that Black Diamond Group Limited will post 0.5351382 EPS for the current fiscal year. Black Diamond Group Announces Dividend Analyst Ratings Changes The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Black Diamond Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.00%. A number of research analysts have issued reports on BDI shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on Black Diamond Group from C$12.00 to C$14.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Black Diamond Group from C$11.00 to C$12.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Read Our Latest Report on BDI Black Diamond Group Company Profile (Get Free Report) Black Diamond Group Limited rents and sells modular space and workforce accommodation solutions. It operates through two segments, Modular Space Solutions and Workforce Solutions. The Modular Space Solutions segment provides modular space rentals to customers in the construction, real estate development, education, manufacturing, health care, financial, government, and defense industries in North America. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Black Diamond Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Black Diamond Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI Free Report) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,608 shares of the communications equipment providers stock after selling 2,880 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.13% of Motorola Solutions worth $84,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 18,252 shares of the communications equipment providers stock valued at $6,786,000 after buying an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 3.4% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 6,600 shares of the communications equipment providers stock worth $2,548,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 5.1% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 1,100 shares of the communications equipment providers stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 0.3% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 35,933 shares of the communications equipment providers stock valued at $13,872,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in Motorola Solutions by 9.4% in the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 9,122 shares of the communications equipment providers stock worth $3,524,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. 84.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Motorola Solutions alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth MSI has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Motorola Solutions from $370.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $436.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $372.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $466.17. Motorola Solutions Stock Down 0.9 % NYSE:MSI opened at $439.16 on Wednesday. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $415.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $379.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.20. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $269.64 and a fifty-two week high of $448.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.97. Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 14.04% and a return on equity of 337.36%. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.41 earnings per share. Motorola Solutionss revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 12.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Motorola Solutionss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.45%. Insider Activity at Motorola Solutions In other Motorola Solutions news, COO John P. Molloy sold 23,985 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $407.50, for a total value of $9,773,887.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 46,821 shares of the companys stock, valued at $19,079,557.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Motorola Solutions Profile (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. See Also 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. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the basic materials companys stock. China Green Agriculture Stock Down 3.7 % Shares of NYSE:CGA opened at $1.80 on Friday. The companys fifty day moving average is $1.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.45. China Green Agriculture has a 12-month low of $1.60 and a 12-month high of $4.00. The company has a market cap of $26.63 million, a P/E ratio of -0.89 and a beta of 0.51. Get China Green Agriculture alerts: About China Green Agriculture (Get Free Report) Recommended Stories China Green Agriculture, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, production, and sale of various fertilizers, agricultural products, and bitcoin in the People's Republic of China and the United States. The company operates through four segments: Jinong (Fertilizer Production); Gufeng (Fertilizer Production); Yuxing (Agricultural Products Production); and Antaeus (Bitcoin). Receive News & Ratings for China Green Agriculture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Green Agriculture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $15.00 to $13.50 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the mining companys stock. Morgan Stanleys price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.31% from the stocks previous close. CLF has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. B. Riley reissued a buy rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $18.00 to $12.50 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $17.56. Get Cleveland-Cliffs alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 0.5 % Shares of CLF stock opened at $11.81 on Wednesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1 year low of $10.21 and a 1 year high of $22.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.67. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a PEG ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The mining company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.18 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 4.94% and a net margin of 0.21%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.01 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the second quarter worth $31,000. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 138.8% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the mining companys stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile (Get Free Report) Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Cleveland-Cliffs Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cleveland-Cliffs and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CTT Correios De Portugal, S.A. (OTCMKTS:CTTPY Get Free Report)s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company 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 firms 50 day simple moving average is $7.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. 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. Further Reading 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. NAIROBI, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday urged Kenya to intensify efforts to tackle budgetary and economic challenges, following reforms in the East African country that sparked mass protests in June. Haimanot Teferra, the IMF team leader who concluded a six-day visit to Kenya, said discussions centered on policies and reforms to tackle the country's growing fiscal issues. "We remain fully committed to supporting the authorities on their efforts to identify a set of policies that could support the completion of the reviews under the ongoing program as soon as feasible," Teferra said in a statement Tuesday evening. She said that the IMF and Kenyan officials had talks on policies and reforms to address the economic and fiscal challenges. Kenyan authorities reaffirmed their commitment to advancing economic and governance reforms essential for fostering sustainable and inclusive growth for all Kenyans. "We will continue our discussions with the authorities," she added. The IMF's visit comes a few months after Kenyan President William Ruto withdrew the Finance Bill 2024 from the parliament following nationwide protests. The bill sought to raise an additional 346.7 billion shillings (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) through new taxes on essential goods and services, such as bread and mobile money transfers, to meet government revenue targets. Some protesters accused the IMF of contributing to the crisis, arguing that the institution's loans come with stringent conditions that disproportionately impact the poor. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG Free Report) by 374.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,412 shares of the insurance providers stock after acquiring an additional 1,904 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLCs holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group were worth $243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIG. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 32.2% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 3,134 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,755,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 39.6% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,288 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 2,068 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,809,358 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $584,177,000 after acquiring an additional 69,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.42% of the companys stock. Get The Hartford Financial Services Group alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $120.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lowered The Hartford Financial Services Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $116.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $113.00 to $111.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong 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 $113.22. Insider Buying and Selling In other The Hartford Financial Services Group news, EVP Michael R. Fisher sold 4,088 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.47, for a total value of $414,809.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,582.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. The Hartford Financial Services Group Price Performance Shares of NYSE:HIG opened at $117.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $109.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.50. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.82 and a twelve month high of $117.68. The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.26. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 21.20%. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The Hartford Financial Services Groups revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 10.09 EPS for the current year. The Hartford Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The Hartford Financial Services Groups payout ratio is 21.36%. The Hartford Financial Services Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to buyback $3.30 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 10.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the companys management believes its shares are undervalued. The Hartford Financial Services Group Profile (Free Report) The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers insurance coverages, including workers' compensation, property, automobile, general and professional liability, package business, umbrella, fidelity and surety, marine, livestock, accident, health, and reinsurance through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HIG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for The Hartford Financial Services Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Hartford Financial Services Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited (OTCMKTS:DMZPY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,100 shares, a decrease of 26.7% from the August 15th total of 1,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 11.0 days. Dominos Pizza Enterprises Stock Performance Shares of OTCMKTS:DMZPY remained flat at $9.89 during trading on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 12 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,152. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.38 and a 200-day moving average of $12.11. Dominos Pizza Enterprises has a 12-month low of $9.49 and a 12-month high of $19.29. Get Domino's Pizza Enterprises alerts: Dominos Pizza Enterprises Cuts Dividend The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.101 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. About Dominos Pizza Enterprises Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited operates retail food outlets. The company holds franchise rights for the Domino's brand in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Cambodia, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. It operates various stores. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Domino's Pizza Enterprises Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Domino's Pizza Enterprises and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Farmers Bankshares, Inc. (OTCMKTS:FBVA Get Free Report) shot up 2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $18.85 and last traded at $18.81. 900 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.45. Farmers Bankshares Stock Performance The business has a fifty day moving average of $18.81 and a 200-day moving average of $18.81. Farmers Bankshares Company Profile (Get Free Report) Farmers Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Farmers Bank that provides various banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals, corporate executives, and entrepreneurs primarily in southeastern Virginia. The company offers personal and business checking and savings accounts. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Farmers Bankshares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Farmers Bankshares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS Free Report) in a research report released on Saturday morning. The firm issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. Separately, Truist Financial cut their target price on Fresenius Medical Care from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.00. Get Fresenius Medical Care alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Fresenius Medical Care Fresenius Medical Care Price Performance Shares of FMS stock opened at $20.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Fresenius Medical Care has a 12 month low of $16.37 and a 12 month high of $23.29. The company has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90. Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.38. Fresenius Medical Care had a return on equity of 5.48% and a net margin of 2.72%. The company had revenue of $5.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.51 EPS for the current year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Fresenius Medical Care by 1,809.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 343,429 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,556,000 after purchasing an additional 325,439 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. raised its position in Fresenius Medical Care by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 85,430 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,631,000 after purchasing an additional 18,360 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 164.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 66,134 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,378,000 after buying an additional 41,139 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,309 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 5,946 shares during the period. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 172.2% in the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 53,023 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 33,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 8.25% of the companys stock. Fresenius Medical Care Company Profile (Get Free Report) Fresenius Medical Care AG provides dialysis and related services for individuals with renal diseases in Germany, North America, and internationally. The company offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Fresenius Medical Care Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fresenius Medical Care and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF (TSE:XBB Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$28.78 and last traded at C$28.77, with a volume of 13099 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$28.70. iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF Trading Down 0.2 % The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$28.26 and a 200 day moving average price of C$27.74. iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF Company Profile (Get Free Report) iShares DEX Universe Bond Index Fund seeks to provide income by replicating, to the extent possible, the performance of the DEX Universe Bond Index, net of expenses. The DEX Bond Index consists of a diversified selection of investment-grade Government of Canada, provincial, corporate and municipal bonds issued domestically in Canada and denominated in Canadian dollars. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:JAPSY Get Free Report)s stock price rose 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $8.67 and last traded at $8.63. Approximately 104,744 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 49% from the average daily volume of 70,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.62. Japan Airlines Stock Performance The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.67. The firms 50-day moving average is $8.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.51. Get Japan Airlines alerts: Japan Airlines (OTCMKTS:JAPSY Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter. Japan Airlines had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 5.38%. As a group, research analysts expect that Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year. Japan Airlines Company Profile Japan Airlines Co, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services in Japan, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. The company operates through Air Transportation and Other segments. It offers passenger, ground handling, cargo and mail handling, and maintenance services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Japan Airlines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Japan Airlines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Madison Pacific Properties Inc. (TSE:MPC Get Free Report) passed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$5.19 and traded as low as C$5.08. Madison Pacific Properties shares last traded at C$5.10, with a volume of 2,233 shares trading hands. Madison Pacific Properties Price Performance The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 70.03. The companys 50 day moving average is C$5.19 and its 200 day moving average is C$5.58. The firm has a market capitalization of C$37.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.93 and a beta of 0.35. Get Madison Pacific Properties alerts: Madison Pacific Properties (TSE:MPC Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The company reported C($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter. Madison Pacific Properties had a negative return on equity of 11.24% and a negative net margin of 117.88%. The firm had revenue of C$11.60 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Madison Pacific Properties Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Madison Pacific Properties Announces Dividend Madison Pacific Properties Company Profile The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.052 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. Madison Pacific Propertiess dividend payout ratio is -12.79%. (Get Free Report) Madison Pacific Properties Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in owning, developing, and managing real estate properties in Canada. The company's property portfolio comprises office, industrial, commercial, retail, and multi-family rental real estate properties located in Metro Vancouver region, British Columbia, Calgary, Edmonton, Alberta, Sudbury, Mississauga, Monetville, and Ontario. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Madison Pacific Properties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Madison Pacific Properties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Free Report) by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,294 shares of the investment management companys stock after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Cos holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $5,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,903,374,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $366,780,000 after buying an additional 743,402 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,196 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $842,597,000 after acquiring an additional 464,954 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $179,608,000 after acquiring an additional 356,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $146,317,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts: Insider Activity In related news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,450 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,287,748. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,095 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $5,050,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $496.44. Read Our Latest Stock Report on GS The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $485.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $156.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.36 and a twelve month high of $517.26. The companys fifty day moving average is $490.99 and its 200 day moving average is $452.97. The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.5 EPS for the current year. The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Groups previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The Goldman Sachs Groups payout ratio is 46.86%. About The Goldman Sachs Group (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 Stories 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. Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of Buy by the two brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $65.00. Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday. Get Minerals Technologies alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on MTX Insiders Place Their Bets Institutional Investors Weigh In On Minerals Technologies In related news, insider Dj Monagle III sold 14,229 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.63, for a total transaction of $1,189,971.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 79,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,667,903.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Insiders own 3.50% of the companys stock. Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 97.9% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Minerals Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Minerals Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 1,857.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 920 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the period. 97.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Minerals Technologies Stock Down 1.3 % Shares of Minerals Technologies stock traded down $0.95 on Tuesday, reaching $71.58. 184,881 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 162,007. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Minerals Technologies has a one year low of $48.61 and a one year high of $90.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $76.95 and a 200 day moving average of $77.76. Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.05. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 11.46%. The company had revenue of $541.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Minerals Technologiess revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Minerals Technologies will post 6.22 earnings per share for the current year. Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Minerals Technologiess payout ratio is 13.84%. Minerals Technologies Company Profile (Get Free Report Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Minerals Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Minerals Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $17.28 and last traded at $17.04, with a volume of 24094 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.14. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on OUT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a hold rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of OUTFRONT Media from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $16.00. Get OUTFRONT Media alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on OUT OUTFRONT Media Stock Up 0.5 % The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.40. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of -6.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.60. OUTFRONT Media had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The firm had revenue of $477.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that OUTFRONT Media Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year. OUTFRONT Media Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. OUTFRONT Medias dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -45.11%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On OUTFRONT Media Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,724,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 145.8% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,720,884 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $28,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,719 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in OUTFRONT Media during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,779,000. Cove Street Capital LLC increased its stake in OUTFRONT Media by 250.2% in the 4th quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 841,279 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $11,744,000 after purchasing an additional 601,079 shares during the period. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its position in OUTFRONT Media by 17.3% in the first quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 2,842,935 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $47,733,000 after purchasing an additional 419,706 shares during the last quarter. About OUTFRONT Media (Get Free Report) OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location, and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for OUTFRONT Media Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for OUTFRONT Media and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. JAKARTA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese car manufacturers emerged as the best-selling brands in Indonesia's electric vehicle (EV) market in August, surpassing other Asian competitors, according to data from the Association of Indonesia Automotive Industries (GAIKINDO) released on Wednesday. China-based BYD came at the top EV producer that gained the most popularity in the Southeast Asian country, recording a total of 2,971 unit sales, with Seal and Atto 3 being the most favorite series. Two other Chinese EV brands, Chery and Wuling, followed closely, each selling more than 400 units. "BYD has recorded extraordinary achievement in terms of order, even if compared to other Chinese brands," GAIKINDO said in an official statement on its website. South Korean EVs, such as the Hyundai Ioniq and Kona Electric, recorded significantly lower sales, with 182 units each. Chinese EVs are gaining popularity in Indonesia as the demand continues to grow. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lowered its position in shares of iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (NYSEARCA:EIDO Free Report) by 53.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,790 shares of the companys stock after selling 37,125 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. owned 0.15% of iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $81,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF by 330.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,030 shares of the companys stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. increased its stake in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 13,490 shares of the companys stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 2,690 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its stake in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 14,736 shares of the companys stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 3,456 shares during the period. Get iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF Stock Performance iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF stock opened at $22.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $480.18 million, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.55. The firms 50 day moving average price is $20.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.90. iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF has a twelve month low of $18.09 and a twelve month high of $23.17. iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF Profile The iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (EIDO) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Indonesia IMI 25-50 index, a market-cap-weighted index of large-, mid and small-cap Indonesian companies. EIDO was launched on May 5, 2010 and is managed by BlackRock. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,527 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 369 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PM. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 684.4% during the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sachetta LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 64.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 267 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 250.0% in the 1st quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 322 shares of the companys stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 318 shares of the companys stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Insider Activity In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 158,447 shares of the companys stock, valued at $17,906,095.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total transaction of $1,038,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 85,629 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $117.05. Get Our Latest Research Report on Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Price Performance NYSE:PM opened at $123.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.13. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $128.22. Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.02. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.41% and a negative return on equity of 113.32%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year. Philip Morris International Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%. Philip Morris International Profile (Free Report) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund (NYSE:PDX Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,500 shares, a decrease of 21.5% from the August 15th total of 26,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 73,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days. PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:PDX traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $23.59. The companys stock had a trading volume of 31,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 98,978. The companys fifty day moving average is $22.85. PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund has a 52 week low of $16.89 and a 52 week high of $23.79. Get PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund alerts: PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.1133 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. This is a positive change from PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Funds previous monthly dividend of $0.11. Insiders Place Their Bets Institutional Inflows and Outflows In related news, major shareholder Saba Capital Management, L.P. sold 38,270 shares of PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.49, for a total transaction of $898,962.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,321,424 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $148,490,249.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Insiders sold a total of 197,283 shares of company stock worth $4,524,737 over the last three months. A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund during the second quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at $264,000. Williams & Novak LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund in the 2nd quarter worth $280,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund during the 2nd quarter worth $293,000. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at about $325,000. See Also Receive News & Ratings for PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PIMCO Dynamic Income Strategy Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Free Report) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,058,735 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 13,365 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.06% of Charles Schwab worth $78,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Country Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 389 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 780 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $58,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 780 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $58,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,175. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.49, for a total value of $652,410.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 570,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,366,925.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,636 shares of company stock worth $6,533,064 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered Charles Schwab from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an equal weight rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.75. Read Our Latest Report on SCHW Charles Schwab Stock Performance SCHW stock opened at $63.84 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.03. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $48.66 and a 1-year high of $79.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $113.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.97. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 26.30%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year. Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.84%. Charles Schwab 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. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Free Report). 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. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO Free Report) Stock analysts at Leerink Partnrs cut their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, September 13th. Leerink Partnrs analyst P. Souda now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings of $5.91 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $6.00. The consensus estimate for Thermo Fisher Scientifics current full-year earnings is $21.72 per share. Get Thermo Fisher Scientific alerts: TMO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an overweight rating and a $670.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $648.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a buy rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $632.89. Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.6 % Shares of TMO opened at $610.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1-year low of $415.60 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.78. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $595.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $580.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $5.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.13 by $0.24. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.22% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter valued at about $334,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,573,000. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $671,000. Sycomore Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.5% in the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 8,963 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $5,003,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth $593,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Insider Activity In related news, CAO Joseph R. Holmes sold 860 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.03, for a total value of $525,485.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,108,408.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Joseph R. Holmes sold 860 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.03, for a total value of $525,485.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,108,408.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total value of $6,172,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at $76,420,473.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,084 shares of company stock valued at $14,094,292. Insiders own 0.34% of the companys stock. Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientifics dividend payout ratio is currently 10.01%. Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile (Get Free Report) Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its stake in Owens Corning (NYSE:OC Free Report) by 43.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,461 shares of the construction companys stock after purchasing an additional 5,583 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LPs holdings in Owens Corning were worth $3,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Owens Corning by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 364,473 shares of the construction companys stock worth $63,285,000 after buying an additional 32,157 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new position in Owens Corning in the second quarter worth approximately $239,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Owens Corning by 4.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,431 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $3,693,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Owens Corning by 23.9% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 16,098 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $2,796,000 after acquiring an additional 3,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Owens Corning by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 88.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Owens Corning alerts: Owens Corning Stock Performance NYSE:OC opened at $170.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Owens Corning has a 1 year low of $109.95 and a 1 year high of $191.13. Owens Corning Dividend Announcement Owens Corning ( NYSE:OC Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Owens Corning had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.66%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.22 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Owens Corning will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. Owens Cornings payout ratio is currently 19.43%. Insider Activity at Owens Corning In other Owens Corning news, CFO Todd W. Fister sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.65, for a total transaction of $520,950.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,626 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,491,854.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $188.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Benchmark reissued a hold rating on shares of Owens Corning in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup upgraded Owens Corning from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $178.00 to $191.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Owens Corning from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $211.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $184.23. Read Our Latest Analysis on Owens Corning Owens Corning Profile (Free Report) Owens Corning manufactures and sells building and construction materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Roofing, Insulation, and Composites. The Roofing segment manufactures and sells laminate and strip asphalt roofing shingles, oxidized asphalt materials, and roofing components used in residential and commercial construction, and specialty applications. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Owens Corning Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Owens Corning and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Seven Eight Capital LP reduced its stake in Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG Free Report) by 39.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 205,546 shares of the companys stock after selling 134,171 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LPs holdings in Coupang were worth $4,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC bought a new position in Coupang in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,850,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC raised its holdings in Coupang by 220.4% in the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 98,140 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 67,509 shares during the period. Kontiki Capital Management HK Ltd. raised its holdings in Coupang by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Kontiki Capital Management HK Ltd. now owns 8,533,568 shares of the companys stock valued at $138,158,000 after acquiring an additional 287,000 shares during the period. Tree Line Advisors Hong Kong Ltd. raised its holdings in Coupang by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Tree Line Advisors Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 2,980,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $48,246,000 after acquiring an additional 980,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Coupang by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 17,880 shares of the companys stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the period. 83.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Coupang alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Coupang In other Coupang news, insider Pranam Kolari sold 10,432 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $207,596.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 170,356 shares in the company, valued at $3,390,084.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Pranam Kolari sold 10,432 shares of Coupang stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $207,596.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 170,356 shares in the company, valued at $3,390,084.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Greenoaks Capital Partners Llc purchased 150,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.64 per share, for a total transaction of $3,396,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 49,874,924 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,129,168,279.36. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 601,300 shares of company stock worth $13,604,354 and have sold 410,432 shares worth $9,429,597. Company insiders own 13.60% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research analysts have recently commented on CPNG shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Coupang from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. CLSA raised shares of Coupang from a hold rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coupang presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $27.25. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Coupang Coupang Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:CPNG opened at $24.24 on Wednesday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $21.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 171.76 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Coupang, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.51 and a 1 year high of $24.38. Coupang (NYSE:CPNG Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.08. Coupang had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 12.04%. The firm had revenue of $7.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Coupang, Inc. will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year. About Coupang (Free Report) Coupang, Inc, together with its subsidiaries owns and operates retail business through its mobile applications and Internet websites primarily in South Korea. The company operates through Product Commerce and Developing Offerings segments. It sells various products and services in the categories of home goods and decor products, apparel, beauty products, fresh food and groceries, sporting goods, electronics, and everyday consumables, as well as travel, and restaurant order and delivery services. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CPNG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Coupang Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coupang and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,460,000 shares, a drop of 5.9% from the August 15th total of 7,930,000 shares. Currently, 16.1% of the companys stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 462,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 16.1 days. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CLB shares. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com cut Core Laboratories from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Reduce and a consensus target price of $18.50. Get Core Laboratories alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on CLB Core Laboratories Stock Up 4.9 % NYSE:CLB opened at $18.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.36 and a 200-day moving average of $18.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $861.08 million, a PE ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.37. Core Laboratories has a 52 week low of $13.82 and a 52 week high of $25.20. Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $130.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.85 million. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 5.44%. The firms revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. Analysts predict that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 EPS for the current year. Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. Core Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio is presently 4.55%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 2.2% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,600 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Core Laboratories by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 18,054 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Core Laboratories by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,636 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 19.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,713 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 1.4% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,310 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Core Laboratories (Get Free Report) Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Core Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Core Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Skeena Resources Limited (NYSE:SKE Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $8.99 and last traded at $8.79, with a volume of 4654 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.92. Skeena Resources Stock Performance The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.55. The stock has a market cap of $941.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.75 and a beta of 1.36. Get Skeena Resources alerts: Skeena Resources (NYSE:SKE Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.22). On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Skeena Resources Limited will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Skeena Resources Skeena Resources Company Profile Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in Skeena Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $125,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Skeena Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $179,000. Nokomis Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Skeena Resources during the 1st quarter worth $155,000. Knoll Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Skeena Resources during the 1st quarter worth $179,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in shares of Skeena Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $350,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.15% of the companys stock. (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. Featured Articles 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. SkyOak Wealth LLC lessened its stake in shares of Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:GSLC Free Report) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,663 shares of the companys stock after selling 872 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF accounts for about 1.0% of SkyOak Wealth LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. SkyOak Wealth LLCs holdings in Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF were worth $4,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,176 shares of the companys stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the companys stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF in the 4th quarter valued at $102,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 116,220 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,903,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF in the 4th quarter valued at $275,000. Get Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF alerts: Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF Stock Performance Shares of GSLC opened at $110.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.10. Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF has a 52-week low of $80.74 and a 52-week high of $111.37. The company has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89 and a beta of 0.98. About Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF The Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GSLC) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in large cap equity. The fund tracks an index of US large-cap stocks comprising 4 sub-indexes: value, momentum, quality, and low volatility. The index uses multiple factors to pick stocks, and each sub-index receives equal weight. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GSLC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:GSLC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. by Misbah Saba Malik GWADAR, Pakistan, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- As the descent of night wrapped the sun in its shadow and the full, bright moon emerged from the corner of the sky, the cool light bathed the land, uniting the sky and earth in tranquility, here in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province. Against this backdrop, Pakistani students and Chinese nationals gathered to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, a cherished tradition symbolizing family reunion at the China Business Center in the port city of Gwadar. Approximately 20 students from various disciplines at the China-donated Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute (PCTVI), including Chinese, English, maritime technology, tourism, and hospitality, attended the celebration at the event on the eve of the mid-autumn day was filled with warmth, music, and the shared joy of the festival. Talking to Xinhua, one of the students, Aliza Jamil, who is learning Chinese language and culture, said, "When I first studied the legend associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival, it seemed like a dreamy tale to me, but at the same time, I felt the warmth and value of family reunion in it." Jamil added that she never imagined she would one day be celebrating the festival with Chinese nationals, sharing joy and having a sense of closeness, just like family. The Pakistani students and Chinese nationals also sang songs in their native languages, welcoming the moon and marking the festival together with joy and unity. Another student, Farah Shaukat Ali, shared her long-standing interest in Chinese language and culture since childhood. "When Chinese language classes started at PCTVI, I seized the opportunity to fulfill my childhood dream," said the 20-year-old who also actively participated in the festival. Both Jamil and Ali said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) opened doors for women in Gwadar. "Gwadar is a small city where career and education opportunities for women were very limited. We are elated that CPEC is giving us a chance to break barriers, empowering us through education and employment opportunities at PCTVI," Ali added. For the students, the Chinese nationals working in Gwadar are family. "As they are working thousands of miles away from home, we visited them today to remind them that we are here as their loving brothers and sisters. They can celebrate the day with us," said the student. As the evening drew to a close, the students reflected on the meaningful connections between Pakistan and China that have blossomed not only through economic partnerships but also through cultural and personal bonds. The celebration was a powerful reminder of the unity and friendship between the two nations. Launched in 2013, the CPEC, a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is a corridor linking the Gwadar Port in southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport, and industrial cooperation in the first phase, while in the new phase expands to fields of agriculture and livelihood, among others. Shares of Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of Hold from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.44. TSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Tyson Foods from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Tyson Foods from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Tyson Foods from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Tyson Foods from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Tyson Foods from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Get Tyson Foods alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Tyson Foods Tyson Foods Trading Down 0.1 % TSN opened at $61.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of -34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Tyson Foods has a twelve month low of $44.94 and a twelve month high of $66.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.79 and a 200-day moving average of $59.23. Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.22. Tyson Foods had a positive return on equity of 4.97% and a negative net margin of 0.01%. The firm had revenue of $13.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.21 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Tyson Foods will post 2.82 EPS for the current year. Tyson Foods Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Tyson Foodss dividend payout ratio is currently -110.11%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Tyson Foods by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 63,199 shares of the companys stock worth $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Tyson Foods by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 5,887,724 shares of the companys stock worth $316,465,000 after purchasing an additional 446,904 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Tyson Foods by 100.7% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 10,315 shares of the companys stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 5,175 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Tyson Foods by 149.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 19,083 shares of the companys stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 11,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eisler Capital UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Tyson Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,399,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.00% of the companys stock. Tyson Foods Company Profile (Get Free Report Tyson Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The company processes live fed cattle and hogs; fabricates dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, as well as case ready beef and pork, and fully cooked meats; raises and processes chickens into fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products, including breaded chicken strips, nuggets, patties, and other ready-to-fix or fully cooked chicken parts; and supplies poultry breeding stock. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Tyson Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tyson Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 6th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share on Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. UWM has a dividend payout ratio of 93.0% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the companys earnings fall. Equities research analysts expect UWM to earn $0.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 90.9%. Get UWM alerts: UWM Trading Down 1.9 % UWM stock opened at $8.94 on Wednesday. UWM has a 52-week low of $4.49 and a 52-week high of $9.74. The company has a market cap of $853.99 million, a P/E ratio of 297.83 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.50. Analysts Set New Price Targets UWM ( NYSE:UWMC Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $507.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $540.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts predict that UWM will post 0.28 EPS for the current year. Several research analysts have recently commented on UWMC shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on UWM from $4.50 to $4.75 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of UWM from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of UWM from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target on UWM from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on UWM from $7.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.39. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on UWM Insider Buying and Selling at UWM In related news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 5,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.11, for a total value of $45,550,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 171,520 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,562,547.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 94.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders. About UWM (Get Free Report) UWM Holdings Corporation engages in the residential mortgage lending business in the United States. The company offers mortgage loans through wholesale channel. It originates primarily conforming and government loans. UWM Holdings Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for UWM Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UWM and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Whitecap Resources Inc. (TSE:WCP Get Free Report) declared a monthly dividend on Monday, September 16th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.061 per share on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Whitecap Resources Price Performance Whitecap Resources stock opened at C$10.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26, a P/E/G ratio of -0.33 and a beta of 2.69. The companys fifty day moving average price is C$10.16 and its 200 day moving average price is C$10.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.94. Whitecap Resources has a 1 year low of C$8.15 and a 1 year high of C$11.91. Get Whitecap Resources alerts: Whitecap Resources (TSE:WCP Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported C$0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.29 by C$0.12. The business had revenue of C$1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$946.00 million. Whitecap Resources had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 13.89%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Whitecap Resources will post 1.001005 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Analysts Set New Price Targets WCP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Whitecap Resources from C$12.00 to C$11.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Whitecap Resources from C$12.00 to C$13.00 in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Whitecap Resources to a moderate buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of C$13.61. Read Our Latest Analysis on Whitecap Resources Insider Buying and Selling at Whitecap Resources In related news, Director Grant Bradley Fagerheim purchased 10,000 shares of Whitecap Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$10.19 per share, for a total transaction of C$101,900.00. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Whitecap Resources Company Profile (Get Free Report) Whitecap Resources Inc, an oil and gas company, focuses on the acquisition, development, and production of oil and gas assets in Western Canada. The company's primary areas of focus of its development programs are in Northern Alberta and British Columbia, Central Alberta, and Saskatchewan. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Whitecap Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Whitecap Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. MOSCOW, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia reserves the right to take asymmetric measures in response to U.S. sanctions targeting Russian journalists, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday. "We reserve the right to respond asymmetrically, strictly in line with Russia's national interests," he was quoted by TASS as saying. Antonov said Russia would thoroughly assess the U.S. sanctions, including undisclosed visa restrictions imposed by the State Department. He added that the United States might continue its efforts to suppress alternative viewpoints presented by Russian media outlets. "The attempts to stifle the voices of Russian media, which offer much-needed perspectives in the United States, are likely to persist. I do not foresee an improvement in this situation anytime soon," he said. The ambassador criticized the ongoing tit-for-tat exchange of sanctions between the two countries, especially those targeting the media. "The cycle of retaliatory sanctions, now extending to journalists, serves no good purpose. It does nothing to stabilize or bring predictability to our bilateral relations," Antonov said. As the U.S. presidential election approaches, Antonov noted a growing tendency by U.S. authorities to play the "Russia card." "There is confusion in their narrative -- either Russia is meddling in U.S. affairs, or it's failing in its attempts," he said. "The heightened anti-Russian hysteria, particularly directed at journalists, appears to be part of a broader strategy to undermine the legitimacy of the election outcome." On Sept. 4, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT broadcast, along with two of her deputies. Additionally, the U.S. State Department tightened regulations on the operations of Russian media outlets, including "Russia Today," "RIA Novosti," RT, "TV-Novosti," Ruptly, and Sputnik. The party is over as Tupperware files for bankruptcy after years of troubles 5G phone mast planned near Wrexham supermarket to boost local connectivity A new 5G phone mast could soon be installed near a Wrexham supermarket in a bid to improve local connectivity. Cornerstone, the UKs leading mobile infrastructure services company, has submitted plans to fix the infrastructure on Ruthin Road adjacent to Morrisons. The company, which acquires, manages and own over 20,000 sites, plans to install a 20m high monopole, six antennas, one cabinet and a transmission dish on the footway at Ruthin Road. In an application submitted to the local authority, Cornerstone state: As part of VFs (Vodafone Limited UK) continued network improvement program, there is a specific requirement for a new installation at this location to provide improved 4G and new 5G coverage and capacity, ensuring that this area of Wrexham has access to the latest technologies. This is fully in line with the Governments aim to ensure that everyone is connected to the superhighway. As part of Cornerstones network improvement programme, Vodafone Ltd UK (VF) is in the process of progressing a number of suitable sites for radio base stations, which will provide improved 4G coverage and capacity and new 5G service provision. This is fully in line with the Governments aim to ensure that everyone is connected to the superhighway. Vodafone requires the latest 4G coverage and capacity and the new 5G technology for its network in this cell area. The operator is limited in siting options as there is a requirement to fill the existing gap in the operators network in this area of southwest Wrexham. The proposal compromises of the installation of 20m high monopole, six antennas, one equipment cabinet, one meter cabinet, one transmission dish and ancillary thereto development including GPS module. The proposed radio base station is situated on the footway of Ruthin Road, southwest of the city centre, in a mixed-use area comprising a blend of commercial and residential properties. The site selection aimed to minimise visual impact while ensuring optimal coverage of the target area. They add that without this site and provision of the improved coverage, the operators customers will not be able to use their handheld devices as intended. Several alternative sites were also considered for the infrastructure, including on Victoria Road, on the roof of Coleg Cambria on Bersham Road, on top of Aldi on Ruthin Road and on the Wrexham Maelor Hospital roof. However these sites were dismissed due to being unsuitable and unable to provide the level of coverage needed. The applicants add: The proposed site has been carefully site on a footway of Ruthin Road in a mixed-use area where it will be seen in a context of other vertical elements of street furniture to ensure that it will not look alien. The other elements of street furniture and semi-mature and mature trees in a wider area will help to assimilate the proposed radio base station with the surrounding area. The proposed height at 20m is essential in order for the antennas to clear the surrounding urban clutter, trees and ensure the antennas are able to reach the target coverage area, to provide new high quality 4G and 5G service provision to Ruthin Road and the surrounding area. If the height of the column were to be reduced then the antennas would not be able to operate effectively, leading to a degraded service for the operators customers especially for the higher frequency technologies including the latest 4G technology and new 5G service provision. The application will be considered for approval by Wrexham Council at a later date. FM responds to criticism on priorities: if you dont like them, you need to go out and speak to the public Wales new first minister Eluned Morgan vowed to focus on the issues that matter most to people as she outlined the Welsh Governments priorities. Baroness Morgan, who took the reins in August after Vaughan Gething was forced to resign, promised to prioritise health, education and the economy ahead of the next election in 2026. She said her new-look Welsh Government has spent the summer listening to people in every corner of Wales, helping to shape her plans. She told the Senedd: Health and social care, particularly addressing those long waiting times for treatment, are the top priorities. Theres also a strong desire for us to make faster progress on improving education standards, and in creating jobs and growing the economy over the next 18 months. The first minister stressed that delivery, accountability and improved productivity will be the watchwords of her administration over the next 18 months. Struggling Baroness Morgan, who was health secretary for three years before taking the top job, vowed to cut long NHS waits, including in mental health, and improve access to social care. She told the chamber: In Torfaen, young women told me they wanted more support for mental health and womens health issues, like period pains and endometriosis. The business community and housing developers in our capital city told me they wanted to see a speed up of the planning process. In Brecon, I was told school standards need to be raised, and many across Wales told me how they were struggling to pay their rent. One man told me his family was delaying having a second child due to worries over the rising costs. In the valleys, people called for better public transport links. In Connahs Quay nearly every conversation was about the need to fix the roads. These conversations and many others like them have helped define this governments priorities. We are listening. We cant do everything, so we are setting priorities. Black hole She recognised concerns about the roll-out of 20 mph as protesters once again gathered on the Senedd steps, accusing ministers of ignoring nearly 500,000 who signed a petition. Baroness Morgan cautioned that tough decisions lie ahead due to a 22bn black hole in the UKs finances which she claimed was left by the previous Conservative government. I know that this wont be easy, she warned. And I know the damage that 14 years of Conservative mismanagement has done to the UKs public finances. As Nye Bevan, the founder of the NHS, said: The language of priorities is the religion of socialism. Thats what were going to do in government. Today, we have the best opportunity in more than 14 years to realise our ambitions. Wales first minister, who was appointed six weeks ago, hailed a new dawn with a partnership of power between two Labour governments at either end of the M4. In closing, she vowed: We have listened, we have learned and we will deliver. Light on detail Andrew RT Davies claimed it was the seventh such statement on priorities in the past year, saying it was the lightest on detail since he was elected more than a decade ago. The leader of the Conservative opposition warned: Its no wonder those charged with delivering this really dont know which way to turn. Mr Davies criticised the first minister for taking aim at NHS chief executives in a BBC Wales interview, saying she appointed six of seven health board bosses. The Tory pointed out that the Welsh Government has so far missed every target in its 2022 blueprint to reduce waiting lists. Weve heard it all before, he told the Senedd. Time and time again, Labour ministers have come to this chamber to say that waiting lists are the priority. Well, the proof is in the pudding waiting lists are going up here in Wales. Mr Davies also called for investment in universities and action to tackle stubbornly high school absenteeism rates in some of the poorest parts of Wales. Summer of silence Rhun ap Iorwerth called the first ministers statement very, very thin and claimed the Welsh Government wasted five weeks before appointing a permanent cabinet, Plaid Cymrus leader criticised a summer of silence from Wales new first minister, describing the listening exercise as a public relations stunt. He said: The result of the exercise surprise, surprise was that health, education and the economy were the top priorities. Goodness me, if a party thats been leading the Welsh Government for 25 years hadnt realised those were the priorities then were in deeper trouble with Labour than I thought. Mr ap Iorwerth attacked the first ministers unwillingness to fight Wales corner. He said: On the Barnett formula, HS2 consequences, on devolving the Crown Estate, justice and policing, Labours message to Wales is no, no, no. During the meeting on September 17, Mr ap Iorwerth suggested the well of clear-red water between Welsh and UK Labour is beginning to run dry. The FM responded to criticism of her priorities, stating: these are priorities that come from the public, and if you dont like them, you need to go out and speak to the public. Because this is important, to recognise that the things that weve stated here very clearly are the things that are of most importance are of most importance to the public By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter North Wales cannot afford to lose out on potentially hundreds of millions and billions of pounds of investment Lack of cash and avoiding devolution has been referenced in a question over the future of the 20m Towns Fund and 160m investment zone cash both of which appear to be on the UK Government budgetary chopping block. Mark Isherwood, North Wales MS asked for a statement on support for the North Wales economy, appearing to reference elements of this Wrexham.com article, The leader of Wrexham council has said it would be truly disappointing if the 20 million town fund allocated to Wrexham is scrapped by the Labour UK Government, which was part of a long term investment plan for towns overlooked and taken for granted, including four in Wales. He added that, on top of that, there are rumours that the north Wales investment zone of 160 million could be pulled. If that would happen, that would be a disaster for Wrexham and Flintshire because that was supposed to bring in around 1 billion worth of investment within the two counties. This follows statements during the summer casting doubt over the billion-pound plan to electrify the north Wales rail line, and plans to build a large nuclear power station at Wylfa in Anglesey, announcements by UK Government Ministers. We therefore need to know what action, if any, the Welsh Government is taking to fight for these schemesschemes, although Conservative Government schemes, which secured largely cross-party support in the region or is north Wales going to have to wait several years to bid for the next round of schemes before further delay occurs once again? I call for a statement accordingly because the region doesnt wish and cannot afford to lose out on potentially hundreds of millions and billions of pounds of investment it was already planning to invest. Jane Hutt MS, Trefnydd, responded, This is something which of course the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales is very mindful of, but indeed also the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning. I have to say, this goes back to some of our discussions earlier on this afternoon. Of course, this pause at the moment in terms of what is going to happen next in terms of. The previous Conservative Governments, very narrow and very insular and without Welsh Government engagement, decisions about this funding has put us in this position. Its put us in this position because of the black hole that you have left us, the 22 billion black hole, and Im sorry, youre going to hear this a lot from us, because its the truth in terms of the mess that youve left us in. Actually, we never saw the money that was promised to us post structural funds, post Brexit, and then you had this very pork barrelwhere there happened to be a Conservative MPscheme. And Im sorry, I want this to be reconsidered, let alone the UK Government reconsider it. So, Mark, yes of course we accept that Wrexham is a fantastic city, there are lots of prospects, its all being looked at, the local authority, the Senedd Member here herself, Lesley Griffiths, but lets just put this in context as to how weve come to this position. Police unable to provide evidence of 20mph speed limits impact on road safety in North Wales Almost a year to the day after the 20mph speed limit was introduced in Wales, North Wales Police were unable to produce evidence that the law has reduced casualties. Police chiefs were grilled by a committee of councillors at a North Wales Police and Crime Panel at Conwy County Councils Bodlondeb HQ. The 20mph default speed limit was introduced on restricted roads by Welsh Government on 17 September 2023, replacing the old 30mph limit. But at the meeting on Monday afternoon, North Wales Polices Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin and Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman said they were unable to provide, or hadnt seen, evidence that the 20mph speed limit had reduced casualties. Chris Bithell sits on the crime panel and asked if casualties had reduced. Cllr Bithell raised the Welsh Government allocating 5m to reassess the speed limit on 20mph roads earlier this summer, referring to it as a review. Im just wondering to what extent, if any, the 20mph zones have had in terms of accidents in North Wales and serious accidents in particular, he said. Is there any evidence (of a reduction) has been a result of this? Im getting a lot of messages. I think a lot of other councillors probably are too in terms of the review thats going on. Many people welcomed this (the review) and they didnt want the 20mph zones in the first place, but again, Im getting communications from people concerned about us going back to the 30mph limit in certain areas because they feel far more comfortable and safer for themselves and their children in those particular areas and have noticed an improvement. Im just wondering if there is any evidence from the police in that respect. But Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin who had presented his annual report at the meeting, highlighting road safety as a priority said he didnt have the figures requested. With the 20mph and the impact that has had, I havent got those figures to hand, he said. Im not sure if the Chief Constable would be able to provide a more substantive answer to that question, but unfortunately I havent got that to hand at this moment. Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman commented: With the 20mph, the majority of our enforcement of it has been around the areas you would expect and anticipate for us to be doing in schools, those areas that are very vulnerable, and obviously from a feedback point of view, it has been a really challenging and difficult area that has been an ongoing engagement with communities. In terms of being able to identify whether it has made a difference to road casualties, we would have to go away and have a look at that. I havent got any evidence of that at this time. She added: I would say a lot of our serious road traffic collisions happen on our fast roads and happen, as we know, around things that we do a lot of work around prevention (wise), (for example) Op Darwin, motorcyclists, but we can definitely go away and have a look at that for you and give you some substantive feedback. But at this moment in time, there is nothing Ive seen in all the reports Ive had that has indicated that to be the case. But the engagement, and I think support, for us enforcing around our schools particularly, hospitals, areas where we have got vulnerable communities, has been quite strong. By Richard Evans BBC Local Democracy Reporter New traffic restrictions to tackle city centre Wacky Races roads New traffic restrictions will be introduced on Wrexhams city centre roads after they were described as being like Wacky Races. Senior councillors said urgent action was needed to improve safety in the main shopping area after it was claimed drivers had been seen speeding down the High Street at up to 70mph. Members of Wrexham Councils executive board met today (Tuesday, 17 September) to discuss a raft of measures aimed at protecting visitors, including the introduction of one-way traffic on some roads. Regeneration work is currently being carried out which will result in the citys High Street and surrounding areas being pedestrianised following the installation of rising bollards. Other key roads will also be closed to traffic between 11.30am and 6am in a bid to create a cafe culture in the city. Concerns were raised by some business owners about the impact the changes would have on deliveries, as well as the loss of disabled parking bays on the High Street. However, the ruling independent/Conservative coalition backed the introduction of a new single TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) to cover the entire area after the councils deputy leader said Wrexham needed to act like a city. TROs are usually published in the back of declining circulation newspapers (eg. Leader, Wrexham edition now at just 1,860 circulation average per issue) a move that has been perpetuated by Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives who joined forces in the Senedd to ensure that all-but-subsidy remained for declining legacy print media. More: Six out of ten Newsquest newspapers in Wales would have been loss making last year without public notice revenue / It is not for local authorities to fund local or national print media, says Senedd committee In yesterdays Executive Board meeting Cllr David A Bithell (Ind) said: We cant have Wacky Races coming into the city like has been happening, putting public safety at jeopardy. I fully support the traffic order that weve got thats being implemented. We do need to make sure that it works, and we do need to make sure that the businesses get the full benefit from the proposal. But lets put this into perspective because weve got significant investment into the city centre that we havent had for a number of years. Things are changing and were not a town anymore were a city. We have to act like a city, and we have to change the way that we do things. The disruption caused by work on the citys High Street has previously been criticised by businesses, who say it has had a negative impact on trade. It was also claimed the new measures could prevent disabled people from accessing St Giles Parish Church. Plaid Cymru councillor Andy Gallanders, who owns a craft beer bar in the city centre, told the meeting: My concern is regarding how many businesses that will be affected by the new traffic order actually know that it has progressed to this stage. The current work on the High Street, which we all know will be amazing once completed, has shown an issue with communication between the council and businesses. My concern is that if businesses are not permit holders, this will really restrict the window for deliveries. Cllr Phil Wynn, lead member for education, said he supported the measures and believed they would improve pedestrian safety. He made his comments despite expressing concerns that it could have a negative impact on the citys night-time economy if taxis are unable to get close to bars and pubs. Cllr Nigel Williams, lead member for economy, said: Officers from North Wales Police have told me that theyve seen an increase in the speed of vehicles over the last couple of years and that its an accident waiting to happen. We need to remember that this is designed to make the High Street more vibrant and to have a thriving night and daytime economy. Theres a large investment going into the High Street now where were putting money into pedestrianisation to create a cafe culture where businesses can have tables and chairs outside for drinks and meals. We had anecdotal evidence last year that some vehicles were travelling down the High Street at almost 70mph, which is not acceptable, and something has to be done. The new TRO was approved by the executive board at the end of the debate. By Liam Randall BBC Local Democracy Reporter The moon rises above Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Fang Dongxu/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huai'an City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by He Jinghua/Xinhua) The silhouette of a cormorant is pictured in front of a full moon in Qiqihar, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Wang Yonggang/Xinhua) The moon rises above a paddy fields park in Fujin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Qu Yubao/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huangyan District of Taizhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Pan Kanjun/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Yi Fan/Xinhua) An aerial drone photo shows the moon rising above Changzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Chen Wei/Xinhua) The moon rises above the Harbin Grand Theater in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Zhang Shu/Xinhua) A drone photo taken on Sept. 17, 2024 shows the moon rising above Wenling, east China's Zhejiang Province. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Xu Weijie/Xinhua) The moon rises above Yuping Dong Autonomous County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hu Panxue/Xinhua) A mother and daughter enjoy the full moon by the sea in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Xing Shoumiao/Xinhua) A drone photo taken on Sept. 17, 2024 shows the moon rising above Fenghua District of Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hu Xuejun/Xinhua) The moon rises above Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Su Yang/Xinhua) The moon rises above Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hang Xingwei/Xinhua) The moon rises above Yuqing County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by He Chunyu/Xinhua) The moon rises above Jiamusi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Chen Zhiguo/Xinhua) The Independent Union of Volkswagen Workers (SITIAVW) in Mexico rammed through a sellout agreement last Friday at the companys massive complex in Puebla, blocking a scheduled strike. The 7,200 workers at the plant had rejected the contract on August 30 by a majority of 55.7 percent. The union leadership postponed the strike deadline and had workers vote on essentially the same contract on September 14, which included a meager 7 percent wage increase and a 3.59 percent raise in benefits, compared to the initial demand by the union of a 21 percent raise in pay. Volkswagen worker in the engine plant in Silao, Guanajuato [Photo: Gobierno del Estado de Guanajuato] The union spent the weeks between the votes attempting to demoralize workers. Hugo Tlalpan Luna, the recently elected general secretary of the union, told workers that there was no strike fund, which he blamed on corruption from the previous leadership, and argued that a struggle for a significant improvement in pay would have to wait. Seeing that the new union leadership would act no differently from previous ones and instead would isolate any strike, starve workers on the picket lines and refuse to fight for significant improvements, 63 percent of the workers allegedly voted in favor on Friday. However, no confidence can be placed in the validity of the vote count overseen by bureaucrats eager to impose the contract without impacting the flow of dues money. The new contract includes a promise to hire 321 new workers, which Tlalpan described as a sign of job security. This is a lie to cover for the unwillingness of the union apparatus to truly safeguard workers jobs and fight the massive increase in the workload for the existing workforce. The first semester of 2024 saw a 30 percent increase in production to over 1,100 units per day, which includes the Jetta, Taos and Tiguan models. But, at the same time, a transition first announced in 2022 to the production of electric vehicles, which require a fraction of the labor hours compared to gasoline cars, could be used as an excuse for mass layoffs and increasing the workload even more. The sellout of workers in Puebla exposed the treachery of not only SITIAVW, but also of the German and US union bureaucracies that have long sponsored its activities and those of the rest of so-called independent unions in the country. While Tlalpan sat on his hands and blamed a lack of funds, IG Metall in Germany and the United Auto Workers (UAW), who have hundreds of millions of dollars in funds, turned a blind eye. On Thursday, IG Metall made no mention of Puebla as it announced a start of contract talks with Volkswagen a month ahead of schedule after the company ended a supposed job security scheme. The UAW waited until the morning after the sellout contract was ratified in Mexico to announce that it would begin negotiating its first contract ever with Volkswagen after workers at the assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to join the union earlier this year. These talks are taking place amid an upsurge of struggles by workers in the company that could set the basis for a major counteroffensive in defense of jobs and for a massive improvement in conditions. On September 4, workers at Audi, a Volkswagen subsidiary, in Brussels, Belgium, launched wildcat strikes to oppose threats to end production there of the Audi Q8 e-tron electric vehicles, to shift production to the plant in Puebla. Earlier this year, in Puebla, the Independent Union of Audi Workers (SITAUDI) which belongs to the same federation and is closely tied to SITIAVW, sold out a three-week strike as well by having workers vote on essentially the same contract repeatedly. There was no effort to expand the struggle to the Volkswagen plant less than one hour away. The unity of Volkswagen workers across Europe, North America and beyond would cripple the efforts of the company to pit them against each other in a race to the bottom. At the same time it would help undermine the promotion of chauvinism the ruling elites employ to advance their agenda of war and attacks on democratic rights. For decades, the union bureaucracies of the United States, Canada and especially Germany have maintained close ties with SITIAVW, but the relationship has been entirely exposed as merely a means of doing the bidding of the corporations and imperialism. The history of these ties at the plant in Puebla provides a case study of how the state, management and the union bureaucracies have worked to block workers from developing genuine fighting organizations of the working class. A brief history of the SITIAVW The corporatist Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), which was an appendage of Mexicos long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, established a union at the plant as soon as it became Volkswagen de Mexico in 1966, with the personal intervention of Fidel Velazquez, who led the CTM almost continuously from 1941 until his death in 1997. Velazquez maintained a close relationship with the US union bureaucracy and worked together to purge left-wing officials and unions across Latin America, particularly after hosting the offices of the CIA-financed Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers (ORIT, acronym in Spanish) inside the CTM headquarters in Mexico City from its creation until 1989. In 1972, President Luis Echeverria responded to growing opposition to the gangster-ridden CTM, particularly in the growing auto sector, by deploying his friend, lawyer Juan Ortega Arenas, who had established a parallel federation called Unidad Obrera Independiente (UOI). The lawyer advised a group of workers at Volkswagen that had successfully displaced the CTM local amid a corruption scandal. The new union was re-named SITIAVW and was immediately controlled by Ortega Arenas, working closely with Labor Secretary Porfirio Munoz Ledo, despite falsely claiming to be independent from the PRI government. Using the Volkswagen and Nissan unions as a starting point, the UOI soon had 85 affiliated unions. In late 1981, a faction of the SITIAVW backed by most workers drove out the secretary general of the UOI and broke with the federation. Volkswagen responded by firing the new leadership and 600 other workers. A strike broke out, with UOI deploying thugs to beat up picketers. The government intervened by overseeing an election, with the anti-UOI faction winning and being recognized by the company. It was under this new administration that SITIAVW forged ties with IG Metall in Germany, which invited its leaders to visit Germany and witness the system of integration of the union and Works Councils into management. In 1987, after management sought to impose a brutal plan of mass layoffs and cuts to benefits, the union was compelled to strike for 57 days and organize demonstrations and road cuts. Workers in Germany defied their own union leadership to oppose the use of parts made in Mexico. The company had to shelve its plan in Puebla and agree to a 78 percent wage increase. This episode in particular showed how unleashing the enormous international strength of VW workers requires breaking the control of the union apparatus. In the 1990s, so-called working groups were established at the plant bringing together the union and management to oversee a restructuring program of firings and outsourcing, where delegates were in charge of enforcing company mandates. In 1995, a new leadership under a Unificacion Democratica caucus was voted in and there was yet another change in 2000, but throughout this period the new leaders made constant concessions and justified them as necessary to avoid mass layoffs. This included the 12-hour, 4 x 3 schedules. In 1997, SITIAVW joined other unions that were leaving the sinking ship of the CTM to found the Union Nacional de Trabajadores (UNT), which it still belongs to today. The AFL-CIO soon took the new federation under its wing. A UNT official told researcher Thomas Collombat the AFL-CIO would later realize that it needed allies more representative of Mexican labor, leading US unions to support and work with the UNT as soon as it was launched. The UNT also joined ORIT and participated in trainings and events sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), a foundation affiliated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that is financed by the German government. During the 2000s, union leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Salazar joined the VW Global Works Council and the German-Ibero-American Network of the Auto and Metal Industries launched by IG Metall. Rodriguez Salazar explained that these international ties helped refurbish the discredited image of the union, even as he celebrated government handouts to the company and imposed further concessions. Most recently, in 2018, IG Metall and its associated Global Union, IndustriALL, openly financed the former leader of SITIAVW, Rodriguez Salazar, to lead the establishment of a new Federation of Independent Unions in the Auto, Aeronautics and Tire Industries in Mexico, which was joined by SITIAVW, SITAUDI, Los Mineros and other unions sponsored by US, Canadian and German imperialism. Today, these unions maintain corporatist tiessimilar to those that characterized the CTM and PRIwith the ruling party Morena of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Puebla governor Sergio Salomon Cespedes, who applauded the SITIAVWs sellout. I recognize in the union a prudent agent with conviction that seeks dialog and reaches agreements, he said. The sellout in Puebla confirms the conclusion stated by the World Socialist Web Site in a recent analysis of the expansion of the intervention of the AFL-CIO and its Solidarity Center across Latin America: The fight against inequality, war, fascism and imperialist oppression today means rebelling against the entire union apparatus and building the International Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees. On September 5, world-renowned Brazilian-American pop musician, arranger and bandleader Sergio Mendes died in a hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 83. According to an Instagram post published by his family, for the last several months, his health had been challenged by the effects of long term COVID. His name needs to be added, in other words, to the long list of musicians and other artists whose contributions were cut short by the decision of the American and global establishment to allow the pandemic to ravage the population. Sergio Mendes, 1971 The media has made almost nothing of the manner of his death. Unsurprisingly, the New York Times September 6 obituary of Mendes simply refers to the familys statement that his death, in a hospital, was caused by long Covid. In fact, the musician, like many others, may well have spent the final months of his life suffering painfully from an entirely preventable condition. Mendes first became professionally active in the late 1950s and is widely recognized as a popularizer of Brazilian music styles, particularly for US audiences. He is still perhaps best known for his version of Jorge Ben Jors Mas que Nada (translated roughly as Oh, come on now), released in 1966 by Mendes group Brasil 66. As a measure of his talent and versatility, Mendes collaborated with a diverse roster of musicians. Many of the collaborations involved unlikely stylistic partnerships previously unheard of. Always working in the context of the music industry, with its instinctive tendency toward repetition, staleness and triviality, Mendes brought innovation and excitement to jazz over the course of a career spanning six decades. Mendes was born in 1941 in Niteroi, a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, facing the city itself across a bay. It is located a short distance from Copacabana, a Rio neighborhood that was at the time a burgeoning cultural and nightlife hub. The son of a doctor, Mendes was trained as a classical pianist at a parochial school, and then at the Niteroi Conservatory. After hearing recordings by Dave Brubeck, Mendes shifted his focus to jazz, forming several ensembles and performing for audiences around the city. Rio at the time was the scene of the rapidly developing Bossa Nova musical style (New Wave or New Trend), which in part fused elements of American cool bebop jazz and traditional Brazilian samba rhythms. The thriving musical environment was possible due to significant changes in Brazils social and economic life in the postwar period, widespread industrialization and urbanization, and the emergence of a generation of youth determined to follow new paths. (For example, the proportion of city dwellers rose from less than a third of Brazils population to approximately three-quarters by 1990.) Mendes was part of an artistic milieu that included notable musicians such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luis Bonfa, Baden Powell de Aquino and Joao Gilberto. Jobim was a bandmate of and mentor to Mendes in his various projects. At the time these musicians were beginning to rise to international prominence through touring and recording, particularly among American jazz musicians. By the early 1960s, the youthful Mendes had begun to record and tour Europe and the US. In 1961, he recorded his first album as a leader for the Phillips label, titled Dance Moderno, which featured a combination of songs written by Jobim and Gilberto and standards from the jazz and Great American Songbook repertoire. Cannonball's Bossa Nova, 1962 The following year, Mendes recorded an album with Cannonball Adderley, already famed in the US for his work with Miles Davis and other internationally acclaimed bebop musicians. Brazilian music, as written and performed by figures such as Mendes, Jobim and Gilberto, had an immense impact on American music (and audiences) during the early to mid-1960s, acting like a breath of fresh, invigorating air with its elegance and fluidity. Major jazz artists and pop music stars, including Charlie Byrd, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson and Frank Sinatra, began to incorporate Bossa Nova into their work, often leading to chart-topping success. Getz and Byrds crossover hit album Jazz Samba peaked at #1 on the US pop charts. The collaboration album between Getz and Gilberto, simply titled Getz/Gilberto (also featuring Jobim and the vocals of Astrud Gilberto), sold two million copies within a year of its release, and was the first jazz album to win Record of the Year in 1965. Mendes developed a wide following and considerable reputation in the American music industry. By 1965, he had befriended trumpeter/bandleader and record producer Herb Alpert, who later produced the album Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66. The album became an overnight success, rising to #7 on the Billboard 200 chart and to #2 on the Top Jazz Album chart. It contained mostly Brazilian songs, as well as a cover of the Beatles Day Tripper, representing a further crossover into rock styles from Bossa Nova and jazz. The US government inevitably attempted to make use of the rise of Bossa Nova and other Brazilian music for its own purposes during the period of the Cold War. American imperialism tried to solidify its control over Latin America through political and cultural, as well as CIA-military means. In the early 1960s, the State Department was known to have sponsored concert tours by American jazz musicians to Brazil and vice versa, as well as radio broadcasts and recordings of Brazilian musicians. In April 1964, the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson supported the military coup which ousted the democratically elected Brazilian president Joao Goulart. Getz/Gilberto, 1964 The coup and subsequent bloody dictatorship are known to have posed problems for Mendes return to Brazil. After 1964, he resided permanently in the US until his death, having been arrested at one point by agents of the newly installed Brazilian regime. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he continued to release albums through Alperts A&M label, occasionally also recording for Atlantic, Elektra and Bell records. He eventually became a top-selling artist in Japan, second only to the Beatles. In the US, he was invited to perform in the White House, including by Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. For his efforts, Mendes was well compensated, although the amount he accumulated over five or six decades was nothing compared to the sums racked up by contemporary performers such as Jay-Z, Rihanna, Taylor Swift. By the 1990s and through the first two decades of the 21st century, Mendes continued to garner critical acclaim in the US, winning the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 1993 for his album Brasileiro (Elektra), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and the 2010 Grammy Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album for his Bom Tempo (Concord). In 2007, Mendes collaborated with a host of R&B, neo soul and alternative hip hop artists on his album Timeless (Concord), including The Black Eyed Peas, Erika Badu, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder and John Legend. Mendes worked in the commercial music industry for decades and inevitably came under its pressures. While many of his earlier, especially his instrumental works represent a substantial and important contribution to the development of modern jazz, the best of his later work is captured in the infectious samba rhythms contained in albums like Brasileiro. Despite Mendes confinement to an artistic environment eventually unconducive to genuine creativity, his individual talents and sensibilities allowed him to nurture some lasting contributions to popular music. To whatever extent it was possible to bring to wide audiences the more democratic musical traditions from American jazz and Brazilian styles, he will be treasured by history. His boldness, musical adventurism and willingness to experiment will endow his memory with an enduring relevance. Sergio Mendes, Brasileiro, 1992 As noted above, while much of the recent press coverage has naturally focused on Mendes achievements and deserved accolades, little of it has drawn attention to the tragic character of his death. Mendes and millions of others are victims of the vast social crime of forever COVID policies implemented by capitalist governments around the globe. An August review published in Nature Medicine estimates there have been roughly 409 million cases of Long COVID within the first four years of the pandemic, making it among the most common medical conditions on the planet. A WSWS article posted last month provided the following description of the condition. The cardinal symptoms of Long COVID include brain fog and memory changes, fatigue, rapid sudden onset of heart rate, significant sleep disturbances, and immense sense of discomfort and illness after exerting oneself. There are no cures and, worse, no diagnostic tools that can tell someone they have Long COVID. Only recently have healthcare workers and researchers begun to identify treatments for Long COVID, but there is an absence of randomized trials to guide these decisions. The fact that Mendes family has cited Long COVID as a factor in the artists death is a further confirmation of the catastrophic character of the official response to the pandemic. In the midst of the ninth wave of the pandemic, by many accounts the worst since the emergence of the Omicron variant, governments continue to undermineand even in some cases outlawthe most basic public health measures. In the wake of the most recent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and his running mate Ohio Senator J.D. Vance are continuing to spread lies about immigrants. At the same time, both Trump and Vance have blamed Democratic rhetoric for inspiring the would-be assassin, 58-year-old Ryan W. Routh. A police officer walks by the home of Ryan Routh, the man accused of an apparent attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, while FBI agents conduct a search inside, Tuesday, September 17, 2024, Kaaawa, Hawaii. [AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy] In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump said that Routh believed the rhetoric of [President Joe] Biden and [Vice President Kamala] Harris, and he acted on it. Trump added, Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country both from the inside and out. Pointing to previous statements from Harris and Biden that characterized Trump as a threat to democracy, Trump said, These are people that want to destroy our country. It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat. Threatening to intensify his fascist rhetoric, Trump added, They use highly inflammatory language, I can use it toofar better than they canbut I dont. Trump is attempting to draw an amalgam between the Democrats obsession with war with Russiawhich apparently inspired Routh as evidenced by his social media postings, interviews, and support for the fascist Ukrainian governmentand genuine left-wing democratic sentiments. With less than 50 days before the November election, the threat of fascist violence hangs over the entire country. On Monday, the FBI and US Postal Service confirmed that suspicious packages containing a white powder substance were sent to the secretaries of state and state election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma. As of this writing, it appears the substance was non-hazardous, although the AP reported that the election offices in Iowa were evacuated on Monday due to the threat. Following Trumps racist blood libel against Haitian immigrants in the Ohio town of Springfield during last Tuesdays debate, dozens of public buildings and schools have been locked down in the last week. In a press conference on Monday Ohio Governor Mike DeWine revealed that there had been 33 bomb threats, some of which he claimed originated from overseas. On Monday, Springfield city officials announced that due to safety concerns the city would be canceling CultureFest, which was scheduled to be held on September 27 and 28. In an attempt to keep schools open, DeWine ordered the deployment of 36 Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers to the town to sweep all 17 Springfield city school buildings each morning and after school. In addition to troopers, the Ohio Department of Public Safety is also deploying bomb detection dogs. Despite the ongoing disruptions to the community, Trump and Vance, with the support of virtually the entire Republican Party, have continued their racist slanders against immigrants, melding it with accusations that Democrats are not only purposely fueling the invasion but inciting political violence against Trump. Writing on Truth Social Tuesday morning, Trump accused Comrade Kamala Harris of taking politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust. Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse! Trump accused Harris of [a]llowing millions of people, from places unknown, to INVADE and take over our Country, an unpardonable sin. In a long X post on his account Monday, Vance likewise accused Democrats, specifically Harris, of inciting the latest shooter. The rhetoric is out of control. It nearly got Steve Scalise and many others killed a few years ago. It nearly got Donald Trump killed twice, Vance wrote. Vance then accused the media and Harris of engaging in a double standard for accusing Republicans of violent rhetoric while ignoring Democrats speech. Weaving the latest assassination attempt on Trump and the Republicans anti-immigrant campaign, Vance said this double standard extended to Springfield, Ohio. Consider Springfield, Vance wrote, blaming immigrants for every social ill. Citizens are telling us that there are problems. These include the undeniable truths of higher car accidents, unaffordable housing, evictions of residents, overcrowded hospitals, overstressed schools, and rising rates of disease. Tripling-down on Trumps pet-eating lies, Vance wrote: They also include the infamous pet storieswhich, again, multiple people have spoken about (either on video or to me or my staff). Appealing to neo-Nazis, Vance melded his anti-immigrant lies with attacks on the lugenpresse: They cover a bomb threat, but not the rise in murders. They cover the threat, but not the HIV uptick. They cover the threat, not the schools overwhelmed with new kids who dont speak English. They cover the threat, not rising insurance rates or the car accidents that caused them. They cover the threat, not the failures of Kamala Harriss leadership. Speaking at the Faith and Freedom Dinner in Georgia on Monday alongside Governor Brian Kemp, Vance said, No one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months. And two people have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months. Id say thats pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric. As Republicans stoke violence against immigrants and their political opponents, Harris and the Democrats continue to appeal to Republicans and downplay the fascist threat. Speaking at a town hall on Tuesday in Flint, Michigan, Trump revealed that both Biden and Harris had called him recently to express their concern over his well-being. I have to say that President Biden called me yesterday, he was very nice, we had a very nice conversation, Trump said, adding, I appreciated that he called about what happened the other day. Trump noted that a little while ago, I got a very nice call from Kamala. As his supporters began to boo, Trump cooed, No, no, it was very nice. It was very nice. It was very, very nice, and we appreciate that. As Vance and Trump were campaigning in Michigan, Harris appeared for an interview in Philadelphia with the National Association of Black Journalists. Asked to comment on the events in Springfield, Harris characterized fascist Republican attacks as a crying shame without ever once referring to Trump or Vance by name, or Haiti or Haitians. In her over six-minute answer, Harris, speaking to the audience like they were children, said, You know there were children, elementary school children who, it was, it was school photo day. You remember what that is like? Going to school on picture day? Who were dressed up in their best, got all ready, knew what they were going to wear the night before and have to be evacuated. Harris added, When you are bestowed with a microphone there is a profound responsibility that comes with that. That is an extension of, what should not be lost in this moment, this concept of the public trust. To then understand what the public trust means, it means that you have to be invested with trust. To be responsible in ways with your words, much less how you conduct yourself, and especially when you have been and seek to be again President of the United States of America. After characterizing the Republicans anti-immigrant campaign, which will be used to reject the vote should Trump lose, a crying shame again, Harris lamented the effect Trumps fascist agitation was havingnot on the Haitian immigrants who have been harassed and intimidatedon the police. Look, you say you care about law enforcement, Harris said. Law enforcement resources being put into this because of these serious threats that are being issued against a community that is living a productive good life before this happened. Israel launched a coordinated terror attack throughout Lebanon Tuesday, triggering tiny bombs which it had hidden in thousands of pagers that exploded simultaneously, killing nine people and wounding 2,750 others. A Civil Defense first-responder carries a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 [AP Photo/Hussein Malla] The pagers were given out to members of Hezbollah, the Lebanese political party and military group, US officials told the New York Times. Thousands of the pagers exploded indiscriminately in homes, hospitals, schools and shops, killing and injuring bystanders. Irans Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was among the injured in the attack. Around 3:30 p.m. today, a very large number of wounded people with pager communication devices in their possession began arriving at hospital emergency rooms in the following areas: the suburbs, Beirut, the south, especially Tyre and the Bekaa, said Dr. Firas Al-Abyad, Lebanons Minister of Public Health. He added, So far, the health emergency room at the Ministry of Public Health has recorded about 2,800 wounded, about 200 of whom are in critical condition and require surgery or admission to intensive care units. More than 150 units of blood have been provided. A preliminary toll has recorded nine martyrs, including an eight-year-old girl. He continued: The majority of the injuries recorded were distributed between the face, abdomen, hands and eyes. The Israeli attack included the commission of multiple war crimes, including violating the laws of war regarding assassination, treachery and the prohibition of indiscriminate bombing. Commenting on the attack, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden wrote, What Israel has just done is, via *any* method, reckless. They blew up countless numbers of people who were driving (meaning cars out of control), shopping (your children are in the stroller standing behind him in the checkout line), et cetera. Indistinguishable from terrorism. Responding to global revulsion to the mass killing, Eylon Levy, Israels former government spokesman, defended the mass bombing, declaring, It was literally an attack on personal devices given only to operatives of a terror organization. Thats the definition of a targeted counterterror attack. The bombing spree was likewise endorsed by Democratic US Senator John Fetterman, who wrote in a post on X, I fully support efforts to target and neutralize any existential threat like Hezbollah after sharing a screenshot of the news report of the attack. The New York Times, citing US officials, said that Israel hid explosive material in a shipment of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon. The Times continued, The explosive material, as little as one or two ounces, was inserted next to the battery in each pager, two of the officials said. The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from the Gold Apollo company in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, according to some of the officials. The attacks occurred just 24 hours after Israels security cabinet met to declare that it had updated the objectives of the war that had previously targeted Hamas following the October 7 attacks to include returning Israeli residents to Northern Israela euphemism for escalating Israels war on Lebanon. In August, Israel launched its largest attack on southern Lebanon since 2006, involving over 100 air force fighter jets. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that the attacks involved over 40 targets. Israels strikes on Lebanon are part of a US-backed military escalation throughout the Middle East, with the central target being Iran. The US is simultaneously sponsoring Israels genocide in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 people. In April, an Israeli strike killed a group of Iranian military officers meeting in Damascus, to which Iran responded with a strike on Israel with 300 missiles and drones, nearly all of which were intercepted. In July, Israel assassinated Fuad Shukr, senior member of Hezbollah, with a strike in Beirut, followed by the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh at a military guesthouse in Iran. These attacks followed the visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where he vowed to expand the Gaza genocide into a war targeting Lebanon and Iran. Following Netanyahus address to Congress, he met with Vice President Kamala Harris, who vowed, I will always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran-backed militias, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. In this months presidential debates, both Harris and former US President Donald Trump expressed their unequivocal support for the Gaza genocide and threatened both Iran and Lebanon. Even as Israel expands its targeting of Lebanon, its ongoing mass killing, starvation and ethnic cleansing of the population of Gaza continues and intensifies. On Monday, Gazas health ministry published the names of 34,344 Palestinians killed by Israeli massacres since the start of the genocidea figure that includes neither those missing nor those who died of hunger and disease. The first 14 pages of the document list 710 infants under the age of one. All told, the list includes 11,355 children under the age of 18. In October 2023, James Elder, spokesperson for the UN childrens agency UNICEF, warned that Gaza was becoming a graveyard for children. He added, Our gravest fears about the reported numbers of children killed becoming dozens, then hundreds, and ultimately thousands were realized in just a fortnight. The numbers are appalling. Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. Its a living hell for everyone else. With the publication of the list of the thousands of children killed by the Israeli military, these warnings have been horrifyingly confirmed. As millions of students are re-entering their classrooms in schools, colleges and university campuses across the UK, a blunt warning must be issued: The threat of world war and fascism is greater today than at any point since the 1930s. In the Middle East, the genocide in Gaza is intensifying, as Israel and its imperialist allies continue to provoke a broader war with Iran. In Europe, the proxy war by US and European imperialism against Russia in Ukraine has cost the lives of an estimated half a million Ukrainians and tens of thousands of Russians. The recent invasion of Russian territory by NATO-armed Ukrainian troops raises more directly than ever the prospect of a direct clash between NATO and Russia, which threatens a nuclear war. The Conservative government of Rishi Sunak has been replaced by the Labour government of Keir Starmer without any change in policy. Starmer was already deeply implicated in the Gaza genocide in opposition, endorsing Israels right to the collective punishment of the Palestinians and denouncing protesters as extremists. He has given full-throated support to the war in Ukraine. And he is just as committed as his Tory predecessors to the policies of austerity and Forever COVID. Protesters at the national demonstration in London against the Gaza genocide on September 7, 2024 These political shocks have already begun to radicalize a new generation of youth and workers. Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, millions of people around the world and hundreds of thousands in the UK have demonstrated against this historic crime. Campuses have been a centre of protests since the genocide began. The government and university administrations have responded with a campaign aimed at eliminating free speech on campuses and completely subordinating academia to the interests of British imperialism. Based on the slanderous lie that opposition to war and genocide is antisemitism, they have redoubled the witch-hunt of opponents of Zionism begun during Jeremy Corbyns leadership of the Labour Party. Academics have been threatened with suspension for speaking in defence of the Palestinians. Student activists have been suspended and arrested. Encampments have been harassed by right-wing provocateurs, university security and the police, and issued with legal orders to disband. The coming academic year is set to see renewed and larger protests. But this raises the critical question: What way forward? The protests of the past 11 months have failed to bring about either an end to the genocide or the attack on democratic rights. This is because, so far, they have been dominated by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Stop the War Coalition. While appealing to the anti-imperialist sentiments of youth with radical rhetoric, they have advanced a perspective that threatens to derail and demoralize the protests. First, they have limited the protests to attempts to pressure the Labour Party, now the principal enabler of the genocide, and university administrations, which are tied by a thousand threads to finance capital and the war machine. Second, they have attempted to separate the genocide in Gaza from the war in Ukraine and the history of decades of wars by British imperialism, above all in alliance with the United States. This has served to undermine any understanding that the root cause of the Gaza genocide lies not in the choice of individual governments or politicians, but in the objective crisis of world capitalism and the emergence of an imperialist redivision of the world. Third, they have sought to pre-empt students and youth from directing their protests not toward the ruling class but toward the principal revolutionary force in society that can stop the genocide: the international working class. The tasks and the dangers facing young people and workers are immense. The genocide in Gaza is part of a far broader normalization of mass death by the ruling class, which began with the pandemic and the normalization of a potential nuclear war against Russia. Far-right riots this summer showed that the UK is not exempt from the rising threat of fascism across the world. In the US, Trump is threatening mass deportations of immigrants and the arrest of political opponents, emulating the rhetoric of fascist regimes. The National Rally in France and AfD in Germany have recorded their highest-every vote hauls in the last year. The way has been opened to these reactionary forces by the lurch to the right in mainstream politics and the bankrupt perspective of the left, from the New Popular Front in France and the Left Party in Germany, to Corbyn in the UK. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), the student and youth organization of the International Committee of the Fourth International, therefore calls upon youth and students to take up the fight to build a socialist, anti-war movement that is rooted in an entirely different social and political force: the working class. We propose the following principles as the basis of this fight: The struggle against war must be based on the working class, the great revolutionary force in society. The union bureaucracies and the Labour Party have worked feverishly to pre-empt any independent expression of working-class interests and struggle. This must be challenged by a rank-and-file rebellion of workers, who are suffering an unprecedented attack on their living standards. Moreover, their struggle must be linked directly to the fight against war. The ruling class cannot wage war abroad without waging a war on the democratic and social rights of the working class at home. This is why opposition to war is being criminalized everywhere. In Ukraine, Trotskyist youth leader Bogdan Syrotiuk was arrested because he fought to unify workers in Russia and Ukraine against the war. This underscores that the fight against war is inseparable from the fight to defend the social and democratic rights of the working class. The fight against war is a fight against capitalism and for socialism. There can be no serious struggle against war and the attack on democratic rights without a struggle to put an end to the dictatorship of finance capital and the economic system that is the fundamental cause of militarism and war. This struggle must therefore be conducted in complete independence from all bourgeois parties. In the UK, this includes, above all, the Labour Party, which has supported imperialist violence throughout its more than a century of existence. The fight against war and the threat of fascism can only succeed as an international struggle. As the International Committee stated in 2016, The permanent war of the bourgeoisie must be answered with the perspective of permanent revolution by the working class, the strategic goal of which is the abolition of the nation-state system and the establishment of a world socialist federation. This will make possible the rational, planned development of global resources and, on this basis, the eradication of poverty and the raising of human culture to new heights. Youth and students cannot wage such a struggle without taking up a serious study of history and Trotskyism, the Marxism of the 21st century. In the coming weeks and months, the IYSSE will be organizing public meetings on the fight against war and fascism and the perspective of Trotskyism on campuses throughout the country. Join the International Youth and Students for Social Equality! The IYSSE is the student and youth organization of the world Trotskyist movement, the International Committee of the Fourth International, and its national sections, the Socialist Equality Parties. The Trotskyist movement emerged out of the struggle led by Leon Trotsky against the Stalinist betrayal of the October 1917 Russian Revolution. For over a century, it has fought for the program of world socialist revolution and against all forms of national opportunism. Trotskyism represents the continuity of Marxism and the path forward for workers and young people who are entering into struggle against capitalist exploitation and imperialist war. For a global socialist anti-war movement of youth and workers! In November 2022, the IYSSE issued a call to youth throughout the world to build a global socialist anti-war movement to end the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. We warned that this war threatens to spiral into a Third World War and a nuclear catastrophe. Eleven months later, Israel began the genocide in Gaza, with the full backing of the NATO imperialist powers. At the same time, US imperialism and its allies are preparing for war against China. All of these conflicts are part of one emerging global war. Their origins lie in the crisis of the world capitalist system. They can only be fought through the mobilization of the principal revolutionary force in society: the international working class. We oppose the politics of reformism, nationalism, and issuing appeals to capitalist governments. We fight for the independent organization of workers and young people in a globally coordinated fight for socialism. Defend democratic rights! No to fascism! For social equality! War abroad means war at home. Both parties of the British ruling class, Labour and the Conservatives, are enemies of democratic rights and have used the genocide in Gaza to escalate the attack on free speech at home. The IYSSE opposes the criminalization of opposition to war, in the UK and internationally. In Ukraine, our comrade, Bogdan Syrotiuk, was arrested by the NATO-backed Zelensky government because he fought to unify Russian and Ukrainian workers against the war. Underlying the eruption of war, genocide and fascism are unsustainable levels of social inequality. The past thirty years of unending war have also been thirty years of unending attacks on the living standards of the masses of workers. These conditions are incompatible with democracy. This is why billionaires like Elon Musk are backing the fascist Trump. Youth must respond by turning to the working class and taking up a fight against the root cause of fascism, war, and inequality: capitalism. To fight for the future, turn to history! When we grew up, we were told that the end of history had come and democracy would flourish under capitalist prosperity. This was a lie. We are now confronted with genocide, war, the unending COVID-19 pandemic, mass poverty, the resurgence of fascism and a climate crisis. We were also told another lie: that there is no alternative to capitalism. History proves otherwise. The working class has fought for socialism for over a century. We oppose the pessimists and cynics of the official left that write off the working class as non-revolutionary. The working class has suffered defeats in the 20th century, not for a lack of struggle or revolutionary capacity, but because of the betrayals of its leadership. The lessons of this struggle must be learned. They are distilled in the history and program of the Trotskyist movement, which must be assimilated by revolutionary workers, youth and students today. We therefore urge young people: Take up a study of Trotskyism, the Marxism of the 21st century! Turn to the working class! Fight for socialism! *** The IYSSE is hosting a series of meetings across the UK to discuss these issues with students: CARDIFF Sunday October 6th, 1:30pm Cathays Community Centre 36-38 Cathays Terrace, CF24 4HX Register here. MANCHESTER Monday October 7th, 7pm Friends' Meeting House, 6 Mount St, M2 5NS Register here. SHEFFIELD Tuesday 8th Oct, 7pm Showroom Workstation Cafe Meeting Room 15 Paternoster Row, S1 2BX Register here. LONDON Friday October 11, 7pm Marchmont Community Centre 62 Marchmont Street, WC1N 1AB Register here. SCOTLAND Saturday October 19, 2pm Online Register here. The German government has announced its support for the US and British plans to allow Kiev to deploy NATO missiles for direct attacks on Russia. At a joint press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Lurynas Kasciunas last Friday, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (Social Democrat, SPD) claimed that the use of long-range NATO weapons against targets on Russian territory was covered by international law. An ATACMS missile being launched from an M270 MLRS. Those who supplied these weapons were free to decide to do so, he said, referring to US-British plans to attack targets in Russias heartland with missiles and cruise missiles such as the ATACMS and Storm Shadow. Under international law, thats perfectly fine, and what bilateral partners agree with each other about what happens to their weapons is their business. Pistorius dismissed the Russian threat to launch a massive counterattack, including the use of nuclear weapons, in the event of a full-scale attack on Russia, saying, Putins threats are Putins threats. Theres nothing more to say. He threatens whenever he wants and entices whenever he sees fit. Other representatives of the governing and opposition parties made similar statements. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (Liberal Democratic Party, FDP), chair of the European Parliaments defence committee, told rbb inforadio: Everyone knows, we know, its no secret from which bases Vladimir Putin launches his missiles, his cruise missiles. And it is in line with the law that these be disabled. Christian Democratic Union (CDU) foreign policy expert Norbert Rottgen described the Russian threats as absurd in a comment on X (formerly Twitter). Supporting Ukraine was in line with international law and served to restore peace in Europe. This also applies to military targets on Russian territory. Pistorius and Co. should explain the consequences of their policies. How many millions of lives are they willing to sacrifice for their war aims? It is clear that the discussed missile attacks on Russia would mean an escalation of the war that would bring about the use of nuclear weapons. Even before the meeting between US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week, Putin had warned that the use of NATO weapons against Russia would make the military alliance a party to the war. If this decision is made, it will mean nothing less than the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European states in the conflict in Ukraine, Putin said. Their direct involvement, of course, significantly changes the whole essence, the whole nature of the conflict. On the weekend, the deputy head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, explained the far-reaching significance of Putins statements. The Russian president had set out the formal conditions for a decision on the use of nuclear weapons. Such a decision would be in line with our doctrine of nuclear deterrence. Medvedev warned that a nuclear response is an extremely difficult decision with irreversible consequences. But NATOs current position carries the risk of turning Kiev into a huge grey melting spot. The official narrative that Russias military doctrine is a bluff is playing with nuclear fire. Just because the Kremlin has not yet responded to the increasingly aggressive NATO provocations does not mean that it will not do so in the future. This is even recognised by the bellicose bourgeois media. A Die Welt commentary titled It becomes dangerous when a nuclear power is cornered warns: It would be negligent to interpret the absence of a Russian nuclear weapons attack as proof that Russias threats are not to be taken seriously. As long as Russia does not see itself confronted with an existential challenge, things will presumably remain as they are. But if Western policy goes beyond ensuring Ukraines survival, as many commentators demand, and seeks to defeat Russia, Moscows nuclear threats would take on a whole new dimension. This is the situation. The declared goal of the NATO powers is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine. A relentless military logic is at work here, we wrote in a recent statement by the WSWS editorial board. The NATO powers are responding to a situation in which their Ukrainian proxy force has been exhausted and is facing a military debacle. Only through greater and more direct intervention by NATO can the entire project of the war be salvaged. All the assurances given by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), which he repeated at a public meeting in Prenzlau, Brandenburg, at the weekend, that he would not deliver any of Germanys Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev cannot hide the fact that Berlin is also playing a central role in the current escalation of the war. Significantly, Major General Christian Freuding, head of the Ukraine Special Staff in the Ministry of Defence, has been in Ukraine in the past few days. In an interview with the German news programme heute journal, the general not only praised the invasion of the Ukrainian army into the Russian Kursk region, but also the use of long-range weapons against Russia. These were of course very well suited against headquarters, against logistical hubs, but also against airfields and against concentrations of aircraft. It was a particular problem for Ukraine on the front line to be hit by Russian cruise missiles; and the only way to ward off this danger was to attack their aircraft and airfields. Freudings regular presence in Kiev, where he appears in full uniform, and his remarks underscore how directly the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) are already involved in the war in Ukraine. We are training the Ukrainians very intensively here in Germany, Freuding boasted. And one could see in the training how much we benefit from the insights of Ukrainian soldiers. These experiences must now also be integrated into our own armed forces, made accessible, and our lessons and conclusions drawn from them. This is a warning. The experience of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers is to be used as cannon fodder for imperialist interests. A similar fate threatens workers and youth in Germany and other NATO states. Earlier this year, Pistorius stated in several interviews that Germany must be prepared to wage direct war against Russia in the next three to five years. Since then, the Bundeswehr has been geared towards this. The focus of the meeting between Pistorius and Kasciunas was the signing of a joint agreement for the permanent deployment of around 5,000 German combat troops in Lithuania. Our goal, on which we are all working together and with great urgency, is and remains the deployment of a deployable German brigade in Lithuania by the end of 2027, Pistorius announced. According to a report by the Ministry of Defence, the advance party of the German brigade has been in Lithuanias capital Vilnius since April. The future brigade commander will travel to Lithuania in September, and the build-up to the formation staff of around 150 people will take place in October and November. As early as next year, the first forces of the brigade will be stationed until the target infrastructure is completed. The formation roll call of the brigade is planned for the first half of 2025. The offensive of German militarism in Eastern Europe against Russia is part of a dreadful tradition. In the Second World War, the Wehrmacht, Hitlers army, waged a war of extermination in the East, which reached its horrific climax in the Holocaust of six million Jews and the murder of 30 million Soviet citizens. As in those days, the madness of war has objective causes. Once again, German imperialism is pursuing concrete geopolitical and economic goals. Scholz openly stated this on his current trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Central Asia is becoming increasingly important both from a geopolitical point of view and with regard to our supply of raw materials, he wrote on X. And as in the 1930s, the response of the ruling class to the deep crisis of the capitalist profit system and the growing opposition among workers and youth is an aggressive turn to militarism, fascism and war. The only way to stop this dangerous development is to build an independent anti-war movement of the international working class based on a socialist programme. Around 7,000 low-wage CVS retail pharmacy workers are voting to strike this week across the state of California. The workers, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), have been working under an expired contract since June 30. A CVS pharmacy in Los Angeles, California [AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes] The CVS strike vote coincides with a powerful strike by 33,000 Boeing workers along the West Coast who recently rejected a concessionary deal brought to them by the International Association of Machinists union bureaucracya sign of enormous potential for a broader movement of the working class. Both Boeing and CVS workers are fighting against poverty wages. One Boeing worker noted: McDonalds makes more. Aldis makes more. Rent in the Seattle area is roughly $3-$4,000 for a single family home. I dont know how anyone can afford to live here. We definitely cant. Last October, pharmacy workers conducted a three day wildcat walkout dubbed Pharmageddon, where thousands of pharmacists across major chains such as CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid protested against low pay and understaffing. Many of the workers who participated in this wildcat action were not members of any union, testifying to the growing militancy of the rank-and-file. The starting wage for CVS store associates is only $16.20 an hour, a measly twenty cents over the state minimum wage. Starting lead pharmacy techs are making only $18.15 an hour. The UFCW has not announced the wages that CVS is proposing, but has stated, CVS is proposing a store associate still make less than $20 an hour. By comparison, MITs Wage Calculator projects that a living wage for a single adult in the state of California is $27.32 an hour, while an adult with one child must make $44.11 an hour. CVS made $11 billion in profits last year alone, paying shareholders $3.1 billion in dividends. Workers have endured poverty while on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have experienced skyrocketing workloads both at CVS and other pharmacies, which function as a primary location where the population seeks vaccinations and other medicines to deal with disease. According to the CDC, more than 307.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and reported in the United States. However, given the fact that the virus is continually mutating and thus requires periodic boosters, this is far below the level necessary to provide adequate protection to the country. CVS workers face much higher risks of contracting COVID-19. Despite the fact that over a million people are contracting COVID-19 a day in the US, CVS eliminated COVID pay for workers when California stopped requiring it by law at the end of 2022. The dangers of continual infections and reinfections also put CVS workers at much higher rates of Long COVID, or long lasting medical issues, as the virus attacks many different systems. One CVS worker wrote on social media: At work today I overheard my general manager tell an employee who tested positive for COVID yesterday that if he is feeling OK he can come to work tomorrow with a mask. This is despite the formal company policy that workers must stay home for five days after testing positive for COVID-19. Another worker commented, They mandate five days out, but don't pay out any more. So those without available sick pay are incentivized to work through it, potentially infecting others and further damaging their own health and well-being. Another added, Our entire pharmacy staff had COVID but we still worked through it. No paid time off. CVS workers are in a powerful position to carry out a strike for higher wages and COVID safety. But the chief obstacle they face is the UFCW bureaucracy. It has left them working on an expired contract for well over two months. After already delaying a strike vote, the UFCW is seeking to draw out the process until the end of the month through a fragmented procedure consisting of in-person voting at some locals and electronic voting at others. Final results are expected by September 27. There is no central system for voting, with each local having their own vote process. For instance, Local 135 is voting electronically from September 23 at 8:00 p.m. through September 25 at 5:00 p.m., while Local 324 is voting in person this week, ending on Thursday. The UFCW bureaucracy has already welcomed a federal mediator to the bargaining table in July whom they described as a neutral party who can help us ensure that bargaining is productive and fair. This is an outright and dangerous lie. Federal mediators are not neutral, they serve the interest of corporations. Government-backed mediation is routinely used to block strikes and impose contracts favorable to management. The most infamous example was in 2022, when the Biden administration used a Presidential Emergency Board to help impose a deal on 120,000 railroad workers. The UFCW has also tried to restrain workers by calling for an Unfair Labor Practice strike vote. The leadership claims that such a strike, if it demands pay raises, is illegal under US labor law. These claims are used to shut down the strike at a moments notice, on the pretense that management has suddenly become serious. Even while they have allowed talks to drag on for two months, the UFCW admits that CVS is dealing ruthlessly with workers, alleging that it has been breaking the law by committing numerous unfair labor practices, like unlawful surveillance of workers, retaliation for union activity, and blocking us from talking to our Union Representatives. In order to circumvent the UFCW bureaucracy and ensure a contract like the current one isn't shoved on them, workers must take matters into their own hands, building a CVS Workers Rank-and-File Committee, to enforce the democratic will of the membership and prepare for a real fight. The fight by CVS workers is part of a broader struggle by the working class, including the Boeing strike, a potential East Coast dock strike at the end of the month, 50,000 Washington state employees, railroad workers and others. With widespread popular support from other sections of the working class, CVS workers are in a position to potentially wield tremendous power against this massive corporation and empower other workers to do the same against their exploiters. BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar will pay a state visit to China from Sept. 19 to 22, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced Wednesday. China and Malaysia have a long-standing traditional friendship and are good neighbors and partners in mutual assistance and win-win cooperation, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at Wednesday's press briefing. Lin noted that in March last year, President Xi reached an important consensus with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, which has provided direction for the development of China-Malaysia relations in the new era. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia and the Year of China-Malaysia Friendship, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang's successful official visit to Malaysia in June injected new impetus into the development of China-Malaysia relations, he added. Lin said the visit by King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar is his first visit to a non-ASEAN country since assuming office as the head of state. President Xi will hold a welcome ceremony and a banquet for him. The two heads of state will hold talks and Premier Li will meet with King Sultan Ibrahim. Lin said China is willing to work with Malaysia to take this visit as an opportunity to continue the traditional friendship, deepen strategic alignment, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, further enrich the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Malaysia, and achieve new results in building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future. The Tamil capitalist parties based in the north and east of Sri Lanka are deeply divided over their stance in the countrys presidential election to be held on September 21. Whatever their tactical differences, however, their common aim is to bargain and pressure the next government for greater powers and privileges for the Tamil bourgeoisie at the expense of the Tamil masses. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and its presidential candidate Pani Wijesiriwardena emphatically reject both the Sinhala chauvinist politics of the Colombo elite, which plunged the country into a devastating 26-year civil war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the communal politics of the Tamil bourgeois parties. The SEP and its predecessor, the Revolutionary Communist League (RCL), have fought since the RCLs inception to defend the democratic rights of Tamils and the unity of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim workers on the basis of a socialist program as the only means of advancing the common interests of the working class as a whole. The Tamil parties have adopted three different positions on the election: * The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) is supporting Sajith Premadasa, the candidate of the right-wing, opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), which is a split off from the United National Party (UNP). Like the UNP, which was responsible for the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom that marked the beginning of the communal war, the SJB is mired in Sinhala supremacist politics. From the left, ITAK leader S. Sritharan, Tamil Progressive Alliance leader Mano Ganeshan, ITAK secretary Mavai Senathirajah and Provincial Council member S. Sivamohan at the ITAK 2024 Mayday event in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka [Photo: Facebook/Ruban Ruban] ITAK is the only party that remains in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which used to be a coalition of Tamil parties. It fixed on supporting Premadasa after considering equally reactionary alternativesincluding backing the current president Ranil Wickremesinghe or Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National Peoples Power (NPP) led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). * The People Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), the Tamil Peoples National Alliance (TPNA) and several others are fielding a common Tamil candidatePakyaselvam Ariyanethran. PLOTE, TELO and EPRLF were part of the TNA. The EPRLF broke away in 2017 followed by the other parties. In 2018, Northern Province chief minister C. V. Wigneswaran also withdrew from the TNA and formed the Tamil Peoples Alliance (TPA) which later became the TPNA. In April, Wigneswaran declared that fielding a common candidate would give the Tamil parties an opportunity to place our reasonable request for a referendum in the North and East to find out what they want politically. In reality, the appeal for a referendum is a means for reaching a deal on the devolution of greater powers to the Tamil elite. * The Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF), whose main constituent party is the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), is calling for a boycott of the election. While the TNPF postures as the more hardline proponent of Tamil nationalism, its aims are the same as its rivalsto reach an accommodation with the Colombo establishment. TNPF secretary Selvarajah Kajendran blurted out the real aim of the boycott to the media declaring that it might pressure the next government to consider the Tamil question. The splits and divisions among the many Tamil parties reflect the widespread hostility and disgust among broad layers of Tamil workers, youth and rural toilers with their sordid manoeuvres and broken promises. The 2020 election revealed the collapse of the TNAs social base when its vote plummeted by 200,000 and its seat count fell from 16 to 10. None of these parties address the enormous social crisis facing working people in the North and East following the end of the communal war in 2009. In the final months of the war, the Sri Lankan military, backed by the US and India in particular, slaughtered an estimated 40,000 civilians as it indiscriminately bombarded hospitals, aid centres and so-called no fire zones. Some 300,000 were herded into military detention camps and thousands of Tamil youth were dragged off to torture and brainwashing in rehabilitation camps. Hundreds more were simply disappeared during and after the war by military-linked death squads. Much of the North and East of the island was devastated by the war and has not fully recovered. The military occupation by tens of thousands of troops continues in which the harassment of Tamils is routine. There have been at least 11 documented cases of abduction and torture by soldiers under the Wickremesinghe government. The military occupies large sections of land and profits from the businesses it has established. The social disaster facing many Tamils only worsened following the countrys 2022 debt default when skyrocketing prices and acute shortages hit the entire working class. According to the Central Bank, unemployment in the northern city of Jaffna nearly tripled in 2022 to 21 percent. The United National Development Program report for 2022-23 showed that the Northern and Eastern provinces had the highest incidence of multidimensional vulnerability determined by income, debt and access to basic services. In the districts of Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi, the predominant concern is not household debt, but rather the availability of a reliable water source, the report stated. While the Tamil capitalist parties occasionally appeal for the return of lands or justice for the disappeared, their overwhelming preoccupation is for a deal with the very parties that waged the brutal war and have subsequently worked to cover up the war crimes for which successive governments and the military were responsible. Only a handful of soldiers have ever been prosecuted and punished, while the politicians and military top brass with blood on their hands are treated as heroes. The leading presidential candidatesWickremesinghe, Premadasa and Dissanayakehave all visited the North in a bid to woo Tamil politicians and, through them, Tamil voters. Significantly, the discussions have all centred on the implementation of the 13th constitutional amendment, which was part of the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord that brought Indian peace-keeping troops into the North to disarm the LTTE and granted a limited devolution of powers to provincial councils, including a combined North-East province. The 13th amendment is the political touchstone for the Tamil bourgeoisie as it would expand their powers at the provincial level and facilitate their exploitation of the working class. From the outset, successive Colombo governments have refused to fully implement the devolution of powers, particularly police and land powers, due to the furious opposition of Sinhala chauvinist extremists who declare that it would amount to dividing the island. ITAKs support for SJB candidate Premadasa is undoubtedly bound up with the fact that he declared that he would implement the 13th amendment when he visited the northern town of Kilinochchi in June. The SJB has also announced that it would revive the Office of Missing People to investigate those taken away by death squads. As in the past, these promises are meaningless gestures that would do nothing to address the systematic abuse of the democratic rights of Tamils. As for the worsening social crisis facing the working class as a whole, Wickremesinghe, Premadasa and Dissanayake, along with all the Tamil parties, are committed to implementing the IMFs draconian austerity measures that impact the whole working class. The support of the Tamil parties for the IMF is bound up with their backing for US imperialism and its strategic partner India in the drive to war against China. The mass uprising in 2022 of strikes and protests that drove former President Gotabhaya Rajapakse to flee the country and resign cut across the communal divisions fostered by all sections of the Sri Lankan ruling class and brought Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim workers together in a common struggle for their class interests. That movement was betrayed by the trade unions, the fake lefts such as the Frontline Socialist Party and the various Tamil parties that worked to limit and block the struggle and divert it into the political dead-end of parliament. The result was the anti-democratic installation of Wickremesinghe as president and an onslaught on the social and democratic rights of working people. The Socialist Equality Party and its candidate Pani Wijesiriwardena reject all forms of communalism and nationalism and fight to unite the working class in the struggle to overthrow capitalismthe root cause of war and all forms of exploitation and oppression. We have a decades-long record of opposing the systemic discrimination against Tamils and Muslims and the 26-year racialist war, demanding the withdrawal of all military forces from the North and East. The SEP advocates the formation of democratically elected action committees in every workplace, plantation and locality independent of all capitalist parties and their trade unions, including in the North and East. This would provide the basis for unifying workers across communal lines in the fight for their democratic and social rights. We call for the establishment of a Democratic and Socialist Congress of Workers and Rural Masses based on delegates from action committees to formulate and fight for a strategy to oppose the bourgeois program of war, austerity and dictatorial forms of rule. To defend the democratic rights of Tamil and Muslims, we call on action committees throughout the island to advance the following demands: End the military occupation! Withdraw all troops from the North and East! Release all political prisoners! End all discrimination against Tamils and Muslims! Abolish the communal constitution that gives special status to Buddhism and the Sinhala! Release all lands occupied by the military in the North and East! The struggle for these basic democratic demands is bound up with the fight to establish a workers and peasants government to repudiate all foreign debt, nationalise the major corporations, plantations and banks under the democratic control of the working class and restructure society along socialist lines. The SEP calls for the establishment of a Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Eelam as an integral component of the fight for socialism throughout South Asia and internationally. Marcellus Khaliifah Williams, an innocent man on Missouris death row, is set to be put to death September 24. Williams defense team, the Midwest Innocence Project, has submitted a clemency petition to Missouri Governor Mike Parson seeking a last-minute reprieve. Joseph Amrine, who was exonerated two decades ago after spending years on death row, speaks at a rally to support Missouri death row inmates Marcellus Williams on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Clayton, Missouri. [AP Photo/Jim Salter] Williams, now 55, was convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal August 11, 1998 stabbing death of St. Louis reporter Felicia Gayle. He has consistently maintained his innocence. A petition on Change.org calling for his execution to be stopped has garnered more than 525,850 signatures. The clemency petition asking Parson to spare Williams life focuses on how Gayles relatives want his sentence commuted to life in prison in parole. The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live, the petition states. Marcellus execution is not necessary. The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office is also appealing to the Missouri Supreme Court a judges ruling last week upholding Williams conviction and death sentence. A notice of appeal filed Monday night did not include any details about the basis for the appeal. Barring clemency from Parson or a favorable ruling from the state Supreme Court, which has ruled against Williams numerous times, he will be killed by lethal injection next week at the Potosi Correctional Center in Mineral Point, Missouri, about 70 miles southwest of St. Louis. Parson, a Republican and a former county sheriff, has presided over 11 executions and has never granted clemency to an inmate facing execution. The Associated Press (AP) reports that a spokesman for Parson said in an email Tuesday that attorneys for the governors ofce have met with Williams legal team, and Parson will likely announce a decision at least a day before the scheduled execution. There is no physical evidence tying Williams to the crime. DNA evidence on the murder weapon, a large butcher knife, which would definitively rule out Williams as the perpetrator, has been rendered inconclusive through mishandling by the prosecution. Williams original lawyer now admits that he did not give his clients case the attention he needed at trial. His jury included only one black juror. Two witnesses implicating Williams in the murder, his former cellmate and his ex-girlfriend, both sought $10,000 in reward money for information leading to a conviction. These witnesses, both convicted felons, are now dead. There is no forensic evidence tying Williams to the crime. Physical evidence left at the scenebloody fingerprints, footprints and hairsdoes not match Williams. The jury never heard evidence that Williams former girlfriend may have planted Gayles laptop in his car. The laptop was cited by the prosecution as evidence of his guilt. Williams has faced three execution dates. In 2015, the Missouri Supreme Court stayed his execution after testing showed his DNA was not on the murder weapon. But after reviewing the evidence, the same court rescheduled his execution. Marcellus Williams [Photo: Missouri Department of Corrections] On August 22, 2017, just hours before Williams second date with death, then-Governor Eric Greitens, a Republican, stayed his execution and convened a board of inquiry to investigate the case and issue a formal report. Then on June 29, 2023, the current governor, Republican Mike Parson, dissolved the board of inquiry before it had issued a report and set a third execution date, September 24, 2024. In January 2024, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney General Wesley Bell, a Democrat, filed a motion to overturn Williams conviction based on a 2021 state law that allows a prosecutor to challenge convictions in cases where the prosecutor has information that the convicted person may be innocent or may have been erroneously convicted. Critical to this challenge was new analysis of DNA found on the murder weapon, a knife, which excluded Williams as the perpetrator. At an August 21 hearing before circuit court, however, Williams and his legal defense were hit with a bombshell when it was revealed that the DNA evidence on the knife had been contaminated by the prosecution team through mishandling and improper storage. These mistakes by the prosecutors meant that this crucial evidence could not be used to support the prosecuting attorneys claims of Williams innocence. Bell then proposed that Williams enter an Alford plea, in which he would maintain his innocence but agree that the state had enough evidence to convict him. He was prepared to accept a life sentence and avoid his impending execution while, importantly, preserving his right to appeal if his defense discovered new exculpatory evidence. The presiding circuit court judge, Bruce F. Hilton, agreed to the plea deal, but Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a rabid pro-death-penalty Republican, claimed that he had exclusive authority to review such cases. Bailey sent the case back to the state Supreme Court, which agreed with Bailey, junked the plea deal and sent the case back to Judge Hilton to hold an evidentiary hearing. At the evidentiary hearing held September 12, Hilton denied the prosecutors motion to vacate Williams conviction and death sentence. Every claim of error Williams has asserted on direct appeal, post-conviction review, and habeas review has been rejected by Missouris courts, Hilton wrote. There is no basis for a court to nd that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a nding. Williams is one of five death row inmates scheduled for execution from September 20 to 26: Freddie Eugene Owens, September 20 in South Carolina; Travis James Mullis, September 24 in Texas; Alan Eugene Miller, September 26 in Alabama; and Emmanuel Antonio Littlejohn, September 26 in Oklahoma. This staggering assembly line of deaths over the course of a week exemplifies the barbaric nature of capital punishment in America, which is still allowed in 27 states, and by the federal government and the US military. Like those of the more than 2,200 men and women languishing on death rows across America, Williams case epitomizes the horror of the death penalty and what passes for the criminal justice system in America. Williams is clearly innocent. The prosecuting attorneys office and the victims family have both called for his life to be spared. His case demonstrates how the death penalty in America is meted out in the most arbitrary mannerto those denied adequate legal counsel, those facing racial discrimination at trial, those railroaded to death on technicalities, as well as to the factually innocent. Those put to death comprise the most vulnerable in society and are overwhelmingly working class and poor. Since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 1,595 individuals have been executed, including 22 sentenced for crimes committed as juveniles, 34 foreign nationals, 18 women and 16 federal prisoners. Human Rights Watch says at least 35 individuals with intellectual disabilities have been put to death. Since 1973, at least 200 people who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the US have been exonerated of their crimes, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). There is no way to determine how many of those executed since 1976 may have been innocent and wrongly convicted, but DPIC estimates that at least 20 people with strong evidence of innocence may have been put to death. Meta Platformsthe owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagramannounced on Monday that it was banning Russian state media outlets such as Russia Today (RT) from its social media properties, claiming that the organizations have engaged in covert online interference operations. In a statement, Meta said, After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity. The $1.36 trillion corporation based in Menlo Park, California did not provide any details or evidence of its allegations. At the time of the Meta ban, RT had 7.2 million followers on Facebook and one million followers on Instagram. In a news release, RT newsreader Eunan ONeill said the broadcaster, and Russia as a whole denies the accusations that have been coming en masse against this channel and others in the past number of days. RT (Rossiya Segodnya in Russian), is an international news network funded by the Russian government. It operates as a multilingual service with paid television and free over-the-air channels in five languages and online content in Russian, English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Portuguese and Serbian. RT is a brand of TV-Novosti which was founded by the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti in April 2005. On Tuesday, YouTubethe video platform owned by Google-parent Alphabetannounced it had removed over 230 channels affiliated with AVO TV Novosti. YouTube said it had previously blocked the Russian state-sponsored news channels globally and prevented viewers from watching the 230 channels that it has now terminated. YouTube also stated it deleted the Russian-based channels in compliance with US government sanctions. The Meta and YouTube censorship follows the announcement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday of new sanctions against Rossiya Segodnya and TV-Novosti. The sanctions allege that entities such as RT are being deployed by the Kremlin to conduct cyber-intelligence and covert influence operations across the globe and to assist Russias war in Ukraine. In a statement, Blinken claimed that new information showed that the Russian media organizations, are no longer merely fire hoses of Russian propaganda and disinformation. They are engaged in covert influence activities aimed at undermining American elections and democracies, functioning like a de facto arm of Russias intelligence apparatus. The State Department said the sanctions, which follow last weeks Treasury Department actions against 10 top RT executives and its designation of RT as a foreign mission, are not an action against the state outlet for the content of its reporting but aimed at its covert influence campaigns. A State Department fact sheet issued on Friday, which is full of typical hypocritical assertions from representatives of American imperialism, claimed the US supports the free flow of information, and always stands for freedom of expression, including for those with whom we disagree. On September 4, the US Justice Department indicted two Russian nationals, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, on charges of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering was unsealed today in the Southern District of New York. The indictment claims that right-wing social media influencerssuch as Lauren Chen, Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubinwere duped by a US-based media company, which was later revealed to be Tenet Media, to promote content and narratives and themes that were supported by the Kremlin. The charges state that over the past year, RT and its employees, including Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva, deployed nearly $10 million to covertly finance and direct a Tennessee-based online content creation company. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said, The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our countrys free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing. Of course, the US government itself runs the worlds largest propaganda and covert influence operation through state-sponsored media organizations and NSA and CIA malign activities in countries around the globe. The stepped up censorship campaign against Russian state media is connected to the intensification of the US-NATO backed war against the Putin regime in Ukraine, which has now been underway for 31 months and caused hundreds of thousands of casualties. It is also part of the crackdown on protests and college campuses aimed at silencing opposition to war and the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Central to the censorship drive against RT is the effort to bolster the Biden administrations narrative about the Russia-Ukraine war. Behind references to RTs global malign activities, including the use of cyber capabilities for influence and covert activities, is the US governments fear of increasing public opposition to the war both within the US and around the world. The online censorship and crackdown on political speech within the US also takes place within the context of the final two months before the presidential elections. The recent developments concerning Kremlin-based media sources shows that the Democratic Party, in particular, is relaunching the anti-Russian interference campaign that it mounted in the aftermath of the 2016 election, which was won by Donald Trump. Speaking to Rachel Maddow on MSNBC on Monday, former first lady and Democratic Party nominee for president in 2016, Hillary Clinton, called for the criminal prosecution of Americans who speak publicly against the US-NATO war with Russia in Ukraine. Clinton applauded the prosecutions by the Justice Department and sanctions by the State Department against Russian media outlets. She said, They are using Americans, both those who are witting and willing and those who are unwitting, and are just so surprised theyre getting, you know, $400,000 a week or $100,000 a podcast to parrot Kremlin propaganda. Clinton said that Republican chairs of Congressional Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee, and other Republicans who are currently in office have said that Republicans go to the floor of the Congress, and they parrot Russian talking points. She went on to say that it was important to indict the Russians, however it is unlikely, except in a very few cases, that they will ever stand trial in the US, But I also think there are Americans who are engaged in this kind of propaganda. And whether they should be civilly, or even in some cases criminally charged is something that would be a better deterrence we need to uncover all of the connections we are not going to let adversaries, whether it is Russia, China, Iran or anybody else, basically try to influence Americans as to how we should vote in picking our leaders. Heavy continuous rainfall has led to catastrophic flooding in large parts of Central Europe. Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania are most severely affected by the floods. Over 20 people have died so far across the four countries and around 250,000 households were temporarily without electricity. Thousands have already been evacuated, although peak river levels are not expected until midweek. An aerial view of a flooded neighborhood in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Monday, September 16, 2024. [AP Photo/Darko Bandic] Areas in the Czech Republic were particularly severely affected. In the area of the big city of Ostrava, near the Polish border, several dikes broke. Several rivers, including the Oder, meet in the city, which has a population of around 285,000. Entire residential areas had to be evacuated with rubber dinghies. In total, more than 10,000 people had to be evacuated in the country, official bodies told Czech TV. Rail traffic to and from Prague and in the direction of Poland was stopped entirely. A power plant had to be shut down. In addition to the electricity and mobile phone services, the drinking water supply also temporarily collapsed. The city of Litovel, about 200 kilometers east of Prague, was almost completely flooded. All facilities were closed and public life came to a complete standstill. By Monday, one person drowned in the floods, and at least seven others are still missing. The government in Warsaw declared a state of disaster. More rain has fallen in several places in Poland than in the so-called millennium flood in 1997. So far, five people have died in Poland and several more are considered missing. The town of Klotzko was flooded over the weekend after a dam broke. In parts of the flooded areas, the power supply has been cut, and train traffic came to a complete standstill throughout most of the country. In the Opole region, a hospital had to be completely evacuated. Polands Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced emergency aid of 1 billion zlotys (230 million). This is not even the proverbial drop in the bucket given the immense damage that is far from quantifiable. Poland spends over 4 percent of its GDP on military spending. Last year alone, 32 billion were spent on military purposes. Austria has also been struggling with the most severe floods in decades. Lower Austria has been hit hardest, but also Styria, Upper Austria and northern Burgenland are affected. Around 30,000 emergency personnel were deployed in Lower Austria alone. The state was declared a disaster zone. Two people in the districts of St. Polten-Land and Korneuburg drowned after their houses were surrounded by floodwater. A firefighter was killed in a basement while trying to pump out water. As of Tuesday evening, 26 villages were cut off from the outside world. On Monday evening, hundreds of residents of villages near the capital Vienna had to be evacuated after dams had broken. In Vienna itself, flooding caused the subway and the power grid to fail. Only thanks to decreasing rainfall have worse consequences for the city on the Danube been avoided so far. Seven deaths have been officially reported from Romania. Numerous people are still missing. Regions in the Carpathians in the east of the country were particularly affected. Until Sunday, the highest flood warning level was in force. Several remote villages were completely cut off. People had to be rescued from their rooftops. Hungary has declared the highest flood warning level for the capital Budapest. The riverside roads along the Danube were closed to traffic. Experts expect the highest water levels in the second half of the week. Prime Minister Victor Orban cancelled scheduled appointments abroad due to the tense situation. Interior Minister Sandor Pinter said that 12,000 soldiers were ready for deployment. In the Slovak capital Bratislava, about 70 kilometers from Vienna, emergency services are also on high alert, as the city also expects a record level of the Danube. In several towns and cities in Eastern Germany, concern is growing about increasing water levels on the Oder and Elbe rivers, which are expected to reach their peaks on Thursday or Friday. Dresden in Saxony and Frankfurt Oder on the Polish border could potentially be hit by flooding. While storm Boris, which brought the enormous rainfall, was caused by the rather unusual collision of polar air and warm, humid air from the unusually hot Mediterranean, the deeper causes lie in the dramatic acceleration of climate change. Climate researchers were not surprised by the impact of recent events. The catastrophic rains in Central Europe are exactly what scientists expect due to climate change, said Joyce Kimutai of the Imperial College London Grantham Institute. Climameter, a research project funded by the European Union and the French research organization CNRS, also largely attributes the heavy rainfall that led to the flooding in Central Europe to climate change. The floods are part of the extreme weather events that are becoming increasingly frequent and severe worldwide. The population of Central and West Africa is also currently suffering from extreme flooding. According to official figures, around 1,000 people lost their lives in the floods in Mali, Liberia and Nigeria, but the actual number is likely to be much higher. At the same time, the south of the continent is suffering from a historic drought. In Southeast Asia, Typhoon Yagi engulfed large parts of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. Hundreds of people died, and the consequences are yet to be fully uncovered in the poverty-stricken regions. Climate change is ultimately man-made and due to an economic system that places the pursuit of profit above human lives. Although climate change and global warming are drastically changing weather patterns, governments are refusing to take serious action to mitigate the devastating effects of these long-predicted disasters. Instead, all governments in Europe are cutting funds for disaster management and environmental protection, infrastructure and healthcare in order to finance the military build-up for the war against Russia. If Chancellor Olaf Scholz calls the floods in the neighbouring countries gloomy and promises help, this is only cynical rhetoric. While the defense budget has been enormously inflated, the 2024 budget for civil protection and disaster relief is estimated at a ridiculous 550 million, 10 million less than in the previous budget. BEIRUT, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and roughly 2,800 wounded, including around 200 in critical condition, across Lebanon on Tuesday when their pagers simultaneously exploded. The mass casualties, reported by Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad, included members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. This followed Israel's declaration of shifting its military focus from the Gaza Strip to Lebanon after an 11-month devastating war. According to Gaza-based health authorities, the conflict has led to over 41,000 Palestinian deaths as of Tuesday. The Israeli assault began after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 250 hostages on October 7, 2023. In Lebanon's neighbor Syria, 14 Hezbollah fighters were injured when their communication devices exploded in the capital, Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor. It added that the injuries occurred when communication devices exploded inside a vehicle near the Kafr Sousa neighborhood, as well as in two similar incidents in the Sayyida Zaynab area of southern Damascus and an undisclosed location in the western Qalamoun region. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the blasts, but the Arab League, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Hezbollah, and Yemen's Houthis have all accused it of being responsible. UNEXPECTED ATTACK Israeli military targeted the batteries of these pagers, leading to their explosions, Lebanon's Elnashra news website reported, adding the injured were being transferred to hospitals. In addition to Hezbollah militants, the son of Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Ammar was among those killed, and Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was among the injured, according to Elnashra. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged the mobilization of all departments of the Public Health Ministry to follow up on medical care for the wounded. The Emergency Operations Center under the ministry issued an urgent statement requesting all hospitals across Lebanon to be on high alert and enhance preparedness to meet the massive need for emergency health services. The ministry also asked all citizens to discard their pager devices immediately over safety concerns. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said his country was ready to assist in treating the injured or transferring them to Tehran. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani has pledged to send medical teams to Lebanon to provide urgent assistance for the wounded. FEARS OF ESCALATION The unexpected explosions came after Israel's security cabinet decided earlier in the day to expand the goals of the military operation in the Gaza Strip to include the safe return of residents in northern Israel who were evacuated due to the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. The decision, widely seen as a step toward further escalation, followed recent warnings from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that Israel was prepared to intensify the conflict with Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group that showed support to Hamas by attacking Israel after the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza in October last year. In a statement released after Tuesday's explosions, Hezbollah said it is conducting security and scientific investigations to identify the reasons behind the explosions, adding that the group is "at the highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon and its people." In a separate statement, the Shiite group blamed Israel for "this criminal attack," vowing to retaliate. Shortly after the pager explosions, Netanyahu and Gallant held a security assessment meeting in Tel Aviv. An Israeli government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the security assessment meeting was focusing on potential Israeli responses to a possible escalation triggered by the explosions. Local authorities in northern Israel have asked residents to remain near shelters and have reinforced safe rooms, citing concerns of a potential escalation of situation. In a statement released on Tuesday, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit warned against the consequences of this dangerous escalation against Lebanon and its people, adding that these attacks threaten to destabilize the regional situation. During separate phone calls with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned of the risks of a greater regional war. CONDEMNATION After the explosions, Gheit condemned what he called the "treacherous Israeli attacks on communication devices in Lebanon." During a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib after the explosions, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi strongly condemned the targeting of Lebanese citizens in the explosions, calling it a "terrorist action by Israel." Meanwhile, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a "bloody aggression" by Israel against Lebanon. The ministry accused Israel of using advanced technology to spread "death and bloodshed" in an "unparalleled manner." The ministry said Israel aims to expand the conflict and is motivated by a desire for further violence. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Wednesday the explosions are "a monstrous act of terrorism" and "an obvious attempt to ignite a major conflict." She said Moscow has called on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from taking steps that could destabilize the region. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman for the Houthi group in Yemen, issued a brief statement on the social media platform X, condemning the attack in Lebanon. "We condemn the Israeli security attack on Lebanon, which targeted many civilians. This is a heinous crime and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty," Abdul-Salam said. People wait to donate blood for those wounded in pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich) BEIRUT, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in explosions of wireless communication devices across Lebanon on Wednesday rose to 14, with injuries up to 450, said the Lebanese Health Ministry. Explosions were heard Wednesday afternoon in Beirut's southern suburb and several regions in southern and eastern Lebanon. Security reports indicated that a wireless communication device exploded in Beirut's southern suburb during the funeral of four Hezbollah members, with similar explosions igniting fires in cars and residential buildings, resulting in several injuries. Local media said the devices involved were identified as ICOM V82 models, walkie-talkie devices reportedly made in Japan. Emergency services were dispatched to the scene to transport the injured to local hospitals. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army Command issued a statement urging citizens not to gather near the sites of the incidents to allow medical teams to enter. So far Hezbollah has not commented on the incident. The explosions followed an attack a day ago, in which the Israeli military allegedly targeted pager batteries used by Hezbollah members, resulting in the deaths of 12 individuals, including two children, and approximately 2,800 injuries. In a statement on Tuesday, Hezbollah accused Israel of being "fully responsible for the criminal aggression that also targeted civilians," threatening to retaliate. Israel has not yet commented on the explosions. Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon. On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that Israel is at "the beginning of a new stage of the war" against Hezbollah. GENEVA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The widespread and simultaneous explosions of communication devices across Lebanon are shocking, with an unacceptable impact on civilians, said the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Wednesday. "The protection of civilians must be the paramount priority. De-escalation is today more crucial than ever," Turk stated in a statement. He also urged countries with influence in the region to take immediate action to prevent the conflict from escalating further. Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad reported on Wednesday that 12 people, including two children, were killed and approximately 2,800 others injured across Lebanon when their pagers detonated simultaneously on Tuesday. In addition, the Lebanese Health Ministry confirmed that on Wednesday, explosions of wireless communication devices claimed nine more lives and left over 300 people injured across the country. Turk stated that targeting thousands of individuals simultaneously, whether civilians or armed group members, without knowing who possessed the targeted devices, their locations, or their surroundings at the time of the attack, constitutes a violation of international human rights law and, where applicable, international humanitarian law. He further emphasized the need for an independent, thorough, and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding these mass explosions, asserting that those responsible for ordering and executing the attacks must be held accountable. Enditem Link of the statement: https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2024/09/comment-un-high-commissioner-human-rights-volker-turk-explosions-across-lebanon KIEV, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian parliament voted on Wednesday to allocate an additional 495.3 billion hryvnias (about 11.96 billion U.S. dollars) for defense, the country's Finance Ministry said. The voting was supported by 298 votes in favor, surpassing the required minimum of 226, said lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak. With the sum, Ukraine's expenditures for defense will reach 3.73 trillion hryvnias (about 90 billion dollars) in 2024, Zheleznyak wrote on Telegram. Ukraine will source additional funds for military needs from hiked taxes and additional placement of domestic government debt bonds, among other sources, according to lawmaker Rolsolana Pidlasa. Last year, Ukraine spent about 64 billion dollars, or about 40.5 percent of its gross domestic product on defense. Her father was a chief surgeon, which gave her family financial comfort. But their political exile to Queens, New York, in 1960 would have a profound effect on her upbringing. Now, a PBS documentary premiering Tuesday will show how bestselling author Julia Alvarez, who was born in New York and lived the first 10 years of her life in the Dominican Republic, became one of the country's most influential Latina writers and carved a path for other authors. If youre at the margins of a world, it abuts another world. So you have double perspective, Alvarez said in a video interview with NBC News. And I see now that without that experience, I would never have become a writer. Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined takes viewers back to her childhood in the Dominican Republic and follows her footsteps in the U.S. as she develops into an acclaimed poet and author President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts in 2013. VOCES "Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined." The documentary covers her breakout semi-autobiographical novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991) and her second novel, the searing bestseller In the Time of the Butterflies (1994), which chronicles the true story of the Mirabal sisters who rebelled against Dominican dictator Gen. Rafael Trujillo. "Once we came to this country and once Papi (Dad) felt that he could talk because everyone was afraid, he told the stories of the Mirabal sisters," Alvarez said. "They were killed two months after we escaped. They were four sisters and three gave their lives to create a free country, depose the dictator, and we were four sisters, too. So we were the four sisters who had made it to safety, and I always felt the long shadow of those four sisters. ... So there was a sense of a connection there, a connection to their story." I originally set out to write nonfiction, a historical account of the Mirabal sisters, she said. But I became interested in character. And character is the province of novels. Alvarez published her latest novel, "The Cemetery of Untold Stories," at age 74. Alvarez reflected on how it took her a while to understand the traumas of a dictatorship through her parents. "They were always so afraid of us speaking up, and always suspicious, and it helped me to understand them and their generation," she said. "The trauma, even after the dictator dies, a people is traumatized; the dictator stays in their imagination. So, it helped me to understand them and their generation, which has been called la generacion perdida (the 'lost generation') because so many in that generation lost their lives." The documentary ends with her most recent novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, which Alvarez published this year at age 74. The book is about a veteran novelist who creates a graveyard for unfinished stories and characters. Alvarez said that after arriving in Queens, she felt that her family had lost everything. But in spite of feeling like an outsider, poetry helped her find a new home. I think when I came into English as a 10-year-old, one of the reasons that I was attracted to poetry was that it was so rhythmic in cadence and it reminded me of Spanish, she said. It felt like a way that I could speak Spanish in English. Alvarez explained that she came from an oral culture in the Dominican Republic. I wasnt really a reader, she said. We didnt really have that many books around, but we had that oral rhythmic culture of recitations, and little poems and ditties. 'All-American' includes southern Americas One of the poems that inspired Alvarez once she was in the U.S. was I, Too by the Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. In the poem, Hughes wrote: Tomorrow, Ill be at the table when company comes. Nobodyll dare say to me, Eat in the kitchen, then. Alvarez recalled how reading that verse felt like Hughes was making a promise she too could someday sit at the table of mainstream America. This would later inspire her to write I, Too, Sing America, a take on Hughes' poem, where she defines herself as truly an all-American writer. I really am an all-American citizen, including all of the southern Americas that we sometimes leave out when we say America. So, I think of myself very much as permeable, she said, those skills of really connecting over the artificial hurdles that people create of us and them, and identity that has to be set, is something that you learn to shed when youre writing. And with more than three decades as a published author, Alvarez still uses poetry to boil down her writing to essential truths. I begin each writing day by reading poetry, even when Im writing prose because for me that sort of sets a high bar for what language can also do, she said. In poetry you strip all the unessential away. Chronicling a dictatorship, through a female lens When examining Alvarezs legacy, the documentary establishes her as one of the most significant voices in Latina literature. Julia has carved a path for young women and their voices to break into the American mainstream, Cuban American filmmaker Adriana Bosch said in a phone interview. She produced and directed Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined. Bosch explained that Alvarezs writing shifted the lens from male-dominated stories to female-dominated stories. She wanted to tell the story of migration from a female point of view. And I think she hits this idea on all cylinders with In the Time of the Butterflies, she said. Alvarez is widely considered one of the most influential contemporary Latina writers. Bosch noted that Latin American literature has a long tradition of writing about dictatorship from a male point of view. But when Alvarez decided to write her second book about the Trujillo regime, she told it from the female point of view what was happening to women under the dictatorship. This is a new way at looking at history, putting the female viewpoint front and center, she said. And this is very empowering for young readers, young women, because they can see themselves and their conflicts. When asked what type of writer Alvarez could have become if she had stayed in the Dominican Republic, the author explained that it would have been a different experience. I would have been growing up in a dictatorship where writers were suspect, where books, people that read and thought and spoke about ideas were dangerous, she said. I think in our countries, just the act of writing is a political statement. You are opening doors and windows and thats already a kind of freedom fighter. Yet growing up as an outsider in the U.S. sparked another type of fighting spirit, Alvarez reflected. Truthfully, I think not being embedded in the culture allowed me to see things about it that I might not have seen if I were in it, she said. This, she concluded, made her an activist through art. For more from NBC Latino, sign up for our weekly newsletter. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Did Taylor Swift buy a house in Bucks County? Here's what we know right now (This story has been updated with new information.) Could Taylor Swift's next era bring her to Bucks County? The rumor mill certainly thinks so, as word spreads that the 34-year-old singer-songwriter and self-made billionaire may have purchased a home in Doylestown last month. ELMONT, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: Taylor Swift attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for MTV) The supposed property a 12,791-square foot house on nearly 100 acres in Plumstead Township sold for $12.9 million on Aug. 09. But county property records have yet to reflect its new owner. But while the rumors may be fun to contemplate, sources on Wednesday after this story was originally published told the USA Today Network, which includes the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intell, that Swift did not purchase the sprawling Central Bucks property. Here's how the rumor got some momentum: Is Good Pointe LLC a front for Taylor Swift? What public documents tell us about Twin Silo Road sale Public documents filed in connection with the sale offer few clues into who is the buyer, other than someone with a lot of money. Those records show that Good Pointe LLC purchased two parcels on Twin Silo Road and one parcel at the corner of Twin Silo Road and Point Pleasant Pike. The purchase price listed in the documents was $1 each. The purchases appeared to have taken place between July 31 and Aug. 2, 2024, and they were all recorded with the Bucks County Recorder Of Deeds office on Aug. 9, according to records obtained through Landex.com. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Good Pointe LLC registered in Delaware as a foreign Limited Liability Company on July 30, 2024. The registration did not list any names for company officers. A phone number listed in the real estate transfer tax documents for Good Pointe LLC has a 615 area code, which covers the Nashville metropolitan areas and surrounding counties. No one immediately returned a voicemail left at the number asking about Good Pointe LLC and its Doylestown purchase. The voice mail message did not identify who the number belonged to. This Bucks County map show the three parcels that Goode Pointe LLC purchased last month along Twin Silo Road and Point Pleasant Pike in Plumstead. Provided by Bucks County GIS Maps Swift has a three-bedroom penthouse in Nashville, near the heart of Music Row. She purchased it for $1.9 million in 2009. She also bought a Greek Revival-style estate in the Nashville suburb Forest Hills in 2011. This home is reportedly where her mother lives. She owns homes in Beverly Hills, California, Rhode Island, and multiple properties in New York Citys Tribeca neighborhood. The closing agent with Delaware River Closing Services in New Hope declined to provide information about who Good Pointe LLC is citing privacy laws. While the property records couldn't confirm whether Swift added to her massive real estate portfolio, sources said she did not buy in Doylestown. Taylor Swift is a Pennsylvania native Before her family moved to the suburbs of Nashville to help Swift pursue her musical career, People magazine reported Swift spent her childhood on a 15-acre Christmas tree farm in West Reading less than a 90 minutes from Doylestown. One of Taylor Swift's best friend Gigi Hadid has ties to Bucks County The friendship between Swift and supermodel Gigi Hadid has made headlines over the years, as they've been seen together and supporting one another during their bigger life moments. And with Hadid's ties to Bucks County which include her mom, Yolanda, owning a horse farm in Solebury and rumors were swirling last year that Hadid's boyfriend, Bradley Cooper, was house-hunting in Bucks County perhaps Swift had good reason to be in the area more often. The celebrity couple was spotted eating dinner in New Hope. Taylor Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce has reasons to visit Philly suburbs Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelce, shares a close bond with his brother, Jason Kelce, the recently retired center for the Philadelphia Eagles who lives in Haverford in nearby Delaware County. With Swift's relationship growing more serious by the day with the Kansas City Chief tight end, it's conceivable the couple may want a comfortable place closer to family. However, sources say it won't be Bucks County. Main Street reporter Michele Haddon can be reached at mhaddon@gannett.com. Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Does Taylor Swift own a $12 million home in Doylestown, Bucks County? Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton explained her conflicted opinion of fellow former first lady Melania Trump in her newly released book, in which she also detailed an awkward encounter with Donald Trumps wife involving other former first ladies. Hillary Clinton never quite knew what to make of the third Mrs. Trump, she wrote in Something Lost, Something Gained, released Tuesday, according to extracts from the memoir published by USA Today. On a gut level, I have never believed that a wife bears responsibility for the actions of her husband. But did she aid and abet her husbands worst instincts? Clinton asked, adding, Was she quietly complicit in his bigotry and hate-mongering? Melania Trump, of course, defended her husbands birtherism attacks on former President Barack Obama as far back as in 2011. Clinton also recalled when she and first lady Jill Biden and former first ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush met Melania Trump last year at a memorial service for Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former President Jimmy Carter. Melania had a look on her face very smiley but uncertain that reminded me of the little kid at the birthday party who doesnt know anyone and is waiting at the edge of the circle, hoping people are going to be nice, Clinton wrote, per excerpts from the book. We were. We all went up to her. Jill air-kissed her cheek, and Michelle Obama gave her one of her signature big hugs, Clinton wrote. I can appreciate how awkward it must have been, she added, not knowing what kind of reception she would get after all her husbands insults directed at us Bushes, Bidens, Obamas, and Clintons alike. Related... Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has shared her first interaction after the 2016 election with former first lady Melania Trump in her new book that came out Tuesday. The meeting occurred at the memorial service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter in November 2023, Clinton recounts in "Something Lost, Something Gained." Clinton had not been told that the former first lady would be in attendance, though Carter's grandson had requested she come. "Rosalynns grandson Jason said it had been her wish that all the First Ladies would come together for her memorial in a show of unity in these divisive times," Clinton writes. Clinton recounts that she understood how Trump might feel in the presence of families her husband has repeatedly attacked before and after his presidency. "Melania had a look on her face very smiley but uncertain that reminded me of the little kid at the birthday party who doesnt know anyone and is waiting at the edge of the circle, hoping people are going to be nice," Clinton writes. Clinton said that she had first met Melania Trump at her wedding with former President Donald Trump in 2005. Trump is scheduled to release her memoirs on Oct. 8. Clinton questions Melania's role in Trump admin environment Clinton wrote that she felt "conflicted" about how critical to be of Trump. "On a gut level, I have never believed that a wife bears responsibility for the actions of her husband," Clinton wrote. "But did she aid and abet her husbands worst instincts? Was she quietly complicit in his bigotry and hate-mongering?" Clinton noted that Trump wearing a jacket that read, "I really don't care, do u?" during a 2018 visit to a shelter holding immigrant children separated from their families was on brand for the Trump administration but would not pass judgment on Melania's appearance. Clinton defends Trump's outfit at Carter funeral Clinton defends the outfit Trump wore to the Carter's memorial in the book. Trump wore a grey suit to the funeral, which was criticized for not being black, the traditional color of mourning. Lets get real. The Victorian-era tradition of donning black for funerals has gone the way of the edict against wearing white after Labor Day," Clinton writes. "Jason Carter wore a gray suit to deliver a tribute to his cool grandma. President Biden was in blue. As far as I can tell, neither of them got any flak for it." Former first lady Melania Trump arrives for a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 28, 2023. Clinton further defends the gathered first ladies, including Trump, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, from criticism from "The Washington Post" for not appearing convivial at the service. "Consider that perhaps the five of us First Ladies didnt enter the sanctuary all smiley and sociable, like we were walking into a chick-flick matinee, because, you know, we were at a funeral," Clinton wrote, further noting that Obama had hugged Trump in a private holding room before the service. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hillary Clinton details Melania Trump encounter at funeral in new book A baby pygmy hippo living at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand continues to become a viral sensation. The 2-month-old pygmy hippopotamus named Moo Deng was born in July, according to NBC News, and the internet has been in a frenzy since the zoo started sharing photos and videos of her. Read more! Obsessed with Moo Deng? Then youll want to check out these gift ideas as iconic as she Bowen Yang channels a grumpy Moo Deng on Weekend Update during SNL premiere TODAY got a glimpse at the baby pygmy hippo in a segment that aired on Sept. 26, in which Moo Deng is seen sleeping, eating, walking around and playing in her enclosure all while captivating her in-person and online fans. The zoo sometimes gets 10,000 visitors a day since Moo Deng's popularity took off, and her keeper told TODAY that while the baby pygmy hippo is likely unaware of her newfound fame, her mother, whose side Moo Deng rarely leaves, might be catching on. Baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng and her mother are seen at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, on Sept. 19, 2024. Moo Deng may not know (of her popularity), but her mom might be surprised as before it was quiet," the keeper explained. In the segment, Moo Deng can be seen trailing behind her mom and eating alongside her. A video posted on TODAYs official TikTok account also showed Moo Deng resting underneath her mom while a zookeeper poured some refreshing water on top of them. After Moo Deng was born this summer, Khao Kheow Open Zoo started posting about Moo Deng on its Facebook, X and YouTube pages. It didn't take long before users started resharing content of the pygmy hippo alongside adoring messages. "Moo deng is a lifestyle icon and i need all of yall to get onboard," one person wrote, listing out "inexplicably moist all the time," "slightly blurry in most photos," "probably screaming or sleeping" and "round" as reasons the baby hippo is worthy of attention. "Moo Deng the most beautiful girl in the world," another penned. Even on the night of the Emmys on Sept. 15, fans were praising a picture of Moo Deng on X, which shows her photo shopped onto the red carpet. "Moo deng stuns on the emmys red carpet," the user wrote. Sephora Thailand even posted about the pygmy hippopotamus through giving makeup tips inspired by Moo Deng. Wear your blush like a baby hippo, the post from the retailer read. Read on to learn more about Moo Deng, including what the baby pygmy hippo's handlers are saying about her recent stardom. What kind of hippo is Moo Deng? Moo Deng and her mother Jona, in Chonburi province on Sep. 15, 2024. Moo Deng is a pygmy hippo, a species that grows to only half the height of a hippopotamus and weighs less than a quarter of their weight, according to the Pygmy Hippo Foundation. Pygmy hippos are native to West Africa but can also be found f Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, reported the foundation. At birth, newborn pygmy hippos weigh between 10 and 14 pounds, and they are weaned by the time theyre six to eight months old, according to Pygmy Hippo Foundation. When was Moo Deng born? Moo Deng was born in July, reported NBC News. Is Moo Deng safe? As much as the hippo has gained attention, officials say her popularity has raised concerns about her safety. Some of Moo Deng's visitors have tossed water and other objects at her, according to NBC News. In response to safety issues, on Sept. 15, the zoo announced that Moo Dengs visitors would be limited to seeing her Saturdays and Sundays, with each visit capped at five minutes. These behaviors are not only cruel but also dangerous, the zoo's director Narongwit Chodchoi was quoted as saying by local media, per NBC News. We must protect these animals and ensure that they have a safe and comfortable environment." Pygmy hippos are classified as endangered species, according to the Zoological Society of London. The Pygmy Hippo Foundation estimates that nearly 2,000 pygmy hippos remain in the wild, but their population is declining due to continued hunting for bushmeat. moo deng (TODAY) This article was originally published on TODAY.com Meet the Queens of Drag Race Thailand season 3! Meet the Queens drag race thailand season 3 Courtesy of World of Wonder At last, the sickening cast of the long-awaited return of Drag Race Thailand has been Ru-vealed! Its been five long years since Angele Anang snatched the title in 2019 (wow, her step-down will be epic) and fans have been clamoring for more. Now we are getting our wish. Also making a grand return is host and main judge Pangina Heals . The drag legend has certainly kept busy in in her time away from the show, including her own stint competing on Drag Race UK vs. The World, touring the globe, and starring in both RuPauls Drag Race Live in Las Vegas and Tongue Thaid on WOW Presents Plus. Now shell be back where it all began, behind the judges table! While Pangina may be a familiar face, there are plenty of changes coming to the new season of Drag Race Thailand, including a brand new stage and a glowed-up Werkroom. Also new, of course, are all the incredible drag artists competing for the title of Thailands Next Drag Superstar! Speaking of which, lets meet the queens! Watch the Meet the Queens of Thailand season 3! www.youtube.com - YouTube Are you obsessed? Well, same. Well be counting down the days until the series premieres on October 16, exclusively on WOW Presents Plus worldwide. Keep scrolling for a closer look at queens about to snatch your heart, and in one case, the crown! Benze Diva, 42 - Samutprakarn, Thailand Benze Diva Courtesy of World of Wonder Ladies and gentlemen, step aside, because the Mama Queen is coming and her name is Benze Diva! A fairy godmother of drag with over 20 years of experience, Benze Diva has mentored many Thai drag stars. Benze Diva has already won the hearts and respect of the new drag generation, exuding the wisdom, enlightenment and joy that only decades in the spotlight can bring. Get ready, Benze Diva is here to prove that true royalty is timeless. And remember, in her own immortal words, "Age is just a number, Darlings!" Instagram: @benzediva_official Benze Diva Courtesy of World of Wonder Frankie Wonga, 30 - Bangkok, Thailand Frankie Wonga Courtesy of World of Wonder Fierce, freak and fantasy, Frankie Wonga is about to revolutionize the drag scene! With her background in special effects makeup, Frankie Wonga brings an otherworldly flair to the drag scene in Thailand. Since her first day in that scene, her looks and performances have been more than just shows; they're breathtaking spectacles that challenge reality and amaze audiences. Get ready for an out-of-this-world experience that will redefine your expectations of drag. Frankie Wonga is here, and she's going to take the world by storm! Instagram:@frankie.wonga Frankie Wonga Frankie Wonga Courtesy of World of Wonder Gawdland, 22 - Chiang Mai,Thailand Gawdland Courtesy of World of Wonder In less than two years, Gawdland has transformed Thailand's drag scene into her era. She's not just a rising star she's a supernova in stilettos. Gawdland is the voice of the new generation, a passionate advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights in Thailand. She serves us sexiness with confidence. She's known for her striking looks, charismatic performances and unapologetic attitude. Gawdland has the ability to challenge societal norms and represent the vibrant, diverse future of Thai drag culture. Instagram: @gawdland Gawdland Gawdland Courtesy of World of Wonder Gigi Ferocious, 28 - Bangkok, Thailand Gigi Ferocious Courtesy of World of Wonder Prepare to experience the meteoric rise of Gigi Ferocious. From the world of dance to the dazzling world of drag, Gigi Ferocious isn't just stepping into the spotlight she's conquering it with a ferocity that lives up to her name. This fashion-forward phenomenon is more than just a pretty face; she's a whirlwind of talent, confidence and pure, unadulterated star power. Don't let her newcomer status fool you. Gigi's extensive performance experience has equipped her with an arsenal of skills that seasoned queens can only dream of. In a world of glitz and glam, Gigi Ferocious shines brighter than a diamond in the rough. Instagram: @gigiferocious Gigi Ferocious Gigi Ferocious Courtesy of World of Wonder Kara Might, 27 - Ratchaburi, Thailand Kara Might Courtesy of World of Wonder As the prodigious drag daughter of the legendary Bunny Be Fly from Drag Race Thailand Season 1, Kara Might isn't just stepping into the spotlight she's claiming it as her birthright. With a remarkable talent for fashion design that has queens all over Thailand and beyond clamoring for her creations, Kara sweetens the show with her pink drag persona. So buckle up, Kara Might is here to prove that the world of drag isn't just about clothes, it's about transformation. Get ready to witness the birth of the sweet Kara Might. Instagram: @karamight Kara Might Courtesy of World of Wonder Nane Sphera, 33 - Chiang Mai, Thailand Nane Sphera Courtesy of World of Wonder Nane Sphera is the undisputed Queen of the North with a presence that commands attention and a talent that demands respect. As the proud owner of the sensational 6ixcret Show Drag Bar in Chiang Mai, Nane Sphera is set to revolutionize the drag scene in Thailand like never before. She has an impressive decade of performing experience and her lip-syncing skills are simply exceptional. Nane creates every single piece she wears herself from head to toe. Keep your eyes open and your senses ready, because the Northern Queen is here and shell reign supreme! Instagram: @nane_sphera Nane Sphera Nane Sphera Courtesy of World of Wonder Siam Phusri, 34 - San Francisco, USA Siam Phusri Courtesy of World of Wonder From L.A. to Thailand, Siam Phusri is the only Thai drag star to thrill audiences far from her homeland. Her name alone is a masterpiece "Siam"," the ancient name of Thailand, combined with "Phu" (land) and "Sri" (glorious) and trust us, she lives up to every syllable. While she represents Thailand in L.A., Siam is a chameleon of unpredictability. Her costumes are handcrafted and she puts a lot of love and passion into them. Watch out, world Siam Phusri is coming, and she's bringing the heat! Instagram: @siamphusri Siam Phusri Siam Phusri Courtesy of World of Wonder Shortgun, 22 - Chiang Mai, Thailand Shortgun Courtesy of World of Wonder Shortgun, the alternative drag queen from the north, whose looks are as fascinating as they are unforgettable. With her first-class make-up skills and a style that defies convention, Shortgun describes herself as strange yet iconic. She proves that drag isn't just about doing a split, dip or stunt it's about making a lasting impression. She's a creative queen with a strong presence. Shortgun's unique brand of drag can be summed up in four words: weird, spooky, camp, and unexpected. Instagram: @theshortgunn Shortgun Shortgun Courtesy of World of Wonder Spicy Sunshine, 30 - Bangkok, Thailand Spicy Sunshine Courtesy of World of Wonder Spicy Sunshine has been a backup dancer in Singapore since the age of 18 and lives up to her name by heating up the Thai drag scene with her sizzling dance moves. It wasnt long before she found her true calling in the drag community, believing it was the perfect stage to showcase her talents. With shows at the Drag Bar in Bangkok, she has proven that she is a star. Her fighting spirit is getting stronger by the day, making her a force to be reckoned with on every stage she sets foot on. Instagram: @spicy.sunshineee Spicy Sunshine Spicy Sunshine Courtesy of World of Wonder Srirasha Hotsauce, 27 - Bangkok, Thailand Srirasha Hotsauce Courtesy of World of Wonder With a background in theater, Srirasha channels her artistic flair and theatrical experience into her performances. She has found her perfect expression in Japanese anime aesthetics, which now influences every look she creates. While she might not be flipping or splitting on stage, she holds the audiences emotions in the palm of her hand and delivers each performance with remarkable precision and intensity. Her ability to capture every emotion in her performance has made her a standout force in the drag scene, earning her widespread recognition and acclaim. Instagram: @srirashahotsauce Srirasha Hotsauce Srirasha Hotsauce Courtesy of World of Wonder Zepee, 29 - Phrae, Thailand Zepee Courtesy of World of Wonder A stunning transgender showgirl from Phrae, Zepee has taken the stage by storm. Her talent is second to none, especially when it comes to her performance. She has made a name for herself on Thai television with a role in the popular series "Matalad. Although she auditioned for Drag Race Thailand season 2 and didnt make it, she didnt give up. Instead, she used this as an incentive to improve her dancing, sewing, performance skills and come back stronger than ever. With her fun-loving personality and likable charm, her lip-syncing skills are not to be underestimated. Instagram: @ze_pee Zepee Zepee Courtesy of World of Wonder The Emmy Awards may be held in Los Angeles, but if this years ceremony is any indication, the art celebrated there is more likely to be created a ways away from Hollywood. As detailed by the Los Angeles Times, only two of the 12 winning television shows used Southern California soundstages and locations for production: Hacks and The Morning Show. The shows, primarily set in Las Vegas and New York City, respectively, were among the minority of shows that did not film at least in part at or near the locations depicted on screen. Also in this category is Shogun (set in Japan but filmed in British Columbia), True Detective: Night Country (set in Alaska but filmed in Iceland) and Fargo (set in the upper Midwestern U.S. but filmed in Alberta). The seven other winners Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, The Bear, The Crown, Baby Reindeer, The Traitors, Ripley and Slow Horses were largely set where they were filmed. Of the shows filmed outside of L.A., four are United Kingdom-based (The Crown, Slow Horses, The Traitors and Baby Reindeer), while Shogun and Fargo were filmed in Canada. While looking at these shows alone cant provide a full picture of the state of Hollywood production, Tracy Brown noted for the Times that at a time when there is a scarcity of local television jobs, its hard not to notice the statistic. Film and TV production in L.A. has yet to bounce back following Hollywoods double strike, the Times added. Local filming declined 12.4% year-over-year from April through June, according to nonprofit FilmLA, which tracks on-location permitting in the city. Reality TV production plunged by 57% compared with the prior year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shiite militia group, on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a previous drone attack on a "vital site" in northern Israel's port city of Haifa. The attack was executed on Tuesday evening "in solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip," the group said in a statement, pledging to continue targeting "the enemy's strongholds." The statement did not detail the specific site impacted or report any casualties. So far there has been no comment from the Israeli side on the attack. Since the onset of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has conducted multiple attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets in the region in support of Palestinians in Gaza. "I need to report a crime," Terry Richmond, the protagonist of the currently popular Netflix movie Rebel Ridge, tells Jessica Sims, a police officer in a small Louisiana town. That crime was highway robbery: the theft of $36,000 in cash. But the perpetrators were two of Sims' own colleagues, and the cash grab was perfectly legal. While the details of writer-director Jeremy Saulnier's screenplay are fictional, the broad outlines of Richmond's predicament are sadly familiar. The film vividly illustrates the unjust consequences of civil asset forfeiture, a system of legalized larceny that allows police to seize property that is allegedly tainted by crime. The U.S. Supreme Court has facilitated that racket both by approving the general concept and by giving cops broad leeway to stop and search travelers. In 1996, for example, the Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment allows police to pull over a motorist whenever they have probable cause to believe he has committed a traffic violation, even if that is not the real motivation for the stop. Richmond is stopped while biking through town on his way to post bail for a cousin who was arrested for marijuana possession. While the exact nature of Richmond's alleged traffic violation is unclear, the cops eventually say they are letting him go with a warning. Before that happens, however, the officers search his backpack, ostensibly for weapons, and find a bag of moneythe proceeds from Richmond's sale of his interest in a Chinese restaurant, which he says the police can verify by contacting the restaurant's owner. Some of the money is for his cousin's bail, he explains, while the rest is earmarked for a pickup truck he plans to buy for a boat-hauling business. The cops nevertheless keep the cash. "We're going to hold on to this money," one says. "We've concluded from our investigation that this is drug currency." Richmond, who has committed no crime, is astonished by this turn of events. But as a sympathetic courthouse employee explains to him, police can seize property without accusing the owner of a crime because a civil forfeiture is notionally an action against the asset itself. Richmond also learns that challenging a forfeiture typically costs more than the property is worth and that police departments use seizures to supplement their own budgets. And he discovers that police may be willing to return a portion of property they seize if the owner lets them keep the rest, especially if they would have trouble justifying a forfeiture in court. Real-life forfeiture abuses frequently resemble Richmond's experience, featuring pretextual traffic stops, questionable searches, and the discovery of money that police view as inherently suspicious. Cops bent on seizing cash tend to dismiss the owner's explanation of its source, whether it's poker winnings, the sale of a car, or a retiree's life savings, and its intended use, whether it's film production expenses, a down payment on a music studio, oras in Rebel Ridge and several actual casesa truck purchase. Vague allegations, sometimes including cut-and-pasted boilerplate, are another common feature of forfeiture cases. So are extortionate demands, euphemistically known as "mitigation" offers, that owners surrender some of their property to avoid a costly, prolonged, and iffy legal battle. At the root of it all is the profit motive created by statutes that let law enforcement agencies keep a big share of the proceeds (in Louisiana, 80 percent) from forfeitures they pursue. As Rebel Ridge suggests, the heads of those agencies sometimes use their loot for questionable purposes, spending it on booze, marijuana, prostitutes, concert tickets, and home security systems. Even when police and prosecutors follow applicable spending guidelines, the system is inherently corrupting. It encourages them to focus on raising revenue instead of protecting public safety. While Terry Richmond's forfeiture problem is realistic, his solution, which involves considerable extralegal self-help, is not. In the real world, the answer lies in abolishing laws that turn cops into robbers. Copyright 2024 by Creators Syndicate Inc. The post A Movie Mirrors the Stranger-Than-Fiction Reality of Civil Asset Forfeiture appeared first on Reason.com. Dancing with the Stars announced its cast for Season 33, and one of Bravos housewives made the cut. Phaedra Parks will be hitting the floor with her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy. Now that is a spicy duo! Unfortunately, Real Housewives stars havent had much luck in the ballroom so far. Meanwhile, ever since she was cast on Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, Phaedra has been booked and busy. She competed on Season 2 of The Traitors, and she was killing it (literally.) Her verbal smackdowns at the Round Table were legendary. But she was voted out, and forced to reveal that she was, in fact, a Traitor. After that, Phaedra joined Married to Medicine. But when Kenya Moore twirled off Season 16 of Real Housewives of Atlanta, Phaedra was given back her peach. As you may recall, Phaedra joined the show during Season 3 and was fired after Season 9. All because Phaedra spread a rumor about Kandi Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, allegedly wanting to drug and sexually assault Porsha Williams. When Porsha revealed that Phaedra was the source of the false story, it was curtains for the lawyer and funeral director. Now Phaedra is ready to take on the ballroom. So lets take a look at how well her fellow housewives performed, and see if Phaedra will beat the Real Housewives curse on DWTS. These Real Housewives hit the ballroom Photo Credit: Adam Larkey/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Guidice was the most recent housewife to compete. She was sent home during the second week of the competition. Womp, womp! RHOA alum Kenya took on the dancing challenge during Season 30. She landed in 10th place. Then Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne signed on for Season 24 and was paired with Gleb Savchenko. They landed in ninth place. That was shocking since fans fully expected to see Erika thrive with her dance experience. According to The Daily Dish, former RHOA peach Kim Zolciak competed on Season 21 but had to withdraw due to a medical scare. She underwent heart surgery but returned to dance with Tony Dovolani in the finale. Still, because she had to withdraw, she ended up in 11th place. RHOA alum NeNe Leakes made it to week seven during Season 18 with her partner, Tony. And former Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump survived a graceful fainting spell during Season 16, but she and Gleb were the second couple sent packing. Were Tony and Gleb the official housewife whisperers? Actress Lisa Rinna showed off her moves during Season 2 before she was a RHOBH cast member. She and her partner Louis van Amstel came in fourth place. Model Joanna Krupa also took fourth place during Season 9. She was paired with Derek Hough. However, Joanna also wasnt a cast member on Real Housewives of Miami yet. But these two ladies came in with the highest scores. Phaedra Parks wants to break the DWTS curse Phaedra is pretty determined and a hard worker. She has two sons and several careers. Of course, she wasnt excelling in all the physical challenges on The Traitors. But her charm convinced CT Tamburello to carry her across a river. I dont think that will work on DWTS. However, now Phaedra is ready to shake her donkey booty for all its worth to rep the housewives. The Housewives generally havent fared that well. I want to break the curse because we can definitely win, Phaedra told US Weekly. She added, I want to show the world that Housewives can do more than talk trash. We can actually dance. Plus, Phaedra has always dreamed of quickstepping around the ballroom. I have been a huge fan of the show since season 1, so Ive always wanted to do it, the Atlanta peach explained. Its definitely something off my bucket list, so Im super excited. I will admit that I predicted that Phaedra would be in the middle of the pack as far as scoring. But if she works hard and masters the technique, she could exceed my expectations. Im looking forward to seeing how she does in the waltz, foxtrot, and tango, which might be up her alley. Im not sure I would bet on Phaedra to win, but she could stay in the competition for a fair amount of time. Phaedra Parks was paired with winning dance pro, Val Chmerkovskiy Phaedra was paired with Val, who has taken home the Mirrorball three times. Both Phaedra and Val have big personalities, as shown in this Instagram post. It was captioned, Its been good vibes since the moment Phaedra and Val met! #DWTS. When Phaedra panned the camera over to Val, she proclaimed, Yeah! We gonna win! She asked Val to showcase some of his go-to moves, which were hilarious. As for Phaedra? She is relying on her twerking ability. And RHOA fans have seen her in action. Plus, these two have some fun chemistry. I like it! Im looking forward to seeing Phaedra perform specific Latin dances. I think that the cha-cha and the salsa will show Phaedras flirtatious side and chemistry with Val. And I expect to hear at least one Fix it, Jesus! from Phaedra in each dance practice package. And lets be clear. Phaedra will be entertaining in the ballroom. Her personality, confidence, and enthusiasm will definitely be pluses on the show. I dont think that Phaedra will end this season of DWTS with the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. I wish that she would! But I feel like Phaedra can beat the Real Housewives curse on DWTS and make it into the final three. Lets go, Phaedra! TELL US WILL PHAEDRA PARKS BEAT THE REAL HOUSEWIVES CURSE ON DWTS? ARE YOU ROOTING FOR HER? The post Will Phaedra Parks Beat the Real Housewives Curse on DWTS? appeared first on Reality Tea. Sean "Diddy" Combs is being housed at a notorious Brooklyn jail. A former warden at the jail told BI the music mogul shouldn't expect any special treatment. A grand jury indicted Combs on three felony charges, including sex trafficking. Sean "Diddy" Combs' downfall was a steep one. After a sex-trafficking indictment, the superwealthy rapper and music mogul has been forced to leave behind his grand Los Angeles and Miami mansions for the confines of a notorious Brooklyn, New York, jail. Federal Bureau of Prisons records show that Combs, 54, was sent to the infamous Metropolitan Detention Center which has housed other high-profile figures, including R. Kelly, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Ghislaine Maxwell after a judge turned down his first request to post a $50 million bond. A former warden at the facility told Business Insider that Combs could expect to be treated like any of the other 1,200 inmates at the Brooklyn jail. "Any time one is being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center, it's never going to be a picnic," Cameron Lindsay, the retired warden, told BI. The jail "is hell on earth for anyone unfortunate enough to live there," Mark Bederow, a criminal-defense attorney and former Manhattan prosecutor, told BI. Combs is being housed at an infamous Brooklyn, New York, jail. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson "To go from living in mansions in Beverly Hills and Miami to the MDC is as epic a change in circumstances as one can have," Bederow said, adding: "All that money won't make it warmer when it's cold, colder when it's hot. It won't make the food more edible. It won't make the cockroaches stay away." During a Manhattan federal court hearing Tuesday, US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ordered Combs to be sent to jail ahead of his criminal trial. Prosecutors argued in court that Combs could try to flee the country or attempt to meddle in the sex-trafficking investigation. At the hearing, Combs pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and illegal transportation for prostitution. Combs' attorneys filed an appeal to the judge's decision in an attempt to get their entrepreneur client out of lockup, but it failed. At a court hearing Wednesday, US District Judge Andrew Carter, who will oversee the not-yet-scheduled trial, denied Comb's appeal and ordered that he remain in jail until his trial. Combs to be held in Specialized Housing Unit away from the general population Lindsay, the former warden at the jail which has long faced scrutiny over reports of poor conditions and violence told BI Combs should not expect any special treatment during his stay at the facility where pretrial detainees are held. "He'll be treated just like every other inmate," Lindsay, who served as the warden at the Metropolitan Detention Center from 2007 to 2009, said. Combs' defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told the court at the Wednesday appeal hearing that Combs would be housed in the Special Housing Unit of the jail, which is separate from the general population. Agnifilo said it was "certainly hard to be an inmate" and that it's tough to prepare for trial given the various limitations Combs is facing. Agnifilio also asked the judge whether he could recommend that Combs be housed in Essex County jail instead of the MDC. The judge, noting that the BOP normally decides where an inmate be held, asked Combs' lawyers and prosecutors to file a joint status report before he decides. Lindsay said Combs was most likely being held away from the general population for his own safety. "Given his status as a celebrity and a rap star, I would believe, of course, that he would be single-celled and isolated under very austere conditions," Lindsay told BI. The space would be a small, concrete "stereotypical" jail cell with a steel sink and toilet, Lindsay said, calling it "shockingly different" from the lifestyle Combs is accustomed to. Lindsay said Combs was better off separated from the general population because the charges against him make him a target for the other detainees. Federal prosecutors allege in an indictment that for decades Combs "abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct." Combs' celebrity status "combined with the fact that the charges against him relate to the abuse of women, that certainly would make him an easier target a target that some inmates definitely would attempt to exploit," Lindsay said. Combs' attorneys declined to comment for this story earlier Wednesday, but pointed BI to the appeal they filed, which says, "Several courts in this District have recognized that the conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center are not fit for pre-trial detention." The lawyers wrote: "Just earlier this summer, an inmate was murdered. At least four inmates have died by suicide there in the past three years. Numerous Courts in this district have raised concerns with the horrific conditions of detention there." Bederow, the former federal prosecutor, told BI that conditions at the jail were "so bad that lawyers make motions to avoid detention based upon the wretched conditions there." "And sometimes it works," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider She Was Convicted Years Ago of Killing Ex's Mother with Poison. What Does She Have to Say For Herself Now? 'Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison.' premiers Friday, Sept. 20 on Hulu ABC News Kaitlyn Conley Kaitlyn Conley, the New York woman who was convicted for her role in the fatal poisoning of her ex-boyfriends mother, is speaking out in a new docuseries. The three-part Hulu docuseries, Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison, will feature Conley, a 31-year-old former receptionist who claims she has been wrongfully convicted of the 2015 killing of Mary Yoder, her former boss and the mother of her ex-boyfriend, Adam. For the first time since her 2018 sentencing, Conley breaks her silence, staunchly maintaining her innocence while detailing her allegedly toxic relationship with Adam and offering her theories on who killed Mary, and why. (An exclusive clip of the docuseries, which premieres Friday, Sept. 20, only on Hulu, is shown below.) Prosecutors said Conley poisoned 60-year-old Yoder, for whom she had worked for four years, as revenge against Yoders son, Adam, the Post-Standard reported. Yoder, a Whitesboro, N.Y., chiropractor, died in July 2015. Related: Receptionist Sentenced for Fatally Poisoning Ex-Boyfriend's Mom, Who Was Also Her Boss: Reports According to the Post-Standard, authorities said Conley used colchicine a medicine used to treat gout to poison Yoder. Conley had known Adam since 2011 and the two had dated off and on before Yoders death, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch. But their relationship was turbulent, and Conleys defense reportedly contended at trial that Adam was abusive and controlling. Eannace Funeral Home Mary Yoder Conley was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter in November 2017 after her second trial. Her first trial resulted in a hung jury. She was sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2018 and has maintained her innocence. 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. With all respect to the justice system, Im innocent, Conley said at her sentencing in Oneida County, N.Y., court, The Post-Standard and local TV station WKTV reported. The docuseries, produced by Plum Pictures and ABC News Studios, also features never-before-seen police interviews, exclusive audio recordings of Yoder on the day she was poisoned and a never-before-heard audio interview with the victims husband, Bill Yoder. It also represents the first time in seven years the Yoder family has gone public and the first time since their daughters conviction that Conleys parents have spoken out. Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison. begins streaming Friday, Sept. 20, only on Hulu. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. How to watch Manchester City vs. Inter Milan online for free All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images TL;DR: Live stream Manchester City vs. Inter Milan in the Champions League for free on RTL ZWEE. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN. The new Champions League format is throwing together more massive matchups between the biggest clubs in Europe, which is great news for fans. We all want to see sides like Manchester City and Inter Milan doing battle. And you can do just that without spending anything. If you want to watch Manchester City vs. Inter Milan in the Champions League from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need. When is Manchester City vs. Inter Milan? Manchester City vs. Inter Milan in the Champions League kicks off at 8 p.m. BST on Sept. 18. This fixture takes place at the Etihad Stadium. 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What is the best VPN for RTL ZWEE? ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on RTL ZWEE, for a number of reasons: Servers in 105 countries including Luxembourg Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure Fast connection speeds free from throttling Up to eight simultaneous connections 30-day money-back guarantee A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free 49% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Live stream Manchester City vs. Inter Milan in the Champions League for free with ExpressVPN. Dunkin' released its Dunkalatte. But these New Bedford area cafes have their own already. NEW BEDFORD Dunkin' recently released a new coffee concoction called the Dunkalatte, blending their signature espresso with Rhode Island's beloved coffee milk. While this version boasts a creamy and latte-like texture, there are already various cafes in the New Bedford area offering their unique takes on this espresso and coffee milk combination. Clearly, Dunkin' is "late to the game" on this. The Nor'Eastah The Nor'Eastah, a coffee drink invented by firefighter Brian Gallant from New Bedford, has a rich and irresistible flavor that's reminiscent of coffee ice cream, according to a previous Standard-Times article. Gallant primarily operates his business by fulfilling orders for his signature half-gallon and 16-ounce bottles of the Nor'Eastah, personally delivering them to customers. The popular 16-ounce bottles can also be found at The Rescue Cafe in Fairhaven, located at 414 Main St. Gallant uses the cafe's commercial kitchen to craft both the regular dairy and oat milk versions of the Nor'Eastah. The Noreastah coffee drink by Union Java. Chippi Mirasol's, with locations in Dartmouth, New Bedford and now Fairhaven, is home to the famous Chippi drink. This revitalizing iced coffee is like sipping on a creamy, melted coffee ice cream. And don't let the sweetness fool you it packs a hefty punch of caffeine. More: Mirasol's Cafe opens in Fairhaven. Here's what to expect at the new spot. If you're looking for a lighter option, try the Chippi Lite, made with skim milk and Splenda. And even kids can enjoy the taste with the Chippi Jr., a decaffeinated version made just for them. The kid friendly Chippi is available at Marisol's Cafe. The Local Buzz Located at The Nook at 58 Washington St, Fairhaven, The Local Buzz is a paradise for coffee enthusiasts. This heavenly drink, according to their website, boasts delicious notes of honey, maple, vanilla, and an abundance of coffee that has been the talk of the town. According to the website, the secret behind this sensational creation is their in-house coffee syrup made from a high-quality Costa Rican blonde roast. Layering flavors seamlessly, each sip of this indulgent treat, whether hot or iced, offers a unique and delightful experience for your taste buds. After three months of perfecting their recipe, The Local Buzz is the epitome of a dessert coffee with its perfect balance of sweetness and richness, accompanied by a bold caffeine kick. Elevator Among its many coffee drinks and food options, baked in-house, Ground Floor Coffee also features a coffee milk espresso drink called the Elevator. Located at 61 Merrills Wharf in New Bedford, with a perfect blend of house roasted espresso and proprietary mix, as the name suggests, it raises the bar on traditional coffee drinks, transporting taste buds to a place where productivity and function reign supreme, according to the owner. X Factor Located at 7 Howland Road in Fairhaven, The Donut Factory offers a unique iced coffee option known as the X Factor. This refreshing and energizing drink is reminiscent of the beloved New England classic, coffee milk, and is available in a variety of flavors such as Java, Mocha, Oreo, Vanilla, and even Strawberry Banana. Iced Coco Loco At Tia Maria's, the Iced Coco Loco is a refreshing drink with their take on iced coffee, with the addition of an espresso shot for an extra caffeine kick. Tia Maria's European Cafe is located in the National Historical Whaling Park, behind the Whaling Museum. Established in 2013, this family-owned Portuguese restaurant is known for its delicious food and cozy atmosphere. Bonus: The Jitterbug If Warren, Rhode Island, is worth the drive, Tracy's Cream & Sugar on Main Street has a delicious selection of coffee, espresso drinks, doughnuts, bagels and breakfast sandwiches. Tracy's is known for their signature Jitterbug, putting a unique spin on the classic latte by infusing it with a house-made "grown up" coffee milk. With its sweet and nostalgic flavor, this beverage is sure to satisfy your caffeine cravings. For those looking for a lighter option, the Jitterbrew offers the same great taste but with a reduced amount of sweetness and calories by using cold brew. Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Find out more about him at sethchitwood.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today. This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Chippi vs. Dunkalatte: New Bedford area cafes serving coffee milk drinks When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Carl F. Bucherer QUICK SUMMARY Carl F. Bucherer has released three timepieces in collaboration with the Manta Trust. Launching on World Manta Day, the Patravi ScubaTec watches are bold, colourful and perfect for watersport enthusiasts. Prices on the Carl F. Bucherer Patravi ScubaTec watches start at 5,550. Carl F. Bucherer is celebrating World Manta Day with three stunning watches. Expanding its Patravi collection, the new Patravi ScubaTec watches are bold, colourful and will appeal to any watersport enthusiast plus theyre for a great cause. Since 2013, Carl F. Bucherer has partnered with the Manta Trust, a UK-based charity thats committed to protecting and ensuring the survival of manta rays. The 17th of September is known as World Manta Day, which is an occasion created to celebrate manta rays, raise awareness to how overfishing can threaten their survival and to build a more sustainable future for the oceans. With this in mind and to honour their decades long sponsorship of the Manta Trust, Carl F. Bucherer is showcasing three timepieces as part of its Patravi diving watches collection. All three watches the Patravi ScubaTec Verde, the Patravi ScubaTec Black and the Patravi ScubaTec Maldives measure 44.6mm and are powered by the Automatic CFB 1950.1 movement, which offers a 38 hour power reserve. The three timepieces have many features youd expect from a dive watch , including a 50 bar (500m) water resistance. The dial of the watches have a ripple-like effect, reminiscent of the oceans waves, and display hour, minutes and seconds hands, as well as a date window located at the three oclock position. Carl F. Bucherer Patravi ScubaTec To show Carl F. Bucherers support and commitment to the charity, two manta rays are engraved on the casebacks. The Patravi ScubaTec Verde and the Patravi ScubaTec Maldives are the brightest options available. Both are made from stainless steel, with the former showcasing a green dial and bezel, and the latter having a blue version. The Patravi ScubaTec Black is made from blackened titanium DLC-coated titanium. The new Patravi ScubaTec watches are available to buy now, with the Verde and Maldives models costing 5,550 while the Black version is 6,770. As of writing, theres no US pricing available just yet. Children get all kinds of books from their parents while growing up. But a book mine gave me when I was around 10 years old would have a significant impact on my life even if I didnt realize it at the time. It was around 1980 when they gave me Why Was I Adopted? by Carole Livingston. The book is meant to help parents like mine answer questions children frequently ask when told theyre adopted. Now, at 54, I really dont recall much from when they told me or any questions I asked them. Recently, I asked my mother why they adopted me instead of having a second biological child, and she told me it was because they knew there were children who needed homes. She said they told me about it because keeping secrets like that can only lead to problems later in life. For more than four decades, I wondered why I was given away and who my original mom and dad were. I thought about the family that might have been. But it wasnt until this year that I finally got answers. With the help of DNAngels (pronounced DNA Angels), an Illinois-based nonprofit I learned of on Facebook, in late January, I discovered the identity of my biological parents my mother is 75, and my father died in 2009 at 62. I have a half-brother (born June 1981) and half-sister (born June 1971), along with six nieces and nephews (ages 16 to 30) and many cousins. DNAngels is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose staff of almost 100 volunteers helps people find biological parents at no charge using DNA and research additional fee-based services are available. It was founded in 2019 by Laura Olmsted, its executive director, and relies entirely on funding and in-kind donations from foundations, corporations and individuals. In February 2018, I took a DNA test from Ancestry, and the results revealed many matches some as close as first or second cousins. These were the first blood relatives I ever knew, but exchanging messages on the site with some of them over several months didnt lead anywhere. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, and I stopped thinking about finding my biological family until 2024. It was Jan. 22 when I reached out to DNAngels after seeing its Facebook ad in my feed upon joining a group for people from Michigan seeking information about their biological parents. Its volunteers took my Ancestry DNA test results and matches, then used their knowledge of genealogy along with research tools to put together my origin story. They started working on my case early in the afternoon on Jan. 23, and about seven hours later, my lead angel was sharing with me details of what shed discovered. By Friday morning, I had learned who my biological father was; I was talking on the phone with my birth mother and later in the day with my half-brother and half-sister (all of us have different fathers). Where things began I was born Feb. 22, 1970, at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak to Nancy Brown, 20, of Ferndale (I now live in Volusia County). She never held me and only got a glimpse of me as I was wheeled out of the delivery room in a bassinet, but she remembered that I had a very full head of hair. A high school friend, another Nancy, who drove her to the hospital while in labor, saw me and told her I had the longest legs shed ever seen on a baby (I guess that explains my height of 6 feet, 6 inches). Nancy said that when she realized she was pregnant, she knew right away that she wouldnt keep the baby. Her mother pressured her to give up the baby, too. That was what I wanted to do right from the get-go, she said. I knew I just didnt want to bring you home. I was 20. I had a big social life. I liked the boys, and the boys liked me. So I thought, Hey, have a baby, give it away to somebody who probably couldnt have children, so I could go back to my own life.' Although she didnt keep me, she did give me something when I was born even if it was only temporary. (The doctor) asked me what I was going to name you, and I said I wasnt keeping you. He said, Well, you have to give him a name. He said, How bout we name him George? I said OK, Nancy recalled. That was the doctors name. And then it didnt occur to me, but that was also George Washingtons birthday. So I was George Brown until weeks later when a married couple in their mid-20s adopted me from the agency I was placed with and renamed me Brian. Nancy grew up in Ferndale and, as an adult, lived in other states, including Florida, New Jersey and North Carolina. She was married three times and last divorced in 1992. She moved into her current house in Hazel Park, which borders Ferndale, in 1991. Both cities are just a few miles from the house in Madison Heights, where I grew up and lived until 1988 when my parents moved. Nancy told me it was May 1969 when the other Nancy (who shes still friends with) introduced her to her neighbor Clyde DeLong Jr. my biological father. They went on one date, and I was the only lasting result. About six weeks later, Nancy saw Clyde again and told him she was pregnant, but he denied he was the father. She never saw or heard from him again. After I was born, Nancy said she remained in the hospital for five days because, back then, thats how long the baby stayed. On the day she left, she was at a party that night. I was at an aunt and uncles 25th wedding anniversary that night, Nancy said. I didnt feel so good, and because I had kept the pregnancy pretty secret, I had put on a girdle and went to the party. She said it wasnt until my sister was in her 20s that she revealed to her she wasnt the firstborn child. We were in a restaurant, and her and I were arguing about something at the table, and I said to her, Well, at least I kept you! and she said, What?' Nancy recalled. She said in the 1990s, she and my sister went to the Oakland County courthouse (the county where I was born) in Pontiac and filed paperwork with their names and other personal information giving permission to release it to me if I came seeking it. But the idea of doing that never occurred to me. I didnt have any problem with you finding me, Nancy said. But she admits that after the passing of so many years, she didnt think shed ever hear from me. I always thought once I filled out that paperwork and never heard a thing in years, and years went by, that you didnt even know you were adopted or that you were dead. Ready to meet I knew quickly that if I felt things with Nancy were going well, Id want to fly to Michigan to meet her and other relatives. By late March, I was ready and booked a flight out of Orlando International Airport for April 29. I spent 10 days meeting my new family as well as visiting with my parents. I arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport around noon and, about two hours later, was in my Airbnb in Ferndale just a couple of miles from where Nancy lived. At 5 p.m. I pulled into her driveway to meet for the first time before going to dinner. I brought her flowers, and we hugged, but I didnt get as emotional as I thought I would in the moment. I jokingly told her the only thing that wouldve made finding her any better was if shed been wealthy, and she retorted that it wouldve been nice if Id been a doctor instead of a journalist. Most of my time in Michigan was spent getting to know Nancy, learning more about our ancestors and meeting relatives. We had several get-togethers, including lunch with my sister (my brother didnt show, so we never met), breakfast with one nephew, breakfast with a group of cousins and a gathering at my oldest nieces apartment, where I met her husband, another niece and nephew as well as my sisters husband. I also met the other Nancy, who was there when I was born. One day, Nancy took me to the neighborhood where she grew up, and we visited a cemetery where many relatives are buried, including her mother. Then I took her to the neighborhood where I grew up, and we even walked in the woods right behind my childhood home. I also showed her many photos of myself growing up so she could get a glimpse of my childhood. I returned to Florida on May 8. I recently asked Nancy about the experience of reuniting with the son she gave away. I mean, it was a little strange, she said. Well, I mean, you didnt look like the other two, but all my kids have different fathers. She pointed out that, like her other children and herself, were all tall and have big feet. Her parents were also tall but Im the tallest among my immediate family. Nancy and I still talk by phone regularly, and the relationship seems to be going well Ive invited her to come visit me in January. As far as my brother and sister, we havent talked since my visit neither seem interested in a relationship, but thats nothing new for me. I have another sister my parents biological child whos almost four years older and we havent had any kind of relationship in decades. I was a handful growing up, and Im sure that has something to do with why we havent talked or seen each other in more than 20 years. Searching begins As much as I thought about finding my biological family over decades, the idea of navigating the Michigan legal system to open a sealed adoption record seemed daunting. For adoptions between May 28, 1945, and Sept. 12, 1980, you cant get an original birth certificate without a court order. Arizona is the only other state that has similar laws. However, Michigan legislators are trying to change the law to make it easier for adoptees to get information. Discovering DNAngels had me cautiously optimistic. I did a little investigating on Google to see what others had to say about it, and I found only positive reviews. I then went to the website (DNAngels.org) and filled out a short form requesting a search angel. On the evening of Jan. 22, I went through a short screening process (about 30 minutes) on Facebook Messenger with a volunteer and provided her with screenshots showing top matches from my Ancestry DNA test. After looking those over, she told me DNAngels would take me as a client. I then shared my raw DNA test results and access to my family tree on Ancestry with her, and she sent me an invitation to DNAngels private Facebook group of current and former clients. I joined it and was now on the waitlist for someone to start working on my case. But I didnt have to wait long. On Jan. 23 at 1:56 p.m. I got a message saying Katharine Saunders was assigned lead angel and would begin work soon. Communication takes place through Messenger, which ensures theres a record of conversations you can look back at even after work is done. For those without Messenger, communication can take place by email, but I was told the process is quicker using Facebook. Saunders, 42, a married mother of three young children who lives in Texas, started volunteering with DNAngels in 2022. In early July, she left her position to focus on her family, but during her time with the group, she said she helped identify over 160 birth parents. Saunders said shes been involved with genealogy most of her life. She and her mother spent years working with DNA testing to check the biological accuracy of a family tree her maternal grandmother created long before computers. During the pandemic, Saunders took formal genealogical training courses online through Boston University and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. At 2:04 p.m., she told me work was getting underway and generally takes a few days for results. My response: Ive waited decades now, so a few days wont matter. A few minutes later, she provided an overview of how the process works. Saunders told me it starts by sorting matches from Ancestry into groups to establish my line of grandparents. Then she starts linking matches to each other based on their common ancestors and placing them onto a new family tree on Ancestry, which eventually leads to my most recent common ancestor. Were making connections. I can give you a general Where are we now later this evening. Its still early stages, she told me at 4:52 p.m. At 9:02 p.m., Saunders told me: I believe we may have identified your Birth Mother. When you have about 30 minutes, please let me know, and I can tell you what we have determined. A short time later, I finished work for the day and told her I was ready to learn what shed discovered. Saunders said the first thing the team did was sort matches into groups. On the side of Parent two, my birth mother, she said the team identified two main groups of DNA: one from Florence Knights and John Brown Sr. (my paternal great-grandparents) and the other from Walter Cullingford and Hannah Turner (my maternal great-grandparents). She told me John Brown Jr. (1923-1994) and Shirley E. Cullingford (1921-1998) were married Sept. 7, 1946, in Detroit and divorced in 1951 (they were my maternal grandparents). On the 1950 census, they listed one child a daughter named Nancy Brown. The team believed she was most likely my birth mother. We found an address for Nancy and her mother Shirley in Hazel Park, Michigan, which I believe is very close to where you were placed for adoption, Saunders said. And it looks like Nancy is still alive and has a son. In the course of her research, Saunders utilized programs such as What Are the Odds to determine if her hypotheses were likely. WATO analyzes relationships to individuals based on amounts of shared DNA expressed in centimorgans. A centimorgan is a genetic unit of measurement utilized by genetic genealogists to determine how closely two people might be related. Now that I knew the identities of the people, Saunders provided me with background reports on Nancy and her son, which included addresses, emails, phone numbers, first-degree relatives as well as social media accounts and criminal history. The reports are based on publicly available information, and she said the goal was to equip me with the necessary details to establish meaningful connections. Things were more complicated when it came to identifying my biological father. One side is French Canadian, which means we need to go into records written in French, Saunders told me via Messenger. The other side looks probably Polish, which also presents a complication due to a lack of records from that country. But we are working on it. We dont close anything when were working adoptions until weve solved both sides. Reaching out The next step for me was to decide how to reach out to Nancy. I could do it myself using information from the background report, or for a $125 donation, use DNAngels liaison service, and a trained volunteer would reach out on my behalf. I went with the liaison because I was nervous about doing it myself. A volunteer named Ashlee Krump, research team lead at DNAngels, would be my liaison and on the afternoon of Jan. 24, she explained to me how the process works. First, the team does all it can to verify they have the correct contact information. Then she starts calling, and if she gets her on the phone, shed delicately explain the situation and whatever my goal is for having contact and help facilitate that. If attempts to contact her by phone were unsuccessful, shed attempt to reach her by email and then, eventually, after a few days, use regular mail deliverable only to her with a signature. She told me around 8 p.m. shed start calling the next day. At 3:53 p.m. Jan. 25, she sent me a message: I believe we have the correct number! Her voicemail identified her by name, and her voice sounded in the correct age range. I am going to try calling again in an hour or two. If she still does not answer, I will leave a message for her. I told Ashlee I was curious about what kind of voicemail message she leaves in this type of situation. I usually introduce myself and say who I am trying to reach and mention a relatives name, such as her parent or grandparent, I am trying to reach Nancy Brown, the granddaughter of and let them know I am trying to get a hold of them regarding a family matter that is easier to explain over the phone, but I am happy to speak over text or email if they prefer. This helps to disarm them a bit and alleviates some concerns about scams/spam. People tend to be less defensive and more curious. Ashlee said she left a voicemail with her phone number and kept her phone on her day and night that way, Nancy could reach out anytime. I went to bed that night, hoping for the best. And the next morning, I woke up to a message shed sent at 2:17 a.m. Hi, Brian! Wonderful news! I heard back from Nancy. She is very happy to speak with you! She had been wanting to find out more about you as well. She told me your fathers name is Clyde Delong, who was from Tennessee. He was visiting Michigan, and they had a one-night stand. Clyde did not believe he could be your father when she told him. Katharine will work on verifying he is the correct person via DNA (sometimes memories can be wrong, but Nancy was very upfront and honest, so I have no reason to believe shed give the wrong name on purpose). She has a daughter born in 1971. Nancy said that her mother put a lot of pressure on her to have you adopted, mainly because she was so young. Nancy is going to send you a text and then call you when you are available Friday. When Nancy first got the call from Ashlee, she saw on her caller ID it was from an unrecognized number in Oregon. She told me she didnt know anyone from there, so she blocked the number. Later, she saw that she had a voicemail message, so she went ahead and listened. She repeated two names, and she said, Are these my parents? and I was like dumbfounded, why are you mentioning my parents? Nancy said. So I looked at the clock, and by then, it was like one oclock in the morning my time, and I thought, well, what the heck, I dont care. She called the number, and Ashlee answered. Nancy told her who she was, and Ashlee explained why shed called. After the call, around 2 a.m., Nancy called her daughter and woke her up to share the news: All I said was your brothers name is Brian, and he lives in Florida. And that woke her up. The next morning at 11:19 a.m. I received a text message from Nancy. Hi Brian my name is Nancy and as you might have been told already I gave birth to you at Beaumont hospital in Royal oak on February 22nd 1970 I want to leave everything up to you so call or text me when you feel up to it. I am on my way home from work right now. I called her right away, and over the course of the day, I talked and texted with her, my brother and my sister. Nancy confirmed that Clyde was the father, and Saunders was then able to explain why she couldnt say earlier that research showed he was likely my birth father. We actually already had Clyde Delong in your tree before your birth mother named him, she said. But we didnt have enough proof at the time to present him as a birth father candidate. DNA revealed that another man who also served in Germany in the Quartermaster Corps with Clydes father was his actual biological father and not the man listed on his birth certificate. We do not know if the family has any idea about this, Saunders said. But that is a very common discovery in this work as we let the DNA lead the investigation. I dont know a lot about Clyde, but information gathered by DNAngels indicates he had no other children and all his siblings or half-siblings are deceased. He died Aug. 2, 2009, in Glynn County, Georgia, at 62. Ready to help For others like myself who seek answers to questions about their biological family, Olmsted, DNAngels founder, said the organization takes most cases. One requirement is that you have results from an Ancestry DNA test. Thats because Ancestry has many millions more test results than other sites, and most of its matches are linked to family trees. The trees of shared matches have a common ancestor, and DNAngels uses that to narrow its focus to a family tree. Another requirement is that clients search for a biological parent in the countries it serves the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Puerto Rico. Since DNAngels inception, the organization has taken on more than 7,000 cases. Olmsted said the group has solved 90% of those cases almost 70% were solved within the first seven days of starting work on them. Although my personal experience of finding my biological family has been generally positive, I know that things dont always turn out that way. When DNAngels reached out to Nancy, she was open to communicating and getting to know me but there was no certainty that would be the result. Ive read about the experiences of other adoptees helped by DNAngels whose biological families wanted nothing to do with them and the pain that caused. When I told my parents Id found my birth mother and had other siblings, they made it clear to me they wanted nothing to do with them because this was my journey, not theirs. For that reason and many others, Olmsted said having a support system in place before embarking on a journey like mine is important. Whether it be clergymen, or a spouse, or a family member or a best friend, someone needs to be there to support you through the journey, she said. You really need to have that support system in place before, during and after the process of identifying your biological truth. She said the journey adoptees go through has five phases: learning youre adopted, the DNA testing/research phase, the identification phase, the reunion phase and, finally, the recovery phase. Thats the phase that youre in right now, is the phase where youre getting to know your biological mother, and youre starting to heal some of those wounds that may have been created by the abandonment that you were even unaware of, Olmsted said. Ive never had feelings of abandonment because Id been put up for adoption but Ive read comments from others in my Facebook groups who do have those feelings and pain from it. I always felt if my biological parents didnt want to raise me, I was better off with them giving me up for a family that did. But being at peace with knowing I was given up at birth didnt conflict with my desire to know where I came from. Fortunately, an organization like DNAngels exists to help people like me find answers. Its a fundamental human right to know who your biological parents and ancestors are, Olmsted said. You dont have a biological right to a relationship, but you have a right to the knowledge. Brian Bell is metro editor at the Orlando Sentinel. He can be reached at bbell@orlandosentinel.com. ____ 1 hospitalized after car crashes into historical building in Lisbon LISBON, Conn. (WTNH) Possible serious injuries have been reported after a car crashed into the Bishop Historical House in Lisbon on Tuesday, according to police. This embedded content is not available in your region. The incident happened at around 7 p.m. 1 person was transported to the hospital via ambulance, state police said. The roadway was shut down in response to the incident. This is a developing story. Check back to News 8 for more updates. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was deeply alarmed by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon and in Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday, his spokesman said. "The secretary-general is deeply alarmed by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon, as well as in Syria, on Sept. 17 and 18, killing at least eleven people, including children, and injuring thousands," said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement. Dujarric said the UN chief urged all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation, and urged the parties to recommit to the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) and immediately return to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability. "The United Nations supports all diplomatic and political efforts to end the violence that threatens to engulf the region," said the spokesman. Lebanese officials reported that explosions targeting pagers and handheld radios killed at least 26 people, including two children, and injured more than 3,200 others across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. In Lebanon's neighbor Syria, 14 Hezbollah fighters were injured when their communication devices exploded in the capital, Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor. DENVER (KDVR) Denver police are looking for an armed suspect who may have fired a weapon on a bus in the downtown area. The Denver Police Department said offices were investigating reports of shots fired on a bus near 15th Street and Tremont Place, which is a few blocks from Civic Center Park. This embedded content is not available in your region. Police reported on X that the suspect fled the area, and there have been no further reports of shots fired in the area. The agency said at 5 p.m. Tuesday that a victim had self-transported to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening injury. The Regional Transportation District told FOX31 the incident happened on the 15L bus near the intersection of 15th Street and Court Place, which is one block southeast of the Tremont Place and 15th Street intersection. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox Officers were searching the area for a suspect as of about 5 p.m. and are working to develop suspect 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 FOX31 Denver. As Scotland commemorated the 10th anniversary of the separatists defeat in the 2014 referendum, it was inevitable that the SNP would seek to signal its continued pursuit of independence. What was missing amid the bravado on display from First Minister John Swinney was any sense of realism about either his partys or his countrys predicament. In declaring that the battle to break up Britain would continue, Mr Swinney accepted that his party had to persuade the majority of Scots, who rejected independence by a near eleven percent majority ten years ago, that independence was a compelling and demonstrable proposition. To do this, he said the SNP had to show that it offered a solution to the major challenges that Scotland faces, on everyday issues including the NHS, education, the cost of living and energy prices. His government which has control through the devolution settlement over most of these policy areas has shown itself to be incapable of achieving improvements in any of them. In fact, the reverse is true. From healthcare to schooling, outcomes north of the Border are worse than those in England after a quarter of a century of devolution. And social ills such as alcoholism, drug addiction and obesity are considerably worse. While Mr Swinney claimed that the 2014 result had left an overwhelmingly positive legacy for Scotland his opponents counter that the real legacy has been bitterness and division. Most nationalists have refused to respect the result and have sought to overturn it, endlessly calling for a second referendum in an echo of the Remainer demands on Brexit. As most Scots voted No ten years ago, it is clear they believed that splitting from the rest of the UK would be a disaster. Mr Swinneys insistence that constitutional change delivers real change could not be more wrong. The independence battle has dominated Scottish politics for decades. Under successive SNP administrations since 2007 it has been given a much higher priority than healthcare, schools and the economy, where sensible reforms could do much to actually improve the life chances of ordinary Scots. The next Scottish Parliament election is due in 18 months time. Having been heavily defeated in the recent general election it would be surely time then for the voters to comprehensively and finally reject the SNP and its fools gold of independence. 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. GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. As part of a relocation project that began in 2018, 100 bison were relocated on Friday from Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona to South Dakota. The bison from the Kaibab Plateau Bison Herd were moved from the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park to the Intertribal Buffalo Council, which transported them to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, Grand Canyon National Park said in a news release. Since the efforts started, 306 bison have been removed from the North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park said. Out of those, 282 bison were transferred to eight American Indian tribes through an agreement with the Intertribal Buffalo Council. How The American Bison Became A National Icon In Grand Canyon National Park, bison are only found in the North Rim, the park's website says. The plan to relocate the bison was initiated in 2014 by the National Parks Service. The goal was to decrease the size of the population of bison to protect resources in Grand Canyon National Park, according to the park's website. By 2017, the plan to relocate bison from the park was finalized, and in 2018, relocation began. Approximately 378 bison lived in Grand Canyon National Park as of the summer, the news release said. "This successful relocation is a testament to the collaborative efforts of all our partners," Grand Canyon Superintendent Ed Keable said in the release. "It represents a significant step toward achieving our long-term goals for bison management and conservation." By 2025, the National Park Service hopes to reduce the size of the bison population in Grand Canyon National Park to 200. Original article source: 100 bison relocated from Arizona national park in effort to manage overpopulation 100 years ago: The cornerstone is laid at a new church in OFallon Looking back at stories that appeared in the OFallon Progress 125, 100, 75, and 50 years ago: 125 years ago, Sept. 22, 1899 Grand Dance given by Zanin Giacinto, Saturday evening Sept. 30, 1899, at Zanin Giacintos Hall, Alma, Ill. Good music will be in attendance. Ed. Begole floor manager. Admission 25 cents, Ladies free. Lunch extra. Everybody cordially invited to attend. (Alma, later known as Carbon, was an unincorporated coal mining town once located north of Highway 50, just west of Venita Drive in OFallon.) 100 years ago, Sept. 18, 1924 Sunday afternoon at 2:30 oclock the Evangelical congregation will observe the cornerstone laying with impressive services, marking the $25,000 improvements and alterations on the edifice which are underway at present. A large number of visitors from nearby cities are expected to attend the services which will be held on the lawn in front of the church. An appropriate program is being prepared by Rev. F. J. Langhorst, the pastor. The St. Pauls band of Belleville will furnish music while the Ladies Aid Society of the church will serve refreshments. (The congregation is now known as the OFallon United Church of Christ, still located at the northwest corner of Cherry and Adams Streets.) 75 years ago, Sept. 22, 1949 OFallon has two veteran school custodians who were accorded recognition for their services at an informal luncheon at Township High School Thursday evening. The honored guests were William Whitehead, Township High janitor and Richard Titter, janitor at the grade schools. The two veterans, who are brother-in-laws, are beginning their 25th year in their respective positions. Guests at the luncheon, served by the Home Economics department, were members of the two school boards, faculties and the wives of the honorees. The two men were each presented with 25 silver dollars as the gifts of members of the school boards and the faculties, as a token of esteem for their services. After the luncheon, cards were enjoyed and a general good time followed. In their long years of continuous service to the schools the two custodians saw many pupils come and go, winning the respect of many due to their untiring interest, not only in their work but in the welfare of the pupils as well. 50 years ago, Sept. 19, 1974 An OFallon man was killed late Friday afternoon after the car he was driving was struck by a Southern Pacific train at the Oak street crossing. Killed was Merrill Willey, 57, 126 East State St., owner and operator of the Colonial Lounge. He was the only person in the car. Witnesses stated to OFallon Police that Willey, driving south on Oak St., crossed the tracks as the westbound train approached the intersection. The train, operated by engineer Joe Behnke, 44, of Flora, Ill., was traveling approximately 35 miles per hour according to police. The train was pulling approximately 90 cars. Willey was pronounced dead at the scene by deputy coroner Terry Yeryar. The engineer declined to make a statement to police until first making a statement to his company officials. An inquest has been scheduled. Willey is survived by his wife Hazel, nee Meyer; a son, Merrill and a daughter, Kathy, both at home; and a brother, Meredith Willey, North Hollywood, Calif. Funeral services were held Tuesday morning at the St. Clare Church with the Father Edmund Lugge presiding. Burial was at the Jefferson Barracks Cemetery. Editors note: The story in the video player aired on Tuesday. ST. ALBANS, Queens (PIX11) A 15-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder in the shooting death of a driver in Queens on Monday, police said. The NYPD did not release the identity of the 15-year-old suspect. He is charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the killing of 66-year-old William Alcindor in St. Albans, police said. Alcindor was driving eastbound on Baisley Boulevard and turning onto northbound Farmers Boulevard when he was shot in the head around 4:50 p.m., police said. Alcindor lost control of his SUV and then hit a 23-year-old pedestrian and a building, according to police. More Local News Alcindor was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead, police said. The pedestrian suffered leg injuries and was hospitalized, authorities said. Surveillance video obtained by PIX11 News showed a group of young people standing outside a store when the shots were fired, causing them to scatter. Its unclear who was the intended target of the shooting. It was a big, chaotic moment, said Roberto Tendilla, a store manager. What I heard was, at that moment, was the car just hitting the building. You can hear a big bang. 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. HONOLULU (KHON2) A 17-year-old who was arrested in connection to a shooting at Ohikilolo Ranch in February has been charged as an adult. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You On Feb. 17, HPD was sent on a weapons call to Ohikilolo Ranch in the Makaha area. A witness reported the 39-year-old victim had been arguing with hunters about the hunters dog attacking the victims steer, revealed HPDs Lt. Deena Thoemmes at the time. The argument escalated when one of the hunters shot the victim. The hunters then fled on foot towards Farrington Highway. The victim, Cranston Pia, was pronounced dead at the scene. Court records state that the witness had attempted to intervene in the altercation when the suspect, identified as Chantston Pila Kekawa, pushed them and said I going shoot you too. While the witness walked around the back of Pias vehicle, they heard a single gunshot and saw Pia fall to the ground. Kekawa and two young males were seen by the witness leaving the area after the shooting. Honolulus Intertribal Powwow takes place this weekend Through witness statements and a sequential photo line-up, the suspect was identified as Kekawa. Two days later the teen was charged with murder in the second degree, firearms charges and terroristic threatening. With Halloween around the corner, Honolulu horror fans talk about why they love horror Kekawas attorney told KHON2 at the time that he had received a waiver from the prosecutors office seeking to charge the teen as an adult. The case was transferred from family court to the criminal division of circuit court on Sept. 17. Kekawas bail was set at $1 million. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) Throughout the school year, two student journalists from Alabama will be part of a special program where they will be mentored by members of one of the most prestigious news organizations in the world. Jordyn Davis, a student at Samford who works as an intern at Bham Now, and Maven Navarro, editor-in-chief of the Crimson White student newspaper at the University of Alabama, were recently named to the third cohort of The New York Times Corps, where college students who are studying journalism are paired with a mentor at the Times and meet several times a year to discuss projects and receive career guidance. Young journalists face many challenges in trying to establish themselves in the industry, a statement from the Times read. The Times Corps aims to help provide access to quality career guidance to passionate, would-be journalists who otherwise might not have it. Davis and Navarro are one of 20 undergraduates from across the country who were selected for this years program. Davis will be paired with Cicely Wedgeworth, a senior staff editor in the newspapers Washington bureau, while Navarro will be paired with Cassandra Vinograd, a senior editor on the International desk. Alabama locations to participate in Empty the Shelters event in October One of the NYT mentors who will take part in the program is Metro investigations editor Stephen Merelman, who previously worked at The Alabama Journal, the Montgomery Advertiser, the Mobile Press-Register and The Birmingham News before working his way up to the Times. Following graduation, participating students will round out the program by visiting the papers main office in New York City, where they will meet their mentors in person. According to the NYT, some students may gain entry into the Times one-year fellowship, or may be referred to other news outlets across the country. I am beyond thrilled to be joining this highly esteemed corps, Davis told Bham Now last week. I have a passion for journalism and being able to learn from some of the best in the field is such a blessing. I cant wait to meet my mentor and learn how to take my journalism career to new heights. Navarro has contributed to the CW since 2023, first as a news editor before being named editor-in-chief of the publication by the UA Media Planning Board earlier this year. Navarro previously interned at The Tuscaloosa Thread. The New York Times Corps started in 2022 and has had nearly 60 students work in the program. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Two gang leaders in D.C. are facing several years in prison after they were convicted on numerous gun and drug charges, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia. On Sept. 16, the two leaders, Andre Alonte Willis aka Boogie, 32, and Broadus Jamal Daniels aka Wardy, 29, were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, unlawful possession of machine guns and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Prince William County police makes arrest in 14-year-long cold case According to the Department Of Justice (DOJ), Daniels was also found guilty of possessing machine guns in furtherance of drug trafficking and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Evidence presented during the trial revealed that Willis was a leader in the D.C. street crew known as PDS. The gang maintained territory on 3300 to 3500 blocks of Wheeler Road in the Southeast area. The trial also revealed that the gang operated an open-air drug market outside the Holiday Market on Wheeler Road. In August 2018, PDS became aligned with another street gang known as Jugg Gang, including Daniels, who was also a leader. Officials said between August 2018 to April 2023, both gangs sold drugs from Holiday Market and from trap houses that were maintained in apartment buildings in the area. As their market grew, the DOJ said the groups became the target of drive-by shootings by rival gangs. Manassas man wanted for murder of teen arrested in Massachusetts During the trial, evidence showed that members of both gangs used, carried and possessed ghost gun AR pistol machine guns. (Photo Courtesy: DOJ) According to the Attorneys Office, Daniels faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 65 years in prison, and Willis faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. Their sentences are scheduled for February. The DOJ said this conviction is part of an ongoing joint investigation that has resulted in 22 convictions and the seizure of two vehicles, 35 guns, 4 machine guns, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, about 60 lbs of marijuana, 41 grams of cocaine base, dozens of oxycodone pills and about $500,000 in cash. These guilty verdicts are the latest step in our ongoing effort to federally prosecute those who are driving violence or whose conduct is a magnet for violence, said U.S. Attorney Graves. These defendants have been found guilty of illegally possessing numerous firearms and possessing a conversion device that could transform a handgun into a machine gun. We, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to identify those driving violence within our community and work to hold them accountable for crimes that will remove them from our community for lengthy periods of 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 DC News Now | Washington, DC. 2 hospitalized in shooting in east Charlotte: Medic CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Two people are in the hospital with life-threatening injuries following a shooting in east Charlotte, Medic said Wednesday morning. The incident occurred around 5 a.m. near Dogwood Place near Hickory Grove Road in a residential area in east Charlotte. Medic said two patients were found suffering from gunshot wounds and were transported to an area medical center with life-threatening injuries. The circumstances surrounding the shooting have not yet been released and Queen City News is on scene and has reached out for more information and well have them once they come into the newsroom. This is a Developing Story . Check back for updates Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Two people were killed in a crash involving a motorcycle and a car on Park Street in Pinellas County on Tuesday night, the Florida Highway Patrol reported. Troopers said both the motorcyclist and the driver of the car were killed. A passenger in the car also was seriously injured. Troopers did not publicly identify the people involved. They said the driver of the car was a 24-year-old St. Petersburg woman. The motorcyclist was a 49-year-old man from Mary Esther, which is in the Florida Panhandle. The injured passenger is a 23-year-old St. Petersburg man, troopers said. The crash occurred at 10:47 p.m. after the woman had been stopped at a stop sign on westbound 46th Avenue North, troopers said. She pulled in front of the motorcyclist, who was traveling north on Park Street, troopers said in a news release. Both drivers died on the scene, troopers said. No other details were immediately released. SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) test-fired a new-type tactical ballistic missile and an improved strategic cruise missile on Wednesday with the country's top leader guiding the event, the Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. 2-Year-Old Child Leaves Home After Parents Put Her to Bed, Then Gets Struck and Killed by Car Both of the childs parents were present and working around the home [when] the child got out of her bed and walked out of the house," police said Getty Police lights stock image A 2-year-old child died after slipping out of a Michigan home undetected after her parents put her to bed for the night. On Saturday, Sept. 14, Michigan State Police First District released a statement via X (formerly known as Twitter), announcing the sad news of the child's death. According to the MSPFD, the incident took place on Friday, Sept. 13, at approximately 8:20 p.m. local time. When troopers arrived at the scene of the crash in Allen Township, Hillsdale County, they found a two year old female toddler lying in the road. First responders and troopers assisted with performing life-saving measures until EMS arrived. The toddler was transported to Hillsdale Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries, according to police. 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. MSPFD added that both of the childs parents were present and working around the home [when] the child got out of her bed and walked out of the house. The child walked out onto Chicago St and was struck by a 2012 VW Jetta being driven by a 38 year old male from Allen, Mi, the department shared. Related: 3-Year-Old Hit by Car After Being Left Unattended in Motel and Walking Along Highway with 2-Year-Old Though the investigation remains ongoing, police said that drugs and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash. PEOPLE reached out to Michigan State Police First District on Tuesday, Sept. 17. No additional details were available, and the victims identity had not been released by the department. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. A 17-year-old girl has been arrested on charges stemming from the crash of a stolen New York City subway train last week, police announced Thursday as a search for an alleged accomplice in the brazen theft continued. The teenage suspect, whose name was not released, was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged with first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree reckless endangerment, according to the New York Police Department. The suspect in custody is alleged to be the thief captured on the security camera dressed all in pink, including a pink shower cap, according to police. The theft of the train unfolded amid the deployment of additional police officers to the nation's largest subway system to combat a surge in crime. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul even deployed National Guard troops as part of a five-point plan to protect subway riders. "There's no question it was an extremely foolish and reckless act by two individuals accessing live track in order to get access to our train," Demetrius Crichlow, interim president of New York City Transit, said at a news conference Wednesday morning to announce a proposed five-year, $68.4 billion capital improvement plan for the 100-year-old Metropolitan Transit Authority system. The second suspect, a man, remained at large, police said. He was described by police as having a slim build and light complexion. He was dressed in a blue tank top, red shorts and carrying a black backpack. According to a New York Police Department incident report, the thieves, a man and a woman, stole the empty, out-of-service train just after midnight on Sept. 12 at the Briarwood subway station in the borough of Queens, according to police. PHOTO: The MTA New York City Subway logo is seen on a train at station, July 13, 2024, in New York. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images, FILE) "These two individuals entered an unoccupied train and operated it, causing a collision and damage to the train," according to the NYPD incident report. No injuries were reported and the suspects fled the area on foot, according to police. Crichlow said the train was moved roughly 50 feet. The duo was caught on surveillance cameras walking through the empty train at Briarwood station before taking it on a short joy ride, police said. MORE: NYC man will not face charges for 'self-defense' shooting on Brooklyn subway One of the alleged thieves was described as a woman with a medium build and medium complexion, according to police. PHOTO: The New York Police Department released surveillance photos of two suspects, one pictured here in pink shower cap, in a stolen subway crash, Sept. 12, 2024, at the Briarwood subway station. (Courtesy of NYPD) PHOTO: The New York Police Department released surveillance photos of two suspects, one pictured here in a blue tank top, in a stolen subway crash, Sept. 12, 2024, at the Briarwood subway station. (Courtesy of NYPD) Crichlow said the MTA has been aggressively installing security cameras on subway trains, adding that about 70% of the fleet now has cameras. A search is underway in New York City for two suspects, including one dressed all in pink, who allegedly crashed an empty out-of-service subway train after brazenly walking into a station and stealing it -- via @ABC Newshttps://t.co/8IUHDHALPB pic.twitter.com/oG0lvKFkoN Bill Hutchinson (@bill_hutchinson) September 18, 2024 "We have great video, which has been turned over to the police, and we're confident that they will get the people, the perpetrators in this case," he said. Crichlow also said New York City Transit has worked with the NYPD to design new reinforced locks to prevent intruders from entering train operator compartments. "We have a design in place. It's just a matter of getting the actual parts and starting the installs," Crichlow said. MORE: Despite recent shootings, New York City transit crime rate holds steady It was at least the second theft of a New York City subway train in less than eight months. On Dec. 30, 2023, a group stole two out-of-service trains parked in a restricted area near the Forest Hills-71st Avenue subway station in Queens. Authorities said the group entered the operators' compartments of two lead train cars before driving them short distances northbound. Amidst a 45% year-over-year spike in New York City transit crime in January, mostly due to grand larcenies, Hochul deployed 1,000 state workers, including 250 state police troopers and MTA Police members, to assist the NYPD in enhanced baggage checks at heavily trafficked areas of the subway system. Hochul also directed the New York National Guard to make 750 members, who are currently part of the Joint Task Force Empire Shield, available to help check subway riders' bags for weapons. According to the most recent NYPD crime statistics, transit crime as of Sunday is now down 5.4% from this time in 2023. Teen girl arrested in stolen New York City subway crash, 2nd suspect at large originally appeared on abcnews.go.com FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Two suspects are wanted following a grand theft at an Ulta store in Fresno, the Fresno Police Department said. Officers say they responded to the Ulta store at 6587 N. Riverside Dr., in Fresno at around 7:30 p.m. for a grand theft. According to police the suspects, a man and a woman, were observed on video surveillance committing a grand theft at the location. According to the California Penal Code, grand theft is committed when the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken is of a value exceeding $950. Courtesy: Fresno Police Department. The Fresno Police Department encourages anyone with information regarding the suspects and/or their whereabouts to contact Detective Jesse Navarro at 559-621-6545 or Jesse.Navarro@fresno.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 YourCentralValley.com | News from CBS47 and KSEE24. Vice President Kamala Harris still holds the narrowest betting lead over former President Donald Trump as of Tuesday, just 49 days until Election Day. Harris stood at -110 to Trump's +116 at U.K. bookmaker Betfair Exchange as of Tuesday. Biden stood at -116 at the 50-day mark in 2020, though Trump had longer odds at +132. The spread was the largest between Trump and his Democratic challenger in 2016, when then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the Trump -182 to +210. Trump won the 2016 race, though he lost the popular vote, marking the second time a betting underdog won the White House. The action in the current race, which U.S. betting houses cannot legally take, swung back toward the vice president during the first, and likely only, debate between Harris and Trump. Punters have settled with Harris as the favorite as post-debate polls show she has a narrow lead both nationally and in swing states. Presidential betting odds 50 days out 2024 Harris: -110 Trump: +116 2020 Biden: -116 Trump: +132 2016 Clinton: -182 Trump: +210 Presidential betting odds timeline Harris extends lead from 75-day point Harris held the narrowest lead over Trump of any recent Democratic nominee 75 days from the election in August, sitting at -102 at Betfair. By contrast Clinton's odds stood at -323 at the 75-day mark. The odds for the last three elections at the 75-day mark were: 2024 Harris: -102 Trump: +110 2020 Biden: -132 Trump: +144 2016 Clinton: -323 Trump: +370 This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Presidential betting odds: Harris maintains lead with 49 days left 22-year-olds body was found in a well and the death is called suspicious by SC coroner A 22-year-old South Carolina mans body was found in a well over the weekend, and his death is called suspicious by the Spartanburg County Coroners Office. The remains of Andrew Gazdovich were found Sunday in a well on McSwain Road in Chesnee, according to the coroners office. Thats about 6 miles from Gazdovichs Inman residence. Coroner Rusty Clevenger said no cause of death has been determined, and his office has ordered an autopsy, which will require more testing before both the cause and the manner of death can be finalized. The case is definitely being treated as suspicious, Clevenger said. The coroners office is continuing to investigate the death along with the Spartanburg County Sheriffs Office, which said its not releasing much information because the investigation is ongoing. There sheriffs office did say at this stage of the investigation, the recovered evidence doesnt suggest foul play. But the sheriffs office is asking for the publics help with information about Gazdovichs death. Anyone with any information is asked to call Sgt. Jon Guest at 864-503-4595, or email him at jguest@spartanburgcounty.org. Gazdovich is survived by his parents as well as a brother and sister among other family members, according to an obituary shared by Roberts Funeral Home. A funeral service for Gazdovich will be held on Friday at Roberts Funeral Home Chapel, followed by his burial at Good Shepherd Memorial Park, according to the obituary. 20 projects to share nearly $11M from NE Affordable Housing Trust Fund (Getty Images) Editors note: This story has been corrected to provide award recipients and amounts for the 2024 application cycle. LINCOLN Nearly $11 million in awards from the Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Fund were announced this week. Established in 1996 by the Nebraska Legislature to address the states affordable housing needs, the fund is fueled by a portion of the documentary stamp tax from real estate transactions. Highly competitive process The Nebraska Department of Economic Development administers the program, which assists local governments, public housing authorities, community action agencies, nonprofits and for-profits that work with the entities. Trust fund dollars can be used for housing-related projects, new construction or rehabilitation, or for first-time homebuyers through direct assistance such as down payment and closing costs. This years cycle was highly competitive, the DED said with 52 applications requesting nearly $31 million. The state agency selected 20 individual projects to share $10.72 million that will support development of at least 253 housing units. 2024 awardees, project site and amount: Central Nebraska Growth Foundation, City of Grand Island, $845,000. City of Franklin, City of Franklin, $809,800. GESU Housing Inc., Douglas County, $50,000. Habitat for Humanity of Omaha Inc., Cass and Sarpy Counties, $595,000. Habitat for Humanity of Omaha Inc., Douglas County, $750,000. Habitat for Humanity of Omaha Inc., Omaha, $770,000. Hastings Community Redevelopment Authority, Hastings, $844,750. inCOMMON Housing Development, Omaha, $805,000. Kearney Community Sustainable Housing, Kearney, $30,000. Nebraska Housing Developers Association, statewide, $50,000. NEHI Inc., six northeast Nebraska counties, $11,050. NeighborWorks Northeast Nebraska, Columbus, $845,000. NeighborWorks Northeast Nebraska, eight northeast Nebraska counties, $50,000. NeighborWorks Northeast Nebraska, eight northeast Nebraska counties, $869,000. Northeast Economic Development Inc., 15 northeast Nebraska counties, $574,500. Omaha Housing Authority, Omaha, $750,000. Pawnee City Community Foundation, Pawnee City, $640,000. Southwest Nebraska Community Betterment Corp., City of Grant, Villages of Hayes Center and Wauneta, $590,900. Spark Capital, Douglas County, $50,000. Stuart Village Manor Inc., Village of Stuart, $789,500. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX CLAY COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) A Wadley man was killed in a two-vehicle crash Monday evening, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Skylar Tillis, 27, was killed when the motorcycle he was driving struck a Chrysler 200S around 5:58 p.m. and caught fire. Tillis was thrown from the motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene. The crash occurred on Alabama 148 near mile marker 16. 80-year-old man died in Trussville car wreck Nothing else is available as the ALEA continues to investigate. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LIBERTY HILL, Texas - Three people were arrested for orchestrating an attempted murder and for plotting to kill a Williamson County judge, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office said. According to the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, on March 8, around 2:30 a.m., a teen called 911 and said his mom and her boyfriend had been shot by an intruder while they were sleeping in Liberty Hill. No items were stolen, and it was apparent to deputies that this was not a random act of violence. The teen's mother was shot 11 times in her chest, stomach, arms, legs, shoulder and neck. The mother's boyfriend was shot twice in his neck and arm. MORE WILLIAMSON COUNTY STORIES: Despite the severity of the injuries, both victims survived and have recovered, WCSO said. Liberty Hill police, the WCSO and the FBI launched an investigation into this incident. Three people were arrested for orchestrating the attempted murder, as well as plotting to kill a Williamson County Judge. 3 arrested after warrant yields stolen mail from over 200 victims PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Three people were arrested Monday a search warrant on a Salem apartment yielded stolen mail belonging to well over 200 people, according to police. As part of a larger ongoing investigation into mail thefts in the area, Salem police served the warrant at an apartment in the 3700 block of Orchard Heights Road NW. State police seize over 4 lbs of Portland-bound fentanyl as suspect escapes Authorities say the search uncovered stolen mail belonging to over 200 people and other pieces of evidence related to mail theft and forgery-related crimes. As a result, police arrested 31-year-old Ashley Wood, as well as 45-year-old Christopher McPherson and 27-year-old Anthony Ormonde. PSUs Millar Library reopens after months-long closure due to protest damages Wood was charged with identity theft, first-degree forgery, criminal possession of a forged instrument, mail theft and an outstanding warrant out of Marion County. Both McPherson and Ormonde were charged on outstanding warrants. Salem authorities say they will work with the United States Postal Inspection Service to return the mail to the rightful owners. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. We now know that three Bonney Lake schools were targeted with threatening social media posts. But officials with the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District say the threats are not credible. Lakeridge Middle School was one of the schools involved. In an email to parents shared with KIRO 7 News, the schools principal said the threat was made against specific students. He said as a precaution, there would be an increased police presence. The incident comes after similar threats were made toward students at Mountain View Middle School. In that case, nearly a third of the students were absent on Monday, according to the school district. The online threats also included Bonney Lake High School. After an investigation by the district and Bonney Lake Police, officials came to the conclusion that the threats were based on unsubstantiated rumors and false information, a district spokesperson said. They said there is no threat to student safety, though police will keep a presence at schools throughout the week. KHARTOUM, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and 10 others injured on Wednesday in an artillery shelling attack by paramilitary forces on Omdurman city, north of the capital Khartoum, Khartoum State's Health Ministry said in a statement. The "systematic bombing against citizens" by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Karari locality of northern Omdurman targeted densely populated areas, the ministry stated. Those injured in the attack were transferred to Al-Nao and Sawaed hospitals. The RSF has not yet commented on the attack. Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a violent conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, resulting in at least 16,650 deaths and the displacement of millions of people. Jonathan Gallardo, a Spanish-speaker and lifelong resident of Nipomo, has never voted before. But after attending a LatinX Voter Empowerment Workshop in his hometown, Gallardo, 20, said he will be registering to vote for the first time this year. The workshop was one of six organized in September by a group of Spanish-speaking Cal Poly students and the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder office to engage Hispanic voters across the county. Around 15 Spanish-speaking attendees, students and county staff gathered in a room at the Nipomo Library on Sept. 11 to discuss local issues impacting their community. People enjoyed homemade agua fresca and Mexican concha cookies donated by a local food vendor while the students presented in Spanish about the importance of voting, the officials that represent them, and how they can take action locally. A county staff member handed out informational fliers in Spanish on how to register to vote in the upcoming election and polling hours and locations, along with an explainer of ballot propositions, giving attendees physical resources on civic engagement. It was a really cool experience to see our Latino community receive these important resources, Gallardo told The Tribune in Spanish speaking through a translator. Im glad I went because I got the necessary information to make my voice heard. An attendee at the LatinX Voter Empowerment Workshop at the Nipomo library on Sept. 11, 2024, receives Spanish resources on registering and voting. Two events have been held so far in Atascadero and Nipomo, and four more are planned over the coming weeks in San Miguel, Cambria, Oceano and San Luis Obispo. Californias Spanish-speaking voters are underrepresented and underserved, students say Even though Spanish-speakers make up a huge portion of the eligible voter base in California, they are historically one of the least engaged voter groups in the state. California is home to a quarter of the nations eligible Hispanic voters, but in 2020 the Latino population had the lowest registration rate of all voters in the state. According to a 2020 study by the Public Policy Institute of California, only 47% of adult Latino citizens in California were likely to vote compared to 65% of non-Hispanic white citizens statewide. According to the Clerk-Recorders Office, only 1,328 SLO County voters listed Spanish as their preferred language on their voter registration in December 2023 out of 176,774 total registered voters in March. Three Spanish-speaking Cal Poly seniors Darius Rogness, Karina Saldivar and Alondra Cardoso observed these trends happening in SLO County, where a quarter of the total population is Hispanic, and decided to do something about it. With the support of two university faculty members, the county Clerk-Recorders Office, a small research grant and some willing community partners, they kick-started a countywide Spanish-speaking voter education and outreach initiative going into their senior year at Cal Poly. Ive always seen that theres been a need in my community, said Rogness, 21, a first-generation college student whose family moved to Nipomo from Mexico when he was 8 years old. Historically, our Latino community has been underrepresented. We now have the tools with our professors and Cal Poly support to actually plant those seeds, to start to build those initiatives, supporting and informing our Latino community. Spanish-speakers participate in a LatinX Voter Empowerment Workshop in Nipomo on Sept. 11, 2024. Throughout the workshop, attendees voiced obstacles to voting, including finding childcare for their kids while they visit the polls on Election Day. Their faculty advisers are Cal Poly professors Marion Hart and Victoria Zamora. The project supported by a $3,000 county community development grant applied for through the League of Women Voters aims to bridge the information gap between the Latino community and the county Clerk-Recorders Office. After initial conversations with the county, the students learned there were limited county resources for Spanish speakers, both in terms of printed materials and Spanish speakers working the polls on election day. Their office of 22 has four bilingual staff members, only one of which is a full-time election worker, said Erin Clausen, public information officer for the Clerk-Recorders Office. The three students spent the summer conducting research, meeting with community leaders and leading conversations with members of the Latino community in SLO County to better understand their needs as voters. The result of their efforts? Six LatinX Voter Empowerment Workshops they have planned to be held at different locations across the county throughout September ahead of ballots being sent out on Oct. 7. Two events have been held so far in Atascadero and Nipomo, and four more are planned over the coming weeks in San Miguel, Cambria, Oceano and San Luis Obispo. A group of Cal Poly students in collaboration with the SLO County Clerk-Recorders Office is hosting six LatinX Voter Empowerment Workshops across the county throughout September ahead of ballots being sent out on Oct. 7, 2024. Two events have been held so far in Atascadero and Nipomo, and four more are planned over the coming weeks in San Miguel, Cambria, Oceano and San Luis Obispo. Andres Gonzalez, another attendee at the Nipomo workshop, said he has been a U.S. citizen for four years, but he will vote for the first time this November. I never really had the chance to vote, Gonzalez said. He has lived and worked in Nipomo since 1992 after immigrating to America from Ensenada, Mexico. He said between sometimes having multiple jobs and raising a family, many of SLO Countys Spanish-speaking citizens are not exposed to politics in their busy lives and candidates messaging often exclusively in English does not reach them. As a Mexican and Hispanic ... you never get to see who is running for anything, and because of that you care less about voting, Gonzalez said. You dont know if the person that wins is the right one for your community ... but your vote makes a difference. My familys vote makes a difference. Rogness said that there were at least three people at the Nipomo event that were born outside of the U.S. and were able to learn about how to engage civically while in the process of gaining citizenship. Two people signed up to volunteer as bilingual poll workers, he said. Darius Rogness speaking to Andres Gonzalez at the Nipomo workshop on Sept. 11. Gonzalez has been a U.S. citizen for four years, but he will vote for the first time this November. Growing up in Spanish-speaking homes, Rogness, Saldivar and Cardoso said they have all observed first-hand the critical information gap between political candidates and their Spanish-speaking constituents. Weve noticed these disparities and these needs for such a long time, Rogness said. We grew up with them. Saldivar, 27, shared her insights of the obstacles that Mexican immigrants face upon gaining the right to vote as citizens. From what Ive seen, its the fear initiative going into something thats unknown, she said. Ive noticed that a lot of the Hispanics who are able to vote, even if they had the opportunity to vote in Mexico, they didnt do it. So coming to the U.S., coming to a place where (English) is their second language, its just kind of a dicey field for them. She said that by hosting in-person, step-by-step workshops showing Spanish-speaking voters what ballots look like and how to vote, they hope people will feel empowered to go into polling places on election day with confidence. Ballots are also available in Spanish for those who choose to vote-by-mail. Spanish-speakers participate in a LatinX Voter Empowerment Workshop in Nipomo on Sept. 11, 2024. Throughout the workshop, attendees voiced obstacles to voting, including finding childcare for their kids while they visit the polls on Election Day. The students and their faculty advisers organized the events in collaboration with the Clerk-Recorder Office, which helped coordinate locations and bring out a Spanish-speaking staff member to share information about how to register and vote. The team also partnered with community organizations like Mujeres de Accion, SLO Promotoras, Corazon Latino, 805 La Voz and the League of Women Voters to fund and promote the events. Marion Hart, one of the two Cal Poly faculty advisers on the project, emphasized that the workshops are nonpartisan. We want to make sure that its super clear that were not telling people who to vote for, Hart said. This is merely a question of ... answering questions about the voting process, creating access and also drawing people into the resources that exist in the Clerk-Recorders Office. Clausen from the Clerk-Recorders Office said that the project has been a gift to the community and a major contribution to the countys goal of increasing voter engagement. If every single eligible resident of our county was registered and went out to vote, that would be my dream, Clausen said. She said that to support this mission, an Atascadero voting office will open 29 days before the election with one bilingual staff member working on site, making it easier for North County residents to get voting information in-person without coming down to SLO. Darius Rogness leads a voter information and empowerment workshop for Spanish-speakers at the Nipomo library on Sept. 11, 2024. The question on the screen translates to What qualities do you look for in a leader? Two events have been held so far in Atascadero and Nipomo and four more are planned over the coming weeks in San Miguel, Cambria, Oceano and San Luis Obispo. Looking to the future of voter engagement The Clerk-Recorders Office also put out a call for bilingual workers to help at the polls on Election Day, providing in-person guidance for Spanish-speaking voters. The positions are paid. In the last election in 2022, there were about 10 or 12 bilingual poll workers, Clausen said. The general election will have between 450 and 500 workers in total, she said. We want to make sure that if people who are wanting to vote and able to vote and are more comfortable speaking Spanish, that there are people in each of the polling stations, or as many as we possibly can, who are Spanish speakers and are able to write information and answer questions about the process in Spanish on Election Day, said Hart, one of the students faculty advisers. Those interested in becoming a poll worker or for more information on voting are encouraged to contact the Clerk-Recorders Office at www.slocounty.ca.gov/departments/clerk-recorder/contact-us#contactarea. Barbara Hurtado, one of the Clerk-Recorders Offices four bilingual staff members, presents information in Spanish on how to register and vote in Nipomo, on Sept. 11, 2024. The county was calling for bilingual people to work the polls on Election Day, providing in-person guidance for Spanish-speaking voters. The job is a paid position. The students behind this initiative have big aspirations for the future, and this is hopefully just the start, they said. Something important about this project is this is one of the first times there really is this bridge, an initiative to collaborate with the Clerk-Recorders Office and having accessible voter information workshops for the Latino community, Rogness said. In that way, were just so excited to be planting the seed. One day, they hope to expand their work across the state, and maybe even farther. Were planting seeds, not only for our generation, but for our people, Cardoso said. Theres a huge need, and we are able to address it here, but theres so many other places where it needs to also happen. If we continue to do this and continue to expand, who knows who we can reach? SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) The Chatham County District Attorneys Office announced Wednesday morning that it has gotten convictions on three individuals involved in the Fenwick Village double homicide case that occurred last August. On August 9, 2023, a shooting took place at the Fenwick Village Apartments in the Berwick area of Chatham County. The incident claimed the lives of Eric Townsend and Robert Johnson, Jr. According to a Chatham County District Attorneys Office release, Albert Mack, Jr., Roland Heyward, and Akilee Wilson have all been convicted. An investigation by Chatham County Police (CCPD) led to the arrests of Mack, Heyward, and Wilson. A further investigation led to the arrests of Ruben Hughes and Raquan Williams, both of whom pled guilty in connection with the shooting. Following a two-week trial, a Chatham County jury found Mack, Heyward, and Wilson guilty on all charges, including Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Armed Robbery, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony. Sentencing for all three defendants is set for September 20, 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 WSAV-TV. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) announced three men have been sentenced in separate human trafficking and child exploitation cases. On August 30, 34-year-old Bruce Cherry, Jr., of Taylorsville, was sentenced in Forrest County to 10 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), with three years to serve day for day without the possibility of parole and five years of post-release supervision. Mississippi high court rejects the latest appeal by a man on death row since 1994 According to Fitchs office, Cherry was arrested in May 2021 during a human trafficking operation in Hattiesburg. On September 3, 38-year-old James Wilder, of Carthage, was sentenced in Leake County to 10 years in the custody of MDOC, with three years to serve day for day on one count of tampering with physical evidence. Wilder was also sentenced to a term of 15 years with seven years to serve day for day on one count of intimidating a witness. Investigators said the case originated as a report by the Leake County Sheriffs Office and the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services to the Attorney Generals Office Human Trafficking Unit. Bruce Cherry, Jr. (Courtesy: Mississippi Attorney Generals Office) James Wilder (Courtesy: Mississippi Attorney Generals Office) John Dunn (Courtesy: Mississippi Attorney Generals Office) On August 19, 60-year-old John Dunn, of Biloxi, was sentenced in Harrison County to 40 years in the custody of MDOC, with six years to serve day for day without the possibility for parole on one count of child exploitation. He will also have to register as a sex offender. According to Fitch, Dunn was arrested as a result of a CyberTip reported to the Mississippi Attorney Generals Office. 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 former CIA agent was sentenced to 30 years in prison for drugging and sexually abusing more than two dozen women (Stefani Reynolds) (Stefani Reynolds/AFP/AFP) A former CIA officer was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday for drugging and sexually abusing more than two dozen women in several countries. Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 48, of La Mesa, California, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to one count of abusive sexual contact and other charges. "When this predator was a government employee, he lured unsuspecting women to his government-leased housing and drugged them," Matthew Graves, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said. "After drugging these women, he stripped, sexually abused, and photographed them," Graves said in a statement. Nicole Argentieri, a senior Justice Department official, said Raymond "sexually exploited dozens of women over the course of 14 years." According to court documents, Raymond's last posting was Mexico City, where he drugged and sexually assaulted several women. The FBI, in an October 2021 appeal to the public for information, said the investigation into Raymond began on May 31, 2020, when a naked woman was seen screaming for help from the balcony of his residence in Mexico City. It said hundreds of photographs and videos were recovered from Raymond's electronic devices depicting at least 24 unconscious and nude or partially nude women. Raymond worked for many years at the Central Intelligence Agency, the FBI said, had lived in numerous countries, including Peru, and was fluent in Spanish and Mandarin. He worked at the US embassy in Mexico from August 2018 until May 2020. cl/jgc $4.9 million awarded to Forest Service to reduce wildfire risk in Southwest Virginia NORTON, Va. (WJHL) The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests Clinch Ranger District received $4,992,000 for wildfire reduction measures. The funds will help the ranger district expand its resources to prevent catastrophic wildfire risk and manage hazardous fuels, the U.S. Forest Service announced in a news release. The project is part of the USDAs Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction management program. Chuckey-Doak High School football player recounts injury during game The objective of the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program is to collaborate with tribes, communities and partners to reduce wildfire risk to communities, secure critical infrastructure, and enhance natural resources, Clinch District Ranger Tiffany Cummins said in the release. We are looking forward to making progress on these goals on the Clinch Ranger District. The Clinch Ranger District is identified as a high-fire risk area with rough terrain, dispersed communities and inholdings and a historic coal mining legacy, 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 WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Four Jefferson High School students were injured Wednesday morning, Sept. 18, after a crash in South Central El Paso, according to the El Paso Independent School District. Photo: Miguel Paredes KTSM Photo: Miguel Paredes KTSM The crash happened at around 10:30 a.m. near Val Verde Street and E Paisano Drive. The school district sent KTSM the following statement regarding the crash. We are working closely with local law enforcement authorities, who are conducting a thorough investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the students and families during this incredibly difficult time and request that their privacy be respected. A spokesperson with the El Paso Fire Department also confirmed that three people suffered minor injuries and one person suffered serious injuries No further information has been reported. This story will be updated as soon as we learn more. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) One of the five suspects charged with the murders of two Kansas mothers earlier this year is separating himself from the other suspects court appearances, at least for a while. On Wednesday, Paul Grice waived his right to a preliminary hearing and to a speedy trial. His next court date is Feb. 19, 2025. The other four suspects will be in court for their preliminary hearings on Dec. 17. Their hearings are being consolidated even though some of them fought the idea. During a preliminary hearing, prosecutors present evidence and witnesses in an attempt to prove there is probable cause that a defendant committed a crime and should be tried. Documents reveal cause of death for Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley Tifany Adams, Tad Cullum, Cole and Cora Twombly, and Grice are charged in the deaths of Jilian Kelley and Veronica Butler. The two Hugoton women disappeared in March while they were going to pick up Butlers children in Oklahoma. Pictures of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley (Courtesy: OSBI) Adams is the paternal grandmother of Butlers children, and court documents allege the group murdered the two women in Oklahoma because of a child custody dispute. The Texas County, Oklahoma, District Attorneys office is prosecuting the case. Tifany Adams (Courtesy: OSBI) Tad Bert Cullum (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation via AP) Paul Grice (Courtesy: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation / Texas County Sheriffs Department) Cole Twombly (Courtesy: OSBI) Cora Twombly Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation via AP) On Wednesday, attorneys for Adams, Cullum, Grice, and Cora Twombly argued that the preliminary hearings should be separated. Adams attorney argued that consolidating the hearings would present the court with a mountain of evidence, and issues could arise when figuring out which evidence and exhibits go to which defendants. We recommend the court eats the elephant one bite at a time, the attorney said. Cullums attorney expressed concern that the medical examiners report would not be ready 10 days before the preliminary hearing, denying the defense attorneys enough time to review it. Prosecutors said they are issuing a subpoena for the medical examiner. Kansas DCF denies records request in case where childs remains found Cole Twombly was the only suspect whose attorney did not request a separate preliminary hearing. In the end, Judge Clark Jett agreed with the Texas County DAs request to consolidate the hearings. He said he has not found any cases that prove consolidation would impede the parties rights. Secure in the knowledge that the examining magistrate has been and will continue to be assisted in the proper performance of his duties by excellent lawyers and excellent lawyering, these cases are consolidated for purpose of preliminary hearing, Jett wrote in his decision. After Wednesdays decision, Grice and his two attorneys had a separate hearing with Jett. It was during that separate hearing that Grice waived his right to a preliminary hearing and speedy 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 KSN-TV. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt alongside state election officials announced on Wednesday the removal of over 453,500 voter registrations. Since January 1, 2021, officials say Oklahoma election officials have removed 97,065 deceased voters, 143,682 voters who moved out-of-state, 5,607 felons, 14,993 duplicate registrations, and 194,962 inactive voters who were canceled during the address verification process. Oklahomas electoral process is one of the strongest in the nation. Campaign Finance and Election Threats Task Force Through close collaboration with the Governors Office, the State Election Board, and our colleagues in the Legislature, Oklahoma has fortified our electoral process. Weve aggressively pursued policies to ensure voting is secure and accurate, and were innovating to protect our elections from emerging technology like AI. In Oklahoma, every eligible citizen will have their vote counted and their voice heard. Secretary of State Josh Cockroft The Campaign Finance and Election Threats Task Force, formed in 2023 by Stitt says Oklahomas electoral process is one of the strongest in the nation. Oklahoma has a long tradition of doing elections right. Recounts and post-election audits have consistently proven the accuracy of Oklahomas voting system, and our laws and procedures are designed to ensure the integrity and security of our elections. Secretary of the State Election Board Paul Ziriax Oklahoma Election Fast Facts released by Governor Stitts office: Oklahoma continues the tradition of using hand-marked paper ballots which are counted by an e-scan tabulator. The e-scan vote tabulators do not have the capability to connect to the internet. Election officials work closely with Oklahoma Cyber Command to protect our election system from would-be attackers. During a recount or post-election audit, election results are confirmed by hand-counting paper ballots. The State and County Election Boards are bipartisan. In 2020, Governor Stitt signed SB 1779 to outlaw the practice of ballot harvesting and create new criminal penalties for violators. Oklahoma voter ID laws require proof of identity for every voter, regardless of whether youre voting early, absentee, or in-person. Only United States citizens who are residents of Oklahoma may register to vote and state law explicitly prohibits noncitizens from accessing voter registration services. Poll watchers are commissioned by a candidate or the chair of a recognized political party to observe voting devices before and after the polls close. Polling places across Oklahoma are staffed by volunteers and voters just like you. Learn more about becoming a poll worker HERE. The deadline to register to vote in the November election is October 11, 2024. Oklahomans can register to vote HERE and check their voter registration status HERE. Click here for more information on voting registration. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Wednesday is National Cheeseburger Day, and the city of Savannah has no shortage of restaurants and bars that serve up the American delicacy. Here are five spots in the city to enjoy a cheeseburger. Poes Tavern Located on 7 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard next to River Street, this Edgar Allen Poe-themed Tavern is very much like a dream within a dream. There are many sandwich options, with beef burgers, veggie burgers and chicken sandwiches. Among the old-fashioned beef burger selections are the Beef Pit and Pendulum, featuring applewood smoked bacon and cheddar cheese, Beef Amontillado, with guacamole, Jalapeno Jack Cheese, pico de gallo and chipotle sour cream, and the Beef Telltale Heart with fried egg, applewood bacon and cheddar. For the health-conscious folks, they have similar options like the Veggie Pit and Pend which uses a black bean patty with applewood bacon and cheddar cheese. If you dont want any meat, you can also try out their Veggie Raven, Veggie Amontillado or the Veggie Gold Bug which are just black bean burgers with cheese and other veggie toppings. They also have a variety of appetizers to snack on when waiting on your burger like chili cheese fries, chips and queso and nachos. Poes Tavern is open from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m. every day. Bandana Burger Dubbed Savannahs all-inclusive burger destination, this pop-folksy restaurant on 4525 Habersham Street serves up mouth-watering burgers using locally-sourced ingredients. The menu is a spread of items tailored to any sort of burger enjoyer, such as The Rockstar, a beef burger with fried egg, hashbrowns and cheese, The Cholo, a black bean burger with guacamole, peppers and crispy onions and The Pirate, a salmon burger with crab and onions. The Con-artist one option for non-meat eaters thats made with an Impossible Burger with plant based dairy free cheese, pineapple and the regular fixings. They also have another called The Wook which comes with mushrooms, peppers, crispy onions and the fixings. Bandana Burger is open every day except Sunday. On Monday through Wednesday, they are open from 11:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m.-5:00 a.m. Crystal Beer Parlor This bistro can be found at 301 East Jones Street. The menu boasts classic cheeseburgers and new culinary creations. There is the Mountain Jam burger, which includes smoked gouda local beer cheese. If a beef patty isnt enough, there is a lamb and bison burger that may suit your fancy. For the folks that prefer a smash burger, dont worry, the Crystal Beer Parlor has a CBP Smash burger. A veggie burger is also on the menu which they say is made fresh in-house. The starters list offers a giant pretzel, fried duck wings, fried pickles and onion rings for you to enjoy while waiting. Also, they have a long list of house beers to choose from, if that tickles your fancy. Crystal Beer Parlor is open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. every day except Monday. Slys Sliders and Fries 1710 Abercorn Street houses a small but mighty treasure known as Slys, a joint that specializes in sliders. The mini burgers come in plenty of options, ranging from a classic slider called The Boardwalk to their a Shroomwhich which is loaded up with marinated mushrooms. They also offer a house made black bean slider called the Budda Burger. If youre wanting a variety, no worries, they also have sliders with salmon, falafel, brisket and chicken. It doesnt stop with miniature burgers though, there are also hot dog sliders with different toppings to choose from. Slys is open every day except Wednesday from 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Green Truck This neighborhood pub can be found at 2430 Habersham Street and the burgers are not to be missed, with or without a pint. Included on their list of burgers is The Lone Star, a bacon cheeseburger that features their homemade chipotle BBQ sauce. The Trailer Park burger even has the owners family recipe pimento cheese. Others are burgers like the Greek style burger with feta cheese, olive tapenade, banana peppers, cucumber slices and the regular fixings or the El Jefe which has cheddar cheese, black bean and corn salsa, avocado, jalapenos, also with the usual fixings of lettuce tomato and onion. Each burger includes 1/3 pound of Hunter Cattles Grass-fed beef, grilled Humane-Certified chicken breast or homemade veggie patty. All burgers come with a choice of fries or slaw. If you need or would like a gluten free bun, they have them available for an additional $2.50. Green Truck is open from 11:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m. every day except for Sunday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Cash rewards are being offered for information leading to the arrest of nine suspects wanted for various crimes in Abilene. Police are seeking these suspects for the following offenses: John Flores Indecency with a Child Tisha Moeller Tampering with Government Record Mario Albarado Injury to a Child, Burglary of Habitation Robert Lane Injury to Child Yair Martinez-Ferral Assault on Peace Officer, Robbery Susan Cardenas Assault Family Violence Louis Robinson Assault Family Violence Jorge Hernandez Injury to a Child Brandon Villalobos Possession of Fentanyl with Intent to Deliver, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Fentanyl Jackie Ray Shanz (FEATURED FUGITIVE) Abuse of Corpse, Assault Family Violence CrimeStoppers is offering $500 cash rewards for information that leads to the capture any of the suspects, and a $1000 cash reward for information that leads to the capture of the featured fugitive. Cash rewards will only be given if the information is received during the week their mugshots are aired on Abilenes Wanted Criminals. Abilenes Wanted Criminals is a police-run social media segment that will highlight wanted suspects from around the City each week. Episodes will be posted to the Abilene Police Departments YouTube page or APDs PIO Youtube 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 KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The "Taiwan independence" stance and provocative actions of Taiwan authorities, led by Lai Ching-te, are to blame for the mainland's recent decision to cancel its zero-tariff policies for certain products from Taiwan, a mainland spokesperson said on Wednesday. The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has announced recently that it will stop implementing the policies of exempting import tariffs on 34 agricultural products originating in Taiwan starting from Sept. 25, 2024. Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, expressed strong support for the move. Initially in 2005 and again in 2007, the mainland, guided by the conviction that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are of the same family, exempted import tariffs on a total of 34 agricultural products originating in Taiwan, covering fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood, according to Chen. This effectively helped relevant products expand their markets on the mainland, bringing tangible benefits to workers in the island's agriculture and fishery industries, he said. However, since Lai took office as the island's leader, the Taiwan authorities have obstinately adhered to a "Taiwan independence" stance, making continuous provocations to seek "independence," escalating cross-Strait hostility, and obstructing exchange and cooperation. They continue to unilaterally restrict imports of over 1,000 agricultural product types from the mainland, Chen said. "We always respect, care for, and are committed to bringing benefits to our compatriots in Taiwan," Chen said, adding that the mainland will continue to welcome and support farmers and compatriots from Taiwan to develop on the mainland. He also warned that pursuing "Taiwan independence" will only bring disaster and harm to Taiwan, and that those who support "Taiwan independence" will only undermine their own interests. 55-year-old man dead after being hit by stolen Toyota Camry in Ohio A 55-year-old man is dead after being hit by a stolen Toyota Camry in Ohio early Wednesday morning. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Columbus Police responded to reports of a crash at East 5th and Peters Avenues near St. Clark Avenue around 1:25 a.m., according to our news partner WBNS in Columbus. Malvin Love, 55, was hit by a 2012 Toyota Camry while crossing the street. The Camry did not stop. TRENDING STORIES: Police told WBNS that they saw a vehicle in the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant near Interstate 71. Officers found the Camry with heavy front-end damage, but no one was inside. Police say the Camry was stolen on Sept. 10, WBNS said. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] A jury found six leaders of a quasi-religious group guilty of conspiracy to commit forced labor after a 26-day trial at the Robert J. Dole Courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector) KANSAS CITY, Kan. A federal jury convicted six leaders in a quasi-religious group in a scheme that convinced parents to send their children to Kansas City, Kansas, for schooling but instead forced them to work long hours without pay and subjected them to beatings and other abuse. The six defendants held high-ranking positions of influence within the United Nation of Islam, which a federal judge deemed a cult. They pleaded not guilty but were convicted Monday in federal district court in Kansas City. United Nation of Islam founder Royall Jenkins, who claimed to be Allah and had multiple wives, court documents show, died in 2021. In 1996, Jenkins told local government in Kansas City that the group was moving there to create its headquarters and make it their new heaven. From 1998 to 2000, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City and a public school board donated five buildings to the group for the purpose of revitalizing an area that was considered blighted and dangerous. Instead, federal prosecutors said, the organization used fear to coerce children into working up to 16 hours a day in its storefronts, with names like, Your Diner, Your Bakery and Your Gas Station. Although members could be of any age, court documents show the defendants primarily used the labor of minors, with the youngest only 8 years old. In return, they would get meager meals, sparse accommodations and crowded housing, according to court documents. The United Nation of Islam and these defendants held themselves out as a beacon of hope for the community, promising to educate and teach important life skills to members, particularly children, said Kristen Clarke, of the U.S. Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, in a statement. Instead, the defendants betrayed this trust, exploiting young children in the organization by callously compelling their labor. The University of Islam, the former Roosevelt Elementary that was donated to the United Nation of Islam by USD 500, is now abandoned Attorneys for the defendants during the 26-day trial argued their clients used their positions in the organization to try and stop Jenkins and the abuse. The federal government wanted to prosecute Jenkins, they said, but he died. The jury convicted each defendant of conspiracy to commit forced labor. Kabba Majeed one of two defendants who testified during the trial also was convicted of five counts of forced labor. Majeed and other defendants, except for Dana Peach, who was one of Jenkins wives, were part of an executive board that had planned to shut down the United Nation of Islam after they realized Jenkins was a fraud. We tried to do a stealth breakdown, remove everything, then have Royall find out, Majeed testified. Our attempt was to make sure this didnt happen again. Period. Ultimately, Majeed said, there was nothing they couldve done to stop him. Going to the police wouldve stopped him, said Myryam Zhuravitsky, an attorney with the Civil Rights Divisions Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, during cross-examination. Multiple victims testified during the trial. One woman spoke of her time at the United Nation of Islam school, where children were taught an unregulated curriculum, including that women were not needed. Children were humiliated and beaten regularly, she said. I was scared, she said. Hearing a little boy scream, knowing hes defenseless. Kansas Reflector doesnt identify survivors of domestic and sexual violence without their consent. Defendants are scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 18. Majeed faces up to 20 years in prison and restitution. The other defendants face up to five years in prison: Peach, Yunus Rassoul, James Staton, Randolph Rodney Hadley, and Daniel Aubrey Jenkins. When thousands of pagers and other wireless devices simultaneously exploded across Lebanon and parts of Syria this week, killing at least 15 people and injuring thousands more, it exposed what one Hezbollah official described as the biggest security breach the Iran-backed militant group has experienced in nearly a year of war with Israel. In a period replete with violent attacks across the regionfrom Israels bombardment of the Gaza Strip to the targeted assassinations of militant leaders in Iran and Lebanonthis was perhaps the most sophisticated and daring one yet. Hezbollah confirmed that eight of its fighters were killed in the blasts taking place on Tuesday, according to the BBC. Further such explosions, this time involving two-way radios, were reported on Wednesday. Civilians havent been spared from the onslaught. At least two children were killed in Tuesdays blasts, according to the countrys health minister, and thousands of others were wounded by them, some critically. Irans ambassador to Lebanon lost an eye as a result of one of the blasts, according to the New York Times. Officials in the U.S. and elsewhere have left little doubt as to who might be responsible. Hezbollah and Lebanese officials quickly pointed to Israel, which in addition to waging its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza has also been exchanging near daily blows with Hezbollah across its northern border with Lebanon since Oct. 7. Earlier this week, the Israeli government announced it was expanding its war aims to include the return of its northern residents who were evacuated from towns along the countrys northern frontier in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7a goal that the countrys defense minister Yoav Gallant said would be achieved through military action. Days earlier, Lebanese residents on the other side of the border received Israeli military leaflets ordering them to leave the area. The Israeli military has since confirmed that their distribution as an unauthorized action, and said that no evacuation is underway. Still, expert observers warn that this attack, and any retaliation that might follow it, could raise the prospect of a wider war breaking out. Here are six of the biggest questionsand answersthat remain. How were the explosions triggered? Hezbollahs widespread use of pagershardly considered a high-tech form of communication by most standardswas primarily a security precaution. The militant group had reportedly ordered its members to forego using mobile phones earlier this year due to concerns that they could be more easily tracked. In their place they were given AR-924 pagers, thousands of which were sourced from a Taiwan-based brand called Gold Apollo. Although the company confirmed it had licensed the use of its brand for these pagers, it declined playing any role in their manufacturing, which it said was done by the Budapest-based firm called BAC Consulting. Footage from one of the blastswhich TIME was unable to independently verify, but which was deemed credible by the BBCshowed the moment one of these pagers exploded, emitting smoke and causing the person who appeared to be carrying it to fall to the floor. Experts who spoke with TIME say that this wasnt a cyberattack. Rather, it was likely the result of an infiltration in the supply chain, which makes how the pagers were manufactured and who was involved all the more critical. The explosions were likely triggered by pre-implanted explosives, possibly activated via a radio signal, as simple as the paging system itself, says Lukasz Olejnik, an independent researcher and consultant in cybersecurity and privacy. The supply chain was likely compromised at some point, either in the factory or during delivery. While such an operation would have been difficult to execute, it isnt beyond the capabilities of a country like Israel. Israel is obviously still the master of intelligence in the region, Andreas Krieg, an associate professor for security studies at Kings College London, tells TIME, noting that it has a network of intelligence and information collection that is unparalleled. A photo taken on Sept. 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display. AFPGetty Images What is Israel saying about it? Israel has a long history of pulling off complex attacks of the kind seen in Lebanon. But as with the recent assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, it rarely takes responsibility for them. When TIME inquired about Israels involvement in the pager explosions, an Israeli military spokesperson declined to confirm or deny whether the country was behind the attack, offering only a two-word response: no comment. But experts say that all obvious signs point to Israeli involvement. No one else is benefiting from it, but Israel, in terms of paralyzing Hezbollah, says Krieg, noting that the militant group has been the most strategic threat to Israel for at least the past three decades. There are loads of people who dont like Hezbollah in the region, including Arab countries, he adds, but none of them have the capability to actually do something as sophisticated as this. Why now? There could be any number of reasons for why Israel would opt to launch this attack now. One theory, attributed to senior intelligence sources and reported by Al Monitor, was that the compromised status of the pagers was at risk of being imminently discovered. Another is that Israel perhaps hoped the attack would act as a deterrent following recent revelations that the countrys security service foiled an attempt by Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior Israeli security official using a remotely detonated explosive device. Theres also the possibility that Israel, having made moving its displaced population back to their homes in the north of Israel among its war aims, wanted to pressure Hezbollah into moving its forces away from the nearby Israel-Lebanon border. While some observers fear that the attack could have been initiated as a prelude to a wider Israeli military incursion in Lebanon, Krieg says such an escalation would be in neither partys interests, recent comments from the Israeli defense minister notwithstanding. This paralysis of [Hezbollah] being unable to communicate effectively with one another is certainly something that could be a preparation, a first step, of such an operation, he says. But I dont think thats likely. Will Hezbollah retaliate? Hezbollah pledged on Wednesday that it will continue its military operations against Israel in order to support Gaza, and warned that Israel will face a difficult reckoning as a result of the pager attack, which it called a massacre. The armed groups leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is expected to deliver a speech addressing the attack on Thursday. How are governments around the world reacting? A State Department spokesperson, who declined to comment on suspicions that the attacks were carried out by Israel, confirmed that the U.S. had no prior knowledge of the attack, telling reporters on Tuesday that Washington was neither aware nor involved with the operation. Thats probably true because I think the [Biden] administration would try and talk them out of it, because they would say its escalatory, Michael Allen, the former National Security Council director for President George W. Bush, tells TIME. Across the Atlantic, the E.U.s foreign policy chief Josep Borrel condemned the attacks in a statement, warning that they endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region. He notably did not mention Israel in the statement, opting instead to urge all stakeholders to avert an all-out war. The Iranian government, which backs and sponsors Hezbollah, condemned the attack as a terrorist act. Does this attack constitute a war crime? While the attack may have targeted pagers used by Hezbollah, that doesnt necessarily mean that those in possession of them were armed militants. Hezbollah is obviously the fighting wing, but Hezbollah is [also] a political party, its a charity organization, its a civil societal movement as well, says Krieg. And so this pager system would have been distributed among civilians as wellpeople who are not fighters, who are not contributing to the war effort, and they were targeted as well. Its precisely for this reason that the use of booby traps are prohibited under international law. The use of an explosive device whose exact location could not be reliably known would be unlawfully indiscriminate, using a means of attack that could not be directed at a specific military target and as a result would strike military targets and civilians without distinction, Lama Fakih, the Beirut-based Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law, Volker Turk, the U.N.s High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that those who ordered and carried out the attacks must be held to account. Write to Yasmeen Serhan at yasmeen.serhan@time.com. BIG PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) Finally, more than a decade after the concept was first developed and following more than five years of construction, Michigans Dragon at Hardy Dam is complete. The 45-mile trail system will be celebrated Sept. 27 with a private ceremony to mark the end of the final stretch of work. According to Nick Smith, the director of the Newaygo County Parks and Recreation Department, the idea to develop a trail system around the 4,000-acre Hardy Dam Pond was first conceived in 2009. It took a lot of work to get groups on board, including Consumers Energy, which owns the land, and federal regulators, who oversee the dams hydroelectric plant. Inside woodtv.com: West Michigan Guide The first round of financing was secured in 2015. Construction started in 2019. Smith said the entire project was a monumental task. The whole area with the Dragon is undeveloped. Its untouched land. Youre really going out in the middle of nowhere and building a trail where theres no infrastructure, Smith told News 8. This embedded content is not available in your region. The area around the pond has all sorts of terrains, requiring different strategies to build sturdy, long-lasting trails. Some of the terrain is very hilly. Some areas have a lot of groundwater that seeps out of the side hills. Theres a lot of challenges in building in wet areas of clay, Smith explained. Other areas are very sandy, so youre trying to build a trail that doesnt move on sand. Theres a lot of different techniques that are used for the boardwalks, bridges. There is a lot of areas where we used stone to anchor the trail, he continued. We also used the actual trees in the environment to help. We call them anchor trees. That holds the trail pressed into the hillside. It was very challenging. We all love Charlie Brown: Robinettes corn maze features nostalgic design Heading into 2024, 34 miles of the trail were finished and already open for visitors. Segment One and parts of Segment Two and Seven were the last to be finished. Smith called them some of the most challenging. A view of The Dragon trail near Hardy Dam Pond in Newaygo County. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) The Dragon, named because of the ponds unique shape, was designed to be accessible by as many people as possible. A one-mile stretch of Segment One complies with the American Disability Act, designed specifically to be accessible for people in wheelchairs or with other mobility issues. The entire system offers several types of trails, with some designed with mountain bikers in mind and others for hikers. If you go out on Segment Nine, youre going to go up and down and up and down these hills, whereas the ADA trail is pretty well flat, Smith told News 8 last year. Audio tech used in Las Vegas Sphere to support inclusion in West Michigan The trails are already seeing a surge in use, which has made a positive impact on the community. (Courtesy Newaygo County Parks & Recreation Department) We actually installed infrared trail counters to see how many people are using the trails, Smith said. In 2023, we counted over 80,000 people on the trail. This year, only 246 days in, we have already counted over 104,000. Those numbers are more than the population of Newaygo County, so the economic impact from the trail is very real. Project to add trails, river access by Grand Rapids amphitheater site Another challenging aspect of overseeing a 45-mile trail system is divvying up the responsibilities through different municipalities. The system stretches between Newaygo and Mecosta counties and also includes a state park and parks that belong to nearby townships. There is no fee to access the trails at Operators Village Park in Big Prairie Township, but there are fees or permits required for park entry at other trailheads, including Newaygo State Park. Newaygo County and Mecosta County have teamed up to offer a $60 annual pass that is good for any of the trailheads owned by either county. A state recreation passport on your license plate will also get you in to park at Newaygo State Park. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. For 75 years, Bills Luncheonette has been a cherished fixture in the Chester-Randolph community, filling bellies and sometimes selling stamps and fixing vacuum cleaners. But the eatery was forced to close last month due to financial struggles and faltering kitchen equipment. That's the bad news. The good: An online fundraiser launched two weeks ago, seeking $30,000 to help turn things around, has already exceeded $41,000, giving its fans reason for hope. Located on North Road in Chester Township, just across the border from the Ironia section of Randolph, Bill's has been a Morris County institution since it opened during President Harry Truman's administration. But it closed last month, when "a continued string of bad luck and unfortunate issues" forced the historic eatery to close, the proprietors explained on a GoFundMe page . Bill's Luncheonette during its grand re-opening following a remodeling of the circa-1860 building in 2014. They are determined to re-open, and clearly the community has their back. "We are so overwhelmed and incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love and support weve seen from our community in less than a week Thank you, thank you!" fourth-generation owners Bruce and Meaghan Button wrote in an update last week. "Weve had some good conversations regarding viable next steps, and are hopeful we can start to put plans in motion based on the amazing contributions far and wide." The long history of Bill's Luncheonette The eatery operated out of a two-story, home-like building built in 1860. The structure was owned by the Stryker family until Robert Crowley purchased it in 1941. Known at the time as "The Store," Bill's also doubled as the Ironia Post Office at the time. Crowley's grandson, Bill, took it over in 1949, doubling as cook and Ironia postmaster while butchering his own meat. With his name added to the sign outside the store, Crowley built a business that brought friends and neighbors together for decades. "Bill's is just a great Chester establishment that has been serving up hot breakfast and lunch for people in town for literally 75 years," said former Chester Township Mayor Mike Inganamort, now an Assemblyman representing New Jersey's 24th legislative district. "It would be a shame for that to come to an end, so personally, I'm excited [for them] to hopefully reopen and wish them a lot of success." The luncheonette also operated from time to time as a general store and a vacuum repair business. Over the years, Bill's became "more than just a place to grab a quick bite to eat it has been a cherished part of the community," the Buttons wrote on their fundraising page. "A place where stories are shared, friendships are made, and generations have gathered around the same lunch counter." Bruce and Meaghan Button, the co-owners of Bill's Luncheonette, celebrated the cherished eatery's 65th anniversary in 2014. Financial challenges and aging equipment forced them to close last month, but a fundraising campaign has gathered $41,000 so far. Inganamort said his go-to breakfast order was a Taylor Ham, Egg and Cheese known at Bill's as a "Bill McMutt" on an everything bagel. "If they don't have that, onion will do." The menu also was famous for its French toast, pancakes, egg sandwiches and breakfast platters. Lunch featured burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, salads and the signature Meg and Brew's Chili. Bill's grandson, Bruce, has operated the establishment with his wife, Meaghan, since 2012. "From making breakfast sandwiches and coffees to-go by candlelight during the week post-Superstorm Sandy, to masking up and serving heat-and-eat meals after indoor dining was suspended during the early stages of COVID, we have always worked hard to be resourceful and to be open for our community," they wrote. "The Buttons have been honored to serve you and your families." COVID setbacks, equipment failures Despite Bill's popularity, the pandemic proved to be a serious setback, as it was for many small businesses. The building and its equipment also began to show the toll of years of wear and tear, leading to temporary closures earlier this year. Bill's was forced to shut indefinitely on Aug. 23. "Our equipment is old (some actual antiques), increasingly unreliable and constantly failing," the Buttons said. Cost estimates for repair or replacement include up to $7,000 for a new griddle-broiler, $15,000 for a walk-in refrigerator and $7,000 for upgraded fire-safety systems. Home-schooled: Roxbury High students build another Habitat for Humanity house "We are reaching out to our communities and beyond, in a time of need," they added, saying they were "determined to get Bills Luncheonette back open and running with opportunity for sustainability and longevity of the business. But we need funds to replace our inoperable equipment and make some immediate, essential updates and repairs, to ensure that we can continue to serve you to the best of our abilities." Inganamort added he would like to see state authorities step up to help small businesses facing similar struggles. "It's hard to operate a business in the state of New Jersey," he said. "They are not alone in experiencing challenges." William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com Twitter/X: @wwesthoven This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Morris County fans rally to save Bill's Luncheonette in Chester Twp SUPPLY, N.C. (WNCN) An elderly North Carolina man was found dead inside his vehicle after he drove into floodwater off the states coast early Tuesday morning. The deceased was identified as 80-year-old Richard Walton Robinson of Southport, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol. NC coast rainfall totals top 20 inches in 1,000-year event; crews rescue 117 during storm According to the highway patrol, Robinson was traveling on NC 211 near Stone Chimney Road in a blue Subaru Crosstrek when he drove around stationary Brunswick County Sheriffs Office vehicles and into high water. The sheriffs office vehicles were stationary with their lights activated because the road became impassable due to flood waters at the Lockwood Folly River Bridge. Robinsons vehicle became fully submerged while he was still inside, according to the highway patrol. A swift water rescue team arrived on the scene, but were unable to locate the vehicle. First responders returned to the river the following day and located the vehicle with Robinsons body inside, according to the highway patrol. Troopers say alcohol and speed do not appear to be factors. The flooding was the result of a potential tropical storm that generated enough rainfall at the North Carolina coast to be labeled a 1,000-year event. In Brunswick County, Carolina Beach was hit with nearly 21 inches of rain, while Southport received 19 inches of rain. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. Newly released 911 audio shows the frantic moments after a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed by another teen while they were playing with a gun in Wilton Manors apartment. Please Please Please...somebody come help a male voice can be heard begging a dispatcher. Christopher Granados was found shot around 2:30 p.m. Monday inside a Wilton Manors apartment, 403 NW 25th St., by Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale police officers, according to the Broward Sheriffs Office, which has taken over the investigation. Paramedics took Granados to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, deputies say. Both of them were holding the gun and they were playing and one of the guns went off, the caller says. Dispatchers can be heard asking the caller if he saw the shooter. The caller replied: No, no no. He ran. The caller tells the dispatcher that he is not sure where the shooter ran but that he went left. He told the dispatcher that there were two guns and the second one was right here on the couch, but that he does not know what type of gun it is. That is the last thing that can be heard before the call drops. On Tuesday, BSO announced that a 16-year-old boy was arrested Monday night for the shooting of Granados. He faces one count of manslaughter with a firearm. BSO did not identify the teen. Granados mother, Edith Medina, told NBC 6 that she does not know the teen charged with shooting her son or the house where it happened. We all think this is a dream and we are waiting to wake up, she told the station in Spanish. On the set of CNNs NewsNight, guests may not be certain whether they should shake hands or ball them up into fists. When the cameras are off on the set of anchor Abby Phillips program, the atmosphere matches that of a nice dinner party. More from Variety Before the 10 p.m. show even got on the air one night last week, producers offer panelist Ana Navarro a pillow to sit on so the diminutive commentator seems like shes matched at least optics-wise with her neighboring guests Olivia Nuzzi and Bryan Lanza. And in the middle of one commercial break, conservative analyst Scott Jennings is heard to remark that hes found a new friend the progressive figure Nina Turner in a declaration that surprises the producers who work on the program. When the cameras start transmitting to viewers at home, however, its time to get real. Navarro doesnt soft-pedal her disdain for recent remarks former President Donald Trump has made about immigrants eating dogs and cats just one of the hot topics Phillip and a shifting ensemble of pundits, reporters and experts tackle each weeknight. Jennings, one of CNNs most vociferous analysts, goes atypically silent after Navarro asks him if the remarks are racist. Finally, he looks right at Navarro and responds: Im not going to sit here and answer for somebody. I dont talk to Donald Trump about what the motivations are, he says, adding: And I dont answer you, either. Lets take a breath. Its one of the shows you have to wind down from after you do it, because its intense, says Bakari Sellers, the former South Carolina politician and veteran CNN contributor. No one would blame Phillip, a soft-spoken anchor whose primary expertise is politics, not professional wrestling, if she decided to ring a bell to mark the end of one of the sparring sessions. On NewsNight, CNN producers appear to have set the networks signature Crossfire on a date with Fox News Channels The Five and sent them out for bottomless glasses of Red Bull. I feel like I need a degree in psychology, Phillip confides in a recent interview, because so much of the show is about just understanding our guests at the table, understanding where they are coming from and what they might say and how they might interact with one another. If her guests get loud, she says, well, so do people at home when they have their own conversations about politics and headlines. NewsNight, which launched in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Israel in October of last year, looked at first like most other programs on CNN and its main rivals, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. Phillip sat alone on set, always spoke directly to the audience and interviewed experts, analysts and newsmakers about the most important headlines of the day. Earlier this summer, CNN remade the program which shares its title with a primetime show anchored by Aaron Brown on the network in the early 2000s and it has quickly become the loudest thing on the schedule. The program operates at a volume that has almost become unrecognizable in these days of ownership under risk-averse Warner Bros. Discovery. Since Discovery snatched the former WarnerMedia from AT&T in April of 2022, CNNs tone has moderated. Gone are shows like New Day, which counted on morning co-anchors like Alisyn Camerota or Chris Cuomo to put newsmakers on the morning grill, and vanished are anchors like Don Lemon, who finished off the CNN schedule with hot talk about topics such as racism. Under the new corporate parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN has frowned upon anchors displaying passion, offering a personal view on the news or raising up the holy cause of journalism against those who might thwart it. New corporate overlords feared such stuff gave CNN the perception of having a liberal bias and made it unattractive to viewers with conservative leanings. In recent weeks, however, the network has seemed to be on the verge of rekindling its inner Zucker. CNN re-hired Brian Stelter, who anchored the long-running but now defunct Reliable Sources media-criticism program and became a CNN fixture under former president Jeff Zucker, who managed the network with significantly more flair during the Trump administration. CNN this past weekend launched a satirical comedy show that analyzes the weeks headlines, giving comedians Roy Wood Jr., Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black license to drop a few f-bombs during a Friday-night taping - and letting them survive the editing room. Could the strategy be working? Viewership for the retooled NewsNight is on the rise. To be sure, the overall audience for the program is small compared to its rivals, part of a broader decline in CNNs ratings in recent years. The NewsNight crowd remains under 1 million on most nights, while both Fox News Gutfeld and MSNBCs The Last Word with Lawrence ODonnell handily break that mark. Since launching in late July, however, the new format has sparked an 82% increase among viewers between 25 and 54 the demographic most coveted by advertisers in news programs when compared to its performance in June. More noticeable, perhaps: In September through the 11th, NewsNight had the second-highest viewership among the 25-to-54 crowd on CNN only Anderson Coopers 8 p.m. hour won more. The new format is one of the first tangible things to emerge on screen since CNN made longtime producer Charlie Moore, a veteran of Coopers program, its new vice president of primetime programming. The move was a sign that the network, which has, under CEO Mark Thompson, focused intently on developing a new digital strategy, understands that it can no longer cede the battle to win viewers on TV. The fees and ad revenue Warner Bros. Discovery collects from traditional CNN have diminished but remain substantial. Running primetime shows that cant win a million viewers per night is like allowing termites to keep nibbling away at the wood that undergirds a stately home. News networks often use moments of critical import such as an election cycle to test new concepts. ABC News Nightline sprouted up in the middle of the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 as a means of giving U.S. viewers a late update on developments. MSNBCs The 11th Hour initially launched in the fall of 2016 as what founding anchor Brian Williams called a pop up show that would air nightly from now until Election Day, when we will cancel ourselves. It has stayed on the schedule well beyond his exit in 2021, with programmers seeing an opportunity to give viewers a look at stories that break in the evening and might affect the news cycle come sun-up. Each weekday evening on NewsNight, a shifting panel that has included contributors such as Kara Swisher, Gretchen Carlson, Cari Champion, Jemele Hill and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina gets vocal about issues, largely because each grouping includes people from a variety of backgrounds. There may be a former Trump adviser on set alongside a protege of Senator Bernie Sanders. People may hail from the worlds of sports, culture or politics. And the panels often look nothing like the typical cable-news coterie, which has long been stocked to bursting with white men noodling over policy in Washington. On some nights, Phillip says she has had to use the commercial breaks to warn the assemblage that viewers cant make sense of the discussion if everyone talks at once. There have been some, well, moments. Producers make them even more heated by setting up a split-screen graphic that appears to pit one speaker against another. A July broadcast featuring Mace, professor Michael Eric Dyson and Democratic strategist Keith Boykin turned dissonant, with the three failing to find common ground and Mace refusing to pronounce Vice President Kamala Harris first name as the two other panelists insisted. In August, columnist LZ Granderson and political analyst Tara Setmayer got more and more offended by things uttered by conservative commentator Reihan Salam and vice versa. Still, guests are instructed to speak their minds. I was familiar with the tone of the round table before appearing as a guest, so I knew it was free-flowing and conversational, says Hill, who appeared recently on the program. But a few minutes before we stepped out on set, a producer told me that I didnt have to wait for Abby to direct a question toward me, that I could just jump in when I had a point and just to treat it like a regular conversation. That was it. There were no guardrails that were put on me. Such stuff is key. I just encourage people not to leave their authenticity at the door, says Phillip. We need that for this to work. If NewsNight strikes people as unusual for CNN, that means its succeeding, says Eric Hall, the shows executive producer. We made a concerted effort to differentiate this show compared to everything else youre seeing, he notes. He thinks this sort of conversation is the sort viewers want to see later at night. Theyve had a full day of following the headlines, and now they just want to blow off some steam. Sometimes, on NewsNight, they might even find resolution. If you have open dialogue, and open debate, and the host succeeds with everyone feeling a safe space to let it out, we agree more than we disagree, he says. No matter how torqued members of the panel get, Phillip never lets her temper rise. I would be lying if I told you that there were not times when Ive wanted to, she says, but I dont think thats helpful for an audience for me to add to the cacophony of sound. Her refusal to raise her voice seems to have lent her more authority. Panelists generally dont challenge her when she refutes a line of argument with facts CNN has reported. People should know that Im always trying to make sure that if I hear something that isnt right and I know something isnt right, Im going to say something about it, she says. NewsNight offers contributors something they may not get elsewhere: a chance to speak beyond soundbites (if they can muscle through the other guests). Jennings says most shows have in-studio guests arrayed alongside a flat table, as if they were in Leonardo DaVincis panting of the Last Supper. Its a little hard to make it feel like you are having what would be a normal, quick back and forth, he says. On NewsNight, the panelists face one another, not the camera, and they need to rise to a different occasion. You have to show up prepared to talk for most of an hour, and you cant you really cant show up with just talking points that someone handed you. Whats more, he says, you have to listen to the other guests. Now the only question is whether CNN will keep NewsNight boiling. The network has committed to maintaining the panel format thorough the 2024 election, according to both Phillip and Hall. Basically, it exists because we are trying to respond to whats happening in the news, and create a space for that, Phillip says. We are going to see what the news is and go from there. And yet, its hard not to keep an eye on the ratings. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Taylor Swift onstage in Nashville. The pop star recently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, earning the enmity of former President Trump. (George Walker IV / Associated Press) Last month on Truth Social, former President Trump reposted a collage of young women wearing Swifties for Trump T-shirts. Most of the images clearly looked as if theyd been generated by AI. I accept! Trump told his 7.1 million followers, prompting the worlds most famous childless cat lady to come at him with her claws out. Recently I was made aware that AI of me falsely endorsing Donald Trumps presidential run was posted to his site, Taylor Swift wrote on Instagram right after Vice President Kamala Harris wiped the floor with Trump in their first and probably only debate. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth. And so, she wrote, she will be voting for Harris for president, and signed her post "Childless Cat Lady." I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos, Swift told her 284 million followers. I dont know how many of them are American voters, but it takes only a tiny fraction of that number to change an outcome in a battleground state. In 2020, for example, Wisconsin voters chose President Biden over then-President Trump by 20,682 votes. In Georgia, it was even closer. Biden won the state by 11,779 votes, prompting Trumps infamous and arguably illegal plea to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find him 11,780 more votes. But I digress. Read more: Election 2024 (Taylor's Version): Swift outswaggers Trump with her Kamala Harris vote Swift also urged her legions of fans to register to vote, telling them, Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. ... Remember, that in order to vote, you have to be registered! She linked to a voter registration site operated by the federal government and the effect was immediate. More than 405,000 visitors clicked on the link in the 24 hours after Swift posted. Those clicks alone don't necessarily translate into new registrations, or to votes. But Tom Bonier, of the data firm TargetSmart, said they might. What we saw was this massive increase, were calling it the Swift Effect now, Bonier said last week on Face the Nation. And, he added, according to data compiled since 2020, about 80% of voters who register this late in the election cycle actually end up voting. A day after Swifts endorsement, Trump melted down like the Wicked Witch of the West. I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT! he screeched on Truth Social. That seemed even less presidential than usual for Trump. The outburst prompted MSNBCs Lawrence ODonnell to declare that he has the most hateful mind and spirit in presidential history. Read more: Abcarian: Think Donald Trump isn't really serious about being a dictator? Think again ODonnell researched presidential statements and was able to find only one other president who used the word hate so publicly, George H.W. Bush. I thought ODonnell was going to mention Bushs famous antipathy for broccoli, but he was referring to Bushs 2002 profession of hatred for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The thing about hate is that, like fear, its a powerful motivator. Hatred and fear, in fact, are the most important arrows in Trumps political quiver, integral to his dark vision of an America that is falling apart and in need of a savior. The Trump-Vance campaign's scapegoating of legal immigrants from Haiti who have settled in Springfield, Ohio, is a natural, if inexcusable, extension of the politics of hate. Likewise, his bizarrely close relationship with kooky racist Islamophobe Laura Loomer and, of course, his enduring embrace of the white nationalists and Holocaust deniers who swirl around Mar-a-Lago. His vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is an exemplar of how hatred is integral to Trumps success. Read more: Column: What Donald Trump's incomprehensible word salad about child care revealed I think our people hate the right people, Vance said in an interview with the American Conservative in 2021, when he was seeking his Senate seat. Maybe this was supposed to be a clever throwaway quote, along the lines of comparing Democrats to childless cat ladies, a trope Vance originated at around the same time. In profound ways, Vance's hate comment distills the very ethos of the MAGA movement. Its too soon to know whether turning Trump's hose of hatred on Swift will backfire on him. But how delightful would it be for a Harris victory to come in on little cat feet? @robinkabcarian 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. Abortion is quietly driving the voting conversation in Georgia even if it isnt on the ballot Activists rally outside the State Capitol in support of abortion rights in Atlanta, Georgia in May 2022. Harris campaign is quietly capitalizing on the issue to mobilize voters ahead of the election, even without a direct ballot initiative. Activists rally outside the State Capitol in support of abortion rights in Atlanta, Georgia in May 2022. Harris campaign is quietly capitalizing on the issue to mobilize voters ahead of the election, even without a direct ballot initiative. (Elijah Nouvelage/AFP/Getty Images) Your trusted source for contextualizing abortion and Election 2024 news. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Callie Beale Harper was 37 when she found out she was pregnant with twins. Already the mom to a four-year-old son, she and her husband were so excited to grow their family, they opted for noninvasive prenatal testing as soon as it was available, at 10 weeks gestational age. Two weeks later, they learned there was a 96 percent chance one of the twins had a chromosomal abnormality. A visit to a maternal-fetal specialist in Atlanta one week later confirmed their worst fears. As soon as the ultrasound technician located her son in utero, I immediately knew that so many things were wrong. His little body was incredibly swollen, completely filled with fluid, and that was honestly really painful to see, because I just hoped that he wasnt in pain, Beale Harper told The 19th. The doctor explained that there were multiple structural abnormalities that would make him incompatible with life. There was no hope for him, as far as any number of surgeries he could have had to then be OK. The doctor recommended a procedure known as selective reduction, when one of the fetuses in a multiple pregnancy is terminated to better the chances of a healthy pregnancy and birth for the remaining fetuses. It is a form of abortion. Beale Harper who describes herself as a lover of Jesus and great mom lives in Georgia, where such a procedure is illegal under the states six-week abortion ban. And she knows there are others in the state like her people who, for a wide variety of reasons, oppose the ban and feel motivated to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris because of it. Callie Beale Harper, a Georgia mother, stands in front of the Fighting for Reproductive Freedom campaign bus with her baby. (Courtesy of the Harris Campaign) Georgias constitution prohibits the kind of ballot initiatives that are popping up nationwide to codify abortion rights; for the existing six-week ban to be reversed, there would either have to be some kind of new federal law guaranteeing abortion access or a new bill passed by the Georgia legislature and signed into law by the governor. But for a broad and diverse coalition of Peach State voters, abortion is still on the ballot a reality that seems evident to reproductive rights advocates (and opponents) in the state, as well as the Harris campaign, which is putting time and resources into keeping the issue front and center. In every space that Ive walked into since Kamala Harris has been at the top of the ticket, abortion has been part of the discussion, Democratic Georgia state Rep. Shea Roberts told The 19th. So even though we cant do a citizen-led ballot initiative, these events are packed. The campaign weighed in Sept. 17 on new reporting from ProPublica on the fatal impact of the ban. This is exactly what we feared when Roe was struck down, the vice president said in a released statement. The Harris campaign last month kicked off a 50-stop bus tour, Fighting for Reproductive Freedom, in battleground states. The tour made three stops in Georgia, just one week after the vice president herself held a rally in Savannah. Beale Harper met Harris during the Savannah rally and then shared her story with attendees at the bus-stop tour there the following week. The platform provided by the vice presidents campaign is only one way that regular Georgians like Beale Harper are serving as surrogates to connect with others in their community about their stories and the upcoming election. Beale Harper is now reaching out to churches and church leaders across the state about why faith and reproductive freedom are not incompatible and an important vote driver. In a state that is religiously, racially and culturally diverse, some conversations are louder, some are quieter but they are happening in public and private spaces alike as Georgians look for ways to vote their beliefs. Nearly 75 percent of Georgians including 62 percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Democrats do not want to see abortion criminalized before the point of fetal viability, according to respondents in a University of Maryland poll released on September 4. Nearly the same percentage of all voters and 86 percent of Black voters described banning abortion at six weeks as very or somewhat concerning in polling from last year conducted by Reproductive Freedom For All (formerly NARAL), an advocacy group that opposes restrictions to abortion. Abortion is always on the ballot for Black women, but not as a standalone issue, according to Jara Butler, the chief impact officer for Supermajority, a progressive grassroots organization that focuses on mobilizing young women voters. She has previously worked for Georgians for Choice, a no-longer active group in the state that worked on coalition-building around reproductive freedom, specifically focused on organizing Black women, especially in rural parts of the state and within Black churches. When we think about reproductive freedom, we really need to expand that to reproductive justice because for communities of color, especially Black women, its about having access to information that will help you carry a pregnancy to term, Butler said. Abortion is a critical voting issue for Black women because it doesnt matter what your socioeconomic status is every time that you become pregnant, you risk your life and the life of your child, she said. This is all the more true for Black women outside of metro Atlanta, especially those in more rural parts of the state, according to Butler. The less access you have to medical care, the more doctors are referring you to a city center for care which means the less likely you are close to a hospital, Butler said. And if you have a high-risk pregnancy, where are you going to go? Georgia is one of 10 states that has not fully expanded Medicaid, which limits not only local care and easy hospital access, but ways to pay for prenatal and postnatal care. Black women in rural Georgia, in particular, are concerned about not only what happens in regard to the care they can or cannot receive during pregnancy, but what happens once a new baby is born. What were hearing from the ground is that they are looking at this in totality that abortion is an economic issue, that abortion is a public health issue, that abortion is a life or death issue, Butler said. What this means is Black women-led conversations within their own communities about the stakes in this election and how abortion factors into them. Black women have always had to advocate for ourselves, she said. We are talking to each other and we are having frank conversations, but were also talking to the Black community as a whole. Were talking to Black men and saying, You all need to listen to us because we want better outcomes for ourselves. The galvanizing potential for Georgia voters who oppose the six-week ban (and related restrictions) has not been lost on state lawmakers. You will notice that the Republican-majority legislature has really tried to restrict or block any further abortion restriction bills from coming up to the floor in the state legislature, said Georgia state Rep. Michelle Au. They have the majority they could pass basically anything they want, but they know that theyve pushed it basically as far as it can go in Georgia. They know this is probably a losing issue for them. She points to the way that bills restricting access to medication abortion and telemedicine have been stymied and blocked by the Republican-led legislature. They know that the more we talk about abortion, the more theyre going to lose. They dont want people to be talking about abortion when they go to the ballot box. Roberts, who represents parts of the Sandy Springs and Buckhead communities of Atlanta, previously sponsored a bill to restore abortion access and allow Medicaid coverage. She wasnt even granted a chance for a hearing on her bill. This is how much my Republican colleagues do not want to talk about the topic. In her district, she finds that women are frequently and loudly talking about the loss of reproductive rights theyve experienced. Even without a ballot initiative, it is a topic that many of her constituents mention and organize around. Roberts, who went public with her own abortion story after Georgias six-week ban went into effect in 2022, started a new political action committee, United for Georgia Women, this summer to invest in local candidates to attempt to flip more seats in the state legislature. She said 13 seats would need to flip to break the Republican trifecta. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally in Savannah, Georgia, as part of her Fighting for Reproductive Freedom tour in August 2024. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Getty Images) With Vice President Harris at the top of the ticket, the energy is very high in Georgia, and I am really feeling confident that she is going to win Georgia, she said, adding that she hopes this will translate to down-ballot races as well. When door-knocking, Roberts still hears plenty of women telling her that life begins at conception or that they are concerned that if the six-week ban is overturned, pregnant people might choose to have abortions right before delivery. She has also met many women who seem eager to talk, only to be joined by their husbands who say their wives arent interested in speaking further. Encounters like this are in part why were also trying to spread the message that when you get in the voting booth, its you and you alone, and theyre not going to know how you vote, Roberts said. Without an option for a ballot initiative, abortion-as-a-voting-issue is sometimes discussed privately rather than in large public forums, and one place these conversations are taking place is in hospitals. As an anesthesiologist at an Atlanta hospital, Au said shes heard from numerous medical providers who are concerned about the environment that has been created for medical practice and patient care in the state as a result of the six-week ban. Many traditional Republican colleagues at the hospital have essentially been turned into Democrats not just because of the extremism they see with [former President Donald] Trump, but specifically related to reproductive health care access and the restrictions [the six-week ban] places on patient care, she told The 19th. In Georgia, this also means the threat of criminalization of doctors. I think that is really, really scary to people, Au said. She said she is also hearing quiet concerns about the impacts of the states abortion ban among her own constituents. Au represents Johns Creek, a northeastern suburb with a high percentage of AAPI voters. Au said that she has heard from AAPI voters in her community, many of them first- and second-generation immigrants, that for them, abortion is a purely medical issue, as opposed to a religious or cultural one. For these voters, its perplexing to come to a country which espouses all these freedoms then to have this one very personal medical decision be dictated by the state. Though cultural issues might keep these conversations out of the foreground, Au said that, privately, it is something voters routinely bring up with her. These private conversations about abortion reflect the kind of long-standing cultural stigmas that can still exist in some parts of the state, according to Beale Harper. In the South, theres a lot of judgment. People cant even tell their families about it, she said. At the end of August, she shared her abortion experience on social media. Five days later, she was face to face with Harris in Savannah. She said she hopes that publicly sharing her story in person and on political stages can help change the narrative and connect the dots for others. Her own abortion story didnt end at her maternal-fetal specialists office. Because of Georgias abortion law, Beale Harpers doctor couldnt offer her referrals or help her research options. He said the state wouldnt allow him to do so. Beale Harper ultimately made appointments in three different states, taking the advice of her physicians office not to cancel any of them until she had a successful procedure. She ultimately ended up going to a doctor in New York City whose first available appointment was four weeks out. Last October, Beale Harper was overjoyed when she gave birth to a healthy baby girl at 27 weeks. But she also felt outraged thinking about the experience she had in accessing the health care she needed and the pressure she felt to be ashamed of her choice. It was a choice she didnt feel conflicted about making, even as she mourned the loss of a child she wanted. Countless women have reached out to Beale Harper since she shared her story. All more or less telling her the same thing: They are Christian women who for whatever reason needed and received abortions, and felt like they couldnt tell anyone. And they oppose Georgias six-week ban. To check your voter registration status or to get more information about registering to vote, text 19thnews to 26797. The post Abortion is quietly driving the voting conversation in Georgia even if it isnt on the ballot appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter. CAIRO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israel's alleged attacks on communication devices used by Hezbollah in Lebanon have triggered widespread condemnation from regional and international powers, raising fears of an escalating conflict in the Middle East. Lebanese officials reported that explosions targeting pagers and handheld radios killed at least 26 people, including two children, and injured more than 3,200 others across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. The attacks, which Israel has not claimed responsibility for, came amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib denounced the incidents as "a blatant assault on Lebanon's sovereignty and security and a clear violation of all international conventions and norms." He called on the United Nations to exert maximum pressure on Israel to stop its escalation and implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. The attacks coincided with an announcement by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of a "new phase" in the conflict with Hezbollah. Speaking at a military airbase in northern Israel on Wednesday, Gallant stated that Israel is "shifting northward by reallocating resources, energy, and forces." This move followed a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet to expand the war's objectives, aiming to facilitate the return of Israelis displaced by cross-border fighting with Hezbollah. The incidents have drawn sharp criticism from across the region. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian strongly condemned the attack on Wednesday, describing it as a "disgrace to Western states and especially the Americans." He called for greater unity among Muslim states to counter what he termed "crimes and cruelty by Israel and its supporters against the oppressed Palestinians and Muslim world." Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that Israel's actions were "pushing the entire region toward the abyss." Speaking at a meeting of the Arab-Islamic ministerial committee in Amman, Safadi emphasized the need for immediate de-escalation in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. He urged the international community to take practical steps to hold Israel accountable for what he described as violations of international and humanitarian law. The Arab League condemned what it called "treacherous Israeli attacks on communication devices in Lebanon." Syria's Foreign Ministry echoed this sentiment, describing the incidents as a "bloody aggression" and an "act of terrorism" against Lebanese civilians. Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned of the dangers of sliding into a comprehensive regional war during phone calls with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Foreign Minister Bou Habib. Abdelatty emphasized that the rapid developments in southern Lebanon indicate the region is on the verge of a dangerous turning point. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the explosions "a monstrous act of terrorism" and "an obvious attempt to ignite a major conflict." She urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from actions that could further destabilize the region. The Houthi group in Yemen, an ally of Hezbollah, also joined the chorus of condemnation, with spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam calling the attacks a "heinous crime and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty." As tensions continue to rise, the Lebanese government has begun preparing a complaint to the UN Security Council. The Council of Ministers stressed that they have contacted concerned countries and the United Nations to hold responsible parties accountable for what they termed an "ongoing crime." Abortion rights are on 10 state ballots in November Democrats cant count on this to win elections for them Ten states will vote on ballot initiatives on abortion this November: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada and South Dakota. Many political analysts and pundits view abortion as a partisan issue, fueling speculation that direct votes on abortion rights will boost Democrats chances up and down the ballot in November. Some Democratic strategists are hoping that turnout from the ballot initiatives will swing elections away from Republican candidates in key states such as Arizona, Nevada and Florida. But the effects that ballot measures have on which candidates win or lose is rarely so straightforward. For the past three years, my work as a political sociologist has been cataloging and studying ballot initiatives. Based on state-level data and recent trends, I believe it is highly likely that many of Novembers ballot initiatives to protect abortion rights will pass. But that will not necessarily translate into broader Democratic candidate victories. An attendee wears a vote for life shirt during a rally in Kentucky ahead of the abortion ballot vote in October 2022. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images The wave of abortion rights votes The U.S. Supreme Court overturned half a century of federal abortion protections in June 2022, sending the question of whether and when people can get an abortion back to individual states to decide. Republican legislators in Kansas quickly seized the opportunity and rushed a referendum enabling them to ban abortion onto the August 2022 primary ballot. It backfired. Despite being majority Republican, almost 60% of Kansas voters rejected the abortion ban. In 2022 and 2023, voters in six more states protected abortion rights with ballot initiatives. Kentucky and Montana voters rejected abortion bans, while California, Michigan, Ohio and Vermont voted to codify abortion rights in their state constitutions, all through ballot measures. Ballot initiatives are nonpartisan Ballot initiatives also called propositions, measures, referendums and more refer to votes on a policy instead of a politician. In some states, voters can put initiatives on the ballot by gathering signatures. In all states except one Delaware state legislators can put issues directly before voters in the form of a referendum. In other instances, such as amending most state constitutions, decisions must go to a popular vote. The media often portrays U.S. politics through a polarized, two-party lens. Ballot initiatives do not necessarily fit the mold. Ballot initiative votes on topics such as the minimum wage and Medicaid expansion show that some policies are popular across Democratic and Republican party affiliations. For example, raising the minimum wage is undefeated in 24 ballot initiatives at the state level since 1996, including in traditionally conservative, liberal and swing states. The state ballots that wound up serving wins on abortion rights since 2022 reflect a similar dynamic. The issue is polarizing, but not down the middle and not strictly along party lines. Nationwide polls show long-standing majority support for abortion rights, including among many Republicans. Inconclusive at best There is research indicating that ballot initiatives can increase voter turnout. However, most studies show mixed results and limited effects. Looking at turnout numbers in the 2022 and 2023 state elections that had votes on abortion rights, and comparing them with those same states previous election numbers, we dont see compelling evidence for the ballot measures bringing out more voters. Michigan and Vermont had increased turnout in 2022, while voter numbers decreased in California, Kentucky and Montana. Kansas in 2022 and Ohio in 2023 both saw voter gains, but those votes are poor comparisons, because they took place in a primary and an odd-year election, respectively, when turnout tends to be low. Ballot initiatives on abortion rights, whether to codify or ban them, also appear to have little impact on partisan elections. After defeating the abortion ban in August 2022, Kansas voters went on to reelect both the Democratic incumbent governor and a Republican incumbent senator that November. Kansas House seats remained unchanged, with Republicans holding a supermajority. In Kentucky and Montana, a majority of voters rejected abortion bans in 2022 and continued to elect Republicans to state office. In Michigan, Democrats took control of the state Legislature in 2022 alongside the states vote for abortion rights. It is possible that Michigans blue wave in 2022 got a boost from the states ballot initiative to protect abortion rights that year. However, it likely had more to do with direct legislation from the previous election. In 2018, Michigan voters passed a ballot initiative to create an independent redistricting commission that undid years of gerrymandering that had benefited Republicans. These redrawn maps were first used in 2022. Most importantly, just because a voter cares deeply about abortion rights does not necessarily mean they will vote for Democrats. Republican women voters overwhelmingly support the right to abortion in all states. Meanwhile, about 6% of voters chose uncommitted in Nevadas 2024 Democratic primary, in line with the national uncommitted movement in solidarity with Palestinians. This political movement advocates withholding support for Democrats over the Biden administrations support for Israels war in Gaza. Those voters are highly likely to support the states abortion initiative in November but may not be persuaded to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris or other Democrats. Signs supporting the upcoming abortion ballot initiative in Montana are displayed during a rally in Bozeman on Sept. 5, 2024. William Campbell/Getty Images Democrats cant rely on abortion ballot initiatives Ballot initiatives are about specific issues, not political candidates. In this case, the issue of abortion rights has more nationwide support than the Democratic Party does. If Democratic politicians want to win in November from Harris and Tim Walz to state and local candidates they will need to persuade voters based on their merits compared with their Republican counterparts. They cant count on abortion initiatives to win the 2024 election for them. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Benjamin Case, Arizona State University Read more: Benjamin Case does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) An accused serial killer who Las Vegas police suspect worked as a hit man as part of a government loan fraud scheme allegedly tracked his four victims with GPS and took pictures of them, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained. Prosecutors filed three new open murder charges against Michael Coleman, 40, on Tuesday, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. Officers arrested Coleman in May 2023 for what detectives said was his fourth and final murder in the series. Carl Chester, Jr., 41, who himself was murdered in May, ordered Coleman to commit the murders in retaliation for not receiving his cut of PPP fraud money, police said. The Paycheck Protection Program was intended to help companies pay and retain employees during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. Chester, a known gang leader, ordered each hit for money owed to him, LVMPD Lt. Jason Johansson said. Michael Coleman, 40, appears in Las Vegas Justice Court on Sept. 18, 2024. (KLAS) As this fraudulent money that was obtained by Carl Chester and his associates was disbursed to individuals, Chester would typically receive his cut of the money for the work that he did, or how they got the lead to get the loan, Johansson said. After tracking the victims, Michael Coleman would wait and ambush them, shooting all the victims multiple times, police said in documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained. From May 2021 until February 2023, Coleman allegedly killed three men and one woman. He was also accused of injuring a bystander in one of the shootings. May 30, 2021: Benjamin McCarty, Jr. Benjamin McCarty, Jr., 49, was shot and killed while working on his car in a parking lot on Charleston Boulevard near Interstate 11. Police said Coleman parked near McCarty, ran up to McCarty and shot him. Detectives identified Arlanders Gibson as the getaway driver and arrested him. Police learned Gibson and Coleman communicated before McCartys murder, documents said. Surveillance video also showed Gibson picking up Coleman 15 minutes before the murder. Benjamin McCarty, Jr., 49, was shot while working on his car in a parking lot in the 3900 block of Charleston Boulevard. (KLAS) A photo on Colemans phone also showed McCarthy in the parking lot minutes before the murder, police said. Gibson later took a plea deal. McCartys murder was the only murder out of the four that had no connection to Chester, Johannson said Tuesday. Police said that McCarty, Gibson and Coleman were all part of a gang and police believe the motive behind the murder was internal strife. Nov. 23, 2021: Marcus Larry Marcus Larry, 39, was shot multiple times inside the Teriyaki Madness on Charleston Boulevard near Town Center Drive. An employee at the restaurant was also shot several times and survived. Police initially identified and arrested Oscar Richardson, Jr., Larrys cousin, as the suspect but he was later released once police obtained evidence that he was innocent. A week after Larrys murder, two people told police they believed Richardson paid Chester to have Larry killed, documents said. In 2023, prosecutors exonerated Richardson. Marcus Larry, 39, was shot multiple times inside the Teriyaki Madness restaurant on Charleston Boulevard near Town Center Drive on Nov. 23, 2021. (KLAS) A day after the Teriyaki Madness murder, officers towed a car that was found running and blocking a parking lot at the Red Rock Resort. DNA from the car and its keys matched Coleman. Detectives also learned several people associated with Chester placed GPS trackers on Larrys car. Nov. 26, 2022: William Hill William Hill Jr., 54, was shot and killed outside his home while working on a car near Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lake Mead boulevards. William Hill was outside and standing in the street when a man walked toward him and shot him, documents said. The shooter then pointed the gun at another man but did not shoot. William Hill Jr., 54, was shot and killed outside his home while working on his car near Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lake Mead boulevards. (KLAS) William Hills wife told police that she learned her husband was possibly targeted as part of an ongoing gang feud involving the PPP money. Hills son, Shavonte Hill, received more than $42,000 in federal money, lying on an application that he owned a barbershop when he did not, federal documents said. In January, Shavonte Hill pleaded guilty to federal charges and was serving a 30-month sentence. Hills wife told police her husband may have been killed because Shavonte Hill was in custody, documents said. A day after the murder, a person contacted police and implicated Chester for the murder, saying Chester paid Coleman to have William Hill killed, documents said. Police obtained video surveillance of a car they suspected to be involved in the murder, linking it to Colemans mother, documents said. In January 2023, William Hills daughter contacted police, alleging the murder was over a debt involving her uncle and PPP money, documents said. William Hills daughter said her uncle received $75,000 in government money and did not split the money with Chester. She also told police a second man, Demarcus Banks, was hired to kill her father, documents said. Police suspect Banks drove Coleman to William Hills house to kill him. Banks died in August 2023 during an attempted home invasion. Feb. 27, 2023: Kidada Stewart Kidada Stewart, 48, was shot and killed outside of a home near Fort Apache Road and Mountains Edge Way in the southwest valley. Video from the area showed a car matching the earlier murders parked next to Stewarts home before her death. When Stewart came home, a person in the car fired several shots toward her, killing her. Kidada Stewart, 48, was shot and killed outside of a home near Fort Apache Road and Mountains Edge Way in the southwest valley. (KLAS) Police tracked Coleman to Stewarts murder from a traffic stop in Arizona 12 hours after the shooting. The Arizona trooper released Stewart on a warning. Officers arrested him in May 2023 after a standoff. On March 2, 2023, police stopped a woman who was driving the car. The next day and after obtaining a search warrant, detectives found a ghost gun one assembled at home and made without a serial number in the engine compartment, they said. Police arrested Coleman for Stewarts murder on May 4, 2023. He initially refused to leave his home and surrender, prompting a barricade. Detectives obtained a search warrant for Colemans phone, finding several email accounts on it. One account had multiple messages from a Las Vegas-area phone number about William Hill and his brother and their addresses, documents said. Detectives reviewed the conversation and believed they were discussing what ultimately would be the murder of William Hill, documents said. Michael Coleman discussed watching [Hills house] where William Hill was murdered, and being cautious so they would not get caught. Detectives believe this photo shows Michael Coleman, 40, during the November 2021 murder at Teriyaki Madness. (KLAS) Police later identified Chester as the person Coleman was communicating with, they said. In July 2023, a gun found in the engine compartment matched cartridge casings found from Larrys murder. Police suspect Coleman may be involved in an attempted murder from January 2021. Chester was shot and killed on May 18, police said. In court Wednesday, Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Rebecca Saxe denied setting bail in Colemans new criminal case. Coleman has remained in custody on $250,000 bail since his arrest for Stewarts murder in 2023. In addition to the three added murder charges, Coleman faces charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. Chester, Coleman and Gibson all served time in federal custody on gang-related charges. Gibson admitted he was the leader of the Rolling 60s Crips in West Las Vegas, documents said. Coleman shot a man in 2003 in North Las Vegas after the man disrespected him. In 2006, a federal judge sentenced Coleman to 12 years in prison. Coleman wrote a letter before sentencing, asking for a second chance and saying he wanted to apologize to the various communities of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada. After his release from prison in the 2010s, Coleman violated terms of his release and was ordered back to prison for six months. He was last released in 2017, records said. 8 News Now Investigator David Charns can be reached at dcharns@8newsnow.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 KLAS. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) A 61-year-old was arrested Wednesday after a threat was made against the Central Alabama Veterans Medical Center in Montgomery. According to ALEA, the threatening call came in around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and sent the hospital into a temporary lockdown. Investigation led to the arrest of Michael Barnett, 61. Barnett was charged with Making Terroristic Threats and Rendering False Alarm to a Hospital. Barnett was booked into the Montgomery County Jail with an $18,000 bond. The lockdown at the CAVHCS has now been lifted. No further information is available as the investigation is ongoing. 1 injured, another arrested after road rage shooting in Gadsden Stay with CBS 42 for this is 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 CBS 42. Atlanta residents opposed to the public safety training center being built in South River Forest known as Cop City protested its construction by dropping 116,000 ping pong balls during a City Council meeting on Monday. Each ball was meant to symbolize one signature that organizers said they gathered for a petition to hold a ballot referendum to allow Atlantans to vote on the controversial facility, which would cost at least $67 million. Last Wednesday marked a full year since the petitions were submitted to the city clerk. The signatures have yet to be counted. I feel disappointed and I feel activated, said Christina Lazare, an East Atlanta resident who signed the petition and canvassed in her neighborhood to get others to sign. Cop City has been polarizing since former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the project in her 2021 State of the City address. While some believe it will allow better training for law enforcement, opponents feel it will further militarize the police, exacerbating the brutality experienced primarily by Black Atlanta residents. Lazare was one of dozens of residents who spoke during public comment at Mondays council meeting to ask that her signature be counted. This has activated me to speak up more, to fight more, she said. It shows the importance of why we all need to register to vote. In order to get an issue on the ballot, a petition needs to be signed by 15% of registered Atlanta voters or 58,231 signatures. Only people who registered for the most recent general election, which took place in 2021, were eligible to sign. An independent review of the petitions performed by The Associated Press, WABE, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Georgia Public Broadcast counted 108,500 signatures. A statistical analysis done on 1,000 signatures found just more than half matched a registered city of Atlanta voter, meaning it is possible enough signatures were collected to get the issue on the ballot. The push for Cop City Vote Cop Citys opponents began to mobilize almost immediately after the facility was announced in 2021 less than a year after the respective police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Atlanta resident Rayshard Brooks sparked widespread protests. The movement, dubbed Stop Cop City, united racial and environmental justice activists who opposed the city building the training center in one of the areas largest remaining forests. Last June, days after the City Council voted to approve $67 million in funding for the project, a coalition of local activists, community organizers, and residents launched Cop City Vote, a petition campaign to get Cop City on the ballot. It was the right thing to do a year ago, said Jacqueline Echols, president of the South River Watershed Alliance. Because if you dont care about the environment, maybe you care about the vote. Echols organization has been involved in the movement to cease Cop Citys development since its inception, claiming its construction is polluting nearby Intrenchment Creek. The organization has tried to persuade the Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to intervene by enforcing the Clean Water Act. Petitioners had 60 days to collect the required signatures, and the signatures had to be collected by an Atlanta resident. However, because the training center is being built outside city limits in unincorporated DeKalb County, a few people who live in the neighborhoods surrounding Cop City sued to be able to collect signatures, too. A federal judge ruled in favor of the DeKalb residents and extended the deadline for 60 days. In December, lawyers for the city argued in front of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that the judge ruled incorrectly and therefore they are not required to count or verify the signatures because they were not submitted within the original 60-day timeframe. By that time, Atlanta had spent $1.3 million on legal services and consultant fees related to the case. [The city doesnt] even have the respect to look at our signatures. Instead, theyre spending over a million dollars of our money fighting not to count our signatures, said Maryam Ahmed, an Edgewood resident who volunteered to collect signatures for the petition last summer. The city wont begin the signature verification process until the 11th Circuit Court makes a decision. While there is no timeline on federal rulings, organizers expected a decision to have been made by now. I think that the city has given up [its] power to the 11th Circuit Court in order to say that they have no responsibility and they cant do anything, said Mary Hooks, a local activist and community organizer. Hooks was the first person to sign the petition last summer, and also helped to deliver the signed petitions to the city clerks office. Since then, Hooks has continued to organize with Stop Cop City and put pressure on the city to begin the signature verification process. [City] Council could today put this thing on the ballot, Hooks added. Politicians are clamoring for people to get out and vote in November, yet there are 116,000 signatures sitting upstairs and no action is being taken, Echols said while waiting for Mondays council meeting to begin. Some activists feel the refusal to count the signatures is more than just a failure of leadership; its a failure of local Democrats to keep their promise to protect voting rights. In February, the City Council unanimously passed legislation for a referendum on a 1% sales tax to fund water and sewage projects. The referendum was held on May 21 during the primary elections. The fact that they have been unmovable [on the decision to count signatures] says to me that they did not sign up to represent the interests of the people, Hooks said. The office of current Mayor Andre Dickens did not respond to requests for comment. The post Activists Protest Cop City by Dropping Thousands of Balls During City Council Meeting appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta. Photos via Getty Images; photo-illustration by Them Former president Donald Trumps comments during the presidential debate that Kamala Harris supports transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison have been memed into oblivion. But ACLU attorney Chase Strangio wants us to remember that Trumps stumbling, erratic ramblings reveal the true depth and breadth of right-wing efforts to deny trans people everywhere our basic civil liberties. Trumps comments appear to be based on a 2019 ACLU survey of presidential candidates, resurfaced by CNN the day before the debate and widely reported by the media. The survey asked whether candidates would use their executive authority as president to ensure that trans people who rely on the state for medical treatment, including incarcerated and detained trans people, have access to gender-affirming care, to which Harris answered that she would. The vast majority of the reporting on this survey failed to note one important detail: Incarcerated people are already constitutionally entitled to medical care, including transgender people. But Trumps comments at the September 10 debate, which also sought to whip up anti-immigrant sentiment, gave off the impression that gender-affirming care is universally and easily accessible, so much so that its being given out willy-nilly, including to people in prison and detention. But we know the opposite is true: Even in states without bans and restrictions on gender-affirming care, trans people face long wait times and other obstacles, while Republicans remain singularly focused on reducing access, successfully banning it for youth in 26 states. This is particularly true for incarcerated and detained people: accessing gender-affirming care, or even housing that aligns with ones gender identity, remains a significant challenge for trans and gender nonconforming people in prison and jail. Those barriers to access often come on top of harassment and violence. A recent report that examined the treatment of LGBTQ+ and HIV-positive people in federal immigration jails found that detained trans people not only face the verbal, physical, and sexual abuse that echoes what incarcerated trans people experience, but their hormone therapy is often delayed or outright denied. As the report notes, this denial is especially harmful for people who had already been taking hormones before being detained. Thats why Chase Strangio, co-director for the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Project, argues that supporting the provision of gender-affirming care for detained immigrants is not a wild notion, as one New York Times article labeled it after the debate; rather, its a constitutional right that we should expect our elected officials to enforce. Strangio spoke with Them over email about how this latest spate of fear mongering in particular bucks up against decades of legal precedent that supports basic medical care for transgender people in the governments custody. What should people know about the current landscape when it comes to gender-affirming care for trans people who are incarcerated or held in immigration detention? Basically, what care are they able to obtain? I think the first point to make sure people understand is that immigration detainees are civil (not criminal) detainees and so the conditions of their incarceration are governed by one set of constitutional standards, while different constitutional standards govern the conditions that post-conviction individuals incarcerated in local, state, or federal custody are subject to. In all of these detention and incarceration contexts, the U.S. Constitution prohibits individuals from being subjected to conditions that amount to cruel or unusual punishment or that amount to punishment without due process. Courts have consistently held that blanket denials of medical care, including medical treatment related to gender dysphoria, are unconstitutional. This is a clear constitutional principle that applies in all confinement settings. The government, once it confines someone against their will, cannot deliberately withhold needed medical care. Of course, in practice, people in all forms of detention face catastrophic denials of healthcare. The fact that the Constitution prohibits something does not mean that government officials comply with those clear commands. Last week, you said in a post on Instagram that the latest iteration of the anti-trans discourse highlights the fact that the assault on gender-affirming care involves not just trans kids but trans adults, too. Can you explain what you mean? Since 2021, we have faced an onslaught of legislative attacks on gender-affirming medical care for transgender adolescents. In 2021, Arkansas became the first state to categorically ban medical treatment for trans adolescents over the veto of Republican former Governor Asa Hutchinson. Now, half the country bans this medical care for adolescents. In defense of these bans, lawmakers, anti-trans advocates, and others claim that the concern with the treatment is that minors are too young to understand the effects of treatment (even though it is their parents who consent) and that the data supporting interventions for minors is not well developed. Neither of these claims is accurate but the increasing efforts to ban care for adults betrays the dishonesty animating bans on care for minors. This was never about protecting young people; the efforts to ban our medical care are part of a larger agenda to limit life chances for transgender people. Do you want to comment specifically on the way the New York Times characterized the idea of gender-affirming care for incarcerated people (as you discussed in another Instagram post last week)? In the wake of the most recent debate between former President Trump and Vice President Harris, the New York Times and others have flippantly referred to Trumps claim about Harris supporting treatment, including surgical treatment, for transgender immigrants in custody as wild. The origin of this claim on the debate stage was a CNN breaking report about Harriss responses to a 2019 questionnaire that the ACLU (my employer) submitted to all the 2020 Democratic nominees for President. The questionnaire asked a series of questions about the candidates stances on basic constitutional questions, including on the treatment of transgender people in custody. It was a five-year old document that reflected nothing more than Harriss willingness to follow the Constitution. That it was reported on by CNN as though it was some scandal reflects the extent to which the discourse around trans people and immigrants has continued to devolve led in significant part by the media over the last five years. CNN distorted a basic constitutional principle into a debate night scandal that was then repeated by Trump and reported on by the New York Times as being wild. This, of course, is consistent with the way in which the New York Times and other publications have covered health care for transgender people as something to be debated rather than a form of medical treatment that is pursued by patients and families consistent with the recommendations of doctors and medical associations. Again, the implication in this reporting is that it is preposterous to suggest that a transgender person in government custody should receive a medical intervention that might save their life. For decades, federal courts have upheld this principle, and yet it has been cast as patently absurd within the lens of our current public discourse. Our health care isnt a joke and some of the people claiming to be mocking Trump are really mocking us. You point out in that post that the 8th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution require the provision of medical care for people in prison/detention. So, why is it being treated as controversial for Harris to say she would have supported gender-affirming care including surgery for incarcerated trans people? This basic constitutional requirement is being treated as controversial because the media and state and federal lawmakers have so effectively demonized transgender people and immigrants that the idea that the Constitution would protect us is itself seen as something bordering on a joke. I have been a part of lawsuits challenging the denial of health care for transgender people in civil and criminal custody and it is one of the clearest areas of law that I have litigated in and yet we have allowed our medical treatment to become the subject of a media debate and the effect of debating the legitimacy of our health care is that it is being and will continue to be eroded at every level for people of all ages in and out of detention. Heres Why Trump Is Talking About Transgender Operations on Illegal Aliens Trumps remark became a meme pretty much instantly. So, where did it come from? Amid the jokes and memes about what Trump said at the debate, what do you want people to know/understand about rights for incarcerated trans people and/or access to gender-affirming care and how either is being used in the election cycle? I appreciate the memes from and for trans people about our transgender operations because amid the absurdity we must ourselves find levity. But it is at the same time important for actual journalists to clarify that there is nothing funny, controversial, or scandalous about affording people in custody their basic constitutional rights to medical treatment. Anything less would be cruel, unusual, and inhumane. The rhetoric around asylum seekers, all immigrants, and trans people has become so dangerous that we will continue to see the catastrophic material effects of this discourse for years and possibly generations. We collectively have a responsibility to disrupt the election-year efforts to demonize groups of people to deflect from our institutional failures. Do you want to add anything about the weaponization of anti-immigrant and anti-trans sentiment? Every day the anti-immigrant and anti-trans sentiment is escalating. Behind all the memes are communities of people Haitian immigrants, Venezuelan asylum-seekers, trans youth and adults just trying to survive in a world that has long imperiled their survival opportunities. I look first to the media especially on the left to do better. Our health care isnt a joke and some of the people claiming to be mocking Trump are really mocking us. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Get the best of whats queer. Sign up for Thems weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them. An Ashville Village Council member and longtime GOP consultant resigned from Bernie Moreno's Senate campaign last week after he clashed with police during a traffic stop involving another Moreno staffer. Colton Henson served as a political adviser for Moreno, who's running against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in one of the country's most competitive U.S. Senate races. His decision to step down came after the Scioto Valley Guardian an outlet run by former longshot congressional candidate Derek Myers published a report about the incident, which took place over Labor Day weekend. Henson was a passenger when Abby Wright, his girlfriend and a finance assistant for Morenos campaign, failed to properly stop at a stop sign, according to an incident report and body camera video obtained by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau. The footage shows Henson confronting police, at one point telling an officer to "f--- off," and calling a state representative to the scene for legal counsel. "Respect for law enforcement is a core value of our campaign and because Mr. Henson's behavior did not meet that standard, he has resigned his position," said Chris Grant, a general consultant for Moreno's campaign. "While we appreciate his service, accountability requires tough decisions. Bernie has personally called the law enforcement involved to apologize for the incident and reinforce his respect for the incredible job they do for our community." Attorney General Dave Yost, left, listens to then-Bernie Moreno adviser Colton Henson during an event in Lancaster on Aug. 9. Wright was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after officers smelled alcohol on her breath and performed a field sobriety test, the report states. She told police she drank two glasses of wine and had just come from a local restaurant. Officers also cited her for driving a car with expired tags and having a New York driver's license, even though she's been in Ohio for three years. Wright was later charged with reckless operation, a fourth degree misdemeanor, and paid the associated fines, according to court records. "Ms. Wright cooperated and was respectful to law enforcement while they executed their proper role and duties," Grant said. "She has accepted responsibility, paid her fines, and has had her license and vehicle returned. We consider this matter closed." Henson is still listed as a member of the Ashville Village Council on its website. He was first appointed to the position last year and reelected in November. "I'm not proud of my language and how I conducted myself; I wasnt raised to be rude," Henson said in a statement. "I apologized to those involved and my constituents and neighbors. I am proud of the work I did on behalf of Bernie Moreno. Me as an individual should never distract from his important mission." What happened during the traffic stop? Henson was immediately combative toward police after they stopped Wright near his home, according to body camera footage. He tried to block them from talking to Wright and repeatedly interrupted as they performed her sobriety test. He accused officers of harassing Wright, violating her constitutional rights and illegally searching the vehicle. When an officer warned Henson that he could be arrested for obstructing their investigation, he sarcastically asked, "Are you going to tase me?" Henson also invoked the name of Pickaway County Sheriff Matthew Hafey, telling an officer: "We'll go to the sheriff's office. We'll go see Sheriff Hafey. We'll see how it goes." State Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, eventually appeared on the scene at Henson's request and spoke with officers. Stewart is an attorney and longtime friend of Henson's and said he was there to serve as legal counsel for Henson and Wright. When police apologized to Stewart, he replied, "Being a friend is coming when it's inconvenient." "When clients call for advice, I work to protect their rights," Stewart told the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau. "I've worked with the Hensons for a very long time. I spoke to the police in that capacity, and I think it was productive." Henson's agitation with Ashville police continued into the next morning. Police impounded Wright's car, and when the pair arrived to collect her belongings, Henson asked an officer if their body cameras are on at all times. The officer said yes. "Go ahead and tell your colleague that was on last night to preserve that," Henson said, "because I want every second of it." Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bernie Moreno adviser Colton Henson resigns after clash with police PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Advocates are calling on Providence leaders to remove minimum parking requirements in the city, saying more space not designated for cars could help the housing crisis. The Providence Streets Coalition published an open letter last week calling on members of the Providence City Council Ordinances Committee to amend Mayor Brett Smileys proposed draft comprehensive plan, which was approved by the City Plan Commission on June 18. READ MORE: Commission approves draft 10-year plan for Providence We appreciate that the current draft calls for the broad reduction of parking requirements, however with this document, we have the opportunity to meet the moment and follow the lead of dozens of peer cities by eliminating the requirement entirely, the group wrote in the letter. The coalition argued that removing minimum requirements which are typically assigned to a building project or existing structure based on size and units could be one way to address the housing crisis. The housing crisis is an urgent issue that needs to be tackled from every possible angle, and there is one solution that is free, instant, and extremely effective: eliminating parking minimums for all uses citywide, the group wrote. Mayor Smiley said Providence has already reduced parking minimums along transit corridors, adding that hes looking to expand on that effort as part of his proposed plan. For example, he points to one part of the plan that proposes eliminating parking minimums for new development and for people vetting future developments to consider imposing maximum parking limits. Smiley stopped short of proposing a maximum parking limit himself, and said hed have to study the effects and potential consequences of an all-out elimination of parking minimums. We already know that many of our neighborhood streets are clogged with cars parking overnight, he said. It does make it difficult to remove snow or to deal with flooding, and it can be a burden on those neighborhoods. Im always willing to hear proposals. The committee held a public hearing for about two hours on Monday night. The coalitions operations manager, Dylan Giles, said data from the Parking Reform Network found 88 cities and towns, including Central Falls, have removed parking minimums from their zoning codes for residential development. It is important to point out that taking this step will not eliminate all new off-street parking entirely, Giles said. Rather, it enables the market to determine how much parking is needed and to adapt to varying degrees of transportation access in different neighborhoods, while increasing access to housing in the process. No vote was taken at Monday nights meeting, which was continued to Oct. 2. Providence City Council President Rachel Miller told Target 12 she did not have a comment on the letter at this point in the review process of the comprehensive plan. 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. Nineteen female medical students from Afghanistan are now studying in Scotland (Andy Buchanan) (Andy Buchanan/AFP/AFP) When the Taliban banned women from attending university in Afghanistan, Zahra Hussaini thought her dream of becoming a doctor was over. Now, she is continuing her medical degree in Britain. "Coming to Scotland, it changed everything. It has given me hope for a better future," the 20-year-old told AFP in Glasgow, where she arrived last month to resume her studies. "I can become a doctor, I can become independent financially and I can serve my family, my community to the best of my ability," she added. Hussaini is one of 19 female medical students from Afghanistan who landed in Scotland on August 21 following a three-year campaign by the Linda Norgrove Foundation. Norgrove was a 36-year-old Scottish aid worker who was kidnapped by Islamist militants in Afghanistan and killed during a failed rescue attempt by US special forces in 2010. The foundation, formed by her parents in her name, said that the students had often been confined to their homes since the Taliban issued its ban on women studying at universities in December 2022. The Taliban authorities have implemented an austere interpretation of Islamic law since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US forces. Women have borne the brunt of restrictions that the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid". "They didn't allow me to get my specialisation in Afghanistan," said 25-year-old medical student Fariba Asifi, who is also now studying at Glasgow University. "Now I consider I am the luckiest person that I am here and I can continue my education and I achieve this opportunity to continue my education and follow my dream. I'm so excited and I'm really happy." The woman arrived in Scotland after the devolved Scottish government in Edinburgh amended funding legislation to ensure that they would be treated like Scottish students and be eligible for free tuition. Some are studying at St Andrews, Dundee and Aberdeen. The foundation said it had to clear a number of hurdles for the women to make it to Scotland, including negotiating travel to Pakistan to apply for UK visas, organising English language tests and university interviews over Skype. It also secured accommodation and UK bank accounts and said it had spent 60,000 ($79,000) in all. "Finally, these 19 incredibly talented young women get their future back with the opportunity of a tremendous education and a career. The alternative for them in Afghanistan wasn't good," Linda's father John Norgove said in a statement. Asifi said she hoped to be able to return to Afghanistan to work as a doctor one day. "It's not a permanent situation, it's temporary, it will change and one day we will have a bright Afghanistan, a peaceful country. "And one day, I'm pretty sure we will see all girls, all ladies can do, can get education, get working and getting their fun. And we should be optimistic we will have a bright Afghanistan. It's near." video-pdh/phz/yad Trucks and cars drive down the New Jersey Turnpike February 23, 2005 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency to deny Californias request for a waiver to implement new standards that she said could ban traditional gas-powered trucks in the state. California requested a preemption waiver to implement administrative rules under 2023 California regulation called Advanced Clean Fleets, imposed by the California Air Resources Board. The rule would ban the sale of larger diesel vehicles beginning in 2036 and ban internal-combustion engines in medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045. The letter, headed by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, called for the EPA to deny the states request because of its impacts on other states. Through Advanced Clean Fleets, California is attempting to export its radical climate agenda to our States, using its large population, market share, and access to international ports on the West Coast to force nationwide compliance with its ban on internal-combustion trucks, the letter stated. An electric-truck mandate in California means more battery electric trucks traveling in our Statesa mandate our States did not ask for and do not support. Bird also joined a lawsuit headed by Nebraska opposing the regulations, which she and other opponents argue would force trucking companies across the country to have entirely electric vehicle fleets by 2042. In a May news conference, Bird said allowing California to adopt these state regulations would result in supply chain problems and increase costs for consumers, as trucking companies would have to comply with these standards to operate in the state, even if the companies are based outside of California. Bird reiterated these arguments in a Tuesday statement on joining the letter, saying California does not get to make the rules for the rest of the country. If Californias unconstitutional green-fleet mandate is left unchecked, it will kill jobs, inflate prices for hard-working families, crash our power grids, and ravage the supply chain, Bird said. But not on my watch. We are fighting to put pull the plug on Californias green fleet mandate. Alongside Iowa and Nebraska, attorneys general in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming signed onto the letter. BOSTON, Mass. (SHNS)Attorney General Andrea Campbell pledged Tuesday that a report will eventually be made public explaining Treasurer Deborah Goldbergs currently murky decision to terminate the chair of the Cannabis Control Commission. During a brief moment of confusion in a radio interview, Campbell implied that a report on Goldbergs rationale for firing Shannon OBrien was already public before the AG corrected herself. Goldberg fires OBrien from top CCC job On the specifics related to the removal of the former chair, obviously the treasurer put out a public report, that is, I think its public, Campbell said on GBHs Boston Public Radio. After a pause, she added, Oh, its not. Oh OK, well, it will be public at some point. Campbell later added that the report is a lengthy one. Goldberg fired OBrien last Monday over unspecified gross misconduct. The treasurers office has declined to provide any copy of a letter, notice or report outlining Goldbergs action, coming after a yearlong saga that featured more than 20 hours of private meetings related to accusations against OBrien. A lawyer for OBrien said she plans to appeal the firing to the Supreme Judicial Court. Boston Public Radio co-host Jim Braude pressed Campbell about the secrecy surrounding the firing, voicing frustration about the delay in sharing information with Massachusetts taxpayers. Campbell, who noted that she represents Goldberg, said she is hamstrung by what she can discuss for now. I think what were figuring out in all of our investigations and representation of either a state, a constitutional officer obviously Ive represented the secretary of state and others, Campbell said. There is due process, there is discovery, theres layers of every case, and our government bureau does an incredible job. And so when we can share things publicly, we will. Campbell defended Goldbergs handling of the matter, saying the treasurer has been very thoughtful. She cant obviously express everything publicly at this stage because it is active and ongoing, Campbell said. She added, There have been delays for different reasons that I cant even speak to publicly that have delayed this, and its not just one persons fault as to why its taken this long. The attorney general said her office, which appoints members to the CCC, is working to address dysfunction at the embattled commission. Campbell indicated that collaboration extends to the treasurer and governors offices, which also make CCC appointments. Ive said to the Legislature, we have to come together and we will on ways to improve the commission so they can do their jobs, and that includes some possible structural changes, Campbell said. They need to hire more staff and hire more staff quickly. So were getting more in the weeds on that because if they do not figure that out, were all in trouble. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed a non-binding resolution on Wednesday demanding an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory within the next 12 months by an overwhelming margin. The resolution was adopted with 124 votes in favor, 14 against and 43 abstentions, during the UNGA's 10th emergency special session considering Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The resolution demanding that Israel comply with all its legal obligations under international law, including advisory opinions by the International Court of Justice, was introduced by the State of Palestine on Tuesday and was co-sponsored by more than two dozen nations. By the newly adopted resolution, the UNGA "demands that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution." The UNGA also demands that Israel comply without delay with all its legal obligations under international law, including as stipulated by the International Court of Justice. In remarks before the vote, Mohamed Issa Abushahab, the permanent representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, said the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza must be addressed through unimpeded access to those in need, a ceasefire deal and the full implementation of all related Security Council resolutions. A credible peace process must be relaunched to work towards a two-State solution to diffuse this conflict, he said, expressing support for the State of Palestine's full statehood and UN membership. "The time has come to end the suffering," he noted. Introducing the draft resolution on Tuesday, Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, called for the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He said the Palestinian people have been steadfast in the pursuit of their inalienable rights, just like all other citizens worldwide who seek self-determination. "The Palestinians want to live, not survive -- they want to be safe in their homes, they want their children to go to school without fear. They want to be free in reality as they are in spirit," said Mansour. Agency makes changes to proposed Oklahoma toll road following opposition from Norman residents The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's governing board meets on Jan. 9. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority modified plans for a Norman turnpike after public opposition. The OTA removed plans for frontage roads and three interchanges on the turnpike after the Norman City Council on Aug. 27 refused to support a resolution calling for the interchanges and frontage road. They were part of an East-West Connector turnpike corridor in Norman, Moore, Oklahoma City and Cleveland County. Oklahoma is in the midst of a $5 billion, 15-year turnpike expansion and improvement project, called Advancing and Connecting Communities and Economies Safely Statewide, or ACCESS. Several projects are planned across the state. Norman City Councilor Stephen Tyler Holman said OTA asked the city to pass the resolution supporting the Norman turnpike plan. Norman leaders were concerned that the city would be financially responsible for maintenance and funding of the frontage roads and interchanges, Holman said. He said there was overwhelming opposition from Norman residents about the turnpike expansion plans and the requested resolution. Holman said there was a concern the OTA would use the resolution to try to convince lawmakers the city supported the turnpike. Residents are concerned about the taking of private property to build the roadway, Holman said. Families will be displaced and may not be able to find housing in the area or at the same value, Holman said. Residents expressed concern about the impact on Lake Thunderbird, a source of water for the area, and on the environment. We dont want the turnpike in Norman, period, Holman said. Holman said he hopes that less access to the turnpike will make the project unviable. Lisa Shearer-Salim, an OTA spokesperson, said the project will still be viable even with the changes. The OTA was offering to pay for the bulk of costs of building the frontage road and interchanges, but the city would have had to maintain it, she said. The estimated savings in construction costs, right-of-way acquisition and utilities is between $150 million and $200 million, Shearer-Salim said. Initially, the 28-mile new alignment will connect the Interstate 44/Tri-City area of Newcastle, Blanchard and Tuttle at Oklahoma 37 and cross the South Canadian River east to Interstate 35. Ultimately, the corridor will continue northeast to Interstate 40 to connect to the Kickapoo Turnpike. The East-West Connector is a segment of the Oklahoma City Outer Loop. It will take some additional time to rework the design plans to remove the frontage roads and additional interchanges at 36th Street, Broadway and 48th Avenue, said T.J. Dill, OTA deputy director and chief engineer. Salim said the changes are not expected to significantly alter the route. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The agony and ecstasy of the Scottish independence referendum This embedded content is not available in your region. Jane Phillips was among the first people to vote in the Scottish independence referendum. A teacher from Dundee, she was second in line at her local polling station when it opened on the morning of 18 September 2014. Then aged 58, she was dreaming of a Yes victory that for months had seemed almost inconceivable. A decade on, she tells BBC Scotland News: I just remember the kind of tension, the excitement. There was a real sense that we could do it - a groundswell. A feeling that we were going to edge it over the line. It was an emotional day in the No camp too, says Cat Headley. A 30-year-old solicitor making her first foray into politics at the time, she campaigned for Better Together in Edinburgh. The energy that existed was an amazing thing to be part of and I doubt Ill ever experience that again," Cat says. Malcolm Andrew, a 20-year-old No activist in Inverclyde in 2014, recalls both excitement and fear for those campaigning to keep Scotland in the UK. "We were fighting for our country's place, which had been stable for hundreds of years," he says. Malcolm remembers bright skies on 18 September, continuing what had been a sun-soaked summer for much of Scotland. But for many, polling day brought cloud and rain, as well as the curtain down on a remarkable campaign. Better Together campaigners celebrated their victory in the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow [PA Media] Independence supporters were galvanised by a late surge in the polls ahead of the referendum [PA Media] Referendums naturally breed entrenchment. And everyone wanted to have their say. From US President Barack Obama to Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin. From royalty - Queen Elizabeth - to Scottish royalty - Andy Murray. Rory Stewart, an MP over the border, even helped build a cairn near Gretna to promote mutual respect and affection. But it was also a time of great fluidity. Radicals and right-wingers coalesced on the Yes side. Party politics - and inter-party politics - were forced to take a back seat in Better Together, no matter how much tensions bubbled towards the surface. Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont, Better Together chairman Alistair Darling, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson and Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie campaigned for a No vote [Getty Images] The Yes campaign, with Big Country's One Great Thing as its unofficial soundtrack, took an unexpected lead in an opinion poll just over a week before the referendum. Three days out from the vote, independence supporters gathered in the Usher Hall in Glasgow to be serenaded by some of the cause's celebrity backers - including Frightened Rabbit, Amy MacDonald, Mogwai and Franz Ferdinand. Following a walk down Byres Road in the city's west end - filled with stalls, flags and activists handing out Yes badges - Jane remembers her son, Tom, telling her: Were going to do this arent we? Louise Thomason Drever, who campaigned for Yes in Shetland, remembers a "mood of possibility". We just felt like we had a real shot," she tells BBC Scotland News. 'The busiest day of my life' That kind of exuberance was not always felt on the No side. Former Better Together activist Alan Grant, then a 26-year-old politics graduate, says that by polling day he was just "relieved it was coming to an end". Although he had no doubts about the outcome, he describes the campaign as "long, exhausting, tiring". Ian Thomson, an organiser for Yes Berwickshire, describes polling day as probably the busiest day of my life". Then aged 60, he did Borders "valley dashes" - co-ordinating stalls on village greens and ferrying people to voting booths. The first concrete indication that such efforts would be in vain came out of Clackmannanshire at 01:30. Eva Comrie, a lawyer who campaigned for Yes, had been "absolutely certain" of victory in her local area. Instead, it was won by No with 55% of the vote. "It was incredibly depressing, embarrassing, shameful," says Eva. "It was one of the most major disappointments of my whole life." Agony for some, ecstasy for others. Cat, who spent the night at the Edinburgh count, says: "You could sense it from the Yes campaigners - from that moment on they knew what the result was likely to be." The No side then secured thumping, if unsurprising, wins in Orkney and Shetland, before a narrow victory in the Western Isles. Louise and her friends, filled with "nervous excitement", gathered in Shetland to watch the results. She called it a night early after things started to go "badly wrong". "I was thinking I would sit up all night but I remember thinking actually I can't face this," she says. The major drama came from Inverclyde, where No won by just 86 votes, sparking groans and hands on heads among the Yes ranks in Glasgow. Malcolm says it was pure relief for the Better Together team at the count. Soon Alan was cheering a "delightful win for No in his native East Lothian. When the national result - 55.3% for No, 44.7% for Yes - was confirmed, Cat describes a scene of "exhilaration" at the Edinburgh count. She adds, though, that it was "impossible not to feel for those who felt as passionately as you but that weren't getting the outcome that they had dreamt of. Consolation came in the form of Yes cities Glasgow and Dundee - of which Jane says she was proud - but the 2014 dream was over. Better Together grandees toasted their success at the Marriot Hotel in Glasgow, while Yes chiefs attended what Nicola Sturgeon described as a "wake" in another part of town. Meanwhile, trouble flared in the city centre after a group of union supporters charged at independence activists in George Square, with dozens of arrests made. Yes activists did not get the result they wanted in 2014, but look back on a "hugely positive" campaign [PA Media] Though that was a rare instance of disorder, tensions had inevitably run high throughout the campaign - both on Scotland's streets and in the nascent Twitter-sphere. Ian in Berwickshire complains of "aggression" from the No side, while Cat says Better Together activists were sometimes accused of being "traitors". It wasnt all being shouted at on street stalls," she adds, reminiscing about people from across the UK turning up in Edinburgh on the day of the vote to support the union. The Better Together activist sensed Scotland was on the "cusp of something", adding: "But the kind of new beginning that we were on the cusp of wasn't what I was hoping it would be. 'Hope and aspiration' Such sentiments hint at a key contradiction of the referendum - neither side walked away completely content. While No was victorious on the night, Better Together activists lament what they see as a failure to properly move political discourse on from September 2014. "Thats been the lasting, scarring legacy of the whole sorry mess," says Alan. The Yes side did not get the result it wanted, yet it has claimed a victory of sorts. Louise recalls fondly a period when she feels Scots were able to "imagine something other than the status quo". "It was hugely positive," says Ian of the campaign. Jane adds: "It has changed my view on what is possible. It's given me hope and aspiration for the future. A decade on, memories may have faded, but feelings remain raw. A federal judge in Idaho dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of new voter registration requirements that bar the use of student IDs to register to vote and cast a ballot. Two groups March for Our Lives Idaho, which aims to reduce gun violence, and the Idaho Alliance for Retired Americans sued Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane and argued that the laws unfairly limit the voting rights of students. The laws took effect in July 2023. U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford ruled that the new requirements do not create a severe burden, because the states laws also allow for a free ID card. Lawmakers this year removed a limit on furnishing residents who had recent drivers licenses with the free ID cards. While the plaintiffs had alleged that the laws focus on student IDs would disproportionately affect young voters, Brailsford ruled that such disparate impact will not likely result in an inequality of opportunity to vote for younger citizens. McGrane said he was pleased with the outcome of the lawsuit in a Wednesday news release. Hundreds of Idahoans have successfully obtained a free ID card since this legislation went into effect, he said. If you need a free ID card to vote, visit your local DMV or visit voteidaho.gov for more information. The Idaho Supreme Court rejected another lawsuit earlier this year from the League of Women Voters and Babe Vote, a progressive voter drive group, which argued the same laws violated the Idaho Constitution. Attorneys for the plaintiffs could not immediately be reached for comment. Disinformation generated by artificial intelligence and amplified by social media threatens to subtly influence voters and deepen political divides. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Experts warn that false images, video and audio created by artificial intelligence to spread disinformation about the 2024 elections can subtly influence voters and worsen the nation's political divide. A survey by Elon University's Imagining the Digital Future Center found that 69% of participants are not confident that most voters can detect fake photos, audio or video. The survey examined attitudes about AI and the role it is playing in U.S. politics in 2024. Janet Coats, managing director of the Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology at the University of Florida, told UPI that social media remains the primary channel for transmitting disinformation. AI is increasingly becoming a more common tool to enhance these misleading and false messages. "We used to call it propaganda. It's been around as long as people have been communicating in some kind of organized way," Coats said. "What we're starting to see in this election cycle is the rise of artificial intelligence as a really easy and pretty sophisticated, user-friendly tool for creating disinformation, then using social media platforms to push it out to consumers. You're almost reaching everyone." "Things move by so fast. It might make a quick impression on you and maybe you file it away in the back of your mind and you don't really dig into it, but it colors your perceptions of other things you're seeing." Former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image falsely purporting to be an endorsement from Taylor Swift in August. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI Prominent figures have shared AI-created content in ways that spread false information as the general election nears. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, shared an AI-generated endorsement from Taylor Swift in August. Swift would later officially endorse Trump's opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Weeks later, X owner Elon Musk shared an image of Harris dressed in stereotypical communist garb, falsely claiming that Harris "vows to be a communist dictator on day one." Elon Musk scaled down X's policies that combat disinformation after taking control of the company and recently shared an AI-generated image of Vice President Kamala Harris while making false accusations about her. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI "Can you believe she wears that outfit!?" Musk posted on X. Lisa Fazio, associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt, studies how people learn both true and false information from the world around them and how it shapes their views or become more receptive to false information. She told UPI that these posts by Trump and Musk are ways to signal to their followers what they should believe. "One of the things about Trump sharing AI-generated images of Taylor Swift is it doesn't need to convince voters she actually did the endorsement," Fazio said. "It's just another sign of, 'Trump is popular and you're with the winning side.'" AI-generated disinformation is not likely to cause a voter to switch their vote, Fazio and Coats said, but it can increase polarization, creating a greater divide between political ideologies. Social media companies like X and Meta widely adopted new policies for flagging and downgrading posts and accounts that engaged in disinformation as these played a role in sparking the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. These companies -- X in particular -- have scaled back their teams and mechanisms designed to combat disinformation and misinformation in the years since. Musk quickly fired the head of trust policy after taking over the company in 2022 as one of his first moves. He continued with layoffs in X's trust and safety roles. About 73% of respondents to the Elon University survey believe it is very or somewhat likely that AI will be used to influence the outcome of the election by manipulating social media. About 70% say the election will be affected by the use of AI and about 62% worry that it is likely to convince some voters not to cast ballots. False information about how, where and when people can vote and their eligibility is a bigger threat to the election than AI-generated posts like those from Trump or Musk, Coats said. Voters in New Hampshire received robocalls from an artificially generated voice purporting to be President Joe Biden leading up to the state's primary earlier this year. The calls urged voters to "save your vote" for the general election. "There could be impacts in swing states that create a perception that there's no point in me voting or I have been disqualified from voting or sending out false information on voting," Coats said. "Depressing turnout is one way in the close states to tip things one way or the other." There are some telltale signs of AI-created images. One of the apparent limitations of the technology is in its inability to create realistic hands. They often have the wrong number of fingers or are posed in an unnatural way. However the technology will continue to become more sophisticated and the content it produces will be more convincing. AI-generated voices are more difficult to detect. "Some people's voices are easy to duplicate," Coats said. "That's one of the things with Biden is he has a very distinctive speech cadence." The University of Florida and other universities are researching unique ways to harness AI themselves to spot AI-generated disinformation. The University of Washington's Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence introduced AI software called Grover in 2019. It is used to detect fake news stories with a 92% accuracy rate. There are also tools like Check by Meedan, a fact-checking software used to detect misinformation in Africa and South America. "They're turning the machine on itself," Coats said. There have long been concerns about how technology -- most currently AI -- can influence society. Fazio said society has tended to adapt over time to recognize things like digitally edited photos and deepfakes. This gives her some optimism that the same can be true for AI-generated disinformation. "Pay attention to the source and who it's coming from. Think about if they might have motivated reasons for pushing things consistent with their point of view," she said. "One of my concerns about this type of misinformation isn't just that the existence of it might change people's minds. It's also that it might have people doubt real things." Fazio referred to a photo of a Harris campaign rally that left some users on social media skeptical about whether the crowd was real or if the images were AI-generated. There have been bills introduced in Congress since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, attempting to regulate the use of AI. None of the bills have gained traction enough to suggest meaningful enforcement is on its way. Pursuing regulations will be a long road leading to a difficult task, Coats said. "We're kind of always fighting the last war. There's a regulatory approach we have to think through," Coats said. "Part of the issue is this is global. This is not something you can just regulate in one place and not have there be complications somewhere else." It will also raise some interesting questions. "Does the machine have free speech rights? Intellectual property rights?" Coats asked. "When they're regulating this, where are the free speech boundaries and the First Amendment boundaries? How does it all intersect? It is just a big complicated ball of string here that we're trying to figure out as that ball keeps moving." Experts have told AFP that images of gigantic axolotls circulating on social media across several regions contained obvious signs they were created with artificial intelligence (AI), contrary to posts which falsely claimed they showed unknown creatures caught by Papuan fishermen. The images were traced to a Facebook page which uses AI to create content and the images contained visual inconsistencies. "Papuan fishermen have caught animals that were never seen before," read a Thai-language Facebook post shared on August 4. A screenshot of the false post, taken on September 16, 2024 The post -- which was shared by a Facebook page with more than 268,000 followers -- showed three images of a creature that looked like an enormous axolotl as big as an actual human being. These images have been shared alongside similar claims in several languages including English, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Turkish. But the images were in fact first uploaded to social media by an account that specialises in AI-generated content. AI page Reverse image searches on Google found the images were first shared in a Facebook post on July 23, 2024 with an "AI info" label used by Meta to identify content generated with AI (archived links here and here). A screenshot of the original post with an "AI info" label The profile where it was uploaded -- called Astral Infernum Productions -- identified itself as an "AI-assisted animator" which creates fan art with "a combination of AI, Sketches and Photoshop" (archived link). The profile's owner has also responded to some of the comments on the picture by saying it is "an AI page" and that they would start to "watermark their work from now on" after being informed that the images were being shared with a false narrative. A video showing the same scenes with the axolotls has also been shared on the same Facebook page, as well as on a YouTube account with the same name on August 4 (archived links here and here). Visual inconsistencies Shu Hu, head of Purdue University's Purdue Machine Learning and Media Forensics Lab in the United States, told AFP that the images contained obvious signs of AI (archived link). "It is clear that all images are fake," he told AFP on September 10. He pointed out visual inconsistencies in the images such as the creature's toes and legs looking very similar to human fingers and arms, as well as having a different number of toes on both sides, asymmetric gills, and a missing leg. Below is a screenshot of the images with visual inconsistencies highlighted by AFP: A screenshot of the original images, with visual inconsistencies highlighted by AFP Even though the claims didn't specify what they mean by "Papua", which could refer to the country of Papua New Guinea or the Indonesian state, axolotls are native to none of those. These amphibians -- which could grow to a foot long -- are actually found in the lakes and canals in southern Mexico, where they are classified as critically endangered species (archived link). AFP has previously debunked AI-generated images of animals passed off as genuine photos, including a giant octopus and lobster. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) Gov. Kay Ivey joined hundreds of northeast Alabamians to help break ground on the brand new Challenger Learning Center. Its the first of its kind in the state. While itll be built in Etowah County, state leaders said students across the state will benefit from this new stem-focused school. With big dreams, Alabama students need big support. And thats what Ivey hopes to give those who attend the Challenger Learning Center. Success in one part of the state lifts up the rest of the state. So this is a good thing for northeast Alabama, but its a great thing for the state of Alabama, said Ivey. The facility will offer a space simulator and learning center for middle and high school students. State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey said it will help them see STEM in a new way. New Birmingham program to provide affordable housing Its gonna be very hands on. Interactive kinds of experiments for young people. And I hope that we see some people who get inspired from this, become scientists and engineers, and land jobs here in Alabama in our future economy, Mackey said. Dr. June Scobee Rodgers also hopes young people are inspired by the project. She started the Challenger Center in honor of her late husband-Richard Dick Scobee, who died in the 1986 Challenger Shuttle Explosion. He was the commander of this mission. And I said, can we?, I said Can we continue the teachers mission? Can we do that for Christa? And my sweet husband, the commander? And all of that wonderful crew? And we said, We can do it!' remarked Rodgers. Rodgers encouraged students in attendance to take advantage of the facility. One of you will be the age to step; the first person on Mars. So, study, she said. Joe Taylor, Mayor of Rainbow City, said the project will be complete in about a 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 CBS 42. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) The BISSELL Pet Foundation will hold its fall Empty the Shelters reduced-fee event in Alabama from Oct. 1-15. According to the organization, the event will bring adoption fees down to $50 or less. Adopters will have the chance to take home a vaccinated pet thats spayed or neutered. The Greater Birmingham Humane Society, CARE Humane Society in Auburn and Florence Lauderdale Animal Services are the three shelters in Alabama that will partake in Empty the Shelters this fall. Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama, Mathew Knowles spread awareness Right now, our nations animal shelters are in crisis with too many pets coming in and not enough adoptions to keep up. Euthanasia rates have hit a 3-year-high, and healthy, adoptable pets are at risk due to space constraints, said Cathy Bissell, founder of BISSELL Pet Foundation, in a statement. BISSELL Pet Foundations Fall National Empty the Shelters offers a chance for the community to save lives through adoption while creating space for shelters to help more pets. If you cant adopt, fostering can also make a lifesaving difference. Deserving pets across the country are counting on all of us. 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 CBS 42. HONOLULU (KHON2) The combining of Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines is complete, though the two will continue to operate under individual operating certificates until they can attain a single certificate from the FAA. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You The merger, which was announced in December, combines daily flights totaling 1,500 to 141 destinations. The Hawaiian Airlines brand will be maintained and Honolulu will be the second largest hub behind Seattle. Thats according to the companys new CEO. Industry experts said Hawaiian Airlines employees should do fine in the long run, as they combine to total 33,000 employees across the Pacific, Asia and North America. The new CEO of the new Hawaiian Airlines says the Hawaiian Airlines that passengers know and love is here to stay. Travelers excited about the potential for Hawaiian-Alaska airline merger Hawaiian airlines, the brand, is not going away, said Joe Sprague, Hawaiian Airlines CEO. Alaska Airlines will continue as well and well come together on a single operating platform but both brands will continue to do great things for our customers. Joe Sprague is the new man in charge. He said for the time being, nothing changes. If youre flying Hawaiian, check in at Hawaiian and book on Hawaiians website. But changes are coming to better serve customers. Better technology, tripling the number of destinations from Hawaii, and enhancements to the loyalty program. Sprague announced the launch of HuakaI by Hawaiian, exclusively for Hawaii residents. Itll give inter-island travel benefits like discounts, a free checked bag and other network-wide deals. What travelers need to know: Honolulus Intertribal Powwow takes place this weekend Separate websites, reservation systems and loyalty programs will be maintained until later in the process. HawaiianMiles retain their full value Miles will be able to be transferred between the two airline loyalty programs in the coming weeks Hawaii residents will enjoy a new travel program while traveling interisland, including 10% off one booking per quarter and one free checked bag. Our intent is to grow our presence here in Hawaii, to be a more effective competitor against the big 4 airlines, said Sprague. As we do that, were gonna create more jobs here in Hawaii and create a really good career opportunity for folks that wanna start their career in Hawaii and be in the airline business. Unions for both pilots and flight attendants said theyve put in protection plans for their members. We were able to secure an agreement that protects pilot jobs for a minimum of two years, said Capt. William McQuillen, Airline Pilots Association Alaska Airlines chair. I do believe that the long term prospects for the merger are good, that theres good growth potential for both airlines. The CEO of Alaska Air states the integration of both airlines could take up to 18 months. But vowed at the end of that time, both the Hawaiian and Alaska brands will remain. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news One of the main things we wanna do is run a safe, good, efficient operation for the customers of Hawaiian airline, said Sprague. Thatll be the big focus, even as were starting to focus on the integration activities, the main thing will be to take great care of our customers along the way. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Today, Wednesday, Sept. 18, a juvenile student was arrested at Albertville High School for making a threat of violence against AHS via social media. We want to assure you that both the school and district administrators acted promptly to investigate the situation, which led to the students arrest. No weapons were found at the school. We take all threats seriously and will continue to work diligently to ensure the safety of our students, staff and community. The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority. We are grateful to everyone involved for their swift actions and cooperation in keeping our campus safe. We appreciate your continued support and vigilance in helping us maintain a secure environment for learning. Please let this also be a reminder to speak to your children about school safety. Albertville City Schools takes written and verbal threats of violence and talk of weapons seriously. When a student uses words such as shooting, gun or bomb in a threatening way, it starts a necessary chain of events. This may involve investigations and interviews inside and outside of school. Often, system administrators and the Albertville Police Department will conduct home visits to determine if the student has access to weapons. Students will receive significant consequences for these incidents. Incidents like these cause alarm and fear in our school community. Please talk to your children about the significant consequences of threatening school violence. Please ask your children to seek support from you or a trusted staff member when they are struggling. Please remind your children to report concerning behavior to a trusted adult. Thank you for your trust and partnership. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Steven Robles, accused of ramming into a police cruiser when trying to evade arrest, was scheduled to change his plea in state court on Tuesday but that all changed when his attorney told the judge there might be a federal indictment. The new information was outlined in an FBI search warrant in connection to his recent crimes. Albuquerque man sentenced for fatally shooting his roommate Robles was accused of using a gun to steal a car on Wyoming Blvd. in January. Thats just a block away from a crime he committed at 16 years old. In 2021, Robles opened fire in the parking lot of the Christ Lutheran School with a father and his young daughter almost caught in the crosshairs. He pled guilty to having a deadly weapon on school premises and was sentenced to nine months behind bars. Despite the prior conviction, in February, a judge released Robles until trial for the carjacking case. In July, police arrested him again. Albuquerque police said they saw Robles concealing a firearm in a downtown parking garage and that he rammed into a police cruiser when trying to take off. Police caught him a short time later. The FBI said they found three guns, including one that was stolen, and multiple rounds of ammo in the car. They also said they found more than 30 grams of cocaine, a scale, and rubber gloves. Robles is facing additional charges for having a stolen handgun and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. He is charged with two counts of armed robbery and resisting arrest at the state level with an additional carjacking charge for the January incident. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefs reporters ahead of the Summit of the Future, at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 18, 2024. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a spirit of compromise at the upcoming Summit of the Future, saying that discussions on the outcome of the summit "are in the final stretch." (Mark Garten/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a spirit of compromise at the upcoming Summit of the Future, saying that discussions on the outcome of the summit "are in the final stretch." Speaking to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York for the two-day summit, scheduled to open on Sunday, Guterres said he has "one overriding message today: an appeal to member states for a spirit of compromise." "Show the world what we can do, when we work together," said the UN chief. He noted that the summit is critical as it "was born out of a cold, hard fact: international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them," pointing to out-of-control geopolitical divisions and runaway conflicts, in addition to "runaway" climate change, inequalities and debt, and development of new technologies like artificial intelligence that lack guidance or guardrails. "And our institutions simply can't keep up," Guterres warned. Underscoring that crises are interacting and feeding off each other, and global institutions and frameworks are totally inadequate to deal with these complex and even existential challenges, he said it is no great surprise as those institutions "were born in a bygone era for a bygone world." "So many of the challenges that we face today were not on the radar 80 years ago when our multilateral institutions were born," he pointed out. The institutions must draw on the expertise and representation of all of humanity, said the UN chief. The Summit of the Future is an essential first step towards making global institutions more legitimate, effective, and fit for the world of today and tomorrow, he stressed. Urging UN member states to seize the opportunity, Guterres expressed the hope that they will do everything possible to get the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations "over the finish line." "We can't create a future fit for our grandchildren with systems built for our grandparents," he said. More than 130 heads of state and government are scheduled to attend the Summit of the Future, which is taking place on Sunday and Monday, just ahead of the annual debate in the UN General Assembly. Update: The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has shared more information on an active threat received by Central Alabama Veterans Health Care system on Wednesday. ALEA says CAVHCS received a threatening call to its crisis hotline at about 10:30 a.m. ALEA agents responded to help with the lockdown and search for the suspect. Michael Barnett, 61, was arrested at his residence in Camp Hill. Barnett was charged with making terroristic threats and rendering false alarm to a hospital. Barnett was booked into Montgomery County Jail with an $18,000 bond. The lockdown is lifted. No further information is available at this time. The investigation is ongoing. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WRBL) Tuesday morning the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) is urging the public to avoid the Montgomery VA Hospital on Perry Hill Road stating their was an active shooter investigation underway. Shortly after the initial alert was sent out the CAVHCS updated the warning to an active threat situation. The alert was sent out via email and posted to the hospitals social media sites. Law enforcement and VA police are on the scene responding to the situation, and all hospital entrances are temporarily restricted. WRBL has reached out to law enforcement in the area information about the shooting. To ensure the safety of everyone in the area, CAVHCS is asking all visitors, patients, and staff to avoid the hospital grounds until further notice. We are working closely with local authorities to ensure the safety of everyone on campus, said Valerie Russell, Acting Director of CAVHCS. We will provide updates as soon as more information becomes available. Individuals with scheduled appointments or urgent medical needs are advised to contact the hospital by phone to reschedule or seek care at other VA facilities. Authorities are expected to provide additional details through official channels. This is a developing story, and more information will be provided as it becomes available. The VA Central Alabama Healthcare System provides health care services across nine locations in Alabama and western Georgia, including two major medical centers in Montgomery and Tuskegee, and seven community-based outpatient clinics. Part of the VA Southeast Network (VISN 7), it offers innovative care for veterans, including research opportunities, teaching programs, and internships. The system serves over 49,000 veterans, handling 433,000 outpatient visits annually. Their programs are accredited by various national organizations, and they have received multiple awards for excellence and appearance. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WACO, Texas (FOX 44) Student leaders at Baylor University recently organized an event to encourage their peers to register to vote on National Voters Registration Day. Members of the Tau Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. spearheaded the initiative, which included distributing refreshments and offering advice on checking voter registration status. The initiative aligns with Alpha Phi Alphas national program, A Vote Less People is a Hopeless People, which aims to increase voter registration and educate individuals about ballot issues. The event marked the culmination of three weeks of preparation by the fraternity, which collaborated with the university to ensure its success. Understanding the influence of technology, they utilized digital platforms to maximize outreach and engagement. We sat down as a chapter and asked ourselves, What can we do to fulfill our national programs? With National Voter Registration Day approaching, we chose this event. It wasnt just about registering people to vote; it was about educating them on how to vote and how to access voting resources, Williams said. To attract their peers to the registration table the chapter gave free lemonade to the campus as an incentive. As election day gets closer Williams emphasized the importance of young voters exercising their voting rights. A lot of people think its just president and vice president on the ballot. But a lot of people dont know theres a US senator, there is a district judge, there is a county commissioner, there is a county attorney. There are different things on the ballot that we have to educate people about, Williams said. Shelby Williams, a member of the Rho Eta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., echoed the sentiment. Its increasingly important for people in our age group to vote because Gen Z is the future. As older lawmakers eventually step down, it is crucial for our generation to be informed about politics and policies that will affect us. Throughout the event, various conversations about voting and Gen Z were held, as well as demographic voting. Just being a black young woman in America. Its important for me to vote because I think my say matters and how I feel matters as well, just as much as the next person, said Kennedy Vault, a member of the Rho Eta Chapter. As the academic year progresses, the Tau Alpha Chapter plans to continue hosting events to both educate their campus and engage the wider community in the electoral process. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. In what many call a homeowners insurance crisis, frustrated homeowners who have lost coverage or seen massive premium hikes, along with consumer advocates, are criticizing a proposed new plan that state regulators believe will bring insurance companies back to California before the start of the new year. For Gigi Bannister and her husband, the crisis has been very personal. She and her husband planned on retiring to their cabin in the mountains of San Bernardino County, but when their homeowner insurer dropped coverage on the Crestline home in 2019, they were left with few options and a much larger bill. My mortgage is now over $2,000 a month and $1,600 of it is insurance, Bannister said Tuesday at a press event in downtown L.A. I dont know how you call that fair but its not the American dream. Off-duty officer in Southern California shoots man involved in road-rage incident Chatsworth resident Bruce Breslau said his HOA community of 290 owners was dropped by its insurer after 20 years, forcing the residents to opt for an unregulated insurance option. We have 50% of the coverage we had last year, he explained. However, the premium went from $349,000 to $1.7 million. Thats a 400% increase. Dozens of homes have been destroyed as the Bridge Fire continues burning in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. (KNN) Experts say factors like the increased risk of wildfires have sent the states homeowners insurance market into crisis. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who was in L.A. on Tuesday speaking to an oversight committee, heads the department tasked with bringing stability back to the market. He believes the proposed new regulations that are already in the works will bring much-needed relief to homeowners. We understand, we see you, we hear you and we know everybody is hurting, Lara told KTLAs Lauren Lyster. We need these regulatory reforms to be able to get insurers back into these communities and bring down the cost. Structures and homes were destroyed as the Bridge Fire continued growing in the Angeles National Forest on September 10, 2024. (OnScene.TV) However, Jamie Court, president of the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog, says the new rules fall short and contain far too many loopholes in favor of insurance companies. California regulators say that under the proposed new rules, insurance companies will commit to cover high-risk homes in wildfire areas for the right to use catastrophe modeling technology to assess risk as they write plans and determine rates. Critics say the climate models are not nearly as transparent as they need to be and that the requirements placed on insurance companies are not strong enough. Human skeletal remains found in Southern California mountains amid wildfire These regulations are not going to get people more coverage, Court added. Were all going to be paying more in insurance premiums, a lot more in insurance premiums. In response to the criticism, the state insurance commissioner did not hold back. Its a lie, Lara said. The Department of Insurance has every authority to hold insurance companies accountable for the agreement we have reached, which is really a historic agreement. State officials plan to finalize all the new regulations by the end of the year, with the new rules going into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. More information about the wildfire catastrophe modeling regulations 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 KTLA. This is a coup for Mossad that opens a window for war On Tuesday, thousands of Hezbollahs pagers exploded. On Wednesday, it was the terrorist groups walkie-talkies that were detonating in the hands of its fighters. Irans largest and most prestigious terrorist proxy in the Middle East appears to have been well and truly compromised by the Mossad, Israels foreign intelligence service. For those trying to predict what may happen next, there are two key questions: what are Israels intentions with these attacks and how might Hezbollah respond? Israel has a long history of extrajudicial assassination dating back its deadly response to the Munich massacre of Olympic athletes in 1972 but it has never unleashed a campaign on this scale before. Despite its code name, Operation Wrath of God, the response to Munich was said to be less about revenge than deterrence through attack. We were not engaged in vengeance, said Zvi Zamir, director of the Mossad at the time. They definitely deserved to die. But we were not dealing with the past; we concentrated on the future. Some think Israel is pursuing a similar objective now, trying to get Hezbollah to back off through a surgical demonstration of strength. Unnamed US officials were quoted as saying on Wednesday that Mossad had originally only intended the devices be detonated in the event of full-scale war but that Hezbollah was on the brink of discovering that they had been compromised. Israel then detonated the devices on a use it or lose it basis; a classic mowing of the terrorist lawn. Others speculate that the explosions could yet herald an Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, planned or opportunistic. Friends and relatives grieve the dead following the explosions in Lebanon - AFP via Getty The scale of these attacks [is] staggering, and the extent to which Israel has managed to penetrate and neutralise Hezbollahs communications infrastructure and command and control is staggering, said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. In theory, theres no better time for Israel to launch a full-blown war. Israels most senior general in the north is said to be agitating for a land invasion of southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah back beyond the Litani river. But what hawkish politicians and generals in Israel want is not necessarily what will transpire. The US does not want an escalation and Israel remains reliant on it to defend against a major blitzkrieg of Hezbollah missiles or another direct attack from Iran. Also, the window of opportunity is tight. Hugh Lovatt, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that while Israel may currently have an advantageous window to launch a ground offensive it would quickly close. I dont expect any significant qualitative change to Hezbollahs military capability beyond a few days of disruption, he said. And war is no easy choice. After all, it was Israels invasion of Lebanon in 1982 that allowed Hezbollah to become dominant in the first place. Old Bibi would never do it. New Bibi is hard to tell, said Assaf Orion, a retired Israeli brigadier general and a fellow at The Washington Institute, referring to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. War is a bad option, but it doesnt mean its impossible. So much, then, for Israels intention. But what of Hezbollahs likely response. How is the terror group likely to respond to what Israeli military analysts are gleefully characterising as its humiliation and in several cases the literal emasculation of its fighters? In Tehran, the groups masters will almost certainly be demanding patience, or what the Ayatollah calls heroic flexibility. Whisper it quietly, but its the same brand of political expediency Joe Biden advised Israel to adopt in the aftermath of Oct 7. You cant look at what has happened here to your mothers, your fathers, your grandparents, sons, daughters, children even babies and not scream out for justice, the US president told Mr Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in the wake of the massacre. But I caution this: while you feel that rage, dont be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. And while we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes. Israel ignored Mr Bidens advice and has ended up in what most analysts regard as a strategic mess. It is locked in a multifront war, a large part of its population remains displaced, its economy is tanking and in many parts of the world it has come to be regarded as a pariah state. Hezbollah will no doubt now be tempted to lash out wildly just as Israel did in the wake of Oct 7. The pressure from its ranks will be immense. But the message from Iran will almost certainly be to play it cool. Tehran needs Hezbollah in one piece and, from its perspective, Israel is already on the ropes. 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. Analysis: A week on from the debate, Kamala Harris win may not be having the impact she hoped for Kamala Harris during an interview with members of the National Association of Black Journalists - Getty/Win McNamee A week on from Kamala Harriss debate against Donald Trump, her campaign may feel it has the upper hand. Pundits, and polls of the watching public, judged the US vice president to have triumphed over her Republican opponent in the televised head-to-head. She raised $47 million in the 24-hours following the showdown in Philadelphia on Sept 10, her biggest one-day haul since entering the race. The 59-year-old has also increased her margin over Trump in post-debate national polls. A Morning Consult Poll released on Tuesday showed her with a record six-point lead. Dig a little deeper, though, and there are signs that it would be premature for Ms Harris team to become complacent. National polls may offer a promising outlook, but do not reflect how, or where, the White House will be won. For one thing, pollsters point out the slim margin of Ms Harris lead creates the possibility she could win the popular vote but still lose the electoral college - as with Hillary Clinton in 2016. Harry Enten, CNNs data analyst, recently assessed the chances of Ms Harris winning the popular vote at 70 per cent, but her chance of winning the requisite 270 electoral college votes at just 50 per cent. Look to the seven key battleground states, and it is clear the race is still a toss up. Ms Harris leads in Wisconsin and Michigan, Trump in Georgia and Arizona. Pennsylvania - the biggest prize of them all with 19 electoral college votes - remains on a knife edge. Harris is ahead nationally right now... and I dont think it matters all that much, as Mr Enten noted for CNN. Her advantage in the battlegrounds is basically nil. Many Democratic strategists remain upbeat. They argue that the debate has served its purpose: Ms Harris cleared an important hurdle. And while she did not score many points on policy, the ensuing media storm over Trumps debate claim that migrants were eating Ohios pets has done her no harm. Presidential debates rarely alter the trajectory of elections - the most glaring recent exception being Joe Bidens disastrous performance in June. It is possible fresh polls will suggest a post-debate shift for Ms Harris in the critical swing states, but it appears unlikely. Meanwhile, the Harris campaign has been shrewdly disciplined in its approach. Aware of Trumps gaping gender support gap, it has deployed significant resources to reach women, and particularly young women on social media. Taylor Swifts Instagram endorsement of Ms Harris and Tim Walz appeared to help drive up traffic to official voter registration sites. Yet Brian Derrick, the founder of Oath, a new grassroots donation platform popular among young, urban-dwelling women, the salience of the pop stars endorsement for many voters was an open question. Are they going to be thinking about Taylor Swifts endorsement when they show up at a polling station? For many the answer is probably no, he said. However, Mr Derrick said the Democrat was choosing the right strategic messengers to target the issues that energise young women, such as abortion access. But there are limitations to her ability to appeal to young progressives while also reaching the much-needed independent voters in the American heartlands. As Christopher Nicholas, a veteran GOP political consultant points out, Ms Harris gains with younger, more racially diverse voters has had a see-saw effect for Democrats since she replaced Mr Biden as the partys candidate. Now she has more of an issue with white, working class voters than Biden, Mr Nicholas said, nothing it was the latter group that could move the needle in Pennsylvania. With few remaining opportunities to move the needle between now and election day, the early momentum behind Ms Harris bid may not necessarily win her votes where she desperately needs them. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Andrew Cuomos confidantes spreading the word of his run for mayor as Adams faces mounting investigations: sources Andrew Cuomos confidantes spreading the word of his run for mayor as Adams faces mounting investigations: sources Supporters of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo are spreading the word that he is running for mayor, sources say as the Adams administration faces mounting investigations. The CEO of a prominent investment banking firm has told other corporate honchos who donate to campaigns that the fallen ex-governor will make a comeback bid for New York City mayor next year, according to a business community insider. His agents are spreading the word. Theyre spreading the word that Cuomo is running, the source briefed on the discussions said of the banking exec. The Cuomo for mayor push comes as Adams popularity has plummeted amid several federal corruption probes that triggered the resignation of his police commissioner Edward Caban and his chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, a former federal prosecutor, to suddenly step down over the weekend. Former aides and allies talking up a potential Cuomo candidacy include his ex-righthand Melissa DeRosa. There has been heavy speculation that former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo could run for mayor. Getty Images DeRosa, during a Forbes interview posted Monday, said her phone was ringing off the hook about a Cuomo run. What people are saying is, hes got to run, hes got to run. But longtime associate Steve Cohen, a former federal prosecutor, told The Post absolutely not when asked if he was informing associates that Cuomo was running. And a source close to Bill Mulrow a Blackstone executive who was chairman of Cuomos 2018 re-election campaign, also said he wasnt telling people the ex-gov is running. Sources say Cuomo is spreading the word that he will make a run in the next mayoral election as Mayor Eric Adams and his administration are face mounting investigations. James Keivom A lot of other people are encouraging [Cuomo] to run, the source added. Cuomo resigned in disgrace in August 2021 amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations and the controversy over penning a controversial profit-making book deal about the COVID-19 pandemic. He denied any wrongdoing but faced impeachment proceedings if he didnt step down. He would join a growing field in a Democratic primary including Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos, a former aide to ex-mayor Bill de Blasio; Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, city Comptroller Brad Lander and former Comptroller Scott Stringer as challengers to Adams. Cuomo would be just the latest scandal-scarred politician to attempt a comeback. Ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in a hooker scandal, lost in a comeback bid for city comptroller in 2013. Ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner, who resigned from Congress in a sexting scandal, also flamed out in his comeback bid for mayor in 2013, finishing fifth as more revelations about his tawdry behavior surfaced. Cuomo was roasted by the House panel on the COVID-19 pandemic over his decision of allowing recovered COVID patients to be admitted in nursing homes. A CEO of a prominent investment banking firm told other corporate honchos that the fallen ex-governor will make a comeback bid for New York City mayor next year. Ron Sachs CNP for NY Post He defended the decision. During the Forbes interview, DeRosa said, [Cuomo] still maintains a massive well of support from New York City and New York City voters despite how the administration ended. Thats a decision he has to make with his family, said DeRosa, who served as secretary to the governor, his top aide, during his final years in office, said of a run for mayor. DeRosa indicated Tuesday shes not telling people that Cuomo is definitely running for City Hall and in the Forbes interview, noted that he has a good relationship with Adams. Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi responded, The governor previously said he has no plans to make plans and nothing has changed. Andrews father, Mario, ran for mayor in 1977, losing in a tight race to Ed Koch. Cuomo has tapped remaining campaign funds on polling to weigh a political comeback, The Post previously reported. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Three huskies were boarded by animal control after they attacked and killed a cat in the West Grand neighborhood, according to the Kent County Sheriffs Office. Kent County Animal Control officers were called to Myrtle Street near Garfield Avenue for a dead cat Tuesday evening, the sheriffs office confirmed. Deputies said three huskies were loose in the neighborhood when they attacked and killed the cat. At the time of the attack, the cat was on its owners property, the sheriffs office said. The huskies were taken into custody of animal control and are being boarded until the investigation is complete and reviewed by the Kent County Prosecutors Office, the sheriffs office said. This embedded content is not available in your region. Its not clear how the huskies got loose. Deputies did not name the owners of the huskies or the cat. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Albuquerque police are looking for a man with a history of committing retail theft. Now, they have a new warrant for his arrest for a series of thefts at the store Lululemon. Because at the end of the day, if we can get them to stay behind bars then were hoping that these types of incidents happen less and less, says APD Deputy Commander Joshua Hawkes. Hes talking about one of their top offenders who now has a warrant for organized retail crime. He has been identified as Ferron Mendez. He has the seven incidents for organized crime with the Lululemon store and it totaled over $21,000 worth of merchandise, Hawkes says. Man accused of running massive Albuquerque shoplifting ring is indicted Police say Mendez had stolen products from the Lululemon Store in the Uptown shopping center multiple times. Hawkes says Mendez would sometimes steal with a man and, in other cases, with a woman who police are still trying to identify. He enters the store usually with another individual. Theyll usually go, theyll split it up and go to different sides of the store. Usually, theyll grab a bag displayed in the store and loading up merchandise, says Hawkes. Across at least seven different thefts, police say the store employees are frustrated and this isnt the first time Mendez is charged with putting employees in danger. In 2017, a Circle K clerk shot him in the chest after Mendez tried to rob the store near 98th and I-40. APD: Shoplifting suspect who pulled out gun at Albertsons turned himself in Police hope the new shoplifting cases will keep him behind bars for longer. Hes never been charged with the new law and the past two charges he has is under the new law. One of them is for shoplifting; felony level. Were able to aggregate those cases, says Hawkes. Mendez now has a warrant for his arrest. At the end of the day, it affects everybody in the community whether its the consumer going into the store because now they are paying higher prices or if its the retailer they are losing that merchandise too, Hawkes says. After the Circle K shooting, Mendez pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and conspiracy as part of a deal with prosecutors. He was given probation. Since then, court records show Mendez has been charged in several more cases; accused of shoplifting, drug possession, and trespassing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) One of the highest-ranking Albuquerque police officers under federal investigation for taking bribes to torpedo DWI cases was under investigation nearly a decade ago. Should Justin Hunt have been kicked off the force before he ever rose to lieutenant? (Former APD Lt. Justin Hunt. Courtesy of Albuquerque Police Department) A 2016 incident report shows Hunt was accused of abusing his child and his ex-wife reported him to be dangerous. But the case went nowhere, and Hunt kept his job at the Albuquerque Police Department. KRQE Investigates asked the department how that happened. Lapel camera footage from the February 2016 call for service showed Albuquerque police responding to the home of Hunts ex-wifes family member. They told police they believed Hunt abused his then-four-year-old son. When we changed him, he had a black and blue handprint here and right here on his back, the family member reported. At that point, Hunt had been divorced for a little more than a year. The family told the responding officers that Hunt had custody of the boy for the past two days and caused the bruising. We asked him where it was from. He said Daddy hit me five times, a family member told APD. They also claimed this happened before and they called the police then, too. Weve gone through this three times, four times already, the family member said. Thats why, this time, the family member explained they requested a sergeant respond. APD confirmed that the family reported allegations against Hunt in 2015. However the responding officer did not believe a crime occurred, so the incident was only forwarded to the Children, Youth, and Families Department. APD officer on leave amid corruption investigation resigns This time, a police report was written and forwarded to the Bernalillo County District Attorneys Office. It called the offense a simple assault. But according to court records, no charges were ever filed against Hunt. When asked why, the District Attorneys Office explained, Witnesses were no longer willing to cooperate, so the DA at the time closed the case. Even so, it would be typical for the department to look into a report like this involving one of its officers. On scene, Hunts ex-wife asked about that. She wanted to know whether an internal affairs, or IA, investigation would be opened this time. APD confirmed the Internal Affairs unit did not open an investigation into the allegations. A spokesperson commented, Theres no excuse for the failure to conduct an internal investigation into criminal allegations. The only mention KRQE Investigates found of the incident was in a domestic violence petition requesting a restraining order against Hunt. Lapel video from the February 2016 incident showed officers helping his ex-wife file that after the report was taken. This is not right: Albuquerque police investigating HOA presidents paychecks Because the department did not open an IA investigation and no criminal charges were filed, the state licensing board was never notified. If it had been, Hunts law enforcement certification could have been revoked. Instead, over the next eight years, Hunt would rise through the ranks to sergeant and then lieutenant. In a statement, the Albuquerque Police Department responded, Eight years later, APD is a fundamentally different department where accountability and public trust are top priorities. Hunt resigned from APD in February 2024, five days after being placed on administrative leave. He is one of ten APD officers who worked in the DWI Unit and are under federal investigation accused of being paid to get DWI cases dismissed. Attorney Thomas Clear III has also been named in the public corruption scandal. Court records reveal he represented Hunt in his divorce and the domestic violence proceedings. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. An artist from a delegation of Sichuan Performing Art Troupe performs face-changing, known as "Bian Lian" in Chinese, an ancient Chinese dramatic art of Sichuan Opera, at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima, California, the United States, on Sept. 18, 2024. A delegation of China's Sichuan Performing Art Troupe staged cultural performances to students at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center on Wednesday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) by Xinhua writer Tan Jingjing LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- For 8-year-old American student Samantha, the dazzling art of Chinese opera face-changing not only brought her into a magic world, but also inspired her to learn Chinese culture and language. With just a turn of the head, a wave of the hand, or even a blink of the eyes, Chinese performers, wearing colorful costumes, could change face masks in less than a second, drawing cheers and applauses from hundreds of students at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, a public school in Pacoima, Southern California. "That's so cool. I love Chinese performances. I want to visit China," wowed Samantha, a third grader at the learning center. Face-changing, known as "Bian Lian" in Chinese, an ancient Chinese dramatic art of Sichuan Opera, was part of the performances presented by a delegation of the Sichuan Song and Dance Troupe to students at the learning center on Wednesday. Co-sponsored by the Sichuan Overseas Friendship Association and the Chinese Culture Development Center in Los Angeles, the performances featured Chinese drama and dance, martial arts, Kung Fu tea art, acrobatics, puppet show, and calligraphy art. "It's my first time watching Chinese cultural performances. I love the Chinese puppet show. I want to learn more about China," Alexa, a third grader at the learning center, told Xinhua. The whole stadium of students burst into cheers and claps when Chinese performers presented them panda dolls as gifts. "They (panda dolls) are so cute. I just can't wait to visit the new giant pandas at San Diego Zoo," 8-year-old Kiteya told Xinhua. The learning center has maintained exchange programs with Chinese schools since its founding over 30 years ago. It has Chinese language lessons for its high school students. "It's the first time we've had Chinese performers visiting our campus. I want our students to have exposure to different cultures including the Chinese culture. I want them to understand differences and similarities between us," Cinthia Rodriguez, the school's principal, told Xinhua. "I want them to understand that even though we're miles and miles apart, we can still have connections," she added. This year, the learning center had several Chinese students visiting for a week. Some high school students of the learning center also traveled to China for a week. "For the Chinese students that came here, our students were really excited to talk to them about what's school like over there, what do you eat, what do you like to do... In the high school, the students that have gone to China have said it's been an amazing experience and they've really enjoyed it," Rodriguez told Xinhua. Calling U.S.-China relations very important in the world, Rodriguez said she hopes to see more people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, especially the younger generations. Hudd Huddleston, a teacher of Chinese language at the learning center, told Xinhua he has been teaching 9-12 graders Chinese, and the students have great interest in Chinese language and culture. The learning center has partnerships with schools in Beijing and Shanghai, and soon will establish links with schools in China's Sichuan Province, according to Huddleston. "We hope one day we can visit China," said Hugo Efrain Flores, a student parent who was invited to watch the performances. "We are all friends. We are all the same," he told Xinhua. Los Angeles is the second and last stop of the Chinese troupe's U.S. tour, which also took them to Hawaii. An artist from a delegation of Sichuan Performing Art Troupe performs a puppet show at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima, California, the United States, on Sept. 18, 2024. A delegation of China's Sichuan Performing Art Troupe staged cultural performances to students at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center on Wednesday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) Students of the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center watch a performance staged by a delegation of Sichuan Performing Art Troupe, in Pacoima, California, the United States, on Sept. 18, 2024. A delegation of China's Sichuan Performing Art Troupe staged cultural performances to students at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center on Wednesday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) An artist of Sichuan Performing Art Troupe shows pictures drawn by students as gifts at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima, California, the United States, on Sept. 18, 2024. A delegation of China's Sichuan Performing Art Troupe staged cultural performances to students at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center on Wednesday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) AUSTIN (KXAN) The Travis County District Attorneys Office will not pursue a murder charge against Austin Police Officer Christopher Taylor for his alleged involvement in the 2019 death of Mauris DeSilva, according to Taylors attorney. The government has notified us, and the Court that they will not proceed on the Murder Charge and instead will only proceed on Deadly Conduct, a 3rd degree felony, Taylors attorney, Doug OConnell, told KXAN. Regardless of the charge, Officer Taylor is not guilty of any crime. We are looking forward to seeing him acquitted so that he and his family can finally put this tragedy behind them. KXAN also reached out to the District Attorneys Office which said we do not comment on active cases. The case alleged APD Officers Christopher Taylor and Karl Krycia used excessive force that led to the death of DeSilva in 2019. Taylor and Krycia were indicted in 2021 on one count of murder and one count of deadly conduct discharge firearm each, according to the Travis County District Attorneys Office. KXAN previously reported that DeSilva was having a mental breakdown in July 2019 and was holding a knife up to his own neck when officers arrived, that was according to APD. Police said DeSilva moved the knife to his side when asked, but after he moved toward officers with the knife, he was shot and later died at the hospital. As Dr. DeSilva approached the officers, Officers Krycia and Taylor fired their duty weapons and another officer deployed a Taser, the Austin Police Department said in a statement previously. Taylor has returned to administrative duty at the Austin Police Department providing administrative support to our bureau detectives, according to APD. In November, Taylor also stood trial for murder in the 2020 shooting death of Michael Ramos. A judge declared a mistrial after jurors could not come to a unanimous decision. Before that, a judge also granted a mistrial in May due to various issues during jury selection. In June, the Travis County District Attorneys Office said a grand jury issued No True Bills in that case. The decision ended the prosecution of the case against Taylor. Russell Falcon and Brianna Hollis also 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 KXAN Austin. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. takes the stage at the Des Moines Register soapbox Aug. 12, 2023. On Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, national Democrats alleged Kennedy has illegally coordinated with a super PAC to gather signatures for his bid. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. takes the stage at the Des Moines Register soapbox Aug. 12, 2023. On Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, national Democrats alleged Kennedy has illegally coordinated with a super PAC to gather signatures for his bid. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Wisconsins District 2 Court of Appeals has agreed to hear former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s lawsuit asking that his name be removed from the ballot in Wisconsin. The court, held by a conservative majority, ruled on Wednesday that it will hear the case, in which Kennedy is attempting to get off the ballot despite having filed nomination papers in which more than 8,000 voters signed petitions stating they want him on the ticket. The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) previously ruled that state law requires that candidates who have filed nomination papers and have qualified must be included on the ballot unless they die before Election Day. A Dane County judge ruled earlier this week against Kennedys effort. The appeal comes as absentee voting kicks off in Wisconsin, throwing a potential wrench in the start of the voting process. As of Wednesday, local election clerks are required to begin mailing absentee ballots to voters who already have requests on file. Many clerks have gotten a head start, with WEC data showing more than 295,000 ballots have already been put in the mail. County clerks were also required this week to deliver printed ballots to municipal clerks, adding a potential massive cost to local governments if Kennedys name were to be removed and ballots need to be reprinted. At a Dane County court hearing this week, Kennedys attorneys suggested using white stickers to cover Kennedys name on ballots an option available to election officials if a candidate dies. In its ruling accepting the case, the appeals court included a number of questions about the stickers it would like the parties in the lawsuit to answer in their briefs. The questions include if it matters that ballots with stickers on them have not been tested with voting equipment; if a candidate for a statewide office such as attorney general died and stickers were used, would those stickers need to be put on ballots statewide; and if election clerks have the discretion not to use the stickers if a candidate dies after ballots have been printed. The appeals court ruling orders that all briefs in the case be filed by Friday afternoon. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Apple has temporarily paused the rollout of iPadOS 18 for M4 iPad Pro models, some of the most expensive iPads that the company sells, after some users complained that the update bricked their devices. Apple acknowledged the issue in a statement to Engadget, saying, We have temporarily removed the iPadOS 18 update for M4 iPad Pro models as we work to resolve an issue that is impacting a small number of devices. The issue first came to light through Reddit, where a growing number of M4 iPad Pro users described how their iPads became unusable after they tried installing the latest version of iPadOS. At some point during the update my iPad turned off, and would no longer turn on, a user named tcorey23 posted on Reddit. I just took it to the Apple Store who confirmed its completely bricked, but they said they had to send it out to their engineers before they can give me a replacement even though I have Apple care. Another Reddit user called Lisegot wrote that the Apple Store they took their bricked M4 iPad Pro to did not have a replacement in stock, which meant they they would need to wait five to seven days for a working iPad. No one was particularly apologetic and they even insinuated that there was no way for them to know whether the update caused this, they wrote. Having a software bug brick an iPad is rare. ArsTechnica, which first reported this story, pointed out that iPads can typically be put into recovery mode if a software update goes bad. If you own an M4 iPad Pro, Apple will no longer offer you iPadOS 18 until it fixes the issue. Its not clear when it will be fixed. A "coding oversight" in state software is calling into question the citizenship status of 100,000 registered Arizona voters, prompting the state's Democratic secretary of state to insist he will send out ballots to those affected anyway. "I am unwilling to disenfranchise this many voters by limiting them, suddenly, and with little notice, to a federal-only ballot when none of them had actual notice of or blame for this issue," Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said during a Tuesday news conference. "We inherited this problem, we're on it, and we're going to fix it. It's as simple as that." WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT'S REINSTATEMENT OF AN 1864 NEAR-TOTAL ABORTION BAN A voter casts a ballot at a polling location in Fairfax, Virginia, on Nov. 7, 2023. The mistake affects individuals who obtained their drivers licenses before October 1996 and subsequently received duplicates before registering to vote after 2004. Since 2005, Arizona has required proof of U.S. citizenship for voting in state and local elections. Without this proof, these voters would be considered "federal only" voters, permitting them to vote solely on presidential and congressional elections rather than the full ballot. "We don't have any reason to believe that anyone in this gap is not an eligible voter," Fontes said. "We don't have any reason to believe that they're not eligible citizens in spite of the fact that we did find one. All we know is they fit into this category and all of this requires more research." WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE SHOW READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Rolls of "I Voted" stickers are stored at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 3, 2024. The Maricopa County Recorder's Office filed an emergency petition requesting the Arizona Supreme Court determine whether voters affected by the data oversight should be required to prove U.S. citizenship before the November election. Fontes said the error comes as longtime Arizona residents have been voting in elections for years under the impression that they had already provided proof of citizenship. And if the justices determine these individuals are only eligible to vote in federal races, Fontes said there will be an outreach effort to inform them. NEW POLL INDICATES WHETHER HARRIS OR TRUMP HAS THE EDGE IN THE MOST IMPORTANT BATTLEGROUND The error comes as Arizona Republicans and a conservative watchdog group have been pushing for stricter voting measures that require proof of U.S. citizenship to participate in state and national elections. Arizona is also a swing state that flipped blue in the 2020 presidential election. Last month, watchdog group America First Legal sued 15 Arizona counties for allegedly refusing to remove thousands of illegal immigrants from its voter rolls. The lawsuit claims that, as of April 2024, over 35,000 registered voters in Arizona had not provided proof of citizenship, limiting them to voting only in federal races, according to the Arizona Secretary of States Office. For their part, U.S. House Republicans are also attempting to attach H.R. 8281, which mandates proof of citizenship for voter registration and was passed in July, to a temporary government funding bill. A spokesperson for U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake told Fox News Digital in a statement: "It's not surprising to learn that nearly 100,000 voters in Arizona apparently never provided citizenship to vote. Kari Lake has been raising awareness of these alarming vulnerabilities in our elections for years and will not stop until these issues are resolved. The majority of Americans believe only U.S. citizens should vote in our elections. It's common sense. This discovery makes far-left radical Ruben Gallego's vote to allow illegals to vote in local elections even more disqualifying." Lake's Democratic opponent in the Senate race, Rep. Ruben Gallego, did not respond to a request for comment. Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub. Original article source: Arizona election database flags 100,000 voters as possible noncitizens: 'Coding oversight' A small plane crash just outside Portland, Oregon, has claimed the lives of three individuals, including Jacqueline Whitford, a respected 79-year-old flight instructor from Arizona. Whitford, known for her lifelong passion for aviation, was on a maintenance test flight for a twin-engine Cessna 421C on Aug. 31 when the accident occurred. The plane, piloted by 73-year-old Michael Busher collided with powerlines and exploded upon impact with a row of townhomes. Whitford and Busher died at the scene, along with Barbara MacDonald, a 75-year-old woman who was inside her home when the crash happened. Whitford's love for flying began in her childhood and flourished after a divorce. She pursued flight lessons in 1990. She quickly became a flight instructor, earning accolades including the FAA's "Flight Instructor of the Year" award in 2003. Her expertise and enthusiasm for aviation made her a beloved figure at Deer Valley Airport in Glendale. Her daughter, Michelle Whitford Raynes, said Whitford had been excited to assist Busher with the plane, which she had flown frequently before it was grounded for a few years. "I have pictures of her flying that airplane, always with a big smile," said her daughter. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the plane experienced control issues shortly after takeoff from Troutdale Airport, about 17 miles east of Portland. The pilot, Busher, reported difficulty controlling the aircraft, which subsequently clipped power lines before crashing into a townhome community two miles southwest of the airport. The NTSB is investigating the cause of the crash, which might take up to a year and a half to conclude. Whitford's daughter, Michelle Raynes, expressed profound grief, noting, "I can't believe she's gone. I just miss her so much." She added that her mother would have never embarked on that flight if she knew something was wrong. Barry Caraway, a fellow aviator and friend, described Whitford as a dedicated aviation enthusiast. "It's sad anytime you lose a friend but certainly a friend in your hobby it makes it even worse, and someone you've known for 14 years, that you've sat in the plane with several times. We were shocked," he said. "She lived and breathed aviation." Whitford's contributions to aviation were widely recognized, and her legacy will be remembered by many in the flying community. "Aviation, besides her family, was her life and she enjoyed every second of it," Caraway said. As the NTSB continues its investigation, Whitford's family and friends remember her as a vibrant individual whose life was defined by her love for flying and dedication to teaching others. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona pilot and 2 others killed in Oregon plane crash (Getty Images) A legislative committee on Tuesday forwarded a $235.5 million medical contract for the Arkansas Department of Corrections to the Arkansas Legislative Council for final approval on Friday, but the deal still faces significant opposition from key lawmakers. The contract presented to the Arkansas Legislative Councils Review subcommittee represents the first two years of a potential ten-year $1.6 billion contract with Wellpath to provide comprehensive medical, dental, pharmacy and mental health services for inmates and offenders in the custody of the Department of Corrections. The panel approved the review of the contract on Tuesday after some lawmakers tried to hold it over concerns that pricing was not considered for all vendors during the procurement process. The Arkansas Board of Corrections approved the contract in July, but it must receive final approval from lawmakers. The Department of Corrections has contracted with Wellpath, previously known as Correct Care Solutions, for more than a decade. The company has been providing interim services since the previous contract ended in 2022. The current contract ends at the end of September, and if approved, the new contract would begin in October. The contract faced pushback from lawmakers as recently as last month, when Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, tabled the proposal because he said a lot of his colleagues were out of town. He also questioned how large the contract was and noted his commitment to not relenting on the corrections department until the Board of Corrections decides to start acting in some way. For nearly a year, the board has been at odds with the governor and the attorney general over expanding prison capacity and who has ultimate authority over Arkansas prison system. A lawsuit challenging the latter issue is ongoing. More recently, the prison boards procurement practices have received scathing criticism from lawmakers. Hester again raised the issue of cost at Tuesdays meeting. Hester said he received a letter from Wexford Health, a vendor that said its proposed bid was less than Wellpaths. Department of Corrections officials said a committee awarded technical scores for all five vendors that submitted proposals. The three with the highest scores advanced to the second round of scoring, at which point pricing was considered. Wexford Health was not in the top three and therefore its proposed price was not looked at. Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, said price should account for 30% of all vendors procurement scores, not just those that advance from the technical scoring portion. The process used in the corrections departments Request for Proposal (RFP) process is not in the spirit of the law, Irvin argued. Pricing is actually zero percent in this process, and I have a problem with that because you did not even look at the pricing proposals that were submitted by all of the vendors, she said. I think that we have a flawed process to be honest because I feel like at this level of a contract anybody thats going to apply for this is going to be able to deliver this service. And so, in my opinion, I think price should be a part of the initial consideration for anybody that submits a proposal. Tanya Freeman with the Office of State Procurement said unqualified vendors often do submit proposals just to gain experience. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Regarding the Department of Corrections RFP process, Freeman said it, like many agencies, used a traditional method, which abides by procurement law. However, she noted that in recent years, OSP has shifted to the Most Advantageous Proposal (MAP) process, which does allow agencies to consider costs proposed by all vendors. The traditional process that we always used up until a couple of years ago did withhold opening the pricing so it did not skew the evaluators technical scores, she said. Freeman said OSP recommended the MAP process to the corrections department when developing its RFP. Corrections Secretary Lindsay Wallace said they had to restart the process after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders took office in 2023 due to the contracts cost, so DOC chose to go with the traditional process with which staff was most familiar, she said. DOC officials told lawmakers that of the three vendors that advanced to the second round of scoring, Wellpath had the lowest bid of $1.6 billion. The other two vendors bids were $1.9 billion and $2.1 billion. Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, said the traditional process used by the department of corrections circumvents procurement law, which he said legislators spent months studying before approving new legislation a few years ago. I guarantee that was never, ever the intent of this legislature whenever it passed that to figure out a way to circumvent the things that we dont even consider their price, which as some of our other legislators have said is all coming out of tax-paid money, is past ridiculous to me, Hickey said. And I know I get pretty aggravated down here, but we literally, literally had a years worth of meetings to try to get this procurement process right, and then this is the type [of[ stuff we hear? Its very aggravating. The committee approved a motion by Irvin requesting a report from OSP and the Bureau Legislative Bureau on how the RFP process used by the corrections department began and under whose authority. Legislators also approved her request that any contract using this process in the future be flagged when presented to ALCs Review subcommittee. Irvins peers, however, did not approve her motion to hold the contract until Fridays meeting of the full Arkansas Legislative Council. The contract was marked reviewed and will advance to Fridays meeting, where Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, said Tuesday that he intends to make a motion to pull it from further discussion. This story was updated at 3:05 p.m. on Sept. 18, 2024 to clarifying the cost of the Wellpath contract. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Arkansas lawmakers look to be taking action to provide more security for Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders during the heat of a presidential election thats been marked by violent acts and threats. In the Arkansas Legislative Councils Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee meeting Tuesday, lawmakers advanced a measure setting aside $1.2 million for enhanced security for Sanders. Mississippi man pleads guilty in Arkansas to threatening US judge, federal officer Senate President Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs) confirmed to KARK 4 News that the money would provide bulletproof vests for detail staff and equipment upgrades to the governors mansion, noting that there has been an increased need during the current administration. Gov. Sanders has had more credible threats against her life than the last than maybe the last two or three or four all put together, Hester said. While there was no pushback on the request for these funds in the meeting, one Democrat later explained off camera some questions about what the money will be spent on and why its coming from federal American Rescue Plan funds, which were intended to provide relief for consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. DHS, Gov. Sanders investing $30 million of ARP funds in mental health, substance abuse treatment, crisis response Hester clarified that the one-time funding increase is an approved use under the grant, which has provided money for state police needs in the past. He also noted that the federal money needed to be spent before the end of the year. I have not heard any pushback on this, Hester said. Democrat, Republican, we all recognize that nobody wants to see our governor be attacked in any way. We recognize that its expensive to have a detail and a detail thats well equipped and well prepared. Due to changes made to the states Freedom of Information Act in the 2023 special session, specific detailed information about how this money will be used for updated security measures will not be available to the public, according to Hester. There were probably lots of questions, but they werent out in the public, he said. We [legislators] have the right to go to the governors office and look at these invoices behind the scenes, and I am confident these members have done that. Gov. Sanders looking to update FOIA laws; pointing to privacy, security of family & state agencies The request for the funds will go to the Arkansas Legislative Council Friday morning for final approval. When Sanders called the special session in September of 2023, she pointed to the threats her family has faced over the years, as White House press secretary and now as governor. I had to deal with credible death threats when I was in the White House- becoming the first White House press secretary in the history of the White House to require Secret Service protection, something that is generally reserved for the president, the vice president and their families, Sanders told media in 2023. When I was campaigning for this office, we had violent people track our movements to try to do us harm. Arkansas Special Session ends with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signing tax cut, FOIA & COVID bills, more In a statement, Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar explained that his agency was constantly reviewing and evaluating the techniques and methods it follows to keep protectees like Sanders and her family safe. Arkansas State Police will protect any Governor and their family in accordance with state law, he wrote. We constantly reevaluate and update our methods and procedures based on numerous factors, including the number of protectees and threat level, that vary with each administration and from day to day. In that 2023 press conference, Sanders referenced a man in Russellville who had been arrested for trying to shoot her, then a man in Oklahoma who pled guilty to attempting to kill her shortly before that press conference. Earlier this month, an Arkansas woman pled guilty to federal charges after threatening to bomb Sanders office. Arkansas woman pleads guilty to bomb threat against Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Records from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration show that Hagar sent a request to DF&A for the enhanced security funds just two days prior to her guilty plea. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LITTLE ROCK, Ark A legislative committee meeting Tuesday heated up over a $1.5 billion medical contract for the Arkansas Department of Corrections and the process used to settle on it. The contract with Wellpath LLC. is for medical, dental, pharmacy and mental health services for inmates and offenders in the custody of the Department of Corrections. Debate started with Senate President Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs) questioning the process, saying hed gotten a letter from the CEO of a company that was denied a contract with the Department of Corrections despite claims by the company it offered a lower price than winning bid. Report shows rate of suicides in Arkansas prisons picking up significantly in 2024 Secretary of Corrections Lindsay Wallace and other DOC staff members testified about the process they chose, saying it was legal and followed the legislatures rules. We were most familiar with the traditional RFP process, Wallace told the committee. We have never used the map process, and this was a huge process, and we didnt know enough about it. Arkansas Board of Corrections outlines plans, steps to increase capacity in state prisons Sen. Ben Gilmore (R-Crossett) told the DOC staff he feels the legislature is between a rock and a hard place because they have to provide this care and have a Sept. 30 deadline to do it, but now lawmakers are being presented with a contract with possibly a much higher price tag than what they couldve gotten with another company. Anytime youre dealing with this amount of money, or any money related to the taxpayers of Arkansas, its very important that we have accountability, Gilmore said after the meeting. Arkansas Department of Corrections officer hoping for a match to receive a new kidney The committee ultimately decided not to vote on this contract Tuesday and instead hold it until Friday when more members are present at the Arkansas Legislative Council meeting. Gilmore said he talked with DOC staff after the meeting and said they did come to more of an understanding in that conversation, adding that he is prepared to vote in favor of the contract if they can reassure him they followed the procurement process. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WOODBURY, N.Y. (PIX11) New York State Police have announced that a man accused of crashing a stolen car and then running into the woods in Woodbury Wednesday is dead. Ali Ali was accused of crashing the stolen vehicle on the New York State Thruway near Exit 16 Wednesday, police said. The car caught fire and Ali ran off into a wooded area, prompting a manhunt for the man police said was armed and dangerous. More Local News Troopers were trying to stop Ali before he allegedly crashed, police said. As police searched, schools in the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District were placed on lock out, meaning no one was allowed in or out of campuses while school was in session. Police solicited the publics help to find Ali, and around 12:35 p.m., he was recorded on a trail camera near Highland Mills. Ali was located in a densely wooded area in Highland Mills at around 2 p.m., according to State Police. There was a confrontation, during which Ali was shot and killed, police said. As this was a police-involved shooting, the New York State Attorney Generals Office is now investigating the case. Police have yet to confirm whether Ali was armed at the time of the confrontation. Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered New York City since 2023. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Yerevan on Sept. 18 accused five Armenian citizens and two former residents of Nagorno-Karabakh of undergoing military training in Russia in order to stage an armed coup in Armenia. Three suspects have been arrested, while four are still at large, the Armenian Investigative Committee said. The identity of the suspects was not revealed. While the committee did not implicate Russian authorities in the alleged plot, the news comes amid already strained Moscow-Yerevan ties. The suspects were offered a three-month military training on Russian territory for a monthly payment of 220,000 rubles ($2,400). The plans were carried out in cooperation "with other persons whose identity is yet to be determined," according to the statement. The alleged plotters were to acquaint themselves with "new heavy weapons and learn the skills of their use" as part of their training, the committee said. The suspects then recruited other persons fellow Armenians and Nagorno-Karabakh former residents to join the alleged plot and also undergo training in Russia, according to the statement. This was meant to prepare the recruits to "return to Armenia and remove the current government," the committee added. Some of the recruits allegedly refused to participate in the training and returned to Armenia, the committee said, adding that an intervention of Armenian law enforcement agencies thwarted the plot. The committee did not specify any political or other affiliations of the alleged plotters, saying that the investigation is ongoing. The authorities are now seeking to identify the remaining accomplices. Prime Minister Nikol Pashiynan's government previously accused the country's military of plotting a coup in 2021, months after the unsuccessful war with Azerbaijan in 2020. The prime minister has taken an increasingly pro-Western foreign policy direction as the ties with Moscow, the country's traditional ally, soured when Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh did not prevent last year's Azerbaijani offensive. Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh in a mass exodus after Azerbaijan seized the region in a lightning military offensive in September 2023. The war sparked mass protests against Pashiynan. Yerevan has been backing the unrecognized republic since its conception in the early 1990s, despite Nagorno-Karabakh being internationally recognized as Azerbaijani sovereign territory. Read also: Explainer: Why Armenia-Russia relations continue to deteriorate Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Azerbaijan, which is progressively enhancing its global influence, is now prioritizing the implementation of "green energy" initiatives and the export of "green energy" to international markets within its energy policy. In a bold stride towards cementing its position on the global stage, Azerbaijan is channeling its energy towards a transformative vision: integrating "green energy" initiatives with pioneering digital infrastructure. A key component of this initiative is the Trans-Caspian energy cable line project. As Azerbaijan leads the charge in marrying green energy with digital innovation, the Trans-Caspian energy cable project marks a significant milestone in its quest to become a central player in both realms. During the meeting of Central Asian and German leaders in Astana, the President of Kazakhstan, Kasim-Jomart Tokayev, discussed the project. President Tokayev mentioned that Germany could participate in the line through the Caspian Sea, a project being undertaken by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. "Our country, along with Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, is working on a project to build a line for transmitting 'green energy' through the Caspian Sea to European countries. We invite our German partners to consider participating in this strategic project," he said. Economic and strategic benefits: Germany's involvement in Caspian Green Energy Project If Germany participates in the project to build a "green energy" transmission line through the Caspian Sea, several potential outcomes could arise: Strengthened Energy Security: Germany would diversify its energy sources, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and increasing the share of renewable energy in its portfolio. Economic Growth: Participation could create job opportunities and stimulate economic activity in both Germany and the partner countries. It could lead to investments in technology and infrastructure. International Cooperation: This collaboration could enhance diplomatic relations between Germany and the Central Asian countries involved, fostering stronger ties in trade and technology exchange. Environmental Impact: A successful green energy project could significantly reduce carbon emissions, contributing to global climate goals and promoting sustainable development. Innovation and Technology Transfer: Germany, known for its engineering and renewable energy technology, could play a key role in developing advanced solutions for energy transmission, potentially benefiting local industries. Market Opportunities: German companies could access new markets for their renewable energy technologies and services, bolstering their international presence. Geopolitical Dynamics: The project might influence the geopolitical landscape in the region, attracting interest from other countries and potentially affecting relationships with existing energy suppliers. Project Overview: Caspian Green Energy Transmission Line Objective: To establish a sustainable energy corridor that facilitates the transmission of renewable energy from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan to European markets. Location: The transmission line will run beneath the Caspian Sea, connecting the energy-rich regions of Central Asia with Europe. Renewable Energy Sources: The project will utilize solar, wind, and hydropower from the participating countries, promoting clean energy generation. Capacity: The transmission line is expected to have a significant capacity to support Europes growing demand for renewable energy, enhancing energy security. Technological Innovations: The project will incorporate advanced technologies for energy transmission and conversion, ensuring efficient and reliable delivery of electricity. Environmental Impact: The initiative aims to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable development, aligning with global climate goals. Economic Benefits: The project is anticipated to create jobs, stimulate local economies, and foster technology transfer between participating countries and Germany. International Collaboration: By inviting German partners, the project seeks to leverage expertise in renewable energy technology and enhance diplomatic relations. Timeline: Preliminary phases include feasibility studies and environmental assessments, with construction expected to commence in the coming years. Regional Integration: Azerbaijans Role in connecting Europe and Asia through green energy infrastructure Azerbaijan is strategically positioned at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, making it a pivotal player in regional integration efforts, particularly in the green energy sector. The country is increasingly focusing on developing renewable energy resources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower, to diversify its energy portfolio and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Azerbaijan's geographical location allows it to serve as a vital transit hub for green energy, facilitating the transfer of electricity from Central Asia to European markets. The ongoing development of energy infrastructure, including the Caspian Green Energy Transmission Line, is a key initiative that underscores Azerbaijan's commitment to sustainability and cooperation with neighboring countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. By enhancing interconnectivity through this green energy infrastructure, Azerbaijan aims to strengthen regional ties and promote energy security for both itself and its partners. The project not only addresses Europes growing demand for renewable energy but also positions Azerbaijan as a leader in the transition to a more sustainable energy future. Furthermore, Azerbaijan's collaboration with international partners, including Germany, fosters technology transfer and investment, bolstering the countrys capabilities in renewable energy production and distribution. This initiative not only benefits Azerbaijan economically but also contributes to the broader goals of reducing carbon emissions and combatting climate change. In conclusion, Azerbaijan's push towards green energy is exemplified by the Trans-Caspian Energy cable project, which will create a new digital corridor between Europe and Asia. This initiative, involving Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and potentially Germany, aims to enhance connectivity, drive economic growth, and foster regional cooperation. Slated for completion by 2025, the project underscores Azerbaijan's growing role as a central digital hub and a key player in the global green energy market. ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- An explosion at a weapons depot rocked Yemen's southwestern province of Taiz on Wednesday, resulting in at least two deaths, a security official told Xinhua. According to the official who spoke to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, the weapons depot belonged to the country's pro-government forces and was under the control of the 22nd Army Brigade. The official confirmed that the blast claimed the lives of at least two and left about six others injured, and the casualty count may rise. Eyewitnesses reported seeing flames and columns of smoke rising from the area. The explosion sent projectiles hurtling into nearby residential buildings, causing significant damage to local homes. The pro-government forces in Taiz said in a statement that "the explosion originated in a building which was being used as a reserve warehouse for the 22nd Army Brigade's armaments." The military reported that measures were being taken to contain the situation, with firefighters, soldiers from the 22nd Army Brigade, and security forces working together to control the blaze. A committee of relevant authorities has been established to investigate the explosion and its aftermath. Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014, with the Houthis fighting against the internationally-recognized Yemeni government. In 2015, the Houthi group entered Taiz province and surrounded its capital, Taiz. Although the city remains under the control of the Yemeni government, it is still besieged by Houthi forces. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) An Armenian-born painter is hoping to give the West Michigan community a more personal understanding of war with his ArtPrize entry, which portrays six children who were killed in wars. Its really personal to me, Mher Khachatryan, who is now based in New Jersey, told News 8. During his childhood, he explained, there was a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. At that time, I think I was like 7, 8. Going to school, we had to really light up a candle. There was no lights, no hot water. So it was really tough time, he said. Because of the war, there was so much poverty. And Im sure its the same thing in Azerbaijan, too; theyre just like us. So there was a lot of losses, kids. I remember a lot of bad stories. In 2020, war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan again. I saw all these things happening again and again, Khachatryan said. It just brought all these memories. Digital painting showcases broken immigration system As he heard news of wars across the globe, Khachatryan also known as The Smoke Artist said he was struck by inspiration, which he described as when an idea takes over. I started looking for pictures of the kids who were impacted by (war). And there are a lot, he told News 8. After months of work, he produced I Was Your Child, which is now being displayed at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum for ArtPrize. The painting I created, its about six kids who actually died during these wars, Khachatryan said. I just wanted to see how I can bring these kids into light and show people how beautiful they are. And unfortunately theyre not with us, but I wanted to talk about their stories. I wanted to make them immortal in this picture. YouTube video: The Smoke Artist explains I Was Your Child I Was Your Child depicts a Ukrainian child and a Russian child, a Palestinian child and an Israeli child and an Azerbaijani child and an Armenian child. I Was Your Child by Mher Khachatryan, known as The Smoke Artist. (Courtesy The Smoke Artist) If you look at the painting, (the) Ukrainian and Russian girls, theyre connected as one. If somebody looks at them, you wont even know whos who, the artist explained. And thats how they are. The kids, it doesnt matter what country youre from or what language you speak. Kids are very innocent. Children, he said, are children. It hurts for me the same to see any of the kids struggle. It doesnt matter where theyre from, Khachatryan said. Theyre our kids. ArtPrize entry aims to raise awareness of the invisible homeless He said for people who havent experienced war firsthand, it can feel distant. War is not a cool thing. When it doesnt come to your house, when it doesnt come on your land, sometimes its a war from your couch. And youre like, OK, well, is this like a movie?' Khachatryan said. When its next door or knocking on your door, its a totally different understanding of war than when you see it from the news and you see it on a TV or on your iPad. He hopes his painting can help narrow the gap and offer people a little bit more understanding and feeling. I hope that this will play even a very, very, very tiny role of bringing peace to all of us, to our children, he said. Khachatryan said pictures do not do I Was Your Child justice. He asked the West Michigan community to see the painting, learn about it and spread the message of peace. Because that is the ultimate goal, he said. If theres no peace, theres nothing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Overnight, Ukrainian drones attacked one of the largest arsenals in Russia, causing a powerful detonation in the town of Toropets in Russia's Tver Oblast, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent. Back in 2018, the Russian Defense Ministry bragged that this facility would be prepared to withstand even a nuclear explosion. Six years later, the claim was proven to be false. According to the SBU, the arsenal stored ballistic missiles, including Iskanders, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery ammunition, and KAB guided bombs. The attack "literally wiped off the face of the earth a large warehouse of the main missile and artillery department of the Russian Defense Ministry," the SBU source said. Read also: Russian cities left defenseless as Ukraine ramps up drone attacks Russia's largest arms depot The construction of the arsenal, controlled by the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate, began in 2015 in the town of Toropets, located 480 kilometers north of Ukraine. The construction was part of a 2012 government program set to improve Russia's storage of missiles, ammunition, and explosives. According to Russia's Defense Ministry, the program, worth 90 billion rubles (nearly $980 million), called for 13 modern arms depots to be built. The construction in Toropets, a town of 11,000 people, was to open in October 2018 in compliance with all modern international security standards. "The arsenal ensures safe and secure storage, protects (weapons) from aerial and missile strikes and even from the damage of a nuclear explosion," then-Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov said in 2018. "If you compare present arsenals with what they used to be storage in open areas and wooden storage facilities and what they are today in concrete storage facilities, the difference is roughly the difference between walking around in body armor that protects you from being hit by bullets and shrapnel, or walking around without body armor," Bulgakov said. Bulgakov was arrested in July 2024 following corruption allegations. He was one of five top Defense Ministry officials arrested between April and July amid the change in the ministry's leadership. Read also: What Irans ballistic missiles, in Russias hands, could mean for Ukraine How did the Ukrainian forces hit the arsenal in Russia's Tver Oblast? Tver Oblast Governor Igor Rudenya said on Sept. 18 that a fire broke out in Toropets due to the drone's debris fall, but the situation was "under control." An evacuation from Toropets to the neighboring settlement of Zapadnaya Dvina was ordered. Rudenya did not specify the location of the drone crash or the damage it caused. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry, in its report on nighttime drone attacks, did not mention the strikes against Tver Oblast. Yet the source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent that a "very powerful detonation" occurred, and the affected area was 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide. NASA satellites also recorded a surge in thermal activity in Tver Oblast, where the 107th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate is located. "The arsenal seems to have been built correctly, with bunkered storage facilities that can hold up to 240 tons of ammunition each," Serhiy Zgurets, military expert and CEO of the Ukrainian media Defense Express, told the Kyiv Independent. "This is supposed to help prevent fire from spilling over from one storage facility to another, but it does not protect these structures from chain detonation," Zgurets added. The expert assumes that two factors could have influenced the chain detonation. According to Zgurets, the Russian military could have stored ammunition in the open, which made them very vulnerable to the attack. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility that the Ukrainian drones could have been modified. Read also: Everything we know about Ukraines new Palianytsia missile-drone "The effectiveness of Ukrainian drones has probably increased, as they may have received warheads that can pierce the ceilings of storage facilities," Zgurets said. In total, about 30,000 tons of ammunition were stored in the arsenal in Toropets, which could have been enough to conduct attacks for months, according to the expert. Russia most likely stored 122 mm Grad ammunition, 82 mm mines, and missiles for Buk medium-range surface-to-air missile systems, among other munitions, according to Zgurets. Despite the successful attack on Toropets, Zgurets warned against underestimating Russia's electronic warfare but says that there is still an "antidote" to it, as some Ukrainian drones have an inertial guidance system, which is not affected by electronic warfare. Zgurets said that arms depots are among the highest priorities that must be protected by air defense. And if Russian forces did not shoot down all the air targets again, this points to two factors: Ukraine could have used "technical tricks" to bypass air defense, or the attack was so massive that Russia simply could not protect all of its important targets, the expert said. Read also: Ukraine strikes Russian airfields with homemade weapons in hopes of preventing devastating attacks at home Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ANCHORAGE, Alaska The U.S. military has moved about 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in the Aleutian chain of western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching American territory. Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska in the past week as Russia and China conducted joint military drills. None of the planes breached U.S. airspace and a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday there was no cause for alarm. Its not the first time that weve seen the Russians and the Chinese flying, you know, in the vicinity, and thats something that we obviously closely monitor, and its also something that were prepared to respond to, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference. As part of a force projection operation, the Army on Sept. 12 sent the soldiers to Shemya Island, some 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage, where the U.S. Air Force maintains an air station that dates to World War II. The soldiers brought two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, with them. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said the U.S. military also deployed a guided-missile destroyer and a Coast Guard vessel to the western region of Alaska as Russia and China began the Ocean-24 military exercises in the Pacific and Arctic oceans Sept. 10. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it detected and tracked Russian military planes operating off Alaska over a four-day span. There were two planes each on Sept. 11, Sept. 13, Sept. 14 and Sept. 15. The planes operated in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, a zone beyond U.S. sovereign airspace, but within which the U.S. expects aircraft to identify themselves, NORAD said. The Russian Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. NORAD has said the number of such incursions has fluctuated yearly. The average was six to seven intercepts a year. Last year, 26 Russian planes came into the Alaska zone, and so far this year, there have been 25. Often in such encounters, the military provides photos of the Russian warplanes being escorted by either U.S. or Canadian planes, such as during a July 24 intercept of two Russian and two Chinese planes. However, none was released in the past week and a NORAD spokeswoman, Canadian Maj. Jennie Derenzis, declined to say whether jets were scrambled to intercept the Russian planes. U.S. Coast Guard cutter Stratton, right, shadows a Russian submarine about 57 miles northwest of Point Hope, Alaska, on Sunday. (U.S Coast Guard via AP) The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday its homeland security vessel, the 418-foot Stratton, was on routine patrol in the Chukchi Sea when it tracked four Russian Federation Navy vessels about 60 miles northwest of Point Hope, Alaska. The Russian vessels, which included two submarines, a frigate and a tugboat, had crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, which is permitted under international rules and customs. Two years ago, a U.S. Coast Guard ship about 85 miles north of Alaskas Kiska Island in the Bering Sea came across three Chinese and four Russian naval vessels sailing in single formation. Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said the recent spike is something that well continue to keep an eye on, but doesnt pose a threat from our perspective. Sullivan called for a larger military presence in the Aleutians while advocating for the U.S. to respond with strength to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the past two years, weve seen joint Russian-Chinese air and naval exercises off our shores and a Chinese spy balloon floating over our communities, Sullivan said in a statement Tuesday. These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the U.S., Russia, and China. Sullivan said the U.S. Navy should reopen its shuttered base at Adak, located in the Aleutians. Naval Air Facility Adak was closed in 1997. Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Lolita Baldor contributed from Washington, D.C. Soldiers Set to Get New Deployment Bonus as High Operations Tempos Strain the Army Soldiers will receive an extra monthly bonus -- ranging from $210 to $450 per month, depending on rank -- for time away from home exceeding 30 days starting in October, according to a draft Army memo reviewed by Military.com. The new benefit includes Army Guardsmen and reservists. The move would put additional money in overworked soldiers' pockets as Army units are away from home more now than during much of the peak of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A smaller Army is taking on a much more demanding tempo of missions, with formations bolstering NATO's front lines in Europe and frontline units expanding their footprint in the Pacific to counter China's expansionist goals, all while juggling combat missions in the Middle East and Africa. Read Next: Fired West Point Garrison Commander Found Not Guilty on Drunk Driving Charges The constant pace of deployments and time away from home has put significant strain on the force, an issue senior leadership has been highlighting since at least 2020. But deployments abroad have become only more frequent, particularly amid renewed focus on Europe after Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The deployments are also accompanied by extensive training in the field, which keeps soldiers away from home even longer. "Our op tempo now is pretty much as high as it's been during the Global War on Terrorism," Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told Military.com in an interview last year. The strain has also affected the mental health of the force, Army planners have warned. Suicide in the service has risen steadily in recent years. A misconception is that those mental health crises are related to combat trauma, when the bulk of suicides, especially in recent years as the post-9/11 wars wound down, are among soldiers who have never seen combat. Some of that has been attributed to financial stress and rocky romantic relationships, issues that become inflamed when soldiers are often away from home. However, the new bonus pay will cease if soldiers are hospitalized, according to the draft policy. It's unclear whether the pay will cease only if the soldier is flown home to be cared for, or if that termination of extra pay includes when a soldier is being treated in a hospital abroad. It's also unclear where the Army funding is coming from, as no recent congressional moves have authorized new money to cover it. The Army did not respond to a request for comment when asked whether this new deployment pay stacks on top of existing bonuses including hazardous duty or imminent fire pay, which are typically served for soldiers in combat zones. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment when asked whether similar new deployment bonuses were being integrated in the other services. Here is the new bonus pay that the Army is set to implement for deployed troops per month: E-1 to E-4: $210 E-5: $240 E-6: $300 E-7: $360 E-8: $420 E-9: $450 WO-1: $240 WO-2: $300 WO-3: $360 WO-4: $420 WO-5: $450 O-1: $240 O-2: $300 O-3: $360 O-4: $420 O-5 to O-6: $450 Related: Soldiers Are Getting Burned Out. Army Leadership Knows It's a Problem. Sixty-seven-year-old Paul Conways 30-mile trek did not go according to plan - PA An army veteran survived a week in the wilderness after going missing while on a hike in the Scottish Highlands. Paul Conway, 67, embarked on a 30-mile trek from Glenfinnan Viaduct to Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula in Lochaber last Tuesday. Mr Conway, who served with the British Armys 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment for 11 years, however, lost his way and couldnt call for help as he had no phone signal. A major search-and-rescue operation involving police, coastguard and mountain rescue teams was launched after the grandfather failed to arrive in Inverie on Friday as planned. Chris Conway, his son, feared the worst and posted on social media: Dead or alive, I need him found. But the grandfather survived the elements including heavy rain and strong winds for a week, eventually reaching the southern shores of Loch Morar in the remote Highland area and finding mobile phone signal on Tuesday afternoon. Mr Conway Jnr said his father was in good health and good spirits despite his ordeal. He thanked those who helped find his father and bring him to safety. Mr Conways hike to Inverie was supposed to take four days, instead he went missing and was exposed to the elements for a week - Alamy /David Gowans Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team wrote on Facebook: Since Saturday evening, Lochaber MRT, Search & Rescue Dog Association (Scotland), RAF Lossiemouth MRT and Police Scotland MRT, have continued search efforts for missing walker Paul Conway. Thankfully today Paul was found and reunited with his family, a little worse for wear but in good spirits. Dan Stroud, a Met Office meteorologist, said the 67-year-old would have had to deal with heavy rain and strong winds while he was missing. Given the extended period that Mr Conway who also served with Northumbria Police for 30 years spent outdoors, he was taken to hospital as a precaution. He thinks he is 21 and can do anything Mr Conway Jnr had raised the alarm with a post on social media after his grandfather had failed to sign in to the second scheduled hut on his trek. He wrote on Facebook: The dafty is 67 but still thinks he is 21 and can do anything. Which he cant. He added: Its now believed that the possibility that he has lost his route, has injured himself or has succumbed to something. Hes an amazing bloke and dead or alive. I need him found. Its been a torturous few days. In a later update shared on the platform, Mr Conway Jnr said: He has been found. Unbelievable and he has been through a hell of a lot. Insp Ross McCartney of Fort William Police Station, Police Scotland Highland & Islands, said: We are delighted that Paul has been found and reunited safe and well with his family. This was a challenging and protracted search involving a number of partner agencies and specialist police resources. These included Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, the RAF Mountain Rescue Team, Search and Rescue Dog Association, HM Coastguard and the Police Scotland Mountain Rescue Team. We are grateful to everyone involved in the search for their efforts in bringing about this positive outcome. 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. Encounters at the Southwest border rose slightly in August compared with July, marking the end of five straight months of declines, authorities said. The numbers could indicate the flow of migrants may be stabilizing. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol recorded 107,503 encounters of migrants in August at the U.S.-Mexico border, a nearly 3% increase from July. Nationwide, the total number dropped by nearly 7% during the same period. After President Joe Biden issued an executive order imposing new limits on asylum in June, border crossings initially dropped by more than half. Biden administration officials downplayed concerns about the slight increase in crossings. The data published today by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that since President Biden announced new, decisive executive actions to secure the border on June 4, encounters between ports of entry have dropped significantly and remain at their lowest level in years July and August saw the lowest encounter levels since September 2020, White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez said in a statement on Monday. In September 2020, Border Patrol recorded 54,771 arrests between border crossings along the Southwest border. The administration, Fernandez Hernandez added, has taken effective action, and Republican officials continue to do nothing. Migration remains a major issue in the presidential campaign, with the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance making it a key focus during campaign stops and media appearances in Arizona and other battleground states. Apprehensions at the Southwest border level off Border Patrol agents arrested 58,038 migrants between ports of entry in August, an increase of about 1,600 from July. Still, last month's figures are some of the lowest during President Biden's term in office. By contrast, December 2023 had a record high of 249,741 encounters. The number of apprehensions in the Tucson and Yuma sectors for August compared with July remained steady, hovering below 14,000. Thats nearly four times less than last August, when Border Patrol agents arrested more than 55,000 migrants along the Arizona border with Mexico. Officials from the Biden administration credit Junes executive action for the decline in illegal crossings. CBP continues to enforce the Securing the Border interim final rule and deliver strong consequences for illegal entry, and encounters between ports of entry remain at their lowest level in years, said Troy Miller, CBP senior official performing the duties of the commissioner. The Mexican governments crackdown on migrants transiting the country also has aided in bringing down the number of encounters at the Southwest border. High number of migrants processed at ports of entry The number of migrants processed at ports of entry has remained high in 2024, according to figures reported by CBP's Office of Field Operations. The office reported 49,465 encounters in August, up by about 1,700 from July. This rise coincides with restrictions imposed on asylum by the Biden administration, which requires migrants to request an asylum interview at a designated port of entry using the CBP One app. Approximately 1,450 appointments are made available per day. Individuals who cross the border illegally between ports of entry are deemed ineligible for asylum. 'They have priorities': 48 hours in Tucson Sector at Arizona-Mexico border Alejandro Mayorkas, Department of Homeland Security secretary, said in June that the limit on available appointments was based on the capacity of ports of entry. They are antiquated ports of entry that are also in need of funding to modernize them, he said during a visit to Tucson. The executive order has also allowed DHS to expedite the removal of people from the country. In the 14 weeks since the new rules took effect on June 5, DHS has removed or returned more than 131,000 individuals to more than 140 countries. Aid at border: AZ firefighters cut through border fence near Sasabe to rescue injured migrant Have any news tips or story ideas about the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona? Reach the reporter at rromeroruiz@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @raphaeldelag. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arrests at Southwest border climb slightly in August Authorities are asking for the publics help in identifying and locating an arson suspect responsible for a fire in downtown Los Angeles that injured four people, including two firefighters, late last week. Personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to reports of a fully involved fire at a three-story apartment complex under construction in the 700 block of New Depot Street just after 3:45 a.m. on Sept. 13. The blaze, according to a press release from the Los Angeles Police Department, prompted mass evacuations of four other occupied multi-story residential apartment complexes exposed to the fire. L.A. Apartment Fire In the course of fighting the fire, two firefighters suffered minor injuries, officials said. An elderly tenant in one of the buildings suffered from smoke inhalation and another female tenant sustained burn injuries to her hands and arms. Amid California insurance crisis, homeowners slam fix proposed by regulators LAFDs Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section is assisting LAPD in the investigation into the exact cause of the fire. Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Major Crimes Det. Allen or Det. Nunez at 213-486-7260. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-222-8477 or leave tips online at www.lacrimestoppers.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 KTLA. PFAS, commonly called "forever chemicals" can be transported via air or water and potentially contaminate drinking water sources. (Photo by Cami Koons / Iowa Capital Dispatch) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has a free, voluntary monitoring program to help small communities meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initial monitoring mandates for per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS in drinking water. EPA ruled in June that all public water systems have three years to complete initial PFAS monitoring, as part of an ongoing plan to reduce the prevalence of the chemicals that are linked to various health concerns. Kathleen Lee, a senior environmental specialist, said Iowa DNR will not have its regulation on the books until next fall, which would leave little time for the state to complete its initial PFAS monitoring. We determined that would not necessarily be enough time for all of our small water supplies to complete their initial monitoring, Lee said. By offering a free volunteer monitoring program, we would induce our small supplies to get started on their monitoring. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Systems serving populations less than 10,000 people have until Oct. 18 to sign up for the voluntary monitoring program. DNR will pay for the shipping and initial monitoring costs for systems that join the program, and some will qualify for reduced testing costs when compliance monitoring begins in 2027. By participating in this program, they can save $780 just on sampling costs, Lee said. Thats a lot for a water supply that may only serve several hundred people, so were happy to be able to assist our small communities with this monitoring cost. Lee said the program will also stagger the testing to work with the State Hygienic Laboratorys capacity. We dont want public water supplies to wait until the last minute, and then there not be enough laboratories available to analyze, Lee said. The state has over a million allocated for the voluntary program from its revolving fund and so far, about 200 water supplies have signed up. Eligible water supplies should have received sign up information from Lee in late August, and she said DNR will reach out to the qualifying water supplies that have not signed up in the next week. PFAS refer to a large group of chemical compounds that have been used to make materials that are water, grease or stain resistant. The compounds are very difficult to break down and can accumulate in humans and the environment. Iowa DNR has already tested some of the larger water systems in Iowa, many of which Lee said are participating in an EPA monitoring program. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE By Marc Leras AVIGNON, France (Reuters) -Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by dozens of men recruited by her husband, on Wednesday called the men standing trial "degenerates" while attempts from some defence lawyers to question her credibility caused outrage in the courtroom. The trial in the southern French town of Avignon of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men accused of raping his wife has shocked the world. The case has also triggered protests across France in support of Gisele Pelicot, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence. "These men are degenerates. They committed rape," Gisele Pelicot, 72, told the court after her now ex-husband Dominique and one of his presumed chief accomplices, Jean-Pierre Marechal, gave testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. "When they see a woman sleeping on her bed, no one thought to ask themselves a question? They don't have brains?", she said, adding: "Forgiveness does not exist". Dominique Pelicot, 71, was seen crying during the all-day court session, saying, "I am asking for forgiveness, even though I don't know if it can be forgiven." He is also accused of having raped Marechal's wife at her home after drugging her, with the collaboration of her husband. Gisele Pelicot insisted on a public trial in an attempt to expose her former husband and the 50 men he is accused of inviting to rape her in a small village in southern France. The court told attendees not to boo the suspects in the case, telling them they were innocent until proven guilty in response to a skirmish between supporters of the victim and some of the accused on the day before. Tensions still increased during Wednesday's hearing. Causing the day's most heated exchanges, two of the defence lawyers representing men Pelicot invited to his family home to commit abuse asked the court to display photos which they said raised doubts whether the victim was aware of what happened to her. Gisele Pelicot fiercely rejected the claims. "They're trying to trap me with these photos", she said, reiterating she never agreed to any sexual activity. Her former husband said he took all the images while his wife was knocked out. "I have felt humiliated while I've been in this courtroom. I have been called an alcoholic, a conspirator of Mr. Pelicot," she said, adding her life had been "destroyed" for 10 years. "In the state I was in, I absolutely could not respond. I was in a comatose state; the videos show that." The Pelicots' daughter Caroline was on the verge of tears in the courtroom as her mother spoke. She later left the room when visual evidence was displayed. Dominique Pelicot has denied drugging or sexually abusing Caroline, but photographs of her were found on her father's devices along with images of her mother being raped. She has told French media that she started publicly campaigning to fight drug-induced sexual assault to cope with the shock following her father's arrest. Dominique Pelicot on Tuesday admitted orchestrating the mass rape of his then-wife. He asked for forgiveness and said he ultimately hoped to win back his former partner, who filed for divorce after learning of the rapes from investigators. But the court also said it was not a problem if supporters applauded Gisele Pelicot when she emerged from the courtroom, as some have been doing. COPYCAT CRIME Earlier on Wednesday, Marechal, 63, admitted to working with Dominique Pelicot to drug and both rape Marechal's wife Cilia after the men met on a now-shuttered website. Marechal blamed his mentor and a troubled childhood for his actions. Marechal is not among those accused of raping Gisele Pelicot. He said he met Dominique Pelicot on a website called Coco, where Pelicot shared with him images of the rapes of his wife by the men he had recruited, describing how he had drugged her. Prosecutors say Pelicot drugged Marechal's wife and raped her while Marechal watched. Dominique Pelicot acknowledged his guilt in raping Marechal's wife and said he regretted his actions, adding that he cut contact with them after she woke up during one of the assaults while he was in her room. (Reporting by Marc Leras; Writing by Makini Brice and Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Gareth Jones and Jonathan Oatis) Atlanta police want to identify man who broke into hair salon, stole lots of merchandise Atlanta police are looking for a man who stole merchandise from a hair salon. On Thursday, Sept. 12, at around 11:09 p.m., the man broke into the Bxplicit Hair Salon at 49 Boulevard SE on the Chamberlain and Fitzgerald side of the building. He stole large amounts of hair and hair and beauty supplies from the salon. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] If you can identify him, police ask you to contact Investigator Brian Webber at 470-597-0691 or email BJWebber@atlantaga.gov. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Attendees for a coordination meeting held by the Arab-Islamic ministerial committee pose for a group photo in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua) AMMAN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- An Arab-Islamic ministerial committee for Gaza held a coordination meeting here on Wednesday to discuss efforts to stop the war in Gaza and support the recognition of the Palestinian state. Members of the Ministerial Committee, commissioned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit on Gaza, discussed "efforts to stop Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip, the dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank, the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid to all affected areas," according to a statement from Jordan's Foreign Ministry. They also addressed ways to strengthen efforts during the upcoming high-level General Debate of 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York to "support the recognition of the Palestinian state, ensure the fulfillment of the rights of the Palestinian people, and encourage security and peace in the region and the world," the statement added. Additionally, the members discussed joint efforts to implement the two-state solution by establishing a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The committee, which includes representatives from Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye, Indonesia, Nigeria, Bahrain, as well as the chief of the Arab League and the chief of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, was created in November last year to achieve a ceasefire, facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza, and develop an action plan to realize the two-state solution. Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, attends a coordination meeting held by the Arab-Islamic ministerial committee in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua) An Arab-Islamic ministerial committee for Gaza holds a coordination meeting in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua) ATVs, dirtbikes on Columbus roads prompt police response. Are they street legal? Columbus police have received multiple reports of 4-wheelers and dirt bikes on Columbus roads, according to a Facebook post from the department. Police said this is both dangerous and illegal. Operating ATVs and off road vehicles is not permitted under Georgia law, according to the police. Police included a video in their post of individuals driving multiple ATVs and dirt bikes on a road. Police said individuals will be eligible for a reward if they can identify the people in the video, and if the information helps lead to an arrest. Anyone with information on this incident can contact 706-641-5993 and can remain anonymous. AUSTIN (KXAN) Leaders in the local rental market met at Austin Apartment Associations 2024 State of the Industry meeting on Sept. 12; in a recap of the event, the association said that the Central Texas rental housing market is at a critical turning point. The current story of Austins rental industry is one of booming construction slowly pushing down rents, as competition in the region continues to increase. Theron Patrick, an analyst with data broker ALN Apartment Data, presented data at the event and said that rents in the region fell by 7.5% year over year. Were seeing more units come online in Austin than ever before, and this competition is creating downward pressure on rents, Patrick said in the release. This is good news for renters. With new supply not slowing down until at least 2026, we expect rents to remain competitive. Austin-Round Rock metro leads Texas in housing construction, 3rd highest apartment construction nationally Demand in the market is also surging. Texas Demographic Centers Dr. Monica Cruz said at the event that Texas population growth is one of the fastest in the nation. As we look toward 2060, projections show continued growth in the Texas Triangle. We need to think critically about how this will shape housing policy and availability, Cruz said in a press release. In a Wednesday interview with KXAN, Austin Apartment Association President Theresa Ebner said that renters should talk to their leasing office if they think their rent is too high. Because most people, we love our residents and want them to stay and renew with us, so we always try to do whats best for them and keep them, Ebner said. According to Ebner, the Austin market has indicators for a strong finish to 2024 and forward. She also noted that Wednesdays rate cut announcement from the Federal Reserve will have an impact. A lot of companies arent able to close deals because of the [previous] higher interest rates, the higher building costs, every little bit helps make the deal work better. It will help us to bring more affordable housing to the Austin area, Ebner said. Goals for 2025 legislative session The industry, like others, will send lobbyists to pressure the states legislative body into action on its priorities, while advocating against additional regulations. One of these, per Texas Apartment Associations executive vice president Chris Newton, is squatters. While the state doesnt have a definition of the term, he called for reforms to streamline the eviction process. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said in May that he intends to file an anti-squatter bill during the 2025 legislative session. He said that he wants the bill to maintain protections for legitimate renters. Theres legitimate protections for renters, for tenants following the law, and then theres completely illegitimate squatters. Thats what we need to deal with here, Bettencourt said in a May interview with KXAN. Theres plenty of protection for legitimate renters, and were gonna keep that. Texas state Senator Bettencourt calls for new criminal statute against squatting Newton said that the legislatures 2023 property tax reform only had a minimal impact on the industry, according to the release. Ebner agreed with Newtons assessment. Our expenses continue to go up, and we have to find a way to cover our expenses. And so when our property taxes go up, unfortunately, we have to share that expense with our renters, Ebner said. The reform that was passed during a special legislative session provided $12 billion to reduce school property taxes statewide, but the impact of that may have been diluted by the sheer number of properties it affected. A Democrat-led plan during a 2023 special session would have provided a cash rebate to renters. That plan failed to more 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 KXAN Austin. AUSTIN (KXAN) Its Hispanic Heritage Month, and the City of Austin is highlighting some Latino leaders whose community contributions have been memorialized in the form of street names across town. The Austin Transportation and Public Works Departments mobility newsletter released Monday listed four streets named after prominent Hispanic leaders: Calle Limon, Nash Hernandez Sr. Road, Cepeda Street and Sandra Muraida Way. More details looking into the backstory of those leaders are highlighted in the map below. This embedded content is not available in your region. Hispanics account for more than 32% of Austins population, with over 312,000 Hispanic residents calling the city home, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Historic research from Preservation Austin noted large volumes of Mexican immigrants began coming to Austin in the early 1870s amid internal unrest in Mexico leading to the Mexican Revolution, per their historical analysis. When they first immigrated to town, city records found many Mexican immigrants moved into areas south, southwest and west of the area now known as Republic Square Park, with the present-day West Fourth, West Fifth, Guadalupe and San Antonio streets serving as a boundary for that immigrant population. Records acknowledged that area had greater exposure to environmental hazards, such as flooding and disease and Mexican immigrants along with other non-white populations were forced to dwell there as a result. RELATED: Why Hispanic Heritage Month begins September 15 While the housing and city services were underdeveloped in that area, Mexican community members utilized the parkland as a village zocalo, or a space where vendors could sell tamales and sweets or mingle with friends and loved ones. The land where Republic Square Park now stands was used to house concerts, church fundraisers and El dieciseis de septiembre, the holiday marking the beginning of Mexican independence from Spain. In 2003, city leaders installed two busts of Mexican founding fathers in the park: Miguel Hidalgo and Jose Morelos. City officials later installed the sculpture BLACKBIRD at the park, with the art piece pulling inspiration from black pottery in Mexico. Preservation Austin has more details on the history of Mexican-Americans in Austin 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 KXAN Austin. On Tuesday, Jay Je Yoon Jung, 32, of New South Wales in southeast Australia was charged at his Narwee home and was expected to be in a Downing Centre court sometime Wednesday local time in Australia. Photo courtesy Australian Federal Police/UPI Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Australian Federal Police on Wednesday announced charges against the suspected creator of a secret app for criminals after he and dozens of others were arrested as part of a global sting operation involving several nations. The AFP said its "Operation Kraken" uncovered an encrypted communications network dubbed "Ghost" that was being used by organized criminals to traffic illicit drugs, launder money, order killings or threaten serious violence in various places around the world. On Tuesday, Jay Je Yoon Jung, 32, of New South Wales in southeast Australia was arrested at his Narwee home, on suspicion that he created and administrated "Ghost," a dedicated encrypted communication platform, which the AFP alleged was built solely for the criminal underworld. He appeared in court on Wednesday and was charged with supporting a criminal organization, dealing with the suspected proceeds of an indictable offense less than $100,000, dealing in identifying information and using it to commit fraud, obtaining identification information using a carriage service with intent contrary and one count of contravention under Australian law. The charges carry sentences ranging from one to 10 years in prison. More arrests in Australia and across the globe are expected over the coming days, according to the AFP. Photo courtesy Australian Federal Police/UPI More arrests in Australia and across the globe "are expected over the coming days," AFP said. The AFP was tipped off about the encrypted app in 2021 but was not able to get inside until March. "The lives of many serious criminals dramatically changed when they realized their phone -- and those who vouched for it -- had betrayed them," said AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney It was alleged that "hundreds" of criminals had utilized Ghost, including Italian organized crime, outlaw motorcycle gang members, as well as Middle Eastern and Korean criminals. "Taking down dedicated encrypted communication devices takes significant skill," McCartney said. "But the holy grail is always penetrating criminal platforms to access evidence -- and this is where the AFP is world-leading." Officials said about 50 threats to kill or harm other individuals had been prevented through the work of law enforcement. Jung lived a relatively quiet life, working at his parents' commercial cleaning business during the day and was described as "quite socially awkward" by AFP, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. Victoria Police Crime Command Acting Assistant Commissioner Paul O'Halloran called the arrest a "complex investigation" which involved "significant resources." About 700 AFP officers executed search warrants over two days across four Australian states and territories from Tuesday to Wednesday. The AFP said as of Tuesday 376 known devices associated with Ghost were active in the British Commonwealth nation, and that "most of the alleged offenders" on the platform were located in New South Wales with some users in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT. Operation Kraken so far has resulted in 38 arrests and 71 executed search warrants, while preventing more than 200 kilograms of illicit drugs from entering the Australian public and seizing 25 illegal weapons. Western Australia Police Assistant Commissioner State Crime Tony Longhorn said law enforcement is "continually adapting to criminal behavior." "In Western Australia, like other states, we will continue to monitor trends and adapt our policing approach to directly counter the methods being used by organized crime," Longhorn says. Meanwhile, the AFP said "near-simultaneous" police action was underway in four other countries: Canada, Sweden, Ireland and Italy. "Ghost" now joins the likes of other platforms dismantled over the years used by organized criminals at a transnational level, like EncroChat, Sky Global, Phantom Secure and AN0M. But this is the first time an Australian national has been accused of being the alleged mastermind and administrator of a global criminal platform. Jung, it is alleged, created Ghost nine years ago when he was 23 years old. Officials had been able to decrypt and read messages and obtained various cryptocurrency and bank accounts. AFP said Jung used a network of resellers to offer modified smartphones to criminals around the world sold for about $2,350 per device, which included a six-month subscription to an encrypted network and tech support. However, the importance of international cooperation between police "should not be understated," a Swedish law enforcement official said. "Criminal networks act globally and it is absolutely essential that law enforcement agencies act in the same way in order to be successful in the fight against organized crime," Superintendent Ted Esplund, an official with Sweden's Police Authority, said. AFP joined the international effort to target Ghost in 2022 which included Europol, the FBI, French Gendarmerie, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Swedish Police Authority, Dutch National Police, Irish Garda Siochana and the Italian Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Service. The Icelandic Police also took part. "Law enforcement from nine countries, together with Europol, have dismantled a tool which was a lifeline for serious organized crime," stated Europol's Executive Director Catherine De Bolle. Law enforcement was able to develop a "covert solution" to infiltrate Ghost, AFP said. And personnel were able to infect devices in order to access content on the devices. But an electronics expert expressed concern how what happened to "Ghost" could have a ripple-effect of persuading digital users to distrust security updates, much like how law enforcement had used an update to tap into the Ghost network. The head of France's Home Affairs Ministry National Cyber Command Technical Department said a "technical solution was implemented" over several years that enabled a task force "to access the communications of users on this secure platform," said Colonel Florian Manet. "This wasn't infiltrating chats, this wasn't setting up a honeypot, this was taking down an encrypted service by seizing the servers and poisoning client applications," Erica Portnoy, a senior staff technologist at California-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, an international non-profit digital rights group, told UPI. Europol's De Bolle said the success of the Ghost operation, however, is what the agency "is all about," which she said was "turning collaboration into concrete results by bringing together the right people, tools and expertise to address every aspect of this complex operation." However, Portnoy hinted it could have "disturbing implications for all users of such services, even those who haven't committed any crime." Developers of secure apps, she suggested, "should make sure that the software that's being downloaded from the app store is the same as the software they uploaded." Authorities have issued a chilling update in the case of a hiker who went missing 19 years ago in Colorado. Michelle Vanek, 35, was last seen on the morning of September 24, 2005, as she departed for a hike from the Half Moon Campground in Minturn, CO, according to the case file. She was in the company of a male hiker, who told authorities that Vanek became fatigued as they neared the summit of the Mount of the Holy Cross. He reportedly told Vanke that if she wanted to head back down, to follow the trail and he would catch up with her. But when he returned to camp, his friend was nowhere to be found. Vaneks companion further reported that, while she was an experienced tri-athlete, she had little experience with high-altitude climbing and had run out of water earlier in the day. Authorities searched the area for eight days but turned up no sign of Vanek. The case remained cold until Sept. 14, when the Eagle County Sheriffs Office posted an update to Facebook offering a glimmer of closure in the missing hikers case. An all-female search team looking for Vaneks remains came across several articles of clothing, a small backpack, and hiking poles"all of which are thought to have been with Michelle the day she vanished," the sheriff's office reported. Each item serves as a reminder of the strength of the human spirit, the unwavering dedication of these volunteers, and the enduring hope of a family waiting for answers, the statement continued. Forensic experts are now examining the found items to confirm they belong to Vanek. These personal items are tangible connections to a life that touched so many. This discovery offers a moment of hope for Michelles family, friends, and the volunteers who have worked tirelessly, even as they await further confirmation, the sheriffs office said. Through it all, weve never stopped searching for Michelle. Her memory has been a beacon of hope and determination, inspiring every person involved in the effort to bring her home, the statement concluded, before adding that the area in which the items were found will remain protected, out of respect for future search efforts and Michelles memory. Award-winning footage shows a baby tardigrade riding one of its greatest predators in a rare microscopic Wild West scene A baby tardigrade riding a nematode won $600 in Nikon's Small World in Motion Video Competition. Quinten Geldhof captured the video using a microscope and an iPhone. His setup cost under $1,000. The rare tardigrade footage surprised Geldhof because nematodes sometimes eat tardigrades. Tardigrades may be the world's cutest and most famous microscopic critters. Also known as water bears or moss piglets, tardigrades are waddling eight-legged animals with a reputation for survival. There are nearly 1,500 known species of tardigrade across the planet, from the poles to the tropics, from the highest mountains to the bottom of the sea. They can even survive in such extreme conditions as the surface of the moon. A tardigrade, also known as a water bear or a moss piglet. American Museum of Natural History One baby tardigrade had the confidence to hitch a ride on the back of one of its greatest predators a microscopic worm called a nematode in a video that won fifth place and $600 in Nikon's Small World in Motion Video Competition on Tuesday. "Nematodes often eat tardigrades, and so it felt like the stakes were quite high," Quinten Geldhof, the 24-year-old hobbyist who took the video of this "wild ride" through a microscope, told Business Insider in an email. "I had never seen anything quite like it." See the video, below, for yourself: This Wild West scene is a bit bizarre, but not totally surprising to experts. "It is one of those occasions that can occur but rarely do you have a camera handy to record the event," Sandra McInnes, a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey who studies tardigrades, told BI in an email. McInnes said the animal in this video appears to be a species of Diphascon tardigrade, which are about 0.35 millimeters long on average. There's a practical reason it might have hopped on the nematode train. "Tardigrades cannot walk on glass/plastic petri dishes," Paul Bartels, a tardigrade researcher and professor of biology at Warren Wilson College, told BI in an email. "I believe this tardigrade simply encountered the nematode, and it was something it could grasp which is better than flailing around helplessly." A microscope and a smartphone Geldhof says he had gathered some moss from the sidewalk near his home in Winthrop, Massachusetts, and used a device called a Baermann funnel to filter out microorganisms. He ended up with a nematode and a batch of tardigrade eggs, visible through his microscope. He stored them on a glass slide in a homemade humidity chamber basically, a closed box with wet paper towels to prevent the slide from drying out. In a few days, the tardigrades had hatched and there were about five babies roaming the slide. "One of these little moss piglets wandered in the direction of a nematode on the slide and promptly climbed aboard much to my surprise," Geldhof said. He was filming at just the right time, using a Swift 380B microscope he bought on Amazon and an adapter that held his iPhone 14 Pro camera up to the microscope's eyepiece. The whole setup costs less than $1,000, he said. Geldhof got into microscope videography about two years ago, after he started watching several microscope video creators on YouTube. He shares his own videos on Instagram, where his handle is @microhobbyist. "I found it absolutely fascinating to see things from a microscopic point of view, just putting all sorts of things from around the house or pond water, ocean water under the microscope, and I wanted a way to share that with people," he said. "There's always something surprising to find wherever you look," he added. Read the original article on Business Insider Maybe its because the original trilogy dropped on Netflix this summer (and is going away September 30) or perhaps because that huge Broadway musical is coming to town, or maybe the impending demise of the movies Twin Pines Mall has brought out the fans, but somehow Back to the Future mania is taking over Los Angeles. The classic movie, which one critic called the Ultimate American Blockbuster, is being celebrated with meetups, screenings, an exhibit, and even a full-on recreation of the movies pivotal Enchantment Under the Sea dance at the original location in Hollywood. BTTF fans are on the move, so slip into those self-lacing Nikes, fire up the Flux Capacitor, and party with Doc and Marty. Back to the Future trilogy exhibition Now on view In the very spot where Max Factor once did makeup for movie stars, the Hollywood Museum displays artifacts from all eras of cinema history. Temporary themed exhibits, including current ones dedicated to Transformers and Batman, cycle through the space. Much of their 2023 BTTF exhibit has gone back to movie studios and lenders, but Martys red jacket, his 1955 fedora, and a Mattel Hoverboard are among the artifacts still on display. Movie Night at the Gamble House September 28 The Gamble House is a Pasadena institution, a National Historic Landmark, and a worldwide icon of Craftsman design. Its also where Doctor Emmett Brown spent 30 years and his entire family fortune designing his time machine! Watch the original film in the location where it was filmed when the house museum hosts a movie night at Doc Browns mansion. Los Angeles Comic Con October 4-6 Step aside Obi-Wan Kenobi and Morticia Addams, Doc, Marty, Lorraine, and Biff are in town. Oscar winner Anjelica Huston and Emmy-winning Ewan McGregor are among the headliners at the L.A. Comic Con at the L.A. Convention Center next month but its a meet and greet with Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Tom Wilson thats sure to have BTTF fans lining up early. Photos with the whole cast are priced north of $500 Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future II Photo courtesy Fathom Events Back to the Future II 35th Anniversary Screenings October 19 21 Fathom Events is bringing the second installment of the trilogy back to movie theaters. Revisit the flying cars, Biffs casino, and Jaws 19, all on the big screen. Local venues include the Puente Hills AMC at the same mall where the first movie was filmed and AMC Citywalk, located mere yards from Universals Courthouse Square and the real Hill Valley. Twin Pines Mall Back to the Future Meetup October 25 Historical fact: On this date in 1955, Doc Browns Delorean first went back in time. The car departed from the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall, AKA the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry. Fans gather every year at that date and time, hoping to run into Doc and Marty, but they mostly meet up with other Delorean fans counting down to the big moment. The events days may be numbered as the mall recently sold for redevelopment. Twin Pines Mall sign at the Puente Hills Mall Photo by Chris Nichols Back to the Future: The Musical November 5 December 1 Hollywoods glorious art deco Pantages Theatre hosts this Broadway extravaganza that tells the tale of the time-traveling scientist and his teenage buddy, but this time with a car that flies out over the audience and a gaggle of new-wave future girl dancers. The show moves to the Segerstrom Center in Orange County on December 26. Enchantment Under the Sea dance November 9 The historic Hollywood United Methodist Church has been a popular filming location for decades, hosting productions from The Godfather to Big Mommas House. Its most famous movie appearance might have been as the Hill Valley High School gym in Back to the Future, where George and Lorraine McFly kiss for the first time at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. Take pictures with a Delorean parked in front, and groove out to Shrine Inch Nails, a band benefiting Shriners Hospital. Universal Fan Fest Nights Spring 2025 Following the success of Disneylands After Dark events tied to fan favorites like Star Wars, Universal Studios is getting into the act with Universal Fanfest Nights. Next spring, look for a series of ticketed after-hours celebrations of Star Trek, Dungeons & Dragons, and Back to the Future, complete with special food and merchandise items and plenty of photo ops. The bridge collapsed when it was struck by the container ship - Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images The US government is suing the owner of the container ship that struck and destroyed the iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Wednesday it was pursuing a civil negligence case against Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy, the owner and operator of the Dali ship. The department said the tragedy, which killed six, was avoidable and called for the companies to pay $100 million in cleanup costs. In a briefing on Thursday, lawyers for the government told reporters that the two companies were prioritising profit over safety and that they, not the American taxpayer should cover the costs of the disaster. The bridge, which had stood since 1972, collapsed entirely after it was struck by the Dali in the night on March 26. The accident occurred when the ship lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore Port, one of the US East Coasts largest container hubs and drifted to the side of the channel. Six workers who were on the bridge fell into the water and died. Some bodies were not recovered for days as investigators and rescue teams dug through the bridges mangled wreckage in the water. In court documents filed by the DOJ, the governments lawyers said both an officer and a captain of the ship had previously reported issues to Synergy, the operator. They said it should have come as no surprise that the power outage tripped the ships circuit breakers, preventing it from stopping. They said negligence by both companies had caused a cascading series of failures that resulted in the bridges collapse. The issues included that the ships emergency generator did not activate within 45 seconds, as required by US maritime safety law. The ship took more than a minute to regain power, then lost it again. As events unfolded, and because of the unseaworthy condition of the ship, none of the four means available to help control the Dali her propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate this disaster, the lawsuit said. This second power failure was caused by Petitioners decision made to save money and for their own convenience to use a flushing pump to fuel the diesel generators that made the ships electricity, it adds. The US government is also arguing that the companies claim for limited liability, filed in the aftermath of the disaster, is not valid under maritime law. The DOJ is seeking punitive damages it says will partially recover the cost of the cleanup operation, and discourage companies from breaking safety regulations in future. 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 bank hubs to open but many can't print statements Banking hubs have been established across the UK [BBC] Fifteen new banking hubs have been announced on the day stricter rules over branch closures and access to cash take effect. The hubs, spaces shared by different banks, operate basic personal and business banking services. The new rules mean they can open even if there is another operator in town, but questions have been raised over the standard of facilities. Many have no printers installed, leaving people unable to get paper statements which may be requested by employers or landlords. New-look banking Figures from consumer association Which? show that 6,000 bank branches have closed in the last nine years, leaving many places with none at all and limiting access to cash. Banks and building societies must now assess whether areas have reasonable access to cash when they close branches, under new rules - enshrined in law from the first time - taking effect on Wednesday and governed by the City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FCA). If not, then then will need to provide more facilities, before closing a branch. Such facilities could include shared hubs, often run by the Post Office, which allow customers of any bank to withdraw and deposit cash. Community workers from different banks visit on a rotating basis once a week. However, problems have emerged at some of the hubs, with questions over the level of the quality of service and investment by banks. That includes many which do not have a printer, leaving customers unable to get paper copies of statements and documents. Bosses were last week hauled in front of Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Tulip Siddiq, who told them to add to the services on offer at the hubs. Banking hubs are a lifeline for local communities that have lost their final bank branch. Im confident that the banks will deliver on the commitment made [at the meeting], as well as take a more active approach to meeting the needs of local communities, she said. Bank-owned Cash Access UK, which delivers the hubs, said it would look into getting printers. The number of people mainly using cash for day-to-day spending hit a four year high during the cost of living crisis, figures from the banking trade body UK Finance show. Hubs are seen as key to ensuring those who are not digitally savvy, unable to access online services, or are vulnerable can still use banking services. So far, 81 hubs are open. The government made a manifesto promise to have 350 operating in five years time, including 230 by the end of next year. The banking hub in Looe is in one of the more picturesque spots in the country [BBC] There have been calls for the introduction of new hubs to be quicker and more widespread. Ron Delnevo, who chairs the Payment Choice Alliance, described the current plan as an "empty gesture". "This is not a genuine answer to the needs of thousands of communities around the UK that have been deserted by the big banks," he said. "The fact that bank hubs are not required to have a 24/7 ATM is also ludicrous." Fifteen new hubs have been announced on the day the FCA's new rules take effect. They include areas where there is still a building society but where, for example, the current branch's opening hours are restricted to three days. Before now, under the old rules, a hub would not be eligible to be set up in such an area. Locations of the new hubs The new hubs will open in Sidcup, in London, Normanton in West Yorkshire, Hailsham in East Sussex, Frome in Somerset, Sheerness in Kent, Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear, Rugeley in Staffordshire, Newquay in Cornwall, Market Harborough in Leicestershire, Thetford in Norfolk, Monmouth in Wales, Harpenden in Hertfordshire, Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Yeadon in West Yorkshire, and Morecombe in Lancashire. The majority have been recommended by Link, which oversees the UK's cash access and ATM services. "The new rules that have come into effect today are great news for consumers and businesses and will ensure that access to cash continues to be available on our High Streets for years to come," said its deputy chief executive, Adrian Roberts. Last week, it was revealed the last bank in the Derbyshire town of Ripley had been paused owing to the new rules. Voters in Barre approved a $56.8 million budget in a special election Tuesday. It was the fourth time a school budget was put to voters, after the first three attempts failed. The measure was approved by 58% to 42%. The new budget represents a 7.4% increase from last year, but is still $2.1 million lower than the originally pitched budget. It will property taxes 1% in Barre City and 3% in Barre Town, both of which are some of the lowest increases in Vermont. Residents said they were exhausted by the school funding situation. Theyre ready to move on, to turn the page, said Barre Unified School District Chair Michael Boutin. Boutin said the district has already enacted program cuts. School faculty and staff have been instructed to spend to about 80% of what they spent last year. We cut into the CARES program, which is in Barre City, he said. We didnt cut it completely, but we did dip into that, and there was a couple positions that are not going to be filled because of that. Boutin did acknowledge that some residents will be unhappy with property tax increases that come with spending. When I say the people that want to spend less, its not because they want to, you know, underfund our children, he said. They just think that we can do it better, and I think thats the, you know, when people are voting, I think thats the same thing, they feel tapped out and they think we could do better. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DAMASCUS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Western countries, particularly the United States, have been destabilizing other nations and manipulating public opinion on the pretext of "democracy," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. "The West continues to exploit the notion of promoting and protecting democracy as a tool to subjugate nations and break the will of their people," the ministry stated, singling out Washington's "Janus-faced policy" in silencing voices that support the Palestinian cause while championing the so-called "freedom of expression" and "democracy." The ministry identified the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an organization primarily funded by the U.S. Congress, as a "front for undermining governments and interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states." Since its establishment in 1983, the NED has been involved in actions aimed at sowing division, manipulating public opinion, and destabilizing countries under the guise of democracy -- tactics similar to those employed in Syria to weaken states from within, it said. The organization's "destructive practices" pose a danger to global peace and stability, it added. The struggle in Syria, a country that has endured years of conflict, has been exacerbated by a "Western-backed campaign to destroy the country in the name of democracy," the ministry concluded. FLINT, Mich. Voters attending a town hall for former President Donald Trump in Flint, Michigan, blamed rhetoric from Democrats for spurring the two assassination attempts on the former president. "I dont think gun control is the answer, I think its the rhetoric some of the things that are being said shouldnt be said," one voter attending the Trump town hall told Fox News Digital. The comments come as Trump held his first campaign event since an apparent attempt on his life at Trump International Golf Club in Florida on Sunday. U.S. Secret Service agents were able to spot the shooter, identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, when he was roughly 300500 yards from Trump, engaging him and causing him to flee the scene. Routh was captured later Sunday, while Trump was uninjured in the incident. A DECISION TO MAKE: HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON'S GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL DIVIDES REPUBLICANS The incident marked the second time Trump has survived an attempt on his life, coming just over two months after the former president was grazed in the ear by a bullet during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Trump has blamed "rhetoric" by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the violence, arguing that the two would-be assassins have "acted" on "highly inflammatory language" by Democrats. "He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it," Trump told Fox News Digital of the latest suspected gunman. "Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country both from the inside and out." FBI investigators gather evidence from the perimeter of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Ryan Routh was arrested earlier this week after allegedly attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump while hiding in the bushes along the golf course. Voters in Flint largely echoed Trumps remarks before his town hall event Tuesday, with one telling Fox News Digital that the "political rhetoric is at an all-time high." RUBIO CALLS OUT DEMOCRATS FOR 'CLEARLY' INFLUENCING SECOND WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN WITH INCENDIARY RHETORIC "Weve gotten so toxic in America that weve started this war between ourselves, weve forgot to love each other," another voter said. "Democrats," added another when asked who was to blame for the attempts on Trumps life. "They continue to say hes a threat to democracy for no reason whatsoever." The Trump event comes less than two months before Novembers election, when Michigan promises to play a critical role in determining the winner once again. Harris holds a narrow lead over Trump of under one percentage point in the state, according to the latest Real Clear Politics Polling average, a smaller margin than what was enjoyed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Biden at similar points in the 2016 and 2020 elections. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. Original article source: Battleground state voters blame Dems' 'toxic' rhetoric for attempts on Trump's life While investigating a recent surge in school threats throughout the city, Stockton police arrested a 15-year-old Lodi Unified School District student on Tuesday. The Stockton Police Department said the teenager was apprehended after he allegedly made a threatening video against a local elementary school. He could face criminal threat-related charges, according to police. "We want to ensure parents and students realize that making threats can lead to disciplinary action at their school, including potential legal consequences," police said. The Lodi Unified School District said the teenager attends Bear Creek High School in north Stockton. District officials said he was not on campus Tuesday, but "will face appropriate disciplinary action." "Please remind your children that all safety threats will be taken seriously. Students who make threats against any school will face disciplinary action and potential arrest by law enforcement," district officials said. The teenager is the second Stockton student arrested in as many days for making threats of school violence. On Monday, the Stockton Police Department arrested a 16-year-old boy who made threats against the Lincoln Unified School District. He is facing criminal threat-related charges. In Manteca, a 13-year-old girl was also arrested Monday after authorities said she posted threats aimed at Sequoia Elementary School and Manteca High School. The Manteca Police Department said the girl was booked into the San Joaquin County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of criminal threats and threatening a public officer. Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow. This article originally appeared on The Record: Bear Creek student accused of making threatening video against school Fresh off her Emmy win, The Bear star Liza Colon-Zayas is hitting the campaign trail for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Colon-Zayas, as well as In the Heights star Anthony Ramos, will join Gov. Walz at a rally focusing on Latino voters on Sept. 21 in Lehigh Valley, Penn. More from Variety It was just days ago that Colon-Zayas became the first Latina to win the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy for her work as Tina in FXs The Bear. The category also included Hannah Einbinder (Hacks), Meryl Streep (Only Murders in the Building), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary), Janelle James (Abbott Elementary) and Carol Burnett (Palm Royale). Colon-Zayas delivered an emotional acceptance speech, ending with a push for people to head to the ballot box. All the Latinas who are looking at me, keep believing and vote, she said. Vote for your rights. Thank you. Thank you. Gracias. Liza Colon-Zayas says its an epic honor to make history as the first Latina to win best supporting actress in a comedy at the #Emmys. https://t.co/KYqzGixSKq pic.twitter.com/BM2r034xZ8 Variety (@Variety) September 16, 2024 Grammy-winning Ramos joined the vice president last year during her monthlong For Our Freedoms tour at a stop at Florida International University in Miami. The Harris-Walz campaign announced last week that it was launching increased efforts to reach Latino voters during Hispanic Heritage Month, including spending $3 million in ads on Spanish language radio. Meanwhile, Jane Fonda is campaigning for Harris by door-knocking in Michigan. The Oscar winner was shown in a video, which was posted on X by an account called Kamala for Michigan on Wednesday, hugging an Ann Arbor resident. Fonda said, Ive never done it for a president, but this is most important. We have to, have to, have to get [Harris and Walz] elected. John Leguizamo jokes that if Kamala Harris is elected, its a party in Hollywood. Productions will go crazy. Theyll greenlight everything. Everything will get a sequel. If it goes the other way its going to be mad depressing. https://t.co/OwvzFOEqA5 pic.twitter.com/tU53NXXBSU Variety (@Variety) September 15, 2024 Speaking to Variety on the red carpet, John Leguizamo predicted that if Harris wins the White House, its a party [in] Hollywood. Productions will go crazy, he said. Theyll greenlight everything. Everything will get a sequel. If it goes the other way its going to be mad depressing. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. MrBeast accepts the award for favorite male creator during the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. | Richard Shotwell, Associated Press MrBeast and Amazon Studios are being sued by contestants on the upcoming reality competition series, Beast Games, who allege unsafe and abusive conditions on set. Five anonymous contestants who competed on Beast Games filed a class-action lawsuit in Los Angeles on Monday against MrBeast whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson and Amazon Studios, the streaming platform behind Beast Games, per The Washington Post. Plaintiffs claim they were fed sporadically and sparsely, not given adequate access to hygienic products or medical care and that the set was a hostile work environment for the female contestants, according to a redacted copy of the 54-page complaint obtained by Variety. Plaintiffs also allege they were not properly compensated for their time spent filming the show. The suit demands Donaldson and Amazon pay all contestants unpaid wages and also asks for punitive damages. As extreme as the allegations against defendants are here, the law could not be more clear, said Robert Pafundi of Pafundi Law Firm, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, per Variety. Participants entered into contracts and they were promised compensation for their services. Their expectation of compensation, along with them being consistently under the control and supervision of the production staff, makes them employees under California law. As such, they were entitled to, and denied, certain protections. And when you add to that the extreme neglect, degradation, harassment and inhumane conditions its quite simply a massive dereliction of duty, for which the defendants must and will now be held accountable. Donaldson announced plans in March to partner with Amazon Studio to create the the largest game show in history. He struck a deal with Amazon because the streaming platform offered his team the most creative control, whereas other platforms suggested restraints on creativity, Donaldson revealed on The Colin and Samir Show. Big news gamers Im going to be filming the largest game show in history and releasing it on Prime Video! Over 1,000 contestants, $5,000,000 prize, and many other world records.. Ill reveal more later this year but lets just say, its gonna be an insane show :D MrBeast (@MrBeast) March 18, 2024 Production for the series began in July, and, soon after filming started, accusations emerged about poor treatment on set, as previously reported by the Deseret News. While participants knew upon signing the contract at the productions inception that they were facing a potentially long and challenging competition, they allege getting a lot more than they bargained for, attorneys for the anonymous Beast Games contestants said in a statement about the lawsuit, per TIME. Several contestants ending up hospitalized, while others reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic mistreatment, degradation and, for the female contestants, hostile working conditions. Plaintiffs allege the environment on Beast Games fostered a culture of misogyny and sexism, per the suit. I expected to be challenged, but I didnt think I would be treated like nothing less than nothing. And as one of the women, I can say it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us. We honestly could not have been respected less as people, much less employees if they tried, a female plaintiff, identified as Contestant 5 said in a statement, per Variety. Neither Donaldson nor Amazon Studios have commented on the lawsuit yet. Previous Beast Games allegations Beast Games contestants and crew have both alleged poor working conditions on set of the show, noting an inadequate amount of food and water and lack of access to medical assistance, as the Deseret News previously reported. A representative for MrBeast called those early allegations inaccurate, per Vital Vegas. Crew who worked on Beast Games have alleged that MrBeast and his partners took on more than they were capable of managing. Its a Fyre Fest kind of feeling, one crew member who worked in Toronto and left the production early told Rolling Stone. Theres a reason why this level of production hasnt been attempted before, and it certainly should never have been attempted without people that know what they are doing. Others have offered similar accounts. We were treated horribly, a contestant told The New York Times in August. They took on this challenge of 2,000 competitors. They should have known they needed an enormous crew to handle this correctly. According to a MrBeast spokesperson, The MrBeast Las Vegas promotional video shoot, which included over 2,000 participants, was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues, which we reviewed, and we are grateful that virtually all of those invited to Toronto enthusiastically accepted our invitation, per Rolling Stone. We communicated directly with 97 percent of the 2,000 people who attended to ask for feedback, and took the necessary steps to ensure that we learned from this experience, and we were excited to welcome the hundreds of men and women who participated in the worlds largest game show in history. BECKET, Mass. (WWLP) The Becket Police Department has announced the passing of K9 Kain. AG Campbell expects decision soon on MSP recruit death; Westfield State mourns K9 Kain joined the police force in August 2018 and was certified as a Patrol Dog under the North American Police Work Dog Association. He assisted in detecting narcotics, locating missing people, and tracking suspects. He also helped over ten different communities in Berkshire County. K-9 Kain alongside his partner Sgt. Hunt also demonstrated his skills at schools, DARE programs, and several community events. Kain was born in Hungary on August 28, 2017, and had just turned 7 years old before he passed on September 14th. 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. The Russian military has begun preparations for the joint strategic military exercises with Belarus, dubbed Zapad 2024 (West 2024). Source: Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian military monitoring media outlet Details: Belaruski Hajun reports that in early September, a delegation from the Russian Armed Forces visited Minsk for visual inspection of troop deployment sites during the upcoming exercises. The latest Zapad-2021 exercise took place in September 2021 at 14 training grounds in Belarus and Russia. They were attended by 2,500 Russian servicemen. Background: In November 2021, Chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov noted that the large-scale Russian military exercises Zapad-2021 showed Moscow's ability to simultaneously deploy more than 3,500 air assault and special operations troops. In June 2024, Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin stated that his country participated in the second stage of Russian military drills focused on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons. In August, Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, said that someone was allegedly advising him to turn away from Russia and side with Ukraine in the fight against Russia. Support UP or become our patron! Communities near Republic Services' Wayne Disposal Inc. hazardous waste landfill have filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court seeking to halt radioactive waste shipments from a World War II-era atomic bomb development site in New York. The cities of Belleville and Romulus, along with Van Buren and Canton townships, filed the lawsuit against the Arizona-based waste giant on Monday. They seek a court order halting the shipments until the communities can weigh in on Republic Services' hazardous waste license from the state of Michigan. The court filing is the latest community fight against Republic Services' proposal to receive 6,000 cubic yards of soil and concrete contaminated with elevated radiation from the Niagara Falls Storage Site in Lewiston, New York. The Niagara site from 1944 to 1952 received radioactive wastes associated with uranium extraction for the Manhattan Project's development of atomic bombs during and just after World War II. A backhoe is seen filling a dump truck at a disposal landfill, Wayne Disposal Inc. that is located in Belleville near the Willow Run Airport on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now working on a project expected to run until 2038 to clean up the New York site and convert it into property suitable for industrial use. Phase One of that cleanup involves the shipment of some of the elevated radioactive waste materials to Michigan. The Army Corps estimates that 25 semitrucks per week, into January 2025, will transport the elevated radioactive wastes along public roads and highways to the Wayne Disposal facility just off Interstate 94 in Van Buren Township. More: How southeast Michigan became a dumping ground for America's most dangerous chemicals First reported locally by the Free Press Aug. 19, the plan caused a firestorm of protest, with local, state and federal officials questioning why they yet again were not informed of the proposal, and renewing calls to stop making highly populated Wayne County a dumping ground for the nation's most hazardous chemicals. Landfill license expired, but up for renewal Wayne Disposal, and nearby companion waste processing facility Michigan Disposal, are two of the largest hazardous waste facilities in the country. Wayne Disposal is approved to receive more than 700 different types of hazardous chemicals, materials considered too potentially harmful to the public or the environment for disposal in a conventional landfill. Republic Services acquired the facilities from US Ecology in 2022. The landfill is operating on a license that expired in 2008, said Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy spokesperson Josef Greenberg. "Since (Republic) applied on time for a renewal, the license is considered extended and the facility can lawfully continue to operate under that license as allowed by the Administrative Procedures Act," Greenberg said, adding that EGLE intends to renew the facility's license next year. But the communities around the hazardous waste landfill seek involvement in the process before the truckloads of New York radioactive waste begin rolling in. "We want to have an opportunity to weigh in on the renewal of this license," Belleville Mayor Kenneth Voigt said. "And if they start dumping the radioactive material, that will preclude us from having access to the democratic process." Voigt cited the two facilities' history of on-site fires, often caused when two volatile chemicals react after being mixed. EGLE issued a violation notice to Michigan Disposal in January 2022 related to two fires that broke out at the processing facility in January and August 2020 in batches of hazardous waste that were being treated. EGLE Senior Environmental Engineer Todd Zynda noted that a third fire had occurred in August 2017. "It does not appear that (Michigan Disposal) is operating to minimize the possibility of a fire," Zynda stated in the 2022 violation notice. Said Voigt, "Part of our contention is the Van Buren Fire Department is not trained or equipped to handle a lot of these things, especially a radiological event if there was a fire there with this radioactive stuff." T.R. Wentworth II, manager of the Radiological Protection Section in EGLE's Materials Management Division, earlier told the Free Press that the Army Corps has agreed that no materials would be shipped to Wayne Disposal from the Niagara site above 50 picocuries of radioactivity. One picocurie is roughly the equivalent of ambient radiation found in nature. "As a regulator, the state doesn't have any concerns for this (Niagara site) material from a health and safety standpoint," Wentworth said. 'We don't want it in our community' Voigt questioned that assertion. "They are saying this stuff is only a little bit more radioactive than beach sand," he said. "My question is, why are you taking such drastic precautions if it's that benign? New York state banned the stuff, so you can take it out of New York state but you can't put it anywhere else in New York state." Republic Services responded to Free Press inquiries Tuesday with an emailed statement: "Wayne Disposal Inc. (WDI) received a copy of the complaint late Monday afternoon and is working with counsel to prepare the necessary response. Per the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, the permit remains in full effect during the renewal process. "WDI remains in compliance with the terms and conditions of the permit regarding the design, operation and monitoring of the facility, and obtained concurrence from EGLE for the acceptance of this material from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers." Voigt acknowledged that all the hazardous wastes Wayne Disposal and Michigan Disposal are bringing in to Wayne County appear to follow the law, the facilities' licenses and applicable regulations. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992 ruled hazardous wastes to be "articles of commerce" essentially a commodity or good whose interstate commerce could not be restricted under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. "But we don't want it in our community," Voigt said. "Frankly, it's not a good idea to have any sort of hazardous waste landfill anywhere in the state, because we are storage to 21% of the Earth's fresh (accessible) water." Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Belleville, Romulus, townships sue over radioactive waste shipments An Berlin man who police say was intoxicated allegedly lunged at his neighbor with a knife early Wednesday, an attack officers say was motivated by hate. Mikle Koons, 24, is due in Vermont Superior Court today on numerous charges, including resisting arrest and aggravated disorderly conduct. Police say they responded to the scene on Founders Way and, while attempting to take Koons into custody, he allegedly resisted. Koons asked police to take him Central Vermont Medical Center, police said. At the hospital, Koons allegedly began to yell overly loud and make vulgar statements at staff, police said Koons was eventually transported to the Northeast Correctional Complex to be released when sober. He faces charges of reckless endangerment, aggravated disorderly conduct, hate-motivated crime, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC22 & FOX44. Gov. Andy Beshear, surrounded by advocates for mental health and LGBTQ Kentuckians, signs an executive order Wednesday banning conversion therapy on young Kentuckians. (Governor's office) This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. Calling it a dangerous practice, Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Wednesday that bans conversion therapy on minors in Kentucky. Speaking in Frankfort, Beshear said such attempts to alter a young persons gender expression or sexual attractions have no basis in medicine a view supported by experts in medicine and mental health. Conversion therapy has been condemned by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), among other medical and psychological organizations. AACAP says conversion therapies lack scientific credibility and clinical utility and there is evidence that such interventions are harmful. The practice involves interventions purported to alter same-sex attractions or an individuals gender expression with the specific aim to promote heterosexuality as a preferable outcome according to the AACAP. The American Psychological Association says that people who have undergone sexual orientation change efforts are much more likely to be depressed and suicidal. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988. Beshears executive order states that neither state or federal dollars can be used for the practice of conversion therapy on minors. Todays action does not force an ideology on anybody, Beshear said. It does not expose anyone to anything in a library or school. It simply stops a so-called therapy that the medical community says is wrong and hurts our children. Rep. Lisa Willner LRC photo Beshears order comes after Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, has repeatedly sponsored legislation to ban conversion therapy in Kentucky. Each year, her bill has had bipartisan support. Given that, its always been a mystery to her why it didnt pass, she told the Lantern Wednesday. Thats a question Ive asked myself for six years: Why cant we get this across the finish line? she said. Its such a discredited practice. It has caused such harm to so many young Kentuckians, including suicide. And it has had such strong bipartisan support. Im incredibly grateful for the executive order, and that, at long last, there will be protections in place, Willner added. Snags in 2025? Beshears move could hit snags in the 2025 legislative session. Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, wrote on social media that he would file legislation next year to stop this governor from pushing his harmful far-left agenda on struggling kids. Calloway shared a screenshot of the email the governors office sent to announce the executive order and wrote, why is @AndyBeshearKY determined to keep vulnerable children confused? I will fight this with every fiber of my being, Calloway wrote. I am also exploring other legal options to stop egregious overreach. Meanwhile, 12 Republican Senators slammed Beshear for the order, which they said disregards the First Amendment rights regarding freedom of religion and speech and violates the fundamental parental rights and responsibilities for their children. Time and again, the Kentucky Supreme Court has told the governor he lacks the power to create policy in the Commonwealth. Yet again, the governor is defying the Supreme Court, the General Assembly, and the doctrine of separation of powers, those senators said in a statement. The executive order uses such vague and overbroad language that health care providers are at risk, and children will be left without needed mental health care. The 12 Republican state senators issuing the statement condemning Beshears action are: Senate President Robert Stivers, Manchester; Robby Mills, Henderson; Shelley Funke Frommeyer, Alexandria; Lindsey Tichenor, Smithfield; Whitney Westerfield, Fruit Hill; Gary Boswell, Owensboro; Donald Douglas, Nicholasville; Greg Elkins, Winchester; John Schickel, Union; Phillip Wheeler, Pikeville; Majority Whip Mike Wilson, Bowling Green; Max Wise, R-Campbellsville. Willner is sure there will be efforts to block the executive order, she told the Lantern. There are people who, I think, willfully misunderstand what this is about, and that this is a practice that traumatizes people for decades, for the rest of their lives, and that ends lives prematurely, she said. And for people to misunderstand this is beyond disappointing. I will do everything I can to make sure that any efforts to turn this back will fail, and I really hope that they will. Protections at long last Advocates for mental health in Kentucky praised Beshears action. Sheila Schuster, the executive director of the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition, called the practice torture and teared up as she spoke alongside Beshear in the Capitol Rotunda. Her coalition has listed ending conversion therapy as a top priority for the legislature for nearly a decade, citing the harm the practice causes. While we have not been successful in the legislature, its not for lack of effort from our heroines and heroes, Schuster said. Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, said Beshear would save countless Kentucky kids lives with the move. Today, we all join Governor Beshear to send a crystal clear message to all of Kentuckys queer kids and their families, Hartman said. You are perfect as you are. Eric Russ, the executive director of the Kentucky Psychological Association, called conversion therapy a discredited practice that has no place in the mental health care of LGBTQ youth. We know that survivors of conversion therapy not only do not change their sexual orientation, but have worse mental health outcomes, including self blame, guilt, shame, anxiety, depression, Russ said. We know the best thing we can do as mental health providers is to affirm the identity of the kids in our care. When a kid walks into a licensed mental health professionals office with their family, we have an ethical obligation to provide them care that is supportive, evidence based and affirming to their sexual orientation identity. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) It was about four years ago when Cathy Utgard bought a new washer and dryer from Best Buy. I mistakenly ordered an electric dryer instead of a gas dryer, Utgard said. Buyer beware: Warning issued over pre-owned vehicles The installation team told her shed be able to return it, buy a gas dryer and pay the difference, but when she called Best Buy to do that, was told by customer service that she couldnt. Watch: After years, customer gets their refund from a big box store Well refund you the electric dryer and youll have to youll have to purchase the gas dryer, Utgard said. Utgard went ahead and bought the gas dryer, but continued to wait for a refund, which, according to her calculations, would come out to be approximately $1,000. Once again, Utgard called customer service, but according to the representative, her situation was a bit complicated. When I purchased both the washer and the dryer, the electric one, I used a few gift cards, but also my credit card, she said. So, she (customer service) had said that because I had used a gift card as one of the purchases, as part of the purchase, that I would need to just get a gift card. Utgard agreed, and waited for the gift card to arrive. Months later, Utgard said she finally got a gift card in the mail, but, I went to use the gift card and there was no balance. So, then, the store manager helped me You know, I was explaining to them the situation. So, they actually were able to pull up my name and my, you know, a whole file on this whole debacle and see that I was owed that money. Nelsonville resident expresses frustration over high gas prices But Utgard said the store manager told her there was nothing they could locally. Thats when she turned to Better Call 4. We reached out to Best Buy, and after a few weeks of back-and-forth messages, got an update from Utgard. I am so happy to inform you that I got a refund for the electric dryer that I mistakenly purchased four years ago, Utgard said. And it was in the method of a gift card, which is fine with me. You guys took care of business. Just, just like that! Just know how much I appreciate the efforts that you took to help me get what was rightfully owed back to me. Thank you! Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. by Mahmoud Fouly CAIRO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked on his 10th diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Egyptian political experts expressed growing skepticism about the efficacy of U.S. mediation efforts. Blinken's latest visit to Cairo on Wednesday, notably excluding Israel from his itinerary, comes amid a backdrop of escalating regional tensions, including recent deadly explosions of communication devices in Lebanon attributed to Israel by Hezbollah. "It's imperative that all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict," Blinken said at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty. However, his words ring hollow to many regional observers. "Blinken's tours in the Middle East have not succeeded in reaching a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas because of the bias of the United States," said Tarek Fahmy, a political science professor at Cairo University, adding the United States is "a major complicit partner with Israel in the war in the Gaza Strip." The ongoing conflict, which began in October last year, has resulted in over 41,000 Palestinian deaths and more than 95,500 injuries, according to Gaza health authorities. Despite these staggering figures, a sustainable ceasefire remains elusive. Maged Botros, a political science professor at Helwan University, suggested that internal political dynamics in both Israel and the United States are hampering effective diplomacy. "They are trying to pressure Israel, but they are unable to," Botros said, pointing to the upcoming U.S. presidential elections as a factor weakening Washington's leverage over Tel Aviv. Some analysts, like Saeed Okasha from the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, argued that the U.S. strategy is more focused on containing the conflict than ending it. "The United States never aimed to cease fire permanently. Its ultimate goal was to prevent the war from expanding and turning into a regional war," Okasha said. The situation is further complicated by the political realities facing both Israel and Hamas. As Okasha noted, "neither Israel nor Hamas will agree to a ceasefire with the current conditions." For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accepting a comprehensive ceasefire could lead to the collapse of his government, while Hamas risks perceived defeat if it agrees to a temporary truce without clear guarantees, the analyst explained. CANTON, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) After a life filled with love, laughter and unwavering dedication to her family and career, Bettie J. Pugh of Canton, Ohio, peacefully passed away on Friday, September 13, 2024. She was born on January 11, 1948, in Seale, Alabama, to the union of Charlie and Mae G. (Toney) Pugh. Bettie was a beloved mother, sister, grandmother and friend. Find obituaries from your high school Bettie was a proud alumna of Canton McKinley High School and continued her studies at the National Beauty College successfully obtaining her state cosmetology license. She furthered her academic pursuits at Stark State College in studying the field of Education. Faith in God was vital to Bettie. She was an integral part of the New Dimensions Educational Ministries community. Throughout her life, Bettie had varied employment careers within the manufacturing industry which included the Morse, DHL, Ecko companies. She retired from the Hoover Company after exemplary service as an inspector and quality control engineer. Her dedication and attention to detail left a lasting impact on all those she worked with, earning her the respect and admiration of her colleagues. Bettie is survived by her loving son, Troy Pugh; devoted brother, Tony Pugh; caring sister, Kinza Pugh and cherished grandchildren, Robert Blair, Ashton Reynolds and Sofia Anderson; all who held a special place in her heart. As Bettie crossed the celestial sands, she was met by her beloved parents and her brother, James Pugh, who preceded her into eternity. Though she may be gone, her spirit will continue to live on in the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to know her. The memory of Betties infectious laughter, kind heart and fun-loving nature will forever be treasured by all who knew her. In honor of her remarkable life, the community is invited to a 10:00 a.m., public viewing on Monday, September 23, 2024, in the chapel of the at J. E. Washington Funeral Services, 1617 Third Street NE, Canton. A Celebration of Life Service will follow at 11:00 a.m., with her beloved brother, Pastor Tony Pugh presiding. As we gather to celebrate Betties life, let us reflect on the joy she brought to those around her and the legacy of love she leaves behind. At this most intimate time, the beloved family of Bettie J. Pugh entrusted J.E. Washington Funeral Services, 1617 Third St. N.E. Canton 44704, for the ministry of comfort & after-life care arrangements. Send flowers to the service of Bettie Jean Pugh A television tribute will air Thursday, September 19 at the following approximate times: 7:10 a.m. on FOX, 12:22 p.m. on WKBN, 5:08 p.m. on MyYTV and 7:27 p.m. on WYTV. Video will be posted here the day of airing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Biden administration will host a global safety summit on artificial intelligence (AI) in November to discuss the quickly developing technology and efforts to mitigate its risks. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will co-host the meeting in San Francisco with government scientists and AI experts from at least nine countries and the European Union, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday. The two-day meeting will be Nov. 20-21. It comes amid a wider push from the federal government to better understand the capabilities and risks of AI as the technology evolves. AI is the defining technology of our generation. With AI evolving at a rapid pace, we at the Department of Commerce, and across the Biden-Harris Administration, are pulling every lever, Raimondo said in a statement Wednesday, adding, We want the rules of the road on AI to be underpinned by safety, security, and trust, which is why this convening is so important. Blinken stressed the importance of strengthening international collaborations in harnessing AI technology to solve the worlds greatest challenges. Raimondo told The Associated Press the steady rise of AI-generated fakery and how to determine when the technology needs guardrails are among some of the most urgent discussions. Were going to think about how do we work with countries to set standards as it relates to the risks of synthetic content, the risks of AI being used maliciously by malicious actors, Raimondo told the news service. Because if we keep a lid on the risks, its incredible to think about what we could achieve. Representatives from the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Singapore and the 27-nation European Union will attend the November summit. China, a major player in AI development, was not on the list, but Raimondo told the AP, were still trying to figure out exactly who else might come in terms of scientists. I think that there are certain risks that we are aligned in wanting to avoid, like AIs applied to nuclear weapons, AIs applied to bioterrorism, she said. Every country in the world ought to be able to agree that those are bad things and we ought to be able to work together to prevent them. The meetings timing is notable, occurring about two weeks after the U.S. presidential election, and nearly two months ahead of a wider AI summit in Paris in February. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FILE - Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, left, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, attend the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council Ministerial Meeting at the State Department, Jan. 30, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) Government scientists and artificial intelligence experts from at least nine countries and the European Union will meet in San Francisco after the U.S. elections to coordinate on safely developing AI technology and averting its dangers. President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced a two-day international AI safety gathering planned for November 20 and 21. It will happen just over a year after delegates at an AI Safety Summit in the United Kingdom pledged to work together to contain the potentially catastrophic risks posed by AI advances. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told The Associated Press it will be the first get-down-to-work meeting after the UK summit and a May follow-up in South Korea that sparked a network of publicly backed safety institutes to advance research and testing of the technology. Among the urgent topics likely to confront experts is a steady rise of AI-generated fakery but also the tricky problem of how to know when an AI system is so widely capable or dangerous that it needs guardrails. Were going to think about how do we work with countries to set standards as it relates to the risks of synthetic content, the risks of AI being used maliciously by malicious actors," Raimondo said in an interview. "Because if we keep a lid on the risks, its incredible to think about what we could achieve. Situated in a city that's become a hub of the current wave of generative AI technology, the San Francisco meetings are designed as a technical collaboration on safety measures ahead of a broader AI summit set for February in Paris. It will occur about two weeks after a presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris who helped craft the U.S. stance on AI risks and former President Donald Trump, who has vowed to undo Biden's signature AI policy. Raimondo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that their agencies will co-host the convening, which taps into a network of newly formed national AI safety institutes in the U.S. and UK, as well as Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Singapore and the 27-nation European Union. The biggest AI powerhouse missing from the list of participants is China, which isn't part of the network, though Raimondo said were still trying to figure out exactly who else might come in terms of scientists. I think that there are certain risks that we are aligned in wanting to avoid, like AIs applied to nuclear weapons, AIs applied to bioterrorism, she said. Every country in the world ought to be able to agree that those are bad things and we ought to be able to work together to prevent them. Many governments have pledged to safeguard AI technology but they've taken different approaches, with the EU the first to enact a sweeping AI law that sets the strongest restrictions on the riskiest applications. Biden last October signed an executive order on AI that requires developers of the most powerful AI systems to share safety test results and other information with the government. It also delegated the Commerce Department to create standards to ensure AI tools are safe and secure before public release. San Francisco-based OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, said last week that before releasing its latest model, called o1, it granted early access to the U.S. and UK national AI safety institutes. The new product goes beyond the company's famous chatbot in being able to perform complex reasoning and produce a "long internal chain of thought" when answering a query, and poses a medium risk in the category of weapons of mass destruction, the company has said. Since generative AI tools began captivating the world in late 2022, the Biden administration has been pushing AI companies to commit to testing their most sophisticated models before theyre let out into the world. That is the right model," Raimondo said. That being said, right now, its all voluntary. I think we probably need to move beyond a voluntary system. And we need Congress to take action. Tech companies have mostly agreed, in principle, on the need for AI regulation, but some have chafed at proposals they argue could stifle innovation. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed three landmark bills to crack down on political deepfakes ahead of the 2024 election, but has yet to sign, or veto, a more controversial measure that would regulate extremely powerful AI models that don't yet exist but could pose grave risks if they're built. A gray wolf in snow. (Eric Cole/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) The Biden administration on Friday asked a federal appeals court to reinstate a rule passed under the Trump administration to remove Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the Lower 48 states which, if successful, would put the animals under state management like is currently the case in Montana and surrounding states. On behalf of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice filed the 87-page appeal of a California district courts 2022 decision that blocked the Trump-era rule and kept existing listing regulations in place. The district courts decision kept wolves in Minnesota a threatened species, an endangered species in 44 states, and a delisted population in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington and north-central Utah. The new appeal to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said the district court incorrectly interpreted the Endangered Species Act, which the government contends is only meant to ensure species are not in danger of going extinct, not to restore species to their full historical range. But the filing has irked wolf conservation groups that have long fought in court for enhanced protections for various groups of gray wolves or the entire Lower 48 population and believe that handing all wolves over to state management will reverse decades of recovery. At its core, this appeal is about whether the purpose of the ESA is to recover endangered and threatened species to the point where they are no longer in danger of extinction, or whether it goes beyond that objective to require that a species be restored to its historical range before delisting, the governments appeal brief says. The ESA is clear: its goal is to prevent extinction, not to restore species to their pre-western settlement numbers and range. Susan Holmes, the executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition, called the filing bewildering and said if the circuit court sides with the government, the group believes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could abandon its efforts to create a wolf recovery plan it agreed to as part of a settlement announced in February involving another wolf Endangered Species Act court case. This faulty interpretation of the Endangered Species Act would halt wolf recovery in its tracks, Holmes said in a statement. We urge the Service to continue gray wolf recovery efforts and we remain committed to working with them on a vision for recovery. The government argues in its appeal that the court substituted its own judgment for the scientific analysis done by the Fish and Wildlife Service that led to the decision to delist gray wolves. The agency says it analyzed gray wolf populations in three different configurations and found that none of those configurations warranted listing them as an endangered or threatened species. The gray wolf is one of the ESAs biggest success stories: it has made a remarkable recovery and now thrives in the continental United States in two large, expanding metapopulations that are also connected to large populations of wolves in Canada, the filing says. The district courts decision faulting the Services extensive recovery analysis fundamentally misunderstands the ESA, the relevant science, and the role of a reviewing court under the (Administrative Procedure Act). The government also argues the district court incorrectly found the Fish and Wildlife Service erred when it did not consider threats to wolves in areas of the U.S. where they no longer exist. It said the court wrongly found the agency had not considered all state and federal regulatory mechanisms surrounding wolf management when it moved to delist wolves in the Lower 48. It makes no sense to require the Service to directly analyze the threat humans pose to wolves in areas where wolves do not exist, the filing says. In short, it is pointless to separately consider whether the wolves are in danger of extinction in areas where there are no wolves. The Fish and Wildlife Service maintains that there are two large and either stable or growing gray wolf populations in the U.S. that number close to 5,000, have high levels of genetic diversity and are resilient to threats because they can quickly reproduce and disperse across wide areas, including interconnecting with an estimated 15,000 wolves in Canada. The filing says the district court incorrectly weighted threats to individual wolves instead of emphasizing the agencys analysis of the gray wolf as an entire species. Putting a spotlight on the most vulnerable individuals of a species will always lead to the conclusion that those individuals are at risk, the government wrote. But that does not mean that every species is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range now or into the foreseeable future. The filing also notes that if the gray wolf is delisted across the Lower 48, the species would still be considered a sensitive species for at least five years and remain under federal regulations. The government argues the district courts ruling and parameters do not align with direction on the Endangered Species Act that Congress gave to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The ESA does not require the Service to restore wolves to all areas where they used to be, the filing says. Particularly in this case, such a requirement is impossible to meet, given how widespread wolves used to be and the significant development in many of those areas. The appellees in the case are several conservation groups, including WildEarth Guardians and the Western Watersheds Project. The National Rifle Association, Safari Club and State of Utah have intervened in the case. Multiple groups have also sued the federal government over its February decision not to give wolves in the West special protections as a distinct population segment and to re-list wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. One of those groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, this week said the Fish and Wildlife Services ongoing attempt to delist gray wolves in the Lower 48 is dangerous. Im confident the district courts reasoned decision that reinstated wolf protections will be upheld, said the organizations carnivore conservation program director Collette Adkins. But Im frustrated that the agency tasked with wolf recovery is again trying to strip life-saving protections from wolves in places like Wisconsin, where wed see more dead wolves under state management. Wolf Delisting Feds Opening Brief (002) Robert Roberson, seen in Palestine, Texas, in 2018, has maintained his innocence in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune A bipartisan majority of the Texas House urged the state on Tuesday to grant clemency to a man who was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter, but who has consistently maintained his innocence and argued that his conviction was based on an unsound shaken baby syndrome diagnosis. One month out from Robert Robersons execution, 86 lawmakers signed a letter pressing the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend clemency, which would be up to Gov. Greg Abbott to grant. The board can take up until two days before the execution, which is slated for Oct. 17, to make its recommendation. The lawmakers, who comprise just under a supermajority of the Texas House, cited voluminous new scientific evidence that they and Robersons attorneys argued demonstrates his innocence and explains that the cause of his daughters death was natural and accidental. It should shock all Texans that we are barreling towards an execution in the face of this new evidence, the lawmakers wrote to the board. Other states look to Texas as a leader for both enforcing the rule of law and addressing wrongful convictions. We now look to you to prevent our state from tarnishing that reputation by allowing this execution to proceed. Roberson has maintained his innocence while being held on death row for more than 20 years. The Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended clemency in one capital case out of the 85 applications it considered over the past decade. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals previously halted Robersons execution in 2016. But in 2023, the states highest criminal court decided that doubt over the cause of his daughters death was not enough to overturn his death sentence, and Robersons new execution date, Oct. 17, was set in July. Then, without reviewing the merits of his claims, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last week dismissed both a motion to halt the execution and a final application for relief filed by Robersons attorneys. Roberson was convicted in 2003 of killing his severely ill 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. Roberson had rushed her limp, blue body to the hospital after waking to find her unconscious and fallen from the bed in their Palestine home in East Texas. But doctors and nurses, who were unable to revive her, did not believe such a low fall could have caused the fatal injuries and suspected child abuse. At trial, doctors testified that Nikkis death was consistent with shaken baby syndrome in which an infant is severely injured from being shaken violently back and forth and a jury convicted Roberson. The Court of Criminal Appeals stopped Robersons execution in 2016 and sent the case back to the trial court after the scientific consensus around shaken baby diagnoses cracked. While medical professionals were trained at the time of Nikkis death to presume abuse when infants presented certain internal head injuries, Robersons attorneys argued that those symptoms have now been linked to various naturally occurring illnesses and accidents. The stay of execution in 2016 came largely as a product of a trailblazing 2013 state law, dubbed the junk science law, which allows Texas courts to overturn a conviction when the scientific evidence used to reach a verdict has since changed or been discredited. Lawmakers, in passing the bill, highlighted cases of infant trauma that used faulty science to convict defendants as examples of the cases the legislation was meant to target. But critics have argued that in the decade since the law was codified, it has rarely provided justice as intended for wrongfully convicted individuals. We changed the law to give that path. As far as we can tell, though, the courts simply aren't engaging in that process, Texas Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso and co-chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, said on Tuesday. We shouldnt be executing someone when theres this much doubt about whether a crime was even committed. Robersons lawyers submitted his petition for clemency on Tuesday, along with letters of support signed by dozens of scientists and medical professionals, parental rights groups, organizations that advocate for people with autism, faith leaders, and attorneys who have represented people wrongfully convicted of child abuse. Over the course of his appeals, Robersons lawyers sought to debunk the shaken baby diagnosis that led to his conviction. They argued that a range of expert opinions and new evidence including medical records that illustrated Nikkis illness and medications in the days leading up to her death and a long-lost CAT scan prove that she died of natural and accidental causes, not of head trauma. No informed doctor today would presume abuse based on a triad of internal head conditions, as occurred in Roberts case, his attorneys wrote in his petition for clemency. But in the era when Robert was accused and convicted, conventional medical thinking gave doctors permission to skip consideration of any other factors and presume shaking and inflicted head trauma an approach that has since been completely rejected as unsound. In Robersons last petition for relief that was denied on Sept. 11, his attorneys wrote that Nikki had severe, undiagnosed pneumonia that caused her to stop breathing, collapse and turn blue before she was discovered. Instead of identifying her pneumonia in the days leading up to her death, they wrote, doctors prescribed her Phenergan and codeine, drugs that are no longer given to children her age and that further suppressed her breathing. It is irrefutable that Nikkis medical records show that she was severely ill during the last week of her life, Robersons attorneys wrote in court documents, noting that in the week before her death, Roberson had taken Nikki to the emergency room because she had been coughing, wheezing and struggling with diarrhea for several days, and to her pediatricians office, where her temperature was 104.5 degrees. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have maintained that the evidence supporting Robersons conviction is still clear and convincing and that the science around shaken baby syndrome has not changed as much as his defense attorneys claimed. Robersons attorneys also argued that his autism which was not diagnosed until 2018 directly contributed to his conviction, with doctors and law enforcement viewing his flat demeanor as a sign of culpability. This Board has the power to show mercy to a man who will always be profoundly impacted by his disability and who has worked hard to better himself and his community despite those challenges, his attorneys wrote in his clemency petition. Brian Wharton, the lead detective who investigated Nikkis death and sided against Roberson at trial, has said he now believes in Robersons innocence, especially after learning of his disability, and has advocated for his exoneration. I will be forever haunted by my participation in his arrest and prosecution, Wharton, who submitted a letter in support of clemency, said on Tuesday. He is an innocent man. Lawmakers urging clemency also seized on Robersons treatment after his arrest. Nikki was transported to Children's Medical Center Dallas after he brought her to the emergency room, but Roberson, who was placed in a suicide jail cell when investigators suspected abuse, was not permitted to join her, according to his attorneys, nor was he told when she was taken off life support. "I and many others are troubled by the facts of this case, not only the rushed and mistaken accusation of child abuse, but the disregard for Roberts parental rights throughout the investigation, Texas Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston and co-vice chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, said. Regardless of our individual positions on the death penalty, I think we can all agree that putting a potentially innocent man to death for a crime that may not have occurred would be a grave miscarriage of justice. Letters of support from Robersons loved ones, friends and spiritual advisers depicted a gentle man of faith who was concerned most of all about his two grown children with disabilities, and who remembered peoples favorite colors and sent handmade birthday cards to everyone he met. What immediately stood out to me was his compassionate character, his joyful demeanor, and [his] genuine interest in the person sitting across from him, wrote Merel Pontier, who said she met Roberson over four years ago. For Robert, the glass is always half-full, not half-empty. Correction, Sept. 19, 2024 at 3:12 p.m. : A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended clemency in two capital cases out of the 85 applications it considered over the past decade. The board has recommended clemency in one capital case. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) A Birmingham police officer was released from a hospital after they were injured on I-65 northbound Tuesday. Birmingham Police Department Sgt. LaQuitta Wade stated a North Precinct officer at around 10:30 a.m. was working on a collision involving at least two vehicles. The officer was in their marked police unit when it was struck from the rear passenger side. New Birmingham program to provide affordable housing Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service personnel took the officer to a local hospital. The driver of the vehicle that hit the police unit did not sustain injuries when the crash occurred. The injured officer was accompanied by a partner at the scene, but the other officer was not in the police unit during the crash. After receiving treatment, the injured officer was discharged from the hospital. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) The Birmingham Police Department is searching for a 72-year-old man who was reported missing Aug. 11. Police state Edwin Beckman Jr.s last known location is the 1200 block of Springs Avenue. Beckmans family said he left his cell phone and other belongings behind. He has no known health conditions. 80-year-old man died in Trussville car wreck Authorities could not provide a clothing description for Beckman. The 72-year-old is reportedly 5-foot-11, weighs around 185 pounds and has gray eyes and hair. Those with information on Beckmans whereabouts are urged to call the BPD at 205-328-9311, 911 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 birth to his slated execution in SC, Freddie Owens life was riddled with violence Freddie Eugene Owens experienced violence even before leaving his mothers womb she was physically assaulted while Owens was still nestled inside. At birth, Owens would embark on a life marked by poverty, neglect, school difficulties, family violence and murder. He now is scheduled to die Friday at 6 p.m. by lethal injection. Owens, 46, was sentenced to death for the murder of Irene Graves, a gas station clerk, in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 1997. A jury found that Owens, 19 at the time of Graves murder, had shot and killed the mother of three during a robbery at a Speedway convenience store in Greenville. Since his 1999 conviction, Owens has filed several appeals attempting to overturn his death sentence. He has twice been resentenced to death, first in 2003 by then circuit court judge and now South Carolina Chief Justice John Kittredge and again by a jury in 2006. In 2015, Owens converted to Islam and changed his name to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah but continues to use the name Freddie Owens in his appeals. Citing his Islamic faith, Owens petitioned the South Carolina Supreme Court to grant one of his lawyers power of attorney to choose how Owens will be executed. Owens said that because of his faith, his death would be akin to suicide if he chose how to die. In South Carolina, death row inmates can choose death via the electric chair, lethal injection or a firing squad. Owens, through his appeals, repeatedly urged the court to consider his troubled childhood as a mitigating circumstance to Graves murder. During three sentencing proceedings, social historian Marjorie Hammock testified that Owens frequently was exposed to violence in his home and neighborhood, suffered from physical abuse, witnessed physical abuse, including one incident during which his step-father chased his mother around the house with a machete, had five family members who had been incarcerated and was in and out of foster care for portions of his childhood, according to court records. Its also a great deal of violence . . . that the client experienced, because . . . both his stepfather and his father were described as very violent people, and his mother was a victim of that violence in many instances, Hammock told a sentencing jury. As a youth, he served a stint in the Department of Juvenile Justice, where he claims to have been physically and sexually assaulted, according to court records. Also during a sentencing hearing, Donna Schwartz-Watts, a forensic psychiatrist, testified that Owens suffered from chronic depression, attention deficit disorder, and antisocial personality disorder, according to a 2018 federal opinion. In addition, she testified that Owens impulsivity comes from having Attention Deficit Disorder, having the chronic depression and his own personality structure. While incarcerated, Owens has been disciplined for more than 40 infractions, including multiple counts of assault and battery on prison staff with intent to kill or injure, possession of a weapon and damaging property. He also admitted to brutally murdering a cellmate, Christopher Bryan Lee, 28, during the 24-hour waiting period between his 1999 criminal conviction and his first sentencing trial. Owens was never tried for killing Lee, who was serving a 90-day charge for drunk driving. Stacey Wood, a psychologist, conducted a neuropsychological review and evaluation of Owens, finding he suffered from a significant brain impairment, a court opinion said. Around 4 a.m. on Nov. 1, 1997, two men entered a Speedway convenience store on Laurens Road in Greenville. Both could be seen on CCTV, one man wearing a ski mask, the other a stocking over his head. They were carrying guns and demanded that the clerk, Graves, open the safe. When she couldnt, the man in the ski mask shot Graves, a mother of three. The two men made off with $37.29 taken from the register. Owens maintains his accomplice shot Graves, although he originally admitted to his ex-girlfriend and family members that hed killed the clerk, according to court records. In his latest failed appeal, lawyers for Owens argued the death penalty was disproportionate as the jury had not necessarily found that Owens was the one who fatally shot Graves. Prosecutors, during Owens criminal trial, advanced a legal theory that the jury could find him guilty of murder simply by finding that he had participated in the robbery that led to Graves killing Were he to be executed, his attorneys argued, it could be the first time since the death penalty was reinstated in South Carolina in 1976 that a person would be put to death with no specific finding that they had actually killed someone. But the Supreme Court was unmoved. The justices wrote that there was sufficient evidence to prove Owens deserved a sentence of death. Besides receiving the death penalty for Graves murder, Owens was also originally sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for armed robbery, five years imprisonment for possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and five years imprisonment for criminal conspiracy. Black teenagers twice as likely to be falsely accused of using AI tools in homework The News Racial biases have been known to creep into artificial intelligence algorithms. Now teachers are bringing it into the classroom as they police students use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT to complete homework, according to a new study by childrens safety nonprofit Common Sense Media. The group found that Black teenagers in the US are about twice as likely as their white and Latino peers to have teachers incorrectly flag their schoolwork as AI-generated. Common Sense Media surveyed 1,045 13- to 18-year-olds and their parents from March 15 through April 20. This suggests that software to detect AI, as well as teachers use of it, may be exacerbating existing discipline disparities among historically marginalized groups, said the report, which was released Wednesday. In the United States, Black students face the highest rate of disciplinary measures in both public and private schools despite being no more likely to misbehave which contributes to negative impacts, such as lower academic performance. Know More The findings arent surprising, Robert Topinka, a senior lecturer in media and cultural studies at Birkbeck, University of London told Semafor in an interview. Part of the problem is that AI detection software is wholly unreliable, he said. Its trained to flag generic and formulaic phrasing using pattern matching, but cant distinguish between ChatGPT and spelling and grammar checkers like Grammarly, which means students risk being penalized even for using approved tools. And because learning disabilities like dyslexia are underdiagnosed in Black students, they are more likely to be falsely accused of cheating, he said. Plus, white students are more likely to enjoy tech privilege in the form of access to AI technologies, as well as paraphrasing software that masks its use which in turn makes it easier [for them] to not get caught, Topinka said. Theres also a dynamic of assuming that a white, middle-class person is able to produce the kind of language ChatGPT produces, whereas a Black, working class student isnt given the benefit of the doubt that they could communicate in that way, he added. Blinken says Gaza truce best way to ensure regional stability US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived at the presidential palace in Cairo to meet Egytpian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and push for a Gaza ceasefire (Evelyn Hockstein) (Evelyn Hockstein/POOL/AFP) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday in Cairo that a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in the Middle East. This marks Blinken's 10th trip to the region since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel. His visit aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict. No other regional stops, including Israel, were on his itinerary. "We discussed the importance of getting this deal across the finish line, something we'll continue to pursue with our Qatari counterparts," Blinken told journalists in a joint press conference alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. "We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to address risks to regional stability," he added. Following the meeting with Blinken, Sisi's office said the pair discussed "ways to intensify joint efforts between Egypt, the US and Qatar to make progress on ceasefire negotiations and the exchange of hostages and detainees". Sisi also called for "decisive intervention to remove obstacles to the entry of huge amounts of aid" to Gaza and "ending Israeli violations in the West Bank", it said. Violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the war broke out in Gaza, with Israel conducting large-scale raids in recent weeks. - Lebanon blasts - Blinken arrived in Cairo hours after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing 12 people and wounding more than 2,750 others. Blinken denied reports the United States prior any knowledge or involvement in the attack which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel, the key US ally. Israel has yet to comment on the blasts. "With regard to Lebanon, the United States did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents, and we're still gathering information and gathering the facts," he said in Cairo. "Broadly speaking, we've been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict." US news site Axios said that minutes before the attack, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and informed him of an imminent operation in Lebanon, without giving any details. After months of clashes along its northern border with Lebanon, Israel on Tuesday said it was broadening the aims of the war against Hamas to include its fight against Hezbollah. While in Cairo, Blinken also discussed strengthening US-Egyptian relations. Egypt is frequently accused of human rights abuses but remains a strategic US partner, and last week Washington decided to release $1.3 billion of military aid without attaching rights conditions, unlike in 2023. After Cairo, Blinken is due to head to Paris to brief his French, British and Italian counterparts. bur-lb/ser/dv GAZA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least eight Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced people east of Gaza City, Palestinian sources said Wednesday. Israeli aircraft bombed the "Ibn Al-Haytham" school housing displaced people in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, Palestinian security sources told Xinhua. "Our teams recovered the bodies of eight victims, including five children and two women, as a result of the Israeli airstrike," the Gaza Civil Defense said in a press statement. Local sources and eyewitnesses said the airstrike caused significant destruction to the schoolyard and classrooms. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said in a statement that its air force targeted Hamas militants at a command and control center previously known as the Ibn Al-Haytham school in Gaza City. 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, during which about 1,200 people were killed and some 250 taken hostage. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 41,272, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a joint press conference with Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Tahrir Palace in Cairo, Egypt Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP) CAIRO (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed frustration Wednesday at surprise escalations that threaten to derail efforts to broker a cease-fire deal in Gaza, noting that the United States is assessing a deadly attack that caused pagers used by Hezbollah to explode in Lebanon. Blinken spoke to reporters in Cairo, where he traveled for talks on the cease-fire negotiations and U.S.-Egyptian relations. While Israel has not publicly spoken on responsibility in the pager attack, a U.S. official has said Israel briefed the United States after the explosions. The United States, Egypt and other international partners are working for an agreement between Israel and Hamas to halt nearly a year of war in Gaza and release hostages held by the militant group. The U.S. says such a deal is the best chance at tamping down wider regional tensions, with Israeli leaders threatening to step up military action against Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and the pager attack risking further escalation. Time and again when the U.S. and other mediators believe they are making progress on a cease-fire deal in Gaza, we've seen an event that ... threatens to slow it, stop it, derail it, Blinken said in response to a question about the previous day's explosions in Lebanon. Personal pagers used by Hezbollah in Lebanon exploded nearly simultaneously Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, including two children. Blinken reiterated that the U.S. was still gathering information on the circumstances of the pager attack and declined to make more specific comments. In other unexpected events that have put a cease-fire deal at risk, Blinken spoke of the discovery this month of the bodies of six hostages who Israel said had been recently killed by Hamas. They were among those still held in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks in Israel that launched the war. When news came of their deaths, negotiators had been making progress on the timing and other details of a swap that would have freed hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, America's top diplomat said. Blinken, who had meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, said the most dire need in the troubled cease-fire negotiations was for both sides to show they actually wanted a deal. The most important thing in this moment is to see a demonstration of political will, Blinken said. He headed to his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began without the optimistic projections that the Biden administration has previously conveyed of a breakthrough in the negotiations. The U.S., Egypt and other allies say a deal is essential to quelling escalated attacks by Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Israeli leaders warned this week of a possible military offensive in Lebanon to stop what have become daily exchanges of rockets and missiles between Hezbollah and Israel across the southern Lebanese border. Abdelatty, the Egyptian foreign minister, said Wednesday the region was on the brink of wider war and spoke critically of Tuesday's targeted explosions in Lebanon. Any escalation, including what happened yesterday, certainly hinders reaching a cease-fire deal and the release of hostages and detainees," he said. Certainly what happened doesnt only hinder the current talks, but also risks getting into a full-scale war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of slow-rolling the talks for a cease-fire in Gaza because a deal could mean the collapse of his hardline coalition government, with some members opposed to any deal with the Palestinians. ___ Ahmed Hatem in Cairo contributed to this report. Hadil Alqarini of Blue Springs loves roller coasters. Alqarini and her family immigrated to the United States from Jordan when she was 13. One of her first American memories? Riding the Mamba steel roller coaster at Kansas Citys Worlds of Fun amusement park. That was 24 years ago, when she was a young Muslim teenager who wore a hijab, an Islamic head covering, everywhere including on roller coasters to honor her faith. Fast forward to Sept. 13, Alqarini is a grown Muslim woman with a husband of 15 years who hates roller coasters and three children, still proudly wearing her hijab. Her oldest child, a 9-year-old boy named Moe, also inherited the roller coaster bug from his mother, and that day had encouraged Alqarini to take the family and his friends to Worlds of Fun for their Halloween Haunt celebration. It started as another enjoyable night of roller coaster rides, but ended with Alqarini spending more than three hours in a Worlds of Fun office filing a report after a worker removed her from a roller coaster because of her hijab. Alqarini told The Star it was what she considers her first overtly racist encounter in America. He was racist Alqarini said the night was great, and she rode on several roller coasters before she, Moe, his friend and her niece climbed into seats to ride the Prowler, a wooden roller coaster. Just before the ride began, she said a worker named Paul told her she needed to remove her hijab to ride. Some Muslim women dont wear hijabs based on their beliefs, but Alqarini said she never removes it unless solely in the presence of her immediate family and female friends. God asked me to do so, and I believe in God, Alqarini told the Star in an interview in her home days after the incident. God will see me actually follow what he wants me to do. She told the amusement park worker the hijab was for religious purposes. The father of Moes friend expressed the same sentiment, and so did a teenage Worlds of Fun worker who told Paul that his family is also Muslim and they have worn hijabs on the Prowler, according to Alqarini. Paul wouldnt budge, she said. He was racist. As hell, Alqarini said. He told Alqarini he had contacted the supervisor, and said his reasoning for the request was due to the rules for roller coaster rides, which include no headgear or loose articles of clothing. But Alqarini said he recommended she buy a hat, which confused her. I think thats your rules. I dont think this is Worlds of Fun rules, Alqarini told him, as the worker began shooing her off the ride. The Zambezi Zinger roller coaster at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where a Muslim woman said she was asked to leave a ride due to her hijab. I cant forget my son looked at me like, wow, they [took] my mom [off the ride], she said. I get up and I looked at the people, they were giving me body language and its like feeling sorry, but no one actually was standing up and [speaking] up. Im here when I started saying, Hey, you guys, does this sounds right? I also told him it was racist, Moe said, as bystanders began recording the incident. In the ensuing confusion as she was being kicked off the ride, Alqurini said her son nearly didnt get properly buckled into his seat. My son would be dead if hes not buckled up for him being racist, she said. If I did not notice it and run and did something about it, he would be dead. When the ride was over, Alqarini said the supervisor came and told the worker he was wrong, and made him apologize. Hes saying the sorry in a way that he has to do it. Hes not actually sorry, she later said. She attempted to file a report with Clay County Sheriff deputies, who directed her to instead file a report with park security. Alqarini spent more than three hours filing a report with the park, she said. A park official offered her free passes, which she refused. Felt the discrimination The Council on American-Islamic Relations, billed as the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, reported a 69% increase in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian complaints through the first six months of 2024. The Kansas chapter of the CAIR released a statement accepting the amusement parks apology sent to local television station KCTV5. Worlds of Fun did not respond to the Stars request for comment. We welcome the apology and corrective action taken by Worlds of Fun for this incident, CAIR-Kansas Board Chair Moussa Elbayoumy said in the statement. Religious freedom is one of the most important rights guaranteed to all Americans by our Constitution and must be respected everywhere in society. Alqarini and her husband, Waleed Al Qalawi, who moved to America from Jordan to be with his wife, said theyve seen the rise of these incidents, some they believe inspired by the Israel-Palestine conflict. They said theyve always been honored to live in America, and the freedom to practice their religion here was the main selling point. After this incident, Alqarinis world has been shaken, and so has her faith in Kansas City and America. I think I need to think and have a plan B and just maybe get out from this. This is one of the things that pops in my mind, she said. I dont want to be [in] an environment that [I] dont feel safe or feel like Im different. Alqarini believes she would have been more understanding if the worker had been a teenager who didnt know better. Instead, she estimates Paul, who is white, is in his 40s. He needs to learn a lesson. And companies need to educate their employees, she said, adding her hijab is not a safety issue, as some people have alleged online. Alqarini said her tightly-wrapped hijab has never flown off her head, and showcased a safety pin which helps keep it on her head. Al Qalawi said he sees the toll that the incident has taken on his wife, making her lose sleep and question her safety. We dont need this thing to change our life, Al Qalawi said. He was at a mosque praying during the incident. His wife feels thats already happened, noting it was the first time her son felt the sting of racism. He felt the discrimination, she said. Were different, we are American, we [have] citizenship, but we are different. And I really dont like that, but things happen. I mean, I really dont like him to know these things this early [in his life]. After filing a report at the park, Alqarini said she went to file a report with Blue Springs Police, mainly for failure to secure her son in his seat. They told her since there was no physical assault, there was no crime. She said she is considering hiring an attorney. Alqarini said she will not go back to Worlds of Fun, even though her kids still want to. But for the ride-loving Muslim mother who made America her home decades ago, the experience is now ruined. We learned when we got our citizenship, were equal, Alqarini said. Were not, thats not true. A restricted zone brought in to stem the transmission of bluetongue in Kent has been extended to cover the entire county, and will also cover East Sussex. It comes as the UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss set out further measures to tackle the virus, following 70 confirmed cases of infection. Bluetongue or BTV-3 can cause infertility and breathing problems in some animals but does not affect people or food safety. Ms Middlemiss urged farmers within bluetongue control zones to "adhere to restrictions and remain vigilant". The restrictions mean susceptible animals - which include cattle, sheep, goats and deer - cannot be moved out of the zone without a specific licence. Keepers in the zones will also need to follow strict rules on animal movements. Animal and Plant Health Agency chief executive Jenny Stewart said: "Since the first BTV-3 case for this season was detected last month, case numbers have continued to rise, and I want to remind keepers of the importance of monitoring their livestock and taking up free testing where necessary." The government has permitted the use of unauthorised bluetongue vaccines due to the rise in cases [GETTY IMAGES] The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said a general licence to move animals to designated abattoirs was available, while movements within a zone are permitted. An extended restricted zone will also replace a temporary control zone in the East Riding of Yorkshire and parts of Lincolnshire. The areas have been designated as high risk, meaning keepers in the counties that are not covered by the zone will be eligible for free testing. Earlier this month, the government permitted the use of three unauthorised bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) vaccines within the UK. The virus is spread by midges that are often blown over from mainland Europe during spells of warm weather. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. More on this story Related internet links Boeing is suspending the jobs of tens of thousands of staff in the US in response to a strike that has shut down production of some of its airplanes. The aerospace giant said US-based executives, managers and staff would be asked to take one week of furlough every four weeks as long as the stand-off lasts. More than 30,000 factory workers in the northwest of the US went on strike on Friday over pay and retirement packages. Government officials are now helping to mediate talks between the two sides. The work stoppage threatens to cost Boeing billions of dollars, deepening the crisis at a company already facing significant challenges. Its impacts are already being felt across the industry and wider US economy as the firm asks suppliers to halt shipments of most parts and takes other steps to save money. Chief executive Kelly Ortberg, who started in the job just last month, said executives were trying to reach a new agreement "as soon as possible". "While this is a tough decision that impacts everybody, it is in an effort to preserve our long-term future and help us navigate through this very difficult time," he said in a memo to staff. "We will continue to transparently communicate as this dynamic situation evolves and do all we can to limit this hardship. Mr Ortberg said executives would take "commensurate" pay cuts for the time of the strike and that staff on furlough would retain "all benefits". "We wont take any actions that inhibit our ability to fully recover in the future," he added. The strike is the first at Boeing since 2008. Workers had rejected an offer that promised a 25% pay increase over four years and improvements to terms and conditions. The deal, described by Boeing as "historic", was recommended to the workforce by union leaders, but overwhelmingly voted down by employees. Union boss Brian Bryant, on the far right, on the picket line [BBC] At the picket line outside a plant in Auburn, Washington on Wednesday, Brian Bryant, the international president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, said he saw Boeing's actions as "smoke and mirrors" meant to distract from the real issue. "They're using that as a leverage tool for public opinion," he told the BBC. He said workers remained angry about wages that have not kept up with the cost of living, and the loss of benefits, such as pensions, in previous negotiations. Boeing employs about 150,000 people across the US and was under pressure even before the walkout, after a piece of a new 737 Max passenger plane broke off mid-flight in January. The incident reignited scrutiny of the firm's manufacturing and safety record and has forced it to slow its production of planes. Many of the strikers who the BBC spoke to on Wednesday cited the loss of their bonuses and pensions, as well as inflation and increased cost of living, as their reasons for joining the picket line. Clayton Olander, 43, brought his three kids to the strike for an economics lesson. Machinist Clayton Olander brought his children to the picket line on Wednesday [BBC] Mr Olander, a machinist who has worked at Boeing for 11 years, said he is striking because of Boeings refusal to increase our wages along with the economy around us. Boeings executives didnt consider the cost of living during negotiations, he added. A mechanic who did not want to be identified due to concerns about retaliation said if the strike continues for much longer she will be forced to seek a part-time job. The 32-year-old said shes striking for her pension and a more secure retirement. She feared that a 401k could be taken away, unlike a guaranteed pension. I want more security for when Im old, she said. Rich Anderson, 54, joined Boeing in 1989 and has worked there through five separate strike actions. He said he was more prepared than in the earlier stages of my career for this strike. He added hes sick of the all the sacrifices he has had to make. People used to step on glass barefooted just to get a job here," he said. "Now theyre begging people out of high school to come work here because its changed so much." Boise gets yet another high-profile trial with Kohberger case. Is that fair? | Opinion The recent decision by a judge to move the trial of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, to a venue outside of Latah County did not come as much of a surprise. Nor did the Idaho Supreme Courts next decision: to move the trial to the Ada County Courthouse in Boise. Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the students fatal stabbings at an off-campus home in Moscow. The victims were Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, both 20, and Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21. Moving the trial out of Latah County, over concerns about logistics and jury bias, means Ada County will host its third high-profile trial in as many years that have been moved from other counties. The murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell and the death penalty trial of her husband, Chad Daybell, were moved from Fremont County, where the couple buried Lori Vallow Daybells two children after killing them. They were found guilty of various other crimes. Both trials drew extensive national attention, and the Kohberger trial likely will receive even more. It seems every time theres a high-profile trial in Idaho, the automatic solution is to move it to Ada County. It raises the question, Is that fair? Is it fair to burden the residents of Idahos most populous county with such high-profile trials and with the responsibility of having to come up with a jury pool to consider these cases? First, as set by state law, costs incurred by Ada County are reimbursed by the county from which the trial was moved. In the Lori Vallow Daybell trial, Ada County billed Fremont County $67,750, and the bill for Chad Daybell was $119,180, according to Fremont County Clerk Abbie Mace. As for the judge, the trial has been handed over to 4th Judicial District Judge Stephen Hippler. Judges are paid by the state, though, so no local costs would be incurred, according to Nate Poppino, court communications manager for the state. We are sure there are other, intangible costs associated with hosting such trials, but what better county to handle those incidentals? Ada County has a large courthouse, in front of which national media were able to stage their live shots for the day in the previous two cases, and Ada County has the capability to livestream and provide overflow rooms as needed. Plus, after hosting two such trials, Ada County has the practice and a proven track record in its ability to hold the Kohberger trial here. The Trial Court Administrator and the Fourth Judicial District Court, in collaboration with multiple county departments and offices, do an outstanding job coordinating the vast logistical, security and media issues related to high profile cases in Ada County, the Ada County Board of Commissioners said in an emailed statement to the Idaho Statesman. We are confident they will do the same on this high-profile case as well. As to the jury pool, Ada County has the potential there to draw from about 450,000 people, according to Sandra Barrios, trial court administrator for the 4th Judicial District Court. By comparison, Latah County has about 24,000 eligible jurors, according to a motion filed by Kohbergers defense lawyers. Ada County, population about 550,000, is by far the largest county in Idaho, with more than twice the population of Canyon County and five times the size of Bonneville, Twin Falls and Bannock counties. Given the publicity of the Kohberger case, the best chance of finding impartial jurors will be in Ada County. So fair or not for the county itself, its just that simple and logical when it comes to making a venue change decision. We are sensitive to the concerns and pleas from the families of the victims, some of whom asked the judge to keep the trial in Latah County, as did the prosecuting attorney in the case. But we must remember that the system of a fair and speedy trial in the United States is meant to also protect the rights of the accused, a hallmark of what makes our country great, compared with the treatment of citizens in countries such as China and Russia. The victims families will get their day in court. It just wont be in Latah County. Moving the trial to Ada County made the most sense and ultimately was the right thing to do. Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesmans editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members Greg Lanting, Terri Schorzman and Garry Wenske. Boise man was arrested on terrorism charges. Heres why his case was moved to California A Boise man who was arrested earlier this month on federal charges, including providing aid to terrorists, will face court in California, not Idaho, court filings showed. Matthew Robert Allison, 37, was arrested Sept. 6 at the Jules on 3rd apartments in downtown Boise, where he lived. Allison was scheduled for a hearing on a motion to detain Wednesday morning at the James A. McClure federal courthouse in Boise, but Allison waived his right to a detention hearing Monday. Court filings showed Allison was committed to the Eastern District of California, which is based in Sacramento, the same day. Allison was indicted by a grand jury in the California district alongside Dallas Humber, a California woman who faces the same 15 charges as Allison. Both are accused of leading the Terrorgram Collective, a network of white supremacists using the social media site Telegram to incite terrorist attacks and instigate a race war. Humber and Allison were charged with conspiracy; four counts of solicitation of a hate crime; three counts of solicitation of the murder of a federal official; three counts of doxing a federal official; interstate threatening communication; distribution of information related to explosives that involved the assault and murder of federal officials; distribution of information related to explosives that involved hate crimes; and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Humber pleaded not guilty shortly after her arrest. Allison admitted to the crimes after his arrest, according to the governments motion to detain. The motion, filed last week, outlined the prosecutions argument for keeping Allison and Humber in custody for the duration of the case. Officials said the pair posed a significant threat to the public and law enforcement, as well as a significant flight risk. The motion to detain said Allison had encouraged Terrorgram users to go down shooting if faced with arrest. Allison was wearing a backpack containing a gun, ammunition, zip ties, duct tape, a lockpicking kit and other items when he was arrested, officials said. They also found a go bag in his apartment that contained a passport, a large amount of cash and other items indicating he planned to flee the country. It was unclear Wednesday whether Allison remained in Idaho or when he would appear in court next. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Bond was reduced Wednesday for the man accused of a fatal crash last November where a 12-year-old boy died. Brandon Kennedy, 31, of Youngstown, also waived his preliminary hearing in municipal court on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, a first-degree felony; and aggravated vehicular assault, a second-degree felony. Visiting Judge David Fuhry bound both cases over to a Mahoning County grand jury and reduced Kennedys bond from $75,000 to $35,000 based on a joint recommendation by Assistant City Prosecutor Anthony Vivo and defense attorney Mark Lavelle. Kennedy has been held in the Mahoning County Jail since his arrest on a warrant last week. Vivo said he did not object to the bond reduction because Kennedy had known for the past 10 months that the crash was under investigation and charges would likely be filed yet he did not flee. As a condition of his bond, Kennedy, who has a suspended license, was told he could not drive. Kennedy was charged as a result of a Nov. 17 crash that killed a 12-year-old boy who was a passenger in his car on Alameda Avenue as the car he was driving collided with another car that was traveling through the intersection with Juanita Avenue. At his arraignment last week, prosecutors said Kennedy was driving in upwards of 70 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone when he crashed the car he was driving, wrapping the car around a tree. Kennedy and another passenger were both taken to the hospital, as was the driver of the other car. The boy died of his injuries the same day at St. Elizabeth Health 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 WKBN.com. BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) Starbucks baristas at the Airline and Beene location filed a petition for a union election today, joining a movement of workers nationwide calling for a voice on the job. According to a press release, Starbucks partners at Airline and Beene have filed with the National Labor Relations Board. Bossier City employees join with 11,000 baristas across the country who are united to unionize. Officials say the goal is to win justice at work, including protections on core issues like respect, living wages, racial and gender equity, and fair scheduling. Labor board takes Starbucks to court over alleged violations Workers explained why they are organizing in a letter to Brian Niccol, who joined Starbucks as CEO last week. Starbucks prides itself on its mission and values, but the last few years they feel like hollow platitudes rather than statements of intent. As Baristas we feel left behind and are struggling while the company chases profits and deals. We want to have pride in our store, but with labor being so tight we can barely keep our products prepared or our store clean. It is hard to keep up our enthusiasm and drive when our paychecks barely afford us a roof over our heads or food on our plates. I am joining the union because alone our voices arent being heard. Only by Standing together can we fight for real change so Starbucks can once again be a place that is a joy for all of our partners to work, and our community to enjoy. Juniper Robinson, barista of 2 years. The press release states that todays filing follows dozens of victories in which workers voted to join Starbucks Workers United in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, and more in recent weeks. Officials say that since Starbucks partners first joined together to form a union in 2021, workers at more than 490 Starbucks stores have won union elections with the NLRB in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Starbucks expects their workers to pride themselves on customer connections and meaningful conversations but Starbucks does not seem to care about the comments from their baristas and that had to change. We need proper staffing, pay, and working conditions in order to do that effectively. If they want us to go above and beyond for our customers it would be nice for the company do to the same for us. Thats why I want to unionize. Brianna Wisniewski, shift supervisor of 1.5 years. Workers United and Starbucks announced a major breakthrough on a path forward in late February, kicking off historic negotiations. The parties are working toward ratified contracts for represented stores by the end of the year. We reached out to the media team at Starbucks and received the following statement. At Starbucks we believe that our direct relationship as partners is core to the experiences we create in our stores, and we respect our partners rights to have a choice on the topic of unions. We are committed to delivering on our promise to offer a bridge to a better future to all Starbucks partners. Starbucks Media Team Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Boulder police help stranded baby snapping turtles get to lake DENVER (KDVR) Police officers in Boulder helped relocate a group of stranded baby snapping turtles to a nearby lake. Fun fact: did you know that the average snapping turtle lays DOZENS of eggs? We learned that recently after receiving several calls to help these adorable, stranded baby turtles get to a nearby lake, the Boulder Police Department wrote in a post on X Tuesday. 4 Colorado cities among best places for fall colors: Travel + Leisure According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, snapping turtles are found in and near bodies of water in eastern Colorado, including streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and reservoirs in urban, suburban and rural areas. While firm data is scarce, evidence out of Canada shows that snapping turtles can live over 100 years, the CPW website states. Last year, officers were aware that there was a snapping turtle nest near an apartment complex and worked with a member of the community to place signs around the known nest. This year, Boulder police said another clutch of eggs was laid at the same apartment complex. Police said many baby turtles got stuck in a stairwell on their way to the lake. Animal protection officers were able to safely relocate them closer to the lake. Police officers in Boulder helped relocate a bunch of stranded baby snapping turtles to a nearby lake. (Boulder Police Department) Police officers in Boulder helped relocate a bunch of stranded baby snapping turtles to a nearby lake. (Boulder Police Department) Police officers in Boulder helped relocate a bunch of stranded baby snapping turtles to a nearby lake. (Boulder Police Department) Watch: Non-native turtles given a home after Boulder County rescue We love that we could help and appreciate the care and concern our community has for all its creatures, the police department said. The Boulder Police Department reminds the public to give wildlife space and to call animal protection for help or questions. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nick Corasaniti, New York Times Reporter joins Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House to discuss the heightened threat environment causing election workers to prepare for the worst as a result of the attacks from the 2020 election, and what is happening in states like Georgia where hard right officials are trying to change Georgia election laws just weeks away from the Presidential election. View comments A farmer holds clay bowls containing different varieties of cowpeas during a food and seed fair in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Tafara Mugwara/Xinhua) HARARE, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- For 69-year-old Bolleta Chigwida, the secret to achieving food security is not to put all eggs in one basket when it comes to growing crops. Amid an El Nino-induced drought that has cut Zimbabwe's cereal production by 77 percent and left 60 percent of the country's population food insecure, Chigwida said growing different varieties of indigenous crops and adopting agricultural practices aligned with traditional customs is a sustainable way to solve the scourge of hunger plaguing the country. "I grow different types of crops because it gives me and my family good health," Chigwida said in a recent interview with Xinhua. "It also exposes my family to our rich traditions." While much of Zimbabwe's rural population will need food aid until the next harvest season, Chigwida has enough to eat thanks to the practice of agroecology, a sustainable farming system that works in harmony with nature. The smallholder farmer from Juru, a farming area east of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, is a member of the Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF), an organization that envisions improved livelihoods of organized and empowered smallholder farmers practicing sustainable and ecological agriculture. The ZIMSOFF is made up of farming members, particularly women, who practice agroecology and food sovereignty, a concept whereby communities determine the quantity and quality of the food that they consume by controlling how their food is produced and distributed. Like other members, Chigwida adhered to conservation agriculture, which involves digging and maintaining permanent planting basins for crops, ensuring minimum soil disturbance, and using organic manure. Crop diversification reduces the risk associated with unfavorable weather by ensuring that if one crop fails, the other crops will succeed, she said. Chigwida was among the farmers who gathered at the National Good Seed and Food Festival held in Harare recently, which brought people together to enjoy traditional foods and exchange organic seeds. Chigwida also cultivates early maturity and drought-resistant crops, such as millet and cowpea, to limit the risks of crop failures as dry spells now often occur. Unlike the staple crop of maize, which is thirsty for water, drought-resistant crops protect her from unpredictable weather. When it comes to maize, Chigwida only cultivates local varieties, which she grows organically. "This year's yield was a little bit lower than previous years because of the dry spell, but I will have enough grain until the next harvest because I followed agroecology practices," she said. Delmah Ndlovu, chairman of the ZIMSOFF, urged people to adopt agroecology to address food insecurity. "Agroecology is about going back to the ways of our ancestors. It is about doing what they used to do, growing our traditional crops," he said, adding that the adoption of agroecology promotes the efficient use of limited resources. "If you have enough food, if I have enough, and if the next person has enough to eat, we won't burden the government. If people are food sufficient, the government can spend resources on other developmental projects," he said. Revai Madimutsa, 47, a farmer from Mutoko District in Mashonaland East Province, said it is important to utilize domestic remedies when addressing food security. "We have crops that used to be cultivated a long time ago, but some of the crops had been forgotten. Some of the crops are now coming back," Madimutsa said. Davis Marapira, Zimbabwe's deputy minister of lands, agriculture, fisheries and rural development, said embracing traditional food systems can provide pathways to sustainable practices that not only honor the past but also forge a sustainable future. "It (traditional food) is a source of identity and pride, and it informs the very way we nourish ourselves and our communities," he said, adding that the government is reviewing relevant policies to promote sustainable production of food through agroecology. FILE - A sign that reads in Portuguese "Justice for Dom and Bruno" and with images of the British journalist Dom Phillips, on the left, and the indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira is displayed on the Arcos da Lapa aqueduct during a protest by environmental groups in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado, File) BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) A federal court in Brazil dismissed charges Tuesday against one of three men arrested for the killings of Indigenous peoples expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in the Amazon, ruling there wasnt enough evidence to try him. Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, a poor fisherman who lived by the Itaquai River, was arrested on June 14, 2022, nine days after the slayings. Also arrested were his brother, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, and Jefferson da Silva Lima, who confessed to the killings but claimed self-defense. The Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region upheld a lower court decision that they will now face a jury trial. With the ruling, Oseney Oliveira, a father of four, will be released following 27 months in prison, most in a federal penitentiary thousands of miles from Atalaia do Norte, his hometown in Brazils Amazon, where the killings occurred. A Colombian businessman, Rubens Villar Coelho, stands accused of masterminding the slayings and is also in custody. As the owner of a floating fish warehouse outpost, he financed illegal fishermen who ventured onto Indigenous land. He denies any involvement in the killings. In a statement, Univaja, an association of Indigenous peoples of the Javari Valley where Pereira was working at the time of his killing, said it received the ruling with indignation and concern and urged federal prosecutors to appeal the decision. Phillips and Pereira were traveling along the Itaquai River near the entrance of the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, which borders Peru and Colombia, when they were attacked. Their bodies were dismembered, burned and buried. Their disappearance sparked intense international outcry and pressure for action. Pereira, a well-known advocate for Indigenous rights, fought against illegal fishing in Javari area, while Phillips, an experienced journalist, was working on a book about Amazon preservation. ___ The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Map of Bolivia and southern Brazil showing the active fires on September 17 and 18 (as of September 18 at 0600 GMT) (Valentina BRESCHI) (Valentina BRESCHI/AFP/AFP) Brazil's raging wildfires are being driven by people seeking to clear land for agriculture or arsonists out to sow havoc, a top police official told AFP, calling for harsher punishments for environmental crimes. Flames have ripped through vast areas of forest and farmland due to the country's worst drought in seven decades, which experts attribute to climate change. But the spark was lit by people. "There are economic motivations, to clear areas for pasture, or even to appropriate public lands. But there are also people who set fires just to sow chaos," said Humberto Freire, police chief in charge of the environment and the Amazon rainforest, in an interview with AFP. "We have indications of possible coordinated actions, due to many fires starting at the same time, in areas close to each other. These coordinated actions could be aimed at destabilizing certain areas, by overloading the firefighters." Clearing land for agriculture is normally only possible with prior authorization, but is currently banned due to the drought. The fires have left major cities Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the capital Brasilia choking on fumes, destroyed crops and left jaguars with burn injuries in the Pantanal wetlands. Freire said the federal police had opened 50 investigations so far. "We have received information about suspects being arrested by local police forces," in various states. - 'Increased sentences' - Freire said that Brazil's laws had not kept up with the evolution of environmental crimes in the country "while we are experiencing a climate emergency worldwide." "Often, environmental crimes are perceived as less serious, less important, and the time has come to reflect on the harmful consequences of these crimes, which affect all of humanity and can cause many deaths," he said. "Unfortunately, in the absence of harsher penalties, we do not have the legal means necessary to carry out our investigations." Freire said that environmental crimes should be linked to organized crime in order to impose harsher sentences. "Organized crime has understood that environmental crimes are very profitable, while the legislation provides for sentences that are too low." Illegal gold panning is punishable by six months to a year in jail and arson by two to four years. "Depending on the convicted person's criminal record, he will not get a prison sentence. And by the time the investigation is completed, the statute of limitations is likely to have run out," said Freire. "That is why we really need increased sentences." Satellites from the Institute for Space Research (Inpe) have detected 61,572 fires in Brazil since the beginning of September. Last year there were 46,498 in the whole month lg/tmo/vgu/fb/dw The West Coast is prime whale-watching territory, and the Pacific Northwest in particular is a perfect place to see some action unlike anywhere else on Earth. If you're lucky, you'll get more than the usual breaching show and watch as the ocean mammals hunt for their next meal, making for some unforgettable sights in the process. One naturalist with Blue Kingdom Whale and Wildlife Tours in Anacortes, Washington captured a stunning moment during a feeding frenzy on Sept. 12. While female humpback whale Zillion was chowing down on some fish, a harbor seal wound up in its mouth, making for a wild moment captured on camera. "It's Friday the 13th, a day often considered to be unlucky. Also unlucky? This harbor seal that got caught in [Zillion]'s mouth yesterday while she fed on baitfish in the Strait of Juan de Fuca!" the Pacific Whale Watch Association shared in a Facebook post. "Fortunately, the seal did have some luck on their side, as Zillion quickly noticed the unwelcome dinner guest and released the seal accordingly." Blue Kingdom agreed that it was an unbelievable encounter that will luckily live forever now thanks to the photos. "Were still in awe of this once-in-a-lifetime wildlife encounter from Thursdays tour," the Facebook post read. "Naturalist Brooke captured the moment this incredibly surprised harbor seal found himself inside humpback Zillions mouth! Fortunately the little guy escaped to tell the tale!" While orcas have been known to prey on sea lions, humpbacks feed on small fish, so it was unlikely it would end up becoming Zillion's dinner. Still, it's probably safe to say the seal is happy to have escaped. (This story was updated to add new information.) VERO BEACH Breeze Airways is adding two destinations from Vero Beach Regional Airport Washington, D.C., and Ogdensburg, New York beginning Nov. 21. Nonstop flights to Washington Dulles International Airport will be on Thursdays and Sundays. Ogdensburg flights will include a layover at Dulles. After announcing service to New Haven from Vero Beach just a couple weeks ago, were back with more, said David Neeleman, Breeze Airways founder and CEO, in a news release Tuesday. Vero Beach has never seen service to Dulles, and connecting Vero Beach Regional Airport with the nations capital will no doubt be a huge addition for the community." Washington Dulles International Airport is about 26 miles west of downtown Washington. Ogdensburg International Airport is in northern New York state, across the St. Lawrence River from Canada and about 60 miles from the Canadian capital Ottawa. Poll: Vote for where you want Breeze Airways to fly next Breeze Airways: What to know about fares, routes, refunds and cancellation policies Other Breeze destinations Washington and Ogdensburg join Hartford, Connecticut; Islip, New York; Newburgh, New York; New Haven, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and White Plains, New York, as destinations. Breeze began flying into Vero Beach in 2023. The Cottonwood Heights, Utah, based airline was founded in 2021 by Neeleman, who also founded Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue Airways and Azul Brazilian Airlines. In 1932, Eastern Airlines was the first passenger airline to serve Vero Beach. In the 1990s, USAir Express and American Eagle flew from the airport, but cut ties in 1996. In 2015, Elite Airways began service to and from the airport, but left left in 2022, creating the void that Breeze now fills. Nick Slater is TCPalm's Indian River County Watchdog reporter. You can reach him at Nick.Slater@tcpalm.com and 224-830-2875. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Breeze Airways flights from Vero Beach to Washington, D.C., Ogdensburg OGDENSBURG, N.Y. (WWTI) Breeze Airways will be cleared for takeoff in Ogdensburg starting soon. The air carrier was named as Ogdensburg International Airports new Essential Air Service carrier in an announcement made on Tuesday. Ogdensburg International Airport breaks ground on $18M expansion Service will start September 27 with one-way flights between Washington Dulles and Ogdensburg. On behalf of the OBPA and community we serve, I would like to thank Senator Schumer for working with USDOT to ensure that there is no interruption of air service in Ogdensburg. The launch of Breeze Airways at Ogdensburg International Airport is a pivotal moment for our airport and our region, and the Senators efforts to cut through the red tape and make that happen are sincerely appreciated. We are confident this new service to Washington, D.C. will not only meet the needs of local travelers but also stimulate economic growth in the area. Steve Lawrence, Executive Director of the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority This announcement was part of a plethora of activity going on that airport. Earlier this month there was a commitment from political officials of almost $ 7 million for airport improvements across eight north country airports. This includes $2 million for Ogdensburgs terminal expansion project. Watertown and Massena airports were among those receiving funding for various improvements. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Breeze to offer new service between Provo and nations capital Utah-based Breeze Airways announced Tuesday it will begin new nonstop service between Provo Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport beginning on Oct. 1. | Breeze Airways Flights between Utah and the nations capital will soon be a breeze or at least from Breeze. Breeze Airways announced Tuesday that it will begin new nonstop service between Provo Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport beginning next month. Starting on Oct. 1, the low-cost carrier will offer flights between Provo and D.C. every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. "As we connect more unserved city pairs, we saw a great opportunity from our hometown airport, Provo, with this never-before-served route," said David Neeleman, Breeze's founder and CEO, in a statement. "This new route to Dulles will allow Provo residents the ability to more affordably and conveniently travel." Utah residents already have options to fly to Washington, D.C., as Delta Air Lines runs daily nonstop flights between Salt Lake City International Airport and both Washington Dulles International and Ronald Reagan Washington National airports. However, Tuesday's announcement comes after Utah's congressional delegation had lobbied for more flights between Utah and D.C. Rep. Burgess Owens proposed a bill amendment last year that would have created 28 more routes out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, including another Salt Lake City flight, the Deseret News reported. The proposal was whittled down to seven flights out of the airport, although the extra Salt Lake City route was not one of them. Hill reported that the measure failed in July 2023 amid concerns about airport congestion in the busy air corridor. The state's congressional delegation appeared happy with Breeze's announcement. Rep. John Curtis, who is also the Republican candidate for Senate this November, said he is "pleased" about the news. Local leaders are also thrilled. Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi said the new route will offer Utah County residents "convenient access" to the nation's capital. "Additionally, nonstop Breeze flights between Provo (and) Washington Dulles will open visitors up to the beauty of Provo, the greater Utah Valley and all that our great state has to offer," she added. Breeze officials said they are offering a special deal to celebrate the new route. One-way flights between October this year and May 13, 2025, start at $99 if tickets are purchased by Sept. 24. The new route builds on routes that Utah-based Breeze Airways already operates out of Provo Airport. It also offers flights to cities in Arizona, California, Colorado, New York and Texas. Provo Airport also continues to expand. American Airlines announced earlier this year that it will start a new service out of the airport. Beginning in October, it is slated to offer daily flights to Phoenix and Dallas-Fort Worth. NEOSHO, Mo. A large number of school children in Neosho will benefit from a generous donation. Ten thousand dollars is now in the hands of Bright Futures Neosho, courtesy of the W-R Corley Memorial Trust through Southwest Missouri Bank. This money will go a long way, as the organization feeds an average of 250 kids a week through its Weekend Backpack Program. Officials say they spend about $40,000 a year on that program. Its so amazing. Without these organizations and the help of our community, we wouldnt be able to run which means that we wouldnt be able to serve the kids that would, without this program, would otherwise go without food over the weekend, said Laura Burch, Bright Futures Neosho Coordinator. Well its the greatest honor that I have as a trust officer and lawyer for the bank. I do this each year. We go around and have a check presentation to the many organizations that the distribution committee appoints and selects and its just its a joy. Its fun, said Chuck Brown, SMB. Wednesday was also Bright Futures Community Day in Neosho, a day where folks wear shirts purchased through the nonprofit to raise awareness for what it does for so many kids. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LONDON (Reuters) -The British government said on Wednesday it had summoned the Russian ambassador following what it described as an "unprecedented and unfounded public campaign of aggression" by Russia, including accusations against Foreign Office staff. Russia's FSB security service said last week it had revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow after accusing them of spying and sabotage work, accusations Britain described as "malicious and completely baseless". "This pattern of behaviour is completely unacceptable, deeply unprofessional, and beneath the standards of conduct between states," a spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said, calling on Russia to "stop this activity immediately". "This is the latest development in a deliberate campaign by Russia to undermine and threaten UK security and democracy and deter our support for Ukraine, through disinformation, acts of sabotage in Europe and direct harassment and restrictions against our diplomatic missions in Russia," they added. Russia's move to expel British diplomats ratcheted up tensions between Moscow and London, hours before British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House to advance talks on giving the go-ahead for Kyiv to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia. There has been no announcement on missiles since that meeting. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar) A British-educated businesswoman has denied allegations of manufacturing the pagers used in an audacious attack against Hezbollah. The handheld devices killed at least 12 people and injured 3,000 after they simultaneously detonated across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday afternoon in a suspected Israeli operation. The Taiwanese company whose branding was on the technology claimed Budapest-based firm BAC Consultancy made the devices under a three-year brand licensing agreement. Follow the latest updates here But University College London (UCL) graduate Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the CEO of BAC Consultancy, said she was just a link in the supply chain and did not make the pagers. The handheld devices killed at least 12 people and injured 3,000 (Balkis Press/ABACA/Shutterstock) I do not make the pagers. I am just the intermediary. I think you got it wrong, Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono told NBC News. Around three grams of explosives are reported to have been placed into the AR-924 pagers in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration. A Lebanese security source claimed Israels spy agency Mossad planted explosives in thousands of the devices months before they exploded, and one US official told Axios news the Israeli military moved to detonate the devices because it feared the sabotage plot had been exposed. The Iran-backed militant group has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. Medics collect blood donations in Beiruts southern suburb after the explosions (AFP/Getty) Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono studied for a physics PhD at UCL between 2002 and 2006, according to her LinkedIn page. She then went on to study at the London School of Economics and the University of London for various postgraduate qualifications between 2009 and 2017. She also recently worked with the European Commission as an evaluation expert and as a groundwater resource manager for Unesco. On her companys website which went offline on Wednesday morning her work was described as bridging technology and innovation from Asia. The firms address was registered to a residential-looking two-storey building in Budapest, with its name posted on the glass door on an A4 sheet. A man is rushed to hospital after the attack (AP) Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, forms part of Irans so-called axis of resistance, which opposes Western and Israeli influence in the region. A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the biggest security breach the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel. The group opened a second front against Israel a day after the war in the Gaza Strip began, triggered by a Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October. Hamas, also backed by Tehran, killed around 1,200 people, with another 251 taken hostage. In response, Israel has bombarded Gaza from the air and ground. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive, health officials in Gaza have said. It has displaced nearly 90 per cent of the territorys 2.3 million population. Brockton Police looking for man who sexually assaulted 13-year-old girl walking home from school Police are searching for a man who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl while she was walking home from school in Brockton. The teen was walking home from West Middle School on Tuesday when a man approached her in the driveway of a house on West Elm Street, police said in a statement Wednesday. The victim managed to escape after a brief struggle and ran home, police said. Investigators are currently canvassing the area, police said Wednesday. Police described the man as a Black male in his 20s who is missing two front teeth. Police said the suspect was wearing a black shirt with multicolored lettering and gray pants, and riding a blue bicycle with white lettering. Like any parent, Im a parent, make sure youre vigilant and make sure your student is vigilant and they know their surroundings too, said Darren Duarte, spokesperson for the Brockton Police Department. This girl was able to get away, thats a good thing. School police officers were notified about the incident on Wednesday. We are working closely with the Brockton Police Department to support the student and family affected by this deeply concerning incident and will work with the police to help in identifying a suspect, Interim Superintendent Priya Tahiliani said in a statement. We have notified our school community and encourage students to remain vigilant and report anything they find concerning to a trusted adult, Tahiliani said. Neighbors are now hoping the suspect is caught soon. With a lot of people out there, hopefully watching this, hopefully theyll find them fast before he has a chance to do it to anyone else, said Laura Bezanson, who lives on West Elm Street. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW CAPE TOWN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-five people were injured when a train derailed on Tuesday night in South Africa's Western Cape province, local authorities confirmed on Wednesday. The derailment occurred at Dal Josafat Station near Paarl, about 60 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, according to a statement by Metrorail Western Cape. "The train was en route from Cape Town to Wellington station when the incident occurred," Metrorail said in the statement. "Twenty-five passengers were injured and transported by ambulance to various hospitals for treatment. No fatalities were reported. Other passengers onboard were transported to their homes." Emergency services, including ambulances, firefighters and the South African Police Service (SAPS), responded to assist the injured. Metrorail said that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and Transnet Freight Rail are investigating the derailment. BROOME COUNTY, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) The Agency has announced the recipients of grants meant to support existing small businesses that are still feelings the impacts of the pandemic. Back in June, Broome County allocated $500,000 of American Rescue Plan funding to a small business development grant program. Eligible recipients were for-profit businesses that are at least three years-old with 200 or fewer employees. Preference was given to minority, women and veteran-owned businesses. The maximum award was $50,000. 15 companies are receiving grants: Eck Plastic Arts, Samscreen, DiRienzo Brothers Bakery, Triple Cities Metal Finishing, New York Pizzeria, CH Thompson Finishing and Creative Buzz, which owns 205 Dry and Uncorked Creations, all are getting the $50,000. Marchuska Productions, KLAW Industries, Ave Marie Catholic Shop and Ziebart are receiving in the neighborhood of $25,000. The Goldsmith and IdeaKraft are getting $15,000 each. And $10,000 is going to Caribbean Patty World and Binghamton Brewing Company. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Retired Chicago police Officer Tim Hunts testimony Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill was the latest step on his decadelong journey to bring his sister home from a Chinese prison. Dawn Michelle Hunt, a lifelong Chicago resident, was arrested by Chinese authorities on dubious drug smuggling charges in 2014. She was raped, had multiple blood transfusions and may have cancer, according to her family and medical documents. The Hunt family is calling on the U.S. to do more to secure her release. Gentlemen, this isnt political for me and my family, a teary-eyed Hunt said to Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, and Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey who chairs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Im just asking as a brother. Bring my sister home. Do whatever it takes. Bring her home. Time is of the essence, both for his sisters health and because prisoner release negotiations historically falter during changes in presidential administrations like the inevitable one early next year. The Hunt family told the Tribune earlier this week that they have been advocating for her release tirelessly and that they are not giving up. Ive been praying for my daughter for 10 years, and one of my prayers has always been that well be reunited, said her father, Gene Hunt, 90. I never gave up on that. On Wednesday morning, the family and advocates urged the U.S. lawmakers to consider engaging with a 2018 Chinese law that opens the door to prisoner transfers. France has already used it, according to Peter Humphrey, a former Chinese prisoner turned activist who testified Wednesday morning. Hunt was also joined by the father of Nelson Wells Jr. and the son of Kai Li, two other Americans who have been detained in China for several years on similarly murky grounds. The release of American David Lin from a Chinese prison last weekend after nearly two decades on contract fraud charges cast a bittersweet mood on the hearing. The families of fellow imprisoned Americans celebrated his return home but also questioned when it would be their loved ones turn: What about my dad? When will it be his turn? asked Harrison Li, a doctoral student at Stanford University. His father, Kai, was detained on espionage charges in 2016. Harrison, who is in his 20s, reminded the lawmakers hes spent nearly a third of his life without a father. The short time they had together as a family was spent in Long Island, New York. Kai Li is one of two on the State Departments list of Americans wrongfully detained in China. Until this weekend, Lin was also on the list. Hes also the first American to be released from Chinese prison under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, Dawn Michelle Hunt and Wells, a New Orleans native, are two of the more than 200 Americans held in China whose detention is not officially recognized as unjust by the federal government, according to a count from the U.S.-based advocacy organization Dui Hua. Hunt and Wells were arrested on similar drug trafficking charges. All the families present Wednesday called for more transparency on how wrongful detention is determined, and Smith said he was introducing a bill directing the State Department to shed light on its process and the tools at its disposal. By virtue of Chinas questionable rule of law, all Americans should be deemed wrongfully detained, the families and Rep. Smith agreed. The State Department does not comment on case designations out of privacy concerns, but all Americans have access to consular services regardless of whether or not theyre deemed a wrongful detainee, a spokesperson told the Tribune. The families, however, lamented a lack of access to their loved ones, which they partially credited to constant turnover in the consular office. Phone calls are monitored, visits are nearly impossible, and wellness checks by U.S. officials are too infrequent. I feel like Im one little woman all against China, said Kathrine Swidan in a recorded video message. Her son Mark will have been imprisoned on drug trafficking charges for 12 years in November. Tim Hunt was the only family member on Capitol Hill Wednesday who had been able to visit his sister, a rocky trip that took several months to set up. That will likely be his last visit to China. After this hearing, I dont believe it will be advisable for me to visit my sister again, said Hunt. He hopes the next time he sees her is in Chicago. _____ Screenshot of Broward County Democratic Rep. Christine Hunschofsky on Zoom call on Sept. 17, 2024 State House Democratic Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, a former mayor of Parkland, participated in the launch on Tuesday of Legislators for Safer Communities Coalition, a nonpartisan group of state lawmakers across the country committed to reducing gun violence. According to officials, the group will serve as a hub for legislative resources, professional messaging, strategy, research, and peer networking. Parkland was the site of mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018 that left of 17 people dead. In the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, the Florida Legislature showed courage and political fortitude by pushing forward with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act, which did many things, including implementing red flag laws in the state of Florida, Hunschofsky said during an online news conference. Those red flag laws have now been used over 15,000 times in the state of Florida. And we have sheriffs and law enforcement who werent so sure in the beginning that this was something that they thought would work, and now they are the ones using it to keep our communities safe, she added. Its important for all of us to work together to see what works in the different states and different communities in order to keep them safe. Floridas law has remains intact more than six years later, despite attempts by Florida House Republicans to repeal two parts of that comprehensive bill over the past two legislative sessions, including a provision that raised the age for an individual to purchase a long gun from 18 to 21. Another GOP measure would have shortened the mandatory waiting period to purchase a firearm from a licensed seller. Both passed this year in the Florida House, but neither moved in the Senate (in fact no bill regarding lowering the age to buy a long gun had a sponsor in the Senate). Senate President Kathleen Passidomo had no interest in either measure, but she will be succeeded in November by Republican Ben Albritton. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court next month is scheduled to hear arguments by the NRA that the law preventing people from under 21 from purchasing long guns is unconstitutional. Another gun issue not addressed by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act but of great interest to Second Amendment enthusiasts is that Florida pass legislation allowing open carry the wearing or carrying of a firearm in a clearly visible manner. Florida is one of four states that bans open carrying of guns. Weve been having conversations with the new incoming Senate president and, while hes not made any commitments, I think hes going to be much more open to at least allowing pro-Second Amendment legislation to be heard, said Bob White, chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida, in an interview with the Phoenix last month. BRYAN, Texas (FOX 44) UPDATE: A Bryan High School student has been arrested after a handgun was found in his backpack. The Bryan Independent School District says Principal Lane Buban released a statement to parents and guardians on Wednesday, saying there was a situation on campus regarding a student in possession of a weapon. Administrators and school resource officers (SROs) from the Bryan Police Department immediately responded, and the situation was quickly addressed and investigated. The district says no threat was made against the school. However, it was discovered the student had a weapon in his backpack while in the classroom. The student was immediately removed from the classroom and arrested. Waco ISD students charged with riot participation The Bryan Independent School District says it takes any report of this type of threat to staff and students seriously and works closely with local law enforcement to investigate and take appropriate action. Students and families are encouraged to report any safety concerns immediately and to also use the B-Safe App. According to the Bryan Police Department, its School Resource Unit was contacted at approximately 11 a.m. Wednesday regarding a juvenile who was in possession of a handgun. Through investigation, the handgun was found and secured by the SRO Unit. The Police Department says the student has been transported to the Brazos County Juvenile Detention Center and booked on Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon in a Prohibited Place and Terroristic Threat. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BRYANT, Ark. Police in Bryant said that a 12-year-old student was arrested after investigators said she was identified as the person who made a threat against a middle school. Officials with the Bryant Police Department said the student was arrested after being accused of making a threat against Bethel Middle School. Police arrest juvenile accused in social media threat made against Russellville Junior High School Police said the student was charged with six counts each of communicating a false alarm, terroristic threatening and harassing communications. Investigators said the nature of the threat has not been disclosed, but the police department and school officials are taking the matter seriously. As a precaution, police in Bryant said there will be increased security and extra patrol. Central Arkansas students seeing consequences after threatening violence on school campuses This arrest comes after schools around central Arkansas have received reports of threats made through social media posts. Several arrests have been made in connection with threats made against schools in the Little Rock School District and Russellville School District. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Buffalo Common Council looking for ways to fill vacant seats if Mayor steps down BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) Attention remains focused on city hall as speculation grows regarding the timing of Mayor Byron Browns potential resignation to assume the leadership role at Western Regional Off-Track Betting. If he does, Buffalo common council president Chris Scanlon will assume the role of acting mayor of Buffalo. However, it remains to be determined who would then represent Scanlons district. Councilwoman Leah Halton-Pope raised that very question at Tuesdays council meeting, where she emphasized the need for a concrete plan in light of impending leadership changes at city hall. She pointed out that while the citys charter addresses vacancies, it does not account for temporary ones. Theres no definition there, she said. We need to probably figure out, is this something that can be addressed. On Tuesday, council majority leader Halton-Pope submitted a resolution requesting the citys corporation counsel to explore options for possibly filling Scanlons seat. Is this something thats answered in the charter already, or do we need to put together legislation or an amendment to the charter? she continued. The resolution calls for the South District seat to be filled, rather than remain vacant through the next year, to ensure that essential city functions continue. Im concerned, Halton-Pope said. We have not been with a 16-month vacancy at all on the council. Councilman Mitch Nowakowski informed WIVB News 4 that there technically wouldnt be a vacancy if Scanlon becomes the acting mayor. According to article 4 of the city charter, once the current mayoral term expires, the council presidentserving as mayorwill complete the term of their original position. This means that Scanlon, if he chooses not to run or doesnt win back the mayoral seat, would still have two more years left as a council member. The city charter says the remaining members of the common council would appoint one of their own to fill the president vacancya local law that was approved by voters in 2002, leaving the council with an even number of members. To me, what it means is that well have to work together and come to a compromise and work amongst each other to get 5 votes, said Nowakowski. We need to do things democratically. We need to do things transparently, and we need to do things that are fair and not tailored to one situation. These laws are meant to pass the test of time. The resolution requires the corporation counsel to draft a proposed amendment to the city charter by Oct. 1, or to clarify for the council whether the charter already addresses the vacancy issue. Latest Local News Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DENVER (KDVR) Visitors to the Active Adult Center in Wheat Ridge were greeted outside the center by a bull elk investigating suburbia. In a post on X, the Wheat Ridge Police Department applauded the efforts of those in the area who used a non-emergency line to report the astray animal. With the animals entering mating season, the police department also had several other words of advice for Coloradans. Justin Timberlake announces Denver show at Ball Arena next year If you find a bull elk or moose, keep your distance and call the local police departments non-emergency line as bulls tend to be more aggressive during mating season, according to the Wheat Ridge Police Department. Only call 911 when either an animal or a person is endangered or injured. Wild animals can be anxious when they enter our environment and may be more prone to acting erratically. Trying to approach the animal, taking selfies with it or anything in between is not encouraged as it could trigger the animal to attack. Damaging wind possible Tuesday: What to know Their final word of advice is to remind people that those who reside in Colorado also share the land with many of these creatures. Stumbling upon one can be fear-inducing, but there are resources available to help navigate situations like this. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has a guide on how to coexist with our animal neighbors. To contact the Wheat Ridge Police Departments non-emergency line, people can call 303-271-0211. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (KRON) A wildfire erupted in San Jose on Tuesday afternoon, closing multiple off-ramps from US-101 and forcing nearby businesses to shelter in place, the San Jose Fire Department said. The fire was at Tully Road and northbound US-101. It was reported at 3:20 p.m. SJFD described the fire as large. The scene has since been cleared. Image from SJFD Image from SJFD The off-ramp to Tully Road, as well as the on and off-ramps to Story Road, were closed, according to California Highway Patrols traffic log. Tully Road was also shut down in both directions near the fire. The fire damaged a utility pole. The exterior of a hotel was damaged, but no structures were involved. As heavy smoke drifted south, SJFD advised residents south of the fire to shelter-in-place and close their doors and windows. No evacuation orders or warnings were issued. No injuries were reported. The public was told to avoid the area and find alternate routes of travel. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) A suspect was arrested on a school campus Tuesday after nearly an hour of police searching for him in Bristol, Virginia. According to a news release from the Bristol Virginia Police Department (BVPD), police received a be on the lookout (BOLO) for a man who had allegedly broken into a home and stolen guns. The BOLO came in around 4 p.m., according to the police department. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Crime Watch The suspects vehicle was reportedly found at Ridgecrest Apartments on Heritage Drive, and the driver was believed to be on foot in the area. The BVPD identified the suspect as Jedidiah Campbell, 36, of Bristol, Virginia. Police began searching for Campbell in the nearby neighborhoods. The release states that due to the search being in close proximity to both Virginia Intermediate and Primary schools, the schools were notified and placed on lockdown. Johnson County Schools targeted by scam Campbell appeared on the grounds of Virginia Primary School, a BVPD spokesperson confirmed. He was taken into custody after nearly an hour of searching. Campbell was charged with the following: Possession of methamphetamine Possession of ammunition by a convicted felon Assault and battery of a family member Possession of controlled drug paraphernalia Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. THOMPSONTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) Cabinetworks Group is closing their Thompsontown assembly plant, laying off hundreds of employees at Juniata Countys largest employer. According to a letter shared with abc27 that was distributed to employees on Tuesday, the facility will close on December 12. The letter addressed from the companys CEO cited a declining housing market as a reason to end their multi-family direct sales business. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Local Business Beat Multiple other Cabinetworks Group employees informed abc27 that they were informed of the layoffs on Tuesday. On Wednesday the company confirmed the closure, but declined to offer a total number of employees affected. In August the company confirmed they would be laying off approximately 20% of their staff, however on Tuesday employees told abc27 they were notified that the facility would cease operations. At the time the company reported that 20% of its workforce was approximately 118 employees. At this time, a WARN Notice has not been published by the Department of Labor & Industry. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industrys Center for Workforce Information and Analysis, Master Woodcraft Cabinetry LLC, which is a part of Cabinetworks Group, was the countys largest employer. The company offered employees support including assistance with writing resumes, interview assistance, job fairs, and other resources. The Thompsontown layoffs come after Cabinetworks Group announced plans to close facilities in Marshall and Jefferson, Texas earlier this year. The company also operates facilities in Sayre, Mt. Union, and Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. Multi-family builders have faced a volatile market in recent years, and as their trusted business partner, we must be agile in providing best-in-class products and services, said Jeff Jackson, Cabinetworks Group Chief Executive Officer regarding the Texas facilities. This change will position Cabinetworks to serve customers more swiftly and efficiently as we bring new products to market that reflect todays style preferences while simultaneously rightsizing our operations. The company says it employs more than 7,000 people with 24 locations, including 18 manufacturing facilities; and 18 brands among them, KraftMaid, Medallion, and Merillat. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ABUJA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 people were killed earlier this week after a bus-truck collision in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kaduna, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu's spokesman said on Tuesday. Dozens of survivors sustained varying degrees of injury from the incident, which occurred in the Saminaka town of Kaduna, during a religious celebration on Sunday, Bayo Onanuga, a presidential spokesman, said in a statement issued on behalf of Tinubu. The victims were on their way from Kwandari, a town in the north-central state of Plateau, when their ill-fated bus collided with a truck. "President Tinubu condoled with the families of the dead and injured and with the governments of Kaduna and Plateau states," the statement said, adding the Nigerian leader had also directed the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) to improve highway monitoring and reduce the number of road accidents nationwide. At least 63 people were involved in the incident, the FRSC, Nigeria's traffic police, said in a separate statement. Deadly road accidents are frequently reported in Nigeria, often caused by overloading, bad road conditions, and reckless driving. California CCW holders no longer prohibited from several public locations with recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision (FOX40.COM) Concealed carry weapon holders in California have received more clarification on where they can carry their weapon following a Sept. 6 ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The April 11 appeal of SB-2 was heard by circuit judges Mary M. Schroeder, Susan P. Graber, and Jennifer Sung. The opinion was given by Judge Graber. Video Above: What to do if you witness a crime USPS offers up to $100,000 reward for post office robbery information The new ruling will now allow CCW holders to carry concealed at: Hospitals Churches Medical facilities Public transit Gatherings that require a permit Private-Property Default Rule meaning private business owners are not required to post signs allowing CCWs Financial institutions Parking areas 8 students arrested so far for school threats in Northern California Prohibited locations include: Bars and restaurants serving alcohol Playgrounds Youth centers Parks, State Parks Casinos Stadiums and Arenas Libraries Zoos Amusement Parks Museums Parking areas connected to or in control of the above History of Senate Bill 2 Senate Bill 2 was signed into law by Gov. Newsom in September 2023 to ban concealed carry weapons from being carried in 26 types of public locations. It also requires that a person must be at least 21 years old, provide character references and go through a background check to apply for a concealed carry permit. On Dec. 20, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney issued an order to stop one of SB 2s regulations, the ban on licensed gun carrying in a public place. The Second Amendment preserves a fundamental constitutional right for law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for self-defense, Carney said in his ruling. Placer County jury convicts man in fentanyl-related murder trial A second court overturned Carneys decision days later and forced the law into action in January. A number of law enforcement agencies across Northern California said they would not enforce SB-2 as they felt it was an affront to constitutionally protected gun owners. On Jan. 6, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against an earlier decision to allow the law to temporarily go into effect in 2024. The January decision focused primarily on barring the prohibition of concealed carry in most public places. The Sept. 6 decision now cuts down the number of types of public locations prohibited for CCW holders from 26 to around a dozen. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom meets with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and members of the California delegation at Oracle Park in San Francisco, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada, Pool, File) SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills Tuesday to crack down on the use of artificial intelligence to create false images or videos in political ads ahead of the 2024 election. A new law, set to take effect immediately, makes it illegal to create and publish deepfakes related to elections 120 days before Election Day and 60 days thereafter. It also allows courts to stop distribution of the materials and impose civil penalties. Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and its critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the publics trust through disinformation - especially in todays fraught political climate, Newsom said in a statement. "These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI. Large social media platforms are also required to remove the deceptive material under a first-in-the-nation law set to be enacted next year. Newsom also signed a bill requiring political campaigns to publicly disclose if they are running ads with materials altered by AI. The governor signed the bills to loud applause during a conversation with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at an event hosted the major software company during its annual conference in San Francisco. The new laws reaffirm Californias position as a leader in regulating AI in the U.S., especially in combating election deepfakes. The state was the first in the U.S. to ban manipulated videos and pictures related to elections in 2019. Measures in technology and AI proposed by California lawmakers have been used as blueprints for legislators across the country, industry experts said. With AI supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, lawmakers across the country have raced to address the issue over concerns the manipulated materials could erode the publics trust in what they see and hear. With fewer than 50 days until the general election, there is an urgent need to protect against misleading, digitally-altered content that can interfere with the election, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, author of the law banning election deepfakes, said in a statement. California is taking a stand against the manipulative use of deepfake technology to deceive voters. Newsom's decision followed his vow in July to crack down on election deepfakes in response to a video posted by X-owner Elon Musk featuring altered images of Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The new California laws come the same day as members of Congress unveiled federal legislation aiming to stop election deepfakes. The bill would give the Federal Election Commission the power to regulate the use of AI in elections in the same way it has regulated other political misrepresentation for decades. The FEC has started to consider such regulations after outlawing AI-generated robocalls aimed to discourage voters in February. Newsom has touted California as an early adopter as well as regulator of AI, saying the state could soon deploy generative AI tools to address highway congestion and provide tax guidance, even as his administration considers new rules against AI discrimination in hiring practices. He also signed two other bills Tuesday to protect Hollywood performers from unauthorized AI use without their consent. Campaign funds can be used for child care, AG Kris Mayes says Photo by Liudmila Chernetska | Getty Images Arizona candidates for public office can use their campaign funds to pay for child care needs while they are campaigning, Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a legal opinion. The Sept.16 opinion places the Grand Canyon State among 34 other states, along with Washington D.C., in allowing candidates to pay for child care costs with campaign funds. Mayes, a Democrat and the first mother to hold the office of attorney general in Arizona, issued the opinion at the request of four state legislators who are also mothers of young children. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Led by Sen. Eva Diaz of Tolleson, the group of Democratic women asked Mayes in a May 9 letter to issue an opinion on existing campaign finance law. The legislators, including Diaz, and Reps. Stacey Travers, Quanta Crews and Sarah Liguori, all of Phoenix, drafted the request with the Vote Mama Foundation, an organization whose ultimate goal is to codify the use of campaign funds for child care into law. On Sept. 16, Mayes issued a favorable opinion, though it came with a caveat. Arizonas campaign finance law permits the use of privately raised campaign funds for dependent care if, and only if, the expenses are for the purpose of enabling the candidate or other person to perform campaign activities, Mayes wrote. She added that the campaign funds could be used to pay for child care even if the candidate doesnt leave her home, but is indisposed to care for her children because of campaign activity. Im excited that the state is finally coming into parity with federal law, Travers told the Arizona Mirror on Tuesday. Using campaign funds for child care costs has been permissible for federal candidates, since the Federal Elections Commission ruled in 2018 that New York congressional candidate Liuba Grechen Shirley could use campaign funds to cover her campaign-related child care expenses. After that, Shirley created the Vote Mama Foundation, which is working to get legislation passed in all 50 states to allow campaign funds to be used for child care. Just seven weeks out from the general election in November, the opinion is unlikely to have a great impact this election cycle. But Travers is hopeful that she and her colleagues can spread the word over the next two years to spur single mothers and fathers and others who were held back by child care costs to run for office. We need a multitude of diverse voices in our legislature, Travers said, including people with different lived experiences who can bring various perspectives and ideas to the table. She and her colleagues believe that the lack of clarity in Arizonas campaign finance laws regarding the use of campaign funds for child care, prior to Mayes opinion, was a deterrent for some potential candidates. Only about 7% of Arizonas state legislators are mothers of children younger than 18, according to a 2022 report from Vote Mama. When women run for office, they win at the same rate as men. But they do not run at the same rate, Mayes wrote in her opinion. Some commentators have suggested that women do not run as often as men in part because of the care gap. According to this theory, the burdens of caring for dependents mean that women are less likely to have the time, capacity, and other assets necessary to run for and serve in office. Mayes wrote that her opinion was supported by opinions released in other states with statutory language similar to Arizonas, including Virginia, North Carolina, Connecticut and Maryland. While the opinion is a win for the legislators who requested it, parents who run for office and win will still have to figure out how to deal with child care while they are in office. With an annual salary of $24,000 for state legislators, and only a small per diem for lawmakers who live in Maricopa County, that could still be a significant deterrent. Travers said that legislation she introduced last year to bump legislator pay to $35,000 annually, would have helped with that, but the proposed change was tied to lifetime term limits for the House and Senate and was never given a committee hearing. She added that the Tempe Elementary School District had done great work in funding before and after school care for students, and there might be an opportunity to expand their approach. All of the legislators who signed onto the letter asking Mayes for an opinion celebrated the news on Monday. Historically, political service has been unattainable for parents and caregivers due to barriers such as lack of resources, Crews said in a written statement. With the attorney generals clarification, Arizonans with political aspirations will have one less barrier of entry into political public service. Political leaders should look like Arizona and Im pleased to see child care wont be a reason a mom, dad or caregiver cant share their gifts and passions fighting for a thriving Arizona. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Campaigns battle over the fate of 2 AZ Supreme Court justices who ushered in the 1864 abortion ban Supreme Court Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King are the target of a campaign to convince voters in November to remove them from the bench. Photos by Gage Skidmore (modified) | Flickr and Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0 Judicial retention elections usually arent the sexiest items on the ballot, but this year two campaigns are fighting to persuade voters to either retain or throw out two Arizona Supreme Court justices. At the same time, voters will be considering a constitutional amendment that would essentially give judges lifetime appointments. Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King are up this year for a routine retention vote that the judges on the high court face every six years. And if voters in November favor Proposition 137, dubbed The Judicial Accountability Act of 2024, it could be their last retention election ever. Voters have never kicked an Arizona Supreme Court justice off the bench in the 50 years since the state implemented judicial retention elections, but historically those elections didnt get much attention and were questions that some voters just skipped. But this year, after Bolick and King both appointed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey voted in April to uphold a near-total abortion ban dating back to 1864, Progress Arizona mounted a campaign to convince voters not to retain them. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The progressive advocacy and lobbying organization has since joined forces with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona to create a political action committee called Protect Abortion Rights, No Retention Bolick and King. This horrific decision (to reinstate the 1864 ban) followed decades of planning by abortion activists who advocated for the appointment of far-right judges, not just at the federal level, but also at the state level, Morgan Finkelstein, a spokesperson for the PAC, said during a Sept. 10 press conference. The Arizona Supreme Court was only able to reinstate the Civil War-era abortion ban after the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022 struck down the constitutional right to abortion previously provided through the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The nations highest court nixed those protections in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization after former President Donald Trump appointed three conservative justices who voted to strike down Roe. The Arizona Supreme Courts subsequent decision to reinstate the 1864 ban which lawmakers later repealed was out of touch with what most voters want, Finkelstein said. The PAC is also pushing voters to vote no on Proposition 137, a ballot measure sent to voters by the Republican-controlled state legislature that would end most judicial retention elections. The constitutional amendment would be retroactive, meaning that if voters decide not to retain Bolick and King, but the proposition passes, the justices will be retained anyway. The proposition was sent to the ballot by anti-abortion politicians, in an effort to protect Bolick and King from being voted out, Finkelstein said. The proposal was introduced in the Senate months before the courts abortion ban decision, but was fast-tracked for the ballot after it. The ability of voters to reject judges on our ballot is part of our Democratic process, to ensure the courts are balanced, current and in touch with the people, Erika Mach, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, said during the Sept. 10 press conference. Partisan, out-of-touch judges have no place in our private, medical decisions and must have no place in our courts. Another political action committee, created in June, called the Judicial Independence Defense PAC is working to counter the efforts of the campaign to oust Bolick and King. Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for the effort to support Bolick and King, told the Arizona Mirror that the Judicial Independence PAC was created to educate the voters about the merit selection process for judges and to ensure they have the facts. Bolick and King have been very impartial justices that have served with integrity, Scarpinato said. This is something thats kind of new and uncharted territory, at least in Arizona, to have this level of money and campaigning to remove justices. Scarpinato was a top aide for Ducey, who appointed both Bolick and King to the bench. In a May 20 op-ed published in the Arizona Republic, Bolick bashed the campaign against him and King, writing that those behind it were cynically harnessing anger over our recent abortion decision to replace us with justices who will rubber-stamp their ideological agenda. Bolick wrote that he was simply following the law when he cast his vote in the 4-2 decision to uphold the ban, and that it had nothing to do with his personal beliefs. He pointed out that his wife, state Sen. Shawnna Bolick, of Phoenix, was one of a few Republicans who voted alongside Democrats to repeal the ban. He also noted that hes the only registered independent who has ever sat on the state Supreme Court. Scarpinato dismissed the claims of the anti-retention retention campaign that Bolick and King are extreme and out of touch with what average Arizonans want as nothing but partisan political talking points. The Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review, which conducts surveys of jurors, litigants and witnesses, gave both Bolick and King a favorable rating in their evaluations ahead of the election. Both of the justices made their decisions based on the laws previously enacted by the state legislature, and the judges are there to interpret the law, not to make policy decisions, Scarpinato said. This is clearly an organized and very well-funded effort to remove the justices through the merit selection process, largely, I think, driven by out-of-state interests, he said. The largest donation to the Judicial Independence PAC, according to campaign finance reports, was $100,000 from its chairman, Randy Kendrick, a conservative political activist whose husband Ken Kendrick owns the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kendrick lives in Paradise Valley and is a board member for the Goldwater Institute, the Phoenix-based libertarian think tank where Bolick served as the top attorney before he was appointed to the Supreme Court. But its next-largest publicly disclosed contribution came from Robson Walton, the billionaire son of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. Walton, who has reportedly given $25,000, lives in Bentonville, Arkansas. So far, only donations to the PAC in June and July are publicly available, because of campaign finance report deadlines, but the rest of the donations were comparatively small, with most from Arizona, along with two donations from Illinois and California. Because the No Retention PAC was just formed in August, its donor information wont be publicly available until October. Our contributions thus far have only come from in-state donors seeking to educate voters about two extreme anti-abortion judges who imposed the heinous 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or victims of human trafficking, Finkelstein told the Mirror in an email. With Bolicks history as a lawyer for special interests, and Kings as a corporate attorney, Finkelstein said she was not surprised that the opposing political action committee is funded almost entirely by billionaires. According to Forbes, Ken Kendricks net worth is $1.1 billion. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Canadian PM Trudeau says 'there's more work to do' as his party loses long-held seat in Quebec Canadian PM Trudeau says 'there's more work to do' as his party loses long-held seat in Quebec Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party was handed another loss at the ballot box on Monday. Louis-Philippe Sauve won on the Bloc Quebecois' ticket to represent LaSalle-Emard-Verdun in parliament against Trudeau's personally endorsed candidate, Liberal Laura Palestini. CANADA'S POILIEVRE SIGNALS PLANS FOR NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE AGAINST TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT The race was a tight one, with Sauve taking in 28 percent of the vote. The Bloc Quebecois candidate beat the Liberal candidate by less than 250 votes according to Elections Canada results. "Obviously it would have been nicer to be able to win," said Trudeau in Ottowa in a press conference Tuesday. "But theres more work to do." Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, during a news conference at a cabinet retreat in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. Canada will impose new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, aluminum and steel, lining up behind western allies and taking steps to protect domestic manufacturers. "The big thing is to make sure that Canadians understand the choice they get to make in the next election," Trudeau added. Trudeau has held the position of Prime Minister for nine years, meaning the Liberal Party has maintained power in the Canadian parliament for nearly a decade. CANADA LAUNCHES SUDDEN IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN AMID PUBLIC PRESSURE: REPORT In a recent Ipsos poll tracking the "best Prime Minister," Canadians rate Trudeau at 26%. For comparison, Canada's Conservative Party PM candidate Pierre Poilievre was given a 45% rating in the same poll. The Liberal Party has lost other by-elections over the course of the summer. Toronto-St. Paul's fell from being considered a Liberal stronghold in June when the Conservatives won the seat by a hair. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Original article source: Canadian PM Trudeau says 'there's more work to do' as his party loses long-held seat in Quebec Candidates explain why theyre best for Trumbull County Clerk of Courts position (WKBN) For the first time in two decades, there will be a new Clerk of Courts in Trumbull County. Current Clerk of Courts Karen Infante Allen is retiring at the end of her term. Democrat Jennefer Holland and Republican Randy Law are running to be her successor. I want this job because the people deserve to have an experienced, qualified person, said Holland. Im running on my background and what I can bring to the office, and thats what Ive pretty much focused on, said Law. Holland has worked for the Clerk of Courts Office for 18 years. She has been Allens administrative assistant and is currently the chief deputy clerk for the Juvenile Division. It really isnt about your affiliation. Its about knowing the job and being able to get that done and be there for the people of Trumbull County, Holland said. Law served one term as a state representative in the early 2000s. He is a previous chairman of the Trumbull County Republican Party and has had a number of small businesses. I think its important to have a fresh set of eyes. Its going to be an open office that we have a fresh set of eyes take a look at how things are run, he said. Both Holland and Law explained why voters should pick them for the job. You will get an experienced candidate. Youll get someone thats qualified, that knows the job. Like I said, I can hit the ground running zero learning curve. Im ready to take on this position and be your next Trumbull County Clerk of Courts, Holland said. I think my overall background and experience make me very well qualified for this job. Its largely administrative, and I think Ive done very well in that area, Law 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. Candidates for governor in Montana agree to debate in mid-October Two candidates for Montanas governors seat have agreed to debate in mid-October after incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte declined to participate in two earlier forums proposed by separate news outlets. Gianforte is scheduled to face off against Democratic challenger Ryan Busse, a conservation advocate and former firearms executive, in an Oct. 16 debate hosted by NonStop Local, an ABC-Fox affiliate, the campaigns said Monday. Busse campaign manager Aaron Murphy said the two campaigns are still negotiating a precise time and format for the October debate, but that both are in agreement about the Oct. 16 date. Candidates for Montana governor, incumbent Gov. Greg Gianforte (left) and Ryan Busse (right). Paul Bergen, news director for NonStop Local, told Montana Free Press that the debate will be moderated by former statehouse reporter Mike Dennison and NonStop Local host Bradley Warren. He said the station is still negotiating details about the event with both campaigns. The announcement came after weeks of feuding between the Gianforte and Busse camps over whether any debates between the two would take place this election season. Gianforte and his staff had previously questioned Busses credibility as a candidate, pointing to the Democrats campaign rhetoric and wide margins favoring Gianforte in recent polling. The Republican also challenged Busse to release his private income tax returns, as Gianforte has done to the Associated Press for several years. Busse later agreed to do so, casting the decision as a way to overcome hurdles standing in the way of a public debate. From the beginning, the governor made it clear he was eager to debate and that wed talk about one once Busse released 10 years of taxes, just like other serious governor candidates have in the past, Gianforte campaign manager Jake Eaton said in a Monday press release. Earlier in the day Monday, Busses campaign had criticized Gianforte for declining to participate in other debates scheduled for Oct. 1 and Oct. 7, the first moderated by MTN News and the second co-moderated by Lee newspapers, Montana Public Radio, Yellowstone Public Radio and Montana PBS. Eaton did not answer questions from MTFP about the campaigns reason for not participating in the earlier two October debates. In a statement, MTN news director Keagan Harsha said the outlet is very disappointed in Gianfortes decision. MTN has held candidate debates every election cycle for at least the last 30 years and up until this year all major party candidates have eagerly participated, Harsha said. We believe debates serve a very important purpose as a job interview for candidates. Further, debates are an opportunity for candidates to distinguish themselves from their opponents and to outline important policy differences that will affect people across Montana. Notified by MTFP about Gianfortes team publicizing the NonStop Local debate, Busse campaign manager Aaron Murphy said he had not heard directly from the Republican campaign that the agreement for that forum had been finalized. We are in agreement on a date and we are still working out details, Murphy said. Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Kaiser Leib said Monday that he had not been invited to participate in the Oct. 16 event. Absentee ballots will begin being mailed to registered voters on Oct. 11. This story was originally published by Montana Free Press at montanafreepress.org. This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Montana governor candidates Gianforte, Busse will debate in October Gov. Josh Shapiro holds a package of canned cocktails at a Rutter's convenience store Tuesday in Perry County, where he celebrated the start of pre-mixed cocktail sales in supermarkets, gas stations, and beer distributors. (Commonwealth Media Services photo) After celebrating a new law making canned cocktails available in supermarkets and convenience stores, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday he believes that legalizing recreational use of cannabis makes sense from an economic perspective. Among Pennsylvanias six border states, all but West Virginia have fully legalized marijuana, allowing its sale and use for medical and recreational use. Pennsylvania has legalized cannabis for medical use, but continues to impose criminal penalties for possession of pot without a medical marijuana card. Shapiro told reporters at a press conference at a Rutters convenience store in Perry County where canned cocktails will now be sold that he has called for legalization of cannabis for several years. Shapiro included revenue from recreational marijuana sales in his 2024-2025 budget proposal and said legalizing weed, like expanding the availability of alcoholic beverages, gives Pennsylvania residents more freedom. There are Pennsylvanians who may be traveling out of state to purchase cannabis, and thats, I think, something that we want to be focused on doing here in our commonwealth, Shapiro said. Reps. Aaron Kaufer (R-Luzerne) and Emily Kinkead (D-Allegheny) introduced new legislation Monday to legalize cannabis. Multiple cannabis legalization bills have been introduced across both chambers this session, of which House Bill 2500 is only the latest. None have been taken up by either the House or Senate yet, but advocates say legalization is a matter of how and when. Shapiro signed into law Act 86 of 2024 in July, which creates the opportunity for restaurant, hotel, and distributors liquor license holders to obtain permits to sell pre-mixed beverages containing distilled spirits to patrons for consumption off premises. The law is the latest expansion of alcoholic beverage sales over the last two decades in Pennsylvania, where alcohol sales on Sundays were limited and wine and spirits by the bottle could be purchased only from Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) stores until relatively recently. Pennsylvanias restrictions on alcohol remain relatively strict compared with many other states. Supermarkets and convenience stores were permitted to sell up to 192 ounces of beer to go in 2011 and the equivalent of four bottles of wine in 2014, but the PLCB stores remain the only place to buy spirits by the bottle. The ability to sell pre-mixed liquor-based beverages in supermarkets, beer distributors, and convenience stores is popular, according to the governors office. Since Aug. 27, the PLCB had received 1,595 ready-to-drink cocktail applications and issued 1,416 permits, Shapiros office said in a news release. Asked whether Pennsylvania should do more to privatize liquor sales, Shapiro said he believes ready-to-drink cocktails in private stores is a responsible step that protects jobs, creates $130 million in new revenue and gives residents more freedom. Act 86 was introduced in the state Senate by Sen. Mike Regan (R-York). It passed with Democratic opposition in the Senate but received bipartisan support in the state House when it was finally approved in July. CANTON, Miss. (WJTV) Canton police are investigating three weekend shootings, including a homicide. Canton Police Chief Otha Brown said the first shooting occurred in the Kingston Place subdivision just after 10:15 p.m. on Saturday, September 14. He said the victim, Kenvarius Brown was shot multiple times. He is in critical, but stable condition at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson. Missing Child Alert issued for two Jackson children The fatal shooting occurred around 12:40 a.m. on Sunday, September 15. Chief Brown said officers responded to the LC Greenwood and Walnut Street area and found multiple shell casings. They were later notified that the victim, Booker T. Henry, had been taken to Madison Merit Health by a private vehicle. Henry died from his injuries. The third shooting occurred Sunday evening on MLK Drive near George Washington Street. The police chief said Darrion Henry and another man where both shot in the leg. Chief Brown said Darrion Henry is the brother of Booker T. Henry. Anyone with information about the shootings can contact the Canton Police Department. 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. SANDY, Utah (ABC4) The Canyons School District was flooded with SafeUT tips on Wednesday morning as students circulated a screenshot online, implying a school shooting would be taking place. Dr. Rick Robins, the Canyons District Superintendent, said in an email to parents that the threat was unsubstantiated but understands the concerns it raises. The screenshot is of a text, describing an alleged conversation between two students. The text describes a plan to bring a gun into school. The text says one of the boys told a girl that she seems like a really nice person, adding she should stay home from school the next day. According to the text, when the girl asked why, the boy said something was going to happen but would not provide details. How this dog is improving safety at an Ogden high school Robins said the screenshot was being shared from student to student and school to school, including schools outside of Utah. Robins added the same image sparked delays in the Altoona Area School District in Pennsylvania late last week The post does not name any of our schools, and we have no reason to believe its credible. It is understandably causing alarm, however, said Robins in the email. To err on the side of caution and give peace of mind to students, teachers, and parents, police departments serving Canyons communities have been notified of the posts, and schools this week will have administrators and staff visible in the hallways to provide additional oversight. Aside from the increased visibility from school staff, Robins said all Canyons School District schools will operate as normal. However, if parents wish to keep their child home, the school district will respect that right for parents to decide what is best for their families. Robins also called on parents to reinforce that creating or sharing online comments about committing acts of violence at a school could result in serious consequences, even if written as a joke. Earlier this year, Utahs lawmakers passed HB14, creating harsher penalties for adults and students who make threats against schools. This includes any threats or falsely reported emergencies from hoax bomb threats to prank 911 active-shooter calls, also known as swatting. Under the new law, those over the age of 18 who make school threats can be charged with a second-degree felony, punishable with up to 15 years in prison. Students responsible for threats will be suspended or expelled from school. The Canyons School District added that some hoax threats can even be prosecuted as a federal crime, depending on the severity of the threat. We thank those who have shared SafeUT tips about these social media posts and encourage everyone to use this crisis and safety tipline to report anything that makes them feel unsafe, said Robins. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The bodies of six missing people have been found after a boat capsized in Lake Victoria in Bunda District of northern Tanzania, bringing the death toll to seven, authorities said on Wednesday. The accident happened on Sunday evening. The boat capsized as the victims were returning to their homes after a wedding ceremony in Mwiruruma village on the shores of the lake. A total of 9 people were rescued. Bunda District Commissioner Vincent Naano said the sixth body was recovered on Wednesday morning, and all the bodies have been identified and collected by relatives. Naano said he had instructed the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation to inspect all boats in Lake Victoria to avoid further accidents. Shared by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area and the world's second-largest freshwater lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America. A car slammed into the Middletown Post Office on Wednesday, but the crash is not anticipated to prevent the branch from opening Thursday, a regional U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman said. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] News Center 7 is working to learn more about what happened, and we will update this report. TRENDING STORIES: No one was injured, spokeswoman Naddia Dhalai said. Our maintenance crew is working on securing the building and management anticipates the Post Office will be open Thursday. Someone snapped a photo of the aftermath of the incident at the Post Office, 320 N. Verity Parkway, and shared it with News Center 7. Weve reached out to Middletown police for more details. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Care homes in Lochaber and Lewis to close Two care homes in the Highlands and Islands are to close. HC-One said its Moss Park Care Home near Fort William and Blar Buidhe in Stornoway, Lewis, would shut in coming months. Moss Park in Caol provides care for up to 39 people and Blar Buidhe has 38 residents and offers nursing and dementia care. HC-One said the decision to close the homes had not been taken lightly. NHS Highland said it was working with HC-One and Highland Council to find a way to deliver care in the Fort William area. A spokesperson added: "Regrettably, it has not been possible to identify a sustainable solution at this stage. "We will support residents and staff during this period." Western Isles local authority, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said its priority was the well-being of residents, their families and employees at Blar Buidhe. HC-One said it had been working with the NHS and local authorities to secure the future of the two homes. A spokesperson said: "Both Blar Buidhe and Moss Park were among a small number of homes across Scotland that we put up for sale in March 2021. "Unfortunately, at Moss Park, we have long struggled to build and retain the full, permanent care teams needed to consistently deliver the high standards of care that our residents deserve. "Given Blar Buidhes remote location, regrettably we are not able to commit the operational support the home needs to flourish long-term." Related internet links The court file alleging sexual misconduct by a Lexington councilwoman has been sealed and removed from Courtnet or KyECourts, Kentuckys digital court filing system. How the file was sealed is not clear. All records involving the case are no longer public. The Herald-Leader tried to obtain the record from the Fayette Circuit Court Clerks office Wednesday, and a reporter was told it was now confidential. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman Denise Gray was granted an emergency protection order against fellow Councilwoman Brenda Monarrez on Aug. 8. In her petition for a protection order, Gray says Monarrez was sexually aggressive toward her on two different occasions over three years. No criminal charges have been filed, and the protection order is a civil action. At an Aug. 20 hearing, Fayette Circuit Judge Traci Brislin decided Monarrez could not attend council meetings in person and must work from home. Monarrez has been attending council meetings virtually since August. An Oct. 16 hearing -- where both sides would be allowed to testify -- was to determine if the protection order should remain in place. Since the case is sealed, its unclear if the Oct. 16 hearing will be public. Monarrez has called the claims against her patently false and driven by politics. Edward Cooley, a lawyer for Monarrez, said he could not comment because the case was now sealed. A lawyer for Gray did not immediately respond to a request Wednesday for comment. The interpersonal protection order law allows for sealing records if the case involves juveniles. There is also a provision that allows for the order to be expunged from someones record in certain circumstances. But it does not outline a a procedure to seal interpersonal protection orders. Michael Abate, a Louisville lawyer for the Kentucky Press Association, said there should have been a hearing to determine if it was in the publics best interest to keep the court file private. (The Herald-Leader is a member of the association, and its executive editor, Richard Green, is a board member.) This should be subject to the standard sealing rules, Abate said. That is there should be no sealing without advance notice to the public and media, a hearing, and specific findings on why less restrictive means cant suffice. Since the case is sealed, it is not known if there was a hearing. The Herald-Leader received no notice of a hearing. Other court cases involving protection orders filed against elected and high-profile officials Kentucky officials have not been sealed. A 2021 protection order filed against William A. Jones, the former president of Georgetown College, by an employee of the college alleging sexual assault was not sealed. Jones was fired and later sued Georgetown College. Matt Miniard, a former Fayette County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor, was ordered to stay away from Chris Rowe, a former soil and water conservation district supervisor, after Miniard threatened Rowe. That 2023 case, involving an interpersonal protection order, also was not sealed. Miniard is no longer on the board. In Lexington, Gray, who was first elected in 2022, has no opponent for the Nov. 5 general election. Monarrez, who was first elected in 2022, faces Emma Curtis in the race to represent the Fourth Council District, which includes neighborhoods between Tates Creek and Nicholasville roads south of New Circle Road. Case of man accused of wielding machete in fight with other man bound over to grand jury YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A man who is accused of attacking another man who knocked on his door by mistake with a sword waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday in municipal court. David Wright, 60, waived his hearing on a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, before Visiting Judge David Fuhry, and the case was bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury. Wright is presently free on $50,000 bond. A warrant was filed for Sept. 6 for Wrights arrest for an Aug. 31 attack on a man at an apartment complex on Wood Street. The victim came to the police station Sept. 3 and told police he knocked on the door Aug. 31 of an apartment and a man inside, later identified as Wright, yelled that the victim had the wrong apartment. The victim moved on and was about to knock on another door when Wright came out of his apartment and swung a rusted machete at the victim, reports said. Reports said the victim took a pair of nunchucks he had and used them to defend himself. Wright later went back inside his apartment. Detectives viewed video surveillance of the incident before filing 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. Cash payments to no longer be accepted at Sioux City Citizens Convenience Center SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) Cash payments will no longer be an acceptable payment method at the Sioux City Citizens Convenience Center. Beginning in November, the Convenience Center will no longer be accepting cash. Those who wish to use the convenience center for waste disposal will have to make payments using a debit card, credit card, business account check, Google Pay, or Apple Pay. Businesses are also able to establish a business account through Gill Hauling. Woodbury County Board of Supervisors discusses wind energy ordinance Alongside the above changes, the City also said that the price to dispose of tree branches will increase to $63 per ton on November 1 as well. The Citizens Convenience Center offers Sioux City residents and businesses a place to dispose of items that cant be accepted curbside, including items such as yard waste, tree limbs, Christmas trees, tires, electronics, and more. For more details on the center, 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. CCP official still 'performing his duties' in New York despite conflicting narratives from Hochul, State Dept CCP official still 'performing his duties' in New York despite conflicting narratives from Hochul, State Dept A Chinese diplomat who has repeatedly praised the Chinese Communist Party is still fulfilling his role as the consul general of Chinas New York Consulate despite conflicting narratives from the Biden State Department and New York's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul about the diplomat no longer being in his role. Hochul said during a press conference almost two weeks ago that she supported Huang Ping being expelled from New York after he was referenced dozens of times in an indictment involving one of her former top aides and said that she was "informed" by the State Department that he was "no longer in the New York mission." State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller contradicted Hochul's comments hours later, saying the "consul general was not expelled" and that Ping "reached the end of a regularly scheduled rotation in August" and rotated out of the position. However, a Fox News Digital review of Ping's social media shows that he hasn't left the position in New York and is still pictured throughout the New York consulate's website. "Consul General Huang Ping is performing his duties as usual," a consulate spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. "He will leave his post as planned after completing his term. We strongly oppose any malicious associations, defamation, and smearing of Chinese diplomatic and consular personnel. We call on the media to adhere to journalistic ethics." DEM GOVERNOR REVEALS CCP OFFICIAL WITH DEEP TIES TO HER OFFICE 'NO LONGER' IN ROLE AMID FORMER AIDE'S ARREST Huang Ping is still fulfilling his role as the consul general of Chinas New York Consulate despite conflicting narratives from the Biden State Department and New York's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Ping, who has been the consul general of Chinas New York Consulate since 2018 and has repeatedly called the CCP a "great party," posted photos at the Chinese consulate in New York on his X account Tuesday, saying, "We celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China with nearly 700 Chinese Americans and students, enjoying the traditional Chinese culture and cuisine." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP China expert and author Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow in Indo-Pacific studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, sounded off on the Biden State Department in a statement to Fox News Digital for not punishing Ping and allowing him to stay in his post. "Huang Ping frequently coordinated with Linda Sun as she sought to advance Beijings interests in New York. That activity crosses a line and deserves appropriate retaliation to deter future attempts to influence American public servants," said Sobolik, who wrote the book "Countering Chinas Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance." "The State Departments hesitancy to decisively punish Huang makes America more vulnerable to Beijings malign influence," he added. FORMER AIDE TO NEW YORK GOV. HOCHUL, WHO IS ACCUSED OF BEING CHINESE SPY, WENT ON A TOUR OF THE WHITE HOUSE Hochuls former deputy chief of staff, Linda Sun, and her husband, Chris Hu, were arrested earlier this month, and Sun was charged "with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy," according to a Department of Justice press release. Fox News Digital previously exposed Ping's ties to Hochul, but the unsealed indictment shed light on the close working relationship between Sun and Ping. The unsealed indictment revealed that a speechwriter for then-Lt. Gov. Hochul wanted to mention the "Uyghur situation," in China for her 2021 Lunar New Year message, but the plight of the minority group being persecuted by the Chinese government was ultimately omitted after Sun overruled the speechwriter. The indictment says Sun revealed to Ping what the speechwriter wanted to include, but insisted that she would not let her boss mention Uyghurs after admitting that she was "starting to lose her temper" with the speechwriter. HUANG PING, 'PURVEYOR OF CCP PROPAGANDA,' JOINS SCHUMER, TOP NEW YORK DEMS AT CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADE Ping, who has been the consul general of Chinas New York Consulate since 2018 and has repeatedly called the CCP a "great party." Ping appeared to chalk up the speechwriters suggestion as a clueless American who had never visited China and that U.S.-China relations could "sour" because of "people like the speechwriter," the indictment said, prompting Sun to concur that the speechwriter had never visited China. Ping would go on to post Hochuls Lunar New Year message days later on his Facebook page, which did not mention Uyghurs. The indictment also claimed that Sun repeatedly used her government positions in the Cuomo and Hochul administrations to block "representatives of the Taiwanese government" from meeting with high-ranking New York government officials, including Hochul and Cuomo, and would then boast about her actions with Chinese officials, including Ping. In one instance, she texted a Chinese official in the fall of 2020 to say she "almost had a heart attack when we referred to Taiwan as a country" and let the official know that she "had the press team correct it immediately," according to the indictment. These positions are espoused by Ping in a podcast that Fox News Digital previously reported on. HOUSE GOP PRESSES HOCHUL ON ALLEGED CCP AGENT'S INFLUENCE IN NEW YORK, INCLUDING SECRET CHINESE POLICE STATION In addition to meeting with politicians, Huang Ping has been a guest at the Empire State Building, New York Stock Exchange, Conde Nast and several universities. In return for Sun allegedly acting on behalf of the Chinese government in her government roles, the indictment also lists several gifts she and her husband received from Chinese officials, including luxury tickets to concerts and other New York-based events and travel benefits, and Ping gifted Suns parents with Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by his chef. The indictment also listed the "facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of Suns husband," which the indictment says was used to purchase real estate property in Manhasset, New York, for $3.6 million, a $1.9 million condo in Honolulu, and other luxury purchases, including a 2024 Ferrari. Ping's social media post on Tuesday wasn't the only post he has sent out in New York since Hochul's press conference and when the indictment was unsealed on Sept. 4. The following day, Ping attended the China Institute's Blue Cloud Gala at the Plaza Hotel in New York, according to a social media post on Sept. 6, saying, "We need such vision, courage, faith and solidarity for deeper people-to-people ties between our two countries." On Sept. 9, Ping posted photos from the 90th birthday party for Dr. James C. Hsiung, who Ping called, "an outstanding scholar and tenured professor of NYU." The birthday party appeared to be located at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in New York, according to the name of one of the boardrooms. Fox News Digital has reported extensively on Ping's relationship with Democratic politicians at the state and local levels in New York and Pennsylvania, two of 10 states that are covered by the consulate's jurisdiction. In addition to meeting with politicians, he has been a guest at the Empire State Building, New York Stock Exchange, Conde Nast and several universities, including UPenn, Harvard, Tufts and Princeton. He has also attended several Chinese parades in New York and has been spotted cozying up to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Sun's attorney Jarrod Schaeffer previously told Fox News Digital that he and Sun are "troubled by aspects of the governments investigation." "We are disappointed by the filing of these charges, which are inflammatory and appear to be the product of an overly aggressive prosecution," Schaeffer said. "As we said today in court, our client is eager to exercise her right to a speedy trial and to defend against these accusations in the proper forum a court of law." Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and Gov. Hochul's office. Original article source: CCP official still 'performing his duties' in New York despite conflicting narratives from Hochul, State Dept The nation recorded one of its worst totals for child deaths from the flu this past season, coinciding with troubling drops in U.S. vaccination rates, federal health officials warned. Nearly 200 children died from influenza-related complications in the 2023-24 season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials announced the death count last week after two children died in early September. The seasons death toll of 199 matches the 2019-20 flu season, CDC said. The highest death toll recorded was 288 children who died from the flu in the 2009-10 season, at the height of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic. Most of the 199 total children who died from the virus were eligible for a vaccine but did not receive one. Studies have shown that annual flu vaccines, while not foolproof against infection, are effective against serious illness. Its hard to watch, Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, said. There was a way to prevent this. Flu vaccines are effective at reducing risk of serious illness or death from the virus, though officials worry drops in vaccines are contributing to a rise in childhood deaths from flu in the 2023-24 season. Officials must now contend with misinformation and hesitancy around vaccines that took hold with COVID-19, Offit said. The COVID-19 pandemic also disrupted families' regular visits with their doctors, when they may have received routine vaccines. The CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older get their annual flu shot, especially if they are at higher risk, such as having asthma, neurologic conditions, or being obese. The CDC data included 158 children who died who were eligible for a vaccine and whose vaccination status was known. Out of those, 131 children, or 83%, were not fully vaccinated. Among the 189 deaths with known information on medical conditions, 93, or 49%, had at least one preexisting medical condition. By age, 126 of the children were between 5 and 17 years old. There were 73 children younger than 5 years old. Children younger than 5, along with children with certain underlying conditions, face a greater risk of complications such as bronchitis or pneumonia from the flu. The deaths coincide with drops in vaccinations among children. As of May 11, just over 53% of children between ages 6 months and 17 years old were vaccinated this season, which was lower than the prior seasons 56%, when there were 187 deaths. This past season is also lower than pre-pandemic coverage when 62.4% of children were vaccinated in 2020. Vaccinations by children's race, ethnicity, and whether they lived in rural areas appear to be worsening. Less than half of Black children received their annual flu vaccine, and slightly more than half of white children did, compared to nearly 60% of Hispanic children and nearly 59% of children listed as "Other," CDC data showed. Less than 40% of children in rural areas received their annual dose, compared to nearly 60% of children in urban areas and nearly 54% in suburbs. Flu and coronavirus vaccine signage is seen at a Duane Reade by on Broadway on January 05, 2023 in New York City. Walgreens Boots Alliance reported their first-quarter earnings beating estimates from Wall Street amid an early flu season that boosted the demand for cough and cold medicine. How effective is annual flu vaccine? Annual flu vaccines target last years circulating strains of the virus. While it doesnt completely eliminate the risk of getting infected, it reduces the chances of serious illness. A 2022 study found that vaccines were increasingly effective against the most life-threatening forms of disease. A lot of this is preventable with vaccination against severe illness, Dr. Adrienne Randolph, the study's senior author and a critical care physician at Boston Children's Hospital, said. Its really important that parents go get their kids vaccinated. Still, Randolph added the latest season's childrens deaths are the only ones reported as positive for flu. There are also other factors, such as longer-term issues from serious respiratory illness and missed school days, that affect children and their families. In addition, elderly people and others with underlying conditions are especially vulnerable to the flu, which kills tens of thousands of people annually. Where can I get a flu shot? Just before respiratory illness season in the fall and winter months, Randolph recommended families start planning their annual flu shots in October. Its easier now with pharmacies administering vaccines, along with free clinics in communities. In Memphis, Fight Flu Tennessee is set to bring free vaccines through a state program whether or not people are insured. We are a healthier society when we make sure our children are vaccinated, Dr. Michelle Taylor, director of the Shelby County Department of Health Services, which serves Memphis, told USA TODAY. We know that when children are protected, and their health is protected, it means that the entire community is more protected. The results of more deaths and lower vaccination means more work needs to be done, said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of Families Fighting Flu, a nonprofit founded in 2004 by parents whose children died from flu complications. The organization has fought to include universal flu vaccine recommendations to reduce illnesses and deaths. This work also includes improving vaccine confidence and making families aware of options available for annual shots. We all need to do a better job of taking care of not just our loved ones, but our communities, Slafkosky said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: CDC: Flu deaths in children reach alarming level as vaccinations drop Celebrate Oktoberfest in Elgin, OK this weekend ELGIN, OK (KFDX/KJTL) While the city of Wichita Falls marks Hispanic Heritage Month with Taco Fest on Saturday, September 21, 2024, the city of Elgin, Oklahoma will be celebrating German culture for the official start of Oktoberfest in Munich. The day will also mark the one-year anniversary of the opening of the Rising Eagle Brewery. As part of its first-ever Oktoberfest celebration, the brewery will host keg racing, pretzel tossing, arm wrestling, a sausage eating contest, and a beer run. Expect tacos galore during upcoming Taco Fest in downtown Wichita Falls And dont forget to dress up for the Oktoberfest costume contest. There will also be Polka and Chicken Dancing, as well as plenty of family-friendly events for the kids. The fun runs from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Rising Eagle Brewery in Elgin, just north of Lawton, at 7602 U.S. 277. 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 shooting near Central Phoenix on Tuesday evening left one man dead, prompting the Phoenix Police Department to open a homicide investigation. The shooting occurred at around 9:32 p.m., police said. Officers responded to the area of 26th Place and Monte Vista Road. A man had at least one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. Additional details haven't been released and are part of an ongoing homicide investigation. The police department is asking anyone with information to call Silent Witness at 480(WITNESS) or 480(TESTIGO) to provide an anonymous tip. Rewards will be paid for information leading to an arrest in this case. Reach the reporter at ahardle@gannett.com or by phone at 480-259-8545. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @AlexandraHardle. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police seek public's help after fatal Central Phoenix shooting Update at 8:30 p.m. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) The Champaign City Council has voted to pursue the creation of a new TIF District and to allow expenses spent designing the CS Johnson Factory redevelopment to be TIF eligible. The former CS Johnson Factory at Springfield Avenue and Kenwood Road was built in 1931, but closed in 2005. Piles of trash, old equipment and couches have taken over the abandoned property. U of I granted over $135k for specialty crop research Community Property Management wants the building to be torn down, and replaced with 300 apartments. The City is stepping in to see whats possible, with Tuesday nights vote on the Inducement Resolution passing unanimously. Community Property Management (CPM) CEO Nathan Shoemaker spoke in front of the board at Tuesdays meeting. Shoemaker said this resolution will help the project get professional advice on infrastructure and financial issues. Other community members spoke in front of the board, asking them to consider low-income housing options, environmental cleanup and those who might be impacted by the construction. This resolution does not immediately create a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district or approve a development project. Our primary interest is finding a way to remediate the blighting influence the factory is having on the overall neighborhood, said Champaign Economic Development Manager TJ Blakeman. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) The Champaign City Council will vote Tuesday night on a proposal to redevelop the CS Johnson Factory building into a 300-unit apartment complex. Terry Blakeman, economic development manager, says Community Property Management (CPM) plans to tear the building down to create an apartment complex with amenities, commercial kitchen projects and a facilities building. According to the City of Champaigns Planning and Development department, the project is not financially possible without assistance towards buying the land, demolition and infrastructure costs. The City needs to designate this area as a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district. If they are successful, they will adopt a redevelopment plan and assist the project with funds from the Citys special tax allocation fund. Approving the resolution Tuesday night would allow any expenses made before it is enacted to be reimbursed. City or project expenses eligible for reimbursement: Land assembly Demolition, grading and site preparation, and utilities Professional services including legal, zoning, redevelopment consulting, architectural and engineering services, landscape architectural services, design guidelines, appraisals, surveys, market studies, traffic studies, environmental and geotechnical Costs of the construction of public works or improvements services, and market studies All or a portion of a taxing districts capital costs resulting from the redevelopment plan Rehabilitation, reconstruction or repair or remodeling of existing public or private buildings, fixtures, and improvements Relocation costs, payment in lieu of taxes, costs of job training, and interest cost The vote will happen at Tuesday nights meeting which will start at 7 p.m. If the Inducement Resolution passes, the City will continue to work on creating the TIF District around Springfield and Mattis. DACC president on leave after investigation into mayors complaints If the TIF district is created, Blakeman says it will be finalized between November and January. The development team says the final product would help to grow the area. And, it goes along with the councils goal to reinvest in development throughout the city. The CS Johnson Factory is located at the 500 block of Kenwood Road and 2200 block of West Springfield Avenue. Community Property Management bought the building around 2005. Today, the building is generally used as storage for CPM and has fallen into disrepair. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Wednesday they are increasingly concerned over reports of escalating clashes in Sudan's North Darfur State capital of El Fasher and the nearby Zamzam displacement camp. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said many civilians continue to be affected by the fighting, including where famine conditions were confirmed in Zamzam and other areas at imminent risk. Humanitarian access to the areas remain severely constrained. The world body estimates more than 500,000 displaced people shelter in sprawling Zamzam. "The United Nations and humanitarian partners continue to spare no effort to reach people in El Fasher, Greater Darfur, and across the country with life-saving assistance," OCHA said. The office said more than 100 trucks carrying life-saving humanitarian assistance had crossed into Sudan from Chad via the Adre border crossing since August when Sudanese authorities reopened it. OCHA said about two-thirds of the trucks brought food and nutrition supplies, with the others delivering emergency shelter, medical and other supplies to benefit more than 260,000 people. "The UN continues its efforts to scale up deliveries of life-saving assistance through the Adre and Tine crossings from Chad, as well as via key routes across conflict lines from Port Sudan, in the east of the country," the office said. "OCHA stresses that to fight famine and enable broader humanitarian action across Sudan, it is critical that the parties facilitate access through all necessary routes, both across borders and battle lines." AKRON, Ohio (WJW) Laura Lawson of Rubber City Rescue has responded to calls to help police with stray or neglected animals particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, when many animal shelters were closed. Police they see them before anybody else does. I mean, they see them in the middle of the night when they are driving and theres nobody around, said Lawson. That dog pops out, that officer grabs the dog, he now has nowhere to take it so we opened up our kennels to assist them fire departments, humane societies and folks like that and then we do our own thing as well. 8-year-old girl found driving to local Target: Police Its not just the city of Akron. We do for every police department throughout Summit County, including Homeland Security, Highway Patrol, SWAT you name it, we do it, she said. Last week, Lawson was dispatched to an apartment on Miller Road where police found a dog that was emaciated, having been left without food in deplorable conditions. It was inside an apartment, so Summit County Animal Control cannot go inside a residence. The dog wardens cant and neither can the county wardens. Its usually the humane society, and you have to have a warrant. So I was told that this is being handled by the humane society, said Lawson. She rounded up the dog, a female pit bull, but felt uneasy when they were loading her into a van to take to the rescue. While trying to get the pit bull into a cage, the dog attacked her. She was going in the cage, but I went to shut the door and take the leash off of her head and she hit the door, knocked me back, got me in the face, the breast area and then nailed my arm, said Lawson. I just got to the point where I was like, I give up. If you are going to do it, just make it fast. And thats when it let go. Her husband was there, but said he felt powerless to help. I had to hold the dog. If I let go of the dog, it was going to rip her arm apart. Ive got [her] by the neck and the head and I beat on [her] but could not get [her] to release [her] grip at all. [She] was right there by the throat and [she] wasnt going to let go. If [she] would have had her throat, I couldnt have saved her, said Ronnie Lawson. After the dog was forced into a cage, Laura was rushed to a hospital with injuries to her face, requiring stitches to her nose, chest and arm, which she said the dog was tugging on like a rope. She is now undergoing a series of nine rabies shots at $1,200 each, of which she is personally responsible for $650, the emergency room visit and follow up visits. Although she was dispatched there by police, she does not work for the city, so all of the expenses after insurance are out-of-pocket. On Monday, Akron City Council was asked to consider doing something to help her with her bills. The shelters in Akron and Summit County were full. She had a kennel open at her home. She took this dog to her home to care for it, Carla Maple told council. Laura is a volunteer. She is not an employee by the city of Akron, but she puts Akron first and I am requesting that somewhere in Akrons budget we can look and find the funds to help not just help, but pay for her medical expenses, said Maple. Councilman Donnie Kammer not only repeated the request, but demanded that council consider more. Ive been expressing my concern regarding the lack of cages available at the animal control facility and the lack of resources for our Akron police officers, said Kammer. I applaud the work of Laura Lawson and the Rubber City Rescue group and I support her. However, as a city, we cannot continue to call upon our citizens to do the work of the city. Kammer said he is drafting a resolution that would demand Akron police no longer use Rubber City Rescue or any other private rescue to help with their calls until they develop a protocol to help keep rescuers like Lawson safe. She is being called at midnight, 2 in the morning, 4 in the morning, to come out to assist, to take these dogs in for all different reasons, because she cant take them to the animal facility that the county owns and operates, said Kammer. Despicable: Local sheriffs social media post sparks debate Because she operates a rescue and is not a warden, Lawson had to give the dog that attacked her back to her owner. She did so after caring for it, in spite of the attack, for several days following the attack. Over that time, the same dog damaged a steel cage that was supposed to be indestructible, to the point that metal bars were bent and the top of the cage was destroyed. She worries that the dog could turn on someone else just as it did on her. But she also worries about what will happen to other dogs like that one if she is not able to help police get them off the streets. When you realize that theres nobody there to assist and nobody there to take the dogs, we are going to have the dogs everywhere, said Lawson. I love my town. I love my town, I love my state and I just wanted to help, she added. Maple said, I would love to see Akron support Laura the way Laura supports Akron. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Check your junk drawer. Three big lottery prizes are set to expire in Oregon soon Lottery players should check their junk drawers and coat pockets before these three big lottery prizes expire in Oregon, officials said. The tickets include two Powerball tickets and a Keno ticket, the Oregon Lottery said in a Sept. 18 news release. A lucky Keno player won $58,372.20 from a ticket sold in Salem, lottery officials said. It expires Sept. 21. Another player scored a $150,000 Powerball prize. This ticket was bought in Bend, and it expires Oct. 9. The last lottery ticket thats set to expire soon is a $50,000 Powerball prize. It was sold in Wilsonville and expires Oct. 18. Its time to check your junk drawer, coat pockets, and under the couch anywhere a ticket could disappear, Oregon Lotterys Manager of Player Services Heidi Quiring said in the release Quiring said players cant claim their prizes after a year. If no one comes forward, the money will return to the state and go to Oregon Lottery beneficiaries, lottery officials said. Players who won a prize over $50,000 can claim them by appointment at the Salem and Wilsonville Prize Payment Centers. Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families. If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website. Lucky lottery player wins $4.2 million prize in Washington. Where was the ticket sold? Son hears mom screaming and rushes to room. She won huge Powerball prize in Michigan Powerball player learns he won in middle of night then barely got any sleep TAHLEQUAH, Okla. The Cherokee Nation unanimously passed a $3.6 billion general budget on Monday, with $22 million earmarked for scholarships. Good things happen for the Cherokee people and our Cherokee communities when the Council works with our administration, Treasurer, and Cherokee Nation Businesses, said Council Speaker Mike Shambaugh, of Jay. This budget gives us the ability to keep moving forward, he said. The fiscal Year 2025 General Operating Budget marks significant investments in language preservation, education, public health, and community services. Key highlights of the FY 2025 budget include: Durbin Feeling Language Preservalte Act, $20.7 million was allocated for Cherokee language revitalization; Gadugi Corps Volunteer and National Service Act, $3 million; Increased spending on housing modernization and rehabilitation A $4 million boost to dental services Cherokee Nation Marshal Service Anti-Meth program, $307,000 Expanded per-pupil expenditures for the Johnson-OMalley (JOM) program In other business, Kendra McGeady of Vinita was sworn into office by the Council of the Cherokee Nation Monday to fill the vacant District 11 seat. Her district includes Craig County, northern Mayes, and Nowata Counties. She fills the remainder of Councilwoman Victoria Vazquezs term ending August 14, 2025. The Council also chose District 14 Councilor Kevin Easley, Jr. as its Deputy Speaker to fill the officer vacancy created by Deputy Speaker Vazquezs resignation in August. Easley, an attorney who attended law school at the University of Oklahoma, began his first term in office on the Council of the Cherokee Nation in 2023. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The drop in Chile's birth rate means there will be more older people who are likely to have to continue working (RAUL BRAVO) (RAUL BRAVO/AFP/AFP) Chilean lawyer Camila Ramirez, 29, does not want to give up her freedom and well-being to become a mother, and she is not alone. In the past decade, births have fallen by 29 percent in Chile, now the country with the lowest birth rate in the Americas. With 1.17 children being born per woman, the Latin American nation is far from the 2.1 needed to maintain its population, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE). "Being a mother is an absolutely selfless task. I love to travel and when I go on a trip, I do it alone. I don't ask anyone. I just disappear," said Ramirez, who is balancing her job with a master's degree. "I can't see myself being in charge of feeding and entertaining a child, always prioritizing the wellbeing and care of a child over my own wellbeing," she added. Declining birth rates are sparking alarm across the globe, especially in developed economies. Even Pope Francis has weighed in, suggesting couples who have pets instead of children are selfish and a threat to humanity. Chile's birthrate is below that of developed economies such as Italy, Japan, and Spain, according to the UN Population Division. "The changes around reproduction in Chilean society have been very fast and abrupt. What took decades in Europe has happened in 10 or 20 years in Chile," said Catholic University sociologist Martina Yopo. Chilean women have gained greater access to education -- especially since universities became free in 2008 -- and entered the workforce in higher numbers. And with greater reproductive autonomy, "today being a woman does not necessarily mean being a mother, and having a family does not necessarily require children," added Yopo. - 'An emergency' - The INE predicts Chile's birthrate will continue to fall in coming years, and not even an increase in immigration is managing to reverse the situation. "It is an emergency, a health crisis. I can think of few things more important than this from an economic, social and ethical point of view," said Anibal Scarella, president of the Chilean Society of Reproductive Medicine. Economist Jorge Berrios said the drop in birth rate means "there will be many older people and that they will most likely have to continue working." "There is no generational renewal in people, in the economy." As in many countries, gender inequality means that many working women know that if they become mothers, they will bear the main load of parenting. There is also little support from the state in areas such as childcare, said Yopo. And women are choosing to have children later, with a third of all births in Chile last year to women aged between 30 and 34. The trend has led to a rise in infertility. "We are not helping people to be able to reconcile the development of their careers and the desire to fall pregnant," said Scarella, who wants to improve access to assisted fertility and egg preservation. Physiotherapist Tamara Guzman never dreamed of being a mother, and kept postponing the decision. Now 41, and married, she feels she can't afford the lifestyle she enjoys and raise a child. "Everything is very expensive. I see it in my friends who are mothers and are super tired, with dark circles under their eyes, and stressed because they have to pay the nanny or the kindergarten, diapers and milk. If I had more income, yes, I would think about it," she said. - Dire state of the world - Angered by violence against women and the state of the world, banking executive Isidora Rugeronni decided to get sterilized four years ago, aged just 21. "I felt that there was a lot of evil in the world, a lot of injustice and I came to 'Antinatalism', which is a philosophy that states that it is not ethical to have biological children with the world as it is," she said. "I can do much stronger activism and impact society as a woman without biological children," she said. Rugeronni said she would like to be a foster mother, and also "adopt all the animals I want." Chile has seen an 80 percent drop in teen pregnancies over the past two decades, according to the INE. And it is not only women balking at parenthood: the number of vasectomies performed in Chile has risen almost ten-fold in the past decade, from 768 in 2013 to 7,580 in 2023, said the agency. Meanwhile, female sterilization in public hospitals increased by 54 percent in the same period. pa/vel/mar/fb/mlr/st FILE - Taiwan's F-16 fighter jets fly in close formation over President Office during National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Oct. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File) BEIJING (AP) China on Wednesday announced sanctions on American companies selling arms to the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory and threatens to annex by force. Chinese state media made the announcement, citing the Foreign Ministry, but gave no details on the companies involved. Taiwan is awaiting deliveries of F-16 fighter jets, Abrams tanks and a range of missiles from the U.S. China has been upping its threats to attack Taiwan, whose 23 million citizens overwhelmingly favor their current status of de-facto independence. Despite their lack of formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. has long been a key provider of armaments and is legally bound to ensure the island can defend itself. Along with buying weapons from the U.S., Taiwan has also been reviving its domestic arms industry. A fleet of submarines is underway, while mandatory military service for men has been extended to one year. China has previously demanded U.S companies end cooperation with Taiwan's armed forces, with no apparent effect. TechCrunch U.S. public utility giant American Water says it has disconnected some of its systems after discovering that hackers breached its internal networks last week. American Water, which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people across the United States, confirmed the security incident in an 8-K regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The New Jersey-based company said in its filing that its water and wastewater facilities are "at this time" not affected and continue to operate without interruption, though the company noted that its currently unable to predict the full impact of this incident. China's ageing population and shrinking birthrate have created a demographic time bomb that has forced authorities to raise the retirement age (STR) (STR/AFP/AFP) China's decision to raise the retirement age will give a brief boost to its strained pension system but risks further discouraging weary young workers and cannot arrest long-term demographic decline, experts say. The ruling Communist Party last week announced a gradual increase in the statutory retirement age starting next year -- rising from 60 to 63 for men, from 55 to 58 for white-collar women workers, and from 50 to 55 for blue-collar female employees. The government said the changes would bring a system that has changed little since the 1950s into line with decades of improvements in public health, life expectancy and education, and help society adapt to a shrinking population and workforce. Analysts told AFP that growing concerns over the sustainability of the nationwide pension system pushed Beijing to act. "The pension system is under a lot of strain," said Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asian Institute. "It is... clear to the leadership that the stakes for postponing the reform (were) getting increasingly high," he said. China's retirement age had been among the youngest in the world, and officials have discussed raising it for more than a decade. Opposition from lower-wage workers, a slowing economy and high youth unemployment had thwarted change, experts said. Officials could wait no longer, Zhao said, partly because "the pace of population ageing and decline is faster than previously anticipated". - Pension tension - China's sprawling pension system has three pillars: basic state pensions, mandatory plans for company employees, and voluntary plans for private personal schemes. But the state-led scheme lacks coordination at a national level, while the latter two pillars remain underdeveloped, critics say. A top government think tank said in a 2019 report that one main state pension fund may dry up by 2035 as the workforce shrinks. Around a third of Chinese provinces already run pension deficits, and local finances have come under more stress since the Covid pandemic. Xiujian Peng, a senior research fellow at Australia's Victoria University, said the higher retirement age would ease pressure on the system "in the short and medium term". Under the new rules, the age will rise incrementally over 15 years from 2025, so younger people will end up working for longer than those already close to retiring. Workers will eventually need to make a minimum of 20 years of contributions to draw their basic pension, up from the current 15 years. "After the government increases the retirement age, this decline (in the number of workers) will become... slower," Peng told AFP. But, she added, "the labour force is still declining -- this is a (longer-term) trend". - Working harder, longer - But economic necessity has not necessarily bred widespread acceptance. Many posts on Chinese social media have pointed to a perceived lack of transparency over the fate of workers born from the 1990s onwards. Those generations already face widespread joblessness or an intense work culture that leaves many feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. "For many Chinese individuals, these changes in retirement policies feel like a reneged commitment of social welfare provision -- kicking the problem down an already murky road," Yun Zhou, a sociologist at the University of Michigan, told AFP. "As gender- and age-based discriminations remain deeply entrenched in the Chinese labour market, it remains to be seen to what extent workers... can enjoy effective labour rights protection," she said. Dali Yang, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said the government faced a "loss of credibility" on pensions. Recent economic challenges have already prompted many Chinese to prioritise short-term cash over saving for retirement, he told AFP. "Now, there is even less of an incentive" for them to keep paying into the pension pot, Yang said. "If enough people do that, it actually becomes a vicious cycle, (and) the less sustainable the system will be." - Demography is destiny - Chinese state media has said a rise in the retirement age was "inevitable" given the country's development. The current age was set decades ago when scarcity and poverty were common, before market reforms brought rapid gains in living standards. Life expectancy rose from around 50 in the early 1960s to 79 by 2022, according to World Bank data. But development coincided with families having fewer children, hastened by decades of birth restrictions under the former one-child policy. Now, China is stuck with a growing senior population and fewer young people to fill the gap. Experts said only a suite of bold policies -- from creating high-quality jobs to raising productivity, expanding public healthcare, fostering better work-life balance and raising the social position of women -- could help Beijing adapt to its alarming demographic destiny. Several told AFP that last week's announcement was unlikely to be the last of its kind. "There is still considerable room to further increase the retirement age," Zhao, of NUS, said. But, he added, "if (younger people) have to work longer and contribute more... they want to get answers for questions like job security and quality, and the level of future pension benefits". mjw/je/fox Editors Note: Sign up for CNNs Meanwhile in China newsletter which explores what you need to know about the countrys rise and how it impacts the world. As Russias military last week launched globe-spanning drills widely seen as a show of strength directed at the United States, President Vladimir Putin made clear which country he sees as standing by Moscows side. In an opening video address, Putin said 15 friendly nations would observe what Moscow claimed were some 90,000 troops and more than 500 ships and aircraft mobilized for the largest such exercises in 30 years. But only China would take part alongside Russia, according to Putin. We are paying special attention to strengthening cooperation with our friendly countries. This is especially important today amid rising geopolitical tension around the world, the Russian leader said. Dubbed Ocean-2024, the seven days of drills that ended Monday are the latest in a recent slew of military exercises and joint patrols between Russia and China that come on the heels of vows from Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to tighten military cooperation, even as the Kremlin wages its war against Ukraine. China sent several warships and 15 aircraft to waters off Russias Far East coast for Ocean-2024, according to the Russian military. In addition, Chinese and Russian forces this month touted deepened strategic coordination during joint naval drills in waters near Japan and held their fifth joint maritime patrol in the northern Pacific. It follows a raft of joint exercises over the summer, including near Alaska where US and Canadian forces intercepted Russian and Chinese bombers together for the first time and in the South China Sea, a vital waterway claimed almost entirely by Beijing in which geopolitical tensions are rapidly rising. That coordination has been watched with increasing concern in Washington, which has for months accused China of bolstering Russias defense sector with dual-use exports like machine tools and microelectronics, a charge Beijing denies as it claims neutrality in the conflict. It also comes as the war in Ukraine grinds on and threats escalate, with Putin warning NATO leaders that lifting restrictions on Kyivs use of longer-range Western missiles to strike deep inside Russia would be considered an act of war. The latest Russia-China military drills fit a pattern of more than a decade of enhanced military coordination between the two countries, experts say. But at a time of heightened global tensions including over Russias war in Ukraine, Chinas aggression in the South China Sea, and its claims to the self-ruled island of Taiwan they also underscore how Moscow and Beijing increasingly view each other as key to projecting strength. The joint drills also raise questions about whether the two nuclear-armed powers, which are not treaty allies, could act together in any potential future conflict. Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin for a state visit to Beijing on May 16. - Sergei Bobylev/Sputnik/Reuters Improving and consolidating The relationship between these two giant neighbors has never been simple. Moscow and Beijing were once enemies that fought a 1969 border conflict between the Soviet Union and a young Communist China. But recent decades have seen a robust arms trade between the two, and especially as Xi and Putin tightened ties more broadly a scaling up of military coordination. Between 2014 and 2023, the two militaries have held at least four and as many as 10 joint military exercises, war games or patrols each year, including multilateral drills with other countries, according to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Through July there were already seven such activities this year, the CSIS data as of that month show, with August and September drills bringing the total to 11, according to an additional CNN tally. Those drills and patrols have also appeared to observers to become increasingly complex for example involving both navy and air forces or more advanced equipment, as well taking place in farther-flung parts of the world. In a first this July, both the Chinese and Russian aircraft intercepted near Alaska took off from the same Russian air base, according to CSIS researchers, who also noted this was the partners first joint air patrol in the northern Pacific. Theyre not as interoperable as NATO allies, but they are improving and consolidating this strategic partnership or alignment, said Alexander Korolev, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Being able to work together as a single entity is a core ethos of NATO, the decades-old alliance of 32 member nations that is bound together by a mutual defense pact and is viewed by both China and Russia as a key military rival. The demonstration of Russia and Chinas consolidation has a clear audience: the US and its allies. Putin and Xi have been driven together by a shared view that the West aims to suppress their core interests. For Putin, those concerns include preventing NATO expansion, while Xi eyes control of Taiwan and South China Sea domination. Putin spelled out that context in his video address launching Ocean-2024, accusing the US and its allies of using the alleged Russian threat and the China containment policy as a pretext for building up their military presence along Russias western borders, as well as in the Arctic and in Asia-Pacific. The Russian leader also warned that the US planned to station intermediate and shorter-range missiles in forward deployment areas, including the Asia-Pacific region. This appeared to echo comments Putin made over the summer criticizing Washingtons and Berlins plan to deploy US long-range missiles in Germany from 2026, and of the US temporarily sending a powerful missile launcher for exercises in the Philippines earlier this year a move also condemned by Beijing. Both Russia and China want to show the US and its allies that their two militaries are becoming increasingly integrated and any challenge to either risks a combined response, said Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and former director of operations at the US Pacific Commands Joint Intelligence Center. They are saying in effect that we can do to you, that is, operate in your backyard like you have been doing in ours. The drills also provide opportunities for each to learn from the other as Russia, with its extensive battlefield experience, and China, which has become increasingly advanced in electronic military technologies, each have something to learn from the other, observers say. Korolev said its increasingly difficult in the wake of the Ukraine war and extensive Western sanctions to know the extent to which the latest drills are also sustaining Sino-Russian technical cooperation on arms, which previously was a feature of their years of steadily enhanced military collaboration. Russian military sailors attend the opening ceremony for a joint naval exercise in the South China Sea in July. - Russian Defense Ministry/AP Double threat? In Washington, the optics of the tightening ties are raising concerns over the risk of a simultaneous US military conflict with China and Russia, or even one that could also include other partners, like Iran, with which the two countries held naval drills earlier this year. There are also concerns about Moscows potential support for Beijing in any war in Asia-Pacific. There, Beijing and Washington navigate a host of potential flashpoints including Chinas designs on Taiwan and its mounting aggression in the South China Sea against US treaty ally the Philippines. Both Russia and China have also been warily watching the US strengthening of its longstanding ties with regional allies. But observers say that despite the growing coordination within joint drills, its unlikely there is a clear end goal past sending a strong signal at least for now. I dont know that you are going to see Russian planes supporting a Chinese attack on Taiwan, for example, or in a conflict with the Philippines are Russian vessels are going to support Chinese ones? I doubt it, said Elizabeth Wishnick, a senior research scientist in the China and Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Division at independent research group CNA. While Russia and China may have overlapping interests they are not on the same page on strategic goals in the region, she said. I dont think you can assume that just because theyre having more military exercises that theyre in lockstep, she said. In joint statements, China and Russia insist their relationship is one of non-alignment that doesnt target any third party. Each also has different geopolitical objectives in the region. Russia, for example, maintains close ties with Chinas rival India and is likely eager to prevent any Chinese ascendancy in Asia that deepens the power imbalance between Beijing and Moscow. In turn, China would also be wary of compromising its own strategic aims by acting too directly in concert with Russia but also of any action that could destabilize warming ties with its northern neighbor following decades of fractious relations that have previously spilled over into conflict. Simply put, China sides with no one but itself, said James Char, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological Universitys Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore. Beneath the surface, China and Russia continue to harbor deep mutual mistrust. But observers say theres still a potential range of ways the partnership could come to bear if conflict were to break out in Asia involving China. Russia would at least reciprocate with the kind of diplomatic and economic support that Beijing has extended to Moscow during the war in Ukraine, analysts say, and would also likely help provide weapons and discounted energy. When it comes to joining China in any potential conflict with the US, however, Russia may have more to lose and little to gain, according to Schuster, the retired Navy captain. But were China to act against Taiwan, the Russian military could potentially offer limited support like sending ships and air force patrols to waters around Japan, or possibly deploy one or two submarines into the Western Pacific, he said. That would give the US and its allies another factor of concern as they weigh how to respond, he said. But China will have to offer a lot to convince Russia to join that conflict. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Kurt Campbell, now the US deputy secretary of state, speaks next to senior South Korean official Kim Tae-hyo in Seoul in July 2023 (KIM HONG-JI) (KIM HONG-JI/POOL/AFP) China presents the top challenge to the United States in its history, surpassing the Cold War, a top US official said Wednesday, as he urged Europe to get tougher on Beijing. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, a key architect of a 15-year push for the United States to reorient its foreign policy toward Asia, also urged greater US investment in advanced technology to compete better with China. "There is a recognition that this is the most significant challenge in our history," Campbell told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Frankly, the Cold War pales in comparison to the multifaceted challenges that China presents," he said. "It's not just a military challenge; it's across the board. It is in the Global South. It is in technology. We need to step up our game across the board." Campbell's warning comes despite easing tensions between the United States and China under President Joe Biden, with Republican candidate Donald Trump more frequently speaking in Cold War terms of confronting Beijing. Biden has supported dialogue with China even as he presses ahead with tough measures including a sweeping ban on exports of advanced chips. Since a summit last year between Biden and President Xi Jinping in California, China has agreed to key US requests of restoring military communications and cracking down on ingredients in fentanyl, the drug behind an overdose epidemic in the United States. But the United States has also warned China about support for Russia in its war on Ukraine, saying that its technology exports have allowed Moscow to ramp up military production. "The challenge is, we've got to get more support here on this," Campbell said of US sanctions on Chinese firms, an issue he said he has been raising on visits to Europe. Campbell said that most European allies shared concerns on China's ties with Moscow but were still reeling from the "huge shock" of slashing energy imports from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. "For many of these countries, doing business with China has been a big deal for 15 or 20 years," he said. Acting on China, after Russia, could feel like "kind of a one-two punch. You can understand leaders in Europe have some anxieties." China argues that, unlike the United States, it is not providing weapons to either Russia or Ukraine, but the United States says it is providing support that has military uses. sct/md Kurt Campbell, now the US deputy secretary of state, speaks next to senior South Korean official Kim Tae-hyo in Seoul in July 2023 (KIM HONG-JI) (KIM HONG-JI/POOL/AFP) China presents the top challenge to the United States in all of its history, surpassing the Cold War, a top US official said Wednesday, as he urged Europe to get tougher on Beijing. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, a key architect of a 15-year push for the United States to reorient its foreign policy toward Asia, also urged greater US investment in advanced technology to compete better with China. "There is a recognition that this is the most significant challenge in our history," Campbell told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Frankly, the Cold War pales in comparison to the multifaceted challenges that China presents," he said. "It's not just a military challenge; it's across the board. It is in the Global South. It is in technology. We need to step up our game across the board." Asked about the remarks on Thursday, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry said they "disregard facts, openly and wantonly exaggerate the China threat, and clamour for camp confrontations". Regarding China as the United States' greatest challenge was a mistake, Lin Jian said at a regular press conference. "China urges the United States to abandon Cold War zero-sum thinking, stop spreading the China threat theory, and stop distorting China's strategic intentions," he added. Campbell's tough talk comes despite a thaw in relations between the United States and China under President Joe Biden. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks more frequently in Cold War terms about confronting Beijing. - 'Need more support' - Biden and his political heir Kamala Harris have supported dialogue with China even as their administration presses ahead with tough measures including a sweeping ban on exports of advanced chips. Biden's administration has also been pressing China about technology exports to Russia that US officials say have allowed Moscow to ramp up military production for its war in Ukraine. "The challenge is, we've got to get more support here on this," Campbell said of US sanctions on Chinese firms, an issue he said he has been raising on visits to Europe. Campbell said that most of Washington's European allies shared concerns about China's ties with Moscow but were still reeling from the "huge shock" of slashing energy imports from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. "For many of these countries, doing business with China has been a big deal for 15 or 20 years," he said. Acting on China, after Russia, could feel like "kind of a one-two punch. You can understand leaders in Europe have some anxieties." China argues that, unlike the United States, it is not providing weapons to either Russia or Ukraine, but Washington says Beijing is providing support that has military uses. - Pushing for prisoners - Campbell contended that the Biden administration has strengthened the US position since taking over from Trump, in part by bolstering alliances. "Four years ago, the general view globally was that China had eaten our lunch... I do not think that is what the general belief is today," he said. Since a summit last year between Biden and President Xi Jinping in California, China has agreed to key US requests of restoring military communications and cracking down on ingredients in fentanyl, the drug behind a US overdose epidemic. Meeting another key ask of the Biden administration, China freed an American pastor, David Lin, who had been detained since 2006, the State Department confirmed Sunday. The United States had raised the case of Lin and other detained Americans with China, including when Secretary of State Antony Blinken met his counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a meeting in Laos in July. The State Department considers two other US citizens, Kai Li and Mark Swidan, to be wrongfully detained by China, but activists say far more Americans are behind bars or prohibited from exiting. The mother of Swidan, detained over drug trafficking charges he denies, told a separate congressional hearing that Biden needs to engage with China on its proposals to free him. "His case is a clear injustice, yet it continues to be ignored by those with the power to act," she said in a statement to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Peter Humphrey, who was detained with his wife in China from 2013 to 2015 and has since become a specialist on such cases, said a "massive number" of Americans cannot publicly raise their cases for fear of retribution by Beijing. He said he was held with 11 other men in a packed cell with no privacy or furniture, sleeping on the floor and eating from dog bowls pushed under the bars. He said he lost 22 pounds (10 kilos) while in detention, which he described as "torture designed to crush the human spirit and force out a confession." bur-pfc/reb/sco Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan touched on the issue of the Zangazur Corridor during the discussion of foreign and internal security issues at the II World Armenian Summit. He again tried to draw attention with his ambitious statements. Approaching from the perspective of Armenia, he called the Zangazur road, which connects the territories of Azerbaijan, a "crossroads of the world" project and noted that Armenia is ready to open all roads passing through its territory. The Armenian Prime Minister also emphasised the importance of ensuring the security of his country once the roads are opened. "In Syunik, Tavush, Gegharkunik, and Vayots Dzor, we are ready to give our way to all possible places," added Pashinyan. It is interesting that when Pashinyan talks about the "Crossroads of the World" project, what does he mean by mentioning the security of the territorial integrity of his country? Pashinyan puts forward a question on what principles the roads should protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction of Armenia without detours and damage, that is, as in all countries of the world as a priority. The answer is as follows: only one principle plays a key role here - ending the blockade of Nakhchivan, which is the territory of Azerbaijan, and opening the Zangazur corridor, which will ensure the connection of the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, without reservation and unconditionally. Nikol Pashinyan touched on the current situation of Azerbaijan's communication lines with Iran as an alternative and noted that he would gratefully offer Azerbaijan simpler conditions. If Pashinyan is talking about the jurisdiction of the territory of Armenia, then the prime minister is advised to look carefully at history. His speech about the opening of communications under "conditions" comes from the fact that Armenia still regards the Almaty agreement as a sacred reference. Although the Almaty agreement reached between the countries in 1991 that left the Soviet Union also exists between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the mentioned document does not indicate exact figures about the territorial dimensions of either Azerbaijan or Armenia. The reason is that Armenia hides many authentic documents related to the territories of both countries. Armenia does not want to look back on its conventional borders with Azerbaijan since 1974. This shows Armenia as a suspicious party in its behaviour. There is no need to doubt it. If we just look at 1929, it is enough to say that until Mi?ri (Mehri), which is the main segment of the Zangazur corridor, as well as Syunik, Tavush, Gegharkunik, and Vayots Dzord territories, which Pashinyan emphasised in his speech, were gifted to the Armenians by Levon Mirzoyan, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, it was present in the maps of 1923. Although Armenia has erased this history from its page, Pashinyan, who has repeatedly said that he recognises the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, avoids these facts and never touches on this issue in his speeches. However, the truth is that those territories and the routes that cross through them, which were formerly Azerbaijani territories and whose names were changed, are being presented to Azerbaijan on the basis of "simplified conditions". NIAMEY, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 terrorists have been "neutralized" and significant enemy equipment destroyed, thanks to coordination between Nigerien ground and air forces, on Sunday in Niaktire, near the commune of Makalondi in the Tillabery region (west), reported the army on Wednesday in a news bulletin. According to the bulletin, a unit of the Nigerien Defense and Security Forces (FDS) stationed in Niaktire was targeted in a terrorist attack on Sunday afternoon. "Hordes of criminals, coming in hundreds, launched the assault but faced fierce resistance. Our soldiers, showing remarkable courage, held their position bravely, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy," the army said. "In response to the intensity of the attack, two units of special forces were quickly deployed as reinforcements -- one from Torodi and the other from Makalondi. Simultaneously, air assets were mobilized to carry out targeted strikes, annihilating the attackers to their last stronghold," it added. Furthermore, ground units' sweeping operations revealed "new enemy bodies as well as dozens of motorcycles, some riddled with bullets and others completely burnt." Despite this achievement, the FDS mourned the loss of five soldiers, and 27 others were injured, none of whom are in critical condition. They have been evacuated to Niamey for necessary medical care. The highest authorities of the country have commended the unwavering commitment of the Nigerien armed forces in defending national integrity. These areas are located in the "three borders" region (Niger-Mali-Burkina Faso), a new hub of insecurity in the extreme southwest of the country, fueled in recent years by other jihadist groups. Chinese aircraft carrier comes closer than ever to Japan FILE -The Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, sails into Hong Kong for a port call to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) garrison's presence in the semi-autonomous Chinese city and former British colony on July 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File) TOKYO (AP) A Chinese aircraft carrier entered an area near Japans shores for the first time on Wednesday, leading Tokyo to convey its serious concerns to Beijing over Chinas increasingly assertive military actions around Japan, officials said. The Chinese carrier Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, sailed between Japans westernmost island of Yonaguni and nearby Iriomote, entering the country's co-called contiguous zone, the Defense Ministry said. That's an area of sea beyond a country's territorial waters in which it can still exercise some control over maritime traffic, reaching up to 24 nautical miles offshore. The Liaoning's transit was part of a fleet movement Tuesday and Wednesday, during which Chinese warships also passed off the western coast of the disputed Japanese-controlled islets it calls the Senkakus, the ministry said. China claims the same islets, calling them the Diaoyus. Japans Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya told reporters that the latest incident is absolutely unacceptable from the perspective of the national and regional security. Last month, Japan said that a Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance airplane violated Japanese airspace. Days later, a Chinese survey ship breached the Japanese territorial water just off the southern prefecture of Kagoshima. Moriya said the Japanese government expressed our serious concerns to China through diplomatic channels on Wednesday. China has increasingly expanded and intensified military activities around Japan in recent years, Moriya said. We will continue to closely watch Chinese warships activity around Japan and the regional waters while ensuring information gathering and vigilance. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian defended the activity of his country's warships, saying it complies with Chinas domestic laws and international laws. Tokyo had reinforced defenses in southwestern Japan, including remote islands that are considered key to Japans defense strategy in the region. The Soviet-built Liaoning underwent extensive refurbishing before being commissioned in 2012 as China's first aircraft carrier. The country now has two more aircraft carriers, including one fully designed and built in China. The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. The aircraft carrier sailed through waters northeast of Taiwan on Wednesday (Anthony WALLACE) (Anthony WALLACE/AFP/AFP) A Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier sailed through waters northeast of Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards the southeast of Japan's Yonaguni Island, Taipei's government said. "During this period, the armed forces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement. The voyage came after the Chinese military tailed a US aircraft that flew through the politically sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Beijing's army said, vowing to "resolutely defend national sovereignty". "On September 17, a US P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait," Li Xi, a senior captain and spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said in a statement. "Theater troops are on constant high alert to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability." Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and claims jurisdiction over the waterway that separates the island from the Chinese mainland. The Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have sailed through the Taiwan Strait several times in recent years as Beijing intensified military and political pressure on the island. Taiwan's military has reported near daily sightings of Chinese warplanes, drones and naval vessels around the island. On Wednesday, the defence ministry said nine Chinese military aircraft, 13 naval vessels and one official ship were detected in a 24-hour window ending at 6:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday). It said in a second statement that a further 15 Chinese warplanes were detected on Wednesday, of which 12 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait "in conducting air-sea joint training" with Chinese naval vessels. "The People's Liberation Army also fired multiple launched rockets in the inland Gansu area," it added. aw/fox A handout photo released by Japan's Ministry of Defence Joint Staff Office shows the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning at sea in waters near Japan's southern Okinawa region (Handout) (Handout/Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff Office Public Relations/AFP) A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, Japan's military said on Wednesday, in the latest move by Beijing to anger the close US ally. Japan's government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area up to 24 nautical miles from the Japanese coast. "This incident is totally unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region, and we have expressed our serious concerns to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels," Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya said. China said the passage, which came less than a month after the first confirmed incursion into Japanese airspace by a Chinese surveillance aircraft, complied with international law. The Liaoning carrier and two Luyang III-class missile destroyers were seen sailing southwards between the islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Japanese defence ministry's joint staff said. Yonaguni and Iriomote are near the uninhabited and disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known by Beijing as the Diaoyus, which have long been a source of friction between the two countries. Taipei's government said earlier a Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning sailed through waters northeast of self-ruled Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards Yonaguni. Contiguous waters are a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond territorial waters where a country can exert some control, according to international maritime law. - Rattled - China's growing economic and military clout in the region and its assertiveness in territorial disputes -- most recently with the Philippines -- have rattled the United States and its allies. Analyst Yee Kuang Heng, of the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Public Policy, said China "definitely expected this massive carrier to be detected" by Japan. The ships may form part of a "strike group practising how they might deploy during a Taiwan contingency, and also pushing the envelope how far they can go needling Japan", Heng told AFP. "Diplomatically, it may be a form of 'gunboat diplomacy' signalling to Japan to stay out of any potential Taiwan contingency, and a reminder that Yonaguni, which hosts important (Japanese military) bases, could find itself right on the frontlines," he said. Tokyo has reported the presence of Chinese coastguard vessels, a naval ship, and a nuclear-powered submarine around the remote Senkaku islands. Japan scrambled fighter jets in August after the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, with Tokyo calling it a "serious violation" of its sovereignty. It is ramping up its defence spending with US encouragement, moving to acquire counter-strike capabilities and easing rules on arms exports. Tokyo is also providing funding and equipment such as patrol vessels to other countries in the region. In July, Japan agreed on a deal with the Philippines allowing troop deployments on each other's soil. Japan also scrambled fighter jets last week when Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years. The Tu-142 planes did not enter Japanese airspace but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, Tokyo said. Russian and Chinese warships held joint drills in the Sea of Japan this month, part of a major naval exercise that President Vladimir Putin said was the largest of its kind for three decades. The Japanese defence ministry said it had observed five Chinese naval ships entering the Sea of Japan and likely on their way to the joint manoeuvres. nf-kaf-burs-stu/pbt TAYLORVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) A Christian County man is facing charges after the Sheriffs Office said he impersonated a police officer and was in possession of a weapon despite previous felony convictions. Officials with the Christian County Sheriffs Office said Michael Snow of Rosamond was arrested on Sept. 13 following a report from a concerned citizen. The Sheriffs Office received that report two days prior and Snow was identified as the person impersonating an officer. Iroquois Co. teacher arrested on child pornography charges Snow was taken into custody without incident, officials said. Court records show hes been formally charged with being a felon in possession of a gun and impersonating a police officer. Snow made a court appearance on Tuesday, where he pleaded not guilty and requested a trial by jury. He was denied pretrial release. Officials praised the tip from the concerned citizen, saying that with just minimal information, the community was made safer. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Christina Robinson is our Educator of the Week! Christina Robinson is our Educator of the Week! JAMESTOWN, N.C. (WGHP) FOX8 honors Christina Robinson of The College Prep and Leadership Academy. Congrats, Mrs. Robinson! If you know of an educator who is worthy of this nomination please fill out the nomination form here. Educator of the Week is sponsored by the North Carolina Education Lottery. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. CHULA VISTA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) Chula Vista officials unanimously passed the homeless encampment ban, following the lead of several other cities. Passionate comments could be heard from the Chula Vista City Hall Tuesday as residents rallied to support the ban. Shove the homeless tent, big pile of shopping cartswhy dont you arrest them? said angry one resident. Pedestrian killed in North County crash identified Chula Vista and National City are joining the cities of San Diego, Escondido and San Marcos by banning urban camping in their areas. This comes after a struggle with homeless encampments that have flooded streets and parks. In Chula Vista, Mayor John McCann said after the Supreme Court ruling relaxing hurdles to homeless enforcement, the city is taking advantage of the new ways to get homeless people to comply with assistance. When we take someone off the streets, we give them an option to have a bed. We have a shelter with beds and we have other places to put them, said McCann. The mayor said hes hearted by cities cooperating, working as a united force to deal with the homeless population. Now, the McCann said we will start to see a real shift in the visible homelessness population. We also need to be able to have some leverage to be able to remove them in order to be able to protect our vulnerable community members and small businesses, the mayor continued. Now the question is: where will the homeless who refuse help go? Other cities across San Diego are all also considering camping bans as they watch the homeless population start to move around the county. McCann said he will not let his parks get taken over again. We need this ordinance implemented to be able to reopen Harborside Park, he explained. The ordinance is set for a second reading at the next city council meeting before it goes into effect. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. On August 24, Community Health Worker AmeriCorps Members from Health Brigade visited the East End of Henrico to participate in the Bon Secours Wellness event. The CHWs shared important information with participants regarding health, educational and social issues that impact the community. L to R: Natalie Ramos, HB Social Work & Support Service Manager Jenee Johnson, Andrea Vinas (courtesy of Health Brigade) Lawmakers recently designated $6.4 million to fund Community Health Workers (CHWs) within the commonwealths local health districts over the next two years. Its a critical investment in Virginias health care workforce, and one that all of us should be celebrating but theres an opportunity for further action. Youve likely heard of CHWs over the last few years. They are making headlines for all the right reasons. For one, these frontline health professionals played an outsized role in reducing vaccine hesitancy and connecting people to resources during the pandemic. CHWs are public health professionals who come from or have an unusually close understanding of the communities they serve. They help patients access important safety net services like food, housing and transportation assistance all factors that contribute to a persons wellbeing. In short, they support people so they can comfortably and confidently navigate health care settings by leveraging their personal experiences. Raeann Ramshaw, a CHW at Ballad Health System in Southwest Virginia, is just one example. Every day is different, but she frequently helps people navigate SNAP paperwork, find rental assistance or access specialty medical programs in her hometown. Community health centers, nonprofits and local health districts are seeing the value of CHWs and are increasingly integrating them into care teams. Today, there are nearly 1,300 CHWs across Virginia, including approximately 290 certified CHWs who have completed substantial training supervision and education requirements. CHWs are invaluable assets to the communities they serve. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government recognized their importance and provided funding to support them. Now, it is crucial we ensure sustained long-term funding. There is a logical solution: to bill CHW services through Virginias Medicaid program. Over the years, the federal government has created several pathways for billing CHW supports through Medicaid. Currently, 15 state Medicaid plans authorize coverage for CHW services, which are designed to improve health outcomes and save program costs. Five states cover CHW services through Medicaid waivers, which allow states to test innovative ideas to improve health. Collaborating with Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his administration as well as members of the legislature on a comprehensive strategy is essential to secure this funding, which is vital for the viability of the CHW workforce and the health of our communities. With a focus on improving the health and well-being of Virginians through access to high-quality health care coverage and services, the states Medicaid program already covers care from doctors and nurses. Including reimbursements for CHWs, who are often on these care teams, is the missing link. This is a wise investment because we know CHW interventions work, and we have local data to prove it. Ballad Health was one of five health care organizations across the country to participate in a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute project that examined the impact of CHWs. Researchers found patients who were connected to CHWs experienced 29% fewer hospital stays than patients who were not connected to them. The study mirrors previous research that shows for every dollar invested in CHW programs, Medicaid payers see a $2.47 return on investment within a year, generated through reduced hospitalizations. While calculating the costs of avoidable hospital visits can be hard to measure, helping patients access care outside of emergency rooms for non-emergency care can save people and our state millions of dollars. One analysis by Virginia Health Information in 2020 showed the total cost of avoidable emergency room visits for symptoms like urinary tract infections, back problems and upper respiratory infections was more than $75 million, compared to $8 million for similar care at a primary care provider. When it comes to reducing health care costs and improving patient care, CHWs are an important part of the solution. CHWs are making so much progress in the commonwealth because they go above and beyond every day to support people and disrupt health disparities. In the Mount Rogers health district, Grace Lowe works throughout the community sharing information about free NARCAN trainings, while also helping families connect with Medicaid, WIC and other important programs. You can regularly find her at local events and fairs because she is focused on building a foundation of trust when it comes to accessing health care and safety net resources. More than four hours away, CHW Emely Baez Salazar visits with Latino community members and encourages them to access health services at Health Brigade. Her outreach is helping connect dozens of new people with comprehensive care at the free clinic. Virginias CHWs know the challenges of their communities and are equipped to work with their local health care system to create solutions. Im immensely grateful that theyre such a prominent part of our healthcare safety net. CHWs are essential, and its just as essential we find sustainable funding solutions to help them continue making progress. The health of Virginians depends on it. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (left) and House Speaker Sherman Packard (right) are among the Republicans who signed the amicus brief. (Ethan DeWitt | New Hampshire Bulletin) In 2022s Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court erased nearly 50 years of precedent by finding Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and overturning it. This year, a group of Republican lawmakers are hoping the state Supreme Court takes a similar approach to two decisions that have underpinned New Hampshires school funding system for decades. And theyre citing Dobbs as a roadmap. In an amicus brief filed to the Supreme Court this month, 30 House and Senate Republicans, including House Speaker Sherman Packard and House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, argue the New Hampshire Supreme Court wrongly decided the two Claremont cases in the 1990s and that those cases should be overturned. Abrogating the errant precedent rather than reaffirming or extending it might better preserve the laws coherence, and curtail the precedents disruptive effects, the lawmakers argue. The Claremont decisions found that the state is required to provide an adequate education for every student. But the Republican lawmakers argue the rulings are based on an incorrect reading of the state constitution, and that towns and cities are responsible for education costs, not the state. The brief was filed as the court takes on a pair of challenges to the states school funding model. Plaintiffs in those lawsuits say the current system is unfair to less wealthy towns and the state is constitutionally required to pay more to schools. Last November, Rockingham Superior Court Judge David Ruoff agreed with the plaintiffs, finding that the state is paying too little per pupil for public schools for them to provide a public education, forcing many towns to raise local property taxes to fill the gap. Ruoff ordered the state to pay at least $7,356.01 per pupil, a near doubling from the current $4,100 per student payment; that ruling has been stayed by the high court. The Supreme Court is expected to hear an appeal of that decision in the coming months. In filing their amicus brief a measure that allows them to request a ruling from the court without being a plaintiff or defendant the Republicans are seeking to overturn a pair of landmark decisions that hang over the present-day lawsuits. The first Claremont case, Claremont School District v. Governor of New Hampshire, known as Claremont I, established that students have a right in the state constitution to an adequate education, and that the state has a duty to ensure that education. In that opinion, decided in 1993, the Supreme Court did not specify how the state should ensure that education, directing the governor and Legislature to do so. In a 1997 ruling, known as Claremont II, the Supreme Court built on its earlier decision and found that in order to fulfill its duty to provide an adequate education, the state must develop a school funding system that taxes its residents in an equal manner to do so. Plaintiffs in the two current lawsuits, Contoocook Valley School District et al. v. State of New Hampshire and Steven Rand et al. v. State of New Hampshire, say the state has failed to meet the obligations imposed by the court in 1997, that taxpayers in different towns do not pay equal rates of taxes for education, and that students do not have equal access to quality public education. The Republican lawmakers are taking a different approach in their amicus brief from the New Hampshire Attorney Generals Office, which is defending the school funding system. That office has argued the current system is constitutional and that plaintiffs have not established that the state is providing less than needed for an adequate education. The state has also said the courts are barred from demanding lawmakers spend specific amounts on schools under the separation of powers doctrines. But the attorney general has not suggested the court overturn the Claremont decisions. Republican lawmakers are making that request separately. The lawmakers say the state Supreme Court in 1993 and 1997 wrongly interpreted a portion of the state constitution Part II, Article 83 as conferring on the state a duty to provide education. That provision reads in part: it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools In the Claremont cases, the court interpreted the word cherish to create an obligation on the state to ensure that all students receive an adequate education. The Republican lawmakers, however, say article 83 should be read in conjunction with another portion of the state constitution, Part I, Article 6. That article states that the several parishes, bodies, corporate, or religious societies shall at all times have the right of electing their own teachers, and of contracting with them for their support or maintenance or both. The lawmakers argue the constitution should be read to require an education for all students, but to give localities control over how to pay for and provide that education. The custom, belief and perceived need of late eighteenth century New England was that education should be kept local, the amicus brief states. At the same time, the need was felt that no locality should fail to provide public education. Article 6 preserved locally provided and locally funded education as a matter of right, but authorized the Legislature to compel every locality to provide it, at their expense. That argument clashes with much of the reasoning behind Claremont I, in which the Supreme Court cited laws and political speeches from around the time of the ratification of the New Hampshire Constitution in 1784 that suggested that state leaders considered education to be the responsibility of the state. In one 1771 speech, for instance, Gov. John Wentworth told the Legislature of what was then the colony of New Hampshire that: the promoting of learning very obviously calls for Legislative Care. The Insufficiency of our present Laws for this purpose, must be too evident, seeing nine tenths of your Towns are wholly without Schools, or have such vagrant foreign Masters as are much worse than none For most of the 18th and 19th centuries, New Hampshire schools were paid for by local property taxes that were raised locally and required by the state, and that were proportional to the property valuations in each town. The lawmakers devote much of their filing to the argument that the New Hampshire Supreme Court does not need to be fully bound by its own precedent, known as stare decisis, drawing direct comparisons to the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Dobbs. Unless the court overturns the Claremont decisions, New Hampshire courts will continue to confront the question of how much the state should fund the schools and the lawsuits will never end, the lawmakers say. The ask is dramatic. Should the court overturn the Claremont cases, the state would no longer be required to fund the adequacy formula, the structure that gives assistance to towns that cannot raise enough for their schools through the statewide education property tax (SWEPT) alone. That would allow lawmakers to significantly reduce or eliminate state spending on education, if desired. To the 30 Republican lawmakers, restoring those decisions to the Legislature, not the courts, is appropriate. Public school funding advocates say the request is over the line. Reacting to the amicus brief, Zack Sheehan, executive director of the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project, an organization that supports the lawsuits, said lawmakers were seeking to avoid responsibility for not fulfilling the requirements of the Claremont rulings. They are trying to blame the court for their own failure to comply with the courts rulings over the past 30 years, Sheehan said in a statement. He added: The logical extension of this brief is that the state will stop paying adequacy aid altogether if Claremont is overturned, and that would have drastically negative consequences on students and taxpayers in every community in the state. Signing the amicus brief are Reps. Packard, of Londonderry; Osborne, of Auburn; Keith Ammon, of New Boston; Harry Bean, of Gilford; Jose Cambrils, of Loudon; Glenn Cordelli, of Tuftonboro; Keith Erf, of Weare; Juliet Harvey-Bolia, of Tilton; Gregory Hill, of Northfield; William Infantine, of Manchester; Jim Kofalt, of Wilton; Rick Ladd, of Haverhill; Wayne MacDonald, of Londonderry; Kristine Perez, of Londonderry; Katy Peternel, of Wolfeboro; Andrew Renzullo, of Hudson; Alvin See, of Loudon; John Sellers, of Bristol; Vanessa Sheehan, of Milford; Joe Sweeney, of Salem; Chris True, of Sandown; Len Turcotte, of Barrington; Michael Vose, of Epping; Scott Wallace, of Danville; Thomas Walsh, of Hooksett; and Ken Weyler, of Kingston. Republican Sens. Tim Lang, of Sanbornton, and Howard Pearl, of Loudon, also signed the brief. The brief was filed by independent attorney Gregory Sorg, of Franconia, a former Republican representative. City management has chosen OKC's new public transportation director. Who is he? Jesse Rush, then-assistant director of operations at EMBARK, speaks with media in Oklahoma City in July 2024. He was promoted to EMBARK director in September. The project manager who oversaw construction of Oklahoma City's first streetcar and bus rapid transit services is now the city's new public transportation director, officials have announced. City Manager Craig Freeman said he had selected Jesse Rush as the director of EMBARK, Oklahoma City's public transportation system, and administrator of the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority, or COTPA. Rush will be replacing Jason Ferbrache, the longtime public transportation and parking director who'd also been serving as an Assistant City Manager since 2022. Ferbrache is expected to continue in his assistant city manager role. "Jesse understands the critical role public transportation plays in the lives of metro area residents," Freeman said in a news release. "He has the skills to lead transit through another period of growth as we add two more bus rapid transit lines over the next few years through MAPS 4, launch micro transit options and implement OKC Moves, our fixed route bus transformation plan." A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Rush started his career with the city in 2014 as a project manager at the MAPS office, helping to guide the voter-approved MAPS 3 OKC Streetcar project. He became the city's first streetcar manager in 2017, where he oversaw implementation of the streetcar track's design, its overhead electricity wire system, the 22 streetcar stations, and the streetcar's storage and maintenance facilities. Jesse Rush, director of Oklahoma City's public transportation and parking department. In 2020, Rush was promoted to the rank of the public transportation department's assistant director, where he was responsible for operations and maintenance of EMBARK, including Oklahoma River Cruises, the streetcar and the city's first RAPID NW bus line. During a previous interview in July, Rush touted the celebration of the RAPID NW bus line's 250,000th rider as vindication of "a necessity that maybe we didn't know we needed." He also told Mass Transit Magazine that his usage of the subway system during his first visit to New York City in 2012 helped him gain a better understanding of how much an efficient public transportation system can break down socioeconomic barriers. "The most challenging part of my job is encouraging residents of a car-centric city to use public transit," Rush said in 2020. "Since 1950, just like all other cities, Oklahoma City has prioritized the automobile. My hope is that by continuing to bring advanced modes of public transportation to Oklahoma City, we can encourage residents to use public transit." "As the public transit agency in Oklahoma City, we have to passionately strive to provide a public transit system that allows people of all socioeconomic levels access to transit." More: Development, rather than ridership, a measure of success for Oklahoma City streetcar In a statement Monday, COTPA Chair Barney Semtner applauded Rush's promotion and highlighted Rush's vision for a world-class transit system. "Public transportation is one of the most important services Oklahoma City provides its residents," Semtner said. "Jesse has the leadership skills required to help us continue growing a transportation system that is accessible to everyone." This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC announces new public transportation director Monday TOPEKA (KSNT) Topekans are being invited to take part in National Good Neighbor Day at a local library later this month. The City of Topeka posted to social media Wednesday, Sept. 18 about the special upcoming event which will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Librarys Learning Center. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about community engagement and getting involved in their local neighborhoods. People will also be able to learn how to use the SeeClickFix app to help improve the city and get safety tips from the Topeka Police Department. Activities for children, such as face painting and a balloon artist, will also be on site. Southeast Topeka intersection closes Wednesday for water line repairs You can find the library at 1515 Southwest 10th Avenue in Topeka. For more information on Good Neighbor Day at the library, you can contact Bianca Burnett at lburnett@topeka.org or call 785-368-3663. Gnd Resources by Matthew Self on Scribd This embedded content is not available in your region. 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. A man stands near a damaged house after an earthquake struck Kertasari village in Bandung regency, West Java, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua) JAKARTA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A shallow earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia's West Java province on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring at least 82 others, officials reported. According to Indonesia's meteorology, climatology, and geophysics agency, the earthquake struck at 9:41 a.m. local time (0241 GMT), with the epicenter located 24 km southeast of Bandung regency and at a depth of 10 km. An elementary school student with asthma was rushed outside his school building during the tremors. He collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where he died, said Erwin Nurdiansyah, a press officer for Bandung regency's disaster agency. Abdul Muhari, spokesman for the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency, told Xinhua that the hardest-hit area was Bandung regency, followed by Garut regency. In Bandung alone, 81 people were injured, and all victims from both regions were transported to hospitals and health clinics for treatment. "The assessments are ongoing, but we estimate that around 700 houses have suffered damage, from minor to serious levels," Muhari said, adding that nearly 100 health, educational, religious, and public facilities, including markets, were also damaged. He added that the disaster forced 450 people to seek shelter in government buildings and other facilities. Emergency tents have been set up, and aid such as medicines, mattresses, blankets, tents, and baby supplies have been distributed, though more are needed. A woman walks near a damaged house after an earthquake struck Kertasari village in Bandung regency, West Java, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua) People stand near a damaged house after an earthquake struck Kertasari village in Bandung regency, West Java, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua) People take a rest in a temporary shelter after an earthquake struck Kertasari village in Bandung regency, West Java, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua) A man cleans his damaged house after an earthquake struck Kertasari village in Bandung regency, West Java, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua) A damaged building is seen after an earthquake struck Kertasari village in Bandung regency, West Java, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua) People clean a damaged house after an earthquake struck Kertasari village in Bandung regency, West Java, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua) In a society that often demands retribution, writes guest columnist, we must remember that true justice is not about vengeance but about restoring what has been broken. As a faith leader in Oklahoma, I feel compelled to raise my voice in support of clemency for Emmanuel Littlejohn. His case raises profound moral and ethical questions that call us to reflect on the true meaning of justice. In our faith traditions, justice is not merely about retribution but also about mercy, redemption and the possibility of transformation. In the case of Emmanuel Littlejohn, these principles urge us to act with compassion and fairness. Im asking Gov. Kevin Stitt to spare Mr. Littlejohns life by commuting his sentence. Littlejohn was convicted and sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1992 murder of Kenneth Meers during a robbery in Oklahoma City. Although Littlejohn, then a 20-year-old, has always maintained he did not pull the trigger, he was present during the crime. For over three decades, Littlejohn has expressed deep remorse for his involvement in the crime. He has taken full responsibility for his actions, and his time behind bars has been marked by significant personal growth and spiritual development. He has become a model prisoner, dedicating himself to self-improvement and helping others within the prison system. This transformation is a powerful testament to the human capacity for change, even in the most difficult circumstances. On Aug. 7, 2024, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Littlejohn. This recommendation was not made lightly; it was the result of careful consideration of the facts, the legal arguments and, most importantly, Littlejohns profound personal growth and rehabilitation. The boards decision reflects a recognition that justice must be balanced with mercy, particularly in cases where the death penalty is at stake. Clemency does not mean that the seriousness of the crime is overlooked or that the pain of Kenneth Meers family is forgotten. Instead, it acknowledges that justice must also include fairness. The death penalty is an irreversible punishment that allows no room for grace or the possibility of redemption. As people of faith, we are called to uphold the dignity of every human life, even when that life has been marred by serious wrongdoing. The teachings of Jesus emphasize forgiveness, compassion and the transformative power of love. We are reminded that mercy is not a sign of weakness but a reflection of our highest values. By choosing clemency, we choose to believe in the possibility of change and the sanctity of life. Oklahomas governor now faces the weighty decision of whether to accept the boards recommendation for clemency. I urge Gov. Stitt to consider not only the facts of the case but the broader context of compassion and mercy. Clemency for Littlejohn would be a profound act of faith, demonstrating that we believe in the power of forgiveness and the potential for redemption. More: Oklahoma's capital punishment system is broken; reforms needed before new executions | Guest In a society that often demands retribution, we must remember that true justice is not about vengeance but about restoring what has been broken. Clemency for Emmanuel Littlejohn is not a sign of weakness; it is a profound act of faith, demonstrating that we believe in the power of forgiveness and the potential for transformation. Let us choose mercy, let us choose justice and let us choose life. The Rev. Jon Middendorf Rev. Jon Middendorf is senior pastor at First Church of the Nazarene in Oklahoma City. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Gov. Stitt urged to consider the facts and grant clemency to Littlejohn FILE PHOTO: The Bridge Fire burns the mountain communities to the northeast of Los Angeles, in Wrightwood By Andrew Hay (Reuters) - Wildfires around Los Angeles have burned rapidly in the past week after vegetation growth and record heat blamed on climate change, and Southern California blazes could get worse once seasonal winds start, according to climate scientists. Three blazes in mountains around the second-largest U.S. city have destroyed more than 230 houses and other structures, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate suburbs and towns since Sept. 5. The Los Angeles mountains are ripe for fire after consecutive wet winters created an abundance of grass and brush that dried out during recent triple-digit heat. "That one-two punch, that sequence, means you grow all this extra potential fuel for fires and then you dry it out to extreme levels," said Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist whose research suggests California's rising temperatures create wetter winters. Gusty winds have sent wildfires largely eastward, away from suburbs and towns. Santa Ana winds that typically start this month blow westward toward densely populated areas. "As long as the Santa Ana winds are blowing, we run the risk of big fires until we really get our first rains," said Alex Hall, a professor in UCLA's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Hall said authorities and residents need to rethink any activities that cause human-made sparks and flames responsible for nearly all fires. The Airport Fire in the Santa Ana Mountains 45 miles (72 km)southeast of Los Angeles began with a spark from a digger moving boulders to block vehicle access to a wilderness area. The 24,000-acre (9,700-hectare) blaze, now 31 percent contained, has destroyed 160 houses and other structures. Fires often are a natural occurrence in the mountains. Their suppression over the past century has led to a build up of fallen trees, scrub and other fuel. The Bridge Fire about 35 miles (56 km) northeast of downtown last week grew tenfold to 49,000 acres (20,000 hectares) in 24 hours as it tore over fuel-packed mountains that had not burned in at least two decades. That blaze is now at 55,000 acres (22,000 hectares) and 37 percent contained. California wildfires have so far burned nearly four times as much land in 2024 as at the same time during last year's benign fire season, according to Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or CAL FIRE data. Burned acreage this year is slightly above the five-year average. Nine of the state's 10 largest wildfires on record have been in the past decade. Nationally, wildfires have scorched 7.3 million acres (2.95 million hectares) this year, more than the full-year average of around 7 million acres (2.83 million hectares) over the past decade, according to National Interagency Fire Center data. (Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Will Dunham) CNN Airs Montage of Trump Doing Exactly What Vance Told Dems NOT to Do JD Vance attacked Democrats earlier this week for calling Donald Trump a threat to democracy after an apparent second assassination attempt on his life Sunday. The Republican vice presidential candidates remarks Monday came the same day the former president blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris rhetoric as the reason he had been shot at. Vance Blames Everyone But GOP for Political Violence Trumps running mate even went so far as to suggest the lack of assassination attempts on Harris life shows Democratic rhetoric has been more dangerous and warned that calling an election opponent fascist could lead to violence. We can debate one another, but we cannot tell the American people that one candidate is a fascist and that, if hes elected, it is going to be the end of American democracy, said the Ohio senator. What he forgot to mention is that Trump has repeatedly called his opponents just that, often in extravagant broadsides in which hes called Harris a Marxist to boot. During Tuesdays edition of CNN NewsNight, host Abby Phillip cut to a compilation of Trump doing exactly what Vance said needed to stop, over and over again. This is communist, this is Marxist, this is fascist, Trump says in one clip of his Democrat opponents. Shes a Marxist, shes a fascist, he says of Harris in another. Trump paradoxically states in one of the clips CNN pulled that, if Harris wins, Americans will be living in a full-blown banana republic ruled by an anarchy and a tyranny. Have Democrats called Trump a threat? Yes. On CBS Sunday Morning in August, Biden called Trump a genuine danger to American security, Harris has repeatedly called him a threat to our democracy, and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, asked at a July 27 appearance Are they a threat to democracy? Yes. Are they going to take our rights away? Yes. At the same appearance, Walz even alluded to Republicans as fascists who depend on fear. So, if Vances claim that politicians need to tone down the rhetoric is to be heeded, he may need to speak to his running mate, who has used the very talking points he has condemned, for months and more frequently than his opponents. 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. Gov. Roy Cooper (Photo: Galen Bacharier) A coalition of about 200 public education and immigrant rights organizations delivered a letter today to Gov. Roy Cooper urging him to veto House Bill 10, a multi-part bill recently passed by the Republican-led legislature that funds North Carolinas private school voucher program for the next decade and requires state sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This bill would take money from our local public schools, giving it to unaccountable private schools and the wealthiest North Carolina families and impose onto sheriffs and local police departments mandates to tear apart immigrant families, the coalitions letter said. The bill, which passed last week, is the result of months of negotiations among GOP leaders that followed their failure to reach an agreement before recessing the legislative session at the end of June. In addition to appropriating funds to clear the waitlist of 54,000 students seeking vouchers, the bill which GOP sponsors characterized as a mini-budget also allocates money for programs favored by Democrats, including Medicaid, rural internet infrastructure, and enrollment growth in schools. The mini-budget strengthens our commitment to school choice for all NC families as well as public education, with historic investments in enrollment growth for both K-12 public schools and our community colleges, House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) said. Furthermore, thanks to language requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, North Carolina will also be better equipped to weather the Biden-Harris illegal immigration crisis at our southern border and protect our communities. Gov. Cooper, a Democrat, has until Saturday to take action on the package. He and other Democrats have expressed strong opposition to the voucher program, calling on lawmakers to use this money for public schools instead. Republicans hold a supermajority in the North Carolina General Assembly, which has allowed them to override all of Coopers previous vetoes this year. The advocates letter criticizes Republican lawmakers over the states failure to fully fund the Leandro plan, a court-ordered blueprint that aims to adequately fund the states K-12 schools so that they comply with a constitutional mandate to provide every child in the state access to a sound basic education. Our government has a duty to provide equal access to education and protection for all. This latest budget scheme contradicts the needs of North Carolinians students and their families, from all backgrounds, the letter said. The letter also raises constitutional concerns about the requirement to require local sheriffs cooperate with ICE. Some sheriffs have previously stated that forcing them to hold someone otherwise entitled to release without a court order and merely upon a request from ICE is unconstitutional. Coastal flood advisory issued for South Florida with the annual return of the king tides The annual creep of the king tides could push bulging brackish water into coastal streets this week with the tug of September's full harvest moon. National Weather Service meteorologists have all of South Florida under a coastal flood advisory through at least Friday afternoon with the City of West Palm Beach pegging Thursday as having the highest tide during this first bout with the autumn nuisance. "While we do not expect widespread flooding, there is potential for localized flooding, so we want residents to be aware, prepare, and stay vigilant," a city alert sent out Tuesday notes. High tides are magnified during full and new moons as a sun and lunar alignment sandwiches the Earth, creating a greater gravitational pull. In the fall, seasonal elements also contribute to high tide flooding as summer-warmed water expands and the Gulf Stream current is thought to slow, piling more water along Florida's coast. That means minor to moderate flooding in coastal areas, including on the mainland along streets that hug the Lake Worth Lagoon and Intracoastal Waterway. The cities of Boynton Beach and Delray Beach also sent alerts to residents cautioning about the king tides. #KingTides could impact #BoyntonBeach from Thur., Sept. 19 - Sat., Sept. 21. These naturally occurring high tides bring the highest tides of the year to our coastal community and may cause localized flooding in low-lying areas, roads and parks. Questions? https://t.co/7BO2qBiM80. pic.twitter.com/zCD1F60W8V City of Boynton (@cityofboynton) September 18, 2024 More: The tide is high, and getting higher, and higher, and higher High tide times at the Lake Worth Pier over the next few days include 9:01 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18; 9:31 a.m. and 9:49 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19; and 10:24 a.m. and 10:39 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. Brian McNoldy, a University of Miami senior research associate who tracks the tides at Virginia Key, said the moon is at perigee its closest approach to Earth this month on Sept. 18. But king tides can occur days ahead of the full moon and days after. Weather, including strong east winds that push water into inlets and heavy rains can also exacerbate king tide flooding. More: Experts say climate change is causing record high flooding during king tides The other king tide dates this fall include days surrounding the full moons of Oct. 17 and Nov. 15. According to NOAA, which issues a king tide forecast, high tide flooding events have increased because of sea level rise, nearly doubling since the year 2000. And it's worse in the southeast United States where there was an increase of more than 400% to 1,100% in high tide flooding days compared with the year 2000. But sea levels don't rise as evenly as bathtub water and some years will see less king tide flooding depending on outside influences such as currents, wind and waves. Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: King tides in Palm Beach County: Watch out for flooded streets Coffee culture correlates with voting? What does that mean in Rhode Island? I'm generally leery of studies that rely on Google searches to draw conclusions. It seems a stretch that online searches predict behavior. Who among us hasn't searched for something out of curiosity? Many of those somethings have no relation to our lives. Or maybe they do? Let's discuss. Coffee and politics The subject today is a new study declaring there is a clear correlation between a state's political leaning and its overall coffee culture. It comes from Coffeeness, a website and coffee resource with coffeemaker reviews, recipes and a barista blog. Does coffee consumption predict political views? Or influence them? It concludes that Democratic-leaning states show a stronger affinity for coffee overall. It also says that Democratic-leaning states generally have more coffee shops per capita. The Northeast and Pacific regions emerged as the nation's coffee hotspots with coffee-loving states named as Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York in the East; and California, Washington and Hawaii in the West. Massachusetts rated 89 on a "coffee obsession score." New York ranked 83 and Connecticut 81. Rhode Island is third in New England with a 60 on the coffee obsession scale. That compares with Ohio at 61 and New Jersey at 67. The numbers are different in the south with a lowly 3 for Mississippi's coffee obsession; 17 for Arkansas and 16 for Kentucky. Florida is at 38 which makes me think snowbirds from Rhode Island and Massachusetts raised that number. The study's authors conclude that Southern states, which tend to vote Republican, showed lower levels of coffee consumption. They call it "a surprising correlation between political affiliation and coffee consumption in the United States." Coffee doesn't rule in the South? Various factors could contribute to the lower levels of coffee mania in southern states, they suggest. Those include climate as a hot espresso or latte isn't as appreciated in the heat. Is coffee more appreciated where the temperatures are lower? A new survey suggests that's true. This latte at Bolt Coffee has a rosetta pattern. They also cited accessibility, saying there's no abundance of coffee shops in Southern states. Coffee shops are more popular in big cities like Portland and New York City. They also named the Southern tea culture as a reason adding the South is known for its love of sweet tea. Is there no room for coffee? Maybe not. Methodology How did Coffeeness do their Google search data analysis? They examined Google search volumes for coffee-related terms referring to both home and coffee shop consumption, including "espresso machine," "coffee maker," "coffee grinder," "coffee near me" and just plain "coffee." They divided the total sum of the results for each state by the number of residents in that state to find out the number of searches per capita. They assigned between 1-50 points to each state with 50 representing the highest number of searches per capita. They also did a "Coffee Shop Density Analysis" using various sources to find out the number of people per coffee shop in each state. They assigned 1-50 points to each state, with 50 being the highest number of people per coffee shop. To get their final results, states were ranked based on these factors, creating a comprehensive "coffee obsession" score. The results were then cross-referenced with typical voting patterns in presidential elections. Thus, the correlation between political affiliation and coffee consumption in the United States. Big coffee drinkers lean in to vote Democratic. Disclaimer The study aims to provide insights into cultural and consumer trends rather than make political statements, says Coffeeness. But they do make this conclusion: "Our research reveals a fascinating link between political leanings and coffee culture in America. While coffee lovers can be found in every state, there's a clear trend showing that Democratic-leaning states are more coffee-obsessed than their Republican counterparts. The data shows a striking divide, with blue states dominating the top of our rankings." Coffee milk + Dunkin'? New latte is what RI fever dreams are made of How coffee obsessed is RI? "Rhode Island might be the smallest state, but they're brewing big!" That's from a study from 2022 by Clever Real Estate that named Providence the 5th Best Coffee City in America. They just updated that study for 2024 and Providence now ranks a still very respectable No. 6 among The Best Coffee Cities in the U.S. The city has 17.3 coffee shops for every 100,000 residents. That surpasses the average city in the study, which has 12.6. Portland Oregon came in at No. 1 with 26.2 coffee shops per 100,000 residents. They also added this interesting detail about our hometown: "With 8.07 donut shops per 100,000 residents, the most in the study, Providence has 304% more donut shops per capita than the average city, which has just 2 per 100,000 residents." In the Best 15 Coffee Cities study, Providence stands out as the highest-ranking city with a preference for Dunkin over Starbucks. The top five cities with the most Dunkin coffee lovers are led by Providence at No. 1. Providence stands out as the highest-ranking city with a preference for Dunkin over Starbucks. The top five cities with the most Dunkin coffee lovers are led by Providence at No. 1; Hartford at No. 2; and Boston at No. 3. Baltimore ranked No. 4 while Chicago came in at No. 5. As for price, Providence ranks low but that's good. "In Providence, indulging in a cappuccino comes at an average cost of $4.39, presenting a more budget-friendly option than the $5.16 coffee drinkers would pay in the average city in our study," wrote Clever. "Providence coffee is a noteworthy 15% lower than the average cost nationwide." The worst 5 coffee cities are all in the South, echoing the politics study. They are Houston, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia, San Antonio, Texas and Dallas, Texas. Houston is home to just 4.9 coffee shops per 100,000 residents. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: States that vote blue drink more coffee, says study from Coffeeness In Colombia, a river's 'rights' swept away by mining and conflict Fishmongers along Colombia's Atrato river complain they can't find buyers for their catch, because residents fear being poisoned (Raul ARBOLEDA) (Raul ARBOLEDA/AFP/AFP) In 2016, a Colombian court sent a powerful statement on environmental protection by ruling that a crucial river in the northwestern Choco jungle, which was being decimated by illegal mining, had legal rights. The landmark decision, which came the same year the government inked an historic peace deal with the FARC guerrillas who controlled much of Choco, compelled the state to protect the Atrato river, the lifeblood of the region. A new dawn seemed possible in Colombia's poorest, conflict-scarred department, where dozens of children had died from mercury poisoning due to illegal gold mining in the river. But eight years later, the Atrato is still dotted with illegal dredging barges that churn up the riverbed in search of gold. New armed groups have filled the void left by FARC fighters. Locals still fear health risks from the river's turbid waters. As Colombia prepares to host the COP16 UN summit on biodiversity in Cali from October 21 to November 1, the plight of the Atrato underscores the challenges facing conservationists in conflict-ridden areas. The Atrato snakes 750 kilometers (460 miles) across Choco, from the Andes and through thick jungle to the Caribbean Sea. In the near absence of paved roads in the region, the river and its tributaries are the main conduits for the transport of people and goods, as well as being a vital source of food. "It is like an arterial vein... without it we would not exist," Claudia Rondan, a 41-year-old environmental activist from the Embera Indigenous community, told AFP. - River is 'sick' - Rondan is one of 14 leaders from riverside communities who act as "guardians" of the Atrato, helping to ensure compliance with the 2016 court ruling. But she feels powerless to revive a waterway she describes as "sick". Ramon Cartagena, a 59-year-old environmentalist and guardian near the river's source in El Carmen de Atrato, is equally despairing. "There is no life at all in the river," he said. "Our parents left us ... a translucent, clear river, and today we have an obligation to do the same and I think we are failing." The Atrato starts at 3,900 meters (12,800 feet) above sea level in the Western Cordillera, the lowest branch of the Colombian Andes. At source the water is crystal clear and fit for drinking. But by the time it widens out near Choco's main city of Quibdo, its fast-flowing, murky waters are laced with mercury, a key ingredient in gold mining that has been blamed for the deaths of dozens of children in the past decade. Colombia is the country worst affected worldwide by mercury pollution, a UN report found in 2018. In Quibdo, fishmongers complain they can't find buyers for their catch, because residents fear being poisoned. Arnold Rincon, director of the local environmental authority, insists that the river's mercury levels are safe. But Jose Marrugo, an expert in mercury pollution at the University of Cordoba, in northern Colombia, said some villagers show signs of "chronic poisoning." - Look the other way - So far in 2024, the military has destroyed 334 illegal mining machines in the Atrato river. But the dredging continues regardless. On a recent visit to the region, AFP saw several ramshackle mining rafts on the river. "People are afraid to report it, everyone remains silent," said Bernardino Mosquera, another of Atrato's guardians told AFP. That includes the river's custodians. They say they have received death threats for combating illegal mining. Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for environmental activists, with 79 land and environmental activists killed in 2023 alone, according to a report published earlier this month by Global Witness, a watchdog. The judge who endowed the Atrato with basic rights, Jorge Ivan Palacio, has blamed "a lack of political will" and corruption for the state's failure to properly implement the ruling. In a damning indictment, Colombia's Ombudsman's Office, which oversees the protection of civil and human rights, said there was "no evidence of any kind of progress towards effective conservation" in the region since 2016. lv/das/cb/fb/nro Event to announce the approval of a law called "No mas Ole" (No more Ole), that prohibits bullfighting, in Bogota BOGOTA (Reuters) - An attack with explosives by Colombian leftist rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN), which left more than two dozen troops injured and two dead, has "practically" ended peace talks, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday. The attack, which took place on Tuesday and is the most serious since a bilateral ceasefire between the government and the ELN ended in August, occurred in a rural area of Colombia's Arauca province, which sits on the border with Venezuela. "A truck, loaded with explosives which wounded 27 young people and killed two, planted by the ELN with who we were talking about peace (...) well, that's practically an action that ends the peace process with blood," Petro said during an event in Bogota. Petro, Colombia's first leftist president, restarted peace talks with the ELN at the end of 2022 as part of his efforts to deliver total peace and end the country's six-decade conflict which has left more than 450,000 dead. The talks have faced a crisis for months due to the government's decision to begin separate talks with an ELN unit in the southwest of the country which earlier parted ways with the rebel group. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin) There have been a couple of new developments in the crypto world over the last few days just begging to have their dots connected. Here they are: On Sept. 9, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued its annual report on cryptocurrency fraud. The FBI found that, in 2023, crypto-related fraud absolutely exploded, with $5.6 billion in losses suffered by Americans. That was a 45% increase over the year before. "Criminal actors exploit cryptocurrencies in each scheme category" tracked by the agency's Internet Crime Complaint Center," Assistant FBI Director Michael D. Nordwall wrote in the report. Crime was "pervasive" in the field, he wrote, with the most common victims being investors; their losses accounted for nearly 71% of the total. Since cryptocurrencies eliminate the need for financial intermediaries to validate and facilitate transactions, criminals can exploit these characteristics to support illicit activity such as thefts, fraud, and money laundering. FBI, 2023 Cryptocurrency Fraud Report That's one. The second development was that Donald Trump and his family jumped whole hog into the crypto market. Via a livestream Monday on the social media platform X and numerous X postings, Trump, his sons Donald Jr., Eric and Barron identified themselves or were identified as participants in the new venture. It's known as World Liberty Financial, and evidently plans to market a crypto "stablecoin" one with value linked directly to the U.S. dollar to customers. No one has suggested that there's anything criminal in the venture as it's been laid out. There's no indication that Trump's ongoing criminal cases have anything to do with cryptocurrency. "We're embracing the future with crypto and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind," Trump declared last week in a pre-livestream tweet on X. The idea that Trump whose prior business ventures include Trump University, which was deemed "fraudulent" by New York authorities; six bankruptcies five of his casinos and one bankrupty of New York's Plaza Hotel and the failed enterprises Trump Shuttle, Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks and Trump Mortgage would now do a cannonball dive into this sea of documented criminality seems so perfect it's almost preordained. (Trump didn't admit wrongdoing in the legal settlement of the Trump University case, but paid $25 million in compensation to former students and in legal penalties.) So let's examine just how bad crypto has been for Americans, according to the FBI. Then we'll turn to Trump crypto. Cryptocurrency think bitcoin and its offspring, legitimate and otherwise has several features that make it "an attractive vehicle for criminals," the FBI reported. "The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, the speed of irreversible transactions, and the ability to transfer value around the world," the FBI said, create "challenges to recover stolen funds. Once an individual sends a payment, the recipient owns the cryptocurrency and often quickly transfers it into an account overseas for cash out purposes." Read more: Column: Most Americans have a negative view of crypto. So why are political campaigns rushing to embrace it? It's worth noting that some of these features are touted by crypto promoters, including the Trumps, as virtues crypto's decentralization, meaning that there are no intermediaries such as those "slow and outdated" banks to stand between buyers and sellers; its irreversibility, the speediness of the transactions. Of course, to investors or consumers using cryptocurrencies as investment vehicles or means of payment, these may actually be drawbacks. If your investment manager absconds with your tokens, or a merchant fails to deliver what you bought with your bitcoin, you're on your own. "Since cryptocurrencies eliminate the need for financial intermediaries to validate and facilitate transactions," the FBI said, "criminals can exploit these characteristics to support illicit activity such as thefts, fraud, and money laundering." According to the FBI, the U.S. is the world capital of crypto fraud. No other country comes close. Losses from complainants in the U.S. received by the FBI's internet crime center in 2023 came to $4.8 billion; the second-ranked location of complainants was the Cayman Islands, with $195.7 million, followed by Mexico ($127 million) and Canada ($72.1 million). The complaint roster showed that Californians lost the most in 2023, nearly $1.2 billion, followed by Texans ($412 million) and Floridians ($390 million). On a per capital basis, however, New Yorkers were the most seriously cheated, mulcted out of an average of $3,800 per 100,000 residents. Californians came in second, at $2,962. Read more: Column: Sam Bankman-Fried's seven guilty verdicts expose crypto as a swindle through and through As for the specific pitfalls, investment scams accounted for 71% of all cryptocurrency losses for Americans. They were followed by call center frauds, including tech or customer support or government impersonation scams. Ransomware scams cost American businesses $27.4 million in 2023, not counting the cost of lost business, time, wages, files, equipment, or the hiring of third-party services by the victims. This is the environment that the Trumps have embraced. When I asked the Trump campaign to comment on questions that have been raised by commentators within and outside the crypto field, including questions about the family's partners in World Liberty Financial and about whether Trump's launch of a new business venture raises the potential for massive conflicts of interest if he becomes president, all I got from Brian Hughes, who is identified as a "senior advisor" to the campaign, was a bog-standard attack on Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. "Crypto innovators and others in the technology sector are under attack from Kamala Harris and the Democrats," Hughes wrote. "Few, even in the crypto world, seem excited about this project," observes Molly White, an indefatigable chronicler of the costly hijinks in the world of crypto and other fringe financial assets. "Many seem concerned that it could worsen cryptos already grifty reputation." Why would that be? One of the reported advisors to the Trumps on World Liberty Financial is Chase Herro, who described himself in 2018 as a "dirtbag of the internet." Herro can be seen in a YouTube video recorded that year delivering a profanity-heavy spiel for crypto and other weird assets: "You can literally sell s in a can, wrapped in piss, covered in human skin for a billion dollars if the story's right, because people will buy it." According to a World Liberty Financial white paper viewed by Coinbase, Herro was formerly associated with Dough Finance, a blockchain app that lost more than $2 million to hackers in July. Read more: Column: Thinking of putting crypto in your 401(k)? Think twice The white paper describes Herro as the data and strategies lead of World Liberty Financial, according to Coinbase. He and another partner, Zachary Folkman, were brought together with the Trumps by Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer close to Donald Trump. Witkoff said during Monday's X livestream that he had met Herro and Folkman through one of his sons. He described them as "exceptionally bright people." He said, "They began talking to me about decentralized finance.... As I began to understand it, I said, who would understand this better than the Trump family?" The venture came together over a period of nine months. World Liberty Financial didn't respond to my requests for comments about Herro's business record, the potential for conflicts of interest by Trump, the roles of his family members in the firm, or the FBI's judgment about the criminality of crypto. These questions all but ask themselves, however. Through this venture, Trump is setting himself up as an adversary of a banking and financial system that he would oversee as president, and as an advocate of an alternative financial system that has been the target of investigations and regulatory concerns raised by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of the Treasury and other federal financial regulators. Let's not forget that Trump formerly condemned cryptocurrencies as a "scam" and "potentially a disaster waiting to happen." By July, he had changed his tune. "Bitcoin is not just a marvel of technology," he said in a keynote speech delivered at a major bitcoin conference. "It's a miracle of cooperation and human achievement and a lot of relationships that are formed." Trump plainly smells money in this newfangled scheme. According to the white paper viewed by Coinbase, 70% of the crypto tokens to be marketed by World Liberty Financial those carrying governance control over the project will be reserved for founders and insiders such as himself. That's an exceptionally high number, judging from other crypto ventures. So what is World Liberty Financial but another Trump-branded get-rich-quick opportunity for himself? We all know how those others turned out. Why would this one end up any better? Get the latest from Michael Hiltzik Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner. Sign me up. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. I teach at the University of Pennsylvania, which is an equal-opportunity censor. It suppresses voices on the right and the left, even as it proclaims its commitment to free and open dialogue. Thats the sad takeaway of last weeks report by the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which ranked Penn 248th out of 251 schools in its annual college free speech ranking. Conservative students are especially reluctant to speak their minds, the report found, lest they incur the wrath of liberal peers and faculty members. And after last springs campus protests against Israel, Penn established new speech restrictions that targeted demonstrators on the left. Yes, you read that correctly. The right wing was afraid to speak, so we slapped constraints on the left wing as well. And thats a bad deal for all of us. Start with the sobering data from the same group on self-censorship, which showed that more than three-quarters of Penn students said they were somewhat uncomfortable or very uncomfortable publicly disagreeing with a professor. Nearly 60% said they were uncomfortable expressing a controversial political opinion during a discussion with fellow students outside of class. The wariest students are conservatives, who are outnumbered on campus. But after the Israel-Hamas war began, critics of Israel who are mostly on the left expressed increasing fears as well. When I am speaking about any pro-Palestinian sentiments, I must be careful with who I speak with as many are quick to hail them as antisemitic,' one Penn student in the FIRE survey wrote. Thats unacceptable. We bring people to campus so they can learn from each other. And that wont work if theyre biting their tongues. Now Penn has made it worse, by promulgating a temporary set of guidelines on open expression that actually close it off. The rules require students to reserve space for protests at least 48 hours in advance; for some heavily trafficked parts of campus, two weeks notice will be necessary. So lets suppose an all-out war starts along Israels northern border, where Israel and Hezbollah have already exchanged heavy rounds of rocket fire. Under the new rules, students might have to wait 14 days before they can protest on the campus main thoroughfare. How can anyone who believes in open expression be OK with that? Theres also a ban on using spray chalk and other semi-permanent substances on any university surface. Come on. College campuses were made for chalk protests, or so we used to think. What are we so afraid of? We all know the answer. Last spring, protesters erected encampments which are also prohibited under the new rules and chanted phrases such as From the river to the sea, Palestine should be free and Globalize the intifada. Some people interpret those statements as demands for the elimination of Israel, or even of Jews. Im Jewish, and I sometimes hear the chants the same way. But that doesnt mean we should ban them. The most troubling part of the new guidelines is their prohibition on protests that threaten or advocate violence against individuals or groups on the basis of their race, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. Thats a near-echo of the 1988 speech code at the University of Michigan, which barred any physical or verbal behavior that stigmatizes or victimizes people based on a similar set of characteristics as the Penn guidelines. Over the 18 months that followed its adoption, before a federal court struck down the Michigan rule as unconstitutional, white students charged Black students with violating it in 20 instances. One Black student was disciplined for using the term white trash. Get it? When you establish a speech rule to protect a group of people, it will be weaponized against them. And if you think otherwise, you just havent been listening. If war breaks out between Israel and Hezbollah, will Penn invoke its ban on violent speech to muzzle pro-Israel voices who want to bomb targets in Lebanon? How about Ukrainians who support an expanded attack on Russia? Sounds pretty violent to me. All of this new rulemaking empowers university officials, of course, who get to define acceptable speech. And it demeans students, who should be making these calls on their own. Thats why Im also worried about Penns new Office of Religious and Ethnic Inclusion, which promises to investigate complaints about derogatory and intolerant statements. At first glance, that seems great. Who wants more intolerance? I certainly dont. But these efforts patronize students in the guise of protecting them. To see why, imagine that a Muslim student tells a gay student, Same-sex love is an offense to my religion. In reply, the gay student says, Then you have a bad religion. What then? I can easily understand why both students might feel insulted by this exchange. But I cant understand why we would want a school official to adjudicate between them. Theyre adults, not children. They can work it out themselves. Of course, the university can and should prohibit direct threats of personal harm as well as sexual harassment, which are already barred under state and federal law. But all other speech should be free. At Penn, alas, it isnt. Whatever our political differences, we need to stand up for the right to express them. Anything less will diminish us all. ____ Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author (with cartoonist Signe Wilkinson) of Free Speech and Why You Should Give a Damn and eight other books. ___ SYDNEY, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Australian workers on Wednesday walked off job sites and joined protests against the federal government's crackdown on a major construction trade union. Members and supporters of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) joined rallies in Sydney and Melbourne to protest against the government's decision to force the construction arm of the union into administration. The government in August placed all branches of the construction arm of the CFMEU into administration in response to allegations of corruption and criminal infiltration. Workers on Wednesday walked off job sites for the second time to support the CFMEU after similar protests in August. Speaking to protesters in Melbourne, CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said that the government's move would lead to worse wages and conditions for Australian workers, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. "An attack on one union is an attack on all," he said. "Our victory is assured if we stand together and fight together and today we will be sending a very clear message across those corporate board rooms, across the halls of parliament that we're drawing a line in the sand." Troy Gray, secretary of the Electrical Trades Union in the Australian state of Victoria, reportedly threatened a three-day strike from next Wednesday if employers don't stop an "attack" on working conditions, according to the Guardian Australia. Responding to Wednesday's protests, Murray Watt, Australia's minister for employment and workplace relations, said that the government is not targeting CFMEU members, union members or construction workers at all, the Age reported. "We're doing this to ensure that their union gets back to its job, which is representing the interests of those workers," he told reporters in Canberra. Unions previously said that they would go to court to challenge laws that allowed the government to take control of the construction union for a minimum of three years. Common virus that can leave kids paralyzed is spiking in US. Which states is it spreading? Common virus that can leave kids paralyzed is spiking in US. Which states is it spreading? Rates of enterovirus D68, a respiratory virus that can sometimes lead to a polio-like illness and paralysis in children, have risen significantly across the U.S. over the past month, new data show. Nationally, the virus is now being detected at medium levels after having stayed at low levels from September 2023 to August 2024, based on wastewater data from the nonprofit WastewaterSCAN. (Humans infected with viruses may excrete them in waste, so wastewater can detect viral activity in communities.) Enterovirus D68 activity started rising this past spring in the South, a WastewaterSCAN spokesperson tells TODAY.com. Since then, rates have started rising in all four regions the group tracks (the West, South, Midwest and Northeast) but are still highest in the South. While the virus usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms and most people have encountered it at some point, the rising rates are concerning because enterovirus D68 can cause a rare but serious complication in kids known as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a neurologic condition that comes on suddenly and can cause loss of muscle and reflexes. And higher rates of enterovirus D68 usually mean higher rates of AFM in, Caitlin Rivers, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and author of Crisis Averted: The Hidden Science of Fighting Outbreaks," told NBC News. What's more, September usually has the highest number of AFM cases, she added. So far this year, there have been 13 confirmed AFM cases in 10 states, according to CDC data. Since 2014, when AFM was first identified, some 758 people have been diagnosed with the illness. During the last rise in enterovirus cases in the U.S., in 2022, the CDC urged health professionals to be on the lookout for symptoms of severe enterovirus and AFM in kids. Here's what to know about the two illnesses. What to know about enterovirus D68 Enterovirus D68, believed to be pretty common, usually causes respiratory illness, which can range from mild, like a common cold, to more severe, according to the CDC. In many cases, the virus doesnt cause any symptoms. In the U.S., the risk of infection is greatest in the summer and fall, but its possible year-round. Infants, children and adolescents have the highest risk of getting ill from the virus. The enterovirus D68 spreads through respiratory secretions, namely saliva and mucus, when an infected person coughs, sneezes or touches a surface that another person then touches. There are no specific treatments for enterovirus D68. To prevent contracting the virus, practice good hand hygiene, avoid touching your face with unwashed hands, avoid close contact with others when sick, cover your coughs and sneezes and disinfect high-touch surfaces, like door knobs and toys. Where is enterovirus D68 spreading in the U.S.? The highest rates of enterovirus in the US are currently in the South, according WastewaterSCAN data. A map of where enterovirus D68 is spreading in the U.S. The states that WastewaterSCAN included in its South region are: Alabama Arkansas Delaware Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi North Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia That being said, rates are rising nationwide. Rates of enterovirus D68, which can lead to a rare but serious illness that causes paralysis in kids called AFM. For reference, WastewaterSCAN's Northeast region includes: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. The Midwest includes: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The West includes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Washington. What are the symptoms of enterovirus? Mild symptoms of enterovirus D68 include runny nose, sneezing, cough, nasal congestion, body aches and muscle aches. Severe symptoms often include wheezing and difficulty breathing, especially shortness of breath or rapid or shallow breathing. If your child develops any limb or muscle weakness following a respiratory illness, seek medical attention immediately as it could be a sign of AFM. What to know about AFM AFM is an uncommon but serious neurologic condition, according to the CDC. Sudden onset of arm or leg weakness, loss of muscle tone, and loss of reflexes are the most common symptoms. AFM is most common between August and November, when enteroviruses are also most common. More than 90% of AFM cases are in young children. When AFM was first identified in 2014, it was a "mystery illness." Since then, the CDC has recorded two more spikes of AFM in 2016 and 2018. All which are believed to be caused by enterovirus D68. The 2022 wave of enterovirus D68 didn't lead to a rise in AFM cases, though. Experts are still trying to understand why. Where has AFM been detected in the U.S.? So far in 2024, there have been 13 AFM cases in 10 states, per CDC data: California Florida Illinois Iowa Louisiana New Mexico New York Oregon Pennsylvania Texas What are the symptoms of AFM? Seek medical attention right away if your child develops any of the following symptoms, especially after a respiratory illness, as patients with AFM should be hospitalized right away: Sudden arm or leg weakness Sudden loss of muscle tone or reflexes Difficulty moving or dropping eyelids Facial drooping or weakness Difficulty swallowing or slurred speech Pain in arms, legs, neck or back Numbness or tingling in arms or legs It takes between one and four weeks for a case of enterovirus D68 to progress to AFM; usually the patient has recovered from their respiratory symptoms before neurologic symptoms begin, according to NBC News. The outcomes are everything from just a little bit of slight shoulder weakness to difficulty moving all extremities and sometimes even needing prolonged respiratory support, Dr. Sarah Hopkins, a pediatric neurologist at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, told NBC News in 2022. The neurologic symptoms usually appear suddenly and can progress quickly, often peaking in just a few hours. There is no specific treatment, so the best way to protect your family is to practice good hand hygiene and wear a mask in public. This article was originally published on TODAY.com JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)- September marks National Suicide Prevention Month. Its a time for people to raise awareness about suicide and the resources available, along with reducing stigma. The Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network hosted its Resilient Minds Summit in Johnson City on Tuesday. The networks Northeast Regional Director Cori Johnson said the goal was to bring a faith-based community and mental and behavioral health resources together in one space. There is a significant amount of faith based organizations, both Christian and other faith organizations in our community, she said. And we know in suicide prevention that when youre connected to spirituality, when you have an organization or a person or a group that really helps provide hope and support to you, that it actually decreases your likelihood of going on to die by suicide. Pastors, faith leaders, groups and organizations, non-profits, mental and behavioral health providers were all there. Recovery groups and organizations also took part. People were able to join in on roundtable discussions, talk with vendors and take part in a Question, Persuade and Refer training. Dr. Barbara Sims was the keynote speaker. She is the founder and co-facilitator of the Northeast Tennessee Regional Suicide Survivors Support Group. She said she lost her son to suicide several years ago. The TSPN also hosts monthly meetings and invites anyone who wants to participate into the group. We invite community partners, individuals who are passionate about eliminating and reducing the number of deaths by suicide in our state are welcome to come and meet with us, said Johnson. We just sit down. We talk about what is happening in our region and how we can really start to focus on providing support in different areas. If you are someone who has lost someone to death by suicide, they provide a safe space for you to just come in and sit with people who have lived experience of losing someone to death by suicide. And they just come around and provide support. Those meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month from 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. at the Washington County, Tennessee Health 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 WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. As the Fort Worth Independent School District school board discussed the superintendents performance in a closed session on Tuesday, the recent call from community members and local advocates demanding a turnaround of the districts stagnant academic achievement and its management intensified. Superintendent Angelica Ramseys performance was discussed privately three weeks after Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, alongside other public officials and philanthropic leaders, sent a letter to school board members outlining their concerns about the districts state test scores in comparison to other large Texas school districts, calling for a bold, unified approach to fix the issue. Before the school board started its closed session, about 20 people spoke during public comment, with many taking aim at Ramsey, directly and indirectly. Others said the districts issues were bigger than Ramsey, and it would be unfair to put all the blame on her. I welcome the opportunity to engage in a discussion about our progress as it is important to ensure we remain aligned in our commitment to student success, Ramsey said in a statement before the meeting. There was no vote made when the board returned from closed session, and no specifics of the discussion were shared. Board President Roxanne Martinez told reporters after the meeting that she was unable to discuss any personnel issues further. When asked about her thoughts on Ramseys performance, she declined to comment until she discusses it further with the board. Thats an important discussion that were having amongst our board members and with our community, and thats about all I can share, she said. I just want to reassure our parents, our students, our families and our community stakeholders that we will keep our students first and foremost at the top of our interest, and that we are here for our students and our staff and our families. Well continue to work hard to ensure that Fort Worth ISD is a place where all of our students can succeed. Amanda Inay, Ale Checka and Michael OBrien who have each been awarded as campus or district teacher of the year since the 2017-18 school year respectively spoke out about retaliatory conduct from Ramsey, teachers and principals leaving the district due to ineffective policies, and issues around missing technology and new learning materials given to teachers at the last minute. This feels like year one all over again because of the massive failures, inane requirements and mismanaged direction coming from this administration, said OBrien, whos been teaching for 16 years. Mayor Parker was right to come into this room and express the communitys dissatisfaction with you . Education is about people, the kids and the teachers, but Fort Worth ISD has forgotten that. Its time for change. Lets move on. More top stories from our newsroom: Fort Worth school board to discuss superintendents job As Panther Island develops, efforts to preserve Northside Racial slurs at Arlington Heights-North Side football game [Get our breaking news alerts.] Members of Parent Shield Fort Worth, an education advocacy group, held a press conference outside the districts administration building before the meeting to outline the groups own list of demands, including significant academic improvement, specifically for Black students whove seen declining test scores; literacy reform with every student being able to read on or above grade level by third grade; the release of literacy data and reporting scores in a manner that is accessible and easy to understand; and investment in high-dosage interventions to increase literacy rates. These one-hour interventions are broken down by a warm-up of previously learned skills, explicit instruction on a specific skill such as sounding out words, guided practice on the newly learned skill like using vocabulary words in a simple sentence, independent practice allowing the child to cultivate the skill on their own and a final wrap up reviewing the highlights of the session. Parent Shield executive director Trenace Dorsey-Hollins noted that Mayor Parkers comments came forward after many community members and organizations went to the City Council to garner support in pushing for changes at the school district. When asked about Ramseys performance, Dorsey-Hollins said was unsatisfied with it. Tonights sign is a sign of hope. Hopefully district trustees are going to do the changes that our kids need. We know that scores for African-American students have been continuing to decline every year, and we want a leader, whoever is sitting in that seat, to really put some priority on our Black students, she said. Regardless of whos sitting in this seat, I think thats up to the trustees to go in here and make the decision. But thats their only employee, and we want them to really make sure that theyre holding that person accountable, so that our kids are increasing and heading in the right direction. We have literally of the students in Fort Worth ISD not on grade level. Thats unacceptable. In defense of Ramsey, community member and mother of six Fort Worth ISD graduates Reed Bliz said she felt the blame was put on the superintendent now that the ongoing issues of the district are in the spotlight, calling it blatantly unfair. Dr. Ramsey has brought you extensive reports, charts and graphs of the progress of students in the Fort Worth ISD. Parents and teachers have complained to you about myriad deficiencies in academics, she said. I ask that you work with Dr Ramsey and her staff immediately to seek solutions and implement them. Playing the blame game does not help anyone. Alex Jimenez a board member of Rocketship Public Schools, former vice president of TXU Energy and former chairman of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce brought charts for board members showing historical test data for the districts third-grade reading scores from the Commit Partnership. In the past nine years, the district has seen limited improvements and dips in the percentage of these students meeting grade level for reading; When comparing the 2014 school year with the 2023 school year, there was only a 1% improvement with the latest data showing 30% of third-graders meeting this mark. In addition to pointing out the historical testing woes seen in the district, Jimenez also called out board members who he claims had tried to sell schools to people when the schools are not for sale, attempted to garner support from east Fort Worth residents to replace Ramsey and had appointed someone to a district oversight committee who didnt live in their district. He did not specify their names. The superintendent might not be the problem, Jimenez, who signed onto Mayor Parkers letter, said. Those are shenanigans, and thats been going on for too long. You board members need to stop that crap. The Tuesday meeting was called a week after the district released its own A-F accountability scores for itself and its campuses, which are typically released by the Texas Education Agency and heavily based on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam, or STAAR. Fort Worth ISD followed suit of other districts that calculated their own scores after TEA was prevented from releasing them last month amid a pending lawsuit and court order. Fort Worth ISD gave itself a C rating this year based on the states scoring rubric, an improvement from the previous years D rating that was also calculated independently, but the district did not confirm its calculations with TEA. The districts last official rating issued from the state was a B in 2022. Ramseys last performance review was in July, when she received a $15,000 performance bonus, the lowest amount she could receive in accordance with her contract. The board said at that time that Ramsey was meeting key performance indicators outlined in her contract. She earns a $335,000 annual salary, and her contract with the district expires in July 2026. She was hired in September 2022. EET Fuels (formerly Essar) owns and runs the Stanlow plant [Cheshire West and Chester Counci] A company which owns an oil refinery in Cheshire has apologised to residents after a "fallout episode" left homes with layers of dust. The incident in Ellesmere Port left vehicles and properties in the area coated with "non-toxic dust", the firm said. EET Fuels (formerly Essar), which owns and runs the Stanlow plant, said the dust released from the site on Tuesday afternoon was caused by an unplanned shut down of a process unit. It said that while the dust was not hazardous, there would be further disruption including "noise and flaring". A statement from the refinery said: "We know that this type of incident can cause distress, and we would like to assure you that this dust is non-toxic and non-hazardous and does not pose any health or safety risks". Concerns Smoke and clouds of dust were captured billowing from the plant pipes [Pete Price] It said the source of the dust release had been "identified and effectively managed" but warned that due to a planned restart, residents may continue to experience increased levels of noise and flaring. "Please be assured that this activity is being undertaken in a safe and controlled manner," the firm added. The towns MP Justin Madders said on X that he had been contacted by constituents concerned about air quality following the incident. He said he would be discussing the issue with the Environment Agency. Cheshire West and Chester and Council leader Louise Gittins said there had been frustration" surrounding communications on the matter. "We dont find out when it happens. We found out five hours after it had happened officially, but in the mean time had found out via social media with concerned residents in Ellesmere Port and Chester before that," she said. "We are involving our director of public health as well to make sure everything is okay from a public health perspective. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk Related internet links Related stories A U.S. Senate panel examined issues in private student lending on Sept. 17, 2024. (Photo illustration via Getty Images) WASHINGTON As private student loan companies take heat over accusations of predatory behavior and deception, members of a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs panel and student advocates voiced concerns over the industry at a hearing Tuesday. The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection hearing came as the broader student debt crisis impacts millions, with more than $1.74 trillion in outstanding student loans as of the second quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Subcommittee Chairman Raphael Warnock said he and his staff analyzed some of the myriad complaints the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received related to private student loans and federal student loan servicing in roughly the last year and were struck by the sheer scope and magnitude of the problem. Private lenders and servicers routinely misled or deceived borrowers, and the stories are frustrating and heartbreaking, the Georgia Democrat said. Some borrowers have found loans offered by private lenders to be extraordinary burdens, Aissa Canchola Banez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group, told the panel. Student loans were supposed to grant all families regardless of race and economic status the chance to unlock the promise of a higher education, she said. But for too many, student debt has become a life sentence, holding borrowers back from buying a home, starting a small business and even starting or growing a family, Canchola Banez said. Canchola Banez said the absence of comprehensive data in the private student loan space has too often left borrowers, policymakers and advocates in the dark and that this has allowed for significant gaps in protections for the millions of Americans forced to take on private student loan debt and has made it harder for policymakers and law enforcement officials to protect borrowers. Dalie Jimenez, a law professor and director of the Student Loan Law Initiative at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, said the private student loan industry had transformed in the last decade. New financial products have emerged, offering alternatives to traditional loans, but theyve come with added risks that were only beginning to understand, Jimenez said, adding that many are offered by schools that provide dubious value in return for costly credit. Troubled industry Major student loan servicers, such as Navient, have been at the center of legal issues and scrutiny in recent years. Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reached a $120 million settlement with Navient that bans the company from federal student loan servicing. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and member of the subcommittee, has led investigations into Navient for nearly a decade. Warren said Tuesday that Republican extremists want to return to the days where borrowers were just at the mercy of predatory servicers like Navient and that the Biden-Harris administration has a different vision. Warren added that its long past time for Navient to do the right thing by their countless defrauded borrowers and cancel out these loans for the private student loan borrowers as well. On the other side of the aisle, GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis defended the industrys basic mission. While individual cases of malfeasance certainly exist in the private loan market as they do in any market private lenders fill a crucial gap in higher education financing and equip borrowers with the tools to meet the barriers to education in place today, Lummis said. Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, also noted that the private student loan market only accounts for 8% of outstanding loans and that the vast majority of loans are federal loans. Beth Akers, senior fellow at the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, pointed out that while private student loan origination and servicing, both for federal and private loans, hasnt been perfect and lending institutions and those that service loans are fallible, these private entities supporting student lending dont deserve the ire of lawmakers looking for a quick fix or even a scapegoat for what is happening more broadly in student lending. FILE - Three beluga whales swim together in an acclimation pool after arriving at Mystic Aquarium, May 14, 2021, in Mystic, Conn. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for Mystic Aquarium, File) A Connecticut aquarium where three beluga whales died in recent years has agreed to settle a federal investigation over alleged animal care and water quality violations by paying a $12,200 fine while not admitting or denying the accusations. The whales died from illnesses after being brought to Mystic Aquarium from Canada in 2021, according to the aquarium. The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed the settlement on Aug. 13. The aquarium agreed to the conditions, a spokesperson said Wednesday, adding that there was disagreement over whether violations occurred. The alleged violations cited by the Department of Agriculture played no role in the deaths of the three whales, said Meagan Seacor, vice president of external relations for the aquarium. The whales had pre-existing health problems that were not detectable before they arrived in Mystic, she said. The three whales were among five that were brought to Mystic in 2021 from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, after a lengthy legal battle to obtain permits from both the U.S. and Canada. In August 2021, a 5-year-old male beluga whale named Havok died from an intestinal disease. Two female whales, Havana and Kharabali, died in 2022 and 2023, respectively, from storage disease, which can damage the brain, spinal cord and other body areas, according to the aquarium. All three whales' health problems were genetic and not curable, aquarium officials said. Two of the violations cited by the Department of Agriculture related to the care of Havok. The agency claimed aquarium staff failed to call for veterinarian care in the last hours of his life despite observing him exhibiting abnormal behaviors including frequent rolling in the water and other signs of distress. Federal investigators also said Havoc, who had vision problems, had been injured twice in June 2021, once by ramming himself into a gate while a worker used a net to try and retrieve a foreign object that fell into his tank. He also was wounded by striking posts in the aquariums medical pool, authorities said. The investigators also said testing of the beluga whales' pools in late 2021 showed extremely high levels of coliform bacteria. The settlement agreement said the bacteria may have contributed to some of Havana's medical conditions, but it does not definitively link her ailments to bacteria. Seacor said the high bacteria levels were the result of a brief period when equipment malfunctioned, and the aquarium took immediate action to fix the equipment and there haven't been similar problems since. The aquarium agreed to the settlement to avoid costly litigation in challenging the alleged violations, Seacor said. While we respectfully disagree with the USDAs assertions, settling this case allows us to stay focused on our core mission: caring for the animals at Mystic Aquarium and inspiring people to protect marine life, she said in a statement. The aquarium's care of the whales has been tracked by several animal advocacy groups. Naomi Rose, senior scientist for marine mammal biology at the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C., said Mystic Aquarium had a good reputation for animal care before the whale deaths, but the federal investigation showed significant problems. Personally thats just me as a professional animal advocate I think Mystic made a huge number of mistakes," Rose said. "And I really would like them to get more than a slap on the wrist, which in some ways this is." She added, I wouldn't say it's just, but ... it's better than nothing. Beluga whales, known for their white hue, are smaller whales, generally 11 to 15 feet long (3 to 5 meters) and can weigh up to 2,500 pounds (1,134 kilograms). Their lifespan is around 35 to 50 years in the wild, with some living 80 years or more, according to various wildlife advocacy groups. Mystic Aquarium now has five belugas that live in pools containing a total of 750,000 gallons (2.8 million liters) of water. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detain an undocumented immigrant accused of a crime in a photo from 2019. Photo by Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Marylanders overwhelmingly support the idea of local police working with federal immigration officials, according to a new poll that was seized on by conservative lawmakers who plan to push for such a change in state law. The Republican lawmakers took the first step in that direction Tuesday, calling on Gov. Wes Moore to issue an executive order requiring corrections officials around the state to notify federal authorities when they expect to release a person subject to a detainer. They say that would improve public safety by cracking down on unauthorized immigrants who are also violent criminals. Per state law, theyre not allowed to hold a person for an administrative detainer, Del. Matthew Morgan (R-St. Marys) said of local officials. An executive order to get around that law is a very reasonable solution, he said. The other solution is to ignore the ICE detainer and let the person go out in the street, which is where theyre going to do other crimes, Morgan said. That doesnt make any sense. Carter Elliott, a Moore spokesperson, did not comment directly on the letter from Republicans, but said in a statement that public safety remains a top administration priority. The governor is committed to upholding the law all while ensuring due process and protecting the rights of all individuals, Elliott said. The administration will continue to work in partnership with federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to address criminal behavior effectively and responsibly, while respecting legal and procedural guidelines. Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince Georges) said he was not surprised by the letter to Moore or the results of the Republican poll, since all Marylanders want safe communities. I think the wording of that question, most people across this country, not just in Maryland, would support, said Martinez, who is chair of the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus but said he was only speaking for himself as an individual lawmaker. I think where we differ is in approach. Martinez said budgets at the local level are so strapped that local police should be focused on reduction of crime and prevention of crime in all of our communities. We have federal law enforcement who is in charge of enforcing our immigration laws, and they should be able to do so, he said. The letter to Moore was signed by Morgan and fellow House Republicans who sometimes refer to themselves as the Freedom Caucus: Dels. Mark N. Fisher (Calvert); Robin Grammer, Kathy Szeliga, and Ryan Nawrocki (Baltimore County); Lauren Arikan (Harford); and Brian Chisholm and Nicholaus R. Kipke (Anne Arundel). On Tuesday, the group released the letter to Moore along with the polling that shows most Marylanders hold similar views. It showed that more than 84% of those polled said they support or oppose local law enforcement in Maryland being required to turn over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) any illegal immigrant who has been previously convicted of a violent crime, convicted gang member, or convicted of a sexual offense? Nearly seven in 10 voters strongly agreed with that question, with overwhelming support crossing all ages, gender, racial and political demographics, and regions in the state, the poll said. The question was commissioned by the Republicans as part of a poll last month by Annapolis-based Gonzales Research & Media, and paid for through the groups Marylanders United campaign slate. The survey of 820 registered voters across the state was conducted between Aug. 24-30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 points. But Cathryn Paul, public policy director for the immigrant advocacy group CASA, said polls like that can oversimplify complex issues. The focus on extreme cases can ignore the broader reality of how these policies impact everyday lives. It doesnt capture the effects on families, neighborhoods, and public safety as a whole, she said. She said lawmakers should explore solutions that protect both public safety and the dignity and humanity of all people, but accused the GOP lawmakers instead of having a long history of promoting false narratives that link immigrants to crime and perpetuating harmful stereotypes that fuel fear and division. Morgan said he expects Republican-backed legislation in the next legislature to repeal the 2021 law that restricts local law enforcement and detention centers from working with federal immigration officials. That law prevents local officials from entering into agreements with federal officials to hold unauthorized immigrants and be paid by the feds to do so and it prohibits police from inquiring about an individuals immigration status. The 2021 bill was vetoed by then-Gov. Larry Hogan (R), but overriden by the General Assembly later that year. Szeliga has sponsored legislation requiring the transfer of unauthorized immigrants to federal authorities when they are subject to a federal detainer. Her 2024 version of the bill was filed late and languished in the House Rules Committee without a vote. Morgan said he expects a second GOP bill next year to accomplish what they are asking Moore to do by executive order. Until then, he said, an executive order is needed. Immigration and border security continue to be hot button issues driving the 2024 election nationally. Locally, Morgan said he and his Republican colleagues commissioned the poll following the 2023 death of Rachel Morin. The 37-year-old mother of five, who was raped and murdered last year along the Ma & Pa trail near her Bel Air home, drew national attention and galvanized public outrage, Morgan said. Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, 23, was arrested in June in Oklahoma nearly a year later. Authorities said Hernandez was already wanted for a January 2023 murder in his native El Salvador when he fled to the United States. He was implicated in an assault on a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a home invasion in their Los Angeles home before later making his way to Maryland, where is accused in the attack on Morin. Because Hernandez was not arrested in Maryland, the changes the Republicans are seeking likely would not have applied to his case. But Morgan said the changes need to be made for other cases, and that most Marylanders agree. So often that were told that Republican positions are on the fringe or are radical, Morgan said. It looks like this is a pretty reasonable position that the overwhelming majority of Marylanders agree with. Paul said the deaths of Morin and Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old who was raped and murdered in 2022 in her Aberdeen home by an immigrant from El Salvador, were not the result of the 2021 law. Our hearts go out to the families of Rachel Morin and Kayla Hamilton, said Paul. It is important to recognize, however, that neither of these deaths occurred because of Marylands decision not to participate in the federal governments broken deportation machine. She said policies that encourage local police to partner with ICE can create a climate of mistrust and fear among immigrants that any interaction with police (even for something as minor as a traffic violation) could lead to deportation. People become less likely to report crimes, cooperate with investigations, or seek help when they need it most, she said. This loss of trust doesnt just harm our immigrant community but the safety of everyone when crimes go unreported, and communities are more vulnerable. A Brennan Center analysis released in May said research does not support claims that immigrants commit more crimes or are incarcerated at at higher rates than citizens, and that the record number of immigrants coming to the U.S. in the last two years had not corresponded with increases in crime. Martinez said he had not seen the Brennan Center numbers, but I wouldnt be surprised, because the folks that I know who are here are here for opportunity Theyre not here to cause chaos and division. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 16 states already require providers to gather information about a patients reason for seeking an abortion, with varying degrees of specificity. Many of those states now have near-total abortion bans or six-week bans, which is before many people know they are pregnant. (Getty Images) Miami family medicine physician Chelsea Daniels couldnt help a 20-year-old patient seeking an abortion about a month ago she because she lacked the documentation the state requires to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape. Daniels, who works at a Planned Parenthood clinic, and three other physicians talked about how Floridas six-week abortion ban has prevented them from providing care during a press conference Wednesday held by Floridians Protecting Freedom, sponsor of the proposed state constitutional amendment that would protect abortion access until viability. The 20-year-old patient only spoke Spanish, Daniels said, and police turned her away when she tried to report the crime on the patients behalf because the attack had happened in a different county. That woman had to travel out of Florida to get the abortion, Daniels said. Under state law, people who get pregnant as a result of rape, incest, or human trafficking can secure abortions up to 15 weeks, but they must show a restraining order, police report, medical record, or court document showing that a crime is the reason they want to terminate the pregnancy. I am not a lawyer. I am not a member of the police force, and yet I and my colleagues are being asked to look at documentation like this, Daniels said. Data outlines how often the exceptions lead to abortions The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration keeps track of the reasons people get abortions. The latest data show four people terminated their pregnancies in the first trimester because of incest, 68 abortions took place because of rape, and human trafficking has not been cited as a reason for the procedure. The six-week abortion ban went into effect on May 1, and the AHCA report includes abortions performed since the beginning of the year. Learn about Floridas pregnancy care laws and efforts to provide transparent health care here: pic.twitter.com/lWNfyWEIW4 Florida AHCA (@AHCA_FL) September 9, 2024 Abortions are available before a childs heartbeat is detected, and in cases of rape or incest, and at all points in pregnancy to save the life and health of the mother, a voice narrates in a video AHCA posted directing people to a controversial webpage claiming the abortion-rights Amendment 4 threatens womens safety. Michelle Quesada, vice president for communications for Planned Parenthood of Southeast and North Florida, said a patient who was seven weeks pregnant and reported being raped didnt know that she had to provide documentation about the crime. Quesada said she called the police to discuss what kinds of documents would meet the criteria for the exception after the patient reported the crime. The officer informed Quesada that the only information the clinic could obtain at the time was a case number, she said. Other exceptions in the states six-week abortion ban require two doctors to certify that the termination of the pregnancy is necessary to save the pregnant womans life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman. A single physician can approve the procedure if no other doctor is available. Abortions to the third trimester are legal if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. The accounts physicians shared during the press conference echoed those of 25 physicians, genetic counselors, and clinicians at the center of a report Physicians for Human Rights published Tuesday. That report concluded that the states abortion restrictions have created an unworkable legal landscape. Partaking in lengthy discussions about patients falling in grey areas of the abortion bans exceptions delays care for all patients, Daniels said. When I see a patient who I think may meet an exception, rather than being able to just use the medical part of my brain, Im suddenly having to delay care for that patient and, realistically, delay care for every single one of the other patients on my schedule that day as I call the lawyers, she said. And lawyers are extremely helpful, but Im suddenly having a legal conversation, and theyre suddenly having a medical conversation. But Tammy McCarus, an OB-GYN from an Orlando suburb, wrote in a statement to Florida Phoenix that the current abortion ban allows her to treat patients. She is a member of Florida Physicians Against Amendment 4. The truth is, while Floridas current law allows me to intervene and care for my patients at any time in pregnancy if they are facing serious complications, Amendment 4 would eliminate vital health and safety standards for women obtaining abortion and even permit non-doctors to refer for the procedure. The proponents of Amendment 4 have denied that the amendment would undo safety standards because the amendment targets laws that prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion. They also say that healthcare providers already have to abide by their specialties scope of practice, meaning that those without training to perform an abortion wouldnt be able to do so. Terms like health and healthcare provider are terms that are well established across Floridas legal framework, ensuring that their meetings are neither vague nor open to expansive interpretation, said Keisha Mulfort, the senior communications strategist for the ACLU of Florida. You wouldnt go to a dentist for heart surgery, nor would you go to a massage therapist for abortion care. PORTLAND, Ore. Attorneys for the Federal Trade Commission and Kroger and Albertsons ended their three-week court battle the same way they started: diametrically opposed over whether the two grocery rivals should be permitted to join forces. Lawyers for the regulator said the $25 billion proposed transaction would eliminate critical grocery store competition and lead to higher prices for consumers while endangering jobs for tens of thousands of workers and threatening communities with potential store closures and food deserts. Parting thoughts as hearing concludes Consumers depend on competition, FTC attorney Susan Musser told the court, dismissing the grocers argument that consumers were awash in competition with a variety of retailers selling food. Common sense says these arent a good substitute for supermarkets. Attorneys for Kroger and Albertsons insisted the deal would boost competition by strengthening both companies as a unified company, repeated company promises to lower grocery prices by $1 billion and not to close stores or lay off front-line workers. Millions of shoppers are going to see their bills go down, Kroger attorney Matt Wolf told the court, adding workers would see their pay increase and communities would enjoy Kroger stores in addition to proliferating Walmarts and Aldis. Dueling concepts of competition Fundamental disagreements define the case: regulators contend they must preserve competition among traditional grocery stores because they offer a unique consumer benefits, primarily a selection of tens of thousands of items under one roof. Thats a problem for Kroger and Albertsons who want to join because while there are retailers that are larger grocers, they are the No. 1 and No. 2 one-stop shop supermarkets, according to regulators vision of their industry. Kroger and Albertsons contend their industry has changed and continues to do so and that regulators should consider any retailer selling food a grocery competitor. Such a viewpoint also makes it much easier to justify the transaction, which would give the combined companies nearly as large a grocery business as the largest grocer in the world: Walmart, which sold $264 billion in food in the U.S. alone last year. While regulators consider supercenters like Walmart and Target as comparable, they dont consider such food-selling retailers, such as Costco, Aldi, Trader Joes or Dollar General as comparable peers, largely due to their much smaller selections. Besides the irreconcilable views on peer groups, both sides sharply differ on how to evaluate local markets to determine if the merger would give the merged company too big a share of local sales. The debates over defining local markets resemble lawmakers attempting to re-draw legislative districts. What's next? US District Judge Adrienne Nelson said she would take the case under advisement and promised to work as quickly as possible to render her decision on whether to grant a court order barring the deal as federal regulators continue their broader case in a court in Washington, D.C. Still, Nelson said she was offering no timeline for her ruling. Both sides have until Sept. 27 to submit their final written arguments to the court, which Nelson will use as part of her deliberation. While the proceeding was technically a hearing for a preliminary injunction, antitrust regulators say such hearings amount to a mini-trial where regulators must convince a judge they have a likelihood of ultimately winning their case. Many mergers that lose such hearings give up their plans to merge as losses mean unacceptable and expensive delays an attorney for Kroger at the beginning of the hearing cautioned the deal will not occur if it loses the ruling. Unions oppose the merger A group of merger opponents led by six chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, called Stop the Merger, said the hearing unearthed new details that made them even more opposed to the proposed deal. Evidence that came out during the trial only elevated the level of concern from unions and the public at large about the looming harm that would be caused if the merger goes through, as well as increased the level of distrust of the CEOs and other executives running the companies, the group said Tuesday. How big is this merger? First announced in October 2022, Cincinnati-based Kroger wants to buy all outstanding shares of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, adding most of its employees and stores to its supermarket operation. To counter concerns about maintaining competition, Kroger has agreed to sell 579 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers, a grocery supplier that also operates about two dozen retail supermarkets, including Piggly Wiggly. Upon completion, Kroger would operate more than 4,400 supermarkets (up from 2,700) generating about $208 billion in annual sales (compared to $150 billion before). If approved, Kroger would employ about 640,000 workers (up from about 414,000 currently), which could make it one of the 10 largest private employers in the world. However, regulators at both federal and state levels have expressed deep concerns. They are worried C&S Wholesale Grocers' limited experience as a retailer will prevent it from being a strong competitor and that could lead to higher prices for consumers. They are also worried about the job security of the 60,000 workers that could be moved to C&S Wholesale Grocers. For the latest on Kroger, P&G, Fifth Third Bank and Cincinnati business, follow @alexcoolidge on X (formerly Twitter). This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kroger and regulators spar to the end of hearing over Albertsons deal Four federal judges appointed by former President Donald Trump and one appointed by former President George W. Bush want to use the same logic powering recent Supreme Court decisions to strip away abortion rights and sharply limit gun control to nuke the nations campaign finance system and a case brought by Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance might give the Supreme Court a chance to do it. The long-term implications of what the judges seek applying an originalist history and tradition test based on the purported beliefs of the Founding Fathers to political spending would likely be the elimination of an already crippled campaign finance system in the United States, with billionaires and corporate interests free to give unlimited sums to candidates more directly than they already do, perhaps with little to no disclosure. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a campaign finance law limiting the amount candidates and parties can spend in coordination with each other in a decision handed down in NRSC v. FEC on Sept. 5. What stood out most was not the courts majority opinion, but two separate concurrences filed by Trump-appointed judges (with one of them joined by three other GOP-appointed judges) calling for the Supreme Court to make a complete overhaul of campaign finance jurisprudence that would threaten the entirety of existing campaign finance law. Those arguments could wind up before the Supreme Court soon, as the NRSC intends on appealing the 6th Circuits decision. The case, brought by Vance, former Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and the Republican Partys House and Senate campaign arms, seeks to end the long-standing limit on coordinated spending between federal candidates and political parties. This coordination limit was enacted to deter the evasion of limits placed on donations to candidates and the potential for corruption created by large donations. Those limits range from a high of $32 million for presidential nominees to a low of $61,800 for most House candidates. A spokesman for Vance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Supreme Court upheld the coordinated spending limit in 2001 in FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee (better known as Colorado II). The court did so under the system of legal analysis it adopted at the birth of modern campaign finance law in its 1976 decision in Buckley v. Valeo. Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance joined a GOP lawsuit to eliminate the limit on how much money parties can spend in coordination with candidates in elections. Allison Joyce via Getty Images Under this system, the court reviews campaign finance laws under different types of scrutiny depending on what the law aims to restrict. Limits that affect campaign spending face the highest level of inspection and are the hardest to defend, while limits on contributions may face a more intermediate or lower level of investigation. Over the years, this tiered approach has led to many campaign finance laws being upheld, including contribution limits and disclosure laws, and others struck down, like the limits on independent expenditures in the 2010 Citizens United decision or, most recently, in 2022 with Cruz v. FEC, repealing limits on how much a campaign committee can reimburse a candidate for loans taken out to fund their run for office. In NRSC v. FEC, the 6th Circuit upheld the party coordination limits by a 14-1 vote on the grounds that they were bound by the Colorado II precedent. The courts conservative judges, however, said they believed recent Supreme Court decisions would lead to the limit being struck down, but only the Supreme Court could do so. Only one judge believed the appeals court had enough justification to overturn the Supreme Courts precedent. Were encouraged by the Courts repeated recognition that the coordinated limits dont pass muster, and we welcome their invitation to the Supreme Court to reverse its misguided decision in Colorado II, Ryan G. Dollar, general counsel for the NRSC, said in a statement. We will be seeking Supreme Court review. Judges Amul Thapar and John K. Bush, however, went even further. They argued that the Supreme Court should scrap its tiered scrutiny approach as a means to invalidate much of modern campaign finance law specifically contribution limits and disclosure laws. Im sure that the underlying motivation of these 6th Circuit judges is indeed to toughen the review of campaign finance laws, particularly for contribution limits, which, even under Chief Justice Roberts, the court has been relatively amenable to, said Tara Malloy, a campaign finance lawyer with the watchdog nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, which filed a brief in support of the FEC in the case. They think they have to redo the entire campaign finance jurisprudence in order to defeat these laws. Instead of the tiered approach, Thapar used his concurrence in NRSC v. FEC, which was joined by Judges Raymond Kethledge, Eric Murphy and John Nalbandian, to call on the Supreme Court to apply the history and tradition test it adopted in the 2022 gun rights case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen and in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade to campaign finance law. History should guide our First Amendment jurisprudence, Thapar wrote. Specifically, courts should engage in the two-step inquiry that our Second Amendment jurisprudence uses. In the Bruen case, the Supreme Courts six conservative justices introduced a two-step test for the review of restrictions on firearms that requires judges to search for historical analogues to the legislation at issue around the time the Constitution was written. This new test has resulted in chaos in lower courts as judges take on the role of historians, choosing how to interpret history to reach their opinions while also diverging on what Founding era laws or traditions count as historical analogues. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amul Thapar, a Trump appointee, called on the Supreme Court to apply a history and tradition test to its review of campaign finance laws. Ed Reinke via Associated Press Applying the history and tradition test to campaign finance would likely decimate the legal regime adopted over the past 50 years. The reason isnt necessarily that Founding era history suggests that political corruption the sole justification the Supreme Court has found for campaign finance laws isnt a concern. The problem is rather that the history and tradition test in the Bruen case has led to judges adopting a choose-your-adventure reading of American founding history in order to reach desired conclusions. The concurrence by Bush showcases how judges can wield history and tradition as a means to achieve preferred outcomes. Where Thapar simply called for the Supreme Court to apply the history and tradition test, Bush applied that test to the issue of party coordination limits. Those limits fail the test because no laws were enacted to govern activity that resembled party coordination, while funding for such things as pamphlet campaigns in support of the American Revolution and the Federalist Papers campaign to support the Constitution was paid for by supporters of those efforts, he argued. He also said that other anti-corruption laws targeted quid pro quo bribery rather than less direct definitions of corruption. Judged by this early legal landscape, the restriction here is far afield from those methods of regulation recognized by relevant history and tradition to be within the national governments power, Bush wrote. But other legal scholars have looked at the same history and come to the opposite conclusion. In her book, Corruption in America, Fordham Law School professor Zephyr Teachout argued that the anti-corruption tradition in America cannot be limited to quid pro quo bribery because it is influenced by more expansive republican theories of corruption that predate the enactment of the Constitution. Corruption, in the American tradition, does not just include blatant bribes and theft from the public till, but encompasses many situations where politicians and public institutions serve private interests at the publics expense, Teachout wrote. This idea of corruption jealously guards the public morality of the interactions between representatives of government and private parties, foreign parties, or other politicians. This tradition undergirds all anti-corruption laws, including those regulating campaign finance, Teachout said. The history and tradition, therefore, cannot be so neatly cited as Thapar and Bush wish. Still, they want judges to only rely on the history and tradition of their choosing to justify policy outcomes. The courts dont need to adopt this history and tradition test to strike down the party coordination limits in question. The tiered approach, combined with the increasingly cramped view of corruption as solely defined by explicit quid pro quo transactions adopted by the Supreme Court in recent decisions, provides enough legal justification for conservative jurists opposed to campaign finance regulation to strike it down, Malloy said. I have full confidence that the court can exist within its existing jurisprudence and strike down a lot of campaign finance law, Malloy said. I dont think they have to redo their entire jurisprudence in order to defeat these laws. Still, the request by the 6th Circuit judges for the Supreme Court to do exactly that signals a new push in the judiciary to target laws like contribution limits and disclosure laws that the Supreme Court has refused to gut. Whether any of the conservative justices on the Supreme Court will bite remains to be seen. Related... ISLAMABAD, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three terrorists were killed in a clash with the Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) in Pakistan's east Punjab province on Wednesday, the CTD said in a statement. The incident happened in the provincial capital city of Lahore where the CTD raided a compound suspected of harboring the terrorists, the statement added. "During the raid, the terrorists opened fire on the law enforcement officers, and in the exchange of gunfire, three of their accomplices were killed by their own shots," the statement added. Two other terrorists managed to flee during the shootout, and a search operation is underway to apprehend them, said the CTD. Arms and ammunition were also recovered from the compound as well as from the possession of the slain terrorists. The terrorists were reportedly planning a large-scale attack in Lahore, according to the CTD. North Carolina DHHS Kody Kinsley (fourth from the right) alongside members of the NC FIT staff (Photo: Ahmed Jallow) Anthony Ferrera gets emotional when he talks about how the FIT Wellness program has saved his life. About a year ago, Ferrera was grappling with severe mental and physical health issues while at Central Prison in Raleigh, before being transferred to Johnson County Detention Center to complete his four-month sentence. After years of shuffling in and out of prison, Ferrera now has a stable life. He lives with his daughter, has a great relationship with his family, and has found a sense of purpose and belonging. The support he received from FIT Wellness has helped him rebuild his life and overcome the challenges of reentry, he said. They gave me a sense of hope, Ferrera said. If it wasnt for them, it would have been a hard road. FIT Wellness, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program (NC FIT), provides psychiatric and physical health care, as well as connections to community support services like housing and transportation, for individuals with mental illness reentering the community from prison. The program was highlighted on Tuesday during a panel discussion and tour hosted by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). According to DHHS, its one of 29 reentry programs across the state helping people successfully transition back into the community after incarceration. The difference with NC FIT is actually being able to assure that people would be able to access high quality essential health services, and that is sort of what distinguishes the work we do, said Evan Ashkin, professor of family medicine at the UNC School of Medicine and co-founder of the program. The other very important part, which I cant highlight enough, is that we hire people who are formerly incarcerated, train them as community health workers, and then they are embedded in our medical homes. Ferrera was among the estimated 50% of people in North Carolina prisons and jails who identify as having a mental health need, and 75% who identify as having a substance use disorder. Nationwide data show that people with mental illness are overrepresented in incarcerated, probation, and parole populations, often due to factors such as poverty, lack of access to care, and stigma. FIT Wellness, currently operating in Wake County, offers continued psychiatric care for individuals with serious mental illness who are being released from state prison. Participants work with a peer support specialist and other care team members to develop comprehensive reentry plans. The program has shown significant success, with 75% of patients reporting no emergency department visits and 81% reporting no hospitalizations after release. The work that youre doing every single day is clearly making a difference in peoples lives, and its so fundamental to what we see as our work at [DHHS] of trying to fill gaps that have been so longstanding, said DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley during a tour and panel discussion at the FIT Wellness clinic in Raleigh on Tuesday. Since 2022, DHHS funding has supported the creation or expansion of 23 diversion and deflection programs for substance use disorders across the state. Earlier this year, the department announced a $5.5 million in funding to expand the program to federally qualified health centers in Durham, Orange, and New Hanover counties. It is part of what officials describe as a whole-of-government approach to improving reentry for formerly incarcerated people in the state. North Carolina released its Reentry 2030 strategic plan last month, part of a national initiative calling on state officials to expand access to reentry services that people need when they leave prison. In January, Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order aimed at supporting the roughly 18,000 people released from North Carolina prisons each year. The order directed the Department of Adult Correction to coordinate with all state cabinet agencies to expand housing opportunities for incarcerated individuals, help people in prison enroll in Medicaid when they are released, and improve economic opportunities for them by expanding access to education. Housing is one of the greatest challenges people face when reentering society. Earlier this year, NC Newsline reported that about 3,000 people, or 17% of the reentry population, were released without a housing plan in North Carolina in 2023. Having stable housing is crucial for long-term success in the program, Ashkin said. The folks who are able to have housing when they get out seem to do a lot better, said Ashkin. He said its much easier to access healthcare, adhere to treatment plans, and meet basic needs when housing is not a constant worry. When that housing piece is missing, its a tremendous challenge. Luckily for him, Ferrera didnt have to worry about housing when he left prison because his mother, Barbra Nagel, was available to pick him upone of many times. This time was different though, Nagel said. Ive never had to remind him he had an appointment. He always looked forward to his visit here because he knew he was going to be heard and taken care of, Nagel said. As for Ferrera, he said that he plans to stay in the program for as long as it takes. This is it, I have a life, said Ferrera. It changed everythingthe way I look at everything, and the way I approach every situation, and the way that I tackle lifes problems. This gave me all that. TUSCUMBIA, Ala. (WHNT) The Tuscumbia Police Chief confirmed another car was stolen from the Long-Lewis Chevrolet in Tuscumbia Monday night. Tuscumbia Police Chief Tony Long told News 19 that a Corvette was stolen from the Long-Lewis Chevrolet dealership on Monday night. Florence man pleads guilty to attempted murder of officer, multiple escape charges This is the same dealership where three vehicles and cash were stolen on August 14. Chief Long told News 19 that he believed the same people had been involved in this break-in a month ago. He said the people who stole the car broke in the same door and broke into the same office to steal the keys to the Corvette. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) San Francisco isnt doing everything it can to make its city streets cleaner, advocates from the Peoples Budget Coalition and the Coalition of Homelessness are claiming. Advocates are calling on Mayor London Breed and the city to allocate already available funds to open 24-hour sanitation pit stops what they describe as a necessary measure to address the growing sanitation crisis on the citys streets. Photo Courtesy: SF Public Works Pit stops, according to advocates, offer dignity to those in need by providing essential public restroom and sanitation services, which also help maintain street cleanliness. According to San Francisco Public Works, there are currently 30 locations around the city. With limited operating hours and a lack of sufficient facilities, advocates claim, the program is failing to meet the demands of the citys busiest neighborhoods. The Coalition on Homelessness argues that expanding to 24-hour services is a practical, achievable solution to significantly improve street conditions. Its baffling that with millions of dollars sitting unused, the city chooses to ignore a straightforward solution to a problem that affects everyone. Were not asking for the impossibl just for the city to use the funds it already has to make our streets cleaner and safer for all. Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness. Friendencach claims this affects the citys most vulnerable residents, including low-income families, seniors, and unhoused individuals. She claims a lack of accessible around-the-clock facilities leads to a lack of options, hence turning city streets into unsanitary conditions. The solution is right in front of us. Expanding pit stop services to 24 hours will not only help keep our streets clean but also provide a humane and dignified option for those with nowhere else to go, said Friedenbach, claiming the citys refusal to act on the measure is a failure of leadership that impacts everyone. KRON4 has reached out to SF Public Works for comment and have not heard 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. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) During its first meeting since the arrest of councilmember Trayon White, the District Council voted to dissolve the committee White chairs and launch an investigation into his conduct. White was arrested last month and is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for his influence on city contracts. Those contracts dealt specifically with violence interruption programs led by the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services and the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. DC Council closes meeting over Trayon White White faces one charge of bribery. He pled not guilty in federal court last week. During Tuesdays meeting, the Council voted 10-0 to dissolve the youth affairs committee, which White chairs, and split the oversight into two subcommittees. White, who attended by Zoom, voted present on the matter. As did at-large councilmember Kenyan McDuffie. Councilmember Zachary Parker will now lead a subcommittee that oversees libraries and youth affairs. Specifically, hell oversee the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS). My primary focus is ensuring that we can support the agencies under the committee, as well as holding them accountable, Parker said. There will be a series of meetings, engagements, visits to agency offices, as well as hearing on the function of each agency. DC Councilmember Trayon White addresses criminal accusations of bribery Parker said there will be an increased focus on DYRS, given the allegations against White as well as the recidivism rate among juveniles who commit crimes. Im hopeful that District residents can maintain their trust in the integrity of the council in our oversight function, he said. I will be accountable to district residents and holding the agency accountable. And you will see that through hearings, visits and a level of transparency that perhaps we havent seen in recent time. Councilmember Matt Frumin will chair the second subcommittee, which will oversee recreation and community affairs. The Council also voted to spend $400,000 to hire an outside legal firm to assist in investigating Whites conduct. The law firm is tasked with working with an ad hoc committee, chaired by councilmember Kenyan McDuffie. Its an ongoing investigation at this point, said McDuffie. [Well investigate] the residency and bribery issues. Weve got a really compressed amount of time, 90 days, in which to do the investigation and also to issue a report about the findings. Indictment of Ward 8 Councilmember leaves community heartbroken and shocked McDuffie noted that the Committee will release as much information about the investigation as possible, but wont compromise the investigation. The Council is not the United States Attorneys Office. We are our own independent legislative body that has a duty to conduct this sort of investigation under our rules. We intend to do so and share our findings once we complete the investigation, he said. The committee is expected to release a report by Dec. 16. And, the Council will decide whether to punish White or not, which could include censorship or expulsion. White will have a chance to respond to the findings. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Stephen Castaneda and Marissa Calhoun during a news conference on Tuesday. The couple have filed a lawsuit after they said that a Los Angeles-area fertility clinic threw away their embryos (ZOOM) A couple is suing a California fertility clinic after an employee allegedly threw away their embryos, dashing their best chances of starting a family together. Marissa Calhoun and Stephen Castaneda are taking legal action against Los Angeles-area Reproductive Partners Medical Group (RPMG) and Dr Andy Huang. Calhoun said she underwent three egg retrieval procedures between 2021 and 2022, ultimately leaving the couple with 16 viable embryos, according to KTLA. But according to Adam Wolf, the couples attorney, the clinic admitted that an employee had not properly labeled the embryos before putting them in an incubator. The employee later took them out of storage and threw them away. RPMG literally treated Marissas embryos like trash, Wolf told the outlet. Calhoun said she was devastated that the embryos had been destroyed, during a news conference on Monday. The couple is suing the fertility clinic for negligence in Los Angeles County Superior Court, and are seeking unspecified damages. Wolf said his clients were denied documentation of what happened to the embryos and that no legal settlement could compensate them for what they have been through. In an emailed statement, Reproductive Partners Medical Group said: We are aware of the recently filed lawsuit describing a regrettable, unintentional, and isolated incident involving one patient. We have proactively communicated with this patient since the day it occurred. We have been and continue to be committed to open, direct communication and support. We can confidently assure every RPMG patient that their eggs and embryos were not in any way impacted during this isolated incident. The medical group also represents Dr Huang. Castaneda said his partner told him the news that the embryos had been destroyed in a panicked phone call. I never heard that much pain in her voice before, he said. It was the pain that I could only associate with the death of a loved one. I hate the helplessness of the situation. Calhoun was encouraged to undergo the treatment because of an existing health condition. For nearly two decades my doctors told me that my chances of conceiving a child naturally were extremely low, that IVF was my best option for becoming a mother, she said. Castaneda added: Marissa and I are going through the grieving process. We are trying to come to grips with the fact that we may never have the family that we so badly wanted to have. Couple behind Hatfield & McCoy museum finds body of man who shot at cars on I-75 Sheila and Fred McCoy of Liberty, Kentucky, located a body in the Daniel Boone National Forest on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, while livestreaming in the area. The couple began searching the forest after Joseph Couch, who is accused of shooting five people in vehicles on interstate 75 earlier this month, went missing. In our In the Spotlight stories, Herald-Leader journalists bring you continuing coverage of news and events important to our Central Kentucky community. Read more. Story idea? hlcityregion@herald-leader.com. A livestreaming couple who previously operated a museum for the famous feuding Appalachian families the Hatfields and McCoys found the body of the man who shot five people this month on Interstate 75 in Southern Kentucky. The discovery will net them $25,000, as police confirmed that unspecified articles on the body indicated it was 32-year-old Joseph Couch. Couch shot five people in vehicles Sept. 7 on Interstate 75 in Southern Kentucky, setting off a manhunt that sent dozens of law enforcement into the rugged terrain of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Fred and Sheila McCoy posted a live YouTube video around 3:30 p.m. claiming theyd found Couchs body after searching for six days and nights. Police found a car and gun belonging to Couch following the shootings, but he had not been seen since. The couple said they saw vultures circling nearby, and they commented on a foul smell as they walked toward the vultures. Then Fred McCoy shouted, I got him! Sheila replied, Oh, my Lanta! Oh, my Lanta! Oh, gosh. Oh, gross. The video showed a body, which the couple said appeared to have deteriorated. Someone off-screen said to the couple, Hey, no pictures. This is a crime scene. And then the video ended. The couple went live a second time after finding the body, and they appear to be discussing what theyll do with reward money. Authorities had offered a $35,000 reward for information that led to Couchs arrest. Fred and Sheila say they are descendants of the famous feuding families the Hatfields and McCoys from West Virginia and Kentucky. The couple previously operated the Hatfields and McCoys museum in Casey County, according to the museums website. Casey County is about an hour west of the I-75 shootings. Though the museum is closed indefinitely, the couple still operates a YouTube channel with more than 5,000 subscribers. Before the shooting, they posted mostly about the two families, but for several days theyve posted about searching for Couch in the woods of north Laurel County. They called themselves bounty hunters on the hunt. Fred McCoy is a retired police officer, according to the museum website. Before the Sept. 7 shooting, Couch sent texts to his ex-wife that said he was going to kill a lot of people, adding, Well (Im going to) try at least, according to court documents. He told the woman he planned to kill himself afterward. Police later found his Toyota parked atop a hill on a U.S. Forest Service Road near Exit 49, where the shooting happened, and they found the AR-15 they think he used in the shooting. Couple rescued by restaurant staff after driving into water at South Carolina marina An out of town couple reportedly drove into the boat ramp at the Isle of Palms marina in South Carolina after being confused by directions on Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. This story has been updated to add new information. Confusion over directions led a tourist couple to drive into the water at a southern South Carolina marina, police said. Restaurant employees jumped into the water to rescue the couple from their vehicle at the Isle of Palms Marina Saturday night, the city's police department wrote on Facebook. Officials closed the the boat ramp until Charleston County Sheriff's Office's Dive Team could recover the vehicle Sunday, the Isle of Palms Police Department confirmed. No injuries or environmental impacts were reported. The couple, a 70-year-old man and woman in her 60s, drove onto the ramp while confused by GPS directions, Sgt. Matthew Storen told USA TODAY Wednesday. Police said the employees at the Islander 71 Seafood restaurant and bar collaboratively rescued the two. Local station WCIV-TV reported that the incident occurred after the couple had dinner at the establishment. Bartender who saved couple was a former lifeguard Islander 71 general manager Christopher Sollom, said one of their bartenders, Johnny Himmelsbach, used his experience as a former lifeguard to save the couple, WCIV-TV reported. "Didn't even hesitate; he jumped right in and was able to pull two people out of the car before it submerged into the water," Sollom told the station. Sollom said another employee joined Himmelsbach into the water while other staff alerted first responders, according to WCIV-TV. "By the time that I got down here, it was completely submerged," he said. "So, that was a matter of 60 seconds from when someone got me upstairs to when I ran downstairs." Coworker calls Himmelsbach's actions heroic Islander 71 bartender Shannon Standhardt told WCIV-TV that he could not say enough about Himmelsbach's heroic actions. "We as his friends and coworkers already know how special he is, but as a close friend and employee of mine he's truly an angel," Standhardt said. "He deserves all the credit from this. I can't say we will ever forget this evening and be so grateful that this accident didn't have a different outcome." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Confused couple drives into South Carolina water; saved by bar staff A federal appeals court next month will hear arguments in the National Rifle Associations constitutional challenge to a Florida law that prevents people under age 21 from purchasing rifles and other long guns. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week scheduled an Oct. 22 hearing in Atlanta, as it considers a law that passed in the aftermath of the February 2018 mass shooting at Parklands Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people. A federal district judge and a three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the age restriction, but the full appeals court last year decided to take up the case in what is known as an en banc hearing. As the Florida lawsuit has played out, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued closely watched opinions in other gun-related cases. That has resulted in attorneys for Florida and the NRA debating how the Supreme Court opinions should apply to the dispute about the constitutionality of the age restriction. Read: Man, woman found dead at home near Lake Nona The NRA argued in a July 31 brief that the Florida law did not align with a 2022 Supreme Court opinion in a case known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which said gun laws must be consistent with this nations historical tradition of firearm regulation. This law is unconstitutional. The Second Amendments text protects young adults right to purchase a firearm, and the state has not proven that the ban is consistent with our nations historical tradition of firearm regulation. The young adult ban cannot stand, John Parker Sweeney, an attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP firm, wrote in the brief. But in an Aug. 30 brief, the states attorneys contended that the law fits neatly within the nations historical tradition. While the law bars people under 21 from buying rifles and other long guns, they are able to get the guns, for example, as gifts from relatives. Read: Music mogul Sean Diddy Combs pleads not guilty to sex trafficking charges Floridas law restricting the purchase, but not possession or use, of firearms by those under 21 is consistent with the principles that underpin our regulatory tradition. At the (nations) founding, individuals under 21 were considered lacking in the requisite judgment and reason to enter into contracts, which at the time were necessary to purchase firearms because such goods were bought on credit in early Americas agrarian economy. States recognized this common-law limitation when enacting their militia laws, the states brief said. The Republican-controlled Legislature and then-Gov. Rick Scott rushed to include the age restriction in a school-safety bill after Nikolas Cruz, who was 19 at the time, used a semiautomatic rifle in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting. Federal law already prevented people under 21 from buying handguns. Read: Snake hunter wins 10k in Florida Python Challenge The NRA quickly filed the lawsuit, alleging that the Florida age restriction violated Second Amendment rights. While the full appeals court decided last year to take up the issue, the case was put on hold until after the Supreme Court issued a decision in a Texas gun case. The Supreme Courts 8-1 decision in June in the Texas case backed a ban on gun possession by people under domestic-violence restraining orders and was a victory for the federal government and gun-control supporters. Amid the Florida lawsuit, the state House in 2023 and 2024 approved bills to lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 to buy rifles and other long guns. The Senate, however, did not pass the measures, keeping the 2018 law in effect. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (WPRI) A 32-year-old man was arrested Monday following an investigation into the solicitation of a juvenile for sexual activity, according to Portsmouth Police. Jacob Garzarelli, of Coventry, was taken into custody after police found him at a business on East Main Road in Portsmouth. Police said Garzarelli traveled from Fall River to Portsmouth to engage in sexual activity with a minor. Detectives reportedly seized a USB drive, a tablet, on which police said they discovered child pornography, and other evidence during the arrest. Garzarelli was arraigned in 2nd Division District Court on charges of indecent solicitation of a minor, electronically disseminating indecent material to minors and possession of child pornography. He was released on $5,000 surety bail which included a special condition of no unsupervised contact with persons under the age of sixteen as well as limited internet access, police said. *Note: Revisions have been made to this article to reflect updated information from the Portsmouth Police Department which previously reported that Garzarelli had traveled from Coventry to Portsmouth* Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking 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 WPRI.com. COVID-19 is still spreading in Utah but new vaccines are available. Heres what experts want you to do With new vaccines now available, its time for Utahns to get a COVID-19 shot, a pair of University of Utah health experts said Wednesday. Weve had a very active COVID-19 summer, as I think many people at this point know from personal experience, Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of U. Healths Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and director of Hospital Epidemiology at Intermountain Primary Childrens Hospital, told reporters during a virtual news conference on the updated vaccine. Newer versions of COVID-19 swept through Utah and the United States, Pavia said, that led to a lot of disease and even deaths from the novel virus that sparked a pandemic in 2020. The Utah Department of Health and Human Services reported four new deaths from COVID-19 in the week ending Sept. 11, along with 106 new hospitalizations. Will there be another COVID-19 surge this winter? For now, Pavia said, COVID-19 is on the downswing in Utah although not so much in a lot of the rest of the country. With yet another variant of the virus already sweeping through Europe, he predicted Utah will see another spike in cases, possibly around the Christmas and New Year holidays. Whats being called the XEC variant has already been reported in nearly a dozen European countries since surfacing in Berlin, Germany, in June, according to Euro News. There have been reports of XEC in the United States, but it has yet to show up on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 data tracker. It does seem to be more transmissible to people who have had recent infection and recent vaccines. So with that, we anticipate that will probably be a surge sometime this winter. I dont have a crystal ball. I cant say when and I cant say how high, Pavia said, later suggesting the holidays as a wild guess. Both he and Kavish Choudhary, U. Healths chief pharmacy officer, urged Utahns to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The COVID-19 vaccine, reformulated to target newer versions of the virus and available from Pfizer, Moderna and Novovax, are safe and effective, Choudhary said. While contracting COVID-19 would also help protect against future infections, he said by getting the shots, youre protecting others from getting seriously ill as well as yourself. Pavia said the effectiveness of the vaccines has become a very complicated subject because of COVID-19s continued mutations. The new formulations are no longer a perfect match for the version of the virus currently circulating but still provide two to three months of what he termed good protection against infection, and excellent protection against hospitalization. That decreases over time because unfortunately, these vaccines arent really long-lasting like measles vaccine, which is good for life. Thats because the virus keeps changing. So this is a little bit of a game of Whack-a-Mole, Pavia said, adding that COVID-19 is continuing to mutate and find ways to infect people that have been vaccinated. Because thats what viruses are going to do. Annual flu shots are also available now and can be given at the same time as the COVID-19 vaccine. While influenza typically peaks in Utah around the holiday season, Pavia said thats happened as early as October and as late as March and advised getting both shots by November. Who should get the latest COVID-19 vaccine? Everyone 6 months and older should get whats being called the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC. For those who recently received a dose of an earlier vaccine, Pavia recommended waiting three months from that shot before getting the newest vaccine. And for those whove recently had COVID-19, his recommended wait time is three to six months. When it comes to children, Pavia said many have probably had previous vaccine doses as well as COVID-19 infections and are developing a level of immunity that is protecting them from severe disease. Theyre still getting sick, theyre still missing school. ... But among older children, we arent seeing very many severe cases any more. Even though he said that makes it hard to argue that youre keeping them out of the hospital or protecting them from death, there are still advantages to the shots for older children, including preventing whats known as long COVID, lingering effects of the virus that are little-understood but often debilitating. Infants under a year old arent benefiting from years of exposure to COVID. So newborns in particular are still at risk of getting severely ill, Pavia said. Because the shots arent available to those under 6 months old, he said people who are pregnant should make sure theyre up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations. Asked about people who hold conspiratorial views about COVID-19, Pavia pointed out about 30% of Americans have never gotten vaccinated, leading to more than 230,000 preventable deaths according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study updated in 2022. The CDC reports more than 1.2 million people have died from COVID-19 in the United States. This misinformation, this fear mongering, this concern, its not just political, Pavia said. Its killing people. Choudry said that from the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the virus didnt discriminate. It didnt care what your political beliefs were, what your religious beliefs were. It went after everybody. I think we should be mindful that whether you believe it or not, its still out there. And it impacts a lot of people. Thats real, unfortunately. ULAN BATOR, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia is experiencing an early onset of winter, with the first snowfall blanketing several provinces. This shift signals the transition from autumn to the colder winter months. As of Wednesday, the provinces of Uvs, Khovd, and Zavkhan in the west, along with Khuvsgul in the north, have seen snowfall of up to 3 cm, according to the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring. Looking ahead, snow is expected to affect western and central provinces over the next three days, along with a sudden drop in temperatures. The weather monitoring agency is urging the public, particularly nomadic herders and farmers, to take extra precautions against potential weather-related hazards. Mongolia's climate is characterized by a strong continental influence, featuring long, frigid winters and short, warm summers. Robbed of its moral bearings, bereft of any sense of right and wrong, incapable of distinguishing heroes from villains, the West can no longer celebrate when good triumphs over evil. Israels brilliantly audacious booby-trapping of thousands of Hezbollah pagers, followed by the blowing up of the terror groups walkie-talkies, is a stunning fillip for the forces of civilisation worldwide. A tiny nation of just 9.3 million, of which 7.2 million are Jewish, living in a country the size of Wales, reeling from the worst anti-Semitic pogroms since the Holocaust, Israel is leading the war against barbarism, its young conscripts doing a job that would once have required intervention by a Western coalition acting as global policeman. The fact that so many in Britain, Europe and America, especially the young, no longer take Israels side in this existential combat exemplifies our cultural, intellectual and ethical degeneration. The Biden administration is obsessed with preventing escalation, even though that is what is required if Iran is to be stopped from gaining the means to wage a nuclear World War III. All too predictably, America, seemingly determined to ensure the survival of every regional terror group, appeared upset at the successful attack on Hezbollah. David Lammy, our foreign secretary, is delivering speeches claiming climate change is a worse threat than terrorism; in a rational world, Lammy would be privately congratulating his Israeli counterparts for the most successful surgical operation ever conducted against a terrorist organisation, with few civilian casualties, and pledging Britains help. Instead, Keir Starmer has turned against Israel, banning the sales of some weapons a policy that Germany appears intent on following and refusing to oppose lawsuits against the Jewish state, in an unforgivable moral inversion. Labour has placed Britain on the side of those nihilists masquerading as human rights lawyers who negate the essential distinction between victims and aggressors, between rule-bound, democracies desperate to minimise civilian casualties, and bloodthirsty dictatorships for whom their people are pawns to be sacrificed. Hezbollah is funded and controlled by the Iranian regime, an obscurantist, fascistic, millenarian tyranny that persecutes minorities, women and dissidents. Violating human rights and plotting war crimes is Hezbollahs raison detre: its 150,000 missiles point towards civilian centres and, like Hamas and Iran itself, it seeks Israels liquidation, guaranteeing the massacre, expulsion or subjugation of Jews. Hezbollah has forced some 63,473 Israelis to flee their homes since October 7. This is unsustainable and explains why a major Israeli response is looming; obscenely, this will trigger widespread condemnation of the Jewish state. Western foreign policy is a mishmash of cowardice, delusion and contradictions. Iran is a threat to the world; its alliance with Russia is deepening. Turkey, led by the despot Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has threatened Israel with invasion, yet remains part of Nato. Qatar, which puts up senior Hamas terrorists in luxury hotels, is a major non-Nato ally of the US, home to a crucial Western military base and a major investor in London. Egypt, a recipient of US aid, has tolerated myriad tunnels to southern Gaza, refused to let in any Palestinians and, bizarrely, is not held responsible for supplying Gaza with provisions, that task falling to Israel. None of the three latter regimes face sanctions: global ire is reserved for Israel. One reason Western elites have become so Israelophobic is that, infected by wokery, they increasingly loathe Europes and Americas history and traditions, and view the Jewish state as a standout example of a Western model they reject. Winston Churchill would be convicted for crimes against humanity today, as would Franklin D Roosevelt and Harry Truman. D-Day would be ruled illegitimate because so many French civilians died during the Battle of Normandy. Democracies might as well not bother with nuclear weapons, for detonating one, even in retaliation for an unprovoked attack, would be deemed a war crime. Im in favour of much stricter rules than those governing World War II, of doing everything possible to protect civilians, but this is madness. The Just War is a foundational principle. States have the right to defend themselves. Every civilian life lost as collateral damage is a tragedy, but pacifism is a deluded utopia that fails to grasp the reality of the human condition. It is madness to criminalise all warfare, and despicable to focus on that conducted by democracies and ignore that advanced by our enemies. It is equally stupid to entrust so much power to legal activists. Much historic anti-Semitism has been ratified by kangaroo courts, including during the 1930s. The Trial of the Talmud took place in France in 1240, with rabbis forced to defend religious texts against trumped-up accusations of blasphemy and obscenity. Other bigot-fests masquerading as ordinary trials include the Disputations of Barcelona and Tortosa, the Damascus Affair, the Dreyfus affair that prompted Emile Zolas seminal Jaccuse, and the trial of Mendel Beilis in Ukraine in 1913. It is a well-established model that hasnt gone out of fashion in far-Left quarters. They no longer explicitly single out religious beliefs or individuals but leverage lawfare to delegitimise what just happens to be the only Jewish state. The fact that the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have the trappings of a legitimate legal setting does not mean they necessarily embody justice. The fact that their rulings are deemed legitimate by Left-wing elites doesnt automatically make them such. The fact that todays blood libels take on the language of human rights doesnt make them less monstrous. The fact that it is possible for a country as unjustly governed as South Africa to lead a genocide case against Israel proves that the entire system is rotten. The case is backed by Iran, Brazils far-Left president, Ireland and Egypt: we must have been transported into an alternative, Kafkaesque universe. Israel is the supreme embodiment of law-bound national, democratic sovereignty, of peoplehood, of matching a nation to a state, of post-imperialism, of capitalism and technology, and of the continued relevance of the monotheistic religions. If you tear down Israel, you destroy the very ideas that underpin the West, the international order implodes and the autocracies triumph. The stakes are thus unbelievably high. We must support Israel, and allow it to finish the job of annihilating Hamas and defeating Hezbollah. 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. CPS CEO Pedro Martinez addresses districts new 5-year plan, will be submitted for vote by Board of Education CPS CEO Pedro Martinez addresses districts new 5-year plan, will be submitted for vote by Board of Education CHICAGO Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez will submit the districts Five-Year Strategic Plan for vote by the Chicago Board of Education at a special meeting Wednesday. The five-year blueprint looks at how CPS will make decisions moving forward, including a commitment to strengthening neighborhood options from pre-school through high school. Days before ShotSpotters end, alders try to outmaneuver Mayor Brandon Johnson Martinez joined Dan Ponce and Lauren Jiggetts on Wednesdays WGN Morning News to discuss the 5-year plan, called Together we Rise, and more. Watch the full interview in the attached video. You can also click HERE to view CPS full Five-Year Strategic Plan. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Sooooo, J.D. Vance Said He "Creates Stories" For Media To Focus On, And People Have THOUGHTS Republican vice presidential candidate, Senator J.D. Vance was doing his rounds on the Sunday morning political shows, when he made an interesting admission. And yes, it's about his and Donald Trump's baseless claim that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. On CNN's show State of the Union, Dana Bash interviewed the senator for almost 20 minutes. She began, "Before Donald Trump talked about eating dogs and cats on a debate stage, it was you, senator, who first elevated this baseless rumor. These are your constituents, so why are you putting them at risk by continuing to spread claims about Haitian immigrants, despite officials in your state saying that there's no evidence, and pleading for you to stop?" CNN Vance said that the "American media" ignored Springfield, "until Donald Trump and I started surfacing some of these concerns." He then asserted that his constituents have brought similar concerns to him, including further claims that Haitian immigrants are taking geese from ponds and eating them. "My constituents are telling me firsthand that they're seeing these things... And of course, many of the things that the media says are completely baseless have since been confirmed." CNN Bash, referencing her notes, starts to fact-check some of the senator's claims. She tells him, "The Clark County Sheriff and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources reviewed 11 months of 911 calls. They only identified two instances of people alleging Haitians were taking geese out of parks. They found zero evidence to substantiate those claims." She continued, "Nobody is disputing that the town of Springfield, Ohio, needs help. But you're not just a bystander, you're the senator from Ohio. So instead of saying things that are wrong and actually causing the hospitals, the schools, the government buildings, to be evacuated because of bomb threats, because of the cats and dogs thing, why not actually be constructive, helping to better integrate them into the community?" CNN After minutes of back-and-forth, and Vance suggesting Bash is a "democratic propagandist," she asks him to, "once and for all...affirmatively now say that that is a rumor that has no basis with evidence?" CNN Vance insisted his evidence was firsthand information before admitting, "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do, Dana. Because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast." JD Vance attempts to justify spreading lies about Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio: If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people then that's what I'm going to do pic.twitter.com/9P5lUaZUJu philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 15, 2024 CNN / Via Twitter: @Phil_Lewis_ Bash repeated what he said before asking, "So the eating dogs and cats thing is not accurate?" CNN To which Vance replied, "I say that were creating a story, meaning were creating the American media focusing on it." CNN The clip received swift backlash on social media. One person called the senator's admission, "scare tactics." So this man just admitted ON NATIONAL TELEVISION that he plans on doing scare tactics for the rest of this campaign.. CUNTboy Carter (@YallQunt) September 15, 2024 Twitter: @YallQunt Many others just called it "lying." 'create stories' is another way of saying, lying. That's what the GOP is today, a lie. It creates them and promises them. Totally dishonest. miscellany101 (@miscellany101) September 15, 2024 Twitter: @miscellany101 And finally, some people pointed out the impact the comments have had on the Haitian immigrants living in Springfield. Well the common sense would be that vice presidential candidate blatantly admitting to making up lies to push their agenda, risking the lives of an entire community and millions of others, is absolutely outrageous, disgusting, abhorrent and unacceptable. But well... Chrismic Giroud Pa Fasil (@LikeChrisss) September 15, 2024 Twitter: @LikeChrisss Springfield's Mayor Rob Rue told CNN the comments "federal politicians" are marking are hurting his city. "It would be helpful if they understood the weight of their words and how they can harm a community like ours," he said. "It'd be helpful to, like, bring peace with the words that you're saying about communities like ours instead of unrest." CNN What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments. Is it a crime to register to vote when ineligible? Texas AG leaves out info in warning In Reality Check stories, Star-Telegram journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@star-telegram.com. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is reminding Texans that it is a crime to register to vote when youre ineligible to cast a ballot on Election Day. Thats true, but his warning leaves out a key distinction. On Sept. 13, Paxton sent an advisory on the mass mailing of voter registration applications. An array of cities and counties are mailing voter registration applications to Texans, and just because you get one in the mail, doesnt mean youre eligible to register to vote, Paxton said. Registering to vote if you are ineligible, including if you are a noncitizen, is a crime, the advisory reads. Do not let an invitation to register to vote lead you to break the law. It is a crime to register to vote if certain eligibility requirements arent met, said Matthew Wilson, a SMU political science professor. But groups that advocate for voting rights note that theres a knowledge requirement on the part of the person registering that Paxton doesnt mention. What the Attorney General leaves out is that a person must knowingly or intentionally lie about their eligibility to vote for it to be a crime, Texas Civil Rights Project Staff Attorney Veronikah Warms said in a statement. Paxtons statement is at best misleading and seems to be intended to chill voters from exercising their right to vote, said ACLU of Texas attorney Ashley Harris. What does Texas law say? According to the Texas Secretary of States Office, to be eligible to register to vote in Texas a person must: Be a U.S. citizen. Be a resident of the county where theyre registering. Be 18 years old. (A person can register when theyre 17 years and 10 months old.) Not be a convicted felon. (Unless the registrant has completed their sentence, including probation and parole.) Not have been declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law. Paxton cites four parts of Texas law to support his warning that registering to vote despite ineligibility is a crime. One law cited involves tampering with government records. State law says its a crime to make, present or use any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as a genuine governmental record. Another related to illegal voting says its a crime for a person to knowingly or intentionally vote or attempt to vote in an election where the person knows they are not eligible to vote. The other parts of law cited by Paxton in his advisory define the penalty for a state jail felony and a second degree felony. Paxtons office did not return multiple requests for comment. Voter registration applications in Texas include a section where registrants must attest that: I understand that giving false information to procure a voter registration is perjury, and a crime under state and federal law. Conviction of this crime may result in imprisonment up to one year in jail, a fine up to $4,000, or both. And that: I am a resident of this county and a U.S. Citizen; I have not been finally convicted of a felony, or if a felon, I have completed all of my punishment including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or I have been pardoned; and I have not been determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote. Registrants must also confirm on the form that they will be 18 on or before Election Day. Paper applications that can be picked up at many libraries, post offices and DPS offices list the qualifications to register to vote in Texas. An online registration form on the Texas Secretary of States website has voters confirm they meet the age and residency requirements before taking them to the application that can be filled out, printed and mailed. Here's what else we've Reality Checked: Is AI 'manipulating' your thermostat? Are American Airlines flight attendants really going to strike? True or false: Snakes can swim up your toilet Knowingly or intentionally So how to interpret the law? If you meet all of the qualifications and youre not a registered voter elsewhere, then youre eligible to register to vote. If you seek to register despite that that is, knowing that you are ineligible then that in essence, constitutes fraud, and that is a criminal offense, said Wilson, the SMU professor. The knowing part is important, according to the Texas Civil Rights Project and the ACLU of Texas, two groups that work to protect voting rights. Its also where things can get hazy, said Wilson. Both the illegal voting law and record tampering law state that the offenses must be done with knowledge and/or intent for a crime to have been committed. To constitute a crime, its not enough that the registrant simply know the eligibility requirements. The registrant must also know that they, themself, are not eligible to register, said Harris with the ACLU of Texas. The law is not written to criminalize innocent mistakes or misunderstandings, she said. As long as people dont knowingly or intentionally make false statements on a registration form, they are not violating any laws, Harris said. But Wilson said ignorance is not an absolute defense against criminality, though typically a person who makes an honest mistake would not be criminally prosecuted. Instead, the voter registration attempt would be rejected or rescinded, which is what should happen, he said. If particular instances alleged voter registration fraud are prosecuted, questions of knowledge and ignorance what the person knew or didnt know about the law may be determined in a trial, Wilson said. A similar question has come up in a years-long court battle involving Crystal Mason, who is accused of illegal voting in Tarrant County. Her case involves the casting of a provisional ballot in 2016 that ultimately wasnt counted. Masons degree of knowledge that she was voting illegally has been central to the court proceedings. (Mason is represented by attorneys with the ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project.) Why the warning now? Paxtons Sept. 13 advisory follows his suing of Bexar and Travis counties over their partnerships with third party vendors to mail voter registration applications in mass, which Paxton says could invite voter fraud. I have already sued Bexar and Travis counties to stop their illegal funding of mass voter-registration application mail-outs to scores of residents who may be ineligible to vote, the advisory reads. I will pursue litigation against any Texas county that does the same. A judge sided with Bexar county in a Monday ruling that Paxton quickly appealed. Travis County on Tuesday filed a lawsuit of its own in federal court, arguing that state officials are violating the National Voters Registration Act. Paxtons advisory singles out noncitizens as a being ineligible to register to vote. Here we see another example of the Attorney Generals Office using sleight of hand with the Texas Election Code to scare voters of color specifically Latino voters, said Warms, with the Texas Civil Rights Project, in a statement. Voter registration applications are reviewed and verified by county election officials, which is why the number of non-citizens who have inadvertently been registered to vote is nearly non-existent. Examples of people registering to vote despite knowing they are ineligible are vanishingly rare, Wilson said. Most people are just trying to figure out and navigate the voter registration system and participate in elections and democracy, and as long as folks are not intentionally or knowingly making false statements in that process, then they are able to comfortably register and vote, Wilson said. Not sure if youre registered? Voter registration status can be checked online on the Texas Secretary of State website. Oct. 7 is the deadline to register to vote in Texas. Election Day is Nov. 5. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was interrupted during a congressional hearing dedicated to discussing "hate" on Tuesday by an anti-Israel agitator who stood up shouting "F---ing Jews." During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled, "A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America," Cruz discussed soaring antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of Oct. 7. "Antisemitism is a unique, historic form of evil, and over millennia, it is manifested in violence, mass murder and genocide," Cruz said. "October 7th was one of the darkest days in human history when terrorists murdered over 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages. Women and girls were raped. It was the single largest mass murder of Jews in a day since the Holocaust. In the wake of October 7th, we have seen antisemitism explode across the United States and across the world, but especially on college campuses." After listing examples of antisemitic and pro-Hamas messages hurled toward Jewish students, Cruz called out the Biden-Harris administration. COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS TO REACH CRESCENDO OF INTIMIDATION AS SCHOOL SUFFERS LATEST BLACK EYE Sen. Ted Cruz was interrupted by an anti-Israeli agitator during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing slated to discuss "hate crimes." "Throughout all of this, the Biden-Harris administration has been utterly absent. Does anyone doubt if the Klan were on college campuses terrorizing African American students, threatening African American students, that we would see the FBI there, that we would see prosecutors there, that we would see federal funding cut off to universities? Of course we would. And we should," Cruz said. "But when it comes to antisemitism, the Democrats have a problem. I would note this is occurring in blue states with blue governors, because the Democrat Party is terrified of the pro-Hamas wing of their party." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "In states like Texas and Florida, we don't allow this. At the University of Texas, when violent protests threatened Jewish students, police officers arrived and arrested them. That's what happened when you enforce the law," Cruz continued. "Every Republican member of this committee asked the chairman to hold a hearing on antisemitism in February. And yet we don't get a hearing on antisemitism. We get a hearing generically on hate." Cruz was about to explain why he believes the Biden administration is to blame for this, when a man in the audience stood up and interjected, shouting profanities including "F---ing Jews," according to video on social media. The anti-Israel agitator was then escorted out. "And this is the kind of anger and hate that is encouraged. You're now seeing the hate manifesting right here," Cruz said, referencing the protester. "So we now have a demonstration of antisemitism. We have a demonstration of the hate," he added. Cruz proceeded to ask one of the witnesses, Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, "Has the Biden administration cut off the funding of any of the colleges that have allowed this hate? Have they indicted anyone for funding these violent protests? Have they indicted the people paying for the matching tents, or have they sat there silently and have the universities, sat there silently while their students are terrified to go to class?" Goldfeder responded, "They have not indicted anyone." "Has any university had their funding cut off for allowing this sort of violent intimidation?" Cruz asked. "Not a single university," Goldfeder said. Anti-Israel agitators continue to demonstrate at a protest encampment on the campus of Columbia University on April 29, 2024, in New York City. The senator earlier referenced how the Anti-Defamation League has illustrated how the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States more than doubled from 2022 to 2023. ACTRESS SELMA BLAIR CONDEMNS ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS 'PRAISING' HAMAS TERRORISTS: 'SOMETHING VERY WRONG' Cruz said that "college campuses in particular have become vile incubators of hatred of Jews," citing examples of how one Cornell University student made threats after Oct. 7, including statements such as "if I see a pig, male Jew, I will stab you and slit your throat. If I see another pig female Jew, I will drag you away and rape you and throw you off a cliff." The Republican senator displayed a flier circulated by a student organization at California State University, Long Beach, calling for a "Day of Resistance" celebrating Oct. 7, noting how the flier included an image of a person parachuting with a fan attached, "a direct reference to and a glorification of Hamas terrorists that used gliders to descend upon a music festival and murder 260 innocent people and take many more hostages." Cruz recalled that in the days after now-former Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was confronted about soaring antisemitism on campus before the House Education and the Workforce Committee in April, Rabbi Elie Buechler issued a warning to Jewish students that Columbia "cannot guarantee Jewish students' safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy," and that he "would strongly recommend" that Jewish students leave campus and go back to their homes. An anti-Israel agitator holds a Palestinian flag during a march on Columbia University campus in New York City on April 29, 2024. Cruz said the rabbi "had every reason to be concerned," as at Columbia's campus, individuals yelled, "We're all Hamas! Long live Hamas!" The senator continued to list examples of antisemitism on campuses across the U.S., including the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor who was told to "go back to the gas chambers," and displayed a photo of a student at Columbia University holding a sign reading "al-Qassam's next targets," in front of a group of students holding American and Israeli flags in counter-protest. "Al-Qassam is the military arm of Hamas. According to social media, this particular student is a wealthy student from Georgia. She's not Palestinian, but she has been taught lies and hatred, and she feels perfectly comfortable advocating the murder of her fellow students at Columbia," Cruz said. Original article source: Cruz interrupted by anti-Israel agitator who yelled, 'F---ing Jews' during hearing on 'hate' A ransomware attack that crippled the city of Wichitas network for more than a month starting in May was limited to a Wichita Police Department records system, city officials said Wednesday. That means the Russian hacker group LockBit that claimed credit for the attack did not access bank card numbers, social security numbers or other private information about city customers or residents unless the Police Department kept those records as part of an investigation. The breached records include potentially sensitive information about witnesses, victims and suspects in 77,000 police cases. They included incident reports, arrest reports, supplemental reports, property reports, accident reports and traffic citations, City Manager Robert Layton said. Layton, who has previously avoided disclosing key details about the cyber attack, said on Wednesday that the citys internal investigation is now considered closed, so he can provide more information to the public. We havent really been able to get out the information on the data itself, and I think that was one of the most important things we wanted to talk about, to kind of ease peoples concerns about their water bill information, for instance, and payment information, that type of thing, Layton said. Layton said the city did not pay a ransom and had no contact with the Russian hackers who claimed credit for the attack and threatened to post the citys records on the dark web. Many of the breached police records are subject to the Kansas Open Records Act, with the exception of some records in active investigations and sensitive information involving confidential informants, minors and victims of sex crimes. The cyber criminals were also able to access some social security numbers, drivers license numbers and a small number of credit card or bank account records related to criminal investigations that would typically be redacted by the citys lawyers in police case files. Layton said the hackers downloaded an unknown amount of data from the police records system, but the investigation did not reveal how many or which records were stolen. We know that there was a data transfer, but we do not know to the degree what they got, Layton said. We cant tell you that everything that was in their record system was accessed, but, at the same time, I cant tell you that it wasnt. Mike Mayta, the citys chief information officer, said everyone should assume the worst and take steps to protect their information The best practice is to just assume that your information is out there already, somewhere, he said. Through forensics, there was no way that we could tell what data was exfiltrated. Consequences of the attack Layton estimates the attack cost the city about $250,000, most of which is expected to be covered by the citys insurance policy. A criminal investigation by the FBI is apparently ongoing. The FBI does not confirm or deny active investigations. The City of Wichita hasnt had direct contact with the FBI, Assistant City Manager Donte Martin said. Upon contacting our insurance provider, we were connected with an expert in handling cyber incidents. That person guided us through this process Mullen Coughlin is the name of the security experts, a law firm that handled the work. Mullen Coughlin had communication with the FBI and provided all requested information. Our primary contacts were the attorneys of Mullen Coughlin. The attack coincided with federal authorities unsealing an indictment against LockBits alleged leader, Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, a resident of the Russian Federation. The U.S. State Department also announced a $10 million reward for information that leads to his arrest. The indictment called LockBit the most prolific and destructive ransomware group in the world that has extorted at least $500 million in ransom payments from multinational corporations, local governments and nonprofit organizations since 2020. LockBit listed the city of Wichitas data on a darkweb page and said it would release the records if no ransom was paid by May 15. But the records were never released on that listing, a check of the listing shows. Layton said it appeared other organizations with the same vulnerability were blanketed with attacks around the same time the vulnerability was discovered. He would not say what the piece of hardware was that was breached. Its an appliance we purchased from a third party, Layton said. Thats about as far as we can go. We want to be concerned about vulnerability of us going forward but also others as well. So its think of it as a system that we buy from an outside party that is part of our total system. So it plays a role, but I cant really get very deep into what that does. They had a vulnerability that was discovered internationally. So it was in this system. We worked with them to close off that vulnerability, but they got in during that action. While we were doing that, and thats when Mike and his staff basically unplugged us and turned off all access. Wake-up call for city Records such as credit card numbers and personal information provided to pay water bills and other business with the city, were not breached, Layton said. The citys computer systems have all been restored with beefed up security protocols, he said. Eisenhower Airport is still experiencing some lingering effects, Layton said, because the city is using the cyber breach as a reason to update the airports WiFi system. I dont think there was anything to indicate that this attack was uniquely focused on the city of Wichita, Martin said. The prevalence of cyber incidents leading to data privacy being at risk is increasingly growing, so continuing to tap into credit reporting tools, credit monitoring tools, remaining aware, Martin said. We were fortunate in regard to being able to navigate this incident in a fairly short amount of time, but this is one of many incidents that just seems to be going on on a daily basis, so remaining vigilant and monitoring your credit is, I think, good advice. Layton said the attack was a wake-up call for the city, which has added IT security experts to the staff to prevent future attacks. Were in a time when there are sophisticated cyber criminals who are working to access systems, and its pretty prevalent out there, Layton said. So I dont think anyone should ever represent that they are immune or that this couldnt happen to them, and so well never represent that we wouldnt have more incidents in the future. Martin, the assistant city manager, said the city is already preparing for another disruption at some point in the future. Our staff has taken the opportunity to look at our continuity of operation plans. As youre well aware, for 30 to 45 days, many of our services were down, Martin said. Were taking a look at what we can do to maintain operations during system outages. Primarily, our continuity of operation plans is focused on general disasters. This gave us an opportunity, firsthand opportunity to take a look at what we need to do in regard to reliance on it, and how we can become more stable or provide ongoing services for residents and customers. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Wednesday on the Daily 8, were looking at a deadly shooting in Grand Rapids, how AI is impacting artists, Meals on Wheels Western Michigan celebrating 40 years of service and more. You can watch the full Daily 8 for Sept. 18, 2024, in the video player above or check out any of the stories mentioned below: Each weekday, the Daily 8 brings you the top eight stories we are keeping an eye on in and around West Michigan. Join us again Thursday for the Daily 8. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. It reads like something out of a spy thriller: thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah fighters exploded on Tuesday, killing at least 12 and wounding nearly 3,000 people. We bring you the remarkable story behind the attacks, believed to be caused by explosives planted in the devices by Israeli agents. The Telegraphs Senior Foreign Correspondent Roland Oliphant tells us whether the plot against Iran-backed Hezbollah could trigger an an all-out regional war. Plus, Jotam Confino reports from Israel on how local media are reacting to the audacious plot. Watch episodes of the Daily T here. Or if you would prefer to listen to the audio only, then use the player above. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to The Daily T newsletter for updates. 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. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) September is Suicide Prevention Month, which is why a national organization is hosting a walk in Sioux Falls this Saturday. While the organization has chapters across the United States, families right here in KELOLAND are sharing their storys on how suicide has personally affected them. Growing up, Nikki Vallie Harris seemed like a happy girl. She loved dance. She loved to perform, she loved theater. So to me, a little I mean, at times I think I could see maybe a little something going on, but I thought very happy, positive child, lost daughter to suicide, Janine Harris said. However, a toxic relationship changed Nikkis life. She got into a bad relationship and he was a little abusive and she had to put out a protection order. And within a few days, she just really went downhill, Harris said. In June of 2005, 20-year-old Nikki took her own life. Sometimes I think that when people are in this state, they cant see its kind of like a tunnel vision and they cant see past that. And they have thoughts such as, you know, no ones going to miss me or they wouldnt care if Im not here and cant take this pain. And but thats not true, Harris said. SD surgical hospital pays out millions to settle False Claims Act Violations After the passing of her daughter, Janine started a walk at USD in her daughters memory, which led her to also get involved with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This Saturday, they are holding the Out of the Darkness walk at the Levitt at the Falls in Sioux Falls. This walk is also for those that are family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues, relatives of someone who has lost someone to suicide, Special Events Manager, Janet Harvey said. Money raised from the walk helps fund mental health research. We have grants that we are funding across the globe, which is fantastic. I believe we currently have $23 million that we are funding in research grants, Harvey said. The two ladies encourage everyone to attend the event. So if you just know of someone, if you are personally struggling, if you have lost someone. So this walk is a community walk and it is for all, Harvey said. When we have these walks, I have seen with American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the HELP Line Center, lost and found. The people that come up and show up for these, they were loved very much, Harris said. The Out of the Darkness walk is this Saturday at the Levitt at the Falls. Registration starts at noon, and the program starts at 1:30. Click here for more information on the Out of the Darkness Walk. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A young Pit Bull mix named Louisa is expected to make a full recovery after being brutally shot between the eyes after she escaped from her home in DC last week. Authorities are searching for the person who committed this act of cruelty, and the local Humane Rescue Alliance is even offering a five thousand dollar reward. The young tan-and-white Pit Bull mix, named Louisa, strayed from her home in Washington DC last Wednesday. She was gone for two days and when she returned, her owners noticed that her neck was swollen and she seemed to be having trouble breathing. A Miracle They took the dog to the vet where it was determined that she had been shot. At this point animal welfare services got involved and were able to transfer the canine to an animal hospital for more extensive diagnostics and treatment. There, they discovered the shocking truth. At some point in her absence, poor Louisa had been shot right between the eyes. The veterinarians think the bullet grazed her tongue, went through her throat and then ended up in her neck. In the process it caused multiple facial fractures and the swelling of her throat. Fortunately, veterinarians were ale to remove the bullet without surgery and the poor dog is expected to make a full recovery in time. Animal Cruelty Now, officials are searching for the person responsible. It is miraculous that this dog was able to survive a gunshot wound to the face without suffering a more serious injury, said Chris Schindler, Senior Vice President of Animal Welfare, Field Response and Rescue at the Humane Rescue Alliance. We are determined to find out who is responsible for this act of alleged animal cruelty, and we need the communitys help. The sad fact is that as a stray, Louisa was in danger of being mistaken for a dangerous dog as she wandered onto other peoples property, and far too many folks these days take a shoot first policy when it comes to trespassinga concept that dogs cannot possibly understand. A Danger For Dogs Roaming Free It is impossible to know what happened to Louisa or what she got up to in her two days wandering loose on the city streets, but that is why its important not to let your dog wander around unleashed and unsupervised. Not only could they be a danger to other people, but there are many dangerous and deadly situations awaiting her as well, from poisons rodent traps to traffic and people who are far too trigger happy when it comes to other living things. For example, one of the most common shooting victims in situations where a police officer discharges their firearms is a dog. Fifty percent of all police shooting incidents involve a dog, and the Justice Department once estimated that police officers in this country shoot over twenty dogs a day. We hope for a swift recovery for this dog, and we also hope that her family takes stronger precautions next time to keep her from running away. She was extraordinarily lucky. Lets not risk it again. 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. by Dames Alexander Sinaga JAKARTA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- "It's such a great program! Incredible!" said Muhammad Kurtubi, a 25-year-old Indonesian national who was looking forward to learning Mandarin at a newly launched Chinese cultural space here in the Istiqlal Mosque, the country's largest mosque. The cultural space was launched two weeks ago by the Chinese embassy in Indonesia in collaboration with the mosque, with more than 50 people from the Indonesian government, universities, and media attending the ceremony. Named China Space at Istiqlal, the project offers bilateral cultural and educational exchanges and cooperation between China and Indonesia. The classroom not only displays the charm of traditional Chinese culture, such as silk paintings, porcelain and panda dolls, but also a number of Chinese technological achievements, represented by satellites and ship models, and miniature Jakarta-Bandung high-speed trains. Kurtubi, a resident of Jakarta who frequently visits the mosque, has a plan to pursue a master's degree at a university in China next year. The presence of the project at the mosque was a satisfaction for him. He has harbored a long-standing dream of learning Chinese since his employment at a Chinese firm downtown two years ago. "I chose Mandarin because it's one of the most widely spoken languages across the world. At the same time, pursuing a career in Chinese offers more opportunities," he told Xinhua recently. "Now, I can learn it before or after conducting my prayers at the mosque," he said. Some of his friends were also going to take part in the language learning, Kurtubi said. "From now on it will be much more convenient for us to learn Mandarin and Chinese culture." The project also impressed the mosque's Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar, who said the China Space at Istiqlal Mosque was the only one among mosques around the world. "We are very excited with the progress achieved in China Space, and we hope that many more collaborative agendas will be carried out in Istiqlal," he said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy's Charge d' Affaires Zhou Kan said during the launching ceremony that the embassy was ready to take the opportunity to cooperate with the mosque and other Indonesian communities to build the China Space into an inclusive, shared and open space, making greater contributions to bilateral cultural, religious, and educational exchanges and cooperation. He also highlighted that next year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Indonesia. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is asking for the communitys help in locating a suspect after a man was shot and killed in an alley in Northeast. Police said that just before 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 15, officers were called to the 400 block of 50th Street for a shooing. There, police found 44-year-old James Price, who had been shot, in an alley and unconscious. Police said DC Fire and EMS were called to the scene, but Price died. DC police searching for suspect who hit, injured officer during traffic stop in Southeast As the investigation developed, detectives obtained surveillance camera videos that captured the suspect, shown in the pictures below. D.C. police are searching for a man in connection to a deadly shooting that occurred in an alley in Northeast on Sept. 15 (Photo Courtesy: MPD) MPD is encouraging anyone who can identify him and knows his whereabouts to call the police at 202-727-9099 or text 50411. Police said the department is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Tips can remain anonymous. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DC voter guide: How to register to vote in the District WASHINGTON (DC News Now) With Election Day less than 50 days away, registering to vote is on peoples minds nationwide. In Washington, D.C., residents can register to vote in several ways. However, there are some requirements. According to the District of Columbia Board of Elections, to vote on Election Day (Nov. 5) in D.C., you must: Be a U.S. citizen. Be at least 18 years old. Be a resident of D.C. Maintain residency in D.C. for at least 30 days before the election. Not claim voting residence or the right to vote in another U.S. state, territory or country. Not have been found by a court to be legally incompetent to vote. Alsobrooks leads Hogan in Maryland Senate race, DC poll finds So, how do you register? Online: Residents can register to vote or update their registration online, here . The deadline for online registration is Oct. 15. By mail: Print the Mail in Voter Registration Application and complete fields one through 13. Make sure to sign the form before mailing it to the DC Board of Elections at 1015 Half Street, SE, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20003. The form must be received by Oct. 15. By email: Print the Mail in Voter Registration Application and complete fields one through 13. Then sign the form, take a photo of it, scan it as an attachment and email it to DCRegistrations@dcboe.org . By fax: Print the Mail in Voter Registration Application and complete fields one through 13. Then, sign the form and fax it to (202) 347-2648. In-person: Residents can visit the District of Columbia Board of Elections office or any voter registration agency. Registering is also available during early voting and on Election Day through same-day registration. To register when you vote, you must provide proof of residence that shows your name and current D.C. address. For a complete list of acceptable forms of proof, click here. When does early voting for the Nov. 5 election begin in Virginia? Military or overseas voters can go online for more information on registration and absentee voting. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Deadly wildfires raging in Portugal forced more people to flee their homes as crews battled dozens of blazes Wednesday in the north of the country. Stifling heat and strong winds over the weekend fanned a spate of forest fires across the north and centre of the country that have left five people dead, including three firefighters and a volunteer firefighter. An earlier toll of seven was revised downwards Wednesday. Head of the civil protection service Andre Fernandes said the deaths of two people who had died of heart attacks could not be directly attributed to the fire. "The meteorological situation is still very unfavourable and we are not expecting a significant reduction in the risk of forest fires over the next 48 hours," he added. Officials say another 59 people have been injured in the fires, 10 of them seriously. Civil protection authorities listed 42 active fires on its website on Wednesday and said they had mobilised around 3,900 firefighters, more than 1,000 vehicles and around 30 firefighting aircraft. France has said it is sending two more water-bombing planes to add to those already sent. Italy and Spain have also sent help, and Morocco has said it will be sending two aircraft. In the Gondomar municipality, just outside Porto, authorities carried out more evacuations on Tuesday night. Firefighters battling blazes in Arouca in the hard-hit Aveiro region told local media outlets the situation there was "uncontrollable". - Widespread destruction - Around 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres) of vegetation have burned in the region, south of Porto, since Monday, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). Around 10 separate blazes have passed the 3,000-hectare threshold since the fires began over the weekend, the Effis data showed. Images captured by the Copernicus satellite on Tuesday showed long trails of smoke drifting westward across the Atlantic from multiple fires in the north. From the heights of the village of Veiga, in the district of Agueda, residents looked on in horror Tuesday evening as the flames approached a house next to a eucalyptus grove, AFP journalists saw. The three firefighters who died on Tuesday were caught when their vehicle was trapped by the flames, civil protection authorities said. A 28-year-old Brazilian who worked for a forestry company died on Monday after he became trapped by the flames as he tried to collect some tools from his workplace. And a volunteer firefighter died after taking ill during a break from battling the flames. Lisbon has increased fire-prevention funding 10-fold and doubled the budget to fight wildfires since deadly blazes in 2017 claimed hundreds of lives. The Iberian peninsula is particularly vulnerable to global warming, with heatwaves and drought exposing the region to blazes. bur-jj/imm American Sign Language interpreter Joshua A. Seal, who was killed during the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting in Lewiston, was well known for his work during the states COVID-19 briefings. (Screenshot via Maine DHHS) One of the members of Maines deaf community killed in the Lewiston mass shooting, Joshua A. Seal, will be posthumously honored during the Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened annual award ceremony on Thursday. Seal, who became well known as an American Sign Language interpreter during the states COVID-19 briefings, will receive the Clifton F. Rodgers Lifetime Achievement Award during the 33rd ceremony of its kind at the State House in Augusta. A strong advocate for the deaf community, Seal was one of the 18 people killed in Maines worst deadliest mass shooting last fall, which also took the lives of three other members of the states deaf community. Gov. Janet Mills has also issued a proclamation designating the week of Sept. 22-28 as Deaf Culture Week. The Deaf community has its own language, culture, history, and traditions which have shaped our state for generations, Mills wrote in a statement. During Deaf Culture Week, and every week, the many contributions of Deaf people to the State of Maine should be celebrated. Writing that she has been inspired by the resilience of the Deaf community in the wake of the tragedy in Lewiston, Mills promised, My administration will continue to stand side by side with the Deaf community as we all work to build a more inclusive Maine. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Mills called Seal a friend. In addition to interpreting for state press conferences, Seal was the director of interpreting services at Pine Tree Society in Scarborough and before that worked as an educational technician for the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Six other people will also be presented with awards on Thursday for their contributions to Deaf culture in Maine. They include: Julie A. Novack: Promoting of American Sign Language, Deaf Culture and Deaf People Award ABEL Celestino: Citizenship Youth Award Betsy Hopkins: Ginny Hewes Advocate for the Needs of the Deaf Community Award Erika L. Martinez: Outstanding Citizenship Award Sisters in Style: Special Commendation Award Marisa Zastrow: Dr. Toni H. Rees Interpreter Award The keynote address will be given by Kellynette Gomez, adult service navigator at the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, board member for Our Deaf Survivors Center, Inc., and an advocate for accessible resources and employment opportunities for hard-of-hearing communities. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the award ceremony is on Friday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE In Dearborn, as one longtime family business closes, in its place, another will open Karen and George Nigosian, now 79 and 83, will tell you that theyve lived the American dream. They started a small business, the eponymously-named Nigosian Rug Co. in Dearborn, more than a half-century ago. They built it up to two stores while also raising four children, and now, they are ready maybe not to fully retire but to scale way back. Their story, which is woven into their community's story, is a sentimental one, especially as the couple prepares to close their Dearborn shop, but also one that many especially younger generations have begun to question is still possible, even as politicians pledge to do more to encourage and support more small businesses. "Weve been here a long time," Karen Nigosian said. "Weve decided at this point were going to have a smaller presence online after this, but probably after the first of the year for quite a few of our antique pieces. Weve had, oh my gosh, so many people from all over calling, saying, 'Were going to miss you.' " Their story also, in a way, shows that while the idea that America offers people around the world hope for a better life, in recent years, many Americans feel disillusioned with that idea, and, how some people in places like Dearborn and Springfield, Ohio, where immigrants have settled people feel left out. Karen and George Nigosian, of Dearborn, owners of the Nigosian Rug Company, in Dearborn on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. They sold their two buildings and parking lot to Farhat Sweets, that plan to move in after Halloween. The Nigosians recently sold the corner lot and building, 21919 Michigan Ave., where their remaining 7,000-square-foot store has operated for 54 years, to another family-owned business, Farhat Sweets, specializing in Middle Eastern pastries. They plan to close their store at the end of October. An 'imperfect' aspiration Nicholas DiPucchio, a historian at Oakland University, called the American dream an "imperfect one," with a meaning that changes depending on who and when in history you ask. It is fraught with tension, often tied to westward expansion. "The American dream has always been something that Americans have strived for, but this dream wasn't obtainable by everyone," DiPucchio explained, adding that while America is viewed as a land of opportunity, "sometimes that opportunity is seen as coming at the expense of others." Small businesses, often defined as enterprises with 500 employees or fewer, account for 99% of firms in the United States, according to the Small Business Administration. And while most of the 33 million companies dont have paid employees, about 6 million of them do and account for 46% of private sector employment. Over the years, the Nigosians said, theyve had offers to buy their property, which they said is desirable, but they considered the proffers too low. The timing for a sale was never right, either. Faith, family, friendships and after nearly 60 years of marriage love kept them going. The recent offer from Farhat, they said, was too good to pass up, however. The Nigosians declined to discuss how much they originally paid for the property and how much they sold it for; but, they said, it turned out to be a great investment. Now, they want to spend more time with their six grandkids, two of whom are in college at the University of Michigan. One, theyre quite proud to say, is in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the other is in the medical school. And who knows, they added, maybe theyll eventually have some great grandbabies to spoil. What is the American dream? Karen and George Nigosian, keep a framed picture of the business that was there before they opened their rug company 54 years ago in Dearborn, Mich. on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The Nigosians met at the Armenian church with the gold dome in Southfield. Karen, 19, was from Dearborn, and George, 23, from Detroit. They liked each other and agreed to marry. Not long after that, they took on a series of financial risks to open the business, expand it, and developed, over the decades, long-standing relationships with customers and others in the Dearborn community. They raised a family and had a happy life. Nov. 1 will be their 60th anniversary. At the same time, the Nigosians are among a shrinking group who believe the American dream still exists. Facing growing wealth inequality and what seems like diminishing opportunities, many increasingly question whether upward mobility is possible. In an ABC/Ipsos poll from earlier this year, a little more than a quarter of respondents, 27%, said they believed hard work was enough to "get ahead." When the question was asked in 2010, the percentage who answered hard work was enough: 50%. More than half, 52%, of those surveyed more recently said the promise of the American dream used to be true but is no longer. And, among younger Americans, the poll found, even more of them doubted whether the American dream was a reality. Still, the promise of a better life is something that continues to draw people to metro Detroit and America. George Nigosian, 83, co-owner of Nigosian Rug Company, repairs the fringe on a rug at his shop in Dearborn, Mich. on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. Nigosian learned how to restore rugs spending his summer going to work with his uncle to his rug shop in Canada. But the promise of this dream also has created a backlash. It helps explain why immigration has been an issue in the presidential election, particularly in cities like Springfield and other Midwest communities where there are work opportunities and the cost of living is relatively low. Donald Trump, in the presidential debates, for instance, claimed Springfield immigrants were eating pets, a claim that the city has discredited and reportedly led to bomb threats, the shuttering of city hall, and the evacuation of two schools. The city also has noted that Haitians and other immigrants are working in warehouses, manufacturing, service industry and professional jobs. Like in many cities throughout American history, new residents and new businesses have helped to fuel economic prosperity. Sarah Churchwell, a University of London professor, makes the case that while the American dream has become associated with economic success, historically, the phrase represents the idealism of what she called "the great American experiment." Churchwell suggested in a 2021 essay, "A brief history of the American Dream," that the American dream invokes images of a house with a white picket fence, economic self-sufficiency and security, and a sense of equal opportunity to achieve. But she said it's more than that. Martin Luther King Jr., she pointed out, talked about his version of the American dream. And, she added, the phrase also has been used as less of "a promise, or a guarantee" to some, but as an exhortation to all, urging "Americans to do better, to be fairer, to bigotry and inequality, to keep striving for a republic of equals." 'Best thing we ever did' For their part, the Nigosians have been too busy all these years running their own business and raising a family to spend much time reflecting and philosophizing on how the American dream fits into politics and what it means to society. They have mostly viewed it as an extension of their own dream. And opening a specialty rug store, Karen Nigosian told the Free Press, was her husbands dream. George's family had a rug store in Canada, and he figured, as a young man in his 20s, he could start one in Michigan. For him, running a store was a better way to make a living than working in a factory. He had, she said, a vision for what the store could be and made it happen. The first store was small. George Nigosian, 83, of Dearborn rolls up a large rug that a customer looked at in his Imported, handmade rug shop in Dearborn, Mich. on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. After 54 years in business the business will be closing. So when a bigger store that sold furs went on the market, they seized the opportunity. "It was a quiet community, but it worked out for us," Karen Nigosian said. "When we bought this property, it was the best thing we ever did. This is the gateway to west Dearborn. Now, there are no buildings available, and if you come here at night, its just booming." Dearborn turned out to be the perfect location for their shop as the city grew and transformed from a manufacturing city, as Ford Motor Co.'s headquarters with a longtime segregationist mayor, Orville Hubbard, into a more vibrant and cosmopolitan place. Hubbard, Dearborn's mayor from the early '40s into the late '70s, openly sought to "keep Dearborn clean," an initiative that, according to the Detroit Historical Society, "was widely understood to mean keep Dearborn white." He fought "building of a low-income housing complex in Dearborn, believing it would turn into a 'Black slum.' " In 1967, the historical society said, Hubbard "ordered police to shoot any rioters on sight. " Since leaving office, the city's population has significantly changed. About 55% of the 110,000 residents now claim a Middle Eastern or North African heritage, up from 30% in 2000. And Kelli Vanden Bosch, the president of the Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce, said businesses will miss the Nigosians and their oriental rug shop, which has been "an institution" in the community; but, she added, the new sweet shop moving in "sounds delicious." Following your dreams More than a way to make money, the Nigosians said their business also was a way to support the aspirations that they, and perhaps all parents, had for their children: a desire for them to achieve more in life in one way or another than they did. Karen Nigosian, 79, of Dearborn, looks out the back door of her shop, Nigosian Rug Company, in Dearborn on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. After running the business for 54 years, she and her husband have sold the two adjoining buildings to Farhat Sweets. "When you know your community and you are involved, it makes a big difference when you have a business," says Nigosian. The rug store, the Nigosians said, gave them enough income to pay their bills and send four kids to private school and college to earn four-year degrees, more education than they had. All four of their children Greg, Marc, Taleen Baldwin, and George Jr., now in their 50s worked in the stores, but also have found their own careers. The Nigosians said that through the Dearborn store they also got involved in the community, joining economic development and civic and service organizations. It was good for their business, but it was even better, they said, to be a part of groups helping their hometown. For a decade, the couple also operated a second store in Birmingham. And over the years, the couple said, their business also connected them to others who became their friends and people they considered extended family. These customers didnt just shop at the store; they stopped by to say hello and chat about what was going on in their lives. Some things, the Nigosians said, make it more difficult to be a retailer now, a reason to have doubts. Other things, they said, also make it easier. Before computers and websites, all they had was the newspaper for advertising, the telephone for people to call and a door, for people to walk through. But, they also weren't competing with every retailer with an internet connection. The Nigosians are still optimistic about the future. And, they said, anyone with a dream whatever it is, including starting a store should pursue it. Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: As Nigosian Rug Co. closes, its owners reflect on the American dream Death toll in Czech floods rises to four A view of the flooded harbor in Krasny Brezno on the Elbe. Hajek Ondej/CTK/dpa The number of deaths from the flooding in the Czech Republic has risen to four, police said on Wednesday. The body of a 70-year-old woman, who had been missing for days, was discovered in the community of Kobyla nad Vidnavkou. The location is in the Jesenik district in the north-east of the country. The region in the Altvater Mountains near the border with Poland was particularly hard hit by the storms. At least seven people are still considered missing in the Czech Republic. Where the floodwaters have receded, the major clean-up is beginning. Drinking water and power generators are being distributed. The Defence Ministry said more than 300 soldiers are deployed to support the civilian authorities, including building replacement bridges. The mayor of Ostrava, Jan Dohnal, said he believes the removal of the damage could take years. In the third-largest city in the Czech Republic the main train station, a district heating plant and the sewage treatment plant were flooded. A man looks at the Ale dam near the river Nearka. Pancer Vaclav/CTK/dpa Rescue workers evacuate people from the floods areas in Chomutov near the German border. Deml Ondej/CTK/dpa Ambulances carrying wounded people arrive to the emergency of the American University hospital. Eight people have been killed and some 2,750 injured in suspected coordinated explosions of hand-held telecommunications devices across Lebanon, Health Minister Firas Abiad said during a press conference in Beirut on 17 September. Marwan Naamani/dpa The death toll in Lebanon from the near-simultaneous blast of pagers frequently used by the militant group Hezbollah has risen to 12, officials said on Wednesday, as the Israeli army raised its alert level in anticipation of possible retaliation. Among the dead are an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad said at a news briefing at the Health Ministry in Beirut. Between 2,750 and 2,800 people were wounded in the attack, with 300 of those in critical condition, the minister said. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the detonations on Tuesday and promised retaliation. Several of its fighters, as well as high-ranking representatives and members of the Radwan Force, an elite unit within the group, are said to be among the victims. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a statement at 5 pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday to address "the latest developments," the Iran-backed militia said. Health Minister Abiad said that some 460 operations on eyes and faces have been conducted. Amputations of arms and fingers have also been performed. "Most of the injured suffered serious eye injuries, and other surgeons have had to amputate arms," said an ophthalmologist at one of the major hospitals in Beirut. Due to the large number of injured, plastic and dental surgeons had to help out overnight. Iran has dispatched medical relief teams to Lebanon, including the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Iran's state news agency IRNA said. Videos from across Lebanon showed the blasts occurring in public places such as supermarkets. In some cases, people were seen lying on the ground after pagers in their hands or pockets exploded. There were also scenes of crowded hospitals filled with bleeding patients. Irans ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured in the explosion of a pager. The device belonged to a bodyguard, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. Hezbollah is the most important non-state ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Israel on heightened alert The Israeli army has increased its level of alert in anticipation of a response from Hezbollah, Israeli Army Radio said. Army Radio said that air defences and military intelligence in Israel have been put on heightened alert. An elite unit is also set to be relocated from the Gaza Strip to the border with Lebanon. But the Home Front Command, responsible for civilian emergency preparedness, has not yet changed its instructions to the public. EU top diplomat says blasts 'extremely worrying' The European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, condemned the blasts. "Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims," Borrell said. "I consider this situation extremely worrying. I can only condemn these attacks that endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region," he added. "The European Union calls on all stakeholders to avert an all-out war, which would have heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond," Borrell said. How did the pagers explode and where did they come from? Much is still unclear about Tuesday's events. The affected pagers bore the logo of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo but the business has denied any connection to the incident. According to Gold Apollo boss Hsu Ching-Kuang, the devices were manufactured in Hungary. Experts say the pagers were an important means of communication for Hezbollah. The militia is said to have used them instead of mobile phones which can be tracked and used for targeted attacks. How the hand-held devices, which are simple radio receivers that are not logged into a network, could be manipulated remains unclear. Media reports speculate that the pagers were probably intercepted by Israeli agents before they were delivered to Lebanon and booby-trapped with explosives. Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost a year ago, confrontations have occurred almost daily in the border area between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, with deaths recorded on both sides as a result of the shelling, mostly members of Hezbollah. According to Israel, three Hezbollah fighters were killed on Tuesday in an attack on a location in southern Lebanon. The pro-Iranian Shiite militia says it is acting out of solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Lebanese army soldiers secure the area for an ambulance to enter the premises of the American University hospital. Eight people have been killed and some 2,750 injured in suspected coordinated explosions of hand-held telecommunications devices across Lebanon, Health Minister Firas Abiad said during a press conference in Beirut on 17 September. Marwan Naamani/dpa Women arrive to the American University hospital to check on their friends and family memebers. Eight people have been killed and some 2,750 injured in suspected coordinated explosions of hand-held telecommunications devices across Lebanon, Health Minister Firas Abiad said during a press conference in Beirut on 17 September. Marwan Naamani/dpa Deer hunting to begin Saturday in Louisiana: Heres what you need to know BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has announced that the 2024-25 Louisiana deer hunting season will begin Saturday, Sept. 21. The season will start in Deer Areas 3, 7, 8, and 10 when archery season opens. See below for the Deer Areas map. Seasons in the other state deer areas will begin in October. To see exact opening dates in all areas, go to the LDWF Seasons and Regulations page. Deer hunters are required to have a basic hunting license and deer license, or an equivalent combination. A youth hunting license and deer tags are required for those 17 or younger hunting turkey. To purchase a hunting license, go to the LDWF Licenses and Permits page. Prior to hunting deer all hunters, regardless of age or license status, must obtain deer tags. They must have the tags in their possession while hunting deer and immediately after harvesting a deer, the hunter must tag the deer with the appropriate carcass or electronic tag before moving it from where it was killed. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now KLFY Daily Digest Hunters must record required information for tagged deer and validate tags within 72 hours of harvesting a deer. Hunters may validate deer by utilizing text-to-tag tagging through the LDWF web portal or the LDWF web portal via LA Wallet or by calling the validation toll free number. Many LDWF Wildlife Management Areas offer deer hunting during the state-wide deer season. Due to the different deer ruts, deer season opportunities are wide ranging. For a complete list of WMAs open to deer hunting and more information on WMA deer hunting, see below: 2023-2024-LDWF-Hunting-Regs-LRDownload All visitors to LDWF WMAs must have either a WMA Access Permit, Senior Hunting/Fishing License, Louisiana Sportsmans Paradise License or Lifetime Hunting/Fishing License. Click here for more information. For more information on deer hunting in Louisiana, go to LDWFs Deer Page or contact LDWF Deer Program Manager Johnathan Bordelon at jbordelon@wlf.la.gov. 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. To help inform voters ahead of the Nov. 5, 2024, election, this candidate questionnaire is available to be republished by local publications in North Carolina without any cost. Please consider subscribing to The News & Observer to help make this coverage possible. Name: Sarah Taber Political party: Democrat Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 41 Campaign website: taberfornc.com Current occupation: Farmer and farm consultant. Professional experience: Im a small farmer and have worked in agriculture 27 years. I got started with hands-on field jobs at 14 years old. I worked my way through crop school. Then, with that combination of hands-on experience and technical training, I started working with farmers on making a better living. Every one of my farmers is still in business. All together, my farmers and small food business clients are now worth $4 billion. (Some of those small businesses hit a growth streak & arent small anymore.) Education: Brigham Young University, BS Environmental Social Science (Honors), 2005 University of Florida, Doctor of Plant Medicine, 2011 Postdoc, University of Florida, blueberry breeding program, 2011-2014. Please list any notable government or civic involvement : Aquaponics Association food safety coordinator: worked with FDA to make sure the Food Safety Modernization Act allowed farmers to use aquaponics. Volunteer election canvasser: theres no replacement in civic life for talking with people one-on-one. Writing on food and economic issues: an April 2022 piece in Foreign Policy on the Ukraine war, predicting grain prices would crash months before they did. Also on NC energy policy to help ensure clean and affordable energy for NC. What would be your top priority if elected? Rebuilding our failing farm economy. Our farm and food sectors have both shrunk by about a quarter in the last 20 years. Were losing farms because too many farmers cant afford to stay in business. Its the commissioners job to fix that. We need grants and private investment- to build facilities that turn high-value crops like hazelnuts, hemp, & produce into groceries. These crops earn far more than corn, soy, & tobacco. But we have to have those facilities for farmers to grow & sell them. What percentage raises should your state agencys employees receive in the next state budget? My rule of thumb: raises for the governor or members of the Council of State should never be higher than the average raise for state employees. We have too many vacancies in key services across the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, including our firefighters and other professionals in the Forest Service, our fuel quality inspectors, and plant pest specialists. Will you attend all Council of State meetings? Yes. In addition to the statutory responsibilities of the Council of State, it is an important avenue to advocate for our agricultural sector and the importance of consumer protection. How will you work with the other nine members of the council, including the governor? Nothing worth doing is achieved alone. The thorniest issues facing the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services also involve the work of other departments - especially Labor, Justice, the State Treasurer, and Environmental Quality, which isnt part of the council but is a key partner. I stand ready to work with other Council of State members, regardless of their political party, to rebuild North Carolinas farm economy and protect our farmlands. North Carolina has lost thousands of farms in recent years. Research shows that farmland loss is expected to continue. What will you do to slow or reverse this trend? Our farmers make as little as half as much money per acre as farmers in Georgia and Virginia. Thats why were losing farms faster than any other major ag state. The best way to keep farms in business is for them to make more money. Ive spent the last decade helping farmers switch from crops that lose money to crops that make a profit. Thanks to that experience, I know how to build the infrastructure, supply chains, lending, investment sources, and training that farmers need. Do you support the rules proposed by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality to regulate some forever chemical pollution in drinking water supplies in North Carolina? I absolutely support these rules. As someone who lives and grows crops in the Cape Fear River basin, Im disappointed at the continued delays on surface water proposals. As commissioner of agriculture, I will appoint members of the Environmental Management Committee who will do their due diligence in a timely fashion. What will your strategy be to promote growth in the agriculture industry while regulating businesses and ensuring quality and safety Much of my work with farmers has been helping them understand that farming for quality and safety is good for business. In agriculture, you have to think with a long-term mindset and build for the next generation. And cutting corners doesnt do that. While our farm sector shrunk about a quarter in the last 20 years, we can catch up by building a reputation for good, reliable, clean products. Im encouraged that we have so many young people who want to get into agriculture and do what it takes. Is there an issue on which you disagree with your party? What is your position on that issue? There are a lot of individual Democrats who care about rural North Carolina and our agricultural economy. But these issues can too often take a backseat in conversations within the party. I have a track record of success in communicating with a wide audienceincluding Democrats who have never set foot on a farmabout the need to invest in agriculture and rural livelihoods. 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. Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill protecting access to in-vitro fertilization as the fight over reproductive rights and having children heats up in the 2024 election. IVF, a treatment for infertility, has increasingly become a political issue after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in Februrary gave embryos fertilized through IVF the same legal rights as children, causing many providers to temporarily halt treatment in the state. The Right to IVF Act, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-IL, aimed to protect and expand national access to fertility treatment. The bill already failed once in June, months after Duckworth brought a similar bill to the floor seeking unanimous consent in February, only to have it blocked by a Republican. By blocking my Right to IVF Act for the second time in just a few months, Republicans proved that when the rubber meets the road they will do anything to get out of actually passing legislation that would protect womens right to access reproductive care," Duckworth, who used IVF to have her two children, said in a news release. "On behalf of every woman who has faced the heart-shattering struggle of infertility, all I can say to my Republican colleagues is: Shame on you. 'We want more babies': Trump's IVF plan draws flak from right and left Two Republicans voted with Democrats on Right to IVF Act The Right to IVF Act failed with 51 votes in favor, 44 votes against and 5 lawmakers, including Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance, who did not vote. It would have needed to meet a 60-vote threshold to move forward. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted with Democrats in favor of the bill as they did in June. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., accused Democrats of putting forward a "show vote" and moved for immediate passage of her own IVF protection legislation with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., which was blocked by Democrats. Britt's bill also aimed to protect IVF through federal legislation, but did so by threatening to withhold Medicaid funding from states if they banned IVF. Reproductive rights key part of 2024 election Vice President Kamala Harris has made access to reproductive rights a key point of her nascent presidential campaign. Trump has long supported IVF, but surprised many conservatives this summer on the campaign trail when he promised to require insurance companies or the government to cover costs associated with IVF. Vance, a senator from Ohio, voted against the Right to IVF Act in June, before he was named the Republican vice presidential nominee. He has also come under repeated fire for his comments about women without children. Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz used fertility treatments to start a family. Contributing: Savannah Kuchar, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republicans again block IVF bill in Senate, calling it a 'show vote' SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) test-fired a new-type tactical ballistic missile and an improved strategic cruise missile on Wednesday, as the country's top leader called for bolstering up the military capability for self-defence when he guided the event, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Thursday. The test-fire of the new-type tactical ballistic missile, called Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5, was aimed at verifying the hitting accuracy at medium range of 320 km and explosive power of its payload of a 4.5 tonnage super-large conventional warhead, the KCNA said. The DPRK also test-fired a strategic cruise missile whose performance has been highly upgraded for its combat use, according to the report. Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, said the security situation makes it an imperative for the country to bolster up the military capability for self-defence, the KCNA said. The DPRK leader stressed the need to continue to bolster up the nuclear force and have the strongest military technical capability and overwhelming offensive capability in the field of conventional weapons, it added. North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, right, and Gov. Doug Burgum participate in a meeting of the state's Industrial Commission at the Capitol on Feb. 27, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) State lawmakers on Wednesday voted to approve an additional $3 million for the Attorney Generals Offices litigation fund but some Democrats are worried the office is spending too much money on lawsuits. Chief Deputy Attorney General Claire Ness said unexpected legal costs have drained a pot of money dedicated to covering litigation expenses for state agencies, boards and commissions. It has less than $1 million left for the rest of the biennium. The money will be transferred from the Attorney Generals Offices operating budget. The transfer was approved with overwhelming support from the Budget Section, though all Democrats in attendance voted against it. Some of the agencys expenses came from defending the laws recently approved by the Legislature like the abortion ban vacated by a Burleigh County judge last week. The Attorney Generals Office has said it will appeal the decision. House Minority Leader Zac Ista, D-Grand Forks, told fellow lawmakers he would vote against the funding request because he viewed the states defense of the abortion ban as a waste of money. He said the Legislature was warned that the law wouldnt hold up in court. Warnings were made last session when we passed extreme legislation that restricted access to health care, Ista said. We are now seeing that the attorney general has to come back and ask for millions and more spending authority on its reserves to litigate these extreme cases. Ista added that he doesnt oppose other litigation by the Attorney Generals Office. Other legal expenses are related to cases from former Attorney General Wayne Stenehjems administration, Ness said, including the states lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over Dakota Access Pipeline protest costs. The case had an 18-day trial earlier this year. As you can imagine, a multi-day trial of that nature was quite expensive, Ness told lawmakers. The agency is also participating in more than 30 lawsuits against the federal government. The bulk of the lawsuits are against environmental regulations that affect the energy and agriculture sectors, though others include challenges to health care, immigration and voting-related rules. In most cases, the lawsuits were filed jointly with other Republican-led states. Rep. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, said Attorney General Drew Wrigley had told him when he assumed office that he would not file lawsuits for political reasons, and he questioned whether that was still the case. His predecessor, Attorney General Stenehjem, was good at just focusing on things impacting North Dakota, Boschee said. Boschee said during the meeting that he feared giving the Attorney Generals Office more money would only cause the states legal expenses to continue growing. I think it gives the attorney general too much discretion to pick and choose which legal battles they take on, he said. But even more so, we know that theres outside interest groups that know when they see a fund like that that theyre going to challenge our laws. Wrigley said he hasnt broken his promise to Boschee. I made those comments that we would never politicize the use of litigation on behalf of the state of North Dakota. We never have, we never will, Wrigley told the North Dakota Monitor. He said his office doesnt take the decision to sue lightly. He said in each case, the lawsuits are challenging overreach by the federal government. Were furthering North Dakotas interests, Wrigley said. I stand behind the decisions that we made. In some cases, participating in cases with several other states significantly lowers the individual cost to North Dakota especially when the state isnt the lead plaintiff. We spend money when we dont have a choice, he said. The funding was also unanimously approved by members of the states Emergency Commission on Sept. 9. During the meeting, Gov. Doug Burgum expressed broad support for the Attorney General Offices lawsuits challenging federal rules, arguing investing in the legal battles would save the state money in the long run. If we arent spending this money and fighting on the litigation, we lose revenue directly on the other end as a participant particularly in the oil and gas industry, he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Democrats, pundits link Trump's own rhetoric to second attempt on his life: 'Very big part of the problem' Democrats and media pundits have linked former President Trump's rhetoric to the second assassination attempt against him in the last few months and have called on Trump to lower the temperature. "This really seems to be the confluence of two very bad things going on in the Republican Party," Rep. Mickie Sherrill, D-N.J., told CNN's Jim Acosta on Monday, accusing the GOP of attempting to "divide" and "enrage the population" through "false rumors and misinformation." The former president has blamed the assassination attempt on rhetoric coming from Democrats, specifically President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. CNN commentator Ana Navarro on Tuesday argued that Trump did not "get to be a very big part of the problem and then pretend that its just the other people on the other side who caused this." Democrats and members of the media are linking Donald Trump's own rhetoric to the second assassination attempt against him on Sunday. (Left: Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images, Center: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Right: Screenshot/CNN, Right: Screenshot/ABC) MSNBC HOST ASKS IF TRUMP CAMPAIGN WILL CALL FOR 'TONING DOWN' RHETORIC AFTER SHOOTING OUTSIDE HIS GOLF CLUB "Quit blaming folks until you decide to take a look at whats coming out of your mouth," "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg said on Tuesday. She also argued that only Republicans were contributing to violent rhetoric. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Lets stop this both sides stuff because its not correct. It is not both sides. It is one clear side, and you can point to many, many reports, you can point to all kinds of stuff thats been reported, you guys have to, you have to pull it back. This is not us or them. This is you got to stop doing what youre doing, JD, and what youre doing Mr. T [Trump], because you are not helping the situation," Goldberg added. The New York Times' Zolan Kanno-Youngs joined CNN's Dana Bash on Tuesday and said, "you have a former president who, yes, has been the target of apparent assassinations twice, but is also an instigator of political violence." NBC News' Lester Holt, just hours after the assassination attempt, said the attempt on Trump's life followed "fierce rhetoric" from the former president and his running mate, JD Vance. "Today's apparent assassination attempt comes amid increasingly fierce rhetoric on the campaign trail. Mr. Trump, his running mate JD Vance, continue to make baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio. This weekend, there were new bomb threats in that town," Holt said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Trump and Vance have repeatedly pushed inflammatory claims about Haitian migrants deemed not credible by officials in Springfield, Ohio. Hoax bomb threats coming from overseas inundated Springfield as well, according to Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. MSNBC's Alex Witt wondered on Sunday if the Trump campaign might issue a call to lower the temperature following the attempt. "Do you expect there to be calls from within the Trump campaign to do that? Because hes going to reach out to his supporters and say lets take this down," she said. "We do not know the source of any gunshots or gunshots. We do not know who is responsible for this. The whole thing has yet to be 100 percent confirmed from start to finish, how this all played out. But do you expect to hear anything from the Trump campaign about toning down the rhetoric, toning down the violence, or would that be atypical of the former president?" The New York Times' Peter Baker also appeared to link Trump and Vance's claims about Springfield to the assassination attempt. DEMOCRATS HAVE REPEATEDLY USED VIOLENT RHETORIC AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT: TIME TO PUT TRUMP IN A BULLSEYE "And so it goes in 2024. In the space of less than a week, the once and possibly future commander in chief was both a seeming inspiration and an apparent target of the political violence that has increasingly come to shape American politics in the modern era," Baker wrote. "At the heart of todays eruption of political violence is Mr. Trump, a figure who seems to inspire people to make threats or take actions both for him and against him. He has long favored the language of violence in his political discourse, encouraging supporters to beat up hecklers, threatening to shoot looters and undocumented migrants, mocking a near-fatal attack on the husband of the Democratic House speaker and suggesting that a general he deemed disloyal be executed," Baker added. Baker also joined MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday to discuss Trump's past rhetoric; the former president has been criticized for such statements as making light of the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi. FORMER FBI AGENT WARNS RHETORIC LIKENING TRUMP TO DICTATOR LED TO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: UNPRECEDENTED "What we see in two attempted assassinations of the former president in two months is were in a different kind of era, right? Its not that there hasnt been political violence, there has, but to see two attempted assassinations in such a short order, obviously it stands out." Baker said Trump was not just an "instigator of political violence but a potential target of it." In a return to the network as a guest after being fired last year, ex-CNN host Don Lemon said this week that Trump wouldn't attract sharp rhetoric if he changed his behavior. "If Donald Trump wants people, wants Kamala Harris and others to stop saying that he is a threat to democracy, then he should stop threatening democracy," Lemon said. Others took aim at Trump's complaints of Democratic rhetoric following the assassination attempt, including CNN's David Chalian, who argued that Trump was not a "credible messenger" on calling out rhetoric about political violence. The Bulwark's Sarah Longwell declared on CNN that Trump "created this specter of political violence that we all now live under," adding that it is "his rhetoric that has been creating this environment for the last eight years." Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment. Original article source: Democrats, pundits link Trump's own rhetoric to second attempt on his life: 'Very big part of the problem' The cargo ship Dalis transformer was jury-rigged and had cracked over time and its backup transformer was unable to help because a safety feature had been recklessly disabled, contributing to the vessel ultimately knocking down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the United States Department of Justice. The civil claim, which seeks more than $100 million in costs associated with cleanup and recovery efforts from the disaster, says the Dalis Singaporean owners sent an ill-prepared crew on an abjectly unseaworthy vessel to navigate the United States waterways. The owner and manager of the ship, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine, cut corners, according to the lawsuit, and made calamitous decisions to save money and for their own convenience. Accusations in the claim are based upon the Department of Justices own investigation. The lawsuit also details the frantic four minutes between when the Dali first lost power and when it struck one of the bridges piers. After the failure of the transformer (which converts high-voltage power to lower volt-power) and after the backup transformer did not automatically kick in, engineers were left struggling in the dark to manually reset the tripped circuit breakers for the transformer. This took them a full minute, wasting critical time to regain control of the ship, the claim said. The federal government seeks to recover more than $100 million from damages caused by the March 26 collapse, which killed six construction workers. The suit does not seek to recover costs from the rebuilding of the bridge, which is expected to open in 2028, since the state of Maryland owns the structure. The state is expected to later file its own suit. With this civil claim, the Justice Department is working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the Port of Baltimore are borne by the companies that caused the crash, not by the American taxpayer, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. The Department of Justice called the collapse entirely avoidable in its claim and called the vessel owners conduct outrageous, grossly negligent, willful, wanton, and reckless. It is also seeking punitive damages to deter such misconduct. They cut corners in ways that risked lives and infrastructure, the claim stated. Those responsible for the vessel must be held fully accountable for the catastrophic harm they caused, and punitive damages should be imposed to deter such misconduct. This story will be updated. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown went in-depth this week about everything the city has gone through in the past year and whats to come. Recovering from the May explosion Brown admits it has been quite a challenge since the May 28 explosion of the Realty Building downtown. May 28 is a day that I remember not just as a mayor, but as a citizen as well, Brown said. So weve gone through that. We want to first always say, you know, our condolences go back out to the Akil Drake and his family. We always remember the workers at Chase Building who were in the explosion. But also, we focus on those who, you know, left that morning and left their home that morning in a Realty Tower and were not able to go back in to get any of their belongings, he said. In addition, Brown said the explosion also affected downtown businesses, the roadways, and the International Towers next door in which they had to move 173 people out of their homes for 30 days. One of the things Im most proud about, happy, is thatthose at International Towers are back home in their community, Brown said. Despite all those hardships, Brown says the community agencies and organizations like the United Way rallied together. It gives me goosebumps to know that I live in a community where they just put aside what we normally do and there was a need and lets figure out how to make that happen, he said. Brown says not all days are easy being a leader in any position but he had to take it head on. I took it personally first of all because this is the people I work for, but also this is my community where I was born and raised, he said. Building up and beautifying downtown Youngstown Brown says the demolition of Realty Tower is now about 98% complete. Theres just some clean-up around the debris but the roads in downtown are starting to open back up, he said. Now were close to shrinking that collapse zone. We could start opening more roads. He says the next thing is talking about how to rebuild Federal Street. Traffic has increased. Were seeing a little more, you know, people are able to come down and feel safe because theres no construction zone, but theres also traffic flow in and out of downtown. The city is becoming more beautiful with attention to landscaping as well. Despite everything that happened this summer, the downtown, the CityScape, they still had the flowers out, Brown said. This year was probably one of the best because we had new pots, new fixtures, new sprinkler system, new lighting. He said they wont forget what happened but the city has to move forward. There is a big concern about parking downtown. We want to be a big city but we want to still have that small-town mentality in there. Theres plenty parking. You just got to do a little more walking, Brown said. There is a free parking lot on Commerce Street. He says in this community, were used to parking right next to where we need to go but in other cities, it isnt always that way. Now were going to start seeing now our downtowns foot pattern, our traffic patterns a little different, and now weve got to adjust to that. Brown says they plan to improve signage for parking to help people out. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Deputies: Cross county chase ends in crash which lead to street flooding in Belle Isle Update: Orlando Utilities Commission was out Wednesday afternoon, still cleaning the mess from this mornings accident. OUC told Channel 9 the road is close to being back open and will be finished and ready to go tomorrow. 42-year-old Thomas Rinaldi remains in custody and has a potential DUI charge. Rinaldi was bit by a deputys K-9 when he continued to refuse the commands of the deputies, so his blood work was sent to a lag for testing. Previous Story: A neighborhood in the Belle Isle area suffered from street flooding after a chase that started in Polk County ended in a crash that struck a fire hydrant Wednesday morning. A sheriff from the Polk County Sheriffs Office noticed the driver of a Gray Jeep Wrangler driving recklessly. The sheriff attempted to stop the vehicle as it sped across Interstate 4 Eastbound into Osceola County and then to Orange County. Read: Sean Combs asks for bail, to await trial in Fla. mansion instead of Brooklyn jail The deputies used a pit maneuver when the Jeep made its way to Colleen Dr in Orlando, causing the vehicle to crash into the fence of a resident and a fire hydrant, flooding the streets of Colleen Dr. 42-year-old Thomas Rinaldi of Huntington Beach, California apprehended and charged with reckless disregard for public safety and reckless driving with property damage. Read: Sheriff Chitwood says deputies will continue to arrest and identify students who threaten schools Orlando Utilities Commission said no one in the neighborhood lost water pressure as crews went to fix the hydrant. Rinaldi was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center for treatment before being booked in the Orange County Booking Facility. This is a developing story; stay with Channel 9 for the latest details. Read: Kissimmee police release video interviews following disappearance of Madeline Soto Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Prosecutors will not file charges against a York County sheriffs deputy who shot and killed a Clover man armed with a rifle in March, our partners at The Herald reported on Tuesday. Residents shaken after officer shoots, kills man in York County Kevin Brackett, 16th Circuit Solicitor, said in a letter to SLED, that Charlie Baker pointed a rifle at deputies who approached his truck during a standoff on March 3 near Highway 321. The use of force by Deputy (Berlin) Gipson was both necessary and appropriate given the level of threat posed by Mr. Baker to the other officers on the scene, Brackett said in the letter. He was lawfully acting in defense of others, and the shooting was justified. YORK CO, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A York County Sheriffs Office deputy was justified in shooting and killing a man in March, according to SCs 16th Circuit Solicitors Office. On March 3, 2024, Deputy Berlin Gipson shot and killed 62-year-old Charlie Baker after a two-hour standoff that included multiple threats to officers. Special Agent Metzler said deputies were asked to place a Baker on a trespass notice for a local business after he was seen attempting to sell alcohol from the back of his truck in the parking lot. A deputy found Baker and followed him as he pulled out of the parking lot. PREVIOUS: Man barricades himself in car before being shot by SWAT team member According to officials, Baker was driving on Alexander Love Highway when he was pulled over for a traffic violation, and it was determined that he had been drinking. Baker declined to get out of his truck when asked and made statements that threatened his life and the lives of deputies trying to detain him. While making threats, he armed himself with a large caliber, short barrel rifle inside his truck, Special Agent Metzler said. Backup was called in and a two-hour negotiation ensued, in which he repeated the threats of hurting himself and deputies. At one point, he fled in his truck and was stopped with stop sticks, authorities said. SLED: 21 juveniles charged after 60+ SC school threats made this month Deputies noticed the firearm was placed on the dashboard and attempted to get him to surrender with the use of non-lethal tear gas. According to Special Agent Metzler, as deputies approached the truck, he brandished his firearm and pointed it in the direction of deputies. Deputy Gipson then fired a single round from his weapon which killed Baker. Based on all these facts I conclude that the use of force by Deputy Gipson was both necessary and appropriate given the level of threat posed by Mr. Baker to the other officers on the scene, Metzler said. He was lawfully acting in defense of others, and the shooting was justified. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. The deal was signed at Londonderry's Guildhall on Wednesday [Derry and Strabane Council] A multi-million pound programme aimed at stimulating the economy in Northern Ireland's north west could create 6,000 jobs, officials said as it was officially signed off by Secretary of State Hilary Benn. The Derry and Strabane city deal, one of four in Northern Ireland, was reinstated days after it emerged on Friday that the UK government had paused funding ahead of a spending review. The 300m package involves plans to establish a new museum in Londonderry and open a innovation and data analytics centre as well as redeveloping Strabane town centre. Benn said it would transform the region, strengthening its digital capabilities and support sustainable economic growth. Speaking at Derrys Guildhall, Benn said: This deal is going to support many initiatives and create many new opportunities, it is an honour to be signing it on behalf of the UK government." He paid tribute to the relentless hard work and dedication that had brought the deal to fruition. Derry City and Strabane District Council said the deal signed on Wednesday could create around 6,000 jobs. The total investment in the Derry and Strabane city deal will be about 300m [Getty Images] City deals are regeneration funding packages worth more than 1.5bn, with about 600m coming from central government. There are four deals in Northern Ireland: Belfast city region, Derry City and Strabane, Mid South West region and Causeway Coast and Glens. There continues to be uncertainty around the funding of the Mid South West and Causeway Coast deals. The NI secretary said they were both at a much less advanced stage than the Belfast and Derry deals, and would be looked at as part of the government's spending review. "Those two deals are in the spending review, we will will find out more when the chancellor makes her budget statement at the end of October," Benn said. He added that as Northern Ireland secretary he would be arguing the case for both. He said the Derry and Strabane deal was "a huge opportunity" for the region. Benn said he was delighted to be officially signing the deal on behalf of the UK government [Getty Images] Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers said the sign-off on the deal for Derry and Strabane was a game changing day for the north west. First Minister Michelle O'Neill said it was a fantastic milestone, a fantastic opportunity. We grab it with both hands. We will all redouble our efforts to ensure it delivers the benefits that we all want to achieve, she said. Deputy First Minster Emma Little-Pengelly added: Today is all about this city and region looking forward, looking forward to what I believe is an incredibly bright and optimistic future. Today is that catalyst that will bring forth a prosperous future for the region." She called the confusion over the weekend around the pausing of funding for the deals disappointing. What will the Derry and Strabane growth deal pay for? Projects planned as part of the 300m budget include: Redevelopment of Strabane town centre A centre for innovation in data analytics, advanced manufacturing and robotics A digital programme to tackle connectivity issues across the region Establishment of a DNA (Derry North Atlantic) maritime museum in Derry's Ebrington site Regeneration projects for Derry's riverfront, Strand Road and Walled City areas The establishment of a School of Medicine and personalised medicine innovation centre at a new site opposite the city's council buildings Strabane town centre is also set for a regeneration scheme [Pacemaker] Stormont's Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald said the UK government money would fund cutting edge projects that would allow the region to compete globally. The Stormont executives contribution, she added, would fund infrastructure, tourism and regeneration projects. Ms Archibald called the signing a momentous milestone and said it was an excellent start to redressing regional imbalance in the north west; something that would act as a catalyst for further opportunities and investments. Foyle MP, outgoing Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Colum Eastwood, said the deal turned the page on a story of underinvestment in our city that has lasted for decades. The city deal wont transform things overnight but it can, and it must, be a jump start for investment in people, skills, good jobs and better opportunities," he said. Mayor of Derry and Strabane Lilian Seenoi-Barr said the city deal provides us with an opportunity to be vibrant and exciting, and to provide us with so much potential for growth and prosperity. Chairman of Derry chamber of commerce Greg McCann said the deal would be "truly transformative for Derry and the north west. The vice-chancellor of Ulster University (UU) Prof Paul Bartholomew said the funding meant it could not expand its "campus footprint. Around 39m of the money will go to UUs new cognitive analytics and digital robotics innovation centre, with a further 61m going towards its school of medicine and personalised medicine centre. Leaders letters On Sunday, two days after the initial announcement that spending was on pause, the finance minister said regeneration funding packages in Derry and Belfast were expected to go ahead - leaving Mid South West and Causeway Coast and Glens under threat. It emerged on Tuesday that leaders from the five main Stormont parties have written to the chief secretary of the Treasury and the secretary of state asking them to rethink what they said was the appalling decision to pause those deals. DES MOINES, Iowa Des Moines Public Schools hopes a new initiative will provide students families with the technology skills needed to support their childrens academic achievement. DMPS is launching Parent University to provide training to families. It was developed with support from Google Fiber and will be implemented with the help of DMPS volunteers and staff. Families will get hands-on training one Saturday each month, traveling to a new school for every session so families across the district have a chance to participate. Mammogram reports across the nation must now include breast density information The digital gap in our immigrant and refugee community is overwhelming, said Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts. Thanks to Google Fiber, every family that participates in Parent University will be able to access the tools to support their students academic success. The Parent University sessions will focus on DMPS curriculum navigation, paperwork assistance, housing and health resources, job search support, and more. DMPS says a major goal of the program is encouraging active participation in a students education. The first session is September 25th, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Weeks Middle School library focusing on attendance policy, Infinite Campus, and reporting student absences. More information on later session locations and topics can be obtained from the Community Schools Coordinator or SUCCESS representative at their students 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 who13.com. Deseret News archives: Patricia Hearst kidnapping saga took a twist with her capture in 1975 The front page of the Deseret News on April 16, 1974, showing kidnap victim Patricia Hearst taking part in a bank robbery with her captors. A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives. On Sept. 18, 1975, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She cried out, Dont shoot, as she was taken into custody. In February 1974, three armed kidnappers had burst into a Berkeley, California, apartment and carried off the 19-year-old newspaper heiress wrapped in a bathrobe. Newspapers carried daily updates as her parents tried to meet ransom demands and secure a safe release. The front page of the Feb. 5, 1974, announcing that Patricia Hearst had been kidnapped from her Berkeley, California, apartment. As the days wore on, one of the more bizarre sagas in U.S. history unfolded. A couple of months later, the young woman appeared in the jerky frames of a surveillance video, holding a rifle as she and her kidnappers robbed a bank in San Francisco. She called herself Tanya. Her kidnappers a small band of self-styled revolutionaries demanded her father, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, feed the poor as a ransom, then spent the next year robbing banks and planting bombs. Her trial in San Franciscos federal courthouse was wild and dramatic. In the trial, the young woman testified that she had spent 50 days in a closet, blindfolded. She claimed she took part in the bank robbery out of fear. The jury did not agree, and she was convicted of her crime. In 1979, after serving two years of a five-year sentence, President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence. Now 50 years after her kidnapping, there are still unanswered questions. Did Hearst suffer from Stockholm syndrome, defined as odd symptoms people exhibit after traumatic situations like abductions and abusive relationships. Was she a willing participant? Did she go along just to survive? Did she turn into a revolutionary? She is now known as Patricia Hearst Shaw after she married a police officer who guarded her when she was out on bail. The 70-year-old woman has been in the news in recent years for her dogs, mostly French bulldogs, that have won prizes in the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, according to The Associated Press. Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about the case: Hearst abduction gripped nation 25 years ago Will case shed light on Hearst kidnapping? Testimony to implicate heiress, lawyers say Patty Hearst finding its not easy to clear name Where does the term Stockholm syndrome come from? Last SLA fugitive arrested in 75 robbery Former SLA radicals relieved to put past to rest Patty Hearst defends pardon by Clinton Pardon Hearst for unwilling participation in SLA DNEws-Hearst3 YANGON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from severe flooding in Myanmar has reached 268 people, with 88 still missing as of Wednesday morning, according to the Information Team of State Administration Council late Wednesday. The floods, triggered by heavy rains, have impacted multiple regions and states in Myanmar, including Nay Pyi Taw, Kayah, Kayin, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Shan and Ayeyarwady. The floods have destroyed roads, bridges, homes, offices, schools and other buildings, the information team said. The government will give cash support to the bereaved, and more aid will be given based on the level of damage in the affected areas, it added. The Muskego-Norway School Board removed gender identity from its anti-discrimination policy Monday, raising concerns from parents and civil rights experts about what the decision could mean for transgender or nonbinary students. The board's policy originally said: "The Board does not discriminate on the basis of sex (including sexual orientation or gender identity), in its education programs or activities." Now, it will only include the words "sexual orientation." The board originally considered removing both sexual orientation and gender identity from its policy. But school board president Terri Boyer proposed removing just the words "gender identity" to remain "consistent with Wisconsin state law," she said at the meeting. Besides Boyer's suggestion, which the board approved, there was no discussion regarding the decision to alter the policy. Neither Boyer, the district's superintendent Todd Irvine, nor the district's communications specialist Alyssa Meyer responded to multiple calls and emails requests for comment Tuesday. Boyd did not clarify which "state law" she was referring to at the meeting. While the state's pupil nondiscrimination laws do not specifically mention gender identity, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction encourages schools to adopt nondiscrimination policies that include gender identity or expression. The DPI also notes that creating a safe environment for LGBTQ+ students is essential for their educational success. The Muskego-Norway School Board voted Monday to remove the words "gender identity" from its sexual harassment and discrimination policy. A Muskego parent contacted Public Investigator with concerns about the district's updated policy and whether protections will remain for LGBTQ+ students. The parent also wondered if the district could face legal ramifications after LGBTQ+ advocacy groups filed a federal complaint against nearby Kettle Moraine School District earlier this month alleging Title IX violations. Signed into law in 1972, Title IX bans discrimination against students and staff in federally-funded education programs on the basis of sex. The Muskego-Norway School Board's decision comes after the self-described parental rights group Moms for Liberty sued over the Biden administration's updated Title IX regulations, which were expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The lawsuit resulted in a temporary injunction that blocks the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing the new regulations in schools that enroll children of Moms for Liberty members. However, civil rights experts say Wisconsin school districts must still comply with Title IX, even if the Department of Education cannot enforce those regulations for now. That's because the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana, has upheld that Title IX protects students from discrimination based on gender identity. More: 400+ Wisconsin schools are on Moms for Liberty's membership list. What it means for LGBTQ+ kids Public Investigator consulted Suzanne Eckes, education law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the school board's decision. A former lawyer and public high school teacher, Eckes researches how civil rights laws impact education policies in public schools. Although some Muskego-Norway schools are included on Moms for Liberty's growing list, Eckes said the district cannot exclude transgender students from protections. "Whether they kick it out of their policy or not, they still need to follow the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision," said Eckes, who clarified that she is speaking on her own behalf, not the university's. In one 7th Circuit case, a transgender student filed a federal lawsuit against the Kenosha Unified School District for banning him from using the boys' restrooms and referring to him by female pronouns. The court ruled in his favor in 2017, confirming Title IX protected him from discrimination. Muskego High School Eckes said a case filed in Indiana last year also affirms Title IX protections for transgender students in Wisconsin. In that case, the district court granted injunctions to three students who challenged their school districts' policies that banned them from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identities. The court ruled in the students' favor due to the likelihood that they would succeed on their claims, Eckes explained. The 7th Circuit later upheld the ruling, confirming the Indiana court's decision. A Wisconsin school district's failure to address bullying or harassment of any kind against transgender students could result in a successful discrimination claim, Eckes said. Eckes said past U.S. Supreme Court rulings also demonstrate that Title IX protects transgender students. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination, includes sexual orientation and gender identity. In the past few years, Eckes said, courts have been referring to the Supreme Court's interpretation of Title VII when interpreting Title IX. "Even before all the hoopla with the Biden regulations, courts have been recognizing that Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity," she said. More: These southeast Wisconsin school districts have policies that affect trans students More: Wisconsinites rally around book rejected by Muskego board for focus on Japanese experience Abigail Swetz is the executive director of Fair Wisconsin, one of the LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations involved in the federal complaint against Kettle Moraine. Swetz said both Fair Wisconsin and LGBTQ+ advocacy organization GSAFE are gathering information to determine the best course of action, which could include filing more complaints. "This is why it is so important that we learn of votes like the one taken by the Muskego-Norway school board," said Swetz. Swetz said Fair Wisconsin and GSAFE encourage anyone with information regarding discriminatory actions taken by school boards to email testimony@fairwisconsin.com. 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: Muskego school board removes gender identity from harassment policy Previous video: Effingham Commission to consider rezoning near Historic Ebenezer, residents share concerns EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) A developer requesting the commercial rezoning of almost 26 acres near Historic Ebenezer has withdrawn his request. This follows a petition to prevent the rezoning that garnered nearly 600 signatures and the planning boards recommendation to deny the request. Residents were concerned about preserving the history of the area, including the oldest operating Lutheran Church in the state. Effingham man charged with soliciting a minor A meeting to create standards in the historic district is set for Wednesday, Oct. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the New Ebenezer Retreat Center. News 3 is told the 269 property owners in that area will receive letters inviting them to weigh in on the topic. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV)A new tax credit is helping residents to learn more about the City of Savannahs plans to develop low-income housing. The developer working on the former fairgrounds property on Meding Street was awarded a 9% low-income housing tax credit from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said it will hopefully pave the way for much needed housing. This tax credit is crucial for the construction of 64 affordable apartments for senior citizens on a portion of the fairgrounds property, Johnson said. Johnson added that it wasnt an easy process. This award comes after the developer did not score high enough to receive the grant in 2023, which caused the project to come to a standstill. To get over that hurdle, in April council approved a resolution allowing a $1.9 million loan from the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund for the tax credit award application. As we know, that loan helped make our bid more competitive, Johnson said. This loan garnered the application three crucial points in the process. He said without those three points, the application would have not received enough points to succeed. The redevelopment will be completed in phases. The city will host a virtual meeting Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. to let the public know about this project. To attend click here. City staff said they anticipate a new zoning ordinance addressing the fairgrounds property will be before the Metropolitan Planning Commission on Sept. 24. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Minnesota Democrats are calling for a Republican state representative to suspend his reelection campaign after details of his 2008 domestic violence charges were publicized this week. Court documents from domestic violence charges against northeastern Minnesota Rep. Jeff Dotseth, R-Kettle River, contained sworn statements from his ex-wife and former step-son detailing what they said was a decade-long pattern of physical abuse and threats, according to a Star Tribune report published Monday. Dotseth was arrested and charged with domestic violence. He was ordered by a court not to contact his wife, was ordered to give up his firearms and prohibited from visiting his daughter without supervision. Dotseth denies allegations in complaint In a statement to the Star Tribune, Dotseth denied the allegations in the complaint against him, noting he had submitted sworn statements disputing what had happened. He pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and was not convicted of any domestic abuse charge. While Dotseth was never convicted of domestic violence, DFL leaders on Tuesday called the allegations in charges disqualifying for office. Dotseths behavior, whether it was yesterday or years ago, was unacceptable and not fitting for an elected representative of our state, said House Majority Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis. Being in elected office is a public trust, and this is a significant and severe violation of that public trust. DFL leaders also noted that at least one Republican Rep. Paul Novotny, R-Elk River, knew about the allegations as he was one of the law enforcement officers who responded to the domestic violence call. Long and DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin said they were aware of rumored domestic violence charges against Dotseth before they were publicized but did not know the details until this week. Martin said Dotseth should have been forthcoming about his past charges. The fact that Rep. Dotseth concealed that information from the voters when he barely won his seat two years ago, is outrageous, Martin told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday. Dotseth, a first-term representative, is running for reelection in House District 11A, which he won by fewer than 500 votes in 2022. He faces DFLer Pete Radosevich again this year. Before Doseth won the seat, DFL Rep. Mike Sundin of Esko held the district for a decade. District 11As borders have changed since its boundaries were redrawn in 2022, but it still includes the cities of Cloquet, Moose Lake, Barnum and the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation. In addition to calling for Dotseth to suspend his campaign, they said House Republican leadership should remove the representative from their caucus. GOP response In a statement to the Star Tribune, House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said domestic violence is a disqualifying red line, but that the case had been resolved more than a decade ago without any convictions for domestic assault. House Republicans did not respond on Tuesday to DFL calls for Dotseth to end his campaign or to expel him from their caucus. In 2021, Democrats including Gov. Tim Walz called for Rep. John Thompson, DFL-St. Paul, to resign following the resurfacing of domestic violence allegations. Thompson had been arrested, charged or named as a suspect in six domestic assault cases in Minnesota and Wisconsin between 2003 and 2009, but was never convicted. In some of the cases, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges. House DFLers eventually moved to remove Thompson from their caucus, and he did not return to office after losing a primary election in 2022. Related Articles Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski didn't violate state election laws with a controversial Facebook post encouraging people to write down addresses of Kamala Harris supporters, the Ohio Secretary of State's Office determined Tuesday. Zuchowski has drawn national attention for a Facebook post encouraging people take note of yards with signs supporting the Democratic presidential candidate so they can keep a list of places to send illegal immigrants. Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski took over at the start of the year from former Sheriff David Doak. The post prompted some residents to file complaints alleging voter intimidation with local, state and national agencies, including the Ohio Secretary of State. "Our office has reviewed the comments and determined they don't violate election laws," said Dan Lusheck, deputy communications director for the Ohio Secretary of State's office. "The sheriff can speak and answer for himself about the substance of his remarks. We're focused on running an election that begins with military and overseas ballots going out this Friday." Zuchowski has not responded to requests for comments but defended his statements in a Facebook post on Tuesday, saying he had a First Amendment right to share his views. ACLU: Portage sheriff made 'unconstitutional threat' against citizens Meanwhile, the ACLU of Ohio is alleging Zuchowski made an "unconstitutional threat" against residents with his post. Sheriff Zuchowski has made an impermissible, unconstitutional threat against Portage County residents who wish to engage in protected First Amendment activity," Freda Levenson, legal director of the organization, said in a press release Tuesday. "Many have reasonably understood his posts to be a threat of governmental action to punish them for their expressed political beliefs, and have been coerced to take down or refrain from putting up a yard sign." The organization said it sent a letter to the sheriff about its concerns. "The ACLU of Ohio insists that Sheriff Zuchowski right these wrongs and follow the law as is his duty as an elected official and his role as sheriff," Levenson said. Portage Board of Elections directs concerned voters to state agencies The Portage County Board of Elections has received roughly two dozen inquiries about the sheriff's post over the past few days, Deputy Director Theresa Nielsen said. On Monday, board of elections officials didn't know what to do with people who were complaining about the Facebook post. By Tuesday morning, the board had answers. The board posted a message on its website and Facebook page, directing voters to the Ohio Secretary of State's Election Integrity Department, the Ohio Attorney General or the Oho Election Protection Hotline. Locally, the post stated, those who believe they are victims of voter intimidation also can reach out to local law enforcement or the Portage County Prosecutor's Office. "The Portage County Board of Elections is committed to providing free, fair, and transparent elections. Voter intimidation should never be a part of the election process and voters are protected by Ohio law from such intimidation," the post stated. The Secretary of State's Election Integrity Department can be reached via email at eiu@ohiosos.gov or 614-697-3132. The Ohio Attorney General can be reached at 855-224-6446, and the Ohio's Election Protection Hotline can be reached at 866-687-8683. Ohio Attorney General's office says it can't remove sheriff from office A spokeswoman for Attorney General Dave Yost said Yost does not have the authority to remove Zuchowski from office. The Attorney Generals office does not have the direct authority to make a change in an elected officer," said Bethany McCorkle, Yost's communications director. "If they are charged with a felony, then our office can seek suspension through the Ohio Supreme Court." McCorkle said under Ohio law, only "the elector or the governor" can seek removal of a sheriff or prosecutor, and then only for reasons specifically set out in state law. U.S. Department of Justice fields complaints Some residents told reporters that the incident prompted them to file complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. "The Civil Rights Division enforces federal laws that protect you from discrimination based on your race, color, national origin, disability status, sex, religion, familial status, or loss of other constitutional rights," the department's website states. Those who believe their civil rights, or those of someone else, have been violated can use this form. Portage Democrats: 'We've given them all the options' Denise Smith, chairwoman of the Portage County Democratic Party, said people who express concerns are being given several options when they come into the party's offices. People are told they can contact the Portage County Prosecutor's Office or their local police department if they live in a city. Beyond Portage County, she said, they can file complaints with the Secretary of State, the Ohio Attorney General, the Department of Justice, the ACLU's Voter Protection hotline and the FBI, which has a division to address voter intimidation. Smith said the party also works with people who are afraid to vote in person, urging them to obtain absentee ballots, and turn them in at the Board of Elections office if they don't want to use the drop box. "We give them all the options," she said. Akron Beacon Journal reporters Amanda Garrett and April Helms contributed to this story. Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com. This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ohio Secretary of State reviews complaints against Portage sheriff Originally appeared on E! Online Content warning: This story discusses sexual assault. There are new updates about Sean "Diddy" Combs' legal troubles. After the rapper was arrested in New York City and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitutiontwo of which carry a maximum sentence of life in prisonaccording to a newly unsealed federal indictment viewed by E! News, Combs has also been denied bond to be released from jail, according to NBC News. Combswho pled not guilty Sept. 17submitted a request for a $50 million bond in a letter to New York judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky, offering a proposed package that would allow Combs to "fight this case in Court effectively," per the letter obtained by E! News. The package included the $50,000,000 bond, which was co-signed by the 54-year-old's familyincluding his mother Janice Combs, sister Keisha Combs and three of his sonsseveral of whom also surrendered their passports following the raid on Diddy's homes in March, according to the letter. The package also offered equity in both his Miami home, as well as his mother's and limited his travel to within certain parts of Florida, New York and New Jersey. More from E! Online The document additionally sought to "walk the Court through a series of actions taken by Mr. Combs over the past six months that prove that he is not a risk of flight or a danger to anyone in the community." "These actions prove that Mr. Combs is eminently trustworthy," the letter signed by his lawyers Marc Agnifilo and Teny R. Geragos read, "that he is demonstrably committed to showing his innocence in Court in the context of this case, and that he should be released, on the conditions proposed, in order to do so." Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for The Recording Academy His attorneys honed in on the fact that "when it became apparent to his counsel that Mr. Combs would at some point soon be formally charged, he did something extraordinary: He left his home in Miami and travelled to New York, the very location of the prosecutors and agents investigating him." However, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York requested in a memo that he remain in jail until his trial, with U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stating that Combs' "disposition to violence cannot be reasonably prevented through bail conditions" and said that he is a flight-risk who "poses a significant danger to the community," per NBC News. There is a hearing date set for the music mogul on Sept. 25. The federal indictment obtained by E! alleges a decade's worth of crimes against Combs, including the alleged coercion of female victims to engage in sexual acts called "freak offs." Bryan Steffy/WireImage These alleged sexual performances occurred regularly for hours or even days, during which Combs "arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded" the performances, per the documents. The U.S. Attorney also alleges that during the activity he would distribute "a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep them obedient and compliant." Per the indictment, methods to pressure victims included "force, threats of force, and coercion" to "engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers." Following the alleged Freak Offs, "Combs and the victims typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use." Combs allegedly also used multiple corporate entitiescollectively called the "Combs Business"to disguise a criminal organization with other members and associates involved, per the documents. Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images for Sean "Diddy" Combs He allegedly relied on his employees, including supervisors, security, household staff, personal assistants and others, to help facilitate travel, book hotel rooms and stock them with supplies, as well as making sure he had cash to pay the sex workers and schedule IV fluids. The indictment also stated that, after his Sept. 16 arrest in New York, authorities seized "various Freak Off supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant," along with "firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, as well as a drum magazine." Following his arrest, lawyer Agnifilo told reporters, per NBC News, that Diddy was "going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers." "Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts," he added. "These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court." To learn more about Diddy's case, keep reading. (E! and NBC News and part of the NBCUniversal family.) Search Warrants Executed on Diddys L.A. and Miami Properties Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed search warrants at Sean Diddy Combs Los Angeles and Miami properties on March 25, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to NBC News. The sources told the outlet the warrant was out of the Southern District of New York, and a spokesperson for HSI New York confirmed to E! News it executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners. Law enforcement sources told NBC News the music mogul was in the Miami area when the search warrants were executed. News about the investigation broke after Combs faced allegations of sexual misconduct in lawsuits filed by multiple accusers starting in November, with the musician denying the allegations. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday, he wrote in a December statement posted on Instagram. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth. Diddys Attorney Speaks Out The day after HSI executed the search warrants at Combs' L.A. and Miami properties, his lawyer spoke out. "Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs' residences," attorney Aaron Dyer said in a March 26 statement to E! News. "There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated." Dyer noted Combs was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities. Despite media speculation, neither Mr. Combs nor any of his family members have been arrested nor has their ability to travel been restricted in any way, his lawyer's statement continued. This unprecedented ambushpaired with an advanced, coordinated media presenceleads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits. And Dyer expressed Combs' intent to defend himself. There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations, he added. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name. Details About the Raid Revealed As for what actually went down during the searches, multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the warrant told NBC News authorities with the Department of Homeland Security seized phones from Combs home in Miami before he was scheduled to travel to the Bahamas, and several sources familiar with the matter added that guns were discovered during the search. One source familiar with the matter also told NBC News three women and one man were interviewed by prosecutors and investigators from the Southern District of New York about allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault, the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms purportedly tied to Combs. Diddys Associate Brendan Paul Arrested on Suspicion of Drug Possession On the same day the search warrants were executed at Combs Miami and Los Angeles properties, one of his associates, Brendan Paul, was arrested by the Miami-Dade police on suspicion of drug possession, a law enforcement source familiar with the matter told NBC News. According to the Miami-Dade arrest affidavit obtained by the outlet, Paul was taken into custody for allegedly possessing suspected cocaine and suspected marijuana candy. Prison records obtained by NBC News show Paul was released on March 26 after posting bond. We do not plan on trying this case in the media, Pauls attorney Brian Bieber said in a statement obtained by the outlet, all issues will be dealt with in court. In May, Paul accepted a plea deal, with his lawyer Bieber telling People, "Brendan accepted the prosecutors offer to permit his entry into the diversion program which, after completion, the case against him will be dismissed in its entirety." Diddy Arrested in New York He was arrested in the lobby of a New York hotel on Sept. 16, 2024, according to NBC News. It's unclear what Combs has been charged with and if the arrest has any potential connection to the raids. We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorneys Office," his lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in a statement to E! News. "He is an imperfect person but Is not criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges." The lawyer added, "Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court. Diddy Charged With Sex Trafficking & Racketeering After Combs was arrested based on the sealed indictment, the indictment was unsealed on Sept. 17. The 54-year-old was charged with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; as well as transportation to engage in prostitution, according to court documents obtained by NBC News. The indictment alleged Combs abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct for more than a decade, with prosecutors saying the purported behavior started around 2008. "To do so," the documents stated, "Combs relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlledcreating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice." According to NBC News, Combs pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. Hes going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might, his attorney Marc Agnifilo told reporters outside the courthouse prior to the arraignment, and the full confidence of his lawyers." For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App A day after a New York magistrate judge denied bail for Sean Diddy Combs, the music mogul and his legal team were again rejected on Wednesday while attempting to appeal that bail rejection in district court. U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter ruled that there was clear and convincing evidence that supported Judge Robyn F. Ternofskys previous bail denial for his racketeering and sex trafficking charges, per The AP. Combs was present in the courtroom for the decision and will remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center. The fight continues. We are not giving up by a long shot Im going to do everything that I can to move his case as quickly as possible, Combs attorney Marc Agnifilo told reporters on the courthouse steps. I understand that the government has a great amount of electronic devices that they have to download and provide to me, but everythings on the governments timetable; nothings on the defendants timetable and theyre going to have to accommodate me and him and give us a quick trial and Im going to be pushing to that. Hes ready. Hes focused. He has been ready to defend this case since he first found out about this case; nothing has changed. From his perspective, I obviously would much prefer to fight this case with him out of jail and we are going to try to bring that about through additional legal process, he continued. But wherever he is, his resolve is the same: He believes hes innocent, I believe hes innocent and were going to fight this case with all of our might until we dont have to fight anymore at this point, we are moving forward. Were preparing for trial as we speak and we are considering our next steps and appealing the courts. Earlier on Wednesday, Combs lawyer submitted an updated bail package proposal, obtained by TheWrap, that included home detention, GPS monitoring, weekly drug testing, zero visitation from potential co-conspirators and limited female visitors aside from family and his childrens mothers. That was in addition to Tuesdays proposal of $50 million bond and his Miami home as collateral, with his lawyers arguing that his attempt to voluntarily surrender proves he is not a flight risk. However, Judge Ternofsky ordered his immediate remand at the time. The rapper was arrested on Monday and pleaded not guilty to three federal charges racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, per legal documents obtained by TheWrap. The grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday revealed that between 2008 and the present, Combs and members of his enterprise were accused of engaging in sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice. Sean Diddy Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and working to uplift the Black community, Agnifilo told TMZ on Tuesday. He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. This weeks updates come months after Combs previous longtime girlfriend Casandra Ventura, aka Cassie, filed a lawsuit in November 2023 accusing him of repeated physical and sexual abuse. Combs denied the allegations and settled the lawsuit out of court the subsequent day, but after federal authorities eventually raided three of the rappers homes in April, hotel surveillance video from 2016 leaked in May appeared to corroborate her claims. Since Cassies initial filing, numerous other alleged victims have come forward with similar lawsuits. Additionally, Wednesdays latest batch of documents show that U.S. attorneys claim that in addition to these women, the defendant has assaulted a host of other individuals, including his employees and witnesses to his violence including by throwing these witnesses against walls and onto the ground, choking them and throwing objects at them, among other things. In doing so, the defendant has demonstrated that he is not only a danger to victims and witnesses but is also obstructive and willing to engage whatever is necessary including physical violence to instill fear in witnesses to keep them silent, the docs detailed. All of this violence, against victims, witnesses and others, factors into the analysis of the defendants dangerousness. A trial date has not been set. Pamela Chelin contributed to this reporting. The post Diddy to Remain Behind Bars After His Bail Rejection Appeal Is Denied appeared first on TheWrap. Inside the Hellhole NYC Prison That Will House Diddy Until His Sex Trafficking Trial Sean Diddy Combs was remanded back into federal custody on Tuesday afternoon after a judge denied him bail as his sex abuse case proceeds to trial. The hip-hop tycoon has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution, and will be will be housed in pretrial detention at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The MDC holds around 1,600 inmates, all but a few dozen awaiting trial. It has been New York Citys primary federal detention center since 2021, when the Bureau of Prisons shuttered Manhattans Metropolitan Correctional Centerwhere Jeffrey Epstein diedover the appalling conditions inside. Its sister across the East River is a similarly notorious facility, plagued by chronic understaffing, constant lockdowns, outbreaks of violence, delayed access to medical care, and a rash of suicides and deaths. Combs lawyers acknowledged as much in a motion for bail filed earlier on Tuesday, noting that several courts in this District have recognized that the conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center are not fit for pre-trial detention. Just earlier this summer, an inmate was murdered, they wrote. At least four inmates have died by suicide there in the past three years. Media sets up in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn. JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images On June 7, a man named Uriel Whyte, whod been awaiting trial on gun charges for more than two years, was stabbed to death inside the MDC. Just over a month later, a second man, Edwin Cordero, died after being injured in a jail fight. Its very violent, an inmate named Eli told Spectrum News NY1 after Whytes death. Theres stabbings, theres stabbings at least a couple times a week. Corderos lawyer called the senseless and completely preventable, adding that the jail was hell on earth, according to The New York Times. Combs lawyers, Marc Agnifilo and Teny R. Geragos, went on in their filing to cite a number of recent legal cases in which conditions at the MDC were variously described as dreadful, longstanding, dirty, inhuman, and an ongoing tragedy. In early August, Judge Gary Brown referenced its dangerous, barbaric conditions in threatening to vacate an elderly mans nine-month sentence should he be sent to the MDC. (At least three other judges have refused to order defendants to the jail in recent years for the same reason.) The family of Jamel Floyd, a prisoner at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, release balloons as part of an annual memorial and protest after his death in the facility. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images Over the weekend, the New York Daily News reported that the MDC had stopped accepting inmates serving out their sentences, with no formal explanation given. But I think its kind of [obviously] in response to what Judge Brown did, a law enforcement source commented to the newspaper. In his decision, Brown referenced both Whyte and Corderos deaths, writing that they demonstrate a woeful lack of supervision over the facility, a breakdown of order and an environment of lawlessness within its confines that constitute unacceptable, reprehensible and deadly mismanagement. In January 2019, the MDC was vaulted into the national spotlight after a weeklong blackout left inmates stranded and shivering in single-digit temperatures. A class action lawsuit over the outage was settled for roughly $10 million last year. But conditions deteriorated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon bemoaning in 2021 her complete and utter inability to do anything meaningful about the situation inside New York jails like the MDC, which she said were run by morons. The Most Shocking Revelations From Diddys Sex Trafficking Indictment The morons at the MDC have been tasked with playing host to a number of celebrity clientele over the years, including the disgraced rapper R. Kelly; Epsteins henchwoman Ghislaine Maxwell; the fallen crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried; Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli; and (briefly) the convicted FyreFest fraudster Billy McFarland. Infamously, Maxwell bellyached loudly and repeatedly about her time at the MDC. She complained that correctional officers were physically abusing her, holding her in de facto solitary confinement, keeping her up with their flashlights, and subjecting her to constant humiliating searches. Her lawyers said that she was underfed, losing her hair, and living among cockroaches and rodents. After her 2022 conviction, she was moved to a low-level federal prison in Florida known for yoga and its inmate talent show to begin serving out her 20-year sentence, according to the Associated Press. The Department of Justices Office of the Inspector General last inspected the MDC in 2020, according to a list of its published reports. (The inspection was conducted remotely. The last in-person inspection was in 2019.) They know this place should be shut down, and it is impossible, nearly impossible, for you to fight a case from MDC Brooklyn, Eli told Spectrum News NY1 in June. Forget about your constitutional rights. Human rights here are a problem. Diddy posts up on a bench in London. MEGA/GC Images In their Tuesday motion, Agnifilo and Geragos urged the judge to greenlight a $50 million bail for Combs, a bond tied to his Miami residence. They argued that the 54-year-old rappers extraordinary decision to fly to New York ahead of his arrest was proof of his trustworthiness and lack of flight risk. But prosecutors argued that Combs remains a threat to his victims and witnesses, with one characterizing him as a serial abuser and a serial obstructer, according to the Times. Prosecutors also pointed out that after Dawn Richard, Combs 10th and most recent accuser, sued him earlier this month, he contacted a former bandmate 128 timesincluding calling her 58 times in four daysuntil she put out a statement supporting him, Rolling Stone reported. Judge Robyn Tarnofsky eventually denied Combs request for bond, citing his flight risk, anger issues, and substance abuse. The disgraced mogul was arrested late Monday in Manhattans Park Hyatt Hotel after a grand jury issued an indictment. It was the culmination of nearly a year of mounting allegations of sexual misconduct, kickstarted by a lawsuit filed by ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura last November. Cassie and Diddy at a 2018 fashion show in New York City. Taylor Hill/Getty Images Combs settled privately with Ventura a day after her explosive claims went public, but seven more women and two men would subsequently come forward with harrowing stories of their own. In March, federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations raided Combs properties in Miami and Los Angeles. According to the indictment, there they confiscated narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, items used in Combs freak offs, orgies that prosecutors described as elaborate and produced sex performances born of his coercion and force. Standing outside the courthouse after Tuesdays hearing, Agnifilo told reporters that they would appeal Combs bond denial. We believe in him wholeheartedly, he said. 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. Diddy Takes Another Shot At Bail After His Massive $50 Million Offer Was Denied Diddy is desperate to be released on bail and has dropped another tempting offer to the prosecutors. The embattled rapper, born Sean John Combs, remains in custody after his initial $50 million bail offer was rejected. He upped the deal with an agreement to limit his connection to women if released. Diddy was arrested and indicted on Monday with three criminal counts against him. His crimes include sex trafficking and racketeering; however, he has denied all wrongdoings in the ongoing case. Diddy Is Willing To Be Monitored To Secure His Release On Bail MEGA According to new court documents, the Bad Boy Records founder offered to fully disclose his movement and connections to the government if released on bail. His legal reps noted that the security company responsible for logging all visitors at his Miami Beach home would hand over the information to the government nightly. They also claimed that Diddy would limit visitors to family, property caretakers, and friends not listed as co-conspirators in the federal indictment. The contact limitations seemed to be the legal team's way of addressing the court's concern about the rapper contacting or intimidating witnesses. They even specified that Diddy would restrict female visitors to family members like the mothers of his children. The documents obtained by TMZ further noted the music producer vowed not to contact known grand jury witnesses. The Rapper Agreed To Submit To Drugs Tests In His Bail Offer MEGA Diddy's plea for bail continued with an offer to submit to weekly drug tests. This proposal stemmed from the drug allegations in the indictment, which claimed his "Freak Off" sex parties were fueled by cocaine, ketamine, GHB, MDMA (Ecstasy), and other narcotics. Additionally, the feds claimed they found drugs in Diddy's New York City hotel room when he was arrested on Monday. As for the $50 million financial offer, the music mogul was willing to drop the hefty sum plus the new deal to secure his bail. Unless a judge grants him bail, Diddy will remain behind bars at MDC Brooklyn until his trial begins. He made his first court appearance at a hearing on Tuesday, where he entered a not guilty plea. The Record Producer Claims He's Innocent MEGA As reported by The Blast, Diddy denied all the charges against him at his hearing on Tuesday afternoon. He was indicted on several criminal counts, including: Racketeering conspiracy. Sex trafficking by force. Cause or coercion. Transportation to engage in prostitution. The sex trafficking crimes allegedly occurred between 2009 and 2018, while the prostitution allegations happened between 2009 and 2024. The indictment detailed gruesome allegations against Diddy, claiming he: "Abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct." Diddy allegedly used his music empire to "create a criminal enterprise," where his associates engaged in or attempted to engage in "sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice." Prosecutors Accused Diddy Of Various Forms Of Abuse MEGA The crimes against the music mogul continued, with prosecutors detailing his alleged "persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse." They claimed his crimes included "verbal, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse." Prosecutors accused Diddy of "striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at and kicking" women. They also called out his employees, slamming them for helping to facilitate and cover up his abuse. The gruesome crimes also included claims of women being manipulated into engaging in "extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers." Diddy allegedly referred to these sexual events as "Freak-Offs." He allegedly transported sex workers across state lines with his associates and drugged the women to make them "obedient and compliant." Prosecutors claimed these acts portrayed sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. Why Diddy Might Be Unable To Secure Bail MEGA Although Diddy was willing to place his Miami Beach home and his mother's Miami residence as a $50 million collateral for his bail, prosecutors had other plans. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams labeled him a flight risk. Despite Diddy's eligibility for bail, Williams argued that the severity of his alleged crimes overshadowed his rights. "We will be seeking detention. There is a presumption of detention in a case like this, and we think that's warranted," he explained. He further backed their refusal for bail with the numerous weapons seized during the raids on Diddy's homes. As for concerns about the embattled rapper's safety in custody, Williams said: "We are concerned with anyone's safety whenever they are detained prior to trial. It's part of our obligation." It is unclear at this time if Diddy's new offer will be enough to secure his release on bail. Sean Diddy Combs found success in the music world at a young age, which means despite his humble beginnings, hes been living an extremely privileged life for a very long time. That all changed overnight when the music mogul was arrested on charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. On Tuesday, he pled not guilty and was denied bail, leaving him behind bars until his trial. Federal prosecutors argued that the New York native is too dangerous to get bail, but his attorney will appeal the bail decision Wednesday. Now, the multi-millionaire trades in his designer suits for a prison jumpsuit. According to The Daily Beast, Combs will be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, an infamous facility that has previously housed notorious names like Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged cohort Ghislane Maxwell; R. Kelly; and disgraced pharmaceutical boss Martin Shkreli. MDC has a reputation as an extremely dangerous facility and has been the subject of recent investigations following multiple deaths. Per Spectrum News NY, when an inmate was stabbed to death in June, the prison went on lockdown. A little over a month after that, another inmate died from injuries he received in a fight. They know this place should be shut down, and it is impossible, nearly impossible, for you to fight a case from MDC Brooklyn, an inmate named Eli told the outlet in June. Forget about your constitutional rights. Human rights here are a problem. The facility will be a far cry from Combs wealthy lifestyle. He wont have access to private assistants, security, chefs, housekeepers or adoring fans. For the first time in a long time, Diddy will have to take care of himself. Hell be one of around 1,600 inmates, who must follow the same rules and regulations as everyone else. Were not naive enough to think that the rapper/producers wealth and fame wont play a role in his ongoing legal troubles, but hes also an alleged criminal who will be treated as such when hes behind bars. High-profile cases like this evolve and change several times before trial, because thats how these things usually work. There will likely be multiple motions and hearings leading up to the trial, so Diddys circumstances could change from one day to the next. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Models present creations of Chinese designer Zhong Zixin during a fashion show in London, Britain, Sept. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Jing) LONDON, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Emerging Chinese designer Zhong Zixin on Tuesday wowed audiences as she unveiled her Spring/Summer 2025 collection in a highly-anticipated fashion show in central London. As the inaugural winner of the VOGUE China Fashion Fund, Chinese Designer Prize, Zhong has consistently drawn inspiration from her family and heritage, blending Eastern aesthetics with modern fashion perspectives. Her brand, Zhong Zixin, has garnered acclaim from leading fashion authorities. Following her international debut in Paris last year, Zhong, sponsored by VOGUE China, once again showcased the creativity of China's new generation of young designers to the international fashion arena. Zhong told Xinhua that her latest collection draws inspiration from the famous painting Bacchus by Italian artist Caravaggio. The work's atmosphere evoked memories of Zhong's childhood -- grapevines climbing trellises filling her home with the fragrance of fresh fruit. Zhong's collection features goblets under Bacchus' domain being transformed into flowing silhouettes, while grapes and vines intertwine to create rich textures. Contrasting shades and sizes of mosaic pieces are reassembled, resulting in a timeless visual effect. Oliver Rapport, director of Rapport London, a British brand, said he was very impressed by the show. Emerging Chinese designers offer a fresh perspective for the fashion industry, and there is also "growing appetite in the West for viewing Chinese designers' collections," he said. A model presents creations of Chinese designer Zhong Zixin during a fashion show in London, Britain, Sept. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Jing) A model presents creations of Chinese designer Zhong Zixin during a fashion show in London, Britain, Sept. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Jing) Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyer, Teny Geragos, has downplayed the revelations from the rappers indictment, saying they do not make him the new Jeffery Epstein. The indictment revealed that the embattled music mogul organized sex orgies known as Freak Offs, and during a March raid, authorities discovered an excessive amount of baby oil and lubricant in his home. Following the indictment, Diddy was arrested and charged with racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Diddys Lawyer Claims The Rapper Is Innocent' MEGA During an appearance on NewsNation's "Cuomo," Diddys lawyer, Geragos, slammed the charges against the rapper, claiming that hes innocent. The bold claim follows Diddy's indictment, which exposed a litany of alleged illicit activities involving the music mogul. One of the key revelations focused on the Freak Offs, described as multiple sexual orgies involving Diddy's female victims and male prostitutes. However, Diddy's lawyer has insisted that it is wrong for people to conclude that Diddy has committed any crime. Geragos said during the chat with Chris Cuomo: A lifestyle and being present in activities doesn't mean he committed a crime. Those activities and the lifestyle is not criminal." She also claimed that since federal prosecutors did not mention during Diddys arraignment that these encounters were non-consensual for the women, it suggests the rapper's innocence. Geragos added, What was notable today, what my partner Mark said in court, is they never once said that these women didn't consent to what happened, not once. Diddy Not New Jeffrey Epstein Despite Sex Charges, Claims His Attorney MEGA Geragos also compared Diddy to figures like R. Kelly and Jeffrey Epstein, both convicted of sordid sexual-related crimes involving minors. She emphasized that, unlike them, Diddy has not been charged with any such offenses. The difference here between R Kelly, between Epstein, no charges relating to minors, she insisted. Geragos implied early during her chat with Cuomo that Diddy made no attempts to run away as he made himself available in New York when they suspected an indictment was happening. "12 days ago, Chris, when we thought there's an indictment that may be coming, [Diddy] flew to New York the very next day," Geragos said. "He got on a plane and he came here and that's an extraordinary move for a defendant who's been under investigation, that he's been aware of, for at least six months. He came to the very jurisdiction that is investigating him, and he said, 'I'm here. I want to surrender. Let me surrender,'" the lawyer added. He has done everything, everything somebody under investigation can do. I can't think of anything else that he could have done. There were no surprises here. Diddy Is Being Held At The Metropolitan Detention Center MEGA Following his arrest on Monday night, Diddy was charged with racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was arraigned on the charges on Tuesday, and, as promised by another of his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, he entered a not-guilty plea. Diddy was brought to court from the Special Housing Unit at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he was detained after his arrest. The music mogul is not the first high-profile individual to be detained at the MDC, as figures like R. Kelly, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Ghislaine Maxwell have all had temporary stints at the facility. The Rapper Has Been Denied Bail Twice MEGA At the Tuesday hearing, Diddy was denied bail despite putting up a hefty bond worth tens of millions of dollars. Judge Robyn Tarnofsky had denied bail because she was not convinced he would appear in court if released. The following day, Diddy's team proposed an amended bail package at another bail hearing before a different judge, Andrew L. Carter. However, that, too, was turned down by the new judge, who ruled that if Diddy was released on bond, there was a possibility of witness tampering and obstruction in the case. After the unsuccessful attempt, Diddy was removed from court and returned to the detention center, where he will remain until his trial. Diddy Intends To Prove His Innocence During Trial MEGA As the case continues to unfold, Diddys team is gearing up for a fight to prove the rappers innocence during his trial. Hes going to clear his name and were going to stand by his side as he does. We believe in him wholeheartedly, Agnifilo told reporters on Tuesday, per CNN. Agnifilo had earlier defended Diddy in a statement after the federal indictment, stating that they were disappointed with the decision and that it was an unjust prosecution of the music mogul. Per the Daily Mail, the attorney added, [Diddy] is an imperfect person but is not criminal. To his credit. [He] has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. The FWC Lionfish Challenge in Florida saw record-breaking participation and harvest numbers this year. Some 285 divers removed 31,773 invasive lionfish from fragile coral reef ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, according to a press release from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. One of those scuba divers was 46-year-old Baye Beauford of Jacksonville, who harvested 915 lionfish on his own with a pole spear. Beauford went on to win the recreational division of the competition, which stretched over four months. He won the same division in 2023. Beaufords friend and dive partner, Dale Wolber, came in second place with 866 fish, and Tim Robinson of Broward County (who OL has spearfished with before) came in third with 726 lionfish. The first year of the challenge, I got second place and I didnt even try, Beauford tells OL. Beauford holds up a creel of lionfish. Photo courtesy of Baye Beauford Beaufords not bragging. Instead, he chalks up the ease with which he beats other divers to the alarming severity of the lionfish problem off the coast of Duval County in northeastern Florida. Divers in the Jacksonville area exert very little pressure on the lionfish population. This sets Jacksonville apart from other areas of Florida, like the Keys, where divers harvest lionfish more regularly and keep the populations lower. Over the four months of the competition, Beauford and his friends went on roughly one or two trips a week, which means his 915 lionfish came from just a few dozen excursions. The divers travel about 30 miles offshore to get to reefs with the most explosive lionfish populations. They dive to roughly 90 to 100 feet and hunt for a half-hour or so at a time, Beauford says. Lionfish are relatively easy to spot around these reefs, even though they arent large fish; Beaufords personal record is a 2.98-pounder. A lionfish speared using a pole spear. Photo by FWC Recreational participants like Beauford report fish to the months-long competition by cutting off lionfish tails, freezing them, and delivering them to a nearby check station, usually a bait shop or other certified location. Floridas Lionfish Problem Lionfish are ravenous, invasive, predatory fish that have taken up residence in the waters around the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast, feeding on grouper, snapper, and other gamefish species in the area. They are native to Indo-Pacific waters, but likely ended up near Florida and elsewhere along the U.S. coast as a result of the aquarium trade. Because native predatory fish in the area dont recognize lionfish as potential prey, they have no natural predators at the moment. This is where spear divers come in. Similar to Floridas Python Challenge, the Lionfish Challenge incentivizes divers to harvest as many lionfish as possible, in hopes of making a difference in the preservation of native marine ecosystems. A single lionfish living in a coral reef can reduce the recruitment, or the successful population growth, of native reef fish by up to 79 percent, according to NOAA. Considering the fact that lionfish can achieve population densities of 200 fish per acre of reef, they take a massive toll on native fish numbers. It helps that lionfish also happen to be delicious, and that their skin is useful for intricate jewelry and leather detailing. Both these uses help create a demand for lionfish byproducts, which in turn helps incentivize removal. In fact, the commercial division of the Lionfish Challenge is reserved for divers who sell the fish they harvest, and their harvests are recorded by pounds rather than individual fish. (All top three commercial finishers were also from Duval County divers Beauford knows well; Matt Meyers came in first place with 1,785 pounds of fish.) Jewelry made with lionfish removed from Florida waters. Photo courtesy of Baye Beauford Currently, a pound of lionfish meat fetches around $6, Beauford says. Lionfish has become his familys favorite protein; Beauford says its similar to hogfish or red snapper with its white, flaky flesh. Now, he just wants to see more people get on board. People dont hear about them because theyre not on the menu in a lot of places, Beauford says. We have one distributor here that owns nine restaurants, and he showcases them on his menu. But thats pretty much it up here [in Jacksonville]. If other culinary favorites like grouper and snapper are getting decimated by lionfish, then Beauford sees an opportunity to help re-regulate the marine food chain by changing what fish he puts on his table. Lionfish can eat three times their bodyweight in one day, and theyre eating grouper and snapper and all of the species that are heavily regulated that we would otherwise be eating, he says. But this species is actually a sustainable source of fish. We cant get them all, and they multiply so fast. Read Next: Photos from the Worlds Biggest Lionfish Derby Although Beauford plans to continue spearing lionfish outside the competition, he still got a kick out of being crowned the Lionfish King for the second year in a row. It feels great, Beauford says of winning this years competition. We all know each other. Were a team that goes out and kills it. The report was completed in January 2023, and first made public on Monday, Sept. 9 Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency via Getty Disney World's Magic Kingdom in 2022 A new report from the special commissioner of investigations for the New York City School District alleges that multiple school employees went on Disney World trips meant for homeless students. The report claims that the office of Anastasia Coleman received a complaint in March 2019 indicating that Linda Wilson, the regional manager for Queen Students in Temporary Housing (STH), brought members of her family on "multiple-day, out-of-town field trips" paid by grants, that were meant to "serve as enrichment opportunities, or as incentives for improving attendance or other academic achievements' for homeless students." Wilson allegedly used an outside vendor to book "busing, food, lodging, and all other itinerary items" trips to various locations, including Disney World in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, instead of through the New York City Department of Education because "there is less oversight of community-based organizations." Matt Stroshane/Walt Disney World Resort via Getty Disney World's Magic Kingdom in 2014 She and five other STH staff members Program Manager Shaquieta Boyd, Family Assistant Joanne Castro, Family Assistant Mishawn Jack, Family Assistant Virgen Ramos, and Community Coordinator Maria Sylvester allegedly went on the trips with their children, grandchildren and partners. Related: TikToker Uses 46-Year-Old Admission Ticket to Enter Disney World: I Cant Believe it Actually Worked "Wilson would determine which staff members could attend the trip, assign students to each staff member to chaperone during the trip, then fill the spots allegedly assigned for those students with family members of the staff," the report claims, noting that trips took place from 2016 to 2019. The report further alleges that Wilson and the staff members would then "complete permission slips using the information of homeless students, then sign off on the paperwork as the parents of those students." Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency via Getty The EPCOT theme park at Disney World in 2022 Coleman ended her report by calling for the six individuals to be fired and asking the New York City Department of Education to "seek reimbursement for all expenses incurred by the DOE on the part of those who wrongly benefitted from these actions." Although the report was completed in January 2023, it was first made public on Monday, Sept. 9. Related: Walt Disney World Drops Bid to Dismiss Wrongful Death Lawsuit by Widower Who Subscribed to Disney+ The special commissioner's office told NPR that "it is the general practice of [the special commissioner of investigation] to withhold publication of our reports while administrative actions are pending." Matt Stroshane/Bloomberg via Getty Vehicles pass the entrance to the Walt Disney World theme park and resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 According to the Associated Press, citing New York City Department of Education spokesperson Jenna Lyle, All staff identified in this report are no longer employed by New York City Public Schools. Wilson told the New York Post that she was not fired from her position but "retired." She also denied bringing her two daughters on the trips and called the investigation from the special commissioners office a witch hunt. 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. PEOPLE reached out to the New York City Department of Education, New York State Department of Education and Disney, but did not immediately hear back. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. FILE - Karen Read looks toward the jurors, as they are greeted by Judge Beverly J. Cannone during her trial at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Monday, July 1, 2024. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool, file) BOSTON (AP) A Massachusetts district attorney on Wednesday appointed a special prosecutor, who has represented James Whitey Bulger and other prominent clients in the past, to take on the Karen Read murder case. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement that Hank Brennan will lead the states retrial in January. A former prosecutor and defense attorney, Morrissey said Brennan has worked for 25 years in state and federal courts and and has experience "with complex law enforcement matters. Read, 44, is accused of ramming into John OKeefe with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a January 2022 snowstorm. Her two-month trial ended in July when a judge declared a mistrial and a second trial is scheduled for January. I assume full responsibility and all obligations for prosecuting this case and will do so meticulously, ethically and zealously, without compromise," Brennan, who has the title of special assistant district attorney, said in a statement. I have two core obligations. The first is to make certain the Karen Read receives a fair trial ... The second is to ensure that the facts surrounding John O'Keefe's death are fully fairly aired in the courtroom without outside influence. A lawyer for Read did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In August, Judge Beverly Cannone ruled that Read can be retried for murder and leaving the crime scene in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, dismissing arguments that jurors told lawyers after the mistrial that they had unanimously agreed she wasnt guilty on the two charges. Earlier this month, lawyers for Read filed an appeal on that ruling with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally, who prosecuted the first case, said Read, a former adjunct professor at Bentley College, and OKeefe, a 16-year member of the Boston police, had been drinking heavily before she dropped him off at a party at the home of Brian Albert, a fellow Boston officer. They said she hit him with her SUV before driving away. An autopsy found OKeefe died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma. The defense portrayed Read as the victim, saying OKeefe was actually killed inside Alberts home and then dragged outside. They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a convenient outsider who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects. After the mistrial, Reads lawyers presented evidence that four jurors had said they were actually deadlocked only on a third count of manslaughter, and that inside the jury room, they had unanimously agreed that Read was innocent of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident. One juror told them that no one thought she hit him on purpose or even thought she hit him on purpose, her lawyers argued. But the judge said the jurors didnt tell the court during their deliberations that they had reached a verdict on any of the counts. Where there was no verdict announced in open court here, retrial of the defendant does not violate the principle of double jeopardy, Cannone said in her ruling. With less than 50 days until Election Day, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the national organization that works to elect Democrats to state legislatures, announced its endorsement of 14 candidates for the Wisconsin State Legislature. (Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner) With less than 50 days until Election Day, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the national organization that works to elect Democrats to state legislatures, announced its endorsement of 14 candidates for the Wisconsin State Legislature where new maps adopted this year have opened opportunities for Democrats to increase their numbers. DLCC President Heather Williams said in a statement that Wisconsin represents one of the most exciting opportunities to shift the balance of power this election cycle, and said the organization is proud to uplift the candidates. For too long, Republicans have weaponized gerrymandered maps to lock themselves into power, Williams added. This cycle, with new maps finally in place, theres a real opportunity for voters to fairly elect their leaders and carve a new future for the state. The organization consulted with Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer in choosing the candidates. Neubauer said the attention on the races from the DLCC demonstrates the importance of the Wisconsin Assembly at a national scale. Currently, Republicans hold 64 seats in the Assembly a majority that was achieved under gerrymandered maps. New maps adopted by the state Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, after the state Supreme Court threw out the previous maps, has made the state Legislature competitive for the first time in over 10 years. Neubauer told the Examiner she is confident that Democrats can win a majority in the Assembly this year. Neubauer said control of the Assembly is essential for quality of life for people in our state, and that Republicans have used the Legislature to change the rules and insulate their own power in Wisconsin. The question at hand is will Republicans be able to continue using the Legislature to consolidate their own power and serve their own interests, or will we have a Legislature that truly reflects the will of the voters in Wisconsin and passes the policy that people need to thrive? Neubauer said. The DLCC is highlighting 10 Assembly candidates, who are running in districts that under the new maps President Joe Biden would have won or lost by about two percentage points. They include: David Marstellar (AD-21) Joe Sheehan (AD-26) Alison Page (AD-30) Duane Shukoski (AD-53) LuAnn Bird (AD-61) Rep. Jodi Emerson (AD-91) Yee Leng Xiong (AD-85) Christy Welch (AD-88) Ryan Spaude (AD-89) Rep. Steve Doyle (AD-94) Five of the candidates are seeking to unseat Republican incumbents. In two races in the Milwaukee area, Marstellar is seeking to unseat longtime Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek), who has served in the Assembly since 2013, and LuAnn Bird is challenging incumbent Rep. Bob Donovan. Sheehan is seeking to oust first-term Rep. Amy Binsfeld in the district representing Sheboygan. Page is challenging Rep. Shannon Zimmerman in a seat representing parts of western Wisconsin, and Xiong is seeking to oust Rep. Patrick Snyder in the race for the 85th district, which includes Wausau. Neubauer said that the political environment and enthusiasm since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for president is important. We are seeing reflected in the polls and hearing at the doors that people are really excited to vote for Kamala Harris and so that, of course, is helpful to our candidates that brings more voters to the polls, Neubauer said, adding that the competitive races at the state legislative level will also help the top of the ticket. Neubauer said Democratic candidates are centering their Assembly campaigns on having direct conversations between candidate and voter with candidates knocking doors every day in the leadup to the election. We know that that is the most persuasive tool that we have in our toolbox, and that is how we are going to win these extremely close races, Neubauer said. The four Senate candidates include Jodi Habush Sinykin, who is running against Sen. Duey Stroebel in the 8th Senate District, Sarah Keyeski who is running against Sen. Joan Ballweg in the 14th Senate District, Kristin Alfheim who is running against Anthony Phillips in the 18th Senate District and Jamie Wall who faces Jim Rafter in the 30th Senate District. Republicans currently hold a 22-seat supermajority, and with only even-numbered districts up for election, Democrats in the Senate are seeking to win the targeted seats this cycle as well additional seats during the 2026 election cycle, with the goal of taking the majority. Hesselbein said the spotlight candidates are running in areas where Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won in 2022 and President Joe Biden won in 2020. She also noted excitement since Harris has entered the race. It is an easy argument to make that we should do well in these districts, and I felt like at the beginning of the cycle, we were going to do well in these districts, Hesselbein said. But now, with the enthusiasm level that we are seeing with Kamala Harris being at the top of the ticket, I am extremely enthusiastic about our chances. Hesselbein said she continues to feel the excitement, including after last weeks debate between Harris and Trump, and her job is to keep the wind at our backs. She said she is also encouraging candidates to participate in debates as well. Hesselbein said debates for each race are important so voters of the state of Wisconsin see a true contrast between the individuals that are running for State Senate. She noted that she has experienced and observed challenges in getting Republican candidates to agree to debates. With less than seven weeks to go, Hesselbein identified funding as one challenge for Democrats. She said the DLCC helps a great deal with funding and messaging, and having the groups backing is extremely important. Unfortunately, campaigns are expensive, Hesselbein said, noting that state Democrats are asking for donations and holding fundraisers. The additional help from the national level is a big boost. Were doing a good job, she said, but we always have room to improve. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX LAKE CITY, Iowa Dobson Pipe Organ Company of Lake City is getting a whole new start in a brand new building. The companys former shop and office burned to the ground in the summer of 2021. On Tuesday the firm cut the ribbon on their brand new building. The new shop was done with insurance money and a USDA loan. Incredibly grateful for all your help this wouldnt have happened without the support of everyone from Lake City so thank you very much, said John Panning, who bought the business from founder Lynn Dobson. The first thing was that we knew we had commitments we had to honor clients put their trust in us and and asked us to build organs for them and we had to honor that best we could. Right away members of the community offered building space. There were some 5 to 6 locations in the three year period where individual parts of the organ were assembled. The 16 full-time employees remained committed to the company, so staying in town became the first choice. Employees were also committed to moving forward with the building of an organ for Sydney, Australia. That instrument under construction had been burned in the fire. Dobson got help from some organ builders who were retiring. They had specialized equipment for sale to help Dobson get back to work. Simpson College offers free tuition to Des Moines, Indianola students who meet scholarship requirements He called us up and said Ive got this saw I dont need it anymore and were we interested in it? said Donnie Hobbs, who is the Dobson Shop Foreman. He actually drove it down here in a U-Haul truck himself. We have a good core of people here and have good faith in everybody in our leadership so looking forward to being here for a long time, said Ryan Mueller who works in voicing the pipes to get the right sound in each and every bank of pipes. Dobson Organ founder, Lynn Dobson still does some organ design for the firm, and he came back from his retirement home in St. Paul for the ribbon cutting. What was really rewarding for me was for Sydney, Australia. I watched them, they were operating out of four or five buildings around town, said Dobson. Yet when the organ was completed it, it was the same high-quality of craftsmanship as if it were not done under great duress. Dobson said the clients he has are not interested in the electronic sound, so for now they have plenty of work to do. Dobson Organ is also celebrating 50 years in business this fall. To mark the anniversary, Dr. Bradley Welch, organist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, will perform a concert on the Dobson Opus 13 organ that was built in 1980 for the Lake City Union Church. The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday October 18. Admission is free and there will be a reception afterward. The following day, Saturday October 19, the new shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Its located on the site of the old shop at 200 North Illinois Street in Lake City. The company said visitors will be shown around the new place and refreshments will be available. Latest Iowa 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 who13.com. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) KTSM has obtained court documents that reveal further details after a former Gadsden Independent School teacher allegedly kidnapped a young woman and her child earlier this month at the Cielo Vista Mall parking lot. Kidnapping suspect a former teacher at Gadsden ISD Victor Hugo Escobedo, 52, is facing a charge of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon after kidnapping a 26-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter on Friday afternoon, Sept. 6, at the Cielo Vista Mall parking lot. According to court documents, the woman told police that she was leaving the mall that Friday and while getting ready to drive off in her truck, the woman was approached by Escobedo. The woman told police that Escobedo spoke to her in English several times before lifting his shirt and displaying a black and yellow handgun that was tucked in his front band. The woman repeatedly told Escobedo that she didnt speak English, to which Escobedo then spoke to her in Spanish and told her to get in the truck, according to court documents. The woman then got into the drivers seat of the truck and Escobedo entered the rear drivers side and sat next to the child while holding a handgun in his hand. Escobedo then asked the woman who she banked with, to which the woman replied GECU. He then instructed the woman to drive to the GECU located on Viscount Boulevard and asked her to get money from the ATM, according to court documents. The woman told police that she was only able to get 300 dollars from the ATM transaction which made Escobedo upset. He then asked her how much she and her daughters life was worth and also asked her how much she had. The woman told Escobedo that she had about $5,000 to which Escobedo told her to go into the bank and take out all the money from her account, according to court documents. The woman tried to take her child with her, but Escobedo told the woman not to do anything she wasnt supposed to do, and that the baby would be okay, according to court documents. The woman then entered the bank and withdrew $5,000. When the woman exited the bank and got back into the truck, Escobedo told the woman to drive back to the Cielo Vista Mall parking lot. Once they arrived, Escobedo took the money and the womans phone and fled the area. The woman then left the parking lot and drove to a location where she felt safe and called 911. Video surveillance footage from the bank was obtained by investigators and showed Escobedo moving the truck to another parking spot while the woman was inside. Due to Escobedo touching the door handles of the truck, officers were able to lift his fingerprints and get a match to identify him, according to court documents. Escobedo was later arrested on Saturday, Sept. 14, and booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility under a total bond of $550,000. As we have previously reported, the Gadsden Independent School District confirmed to KTSM that Escobedo was a former teacher at the district. Gadsden ISD sent KTSM the following statement: Victor Hugo Escobedo is no longer employed with Gadsden ISD. Due to privacy policies, we cannot disclose further details regarding his employment, including specific classes or grades he taught. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NEW YORK (PIX11) A doctor was accused of sexually assaulting a man inside a Queens urgent care, sources told PIX11 News. Amir Sitafalwalla was arrested on Sept. 9, according to the NYPD. The 72-year-old man was charged with forcible touching and sexual abuse. More Local News The 21-year-old victim was sexually assaulted during a visit to ModernMD, which is located on Jamaica Avenue, police said. The NYPD has not confirmed when the sexual assault occurred or if the victim was a patient. 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. Yes, marijuana can cause psychosis (WJW) A California woman avoided prison time earlier this year in a fatal stabbing in what prosecutors called an episode of cannabis-induced psychosis. The case made national headlines. Cannabis-induced psychosis sounds scary, so what is the real risk? FOX 8 talked to medical professionals and law enforcement about cannabis-induced psychosis to understand what it is, how it happens and who it affects. What is cannabis-induced psychosis? Psychosis is when someone loses touch with reality. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, psychosis can result from multiple causes, including psychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia, genetic risk, a variety of drugs, or exposure to stressors or trauma. Burger joints with a cult-like following in the Cleveland area They may have paranoia, delusions or hear voices, among many symptoms, shares forensic psychiatrist Susan Hatters-Friedman. Hatters-Friedman is the Phillip Resnick Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at the Case Western Reserve University Medical School and teaches Psychiatry and Law at the School of Law. Cannabis-induced psychosis is when hallucinations or delusions begin shortly after consuming the drug, in some cases, Hatters-Friedman said, where people have prominent visions. Dr. Ryan Marino is a University Hospitals ER Physician, Medical Toxicologist and Addiction Specialist. Any substance that affects the body in different ways has potential for harm, he said about marijuana. Why feds recommend easing marijuana restrictions Millions of people use cannabis products and THC in our country, its not clear why it happens to some people and not others, Marino said. The New England Journal of Medicine estimates 52.4 million people 12 and older used cannabis in 2021, which is the most recent data available. By the numbers Nationwide, studies show that since 2019, there has been an increase in cannabis-related ER visits. Marino said hes seen an increase at University Hospitals during that same time frame. Its not that theyre seeing tons of problems, Marino added. Marino noted that a high number of ER visits are drug-related but not necessarily cannabis-related. According to data from the Cleveland Department of Public Health, there were 632 cannabis-related ER visits in 2023. However, since 2017, there have been only 33 incidents involving cannabis-related psychosis events at Cleveland emergency rooms. The dose makes the poison This does seem to be a dose-related phenomenon, Marino said. The dose makes the poison, he added. Marino said the most frequent adverse reactions happen with high potency, usually edible products. This aint your mothers marijuana, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in 2019 health warning about marijuana use. 2024 guide to fall: Pumpkin patches, corn mazes The cannabis of the 60s and 70s is gone, and as a society, we need to start contending with the new breed of high-potency cannabis, Psychology Today author Amanda L. Giordano Ph.D., LPC said. So how much is too much marijuana? The National Institute on Drug Abuse established 5 mg as a standard unit of THC for research purposes, however, there are no guidelines for dosage. Because cannabis can be consumed in many ways, the body metabolizes the compounds in the plant differently, which can cause a wide range of experiences from person to person. Marijuana isnt risk-free We know that THC has neuropsychological effects, Marino told FOX 8. That means it affects how your brain works for things like reading, attention and behavior. Marijuana is a mind-altering psychoactive drug, Brian McNeal of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) told FOX 8. The effect of marijuana on perception and coordination are responsible for serious impairments, McNeal said. Alcohol responsible for 5x more ER visits than pot Like alcohol, many people can use it responsibly while others do not. People dont even think of alcohol as a drug, Marino added. Pizza joints with a cult-like following in NE Ohio Yet alcohol was the most common drug used in ER visits in Cleveland; 3,331 incidents in 2023, CDPH data shows. A reminder that just because its legal, doesnt mean its harmless. Anything in excess is dangerous to the wrong person, said legal expert Robert Siddall. A lot of people feel it (marijuana) is totally safe, Hatters-Friedman said, talking about the increased need for public education on the risks associated with marijuana use. There arent warnings like you see with tobacco smoke. Twenty-four states have legalized recreational use of cannabis, with Ohio being one of the most recent. However, Marino said legalization can also make products safer. When we legalize drugs, the benefit is that you can regulate them, Marino said. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has been regulating all medications in the U.S. since 1906. While marijuana is not federally legal, states are able to regulate it in places where it has been legalized. More research needed We do not yet know all the potential effects of long-term, high-potency cannabis use because the marijuana industry is expanding at a much quicker pace than the research, Hatters-Friedman shared. In-depth studies take years to complete, and marijuanas impact on our communities is constantly changing as more states expand access and more products are introduced. The same also goes for local data. FOX 8 reached out to University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, and the Cuyahoga County Board of Health for information on marijuana-related ER visits. All reported they did not have any local data on adverse incidents related to marijuana. If you or a loved one is experiencing a problem with substance use, help is available via the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. DENVER (KDVR) A dog died from smoke inhalation from a fire that started in an Aurora kitchen Tuesday evening, according to Aurora Fire Rescue. The agency said the fire was reported at about 5:30 p.m. by a next-door neighbor who saw the smoke coming out of the two-story single-family residence near the intersection of East Quincy Avenue and South Reservoir Road. This embedded content is not available in your region. Eleven Aurora Fire Rescue units responded to the fire, including at least one ladder truck. When crews first arrived on scene, there was faint smoke observed near the second-story gable at the front of the house. When fire crews entered the home, smoke billowed from the front door, the agency reported. Crews were able to locate the source of the fire in the kitchen and searched the house for occupants. No humans were found inside, but a dog was located near the kitchen area and was quickly evacuated from the house. Human-caused Pearl Fire continues to burn near Red Feather Lakes with 5% containment Crews began resuscitation efforts but were unable to revive the dog. The canine died from injuries caused by smoke inhalation. Firefighters also found a cat on the lower level of the house. The cat did not appear to have any injuries and was reunited with the homes three occupants when they arrived on scene. The American Red Cross is assisting the residents who have been displaced by the fire. The fire was determined to be an accidental kitchen fire. Cooking is a primary cause of home structure fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association, with 44% of residential fires started in the kitchen. Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, boiling, grilling, or broiling food, Aurora Fire Rescue advised on X. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove. Check on items that you are simmering, baking or roasting regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking. Also, keep anything that can catch fire such as oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains away from heat sources. The agency shared that in 2022, U.S. fire departments responded to about 178,600 cooking fires that lit in residential buildings. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FRANKFURT, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The EU has ignored fresh proposals from Chinese automakers aimed at resolving the dispute over Chinese EVs in the European market, undermining efforts to ease tensions through dialogue. The decision to impose tariffs on China-made EVs, despite several offers from Chinese manufacturers, has sparked a new wave of outcry within the bloc. GROWING OPPOSITION Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, during a recent visit to China, voiced his opposition to the proposed EU tariffs on Chinese EVs, urging the EU to reconsider and seek a compromise with China to avoid a trade war. His concerns were echoed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who also criticized the tariff plan. In May, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson warned against levying tariffs on Chinese EVs, saying that "a wider trade war where we block each other's products is not the way to go for industrial nations such as Germany and Sweden." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban described the tariffs as a "brutal" punishment against Chinese automakers and called for open competition. These dissenting voices suggest that the decision to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs lacks unanimous support among all EU member states. "Many believe that this is a step towards a trade war between Europe and China, which will ultimately harm the European economy," said Croatian political analyst Mladen Plese. German automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Bochum, said that such a protectionist approach might push EU automakers to increase investments in China, the world's largest car market and a leader in the rapidly growing EV industry. He warned that protectionism and tariffs are misguided strategies and would result in losses for Germany and the EU. "The European Commission's punitive tariffs hit German companies and their top products. Cars become cheaper through more competition, open markets, and significantly better business conditions in the EU, not through trade war and market isolation," said German Transport Minister Volker Wissing in a message posted on X. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store openly opposed punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs. In a recent interview with Chinese media, he emphasized that as a non-EU member, Norway is not bound by EU policies. "Consumers in Norway should have access to the cars they want to buy," he stated. IMPACT ON AUTOMAKERS, CONSUMERS The EU's decision to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs, intended to protect the bloc's auto industry, may instead stifle growth and restrict European consumers' access to more affordable Chinese EV models, analysts said. Germany's auto industry has long thrived in an open market. However, these tariffs are expected to drive up prices, reducing competitive pressure on European automakers to develop more affordable EV models, which are currently in limited supply. "The European manufacturers do need to be challenged," noted Rico Luman, a senior economist at ING focusing on transport, logistics, and the automotive industry. Chinese EV makers have gained a competitive edge in the global market through rapid production growth, advanced technology, and cutting-edge innovations, noted Luman. Sjors ten Tije, manager of the Dutch Association of Electric Drivers, said that European manufacturers rely heavily on Chinese parts and additional tariffs would hamper Europe's automotive development. Higher tariffs will result in higher EV prices, making it harder for consumers seeking clean transportation to find affordable models, he added. "The transition to electric driving may be delayed. This could ultimately lead to less available funds for research and development," said Maarten Steinbuch, professor in Systems and Control at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. SLOWING DOWN GREEN TRANSFORMATION Experts warn that in addition to disrupting trade and collaboration between the EU and China, the tariffs on Chinese EVs could jeopardize the EU's planned transition to a greener economy. Piotr Gadzinowski, former editor-in-chief of the Polish newspaper Trybuna, emphasized that cooperation with China in the EV industry is crucial for the EU to meet its climate goals. Gadzinowski noted that tariffs on Chinese EVs would impede the promotion of electric vehicles in the EU, especially in countries with low EV adoption. Supply chain disruptions and the breakdown of collaborative research efforts could negatively impact both European and Chinese manufacturers, further straining EU-China relations, he said. Eric De Keuleneer, executive director of the Brussels-based University Foundation and Emeritus Professor at the ULB Solvay Brussels School, urged EU policymakers to consider the tariffs' impact on Europe's green transition and industrial development, emphasizing the importance of Chinese support in providing affordable batteries, which would benefit both European consumers and automakers. Dick Roche, former Irish minister for European affairs, questioned the logic of imposing tariffs on Chinese EVs, given the EU's green transition goals. "Technological change will be a key driver of the green and digital transition in Europe. Like it or not, China happens to be a leader in technologies vital for Europe's progress towards carbon neutrality," he said. Dog ejected from car during suspected DUI rollover accident on I-80 (WJET/WFXP) Police suspect a driver was under the influence after a rollover accident on Interstate 80 resulted in a dog being ejected from the vehicle. On Wednesday, September 4, around 4:00 p.m., Pennslyvania State Police (PSP) Franklin responded to a single-car crash on I-80. Suspect used Venango County mans ID to get car loan in Michigan: PSP According to police, the driver of the vehicle, a 45-year-old Chicago, Illinois man was driving westbound on I-80 in the left-hand lane when he crossed into the right-hand lane, almost hitting another vehicle. Police reported the Chicago man returned to the left-hand lane before subsequently driving off of the side of the roadway, hitting the median and rolling his vehicle between two and three times. Accidental meets intentional, Erie police provide update on east Erie shooting During this rollover, police stated a dog was ejected out of the back window. The conditions of the dog were not stated in the report. The man sustained minor injuries and was taken to the Grove City Hospital. Police are currently investigating this crash as a DUI, but no further information has been released. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. SANGER, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Sanger Animal Control will be hosting a free dog vaccine clinic on Saturday, according to the citys police department. Police say that the free clinic will have the Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo, and Parainfluenza Virus (DHPP) vaccine available. The clinic will be first come, first served and while supplies last. All dogs must be on a leash. According to organizers, adult dogs can receive this booster yearly or every 3 years based on a vets recommendation. The clinic will be on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at JFK Park on the corner of North and Faller Avenue in Sanger. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 | News from CBS47 and KSEE24. Federal prosecutors on Wednesday filed suit against the owner of the container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore earlier this year, alleging that the company and those on board the ship knew about persistent faulty electrical and mechanical problems and failed to fix them. The Justice Department is seeking $100 million in damages from Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Maritime PTE, the owners and managers of the ship, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The damages DOJ is seeking include the cost of responding to the disaster as well as for clearing the wreck and bridge debris from the Patapsco River. Prosecutors allege that the tragedy was entirely avoidable because the electrical and mechanical systems on the container ship Dali were improperly maintained and configured in a way that violated safety regulations and norms for international shipping. In addition, these malfunctioning systems were not reported to the U.S. Coast Guard, in violation of safety requirements. The owner and operator of the DALI were well aware of vibration issues on the vessel that could cause a power outage. But instead of taking necessary precautions, they did the opposite, said Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. Out of negligence, mismanagement, and, at times, a desire to cut costs, they configured the ships electrical and mechanical systems in a way that prevented those systems from being able to quickly restore propulsion and steering after a power outage. As a result, when the DALI lost power, a cascading set of failures led to disaster. When the ship left the Port of Baltimore on March 26, the vessel lost and regained power several times before striking the bridge, killing six people, fouling the channel for weeks and causing significant hiccups in supply chains for industries including autos and coal. The persistent mechanical and electrical issues identified in the suit precipitated a power loss that led to a series of cascading problems involving backup systems that also failed, ultimately resulting in the Dalis collision with the bridge. The ship was in unseaworthy condition and none of the four primary means to control the ship propeller, rudder, anchor or bow thruster, which helps the ship maneuver worked to avoid or mitigate the wreck. The DOJ claim is part of a larger legal action the Dalis owner started after the collapse, seeking exoneration or limitation of their liability to $44 million. Sahra Wagenknecht, Chairwoman of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, speaks during a press statement in the Paul Loebe House. A German couple who donated more than 5 million ($5.6 million) to the insurgent populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) have denied speculation that the funds could have links to Russia. Jonathan Penschek/dpa A German couple who donated more than 5 million ($5.6 million) to the insurgent populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) have denied speculation that the funds could have links to Russia. The anti-immigrant BSW has upended German politics this year, becoming the kingmaker in coalition negotiations in two eastern states after topping 10% in elections this month. The party, founded in January by long-time icon of the German far left Sahra Wagenknecht, has achieved success with a mix of anti-immigrant stances, left-wing economic policies and its opposition to support for Ukraine against Russia, leading to allegations that it is a mouthpiece for Moscow. BSW donor Lotte Salingre on Wednesday said the speculation was "nonsense." Salingre and her husband Thomas Stanger - a major shareholder in a company specializing in stage lighting for large concerts - "earned the money," she told the t-online news website. Stanger reportedly left the business in 2000, but has continued to earn millions from his stake in the company. "We built this company in a garage," said Stanger. "And we apparently had a good instinct." The couple donated 5.1 million to the BSW in two payments this year, believed to be the largest donations from private citizens to a German party in the last 20 years. The payments raised eyebrows after they were publicized in accordance with German regulations covering the disclosure of donations of more than 50,000 to political parties. This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy. SISTER BAY - The village of Sister Bay finds itself facing another lawsuit over its regulations for short-term rental units, this one challenging if the village can limit the number of bedrooms and revisiting if the village is required to "grandfather in" existing rental units that don't conform to regulations enacted after the structure was built. The new lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Door County Circuit Court by the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) on behalf of four short-term rental owners in Sister Bay who are plaintiffs in this suit: Hunter and Jessica Clinton of Starkhaus, John and Erin Wilson of The Sister Bay Haus, Nick and Tara Froemming of The Cherry Cabana, and Mark and Caley Swanson, who own three short-term rental units. The back porch of The Sister Bay Haus, a five-bedroom short-term rental unit in Sister Bay whose owners are among four STR owners suing the village over its ability to enact a limit of four bedrooms. The suit also questions why the four owners' properties aren't exempt from zoning changes, such as the bedroom limit, enacted after their STRs were either built or under construction. This comes nearly three months after Circuit Court Judge David Weber ruled against the village in a different dispute that also involved retroactively applying new regulations to existing short-term rentals. Along with local attorney Bjorn Johnson, WILL also represented the owners of Sister Bay-based Captain's Cottage in that earlier case. The lawsuit alleges that the four short-term rental owners either owned homes they already were using as rentals or had started building homes that would be used as short-term rentals when the village enacted an ordinance in July 2023 that limited them to four bedrooms and three guests per bedroom. Two of the four properties involved are five-bedroom structures that were built before the ordinance, another saw work started to add a fourth and fifth bedroom in early 2023 and the fourth is a six-bedroom that filed its building permits in August 2022 and was completed in September 2023. The suit says none of the four plaintiffs are seeking to house more than 12 guests, assuming that to be the limit based on a maximum of four bedrooms times a maximum three per room, and that the homes were built with five bedrooms to allow guests more space. But the village informed them that the fifth bedrooms cannot be used by guests regardless of the number of them and must be locked or have some other way to prevent guests from using them. Additionally, the suit says the Swansons bought two four-bedroom homes to use as short-term rentals last year, called Scandia Retreat and Cardinal Retreat, in addition to the existing five-bedroom Luna's Retreat they've rented out since 2021. When the Swansons applied for their license for Cardinal Retreat earlier this year, Village Administrator Julie Schmelzer informed the Swansons by email that guests only are allowed to sleep in the four bedrooms, with pull-out couches, futons and other sleeping arrangements for other rooms not allowed. The Wilsons and Swansons separately appealed the four-bedroom limit to the village's Plan Commission in January and May, respectively, both parties telling the commission they wouldn't exceed the 12-person limit, but both were turned down. In the complaint, WILL says its attorneys began email discussions with Schmelzer and village attorney Randy Nesbitt on Aug. 14 to try and avoid litigation, asking if the village was refusing to grandfather in the short-term rentals of its clients, if the village was planning to reconsider the ordinance, and if the village was going to enforce the ordinance while reconsidering. The complaint says over the course of several email exchanges, WILL was told the village would review the bedroom limit but considered it a low priority with no timetable, and the question about the grandfather clause was not answered, leading to the lawsuit. The first claim in the complaint directly challenges the village's four-bedroom limit for short-term rentals, saying that municipalities may not enact or enforce an ordinance that prohibits the rental of a residential dwelling according to Wisconsin's right-to-rent law. The suit also claims that there doesn't appear to be a village ordinance regulating where short-term rental guests can sleep, and that forcing a short-term rental to prevent its guests from using a room amounts to a "taking of property." It further states that state law and the village's own ordinance don't allow municipalities to retroactively apply changes in zoning regulations to existing buildings or buildings for which work was started or permits filed before the change, thus the four-bedroom limit for structures built or started before the July 2023 ordinance is invalid. The complaint seeks a temporary injunction to prevent Sister Bay from enforcing the four-bedroom limit and the limit on where guests can sleep while this case proceeds, a permanent injunction asking for the same, and a declaration that the limits are unlawful and can't be enforced. Alternatively, it asks to require the village to pay the plaintiffs "just compensation for the taking of their property" along with other damages as found appropriate. The suit was filed in Circuit Court Branch 1, where Judge Jennifer Moeller presides. The village has 20 days until Oct. 7 to respond to the suit in writing. Revisiting the 'grandfathering in' ordinance A complaint about not grandfathering in existing short-term rentals was the main basis of the suit WILL and Captain's Cottage owners Adam and Brigid White filed against the village earlier this year. The Whites have owned the property since 2020 and rented it out since, as the previous owner did starting in 2018, and have received or renewed a short-term rental license since the village began requiring one on 2021. But their application to renew their license for 2024-25 was denied by the village because the parking spaces at Captain's Cottage don't meet the village's current codes for short-term rentals. Handling the case for the Whites before WILL's involvement, Johnson asked the village to reconsider, citing the "grandfather clause" laws while noting the home was built in 1919, the village adopted parking and setback codes related to the case between 1995 and 2006 and the parking situation hadn't changed at the property. The complaint in the Whites' case also questioned if the village's position was that the act of applying for a renewal constituted a change of use in the property from single-family residential to short-term rental, thus erasing the grandfathered protections and forcing owners to "update their property every year to conform to whatever changes the village has made to their zoning code," which would be in violation of state and local ordinances. In a June 26 hearing, Weber granted a temporary injunction against the village to allow Captain's Cottage to resume renting out its space until a final decision is made about its license, saying the village didn't follow its own ordinances when it denied the license renewal and then obstructed the owners from appealing the denial. In an email to the Advocate, Johnson said he and the Whites have a variance hearing before the village's Zoning Board of Appeals at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 30 that he hopes will resolve all or most of the matter. Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@gannett.com. MORE: Ready to look inside Door County Granary? Soft opening of 123-year-old historic building set for Sept. 21 MORE: State announces seasonal speed limits to end in Ephraim, Door County; new ones to take effect in October FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Short-term rental owners sue Sister Bay over bedroom limits, rules Door falls off plane, lands in Myrtle Beach yard. It makes an emergency landing at airport A plane had to make an emergency landing at the Myrtle Beach International Airport after its door reportedly fell off and landed in a Market Common yard. An airplane carrying two people took off from MYR on Tuesday around 2:53 p.m. and landed less than 10 minutes later at 3:01 p.m., according to flight data from Flight Aware. A Federal Aviation Administration report stated the door fell off and the aircraft declared an emergency. The door was found in Market Common, Wendy Hodges shared on Facebook. She said the small airplane door fell into her neighbors yard. The door of a LIFT Academy airplane. The plane made an emergency landing after the door fell off during a flight. No one was injured in the incident and the plane landed safely, said Myrtle Beach Airport Assistant Director Ryan Betcher. The plane was being flown by LIFT Academy, which is a pilot school based in Indianapolis, Indiana. There are also locations in Myrtle Beach and Galveston, Texas. LIFT Academy spokesperson Jon Austin said this is a rare accident, and there is a check list to go through, which the crew did. This is one of those unlikely not non-zero events, Austin said. This is the second emergency landing that the academy has made in the Myrtle Beach area this year. In May, a plane operated and owned by LIFT landed on U.S. 501, blocking traffic, as it flew back to MYR. No one was injured in that incident. Its also the second emergency landing made at the airport this month. A military plane made an emergency landing Sept. 12 at the Myrtle Beach International Airport. The military F-16 plane landed because it was leaking fuel. The aircraft made it to the ground safely. The ex-wife of Kamala Harriss husband has yet again defended the vice president on social media after she was attacked for not having biological children. Kerstin Emhoff rushed to Harriss defense after Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appeared to sneer at the Democratic presidential candidate for not having biological children at a town hall event in Flint, Michigan with Donald Trump on Tuesday. My kids keep me humble, Sanders, who also served as White House Press Secretary under Trump, said at the event. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesnt have anything keeping her humble. Emhoff was quick to speak out against the comments on social media on Tuesday night. Cole and Ella keep us inspired to make the world a better place, she wrote. I do it through storytelling. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families. That keeps you pretty humble. Kerstin Emhoff was married to Harriss now-husband, Doug Emhoff, for 16 years, and they had two children: Cole and Ella Emhoff. The two split in 2010, and Doug married Harris four years later. Ever since, the vice president has been a parent to Cole and Ella, who affectionately refer to her as Momala. Sanders said her children keep her humble but said Harris had nothing to keep her humble, despite the vice president being a stepmother to two children (AFP via Getty Images) Kerstin has consistently supported Harris politically and personally, including attending her 2021 inauguration as the vice president. She defended Harris in July against the childless cat lady attacks hurled by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance. She told CNN that Kamala has been a co-parent with her and Doug since their kids were teenagers. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it, Kerstin said. Ella, a 25-year-old model, fashion-designed and artist, also defended her stepmother on Instagram: How can you be childless when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I? Cole Emhoff (left), Ella Emhoff (center) and Doug Emhoff listen as Kamala Harris speaks at the Democratic National Convention in August. Ella also defended her stepmother against JD Vances childless cat lady comments earlier this summer (REUTERS) Vances childless cat lady comments come from a resurfaced 2021 Fox News clip. The Ohio senator claimed, a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that theyve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too. Look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children, he continued. Harriss running mate Tim Walz (left) poses with Kerstin Emhoff (center), Ella Emhoff and Cole Emhoff. (KERSTIN EMHOFF/X) Several celebrities also spoke out against the comments, including Friends star Jennifer Anniston. I truly cant believe that this is coming from a potential VP of the United States, Anniston wrote on Instagram. All I can say is Mr Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option, she continued. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too. Dozens gathered outside the charred remnants of a mobile home in Tempe during a vigil on Tuesday evening to mourn five family members who were killed due to a fire back in August. The vigil came three days after 22-year-old Valerie Magana-Gonzalez died in the hospital nearly three weeks after she entered the hospital in critical condition from injuries she sustained in the fire, according to a spokesperson for the family. Magana-Gonzalez was mother to 18-month-old Ellany Ruiz and 3-year-old Ariaelly Ruiz, who both died in the fire on Aug. 25, according to Tempe police Sgt. Ryan Cook. The father to the children, 24-year-old Enrique Ruiz, and his mother, 51-year-old Monica Ruiz, also died in the fire, according to Cook. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Pictures of the deceased family were plastered across the chain-link fence in front of the home with flowers, stuffed animals and candles lining the fence. Friends and family members held lit candles as someone gave a prayer in Spanish. Synthia Ruiz, a sister of Enrique and daughter to Monica, expressed how grateful she was to the community for coming together and supporting them. Ruiz said her family will be able to lay their loved ones to rest thanks to donations to a GoFundMe page that had raised nearly $19,000 to help cover funeral expenses. "Tonight's vigil is just to honor our loved ones," Ruiz said. "To thank the community for all their love and their support that they've given to us. And more than anything to thank them for all of the support and all the donations we received thanks to community, friends and family." Ruiz said the most anyone can do for her family is to keep them in their prayers. Giving help: Tempe woman seeks community support after mobile home fire claims 4 lives "They were all amazing people," Ruiz said. "I don't think we're ever going to forget our niece's smiles, their joy, their voices. I think to this point we can still hear them. My mother is somebody that we can never forget, as well as my brother and our sister-in-law that, thanks to her, we had two amazing nieces." The vigil concluded with the crowd blowing out their candles and saying not "goodbye" but "see you later." Another fatality: Fifth victim dies after Tempe mobile home fire in late August This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dozens attend vigil to remember 5 killed in Tempe mobile home fire CHIPPEWA COUNTY, Wis. A tractor accident at a Chippewa County apple orchard sent 25 people to the hospital on Wednesday morning. According to Chippewa Fire District Deputy Chief Cory Jeffers, two hay wagons carrying adults and children collided. Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes said one wagon had lost control while descending on a hill. Officials initiated a mass casualty protocol, and 25 people were taken to various hospitals. Marshfield Medical Center-Eau Claire said they have seen seven patients from the incident who were being treated for minor to serious injuries. Hakes said that three of those involved sustained "life-threatening injuries." / Credit: WQOW One helicopter was called in for assistance. "Everybody was on high alert, everyone was professional and did a great job of treating the patients and getting the job done," Jeffers said. The children were reunited with their parents, Jeffers added. Eau Claire's St. Mark Lutheran School principal Peter Micheels said they were working with the county sheriff's department and were "focusing on reuniting the children with their caregivers." "Whenever we face a challenging time, we commit everything to the Lord's care and trust his guiding hand," Micheels said. Eddie Vedder on the origin of Pearl Jam: "It was heaven" Trump looking to appeal to Jewish voters on campaign trail FBI says Iran hackers sent Trump campaign info to Biden campaign, what to know Drones, spike strips, K-9 help search for suspect in Puyallup near Shaw Road, police say Spike strips, drones and a K-9 helped search for a suspect driving a stolen vehicle Monday night in Puyallup, according to police. Puyallup Police Captain Kevin Gill told The News Tribune that an officer identified a stolen vehicle near the South Hill Mall around 6 p.m. The driver headed down the hill. Police didnt pursue because they were worried about a chase ensuing near the Washington State Fair. Its the last week of the fair, during which the area sees heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic. We didnt want to end up having a car drive through the traffic at the fair, Gill said. Instead, Gill said the driver turned onto 23rd Avenue Southeast part way down the hill. Officers set out spike strips near 23rd and Shaw Road East. That stopped the vehicle, which officers found in the Forest Green neighborhood nearby. They used drones and a K-9 to try to find the driver. Ultimately, they werent able to locate them, Gill said. Gill said investigators have some leads but that they havent identified a suspect. Residents posted on social media, wondering what had happened. Some of the comments on those posts suggested that the suspect fired a gun. Gill said no firearms were involved and that no one was hurt. Full moon shines on night of Mid-Autumn Festival in China Xinhua) 08:20, September 18, 2024 The moon rises above Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Fang Dongxu/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huai'an City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by He Jinghua/Xinhua) The silhouette of a cormorant is pictured in front of a full moon in Qiqihar, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Wang Yonggang/Xinhua) The moon rises above a paddy fields park in Fujin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Qu Yubao/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huangyan District of Taizhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Pan Kanjun/Xinhua) The moon rises above Huzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Yi Fan/Xinhua) An aerial drone photo shows the moon rising above Changzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Chen Wei/Xinhua) The moon rises above the Harbin Grand Theater in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Zhang Shu/Xinhua) A drone photo taken on Sept. 17, 2024 shows the moon rising above Wenling, east China's Zhejiang Province. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Xu Weijie/Xinhua) The moon rises above Yuping Dong Autonomous County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hu Panxue/Xinhua) A mother and daughter enjoy the full moon by the sea in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Xing Shoumiao/Xinhua) A drone photo taken on Sept. 17, 2024 shows the moon rising above Fenghua District of Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hu Xuejun/Xinhua) The moon rises above Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Su Yang/Xinhua) The moon rises above Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Hang Xingwei/Xinhua) The moon rises above Yuqing County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by He Chunyu/Xinhua) The moon rises above Jiamusi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 17, 2024. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season. (Photo by Chen Zhiguo/Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Cooperation relations between the energy systems of Azerbaijan and Italy were discussed, Azernews reports citing AzerEnergy. Chairman Balababa Rzayev met with Italian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Luca di Gianfrancesco. They discussed cooperation in energy, President Ilham Aliyev's recent visit to Italy, and its contributions to the energy sector. The participation of Italian company "Ansaldo Energia" and other firms in ongoing and future energy projects in Azerbaijan was also addressed. It should be noted that the relationship between the parties is characterized by a mutually beneficial partnership based on respect for each other's interests. Azerbaijan and Italy have long-standing traditions of cooperation, particularly in the economic field, and their relations are currently at a high level. The recent visit of the head of state is an indicator of the strengthening economic and political ties. One of the main aspects of economic relations between Azerbaijan and Italy is trade. With a mutual trade turnover exceeding $6 billion, Italy is one of Azerbaijans key trade partners. Cooperation in energy has reached a particularly high level. Since gaining independence, Italy has invested over $770 million in Azerbaijan's economy, while Azerbaijan has invested $1.7 billion in Italy, reflecting successful investment cooperation. Notably, traditional energy trade is a significant component of their relationship. Both countries are successfully implementing major projects in the oil and gas sector, with Italy becoming the largest trading partner for Azerbaijan's crude oil and oil products. OSLO, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) will introduce 12 duty-free import quotas for Norwegian seafood covering a period from May 2021 to April 2028. The EU-Norway deal is part of an agreement for the European Economic Area (EEA) and Norway Grants, the Norwegian government said in a press release on Monday. Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and the EU signed an agreement Thursday on a new funding period for the EEA and Norway Grants. Under the agreement, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are providing 3.268 billion euros (3.62 billion U.S. dollars) to the EU's 15 least prosperous states during the 2021-2028 period, with Norway contributing about 97 percent of the total funding. "The EU is by far the most important market for Norwegian seafood, and more duty-free quotas provide more export opportunities for Norwegian products, both from fisheries and aquaculture," said Norwegian Fisheries and Ocean Policy Minister Marianne Sivertsen Naess. The Norwegian government also said that discussions with the EU are ongoing to ensure the industry can take advantage of the duty-free quotas as soon as possible. The quota volumes from the period that has passed since May 2021 will be distributed over the remaining agreement period, lasting until May 2028. If the quotas are not fully utilized, they can be carried over and used until May 2030, or until a possible new period of duty-free quotas comes into place, the statement said. People living along the dried-up rivers have had to carry drinking water on their shoulders [Getty Images] Water levels in many of the rivers in the Amazon basin have reached their lowest on record amid a continuing drought, the Brazilian Geological Service (SGB) says. The Madeira river, a major tributary to the Amazon, had fallen to just 48cm in the city of Porto Velho on Tuesday, down from an average of 3.32m for this day, official data showed. The Solimoes river has also fallen to its lowest level on record in Tabatinga, on Brazil's border with Colombia. Brazil's natural disaster monitoring agency Cemaden has described the current drought as the "most intense and widespread" it has ever recorded. [Reuters] It is particularly concerning because it has worsened relatively early in the Amazons dry season, which typically runs from June to November. That suggests the situation in the Amazon may not significantly improve for some months in a region which is critical in the fight against climate change, as well as being a rich source of biodiversity. The links between drought and global warming are complicated, but climate change can play a role in worsening dry conditions in two main ways. Firstly, the Amazon basin is typically receiving less rainfall than it used to between June and November as climate patterns change. Secondly, hotter temperatures increase the evaporation from plants and soils, so they lose more water. In 2023, the Amazon basin suffered its most severe drought in at least 45 years which scientists at the World Weather Attribution group found had been made many times more likely by climate change. Last year, the drought was also worsened by the natural weather pattern known as El Nino, which tends to make the Amazon warmer and drier than normal as well. El Nino has since ended, but the dry conditions have persisted. Another factor in Amazon droughts is deforestation. Around one-fifth of the rainforest has been lost over the last 50 years, for example to make way for agriculture. These trees provide resilience against drought because they help to increase rainfall by releasing moisture back into the air from their leaves. Without them, the Amazon is more vulnerable. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pledged to halt deforestation completely by 2030. But the current drought which has helped fires to spread highlights some of the challenges of limiting further forest loss. Forest fires spread quickly through the already dry vegetation [EPA] The low water levels in the region's main rivers are also severely impacting the lives of local people, who rely on them for navigation. According to Cemaden, as of last week there were more than 100 municipalities which had not seen any rain for more than 150 days. Residents of Manacapuru, on the banks of the Solimoes river, said they were struggling to get vital supplies, including food and drinking water, to the city. "We anchored the boat here, and it was stuck on dry land the next day. We had no way to move it," fisherman Josue Oliveira told Reuters news agency. "Nothing will get through," another fisherman explained. [BBC] Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to get exclusive insight on the latest climate and environment news from the BBC's Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt, delivered to your inbox every week. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, right, sits next to Health Minister Fleur Agema, center, and Climate and Green Growth Minister Sophie Hermans, left, as he listens to Dutch King Willem-Alexander outlining the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) THE HAGUE (AP) The new Dutch government dominated by the far-right party of Geert Wilders officially asked the European Union for an exemption from its migration obligations on Wednesday, setting up a confrontation over one of the most explosive issues facing the bloc at a time when support for anti-immigration parties in Europe is rising. Dutch Migration Minister Marjolein Faber of Wilders' party wrote to the European Commission that the Netherlands wants out of regulations for accepting refugees, claiming that otherwise one of the wealthiest countries in the world would struggle to provide public services. I have just informed the EU Commission that I want a migration opt-out within Europe for the Netherlands. We need to be in charge of our own asylum policy again! Faber said. Faber was seeking to fulfill a campaign promise to quickly and drastically reduce the number of immigrants in the nation. During Wednesday's debate in parliament, Wilders called the move a a sort of mini-Nexit, a play on Netherlands and exit, and much like Brexit. He has repeatedly called for the country to depart the European Union during his three-decade long career but the move is not currently part of any government plans. In a letter to Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Faber insisted that the government needed to drastically reduce the volume of migration to the Netherlands, in order to continue to fulfil our constitutional duties providing for public housing, healthcare and education. On Tuesday, the government, which came to power in July, announced its policy blueprint for the coming year, including stricter policies to hold back or kick out migrants who dont qualify for asylum. It echoes campaign themes from across much of the EU where populist and far-right parties have surged, profiting from a wave of popular discontent with promises of tackling the migration issue first and foremost. Even though Faber's party rode to an election victory last November on the promise of swift, forceful action on immigration, the letter itself was much more cautious. It said the Netherlands would call for an opt-out from the rules in case of (EU) treaty amendment, a prospect which is many years off, at best. An opt-out is only possible in view of the treaty changes. Important: this is a legal requirement. Also in this context, we do not expect any immediate changes," said EU spokeswoman Anitta Hipper, adding that until then, migration rules remain "binding on the Netherlands. The last treaty change dates from 2008 and there are no current plans to negotiate a new one. Should there be an appetite for a new treaty, all 27 member states would have to agree to give the Netherlands special dispensation. New figures released this week by the EUs asylum agency show 17,376 people applied for international protection in the Netherlands, a nation of 17,7 million, in the first six months of this year, a fairly consistent number. That amounts to around 3% of all applications lodged in Europe. Most of them were Syrians, Iraqis or from Turkey. In its most recent complete figures, the EUs statistical agency, Eurostat notes that 4,880 people from non-EU countries were ordered to leave the Netherlands in the first three months of this year. A total of 1,420 people were actually deported during that time, just under one in three. Unauthorized migration to European Union countries dropped significantly overall in the first eight months of this year, even as political rhetoric and violence against migrants increased and far-right parties espousing anti-immigration policies made gains at the polls. Earlier this week, the Dutch refugee settlement agency COA announced it was expecting a shortage of beds at the overcrowded asylum center in the tiny village of Ter Apel in the northeastern Netherlands. The government is planning to declare an asylum crisis to pave the way for tougher measures, including reining in visas for family members of people granted asylum and making it easier and quicker to deport migrants who are not eligible for asylum. That plan must first be reviewed by a key political advisory panel, and at least one party in the governing quartet has said it will reject the emergency measures if they do not receive the panel's approval. ____ Casert reported from Brussels. Lorne Cook contributed from Brussels Wilders himself told AFP in May that getting such an opt-out could take years (Emiel Muijderman) (Emiel Muijderman/ANP/AFP) The Netherlands announced Wednesday that it had requested from Brussels an opt-out from the European Union's rules on asylum, days after the coalition government unveiled the country's toughest-ever immigration policy. "I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration 'opt-out' on migration matters in Europe for the Netherlands," Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber posted on X. "We have to handle our own asylum policy once more!" said Faber, a member of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders. The veteran anti-Islam firebrand wrote that Faber had "made history" with the opt-out request. Denmark has already managed to negotiate an agreement to keep it outside the EU's common asylum policy. But the European Commission poured cold water on the idea that the Netherlands could follow suit in short order. "We do not expect any immediate changes under new rules on the side of migration which continue to be binding on the Netherlands," said Anitta Hipper, a commission spokeswoman for home affairs, migration and internal security. The Dutch coalition government, which took power in July, has been promising this move for several months, but Wilders himself told AFP in May that getting such an opt-out could take years. Some experts have also expressed reservations. "A Dutch opt-out can only be realised by amending the treaty," the Dutch Advisory Council on Migration said, pointing out that all 27 EU member states had to agree to the move. "This is not very likely because the number of asylum seekers must then be distributed among fewer other member states," council members Mark Klaassen and Laura Kok wrote on its website. "Not every member state will be enthusiastic about this," they said. - 'Asylum crisis' - Prime Minister Dick Schoof unveiled the country's new immigration policy on Friday, which he said was in response to an "asylum crisis". "We cannot continue to bear the large influx of migrants into our country," he said. King Willem-Alexander, in his speech setting out the government's priorities at the opening of parliament on Tuesday, described it as a "faster, stricter and more modest" asylum. Cracks are already emerging in the coalition, which includes Wilders's PVV, the farmers' party BBB, the right-wing liberal VVD and the anti-corruption NSC. NSC acting parliamentary leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven said Monday that her party would vote for tough immigration measures only if the Council of State advisory body approved it. That sparked a furious reaction from Wilders, who posted on X: "The Netherlands has a huge asylum crisis and it will not be solved by running away in advance and threatening... to vote no." Wilders was the surprise winner of elections in November but gave up his prime minister ambitions after at least one coalition party threatened to quit the talks. jcp/jj/js/sbk/yad ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) As the United States Air Force prepares to welcome the next generation of bombers, Dyess Air Force Base has been selected as the third base to receive the state-of-the-art B-21 Raider. B-21 Bomber unveiled: Dyess AFB to be one of the first bases to house the aircraft According to the Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs, Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota will be the first to receive the B-21, followed by Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, and thirdly, Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene. FILE - The B-21 Raider stealth bomber is unveiled at Northrop Grumman, Dec. 2, 2022, in Palmdale, Calif. The B-21 Raider has taken its first flight, moving the futuristic warplane closer to becoming the nations next nuclear weapons stealth bomber. The Raider flew out of Palmdale, Calif., where it has been under testing and development by Northrop Grumman. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) We continue to achieve B-21 production milestones; through digital engineering and open architecture design, we are getting an agile strategic deterrent that delivers a decisive response as required, said Gen. Thomas Bussiere, Air Force Global Strike Command commander. The Air Forces new nuclear stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, has taken its first test flight The B-21 Raider is a next-generation stealth long-range strike platform that can carry nuclear and conventional weapons. The Air Force Global Strike Command will keep the B-1 and B-2 bombers in service until the B-21 is delivered in the mid-2020s, ensuring continued readiness and providing the country with strike options. The Air Force plans to acquire at least 100 B-21s. The strategic long-range bomber is currently in the early stages of production and undergoing flight tests. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A partial eclipse of the full Harvest moon is seen over downtown San Diego from Humphreys Concerts By the Bay on September 17, 2024 in San Diego, California. Credit - Daniel KnightonGetty Images Starting next week, the moon, Earths closest celestial body, will be joined by a new neighbor: a second moon. From Sept. 29 until Nov. 25, astronomers calculate that 2024 PT5 which is what scientists think is an asteroid but have dubbed a mini-moonwill be looping around Earth. It will eventually break free of the planets gravitational orbit. Sadly, at just about 10 meters, the mini-moon will be extremely hard to see from Earth, but its presence will be there nonetheless for almost two months. The asteroid, which was discovered on Aug. 7 by NASA, originated from the Arjuna asteroid belt, where it will likely return once it leaves Earths orbit. Earth can regularly capture asteroids from the Near-Earth object (NEO) population and pull them into orbit, making them mini-moons, researchers Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos wrote in their published research. According to NASA, a Near-Earth Object is any body, asteroid or otherwise, that is nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets that pushes them to Earths neighborhood. NASA has their own program that works to track the locations and orbits of tens of thousands 28,000 asteroids, with data pages for every NEO, including their orbital parameters and a close approach summaries. Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said 2024 PT5 is possibly a piece of ejecta from an impact on the moon, meaning the mini-moon may have originated as a piece of the original moon, according to the New York Times. Mini-moons can come in multiple types, according to research. The first, temporary captured orbiters, are long episodes in which bodies perform one or more revolutions around the Earth and can remain in the planet's orbit for many months, or even years. The second, which includes the upcoming mini-moon, are dubbed temporary captured flybys, as they do not complete one revolution and remain in Earths orbit for a very short period of time. Contact us at letters@time.com. (BCN) An employee at a middle school in East Palo Alto has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging that he committed lewd acts with a seventh-grade student there, San Mateo County prosecutors said Wednesday. James Fitch, a 54-year-old Stockton resident and campus relations coordinator at Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School, was arrested Monday after East Palo Alto police received allegations against him earlier this month. According to the San Mateo County District Attorneys Office, Fitch allegedly started communicating by text message and in person to seek a sexual relationship with the student, and the case came to light after his wife looked through his cellphone while he was sleeping and saw the text messages. Ex-rocker asked Palo Alto woman for help with murder plot, witness testifies Fitch pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of committing lewd acts with a minor and contacting a minor for sexual purposes. He had the countys Private Defender Program appointed as legal representation and remains in custody on $500,000 bail ahead of his preliminary hearing planned for Sept. 30. Ravenswood City School District Superintendent Gina Sudaria said in a social media post that after learning of the allegations against Fitch, they took immediate action and continued to cooperate and communicate with law enforcement. Fitch passed all fingerprint and background checks when he was hired, the superintendent said. We are deeply saddened for the involved student and their family. We will continue to offer support services and counseling. We will also continue to make ourselves available to assist the police and the District Attorney as this case moves forward, Sudaria said. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact East Palo Alto Police Detective Sgt. Jose Luaorozco at (650) 629-4538. Copyright 2024 Bay City News, Inc. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. In 2021, Illinois enacted a comprehensive clean energy law mandating the closure of all coal- and natural gas-fired power plants by 2045. As part of the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, one of Gov. JB Pritzkers signature legislative accomplishments, a large number of gas-fired facilities were to be shuttered by 2030. At the time, there were warnings from industry and others that the intermediate 2030 mandate would jeopardize electricity reliability in the state. With Illinois then producing more power than it consumed, Pritzker and the many environmental groups that backed the law said such predictions were alarmist and off-base. Just three years later, it appears the alarmists were right, and Pritzker and the green lobby were wrong. Payments to power generators in return for their promise to produce to their capacity when demand is highest as established via an auction overseen by PJM Interconnection, the grid manager for a large swath of the U.S. from northern Illinois to the mid-Atlantic are set to soar more than 800% and will raise all our electric bills beginning next June. That charge is embedded in the rates users pay for power and is in addition to the cost for the electricity itself. In effect, it is akin to an insurance premium in this case, a payment each month to plant owners for their promise to deliver when the need arises. In the northern Illinois territory served by Commonwealth Edison, average residential electric bills will increase by $15 per month beginning in June due to this effect alone, according to ComEd. That increase will be significantly more pronounced for single-family homes, since ComEds averages are skewed lower than in less urban areas by the large number of Chicago apartment dwellers it serves. (The blow will be softened a bit due to a ratepayer credit under state law of nearly $4.35 per month from nuclear operator Constellation Energy Group.) All told, even after that credit, ComEd residential bills will rise by about 10.5% due to this charge alone and thats before a possible ComEd power delivery rate hike. Get prepared for worse beginning in mid-2026. Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley projects this insurance-like charge could be up to 2,200% higher than it is today, inflating average monthly ComEd residential bills by more than $35 compared with current charges. Well know how bad the damage is in December when PJM conducts its power-generator auction for the year from June 2026 to May 2027. The unprecedented spike in these capacity charges isnt an accident. Simple supply-and-demand realities are the reason. Many fossil fuel power plants have closed in recent years, because of environmental rules and market conditions. And the growth in renewable power facilities such as wind and solar isnt making up enough of the difference. The problems are not limited to northern Illinois. Central and southern Illinois, which fall under the purview of multi-state grid manager Midcontinent Independent System Operator, will be about 50% short of the capacity to keep the lights on during highest-demand periods as soon as 2027, according to MISO. That situation should be ringing alarm bells. The shortage issue isnt as dire in northern Illinois. But the 2030 plant-closure mandates in Illinois clean energy law, if unchanged, will threaten reliability during peak periods by 2030 in the Chicago area, according to PJM. But the crisis could be upon northern Illinois even faster than that, because future demand is projected to soar even as supply falls. Power-hungry data centers, the development of which a number of Chicago aldermen are encouraging within city limits as a way to generate more property tax revenue, are on the drawing boards. ComEd projects that new data centers throughout its territory easily could require four gigawatts of electricity. To put that in context, such an enormous amount alone would consume nearly the entire output of two of the five nuclear stations serving the region. One might think policymakers in the state would be alarmed and preparing to act to fix the situation as soon as possible. But theres been precious little public discussion to date. A coalition of companies lobbying for state legislation to subsidize construction of energy storage facilities essentially large battery storehouses that can hold power produced by intermittent sources such as wind and solar for several hours so that the juice can be deployed when most needed has been sounding the alarm in Springfield, to no avail as of yet. The political risk for Pritzker in particular is acute. The governor surely understands that future rolling blackouts due to a state law he championed however well-intentioned will result in harsh voter backlash. The Illinois Commerce Commission is scheduled to report on the coming capacity crunch sometime next year. Lawmakers dont need to wait for that study. We know enough already for doing nothing not to be an option. The General Assembly should begin work in earnest in next years session on a comprehensive plan to forestall these calamities. The battery storage industrys proposal should be part of the discussion. But the more important issue to address also will be the knottiest politically. Its becoming clearer all the time that the 2030 deadlines are unrealistic and need to be made more flexible. Backsliding on the laws gas plant-closure mandates is anathema to environmental groups, who surely would fight hard against such an effort and likely would criticize any Democratic friends who consider such a thing. But gas-fired peaker plants, which can rapidly fire up and just as rapidly turn off, for many years have been the most critical resources to keep the lights on when the temperatures soar (or plummet). They remain critical. The decarbonization of power production, in Illinois and elsewhere in the U.S., is well underway. Very few in the power industry itself are fighting for the long-term preservation of fossil fuel plants. Public backing for clean power and addressing climate change is strong, but nothing will undermine that support more quickly than blackouts. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. Voters walk into cast their ballots at the Center Point Church on Nov. 8, 2022 in Orem, Utah. (George Frey/Getty Images) Voter participation in Arkansas is, in a word, abysmal. According to a U.S. Election Assistance Commission report, we were dead last in voter registration (63% of eligible residents) and voter turnout (54%) in the 2020 election, which means about a third of adult Arkansans made decisions for everyone else. So if I told you that a grassroots group had come up with an innovative way to tackle this problem by making voter registration easier and more efficient, you might think that the people charged with running our election machinery Secretary of State John Thurston and the Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners would do everything they could to support it. You would be wrong. Instead, theyve done a good deal to impede it in the process, disregarding the attorney general, incurring $250,000 in legal costs, and being rebuked by a federal judge, who said they likely violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The origins of this dispute reach back to January, when Get Loud Arkansas, a group founded by former state Sen. Joyce Elliott to promote voting and civic engagement, launched a new online registration tool. A potential voter came to its website, entered the information required by state law, and provided a signature by either uploading it or signing with a stylus or finger. The tool inserted the information into a registration form (the same form that can be downloaded and printed from the Secretary of States own website), which was printed out with the signature and sent to the county clerk in their county. Between January and May, about 500 new voters used the tool to register. Get Loud had previously offered this tool without the electronic signature, which required mailing the completed form to the registrant for a so-called wet signature and then mailing it to the clerk. But in tracking the applications, the group found that many potential voters didnt follow through with those extra steps. Kristin Foster, Get Louds deputy director, said the electronic signature tool also made registrations more accurate by flagging mistakes or missing information before they were submitted and enabled the group to register more people with fewer volunteers. For instance, a single volunteer could go into a high school and give eligible 18-year-olds a QR code that directed them to the registration form, and they could fill it out themselves, sign and submit, rather than requiring a volunteer to work with each student individually. Get Loud says it checked with Thurstons office three times about whether electronic signatures were acceptable and were assured, three times, that there was no rule against them. But in February just two days after the Arkansas Times ran a story about what Get Loud was doing Thurston sent a two-paragraph letter to county clerks advising them that he strongly recommended that they stop accepting registrations with electronic signatures. Let us know what you think... Some clerks followed that advice, while others didnt. Meanwhile, Thurston asked Attorney General Tim Griffin whether Arkansas law allowed electronic signatures and Griffin, no doubt to Thurstons surprise and chagrin, said it did. Undeterred, Thurston got the state elections board to adopt a wet signature requirement, which was eventually endorsed by the Arkansas Legislative Council. It was put on hold by a federal judge but then revived by a federal appeals court. Two rationales put forward by the board for the rule are particularly rich. First, it argued that the rule merely preserves the status quo, even though a specific wet signature requirement didnt exist until the board created one. Second, it argued the rule was necessary because clerks in different counties were treating electronic signatures differently an anomaly caused by Thurstons letter that the board could also have solved by simply following Griffins advice. The board also claimed Get Louds tool was, in effect, an online registration system, which only the DMV and some social service agencies are authorized to operate in Arkansas (as required by federal law). While that raises a different question about why 42 other states have fully online registration for all voters and we dont, its also a mischaracterization of Get Louds process, which uses electronic signatures on paper forms, not submissions made online. When Get Loud sued in federal court to block the rule, Griffin recused himself from defending Thurston and the board because he had already taken a position on electronic signatures. Legislators then agreed to spend up to $250,000 to hire outside lawyers to defend Thurstons decision to ignore Griffins legal advice. (One of Thurstons court filings rather archly notes that Griffins opinions arent binding and that Thurston isnt required to follow opinions that are clearly incorrect.) On Aug. 28, U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks in Fayetteville put the wet signature requirement on hold for a different reason that it is not material in determining whether a person is qualified to vote under Arkansas law and thus likely violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Get Loud resumed using the tool, only to be stopped again after Thurston got the U.S. 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene last Friday. Good public policy surrounding voting seems pretty simple. We should want our elections to be fair and secure, and we should want to encourage as many people as possible to participate. Electronic signatures which are used on tax forms and myriad other transactions here in the 21st century do nothing to threaten the former and do much to promote the latter. If Thurston and the board were as concerned about our woeful rates of voter participation as they should be, they would have found a way to get to yes on Get Louds tool, rather than falling back on tortured excuses to say no and fighting the group in court. Why, its almost like some folks in power dont want more people to participate in our democracy for some reason. How curious SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Efforts launched to create Omaha plan to eliminate poverty, as required by new NE law The City of Omaha and the Omaha-based Nebraska Center for Justice Research are to host two community engagement meetings to gather input for the city's poverty elimination action plan required under a new state law. (Courtesy of City of Omaha and Nebraska Center for Justice Research) OMAHA Two Omaha meetings are scheduled for Oct. 1 and Oct. 3 to gather public input to be used as the city creates a poverty elimination action plan. Such a plan, required of Nebraskas two largest cities, is the result of a law passed by the Nebraska Legislature earlier this year. The aim of the legislation introduced by State Sen. Terrell McKinney of North Omaha is to better understand and address poverty and ultimately lift economic circumstances for poor families across the state. Omahas plan is being coordinated by the Nebraska Center for Justice Research of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the City of Omaha Human Rights & Relations Department. They are hosting the public engagement sessions to learn Omahans perspective on the root causes of poverty and proposed solutions to eliminate poverty. Omaha meetings Tuesday Oct. 1, 6 p.m., Assumption-Guadalupe Catholic Church, 5001 S. 23rd St. Thursday Oct. 3, 6 p.m., The Venue at Highlander, 2120 N. 30th St. Key components of the plan, in addition to community engagement, include a needs assessment, data analysis, education and job training, affordable housing and health care access. Plans are to be submitted by mid-2025 to the Legislature and include strategies for use of federal, state and local incentives to help reduce poverty in impacted areas. While the proposal for Nebraska cities to create five-year anti-poverty plans was met mostly with support during a legislative hearing in January, a few opponents cited concerns that it would be expensive for smaller towns. The bill had no funding allocation attached to it. In the end, McKinney said, lawmakers narrowed the mandate to apply only to Omaha and Lincoln. Lincoln officials said they will be submitting the Lincoln plan to the Legislature by July. They havent yet scheduled community input meetings. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Eggs Are Being Recalled Across Nine States (So Far) After Multiple Hospitalizations Heres Everything We Know This article may contain affiliate links that Yahoo and/or the publisher may receive a commission from if you buy a product or service through those links. Before eating your over-easy egg wraps or breakfast sandwiches, you may want to check your fridge. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released information that eggs could pose serious risks to your health. Heres what we know: On September 6, 2024, Milos Poultry Farms LLC recalled all Milos Poultry Farms and Tonys Fresh Market branded eggs because they may be contaminated with the bacteria salmonella. The Kitchn spoke with Tom Skinner, a public affairs officer at the CDC, about the details of this recall. Skinner says that the potentially tainted cartons were distributed to stores and restaurants in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. The products sold in cartons and cases, ranging from cage-free options to organic, with varying listed expiration dates sickened 65 people living in the following nine states: California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The CDC announced that this active salmonella outbreak linked to eggs has caused 24 hospitalizations and 65 illnesses. According to the CDC, the symptoms associated with salmonella usually start six hours to six days after ingesting the bacteria. Skinner points out that the common symptoms to look out for are diarrhea, a fever higher than 102F, vomiting, and dehydration. If you are experiencing any of these signs, contact your doctor immediately. Thats because some people children younger than 5 years, adults 65 years and older, and folks with weakened immune systems may experience a more serious case that could end up requiring hospitalization. So, how do salmonella outbreaks linked to eggs even occur? The Kitchn spoke with Wade Syers, PhD, a food safety specialist at Michigan State University who specializes in the bacteria living in eggs, to learn more. While the CDC didnt share how this outbreak started, he pointed out that salmonella occurs in chickens and eggs naturally. It can get on the outside of shells when eggs come in contact with chicken droppings; additionally, salmonella can contaminate eggs when they are forming inside the chicken, Dr. Syers says. To lower your chances of getting a salmonella infection, Dr. Syers and Skinner advised one simple step: Avoid runny eggs. The risks from salmonella in eggs are mitigated by cooking eggs to the proper temperature, Dr. Syers says. Eggs should be cooked until the whites and yolks are firm (160F), and egg-containing dishes should be cooked to 160F. Thats because raw and undercooked eggs may contain salmonella and make you sick, explains Skinner. For now, you can rely on the CDC to check for news regarding any additional hospitalizations or updates related to the outbreak. If you have further questions or concerns, contact Milos Poultry Farms LLC at (715) 758-6709. In the meantime, maybe stick to one of these hard-boiled egg or scrambled egg recipes instead. This article originally published on The Kitchn. See it there: Eggs Are Being Recalled Across Nine States (So Far) After Multiple Hospitalizations Heres Everything We Know Further Reading Youre Not Allowed to Lock Strollers at Disney Theme Parks, So Instead I Do This 49 Stylish Nursery Ideas for the Unique Baby Room of Your Dreams This $16 Find Is One of the Best Purchases I've Ever Made at IKEA ROME, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Italy, as inheritors of millennium-old civilization, will be able to use their wisdom to jointly promote global peace, stability and sustainable development, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has said. "In the name of peace and global stability, the friendship between Italy and China is crucial," said Salvini on Tuesday at a reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy to Italy to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 20th anniversary of comprehensive strategic partnership of the two nations. He also said that he believes that dialogue, friendship, partnership, and collaboration between China and Europe are absolutely beneficial, positive, and necessary. As Italy's minister of infrastructure and transport, Salvini also told Xinhua that he had great admiration for the path China has taken over the past 75 years. He thanked the Chinese community "for the contribution it brings to many Italian cities." By Simon Lewis CAIRO (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday warned against the risk of escalation in the Middle East after the detonation of thousands of Hezbollah pagers threatened to derail his latest regional diplomacy push. News of the blasts broke as the top U.S. diplomat traveled to Cairo to meet senior Egyptian officials hoping to advance efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and improve ties with Egypt. Militant group Hezbollah promised to retaliate against Israel, accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday killing at least 12 people, including two children, and wounding nearly 3,000. Israel has declined to respond to questions about the explosions. Asked about the blasts, Blinken said the United States was still gathering facts but it was in no one's interest for conflict to spread. "It's imperative that all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict," Blinken said at a news conference alongside his Egyptian counterpart. He did not say who the U.S. believes was behind the blasts. Blinken said he was focused on securing a ceasefire deal that would bring calm, including to Israel's northern border with Lebanon, and that 15 out of 18 paragraphs of a deal had been agreed by all sides. Making progress involved long waits for messages to be passed between the parties that left time for incidents to disrupt the talks, Blinken said. "We've seen that in the intervening time, you might have an event, an incident - something that makes the process more difficult, that threatens to slow it, stop it, derail it - and anything of that nature, by definition, is probably not good in terms of achieving the result that we want, which is the ceasefire," Blinken said. He cited Hamas' execution of six Israeli hostages last month. He did not name Israel, which is believed to have targeted members of groups aligned against it in Lebanon, Syria and Iran that have set back the talks. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Blinken in their meeting on Wednesday morning that Egypt opposed attempts to "escalate the conflict and expand its scope regionally" and called for all parties to act responsibly, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement. Blinken will head from Cairo to Paris on Thursday for a meeting with the foreign ministers of France, Italy and Britain to discuss the Middle East and Ukraine and other issues, a State Department official said. Blinken will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron, the official said. Blinken will not visit Israel on this trip, the first time he has skipped a stop in Washington's closest regional ally since Hamas sparked the war in Gaza nearly a year ago. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that was because Washington aimed to discuss bilateral issues with Egypt on this trip and the Gaza ceasefire proposal that U.S. and mediators have been working on was still not ready to present to Israel. (Reporting by Simon Lewis; additional reporting by Nayera Abdallah, Aiden Lewis and Ahmed Elimam; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk, Cynthia Osterman, Ros Russell and Sharon Singleton) Egyptian soldiers stand guard near the Rafah Crossing at the Egypt-Gaza border, in Rafah CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will not accept any changes to the security arrangements that were in place on its border with Gaza before war broke out between Israel and Hamas last October, the Egyptian foreign minister said on Wednesday. Security on the border, and whether Israel will maintain a troop presence along a 14-km (9-mile) buffer zone known as the Philadelphi Corridor, have become a focal point of months-long talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza. Israeli troops entered the buffer zone in May as they pursued an offensive around Rafah. Egypt, which is a mediator in ceasefire talks, says Israel must withdraw and that a Palestinian presence needs to be restored at the Rafah crossing between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. "Egypt reiterates its position, it rejects any military presence along the opposite side of the border crossing and the aforementioned (Philadelphi) corridor," Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters during a press conference in Cairo with U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken. Abdelatty also said that any escalation, including blasts that wounded Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon on Tuesday, would create hurdles for the completion of a Gaza ceasefire deal. (Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Aidan Lewis; editing by Jason Neely and Alex Richardson) CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) Elms College and Square One are growing their relationship to better serve the greater Springfield area. Massachusetts launches initiative to promote American Revolution anniversary The administration and Square One representatives shared the new opportunities. Elms College students can intern at Square One, while faculty can use the Square One environment as a space to teach early childhood education. Employees of Square One will work with Elms College employees to provide education opportunities for them. Well it starts thinking about the the young children that go to Square One, we are thinking about them coming to Elms College, and ultimately serving in and going back to work at Square One and some of those Square One employees coming to take courses at Elms College, says Elms College president Harry Dumay. The long-time partnership between Square One and Elms College will enhance the educational experiences of Elms College students and support the professional development of Square One employees. Early childhood education students can access these opportunities starting Tuesday, September 17. The program within the partnership is set for the next three years. 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. Researchers with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Nova Southeastern University prepare live corals for transport at the NSU's Oceanographic Campus in Dania Beach, Fla., Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/David Fischer) DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Scientists have moved about 300 endangered sea corals from South Florida to the Texas Gulf Coast for research and restoration. Nova Southeastern University and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi researchers packed up the corals Wednesday at the NSU's Oceanographic Campus in Dania Beach. The sea creatures were then loaded onto a van, taken to a nearby airport and flown to Texas. Researchers were taking extreme caution with the transfer of these delicate corals, NSU researcher Shane Wever said. The process that were undertaking today is a really great opportunity for us to expand the representation of the corals that we are working with and the locations where they're stored, Wever said. "Increasing the locations that theyre stored really acts as safeguards for us to protect them and to preserve them for the future." Each coral was packaged with fresh clean sea water and extra oxygen, inside of a protective case and inside of insulated and padded coolers, and was in transport for the shortest time possible. NSU's marine science research facility serves as a coral reef nursery, where rescued corals are stored, processed for restoration and transplanted back into the ocean. The school has shared corals with other universities, like the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University and Texas State University, as well as the Coral Restoration Foundation in the Florida Keys. Despite how important corals are, it is easy for people living on land to forget how important things in the ocean are, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi researcher Keisha Bahr said. Corals serve a lot of different purposes," Bahr said. First of all, they protect our coastlines, especially here in Florida, from wave energy and coastal erosion. They also supply us with a lot of the food that we get from our oceans. And they are nurseries for a lot of the organisms that come from the sea. Abnormally high ocean temperatures caused widespread coral bleaching in 2023, wiping out corals in the Florida Keys. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi turned to NSU when its partners in the Keys were no longer able to provide corals for its research. Broward County was spared from the majority of the 2023 bleaching so the NSU offshore coral nursery had healthy corals to donate. Were losing corals at an alarming rate, Bahr said. We lost about half of our corals in last three decades. So we need to make sure that we continue to have these girls into the future. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is using some of these corals to study the effects of sediment from Port Everglades on coral health. The rest will either help the university with its work creating a bleaching guide for the Caribbean or act as a genetic bank, representing nearly 100 genetically distinct Staghorn coral colonies from across South Floridas reefs. We wanted to give them as many genotypes, which are genetic individuals, as we could to really act as a safeguard for these this super important species, Wever said. An engineer who spent decades designing weapons for one of the worlds leading gun manufacturers testified Tuesday that the assault-style weapons now banned in Illinois are intended only for civilian use and cannot be easily converted into military-grade firearms. James Ronkainen, a former engineer for the Remington Firearms, said the AR-style rifles and many other weapons that are now heavily restricted under the Protect Illinois Communities Act, are classified in the industry as modern sporting rifles, or MSRs, and he said ordinary users of such weapons cannot easily convert them into fully automatic weapons. I dont think they can, he said. Ronkainen testified during the second day of a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn in a case challenging the constitutionality of the assault weapons ban. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to keep and bear the type of arms that are commonly used for lawful purposes such as self-defense. But it also said not all firearms are protected under the Constitution, including certain dangerous and unusual weapons. Ronkainen testified that the AR-style weapons restricted under the Illinois law are widely popular with consumers and that they are intended for legal purposes, including self-defense, hunting and target shooting. But attorneys for the state have said they plan to argue the weapons covered by the law are commonly used in mass shootings, including the one at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park in 2022 that left seven people dead and dozens more injured. That shooting prompted Illinois lawmakers to quickly pass PICA in January of 2023. The attorneys for the state also said they will argue that the way gun manufacturers market and sell their products to consumers should not determine whether the weapon is protected under the Constitution. The trial is scheduled to continue through Friday, but attorneys in the case have suggested it could wrap up as early as Wednesday or Thursday. EPISD super says she will not seek pay raise in solidarity with teachers EPISD super says she will not seek pay raise in solidarity with teachers EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) El Paso Independent School District Superintendent Diana Sayavedra said that she will not be seeking a pay increase as part of her evaluation this year. Sayavedra, who has been leading EPISD since January 2022, made the announcement during the Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17, shortly before the board was going to go into closed session to discuss her performance evaluation. EPISD superintendent gets 5-year extension Sayavedra said she would not seek a pay increase in solidarity with the districts teachers who were not given pay raises under the districts new budget. I would like to share with the board, in lieu of the fact we were not able to increase compensation for teachers, in solidarity with teachers and standing alongside them, I am not requesting any additional compensation for my contract, she said. Sayavedra said it was important to make that announcement publicly. Sayavedra makes $320,000 a year under a contract that was extended by the board in January of 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 KTSM 9 News. ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey would not stop deepening ties with the East, including the BRICS group of nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), even as it continued to face West. Turkey, a NATO member, has in recent months voiced interest in joining the BRICS and SCO groups, both of which include China and Russia. This has stirred U.S. and European fears that Turkey may be pivoting away from its traditionally Western geopolitical orientation, despite repeated denials from Ankara. Speaking at an event in Ankara, Erdogan said debates over an "axis shift" were unfounded, but that Turkey had to adapt to new "centres of power" forming in the fields of economy, production, and technology, while keeping itself open to opportunities with every structure and actor. "That is the approach that lies behind our country's will to expand the basis of dialogue with all of them, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to BRICS and ASEAN," Erdogan said. "Of course, our face is turned to the West, but this certainly does not mean that we will turn our backs on the East, that we will ignore the East, or not improve our ties with the East," he added. BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. China and Russia, in particular, want to expand the group further as they seek to counter Western economic dominance. The SCO is a security, political and economic club launched by Moscow, Beijing and Central Asian states in 2001 as a counterweight to Western alliances. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Gareth Jones) SEQUOYAH COUNTY, Okla. (KNWA/KFTA) A Department of Corrections inmate walked away from a halfway house last week. Multiple deputies were able to capture him in Sequoyah County after a weeks-long investigation, according to a Facebook post. Lester Hampton, 62, (Oklahoma Department of Corrections). Lester Hampton was on the run after he left the Bridgeway Halfway House in Ponca City, Okla. on Saturday, Sept. 7. Deputies spent all day Tuesday searching for him, the post said. The Sequoyah County Sheriffs Office used a drone with thermal imaging capabilities over a wooded area. Hampton was later found after a 911 dispatcher saw a man matching his description and quickly notified deputies. Multiple agencies respond to incident in Pea Ridge that led to home evacuations Hampton then fled into another wooded area but was ran down by our speedy deputy, Colton Goff, the post said. Pictured left to right are; Investigator BR Rutherford, Deputy Jeff Neighbors, Deputy Justin Deuley, Captured Fugitive Hampton, Deputy Shane Petree, Deputy Colton Goff, Deputy Mark Choate (Sheriff Lane was the photographer). Hampton is currently at the Sequoyah County Detention Center Sheriff and will be taken back to the Oklahoma DOC. Im proud to have these guys on our team, most of them were off duty when I called, but they didnt hesitate to get up and leave their families in the middle of the night, to help us capture this guy, Lane said in the Facebook post. Hampton was facing 10 years for second-degree burglary. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MILAN Estonia has launched a competition to procure decoy equipment for luring enemy forces into attacks, the latest in a line of Tallinns defense investments animated by Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Estonian Center for Defense Investments, the procurement arm for the military, published tender documents in mid-September inviting bids for mock-up platforms by the end of the month. Tallinn expects to spend $10 million on the purchase. Officials are looking for models of real weapon systems, ammunition as well as communication and radar equipment, complete with training for setting up and maintaining the decoys, according to the notice. No further details given regarding the specific types of decoys Estonia is looking for or which branches of its military will utilize them. Estonian officials have been among the most adamant European NATO members in saying that Russian aspirations to seize territory could extend well beyond Ukraine. In a recent interview with the Spanish national newspaper El Pais, Col. Mati Tikerpuu, the commander of one of the two brigades of the Estonian Army, said Tallinn would be able to resist an invasion for a couple of weeks before alliance reinforcements arrived. Since the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, the Baltic states Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have unveiled a series of plans to step up the protection of the region, given its proximity to Russian territory. These have included the planned construction of a drone wall to defend against Moscow, in cooperation with Poland, Finland and Norway. Additionally, Estonia is in the process of building a fence along its 294 kilometers border with Russia that will be equipped with cameras and radars. Ukraine has made use of a variety of fake military equipment since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion. In February, pictures emerged on social media reportedly showing Ukrainian dummies of ground-based air defense systems, including highly realistic replicas of German-provided Iris-T air-defense equipment and the U.S.-made AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar. Other European countries have purchased similar equipment this year, including Germany, which awarded a 50 million ($54.4 million) contract to Rheinmetall for the supply of Birdie aerial infrared decoys. These are to be fitted on German military aircraft to protect against air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, by acting similar to flares that can emit heat and be deployed by pilots to confuse missiles about their target. A view from the Polish bank across the border river Oder to the village of Lebus north of Frankfurt (Oder). Patrick Pleul/dpa European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to visit Poland's flood-hit areas on Thursday at the invitation of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the commission said on Wednesday. Von der Leyen will visit "the area at risk in Wrocaw to assess the situation created by the recent heavy floods and rains that have hit Poland," a spokeswoman said in a press briefing. Poland is one of several EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe grappling with the fallout from historic flooding since last weekend. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer are expected to join the meeting. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presents her new Commission to media representatives during a press conference after the Conference of Presidents. The heads of state and government had previously nominated candidates for the College of Commissioners. Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa SEATTLE (AP) Alaska Airlines closed its $1 billion purchase of Hawaiian Airlines on Wednesday, a day after the federal government removed the last major regulatory obstacle to the deal. Alaska will also assume about $900 million in Hawaiian debt. Alaska says it will keep Hawaiian as a separate brand, elimiinating the need to repaint planes. To win approval from the Transportation Department this week, the airlines agreed to maintain current levels of service on key routes within Hawaii and between the island state and the U.S. mainland where they don't face much competition. Alaska Air Group stock fell 3% Wednesday. The shares are up 2% since the start of the year. The Justice Department, which had opposed previous deals between large airlines, including JetBlue's attempt to buy Spirit Airlines, has not challenged the Alaska-Hawaiian deal on antitrust grounds. Alaska and Hawaiian also agreed to a handful of consumer protections, including not lowering value of frequent-flyer rewards as they combine their loyalty programs, and promising to compensate passengers for cancellations and significant delays that are the carriers fault. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines said those conditions were similar to its plans from the time it announced the deal in December. The deal solidifies Alaska's position as the fifth-largest U.S. airline by revenue. The EU has set a new priority area for sanctions. These are now the financial institutions that support the supply of military products to Russia. Source: Reuters Details: The European Union may tighten sanctions targeting financial institutions that support the flow of military products to Russia and the supply of goods produced by Western subsidiaries in Southeast Asia. Since 2022, the EU has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU's sanctions representative, David O'Sullivan, said that these sanctions are not a "magic bullet", but their goal is to make the Russian military machine slower, more expensive and less effective. He also noted that some companies are trying to circumvent the sanctions by using dual-use supply routes to Moscow. O'Sullivan stressed that following diplomatic efforts, the EU has managed to reduce such supplies through Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Armenia. However, stopping similar flows through Southeast Asia, where countries are producers of goods, not just transit stations, is a much more difficult task. "A lot of the product going through China is made by subsidiaries of western companies in southeast Asia," O'Sullivan said. Special attention in the sanctions activity is paid to financial institutions that finance the transshipment of military products to Russia. "Where these are identified, these institutions will be contacted saying...if they do not desist they are at risk of being listed," O'Sullivan warned, adding that the US has already made significant progress in this area. He also noted that the biggest challenge for the EU is to harmonise the implementation of sanctions packages across the 27 member states. At the same time, O'Sullivan stressed that sanctions are already pushing Russia towards a war economy, which will have serious consequences for its economic future in the next year or two. Background: Since the beginning of 2024, Western countries have spent US$2 billion on purchases of Turkish petroleum products made from Russian oil. Support UP or become our patron! A view of the Terrassenufer in the Old Town is flooded by the high water of the Elbe in the morning fog, in Dresden, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP) BRUSSELS (AP) Devastating floods through much of Central Europe and deadly wildfires in Portugal are joint proof of a climate breakdown that will become the norm unless drastic action is taken, the European Union's head office said Wednesday. Make no mistake. This tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our shared future, said EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic. The worst flooding in years moved Tuesday across a broad swath of Central Europe, taking lives and destroying homes. At the other end of the 27-nation EU, raging fires through northern Portugal have killed at last six people. Europe is the fastest warming continent globally and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events like the one we are discussing today. We could not return to a safer past, Lenarcic told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. He warned that beyond the human cost, nations are also struggling to cope with mounting bills for repairing the damage from emergencies and the lengthy recovery from disaster. The average cost of disasters in the 1980s was 8 billion euros per year. More recently in 2021 and in 2022, the damage is surpassed 50 billion euros per year, meaning the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of action, he said. Terry Reintke, president of the Greens group in the European Parliament, said the cost for the EU since the 1980s was estimated at 650 billion euros. The EU is struggling to move quickly with measures to counter climate change and has run into political opposition in many member states, where the political climate is turning against environmental issues and measures ranging from home heating to farm pollution. Our success will depend on how determined we are to combat climate change together in order to reduce emissions, Reintke said, adding that EU members must back its Green Deal. The vast EU plan to become climate neutral by 2050 has come under increasing pressure from critics who call it unrealistic and too expensive. Populist and far-right parties have made it a key point of attack on the bloc's institutions. Lenarcic said people only needed to follow the daily news to understand the urgency of the issue. We face a Europe that is simultaneously flooding and burning. These extreme weather events ... are now an almost annual occurrence, he said. The global reality of the climate breakdown has moved into the everyday lives of Europeans. Europe must prepare to meet Russia militarily in 6-8 years, says its new defence chief By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) - The European Union must be quick to increase its defences as Russia may be ready for a confrontation in six to eight years, the nominee to be the EU's first defence commissioner told Reuters in an interview. Andrius Kubilius, a former prime minister of Lithuania, Russia's neighbour, has been tapped to boost the continent's arms industry, by getting EU countries spend more on European weapons and procure jointly - as well as by getting companies themselves to cooperate more across borders. The new post reflects how security has risen to the top of the EU's political agenda since Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "Defence ministers and NATO generals agree that Vladimir Putin could be ready for confrontation with NATO and the EU in 6-8 years," Kubilius, a fierce critic of Russia and a supporter of Ukraine, said on Wednesday. "If we take these assessments seriously, then that is the time for us to properly prepare, and it is a short one. This means we have to take quick decisions, and ambitious decisions," he said. Kubilius said his first job as a commissioner would be to explore, jointly with EU top diplomat nominee Kaja Kallas, what resources the European Union needs to be ready for a military challenge. He is aiming to complete an exploratory study within the first 100 days. He said underinvestment of more than a trillion euros in the decade since the financial crisis meant the European defence industry was in an "unsatisfactory condition". SPENDING NOT SOURCING Kubilius faces an uphill battle against several EU governments which are deeply wary of giving Brussels a say in how they organise their defence industries. The European Commission has no legal mandate to formulate defence policies, and EU countries coordinate their defence through NATO. Kubilius sees his job as complementary to NATO, not in competition. "The European Union won't have defence plans or military leadership, like NATO does - but the European Union has instruments to get larger financing, which NATO doesn't", he said. Kubilius "would be glad" to be able to invest more than 500 billion euros over the next few years to boost Europe's defence industries. But he is less certain on where to get the money: "It's not for me to know... A defence commissioner has to know where to spend the money, not how to source it. That is up to the other commission members," he said. Issuing joint defence bonds, using funds from the European post-pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility or tapping the European Investment Bank were options to fund defence industry expansion, Kubilius suggested. (Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by Christina Fincher) Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, speaks at a press conference after a meeting of foreign ministers on the Gaza war. Diego Radames/EUROPA PRESS/dpa The European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, on Wednesday condemned the near-simultaneous pager blasts in Lebanon. Small explosions took place across the country on Tuesday, injuring some 2,750 and killing at least 12. "Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims," Borrell said on Wednesday. "I consider this situation extremely worrying. I can only condemn these attacks that endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region," he added. "The European Union calls on all stakeholders to avert an all-out war, which would have heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond," Borrell said. Eviction filings can destabilize tenants lives even when they win their case After Charlas landlord failed to repair leaks that caused the ceiling to collapse in her daughters bedroom, she withheld her rent. Shortly after, her landlord filed an eviction case against her for nonpayment. Though she won her court case, Charla and her family had to remain in unsafe conditions as she searched for new housing and was repeatedly denied. She says she spent at least US$2,000 on unsuccessful application fees. When we go to find new housing, we cant because we have these [filings] on our records, and thats wrong, said Charla, a pseudonym. I won [my] case Its still following me. Why? We are researchers who study housing policy and eviction. Our most recent research documents the far-reaching collateral costs of eviction filings for 29 Pennsylvania tenants who experienced a best-case scenario in court. Each of the tenants included in our study had legal representation and had their case resolved with a dismissal, withdrawal or a win. No one received an eviction order in court. We asked tenants in our study to describe the costs and losses they had experienced since their landlord filed to evict them. We found that regardless of a tenants outcome in court, eviction filings led to immediate and long-term housing instability, income loss and job insecurity, harm to physical and mental health, and strained relationships with family and friends. Permanent stains on tenant records Rising rents and stagnant wages have turned eviction into a routine process for poor and working-class renters. In 2023, Pennsylvania residents needed to work the equivalent of 130 hours per week at minimum wage to afford the average cost of a two-bedroom rental. After a significant reduction in eviction filings due to pandemic-era programs, filing rates in Pennsylvania have returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, landlords filed more than 114,000 cases against Pennsylvania tenants. This is the equivalent of 7 in every 100 renter households. When a landlord files an eviction complaint against a tenant, the court generates a public record. In Pennsylvania, these records remain public indefinitely even when the records are incomplete or inaccurate, the case is never argued before a judge or the tenant wins in court. Our research confirms that simply being named in an eviction complaint is enough to leave a permanent stain on a tenants record that has lasting consequences for their well-being. Future rental applications denied Landlord filing and screening practices exacerbate the effects of Pennsylvanias housing crisis and make it nearly impossible for tenants with eviction records to find safe, decent and affordable housing for their families. Growing research documents landlords increasing reliance on the use of third-party tenant screening algorithms and internet searches to apply blanket denials of applicants with eviction records. In our study, 8 in 10 participants said their eviction filing limited their future housing options. Nearly two-thirds of participants who moved after their eviction filing said a prospective landlord asked about their eviction record, and over half said a landlord explicitly denied their application because of it. [A] lot of people dont want to hear your backstory. They just see that you went to court and they think you are going to be a problem, another study participant said. Because evictions in the U.S. are disproportionately filed against Black and Latina women and households with children, tenant screening practices that blacklist applicants based on eviction records perpetuate housing discrimination by preventing these groups from accessing future housing. In 2023, 7% of renter households in Pennsylvania faced an eviction filing. halbergman/E+ Collection via Getty Images Cycle of instability Though participants in our study did not receive eviction orders in court, the majority said they were forced to move after their eviction filing for reasons beyond their control. Most attributed this to their landlords failure to make repairs, which rendered their units uninhabitable. State laws allow tenants to withhold rent if their unit is unfit for habitation and are intended to protect them against retaliatory evictions for doing so. Still, 1 in 4 Pennsylvania tenants in our study faced eviction after withholding rent for repairs. Charla said she developed stress-related medical conditions and was in and out of the hospital after her eviction filing. Landlords put us in situations where we have to move because they dont want to make repairs. Then they take us to court and try to make it seem like its all our fault, she stated. The system failed us. An array of circumstances led to participants evictions. Some faced prolonged pandemic-related hardships such as job loss, reduced work hours and deaths of loved ones. Others dealt with uninhabitable conditions, including lack of heat, running water and mold. In some cases, tenants described being sexually harassed or intimidated by their landlords. Some experienced serial eviction filings, with their landlord filing multiple eviction cases against them at the same property. In other words, there was often much more to tenants stories than simply the nonpayment of rent. Roughly half of the tenants who moved after their eviction filing described a subsequent period of homelessness. The desperate need for a stable place to live led some to accept substandard conditions from landlords who would rent to them despite their records. This aligns with prior research showing that landlord eviction practices and code violations concentrate tenants in housing and neighborhoods of last resort that can be detrimental to health and well-being. Our research also showed that tenants with prior eviction records were often hesitant to assert their right to habitable housing. For example, 43% of participants reported being less willing to advocate for repairs after their eviction filing. Efforts to seal eviction records Due to the severity of the eviction crisis in the U.S., significant inaccuracies in eviction court data and widespread use of tenant screening services, at least 12 states, including California, Colorado and Oregon, limit public access to eviction records or regulate how landlords can consider eviction histories in tenancy decisions. Because tenant screening companies can gather details from eviction records as soon as the information is public, legal scholars and organizations such as the American Bar Association, National Low Income Housing Coalition and Network for Public Health Law have recommended laws that automatically and permanently seal eviction records at the point of filing to keep the information private. With support from housing justice advocates, Pennsylvania policymakers are considering legislation to seal eviction records but face resistance from the landlord lobby. Just as Pennsylvanias Clean Slate legislation, passed in 2018, has enabled people with criminal records to access housing and economic opportunities, eviction record-sealing can remove unjust barriers for people with eviction records. We believe this is a necessary first step to promote access to the safe and stable housing that all Pennsylvanians deserve. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Alexa Eisenberg, University of Michigan and Kate Brantley, University of Michigan Read more: Community Legal Services of Philadelphia provided funding to support this research. Community Legal Services of Philadelphia provided funding to support this research. Eviction messes you up forever: Davenport mom, kids live in motel A shortage of affordable housing has thousands of people in the Quad Cities struggling to find safe places to live. More than a thousand people in Scott County could be at risk of being evicted. Iowa Legal Aid says there were about 1,700 households in Scott County behind on rent as of May 27. They owe a total of $1.7 million. Thats roughly $1,000 for each household. About 2,600 children live in those households. Getting an eviction put on you it messes you up forever, said Aletta Johnson, who at the time Our Quad Cities News spoke to her was living in two motel rooms with her four children. One eviction is left on your background for seven to 10 years. Aletta Johnson (Bryan Bobb, OurQuadCities.com) Johnson, who since has found housing in a mobile-home park, lived day by day, and sometimes hour by hour. If you dont have the funds to be able to move somewhere, and pay rent, security deposit, light and gas if you dont have that youre just out on the streets. Homeless. How I am now, she told Our Quad Cities News. Her stepson, who had been staying with the family, got into some trouble with the law, and police arrived at her apartment. Such an incident means an automatic eviction for the renter in a lot of places. An eviction alert pops up when a landlord runs a background check. Johnson never had faced an eviction before. Suddenly, she had only days to find shelter for herself and her children, three of whom are under the age of 10. I have medical issues. I had a fasciotomy on my left arm, she said. She has May-Thurner Syndrome, a condition that affects blood flow. She lost the use of two fingers on her left hand. It hurts when she plays with her kids or tries to lift a gallon of milk. Johnson says she cant work. I cant work a 9 to 5 job. Im on disability. That (check) comes once a month, she said. Her medical issues got so bad she ended up on life support at one point. Her situation snowballed from there. Having to deal with that situation and going through everything Im going through now its like everything just hit all at one time, Johnson said. Its sad because they dont have anybody to support people that go through that. With the help of community organizations and a donation from a sympathetic stranger, Johnson was able to rent the two motel rooms for a time. She says many of the rental options she had may not be safe for her children. Usually the places that dont worry about your background isnt a place youd want to have a family., she said. Most of the motels around here have families in the same situation Im in. Through tears and determination, she faces a future of uncertainty: Not everybody can go out and just pick up from nothing and build back up, just like that. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HARALSON COUNTY, Ga. - A Haralson County jailer has been arrested and fired after being arrested on child sex charges on Tuesday. According to the Haralson County Sheriffs Office, the 30-year-old had been employed as a detention deputy at the Haralson County Jail for a little more than a year. "I have stood for transparency from the day I took office. I know that the GBI has conducted a careful investigation into this case," Sheriff Stacy Williams in a release. "Once we knew the results of the investigation and the atrociousness of the charges, we promptly made the decision to dismiss the former deputy as well as make sure we were transparent to the citizens of Haralson County about this investigation and arrest." The Georgia Bureau of Investigations was asked to handle the investigation. He was ultimately fired and charged with child molestation and aggravated sodomy. He was booked into the Polk County Jail. Due to the nature of the charges, FOX 5 has chosen not to post his mug shot or name him. A former marine operator who worked for the company behind the Titan submersible that imploded last year, killing five on its journey to view the wreck of the Titanic on the bottom of the north Atlantic, told an inquiry that he believed such a tragedy was inevitable as safety standards were flouted. David Lochridge, the former operations director for OceanGate, the firm behind the deep sea diving craft, testified during a US Coast Guard hearing that he alerted the company to safety concerns he had about the submersible, but was largely ignored. His testimony came as video footage of the remains of Titan was released for the first time by the Coast Guard. In the video, a broken tail cone can be seen on the ocean floor, with fragments of the vessel visible around the cone. Related: First picture of wreckage of Titan sub after implosion revealed at hearing During his highly anticipated testimony, Lochridge said that the whole idea of OceanGate was to make money, adding: There was very little in the way of science. Lochridge told the hearing of his doubts about how the Titan was built in 2017. [I had] no confidence whatsoever, and I was very vocal about that, and still am, he said. Lochridge was later fired in 2018 and sued by OceanGate, alleging that he improperly disclosed confidential information to regulators. The company also accused Lochridge of refusing to listen to assurances from a lead engineer on the matter. Lochridge and OceanGate settled their suit in November 2018. Lochridge also gave an account of the OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush, previously crashing another submersible in 2016 after attempting to pilot the vessel to the Andrea Doria shipwreck, located off the Massachusetts coast. During that chaotic and near-disastrous trip, Rush reportedly threw the vessels controls at Lochridge in a fit of rage after a passenger asked that someone else pilot the submersible when, Lochridge said, Stockton rushed the craft too close to the wreck, got into difficulty and panicked, then would not cede control until the tearful passenger yelled at him. The US Coast Guard hearing to investigate the Titan tragedy comes more than a year after the submersible experienced a catastrophic implosion deep underwater under intense ocean pressure on its way to the Titanic wreck at the bottom of the north Atlantic. Five people, including Rush, were killed in the June 2023 incident. The other victims were the British explorer Hamish Harding; the British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman; and the French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet. (Getty Images) A Colorado native and former teenage runaway with a criminal history who moved to South Dakota with her children and became a top student in a law enforcement program wont be allowed to become a police officer in the state. The state Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to deny certification for Samantha Hamm. Commissioners commended her story of self-improvement after a troubled young adulthood and encouraged her to look for work in the criminal justice system, but said the details of a 2020 marijuana arrest were too concerning to certify her. Hamms case was one of two contested hearings that took place Wednesday at the George S. Mickelson Criminal Justice Center in Pierre. The second involved former Mobridge Police Officer Nick Bratland, a training officer who was fired this year for sending dozens of sexually explicit messages to a female trainee over Instagram. Bratland told commissioners hed been struggling with sleep, and that he doesnt remember much of his conduct as a result. But he also said there was no excuse for his behavior and did not deny the allegations. The commission voted to revoke Bratlands certification. Officer candidate says she was forced to be a prostitute Hamm was convicted of prostitution in 2010 after an arrest in Aurora, Colorado. It came after an undercover sting operation during which local officers responded to a Craigslist ad and set up a meeting with her in a hotel room. During the contested hearing on her certification in Pierre, Hamm told commissioners shed run away from home at 13, and again at 16, trying to find anyone that loved me, and fell in with the people who prostituted her. Hamm said she was forced to be a prostitute, and that she was beaten and not allowed to leave. It started slow, with these people taking me into their home, feeding me, promises of a good life, nice cars, money, and then it slowly progressed into prostitution, Hamm said. Her arrest was a blessing, she said, because it made her a liability and allowed her to get away. It opened my eyes to a lot of things, she said. She said at the time, when she was 18, she was unaware that her drivers license had been suspended, which was another of what law enforcement commission staff referred to as a litany of criminal offenses. Hamm apologized for not disclosing the suspension. Marijuana arrest scrutinized In 2020, Hamm was arrested for felony marijuana possession in South Dakota after a traffic stop by a state trooper. The trooper found the remains of a marijuana joint in a baggie with marijuana, as well as eight separate 1-ounce baggies of marijuana, a pistol and hundreds of dollars in cash, according to Hank Prim, law enforcement training director for South Dakota. Hamm later pleaded guilty to felony marijuana possession and received a suspended imposition of sentence. Such a sentence clears a charge from a persons record after a period of good behavior. Hamms public-facing criminal record is now clear, but police have access to information on charges scrubbed from public searches. Hamm told commissioners that shed grown up around marijuana in Colorado, which became one of the first two states in the nation to legalize recreational cannabis in 2012. The other state was Washington. When asked about the individual baggies, she said theyd come from different dispensaries. She was also asked about the amount, questioning how long it would take her to smoke that much marijuana. I smoked quite a bit, Hamm said. I would think three or four times a day. As with the prostitution arrest, Hamm described the situation as a wake-up call. Shed long hoped to become a police officer, but said it wasnt until her arrest that she realized that it was illegal to have a handgun with that much marijuana in South Dakota. At that point, she said, she decided to stop smoking weed altogether, in hopes of working in criminal justice and being a role model to her two children. Were she given the chance to be an officer, she said, her personal experience would help her connect with others in need and build bridges between law enforcement and people living the kind of life she once led. Holding back tears, she described her desire to be an officer, and said I am determined to demonstrate that I am capable of doing so with the highest level of professionalism, compassion and integrity. I want to be a part of the solution, building trust between law enforcement and the community. I want to use my story as a way to connect with the community and show them that change is possible. Commission: Marijuana situation a lot to digest The head of Lake Area Technical Colleges law enforcement program, former Watertown Police Officer Chad Stahl, said he first met Hamm as a student, and that he didnt become aware of the extent of her criminal history until well into her time at the school. Even after that, Stahl said, he sees her as a strong candidate. She was an exceptional student, he said, especially considering that shed started the program as a single mother in her 30s. There was no cause to believe that she would not be an exceptional officer, Stahl said. Brent Kempema, the lawyer heading up the hearing on the commission side, didnt say much in his closing arguments, saying that the evidence speaks for itself. Ill let the commission make the decision as to the veracity of whether or not 8 ounces of marijuana possession is personal use, Kempema said. Thats obviously a large amount. After going into a closed executive session to deliberate, Commissioner Steve Allender, the former mayor and former police chief of Rapid City, moved to deny certification for Hamm. He cited concerns about the amount of marijuana in the 2020 arrest as a prime reason. The commission has forgiven marijuana use by some officers in the past, but Allender said the 2020 situation was too serious to brush off. That simply does not work for us in terms of a standard, he said. Theres a lot to be said in terms of the proximity in time, the amount, the cash and the gun. Theres a lot to digest there, and so today, 2024, this doesnt seem to pass muster. But Allender also told Hamm that she ought to pursue a career in criminal justice. He said her personal story can serve her in any other role shed choose in the profession. I dont think any of us think your degree in law enforcement was wasted, he said. Your personal change is not unnoticed. Your desire to be better for your children and your community is admirable. In fact, if more people felt that way, wed have better communities. Mobridge training officer loses certification Bratlands hearing came about two hours after the vote on Hamms situation. The former Mobridge officer had been a trainer for the department, a position he described during his hearing as both mentor and supervisor. He trained three officers in total while serving in that role, he said, and sent the harassing messages to the third. Two of the trainees were women. Bratland said he only remembered sending one of the sexually explicit messages to her, but admitted at the start of the hearing that hed sent them over Instagram. He also admitted to sending a message to the harassed officers boss claiming shed been making up stories about him. Through multiple rounds of questioning, Bratland said he only remembered sending one message. If I quick-count here, there were more than 20 of a sexual nature, Allender said. Were all these sent while on duty? At one point after his behavior was reported, Bratland told a supervisor that hed meant to send the message to male colleagues and had accidentally sent it to the female officer. Despite his explanation of sleep deprivation, he told commissioners he knows his conduct was wrong, and that he expected to be punished for it. I have no excuse. I messed up, thats why Im here, Bratland said. At one point, Commissioner and Division of Criminal Investigation Director Dan Satterlee asked Bratland if hed forgotten anything else during the time he was missing so much sleep, such as traffic stops or interviews. Bratland said he doesnt have lapsed memories. During your duties, the only part you dont remember is this part? Satterlee said. The commission voted to revoke his certification after around half an hour in executive session. The commissions next meeting will take place in Sioux Falls on Oct. 30. EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect corrections. An earlier version of the story misstated the number of women trained by Nick Bratland, and included inaccurate information about medical conditions related to his time as a service member. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE FILE PHOTO: An Israeli naval officer stands on the pier in Haifa as INS Tanin docks after its arrival in Israel FILE PHOTO: An Israeli naval officer stands on the pier in Haifa as INS Tanin docks after its arrival in Israel By Riham Alkousaa BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry. A source close to the ministry cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law. The Economy Ministry said on Thursday there was no ban on arms exports to Israel and there would not be one, with decisions made case-by-case after careful review, adding that international law, foreign and security policy were key factors in their assessments. "There is no German arms export boycott against Israel," a spokesperson for government said on Wednesday, commenting on the report. Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($363.5 million), including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022, according to data from the Economy Ministry, which approves export licences. However approvals have dropped this year, with only 14.5 million euros' worth granted from January to Aug. 21, according to data provided by the Economy Ministry in response to a parliamentary question. Of this, the weapons of war category accounted for only 32,449 euros. In its defence of two cases, one before the International Court of Justice and one in Berlin brought by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, the government has said no weapons of war have been exported under any licence issued since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, apart from spares for long-term contracts, the source added. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, according to the local Hamas-controlled health ministry. It has also displaced most of the population of 2.3 million, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court, which Israel denies. No case challenging German arms exports to Israel has yet succeeded, including a case brought by Nicaragua at the ICJ. DISAGREEMENT ON ARMS EXPORTS IN GERMAN GOVERNMENT But the issue has created friction within the government as the Chancellery maintains its support for Israel while the Greens-led economy and foreign ministries, sensitive to criticism from party members, have increasingly criticised the Netanyahu administration. Legal challenges across Europe have also led other allies of Israel to pause or suspend arms exports. Britain this month suspended 30 out of 350 licences for arms exports to Israel due to concerns that Israel could be violating international humanitarian law. In February, a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to halt all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns about their use in attacks on civilian targets in Gaza. President Joe Biden's administration this year paused - but then resumed - shipments of some bombs to Israel after U.S. concerns about their use in densely populated Gaza. Approvals and shipments of other types of weapons, in more precise systems, continued as U.S. officials maintained that Israel needed the capacity to defend itself. Alexander Schwarz, a lawyer at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, which has filed five lawsuits against Berlin, suggested that the significant decline in approvals for 2024 indicated a genuine, though possibly temporary, reluctance to supply weapons to Israel. "However, I would not interpret this as a conscious change in policy," Schwarz added. ($1 = 0.8981 euros) (Reporting by Riham Alkousaa in Berlin; additional reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Lisa Shumaker and Alex Richardson) Qilai Shen / Bloomberg / Getty Images A Starbucks store in Shanghai, China Key Takeaways Addressing lagging sales in China has been seen as a key issue for new Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol. Bank of America analysts said Wednesday that his global experience should help. The coffee giant's sales have fallen in China in recent years, with executives citing a slow post-COVID economy as a reason. Starbucks' China same-store sales dropped by 14% year-over-year in the most recent quarter. Starbucks' (SBUX) falling sales in China are one of the major issues for new CEO Brian Niccol, who took over the top job earlier this month. Bank of America analysts said Wednesday that Niccol's experience should help tackle the problem. Niccol's history as CEO at both Yum! Brands' (YUM) Taco Bell restaurants and, more recently, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) gives him experience in dealing with licensing and international expansionskills that potentially could help Starbucks' recovery in China. The analysts gave their Starbucks price target a slight bump Wednesday to $118 from $112, while maintaining a "buy" rating. From 2010 through 2017, they said, Starbucks' same-store sales growth in China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region averaged 10% per year, with growth in China around 5% annually from 2016 through 2019. That has fallen to an average 3% annual decline in same-store sales since the onset of COVID. How Niccol's Experience Could Help Starbucks The analysts said Niccol's previous experience with franchising and licensing at Yum! Brands and Chipotle could mean the new Starbucks CEO is "receptive" to licensing the Starbucks brand. Licensing Starbucks in China could allow the company to use "fewer managerial resources" to run its operations there, and to focus on higher-margin operations in the U.S. Same-store sales dropped in China by 14% year-over-year in the most recent quarter, as the company has seen a decline in both foot traffic and average ticket. Former CEO Laxman Narasimhan said earlier this year that China sales were affected by a "more cautious consumer" and competition from fast-growing domestic brands. Starbucks shares were up less than 1% in recent trading. They're up about that much this year, rising substantially after Niccol was hired. Read the original article on Investopedia. New research may help educators and families zero in on exactly how the COVID-19 pandemic caused such an unprecedented academic slump, suggesting that the culprit lies in something basic and crucial: childrens ability to think, remember and problem-solve. And heres a twist: The same core difficulties are bedeviling teachers too. The findings, contained in a new working paper, are believed to be the first to identify brain changes as an explanation for why students have suffered, both inside and outside the classroom, since the pandemic drove millions out of the classroom. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Nancy Tsai, a Harvard University psychologist who studies the effects of stress on executive functions and who is the studys lead author, said the new findings offer the first evidence to help us understand the why of the pandemic downturn what is actually causing all these issues that were seeing and talking about in the news. The paper, from the private tutoring firm MindPrint Learning, examines the cognitive skills of students nationwide and finds that, simply put, over the past several years, kids famously ever-changing brains have changed for the worse. Since the pandemics onset, students across all ages and economic levels have begun to demonstrate weaker memory and flexible thinking skills those represent the mental bandwidth needed for multitasking, shifting from one activity to another and juggling the days demands. But for a few groups, such as younger and lower-income children, the changes have been more profound. They also show that their teachers brains are weaker in almost identical ways, which could help explain high rates of frustration and burnout. They suggest school districts have their work cut out for them if they want to keep their best employees on the payroll and returning to the classroom each fall. Understanding the why of pandemic downturn The data come from a large, widely-used assessment, the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery, developed in 2013 at the University of Pennsylvania. It consists of a series of cognitive tasks that measure subjects accuracy and speed in several major cognitive domains, including working memory, abstraction, sustained attention, episodic memory and processing speed. MindPrint has administered the assessment periodically to its clients over the past decade. The most recent rounds totaled 35,000 students and 4,000 teachers in 27 states. Related Why America Is Lagging Behind in Catching Students Up After COVID By most measures, U.S. students are suffering. Last year, NAEP scores showed the average 13-year-olds understanding of math dropping to levels last seen in the 1990s and reading levels dropping to 1971, when the test was first administered. More recent research has shown that while older children are showing encouraging signs of academic recovery, younger kids arent making the same progress. Many students who werent even in a formal school setting when COVID hit are already falling behind especially in math. The Penn assessment found that children who attended elementary or pre-school during the pandemic and who are now 8 to13 years old showed the largest declines in memory. Younger kids havent really developed a lot of these core cognitive skills, Tsai said. It hasnt solidified for them, either through development or just through practice in the classroom. And so younger kids are more vulnerable to these pandemic shifts. Younger kids are more vulnerable to these pandemic shifts. Nancy Tsai, Harvard University But students across all age groups showed worse flexible thinking, which researchers now theorize contributes to lower academic performance as well as challenging behaviors. Tsai said kids from lower income backgrounds were more vulnerable to these changes, specifically in verbal reasoning and verbal memory, than their higher income peers, with bigger declines in verbal scores, which are highly correlated with academic achievement in all subjects. Adults in the study had similar declines in both memory and flexible thinking, possibly explaining higher reported levels of teacher dissatisfaction and low morale. Related Educations Long COVID: New Data Shows Recovery Stalled for Most Students Nancy Weinstein, MindPrints CEO, said weaker flexible thinking isnt necessarily a problem for experienced teachers who have developed strategies to cope with stressful situations and can modify plans on the fly. But those with less experience may be unable to change gears when lessons go astray or students act out in class. That may lead to higher teacher burnout. Nancy Weinstein, MindPrint CEO Across the board, teachers skills suffered in areas such as verbal and abstract reasoning, spatial perception, attention and working memory, but they saw the greatest losses in verbal memory and flexible thinking. If we care about that, we need to know how to help them, Weinstein said. And there are some tried and true things you can do. She said schools should consider sharing data like this with teachers so they can understand that their frustration in class might not be due to students alone. That could make a big difference, she said, in their willingness to put in the effort to change, as opposed to saying, Why bother? Related Students Headed to High School Are Academically a Year Behind, COVID Study Finds For students, Weinstein said, offering them more opportunities to practice skills with breaks and rest between study sessions could help. Schools should also consider scaffolded memorization techniques that break learning into chunks and address each individually. Could such techniques help students and teachers regain a measure of pre-pandemic skills? Weinstein suggests the answer is Yes. The environment will matter, but certainly we can regain some of that if we do the right things, she said. And we know what the right things are to do. Crystal Green-Braswell, coordinator of staff wellness and culture for the Little Rock School District in Arkansas, said offering the Penn assessment to teachers and staff has helped many think more deeply about their work and about their own thinking. People who have had the assessment will say, Now, you know my processing speed is slower yall are going to have to give me a moment, she said. Thats a huge change in a profession in which most workers have been asked to take ourselves out of the equation and just get the work done, Green-Braswell said. She sees offering such insights to educators as part of rehumanizing teaching. When we provide this kind of assessment and we provide this kind of space for folks to actually get to know themselves, we are humanizing this profession and helping people to realize, You play a role. You play an active role. You matter. KONA, Hawaii (KHON2) The annual Native Hawaiian Convention is underway on Hawaii Island to celebrate cultural stories and communities. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Members of the Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement held the convention at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Kona. Queen Liliuokalani deposed as a result of new constitution CEO of CNHA Kuhio Lewis joined Kamaka ili to discuss the topics and events that would be taking place over the next three days. This is an amazing gathering. This is our first time on Hawaii Island. So you can expect a lot of rich history and cultural sharing. Were going to learn about Hawaii Island. Theres a little bit of everything from education to health to traditional practices to culture and arts. Theres really just something for everybody to embrace. But its going to be based on the foundation in the aina in which this convention is being had, and thats Hawaii Island, Lewis explained. According to Lewis, the 2024 convention is the largest with more than 2,000 registrants. The other thing is watching our community active in the community, at the legislature, or whether its doing policy work or even working, you know, elevating themselves through workforce development. So the things that you see happening in the community, I would hope that a lot of it is stimulated through convention conversations, he added. This year, the convention aims to connect with the new generation to provide new, fresh and exciting ways to make Hawaiian culture and history relevant today. Thats why conventions are always different. Theyre moving around because I think thats what our community wants. Check out more news from around Hawaii The last convention was held in Las Vegas six months ago, with the latest one on Hawaii Island. Tune in for Wake Up 2Day for the next three days for more coverage on KHON2. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Experts are watching in disbelief as drug overdose deaths in the US are suddenly starting to drop, bucking a long and tragic rise. As NPR reports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found reported drug overdose deaths plummeted by over 12 percent between April 2023 and April 2024 in the US. In Ohio alone a state with among the highest drug death rates in the country overdose deaths are down a stunning 31 percent so far this year. "In the states that have the most rapid data collection systems, were seeing declines of twenty percent, thirty percent," University of North Carolina street drugs expert Nabarun Dasgupta told NPR. The drop is a triumph, because overdose deaths in the US have steadily rising for decades. And despite the most recent drop-off, around 100,000 people are still dying per year a numbing tragedy that has experts warning we shouldn't get too optimistic just yet. There's also the issue that researchers are struggling to explain what's behind the decline. Could it be the expanded distribution of life-saving drugs like naloxene, a fast-acting treatment that reserves the effects of opioid overdoses? Last year alone, 22 million doses of naloxene were distributed across the US and Canada. Fentanyl test strips are equally becoming more common, allowing users to figure out what's actually in the drugs they buy to manage risk. Another grim possible explanation: relentless drug overdoses have hollowed out the population of active users, meaning there are fewer people taking the drugs and putting themselves in harm's way. The proliferation of the powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl has had a grim effect on drug deaths, with overdoses skyrocketing over the last five years. Between January 2020 and January 2021, overdose deaths involving opioids rose a stunning 38.1 percent. Of course, that makes the most recent precipitous drop all the more surprising. "We don't have anything that would predict this magnitude of effect this quickly," Dasgupta told NPR. It's possible that it's just a blip, and that overdose deaths will level off or start to rise again. But some optimistic experts are hoping. "This is where we're all going to differ," University of California San Francisco addiction researcher Daniel Ciccarone told NPR. "Everyone is going to come out and claim that what they did is what caused the decline." Nonetheless, experts are taking the latest news as a hopeful sign. "It absolutely seems things are going in the right direction, and it's something we should feel pleased about," University of Missouri St. Louis director of addiction science Rachel Winograd told NPR. More on fentanyl: Oregon Forced to Recriminalize Drugs After Disastrous Decriminalization Experiment Experts Think Israel May Have Rigged 2,800 Pagers to Explode in Lebanon Israel masterminded the coordinated attack that caused thousands of pagers across Lebanon to explode on Tuesday, injuring thousands in an operation targeting Hezbollah, according to The New York Times. Some American and other officials briefed on the operation told the newspaper that the pagers had been intercepted and tampered with before reaching Lebanon. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from a Taiwan-based manufacturing firm called Gold Apollo. The company told reporters on Tuesday that the pagers had actually been made by a European company using the Gold Apollo brand. Exploding Pagers Kill 9 and Injure Thousands in Attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon A tiny amount of explosive material and a switch were placed in each pager, two officials told the Times. The explosives went undetected by Hezbollah for months. Then, around 3:30 p.m. in Lebanon, the pagers simultaneously received a message that remotely detonated them. The explosions killed at least nine people and injured more than 2,800 others, including at least 170 who were in critical condition late Tuesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Hezbollah said that a young girl and her two brothers were among the dead. Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have publicly blamed Israel for the attack, with the paramilitary group vowing retaliation. In a later statement, Hezbollah said that after examining all the facts, available data and information about the heinous attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians and led to the martyrdom of a number of people. Israel has not claimed responsibility or otherwise commented on the event. 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. Yahoo Finance After China announced broad measures to rescue its economy, Chinese stocks surged, our Chart of the Week shows. It's not the first time the country has attempted to get out of the recent doldrums, but the market's reaction says this time might be different. Explosions heard in Kyiv as air defence responds on city outskirts Explosions were heard in the city of Kyiv on the night of 17-18 September. Source: Suspilne; Kyiv City Military Administration; Ukraine's Air Force Details: Serhii Popko, Head of Kyiv City Military Administration, reported that air defence systems were responding near Kyiv. He urged residents to stay in shelters until the all-clear is given. The Air Force had previously warned residents that a Shahed drone was heading toward Kyiv, adding that air defence systems may be responding. Background: On the evening of 17 September, Russian forces launched attack drones into Ukraine. Air defence systems were responding in Kyiv Oblast. Explosions were also heard in the city of Kropyvnytskyi. Support UP or become our patron! Explosions were heard in the city of Sumy on the night of 17-18 September. Source: Suspilne; Ukraine's Air Force Details: The Air Force warned residents that guided bombs were launched on Sumy Oblast at around 03:00. Following the warning, local residents reported hearing explosions in the city of Sumy. Background: On the evening of 17 September, Russian forces launched attack drones into Ukraine. Air defence systems were responding in Kyiv Oblast. Explosions were also heard in the city of Kropyvnytskyi. Support UP or become our patron! (NewsNation) More than 450 people were injured and 14 killed in Lebanon after electronic devices exploded, the second consecutive day that devices belonging to members of Hezbollah detonated without warning. The devices were initially traced back to a Taiwan-based company, but that company issued a statement saying they were made and sold by a Hungarian manufacturer that has a license to use the brand name. Former U.S. intelligence official Norman Roule told NewsNation the explosions are part of ongoing efforts to hit Hezbollah members while reducing collateral damage. Titan submersible CEO was a murderer: Titanic expedition leader What youre looking at is the execution of a long-term campaign to target Hezbollah combatants and operational leaders in a way that would minimize civilian casualties, he said. The devices included walkie-talkies, pagers, laptops and even reportedly solar panels. As for whether more incidents can be expected, Roule said its likely Hezbollah will retaliate against Israel, where Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said a new era of conflict is beginning, which was seen as an acknowledgment of Israels responsibility for Tuesdays attack. The operation is significant, Roule said. It will introduce chaos into Hezbollahs decision-making and will take off their operational capacity. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. A sign with the federal eagle and the words Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), taken in front of the Federal Constitutional Court. Uli Deck/dpa Eyeing the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), German political leaders are moving to reinforce the independence of the country's Federal Constitutional Court. Kathrin Wahlmann, justice minister in the north-western state of Lower Saxony, on Wednesday said Germany's states could become "an additional bulwark against authoritarian forces." Wahlmann presented a plan that would require approval from Germany's upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, on any measure reforming the Karlsruhe-based Constitutional Court. The Bundesrat represents the interests of the 16 federal states. Wahlmann said the move would "create a second strong line of defence in the fight against the enemies of our democracy," she argued. The latest proposal comes weeks after Germany's main political parties agreed to enshrine protections for the court in Germany's constitution, the Basic Law. At present, reforms to the court are possible with a simple majority in the Bundestag, or lower house. Under the plan by Germany's mainstream parties, there would be 12-year term limits for judges and a retirement of age of 68 in the Basic Law. Germany's Basic Law can only be amended by a two-thirds majority in both chambers of parliament. Wahlmann's new proposal would bolster the government's plans, she said. She highlighted the recent case of neighbouring Poland, where the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party was able to push through highly controversial judicial reforms during its two terms in office, as proof for why strong constitutional protections are necessary. Germany's main political parties are increasingly wary about the AfD, which earlier this month became the first far-right party to win a state election in the country since World War II. Kathrin Wahlmann, Minister of Justice of Lower Saxony, speaks at a cabinet press conference. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa Fact Check: This Is a Fake Story About Man Getting 23-Year Jail Sentence for Eating 75 Pounds of Prime Rib at Golden Corral Claim: A Louisiana man received a 23-year jail sentence for eating 75 pounds of prime rib at a Golden Corral restaurant. Rating: Rating: False Social media posts on Facebook (archive) and TikTok (archive) claim a Louisiana man was sentenced to 23 years of jail time for eating 75 pounds of prime rib at a Golden Corral restaurant. No credible news reports confirmed the above-described event, and an image supposedly documenting a Louisiana news station's coverage of it shows clear signs of digital manipulation. Furthermore, at the time of this publication, Golden Corral buffet menus (archive) did not include prime rib. For these reasons, we have rated this claim false. An August 2023 TikTok video with the claim provided no evidence to corroborate the alleged story, such as the name of the man supposedly sentenced or when his sentencing allegedly occurred. No official sources, citations, or links were in the post for a viewer to cross-verify its information. The image in the social media posts includes a logo for KPLC 7 News, a real TV news station based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and affiliated with NBC. However, a keyword search of the channel's published content yielded no stories about the purported sentencing over prime rib. Snopes also looked through archived versions of the KPLC website from August 2023 when the claim seemed to have first surfaced online and did not find a related article. Similarly, a search through Google News' archive of thousands of reports by reliable media outlets (archive) found no evidence to corroborate the claim. If an arrest or sentencing of this nature had actually occurred, news outlets, presumably, would have covered it. Furthermore, there are visual indications that the image said to depict the man's mugshot was digitally altered. For example, the neck doesn't appear to fit proportionally to the body. (Screengrab/Facebook) The KPLC brand logo shown in the Facebook and TikTok posts also shows signs of digital editing, such as pixelated lettering and white smudging around the red circle (the latter suggests an eraser tool was used). (Screengrab/Facebook) Compared to a screenshot of KPLC's genuine logo as of August 2023 (shown below on the right), the in-question image (bottom left) looks off: (Screengrab/Facebook/KPLC) Snopes could not identify the man shown in the supposed mugshot. However, a reverse-image search revealed several different memes that have used his face since at least 2009. Below is a side-by-side comparison of a version that has existed since 2009 and the digitally edited image that appeared in the posts about the Golden Corral rumor: (Screengrab/TinEye/Facebook) Snopes debunked a similar claim in 2016 that suggested a man was suing Golden Corral because he was kicked out of one of its restaurants after spending seven hours at its buffet. Sources: Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/LJOn24s/posts/saycheesetv-akademiks-viralreels-viralpics/729490959175938/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024. "KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana." Https://Www.Kplctv.Com, https://www.kplctv.com. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024. "Search." Https://Www.Kplctv.Com, https://www.kplctv.com/search/?query=Golden%20Corral. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024. TikTok - Make Your Day. https://www.tiktok.com/@chunkycreole/video/7268374457683791150. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024. (Reuters) - Boeing and its largest union will restart contract talks on Wednesday in the presence of federal mediators, after failing to agree on key issues such as wages and pensions, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said. The union, whose members went on strike last Friday, has been pushing for a 40% raise over four years in its first full contract negotiations with Boeing in 16 years, well above the planemaker's offer of 25%, which was resoundingly rejected. A prolonged strike could cost Boeing several billion dollars, further straining the planemaker's finances and threatening a downgrade of its credit rating, analysts said. "After a full day of mediation, we are frustrated, the company was not prepared and was unwilling to address the issues you've made clear are essential for ending this strike: Wages and Pension." the union representing more than 30,000 Boeing factory workers said on X following Tuesday's meeting. "The company doesn't seem to be taking mediation seriously. With a 96% strike vote, we thought Boeing would finally understand that IAM 751 Machinists are demanding more. We are fighting for what is right and just - for what we have earned over the past 16 years," it added. The strike, which enters its sixth day on Wednesday, is Boeing's first since 2008 and is the latest event in a tumultuous year for the planemaker that began with a January incident when a door panel detached from a new 737 MAX jet mid-air. Boeing and the U.S. Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment outside normal business hours. The strike has halted production of Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX jets, along with its 777 and 767 widebody aircraft, delaying deliveries to airlines. Boeing said on Monday it was freezing hiring and weighing temporary furloughs to cut costs as its balance sheet is already burdened with $60 billion of debt and a prolonged strike could damage it further. The company has also stopped placing most orders for parts for all Boeing jet programs except the 787 Dreamliner, in a move that will hurt its suppliers. Shares are down about 40% this year. (Reporting by Gursimran Kaur, Utkarsh Shetti and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed and Anil D'Silva) Fact Check: No, Harris Didn't Say 'I Promise to Do Everything I Could Have Done but Didn't Do' Claim: Vice President Kamala Harris once said, I promise to do everything I could have done but didn't do because if I did it I wouldn't have to promise to do it, even though I could do it now, but don't because I don't know what to do otherwise I would have done it. Rating: Rating: Misattributed In September 2024, a quote attributed to presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris went viral, largely because of its apparent rambling content. Harris allegedly said, "I promise to do everything I could have done but didn't do because if I did it I wouldn't have to promise to do it, even though I could do it now, but don't because I don't know what to do otherwise I would have done it." While readers shared this quote with us, we also found it was spread on X as well as on meme sites like iFunny. An X account attributed to conservative actor Kevin Sorbo also shared a meme with the quote. (X user @ksorbs) We found no video, audio or other documentary evidence suggesting Harris ever spoke or wrote the words in the above quote. As such, we rate this claim misattributed. Using Google's reverse image search, we found the claim largely began circulating in September 2024. A simple Google search for the quote also directed us to an X account titled "Kamala Harris (barely parody)" which shared the quote on Sept. 13, 2024. The account profile also describes itself as parody and has frequently misattributed nonsensical quotes to Harris, including one in which she allegedly said, "In these times, and at other times, all of the time, but not every time, we are committed to work together. When some of the times melt into the other times that aren't the sometimes, the every time will be attainable." We searched for variations of the quote, including "I promise to do everything," "I don't know what to do" and "otherwise I would have done it." We surrounded the phrases with quotation marks instructing Google to only display results for an exact match. Harris herself has never said anything remotely similar to the quote in question. If the quote truly originated from Harris, news websites and even right-wing blogs would likely have widely covered it. We found no such coverage. This is not the first time nonsensical quotes have been misattributed to Harris during the 2024 election cycle. We covered the incorrect claims that Harris said "'the problem of solving a problem is not a problem" and "the reason we celebrate the Fourth of July is because this is July." Sources: 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 17 Sept. 2024. Liles, Jordan. "No, Kamala Harris Didn't Say 'the Problem of Solving a Problem Is Not a Problem.'" Snopes, 24 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-problem-quote/." target="blank">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-problem-quote/.">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-problem-quote/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024. Liles, Jordan. "No, Kamala Harris Didn't Say, 'The Reason We Celebrate the Fourth of July Is Because This Is July.'" Snopes, 25 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-july-4th-quote/." target="blank">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-july-4th-quote/.">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-july-4th-quote/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024. Claim: A photo from 2001 authentically showed Kamala Harris attending an event with Sean "Diddy" Combs. Rating: Rating: Fake Context: The man photographed alongside Harris was Montel Williams, a television host and actor, not Combs. The hip-hop mogul's face was edited into the picture, replacing Williams'. On Sept. 17, 2024, an X user posted a photo (archived) they claimed showed a young U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attending a party with Sean "Diddy" Combs, the rapper and hip-hop mogul who was arrested the day before on sex trafficking charges. The image, which spread on X and Facebook, showed Harris standing alongside a man and a woman while posing for photographers at an event. A number of X posts (archived here and here) claimed the image showed Harris standing next to Combs. (X user @scorpion920) However, the photo had been digitally edited to include Combs' face, therefore we have rated it as a fake. Instead, the man she was actually next to was Montel Williams, an actor and television host. Combs' face replaced Williams' in the edited image. Harris and Williams were attending a red-carpet event in 2001 alongside the TV host's daughter, Ashley Williams. Newsmagazine TV program "Inside Edition" posted footage from the event on YouTube in November 2020. According to the caption of a similar Getty Images photo from that day, the event was the eighth annual Race to Erase Multiple Sclerosis benefit at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, California. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images) Social media users also claimed the video from the event showed Harris and Combs together. Snopes has covered rumors about Harris and Williams' relationship before, including verifying the same photographs of them at the 2001 event. In 2020, Williams said the following about Harris: "Kamala Harris and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single. So what? I have great respect for Sen. Harris. I have to wonder if the same stories about her dating history would have been written if she were a male candidate?" Combs was arrested in mid-September 2024 on suspicion of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and interstate transportation for prostitution. In March 2024, his properties were raided as part of an ongoing investigation. He also faced a number of court cases over sexual assault allegations. The rapper and mogul is in jail and awaiting trial as of this writing. Sources: "A Look Back at Kamala Harris From 2001." Inside Edition, Nov. 9, 2020, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbDK0z5V0UQ&t=42s. Accessed 18 Sept. 2024. "Ashley Williams, Montel Williams and Kamala Harris Attend Eighth..." Getty Images, 16 Nov. 2020, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ashley-williams-montel-williams-and-kamala-harris-attend-news-photo/1285988530. Accessed 18 Sept. 2024. Evon, Dan. "Do Photos Show Kamala Harris With Montel Williams?" Snopes, 13 Nov. 2020, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-montel-williams/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2024. Oxford, Dwayne. "Sex Trafficking and Racketeering: The Charges against Sean 'Diddy' Combs." Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/18/sex-trafficking-and-racketeering-the-charges-against-sean-diddy-combs. Accessed 18 Sept. 2024. Factbox-Central Europe experiencing worst floods in at least two decades WARSAW (Reuters) - Central Europe is experiencing the worst floods in at least two decades, with a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland and and the deaths of at least 23 people so far. Below are the main facts on the current situation in affected countries, estimated costs of damages and governments' help. POLAND * Four provinces in southwestern Poland are covered by the highest level of hydrological warnings against level 3 floods. * The Polish defence ministry said more than 14,000 soldiers had been deployed to flood-hit regions. * Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the damage caused by the floods will reach billions of zlotys. Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told a crisis meeting that 2 billion zlotys ($521 million) in funds had been secured for immediate help. * Minister for Funds and Regional DevelopmentKatarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz said 1.5 billion zlotys from Poland's European Union funds would be redirectedto reconstruction, with another 3.5 billion zlotys potentiallyallocated to building floodwalls, reservoirs and dams. HUNGARY * The peak levels of the flood have entered Hungary and it is expected to last until Thursday. The flood is expected to fall short of the record levels seen in 2013. * The emergency reservoir near Mosonmagyarovar has been opened, which is expected to lower the water level on the Leitha river by 20 cm. * The defence effort is underway on 544 km of rivers in Hungary in total, with the highest degree of flood alert in place on 225 km. * Nearly 4,400 people are involved in the defence effort, including 1,288 water management personnel, 1,677 soldiers, 312 police officers and 117 prisoners. * The River Danube is expected to peak in Budapest late on Saturday with 846 cm, below its 2013 record of 891 cm. THE CZECH REPUBLIC * Rising rivers affected nearly all parts of the Czech Republic, except for some western areas. * The hardest-hit regions were in the northeast, along the Polish border, in an area spanning more than 100 km. Parts of the country's third-largest city Ostrava, with a population of around 295,000, were hit by flooding. * Flooding affected 10 square km and 6,500 buildings in Opava, a city of 56,000 just west of Ostrava. * Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said damage could be in the ballpark of around 100 billion Czech crowns ($4.44 billion). That is equal to about 1.25% of gross domestic product. * The Czech Insurance Association's (CAP) first estimate of flood damage for insured property reached 17 billion crowns. AUSTRIA * The hardest-hit part of Austria has been the province of Lower Austria, which surrounds Vienna and borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia. * Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the federal disaster fund will increase to 1 billion euros ($1.11 billion) and companies severely affected by flooding will be able to postpone tax payments. ROMANIA * Rainfall in Romania and subsequent flash floods affected dozens of villages and small towns across eight counties, with the eastern counties of Galati and Vaslui the worst hit. * While the government is still assessing the total cost of the damages, initial estimates show roughly 6,500 homes have been damaged, impacting more than 15,000 people. * The coalition government has allocated 100 million lei ($22.37 million) in immediate aid to families affected by floods. The county council of Galati has allocated just under 1 million lei to cover initial clean up costs, including the removal of dead animals. * Romania has a mandatory home insurance scheme for natural disasters including earthquakes, floods and landslides, but the insurance pool overseeing the scheme says average coverage rates in rural areas of Galati and Vaslui are at 7% and 8%, respectively, sharply below the national average of 23%. SLOVAKIA * Slovakia's Environment Minister Tomas Taraba said the Danube had peaked at nearly 10 m (32.81 ft) and water levels would now slowly fall. He said damage caused by floods throughout the country was estimated at 20 million euros. ($1 = 3.8372 zlotys) ($1 = 22.5300 Czech crowns) ($1 = 0.8990 euros) ($1 = 4.4702 lei) (Reporting by Anna Koper in Warsaw, Gergely Szakacs in Budapest, Luiza Ilie in Bucharest and Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Angus MacSwan) A computer lit by a displayed cyber code is seen in this illustration picture JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Although Israel has not commented on the intelligence operation that caused thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon to explode almost simultaneously, the attack has put a spotlight on Israel's secretive 8200 cyber warfare unit. Here are some facts about the Israel Defence Forces' specialist cyber warfare and intelligence unit, known in Israel by its numbers in Hebrew "shmone matayim," which is part of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate. - Unit 8200 is the equivalent of the U.S. National Security Agency or Britain's GCHQ, and is the largest single military unit in the Israel Defence Forces. It is descended from early codebreaking and intelligence units formed at the birth of the state of Israel in 1948. - Its activities are usually highly secret and range from signals intelligence to data mining and technological attacks and strikes. - Some of the operations it has allegedly been involved in include the 2005-10 Stuxnet virus attack that disabled Iranian nuclear centrifuges, a 2017 cyberattack on Lebanon's state telecoms company Ogero, and the thwarting of an ISIS attack on a civilian airliner travelling from Australia to the United Arab Emirates in 2018. - Last year, its commanding officer told a conference in Tel Aviv that the unit has used artificial intelligence technology to help select Hamas targets. - As well as spying on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, it operates in all areas, including combat zones, and in wartime is integrated closely with combat command headquarters. - Its personnel are selected from young people in their late teens and early 20s, some identified from highly competitive high school programmes, and many of whom have gone on to careers in Israel's booming high tech and cyber security sector. - Former members say the unit's culture resembles that of a startup with small teams working on problems with an unusual degree of freedom that is designed to foster creativity. - Along with the rest of the defence and security establishment, the unit's reputation took a hit over the military's failure to forestall the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the unit's commander announced this month he would be resigning. - In 2014, a group of 43 reservists published an open letter denouncing "unethical" surveillance by the unit of Palestinians not involved in violence. (Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Sharon Singleton) As Donald Trump and his Republican allies amplify anti-immigrant rhetoric by promoting false claims about migrants in a small Ohio town stealing and eating other residents' pets, social media users are claiming that The Atlantic celebrated the supposed practice in a headline. But the US magazine, a frequent target of disinformation, published no such article; a spokesperson told AFP the apparent screenshot spreading online is fake. "Why Migrants Eating Cats Might Be A Good Thing," says what appears to be a headline from The Atlantic, shared on X on September 14, 2024. A subheading on the article, which is credited to "The Editors," reads: "Conservatives don't understand the cultural importance of traditional Haitian cuisine." The purported screenshot spread across X, with users accusing the magazine of trying to "normalize" eating people's pets. "Did I not call it? Didn't I say a few days ago that they would normalize eating our pets in Springfield? The left went nuts on me," says one September 15, 2024 post. "Well, here we are, folks. It's happening. This will never be normal or acceptable in America. Come near my dogs, and I will protect them. Deport all illegals." Screenshot from X taken September 18, 2024 The posts come as Republicans have promoted conspiracy theories that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating people's dogs, cats and other pets -- claims that local officials have repeatedly said are unfounded. Trump amplified the allegations on his Truth Social platform and again during the September 10, 2024 debate against Kamala Harris. "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats," he said during the ABC debate. "They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country." The bogus rumors rely on a mix of unrelated crime reports, out-of-context images and baseless allegations, an AFP investigation found. But they have scarred Haitians in the area, some of whom told AFP they are fearing for their lives. Dozens of bomb threats have targeted the town, causing multiple schools to evacuate. The Atlantic, meanwhile, never published the headline declaring migrant pet-eating "a good thing." "This is fake," said Anna Bross, the outlet's senior vice president of communications, in a September 17 email. "It is not a screenshot of an actual Atlantic article. We have published no such thing." Bross told AFP the magazine has reported the image as a fake and a trademark infringement. She added that social media users looking to check if a headline is authentic can always consult their website. "It's remarkably easy to verify if something is real -- or not -- by visiting The Atlantic and searching our site." A search of the website turned up no results matching the made-up headline (archived here). Nor did an advanced search of Google (archived here). AFP has previously debunked other fabricated Atlantic headlines, including here, here and here. Fake story claiming Kamala Harris was involved in a hit-and-run was created by Russian troll farm: Microsoft Kremlin-affiliated troll farms spread false stories about car accident and Harris policies, Microsoft found (AFP via Getty Images) A Russian troll farm was behind false claims Kamala Harris was involved in a 2011 hit-and-run accident and other inflammatory stories that spread online, according to a report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center. A Kremlin-aligned group, dubbed Storm-1516 in the report, created a fake San Francisco-area website in August to publish a video featuring a paid actor talking about the alleged incident. In the video, a young Black woman claimed she cannot remain silent anymore. The site was taken down shortly after being created, and a CBS News fact-check found no public records, news reports, or police information to back up the 2011 story, but that didnt stop millions of people from seeing it on social media, according to the report. As the election approaches, people get more heated, Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center told The Associated Press on Tuesday. People tend to take in information from sources they dont really know or wouldnt even know to evaluate. Russian troll farms have reportedly been targeting the Harris campaign by spreading inflammatory false stories (AFP via Getty Images) The troll farm also posted a fake video showing two Black men beating up a bloodied white woman at a Trump rally. Another Russian group, meanwhile, allegedly spread online claims about Harriss stance on gender-affirming surgeries, using images of a fake Times Square billboard. The Independent has contacted the Harris campaign and the Russian Embassy in the U.S. for comment. On Monday, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta said it was banning Russian state media organization from its platforms. After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets: Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity, Meta said in a statement. Russian officials told the AP Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable. Earlier this month, Dimitri Simes, a Russia expert and former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, was indicted for allegedly breaking U.S. sanctions by working for Russian state TV. He denies wrongdoing. Autumn allergies have folks coughing, sneezing and itching their eyes, but even in the depths of space thousands of miles away from the nearest plants, allergens can still be lurking in the air. During NASA's last crewed journey to the moon in 1972, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt came down with a case of "lunar hay fever" after breathing in some moon dust. Schmitt experienced similar symptoms to normal allergies on Earth, including sneezing, watery eyes and a sore throat. "The symptoms went away, but concern for human health is a driving force behind NASA's extensive research into all forms of lunar soil," NASA explained on its website. In this July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity. (Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP) The dust found on the moon can be incredibly small and get into any crack or crevasse, including under the fingernails of the Apollo astronauts. Another Apollo 17 astronaut, Gene Cernan, explained after the mission that dust could be a major hurdle for future missions. "The effect of dust on mirrors, cameras and checklists is phenomenal," Cernan said after the mission. "Once you get inside the spacecraft, as much as you dust yourself, you start taking off the suits and you have dust on your hands and your face and you're walking in it. You can be as careful in cleaning up as you want to, but it just sort of inhabits every nook and cranny in the spacecraft and every pore in your skin." Apollo 17 mission commander Gene Cernan inside the lunar module after a moonwalk. His spacesuit and part of his body was covered with lunar dust. (NASA) "I think dust is probably one of our greatest inhibitors to a nominal operation on the Moon. I think we can overcome other physiological or physical or mechanical problems except dust," Cernan said. The false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating cats first caught my attention through my wife, who saw it trending on social media. She mentioned how quickly the rumor went viral. However, it wasnt until after the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris that I realized how far-reaching this lie had spread. It had infiltrated national politics, aligning with the broader debate about immigration in the U.S.I later discovered that these claims originated earlier in the month, when Blood Tribe, a national neo-Nazi group, began spreading the rumor on social networks as part of a xenophobic campaign. Springfield lie This baseless narrative was picked up by members of a Springfield Facebook group, who, without firsthand knowledge, expressed concerns about the growing Haitian population in their city. The lie gained further traction when Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, who hails from Ohio, claimed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that recent reports showed Haitians were becoming an economic burden to the town. He went as far as to allege that people have had their pets abducted and eaten, a statement amplified by Elon Musk. The controversy reached its peak during the presidential debate, when Trump repeated the lie to a national audience. Despite debate moderators fact-checking the claim, Trump doubled down the next day in a speech promoting mass deportations.All I could think was, Not again.This wasnt the first time I had encountered such claims. My thoughts immediately turned to my parents, immigrant Haitians who arrived in the U.S. in the late 1970s during the wave of Haitian boat people, who were escaping the political repression of Haitis Jean-Claude Duvaliers dictatorship. In South Florida during the 1970s and 1980s, my parents faced rampant anti-Haitian sentiment. My father often spoke about the resilience one needed to survive those times, crediting his faith and the spirit of the Haitian Revolution for keeping him strong. My mother, in her pragmatic way,refused to internalize the lies being spread. Both worked tirelessly to support our familymy father as a barber during the day and a waiter at night, and my mother as a beautician who also sold clothes at the local flea market. AIDS stigma Their hard work and quiet strength were the foundation that kept us afloat amid the discrimination and xenophobia we faced.Haitians were frequently dehumanized, labeled boat people, and stereotyped as dirty, poor and diseased, particularly during the HIV/AIDS pandemic. One of the most damaging falsehoods was the Center for Disease Controls classification of Haitians as a high-risk group for HIV. These stigmas contributed to widespread discrimination against Haitian immigrants in housing, employment, healthcare and education.As an 11-year-old, I struggled with the negative portrayals of Haitians in the media. Unlike my parents, I wasnt so resilient. Like many others, I tried to pass as someone who wasnt Haitian. I wrote about this experience in the Miami Herald, prompted by the 1984 suicide of Phede Eugene, a teenager so ashamed of his Haitian heritage that when he was unwillingly outed, he took his life.Now, as we approach the 40th anniversary of his death, it is heartbreaking to see such falsehoods still circulating.These baseless claims have broader consequences, especially when they are used for political gain. Todays lies can lead to the stigmatization of Haitians in schools, workplaces, and healthcare systems. They depict Haitians, even professionals, as desperate and impoverished, fueling fears that immigrants will drain public resources or contribute to crimea fear echoed by some Springfield residents toward their Haitian neighbors. These false narratives also support University of Pittsburgh sociologist Ervin Dyers concept of narrative blight, where using damaging and persistent stereotypes and language negatively shape how Black communities are portrayed in the media and public discourse. This concept is especially relevant when considering that harmful narratives about the Haitian people overshadow the rich,complex and positive aspects of Haitian life and culture. Its no surprise then that Haitians in Springfield now feel further alienated, especially considering the recent bomb threats that have disrupted the town.Haitians have a significant presence in the U.S., with more than 1 million Haitian immigrants living across the country. My hometown of Miami is home to one of the largest Haitian communities, with approximately 300,000 residents of Haitian descent. Miamis Little Haiti is a cultural hub for the community, but even there, stereotypes continue to shape public perceptions.Today, I live and work in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the Haitian population is growing. While Charlotte doesnt have the same historical ties to Haiti as Miami, the same kinds of rumors and lies about Haitian people find their way into local discourse, often perpetuated by those unfamiliar with the culture and contributions of the Haitian diaspora. Perhaps the most damaging narrative is that Haitians are not contributing members of society but are seen instead as parasites feeding off public resources. This is a consequence I study in my research on race and youth identity. In response to this pervasive issue, Reclaim our identities I started a Facebook group called Undercover Haitians, providing a space where those of us who were once forced into the shadows during our youth can share our stories, reclaim our identities, and support one another in overcoming the burden of these long-held stereotypes. Its important to recognize that these claims are rooted in a long history of racism against Haitians, dating back to 1804 when Haiti declared its independence from France. Haitians have since faced economic punishment and exploitation by world governments, and criticism of their culture has persisted. From the image of Haitians as witch doctors, to more recent lies about eating petsthese falsehoods serve to dehumanize a people whose only crime was fighting for their freedom. Such stereotypes, I feel, persist to fuel anti-immigrant sentiment and mask the insecurities of Americans who are uncomfortable living alongside Black people.These lies also reflect the broader issue of American racism. In his work, James Baldwin discussed how the erasure of Black American history contributes to a narrative of inferiority.This resonates with the current erasure of Haitian contributions to society. Why is it that all we know about Haiti is its revolution, while the rest of its history is painted as a failure? This void has been filled with lies and stereotypes, which are now weaponized in the immigration debate. I have, in my own way, tried to counter such narratives, to highlight, at least in part, the positive aspects of Haitian history.The recent controversy in Springfield is a stark example of how political figures exploit racism for personal gain. Racists fears By playing into a reservoir of racist fears about Black people,Trump and others stoked division for their own political purposes. It reminds me of Trumps 2018 comments, when he referred to Haiti and other nations as shithole countries to which I responded in an earlier article, voicing my protest.The solution is to reject these figures at the ballot box. If someone like Trump can rise to power by spreading such hateful lies, it speaks to the moral decay at the heart of our nation. As was the case with my parents and later with me and my siblings, I now find myself having to warn my children to guard himself against these same baseless claims. When will we ever stop the cycle? Three generations is enough. Yven Destin is a history teacher at a private school in North Carolina. He is the author of What Can James Baldwins Little Man; Teach Us About Children and Our Responsibility to Them? A Family of 4 Was Found Brutally Stabbed to Death amid House Fire and Suspect Was Just Arrested Fraime Ubaldo, Marangely Moreno-Santiago and their children, 2 and 4, were found dead in their home after an early morning 911 call on Aug. 31 13WHAMTVNews/YouTube Makeshift memorial for Marangely Moreno-Santiago, Evangeline Ubaldo-Moreno, Sebastian Ubalde-Moreno Authorities in New York State have arrested a man in connection with the deaths of a family of four who were found fatally stabbed inside a burning home last month. Fraime Ubaldo, 30, Marangely Moreno-Santiago, 26, Evangeline Ubaldo-Moreno, 4, and Sebastian Ubaldo-Moreno, 2, were found inside a burning home in Irondequoit, N.Y., by police and local fire department officials on Aug. 31, Irondequoit police said in a press statement on Sep. 2. Due to the condition of the bodies it was readily apparent that it was a homicide investigation, Irondequoit Police Chief Scott Peters said at a press conference on the same day. Responding fire department officials found different fires throughout the building, Irondequoit Fire Department Chief Shane Metcalfe said at the press conference, which was live streamed by 13WHAM. Last week, Irondequoit police announced they arrested 34-year-old Julio Cesar Pimentel Soriano in connection with the deaths. According to Monroe County Jail records, Soriano, who is listed as Pimentel-Soriano in the inmate roster, was booked on Sep. 7. Dominican Republic National Police Julio Cesar Pimentel-Soriano Police alleged in their Friday, Sep. 13, statement that Soriano, a native of the Dominican Republic, entered Puerto Rico illegally before allegedly obtaining fake New York identification. Police further alleged he is wanted in the Dominican Republic in connection with a homicide in 2019. In a written testimony, WXXI News reports, Irondequoit police investigator Bradley Lape alleged that Soriano stabbed the family members several times in the chest and neck. 13 WHAM reported the same claim, citing a felony complaint. In the testimony, Lape further claimed police identified the suspect through a video allegedly recorded during the crime, per WXXI News, but did not offer further details about the nature of the video. First Assistant District Attorney Perry Duckles said Soriano is charged with four counts of second-degree murder, per WXXI News, WROC and 13 WHAM. Duckles claimed that he believes the killings were not random, WXXI News, 13 WHAM and Spectrum News 1 report. "I do think there is a motive," he said, per the outlets, later adding: "What that motive is we're still looking into." Irondequoit Police and the DA's office did not immediately respond to requests for information when contacted by PEOPLE. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. The local community and the familys loved ones are now reeling from the tragedy. "Marangely was always a very caring person," Xiomara Weeks, the godmother of the two children, told 13 WHAM. "They're my family. She's my sister; she will always be my sister. They will always be my godson and goddaughter forever." Weeks started a GoFundMe to assist the victims' family members with next steps. "I can't refer to her as someone that's in the past, because she will forever be my best friend," Weeks said of Moreno-Santiago, per WHAM 13. "She will always be my sister. She will always be my kids' godmother." Plea and attorney information for Soriano were not immediately available. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Family members found shot to death at their Vermont home in triple homicide: Police Family members found shot to death at their Vermont home in triple homicide: Police A man, his wife and her 13-year-old son were found shot to death at their Vermont home, state police said, with authorities looking for a suspect. Officers responded to a report of a "suspicious person" early Sunday, Vermont State Police said. The investigation led them to a home in the town of Pawlet, where they found the three victims dead, police said. State police identified the victims on Tuesday as Brian Crossman Sr., 46, who was a Pawlet government official; his wife, Erica Crossman, 41; and her son and his stepson, Colin Taft, 13. PHOTO: Police investigate a triple homicide at a home in Pawlet, Vermont. ( WTEN) MORE: Man, au pair charged in double murder of wife, man months apart All three died from gunshot wounds and their deaths have been ruled as homicides by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiners Office, state police said. Brian Crossman was shot in the head and torso, Erica Crossman was shot in the head and her son had multiple gunshot wounds, state police said. No one is in custody in connection with the homicides, Vermont State Police said Tuesday. PHOTO: Police investigate a triple homicide at a home in Pawlet, Vermont. ( WTEN) "Initial work by detectives indicates this was an isolated event with no identified threat to the community," state police said. No additional details are available at this time amid the ongoing investigation, police said. MORE: Schools reopen as search for suspect in Kentucky interstate shooting enters 11th day Brian Crossman had joined the Pawlet Select Board this year, where he served as a liaison to buildings and development and to the town's highway department, according to the town's website. Flowers were left in his honor at the Pawlet Town Hall ahead of a board meeting Tuesday night, Albany, New York, ABC affiliate WTEN reported. PHOTO: Police investigate a triple homicide at a home in Pawlet, Vermont. ( WTEN) Pawlet Select Board Chair Mike Beecher remembered him as a "friend and neighbor" and a "hardworking community member." "This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving," Beecher said in a statement Tuesday. "Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss. The town of Pawlet will work to get through this as we always get through hard times, by supporting each other and doing our best to carry on." Pawlet, a town of about 1,400 people, is located in western Vermont on the New York state line. Family members found shot to death at their Vermont home in triple homicide: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) offer a compelling opportunity for income-seeking investors, but they are often overlooked. REITs own, operate, or finance income-generating real estate, allowing individuals to invest in various real estate types without direct ownership or management responsibilities. REITs must distribute a large percentage of their taxable income to shareholders through dividends, often resulting in high yields. If you're an income-seeking investor, here are three high-quality REITs with track records of dividend growth you could invest in today. Dont Miss: This billion-dollar fund has invested in the next big real estate boom, here's how you can join for $10 . This is a paid advertisement. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fundrise Flagship Fund before investing. This and other information can be found in the Fund's prospectus. Read them carefully before investing. Institutional investors are increasingly turning to private credit for higher potential returns and lower volatility. You can copy their strategy by investing in your own private credit deals. CubeSmart CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) is the third-largest owner and operator of self-storage properties in the United States. As of June 30, its portfolio comprised 1,494 self-storage properties in 185 markets across 40 states and the District of Columbia. CubeSmart currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend of $2.04 per share, giving it a yield of about 3.8%. In addition to sporting a high yield, CubeSmart has an extensive track record of dividend growth. It has raised its annual dividend payment for 14 consecutive years, with a 62% dividend growth rate over the last five years. EastGroup Properties, Inc. EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) is a leading owner and manager of industrial properties in the United States. As of June 30, its portfolio comprised approximately 60.2 million square feet of premier distribution facilities across major Sunbelt markets in 12 states. EastGroup currently pays a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $5.60 per share, giving it a yield of about 3% at the time of this writing. EastGroup's latest dividend increase was 10% last month. In the news release, the company noted that it has paid dividends for 32 consecutive years, with 29 increases and no reductions, including increases in each of the last 13 years. Story continues Trending Now: A billion-dollar investment strategy with minimums as low as $10 you can become part of the next big real estate boom today . This is a paid advertisement. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fundrise Flagship Fund before investing. This and other information can be found in the Fund's prospectus. Read them carefully before investing. Get em while you can investing in this asset class may be reaching a high-water mark but you can still make returns right now. Universal Health Realty Income Trust Universal Health Realty Income Trust (NYSE:UHT) owns and manages a portfolio of health care and human service-related facilities in the U.S. As of Aug. 1, its portfolio comprised 26 real estate investments or commitments located across 21 states, including acute care hospitals, behavioral health care facilities, rehabilitation hospitals, subacute care facilities, surgery centers, child care centers and medical office buildings. UHT currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $2.92 per share, giving it a yield of about 6.4% at the time of this writing. In addition to having the highest REIT yield discussed here, UHT has the longest dividend increase streak. It has raised its annual dividend payment for 37 consecutive years, with a 0.7% hike in June setting it on track for 2024 to mark the 38th consecutive year with an increase. Better Yields Than Some REITs? The current high-interest-rate environment has created an incredible opportunity for income-seeking investors to earn massive yields, but not through publicly-traded REITs. Arrived Homes, the Jeff Bezos-backed investment platform has launched its Private Credit Fund, which provides access to a pool of short-term loans backed by residential real estate with a target 7% to 9% net annual yield paid to investors monthly. It paid 8.1% in July. The best part? Unlike other private credit funds, this one has a minimum investment of only $100. Looking for fractional real estate investment opportunities? The Benzinga Real Estate Screener features the latest offerings. This article Buy These 3 Stocks Yielding Up To 6.6% For Income And Dividend Growth Right Now Surprisingly Not On Many's Radar originally appeared on Benzinga.com MEMPHIS, Tenn. In an exclusive interview with WREG, the family of the man who died after an officer-involved shooting is speaking out Tuesday night. On Tuesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified 26-year-old Tremayne French as the suspect killed. The shooting occurred Monday afternoon after Memphis Police said they were trying to do a traffic stop on a carjacked Dodge Charger, which led to a car and foot chase. ORIGINAL STORY: Suspect dead after shootout with Memphis Police in Frayser; 2nd man arrested Tremayne Frechs family members told WREG that he left his ID and other valuables before getting into the car with associates. They say that action signaled to them that he didnt know he wouldnt be coming back home. He got a phone call and we didnt know who the call was from, a relative said. We dont got the phone or nothing, so we dont know who the call was from. He just came and got picked up. He didnt know the car was stolen. Family members say thats the last they saw French. Tremayne French. Tremayne French. Officers say French and Tadarius Nichols carjacked a Frayser woman at gunpoint early Monday morning. According to the police report, Nichols admitted to being the driver but denied taking part in the carjacking. Investigators say it was French who shot at officers. Officers fired back, striking French. What happened, happened, a relative said. Yall just cant slander his name and say he did this, he did that. That mane let me tell you something, if you been gone for 10 years, carjacking is the last thing on your mind. Suspects IDd after police shooting; 1 dead, other was city employee Frenchs family said he just got out of prison earlier this year. Court records show French pled guilty to a robbery back in 2018 but before he was able to complete his plea, records show he was charged in a separate carjacking a year later. French was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was let out early for good behavior. His relatives told WREG they dont want his past mistakes to lead people to make assumptions about his character. He was young, he didnt have his mind all the way on straight, a relative said. He wasnt thinking right probably, he was just out in the streets. Him and my mama was filling out so many job applications but nobody was really getting back to him, Darreka French said. Now after Tremaynes untimely passing, Darreka is left with memories of her brother. Witnesses recount moments during baby shower shootout She said that he was a good man with a love for kids, taking care of his family and even had a playful nature. (Hed) play like he was Michael Myers or Jason and chase all the cousins and all of us around the house, Darreka French said. That used to be the best times with him. Nichols remains at 201 Poplar on a $20,000 bond. The family of French said he did suffer from mental health issues and encouraged any convicted person to seek counseling after serving time. Bottom line, you got the wrong call from the wrong people, a relative said. You went to help somebody knowing your heart (is) big and thats the result. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. National Raisin Company a fixture of the California raisin industry for 55 years is turning over the family-run company to a new owner. The deal, whose terms were not disclosed, was announced in a joint news release from the Fowler-based company and Empresas Sutil, one of Chiles leading agribusinesses. Founded in 1969 by Ernest, Krikor and J. Kenneth Bedrosian, the local raisin packer employed up to 500 people at its peak, processing a variety of raisins and other dried fruits. National is also the creator of Raisels, fruit-flavored golden raisins. In March, the raisin company agreed to pay $2 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. Kenneth Bedrosian, when reached at home Tuesday, declined to comment other than to say, Its time for me to retire. In a statement, Bedrosian said: The Bedrosian family and that National Raisin Company are pleased to be part of this new global approach to dried fruit marketing. This event will add stability to the world raisin market. Most importantly it will benefit the California raisin growers, allowing for direct positive impact from a world markets perspective. Raisin growers, a majority who farm in Fresno County, have had their share of ups and downs with prices and weather-related problems. This year, however, growers will receive the second-highest price for their raisins $2,016 per ton even as the industry continues to see an exodus of growers. In the past two decades, raisin grape acreage has plummeted statewide from 280,000 acres, the bulk of it in Fresno County, to about 70,000 acres of conventional raisin grapes. Still, Sutil officials said their company is well positioned to expand the market for National raisins in North America and Asia. National will also benefit from the vast global customer base Sutil has through Pacific Nut Company, one of its companies. Juan Sutil, founder and chairman of Empresas Sutil, said he was honored to take over the reins of the National Raisin Company from the Bedrosian family. We are committed to continuing to cultivate Nationals long lasting relationship with its employees, customers, California growers, suppliers and the community, always aiming at excellence and guided by our core values of trust, responsibility, transparency and respect. The purchase of National is expected to close by Sept. 30. Loved ones are searching for a missing boy who disappeared in Los Angeles County. The critically missing child was identified as Louie Daft Carrillo, 13, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Carillo was last seen on Sept. 16 at the intersection of 45th Street W and Avenue J-6 in Lancaster at around 3 p.m. His family has not heard from him since his disappearance and is concerned for his well-being. He is described as a Hispanic male standing 5 feet tall and weighing around 100 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black beanie, navy blue zip-up hoodie, brown Carthartt pants, black Puma brand shoes, and a black backpack. Louie Daft Carrillo, 13, is seen in photos from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. A critically missing person is defined as: A person who has no pattern of running away or disappearing A person in critical need of medical attention The victim of a crime or foul play The victim of a kidnapping or parental abduction A person who is mentally impaired to the extent that such person is unable to care for him or herself or is an immediate danger to his or her own safety or the safety of others Anyone who has seen the boy or has information on his whereabouts is asked to call LASDs Homicide Bureau Missing Persons Detail at 661-940-3849 and ask to speak with Detective D. Jenkins. Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Iranian directorial duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who in February were banned by Iranian authorities from traveling to the Berlin Film Festival to launch their film My Favourite Cake, have now been subjected to repeated travel bans after their passports were returned. Last week, Moghaddam who is Swedish-Iranian was ready to fly to Sweden to visit her family and attend the Swedish premiere of My Favourite Cake when she was stopped. More from Variety Moghaddam said in an Instagram post that her passport was confiscated at Tehrans airport and I was informed that we (me and Behtash Sanaeeha) are barred from leaving the country again. Moghaddam added that this took place only a week ago after our passports were given back to us, and only after I had got tickets, paid the exit fees and a lot of more expenses which had obviously gone in vain. In the post, Moghaddam pointed out that she is having a really hard time figuring out why we were given back our passports when it was their intention not to let us leave. Is it because of a hidden agenda to mentally and psychologically abuse us? the director asks in the post. She then went on to blast recently elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. It is crystal clear to any intelligent Iranian that you and your comrades are not this nations company and friends, she wrote. Your fundamentalist fellows, at least, do not claim or pretend to be any better than they are. You cannot lead a society to growth and reform through deception, but you make it drown in the swamp of hypocrisy. Pezeshkian, who portrays himself as a reformer and a modern leader who can usher in a new era in Iran, became president in July following the death in a helicopter crash of his predecessor, conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi. My Favourite Cake, which is about a 70-year-old woman who revitalizes her love life while living alone in Tehran after her husband died and her daughter left for Europe, stirred up controversy in Iran because it shows a woman not wearing the mandatory hijab, people drinking alcohol and dancing. The film, which has been widely sold by Frances Totem Films, is now being rolled out in several European countries, including the U.K. My Favourite Cake is produced by Irans Filmsazan Javan, Frances Caracteres Productions, Swedens Hobab and Germanys Watchmen Productions. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Should Fayette County allow hundreds of acres of farmland to be turned into solar farms? It was just past 10 a.m. on a recent Friday in August and temperatures were already climbing past 85 degrees. The employees on Silicon Ranchs Turkey Creek solar farm scrambled to find shade under the tree cover toward the back of the Garrard County property. The 700 sheep arent technically employees of the Nashville solar farm operator. Theyre independent contractors who live on the property near the Garrard County High School. In exchange for room and board, they eat the grass on the property. The shade from the more than 150,000 solar modules is an ideal place for sheep to feed. They eat a lot. And they love shade, said Daniel Bell, the local shepherd Silicon Ranch hired to bring sheep to the farm. Wow. They look great, said Loran Shallenberger, who directs Silicon Ranchs land management and regenerative energy operations, during an Aug. 30 tour of Silicon Ranchs Garrard County operation. Plenty of land and different types of grass and other good, nutritiously dense green stuff have made those sheep fat and happy. Normally, they would be much skinnier this time of year, Bell said. The partnership has also been a boon for Bell and his family. He has been able to triple his flock. His 27-year-old son, who was working a back-busting industrial job, has been hired full-time to help manage the operation. Silicon Ranch, which operates large-scale solar farms in 15 states, thinks its business model -- sustainable solar farms using ecologically friendly practices such as sheep to maintain the land is a good fit for Fayette County. The group has an option to purchase 797 acres in the Haley Road area adjacent to East Kentucky Power Cooperative proposed 384-acre solar farm. Silicon Ranch is proposing an $80 million solar farm in eastern Fayette County near Interstate 64 and Haley Road. That means a little less than 1,200 acres of Fayette County farmland could be used for solar production in coming years. East Kentucky Power Cooperative filed its paperwork with the states Public Service Commission, which oversees public utilities, in May. Because it is a public utility, it is exempt from city zoning regulations. Its case before the Public Service Commission is still pending. Silicon Ranch is private and must follow city zoning rules. Currently, the merged government has no rules in its zoning ordinances allowing solar energy. Silicon Ranch has proposed a zone text amendment, or a change to the countys zoning ordinances, to allow solar farms on agricultural land with a conditional use permit, meaning it must get a city boards approval,and there must be public notice to area landowners. However, city planners have recommended no solar farms in the countys agricultural zones. The 11-person Urban County Planning Commission will decide. A hearing on the zone text amendment is set for Sept. 26. Some counties have hit pause on solar farms The Sept. 26 hearing will be the first of likely many public debates over solar farms on agricultural land in Fayette County. Similar fights over large-scale, ground-mounted solar installations on agricultural land have taken place in city halls and county courthouses across the country. Several cities and counties have opted to ban solar on agricultural land for a variety of reasons, with storm runoff and soil erosion being two of the primary concerns. In Clark County, two proposed zoning text amendments allowing solar farms in agricultural areas were voted down after push back from the community in 2021. In June 2023, the Clark County Fiscal Court took the unusual step of passing an ordinance with the intent to prevent utility-scale solar development within the agricultural zone in order to preserve farmland, protect historic resources and ensure that development is compatible with neighboring properties. Southern Ohio and the counties around Cincinnati also have been ground zero in the fight between large-scale solar farms and agricultural interests. After some of those solar farms went live and there were problems with flooding, some of those counties including Brown and Clermont opted to ban or partially ban solar farms, according to WCPO 9 in Cincinnati. Unique, high-quality soils in Fayette County Fayette Countys farmland is unique, argue farmland preservationists. It has some of the highest U.S. Department of Agriculture soil quality rankings in the country, said Brittany Roethemeier, executive director of the Fayette Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for Fayette Countys agricultural interests and smart-growth policies. Eighty-seven percent of the land in Fayette County is USDA prime soil the best soil in the country, Roethemeier said during a recent Planning Commission work session to discuss the solar zone text amendment. Fayette Alliance and the citys Rural Land Management Board, which oversees land use policies in the countys agricultural area, have opposed allowing solar farms on agricultural land. We are changing the land use for a generation, Roethemeier said during the Aug. 29 planning commission work session. Daniel Crum, a senior planner, said city planning staff has researched solar farms extensively over the past four months. Those solar farms are typically 40-year projects. Its too soon to tell if land used for solar farms can be returned to productive farmland. Given the unknowns, city planners have recommended solar farms not be allowed on any land zoned agricultural, Crum said. The proposed zone text amendment does allow for other types of solar -- including rooftop solar or smaller ground-mounted solar in most zones, including residential. Is it still productive? Crum said of the land after a solar farm has been removed. We really dont know. Rooftop solar is not enough, Silicon Ranch says Silicon Ranch buys the land it on which it operates its solar farms. It has a vested interest in making sure the land and its topsoil retains its value so it can be sold, Shallenberger said during the Aug 29 hearing. The technology for ground-mounted solar panels is evolving. Thanks to new technology, solar farms now can do minimal grading. During construction, Silicon Ranch contractors must return four inches of topsoil if it is removed, Shallenberger said. Although solar farms dont generate a lot of jobs typically two to three per site they have other economic benefits, said Blake Spurgeon, manager of economic and community development for Silicon Ranch. Most companies have set goals to be net-zero for carbon emissions by certain dates. Many companies want to locate near solar farms to take advantage of the benefits of non-fossil fuel energy sources, Spurgeon said. Moreover, the county has set a zero carbon emissions goal by 2050, which is part of Fayette Countys Comprehensive Plan, which guides development over the next five years. Ten to 15 years down the line, you are going to see rolling blackouts if something like this doesnt come online, said Darby Turner, a lawyer for Silicon Ranch. Rolling blackouts are a way for utility companies to manage the amount of energy available when there is not enough power in the electrical grid. Even if thousands of homeowners and businesses decided to add solar over the next decade or more, it would still not produce the energy that Silicon Ranchs proposed Haley Pike farm would provide to the electric grid, Spurgeon said. Silicon Ranchs proposed farm would generate between 80 to 100 megawatts of energy. Thats a little less than 3% of the total electricity needed in Fayette County. There arent 800 acres of available industrial land in Fayette County to put a solar farm, Turner has previously said. Others are worried that the text amendment allowing solar will open the floodgates to other large-scale solar farms. Thats not true, Spurgeon said. Eastern Kentucky Power and Silicon Ranchs proposals are the only projects in the pipeline, he said. If the planning commission sides with Silicon Ranch and allows solar farms in agricultural zones with a conditional use permit, Silicon Ranch would still have to file to get that conditional use permit, which would takes months and could be turned down, Spurgeon said. It also must get approval from the Public Service Commissions Electric Generation and Transmission Siting Board that determines where large-scale solar operations can go among other issues. None of these will come online until the 2030s, Spurgeon said. The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than a dozen states JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on Tuesday were investigating the origin of suspicious packages that have been sent to or received by elections officials in more than a dozen states, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or that any of the packages contained hazardous material. The latest packages were sent to elections officials in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Rhode Island. Mississippi authorities reported a package was delivered there Monday, and the Connecticut Secretary of States office said the FBI alerted it of a package that was intercepted. The FBI is collecting the packages, some of which contained an unknown substance, agency spokesperson Kristen Setera in Boston said in a statement. We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters, she said. As this is an ongoing matter we will not be commenting further on the investigation, but the public can be assured safety is our top priority. Its the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple states. The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices, causing disruption in an already tense voting season. Local election directors are beefing up security to keep workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures wont be tampered with. The National Association of Secretaries of State condemned what it described as a disturbing trend of threats to election workers leading up to Nov. 5, as well as the second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. This must stop, period, the group said. Our democracy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind. On Tuesday, the FBI notified the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealths office that postal service investigators had identified a suspicious envelope delivered to a building housing state offices. The package was intercepted. No employees from the office had contact with the envelope, which is now in the hands of the FBI. Packages also were sent to secretaries of state and election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming this week. The packages forced evacuations in Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Hazmat crews in several states quickly determined the material was harmless. The Mississippi Secretary of States Elections Division said it received a package similar to those sent to other states and that the state Department of Homeland Security was testing it. The division said it has notified county election officials to be on the lookout. Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour. We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines. A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement. Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees were exposed to it and were being monitored. In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said. Testing determined the substance was flour. State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home Monday pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of states office. Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections. One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nations most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting. The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone. Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase security amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged. 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. Restraints are shown on the lethal injection table in the execution chamber at the Utah State Correctional Facility after the Taberon Honie execution Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool) COLUMBIA A federal judge said Wednesday she will not halt the states first execution in 13 years over attorneys request for more information on the lethal drugs. Attorneys for Freddie Owens, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection Friday, asked for a delay in his execution after filing a federal lawsuit in Columbia last week arguing condemned inmates need more information about the states supply of pentobarbital. But U.S. District Judge Jacquelyn Austin said in Wednesdays order the attorneys argument was not convincing enough for her to stop Owens execution while the latest lawsuit plays out. The lawsuit centers around a secrecy law legislators expanded in 2023 to protect the identity of drug manufacturers after years of companies refusing to sell drugs to the state to kill people. The law worked. Last September, Corrections Director Bryan Stirling announced the agency had secured enough of the sedative pentobarbital, which is lethal in high doses, to resume executions. Attorneys for Owens and five other inmates who could be scheduled for execution over the next seven months argued that, even under the secrecy law, inmates are entitled to a certain amount of information about the drugs. That includes how and when the drugs were tested, the full results of the testing, how the drugs will be stored and monitored, and when the drugs expire. If any one of those goes wrong ahead of an execution, it could fail to kill an inmate, leaving him with lasting injuries, or make him die a painful death, attorneys argued. The attorneys also asked for the credentials of the people inserting the IV who will deliver the fatal drug. And they argued the state should still have to prove theyre following licensing and regulation requirements when buying drugs for lethal injection. They dont have to publicly verify that under the secrecy law, according to legal filings. That creates risks of insufficient potency, contamination, or being an entirely different substance than indicated on the label, the lawsuit reads. These risks may lead to a failed or torturous execution. By saying the state had tested the drugs, Stirling gave Owens as much information as the law requires, Austin wrote in her order. Owens was also allowed to choose his method of execution without having his rights violated. Because of that, Owens did not have enough of a case to warrant pausing his execution, the judge wrote. The statute gives him the right to choose his method of execution period, not the right to discover what is, objectively, the best choice, nor the right to discover whether the execution methods are constitutional, Austin wrote. Without intervention from the courts, the only way to stop Owens execution would be for Gov. Henry McMaster to grant him clemency. Owens attorneys and a group of activists have asked McMaster to do so. McMaster has told reporters he will not announce his decision until the prison warden calls him to ask at 5:45 p.m., 15 minutes before Owens is scheduled to die. Owens attorneys made similar arguments to the state Supreme Court. The high court denied the attorneys request for more information, saying anything officials divulged could be used to track down the companies supplying the drugs. One of Owens attorneys, who he had given decision-making powers over his execution method, decided he would die by lethal injection instead of electrocution or firing squad, the other options available by law. At the same time, she continued to question whether the drugs were as effective as Corrections officials claim. Under the circumstances, and in light of the information currently available to me, I made the best decision I felt I could make on his behalf, attorney Emily Paavola said in a statement while selecting lethal injection. New motion Shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, Owens attorneys filed another motion with the state Supreme Court again asking the justices to halt his execution. They cited a new statement signed earlier that day by Steven Golden, who was convicted of being Owens accomplice in the armed robbery. Not only did Owens not shoot gas station clerk Irene Graves, but he wasnt even there that night, Golden said in the signed declaration. He now claims it was someone else entirely who went in the Speedway with him. At the time, Golden said, he didnt want to tell police who the real shooter was and still doesnt out of fear that person or his associates might kill him. Im coming forward now because I know Freddies execution date is September 20 and I dont want Freddie to be executed for something he didnt do, the declaration concludes. This has weighed heavily on my mind and I want to have a clear conscience. The latest motion comes a week after the state Supreme Court rejected two other requests to halt the execution, including one citing a new admission from Golden that he had a secret, unwritten deal with prosecutors that he would not be sentenced to death or life without the possibility of parole if he testified against Owens. First, Golden openly conceded in his testimony at Owens trial that he was testifying to avoid the death penalty, justices wrote in last weeks denial. Golden, 45, is projected to be released from prison in 2026, according to his inmate report. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Jaime Esparza and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent Justin Demaree are joining forces to tackle the rising problem of illegal machine gun conversion devices in El Paso. Officials say this issue is not only impacting major cities like Dallas and Houston but is also spreading to other communities, including El Paso. Esparza and Demaree held a press conference Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the El Paso Community College Law Enforcement Academy to announce a joint effort aimed at addressing the increasing use of these devices, which convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons. Demaree emphasized the growing threat posed by these devices. And I can tell you that the proliferation of these machine gun conversion devices or switches is one of the largest threats to public safety that Ive seen throughout my career, Demaree said. ATF seizes grenade launcher, machine-gun pistols in Laredo Demaree said machine gun conversion devices found on the streets have increased nearly sixfold between 2017 and 2023. Texas-based ATF special agents have seized almost 1,000 of these switches during that time, he said. Law enforcement agencies warn that these devices are easy to obtain and pose a serious risk to public safety. The new initiative will focus on prevention, enforcement, and raising awareness about the dangers of machine gun conversion devices. These devices arent only being purchased overseas, Demaree said. Theyre being manufactured, using commercially available 3D printers, utilizing all sorts of different bright colors of filament. They can be purchased from Amazon or your local hobby store. Disturbingly, many sellers who are making these 3D printed switches advertise their sale to adults and juveniles alike on social media, Demaree said. He added: If someone is possessing a machine gun and using it in the environment we live in, right? Just a regular day of life. Theyre only possessing that machine gun to cause as much damage as possible when they pull the trigger. The possession, use, or distribution of a machine gun conversion device carries a federal prison sentence of up to 10 years. Officials are urging local law enforcement to remain vigilant and collaborate with federal partners on investigations and prosecutions. They are also asking the public to report any sightings of these devices. Tips can be submitted to local law enforcement or the ATF at ATF.tips@atf.gov or by calling 888-ATF-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 KTSM 9 News. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Tinker Air Force Base celebrated the United States Air Forces 77th birthday on Wednesday. Officials say 77 years ago in 1947, the U.S. Air Force became its own branch of the military, originally being a part of the Army. GOOD NEWS!: City of Edmond receives funding for mental health initiatives KFORs Natalie Clydesdale got a tour of Tinker AFB and spoke with those celebrating about the Air Forces special day. Were feeling great, full of pride here celebrating with a flag fold behind the B-52 Stratofortress flying since 1962, said Master Sergeant Luke Steagull with Tinker Honor Guard. Were just really excited today. MSgt. Steagull said Honor Guards mission is to provide military funeral honors. They travel across Oklahoma to pay respect to those have passed away with honor and dignity. Tinker has other celebrations planned for the big day, like the two-person flag fold with two riflemen on standby and a cake cutting ceremony at the event center Wednesday morning. Tinker AFB celebrates U.S. Air Force's 77th birthday. Tinker AFB celebrates U.S. Air Force's 77th birthday. GOOD NEWS!: Oklahoma County deputy saves teen after artery severed in arm Staff Sergeant Keenan Ruh, 552nd Air Control Wing Maintainer, told News 4 about some the operations at Tinker AFB as he started his morning. It means a lot to me, to be a part of something bigger than myself and carry on the traditions and honors of those who came before me and carry on that torch. said SSgt. Ruh. He says his role at Tinker AFB is to be a dedicated crew chief for one of the bases airborne warning and control system (AWAC) aircrafts. He works to maintain the aircraft and keep it in tip-top shape so it can work properly. [The system] Gets an image of the battlespace and lets our ally aircraft know and other Air Force aircraft know where our foes are at, said SSgt. Ruh. GOOD NEWS!: Rise and Shiners take their community to a whole new level News 4 also got a tour of the air traffic control tower where Colonel Tamilyn Dismukes, 72nd Air Base Wing Deputy Commander, told us more about the history of the U.S. Air Force. 77 years ago, President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 which made the Air Force its own branch of the military, said Col. Dismukes. We are the worlds greatest Air Force because of those who came before us. Col. Dismukes explained how the best bases are built by the best communities and that Tinker embodies that. Technical Sergeant Matthew Fraser, Air Traffic Control Watch Supervisor, added that Tinkers air traffic control towers are some of the most complex towers in the country. Tinker AFB air traffic control tower. We are the ninth most complex out of 98 towers in the country, added TSgt. Fraser. We have intersecting runways which just adds to the complexity of everything,. He went on to say that the officer training program here in Oklahoma is the largest in the country. The program helps prepare future officers to take over the air fields of bases across the U.S. Its a fantastic base. We have the newest tower in the Air Force, so we cant ask for better community, support and overall team thats stationed here at Tinker. TSgt Fraser noted. GOOD NEWS!: Walmart rolls out Carolines Carts in Oklahoma The tour led KFOR to General Brian Moore and Colonel Jennifer Philips,76 AMXG Commander, on the flight lines, who expressed their excitement for the special day. Yeah! Good morning Oklahoma, said Gen. Moore. Were feeling great out here in the flight lines, the best place to be, and its the Air Forces 77th birthday so it couldnt be better than that, right? Its a day to celebrate all the sacrifice and bravery of all the airmen that have devoted their lives to protecting our skies. added Col. Philips. Gen. Moore said that Tinker is a national treasure and continues to grow with help from the community. The base plans to see upgrades to some of the aircrafts they already have, as well as add new ones in the future. Col. Philips is the Aircraft Maintenance Group Commander at Tinker AFB and she takes pride in the work her team does to maintain the aircrafts on base. She says the future of Tinker relies on the dedication and preparation of its workforce. Everyone at Tinker could feel the pride and excitement of the Air Forces birthday on Wednesday. The celebration additionally included a cake cutting ceremony and a performance from the Midwest City High School Jazz band. To learn more about the history of Tinker AFB, visit Tinker.af.mil. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. CHICAGO A Chicago man accused of pointing a gun at CPD officers who were responding to a call on the South Side is now facing a handful of felony charges. Chicago police said 31-year-old Rakim Kendall, a West Englewood resident, has been charged with five felony counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer, one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a loaded weapon without a FOID card and one felony count of cannabis possession. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines According to police, the charges were handed down following an incident that allegedly unfolded on Monday night in the 7100 block of South Jeffery Boulevard, in South Shore, while officers were responding to a gun call in the area. Felony charges filed against man accused of pointing gun at CPD officers Officers responded around 10 p.m. and once on the scene, police say Kendall allegedly pointed a gun at the officers. Officers opened fire on Kendall but said nobody was struck by the gunfire. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Authorities located Kenall a little over 30 minutes later, in the 7100 block of South Cyril Avenue, less than two blocks away from where the alleged incident unfolded, and he was taken into custody. Kendall appeared in court on Wednesday for a detention hearing. Officers said following Kendalls arrest, a gun was recovered from the scene. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills Tuesday to crack down on the use of artificial intelligence to create false images or videos in political ads ahead of the 2024 election. A new law, set to take effect immediately, makes it illegal to create and publish deepfakes related to elections 120 days before Election Day and 60 days thereafter. It also allows courts to stop distribution of the materials and impose civil penalties. Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and its critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the publics trust through disinformation - especially in todays fraught political climate, Newsom said in a statement. "These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI. Large social media platforms are also required to remove the deceptive material under a first-in-the-nation law set to be enacted next year. Newsom also signed a bill requiring political campaigns to publicly disclose if they are running ads with materials altered by AI. The governor signed the bills to loud applause during a conversation with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at an event hosted the major software company during its annual conference in San Francisco. The new laws reaffirm Californias position as a leader in regulating AI in the U.S., especially in combating election deepfakes. The state was the first in the U.S. to ban manipulated videos and pictures related to elections in 2019. Measures in technology and AI proposed by California lawmakers have been used as blueprints for legislators across the country, industry experts said. With AI supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, lawmakers across the country have raced to address the issue over concerns the manipulated materials could erode the publics trust in what they see and hear. With fewer than 50 days until the general election, there is an urgent need to protect against misleading, digitally-altered content that can interfere with the election, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, author of the law banning election deepfakes, said in a statement. California is taking a stand against the manipulative use of deepfake technology to deceive voters. Newsom's decision followed his vow in July to crack down on election deepfakes in response to a video posted by X-owner Elon Musk featuring altered images of Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Story continues The new California laws come the same day as members of Congress unveiled federal legislation aiming to stop election deepfakes. The bill would give the Federal Election Commission the power to regulate the use of AI in elections in the same way it has regulated other political misrepresentation for decades. The FEC has started to consider such regulations after outlawing AI-generated robocalls aimed to discourage voters in February. Newsom has touted California as an early adopter as well as regulator of AI, saying the state could soon deploy generative AI tools to address highway congestion and provide tax guidance, even as his administration considers new rules against AI discrimination in hiring practices. He also signed two other bills Tuesday to protect Hollywood performers from unauthorized AI use without their consent. FEMA has awarded $4M in flood assistance during its first month in Vermont Williston, VT. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has officially been in Vermont for just 30 days, but in that time the agency reports it has approved over $4 million to help those recovering from flooding in July. President Joe Bidens disaster declaration, FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration have been assisting Vermonters in Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Lamoille, Orleans and Washington counties. According to FEMA staff, $4,656,478.22 has been approved for assistance across over 1,400 households in the state. In a cost break-down, FEMA has reportedly given $2,701,000.26 to renters and homeowners. To replace personal property and provide necessities to the community, FEMA has also approved $1,955,477.96. Necessities covered under funding so far have included childcare, storage, medical expenses and more. The SBA has also reportedly approved over $448,900 in loans. Vermonts FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers in Barre, Hinesburg, Island Pond, Lyndonville and Waterbury have had hundreds of visitors so far. DRC is open to any survivors, and does not require an appointment. Flood victims can also apply for assistance online through DisasterAssistance.gov, on FEMAs mobile app, or by phone at 1-800-621-3362. Phone lines are open from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week. For any of the latest, up-to-date information, visit 4810 | FEMA.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 ABC22 & FOX44. Fiery truck crash ties up I-86 traffic in Horseheads for several hours. What happened? If you were driving in the Horseheads area early Tuesday morning, you might have seen a lot of thick smoke and maybe some flames. You also might have had to deal with detours and delays if you were using Interstate 86 throughout the day. Around 6:15 a.m., a tractor trailer traveling east on I-86 struck a guardrail on the south shoulder of the roadway, causing the operator to lose control, according to the Village of Horseheads Police Department. The rig ultimately came to a stop obstructing both eastbound lanes and then caught on fire, police said. No other vehicles were involved in the crash and there were no hazardous materials involved. A tractor trailer sends billows of smoke into the air after overturning in the eastbound lane of Interstate 86 in Horseheads on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. The crash forced much of the interstate traffic to be rerouted. The truck driver was the only occupant of the Central Transport LLC tractor trailer. He sustained minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to Guthrie Corning Hospital for treatment. Potential traffic charges are pending further investigation into the crash, police said. Public safety Elmira man sentenced to 2 decades in prison for his role in January 2023 shooting death It was mid-afternoon before all the wreckage was removed and interstate traffic was able to flow normally again. Horseheads police were assisted at the scene by the Chemung County Sheriff's Office, New York State Police, Elmira Heights police, the Town and Country, Elmira Heights, Big Flats, Millport, Breesport, Corning and Village of Horseheads fire departments, New York State Department of Transportation, Dave's Towing and B & W Towing. 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: I-86 tractor trailer crash in Horseheads diverts traffic for hours COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) As many cities deal with large populations of unhoused people, a documentary coming soon to Columbus is shining a light on the issue. A documentary film called Beyond the Bridge: A Solution To Homelessness will be screened in Columbus on Sept. 24. The filmmakers visited cities in the U.S. that have decreased the number of people living on the streets and asked how theyve solved their homelessness problem. Watch: Documentary explores solutions to homelessness Filmmakers Don Sawyer and Tim Hashko with A Bigger Vision Films said they are screening the documentary in Columbus because they believe it is a city with the tools to resolve the issue. The pair originally made a documentary about the criminalization of homelessness. But they said when people watched it, they often asked what the solution was. Thats why they decided their next venture was to create Beyond the Bridge. Were picking cities that have issues with homelessness, which is everywhere, but were picking cities that have a great chance of solving it and Columbus is one of those places, said Sawyer, the producer and director of the film. Intels New Albany facility will be spun off into new company under restructuring plan In Ohio, there has been an increase in the homeless population over the past few years, according to the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio or COHHIO. Thats due to several things. Primarily its due to the fact that housing is getting unaffordable. It was already unaffordable and its getting worse, said Marcus Roth, the communications and development director for COHHIO. For Beyond the Bridge, Sawyer and Hashko went to Milwaukee and Houston. They said those are cities that have decreased the number of citizens without homes. The filmmakers said Milwaukee and Houston leaders realized the answer to homelessness was to combine community resources like service providers, police departments, the local government and residents of the city. All of these have to work together to create a system thats coordinated, that can take all the populations of homelessness, from youth, chronics, families, et cetera, from homeless to housed, Sawyer said. Roth with COHHIO said Columbus has all the resources necessary to do this. We have a strong business community thats really engaged in civic issues. We have strong city leaders, we have great county leaders, we have a really strong philanthropic community as well, Roth said. Theres no reason, if everyone is rowing in the same direction, we cant make this work. Thats why the filmmakers said they are excited to bring Beyond the Bridge to Columbus. They keep coming to us and saying, Thank you so much for opening my eyes. This is very impactful. Now I think about this problem differently and I really want to be part of this movement. So, its been very rewarding, said Hashko, the cinematographer and editor of the documentary. How a Columbus barber helped the Underground Railroad Beyond the Bridge: A Solution To Homelessness will be screened at the Lincoln Theatre at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Tickets to the screening are free but you do have to reserve them. Youll be able to reserve those tickets at this link in the coming days. For more information about the documentary and other cities they are visiting on their film tour, 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 NBC4 WCMH-TV. By Anne Kauranen HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's President Alexander Stubb defended his country's decision to buy arms from Israel despite the war in Gaza, saying it had no link to Finland's unwillingness to recognise an independent Palestinian state at the present time. Finland is acquiring a ground based, high altitude, missile defence system called David's Sling from Israel. Helsinki considers the system a high priority for its own defence due to neighbouring Russia's ongoing missile attacks on civilian and military targets in Ukraine. Stubb, who took office in March, has defined his and Finland's new foreign policy stance as "values-based realism", which he has said was about "achieving things in the world as it is", instead of "promoting only the world how I want to see it". In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Stubb said the time was not right to recognise a Palestinian state, even though its Nordic neighbours, Sweden, Iceland, and most recently Norway, have done so. "In the case of Israel and Palestine, values-based realism is prevalent in our thinking on the recognition of Palestine in the sense that we want that recognition, not if, but when it happens, to have an impact towards a two-state solution and a peaceful solution," he said. Last month, Stubb told Finnish diplomats that Finland's recognition of a Palestinian state was "a matter of time" and that the right time would be picked strategically to promote peace in the Middle East. He said the decision had "nothing to do with" the arms deal with Israel. "In that one, I only look at realism, in other words, the fact that we need those weapons. So that's when I look at Finnish security." (Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; Editing by Sharon Singleton) By Anne Kauranen HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's President Alexander Stubb has called for expansion of the U.N. Security Council, abolition of its single state veto power, and suspension of any member engaging in an "illegal war" such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Stubb, who leads the Nordic nation's foreign policy, said he would add his voice to reform calls at next week's U.N. General Assembly in New York which is to discuss composition of the global body's Security Council. Consisting of five permanent and 10 rotating member states, the council's brief is to keep global peace, but geopolitical rivalries have deadlocked it on issues from Ukraine to Gaza. Stubb said in an interview on Tuesday he would propose the number of permanent members be expanded from five to 10, with one more from Latin America, two from Africa and two from Asia. "No single state should have veto power in the U.N. Security Council," he told Reuters. The U.S., one of five veto-wielding nations with Russia, China, France and Britain, has also backed two permanent seats for Africa. Stubb said any member engaging an illegal war, "such as Russia is in right now in Ukraine", should be kicked off. Moscow has justified its invasion of Ukraine by saying it is creating a buffer against Western aggression and taking territory that is historically Russia's. BACKING UKRAINE Stubb said he knew his Security Council proposals were "beyond what is usually said from small member states", but added that the big nations would otherwise not propose weakening their own influence. "So they talk the talk, but don't walk the walk," he said, adding he hoped others would help take the plan forward by the U.N.'s 80th birthday next year. Any changes to Security Council membership need approval by two thirds of the General Assembly, including the five veto powers. "My basic message is that if countries from the global South, from Latin America, from Africa, from Asia, do not get agency in the system, they will turn their backs against the United Nations. And that we do not want," he said. The former Finnish prime minister and European parliamentarian, who took office in March as president, urged support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is to address the U.N. assembly next week about his "victory plan". "He has informed us that 90% is already there and the 10% that he will present is what will be needed for him to win this war," Stubb said. He urged Western nations to lift restrictions on use of donated arms that leave Ukraine "with one hand tied behind its back". "We need to let that hand go and allow Ukraine to do what Russia is doing to it," he said. Stubb did not give credence to Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats of nuclear escalation. "Last time we saw Putin using aggressive language on nuclear weapons, the global South and China basically told Putin to stop," he said. (Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) Finnish President Alexander Stubb supports expanding the U.N. Security Council, abolishing single-member veto rights, and booting out Russia, he told Reuters on Sept. 18. The Finnish president said he is ready to call for these reforms during the upcoming U.N. Assembly in New York. According to Stubb, any council member engaged in an illegal war "such as Russia is in right now in Ukraine" should be suspended. Russia is among the five permanent members of the council, along with the U.S., the U.K., France, and China. Ten other members are selected on a rotating basis. Calls for reforming the institution, namely some of its tenets established as part of post-World War II order, mounted after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv has accused Moscow of abusing its veto rights to paralyze the council and prevent any united action regarding the war. Stubb believes that the number of permanent members should be expanded to 10, including one Latin American country, two African countries, and two Asian countries. The Finnish president also brought up Ukraine's victory plan, which President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to present during his visit to the U.N. "He has informed us that 90% is already there and the 10% that he will present is what will be needed for him to win this war," Stubb said. The Nordic politician called on Kyiv's Western partners to lift their restrictions on long-range strikes. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose country has supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range missiles, was expected to discuss the matter with U.S. President Joe Biden last week, but no decision has been announced. Starmer said that the matter would be addressed at the U.N. assembly "with a wider group of individuals." Read also: None of Ukraines plans to end the war envisages ceasefire, ceding territory, Podolyak says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. MEMPHIS, Tenn A fire broke out at a house that also served as a non-profit animal rescue on Sunday morning in Bartlett, according to Bartlett police. The cause of the fire is under investigation. WREG is working to find out how many animals were in the home at the time of the fire and how many died. Weve asked Bartlett Police and the city that question several times the city would not provide any specific numbers telling us the case is under investigation. While police were back at the home today not far away at a separate location, WREG saw officers at what looked to be a warehouse or garage. People in that area say they were there in connection to the fire. But, police have not confirmed that information. Several dogs killed in fire at Bartlett animal rescue Its still surreal. I can hardly look at the house, it was such a scene of tragedy, said Kevin Quinn, Bartlett Alderman. He says the homeowners temporarily brought over some cats and dogs from another location where they were doing some cleaning when the fire broke out. Theyve just been longtime advocates for animals and this is tearing them apart, said Quinn. While we were at the home, a woman who seemed to be associated with the property stopped by, but said she would not answer any questions about the case. WREG has also submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the city for more information about the fire. Well let you know as we learn more. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. A firefighter was arrested at work in connection to an August shooting in Ohio. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] City manager Sheryl Long said Mack Ogletree, 26, was taken into custody Tuesday morning when he reported to work for an overtime shift, according to a memo sent to the mayor and city council members. He has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of both the criminal investigation and an internal review in accordance with CFDs policies and procedures, the memo stated. Ogletrees regular assignment is at Engine 23 in Walnut Hills. He has been a firefighter for over a year, the memo said. TRENDING STORIES: Ogletree has been charged with two counts of felonious assault in connection to a shooting that happened on Aug. 11 in Colerain Township. Online jail records show Ogletree is in the Hamilton County Jail and scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Firefighters are nearing victory in the battles against three major wildfires near Los Angeles that have burned more than 117,000 acres, destroyed nearly 200 structures and injured 23 people, officials said. More than 8,000 firefighters combating the Bridge, Line and Airport fires, all burning within 70 miles of each other, have significantly increased containment lines around the blazes while taking advantage of cooler weather in Southern California over the past week, officials said. The biggest fire, the Bridge Fire, had charred 54,795 acres as of Wednesday after igniting Sept. 8 in the Angeles National Forest, 31 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The blaze was 37% contained on Wednesday, Cal Fire said. PHOTO: Firefighers pull water hoses to put out a spot fire during the Bridge Fire in Wrightwood, Calif., Sept. 11, 2024. (Jae C. Hong/AP) "Conditions were calm last night as firefighters continued their diligent work in strengthening containment lines and validating their progress," Cal Fire said in an updated statement on the Bridge Fire Wednesday, adding that firefighting helicopters were not needed overnight. The Bridge Fire in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties has destroyed 75 structures, including at least 33 homes in Wrightwood and Mt. Baldy, and injured four people, officials said. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. The Line Fire Firefighters upped containment on the Line Fire in San Bernardino County to 50% on Wednesday, keeping it to "minimal fire growth overnight," according to Cal Fire. Like the other active blazes in the Los Angeles area, the Line Fire has been fueled by extremely dry vegetation, officials said. Since it was ignited by a suspected arsonist on Sept. 5, the Line Fire has burned 39,181 acres, according to Cal Fire. The blaze has damaged four structures, destroyed one and injured four people, including three firefighters, authorities said. "Firefighters are strengthening control lines and mopping up hot spots," Cal Fire said. PHOTO: 3 major wildfires in Southern California (National Interagency Coordination Center) The fire prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to deploy the state National Guard to support the ongoing response. Newsom declared a state of emergency on Sept. 11 to free up resources in an effort to bring the three fires under control. Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a 34-year-old man from Norco, California, was identified as the suspect who started the Line Fire, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a statement. During a video arraignment on Tuesday, Halstenberg pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of arson, including aggravated arson and causing great bodily injury. The Airport Fire The Airport Fire -- which broke out on Sept. 9 in an unincorporated area of Orange County and spread to Riverside County -- had burned 23,519 acres as of Wednesday, according to Cal Fire. The blaze is 35% contained. PHOTO: A firefighter hoses around a restaurant set to reopen when residents are allowed to return, following the Airport Fire in the village of El Cariso, near Lake Elsinore, on September 12, 2024. (Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images) "Firefighters are prioritizing continued fire line construction and reinforcement by adding more layers of protection in problem areas," Cal Fire said in a fire update. MORE: National Guard deployed to help fight raging California fire threatening thousands of homes The fire has been the most destructive of the three blazes, destroying 160 structures, including homes and businesses, and damaging 34 others, according to Cal Fire. At least 15 people, including two firefighters, were injured, Cal Fire said. The Airport Fire was sparked by county public works crews working on a fire prevention project by trying to move boulders to prevent public access -- mostly by motorcyclists -- to an area of the canyon with a lot of dry vegetation that could ignite easily, officials told ABC Los Angeles station KABC. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 24,000 firefighters were battling 55 large active wildfires across the nation on Wednesday. So far in 2024, 37,269 wildfires have erupted across the country, burning more than 7.3 million acres, up from 2.1 million acres at this time last year, according to the fire center. Firefighters nearing victory in battle against 3 massive wildfires near Los Angeles originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The AR3 drone being tested at West Wales Airport in Aberporth [BBC] A tech company that has built drones for surveillance and intelligence gathering in Ukraine plans to expand further after creating 30 jobs in mid Wales. Tekever said it hoped to generate 200 jobs in the UK over the next three years, across its two sites in Aberporth, Ceredigion, and Southampton. The company's AR3 drone, which can fly for up to 16 hours, is built and tested at Parc Aberporth near Cardigan. Earlier this year, the company's AR3 drone was featured in a Ministry of Defence announcement that 60m was being spent on new surveillance drones for the Ukrainian army. The drone can operate over land and sea and fly at speeds of about 45mph. It can be launched from the ground by a catapult or by it can be fitted with rotors so it can launch vertically. It lands by using a parachute and protective airbag. A new 60 million package of military support from the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine will provide advanced new surveillance drones to support 's Armed Forces. It will also include 20 million to provide air defence systems to help keep Ukraine's skies safe. pic.twitter.com/LyUCIdVYjZ Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) March 22, 2024 For security reasons, Tekever would not comment on whether the drones being built at Aberporth were being used by the Ukrainian army. The AR3 is also used for tasks such a patrolling maritime areas and monitoring oil and gas pipelines. The firm did say that its drones were deployed in Ukraine for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The construction of the AR3, made largely from a carbon fibre body, takes precision engineering, as every component has to be a specific weight. Precision engineering is used to build the drones [BBC] Parc Aberporth was created in 2006 by the now abolished Welsh Development Agency as a test and evaluation centre for unmanned aerial vehicles. The area around Parc Aberporth is a restricted air space which means that drones can operate and fly without special permission. The British Army's controversial Watchkeeper drone, built by Thales, has been tested in the area. Parc Aberporth near Cardigan was opened in 2006 [BBC] Matthew Biginton, of Tekever, said: "We've mainly taken people from the local area. "We've taken people from retail, pet food packing warehouses, local garages, all sorts of backgrounds, and given them highly skilled jobs. We've put a couple of our guys on degree courses. "We train internally and have a great network in Portugal of several hundred staff with lots of experience, so we send people out to train." He described it as a "very high-tech company" which improved its employees' skills. "We get the best out of people here. In terms of the local community, having a company like this on the local doorstep brings footprint through travel, hotels." Morgan, an apprentice at Tekever, says he has had a range of experiences since joining the company [BBC] Morgan Brandy-Phillips, from Aberaeron, who has been taken on as an apprentice by Tekever said: "A year ago, I finished my A-levels. "My dad was laying kerbs in the car park back in June, and he asked if there were any jobs going. Now I'm here." Morgan said he has had a range of experiences since joining the company. "I've learnt a lot of electrical work I'm starting a course next week on electrical engineering. "I've learnt 3D printing and even carbon fibre work. I think it's great that it's right at my doorstep." Scott McClelland, a company deputy director, said: "We're looking at how we expand and grow in the UK. The opportunity came to invest in west Wales. "We've got the segregated airspace that allows us to produce aircraft here and demonstrate them. "We've established this as a research and development facility, bringing in production capabilities. This is the first time we've done this outside of Portugal. "Having the capability to customise our platforms and test them out on the airfield is a really important aspect for us." (Reuters) -Unifor reached a tentative agreement with General Motors early Wednesday over wages and job security for workers at its Ingersoll, Ontario plant, the Canadian labor union said. Unifor said details of the agreement will first be released to union members at a ratification meeting on Sept. 22. The deal comes after the union and the carmaker extended a negotiation deadline that was originally set to expire on Tuesday. Unifor Local 88 had previously said that 97% of its more-than-1,300 members were in favour of stopping work at the Ontario CAMI plant which makes electric vehicles and batteries, if a deal was not reached. Unifor and GM started contract negotiations last week. (Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Nivedita Bhattacharjee) BOSTON (SHNS) Enrollment and infrastructure challenges continue to put pressure on the 65,000-student, five-campus University of Massachusetts, where enrollment gains over the last 20 years have pretty much evaporated. During a UMass Board of Trustees Administration and Finance Committee on Wednesday, university officials said enrollment is up this year by a scant 0.1 percent across its campuses and acknowledged a big gap in funding for needed infrastructure repairs and upgrades. Over the past 20 years, the average annual enrollment growth rate at UMass has steadily declined. From fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2010, it was 3.5 percent. It dropped to 2.3 percent for fiscal years 2011-2015, and 1.2 percent for fiscal 2016-2020. And while annual enrollment is up a smidgen this year, average enrollment is estimated to drop by 0.3 percent for the fiscal 2021-2025 period, according to slides presented at the meeting. As we cross into the new fiscal year, enrollment continues to be a top risk for university, committee Chair Michael OBrien, a 1988 UMass Amherst graduate, said. Id be remiss if I did not say we need to take advantage of our system-ness and continue to innovate on enrollment strategies to preserve our market share. UMass President Marty Meehan said the demand for a UMass education remains strong but noted the significant demographic challenges facing universities across the nation as the population of high school graduates continues to decline, especially in the Northeast. Weve seen it not only with the non-elite privates, weve also seen it with the community colleges enrollment is down significant over the last decade, as well as the state universities. At UMass, weve done much better, but like every university were looking at these challenges, and if those challenges are left unmanaged, theyd have the potential to challenge our university as well. University officials expressed optimism about an admissions sharing pilot program in which students who are unable to be admitted at UMass Amherst are steered toward possible admission at the Dartmouth or Lowell campuses. Its a lot of work behind the scenes, said UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes, applauding the pilot and noting the many phone calls and emails associated with applications and admissions. Enrollment figures presented Wednesday showed 30,460 full-time students at UMass Amherst. Enrollment at UMass Boston has risen since fiscal 2022 and stands at 13,085, while enrollment at UMass Lowell has declined over the same period to 13,521. UMass Dartmouth has 6,604 students enrolled this fiscal year, and there are 1,425 students enrolled at the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester. At a UMass Committee on Academic and Student Affairs meeting, also Wednesday, Meehan gave a presentation on enrollment that mainly touched on the diversity of the incoming class of 2028. Despite the United States Supreme Court decision last year overturning affirmative action in college admissions, UMass continues to educate a student body that is increasingly reflecting the diversity of our commonwealth. In fact, the class of 2028 is the most diverse in our universitys history, he said. Exactly half of the incoming class are students of color, up from 48 percent in fall 2023, according to UMass. At UMass Boston, the most diverse of the systems campuses, 73 percent of class of 2028 members are students of color. UMass Chan Medical School is accepting far more women than men with 70 percent of its incoming class identifying as women. In 2023, UMass identified a $4.8 billion backlog of deferred maintenance needs at its facilities and buildings, with $3.6 billion of that backlog assigned to academic buildings. The university did not receive any income surtax funding in the most recent cycle to address building needs and a top official said Wednesday that current spending rates wont be enough. Thats a 10-year backlog number that we will not be able to address without support from the state, Lisa Calise, senior vice president for administration and finance at UMass, told the Administration and Finance Committee. Calise said the UMass presidents office and the UMass Building Authority are participating in a state higher education capital working group to assess future funding options for deferred maintenance at UMass and across the states public higher education network. The universitys current capital plan includes 128 projects totaling $1.8 billion. Administration and Finance Committee member Robert Epstein mentioned other area colleges that earned high rankings recently. Weve got to try to improve the product itself at UMass, Epstein said. Meehan defended the product, which is more affordable than other colleges, and said UMass doesnt have the same amounts of money to invest in campuses that universities may have when they charge students $80,000 or $90,000 per year. UMass has a $4.3 billion budget. It received a $760 million appropriation in the new state budget. Student-sourced revenues account for 34 percent of university revenues, with the state appropriation at 27 percent, and grants at 19 percent. Its fiscal 2025 budget covers nearly 16,000 full-time equivalent employees, according to slides presented Wednesday. (Sam Drysdale contributed reporting.) Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. FLINT For the first time since the water crisis began in 2014, a presidential campaign event was held in Flint Tuesday with no mention of the lead poisoning of the city's drinking water supply. Former President Donald Trump, during an hour-long town hall at Flint's Dort Financial Center, talked at length about Michigan manufacturing, two assassination attempts on his life, the southern border and nuclear war. But as for what multiple investigations have branded a massive failure of government at the federal, state and local level that Flint is still struggling to recover from, there was not a word. More: 'Women are smarter than men' and 2 more themes from Trump's Michigan town hall The omission throws into stark relief residents' complaints that not just Trump, but the country, has moved on while they continue to suffer. Government testing shows the water has been safe to drink for some time. But many, if not most, Flint residents don't believe that and thousands continue to buy bottled water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which Trump oversaw from early 2017 through early 2021, and President Joe Biden has overseen since, has never accepted responsibility for its role in the disaster or settled a seven-year-old lawsuit brought against it by thousands of Flint residents. Great progress has been made replacing lead water lines, but even that project is not complete, according to recent court filings. "You've got someone campaigning for the highest office in the land just ignoring the fact that he's standing in the middle of a city still struggling with all of that, not mentioning it at all," said Melissa Mays, a Flint drinking water activist who did not attend the Tuesday event. "That's terrifying." Another Flint water activist, Gladyes Williamson, is a strong Trump supporter who did attend Tuesday's "town hall" event. She too said she would have liked to see Trump mention the drinking water crisis, in which government mistakes that included a failure to add corrosion control chemicals when officials switched the source of city residents' drinking water supply to the Flint River from Lake Huron, caused lead a neurotoxin especially harmful to the developing brains of children to leach from pipes and fixtures. "That's a dirty dog that they want to bury," said Williamson, while adding that despite the omission, she is confident that if elected, Trump, a Republican, will "take care of" remaining issues in ways that Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, would not. On Tuesday, spokeswomen for both the Trump and Harris campaigns expressed support for Flint and safe drinking water generally and touted actions their administrations had taken in those areas. But the two campaigns would not say whether their candidates, if elected, would direct the EPA to stop arguing that it is immune from civil liability and make a financial settlement with Flint residents. The EPA is charged with ensuring compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and a paper trail shows its officials knew about dangerously inadequate treatment of water from the Flint River months before residents were notified. Flint marked the 10th anniversary of the lead poisoning of its water supply in April. Tuesday's "town hall" event, moderated by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was Trump's ninth visit to Michigan this year, but his first to Flint since Trump was campaigning for president in 2016 and toured the Flint water treatment plant. Then, he promised to fix the problems in Flint, but said it would take some time, media accounts of the visit show. Former president Donald Trump speaks to an audience during a town hall meeting at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Former President Barack Obama was president when the catastrophe happened. Some Flint residents are still unhappy that Obama drank from a glass of filtered Flint drinking water when he visited a Flint high school in 2016, feeling that he minimized the ongoing risk. Trump was president in 2017, when thousands of Flint residents brought a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and in 2018, when a scathing report from the EPA Office of Inspector General said the agency "did not manage its drinking water oversight program in a way that facilitated effective oversight and timely intervention in Flint." The state of Michigan agreed in 2020 to pay $600 million for its role in the crisis, and the city of Flint settled for $20 million in the same massive lawsuit. But the EPA continues to fight claims against it and Flint residents have yet to receive a dime from the state and city settlements, as the claims administration process crawls along. "Your administration publicly expressed dismay and shock about what was going on in our city, and yet, to this date, the federal government is the only entity that refuses to take any responsibility for its failures," plaintiffs Jan Burgess, Rhonda Kelso, and Mays said in an April 2024 letter to Biden, calling on him to authorize funding to settle the lawsuit. In 2019, Harris, then a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, marked the fifth anniversary of the Flint water crisis with a Twitter post that called it "a shocking example of government irresponsibility and systemic racism." On Tuesday, the Harris campaign touted an op-ed piece in the Michigan Chronicle by Flint City Council President Ladel Lewis. In the letter, Lewis said Trump tried to undermine efforts to make Flint's water safe to drink. Lewis said he tried to cut funding for the water infrastructure program Flint relied on to rebuild its water system and appointed an "unqualified partisan" to lead the EPA who claimed that Flints drinking water was safe before it really was. Trump's first EPA director, Scott Pruitt, resigned in July 2018 amid a raft of ethics investigations. Trump replaced Pruitt with Andrew Wheeler, a former lobbyist for the coal industry. On Tuesday, Trump spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita said Trump delivered $100 million to Flint "to address the water crisis," though she later acknowledged that money was approved by Congress in 2016, during the Obama presidency. LaCivita also pointed to new water pipe certification rules the EPA implemented in September 2020. Trump wants "to ensure that every American will have access to clean, safe, and reliable water supplies," LaCivita said. That's part of the reason Trump is "in Flint, talking to undecided voters about his vision to make Michigan great again," she said. In April, White House spokeswoman Sneha Choudhary did not directly address the issue of past federal failings with respect to Flint, when asked for a response to the letter to Biden from the Flint plaintiffs. But she said Biden secured $15 billion in funding for lead pipe replacement nationwide through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, and $5 million for Flint through the Flint Registry, in the 2024 budget, to ensure "families in Flint have high quality health care, education, and proper nutrition as they recover from the crisis." On Tuesday, Harris campaign officials pointed to $204 million Michigan received from the federal lead pipe replacement money, plus nearly $500 million more for broader water infrastructure projects in the state. They noted that as a senator, Harris in 2019 introduced the "Water Justice Act" to improve access to clean water, upgrade water infrastructure, and help families pay their water bills. "Vice President Harris is committed to ensuring every community in America has clean drinking water, including Flint," said campaign spokeswoman Alyssa Bradley. Burgess, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against the EPA, said Tuesday she is supporting Harris and doesn't believe Trump cares about what happens in Flint or any other city in which non-white residents comprise the majority. As for the lack of action in settling the lawsuit under Biden, Burgess said she doesn't think any president has the unilateral authority to settle such a lawsuit. It would take cooperation from Congress, which Biden and his Democratic Party does not control, she said. Burgess, who did not attend Tuesday's event in Flint, said she met twice with EPA officials during the Trump presidency and they had no interest in settling the case. Trump wanted to dismantle the EPA and was not supportive of the agency expending significant funds on cities like Flint, she believes. "I would feel a lot better about it if any of the candidates who came to Flint would bring a high-ranking member of the EPA with them and say ... these people deserve to have clean water," Burgess said. Though government tests indicate Flint's water is now safe to drink, "I will never in my life drink water from Flint," said Burgess, who moved to Owosso in recent years. That shattered trust will be very difficult to restore, but the EPA could begin by "settling these lawsuits," she said. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Flint water crisis gets no mention at Trump event in city A view of the consequences of the flood in the village of Kobyla nad Vidnavkou. Deml Ondrej/CTK/dpa The first instances of looting have been reported in areas affected by flooding in the Czech Republic, Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said on Wednesday after a crisis meeting in Prague. He said that the law prescribes harsher penalties for such acts during disaster situations and warned that burglary carries penalties of up to 15 years in prison without parole. Meanwhile, a further rise in water levels is expected today along the Elbe river near the border with the German state of Saxony. In the Czech city of Usti nad Labem, flood barriers and sandbags have been deployed to protect the area from potential flooding. A person was reportedly seen in the river near the Marienbrucke bridge, but a search operation was unsuccessful. Many low-lying areas along the riverbanks have already been inundated, and the district of Dolni Zleb in the Elbe Valley remains accessible only by rail. Across the country, the highest level of flood alert remains in place at more than 25 monitoring stations. After the devastating floods in the east of the country, the first clean-up efforts are under way. In many places, the volunteers confronted scenes of overwhelming destruction. Masses of mud engulfed shops, homes and schools. The army has deployed heavy equipment. Helicopters delivered drinking water and food to towns and municipalities in the Jeseniky Mountains on the border with Poland, which were cut off from the outside world due to damaged roads and collapsed bridges. The government in Prague sent a request for assistance to other EU countries, asking for 15,000 dehumidifiers to dry out buildings. About 8,000 devices are currently being distributed from their own reserves. In neighbouring Slovakia, the Danube remained at a high level of more than 9.7 metres above sea level in the capital Bratislava. Before the storms, it was about 2 metres. The ground under a railroad track was washed away during the extreme rainfall. imanek Vit/CTK/dpa NEW ORLEANS Robert Green guesses it was about 5 a.m. when the water first broke through. By 5:10, he, his mother, brother, cousin, and three grandchildren, ages 4, 3, and 2, were on the roof. Within five minutes, their house was floating down the street. By 5:20, the home, pinned against an oak tree, was crumbling under the water pressure. The next 10 minutes were a blur, but sometime within them, his 3-year-old granddaughter Shanai Nai Nai Green was swept away by the current. Through sheer will and determination, Green was able to help everyone else to safety, or at least to a semblance of it. They made it to another rooftop, where they lay in agony for over seven hours. His mother, Joyce, who was bedridden with Parkinsons disease, would not make it. It would be months before she and Nai Nai were recovered. In Robert Greens front yard, visitors are greeted with a headstone and memorial for his mother Joyce and granddaughter Shanai Green. (Adam Mahoney/Capital B) Like many of the tens of thousands of Black Louisianans who lost loved ones, either through the floodwaters, starvation, and police violence immediately after the storm or the long-term ailments and mental health issues that followed, life has remained challenging. But people came to support and help care for the family that seemingly lost everything, including the pink home that Green grew up in along the Lower Ninth Wards levees. In times of disaster, studies show Black Americans are least likely to receive financial support from the government, which leaves them more likely to depend on private, nongovernmental organizations that are not held to the same standards. Back in 2007, Brad Pitts Make It Right Foundation stepped in to address the governmental failure and built homes in the especially hard-hit Lower Ninth, which was 99% Black. Less than 15 years later, dozens of properties have been abandoned or deemed unsafe to live in because of widespread mold, collapsing structures, regular flooding concerns, electrical fires, and gas leaks. Just six of the original 109 homes remain in relatively good condition, according to a 2022 inspection. The remaining residents, still reeling from the worst weather disaster in U.S. history, are left with homes crumbling beneath them again. Nineteen years post-Hurricane Katrina, the situation exemplifies the nations continued failures in protecting the most vulnerable from the fallout of storms that are becoming more common due to climate change. The patchwork recovery process, which private and charitable organizations often support in addition to government funding, continues to stunt the healing process for Black victims While NGOs often fill invaluable holes in the recovery process, they face more serious coordination and service delivery problems than the government. In 2018, more than 100 homeowners brought a class-action lawsuit, but Pitts nonprofit has effectively been disbanded since 2018, vacating its New Orleans offices and failing to renew its nonprofit status. In recent years, Pitt has not issued any public statement addressing the controversy, although sources close to the actor have said he has denied responsibility. In 2019, he unsuccessfully petitioned to have his name removed from the class-action lawsuit, and since then, his organization has offered some residents direct help only if theyve agreed to sign nondisclosure agreements and removed themselves from the lawsuit. Even then, residents told Capital B, there has been no movement over the past two years. In 2022, there was a glimmer of hope when the environmental nonprofit Global Green agreed to underwrite Brad Pitts organization, offering to pay the homeowners $20.5 million. One issue: the organization never actually had the money in the first place. The email address for Make it Right and Global Greens New Orleans office is invalid, and the larger Global Green organization did not respond to Capital Bs request for comment. Global Green hoped that with its name plus nationwide support for New Orleans hurricane victims, it would be easy to crowdfund the $20 million. The group would eventually change its goal to $5 million, but two years later, the group says theyve raised just $380,000. Their public GoFundMe campaign has stalled at $1,035. A Make it Right foundation sign reading Coming Soon is all that is left of the foundation on the site of its former headquarters in the Lower Ninth Ward. (Adam Mahoney/Capital B) In August 2023, the city of New Orleans said it would offer support to the crowdfunding campaign. This City is excited to right this wrong for our residents of the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at the time. But a year later, the city did not specify if any financial or crowdfunding support was actually extended when questioned by Capital B. A year later, residents like Green remain crowdfunding for repair costs and stuck in homes that pose a threat to their health. The Make It Right fallout shows how disaster recovery failures can compound financial and emotional burdens for Black and vulnerable communities, and theres no one to take accountability, Green said. We didnt know we were going to be victims again, he said at a memorial event for Hurricane Katrinas 19th anniversary on Aug. 31 this year. We could have learned from Katrina A walk through the neighborhood makes the situation clear: gaping holes in walls, tarps covering windows and roofs, sagging stairs and decks, and mold-speckled facades. (Google Maps) The asymmetrically designed modern-style homes with solar panels were far from traditional New Orleans shotgun-style architecture. The foundation charged residents just around $150,000 for the new homes. The price tag was about $100,000 under actual construction costs, seemingly a steal for the new energy-efficient and flood-protected properties. Green was able to buy a new house from Pitts organization on the site of his mothers lot in 2011. However, within years, it became clear that the affordable, green homes were not built with Louisianas climate in mind. They used wood and other materials unable to withstand the soggy heat that exists for much of the year. Outside Greens house, which is slanting toward the earth because of bowed support beams, two 6-foot tall signs read a simple message: Make it Right Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Fix my house. Brad Pitt greets Robert Green during a press conference on December 3, 2007, in the Lower Ninth Ward. (Matthew Hinton/AFP via Getty Images) Today, the Make it Right homeowners are left with few options. In the first year after Katrina, more than $3 billion was raised and donated to nonprofits, but hundreds of millions never made it to New Orleans residents. The Red Cross, which received and administered the bulk of donations, spends as much as 30% of its donations on activities unrelated to disaster recovery. We thought the nonprofits sent their organizers here to lend us solidarity, but we found out that most of them came to pimp off our struggle, said Malcolm Suber, a New Orleans resident and founder of the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund. A 2010 study found that about 70% of nonprofits and charities involved in Katrina recovery saw their annual budgets and salaries rise following the storm. They got their monies through the grantmaking system, but look at our condition today, he added. The four residents that Capital B spoke with for this story besides Green declined to speak on the record because of an ongoing lawsuit and because many have signed nondisclosure agreements with Pitts organization, but they shared how mold growth led to headaches and breathing problems and ate through their floors and side walls, exposing their rooms to extreme heat and torrential rains. A walk through the neighborhood makes the situation clear: gaping holes in walls, tarps covering windows and roofs, sagging stairs and decks, and mold-speckled facades. Trudy Green, a Make it Right homeowner, died in 2018 due to bronchitis and diabetes complications, about a year and a half after a city health inspector condemned her property, forcing her to vacate due to toxic mold. Greens family believes the toxicity issues contributed to her death. At the time of her death, she was trying to get the foundation to build her a new home. The foundation has said it has completed repairs over the years on about 40 homes and has even sued some of its material suppliers. (It is widely reported that private construction companies profit greatly from recovery contracts.) Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward was 99% Black and working class. Today, only about a quarter of the residents living there before the storm still call the neighborhood home. (Adam Mahoney/Capital B) Pitts organization has also contributed to community blight. They still own over two dozen empty lots littered with trash and razed trees throughout the neighborhood. Not to mention the lots made empty by the Make It Right homes that were demolished because they were inhabitable. From this perspective, it seems their attempt to rebuild the neighborhood has stifled it. Before Katrina, Greens community had one of the highest homeownership rates in the city, but many families who had been there since the early 20th century did not have title paperwork. Without the paperwork, they had no avenues to return. Just 25% of the people living there before 2010 remain there today, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Because most of the Make it Right homeowners are lower-income and are paying mortgages, there is little reprieve. They cant afford to fix their homes, nor leave them and relocate. Greens home is now worth less than what he paid for it in 2011, according to Zillows home market value tool. In fact, Louisiana is the only state in the country where home values are in decline, and New Orleans has the third-lowest rate of home appreciation among the nations 246 metro areas. We could have learned from Katrina, said Andreanecia Morris, executive director of the housing advocacy nonprofit HousingNOLA. We had enough to do what we needed, but we did it without a plan, and we did it very naively. There is a belief that housing isnt something that the government should be doing, and it leads us to the conclusion that its something the government cant do. That all just manifests itself as programs poorly managed by the federal government and private industry. When youre in New Orleans, you can still see Katrina Make it Right homeowner Tineka West originally bought her property before Katrina in 2002. After it was destroyed, she sold it to Make It Right for $10,000 in 2013, then bought the property back from the foundation for $170,000 after they built a new home. But she has struggled with the same issues as most of her neighbors. Since February, she has been trying to sell the home, but has found little luck as shes had to drop the asking price by $30,000. Pitts organization wasnt the only private, charitable endeavor to leave Black Katrina victims in a bind. Habitat for Humanity built more than 120 homes for low-income people throughout New Orleans, including about two dozen in the Lower Ninth. However, they required the homeowners to sign a costly property insurance agreement in addition to their mortgage agreements. As the combined payments have lurched toward $2,000 a month, many homes have either already been foreclosed on or at risk of. (The median monthly household income in the Lower Ninth Ward is $1,300.) Last year, New Orleans had the nations highest rate of missed mortgage payments. As affordable housing development in New Orleans and beyond has stalled, Habitat for Humanity said it was only doing the right thing by filling a gap that the local and federal governments had created. Louisiana has only 41 affordable and available rental homes per 100 extremely low-income renters. Still, that ranks them tied for the eighth-best rate of affordable housing units nationwide. Read More: The Housing Crisis That Climate Change Built Habitat for Humanity also noted they have no control over the increasing costs of insuring properties in the South, as premiums continue to rise with climate change bringing more frequent and intense disasters. Nationwide, the average home insurance bill has risen from $900 in 2010 to $2,700 this year. Louisianas situation is more dire, as at least 20 insurance companies have left the state since 2020 due to high climate risk. People are housing insecure at levels we havent seen since Katrina, explained Morris, and the insurance crisis puts that in stark relief. The federal government has its hands tied as climate change has made disasters more common, and a highly partisan budget process has made it difficult to fund disaster recovery. For the second year in a row, the federal agency tasked with recovery, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has depleted its budget, forcing it to stall rebuilding efforts for more recent disasters, including Hurricane Francine, which struck New Orleans last week. The Make it Right homeowners have also attempted to utilize local solutions. Before going through Pitts organization, some homeowners attempted to use the states recovery program, the Louisiana Road Home, but it disproportionately shortchanged low-income homeowners by using pre-storm property values rather than repair costs to determine grants. This meant poorer, predominantly Black neighborhoods would receive less aid that would not put a dent into actual recovery costs. As it has happened increasingly over the past several years for disaster victims, the remaining residents have been forced to start their own donation campaigns, but most have yet to procure enough funds to move away or fix their homes. This spring, an anonymous donor paid $28,000 to help fix one Make it Right homeowners roof. Greens GoFundMe, which you can find here, has raised just 2% of its goal. An abandoned and crumbling Make it Right home was recently demolished. (Google/Adam Mahoney) At the Katrina memorial, Green wore a shirt with the words The Original Roof Top Rider, plastered across it. Below the words, a Black man standing on the roof of a flooded home waves an American flag. He spoke clearly about the pain that has carried him throughout the past 19 years, but also the joy hes found in still being here. When youre in New Orleans, you can still see Katrina, he said, but it is for that reason that he is even less likely to give up hope for his home, community, or country. At the very least,we have life here again. The post Flooded, Foreclosed, and Forgotten: The Unkept Promises to Hurricane Katrinas Victims appeared first on Capital B News. The annual Florida Python Challenge has slithered to its conclusion, with professionally categorized python purger Ronald Kiger crowned its victor after he removed 20 Burmese pythons from the Florida Everglades. Kiger received a $10,000 grand prize. Representatives from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced his win Tuesday morning in a meeting in Duck Key. Kiger, last year's runner-up, tipped the scales this year, reaching first place by only one snake. His win follows a 10-day hunt in which over 800 people from 33 states and Canada competed for about $25,000 in prize money. The winnings were divided among competitors in the three categories: novice, professional and military. The commission revealed 195 Burmese pythons were removed from the wild. Donna Kalil, a contractor with the South Florida Water Management District, rattled the competition, almost tying Kiger. In the end, though, she won a $2,500 prize for catching 19 pythons in the professional category. It can be very dangerous if you dont know what youre doing," she said. A big snake can definitely kill you. If it gets around your neck, it could definitely strangle you out. The longest snake caught in the entire competition, regardless of category, measured in at 9 feet 11 inches (3 meters). The competition is strategically held in mid-August each year: hatching season. A female python can lay about 50 to 100 eggs at a time, so hunters are tasked with humanely killing them and turning in their carcasses to three check stations in South Florida. But for Kalil, its not just about the contest. She has been hunting Burmese pythons since 2013, and she goes out almost every night, hoping to add another snake to her catch record. Her catch count is 993 snakes. She hopes to reach 1,000 by next week. When I realized that there was a problem with pythons out there in the Everglades its like, I can do something about that, and I started looking for them, she said. I do love it. I found a purpose in life. The hunt is designed to bring awareness to the invasive threat of the Burmese python species in Florida. They are found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem in South Florida, where they prey on birds, mammals and other reptiles. Burmese pythons can spread diseases among native animals, affect native snakes and have high mercury levels that are dangerous for human consumption. "Every invasive python that is removed makes a difference for Floridas environment and its native wildlife, Alligator Ron Bergeron, a member of the South Florida Water Management District governing board, said in a news release. According to the wildlife agency, about 22,000 pythons have been removed from the state since 2000. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Florida is urging a federal appeals court to overturn a ruling that halted the states authority to issue permits for projects affecting wetlands, warning of disastrous consequences if the decision stands. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Attorneys for the state filed a 74-page brief late Monday with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, challenging a February ruling by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss. The ruling vacated a 2020 decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to transfer wetlands permitting authority to Florida, citing violations of the federal Endangered Species Act by the EPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The ruling returned the permitting authority to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which had held the responsibility before the 2020 shift. Floridas brief warned of delays in issuing Section 404 permits under the federal Clean Water Act, stating, The Corps resources dedicated to processing permits in Florida do not compare to those Florida has dedicated to its program. The EPA approved the transfer of authority in December 2020, just before the Trump administration ended. Florida became the third state, after Michigan and New Jersey, to assume this responsibility for dredge-and-fill permits. Environmental groups, led by Earthjustice, challenged the EPAs decision in 2021. Judge Moss ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to properly prepare a biological opinion and incidental take statement, both required when endangered species could be affected. Moss ruled that these documents were flawed, making the EPAs approval of the transfer unreasonable. Florida and federal attorneys both filed briefs on Monday disputing Moss ruling. They argued that the states permitting process included sufficient oversight by the Fish and Wildlife Service and emphasized that Florida had processed thousands of permits, including denials and revisions based on federal recommendations. The federal government acknowledged the EPAs failure to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service before the shift and suggested the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continue handling permits until the issue is resolved. Environmental groups have until Nov. 1 to file their response. Floridas position is backed by business and development groups, which have warned that Moss ruling could affect permits for a wide range of projects, including roads, housing, and hospitals. [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. Florida school bus driver arrested for putting his hands on a student, police say MELBOURNE, Fla. (WFLA) A bus driver in Melbourne has been accused of putting his hands on a student riding the bus, the Melbourne Police Department said. According to the Brevard County Schools, William Green, 59, has been charged with child abuse without great bodily harm. South Alternative Learning Center called the police on Monday regarding a disturbance on the school bus. According to MPD, officers discovered the bus had stopped and the bus driver approached a 12-year-old student where he pushed the student into the seat, and placed his hands around the students neck. Multiple students witnessed what had happened, and video from the bus captured the incident. The Brevard Public School District is cooperating with the police, and the driver will not be with students as the district completes an internal investigation, a statement from the Brevard County School said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) A Florida sheriff fed up with a spate of false school shooting threats is taking a new tactic to try get through to students and their parents: hes posting the mugshot of any offender on social media. Law enforcement officials in Florida and across the country have seen a wave of school shooting hoaxes recently, including in the wake of the deadly attack at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, that killed two students and two teachers. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood on Floridas Atlantic Coast said hes tired of the hoaxes targeting students, disrupting schools and sapping law enforcement resources. In social media posts Monday, Chitwood warned parents that if their kids are arrested for making these threats, hell make sure the public knows. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood on Floridas Atlantic Coast said hes tired of the hoaxes targeting students, disrupting schools and sapping law enforcement resources. In social media posts Monday, Chitwood warned parents that if their kids are arrested for making these threats, hell make sure the public knows. (Volusia County Sheriffs Office) Since parents, you dont want to raise your kids, Im going to start raising them, Chitwood said. Every time we make an arrest, your kids photo is going to be put out there. And if I can do it, Im going to perp walk your kid so that everybody can see what your kids up to. Chitwood made the announcement in a video highlighting the arrest of an 11-year-boy who was taken into custody for allegedly threatening to carry out a school shooting at Creekside or Silver Sands Middle School in Volusia County. Chitwood posted the boys full name and mugshot to his Facebook page. In the video, which had more than 270,000 views on Facebook as of Monday afternoon, the camera pans across a conference table covered in airsoft guns, pistols, fake ammunition, knives and swords that law enforcement officers claim the boy was showing off to other students. Later, the video cuts to officers letting the boy out of a squad car and leading him handcuffed into a secure facility, dressed in a blue flannel button-down shirt, black sweatpants and slip-on sandals. The boys face is fully visible at multiples points in the video. Right this way, young man, an officer tells the boy, his hands shackled behind his back. The boy is led into an empty cell, with metal cuffs around his wrists and ankles, before an officer closes the door and locks him inside. Do you have any questions? the officer asks as he bolts the door. No sir, the boy replies. The video prompted a stream of reactions on social media, with many residents praising Chitwood, calling on him to publicly identify the parents as well or press charges against them. Others questioned the sheriffs decision, saying the 11-year-old is just a child, and that the weight of the responsibility should fall on his parents. Under Florida law, juvenile court records are generally exempt from public release but not if the child is charged with a felony, as in this case. Law enforcement officials across Florida have been tracking a stream of threats in the weeks since the 2024-2025 school year began. In Broward County, home to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, officials said last week they had already arrested nine students, ages 11 to 15, for making threats since August. For my parents, to the kids who are getting ready for school, Im going to say this again, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said at a press conference, nothing about this is a laughing or joking matter. Parents, students, its not a game, he added. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The Florida Supreme Court has suspended two Tallahassee attorneys who were accused by a woman who worked in their home of sexually battering her. The state's highest court entered suspension orders against Sarah Savannah Warren and Gabriel F.V. Warren last month, court dockets show. The suspensions, meaning they will be temporarily barred from practicing law, will be effective later this month so they can close out their practices "and protect the interests of existing clients," the court orders say. According to previous reporting, the victim who worked in the Warrens home for several years told police that the couple sexually battered her after they returned from a date March 10, 2023. The Warrens told the victim that they had been thinking about having sex with her for months and kissed and touched her, according to court records. She repeatedly said she was uncomfortable but the Warrens wouldnt let her leave. The victim later told investigators that Gabriel Warren performed a sex act on her at the direction of his wife before she was finally able to collect her things and escape. As part of the plea deal, the Warrens both publicly apologized to the victim, who was in the courtroom, sobbing throughout the proceeding. The married couple entered pleas to lesser charges, deals that were OK'd by the victim, as part of an agreement with state prosecutors. In June, Circuit Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper withheld adjudication, meaning she did not enter a formal finding of guilt, and sentenced both to 48 months of probation and 15 days in jail. The Florida Bar now is pursuing disciplinary cases against the Warrens, with possible punishments up to and including disbarment if they are found guilty of misconduct. Previous coverage: Tallahassee attorney couple takes plea deal in sexual battery case This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee attorneys suspended after sexual battery plea Florida Surfer Dies After Reportedly Hitting Sandbar and Striking Pier with His Head: 'We Love You Brother' Jorge Alvarado was reportedly surfing in Daytona Beach Shores when the incident happened on Friday, Sept. 13 Facebook Jorge Alvarado A surfer in Florida has tragically died after reportedly suffering a head injury while in the water. On Friday, Sept. 13 at around 9 a.m. local time, Jorge Alvarado, 49, of Port Orange, was reportedly surfing just south of the Sunglow Pier in Daytona Beach Shores when he hit a sandbar before becoming "tangled under the pier," Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue said, per the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Director Tamra Malphurs said a witness saw him "strike a piling with his head before going under in an unguarded area," adding that it took several minutes to free him, according to the outlet. "Sounds like the lateral current pushed him into the pier after he hit his head," Malphurs continued. According to an update posted on Wednesday, Sept. 18, on a GoFundMe page set up to support Alvarado and his family financially, the surfer died after being placed on life support following the incident. "It is with a heavy heart that Jorge has passed away," the update began. "Jorge, rest in paradise brother ... Your spirit was as vibrant as the ocean waves you loved to ride. You brought joy and adventure to everyone around you." Getty The pier at Daytona Beach Shores "We'll carry your memory with us every time we get in the water, knowing youre out there in the surf, riding the biggest wave of all watching over each and everyone of us," the update adds. "Rest easy Jorge Alvarado. We love you brother." The GoFundMe page had raised over $14,000 before Alvarado's death was announced. The page's description reads, "Our good friend and brother Jorge Alvarado was surfing Friday morning and had an accident while out in the water. He is currently on life support and needs all of the prayers and support he can possibly get. Jorge is loved by so many people and we want to make sure as a community that we take care of him and his family during this difficult time." "If you can donate, anything would be greatly appreciated. If you cant donate, please continue to pray for Jorge and his family. Thank you to all whom help contribute financially and thank you for all of the continued prayers. We love you brother, keep fighting! You got this!" the message adds. Getty Daytona Beach Shores Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Alvarado's friend Chis Chibbaro told local media outlet WKMG-TV's News 6 of the surfer on Monday, Sept. 16, Jorge is the embodiment of the phrase this little light of mine, Im going to let it shine.' " Friend Brian Holmes said of Alvarado being known within the Volusia surf community, He has this jovial spirit, makes fast friends with everyone. Hes kind of like all of the community youngsters, hes almost like their uncle and dad or something." Weve all taken hundreds of falls like this and some of us have had close calls, rubbing into the bottom a few times but you really have to fall just right to have an injury like this, Holmes continued to the outlet, adding, We love you, Jorge, we love you so much." Volusia County Beaches did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. (Reuters) - Canadian labor union Unifor said on Wednesday it has reached a tentative agreement with General Motors for workers at automakers' plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. Both parties had extended a deadline late on Tuesday for reaching a deal, and the Unifor Local 88 had previously said that 97% of its more-than-1,300 members were in favour of stopping work at the CAMI plant if a deal was not reached. (Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza) Florida woman left puppy in hot truck for over an hour while she went shopping: police TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A 34-year-old Florida woman was arrested Tuesday after police said she left her puppy in a hot truck for over an hour while she went shopping. The Collier County Sheriffs Office said Ginobeba Obregon, 34, left her 6-month-old schnauzer named Bigotes inside her truck for at least an hour and 15 minutes. Missing Hillsborough teen found in South Florida with 38-year-old man she met online When deputies arrived at the Davis Village shopping plaza Sunday evening, Bigotes was sitting on the armrest panting heavily as the trucks engine was off and the windows were slightly cracked. Deputies said it was a scorching 110 degrees inside the vehicle. According to the sheriffs office, Obregon said she had only left the puppy inside the truck for about 30 minutes while she shopped at a boutique inside the plaza; however, a concerned citizen told deputies she first saw the dog inside the truck around 12:54 p.m. Credit: Collier County Sheriffs Office The citizens took a picture of the truck and tried to find the owner. When she returned to the vehicle around 1:56 p.m., the puppy was still in distress and thats when she called CCSO. Firefighters worked with the deputies to get Bigotes out of the hot truck. Luckily, the pup was not injured and appeared to be in good health following the incident. My heart kind of dropped: Gun found on Hillsborough school campus, parents take concerns to the school board It is never OK to leave a pet inside a hot vehicle, Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said. Leaving pets inside a hot vehicle even for a few minutes can be deadly. We thank the concerned citizen who saw the puppy in distress inside the hot truck and reported it to law enforcement. Detectives arrested Obregon at her home on Tuesday. She was charged with animal cruelty. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. I fly business class with my kids whenever I can. People can complain, but they belong there as much as anyone else. Monet Hambrick is a full-time family travel blogger who has two children with her husband, James. The Hambricks travel as a family whenever the girls, who are 10 and 8, have school breaks. Whenever they have the points they fly business class, which Monet says kids have a right to do. This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Monet Hambrick, a 36-year-old travel blogger who shares itineraries and tips for traveling with children on her blog, The Traveling Child. Monet shares two daughters with her husband James Hambrick Jordyn, who is 10, and Kennedy, who is 8. Monet has been to 50 countries so far in her life, while her daughters have been to over 35. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I'm a first-generation American. Both of my parents are Jamaican. Because of that, I've had a passport since I was young because we would always go back and forth to Jamaica. Even though I didn't travel internationally a lot when I was growing up besides Jamaica, I have lots of family all over the United States, so we'd go on tons of road trips. My husband and I met in college at the University of Florida. We love to travel and have been traveling together since we started dating. When we had kids, everyone was like, "Oh, you're never going to be able to travel anymore now that you have kids." Hambrick has been traveling with her daughters since they were newborns. The Traveling Child And we were like, "Have you met us?" This is the lifestyle that we, as husband and wife, created. We wanted to continue that lifestyle whether we had kids or not. So we did. Our oldest daughter took her first domestic flight at six weeks old, and before she was two, we had gone to Jamaica, Italy, and Greece. When we had our second daughter, I went on maternity leave because I was working in corporate America at the time. I was like, "Twelve weeks when I don't have to ask anybody for vacation days? I should probably do something." We went to Colombia while she was 10 weeks old. Since then, they've been to over 35 countries and six continents. Children belong in business class like any other passenger who has paid to be there We've only flown business class when we have points to fly business class. Thankfully, I'll say my kids, especially at this age, are perfectly fine. People are always complimenting us, like, "Oh my God, they were so good on the flight. I didn't even realize there were kids here." Kids cry on planes sometimes. I've definitely been on planes where kids are crying. I put on my headphones. But kids know how to behave. Kids are not like these weird things that automatically cry. There are people of every age who do things on planes that we'll be annoyed with. There are adults on planes who are drunk or causing issues. Monet has been on flights where adults, not children, have caused issues in the cabin. The Traveling Child I was actually on a flight when adults were fighting. These were not young people. It was two couples in their 70s fighting, yelling, and screaming at each other. They got kicked off the plane. The other day, an adult sitting behind me put their bare foot in the space between my seat. I was like, "Why is your foot there? How can you even think that that is appropriate?" Oftentimes, it's more comfortable for families to be in business class anyway. You'll probably have kids making less noise because it's more comfortable for them. Thinking that adults own business class is not right. It's public transportation. If you don't want to be around kids, get your own plane. Read the original article on Business Insider AUSTIN (KXAN) Three people who were convicted in a murder trial for their roles in the 2020 kidnapping and murder of a Tennessee couple in November 2023 were granted a retrial due to discrepancies in exhibits submitted to the jury, according to court documents. Erik Charles Maund, a former partner with the Austin-area Maund Automotive Group, was convicted on a charge of murder-for-hire with death resulting. Co-defendants Bryon Brockway, of Austin, and Adam Carey, of Richlands, North Carolina, were convicted on a murder-for-hire charge as well as conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death. Former Austin car dealer, 2 others convicted in murder-for-hire trial Maund was acquitted on the kidnapping charge, as well as the conspiracy to kidnap charge. All defendants face a mandatory life sentence, according to officials. A hearing was set in January for the defendants, and the court identified discrepancies in the exhibits provided to the jury, court documents said. The court then allowed the parties until Feb. 19 to file motions about the information provided in the notice of the upcoming hearing. In total, three exhibits submitted as evidence were not provided to the jury, nine exhibits were provided to the jury but not admitted into evidence and one exhibit did not include redactions but was ordered by the court to have them, court documents said. That last exhibit included the date the murders happened and were supposed to be redacted but were included with exhibits in its unredacted form. Though that discrepancy was not included in the notice, it was identified by the defendants before the hearing, court documents said. Based off several other discrepancies, the defendants argued the Court should grant a new trial without a further hearing due to those discrepancies submitted were a structural error. During the hearing on May 15, attorneys discussed their recollection of their review of the exhibits, court documents said. A U.S. district judge granted the defendants a new trial based off the discrepancies provided in court documents. However that new trial will be on only the counts on which the jury found the defendants guilty, as double jeopardy bars retrial of acquitted counts. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Former Dedham nurse who tampered with oxycodone syringes to use on herself sentenced BOSTON -A former Dedham nurse who tampered with syringes of oxycodone to use for herself was sentenced on Tuesday. Jaclyn McQueen, 44, of Dedham, Mass. was officially sentenced by the U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick to three years of probation. McQueen, who was initially charged on December 7th, 2023, pleaded guilty of tampering in January 2024. From February to May of 2020, McQueen worked as a registered nurse for a rehabilitation center in Dedham, providing care for long-term chronic and post-acute patients. While McQueen worked as nurse, she had access to oxycodone that were prescribed to patients. Throughout her shifts, McQueen would remove the oxycodone from the syringes, use it for herself, then refill the syringes with saline (a saltwater solution) to avoid getting caught. McQueen would then return the syringes to medication carts to be administered to patients. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Former doctor sues UK hospital for nearly $16 million in legal fee reimbursement A former cardiologist is suing the University of Kentuckys Kings Daughters Medical Center for nearly $16 million in reimbursement for legal fees after being acquitted on healthcare fraud charges brought against him. Dr. Richard Paulus spent $15.8 million defending himself in two federal trials over the course of eight years, resulting from work done while a doctor at Kings Daughters Medical Center in Ashland. He filed a lawsuit against the hospital in July, which was acquired by the University of Kentucky in December 2022, seeking indemnification. Indemnification provides compensation for harm or loss. Paulus was charged and later acquitted on counts of healthcare fraud and false statements made for cardiology procedures he performed at Kings Daughters. The original lawsuit against Paulus, filed by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, claimed he performed medically unnecessary surgeries on patients with blockages in their arteries. Generally, the artery should be at least 70% blocked to require the placement of a stent, which helps restore blood flow to the heart. Paulus was accused of performing that procedure on patients with significantly less than a 70% blockage. After two trials and multiple appeals, Paulus was acquitted on all charges in 2023. The lawsuit Paulus filed in July said UK Kings Daughters owes him indemnification, or reimbursement, which was outlined in the hospitals medical staff bylaws. All Medical Staff Leaders, committee members, and other Medical Staff members acting on behalf of the Medical Center, shall be indemnified for any action taken or statements or recommendations made when acting within the scope of their duties as representatives of the Medical Center or Medical Staff, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the bylaws said. Paulus claimed the university should reimburse him the millions of dollars, which he personally paid for throughout proceedings. UK responded to the lawsuit saying the medical staff bylaws were inapplicable. It also asked the judge to dismiss all claims because the hospital has retroactive governmental immunity. That would mean UK cannot be sued, because it performs a function integral to state government. UK argued that as a branch of the university, UK Kings Daughters also has that immunity. Sovereign or governmental immunity is not just immunity from a final verdict, judgment, or damages. It is immunity from suit in its entirety and the time and expense of even discovery and motion practice, the universitys response document said. Paulus lawyers filed an answer on Monday, which argued he has a right to sue. Attorneys for Paulus did not immediately respond to request for comment. UK Spokesperson Jay Blanton said the universitys position is reflected in its motion to dismiss and gave no further comment. How we got here In 2011, the US Department of Health and Human Services investigated Kings Daughters and a number of its doctors, including Paulus, on suspicion of healthcare fraud. In 2014, Kings Daughters reached a civil settlement and agreed to pay $40.9 million to the federal government to resolve claims of unnecessarily billing medicare and medicaid. Paulus retired in 2013 and voluntarily surrendered his medical license in 2014 after a separate but similar complaint was filed with the Kentucky Medical Board of Licensure. That same year, Paulus was indicted on one count of healthcare fraud and 26 counts of making false statements related to health care, resulting from the Department of Health and Human Services investigation. No one else named in the original investigation was charged. At trial in 2016, Paulus was found guilty on one charge of healthcare fraud and 10 counts of false statements. In 2017, he motioned for and was granted acquittal and a new trial. The new jury agreed on one not-guilty charge and was deadlocked on the others. In 2023, Paulus was acquitted on all charges. (Getty Images) A Forrest City physician who was recently reprimanded by the Arkansas State Medical Board was sued last week by a former employee for alleged sexual harassment. The civil lawsuit was filed in St. Francis Countys Circuit Court by a woman who said she was sexually harassed by Dr. Sudesh Banaji at their workplace, Internal Medicine of Forrest City. His behavior ultimately caused her to leave her job, the complaint said. Banaji, 60, has held a medical license in Arkansas since 1999. In addition to his clinic practice, he also has hospital privileges at Forrest City Medical Center, according to an online biography. On Sept. 12, the medical board voted to enact an emergency license suspension and launch an investigation into Banaji based on six felony counts of second-degree sexual assault and one felony count of rape. Members of the board received a copy of a felony case that was filed Sept. 6 in St. Francis County Circuit Court. The file included an Arkansas State Police investigation in which they interviewed a handful of patients who claimed Banaji touched them inappropriately during medical visits. It also included three people who said they worked with Banaji and had concerns about inappropriate behavior with patients. A medical board hearing for these charges is set for Dec. 5, according to a board order. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The lawsuit from Banajis former employee is the first of its kind against the doctor, according to court records. The Potts Law Firm, which is representing the former employee, said the woman is seeking $5 million in damages for a variety of reasons, including severe psychological pain and mental anguish. The complaint references the alleged sexual harassment that occurred while she was working at Internal Medicine of Forrest City. According to the complaint, Banaji offensively and sexually touched [redacted] buttocks without consent and in the workplace. Banaji allegedly continued to make unwanted advances toward the former employee, and she received repeated harassing text messages and calls from Dr. Banaji, the complaint states. Purnima Sarkar, Banajis wife, is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, as the former employee said his wife was aware of the abuse and did not report it, according to court documents. The Arkansas State Medical Board does not publicly list any disciplinary history for Banaji on its website, aside from the action it took earlier this month. According to documents the Advocate received from a public records request, Banaji has had at least four formal complaints filed against him through the state medical board in the past, some of which involved sexual misconduct. In May 2009, a female patient wrote to the medical board with concerns about a breast exam that she said she didnt ask for. Though she was visiting for a back injury, the woman said Banaji put his hands under her shirt and touched her breasts. She described parts of the experience as groping and rough. My life has been changed forever, she wrote as she pleaded with members of the medical board to take action. In a response letter to the complaint, Banaji wrote that the womans sentiment had inconsistencies and facts that were manipulated, exaggerated or just omitted. He countered her experience and said the breast exam was consensual and the patient even lifted up her shirt for it. Her concern that I may rape my next patient is outrageous, simply baseless and deserves strong condemnation, Banaji wrote. The state medical board has the authority to grant licenses to medical professionals in Arkansas. Based on the circumstances, the board can also alter those licenses, which can include suspensions and revocations. The board works closely with the Arkansas Medical Foundation and its staff to launch investigations into health care providers when necessary. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Over 100 Republican former national security officials and members of Congress endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in a letter of support Wednesday. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Over 100 Republican former national security officials and members of Congress endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in a letter of support Wednesday, calling former President Donald Trump unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust. The list of 111 signatories includes former national security and foreign policy officials who served in Republican administrations ranging from Ronald Reagan to Trump, as well as numerous officials who worked on presidential campaigns for Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and the late Arizona Sen. John McCain. Some notable signatories include former CIA and FBI Director William Webster, George W. Bushs Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, former CIA and NSA Director General Michael Hayden and former U.S. trade representatives Carla Hills and Robert Zoellick. Eight former members of Trumps administration signed the letter, condemning Trumps chaotic and unethical behavior and disregard for our Republics time-tested principles of constitutional governance. Former Republican Congress members, Romney adviser condemn Trump The list also includes some Republicans who did not endorse President Joe Biden in a similar open letter in 2020: former members of Congress Charles W. Boustany Jr. of Louisiana, Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Dan Miller of Florida and Bill Paxon of New York. Comstock was a strategic adviser for Romneys two presidential runs. In the letter, the Republicans say that while they expect to disagree with Harris on a number of policy issues, they believe she possesses essential qualities to serve as President and Donald Trump does not. Vice President Harris has demonstrated a commitment to upholding the ideals that define our nation freedom, democracy, and rule of law, the group wrote. Among several reasons for their support, the group noted Harris ability to engage in orderly national security decision-making, without the constant drama and Cabinet turnover of the Trump Administration and her commitment to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet in order to encourage a diversity of views and restore a measure of bipartisanship and comity to our domestic politics. Trump, on the other hand, has dangerous qualities, the Republicans argued. In our view, by inciting the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and defending those who committed it, he has violated his oath of office and brought danger to our country. Quoting former Vice President Mike Pence, the group stated, Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States. Latest Republican endorsements of Harris The endorsement comes on the heels of other notable GOP figures choosing to endorse Harris. Earlier this month, former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney, former Republican representatives from Wyoming, announced their support of Harris, as the Deseret News reported. Both Cheneys supported Trump in the 2016 election. On Sunday, 17 former staff members to Reagan wrote a letter in support of Harris, CBS News first reported. While (Reagan) is not here to experience the current moment, we who worked for him in the White House, in the administration, in campaigns and on his personal staff, know he would join us in supporting the Harris-Walz ticket, the former Reagan officials wrote. ... Our votes in this election are less about supporting the Democratic Party and more about our resounding support for democracy. The Reagan staffers join the list of over 230 former Republican staffers who have endorsed the current vice president. Of those, over 40 were staffers on Romneys election campaigns. Former governors pressed for election certification by the federal December deadline, saying the process is not open to debate in a Tuesday letter addressed to current governors. The voters in each state choose electors. It is the responsibility of all state Governors to confirm which candidates electors have been chosen by the voters to serve in the Electoral College, the ex-governors wrote in their letter, first obtained by Politico. That is done, they said, through Certificates of Ascertainment of Appointment of Electors, which detail the winning candidates vote tally and the slate of electors. We write as bipartisan former Governors with an eye to December 11th. This is the deadline for issuing and sending Certificates of Ascertainment to the National Archives. This is six days before the Electoral College will meet in state capitals across our nation. The letter is signed by former Govs. George Allen (R-Va.), Roy Barnes (D-Ga.), Jeb Bush (R-Fla.), Chet Culver (D-Iowa), Jim Douglas (R-Vt.), Parris Glendening (D-Md.), John Kasich (R-Ohio), Ronnie Musgrove (D-Miss.), Roy Romer (D-Colo.), Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), Bruce Babbitt (D-Ariz.), Jim Blanchard (D-Mich.), Tom Corbett (R-Pa.), Gray Davis (D-Calif.), Dave Freudenthal (D-Wyo.), Jim Hodges (D-S.C.), Scott McCallum (R-Wis.), Bill Ritter (D-Colo.) and Mark Schweiker (R-Pa.). While there is much to debate on the campaign trail, we expect all candidates and the American people will agree that this time-honored process during our post-election period is not open for debate, the letter continues. It is simply a ministerial and administrative duty. Ari Mittleman, the executive director of Keep Our Republic, which describes itself on its website as a non-partisan civic education organization with a unique focus on the unconventional threats facing our election system, and on ways to help strengthen trust in our electoral system, told The Hill that it spearheaded the letter. When it comes to the presidential election, voters in states are actually voting for presidential electors picked by the parties of their preferred presidential candidate. Those electors come together on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December, voting in favor of their own presidential picks, according to a National Archives webpage. Prior to the voting day of the electors, seven (7) original Certificates of Ascertainment listing the persons appointed as electors, are produced by governors, according to the National Archives page. The Executive is required to issue a Certificate no later than 6 days before the electors meet, the page continues. Several states investigated fake elector schemes in the 2020 election. The alternate electors scheme, spearheaded by Trump lawyer John Eastman and bolstered by other lawyers, relied on former Vice President Mike Pence to certify slates of Trump-supporting fake electors in battleground states instead of the true electoral votes cast for Biden. Fake electors allegedly convened in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nevada and Wisconsin, claiming without basis that they were duly elected electors from their states. Former President Trump faces charges in such a case in Georgia. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A former Tennessee Department of Corrections official has been charged with bid-rigging. (Getty Images) A former Tennessee Department of Corrections official has been charged with bid-rigging. (Getty Images) A former Tennessee Department of Correction official is facing federal felony charges in connection with a scheme to direct a $123 million contract to a behavioral health services company in return for a job. Federal prosecutors charged Wesley Olan Landers, 55, of Cumming, Georgia, and Jeffrey Scott Wells, 54, of Canton, Georgia, with conspiracy to obstruct justice and commit perjury, claiming the former state official provided information to Wells during bidding for a state contract. The Tennessee Lookout previously reported that prison contractor Corizon filed a lawsuit in 2021 claiming that Landers, deputy commissioner and chief financial officer for the state Correction Department from 2012 until March 2020, spoke by email with a Centurion vice president, identified as Company B in the federal indictment, during the contracting process and wound up getting a cushy job with a Centurion affiliate. Simultaneously, the Department of Correction raised the performance bond on mental health services to $118 million from $1 million, making it difficult for Corizon and other small companies to win state bids, as the company had done in 2012 and 2016, according to the lawsuit. Corizons bid-rigging lawsuit against the state of Tennessee was dismissed with prejudice in early 2022. According to federal prosecutors, Wells company created a position for Landers that wasnt advertised to other candidates, nor were Landers or any others interviewed. The company fired both men after senior leaders found out Landers gave confidential state information to Wells in connection with the request for proposals. Federal prosecutors say Landers and Wells agreed to cover up their deal and commit perjury. Landers started using a specialized program to delete emails with Wells that were under subpoena, and both men got new cell phones to discuss subpoenas and court appearances, prosecutors say. The filing also claims they lied under oath in depositions about sharing documents and whether they communicated on WhatsApp. If convicted, they could face up to five years in federal prison. Corizon also filed a protest in 2021 when the state of Missouri gave a prison health-care contract to Centurion Health after it won a bid over four companies, even though its price was higher than the amount lawmakers appropriated for prison medical services, according to a previous Tennessee Lookout report. Centurion was to be paid $174.6 million starting July 2021 for three years plus four optional years, with a total cost of $1.4 billion. The Missouri legislature had approved only $152.8 million last year for prison care, about $3 million more than in fiscal 2020. In its complaint, Corizon claimed that Centurion failed to report the situation with the Tennessee contract, including the fact that some of its personnel involved in the Missouri bid, Landers and Wells, were fired over bid-rigging allegations, according to the report. Centurion was previously connected to Centene, a company that tried to persuade state lawmakers to pass legislation enabling it to obtain a TennCare contract for managed care after it failed to win a contract bid. House Speaker Cameron Sexton co-sponsored the legislation, saying the change was needed to improve openness in TennCare contract decisions. Former Democratic Rep. Jason Hodges of Clarksville called it a case of bid-rigging. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Former US Secretary Kerry calls for new trade rules, cooperation with China on climate By Georgina McCartney HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday urged a new look at global trade rules, calling the existing mediator of trade disputes, the World Trade Organization, "neutered." Kerry, who stepped down as President Joe Biden's climate envoy earlier this year, also urged cooperation with China on climate in wide ranging comments on trade, tariffs and the energy transition from fossil fuels at the Gastech energy conference in Houston. We need an understanding among nations, which China and the U.S. could help lead, about fair processes within the trading structure of the world," said Kerry. The Geneva-based WTO "has become somewhat neutered, I think it is fair to say," he added. The former Biden campaign worker took issue with the rising use of tariffs on Chinese imports that Biden and former President Donald Trump have relied on to rebuild U.S. industry and encourage clean energy businesses such as solar panels, batteries and electric cars. Im not big on tariffs at all. I think historically tariffs have proven to be very problematic for the marketplace and countries," Kerry said. I'm more believing in creating incentives for the things you want to do." Nations need to find a way to cooperate with China on climate even as trade disputes grow, he said. I advocate working with China on climate because China is 30% of all emissions on the planet and is now the biggest producer of some of these (energy transition) technologies." U.S. lawmakers and regulators need to address permitting for clean energy projects, which have been stalled by lengthy review periods and repeated challenges. We have some blockages political and regulatory - and one of them is the permitting, you cannot take 10 years to permit this stuff, we dont have that kind of time, he said. Nobody else is going to sit around and wait for us to get our act together. (Reporting by Georgina McCartney; Editing by Marguerita Choy) (Bloomberg) -- Chinese chip-related stocks jumped after the nation claimed a breakthrough in the development of homegrown semiconductor-making equipment, a step in overcoming US sanctions. Most Read from Bloomberg Changchun UP Optotech Co. gained by the daily 10% limit, while Sai Micro Electronics Inc. climbed as much as 5.3%. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. rose as much as 1.9% and Naura Technology Group Ltd. less than 1%. The gains suggest investors are optimistic China is making progress working around US export curbs on essential chip equipment. Such gear is one of the key bottlenecks in Chinas semiconductor ambitions. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in an announcement this month. Though the note doesnt specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most-advanced indigenous equipment developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co. which stood at around 90nm. Companies like SMEE are racing to develop machines that can close the gap with suppliers like ASML Holding NV, which are now barred from shipping to China. The advances claimed by MIIT suggest that homegrown rivals are starting to make headway in developing more sophisticated machines, though SMEE and its peers have a long way to go to catch the likes of ASML. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Yahoo Finance The September jobs report shocked economists with 254,000 new jobs added over the month, over 100,000 more than expected. Economists and strategists are scrambling to figure out what this means, but one thing is clear it's not bad for stocks, the Fed, or anyone looking for a job. Sleeping in an alley. Napping on a bus bench. Slumbering on a sidewalk. Come Oct. 1, all three will be illegal in Florida when a new state law kicks in that bans public sleeping after nightfall. The measure, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March, aims to force cities to address a growing homeless crisis impacting the entire nation. On Tuesday night, Fort Lauderdale commissioners approved an ordinance that will pave the way for a citywide crackdown on public sleeping. The ordinance, which bans public sleeping both night and day, will take effect after final approval on Oct. 1. Before Tuesday nights vote, some faulted the commission for not moving more quickly to prepare for the new law. All I heard here was a bunch of meringue and not a lot of pie, said frequent critic Ted Inserra, president of the River Oaks Civic Association and a commission candidate in the citys November elections. Were up against the wall with this new law kicking in. We need to have a plan and we need to have one bad. In order to make an omelet, you gotta break some eggs. I say you make arrests with this new law were going to have. Enforce (the law) instead of just counting (the homeless people) and giving them a sandwich. Mayor Dean Trantalis defended the citys response. I dont want the public to get the impression that the commission has been sitting on its hands, he said. This statute was only passed this year. It was a mandate that was unfunded by the state. Every city in Florida that has a homeless issue has been scrambling to try to find solutions. Most cities are in the same position that we are. Under the new state law, cities that fail to enforce the ban on public sleeping can face lawsuits from residents, business owners and the state attorney general starting next year. Broward County has more homeless people than shelter beds, Trantalis noted. The county has 612 shelter beds. But an estimated 8,263 people are living on the streets in Broward County, according to a yearlong study that ended in September 2023. Nearly half are living on the streets of Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale, home to the county courthouse and jail, has become ground zero for many homeless people over the years. But city officials have made it clear that the job of tackling the homeless crisis should not fall on Fort Lauderdale alone. Other cities around the county need to do their part too, commissioners say. Waiting on the county Before Tuesday nights vote, commissioners got an update from staff on what the options are for the homeless in Fort Lauderdale. All these numbers are pointing to the fact as to why we empirically see all these homeless people on the streets and the beaches and alleys and sleeping in cars, Trantalis said. Because we do not have the capacity to handle the homeless population. Under the new state law, local governments can set up homeless encampments with showers and bathrooms for up to one year. But the law prohibits camps from being placed next to residential neighborhoods. On Tuesday afternoon, Trantalis told the commission he reached out to the county weeks ago about setting up 100 tiny pallet homes on city-owned land near the unincorporated Broadview Park neighborhood, located west of Interstate 95 and north of Interstate 595. Fort Lauderdale needs permission from the county to move forward, Trantalis noted. But as of Tuesday, he said he was still waiting on a response. During the afternoon discussion, Commissioner John Herbst urged the mayor to throw the idea out there to the county. I have thrown it out there and I got no answer whatsoever, Trantalis said. Not a yes, not a no, not a nothing. Last resort: Trip to jail Trantalis has another proposal that would need buy-in from the county: Creating a separate space in the countys main jail for homeless people arrested for violating the public sleeping ban. The idea of putting a homeless person in jail is the measure of last resort, Trantalis said. And even if that happens, its been my goal to use the jail facility to get people off the street and create a safe space for them separate from the other inmates. To accommodate people who have no place else to go. And to bring in health care workers and addiction treatment folks to work with the homeless to ensure they are participating in recovery efforts. Acting City Manager Chris Cooper, Fort Lauderdales newly appointed homelessness czar, presented the commission with a list of options the city might take going forward. Those options include: Purchasing a $3 million building downtown that could double as a homeless outreach center and community court where homeless people charged with loitering and other petty crimes would be connected to key services, from housing to mental health and substance abuse programs. Establishing a temporary overnight respite shelter. Securing 10 mental health and 10 substance abuse treatment beds. Exploring the possibility of safe parking zones for the homeless, pallet homes, medical respite beds and storage options where the homeless can safeguard their belongings. Spending millions on the problem Fort Lauderdale spends an estimated $13 million a year on homeless programs, including community court. More than $10 million of the money comes from federal and state grants, Cooper said. Fort Lauderdales community court program, one of the first of its kind in the region, was created in 2018 with the help of the county, State Attorneys Office, Public Defenders Office and Broward Sheriffs Office. The program, free to participants, offers assistance with housing, employment, food, mental health care, substance abuse counseling, medical care, ID cards, driver licenses, bus passes and community service hours. In the past nine months, Fort Lauderdales community court has helped 1,778 homeless people. Of those, 675 were given housing referrals; 105 were given referrals for mental health treatment; and 104 were given referrals to a substance abuse program. According to city staff, only 16 of the 1,778 people who walked into community court completed or graduated from the programs they were assigned. Herbst was underwhelmed by those numbers. Were not measuring outcomes, he said. We need to start focusing on outcomes. We need performance-based outcome measurements demonstrating were being good stewards of the taxpayers money. If we are going to continue to spend millions and millions of dollars, we need to know whether we are in fact accomplishing anything for the money that were spending. Because if were not, maybe we need to do something else with that money. Inserra, one of three candidates challenging Commissioner Warren Sturman in the race for the District 4 seat, was also underwhelmed. Boy, let me tell you, see the new plan, same as the old plan, Inserra told the commission. Its a rerun every year. And I really dont see anything getting done. Its getting worse and worse out there on the streets. Were losing our parks. Families dont come down to Hardy Park in the mornings because theyre afraid of what theyre going to find at the playground. Before Tuesdays vote, Trantalis said he was done waiting on the county to help Fort Lauderdale come up with a game plan. We cannot continue to sit here and wring our hands and say, Woe is me, I dont know the answer, lets kick the can down the road, Trantalis said. We cant kick the can anymore. We have a mandate. We have to do something. We cannot afford to wait. We have to take the bull by the horns and do what we need to do. Ive reached out time and again to the county. Each time we get no answer. We get no response. Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan An 18-year-old Fort Leavenworth man made his first appearance in Leavenworth County court Wednesday after being accused of posting online threats Monday night toward Leavenworth High School. Authorities say Kaden Ray Bentley, 18, wrote a post on social media threatening to carry out a school shooting at Leavenworth High School. He was charged with aggravated criminal threat, a felony, on Tuesday and arrested around 9 a.m. Wednesday. Bentley is not a student at Leavenworth High School, according to Leavenworth USD 453 Superintendent Dr. Kellen J. Adams. After the threat was posted, Adams sent a letter to school district families, which included a note on Bentley not being a student. At a 1 p.m. bond hearing Wednesday, Bentleys bond was set at $25,000. His next court appearance is scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 2. Bentley is one of three teenagers charged in connection with threats made to schools in the Kansas City area over the past several days. One juvenile, a student at Blue Springs High School, was arrested on Sept. 8 after posting a Snapchat message threatening violence against several classmates. Another juvenile was arrested in connection with a Sept. 9 TikTok that laid out a detailed threat against East Trails Middle School in the Lees Summit R7 School District. He has since been charged with making a first-degree terrorist threat. At least 10 known threats have been made against Kansas City-area schools in general in the last several weeks. Reporting by The Stars Noelle Alviz-Gransee was used in this article. Fort Worth city council members Tuesday night approved an embattled proposal for a data center in the far southwestern outskirts of the city, despite months of opposition from some residents of a nearby subdivision. The 7-2 vote capped months of debate surrounding the fate of the 121-acre project, a keystone of the 1,756-acre Rock Creek Ranch development straddling a portion of the Chisholm Trail Parkway just west of Crowley. Residents of Panther Heights, a subdivision on the propertys northern edge, fought the proposal vehemently, claiming the data center would endanger the environment and aesthetic of the surrounding area. The developer, Arizona-based real estate company Walton Global, countered that the center would pose no threats to its neighbors, environmental or otherwise; it would, instead, be a great economic boon for the city, and most Fort Worth leaders ultimately agreed. Some of the concerns that were raised tonight, as well as throughout this entire process, you have addressed, said District 6 council member Jared Williams, addressing the developers team. The benefits are really great for this project. Walton representatives first pitched the project to the Fort Worth zoning commissioners in May. The company already had city authorization to build commercial buildings on the parcel it applied to rezone, but its venture hinged on securing two special permissions: adding data centers typically found in industrial areas as an acceptable land use, and increasing the allowed building height on the site from 45 to 105 feet. Peer firms have built up massive data center campuses in other once-rural corners of Fort Worth, hoping to capitalize on the citys ample open space and the countrys ever-growing appetite for digital information. Meta, Facebooks parent company, runs a $1 billion data storage center in the Alliance Corridor, on Texas 170. Dallas-based Prime Data Centers plans to start construction on a three-building data complex near Benbrook in September. This site is highly sought after for a major data center investment, said Walton-affiliated consultant Travis Clegg, pointing to the propertys proximity to the freeway, Tarleton State University and nearby homes. That data center could process data for AI services, cell phone connectivity, cloud storage, and streaming services. City planning staff didnt find the plan appropriate, despite its financial potential. Data centers are not allowed by right in any commercial zones. Additionally, the proposed zoning does not match the spirit and intent of the approved Rock Creek Ranch Concept Plan, which calls for this site to be developed as mixed use, staffers wrote in their case report. Data Centers are typically not active, contributing buildings, and are more of a boxy warehouse type of building, with little employment generated and minimal attractive qualities. Some Panther Heights residents found this lack of vibrancy appealing. The data center is the best choice for this parcel of land, said David Beckman, a long-time Panther Heights resident and once staunch opponent of the project. He and his neighbors, he explained, feared massive influxes of noise, people, and traffic; a data center, he reasoned, invited far less of each than a shopping center or bundle of apartments. His wife Linda, the president of the Panther Heights homeowners association, agreed. I spent time at the data centers on Alliance at [Texas] 170 and Park Vista Boulevard, she said, standing below a seated row of her neighbors, some bearing No to ZC-24-031 signs sketched in marker. In the time Ive spent by these buildings and their substations, there was nothing that made me feel that this would bring irreparable harm to any of my neighbors. Williams summoned a roster of city officials and Walton consultants to the dais to help allay the core concerns of critics. It wont have any impact on the regions [electrical] demand, said Jorge Gonzalez-Rodiles, an engineering consultant hired by the developer. If you stand by any one of these data centers during normal operation, you really wont hear anything. Theyre just like any other building. A Fort Worth budget analyst forecast that the city would rake in $5 million in annual tax revenue from the center upon its completion; the Crowley school district could levy $9.4 million off the property, making it one of the areas most publicly lucrative. Staunch skeptics were unmoved. One resident, capturing the angst of many of his neighbors, described the proposed height of the complex as intrusive. Others felt the data center ate up land better suited for more useful and dynamic spaces like grocery stores, retail shops, and parks. You have a good strategic plan, and you follow it when temptation comes along, said Paul King, a Panther Heights resident, echoing the concerns first flagged by city planners. You may be building blight. Council members Chris Nettles and Gyna Bivens, also wary of the projects potential height, voted to strike down the request. The rest of the council rallied behind Williams, who defended its virtues. The data center would pump millions into the areas public school system without significantly straining its resources, he argued. It would also supply well-paying jobs (around 150) to a burgeoning part of the city. Walton had also pledged to make plenty of concessions, Williams continued: laying down trails and green space separating the subdivision from the site; beautifying the site itself to make it more pleasing for onlookers; and preventing construction vehicles from cutting through residential streets. And approving the zoning change, he reassured them, wouldnt cut a blank check. You all have to come back, not only to the zoning commission but to city council and before the neighborhood to make sure the promises you committed to, you uphold. Some of the self-calculated A-F scores released last week by the Fort Worth Independent School District may be wrong. The district released the self-calculated scores on Sept. 10, after a Travis County judge blocked the Texas Education Agency from releasing its official ratings. But it did so without first confirming its numbers with TEA. A spokesman for TEA told the Star-Telegram on Wednesday that Fort Worth ISD officials submitted their scores for confirmation Tuesday, a week after releasing them publicly. When the agency reviewed the districts self-calculated scores, it flagged a number of areas where the districts calculations differed from the ones done by TEA. Because of the court order, the agency cant state publicly which scores were incorrect. TEA officials also cant tell Fort Worth ISD what the official scores are. The agency can only send the numbers back and ask the district to check its math. On Thursday, Fort Worth ISD spokesperson Cesar Padilla said that district leaders think only one campus World Languages Institute, a school of choice that specializes in bilingual education would see a letter grade change, falling from an A to a B. TEA confirmed Fort Worth ISDs overall score of 70, giving the district a C rating, Padilla said. At a school board meeting last week, district officials trumpeted the news that Fort Worth ISD had moved from a D in last years ratings which were also self-calculated after official A-F grades were blocked by a separate court order to a C rating this year. The districts last official rating was a B, which it received in 2022. According to its own ratings, the district also saw a 36% decline in D- or F-rated campuses compared with last year. Four more charged following violent disorder Staffordshire Police said its officers had arrested a total of 94 people and charged 38 with offences following the disorder in August [Getty Images] Four more people have been charged over disorder in Stoke-on-Trent and Tamworth last month. Lee Clark, 41, of Dordon, Tamworth, is charged with violent disorder and common assault of an emergency worker. Sam Williams, 36, of Packmoor, Stoke-on-Trent, is charged with violent disorder and possession of a controlled drug of class B - cannabis. David Kirkbridge, 28, and Colin Stonehouse, 36, both of Wilnecote, Tamworth, have been charged with violent disorder. Staffordshire Police said its officers had arrested a total of 94 people and charged 38 with offences following the violence in Stoke-on-Trent on 3 August and Tamworth on 4 August. Riots and protests swept the UK that weekend in the wake of the Southport stabbings, in part fuelled by false claims that the suspect was an immigrant who had come to the UK on a boat. Mr Williams has been remanded in custody ahead of his next appearance at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on 27 September. Mr Clark has been remanded in custody and will appear at Stafford Crown Court on the same day. Mr Kirkbridge and Mr Stonehouse have been remanded in custody ahead of their next appearance at Stafford Crown Court on 30 September. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Related internet links File. Indonesian police stand guard at Wijayapura port, the entrance gate to Nusakambangan prison, ahead of a third round of drug executions in 2016 (Getty) At least four people are facing the death penalty for allegedly trafficking drugs into the resort island of Bali, defying the Indonesias notoriously strict anti-narcotic laws. Bali police have arrested six people, including foreigners, on drug charges in the popular tourist destination since July, local authorities said. Two Thai nationals, Rachanon Jongseeha, 33, and Woranawan Wongsuwan, 31, were arrested upon arrival at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport on 8 September for possession of methamphetamine and crystal MDMA, provincial anti-narcotics chief Rudy Ahmad Sudrajat said. The pair were found carrying 1.9kg of methamphetamines mixed with the party drug MDMA in 108 sachets of a fruit-flavoured collagen drink, and 20 pills of MDMA, police said. "The drugs would be handed over to two Indonesians who ordered it," Mr Sudrajat said. Police later arrested the two Indonesians for allegedly ordering the drugs from Thailand. One of the suspects was arrested at the Bali airport while a courier was arrested later. All four could face execution by firing squad if charged and found guilty, Mr Sudrajat said. Police also announced the July arrests of two European men on drug charges. They face strict punishment but not the death penalty. A Latvian man, identified by the initials VS, was arrested at the Bali airport on 4 July for carrying 450.41 grams of hashish and 977.83 grams of cannabis in a suitcase. Police said the suspect had a tattoo indicating affiliation with organised crime groups in the former Soviet Union. He faces a possible life sentence for cannabis smuggling. A Swedish man identified by the initials SUE was detained on 31 July following a raid at a villa in the popular tourist spot of Gianyar. The officers recovered 201.28 grams of hashish, having been tipped off that this person had received a suspicious package by mail from Thailand. The Swedish national faces 15 years in prison, Mr Sudrajat said. Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, and has more than 150 people on death row, mostly for drug trafficking offences. About a third of them are foreigners. Eighteen people convicted of drug-related offences have been executed under current president Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014. The anti-narcotics unit raided a suspected drug lab in May which led to the arrest of two Ukrainians, a Russian and an Indonesian. All the foreigners arrested face the death penalty for operating a hydroponic marijuana and mephedrone production lab. An Australian man was sentenced to six months of medical rehabilitation in July for possessing methamphetamine. Troy Andrew Smith, from Port Lincoln in South Australia, was arrested on 30 April after police raided his hotel in Legian and seized 3.15 grams of crystal methamphetamine inside a toothpaste container from his room. Police found a further 0.4 grams of the drug, along with a bong and a lighter in his desk drawer. Earlier in November 2019, a court in Bali sentenced two Thai nationals to 16-year prison terms for smuggling 1kg of methamphetamine into the country. The same year, a French citizen was sentenced to death on Lombok, an island next to Bali, for smuggling 3kg of MDMA before a higher court commuted his sentence to 19 years in prison. Indonesia carried out its last executions in July 2016 when three Nigerians and an Indonesian convicted of drug offences were shot dead on the Nusa Kambangan prison island. FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace honored the 2023 FOX News Media Spotlight Award winners on Tuesday during an intimate luncheon. The FOX News Media Spotlight Awards are an annual tradition for the company, and management received hundreds of nominations from staff members passionate about celebrating colleagues who earned special recognition. Winners were announced last year at a company-wide town hall, and they gathered at 48 Lounge in midtown Manhattan just steps away from FOX News Medias headquarters to celebrate in person. FOX News anchor Bill Hemmer, who hosted the event, welcomed guests before introducing Scott to the stage. "Im very happy to be here today," Scott said. "When I think back to the legacy and history of FOX News, I always think first and foremost of the incredible team we have. It is the staff we have both behind the scenes and on air that has propelled us to our success. I always say proudly, FOX News Media has the best team in all of media." FOX NEWS MEDIA SPOTLIGHT AWARDS RECOGNIZE TEAM MEMBERS WHO WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND IN 2023 "A number of us in the room today, including some of our senior executive staff, have been here for more than 28 years, starting at entry-level jobs and working our way through the ranks," Scott continued. "As leadership, we understand how valuable and important it is to maintain a great team at every level of the organization to thrive and grow. And here today are some of our brightest stars." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Scott told the Spotlight Award winners that they were in the room because they were recognized by colleagues. "Hundreds of your co-workers submitted nominations for these awards. You were the best of the best, and we are all so proud of you," Scott said. "As many of you know, we created these annual awards four years ago, in response to an employee survey. We wanted to recognize the exceptional performers who help keep FOX News Media on top," she added. "Weve seen some past winners go on to tremendous success, and we know you can do the same." Scott turned her attention to the late Joe Rosta, a beloved FOX News lighting technician and Spotlight Award winner who tragically passed away last fall. "It was an awful loss for all of us, and today, as we celebrate his life. Joe was an exceptional long-term employee, having started with us in 1997 he became one of our top lighting technicians. He was so easy to work with, and unbelievably dedicated to both his job and his colleagues," Scott said, noting that his wife Dolores was in attendance. Wallace then took the stage to introduce the winners. FOX NEWS DIGITAL DOMINATES IN KEY METRICS THROUGHOUT NEWS-HEAVY AUGUST Unsung Hero Award The Unsung Hero Award goes to employees who consistently and continually go above and beyond with work that is vital to FOX News Media but often goes unnoticed. This year, three winners were chosen. "Our three unsung heroes all work extremely hard behind the scenes. They coordinate complex projects, they make the screen look sharp, and they keep us ahead of our competition," Wallace said. Nick Lontine, supervisor of media productions Real Time Graphics team "Nick has a wicked sense of humor and keeps everyone laughing even during stressful times. He has his hand in everything ... hes incredibly proactive and invaluable to his department. Nicks led this years election coverage through the primaries, and now hes getting us ready for November," Wallace said. Viktoria Ristanovic, editorial coordinator and executive assistant "Viki spent several successful years in the newsroom before coming to work in the executive office where she is on top of everything from scheduling changes to editorial details and endless logistics surrounding all of our platforms," Wallace said. "Shes also been instrumental at finding, recruiting, and training new people. She loves this place, and she gets our mission, and no matter how high the pressure gets, she always has an amazing attitude," he continued. "Viki also recently got engaged, so her organizational skills are really going to be put to the test in the lead-up to her wedding day!" Samantha Cosme, production manager "Some of Sams highlights include becoming our de facto Milwaukee bureau chief Sam was a key asset during our Republican debate there last year, and she was the co-lead of our RNC Convention coverage in July. She also took part in our productions in Iowa and New Hampshire," Wallace said. "Sam was a production coordinator when she won the Unsung Hero award in December. Back then, we noted that she was well on her way to becoming a production manager," Wallace added. "As it turns out, thats exactly what she is now. Sam, congratulations on the well-deserved promotion!" Hemmer then introduced "FOX & Friends" co-host Lawrence Jones to honor the trio of Rising Stars recipients. Rising Stars The Rising Star Award goes to entry-level employees who have shown exemplary work ethic and growth throughout the year. "The Rising Stars are the employees who are starting out on their careers, but they have incredibly bright futures ahead of them," Jones told the crowd. James Sun, Media Production Group daily artist "Graphics Artist James Sun. Since he started, hes gotten up to speed in major projects, and become involved in updating FOX News Channels entire look. Hes been heavily involved in our election night touchscreen plans, which I know is very important to Bill," Jones said, referring to Hemmers legendary Bill-board. "James continues to handle hundreds of graphics requests every month," Jones said. Karina Legarda, remote coordinator "Next up, Karina Legarda, from our Resource Operations Center. As we predicted in December, Karina has been proving herself in election coverage this year. She was just promoted to remote coordinator in July, and shes been doing a killer job. Shes also wrapping up transmission training, and working on ways to improve our workflows," Jones told the audience. Kyle Thomas, remote coordinator "And our third winner, Kyle Thomas, from the same department. Hes also a remote coordinator whos wrapping up transmission training. His manager says Kyle often does double duty, handling remote coordination duty while answering transmission calls," Jones said. "Congratulations to all our Rising Stars!" Hemmer then called on his "morning bestie" and "America's Newsroom" co-host Dana Perino to present the award for community service. FOX NEWS CHANNEL OUTDRAWS MSNBC, CNN DURING AUGUST TO FINISH WITH CABLE'S LARGEST AUDIENCE Community Service Award: Vivian Leung, executive producer "Vivian has spent years raising awareness about domestic violence. Shes spent time as a hotline operator, helping people through moments of crisis. Shes worked as a legal advocate, helping victims get through complex court processes. And shes on the board of the Childhood Domestic Violence Association," Perino said. "She just got a big promotion," Perino added, as Leung was just bumped to executive producer incredible work Vivian, and this award is clearly very well deserved." Inclusion Ambassador of the Year Award The Inclusion Ambassador of the Year Award is for an employee who leads by example in celebrating, engaging, and advocating on behalf of diverse community voices, both inside and outside of FOX News Media. Patricia Peart, vice president of weekend booking "First, vice president of weekend booking Patricia Peart. Patricia, come on up. You and I have known each other for a very long time. I think I was one of your very first managers, and Jay and I gave you your first promotion! None of us had any idea back then, how far we would all come," Scott said. "Patricia recently wrapped up several years as co-chair of our employee resource group, Black Plus. Shes always helped people find ways to fit in, while strengthening our corporate culture. Since Patricias win last year, she helped coordinate a Dream in Color event, as well as a Behind the Scenes with Changemakers event for Black History Month," Scott continued. "One of Patricias priorities has been meeting with, and mentoring, the next generation and we see that in her actions every day." Bob Bicknell, FOX Weather senior producer "Our second winner: FOX Weather senior producer Bob Bicknell," Scott said. "Bob is also an Employee Resource Alum, after wrapping up a term co-chairing FOX Pride. Bob planned the annual Scoops of Pride event, and supported our involvement in the L.A. Pride March, and the AIDS Walk in Tempe, Arizona," she continued. "He also represented us at the Association of LGBTQ+ journalists." "The Five" co-host Judge Jeanine Pirro was up next to present Innovator of the Year. Innovator of the Year: FOX News Media Lighting Department "Believe me, I know the importance of good lighting. You know, innovation can be mistaken for miracles. And the lighting department pulls off miracles every day," Pirro said. "Because of you, I am always ready for my close-up," she added, noting that some members of the winning team had to stay at work and literally "keep the lights on." The Innovator of the Year recognizes an initiative that created a new way of delivering information, telling a story, or doing business. The FOX News Media Lighting Department, made up of Colin Ackers, Liz Albright, Nico Bazzoni, Jess Black, Justin Brewer, Andrew Crawbuck, Sean Devine, Antonio Huerta, George Jalinos, Harry Kalfaian, Kelly Knudson, Edmond Lulgjuraj, Josh Martinez-Davis, Jason Miller, Dave Renken, Milos Stevanovic, Robert Ulrich, Chris Bazzoni, James Chester and Anthony Rivelli took home the coveted honor along with the late Rosta. "Of course, were missing one individual, Joe Rosta, a 26-year veteran of FOX News, who tragically passed away one year ago. As Suzanne mentioned earlier, were thankful for Joes wife Dolores, who is here today. We still miss Joe, and we mourn him. And were all grateful to have gotten to spend so many wonderful years with him at Fox," Pirro said. The lighting team paid a touching tribute to Rosta, with Bazzoni taking the mic to speak about his longtime colleague. "Joe was our brother. He was like the Dallas character from the Outsiders. He was the coolest, and we looked up to him. One year ago yesterday, on September 16, 2023, we lost our brother Joe," Bazzoni said before moving many in the audience to tears with thoughtful stories about his longtime colleague. "I want to end with a quote from one of Joes favorite hard core bands, The Bouncing Souls," Bazzoni said. "I've met some people along the way, some of them split, some of them stay, some of them walk, some walk on by. I've got a few friends I'll love till I die," he said. "Well miss you, Joe." One of FOX News Channels originals, chief religion correspondent Lauren Green, came up to present the next award, with Hemmer joking that she must be passionate about it because she was supposed to have the day off. The Impact Award: Lissa Kaplan, senior coordinating producer "The Impact Award goes to an individual or team whose work had some of the most positive overall effect on our company. And it goes to the New York bureaus senior coordinating producer, Lissa Kaplan," Green said. "Lissa is not here, because, no surprise, shes busy with work. Right now, shes in Israel, helping maintain the incredible level of coverage weve seen from the Mideast team," Green continued. "Were now just a few weeks from October 7, when well mark one year since the attack that horrified millions and plunged the region into war. Our reporters and producers and photographers there have worked nonstop since that awful day, and Lissa is the latest to jump in to help." Green said this is simply "the latest example of Lissa going above and beyond in her work" at FOX News. "Lissa, Im so pleased to accept this award on your behalf. Your contributions have such an enormous impact on our work. Shes meticulous, conscientious, and a terrific colleague. Thank you for all that you do, Lissa, and please get home safe," Green said. FOX News Digitals Hanna Panreck contributed to this report. Original article source: FOX News Media honors colleagues who received Spotlight Awards PARIS and ROME France and Italy ordered the next generation of the SAMP/T air-defense system as they seek better protection against threats including hypersonic missiles, with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu touting the fully European nature of the system. Lecornu announced an order for eight SAMP/T NG systems, with the first ones to enter the armed forces in 2026, while Italy ordered ten systems, the countrys Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Tuesday. Neither country provided a value for the order, though France included a spending authorization of 674 million (US$750 million) for the purchase in its 2024 military budget. The French are still smarting from Germany proposing Diehl Defences IRIS-T and the U.S.-made Patriot as the backbone of the European Sky Shield Initiative, rather than the SAMP/T developed by Thales and missile maker MBDA. The next-generation upgrade gives the French-Italian system an intercept range of more than 150 kilometers (93 miles), similar to the range reported for RTXs Patriot, and improved capability to intercept hypersonic missiles. This fully European system is capable of dealing with more significant threats, in particular short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, including hypersonic, the French Armed Forces Ministry said. European air defense is central to the security of all Europeans. French President Emmanuel Macron last year warned against European countries rushing to buy air-defense capabilities in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, saying that purchasing off-the-shelf would mean buying a lot of equipment from outside the continent. Lecornu and Crosetto attended a conference on European air and missile defense organized by Italy in Rome, after a similar meeting in Paris last year, and the French minister called for continuation of the effort to deploy sovereign and innovative European technologies with a third conference. We have ordered ten SAMP/T new-generation systems and we are improving the Aster missile, Crosetto said on Tuesday. Like the French we are focusing on national security. Italy earlier this year already signed a contract for four of the systems with Europes Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, with main contractor Eurosam saying the system would be delivered from 2025. OCCAR last year signed for the purchase of five SAMP/T NG systems for the Italian Air Force, with a value of about 700 million. Italy confirmed in June it would send a second SAMP/T air defense battery to Ukraine in response to urgent appeals by Kyiv to help defeat Russian missile attacks. The battery due to be sent was one of five operated by Italy. At the time, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Italy would not allow Ukraine to use Italian weaponry to strike targets inside Russia. Italy and France jointly supplied a first battery to Ukraine last year that has been defending the Kyiv area. SAMP/T is a truck-based tactical antimissile system designed to destroy cruise missiles, manned and unmanned aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles. A complete SAMP/T NG system includes a radar providing 360-degree coverage with a range of more than 350 kilometers, a command-and-control module, and as many as six launchers, each fitted with eight Aster 30 missiles, with a battery typically requiring 20 crew members, according to the manufacturers. Each launcher can fire its eight missiles in about 10 seconds. Discussing Italys new SAMP/T order, Crosetto said on Tuesday that European democracies were struggling to procure and produce weapons in a hurry. This is only the start and we are already late because we are not ready to face todays challenge, he said, adding, We are slow because we live in a world of democracies that will always lose out to dictatorships. France aims to have eight SAMP/T NG systems by the end of 2030, with a goal of 12 systems around 2035. The defense committee of the National Assembly in 2022 advised buying four more systems, saying the country needed a total of 16 to be able to meet its commitments. The French typically deploy several systems to secure major international events, such as the Paris Olympics. The country plans to invest 5 billion to strengthen its air defenses as part of the 2024-2030 military planning law. Swiss federal armaments office armasuisse also attended the conference in Rome, saying its aim for the visit was to discuss new technological developments in integrated air defense and the opportunities there, as well as possible future threats and challenges. MBDA and Norways Kongsberg told armasuisse earlier this year that they wont submit offers for a Swiss tender for a new medium-range air-defense system, leaving the door open for Diehl as the sole potential bidder. France's new PM warns of 'very serious' financial situation France's budgetary situation is "very serious", Prime Minister Michel Barnier told AFP on Wednesday, saying more information was needed to gauge the "precise reality" of French public finances. France was placed on a formal procedure for violating European Union budgetary rules before Barnier was picked as head of government this month by President Emmanuel Macron. And the Bank of France warned this week that a projected return to EU deficit rules by 2027 was "not realistic". France's public-sector deficit is projected to reach around 5.6 percent of GDP this year and go over six percent in 2025, which compares with EU rules calling for a three-percent ceiling on deficits. "I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP. "This situation requires more than just pretty statements. It requires responsible action," he said. The new prime minister, who has yet to appoint a cabinet, is scheduled to submit a 2025 budget to parliament next month, in what is expected to be the first major test for the incoming administration. - 'Out of the question' - Within days of taking office in early September, Barnier said in an interview that "French people want more justice" in terms of fiscal policy, while several politicians have reported the prime minister mentioning possible tax increases in private conversations. Such a move would be a red rag to allies of Macron, who oversaw cuts in the corporate tax rate from 33.3 percent to 25 percent as well as tax reductions for households, including the wealthiest taxpayers. Macron has claimed a reduction in the overall tax burden by 50 billion euros ($56 billion) since he became president in 2017. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, a staunch Macron ally, said Wednesday that it was "out of the question" to join, or even back, a government that raised taxes. But years of extra spending during the Covid pandemic combined with sluggish growth have caused the French deficit to balloon, sparking the "excessive deficit procedure" by the EU, which is designed to force a country to negotiate a plan with Brussels to get their deficit or debt levels back on track. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who is to be replaced soon, promised to bring the deficit back below three percent by 2027 but many analysts have dismissed the plan as implausible. France's central bank governor, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, said this week that the objective was "not realistic" unless the government was willing to risk "stopping growth in its tracks". Apparently backing Barnier's approach, Villeroy de Galhau called for an "exceptional and reasonable effort asked of some major companies and wealthy taxpayers" to help a recovery in finances. France, he said, could no longer afford "unfunded" tax cuts. But tighter fiscal policies could put Barnier on a collision course with Macron, who appointed the experienced politician -- best known internationally as the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator -- in the hope that he can survive an early no-confidence vote in parliament. - 'Dreadful error to go back' - "We want a stable fiscal policy that does not undermine policies that caused unemployment to fall and our country's attractiveness to rise," said Jean-Rene Cazeneuve, a National Assembly deputy and Macron ally. "It would be a dreadful error to go back on this." Laurent Wauquiez, head of the conservative Les Republican (LR) parliamentary group on whom Barnier will depend for support, said last week that "our conviction is that in a certain number of areas we need rightist policies". This, he said, meant "no tax rises". The tax question is likely to deepen budding tensions between Macron and Barnier, who is said to have been irritated that the president did not consult him about nominating Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne to the EU Commission. "Knowing where Michel Barnier stands on Europe and the loss of French influence, I think he's just suffered his first humiliation," said one LR deputy on condition of anonymity. burs-jh/sjw/js Global DTC Pte Ltd is set to propose a groundbreaking initiative at the upcoming COP29 climate summit, aimed at transforming the Middle Corridor into a "green" transport route. This announcement was made by Zhanar Bagasharova, Head of Program Development at DTC, during a session titled "International Transport Corridors in the Black and Caspian Seas" at the Black Sea-Caspian Freight Forum 2024 in Baku, according to Azernews. Bagasharova highlighted the company's ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration among countries along the Middle Corridor, including Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. "We have successfully implemented technical integration by adding cargo tracking capabilities on our platform in collaboration with Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), Java Delivery Service, and Java. A key achievement was moving Kazakhstan out of the 'grey zone' by enhancing border process transparency between Kazakhstan and China, facilitated by the launch of the DTC-TS digital customs solution," Bagasharova stated. She further noted that DTC is expanding its technical integrations beyond the Middle Corridor, working closely with Turkey and Europe. "In partnership with PSA, DTC plans to present an initiative at COP29 in Baku to demonstrate the Middle Corridor's potential as a 'green road' by assessing its impact on carbon emissions and promoting carbon footprint reduction initiatives," she added. Earlier this year, in May 2024, Global DTC signed an agreement with KTZ Express to create a digital corridor simplifying the transit of goods from China to the European Union via the Trans-Caspian route. The company's "Tez Customs" digital platform is already in use for electronic customs clearance in Central Asia. The Middle Corridor, launched in 2014 with the participation of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia, connects China to Europe via the Caspian Sea. In 2023, cargo transport along this route reached 2.75 million tons, a 64% increase from the previous year. We recently compiled a list of the 12 best long-term stocks to buy according to Warren Buffett. In this article, we are going to take a look at where DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) stands against the other long-term stocks to buy according to Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett, the most famous investor on Wall Street, needs no introduction, having generated billions of dollars for himself and investors for decades. Throughout his investment career that began in 1965, the Oracle of Omaha has averaged annual returns of 19.8%, trumping a gain of 9.9% for the S&P 500 over the same period. The market-beating performance has propelled Buffett to the top of the charts as one of Wall Streets most revered and followed investors. His investment portfolio is always tracked as investors scan for potential market opportunities. READ ALSO: 10 Best Debt-Free Penny Stocks to Buy Now and 10 Best Counter Cyclical and Defensive Stocks to Invest In. Likewise, Buffett is one of the most successful investors in Wall Streets history, having accumulated a fortune of $138 billion. His total assets might have been significantly higher if he hadnt donated large sums to different charitable causes. Market participants have always applauded his disciplined approach, which entails a long-term perspective. His investment firm has become the latest company to cross the $1 trillion mark on market cap, underlining Buffetts impressive stock-picking skills. According to Cathy Seifert, Berkshire analyst at CFRA Research, the $1 trillion milestone is a testament to Buffets investment firms financial strength and franchise value. Buffetts investment strategy has remained constant throughout his career, focusing on the concept of value investing. The strategy focuses on identifying companies that are undervalued but have the potential to increase in value over time. Buffett seeks out companies with a lasting edge over competitors, like a well-established brand, high barriers to entry, and a large and loyal customer base, and he buys into them at a price that ensures a safety margin. Likewise, the billionaire investor is well-known for his cautious stance on investing in high-risk, high-reward sectors like technology. Instead, he prefers to invest in more stable sectors such as retail, insurance, and finance. He is recognized for his commitment to long-term investments, holding onto companies for extended periods, and steering clear of frequent trading. This strategy enables him to benefit from the compound interest effect and allows the companies he invests in to mature and produce significant profits. Story continues Buffetts cautious approach is evidenced by the fact that his investment firm had over $180 billion in cash as of the end of the first quarter. The cash reserves were expected to swell to over $270 billion as of the end of June. The cash reserves have been building up as the billionaire investor only invests in finding attractive deals with eye-popping returns. In a 2023 letter to shareholders, Buffett reiterated he did not see the possibility of eye-popping performance. Buffett has consistently included dividend stocks in his portfolio, which is a strategy that has effectively generated consistent passive income. This year alone, his investments are projected to generate around $6 billion in dividend earnings. Nevertheless, Buffett has also been in defensive mode in recent months, opting to reduce stakes in some companies. He has trimmed holdings by up to half in some tech giants, concerned by valuations getting out of hand after a year of gains fuelled by the artificial intelligence frenzy. While valuations have gotten out of hand going by the blockbuster gains over the past year, there are still opportunities to unlock. With the US Federal Reserve poised to end its monetary easing spree with a cut of interest rates, equity is poised to receive a significant boost. The best long-term stocks to buy, according to Warren Buffett, are companies well poised to benefit from interest rates dropping. Low interest rates make it easier for companies to access cheap capital to accelerate their operations, generating more shareholder value. Our Methodology To compile our selection of the best long-term stocks to buy according to Warren Buffett, we began by analyzing Berkshire Hathaways 13F portfolio and chose to highlight the stock holdings that have remained within the portfolio for at least 5 years. Next, we assessed the number of hedge fund investors associated with each stock, as of the end of the second quarter of this year. Finally, the stocks were ranked in ascending order based on the value of Warren Buffett stakes in the companies. 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). Clinical laboratory technicians running tests in the comprehensive kidney care services. DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) Warren Buffetts First Major Purchase: 2011 Berkshire Hathaways Latest Investment Stake: $5 Billion Number of Hedge Funds Holding Stakes as of Q2: 34 DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) is one of Warren Buffetts top investment plays in the healthcare sector. The company offers kidney dialysis, outpatient, hospital inpatient, and home-based hemodialysis services. It also operates clinical laboratories that provide routine laboratory tests for dialysis. The companys stock value rally over the past year can be linked to its strong performance in dialysis and associated laboratory services. The positive outlook, driven by a strong start to 2024 and significant business prospects, is anticipated to add to this trend. DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)s worldwide market presence is consistently growing. This past year, the firm reached a deal to broaden its international activities into Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador and extend its operations globally. DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) concluded the second quarter of 2024 with results surpassing expectations. The companys total revenue increased to $3.2 billion, and profit margins were positive. The launch of dialysis facilities across the United States and the acquisition of facilities abroad were seen as positive developments. The company has also raised its forecasts for its financial year 2024, affirming the underlying growth. The estimated earnings per share (EPS) for the entire year are expected to fall between $9.25 and $10.05, an increase from the earlier range of $9 to $9.80. While the stock does not offer dividends, it trades at a discount with a price-to-earnings multiple of 14. Insider Monkey dug through 912 hedge fund portfolios for their second quarter of 2024 shareholdings and found 34 DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) investors. Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway was the biggest shareholder through its $5 billion investment. Here is what Ariel Global Fund said about DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter: Leading provider of dialysis services, DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) outperformed during the period following a top- and bottom-line earnings beat. DaVita is benefitting from cost saving initiatives, early signs of a normalization in patient growth trends on par with pre-pandemic levels, improved leverage and an aggressive share buyback program. The company also recently announced an expansion of its international operations in Latin America, presenting an attractive long-term growth opportunity. Furthermore, management provided a 2024 financial outlook which is well above consensus and anticipates favorable growth. In our view, we believe the market misunderstands the long-term clinical impact of glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1s) on dialysis and as such, DaVita currently trades at a significant discount relative to our estimate of its intrinsic value. Overall DVA ranks 7th on our list of the best long-term stocks to buy according to Warren Buffett. While we acknowledge the potential of DVA 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 DVA, check out our report about the cheapest AI 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. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Voters are being asked to renew Franklin County Children Services existing levy, which includes a slight property tax increase. After incidents like the death of Darnell Taylor, who was in the agencys care before the 5-year-old was killed by his legal custodian Pammy Maye, the agencys spokesperson, Scott Varner, said it did impact the decision to ask for a tax increase. Any time that there is a child death, especially a child that is somehow in our care and protection, our team takes that pretty seriously emotionally impacted by it, Varner said. So, with the levy, one of the new initiatives that we would invest in is putting about $1,000,000 more each year back into our neighborhoods, back into community-based prevention providers. Recordings detail who knew about leaked Columbus school closings memo The renewal is more than a third of the agencys total funding. The levy would also have an increase of $1.75 per month for every $100,000 of a homes value. Without voter approval, we would lose millions of dollars in funding, Varner said. So, were asking voters to approve this levy. Together, they represent about 72% of our funding. So, thats a good chunk of the funding, which is all used in how we as a community keep children safer, make families stronger for longer. Last year, 26,000 calls were made to the Franklin County Child Abuse Hotline. Over the past three years, the agency has seen its cost of care go up by 26%. Speaking on behalf of Committee For Children, Brian Rothenberg feels the levy is the right path forward to making childrens lives better. Its really the price of the candy bar, Rothenberg said. So, while we understand that thats a sacrifice, nobody takes that for granted, renewing this levy and taking care of our families is the best thing we can do for Franklin County. This is the first tax increase children services has asked for in 20 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 NBC4 WCMH-TV. Russian political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza called it a miracle that he was freed from a Russian prison in an unprecedented prisoner exchange this summer, and he said it should encourage ongoing efforts to free Americans detained abroad. You are the reason that Im standing here, Kara-Murza told members of Congress, the Biden administration and supporters in a packed room at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. You are the reason that 16 people, 16 human souls were saved from the hell of Putins gulag, in that exchange last month. Kara-Murza was released from prison on Aug. 1 as part of a wide-ranging deal where the U.S. and European partners exchanged eight Russian prisoners for 16 people jailed in Russia, including Americans and Russians opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putins government. The activist has long been a target of Putins crackdown on political opposition, having survived two poisoning attempts in 2015 and 2017 in Moscow. He was arrested in 2022 for speaking out against Russias invasion of Ukraine and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Whatever the cynics and the skeptics will tell you, advocacy works and public attention protects and public attention saves, he said Tuesday. Kara-Murza, who spent most of his two years in jail in solitary confinement, said he had one bright spot in his days, in the afternoon, when he would receive letters from supporters, among them fellow dissidents in Russia. People who took time and who were not afraid to register their names, their addresses, their bank accounts in this official prison correspondence system writing to me and expressing how they felt. Thats an act of courage in itself in such a rigid dictatorship as our country has lived under for the past quarter of a century, he said. I have absolutely no doubt that that day where we will see a free, peaceful and democratic Russia will come, and I very much look forward to working together with all of you in this room and outside to bring that day just a little bit closer. The event served to raise awareness of the plight of approximately 700 to 1,300 Russian prisoners of conscience, as well as thousands of political prisoners in Belarus and jailed political dissidents around the world. The only way that I can think of it is as a miracle, because I was certain I would die in that Siberian prison. But now that I have been saved from there, every morning I wake up and every night I go to bed thinking about all those who are still left in Russias modern-day gulag, back in Putins prisons, Kara-Murza continued. And Im not going to relent, to stop until we get the others out too. And I hope we can continue working together with you to speak out, to advocate and to help rescue and help save all the people who are still left behind. Kara-Murza was one of the driving forces behind the U.S. Magnitsky Act, a federal law that allows the U.S. to freeze assets and ban travel for those found responsible for gross human rights violations. Originally targeting Russian human rights violators, the authority expanded to target violators of human rights around the world. The law was named in memory of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax lawyer who investigated $230 million in fraud by the Russian government and died in a Russian prison in 2009 while subject to physical and psychological pressure. The Magnitsky Act was used against people identified as involved in Magnitskys detention, abuse, and death. U.S. officials credit it as one of the strongest tools they have in efforts to free political prisoners around the world. Your work on that, Im sure you didnt do it as a tool for yourself, but your work on that has helped us enormously, James OBrien, assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, told Kara-Murza. The event also served as a personal celebration for close friends of Kara-Murza who have worked alongside him for more than two decades on human rights and defending democracy in Russia, and knew how high the stakes were to save his life. Kara-Murzas mentor, Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, was murdered in Moscow in 2015 in a crime with links to the Russian government. And the U.S. was working to free Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as part of the August swap before he died in a Russian prison in February. The first time I ever saw you, you were with this man, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said, holding up a portrait of Nemtsov. We lost him to a Putin-backed assassin. We honor you back today on behalf of Boris Nemtsov, and Navalny and Magnitsky and all the people weve stood for, he said. I never thought I would see him again alive, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Hill. Hes worked with Kara-Murza for over 20 years through the U.S. Helsinki Commission, which supports efforts at democracy-building and protecting human rights in post-Soviet Russia. It was emotional to see him and he looked so good. These are days you remember, this is the day that you remember. Heres a person who was perhaps the most visible dissident of Putin who was released from prison. Thats big 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 The Hill. Every year, humpback whales travel from breeding grounds in Antarctica to the balmy waters of French Polynesia (Jerome BROUILLET) (Jerome BROUILLET/AFP/AFP) A giant whale stole the show at the Summer Olympic Games, shooting out of the water as athletes competed in women's surfing semi-finals on the French Pacific island of Tahiti last month. It is for spectacular scenes like this that many tourists travel each year to French Polynesia, one of the world's prime destinations to go whale-watching and even swim with the huge mammals. But even if the French overseas territory seeks to promote eco-friendly tourism, environmentalists and some scientists warn that growing numbers of travellers present a threat to the majestic species. Every year, between July and November, humpback whales travel from their breeding grounds in Antarctica to the balmy waters of French Polynesia to mate and give birth, covering the extraordinary distance of roughly 6,000 kilometres (3,728 miles). Located in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean and consisting of 118 islands, the picture-perfect territory known for its crystal-clear waters, stunning beaches and lush landscapes is one of the few places on Earth where tourists can swim with the whales. "We're lucky to have humpback whales that come close to the reefs in search of rest and calm," said Julien Anton, a guide for Tahiti Dive Management, a government-approved operator offering whale-watching tours. "The females try to escape the males, so they come to protect themselves and swim regularly along the reefs." - Whale song - Humpback whales were decimated by commercial whaling in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Due to conservation efforts and a moratorium on commercial whaling adopted in 1986, the population has increased to around 80,000 individuals. Humpback whales are known for their aerial displays known as breaching as well as elaborate songs with which males court females. Adult females average 15 meters in length and weigh up to 40 tons, while adult males are slightly smaller. For many Indigenous peoples across Polynesia, the marine animals are sacred. In March, Indigenous leaders from across Polynesia including Tahiti, Tonga, Hawaii, New Zealand and the Cook Islands signed a declaration recognising whales as legal persons with inherent rights. They hope that the move would strengthen the protection of the species, which is under threat from climate change, ship strikes and whale watch harassment, among other risks. Whale-watching is an important source of income for French Polynesia, and authorities have taken steps to promote responsible tourism to protect the cetaceans. In April, regulations imposed a safety distance of 100 metres between the animal and authorised boats, while swimmers must stay 15 metres away. "This is one of the last places on the planet where we are allowed to observe them at such close quarters," said Anton. - 'Do it with love' - However, environmental associations and some scientists have criticised the boom in whale-watching activities. The Polynesian association Mata Tohora, which works to protect marine mammals, says there are far too many boats on the water. "We need to limit the number of boats around the whales and dolphins. It's a question of managing the activity, which needs to be done quickly," said Agnes Benet, a biologist and founder of the association. "You can swim with the whales without disturbing them," she added. "It's possible if you take the time, if you're patient and if you do it with love." Her association is campaigning for the introduction of a "no whale-watching" period, from 2:00 pm onwards, to allow them to rest. A study carried out in the South Pacific island nation of Tonga and published in the journal PLOS One in 2019 pointed to "detrimental effects" on the whales targeted by swimming activities, especially mother-calf pairs. The study said that both observing and swimming activities cause "avoidance responses" from humpback whales, with mothers diving for longer periods of time in the presence of vessels and swimmers. The risks are not limited to the animals. In 2020, a 29-year-old female swimmer was seriously injured off the coast of Western Australia after becoming trapped between two whales. bur-ebl-as/sjw/yad/lb (Bloomberg) -- French Prime Minister Michel Barnier issued a warning over the countrys public finances as disagreements between rival parties on tax and spending further complicate his task of forming a government. Most Read from Bloomberg The countrys budgetary situation is very serious, he said in a statement provided by his office on Wednesday. I have asked for all the information I need to assess its exact reality. Nearly two weeks after being named prime minister, Barnier has still not managed to put together a new administration that can reflect the different priorities of a deeply divided lower house of parliament and address Frances widening budget deficit. He has said he will focus on containing debt and is open to greater tax fairness. But indications that would translate into a bigger burden on taxpayers have angered lawmakers from Emmanuel Macrons bloc in parliament who are reluctant to break with the presidents mantra of no increases. Outgoing Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on France 2 television on Wednesday that it would be out of the question for the centrist group to join a government that raises taxes. Barniers conservative Republicans party has few seats in a parliament that is split between three large blocs: the leftist New Popular Front alliance, Macrons centrists and Marine Le Pens National Rally. To avoid being toppled through no-confidence votes, the new prime minister must garner some support across party lines, although the left has already pledged outright opposition. In a sign of the complexity of the talks, Barnier postponed a meeting planned for later on Wednesday with representatives of Macrons group including former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. I am very focused on forming a balanced government in the near future, to deal methodically and seriously with the challenges facing our country, Barnier said in the statement. My aim is to get back on the path to growth and raise the standard of living of the French people at a time when we are already the country with the highest tax burden. Under Pressure Barnier is under pressure to reach a decision quickly to meet deadlines for presenting a 2025 budget. The outgoing government has said efforts to reduce the deficit will drift off course without more action to curtail spending. Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau has said the caretaker administrations plan of bringing the budget deficit within the European Union limit of 3% of economic output by 2027 is no longer realistic and would hurt growth too much. He has said France should set a new five-year timeline, relying mainly on spending cuts but also taxation. It will be necessary to lift the taboo on raising taxes, without hitting the middle classes and small businesses, if possible, he said in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Scary moments unfolded for passengers aboard a flight in Colombia as a severe thunderstorm unleashed violent turbulence, forcing an emergency diversion to Cartagena. The dramatic incident, captured on camera by passenger Zuleima Ebratt, shows the terrifying moments as she and another passenger prayed amidst the chaos. The aircrew's urgent pleas over the intercom for passengers to fasten their seatbelts and remain seated added to the sense of urgency and panic. A call for medical assistance further underscored the severity of the situation. In a statement, Avianca, the largest airline in Colombia said, "Due to bad weather around the Barranquilla airport, turbulence occurred, so the captain made the decision to divert to Cartagena's airport." The plane landed safely at Rafael Nunez International Airport where passengers received immediate attention before the flight resumed. Ebratt described the ordeal as a "very panicky moment," with many fearing the worst. Turbulence occurs when an aircraft encounters irregular air movements, which are caused by many factors, according to AccuWeather's Director of Forecast Operations Dan DePodwin. "Turbulence, when you're flying, can happen in a variety of weather conditions. It can occur during stormy weather and also in clear air, where wind variations at different heights in the atmosphere can cause it." Given these sudden conditions, it's crucial for passengers to take proactive steps to ensure their safety. Experts recommend keeping your seatbelt fastened at all times, storing loose items securely and staying hydrated to cope better with the stress of turbulence. "There are cases of severe turbulence that can damage the aircraft or lead to injured people," DePodwin said. "That's pretty rare. It's why we don't hear about it often. There are tens of thousands of flights every day. Most don't have any issues at all, but in certain cases, the atmosphere can cause issues with turbulence when flying near or through storms." While such severe cases are rare, the potential for turbulence-related incidents is a reminder to stay vigilant when flying. While turbulence can be a terrifying experience, understanding its causes and knowing how to stay safe can help mitigate its impact. By following simple safety measures and staying informed about weather conditions, passengers can travel with greater peace of mind. GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) A funeral service was held on Tuesday for 8-year-old Lionel Cervantes, the second grader who passed away from a drowning accident. Cervantes attended Bells Crossing Elementary School. I just came to support and show some respect for the family and show some love for the little kid, said Joelma Oliviera, a Greenville County resident who decided to attend the funeral to show support to his family. Its beyond sad and I cannot imagine the pain of the mom and the close family. Lionel was discovered by dive team members in a pond, a quarter-mile from the school, on Friday. He was pronounced dead at the scene and the Greenville County Coronors Office ruled his death as an accidental drowning. The Cervantes family asked for no photographs or video to be taken inside of the funeral home, but 7NEWS was provided a copy of the funeral pamphlet. That pamphlet showcases several comic drawn by Lionel, as well as an obituary in English and Spanish. Untitled-copyDownload A public visitation took place for approximately two hours before the funeral. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. India's state of Nagaland borders Myanmar, and has seen decades of unrest among ethnic and separatist groups (Arun SANKAR) (Arun SANKAR/AFP/AFP) Relatives of civilians killed in a botched ambush by the Indian army said Wednesday they were "disgusted" the Supreme Court had quashed criminal proceedings against the soldiers. "I am greatly hurt that the court has not been able to deliver justice," Chemwang Konyak, whose 32-year-old son was among those killed, told AFP. Konyak, 60, said the ruling appeared as if "only the lives of uniformed men matter". Indian commandos in the northeastern state of Nagaland killed six miners in December 2021 when they fired on a truck, mistaking them for insurgents operating near the frontier with war-torn Myanmar. Nagaland has seen decades of unrest among ethnic and separatist groups, and the army said after the killings that its troops had acted on "credible intelligence". Later, officers fired on protesters angry at the deaths, taking the toll to 13 civilians. In addition, a soldier was killed in the violence. At the time, Home Minister Amit Shah vowed a probe would provide "justice to the bereaved families", and state police pressed charges of attempted murder against 30 soldiers. But the federal government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to endorse the process. New Delhi's green light is required to prosecute soldiers operating in hostile areas covered by special laws granting commanders the discretion to prosecute officers. The Supreme Court in New Delhi ruled on Tuesday that charges against soldiers have to be quashed because there had been no government approval for prosecution. "I am disgusted," Konyak said. "Thirteen people have been killed, and several have been maimed for life, but there is no accountability." Survivors say they were shot at despite it being clear that they were unarmed civilians. Tingshen Konyak, 37, was among a group bringing the bodies of those killed in the initial shooting back to their families when he said soldiers shot him in the hand, removing his thumb. "We feel bad, but we can do nothing," Tingshen said, adding that he felt "helpless". sai/pjm/dhw Removing derelict boats is an ongoing issue for many Central Florida Counties. Don Walker, Brevard Countys Director of Communications told us, To give you an idea of how bad the problem is, weve removed roughly 85 since January of 2023. On average, we get around two boats a month that become derelict vessels. FWC Commissioners just approved an amendment that provides a block grant option within the agencys existing Derelict Vessel and Public Nuisance Vessel Removal Grant Program. It will allow an additional reimbursement option for ongoing vessel removal in areas with large numbers of derelict boats. Read: Volusia deputies arrest 2 more students after online school shooting threat Funding can also be awarded to eligible governments based on removal data from prior years. Walker added, Anything thats going to help us move that process along and cut out some of the red tape, make those grant dollars more quickly available is going to really help us out. Brevard County has 24 vessels that need to be removed right now. A contractor will begin work, next month. Read: Malibu Rapist takes plea deal in 30-year-old sex assault case Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Georgia prosecutors on Tuesday dropped all 15 counts of money laundering that were levied against three Atlanta organizers accused of misusing a bail fund to aid violent protests against the citys proposed police and fire training center. Atlanta Solidarity Fund leaders Marlon Kautz, Adele MacLean and Savannah Patterson still face racketeering charges, along with 58 others who were indicted last year following a yearslong investigation into the Stop Cop City movement. Prosecutors have portrayed the decentralized movement as being led by militant anarchists hell-bent on radicalizing supporters and halting the construction of the facility by any means necessary, including arson. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] At the center of the case is the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which has provided bail money and helped find attorneys for arrested protesters. Prosecutors said the three defendants funneled money that was supposed to be for charitable causes and instead used it to reimburse protesters who spent months camping in the South River Forest, near the site of the facility in DeKalb County, just outside Atlanta. Transactions that prompted the 15 counts of money laundering included $93.04 for camping supplies and $12.52 for forest kitchen materials, according to the indictment. But just as a motions hearing was about to start Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General John Fowler told Fulton County Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams that he would be filing paperwork to dismiss the 15 counts. A spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr did not say why the money laundering charges were dropped but emphasized that the racketeering charges remain. Kristen Novay, the attorney for Patterson, applauded the decision. The entire indictment is defective, but with those particular counts, I think it is a wise move for a seasoned prosecutor to say, This isnt worth it, Novay told The Associated Press. Sometimes the hardest call as a prosecutor is to not go for something. TRENDING STORIES: Demonstrators and civil rights organizations have condemned the racketeering indictment and accused Carr, a Republican, of levying heavy-handed charges to try to silence a movement that has galvanized environmentalists and anti-police protesters across the country. Opponents say the 85-acre, $110-million facility will worsen police militarization and harm the environment in a poor, majority-Black neighborhood. Despite various attacks against the site and contractors equipment over the past couple of years, construction on the training center has continued, and officials say they are planning to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony in December. Supporters say the city must replace outdated facilities and that it is key to better train officers to avoid improper use of force. Jack April Beamon Max Biederman Timothy Bilodeau Emma Bogush Andrew Carlisle Francis Carroll Amin Chaoui Brooke Courtemanche Colin Dorsey Julia DuPuis Ariel Ebaugh Madeleine Feola Sonali Gupta Serena Hertel Ivan Ferguson Phillip Flagg Maggie June Gates Nadja Geier Priscilla Grim Luke Harper Marianna Elizabeth Hoitt-Lange Thomas Webb Jurgens Marlon Scott Kautz Ayla Elegla King Madeleine Kodat Zoe Larmey Ana Lee Dimitri Leny Spencer Bernard Liberto Mattia Luini Matthew Ernest Macar Adele Maclean James Marsicano Grace Martin Kayley Meissner Emily Murphy Timothy Murphy Ehret William Nottingham Nicholas Olson Alexis Papali Geoffrey Parsons Savannah Patterson Kamryn Darel Pipes Victor Puertas Christopher Reynolds Fredrique Robert-Paul Arieon Robinson Teresa Yue Shen Abigail Skapyak Caroline Tennenbaum Abeeku Vassail Leonardo Voiselle Samuel Ward Sarah Wasalewski Meanwhile, tens of thousands of signed petitions to let voters weigh in on the project have spent the past 12 months sitting untouched in boxes as officials await a court ruling on whether nonresidents were wrongly allowed to collect signatures. City officials are hoping the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will kill the petition drive either because it is illegal under state law or because organizers missed their original deadline. The court, which heard arguments in December, has yet to issue its ruling. Outrage over the stalled referendum continued Monday, when dozens of protesters testified in front of the Atlanta City Council and then hurled hundreds of ping pong balls throughout the chamber as they chanted, You have dropped the ball. Efforts to prosecute those responsible for numerous violent Stop Cop City protests have hit multiple stumbling blocks. Last year, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, a Democrat, announced she would withdraw from criminal cases tied to the protests, citing disagreements with Carr. And in July, Judge Esmond Adams castigated prosecutors for committing gross negligence for mishandling confidential email conversations that Kautz, MacLean and Patterson had with their attorneys, though Esmond Adams denied defense attorneys motion to dismiss the case on those grounds. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] One homeowner has recently discovered he no longer owns his 8,300-square-foot home at least on paper. Craig Adams, a local dentist in Raleigh, North Carolina, said the deed to his $4 million property no longer included his name. Don't miss Car insurance premiums in America are through the roof and only getting worse. But 5 minutes could have you paying as little as $29/month Commercial real estate has beaten the stock market for 25 years but only the super rich could buy in. Here's how even ordinary investors can become the landlord of Walmart, Whole Foods or Kroger These 5 magic money moves will boost you up America's net worth ladder in 2024 and you can complete each step within minutes. Here's how "[I] found out that [a Dawn Mangum] had filed a false warranty claim deed against this house and basically tried to steal (it)," Adams told ABC11 Eyewitness News, adding, "we're so vulnerable." Paperwork filed with the Wake County Register of Deeds Office lists Adams as a debtor and includes Mangum, a woman he's never met, on the deed. It was allegedly approved and officially recorded without any verifications. Adams and his wife discovered the issue after Mangum contacted their homeowners association (HOA) to gain access to the private gated community. Adams proved to the Register of Deeds that he owned the home, using mortgage and tax records, and stated that Mangum had no stake in it; however, the deed remains in her name. According to emails Adams received from the Wake County Register of Deeds and the County Attorney, they cant remove a document once its been recorded, as per North Carolina law. "They say there's absolutely nothing they can do to reverse this, Adams told the news outlet. Once it's filed their only solution is that I have to go hire a private attorney, and the first quote I got was about $8,000 to file a civil suit against this woman." How did this happen? According to North Carolina law, county Registers of Deeds arent required to verify the legitimacy of paperwork they receive. In this instance, Mangum, who claims it was all a misunderstanding, has since been charged with obtaining property under false pretense. But how did this happen in the first place? According to Mangum, in an interview with ABC11, she believed Adams property was in foreclosure when she started to make moves to get the deed to the home into her trust. She said that, once she learned the property was not in foreclosure, she stopped all paperwork. She also claimed that she wants to amend the paperwork to return the property to Adams. Story continues However, she'd filed paperwork with the Wake County Register of Deeds, listing herself as the owner through a fraudulent trust. No legal checks are required to verify the legitimacy of the deed transfer, allowing it to be recorded without Adams' knowledge. The Wake County Register of Deeds released a statement about the case, which stated in part: "The Register of Deeds is not required to verify the legal validity of a deed when it is presented for registration, nor are they required to verify the credentials or legal standing of the notary or drafter of the document (G.S. 47-14). With more than 500 documents processed through the Wake County Register of Deeds office daily, it would be impossible to verify the legitimacy of each document." Even if Mangum is convicted, Adams will still need to go through civil courts in order to correct the record. In the meantime, he hopes his frustrating ordeal prompts changes in the laws that allowed Mangum to change the deed in the first place. Read more: Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead How to protect yourself from deed fraud There are steps homeowners can take to protect themselves from deed fraud. Check if your county offers a deed or title fraud alert service to monitor changes to deeds in your name. While that wouldn't have protected Adams in this instance, since his name wasn't on the new deed, it can help prevent other types of deed fraud. Title insurance, which many homeowners get once they purchase a home, also offers protection from title defects, including fraud. It can come in handy with such common title issues as: back taxes, filing errors, liens, title forgeries, easements, and conflicting wills. Finally, if you suspect deed fraud on your property, contact authorities immediately and seek legal counsel. Acting quickly is important, because once the deed is filed, in many cases it requires a court order to reverse. What to read next This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) A bill to adapt marijuana use rules for federal employees has been passed out of Congressional committee. Marijuana rescheduling: What comes next in potential policy change process Currently, job candidates can be denied federal employment and security clearances based solely on past marijuana use, even though the drug has been legalized in several states, including Michigan, and top offices now consider those rules outdated. In response, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, authored the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles and Barriers to Individual Employment Act also known as the aptly named DOOBIE Act. The federal government must adapt its hiring practices to reflect the evolving legal and social landscape of our nation, Peters said in a statement. My bill takes a crucial step by aligning federal policy with existing agency guidance, ensuring that past marijuana use alone doesnt automatically disqualify talented individuals from public service. Daily marijuana use outpaces daily drinking in the US, new study says Peters says the hiring practice unnecessarily applies strict limits to the talent pool for federal agencies, suggesting many qualified candidates dont even bother applying because they assume they cant get the job. Both the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has issued guidance recently to stop using past marijuana use as a disqualifying factor. The Senates Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Peter leads as the chair, approved the bill on Wednesday with a 9-5 vote. It will now go to the full Senate for consideration. According to Marijuana Moment, similar changes were introduced in 2022 in the House of Representatives but were narrowly defeated. Bills seek to merge medical, recreational pot licensing in Michigan Recreational marijuana is currently legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia, and medical marijuana is legal in 10 others. This approach will expand our talent pool and create a fairer, more inclusive hiring process, Peters stated. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. KANAB, Utah (ABC4) A hotel in southern Utah was evacuated Monday night after crews responded to a carbon monoxide alarm, according to the Kanab Fire Department. Captain Cameron Westenskow with Kanab Fire told ABC4.com that crews were called to a hotel on Center Street just after 10 p.m. Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo stops by Utah event for children with cleft and craniofacial conditions Westenskow said the entire first floor had an apparent gas smell, which prompted the hotel to be evacuated and the rooms to be ventilated. According to officials, the gas leak was found coming from a laundry appliance on the first floor of the hotel. No patients were taken to the hospital Monday night, and patrons were able to return to their hotel rooms after 11 p.m. There is no further information at this time. MJ Jewkes 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 ABC4 Utah. They gathered to mourn pager attack victims then a blast tore through the crowd Exploding devices set cars and building ablaze in south Beirut on Wednesday, with at least 20 dead and hundreds more wounded They had gathered in their thousands to defy Israel and lay to rest four of their comrades, victims of the pagers that had exploded in their hands or their pockets the previous day. Then it happened again. As the shadows lengthened in the late afternoon on Wednesday, a single thud echoed through the crowd following one cortege through the streets of Hezbollahs strongholds in south Beirut. Suddenly screams drowned out the resistance songs blaring out of the sound system and the crowd scattered except for a man in a white top and black trousers who crumpled backwards onto the ground, his hands blown off, according to witnesses. It was just the start. Across the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, as well as in the Hezbollah-dominated Bekaa Valley 19 miles to its east, simultaneous explosions, mostly triggered by detonating handheld radios, set buildings and cars ablaze, sending smoke billowing across the skyline. Moments before this second wave of attacks began, Dr Salah Zein-el-Dine, chief medical officer at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, had finally sunk back into his office chair after a sleepless night of mayhem at the hospital. All 12 of the hospitals operating theatres were still at full capacity as doctors performed surgery on the victims of the pager explosions, many of whom had lost fingers or their eyes. There were still more waiting, he said, but the end was within sight for exhausted surgeons: within 24 hours things would just about be back to normal. But within minutes, Beirut again echoed to the wail of ambulance sirens as a city, still struggling to come to terms with the barely comprehensible events of the previous day, lurched into a fresh, equally befuddling crisis. With at least 20 dead and hundreds more wounded in Wednesdays attacks, adding to the 12 killed and thousands injured the previous day, it was far from clear how Lebanons creaking health system would cope. Before the second wave of attacks, Hezbollah men mingling in the throng of relatives and friends waiting outside the hospital had been eager to project a mixture of bravado and righteous anger towards Israel, the suspected orchestrators of both attacks. Many were awaiting instructions on what to do next from Hezbollahs leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who is expected to give an address to his supporters on Thursday afternoon that may signal the scope of the Iran-backed groups planned retaliation. If he says go, we will go, one of the men said. If he says stay, we will stay. Yet the previous 24 hours at the hospital provided a glimpse of just how devastating the blow struck against Hezbollah had been. Doctors spoke of victims who arrived first in a trickle and then in a flood, their fingers blown off, eyes blinded or faces scarred. Most of the wounded were young men, Dr Zein-el-Dine said, but some were women and children. At least two children were killed in the initial attacks, one of them a girl of about nine who brought her father his pinging pager only for it to detonate in her hands. Some Hezbollah men admitted to their shock as they recalled what they had witnessed on the streets of southern Beirut. I heard a commotion and went onto the street, one said. There were people lying scattered on the ground, including two of my neighbours who were badly injured in their hands and hips. It was horrific. Though the men outside the hospital would never have admitted it, the pager attacks clearly humiliated Hezbollah, sowing consternation and uncertainty through its ranks. Wednesdays attacks would only have doubled the panic and the pain. Rarely, if ever, has a movement been so thoroughly and comprehensively infiltrated, and with such devastating effect, too. That the attacks will have undermined Hezbollahs logistical capabilities, severely complicated its ability to communicate and weakened morale is not in doubt. Whether it has shaken confidence in Nasrallahs leadership is another matter. So far Hezbollahs leader has held back from unleashing the full force of the movements arsenal at Israel, mostly desisting even when an Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, one of his most senior commanders, in July. Although Hezbollah has fired more than 8,000 rockets into northern Israel since the start of the Gaza conflict in September last year, this is little more than the normal thrust and parry of low-level conflict and constitutes a mere fraction of the movements military wherewithal. A mobile phone shop in the southern coastal city of Sidon in Lebanon was damaged in the attacks - HASSAN HANKIR/REUTERS Many analysts believe that despite the provocation, Nasrallahs instincts will remain cautious although some of the belligerent rhetoric coming from across Lebanons southern border suggests that the decision about whether to launch a major confrontation may have been taken out of his hands anyway. On Wednesday night, Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, announced the opening of a new phase in the war and hinted that resources and forces would be diverted from Gaza towards a new centre of gravity in the north. Lebanon, scarred by decades of turbulence and whose people love and loathe Hezbollah with equal intensity, is bracing itself for the worst. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) -The global vaccine group Gavi will buy 500,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic's mpox vaccine, its first purchase of the shot to help battle an outbreak in parts of Africa, the group said on Wednesday. In 2024, there have been more than 25,000 suspected mpox cases and 723 deaths in Africa, mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the World Health Organization, which has declared the outbreak a global health emergency. Gavi, a public-private alliance which co-funds vaccine purchases for low-income countries, said it will spend up to $50 million on the plan, which includes the transportation, delivery and costs of administering the vaccines. The doses are due to be delivered this year. Around 3.6 million doses of mpox vaccine have already been pledged to the DRC by rich nations which have stockpiles, the World Health Organization has said, but only a small portion has arrived so far. The WHO approved the vaccine for use on Friday last week. Gavi's purchase, using a new facility set up after the COVID-19 pandemic to respond quickly to public health emergencies, could speed up the response in Congo and other affected countries. Also on Wednesday, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said it would provide $9.5 million to support Congo with its emergency response at the request of the government there, including surveillance, laboratory systems and risk communication. The price of the vaccine was not disclosed. Gavi's $50 million investment would likely equate to less than around $100 per vaccine, because transportation and logistics are included in the total. The figure is lower than previous estimates of the cost. Gavi chief executive Sania Nishtar said the priority was working with partners "to turn these vaccines into vaccinations as quickly and effectively as possible and, over time, to build a global vaccine stockpile." The deal will significantly increase the availability of mpox vaccine for African countries, Bavarian Nordic chief executive Paul Chaplin said. Last week, the company said it would push back some existing orders to 2025, based on U.S. government contracts, to focus on market needs now. Mpox, which spreads through close contact and typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, has been a public health problem in parts of Africa for decades. But vaccines have never previously been available outside clinical trials in affected countries in Africa, even after a different strain of the virus spread globally in 2022 and high-income countries used vaccines to help stem the outbreak. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Christina Fincher and Elaine Hardcastle) George Clooney praised President Biden for withdrawing from his re-election bid after the actor wrote a New York Times piece encouraging him to do so earlier this summer. During an appearance on ABCs "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" the late night comic gushed over Clooney writing the opinion piece, while the actor insisted that Biden is the one who should be celebrated because of his sacrifice. "The bottom line is that its very hard to let go of power, and President Biden did something really extraordinary. Really extraordinary," Clooney told Kimmel on Tuesday night. PELOSI ADMITS BIDEN CAMPAIGN WASN'T ON 'PATH TO VICTORY,' DENIES SHE PRESSED HIM TO LEAVE RACE During Jimmy Kimmel's ABC late night show on Tuesday, actor George Clooney called President Biden's decision to abandon his re-election bid "really extraordinary." Clooney called on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election in a New York Times guest essay published in July, arguing that his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump proved hes too old to win a second term. "This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president," the actor said. He also stated in the piece that he noticed Bidens frailty during a Hollywood fundraiser for his campaign in June. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Its devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe big F-ing deal Biden of 2010. He wasnt even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate," Clooney wrote. The president eventually announced his departure from the race in late July, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket. During his show Tuesday night, Kimmel stated that Clooneys essay prompted the Democratic Partys move to replace Biden, saying it "changed the world." GEORGE CLOONEY RUBS ELBOWS WITH BIDEN AT STAR-STUDDED LA FUNDRAISER AFTER CALLING WHITE HOUSE WITH COMPLAINT President Biden withdrew from his re-election bid in late July, endorsing Vice President Harris as his replacement. "I mean it had an enormous impact on the presidential election, right?" Kimmel asked, though his guest insisted that they save the praise for Bidens sacrifice. "Honestly, I really do think that thats what should be focused on, really," Clooney said of Biden giving up power. Still, Kimmel lauded the "Oceans Eleven" star. "You took a big swing and thank God you hit that ball out because it could have gone very, very badly." "It could still go badly," Clooney replied, though Kimmel wasnt pessimistic. "I mean, I dont know. It seems to be going pretty well right now," the comedian responded, alluding to Harris polling better against Trump than Biden before he was replaced. Clooney praised Biden's decision to vacate the race earlier this month, telling The Washington Post, "The person who should be applauded is the president who did the most selfless thing that anyones done since George Washington." Original article source: George Clooney praises extraordinary Biden, discusses NY Times essay that pressured president to drop out Georgetown County will host an Empathy Seminar to educate the public on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Awareness GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) The Behavioral Health Coalition, a group of community partners focused on helping people battling with addiction, is hosting a seminar to demonstrate the real-life impacts of substance abuse. They said they hope the event raises public awareness about the widespread but often overlooked issue. According to a recent study from the National Institutes of Health, 57.8 million people live with some form of mental illness, and 35% of those people struggle with substance abuse issues. The Georgetown County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, Waccamaw Center for Mental Health, the Palmetto Project, and many more are working to remind the public these struggles are not choices. Theyre illnesses. Mental illness and substance abuse is a disease, and individuals will go to the dentist when they have a toothache. They will go to the doctor if they know they broke their arm. Theyll go to the emergency room, so we try to use that analogy with individuals to help them feel more comfortable about decreasing the stigma and seeking treatment, said Kisha Guess-Black, the director of Waccamaw Center for Mental Health. The public will get A chance to experience the world from the perspective of someone struggling. So, Im excited that we get to offer this to our community. Its a chance to notches come in for awareness, but its more than that. Its a chance for you to come into a role-play simulation-type event and walk in the shoes of someone who might have a mental illness or substance addiction issues, said Judge Leigh Boan, the probate judge for Georgetown County. Officials said they hope this seminar will bring awareness to the community and inspire more empathy. We need community help. We need more people to get involved. We need other partners to stop operating just in silos and recognize that were dealing with the exact next door. Come together, we can significantly impact that, said Raphael Carr, the executive director of Georgetown County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. The seminar will take place at the Howard Center on Thursday, from 2 p.m. until 4 pm, and it is open and free to 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 WCBD News 2. DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) A man from Georgetown has been sentenced to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a drug felony. Prosecutors from the Vermilion County States Attorneys Office said Terrence Potts, 49, pleaded guilty last week to a Class 1 felony of delivery of a controlled substance. At the same hearing, Judge Mark Goodwin sentenced him to prison. Danville man sentenced to prison after weapons, drugs found in home Evidence presented in court showed that Potts was arrested on Nov. 22, 2022, when the Vermilion County Metropolitan Enforcement Group executed a search warrant at Georgetowns Budget Motel. Inside a motel room, agents found Potts and 15 grams of a substance that field tested positive for crack cocaine. Prosecutors said that when he was interviewed, Potts admitted be had been living at the Budget Model for two years, that he sold crack cocaine during that time and that the substance found with him was cocaine. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Georgias House Speaker to address school violence in next General Assembly session Georgias House Speaker Jon Burns is telling Channel 2 Action News about his plans to fight school violence during the next legislative session. Channel 2s Richard Elliot spoke with both Republicans and Democrats at the State Capitol about their proposed changes. Despite some significant differences, theres agreement on a few measures, including gun safety storage legislation. Im still offering our prayers for those families and praying for those to heal, said Burns, reflecting on the tragedy at Apalachee High School that happened two weeks ago. Burns, whose wife was a school principal, shared his concerns for student safety. Burns sent a letter to the House Republican Caucus outlining his plans for the next session. These include evaluating new security systems and technology to detect weapons before they enter schools, expanding mental health services for students, offering tax incentives for safe gun storage devices, and increasing penalties for making terroristic threats. TRENDING STORIES: He also wants to implement more laws holding parents responsible for their childrens criminal actions. Well take a hard look at making sure that parents have a responsibility, but were also going to look at just the avalanche of terrorist threats that are coming into the school system now, Burns said. Democratic State Senator Elena Parent supports the gun safety storage laws but insists the Republican majority needs to consider red flag laws and universal background checks to ensure student safety. Its extraordinarily tragic and also sadly utterly predictable, Parent said. I hope it will cause some of my Republican colleagues to think more deeply about joining us in some gun violence prevention legislation. When asked about these proposals, Burns said he prefers to focus on issues he believes can get passed, such as the gun storage safety law. IN OTHER NEWS: Environmental lawyers, scientists and environmental justice advocates are raising alarm after the Georgia Public Service Commission gave Georgia Power the green light to add 80 megawatts of woody biomass fuel to its energy portfolio. They say the deal is bad for the environment and will come at a high cost to Georgia Powers customers. But the PSC found enough value in it to pass the request 4-1 Tuesday, and some advocates are optimistic that this will provide benefits. The economic benefits amount to no more than $330 million, which are pennies compared to several billion dollars in cost overruns, Aradhana Chandra Southern Environmental Law Center associate attorney said. Frankly, customers would be better off paying a 330 million dollar handout to the forest industry, procuring the energy elsewhere, and theyd still have money leftover. Its such a blatant handout to subsidize the forest industry in Jesup. Georgia Power asked for approval for biomass as part of a way to finalize the 2022 resource plan contract, a comprehensive plan dictating plans to ensure sufficient power is generated and provided. The 80 MW deal that was agreed on Tuesday is split between three plants, including two existing paper mills in Macon and Chatham County owned by International Paper Together (those two plants are 10 MW to the grid and will run for ten years starting in 2026 and 2027). The third is a brand new 70 MW biomass plant in Wayne County, the Altamaha plant, which will run for 30 years starting in 2029. One megawatt can power anywhere from 400-900 homes and a single data center, Chandra said. Data centers have spiked power demand across Georgia in recent months. Jobs, tax generation will stem from new plant The exact cost of the deal is cited as a trade secret, but Georgia Power agreed to publicize the term several billions. The exact number of jobs the Altamaha plant would create has also been designated as a trade secret. The rates will not affect bills until the plant operations begin in 2026, 2027 and 2029. What is known is the cumulative total of three biomass projects is $300 million in capital expenditures, $17 million in local construction contracts, $3.2 million in annual pay for new wood procurement crews and $3.5 million in equipment, according to Chandra. She added county and school tax revenue would increase by $6.5 million over 15 years. One of the public service commissioners, Lauren Bubba McDonald, voted yes on this deal and declared his support for the biomass industry during a Sept. 12 hearing. I live in a county with a biomass plant and it has had a great impact on the ad valorem taxes like schools and law enforcement and roads, he said. Georgia is fortunate to have a diversity in resource generation. Yes there is a little investment that, we, the ratepayers will make but the benefits far exceed the cost. Commissioner Tricia Pridemore was the lone no vote for the biomass agreement. Georgia was the number one state in America for forestry before (this vote), and although I appreciate the forestry industry in Georgia, the high costs and limited reliability of these projects are not something I can support, she said in a statement. Pridemore said record inflation has affected the costs of power for all Georgians, and this proposal will make it worse, so she will not support this expensive energy. Commissioner Tricia Pridemore has served since 2018. She is a Republican based in Marietta, Georgia and serves District 5. She is the only Commissioner who voted no on the biomass agreement (Docket #44880) on Tuesday Sept. 17. But Georgia Power says this move will diversify power options and add reliability Georgia Powers diverse energy helps ensure the company has the resources necessary to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy for all customers, 24/7, Georgia Power spokesperson John Kraft, said in a statement. He added, the benefits of biomass as a renewable resource for Georgias forestry industry and rural and economic development growth are recognized by the PSC. It is a non-intermittent energy resource with onsite fuel that can provide energy and capacity in any hour of the day. The Southern Environmental Law Center argues biomass isnt reliable. During the peak of winter storm Elliot in 2022, 90% of Georgia Powers biomass was offline, according to SELC. This decision is a slap in the face for Georgia Power customers and bad for the environment, Treva Gear, Georgia campaign manager for Dogwood Alliance, said in an email. Despite having evidence that the GA power biomass expansion would be costly for already energy burdened ratepayers, increase air pollution, and harm our environment. Missing the forest for the trees here Commissioner and Vice-Chairman Tim Echols, who has served on the commission since 2011, told Adhana in the Sept. 12 hearing forests would be burned anyway for management purposes and that rotten wood in a forest will create toxic methane pollution that will just be wasted. Tim Echols claim is built from assumptions that range from bold to outright incorrect; and are composed together into a false narrative, Amy Sharma, executive director of Science4Georgia said in an email. We are missing the forest for the trees here. There is no way that there is enough naturally occurring felled biomass (even from severe storms) to support a power plant. Methane release is a red herring. This facility is creating an incentive to clear more forests. These trees were clearcut at a site in Clinch County, Georgia. They will be taken to a biomass facility, turned into wood pellets and burned for fuel. But Marilyn Brown, director of Project Drawdown, said she can understand a use for paper mill waste to be used for biomass. I am enthusiastic about biomass facilities in conjunction with the paper industry, she said. In some cases its a waste product of printed paper. Its environmental attributes are better than simply using timber and hauling logs to burn. Chandra argues the entire process adds more carbon and is harmful to the environment. Arandhana Chandra is an associate attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. She worked closely on the biomass case and the Integrated Resource Plan 2022 plan for Georgia Power. Whether its burning wood for energy or manufacturing wood pellets to ship overseas, every stage of the biomass industry harms the environment and nearby communities, she said. The Georgia Forestry Commission calls the biomass industry viable, and says its an improved alternative to coal and natural gas. The Georgia Forestry Commission fully supports the Georgia Public Service Commissions decision to burn woody biomass for energy, Georgia Forestry Commission Director Johnny Sabo said. Wood biomass does not pose a threat to the sustainability of our forests, as our annual scientific surveys show that we grow 54% more timber than is harvested annually. Who does the Commission represent? During a Sept. 12 hearing related to this biomass ruling, Pridemore read aloud an opening statement about the mission of the PSC The mission is to exercise its authority and influence to ensure that consumers receive safe, reliable and reasonably priced telecommunications, electric, and natural gas services from financially viable and technically competent companies, Pridemore said. Echols sought to emphasize who the commission represents, saying, we represent everyone in the state, not just Georgia Power; we represent the truck driver, the chipping crew, and while its very difficult for this biomass to come to market and get approved, the tiny bit we have on our system is really important to the forestry industry. Tim Echols is the Vice-Chariman of the Georgia Public Service Commission. He is a Republican based in Hoschton and serves district 2. He has served since 2011 and voted yes to the biomass agreement (docket 44880). Andrea Young, the government public policy director of Georgia WAND, a social and environmental justice nonprofit, said Echols should be focused on representing consumers. The commissioners on the PSC do not represent Georgia Power, but regulate the rates of utilities to decide what are fair and reasonable rates for energy, natural gas and telecommunications, she said. It is this misunderstanding of the purpose of the PSC and the role of the commissioners that has allowed Georgia Power to raise rates while garnering profits above industry standards. FILE - Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., speaks during the hearing on Sexual Abuse of Female Inmates in Federal Prisons, Dec. 13, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) ATLANTA (AP) Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia said Wednesday he wants Congress to have more control over selecting the U.S. postmaster general after a mail-service breakdown in his state. Ossoff's proposed Postmaster General Reform Act would require the U.S. Senate to confirm a president's appointment to the role. Right now, the position is appointed by the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors without confirmation from Congress. The legislation would also allow postmaster generals to stay in office for a maximum of two five-year terms. The position currently has no term limits. The execution debacle by the U.S. Postal Service in Georgia has been a failure of leadership and a failure of management, and it has reflected the incompetent leadership and the incompetent management of the postmaster general himself, Ossoff said at a news conference Wednesday. Lawmakers across states have criticized Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for his management of the Postal Service. The legislation comes as DeJoy has tried to squash concerns from election officials throughout the country that the postal system is not prepared to handle a rush of mail-in ballots ahead of the November election. Georgia lawmakers have blamed operational issues at the postal facility in suburban Atlanta for many of the states delivery hiccups. USPS consolidated multiple facilities into one in Palmetto, which was supposed to make the delivery process more efficient. Similar hubs were created in Richmond, Virginia, and Portland, Oregon, as the Postal Service has tried to deal with nationwide slowdowns in delivery and financial losses. The volume of first-class mail has dropped 80% since 1997 as packaged shipments have grown, leading to $87 billion in losses from 2007 to 2020. But Georgia was ranked as the worst-performing state in a Postal Service service performance report for the second quarter of 2024 that tracked transit time for mail delivery. Ossoff has regularly pressed DeJoy for updates on how he plans to improve the agency's operations, a concern that has also been echoed by a number of Georgia's Republican U.S. House members. This is about whether seniors are receiving their medication in the mail, Ossoff said Wednesday. This is about whether citizens are receiving vital notices from the court -- notices to appear, notices of eviction. This is about whether small businesses can function. High quality postal service cant be a luxury. It is a necessity. After the Palmetto facility opened, delivery rates slowed. Georgia saw a 90% on-time delivery rate for first-class mail for most of 2023. That rate dropped below 40% in March, but it has since rebounded above 80%. Ossoff visited Palmetto in June. He called out DeJoy for poor management as employees from across the state had to move to the Palmetto location. DeJoy told local leaders he planned to add staff and noted that mail service in the state was improving. Ossoff said Wednesday that Georgians deserve better, saying he expects bipartisan support for the legislation. "This is a job of such importance that there needs to be a real job interview with those the people elect to confirm the most important officials in the federal government," Ossoff said. ___ Charlotte Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Elon Musk has humorously reacted to fellow billionaire and "Shark Tank" famed investor Mark Cubans interest in purchasing X, formerly known as Twitter. What Happened: Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it to X, responded to a post by DogeDesigner highlighting Cuban's wish to acquire the platform. Musk left a laughing emoji in the reply section of the post. Dont Miss: A billion-dollar investment strategy with minimums as low as $10 you can become part of the next big real estate boom today . This is a paid advertisement. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fundrise Flagship Fund before investing. This and other information can be found in the Fund's prospectus. Read them carefully before investing. Commercial real estate has historically outperformed the stock market, but few investors have the capital or resources needed to invest in this asset class. Get started investing in commercial real estate today. Why It Matters: Cuban recently expressed his interest in acquiring both Rupert Murdochs Fox News and Elon Musks X'. Cuban stated, If I had enough money to do it, which I dont, Id buy it in a heartbeat, referring to his desire to purchase X' and Fox News. In August, Cuban criticized Musk during an interview on "The Daily Show," suggesting that the Tesla founder might have manipulated the platform's algorithm. Musk responded with an emoji insult, escalating the dispute. Despite their differences, Cuban has acknowledged Musk's significant influence through his ownership of X. He described Musk as "the most influential man in the world" due to his control over the social media platform. Wondering if your investments can get you to a $5,000,000 nest egg? Speak to a financial advisor today. SmartAssets free tool matches you up with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your adivosr matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. Keep Reading: This billion-dollar fund has invested in the next big real estate boom, here's how you can join for $10 . This is a paid advertisement. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fundrise Flagship Fund before investing. This and other information can be found in the Fund's prospectus. Read them carefully before investing. Mark Cuban believes the next wave of revenue generation is around real estate and entertainment this new real estate fund allows you to get started with just $100. This article Elon Musk Reacts After Mark Cuban Says He Would Buy X 'In A Heartbeat' originally appeared on Benzinga.com (L-R) The Second Senate Christine Langenfeld, Chairwoman Doris Koenig and Astrid Wallrabenstein - sit down in the hearing room of the German Constitutional Court after the verdict was announced. In the current legislative period, AfD candidates had failed in elections to the committees for home affairs, health and development cooperation. Uwe Anspach/dpa Germany's Constitutional Court on Wednesday dismissed a complaint by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) over its exclusion from chairing committees in parliament. The judgement concerns two lawsuits filed by the party's parliamentary group, which has 77 of 733 seats in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house. Judge Doris Konig, the vice president of the Karlsruhe-based court, explained that the rules governing the selection and removal of committee chairs fall within the Bundestag's remit. The AfD had submitted a complaint after traditional parties collaborated to exclude its lawmakers from chairing three committees - on health, internal affairs and development - in the Bundestag in the wake of the 2021 election. Bundestag committees are reconstituted in each legislative period. Typically, the nomination of committee chairs is negotiated in the Council of Elders - a panel of some two dozen high-ranking and veteran lawmakers. If no agreement is reached, as after the parliamentary election in September 2021 that put Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the top office, an order of precedence for allocation is calculated based on the strength of the parliamentary groups. This resulted in the AfD obtaining the three chairs, but opposition from other parties forced votes which saw the far-right candidates lose. As a result, the deputy chairs are currently leading the committees. The second lawsuit addressed the removal of AfD lawmaker Stephan Brandner from the chairmanship of the Legal Affairs Committee in November 2019. The AfD argued that their rights to equal treatment as a parliamentary group and to the fair application of the Bundestag's procedural rules were violated, but the court has now rejected the complaint. (L-R) The Second Senate Christine Langenfeld, Chairwoman Doris Koenig and Astrid Wallrabenstein - sit down in the hearing room of the German Constitutional Court after the verdict was announced. In the current legislative period, AfD candidates had failed in elections to the committees for home affairs, health and development cooperation. Uwe Anspach/dpa Stephan Brandner (R) and Kay-Uwe Ziegler, AfD member of the Bundestag, sit in the hearing room of the German Constitutional Court. In the current legislative period, AfD candidates had failed in elections to the committees for home affairs, health and development cooperation. Uwe Anspach/dpa The German government has allocated 50 million for the treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers. Source: ntv, as reported by European Pravda Details: "We continue to stand firmly on the side of Ukraine," said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner. "With this solution that we have now found, we are creating security for necessary medical treatment in Germany," he added. According to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, Germany has so far evacuated 1,173 badly wounded and injured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians and provided them with medical care in German hospitals. "This assistance is a humane act and we continue to provide it as best as we can," she says. The Federal Office of Administration will handle and pay for hospital treatment of war-wounded soldiers in the future without the use of bureaucratic procedures. In July, Germany accepted seriously ill children who were previously treated at Kyivs Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital attacked by Russia. Support UP or become our patron! (Bloomberg) -- Germany plans to take a harder look at whether the weapons it supplies to Israel are not being used in violation of international law, the economy minister, Robert Habeck, said. Most Read from Bloomberg The weapons systems deployed in the Gaza Strip where there is suspicion that international humanitarian law is being violated, will be treated differently, Habeck, who is also Germanys vice-chancellor, said in a discussion with citizens in the western city of Osnabrueck. The government will take a close look, Habeck said. The minister added that Israel would continue to be supplied with all weapons that are essential for securing the countrys right to exist, mentioning maritime and air defense systems against attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanon. Habeck emphasized that Germany and Israel have a close military alliance and his country has a historical obligation because of the Nazi regimes crimes against the Jewish people. An Economy Ministry spokesperson denied media reports that Germany had completely stopped arms deliveries to Israel, adding that licenses for weapons exports are always an individual decision and are thoroughly examined: The current situation is always taken into account, including the attacks on Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah as well as the course of the operation in Gaza. Earlier: Israel May Have Violated International Law, US Report Says The Israeli Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment made late Wednesday night. Israels devastating military response in Gaza to the Oct. 7 massacre and kidnappings by Hamas has left much of the strip in ruins and been criticized as being excessive. The US has said its likely Israel used American weapons in Gaza in violation of international law, but its still investigating the issue. The UK earlier this month suspended some arms licenses to Israel. Both countries have insisted theyll provide Israel with what it requires to defend itself. --With assistance from Ramsey Al-Rikabi. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. NEW YORK (PIX11) A different kind of ghostbuster is patrolling the streets of the city. The new Ghost Car Task Force will take to the streets to remove illegal cars across the five boroughs, as announced by New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday. More Local News As part of the initiative 15 uniformed officers have been assigned strictly to finding and removing parked ghost cars. In its first week the task force removed almost 300 vehicles. Seized vehicles will be held at NYPD lots where they will be processed and either claimed, auctioned, or destroyed after investigation. More Crime News It marks a new interagency partnership between the Department of Sanitation and the New York Police Department. we are sending an important message to everyone who drives on the streets of our city: fake plates are a real crime and if you leave a car on city streets with forged, stolen, or altered plates, it wont be there when you get back, said the mayor during a press conference. Ghost cars are categorized as vehicles with forged, stolen, or altered license plates that make them untraceable to traffic cameras and toll readers, according to city officials. Authorities say these untraceable vehicles often show up at the scenes of serious crimes. The city-led Ghost Car Task Force adds to pre-existing statewide initiatives that target ghost vehicles during traffic stops. Current task forces under the state have removed almost 2,200 ghost cars from city streets. Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work 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 PIX11. Locals get first look at giant solar farm plans Developer RWE says the High Grove development would generate enough power for almost all the homes in Norfolk [RWE] People living around the site of a huge solar farm planned for Breckland have had their first chance to meet developers. The energy firm RWE wants to build panels on five sites, generating enough energy to power 363,000 homes. Consultation events for the High Grove Solar Farm project are under way ahead of a formal planning application, expected to be submitted in Autumn 2025. While many visitors to the consultation event in Swaffham supported the idea of renewable energy, they had concerns about the scale of the project. Kerry Locke and her mother Valarie live in Holme Hale. They're worried the size of the development will impact the feel of the countryside [BBC] The High Grove site is a solar and battery storage project aimed at providing 720MW of clean energy. It would be distributed across five proposed development areas in Norfolk, about 1.5 km (nearly one mile) southwest of Dereham, 2km (1.25 miles) east of Necton, and 2km north of Watton. 'Views hindered' Kerry Locke and her mother Valarie live in Holme Hale, which would be in the development area. They visited the RWE information event to hear about the project. Valarie said she was impressed by the plans. "We were slightly concerned it would impact the wildlife but they do seem to be worried about that too and the local views too," she said. But Kerry said she was not feeling reassured. "I'm worried about it we're going to get our views hindered," she said. "Norfolk is a countryside county. We like to see the views, the nature, the wildlife and we're worried it's all going to be spoiled." Map showing the five proposed development areas which combined cover 4000 acres [RWE] The project would have its own battery storage plant and the cables needed to connect it to the grid would be underground. Helen Carrier lives in Denver near Downham Market. "I think it's fine," she said. "It's a large area but you've got to think about the environment." She praised the Government's commitment to renewable energy. The secretary of state for energy recently approved plans for a controversial solar farm on the Cambridge/Suffolk border. The 2,500-acre Sunnica Energy farm would be dwarfed by the High Grove development in Norfolk, which would cover 4,000 acres. 'We're going to be surrounded by it' Concerns about the scale of the project were underlined by Mark Whaler, who lives in the village of Bradenham. "It's not something we envisaged when we moved to the area eight years ago," he said. "We all realise that solar panels are going to play a role in the future and some small developments would be welcome. "But we're going to be surrounded by it. Top bottom and sides". The government is expected to increase the use of solar power in the UK to meet its net zero target by 2050. Mike Gresler from RWE at a drop-in event in Swaffham to tell people more about the project [BBC] Mike Gresler, from the energy company RWE, is the project manager for High Grove. One concern brought to him by locals was the conversion of productive farm land into fields for panels. "We need 50 GW of solar by 2035 and if we can deliver that it does only equate to 0.25% of all land. That's a very small amount of land to deliver net zero and energy security," he said. In a speech to The Energy UK Conference, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said he would take on the "blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists" because the need to establish energy security was so great. Subject to planning permission, the earliest that construction would begin on the project would be 2028. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. More on this story RWE project website GIBSON COUNTY, Ind. (WEHT) Law enforcement in Gibson County is urging parents to talk with children after a surge in school threats, some of which ended with an arrest. If you threaten any sort of violence in my schools in Gibson County, whether that be public schools or provincial schools.if you come in and threaten or do any violence, you will be met with an overwhelming deadly force, says Gibson County Sheriff Bruce Vanoven. The latest arrest happened today during lunch. Sheriff Vanoven says a student made verbal threats at Haubstadt Community School. He says the student was quickly removed from the school as authorities investigated. He says the student was eventually taken to a juvenile facility and faces a status intimidation charge. Threat of a forceable felony is basically what it is. Juveniles are not charged with crimes, they are charged with status offenses. If the prosecutors see where there is a level of agitation, it could be moved to adult court. But I do not see that happening in this case, says Sheriff Vanoven. Sheriff Vanoven says this is the third threat his office has investigated since September 11th. The first threat was reported a day later in Fort Branch, Vanoven says deputies arrested a student after they allegedly threatened classmates and the school during homeroom. The student was taken to a juvenile detention facility and charges were filed. That same day, Vanoven says a threat was made to Wood Memorial High School on Tiktok. He says that the post was not credible and was part of a recent nationwide trend impacting schools across the country. The sheriff says the threats and social media are getting out of control, and says something needs to be done. He urges parents to sit down with their kids and talk about the consequences of threatening posts and statements. When there are tough issues, you have to have tough conversations. And it is not pleasant but this is a childs eternity we are dealing with, the rest of their lives. So I think that we have an obligation as parents to have these tough conversations, Sheriff Vanoven 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 Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Police arrested a 13-year-old girl Tuesday who they say is behind threats of violence against a Riverside middle school. The allegations come amid a spate of social media threats against schools across the country that have alarmed law enforcement, parents and administrators. Riverside police said the student, who was not identified, targeted Chemawa Middle School in at least two social media posts Friday, including one in which she listed names of classmates, causing many parents to pick up their kids early from school. Law enforcement did not disclose the nature of the threats or what social media platform they were on. But they said that once school safety officers received tips over the weekend identifying the student, police searched her home and determined that she did not have access to weapons. Officers then arrested and booked the girl at a Riverside County juvenile detention facility on suspicion of making criminal threats against the school and students. Dozens of similar incidents have taken place in recent weeks across the nation since a Sept. 4 shooting at a high school in Winder, Ga., that killed four people two students and two teachers. On Monday, the Riverside County Sheriff's Office arrested a 14-year-old boy from Eastvale on suspicion of making undisclosed threats against students at a Jurupa Unified School District middle school. On Sept. 11, police arrested a 15-year-old on suspicion of being behind a social media threat against Arlington High School in Riverside and its principal the previous day. At least eight students have been arrested recently as well on suspicion of making threats in Sacramento and other areas of Northern California, according to local news. Alarm over the threats spurred at least one law enforcement official to try a remedy that was unusual, particularly because it involved a minor. In Florida's Volusia County, about 40 miles north of Orlando, an 11-year-old was arrested on suspicion of making a written threat to carry out a mass school shooting, a felony, according to the county Sheriff's Office. The department then posted a video on Facebook of the boy in handcuffs and included his name. Read more: West Hollywood valet hospitalized after being attacked in 'violent rampage' Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said in a statement Tuesday that his department would "not tolerate any behavior that undermines the safety and security of our schools. The social media postings "must stop immediately so that our children can focus on their education, Gonzalez said. "Students who make threats of school violence on social media or by other means will face strict criminal consequences and severe disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion," Gonzalez said. "We will not tolerate any behavior that undermines the safety and security of our schools." 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. Girl, 2, walks out of Michigan home after parents put her to bed, is killed by driver: Police Girl, 2, walks out of Michigan home after parents put her to bed, is killed by driver: Police ***Learn about dangerous highways in Ohio in the video above.*** ALLEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJW) Law enforcement is investigating after a 2-year-old girl walked outside without her parents noticing and was killed by a car last week. Michigan State Police were called to the crash at about 8:20 p.m. on Friday, in the 200 block of Chicago Street in Allen Township. Investigators found the child lying in the roadway when they arrived. First responders administered first aid and the child was taken to Hillsdale Hospital, but she died from her injuries. I-Team: Another dirt bike takeover; why didnt anyone call police? Through the preliminary investigation, troopers learned that the 2-year-olds parents had put her to bed just before the accident. Investigators with Michigan State Police said the child got out of bed and left the home while her parents were doing work around the house. Local sheriff on his post about Harris supporters: A little misinterpreted? According to investigators, the young girl walked onto Chicago Street and was hit by a 2012 Volkswagen driven by a 38-year-old Michigan man. Detectives do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation at this time. Anyone with information is asked to reach out to the MSP Jackson Post at 517-780-4580. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The Gadsden Independent School District will be changing its reporting system at two Chaparral schools due to an increase in false reports, the school district announced in a press release on Wednesday, Sept. 18. The school district says it will suspend the use of the STOPit app at Chaparral High School and Chaparral Middle School on Wednesday, as numerous false reports of weapons on campus have significantly disrupted the instructional day and affected the overall sense of security for students and staff. In place of the app, the school district says it will implement the Chaparral Safe Reporting System which will require users to identify themselves and will offer a confidential way to report concerns such as bullying, harassment, mental health issues, inappropriate conduct, and threats. The system is not an app but a secure Google Form accessible through a QR code that will be posted throughout the schools, according to the school district. By including personal details and context, the system empowers students to contribute actively to the safety of their school. Additionally, the system emphasizes the consequences of submitting false information, promoting a sense of responsibility and trust, the school district said. The school district says its also offering a $500 reward for information leading to the identification of those responsible for submitting false reports. Students and the community can use the new system to provide details that could help identify these individuals. The reporting link will also be available on the websites of Chaparral High School and Chaparral Middle School. For those wanting additional information or to report concerns, they can contact the schools directly. For those seeking alternative resources for anonymous support, the following options are available: 988: A free, private, and confidential support service available 24/7. Individuals can call, text, or chat at www.988lifeline.org/chat. Kid-Talk: Available for children and teens under 17, offering non-judgmental support. Kids can call or text and choose to remain anonymous. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. (KREX) Glenwood Canyons original closure on Wednesday at 11 a.m. was halted due to a rockslide near Steamboat Springs. The Colorado Department of Transportation said in a press release that crews are responding to a rockfall that closed Highway 40 around 7 a.m. earlier the same day. The incident occurred west of Steamboat Springs and near the community of Milner. CDOT said it will notify the public when work will resume on I-70 but that is dependent on when Highway 40 reopens. According to the department, a boulder landed on the highway and covered both travel lanes. CDOT crews are on the scene, working to reduce hazards on the ground. Meanwhile, specialized teams are removing the large rock and confirming the integrity of the nearby rock face. CDOT said in the release it does not know when the highway will reopen. Routt County is working with CDOT with a detour through county roads. The department suggested travelers can bypass the closure by using County roads 33, 33A and 27 south of Highway 40. Eastbound Glenwood Canyon was closed Tuesday after a semitruck crashed going west before landing on the eastbound lanes below. Crews transport debris from a semitruck that crashed Tuesday on I-70 in Glenwood Canyon. The closure of the eastbound lanes is postponed due to a rockfall that happened Wednesday on Highway 40. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Tupperware has been struggling to stem falling sales in the face of cheaper competition [Getty Images] US brand Tupperware has filed for bankruptcy as it struggles to survive in the face of sliding sales. The food storage container firm said it will ask for court permission to start a sale of the business and that it aimed to continue operating. The 78-year-old firm has become so synonymous with food storage that many people use its name when referring to any plastic container. Despite attempts to freshen up its products in recent years and reposition itself to a younger audience, it has failed to stand out from competitors. Last year, the firm warned that it may go bust unless it could quickly raise new funds. The company's shares have fallen by more 50% this week after reports that it was planning to file for bankruptcy. After a brief surge in sales during the pandemic, as more people cooked at home, the firm saw demand continue to slide. The rising cost of raw materials, higher wages and transportation costs have also eaten into its profit margins. "Over the last several years, the company's financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment," Tupperware's chief executive Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement to investors. Tupperware was founded in 1946 by Earl Tupper, who patented the containers' flexible airtight seal. Tupperware was a major innovation, as it utilised new plastics to keep food fresh for longer, which was invaluable when refrigerators were still too expensive for many families. However, it was not an immediate success. It was the pioneering saleswoman Brownie Wise who helped turn the brand into a household name, literally. She developed an approach in which salespeople, who were mostly women, sold Tupperware to other women in their homes, better known as "Tupperware parties". According to the company, Tupperware is now sold in 70 countries around the world. 'The party is over' "The party has been over for some time for Tupperware," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. "Shifts in buyer behaviour pushed its containers out of fashion, as consumers have started to wean themselves off addictions to plastics and find more environmentally conscious ways of storing food." Ms Streeter added that "serious hiccups" in Tupperware's financial reporting also had a negative impact on the company, including the mis-stating of results in 2021 and 2022. Theyre Going to Get a Lot of Backlash Families, Teachers React to LA Unifieds Looming Cell Phone Ban Los Angeles Unified teachers, parents and students expressed support for the districts upcoming cell phone ban but with some concerns about the details. The new policy, set to roll out in January, is being created in response to a school board resolution. Studies show the unregulated use of phones on campus can harm students academic progress and cause harm to kids mental health. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter LA families and local educators are buzzing about the looming new policy, but no one is sure how it will work. Related So Your School Wants to Ban Cellphones. Now What? The first thing I thought was, how are they going to enforce that? said Cara Becerril, a mother of a junior at Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies. Theyre going to get a lot of backlash from students and parentsIm for it. LAUSD officials said they hope the cellphone ban will reduce attention problems, cyberbullying and anxiety caused by cellphone use. Parents think thats a good idea. Im old school, and I grew up without a phone, Becerril said. Humans right now cant get off their phone, so I mean, weve got to start somewhere. Teachers told LA School Report conflicts over cellphone use can strain their relationships with students. They said they do not want sole responsibility for enforcing a ban, and theyre not sure how the devices should be managed on campus. I really dont want to be the cellphone police, said Susan Norton, an English teacher at Verdugo Hills High School. Its just not a good position for teachers to be in when were dealing with peoples property. Teachers also said students seem addicted to their phones. Rebecca Holt, a sixth grade teacher in Bel Air, has noticed students hiding their cellphones behind their books or taking bathroom breaks just to use their phone. Once LAUSD implements the cellphone ban in 2025, she hopes teachers wont have to be the cellphone police anymore. Three Los Angeles school teachers shared their students encounters with cyberbullying. According to Holt, two students threatened to get another student killed, saying they deserved to die. While technology and social media have some negative effects on youth mental health, adolescents have reported many positive aspects. In Holts math classroom, students enjoy seeing where their peers go on vacation through social media. It helps them see other cultures and learn about the world because theyll see their friend who went to visit Iceland, and theyll get to see what Iceland is like, Holt said. Holt also said her students sometimes watch funny videos after a long day of school as a way to decompress. But she also said that social media could have an isolating effect on kids. One of Holts middle school students, she said, decided to stop using social media entirely, and said that they felt more present in class, had stronger relationships, and enjoyed the little things in life more after quitting social media. Although teachers and parents voiced concerns about teens mental health, teens expressed confidence in how they are handling challenges that come with using devices and social media. Some said they feel more connected than ever through their cell phones, while other teens, like Holts student who quit social media, have opted out of online communities. Their parents were less sanguine. Children are totally addicted to their phones, said Annise Fuller, mother of a senior at Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets. I think that the phones have taken away a lot of the childrens attention in the classroom. But not all students are convinced. Although some kids told LA School Report phones can cause problems on campus, others, such as Dallas Robinson, Fullers daughter, said the devices are too important to bar from school. Dont ban them, said Robinson. But make students put them in their backpacks. Gold Apollo says Budapest-based BAC produces model of pagers used in Lebanon blasts Hsu Ching-kuang, founder and president of Gold Apollo speaks to the media at their office in New Taipei City Hsu Ching-kuang, founder and president of Gold Apollo speaks to the media at their office in New Taipei City By Ben Blanchard NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) -The model of pagers used in detonations in Lebanon were made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting, Taiwanese pager firm Gold Apollo said on Wednesday, adding it had only licensed out its brand to the company and was not involved in the production of the devices. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday. According to a senior Lebanese security source and another source, explosives inside the devices were planted by Israel's Mossad spy agency. Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. "The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," Gold Apollo founder and president, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters at the company's offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday. The company said in a statement that the AR-924 model was produced and sold by BAC. Gold Apollo authorised "BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC," the statement said. Reuters calls and emails to BAC on Wednesday morning were not answered. Hsu said earlier there had been problems with remittances from the firm. "The remittance was very strange," he said, adding that payments had come through the Middle East. He did not elaborate further. Hezbollah fighters began using pagers in the belief they would be able to evade Israeli tracking of their locations, two sources familiar with the group's operations told Reuters this year. Hsu said he did not know how the pagers could have been rigged to explode. While Hsu was meeting with reporters, police officials arrived at the company. Officials from Taiwan's economy ministry also visited Gold Apollo. The ministry said in a statement that there was no record of direct pager exports from Taiwan to Lebanon. Hsu also said Gold Apollo was a victim of the incident and planned to sue the licensee. "We may not be a large company but we are a responsible one," he said. "This is very embarrassing." (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Michael Perry and Edwina Gibbs) The News Google said it would rework from scratch its plan to build a $200 million data center in Santiago, Chile after opposition from locals and environmentalists. The tech giants decision comes months after a Chilean court partially revoked its 2020 permit, siding with activists who complained that the data center would exacerbate Santiagos yearslong drought by using residents water supplies to cool its servers. The artificial intelligence boom has accelerated Big Techs use of water: Googles water consumption increased by 22% between 2020 and 2022, according to the Financial Times. Critics have described Googles plans to build data centers in Latin America as data colonialism that exploits countries cheap water, electricity, and lax environmental standards, conservation news outlet Mongabay wrote. The amount of fines Google has to pay in Europe may have become just a bit smaller. It has successfully convinced the European Union's General Court to annul the 1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) penalty levied against it back in 2019 for what the European Commission described as "abusive practices in online advertising." According to the Financial Times, the General Court agreed with the commission's assessment that Google did block rival advertisers from its platform. However, it argued that the commission failed to take into account "all the relevant circumstances" when it assessed how long the company had implemented anti-competitive practices. The commission, under competition chief Margrethe Vestager, found back in 2019 that Google had prohibited publishers from placing search adverts from competitors on its search results pages from 2006 until 2009. It changed its rules slightly in 2009, but it wasn't until 2016 that it removed the clause pertaining to the restriction in its contracts. The fine for this particular case was larger than expected, because the commission said it took into account "the duration and gravity of the infringement." "This case is about a very narrow subset of text-only search ads placed on a limited number of publishers' websites," Google said in a statement to the Financial Times. "We made changes to our contracts in 2016 to remove the relevant provisions, even before the commissions decision. We are pleased that the court has recognized errors in the original decision and annulled the fine. We will review the full decision closely." Meanwhile, the commission told the publication that it "will carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps." It could still appeal the court's decision. This is just one of the multiple antitrust fines the European Commission has slapped against Google over the past years. Earlier this month, EU's highest court upheld a different $2.7 billion penalty against the company. The commission imposed that fine on Google back in 2017, because it found that the company, as Vestager explained, "abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors." Vestager is stepping down from her role as the European Union's commissioner for competition within the next few weeks. She has been tough on big tech companies throughout her run, and the market abuse cases she has filed over the years led to the creation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a regulation meant to prevent the largest players in the industry from abusing their market power. A general view of the Google logo on the main entrance of the parent company Alphabet Inc's headquarters. Christoph Dernbach/dpa A European Union court in Luxembourg has annulled a nearly 1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) antitrust fine for Google. The judges ruled on Wednesday that the European Commission had not provided sufficient evidence that Google had abused its dominant position in search engine advertising with its AdSense for Search product. The latest ruling can still be appealed before the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court. AdSense for Search allowed website publishers to integrate Google search masks into their sites, display ads linked to search queries, and receive a part of the revenue generated through these ads. Contracts between the tech giant and some website publishers "contained clauses restricting or prohibiting the display of ads from services competing with" the Google product, a court release said. Although the judges confirmed most of the EU Commission's arguments, they decided to annul the fine. The commission had not taken all relevant circumstances into account when determining whether Google's contractual clauses were abusive, the court said. Google says the company has already made changes to the service. The legal dispute goes back to a complaint filed with the German Federal Cartel Office in 2010, which prompted an investigation by the European Commission. In 2019, the Brussels-based competition watchdog concluded that Google had infringed EU competition law and imposed a fine of 1.49 billion. Google appealed to the European Union's General Court for the penalty to be overturned. The latest decision comes shortly after Google suffered a defeat in a different antitrust case in the EU. Last week, the EU's top court confirmed a 2.4 billion fine imposed by the commission for a competition breach with Google's price comparison service Google Shopping. The tech giant had abused its market power by favouring the results of its own price comparison service over those of its competitors, the ruling said. Google had already made changes to its service before the decision. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told an Arab American witness that she should hide [her] head in a bag after repeatedly asking her if she supported Hamas and Hezbollah during a Tuesday congressional hearing. You should hide your head in a bag, Kennedy told Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute, who was adamant she did not support Hamas or violence by any group. Berry said she found the line of questioning exceptionally disappointing. I think its exceptionally disappointing that youre looking at an Arab American witness before you and saying, You support Hamas,' she said. Berry testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside witnesses from the National Jewish Advocacy Center and Bard Center for the Study of Hate. The conversation touched on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate, specifically on college campuses. You support Hamas, do you not? Kennedy asked Berry. Oddly enough, Im going to say thank you for that question because it demonstrates the purpose of our hearing today, she said, before he interrupted, asking for a yes or no answer. Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support, Berry said. But you asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country, she said. Kennedy then asked if she supported Hezbollah. Again, I find this line of questioning extraordinarily disappointing, Berry said. After the exchange between Berry and Kennedy, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the committee, allowed Berry to respond. Sen. Durbin, thank you very much for holding this hearing and for elevating the issue of hate crime. Its regrettable that I, as I sit here, have experienced the very issue that were attempting to deal with today, she said. This has been regrettably a real disappointment but very much an indication of the danger to our democratic institutions that were in now, she added. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a statement denouncing Kennedys treatment of Berry at the hearing, noting that other GOP senators also took a harsh tone toward Berry. Maya Berry went before the committee to discuss hate crimes. Both Ms. Berry and the topic should have been treated with the respect and seriousness they deserve, Robert McCaw, government affairs director at CAIR, said in a statement. Instead, Sen. Kennedy and others chose to be an example of the bigotry Arabs, Palestinians and Muslims have faced in recent months and years. The Hill contacted Kennedys office for comment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GOP sens call on Schumer, Dems to take up border bills as they tout immigration vigilance Republican senators took to the Senate floor on Wednesday and called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to bring several pieces of border legislation for votes in the chamber as Vice President Kamala Harris and vulnerable Democrats across the country make commitments to supporting border security. Led by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., the group planned to ask that a number of strict bills regarding the border, immigration, and cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be considered, including the Laken Riley Act and the WALL Act, according to remarks provided by Britt's office. "Vice President Harris now says she has changed policy positions on some of our countrys most pressing issues," read Britt's prepared floor remarks, which she gave prior to making unanimous consent requests to advance the bills. "Lets see if her own party believes her claims, or whether theyll defend the radical policy positions Vice President Harris has long held and the Biden-Harris Administration has imposed for these painful past few years." SECRET SERVICE TOLD LOCALS THEY WOULD TAKE CARE OF BUILDING USED BY THOMAS CROOKS TO SHOOT TRUMP GOP senators called on Schumer and Democrats to vote on Republican-backed border bills. The Alabama senator was joined by Sens. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., James Lankford, R-Okla, and Mike Lee, R-Utah. All the Republicans' requests to advance the bills by unanimous consent were objected to. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Britt couldnt bring up the Laken Riley Act due to a time cutoff. "Senate Democrats talked down the clock. Theyre running from their unpopular opposition to the Laken Riley Act just like Vice President Harris is running from her extreme record," Britt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Theyre afraid to expose that the very policies Vice President Harris has held and the actions of her administration are actively leading to tragedy after tragedy. I will move for passage of the Laken Riley Act in the coming days." The Laken Riley Act was named for a 22-year-old female college student in Georgia who was found dead on the University of Georgia's campus in February. An illegal immigrant, Jose Ibarra, faces 10 counts following her death and has pleaded not guilty. 'AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE': SENATE REPUBLICANS CONDEMN PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S UN BID TO UNDERMINE ISRAEL Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Feb. 22. An illegal immigrant has been charged with her murder. The bill would require ICE to detain illegal immigrants who have committed theft, burglary, larceny or shoplifting offenses. Vulnerable Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., made headlines in May when he came out in support of the bill, despite blocking a vote in March on a modified version of it in the form of an amendment to a $1.2 trillion spending package. The procedural vote was struck down along party lines with Tester voting against it. TOP SENATE DEMOCRAT 'ANGRY' OVER BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN 'STONEWALLING' AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS Jose Ibarra is pictured in the moments before he entered a not guilty plea on Friday, May 31. Ibarra is accused of 10 counts in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. He notably faces an uphill battle in the Montana Senate race, with his opponent, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, beating him in new polls and top political handicappers giving Republicans an advantage in the state. While Tester committed to supporting the bill if it came for a stand-alone vote, such votes are increasingly rare in the upper chamber and even more so when they are priorities of the minority party. Meanwhile, the WALL Act would provide $25 billion in funds for building the southern border wall. Schumer's office did not tell Fox News Digital whether he would bring any of the Republican bills, such as the Laken Riley Act or the WALL Act, for votes following Republicans' request. However, the majority leader has been unwilling to schedule votes on them thus far, indicating he doesn't plan to. GOP DEMANDS TRUMP HAVE 'SAME LEVEL' SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION AS BIDEN AFTER 2ND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT Laken Riley, left, and Chuck Schumer Harris and vulnerable Senate Democrats have used a failed immigration bill, which they have touted as "bipartisan," despite only two Republicans voting in its favor on the most recent procedural vote, to back up their claims of wanting to secure the southern border on the campaign trail. Lankford, who took the floor on Wednesday with Britt, was one of the negotiators of that bill, along with Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz. In recent floor remarks on the subject, he called out Harris for using the border bill in her campaign. "I mean no disrespect to the Vice President, but we had four months of negotiations, and she neither initiated those negotiations nor participated in a single second of those negotiations not one second," he said. The negotiated bill has been blasted by numerous Republican senators, some of whom claimed it would actually exacerbate the current situation at the southern border. Some of those GOP senators who supported pieces of the bill also suggested that the administration would not properly implement them and would use the bill's passage as a reason not to act further on the border. Original article source: GOP sens call on Schumer, Dems to take up border bills as they tout immigration vigilance U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., offered a resolution on July 10, 2024, to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt for refusing to turn over audio tapes of a special counsels interview of President Joe Biden. (Screenshot from U.S. House website) The St. Petersburg Police Department has confirmed that officers are aware of threats made against Pinellas Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. One of those threats came on Sunday, a day after Luna, running for re-election to a second term in Congress, posted a message on X saying, When you label people a threat to democracy and attempt to dehumanize/lie about them, violence occurs. Luna was motivated to write the post on Friday after her campaign learned of a message posted (and subsequently removed) on the Facebook campaign page of her Democratic opponent, Whitney Fox. It said: Luna is my st Petersburg Forida [sic] neighbor. Anyone care to know more? The individual added, If she is hiding I know where she lives if anyone is interested in sending her a love letter or something. She dwells riiiight around the corner. Yolanda Fernandez, a spokesperson for the St. Petersburg Police Department, said officers confirmed that the individual lives near Luna. A detective in the Criminal Intelligence and Threat Assessment Unit spoke with him on Saturday and concluded that he does not appear to be a threat at this time, she said. But, as a precaution, directed patrols in the area of Lunas residence to deter criminal activity continued throughout the weekend. Then, on Sunday, an email was sent directly to St. Petersburg College that Luna has described as a shooting threat. It is not known why such a message was sent to the college, and the St.Petersburg College spokesperson did not allow the Phoenix to view it. We did receive a suspicious email and, due to the nature of the email, it was forwarded to the St. Pete Police Department, as we would send any other of a similar nature, said Samantha Stanich, communications coordinator at St. Petersburg College. She said that it did not originate from the college and was not sent from an SPC student or employee, adding that no political officials were named in the email. The St. Petersburg Police Department received that message but did not take any action on it except to forward it to the U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C., Fernandez said. This is not a joke. This is not an exaggeration that there are very real death threats coming in now because of the fact that this rhetoric has increased, Luna told the Phoenix on Monday night. Fierce conservative In her less than two full years in Congress, Luna has become known for her fierce conservative views and allegiance to former President Donald Trump. She was the architect of the House GOPs censure of California Democrat Adam Schiff. She pushed earlier this summer for a resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland for inherent contempt over his refusal to release audio recordings of Special Counsel Robert Hurs interview with President Joe Biden over his handling of classified documents. Luna is defending her seat against Fox, a former communications and marketing officer with the Pinellas County Transit Authority who emerged last month as the winner of a five-person Democratic primary election to challenge Luna in November. Luna alleged in her social media post on Saturday that Fox had allowed her supporters on her campaign media social media to publicly dox, coordinate, and solicit individuals to send threatening packages to my home address. Unfair Fox says thats an unfair charge. Violence has no place in politics, period, Fox said in an emailed statement to the Phoenix. Instead of making false accusations against my campaign, Luna should stand on her own record, which includes supporting a national no-exceptions ban on abortion and ignoring the affordability crisis. The people of Pinellas deserve a leader who will put aside partisan politics and will put them first. Its not fun, Luna told the Phoenix Monday about the threats that she has received. My husbands obviously concerned. I have a child. The fact is that I dont think this rhetoric its going to get someone killed. Luna added that she was contacted earlier this year by someone she believes is with a liberal political action committee and who posed as a chief of staff to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. After a few text messages, the individual began sending antisemitic and sexually harassing messages, as reported Tuesday by Fox News. Fox reported that the messages appeared to be an effort to gather opposition research and involved additional Republicans and that the abuse started when Luna stopped responding. Threats to Luna preceded her election to Congress. In July 2021, a Pinellas County judge approved a temporary restraining order against a man named William Braddock after an audio recording surfaced of him allegedly threatening to make her disappear. Braddock had filed to run against Luna in the 2022 Republican primary in Congressional District 13 but withdrew after his comments were made public. Trump attacks The two alleged assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump have ignited a discussion about the deteriorating political rhetoric in the United States, with Democrats and Republicans blaming each other for being most responsible. Luna won her seat by eight percentage points in 2022, and the district has become more Republican leaning since then in terms of registered voters. However, a St. Pete Polls survey published in late August showed Fox leading Luna, 48%-44%. Another survey for the conservative-leaning Club for Growth PAC published days later had Luna up by five points, 48%-43%. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Florida A&M students gathered at the Florida People's Advocacy Center in Tallahassee on Sept. 14, 2024, to learn about organizing in support of Amendment 4. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix) Florida A&M University senior Lindsey LaRose gleefully greeted her peers as they trickled into the Florida Peoples Advocacy Center in Tallahassee on Saturday morning, dancing and giving hugs to those she knew. About half were there because LaRose had convinced them to devote four hours of their weekend to an organizing boot camp intended to mobilize their campus to help pass the abortion-rights amendment. Campaigning in favor of the amendment that would protect access to abortion in the Florida Constitution is nerve-racking, LaRose said. The aspiring social worker is the student leading the Yes on 4 efforts at the historically Black university. Her lesson for them: You gotta do it scared. For a week before the Saturday training, LaRose said, she stood in a prominent area of the FAMU campus between classes to invite passersby to the event. She spoke about Amendment 4 in front of a packed room of Rattlers before the presidential debate last Tuesday. All the time, LaRose said, she was frightened of failure. I expected for me to fail at this event, and seeing all these Rattlers coming in and taking all of these insights and knowledge about this amendment has definitely lit another fire underneath me, saying that I am able to do this, LaRose told Florida Phoenix. I wouldnt say Im alone but, especially during that whole week, just me being out there by myself definitely brought me down as a youth organizer, because Im taking time to recruit volunteers for this, and just me being outside, you know, its a lot. That fearful thought of me failing definitely went out the window, especially today. But it was LaRoses boots-on-the-ground approach that moved first-year Kyla Wood to come to the organizing session. Wood, who grew up in South Carolina, told the Phoenix that LaRose approached her and her friends while they chatted in a lounge. Even though Wood was interested, she told LaRose she couldnt make it to the training because she didnt have a car. LaRose offered her a ride. Political fliers are one thing, but the passion in her voice, thats what attracted me, Wood said. The trainings connects with the students on their terms The sponsor of Amendment 4, Floridians Protecting Freedom, and People Power for Florida, an organization that helps people register to vote and promotes civic engagement, hosted a series of boot camps across the state to teach college students the basics of organizing using pop culture references that resonate with Gen Z, such as the Barbie movie and The Hunger Games. The training centered around Amendment 4 and stressed the need for the students to maintain nonpartisan messaging and frame the issue stopping government interference rather than protecting the right to abortion. That messaging is key to making sure the amendment draws enough support from Republicans and independents to win the more than 60% voter approval threshold, which no other states where abortion has been on the ballot have had to face, said Gabriel Gomez during the trainings at FAMU and Florida State University on Sunday. He is the Yes on 4 youth organizing manager. Since the beginning of the school year, Floridians Protecting Freedoms youth organizing branch and People Power for Florida have been engaging students outside their dorms during move-in and events introducing students to organizations on campus. September was the right time to train FAMU, University of South Florida, FSU, University of Central Florida, and Florida Internation University students, so theyre prepped to marshal the vote in October, Gomez told the Phoenix. Without young people turning out to vote this November, Amendment 4 does not have a shot of passing. This is the last chance to secure the right to abortion for decades to come, said the 25-year-old, who got his start in politics helping people register to vote. Students opposing abortion are also collaborating On the flip side, Nicole Kelly, an FSU junior who helps lead the conservative group Turning Point USA on campus, said her group has been collaborating with others opposing Amendment 4, including Students for Life and the No on 4 campaign. Leading up to the election, Turning Point USA plans to bring to FSU Maison Des Champs, the self-proclaimed Pro-Life Spider-Man. Des Champs free-climbs buildings to raise money for pregnant women to cancel their abortion appointments and go through with births. There is certainly a lot more energy, a lot more anticipation of the election, Kelly said, citing conversations shes had with students while tabling for Turning Point USA. Theres also a lot more anxiety surrounding the different issues that are going to be pertinent to the election. As opposed to last year, you do see a lot more interest in holding these discussions but, at the same time, theres also a lot more fear. There are also students who are kind of afraid to discuss or confront these issues just because of how much controversy there is surrounding them, she said. Organizing beyond Amendment 4 Although there are two more Yes on 4 boot camps scheduled at UCF and FIU, Gomez said the FAMU session has been the most successful. By the time the afternoon training concluded, the 35 students in attendance had vowed to stay engaged not only to volunteer for Yes on 4 but to also make their voices heard as universities in the state restrict campus protests. Gomez credits LaRose for the success with FAMU students. I love the energy that Lindsey brings, and shes obviously a super-effective communicator and organizer, right? So, its just great to be able to train and work with students like that who obviously have a lot of potential, he said. Gomez recognizes that not all of the trainings are going to have the same outcome as FAMUs, he said, noting that only 15 people attended the FSU training on Sunday. Today, we had a lot of freshmen in the room, so that was the difference is we had to kind of coax more engagement out of them. We had to start with the basics and just make sure that everyone is retaining the information being presented, he said. With 47 days until the election, Gomez said hes proud of the students at the front lines of Yes on 4. Im consistently learning and impressed by the knowledge that students are bringing, he said. And also, you know, learning how this new era of legislation thats trying to roll back our rights, how its actually shaping the next generation of leaders. GEORGIA (WJBF) Governor Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Economic Development announced the state broke its tourism record for the second year in a row at a Tuesday media conference. In the annual Georgia Governors Tourism Conference, Kemp stated 171 million domestic and international visitors entered the state last year, helping eclipse previous records with $43.6 billion spent. Georgia continues to grow as a top destination for travelers and businesses alike, said Kemp. Weve seen unprecedented visitation across all regions of the Peach State over the last couple years, a testament to the unique attractions, natural resources and cultural institutions that make Georgia such a desirable place to visit. Were grateful for all our tourism partners statewide who support jobs in communities in all four corners of Georgia. In addition to surpassing the previous record, the Governors Office reported that Georgia maintained the No. 5 market share ranking among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. for the fourth consecutive year. These numbers are the latest confirmation that our partnership approach to economic development across all industries including tourism is putting Georgia on travelers minds like never before, said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Microsoft's hiring of artificial intelligence startup Inflection's staff including its co-founders will not be scrutinised under European Union merger rules, EU antitrust regulators said on Wednesday. The European Commission said seven EU countries had dropped their requests asking it to examine the deal. The move followed a ruling from Europe's top court earlier this month prohibiting the EU enforcer from examining merger cases which fall below the EU's merger revenue threshold. Judges said the EU antitrust watchdog was also not allowed to encourage its national peers to ask it to take up such cases. Critics said these merger powers were regulatory over-reach while the Commission said such deals could be killer acquisitions in which big companies acquire startups to shut them down. "All seven member states that submitted an initial referral have decided to withdraw their requests. Therefore, the Commission will take no decision in this matter," the EU executive said. Still it said the deal amounted to a merger as it means the 'new Inflection' would shift its focus to a different activity, namely its AI studio business. "The Commission regards the agreements entered into between Microsoft and Inflection as a structural change in the market that amounts to a concentration as defined under Article 3 of the EUMR," it said, referring to the bloc's merger rules. Microsoft welcomed the announcement. "We continue to be confident that the hiring of talent promotes competition and should not be treated as a merger," a Microsoft spokesperson said. The company hired in March co-founders Mustafa Suleyman and Karen Simonyan and most of Inflection's 70-strong team for a newly created unit called Microsoft AI to consolidate and expand its AI offerings for consumer products. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine at a press conference in Springfield on Sept. 17. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal.) Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said on Monday there have been at least 33 bomb threats in Springfield and he announced troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be dispatched to 18 school buildings for the foreseeable future. During a news conference Tuesday, he told parents it was OK to send their children back to school. Springfield has recently been thrust in the national spotlight after former president Donald Trump repeated the false claim that Haitian immigrants who have moved to the Clark County city over the years were eating cats and dogs. State public safety officials and Gov. DeWine have debunked this claim. We will continue this protocol as long as it is necessary, DeWine said. So you can be assured that we will have troopers there. We will have troopers very visible. These troopers will go through the building before anybody enters that building, to make sure there is no problem. We have not had one of the threats be anything but unfounded. We do not believe there is a real threat out there, but we are certainly not going to take any chances. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX When asked how much money has been spent to address the hoax threats, DeWine said he didnt think that number could be calculated quickly. We have our federal partners who are involved, we have state, we have locals, we got three different levels of government that are very, very much involved, DeWine said. I dont know if I can even guess. DeWine and his wife, Fran, visited Simon Kenton Elementary School on Tuesday. What were told by the teachers is the kids are doing well, we can just see it in the classroom, DeWine said, noting it looked like a typical classroom. Teachers also, though, told us that the kids had a tough day (Monday), so thats not what we want to see. Our goal is to get back to normal and do that just as quickly as we can. There was a threat made to a school Tuesday afternoon DeWine said, though it was quickly determined by the analyst to be unfounded. Another unfounded bomb threat was made to the Ohio Statehouse Monday morning and DeWine confirmed it was related to whats been going on in Springfield. Springfield Local Schools Superintendent Matthew Geha said Tuesday was the first near normal day since last Thursday. Our attendance was down (Tuesday), he said. There is still a high level of fear due to these unfounded threats and hoaxes that have marred our existence going on a week now. I encourage our parents to please return your students to school. An elementary school in the district with 500 students was missing 200 students on Tuesday, Geha said. We still had over 50% of the kids there, so I will take that as a win for today, and hopefully that increases to 75% tomorrow, he said. DeWine said he has not heard from Trump or his running mate Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, even though Vance repeated his previous false claims about Springfield on CNN over the weekend. Despite a rumored visit to Springfield by Trump, DeWine said he has received no word from the Trump campaign about a potential visit to Springfield. Typically, a visit by a presidential campaign is welcome, but DeWine cautioned against such a visit at this time. They certainly have the right to be here, DeWine said. If any of the candidates come, they will be welcomed by the people of Springfield. I have to speak in reality, though, that resources are really stretched here, and thats just fact. Were really focused on keeping kids in school. It would be fine with me if they decided not to make that stop right now. Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Gov. Roy Cooper will help raise money for the Democratic nominee in the Charlotte areas most closely watched state legislature race this election cycle. The Democratic governor will be the special guest at a Raleigh campaign reception Tuesday for Nicole Sidman, who is running to unseat Republican state Rep. Tricia Cotham, according to an email to supporters from Sidmans campaign. Tickets start at $150 and top out at $6,400 for hosts for hosts, according to the email. The fundraisers limit is also the legal limit for individuals making campaign donations in North Carolina state elections. Hosts listed include outgoing Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, Wake County Register of Deeds Tammy Brunner and Scott Falmlen, former executive director of the North Carolina and Florida Democratic parties and co-founder of an NC-based public relations and political consulting firm. Cotham vs. Sidman Sidman and Cotham are facing off to represent the newly redrawn House District 105, which includes parts of southern and eastern Mecklenburg County. Cotham made national news for switching parties last year and giving Republicans a veto-proof majority in the General Assembly, allowing the GOP to pass a bill restricting abortion access and a sweeping expansion of North Carolinas school voucher program. Since then, Democrats have put a focus on unseating her. Sidman, a congregational life director at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, won a three-person primary to face Cotham in March with 57.3% of the vote. Sidman raised more than four times as much as Cotham from Feb. 18 to June 30, the most recent campaign finance data available. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee also named Sidman a spotlight candidate in March, allowing them to assist with campaign, finance and communications plans and Sidman to fundraise directly from the DLCCs spotlight webpage. The recently redrawn House District 105 favors Republicans slightly, according to the website Daves Redistricting, which uses a composite of election results from 2016 to 2022. Child care advocates rallied in Raleigh over the summer to support daycare centers. (Photo: Greg Childress) Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services will release $67.5 million in stopgap funding this week to help stabilize North Carolinas early childhood education and child care centers. The money is the last scheduled payment of Child Care Stabilization Grants, which were initiated in 2021 to keep child care centers open and to improve early childhood teacher pay. Photo of Gov. Roy Cooper North Carolina relies on high-quality early childhood education and child care to support childrens healthy development and learning, allow parents to work and keep businesses running, Cooper said in a press release. But these programs are now in crisis and we need the legislature to step up and make real investments before more child care centers close, more early childhood educators quit and programs become unaffordable for too many parents. The federal government poured $1.3 billion into North Carolina during the pandemic to help keep child care facilities open. The grants, which were funded by the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan, ran out in June. State child care advocates asked lawmakers for a $300 million emergency allocation to keep centers going. The Republican-led General Assembly provided the $67.5 million to continue the grants through Dec. 31. Cooper noted that the grants currently support 3,763 early childhood education and child care facilities across the state. A recent statewide survey found that nearly a third of such centers are in danger of closing when funding runs out. Without additional money, childcare providers say they will lose teachers, have difficulty hiring and be forced to increase fees. North Carolina has lost 116 childcare centers over the past year, according to Coopers press release. Emma Biggs, a Charlotte daycare provider and child care advocate, joined hundreds of providers and other advoxates in Raleigh over the summer to demand lawmakers to replace the federal subsidy with state money. Our teachers need a thriving wage, not a living wage, so they can go home and not have to work two or three jobs to take care of their families after taking care of everyone elses, Biggs told N.C. Newsline in June. Biggs also shared that many teachers in private daycares work without health insurance or a retirement plan. Ive been in this field for 27 years and I have neither one, Biggs said. Independent centers, we cant afford to pay for retirement and health insurance. Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, addresses supporters in Asheville, NC (Screengrab from C-SPAN video stream) Six days after Kamala Harris drew large, enthusiastic crowds in Charlotte and Greensboro, Governor Tim Walz brought the campaign to Asheville in hopes of keeping the momentum high in the final 49 days of the 2024 presidential campaign. The Democratic nominee for vice president told the audience while many people were impressed by Harris debate performance over Donald Trump, they should not be surprised that a woman who was an attorney general of the largest state in the country, a United States senator, and vice president of the United States was prepared for this moment in history. But Kamala Harris isnt talking about the historic nature of this, she just puts her nose down and does the work, said Walz. As we say in the army, she stays in her lane every single day. Walz said while Trump focused on grievances during last weeks 90-minute debate, Harris remained focused on how she would help working families. If youre hoping to buy a home someday, which all of us want to, shes going to help make it more affordable. If youre getting squeezed on grocery prices, prescription drugs, shes going to make sure we take on the price-gougers and big pharma. And if you have an idea, you want to start your own small business, shes going to make sure that the tax credit on that we cut through the red tape, give you help on the front end to let you achieve the dream that you want to, Walz pledged. The Minnesota governor said the campaign has made Beyonces Freedom a central theme song for Harris because freedom is fundamental. Republicans used to talk the same way about freedoms. They used to really believe it. Not these guys. Now when they talk about it, government should be free [to] invade your doctors office, make decisions for you, invade your bedroom, tell you who you should love, invade your school library, said Walz. Walz said that a Trump-Vance administration would most certainly create a new government entity that will monitor all pregnancies to enforce state abortion bans. On the issue of the Second Amendment, Walz reminded the crowd that he was a veteran, a hunter, and a gun owner who took time to meet with parents of children lost in the Sandy Hook school shooting. Just last week, JD Vance told us [school shootings were] just a fact of life. These are the people who are spending all their time trying to ban books from our schools, but they cant spend a minute banning assault weapons from our schools. Vance will make a campaign appearance in Raleigh on Wednesday ahead of Trumps visit to Wilmington on Saturday. Harriss running mate told the crowd this campaign was personal, and it was going to be very close. Then he invited conservative voters to have the courage to walk away from Trump. This is not theoretical, youre not rooting for your team, youre not like, Oh, Im on the Red Hat team, Im going to stick with them no matter how bad they are. Ditch them! Ditch them if they start doing bad. On National Voter Registration Day, Walz concluded by urging North Carolinians to have one more conversation with a friend or neighbor, convince one more person to vote this fall. We can chart a new way forward, said Walz. But my God, what a privilege to fight for democracy. Assurances are being sought on funding to look at bypasses for two villages on the A75 [Stuart Walker/SWSTA] The Scottish and UK governments are being urged to work together to upgrade two key roads in southern Scotland. Campaigners say urgent action is needed to improve the A75 and A77, which carry traffic to Cairnryan and Stranraer. The South West Scotland Transport Alliance (SWSTA) wants the ministers at Holyrood and Westminster to form a task force to deliver urgent improvements. They have also sought confirmation that 8m promised by Rishi Sunak's former government to fund a study on improving the A75 is still on offer. The route is a key link to ferries to Northern Ireland [Stuart Walker/SWSTA] The A75 runs from Gretna to Stranraer while the A77 runs down the Ayrshire coast. Together they carry traffic to the port of Cairnryan - and on to Northern Ireland. However, there is long-standing concern about the state of the roads - and their impact on safety and the region's economy. The SWSTA believes a task force is needed in order to deliver the upgrades required. A bypass for Springholm has been discussed for many years [Stuart Walker/SWSTA] It has also sought assurances over 8m which was promised to look at bypassing the villages of Springholm and Crocketford and is pressing for a clear timetable for improvements. The SWSTA is spearheaded by port operators Stena Line, P&O Ferries and Belfast Harbour. The roads are seen as "key arteries" for ferries sailing to and from Cairnryan. The need for action is also highlighted in an update of the organisation's Safer, Greener, Better document. In it, Liz Cameron, director and chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, says: "The A75 and A77 are two of Scotlands most important roads. "Yet they suffer from chronic under-investment which makes them dangerous, hampers economic progress and slows efforts to improve our environment. "The need to address this is long-overdue." She said that the case for investment had "never been clearer". "These are important routes to national and international markets," she added. "As they stand, however, they are also a material impediment obstructing plans to grow the Scottish economy and to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in rural communities." 'Budget pressures' A Transport Scotland statement said the Scottish government was facing "significant pressures" on its capital budget which would affect its ability to invest in all infrastructure - not only the A75 and A77. However, it stressed that the strategic importance of the routes was recognised. "We value the critical link they provide to the wider markets in the rest of the UK and Europe by connecting the ports at Cairnryan to the wider trunk road network," it added. It said a series of improvements had been identified and it had agreed with the UK government that investment was required. A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We are committed to working with devolved governments to deliver on our transport priorities and ensure the economic benefits of improved connectivity are shared across the UK." California governor Gavin Newsom said there are 38 bills on his desk that would create laws around artificial intelligence on Tuesday, but one looms larger than all of them: SB 1047, California's bill that tries to prevent AI systems from causing catastrophes. For the first time, California's governor shared what he's thinking about the controversial bill. In short, he thinks SB 1047 has problems. Newsom said he's interested in AI bills that can solve today's problems without upsetting California's booming AI industry. That's not very promising for the future of SB 1047, which aims to protect against disasters by holding big AI vendors liable if their products are used to cause grievous harm, like bringing down critical infrastructure. At the same time, signing the bill would upset large swaths of the AI industry who want Newsom to veto the bill. "We've been working over the last couple years to come up with some rational regulation that supports risk-taking, but not recklessness," said Newsom in a conversation with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff on Tuesday, onstage at the 2024 Dreamforce conference. "That's challenging now in this space, particularly with SB 1047, because of the sort of outsized impact that legislation could have, and the chilling effect, particularly in the open source community." Newsom went on to say he must consider demonstrable risks versus hypothetical risks. He later noted, "I can't solve for everything. What can we solve for?" The governor hit on a major criticism of SB 1047: The bill tries to prevent AI's role in mass casualty events and cybersecurity events costing more than $500 million but does little to hold tech companies accountable for anything short of that. Critics of SB 1047 have argued that the bill could stifle innovation, while failing to regulate the short-term issues AI systems are creating today. Newsom gave these remarks to a room full of people attending an enterprise technology conference in the heart of San Francisco. At most tech conferences I've attended recently, you hear rumblings in the bathroom line about SB 1047's many problems. Newsom likely knew which kind of voters were in the audience and may have been playing to the crowd. That said, the governor is putting his AI regulation where his mouth is. Earlier on Tuesday, Newsom signed five bills into law that address AI problems we've already seen play out in 2024, such as AI-generated election misinformation and Hollywood studios creating AI clones of actors. These may be the "demonstrable risks" Newsom is referencing. Governor Newsom understands better than anyone the importance of Californias leadership when the federal government does not step up," said state senator Scott Wiener in a statement to TechCrunch. "The Governor and the First Partners work to bring awareness to the impacts of social media is a direct result of the federal governments failure to regulate social media. I have every confidence the Governor will give this bill the consideration it deserves. Newsom lamented on Tuesday how the federal government has "failed to regulate" in the AI space. The governor noted how California has previously led on tech regulation namely, social media and privacy and he isn't surprised that people are looking to the state for leadership again. However, Newsom says he's being careful not to squander California's early lead in AI. "[AI] is a space where we dominate, and I want to maintain our dominance," said Newsom. "At the same time, you feel a deep sense of responsibility to address some of the more extreme concerns that many of us have even the biggest and strongest promoters of this technology have and that's a difficult place to land." Newsom alluded that it's probably been overstated how signing SB 1047 would disrupt the AI industry overnight. However, he noted how the impact of signing the wrong bills over the course of a few years could profoundly impact California's dominance. The California governor didn't explicitly say on Tuesday whether he would sign or veto the bill. He told the LA Times he has yet to make up his mind on the bill. OpenAI, Nancy Pelosi, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and Big Tech trade groups are pushing Newsom to veto SB 1047. On the other side, Elon Musk and Anthropic have expressed tepid enthusiasm, while some well-regarded AI researchers, such as Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, have fully endorsed SB 1047. "We remain hopeful that the Governor will sign SB 1047 because he understands the bottom line - if California wont lead on safe and responsible AI innovation, who will?," said Nathan Calvin, senior policy counsel for the Center for AI Safety Action Fund, in a statement to TechCrunch. Governor Newsom has two weeks to make his decision. Until then, we're left with a pile of remarks that don't look promising for the bill's future. The highest mountain in Mississippi is to officially drop the name of a Confederate general. The US Board of Geographic Names voted on Wednesday to change the name of Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Kuwohi, following a request from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Named after a confederate general for the past 150 years, the peak will now be known by its traditional Cherokee name, which translates to mulberry place. The Great Smoky National Park team was proud to support this effort to officially restore the mountain and to recognise its importance to the Cherokee people, park superintendent Cassius Cash said. The Cherokee people have had strong connections to Kuwohi and the surrounding area, long before the land became a national park. The National Park Service looks forward to continuing to work with the Cherokee people to share their story and preserve this landscape together. The peak became known as Clingmans Dome following an 1859 survey by geographer Arnold Guyot, who named it for Thomas Lanier Clingman, a Confederate Brigadier General as well as a lawyer, US Representative and Senator from North Carolina, according to the park. Efforts are already underway to update signage, website and other materials with the Kuwohi name - a process which is said to be expensive. A history of change California State Parks planning chief Alex Stehl previously said the cost of swapping the name of Patricks Point State Park in 2021 to Sue-meg State Park - its traditional native American name - ran to tens of thousands of dollars. In that instance, switching signage and brochures alone cost $3,900, according to California State Parks spokeswoman Adeline Yee, who added that the cost for larger parks could be much higher. The US Board on Geographic Names has previously renamed several other landmarks deemed offensive. Squaw Peak in Phoenix, Arizona, changed its name in 2013 to Piestewa Peak - named after the first Native woman to die in combat serving in the US military, Lori Ann Piestewa. In 2022, Mount Doane in Yellowstone National Park was renamed First Peoples Mountain after a unanimous vote by the group. Last year, a proposal to change the name of Wayne National Park was met with opposition from lawmakers. The US Department of Agriculture Forest Service put forward the suggestion following concerns that the American Revolutionary leader who gave his name to the area participated in the genocide of Native Americans. From across the pond The renaming of national parks has also generated controversy in the UK. In 2022, Snowdonia National Park officials voted to refer to Wales highest mountain by its Welsh name, rather than the English equivalent. As a result, Snowdon and Snowdonia were officially renamed Yr Wyddfa and Eryri. Kuwohi is a sacred place for the Cherokee people and is the highest point within the traditional Cherokee homeland, according to the park. The peak is visible from the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Located on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is Americas most visited national park, and Kuwohi is one its most popular sites, with more than 650,000 visitors per year. The park closes Kuwohi every year for three half-days so that predominantly Cherokee schools can visit the mountain and learn its history. The name-restoration proposal was submitted in January by Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks following an effort started in 2022 by two Cherokee members Lavita Hill and Mary Crowe. Naming the mountain after (Clingman) sort of strips down all of the history of the Cherokee people, Hill previously said. It undermines everything that our people are in order to rename it after someone with zero ties to our community. He didnt even live here. 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. Greatest experiences of my life: Local homeless veteran housed due to couples dying wish A couples dying wish was to house homeless veterans who had lost their way. Their wish came true after a Brunswick Air Force veteran moved into the tiny home they bought. Action News Jax spoke with this veteran who said he had been sleeping on the streets and at a cemetery for more than a year. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Chris Lozada was in the Air Force for 10 years. Like most veterans, he suffered from post-traumatic stress, drug abuse, and injuries after his service. He also caught a felony charge after self-medicating on the job. Lozada was able to walk away from his past when he met Honey Sparre. Honey is a blessing. She came to me at my lowest on the streets, Lozada said. I met an individual who was sleeping on a sleeping bag in a cemetery. I looked for ways for him to become more self-sufficient, Founder Operation Barnabas volunteer Honey Sparre said. With nearly 20 years of helping the homeless in Glynn County, Sparre sought outside help for Mr. Lozada. Thats when she partnered with Operation Barnabas who specializes in helping homeless veterans. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Since 2017, Operation Barnabas has taken almost 200 homeless veterans off the streets of mostly Northeast Florida, Founder Operation Barnabas John Green said. Green told Sparre that he has a tiny home for Lozada that was bought by a Clay County family. The Pizur family. Ron Pizur and his two children bought this for 30 thousand dollars. In honor of their mother who passed away of cancer at the age of 50, Green said. Ron Pizur died a year after his wife. The couples dying wish was to use this tiny home to house homeless veterans. And Lozada is the first out of the many veterans that will be using this tiny home to get back on their feet. Its one of the greatest experiences of my life so Im very thankful, Lozada said. The non-profit organization drove the tiny home from Clay County to this mobile home park where Alterman Commercial Real Estate donated a section for the tiny home to support the organizations cause. [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. In September 2024, the mayor of the Greek island of Tilos, Maria Kamma-Aliferi, became embroiled in a controversy surrounding the rescue of more than 100 migrants off the island's coast. Shortly afterwards, a video began circulating purporting to show Aliferi taking part in the popular television talent show, X Factor. However, AFP's analysis of the video found that footage was old and the woman was not Aliferi. A spokesperson for her office also denied that the woman in the video was the mayor. Tilos is home to fewer than 1,000 permanent residents, and is a popular tourism destination in the Dodecanese group of islands in the Aegean Sea. A recent rescue of dozens of migrants and refugees by the port authorities on Tilos led to a clash between the island's mayor, Maria Kamma-Aliferi, and a tourist, who the mayor claimed had called for the displaced people to be thrown into the sea. The tourist denied this in a Facebook post. Greek media reported that Aliferi has received threatening messages because of her reaction to the incident. Shortly afterwards, a video started circulating on social media showing a woman participating in The X Factor music competition on Greece's ANT1 TV channel, the logo of which can be seen in the upper left corner of the image. This was accompanied by the false claim that the singer was Aliferi. "The Leftist Activist Mayor of Tilos", reads the text in this Facebook Reel from September 8, 2024, which has been shared more than 280 times since then. "Maria Kamma-Aliferi," it writes at the bottom of the video. Similar posts with the same video were shared by other users on Facebook (here and here) and X (here). However, the woman in the video is actually named Maria Mahmout, and is not the mayor of Tilos, as AFP confirmed after cross-checking information about her age and name, and contacting the municipality directly. Screenshot of the false post on Facebook. Image captured: 9/9/2024 Video from 2009 The video circulating on social media is a clip from from an old episode (archived here) of the musical talent show The X Factor. At the 00:33 mark in the video, the participants details are stated as "Maria Mahmout, age 18". The YouTube video was published on October 4, 2009, meaning that the woman would be 33 years old in 2024, allowing for a margin of one year in case the video is from 2008, the first year the music competition was broadcast on Greek television. In this case the woman would be 34 years old. However, the mayor of Tilos was born in 1970, according to her biography on the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) website (archived here). This means that in 2024 she would be 54 years old -- significantly older than Mahmout would be today. A Google search with keywords Maria Kamma-Aliferi X Factor" in Greek did not produce any relevant results to prove that she took part in the song contest in 2009. AFP was not able to find recent information about the X Factor contestant, including neither her current whereabouts nor situation. "The video is of course false," Jenny Giannopoulou, the mayor's spokesperson, told AFP in an email on September 10. She explained that internet users found physical similarities between the two individuals and used this "to mock the mayor of Tilos because they didn't like her reaction to a racist visitor to the island". Snapshot from the official website of the municipality of Tilos. Image captured: 9/9/2024 View of the Rhine in the morning light, barges on the river. Thomas Banneyer/dpa The German branch of the international climate group Greenpeace on Wednesday said levels of microplastics have doubled in the Rhine river since 2020. In a new study, the organization measured samples of river water taken between the western cities of Cologne and Dusseldorf. It found an average of 1.1 new microplastic particles per cubic metre, with particularly high concentrations around the Dormagen chemical park. The figure is around twice as high as Greenpeace found in its first survey of the Rhine in 2020. In late 2021, the number of microplastic particles in the river stood at 0.63 per cubic metre. For the first time, the group found particles present in the sample with a diameter of less than 0.5 millimetres, which it said could be residue from industrial production. Greenpeace estimated that the Rhine transports roughly 258 million microplastic particles to the North Sea every day, up from 125 million in 2020. "It is alarming that the pollution has seemingly worsened further," said scientist Julios Kontchou, calling for authorities in the state of North Rhine Westphalia to "determine where the microplastic particles in the Rhine are coming from." The operator of the Dormagen chemical park, Currenta, said that it would examine the results of the study before making a statement. The company said it aims to reduce microplastic emissions - in some cases by filtering wastewater to retain microplastic - despite the lack of specific legal regulations on the issue. (Bloomberg) -- Taiwans Gold Apollo Co., whose brand appears on pagers that exploded in Lebanon, said a company based in Hungary is responsible for manufacturing the models used in the attacks, adding to the mystery around a strike that is escalating tensions in the Middle East. Most Read from Bloomberg Gold Apollo said it has had an agreement with BAC Consulting in Budapest for several years under which the Hungarian company can use its brand in designated regions. Listen to the Bloomberg Daybreak Europe podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. Regarding the recent media reports about the AR-924 pager, we clarify that this model is produced and sold by BAC, the company said in a statement. We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product. BAC didnt immediately respond to emails and phone calls for comment. There is no problem with pagers exported from Taiwan exploding, Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement in response to media inquiries, adding that the case is is currently under investigation. On Tuesday, thousands of pagers exploded across Lebanon, killing at least nine people and wounding almost 3,000. The militant group Hezbollah accused the Israeli government of orchestrating the attack, raising fears of an all-out war after near-daily skirmishes for much of the last year. Israel declined to comment. One of the outstanding questions is how the blasts were planned and then triggered with such coordination. Small amounts of explosive were planted in beepers that Hezbollah had ordered, the New York Times reported, citing US and other officials briefed on the operation. Just one or two ounces of the material was added next to the battery of each pager, and a switch was embedded to trigger the detonation, the newspaper reported. Devices exploded simultaneously around the country at about 3:30 p.m. Gold Apollo is low profile even within Taiwans tech community, with only about 40 employees. Its headquarters were besieged by media on Wednesday, punctuated by visits from the police. Founder Hsu Ching-Kuang told reporters gathered there that his company hadnt made the devices. He said Gold Apollo began working with BAC about three years ago. The company had said it was interested in tapping its engineers to produce its own pagers, using Gold Apollos brand name. Hsu never met BACs chief in person, instead speaking over video calls. Story continues The Taiwanese company began operations in 1995 and sells alphanumeric pagers as well as the kind of beepers that alert customers in restaurants that their order is ready. Hezbollah operatives use low-tech devices such as pagers and walkie-talkies to avoid interceptions of their communications by Israeli intelligence. They can send encrypted messages without giving away their location. Taiwans Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement that the pagers were likely modified since the battery used in them has only the capacity of an AA battery. There is no possibility of death or injury caused by an explosion, it said. Its not clear where or when the explosives were added to the devices. Lebanons government also described the events as an Israel attack. With no official explanations, theories began to circulate about how devices considered long outmoded could have been turned into such lethal weapons. One cybersecurity expert, Robert Graham, said on X that making batteries do anything more than burn is very hard and implausible. Far more plausible is that somebody bribed the factory to insert the explosives. Deepa Kundur, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto, said she suspects it was a supply chain deployment. In such an attack, she said, the perpetrator would infiltrate the pagers upstream supply chain to manufacture a critical component with a built-in explosive charge, without the final vendor knowing. The explosive component could sit in a pager for months or years before being detonated on receipt of a message that triggers the modified part. Pagers have been supplanted by mobile phones in much of the world, although NPR recently reported that doctors in US hospitals continue to favor their no-nonsense messaging. Pagers are also routinely used in medical facilities in Lebanon. --With assistance from Jamie Tarabay, Bill Faries, Cindy Wang, Foster Wong and Cecile Vannucci. (Updates with Taiwan foreign ministrys response in fifth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) In August, Greenville County School District paused book fairs for the school year because of new state rules. On Tuesday, officials discussed a resolution they are hoping the state will adopt. On Tuesday, members of the advocacy committee sat down to discuss a new regulation. At the conclusion for the last session at the South Carolina General Assembly, a piece of legislation was authorized to go through to the state board of education, setting up a series of regulations related to media center materials, Chuck Saylors, Chairmen for Advocacy Committee, said. The policy outlines requirements for how books provided by schools for students are selected. The advocacy committee said these new rules impact the schools ability to host book fairs because book fair vendors can send titles that violate regulation without the schools knowledge. They will send you a list of titles. When it comes time for the book fair, lets say that list of titles is 100 titles long, say 20 of those are sold out, they will still send you 100 titles, you just dont know what the 20 titles that sold out were, you just get 20 more titles. So, the person running the book fair has had no opportunity to vet the titles of those books, one of the committee members explained during the meeting. So, the committee is discussing a simple resolution for a complicated issue. We cannot guarantee that every book we receive from a book fair vendor is going to fall inside the focus of what the state board of education is asking school districts like ours to follow, said Saylor. So, the easiest way, the most efficient way to protect the students and the staff, is to relieve book fairs from this regulation. We are told the resolution will get final approval at next weeks board meeting and then be sent to the State Department of Education and state legislators. Greenville County Schools said they are looking into creative solutions to allow book fairs to be hosted in the 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 WSPA 7NEWS. (KRON) The Antioch Police Department is asking for the communitys help following a flurry of recent shootings and a homicide. Elijah Scales, 21, was shot in Antioch on September 2 and he died four days later. Since the homicide, Antioch PD said it has responded to nearly a dozen shootings that may be related to Scales slaying. The most recent shooting happened Monday night at a memorial ceremony for Scales on Cavallo Road. A 58-year-old man was shot at the ceremony and he is currently in critical condition at a hospital, police said. Scales is survived by his 2-year-old daughter, a GoFundMe page states. She was her fathers pride and joy, a family member wrote on Facebook. He loved his daughter so much. Its heart-wrenching even just having to imagine her growing up without him. The GoFundMe page writes, Elijah spent four days in the ICU fighting for his life. On September 6th at 10:11 am, Elijah took his last breath. The family is so blindsided by this tragic incident. Within just the past five days, eight shootings have occurred in Antioch, police said. Some of the violence broke out near where Scales was shot on Peppertree Way. This spate of violence will not be tolerated, Police Chief Brian Addington said Tuesday. We have rearranged staffing and assigned two officers to patrol the Sycamore Corridor. This effort aims to reduce gun violence and provide a sense of safety to the community and local businesses. Anyone with information about the shootings is encouraged to contact Sgt. Bill Whitaker by calling 925-779-6876 or emailing wwhitaker@antiochca.gov. The following timeline was released by the Antioch Police Department: September 2 at 9:35 p.m.: Elijah Scales was shot in the head on the 2100 block of Peppertree Way. He died from his gunshot injuries days later in a hospital. September 3 at 7:26 p.m.: On the 2100 block of Peppertree Way, multiple guns were used to fire at least 32 bullets. A 31-year-old man was shot in the leg. September 4 at 8:59 p.m. on the same street block: Eleven bullets were fired from multiple guns. Bullets struck a building. Antioch Police Department has just 31 patrol officers, union says September 7 at 9:31 p.m.: On Sycamore Drive at Peppertree Way, twenty-nine bullets were fired from multiple firearms. A 52-year-old woman was shot in the leg while in the parking lot of Sycamore Square. September 12 at 8:21 p.m.: On the 2100 block of Lemontree Way, at least 26 bullets were fired. The gunfire struck two homes. One resident was grazed by a stray bullet and suffered a minor injury to his neck. September 12 at 8:21 p.m.: On the 1000 block of Fitzuren Road, three bullets were fired and struck a business. September 12 at 8:32 p.m.: On the 2900 block of Pear Street three shots were fired. September 15 at 9:10 p.m.: On Sycamore Drive at Peppertree Way, a home and vehicle were struck by bullets as 13 shots were fired. September 16 at 2:30 a.m.: On the 600 block of G Street, multiple gunmen fired at least 12 shots. September 16 at 4:54 p.m.: A man was shot on the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds property while 30 bullets were fired. The man is currently in critical condition. September 16 at 7:46 p.m.: Two businesses were struck by bullets while 50 shot were fired on L Street at William Reed. September 16 at 7:48 p.m.: A memorial was being held for Scales on the 1800 block of Cavallo Road when someone opened fire. A 58-year-old man at the memorial was shot and suffered life-threatening injuries. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. When police officers responded to a Mattapan house for a loud party early Monday morning, they found a scene that has been infuriating neighbors for months. It wasnt just your ordinary house party. Officers found what appeared to be an illegal night club being run out of the basement of a multi-family house, complete with a fully-stocked bar, multiple hookahs, and illegal guns. Neighbors told police the loud basement parties at the house have been an ongoing issue since June, with multiple disturbance calls made to 24 Rexford Road since July 13, police said in Mondays incident report. Officers described a chaotic scene, with partygoers threatening police and throwing alcoholic drinks at responding officers. The commanding sergeant instructed all on scene Officers to release all detained revelers to preserve Officer safety, Officer Kevin Ashe wrote in his report. Police seized three guns and arrested two men for disorderly conduct and trespassing, among other charges. Every weekend is a big party and the aftermath is like trash, bottles, the loudness, one neighbor who asked not to be identified told Boston 25 on Monday. Forty years on this street and Ive never seen anything like this. When officers arrived around 4:35 a.m. Monday, they made their way to the back of the house. They saw the bulkhead door to the basement padlocked from the outside, preventing people inside the basement from getting out. Officers then knocked on a side door. No response. Smoke alarms from the house were blaring, with no response from the buildings residents, Ashe wrote. Officers used a battering ram to breach the side door, which also had been padlocked from the inside. Inside, they found more than 50 revelers, with hookahs set up throughout the basement, open bottles of alcohol, and multiple air conditioners running with no ventilation leading outside, Ashe wrote. Smoke billowed from the hookahs, vapes, and marijuana. A fully-stocked bar sat on a far side of the basement, with unopened bottles of liquor, coolers containing beer, and a note pad listing partygoer tabs. None of the partygoers wanted to identify themselves, Ashe wrote, as police tried to find the homeowner or party organizer. Officers then smelled gas, and noticed open flames in the form of lit candles were also in the basement. A Boston Fire Department ladder truck responded and crews removed both the exterior side door and basement door to evacuate people. Police began evacuating the basement, and started to frisk people as they exited the building, because of recent gunshot calls and gun violence in the area, Ashe wrote. To avoid getting frisked, some people tried to leave through the bulkhead basement door, which was padlocked from the outside. This resulted in those partygoers kicking and slamming against the bulkhead door in an attempt to circumvent being pat frisked by Officers waiting outside, the police report states. Officers arrested Jorge Jimenez-Vargas, 35, who allegedly had a large vape in his waistband and three debit cards, with none of the cards carrying his name. Police said he grabbed an officers arm while being pat frisked and tried to break away. He was charged with receiving stolen credit cards, three counts; resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and trespassing. He later refused to be booked at the jail. Another man, Fitgerald Custodio-Pimentel, 31, jumped the fence off of the porch and began running to the street, where an officer intercepted him and tackled him to the ground, as police faced a large number of agitated and aggressive revelers. Police said another officer responded and commanded Custodio-Pimentel to put his hands behind his back, but he ignored the officer, and kept resisting arrest. Officers arrested Pimentel and charged him with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, interfering with a police officer and trespassing. Once police cleared the basement, they found three loaded firearms, including: A Ruger LC9 discovered on basement stairs with four rounds of ammunition in the magazine, with the serial number scratched off; A Polymer 80, also with no serial number, floating in a bucket of water near the bulkhead door with one round of ammunition in the chamber and 12 rounds of ammunition in the high-capacity magazine; and A Sig Sauer P238 discovered on stairs between the first and second floors, with five rounds in the magazine. Police detained partygoers in the back yard for a brief time until they were released, due to concerns for the safety of responding officers, Ashe wrote. Responding firefighters and the citys Inspectional Services Department conducted a walk-through of the basement. Boston Inspectional Services has issued a violation to the property owners for not having a permit to run a nightclub out of the basement, city officials said. The owners will need to clear this up within 30 days. The property owners told Boston 25 earlier this week that theyre trying to evict the tenant who is running the illegal basement nightclub, and pledged they will correct the violation as soon as possible. Mattapan is home to a lot of families where they own their homes, we want to make sure theyre taken care of, that the quality of life is not interrupted, said City Councilor Enrique Pepen, who represents the district. 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 Half of London police stations may close in next decade, Met chief says Number of operational police buildings in London have fallen from 620 in 2010 to 200 - Stephen Burrows / Alamy Stock Photo Half of all police stations in London will have to close in the next decade without more money, the Met Commissioner has warned. Sir Mark Rowley said the buildings were in such a woeful state that many would soon fail to meet legal standards because they will no longer be habitable. In 2010, the Met had 620 operational buildings across the capital with at least 160 police counters open around the clock. Budget cuts and the need to make drastic efficiencies saw the number of police buildings reduced to just 200, with as few as 36 functioning stations. In 2014, the Met sold its famous New Scotland Yard building in St Jamess Park to an Abu Dhabi-based company for 370 million and moved to a smaller premises on the banks of the River Thames, in Westminster. The closures mean the average distance for a London resident to their nearest police station is now more than two miles leading to criticism that it is allowing crime to flourish. Delivering the John Harris Memorial Lecture to the Police Foundation think tank, Sir Mark said many of the buildings currently in use were in a state of disrepair and were becoming unfit for officers to work in. He said: Since 2010, we have reduced the size of our estate from 620 to around 200 operational buildings. We did so to save 70 million to sustain officer numbers and raise over 1 billion. We cannot reduce further, and so that source of funding has run its course. Much of our remaining estate is in a woeful state. We have funding to refurbish the existing stations believe it or not every 120 years. If nothing else changes, within the next decade or so we expect to have to close up to half our current buildings due to them being no longer habitable or legally compliant. In his speech, Sir Mark warned that financial pressures across the Met were making it increasingly difficult to turn the force around. He said: Providing the right service to our communities needs an appropriate, sustainable funding model and one that recognises the unique challenges of policing our capital city. Over the past 10 years, the Met has been trying to police more people with less money, in the most populous and fastest growing city in the UK, at a time when crime is more complex, and more expensive to fight than ever before. Heading off cliff He went on: We are working hard to reform but are doing so in a context where our budget is heading off a cliff. Given the financial pressures of the past decade, commissioners and mayors have understandably pulled every lever possible to balance the books. We can do that no longer. Sir Mark also hit out at unfair criticism of his officers by politicians and members of the public and explained that every day around 18 were attacked in the line of duty. He said rather than show gratitude for the sacrifice officers made in keeping people safe, they were subject to insults. Sir Mark said: I was scrolling through some of the comments beneath posts about the Palestine protests the weekend before last. It happens every time we police mass gatherings a riot of noise about injustice or bias. The police are useless, biased, pathetic, even shameful. Ill tell you whats shameful: the abuse of our officers and the silence of many in authority. We should be very clear: when people, be they politicians or the public, throw accusations and slurs at the police, they put them in danger by emboldening thugs. Some people wont care about that the criminals but everyone else should. I say to all those throwing insults: be very careful which side of the line you are standing. 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. HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) Hampton City Schools are dealing with false social media posts and other rumors that are impacting schools. The rumors come as other schools locally and nationwide deal with similar threats of violence, some of which have been linked to students. In a statement on Wednesday, Hampton City Schools said all of the rumors and threats have been deemed not credible. The school day Wednesday at Bethel High in Hampton was impacted by recent threats (Photo courtesy of WAVY viewer) We want to start by sharing that there have been no shooting incidents at our schools or bus stops today, and no weapons have been found on school property. If this was ever the situation, the school division would communicate directly with families. They added: We are aware of various rumors circulating, as well as social media posts and texts being shared among students and families. These messages include mentions of pulling fire alarms, potential school shootings, a weapon found at a school, and shootings at bus stops. None of these posts have been deemed credible. Please be assured that the school division is actively working with the Hampton Police Division (HPD). HPD is continuing its investigation, and at this time, there have been no shootings at any of our schools or at our school bus stops, no weapons have been found on school grounds, nor have the circulating posts been deemed credible. These social media posts or ones similar appear to be circulating in other school divisions near us as well as other parts of our country. They emphasized that sharing unverified information online and in group texts can lead to unnecessary fear and disruptions, and encouraged anyone with information to instead contact the school division directly at Safe School Hotline at 757-727-2255 (CALL). A safe learning environment is the number one priority of our school division, and Hampton City Schools has systems in place to not only address safety in each of our schools but to ultimately have a strong proactive approach to further strengthen safety and security. Our safety and security measures are located on our HCS website under our Security Department. Virginia Beach City Public Schools meanwhile says its also investigating after a student reported an inappropriate post on social media that implied a threat to our city schools. They said theyre working with VBPD and at this time they dont believe theres a credible threat to school safety. I ask that you use this as a way to remind your children to think carefully about what they post online, VBCPS said. As a reminder, threats of any kind, even as a joke, are not acceptable and can lead to serious consequences including disciplinary action at the school level and even criminal charges. Last week, a 14-year-old girl in York County was charged with a felony after posting threats to shoot up the school on social media. The issue though isnt just local. Schools across the U.S. have seen an increase in shooting and bomb threats this year, Axios reported. An expert said theres typically a contagion effect after high-profile shootings, like the Georgia high school shooting earlier this month. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib met with former president Donald Trump in Michigan on Tuesday, shortly before Trump's town hall in Flint. Ghalib told the Free Press "it was a productive meeting" in Flint of about 20 minutes and that Trump asked for his endorsement. Ghalib said he told Trump: "Im here to talk about that and how we can make it happen." The mayor said he "then handed him an official letter with some details about our concerns and to invite him to come to Hamtramck if possible." Ghalib added that Trump "asked me if I can endorse him and ask people to vote for him." Hamtramck Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri also attended Ghalib's meeting with Trump. Altaheri told the Free Press that Trump campaign officials spoke with him about the logistics and security issues of a possible visit by Trump to Hamtramck. Former president Donald Trump met with Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib in Michigan on Sept. 17, 2024, before Trump's town hall in Flint, Michigan. Ghalib met last year in Hamtramck with Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. The meeting is part of an effort by the Trump campaign to win over Arab American and Muslim voters, some of whom are upset with President Joe Biden over his policies in Gaza. Ghalib has been outspoken in support of Palestinians over the past year. He supported the renaming in March of a major street, Holbrook, to Palestine Avenue, in solidarity with Palestinians, and also backed the city resolution approved in May to divest from Israel. Ghalib said that Trump "knew a lot about me prior to the meeting. We talked about various topics including the debates, the polls updates, the statistics of votes in Michigan and Wayne county, the Arab American concerns and the Yemeni Americans in particular." Ghalib, an immigrant from Yemen whose city has the highest concentration of Yemeni Americans among cities in the U.S., said "we also talked about the situation in Yemen." Hamtramck has the second highest percentage of Arab American residents in Michigan after Dearborn and also a growing Bangladeshi American population. The mayor and all six members of the Hamtramck city council are Muslim, the only all-Muslim city council in the U.S. Last year, Ghalib held a town hall meeting with Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser and now an outspoken conservative activist. Arab Americans in Hamtramck and other parts of Wayne County have also expressed frustration with the Democrats on social issues. In November 2022, Democratic candidates lost support in majority-Arab precincts in Dearborn after outrage over LGBTQ+ books in Dearborn public schools some said were sexually explicit. Hassan Aoun and Rola Makki, Republican activists in Dearborn, were among those in Arab American communities in Michigan who attended the Flint town hall. "A lot of people are shifting to the right," Aoun said of Dearborn's Arab American population. Aoun said many in the community were upset with how Vice President Kamala Harris responded to Muslim protesters who heckled her during a Romulus rally last month when she told them "I'm speaking" and then accused them of helping Trump. Aoun said that Trump would not support new wars. "I will vote for Trump," Aoun said. Last week, one of Trump's attorneys, Alina Habba, who's Iraqi-American, and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, met with Chaldeans at the Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield as part of Republican outreach to the Iraqi-American Christian community in Michigan. At the Republican National Convention, Habba spoke from the main stage, calling herself "a devout Catholic, a proud first-generation Arab American woman." Habba is believed to be the only speaker of Middle Eastern descent who spoke from the main stage at either the Republican or Democratic National Conventions this summer, said Arab American advocates. More: 'Women are smarter than men' and 2 more themes from Trump's Michigan town hall Hassan Aoun, also known as Hass Cash, a Dearborn resident and community activist talks with community members during the Dearborn Board of Education meeting in Dearborn on Oct. 10, 2022. Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein and presidential candidate Cornel West visited Dearborn last week to court Arab American voters. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud met with Harris last month, but has not endorsed her. Ghalib appeared to receive positive response from Arab Americans to his meeting with Trump. Khalil Othman, of Dearborn, said Ghalib is a man with principles who respects religion. Othman, who once got into a tiff with late night host Stephen Colbert, has said he became Republican after being frustrated with Democrats over its policies in public schools. Mohamed Alduais, of the Yemeni American Leadership Association in Hamtramck, also praised Ghalib's meeting with Trump, calling it important and historic. He said the community will help elect Trump. The positive response on Facebook to Ghalib's meeting with Trump was in contrast to the negative response that Wayne County Deputy Executive Assad Turfe, the highest ranking official of Arab descent in the county, received last month after he endorsed Harris. Dr. Yahya Basha, of West Bloomfield, a longtime Arab American and Muslim advocate in Michigan, said this week some are thinking of creating an 'Abandon Democrats' campaign amid frustration with state Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, charging 11 pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. On Wednesday, some Arab American groups held a press conference in Dearborn denouncing the charges, echoing the views of an earlier statement from ACLU Michigan criticizing Nessel's charges. Michigan, which has the highest percentage of residents with Middle Eastern ancestry among all states in the U.S., is seen as a swing state. Biden won Hamtramck in 2020, but in the Democratic primary in February, he lost in the city to the "Uncommitted" vote. The Uncommitted movement was started in Dearborn by Arab American activists opposed to Biden's policies in Gaza. Biden also lost to the Uncommitted vote in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. Elected officials in Wayne County of Arab descent who are Democrats have not been openly supporting Harris amid concern they will lose support in the community amid anger over the Biden administration's staunch support for Israeli's military. Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or X @nwarikoo This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib meets with Donald Trump in Michigan A 30-year-old Cedartown man has been fired from his job at a county sheriffs office after his arrest for child molestation on Tuesday. According to the Haralson County Sheriffs Office, Thomas Roberts was under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation related to a child molestation investigation from outside of Haralson County. Roberts, who worked as a detention deputy for the sheriffs office, was immediately fired due to the severity of the charges, the sheriffs office said. Hed been employed for more than a year. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: I have stood for transparency from the day I took office. I know that the GBI has conducted a careful investigation into this case, Sheriff Stacy Williams said in a statement. Once we knew the results of the investigation and the atrociousness of the charges, we promptly made the decision to dismiss the former deputy as well as make sure we were transparent to the citizens of Haralson County about this investigation and arrest. According to jail records from Roberts arrest, he was charged with child molestation, aggravated sodomy against someone younger than 10 years old and other charges. Now, hes in custody at the Polk County Jail and has been denied bond, records show. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) The harassment case against Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper has been dismissed, Marshall County court records show. A bench trial was set to begin Monday, but records show that dismissal was by agreement of the parties. Florence man pleads guilty to attempted murder of officer, multiple escape charges The misdemeanor case stemmed from a dispute Cooper, who is 76, got into with a neighbor in 2023 over a Guntersville property easement. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (AP) A judge on Tuesday dismissed a harassment charge against state Transportation Director John Cooper after a neighbor, who accused Cooper of threatening him, said he no longer wanted to pursue the matter. Prosecutors in Marshall County wrote in a request to dismiss the case that the complainant, no longer wishes to pursue this matter. District Judge Mitchell S. Floyd agreed to dismissed the charge. He noted that the case was being dismissed by agreement. Cooper was arrested last year on a misdemeanor harassment charge. An adjoining landowner, Gerald Carter, told law enforcement officials that during an argument Cooper had threatened to shoot him and beat him. The two men had been in a dispute over Carters use of a gravel road to access his property. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey breaks ground on new Challenger Learning Center Court records indicate Carter contended he had legal use of the easement to access his property. Cooper accused his neighbor of trespassing. South Sauty Creek Resort, which is owned by Cooper, last year filed a civil lawsuit against Carter. The lawsuit asked the court to declare that the resort is the rightful owner of the land and that Carter did not have use of an easement. Cooper, 76, has been the director of the Alabama Department of Transportation since 2011. The 4,000-employee state agency builds and maintains highways, roads and bridges in the state, He is a member of Alabama Gov. Kay Iveys cabinet. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Its a tight presidential race between candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, who have both been hitting the campaign trail in battleground states. Tim Murtaugh, a senior adviser for the Trump-Vance 2024 campaign, reacts to a new interview Harris gave Tuesday, and to polling about male and female voter support for her and Trump in Pennsylvania. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Over the past 7 days, the Indian market has risen 1.8% and is up 41% over the last 12 months, with earnings expected to grow by 17% per annum over the next few years. In such a dynamic environment, identifying high-growth tech stocks like Kaynes Technology India and two others can be crucial for investors looking to capitalize on this upward trend. Top 10 High Growth Tech Companies In India Name Revenue Growth Earnings Growth Growth Rating Tips Music 24.69% 24.16% Newgen Software Technologies 21.66% 22.51% Coforge 14.32% 22.54% Happiest Minds Technologies 22.15% 22.22% C. E. Info Systems 29.94% 26.97% GFL 44.50% 49.42% Sterlite Technologies 21.41% 101.08% Tejas Networks 23.05% 63.54% Avalon Technologies 20.11% 42.50% INOX Leisure 17.73% 66.63% Click here to see the full list of 38 stocks from our Indian High Growth Tech and AI Stocks screener. Below we spotlight a couple of our favorites from our exclusive screener. Simply Wall St Growth Rating: Overview: Kaynes Technology India Limited operates as an end-to-end and IoT solutions-enabled integrated electronics manufacturer in India and internationally, with a market cap of 355.34 billion. Operations: Kaynes Technology India Limited generates revenue primarily from its Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) segment, which contributed 20.11 billion. The company specializes in providing integrated electronics manufacturing and IoT solutions both domestically and internationally. Kaynes Technology India has demonstrated impressive growth, with earnings surging by 90.7% over the past year and revenue projected to grow at 28.5% annually, outpacing the Indian market's 10.2%. The recent inauguration of their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Hyderabad underscores their commitment to innovation and sustainability, catering to diverse sectors like industrial, automotive, and aerospace. With R&D expenses playing a crucial role in driving advancements in high-precision electronic assembly and AI-enabled inspection systems, Kaynes is well-positioned for continued expansion. NSEI:KAYNES Earnings and Revenue Growth as at Sep 2024 Simply Wall St Growth Rating: Overview: Info Edge (India) Limited operates as an online classifieds company focusing on recruitment, matrimony, real estate, and education services in India and internationally, with a market cap of 1.01 trillion. Story continues Operations: The company generates revenue primarily from recruitment solutions (19.05 billion) and real estate services (3.67 billion). The business spans across India and international markets, focusing on online classifieds in key sectors such as recruitment, matrimony, real estate, and education. Info Edge (India) has shown robust growth, with earnings increasing by 46.83% year-over-year to 2.33 billion in Q1 2024, driven by a strong performance in its Naukri segment. The company's R&D expenses have facilitated significant advancements, with 1.29 billion spent on innovation last year alone, representing 13% of revenue and contributing to a forecasted annual earnings growth rate of 23.6%. This strategic focus on technology and innovation positions Info Edge well within India's dynamic tech landscape. NSEI:NAUKRI Earnings and Revenue Growth as at Sep 2024 Simply Wall St Growth Rating: Overview: Tech Mahindra Limited provides information technology services and solutions in the Americas, Europe, India, and internationally with a market cap of 1.46 trillion. Operations: Tech Mahindra's primary revenue streams are IT Services, generating 439.48 billion, and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), contributing 78.94 billion. The company operates in multiple regions including the Americas, Europe, and India. Tech Mahindra is making significant strides in the tech sector, particularly with its strategic focus on ORAN and 6G technologies. The company's collaboration with Northeastern University aims to accelerate innovation in wireless networks, leveraging Tech Mahindra's expertise in telecom. Despite facing regulatory penalties totaling 10.28 million recently, the company is optimistic about favorable appellate outcomes. R&D expenses of 9 billion last year underscore its commitment to innovation, contributing to a forecasted earnings growth rate of 28.9% annually over the next three years. NSEI:TECHM Earnings and Revenue Growth as at Sep 2024 Taking Advantage Click here to access our complete index of 38 Indian High Growth Tech and AI Stocks. Already own these companies? Link your portfolio to Simply Wall St and get alerts on any new warning signs to your stocks. Invest smarter with the free Simply Wall St app providing detailed insights into every stock market around the globe. Contemplating Other Strategies? This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include NSEI:KAYNES NSEI:NAUKRI and NSEI:TECHM. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com Vice President Kamala Harris holds a discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia on September 17, 2024. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images Your trusted source for contextualizing abortion and Election 2024 news. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday called the spread of disinformation about Haitian immigrants by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, a crying shame but did not say whether she thought the federal government should take action to help the community heal. The comments came at a conversation hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists, or NABJ, one of the largest professional organizations for journalists of color. The group hosted a similar conversation with Trump in July during its national conference, when he repeatedly insulted ABC Newss Rachel Scott and questioned Harriss race and identity. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, at last weeks debate raised the racist idea that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets, a rumor that originated in and has continued to spread on right-wing media and has been amplified by Vance. Local officials have said there is no evidence this is happening. Moderator Eugene Daniels of Politico asked Harris about the comments, which have led to threats and concerns in the Ohio town. Weve seen school closures, parents worried about their kids leaving the home because of racist conspiracy theories. From your perspective is this just a case of irredeemable racism that cant be mitigated by any rational action or is this a situation where a federal response could help the community heal? he asked. Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, began her answer by talking about how children at a Springfield elementary school had to miss picture day because the school was evacuated due to violent threats. She expressed her dismay and disgust at both how Haitian immigrants have been treated and at the disinformation spread by Trump and Vance. However, she did not answer whether a federal response would be appropriate or effective. Instead, Harris, the child of two immigrant parents, asserted that Americans are not fundamentally or naturally hateful toward immigrants. I know regardless of someones race, their gender, their geographic location, I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio, and its got to stop, she said. Harris described the rumors as hateful rhetoric that is designed to divide us as a country, that is designed to get us pointing fingers at each other. She also decried the strain on local law enforcement. Look, you say you care about law enforcement law enforcement resources being put into this because of serious threats to a community that was living a productive, good life before this happened, spewing lies that are grounded in tropes that are age old, Harris said. At the debate, when Trump said immigrants were eating pets in Springfield, Harris laughed, shook her head, and said Talk about extreme before moving the conversation elsewhere. On Sunday, Vance said he stood by the statements and that they were made to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention. Immigration is a top issue in the 2024 election, and Republicans including Trump and Vance have seized on it to spread fear among voters. Many Haitian immigrants in the United States, including in Ohio, are on Temporary Protected Status, which Trump tried to rescind in his first term and President Joe Biden extended. To check your voter registration status or to get more information about registering to vote, text 19thnews to 26797. The post Harris calls lies spread by Trump about Haitian immigrants a crying shame appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter. Hadley Duvall (photo by Lucy Valeski) A new campaign ad from Vice President Kamala Harris presidential campaign features sexual abuse survivor Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who was raped by her stepfather and became pregnant when she was 12 years old. Duvall says in the 30-second spot, titled Monster that at the time she discovered she was pregnant, she had options that survivors of rape and incest no longer have after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Kentuckys current abortion ban has no exceptions for rape or incest. I didnt know what to do. I was a child. I didnt know what it meant to be pregnant, at all, Duvall says in the ad. Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, girls and women all over the country have lost the right to choose, even for rape or incest. Trump appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe. He has boasted about the appointments, and said during a Sept. 10 debate with Harris that he would not sign a nationwide abortion bill into law, but did not answer whether he would veto such a ban. What I did is something, for 52 years, they have been trying to get Roe v. Wade into the states, and through the genius and heart and strength of six Supreme Court justices, we were able to do that, Trump said. He added that he strongly believes in exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Harris said during the debate that she would proudly sign a bill into law that restored the federal right to an abortion. Duvall first spoke publicly about her experience after Roe was overturned and Kentuckys trigger law took effect. She appeared in a 2023 campaign ad for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, criticizing Beshears GOP opponent for his support of Kentuckys abortion ban. To tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable, she said in the Beshear campaign ad. Beshear won his bid for reelection. Duvall also appeared at the Democratic National Convention last month with other women who had been affected by abortion bans in southern states, and joined Gov. Josh Shapiro in Philadelphia on Sunday to kick off the Harris campaigns Fighting for Reproductive Freedom bus tour. The tour stops in Harrisburg on Wednesday. The soundtrack to the Monster ad is the song When the Partys Over by Billie Eilish, who on Tuesday endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket because they are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom. Harris was in Philadelphia on Tuesday for an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists, where she reiterated her support for reinstating Roe and codifying its protections into law. Women, she said, should be able to decide what is best for them when it comes to their own bodies, instead of having her government tell her what to do especially a bunch of people in these state capitals who think theyre in a better position to tell her what to do than she is to know whats in her best interest. Monster begins airing today on national TV and on broadcast and cable networks across battleground states, including Pennsylvania. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE TechCrunch A federal judge blocked one of Californias new AI laws on Wednesday, less than two weeks after it was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Shortly after signing AB 2839, Newsom suggested it could be used to force Elon Musk to take down an AI deepfake of Vice President Kamala Harris he had reposted (sparking a petty online battle between the two). The law is unique because it does not go after the platforms on which AI deepfakes appear, but rather those who spread them. Trump vows to visit town at heart of migrant row, Harris gets poll bump US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell held a press conference in Washington after the Fed cut its key lending rate by half a percentage point (Mandel NGAN) (Mandel NGAN/AFP/AFP) Donald Trump railed against illegal immigrants Wednesday and pledged to visit an Ohio town simmering with racial tensions fueled by his campaign's conspiracy theories, as Kamala Harris courted minority voters and relished a poll bump in key swing states. The Republican ex-president, whose hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric has become a centerpiece of his election campaign, told a boisterous rally on New York's Long Island that he would visit Springfield "in the next two weeks." Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance have repeatedly falsely claimed that immigrants from Haiti were eating residents' pets in the Ohio town, where schools and government buildings have faced bomb threats after their comments. In fierce remarks on Wednesday, Trump described illegal immigrants as "animals" and gang members who were destroying Americans' way of life. "We're going to take those violent people and we're going to ship them back to their country, and if they come back in, they're going to pay a hell of a price," he warned. With the candidates effectively tied in the polls less than seven weeks before Election Day, the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday made news that may well impact the race. The central bank cut its key lending rate by half a percentage point, the first reduction since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The move, which sharply lowers borrowing costs for Americans, was well-received by Vice President Harris, who has looked to highlight her and President Joe Biden's economic record in her race against Trump. She called it "welcome news for Americans who have borne the brunt of high prices," while Biden's White House said the rate cut marked a "moment of progress" for the US economy. But in a potential setback for the Harris camp ahead of the November 5 election, the influential Teamsters union announced it would not endorse a presidential candidate in 2024. The group had endorsed Democrats in every presidential election since 2000. The powerful union's decision came minutes after Harris told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute of her commitment to working Americans. "We have to put the middle class first. We have to put the working class first, understanding their dreams and their desires and their ambitions," she told the group in Washington. - Harris leads in Pennsylvania - The Democratic nominee also said the United States must "reform our broken immigration system and protect our Dreamers," referring to the roughly half million undocumented immigrant youth currently protected by law. "Understand we can do both," she said. In New York, Trump hammered Harris, saying she failed to curb undocumented migration. "Kamala will be known as your invasion president," he said. Trump also warned he was formulating a plan, if he wins, to impose reciprocal tariffs on nations that tax US-made products. "It will be called the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act," Trump said. "And if China or any other country charges us a 200- or 100- or 300-percent tax then we will charge (the same) tax in return. "You charge us, we charge you." With the election nearing, a new poll showed Harris with significant leads over Trump in swing states Pennsylvania and Michigan. The surveys, conducted after the candidates' September 10 televised debate, suggest a post-showdown boost for Harris, widely perceived as having outperformed Trump on stage. In the Quinnipiac University's polls of likely voters, Harris leads Trump 51 percent to 45 percent in Pennsylvania, and 50 to 45 percent in Michigan. A third Rust Belt state, Wisconsin, has Harris one percentage point ahead. Trump leads narrowly in the so-called Sun Belt states of Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina, according to an amalgam of polls on survey tracker RealClearPolitics.com. It shows Harris barely ahead in battleground Nevada. - 'Earn the vote' - Harris only became the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in July, after Biden ended his reelection bid following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. The candidates were campaigning Wednesday following another tense moment in an already restive race, three days after a gunman appeared to have tried to assassinate Trump in Florida, a second such threat in as many months. "God has now spared my life," Trump told the Long Island crowd. "Not once but twice." He also insisted minority voters were backing him in substantial numbers, claiming: "We're at the highest level of Black support in the history of the Republican Party." Harris, who is half Black and half Indian-American, said Tuesday she was "working to earn the vote" of African-American men, and not just assuming they would support her because she is Black. mlm/aha Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday described in detail what its like for many women to have to travel out of their home state to access abortion care, marking the first time in recent memory that such a prominent political figure has magnified the real-life hurdles to obtaining care. In a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes leadership conference, the Democratic presidential nominee provided a riveting warning about what could happen to the country if her rival, former President Donald Trump, wins the election in November. She reminded the crowd that Trump nominated three of the conservative justices who overturned the Supreme Courts 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade and the landscape for reproductive health care has been dire ever since. She broke down, step-by-step, what traveling for abortion care really looks like. Harris noted that around 40% of Latinas in the U.S. live in states that have enacted abortion restrictions since the repeal of federal abortion protections. Understand that the majority of women who seek abortion care are mothers. Understand what that means for her, Harris said to the crowd in Washington, D.C. Around 55% of women who have an abortion have already had one or more births, research shows. So, shes got to now travel to another state God help her that she has some extra money to pay for that plane ticket. Shes got to figure out what to do with her kids God help her if she has affordable child care, she continued. Imagine what that means: She has to leave her home to go to an airport, stand in a TSA [airport security] line like, think about this. Harris emphasized how terrifying it is for women to travel to a city theyve never visited and receive medical care from a doctor theyve never met. On any public policy, you have to ask: How is this going to affect a real person? she said. Go through the details. (Harris comments on abortion start around the 20-minute mark in the video below.) Last year alone, over 166,000 people traveled across state lines to get abortion care amid local restrictions on procedures. Abortion care providers have told HuffPost that many of the women who are forced to travel have never been on a plane before or dont speak English. Often, they need to travel by themselves because they can only afford one plane ticket. Many have to rely on already struggling abortion funds to pay for travel and lodging costs. Shes going to have to get right back to the airport because she [has] got to get back to those kids. And its not like her best friend can go with her because her best friend is probably taking care of the kids, Harris said. All because these people have decided theyre in a better position to tell her whats in her best interest than she is. Its just simply wrong. Harris comments were only a small part of her speech Wednesday, but they were extremely powerful. They show how differently she approaches abortion policy than President Joe Biden. Although Biden supports restoring Roe, he has never been a full-throated advocate for abortion rights and rarely even says the word abortion. Harris has been the Biden administrations biggest defender of abortion rights since the Supreme Court ruling that repealed Roe. She has met with reproductive rights groups at the White House and traveled around the country highlighting the harms of abortion bans, while also advocating for affordable child care and paid family leave. Earlier this year, she paid an official visit to an abortion clinic widely believed to be the first such visit by a president or vice president. Trump, who has aligned himself with some of the most powerful anti-abortion leaders in the county, continues to flip-flop on his abortion messaging. Harris has seized the opportunity to question his beliefs multiple times, most recently during a presidential debate last week. One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do, Harris said on Wednesday to a huge round of applause. If she chooses, she will talk with her priest, her pastor, her rabbi, her imam, but not the government telling her what to do. Related... On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris received the endorsement of more than 100 Republican former national security officials. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) If Republican presidential candidates have traditionally been seen as more closely aligned with the U.S. national security establishment the military, the intelligence community, foreign policy experts its a run thats come to an abrupt halt in 2024. This fact was brought home yet again today in an announcement from the Harris-Walz campaign that more than 100 Republican former national security and foreign policy officials who served in senior roles in multiple presidential administrations and in Congress are endorsing Vice President Harris for President. In their letter of endorsement, the Republican leaders praised Harris as the kind of principled, serious, and steady leader our country needs, saying, Vice President Harris has demonstrated a commitment to upholding the ideals that define our nation freedom, democracy, and rule of law and that she has demonstrated that she can engage in orderly national security decision-making, without the constant drama and Cabinet turnover of the Trump Administration. In sharp contrast, the letter offered a warning to the American people about former President Donald Trump and the dangers a second Trump administration would bring, and spoke directly to Republicans, saying Any potential concerns [about supporting the Democratic Party] pale in comparison to Donald Trumps demonstrated chaotic and unethical behavior and disregard for our Republics time-tested principles of constitutional governance. The list of individuals signing the letter includes President Reagans and George H.W. Bushs CIA and FBI Director William Webster, George W. Bushs Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, and former CIA and NSA director, General Michael Hayden. Former Republican members of Congress with backgrounds in national security and foreign affairs issues on the list include Charles Boustany of Louisiana, Dan Miller of Florida, and Bill Paxon of New York. Todays mass endorsement marks just the latest in a fast-growing list of such statements from Republicans and former national security officials. Last week, Reuters reported that a group of 10 former top U.S. military officials had endorsed Harris, while describing Trump as a danger to our national security and democracy. Click here to read todays letter and the entire list of former GOP officials. Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris answers questions during a moderated conversation with members of the National Association of Black Journalists hosted by WHYY September 17, 2024 in Philadelphia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) A week after debating former President Donald Trump in the City of Brotherly Love, Vice President Kamala Harris returned to Philadelphia Tuesday for a wide-ranging interview with a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists at WHYYs studio. Harris told the audience that there were very few solutions we havent thought of when it comes to gun violence in the U.S. Harris said she and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are both gun owners. Were not trying to take any guns away from anyone but we do need an assault weapons ban, she said. In addition to an assault weapons ban, Harris said, she supports universal background checks, and closing loopholes where gun show dealers dont always have to register gun sales. Politico journalist Eugene Daniels questioned Harris about the economy, asking whether or not voters are better off now than they were four years ago. In response, Harris pointed to several of the Biden-Harris administrations successful policy initiatives, including caps on the price of insulin and prescription drugs, creating jobs and the low unemployment rate among Black Americans. But, she added, there was still work to be done. Is the price of groceries still too high? Yes, she said, emphasizing her plans for an opportunity economy that includes giving first-time homebuyers $25,000 toward a down payment. Harris was asked about polling that suggests Black men, especially young Black men, are considering voting for Trump, the GOP nominee for president. Ive often been asked this question in a way that Ive had to respond by first saying that I think its very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybodys pocket, Harris said. Black men are like any other voting group: You got to earn their vote. So Im working to earn the vote, not assuming Im going to have it because I am Black, but because of the policies and the perspectives I have. I understand what we must do to recognize the needs of all communities. Young Black men, she added, are really the backbone of our economy overall, and when they do better economically, we all do better. She pointed to her plan to provide $50,000 in tax credit to small businesses as one example of a policy that would affect young Black men, who may not have access to resources they need to become successful entrepreneurs. Harris also reiterated her support for reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned in 2022 and codifying them into law. She said Trump was responsible for the abortion bans passed in states since Roe was overturned. The former president handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade. They did as he intended, she said. Women should be able to decide what is best for them, she added, when it comes to their own bodies, instead of having her government tell her what to do especially a bunch of people in these state capitals who think theyre in a better position to tell her what to do than she is to know whats in her best interest. Harris roughly 30-minute interview with the NABJ panel was a far cry from an interview with Trump during NABJs July conference in Chicago. During that interview, Trump falsely claimed Harris happened to turn Black over the course of her political career, insulted and was generally combative towards his interviewers. Some NABJ members had objected to Trumps appearance, citing his past behavior toward Black women journalists. The Trump campaign said Tuesday that Harris admitted today that she has failed Black Americans, during the interview. She told the NABJ that after three and half years of her failed policies, grocery prices are too high and the American Dream is unattainable for young Americans, Janiyah Thomas, the Trump campaigns Black Media Director said in a statement. Harris also addressed Trump and running mate J.D. Vances comments that falsely described Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. The American people deserve, and I do believe, want, better than this, Harris said. I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio, and its got to stop. She also criticized Trumps past comments about Black people, including calling for the execution of five young Black men convicted of a Central Park assault, who were later exonerated, and falsely claiming former President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. I think most people in our country, regardless of their race, are starting to see through this nonsense, Harris said. And to say, you know what, lets turn the page on this. Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and X. Kamala Harris with her mother, Shyamala Harris, center; brother-in-law, Tony West; and sister, Maya Harris, in San Francisco on Dec. 10, 2003. Vice President Kamala Harris presidential campaign is making its latest push to Asian American voters, releasing a personal ad about her mother, Shyamala Gopalan. The 60-second ad, titled My Mother, highlights Harris speaking about her mom at the Democratic National Convention last month, alongside pictures and videos of Gopalan, who died in 2009. My mother was a brilliant 5-foot-tall brown woman with an accent, Harris said at the convention. She taught us to never complain about injustice but to do something about it. She says her mothers words inspired her to become a lawyer and then to seek public office. Gopalan, who was a prominent breast cancer researcher, emigrated from India when she was 19 to attend the University of California, Berkeley. Born and raised in the South Indian city of Chennai, Gopalan came from a family of civil servants. Her father was a proponent of Indias freedom fight against the British. At Berkeley, Gopalan became involved in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, which is how she met Harris father, Donald Harris. As the eldest child, I saw how the world would sometimes treat her. But my mother never lost her cool, Harris said in her DNC speech. The ad showcases images of other Asian individuals and families at work, playing cards, sitting on their porch and shopping at ethnic grocery stores. On behalf of my mother, on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another and everyone whose story can only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America, the ad concludes. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Harris and Trump continue to focus on swing states WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) The road to the White House continues to heat up as there are less than 50 days left till Election Day. Donald Trump and his extremist allies will keep trying to pull us backward, Vice President Kamala Harris said. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump pressed his case to voters. But we have to take back our country. We have to win. Were going to win, Trump said. Both candidates are busy on the campaign trail with a big focus on improving the economy. Its my ambition to get your energy bill within 12 months, down 50%, Trump said. We will continue to lower the cost of groceries, for example, by taking on something that I think is very important to deal with, which is price gouging on behalf of big corporations, Harris said. Harris addressed the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, D.C., on what another four years under former President Trump would look like. If my opponent, Donald Trump wins, his allies in Congress intend to end Medicare and end Medicares negotiating power, Harris said. New polling from Quinnipiac University shows Harris ahead in Pennsylvania and Michigan, with Wisconsin up for grabs. Were going to say to Kamala Harris, the energy price raiser, you are fired. Were getting back to common sense energy policy. Were going back to Donald J. Trump, Sen. J.D Vance (R-Ohio.) said. During a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, Trumps running mate, Vance, said there is no reason to support Harris. She just flipflop on literally every single proposal she made in 2020. Now she says she doesnt believe, Vance said. Harris will head to Michigan and Wisconsin to finish off the week while Trump will hold a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina on Saturday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new indictment charging him with criminal sex act Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new indictment charging him with criminal sex act in the first degree. He was wheeled into a Manhattan courtroom wearing a black suit, white shirt and tie. The former movie mogul is charged in the new indictment based on the allegations of a woman who said he sexually assaulted her on one occasion in 2006 at a Manhattan hotel. TIMELINE: Harvey Weinstein's path to his NYC sex crimes conviction and reversal He is also charged in a previous New York State Supreme Court indictment with criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said. "Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. Weinstein has denied all claims of sexual misconduct, saying his encounters were consensual. "Mr. Weinstein has been very consistent from the time of his investigation. He never forced himself on anybody," his attorney, Arthur Aidala, told reporters outside the courthouse following the arraignment on Wednesday. PHOTO: Harvey Weinstein, center, appears in criminal court in New York, Sept. 18, 2024. (Seth Wenig/AP) The woman whose allegations form the basis of the new indictment against Weinstein does not want to be identified but is "fully prepared to speak her truth at trial," her attorney said. The attorney, Lindsay Goldbrum, said her client, identified only as Jane Doe, had not shared her story with the public but now wishes "to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable." The Manhattan District Attorney's Office presented to the grand jury allegations of three separate women who said Weinstein sexually assaulted them. Their allegations were not part of the initial trial of Weinstein that ended in a conviction, which was later overturned on appeal. Aidala said he does not know the name of the alleged victim in the new indictment and is awaiting discovery from prosecutors. He said Weinstein is "somewhat relieved" only one indictment was unsealed on Wednesday. "There were reports that there were going to be three indictments handed down today, and in fact, there is one indictment that was unsealed," Aidala said. "We're making the assumption that that's the only indictment that's going to be unsealed." MORE: Harvey Weinstein indicted again in New York after conviction overturned Weinstein, 72, missed his last court date after being rushed to the hospital for emergency heart surgery. The new indictment comes months after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 sex crimes conviction. He had been found guilty of criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison. In a scathing 4-3 opinion in April, the court found the trial judge "erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes." "We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault," a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement earlier this year, when the conviction was overturned. Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new indictment charging him with criminal sex act originally appeared on abcnews.go.com By Christopher Bing (Reuters) - A false claim circulating on social media that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris left a 13-year-old girl paralyzed after an alleged hit-and-run in San Francisco in 2011 is the work of a covert Russian disinformation operation, according to new research by Microsoft. Researchers found that the operation created a video, paid an actor to appear as the alleged victim, and spread the claim through a fake website for a non-existent San Francisco news outlet named "KBSF-TV". The Russian group responsible, which Microsoft dubs Storm-1516, is described as a Kremlin-aligned troll farm. The discovery is a sign of Russia ramping up its foreign influence efforts ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, Microsoft said. A spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. "Russian influence operations initially struggled to pivot operations aimed at the Democratic campaign following President Bidens departure from the U.S. 2024 presidential race," a blog published on Tuesday by Microsoft said. "In late August, however, elements of prolific Russian actor Storm-1516 began producing content implicating Vice President Harris and Governor Walz in outlandish fake conspiracy theories," Microsoft said, referring to Harris' running mate, Tim Walz. Storm-1516 is known for producing misleading videos featuring on-screen or voice actors who impersonate whistleblowers or journalists that share false, scandalous information, experts say. A website for KBSF-TV was created shortly before publishing its first related article about the alleged driving incident, according to online registration records. The claim was circulated on social media platforms, including X.com, using the hashtag #HitAndRunKamala. The video was also shared on Sept. 3 on X.com by Aussie Cossack, who describes himself as a "Registered foreign agent for Sputnik News," with the message "make this go viral MAGA folks." In total, it is estimated the video has been viewed more than 2.7 million times. "Many entities within the pro-Russian ecosystem advanced the video and its claims," said Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center. "Storm-1516 relies on some of these personalities, such as Aussie Cossack, to drive amplification of its videos." Cossack did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month the U.S. Justice Department filed money-laundering charges against two employees of Russian state media network RT for what officials said was a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the election. Story continues U.S. officials say Russia's goal is to exacerbate U.S. political divisions and weaken public support for American military aid to Ukraine. Harris says if elected she will continue supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion. (Reporting by Christopher Bing; Editing by Stephen Coates) Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in criminal court in New York Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in criminal court in New York By Jack Queen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sexual assault charge on Wednesday, nearly five months after the disgraced Hollywood movie mogul's earlier sex crimes conviction in New York was overturned. Weinstein, 72, who is recovering from emergency heart surgery, entered his plea to committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree at a hearing before Justice Curtis Farber in a New York state court in Manhattan. "Not guilty," Weinstein responded emphatically when asked for his plea to the felony charge. Weinstein still faces two other criminal counts from an earlier indictment where he also pleaded not guilty, including another first-degree criminal sexual act charge and a third-degree rape charge. He appeared in court in a wheelchair, wearing a dark suit and a blue tie, and with a large bandage on his right hand. The new charge announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses Weinstein of sexually assaulting a woman in a downtown Manhattan hotel between April 29 and May 6, 2006. "Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault," Bragg said in a statement. Weinstein's latest accuser has yet to be publicly identified. "She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers," her lawyer Lindsay Goldbrum said in a statement. It was unclear whether a retrial of Weinstein would include the three charges he now faces. Jurors had found Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault in February 2020, less than 2-1/2 years after sexual misconduct accusations made his case the impetus for the #MeToo movement. But the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, threw out Weinstein's conviction and 23-year sentence in April, saying he did not get a fair trial because the judge allowed testimony from women who Weinstein was not charged with assaulting. Weinstein has denied having nonconsensual sexual encounters with anyone. His original trial judge, James Burke, was not reappointed to the bench after his term expired at the end of 2022. NEW CHARGE MAY DELAY RETRIAL The new charge was announced two months after prosecutors said they were investigating additional alleged "violent sexual assaults" by Weinstein, after new accusers came forward. Farber at the time set a tentative Nov. 12 retrial date, but prosecutors said on Wednesday they would likely not be ready until January. Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala said his client wants to go trial "as soon as humanly possible." He later told reporters that Weinstein was "vehemently opposed" to adding the new charge to the original case, and wants a retrial on the original charges as soon as possible. Farber did not set a new trial date, but said he would proceed when both sides are ready. Weinstein remains in custody, because he was convicted separately last year in California for the 2013 rape of an actress in Los Angeles and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Weinstein's lawyers have said he is beset with health problems. He was rushed to the hospital from New York City's Rikers Island jail on Sept. 8 to undergo heart surgery. Once among Hollywood's most powerful people, Weinstein co-founded the Miramax studio, whose hits included "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction." Weinstein's film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, imploding after the original accusations of sexual misconduct. In the New York trial, prosecutors portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who manipulated women with promises of career advancement in Hollywood, coaxed them into hotel rooms or private apartments, and then overpowered and attacked them. (Reporting by Jack Queen; editing by Jonathan Oatis) Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge US movie producer Harvey Weinstein attends a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court where he pleaded not guilty to a new sex crime charge (JEENAH MOON) (JEENAH MOON/POOL/AFP) Disgraced Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York. Weinstein, 72, who had emergency heart surgery just over a week ago, appeared in a Manhattan courtroom in a wheelchair to enter his plea to a single count of committing a criminal sexual act. The once-powerful movie mogul was unshaven and appeared pale and visibly frail during his brief court appearance before Judge Curtis Farber. He was wearing a dark suit, a white shirt and a blue tie. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the new indictment of Weinstein is for the alleged sexual assault of a woman in a lower Manhattan hotel sometime between April 29, 2006 and May 6, 2006. "Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault," Bragg said in a statement. "This investigation is ongoing," he added. Speaking to reporters after the arraignment, Arthur Aidala, Weinstein's lawyer, said the alleged sexual assault behind the new charge was "almost two decades ago" and "at this moment I don't know much more than that." Weinstein is serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted on rape charges in California. He was also convicted in New York in 2020 of the rape and sexual assault of an actress and of forcibly performing oral sex on a production assistant. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in that case. The New York Court of Appeals, however, overturned that conviction in April and Weinstein is awaiting a retrial on those charges. The new trial was scheduled to begin on November 12 but prosecutors said Wednesday the date seems "unrealistic." Farber scheduled a next court hearing for Weinstein for October 2. The one-time Hollywood heavyweight has suffered from a raft of health issues while in prison and has spent time in a secure hospital unit. Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue Hospital last week from New York's Rikers Island prison for emergency heart surgery. Allegations against Weinstein helped launch the #MeToo movement in 2017, a watershed moment for women fighting sexual misconduct. More than 80 women accused him of harassment, sexual assault or rape, including prominent actors Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd. Weinstein claimed any sexual relations in question were consensual. Weinstein and his brother Bob co-founded Miramax Films. Their hits included 1994's "Pulp Fiction" and 1998's "Shakespeare in Love," for which Weinstein shared a best picture Oscar. arb/cl/dw Following recent emergency heart surgery that left him near death, a wheelchair-bound Harvey Weinstein returned to a New York courtroom today to plead not guilty to a new sex crime charge. The 72-year-old Weinstein is charged in a new indictment with sexually assaulting a woman in a lower Manhattan hotel on one occasion between April 29, 2006, and May 6, 2006, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The former media mogul is charged with one count of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, according to Bragg. The new indictment, which remains sealed, accuses Weinstein of forcing oral sex on a woman. More from Deadline He is also charged in a previous New York State Supreme Court indictment with Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree and Rape in the Third Degree. Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said. Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault, said Bragg. This investigation is ongoing. If you have been sexually assaulted, I assure you that our team of dedicated prosecutors, investigators, social workers, and many more stand at the ready to support you. Please call us at 212-335-9373. The new charge comes as Weinstein is awaiting retrial after New York states highest court, the Court of Appeals, which this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The court ordered a new trial, tentatively scheduled to begin November 12. Our firm represents Jane Doe, whose grand jury testimony formed the basis of the new indictment against Harvey Weinstein, said Lindsay M. Goldbrum, Associate at Outten & Golden LLP. Mr. Weinstein is charged with one count of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree. Ms. Doe has not shared this story publicly before, nor does she want to be identified at this time. She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers. We would like to thank the media in advance for respecting Ms. Does privacy while she prepares for her testimony. Weinstein was in critical condition following emergency heart surgery on September 9, and nearly died, according to his attorney Arthur Aidala. Aidala has waged a pressure campaign against the DAs office in public and in court to have his client stay at Bellevues prisoner ward for the duration of the legal proceedings against him. Weinsteins personal physician testified in a closed hearing with Judge Farber about the producers health. Aidala said his client also wants to talk to the judge. We are disappointed that the Department of Corrections is fighting so hard against Harveys medical care needs, Weinstein spokesman Juda Engelmayer said in a statement Wednesday to Deadline. We will continue advocating for him to be in a place where he can heal and get healthier. As for the rest, we are prepared to go to trial and defend Harvey for the original remaining charges. Yet, we will vociferously and legally challenge any effort to defend these new charges until we full understand them, can research and investigate them and boldly defend Harvey against this. Its an obvious attempt by the DA to somehow parade a host of complainants before the jury as the Appeals Court rebuked them for last time. Todays hearing in Weinsteins renewed Manhattan sex crimes trial comes one day after a federal judge dismissed a portions of sexual assault and sex-trafficking lawsuit filed by former massage therapist Kellye Croft against ANC Networks kingpin James Dolan and Weinstein. California-based U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson tossed out the trafficking claims in the January filed action with prejudice, meaning the claim cannot be filed again. (L-R) ames Dolan & Harvey Weinstein While the SAC alleges that Plaintiff may have hoped to obtain a future career benefit from her relationship, it fails to directly allege that she went to Dolans room and continued to engage in a sexual relationship with him in order to receive the alleged promised benefits, wrote Judge Anderson o Crofts July 8 filed Second Amended Complaint. To the contrary, the SAC alleges multiple reasons and theories as to why Plaintiff continued her relationship with Dolan, including loneliness and possible romantic feelings, and fails to specifically link the timing of the alleged promises with the decision to engage in the alleged sexual conduct. However, Crofts allegations sexual battery against Knicks owner Dolan, plus aiding and abetting of sexual assault by Doloan and sexual assault by Weinstein dismissed without prejudice which means Croft is allowed to file those claims again. Statement of Kevin Mintzer and Meredith Firetog: We respectfully disagree with the District Courts decision, which we believe incorrectly interprets the federal sex trafficking law and undermines critically important protections for sex trafficking survivors, Crofts attorneys Kevin Mintzer and Meredith Firetog told Deadline today. We will be appealing this decision and are confident that the Court of Appeals will correct this injustice, the Wigdor Law partners added. We will also continue to pursue Ms. Crofts sexual battery claims against James Dolan and Harvey Weinstein, which remain unaffected by the decision. Our fight for Ms. Croft is just beginning. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Harvey Weinstein Pleads Not Guilty to New Sex Crime Charge in New York The Manhattan DA's Office unsealed a new grand jury indictment charging the disgraced Hollywood movie mogul with a criminal sex act Jefferson Siegel - Pool/Getty Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sex crime charge in an indictment handed down by a grand jury five months after his sex crimes conviction in New York was overturned. On Wednesday, Sept. 18, Weinstein appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court, where he pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal sex act in the first degree, ABC News, CNN and The New York Times report. The former movie mogul, 72, appeared in court in a wheelchair, wearing a black suit and tie. Weinstein missed his last court date on Thursday, Sept. 12, because he was not medically cleared to leave the hospital after emergency heart surgery on Monday, Sept. 9. Related: Harvey Weinstein's Lawyers Want Him to Stay in Hospital Rather than Jail, as Rape Retrial Looms On Sept. 12, prosecutors announced that Weinstein had been indicted by a grand jury on new charges but that the indictment would remain sealed until he could come to court. On Wednesday, prosecutors unsealed the indictment, which accuses Weinstein of sexually assaulting a woman in a Manhattan hotel in 2006, The New York Times reports. Related: Harvey Weinstein Indicted by N.Y. Grand Jury on Additional Charges: Prosecutors In 2020, in a landmark case that ushered in the #MeToo movement, Weinstein was convicted in New York of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He was serving his sentence in an Upstate New York prison when the New York Court of Appeals overturned that conviction in April in a 4-to-3 decision. The Manhattan district attorneys office vowed to retry Weinstein, convening a grand jury in August, NBC News reported. In addition to new charges, prosecutors will retry the case that was overturned, the Times reports. On July 19, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Curtis Farber set a tentative date for a retrial on Weinsteins rape and sexual assault charges for Nov. 12. Weinstein remains imprisoned for a 2022 conviction of rape in California, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2023. Related: Harvey Weinstein Rushed to Hospital for Emergency Heart Surgery In a statement to PEOPLE, Weinstein's rep, Juda Engelmayer said, in part, "We are disappointed that the department or corrections is fighting so hard against Harvey's medical care needs. We will continue advocating for him to be in a place where he can heal and get healthier." Referencing the alleged 2006 incident, Engelmayer said, "We don't know who, where, or what. We were told it is from 2006. It's an obvious attempt by the DA to somehow back door their parade of hosts of witnesses before the jury as the Appeals Court rebuked them for last time." "Harvey pleaded not guilty, and has always maintained that stance. For the people with whom he knows he was with, he never forced anyone to be with him," Engelmayer added. The Manhattan District Attorneys Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs requests for comment. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Harvey Weinstein in criminal court in New York on Sept. 18, 2024. - Credit: Seth Wenig/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the new sex crime charge brought against him ahead of his retrial in New York. Per The New York Times, Weinstein is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2006. The official charge is one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree. Weinstein was indicted on the new charge last week, but it wasnt until todays arraignment that the indictment was unsealed and details about the charge were revealed. More from Rolling Stone In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, Lindsay M. Goldbrum, the attorney for the Jane Doe whose allegations against Weinstein led to the new charge, said, Ms. Doe has not shared this story publicly before, nor does she want to be identified at this time. She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers. We would like to thank the media in advance for respecting Ms. Does privacy while she prepares for her testimony. A lawyer for Weinstein did not immediately return Rolling Stones request for comment. Weinstein did appear at the hearing in Manhattan court Wednesday. He was brought in on a wheel chair after undergoing emergency heart surgery on Sept. 8. Because of his recent health issues, a judge ruled that Weinstein could be held at Bellevue Hospital indefinitely, instead of Rikers Island. Weinsteins retrial in New York comes after his 2020 conviction was overturned in April, after an appeals court ruled that the judge who oversaw the first trial should not have allowed testimony from Weinstein accusers who were not part of the charges against him. In May, prosecutors signaled that they might bring additional charges against Weinstein, with Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg telling the court at the time that some people who were not ready to speak out in 2020 now appear ready to do so. Though only the one new charge was brought, prosecutors appeared to be considering allegations made by three additional victims. These were subsequently presented to a grand jury, who indicted Weinstein on the lone count. Weinsteins retrial is slated to begin in November. Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to committing a criminal sexual act in a New York court. The 72-year-old is facing a new charge over the alleged sexual assault of a woman in a Manhattan hotel in 2006, according to District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg. "Not guilty," Weinstein said emphatically when asked for his plea on Wednesday. Appearing in court in a wheelchair, Weinstein wore a dark suit and a blue tie, and with a large bandage on his right hand. Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault," Mr Bragg said in a statement. Separately, Weinstein is awaiting retrial after New York's top appeals court threw out his rape conviction and 23-year-sentence in April. The conviction was dismissed on the basis he did not get a fair trial because the judge allowed testimony from women who he was not charged with assaulting. Weinstein has denied having non consensual sexual encounters with anyone. He remains in custody serving a 16-year-sentence over the 2013 rape of an actress in LA. In July he was moved to a New York prison hospital with multiple health problems including Covid and double pneumonia. Last week he underwent emergency heart surgery, according to his lawyers. Prosecutors have filed a motion to consolidate the new charge and the pending retrial in the 2020 overturned rape conviction. A judge is set to rule on that on 2 October. Harvey Weinstein faces a new sex crime charge. The accuser has never gone public NEW YORK (AP) Seven years after sexual assault and harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein turbocharged the #MeToo movement, the ex-movie mogul faces a new sex crime charge from an accuser who's never told her story publicly. While awaiting retrial on other sex charges in a landmark #MeToo case, Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new charge of forcing oral sex on a woman in a Manhattan hotel in spring 2006. Prosecutors released no details about her, and Weinstein's lawyer said he had no idea who she is. But an attorney said that she represents the woman and that she has never made her accusation public. She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers, the lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said in a statement. She said the woman doesn't want to be identified for now, and the law firm declined to say anything more about her or her accusation. According to the indictment and another court document, the alleged assault the specific charge is a criminal sex act happened at a lower Manhattan hotel between April 29, 2006, and May 6 of that year. Weinstein has long maintained that he never engaged in any sexual activity that wasnt consensual. Defense attorney Arthur Aidala reiterated Wednesday that his client never forced himself on anyone. Aidala said he had absolutely no clue about the accusers identity or the specifics of the allegation. We have a lot of work to do. We have to find out who that person is. We have to do an investigation, he said outside court. The 72-year-old Weinstein, who is recovering from emergency surgery, came to court in a wheelchair, carrying two novels with him. He appeared to watch the proceeding intently. The once-powerful studio boss became a #MeToo archvillain in 2017, when reporting by The New York Times and The New Yorker pulled back a curtain on claims about his behavior that had long been known around Hollywood. The outpouring touched off a far broader reckoning with sexual misconduct, and the allegations led to Weinstein's professional downfall, multiple lawsuits and criminal charges on both U.S. coasts. His 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction was a watershed #MeToo moment, followed by his 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to decades in prison. But New York states highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction, which was based on accusations from two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, said the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judges term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench. The Court of Appeals ordered a new trial, which had been scheduled to start in November but now is likely to be delayed. The new judge on the case, Curtis Farber, set an Oct. 2 hearing to discuss scheduling and rule on whether the new charge will be wrapped into the retrial, a consolidation that prosecutors want but Weinstein's lawyers oppose. Aidala said Weinstein wants to go to trial as soon as possible, but his defense team doesn't want to rush its work on addressing the new charge. Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on at least one additional sex crime charge that wasnt part of the earlier case. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment Wednesday. Prosecutors had said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults, in hotels and a residential building, from the mid-2000s to 2016. Aidala said Weinstein was somewhat relieved to find only one charge on the new indictment. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the investigation continues. Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault, Bragg, a Democrat, said in a statement. Weinstein remains in custody while awaiting his New York retrial. The 72-year-old has been at a Manhattan hospital following emergency surgery Sept. 9 to drain fluid around his heart and lungs. He takes as many as 19 different medications for his various health ailments, Aidala said. Once one of the most influential people in the movie business, Weinstein co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company and produced films such as Shakespeare in Love and The Crying Game. Hasbro CEO says no relocation for at least 18 months; McKee expects meeting this week PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) Gov. Dan McKee said Tuesday he expects to meet with Hasbro executives by the end of the week, as Rhode Island leaders scramble to prevent one of the states most iconic companies from relocating its headquarters after more than a century. McKees remarks to reporters came one day after news broke that Hasbro executives have been exploring options to move its headquarters out of Pawtucket. We have every intention to get them to stay, McKee said following an unrelated event, adding that this isnt the first time the company has expressed interest in leaving Rhode Island. Weve heard this story before, so were going to work together to make sure were doing everything we can to maintain Hasbro, he said. Separately, 12 News has confirmed Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healeys economic team recently met informally with Hasbro executives as the company explores a potential move to Greater Boston. Karissa Hand, a spokesperson for Healey, said Tuesday that Massachusetts is always competing for businesses to move and expand to our state and will continue to support existing business across Massachusetts. Massachusetts has so much to offer were ranked number one for innovation, education and health care, Hand added. Were also ranked the best state to raise a family and for women. She declined further comment. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks informed employees about the situation in an internal memo Monday, confirming that executives have been looking at new office space in and around Boston. Cocks told employees the company wouldnt move for at least 18 months, and that they were still considering all options, so dont pack your bags yet. We know a potential new office location is a big deal for you and your families, Cocks wrote in the memo. We will give you plenty of time and transition before any major change, if there is even a major change. The company owns its 343,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Pawtucket, which Cocks described as full of charm and history but also showing its age. Hasbro also owns an adjacent building totaling 23,000 square feet, according to corporate filings. As we build a workplace for the future that reflects our brands, our vision, and our impact, we are considering options for a more suitable HQ, including the Greater Boston area, he wrote. We are looking to find a space that allows for collaboration, design, and showcases who we are and what we stand for. A space that is accessible to our teams and our partners. Losing the iconic toymaker would be a blow to Rhode Islands business landscape. Hasbro was founded in 1923 by the Hassenfeld family the name is short for Hassenfeld Brothers and it is one of only a handful of publicly traded companies still headquartered in Rhode Island. Hasbro lost another tie to its Rhode Island roots earlier this year when Alan Hassenfeld, the last member of his family to serve on the Hasbro board, stepped down as emeritus chairman. He had held the title since 2021. Hassenfeld still owned 5.4% of the company as of March. Mr. Hassenfeld will forever be part of Hasbros history, and he will continue to be part of Hasbros future as he deepens his incredible philanthropic work and we jointly work to further Hasbros mission, Hasbro Chairman Richard Stoddart, a former advertising executive, said at the time. Hassenfeld was unavailable for comment this week. Now operating in 50 different countries, Hasbro has already shrunk its local footprint most recently with the announcement that it would close the downtown Providence office it added in 2011 and consolidate those operations in Pawtucket. News of the companys potential move caught Rhode Island elected officials off guard, and many have since promised to work to convince Hasbro executives to stay. Congressman Gabe Amo, a Democrat who grew up in Pawtucket, described Hasbros headquarters as a place where toy ideas come to life. The workers at this iconic Rhode Island business have been an invaluable part of our community and I hope that this storied history is on the minds of Hasbros leadership, Amo said in a statement. I stand alongside leaders across the state in hoping that we can work to ensure that Hasbro continues to call Rhode Island home. Comparisons are already being drawn between the Hasbro situation and what transpired just months ago with another large publicly traded company headquartered in Rhode Island, Citizens Bank. Earlier this year bank executives suggested they would leave the state if the legislature didnt rework tax policy to align with changes recently enacted in Massachusetts. The General Assembly initially balked, leaving the tax change out of the budget bill, only to backtrack within weeks under pressure from Citizens and passed a separate bill. Proponents argued it was worth losing millions of dollars in annual state revenue in order to keep Citizens in Rhode Island. But while Citizens hired a team of lobbyists to push for the tax change, Hasbro has had a relatively low profile on Smith Hill since the 2021 death of former CEO Brian Goldner, who had been close to Gina Raimondo during her governorship. The company hasnt had a registered lobbyist at the State House since 2019, according to a state database, and House Speaker Joe Shekarchi said Tuesday he hasnt heard anything from company executives. I have not been contacted by anyone from Hasbro and Im not aware of any requests that the company may have but my door remains open to them, Shekarchi said in a statement. I stand ready to work with the governor and the Commerce Corporation in efforts to keep Hasbro in Rhode Island. Whatever happens next, Cocks promised Hasbro employees that he would share more updates soon, assuring them were not forgetting where we came from. Were proud of our history and our impact on our current community, and well keep working with and supporting the local groups and causes we care about, he wrote. Were not leaving our past behind, were building on it. Eli Sherman (esherman@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook. Ted Nesi (tnesi@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesis Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Threads and Facebook. Hannah Cotter contributed to this report. 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. HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) Hattiesburg police are searching for a man who has an active arrest warrant for domestic violence aggravated assault. Police are searching for 37-year-old Christopher Chambliss, of Hattiesburg, in connection to an incident that occurred on Cross Creek Parkway around 9:00 p.m. on Friday, September 13. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts, contact Hattiesburg police or Crime Stoppers by dialing **Tips. Anonymous tips can also be submitted online at www.P3Tips.com. 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. George Ridgway said he planned to buy his father a pint once the coins were auctioned off - but ended up with enough money for a house deposit or luxury car [PA Media] A hoard of hundreds of historic coins found by a metal detectorist - one of the largest hauls of its kind - has sold for 132,865 at auction. The 680 gold and silver coins were found by George Ridgway at Helmingham Hall, Suffolk, and date from as early as 206 BC through to 46 or 47 AD, when Claudius ruled over the Roman Empire. The proceeds from the sale will be split between the landowner and Mr Ridgway, a trained archaeologist from Ashbocking, near Ipswich, who said Indiana Jones was his childhood hero. Alice Cullen, a coin specialist at auctioneers Noonans Mayfair, said she was "very pleased" with the result of Wednesday's sale, which had only been estimated to fetch 75,000. She said: "This is one of the largest hoards containing both Iron Age coins and Roman coins found in Britain, with the latest coins of Claudius and those of Cunobelin in virtually 'as struck' condition. George Ridgway was left in awe when he found one of Britain's largest collections of Roman and Iron Age coins [Qays Najm/BBC] "The location of the hoard, together with the date range, suggests the coins may have been buried by a long serving Legionary soldier from the XX Legion, who were stationed at nearby Colchester. "In 47 AD the East Anglian Iceni tribe rebelled after the Roman governor Ostorius ordered them to disarm, resulting in a fierce battle that was likely held at Stonea Camp in Cambridgeshire, which the Romans won." Mr Ridgway, 34, previously said the discovery - made in September 2019 - was "an awe-inspiring moment". The British Museum, as well as Colchester and Ipswich Museums, claimed a total of 63 of the 748 coins for their own collections. The highest price of the sale was for a Denarius of Gaius Caesar, better known as Caligula, dating from AD 37-38 and decorated with a portrait of Agrippina, which sold for 7,000 against an estimate of 2,000-2,600. A Denarius of Claudius, dating from AD 41-42, sold at the hammer for 5,000, despite an estimate of 1,500-1,800. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Related to this story Related internet links Google (GOOG, GOOGL) captured an antitrust win on Wednesday after persuading the European Unions second-highest court to toss a $1.7 billion fine imposed by the bloc's competition watchdog. The victory, which extinguished a penalty over the European Commission's finding that Google's AdSense business illegally bars rivals from premium ad space, stands in contrast to antitrust defeats that have been piling up against the tech giant. Google CEO Sundar Pichai. (REUTERS/Jim Young) (REUTERS / Reuters) In June, a US federal district court judge sided with the US Justice Department in a ruling that said Google used illegal tactics to hold on to its monopoly in the online search engine market. And in September, the EC persuaded the EU's top court to approve its $2.7 billion fine against Google for favoring its shopping business over rivals. Meanwhile, in the UK, that nation's Competition & Markets Authority is investigating whether Googles Ad Tech businesses violated antitrust laws. In a provisional finding, the CMA said it believed the tech giant had broken the law. Google's former AdSense restrictions for rival ad sellers, according to the European Commission's March 20, 2019, allegations. (European Commission) And the dispute over the EU's AdSense business may not be over. The EC can appeal the General Court's decision to annul the fine to the EU's highest court. The court also made clear in its ruling that it upheld the "majority" of the lower courts findings that said Google's AdSense business violated EU antitrust law. And there are still more unsettled antitrust battles brewing. Google's lawyers are defending the company in an ongoing trial in a federal district court in Virginia. The challenge, brought by the US Justice Department, alleges that Google used illegal tactics to gain and hold on to its ad tech empire. In the EU, Google is fighting another fine on appeal. In 2018, the EC fined Google $4.5 billion based on its finding that the company illegally required Android-based mobile phone manufacturers to install Googles search and web browser apps in order to access the Google Play store. Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed. Click here for the latest technology news that will impact the stock market Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Photo by George Frey | Getty Images PHOENIX Carletta Tilousi was a young girl when she first heard about possible uranium mining near her home of Supai. Deep within the canyons near the Grand Canyons South Rim, this is where the Havasupai people reside. From the day they were contacted about it, the Havasupai were resistant to uranium mining near their homelands. Our tribal leaders were approached and told that if you support this effort, we will provide education and support your tribe, since this is near your sacred mountain and aboriginal territory, and the tribe said no, the council at the time said no, Tilousi said. That was nearly 40 years ago, and now that same mine is finally operational. But Tilousi and the Havasupai are continuing the fight against the Pinyon Plain Mine near the Havasupais ancestral homelands. Tilousi serves on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council after previously serving 20 years on the Havasupai Tribal Council. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Pinyon Plain Mine is owned and operated by Energy Fuels Inc., which has stated all mining operations are safe. The Havasupais main area of concern is the protection of the water that flows through the Grand Canyon. Not only is this their main water source, but they are especially protective of the waterfalls and springs, including the popular tourist destination of Havasu Falls. Havasupai translates to people of the blue-green waters. Uranium mining has been a point of contention for Southwest tribal nations for decades. The Navajo Nation faced uranium exposure from mining that was conducted before the Cold War leading to various health issues, such as increased lung cancer rates. I remember the stories that they shared and the illnesses that caused a lot of strife and death in their communities really made us understand that this was a dangerous ore that should not be removed, Tilousi said. In the early 1980s, thousands of uranium mine claims were submitted for areas within Kaibab National Forest and around the Grand Canyon; most were denied. In October 1984, Energy Fuels submitted a Plan of Operations to mine uranium from the Pinyon Plain Mine, formerly known as the Canyon Uranium Mine. The U.S. Forest Service completed an environmental impact statement to evaluate and modify the operation plans, and in 1986, the mine was approved and exploratory drilling began. Uranium is the fuel source that is most widely used for nuclear energy, and the mine contains 1.6 million pounds of uranium, one of the largest deposits in the United States, according to Energy Fuels. The Pinyon Plain Mine is between the Grand Canyons South Rim and Red Butte, a traditional cultural property in the Kaibab National Forest. The mine also sits atop the Redwall-Muav aquifer, the primary source of groundwater for the Grand Canyon. The Havasupai and neighboring tribal nations fought the mine in court, but an appeals court affirmed the decision to allow mining in August 1991. Fluctuating uranium prices delayed interest until a surge in 2007. Once again, thousands of uranium mine claims came pouring in, rekindling the Havasupais fight to protect their traditional lands. In an effort to give federal protection to the area and alleviate the Havasupais concerns, former U.S. Secretary of State Ken Salazar withdrew public lands near the Grand Canyon from new mining claims for a 20-year period in January 2012. Additionally, in August of last year, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Baaj Nwaavjo Itah Kukveni Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, which further protected the area from future mining claims. Despite these additional protections, an 1872 mining law stated that anyone with valid existing rights could continue mining regardless of a ban. Since the Pinyon Plain Mine Plan of Operations was already approved, Energy Fuels was exempt from the ban and could resume operations. Energy Fuels had the original plan of operations reaffirmed by the U.S. Forest Service in 2012 and acquired additional permits from the Environmental Protection Agency and state of Arizona in the following years. In December 2023, Energy Fuels announced in a news release that it had commenced production at the Pinyon Plain Mine. Despite heavy opposition from local tribal nations and advocacy groups, including the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter and Grand Canyon Trust, Energy Fuels said they are doing everything as safely as possible. Its unfortunate, theres a lot of people that are being scared by what were doing when they really have no reason to be afraid of it, said Curtis Moore, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development at Energy Fuels. Weve learned a lot. We do things far better today than we did back in those days, Moore said. Theres really no evidence that the modern uranium industry has caused any impacts to human health, the environment, over the past 50, 60, 70 years honestly. Studies and analysis conducted by the Forest Service and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality concluded that the mine poses little risk of contamination to any groundwater in the area. Additionally, aquifer protection permits were issued In August, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes called for an updated environmental impact study on the Pinyon Plain Mine. The most recent environmental impact study is nearly four decades old and relies on outdated data, Mayes said in a news release. Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Clubs Grand Canyon Chapter, has been heavily involved with the litigation and environmental efforts of the Havasupai for many years. Theres a lot of new information that we have since then that should be considered relative to evaluating the impacts of this mine, trying to limit the harm from it, Bahr said, noting the Forest Service is looking at that request. Energy Fuels has come under fire over the controversial hauling of ore across the Navajo Nation from the mine to Utah. Energy Fuels said in the past it would give notice before it began shipping the ore, but on July 30, the first shipment made its way to the White Mesa Mill in Utah angering Navajo Nation leaders. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren issued a temporary ban on the transportation of ore through their tribal lands, and negotiations are ongoing to resolve the issue. Neighboring tribal members and advocacy groups organized demonstrations in support of the Navajo Nation. The federal government and the state government signed off on it, Energy Fuels Moore said. Some may think that those (regulations) were not appropriate or protective enough, but again, weve followed the law at every aspect. As uranium production and extraction continue at Pinyon Plain Mine, organizations and Arizonas tribal nations will continue their efforts against the mine. If we dont advocate, then someone else will get hurt, some elder will get hurt if we didnt advocate enough, then it was partially our doing, Tilousi said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The Seneca Nation recently announced that the Healing Stone, a sacred item presented to the Nation as host of the 4th World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference this summer, is now on display at the Onohsagwe:de Cultural Center on the Nation's Allegany Territory. Open to the public, the stone serves as both a tribute and a resource for collective healing, encouraging visitors to touch, reflect, and connect with its energy. Every community, Native and non-Native, has been impacted by and has felt the terrible pain and loss associated with this truly global crisis, Seneca Nation Councillors Arlene Bova and Presley Redeye, Co-Chairs of the World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference said in a press release. Along with our shared pain and grief, every community also shares the need for healing. Named *Kaitiaki* (meaning "spiritual guardian"), the stone was carved from Oamaru and blessed by Maori elders in New Zealand. It carries the energy and spirit of the stories shared at the 2016 World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference, where it was first created. Its purpose is to provide healing and peace. We are honored to share the Healing Stone with all who visit the Onohsagwe:de Cultural Center, Hayden Haynes, Director of the Onohsagwe:de Cultural Center, said in a press release. We hope the stone brings a sense of healing and peace to anyone dealing with loss or searching for hope. In July, the Seneca Nation hosted over 800 visitors for the 4th World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference in Niagara Falls, NY. It was the first time the conference was held in the U.S. Themed Reclaiming Indigenous Resiliency and Hope, the event focused on preventing suicide within Indigenous communities, where suicide rates are the highest in the U.S., especially among youth aged 15-24. Hosting the World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference was a reminder that we are not alone not as individuals, nor as a community, Seneca Nation President Rickey Armstrong, Sr said in a press release. We were surrounded by and engaged with people from every corner of the globe, sharing a common experience and all looking for ways to protect our communities and bring light to those looking for help. The Healing Stone will remain at the cultural center for two years before returning to New Zealand for the next World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference. Alongside the stone, the Seneca Nation received other gifts from previous conference hosts, which will also be displayed at the cultural center. The Onohsagwe:de Cultural Center is open six days a week and offers exhibits, collections, and educational programs. To learn more visit their website. About the Author: "Kaili Berg (Aleut) is a member of the Alutiiq\/Sugpiaq Nation, and a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. She is a staff reporter for Native News Online and Tribal Business News. Berg, who is based in Wisconsin, previously reported for the Ho-Chunk Nation newspaper, Hocak Worak. She went to school originally for nursing, but changed her major after finding her passion in communications at Western Technical College in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. " Contact: kberg@indiancountrymedia.com A pharmacist retrieves a a medication. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images.) The owner of one of the three largest pharmacy middlemen in the United States on Tuesday filed suit to quash an attempt by the Federal Trade Commission to investigate industry practices. However, the suit relies on research that the health conglomerate helped pay for and was conducted by an economist whos become wealthy arguing in support of huge mergers. The FTC in July issued a scathing interim report saying that Cigna/Express Scripts, CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group appeared to be using their pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, to inflate the price of drugs and consequently make patients sicker. In response, Cigna/Express Scripts sued, declaring that the FTCs findings were false and defamatory. The company is demanding that the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri declare that the FTCs interim report is not in the public interest, that the report be vacated, and it demands FTC Chair Lina M. Khans recusal from all Commission actions pertaining to Express Scripts. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The health conglomerate the 16th-largest company by revenue in the United States argued that it and the other big PBMs actually bring down drug costs. As evidence, it pointed to research by an economist who has been paid more than an estimated $100 million in a career of arguing in favor of mega-mergers. The PBMs owned by the health care giants CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx control about 80% of their marketplace. They represent insurers in pharmacy transactions by determining which drugs are covered. They create pharmacy networks. And they use a secretive system to determine how much to reimburse pharmacies for the drugs they dispense. For years their critics have accused them of having an inherent conflict of interest. Each PBM owns a mail-order pharmacy and CVS Caremarks parent owns the largest brick-and-mortar retailer. So theyre using secret price lists to decide how much to reimburse their own pharmacies for drugs and those of their competitors. As an example of the apparent arbitrariness of the PBMs pricing, a recent analysis of Medicare data showed that plans owned by CVS paid 501 different prices for the same drug. Also controversial are the big PBMs practices concerning brand-name drugs, which tend to be under patent and considerably more expensive than generics. Because the middlemen control access to so many patients, makers of such drugs have powerful incentives to pay big rebates to PBMs in exchange for getting their products of lists of covered drugs, or formularies, and for their drugs to have the lowest copayments. Academic research has concluded that increases in often-secretive rebates correlate with even bigger increases in the list prices of drugs. There are also concerns that because the conglomerates increasingly own middlemen, pharmacies, health insurers and providers such as doctors offices, theyre using such vertical integration to unfairly advantage their various business units at the expense of their competitors. The FTCs interim report that is the object of the Express Scripts lawsuit said it appears that the health conglomerates are using both their size and their breadth to harm consumers. In its suit, Express Scripts claimed that it and the other large PBMs were actually helping consumers by using their heft to squeeze discounts out of drugmakers. They have saved plan sponsors and their members tens of billions of dollars in drug costs over the past decade alone, the suit asserts. As evidence, it points to a 17-page report titled An Economic Analysis of Criticisms Levied against Pharmacy Benefit Managers. The report disputes that rebates and other PBM practices are raising drug costs as critics say. Tellingly, though, it says the research is funded by the very people the FTC is investigating Cigna/Express Scripts, United Group/OptumRx, and CVS/Caremark. And it was done by an outfit, Compass Lexecon, that pays huge dollars to academics who have repeatedly written papers in favor of mega-mergers, a ProPublica investigation concluded in 2016. In arguing that such mergers create efficiencies that benefit consumers, the authors have a conflict of interest, the investigation shows. The academics reshaped their field through scholarly work showing that mergers create efficiencies of scale that benefit consumers, the investigation said. But they reap their most lucrative paydays by lending their academic authority to mergers their corporate clients propose. In the case of the study cited in the lawsuit filed against the FTC, the author was University of Chicago economist Dennis W. Carlton. The ProPublica investigation uncovered evidence that he charged at least $1,350 an hour for such work, and estimated that hed earned more than $100 million in his career of supporting mergers. And that was as of eight years ago. Meanwhile, the poor and disabled are finding it more difficult to find a pharmacy to go to. Amidst increasing vertical integration and concentration, these powerful middlemen may be profiting by inflating drug costs and squeezing Main Street pharmacies, an executive summary of the FTC report Express Scripts is suing to quash said. Independent and small-chain pharmacies have been closing for years, with many citing the big PBMs practices as the reason. That created fears that pharmacy deserts could multiply, making it hard or impossible for people without transportation to see a medical professional and discuss their med and chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Those fears were amplified with this years announcement that Rite Aid and Walgreens are planning to close thousands of pharmacies including hundreds in Ohio and Michigan. Dave Burke, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association, said the announcement of the Walgreens closures especially made him concerned that PBMs practices are making the business of pharmacy untenable. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group speaks Tuesday, Sept. 17, at a Capitol Hill briefing urging the EPA to ban the use of the herbicide paraquat dichloride to protect farmworkers. (Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom.) WASHINGTON Public health advocates and farmworkers called for a federal ban on a toxic herbicide they say led to their Parkinsons disease during a Tuesday briefing for congressional staffers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will determine next year if the herbicide, paraquat dichloride, should have its license renewed for another 15 years. The herbicide is used for controlling weeds in agriculture settings. Its currently banned in more than 70 countries and has several serious health conditions its linked to, such as cancer and increases the likelihood of developing Parkinsons disease. Nora Jackson, a former farmworker of Indiana, said that her cousin, whose job it was to spray paraquat on farms, developed Parkinsons at 55 years old. Signs of Parkinsons usually appear around 60 years old. Farmworkers often have to do extremely risky jobs but it doesnt have to be that way, Jackson said. It is possible to have an agriculture system that does not depend so heavily on paraquat and it does not have to be a pesticide that puts so many peoples lives at risk. The disease has drastically affected his life, Jackson added. He now relies heavily on medication and uses a walking stick to be able to walk every day, she said. The briefing on the health risks of paraquat was hosted by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, which is an alliance for farmworker women, and the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that produces research and advocates for public health. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research was established by the actor who starred in blockbusters Back to the Future, Doc Hollywood and Teen Wolf. Fox was diagnosed with early onset Parkinsons at the age of 29. Ban necessary The EPA has until Jan. 17 to make a decision on paraquats future availability. Advocates at Tuesdays event called for the agency to deny paraquats license renewal, saying other regulations to reduce exposure to the herbicide have come up short. Keep in mind that people have been using this chemical as directed, and are still developing Parkinsons disease, Scott Faber, Environmental Working Groups senior vice president of government affairs, said. So putting more restrictions on how its used, when its used, what equipment you use, and so on, is not the answer. Parkinsons disease affects the nervous system and causes unintended shakiness, trouble with balance and stiffness. There is no cure. The California Legislature is moving to ban the herbicide. David Gilbert, of Valley City, Ohio, a former farmworker with a background in engineering, was diagnosed with Parkinsons in 2021. As a longtime environmental engineer, I understood the importance of personal protection equipment, and I particularly followed all safety protocols, he said. He sold his vineyard in 2019 because he wasnt feeling well and his hands were beginning to move slowly. My diagnosis changed everything, affecting every aspect of my life, from physical capabilities to emotional wellbeing, financial stability, he said. There is no cure for Parkinsons. It is degenerative and it will only get worse, not better. Charlene Tenbrink of Winters, California, was diagnosed with Parkinsons in 2020. She worked on her family farm from 1993 to 2000 where she would mix, load and spray paraquat. Tenbrink said she felt let down by the federal government because she was unaware of the health risks that paraquat could pose. Weve been trying to change this for a long time, she said. Health officials sound the alarm after confirming deaths caused by dangerous disease spread by mosquitos: 'Poses a serious risk' The summer months create more favorable conditions for mosquito populations, and health officials issued a warning after a disease spread by these insects resulted in tragedy. What's happening? As explained by ABC News last month, two recent deaths caused by the West Nile virus were recorded in Wisconsin along with another in Illinois, prompting health officials to sound the alarm over the dangers of mosquito-spread diseases. "Sadly, Illinois is reporting our first death of the year attributed to West Nile virus," Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement. "This death and the six that occurred last year in Illinois are a stark reminder that West Nile virus poses a serious risk, especially to older people and those with weakened immune systems." According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Wisconsin has an annual average of 18 reported cases of illness from West Nile virus. Why is this important? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named the West Nile virus the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States, with 491 human West Nile virus cases reported across 39 states in 2024 so far. West Nile virus has been a growing concern in various parts of the world due to rising global temperatures. As the planet heats up, mosquito populations increase, causing the virus to multiply more quickly and making regions once free of mosquito-borne diseases more vulnerable. For example, Europe saw 709 locally acquired cases and 67 deaths from West Nile virus in 2023, highlighting the increasing risk. Scientists have found that climate change is significantly responsible for establishing the West Nile virus in the southeastern part of the continent. While ABC News noted that the majority of people infected with West Nile virus won't show symptoms, some may experience headaches, joint pain, rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, or fatigue. In severe cases, it can lead to dangerous swelling of the brain or spinal cord, which can result in death. What's being done about this? To protect yourself from the West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne diseases, it's important to take measures to prevent mosquito bites. Using bug repellent and mosquito nets, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, and emptying any containers of still water are effective ways to reduce the risk of infection. Unfortunately, there is no current vaccine for West Nile virus, but most people who contract it will recover on their own. Staying informed and taking preventive actions can help keep you and your loved ones safe. 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. (WKBN)- A bankruptcy judge in Texas is giving the final okay to keep Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital open. The approval came Tuesday during a hearing, which lets Steward Health sever ties with its landlord Medical Properties Trust. The deal also lets Insight Health System provide interim management while it pursues ownership of both hospitals. In the meantime, Pennsylvania will continue funding operations at Sharon Regional Medical Center through December 1, which is when its expected to be purchased by Meadville Medical 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 WKBN.com. UNIONDALE, N.Y. (PIX11) You might want to avoid the area near Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday if youre not attending former President Donald Trumps rally. Heavier than usual traffic is expected in the area starting around 3 p.m., according to Nassau County police. PIX11s Traffic Center Here are the roads near Nassau Coliseum to watch out for: Hempstead Turnpike Charles Lindbergh Boulevard Earle Ovington Boulevard Glen Curtiss Boulevard Drivers are encouraged to find alternate routes. NICE buses may be detoured and delayed due to the expected increase in traffic near the arena. Riders should check their bus schedule in advance on the NICE Bus website or in the app. 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. Oleksandr Usyk is handcuffed before being led into a lift by Polish police (Sky News) Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk was dramatically led away in handcuffs as he passed through a Polish airport. Usyk, who was due in London, was detained in Krakow but spoke out soon after to clarify the incident was a misunderstanding. In footage posted to social media, the heavyweight world champion was seen being led away into a lift by five police officers. On Instagram, the 37-year-old wrote: Dear Friends. A misunderstanding took place. It was quickly resolved. Thanks to all who got concerned. Thanks to Ukrainian diplomats for the efficient support. And respect to Polish police for conducting their obligations with no regard to height, weight, reach, and regalia. His promoter Alex Krassyuk told SunSport: He was not arrested. A misunderstanding took place. He is free now. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram he was outraged by the attitude of police towards our citizen and champion. Reposting a photo of Usyk with their consul general in Krakow, Mr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered an investigation. Foreign minister Andrii Sybiha later confirmed he had contacted the Polish foreign ministry, as Ukraine considered the detention disproportionate and unacceptable. We immediately responded to the detention of Oleksandr Usyk in Krakow and facilitated his release, Mr Sybiha wrote on X. Oleksandr Usyk said being detained was a misunderstanding but did not provide more detail (PA Wire) Usyks wife, Kate, also posted on Instagram to explain that everything was fine and that the boxer would explain the reason for the incident. She wrote: Everything is ok, everything is fine. Alexander will explain everything later. Nothing to be criminal. Good night to you all. Usyk was set to fly into London to watch Anthony Joshuas all-British showdown against Daniel Dubois on Saturday. He is undefeated and regarded as the worlds best heavyweight, currently holding the WBC, WBO, and WBA belts. In May, he beat British boxer Tyson Fury to become the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000. He later vacated the IBF title to the UKs Dubois, who fights Joshua at Wembley. Usyk is also seen by many in Ukraine as a national hero and inspiration. WARREN, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of a beautiful soul, Helen Irene McGlynn, age 70. Helen passed away peacefully at her home on Sunday, September 15, 2024. She was born on October 2, 1952, in France to Nicholas and Anna Ignatiewa Brijatoff, who immigrated to the United States in 1958, and who preceded her in death. Find obituaries from your high school On May 21, 1994, Helen married the love of her life, James Jimmy McGlynn, who she is survived by. Together, they enjoyed camping excursions, entertaining family and friends during the holidays, summer cookouts, and spending time with their beloved cats. Helen also enjoyed spending time with her sisters and family reminiscing and laughing about stories of growing up and hopes of eventually growing old together. Helen was employed as a medical transcriptionist for over 20 years at Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield, Ohio. She was a gifted artist; enjoyed classical music; cooking for family gatherings; but most of all, Helen was the most loving, selfless, and giving individual that her family and friends were blessed to know. Her heart was huge, and she would naturally put the needs of others before her own. Helen had a love of nick-nacks to decorate and warm her home, especially a grandeur amount of the most unique salt and pepper shakers known to man. Helen knew how to make a house a home by her love for her husband, family, and friends; her warm smile; infectious laugh; kind spirit; and giving soul. Heaven surely gained a special angel. She will forever be remembered and missed by her husband of 29 years, Jimmy; sisters, Natalie (David) Boyle and Svetlana Rella; her children, JR Strickland, Rebecca Strickland (Joe Branstein), and Thomas Strickland (Lacey Hein); beloved grandchildren, Jaxon Branstein and Avery Jane Strickland; nieces, Anna Rella and Christa Rella; great-niece, Marcie Cottrell; nephews, Jeremy Buccilli and Brian Rella; sister-in-law, Colleen DiSanto; and brother-in-law, Pat (Sandra) McGlynn; as well as a host of extended family and friends. A private service will be held for family and close friends at a date to be determined. Please continue to keep the McGlynn family in your prayers. Our heartfelt thanks to the nurses and staff of Patriot Health Hospice in Girard, Ohio, for taking exceptional care of Helen during this difficult time. Arrangements are being handled by the Borowski Funeral Services & Oak Meadow Cremation Services. To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Helen, please visit our Tree Store. A television tribute will air Wednesday, September 18 at the following approximate times: 6:47 a.m. on WYTV, 9:43 a.m. on WKBN, 10:58 a.m. on FOX and 8:12 p.m. on MyYTV. Video will be posted here the day of airing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. What the hell do you have to lose? Trump makes plea to long-shot voters in New York Former President Donald Trump will make a campaign stop on Long Island, New York today, a state he has little chance of winning but is critical to maintaining GOP control of the House. The Queens-born Republican presidential candidate made a pitch to New York voters Tuesday afternoon on Truth Social, saying, Hundreds of thousands of Migrants, Crime at record levels, Terrorists pouring in, Inflation eating your hearts out - WHAT THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE? VOTE FOR TRUMP! Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign town hall meeting, moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in Flint, Michigan on September 17, 2024. New York traditionally votes with the Democratic Party and they made no exception for their hometown candidate in 2016 or 2020. Though born and raised in New York City, he was soundly rejected by voters in his home state in each election. But Trumps campaign stop on Wednesday, his second since the latest failed assassination attempt over the weekend, is more important for the down-ballot Republicans running in the Empire State. Several Republican-controlled House seats are vulnerable this year, including Reps. Anthony DEsposito of Long Island, Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro from the Hudson Valley, and Brandon Williams from Syracuse in upstate New York. Each faces a highly contested race in the November election. A member of the Nassau County Police Department stands guard outside the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum ahead of a rally to be held by Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Uniondale, New York on September 18, 2024. The Trump campaigns choice of visiting the NYC suburb of Nassau County is also no coincidence; the suburb has become a Republican stronghold in the last two years. Escalating crime in neighboring Manhattan during the COVID-19 pandemic saw Long Islanders increasingly turn to the Republican Party for answers, which promised to act as a safety net against New Yorks liberal policies. The strategy has worked. In 2022, Republicans won all four of Long Islands congressional seats and dominated local races in Nassau County, where Wednesdays rally is being held. Closing out his post, Trump made several promises to New Yorkers: Ill work with the Democrat Governor and Mayor, and make sure the funding is there to bring New York State back to levels it hasnt seen for 50 years. People are fleeing, maybe well get them to flee back! Trumps Long Island rally coincides with his original sentencing date for the Manhattan hush-money case. New York State Judge Juan Merchan was set to sentence him on September 18, but the sentencing has since been postponed to after the general election on Nov. 26. Melissa Cruz is an elections reporting fellow who focuses on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at mcruz@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump makes plea to long-shot voters in N.Y. in bid to help GOP [Getty Images] Google has won its challenge against a 1.49bn (1.26bn) fine from the EU for blocking rival online search advertisers. The bloc accused Google of abusing its market dominance by restricting third-party rivals from displaying search ads between 2006 and 2016. Europe's second-top court ruled the European Commission - which levied the fine - "committed errors in its assessment". The Commission said it would "reflect on possible next steps", which could include an appeal to the EU's top court. Google welcomed the ruling: "We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine," it said in a statement. "We will review the full decision closely," it added. It is a rare win for the tech giant, which was hit with fines worth a total of 8.2 billion euros between 2017 and 2019 over antitrust violations. It failed in its attempt to have one of those fines overturned last week. It is not just in Europe where it is under pressure over its highly lucrative ad tech business. Earlier this month, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally found it used anti-competitive practices to dominate the market. The US government is also taking the tech giant to court over the same issue, with prosecutors alleging its parent company, Alphabet, illegally operates a monopoly in the market. Alphabet has argued its market dominance is due to the effectiveness of its products. Restrictive clauses This case revolved around Google's AdSense product, which delivers adverts to websites - making Google almost like a broker for ads. The Commission concluded Google had abused its dominance to prevent websites from using brokers other than AdSense when they were seeking adverts for their web pages. It said the firm then added other "restrictive" clauses to its contracts to reinforce its market dominance - and levied a 1.49bn fine as a penalty. In its ruling, the EU's General Court upheld the majority of the Commissions findings - but annulled the decision by which the Commission imposed the fine It said the Commission had not considered "all the relevant circumstances" concerning the contract clauses and how it defined the market. Because of this, it ruled the Commission did not establish "an abuse of dominant position." Helping hands: AAUW State College to hold discussion on impact of vouchers on public schools The impact of vouchers on public schools is under discussion today. The top concern is taking funds away from public schools and giving them to non-public schools. AAUW State College is sponsoring a public program on this topic to give all community members an opportunity to learn more about it. We are interested in the funding issues because they affect all taxpayers and we are interested in accountability. The program will be held on Thursday, Sept. 26, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., in-person, at the College Township Municipal Building, 1481 E. College Ave., State College. For those unable to attend in-person, the program will also be held via Zoom. All attendees are asked to register in advance of the program, no later than Sept. 24. They may register online at bit.ly/SchoolVouchersRegistration or, by visiting the AAUW State College website, aauwstatecollege.org, at Coming Events. In general, school voucher programs lack accountability and benefit private schools. There is much more to consider as this topic is explored. In a June 2024 report bit.ly/SchoolVouchers-Accountability issued by the Keystone Research Center, the primary findings about voucher programs in Pennsylvania were as follows: Pennsylvanias existing voucher programs fund private and religious schools that are expensive, discriminatory and exclusive Students do not benefit equally from voucher programs Students in rural communities do not have access Private schools receiving vouchers discriminate Vouchers subsidize elite and expensive schools Who qualifies for vouchers and which schools will accept particular students is at issue Program speakers include Susan Spicka, Executive Director, Education Voters PA, and Sandra Miller, Advocacy Director, Education Voters PA and Public Policy Chair of AAUW Pennsylvania. AAUW State College member Carline Crevecoeur will serve as program moderator and lead the Q&A session. Our main goal should be to improve our public education system, rather than dismantling it in favor of privatization plans that fail to support many children. For further information or questions, contact education@aauwstatecollege.org. Mary Dupuis is the AAUW State College Public Policy co-chair and Carline Crevecoeur is a member of the AAUW State College Education Committee. A St. Louis liquor store hung a sign announcing Gov. Mike Parson's executive order to ban intoxicating hemp beverages (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons ban on intoxicating hemp products hit another hurdle on Tuesday, resulting in an indefinite pause on a huge part of the effort. Richard Moore, general counsel for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said in a letter Tuesday that the states health regulators will stop embargoing or tagging products simply because they contain hemp-derived THC. In regard to psychoactive cannabis products, the department will focus its efforts on the identification of misbranded products, Moore wrote to the Missouri Hemp Trade Associations attorney, Chuck Hatfield. When Parson signed his executive order on Aug. 1, he said his primary focus was to protect children consuming the products that resemble popular candy, like Lifesavers, but contain the intoxicating compound of the cannabis plant, THC. I trust that you understand that the consumption of these products may be dangerous, Moore states, and that under no circumstances should they end up in the hands of Missouris children. The departments effort will now focus on just that not banning all intoxicating hemp products. If the department identifies any such misbranded products, it will refer those products to the Missouri Attorney Generals Office for potential enforcement under the States Merchandising Practices Act The letter comes after the Missouri Hemp Trade Association filed for a temporary restraining order against the department on Monday in response to the department inspecting a VFW post on Sept. 11, Hatfield said. We asked for the (temporary restraining order), Hatfield said, and in response, we got this letter, which is the same thing we would have accomplished with the (temporary restraining order. The motion for the restraining order states that the governors order directs the department to designate foods adulterated simply because they contain hemp products, in direct contravention of Missouri law. In Moores letter, he acknowledges that state law says, a food shall not be considered adulterated solely for containing industrial hemp, or an industrial hemp commodity or product. It is the same law fueling the Missouri Hemp Trade Associations lawsuit against the governors ban. As of Sept. 12, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services officials have inspected 74 establishments this month and found intoxicating products at 42 of them, said Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the department. During the visits, inspectors have asked the store owners to destroy the products within the facilities. If they dont, inspectors tag them as embargoed. According to Moores letter, all psychoactive cannabis products that the department has tagged as an embargoed product will be referred to the attorney generals office for evaluation of misbranding violations. The department has no intention at this time to embargo additional psychoactive cannabis products as adulterated, the letter states. Further, within 30 days after referral to the attorney generals office, the department will release all currently embargoed products and remove all embargo tags. Once embargo tags are removed, it states, such products will not be subject to an embargo as long as there is no court order prohibiting its sale or ordering its destruction. Pending further action from the General Assembly as to intoxicating cannabis products, the letter states, the department believes that channeling future enforcement authority via the Merchandising Practices Act is the best way to ensure that Missouri consumers know what they are purchasing and ingesting, and to keep harmful products out of the hands of children. Missouri Hemp Trade Association spokesperson Craig Katz said the association supports the attorney generals efforts to prosecute bad actors marketing counterfeit and misbranded hemp products to children. This is the appropriate regulatory and law enforcement focus, Katz said. We hope to follow this with a strong legislative effort in 2025 to further assure consumers and other stakeholders that hemp products are safe, tightly regulated, and available to ensure public safety. There are about 9,000 retailers statewide currently selling hemp-derived beverages and edibles. Hemp industry leaders argue the order also bans products that arent attractive to children, have gone through lab testing and are only sold to customers 21 and up. Hatfield said the association never believed stores should stop selling intoxicating hemp products that dont market to children. But the departments Tuesday letter gives the green light to begin sales again, he said. In light of yesterdays letter, Hatfield said, hemp sales are back on. Here's What's Going On With That Class-Action Lawsuit Against MrBeast And Amazon MrBeast and Amazon are facing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of five unnamed contestants in the Beast Games reality competition show. Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images YouTube star MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson), with more than 316 million subscribers, partnered with Amazon to host what was set to be the largest reality show in history, with over 1,000 contestants and a $5-million prize. Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Nickelodeon On Sept. 16, a complaint was filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court alleging the contestants were subjected to "chronic mistreatment," sexual harassment, emotional distress, and more. Everything is included in this redacted copy of the complaint. In the redacted complaint, it's mentioned that female contestants allegedly suffered from a fostered culture and pattern of misogyny and sexism. Denise Truscello / Getty Images for Amazon's Crown Channel Additionally, the class-action lawsuit on behalf of all the contestants demands they be compensated for allegedly unpaid wages, expenses, and monetary damages during their time on the show. According to the lawsuit, MrBeast publicly stated that all contestants were to get paid if they competed for "just five minutes" because money was "not a constraint," and Amazon gave him complete creative control. Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images for MrBeast Burger The lawsuit alleges that MrBeast's production company, Off One's Base LLC, failed to pay overtime and minimum wages, didn't provide the contestants with uninterrupted meal breaks and rest breaks, didn't provide workers compensation benefits, and exposed them to "dangerous circumstances and conditions as a condition of their employment." The lawsuit claims that they were not given adequate access to hygienic products or medical care even if they suffered injuries from physical challenges. Contestants allegedly ended up hospitalized, while others reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic mistreatment and degradation. As for the female contestants, the lawsuit claims they also suffered hostile working conditions and sexual harassment. Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images for MrBeast Burger While many elements of the complaint are redacted, it claims "the Beast Games Production was so void of standards of reasonable care that MrBeast allegedly offered to cover the contestants' therapy." According to Variety, one of the female plaintiffs, identified in the complaint as "Contestant 5," said, "I wanted to join because I was a fan of MrBeast and his videos made me smile during the COVID-19 pandemic. I expected to be challenged, but I didn't think I would be treated like nothing less than nothing. And as one of the women, I can say it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us. We honestly could not have been respected less as people, much less employees if they tried." Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images for MrBeast Burger Although Amazon has claimed it will be "the world's largest live gameshow," Beast Games has yet to receive a release date. BuzzFeed has reached out to reps for MrBeast and Amazon for comments. First responders found the pup unresponsive in a kennel as they put out a blaze on Sept. 16 Unified Fire/Instagram Firefighters save dog with CPR after rescuing it from Utah fire A Utah dog is safe and sound thanks to a group of firefighters and some pet CPR! On Monday, Sept. 16, first responders from Unified Fire Authority (UFA) responded to an apartment building on fire in Midvale, Utah, where they found a dog in need of urgent, lifesaving first aid, local outlet FOX 13 reported. According to the outlet, the UFA crews responded to the scene of the apartment fire at around 5:30 a.m. Upon arrival, they saw flames coming out of each of the buildings units. After the firefighters extinguished the blaze, rescuers determined no building residents were harmed in the fire at least, no human ones. Unified Fire/Instagram Firefighters administer CPR to a dog they rescued from a Utah fire While the units were almost entirely vacant, a dog was found unresponsive in a kennel inside one of the apartments, FOX 13 reported. Related: 3 Abandoned German Shepherd Puppies Rescued from Dumpster at California Business Park The canine was removed from the building and taken outside, where UFA crews administered lifesaving pet CPR. In a Instagram post documenting the critical moment, the UFA included photos of firefighters holding the pup and using a mask to provide the dog with a continuous oxygen flow. Unified Fire/Instagram Firefighters administer CPR to a dog they rescued from a Utah fire A final photo showed the dog sitting up after the CPR and receiving a pat on the head. "Not all heroes wear capes sometimes they carry leashes," the UFA wrote on social media. "Today, company 110 had the incredible opportunity to rescue a dog from a fire." "Moments like these remind us how lucky we are to protect not only our community but also our furry family members," the caption concluded. "Grateful for the chance to save lives, human and animal alike. ." According to FOX 13, fire officials believe the blaze which caused an estimated $100,000 in damages to the apartment building was caused by a cooking fire, but the fire is still under investigation. 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. Unified Fire/Instagram Firefighters pet a dog after saving it from a fire A recent fire in a bordering state had a more bittersweet ending: a beloved Chihuahua sacrificed her life to save her family from a blaze. Last month in Colorado, a family pet named Cuddles went missing after alerting Suzanne and Victor Elkins to a fire in their house near Denver. The 7-year-old Chihuahua was missing for several days before firefighters found her dead inside the home. "Cuddles hopped on Victor's chest and barked in his face to wake him up to let us know there was a danger," Suzanne recalled to Denver outlet KUSA. Related: California Rescue Dog Surfing for Years Wins Her First Surf Competition After Overcoming Cancer (Exclusive) Suzanne said the loss of Cuddles was "hard on all of us," especially her 13-year-old grandson Jaxson Coley, to whom the beloved pet belonged. Coley told KUSA he was "still in shock" at the loss and remembered Cuddles as "very playful and loving." He also shared that her love for giving hugs inspired her name: "She just wanted to cuddle everybody." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. By Jonathan Saul, Steven Scheer and Ari Rabinovitch LONDON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The mass pager attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon has turned the spotlight on Israel's secretive Unit 8200, the Israel Defense Forces' intelligence unit, which a Western security source said was involved in planning the operation. Israeli officials have remained silent on the audacious intelligence operation that killed 12 people on Tuesday and wounded thousands of Hezbollah operatives. At least one person was killed on Wednesday when hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated. A senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters that Israel's Mossad spy agency was responsible for a sophisticated operation to plant a small quantity of explosives inside 5,000 pagers ordered by Hezbollah. One Western security source told Reuters that Unit 8200, a military unit that is not part of the spy agency, was involved in the development stage of the operation against Hezbollah which was over a year in the making. The source said Unit 8200 was involved in the technical side of testing how they could insert explosive material within the manufacturing process. The Israeli military declined to comment. The prime minister's office that has oversight of Mossad did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Yossi Kuperwasser, a former military intelligence official and now research director at the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said there was no confirmation that the military intelligence unit was involved in the attack. But he said 8200's members were some of the best and brightest personnel in the Israeli military, serving in a unit at the centre of Israel's defence capabilities. "The challenges they are facing are immense, very demanding, and we need the best people to get involved in that," he said. The unit - and its legion of young, hand-picked soldiers - develops and operates intelligence gathering tools and is often likened to the U.S. National Security Agency. In a rare public statement about the unit's activities, the IDF said in 2018 that it had helped to thwart an air attack by Islamic State on a Western country. At the time, it said the unit's operations ran from intelligence gathering and cyber defence to "technological attacks and strikes." While Israel has never confirmed its involvement, Unit 8200 was reported to have been involved in the Stuxnet attack that disabled Iranian nuclear centrifuges as well as a series of other high profile operations outside Israel. YOUNG RECRUITS The unit is effectively Israel's early warning system, and like much of the rest of the defence and security establishment, shouldered some of the blame for failing to detect Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel. Its commander last week said he was stepping down. In his resignation letter carried by Israeli media he said he hadn't fulfilled his mission. The unit is famous for a work culture that emphasizes out-of-the-box thinking to tackle issues previously not encountered or imagined. This helped some graduates build Israel's high-tech sector and some of its biggest companies. "Whether it's a problem with software weakness, math, encryption, a problem hacking into something ... you must be capable to do it on your own," said Avi Shua, a graduate of 8200, who went on to co-found Orca Security, a cloud security unicorn. The unit has a high turnover rate of young recruits replacing veterans, said Kobi Samboursky, another former 8200 member and Managing Partner at Glilot Capital Partners, an early stage fund investing in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. "The most significant thing here is the 'can-do' culture, where everything is possible," Samboursky said. (Reporting by Steven Scheer and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Jonathan Saul in London; Editing by Ros Russell) Hezbollah pager attacks are a harbinger of a darker, more dangerous age of individualized strikes, military expert says Wireless pagers used by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday. The attack killed at least nine people and injured about 2,800, Lebanon's health minister said. It heralds a "darker" and "more dangerous" era of individualized attack, one military expert said. The simultaneous detonation of thousands of pagers in Lebanon on Tuesday is a harbinger of a darker and more dangerous age of individualized attacks, a retired general and warfare strategist said. Wireless pagers used by Iran-backed Hezbollah members detonated around Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and injuring about 2,800, 200 of whom are in critical condition, Lebanon's health minister said. Hezbollah and Lebanon have both blamed Israel . A US State Department spokesperson said Washington was not involved in the incident and was not aware of any attack in advance. US and other officials told The New York Times that Israel carried out the attack by placing explosives within a shipment of Taiwanese-made pagers sent to Lebanon. The pagers were ordered by Hezbollah and were tampered with before they reached Lebanon, some of the officials said. Three officials said they were programmed to detonate upon receiving a specific message. As of now, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, although Sky News Arabia, citing unnamed sources, reported that Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, placed the explosives. If Israel was behind the attack, it would carry "profound implications" for Hezbollah and the future of warfare, Mick Ryan, a former Australian major general, wrote in an article published on Wednesday. "This is yet another demonstration that individuals are increasingly vulnerable to highly precise and personalized attacks," he said. Ryan said the use of armed first-person-view drones on the battlefields in Ukraine and Russia demonstrates that lethal, personalized attacks have escalated in the past two years. He said that the use of explosive mobile devices has been "relatively" rare and that this latest incident has shown that these kinds of attacks are now possible at scale and "well beyond" the battlefield. "These kinds of attacks do not require the resources of a state either," he said. "They are possible from motivated individuals or issue-motivated groups if they can access the personal devices of government officials or politicians." Ryan added that such an attack should not come as a surprise. "Nations have been developing ever more precise ways of targeting individuals, equipment, and installations since the US Air Force developed laser-guided bombs during the Vietnam War," he said. Yousef Munayyer, a senior fellow at Arab Center Washington DC, made a similar observation in an X post on Tuesday. He said the pager attack on Hezbollah "opens a dangerous Pandora's box" and makes almost everyone a "walking ticking bomb." "It won't be long before this tech will be used by many actors," Munayyer predicted. Read the original article on Business Insider By Emilie Madi and Timour Azhari BEIRUT (Reuters) - When streams of bloodied people converged on Lebanon's hospitals on Tuesday, it was a test of whether the crisis-hit health sector could cope with a mass casualty event like what could be expected in a wider war with Israel. Frontline workers described hellish scenes: victims of thousands of small explosions linked to pagers used by militant group Hezbollah rushed in, some with organs protruding, others with faces missing eyes or hands missing fingers. Lebanon has lurched from one crisis to another in recent years, including a 2019 financial collapse and the 2020 Beirut port blast, but Health Minister Firas Abiad said the sector had responded well, thanks in part to months of preparation. "The response was good and most importantly, we were able to get care to those who needed it, especially for those with serious injuries," he said in a news conference on Wednesday, noting the low number of deaths compared to injuries. Over 2,700 people arrived at 20 Lebanese hospitals after the blasts, Abiad said, some 300 in critical condition. The death toll stands at 12, he added. More than 400 surgeries were carried out on Tuesday, the majority for facial and eye injuries. "Yesterday was a very big test. Could we be going towards bigger tests? I don't know," he said. Some healthcare workers described a strong sense of foreboding over what may yet come as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah reach fever pitch, raising fears of a wider war. Government money for hospitals has dried up and thousands of doctors and nurses have left the country, placing a greater strain on those who remain. Elias Jrade, a veteran eye surgeon and Lebanese lawmaker, said he operated for more than 12 hours straight after Tuesday's blasts, dealing with the most serious cases that required reconstruction surgery. "I didn't understand why we were trained to keep down our emotions until I started doing this, till I saw many of the things we faced yesterday and those that we might face in the future," he said, breaking down in tears at his Beirut practise. Speaking to Reuters during a short break before heading back to work, he compared the scale of the injuries to the Aug. 4, 2020 chemical blast at Beirut port that killed more than 200 people and left some 6,000 wounded. "You are reconstructing each patient to reconstruct part of Lebanon, to bring Lebanon back to life," Jrade said. Dania El Hallak, a healthcare professional at a Beirut hospital, said she was struggling to cope with what she had seen so far. "I had to remove bandages only to find no eyeballs in place," she said. "I saw people slaughtered for the first time. Is it possible to ever recover from such a sight?" (Reporting by Emilie Madi and Timour Azhari; Editing by Christina Fincher) At least 20 more people were killed and 450 injured in Lebanon on Wednesday after a series of new explosions of wireless devices rocked the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Ministry of Health and the Lebanese Red Cross. Ten Hezbollah members were among those killed on Wednesday, the group confirmed. More than 30 ambulances are providing treatment and evacuations to wounded people in Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Red Cross said. At least 95 people injured in the Wednesday explosions have been transferred to Iran for medical treatment, according to emergency officials in Lebanon. The Lebanese Army command has asked citizens not to gather in places witnessing security incidents to allow medical teams to arrive. PHOTO: People react after a reported explosion occurred during the funeral of those killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept. 18, 2024. (Fadel Itani/AFP via Getty Images) PHOTO: A partly damaged car after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sept. 18, 2024. (Mohammad Zaatari/AP) Members of the Lebanese Civil Defense are working to extinguish fires that broke out inside homes, cars and shops in the Bekaa, the South, Mount Lebanon and the southern suburbs due to the explosions, officials said. All walkie-talkie devices were taken from security services members at the Rafiq Harir International Airport in Beirut after news of the devices exploding. Pagers explode across Lebanon on Tuesday At least 12 civilians were killed and at least 2,800 people injured in the explosions that took place Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities. Around 460 of the injuries were critical and required surgery, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Most victims are suffering from eye and facial injuries, while others suffered injuries to hands and fingers, he said. Israel was behind the deadly explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, sources told ABC News on Wednesday. There was about 1 to 2 ounces of explosives in each of the pagers that exploded Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the attacks. The Hezbollah militant group said it is conducting a "security and scientific investigation" into the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday. An ambulance carrying wounded people whose handheld pager exploded arrives outside at the American University hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (Hassan Ammar/AP) Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though -- as is typical in its statements -- did not specify how they died. "We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds," Hezbollah said of the pager explosions in a Tuesday statement. In a Wednesday morning statement, Hezbollah said it would continue operations to "support Gaza," and vowed a "reckoning" for Israel for the "massacre on Tuesday." The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah. Lebanese officials said that an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy are among the dead. At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria on Tuesday, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Israel has not commented on explosions Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in the apparent attack, which prompted chaos in the capital Beirut and elsewhere in Hezbollah's south Lebanon heartland. Around 100 hospitals received wounded people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said, with hospitals in Beirut and its southern suburb quickly filling to capacity. Patients were then directed to other hospitals outside the region. MORE: Thousands injured, several dead after pagers explode across Lebanon: Health officials The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured in an explosion Tuesday, according to the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations. The diplomat said in a phone call that he was "feeling well and fully conscious," according to Iranian state TV. "I am proud and honored that my blood has become one with the blood of the honorable Lebanese people, as a result of the horrific terrorist crime that targeted our brotherly Lebanon yesterday. This noble country has stood with dignity and pride since the first day of al-Aqsa Storm," Amani said Wednesday. The Iranian ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, called the alleged Israeli attack an act of a "terrorist nature, aimed at escalating tensions in the region." "The Islamic Republic of Iran will duly follow up on the attack against its ambassador in Lebanon, which resulted in his injury, and reserves its rights under international law to take required measures deemed necessary to respond to such a heinous crime and violation," the ambassador wrote in a letter to the U.N. secretary-general, the president of the U.N. Security Council and the president of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday while calling on them to condemn the attack. Fears grow of Israel-Hezbollah escalation The alleged Israeli operation has again piqued fears of escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ongoing since Oct. 8, when members of the Iranian-backed group began cross-border attacks in support of Hamas' war with Israel in the Gaza Strip. Frontier skirmishes, Israeli strikes and Hezbollah rocket and artillery salvoes have been near-constant through 11 months of war in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to launch a new military operation against Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in border regions due to the fighting. The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes hit Hezbollah targets in six locations in southern Lebanon overnight into Wednesday. Artillery strikes were also conducted, it added. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to make a public address on Thursday afternoon to address the situation. In February, Nasrallah urged members to stop using their cellphones, describing the technology as "a deadly agent." Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) (Hussein Malla/AP) Schools across Lebanon were closed on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, citing the country's Minister of Education. Schools and offices closed included public and private schools, high schools, technical institutes, the Lebanese University and private higher education institutions, Lebanese state media reported. The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned "this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards." It added that "the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime." World reacts to pager attacks The U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon condemned the attack on Lebanon, calling it an "extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context," in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference in Egypt on Wednesday that the U.S. "did not know about and was not involved" in Israel's pager attacks in Lebanon and Syria -- but said that officials were still gathering information and did not directly blame Israel. "Broadly speaking, we've been very clear, and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we're trying to resolve in Gaza," Blinken said. Its spread to other fronts, he added, is "clearly not in the interest of anyone involved." A cease-fire deal in Gaza, Blinken added, would "materially improve the prospects of defusing the situation" on the Israeli-Lebanese border and allow thousands of people living near the area on both sides of the divide to return home. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby also told reporters that the U.S. was not involved in Tuesday's or Wednesday's incidents "in any way." "We still don't want to see an escalation of any kind," he said. "We still believe that the best way to prevent escalation, to prevent another front from opening up in Lebanon, is through diplomacy." The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization. ABC News' Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston, Ghazi Balkiz, Morgan Winsor, Anne Flaherty, Nasser Atta, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller and Helena Skinner contributed to this report. 20 more dead, 450 injured as new round of explosions rocks Lebanon: Health officials originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Hezbollah vows to uniquely punish Israel after second wave of booby traps A car burns after fresh explosions in Beirut Hezbollah has vowed Israel will be uniquely punished after a second wave of explosive booby fire traps struck the terror group across Lebanon. Revenge is inevitable, a senior Hezbollah official said after at least 20 people were killed and 450 more injured in Wednesdays attack, which saw walkie-talkies explode across Beirut and throughout the country. We will confront the enemy with a new approach so that they know we are a people who will not retreat, said Seyed Hashem Safiuddin, without providing any details. The resistance tells Netanyahu that we are present and our capabilities remain unharmed, he added. It comes after Israel said it was preparing to enter a new phase of war which involves a greater focus on the north near its border with Lebanon. Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, said the militarys resources and forces are being diverted away from Gaza to the north. We are at the onset of a new phase in the war, it requires courage, determination and perseverance from us, Mr Gallant said without referencing the two consecutive days of handheld devices exploding across Lebanon. Wednesdays wave of explosions followed a similar attack on Tuesday which saw pagers explode across the country, killing at least 12 people and injuring thousands more. Israel is yet to comment on allegations that it is behind the attacks. The countrys military did, however, say that Israeli fighter jets struck several buildings in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. The IDF said the airstrikes targeted a rocket launcher and other buildings used by Hezbollah. More than 40 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel, the IDF added. 08:56 PM BST Thats all for today Thanks for following our live coverage. 08:09 PM BST Pictured: defence minister briefs troops in northern Israel Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, brief troops earlier on Wednesday about plans to shift focus towards the north of the country, near the border with Lebanon. Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, briefs troops on plans to shift focus towards the border with Lebanon - Anadolu 07:50 PM BST No10: attacks deeply concerning The situation in Lebanon is deeply concerning, Downing Street has said after the latest wave of attacks. In a statement, a Number 10 spokesperson said the prime minister and the Government continued to monitor the situation closely. We are working with our international partners to urge calm and de-escalation at this critical time, the spokesperson said. 07:28 PM BST Watch: timelapse of explosions in Beirut Smoke could be seen rising from at least nine locations along Beiruts skyline as the city was rocked by a second day of exploding device attacks. 07:13 PM BST In pictures: radio device explodes in apartment A variety of devices exploded in todays attack, ranging from walkie-talkies to home solar energy systems. Pictured below is one of the radio devices that exploded in an apartment in the city of Baalbek, east Lebanon. The remnants of a radio device which exploded in the eastern city of Baalbek, Lebanon - Anadolu The aftermath of an explosion in an apartment in the city of Baalbek, east Lebanon - Anadolu 06:52 PM BST Death toll rises to 14, says health ministry The number of people killed in Wednesdays attacks has risen to 14, the Lebanese health ministry said. More than 450 people were injured, it added. 06:50 PM BST Hezbollah told to accept ceasefire deal or risk all-out war A senior Israeli official has warned Hezbollah it risks an all-out regional war if it does not accept the ceasefire deal proposed by the US. The one who can stop the escalation is Nasrallah if he announces that he is willing to accept the US framework, the official told Ynet. If not, we are willing to go all the way. Earlier we reported that Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, warned that the attacks in Lebanon could derail attempts to secure a ceasefire (see 5.15pm post). 06:37 PM BST Foreign Office monitoring situation closely A Foreign Office Spokesperson said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and are concerned by the rising tensions and civilian casualties in Lebanon. The UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. 06:30 PM BST Netanyahu vows to return displaced residents to the north Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to return displaced Israelis to their homes in the north after the IDF said it was ready to carry out the next two stages of its war plan near its border with Lebanon. I have said it before, we will return to the citizens of the north to their homes in security and thats exactly what we are going to do, the Israeli prime minister said in a short statement - his first since the Lebanon attacks. 06:22 PM BST Which areas were targeted by walkie-talkie blasts? 06:12 PM BST IDF: we are ready for the next stage of war with Hezbollah The IDF has said Hezbollah should be ready to pay a high price as Israel prepares to enter a new phase of war. Herzl Halevi, the IDFs chief of staff, said the next two stages of Israels war is plan is ready to move forward. We have achieved a lot, and we still have further forward to go. We still have many capabilities that we have not yet activated. We saw some of these things here, and it seems to me that the readiness is good and we are preparing these plans going forward, Mr Halevi said. The rule is that every time we work on a certain stage, the next two stages are already ready to advance. At each stage, the price for Hezbollah must be high. One of the IDFs primary goals is to allow evacuated residents to return to their homes in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon. 06:07 PM BST Germany stops sending weapons to Israel - report Germany has stopped sending new weapons to Israel as it waits for the outcomes of legal challenges, the Reuters news agency has reported. Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($363.5 million) last year, which has fallen to 14.5 million euros worth so far this year. Of this, the weapons of war accounted for just 32,449 euros. A source told the news agency this was because the German government was waiting for the outcome on a series of legal cases which have looked into whether exports have breached humanitarian law. Germany is the second biggest exporter to Israel after the United States. Berlin has not commented on the report. 05:54 PM BST Analysis: could Hamas be about to get what it always wanted? Two messages have been conveyed to Hezbollah in the past 48 hours with a double wave of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies; Israel can hit the terror group whenever and wherever it wants. And now Israels defence minister has said that a new phase of the war has begun in the north, bordering Lebanon. We know that the army has already been preparing for a ground invasion, conducting exercises and deploying troops from Gaza to the Lebanon border. But the warnings about military preparedness in the north - and explosions on the streets of Beirut - could merely be an effort to pressure Hezbollah into backing down from its daily rocket and drone attacks across the border. However, Hezbollah says it will not stop attacking Israel until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. With no ceasefire in sight, there is a chance that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could be about to accomplish his goal: a regional war. 05:46 PM BST UN security council to meet over attacks The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet on Friday over the attacks which have rocked Hezbollah and Lebanon, according to Slovenias UN ambassador. Antonio Guterres, the UNs secretary-general, said earlier on Wednesday that the attacks risk a dramatic escalation in Lebanon and everything must be done to avoid that escalation. 05:19 PM BST Gallant: Israel entering new phase of war Israel is entering a new phase of war which involves a greater focus on the north near the border with Lebanon, the Israeli defence minister has said. Addressing Israeli troops at the Ramat David airbase in northern Israel, Yoav Gallant said: The center of gravity is shifting to the north, by diverting resources and forces [there]. We are at the onset of a new phase in the war, it requires courage, determination and perseverance from us. Israel is yet to comment on allegations that it is behind the exploding devices attacks which rocked Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. 05:15 PM BST Blinken: device attacks threaten to derail Gaza ceasefire talks Surprise escalations in the Middle East could derail attempts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has said. Asked earlier on Wednesday about the initial wave of explosions, Mr Blinken said: Time and again...weve seen an event that ... threatens to slow it, stop it, derail it. Washington believes the best way to prevent a wider regional war from breaking out in the Middle East is to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. But some senior Israeli figures have repeatedly called for the militarys focus to move away from Gaza and towards Hezbollah in Lebanon. 05:02 PM BST Hezbollah: attacks will be uniquely punished The head of Hezbollahs executive council said the Lebanese terror group will confront Israel with a new approach after the explosions. We will confront the enemy with a new approach so that they know we are a people who will not retreat, said Seyed Hashem Safiuddin, without providing details. He added, The resistance tells Netanyahu that we are present and our capabilities remain unharmed. He said the injured fighters would soon go back to the battlefields. These attacks will certainly be uniquely punished, he warned. Revenge is inevitable. 04:55 PM BST Nine dead and 300 injured, says health ministry At least nine people were killed and 300 more injured by a second wave of device explosions in Lebanon, the countrys health ministry said. 04:51 PM BST Pictured: firefighters assess blaze inside phone shop after explosion Two firefighters prepare to tackle a fire inside a mobile shop were several devices exploded in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon - AP 04:46 PM BST Hezbollah fires 20 rockets at Israel The IDF said 20 rockets were fired from Lebanon at Kiryat Shmona around an hour ago. Some of the rockets were intercepted, Israels military said. There were no reported injuries. Israels Iron Dome air system intercepts Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon - AFP 04:44 PM BST Watch: car burns in Beirut after device blows up inside 04:40 PM BST Beiruts hospitals already at full capacity before new wave of explosions Moments before the latest round of explosions in Lebanon we had been talking to Dr Saleh Zein-el-Dine, chief medical officer at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, writes Adrian Massie-Blomfield from Beirut. All 12 operating theatres in the hospital were running at full capacity, he said, with a large number of those injured in yesterdays pager attacks still waiting to undergo surgery. With 190 victims coming through the centres doors, 140 of whom were still receiving treatment, exhausted surgeons were working round the clock to clear the backlog. Given the number of facial injuries, eye doctors and ENT specialists were particularly struggling to deal with the caseload. Then came todays attacks and the hospital is again on standby to receive a fresh batch of casualties. It is difficult to see how they will cope. 04:35 PM BST Analysis: Israels intentions remain unclear Yesterday thousands of Hezbollahs pagers exploded with devastating results. Today it is the terrorist groups walkie talkies that are detonating in the hands of its fighters. Irans largest and most prestigious terrorist proxy in the Middle East appears to have been well and truly compromised by Israels Mossad intelligence service. Israel has a long history of extrajudicial assassinations dating back to the Munich Massacre of 1972 but never has it unleashed a series of strikes on this scale. It remains unclear what its intentions are - is it a prelude to a full scale invasion of southern Lebanon or is it just another so-called mowing of the lawn? And how might Hezbollah react? How will it respond to what military analysts characterise as its humiliation and - in several cases - the literal emasculation of its fighters? In Tehran, the terrorist groups masters will almost certainly be demanding patience and restraint, or what the Ayatollah calls heroic flexibility. Israel is already locked in a multifront war, a large part of its population remains displaced, its economy is tanking and in many parts of the world it has come to be regarded as a pariah state. Will Iran and Hezbollah - already pariahs - pursue all-out war, or will heroic flexibility prevail again? We will have to wait and see. 04:28 PM BST Home solar energy systems explode in Beirut - report Home solar energy systems were among the devices that exploded in Beirut in the latest round of attacks, Lebanons official news agency reported. 04:25 PM BST Devices explode inside cars and apartment buildings The aftermath of an explosion inside a car in southern Lebanon The aftermath of an explosion inside an apartment in southern Lebanon 04:20 PM BST United Nations cars pelted with stones Video footage showed members of the public in Lebanon throwing stones at UNIFIL cars in the streets. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon consists of 10,000 peacekeepers whose aim is to protect the south of the country, where the devices have been exploding. Lebanese people now pelting UNIFIL forces with stones. pic.twitter.com/miunRYBuVg Clash Report (@clashreport) September 18, 2024 04:17 PM BST Exploding devices were discontinued walkie-talkies The devices exploding across Beirut on Wednesday were discontinued Japan-made amateur VFH transceivers. They were manufactured in 2004. It is unclear when they were discontinued. Based on its appearance and the visible markings, this device seems to be the ICOM IC-V82 model. https://t.co/QVwy22Tx6t pic.twitter.com/MwXaT1JDmr Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) September 18, 2024 04:05 PM BST In pictures: explosions across Lebanon Flames rise up a building in Lebanon amid the explosions People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon - Reuters A house in Baalbek in east Lebanon exploded as part of the suspected Israeli attack - AFP 03:55 PM BST At least three killed, hundreds wounded Three people have been killed in the latest device blasts, Reuters reported, citing a Lebanese state news agency. The deaths were reported from the Bekaa region, in the east of the country. A security source said that hundreds had been wounded, many with injuries to the stomach and hands. 03:43 PM BST Watch: Explosion at Hezbollah funeral Footage showed an explosion taking place during a funeral procession, which was taking place for a person who was killed in Tuesdays initial attack. 03:40 PM BST Pictured: various devices exploded Explosions have hit multiple devices, including walkie-talkies, a fingerprint security lock and a motorbike. A radio integrated into a motorcycle exploded in Beirut A walkie-talkie that is reported to have exploded in Beirut The aftermath of an explosion on a fingerprint security lock 03:37 PM BST Multiple cars alight and apartments on fire in Beirut Two-way radios & more pagers appear to have just been detonated in areas of #Beirut, the #Bekaa & elsewhere in #Lebanon -- all about 20mins ago. Multiple cars alight, apartments on fire -- more injuries. Hospitals filling up again. pic.twitter.com/XNA7WMABaI Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) September 18, 2024 02:53 PM BST Pictured: Hundreds line streets for funeral of 9-year-old killed in pager explosion Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral for the youngest victim of the pager explosions, 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah. Fatima was one of two children among the 12 killed by blasts across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday in an attack blamed on Israel that targeted Hezbollah fighters. The enemy killed us using this small device! the mourners chanted as they walked to the cemetery. They killed our child Fatima! Zeinab Mousawi, Fatimas aunt, told The New York Times that she had just returned home from her first day of fourth grade. Many of her school friends attended the funeral. Mourners attend the funeral ceremony held for Fatima Abdullah, 9, who was killed in a pager explosion - Anadolu Fatima was one of two children among the 12 killed in the widespread attacks - Anadolu Hundreds attended the funeral in Beqaa, eastern Lebanon - Anadolu 02:34 PM BST Iranian president says Lebanon blasts should shame Israels allies Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that Western backers of Israel should feel shame after paging devices belonging to Lebanons Hezbollah exploded. Western countries and the Americans... fully support the crimes, killings and indiscriminate assassinations of the Zionist regime, Mr Pezeshkian said in a statement, referring to Israel, adding that the explosions should bring them shame. 02:13 PM BST 15/18 paragraphs agreed in ceasefire deal - Blinken Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said on Wednesday that Washington has made progress on a Gaza ceasefire deal over the past month and a half. He said 15 paragraphs had been agreed out of 18 by Israel and Hamas, but remaining issues needed to be resolved. One of those issues is the Philadelphi corridor, the strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border. Badr Abdelatty, Egypts Foreign Minister, said in a press conference with his US counterpart that Egypt will not accept any changes to pre-Oct 7 rules for security on its border with Gaza as well as the operation of the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side. Antony Blinken and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty give a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, Sep 18 - Shutterstock 01:58 PM BST Anxiety, anger and defiance in Lebanon There is a mood of anxiety, anger and defiance outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center where many have gathered to hear news of injured friends and relatives being treated inside for wounds sustained in yesterdays pager attacks. Because of their connections to Hezbollah, none would give their names, but one woman told me that her son-in-law was in the operating theatre after receiving injuries to his eyes and hands when his pager exploded. She and her daughter had been trawling Beiruts hospitals trying to find him and only tracked him down this morning. Her two grandsons, aged six and ten, have been told what has happened. Its important they hear so they learn who their enemy is, she said. Another man is waiting for news on his neighbours, both in their twenties, who received injuries to their hips and hands when their pagers detonated in a streets in the Shia suburbs of southern Beirut. He insists that both men were civilians. Young men milling around the hospital say they are waiting for a speech from Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, tomorrow to learn whether they will retaliate or not. If he says we go, we will go, one says. If he says we stay, we will stay. Nasrallah is due to make an address on the pager attacks at 3pm (UK time) tomorrow. 01:42 PM BST Pictured: The remains of exploded pagers The remains of exploded pagers were put on display at an undisclosed location in Lebanon - AFP A ruined pager with the marker Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company that denies making the batch bought by Hezbollah 01:33 PM BST Israeli strike on school kills five, Gaza authorities say An Israeli air strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed at least five people, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Strip. The Israeli military said the air force conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists in a compound that previously served as the Ibn Al-Haytam school in the area of Gaza City. It is the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on school buildings housing displaced Gazans. On Saturday, five were reportedly killed in a strike on Gaza Citys Shuhada al-Zeitun School, which the military said was also used by Hamas militants. Palestinians, including children, injured in an Israeli strike on Ibn al-Haitham school in Gaza City are brought to hospital - Anadolu 01:22 PM BST British-educated entrepreneur denies manufacturing explosive pagers A British-educated entrepreneur has denied manufacturing the pagers that wounded hundreds of Hezbollah fighters on Tuesday afternoon in a simultaneous explosion. The Taiwanese firm whose branding was on the devices said on Wednesday that they were manufactured in Hungary. Gold Apollo said the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT, which was authorised to use its brand as part of a three-year-old licensing agreement. However, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the CEO of BAC Consulting, said I do not make the pagers. I am just the intermediary. I think you got it wrong when reached on the phone by NBC News. Read more here. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, founder and CEO of BAC Consulting, denied reports her company made the explosive pagers 01:09 PM BST Pager attacks show depth of Israels infiltration inside Hezbollah - analysis Dr Imad El-Anis, an associate professor in international relations at Nottingham Trent University, said that Tuesdays pager explosions demonstrate that Israels ability to infiltrate Hezbollah runs deeply. Speaking to The Telegraph, he said that not only will the attacks hamper the militant groups ability to communicate but also erode trust within their own inner circles. Hezbollah, he added, will be in complete disbelief. Mr El-Anis said the move was unlikely to alter the balance on the battlefield or significantly weaken Hezbollah, but it is a heavy signal and an incredibly bold move. It shows that they were trying to take out a lot of the top leadership. 12:57 PM BST Israel blew up pagers as sabotage about to be exposed Israel reportedly brought forward the timing of the simultaneous explosion of thousands of Hezbollah pagers because the mass sabotage operation was about to be exposed. It was a use it or lose it moment, a US official told Axios describing the reason Israel gave for the timing of the attack, which killed at least 12 and injured almost 3,000. A former Israel official with knowledge of the operation said the booby-trapped pagers were intended to be used as a surprise opening move in an all-out war with the Iran-backed militia group. However, in recent days Israeli leaders and its intelligence agencies became concerned Hezbollah had discovered the plot, according to a US official, and decided to pull the trigger on Tuesday. Washington has claimed it was not given prior warning. We were not aware of this operation and were not involved, Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the state department said on Tuesday. 12:56 PM BST Lebanon attack hindering ceasefire agreement The pager attacks in Lebanon have hindered any progress that was being made towards securing a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East, Egypts foreign minister has said. [Hamas] is highlighting their commitment with the agreement, Badr Abdelatty said. Hamas is committed with what has been agreed upon in these two documents - the 27 May and 2 July. They have agreed with these points. What has happened in Lebanon is hindering a ceasefire agreement. Badr Abdelatty and Antony Blinken held a press conference in Cairo on Wednesday - AFP 12:38 PM BST Blinken denies prior US knowledge of pager attack Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has denied any US knowledge of Tuesdays pager attacks across Lebanon and Syria. We are still gathering the information and gathering the facts, Mr Blinken said at a press conference in Cairo alongside Badr Abdelatty, his Egyptian counterpart. Mr Blinken added that Washington has been very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that were trying to resolve in Gaza. It is imperative all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict, he added. 12:15 PM BST EU top diplomat Borrell condemns Lebanon pager attacks The European Unions foreign policy chief has condemned explosions of Hezbollahs pagers but did not name Israel in its statement. Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims, Josep Borrell said. I consider this situation extremely worrying. I can only condemn these attacks that endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region. The European Union calls on all stakeholders to avert an all-out war, which would have heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond. 12:04 PM BST Two children among 12 dead in Lebanon pager explosions Exploding pagers claimed the lives of 12 people in Lebanon, including two children, Lebanons health minister said Wednesday, updating the toll a day after the blasts blamed on Israel. At least 300 are in critical condition, the minister said. 12:00 PM BST Pictured: First female Israeli soldier killed in Gaza Agam Naim, a 20-year-old paramedic is first female soldier to be killed in combat in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, the IDF announced on Wednesday. Ms Naim, who served in the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed with three other troops by an explosive device near in Tel al-Sultan in Gazas south. Agam Naim, 20, was a paramedic serving in a combat role in southern Gaza 11:30 AM BST He got a message, looked and it blew up in his eyes A witness described the moment his friends pager blew up in his face, wounding his eyes, face and hands during the widescale detonations in Lebanon on Tuesday. Outside the American University of Beirut Hospital, he told CNN: He got a message, looked at it and it blew up in his eyes and fingers. Many of the injuries are similar. A wounded man is pictured on the floor, bleeding from his leg in the aftermath of the pager blasts 11:16 AM BST Dispatch: Inside the homes Israel wants back as it prepares for war in Lebanon Dishes are still on the kitchen table and the fridge has a few jars on the shelves. The stairway up to the first floor is full of broken glass, and what used to be the bedroom is in ruins. The bedrooms glass door lies in the middle of the room. Theres dust everywhere but above us blue skies where the roof used to be. Luckily, the old couple that lived here had already been evacuated from their home in Kibbutz Hanita when it took a direct hit from a rocket fired by Hezbollah. But their son, Erez, stayed behind and has been protecting the kibbutz since Hezbollah began launching daily anti-tank missiles, rockets and drones in support of Hamas. More than 9,000 such attacks have been detected since Oct 8 last year. Most of the families with children left the same day. A week later, the whole kibbutz was evacuated, Erez told The Telegraph during a visit (Erezs last name could not be disclosed for security reasons). Read the full story here. Kibbutz Hanita was created in 1938 but now the damaged homes of around 700 residents lie empty - KEVIN J. UNGER One of the many buildings in Kibbutz Hanita damaged during a Hezbollah strike - KEVIN J. UNGER 11:07 AM BST Kremlin says pager attack tried to provoke a major war Russia says it strongly condemns the deadly pager attack, saying it was an act intended to provoke a major war in the Middle East. We regard what happened as yet another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon, which has harmed thousands of innocent people, Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said. It appears that the organisers of this high-tech attack deliberately sought to foment a large-scale armed confrontation in order to provoke a major war in the Middle East. Moscow had earlier called for a thorough investigation to identify the perpetrators. 10:55 AM BST Former Mossad chief says pager blasts shocked Hezbollah Danny Yatom, the former head of Israels Mossad intelligence agency, told The Telegraph that the pager explosions would have shocked Hezbollah. I assume they didnt take into consideration such a possibility. Its a very creative idea, Mr Yatom said. The organisation that is behind this showed a very high level of sophisticated technology, very accurate intelligence and high level of professionalism in the operational array, he added. Mr Yatom pointed out that cellphones have killed terrorists in the past: But I dont remember such a volume or anything similar, adding that those behind the attack would have had put their hands on the devices before arriving in Lebanon. The former Mossad chief emphasised that the pager blasts will have a significant effect on Hezbollahs operational capacity. That should worry Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah. The main problem for Hezbollah is not a different communication system but how many terrorists are injured. 10:43 AM BST Israel sends elite forces to Lebanon border The IDF has decided to deploy the elite 98th Division from Gaza to its northern border with Lebanon as Israel prepares for a possible escalation from Hezbollah. The IDF already redeployed a significant number of troops from Gaza to the northern border in recent months as tensions with the Lebanese militia have increased. 10:29 AM BST Iran sends rescue teams, eye surgeons to Lebanon The Iranian Red Crescent says it has dispatched rescue teams and eye surgeons to Lebanon to treat the almost 3,000 who were injured by the widescale detonation of pagers on Tuesday. Among those wounded was Irans ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani. Iranian officials told The New York Times that his injuries were more serious than initially reported. He is believed to have lost one eye, while his second was severely injured. 10:20 AM BST Egypt reaffirms support for Lebanon after pager blasts Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypts president, told Antony Blinken that Cairo supports Lebanon following the pager blasts and rejects any attempts at escalation in the region. The President affirmed Egypts rejection of attempts to escalate the conflict and expand its scope regionally, pointing out the need for all parties to act responsibly, and reaffirming Egypts support for Lebanon, the presidents office said. Mr Blinken, US secretary of state, is visiting Egypt hoping to advance efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and strengthen ties with Cairo. 09:59 AM BST Watch: Israel carries out airstrikes in Lebanon The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed carrying out airstrikes on suspected Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanons Majdal Selm on Tuesday. It claimed to have killed several militants in the strikes. Overnight, fighter jets also struck buildings allegedly used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanons Odaisseh, Markaba, Blida, Maroun al-Ras, and Chihine. The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike yesterday evening in southern Lebanon's Majdal Selm, targeting a building where several Hezbollah operatives were identified. Overnight, fighter jets also struck buildings used by the terror group in southern Lebanon's Odaisseh, pic.twitter.com/qNSayix9hf Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 18, 2024 09:49 AM BST Russia: Pager explosion requires investigation The mass detonation of pagers in Lebanon requires an investigation and international attention to the topic, Maria Zakharova, Russias foreign ministry spokesman said in a post on Telegram. 09:39 AM BST Pictured: Blinken arrives in Egypt Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, arrives for a meeting with the Egyptian president in Cairo on Sep 18 - AFP Mr Blinken (left) shakes hands with Badr Abdelatty, Egypts foreign minister - Reuters 09:32 AM BST Inside Israels history of inventive assassination methods Israel has a long history of inventive, unusual assassination methods, and reports that at least nine people have been killed by exploding pagers could be its latest grim chapter. As of Tuesday night, Israel had not claimed responsibility for the attack but it bears many of the hallmarks of its special forces units, such as Mossad. Formed in 1949, the year after the birth of the state of Israel, Mossad has been linked to many of Israels most daring killings. Over seven decades, it is thought to have relied on exploding books, remote-controlled machine guns and even poisoned toothpaste to reach its targets, with mixed results. Read the full story here. At least 200 are said to be in critical condition following the pager blasts 09:22 AM BST Scale of the mass attack 09:13 AM BST Iran accuses Israel of mass murder Iran has accused Israel of mass murder after thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah fighters exploded, killing at least 12 and wounding nearly 3,000. The widespread attack across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday is believed to have been caused by the simultaneous detonation of hidden explosives planted in the devices used by the Iran-backed group. Tehran condemned the terrorist act of the Zionist regime... as an example of mass murder, Nasser Kanani, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said on Wednesday. A pager exploded in this mans pocket as he rode through Beirut on his motorbike - Telegram People gather outside a hospital in Beirut following the simultaneous detonation of thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah - Reuters 08:54 AM BST Airlines suspend flights as Middle East tensions rise Ryanair cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until Oct 26, citing operational restrictions Air France said it was suspending services to Beirut and Tel Aviv up to and including Sept 19 KLM cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Oct 26 EasyJet stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in April and will resume flights on March 30, 2025 Air India suspended scheduled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice Cathay Pacific cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until March 27, 2025 Delta Air Lines paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv through Oct 31 Lufthansa said it was suspending all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran up to and on Sept 19 United Airlines suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future due to security reasons 08:41 AM BST Hezbollah thought older devices would keep them safe Hezbollahs pagers were meant to be safety measures, secure from Israeli eavesdropping, writes Roland Oliphant. Instead, they were a deadly Trojan horse. After suffering a series of assassinations of top operatives during months of low-level war with Israel, this summer Hezbollah ordered its fighters to ditch their mobile phones. They were too easy to track and too readily compromised by Israels fearsome military hackers. If youre looking for an Israeli agent, look at the phone in your hand, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollahs chief, warned his men. Read more: Hezbollahs terrible blunder that ended with audacious pager attack 08:03 AM BST Hezbollahs exploding pagers made in Hungary Thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah that exploded across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday were reportedly manufactured in Hungary. At least 11 people were killed and some 2,800 injured by a simultaneous detonation that the Lebanese militant group immediately blamed on Israel. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, whose branding was seen on the affected pagers, has denied the devices belonged to them, instead claiming they were made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT. BAC were authorised to use Gold Apollos trademark in some regions, Hsu Ching-Kuang, founder of the company said on Wednesday. That product isnt ours. They just stick on our company brand. Hsu Ching-Kuang, head of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, speaks to the media in Taipei on Sep 18 - AFP 07:38 AM BST Hezbollah vows to avenge pager attack Lebanons Hezbollah said Wednesday it will continue, as in all the past days, its blessed operations to support Gaza, after a deadly wave of exploding pagers the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel. This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday, the group said in a statement issued on Telegram. 07:14 AM BST Hezbollah chief to give speech on Thursday Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will give a speech on Thursday, the group said in a statement on Wednesday, following pager detonations. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised address in August to mark the killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr - Reuters 07:03 AM BST UN to demand Israel end unlawful presence in Palestinian territories The UN General Assembly will on Wednesday adopt a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demands Israel end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months. The action will isolate Israel days before world leaders travel to New York for their annual UN gathering. The draft resolution aims to welcome a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that said Israels occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal and should be withdrawn. 06:39 AM BST Hezbollah vows to continue operations to support Gaza Lebanons Hezbollah said on Wednesday it will continue, as in all the past days, its blessed operations to support Gaza, following the pager attack. This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday, the group said in a statement on Telegram. 06:34 AM BST Four soldiers killed in southern Gaza Four soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said on Wednesday. A female paramedic was among those killed, the military said, adding that six soldiers were also wounded, three of them critically. The latest fatalities bring the militarys losses in the Gaza war to 348 since the start of the ground offensive. 06:22 AM BST Pager blasts detected in several Lebanon and Syria locations 05:51 AM BST Blinken to discuss Gaza ceasefire in Egypt US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hopes to advance efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza as well as strengthen bilateral ties with Cairo when he visits Egypt on Wednesday. Speaking at a regular briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said it was too early to say whether the incident in Lebanon would affect Gaza ceasefire talks, but the US believed diplomacy was the way to reduce tensions. In Mr Blinkens meetings with Egyptian officials, squarely on the agenda is how we get a proposal that we think would secure agreement from both parties to an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Mr Miller said. There are some issues that we need to engage with the government of Egypt on as it relates to this ceasefire proposal that we are trying to bring to fruition, he said. Mr Blinken waves as he departs for Egypt at Joint Base Andrews - AFP 05:13 AM BST Gold Apollo denies making pagers used in attack Taiwans Gold Apollo has denied reports that it made the pagers that were used in the detonations in Lebanon on Tuesday. Images of destroyed pagers showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. But the companys founder, Hsu Ching-Kuang, told reporters on Wednesday that the pagers used in the explosion were made by a company in Europe that had the right to use the Taiwanese firms brand. The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it, he said. Mr Hsu did not name the company which he said manufactured the pagers, adding Gold Apollo was also a victim of the incident. We are a responsible company. This is very embarrassing. 05:07 AM BST Sources: Israel planted explosives in pagers Israels Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 pagers ordered by Hezbollah months before Tuesdays detonations, sources say. The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters. Hezbollah fighters have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking. But a senior Lebanese source said the devices had been modified by Israels spy service at the production level. The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. Its very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner, the source said. 05:03 AM BST Welcome to our live coverage We are bringing you the latest out of the Middle East, where Hezbollah has accused Israel of being behind a wave of exploding pagers that killed at least nine and injured thousands. 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. What we know about the Hezbollah pagers that exploded in Lebanon A Hungarian official told CBS News Thursday that a Bulgaria-based company had purchased pagers from Taiwan that were eventually sold to Hezbollah, before exploding in the hands, pockets and bags of thousands of the Iran-backed militant group's members earlier this week in Lebanon. Hungarian outlet Telex had reported Wednesday that a Sofia-based company called Norta Global Ltd. Was behind a deal to sell the pagers and that a Hungarian firm connected with the transaction had not manufactured or sold the pagers. A Hungarian official told CBS News those reports were accurate. The new information about the origin of the exploding pagers came a day after Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said it had authorized the use of its trademarked branding on the pagers that exploded Tuesday across Lebanon and Syria, but that the devices were actually manufactured and sold by Bac Consulting KFT a company based in Budapest, Hungary. Thousands of pagers held by Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 2,750, according to Lebanon's public health minister. "We authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC," Gold Apollo said in a statement posted on its website. "Regarding the AR-924 pager model mentioned in the recent media reports [about Lebanon], we clarify that this model is produced and sold by BAC." Gold Apollo's founder and CEO Hsu Ching-kuang told NPR on Wednesday that "there was nothing in those devices that we had manufactured or exported to them [BAC]." An injured man undergoes an operation following pager explosions across Lebanon, at a hospital in Beirut, Sept. 18, 2024. / Credit: Mohamed Azakir/REUTERS The pagers "were entirely different" from Gold Apollo's designs and used a chip that Gold Apollo does not use in its own models, Hsu said. Hsu told NPR that Gold Apollo's relationship with Bac Consulting began three years ago, and he described the Hungarian company's money transfers as "strange." Bac Consulting had paid Gold Apollo from a Middle Eastern bank account that was blocked at least once by Gold Apollo's Taiwanese bank, Hsu said. "It was very inconvenient," he told NPR, adding: "You have to deal with these risks when doing global trade." In a post on Wednesday on social media, Zoltan Kovacs, the spokesperson for the Hungarian prime minister's office, said Bac Consulting "is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary." "During further investigations, Hungarian national security services are cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organizations," Kovacs said. Business records accessed by CBS News from Hungary's Ministry of Justice show that Bac Consulting was registered as a company in May 2022. Separate records reviewed by CBS News show that Norta Global Ltd. was registered as a company in Bulgaria in April 2022, with its sole owner listed as a Norwegian citizen named Rinson Jose. Global Norta is described on its website which has since been taken offline as offering a range of services "from outsourcing, consulting, tech and payment integration, analysis, promotion of techno products and services, as well as the estimation and processing of relevant commercial transactions." An image from security camera video verified by CBS News Confirmed shows a man (second from lower left) reacting after an explosion inside a bag he was carrying, as thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded near simultaneously, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 17, 2024. / Credit: Social media/Verified by CBS News Images circulated widely on social media showed the explosions hitting seemingly unsuspecting Hezbollah members across Lebanon. The CBS News Confirmed team has verified the location of one video showing a man's bag exploding as he looks over fruit on display at a supermarket in Lebanon's capital city of Beirut. There were a number of other shoppers around him, but none appeared to be affected by the explosion at his hip. A statement released by Hezbollah, a powerful Iran-backed militant group and political faction based in Lebanon, confirmed that the pager explosions had targeted their members. It laid the blame firmly on Israel, vowing a "harsh response that the criminal enemy must await for the massacre it committed." It remains unclear exactly how many Hezbollah pagers exploded on Tuesday. But a senior Lebanese security official and another source told the Reuters news agency that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency had planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 of the devices, which it said were ordered by Hezbollah months before the blasts. The devices were brought "into the country [Lebanon] in the spring," the security source told Reuters. A delegation of Israeli lawmakers had visited Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in April, with the intention of "leveraging our industrial strengths and continuing to deepen our partnership," according to a statement released by the Taiwanese president's office at the time. While Israeli officials have not commented publicly on the explosions, a U.S. official told the AP that Israel had briefed the U.S. about the operation Tuesday after its conclusion. American officials have said the U.S. had no prior knowledge of the operation and no involvement in it. Bac Consulting and its mysterious CEO CBS News has asked Bac Consulting in Budapest to comment on where and how its devices are manufactured and sold, but had not received an answer either over the phone or via email by the time of publication. The company's LinkedIn profile does not mention manufacturing services, describing its work as "business consulting and services." The company's listed CEO is Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono. Her personal LinkedIn profile says she's done work for a number of organizations, including work with the European Union Commission, UNESCO, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Barsony-Aricidiacono has reposted on her LinkedIn profile conspiracy theories about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy and COVID-19 vaccines. She also reposted a video from a Turkish photographer that appeared to express support for the people of Gaza. In one post, Barsony-Aricidiacono claimed Bac Consulting could help clients secure EU funding for green energy projects. CBS News has reviewed business records that showed that Barsony-Aricidiacono had registered another company under her name in France, in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. The documents describe the business as a company that "specialized in the sector of business consulting and other activities." The company was registered in December 2015 and dissolved in September 2016, the records showed. On Barsony-Arcidiacono's LinkedIn profile, she describes herself as working as a "Scientific & Strategic Advisor" over a 12 year period from January 2012 to the present and claims she's worked in "Paris, Budapest, London, NYC, Africa, Peru, Argentina, Indonesia, ME [Middle East]." The AR-924 pager model was advertised by Gold Apollo as a "rugged" device. They require a lithium battery, according to advertising of the product on Gold Apollo's website. That advertising has been removed from the Taiwanese company's website. Eddie Vedder on the origin of Pearl Jam: "It was heaven" U.S. passports can now be renewed online Early voting begins in some states this week as officials ramp up election protections Today, the Azerbaijan State Water Resources Agency (ASRA), in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the World Bank (WB), unveiled a significant report titled "Transitioning to Efficient Water Sector Institutions and Programs for Addressing Water Security Challenges," Azernews reports via World Bank office. The reforms are designed to address fragmentation and overlap among the country's water sector institutions. The report stresses the urgency of these changes due to Azerbaijan's heavy reliance on transboundary water resources, with 78 percent of the countrys groundwater sourced from the Kura and Araz rivers flowing from neighboring countries. Increasing demand and climate change are exacerbating challenges related to water availability, underscoring the need for sustainable water management. The report is structured into two main thematic areas: enhancing institutional efficiency in water sector services and leveraging digital tools for water resource management. It offers recommendations on improving water supply and sanitation services, sustainable drinking water and wastewater management in rural areas, and employing digital tools for better water resource accounting and evaluation. Key recommendations include reducing water losses in Baku and surrounding regions, optimizing the operation of wastewater treatment plants, and establishing priority strategic programs for professional services in rural areas. The report also suggests adjusting water tariffs and implementing performance-based financing mechanisms to strengthen resilience to climate risks, reduce subsidies, and enhance the viability of water sector institutions. Prepared under the Azerbaijan Rapid Technical Assistance Facility (AZTAF), the report is part of a three-year program funded by the EU and managed by the World Bank, with a budget of 5.25 million. The AZTAF program aims to support Azerbaijan's National Priorities and Social and Economic Development Strategy for 2022-2026 through expert advice and analytical support. (Reuters) - British drugmaker GSK said on Wednesday it had agreed to settle two lawsuits in California that claimed its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer. GSK does not admit to any liability in either settlement, it said in a statement. The drugmaker has settled a series of lawsuits related to Zantac over the past 12 months, including several in California. California is generally seen as a more challenging legal environment for multinational companies as courts are known to be friendlier to plaintiffs. Former Zantac makers GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim are facing about 4,000 claims in California state court and about 2,000 in various other state courts around the country. The bulk of the cases against GSK are in Delaware, where the British drugmaker faces more than 70,000 lawsuits. A Delaware judge's decision in June to allow the lawsuits in the state to go forward dealt a blow to GSK, which appealed the decision. Last month, the Delaware Supreme Court said it would hear the appeal by GSK and the other former Zantac makers. (Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas) Clashing narratives about secret cameras that videoed intimate scenes of unsuspecting nude and partially dressed renters in an Aiken rental cottage dominated the opening day of a voyeurism and invasion of privacy civil trial on Tuesday. This case is the ultimate invasion of privacy, attorney Deborah Barbier told a jury of seven women and five men in a courtroom on the second floor of the Aiken County courthouse. In an opening statement, Barbier who represents plaintiffs Gabriel and Heather Crespo told the jury that in 2001 her clients were a newly-married young couple who came to Aiken for the areas popular polo season. While there, they rented a small cottage from defendant Rhett Riviere, now 70, longtime Aiken resident, and his then-wife, Josee, Barbier told jurors. From everything they (the Crespos) could see, these (the Revieres) are fine folks. But ladies and gentlemen, its what they didnt see, what they couldnt see, and what they werent meant to see, that is at the very heart of this case, said Barbier. Many things in life are beyond our control, Barbier told the jury, but perhaps mostly importantly, we control who sees us in our most vulnerable and intimate moments, who sees our bodies... This is the one area we expect and demand complete control. While in the cottage, the Crespos were videoed on multiple occasions without clothes and in the privacy of their bed... (and) while they were in the bathroom, Barbier said. In July 2022 when the Crespos learned for the first time of the videos existence, they were devastated, Barbier said. They couldnt even begin to comprehend the extent of the harm, the violation and the invasion, she told the jury. The Crespos mental anguish included wondering who had seen the videos, she said. Defense lawyers sow doubts In his opening statement, defense attorney Jim Griffin representing Rhett Riviere did not deny that videoing had taken place and that it was illegal. No one is going to try to justify voyeurism in any form or fashion. In a civil case, lawyers are after a money jackpot, Griffin told the jury, and since the Crespos are alleging they were harmed, jurors should want to know how much was spent on medical bills, how much was spent on therapy bills?... You have to prove that you suffered severe or emotional injury. Moreover, the events the Crespos sued over happened 23 years ago a generation ago and people generally have three years to sue someone for invasion of their privacy, Griffin told jurors. But the lawsuit clock also can begin ticking from the time when people actually learn or should have known about a wrong that was done to them, Griffin said. And in the Crespos case, the defense will put up a witness who says that in 2001 she talked with Heather Crespo about a camera in a hole in the wall in the cottage bathroom, Griffin told jurors. What we do know is there was an opportunity in 2001 for Mr. and Mrs. Crespo to speak up. Moreover, there is no evidence that the videos of the Crespos were circulated on the internet or social media, Griffin said. The key point to keep in mind is that the Crespos missed their legal opportunity to bring a lawsuit by waiting until 2022, Griffin told the jurors. Josee Rivieres attorney, John Harte, told the jury that in 2001, his client had been only recently married to Rhett Riviere and knew nothing of any videoing in his rental properties. Her inclusion in the lawsuit is guilt by association, Harte said. Josee is not the first person who trusted their new husband and then later discovered that trust was misplaced, Harte said. Rhett Riviere is being sued for negligence, invasion of privacy, fraud, violation of the states unfair trade practices act, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Josee Riviere, who is no longer married to Riviere and goes by a different named, is being sued for negligence, fraud and violating the states unfair trade practices act, according to a complaint in the case. The Crespos seek actual and punitive damages. Delays mark trials start The trials start was delayed two hours Tuesday because of problems with the court reporters transcription equipment. In the end, the trial did not begin until after noon, when opposing lawyers made opening statements summing up key points in each sides case. Trial Judge Martha Rivers explained the late start to the jury, saying that trials were unlike the movies, where the action moves rapidly. Never on television would there have been an all-morning delay. More delays came in the afternoon. When the first witness, retired South Carolina Law Enforcement Division special agent Clint Busbee, took the stand to explain about how the videos at the heart of the plaintiffs case had come to SLEDs attention, Riviere defense attorney Joe McCulloch objected numerous times. And numerous times, Rivers sent the jury from the courtroom. With the jury out, Rivers patiently heard arguments from McCulloch, Harte and Barbier, then made decisions and brought the jury back in. Busbee testified that SLED learned about the videos because the Aiken Department of Public Safety had a conflict with investigating the case and contacted SLED. One of that agencys missions is assisting smaller law enforcement agencies around the state. Although the judge allowed Barbier to introduce how SLED had sought and gotten search warrants to find electronic evidence in the case, Rivers kept from the jury information from the affidavits sworn statements used to convince a magistrate to issue a search warrant. We have to be able to tell the story, Your Honor, Barbier told Rivers. The jury has to understand this was legally gathered evidence. McCulloch said his goal was to prevent hearsay unsubstantiated statements that may be true or false from reaching the jury and to avoid confusing jurors by improperly suggesting that the case was a criminal case rather than a civil case. This is not a criminal case, McCulloch told the judge. In a civil case, plaintiffs seek monetary damages against another party. In a criminal case, prosecutors bring charges and seek to have a guilty defendant put in jail or pay a fine. Riviere also faces criminal charges of voyeurism but they are still pending. Also on the plaintiffs witness list was SLED special agent Britt Dove, a specialist in computer forensics, who gave key testimony in the 2023 Alex Murdaugh murder trial about a video that placed Murdaugh at the scene of the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul. Dove was on the witness list to authenticate the videos that the defense team is expected to show to the jury later in the trial. In a statement to the judge with the jury out of the courtroom, Barbier said that the number of videos found on memory cards linked to Riviere total 24,000. She plans to introduce 10 videos. Besides Barbier, lawyers Ryan Beasley and Wesley Few represent the Crespos. Attorneys Margaret Fox and Kathy Schillaci also represent defendants in addition to McCulloch and Griffin. The library on the former grounds of the Highlander Folk Center, in which Rev. Martin Luther King once lectured, is one of few buildings remaining on the Grundy County site closed by the state in 1961. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) The library on the former grounds of the Highlander Folk Center, in which Rev. Martin Luther King once lectured, is one of few buildings remaining on the Grundy County site closed by the state in 1961. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) This much is not in dispute: In 1961, the state of Tennessee took 200 acres of land from Highlander Folk School on Monteagle Mountain in Grundy County. Took, as in confiscated on bogus charges of alcohol sales without a license. But the real reason for the confiscation stemmed from fears of civil rights and union activism after two decades of training now-icons such as Rosa Parks and Diane Nash at Highlander. This much is also not in dispute: Five plots of that now subdivided land are owned by a nonprofit called the Tennessee Preservation Trust (TPT). The sale of those plots to Todd Mayo, the for-profit owner of The Caverns, a rural concert venue, is pending. And the current Highlander administration, which had its offer to buy the land rejected, is furious. Everything else what happened to TPT, whether they ever had plans to sell the land back to Highlander, what might happen to those plots now and the land next to them that TPT doesnt own well, the answers vary depending on whom you ask. On the one hand, TPT preserved some historic buildings that might very well have been lost. On the other hand, the original (and some would say, still rightful) owner of those buildings has been shut out from determining what happens to them. Still others question whether a group of white men are the right ones to tell the story of the storied civil rights training ground. Its hard to understand what the motive would be for the Trust not to turn the land over to Highlander, says Denis Marlowe, a longtime neighbor whose mother worked at Highlander before the state raid. I can see it only one or two ways. Either youre getting a chance to make some money in this situation, or you dont agree with what Highlander might do with it. Denis Marlowe, whose mother worked for Highlander founder Myles Horton, spent the first few years of his life at Highlander. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Backed by Eleanor Roosevelt, training civil rights leaders Over three decades, the tiny Highlander Folk School had a huge, outsized impact on both Tennessee and American history. In 1932, Myles Horton, Don West and James Dombrowski launched the Highlander Folk School on land donated by Lillian Wyckoff Johnson, a progressive educator. Johnson had built and run a model rural school and community center named Kindred Company (KinCo) since 1915 and wanted others to continue her work after retirement. Attempts to organize local workers quickly drew the ire of businessmen, both in Grundy County and across Tennessee. Although then-First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt had endorsed the school, by 1941 the FBI had launched its first investigation into Highlander for alleged communist activities, surveillance that would continue for over two decades. Diane Nash, at right, photographed I'm 1960 with Nashville Mayor Ben West and Rev. C.T. Vivian, trained in nonviolence techniques at Highlander. (Photo: Nashville Public Library, Special Collections) By the 1950s, Highlander had pivoted from labor to civil rights and became an instrumental part of the movement to fight segregation. Workshops led by activists Septima Clark, Esau Jenkins and Bernice Robinson taught Black citizens their rights, while other workshops taught white and Black adults together strategies to desegregate schools and businesses. (Parks famously attended a Highlander workshop four months before refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus.) Martin Luther King Jr. visited in 1957, speaking in the library. Hortons wife Zliphia taught We Shall Overcome to Pete Seeger during a visit, who made it part of his repertoire, leading to its adoption as the unofficial civil rights anthem. A story that hasnt been told In 2013, in a splashy story in The Tennessean, historian David Currey announced big plans: The Tennessee Preservation Trust (TPT), of which he was then board chair, planned to buy 13.5 acres of the original 200-acre Highlander site with a $1 million national campaign. Trying to get our hands on this piece of property allows us to tell that story again in the context of this rural setting, Currey told the paper at the time. This place has the potential to tell a story that hasnt been told. A national campaign never really happened, but local donors stepped up and helped TPT buy three parcels on Old Highlander Road in May 2014. One parcel included what was left of the historic one-room library. In 2015, TPT purchased another parcel, followed by a fifth parcel in 2019 ultimately around 8.5 acres of land with three houses in addition to the library. Two of the houses have been rentals for the past 10 years. The third house, a historic home used by Highlander, has been left empty. It has visible mold and other exterior damage rotting floorboards on the porch, a gutter dangling, overgrown shrubbery trying to force its way inside. Despite some renovations, the one-room library sits empty, too, paint already peeling off the cement blocks. Thats why the organization needs to sell now, says Phil Thomason, TPT board chair, who says the organization never intended to keep the property. Our intent when we purchased it in 2014 was to restore the building back to its original design listed in the National Register of Historic Places and then sell it to a person, a benefactor, or an entity that we felt would be a really good steward of the property, says Thomason. One of a handful of structures still standing on the grounds of the old Highlander Folk School, a house stand empty and unkempt. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) That steward, however, wont just be Todd Mayo. It will also be Currey, via a separate nonprofit called Kindred Cooperative in a nod to the original land owner. Last summer, months before Mayo put an offer on the land, Curreys TPT entered into a 99-year lease of the Highlander property with Kindred for a nominal annual rent. (Thomason says its something like $1 per year.) Mayo says he was intrigued by the project when Currey approached him. David communicated to me that he borrowed money to save this [property] and put it in a trust through TPT, but that it needed to be sold and put into his nonprofit to carry on doing things there, Mayo says. I said, Man, Id love to help. The TPT board voted to approve the sale for $600,000 in December 2023. Highlander put forth a competing offer of $800,000 cash in June, but the board voted against it. The relationship that we had with Highlander was severed a couple of years ago by them and they disparaged and had unkind words for my organization, Thomason says. [Before 2024] we always had the door open to them for an offer, but we never received anything in writing . [This summer] as we looked at the offer that Highlander presented, the timeline and other considerations just made it imperative that we move forward with Todds offer. Per state law, the Tennessee Attorney Generals office must approve any sale by a nonprofit of substantially all its assets to another entity. That review is currently underway, and if the AGs office approves the sale, which Thomason seems confident will happen, Mayo will own the land by the end of the year. The role of race in historic preservation Ted Debro, a Black Birmingham businessman, worked with Currey to create an experience room in the basement of the 16th Street Baptist Church, examining the aftermath of the 1963 bombings that killed four Black girls. We were very pleased with the work that he did, and I found him to be a very open and caring individual and one who really understood the story and how to pull that together, Debro says. I didnt find him to have a prejudice or a racist thought in his body. But several people, including Highlanders current co-executive director, Rev. Allyn Maxfield-Steele, raised questions about whether an older white man is the right person to tell Highlanders story, given its storied history in the Civil Rights Movement. That's what (Highlander staff) use when they don't get what they want if you don't agree with them, then everybody's a racist. David Currey As another white person, Ive grown to understand that were all in recovery from the deepest, entrenched pools of white supremacy that we grew up in, said Maxfield-Steele. But the deals that hes been willing to seemingly make without our consent and without our blessing and without transparency thats the issue. And some people do call that white supremacist business practice. This attitude is what enrages Currey. Thats what [Highlander staff] use when they dont get what they want if you dont agree with them, then everybodys a racist, Currey says. Thats not the case. I do a lot of work with a lot of African American communities around the South. Do you think if I was a racist they would want to do business with me? A simmering fight for years This anger of Currey and Thomason toward Highlander, of Highlander toward the TPT first came to a head in 2022, but it had been simmering for years. Highlander didnt stop training activists when the center was forced off Monteagle. Now called the Highlander Research and Education Center, its been located in New Market, Tennessee, since 1971, after 10 years in Knoxville. The organization has continued to train grassroots organizers and work for social and economic justice, and if it ever ended up with the original land, they say that goal wouldnt change. But Highlander now has resources they didnt have in the 1950s over 50 employees and an annual operating budget of around $9 million. According to Maxfield-Steele, Highlander has been interested in reacquiring the site and has talked to Currey and TPT members multiple times over the past decade about making it happen. In 2014, what we said was that we cant afford this now, but we believe this project is valuable, and our story is one that should be told by us, says Maxfield-Steele, explaining that Highlander was in the middle of a capital campaign at the time and couldnt afford any additional cost outlays. That was not something that it seemed that they were interested in pursuing. Between 2014 and 2019, Highlander had occasional discussions with Currey about the sites direction but never received any offers in writing. In 2019, Howell E. Adams Jr., a donor who helped TPT purchase the parcels, told Highlander about the Kindred proposal. Maxfield-Steele thought parts of it were ludicrous both historic Highlander and the current iteration of the nonprofit have long worked to help rural people but he agreed to work on a plan. You dont want (Highlander) there, so we slap a padlock on it in the 1960s. You dont want them back at the site now because they called you out for some nonsense, so we dont wanna sell it to you no matter how much money you got. Dr. Learotha Williams, Tennessee State University But after emails back and forth, Maxfield-Steele says they couldnt get a commitment from Currey about what would happen with the land. The pandemic hit, and things quieted down until 2022, when TPT submitted an application to place the library building on the National Register of Historic Places without notifying Highlander. There were citations that were wrong, Maxfield-Steele says. And we had never given any legal permission to TPT to submit anything. The dispute made the news, but behind the scenes, Highlander made an offer to buy the land. We said, we could cut you a check today, Maxfield-Steele says. And we offered to compensate [Currey] for his time in 2022. Thomason says TPT never received an offer. The fact that they objected to [the Register nomination] just told my board that they were not serious and would never provide an offer, Thomason says. Were there some minor inaccuracies? Thats correct. And those were corrected. Since then, the two parties have not talked until Highlander learned this spring that Mayo had made an offer for the land. Staff drafted a counter-proposal and attached letters of support from prominent historians, activists and Grundy County neighbors, including Tennessee State Historian Carroll Van West. They also included information about partnering with MASS Design Group, the architectural firm that designed the National Memorial for Peace and Justice honoring victims of lynching in Montgomery, Alabama. Highlander provided financial documents demonstrating that paying $800,000 cash for the site again, $200,000 more than Mayo and much more than TPT originally paid for the land was feasible. The board still voted against the plan. On paper, it looks weird that they would turn down a significantly higher dollar amount, but it also looks bad that they would reject an 87-page document that included Septima Clarks family, MASS Design, Brent Leggs of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Black Tennessee historians, and reputable folks from the region and outside the region, Maxfield-Steele says. Racism, intentional or not, is a factor in the Highlander property dispute, says Dr. Learotha Williams of Tennessee State University. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Dr. Learotha Williams, a Tennessee State University professor and historian, was one of the supporters who submitted a letter, and he sees racism at play, whether intentional or not. The preservation space that we work in is largely dominated by white males who have access to all of the properties, all of the mechanisms for preserving stuff, determining what was going to be preserved, how it was going to be preserved in other words, who could tell the stories, Dr. Williams says. I can see the shock and anger emerging out of [the Register dispute], but nonetheless, this act is an act to punish Highlander, the same way that the sheriff said, Were going to punish Highlander by not allowing them into this site. I dont see much difference between the two, Williams says. You dont want them there, so we slap a padlock on it in the 1960s. You dont want them back at the site now because they called you out for some nonsense, so we dont wanna sell it to you no matter how much money you got. Tempers are unlikely to calm anytime soon. Currey expressed repeated outrage over being perceived as elitist and not knowing whats best for the land. Meanwhile, Highlander did not know that TPT had entered into the 99-year lease months prior to Mayos offer until told by this reporter, and now feels even more betrayed. That TPT invited us to make an offer without disclosing a century-long lease which essentially voids ownership is deeply deceptive and only confirms what we feared all along this was never a genuine invitation, says Evelyn Lynn, special projects organizer at Highlander. Thomason, Currey and one member who spoke on background were the only TPT board members who agreed to talk. None of the other eight current members, nor several past members, returned calls or messages. A historical marker on Hwy. 41 in Grundy County, Tennessee, marks the turnoff to the former site of the Highlander Folk School. (Photo: John Partipilo) Books by Black writers and about civil rights issues on the shelves of the historic library at the former site of Highlander Folk School, one of the few buildings still standing. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) These books were still on the shelves of the now abandoned Highlander Center library. Photograph by John Partipilo/ Tennessee Lookout 2024 The old Highlander library shows signs of neglect. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) The interior of the old Highlander Folk School library, where Rev. Martin Luther King once spoke. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Photograph by John Partipilo/ Tennessee Lookout 2024 Potential problems with Kindred and the appearance of a sweetheart deal There are multiple problems with Kindred potentially running the site, at least as the nonprofit currently exists. The first appears to be a conflict of interest: Not only has Currey been an off-and-on member of the TPT board since 2010, but he also partners with Thomason professionally via his historic preservation firm, Thomason & Associates. The firms website states that Curreys company, Encore Interpretive Design, has provided planning and interpretation services for multiple projects. And Currey is still intimately involved in TPT. Since the 2017 reporting year, he has filed every annual report with the Tennessee Secretary of States Office and since the 2018 reporting year, his home address has been listed as TPTs mailing and principal office address. It is [my address] because I filed their annual report for them, because I used to be on the board, Currey says. Curreys home address is also listed on all of Kindreds annual reports. Both federal and state law say conflicts of interest should be avoided, but they are not technically prohibited. When an organization makes a decision that is clouded by conflict, theres a reasonable concern that that decision was not made in the best interest of the general public, says Eric Franklin Amarante, a professor and expert in nonprofit law at the University of Tennessee Knoxville who has consulted with Highlander. If someone is still somewhat involved or maybe even intimately involved in the organization, but they dont maintain the title, thats still a concern. Ive seen conflict-of-interest policies where the relationship described would not be technically considered a conflict, but if I were working at the IRS or state AGs office and I were reviewing it, Id be like, This just looks like a sweetheart deal. Eric Franklin Amarante, University of Tennessee Then, there are questions about the nonprofit status of TPT and Kindred. Currey says he created Kindred to raise funds because TPT lost its nonprofit status during the COVID era. (TPT) didnt file some tax returns, and their board chair passed away from cancer I was not on the board at that time so we created Kindred so that we could finish the [library renovation], says Currey. But his timeline is a little off. TPT did have its 501(c)(3) status revoked by the IRS in 2020 for failure to file an annual report for three years in a row, and it has not regained it. However, Currey filed to incorporate Kindred in 2017, and in July 2019, he announced that TPT planned to turn the site over to Kindred to manage. In 2021, the IRS granted Kindred tax exempt status, but the nonprofit appears to have not been in compliance with state or federal law since 2017. According to the IRS, Kindred has yet to file the required Form 990 annual report for any year, possibly bringing it to the verge of also possibly having that status revoked. It also has not had a board of three people in place, as required both by state law and its own charter. In annual reports filed with the state, Currey is listed as both the president and secretary of Kindred for 2017 and 2018. From 2019 through 2023, Nashville architect Brian Tibbs is listed as the board secretary. In a phone call, Currey said Tibbs is still on the board. Tibbs, however, says, I havent had any involvement with Kindred. Thomason said he was unaware of Curreys lapses and blamed it on his lack of time. However, Amarante says none of this looks good. If I were counseling the client, I would say, This is a big transaction, basically all of your assets. And I would want to make sure that the entire transaction was clean of any self-interest, Amarante says. Ive seen conflict-of-interest policies where the relationship described would not be technically considered a conflict, but if I were working at the IRS or state AGs office and I were reviewing it, Id be like, This just looks like a sweetheart deal. The form required by the AGs office to approve the sale requires a nonprofit to provide sufficient documents to identify any possible conflict of interest, self-interest, or self-dealing of any board member, officer, or director in connection with the Transaction. The future of Highlander Whether Kindred, Mayo or Highlander end up controlling the lots, one thing seems sure: It will likely take significantly more money and additional land purchases to create a destination landmark that draws tourists from outside the state. Mayo says his current vision isnt to change much: Have elementary school children occasionally come by for a field trip, but otherwise keep it a quiet residential street where everyone minds their own business. The sale includes a preservation easement, which limits what can be built on the property. The Highlander library. (Photo: John Partipilo) I havent spent a lot of time thinking about that, Mayo says when asked if additional purchases could follow in the years to come. Youd have to look at it relative to the cost and the benefits. I plan on keeping everything the way it is for right now. Mayo says that he would like to restore the dilapidated home if its financially feasible. He may look into buying the house just south of the library, which will likely be on the market next year. He also plans to let the tenants in the other houses stay, at least for now. Although he hopes Highlander ultimately gets their land back, Marlowe has a pragmatic take. This whole thing has been almost like a fantasy, as far as having the property saved and preserved, Marlowe says. If weve learned anything in the last 70 years of fighting these fights its just the fact that youre there fighting doesnt necessarily mean that the earths going to be shook up and changed any time soon. Whats important is to not lose sight that they were fighting. Lynn puts it more succinctly.David Currey wont be here in 99 years, Lynn says. But the Highlander Center will. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Hispanic culture memorialized with Wichita Falls official proclamation WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) The city of Wichita Falls commemorated the start of Hispanic Heritage Month on Tuesday morning, September 18, 2024. The month celebrates the Hispanic culture, people, and vibrant history. Several members from nonprofits and businesses, such as the Mexican American Veterans Association, Con Potencia and Zavala joined the mayor in receiving their proclamation. The month-long celebration started as a week-long event and was later signed into law to be one month long in 1988. September 15 was chosen as the starting point for the month because it begins a string of several independence days for countries. 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. CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Bojangles Coliseum has hosted a whole slew of events, including most recently political rallies for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Politics can oftentimes divide us, but on Friday, September 20th, 140 churches are planning an event aimed at bringing people together under one core, shared, value. When you zoom out, the scripture is about one message over and over again; the gospel and Gods plan to save humanity through Jesus Christ, said lead pastor at Vizion Church, Tyson Coughlin. The Christian Crusade started roughly a year ago when a group from South Korea traveled to Vizion Church to pray that late evangelist Billy Grahams crusades would take place again, starting in Charlotte. They said, Because this is the city of Billy Graham, and were praying, God, do it again, Coughlin said. Move in the city of Charlotte and may it reach the corners of planet Earth. Tyson Coughlin is the lead pastor at Vizion Church. He says nothing like this has happened in Charlotte in over 30 years. They expect Bojangles Coliseum, the 1958 home to one of Grahams crusades, will surpass its 10,000-person capacity. VIDEO: Catawba County deputy smashes into vehicles in parking lot after swerving off the road The sermon will be available via live stream and on an app, translated into 10 different languages. A 600-person choir will fill the arena with music. I got to sneak into one of the choir rehearsals, and Im telling you, it was powerful! There was an electricity in the atmosphere, Coughlin said. During a time when maybe religion isnt the first story you see on the news, and people seem just as divided as ever, Coughlin believes were in a spiritual crisis that politics cant solve, and thats what is drawing people in. We could have never dreamed that this many churches would unite together, Coughlin said. Its going to be special, and God is certainly at work in the city of Charlotte. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MIAMI, Okla. New signs are popping up alongside a historical highway. This time we arent talking about Route 66. Instead, its the Jefferson Highway, which predates the Mother Road. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has installed new signs along parts of local roads where the route is located. Dobson Museum Director Jordan Boyd says the two nostalgic highways share something in commonnamely their route through the Four States. At Carthage, Missouri, Miami Oklahoma, Joplin, Missouri, Vinita, Oklahoma, so theres several points of interest that many of us in the area, we work together with travelers coming through and theres more and more people as they learn about the Jefferson Highway looking to travel other historic highways, said Boyd. The Jefferson is referred to as The Pines to Palm Tree Highway because it starts up north in Winnipeg, Canada, and goes all the way south to New Orleans. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about residential and boarding schools. If you are feeling triggered, here is a resource list for trauma responses from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the U.S. In Canada, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline can be reached at 1-866-925-4419. Charles Fox Special to ICT Oglala Sioux Chief Charging Shield sat beside the bed of his daughter, Fannie, in the hospital at the Carlisle Industrial Indian School as she struggled with tuberculosis. Her initial improvement upon his arrival and the visits of students bringing flowers to her bedside had given him false hopes during the two-week vigil. Finally, however, the shadow of eternity crept across her face, according to a written account buried in historical archives. After her final breath, he pulled her to his chest, her head against his heart. Joined by Chief American Horse, who had accompanied him to Carlisle, the two sang a death song, a wail for the dead...a mournful and terrible lament. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. CONTRIBUTE TODAY. Then he laid her gently back in her bed and placed the pansies two female students had brought her earlier in the day into her hands. Finally, more than 132 years after Fannie died at the Carlisle school in Pennsylvania, she has returned to her homelands in South Dakota, fulfilling her fathers wishes. A memorial service and reburial are tentatively set for Saturday, Sept. 21. If it was his wish back in 1892 to return her, then at least we are doing something the father of Fannie wanted done, said Justin Pourier, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Fifth Member who accompanied the remains of Fannie and two other students on their way home to Pine Ridge. That helps me, reassures me, that what we're doing is something good, he said. The grave of Fannie Charging Shield, shown here on Sept. 5, 2024, in the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery. Fannie, just 17, was among 11 Native youths disinterred from the Carlisle cemetery in Pennsylvania starting Sept. 6, 2024, and repatriated to their homelands. Fannie was one of three Oglala youths returned to Pine Ridge for reburial, along with Samuel Flying Horse and James Cornman. (Photo by Charles Fox, special to ICT) Fannie, who was just 17 when she died, is among 11 Native youths being disinterred from the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery in Pennsylvania starting Sept. 6, 2024,and repatriated to their homelands. Fannie was one of three Oglala youths returned to Pine Ridge, along with Samuel Flying Horse and James Cornman, who also made the journey home in a special convoy. The other remains disinterred at Carlisle are being returned to the Shoshone and Bannock Tribes; the Gros Ventre tribe, now the Nakoda and Aaniiih Nations on the Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana; the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes; and another tribe that asked to remain anonymous. The three Pine Ridge youths all died of tuberculosis, then known as consumption the leading cause of death at the Carlisle school. Among the 11 being disinterred, at least two others also died from consumption, and several more died from what were described as lung ailments. A True Incident The story of Fannies death was published by the Massachusetts Indian Association in 1894, in an article entitled, Chief Charging Shield: A True Incident. While no author is credited, it seems to be based upon the eyewitness account of Alice Seabrook, the schools head nurse, and it appears she is the Miss S mentioned regularly in the story. The heartfelt tale offers a glimpse into the type of human moment rarely recorded in school records. Most of the students who died at Carlisle not only died far from home but also far away from the love of parents and family. It was unusual for a parent to be at the bedside of a dying child instead of being separated by perhaps 1,000 miles or more. Most parents of Carlisle students were often informed of their childs death by mail or telegraph, after their death. Chief Charging Shield, Oglala Sioux Tribe, seated, was photographed in 1892 with an Oglala Sioux student, Samuel Flying Horse, at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The chief had traveled to the school to visit his sick daughter, Fannie Charging Shield, who died March 7, 1892, of consumption while he was there. Flying Horse died the following year, also from consumption. Fannie, Samuel and another Oglala student, James Cornman, were disinterred in September 2024 and their remains returned to Pine Ridge for reburial. (Historic photo via Cumberland County Historical Society) A recent investigative report released by the U.S. Department of the Interior found at least 973 students died at Indian boarding schools in the U.S. between 1819 and 1969, though some researchers have said the number may be as high as 40,000. https://ictnews.org/news/apologize-report-calls-for-us-government-to-own-up-to-abusive-boarding-school-history Related: Apologize! Report calls for US government to own up to abusive boarding school history Since 2017, the Office of Army Cemeteries which oversees the Carlisle cemetery along with other military gravesites, including Arlington Cemetery has disinterred and returned the remains of 32 children from Carlisle cemetery to 18 different tribes. The graves of 146 students remained in the cemetery prior to the 2024 repatriations, according to office officials, though Frank Vitale of Millersville University and Jim Gerencser of the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center at Dickinson College estimate 232 students died at Carlisle. That total includes students who died while assigned to work with local patrons in what was known as an outing program, and who were buried elsewhere. The Carlisle school, which operated from 1879 to 1918, was among the first and best-known of the federally run boarding schools, established to force assimilation onto Native children by removing them from their families, culture and language. It became the model for more than 400 schools across 37 states and territories in the U.S., and provided a blueprint for Canadas notorious residential school system. Richard Moves Camp,a fifth-generation Lakota healer and spiritual leader who is an instructor at the University of Sinte Gleska in South Dakota, said education was sacred to Native people, but the federal governments efforts were misguided. It was off-balanced education, Moves Camp said. They wanted us to erase the memories of our original teaching about humans and they forced one type of knowledge. We learned how to speak a foreign language, which is English and we learned how to forget our own language and we no longer have an idea about who we are. That was the intention. Heartbreak and confusion When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream. -Black Elk Arriving at the school less than two months after the massacre at Wounded Knee on Dec. 29, 1890, Fannie must have been uncomfortable traversing from the site of a massacre committed by the Army to a school run by an Army officer in a military style. She had traveled from a land where hopes and dreams had been erased to a location that had all intentions of erasing all that she had known, and changing her into their image. Fannie was 16 when she arrived on Feb. 19, 1891, as part of a group of nine girls and eight boys sent from Pine Ridge. It is likely they left for Carlisle from the same Rushville, Nebraska, train station that brought in the Fort Omaha troops who took part in the massacre. Put yourself in their shoes, I can't imagine it, Pourier said. Coming out here right after the Wounded Knee Massacre, what's going through their mind the heartbreak, the confusion and the fear that these kids had when they came here. There was uncertainty on where they were going and if they were going to come home. A weathered rose sits on the grave of James Cornman at the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery in Pennsylvania on Sept. 5, 2024. James was one of three Oglala Sioux students who died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in the late 1800s and is among 11 Native youths disinterred from the Carlisle cemetery starting Sept. 6, 2024. They are being repatriated back to their homelands. Along with James, the remains of Oglala students Samuel Flying Horse and Fannie Charging Shield have been returned to Pine Ridge for reburial. (Photo by Charles Fox, special to ICT) Fannies time at the school was relatively brief. School records show that just a few months after she arrived, on June 25, 1891, she went to live and work with a family, known as a patron, as part of the schools outing program, in Kennett Square in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, near the Delaware border. There is little account of how students were treated while on the outing program. Most worked as domestics or as farmhands. Others in trades. It was there, away from her people and family, she would have marked the first anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre. On Jan. 8, 1892, she returned to the school and likely was already ill with tuberculosis. By then, she had spent more than half her time at Carlisle working away from the school. She died on March 7,1892, just two months after returning to the school. Cornman was already at Carlisle when Fannie arrived. He had arrived at the school at age 22 on Aug. 12, 1887, and spent more than two years working for a family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He returned from his outing in January 1891, and by April 21,1891, he had also died of consumption. Flying Horse arrived at Carlisle a few months later at age 18, on June 24, 1891, just as Fannie was about to leave for her outing. His school records dont show any outings during his time at the school. He died at age 19 or 20 nearly two years later, on May 31, 1893, of what the school newspaper described as a lingering illness, consumption. A fathers grief After Fannies death, Chief Charging Shield revealed his plan to take his daughters body back to Pine Ridge for burial, with hopes of boarding an evening train, according to the written account of her death. The medical staff informed him they would need time to prepare her body. They involved Charging Shield in the process, allowing him to pick out her burial clothes, a red dress with lace around the neck and wrists. She had bought the dress with the money she earned through the outing program. The nurses and a group of Lakota girls then dressed her, being sure to replace the pansies in her hands. With tears in his eyes and his hand on his heart, he spoke through an interpreter, according to the written account. When I see her face my heart is broken with sadness, Charging Shield said. But, when I see all of your kindness to my poor child, then there is gladness in my heart. I thank you. The staff then prepared an adjacent room for him to sleep in the next two days to continue the mourning process and keep a vigilant watch over his daughters body. Although Charging Shield was determined to return his daughter to Pine Ridge for burial, school officials told him that since the school had paid for his trip to the school, there were not funds available to cover shipment of her body. His reaction to the schools refusal to ship the body home is not recorded, but the written account said he was touched by the casket, with its glittering handles and trimmings, white cloth lining and flowers. An interpreter relayed his feelings. We have plenty of flowers in our own land, but we never think of using them like this, he said. Reaching out and touching the flowers and the casket, Charging Shield made his final request through an interpreter. I cannot tell her mother about this (casket and floral arrangement), he said. I could not make her understand. Give me a picture of it, so she may understand; then she will be content. Fannies funeral was held at St. Johns Episcopal Church located on the Carlisle square. While the whereabouts of that photo is unknown, there is a photo of Chief Charging Shield with Flying Horse, an orphan who was also known as Tasunke Kinyela and Tasune Kekineyela. Not forgotten The six Oglala representatives arrived in Carlisle late on the night of Sept. 5, three by automobile and three by plane. Early the next morning, after meeting the crew with the Office of Army Cemeteries, they visited the graves of the three Pine Ridge students and performed graveside ceremonies. The remains of Fannie and James would be simultaneously disinterred that day, with Samuels the following day. In the early evening, Richard Moves Camp gathered a trio of men into prayer in town. They stood in an old industrial section of Carlisles East Louther Street. An abandoned semi-trailer loomed over them, and a row of empty loading docks lined the opposite side of the gravel lot. The visiting Oglala men had come to the site searching for evidence that this was the location where Carlisle students arrived on the trains that had brought them East. They had come to honor the children in a location where so much began to change for so many the moment they stepped off the train. Moves Camp prayed in Lakota. His deep, baritone voice emotionally acknowledged the spirits of those who attended the school and the heartbroken families they had left behind. We can never make the past history right, but maybe we can make it better, Steve Dubray Sr., one of the Oglala men who arrived to oversee the disinterment, said earlier in the day when they gathered outside the cemetery. Let them (the students) know they were not forgotten. Three Oglala Sioux men - from left, Justin Pourier, Steve Dubray Sr. and Richard Moves Camp - searched the town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in September 2024 for this abandoned site on East Louther Street where Native students are believed to have arrived by train in the late 1800s to attend the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The men came to perform a ceremony and to to be present for the disinterment of three Oglala students who died while attending the school more than 100 years ago - Fannie Charging Shield , Samuel Flying Horse, and James Cornman. The three were among 11 Native youths wwho were to be disinterred from the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery starting Sept. 6, 2024, and repatriated to their homelands. (Photo by Charles Fox, special to ICT) Gerencser, of Dickinson College, had expressed his belief that students exited the South Mountain Junction also called the Gettysburg Junction of the Cumberland Valley Railroad at the site to make the short walk to the school grounds. As the men searched along an overgrown fence line, the low angle of the early evening sunlight revealed regular indentations seemingly caused by railroad ties. Although they were satisfied that they had found the location they sought, the discovery produced more questions about what the students had endured. Answers evaded them like a distant echo unable to be clearly understood. There was not much known about the three Oglala students whose remains they hoped to bring home. They knew when they arrived at the school and when they died of consumption. But information about what they experienced between those dates was lacking. The unknown details were haunting. Three days later, after the disinterment of Fannie, Samuel, and James, they received some welcomed answers. The forensic findings of the remains matched the appropriate age and sex of the three students, enough to initiate healing and assuage their fears. At least three students have been found to be misidentified since 2017, and there are 17 graves now marked as unknown in the cemetery. On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the caskets were carried out from a tent following a distinguished transfer ceremony with the Office of Army Cemeteries. They were greeted by a cloudless, blue sky stretching across the horizon to begin their transport back to Pine Ridge. Hope filled the air. Elder Eugene Black Crow Sr. speaks before praying at the distinguished transfer ceremony on Sept. 10, 2024, in front of caskets of three Oglala Sioux students who died at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania more than 100 years earlier. The remains of Fannie Charging Shield , Samuel Flying Horse, and James Cornman were returned to the Oglala Sioux in Pine Ridge for reburial. (Photo by Charles Fox, special to ICT) The ceremony had left Pourier shaken. The presentation of the ceremonial flag brought back memories of his grandfather, Eugene Ryan, who served in the U.S. Army and was wounded in World War II. The rest of the Pine Ridge entourage had to return home the preceding day, leaving him to shoulder the emotional experience alone. About 25 people, mainly the staff of the Office of Army Cemeteries, gathered in a circle. A few Native individuals from the region attended to lend support. Like Chief Charging Shield, Pourier was touched by the efforts of strangers. He then began his long drive home, back to South Dakota. After departing west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike from Carlisle, Pourier soon found his SUV navigating the rolling hills of the Appalachian Mountains, with the leaves just beginning to make their autumn transition in color. The landscape and emotional weight of Carlisle was behind him. His mood was uplifted by the excitement of going home, he said, with a goal accomplished. All that trauma stuff that happened to our people back in the 1800s still is in our people, Pourier had said earlier in the day at Carlisle. Somehow, we need to turn that around and start having a healing. This return of these three students will be a big step in that direction. That's my constant prayer. I hope this helps somebody back home to start healing. A broken circle healed The three students finally returned to South Dakota on Thursday, Sept. 12, for the first time in more than 130 years. Over the final leg of their return home, from Vermillion to Pine Ridge, they were welcomed by bikers, student groups, riders on horseback, elders, spiritual leaders, and members of the Rosebud Siouxs Sicangu Youth Council, the youth group whose efforts in 2016 had initiated the repatriations from Carlisle. Near Pine Ridge, the caravan was estimated to be a mile long. Pourier would call the homecoming gatherings our common shared prayer. We rejoiced in the joyous celebration of a 100-year-old plus, broken circle, said Moves Camp, who led a prayer with the crowd gathered in Martin, South Dakota. It came back together. It was a historical event People feel that something's completed now, he said. Our children that went away came back, and they fulfilled the brokenness, the broken circle. *Correction: This story has been updated to note that although the Carlisle Indian Industrial School operated on an Army base in Pennsylvania, it was run by the Indian Affairs Office, later the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and not the Army. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICTs free newsletter. 'We need a new home to save our food bank' Nikki Ranson said the team had considered downsizing its space and ordering less food more often [Leigh Milner/BBC] The future of a food bank is at risk after its directors issued an urgent plea to find a permanent home for the organisation. Colchester Foodbank has been based at the Tollgate Retail Park for the past three years, but its landlord - which had allowed the charity to use the premises for free - is looking to redevelop the site. Nikki Ranson, one of the food bank's directors, said the number of people using the service had risen from about 7,000 four years ago to 24,500 last year. "It's scary that we've got the pressure that if we do not find a building... we risk [losing] the food bank," she told BBC Essex. The food bank has contacted Colchester City Council, the NHS, the Army and the University of Essex for help to find a new base, and is now speaking to estate agents. It runs 10 smaller sites around the city to make accessing its services easier, but they do not have enough space to store donations and deliveries. Ms Ranson said the team had considered downsizing its space and ordering less food more often, rather than ordering in bulk, but the food bank still needed about 7,000 sq ft (650 sq m) of space. Losing its main base would also mean losing "vital" services, such as on-site referrals to Citizens Advice and the city council, she said. "We don't want to hold [the redevelopment] up... so we need to move pretty soon," she added. 'Really difficult' Faye, not her real name, started volunteering for the food bank after previously using its services during the coronavirus pandemic. "It's really difficult for a lot of people to admit you need help, and I think people try to persevere, so if you go to a food bank it shows just how desperate and how at the end of your tether you are," she said. Many of the people visiting the food bank were in full-time employment, including carers and nurses, Faye added. Additional reporting by Leigh Milner. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. More on this story Related internet links Bob Silvestro was peering through his living room blinds at yet another homeless person, this one trying to balance bags of belongings on a bicycle that he pushed along Greater Avenue in Biloxi People without homes are a daily sight in the Greater Southern Subdivision between the beach highway and Pass Road. The modest neighborhood sits just east of what was once the famed Broadwater Beach Resort, which included a beachfront hotel and marina, and the manicured Broadwater Sun Golf Course. Gulfport businessmen Roy Anderson III and W.C. Cotton Fore bought the sprawling property shortly before Hurricane Katrinas devastation in August 2005 and had planned a casino development there. But it instead became a magnet for homeless people. The interior of the 266-acre property includes ponds, woods and overgrown fields where homeless people camp. The Broadwater owners were sympathetic to their plight, as were residents living near the property. Thomas Reed, a veteran who is experiencing homelessness, outside of the St. Vincent de Paul Society at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Biloxi on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Reed, who has camped on the Broadwater property, said hes been taken advantage of while homeless and had his money stolen on occasion. But in the last year or two, residents say, they have noticed a more menacing tone from some of those living in woods on and around the Broadwater property. Residents report property thefts, gunfire and even one machete-welding man on a skateboard. The city has been trying to clear property the school system owns nearby, and enlisted the Broadwater owners to clean out some of their acreage. The Catholic Diocese and homeless organizations, working with the city, have had some recent success several miles to the east at moving some people from the street into homes. Mayor Andrew FoFo Gilich is hoping some of the homeless people on the Broadwater property also can find permanent housing. The city plans in the near future to open a police substation on school property near the Broadwater. Plans include an assessment center where nonprofit organizations could work toward getting some of the homeless population housed. Theyre going to go somewhere, unless you assess the situation and give them solutions, Gilich said. Weve had fires, weve had gunshots, weve had dope and sexual battery. This is real bad stuff. Go interview folks in that subdivision. Theyll tell you its continuous . . . Were not unique. Thats just the way the world is. Residents of the Greater Southern Subdivision, circled, say homeless people living on property shown in the highlighted areas, have been creating problems, leading the city to clean Area F, which the school district owns. The owners of the former Broadwater Beach Resort have also cleared about 16 acres of their property, shown as Area B. An estate owns Area A. Most of the land between Iris Street and Beauvoir Road, and the beach highway and Pass Road to the north and south, are part of the 266-acre Broadwater property, which includes a former golf course. Homeless shelters rejected The Salvation Army ran the only homeless shelter in Harrison County, but Hurricane Katrina also ended that operation in Gulfport. Residents have since objected to shelters proposed in both Gulfport and Biloxi. Nobody wants a shelter in their backyard, said Dena Wittmann, executive director of the nonprofit Open Doors Homeless Coalition. Open Doors and others have been meeting with city of Biloxi officials for almost a year to work on solutions. They most recently focused on helping open the Catholic Dioceses day center on the former Mercy Cross High School campus in East Biloxi. The Mercy Cross property, where homeless people also were living in the woods, has been cleaned up. Amanda Thorne, who is experiencing homelessness, and her dog Batman outside of the St. Vincent de Paul Society at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Biloxi on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Thorne, who is from Biloxi, said she has been a victim of assault while being forced to live on the streets. She is one of many homeless people who have camped on the Broadwater property. The people who were staying there have been allowed to remain, if they follow established rules, until they can be sheltered or relocated. By last week, the population had shrunk from 45 to 22. In addition, 61 people had been connected with housing, said Jennifer Williams, diocesan director of Catholic Charities of South Mississippi. Homeless people were forced to move off the eastern end of the Broadwater property around Iris Street, and school property to the north, before the city and Broadwater began mowing and cleaning it out. Weve seen new local homeless in the day center lately, but most of them just come eat and leave, Williams said. We havent allowed anybody new to move in since we first opened. We are a day center. We are not a homeless camp. A hole in a fence leads to a trail with trash and debris on property that was once part of the defunct Broadwater Beach Resort off of Iris Street in Biloxi on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. A city of Biloxi vehicle mows the right of way along Iris Street, where the city school district and Broadwater Development LLP own property being cleared for better visibility. Homeless camps on some of the land also have been removed. Homeless people who lived on the Broadwater property say their options are limited. Amanda Thorne, who is from Biloxi, said she lost her house three years ago and was living on the Broadwater property. Shes moved to another spot, but has been told shell have to leave there, too. Thorne, who has multiple health problems, said that shes been working with nonprofit organizations to find housing. Shes living with a friend and her dog, Batman, in a tent that other homeless people had abandoned. Theres abandoned buildings we could use for the homeless, Thorne said. Theyre pushing us away and we have nowhere to go. Biloxi neighborhood working on safety Roy Anderson said about 16 acres of the Broadwater property is being cleared. Visibility will help the city and neighbors monitor whats happening on the property, he said. While they wanted to extend compassion to the homeless population, Anderson said, the Broadwater owners are willing to do what the city and neighbors need for safety reasons. Another Catholic organization that provides homeless services, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, is located across Pass Road from the Broadwater property. Society president Patti Holloway said she is seeing the same faces that she saw before the Broadwater property was cleared, leading her to believe former occupants are still in the area. Overgrown property near what was once the Broadwater Beach Resort in Biloxi at the end of Southern Avenue on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Silvestro and his neighbors have grown vigilant. He is retired and plans to invest the time needed to make sure his neighborhood is safe. Hes been to the City Council to complain more times that he can count. His repeated refrain about the property: Clean it up, build on it, or sell it, but it aint sitting like its sitting anymore. He started a Neighborhood Watch and said police Chief John Miller has been very supportive. Silvestro wishes more services were offered for homeless people, including mental-health treatment. I really think we need to stop kicking the can down the road, he said. What was once the entrance to the golf course off Beauvoir Road at the now-defunct Broadwater Beach Resort in Biloxi on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Broadwater Development LLP property being cleared just north of the CSX railroad trackks and east of Iris Street in Biloxi on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. More than six months after the death of a masonry worker on site, Homewood Flossmoor High School said construction of a science building remains ongoing. High School District 233 communications and engagement director Carla Erdey said in a statement the construction company in charge of the project cooperated with an Occupational Safety and Health Administration audit after the death of worker Ronald P. Simonson, 63, of Vernon Hills, in February. We are deeply saddened by the tragic accident on February 7, 2024, that took the life of a skilled mason constructing the science building, Erdey said Tuesday. His family, co-workers, and friends remain in our hearts. The company that employed Simonson, Joes Masonry, was a subcontractor hired to assist Reed Construction in building the schools net zero science building and the culinary and fashion/interior design renovations, a spokesperson for District 233 said at the time. Simonsons death from a hand saw slicing his neck led OSHA to take notice. OSHA issued three citations July 10 against Joes Masonry, based in Elmhurst, due to conditions for its workers at the high school. The company paid more than $16,500 for three violations all coded as serious, including failing to provide working walking platforms, exposing workers to fall hazards, a lack of guardrails around platforms more than 11 feet off the ground and unimplemented engineering controls that increased dust exposure that can cause lung disease and other health issues. Joes Masonry received one prior OSHA citation in 2012 for lack of guardrails on a scaffold, according a statement from OSHA in February. Sal Calzante, vice president of Joes Masonry, declined to speak on the violations Wednesday. Reed Construction did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Following the investigation, Erdey said OSHA turned the construction site back over to Reed Construction, where it will remain until work is complete in mid-winter. Reed Construction has a weekly third-party safety audit conducted on the site throughout the project to ensure a safe environment for all, Erdey said in the statement. The state-of-the-art science building is being built to be net zero, producing more energy than it runs, with the help of a $2 million grant, according to a news release after it was approved. The energy the building produces will offset about $80,000 per year in annual energy costs, the release said. ostevens@chicagotribune.com Hong Kong people living in Taiwan display placards and a poster showing detained pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai at a rally in Taipei in March 2024 (Sam Yeh) (Sam Yeh/AFP/AFP) US lawmakers on Wednesday vowed to keep up pressure to free Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, whose son warned that time was running out. Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered popular Chinese-language tabloid Apple Daily which supported mass pro-democracy protests, was detained in 2020 and is standing trial on charges including sedition and colluding with foreign forces. At a press event held by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his son said Lai, 76, was struggling in solitary confinement inside a cell that is 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit). "Make no mistake -- they are killing him because of his commitment to democracy," Sebastian Lai said. "My dad is also someone who is living out the duty of the free -- the duty to fight and protect freedom whenever and wherever it is being threatened," he said. "I call on those who understand the same duty to act now and to save him before it's too late," he said. Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi told him, "Sebastian, your father is a hero to us." Pelosi said authoritarian states hope to convince prisoners that they are forgotten. "We are saying to the world, to the Chinese government, to the Chinese Communist Party, that we know -- not only do we remember, we exalt, we lift up, the sacrifice of Jimmy Lai," Pelosi said. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, calling Lai a symbol of the "vibrant, free community" that Hong Kong once was, vowed to keep a spotlight to free Lai as well as less prominent people detained under a harsh new security law in Hong Kong. Lai pleaded not guilty in the trial that began in January. He faces charges that could carry life imprisonment. Prosecutors have sought to make a case against him by showing his media appearances and have named former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo among his foreign contacts and "agents." China promised a separate system for Hong Kong before the financial hub's handover by Britain in 1997 but clamped down hard after the massive and occasionally violent pro-democracy protests in 2019. sct/md (Bloomberg) -- Iran-backed Hezbollah accused Israel of orchestrating an attack that killed several people and left almost 3,000 wounded across Lebanon, increasing fears of an all-out war. Most Read from Bloomberg Israel didnt comment on Tuesdays events, which left hundreds of members of the Hezbollah militant group injured. The two sides have exchanged fire on a near-daily basis for much of the last year, with tensions rising over the past several weeks. A string of medical emergencies were reported Tuesday afternoon following the mysterious explosion of thousands of pagers used by Lebanese people, including members of the militant group. Hezbollah and Lebanons government were both quick to describe the events as an Israeli attack, with the former vowing to respond. Israel declined to comment. American officials said Tuesday that the US was neither involved nor informed in advance of the pagers incident. The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said in a statement that nine people had been killed, including children, calling the episode an extremely concerning escalation and adding that under international humanitarian law civilians are not a target and must be protected at all times. The wireless devices likely overheated before the blasts took place, indicating foul play, Lebanons Telecommunications Minister Johnny Corm told Bloomberg. Experts theorized the pagers had been modified earlier in the supply chain before delivery, possibly including planting explosives that could be triggered remotely. Oil prices rose on traders concern the deadly blasts would reignite geopolitical tensions. If the blasts were carried out by Israel, it would mark one of the most sophisticated attacks ever executed by either of the two parties, which have been fighting in intermittent clashes for around four decades. Pagers, which have been largely obsolete in the West for several years, are popular among Hezbollah fighters, who believe they can avoid interceptions by Israeli intelligence thanks to their low-tech nature. Late Tuesday the New York Times cited US and other officials it didnt identify as saying Israel was responsible for the operation and that it had planted small amounts of explosives in the pagers, which had been sourced from Taiwan. Story continues Gold Apollo Co., a small closely-held Taiwanese company identified in some media reports as the manufacturer of the pagers that exploded, denied that it made the devices. Those devices arent ours, said a company official, asking not to be named before a formal statement. The person added that Gold Apollo licenses its brand to at least one other company, without providing more details. Such devices could be modified after being exported, Taiwans economy ministry said in a statement, citing the company. The New York Times report said the pagers got a message at 3:30 pm local time that appeared to be from Hezbollah leadership just before the explosives detonated. About 1,500 members of Hezbollah were wounded in the attacks, according to a Lebanese military official with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. While thats probably one of the biggest single-day casualties for the group, it would hardly make a dent in its fighting force, believed to be around 100,000. These pagers were detonated with high-tech by the Israeli enemy, Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim Mousawi told the groups television channel. Lebanon Information Minister Ziyad Makari called the attack a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards. The alleged attack adds to tensions that have been building since July when Israel assassinated a key commander of the organization in Beirut. Hezbollah has vowed to avenge the death, which was quickly followed by the killing in Tehran of the political leader of Hamas, which carried out last Octobers assault on Israel and is also backed by the Islamic Republic. While Israel hasnt claimed or denied responsibility for the killing of the Hamas figure, Irans promises of a retaliation raised the fears of a widening war in the Middle East. Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are increasingly warning that a full-on war against Hezbollah is inevitable. Late Monday, the Israeli cabinet said enabling residents displaced by Hezbollah attacks to return home is now a formal war objective, signaling the country is closer to a large-scale offensive. Tens of thousands of civilians have been evacuated in southern Lebanon and northern Israel because of the skirmishes, which began after the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza. US Push The US has been trying to calm tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. Amos Hochstein, one of President Joe Bidens senior Middle East advisers, met Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Israel on Monday. He told Netanyahu the US doesnt believe a broader conflict in Lebanon will help northern Israelis return to their homes and, if anything, will risk a wider regional war, according to an American official, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the incident underscored the urgency of a diplomatic solution to the conflict on Israels northern border, which has gone on for way too long, as well as the war in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Cairo early Wednesday morning and is scheduled to meet top Egyptian officials including President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Egypt has been a key moderator in peace talks with Israel and Hamas. During Tuesdays blasts, 2,750 people were hurt and eight were confirmed dead, according to Lebanese authorities. About 200 of those injured were in critical condition. Hezbollah said two of its members were killed, including the son of a lawmaker. The explosions took place mainly in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Blood Donations Lebanese authorities called for blood donations and asked hospital staffs across the country to report to duty. One of Beiruts main hospitals said it was at full capacity and urged people to go elsewhere for treatment. Television footage from Beirut showed a man covered in blood sitting on the ground as many others apparently wounded in the explosions were being carried away. The Lebanese Red Cross said more than 50 ambulances were dispatched. --With assistance from Marissa Newman, Jenny Leonard, Courtney McBride, Augusta Saraiva, Jane Lanhee Lee, Cindy Wang and Iain Marlow. (Adds Blinkens arrival in region and Taiwan pager companys denial starting from 10th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. HONOLULU (KHON2) Excitement is building for the 48th Annual Intertribal Powwow, taking place on Sept. 21 and 22 at the Bishop Museum. This vibrant event is hosted by the Hoopili Tribal Council, and its more than just a festival. Its a celebration of Native American and Indigenous cultures from across the world. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Led by Lisa Kaanoi, president of Hoopili Tribal Council, the council is a diverse group representing various tribes, including Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native and Okinawan heritage. Their mission is to foster cultural awareness and unity through educational programs, community events and traditional celebrations. What is a powwow? Powwows are significant cultural gatherings for Native American tribes and Indigenous groups. Historically, powwows were held to celebrate victories, mark significant events and maintain cultural traditions. Today, powwows serve as a way for people from various tribes to come together, share their heritage and enjoy traditional and modern performances. Lisa Kaanoi, the president of the Hoopili Tribal Council, explained that a powwow is a gathering of folks from a single tribe or multiple tribes to engage in traditional and modern dances, songs, and cultural exchanges. She emphasized that while some dances are traditional and competitive, there are also inclusive events like round dances where everyone, from keiki (children) to kupuna (elders), can join in. The significance of powwows Powwows are more than just a showcase of dance and music. They are a living testament to the resilience and vitality of Native American cultures. Lisa Kaanoi highlighted the importance of these events by noting, The powwow is a space where we can come together, celebrate our traditions, and educate the wider community about our cultures. At the upcoming powwow, attendees can expect a range of activities beyond dancing. There will be food vendors offering traditional dishes, arts and crafts booths, and educational demonstrations. Last year, visitors had the opportunity to see a weavers skillful work, and this year promises even more engaging presentations. What to Expect at This Years Powwow This years powwow at the Bishop Museum will be a two-day event filled with activities for all ages. According to Kaanoi, There will be food vendors, arts and crafts vendors, and educational booths, explained Kaanoi. Well also have demonstrations and performances from artists and dancers who travel from different places to share their talents and traditions. A special highlight will be the grand entry, a ceremonial start to the powwow where all the dancers and participants parade into the arena. This event usually begins at 10 a.m. on the first day, and Kaanoi encourages attendees to arrive early to witness this spectacular moment. For those who want to learn more about Native American culture, there will be educational booths where visitors can discover the significance of various traditions and the history of the tribes. Kaanoi mentioned that these booths will cover important topics like the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement and boarding school awareness, providing valuable insights into these critical issues. The 48th Annual Intertribal Powwow promises to be a vibrant and enriching event for all. Whether you are part of the Native American community or just curious to learn more, this powwow offers a unique opportunity to celebrate, connect, and honor the diverse cultures of Indigenous peoples. Click here for more information on how to join in the fun at the powwow. You can watch Kaanois full interview in the video above. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHONs morning podcast, every morning at 8 Mark your calendars for Sept. 21 and 22, and join the Hoopili Tribal Council at the Bishop Museum for a weekend of cultural celebration and community spirit. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HONOLULU (KHON2) The Honolulu Police Department is hiring, and theres an opportunity this Friday to join the department at a recruitment and career fair. HPD joined Wake Up 2Day on Thursday morning to share details about the event and opportunities. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You The Honolulu Police Department is holding a Recruitment and Career Fair at Ka Makana Alii in Kapolei on Friday, September 20 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. This is a great time to speak to officers and learn more about the various career opportunities within the department you can even apply on site, Officer Cody Kodama said. There are lots of positions available for those who are seeking a career. Waikiki residents take control of streets with returning volunteer program We have sworn and civilian positions available, Sergeant Walter Espiritu said. If youre looking to become a Metropolitan Police Recruit, you must be at least 20 years old at the time of application with a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent. You must be able to possess a firearm and have a valid drivers license. Civilians positions include our Police Communications Officers (formerly known as dispatchers), criminalists in the Scientific Investigation Section (the HPD crime laboratory), and other administrative positions. Additional information is available on our website: www.joinhonolulupd.org. Civil service is a reason to join the force, but so is money. Officer Kodama says starting pay for recruits is $83,000 with bonus opportunties. The Honolulu Police Department offers a unique and fulfilling career path. Youll have the opportunity to make a direct, positive impact in our community. The department also offers competitive salaries, health benefits, and retirement plans. If you value public service, enjoy diverse environments, and are looking for a meaningful career with growth opportunities, the Honolulu Police Department could be a great fit for you. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) introduced the Tipped Income Protection and Standards (TIPS) Act on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Horsfords legislation would eliminate the practice of paying tipped workers bottom-of-the-barrel wages $2.13 an hour as well as ending income tax on tips. The Culinary Union threw its support behind Horsfords legislation, issuing a news release on Tuesday. Its outrageous that companies across the country still pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 an hour. By eliminating federal income taxes on tips and ending the sub-minimum wage, this legislation that Congressman Horsford is championing will uplift millions of workers, including many in Nevada, a Culinary spokesperson said. Gig workers share hopes for No Tax on Tips proposal after poll shows Nevadans favor it After initial excitement after former President Donald Trump elevated tips to a national conversation and a plank in the Republican platform the focus on taxes has broadened to the wage structure for workers who rely on tips. Trumps No Taxes on Tips gained momentum with the union and Nevada Democrats, but only if they addressed wages overall. Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have come out in support of eliminating taxes on tips. Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation removing taxes, as well. Nevada has abolished the subminimum wage system for tipped workers, but it still exists in other states. Horsford noted that the pay system for tipped workers disproportionately impacts women, people of color, and low-wage workers in states such as Texas, Virginia, and Alabama, where the tipped minimum wage remains at $2.13. Nationwide, over 4 million tipped workers rely on this precarious wage system. Horsford said the TIPS Act is about fairness, dignity and economic justice. No one working full-time in America should live in poverty, yet millions of tipped workers do just thatmany of whom are women and people of color, he said. No tax on tips: From pipe dream to potential policy In Nevada, where the minimum wage applies to all workers, restaurants have seen an increase in productivity, employee retention, and customer satisfaction. Studies show that when workers are paid a fair wage, they experience less financial stress, leading to higher quality service and improved overall workplace morale, Horsford said. California and Washington have also eliminated the subminimum wage with similar outcomes, showing that fair wages do not harm the restaurant industryin fact, they lead to long-term success, he said. Trump brought up taxes and tips when he spoke in June at a Sunset Park rally in Las Vegas. The Culinary Union initially dismissed the suggestion as a campaign stunt. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The new technology reduced treatment time and increased accuracy and patient comfort [BBC] Cancer patients at two NHS hospitals are being offered a new type of radiotherapy treatment described as "a complete game changer". Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT) uses light beams and advanced cameras to create a unique 3D outline of a patient's body to improve accuracy and treatment time. The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (N&N) spent 1m upgrading existing equipment, while Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge spent 4m on new machines capable of delivering the technology. The N&N said it would soon be offered to treat every type of cancer. The treatment automatically cuts out if a patient suddenly moves [BBC] Radiotherapy is the use of powerful X-rays to target and kill cancer cells. In the past, therapeutic radiographers have made small tattoos on a patient's skin to pinpoint exactly where to deliver the treatment for multiple appointments, without damaging healthy tissue. SGRT replaces the need for tattoos and the machines will cut out if a patient moves out of position. "The old technology meant you're on the bed and they're moving you about for quite a while before they eventually walk out of the room and hit the button," said John Starling, 68, a cancer patient from Attleborough in Norfolk. "But now they set you up with the three cameras, the bed gets you where you need to be and you're in and out." John Starling is being treated for lymphoma, a type of blood cancer [Martin Giles/BBC] Five radiotherapy machines at the N&N and two at Addenbrooke's Hospital will deliver SGRT - with a third machine planned at a later date. Jo Thomas, a therapeutic radiographer at the N&N, described the technology as "cutting edge" and a "complete game changer for patients". "If a patient coughs or sneezes and moves, more than a set tolerance, the beam will cut out and treatment will stop, so that the treatment is only delivered to the intended target," she said. "Previously we had to rely on watching patients from outside the treatment room." The new technology removed the need for small permanent tattoos [BBC] The treatment will initially be used by Addenbrooke's Hospital to treat breast cancer before being expanded. Andrew Robinson, head of radiotherapy physics at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), which runs Addenbrooke's Hospital, added: "Our teams have worked hard over the summer to test and train on the system, and it is rewarding to see our patients benefitting from the increased accuracy and efficiency of SGRT." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. More on this story Related internet links EXCLUSIVE: A House committee plans to surprise a top Biden administration official at a Wednesday hearing with a scathing document-request letter after lawmakers said the agency repeatedly failed to comply with a subpoena regarding its swing-state electioneering activities. House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams, R-Texas, said the Small Business Administration (SBA) drafted a "strategic plan" for its voter registration work in Michigan, in compliance with a President Biden executive order, but has claimed it does not exist in its requested form. However, committee sources tell Fox News Digital an SBA response to a separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from an outside organization indicated the existence of such a document. The committees Republican majority has pursued the agency for months seeking answers about its work in Michigan amid allegations it has been involved in partisan voter registration outreach in the key swing state. While the agency has contended any work has been done aboveboard and pursuant to Biden Executive Order 14019 "Promoting Access to Voting," the committee noted the edict requires a "strategic plan" to be drafted identifying ways the agency can "promote voter registration and voter participation." BIDEN ADMIN ACCUSED OF USING TAXPAYER FUNDS TO HELP HIS OWN CAMPAIGN WITH STUDENT VOTER REGISTRATION SCHEME READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams is targeting a partnership started by the Michigan Department of State and Small Business Administration administrator Isabel Guzman. That document, Williams said, is key to the committee's work investigating whether a deal forged between the SBA and the Michigan Department of State is potentially unconstitutional as well as a misuse of taxpayer dollars. "The Committee is deeply concerned that the SBA has misled the Committee regarding the existence of a document the Committee specifically demanded in the subpoena: the strategic plan the SBA submitted to the White Houses Domestic Policy Counsel in September 2021 under Executive Order (E.O.) 14019," the letter reads, signed by Williams and Small Business Oversight Subcommittee Chairwoman Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas. "On numerous occasions, the SBA and its staff claimed that this document did not exist before eventually claiming it could not be produced to the Committee" it read. "In response to the subpoena, SBA officials stated to Committee staff that no responsive document existed. The Committee was skeptical of SBAs claim, as failing to submit this report would violate the terms of the Executive Order On two separate occasions, Committee staff further inquired about this document with SBA staff and added context to help the SBA identify the document the SBA again indicated that no such document exists." Williams and others in Congress have accused the SBA of using the pact to funnel taxpayer resources to a swing state in a partisan manner during an election year. A source familiar said a FOIA case reportedly initiated by a conservative legal foundation found evidence of at least a draft document. The SBA had been subject to a filing by the conservative Heritage Foundations Oversight Project watchdog organization in May. "It's curious that the Small Business Administration has entered an agreement with the Michigan secretary of state in this context, with the election this year," Oversight Project attorney Kyle Brosnan said of that case in a prior interview. REPUBLICANS PLAN TO CONFRONT BIDEN'S SMALL BUSINESS CHIEF OVER ELECTIONEERING CONCERNS, COVID LOAN FORGIVENESS Then-President Donald Trump, left, speaks with Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, as he participates in the NCAA Collegiate National Champions Day in the State Dining Room at the White House on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019 in Washington, D.C. "After months of claiming a crucial document relating to SBAs implementation of the Biden-Harris electioneering executive order doesnt exist, court filings show that they were not being honest. This revelation calls into question the credibility of the agency and gives our committee all the more motivation to keep demanding answers," Williams said. The way the MOU has been acted upon is controversial and potentially unconstitutional, Williams has said, as he and others in Congress previously accused the SBA of using it to funnel resources to a swing state in a partisan way. He previously said the SBA is "diverting its resources away from assisting Main Street so it can register Democratic voters" in Michigan. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee, added that the American people "have a right to know what their government is doing with their tax dollars, and I am going to make sure the SBA is held accountable." In compliance with the White House order, the SBA submitted their strategic plan within the 200-day window, the committee contends. In March, the agency launched what it called a "first of its kind" agreement to assist with registering voters in Michigan. The SBA had claimed in response to the committees original demand that the document was not "final," and therefore not responsive to the request. The committee, however, did request both "interim" and "final" documents. According to a source familiar, the document was withheld from the FOIA suit under an exemption, but the committee has different privileges than private FOIA litigation. "The SBA cannot claim a document doesnt exist merely because it is potentially privileged," they said. In August, an SBA spokesperson argued that the agency has provided "extensive testimony, briefings, transcribed interviews, documents and other information in response to congressional inquires, including the Committees most recent subpoena." "We are continuing the work to fulfill the subpoena beyond our initial document production. Any suggestion that the agency is conducting improper work or that its response has been anything other than cooperative is simply not true," the spokesperson added. Original article source: House committee to demand 'stonewalled' memo detailing Biden agency's 'curious' voter registration work Howard Stern says he 'hates' anyone that votes for Trump: 'They are stupid, I have no respect for them' SiriusXM radio host Howard Stern said Monday that he doesn't "hate" former President Trump, but he hates people who support him. Discussing Trump's "I hate Taylor Swift" post on Truth Social over the weekend, Stern told his listeners, "This whole idea of you like me, you are good, and if you don't, you are bad I've been the victim of this. "I don't agree with Trump politically, I don't think he should be anywhere near the White House. I don't hate the guy. I hate the people who vote for him. I think they're stupid. I do. I'll be honest with you, I have no respect for you," he said on "The Howard Stern Show." Howard Stern on Jan. 31, 2014, in New York City. The radio shock jock said he doesn't mind losing "half my listeners" who disagree with his political views, adding that he anticipates "hate mail" from those that support Trump. He also called out celebrities at the 2024 Emmy Awards for not taking a stand against the GOP nominee Sunday night. "You can't be a p---y your whole f---ing life," Stern said. HOUSE DEM LEADER RAILS WE MUST STOP MAGA AMID NEWS OF SECOND TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Later in the show, a guest caller from Michigan compared Trump's rhetoric surrounding immigrants to Adolf Hitler's about Jews during the Holocaust. "I couldn't agree with you more," Stern replied. "It is the same playbook. We have seen it before in history." "Hitler was perceived as a clown in Germany He was one of these buffoonish characters. Somehow he won an election. And that was the end of Germany. He dragged them through hell and back." "This does feel like a replay of pre-World War II," Stern said. "I am one of those people who believe that if the election goes the wrong way, it's the end of the United States." Former President Trump departs a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport on Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wisconsin. Stern said the phones on his show were likely blowing up with people who wanted to criticize his political opinion, telling listeners that he feels no obligation to give them air time because "I'm smarter than you, I just am." His comment comes three days after the former president faced a second assassination attempt. The first attempt resulted in the death of firefighter Corey Comperatore, a Trump supporter who was at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when shots rang out. Speaking to Fox News Digital on Monday, Trump blamed the threats on his life on dangerous "rhetoric" from the left that casts him as a threat to democracy. HOWARD STERN'S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS SINCE PIVOT FROM SHOCK JOCK TO LIBERAL MOUTHPIECE Stern's disdain for Trump voters isn't new. He expressed a similar sentiment before the 2020 election, remarking at the time, "I dont hate Donald. I hate you for voting for him, for not having intelligence. For not being able to see whats going on with the coronavirus, for not being able to see what the Justice Department is doing. I hate you. I dont want you here." Stern has been accused in recent years of going "woke," a label he said he takes as a "compliment" because he's "not for stupidity." "To me the opposite of woke, is being asleep. And if woke means I cant get behind Trump, which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender or Im for the vaccine, dude, call me woke as you f------ want," Stern said last year. Original article source: Howard Stern says he 'hates' anyone that votes for Trump: 'They are stupid, I have no respect for them' Huddle for Hunger unites Bills players and fans for a cause BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) Wide receiver Mack Hollins stood tall among the volunteers collecting food donations from a lineup of cars at One Bills Drive Tuesday afternoon despite standing in his traditional bare feet. Mack Hollins helped collect food donations at Huddle for Hunger. Ive always done community stuff, he said as he grabbed bags of food donated by Bills fans rolling by in their vehicles. When I played in Philly, if my on-field performance wasnt as good, fans still loved me because they knew what I did to help the community. It made me play harder. Bills players collect donations. Huddle for Hunger drew a large contingent of Bills veterans and rookies to the Highmark Stadium parking lot. The goal was to stuff a tractor-trailer with donated non-perishables that will be distributed to hundreds of food relief agencies and pantries across Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. The event is supported by Wegmans, WIVB News 4, the Buffalo Bills Foundation, and many others. Bills players gather to support the cause. Im blown away by the support, said Catherine Shick, Communications Manager for FeedMore WNY. Cars, school buses, corporate volunteers, and Bills players past and present filled the lot, including 85-year-old Booker Edgerson. Booker Edgerson, who played cornerback for the Bills in the 1960s, is still volunteering in the community at age 85. Running back Frank Gore, Jr. was pitching in. He said his father, who also played for the Bills, told him it was important to help others in Western New York. If you help the community, they will in turn support you, he said. Frank Gore, Jr. has been getting advice from his father about the importance of community service. Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas said he had talked to five or six of the young players at this event about the importance of Class and Character. That was his high school motto in Missouri City, Texas, and he sees it demonstrated particularly in this seasons Bills team. Thurman Thomas played for the Bills for 12 seasons. He told the young players to get outside the stadium and see more than the fans in the stands see what this community is all about. And then, Thomas said, Dont stop here. Do more, as long as you are helping people. Alden High School students are learning the same lesson. They drove up in two school buses singing, cheering, and off-loading fourteen bins of food. Alden High School students cheer on the Bills and lend a helping hand. Rachel Hiller is a social worker at the school and said the students have truly embraced the cause of helping others. Each year, she said, they want to do better and better. Offensive lineman Dion Dawkins was so eager to help, he said he went to Wegmans and picked up 100 boxes of his new Buffalo Shnow Crunch cereal in the morning and drove around all day with those boxes in his truck. By the time he could drop them off at the collection site, Dawkins said with a smile, Two of the boxes had magically opened! Dion Dawkins, offensive lineman, donated 100 boxes of his new cereal to Huddle for Hunger. Lakeview resident Susan Ballard was alone in her car as she moved through the line of vehicles waiting to drop off food donations. It was the cause and the atmosphere that drew her to join the outpouring of support at the stadium Tuesday. I just love what theyre doing, she said. Ive donated before, and this is just such a cool event! Bills players, past and present, turn out to support the Huddle for Hunger food drive supporting FeedMore WNY. Latest Local News Jacquie Walker is an award-winning anchor and reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 1983. 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 News 4 Buffalo. DENVER (KDVR) The Pearl Fire, located northwest of Red Feather Lakes, continues to burn over 100 acres in Larimer County, although officials said there was no perimeter growth overnight. Fire command was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland. As of noon on Tuesday, the fires size was estimated at about 128 acres, which is down from 138 acres on Monday, but containment had increased to 5% by 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Mike Smith, the fire incident commander with the U.S. Forest Service, said the size discrepancy is due to how the fires are mapped: Aircraft fly over the fire and map the heat signatures. Sometimes spot fires will spark outside of the contained fire, and the perimeter will sometimes be expanded to include those spot fires. Once the spot fires are identified, then the acreage is decreased to just the size of those spots that are ablaze. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox Smith also said that crews are expecting to see some growth in the fires size due to the strong winds that arrived in the afternoon. Tuesday is also a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day due to strong storms and potentially damaging wind throughout the Front Range. Todays been a pretty good day so far, Smith said at 4 p.m. The wind has just shown up in the past half hour. Smith said the hope is that the high relative humidity will overcome the potential downsides of the wind. Heavy equipment is being used to clear a fire break and trees and other debris are being removed to help contain the fire. The heavy equipment is also being used to chase down spot fires that pop up outside the main fire. Fixed-wing scooper planes were aiding helicopters in aerial efforts to fight the blaze, drawing water from Carter Lake. That means the lake is closed, but shoreline recreation and camping is still open. Wildfires and evacuations impact this community on a deeper level after the incidents weve weathered in recent years, Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said in the late-night update on Tuesday. Thats why our partnerships are key during these uncertain times. LCSO and our partners are here to protect you and your family. Our teams train for these incidents. We learn from each one. And we stand ready to protect this community. Officials said Monday that they found the fire had originated on private property just after 11 a.m. Feyen said during a Tuesday afternoon update that deputies have spoken to the gentleman, but the agency is working to verify stories before spreading information. That way, Feyen said, if the evidence leads detectives in another direction there is less information to correct. Mandatory and voluntary evacuations for the Pearl Fire On Monday, the Larimer County Sheriffs Office issued mandatory evacuations for over 2,000 contacts, and some are still standing. The mandatory evacuations as of 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday were: Crystal Lakes south of Black Mountain and north of Lake Erie Crystal Lakes in the area of County Roads 86 and 170 Residents in these areas were told to evacuate the area immediately. There are also voluntary evacuations in place for: Crystal Lakes in the area of Lake Erie and Mitchell Ditch Crystal Lakes from Black Mountain north to County Road 80C (previously mandatory) A previous voluntary evacuation order for the area north of County Road 80C to the state line is no longer under any evacuation orders. Residents in these areas were told to gather important items and be prepared to leave if told by officials. Damaging wind possible Tuesday: What to know Several roads have been closed to support the firefighting efforts, including County Road 86 at Sonona Drive, County Road 73C at Modoc Court, County Road 73C at Forest Road 181A, County Road 80C at Hidden Pines Road, County Road 80C at Froemel Road, and County Road 80C at County Road 86. The evacuation center was transitioned to Livermore Community Church, 284 W. County Road 74E, at noon. Pets are allowed at the church. The Red Cross also opened an overnight shelter for evacuated residents at the Livermore Community Church. Volunteers are providing essential services to evacuees. A joint information center is being operated by the Larimer County Sheriffs Office, which is sharing information on evacuation notices, animal evacuations and road closures. Up-to-date evacuation information is available at nocoalert.org or by texting LCEVAC to 888777. The information center will close at 5 p.m., and further updates will be posted by the Forest Service on Facebook. The information center will reopen at about 8 a.m. on Wednesday and can be reached at 970-980-2500. Fire response continues to grow to protect structures A total of 75 personnel were working on the fire on Monday, and more resources were ordered for Tuesdays operations. Air resources, including fixed-wing tankers and helicopters, dropped water and fire retardant on the blaze throughout the day on Tuesday but were grounded by mid-afternoon due to the developing storms. Unfortunately, Larimer County, this is becoming routine for us, Feyen said Tuesday afternoon. Were going through it again. There is no such thing as a fire season anymore. The Pearl Fire burns in Larimer County near the Red Feather Lakes area on Sept. 16, 2024. The Pearl Fire burns in Larimer County near the Red Feather Lakes area on Sept. 16, 2024. The Pearl Fire in Larimer County sparked Monday morning, forcing residents to evacuate (Credit: KDVR) (Credit: KDVR) The Pearl Fire in Larimer County sparked Monday morning, forcing residents to evacuate (Credit: KDVR) Flames from the Pearl Fire in Larimer County on Sept. 16, 2024. Flames from the Pearl Fire in Larimer County on Sept. 16, 2024. A smoke plume from the Pearl Fire in Larimer County on Sept. 16, 2024. Feyen said the goal is to return residents to their homes quickly, but the primary firefighting efforts have been focused on protecting structures. Police clear threat about explosive device at Englewood schools Smith said there arent crews currently working to contain the fire on the north and west sides of the fire, because there are no structures or homes currently threatened on that side of the blaze. At about 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Gov. Jared Polis issued a verbal declaration of disaster emergency to support the response to the fire. The declaration authorizes the Colorado Department of Public Safety, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergent Management and the Division of Fire Prevention and Control to assist in the response. It also authorizes the activation of the National Guard to assist with response and recovery if the Department of Public Safety deems it necessary. Residents react to active fire season in Larimer County Resident Kris Holcomb was among the over 2,000 contacts for evacuations. She lives up the road from the fire and said she first saw the smoke while running errands in Red Feather Lake village. She said this isnt the first time shes experienced wildfires, but not like this. This is the closest its been. Ive owned my property for 20 years, so this is very close. Living through the Cameron Peak fire, knowing how fast these fires can travel, Im prepared not to come home, Holcomb told FOX31s Nate Belt 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 FOX31 Denver. LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has confirmed human remains were found at a home where authorities said they were searching for a missing person last week. The multi-agency search was launched Sept. 12 after Metro Nashville Cold Case Homicide detectives, along with Murfreesboro police, reportedly received a tip in the missing persons case that led them to the home off Burnt House Road in Lebanon. Family wants answers in ongoing search for missing Nashville woman According to officials, the search was related to the disappearance of 23-year-old Blanca Guadalupe Berrios Orellana, who was last seen at her Antioch apartment in August. However, authorities have not confirmed the identity of the remains. Blanca Guadalupe Berrios Orellana (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) In an email Wednesday, a spokesperson for the TBI said further testing is being done to determine the identity. No further information was immediately available. Orellana was reported missing by her mother on Aug. 21. However, the last time anyone saw her was a few days earlier on Aug. 18. According to her mother, the 23-year-old said she was going to Murfreesboro to visit a family member. Some days, I think they took her and some days, I dont really think anything, Blancas mother, Ines Berrios told News 2 through a translator. READ MORE: Multi-agency search underway in Lebanon for missing Nashville woman According to Berrios, Orellanas car was found parked at her stepfathers house, but the family hasnt been able to get ahold of him. The Wilson County Sheriffs Office and an urban search and rescue team also assisted in the search at the Lebanon location last week. Investigators have not released any further details regarding what led them to the house, which is still under construction. Neighbors reported seeing Orellana, who has a job in the cleaning business, working at the home a few weeks ago. They also told reporters they saw officers haul off a dumpster sitting on the property during the search. Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox. Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee. This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. The UN says famine conditions have been confirmed in Zam Zam camp for internally displaced people, shown in 2015, near El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region (ASHRAF SHAZLY) (ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/AFP) Senior United Nations officials warned on Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk in the besieged Sudanese town of El-Fasher, amid signs that the fighting could soon escalate. El-Fasher is one of five state capitals in Sudan's western Darfur region and the only one not in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been battling the regular army since April 2023. The United Nations says the war across much of Sudan has created the world's largest displacement crisis, with millions uprooted, and has led to famine at a displacement camp near El-Fasher. "Hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in El-Fasher are now at risk of the consequences of mass violence," Martha Pobee, the UN's Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, told the UN Security Council. "As fighting engulfs the city, it has further exposed an extremely vulnerable population, including internally displaced persons living in large camps near El-Fasher. This violence has also affected health care facilities." Darfur has seen some of the war's worst atrocities, and the RSF has besieged El-Fasher since May. Sudan's war has already killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates as high as 150,000. "Civilians, especially women and children, have been hit," said the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya. "Civilian sites and infrastructure, including hospitals and internally displaced persons camps have been hit. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people, including more than 700,000 internally displaced people in and around El-Fasher, are at immediate threat. "Our concern is mounting as we receive reports of intense shelling of central and western parts of El-Fasher and deployment of additional forces." Close to 1.7 million people in the north Darfur region are facing acute food insecurity, she added. "We are therefore horrified by signs that the fighting will intensify as the rainy season draws to a close in the coming months," Msuya said. Independent UN experts earlier this month appealed for the quick deployment of an "impartial force" in Sudan for civilian protection. gw/sst Hong Kong has seen the biggest uptick in cryptocurrency activity in East Asia amid the city's efforts to become a virtual-asset hub, according to new research, while mainland Chinese use digital currencies to preserve wealth in spite of the government's draconian ban. The city rose to 30th place, up from the No 47 spot last year, in this year's Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index rankings published on Wednesday by research firm Chainalysis. It said Hong Kong saw an 85.6 per cent year-on-year surge in cryptocurrency transaction value, the largest growth seen in East Asia. Hong Kong regulators' acceptance of cryptocurrencies and "decisiveness" in laying down a regulatory framework helped build up institutional adoption, according to Chainalysis. Its index measures activities across several types of cryptocurrency services, including centralised exchanges and decentralised protocols. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. South Korea recorded the largest cryptocurrency transaction value in East Asia, the Chainalysis report said. It also showed that Hong Kong and mainland China ranked as the second- and fifth-largest crypto markets, respectively, in the region. Cryptocurrency automated teller machines, operated by Coinhero, seen in Hong Kong on August 5, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg alt=Cryptocurrency automated teller machines, operated by Coinhero, seen in Hong Kong on August 5, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg> The latest rankings reflect how Hong Kong has managed to make the city's virtual-asset market attractive via "regulatory clarity", which has helped guard against risks to retail investors. Following the Hong Kong government's announcement of policy support for virtual assets in 2022, the first licence requirement for cryptocurrency exchanges took effect in June 2023. Since then, the city has launched exchange-traded funds that invest directly into cryptocurrency tokens. It is also working on regulation for stablecoins, which are typically pegged to fiat currencies such as the US dollar. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency activities on the mainland appear to have declined this year, as Beijing continues to maintain its rigid ban. Mainland's China's ranking this year in the Chainalysis index fell to 20th place, down from the No 11 spot last year. Mainland China maintains a blanket ban on the trading and mining of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, because the government regards them as a source of financial risk. Photo: Shutterstock alt=Mainland China maintains a blanket ban on the trading and mining of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, because the government regards them as a source of financial risk. Photo: Shutterstock> Story continues Beijing banned initial coin offerings and ordered the closure of cryptocurrency exchanges in 2017. The government then proceeded to ban bitcoin mining in 2021, while declaring all crypto-related businesses illegal because these "disrupt financial order and are a breeding ground for criminal activity". Chinese citizens, however, have increasingly turned to over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency platforms as a means to move their assets out of the country or to preserve their wealth, according to the Chainalysis report. People "are looking for ways to move money out of the country", as "general sentiment towards the Chinese economy has been negative", according to the Chainalysis report, which quoted Ben Charoenwong, associate professor of finance at the Asia Campus of the Institut Europeen d'Administration des Affaires - a non-profit graduate business school that maintains campuses in France, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. "The increasing use of OTC crypto in China suggests that people are looking for faster options to move money," Charoenwong said in the report. He added that the rise of OTC cryptocurrency activities on the mainland is related to downward shifts in the country's property market, where real-estate ownership is treated as an investment by Chinese citizens. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. A Hungarian company is linked to the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria This shows a sign featuring the names of several companies on the door of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos) BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) In a duplex in a quiet neighborhood of the Hungarian capital is the headquarters of a company that is linked to the manufacture of the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria as part of an apparent Israeli operation against the Hezbollah militant group. BAC Consulting shares the ground floor of the modest building in Budapest with other enterprises. On Wednesday morning, Associated Press journalists saw the names of multiple companies, including BAC, posted on pieces of printer paper and taped in a window. In a corporate registry, the company listed 118 official functions, including sugar and oil production, retail jewelry sales and natural gas extraction. BAC reportedly supplied the thousands of devices that killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded about 2,800 on Tuesday in a coordinated attack that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed on Israel. More attacks were reported Wednesday, when walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in multiple parts of Lebanon. The second wave of attacks killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 450, the Health Ministry said. The Taiwanese company whose brand appears on the pagers, Gold Apollo, said Wednesday that it had authorized the use of its name on the devices. BAC was authorized to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, Gold Apollo said in a statement. A Hungarian government spokesman said the pagers were never in Hungary and that BAC Consultants merely acted as an intermediary. Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary, Zoltan Kovacs posted Wednesday on X. He did not say where the pagers were manufactured. Hungarian national security services were cooperating with international partners, and the matter posed no national security risk to Hungary, he added. BAC Consulting, which was registered as a limited liability company in May 2022, brought in $725,000 in revenue in 2022 and $593,000 in 2023, according to the company registry. Its CEO is Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, who describes herself on LinkedIn as a strategic adviser and business developer with a doctorate. BAC could be an acronym, in the Eastern name order that is used in Hungary, for Barsony-Arcidiacono Cristiana. The AP attempted to reach Barsony-Arcidiacono by email and social media sites but received no response. It was not clear what connection, if any, she or BAC had to the attack. She describes herself as a physicist and a consultant for projects to solve environmental and political issues. She co-authored a paper in 2022 for a UNESCO conference on underground water management. Among other positions, Barsony-Arcidiacono's LinkedIn page said she serves on the board of directors of the Earth Child Institute, a sustainability group. But the group does not list Barsony-Arcidiacono among its board members on its website. She also writes that she is a strategic adviser for major international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the CARE humanitarian agency, as well as for venture capital firms. The IAEA confirmed that a person by Barsony-Arcidiaconos name was an intern with the agency for nine months in 2008 and 2009. The other relationships could not be immediately confirmed. In an article featuring her on an online expert site, Barsony-Arcidiacono said: A good understanding of local issues and a network of collaborators in various areas are important to succeed. The BAC Consulting website, which became unavailable Wednesday, describes the company's fields of expertise as environment, development and international affairs. Phone calls to the number listed for BAC went unanswered. A woman who emerged Wednesday from the Budapest building housing the company's headquarters said the location is used as a service that provides addresses to companies. She would not give her name. Social media accounts indicate Barsony-Arcidiacono studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the School of Oriental and African Studies. She has also posted published scientific papers on water ionization, climate change and other topics in the natural sciences. An Instagram account features many of her photos and sketches from around the world. Sicily, Budapest, Paris, Africa, etc., it reads. ___ Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report. Hungary refuses to pay fines for breaking EU asylum rules. Brussels is taking the money anyway. BRUSSELS (AP) The European Union on Wednesday began the process of clawing back hundreds of millions of euros in funds meant to go Hungary after its ant-migrant government refused to pay a huge fine for breaking the blocs asylum rules. In June, the EUs top court ordered Hungary to pay 200 million euros ($223 million) for persistently depriving migrants of their right to apply for asylum. The court imposed an additional fine of 1 million euros for every day it failed to comply. The European Court of Justice described Hungarys actions as an unprecedented and extremely serious infringement of EU law. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban slammed its ruling as outrageous and unacceptable. The EUs executive branch, the European Commission, said that given Hungarys failure to pay or provide information about its intentions, Brussels is moving to what we call the off-setting procedure by taking the money from common funds that would otherwise go to Budapest. So, what we are going to do now is to deduct the 200 million euro from upcoming payments from the EU budget towards Hungary, commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari said. He said it would take time to identify which parts of Hungarys funding could be deducted. Ujvari said the commission has also sent a first payment request on the daily fines amounting to 93 million euros ($103 million) so far. Counting from receipt, the Hungarian authorities will have 45 days to make that payment, he said. Hungarys staunchly nationalist government has taken a hard line on people entering the country since well over 1 million people arrived in Europe in 2015, most of them fleeing conflict in Syria. The case against it concerned changes Hungary made to its asylum system in the wake of that crisis, when some 400,000 people passed through Hungary on their way to Western Europe. The government in Budapest ordered fences with razor wire to be erected on its southern borders with Serbia and Croatia and a pair of transit zones for holding asylum seekers to be set up on its border with Serbia. Those transit zones have since closed. In 2020, the ECJ found that Hungary had restricted access to international protection, unlawfully detained asylum applicants, and failed to observe their right to stay while their applications were processed. The transit zones were closed in 2020, shortly after that ruling. But the commission, which is responsible for monitoring the 27 EU member states compliance with their shared laws, took the view that Budapest had still not complied and requested that the ECJ impose a fine. After the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020, the government also pushed through a law forcing asylum seekers to travel to Belgrade or Kyiv to apply for a travel permit at its embassies there before entering Hungary. Only once back could they file their applications. People have the right to apply for asylum or other forms of international protection if they fear for their safety in their home countries or face the prospect of persecution based on their race, religion, ethnic background, gender or other discrimination. Hunt saboteurs threaten us and pick on our children, but the police refuse to scrutinise them Police have been tasked with enforcing the hunting ban introduced in 2004, while also dealing with saboteurs straying outside the law - Getty Up and down the country on Saturday, horses, hounds and humans turned out for what hunt enthusiasts heralded as the day we begin to change minds. The 27 hunt events nationwide did not involve actual fox hunting, which was outlawed two decades ago. Instead, National Trail Hunting Day was held to showcase a legal (for now) alternative, in which a trail layer on foot, horse or quad bike puts down an animal-based scent for the dogs to follow; often by dragging a sock or cloth along the ground. The idea is to simulate a traditional hunt, minus the live foxes. Depending on whom you speak to, either huge numbers attended at the weekend, or hardly anyone did. Probably 30,000 [people] up and down the country turned out to support [it], says Oliver Hughes, managing director of the British Hound Sport Association (BHSA), which organised it. The Great British public stayed away in their millions, trumpeted the Hunt Saboteurs Association. Such contrasting versions of events are typical in the debate around trail hunting, which opponents claim is a smokescreen for illegal fox hunting and which Labour has said it will ban as part of a drive to improve animal welfare (though it was not mentioned in the Kings Speech, and a date for any legislation has yet to be set). On the other side of the fence (sometimes literally) is the BHSA, which naturally rejects the smokescreen label. Opponents of trail hunting say it is a smoke screen for live fox hunting, which has been banned since 2004 - Jason Bye Treading the line between the two camps are police tasked with enforcing the hunting ban introduced by Labour in 2004 while also dealing with any saboteurs straying outside of the law. Now, an already heated conflict has become hotter with an intervention by former defence secretary and hunt aficionado Ben Wallace, who has taken issue with previous comments by Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Matthew Longman, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead on hunting with hounds crime. After Longman described trail hunting as a smokescreen for continuing illegal hunting, Wallace returned fire, saying Longman should be removed if he cant police without fear or favour. In comments published by The Times, Wallace also complained that theres a sense of two-tier policing in the countryside, with hunt saboteurs allegedly treated with undue leniency. Their thuggery is going unchallenged, claimed Wallace, who joined the board of the BHSA after stepping down from his ministerial role. Former defence secretary Ben Wallace has claimed theres a sense of two-tier policing in the countryside - Reuters In response to Wallaces comments, Longman counters that policing is already being led without fear or favour: In this instance, without the favour around expectations offered by the hunting community and without fear of senior figures repeatedly calling for the removal of police leaders. What officers are doing now, he says, is levelling [the] playing field by properly policing hunts. This is putting unfamiliar pressure on hunts to stop any breaking of the laws. But, he argues officers still lack sufficiently sharp enough powers to police hunt criminals comments that may do little to calm the tensions. I think the police obviously have a very difficult job and they have to police it for everybody, says Hughes, taking a somewhat more diplomatic tone. The saboteurs regularly turn up clad in black, wearing balaclavas, looking very threatening, and its felt they dont get quite as much pressure or inspection from the police as the hunts do. The saboteurs tactics include filming children and putting pretty unpleasant comments about them on social media, he says. But he acknowledges there have been arrests on both sides. Last year, hunt saboteur Paul Allman was branded a danger to the public by a judge and jailed after confronting the Wynnstay Hunt in Cheshire before striking two hunt supporters. Its fair to say [saboteurs] are stopped from time to time, but there is a lot of pressure on the hunts, says Hughes. There have been about 25 convictions of people on BHSA-accredited hunts in the past two decades, he says. However, this relatively low number masks what some hunt followers feel is a sense of hostility towards them among the police. The police seem to call into question the hunts quite regularly. Quite often it doesnt go any further than questioning, but thats quite a disturbing thing for someone whos never had it done, says Hughes. Were not sure the saboteurs face quite the same grilling. Some hunt members feel there is a sense of hostility towards them among the police - Jason Bye The saboteurs, as might be expected, take a very different view. Simon Russell, chairman of the Hunt Saboteurs Association, calls Wallaces comments laughable. There certainly has been two-tier policing of hunting for decades, he says, but with hunt followers, rather than saboteurs, benefiting. Hunts [have been] given free range to break the law before and after the ban, he says, theyre constantly involved in illegalities; whether its under the hunting ban or assaults of our members. The police rarely turn up at hunts since the ban, so they dont enforce it. In 2019, the Belvoir Hunt in Leicestershire paid almost 50,000 to two hunt monitors from the League Against Cruel Sports, who were attacked while filming their activities in 2016. Meanwhile, Russell claims the assaults on his own groups members are constant and regular, and that they are under-reported and under-investigated by police. As for the rights and wrongs of trail hunting, the question is again fiercely contested. Opponents say it results in hounds actively pursuing the trails of live animals and that it puts horses and dogs at risk too, as they can end up straying onto railway lines or busy roads. The Countryside Alliance is among those to defend the sport. Polly Portwin, director of the campaign for hunting at the organisation, warns that Labours manifesto pledge to ban it would be bad for rural communities. Its a big part of life for a lot of people, she says. We know were not a huge community, but its an important community; its close-knit, and [trail hunting] is a lifeline for many. Its too soon to know how many minds were in fact changed by Saturdays open day. But if Labours ban goes ahead, its clear they will have strong feelings to contend with in the British countryside. 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. Huntington Beach is suing California over a new state law that prohibits California school districts from notifying parents of a childs gender identification change. When Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law in July, the Golden State became the first state to prohibit school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their childs gender identification change. The lawsuit names Newsom, California Attorney General Robert Bonta and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and asks a judge to declare the law unconstitutional. Newsom signs smash and grab bill into law America First Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit led by former President Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller, is paying for legal expenses to prosecute this case. The States AB 1955 law compelling secrecy not only puts children at risk, it is also an unconstitutional invasion of the parent/child relationship by the state, Huntington Beach mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said in a statement. The Huntington Beach City Council approved filing the suit during its meeting on Tuesday during a closed session, according to the Orange County Register. The council also gave final approval to an ordinance declaring Huntington Beach as a Parents Right to Know City. The ordinance gives City Attorney Michael Gates the power to sue the state on behalf of a parent who lives in the city alleging violations of their rights due to AB 1955. This isnt the only lawsuit state leaders face regarding the new law. In July, The Liberty Justice Center, a national litigation firm, also filed a lawsuit regarding the law against Newsom, Bonta and Thurmond. The lawsuit from the Liberty Justice Center was filed on behalf of the Chino Valley Unified School District, which implemented a controversial policy last year, and parents with children in the states public school system. Norwalk extends ban on new homeless shelters, day after Gov. Newsom threatens legal action Many opponents and supporters of the law have expressed their opinions on social media. Most notably, Elon Musk, who runs SpaceX, X, and Tesla, previously announced that he would move the headquarters of the space and social media companies out of California after Newsom signed AB1955 into law. Musk moved the Tesla corporate headquarters to Austin from Palo Alto in 2021 but later announced plans to move back in 2023. This isnt the city and the state disagreements have led to legal issues. In 2023, the state sued the city over affordable housing laws. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) Parts of a homeless camp in downtown Huntsville are in ruins after a possible propane tank explosion Tuesday afternoon. Bill Goble shared that roughly one or two people living inside the homeless camp die a month, referring specifically to the train death of Nelson Darcy Salisbury, a homeless camp resident, this past summer. Fire at Huntsville homeless camp possibly caused by explosion of propane tank My initial thoughtI hope nobody got hurt, I hope nobody got hurt, Joyful Blessings Volunteer Bill Goble said. Because we dont need to lose any more than we lose. Belongings, tents and clothing went up in flames and were left completely destroyed. Authorities said no one was injured in the fire. A lot of these people are at the worst place of their life, Joyful Blessings Volunteer Glynn Goble said. This is the bottom for them. And, if we could just give them hope. If we could just let them know, you are loved, you are cared for. Despite the tragic events, this did not stop Joyful Blessings from their Tuesday night tradition. Opening of the Morgan County Salvation Army remains in limbo We were glad we were able to serve today, Glynn Goble said. Because, after a day like all of them had, Im sure a hot meal did, at least, soften it up a little bit. The organization delivers hot meals, clothing, personal hygiene products and other necessities to the camp every Tuesday night. These people need help, Bill Goble said. Not everybody is willing to do itGod calls us to do this stuff. He just does. Joyful Blessings even takes requests from those living inside the camp for items they desperately need. Three more Limestone County students arrested for school threats Nobody would choose to go back there and live, Bill Goble said. The fact is, lots of people matter to God, so they need to matter to us. With the help of other churches in the area and restaurants, weekly Tuesday deliveries are a reality. However, Joyful Blessings wants to make more frequent donations because helping those who are less fortunate is a pillar in their lives. And, they need your help. Joyful Blessings is asking for help from the community, whether it be by volunteering or donating. Donations can be food, money, clothing, or a wide variety of seasonal items, such as sleeping bags for the winter. To learn more about the organization and volunteering or donating, visit their website. Information can also be found on their 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 WHNT.com. Editors Note: You can watch the full and extended version of this story in the video player at the bottom of this post. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)- Former President Donald Trumps false remarks about Haitian immigrants eating pets stunned Vice President Kamala Harris and many others watching the debate a week ago. The repeatedly debunked rumors ignited a firestorm of hate, bomb threats, fear, crass jokes and unwanted attention on a small Ohio town. News 8s Theresa Marsenburg spoke to the Pastor of the church she attended as a child and young adult in Springfield, Ohio. It goes against our faith beliefs and traditions to show hatred to anyone because of the fact that they are different, explained Ernest C. Brown, Sr. who pastors St. John Missionary Baptist Church. Brown and several other faith leaders have joined city and state leaders who call for peace and an end to the false rumors and outright lies. Theyre perpetuating the same lies and they have not stopped even though all of our city officials, everyone has told them it was false accusations, Brown said. Viles Dorsainvil is among the pastors who are seeking change. He operates the Haitian Community Help and Support Center. He describes himself as a bridge between the Springfield community and the more than 15,000 Haitian immigrants, many of whom are there legally. With all those bomb threats they hear they are very afraid., said Dorsainvil. Following the presidential debate, Dorsainvil quickly became a bridge between Springfield and seemingly the world. Hes been interviewed by scores of journalists. Some people tell me its very risky and I tell them I have to do this because at the end of the day there should be somebody speaking up for those folks who dont even speak English. said Dorsainvil. It hurts a lot. It hurts a lot, shares Edair Louis. Louis immigrated to Rochester from Haiti 25 years ago. Today, he owns Bongo-la African Haitian Cuisine and Market in Rochester. He says the former presidents remarks are just another example of an attack that fuels hatred and animosity towards Haitian communities everywhere , feeds negative stereotypes and forces a deeper division and distrust. Its not a soap opera this is real peoples lives youre talking about that theyre doing things that you lie on public tv and you refuse to apologize for it, he said, I thought the U.S. is supposed to be the example for the rest of the world. Back in Springfield, an increased police presence gives Dorsainvil and others some sense of safety after all the threats. He says this past week he has experienced both the good and ugly in humankind. I see there is a group of people who would like to suppress or denigrate people. But he described a moment that restored his hope in America. It took place at the end of an ESL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) class at the community center for Haitians. Dorsainvil says to his delight, a group of people from Springfield and the surrounding areas showered them with flowers, cards and cookies. I also experience an America where there are some good citizens who still preserve the beauty of America, Dorsainvil explained. Both Dorsainvil and Brown are hopeful for some positive to come out of the negativity and chaos. They say Springfield needs more healthcare workers, more housing and interpreters and other resources to accommodate the 15,000 new residents who recently joined the fewer than 60,000 people who call Springfield home. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) There was a police presence at Hutchinson Community College on Wednesday, but there wasnt any threat to the public. The Hutchinson Police Department conducted an active shooter training at the college. Kansas State Fair releases 2024 attendance numbers Hutchinson Community College said it has worked since early in the summer with the HPD to coordinate the drill with students. A separate, similar drill was held last month for staff only. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The Iowa College Access Network will connect students to universities, apprenticeships and support resources through its college and career fair. (Photo via Getty Images) The Iowa College Access Network (ICAN) will host more than 80 universities, organizations and student services this weekend at the largest college fair in the state, where students and their families can explore different college and career paths. The Golden Circle College & Career Fair will take place from 1-3 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Prairie Meadows Conference Center in Altoona, according to a news release. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Public, private and community colleges will be in attendance, as well as apprenticeship programs, branches of the military, student support services and employers. According to the release, the fairs mission is to connect prospective students with experts that can provide information on subjects like financial aid, admissions, academic and technical programs, campus life and career planning. Students, families and educators are encouraged by the network to attend the free event, college transcripts and resumes in hand if they wish. Attendees can also sign up to create a StriveScan student barcode, which they can then share with colleges and universities in order to receive more information after the fair. Choosing the right post-high school path for education or training can be a daunting process, but events like this make it easier for students and their families to find the best fit for their educational and career goals, said Brittania Morey, vice president of marketing and communications, in the release. Were excited to provide a platform where students can get their questions answered and start envisioning their future. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE (WJET/WFXP) Tupperware, the iconic food storage and kitchen tool brand, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. Tupperware and its eight subsidiaries currently hold somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion in assets ($7.4 million in cash), while owing over 50,000 creditors between $1 billion to $10 billion. The company has also initiated a sale of the company, hoping to expedite the sale transaction by seeking a 30-day all-cash bidding process supported by a previous 17 months of marketing. The company has struggled to keep up with the advent of online shopping as well as the growing anti-plastic sentiment that has emerged over the past several years. Over the last several years, the Companys financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment. As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward. This process is meant to provide us with essential flexibility as we pursue strategic alternatives to support our transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company better positioned to serve our stakeholders, said Laurie Ann Goldman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tupperware. Tupperware was founded in 1946 establishing its headquarters in Orlando, Florida. The company currently employs over 5,450 individuals across 41 countries. They also work with over 465,000 independent sales consultants who sell Tupperware products on a freelance basis to over 70 countries. For decades the company has used what is known as a direct selling business model. This model allows the manufacturer to sell directly to the distributor, rather than the traditional distribution method where the product generally goes through several parties before being sold to the customer. Tupperware says this model offered individuals around the globe, predominantly women, the opportunity to build their own businesses and develop valuable leadership and financial management skills. However, in recent years, this model has turned into one that has only hurt the company. The focus on the direct model ultimately came at the cost of developing different strategies and sales methods. This put significant stress on the company by the end of 2022, and this stress was only exacerbated after headlines in 2022 stated that the party was over for Tupperware after citing concerns in its Q3 2022 earnings release. In 2023, the company began restructuring to cut costs and reduce interest expenses. More issues began to arise in February 2024 when more financial issues only added to the companys operational challenges and the overhang of negative publicity. After missing an interest loan payment, the company entered a forbearance agreement with milestones and, as backup, Chapter 11 preparations. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) Procurement Department INVITATION FOR BID IFB #623 CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR NEW DILCON MAINTENANCE WAREHOUSE BUILDING IN DILCON, ARIZONA The Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) (hereinafter called the Owner) invites all Licensed General Contractors to bid on the Construction Services for New Dilcon Maintenance Warehouse Building in Dilcon, Arizona. Detailed information may be obtained from Academy Reprographics and requesting for the IFB #623 Construction Services for New Dilcon Maintenance Warehouse Building in Dilcon, Arizona. The Owner will receive Sealed Bids until 2:00 PM, (MDST) on October 08, 2024, via email at darleney@hooghan.org. Bids will be opened and publicly read aloud immediately after the specified closing time. Site Visit will be on September 26, 2024 at 11:00 AM (MDST). Address any questions regarding this project in writing by September 27, 2024 at 2:00 PM (MDST) to: Darlene Yazzie, Procurement Specialist, email darleney@hooghan.org. This invitation is not restricted to Navajo or Indian organization and Navajo or Indian owned economic enterprises pursuant to 24 CFR 1000.48 (a) (2) of NAHASDA. Contractors and Plan Rooms may obtain copies of bid documents by depositing a $100.00 check payable to Navajo Housing Authority for each set of Bid Documents Electronic download or CDs. The deposit is non-refundable. Copies may be obtained from Academy Reprographics, 8900 San Mateo Blvd, Suite N, Albuquerque, NM 87113, telephone number is (505) 821-6666 and fax number is (505) 857-0634, contact Linda Chavez at linda@acadrepro.com We recently published a list of 11 Best Data Center Stocks To Buy According to Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) stands against other best data center stocks. In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, data centers have emerged as the unsung heroes that underpin our digital world. These critical infrastructures are not just the backbone of the internet; they are the engine driving the exponential growth of data, cloud computing, and advanced digital services. The data center industry is on a trajectory of significant expansion, with the market size projected to reach an impressive $418 billion by 2030, according to estimates from IndustryARC. This represents a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2030. This remarkable growth is fueled by a combination of factors that are reshaping the data center landscape, making it a crucial sector for both technological advancement and investment opportunities. At the heart of this growth is the increasing demand for hyper-scalability, sustainability, and automation in data centers. In todays digital age, businesses and organizations require data centers that can scale rapidly to accommodate ever-increasing data volumes, support advanced technological applications, and provide reliable and efficient services. Hyper-scalability, which refers to the ability of data centers to scale up their resources rapidly and efficiently, is becoming a vital requirement as data usage continues to surge. This demand for scalability is driven by the rise of cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT), all of which require robust and flexible data center solutions. Sustainability is another critical factor influencing the data center market. As environmental concerns become more prominent, there is a growing emphasis on creating data centers that are energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Green data centers, which focus on reducing energy consumption and minimizing environmental impact, are gaining traction as both businesses and consumers become more eco-conscious. The Department of Energy highlights that data centers account for approximately 2% of all electricity used in the U.S., underscoring the need for more sustainable practices in the industry. Automation is also playing a significant role in transforming data centers. Modern data centers are increasingly adopting automation technologies to enhance operational efficiency, reduce human error, and streamline processes. Automation in data centers includes everything from automated cooling systems to intelligent data management solutions, all of which contribute to more efficient and reliable operations. The market dynamics of data centers are further influenced by the adoption of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), cloud computing, and edge computing. Story continues AI and ML are revolutionizing data center management by enabling predictive maintenance, optimizing resource allocation, and enhancing overall performance. For instance, AI-driven systems can analyze data center operations in real-time, identify potential issues before they become critical, and automate corrective actions. This proactive approach not only improves operational efficiency but also extends the lifespan of data center equipment. Cloud computing has become a cornerstone of modern IT infrastructure, and its growth is driving increased demand for data centers. As businesses and individuals continue to shift towards cloud-based services, the need for data centers that can support these services is growing. Cloud computing allows for the storage and processing of vast amounts of data in remote data centers, providing flexibility and scalability that traditional on-premise solutions cannot match. Edge computing is another transformative technology impacting the data center industry. Edge computing brings data processing closer to the source of data generation, reducing latency and improving the performance of applications that require real-time data processing. This shift towards edge computing is driving the development of smaller, geographically distributed data centers that can support the growing demand for low-latency applications and services. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the data center industry cannot be understated. The pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of businesses and highlighted the critical role of data centers in supporting remote work, online services, and increased internet traffic. With fewer people out in public during the pandemic, global internet traffic surged as more people worked and engaged online from home. This increase in demand led to a 30-35% rise in data center capacity in 2021, as organizations sought to support remote work and ensure the continuity of their operations. The pandemic also underscored the importance of data centers in maintaining business operations and delivering essential services. Data centers became the backbone of remote work, online education, telemedicine, and other critical services that became indispensable during the pandemic. As a result, the data center market experienced accelerated growth, and this trend is expected to continue as businesses and individuals increasingly rely on digital solutions. Geopolitical events, such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis, have also impacted the data center industry. The ongoing conflict has led many companies to reassess their operations in the region, with some choosing to suspend or withdraw their services. For example, SAP SE announced in March 2022 that it would halt sales of new products in Russia and shut down all data centers in the country. This situation highlights the need for data center operators to have resilient and adaptable strategies to navigate geopolitical uncertainties. Regionally, North America remains a dominant force in the data center market, holding a substantial market share. The regions dominance is attributed to significant investments by major players and the high adoption of advanced technologies. In 2021, North America saw the launch or construction of over 100 data center projects, with major colocation service providers and hyper-scale operators leading the way. The IT infrastructure segment holds the largest market share within the data center industry. This segment encompasses the hardware, software, and network components required to support data center operations. As businesses continue to migrate towards data center solutions for improved data management and operational efficiency, the demand for IT infrastructure is expected to grow. This growth is further fueled by the increasing adoption of automation and enhanced storage solutions. Hyper-scale data centers are another significant segment within the industry. These data centers are designed to handle massive volumes of data and high computing power requirements. The rise in IoT-connected devices and the growing emphasis on processing large volumes of digital data are driving the demand for hyper-scale data centers. These facilities are equipped to support the high-performance needs of modern applications and services. The emergence of green data centers represents a positive shift towards sustainability in the industry. Green data centers focus on reducing energy consumption and minimizing environmental impact. As businesses and consumers become more environmentally conscious, the demand for green data centers is expected to increase. This trend aligns with broader efforts to promote sustainability and address climate change. Data security remains a critical concern for data centers, especially those handling sensitive information. According to industry reports, a significant percentage of corporate data centers worry about data security. Ensuring robust security measures is essential for protecting data and maintaining trust with clients and customers. The data center industry is undergoing a period of rapid growth and transformation, driven by technological advancements, increased demand for digital services, and a focus on sustainability. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, data centers will play a crucial role in supporting the infrastructure needed for modern technology and services. The markets growth is fueled by factors such as hyper-scalability, automation, and the adoption of advanced technologies, while challenges like data security and geopolitical uncertainties also shape the industrys future. For investors, the data center sector presents a promising opportunity, with the potential for significant returns as the industry continues to expand. Understanding the dynamics of the data center market, including the key trends and challenges, will be essential for making informed investment decisions and capitalizing on the growth of this critical sector. With that, lets take a look at the best data center stocks to buy according to analysts. 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). IHS Holding (NYSE:IHS): Analysts' Top Data Center Stock for Global Connectivity and Digital Inclusion 20 Largest Telecom Companies in The World by Revenue IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) Upside Potential: 129.80% Latest Average Share Price Target: $7.10 IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) is a prominent player in the global data center industry, making it a strong candidate for inclusion in our list of eleven best data center stocks to buy according to analysts. As a developer, owner, and operator of communications infrastructure, IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) offers critical services in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America, supporting mobile network operators and internet service providers. Its shared infrastructure solutions, such as colocation, fiber connectivity, and rural telephony, position it as an essential partner in delivering data center services that facilitate connectivity and digital inclusion. In its Q2 2024 earnings report, IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) demonstrated robust operational performance despite macroeconomic challenges, particularly the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira. The company reported a revenue increase of 4% quarter-over-quarter and a 35% rise in adjusted EBITDA, reflecting strong organic growth and efficient cost management. Notably, the companys adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 57.6%, a significant year-over-year improvement. One of the key drivers of IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) growth is its long-term partnerships, particularly with MTN, a major telecom provider. IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) recently renewed and extended its contracts with MTN in Nigeria and across multiple African countries, securing nearly $12.3 billion in contracted revenues with an average tenant term of over eight years. These contracts ensure a steady stream of revenue, providing the company with financial stability and operational predictability. Moreover, the introduction of power indexation in Nigeria helps mitigate the impact of fluctuations in diesel prices and currency exchange rates, further de-risking the business model. While the Naira devaluation led to a 20% decline in reported revenue year-over-year, IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) underlying business remains strong, driven by a 69.3% organic growth rate, fueled by foreign exchange resets and CPI escalations. The companys focus on reducing capital expenditures by 73% and improving cash flow generation also strengthens its financial position. With a consolidated net leverage ratio of 3.9x and a strategic review aimed at unlocking shareholder value, IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) is well-positioned for continued growth in the data center sector. Its solid fundamentals, long-term contracts, and focus on operational efficiencies make it a compelling investment choice. Overall, IHS ranks 1st on our list of best data center stocks to buy according to analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of IHS to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some 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 IHS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI 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. TechCrunch California's newest law could land social media users who post, or repost, AI deepfakes that deceive voters about upcoming elections in legal trouble. Governor Gavin Newsom suggests that AB 2839, which went into effect immediately after he signed it on Tuesday, could be used to reel in the retweets of Elon Musk, among others who spread deceptive content. "I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California," said Newsom in a tweet, referencing an AI deepfake Musk reposted earlier this year that made it appear Kamala Harris called herself an incompetent candidate and a diversity hire (she did not). A firearms expert testified Wednesday that the weapons restricted under Illinois assault weapons ban include many of the most common firearms that American consumers use for self-defense. Steven Randall Watt, a combat veteran and retired law enforcement officer who now owns a private firearms training company, also said he personally owns many types of weapons restricted by the law, as well as large-capacity magazines that he said are an important element in self-defense. Watt said he subscribes to the adage that says, You never know how much ammunition youre going to need, so you want to keep as much as possible. Watt was the final witness called by plaintiffs in a case challenging the constitutionality of the states assault weapons ban, formally known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, or PICA. Illinois lawmakers passed that law in January 2023 in response to the many mass shootings that have occurred in recent years involving gunmen using assault-style weapons. Among those was the shooting at a Fourth of July parade the previous summer in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured or traumatized. The law prohibits the manufacture, sale and possession by most people of a long list of firearms that are defined as assault weapons. Those include various kinds of semiautomatic rifles, pistols or shotguns that have features such as detachable magazines, adjustable stocks and flash suppressors. That description describes the most popular firearms Im involved with, Watt said when read provisions of the law defining assault weapons. By showing the banned weapons are commonly used by people for legal activities such as self-defense, plaintiffs in the case hope to convince the court that they are protected under the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. Lawyers for the state were scheduled to begin calling their witnesses Wednesday afternoon, and the trial could wrap up as early as Thursday. The International Monetary Fund has postponed the resumption of consultations with the Russian government following objections from European countries, which argued that cooperation with an aggressor would play into the hands of Kremlin propaganda. Source: Russian media The Moscow Times, citing TASS, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet The IMF mission, which was initially set to start on 16 September, has been delayed, according to Russias IMF Executive Director Alexei Mozhin. Quote: "The IMF leadership informed the Russian side and the board of directors that the missions work would be postponed indefinitely. The reason given for the delay was the technical unpreparedness of the mission to conduct consultations." Following online consultations, which were scheduled to begin this week, the IMF delegation planned to visit Moscow for meetings with officials on 1 October. Sources from Bloomberg and Politico said the IMF initially proposed holding in-person consultations in a third country but eventually agreed to travel to Russia. Background: Several European Union countries have challenged IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva's decision to engage with Russia on economic issues for the first time since the beginning of full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Andrii Pyshnyi and Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko urged the IMF to cancel the mission to Russia, which was aimed at consultations under Article IV of the IMFs statutes. The last time an IMF mission visited Russia for an annual consultation was in November 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF suspended cooperation after Vladimir Putin launched the war in Ukraine. The decision to resume the mission was explained by the IMF as a response to Russias stabilised economic situation and the institutions duty to review the situation in every member country "in the interest of all its members". Support UP or become our patron! The work of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, which was scheduled to participate in consultations with Russia, has been postponed indefinitely. Source: Alexey Mozhin, Executive Director of the IMF from Russia; Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency TASS Details: Mozhin stated that the IMF mission's work in Russia has been postponed due to "technical unpreparedness", but Russia is ready to accept it. Background: On 13 September, a number of European Union countries were concerned about IMF Head Kristalina Georgievas plan to engage with Russia for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, France, Belgium, Poland and several Baltic and Nordic nations expressed surprise at the IMF's recent decision to resume annual economic reviews with Moscow. Support UP or become our patron! The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) planned visit to Russia has been "postponed indefinitely," Russian state-controlled news agency TASS reported on Sept. 17. News emerged earlier in September that the IMF was preparing to send its first mission to Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The IMF last visited Russia in November 2019, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The mission was supposed to be headed by Argentine economist Jacques Miniane, with the first part taking place in an online format starting on Sept. 16, followed by a visit to Moscow. Several European countries, including Sweden, Finland, Poland, and the Baltic states, criticized the IMF's decision to travel to Moscow. Read also: Opinion: IMFs trip to Moscow is effectively enabling Russias war against Ukraine Citing two sources, Politico reported that the IMF originally suggested holding the meeting in a third country, but "eventually accepted the Kremlin's condition to travel to Russia." The IMF's Russian executive director, Alexei Mozhin, told TASS on Sept. 17 that the visit had been postponed due to "technical unpreparedness" on the visiting side, but Russia is still ready to accept the visit. Mozhin will be stepping down from his position in November. He confirmed to AFP on Sept. 3 that he will be replaced by Ksenia Yudaeva, former first deputy governor at Russia's Central Bank and a current adviser to its current governor, Elvira Nabiullina. Yudaeva was sanctioned by the U.S. in April 2022 for her links to the Central Bank and the Otkritie commercial bank, which was sanctioned by the U.S. on the day the full-scale invasion began. On paper, sanctioned individuals are banned from entering the U.S., where the IMF's headquarters are located. Read also: Explainer: Ukraines $15 billion IMF loan program Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Its immoral: Harris responds to report that said GA woman died over states abortion law A report claiming that Georgias abortion law is responsible for the deaths of two women has captured the nations attention, with Vice President Kamala Harris now reacting to the allegations. Channel 2s Candace McCowan spoke with the reporter who broke the story and learned the deaths may have been preventable. Amber Thurman died over two years ago, shortly after Georgias abortion law took effect. A recent report from Georgias Maternal Mortality Review Committee ruled that her death was preventable. However, it wasnt until a journalist connected the dots that Ambers family was notified. Every state has a committee that reviews maternal deaths, but those committees are about two years behind, not just in Georgia but across the United States, so they are just beginning to look at cases that happened after Roe was overturned, said Pro-Publica writer Kavitha Surana. Surana explained that the committee put together a report about what happened to Thurman in the final hours of her life at Piedmont Henry Hospital, but her name wasnt listed in the report. RELATED STORIES: [The report] explained the timeline and kind of what happened inside the hospital, but on the other side of that, we at ProPublica have been reviewing death records and looking for signs that a case couldve been impacted by abortion, so thats how we were able to connect the dots, Surana said. By using death records, they were able to link the report to Thurmans family. Thurman died in 2022 after using an abortion pill but didnt completely expel all of the fetal tissue. She went to Piedmont Henry, but it took 20 hours before she could get the surgery she needed, and she didnt survive. The reports from the maternal mortality review committee are not public; they dont share their findings with families or hospitals, so this wouldnt have come to light without our journalism, Surana said. Ambers family wasnt aware that this death was found preventable by the maternal mortality review committee until ProPublicas reporting. Surana believes there are other families like Ambers out there. Her story has caught the attention of Vice President Kamala Harris. Many hear about the stories -- about the horrendous most recent stories about what happened in Georgia, Harris said. Its immoral. Georgia Right to Life responded, in part, stating: The Life Act in no way prohibits a D&C for a miscarriage. This situation is being used to create massive confusion and fear. Piedmont Henry has not responded to requests for comment. IN OTHER NEWS: India will buy Russian oil as long as it does not face sanctions The Indian government has admitted that it will buy Russian oil without any doubts as long as the country does not fall under sanctions. Source: Reuters Quote: "If an entity is not under sanctions, there is no question I will buy from the cheapest supplier," said Indian Oil and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. He added that India is not alone, as European countries and Japanese companies also buy Russian oil. India is reportedly 88% dependent on oil imports, as the world's third-largest oil consumer and importer. India's annual refining capacity is 252 million tonnes. "Now, projects are in place to take it up to 300 million metric tons per annum (6 million bpd). We are brainstorming whether we should take it to 400 or 450," the minister added. Background: Russia's trade with India has doubled since 2022, and bilateral payments between the two countries are running smoothly. Support UP or become our patron! Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi speaks on stage at NRG Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Houston, Texas. Credit - Sergio FloresGetty Images On Sept. 22, Indias controversial Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to address more than 10,000 Indian Americans in New York City. While Modi no doubt intends this visit to be a victory lapakin to his 2019 Texas Howdy Modi event, hosted jointly with Donald Trumpit ought to be the opposite. The Modi governments virulent Hindu nationalist agenda, which enables violence against religious minorities, cost the Prime Minister in the recent election. With support for his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party greatly diminished and Indias opposition enjoying a higher share of voter support than in years prior, Modi must govern in coalition for the first time. For India, the U.S., and the increasingly intertwined relationship between our two countries, this new check on Modis power is a great thing. Read More: Modis Unraveling Has Begun There has never been a moral case for U.S. support for Modis policies from afar, and now there is less of a strategic one. After all, Modis coded reference to Muslims as infiltrators during the last campaign cycle contributed to a broader wave of political hate-speech and violence in 2024. Modi still has yet to face any real accountability for enabling an anti-Muslim pogrom in 2002. U.S. officials and everyday Americans alike need to recognize that this is a leader whose days are numbered, and speak out against his authoritarian drift while the global media spotlight falls on him during his latest American tour. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Council members Shekar Krishnan and Shahana Hanif, and New York State Representative Zohran Mamdani have all taken a vital first step, condemning the presence of an anti-Muslim hate symbol at the Modi-allied New York Indian Consulate for the citys India Day parade on Aug. 18. An interfaith coalition has also already begun to plan a large protest outside the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, where Modi is slated to speak. Washington state representative Pramila Jayapal has condemned Hindu nationalism on numerous occasions, and she circulated a letter in June signed by dozens of U.S. lawmakers highlighting Modis concerning human rights record during his last visit to the U.S. in June. According to Pew Research, a plurality of Americans who know who Modi is have little or no confidence in his ability to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Around the world, and especially in Europe, attitudes toward Modi have become more negative. Indian Americans, local, and national politicians must build off this momentum, bringing up Modis sordid record on human rights and democracy during his upcoming visit. Such a display will have international ramifications. The Indian diaspora has been referred to as Modis secret weapon for a reason, offering both vital financial and political support for his policies at home. With American diaspora events widely reported in major Indian news outlets, any and all criticism of Modi is bound to resound abroad. It will also send a powerful message that Modi critics in the diaspora cant be silenced. Indian Americans have been sent death threats via online BJP trolls, Overseas Citizenship of India card statuses have been revoked, and Indian family members of U.S. citizens have been interrogated. Reporting in The Washington Post has revealed that former Indian intelligence officials targeted several U.S. organizations with wide-reaching disinformation campaigns aimed at Congress to discredit Modis American critics. The Indian government was even accused of two assassination plotsone of them deadlytargeting Sikhs on North American soil last year. Standing up to Modi and his Hindu nationalism may also help improve domestic ties within the Indian American diaspora. A new survey conducted by my organization, the Indian American Council, and ReThink Media, revealed that more than 80% of Indian American Muslim respondents have faced discrimination from their Hindu peers. As one of the survey respondents remarked: I have lost good, old friends to Islamophobia and hatred brewed by the BJP government. One pro-Modi Hindu nationalist organization in the U.S., the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, has sent millions of dollars to its Indian counterpart, which has been accused of orchestrating violence against Muslims. Another pro-Modi Hindu nationalist group, the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation, reportedly hosted a Texas fundraiser to raise money to destroy churches in India. Modis U.S. visit is bound to rally organizations whose presence in American communities is profoundly harmful to the diaspora and U.S. at large. With 50% of Indian Americans supporting Modi compared to 74% of Indians in India, according to a Carnegie Endowment study, its about time that his American critics like us make our voice heard. Indian Americans and Americans of all faiths cannot continue to allow Modi to use our country as a platform to legitimize his policies abroad, and to spread hate here at home. On Modis latest U.S. visit, we must use our voices to redirect the U.S.-India relationship in a more productive direction, making it clear that if India is to continue to receive diaspora support, Modi must immediately put an end to his regimes persecution of minorities, its attacks on the free press, and its attempt to export these hateful policies into the United States. Contact us at letters@time.com. The News A group of Indian scientists are sounding the alarm about possible political influence over a prestigious research award. A letter signed by 26 scientists last month raised concerns that at least two of their colleagues, who had criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modis government, were dropped from the list of those selected for the National Science Awards. Modi plans to invest nearly $6 billion in scientific research to better compete with China, but his domineering style of governance has scientists worried about political interference in funding and director appointments, the Royal Society of Chemistry argued. One of the letters signatories told The Wire India that if ideological control had compromised the award, it is a matter of great public concern. NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's cabinet has accepted a recommendation to hold simultaneous elections to state assemblies and the national parliament, the information minister said on Wednesday, a move pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve governance. A government-appointed panel had recommended in March that simultaneous elections in the world's most populous country will help increase transparency, but the move is contentious and will have to be approved by parliament. Simultaneous election will strengthen democracy, minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters, adding that the plan is supported by a large section of India's young population. The government will build consensus and take all legal aspects into consideration before moving forward, he said. Simultaneous elections used to be the norm in India, but the cycle was disrupted decades ago, resulting in the current staggered system which sees on average five or six state polls being held either at the same time or separately every year. Frequent election campaigns take politicians away from governance, raise electioneering expenses and also pause new policies and programmes from being announced due to an election code, Modi and his government say, and have been pushing what is called the "One Nation, One Election" plan. The nine-member government panel, appointed by Modi's government last year, also said it found that real GDP growth was higher when simultaneous polls were held, compared to a decrease when they were not. Those opposed to the idea, including some prominent opposition parties, say it violates India's federal politics. (Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by YP Rajesh) By Lidia Kelly and David Lawder (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that it has postponed planned economic consultations with Russia that were due to start this week to gather more data and analysis to ensure "a rigorous consultation". The IMF had planned to conduct its routine "Article IV" assessment of Moscow's economic policies for the first time since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but several European countries had objected to the re-engagment. "Article IV consultations with Russia have been postponed while we gather all the necessary data and analysis for a rigorous consultation," an IMF spokesperson said in a brief emailed statement. The statement provided no further details on timing for the consultations, which are an annual requirement of IMF membership. The IMF's last annual mission visited Russia in November 2019, before the start of the COVID pandemic. Earlier on Wednesday, Russia's state TASS agency quoted Alexei Mozhin, Russia's director at the IMF, as saying the consultations had been postponed for technical reasons. "The Fund's management notified the Russian side and the board of directors that the mission's work would be postponed indefinitely," Mozhin said. "Technical unpreparedness of the mission to conduct consultations was mentioned as the reason for postponing the mission." Ukraine and its Western allies had objected to the mission to Russia on grounds that it would show relations with Russia to have been normalised despite the invasion and occupation of vast tracts of Ukrainian territory. According to the TASS report, the IMF's decision was communicated on Monday, the day the mission had intended to begin online consultations. These were to have been followed by an IMF delegation visit to Moscow for meetings with Russian officials. Mozhin told TASS the Russian side was "well aware" that many European countries "had spoken out about the unacceptability of the resumption of cooperation between the IMF and Russia and the unacceptability of conducting such consultations". Preparations for conducting the consultations at issue had taken place more than a year ago and Russia, while never requesting a mission, was prepared to receive one as part of its obligations under IMF rules, Mozhin said. "The Russian side hereby again confirms its preparedness," he added. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and David Lawder in Chicago; Editing by Ron Popeski, Jamie Freed and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Voters in Pulwama in Kashmir: many in the disputed Muslim-majority territory of 8.7 million registered voters remain bitter over the 2019 order to impose control from New Delhi (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA) (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/AFP) Indian-administered Kashmir began voting Wednesday in the first local elections since the cancellation of its special semi-autonomous status sparked fury in the troubled Himalayan territory, which is also claimed by Pakistan. Many in the disputed Muslim-majority territory of 8.7 million registered voters remain bitter over the 2019 order by the Hindu-nationalist government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impose control from New Delhi. A federally appointed governor has controlled the territory since, with the first regional assembly election in a decade viewed by many as being more about exercising their democratic rights than practical policies. Voters queued under heavy security in the three-phased elections, which will be staggered geographically due to security arrangements and logistical challenges in the mountainous region. "After 10 years we are allowed to be heard," said Navid Para, 31, among the first to vote in the cool morning mountain air of Pulwama, near the main city of Srinagar. "I want my voice represented", he added. About 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in the region, battling a 35-year insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed, including dozens this year. Modi urged people to vote in "large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy". - 'Solve our problems' - "Our problems have piled up," said retired government officer Mukhtar Ahmad Tantray, 65, in Srinagar. "The reins (of power)... were handed over to the bureaucracy." Turnout is expected to be high, unlike in past elections when separatists opposed to Indian rule boycotted polls, demanding the independence of Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan. "All the politics revolves around the dispute," said trader Navin Kotwal, 73, from Doda in Jammu district. "All I care about is that we want to be governed by educated representatives who can solve our problems." Farmer Ahmadullah Bhat, 47, said he had voted "to have our own government", saying he was worried common land was being taken under the rule of federal authorities. "I can now go to my elected representative to solve our issues", he said. Vigorous election campaigns have featured unusually open debates but key decisions will remain in New Delhi's hands, including security and appointing Kashmir's governor. New Delhi will also have the power to override legislation passed by the 90-seat assembly. The last round of voting will be held on October 2. Results are expected six days later. - 'Better than nothing' - The territory, officially titled Jammu and Kashmir, is split. One part is the overwhelmingly Muslim Kashmir Valley. Another is the Hindu-majority Jammu district, geographically divided by mountains to the south. A third section, the high-altitude ethnically Tibetan Ladakh region, bordering China, was carved into a separate federal territory in 2019. Some of the worst violence this year has been in Jammu, where Modi campaigned for votes on Saturday, vowing that "terrorism is on its last legs" in a reference to rebel groups fighting Indian rule. Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claim that the changes to the territory's governance have brought a new era of peace to Kashmir and rapid economic growth. The implementation of those changes in 2019 was accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long internet and communications blackout. While this is the first ballot for the local assembly since 2014, voters took part in national elections in June when Modi won a third term in power. Farmer Syed Ali Choudhary, 38, from Jammu district, acknowledged the assembly's powers will "be much less" than before. But, he said, "Something is better than nothing." - Economic woes - Many Kashmiris are resentful of the restrictions on civil liberties imposed after 2019, and the BJP is only fielding candidates in a minority of seats concentrated in Hindu-majority areas. Critics accuse the BJP of encouraging a surge of independent candidates in Muslim-majority areas to split the vote. A lack of jobs is a key issue. The area has an unemployment rate of 18.3 percent, more than double the national average, according to government figures in July. Critics say the central government has awarded major contracts, such as construction and mineral extraction, to firms outside the territory. "My biggest concern is unemployment," said Madiha, 27, a jobless graduate who gave only one name. "The cost of living has reached the sky." pzb/pjm/sco Women voters show their inked finger after cast vote at a polling station during the first phase of assembly elections in Pulwama. Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Indias troubled region of Jammu and Kashmir saw a brisk turnout amid tight security as voters cast their ballots on Wednesday in the first regional legislative elections in a decade. The region, which has seen years of separatist violence and is at the centre of a dispute between India and Pakistan, has been under federal rule after the collapse of a coalition government in 2018. Elections are also being held for the first time since Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party-led government revoked the erstwhile states partial autonomy in 2019 and divided it into two federally-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The three-phase elections that began on Wednesday saw long queues outside booths. People said they wanted peace and prosperity for Kashmir, but also that they were still anguished at the sudden way in which their partial autonomy was removed in August 2021. Partial autonomy gave the region the right to have its own flag and constitution, as well as the exclusive right of Kashmiris to own land. Its removal was followed by months of clampdown on protesters, including the detention of politicians and activists and restrictions on movement and communications. The Modi government has said the move was aimed at bringing the countrys only Muslim-majority state on par with the rest of India and improve its development. Polling to the 90-member regional legislature is also scheduled on September 25 and October 1. Votes will be counted on October 8 with results expected the same day. "I want a government that has our own people so that we can approach them easily and they understand our needs," said 32-year-old Imran Ali of Pulwama as he waited to cast his ballot. We want peace, progress and dignity for Kashmir. Analysts say the powers of an elected regional government are likely to be limited and the polls may throw up a hung assembly. Voters queue up to cast their ballots at a polling station during the first phase of assembly elections in Pulwama. Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Voters queue up to cast their ballots at a polling station during the first phase of assembly elections in Pulwama. Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Voters queue up to cast their ballots at a polling station during the first phase of assembly elections in Pulwama. Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Indias troubled region of Jammu and Kashmir saw a brisk turnout amid tight security as voters cast their ballots on Wednesday in the first regional legislative elections in a decade. The region, which has seen years of separatist violence and is at the centre of a dispute between India and Pakistan, has been under federal rule after the collapse of a coalition government in 2018. Elections are also being held for the first time since Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party-led government revoked the erstwhile states partial autonomy in 2019 and divided it into two federally-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The three-phase elections that began on Wednesday saw long queues outside booths. People said they wanted peace and prosperity for Kashmir, but also that they were still anguished at the sudden way in which their partial autonomy was removed in August 2021. Partial autonomy gave the region the right to have its own flag and constitution, as well as the exclusive right of Kashmiris to own land. Its removal was followed by months of clampdown on protesters, including the detention of politicians and activists and restrictions on movement and communications. The Modi government has said the move was aimed at bringing the countrys only Muslim-majority state on par with the rest of India and improve its development. Polling to the 90-member regional legislature is also scheduled on September 25 and October 1. Votes will be counted on October 8 with results expected the same day. "I want a government that has our own people so that we can approach them easily and they understand our needs," said 32-year-old Imran Ali of Pulwama as he waited to cast his ballot. We want peace, progress and dignity for Kashmir. Analysts say the powers of an elected regional government are likely to be limited and the polls may throw up a hung assembly. Polling had been peaceful and a high turnout of 60 per cent was expected, Election Commission official PK Pole said. The main players are the regional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Conference Party (NCP) and national parties like the BJP and the Indian National Congress party. The NCP has formed an alliance with the Congress party. Several separatists are also contesting as independent candidates. India-administered Kashmir has been dealing with a secessionist movement since the mid-1980s, with nearly 48,000 people killed in violence which New Delhi claims is supported by Pakistan. Islamabad denies the charge. The erstwhile state had included Muslim majority Kashmir, Hindu-majority Jammu and Buddhist majority Ladakh. There is a strong anti-India sentiment in the Kashmir valley, which often results in clashes between protesters and Indian security forces, who are present in large numbers to contain the militancy. Voters queue up to cast their ballots at a polling station during the first phase of assembly elections in Pulwama. Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Voters queue up to cast their ballots at a polling station during the first phase of assembly elections in Pulwama. Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Inefficiencies, politicisation and lack of compassion: the NHS problems that money cannot fix Reform or die: Sir Keir Starmer warned as an independent report said the NHS was in critical condition - Stefan Rousseau /AFP Welcome back to Waste Watch with Dia Chakravarty. An overwhelming number of emails from readers which come to me through the Waste Watch mailbox concern the NHS. The problem of bed blocking caught my attention in particular. It is constantly in the news, with data from December 2022 showing that in England, an average of 13,440 patients a day remained in hospital despite no longer meeting the criteria to stay. To address this, the emphasis over the last few years has been on tackling shortage of resources, with the previous government announcing a 500 million boost to the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund, plus a further 200 million announced in January 2023 to block-buy care home beds. But theres also the incompetence and the inefficiency which exacerbates this problem. And that is a problem which cannot be fixed solely through an injection of increased funding. Heres an example. Bed blocking Peter wrote to me about his experience with his father-in-law. A patient of Parkinsons disease towards the end of his life, hospital visits became frequent, as did the experience of delayed hospital discharges. The first episode involved the hospital pharmacist. Having been informed at 9am he would be discharged that day he was waiting all day for it to happen. Whilst all the papers were eventually signed (by about 3pm) the pharmacist had not given him his discharge medication and instructions of how to take it. The medication was the last tablet of a two- week course of antibiotics which he had been taking throughout his stay in hospital. He was eventually discharged at 7pm. Bed blocked for one day! The pattern continued, with the situation worsening. On one occasion [my father in law] was told by the doctor he would be discharged on Friday. It actually happened the following Tuesday because the doctor went off shift on Friday without signing the right papers and didnt return to work until Tuesday. There were at least five similar incidents over two years usually causing delays of two or three days. Peters email stood out to me because it resonated with my own experience. Having contracted chicken pox during pregnancy, I languished in an NHS ward for hours, exposing my incredibly infectious disease to other vulnerable people surrounding me, including a pregnant nurse serving the ward. Hours passed before I was quarantined into a private room, but kept in the hospital, having been told that I needed to be monitored. That was a welcome prospect, I remember feeling relieved and grateful. As it turned out, not only would there be no monitoring, I would remain in my isolated room with no access to drinking water for three hours until a family member finally found their way to me with a water bottle. Having arrived at the hospitals A&E department in the early hours following advice from the 111 service, I remained in the hospital until after 10pm at night when we finally found out that the Pulmonologist who was expected to give me the all clear had gone home. Finally, a radiologist on duty decided to discharge me. What a waste of effort, resources, goodwill and - most importantly for the purposes of this discussion - a hospital bed. Overcompensating In his report on the state of the NHS published last week, Lord Darzi noted that record sums in compensation payments are now being paid out by the NHS for care failure. 1.7 per cent of the NHSs entire budget now goes towards compensation payments, according to the report, which amounts to nearly 3 billion. According to NHS Resolution, the agency responsible for settling NHS compensation claims, 1.15 billion are maternity-related payments. A Freedom of Information request revealed that Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust paid out the top two amounts in compensation, paying 63 million and 58 million respectively over the past five years. The London hospital with the highest payout was Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, which alone has paid out nearly 57 million in compensation for 52 claims since 2019. Each of these claims is a tale of unbearable tragedy: of brain damage, stillbirths or deaths of babies and mothers. All avoidable, all caused by obstetric negligence. Policing beliefs Another case of an NHS payout, though not to do with medical negligence, caught my eye this week. Ricky Garett, an ambulance manager, was awarded 3,750 in compensation after a tribunal found that he had been discriminated against by being suspended for saying he did not agree with the concept of systemic racism. The amount may seem negligible in the grand scheme of things, but this seems to me to be an extraordinary example of a public body punishing an employee, not because he is incapable of doing his job, but simply because of voicing opposition to a political belief. At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in May 2020, a colleague reported a conversation he overheard where Mr Garett is said to have made the offending comment, as well as claiming that because of the multicultural make-up of its staff, the London Ambulance Service cannot be racist. This resulted in Mr Garett being suspended on full pay while a three-month-investigation looked into the matter. He was subsequently ordered to undertake unconscious bias training, a black allyship workshop and a written reflective practice over his beliefs. The ambulance manager sued the London Ambulance Service and won. The London Ambulance Service boasts of a steadily growing EDI team with three full-time staff from this year, having been directed by the London Assemblys Health Committee in 2023 to improve diversity in the organisation and chided for not being truly ethnically representative of London. Much of our public sector has swallowed the Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity agenda hook, line and sinker, but its never enough for the politicians who drive the diversity agenda. It is not enough, according to the Chair of the Health Committee, that only one in five of its current workforce [is] from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background. From newborns dying from a catalogue of errors to fighting allegations of lack of compassion and clinical curiosity contributing to a patients death, to cyber attacks leading to cancelled procedures, London hospitals are failing to deliver the standard of healthcare Londoners pay for and deserve. The only thing the Health Committee members can do to justify their own 62,761 salaries is to focus on improving those standards. Please share share examples of public spending in your personal and professional lives which you consider to be a waste of taxpayers money. You can email us your stories either in writing or as voice notes at wastewatch@telegraph.co.uk 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. Influencers and vloggers are showing off their lives in Saudi Arabia's Neom. It's falling flat. Neom vloggers have been cropping up online to show off their lives in the desert city. But the posts reveal a less-glamorous reality of the developing Saudi city. Some mocked Saudi Arabia's future city as "joyless and dreary" and like a "low security prison." Saudi Arabia's new city of the future, Neom, isn't looking quite so glamorous just yet. A wave of vloggers and micro-influencers have been posting on social media about their lives in the still-developing desert city and their posts are kind of falling flat. The $500 billion Neom project championed by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the centerpiece of his Vision 2030 plan to diversify the country's economy bills itself as "a land of the future where the greatest minds and best talents are empowered to embody pioneering ideas and exceed boundaries in a world inspired by imagination." A rendering of what an infinity pool in Neom would look like. Neom The government hoped that Neom's megacity "The Line" which would be a long thin city between tall mirrored skyscrapers when completed would draw 1.5 million residents by 2030, but that lofty goal has since been reduced to about 300,000. This publicity image shows a design for "The Line," a part of the planned Saudi Arabian desert megacity in Neom. Neom And then there's the reality of what living in Neom currently looks like. One Noem resident and vlogger with 17,000 TikTok followers, Jessica Herman, has been posting on the platform all about her life in the developing area. In one TikTok video, Herman joyfully films what an evening in "Neom Community 1" looks like: getting her kids ready in her sleek industrial apartment, walking through what looks like empty streets and cookie-cutter housing, and heading to the mod "dining hall" for dinner with her family. It's not just Herman who's been promoting her life in the city lately. Other mom vloggers have been sharing similar experiences living in Neom in recent months, like Sara Sarasid, who has more than 24,000 TikTok followers, and Aida McPherson, who has more than 28,000 TikTok followers. The surroundings in their videos look just as dreary, despite the vloggers' smile-filled promotions. This week, X users caught wind of Herman's video and criticized how manufactured and desolate the surroundings appear, especially compared to the futuristic renderings of what the city plans to become. One user, Joshua Hind, wrote on X in response to Herman's video, "After all the hype and renderings, Neom is nothing more than a bland expat compound built so Westerners can work in KSA." A journalist for ABC News, Matt Bevan, also wrote in a post on X that has been viewed more than 770,000 times, "Oh wow this looks great I've always dreamed of living in an industrial estate on the surface of the sun." Others on the platform described the sights in Neom as being "joyless and dreary," looking like "a Mars colony," and having "low security prison vibes." It's not clear if Herman or her husband are government employees or if Herman is being paid to film her life in the city. It's also not clear if Community 1, where she lives, or Neom's other "Community 2" are temporary developments put up while the city is under construction. The city of Neom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, nor did Herman. Herman's account was later deactivated. The development of Neom has attracted a lot of hype and it's share of controversy. Back in May, the BBC reported that Saudi authorities had been given permission to kill any local villagers who stood in the way of eviction orders to clear the region for development. And, according to the outlet, one villager was shot and killed after protesting. More recently, Neom executives have been accused of racism, misogyny, and corruption, according to The Wall Street Journal last week. In one instance, an executive mocked the deaths of three construction workers, complaining in a phone call that, "A whole bunch of people die so we've got to have a meeting on a Sunday night," the WSJ reported. Neom announced on Wednesday in a statement shared with Variety that the executive has been replaced. There have also been reports of chaos and feuds, even a physical brawl, between bosses working on the project. All the while costs for Neom keep rising, which have led Saudi authorities to consider "recalibrating" the project and have become a cause for concern within the Saudi government, according to reports. Read the original article on Business Insider HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) An injured hawk was rescued on Central Park Drive in Holyoke. Missing hiker rescued from Mt. Tom in Holyoke According to the Holyoke Police Department, a USPS worker found an injured hawk and called the police on Tuesday. Holyoke Police Officer Rex assisting Animal Control Officer Erick Velez were able to place the hawk into custody before it was taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center. PHOTOS: Injured hawk rescued According to Mass Audubon, the most common hawk in Massachusetts is the Red-tailed Hawk, which can be seen in cities, suburbs, and the countryside. It feeds mainly on squirrels and other small mammals and rarely presents any threat to humans or pets. MAP: Central Park Drive in Holyoke 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. Inmate killed in SC prison, and his death is believed to be a homicide, officials say An inmate died at a South Carolina prison Tuesday, and his death is being investigated as a suspected homicide, according to the the state Department of Corrections. Idris Wasim Ballard-Gallardo, 23, died at Lee Correctional Institution, the S.C. Department of Corrections said in a news release. Thats the same prison where seven inmates were killed and 17 more were injured during a violent incident in 2018. Ballard-Gallardo was stabbed while he was in a common area of his assigned housing unit at the prison in Bishopville, according to the release. He was pronounced dead shortly after 10 a.m., the S.C. Department of Corrections said. An autopsy will be performed, according to the release. Information about any possible arrests was not included in the release, and there was no word on a motive for the stabbing. The death is being investigated by the S.C. Department of Corrections Inspector Generals office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Lee County Coroners Office. In 2023, Ballard-Gallardo was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge, Greenwood County court records show. Ballard-Gallardo was originally charged with murder when he was arrested in June 2020, according to court records. Lee Correctional is a mens-only, split-custody prison that houses inmates in close (high-security) and medium security facilities, according to the Department of Corrections. Like other close prisons in South Carolina, Lee is designed primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences, and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems, the Department of Corrections said. The prison is in Bishopville, about 50 miles east of Columbia. Leaflet Map Inside the abandoned homes Israel wants back as it prepares for war in Lebanon One of the many buildings in Kibbutz Hanita damaged during a Hezbollah strike - KEVIN J. UNGER Dishes are still on the kitchen table and the fridge has a few jars on the shelves. The stairway up to the first floor is full of broken glass, and what used to be the bedroom is in ruins. The bedrooms glass door lies in the middle of the room. Theres dust everywhere but above us blue skies where the roof used to be. Luckily, the old couple that lived here had already been evacuated from their home in Kibbutz Hanita when it took a direct hit from a rocket fired by Hezbollah. But their son, Erez, stayed behind and has been protecting the kibbutz since Hezbollah began launching daily anti-tank missiles, rockets and drones in support of Hamas. More than 9,000 such attacks have been detected since Oct 8 last year. Most of the families with children left the same day. A week later, the whole kibbutz was evacuated, Erez told The Telegraph during a visit (Erezs last name could not be disclosed for security reasons). Erez was born at the kibbutz where he now serves as the security team commander - KEVIN J. UNGER What used to be a lively community on Israels border with Lebanon has, like dozens of other kibbutzim and villages, become a ghost town. These are the towns and villages Israel wants back for its people and war inside Lebanon appears to be one of the ways they are considering reaching that goal. The Israeli prime ministers security cabinet announced this week that the objectives of the war it initially launched inside Gaza now include returning the residents of the north securely to their homes. The current situation will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of forces on our northern border, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, said. Kibbutz Hanita was created in 1938 but now the damaged homes of around 700 residents lie empty - KEVIN J. UNGER The march towards war may have been accelerated on Wednesday when pagers thought to be planted by Israel exploded in the pockets and hands of Hezbollah fighters across the country. The terror group has promised revenge. The roughly 700 residents of Kibbutz Hanita were evacuated within a week of Oct 7, including Erezs parents, his wife and three daughters, along with 60,000 other Israelis along the northern border. Erez, the kibbutzs security team commander, recalled how he rushed people out of their beds when Hamas launched its terror attack on Israel as he feared Hezbollah would do the same on Israels northern border. Hanita was created in 1938, several years before the state of Israel was founded. Erez, whose grandparents settled in the kibbutz in 1942, was born here and is adamant about the need to defend northern Israel from Hezbollah. Even if it means being at constant risk of attacks and sleeping in a bomb shelter. Around 20 rockets have struck the kibbutz so far, and for every house they hit, another 10 are impacted by the blast - KEVIN J. UNGER A month after the kibbutz was evacuated, soldiers began removing rotten food from all the homes which had attracted a lot of animals. But cats and dogs were still lurking in Erezs parents home, searching for any food left behind. Some 20 rockets have hit the kibbutz so far, but for every house they hit, another 10 are impacted by the blast, according to Erez. The silence in Kibbutz Hanita is deafening, apart from the occasional loud booms in the background. A stuffed animal lies near the window of a kindergarten classroom damaged during a Hezbollah attack - KEVIN J. UNGER And due to Hanitas close proximity to the border, Hezbollah attacks have become part of daily life. A few metres from the communitys kindergarten stands the remnants of a metal swing. It was destroyed when five Iranian-made suicide drones hit the kibbutz last month, all within five minutes. One of the drones also landed in the kindergarten itself, starting a fire. Shrapnel from the drones has left clear marks on buildings nearby. Another drone landed in the playyard, leaving a big hole in the ground. As Erez described the attacks, The Telegraph asked how much time we had to run for shelter if a siren went off. After all, Lebanon is just a few hundred meters from where we stood. The siren and the explosion come at the same time. We dont have any time, he responded. Outside Erezs parents house, Lt Col Yarden, an IDF division operations officer, explained how the army dealt with daily attacks. Lt Col Yarden says the army is ready for a ground invasion of Lebanon if the government gives the green light - KEVIN J. UNGER For the first two months, Palestinians from southern Lebanon tried to infiltrate the kibbutz three times. And members of Hezbollah have tried to infiltrate the border into northern Israel at least seven times since Oct 8. All of them were killed, Lt Col Yarden told The Telegraph (his last name could not be disclosed for security reasons). Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, has told both Lloyd Austin, his American counterpart, and President Joe Bidens senior advisor that the possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict. Therefore, the only way left to ensure the return of Israels northern communities to their homes will be via military action, Mr Gallant said in yet another signal that Israel is preparing to launch a full-scale war against Hezbollah. Lt Col Yarden said the army was ready for a ground invasion of Lebanon if the government gave the green light. Until that time, we are holding the line. 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. After nine months in an Israeli prison, Moazaz Abayat's body was battered and emaciated. The 37-year-old Palestinian fitness enthusiast and father-of-five said he lost almost half his body weight while imprisoned. Video of his release circulated widely on social media, where his dramatic weight loss and severe limp showed a major contrast to his appearance before his arrest. Abayat was detained on Oct. 27, 2023 at his home in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, accused of having links to Hamas. He was released from jail on July 9, without charge, having spent most of his time in Israel's Ktziot Prison. While there, Abayat said he was subjected to physical and mental abuse. He says he was routinely stripped and struck in his genitals by prison guards. "Here on my head, they hit me with iron pipes and metal tools. My right hand broke here and I did and still do suffer from it. My foot was broken here and I am still suffering from it," he told ABC News in Arabic, 10 days after his release from jail. "I also was badly burned in my feet." He described a prison guard accusing him of being a member of Hamas. "I'm a lone, unarmed civilian. You did not arrest me from a combat front or from a tank," he recalled telling the guard. The guard then accused him of being a murderer, he told ABC News, which he denied. He said he told the guard he wasn't with Israel or Hamas. "So he put the eye cover back," he alleged. "Then a group of men entered and beat me badly." PHOTO: A protester waves the Israeli national flag in support of soldiers being questioned for detainee abuse, outside of the Sde Teiman military base, July 29, 2024. (Tsafrir Abayov/AP) Since Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, the Palestinian prison population in Israeli custody has almost doubled after a sweeping crackdown in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. According to Israeli human rights group B'tselem, which advocates for Palestinian rights, around half of these people have been held in administrative detention. The terms of this detention are set by the Israeli government, and it means people like Abayat can be held without charge. Asked about Abayat's allegations, the Israeli Prison Service told ABC News that it operates under the "strict control" of official inspectors. "All prisoners are held in accordance with the law while respecting their basic rights and under the supervision of professional and skilled prison staff," it said in a statement, which has been translated from Hebrew. "We are not familiar with the claims described and as far as we know they are not true. At the same time, every prisoner and detainee has the right to [file a complaint] in the accepted channels and his claims will be examined." The prison service noted that Abayat's allegations will be examined by authorities if he submits his complaint "through the acceptable channels." Since the war began, an unknown number of Palestinians arrested by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have also been taken to a now-notorious military facility in the southern Israel's Negev desert -- Sde Teiman. Some who've been inside call it "Israel's Guantanamo." "So, it wasn't very clear to me, in the beginning, what Sde Teiman would be," a former prison guard told ABC News, with his face and voice concealed at his request. "They told us that as we're like guarding these cells, we're supposed to not allow them to, to speak or move or peek under their blindfolds. All of the detainees were blindfolded 24-7, basically." The former guard said some soldiers were "knowingly and deliberately" violent. "There's something about Sde Teiman which was so shocking to me is how cold blooded it all was," he said. "Because in the war in Gaza, there's this sense of, you know, danger and the urgency which sort of makes a lot of mistakes, admissible as mistakes. And I feel like this can't be a mistake. It's not a mistake. It's all done in complete calm." A doctor who spent time at Sde Teiman said that he found those in need of medical treatment "restrained, in a way that goes beyond what I would expect patients to be restrained" in such a facility. He also requested that his face and voice be concealed. "Which means each one of them, all of their arms and legs were strapped with handcuffs to the sides of the bed so that it would be basically impossible for them to move or try to reach with their hands, even to their own body," the doctor said. He claimed that all the patients were blindfolded and they weren't allowed to remove them. They were also naked, aside from a diaper, according to the doctor. "If you think about laying in a bed, unable to move, unable to see, defecating and urinating on yourself as an adult, in my book that's torture," he said. CCTV footage of an alleged sexual assault on a Sde Teiman detainee also sparked a military police investigation. It purportedly showed the night that reservists appeared to take the prisoner behind a row of shields. An edited 12-second clip from that footage aired on Israel's Channel 12 and became part of the visual evidence for the case, which was heard in a military court. PHOTO: Protesters wave Israeli national flags and chant in support of soldiers being questioned for detainee abuse, outside of the Sde Teiman military base, July 29, 2024. (Matan Golan/Sipa USA via AP) The detainee was taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening internal injuries, prosecuting lawyers said in court documents seen by ABC News. Ten reservists were arrested in July in connection with the alleged assault, with five remaining under house arrest. In a statement to ABC News, lawyers for the detained soldiers denied the allegations and said the "suspects are all normal, working people" and the prisoner made a "false complaint." The soldiers' arrests became a rallying call for Israel's far-right, who attempted to storm both Sde Teiman and the military detention facility the accused soldiers were being held in. The crowds could be seen chanting "Release our warriors," defending the soldiers' right to treat the prisoners as they wished. "The IDF rejects claims concerning the systematic abuse of detainees in its facilities, including through violence, sexual violence or torture," the IDF said in a statement to ABC News. "Any abuse of detainees violates the law and IDF directives and as such is strictly prohibited." The IDF noted that they will take action when necessary, including criminal investigations of personnel. Many Sde Teiman detainees have been either released back into Gaza or sent to the custody of the Israeli Prisons' service, run by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. He has said his goal is to deteriorate the conditions for "terrorists in the prisons" and reduce their rights to the minimum required by law. "I have already proposed a much simpler solution, of enacting the death penalty for terrorists, which would solve the overcrowding issue," he wrote in a tweet last July. PHOTO: This undated photo from Winter 2023 provided by Breaking The Silence shows blindfolded Palestinian prisoners captured in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces at a detention facility on the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel. (Breaking The Silence via AP) At least 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since Oct. 7, Israeli human rights group B'tselem wrote in an August report. "Sde Teiman, which is a military facility, as we understand it is really only the tip of the iceberg because those kind of of behavior became the norm in each and every detention facility, whether it is of the Israeli army or the Israeli prison system," Yuli Novak, the executive director of B'tselem, told ABC News. "When you see something that's happened in 16 different facilities to thousands of people, what else can it be rather than policy?" The IDF, the Israeli Prison Service, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir denied ABC News' requests for on-camera interviews. ABC News' Latifa Abdellatif, Dana Savir and Anna Burd contributed to this report. Inside Israels incarceration of Palestinians since Oct. 7 attack originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Inside Russia's 'military Disneyland,' a Manhattan-sized theme park that puts the country's deadly weaponry on display The head of a Russian military theme park was arrested on fraud charges amid a corruption crackdown. Vyacheslav Akhmedov was accused of embezzling government funds set aside for Patriot Park. Photos show guests climbing atop tanks, firing Russian firearms, and posing with theme park mascots. The head of a Russian theme park dubbed a "military Disneyland" was placed under house arrest Tuesday amid a crackdown on corruption in Moscow's defense ministry. Patriot Park director Vyacheslav Akhmedov and top defense official Vladimir Shesterov were arrested last month on fraud charges related to the park, Russia's top criminal investigation agency announced. Former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov was later detained on similar charges as a corruption probe of the country's defense ministry continues. Akhmedov and Shesterov were accused of embezzling government funds allocated for the exhibition park. Popov was accused of using his position as deputy defense minister to coerce park contractors to do unpaid construction at his personal residence in Moscow. The latest arrest renews attention on the government-funded military attraction, where visitors have been seen climbing atop tanks and armored vehicles, taking selfies with captured Ukrainian weapons, and posing for photos with costumed theme park mascots. 'Military Disneyland' Visitors walk past Russian tanks and military vehicles on display in Patriot Park. Nikita Shvetsov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Located about 40 miles west of Moscow in Kubinka, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a soft opening for the theme park in 2015, shortly after the Kremlin's illegal annexation of Crimea. Putin described the park as "an important element in our system of military-patriotic work with young people," according to a Guardian report. In the years since, his government has pushed militarism deeper into society, in part through programs that instruct children in rifle assembly or teach teenagers to fly drones. A vast multipurpose venue A Russian National Guard Service officer poses for a photo in front of a display of captured Ukrainian weapons. Contributor/Getty Images The 21-square-mile exhibition park features an interactive military exhibition hall, shooting ranges, museums, and a massive Russian Orthodox cathedral. Since opening in the vast attraction, it has served as a venue for military demonstrations, historical reenactments, festivals, and religious celebrations. Russia's military cathedral A Russian military band march in front of the Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces in Kubinka, Russia. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images Built to commemorate 75 years since the end of World War II in 2020, the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces drew criticism for blending the country's military history with its most widespread religion. The cathedral was further embroiled in controversy after photos showed an unfinished mosaic on a wall depicting Putin and other key Russian political figures, including then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Joseph Stalin. The mosaic was later canceled. , , , . : https://t.co/O5AlRk3Pbl pic.twitter.com/TUxHW8LxXO (@Chtede) April 23, 2020 Made from 'German trophy hardware' Performers in military uniforms entertain guests in front of the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Patriot Park. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images Built in less than two years, the Russian military cathedral was consecrated in 2020 in a grand ceremony. It went on to host music festivals and Russian religious holidays, complete with parades and performances by entertainers donning military uniforms. When the $100 million building project was first announced in 2018, Shoigu said the steps of the lavish cathedral would be made from "German trophy hardware," with claims that it would be melted-down Nazi tanks. Captured Western weapons on display A visitor takes a photo of a US-made armored personnel carriers that was captured in Ukraine on display at an exhibition in Kubinka, Russia. Contributor/Getty Images The cathedral steps were not the only time Patriot Park served as a venue for Russian war trophies. Last August, the theme park had an exhibit showcasing Western artillery and tanks purportedly captured in Ukraine, like M777 howitzers and M113 armored personnel carriers. The captured vehicles were peppered with bulletholes and damage from the battlefield, though it isn't clear if the assets are authentic or Russian-made replicas. Ukraine has its own open-air exhibition of destroyed Russian military equipment in Kyiv, which opened on the country's Independence Day in 2022. Showcasing Russian military power A Russian intercontinental ballistic missile launcher Yars is displayed at the exposition field in Patriot Park in Kubinka, Russia. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images The military theme park also displays Russian weaponry and equipment, such as the Russian intercontinental ballistic missile launcher Yars. Interactive weapons exhibits A visitor looks through the scope of a Russian firearm with other weapons on display nearby at Patriot Park. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images One of the exhibition halls featured displays of Russian firearms, which visitors were able to observe and handle. Massive shooting range Russian President Vladimir Putin looks through the scope of a Chukavin sniper rifle at the shooting range in Patriot Park. ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images If park guests want to put their shooting skills to the test, Patriot Park has a firing range spanning nearly 400 acres roughly the size of Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida. For many Russians, this may be their only shot; the country has stricter gun restrictions and less gun ownership than the US. During a 2018 visit, Putin was photographed firing a Russian sniper rifle at the range. The shooting range has nearly three dozen shooting bays and room for spectators, storage space, and a restaurant. Theme park mascots Entertainers in costume pose for a photo with a guest at Patriot Park. The Washington Post via Getty Images Though the main draw of Patriot Park is its displays of deadly war memorabilia, it still has attractions that appeal to military enthusiasts of all ages. No theme park is complete without anthropomorphic animal mascots, and Patriot Park is no exception. Guests are seen taking photos with characters depicting a raccoon and a leopard in camouflage costumes. Family-friendly fun A man and a boy ride in a toy tank around a course at Patriot Park. NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images Children can ride in a miniature toy tank resembling a WWII-era Soviet T-34, navigating around an obstacle course with red barrels. Makeshift military jungle gym Children climb atop a T-62M tank on display at Patriot Park. NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images But they're not discouraged from playing on the real thing, too. Read the original article on Business Insider We recently compiled a list titled Jim Cramers Ultimate Stock Picks: 10 Hot Stocks to Consider. In this article, we will look at where The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) ranks among Jim Cramer's 10 hot stocks to consider. In a recent episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer emphasized the unexpected strength in the market, pointing out that many companies are doing better than Wall Street realizes. He suggests that investors should stop second-guessing these companies every time negative news surfaces. Cramer praises the excellent management and execution by CEOs, which he feels often goes unappreciated. Suddenly, all is forgiven, or if not all, then at least most. Im talking about the incredible resilience in this market, buoyed by a recognition that many companies are simply better than Wall Street gives them credit for. We need to stop turning against them every time theres a seemingly bad data point. Every day I come to work, Im dazzled by the resourcefulness of executives who do their best to create value for you, the shareholder. Lots of stocks went up on days like today when the Dow advanced 335 points, the S&P gained 75%, and the NASDAQ jumped 1.0%, all thanks to good management and excellent execution that often goes unnoticed. Jim Cramer acknowledges that while some CEOs might warrant skepticism, many are truly exceptional and deserve more recognition for their efforts. He criticizes the overemphasis on short-term economic indicators, arguing that great companies stay focused and arent thrown off by minor fluctuations. Listen, Im not a pushover. I can hit CEOs with tough questions when needed, some of them deserve skepticism and scorn. But there are also plenty of brilliant, hardworking CEOs with incredible teams, and you ignore their hustle at your own peril. This often gets lost in the shuffle when were focused on the parlor game of guessing the Feds next move, a quarter point, half a point, quarter, half. You know what I say? Lets get serious. Terrific companies dont get caught up in that quarter-half shuffle. Cramer highlights Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen as an example of strong leadership. Despite facing challenges like opposition to its acquisition of Albertsons and a tough economic climate, McMullen has successfully managed to keep food costs down. Through strategies such as an effective loyalty program and improvements to regional stores, the company has performed well. After a strong earnings report, the stock rose more than 7%, reflecting a successful turnaround. CEO Rodney McMullen has managed to keep food costs down and deliver fantastic numbers, all while maintaining an expensive, unionized labor force in a very uncertain commodity environment. How? The company confounded critics by developing a superior loyalty program, regionalizing their stores, and creating some of the best private-label products out there, second only to Costco. Food is still expensive, but cooking at home is far cheaper than dining out. McMullen tells us that consumers are no longer flush with cash, especially his most budget-conscious clientele. He notes, Budget-conscious customers are buying more at the beginning of the month to stock up on essentials, and as the month progresses, they become more cautious with their spending. Wow, thats a tough environment! When I heard this, I thought back to the old company, the one that used to miss its numbers whenever the environment got a little tough. Everybody else remembers the old company too, which is why the stock was just sitting there waiting to be picked up, until this quarters report, after which it soared more than 7% in response to the fabulous results. Everyone thought the company would drop the ball, as they used to, but McMullen has finally whipped his supermarket into shape. Story continues In contrast, Cramer points out that the tech industry often suffers from misunderstandings due to its complex nature. He believes that Wall Street analysts frequently fail to appreciate the expertise and potential of tech CEOs who have a deep grasp of their businesses. We all need to eat, so its not hard to understand the grocery business. But its quite different when it comes to tech, where analysts constantly doubt the resolve and expertise of CEOs who simply know more about their businesses than the critics. In tech, the complexity often leads Wall Street to conclusions that have little to do with reality. Our Methodology This article reviews a recent edition of Jim Cramers Morning Thoughts, where he covered different stocks. We have selected and analyzed the ten most notable companies mentioned, ranking them according to how much they are owned by hedge funds, from the least owned to the most owned. 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). A commercial jetliner parked at an airport, reflecting the companies success in aviation. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 42 Jim Cramer points out that The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)s shares are facing challenges after unionized workers in the Pacific Northwest voted strongly against a proposed contract. The potential strike by machinists could be expensive for The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and might push the company to raise additional capital. Cramer has expressed concerns about The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)s free cash flow situation. Boeing shares are under pressure after unionized factory workers in the Pacific Northwest overwhelmingly voted against a tentative contract. The machinists strike may prove costly and could be the last straw for Boeing needing to raise capital. Ive been worried about Boeings free cash flow outlook. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)s positive investment outlook is supported by its gradual recovery, growing demand for its commercial aircraft, and expected improvements in free cash flow (FCF). Despite supply chain issues, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) has seen rising demand for key models like the 737 MAX and 787. Deliveries of the 737 MAX are projected to increase from about 380 in 2023 to 535 in 2024, to reach 600 deliveries in the future. This strong demand is likely to boost revenue and expand The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)s market share. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)s free cash flow is also expected to improve significantly. The 737 MAX and 787 are anticipated to contribute $2.8 billion and $1.7 billion to FCF by 2025, respectively, providing financial flexibility for managing debt and funding growth. Although The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) reported a GAAP loss per share of $2.33 in Q2 2024, its Global Services segment saw a 5% increase in revenue year-over-year, showing the companys resilience. Analysts are optimistic, with RBC upgrading the stock to Outperform and raising the target price to $275, indicating confidence in The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)s recovery and future potential. Despite some short-term challenges, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)s improving production rates, strong demand, and significant free cash flow make it an attractive long-term investment. Overall BA ranks 7th on our list of Jim Cramer's ultimate stock picks. While we acknowledge the potential of BA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar 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 BA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI 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 was originally published on Insider Monkey. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) For the first time in a dozen years, the Iowa League of Cities is coming back to Sioux City. An annual conference and exhibit will be held in the city from Sept. 18 through Sept. 20. One of the locations is the Sioux City Convention Center. This years theme is Stronger Together. Midwest Honor Flight receives large check from church The Iowa League of Cities is a group of around 850 large and small cities coming together to network. Explore Siouxlands executive director Kristi Franz says its important to have the smaller cities come to the conference. I think that, you know, people are recognizing that smaller towns have a lot of things to offer that bigger towns dont, Franz said. Maybe a sense a community may get lost in larger cities. So I think that because of all the communities of all difference sizes are coming together to learn, you know, the same practices, but just on a scale that will fit their communities, so theyre able to take that back. The first day of the conference features a bike tour of 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. ONAWA, Iowa (KCAU) Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand talked with Monona County residents Tuesday about their concerns with the current Iowa government. The residents were wanting to know how tax money is being handled, especially after the flooding. Sand recommended that if people do have concerns about how money is being spent, they can contact the Iowa Auditor of States office. Bringing awareness to peripheral artery disease Sand also talked about the issue with nursing homes in Iowa. He said he has heard terrible stories and wants to put it on the governments radar to make more inspections and help the staffing shortage. This is Iowas elderly vulnerable population, and we have been well understaffed, Sand said. We are 46th in the country. And I hope in the future we can see the rate of inspections pick up, but over the last few years its been pretty abysmal. People working in the nursing homes agree that there is a shortage and everyone has to fill in when needed. In a high-demand area like Sergeant Bluff, homes are seeing a large turnover where people are constantly moving around from job to job. At Embassy Rehab and Care Center, they are trying to change the fast turnover. Hinton CSD administrators accused of violating states code of ethics for educators We do offer lots of promotions, we offer lots of bonuses, administrator Billijean Moerman said. We uplift our staff as much as we possibly can to keep them. And for the most part I dont think our turnover is that bad. The current staff is having to be able to do everything to accommodate training new people. Moerman said that on the administrator side, when it comes to interviews, they are trying to get people in right away to make them feel more wanted. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Iranian hackers sent Biden campaign stolen Trump materials in unsolicited emails, FBI says Iranian hackers sent Biden campaign stolen Trump materials in unsolicited emails, FBI says This summer, Iranian hackers sent materials stolen from the Trump campaign to people associated with the Biden campaign as well as media outlets, according to U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Bidens campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trumps campaign as text in the emails, according to a joint statement from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), obtained by The Hill. There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied, the agencies added. We have cooperated with the appropriate law enforcement authorities since we were made aware that individuals associated with the then-Biden campaign were among the intended victims of this foreign influence operation, Harris campaign spokesperson Morgan Finkelstein said in a statement to The Washington Post. Were not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign; a few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what looked like a spam or phishing attempt. We condemn in the strongest terms any effort by foreign actors to interfere in U.S. elections including this unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity. The Independent has contacted the White House for comment. At a rally in Long Island, New York, on Wednesday, Trump accused Joe Biden of working with Iran. They gave them all of their materials because Biden is working with Iran, and Iran doesnt exactly like me, Trump said. The Trump campaign condemned the hack. This is further proof the Iranians are actively interfering in the election to help Kamala Harris and Joe Biden because they know President Trump will restore his tough sanctions and stand against their reign of terror, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to The Independent. Kamala and Biden must come clean on whether they used the hacked material given to them by the Iranians to hurt President Trump. What did they know and when did they know it? The Iranian government has denied it hacked the Trump campaign. Last month, the Trump campaign said some of its internal communications had been hacked after Politico began receiving emails from an anonymous account that included internal campaign documents. The campaign pointed to a Microsoft report that suggested Iranian hackers sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign. The FBI is reportedly preparing criminal charges in connection with the hack, the Associated Press reported last week. The hack comes as foreign powers are allegedly stepping up attempts to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. A report from Microsoft earlier this week alleged that Kremlin-aligned troll farms spread false news stories to damage the Kamala Harris campaign. The Independent has contacted the Russian Embassy in the U.S. for coment. Earlier this month, law enforcement agencies seized 32 Russian-backed websites prosecutors say were designed to sow disinformation and discord ahead of 2024 elections and boost Donald Trumps campaign. Two employees of Russias state RT network were also charged with launching $10m propaganda campaign enlisting popular right-wing social media influencers. September also saw federal officials indict Dimitri Simes, a foreign policy expert and former Trump campaign adviser, for allegedly breaking sanctions by working with a Russian state TV channel. He denies wrongdoing. Ambulances carrying wounded people arrive to the emergency of the American University hospital. Eight people have been killed and some 2,750 injured in suspected coordinated explosions of hand-held telecommunications devices across Lebanon, Health Minister Firas Abiad said during a press conference in Beirut on 17 September. Marwan Naamani/dpa Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday condemned the West and the coordinated explosions of hundreds of portable radio receivers in Lebanon as a "disgrace." Pezeshkian levelled serious accusations at Israel's ally, the United States, in particular. After a Cabinet meeting, according to a statement issued by his office, he stated that the incident was "proof of the decline" where "tools originally created for humanitys prosperity and comfort are now being used for terror and destruction." The event had shown "that although the Western countries and the Americans publicly claim that they are striving for a ceasefire, in reality they fully support the crimes ... of the [Israeli] regime." About 2,800 people were injured and at least 12 killed in the near-simultaneous blast of pagers frequently used by the militant group Hezbollah across Lebanon on Tuesday. Although Israel's army and intelligence services have not claimed responsibility for the explosions, Hezbollah and Iran have accused them of orchestrating the attacks. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the US and Israel have been regarded as Tehran's primary adversaries. The region has faced a constant risk of escalation since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are groups hostile to Israel and are backed by Iran. Thomas Kavanagh hoped to get a reduced sentence by appearing to cooperate with the National Crime Agency [PA Media] A boss of an organised crime gang and two of his key members have admitted a trick to create a fake arms cache in a bid to help him secure a lighter prison sentence. In 2020, Irish national Thomas Kavanagh was facing a lengthy jail term for trafficking cocaine and cannabis into the UK. Along with the two other men, the 57-year-old from Tamworth acquired a collection of firearms, hid them in a field in Northern Ireland and gave police the location. He hoped the apparent co-operation would reduce his sentence on the drugs charges. However, the plan was discovered after French police cracked the secure messaging app EncroChat and passed information to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK. On Wednesday, Kavanagh, his brother-in-law Liam Byrne, 44, from Dublin, and Shaun Kent, 38, from Liverpool were due to stand trial at the Old Bailey, but at the 11th hour admitted firearms offences. All three pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiring to possess a prohibited weapon, and two charges of conspiring to possess prohibited ammunition. Judge Philip Katz KC said he would sentence the men on 21 October. The NCA said Kavanagh's plan had involved 11 firearms, including three Skorpion submachine guns, three Heckler and Kochs, an Uzi submachine gun and ammunition from the UK, the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland. Through his solicitor, he provided a map with instructions and X marking the spot in Newry. The Police Service of Northern Ireland found buried, just beneath the surface, two holdalls containing the guns and ammunition. But after receiving information from the French police, the NCA withdrew its co-operation. In March 2022, Kavanagh was sentenced to 21 years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court. NCA investigators had linked Kavanagh and others to large scale drug shipments with a UK street value of about 30m, as well as movements of cash and firearms. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Related internet links This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. (AP Photo) PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) Islamabad has complained to Kabul after an Afghan diplomat failed to stand up when the Pakistani national anthem was played during an event in the country's northwest, officials said Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry also summoned Ahmad Shakib, Afghanistan's charge daffaires and its most senior diplomat in Islamabad, in protest over the incident on Tuesday evening. According to Pakistani officials, Mohibullah Shakir, the Afghan consul general in the northwestern city of Peshawar, remained seated when the anthem was intoned during an official ceremony. The ministry spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said such disrespect of the host countrys anthem went against diplomatic norms. The Afghan Consulate in Peshawar said in a statement that Shakir did not stand up because music was part of the anthem. Had the anthem been sung without music, Shakir would have stoop up in respect, the statement said. Afghanistans Taliban rulers have banned music as part of restrictive measures and their harsh interpretation of Islamic, or Sharia, law that they imposed since seizing power in August 2021. Since then, relations between Islamabad and Kabul have deteriorated. Pakistan alleges that Afghanistan's new rulers openly support the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group that has stepped up attack over the past years. FILE PHOTO: New junta's soldiers stand guard in an armoured vehicle in Ouagadougou DAKAR (Reuters) - Jihadist groups in Burkina Faso have escalated attacks on civilians, often in retaliation against communities for refusing to join their ranks or allegedly collaborating with government troops, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday. The junta-led West African nation has been grappling with Islamist insurgents, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, since they spread into its territory from neighbouring Mali almost a decade ago. Military leader Ibrahim Traore has pushed for civilians to play a role in fighting the insurgency, recruiting thousands of volunteer army auxiliaries known as VDPs and, more recently, requiring civilians to dig defensive trenches. The jihadists have been retaliating with increasingly deadly attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found. The watchdog documented seven jihadist attacks between February and June that led to at least 128 civilian deaths. Insurgents targeted villages, a displaced people's camp and worshippers in a Catholic church. Al Qaeda affiliate Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for six of the attacks. The group has issued several warnings against civilians seen as collaborating with the army in the past, and witnesses told HRW this motivated the attacks. Some villagers were killed after authorities forced them to return to areas from which jihadists had evicted them because some had joined the VDPs. "We are between a rock and a hard place," a 56-year-old villager told HRW. ISIS-affiliated Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) claimed the February church massacre, which was an apparent retaliation against Christians who did not abandon their religion, according to witnesses. The junta, which has previously condemned HRW reports on military forces summarily executing civilians suspected of collaborating with jihadists, sent the watchdog a rare written response to the report in August. In a letter, the justice minister rejected HRW's claim that the prosecution of serious crimes had been sluggish since the start of the conflict, and said all alleged human rights violations and abuses insurgents had committed were being investigated. The minister also said that displaced people had returned voluntarily to areas that security forces had taken back and secured. The HRW report did not include a JNIM attack on civilians ordered to dig trenches around the north-central town of Barsalogho at the end of August. Hundreds of people were shot dead, making it one of the deadliest in Burkina Faso's history. Traore vowed to do better than his predecessors when he seized power in September 2022, the second coup in Burkina Faso that year, stoked in part by anger against authorities for worsening violence. But the security situation has deteriorated further under his regime, which has also cracked down on dissent, analysts, rights groups and humanitarian workers say. (Reporting by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Alessandra Prentice Editing by Sandra Maler) Israel on alert for Hezbollah retaliation over pager attacks A pager exploded in this mans pocket as he drove through Beirut on his motorbike - X The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was on Tuesday braced for a response after Hezbollah accused Israel of being behind a wave of exploding pagers that killed at least nine and injured thousands. Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, the IDFs chief of staff, insisted Israel remains ready for attack and defence in all arenas without mentioning the pager attacks which occurred across Lebanon and in parts of Syria. We will update immediately on any change to [Home Front Command guidelines], the IDF added. Lebanon and Hezbollah have both accused Tel Aviv of being behind the attack, with the Lebanese prime minister labelling it as criminal Israeli aggression and a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty. Hezbollah, whose fighters were injured and killed in the attack, also said it holds the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression. This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression, they said in a statement. The US said it was investigating the attacks and denied claims made in Iranian media that it had advanced knowledge of the explosions. The US was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, were gathering information, the state department said. A US official told The New York Times that the pagers used for the attack appeared to have been fitted with explosives that could be triggered remotely. An injured person is brought to American University of Beirut Medical Center but health officials in Lebanon say many of its hospitals are overwhelmed - REUTERS The White House has urged restraint from Hezbollah and Iran, whose ambassador to Beirut was hurt in the attack. The Foreign Office has called for calm heads and de-escalation after hundreds of pagers exploded simultaneously across Lebanon in what appeared to be a coordinated attack. An FCDO spokesperson said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time. 12:35 AM BST What happened today Were pausing our live coverage of the pager attack in Lebanon. Here is the latest news from today: Israel is suspected of being behind an audacious attack on Hezbollah commanders after nine people were killed and 2,750 wounded by the simultaneous explosion of pagers Around 200 of the injured were said to be in a critical condition Iran-backed Hezbollah described the attack as its biggest security breach since cross-border fighting broke out in the wake of the Oct 7 attack on Israel by Hamas Irans ambassador to Beirut was among the injured Israel has not commented on the attack but Hezbollah has vowed revenge Explosive material was hidden in pagers and shipped to Lebanon, according to US officials Among the dead was a 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member Read more: 12:14 AM BST Foreign Office calls for calm heads The Foreign Office has called for calm heads and de-escalation after Tuesdays attack. An FCDO spokesperson said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time. 12:09 AM BST Pagers had explosive material planted inside report Explosive material was hidden in pagers and shipped to Hezbollah fighters before being detonated remotely, according to a report. US officials told The New York Times that one to two ounces of explosive material were hidden in each pager next to the battery along with a switch that could remotely trigger the device. Tuesdays audacious attack in Lebanon was co-ordinated for 3.30pm local time (1.30pm UK) and according to reports the pagers beeped for several seconds before exploding. The pagers received a message that appeared as though it was coming from the leadership of Hezbollah, the newspaper reported. About 3,000 AP924 pagers had been ordered from a European company and many of them were tampered with before Hezbollah received them. 11:41 PM BST Hezbollah names seven fighters among dead Hezbollah has confirmed the deaths of seven of its fighters in todays explosions. The group has also released images of the dead fighters, who have been identified as Yousef Mazi Alvah, Hasan Mohammad Yasin, Mohammad Zakaria Abbas, Hasan Ahmad Mantash, Abbas Belal Menam, Hasan Ahmad Mohammad, and Najib Abdulhossein Alaedeen. 11:06 PM BST Airlines cancel flights to Israel and Lebanon Air France and Lufthansa announced late on Tuesday that they will be suspending flights connecting European cities with Beirut and Tel Aviv until at least Thursday due to security concerns. 10:22 PM BST Hamas has full solidarity with our Hezbollah brothers statement Hamas has condemned Israels pager attack in a statement. We appreciate the struggle and sacrifices of our brothers in Hezbollah and their insistence on continuing to support and back our Palestinian people in Gaza, and we affirm our full solidarity with the Lebanese people and our brothers in Hezbollah. 09:43 PM BST Hezbollah thought older devices would keep them safe Hezbollahs pagers were meant to be safety measures, secure from Israeli eavesdropping. Instead, they were a deadly Trojan horse. After suffering a series of assassinations of top operatives during months of low-level war with Israel, this summer Hezbollah ordered its fighters to ditch their mobile phones. They were too easy to track and too readily compromised by Israels fearsome military hackers. On Tuesday afternoon, that was revealed as a terrible blunder. Read more: Hezbollahs terrible blunder that ended with audacious pager attack 09:20 PM BST Watch: Irans ambassador brought to hospital after pager explosions 09:18 PM BST Pager attack your questions answered Was Israel behind the exploding devices, who are Hezbollah and why would Israel want to strike them? Heres everything we know about the pager attack. Read more: Why would Israel plant mini-bombs in pagers? 08:19 PM BST Iraqi militia vows to send fighters to Lebanon The Kataeb Hezbollah militia, one of the most powerful Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups, has vowed to send fighters to Lebanon after todays pager attacks. We are fully prepared to go with them to the end, and to send fighters, equipment and support, whether on the technical or logistical level, a spokesperson for the group said. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has also promised to send medical and emergency service teams to help with Lebanons response. 08:06 PM BST Mossad spy agency intercepted pagers five months ago - report Mossad, Israels spy agency, intercepted pagers meant for Hezbollah five months before todays attack and loaded them with high explosive material, sources have claimed to Sky News Arabia. The Israeli spy agency allegedly placed PETN, one of the most powerful explosives known, on the devices batteries. The pagers were the reportedly detonated after the batteries temperature was raised from afar. 07:50 PM BST Hezbollah names two fighters killed in pager attacks Hezbollah has named its two fighters who were killed in todays attacks as Hassan Muhammad and Youssef Alwa. At least 443 of its members have been killed since it started attacking Israel on Oct 8. 07:40 PM BST Israel-Hezbollah conflict requires diplomatic solution, says US The escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah requires a diplomatic resolution, the White House said. We continue to believe that there ... should be a diplomatic resolution to this, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House spokesperson, said. Hezbollah has vowed to respond after blaming Israel for the exploding pager attacks across Lebanon and Syria. 07:30 PM BST Exploding pagers attack will please some in Israel for now at least Coordinated blasts seem likely to have been ordered by Benjamin Netanyahu to satisfy domestic needs, writes Paul Nuki, our Global Health Security Editor. On Monday, Israeli officials announced they had uncovered a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former security official with a remotely operated bomb. On Tuesday, hundreds of Hezbollah operatives were maimed and injured as their pagers simultaneously exploded. The exact details of what happened in Beirut and its surrounds will be pored over for years to come but innovation aside it is really just another chapter in the oldest book. It is power politics through terror; communication through slaughter; a modern and grossly lopsided version of the Biblical idiom an eye for an eye. Read the full story here. At least 3,000 people were injured in Tuesday attacks, including Hezbollah fighters and paramedics - REUTERS 07:04 PM BST Iranian media suggests US knew about attacks A media outlet affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has suggested the United States had advanced knowledge of the pager explosions in Lebanon. It is possible that this cyber attack exceeded the capabilities of the Zionist regime (Israel), and we should look for the footprint of the terrorist American regime in this attack, Tasnim news agency reported, citing an unnamed source. The collection of pagers from the American hospital in Beirut could be strong evidence supporting this. Iran state TV has earlier reported that pager devices were collected from a US-linked medical centre in Beirut 10 days ago amid claims they were faulty. But US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: The US was not involved in it. The US was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, were gathering information. 06:47 PM BST Hezbollah official: pagers were brand new A Hezbollah official has told AP that the pagers which exploded across Lebanon and Syria were brand new and so had not been used by its fighters before. See our 5.51pm post for more context on why Hezbollah continues to use pagers in 2024. The remnants of a pager which exploded in Beirut on Tuesday 06:30 PM BST Israel ready for attack and defence in all arenas Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDFs chief of staff, insisted Israel remains ready for attack and defence in all arenas without mentioning todays pager attacks. There have been no changes to guidelines for civilians, but the public have been urged to remain vigilant. We will update immediately on any change to [Home Front Command guidelines], the military added. 06:25 PM BST Which areas were targeted with exploding pagers? The majority if the pagers exploded in Lebanon, but more than a dozen people were also injured in Syria. 06:15 PM BST Fourteen injured in Syria, says British war monitor At least 14 people were wounded in Syria on Tuesday when pagers used by Hezbollah fighters exploded, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British war monitor. Fourteen people whose nationalities are unknown have been wounded in Damascus and its countryside after pagers used by Hezbollah exploded, it said. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that some of its members had been wounded in pager blasts in neighbouring Syria, without specifying how many. 06:04 PM BST Pager devices collected from American medical centre 10 days ago Pager devices were collected from an American medical centre in Beirut ten days ago, Iranian media claimed. The management of Beirut American Hospital collected pager devices from its employees 10 days ago, claiming that they needed to be repaired, the Islamic Republics state TV said. 05:51 PM BST Why was Hezbollah using pagers? The use of pagers in 2024 may seem outdated. But Hezbollah regressed back to these devices thinking it would be safer for its fighters to use instead of phones, which have GPS, according to Avi Melamed, a former Israeli Intelligence official. He said: In one sweeping attack, with both significant operational and psychological ramifications, these very low-tech devices were used against them and very possibly deepening the stress and embarrassment on its leaders. 05:47 PM BST Exploding pager attack extremely concerning, says UN Developments in Lebanon are extremely concerning, especially given the extremely volatile situation in the Middle East, the UNs spokesperson has said. Stephane Dujarric added that the UN deplores any civilian casualties. 05:32 PM BST Latest photos from Lebanon Hundreds of people crowd ambulances near the entrance of the American University of Beirut - AFP Lebanese army soldiers stand guard in Beirut after pagers exploded across the city on Tuesday afternoon - AFP 05:29 PM BST Pager explosions target Hezbollah members in Syria Pager explosions have also targeted Hezbollah members in Syria, Iranian media reported. Several members have been killed and wounded across Syria with seven injuries reported in the Zeinabieh neighbourhood of Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that several Hezbollah members arrived at hospitals in Damascus and Rif Dimashq provinces after sustaining injuries from the explosion of communication devices they were carrying. In Damascus, one pager exploded in a car travelling on a road near the Kafr Susah neighbourhood. Yemens Houthi rebels have also condemned the pager explosions. The Israeli regimes attack is a clear violation of Lebanons sovereignty, said Mohammad Abd al-Salam, a spokesperson for the group. He added, We condemn the Israeli regimes security attack on Lebanon, which targeted many Lebanese. 05:28 PM BST Hezbollah chief unharmed in attack Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollahs chief, was not injured in the wave of pager attacks across Lebanon, according to source within the terror group. 05:20 PM BST Girl, 10, killed after fathers pager exploded Among the dead was the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member. The girl was killed when her fathers pager exploded as she was standing beside him, her family and a source close to Hezbollah said. 05:14 PM BST Watch: moment pagers detonated in Beirut supermarkets 04:55 PM BST Top Israeli officials discussing response to attack - report Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, the defence minsiter, have been taking part in discussions over how Israel should respond to a potential escalation by Hezbollah after the pager attack. Hewbrew media reported that top defence officials have been summoned for an emergency discussion with government officials at the defence ministrys HQ at the Kirya base, Tel Aviv. 04:45 PM BST Lebanese health minister: eight dead and hundreds critical Firas al-Abyad, Lebanons health minister, said that eight people were killed and nearly 2,800 were injured in todays exploding pager attack. At least 200 people are thought to be in critical conditions. 04:32 PM BST Hezbollah at highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon Hezbollah has issued a statement saying it is conducting a wide-ranging security and scientific investigation to determine the causes that led to these simultaneous explosions. We affirm that the resistance, at all its levels and various units, is at the highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon and its steadfast people, a spokesperson for Hezbollah added. At least three people were killed and almost 3,000 were injured in the attack. The group reported that the blasts resulted in the martyrdom of a girl and two brothers while injuring a large number of people with varying degrees of severity. 04:30 PM BST Watch: injured rushed to hospital after pagers detonate 04:20 PM BST Hezbollah suspects malware caused devices to explode The affected pagers were from a new shipment that Hezbollah received in the last few days, the Wall Street Journal reported. A Hezbollah official said hundreds of fighters had the devices and speculated that malware may have caused the devices to explode. Some people with the pagers felt them heat up and got rid of them before they exploded. 04:18 PM BST Pictured: burnt pager after explosion in Beirut A burnt pager can be seen after the explosion in Lebanon 04:10 PM BST Irans ambassador to Lebanon injured in attack Mojtaba Amani, Irans ambassador to Lebanon, and two of his bodyguards were injured when a pager exploded in Lebanon. Mojtaba Amani, the honourable ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, sustained a minor injury, the Islamic Republics embassy in Beirut said. Fortunately, the ambassadors overall condition is good, the embassy added. Mr Amanis wife said: My husband, Dr Mojtaba Amani, sustained minor injuries in a pager explosion in Lebanon. Thank God, he is doing well now, and we are grateful that nothing happened to him. 04:06 PM BST Pictured: Lebanese men injured after pager attack A pager exploded in this mans pocket as he rid through Beirut on his motorbike A Lebanese man lies injured on the floor after his pager exploded A Lebanese man is helped by by-standers after his pager exploded in Beirut 04:01 PM BST Exploding pager attack old-fashioned booby trap Professor Alan Woodward, a cyber security expert at the University of Surrey, told the Telegraph: A tiny amount of explosive can injure badly especially when right next to the body. If this proves to be real I dont think its a cyber attack, but rather an old fashioned explosive booby trap. The first obvious question is what pagers are they using as theres not many places left with pagers in use. Im guessing to make it explode, youd have to get the battery to misbehave in some way. Ive heard of lithium ion batteries spontaneously igniting but to make it happen on demand is a different matter entirely. 03:57 PM BST Pictured: man injured after pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital, Beirut Civil Defense first-responder carries a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon - AP 03:54 PM BST Watch: moment pager explodes in supermarket This is the moment a pager exploded in a mans bag as he shopped for fruit in a Beirut supermarket. A small explosion can be seen taking place inside the bag, which dropped him to the floor as bystanders looked on, confused. 03:52 PM BST More than 1,000 injured More than 1,000 people are believed to have been injured, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, after the pagers exploded across Beirut. 03:49 PM BST Where did the pagers explode? Video footage showed one mans device appearing to explode while he shopped in a supermarket while bleeding men were seen lying on the streets in the city of Baalbek. Explosions also occurred in the Dahiya neighbourhood in Beirut, a Hezbollahs stronghold where a top Hezbollah commander was assassinated by Israel in July. Other footage showed ambulances rushing to the scene of an explosion in Beirut and hospitals treating dozens of bleeding men. 03:48 PM BST Welcome to our live coverage Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage. Were bringing you the latest after hundreds of Hezbollah fighters were injured by exploding pagers in Beirut, Lebanon. 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. Israel has declared a new phase of war after it was accused of being behind a second wave of remote-controlled explosions in Lebanon. Hundreds of walkie-talkie radios and other electronic devices began exploding in Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon during the funeral for Hezbollah fighters killed in a near-identical attack on pagers the previous day. Lebanons health ministry said 20 people had been confirmed killed and a further 450 wounded. Hezbollah fired 20 rockets into Israel following the blasts, Israeli officials said. All were intercepted. Shortly after the explosions, Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, said that the country was shifting its military focus to the north towards the Lebanese border for a new phase of the 11-month war that has raged since the Hamas attacks on October 7 last year. Mr Gallant said: The centre of gravity is shifting to the north, by diverting resources and forces [there]. We are at the onset of a new phase in the war. It requires courage, determination and perseverance from us. The remarks will raise fears of a full-scale Israeli assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Experts cautioned, however, that the US would resist any such invasion, which would also have a high political cost in Israel. Israel this week said that returning about 60,000 evacuees to their homes in the north of the country was an official war aim. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, did not directly address the attacks or the prospect of war in televised remarks on Wednesday. I already said that we would return the residents of the north securely to their homes and that is exactly what we will do, he said. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollahs leader, is expected to deliver a televised address in response to the attacks on Thursday. Seyed Hashem Safiuddin, the head of Hezbollahs executive council, said on Wednesday that the injured fighters would soon go back to the battlefields. These attacks will certainly be uniquely punished, Safiuddin warned. Revenge is inevitable. Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border after Israel attacked Gaza in response to the Hamas massacre of October 7. Israel has responded with air strikes in a tit-for-tat conflict that has so far not escalated into full-scale war. Wednesdays remote-controlled explosions saw radios, security doors and home solar power systems simultaneously detonated across Lebanon in the second such attack in as many days. A security source told Lebanese news outlet LOrient Today that devices were detonated inside cars, residential apartments and shops. Footage from Beirut showed cars and motorcycles burning in the street. One explosion went off in the crowd at the funeral of a Hezbollah member killed in the previous attack on Tuesday. Lebanons state news agency reported that three people were confirmed killed in the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country. The countrys health ministry later revised that figure down to one. It came 24 hours after thousands of hand-held pagers used by members of Hezbollah simultaneously detonated on Tuesday afternoon, plunging Lebanon into chaos. That attack killed at least 12 people, including two children, and injured nearly 3,000. Israel has refused to comment on allegations that it is behind the attacks, in line with its long-standing policy of neither confirming nor denying covert operations. Reports suggest the attacks in Beirut were the product of a months-long operation by Mossad, the Israeli overseas intelligence agency. The supply chain attack appears to have involved a small explosive charge being hidden in thousands of pagers and other electronic devices ordered by the terror group. The Telegraph understands a number of Hezbollah operatives raised suspicions about the devices shortly before the attack, which may have prompted the Israelis to launch the operation prematurely. It was a use it or lose it moment, one US official told the Axios website. Some reports suggested the explosives were originally intended to be used only in the event of an all-out war, and that Israel might feel compelled to launch a ground invasion to cripple Hezbollah before the shock of the attack dissipates. The Telegraph could not immediately confirm those claims. On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces deployed its elite 98th division from Gaza to the countrys northern border with Lebanon. Troops in Israels northern command conducted two exercises this week focusing on readiness for terrain in the north, including simulating operations in enemy territory, and evacuating wounded from the field under fire. Maj Gen Ori Gordin, the head of northern command, said on Wednesday that his troops were at peak readiness and were determined to change the security reality as soon as possible. Hezbollah is generally considered a more formidable opponent for Israel than Hamas. The Iranian-backed Shia group is believed to have amassed between 100,000 and 150,000 rockets that it could fire into Israel in the event of an all-out war. Israels 2006 ground invasion of Lebanon to root out Hezbollah lasted 32 days and ended inconclusively. Danny Yatom, a former Mossad chief, refused to discuss attribution for Wednesdays attacks but told The Telegraph that whoever was behind it would have had to put their hands on the devices before they arrived in Lebanon. He added that the number of wounded Hezbollah members was more significant than the damage done to its communications network. That should worry Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The main problem for Hezbollah is not a different communication system but how many terrorists are injured, Mr Yatom said. If they (Hezbollah members) are severely injured they wont be able to operate as terrorists. The move has alarmed Israels closest allies, with both the United States and Britain urging restraint. On Tuesday, Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, expressed frustration that the explosions in Lebanon could derail efforts to conclude a ceasefire in Gaza. Time and again when the US and other mediators believed they were making progress on a ceasefire deal, weve seen an event that ... threatens to slow it, stop it, derail it, he said when asked about the explosions in Lebanon. The British Government said de-escalation was a priority and urged its citizens to leave Lebanon. On Wednesday night, Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sir Keir Starmer was sending a horrible message to Hamas by imposing a partial arms ban on Israel. The Israeli prime minister accused the Government of mixed messages by suspending some arms exports just days after six hostages were murdered by the militants. He also compared Israels war against Hamas to Britains heroic stand against the Nazis, adding: Israel will win this war and secure our common future. Israel is waging a just war with just means, taking unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harms way and comporting fully with international law, Mr Netanyahu told the Daily Mail. Most recently, the new UK government suspended 30 arms licences to Israel, days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, sending a horrible message to Hamas. These misguided decisions will not change Israels determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people, including five British hostages. A Foreign Office spokesman said: We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and are concerned by the rising tensions and civilian casualties in Lebanon. The UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. We urge calm heads at this critical time and a focus on a negotiated settlement. The booby-trap attacks have also drawn criticism for putting civilians at risk. At least two children were killed in the first attack on Tuesday afternoon. The family of Fatima Abdallah, 10, said she had been killed when her fathers pager exploded. Funeral-goers hold a picture of Fatima Abdallah, 10, who died in one of the pager explosions - Anadolu Josep Borrell, the European Unions top diplomat, suggested the attack was legally questionable, given the collateral damage caused, as well as warning it violated Lebanons national sovereignty and risked regional escalation in the Middle East. Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians: several children are among the victims, he said after talks with Abdallah Bou Habib, Lebanons foreign minister. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the United Nations special co-ordinator for Lebanon, also raised concerns about the legality of the attack, adding: Even one civilian casualty is one too many. Petra De Sutter, Belgiums deputy prime minister, went as far as to describe the sabotage plot as a terror attack. CCTV footage showed at least one of the rigged pagers exploding in a crowded greengrocers store. International humanitarian law largely prohibits the use of booby traps. The UNs convention on certain conventional weapons rules that it is prohibited in all circumstances to use any booby trap in the form of an apparently harmless portable object which is specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material. The UKs rules of engagement also put a ban on items designed to contain explosives resembling harmless items. The US law of war manual gives examples of rigged watches, cameras and toys to be avoided to prevent the production of large quantities of dangerous objects that can be scattered around and are likely to be attractive to civilians, especially children. However, Washingtons rules only specifically ban booby traps when they are intentionally designed to look harmless. 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. JERUSALEM The Jewish states James Bond-style alleged hack attack on Tuesday that caused explosions of handheld pagers carried by thousands of members of the U.S.-designated terrorist movement Hezbollah was a devastating setback for the Lebanon-based organization. Fox News Digital spoke to leading U.S. and Israeli experts about the setback for the Iranian regime proxy. According to a Reuters report, Israels foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, planted explosives inside of 5,000 pagers imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations that killed nine people, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters. ISRAEL WAS BEHIND LEBANON PAGER ATTACK TARGETING HEZBOLLAH, SENIOR US OFFICIAL SAYS, AS NEW BLASTS REPORTED The Iranian regime-backed Hezbollah organization switched from mobile phones to pagers to prevent Israeli interception of their communications. Hezbollah joined Hamas war against Israel a day after the Gaza-based terrorist movement invaded the Jewish state on Oct. 7. Walid Phares, a leading U.S. expert on Lebanon and Hezbollah, told Fox News Digital that the reported Israeli operation "is certainly a strike against Hezbollahs national security apparatus. We are talking about thousands and thousands of individuals who are at the heart of the security force of Hezbollah, who are, according to sources we know, in charge of manning many things. One is the missile force." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Hezbollah is estimated to have over 150,000 missiles aimed at Israel. The de facto ruler of Lebanon, Hezbollah, has amassed new sophisticated missiles, rockets and drones since its 2006 war against Israel. Hezbollah has launched more than 7,500 missiles, rockets and drones into Israel since Oct. 8. One Hezbollah official said the detonation of the pagers was the group's "biggest security breach" since the Gaza conflict began. HEZBOLLAH'S NEIGHBORS: ISRAELI BORDER COMMUNITY UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK FROM TERROR GROUP Phares added that the "Israeli electronic bomb" operation also degraded many Hezbollah special forces, commandos, electronic forces, and internal security and intelligence apparatus members. He warned, however, that Hezbollah would eventually recover. Phares noted that Israels strike "weakened the image of Hezbollah within the Lebanese population." He said the psychological benefits of the strike have showed that the Lebanese are now convinced that Hezbollah "can eventually be defeated" and its "grip on Lebanon" can be weakened. He said the Israeli cyber strike could also encourage opposition among Sunnis, Druze and Christians to mobilize against the Shiite Hezbollah organization. ISRAEL STRUCK BY LONG-RANGE MISSILE FROM YEMEN, 40 PROJECTILES FROM LEBANON IN EARLY MORNING ATTACKS An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman was tight-lipped when Fox News Digital approached him for a comment. Israel frequently retains a policy of deliberate ambiguity about high-profile attacks on its enemies. The Israeli governments policy is to neither confirm nor deny spectacular assassinations or other covert operations. A senior U.S. official later confirmed that Israel was behind the attack, but Israel has yet to do so. The alleged Mossad operation, with a trail running from Taiwan to Budapest, was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers explode across Lebanon, wounding some 2,500 people, including many of the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. A funeral ceremony is held for Yasir Nemir Karnish, the former bodyguard of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border in Beirut on July 10. Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday that "the resistance will continue today, like any other day, its operations to support Gaza, its people and its resistance, which is a separate path from the harsh punishment that the criminal enemy (Israel) should await in response to Tuesday's massacre." Jonathan Conricus, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital, "Beyond shock and humiliation, the immediate impact on Hezbollah is not yet clear, neither are the Iranian terror proxys intentions to retaliate. While the pager attack was a brilliant tactical success unlike anything previously accomplished against a terror organization during combat, the strategic benefits of this tremendous move are limited, if not supplemented with swift Israeli action against Hezbollah as it reels from the shock of impact." Conricus, a former IDF spokesman, continued: "It seems that this action was more aimed at softening Hezbollah to agree to a war-avoiding diplomatic solution, and less as a preamble of an Israeli offensive. Israels main focus remains to facilitate the safe return home of almost one hundred thousand Israelis displaced by Hezbollah attacks for over 11 months. If the pager operation brings this about, then it will have been worth the risk. If not, it will be added to a long list of Israeli tactical successes that were not complemented by strategic thought and action." HEZBOLLAH RELIES ON 'SOPHISTICATED' TUNNEL SYSTEM BACKED BY IRAN, NORTH KOREA IN FIGHT AGAINST ISRAEL Israels Mossad has garnered a worldwide reputation as one of the most formidable intelligence agencies. Within the last two months, Israel reportedly killed Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah terrorist in Beirut; eliminated the Hamas terrorist leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran; and its special forces raided an Iranian weapons facility in the Masyaf area in Syria. Nadav Eyal, a prominent Israeli columnist for the large Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, told Fox News Digital that while Israel has not claimed responsibility for the operation, "This will be remembered as one of the most brilliant Israeli intelligence operations ever. It is a substantially meticulous operation." Men walk past debris and a destroyed car after the top floors of an eight-story building were destroyed following an Israeli military strike in a Beirut suburb on July 30. Eyal continued, "This is a very effective operation if you want to restore deterrence in the region. Israels major strategic problem in the region that it has lost its deterrent force, deterring its enemies from attacking it. Hamas attacked on Oct. 7. Hezbollah attacked Israel on Oct. 8. Iran attacked Israel in April. All of these parties, together with the Houthis, are not deterred." The Israeli military expert added, "By these kinds of operations Israel is really showing those different forces what it can do. And it has done also in its response to the Iranian aerial assault back in April. It's showing them it can operate in ways and means that they did not anticipate. Whether or not it is effective in the long run, we need to see." He noted, "Israel has been preparing for the war in the north with Hezbollah since 2007. These have been 17 years of Israeli preparations Israel has not been preparing for an invasion of Hamas." "We need to push Hezbollah out of south Lebanon and hit their capabilities," IDF Reserve Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital. An arch glorifying Hezbollah and baring pictures of its chief Hassan Nasrallah, right, and Iran's spiritual leader Ali Khamenei decorates a street of Beirut's southern suburb on Jan. 16, 2011. Avivi, the founder and chairman of Israel's Defense and Security Forum, added that while Israel did not take responsibility for the attack in Lebanon on Tuesday, "This is the first step in really moving the center of gravity from Gaza to Lebanon. In my opinion, war is imminent. We will have to hit Hezbollah and we will have to do a ground incursion. We cannot have Hezbollah on our borders. Israel is sending a very, very strong message. We have knowledge and capabilities. We know everything about Hezbollah and Iran. If they do not retreat, the end game is clear: Hezbollah is going to be destroyed in south Lebanon." Reuters contributed to this report. Original article source: Israel degrades Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists in spectacular pager explosion operation: experts Giyani Metals Corp. TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Giyani Metals Corp. (TSXV:EMM, GR:A2DUU8) ("Giyani" or the "Company"), developer of the K.Hill battery-grade manganese project in Botswana ("K.Hill" or the "Project") is pleased to announce that it has been granted a Mining Licence for K.Hill from the Ministry of Minerals and Energy of Botswana. Highlights: Giyani has been granted a Mining Licence for K.Hill, less than nine months from filing an application in December 2023 (see January 4, 2024 news release ( NR )). This is the culmination of a process that commenced in early 2023 and finalised after Giyani was granted an Environmental Authorisation ( EA ) and secured surface right leases ( Surface Rights ) from the Ngwaketse Land Board in the southern district of Botswana (see July 16, 2024 NR). The Mining Licence is valid for 15 years and under the Botswana Mines and Minerals Act, it can be renewed multiple times, for up to 25 years each renewal. The speed of the Mining Licence application process demonstrates the pace that permitting moves in Botswana as well as the positive support that the Company has in-country from its stakeholders for the only fully integrated battery-grade manganese project in Botswana. The efficiency with the Mining Licence receipt reflects the collaborative relationship between the Company, government entities and local communities, ensuring that both national and community-level benefits are prioritised. Receipt of the Mining Licence is another positive sign of momentum for Giyani in developing this critical minerals project. The next step in the Companys path forward is production of battery-grade manganese from its Demonstration Plant ( Demo Plant ), which is under construction in Johannesburg, South Africa, and due to be commissioned during Q4 of this year (see August 07, 2024 NR for an update on its progress). The product from the Demo Plant will be used for offtaker qualification, a vital step before offtake agreements can be signed. The Mining Licence area is sufficient to accommodate K.Hills requirements over the extended 57-year life of operations as defined in the Preliminary Economic Assessment ( PEA ) prepared in July 2023 (see July 31, 2023 NR). Giyani has already commenced a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), which will build on its existing PEA and is expected to be completed in 2025. The DFS will incorporate an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and utilise data from the Demo Plant, ongoing optimisation test-work to minimise any environmental impact and maximise the Project value. Ongoing test-work is aimed at reducing operational costs, carbon emissions and reagent use. Story continues Charles FitzRoy, President and CEO of the Company, commented: "I would like to thank the Ministry of Minerals and Energy, the Department of Mines and everyone involved in our Mining Licence application process that has enabled such an efficient and professional process. Special mention should go to Country Manager Elisa Kgomotso Modikwa and ESG Lead Tom Steytler who have played crucial roles in securing this vital permit so swiftly. Securing Mining Licences can often be a lengthy process, so achieving this major milestone in such a short time frame is testament to the diligent approach adopted by the Giyani team and the efficient and rigorous review undertaken by the Department of Mines. Our experience to date validates Botswanas global ranking as a top mining investment jurisdiction. Giyanis pre-emptive decision to commit to the IFC Performance Standards, in addition to the high requirements of Botswanan legislation, as part of this process not only aligns with our values as a company but ensures all workstreams and activities align with international lenders requirements for construction financing. Mining Licence Application Process Prior to submission of the Mining Licence application, an EA was required. The EA was granted to Giyani in December 2023. The Company completed the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process in accordance with the Environmental Assessment Act of 2011, the Environmental Assessment Regulations of 2012 and the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability of 2012. The EIA process culminated in the submittal of a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the Botswana Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in March 2023. Following detailed review and public consultation, the DEA approved the EIA and issued the EA with a validity period of 25 years, subject to renewal thereafter. Receipt of the EA, together with the required Land Board surface rights approvals and other technical studies, enabled the Company to complete the Mining Licence application process for K.Hill. The Mining Licence application was submitted to the Department of Mines in late December 2023, and receipt of the Mining Licence was recorded on September 16, 2024. About Giyani Giyani is focussed on becoming the dominant western-world producer of sustainable, low carbon high purity battery grade manganese for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. The Company has developed a proprietary hydrometallurgical process to produce High Purity Manganese Sulphate Monohydrate (HPMSM), a lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathode precursor material critical for EVs. The Company has secured US$26m in financing from two strategic partners, ARCH Sustainable Resources Fund LP and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, as it aims to progress the K.Hill battery-grade manganese project in Botswana to construction by building and operating the Demo Plant and completing a Definitive Feasibility Study in 2025. Additional information and corporate documents may be found on www.sedarplus.ca and on Giyani Metals Corp. website at https://giyanimetals.com/ . On behalf of the Board of Directors of Giyani Metals Corp. Charles FitzRoy, President and CEO Contact: Charles FitzRoy President & Chief Executive Officer cfitzroy@giyanimetals.com +1-289-291-7632 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. persons," as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act ("U.S. Persons"), except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's securities to, or for the account of benefit of, persons in the United States or U.S. Persons. Forward Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Giyani expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to certain assumptions, important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Giyani's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of Giyani, these facts include their anticipated operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: inherent exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in Giyani's ability to obtain funding; commodity price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to the uncertainty of mineral resource calculations and the inclusion of Inferred Mineral Resources in economic estimation; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licences and permits; risks related to their business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to their mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to their directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Giyani's forward-looking information. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information or statements. Giyani's forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of their respective management on the date the statements are made, and Giyani does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to Giyani and risks associated with forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, please refer to Giyani's Annual Information Form, all of which are filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. The Israeli Publishers Forum, which includes Keshet and Reshet, has penned a letter to the government urging regulation of the tech giants, who they accused of anti-Israel bias. The letter to Minister of Communications Shlomo Kari and the Director General of the local competition authority said the industry has been appropriated by foreign data and tech giants, while calling for action against their dominance in the local advertising market. These companies constitute an unjustified and artificial barrier between the Israeli content creator and the Israeli consumer, it read. More from Deadline The letter flagged that most of the advanced nations in the world have identified concerns arising from the growth of these behemoths, citing the likes of the EU, which has recently been taking on Elon Musk, along with the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Around the world, significant action is being taken to enforce regulation with the purpose of preventing these internet giants from abusing their monopolistic power, it said. The letter went on to accuse the tech giants of bias, saying they avoid the removal of any offensive content against Israel, but on the other hand, to the best of our knowledge, they work to remove pro-Israeli content, claiming that their actions are based on various algorithms which are not open to the public. The events of October 7th and the subsequent months have proven unequivocally how important it is to maintain the existence of local communication companies and the Israeli medias ability to provide the public with information that is critical, reliable, and up-to-date. It also stressed the need to preserve Israeli content and the Hebrew language. Israeli content is a product with unique characteristics that appeals to small markets, primarily because of the issues with which it deals and its use of the Hebrew language, read the letter. There is no alternative to Israeli content: Israeli media companies create local journalistic content alongside additional content touching on the Israeli culture and experience, in all its varieties. The letter was signed by Keshet and Reshet, two Israeli broadcasting powerhouses, along with Maariv, Globes, Israel Hayom, Jerusalem Post, Walla, Mako, local radio stations Radio North, 103FM, 99 FM and Radius FM. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In what appears to be a sophisticated, remote attack, pagers used by hundreds of members of Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people and wounding thousands more. Samuel Katz, a counterterrorism expert and author who has written extensively about the elite special forces of Israels military, joins NewsNations Dan Abrams Live to discuss. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Israel notified US ahead of Tuesdays Lebanon operation but gave no details of what was planned, sources say People gather outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center, which saw an influx of injured patients after explosions in Lebanon's capital on September 17. - Mohamed Azakir/Reuters Israeli officials notified the US that the country was going to carry out an operation in Lebanon on Tuesday but did not give any details about what they were planning, according to three sources familiar with the matter, including in a call between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant early Tuesday morning. The fact no details about the operation were given meant US officials were in the dark until reports of hundreds of exploding pagers emerged a short time later, the sources said. CNN has learned that Israel was behind the audacious attack, which has heightened tensions in a region already on edge even further, and it was a joint operation between Israels intelligence service, the Mossad and the Israeli military. The Lebanese government condemned the attack as criminal Israeli aggression. At least 20 people were killed and more than 450 were injured, according to health officials in Lebanon, on Wednesday after walkie-talkies detonated in a fresh wave of explosions, one day after the pager blasts killed at least 12 people. Tuesdays explosions came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was traveling from Washington to Cairo on Tuesday, stunning US diplomats who watched the breaking news in real time on their airplane TVs. It wasnt the first time that Israel has taken provocative action around the same time Blinken was on a visit to the Middle East. But this specific action triggered concerns about regional escalation that the US has long been trying to avoid. Blinken said the US did not know about nor was it involved in these incidents. The US conveyed to Iran via a back channel that they were not involved in the attack and that Iran should not escalate, a separate US official told CNN. Irans ambassador to Lebanon was injured by the exploding pagers, according to Iranian state media. Throughout the course of the nearly year-long war in Gaza, the US has consistently sent indirect messages to Tehran about not escalating. Gallant and Austin spoke a second time later Tuesday after it became clear thousands of Hezbollah members were wounded by exploding pagers, but officials declined to go into what was discussed. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that the US was not involved and was not aware of this incident that hundreds of pagers were going to explode in Lebanon ahead of time. Jean-Pierres wording was precise in that the US was not told about specifically about exploding pagers in advance. The notification from Israel was far more generic and vague, leaving US officials with questions about what the operation could be, the sources said. Since Hamas October 7 attack, Israel has regularly carried out strikes in Lebanon in response to the launch of Hezbollah drones and missiles. Israel has also targeted senior Hamas officials in Lebanon. The breadth of Israeli operations in Lebanon over the past 11 months added to the questions about what Israel could be planning. CNNs Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com People gather outside a hospital, as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut By Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel's Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters. The details shed light on an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others, including the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters. The senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country in the spring. The senior Lebanese security source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AP924, which like other pagers wirelessly receive and display text messages but cannot make telephone calls. Hezbollah fighters have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking, two sources familiar with the group's operations told Reuters this year. But the senior Lebanese source said the devices had been modified by Israel's spy service "at the production level." "The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner," the source said. The source said 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives. Another security source told Reuters that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone "undetected" by Hezbollah for months. Neither Israel nor Gold Apollo immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo, based in Taipei. Hezbollah was reeling from the attack, which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead. One Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation was the group's "biggest security breach" since the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas erupted on Oct. 7. "This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades," said Jonathan Panikoff, the U.S. government's former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East. (Reporting by Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Don Durfee and Stephen Coates) (This Sept. 18 story has been corrected to fix the pager model name to AR-924, not AP924, in paragraph 6) By Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel's Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters. The operation was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others, including the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters. The senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country earlier this year. The senior Lebanese security source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AR-924, which like other pagers wirelessly receive and display text messages but cannot make telephone calls. Hezbollah fighters have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking, two sources familiar with the group's operations told Reuters this year. But the senior Lebanese source said the devices had been modified by Israel's spy service "at the production level." "The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner," the source said. The source said 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives. Another security source told Reuters that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone "undetected" by Hezbollah for months. Neither Israel nor Gold Apollo immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo, based in Taipei. Hezbollah was reeling from the attack, which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead. One Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation was the group's "biggest security breach" since the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas erupted on Oct. 7. "This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades," said Jonathan Panikoff, the U.S. government's former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East. BREAK YOUR PHONES, GROUP ORDERED In February, Hezbollah drew up a war plan that aimed to address gaps in the group's intelligence infrastructure. Around 170 fighters had already been killed in targeted Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including one senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut. In a televised speech on Feb. 13, the group's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah sternly warned supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, saying they should break, bury or lock them in an iron box. Instead, the group opted to distribute pagers to Hezbollah members across the group's various branches - from fighters to medics working in its relief services. The explosions maimed many Hezbollah members, according to footage from hospitals reviewed by Reuters. Wounded men had injuries of varying degrees to the face, missing fingers and gaping wounds at the hip where the pagers were likely worn. "We really got hit hard," said the senior Lebanese security source, who has direct knowledge of the group's probe into the explosions. The pager blasts came at a time of mounting concern about tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October. While the war in Gaza has been Israel's main focus since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas-led gunmen, the precarious situation along Israel's northern border with Lebanon has fueled fears of a regional conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran. A missile barrage by Hezbollah the day after Oct. 7 opened the latest phase of conflict and since then there have been daily exchanges of rockets, artillery fire and missiles, with Israeli jets striking deep into Lebanese territory. Hezbollah has said it does not seek a wider war but would fight if Israel launched one. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that the window was closing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon. Still, experts said they did not see the pager blasts as a sign that an Israeli ground offensive was imminent. Instead, it was a sign of Israeli intelligence's apparently deep penetration of Hezbollah. "It demonstrates Israel's ability to infiltrate its adversaries in a remarkably dramatic way," said Paul Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the U.S. intelligence community, mainly at the CIA. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart and Matt Spetalnick in Washington. Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Don Durfee and Stephen Coates) The News More device explosions were reported in Beirut Wednesday, a day after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah detonated, killing at least 12 people. According to reports, Hezbollah members walkie-talkies were targeted in the apparent second wave of attacks. Some of the explosions occurred at the funeral for Hezbollah members and a child killed in Tuesdays attack. Israels Mossad spy agency planted explosives in the pagers that blew up across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to multiple news reports. The battery-operated devices were imported by Hezbollah months earlier, with members of the Lebanese militant group and political party using them instead of phones due to security concerns. Reuters cited a senior Lebanese security source as saying that Mossad had planted the explosives in the pagers during their production, and that their detonation was triggered by a code. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, which has not yet commented on the blasts. SIGNALS Israel has a history of similar assassinations Sources: Financial Times, Reuters, Al Jazeera Israel has a long history of using communications devices in assassinations, the Financial Times noted, including killing a Palestinian leader using explosives in his phones marble stand in 1972. Media reports said the devices were likely intercepted at some point during their manufacture or delivery: Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, who sold the devices, denied any involvement, while the Budapest-based manufacturers BAC Consulting have not responded to media requests, Reuters reported. Analysts said the operation once again demonstrated Mossads skill in infiltrating even its most ardent adversaries, and also indicated the need for Hezbollah to update its security systems. Israel and Hezbollah risk further confrontation Sources: Haaretz, Al Jazeera The pager attacks have exposed Hezbollahs weaknesses and put the group and Israel on the brink of all-out war, Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote. The scale of the operation, which has left nearly 3000 people wounded and targeted some top Hezbollah operatives, will now raise questions for the group around its security measures. The US, Israels most powerful ally, has downplayed its ability to intervene in the regions rising tensions, saying that diplomatic negotiations were not just a matter for the United States, reported Al Jazeera. Israel says it is shifting war focus to 'northern front' in new phase Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant speaks to Israeli army soldiers during his visit to the Ramat David airbase. Ariel Hermoni/GPO/dpa Following the explosions in Lebanon, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has announced a "new phase" of the war. The focus is on the "northern front," several Israeli media outlets reported on Wednesday, citing Gallant's office. The Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia have been engaged in skirmishes on Israel's northern front for months. Forces and resources are to be relocated to the north, the Israeli media quoted Gallant as saying. The Times of Israel newspaper online quoted Gallant as saying that Israels war goals in the north are "clear and simple: to return the residents of the towns in the north to their homes safely." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also promised this again in a video address. According to Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi, the Israeli army is prepared to do whatever is necessary to create the conditions for this. "We still have many capabilities that we have not yet used," the general asserted. "We have not forgotten the hostages and we have not forgotten our tasks in the south," Gallant also pointed out. "This is our duty and we are performing it at the same time," Gallant added. Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost a year ago, confrontations between Hezbollah and the Israeli military have occurred almost daily. Tens of thousands of people on both sides have had to flee their homes. Hezbollah, which is allied with the Palestinian militant Hamas movement, has said it will only allow the weapons to fall silent when a ceasefire has been reached in the Gaza Strip. At least nine people were killed and more than 300 injured in new explosions of electronic devices in Lebanon on Wednesday, according to official reports. Hezbollah and Iran blame Israel for the alleged coordinated attack on hundreds of radio receivers. Israel has not officially commented on this. Israeli PM Netanyahu says we will return residents of the north to their homes By James Mackenzie JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas to their homes, amid mounting tensions with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. In a brief video statement, Netanyahu made no mention of the operation that remotely detonated thousands of pagers and hand-held radio devices used by operatives of Hezbollah, which has blamed the attack on Israel. "We will return the residents of the north securely to their homes," he said in a brief video statement, giving no further details. In separate remarks, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said more forces were being sent to the northern border, where Israel has been exchanging daily fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah for months, as the war moved into a new phase. "The 'centre of gravity' is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena," he said in remarks released by his office. The comments, which echo similar remarks by numerous senior Israeli politicians and military commanders over recent weeks, come as Israeli sources with knowledge of the matter said the army had moved its 98th Division, which includes commando and paratrooper formations, from Gaza to the north. Israeli officials have not commented on the attacks on the Hezbollah communications devices over the past two days, which have killed more than 20 people and wounded thousands, but security sources have said Israel's spy agency Mossad was responsible. The operations, which have appeared to throw Hezbollah into disarray, have heightened fears of an escalation in the fighting along Israel's border with southern Lebanon with the risk of a full-blown regional war. The fighting along the northern border has been going on for almost a year in the shadow of the war in Gaza, which began last year with the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Islamist movement Hamas. The day after Hamas gunmen stormed through communities in southern Israel, Hezbollah launched a barrage in the north and there has been a near-daily exchange of fire between the two sides without ever tipping over into all-out war. On Wednesday, Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi held an assessment with commanders in the northern sector and approved defensive and offensive plans in the sector. "We still have many capabilities that we have not yet activated," he said in remarks to commanders that were released by the military. "The rule is that every time we work on a certain stage, the next two stages are already ready to advance. At each stage, the price for Hezbollah must be high." (Reporting by James Mackenzie and Emily Rose; Editing by Alex Richardson and Deepa Babington) The increase in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank over the past year has been unprecedented. Since Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack and the start of the war, there have been more than 1,000 attacks, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group. The spike, which has raised international alarm, is often blamed on the permissive policies of Israels right-wing government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu. According to a U.N. investigation, nearly half of all settler attacks documented in October 2023 were conducted in collaboration with, or in the presence of, Israeli military forces. I have studied Jewish violent extremism for more than 20 years. I would argue these developments result from long processes tied to the erosion of Israels democratic foundations that the seeds were planted long before Netanyahu came to power. Since the late 1970s, the future of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank has been the countrys most divisive debate. Yet the once-fringe settler movement has arguably become the most influential actor in Israeli politics. Ideological origins Israel took over the West Bank, then ruled by Jordan, during the 1967 Six-Day War against its Arab-majority neighboring countries. Afterward, Israel imposed martial law in the region, yet Jewish settlement in the occupied area began immediately afterward. The first settlements were erected illegally and were allowed to stay on a temporary basis. Eventually, after the right-wing Likud party came to power in 1977, the settlements gained legal status and their number expanded rapidly. Most countries, however, consider them a violation of international law. A lone soldier guards Mitzpe Danny, a Jewish settlement near the West Bank town of Ramallah, in 1999. AP Photo/Ruth Fremson The first groups of settlers, and still the majority of them, are part of the larger religious Zionist movement, which aspires to combine dedication to a Jewish nation-state with religious orthodoxy. These Israelis consider the emergence of the Zionist movement, the establishment of the state of Israel and its subsequent military victories as phases in a holy redemption, which will end with the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of a Jewish kingdom. Many believe this process can be expedited by restoring a Jewish presence in the West Bank, which is part of the biblical kingdoms of Judea and Israel. In 1989, West Bank settlers made up less than 2% of Israels total population. Today, they constitute close to 6%, despite the fact that the countrys population has doubled. About 150 settlements are scattered throughout the West Bank, in addition to unauthorized outposts undermining the possibility of a viable Palestinian state with an undivided, continuous territory. As the government intensified efforts to promote settlement via various subsidies and the development of infrastructure, a growing number of Israelis have moved to the West Bank to improve their quality of life and for financial reasons rather than ideological ones. Gaining influence Settlers traditionally had limited representation in Israels Parliament. But that changed, thanks to a combination of several strategies. Historically, the majority of the secular Israeli public was not willing to support Israels control over the West Bank for religious reasons. The lefts position is that settlements are an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians and are morally problematic. Tens of thousands of left-wing activists in Tel Aviv on June 3, 1989, protest vigilante raids by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages in the occupied territories. AP Photo/Anat Givon In order to build support, the settlers movement adopted a complementary narrative, focusing on their communities contribution to national security. Activists magnified the settlements role as a buffer zone between the Palestinian population living under occupation and the main Israeli population centers. Today, nearly half of Jewish Israelis believe they help strengthen national security. In addition, the movement likened West Bank settlers to the Zionist pioneers who arrived in Palestine at the turn of the 20th century and founded modern Israel although many of those original Zionists were staunchly secular. Thus, settlers legitimized their cause by portraying themselves as followers of Israels founding fathers. Simultaneously, the settlers gained power within influential Israeli institutions, including the military. Today, settlers hold prominent positions in the armys leadership, which may partially explain the often weak response to settlers illegal activities. Settlers political standing also rose as a result of their ability to gain positions within the government. They achieved this with the help of sympathetic ministers, by using party primaries to extract appointments and by winning existing officeholders to their cause. As right-wing governments became more the norm, some settler leaders became cabinet members. A case in point is Uri Ariel. After leading the Yesha Council a forum of mayors of West Bank settlements Ariel became minister of construction, as well as minister of agriculture and rural development. Before stepping down in 2019, he promoted the expansion of settlements, as well as initiatives to specifically serve the Jewish population in the region, such as roads, tourist sites and industry. Legitimizing violence In the past decade, a militant stream gained increasing popularity within the settlers movement. Known as Hardalim a combination of the words ultra-Orthodox and nationalist in Hebrew this group adopts a more Orthodox religious lifestyle. Adherents are less committed to Israels liberal and democratic traditions, prioritizing religious and nationalist values. Furthermore, its leaders have embraced the followers of Kahanism, a racist ideology promoted by Rabbi Meir Kahane in the 1970s and 80s. Kahane proposed extreme policies to promote Jewish supremacy in Israel and the West Bank, such as calls to expel all Arabs from the country or prohibit marriage between Jews and Muslims. Kahanes followers also justified violence against Palestinians, teaching that harm to a Jew is a desecration of Gods name and must be avenged. A Palestinian man stands in his home after it was torched by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Jit in August 2024. AP Photo/Nasser Nasser Today, some settler leaders including past and current Parliament members such as Michael Ben Ari and Zvi Sukkot have also promoted support for extreme policies to secure Israels ongoing control and eventual annexation of the West Bank and Gaza. These include population transfer a form of ethnic cleansing as well as mass punishment of Palestinian communities. Ultimate victory Following 2022 elections, Prime Minister Netanyahu included extremist settler leaders in his cabinet, which signaled to many settlers that violent and illegal acts against Palestinians would be considered legitimate. In addition, the appointments have further politicized government bureaucracy. The minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir a former member of the Kahanist movement has transformed the police force, employing aggressive measures against Palestinians and demonstrators opposing Netanyahus government. Bezalel Smotrich, the political leader of the Hardali stream of the settler movement, now serves as minister of the treasury. Smotrich has pushed to direct more funding to settlements, approve expansions and legalize unauthorized outposts. Both ministers and their parties have pressured the government to escalate the military campaign in Gaza. Meanwhile, they have expanded restrictions on West Bank Palestinians, such as limiting permits to work in Israel and increasing limitations on movement reflecting how far Israel must go to restore its democratic ethos. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Arie Perliger, UMass Lowell Read more: Arie Perliger receives funding from NIJ, DOD and DHS for conducting research related to domestic extremism and terrorism. An off-duty flight attendant for ITA Airways has died after boarding a flight that was set to take off for Rome, Italy, the airline tells Fox News Digital. Gabriella Cario, identified by the Manchester Evening News as a 57-year-old mother of three, passed away on Saturday after she got onboard ITA Airways Flight 1156 at the Reggio Calabria Airport outside of Naples. "Our colleague, Gabriella Cario was off duty when she died last Saturday in Reggio Calabria (South Italy). She was returning home as a passenger and died on the plane before the flight from Reggio Calabria to Rome took off," the airline said in a statement. "The company is providing all possible support to her family." The Manchester Evening News reports that Cario was already feeling unwell at the boarding gate but was eager to return home to her husband and children in the Rome area. However, once inside the aircraft, her condition deteriorated and she died within minutes, it added. AIRPORT GATEXIETY IS LATEST PHENOMENON AMONG TRAVELERS: WHAT TO KNOW A worker checks an ITA Airways plane at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, on Sept. 2, 2024. Efforts by paramedics to revive Cario were unsuccessful and all passengers on the plane were forced to disembark, the Manchester Evening News reports. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Her exact cause of death was not immediately clear. FLIGHT ATTENDANT GOES VIRAL ON TIKTOK FOR ATTEMPTING TO EASE COMMON FLYING FEAR The ITA Airways plane that Cario reportedly boarded was heading from Naples to Rome, Italy. Data from the website FlightAware shows that the plane, which normally departs in the late afternoon, didnt take off from Naples until after 9 p.m. local time on Saturday night. "I knew Gabriella. She was a bright, always-smiling, and kind woman," Alberto Mosca, the mayor of Carios hometown of Sabaudia, was quoted by the Manchester Evening News as saying. ITA Airways is based out of Rome, Italy. "On behalf of the administration and the entire community, I extend our heartfelt condolences to her husband and her beloved three children," he added. Original article source: ITA Airways flight attendant dies after boarding plane in Italy Joseph Rallo is facing a raft of sordid allegations from his firm. (Patrick McMullan via Getty Image) The CEO of investment bank EF Hutton has been accused of improperly funneling millions into his own pocket by falsifying expense reports for, among other things, private jets to sporting events with his wife and bookie, more than $1 million in restaurant meals, and nearly $100,000 worth of intravenous drips to treat hangovers from excessive alcohol and drug usage. Joseph Rallo, who helped take public Donald Trumps Twitter clone , Truth Social, also allegedly pilfered corporate funds to make charitable contributions to his sons school, treat his wife to lavish stays at extravagant resorts, buy life insurance, and otherwise live far beyond his already well-capitalized means, according to a bombshell lawsuit filed by the firm and obtained by The Independent. Rallo, 39, who the lawsuit claims has a severe gambling problem, allegedly squandered tens of millions of dollars on losing investments, a fleet of exotic cars, including a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Bentley, and a customized Mercedes Benz, a $5 million Hamptons getaway, and a $25 million Manhattan penthouse. He regularly wagered six- to seven-figures at a time, and typically loses, the lawsuit states. Not only was Rallo stealing from his employer, his sordid lifestyle and wild spending eventually began to encroach on his corporate duties, according to the suit. It says he frequented a card room his bookie ran out of a residential apartment in New York City, leaving the office in the middle of the workday to gamble and carouse, and afterwards come back to the office in a state that was not conducive or becoming of a CEO of an investment bank. Joseph Rallo helped take public Donald Trumps Twitter clone, Truth Social (AP) The lawsuit says Rallo, who earned more than $18 million in 2023, was committed to the facade of having vast liquid wealth and thus unwilling to curb the personal spending necessary to continue his extravagant lifestyle, the lawsuit states. This led to Rallo seeking help to pay for his personal expenses that he could no longer afford. EF Hutton executives and the legal team representing them in the suit did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. Rallo did not return emails, texts and voicemails seeking comment. Rallo took the helm at EF Hutton in June 2021, when his firm, Benchmark Investments, which had also been known as Kingswood Capital Markets, rebranded pursuant to a licensing deal that would turn Hutton into a division of Benchmark, the lawsuit states. That year, the firm booked some $150 million in investment banking and underwriting revenues, and Rallos gross income was in excess of $26,000,000, according to the suit. In 2022, EF Huttons revenues declined slightly, although it still booked $88 million in revenue, the lawsuit continues. As a result, Rallos compensation went down to $18 million, it goes on. Last year, business declined even further, with $58 million in revenues; Rallos gross income for 2023 was still in excess of $4 million, the lawsuit says. Story continues Among other lavish expenditures on the company dime, Joseph Rallo is accused of blowing a small fortune on exotic cars, including a Lamborghini (REUTERS) In early 2024, Rallos behavior began to raise eyebrows, according to the suit. He requested a $4 million increase to his $1 million base salary, to $5 million, which he vaguely responded was for tax reasons, the suit contends. The company agreed, since it knew Rallo owed money to the government, the lawsuit says. But, it states, EF Hutton was by then operating at a loss, due, in part, to Rallo reimbursing himself hundreds of thousands of dollars per month in personal expenses that he claimed were business expenses. The worsening financial situation meant Rallos co-manager had to make a capital infusion to cover Huttons payroll and expenses, which the suit alleges Rallo declined to do despite receiving approximately $5,000,000 in compensation through May 2024. When the companys finance department told Rallo his pay would have to be rolled back to $1 million because of the shortfall, he instead suggested that other employees salaries be reduced, according to the lawsuit. (Rallo gave in when higher-ups flatly refused, it says.) A year earlier, Rallo had borrowed $5 million from his business partner to close on a $25 million apartment on Manhattans Upper East Side, according to the lawsuit, which says Rallo personally leaked the purchase to the media. At the same time, his profligate spending, combined with his gambling losses, meant Rallo was unable to pay his taxes on time, the lawsuit states. Joseph Rallo allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars on tickets to New York Knicks playoff games, which he attended with his bookie (AP) On May 6, 2024, the feds showed up at Rallos home with a search warrant and seized his cell phone as part of an investigation into securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy, the suit says. EF Hutton told Rallo he was being put on administrative leave for the duration, to which Rallo threatened to burn [the company] down, and has thus far refused to cooperate with an internal investigation, according to the suit. After Rallo took leave, EF Hutton reviewed its books and discovered the alleged scam, which not only improperly diverted millions from the company, but also claimed the bogus business expenses as tax write-offs, the suit contends. It says the amounts paid back to Rallo made up the bulk of the firms overall reimbursements, and an audit found Rallo billed the company for in addition to the cars, jets, and everything else $260,000 in life insurance premiums; nearly $1.2 million in meals; more than $35,000 donation to St. Davids, the private school his son attended; $22,000 in fine wines; $30,000 to stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel during a trip to Los Angeles with his wife and bookie; $60,000 on round-trip private flights for the three of them; in excess of $40,000 for tickets to New York Knicks playoff games, which Rallo attended with his bookie; and beyond, according to the lawsuit. Private jets were just one of the perks Joseph Rallo wrongfully gave himself at his business partners expense, according to a newly filed lawsuit (Getty Images) Additionally, from May 2022 through May 2024, Rallo submitted, approved, and reimbursed himself for seventy-nine separate charges for IV Doc totaling over $90,000, the suit states. The IV Doc is a New York based business that advertises services for the treatment of hangovers caused by excessive alcohol and drug abuse. There was no legitimate business purpose for Rallo to incur $90,000 or more in business expenses for intravenous services. In all, Rallo improperly directed $5,412,344 to himself, the lawsuit alleges. Since Rallo was suspended, the suit says EF Hutton has averaged less than $22,000 per month in reimbursed business expenses, approximately 90% less than the monthly reimbursed business expenses prior to Rallo going on administrative leave. Hutton is suing Rallo for conversion/civil theft, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment, and wants its money back, plus at least $3 million in damages. An Italian railway group Ferrovie dello Stato logo is seen at the Bologna Central Station MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's state railways company will remain under state control, Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday, after the company's CEO said he was considering opening it up to private investors. "I deny any sell-off (plans for the company)", Salvini said during question time in the Senate, the upper house of parliament. "No such proposal is on my desk. Control (of the company) has been and will remain public," he added. The CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato, Stefano Donnarumma, had said on Sept. 7 he was "ready to consider opening up the company's capital to investors". "A bourse listing is usually a consequence of such a process. I wouldn't speak of flotation per se, but of opening up the capital," Donnarumma said. The president of Italy's transport regulator (ART), Nicola Zaccheo, also commented on Wednesday on the eventual partial privatisation of Ferrovie dello Stato. "A privatisation of the infrastructure is difficult, in such a strategic asset the state must continue to have a central role," he said, presenting ART's annual report. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government has decided to sell stakes in several state-controlled companies since it took office in 2022. On Tuesday, it adopted a decree allowing the Treasury to sell a stake of up to 14% in postal service operator Poste Italiane, while maintaining the company under state control. (Reporting by Sara Rossi, editing by Alvise Armellini and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Sandra Mendoza Quiroz knows how depressing news about coral reefs are at least usually. Having worked to restore coral reefs in her native Mexico, shes seen her efforts decimated over and over again. But last summer was different. Amid a mass bleaching that ended up killing entire species of coral in the Caribbean and left much of the Florida Keys reef tract looking like coral graveyards, Mendoza Quiroz slipped into her wetsuit, adjusted her scuba gear and jumped into the warm, moonlit water off Mexico. Diving with a handful of colleagues from Secore International, a non-profit working to save coral reefs she did indeed see the ghostly white grave sites she had prepared for mentally. But then there was more: A few juvenile coral had survived the death and destruction, and appeared to be thriving, Mendoza Quiroz told The Miami Herald. Extremely incredulous, is how Secores Florida-based research director, Margaret Miller, described her initial reaction. When Mendoza Quiroz shared her discovery, Miller and other scientists were still in a prolonged state of shock over a bleaching epidemic that started in July 2023, a month sooner than the average, and the resulting mass die-off. The news of the fledgling survivors, however, snapped them straight into action. The first step was to confirm that the finding wasnt just a fluke, but a pattern. Since the juveniles were born through an arduous assisted reproduction in which Secores scientists mix coral sperm and eggs in a lab and eventually plant baby coral in the reefs a process not unlike in vitro fertilization, widely known as IVF the group needed to check whether their other coral had survived, too. Over the next months, the scientists documented the health of juvenile coral of six species, all IVF-conceived, across five sites in the Caribbean Sea from Curacao to the U.S. Virgin Islands. On Wednesday, their peer-reviewed study, published in the scientific journal PLOSONE, shows that there is reason for hope. Though juveniles are typically weaker than mature coral, the six species Secore helped produce survived the rising ocean temperatures that trigger bleaching when other coral didnt. A stand of rare elkhorn coral off Mexico shows the effects of bleach from rising sea temperatures, which also have hammered reefs off the Florida Keys over the last few years. A new study showing some lab-bred juvenile corals survived offers scientists a glimmer of hope in restoring reefs threatened by continuing climate change. The exact reasons will be the subject of further research Miller suspects that more heat-resistent algae living in symbiosis with the juveniles might play a role but the study offers hope for efforts to restore reefs that are essential to the marine food chain but also help buffer the coastline from worse effects of storms and flooding. Coral researchers are all very encouraged by the findings, Alex Neufeld, science program manager at the Coral Restoration Foundation, which is based in Key Largo, told the Miami Herald. Its wonderful to see that the natural corals of the Caribbean still have the capacity to produce resilient offspring, he said, adding that the study confirmed assisted sexual reproduction of coral as an additional tool to pre-existing methods, such as growing chunks cut off coral in nurseries, then returning them to the reef. Millions of these nursery-grown coral have replenished natural reefs to date and theyve been the primary method of restoration efforts in South Florida. But some also worry that these clones do not add the genetic diversity that could result in the more heat-resistant coral thats necessary to continue protecting our coasts. So scientists devised a new method that resembles the IVF that helps humans conceive. Left to nature, corals mating prospects are somewhat restricted by their inability to walk, fly or swipe Tinder to find a mate. Reef-bound, the males and females eject their sperm and eggs into the water instead, hoping that theyll find one another. Out of the few that do, only the luckiest of these free-floating, embryonic specks eventually end up swished against a reef or pre-existing coral, where they can grow and mature. Its this complex, caterpillar-to-butterfly metamorphosis that the scientists have given a boost. When the coral spawn, the researchers head out to the reefs and fill silvery, roughly waist-tall cones with water. Back when Mendoza Quiroz started out, water collected from a reef would yield hundreds of milliliters of sperm and eggs. Today, less than 15 years later, so many coral have died that the number has plummeted to less than 5 milliliters. Still, its enough to grow at least some coral that are surviving rather wellwhich is definitely good news, Andrew Baker, who directs the University of Miamis Coral Reef Futures Lab, said. Bakers own lab recently received coral sperm and eggs that traveled on a 15-hour flight from Honduras. Introducing Honduran coral genes to Florida could help local coral survive even warmer waters. The question is, as we enter this new era of rapid climate change, how severe will these heatwaves get, Baker said, and how much can the corals, even the ones we reproduce, take? This climate report is funded by Florida International University, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the David and Christina Martin Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all content. Dr. Phanor Montoya-Maya, center, lowers a tray of coral fragments into the hands of Coral Restoration Foundation staff member on Nov. 20, 2023, off of the coast of Tavernier in the Florida Keys. These coral fragments were taken out of the nursery to enable their survival earlier in the year, and as temperatures cooled, were returned to the ocean. J.D. Vance made a new claim about why he isnt responsible for spreading false rumors about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, that have led to nearly three dozen bomb threats. During a rally Tuesday in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, CBSs Katrina Coffman asked Vance about whether he had a responsibility not to spread racist lies if he could help it. So, a woman who was behind an early Facebook post about the Haitian migrants in Springfield has now apologized for spreading false rumors, said Kaufman. You say that you have a responsibility to share what your constituents tell you, but dont you also have a responsibility to fact-check them first? Well I think the media has a responsibility to fact-check the residents of Springfield, not lie about them, Vance said, as the crowd roared in response. Its not entirely clear what this response even means, considering the fact that the media has fact-checked the residents who claimed to have had pets abducted by immigrants, and found pretty much every claim Vance has made to be as hollow as his Never-Trump convictions. The woman Kaufman referred to was Erika Lee, who wrote a Facebook post in the summer elevating the rumors that Haitian neighbors had stolen her other neighbors pets. Lee has since taken down the post after she realized she had no actual information about the incident, which, it turns out, hadnt even happened to her neighbor, according to The New York Times. Anna Kilgore, another woman who claimed that her pet was abducted and eaten by her neighbors in a police report obtained by the Vance campaign, told The Wall Street Journal that her cat returned to her just days later. Vance actually did bother to fact-checkhe just didnt actually care about what he found. Vances team was told as early as September 9 by Springfield City Manager Ryan Heck that there was no verifiable evidence of Haitian immigrants eating their neighbors pets. But by that point Vance had already posted about it, and the Ohio senator continued to spread the racist lies anyway. Vances other claim, that cases of tuberculosis and HIV are on the rise in Springfield, has also met a similar fact-checking fate. The Clark County Combined Health District Commissioner Chris Cook said Friday that Vances claims were completely false. Over the weekend, Vance said he had to create stories so the media would focus on the real ones. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said there had been at least 33 bomb threats in Springfield as of Tuesday. "Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country," Sen. J.D. Vance (ROhio), Donald Trump's running mate, averred on X the morning of September 9, referring to rumors that Haitian immigrants were eating stolen cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. That same morning, Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck told The Wall Street Journal, a Vance staffer called to ask him, "Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten?" Heck's response was unequivocal: "I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless." Heck's rebuttal did not stop Vance from re-upping those claims the very next day. "My office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who've said their neighbors' pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants," he wrote on the morning of September 10. Perhaps based on his staffer's belated attempt at fact checking, Vance acknowledged that "it's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false." Still, he said, that possibility should not dissuade his "fellow patriots" from spreading those rumors: "Keep the cat memes flowing." Trump did that in a big way during his ABC debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that night. "In Springfield," he complained, "they're eating the dogs, the people that came in; they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame." Moderator David Muir jumped in to note that ABC News, like Vance's staffer, had consulted with Heck, who "told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community." Like Vance, Trump was unfazed. "Maybe that's a good thing to say for a city manager," he replied, "but the people on television say their dog was eaten by the people who went there." In a CNN interview last Sunday, Vance was still doubting the denials from sources such as Heck; Springfield's police department; Ohio's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, who condemned the pet-eating migrant story as "a piece of garbage that was simply not true"; and Springfield's Republican mayor, Rob Rue. "We have told those at the national level that they are speaking these things that are untrue," Rue told the Journal, but those claims have been "repeated and doubled down on." To justify Vance's continued promotion of what he himself had described as "rumors" that might not be true, the candidate's staff on Tuesday gave the Journal "a police report in which a resident had claimed her pet might have been taken by Haitian neighbors." But "when a reporter went to Anna Kilgore's house Tuesday evening, she said her cat Miss Sassy, which went missing in late August, had actually returned a few days laterfound safe in her own basement." Kilgore, who was "wearing a Trump shirt and hat," said "she apologized to her Haitian neighbors with the help of her daughter and a mobile-phone translation app." The "cat-eating rumors," the Journal notes, "started with a post by a Springfield woman on a private Facebook page." That account "turned out to be third-hand" and was "subsequently disavowed by the original poster, according to NewsGuard, a company that tracks online misinformation." This is the sort of evidence that Vance apparently had in mind when he told CNN's Dana Bash that his information about pet-eating immigrants "comes from firsthand accounts from my constituents." But Vance made it clear that he thought it did not really matter whether these stories were true. "I've been trying to talk about the problems in Springfield for months," he told Bash. "The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." The post J.D. Vance Promoted Rumors of Pet-Eating Immigrants Even After Learning They Were 'Baseless' appeared first on Reason.com. It turns out that J.D. Vance and the Trump campaign can only point to one already debunked case as proof of their false and racist conspiracy about Haitian immigrants in Ohio. The Wall Street Journal reports that one of Vances staffers reached out to Springfield, Ohios city manager, Bryan Heck, on September 9, one day before the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The staffer wanted to know if there was any truth behind rumors that Haitian Americans were capturing and eating pets, ducks, and geese in the town. By that time, Vance had already shared the conspiracy theory online. Heck told the staffer that there was no verifiable evidence or reports and that the claims were baseless. But that didnt stop Trump from repeating the false story at the debate, and Vance continued to spread the rumor even as his home state suffered the consequences. In an attempt to back up the rumor, Vances campaign provided a police report to the Journal in which a Springfield resident, Anna Kilgore, said that her cat was possibly taken by her Haitian neighbors. When a reporter went to the womans home last week, she said her cat came home only two days after she reported it missing, and was found safe in her basement. Kilgore, a Trump supporter, said that she apologized to her neighbors with a translation app and her daughters help. Another Springfield resident who spurred on the rumor in a Facebook post has also admitted that she was wrong, and took down the post, according to The New York Times. Vance, meanwhile, has not apologized, instead trying to blame the media. The Republican vice presidential nominee somehow sees a political advantage in pushing the debunked and racist story, even as it has resulted in violent threats against the towns schools, hospitals, and government buildings. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has denounced the story but refused to blame Trump or Vance, but Springfield Mayor Rob Rue doesnt want Trump anywhere near his town. Considering the threats, and the part that neo-Nazis have played in creating this problem, its easy to see why. Janel Grant has retained a PR firm ahead of the premiere of the Vince McMahon docuseries. Grant previously filed a lawsuit against McMahon in which she alleged that she was the victim of sex trafficking, emotional abuse, and sexual assault. McMahon denied the allegations. He then resigned from WWE and TKO. McMahon remains under federal investigation. In a press release, SKDK announced that attorneys for Janel Grant retained the services of SKDKs Kendra Barkoff Lamy ahead of the premiere of the Mr. McMahon docuseries on Netflix. (H/t Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics), Barkoff Lamy and SKDK have represented the survivors of Harvey Weinstein, Marilyn Manson, Jeffrey Epstein, and more. They also supported the former employees of the Washington Commanders in their lawsuit against then-owner Dan Snyder. Barkoff Lamys Statement The press release included a statement from Barkoff Lamy, which is as follows: Janel Grant is a survivor of incomprehensible abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking at the hands of Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE. She has courageously come forward to seek justice for herself and other survivors, and we are honored to support her in sharing her story. It takes immense strength to speak out against Goliaths and we encourage all survivors of sexual harassment, assault and human trafficking to seek the support they need. Press release: Janel Grant is being represented by SKDK's Kendra Barkoff Lamy ahead of the release of the Vince McMahon docuseries on Netflix next week. Statement from Barkoff Lamy: Janel Grant is a survivor of incomprehensible abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking at pic.twitter.com/nxUeeYxc3Q Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) September 18, 2024 Janel Grants Attorney Issues Statement Grants attorney Ann Callis also shared a statement: SKDK has a proven track record of uplifting survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking. We look forward to our partnership in seeking justice on behalf of our client Janel Grant. Grant continues to work with The Agency Group, which has been representing her since her lawsuit against McMahon was filed. RELATED: Mandy Rose Admits Shes Excited And Nervous To Watch Netflixs Vince McMahon Documentary The post Janel Grant Brings On PR Firm SKDK Ahead Of Vince McMahon Docuseries Release appeared first on Wrestlezone. BELOIT, Wis. (WTVO) Lawrence Parker, Jr., 46, of Janesville, has been found guilty of hiding the body of Judy Sprigler, 37, of Beloit. Police said Spriglers remains were found near Town Hall and Colley Roads on July 19th, 2023, a week after she went missing on July 12th. According to the criminal complaint, Parker told police she had died after they had smoked drugs together. He realized she was dead after falling asleep and later finding her unresponsive. Photo: Beloit Police Department He then drove around with her body in the back of his truck for a day or two before dumping her, authorities said. A search of his truck revealed a tarp and a strand of Spriglers hair. He then led detectives to Spriglers body, police said. According to Rock County court records, Parker was sentenced to 4 years in prison for Hiding a Corpse, with an additional 3 years of parole. He must also undergo drug and alcohol counseling and is banned from consuming drugs or alcohol, entering bars, and contacting the victims 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 MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. Japan, Australia, US and India set to launch joint sea patrols to keep China in check Japan, Australia, US and India set to launch joint sea patrols to keep China in check The US, Japan, Australia, and India plan to conduct joint patrols in the Indo-Pacific to monitor vessels in the waters where they accuse China of displaying dominance and aggression. The patrols by the coast guards of the four countries, bound in an alliance called the Quad, are also aimed at combating illegal fishing in these waters, Japans Kyodo News reported citing diplomatic sources. A joint statement detailing the plan is expected to be released on Saturday in Delaware, US president Joe Bidens hometown where he is hosting Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi for a Quad summit. The White House said Mr Biden is hosting the leaders in Wilmington as a reflection of his deep personal relationships with each of the Quad leaders and the importance of the Quad to all of our countries. The summit, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, will focus on bolstering the strategic convergence among our countries, advancing our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region and delivering concrete benefits for partners in the Indo-Pacific in key areas. The joint patrols by vessels of the Quad coast guards will focus on the South China Sea and its surrounding waters where competing claims of sovereignty have led to a conflict between China and its neighbours like Taiwan and the Philippines. The Chinese coast guard has lately used force to keep Philipine vessels away from South China Sea shoals which both countries lay claim to. Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. Its claims overlap with those of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The patrols, to be conducted on a rotational basis, are expected to begin next year. This is the final Quad meeting for Mr Biden and Mr Kishida who are leaving offices at the end of their current terms. The Delaware summit is thus also aimed at preparing for the next leaders of the US and Japan. Initially formed to coordinate humanitarian aid and assistance in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Quad was resurrected in 2017 as a strategic alliance to counter a rapidly rising China. The four countries have indicated in the past they faced a threat from China, although the language used to describe the threat is tempered in public pronouncements. While India and China have engaged in confrontations along their Himalayan border, China and Japan are in a running dispute over territorial claims in the East China Sea. A replacement for Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be chosen on October 1 (ANTHONY WALLACE) (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/AFP) Japan's new prime minister will be formally elected by parliament on October 1 following next week's leadership contest, a ruling party official said Wednesday. Polls indicate that three frontrunners are emerging among the nine candidates to succeed Fumio Kishida as head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the September 27 internal vote. They are conservative economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, former LDP secretary general Shigeru Ishiba, 67, and Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, son of former premier Junichiro Koizumi. The conservative LDP -- which has governed almost uninterrupted for decades -- holds a majority in parliament, meaning the winner of the party election is essentially guaranteed to become premier. Yasukazu Hamada, a LDP lawmaker in charge of parliament affairs, told his opposition counterpart that the party "plans to convene a parliament session on October 1" to elect the new prime minister, a LDP official told AFP. The opposition party accepted the date, which will be formally announced by the government on Monday, media reports said. Kishida, 67, whose three-year term was tarnished by scandals, voter anger over rising prices and sliding poll ratings, announced last month that he was stepping down. In the leadership election, each of the LDP's 367 parliament members cast a vote, and another 367 votes will be determined based on the preferences of rank-and-file party members and supporters. Polls by different Japanese media have put Takaichi, Ishiba and Koizumi in the lead, although this is no guarantee any of them will emerge as the eventual winner. Koizumi would be Japan's youngest-ever premier while Takaichi, a vocal nationalist popular with the LDP's conservative wing, would be the country's first woman leader. As a regular visitor to the Yasukuni shrine to Japan's war dead, which includes convicted war criminals -- her nomination would likely rile victims of Japan's wartime aggression such as China and South and North Korea. kh/stu/fox DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (KCAU) On Tuesday, jury members in the Jason Jones murder trial got another look at a crime scene where three Laurel community members were murdered in 2022, a scene one witness called eerie. Day four of the Jason Jones trial in Dakota County saw testimony from a Nebraska State Patrol investigator take up most of the time. Amanda Defreece walked the court through dozens of photos and videos of the Twiford residence taken while firefighters were still battling flames in the homes attic. Hinton CSD administrators accused of violating states code of ethics for educators The photos were unable to convey the feeling of being in the residence. It was very eerie, Defreece said. Everything for the most part you could see this home was very neat and tidy. Everything had its place. But everything had this dark blanket over it. Jury members also heard testimony from fire investigator Garrett Weidner. He was also called to the Twiford residence the night of the murders. Testimony will continue Wednesday. To view KCAU 9s previous coverage of this case, 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. EDF Renewables, Masdar and Korea Western Power (KOWEPO) have announced financial closure for the 1.5GW Al Ajban solar project in Abu Dhabi., United Arab Emirates (UAE). The financing for the solar scheme has been secured from financial institutions BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, HSBC Middle East, Standard Chartered Bank and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Masdar chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi stated: Partnerships are vital to the energy transition and to achieving the objective of tripling global renewable capacity by 2030 set out in the UAE Consensus. With the development of Al Ajban, Abu Dhabi is home to three of the largest single-site solar plants in the world, making it a global leader in the adoption of utility-scale solar power. The Al Ajban project is jointly owned by EDF Renewables (20%), KOWEPO (20%) and Masdar (60%). The consortium will undertake the solar plant's design, finance, construction, and operation. The project company signed a 30-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC). EWEC chief executive Othman Al Ali stated: Al Ajban Solar PV is a further example of EWECs industry-leading strategic advancement of world-leading solar power projects, and stewardship of the UAEs energy transition. Solar power is one of the most cost-effective and low-carbon-intensive solutions for electricity generation, and we are rapidly commissioning and deploying new utility-scale solar power projects, to enable the generation of 7.5GW of PV [photovoltaic] solar by 2030, in addition to projects in support of UAEs next-generation energy infrastructure. The financial close of Al Ajban Solar PV is a further milestone in this key project that will enable our decarbonisation of the UAEs energy sector. Located 70km northeast of Abu Dhabi, the solar facility will be completed in the third quarter of 2026. The Al Ajban solar PV independent power producer will utilise three million solar panels equipped with single-axis trackers to maximise energy production. In July 2024, Masdar signed an agreement to acquire a 49.99% stake in Endesas 2.5GW renewable energy portfolio in Spain, valued at 1.7bn (1.8bn). "Masdar, EDF and KOWEPO finalise funding for 1.5GW solar farm in UAE" 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. JD Vance has suggested that he will continue to call Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio illegal aliens despite knowing that theyre here legally. During a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday, Vance was asked by Politico what would happen to migrants in the country under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, such as many of those in Springfield, during a possible second Trump administration. The Republican vice presidential nominee was also asked how the administration would go about deporting migrants in the country legally. The media loves to say that the Haitian migrants hundreds of thousands of them, by the way, 20,000 in Springfield, but hundreds of thousands of them all across the country, they are here legally, Vance said. And what they mean is that Kamala Harris used two separate programs, mass parole and temporary protective status ... to wave a wand and to say, We're not going to deport those people here. He added: Well, if Kamala Harris waves the wand illegally and says these people are now here legally, I'm still going to call them an illegal alien. And illegal action from Kamala Harris does not make an alien legal. That is not how this works. Many of the Haitian migrants currently in the US came to the country under the Biden administrations TPS and Humanitarian parole program, which allows migrants from Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela to come to the US legally if they have a sponsor and meet certain requirements. Some who are eligible can wait in the country as their permanent immigration status is ironed out. JD Vance said he would keep referring to migrants in Ohio as illegal aliens (AP) The city of Springfield states on its website that YES, Haitian immigrants are here legally, under the Immigration Parole Program. Once here, immigrants are then eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Haiti is designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security for TPS. Current TPS is granted through February 3, 2026. Several reports have now confirmed that an aide to Vance was told by a Springfield official previously this month that the claims about Haitian migrants stealing and eating domestic pets were baseless but that former President Donald Trumps running mate went ahead and spread the claims anyway, according to the Wall Street Journal and ABC News. On September 9, city manager Bryan Heck told a Vance staffer in a call that the claims were baseless. But Vance chose not to remove a post on X that he shared that very same morning claiming that reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldnt be in this country. The following day, Trump made the same claim during the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. The Vance campaign handed The Journal a police report to try to back up their claims, but the report turned out to have been based on a mistake. The woman who filed the report, Anna Kilgore, had lost her cat and believed her Haitian neighbors may be to blame. But her cat came back home unscathed several days later, and Kilgore apologized to her neighbors. She told ABC News that she believed that her neighbors could have been behind her cats disappearance because of rumors being spread on Facebook and TikTok. I wish I could take it all back, she told ABC News. Appearing on CNN over the weekend, Vance said he had to create stories to make the US media focus on immigration. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then thats what Im going to do because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast, he said. He then claimed that the rumors come from firsthand accounts from my constituents. I say that were creating a story, meaning were creating the American media focusing on it. I didnt create 20,000 illegal migrants coming into Springfield thanks to Kamala Harriss policies. Her policies did that, he added on Sunday. On September 9, a staffer working for GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance contacted the city manager of Springfield, Ohio, to ascertain the truth around rumors of Haitian immigrants eating local pets, only to be told that such claims were entirely baseless, according to a Wall Street Journal report. But that did not stop Vance, former President Donald Trump, and a constellation of allies from parroting those smears, sowing chaos in the small city and stoking widespread fury that is threatening the safety of Haitian-Americans. The pet-eating rumor, originally circulated by neo-Nazi groups, has been part of a buffet of stories that Trump has used to inflame anger and fear towards immigrant communities. Vance posted the story on his X account in early September, and despite the flurry of criticism, later insisted on CNN that he heard firsthand accounts from Springfield residents confirming that Haitian immigrants were eating their pets. The media, he claimed, refused to pay attention "until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes ... if I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." Springfield is now dealing with the fallout, with local officials receiving thirty-six bomb threats as of Tuesday evening, which Bryan Heck, the city manager, said has induced "fear and panic" and "depleting resources." Vance, refusing to back down, provided the WSJ with a police report in which a Springfield resident claimed that her cat might have been abducted by her Haitian neighbors. But when a WSJ reporter visited Anne Kilgore's house that evening, she said that Miss Sassy, who went missing in August, had since reappeared in her basement. Kilgore later apologized to her neighbors with the help of her daughter and a translation app. Vance has also said that Trump would like to visit Springfield soon so that he might see with his own eyes the Haitian-American community that he has promised to deport en masse, despite most of them enjoying legal status. About 15,000 Haitians, fleeing from violence and instability in their home country, have moved to Springfield in the past four years, helping the economically struggling town recover from a precipitous drop in population (from 83,000 in 1960 to 59,000 in 2020). The influx of new residents was initially welcomed by evangelical leaders and employers, who appreciated Haitian workers for helping them meet production goals and boost the local economy. But local resources strained to cover overwhelmed hospitals treating people who had fled from a country that lacked even the most basic healthcare, while the number of non-English speakers enrolled in local schools quadrupled to more than 1,000 children. A road accident in which a Haitian man without a valid U.S. license inadvertently drove his minivan into a school bus, injuring scores of children and killing Aiden Clark, a local student, further inflamed tensions. Outside Neo-Nazi groups exploited the situation to hold rallies in Springfield and spread tales of pet-eating that have now reached the top levels of political discourse. Springfield officials have struggled to get Trump and his allies to back down on the rumors" we have told those at the national level that they are speaking these things that are untrue," Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a registered Republican, told the WSJ. But he said the claims have been "repeated and doubled down on." Numerous other towns with Haitian immigrant communities are also now in the crosshairs of right-wing influencers seeking to generate controversy. Libs of TikTok posted a video Tuesday purporting to show Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign busing in Haitian immigrants to work in food factories in Chaleroi, Pennsylvania. The post earned a rebuke from Pennsylvania state senator Camera Bartolotta, a Republican, who said that the immigrant workers were given transportation by the business owner, who was on the verge of having to close down his facility in a town with "no workforce" a few years ago, before an influx of Haitians escaping "horrific conditions in their home country" helped keep him afloat. "You are playing into the hands of people who are jeopardizing the safety of innocent children in our local school," she wrote. "These Haitians are working hard, sending their children to school and opening businesses. They are here legally. They did not cross the border ... please, check the facts before posting information that jeopardizes the safety of good, hard working people." JD Vance told voters in North Carolina Wednesday to start knocking on doors and posting on social media to get out the vote for Donald Trump, because the campaign cant count on the media or big tech oligarchs to help them. Vance asked supporters in the crowd to take out their phones and either take a selfie or take a photo of him. And Im going to ask you to go to whatever social media you use, whether its Facebook or X or anything else, he said, and post that story. Not just post a picture, he instructed the crowd in Raleigh, the states capital, but give one reason why youre going to vote for Donald J. Trump. Before anyone could ask why, he answered: Because we are never gonna get the media behind us. We are never gonna have the big tech oligarchs behind us. Vance must have suffered a momentary memory lapse about Trumps bromance with tech industry leaders, including the worlds richest man who bought Twitter and renamed it X and whose endorsement of Trump followed his first confirmed assassination attempt. I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery pic.twitter.com/ZdxkF63EqF Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 13, 2024 Musk even promised to funnel $45 million a month into the pro-Trump America PAC, the Wall Street Journal reporteda sum he has publicly disputed. Musk and major venture capitalist and top Vance donor David Sacks lobbied for Vance as Trumps running mate, a selection they were eventually successful in getting. And there was no mention of tech oligarch Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, who bankrolled Vances ascendancy to the Senate, then to the No. 2 slot on the GOP presidential ticket. With no support from billionaires, Vance said, Lets march every single day. Lets knock on every single door. Lets make every phone call that we can. And lets win this race and take this country back. 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. JD Vance once penned a blog post slamming Republicans for anti-immigrant stance. Now hes pushing rumors about Haitians JD Vance once penned a blog post slamming Republicans for anti-immigrant stance. Now hes pushing rumors about Haitians JD Vance once penned a furious blog post sharing his disdain for the Republican partys hostility toward immigrants then urged his professor to delete it years later as he sought to enter politics. As a 28-year-old Yale law student back in November 2012, the Ohio senator wrote an article titled: A Blueprint for the GOP. In it, the more youthful and progressive Vance slammed Republicans for being tone deaf on immigration and openly hostile to non-whites. Now, more than a decade later, as Donald Trumps running mate, he has been accused of amplifying this same anti-immigrant rhetoric most recently pushing false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. When the 2008 election was called for Obama, I remember thinking: maybe this will teach my party some very important lessons, Vance began in the 2012 post, which still sits on the internet archive, Wayback Machine. You cant actively alienate every growing bloc of the American electorate Blacks, Latinos, the youth and you cant depend solely on the single shrinking bloc of the electorate Whites. Vance (at a campaign event on Tuesday in Eau Claire Wisconsin) slammed Republicans for being tone deaf on immigration in the blog post (AP) Later in his article, in a section titled The Elephant in the Room Demographics, Vance addresses the GOPs so-called inability to connect with immigrants. He also described the Republicanss immigration policy to deport 12 million people as nonsensical, adding it failed to pass the laugh test. To win, the Republicans must turn the tide with non-White voters, he added. Republicans lose minority voters for simple and obvious reasons: their policy proposals are tired, unoriginal, or openly hostile to non-Whites. He continued: On immigration, Republicans are similarly tone deaf. I became a conservative in large part because I felt that the Right was far more honest about the real state of the world. Four years later, Vance called on his college professor to delete the blog post, CNN reported. Professor Brad Nelson, who described Vance as one of his brightest students, obliged and took down the entry from the website Center for World Conflict and Peace, to give Vance the best chance of carving a path in Republican politics in 2016. At that time, Vance was still a staunch critic of Trump. There are, undoubtedly, vile racists at the core of Trumps movement, Vance wrote on Facebook that year. Vance and Trump at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta last month (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) In private messages sent to a friend the same year, Vance denounced the former president as Americas Hitler, a moral disaster and cultural heroin. Rather than voting for Trump or his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in 2016, the Ohio senator said that he planned to vote for independent candidate Evan McMullin. Fast forward to 2024 and the 40-year-old Republican vice presidential pick has adopted many of the anti-immigrant principles he once stood against. A day before Trump faced off against Kamala Harris at the presidential debate in Philadelphia on September 10, Vance took to X to perpetuate a baseless rumor: that Haitian migrants were kidnapping and devouring pets in Springfield. After local officials debunked the conspiracy theory, Vance appeared to admit it was made-up, telling CNN on Sunday that he has to create stories in order to get the media to pay attention to the suffering of the American people. Vance also continues to push the rhetoric that the flood of millions of illegal aliens into the US is bad for the country with the Biden administrations border policy one of his most favored attack lines against so-called border czar Harris. If elected, Trump has vowed to carry out the largest deportation effort of undocumented people in US history. After amplifying what started as a viral rumor on Facebook, Donald Trump and JD Vance have since quadrupled down on the lie that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets. The racist claim spawned multiple bomb threats at local schools and heightened fear in the community, especially among Haitians. Vance has been proven wrong about the original lie on multiple occasions, but instead of apologizing or backtracking, he started his very own racist rumor about Haitian immigrants in Ohio. The Republican vice presidential nominee has spent the last week repeatedly posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Haitian immigrants in Springfield are causing a rise in communicable diseases including HIV and tuberculosis. But thats not true. There has been no measurable or discernible increase in diseases, according to Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the state department of health. The agencys website publishes data on myriad infectious and vaccine-preventable diseases in the state and also does not depict any noticeable rise. Infectious diseases are often prominent in poorer countries and regions because of a lack of access to health care. But despite Vances concoctions, its not because the people living in those countries are innately disease carriers. Vances lies about Haitians arent just scoring political points off of the most vulnerable among us, but are also echoing extremely dark episodes in history. During the Nazi regime, German doctors falsely claimed that Jewish people were responsible for the spread of typhus, an infectious disease spread by lice. And one doesnt need to go back to the Nazi regime to find parallels to Vances vicious campaign against Haitian immigrants. In 1983, as the HIV epidemic took hold in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control announced which groups were more at risk, identifying them as Homosexuals, Heroin users, Hemophiliacs, and Haitians especially those who had just arrived in America. It was the first time in the history of modern medicine that a pathological condition was tied to a national group, according to author A. Naomi Paik. The CDC later removed Haitians from its risk group, saying they were not actually more prone to the virus. But the damage was already done. In the 1990s, Haitian refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. were subjected to HIV/AIDS screenings, and 200 HIV-positive Haitian refugees were held at Guantanamo Bay. The stigma still persists today. In 2017, then-President Trump reportedly said that the 15,000 Haitian immigrants who had just arrived in the U.S. all have AIDS. During a campaign appearance in Raleigh on Wednesday, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance tried really hard to do some damage control. Lately, Vance has found himself entwined in a mess of his own making. His debunked narrative about undocumented Haitian immigrants stealing and eating peoples pets has terrorized the city of Springfield, Ohio, where buildings and events have had to be evacuated or canceled due to bomb threats. On Wednesday, there were moments where Vance almost seemed normal. He kept his composure, and he was at least more successful at staying on message than his running mate, former President Donald Trump, whose rallies have become meandering diatribes of grievances and blatant falsehoods. Vances speech was billed as an address about the economy, and he mostly stuck to that while also discussing issues like immigration and public safety. He came across as personable, too at one point, someone in the crowd yelled I love you! and Vance returned the sentiment before quipping, Dont tell my wife. Its much needed, as Vances baseless claims about pet-eating have spiraled out of control. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then thats what Im going to do, Vance said on CNN earlier this week. Vance tried to clarify that by saying that creating stories meant creating the American media focusing on it. But Vance still showed signs of his usual self on Wednesday. Toward the end of his appearance, he seemed to defend his false statements. Vance refuted the media and Kamala Harris fact check when a reporter pointed out that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are there legally and asked how he planned to deport people who have legal status. Vance replied that he didnt care that the immigrants are here legally. He doesnt agree with Harris decision to wave the amnesty wand, as he put it, so in his eyes, their status is not legal. Im still going to call them illegal aliens, Vance declared. ... The media is gaslighting us and lying to us about this! There are a couple of things wrong here. First, of course, is the fact that Vance is apparently just going to lie and call people illegal when he knows its not true. But it also suggests that while some Republicans make a fuss about illegal immigration, its not the legality theyre concerned with its the fact that immigrants are coming here at all. Because even when theyre here legally, at least some Republicans, including Trump, say theyre taking over our country even when theyre following the law. That wasnt the only ridiculousness happening Wednesday. Recently, Vance has suggested that Democrats and their rhetoric are responsible for assassination attempts against Trump and urged everyone to do a better job at trying to debate our differences without going into personal attacks. Vance didnt exactly take his own advice Wednesday as he hammered the disgraceful actions that Harris has taken with regards to immigration, which apparently include granting protected status to people who cannot safely return to their own country. Were not bad people for loving this country. Youre a bad person for doing this to the country in the first place! Vance said. Its worth noting that both of these moments occurred while Vance was taking questions from reporters and speaking freely, as opposed to his earlier, prepared remarks. While his practiced speech still contained falsehoods such as the claim that violent crime in the U.S. is increasing, while its actually going down he avoided anything that would make headlines until it was over. Ironically, the whole point of taking reporter questions is to draw a contrast with Harris, who Republicans have repeatedly criticized for her lack of media interactions. Damage control would have been a smart plan, if it had worked. North Carolina is one of the closest battleground states in the country, according to polling, and the J.D. Vance who has been in the news lately isnt soothing many swing voters worried that a Trump ticket might be too extreme. As of today, Harris leads North Carolina by an average of 0.1 percentage points, so it matters. But instead of damage control, Vance may have dealt the campaign another self-inflicted wound, with more blustering and truth-twisting that will almost certainly resurface in interviews and news stories later. Its hard to imagine thats what he came to North Carolina for. JD Vances repeated attacks on Haitian immigrants have fueled a common refrain from Democrats that he and former President Donald Trump are scapegoating immigrants by trying to shift manufactured blame onto them for the real-world problems of Springfield, Ohio. The Republican ticket is indeed scapegoating Haitian immigrants. But for Vance, especially, there is likely nothing accidental or impulsive about it. In his own writing, the GOP vice-presidential nominee has clearly conveyed the power and possible dangers of scapegoating, casting efforts to shift blame and our own inadequacies onto a victim as a moral failing, projected violently upon someone else. But now, as he doubles down on his scrutiny of Springfield, Vance appears to see scapegoating in a different light: as a powerful political tool in Republicans quest to reclaim the White House. Vances past writings about scapegoating also cast doubt on his claim that that hes merely trying to draw attention to a worsening humanitarian crisis in Springfield. Rather, Vance appears to be putting his past theorizing about scapegoating into practice, with potentially dangerous consequences for the people of Springfield. Vances familiarity with the conservative discourse around scapegoating comes primarily via his relationship with the Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel, whom Vance met in 2011 at Yale Law School and who subsequently became a sort of intellectual mentor and professional patron to Vance. In the course of their friendship, Thiel introduced Vance to the work of French literary theorist Rene Girard, whom Thiel studied under at Stanford University in the late 1980s and whom Thiel has since cited as a major influence on his political and religious thinking. (Girard has become an increasingly popular figure within the conservative intellectual milieu that Vance inhabits.) Indeed, Girards influence on Vance was so profound that Vance has credited Girards work with prompting him to reconsider [his] faith by converting to Catholicism in 2019. So what did Vance learn from Girard about scapegoating? A practicing Catholic who immigrated to the United States from France in 1947, Girard was most famous among intellectuals for his theory of mimetic desire the idea that humans desire things because they see other people desiring those same things. Think of a kid on a playground wanting to play with a specific toy because they see their friend playing with it first. For Girard, this structure of desire formed the basis of all human society, religion and art: Over time, competing desires for limited resources gave rise to personal rivalries and social conflict, which ultimately gave rise to unmitigated violence. Eventually, Girard argued, societies developed ways to resolve these conflicts using what he termed the scapegoat mechanism: Societies would select an individual or group who had somehow harmed the larger community to be ritually punished, often by killing them. The punishment of the scapegoat for his limited offenses thus became a way of resolving the deeper tensions and rivalries within the social order. (In some instances, an animal like a goat could serve as the sacrificial victim thus the term scapegoat.) But this whole ritual dynamic, Girard argued, was upended by the advent of Christianity. For Girard, Jesus Christ played the role of a prototypical scapegoat, but with one crucial difference: Unlike a traditional scapegoat, which had actually harmed the community in some concrete yet limited way, Jesus was completely innocent of any crimes against the social order that punished him, and yet he willingly submitted to death at the hands of the Roman authorities. In Girards telling, the gospel stories thus revealed the scapegoat mechanism for what is really was: a mask for violence in which the real moral blame lay with the scapegoaters. Vance has reflected articulately and even eloquently about Girards theory of the scapegoat. Discussing Girard in a 2020 article about his conversion to Catholicism, Vance wrote, In the Christian telling, the ultimate scapegoat has not wronged the civilization; the civilization has wronged him. The victim of the madness of crowds is, as Christ was, infinitely powerful able to prevent his own murder and perfectly innocent undeserving of the rage and violence of the crowd. Summarizing the religious import of Girards theory, Vance wrote: In Christ, we see our efforts to shift blame and our own inadequacies onto a victim for what they are: a moral failing, projected violently upon someone else. Christ is the scapegoat who reveals our imperfections, and forces us to look at our own flaws rather than blame our societys chosen victims. In the same essay, Vance even reflected on the significance of Girards theory for the modern world: Mired in the swamp of social media, we identified a scapegoat and digitally pounced. We were keyboard warriors, unloading on people via Facebook and Twitter, blind to our own problems. We fought over jobs we didnt actually want while pretending we didnt fight for them at all. Girards lesson was personal for Vance, as well: The end result [of all this competition] for me, at least, was that I had lost the language of virtue. I felt more shame over failing in a law school exam than I did about losing my temper with my girlfriend. That realization prompted a change of heart in Vance: That all had to change. It was time to stop scapegoating and focus on what I could do to improve things. Five years after writing these lines, Vance appears to have reversed course. Why? Scholars of Girard may offer one possible answer. Though Girard never said so outright, some of his interpreters have argued that Girards idea of the Christian ethic which in theory offers an alternative to ritualistic violence as a basis for social cohesion cannot in practice serve as the basis for a large, complex and modern society. As one scholar of Girard has written, The gospel story is not a myth uniting the entire social order. In other words, although an elite spiritual minority may take up Christianity as its guiding ethic, the majority of mass society will continue to require some amount of ritual violence to preserve itself. According to this formulation, scapegoating is not only inevitable but useful, insofar as it builds social cohesion among large, otherwise diverse groups of people. Vance has not explicitly endorsed this idea, but echoes of it are discernible in Vances past comments about the foundation of the American nation. For instance, in contrast to other New Right political figures like Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, who has openly called for Americans to embrace Christian nationalism, Vance tends to shy away from talking about Christianity as the foundation of American society. Instead, he leans into a vision of American national identity rooted in an attachment to specific places, family and clan which Vances critics have argued is little more than a thinly veiled form of blood-and-soil nationalism. As Vance said in a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in July, People dont fight and die just for principles. They go and fight and die for their homes and their families and the future of their children. And if mass society needs some amount of ritualistic violence to maintain itself, Vance appears ready to let it play out having defended his comments even after several schools and municipal buildings in Springfield were evacuated due to bomb threats. (Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has since said that some of the threats originated with foreign actors, though his office has not specified their origin.) Meanwhile, the citys Haitian residents many of whom are there legally through a federal resettlement program have faced a precipitous rise in threats and harassment. At least on a subconscious level, Vance seems to be aware of his role in raising the stakes of the conflict. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then thats what Im going to do, Vance said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. He later clarified that he meant that he was creating the America media focusing on it, but the suggestion was the same: Vance is consciously stoking the conflict to promote cohesion among his native-born political base, even if doing so results in real threats of violence against Springfields non-native population. Meanwhile, the Girardian undertones of Vances comments have become impossible to overlook. Vance has repeatedly referenced the unfounded claim that Haitian immigrants are abducting and killing residents pets and wild animals a kind of perversely cartoonish re-enactment of the scapegoat myth as a symbol of the harmful effects of immigration on American life. In response, he has encouraged his followers to flood the internet with memes of Trump protecting cats and ducks meme, of course, being a derivative of the same word as mimetic, denoting something that grows through replication. In sum, Vance and his allies have stoked a meme-driven rivalry over limited social resources that now teeters on the brink of violence against a minority group, all in the service of repairing the communal foundations of national greatness. Its a scene ripped directly from the pages of Girard but reality may prove far messier than theory. CORRECTION: A previous version of this report included the wrong date for an article written by JD Vance. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was skewered online for defending the administrations rhetoric about former President Trump following the latest assassination attempt against him. After he was rushed off a West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course on Sunday because the Secret Service discovered a gunman in the bushes, Trump argued that President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris "rhetoric" is what is causing him to be "shot at." During a press briefing on Tuesday, Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre, "How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump, other than threat?" Jean-Pierre told Doocy she completely disagreed with the premise of his question, calling the way he asked it "incredibly dangerous" because Americans are watching. DAY AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, PSAKI AND SEN. WARREN AGREE TRUMP'S BEHAVIOR 'PUTS US ALL AT RISK' Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explained that she and others at the White House will continue to call former President Trump a "threat," backing up the term with events like the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Social media commentators were quick to condemn Jean-Pierre as an unapologetic part of the problem. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Asking questions about how we demonize our opponents and their supporters is dangerous! is an utterly heinous response from KJP," The Spectator editor-at-large Ben Domenech argued. The Spectator contributing editor Stephen L. Miller parodied this mentality by writing, "Our violence is speech. Your speech is dangerous." Podcaster Tim Young argued that Jean-Pierres response to Doocys question was basically one where she "gaslights by saying it's dangerous for him to ask that, and his tone is dangerous..." Young went on to warn followers, "She thinks you're stupid." White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) WHO IS RYAN WESLEY ROUTH: ALLEGED GUNMAN AT TRUMP GOLF CLUB "This is disgraceful and bordering on conspiracy at this point," Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., cautioned. "The Dems cant run on policy so they are running on demonizing @realDonaldTrump." Omri Ceren, national security adviser to Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, shredded the press secretary: "She's just so studiously mediocre." Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce called out the White House spokeswoman for deflecting criticism back to Doocy. "In asking a question about the admin's use of the word threat to describe Trump, KJP accuses Doocy of being dangerous for asking the question!" she wrote. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Video journalist Nick Sortor suggested, "These people are clearly going to continue these violent narratives. Evil." Original article source: Jean-Pierre scorched for 'utterly heinous response' defending Biden-Harris rhetoric calling Trump a 'threat' FILE - In this undated photo provided by the Campaign for LaMonica McIver, Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver speaks in Newark, N.J. (Tamara Fleming/Campaign for LaMonica McIver via AP) TRENTON, N.J. (AP) Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jerseys 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April. McIver will serve out the remainder of Paynes term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term. McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the shoulders of giants, naming Payne as chief among them. She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or hard working Americans. I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice, she said. Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he's looking forward to the rematch in November. I am not going anywhere," he said in an email. "We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again! McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jerseys biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and protecting our democracy, she told The Associated Press earlier this summer. Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues. The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1. Its been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation. Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot. Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, whos running for Menendezs seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction. WORTHINGTON, Ohio (WCMH) A regularly scheduled council meeting in the City of Worthington was interrupted Monday evening when two anonymous men spewed hate-filled comments toward the Jewish community. My initial reaction to the recordings from Worthington that I heard from their city council meeting was horror and outrage to think that somebody could come to a city council meeting in central Ohio and spew antisemitism like was seen in that meeting is horrible and frightening, said Jonathan Feibel, the board chairperson of JewishColumbus. Watch: Jewish leaders express horror and outrage over comments during Worthington City Council meeting The city council meeting entered into a public comment period in which citizens typically stand at a podium and have five minutes to speak directly to the council. Several speakers took time to address the council on matters that pertained to community safety or other agenda items. Then there was a moment of brief confusion when one of the city staff can be heard saying, We have a couple people in the Teams who have their hands raised for public comment. Teams refers to Microsoft Teams which is used by the city to livestream its council meetings for those who may not be able to attend in person or want to listen from home. Another city staff member responds, Do we have any idea what theyre going to be talking about? At that point, the speakers are allowed to be unmuted and are given five minutes like any other public commenter. The first man identifies himself with a fake name and lists an address with numbers commonly associated with white supremacist groups. The man rants for nearly five minutes, repeating anti-Jewish rhetoric and asking the council to consider ordinances to protect white people. I hope everybody thinks about being fair to white people, the man can be heard saying. We owe whites an apology. After he was finished, the second man begins by agreeing with the previous speaker and repeating hate filled comments about the Jewish people. At that point, a council member cuts the man off. The man then adds several extremely hateful and egregious comments toward the council and Jewish people. Feibel listened to the recordings again with NBC4. In regard to the two speakers, he said, Theyre clearly embarrassed by who, you know, their views, and arent willing to come out in public and express their views publicly because they know their views are horrible and not right and its cowardly. The City of Worthington released a statement Tuesday. It reads: The City of Worthington strongly disagrees with statements made during the public comment period at the September 16, 2024 City Council meeting. The comments, which we will not detail or repeat here because of their offensive nature, do not reflect the views of our organization. In 2021, City Council adopted a vision statement focused on being a diverse and equitable community. This vision welcomes people across age, race, gender, ethnicity, orientation, gender expression, abilities, income, religion and politics. City leadership stands by this vision. Feibel believes the City of Worthington could have taken a stronger stand. We rely on our leaders to call out antisemitism when they see it and that hasnt happened yet in the City of Worthington, he said. Theyve always been an ally to the Jewish people, and we expect them to stand up with the Jewish people and call out anti-Semitism as leaders in their community. NBC4 asked a Worthington representative if the city will continue to allow public comment during meetings from attendees on Microsoft Teams. As of the 11 p.m. Tuesday, the city has not responded. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Oil edged lower in choppy trading as signs of weak demand outweighed rising tensions in the Middle East and the Federal Reserves decision to opt for a steeper 50-basis-point rate cut. Most Read from Bloomberg West Texas Intermediate retreated below $71 a barrel, while Brent held above $73 a barrel. Government data released Wednesday showed US gasoline demand falling further below 9 million barrels a day and jet fuel consumption ebbing for the third straight week. Futures later pared losses and even briefly edged into positive territory following the Feds move before fading again. The Fed decision is a defensive action, but one thats been taken very well by the market, said Rohan Reddy, head of international business development & corporate strategy at Global X Management. Inflation-sensitive pockets of the market like oil might perceive this as demand weakness. Id expect range-bound oil prices until the market wraps its head around the impact to demand. Oil had risen in the previous two sessions on supply disruptions in Libya and the US Gulf of Mexico as well as increased bets that the Fed would be more aggressive in cutting rates. In the Middle East, Iran-backed Hezbollah accused Israel on Tuesday of orchestrating an attack in Lebanon involving exploding pagers, which left a number of people dead and wounded thousands. Lebanon was hit with a fresh wave of exploding telecommunications devices, including walkie-talkies, on Wednesday. Still, crude remains markedly lower this quarter, reflecting Chinas dour demand outlook and plans by OPEC+ to eventually restore some shuttered output. The lackluster consumption has seen some refineries in Europe reduce processing rates. Meanwhile in China, the worlds largest oil-importing nation, poor margins have led to the bankruptcy of two small plants. China is one of the biggest drivers of growth of oil demand, said Rob Thummel, a portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital Advisors. And where thats going is the big question. To get Bloombergs Energy Daily newsletter in your inbox, click here. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Millions have been forced to flee their homes since the violence began eight years ago [AFP] Islamist insurgents in Burkina Faso have stepped up attacks on civilians, carrying out door-to-door killings, slitting throats and targeting Christian worshippers, a report by campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. It quoted data showing that more than 6,000 deaths, including around 1,000 civilians killed by Islamists insurgents, have been recorded in the West African state in the first eight months of the year. Burkina Faso has been battling jihadist groups, including those linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS), since 2016. When Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in a coup two years ago, he pledged to improve the dire security situation within "two to three months". However, the violence has only escalated. Released on Wednesday, HRW's report documents gruesome atrocities committed by jihadists. Attacks are often carried out in retaliation against communities who have refused to join the ranks of the jihadists or have been accused of collaborating with government troops, HRW said. A February attack on church worshippers in the north-eastern village of Essakane left 12 dead. "I saw a huge pool of blood and traces of blood all over the church, as well as bullet marks on the benches," one survivor, who lost his brother at the hands of the assailants, was quoted as saying. The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), one of the key militant groups in Burkina Faso, claimed responsibility for the attack. Al-Qaeda linked group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) fighters were also highlighted several times in the report. The jihadists opened fire in the village indiscriminately, said a 35-year-old farmer who witnessed an attack by alleged JNIM fighters in the town of Sindo, Hauts-Bassins region, on June 11. We found bodies in the village, on the outskirts and in the bush. Some were shot, others had their throats slit," another resident said. Witnesses also said that in June, militants stormed the town of Mansila after killing dozens of soldiers at an army base nearby. The locals told HRW that jihadists went door-to-door, ordering people out of their homes and killing men they accused of collaborating with the army. HRW said that Burkina Faso's army and civilian groups affiliated to it have also committed atrocities during operations against the insurgents. A previous report from the watchdog accused the Burkinabe military of massacring at least 223 civilians in February. Large swathes of the West African country are run by the jihadist groups, leaving the government in control of just roughly half of nation. Quoted in HRW's report, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) has recorded more than 6,000 deaths in the first eight months of the year, including around 1,000 civilians killed by jihadist groups. These figures do not include the 100 to 400 civilians killed in an attack on August 24 in the northern town of Barsalogho, HRW said. JNIM claimed responsibility for the massacre. Experts told the BBC that the scale of the Barsalogho attack points to a larger problem in the Burkina Faso's security architecture. The country is yet to come up with a security strategy that can defend not just the people, but also its territorial integrity, said David Otto, an international defence and security analyst. Ryan Cummings, who has co-written a book on the Islamic State in Africa, said: We often hear reports by some commanders in the Burkina Faso military that they have less ammunition than what the insurgents have access to, and thats a worrying development." Burkina Faso has pivoted towards Russia for military aid after breaking its decades-old alliance with former colonial power France. It has also formed an alliance with two other pro-Russian juntas in the region - Mali and Niger - to fight the jihadists. Mr Otto says the three juntas have still been unable to consolidate their power, making it difficult for them to focus on the jihadist threat. Mr Cummings said that successive governments had not done enough to professionalise Burkina Faso's armed forces, leaving troops without adequate training and weapons. The insurgents operate across the region, and JNIM claimed responsibility for an assault on Mali's capital, Bamako, on Tuesday. A military training school and the countrys main airport were attacked. The army acknowledged suffering losses but did not specify the number of casualties. More about the unrest in the Sahel: [Getty Images/BBC] Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica BBC Africa podcasts Jobs Now: Metal industry company hiring all positions from engineers to HR SALEM, Ohio (WKBN) Theres an opportunity with a Valley metals industry company that stretches across its footprint. BuTech Bliss is known around the world for its equipment building. Most of its business is building equipment to help companies flatten steel coils and turn them into something else. Our customers in the metals industry are really looking for more equipment. Theyre expanding and wanting to buy more, produce more, said BuTech Bliss President Jock Buta. Buta is president of the Salem company which he says is feeling a drive for equipment thats higher strength. This piece of equipment is a crosshead that weighs as much as 26 cars. BuTech Bliss needs the expertise to help build more things like it. One of its biggest needs is engineers any type of engineer mechanical, electrical, automation, hydraulic and welding engineers. It also wants to find manufacturing personnel like welders, machinists, and assemblers. We will use a lot of engineering in the manufacturing operation in our shop to help guide and really plan how to build the equipment, Buta said. BuTech Bliss is holding a hiring event to fill those needs and their backlog of work can keep everybody in the company busy, even new hires. There are a variety of positions. I mean, were looking for everything. Like you said, were looking for anywhere from janitorial help, all the way up to engineers, HR. Were looking to continue to grow, said Matt Houston, Chief Operating Officer. BuTech Bliss has plenty of opportunity. It will keep finding answers in the metals industry to reach new customers and employees have room to grow. Matt Houston started as an intern, worked up to two managerial spots and now is the COO of the company. The company always tries to promote from within. Very, very family-oriented company, said Houston. BuTech Bliss also gives raises twice a year. It has nine paid holidays, and it does not charge for health insurance. To browse career opportunities, visit their website. The BuTech Bliss Hiring Event is Sept. 18 from 3:30-7:30 p.m. at 530 South Ellsworth Ave. in Salem. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) The Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) is asking for the publics help regarding a large fight in downtown Johnson City on Sept. 1. The fight happened early morning on Sept. 1 outside Diablos Mexican Bar & Grill (216 E Main St), Johnson City Police Crime Stoppers reported. Prosecutors allege more Sean Williams child victims The JCPD reports officers were called to the scene around 12:11 a.m. When they arrived three minutes later, officers found no active fights in progress, according to the department. Courtesy of the JCPD Courtesy of the JCPD Courtesy of the JCPD Courtesy of the JCPD Courtesy of the JCPD Courtesy of the JCPD Courtesy of the JCPD The JCPD consulted with the district attorneys office and launched an investigation. Since the incident, police reports some victims have come forward. The JCPD asks any other victims to do the same. Anyone with information about the fight or the identity of the people pictured below is asked to contact the police department at 423-434-6007 or Crime Stoppers at 423-434-6158 to remain anonymous. Confidential tips can also be sent in by texting 423JCPD and a tip to 847411 (TIP411). Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Johnson County Election Office issued important information Wednesday afternoon for Johnson County voters looking to mail in their ballots. According to the offices post on X, the Center for Voter Information, a non-governmental entity not affiliated with the JoCo Election Office, sent pre-populated advance mail ballot applications with an incorrect return address. Your Local Election Headquarters: Candidates, races and results on FOX4 Their purpose, said Johnson County Election Commissioner Fred Sherman about the nonprofit, and a lot of peoples purpose whether youre a candidate or other nonprofit, is encouraging people to vote for this upcoming election. The big issue though is that the application contains the wrong return address for the Johnson County Election Office. The Election Offices address is 2101 East Kansas City Boulevard. Instead, the letter reads 2102. If you didnt receive one, youre in the majority: out of the 466,000+ registered voters in Johnson County, only about 10% of voters got one. The election office said it has requested USPS to direct any mail with the incorrect address to be sent to the correct address. Sherman believes it was an honest mistake and that theres no nefarious intentions. FOX 4 called the Center for Voter Information to ask about the issue but had to leave a voicemail. As for why the Center for Voter Information sent the letters out to a select group of Johnson County voters, Sherman doesnt have an answer. However, he insists that its not a scam. Theyre valid applications. Voters can sign it and mail it back in order to vote by mail for the November 5 election. Another issue that some voters have with the application is that it contains personal information thats already filled out electronically. However, Sherman explained thats not unusual. Some voters find it concerning and alarming that they took that information, which is publicly available, and posted it on a form for them, he said. Johnson County is working with the U.S. Post Office to make sure all of the letters get back to the Election Office. If youre not comfortable doing that, there are other options. [Voters] can return them in a number of ways: either with the envelope if they correct the address, use their own mailing address, bring them in in person, fax them to us, scan them and email them, and even take a picture and text it to us, added Sherman. Information on that can be found here. Click here to request an application for a mail-in ballot. Whether you choose to return that application from the Center for Voter Information, Johnson County will process it and use it to match the signature that you used in the voter registration process to make sure youre legitimate. Additionally, you have to apply to vote by mail for each election cycle, so if you voted in the August primary by mail you will have to do so again for November 5. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. A Joplin man who pleaded guilty in a separate kidnapping case is convicted by a federal jury in another kidnapping involving a woman attacked at a Neosho motel. Freddie Tilton, 51, and Alvin Boyer, 39, of Rogers, Arkansas, were both found guilty Tuesday on one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and one count of kidnapping. Tilton was also convicted on one count of stalking, according to a release from U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore. Those convictions stem from a July 19, 2020 call to police from an employee at Boonslick Lodge in Neosho, where a woman known in court documents as, S.T. was reportedly being dragged and choked. Officers investigated the call just before midnight and were greeted at the rooms door by a battered and bloody S.T. who immediately ran out of the room. Behind her Tilton escaped via the rooms rear window. Boyer arrested in Joplin, joining Tilton in federal custody to face charges S.T. was originally invited to the room by Boyer, but was instead ambushed by S.T.s former partner, and subject of an order of protection, Tilton. She was later seen on surveillance footage being assaulted and dragged back into the room. The attack lasted over eight minutes before police arrived. S.T. was later treated for her injuries at a hospital. Investigators found numerous indications of a violent assault in the room including items used in the torture such as a chair with rope, zip ties, pliers, a blowtorch, and more, plus a handgun. The conviction in this case comes as Tilton awaits sentencing for his role in the kidnapping and murder of Michael Hall. He pleaded guilty to that one year ago. Several co-defendants in that case have also pleaded guilty and received sentencing: Carla Jo Ward, 50, of Joplin, pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced this October. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. That sounds like a guru scam, my daughter said when I told her about Peterson Academy, Jordan Petersons foray into the world of online education. Shes not the only person to be suspicious. On social media sites like Reddit, some people are questioning the wisdom of paying $499.99 to enroll in Petersons educational forum, which launched this month. But Peterson, the Canadian psychologist who has amassed an enormous following while pushing back against progressive ideology, has an easy retort: the cost of traditional higher education, which has doubled in the past quarter-century. Moreover, Peterson Academys offerings are quite different from other online schools, with professors from top tier universities and colleges teaching classes like Post-Modern Philosophy, Evolutionary Inference and The History of Western Music. Looks like a scam to me. https://t.co/lUaetIkmj7 Peterson Academy (@petersonacademy) August 27, 2023 There is also the matter that the Peterson Academy is the latest venture that seeks to correct a stark ideological imbalance in education. Like the free online PragerU, not-for-credit courses at Hillsdale College in Michigan, and the University of Austin, which welcomed its inaugural class this month, these educational offerings are a response to entrenched liberalism within colleges and universities and in some secondary schools. As Steven M. Teles wrote for The Chronicle of Higher Education in July, the publics impression that American higher education has grown increasingly closed-minded is undeniably correct. Indeed, concerns about the ideological drift of the university are no longer limited to conservatives, but now include some left-leaning faculty who worry that higher education has become, in the words of Gregory Conti, a political philosopher at Princeton, sectarian. Peterson sees his academy as an answer. In a video introducing the venture, Peterson answers the question Why did I decide to build an online university? with video clips showing chaos on colleges campuses, protests over the Israel-Hamas war, headlines about embattled college presidents and spiraling tuition costs. He says that he realized he could teach more people at lower costs than he could at a brick-and-mortar university. We want to bring you the highest quality education possible at the lowest possible price, he says. You could go to Harvard or you could join sane people who want to educate themselves properly at Peterson Academy. https://t.co/O4rT84CiQe Peterson Academy (@petersonacademy) September 6, 2024 Peterson concludes by saying, I think its funny ... I got canceled at the university, so I could try to return the favor. Its a quip that led one person on Reddit to worry that that Peterson Academy is a revenge-motivated endeavor. (Peterson, a clinical psychologist and bestselling author, rose to prominence after pushing back on a Canadian law that he said would criminalize not using a persons preferred pronouns; he was later ordered by a Canadian licensing board to undergo training because of complaints about his social media posts.) Peterson Academy did not respond to requests for an interview, but Peterson has said on social media that the academy has already enrolled 30,000 people. One of them is Noland Arbaugh, the Arizona quadriplegic who was the first human recipient of a Neuralink brain-computer implant, and wrote on X that he is learning through Peterson Academy for an hour or so each day. Arbaugh has said he is hoping to finish his degree, interrupted by the swimming accident that left him paralyzed, but for now, Peterson Academy cant grant him one. The academy plans to offer some form of certification in the future, and Peterson has said accreditation is a goal, but that will be challenging, said Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. I dont think accreditation should be as difficult for new institutions or alternative providers of education as it is. I regret that its as difficult as it is today. A very big part of that problem is that accreditation is a cartel, and it shouldnt be. There should really be competition. Until that cartel is broken, it really will be hard to get accreditation, said George, who also sits on the board of advisors of the University of Austin. And thats going to mean that the pool of people who will find what Dr. Peterson is offering to fit their needs will be smaller. Some people will need an accredited degree because of their own plans and aspirations. But that doesnt mean that he wont succeed even if he cant get formal accreditation. There are still people who have reasons to desire the content that hes offering. What courses does Peterson Academy offer? The website of Peterson Academy offers movie-like trailers of courses that are currently offered: 18 at this time, each of which offers eight hours of instruction filmed in front of a live audience at the academys studio in Miami, Florida. The website promises three new courses will be added every month. In addition to a course on the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche that Peterson teaches, other offerings include Introduction to Neuroscience taught by Baland Jalal, a neuroscientist at Harvard University; Introduction to Nutrition taught by science journalist and author Max Lugavere; The Greatest Leaders in History, taught by Andrew Roberts, a British historian and member of the House of Lords; and Deconstructing Decolonization, taught by Nigel Biggar, an Anglican priest and ethicist who teaches at the University of Oxford. Stephen R.C. Hicks, who teaches two courses on philosophy and has three more forthcoming, told me that he was impressed with the academys studio and the Hollywood quality production. Hicks, who teaches at Rockford University in Illinois, is the author of Explaining Postmodernism, among other books, and he has appeared on Petersons podcasts over the years. When Petersons team reached out about teaching a class, he was happy to do so, and filmed it in May of 2023. He said he was paid market rate for his time and the academy covered his expenses. While $500 (the cost of enrollment for one year) may seem steep to a young person struggling to make his or her rent, and there are many universities that offer online courses for free, George, who is not affiliated with Peterson Academy, said its an astonishingly low fee, given the quality of instruction. I dont know how thats possible. Its unclear if Peterson Academy has funding sources beyond its namesake, but if 30,000 people paid nearly $500 each to enroll, thats about $15 million. Earlier this year, Peterson told Fox News that the price point is important because it adds value through exclusivity. People think that free is a good price, but free is a stupid price, he said, noting that when social media platforms are free, the content can be corrupted by bad actors and bots because theres nothing keeping the charlatans and the parasites out. It remains to be seen, however, how long Peterson Academy can present itself as a university without conferring certification or a degree, either of which would challenge the sentiment that the venture is just an exclusive and erudite form of self improvement. The website says that the academy plans to roll out, within a few months, certification that students would earn by writing essays and passing exams. Is Peterson Academy ideologically neutral? On its website and social media platforms, Peterson Academy says it offers education, devoid of ideology. It is a bold claim, given that the namesake is generally acclaimed by the conservatives and denounced by progressives. A few people have branded Peterson Academy as a conservative MasterClass. But Hicks, who teaches at Rockford University, where he also directs the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, said that every college is begun by people with a strong ideology or vision, and people should be willing to listen to and learn from people with whom they might disagree on some subject. Thats important for any person who is serious about education or thinking in general, he said. If you are the kind of person who says, I disagree with this persons ideology, therefore Im going to dismiss whatever they say or do, then the problem is with you, and not with the person, he said. He added, The test is going to be, for this institution, whether it is living up to its own ideals. ... Does he, in fact, hire professors to teach at the institution who disagree with him on all of the issues for which he is most famous for? Hicks noted that, unlike Peterson, he himself is not religious and considers himself politically liberal. But hes willing to hire me, and Im willing to work for him. Both of us are trying to model what a liberal arts college should look like. Hicks is a strong proponent of ideological diversity on university campuses; he says young people need to be exposed to a wide range of opinions from people who are experts in their field but not driven to recruit students to their way of thinking. I am a liberal arts education guy in my bones. And, it has been enormously distressing to see the drift its not just a political issue, but an underlying cultural issue away from liberal arts education over the last two decades. He added: I am looking for ways to this is a little bit flip but to make sexy again the idea that youre going to go to college on a great intellectual adventure and youre going to hear all kinds of ideas from all over the place, and some of them youre going to think are crazy and some of them are crazy, but were going to encourage crazy ideas, and some of the ones you think are crazy are not going to be so crazy after you think about them for a bit, and they might actually be right. And youre going to meet people with interesting ideas and youre going to be challenged and youre going to grow in your ability to take on the big issues and work out your own ideas. Thats what college properly should be. So Im very proud to be associated with any institution that is taking that mission on seriously. As for whether Peterson Academy can take students away from traditional campuses, or if it will serve primarily to augment peoples education throughout their life, that remains to be seen. At Princeton, George has taught two online classes that are available for free on EdX one, Constitutional Interpretation, was named one of the best online courses in 2019. He said he was skeptical at first of the free courses, but that the response has been tremendous and people have told him how much theyve gotten out of the class. Its in the interest of our country, and our young people, to let a thousand flowers bloom to offer good education in lots of different styles and formats. Theres no uniquely correct way to provide higher education, George said. I like what I do. I love that I have students I can sit down in my office with and chat with about their work and I think that the traditional way of delivering education is a good way. But that doesnt mean its the good way, or the only good way, or even the best way. Different students have different learning styles, different students have different needs. So, trying to find alternatives to the traditional way we deliver higher education I think is a good thing. AMMAN (Reuters) - Israel is pushing the whole Middle East to the brink of regional conflict by maintaining a dangerous escalation on several fronts, Jordan's foreign minister said on Wednesday. In remarks after an Islamic and Arab ministerial contact group meeting in Amman to lobby for a Gaza ceasefire, Ayman Safadi said peace would not prevail without a two-state solution. Safadi has kept the foreign ministry portfolio in a new Jordanian cabinet named on Wednesday. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Peter Graff) By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) -Jordan's King Abdullah swore in a reformist government on Wednesday tasked with accelerating IMF-backed reforms and pushing through political and economic modernisation crucial to reversing a decade of sluggish growth, officials said. The Harvard-educated prime minister, Jafar Hassan, headed the monarch's office in his last job. Hasan has proven to be an able administrator during a long public career in which he oversaw economic reforms as a deputy premier and during a stint as planning minister, according to officials and politicians. Politicians say a key task is accelerating IMF-guided reforms and reining in more than $50 billion in public debt in a country with high unemployment and whose stability is supported by billions of dollars of foreign aid from Western donors. The traditional conservative establishment had long been blamed for obstructing a modernisation drive advocated by the Western-leaning monarch, fearing liberal reforms would erode their grip on power. Veteran foreign minister Ayman Safadi, whose strong anti-Israel tone has angered the country's western neighbour, kept his post in the new 32-member cabinet that includes moderates, tribal politicians and technocrats. Jafar had canvassed the views of the powerful Islamist opposition which made significant gains in parliamentary elections earlier this month. FREE-MARKET REFORMS The Islamists won 31 seats, the most they have held since parliamentary life was revived in 1989 after decades of martial law, leaving them the largest political grouping in parliament. Although the new composition of the 138-member parliament retains a pro-government majority, the more vocal Islamist-led opposition could challenge IMF-backed free-market reforms and foreign policy, diplomats and officials say. The Islamists, who led some of the largest rallies in support of their ideological allies the militant Palestinian movement Hamas, campaigned on a platform of strengthening democracy and lifting curbs on public freedoms. The detention of dissidents and activists for criticising government policies during the Gaza conflict has heightened worries about a tightening authoritarian grip, rights groups and independent politicians say. The new finance minister Abdul Hakim al-Shibli, a seasoned economist, replaces veteran Mohammad al-Ississ who won praise from the IMF for stepping up reforms and maintaining fiscal prudence while avoiding austerity policies that triggered social unrest in past years. The previous government had sought to drive reforms pushed by King Abdullah to help reverse a decade of sluggish growth, hovering at around 2%, that was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts in neighbouring Iraq and Syria. Jordan, among the closest U.S. allies in the Middle East, hopes to get more donor aid to help ease the impact of regional turmoil and the Gaza war on its economy, officials say. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Andrew Heavens, William Maclean) Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce will face off in a TV debate on Halloween, ending a protracted conflict over whether the two candidates for U.S. Senate in Missouri would formally debate. Hawley, who is seeking his second term in the Senate, on Wednesday accepted an invitation from Nexstar Media Group, which owns several stations across the state, including Fox4 in Kansas City. Kunce on social media said he had previously accepted the invitation more than a week earlier. Fox 2 in St. Louis, a Nexstar station, reported that both candidates had agreed to the debate and that it would air on Friday, Oct. 31, less than a week before the Nov. 5 election. Hawley posted his acceptance on social media along with a copy of the invitation letter, which said the debate would air at 7 p.m. The debate will air simultaneously on Nexstar stations in Missouri. Thanks to @NXSTMediaGroup for offering to host a televised #MOSen debate broadcast statewide. I accept! Hawley posted. Hawley also attempted to goad Kunce, asking whether he would show up to the debate a reference to Hawleys effort to embarrass Kunce at the Missouri State Fair in August by confronting him at a breakfast event and demanding an impromptu debate. The two candidates argued for several minutes, surrounded by reporters, before separating. That came after Kunce had asked for several televised debates but Hawley had sought a debate at the fair. Kunce declined, citing a statement by the state fair that it was unable to host a debate. Kunce said on social media on Wednesday that Hawley has still refused to accept any other televised debate offers Ive called for 5. An Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey of 850 likely voters conducted last week found Hawley at 51% support and Kunce at 40%, with 8% either supporting someone else or undecided. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3%. The Stars Daniel Desrochers contributed reporting Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, left, confronts his Democratic challenger, Lucas Kunce, over who is ducking debates during a meeting Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, at the Governor's Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent). After weeks of tussling between the two campaigns, Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce are finally set to square off in a televised debate less than a week before voters head to the polls. The debate will air Oct 31 on Missouri Nexstar stations, including KTVI/KPLR-St. Louis, WDAF-Kansas City, KRBK-Springfield and KSN-Joplin and their digital platforms. It could be the only time the two main contenders for Missouris U.S. Senate seat share a stage. The Missouri Press Association has held a Senate debate every election cycle for years at its annual convention. Kunce is set to appear at this years debate on Friday in Springfield along with third-party candidates Jared Young and Nathan Kline, according to Mark Maassen, the press associations executive director. No word yet from Josh Hawley, Maassen said. Hawleys campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Fridays debate. Caleb Cavarretta, Kunces campaign manager, said in an emailed statement that Kunce agreed to Fridays debate because unlike Josh Hawley, Lucas respects the responsibility of a candidate and U.S. Senator to connect with folks they are meant to represent. This year, weve got two weeks of no excuse in-person absentee voting in Missouri so it would be great for voters to hear from Josh Hawley before then, Cavarretta said, but unfortunately he wants to hide out as long as he can before election day. Kunce initially challenged Hawley to five televised debates. Hawley, however, demanded a debate at the Missouri State Fair in early August. When State Fair officials said that was not possible, and that no one from Hawleys campaign had alerted them to the possibility of a debate, Hawley pushed for a debate hosted by the Missouri Farm Bureau, which has endorsed him in the race. Kunce said he would sign off on the idea as long as Hawley would formally agree to his suggestion of five televised debates, and the farm bureau showdown never materialized. Instead, Kunce and Hawley crossed paths at the Governors Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair, trading insults and demands for debates. In 2022, Republican Eric Schmitt also refused to participate in the press associations debate, only the second time since 1988 that a major-party candidate refused to attend one of the organizations forums. While Hawley is unlikely to attend, the two major candidates for Missouri governor will debate on Friday, Maassen said. Republican Mike Kehoe, Democrat Crystal Quade and third party candidates Paul Lehmann and Bill Slantz have agreed to participate in the gubernatorial forum, Maassen said. Both the gubernatorial and Senate debates will be moderated by David Lieb of the Associated Press, with a panel of journalists from around the state Lucas Presson of the Southeast Missourian, Christine Temple of the Springfield Business Journal and Alvin Reid of the St. Louis American. We are on a visit to Kalbajar with the diplomatic corps, departing from Naftalan, which had been on the frontline of Armenias military occupation for many years. After the anti-terror operation, access to Kalbajar, surrounded by mountains, has significantly improved through the Aghdara region. Azernews reports that Assistant to President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev wrote this in a post on X. He also mentioned his current visit to Sarsang Reservoir as well as newly inaugurated residential buildings, and industrial and cultural facilities in this liberated territory. In his post, H.hajiyev also shared videos regarding his visit to Sarsang together with the members of the diplomatic corps. The Chinese e-commerce landscape is dominated by PDD Holdings (PDD), Alibaba (BABA), and JD.com (JD). Using the TipRanks Stock Comparison Tool, Ill explain why I consider JD.com to be a Buy and a strong investment, while I also rate Alibaba a Buy but have a Hold rating on PDD. In the end, JD.com is the least risky investment and most favorable option for investors. PDD Holdings (PDD) Lets begin with why I consider PDD stock to be a Hold. PDD Holdings operates the Pinduoduo e-commerce platform and the Temu online marketplace. I have a Hold rating on this stock mainly because it emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its stock has struggled to keep pace with the broader market. So far this year, the companys share price has declined 32%, and the stock currently trades at just under $100. In terms of valuation, the stock is trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10, which may seem cheap and attractive at first glance. However, when examining the companys top-line performance, it becomes clear that the stock is trading at a high 2.8 times price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, which is three times the industry average. This discrepancy suggests that while PDDs valuation reflects strong growth prospects, there are concerns about whether these prospects will materialize. While it is true that Temu has been a top app in the U.S. since it launched in 2022, that success hasnt helped the companys financial results. PDDs second-quarter revenue fell short of expectations. Despite this, analysts project substantial revenue growth of 65.5% for PDD Holdings this year, potentially reaching $56.93 billion. However, the company faces significant risks. U.S. politicians are urging President Joe Biden to address de minimis trade loopholes, which could negatively impact Temus sales. PDD has warned that its operations could be materially and adversely affected if current tariff exemptions are removed. Is PDD a Buy, According to Wall Street Experts? Despite my Hold position on PDD, the consensus view among 13 Wall Street analysts is that the stock is a Strong Buy. There are 11 Buy, two Hold, and no Sell ratings on the stock. The average price target on PDD stock of $159.91 suggests a potential 68.34% upside from where the shares presently trade. Citigroup (C) analyst Alicia Yap, who has downgraded PDD to a Neutral rating, raises some concerns. She notes that PDDs global business may be negatively impacted by evolving external environment and non-business factors, and she sees the potential trade risks as significant. Read more analyst ratings on PDD stock Alibaba (BABA) My bullish view of Alibaba is based on the companys diversified business, decent growth, and solid cash balance. As the undisputed leader in Chinas e-commerce sector, Alibaba operates through Taobao and Tmall. Its ecosystem includes AliCloud, the logistics arm Cainiao, and Ant Financial. Despite the companys strong position in the marketplace, Alibabas most recent quarterly results fell short of expectations. In this years second quarter, Alibaba reported revenues of 243.24 billion yuan (about US$33.4 billion), a 4% annual increase, but below the expected 249.05 billion yuan. Fortunately, the company trades at a relatively low valuation of 9.7 times forward P/E and a P/S ratio of 1.6 times, which are better multiples than PDD stock. Alibabas cash position is another reason to like the stock. With $55.8 billion in net cash, equivalent to 27% of its $204.32 billion market capitalization, Alibaba has authorized a $31.9 billion stock buyback program, which will reduce the companys share count to the benefit of investors who own the stock. Is BABA a Buy or Sell? My bullish view of Alibaba is shared on Wall Street. Currently, BABA stock enjoys a Strong Buy rating among 16 analysts who track the companys progress. 13 analysts rate the stock a Buy, three rate it a Hold, and there are no Sell ratings. The average price target of $109.53 indicates potential upside of 29.33% for Alibabas stock. Jefferies (JEF) analyst Thomas Chong is particularly bullish on BABA stock. He says that he appreciates Alibabas clear strategy across different business segments and the completion of its dual primary listing in Hong Kong in August of this year. Read more analyst ratings on BABA stock Jd.com (JD) Last but not least is JD.com, the stock I am most bullish on. As one of Chinas largest e-commerce platforms, JD.com operates on a direct retail modelbuying products from suppliers, holding inventory, and selling directly to consumers. JD.com is less diversified than Alibaba and has slower growth than PDD. Over the last three years, JD has seen its revenue grow 8.9% per year, far behind PDDs 58.4% growth. Analysts expect only 6.2% sales growth at JD.com this year. So why am I bullish on JD? Largely because JD.com has a strong balance sheet with $28.8 billion in cash and minimal debt. This cash represents over half of the companys $42 billion market capitalization. Despite challenging macro conditions, it has consistently topped earnings per share (EPS) estimates for at least 20 consecutive quarters. This consistency, combined with its low valuationjust seven times P/E ratio and a P/S ratio of 0.27 timesmakes JD stock significantly cheaper to buy than Alibaba and PDD. Is JD a Buy According to Wall Street? Wall Street analysts are also bullish on JD.com. Twelve professional analysts give the stock a consensus Strong Buy rating. Nine out of 12 analysts have a Buy rating, while the other three rate the stock a Hold. There are no Sell ratings on the stock currently. The average price target of $38.09 suggests potential upside of 45.16% with JD.com stock. Barclays (BCS) analyst Jiong Shao is positive about JD.com, noting that despite a slowdown in net product revenue growth for the second quarter, the company saw an increase in general merchandise sales and significant improvements in gross and adjusted operating margins. Additionally, JDs $2.1 billion share buyback in Q2 of this year reflects the companys financial health. Read more analyst ratings of JD stock Conclusion JD.com Stands Out The strong balance sheet and discounted valuation make JD.com stand out as the preferred investment among this trio of Chinese tech titans. Alibaba, which I also rate a Buy, remains a solid long-term investment due to its diverse operations and robust financial position. While PDD Holdings offers the greatest growth potential, its stock trades at a much higher valuation compared to its peers and faces increased regulatory challenges that could impact its future growth. Therefore, I believe a neutral outlook is warranted for PDD Holdings. Disclosure The Trump-appointed judge who threw out the former presidents criminal classified documents case wasnt up-front about her own conflicts, and now the details of her backroom liaisons are beginning to trickle out. Judge Aileen Cannon failed to disclose that she attended a banquet at a conservative law school in May 2023 to honor the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, flouting a 2006 rule requiring judges to file formal disclosures when they attend seminars or conferences that could influence their decisions. But its not the only time that Cannon has failed to notify the public of her partisan behavior, according to ProPublica. In 2021 and 2022, Cannon took week-long trips for legal colloquiums sponsored by conservative judiciaries and hosted at an expensive resort in Pray, Montana, where rooms can cost upward of $1,000 per night. The retreats did not go reported until NPR reporters called Cannon out on the omission as part of NPRs national investigation into gaps in judicial disclosures. Judges administer the law, and we have a right to expect every judge to comply with the law, Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, told ProPublica. Cannon, who seemed determined to hold up the classified documents case at every possible opportunity, ultimately tossed the case in July on the basis that special counsel Jack Smiths appointment was unconstitutional. Smith is currently appealing the decision with the Eleventh Circuit. (William H. Pryor Jr., the chief judge of the Eleventh Circuit, was also at the May 2023 banquet, though he properly disclosed his attendance.) But her own future on the case isnt clear: CREW has asked the appeals court to intervene and replace the controversial judge on the critical case. If the government wins the appeal, they will be able to ask the court to assign a new judge to the casethough, ultimately, the future of the classified documents trial is contingent on the outcome of the November election. Should Trump lose, the case will move forward regardless of whether the government wins the current appeal. But should he win, Trump could use his presidential powers to wipe the federal case off the map. FILE - New York Knicks owner James Dolan, center, watches the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, April 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson, File) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A U.S. district judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit by a woman who alleged that New York Knicks owner James Dolan sexually assaulted her a decade ago and then set her up to be molested by jailed movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit filed by Kellye Croft in Los Angeles in January. Anderson said that Croft had failed to plausibly allege a commercial sex act in which she was paid for sex under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The judge also declined to hear her claims based on state and not federal law against Dolan of sexual battery and aiding and abetting sexual assault and against Weinstein of sexual assault and attempted rape. Croft's lawyers posted on X that they disagreed with the decision, saying it incorrectly interprets the federal sex trafficking law and undermines critically important protections for sex trafficking survivors, according to attorneys Meredith Firetog and Kevin Mintzer of Wigdor LLP. Dolans spokesperson, Mikyl Cordova, said in an email Wednesday that the lawsuit was a malicious attempt to assert horrific allegations" by what it called an unscrupulous law firm. Weinstein's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment but at the time of the January filing also dismissed Crofts assertions. According to the lawsuit, Croft was a licensed massage therapist in 2013 working on a tour for The Eagles in which Dolans band, JD & The Straight Shot, opened for the rock band. Dolan allegedly used his influence on the tour to repeatedly manipulate and pressure Croft to submit to sex with him, the lawsuit stated. It claimed Dolan orchestrated a meeting between Croft and Weinstein, a friend of his, in a hotel elevator in early 2014. She alleged in her lawsuit that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel room. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly or consent to being identified, as Croft has done. - This story has been updated to correct that comment on behalf of Dolan came from his spokesperson, not from law firm representing him. The Arkansas Supreme Court building in Little Rock. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate) A Pulaski County circuit judge agreed Wednesday to continue blocking the release of emails between an Arkansas Supreme Court justice and a former court employee. Judge Patricia James issued the preliminary injunction Sept. 6 in response to a complaint from Associate Justice Courtney Rae Hudson, who argued she is the custodian of her emails that Arkansas Business senior editor Mark Friedman sought to obtain in August via the states Freedom of Information Act. Friedman had asked the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Office of Professional Conduct for all communications after January 2023 between former OPC director Lisa Ballard and several individuals, including Hudson. OPCs acting director, Charlene Fleetwood, intended to respond to Friedman that the requested records are exempt from the FOIA, Hudsons complaint said, but five other Supreme Court justices overruled Fleetwood and said any responsive records should be released. The FOIA states that the custodian of a public record has administrative control over it, and such control over Hudsons correspondence belongs to her alone, not the AOC or the OPC, her complaint states. Her attorney Justin Zachary reiterated this argument to James at a Wednesday hearing, saying lifting the injunction would do irreparable harm to Hudson. James said she would grant Zacharys request to extend the injunction since attorneys for the four defendants did not object to the request. Attorney Peter Shults represents the AOC and its executive director Marty Sullivan, and attorney Paul Waddell represents Fleetwood and the OPC. Fleetwood took over OPC leadership after Ballard and two other employees left the office in short succession earlier this year. Ballards personnel file, which was obtained by the Advocate in May through a FOIA request, did not include a letter of resignation or list a reason for termination. Waddell and Shults both said they agreed with Hudson that their clients are not the custodians of her emails. They also argued that the sovereign immunity doctrine, which asserts the state cannot be sued in its own courts, bars their clients from litigation. OPC does not have administrative control over records its simply storing, Waddell argued. Additionally, OPC is funded by attorney licensing fees and other bar-related functions instead of state funds, which could shield its records from public access entirely, he said. 60CV-24-7576 AOC Sullivan motion to dismiss Shults filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss AOC and Sullivan as defendants. The relief Justice Hudson seekswhich is to stop the Arkansas Supreme Court from releasing certain recordscannot be obtained in an action against AOC, Shults wrote. In other words, since it is undisputed that AOC does not have control over the relevant records, whether an injunction is issued against AOC does nothing to resolve this dispute. James said she would not take up the motion to dismiss Wednesday but would instead allow time for the defendants to file responses to Hudsons complaint as well as for all parties to respond to a Sept. 10 motion to intervene from Friedman and Arkansas Business. Arkansas Business and Mr. Friedman have an interest in the application of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act to their FOIA request, which is not completely protected by any current party to this action, states the motion filed by attorney John Tull. Justice Hudson placed the defendants in an awkward position because she is a sitting Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court, and it is unlikely defendants will protect the interests of Arkansas Business and Mr. Friedman. Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball, center, spoke to lawmakers on July 30 about access to computerized records of child and elder abuse cases. Ombudsman Jonathan Grate is at left and Alexander Magera, general counsel in the auditor's office, is at right. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) Kentuckys Cabinet for Health and Family Services must give the office of the ombudsman read-only access to a computer system, iTWIST, that stores information about abuse and neglect cases, according to an agreement approved by Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd. The access must be granted by the end of day Thursday, Sept. 19, Shepherd said in a Wednesday ruling. He also requires a report on the status of that access within five business days. This comes after months of back and forth between Kentucky Auditor Allison Balls office, which now houses the ombudsman, and the Beshear administration. On Sept. 4, Shepherd ordered the dispute into mediation and told the parties to agree on a mediator or he would assign one. They agreed on retired United States Magistrate Judge James D. Moyer. The memorandum of understanding that Shepherd approved was signed by Jonathan Grate, the new ombudsman, and Eric Friedlander, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS). Balls office assumed oversight of the ombudsman from CHFS on July 1, thanks to a law enacted last year by the legislature, Senate Bill 48. Ball filed a lawsuit for the access in late August that named Gov. Andy Beshear, Friedlander and Ruth Day, the chief information officer of the Commonwealth Office of Technology. The ombudsman investigates and resolves complaints about agencies in CHFS, including protective services for children and elderly Kentuckians. Grate, the ombudsman appointed by Ball, cant do his job without access to iTWIST, (the Workers Information System), Ball previously told lawmakers. The parties differed in their legal interpretations. The cabinet said access to iTWIST was limited by state law to cabinet social service officials under Kentucky Revised Statute 620.050. The state auditors office said the ombudsman is covered under that statute despite moving from the cabinet to auditors office. In his latest ruling, Shepherd said the parties will work on legislation for the 2025 session to address the issue in statute. James Hatchett, a spokesperson for Beshears office, said todays resolution is similar to many offers made by the cabinet over the last several months to address the situation until the General Assembly can act. Throughout this process, the governor has agreed the ombudsman should have access to these records, but must do so in a way that complies with applicable state law, Hatchett said. Stephanie French, a cabinet spokesperson, said CHFS is happy with the resolution that allows the cabinet and ombudsman both to comply with the applicable law following months of significant disagreement on how the law applies to the iTWIST system. We look forward to working with the ombudsman in the upcoming legislative session if necessary, French said. In a statement, Ball said, While it is unfortunate that it required a lawsuit for the governor and CHFS to agree to restore the necessary iTWIST access to the ombudsmans office, I am pleased with todays outcome. The agreed order entered by the court today makes sure that the governor and CHFS can no longer stop the ombudsman from accessing iTWIST. They can no longer try to look over the ombudsmans shoulder while we fight to help people. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Judge orders new trial for Erik Maund in murder-for-hire plot after evidence mishandling This story was updated to add new information. A federal judge has ruled that Erik Charles Maund, who was convicted last year in a murder-for-hire plot that stretched from Austin to Nashville, will receive a new trial because of mishandling of evidence. The ruling, issued Tuesday, said that an "administrative mistake caused certain exhibits not admitted into evidence to be given to the jury as it began deliberations. The Court understands the gravity and impact of that mistake, as well as its impact on the parties, the victims, and potentially the publics view of the trial." Judge William L. Campbell in Tennessee wrote that the error was discovered this year amid media requests for evidence in the case. Erik Maund Austin businessman and estranged couple: Who was involved in an alleged murder-for-hire case? Maund is the grandson of Charles Maund, who began a prominent auto dealerships enterprise in Central Texas. Erik Maund was convicted of hiring several men to kill his alleged mistress, Holly Williams, and her boyfriend, Bill Lanway, in Nashville in 2020 after Lanway was accused of trying to extort money from Maund. The judge's decision to grant a new trial to Erik Maund is unquestionably the right one," his attorneys Sam Bassett and Perry Minton said in a statement to the American-Statesman. "We look forward to securing an acquittal on Eriks only remaining charge. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Erik Maund to get new trial in murder case after evidence mishandling This story was updated to add new information and photos. FORT PIERCE A jury Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of recommending Eriese Tisdale be put to death for killing St. Lucie County Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Morales in 2013. It took the panel of seven women and five men less than five hours to return a vote of 9 to 3 in recommending Tisdale be executed. The vote followed nearly three hours of closing arguments from prosecutors and the defense. For a judge to impose the death penalty, the sentence had to be recommended by a supermajority, or at least an 8-to- 4 vote by jurors. Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman will impose the final punishment during a hearing on Oct. 29. Sgt. Gary Morales. Tisdale, 37, showed no reaction when a clerk read aloud the verdict to a courtroom filled with relatives of Gary Morales, including his parents, brothers, wife Holly and two daughters. Several St. Lucie sheriffs deputies were also in court to see the verdict returned shortly before 5 p.m. On Feb. 28, 2013, Tisdale, then 25, armed with a Glock handgun, fired seven times at Morales during a traffic stop in Fort Pierce, striking the sergeant in the head, neck and arm. Morales, 35, was found dead inside his patrol car on Naylor Terrace, south of Edwards Road. He was belted to his seat and never fired his weapon. Prosecutors told jurors Tisdale murdered Morales to avoid being arrested because he was driving with a suspended drivers license and had a loaded gun in the car. Another sentencing, same result Its the second time a jury has recommended Tisdale be put to death. In 2015, a different panel of seven women and five men convicted him of first-degree murder of a police officer and other felonies. He was sentenced to death after the same jury voted 9 to 3 in favor of it, but his sentence was later overturned on appeal. Tisdale was being housed on Floridas death row when the Florida Supreme Court in 2018 ruled he must receive a new penalty phase proceeding because of changes in state law that at the time required a jury to vote unanimously in favor of death before a judge could impose the sentence. After court Tuesday, State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl, who prosecuted Tisdale in 2015, said he was somewhat shocked any jurors voted in favor of recommending Tisdale serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Law enforcement is under attack in this country, and we need to take a stand. Hopefully this case will send a message to the community, not only in our circuit, but across the state, that this type of behavior is not going to be tolerated against law enforcement, Bakkedahl said. We're going to seek the stiffest penalties, and we're going to seek death. Holly Morales (center), former wife of St. Lucie County Sheriff Sgt. Gary Morales, relaxes with her family after the jury recommended sentencing Eriese Tisdale to death by a 9-3 vote for the murder of Gary Morales, during the proceedings at the St. Lucie County Courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Fort Pierce. Outside of court, Morales loved ones hugged, and thanked prosecutors for their work during a week of jury selection and 10 days of testimony. Gary Morales brother Ken Morales said the family was happy with the verdict. This was like a kick in the gut again, doing this all over. So, we're happy now that its over, he said. I didn't have a doubt that it would come to this verdict again. His family hopes its the last time they see Tisdale in court, he said. These past three weeks have been a lot of emotion, bringing up a lot of everything that we wanted to leave behind and remember the good stuff with Gary, he said. It's been a rollercoaster, doing this all over again It was rough and I hope we don't have to do this again. After Mirman imposes Tisdales sentence, it will automatically be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. 'Took job seriously' Tisdales lead attorney, Assistant Public Defender Stanley Glenn said while they were disappointed the jury recommended a death sentence, we believe that the jury was given all the facts necessary to reach a decision regarding the appropriate sentence. The jury split of 9 to 3 and the amount of time it took to reach a verdict tells us that the jury took the job seriously and that they understood the gravity of the proceedings, Glenn said. Eriese Tisdale, turns to look at his mother Charmaine Tisdale, as the jury is questioned on their 9-3 vote recommending he be put to death for the murder of St. Lucie County Sheriff Sgt. Gary Morales, during the proceedings inside Judge Lawrence Mirmans courtroom at the St. Lucie County Courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Fort Pierce. Mirman is slated to impose a sentence Oct. 29. Tisdales mother, Charmaine Tisdale left court without commenting. His jury heard from defense mental health and medical experts who described his troubled childhood, including being born to a cocaine-addicted mother that later resulted in brain damage. Tisdales defense team called to the stand Tisdales mother, his maternal aunt, the woman he was living with in February 2013 and his young son, who was born after Morales murder. Over three days, the defense presented testimony from a neuroscientist, a pharmacologist, a neuropsychologist and a neuroimaging specialist to address the extreme mental and emotional disturbance Tisdale was experiencing at the time of Morales' murder. Jurors were told Tisdale was raised by a single mom in Palm Beach County and his father was in prison. In his teen years, two people close to him were murdered by gunfire and after that he started carrying a gun. He was anxious, had an addiction to marijuana and feared police, jurors were told. Tisdale did not testify. St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson, who was at the courthouse when the verdict was read, said Tisdale is getting the punishment he deserves. Our community, through the jurors selected, elected to impose the death penalty to Tisdale. If anyone's deserving of that, it's him, Pearson said. Our deputies go out there every single day and put their lives on the line. Let this be a clear message that the state of Florida, we have the death penalty. We have great prosecutors that are going to use it, and our system works. Old Stuart High School: Work begun on central place for artists and makers in Martin County Opinion: Stuart's loss on Brightline station should be Fort Pierce's gain Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Jury recommends death penalty for killer of SLCSO Sgt. Gary Morales Jury trial date set for Timothy Haslett in Jaynie Crosdale murder case KANSAS CITY, Mo. A date has been set for the murder trial of an Excelsior Springs man. Timothy Haslett Jr. will appear before a Clay County jury on December 1, 2025. He pleaded not guilty in July in 36-year-old Jaynie Crosdales murder. Haslett faces nine other charges related to accusations that he kidnapped another woman and held her captive for weeks. KCFD firefighter-paramedic dies after medical emergency According to charging documents, Haslett told that woman he killed two people. Kayakers found Crosdales body in a barrel on the Missouri River last summer in Saline County. Law enforcemetn spent months trying to find her, calling her a possible witness. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri Haslett was first arrested in the kidnapping and rape case in October of 2022 after a woman escaped from an Excelsior Springs home. Haslett was charged with counts related to rape, kidnapping, sodomy and assault. He will be back in court for a hearing on October 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 FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Pollsters and data scientists are all over the map on what to make of a new poll that finds Kamala Harris with a substantial lead over Donald Trump in two crucial battleground states. In Pennsylvania, which comes with 19 electoral votes, Harris leads Trump, 51 percent to 45 percentoutside the margin of error, according to the survey released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University. Last month, Harris had just a three-point lead. In Michigan, the poll has her leading Trump 50 percent to 45 percent with the candidates essentially tied in the third battleground of Wisconsin. Three crucial swing states wave a red flag at the Trump campaign, Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement. Political polling guru Nate Silver declared Wednesday to be a very good day of polling for the vice president. But the race is still a toss-up, he said. One caution is that Quinnipiac polls have been Democratic-leaning in recent years, he and fellow elections analyst Eli McKown-Dawson wrote. Longtime Republican pollster Frank Luntz threw shade at the meaning (or meaninglessness) of the new poll, suggesting to his social media followers that Quinnipiac may be overinflating its numbers. For what its worth, the @QuinnipiacPoll Pennsylvania poll had Biden up +8 in August 2020 and +13 in October 2020. (Biden won the state by +1.2) https://t.co/IHUVc3hN9v https://t.co/Jtqjvhyvsr Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) September 18, 2024 But Northwestern University data scientist Thomas Miller is leaning toward thinking Harris could win in a landslide in November. Harris continues to call herself the underdog and reminds supporters on the campaign trail that she isnt taking anything for granted. She told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes Leadership Conference on Wednesday afternoon that she expects a tough fight ahead. I thank you in advance for your work to register people to vote and get people to the polls, she told the crowd. But the poll does suggest Harris is in a strong position. Quinnipiacs Malloy said it shows Harris earning trust with voters on the economy and immigration, areas where Republicans have previously been favored. Likely voters now see little daylight, in most cases, between Harris and Trump on who can best handle those key issues," Malloy said. The poll was conducted between Sept. 12 and Sept. 16, in the days following the presidential debate, which even Trump supporters agreed Harris resoundingly won. She baited and laughed at Trump as he ranted about conspiracy theories involving Haitian immigrants allegedly eating pet dogs and cats. On Wednesday, Harris was still laughing about the former presidents performance. Im sure many of you saw the debate, she said as the crowd at the CHCI Leadership Conference cheered. On that point about the Affordable Care Actall based on concepts of a plan! (She chuckled as she put air-quotes around Trumps phrase.) Concepts, concepts! she exclaimed. Their Project 2025 agenda would pull our nation backward. 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. Vice President Kamala Harris trounced Donald Trump during their presidential debate last week. For more than 90 minutes Trump had almost no substantive responses to her interventions and rebuttals as he lied, prevaricated, and acted like a broken computer spouting out conspiracy theories and obvious lies from some of the deepest sewers of the right-wing echo chamber. Harris victory was so complete, and Trumps defeat so thorough, that the corrupt ex-presidents mouthpieces and other surrogates were basically forced to admit this reality. Of course, Trump who has shown himself to be an egomaniac and a narcissist, declared that he won. However, his actions suggest otherwise: Trump quickly declared that he would not participate in a second debate against Harris. In total, Harris crushing defeat of Donald Trump is best explained by what political scientist M. Steven Fish describes as a high-dominance leadership style. Fish is a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley and te author of Comeback: Routing Trumpism, Reclaiming the Nation, and Restoring Democracy's Edge. In this conversation, Fish details exactly how Harris used high-dominance leadership to defeat Donald Trump and why she and the Democrats must continue with that approach going forward to win the election. Fish also reflects on how the debate revealed, again, that Trump and todays MAGAfied Republicans and conservatives are really bullies and cowards who will fold when confronted directly and forcefully. Fish also predicts that if current trends continue Kamala Harris and the Democrats will defeat Trump and the Republicans on Election Day. Given these tumultuous last few weeks with two apparent assassination attempts against Trump, two conventions, Biden stepping aside and Harris now being the Democrats' presidential nominee and reversing the party's political fortunes (for now), how are you feeling? Im feeling better than I have in quite a while since it now seems possible that well be able to relegate Trump to the status of a historical oddity. That said, Trumpism will survive this election even if Donald Trump is defeated. The Democrats will have to win a string of national elections at least two or three in a row to force the Republicans to return to real conservatism. Weve got to be in this for the long haul. And the current race, of course, is a dead heat. Kamala Harris utterly crushed Donald Trump during their debate. It was the inverse of Bidens failure. And the debate seems like it was just part of the arc of the Democrats new approach. Crushed is the right term, and its exactly what needed to happen for Harris to launch her fast start in July and then build on her momentum since then, including during the debate. The Democrats have long been seen as more caring, more knowledgeable, more likable, and so on. Trumps main advantage has been that hes regarded as a stronger leader. You dont overcome that edge by throwing another rhetorical pity party for voters who are supposedly drowning in tears at the cost of a tankful for their Ford F-150s, nor by busting out another display of wounded indignation at your opponents insensitivity. You do it by showing youre tougher, more resolute, more confident, and more committed to your own ends than your opponents are. You also ostentatiously delight in driving your foes to distraction. Thats precisely what Harris and the Democrats started doing, and it is what has resurrected their prospects. There were many moments during the debate where I was literally yelling at the screen or commenting and doing play-by-play, as I was grinning and nodding. It was as if she were following the playbook I would have given her and that you spelled out in your new book Comeback. I have to ask: Do you know if Vice President Harris and her team read your book on high-dominance leadership? I have no way of knowing, but I can say that Im thrilled to see them doing just about everything I recommended in the book to overcome their dominance disadvantage, including many of the things you and I have discussed. At a minimum, what we have seen over the past two months is what scientists call a natural experiment, and the proof-of-concept is there: As soon as the Democrats shifted from almost a decade of abysmally low-dominance messaging to a higher-dominance mode, their fortunes improved overnight. And it was not just about Bidens withdrawal or Harris relative youth. When Biden stepped aside, she was running further behind Trump than Biden in the polls and many Democrats considered easing her aside in favor of a stronger candidate as key to the partys fate in November. In 2020 she ran an uneven campaign at best, and her tenure as vice president has been uneventful. Right out of the gate in late July, Harris brought an entirely new high-dominance, patriotic message, and she further upped her dominance and patriotism game at the DNC and the debate. Even her exuberance, which many people just see as a feel-good part of her style, is something I consider to be a crucial aspect of high-dominance messaging. The bottom line is that Harris and the whole party with her have suddenly flipped the dominance script. Trump repeatedly walked right into the traps and ambushes she set for him. When Harris talked about the crowd sizes she symbolically and psychologically castrated him, for example. It started with Harris going over to shake Trumps hand. Trump wasnt expecting it, and it was a move to get in his space. It showed she wasnt afraid of him. I agree, and then during the debate she scrapped the time-worn, fruitless Democratic practice of treating Trump mainly as a dangerous, imperious liar. Instead, she cast him as insecure, tiresome, and small. Playing on Trumps crowd-size obsession, she invited viewers to attend a Trump rally, telling them they would see the crowds thinning out early as bored spectators headed for the doors. A stammering Trump responded, We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics! and then launched into his conspiracy theory lies about how immigrants were eating peoples pets in Springfield, Ohio. Rather than just calling Trump a friend of dictators, she got deliciously derisive. She mentioned that It is well known that he exchanged love letters with Kim Jong Un and pointed out that If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. Turning to Trump, she said Americas enemies were rooting for him since they can manipulate you with flattery and favors. And that is why so many military leaders who you have worked with have told me you are a disgrace. Harris was not perfect. There were several times when she passed on delivering what could have become instant viral hits and lines for the ages that would have really put Trump away. Such lines are what get the most press coverage and are what we recall from presidential debates down through the decades. Harris talked to the audience and, as you mentioned, directly at Trump. Trump did not make eye contact with her. Again, he looked totally beaten and flummoxed. What do you think was going through Trumps mind? Trump must have known Harris was owning him. Harris command was plain for all to see. While Trump was talking, Harris often alternated between gazing at him with bemusement and then looking away with a breezy grin as if to avoid bursting out laughing. The split screen captured it all. They did it. They did the meme. pic.twitter.com/6lNvPUtiFy Joshua Reed Eakle (@JoshEakle) September 11, 2024 Still, she never condescended to or attacked Trumps supporters. In fact, she made the case that they would feel more at home in the Democratic Party than in the party of Trump. She mentioned the Republicans only to point out that she had the endorsement of hundreds who worked for George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. For Gods sake, Dick not to mention Liz Cheney endorsed her. She listed top Trump administration officials who concluded that Trump was a threat to the nation, reminding him that hed been abandoned by many of his own. It is no wonder he couldnt bear to look at her go after him. Here is another moment: A Freudian slip by Trump where he talked about ending the debate and going to the border right now. It appears that Trump actually did want to leave the debate. I was seriously wondering if he was going to come back out onto the stage after the commercial break/intermission. Trump definitely wanted to get of there. But his very lowest moment might have come when he walked into the situation room after the debate. Nobody who didnt know he got shellacked would have done that. Some journalists gathered around him to hear him toil and spin, but most just ignored the former and possibly future president of the United States and just kept milling around and chatting with each other. Sean Hannity finally swooped in to give Trump the fawning interview he was searching for. As soon as that ended, Fox anchors and guests canceled out Hannity as they mulled what an embarrassing night it had been for their man. As I watched it, I thought I even felt a pang of sympathy for all those Fox viewers who havent changed the channel since 2016 and had nowhere else to turn. The feeling didnt linger long, since I switched from FOX back to MSNBC to join the party. Trump has repeatedly shown that he is a racist and a white supremacist whose own nephew alleges he uses vile anti-Black slurs in private. He also reportedly calls Harris a bitch as well in private. Weve known such things about Trump for decades, and ever since he entered politics the Democrats have been responding with cries of hurt and disbelief: Did you hear what he said?! Then a smirking Trump coyly admits what a bad boy he is and repeats his slurs and slights but even worse. The Democrats keep taking the bait, and the liberal social media bubble swells with indignation Can you believe he said it again?! MAGA media then rolls out bemused reports of the liberals swimming in pique. Meanwhile, Trumps doing all the punching, and the Democrats are just reacting. That enables Trump to turn even his vilest moments into dominance flexes. Liberals and the rest of the decent, non-bigoted majority sulk in exasperation. This was quite literally the story of American politics between late 2015 and July 2024. Now its finally occurred to the Democrats that Trump and the Republicans are bullies and cowards who will fold if you hit back hard and fast. They started treating Trumps bigotry as weakness and insecurity rather than callousness. Trump and his ilk suddenly went from being terrifying, offensive, and heartless to lame, ridiculous, weirdo whiners. Finally, the Democrats wiped away their tears of frustration and burst out laughing. Harris irrepressible, gorgeous grin symbolizes the shift and sums it up perfectly. I cant get enough of it. My wife has taken to teasing me about how often I call the vice president things like enchanting. But shes crushing on Harris, too. Do you believe that Trump knows he was cowed and defeated by Harris in the debate? Or is he coming up with some other narrative to resolve the cognitive dissonance of being so humiliated before an audience of tens of millions by a Black woman? Hes desperately trying to create a new narrative for himself for precisely the reason you mention. To that end, and to the chagrin of Republican leaders, hes raging that he won the debate, returning with a vengeance to his claims he beat Biden in 2020, vaunting his warriors of January 6, and taking cues from Laura Loomer who said the White House will smell like curry if Harris wins. Mind you, this is someone Marjorie Taylor Greene called appalling and extremely racist. Trumps whole message now has an audience of one his own rattled self. Why? Because the Democrats are no longer standing back and proclaiming, Isnt Trump terrifying?! as he hogs the spotlight. Instead of marveling with dismay at how he gets away with it, the Democrats are finally peeling his Teflon off with their own hands. Consequently, I think more people are seeing Trump for what he iswhich of course only drives him crazier. This could depress turnout for Trump, even if it does not show up in the polls. After all, hes always been their revenge and nothing more. What good is he to them if the libs the libs! are owning him? It's important to remember that Trumps self-absorption runs so deep that his grasp on the reality of how others see him is often tenuous at best. This is a man who genuinely thinks Putin and Xi Jinping respect him and that Kim Jong Un loves him because thats what they tell him and thats what he wants to believe. (How I wish I could be a fly on the wall when Putin puts Trump on his muted speakerphone while surrounded by his guffawing cronies during what Trump thinks are their intimate man-to-man talks.) But Trump does feel it when people are laughing at himprovided, that is, they keep up the ridicule rather than recoiling when he slaps back. And like all bullies, Trump knows that once somebody finally decks him, his tough guy shtick and reputation as a winner can dissipate in an instant. Thats what he fears most now, and it helps explain why he seems to be going from merely off the rails to a headlong dash to la-la land. The Democrats high-dominance approach isnt just affecting voters perceptions; its driving Trumps meltdown as well. Trump admires dictators and tyrants. This aspect of how he thinks about leadership and the public and legitimacy needs to be explored much more by the mainstream news media and punditry. You are a Sovietologist. When Trump talks so fawningly about dictators, authoritarians, and autocrats how do you make sense of it relative to that political tradition and style of leadership? We know that Trump wants what they have absolute power, office for life, a press that cant scrutinize or criticize him, and the ability to turn the public treasury into his feeding trough. But I think theres more to it than that. Trump senses that the leaders of Americas democratic allies think hes a moron. Their media reports it too. Trump knows, for example, that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel dealt with him with their noses pinched between their fingers. Shortly after Trump was elected, French President Emmanuel Macron tried his hand at being Europes Trump whisperer and showed him some respect. But Macron quickly tired of the effort when it was clear it wasnt going to do France or Europe any good. Dictators are different. They can feign respect for Trump and prevent their media from spilling the beans. And they really do want him in office, since he discredits democracy in its most powerful stronghold, undermines American power in the world, and never calls out their atrocities at home. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. And dont forget this: Alone among world leaders in 2016, Kim Jong Un publicly endorsed Trump in his race against Hillary Clinton, and Vladimir Putin as much as did so. Practically every other leader of note loathed the prospect of a Trump presidency. Harris is right the dictators are rooting for Trump. Now think about what that means to a man who has never given a thought to anyone but himself. Does the apparent assassination attempt or whatever it turns out to be impact Harris' and the Democrats' pivot to high high-dominance leadership style? As you can imagine I have many concerns and worries here. Moreover, how can/should Harris navigate this and the predictable pivot by Trump and his propagandists to continue, now amplifying, their claims which are not true that this is somehow the Democrats' fault. It need not have any effect on the Democrats strategy, and I doubt it will affect the race. Harris should just condemn it in the strongest possible terms and move on. Contrary to what so many Democrats feared at the time, Trump got no bounce at all from the first assassination attempt. Part of the reason may have been that Trump squandered his chance to take advantage of it. It happened just before the RNC, and had Trump come out and given his speech at the convention with his ear bandaged and said nothing about what had just happened to him, he would have looked like a boss. Instead, he spent the whole first part of his speech recounting in rich detail how brave he had been, how much his ear bled, how he raised his fist in heroic defiance, and on and on and on and he came off looking like an egomaniacal whiner. And his conspiracy theories about Democrats being behind it just sound like all the other nonsense he spews. I doubt the recent apparent assassination attempt or whatever it was will move the needle at all. Were already past it. What must Harris do next with her campaign to maintain the momentum and pressure on Trump? What must she avoid? She must build on her newfound dominance advantage. That means staying on the attack and showing everybody what a great time shes having cleaning Trumps addled clock. It also means not getting bogged down in policy specifics but instead relentlessly pressing her broader vision of a better, greater, freer America that reclaims its place as the light and leader of the world. Harris should mention Trump only to ridicule and punch holes in him. Her central message should be about herself and her party about their past achievements and all the great things they have in store for the country. To that end, Harris should bear down hard on reclaiming the flag. That means casting herself as a mighty defender of the countrys national security, global preeminence, and the American way. The parts on foreign affairs in her DNC speech and the debate including Trumps subservience to Putin and her promise to preside over the worlds most lethal fighting force werent just foreign policy statements. They were her hardest, highest-dominance flexes, and they appealed to a far broader audience than she can hope to reach by talking about her differences with Trump on economic policy. This is an area where Harris can most readily appeal to centrists and real conservatives and where Trump is most vulnerable with these voters. Harris has to bear in mind, every minute of the campaign, that Americans are hungry for a real leader and powerful protector who will end the chaos not just a builder of roads and a deliverer of healthcare benefits. Harris also should unremittingly embrace the prosecutor-versus-felon frame. Its a great component of a high-dominance strategy and helps seize the law-and-order issue from the Republican goons who have wielded it to score dominance points for decades. In the debate, she said she and Tim Walz owned guns. Guess what? Trump, being a felon, is barred by federal law from doing so. I hate guns, but I still want to hear her say it. Debates and conventions do not determine the outcome of an election despite how many Democrats and others would like to believe that they do given Harris dominant performance and their enthusiasm for her. What do you think will happen on Election Day? Then what comes next? It all depends on what the Democrats do now. Harris has to be the news every day. For almost a decade, the Democrats have intentionally yielded the spotlight to Trump, hoping against hope that if they just stood back and let him be himself voters would finally turn against him. It didnt work. So now every time I log on to CNN or watch the news, I want to see Harris whether its a provocative statement, a memorable quip, some cool new idea, or just her gleefully making fun of and diminishing Trump. We must remember that the Democrats new strategy is less than two months old, and they could still revert to some version of their old risk-averse, defensive, passive, and weak messaging style. In that event, Trump might regain his footing, Harris will likely lose, and democracys days will be numbered. But if Harris pours it on and Democrats downballot follow her lead, she can win by 100+ Electoral College votes and the House can be taken back. Of course, Harris has to defend Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, but I think she should also pursue her own Southern Strategy and that includes investing in Florida as well as really bearing down in Georgia and North Carolina. Theres an abortion referendum on the ballot in the Sunshine State, and Harris launch of the Reproductive Rights for All bus tour in Palm Beach, Trumps hometown, was a good show. Forcing Trump to defend Dixie is the ultimate flex; it would throw him off what little game hes got left in a way that a hundred trips to Scranton cant. I can see it now: North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania report, and by midnight EST you and I can go to bed if we like, relieved and finally knowing for sure that well still have a democracy and the opportunity to have another election in 2028. Kamala Harris slammed former President Donald Trump on Wednesday over his plan for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. In a speech to Latino lawmakers, the Democratic presidential candidate derided the GOP plan to round up millions of people, suggesting that such an operation could have an unpredictable and wide-ranging impact on American life. Imagine what that would look like and what that would be. Hows that going to happen? Harris asked. Massive raids? Detention camps? What are they talking about? she added, shaking her head in disgust. Harris vowed that she would tighten security at the southern border, but also would grant an earned path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. She promised to protect so-called Dreamers, the children of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents. We can do both and we must do both, she declared. The 25-minute speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute marked the second day in a row that Harris has made explicit appeals to heavily Democratic constituencies. She answered questions Tuesday at a forum in Philadelphia hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists. Trump has repeatedly vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants if he wins the election, although he has not revealed any details. Last week, he said he would start the crackdown in Springfield, Ohio, the small city where he falsely claims Haitian immigrants have been stealing and eating the pets of their U.S.-born neighbors. The Haitian migrants in Springfield are here legally under a federal program called Temporary Protected Status, which allows them to temporarily live and work in the U.S. because conditions for them in Haiti are considered too dangerous. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, has pleaded with Trump to not follow through on his reported plans to make a campaign swing to the city, saying it would be too much of a strain and could further divide the community. Harris has forged a small but significant lead over Trump in polls of all voters since taking the Democratic baton from President Biden, who dropped out of the race in July after a disastrous debate performance. But among Black and Latino voters, Harris is still lagging somewhat behind the polling numbers posted by Biden and Hillary Clinton in their campaigns against Trump. Harris will need to rack up huge margins among both groups, especially in the seven battleground states, to overcome Trumps edge among white voters. Harris, 59, has mostly steered clear of reminding voters of the historic nature of her campaign to become the first Black woman president. Instead she stresses broader issues like her economic plan and the need to turn the page from Trumps rancor and divisiveness. The veep mostly hewed to that path again on Wednesday, stressing her middle-class upbringing and commitment to building an inclusive opportunity economy with new tax breaks for first-time homebuyers and small business founders. Harris also doubled down on her support for abortion rights, an issue that has proved very popular even among predominantly Catholic Latino voters. She touted the Biden administrations successful effort to force Big Pharma companies to negotiate lower prices for Medicare. A week after a debate most observers thought she won, Harris mocked Trump for claiming he only has concepts of a plan to deal with health care in a potential future administration. So on that point about the Affordable Care Act we planned concepts, a laughing Harris said as the crowd cheered. Concepts, concepts. _____ Retired Hawaii lawmaker fights order to pay maintenance fees for condo that burned down in Lahaina wildfires Retired Hawaii state senator Rosalyn Roz Baker is no longer living in the condo she once owned after it was burned down during the Lahaina wildfires last year. However, she claims thats not stopping the states Association of Apartment Owners (AOAO) from demanding that she continue paying for maintenance fees. Don't miss Car insurance premiums in America are through the roof and only getting worse. But 5 minutes could have you paying as little as $29/month Commercial real estate has beaten the stock market for 25 years but only the super rich could buy in. Here's how even ordinary investors can become the landlord of Walmart, Whole Foods or Kroger These 5 magic money moves will boost you up America's net worth ladder in 2024 and you can complete each step within minutes. Here's how Baker said she owned a ground-floor condominium at the Aina Nalu property in historic Lahaina, on the island of Maui, when the wildfires forced her to leave her home last August. The property was ultimately burned to the ground, leaving her with nothing. Now, shes accusing her condos AOAO of making demands for unpaid fees, to the point where she claims the group has hired an attorney to take on the issue and theyre charging her for that, too, to the tune of nearly $1,000. I never expected that something that was not caused by any of the owners would be used to really kind of entrap owners, Baker told Hawaii News Now. Im pushing back because looking at the property, theres no maintenance to be maintained. It all burned to the ground. Her AOAO did not provide comment to Hawaii News Now, stating that litigation was pending. The issue has not gone before a court, and no decision has been rendered in the case. A complex relationship According to the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, there are more than 1,800 AOAOs and Homeowners Associations (HOAs), affecting as many as 360,000 people living in more than 135,000 homes in nearly 2,000 Hawaii community associations. Some residents claim that these associations have used their power to overreach on their authority. In 2023, Nanakuli homeowner Heather Bedley faced a $50 fine from her HOA after her kids drew with chalk on a community-owned fence. From there, she said the fines increased for everything from a couple of landscaping fines that were silly, to a penalty for arguing with local children. She claims that, over time, her fines climbed to more than $1,300. Even though there are so many homeowners who work with an AOAO or HOA, state laws governing them have seen little changes over the years. Story continues According to Honolulu Civil Beat, two proposed laws regarding these associations one that would allow homeowners to cast absentee ballots for board members, and one that would create a state ombudsman to review issues between associations and homeowners both expired in the 2024 legislative session. Read more: Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Priorities shift to control costs The good news for those in a Hawaiian AOAO or HOA is that priorities are shifting to controlling insurance and maintenance costs. Bills signed by Hawaiian Governor Josh Green now allows these associations to access loans for building improvements, such as solar energy panels, air conditioning, and water pipes. Additionally, insurance costs have increased significantly in light of the Lahaina disaster. Both the industry and lawmakers are working together to determine what can be done about keeping homeowners insured at a rate that doesnt break the bank, including expanding hurricane relief funds to insure condos. Unfortunately, for those who continue to have issues with their AOAO or HOA over fines or fees, the state said they cant get involved. They claim to have no jurisdiction over homeowners associations, leaving peoples only recourse in civil court. The Real Estate Branch of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs recommends contacting the Hawaii State Bar Association for a referral to a lawyer who specializes in AOAO and HOA law. What to read next This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Kangaroo hangs out at Hardeeville shop before owners retrieve him HARDEEVILLE, S.C. (WSAV)A kangaroo went on an adventure to a Hardeeville shop before his owners came to pick him up Tuesday. Palmetto Wholesale Cars caught the kangaroo in action when he visited across the street from them. They said that the kangaroo was picked up by his owners shortly after they met him. SCDNR acquires 10,570 acres to protect critical habitat, public recreation In the state of South Carolina, you technically can own a kangaroo, unless in a municipality has banned them. South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin are the only states that allow you to own one without a permit. Palmetto Wholesale Cars said that the kangaroo and his owners live close by. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TOPEKA, (KSNT) The election season is heating up. Two Kansas Congressional candidates are clashing in the second district race. Its raising questions about residency requirements for candidates in Kansas. Democrat and former Congresswoman, Nancy Boyda, claims her Republican opponent and former Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt doesnt actually live in the district hes hoping to represent. Derek is using an archaic technicality in Kansas law, Boyda said in a press release this week. You only have to sleep at an address for one night, and then you can claim that as your residence (for voting purposes only) for as long as you would like. The ballot this November will declare Derek to be a resident of Independence. But lets be clear, he is NOT a resident of Independence. Schmidt has two homes that he owns. One is in Independence, which is part of the second district. However, the other home is in Lawrence. Due to new redistricting maps, drawn in 2022, Lawrence is no longer in the second district. Boyda said accused Schmidt of trying to play farmer, bringing up his 2022 loss in the gubernatorial race to Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. Kansas voters arent fooled by his attempts to play farmer, just like they werent fooled when he tried to play MAGA, during the governors race. she said. Kansans deserve a representative who is honest about where they live, who they are and what they stand for. Nexstars Kansas Capitol Bureau received a statement from Schmidts campaign spokesman, Eric Pahls, on Tuesday. Pahls blasted Boyda, pointing to her past record. After pretending to call for unity and civility, Nancy Boydas long string of political failures will end with her making up a fake story to attack Derek Schmidts family, he said. Its not effective its just sad. Derek Schmidt is the fifth generation of his family to live proudly in Independence, which has been his home his whole life, Pahls continued. Boyda desperately wants to distract from the fact that shes beyond thrilled by the prospect of Kamala Harris as President, that she said Joe Biden and his policies saved our country, and that her very first vote in Congress would be to make New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries Speaker of the House. Shes just out of step with Kansas second district. DO CANDIDATES HAVE TO LIVE IN THEIR DISTRICT? As for where state laws stand, Kansas Congressional candidates dont have to live in the district theyre running to represent. According to Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, Congressional candidates only have to live within their state. Additionally, states are unable to impose additional residency requirements for congressional candidates, because the qualifications listed in the Constitution are exclusive. According to Kansas law, the same applies for statewide candidates. People running for the office of secretary of state, attorney general, and governor, must be state residents. However, candidates running for the Kansas Legislature, seeking seats in the state House or state Senate, must reside in the district they are running to represent upon filing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Earlier this month, Kate Middleton announced that she had finished her chemotherapy treatment and hopes to begin carrying out a few more public engagements. And now, she has appeared in the Court Circular for the first time since then, with the diary revealing that she carried out a meeting at Windsor Castle yesterday. The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an early years meeting at Windsor Castle, the Court Circular in The Times Newspaper reads under details of royal engagements for Tuesday September 17. The newspaper prints the Court Circular each day detailing the following days engagements, and it was published online late last night in the UK. The meeting follows Kates announcement that she would gradually return to work but that her path to healing and full recovery is long. She has also made it clear that her focus is on staying cancer free. However, the Palace has tentatively committed her to attending the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph in November and to hosting her annual Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey. The Early Years is a major pillar of her royal work and she has forged strong relationships throughout a decade of convening and championing experts and organizations in the field. Kate, 42, has chosen not to disclose what kind of cancer she has. In a moving video in March she announced that it had been discovered following major abdominal surgery in January. Her latest announcement following the end of her chemotherapy treatment was accompanied by a moving video showing intimate scenes of the Wales family spending time in their Norfolk home. You Might Also Like Kathleen Fowke. Courtesy photo. Few companies have more at stake with the Minnesota Legislature and state regulators than electric and gas utilities, especially Xcel Energy. These regulated monopolies spend millions lobbying the Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission because state government writes and enforces environmental rules like the recently passed plan to mandate carbon-free energy while also determining what the companies can charge ratepayers. In Kathleen Fowke, the Republican candidate for a special Senate election in west metro District 45, the utilities would likely win a sympathetic ear. When Fowke unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2022, over 70% of the individual and lobbyist contributions to her campaign came from donors with ties to utilities, according to an analysis from the Energy and Policy Institute. Some of those same donors who gave to her two years ago have again contributed this year, including three current and former Xcel Energy vice presidents, as well as Great River Energy President and CEO David Saggau, who gave Fowke $1,000 in July. Fowke is married to Ben Fowke, who was Xcel Energys CEO from 2011 to 2021 and now serves as a senior advisor to American Energy Power one of the countrys largest electric companies, headquartered in Ohio. The energy industry has been lucrative for the Fowkes. In his last year at Xcel Energy alone, Ben Fowke made $22 million in total compensation. Fowke in a statement to the Reformer said her campaign donors know her and trust my work. She said will consider energy policy proposals with an open mind and support an all of the above energy plan, embracing all forms of clean, reliable energy. We can always do more to protect our natural resources, and I will be open to all options that make sense, Fowke said. Energy is too important to not demand a balanced, science-based approach. When asked about her husbands ties to the utility industry, Fowke said he will not influence her decision-making. While I am proud of my husbands leadership in the clean energy transition, my policy decisions will always be my own. I stand on my own two feet and will represent the best interests of this district, Fowke said. To suggest otherwise is partisanship at its worst. Minnesotans are tired of extreme politics; they want solutions, and I hope to be their voice. Republicans are hoping Fowke can win an upset in the special Senate election the sole state Senate race on the ballot in November to replace former Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, who resigned from her seat in June to run for Congress. Morrison beat Fowke by over 12 percentage points in 2022. The DFL candidate this year is former state Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart. With the Senate evenly split 33-33 between Democrats and Republicans, the Senate race is expected to draw millions in outside spending. Senate District 45 includes the western Twin Cities suburbs Minnetonka, Wayzata, St. Bonifacius, Orono and Excelsior. The Minnesota Legislature is a citizen legislature, meaning most lawmakers have another job since they only meet at the Capitol part-time. Lawmakers also are teachers, realtors, farmers and attorneys, meaning that they are often drafting policies that will directly affect their other occupation creating a conflict of interest. For example, Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, pushed for laws to change Minnesotas teacher licensing while he was employed at Education Minnesota, the states teachers union. Rep. Jessica Hanson, DFL-Burnsville, negotiated cannabis policy changes during this years legislative session while her partner registered a new cannabis business called Weed Girl, the Star Tribune reported last month. For Fowke, the potential conflict of interest when considering energy legislation would be stark, as she or her husband still owns shares in Xcel Energy, according to Fowkes economic interest statement. The Fowkes have a family fortune that derives directly from Xcel. Its difficult to imagine Kathleen Fowke deviating from the company agenda, or using her power as a legislator to hold this powerful monopoly accountable, said Karlee Weinmann, a researcher for the Energy and Policy Institute, a national utility industry watchdog organization. Weinmann also authored the EPI research on Fowkes 2022 campaign donations. Although lawmakers arent required to report their total wealth, public filings show Fowke would likely be among the Legislatures wealthiest members, if elected. Candidates are required to disclose all securities that they or their spouse individually or jointly hold that are valued more than $10,000. Fowke disclosed ownership in nearly 270 individual securities, meaning that at minimum she or her husband owns nearly $2.7 million in securities. They own securities in 3M, Ecolab, Target, Xcel Energy, General Mills, UnitedHealth Group, Amazon, Apple, Chevron, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson and Johnson, Meta, Philip Morris International and Tesla. The pair lives in a Tonka Bay home valued at $4.9 million, and they own a Naples, Florida, home valued at $6.7 million, according to Collier County, Florida, property records. Records show that in tax year 2024, the property taxes alone on the Naples home total over $67,000. The Minnesota Campaign Finance Board only requires that candidates report real property in Minnesota held by the candidate or their spouse. Jeff Sigurdson, Minnesota Campaign Finance Boards executive director, said state statute has long omitted declaring out-of-state property on candidates economic interest statements because if elected, Minnesota lawmakers dont have influence on policy decisions made in other states, so theres no potential conflicts of interest. Kathleen Fowke has also used the tax code to claim a legal homestead property tax exemption for a Plymouth townhome she doesnt live in and thats outside the district she hopes to represent. Her aging mother lives there. According to her economic interest statement, Fowke and her husband also declared ownership in a Minneapolis home valued at $383,000 and another valued at $347,000. The second Minneapolis property is declared as a residential homestead, and in tax year 2024 it qualified for a $6,010 market value exclusion, meaning the taxable market value of the home was reduced, which in turn reduced property taxes owed. The home is owned by an LLC that has the same name as the address, and a spokesperson for Fowke said she and her son co-own and operate it as an Airbnb. According to her latest campaign finance report, Fowke in July loaned her campaign $125,000. In 2022, she loaned her campaign $376,000, and that loan is still outstanding meaning her campaign currently owes her more than $500,000. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A new push to see what Kansas City neighborhoods want and need is looking for help from within the community. The KC Community Survey will be knocking on doors all over Kansas City during October 5-13 collecting information about crime, economic resources, social cohesion, and other services. This is going to be the first community survey of its type looking at different constructs from social disorder to cohesion to neighborhood activism, said UMKC Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology Dr. Marijana Kotlaja. Kotlaja says this work is based off similar surveys that have been conducted in other cities for decades, helping researchers chart how community programs and investments in them impact communities. Hundreds of gift cards stolen from Lees Summit store in scam investigation Its going to be like kitchen-table talk, said Janese Williams, who is going to be trained to conduct the interviews. Im talking to my neighbors, Im speaking to fellow residents in Kansas City about the problems that are plaguing all of us. Williams and roughly 30 other interviewers are getting ready to go door to door in 40 neighborhoods. Kotlaja expects the survey questions to take about 30-40 minutes to complete and people who participate will get a $50 gift card either in the mail or through email. Community interviewers wont be carrying the cards themselves. The survey will help determine the efficacy of Violence Prevention Fund investments around Kansas City over five years. A similar wave of surveys will happen in five years to see what has changed. When the survey is repeated, Kotlaja says the initial participants will be able to participate again. As weve been evaluating the different programs that are funded under violence prevention, we have really realized that we dont have a great baseline to assess some of the perceptions at the neighborhood level, Kotlaja said. She says she specifically wanted community members and not researchers having these conversations with their neighbors. We wanted the community to talk to each other, because we want the community to be able to identify what those key needs are, Kotlaja said. Community Interviewers will be paid $20/hour and will need to attend two paid trainings. Training Session 1 (2 Options): Saturday, September 21 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Onboarding & Research Human Subjects Training) Tuesday , September 24 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Onboarding & Research Human Subjects Training) Training Session 2 (2 Options): Saturday, September 28 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Survey Practice, Tech Overview, Neighborhood Assignment) Tuesday, October 1 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Survey Practice, Tech Overview, Neighborhood Assignment) Williams says shes hoping work like this addresses one of the biggest problems she sees regarding getting the right funding and resources where they can be the most effective. I think people want to be optimistic, people want to look on the brighter side, people want to look toward the future and have hope but, based on the past, theres not a lot to be hopeful for, Williams said. But, Williams says, projects like this one are a way to push back. Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android This gives a voice to the very nature of the problem and a lot of times, the answer to the problem is found right in the community thats affected, Williams said. They just have to have a voice for it. You can find more information about signing up here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. The Kansas City firefighter and paramedic who died following a training exercise on Tuesday has been identified as Kyle Brinker, 33. Brinker suffered a medical emergency around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday while participating in a Kansas City Fire Department training exercise. After his colleagues attempted to provide aid, Brinker was evacuated to North Kansas City hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. An 11-year veteran of the department, Brinker spent the majority of his KCFD career at Station 35 one of the busiest in the city, according to Kansas City fire Chief Ross Grundyson. A firefighter paramedic, Brinker was most recently assigned to the Technical Rescue Division at Station 35. This position placed him on the front lines at active fires, where Brinker communicated with fellow firefighters and made critical decisions while evacuating residents from burning buildings, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety. In a statement Tuesday, Grundyson described Brinker as someone who operated at the highest level of skill and compassion. He was a mentor and role model for many, exemplifying the qualities KCFD looks for in our uniformed personnel, Grundyson said. Brinker worked as a paramedic in Elizabeth Township, Pennsylvania, from August 2012 to September 2013, before joining the Kansas City Fire Department. Brinker attended Coastal Carolina University for marine science before studying fire science at Community College of Allegheny County. He later studied emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh after earning his certification as a paramedic in 2012. In posts shared online Tuesday, one of Brinkers co-workers described him as an excellent leader with a strong sense of humor. You didnt cower under pressure, the coworker wrote, addressing Brinker. You set an example that many people, myself included, looked up to. You showed the highest of qualities in every facet of life. You will always be a hero of mine. Brinker is survived by his wife, along with his brother, who is also a KCFD firefighter, according to Grundyson. Funeral arrangements are pending. In September 2022, we gathered in London for our fathers birthday, unaware that it would be the last time wed be together for this occasion in the next two years. Since then, neither we, nor our mother, have been able to be by his side. The reason? A heartbreaking turn of events: our father, Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, was illegally detained while visiting his own mother during the summer break, and now faces the possibility of a 17-year prison sentence. Our father is a distinguished scholar from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), who has been imprisoned in Azerbaijan since July 2023. He was arrested on baseless charges of producing, acquiring, or selling counterfeit money as part of an organised group. Since then, additional charges of extremism have been added so absurd that even the authorities seem unable to justify them coherently. In a desperate attempt to legitimise these political machinations, the regime resorted to even more sinister tactics: they abducted Fazil Gasimov, a PhD student from Turkey, and subjected him to brutal torture, all to force a false confession implicating my father in crimes he did not commit. Fazil managed to smuggle out a note revealing the horrifying truth: he had been tortured with electroshocks and threatened with sexual abuse unless he provided fabricated testimony against our father. Meanwhile, our fathers own treatment has been no less appalling. Subjected to constant psychological abuse, since his arrest he was kept under glaring lights 24/7, confined to a cell with violent criminals, and denied outdoor exercise a particularly cruel punishment, as he suffers from severe Type 2 diabetes. The toll on his health has been devastating. Make no mistake: Azerbaijans autocratic president, Ilham Aliyev, has long aspired to establish a totalitarian regime. In such a regime, voices like our fathers are seen as a threat. For years, the regime has sought an opportunity to imprison him due to his fearless publication of articles that criticised Azerbaijans oil and gas policies, exposing the governments scandals. For a dictator like Aliyev, silencing dissent is not just a priority, but a necessity. The opportunity to target our father came when he visited his ailing mother. Our fathers unlawful detainment has drawn widespread international condemnation, with governments including the United Kingdom, United States of America, and Germany publicly criticising his arrest. Numerous international organizations, including the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, have also issued official statements questioning the legitimacy of these actions. In a particularly strong move, the Council of Europe suspended Azerbaijans parliamentary delegation to its Parliamentary Assembly on January 25, 2024, citing the countrys deteriorating human rights record. The mounting international pressure has ultimately forced the Azerbaijani government to release our father from prison in April, under house arrest. However, as international pressure gradually subsided, so too did any hope for improvement in our fathers situation. On August 10, 2024, just days before his pre-trial detention was set to expire on August 20, he received a chilling phone call: his case had been frozen indefinitely, and he would remain under house arrest until further notice, essentially placing him in limbo with no end in sight for his criminal case, and no ability to leave his residence. It is evident that the Azerbaijani government intends to hold him as a political hostage. During a recent appeal hearing, our father asked how long this ordeal could last. The judges response was as cold as it was disturbing: Until his death, if needed. Sadly, this wasnt entirely surprising, given Azerbaijans rapidly worsening human rights record. Over the past year alone, the number of political prisoners has more than tripled, now totalling over 300. Our fathers case is not an isolated story of repression in Azerbaijan. It represents a broader, systemic attack on academic freedom, human rights and democracy in Azerbaijan. As his children, we fear for his life and well-being. But as global citizens, we fear for the future of a country where dissent is criminalised, and truth-tellers are silenced. We ask everyone to join us in fighting for our fathers freedom and for the values that he has championed: justice, transparency, and human rights. The clock is ticking, and every moment of inaction emboldens those who would destroy these fundamental rights. We hope that next year, we can celebrate his birthday with him walking free, and that his voice and all of those that are being unjustly silenced can be heard once again. 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. Sir Keir Starmers chief of staff received a pay rise after the election which means she is now paid more than the prime minister. The BBC has been told that Sue Gray asked for and was given a salary of 170,000 - 3,000 more than the PM and more than any cabinet minister or her Conservative predecessor. One source told the BBC: "It was suggested that she might want to go for a few thousand pounds less than the prime minister to avoid this very story. She declined." A government source close to Ms Gray said this claim was "categorically untrue" and she had "had no involvement in any decision on her pay". The decision has ignited a row within government over Ms Gray, whose report while a senior civil servant into parties in Downing Street during the pandemic contributed to the downfall of Boris Johnson. She then went on to work as a Labour Party adviser. Her wide-ranging role as the prime minister's chief of staff includes controlling access to the PM and helping to ensure the government's policies are put into action. Her Conservative predecessor Liam, now Lord, Booth Smith, who did the job under Rishi Sunak, was paid at the upper end of the highest pay band for special advisers, between 140,000 and 145,000 a year. The boost in Ms Grays pay comes after the prime minister signed off a rebanding of the salaries for special advisers shortly after taking office. The government says the rebanding was done by officials, not by Ms Gray herself, and her salary is not at the top of the new highest band for special advisers. News of Ms Grays pay rise, briefed to the BBC by a number of Whitehall sources, is the latest in a line of leaks about her which paint a picture of fractious relationships at the very top of government, just months into Labours tenure. "It speaks to the dysfunctional way No10 is being run - no political judgement, an increasingly grand Sue who considers herself to be the deputy prime minister, hence the salary and no other voice for the prime minister to hear as everything gets run through Sue," one insider told the BBC. The prime minister earns 166,786. One angry government insider branded Ms Gray's pay "the highest ever special adviser salary in the history of special advisers". Others in government speak passionately in Ms Grays defence and believe there is a misplaced and deeply personal campaign against her which is grossly unfair. A government source said "any questions should be directed at the process and not an individual". Asked about Ms Gray being paid more than the PM, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "Were very lucky to have Sue." Another cabinet minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC: "Sue has done an enormous job preparing Labour for government, and is now showing her customary drive to get Whitehall to deliver on Labours priorities. "She wont be distracted, she will carry on doing what she always does, focus on delivering the change that the British people voted for." Ms Grays salary has sparked such a row in government partly because other advisers believe they are being underpaid. Every cabinet minister has at least two special advisers, many of whom also worked with them in opposition. Then, they were paid by the Labour Party. Most were expecting pay rises upon entering government only to discover they would in fact be paid less. Many of the disappointed advisers blame Ms Gray specifically - although others insist that pay is a matter for civil servants. The majority of those on the committee within Whitehall responsible for special advisers pay and conditions are civil servants, but both Ms Gray and Morgan McSweeney, the prime ministers director of political strategy, are on it too. "Its bizarre," one furious adviser told the BBC. "Im working harder than ever in a more important job and they want to pay me less than the Labour Party was paying me when it was broke." These frustrations are not confined to junior advisers. A source claimed that the prime ministers director of communications, Matthew Doyle, was initially offered a salary of 110,000, significantly less than Ms Grays. This was later raised to 140,000, a figure in line with several of his predecessors doing the same job. There is no suggestion there was any anger internally over Doyles pay. Many special advisers worked for weeks without being shown a proposed employment contract, meaning that by the time they discovered what their salary would be they had essentially no choice but to accept it. Again, Ms Gray was widely blamed for the delay in formal contracts being circulated. Sue Gray worked for Labour when the party was in opposition [Shutterstock] When Ms Gray was hired as Starmers chief of staff in 2023 she was tasked with working on Labours preparations for government. Special advisers see the row over their salaries as a sign that the work was not carried out in enough detail. "If you ever see any evidence of our preparations for government, please let me know," one adviser said. When a new government is elected dozens of new special advisers arrive all at once. To ensure people are paid immediately, they were each put on a holding salary, while the new pay bands were worked through. Others questioned why the initial batch of ministerial appointments, which Ms Gray oversaw, took so long given the chief of staff had had months to plan. A minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, was not appointed until 18 July, two weeks after the general election. Successive Conservative governments also explored increasing the pay of special advisers, before concluding "the politics is wild", as one Tory source put it, of giving advisers pay rises when millions of households were struggling with the cost of living. Under both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, proposals for increases were fully worked up, we are told, "but they were rejected because they were seen as indefensible". Those in government now argue the pay of special advisers had become well out of step with others in Whitehall and needed to go up. But others still think Ms Grays pay is excessive. A Cabinet Office spokesman told the BBC: "It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay. "Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials not political appointees. As set out publicly, special advisers cannot authorise expenditure of public funds or have responsibility for budgets." The Conservatives said Labour had 10 questions to answer, including whether the prime minister personally signed off Ms Gray's new salary and the increase to the cap on the highest pay band. They have also asked whether a special adviser remuneration committee still exists and if Ms Gray is a member, as well as what role she played in setting her own salary and changing pay bands. [BBC] Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. Itll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday. SIOUX FALLS, SD. (KELO) The 437 Project gets underway this week. Its a 437-mile run across South Dakota from border to border to raise money and awareness about suicide. KELOLANDs Dan Santella is going to be one of 12 runners completing the journey to help raise money for the Helpline Center. SF therapist sentenced for illegal relationship with patient But Santella will be wearing something special along the way to honor those who have died by suicide. Every family is impacted in some way or another by a loved one struggling with mental illness, Santella said. This is the third year for the 437 Project. But itll be the first time KELOLANDs Dan Santella has run in it. Last year while reporting on the event, he met runner, Benson Langat, who wore a t-shirt bearing the names of suicide victims. I thought this year it would be really cool to honor people who lost their lives to suicide in a similar way, Santella said. Instead of a t-shirt, though, Santella will be wearing five different headbands with 24 names on each one throughout his five-leg journey across the state. Just to honor for example Ill just take a headband right here William, I dont know William but I know he mattered to people and to honor him this is for you William, Santella said. Santella, who is an avid runner, says although itll be difficult at times, hes ready to do his part to raise awareness about mental illness. He says looking at all the names on his headbands and meeting some of their families has been a humbling experience. Journalistically Ive found in recent weeks in doing different stories with families about having lost a loved one to suicide they are super eager to talk about these losses its therapeutic for them, Santella said. I think the biggest message if we can summarize it into one sentence is there is help out there. The runners will start on Thursday morning at the Wyoming border near Belle Fourche and wind up at the Iowa border on Sunday followed by a special event in Sioux Falls. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Kennewick council latest to toughen laws on illegal campers in city parks and more The Kennewick City Council on Tuesday threw out a rule that severely restricted how the city cracks down on illegal camping. The change to the city code passed unanimously, 7-0, and goes into effect in five days. It follows similar rule changes in Richland. The move is in direct response to Junes U.S. Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which affirmed the rights of governments to impose fines or criminal penalties for acts like camping or sleeping in public areas. Those penalties, the court ruled, do not violate Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. That Supreme Court decision overturned precedent in the Martin v. Boise decision, a 2019 Ninth Circuit Court ruling that had become the new normal for how cities and counties enforced homeless activities. That decision limited a municipalitys actions against someone camping on a public sidewalk, for example, if there was no available homeless shelter beds available for the person to stay at. The Tri-Cities is reportedly the only urban area in Washington without a so-called low-barrier shelter, defined as a place for homeless people to seek refuge without having to qualify, according to previous Herald reporting. This week, Kennewick eliminated a code originally passed in 2021 in response to the Martin decision but now city staff say the burden of providing proof of the availability of a bed is no longer required. The result of this ordinance thats proposed to council will just remove this additional hurdle, explained City Attorney Lisa Beaton. It doesnt mean that were going to go out there and be aggressive in reviewing cases for charges. Its just simply this is no longer a requirement for local governments to have in place. The amendment does not change the citys current process for clearing homeless encampments, according to council documents, but it does make it easier. Kennewicks current practice allows staff and police to remove any encampments or personal belongings from city-owned spaces if it results in an immediate or significant risk of harm to the public or passing vehicles, provided that a 72-hour notice is given to the individual. It is currently illegal to camp in any Kennewick right-of-way, along trails or in public parks, on publicly-owned parking lots, or on any property maintained or owned by the city. Any personal property recovered during an encampment sweep is stored by the city for a minimum of two months before its disposed of. Beaton said Kennewick doesnt have significant repeat offenders of their camping laws. Weve not charged anyone with a violation yet. We typically will first provide notice, remove the encampment and allow them to pick up their personal items, she said. Violations of the citys public camping laws are a misdemeanor, punishable by up to three months in jail or a $1,000 fine. An apparent homeless man sleeps on top of a metal electrical transformer box in 2022 at North Union Street near West Clearwater Avenue in Kennewick WA illegal camping laws This years Point in Time Count reported about 95 individuals were homeless in all of Benton County based on a count in January during a cold snap. However, a recent snapshot by the Washington state Department of Commerce of people engaged with various benefit programs showed more than 5,000 in the Tri-Cities are considered at risk of becoming homeless or are already unsheltered an increase of more than 400 from last year. Last school year, the Kennewick School District which also includes large swaths of unincorporated Benton County reported that nearly 450 of its students, or about 2% of its total enrollment, were homeless. And Kennewick police regularly team up with service providers to offer help to people living on the streets. Chief Chris Guerrero said their weekly outreach program on average contacts about 26 people and most are individuals theyve talked with before. Kennewick isnt the only city changing its laws in response to the Grants Pass case. In August, the Richland City Council made a similar change. Its ordinance helped lower the barrier for police and park rangers to enforce their 72-hour limit on camping on 5 square miles of public spaces. Lakewood, a city of about 62,000 in Pierce County with no shelter beds and a nominal homeless population, recently approved a ban on sleeping and camping in public spaces, according to the Seattle Times. That ordinance also allows police to remove camps and personal belongings with as little as 24 hours notice. Beaton says with cities adopting new laws around camping that its possible the Washington Legislature may step in during the upcoming 2025 session to try to codify portions of the Martin ruling into state law. Kennewick does not have any laws on the books prohibiting panhandling, but does restrict sitting and lying around downtown businesses during certain times. A city street sign posted on Kennewick Avenue near Highway 395, an area frequented by homeless panhandlers, encourages motorists to support local charities instead of directly donating to people on street corners. South African coal mining company Seriti Resources has announced plans to cut as many as 1,137 jobs across two of its opencast coal operations due to unprofitability. The company said that the MMS and Klipspruit South-East mines are not currently commercially sustainable. These mines require material restructuring to enhance unit costs and return to profitability. The decision to trim the headcount comes as Seriti faces challenges including poor performance from the state-owned rail company Transnet SOC, as well as market volatility. These factors have hindered the company's ability to capitalise on increased European demand for coal following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, reported Bloomberg News. Transnet's diminished coal transport capacity to South Africa's primary export terminal has led to the lowest inland coal shipment levels in decades, affecting sales. In response to these challenges, Seriti initiated a Section 189A process under the support of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). The process is expected to affect up to 1,241 roles with 1,137 employees potentially being laid off across MMS, Klipspruit operations and corporate services team. However, Seriti has reaffirmed its commitment to fulfilling coal supply agreements with Eskom Holdings SOC, local customers and the export markets. Seriti CEO Mike Teke said: We recognise that this exercise will negatively impact our workforce and local communities. We have not taken this step lightly. We will continue to engage openly and constructively with our employees and organised labour to ensure the best outcome for all concerned. MMS includes two open-cast mining operations Middelburg North and Middelburg South. "Seriti plans up to 1,137 layoffs at two South African coal mines" was originally created and published by Mining 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. Putting children through the harmful and discredited practice of conversion therapy has officially been outlawed in Kentucky after Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Wednesday. Beshear signed the order after similar legislation repeatedly failed in the Republican-dominated state legislature earlier this year. The measure prohibits minors from being subjected to the "therapy," and prevents state or federal funds from being used to bankroll the so-called care for youth. Lets be clear: conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science, and it has been shown to increase rates of suicide and depression, Beshear said in a statement. "This is about doing what is right and protecting our children. Hate is not who we are as Kentuckians. "Conversion therapy," also known as reparative therapy, is a debunked practice that attempts to forcefully change the gender identity or sexual orientation of the patient, which has often been compared to "torture" by its recipients and health care providers alike. Every major medical organization has denounced the practice, yet it has only been outlawed in 23 other states, according to the Movement Advancement Project. One state, Indiana, explicitly bans local ordinances outlawing the practice, and three others currently prevent the enforcement of bans. In Kentucky, 21 percent of LGBTQ+ youth reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy, according to the Trevor Project. Manager of State Advocacy and Conversion Therapy Campaigns Tanner Mobley said in a statement that "as a proud queer person who grew up in Kentucky, I am thrilled to see the governor take action to protect LGBTQ+ young people from conversion therapy an abusive practice that has harmed too many of us, for too long across the Commonwealth." "I have been working in coalition with others in Kentucky to end this dangerous and discredited practice in Kentucky for the past 8 years, and seeing this executive order signed into law is so meaningful," he continued. "While awful in its own right, conversion therapy is also a strong risk factor for suicide; research shows that LGBTQ+ youth who underwent conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide in the past year." "Thank you to the governor for fighting to end conversion therapy, and showing us that LGBTQ+ young people are welcome in this state, exactly as they are," Mobley said. Kentucky Republicans could still overturn the executive order with their supermajorities in both the state House of Representatives and Senate. Lawmakers banned gender-affirming care for minors as well as public school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity at all grade levels in 2023 after overriding Beshear's veto on what's been called one of the worst anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the United States. Chief Executive Officer at the Trevor Project, Jaymes Black, said that "as we continue to witness a historic wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills being introduced in states across the U.S., this executive order serves as a powerful reminder that LGBTQ+ youth have allies and leaders who support them in every corner of our country. "We are grateful to see this monumental step forward for protecting the health and safety of Kentuckys LGBTQ+ young people, and for the years of tireless advocacy from The Fairness Campaign and our partners and advocates on the ground in Kentucky," they continued. "Together, we will continue to build the safe, inclusive world that LGBTQ+ young people deserve. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during the first day of Democratic National Convention, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear banned the use of conversion therapy on minors in Kentucky on Wednesday, calling his executive order a necessary step to protect children from a widely discredited practice that tries to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. The governor used his executive powers after Republicans who control the state legislature repeatedly blocked efforts to enact a state law banning the practice. Beshear said he would no longer wait for others to "do whats right. My faith teaches me that all children are children of God," Beshear said during the signing ceremony at the Kentucky Capitol. "And where practices are endangering and even harming those children, we must act. The practice of so-called conversion therapy hurts our children. It was the latest action in a national debate over conversion therapy and the rights of LGBTQ+ children and their families. The Kentucky event stirred many emotions. Activists for mental health and LGBTQ+ rights cheered the governor, but as he prepared to sign the ban, someone nearby shouted, This is a denial of affirmation therapy! Supporters drowned out the protest. Among those in attendance was Zach Meiners, a 34-year-old filmmaker who said he wants young people to be spared the anguish and harm he endured during four years of therapy as a teenager, which caused him anxiety and depression in ways that Im still unraveling. I can speak firsthand to how devastating it can be to someones mental health," Meiners said in an interview. "And I consider myself very lucky to be a survivor. Republican state Rep. Killian Timoney shook Beshear's hand after the signing, and expressed support for the ban. But another GOP lawmaker, state Rep. Josh Calloway, said the governor had defied the will of the legislature, which isn't scheduled to reconvene until January. We are the lawmaking body, and laws should be made by peoples representatives, Calloway said. The Family Foundation, a socially conservative group in Kentucky, said Beshear's order tramples on the rights of parents and suppresses religious expression. It referred to the ban as an unlawful action, perhaps signaling a legal challenge. This order, like previous failed legislative efforts, is designed to promote false LGBTQ ideologies and muzzle Christian counselors, therapists and pastors from helping children struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity confusion, David Walls, the group's executive director, said in a statement. The ban runs roughshod over the First Amendment, said Daniel Schmid, a legal executive with Liberty Counsel, which describes itself as a Christian ministry. Anticipating such attacks, Beshear said his action does not force an ideology on anybody but "simply stops a so-called therapy that the medical community says is wrong and hurts our children. Democratic state Rep. Lisa Willner, who promoted a legislative ban, called the order a great step forward for the safety and mental health of so many young Kentuckians. The order also makes it illegal to use state or federal funds to provide the therapy on minors, and authorizes licensing boards to discipline professionals found to have practiced conversion therapy on minors. Such therapy has been discredited and is opposed by, among others, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, citing research that shows it leads to increased risk of suicide and depression. Nearly half the states and the District of Columbia prohibit conversion therapy on minors, Beshear's office said. In Kentucky, 21% of LGBTQ young people reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy, according to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people. Meanwhile, efforts are spreading across the country to curb the rights of LGBTQ+ kids and impose restrictions on gender and sexuality in classrooms, youth sports and medicine. Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, a Kentucky-based LGBTQ+ advocacy group, referred to conversion therapy as "not just snake oil but snake venom. Four years ago, Beshear became the first Kentucky governor to participate in the annual gay-rights rally at the statehouse when the legislature is in session. Last year, Republicans used transgender issues to attack Beshear, pointing to his veto of legislation banning transgender young people from having access to gender-affirming health care. Beshear said the measure eroded parental rights to make medical decisions for their children. GOP lawmakers overrode the veto, but Beshear won re-election later that year by a comfortable margin. On Wednesday, Beshear said he won't stop urging legislators to put the ban on conversion therapy into state law. It is not about politics at all, the governor said. "And to me, its not even about gender or sexuality. Its about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them. Hartman said the governor sent a clear message to Kentuckys LGBTQ+ youth and their families: "You are perfect as you are. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) took executive action Wednesday to ban conversion therapy for minors in the state, skirting the states Legislature, which has on multiple occasions failed to send similar bills to the governors desk. Conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science, and it can cause significant long-term harm to our kids, including increased rates of suicide and depression. This is about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them, Beshear said in a statement Wednesday. Kentucky cannot possibly reach its full potential unless it is free from discrimination by or against any citizen unless all our people feel welcome in our spaces, free from unjust barriers and supported to be themselves, said Beshear, the only Democratic governor of a Southern state. Previous attempts to ban conversion therapy a discredited practice that aims to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity in Kentucky have stalled or failed in the states Republican-dominated Legislature. Opponents of such measures argue they infringe on freedom of speech and religion and trample the rights of parents. The Family Foundation, a conservative Christian organization associated with Focus on the Family, which frequently lobbies against LGBTQ rights, said Beshears executive order is unlawful and clashes with the tenets of Christianity. This order, like previous failed legislative efforts, is designed to promote false LGBTQ ideologies and muzzle Christian counselors, therapists and pastors from helping children struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity confusion, David Walls, the groups executive director, said in a statement. Kentucky state Rep. Lisa Willner, a Louisville Democrat and psychologist who has introduced legislation to ban conversion therapy every year since her election to the Legislature in 2019, celebrated Beshears executive order in a statement on Facebook. Too many young Kentuckians have suffered and today we can breathe a collective sigh of relief that we will now have protections in place, and that young lives will be spared, Willner wrote, noting that the order comes during National Suicide Prevention Month, recognized annually in September. While conversion therapy is at least partially banned in more than half the nation 23 states and Washington, D.C., have outlawed the practice, and five states have limited bans in place enforcing bans can be difficult. LGBTQ youth across the country are still routinely subjected to conversion therapy practices, studies have found. Thirteen percent of LGBTQ teenagers and young adults in a survey conducted late last year by The Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization, said they had at some point been threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy, with transgender and nonbinary youth reporting a history of conversion therapy at higher rates than gay, lesbian and bisexual young people. A 2020 report by researchers at the Williams Institute, a public policy think tank focusing on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, found that 7 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults aged 18-59 in the U.S. have experienced conversion therapy, overwhelmingly from a religious leader. Those who were subjected to conversion therapy practices, including talk therapy, showed greater odds of having suicidal thoughts and attempts compared with those who had not experienced conversion therapy. An earlier William Institute report published in 2019 found that an estimated 698,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults in the U.S. had received some form of conversion therapy in their lifetime, including half who said they received it as minors. Major professional medical organizations have largely denounced conversion therapy, sometimes referred to as reparative therapy, as harmful and ineffective. Federal legislation to ban conversion therapy nationwide is backed by groups including the American Counseling Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science, and it can cause significant long-term harm to our kids, including increased rates of suicide and depression, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (at this summer's Democratic National Convention in Chicago) said Wednesday. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Kentucky on Wednesday joined nearly two dozen states in banning the controversial practice of "conversion therapy" as Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive action into law. The ban took effect immediately, but some observers say it could face a legal backlash. "Conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science, and it can cause significant long-term harm to our kids, including increased rates of suicide and depression," Beshear, a Democrat and son of another former Kentucky governor, said in a statement. "This is about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them," the two-term Democratic governor said about signing the executive order. America's foremost medical and mental health organizations oppose the practice of conversion therapy. Kentucky now joins the roster of 23 other states where conversion therapy is banned for minors, according to the LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project. "Kentucky cannot possibly reach its full potential unless it is free from discrimination by or against any citizen," Beshear added, "unless all our people feel welcome in our spaces, free from unjust barriers and supported to be themselves." "Conversion therapy," or "reparative therapy," is the controversial practice of changing an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, often in disguise as "counseling." Beshear's order makes it illegal to use state or federal funds to provide conversion therapy on minors. And it also empowers Kentucky's licensing boards the authority to take disciplinary action against licensees found to have practiced conversion therapy on minors. In Kentucky, 21 percent of LGBTQ+ youth have reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy, according to The Trevor Project, one of the world's foremost LGBTQ suicide prevention organizations. A Trevor Project official called it an "abusive practice" that "has harmed too many of us, for too long across the commonwealth." Kentucky last year banned gender-affirming care for minors, and public school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity at all grade levels after overriding Beshear's veto. "As a proud queer person who grew up in Kentucky, I am thrilled to see the governor take action to protect LGBTQ+ young people from conversion therapy," said Tanner Mobley, manager of state advocacy and conversion therapy campaigns. Lawmakers in Kentucky previously had reversed Beshear's 2022 veto to ban transgender athletes in women's sports. But Beshear's order signed Wednesday still could be overturned either in court or in the state's Legislature, which has Republican supermajorities in both the state House and Senate chambers. State Rep. Josh Calloway pledged to "file legislation on day one to stop this governor from pushing his harmful far-left agenda on struggling kids." "Why is @AndyBeshearKY determined to keep vulnerable children confused?" Calloway posted Tuesday on X. A state senator also was critical of Beshear's order, saying on social media that it "stands to chill and stigmatize Christian counseling in the midst of a mental health crisis." "Parents have the right to raise their children in a manner that is based on biblical standards and to help their children receive faith-based counseling," Kentucky state Sen. Robby Mills posted on X Wednesday. A Christian-based organization's leader claimed Beshear's executive order was "about muzzling Christian counselors and even pastors from helping children struggling with sexual orientation or gender-identity issues." "We continue to believe that parents and their children should be free to seek counseling that they desire to seek, including faith-based counseling," David Walls, executive director of the Family Foundation, another Christian conservative organization focused on public policy, told the Lexington Herald Leader. FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) A Kentucky lawmaker who was critically injured when the lawn mower he was riding plunged into an empty swimming pool has made progress in his recovery, a legislative spokesman said Wednesday. State Sen. Johnnie Turner was able to sit upright and communicate on Tuesday and continued to improve Wednesday, said Dustin Isaacs, a spokesman for the Republican supermajority in the Kentucky Senate. While he remains in ICU and in some pain, we are grateful for this positive progression, Isaacs said in a statement. Turner, a Republican from Harlan, was injured Sunday when he drove his mower into the deep end of the pool at his home, Kentucky State Police said. No details were provided as to what caused the accident. Turner was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. His family has requested prayers for his speedy recovery, Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers has said. Turner, an attorney, represents multiple counties in eastern Kentucky. He won election to the state Senate in 2020, ousting a Democratic incumbent with a nearly identical name. Turner defeated two challengers in the Republican primary in May, and he is being challenged by an independent candidate in the November election. Turner previously served in the Kentucky House from 1999 to 2002. Kentucky lawmakers are already starting to consider the big issues theyll tackle in 2025, and one high-profile issue from the past session still being debated is diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on college campuses. Lawmakers ended the session with a bill still on the table that would have eliminated most of those programs. In a meeting Tuesday, lawmakers wanted an updated picture of the landscape anticipating more action in 2025. I spent time during the summer talking with dozens of faculty, staff, and students. Many are on the front lines of these issues. Many who have different views about them, Dr. Eli Capilouto said. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Capilouto said it was based on these conversations that the decision was made to eliminate the University of Kentuckys offices for institutional diversity about one month ago. Capilouto said this also led to mandatory DEI statements, training, and fees ending. The estimated 1517 employees in the office had their roles redefined, but some lawmakers expressed skepticism about what those roles will do moving forward. Since youre not eliminating any positions, is my understanding? Will this just be a rebranding and re-shifting and moving to other programs and departments, these kinds of concepts, Rep. Steve Rawlings (R-Burlington) asked, referring to concepts like victim ideology, white privilege, and toxic masculinity. We are refocusing and making clear that were here to respond and serve everyone. Some of the things youve talked about may be a subject of inquiry in a classroom, a fair debate. But its not going to be part of trainings and things like that we do, Capilouto responded. LATEST KENTUCKY LISTS AND RANKINGS: Capilouto joined the presidents of multiple universities, including EKU, WKU, Murray State, and the University of Louisville, the latter two being the only institutions at the meeting to now operate a DEI-related 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 FOX 56 News. Kentucky religious conservatives are aligning against an executive order signed by Gov. Andy Beshear Wednesday that severely limits the practice of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is a discredited form of counseling described by the American Medical Association as a practice that often includes unethical techniques. It includes the assumption, the association wrote, that homosexuality and gender non-conformity are mental disorders and that sexual orientation and gender identity can be changed. Whether its attempting to poke holes in the orders constitutionality, expressing concern about Christian pastors being persecuted or decrying an alleged double standard on gender affirming care, the states politically involved Christian conservative leaders are unanimous in their opposition to Beshears action. The order Beshear signed Wednesday bans state and federal funds being used for the practice and limits it in other ways. The practice of so-called conversion therapy hurts our children. It has no basis in medicine, it has no basis in science, Beshear said when he signed the order in the Capitol rotunda. We cannot sit back and do nothing. Richard Nelson, executive director of the Commonwealth Policy Center, said that the policys inability to get through the state legislature is proof positive that the ban shouldnt be enacted. Currently, the state legislature is dominated by Republicans with four-fifths majorities in both the House and Senate. The legislative route has been tried, which is how we arrive at laws and public policy in the state, and theyve not garnered legislative approval. Theres a reason for that, Nelson said. He said he has concerns the ban on conversion therapy might abridge certain freedoms under the U.S. Constitutions First Amendment, including speech and religion. The exact constitutionality of such a ban has yet to be tested by the Supreme Court of the United States; the high court declined to hear a lawsuit over such a ban in Washington late last year, effectively leaving the ban in place. Chris Wiest, a prominent conservative attorney in Northern Kentucky said that suing against the order would amount to an easy lawsuit over separation of powers. Wiest has taken the Beshear administration to court before over various restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic. Wiest said hes already looking for plaintiffs, and that the state constitutions strong separation of powers would lead to a legal win. He cant just issue an executive order and prescribe law. This is really basic Con Law 101 stuff, and I think the governor knows it, frankly. Hes not stupid, but he gets the headlines and he excites the base, Wiest said. There could be backlash in the legislature as well as the courtroom. Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, pledged to file legislation on day one to stop this Governor from pushing his harmful far-left agenda on struggling kids. Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson, also denounced Beshears order, writing on social media that it stands to chill and stigmatize Christian counseling in the midst of a mental health crisis in the commonwealth. Other Christian conservatives cite fears within the church. David Walls, executive director of the Family Foundation, another Christian conservative organization focused on public policy, said that hes concerned about a chilling effect it could have on church leaders discussion of sexuality. Ultimately, this is about muzzling Christian counselors and even pastors from helping children struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity issues. We continue to believe that parents and their children should be free to seek counseling that they desire to seek, including faith based counseling. Vultures lead to discovery of remains in Kentucky woods believed to be I-75 shooter UPDATE: Vultures flying around an interstate exit in southern Kentucky led to the discovery of a body law enforcement authorities believe is Joseph Couch, accused of shooting five people from a wooded perch just off I-75 on Sept. 7. The remains will be sent to the State Medical Examiners Office in Frankfort for positive identification, and to determine the cause and manner of death. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] As reported Wednesday on News Center 7 at 11, Phillip Burnett Jr., Kentucky State Police commissioner, and John Root, Laurel County Sheriff, said they believe they are certain the remains are that of Couch. TRENDING STORIES: About 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, two troopers with the London Post KSP and two civilians, identified as Fred and Sheila McCoy, found the remains in deep brush behind exit 49 in Laurel County. Troopers had been in the area all day and noticed the vultures, Burnett said. While in the wooded area, they detected a strong odor of what appeared to be decomposing flesh but werent sure whether it was animal or human, he said. Troopers heard voices and asked the voices to identify themselves -- The voices were that of the McCoys, who advised the troopers they too were in the area searching for the suspects remains. Burnett said detectives were at the scene Wednesday night, continuing to process it as part of the investigation. Detectives also found other articles associated with the investigation, he said, declining to share details because of the ongoing nature of the investigation. He said the McCoys are to receive $25,000 in reward money -- $15,000 from Laurel County Crime Stoppers and $10,000 from a private donor. They were very cooperative and provided troopers with information, Burnett said. Saturday, we come out of here and seen a bunch of vultures up there, Fred McCoy told CBS. And, uh, what weve been looking for, if somebodys dead, there will be the vultures follow the vultures. And, uh, theres only about five or six and they were lighting on that tower up there. And, uh, we figured just a small animal where there was just so few of them. We come back, uh Sunday and Monday and, uh, more and more today there was about 50. " Sheriff John Root said, Now that this has been discovered, I hope our county can get back to normal, Sheriff Ruud said. He asked for prayers for Couchs family as well as for the victims. No one wished Couch to be found in the condition he was in, the sheriff said, noting that the goal was to capture Couch alive and have him stand trial. Time did help with this search, he said, noting that the extended period of no rain and temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s actually helped in the search. According to multiple reports on social media, YouTubers were watching the movement of the vultures as well. During a live stream, the YouTubers were able to locate a body and contacted KSP immediately. EARLIER REPORT: Kentucky State Police troopers have located a body in the vicinity of where suspect Joseph Couch is accused of shooting five people Sept. 7 on Interstate 75 in Laurel County. Trooper Scottie Pennington, KSP media relations, posted the update to social media Wednesday afternoon that said, in part, detectives are working to confirm the identity. The discovery comes one day after the U.S. Marshals Service named Couch a fugitive. Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear and KSP, along with local, state and federal partners, also announced plans to reallocate boots-on-the-ground resources out of Daniel Boone National Forest, where law enforcement already has searched 28,000 acres for Couch. The community of Couchs last known address has been searched as well, according to Beshear and KSP Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. The Laurel County Sheriffs Office is leading the investigation into the shooting incident. KSP will continue to lead search efforts through aircraft as well as cameras that have been placed throughout the forest. U.S. Marshal Jeremy Honaker has said Couch is considered a fugitive, and the federal fugitive task force will continue to provide resources to local and state agencies to aid in the apprehension of the individual. KSP continues to encourage anyone with information on the whereabouts of Couch described as being 5-foot-10 and weighing 154 pounds and who is considered armed and dangerous to call any of the following law enforcement agencies. Any and all information will be investigated. Laurel County Crime Stoppers is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to Couchs arrest. Anonymous donors have provided additional funds for a total reward of $35,000. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Actor Kevin Bacon encouraged his followers to cast their ballot in an impromptu video telling them to, V-O-T-E. Be a grown-up. There are people out there that dont want Americans to vote, Bacon said early in the recording. They dont want you to vote based on where you live or what they perceive your beliefs might be, or your age or even the way you look or the way you sound. He fondly recalled memories of voting with his mother in Philadelphia and waiting for the moment he could head to the polls by himself. Bacons words echoed the importance of each persons vote and highlighted efforts to prevent Americans from fully taking advantage of their right. Make no mistake, voter suppression, voter intimidation, these are fundamentally un-American things to do. So please, dont wave my flag at me and tell me that you are a patriot if you want to keep your fellow Americans from exercising their right to vote, Bacon said. He later added that this was a big election and told his fans to, Look at the calendar, see what youre doing and make a plan. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's lieutenant in Quebec will soon quit his post, La Presse newspaper said on Wednesday, two days after the ruling Liberals lost a safe Parliamentary seat in the province. Pablo Rodriguez, who is also transport minister, intends to announce on Thursday that he is running to lead the provincial Liberal party in Quebec, the paper cited sources as saying. He has been Quebec lieutenant since late 2019. Quebec, the second most populous of the 10 provinces, is crucial to the fortunes of the Liberals, who trail badly in opinion polls ahead of a federal election that must be held by the end of October 2025. The Liberals, who hold 34 of the province's 78 seats in the 338-seat House of Commons, narrowly lost a safe Montreal seat on Monday, putting more pressure on Trudeau. A spokesperson for Rodriguez was not immediately available for comment. Polls show Quebec's center-right provincial CAQ government trailing the separatist Parti Quebecois, which is promising to hold a referendum on breaking away from Canada if it wins the next election, which must be held by early October 2026. The Liberals are in third place. Local party officials say they are confident that as voters tire of the CAQ, they will switch to the Liberals rather than vote for separatists. (Reporting by David Ljunggren) Shell(LSE:SHEL) is navigating a dynamic environment marked by both opportunities and challenges. Recent highlights include robust financial health with adjusted earnings of $6.3 billion, alongside strategic exits and paused projects that underscore operational hurdles. In the discussion that follows, we will delve into Shell's core advantages, critical issues, growth strategies, and key risks to provide a comprehensive overview of the company's current business situation. Get an in-depth perspective on Shell's performance by reading our analysis here. LSE:SHEL Earnings and Revenue Growth as at Sep 2024 Strengths: Core Advantages Driving Sustained Success For Shell Shell's financial health is robust, with adjusted earnings of $6.3 billion and cash flow from operations reaching $13.5 billion, as highlighted by CEO Wael Sawan in the latest earnings call. The company is making significant progress against its four financial targets, demonstrating operational efficiency and strategic focus. Notably, in the Chemicals business, the full operational status of all three polyethylene trains at Shell Polymers Monaca underscores its innovation and operational performance. Additionally, Shell's LNG portfolio is expanding through increased liquefaction and third-party volume access, which further strengthens its market position. The company is currently trading below its estimated fair value (25.61 vs. 28.56) and is considered good value compared to peers, although it appears expensive relative to the UK Oil and Gas industry average. Weaknesses: Critical Issues Affecting Shell's Performance and Areas For Growth Despite its strengths, Shell faces notable weaknesses. The company's exit from the home energy business in Europe and the paused construction at the biofuels plant in Rotterdam highlight challenges in project delivery and competitive positioning. Furthermore, Shell's current net profit margins have decreased from 8.1% last year to 6.1%, indicating a decline in profitability. The company also experienced a negative earnings growth of -36.6% over the past year, contrasting sharply with the Oil and Gas industry average of -55.3%. For a more comprehensive look at how these weaknesses could impact Shell's financial stability, explore our section on Shell's Past Performance. Opportunities: Potential Strategies for Leveraging Growth and Competitive Advantage Shell has several strategic opportunities that could enhance its market position. The anticipated start-up of projects like Wale in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil's Mero-3, and Penguins in the North Sea represent significant expansion initiatives. These projects align with Shell's commitment to maintaining capital discipline and improving operational performance, as reiterated by CEO Wael Sawan. Additionally, Shell's focus on leveraging knowledge in innovative ways and maintaining a competitive advantage by targeting high-margin, low-cost operations could capitalize on emerging market trends. Learn more about how these opportunities could impact Shell's future growth by reviewing our analysis of Shell's Future Performance. Story continues Threats: Key Risks and Challenges That Could Impact Shell's Success Shell faces several external threats that could impact its growth and market share. Competitive pressures and economic cycles pose significant risks, as acknowledged by Wael Sawan. The company must navigate these cycles strategically to maintain its market position. Regulatory challenges also loom large, with final investment decisions on projects like Atapu-2 in Brazil and Sparta in the Gulf of Mexico potentially affecting operational dynamics. Additionally, Shell's unstable dividend track record could undermine investor confidence and shareholder returns. The structural OpEx reduction target, with $1.7 billion already delivered out of the $2 billion to $3 billion committed by the end of 2025, reflects ongoing cost management efforts but also highlights the scale of operational challenges ahead. Conclusion Shell's strong financial health, with significant earnings and operational cash flow, underscores its operational efficiency and strategic focus. However, challenges such as declining profitability and project delivery issues highlight areas for improvement. The company's numerous expansion projects and focus on high-margin operations present substantial growth opportunities, though it must navigate competitive pressures and regulatory hurdles. Currently trading below its estimated fair value (25.61 vs. 28.56), Shell is considered a good value compared to peers, though it appears expensive relative to the UK Oil and Gas industry average. This valuation suggests potential for future appreciation, contingent on the successful execution of its strategic initiatives and effective risk management. Have a stake in these businesses? Integrate your holdings into Simply Wall St's portfolio for notifications and detailed stock reports. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) A U.S. Army veteran facing multiple felony charges after a shootout with the Wichita County Sheriffs Office in the fall of 2021 has his bonds ruled insufficient less than three weeks ahead of his trial. Stand-off turned shootout on Turkey Ranch Road in October 2021 (Photo credit: KFDX/KJTL) Anthony Michael Kienlen, 38, of Wichita Falls, stands accused of 14 counts of attempting to commit capital murder of a peace officer, one count of criminal mischief, and one count of deadly conduct stemming from an incident on Turkey Ranch Road in 2021 when deputies said Kienlen opened fire on several members of the Wichita County Sheriffs Office. PREVIOUS STORY: DA files bond motion after reported suicide attempt by Anthony Kienlen Members of Kienlens family have previously testified that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his time serving in the infantry of the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and that the events of October 13, 2021, were an attempt by Kienlen to commit suicide by police. After spending over a year behind bars, Kienlen has been free on bond since November 2022, when his initial multi-million dollar bond was reduced to around $1.6 million. Following a reported suicide attempt by Kienlen on September 1, 2024, in which alcohol and THC were discovered to have been in his system, prosecutors filed a motion to have his bonds ruled insufficient. Bond hearing for Anthony Kienlen in the 78th District Court (Photo credit: Josh Hoggard, KFDX/KJTL) That motion was heard in the 78th District Courtroom on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, with Judge Meredith Kennedy presiding. Kienlen, who is currently undergoing mental health treatment at Red River Hospital, appeared for the hearing via Zoom. Paramedic, attending physician testify Dobie Kosub, Felony Chief for the Wichita County District Attorneys Office, called multiple witnesses to the stand, including a paramedic who testified he responded to a residence on Berwick on September 1, 2024. The paramedic testified that upon arrival at the residence, he was notified of a possible overdose. He testified that he discovered an unresponsive male, later identified as Kienlen, in the back bedroom. READ MORE: Kienlen drops lawsuit against sheriff, rangers, and judge According to the paramedics testimony, he was shown a picture sent to Kienlens ex-wife of a handful of pills in Kienlens hand. He testified that Kienlens ex-wife told him she was unable to contact Kienlen, so she drove from her home in Holliday, where she found him unresponsive. Attending physician testifies in a Bond hearing for Anthony Kienlen in the 78th District Court (Photo credit: Josh Hoggard, KFDX/KJTL) The paramedic also testified that he started an IV of saline fluids on Kienlen and used Narcan because he was showing signs of an overdose. He testified the Narcan was not effective, so he carried Kienlen from the residence and intubated him. Kosub then called Dr. Javier Delgado Gonzales, a physician with United Regional, to the witness stand. Dr. Gonzales testified that he is the nighttime attending physician at the hospital. He testified that in his opinion, it did not appear that Kienlen had overdosed. Kienlens bond supervisor takes the stand Kienlens bond supervisor, Officer Devon King, was also called to the stand. He testified that he is a former member of the U.S. military. King testified that a few months ago, Kienlen began working at Crunch Fitness, and since that time, he had stopped attending his counseling and mental health appointments due to his schedule. 78th District Court Judge Meredith Kennedy presides over Kienlens bond hearing (Photo credit: Josh Hoggard, KFDX/KJTL) King testified that he thought Kienlen just wanted to live a more normal life and move past some of the care aspects he had been undergoing in an attempt to return to a sense of normalcy. I think thats what he wanted, King testified. King testified that following Kienlens suicide attempt on September 1, he asked Kienlen what he would find in the results of the blood toxicology testing conducted at the hospital. He testified that Kienlen admitted to consuming alcohol and a gummy that contained THC. READ MORE: Anthony Kienlen released from jail on lowered bonds During cross-examination, Dustin Nimz, Kienlens defense attorney, asked King about his relationship with Kienlen. King testified that he was concerned for Kienlens mental health and wanted him to seek care. King testified that Kienlen had been regularly visiting a counselor and attending mental health treatment up until a couple of months ago, and testified that alcohols been involved in Kienlens suicide attempt, as well as the 2021 incident for which he faces 16 felony charges. Kienlens wife testifies on his behalf Abigail Kienlen in the gallery of Anthony Kienlens bond hearing (Photo credit: Josh Hoggard, KFDX/KJTL) After Kosub rested the prosecutions case, Nimz called Kienlens wife, Abigail Kienlen, to the stand. She testified that her husband had attempted to get back on medication for his mental health issues, but that it was on backorder, so he was unable to do so. Abigail Kienlen testified that she had brought up to her husband that his new job was getting in the way of his mental health treatment, and that she thought he believed he could handle his mental health on his own. READ MORE: Family seeks mental health care as Kienlen remains jailed Abigail Kienlen also testified that her husband has been drinking alcohol for the last several months, that he is an alcoholic, and that he needs to be in a program for alcohol abuse. According to Abigail Kienlens testimony, the positive test for THC in Kienlens system was due to a gummy they both took as a sleep aid. She testified she was unaware at the time that the gummy contained any THC, and that she would never knowingly take a gummy containing THC since her work conducts regular drug testing. Abigail Kienlen on the witness stand during Anthony Kienlens bond hearing (Photo credit: Josh Hoggard, KFDX/KJTL) Abigail Kienlen testified that following her husbands attempted suicide on September 1, he was committed to Red River and released three days later. She testified that her husband seemed positive after he was released from Red River, but after he expressed suicidal ideations, he agreed to check himself back into Red River for treatment. Abigail Kienlen became visibly emotional as she testified that she believed her husband would have committed suicide had he not checked back into Red River. With tears still in her eyes, Abigail Kienlen testified shed absolutely rather have her husband at home, but that its not where he needs to be right now. She testified he needed to be in treatment, and that hed recently been accepted into an alcohol abuse program with Warriors Heart. READ MORE: Judge rules Kienlen held for trial on 2 recent charges During cross-examination, Abigail Kienlen testified that she was also admitted to the hospital on September 1, 2024, following a suicide attempt. She testified she has a history of self-harm and that she suffers from anxiety and depression. Abigail Kienlen on the witness stand during Anthony Kienlens bond hearing (Photo credit: Josh Hoggard, KFDX/KJTL) Abigail Kienlen testified that she drank alcohol with her husband. Kosub asked if she thought it was wise to drink with an alcoholic, and Kienlen testified that she did not. She also testified that she was aware of her husbands bond conditions and that not drinking alcohol was among them. Abigail Kienlen also testified that she and her husband have a blended family, each with children from previous relationships. She testified that following the attempted suicides by herself and her husband, the children were taken to live with their other biological parents. Following Abigail Kienlens testimony, Nimz admitted two documents into evidence; a letter from Warriors Heart expressing that Anthony Kienlen had been admitted to an alcohol treatment program, and a history of his mental health treatment, dating back to 2001. Judge Kennedy makes decision, trial remains set Kosub argued that Kienlens bond should be declared insufficient due to the violations he admitted to committing. He argued that Kienlen should continue to receive treatment for his mental health, but that right after the conclusion of that treatment, he should be taken into custody. READ MORE: Family, friends of Kienlen testify on events leading to standoff Nimz argued that with the new updates in the case, the current specially set date of the trial, October 7, 2024, seemed unlikely. He requested that Kienlens bond conditions be modified so that he can receive treatment, and that he be fitted with a device that detects any alcohol in is system. Ultimately, I want my client alive for the trial, Nimz argued. After a brief recess, Judge Kennedy ruled Kienlens bond insufficient. She set his bonds back to their original amount, a total of over $7 million. However, she agreed to allow Kienlen to continue seeking treatment for his mental health. Judge Kennedy said she would instruct Red River to notify the Wichita County Sheriffs Office when Kienlens treatment program concludes so that they can take him into custody. She said she would also order Kienlen to turn himself in following the conclusion of his treatment should Red River fail to notify the Sheriffs Office. Despite the latest developments in Kienlens case, Judge Kennedy said there would be no delay in the start of the trial. 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. KILAUEA, Hawaii (KHON2) With eruptions that started over the weekend at Kilaueaa new third phase of the eruption a new fissure opened up early Tuesday morning. Officials said the new fissure is within the Napau Crater well to the east of Halemaumau. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You A new eruption series started over the weekend, and a new third phase of the eruption, a new fissure opened up just a couple of hours ago. And my background right now shows this new fissure thats within Napau Crater that we just confirmed with a helicopter overflight a few minutes ago, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Deputy Scientist-in-Charge David Phillips told Take2 this morning. Phillips said the location is somewhat unusual. Most of the activity in the last several years has been focused at the summit within Halemaumau. A couple of months ago though on June 3rd we actually had the first eruption outside of Halemaumau but it was south of the caldera to the southwest and now were on the completely other side of Kilauea on the eastern side. These current eruptions are coming out of the east rift zone in fact the middle east rift zone. Kilauea eruption resumes, volcano alert raised from advisory to watch Were told the eruption is in a very remote location in the park with no good viewing areas to see the lava. Not at the present time, Phillips said. The eruption is in a very remote location in the park and there are no good viewing areas to actually see lava at this time, although people may see the plume, some of the gasses that are being erupted, and smoke from burning vegetation from a distance. As of Tuesday morning, Phillips said there is no immediate threat to any residential areas. There could be some airborne hazards. For example some of the vog, some of the gas emissions. Currently, the wind conditions are blowing away from the communities. Thats something to always be aware of during eruptions like this, The HVO team will be out in the field Tuesday to learn more about the eruption. A big part right now, the current phase of this eruption began before sunrise. Now that the sun is up were out in the field and doing overflights and collecting data, and determining exactly where the eruptive activity is concentrated right now. This is the third phase of an eruption that started Saturday night. That one lasted for a couple of hours. We had a break, we restarted up again last night now again this morning. So a lot of our work today and in the coming hours will be to characterize what is this eruption doing, and what it might do, Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. KINGSBURG, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Police say two Kingsburg girls were the victims of the Texas man indicted for the sexual exploitation of two minors. According to the Kingsburg Police Department, 49-year-old Thomas Henry Lopez of Houston inappropriately communicated with two girls from Kingsburg, ages nine and eleven, via social media between June and July. Police say Lopez first contacted the children through TikTok and continued to communicate with them through the encrypted app JusTalk. He told the girls he was a 12-year-old boy and asked them to perform sexually explicit conduct and send him the recording of themselves which they did. The DOJ says Lopez also sent the children images of adults and minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and images of himself masturbating. 49-year-old Thomas Henry Lopez With the help of the Central California Internet Crimes against Children and the Fresno FBI office, Kingsburg detectives flew to Texas and served a search warrant on Lopez and his residence. Lopez was not home, but several electronic devices were recovered as evidence. Authorities say they were able to locate Lopez at the airport, just before he was about to board a flight to Singapore. Lopez was arrested on-site on federal charges for the production, distribution, and reception of child pornography. He has been indicted on two counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of distribution of a visual depiction of a minor in sexually explicit conduct, and one count of transfer of obscene material. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 | News from CBS47 and KSEE24. What we know about firm linked to Lebanon pagers The Lebanese government says 12 people, including two children, were killed after thousands of pagers used by the armed group Hezbollah exploded. BBC Verify has been looking into a firm called BAC Consulting, which has been linked to the production of the pagers - despite the devices bearing a different manufacturer's name. A short while after the explosions took place on Tuesday, unverified images of two damaged pagers surfaced on social media. In the photos, the word Gold and a serial number starting either AP or AR was visible. This indicated that a Taiwanese company - Gold Apollo - could have been involved in the pagers' manufacture. However, the firm put out a strongly worded statement denying any involvement, saying: This model is produced and sold by BAC. Social media photos of a damaged pager led to Gold Apollo being identified. The firm denies any involvement. [BBC] BAC Consulting is a Hungarian-based company which Gold Apollo says had permission to use its brand through a licensing agreement. BBC Verify has accessed BACs company records, which reveal it was first incorporated in 2022 and has a single shareholder. It is registered to a building in Budapest's 14th district. As well as BAC, a further 13 companies and one person are registered at the same building. However, our search of a financial information database does not reveal that BAC has any connections to other companies or people. The same database shows no trading information about BAC. For example, there are no records of any shipments between it and any other firms. However, BAC's website, which is now inaccessible, previously said it was scaling up its business in Asia, and had a goal to "develop international technology co-operation among countries for the sale of telecommunication products". According to records, BAC had a net turnover of 256,996,000 Hungarian Forint ($725,000; 549,000) in 2022, and 210,307,000 Hungarian Forint ($593,000; 449,000) in 2023. A company brochure, published on LinkedIn, lists eight organisations BAC claims to have worked with - including the European Commission and the UK Department for International Development (DfID). BBC Verify has approached all the listed organisations for comment. The UK Foreign Office - which has taken on DfID's responsibilities - told us it was in the process of investigating. But based on initial conversations, it said it did not have any involvement with BAC, despite the firm's claim. BAC's website listed one person as its chief executive and founder - Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono - and does not appear to mention other employees. The founder of Gold Apollo, Hsu Ching-kuang, denies that his firm made the pagers [Getty Images] BBC Verify has learned she graduated from the University of Catania with a physics degree in 2001. According to her LinkedIn profile, she also holds PhDs from two London universities. Her professional profile also states she was a board member of the Earth Child Institute (ECI) - an international non-profit organisation. However, it told us that Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono "is not and never has been an official member of the Earth Child Institute board of directors". The ECI said that she was introduced to them in 2017-18 and there was an exchange of emails "to explore if and how she could support ECI". However, "no one at ECI has not been in contact with this person in the years since 2018 and there is no current connection with her". Elsewhere, Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono was listed as chief sustainability officer on the website of an organisation called Eden Global Climate Impact Group. However, this section of the website has now been removed. We have made several attempts to contact Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono, but have been unable to reach her. NBC has reported it had spoken to Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono, who confirmed her company worked with Gold Apollo. However, when asked about the pagers and the explosions, she said: "I dont make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong." The BBC has called BAC a number of times, but there is no answer. A spokesperson for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said the exploding pagers were "never" in Hungary. Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary, government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Separately, Bulgarias national security agency has said it is investigating the links of another company to the sale of the pagers. While the agency has not named the company, Bulgaria's main TV channels were told that only money - rather than goods - was transferred. The value of the transactions was reported to be worth 1.6m (1.3m), with the most recent one going to Hungary. BBC Verify will continue to update this story. [BBC] What do you want BBC Verify to investigate? [BBC] What we know about the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria Thousands of people were injured across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday by an Israeli covert operation that remotely detonated pagers, ABC News sources confirmed. A source described the attack as a "huge operation" that took between six and 12 months to plan, involving the use of informants and collaborators. Explosives were implanted inside the beepers, the source added. The pagers each contained about 1 to 2 ounces of explosives, according to a source familiar with the attack. The attack killed at least 12 civilians -- among them an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy -- according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad. At least 2,800 people were injured, Abiad said. More than 460 people underwent surgery for serious injuries, the minister added. Most victims are suffering from eye and facial injuries, while others suffered injuries to hands and fingers, he said. An ambulance rushes wounded people to a hospital in Beirut on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images) (Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images) The Hezbollah militant group confirmed that 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though did not specify the manner of their deaths. At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hezbollah vowed a "reckoning" for Israel. Leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to speak on the situation on Thursday afternoon. The pagers began exploding around 3:30 p.m. local time, according to Hezbollah officials. An intelligence source familiar with the situation told ABC News that Israel has long been working to perfect this type of "supply chain interdiction attack." MORE: Israel behind pager explosions, sources say, as Hezbollah vows 'reckoning' Responding to media reports that the explosives were concealed inside its AR-924 pager model, Taiwan-based beeper maker Gold Apollo told ABC News it was not responsible for the design or manufacture of the item. "According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC," they said. ABC News has contacted BAC for comment. The company is based in Budapest, Hungary. Hungarian authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary, according to a Hungarian government spokesman. It has one manager registered at its declared address and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary. During further investigations, Hungarian national security services are cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organizations. The government added the devices pose no national security risk to Hungary. Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) (Hussein Malla/AP) The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned "this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards." It added that "the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime." The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon called the operation an "extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context," in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General. MORE: Israeli defense officials at odds with Netanyahu over Hamas, Hezbollah cease-fire conditions The White House, State Department and Department of Defense all emphasized at briefings that the U.S. was not involved and was not aware of this incident," specifically referencing the pagers exploding. Israel indicated to the U.S. that it intended to carry out an operation targeting Hezbollah prior to the pager explosions, but did not share information about the tactics of the plan or its scope, according to one U.S. official. The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization. ABC News' Morgan Winsor, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller, Ghazi Balkiz and Helena Skinner contributed to this report. What we know about the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria originally appeared on abcnews.go.com What to know about the pipeline fire burning for a third day in Houston's suburbs FILE - A massive pipeline fire burns after a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve near Spencer Highway and Summerton on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in La Porte, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) DEER PARK, Texas (AP) A pipeline fire that forced hundreds of people to flee their homes in the Houston suburbs burned for a third day Wednesday, with officials saying they don't expect it to be extinguished until sometime Thursday evening. Officials said residents who had to evacuate would be allowed to return to their homes starting Wednesday evening. Authorities have offered few details about what prompted the driver of an SUV to hit an aboveground valve on the pipeline on Monday, sparking the blaze. Here are some things to know about the situation with the pipeline fire: What caused the fire? Officials say the underground pipeline, which runs under high-voltage power lines in a grassy corridor between a Walmart and a residential neighborhood in Deer Park, was damaged when the SUV driver left the store's parking lot, entered the wide grassy area and went through a fence surrounding the valve equipment. Authorities have offered few details on what caused the vehicle to hit the pipeline valve, the identity of the driver or what happened to them. The pipeline company on Wednesday called it an accident. Deer Park officials said preliminary investigations by police and FBI agents found no evidence of a terrorist attack. Deer Park police won't be able to reach the burned-out vehicle until the flame has been extinguished. Once the area is safe, the department will be able to continue its investigation and confirm specifics, city spokesperson Kaitlyn Bluejacket said in an email Wednesday. The valve equipment appears to have been protected by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. The pipeline's operator has not responded to questions about any other safety protections that were in place. Who is responsible for the pipeline? Energy Transfer is the Dallas-based owner of the pipeline, a 20-inch-wide (50-centemeter-wide) conduit that runs for miles through the Houston area. It carries natural gas liquids through the suburbs of Deer Park and La Porte, both of which are southeast of Houston. Energy Transfer said the fire had diminished overnight and was continuing to safely burn itself out on Wednesday. Energy Transfer also built the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been at the center of protests and legal battles. The companys executive chairman, Kelcy Warren, has given millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. What's being done to extinguish the fire? Energy Transfer said its crews were working Wednesday to install specialized isolation equipment on both sides of the damaged section that will help extinguish the fire. Once the equipment is installed, which could take several hours of welding, the isolated section of the pipeline will be purged with nitrogen, which will extinguish the fire, company and local officials said. After that, damaged components can be repaired. The safest way to manage this process is to let the products burn off, Energy Transfer said. Late Wednesday afternoon, Deer Park officials said repair work on the pipeline to help speed up the process to put out the fire wasn't expected to be completed until 6 p.m. on Thursday. Once finished, the fire was anticipated to be extinguished within two to three hours. How have residents been impacted? Authorities evacuated nearly 1,000 homes at one point and ordered people in nearby schools to shelter in place. Officials said that starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, residents in Deer Park and La Porte who had to evacuate would be allowed to return to their homes. A portion of a highway near the pipeline would remain closed, officials said. Hundreds of customers lost power. Officials said Wednesday afternoon that only two customers remained without electricity in the Deer Park and La Porte area. Repairs to all of the power distribution lines affected by the fire had been completed. Deer Park's statement said Energy Transfer was prioritizing the safety of the community and environment as it implements its emergency response plan. We appreciate the patience and understanding of all residents during this ongoing situation, Deer Park officials said. By late Tuesday, about 400 evacuees remained, and some expressed frustration over being forced to quickly flee and not being given any timeline for when they will be able to return. We literally walked out with the clothes on our backs, the pets, and just left the neighborhood with no idea where we were going, said Kristina Reff, who lives near the fire. That was frustrating. What about pollution from the fire? Energy Transfer and Harris County officials have said that air quality monitoring shows no immediate risk to individuals, despite the huge tower of billowing flame that shot hundreds of feet into the air, creating thick black smoke that hovered over the area. Houston is the nations petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight, and some have been deadly, raising recurring questions about industry efforts to protect the public and the environment. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) A Knoxville man is facing multiple charges after he was accused of pretending to be a security guard at the Tennessee Valley Fair and attending a concert, according to court records. Luke Power Jones, 31, was charged with criminal trespassing, impersonating a licensed professional, and theft up to $1,000. According to a general sessions docket narrative, Jones went to the Tennessee Valley Fair wearing black pants, a black leather duty belt, and a black T-shirt with security written across the front. Twice as many arrests made at 2024 Fall Rod Run than 2023 Jones allegedly entered the gate without paying the entry fee under the false pretense that he was a security guard, and then walked up to the sold-out Zach Top concert, the narrative states. According to the narrative, Jones reportedly was able to get behind barricades, through private doors and onto the back stage of the event, telling staff members that he was there working security at the event. Investigators said Jones left before he was detected. KCSO: Suspect in custody after pursuit ends in crash An officer located Jones on Magnolia Avenue near Bertrand Street and detained him on Sunday, Sept. 15. The officer then interviewed Jones at the fairgrounds, and Jones reportedly claimed to the officer that he was a licensed security guard but was unable to provide and the name or phone number of the security company he worked for, the docket states. His security shirt, duty belt, and handcuffs were confiscated, the docket states. He is expected in court on October 3. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) A Knoxville woman has been sentenced to serve more than eight years in prison after she pled guilty to hiring a hitman to kill the wife of a man she met on Match.com. According to the Department of Justice, Melody Sasser pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for hire. Sasser was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison, followed by supervised release for three years. She was also ordered to pay more than $5,289 in restitution to the victim. Clingmans Dome name change proposal approved, Kuwohi name restored to Smokies mountain The DOJ states that Sasser admitted to using the dark web-hosted site known as the Online Killers Market for the purpose of hiring a hitman to murder an Alabama resident. While communicating with the site, she gave them photographs and the location of the victim, and requested that the killing appear to seem random or accident. Or plant drugs, do not want a long investigation, the DOJ said. The DOJs release continues to explain that Sasser used the internet to transfer nearly $10,000 in cryptocurrency to the would-be assassins, but the plan was unsuccessful. Police searched Sassers home and found a journal listing out several other hitman websites, a handwritten account of her communication with the Online Killers Market, and a stack of money underneath a sticky note listing a Bitcoin address. Lawyer explains implications of Florida sheriffs viral perp walk video Previously, 6 News reported that a complaint dated May 11, 2023 explained that the special agent investigating the case discovered that Sasser and the victims husband had met on Match.com, and had been hiking friends in Knoxville before he moved to Alabama and later got engaged to the victim. Sasser was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2023, and pleaded not guilty to the charges against her later that month. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday described as "dangerous" comments by Jens Stoltenberg, the outgoing head of NATO, that a decision by the West to allow Ukraine to use Western long-range weapons to strike Russia would not be a red line that would prompt an escalation by Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows into Russia to limit Moscow's ability to launch attacks. In an interview with The Times published on Tuesday, Stoltenberg dismissed a warning by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week that letting Ukraine use such weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory would mean the West was directly fighting Russia. "There have been many red lines declared by him before, and he has not escalated, meaning also involving NATO allies directly in the conflict," said Stoltenberg, whose tenure as head of the military alliance ends in October. "He has not done so, because he realises that NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world. They also realise that nuclear weapons, nuclear war, cannot be won and should not be fought. And we have made that very clear to him several times." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Stoltenberg's remarks were dangerous. "This ostentatious desire not to take seriously the Russian president's statements is a move that is completely short-sighted and unprofessional," said Peskov. Stoltenberg's position is "extremely provocative and dangerous," Peskov added. A senior NATO military official said over the weekend that Ukraine would have good military reason to strike deeper into Russia using Western weapons. Kyiv's allies, including the United States and Britain, are currently discussing whether to give Kyiv a green light to do so. Senior Russian politicians and foreign policy hawks have suggested that Moscow could respond with nuclear weapons. The head of Russia's nuclear testing site said on Tuesday that his facility was ready to resume testing "at any moment." Russia has the world's largest nuclear arsenal. In the course of the war, Washington and its allies have increased military aid to Ukraine in ways that were unthinkable when it started, including by providing tanks, advanced missiles and F-16 fighter jets. That has prompted some Western politicians to suggest Putin's nuclear rhetoric is a bluff and that the U.S. and NATO should go all-out to help Ukraine win the war. Zelenskiy has said Ukraine's incursion into Russia, launched on Aug. 6, makes a mockery of Putin's red lines. (Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Trevelyan) Kremlin offended by NATO's dismissal of Putin's threats over long-range strikes on Russia Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, has stated that NATO's refusal to take Vladimir Putin's statements seriously regarding the supposed consequences of allowing Ukraine to attack Russian territory with long-range Western weapons is "provocative and dangerous". Source: Interfax-Russia; Kremlin-aligned news agency RIA Novosti Quote from Peskov: "This ostentatious desire not to take the Russian presidents statements seriously is a completely short-sighted and unprofessional move." Details: According to Peskov, "this position is extremely provocative and dangerous". Background: Earlier, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that giving Kyiv permission to use long-range weapons for strikes on Russia would imply the direct involvement of Western countries in the war. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the decision to allow Ukraine to launch long-range strikes on Russian territory would depend on individual allies. He also stressed that there are always risks in war, but the biggest risk for Europe is a Russian victory in Ukraine. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also responded to Putin's threats, saying that it was the Russian leader who started the war in Ukraine and he could end it straight away. The EU stated that Putin's threats would not change the European Union's position on supporting Ukraine. Support UP or become our patron! Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. Thanks to the company's dominance in the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market, its quarterly revenues and profits have been climbing at triple-digit percentage rates year over year. The company also boasts a gross margin of over 70%. The market has responded to these amazing results by bidding the stock up by more than 2,400% over five years. In fact, the stock climbed so high that the company engaged in a stock split this spring to bring its price down from more than $1,000 to about $120 -- a move designed to make it easier for retail investors to buy in. All of this sounds great, but current shareholders and potential investors remain worried about one thing -- future growth. Competition in the AI chip market is on the rise, and some are concerned that Nvidia's pace of growth will start to taper off as cheaper options become more widely available. But a recent shocking move by Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison actually signals that Nvidia still has enormous growth ahead, and should ease investors' fears. Image source: Getty Images. The GPU's speed and efficiency First, a quick summary of Nvidia's path so far. The company makes graphics processing units (GPUs), a type of chip that processes multiple tasks simultaneously. Originally, GPUs were largely destined for use in the video gaming market, but it became clear that their speed and efficiency made them valuable for a host of other computing uses. As companies over the past few years have turned their attention to AI, which demands precisely the sort of high-speed parallel processing power that GPUs can bring to bear, Nvidia took center stage -- and the rest is history. Today, companies have some choices when they need high-powered chips to launch an AI program or set up a data center -- other players, from Intel to Advanced Micro Devices, make rival AI chips to power such tasks as the training and inferencing of AI models. Some companies, such as Meta Platforms, are even making some of their own chips to power their AI workloads. This is why investors' biggest worry about Nvidia right now is the growth of competition in the market. Now, let's consider the recent move made by Musk and Ellison. The two billionaires took Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang out for dinner and "begged" him for more GPUs, according to a report in Fortune. Ellison said he and Musk said to Huang, "Please take our money." Why would a pair of powerful CEOs have to beg for GPUs instead of just ordering more? Demand is still surpassing supply even as Nvidia works nonstop to keep up with it. But instead of turning to other suppliers, Ellison and Musk decided to talk with Huang and plead their case. Story continues The early stages of an AI build-out Now let's consider what this means for Nvidia. First, it shows that the company's revenue growth should continue at a high level -- Ellison, Musk, and others are still in the early stages of their AI build-outs, and everyone hopes to reach the finish line first with a winning AI product or platform. So, demand for AI chips is going strong. Next, and the most important point here, is that Nvidia doesn't have to worry about the competition yet. Yes, some companies are building their own chips in addition to using Nvidia's -- but demand is so high that at this point, Nvidia can't meet 100% of everyone's needs, and its customers have recognized this and planned ahead. In other instances, less expensive chips may be just fine for certain tasks. But, overall, what Ellison and Musk did illustrates exactly how important Nvidia's GPUs are in the AI landscape -- and the fact that major companies would rather beg Huang for more than turn to rival hardware. This is excellent news for Nvidia's shareholders today, and considering its strengths in innovation, it's good news for those who plan to hold onto the stock for the long term, too. Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, 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 Nvidia 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 $715,640!* 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 September 16, 2024 Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adria Cimino has positions in Oracle and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, Oracle, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Intel and recommends the following options: short November 2024 $24 calls on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This Shocking Move by Elon Musk and Larry Ellison Signals Enormous Growth Ahead for Nvidia (and Should Eliminate Its Shareholders' Biggest Worry) was originally published by The Motley Fool Kyneddi Millers death should spur law changes during upcoming special session, some lawmakers say Kyneddi Miller, 14, was found in April in an emaciated state in her grandparents home in Boone County. (Courtesy of WCHS-TV) In Boone County, Del. Josh Holstein said the death of 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller still weighed heavily on his community. Law enforcement discovered the girls body in a skeletal state on the bathroom floor of her Boone County home in April. A criminal complaint said she hadnt eaten for months. People just cant believe that it was allowed to happen that there wasnt a check up on this child, said Holstein, R-Boone. West Virginia Watch learned that Kyneddi was pulled from public school in 2021 to be homeschooled by her mother, who was indicted alongside two grandparents on Tuesday for murder in connection with the girls death. None of the required documentation tracking Kyneddis school progress was ever submitted to the local school board. Gov. Jim Justice and other state lawmakers earlier this year said that the Legislature should promptly examine tightening the states homeschool reporting regulations in order to prevent future tragedies. At one point, Justice said he might call a special session focused on the issue. But as the governor has planned a special session for this month, the issue hasnt yet been brought up. A spokesperson for Justice did not respond to questions for this story. Something obviously has to change. You cant keep letting this happen, Holstein said. State education data released after Kyneddis death showed that 57% of the homeschooled students submitted the required documentation by deadline. The number dropped to 37% for students presumed to be in 11th grade. Holstein would like to see lawmakers have a chance during the special session to again vote on a bill known as Raylees Law, which in its latest version would pause or potentially deny a parents request to homeschool if a teacher has reported suspected child abuse. The House of Delegates approved the amendment in February; it failed to be taken up in the Senate. Holstein stressed that it wasnt a homeschooling regulations bill, but rather, it focused on improving child welfare. I think thats a good step we need to sign it into law, he said. While the legislation may not have helped in Kyneddis case, amendment sponsor Del. Sean Fluharty, D-Ohio, stressed that the current homeschool laws permitted a loophole for children to be removed from school to hide abuse and neglect. The legislation is named for Raylee Browning, an 8-year-old girl who died of abuse and neglect in 2018 in Fayette County after her parents withdrew her from school. The risk remains the same: we will see more headlines of our laws being taken advantage of by people who have ill intent. The first thing an abuser wants to do is hide children from a mandatory reporting requirement, Fluharty said. Jim McKay, state coordinator for Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia, supported Raylees Law. There needs to be a balance between parents making decisions about their childrens education and having common-sense protections to ensure that children are not pulled out of school to impede an investigation for their safety, he said. Fluharty was doubtful that Justice would include the bill on his special session call, which hasnt been released. The session, so far, is likely to focus on the governors plans for a state income tax cut and child care tax credit. As more and more reports come out that show the Legislature has failed to act, all we get in response to that is a bunch of press conferences saying were going to work on it, Fluharty said. Schools face challenges following up on missing homeschool students West Virginia Republicans have rolled back homeschooling reporting requirements, doing away in 2016 with the requirement that parents submit assessments yearly. Now, homeschool parents are required to submit assessments in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11 to their county school board as one of their options for maintaining contact with the local school district. More than 30,000 children are homeschooled in West Virginia. State law doesnt require that public school employees follow up on homeschool families who have failed to report a childs progress. State Schools Superintendent Michele Blatt in June suggested that lawmakers mandate that public schools attendance directors follow up with homeschool families who havent turned in the assessments. She also noted that attendance directors are often required to not only track public school students but keep up with homeschool and charter school students whereabouts, as well. I dont think that we have a structure out there in our families right now in West Virginia that we want to take a chance that we would lose additional children in the system, Blatt said earlier this year. There have been cases where homeschool assessments were wrongfully reported as missing. The Hope Scholarship, the states education savings account program that gives roughly $4,400 per student for homeschooling, requires the assessments for eligibility. Jared Hunt, spokesperson for the Treasurers Office, said that in the past sometimes schools werent aware a student was participating in the Hope program and didnt forward on the assessment. Other times, a parent may have failed to turn in the correct paperwork to the school district about their intent to use a Hope Scholarship. Overall, weve worked through those issues, and moving forward, were trying to figure out a better system to prevent that, he said, adding that the program had a high compliance rate of families turning in the required assessments. Other potential legislation prompted by Kyneddis death Holstein said hed like to work with law enforcement and the Department of Human Services on legislation that could give officers the authority to check in on children who are missing from check-ins, like homeschool reporting requirements. Were not in urban centers in this state. Were spread out in hollers and hills and everywhere. Its kind of hard to maintain a good grasp on how children are doing, he said. Homeschool advocates in the Legislature have pushed back on altering any laws, saying that homeschooling was being blamed for Kyneddis death while it should have prompted changes within the states child welfare system and CPS. CPS and the West Virginia State Police were aware of Kyneddi prior to her death. After a controversial investigation, DoHS, which oversees CPS, tightened up its abuse and neglect referral process and said it would change how it screens those referrals. McKay noted that there are over 100 calls a day to the CPS hotline. However, focusing solely on increasing CPS interventions overlooks the broader need for supporting families before they reach crisis points, he said. Lawmakers should expand access to family support services like mental health resources, parenting education and economic assistance to prevent situations from escalating to the point where CPS becomes involved. DoHS Secretary Cynthia Persily last month told lawmakers that the department was exploring drafting legislation that would allow the department to release limited information in child death or near death cases. The department faced scrutiny for refusing to turn over information related to Kyneddi, including the contents of CPS referrals made about Kyneddi before her death. A spokesperson for DoHS did not respond to questions for this story. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Rachel Reeves is under pressure to raise the private school allowance for military families by 20pc, effectively exempting them from its tax raid. The heads of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents 1,400 members, and the Boarding Schools Association (BSA) accused the Government of risking the security of our nation unless it raised the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) from January. Military parents who rely on CEA to help pay school fees have warned they would be forced to quit the Armed Forces unless they were exempt. The Government has previously said it would closely monitor the impact of the VAT raid on military and diplomatic families but added any exemption would only be made after the next spending review. This is not expected to take place until next March, two months after the 20pc levy begins, meaning military families would be taxed from January. But in a letter sent earlier this week, Julie Robinson, of the ISC, and David Walker, of the BSA, argued that by introducing the tax levy outside of the normal tax year, the Government could introduce an exemption outside of a spending review. They wrote: When the Government calls on members of our Armed Forces to serve, whether at home or abroad, they do not hesitate to answer that call. It is incumbent upon the Government to match this with similarly swift and decisive action to make sure that any uplift in their childrens school fees owing to VAT are covered from day one by the Ministry of Defence. Anything else would be a risk to the recruitment and retention of Armed Forces members and therefore, the security of our nation. Beyond that, it would be a dereliction of duty. They added the exemption would cost 11.4m, less than 1pc of the 1.5bn Labour hopes to raise from the policy. Around 4,700 children from military and diplomatic families currently receive CEA which can cover up to 90pc of boarding school fees for children whose parents frequently work away. Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, had previously suggested that Armed Forces personnel could be exempt. In January, she said: There are ways in which [the Armed forces] can be carefully drawn to ensure that exemptions apply. A leaked email sent in July by Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, to one of his constituents implied caveats could be made. Increasing CEA by 20pc for pupils who receive the taxpayer-funded support may prove to be the simplest way to exempt military pupils rather than a more complex process where schools would have to claim back VAT for each of its military pupils and reimburse parents. However, the decision may not be enough to stop military personnel from being priced out of private education. The CEA has been frozen for many years and is capped at 9,080 per term for secondary schools almost 6,000 less than the average boarding school fee, according to the ISC. This means that, despite the financial aid, military parents in receipt of CEA often have to spend upwards of 17,000 per year to send their child to boarding school. A Treasury spokesman told The Telegraph: We provide CEA to eligible officials and service personnel, which is in recognition of the enormous sacrifices our military families make and the fact that they are often required to move base location. The allowance ensures that we can limit disruption to the education of serving personnels children. 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. BERKSHIRE TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WCMH) Most of the roadway has reopened after a crash in Delaware County closed a major highway heading toward Columbus Tuesday afternoon. The right-hand lane of Interstate 71 southbound past State Route 37 is closed due to the crash, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. Initially, all lanes of I-71 South in the area were closed. This embedded content is not available in your region. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, several people were taken from the scene for treatment, but OSHP did not say how many victims there were or what their conditions were. Citing an ongoing investigation, police did not say what led to the crash. There is no word on when the road will reopen. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Lansing boys shot Tuesday were Sexton High students on way home from school, officials say LANSING Two teenagers who were shot Tuesday afternoon outside Riddle Elementary School on the city's west side were Sexton High School students, district officials confirmed in a statement to families Wednesday morning. "It is with heavy hearts that we inform you about an upsetting incident involving two of our Sexton High School students," Superintendent Ben Shuldiner said in the statement. "Yesterday, as they were walking home from school, they were seriously injured." Both victims were 16-year-old boys, Lansing police said. One of the victims was listed in critical condition and the other in stable condition, police said Wednesday. The shooting happened about 3:15 p.m. at the intersection of Riddle and West Allegan streets, just yards from the northeast corner of the fenced-in schoolyard. Police blocked off streets surrounding the area late Tuesday afternoon, including the section of Riddle between Chelsea Avenue and West Allegan, along the eastern edge of the schoolyard. The shooting took place in the Westside Neighborhood, where a 14-year-old was shot and killed in May. The president of the Westside Neighborhood Association, Heath Lowry, said residents are concerned about the violence. "It's making us want to build a stronger neighborhood," he said. Residents have considered block-by-block neighborhood watches and bringing in experts in teen gun violence to help them stem the violence in the community, he said. "I still feel safe," he said. "These shootings are clearly targeted, not random." In a letter to parents, the Lansing school district said Riddle was placed in restricted access Tuesday afternoon, meaning families could pick up students. Riddle Elementary School's release time for students was listed at 3:50 p.m. on the district's website. Some parents were seen about 4 p.m. in personal vehicles arriving to pick up students. Several buses showed up at the school shortly after 4 p.m. and children were loaded into the buses. In the district's statement, Shuldiner expressed sympathy for the victims. "It is with heavy hearts that we inform you about an upsetting incident involving two of our Sexton High School students. Yesterday, as they were walking home from school, they were seriously injured," he wrote. "This news has deeply affected all of us, and our thoughts and prayers are with these students and their families as they continue their recovery. We know that this situation may raise concern and worry throughout our community, and we want to assure you that we are here for you. "In times like these, its important that we stand together to support one another. The Lansing School District is committed to offering resources and assistance to anyone who needs it. We have counselors and support specialists ready to help students, families, and staff who may want to talk, process their emotions, or seek guidance. "Please do not hesitate to reach out. You can contact any of our school buildings directly or connect with our Office of School Culture at (517) 755-2800. Together, we will get through this as a community," the statement concluded. The investigation into Tuesday's shooting was ongoing, and no one had been arrested, police said. Anybody with information about the shooting is asked to call Lansing police at 517-483-4600. Police said they would like to hear from any neighborhood residents who have doorbell or other camera images that might be useful in the investigation. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing Sexton students shot Tuesday listed in critical, stable condition Roanoke County, Va. (WFXR) Roanoke County Fire responded to a large fire at Peters Creek Apartments that injured two people, a firefighter, and displaced 12 units on September 17. Around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, firefighters arrived at the Peters Creek Apartments on the 7200 block of South Barrens Road after receiving reports of a structure fire. On the scene, heavy black smoke was found coming from the attic of a large 3-story building. Roanoke County FD said the fire extended through the roof on the back side of the apartment. Additional units were called to the scene to assist, and crews battled the blaze for about one hour before it was extinguished. Roanoke Fire & EMS responded to an active fire in Northwest Roanoke, no injuries reported Two people were rescued and taken to the hospital to be treated for serious injuries. One firefighter also suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital for treatment. The firefighter and one resident were treated and released from the hospital early Wednesday morning, according to Brian Clingenpeel with Roanoke County Fire. The other resident remains hospitalized in serious condition. Twelve apartment units have been displaced as a result of the blaze and the residents are currently being assisted by the American Red Cross. RCFD reports the building has suffered heavy fire and water damage with an estimated total cost of around $750,000. (Photo Credit: Dustin Hennessey) Brian Clingenpeel with Roanoke County Fire has told WFXR News that the fire did re-ignite at about 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday which is not too uncommon for a fire this size. Crews were not there long this and were able the rekindle put out. The Roanoke County Fire Marshals Office reports that the fire started on a deck on the back side of the building. The cause is undetermined. The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing. The Roanoke County Fire Marshals Office is on the scene to investigate the cause and provide a damage estimate. Roanoke County FD would like to thank Roanoke Fire and EMS for their 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 WFXRtv. Major US labour union declines to endorse either Harris or Trump One of America's most influential labour unions, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has declined to issue a US presidential endorsement for the first time since 1996. The union, which boasts some 1.3 million members across the US and Canada, said it had received "few commitments on top Teamsters issues" from either Democratic nominee Kamala Harris or Republican nominee Donald Trump. It also claimed that polling of its rank-and-file members found "no definitive support" for either candidate, though two of its recent polls indicated lopsided support for Trump. The move is a major blow to the Harris campaign's efforts to win over working-class voters with less than 50 days before election night. An endorsement had the potential to mobilise thousands of Teamsters who live, work and vote in the crucial battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Shortly after the announcement, some Teamsters regional councils representing more than half a million members in Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and California, said they would be endorsing Harris. In a statement, the Harris campaign touted its support from "the overwhelming majority of organised labour" and noted that many Teamsters locals have gotten behind her candidacy. "While Donald Trump says striking workers should be fired, Vice-President Harris has literally walked the picket line and stood strong with organized labour for her entire career," campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said. The union's rank-and-file - a coalition of members that includes freight drivers, warehouse workers and airline pilots - has long been considered politically diverse. General President Sean O'Brien has sought to build inroads with Republicans since he took over leadership of the executive board in 2022. He has reached out to more populist figures within the party, such as US senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and JD Vance of Ohio, who is now Trump's running mate. Mr O'Brien also met privately with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in January, shortly before the former president attended a roundtable with the union's board at its headquarters in Washington DC. Following that meeting, Trump said he believed he had a "good shot" at receiving the union's endorsement. The board also met with President Joe Biden before he stepped aside as the Democratic nominee, as well as third-party candidates Robert F Kennedy Jr and Cornel West. But the union alarmed Democrats when it made its first financial contribution to their opponents in years, donating $45,000 (34,000) - the maximum allowed contribution - each to both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in February. Mr O'Brien also became the first Teamsters boss ever to address the Republican National Convention (RNC). Invited to deliver a prime-time address at the event in Milwaukee, the union head praised Trump as "one tough SOB" but declined to endorse him. He also later criticised Trump and top campaign surrogate and billionaire businessman Elon Musk over comments in which the two discussed firing workers who threaten to go on strike. After his decision to speak at the RNC, Mr O'Brien did not receive an invitation from Democrats to address their party convention last month. The party instead invited rank-and-file members to represent the organisation and to speak from the convention stage. Some members of the Teamsters have expressed anger with Mr O'Brien over his right-wing outreach. Last month, the Teamsters National Black Caucus and six union locals defied national leadership by endorsing Harris on their own and urging members to get behind her. On Monday, Harris met with the Teamsters board in a long-delayed roundtable that lasted an hour and a half. A New York Times report described the sit-down as "sometimes tense", but a Teamsters spokesperson disputed this characterisation when asked by the BBC. During their meeting, the Times added, Harris told Teamsters leaders: Im confident Im going to win this. I want your endorsement, but if I dont get it, I will treat you exactly as if I had gotten your endorsement." Speaking to reporters after Harris had made her pitch, Mr O'Brien noted that "there wasnt a whole lot of difference" between the answers she and her predecessor, Biden, had provided. Biden has routinely touted himself as "the most pro-labour president ever", pointing to policies that have made it easier for US workers to organise and that have prioritised union labour for federal government projects. Last September, he made history as the first US president to walk a picket line, when he joined the United Autoworkers in Michigan in a strike against the Big Three US auto companies: General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. The Biden administration also shored up the Teamsters pension fund to the tune of $36bn, which it says prevented cuts to the retirement incomes of over 600,000 members. Mr O'Brien and other leaders have also acknowledged on several occasions that Biden has been "great for unions". But before he dropped out in July, some reports suggested that the Teamsters did not plan to endorse Biden's bid for re-election. Correction: An earlier version of this story was updated to reflect that the Teamsters are the fourth largest, not the largest, US union. [BBC] More on the US election On Wednesday, ahead of its announcement that it would not endorse Harris or Trump, the union released polling data for its members. In an electronic poll conducted after the RNC, rank-and-file Teamsters voted 59.6% for the union to endorse Trump compared to 34% for Harris. A separate poll, commissioned in the past week, found Teamsters again backing Trump by a lopsided margin - 58% to 31%. In spite of those results, the union said in a statement that its "extensive member polling showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for President Trump". The Trump campaign quickly lauded the poll numbers on Wednesday. "While the Teamsters Executive Board is making no formal endorsement, the hardworking members of the Teamsters have been loud and clear - they want President Trump back in the White House," campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. [BBC ] North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here. Las Vegas woman who decapitated father of her children, threw head in trash could get out after 15 years LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The woman who decapitated the father of her children and threw his head in the trash could serve between 15 years to life in prison as part of a plea agreement, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned. Henderson police arrested Devyn Michaels, 46, who also uses the name Tracee Tavarez, on Aug. 15, 2023, for the murder of 46-year-old Johnathon Willette. Police said Michaels killed and decapitated Willette at a Henderson home. Michaels pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge Tuesday. As part of the deal, she would be eligible for parole after serving 15 years in prison. As in all plea deals, sentencing is at the judges discretion. Records show Las Vegas Metro police arrested Michaels on a child abuse or neglect charge on Oct. 14, 2022. An employee at a childcare facility called police to report an 8-year-old with bruising on her leg. As the 8 News Now Investigators reported last year, Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus sentenced Michaels to one year of probation on the child abuse charge on Aug. 9 after Michaels had killed Willette. In the days before and after that hearing, police were interviewing Michaels and collecting evidence as part of their murder investigation, documents said. I have done counseling classes, therapy, drug tests, psych evaluations, Ive done everything, Michaels told Holthus during that 2023 sentencing. Everyone Ive spoken to say Im not an abusive person and they dont feel theres any risk for me to abuse her or would ever do this again. Henderson police arrested Devyn Michaels, 46, who also uses the name Tracee Tavarez, on Aug. 15, 2023, for the Aug. 7 murder of 46-year-old Johnathon Willette. (KLAS) Shes a low risk of reoffending, Michaels public defender told Holthus. Theres nothing on there that says she would offend again. When Henderson police spoke to Michaels around the same time, she told them that she did not live with Willette, but that they were in the process of moving in together to make it easier on their children, documents said. However, this move was complicated because Michaels was married and lived with Willettes son, making him both her husband and stepson. Michaels allegedly took Willettes head from the Henderson crime scene and drove it to her home in Las Vegas where she threw it in the trash, documents said. The head was then likely picked up by a trash service, prosecutors said. It was never recovered. Michaels sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 31. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) Law enforcement and state officials are preparing for Morgan Wallens concerts in Knoxville, and making arrangement to help concertgoers stay safe. University of Tennessee Police said both shows are expected to bring up to 80,000 people to campus. Both concerts are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m., and UTPD asked concertgoers to not arrive on campus before 2 p.m. Morgan Wallen Foundation funds $140k renovation of Gibbs Youth Sports facilities UT Police said the campus lots will be opening to concertgoers with parking passes at 2 p.m., and the university shared that those with commuter or staff parking permits who need to be on campus after 2 p.m. on Friday should use the park-and-ride location at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and shuttle to campus. Non-commuter lots will not be impacted. The university also shared a map of where concert parking permits will be allowed, which includes the location of shuttle loading and unloading areas. University of Tennessee added that overnight parking will not be allowed between shows and violators will be towed. To view the full list of information concert goers need to know, such as what items are prohibited, visit the universitys news webpage. Knoxville Police spokesperson Scott Erland explained that the department is treating Wallens concerts similar to how it treats Tennessee football games. He said KPD will be offering some in-stadium support, and there will be officers and staff assigned to traffic positions around Neyland Stadium before and after the concerts. In the Old City, Fort Sanders, and Cumberland Avenue areas, KPD will also have increased patrols and officers before and after the concert to manage calls and maintain order. Erland added they will be working alongside UTPD to respond to and address any issues that might come up. Chick-fil-A in Hardin Valley set for grand opening TDOT spokesperson Mark Nagi shared on social media platform X that TDOT held an operations meeting Tuesday morning. During the concerts on Friday, September 20 and Sunday, September 22, TDOT HELP trucks will be assisting motorists, helping to ensure everyone can get to and from campus as safely as efficiently as possible. Preparations for Morgan Wallens concerts at Neyland Stadium (TDOT) (TDOT) An operations meeting ahead of Morgan Wallens concerts in Knoxville (TDOT) Wallen initially announced in July that he would be be coming home to perform in Knoxville with HARDY and ERNEST. Just a few days later, he shared that a second night in Knoxville had been added due to the overwhelming demand. 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. A number of state lawmakers have condemned remarks made about the Somali community by the now-former Hennepin Healthcare board chair, who stepped down on Friday due to the controversy. Babette Apland came under scrutiny for comments made during a non-public portion of an Aug. 8 joint meeting with Hennepin County Board and Hennepin Healthcare leaders, in which she singled out the Somali population for the rise of healthcare costs in Hennepin County. After the meeting, The Minnesota Star Tribune reports Apland sent emails to commissioners and staffers apologizing for blaming the Somali population for the rise in costs. Chad Davis via Flickr Ironically, I meant it as a point of pride that we are taking care of our community; that was what was in my heart and mind, Apland told the Starr Tribune in an interview. But I apologize for saying it. Im truly committed to learning from this experience and gaining greater cultural sensitivity. Hospital officials have confirmed that Apland resigned from her position on Friday. She will be replaced by board member Mohamed Omar, who will now serve as interim chair. Hennepin Healthcare released a statement, issuing a "public apology" for the comments made during the budget meeting. According to the statement, the leadership transition between Apland and Omar "was already in process and is now being expedited." "The hurtful comments do not reflect the values of our Hennepin Healthcare team, and we deeply regret and apologize for the harm they have caused,' The statement read. "As a healthcare institution deeply rooted in this community, we understand that anti-racism and health equity work are ongoing efforts, and we are committed to continuous growth and learning." Multiple state legislators have commented on Apland's remarks. The Minnesota House Minneapolis Delegation of DFL members released a statement "strongly condemning" her actions, noting that more is expected from government partners. "To blame the Somali population for the rise in uncompensated care costs is prejudiced language that has no place in our city or from its leaders," the statement reads. "We stand in solidarity with our Somali communities. As elected leaders representing Minneapolis, we are committed to protecting all our residents and ensuring accountability for words and actions that unjustly target any of them." The Minnesota House People of Color and Indigenous Caucus also released a statement on Tuesday, saying they are "deeply troubled" by Apland's comments. The caucus says Apland's actions show a "troubling pattern from the leadership of Hennepin Healthcare and how it relates to communities of color." "This incident is a stark reminder of the systemic racism that persists within our public institutions, hindering our efforts to address health disparities and promote the overall well-being of all Minnesotans," the statement reads. "In order to know that HCMC is going to be a strong partner, it is pursuing health equity." KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) A Florida Sheriff has gone viral, taking a new approach to get through to students and parents that school threats are not a joke. Volusia County, Florida Sheriff Mike Chitwoods video showing an 11-year-old boy being perp walked from a sheriffs office cruiser on Monday has more than 270,000 views and 5,000 shares. His post about the charge, which includes the boys full name, his mugshot, and a photo of the weapons the boy is accused of showing off to his classmates. Clingmans Dome name change proposal approved, Kuwohi name restored to Smokies mountain He had written a list of names and targets. He says it was all a joke. Chitwood wrote in part. P.S. I can and will release the names and photos of juveniles who are committing these felonies, threatening our students, disrupting our schools and consuming law enforcement resources. Chitwood has been open about the recent uptick in fake threats of school shootings, similar to the ones seen in East Tennessee and across the country, with one of his posts explaining that the response to one of the bogus threats cost around $21,000. While his approach may seem to be a way to deter students from making fictitious school threats, it does bring about the question of whether a childs image should be posted on social media by law enforcement when their cases are sealed. In a local case, Knoxville Police posted a photo on Facebook Tuesday of a 15-year-old suspect in a shooting. 6 News reached out to the department to learn more about its policy and what about the case led to the teens photo being posted. Lawyer warns of consequences for students making school threats According to Knoxville Police, the decision came because KPD is actively searching for the teen on multiple charges, including attempted first-degree murder, from a recent violent crime. KPD added that they believe sharing his photo to ask for public assistance in finding the teen was in the best interest of public safety, and that a juvenile court judge approved the department to post the image. Knoxville Police also shared that as a general practice, it does not share mugshots of individuals, regardless of their age, who are in police custody and have been charged but not convicted of a crime. In some cases, KPD does share previous mugshots if one exists if they are looking for someone in connection to a crime. In this weeks Ask Isaacs, 6 News Lori Tucker talks with Attorney Greg Isaacs about the viral video, and where the legal line for minors privacy and the confidentiality of their cases is under Tennessee Law. Pigeon Forge Rod Run attendee says second car show nearby contributed to rise in arrests If you have a legal question, send it to AskIsaacs@wate.com. To watch full episodes of Ask Isaacs, click here. WATEs Lori Tucker and Attorney Greg Isaacs answer your legal questions from the WATE Alert Desk on Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m. and on WATE Channel 6 at 5:30 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 WATE 6 On Your Side. By Nora Eckert DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union is eying multiple U.S. strikes against French-Italian carmaker Stellantis about a year after a national walkout cost the Detroit Three automakers billions of dollars and idled 50,000 workers. Accusing Stellantis of breaking its contract promises, UAW President Shawn Fain on Tuesday night warned that several union local chapters were laying the groundwork for strikes that could collectively shut down the automaker. The latest UAW threats follow last year's six-week strike that cost Stellantis about 750 million euros ($834.08 million) in profit. The union also hit General Motors and Ford during the historic 2023 walkout, and drew U.S. President Joe Biden to the picket line to show his support for the striking workers. Stellantis' North American operations have been struggling, and the strike threat looms as the race for the White House between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump heats up. Harris, who is currently the U.S. vice president, has been endorsed by the UAW. Union strikes outside the four-year contract negotiations are unusual, and a large walkout at Stellantis just one year after its labor deal was penned, in an election year, would be unprecedented. "The union has picked the perfect time to target Stellantis, because the North American group is likely at its weakest point," said Sam Fiorani, vice president at research firm AutoForecast Solutions. Fain said on Tuesday that 28 locals, covering tens of thousands of workers, had filed grievances against Jeep parent Stellantis and that 18 were at or near the point where they could call for strike authorization votes - with at least one expected in the next few days. Fain, who rose through the union's ranks after working as an electrician for Chrysler, brought a more combative approach and a fresh leadership team to the union after his election in 2023. The location and timing of the first strike authorization vote is still uncertain, but locals that filed grievances last month included plants in Toledo, Ohio; Kokomo, Indiana, and several in Michigan. The UAW has said roughly 98% of Stellantis' membership is covered through those grievances, making the potential strikes as powerful as a nationwide walkout. Late on Tuesday, Stellantis said that the union leader had not offered any data or information to support his claims. "(Fain) continues to willfully damage the reputation of the company with his public attacks which is helpful to no one including his members," Stellantis said in a statement. "We would all be better served if these issues were addressed across the table with productive, respectful and forward-looking dialogue. A strike does not benefit anyone." Story continues Fain fired back on Wednesday in a letter to Stellantis that was seen by Reuters. "Under CEO Carlos Tavares, Stellantis is quickly turning into a global case study in corporate mismanagement," he said, offering several dates to discuss the issues. Asked for comment on Wednesday, Stellantis said it stood by its earlier statement. The UAW's grievances center around product and investment commitments made during the contract negotiations last autumn. Delays of a planned multibillion-dollar investment into a new battery plant and factory in Belvidere, Illinois, and possible plans by Stellantis to move production of the Dodge Durango SUV out of the U.S. have emerged as main sticking points for the UAW. Stellantis said it has not confirmed plans to move the Durango. The union said the company has never denied it plans to move production of the SUV, according to the letter sent on Wednesday. The contract signed between the UAW and the automaker allows the company to delay financial commitments if market conditions worsen. TROUBLES IN U.S. MARKET Stellantis' U.S. business has faltered over the past year, and dealers and shareholders have publicly called out its lagging sales, bloated inventories and tumbling share price. Tavares has said he is focused on improving Stellantis' performance in the U.S., and stated a willingness to shut down brands globally if they do not make money. Last month, he visited the U.S. with the intention of developing a plan to improve the U.S. operations. Still, the automaker's U.S. vehicle inventories are larger than those of a year ago before the strike, which could protect Stellantis from feeling any immediate pain if workers hit picket lines, analysts said. Its 77 days' supply of vehicles at the end of August was up 18 days from the same time last year, according to industry firm Cox Automotive. However, the UAW could target plants that make higher-demand vehicles, like Jeep SUVs, Fiorani said. A more targeted approach would allow the UAW to spend less money supporting striking workers. A new collective strike now would capture the attention of the White House in the run-up to the Nov. 5 U.S. election. Michigan is a battleground state, which both Harris and Trump have visited several times. Officials with the Harris and Trump campaigns could not immediately be reached for comment. Fain said the UAW in last year's deal won the right to strike over product and financial commitments. However, that could be tested in court, said Art Wheaton, labor professor at Cornell University. A strike authorization does not necessarily mean a strike will occur. ($1 = 0.8992 euro) (Reporting by Nora Eckert in Detroit; Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew Lewis) At least 20 dead, 450 injured as Lebanon hit by second wave of blasts Ambulances carrying wounded people arrive to the emergency of the American University hospital. Eight people have been killed and some 2,750 injured in suspected coordinated explosions of hand-held telecommunications devices across Lebanon, Health Minister Firas Abiad said during a press conference in Beirut on 17 September. Marwan Naamani/dpa At least 20 people were killed and 450 others injured in the second wave of explosions related to electronic devices in Lebanon in two days, the Health Ministry in Beirut said on Wednesday in an update to earlier reports. Lebanese security sources said many members of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia had been affected as in the first wave. Meanwhile Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a "new phase" of the war. The focus is on the "northern front," several Israeli media outlets reported on Wednesday, citing Gallant's office. The Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia have been engaged in skirmishes on Israel's northern front for months. Forces and resources are to be relocated to the north, the Israeli media quoted Gallant as saying. The Times of Israel newspaper online quoted Gallant as saying that Israels war goals in the north are "clear and simple: to return the residents of the towns in the north to their homes safely." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also promised this again in a video address. According to Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi, the Israeli army is prepared to do whatever is necessary to create the conditions for this. "We still have many capabilities that we have not yet used," the general asserted. More blasts across Beirut suburbs and south Lebanon A new wave of blasts was heard across Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon earlier on Wednesday, witnesses in the area told dpa. A Hezbollah source said wireless devices like walkie-talkies had exploded. A Lebanese security source confirmed that it was walkie-talkies that had exploded, some of them in cars and some of which were being carried by Hezbollah members on motorbikes. The sound of blasts coincided with Hezbollah mourning some of the people who died in Tuesday's detonations of pagers, which killed 12 and wounded some 2,800. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the detonations on Tuesday and promised retaliation. Several of its fighters, as well as high-ranking representatives and members of the Radwan Force, an elite unit within the group, are said to be among the victims. The Israeli army has not yet commented on the accusations but has since raised its alert level in anticipation of possible military action from Hezbollah. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he believes the detonations could be a sign of an imminent massive escalation in the region. "Obviously the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation," he said in New York during a press conference on Wednesday, referring to Tuesday's events. News of Wednesday's blasts were coming in as he spoke. He said everything needed to be done to avoid such "a dramatic escalation in Lebanon." The UN Security Council plans to convene an emergency meeting in response to the explosions at 1900 GMT on Friday, according to diplomatic sources. Among Tuesday's dead are an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad said at a news briefing at the Health Ministry in Beirut. Between 2,750 and 2,800 people were wounded in the attack, with 300 of those in critical condition, he said. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a statement at 5 pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday to address "the latest developments," the Iranian-backed militia said. Schools and universities across Lebanon are set to remain closed for another day following Wednesday's events, with the civil defence department saying its teams have been deployed to the south and the east of the country as well as Beirut's southern suburbs to put out fires in car shops and houses. Lebanon still reeling from Tuesday's blasts Iran has dispatched medical relief teams to Lebanon following Tuesday's explosions, including the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Iran's state news agency IRNA said. Videos from across Lebanon showed the blasts occurring in public places such as supermarkets. In some cases, people were seen lying on the ground after pagers in their hands or pockets exploded. There were also scenes of crowded hospitals filled with bleeding patients. Irans ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured in the explosion of a pager. The device belonged to a bodyguard, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. Hezbollah is the most important non-state ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Israel on heightened alert The Israeli army has increased its level of alert in anticipation of a response from Hezbollah, Israeli Army Radio said. Army Radio said that air defences and military intelligence in Israel have been put on heightened alert. An elite unit is also set to be relocated from the Gaza Strip to the border with Lebanon. But the Home Front Command, responsible for civilian emergency preparedness, has not yet changed its instructions to the public. UN, EU condemn pager blasts The UN's Human Rights Office in Geneva said the fallout from Tuesday's pager blasts in Lebanon was "shocking" and the "impact on civilians unacceptable." "At this extremely volatile time, we appeal to all states with influence in the region and beyond to take immediate measures to avert further widening of the current conflicts," it said in a statement on Wednesay The European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, also condemned the blasts. "Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims," Borrell said. How did the pagers explode and where did they come from? Much is still unclear about Tuesday's, and now Wednesday's, events as they continue to unfold. The affected pagers bore the logo of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, but the business has denied any connection to the incident. According to Gold Apollo boss Hsu Ching-Kuang, the devices were manufactured in Hungary. Experts say the pagers were an important means of communication for Hezbollah. The militia is said to have used them instead of mobile phones, which can be tracked and used for targeted attacks. How the hand-held devices, which are simple radio receivers that are not logged into a network, could be manipulated remains unclear. Media reports speculated that the pagers were probably intercepted by Israeli agents before they were delivered to Lebanon and booby-trapped with explosives. Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost a year ago, confrontations have occurred almost daily in the border area between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, with deaths recorded on both sides as a result of the shelling, mostly members of Hezbollah. According to Israel, three Hezbollah fighters were killed on Tuesday in an attack on a location in southern Lebanon. The pro-Iranian Shiite militia says it is acting out of solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. At least one killed and 100 injured in new wave of blasts in Lebanon Lebanese army soldiers secure the area for an ambulance to enter the premises of the American University hospital. Eight people have been killed and some 2,750 injured in suspected coordinated explosions of hand-held telecommunications devices across Lebanon, Health Minister Firas Abiad said during a press conference in Beirut on 17 September. Marwan Naamani/dpa At least one person was killed and 100 others injured in the latest wave of explosions related to electronic devices in Lebanon, the Health Ministry in Beirut said on Wednesday. A new wave of blasts was heard across Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon earlier on Wednesday, witnesses in the area told dpa. A source in the pro-Iranian Lebanese militia Hezbollah said wireless devices like walkie-talkies had exploded, and a Lebanese security source confirmed that it was walkie-talkies that had exploded, some of them in cars and some of which were being carried by Hezbollah members on motorbikes. The sound of blasts coincided with Hezbollah mourning some of the people who died in Tuesday's detonations of pagers, which killed 12 and wounded some 2,800. "This aggression has its own punishment and retribution, and the punishment will come, God willing," Hashem Sefeiddine, chairman of Hezbollah's executive council, said during a funeral. He added that Hezbollah's chief, Hassan Nasrallah, will deliver his view on Thursday when "things will become clearer." "We will be facing a new pattern and a new confrontation with the enemy," Sefeiddine said. Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Wednesday with the Committee for Disaster and Crisis Management in the country and discussed "possible scenarios" in the event of extended Israeli attacks. The meeting came a day after Hezbollah pagers exploded across Lebanon, in an operation blamed on Israel which killed at least 12 people and wounded nearly 2,800. Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, who heads the committee, stressed that they are trying to secure enough shelters and that there are about 100 schools that can be provided by the Ministry of Education, with efforts already under way to equip them. Addressing food supplies, Yassin said, "Food stocks are sufficient for more than three months, and a ship carrying 40,000 tons of cereals and flour is set to arrive in Lebanon." He added that 50,000 food rations, provided by third parties including the World Food Programme, could be distributed to displaced people. "We also discussed the logistics required to ensure the Committee for Disaster and Crisis Management can function, including communications, roads, transport and emergency and crisis rooms," Yassin added. Lebanese army soldiers secure the area for an ambulance to enter the premises of the American University hospital. Eight people have been killed and some 2,750 injured in suspected coordinated explosions of hand-held telecommunications devices across Lebanon, Health Minister Firas Abiad said during a press conference in Beirut on 17 September. Marwan Naamani/dpa Doctors in Lebanon spoke Wednesday of horrific eye injuries and finger amputations, a day after Hezbollah paging devices exploded across the country, killing 12 people and wounding up to 2,800. "The injuries were mainly to the eyes and hands, with finger amputations, shrapnel in the eyes -- some people lost their sight," said doctor Joelle Khadra, who was working in emergency at Beirut's Hotel-Dieu hospital. Hundreds of wireless paging devices belonging to members of the Iran-backed group exploded simultaneously on Tuesday, hours after Israel said it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hamas's Lebanese ally. Khadra told AFP that Hotel-Dieu, located in the Lebanese capital's Christian-majority Ashrafieh district, treated about 80 injured. Around 20 "were admitted to intensive care immediately and were put on ventilators to ensure they wouldn't suffocate due to the swelling in their faces", she said. "The rest are going one after the other to the operating room. Today, we have 55 surgeries," she added, wearing her white doctor's coat over her blue scrubs. Hezbollah, which has traded near daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has vowed to retaliate for the pager blasts, which it blamed on Israel. Israel has not yet comment on the explosions, which went off in Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon, from Beirut's southern suburbs to Lebanon's south and in the east near the Syrian border. - 'Devastating' - A doctor at another hospital in Beirut said he worked all night and that the injuries were "out of this world -- never seen anything like it". "It's beyond what can be described," he said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised by the hospital to speak to the media. "We have a lot of injuries with amputated fingers" because people were holding the pagers in one or both hands, he said, while some people who had been sitting on the floor also had wounded feet. But the "most devastating" wounds were when the pagers blew up in people's faces, he said, citing up to 40 patients with eye injuries, most of them severe. Around three-quarters of those patients "lost one eye completely, and the other eye is either somewhat salvageable or barely salvageable", he said, while "15 to 20 percent... lost both eyes in a way that's irreparable". "A lot of colleagues have been saying this is worse compared to the August 4... (eye) injuries that we saw," he said. On August 4, 2020, a catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port killed more than 220 people and injured some 6,500, with several hundred at least suffering ocular injuries and some people even blinded in one eye by flying shards of glass and other debris. - 'Critical condition' - The doctor also reported "a lot of burns and foreign bodies -- metallic pieces of pagers being retrieved from patients' eyes, brains, faces, sinuses, from their insides, from their bones". He said there was "a lot of tissue loss, fingers lost -- things that we can't repair, we can't replace". Health Minister Firass Abiad said Wednesday that two children were among 12 people killed, while almost 300 people were "in critical condition", some suffering facial injuries and brain haemorrhaging. Of some 1,800 people who were admitted to hospital, "460 needed operations on their eyes, face or limbs, particularly the hands", he said, noting "multiple finger or hand amputations". Lebanon, enduring a grinding five-year economic crisis, received a delivery of medical aid from Iraq on Wednesday morning, while doctors and nurses from Iran's Red Crescent also arrived to assist, Lebanon's official National News Agency reported, and Jordan said it sent aid and medical supplies. The office of the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon said on X that "praise must go to the medical corps and emergency professionals", adding the importance of their work after the pager blasts "cannot be overstated". at-lg/dv A candidate for Lee County Sheriff filed an ethics complaint against Sheriff Carmine Marceno Tuesday, claiming Marceno knowingly failed to disclose to the state a cash purchase of more than a half-million dollars of a Sarasota condo. While Marceno did appear to leave the purchase off his 2024 state financial disclosure, per reporting guidelines, Marceno was not required to include the condo on said statement as he purchased it after 2023. Marceno dated his net worth to Dec. 31, 2023, in accordance with the instructions laid out for the state's financial disclosure form. He placed his real property's net worth at $900,000 five months prior to his purchase of the Sarasota condo. At the time, Marceno reported approximately $317,000 in cash in two bank accounts. Write-in candidate Mike Hollow said he didn't notice that date Marceno pegged his net worth to before he filed his complaint with the Florida ethics commission. Still, Hollow, a 17-year law enforcement veteran and former Internal Affairs commander with the Lee County Sheriff's Office, called the omission concerning, noting that Marceno did not declare enough in cash in his 2024 financial disclosure form to close on a $600,000 condo a mere five months later. "If he's all about transparency, where's the transparency?" Hollow asked. "Yes, he got a considerable amount of money through gambling ... but he did not have the cash on hand to purchase a $600,000 condo. Where did this money come from?" Hollow called for a forensic audit of Marceno's finances and the Lee County Sheriff's Office. This ethics complaint comes just days after Hollow alleged Marceno was under FBI investigation for money laundering and acceptance of extravagant gifts such as payments on a luxury car, a piano and a $45,000 ring Marceno reportedly gave to his grandmother. Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Anita Iriarte directed questions to Marceno's campaign manager, who did not respond by publication. However, in a statement published late Monday, Marceno called the allegations of money laundering "politically-motivated" and "baseless." "Its unfortunate that politics have reached this level," Marceno said in a statement to The News-Press / Naples Daily News. "Its sad that some people would engage in such vicious personal attacks for political purposes." $600,000 cash for a Sarasota condo This embedded content is not available in your region. Marceno is, by Florida Statutes, required to disclose all financial assets and debts over $1,000 annually to the Florida Commission on Ethics. The News-Press / Naples Daily News confirmed Marceno's purchase of the Sarasota condominium via public records. While the owner is listed as confidential of the 1500 State Street property, the address of the owner is Marceno's private Fort Myers residence, according to the Sarasota Property Appraiser's website. Marceno paid cash for the property; no mortgage is recorded, according to the Sarasota Clerk of Courts records site. "Based on his proven track record of circumventing legal and ethical practices to benefit himself over his constituents, I will say with confidence that Marceno's underreporting of his 'residential' assets was intentional," Hollow wrote in his complaint. A copy of a MLS property detail report provided by Hollow shows Marceno's name and Fort Myers address as the current owner. The condo, built in 2017, is a 733 square-foot one-bedroom, one-bath and has a $716 monthly HOA fee attached to it. Per Realtor.com, Redfin and Zilllow, the property sold for $600,000 on May 24, 2024. That amounted to roughly $819 a square foot, roughly $15,000 over its estimated value at the time, depending on which website you search. The deed and tax bill have been redacted per owner request, but taxes on the condo in 2023 amounted to over $6,000 a year, public records show. Per the MLS report, the condo is not owner-occupied. The condo sale date is six days before the date that Marceno turned in his Form 6 to the Florida Commission on Ethics, a state financial disclosure all elected or appointed officials must file annually with the aforementioned agency. According to his 2024 Form 6, Marceno owned $900,000 in property on Dec. 31, 2023. Marceno's Lee County home in Reflection Isles is valued at roughly $700,000, according to realty sites Realtor.com, Redfin and Zillow. Reporting requirements for Form 6 say elected officials must turn them in by July 1; they must date their net worth either to Dec. 31 of the previous year or to a more current date. They must state the date their net worth is calculated. It is not clear how many properties Marceno owns in Lee or Collier counties, nor what their purpose is; the property assessor's rolls do not list Marceno's property details online, per his request. Marceno has never listed the addresses of the properties he owned on his financial disclosure forms. $900,000 in real property Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno Marceno's financial disclosures to the state show a regular gambling habit documented over several years, as well as a climbing value of real property. In 2019, Marcenos Form 6, a financial disclosure form filed with the State Ethics Commission, indicated that when he was first elected he had a net worth of $226,000. Any real property he owned at the time was valued at $475,000, he reported. He listed his income as sheriff as $170,000. By 2022, his net worth had jumped to $500,000, and he listed the value of his real estate property or properties at $700,000. While his income as sheriff had not increased, that year, he listed $290,183 in gambling income, won at Seminole Gaming in Hollywood, Florida. Over that year and the following two, Marceno recorded $485,909 in gambling earnings. The following year, Marceno delcared his real property value to be $800,000. In 2024, that number climbed to $900,000. In 2023, Marceno was given a raise to $185,000, he reported on his Form 6. The following year, he reported a $32,000 pay raise as sheriff, going from an annual salary of $185,000 to $227,170. An FBI investigation? Thursday, nonprofit news outlet Florida Trident broke the news that Marceno had allegedly laundered money through former honorary deputy Ken Romano, and was under investigation by the FBI. In a recording provided to The News-Press / Naples Daily News by Hollow, Romano told Hollow that Marceno owes him hundreds of thousands of dollars for gifts of jewelry, a piano, and for repayment of gambling debts. Hollow said he met with the FBI and U.S. Assistant Attorney on May 21 to disclose his findings. Hollow said Romano was aware of his intent to record the conversation and give it to authorities including the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The FBI declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. Romano, a Fort Myers jeweler, said in the recording that Marceno hired him on as a consultant to the department after appointing him honorary deputy. Marceno paid him $4,000 a month for no work for about six months in 2022, he said. Shortly into Romano's tenure, however, he said Marceno purchased a Ferrari for himself, which state documents show Marceno still owns. That same day, Marceno told Romano he wanted to purchase a nice car for his father, Carmine Marceno Sr., so he could drive himself to medical appointments, per the call. So, he told an undersheriff to give Romano a raise for $1,700 a month, Romano said. Romano paid the raise in cash, monthly, to the sheriffs father, he said. That amount, Romano said, was the amount of the monthly car payments for a Mercedes-Benz S Class, plus insurance. Romano is cooperating with an FBI investigation into the claims, according to Hollow. Marceno denies the claims made by both Hollow and Romano. Kate Cimini is the Florida Investigative Reporter for the USA TODAY-Network Florida, based at The News-Press and The Naples Daily News. Contact her at 239-207-9369 or kcimini@news-press.com. This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lee Sheriff subject of ethics complaint purchased $600K condo in cash NEW MEXICO (KRQE) As election season heats up, so does an ongoing legal battle between the New Mexico State Ethics Commission and a local organization. At the crux of the issue is whether the New Mexico Project is a political committee and should therefore have to register as one and disclose its donors. Story continues below In May, the state ethics commission filed a lawsuit against former gubernatorial candidate Jeff Apodaca and the group he runs called The New Mexico Project. On its website, the group said its goal is to amplify Latino and moderate voices. Its site has a list of their priority candidates and a link to donate to the group. It claims to be a 501(c)(4) nonprofit but the suit claimed it was acting as a political committee. In the suit, the state ethics commission cited the amended Campaign Reporting Act that aims to shed light on dark money in state elections which claims groups who pay for political ads or support candidates to be transparent about who funds the ads and advocacy efforts. The suit claims under the Campaign Reporting Act, TNMP has to disclose the sources of its receiving and using to influence their votes. A New Mexico judge agreed. In an order last month, a judge cited the groups contributions and donations saying TNMP met the definition of a political committee. The judge issued a preliminary injection requiring TNMP to register with the Secretary of States office by September 4, 2024 and disclose its expenditures and contributions. But neither has happened and the group is fighting back with new motions asking the judge to reconsider. They are a 501(c)(4) engaged in issue advocacy and they may have spent money on campaigns but they didnt exceed the independent expenditure limits such that they would have to register and disclose donors. So, we think the judge has the law wrong, said A. Blair Dunn, attorney for TNMP. He claimed the judge interpreted the law too broadly. He also believes the initial complaint is ideologically driven and personal against Apodaca. We think the best evidence of why that is, is that they targeted Jeff personally even though he was only one of three officers for the group, said Dunn. Since its inception, the State Ethics Commission has filed lawsuits to uphold the states disclosure requirements across the political spectrum, including actions against groups such as the Council for a Competitive New Mexico and the Working Families Party. The Commission a bipartisan, independent agency led by three Republicans, three Democrats, and one independent member is committed to the impartial enforcement of New Mexicos campaign-finance laws. The Commission does not comment on pending cases, said a spokesperson for the State Ethics Commission in an emailed statement to News 13. A hearing for the motions to reconsider is scheduled for next 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 KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. PANAMA CITY, FL. (WMBB) The local beloved No Name Lounge is currently under demolition as of Wednesday. The lounge has become a home away from home for many locals and visitors in Panama City since it opened back in 1980. The owner of No Name announced in a Facebook post back in April that they were closing their doors. He also stated that a deal couldnt be reached to keep the business on the current property. No Name Lounge officially closing its doors this weekend The business celebrated its last hurrah with several local musicians on their official closing night. The Port now has ownership of the property. It is currently unknown what will take the place of the iconic establishment. Many locals are saddened by this decision, however, the memories of this location will live on for many years to come. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The Assemi family one of the San Joaquin Valleys most prominent farming operators owe more than $700 million in unpaid loans and are on the verge of being taken over by lenders, according to a recently filed federal lawsuit. Prudential Insurance Company of America alleges in its breach of contract lawsuit that the Assemis have failed to pay their semi-annual payments on some loans and have defaulted on others. The lender also accuses the family, which primarily farms pistachios in the Valley, of defaulting on third-party loans, triggering an accelerated loan payment of $150 million. Also named as a plaintiff is PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company. Lawyers for the lenders are asking the court to order the repayment of more than $700 million in loans and for the appointment of a receiver to take possession of the property, pending the forthcoming foreclosure, according to the lawsuit. Founded by brothers Farid, Farshid and Darius Assemi, the Fresno-based familys farming business grew into an empire with more than 50,000 acres of pistachios and almonds. Operating under the brand name Touchstone, the family ran a processing plant in the Tulare County community of Terra Bella where it produced pistachios for export and to be sold in the U.S. As the company grew, it ran into intense competition from its biggest rival, Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds, the undisputed leader in the pistachio and almond industry. The two sides battled in the field and in the courtroom. In December, a Fresno County jury awarded $26 million to the Assemi brothers farming company and nearly $12 million to Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds in a protracted breach of contract lawsuit. Soon to follow was news that the company was attempting to sell its entire operation and exit the farming game. No buyers stepped forward as the company continued to struggle financially. A lack of cash flow deepened the financial crisis facing the family. This time of year, most pistachios growers are preparing to harvest their trees. The Assemis were not. According to the lawsuit, the Assemis told the lenders they could not afford to continue taking care of the trees and may be forced to terminate, in whole or in part, its numerous employees onsite. The lenders, who have a huge stake in the property and the crop, stated in the lawsuit that they wont let that happen. Plaintiff intends to provide additional funding to the appointed receiver to allow it to maintain and manage the property, including the trees and plants located thereon, and to complete the harvest of its crop, according to the lawsuit. Despite a looming legal threat, the Lenexa City Council rejected a crucial permit for Johnson County to finally establish a permanent homeless shelter, effectively killing the project as it stands now. After 1 a.m. Wednesday, in a packed, six-hour-long meeting, the council voted 5-2 to deny the request for a special use permit to operate a year-round homeless shelter at the La Quinta Inn and Suites off of Interstate 35 and 95th Street. It is a major loss for Johnson County officials, who have spent the past year evaluating the site and preparing to close on the purchase of the property the closest the county has gotten to starting a shelter for single adults experiencing homelessness. In rejecting the permit, council members said the shelter would be inconsistent with the character of the neighborhood and strain law enforcement, placing an undue burden on the city. The council decision, which came after roughly 50 residents spoke both for and against the shelter, was in line with a 9-0 vote by the planning commission to deny the permit. The special use permit was required for reStart, the Kansas City-based homeless services organization, to operate the shelter and also for officials to close on the sale of the property. Now that it is denied, the same application cannot be resubmitted for one year. Councilman Craig Denny said he is sympathetic to the homelessness issue, but does not feel the hotel is the right location for a shelter. He disagreed with taking the business which city staff said was the fifth highest generator of transient guest tax off the tax rolls and substitute a nonprofit organization that does not contribute to that tax base, and in addition requires a city to spend more of our resources. I think it puts an additional, and I think unwarranted, burden on the city. City staff believe the shelter would result in more police calls for service, estimating Lenexa would need to hire three additional officers and a co-responder, a cost of more than $450,000. Police Chief Dawn Layman said she would expect more welfare checks and medical calls, explaining that: Were not saying people that utilize those facilities are criminals, and actually a lot of times people in homeless situations actually are victims of crimes, not suspects of crimes. Stephanie Boyer, CEO of reStart, said based on the organizations other Kansas City facilities, she does not expect an increase in 911 calls, saying that more issues are resolved by shelter staff when residents are able to access care and case managers. Plans called for a 50-bed shelter, with private rooms and bathrooms. Another part of the project would include 25 transitional housing units, to help residents move into permanent homes. Officials intended to provide residents with several resources, including access to health care, job opportunities and more. Opposing council members also argued that reStarts management plan was inadequate and pushed forward too quickly, leaving open questions about its sustainability and operations. Councilwoman Chelsea Williamson suggested the county slow down the process and reopen its request for proposals for operators of the site. This, I feel, is not going to be the full, supportive, preventative services that we really need to help the homeless, she said. I feel like this is more of a diversion Band-Aid that shelters them for a few months. I just dont feel like were going to offer enough to really help them. I want more. I think that this proposal is going to fail. Councilwomen Melanie Arroyo and Courtney Eiterich voted in favor of approving the permit. Arroyo argued that her fellow council members concerns were rooted in a misunderstanding of how such a shelter would operate, and that some of city staffs recommendations illustrated stereotypes about people experiencing homeless. I strongly believe the moment to address homelessness in Johnson County is now, she said. We have the funding in place, and the resources to do so. ... What will the increase in homelessness be when we find the next opportunity years from now? This is our responsibility we have been dodging for decades. The moment is now. Rejection of the permit puts into question whether the county can get the project done elsewhere, as a timeline to use federal funding runs out. If officials remain committed to pushing the idea forward, the decision at least brings county officials back to the drawing board, with the difficult task of looking for a new location and a city that might approve a shelter. But the fight might not be over yet. Ahead of Tuesdays meeting, reStart sent a letter to the city threatening legal action following the permit being denied. The letter read: We feel that some of the alleged concerns identified are not legitimate, not based on any actual information or evidence, and/or are exaggerated or could be readily accommodated by the City and reStart. As such, we are concerned that, if the City Council follows City staffs and the Planning Commissions inappropriate and arguably discriminatory suggestions, the Citys actions could be in violation of the Fair Housing Act and/or reStarts constitutional rights and could result in a legal dispute. At the top of Tuesday evenings public discussion, council members convened in closed session to discuss the legal threat. A years-long effort For years, advocates have pleaded for city and county officials to establish a shelter. Johnson County, which is seeing a rise in homelessness, has some beds for families and women, but no permanent shelter for adults without children. Previous attempts to start a shelter have all stalled or failed, while sparking heated debate and neighborhood opposition. Officials have hoped the project would now finally happen, with the majority of commissioners and more city officials supportive of the initiative. Johnson County Chairman Mike Kelly last week called it a stars-aligned moment, as the county can pay for the shelter with one-time federal COVID funding. And the county has found what officials call an ideal piece of property, in a commercial area, off the highway with public transportation access, and with an owner willing to sell. For proponents, Lenexa also appeared to be the right location. Lenexa City Councilman Joe Karlin, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor this past election and was absent from Tuesdays discussion, was instrumental in conducting a feasibility study for the shelter. And the city already houses the nonprofit Project 1020s winter shelter, which operates from December through March. Lenexa city officials about five years ago denied Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Churchs request to host the shelter, but the church sued and won. Afterward, Lenexa officials added a homeless shelter as a use under its city code, laying out regulations and guidelines for someone to seek a special use permit to operate one. Most Johnson County cities lack any written rules stating when or where a shelter is permissible, which has led to tense debates, both between advocates and neighbors, and in court. But after Johnson County officials spent months planning for a shelter at the Lenexa hotel, city staff recommended the special use permit be denied. Staff argued the use is inconsistent with the neighborhood, which they call a key redevelopment corridor. And it disagrees with converting the hotel into a use that would be tax-exempt, pointing out that it sits in a tax increment financing district established in 2007, that staff say has led to much private and public investment. Because of its proximity to the temporary winter shelter, staff said the city would be inundated with a concentration of negative external impacts that would harm nearby properties. City staff also worry that its law enforcement resources are not adequate to serve the shelter. Ahead of the council vote, Mayor Julie Sayers said the hotel is the wrong location for a shelter. She said she hopes other cities in Johnson County will adopt city codes that add regulations for homeless shelters, so more locations that could be appropriate for the project become available. The mayor said we welcome the opportunity to share what weve learned through the process, and would aim to apply that to a countywide approach to addressing the rise in homelessness. She said the city would be willing to sit at the table for further discussions for a broader countywide solution. In a letter to the city, Johnson County commissioners said officials would work with the city to provide additional service by the sheriffs office, including deputies and mental health co-responders, to respond to calls. It also says officials will explore programs and funding, such as housing vouchers, to help off-set any overflow at the winter shelter. Opposing council members argued that they needed a stronger commitment for law enforcement support, saying that the county is poised to get a new sheriff next year following the election and it is unclear whether there would be support in the office to do so. Boyer, of reStart, promised to work with the city to address its concerns, arguing that the organization has the staffing, security and plan in place to safely operate the shelter and help solve the issue of homelessness. She said the shelter would have added security cameras, lighting, a controlled entry system, bag searches and trained staff. And responding to concerns, Boyer emphasized the shelter would not be set up to have a line out the door. Residents would be referred to the shelter after accessing the countys mental health center or other resources within the county network. In its letter, the organization also argued many of the citys concerns are based on stereotypes about the homeless population, threatening that blocking the shelter could be a form of housing discrimination thats against federal law. Currently, people are living on the street in JoCo including Lenexa; this causes issues of loitering, trespassing, encampments, unsanitary conditions, and problems at businesses, reStart wrote. These types of issues arise because people do not have access to appropriate spaces, restrooms and resources; the HSC (homeless services center) will alleviate these issues. Heated debate over shelter Over two hours of public comments, Chester Bell, who said he previously was homeless, urged the council to approve the shelter. The program works with people together to make them whole again. It gives them a chance they wouldnt otherwise get and wouldnt have on the streets, Bell said, adding that denying the permit is cheating your community and hurting your own reputation in the long-run. A vote no will be a lasting legacy you wont want. Before the council meeting, the Good Faith Network, an interfaith justice network in Johnson County, held a prayer vigil and pleaded for officials to support the project. And 54 members of Christian, Muslim and Jewish clergy signed a letter in support of the shelter. Residents who oppose the project have cited concerns about an increase in crime and a negative effect on nearby properties. Some also worry that the county has pushed the project forward too quickly, questioning its sustainability once it opens. Officials estimated it would cost about $1.7 million a year to operate the shelter, which would be funded through grants and private donations. Leaders also had asked the county and its cities to help fund $500,000 of the annual operating cost. Council members pointed out that Johnson Countys three largest cities have yet to agree to pitch in funding for the shelter, suggesting there was not a solid enough plan for sustaining it. Officials also were concerned by inconsistencies in reStarts plan, saying some aspects had changed, such as whether there would be a fence around the entire perimeter and how the shelter would handle people who walk up to it, rather than enter through the referral system. Boyer argued those items can be adjusted in the plan, and that any inconsistencies were the result of reStart amending its proposal over time as city officials have raised concerns. In rejecting the plan, Williamson said it was one of the hardest, most tasking decisions she has faced. She argued Johnson County can still come together to get the project done, but should not move forward with the current proposal. What happens now? It will now be up to Johnson County commissioners to decide whether to keep pursuing the project, which would mean finding a new location. That would be no easy task, as officials have said there are few sites that are far enough away from residential neighborhoods, close to public transportation and also are easy to convert into a shelter. And it will be challenging to find a city that might approve a shelter, as many dont have the use added to their city codes. The councils rejection of the special use permit now puts into question whether Johnson County will be able to use federal funding to get the project done elsewhere. The county had committed roughly $10 million in COVID relief funding toward establishing the shelter and renovating the hotel. The county has so far spent $580,000 on due diligence and architecture fees, according to reStart. Unable to close on the sale of the hotel, Johnson County is expected to reallocate the more than $6 million in federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds money that had been dedicated to purchasing the hotel site to other programs. Under the federal program, those dollars must be obligated and under contract by the end of the year, and spent by the end of 2026. Understanding the tight timeline to obligate the COVID funds, the commission in February built in a buffer for itself by setting aside $6 million in available countywide support funds to purchase the shelter. The countywide support funds also came from federal COVID-19 relief dollars, that allowed the county to calculate revenue lost due to the pandemic.Those funds do not have the same timeline restrictions as the other federal dollars. The commission also has dedicated $3.7 million in countywide support funds to provide reStart to renovate the hotel. Of that, 10% would go toward early operating costs and capacity building. Kelly, commission chairman, previously said if Lenexa denies the special use permit, the board would need to decide if it wants to continue committing those funds to the shelter project. Without a dedicated property for the project, it is unclear whether commissions will remain committed to using those funds for a future shelter proposal. Lesbian educator in California says trustee called her a witch in an LGBTQ coven A special needs educator in California is suing her former school district employer, alleging she was harassed and demoted because she is a lesbian who opposed the boards reported anti-LGBTQ policies, local ABC affiliate KGTV reported. Rose Tagnesi filed the lawsuit against the Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego Superior Court last month. Tagnesi was employed by the district as an educator and administrator for over 13 years until earlier this year. I want justice, and I want accountability, but most of all, I want it to stop, and I want there to be some awareness that its happening, Tagnesi told KGTV. In her suit, Tagnesi alleges multiple instances of harassment because of her sexual identity as well as retaliation for her opposition to the conservative school boards anti-LGBTQ agenda. Tagnesi alleges school board trustee Jim Kelly called her and a female underling witches who were members of an LGBTQ coven. She also claims Kelly called the staffer hot and that she was not qualified for her position. In another incident, Tagnesi alleges she was told to keep a low profile regarding her sexual identity. Kelly denied the allegations. Anyone can allege anything in a complaint, regardless of how false, Kelly wrote in an email to KGTV. He also expressed confidence he and the district will be vindicated during litigation. Tagnesi was placed on paid administrative leave in August of 2023 pending the outcome of an investigation into her conduct and performance. Ive never been told what I did, Tagnesi said. Ive never been told what I was accused of doing. Ive never been even asked a question. Tagnesi resigned her position shortly after a contentious school board hearing with the family of a special needs student who was the victim of sex trafficking. Tarynn Finn was 16 when she went missing on Jan. 10, 2021. At the time she was a student at Santana High School in Santee where Tagnesi was a special education director. Rodolfo Emmanuel Ledesma, an East San Diego County homeless person, pleaded guilty in 2022 to luring Finn to an RV in a homeless encampment under a freeway underpass. He kept her there for five days during which time she was the victim of sex trafficking. Ledesma was sentenced to over 13 years in jail in a plea bargain, although he is expected to serve only four years of that sentence. At a school board meeting in February reported by East County Magazine, Finns family and their supporters blamed Tagnesi and Santana High principal Timothy Schwuchow, vice-principal Larry Oedewaldt, and fellow special education director Amiee Sag for the ordeal, saying they failed to protect Finn. They also claimed the actions of an administrator and student at the school directly contributed to Finn being lured to the RV by Ledesma, and that the board engaged in a coverup of their involvement. Presidents can move entire markets with a single sentence. Donald Trump, a former president, sent a single stock soaring with just three words: Im not selling, he pronounced at a press conference on Sept. 13, when asked whether he would offload the millions of shares he owns in his social media company. Buoyed by this declaration of faith from its largest shareholder, the stock shot up 27% to $20.76, before closing the day at $17.97. Later this month, for the first time since Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG)which owns Truth Socialwent public, Trump will be allowed to sell his shares in the company. As the former chair of TMTG and a major insider, Trump is subject to a lockup provision that prevents insiders from selling stock in the newly public company before a certain date. The lockup period for Trump, who owns about 57% of TMTG and is its largest stakeholder, will expire on Sept. 25 at the latest. If TMTGs stock remains above $12, the lockup could end as early as Thursday, Sept. 19a feat that looks increasingly likely. The price hasnt dropped below $15 on any trading day since Aug. 22. Trump currently owns 114.5 million shares of TMTG (ticker symbol: DJT), which are worth about $1.85 billion. Trumps stake in TMTG is likely a significant portion of his wealth. Forbes estimates Trumps net worth to be about $3.7 billion, meaning the paper value of his TMTG shares would account for about 50% of his total wealth. Of course, as with anyone whose wealth is tied up in company stock, Trumps net worth can fluctuate regularly with changes in the share price. Trump cannot sell too much, too soonin theory As the lockup expiry date approaches, Fortune looked through dozens of SEC disclosures to examine the condition of TMTG. We found a company with a market cap of $3.1 billionan almost inexplicable valuation given that the underlying enterprise is no larger than the size of a small family business. It has declining revenues, no profits, and is embroiled in multiple lawsuits. The company even confesses it made material misstatements in its financials reporting with no clear timeline of when it will be able to remedy them. Andcrucially for the company and anyone holding its sharesits future is largely tied up with the decisions of its largest individual shareholder: Donald Trump. The filings acknowledge Trumps personal financial interests may hurt his investors because he has a right to vote his shares in ways that may not always be in the interests of the Combined Entitys stockholders generally. Story continues Insiders at newly public companies approaching the end of a lockup period will often communicate with the board to devise a plan to sell their stake incrementally over time and avoid a free-for-all in the market, according to Michael Ewens, a finance professor at Columbia Business School. Everyone realizes selling it all is bad, he says. Theres a good reason for that; they dont want the share price to tank. If insiders, especially Trump, rushed to offload as many shares as possible when the lockup period ended it would trigger a fire sale. Shareholders, many of whom are retail investors who bought the stock as a show of support for Trump, could see their investments greatly devalued or wiped out. But, as the largest shareholder of the company, no one would have more to lose from a cratering TMTG share price than Trump. The ensuing price drop could make whatever shares he wasnt able to sell almost worthless, according to Jay Ritter, a professor at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business who studies public offerings. But holding on to TMTG stock poses its own set of risks, namely that its share price appears entirely divorced from its underlying business results, trading mostly on the fervent devotion Trump inspires in his followers rather than any market fundamentals. That means Trump, as by far the largest shareholder, is caught between a rock and hard place. He can flood the market with shares knowing that whatever he doesnt manage to sell will be worth a fraction of their original value. Or he can hold on to them and face the daunting prospect of turning TMTG and Truth Social into a genuine tech and media business. TMTGs shaky financial footing Thus far, TMTGs financial performance has been modest. The company made revenues of just $1.6 million in the first half of 2024, a decline of 30% from the year before. It posted a net loss of $344 million for the period, as total costs rose 1,104% from $9.8 million to $118.5 million, according to TMTGs latest quarterly earnings report. To shore up its finances, TMTG struck a deal on July 3 to sell up to $2.5 billion worth of stock to Yorkville Advisors, a New Jersey investment firm that works with small- and micro-cap companies. The deal, a standby equity purchase agreement, is common among new companies. Essentially, it gives TMTG a guaranteed buyer if it issues new shares and a means to put cash on its balance sheet, while Yorkville gets the right to purchase discounted stock. In this case, Yorkville will pay 97.25% of the share price, which it can then turn around and sell at full price on the open market. Over the three-year term of the deal, TMTG will have sole discretion over when to issue shares that Yorkville can purchase, according to the agreement. The deal limits Yorkville to 19.99% of TMTGs outstanding shares, which as of Julywhen the deal was signedwas 37 million shares, worth $680 million. TMTG can also request advances. And the deal isnt exclusive, meaning TMTG can still raise capital from other sources. In striking the deal, TMTG paid Yorkville a $25,000 structuring fee and issued 200,000 shares to Yorkville, currently worth $3.9 million, as a commitment fee. I see no reason why Yorkville would not want to immediately resell the shares, rather than expose itself to the risk of a stock price decline, Ritter said. Yorkville appears to be in a situation in which it can make some money as a middleman without exposing itself to much risk. While an equity purchase agreement isnt unusual for a newly public company, its choice of investor does raise questions, according to Francine McKenna, a former public accountant at KPMG and PwC. Among them: who those people are, who is part of that deal, who's part of that insider group?, McKenna said. And in this case, you have Yorkville Advisors as part of the insider group. I would say they're not Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs. In the past, Yorkvilles founder and president Mark Angelo had run-ins with regulators in Italy and Switzerland, according to disclosures made to the SEC. In 2015, Angelo and Yorkville Advisors were fined $135,000 by the Italian financial regulator the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa for failing to make a public tender offer to buy the shares of certain shareholders involved in a deal. In 2022, Yorkville settled with the Swiss Federal Department of Finance for $82,515 over claims it didnt properly disclose derivative holdings in three Swiss-listed companies. A spokesperson for Yorkville Advisors declined to comment on the equity purchase agreement with TMTG, saying it does not respond to inquiries from the press with respect to its business transactions. The spokesperson described the fine from Italian regulators as a technical violation in reliance on advice provided by Yorkvilles outside Italian counsel. Yorkville did not respond to follow-up questions from Fortune about the settlement with Swiss regulators. Fortune also sent TMTG a detailed set of questions regarding the statements made in its SEC filings, its financing deal with Yorkville Advisors, whether company insiders and the board had discussed plans regarding the end of the lockup period, and the companys overall strategy. The company responded by questioning Fortunes journalistic methods: By cherrypicking statements from our filings while omitting all countervailing information, and touting quotes from supposed experts who just happen to support all the reporter's biases, Fortune offers a great lesson in how to manufacture fake news, the spokesperson said. A dispute among TMTGs cofounders TMTG was founded shortly after Trump left the White House in 2021. Two former contestants on The Apprentice, Wesley Moss and Andrew Litinsky, approached Trump with the idea to start their own social media site since he had recently been banned from mainstream platforms in the wake of Jan. 6. Moss and Litinisky secured Trumps approval to use his brand to bolster Truth Social, their nascent, conservative alternative to X (formerly Twitter). In return, a company they set up, United Atlantic Ventures (UAV), received an 8.6% equity stake in TMTG. In October 2021, TMTG agreed to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Digital World Acquisition (DWAC), helmed by Florida investor Patrick Orlando. TMTG wouldnt end up going public until March 2024 after the deal got tied up in an SEC investigation. The SEC eventually alleged in an ongoing lawsuit that Orlando made material misrepresentations on disclosure forms when he said he didnt have any intended acquisition targets, despite having already held numerous lengthy discussions with TMTG representatives. SPACs are generally not allowed to pre-coordinate with other companies. The lawsuits that were surrounding various parts of [the SPAC deal], and the SEC investigation slowing it down for so long, was unusual, said Usha Rodrigues, a professor of corporate finance and securities law at the University of Georgia Law School, and an expert in SPACs. SPACs are supposed to be blank-check companies where you really don't have an intended target at the outset, she said. Earlier this month the judge in the case, Christopher R. Cooper of the U.S. District Court of D.C., granted Orlandos lawyers request for a 30-day extension to respond to the SECs initial complaint. Orlando did not respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn and multiple emails sent to his lawyers. Those werent the only legal disputes plaguing TMTG. In February, Litinsky and Moss sued TMTG for allegedly withholding their 8.6% stake in the company by attempting to dilute their equity by issuing one billion new shares, including 900 million that would be designated as voting stock, according to the lawsuit. Doing so, Litinsky and Moss allege, was against the conditions of their original contract with Trump and TMTG (then called Trump Media Group Corp.), which granted them the right to approve both the issuance of new shares and the creation of any new classes of stock. In response TMTG sued Litinsky and Mosss company UAV a month later, claiming it was justified in doing so because the pair botched the companys public offering, leading to a years-long delay. The two failed spectacularly at every turn, the suit alleges. In September the two won a separate case and the right to sell their shares on the open market. (Lawyers for Litinsky and Moss did not respond to multiple requests for comment). TMTGs risk factors include at least seven lawsuits against the company and Donald Trump All companies are required by law to disclose possible risks to their business, even risks that seem remote. Most companies risks revolve around competitive or regulatory threats to their business models. But the risks at TMTG are unusual because they are tied to the popularity of one man. The companys management acknowledged in an SEC filing that Trumps personal legal issuesone of which resulted in 34 felony convictions that Trump is currently appealingleaves the companys future hanging in the balance. The outcome of any one of the at least seven different criminal and civil court cases involving Trump could determine the success of a company with already precarious finances. While TMTG is not involved in any of these cases, the company says it cannot predict what effects an adverse outcome might have on Trumps personal reputation and therefore its business, according to the same SEC filing. In its discussion of the risks Trumps legal troubles pose, TMTG cited a 2016 USA Today article that found the former president and his various businesses had been involved in roughly 3,500 lawsuits over 30 years. Trump had been a plaintiff in 1,900 of those cases, a defendant in 1,450, and in 150 he had either been a third party or involved in a bankruptcy proceeding. In fact, throughout its official documents TMTG admits that much of its future hinges on Trump and Trump alone. TMTG cites Trump extensively as one of its risk factors, citing the possibility that the companys fate is tied to his political fortunes, according to the SEC filings. Success depends in part on the popularity of our brand and the reputation and popularity of President Donald J. Trump, one document reads. The value of TMTGs brand may diminish if the popularity of President Trump were to suffer. Should the focus of TMTGs majority shareholder and pitchman waver, the companys fortunes might falter. If President Donald J. Trump were to cease to be able to devote substantial time to Truth Social, TMTGs business would be adversely affected, the SEC filings say. TMTG also highlights Trumps history of bankruptcies. TMTG is hardly the first venture to carry the Trump name, which can still be found on buildings across the world. Between 1991 and 1992 Trumps Atlantic City casinosthe Trump Taj Mahal, the Trump Castle, and the Trump Plazaall filed for bankruptcy. Businesses that carried the Trump name via a licensing deal didnt fare much better. Trump Steaks discontinued sales after just two months, Trump Mortgage, and Go.Trump.coma Trump-branded travel sitewere both founded in 2006 and shuttered by 2007. Another of Trumps online companies, Trump University, closed in 2011 amid a series of lawsuits that alleged students were deceived by false advertisements. In 2018, a federal court approved a $25 million settlement against Trump University. Of each of those businesses, TMTG said there can be no guarantee that TMTGs performance will exceed the performance of those entities, according to SEC filings. Threats on the outside, and material weaknesses on the inside While dealing with the external threats posed by its numerous legal proceedings, TMTG is also grappling with an internal problem, one that officers of the company acknowledged they are struggling to rectify: properly accounting for TMTGs finances. Any issues with a public companys bookkeeping, referred to as material weaknesses, pose serious problems to investors, who rely on financial information being accurate. When TMTG went public earlier this year executives realized the company did not have sufficient qualified personnel to meet the SECs reporting standards, according to an SEC filing made about two months after it went public. TMTG is currently trying to fix that. These remediation measures will be time consuming, incur significant costs, and place significant demands on our financial and operational resources, the same disclosure says. Such issues are more common in startups and newly public companies because those types of firms have fewer resources and are not as experienced operating under SEC guidelines, according to Jason Schloetzer, an accounting professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. These weaknesses can lead to reduced investor confidence, increased regulatory scrutiny, and governance challenges, such as inadequate board oversight of the financial reporting process, Schloetzer said. What if DJT is just a meme stock worth only $1.50 a share? It is not unusual for a companys stock price to race ahead of reality. Lots of companies have over-inflated stock prices. This year, for instance, Big Tech stocks hit new highs based on the mostly unrealized promise that artificial intelligence will usher in a new age of productivity. But there is a difference between that type of hypewhich is based on businesses that have underlying sales growthand the situation at TMTG, where revenues are declining and losses are worsening. The extensive risks outlined in TMTGs own documents, combined with its sagging financial performance, raise questions about whether its current trading price is sustainable. The most common explanation is that TMTG is a meme stock, whose performance is based on the excitement of retail investors rather than sound fundamentals. A meme stock is almost by definition, not tied to economic realities, said Rodrigues, the SPAC expert. They trade on momentum, emotion, and rumor. In the case of TMTG the stock moves on news of its majority shareholderTrump, according to Ritter, the UF professor and IPO researcher. Meme stocks thrive on attention, so the stock might jump if there is news about the company or Donald Trump, even if the news is not necessarily good news, he said. As the stock moves with Trumps news coverage, favorable or not, TMTGs outlook remains a head-scratcher. TMTGs current market price of $16.14 per share is grossly overinflated, roughly 90% higher than its fair market value of $1.50 it should be trading at if one were to look at the companys cash per share, according to Ritter. By Ritters calculations, for TMTG to live up to the $4 billion valuation currently implied by its stock price it would have to generate sustainable earnings of $200 million a year. But TMTGs current financial performance is far off that mark and theres no evidence the company has a plan to start pulling in annual profits at those levels, according to Ritter. The only bull case for the stock that I can think of is the greater fool theory of investing: you can make money by buying an overvalued stock if you can find an even greater fool who is willing to buy it from you at an even more-inflated price, Ritter said. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Let's Go Washington, a political committee, faces allegations it did not properly disclose information on money raised and spent in its signature-gathering drives for six initiatives in 2023. These boxes contain signed petitions for one of them, Initiative 2109, which would to repeal Washington state's capital gains tax. It will be on ballots in November 2024. (Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard) A 14-month investigation has led to charges against the political committee founded by businessman Brian Heywood for allegedly violating campaign finance laws in the course of gathering signatures for six initiatives last year, including three on the ballot in November. Staff of the state Public Disclosure Commission filed administrative charges on Sept. 9 alleging Lets Go Washington did not accurately and timely report its spending on signature-gathering for each of the measures. Staff also assert the committee failed to obtain and disclose information from vendors on their spending on subcontractors for signature-gathering. And, they accuse the committee of not producing requested campaign records. After being issued a subpoena in July, Lets Go Washington produced 9,000 pages of materials for the campaign finance watchdog. The five-member Public Disclosure Commission will consider the charges in a special meeting Oct. 3. The panel had been slated to hear the matter on Thursday but Lets Go Washington requested more time. Heywood said the group has been transparent in all of its campaign reports. Commission staff does not dispute that we have reported every penny we have received and spent, he said in a statement. This issue concerns only technical details of how we reported that information. This dispute is rooted in Lets Go Washingtons unprecedented success last year in gathering signatures for six initiatives to the Legislature. Lawmakers adopted three dealing with guidelines for police pursuits, parental rights and taxes. Voters will decide the fate of three others that seek to repeal the capital gains tax and the cap-and-trade system, and make the states new long-term care services program voluntary. An alliance of progressive groups opposed to the ballot measures filed a complaint in July 2023 alleging Lets Go Washington failed to disclose details about the flow of money in and out of the committee coffers for each of the six initiatives. They alleged that by using Heywoods deep pockets as its near exclusive source of cash in 2023, the committee circumvented the need for filing of regular reports of contributions. They also argue he failed to report pledges intended to cover in-kind expenditures. Lawyers representing SEIU 775, Washington Conservation Action, Planned Parenthood and Civic Ventures have argued for action on the allegations before the fall election. At a commission meeting two months ago, they pressed commIssioners to refer the case to Washingtons attorney general but were rebuffed in part because their staff had not finished their investigation. Defend Washington, the name of the coalition, said in a statement this week that the charges show Lets Go Washington has been trying to conceal relevant facts from voters as they weigh how to vote on these measures and then stonewalling the PDC as they attempted to investigate. The crux of the charges centers on how Lets Go Washington reported its spending on signature-gathering for the six measures in 2023. Reports originally filed by the political committee treated it as a single undertaking, lumping together everything raised and spent. Earlier this year, at the commission staffs behest, the committee filed amended reports breaking it down into specific amounts for each initiative. Another charge filed by the staff concerns Allstate Petition Management, or APM, one of two signature-gathering firms hired by Lets Go Washington.. According to commission documents, the political committee reported $1.9 million in payments to APM but did not collect information on amounts the company paid to subcontractors, such as signature-gatherers, as required by state law. Lets Go Washington sent a letter seeking the information to Roy Ruffino, APMs top executive. Ruffino, a former collaborator with initiative promoter Tim Eyman, responded that what the political committee sought is proprietary information and is outside the realm of reason to disclose to you. The case is still under investigation, and charging documents can be amended, according to PDC officials. Gees, finding out about grenade launchers really rattled the opinion writer the other day ("Alabama's deadly fantasies about guns" by Brian Lyman of the Alabama Reflector). But once settled down, he revealed some new anti gun tactics. Talk about mission creep! The anti gunners list of bad rifles used to be restricted to weapons of war, assault rifles and military grade weapons. Now, it looks like there are no restrictions on restrictions and all semi automatic rifles have been added to the list. Additionally Some folks welcome the Supreme Courts recent rulings for rectifying previous bad rulings and subsequent presidents. Even the most paranoid person still has to pass a background check when purchasing a firearm from a federally licensed dealer. It is sad but not surprising this newspaper would allow someone to disparage the readers and fellow Alabamians with such a condescending and contemptuous tone for simply believing the Second Amendment as it is written. Why such animosity towards gun owners? James W. Guier Jr., Montgomery This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Letter: Why such animosity towards gun owners? Letters to the Editor: Pope Francis gets no support for his 'lesser evil' take on Harris and Trump Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on June 5. (Andrew Medichini / Associated Press) To the editor: In criticizing former President Trump's stance on immigration, Pope Francis (and those advising him) made the same mistake that too many others make. ("Pope slams Harris and Trump as taking 'anti-life' stances, urges Catholics to vote for 'lesser evil,'" Sept. 13) Republicans and Trump are in favor of immigration. We welcome and want legal immigrants. The United States legally admits many hundreds of thousands of immigrants each and every year. Immigrants who are in this country illegally, however, are often unvetted. Be a responsible citizen and moral human by seeking and considering facts, not propaganda and feelings. F. Stephen Masek, Mission Viejo .. To the editor: The pope said Vice President Kamala Harris, in supporting abortion rights, supports killing humans. No woman, teen, girl or child ever had an abortion "just because." Her pregnancy was toxic for any number of reasons maternal fatality if the pregnancy is carried to term, an ectopic pregnancy, fetal death in utero, rape, incest, life-threatening domestic abuse and much more. Women have had to abort a much-wanted pregnancy with great sorrow and then go on to bear healthy children with joy and gladness. It is no one's business but their own. Caroline Brown, Sierra Madre .. To the editor: Recently, Francis slammed both Trump and Harris on the issues of abortion and immigration and asked Americans to vote for the least evil candidate. It is admirable that he speaks out against abortion as murder, but what happened to "who am I to judge"? It is admirable that he is supportive of immigrants and opined that building a wall "is not Christian," but what if they choose to settle in the Vatican? It is admirable that he said bishops should keep out of politics, but what is he doing? Thomas Pavey, Perth, Australia This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Guess where else has a growing Haitian population? Lexington, lets welcome, not vilify them | Opinion Fignole Charles has lived in Lexington for the past 27 years, crafting as close to an American dream as its possible to imagine. He came to this country as a refugee from Haiti 27 years ago during one of that countrys nearly constant upheavals. He started in Orlando, Fla., but a friend suggested he try Lexington instead. He got a job at a distribution company in Winchester, got married, had four children, bought a house in Masterson Station and paid it off. In May of this year, he and his brother opened their own business, JF Bongout Bakery and Grocery on Winchester Road. We dont make a profit, but we survive, he said. Next year, well make a profit. The shelves are stacked with soda, flour, Haitian candy and bags of fresh bread. You can order some specialties like chicken patte, chopped up chicken, peppers and other vegetables in a buttery crust. He was recently joined at the store by his nephew, who arrived from Haiti three months ago under a federal humanitarian program for Haiti, which is now in turmoil since its president Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021. The nephew didnt want his name used. Its very bad there right now, Charles said. Things go on you cant imagine. Like everyone else, Charles has heard about Springfield, Ohio, where a growing Haitian population has become the target of right-wing demagoguery by vice-presidential candidate JD Vance (Ohios junior senator) and former president Donald Trump, who during the national debate, accused Haitians of eating cats and dogs. This is not true, Charles said sadly. We dont know why he comes up with this. Lexington welcomes refugees Charles is right. Its not true, which Vance admitted on national television on Sunday, saying he needed to create stories so that the media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people. The only suffering right now is in Springfield, where thanks to Vance, bomb threats have shut down schools, colleges and festivals. What is true is that big influxes of legal immigrants can strain local resources. But only at first, said Mary Cobb, director of the Lexington office of Kentucky Refugee Ministries. The economic data are clear that the process of welcoming refugees really pays off, Cobb said. When someone comes, theres some initial outlay such as a food stamps. But it doesnt take long before people are off those benefits and they have repaid more than they took out because of taxes. Groups like Kentucky Refugee Ministries prepare refugees by giving them language and cultural readiness classes, and finding them jobs. They start a life, they start businesses, the economic generation thats generated is much more positive than a drain, Cobb said. In February, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a new study that found between 2005 and 2019, refugees and asylees had a positive net fiscal impact on the U.S. government totaling $123.8 billion. The net fiscal benefit to the federal government was estimated at $31.5 billion and approximately $92.3 billion to state and local governments. In the past 23 months, Cobb said, Lexington has welcomed refugees from Afghanistan, Belarus, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Iraq, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti. They receive legal protections as refugees and asylees. An asylee is a person who has been granted asylum. They are authorized to work in this country, may apply for a Social Security card, may request permission to travel overseas, and can petition to bring family members to the United States. These are people who are seeking protection because their life is at risk, Cobb said. In 2023, about 200 Haitian refugees came to Lexington; in 2024 that number rose to 338. Those who come from Haiti, which is basically now ruled through gang violence, have faced poverty, violence, and sometimes torture. These people have faced trauma and torture, Cobb said. This is forced to flee. But they have the kind of resilience and grit we want in the community theyre resourceful and ready to work because theyre hungry to rebuild a life. Lexington has been largely welcoming of refugees from all over the world, maybe because people recognize they bring vitality and diversity to our state, as well as strengthening our work force. Historic scapegoating But refugees and immigrants can quickly become scapegoats in the kind of political discourse weve seen in the past week. Haitians in Florida and other places learned that to their detriment during the AIDS crisis. In 2018, then President Donald Trump asked why we had to take immigrants from shithole countries, like Haiti. Haiti and the United States have a long and involved history ever since Haiti overthrew French colonial powers in 1804 and became the first country run by the formerly enslaved, said Mark Curnutte, a journalist and author of several books about Haiti who now teaches at Miami University in Ohio. My experience in Haiti is they are a remarkably kind and gentle people given the really soul-crushing obstacles they face, said Curnutte, a former Cincinnati Enquirer reporter. There are no opportunities in their country, which is why you have a great deal of migration. They want to work and support their families, and they will send money home in an expatriated economy, which is how a lot of people survive. Haitians have been persecuted in the U.S. and elsewhere. But they are part of a long history of political scapegoating that goes back centuries, according to Karen Petrone, a University of Kentucky history professor who specializes in the Holocaust. In the Middle Ages, Jewish people were accused of blood libel, the killing of Christian children as a kind of religious othering, Petrone said. That kind of othering then became very useful to politicians as they built nationalism in their countries. In Springfield, an 11-year-old boy was in an accident caused by a Haitian immigrant. Shortly after that, rumors started about dogs and cats being taken and eaten. Karen Petrone is a history professor at the University of Kentucky who specializes in the Holocaust and K-12 Holocaust education. Shes alarmed by the similarities in the kind of rhetoric she sees about Springfield immigrants and what happened in 1930s Germany. By the time Nazis began to kill people, the idea that Jews, Roma, and others did not deserve representation or even life had taken hold, Petrone said. Thats how this dehumanizing rhetoric works, and this kind of rhetoric could be deadly for an immigrant in the wrong place at the wrong time. As he and Vance begin to make immigrants look inhuman, Trump has also threatened a massive and bloody deportation process for immigrants, along with the threat of mass detention camps. In addition, Haitians are othered because of their race. It is not an accident that all of this is picking on a Black immigrant group and not Ukrainians, Peterone said. Thats why its so important to call out people like Vance over obvious scapegoating and lies. People like Fignole Charles are what give America its exceptionalism; at whatever point in history, nearly all of us arrived in this country as immigrants and started to build lives. But immigrants are an easy target for immoral politicians, who think scapegoating people will achieve their political gains. Weve seen how well it worked in the past in other countries; we should not let it happen here. Life is worth living: Travel nurse determined to walk again after near fatal lightning strike A travel nurse who was struck by lightning in Dorchester one year ago is determined to walk again. Thalita Teixeira was walking her dog Bruce along Savin Hill Beach on September 9, 2023, when the unthinkable happened. She said the last thing she remembers is a light drizzle before she lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. A bolt of lightning traveled through her chest and exited through her right foot, burning the inside of her spine. Teixeira was intubated in the hospital for nearly a month, and doctors told her family it was unlikely shed pull through. It feels like I died and am getting a whole new restart, Teixeira told Boston 25 News. Life is worth living. Teixeira said her recovery has been agonizing and has included feelings of not wanting to live. She described going from numbness to excruciating pain as nerves throughout her body began to refire. I know what it feels like to want to die. Getting out of that where I am today, Im so happy that Im alive, she said. Im so happy that god gave me a second chance. Teixeira had to relearn simple tasks like tying her hair, lifting her arms, and texting. Shes also had to learn how to speak again. The 32-year-old remains in a wheelchair but is now able to walk for short periods using a walker. I didnt want to go home in a wheelchair. I thought I would be up and walking in a few weeks, she said. I just want to walk. Thats the only thing I want. Nurse struck by lightning on Dorchester beach returns home after months of rehab Teixeiras mother told Boston 25 News that her daughter has already proven shes capable of beating the odds. For me, its a gift to have her back, said Marcia Teixeira. Its a reason to celebrate. Were not sad anymore. We dont cry anymore. Marcia Teixeira rushed to Boston from out-of-state immediately after learning that her daughter was struck by lightning. She moved to Boston for nine months to be by her daughters side for every step of the recovery. She didnt give up because she had us. We didnt give up because we want her back, she said. Teixeira said she couldnt have done it without the unwavering support of her husband and family. She also expressed gratitude to the off-duty nurse who performed CPR on her in the moments after the incident. For you to take an already dead person in your hands, transfer them to a deck and do CPR for 15 minutes, I just find it all very incredible, she added. Shes also eternally grateful to the stranger who rescued her dog Bruce after finding him hiding behind a rock. The lightning strike happened in what was supposed to be Teixeiras final weeks in Boston of a three-month contract as a travel nurse at Beth Israel Hospital. She stayed in Boston for her recovery and is now moving back home to Connecticut on Friday because of the progress shes made. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW BRANCH COUNTY After 30 years of providing ambulance services to Branch County, LifeCare said the company needs the county to pay annually to continue the emergency medical response services. County commissioners will consider the proposals at its Thursday work session. LifeCare started Branch County service in 1994. The service is one of six owned by Emergent Health Partners, formed in 2012 as a nonprofit organization providing ambulances in 14 southern Michigan counties with over 1 million residents. Private insurance, private pay, Medicare, and Medicaid have covered LifeCare operating costs until now. Lifecare currently operates two to three units in the county depending on calls and needs from surrounding counties. LifeCare offered two proposals in a new contract after the current contract expired this year. Three Unit service Two units stationed in the county 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and an additional unit 12 hours a day at an annual subsidy of $385,000. LifeCare would respond to priority one calls within 12 minutes, 80% of the time. Two Unit Service Two units are stationed in the county 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at an annual subsidy of $75,000. LifeCare would respond to priority one calls within 18 minutes, 80% of the time. Complaints about delays During 2020 and 2021, complaints about delays in ambulance response times grew. Some waits exceeded half an hour in recent years for emergency medical technicians or paramedics to arrive. Steve Frisbie., vice president for Emergent Health Partners SW Region/LifeCare, blamed the lack of staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic for creating a severe problem with response times for emergency calls. Steve Frisbie Frisbie told the 911 Central Dispatch board last week the times are back to the 80% normal response but at a cost. Frisbie said, "Our cost to maintain and retain the staff is a big struggle." Cost increases Emergent CEO Ron Slagell explained cost increases since the last Branch County contract in 2019. Vehicle prices for new ambulances increased by over 30% in the last three years. Starting paramedic wages in 2019 were $43,000, now starting at $55,000. The top paramedic wage scale bumped up to $86,000. Health insurance costs increased dramatically. Liability insurance has gone up over 165% since 2019 at LifeCAre and all affiliated organizations. The five-year increase is $1.3 million. Medical supplies are up 43% since 2019. Fuel costs are the most significant expense, up from a 2019 average of $2.60 a gallon to about $3.50 a gallon. Slagell said that staffing is back to normal. "There's going to have to be some governmental support to to maintain that." Prior story LifeCare response times still an issue for first responders Frisbie said that staff that left for other jobs are coming back. "Because of the stance we took in becoming a leader in wages and benefits to retain people. That's not true all around us." There are employees in the pipeline. The Kellogg Community College Paramedic Program is holding a paramedic lab class at Coldwater's KCC Grahl Center, Frisbie said. For the first time Frisibe can remember, the Grahl Center is offering an EMT class with over 30 people, Board members at 911 suggested the county look at modified programs to cut the subsidy costs. Staffing the ambulances makes a difference. Two EMTs operate a Basic Life Support ambulance. A paramedic is required for Advance Life Support units, often critical for more severe health issues. Frisbie said St. Joseph County and some townships pay LifeCAre $500,000 a year to serve less than three-quarters of that county. Subscribe Follow this story. Subscribe to the Daily Reporter County administrator Bud Norman said he would look at a collaboration with St. Joseph that could save money. Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: LifeCare Branch County requests subsidy for ambulance service Lil Reese could be facing some big consequences soon. The 31-year-old rapper is wanted by police for an alleged assault that took place at a Texas nightclub last week. TMZ reported that the Chicago rapper allegedly punched and strangled his ex-girlfriend at The Pinkhouse in Houston. Houston police claim that Reese attempted to kiss the woman as he was entering the club and she was leaving, around 6:30 a.m. When the woman rejected his advances, he allegedly grew frustrated and punched her and gripped her neck. Reeses ex-girlfriend told the police that she was gasping for air and feared for her life. There were reportedly multiple witnesses of the incident, including those who broke up the scuffle between her and Reese. She claimed they previously dated for two months before breaking up weeks before this alleged altercation took place. Upon seeing Lil Reeses ex-girlfriends injuries, Houston police issued a warrant for his arrest. His whereabouts are currently unknown and he has yet to comment on the altercation or the arrest warrant. This follows Reeses recent rape allegations, which were sparked by his arrest in July. Reese denied the allegations via Instagram, writing, On my sister Ree Ree the whole story cap and made up [f**k] I look like this aint that I know better and the same way yall posting that [sh*t] make sure yall post the case get thrown out on my court date they do anything for clout and tryna come up try again. He successfully called his shot as the case was dismissed by a judge. He commented on the ordeal via X (formerly Twitter) last month. So today was my first court date for the false a** sh*t that bi**h said I did, he wrote. And guess what case dismiss I wanna see they post and put this all around like they did when they said I rapped [sic] a lien bi**h. Reese even posted a photo of his proof of appearance form from Los Angeles County Court so there were no discrepancies. So today was my first court date for the false ass shit that bitch said I did and guess what case dismiss I wanna see they post and put this all around like they did when they said I rapped a lien bitch LilReese (@LilReese300) August 8, 2024 More from VIBE.com Sign up for Vibe's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. On Tuesday, Democrats held a vote to enshrine protections for IVF and mandate insurance coverage for the treatment. Unsurprisingly, Republicans blocked the legislation, with only Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joining Democrats to vote for the bill. Former president Donald Trump had only just promised that a second Trump administration would mean free IVF for all Americans. Yet, even Trumps running mate JD Vance failed to show up to work that day to vote on the legislation. Trumps overtures on IVF came after Alabamas supreme court ruled that frozen embryos are children. The judge in that ruling specifically cited Dobbs v Jackson, the US Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v Wade. In doing so, the Alabama judge made sure there was nowhere for Trump to hide: overturning the federal right to abortion led directly to another state court being able to say embryos have human rights, and therefore being able to ban IVF. Since then, Trump has tried to walk a tightrope on both abortion and IVF. He knows that such hardline stances are unpopular with the wider American populace, and he fears what that could do at the ballot box especially when even deep red states like Kansas ended up voting against abortion bans in recent referenda. His position is endlessly confused: He recently said that Floridas six-week ban on abortion is too short, before he backtracked and said he would vote against a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights that will be on the ballot in his home state in November. Its not just progressives and those who fight for reproductive rights who are worried. For many conservative anti-abortion activists, Trumps waffling feels like a confirmation of their worst fears. In 2015, 2016 there were many people, including myself, who were very weary about voting for President Trump, and really wanted to know where he stood on this issue, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, told The Independent earlier this month. Ultimately, though, Hawkins said that Trump assuaged their concerns. He made a pledge, he made a deal, and he kept that deal and governed, and still today has the most pro-life record of any president in American history, she said. And so I think, you know, it's frustrating to see him walking back. Hawkins chose not to put the blame on Trump but rather sought to blame those around him. I definitely have concerns about those who are shepherding him, she said. If someone wants to drain the swamp I think he's listening to way too many swampy people, in my opinion. Nevertheless, Hawkins added that she was encouraged by Trump saying he would vote against the abortion amendment in Florida. During his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump claimed erroneously and outrageously that Democrats support measures that would allow for a baby to be executed after birth. It was a claim that debate moderator Linsey Davis debunked in the moment. Trump went on to claim, I have been a leader on fertilization, IVF, not long afterwards. That set off alarm bells for Lila Rose, the president of Live Action. IVF creates new, individual, unique human beings, she told The Independent. And so it's a very, very dangerous technology for human beings, and it ultimately amounts to the reckless treatment of human life, because 93% of the children created through IVF are frozen and destroyed or die. Rose went so far as to say that she believes Trump has been parroting the words of pro-choice activists. Indeed, in August, Trump wrote on Truth Social that My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights. So I think what the pro-life movement is urging President Trump to do is push back against that position and stand up for life, and stop using any kind of pro-abortion rhetoric, and stop pushing any kind of policies that are in support of abortion and instead champion for life, Rose said. She added that she worried that Republicans were skirting the issue of abortion and she expressed concern about the weakening of a hardline anti-abortion stance in the party. It's very destructive, and I think it makes the Republican Party just look more like the Democratic Party, and I don't think that's going to be a winning platform for the party long-term, and it's also not the morally right thing to do, she said. Ultimately, though, Trump does not seem to be any closer to having a concrete policy that would satisfy anti-abortion activists. Indeed, on Tuesday, his former vice president Mike Pence criticized Trump in an interview for backing away from opposing abortion. I wanted to see the president reclaim his passion for life, the passion we had in our administration, Pence, who is not endorsing Trump, said. Having pandered to evangelicals and confirmed ultra-conservative justices to the Supreme Court, Trump now finds himself in a tough spot. Such extreme views are not actually popular with the electorate, and already appear to have cost Republicans votes in the midterms. Yet, in such a neck-and-neck election, losing any small percentage of support could cost him dearly. Between a rock and a hard place, the former president has elected to simply sit down in the middle. Only time will tell if that kind of equivocation will work. Little Rock police arrest 13-year-old student in connection with threat against eStem Middle School LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Little Rock police said they arrested a 13-year-old student after he was accused of making a threat against eStem Middle School. According to the Little Rock Police Department, a parent told detectives that her child informed her of a threatening social post sent through a group chat. Detectives said the social post said a suspect would come to the middle school and might just end up killing someone or somebody. Little Rock School District, Little Rock Police Department promise swift action, repercussions for school threats; 2 arrested During an investigation, detectives said that the 13-year-old was responsible for making the social post and was detained at the school. Police said the student was issued a citation and released to his parents. Police said the student is facing charges of threatening to commit and act of mass violence on school property. Over the last couple of weeks, schools in central Arkansas have received reports of threatening social posts, including schools in the Little Rock School District, Bryant Public Schools and Russellville School District. Bryant police arrest 12-year-old student in connection with threat against Bethel Middle School Several arrests have been made in connection with threats made against the schools, with the latest being a 12-year-old student in Bryant. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. We each have our little corner of the world where we can make a difference, writes Rebecca Lyn Phillips. Remember we are here to help others. (NASA/Getty Images) Lets face it: The world is in turmoil, trauma, drama and despair. I get up each morning to fix my coffee, and I pray. I pray to God for help in understanding people who dont think like me, who look different from me and who might see the world in a different way. I am distressed by so many peoples views. A friend of mine watches a certain news channel all day, and that is where her information comes from about the world. She doesnt read a newspaper. She doesnt have a degree in political science or history. She has an us versus them mentality. She is entitled, she is peeved and she is paranoid. In fact, I see a lot of people who are that way. I used to think I experienced paranoia until the current political climate. The persecution complex has reached a whole new level. I unfriended someone on Facebook for one too many political posts. People seem to believe they can persuade their Facebook friends to think like them. They are bound and determined. I dont think social media should be a place to try to tell people what and how to believe. Everyone has a free will. Everyone has different beliefs. Growing up, I dont remember my parents ever telling me what to think politically. My dad was a professor and taught political communication. He was interviewed on local news stations about political campaigns. He even was a speaker at a conference in Atlanta commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. After my dads speech, Coretta Scott King went up to him and told him how much she appreciated what he had to say. Hate is learned in families. Just look at the recent school shootings. Of course, mental illness also plays a huge role. Attorney and author Bryan Stevenson in Montgomery, Alabama, shows people a kinder way of looking at those who are different. Stevenson goes into jails and prisons and helps free people who are oppressed. He grew up going to church and singing hymns. The video Chocolate Milkshake with Bryan Stevenson on YouTube inspires me every time I watch it. My younger sister, Laura, works at a national defense company and has about 100 people on her team. She has traveled the world to talk with people from other governments, and she is highly respected. I love visiting her and her special husband in their home because my friendship with my sister gives me peace. She is so patriotic and serves her country well. I am very proud of her. We live in a global world. We are not just Kansas. We are not just one political party. We are not just male. We are not just Christian. I have always had a heart for the hurting and oppressed, especially people who are from other countries or who are of different races or ethnicities. My faith is important to me, and it teaches me daily to embrace the world and to pray to pray for healing, to pray for alleviation from poverty, to pray for hope. I would encourage others to do the same. We cant put on Wonder Woman armor or Superman capes and go rescue people. However, we each have our little corner of the world where we can make a difference. I hope we will go touch lives and not forget we are here to help others. Rebecca Lyn Phillips is a published author, speaker and mental health advocate. Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here. (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) union said on Wednesday it has set a strike deadline at Ford's tool and die unit in the River Rouge Complex over local contract issues. Ford's Rouge Complex - which employs about 6,000 - has more than 500 workers in the tool and die unit, according to a union official. The union said it will go on strike on Sept. 26 if local contract issues are not resolved, adding that core issues in negotiations included job security, wage parity and work rules. "We have been at the table problem-solving. Negotiations continue and we look forward to reaching an agreement with UAW Local 600 at Dearborn Tool & Die," Ford said. On Tuesday, UAW president Shawn Fain said the union plans to hold strike authorization votes at one or more of rival Stellantis' local chapters in the coming days. (Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Nora Eckert in Detroit; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta) Team Trump Is Just Lying to Us Now and They Dont Care at All The Trump campaign would rather sow more chaos in Springfield, Ohio, over the Haitian immigrant conspiracy than make it right. The MAGA leadership is reportedly not displeased that its virulently racist pet-eating conspiracy has drawn widespread condemnation, according to The Bulwark. Instead, the campaign would seemingly rather keep the topic in the news, believing Trump could win big on immigration in November as opposed to thornier issues that Republicans have routinely lost over in recent elections, such as abortion. We talk about abortion, we lose. We talk about immigration, we win, one Trump adviser told The Bulwark. Multiple city officials and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine have categorically denied the conspiracy, and local authorities have said there were no reports or evidence of pets being stolen or eaten. On Sunday, Republican vice presidential pick J.D. Vance effectively admitted himself that the anti-immigration conspiracy was bogus. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then thats what Im going to do, he told CNN. But having no evidence and, frankly, not believing the lie themselves doesnt seem to matter to the Trump-Vance ticket. Well take the hit to prove the bigger point, the adviser told The Bulwark. Springfield, the epicenter of the conspiracy, is practically on its own with regard to the fallout of becoming a national punch line. Since Vance and Trump began elevating the myth last week, Springfield has received at least 33 bomb threats, forcing it to evacuate and temporarily shutter several of its schools, colleges, festivals, and a significant portion of its government facilities, including City Hall, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Ohio License Bureau, the Springfield Academy of Excellence, and Fulton Elementary School. Trump, meanwhile, will likely not be paying a visit to the location of his pet conspiracy, according to a source familiar with his travel who spoke with Columbia Journalism Review. Robert Hur and Leah Grossi have returned to King & Spalding as partners in the firms special matters and government investigations practice. Hur, best known as the special counsel investigating President Bidens classified documents case, previously was U.S. attorney for the district of Maryland and principal associate deputy U.S. attorney general. Grossi most recently was senior counsel in the Justice Departments Office of Legislative Affairs and served as associate counsel in the White House Counsels Office in the Biden administration. The National Park Foundation announced Jeff Reinbold will be its next president and CEO. Reinbold most recently was superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks for the National Park Service. Robyn Jackson has joined Ford Motor Company as government affairs communications manager in the companys Washington office. Jackson spent the past five years with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), most recently as the senators communications director, and she previously was communications director for Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.). Preston Feinberg has joined the government affairs team for defense at Palantir Technologies. Feinberg was most recently the operations lead for the Air Force and F-35 government affairs teams at Lockheed Martin. Cornerstone Government Affairs is adding Adam Yezerski to the firms federal government relations team. Yezerski was a professional staff member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. Arun Rao is joining Mayer Brown as a partner in the firms global investigations and white collar defense practice. Rao was most recently a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Departments Civil Division, where he oversaw the Consumer Protection Branch. He also served in the White House Counsels Office and as chief of the Southern Division of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Maryland. Jill Dvorak has returned to the National Retail Federation as senior vice president of content. She was the associations vice president of content and retail strategy from 2017 to 2022 and was the chief content officer at CommerceNext before her return to the retail organization. Josh Daniels has joined the American Council of Life Insurers as vice president of campaigns and partnerships. The Aerospace Industries Association, the leading American aerospace and defense industry trade group, has promoted Steve Jordan Tomaszewski from senior director of national security space to vice president of space systems. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Local butcher shop in Grandview Heights announces closure GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio (WCMH) A local butcher shop known for its high quality meat is closing its retail shop next month. The Butcher & Grocer at 1089 W. First Ave. in Grandview Heights is closing to customers on Oct. 1, according to a social media post. Tony Tanner, the shops owner, announced the decision was made to close its retail presence and focus on expanding its processing plant while working with local farmers in co-packing their meat. This is where I see our greatest growth opportunity, said Tanner. Your prayers and support as we wrap up business in Grandview would be greatly appreciated. 3D printing finished on first of its kind home in Columbus. What comes next? This embedded content is not available in your region. The central Ohio shop has been open for eight years and offers the highest quality meat including beef, lamb, pork and chicken, along with cheese and other grocery items. The company website noted its meat products are 100% pastured and are antibiotic and growth hormone free. Tanners post noted that there has been discussions with the landlord of the building and that they are willing to sit down with anyone who has interest in the business. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Dozens of factories and warehouses in Haiphong were damaged by Yagi and some in Quang Ninh province are not expected to have power until the end of the week, business leaders warn (NHAC NGUYEN) (NHAC NGUYEN/AFP/AFP) Factory roofs blown off, products worth millions of dollars destroyed, supply chains disrupted: Typhoon Yagi has had a disastrous impact on local and global companies in northern Vietnam who could take months to recover, business leaders warn. The strongest typhoon to hit the country in decades slammed into the important industrial port city of Haiphong before unleashing a torrent of rain across the north, a major production hub for global tech firms such as Samsung and Foxconn. With climate change making destructive storms like Yagi more likely, the disaster raises questions about Vietnam's push to become an alternative to China in the global supply chain owing to its high susceptibility and lack of mitigating measures. Dozens of factories and warehouses in Haiphong were damaged by Yagi, while some in neighbouring Quang Ninh province expect to have no power until the end of the week, business leaders told AFP. "I can guarantee that (the damage) is more than tens of millions of dollars," said Bruno Jaspaert, chief executive of DEEP C Industrial Zones, home to 178 companies across five industrial areas in Haiphong and Quang Ninh. "At least 85 percent of our customers have sustained damage." Many companies lost roofs, while another business saw 3,000 square metres (32,300 square foot) of wall panels blown off in gale-force winds, Jaspaert told AFP. At the Haiphong DEEP C industrial zones, energy consumption was at two thirds of its usual rate, Jaspaert said, and was not expected to return to normal for another two or three months. Hong Sun, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam, told AFP the typhoon had been a "disaster" for his members, with some struggling with staff shortages as flooding stopped workers reaching factories. Samsung -- Vietnam's largest foreign investor -- said its operations were running as normal, but a warehouse belonging to Korean giant LG Electronics was flooded last week, Hong said, damaging fridges and other home appliances. LG told AFP it had resumed production of some products shortly after the storm and was making "every effort to swifty recover". - 'China plus one' drive - Among businesses from Japan, another major investor, around half reported some kind of damage -- while around 70 said their business had been interrupted or suspended, according to Susumu Yoshida at the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Floods and landslides triggered by Yagi have killed more than 500 people across Southeast Asia -- 292 in Vietnam, according to government figures. The southeast Asian nation of 100 million people has long been seen as a likely key beneficiary of the decoupling between the United States and the world's second-largest economy. Investors have expanded into the country as part of a "China plus one" strategy and US President Joe Biden made a high-profile state visit to Hanoi a year ago. Biden symbolically upgraded diplomatic ties and pushed Vietnam as a solid partner for "friendshoring" -- diversifying manufacturing supply chains away from China towards friendly countries. Executives from tech behemoth Google, chip makers Intel and GlobalFoundries, and aviation giant Boeing joined Biden for investment talks in Hanoi. But Vietnam is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to human-caused climate change, and without adaptation and mitigation measures, the World Bank estimates it will cost about 12 percent to 14.5 percent of GDP a year by 2050. A study earlier this year said Southeast Asia -- and Haiphong specifically -- was facing "unprecedented threats" from longer and more intense typhoons because of climate change. - 'Unprecedented threat' - Vietnam's communist government has set a target to become a high-income country by 2045, but the World Bank says damage caused by climate change poses a "critical obstacle" to this goal. Vietnam's government has already said Yagi caused an estimated $1.6 billion in economic losses, and would slow GDP growth in the second half of the year. But if Vietnam's susceptibility is a worry for investors, most see a lack of climate-safe alternatives. "Vulnerability due to climate change is subject to any region... (so) it will not affect Japanese investment," said Yoshida. However, some hope the disaster may incentivise investors to consider renewable energies such as solar that could help shore up supply when storms or floods occur. Solar and wind power grew tenfold to 13 percent of electricity generation from 2015 to 2023, on par with the global average and exceeding some Southeast Asian peers, according to Ember. But Vietnam is still heavily reliant on coal, as well as hydropower which is vulnerable in heavy floods. A shift "would depend on the existing policies for making more solar energy viable", according to Dinita Setyawati, senior electricity policy analyst for Southeast Asia at independent energy think tank Ember. "These are the opportunities that the Vietnamese government should tap into." aph/pdw/dan Local Haitian leader urges Rhode Islanders to attend gala to learn about the culture CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) Rhode Island is home to a large Haitian population, and on Friday they are celebrating their culture at the 11th annual New Bridges for Haitian Success gala. New Bridges for Haitian Success founder Bernard Georges said this years gala comes at an important time in American politics. Last week, former President Donald Trump made claims that suggested Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Those claims have not been proven to be true. Georges is encouraging people to come out to the gala and learn about Haitian culture. Misinformation spreads, and its going to affect the children, the Haitian children at school. Imagine friends start calling them names, he explained. Come to the gala to support us to learn more about the Haitian culture, the history, and also some of the successful Haitians we have here in the United States. The organization funds programs for housing, job training and financial aid for Haitians in the Ocean State. Tickets are available 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 WPRI.com. POLAND, Ohio (WKBN) Some of Polands most famous and historic homes will be open on Saturday for the public to see. The Poland Historical Society is hosting the Tour of Homes event with the highlight being the public debut of the newly renovated Inn at the Green built in 1876. People can walk through seven homes and the Little Red Schoolhouse home of the historical society. Also included are the Robert Walker house at Riverside and Main and a home built from a kit sold by the Sears Roebuck Company. Two years ago, we made $27,000. Its amazing how much we have to spend though, just to keep the schoolhouse looking the way it does, to preserve the schoolhouse for Polands history, said Joan Smith, Poland Historial Society. The oldest house on the tour is the Truesdale-Dill House on Elm Street built in 1837. One house on the tour, though, was built in 1993. The Poland Tour of Homes is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The cost is $20. Tickets can be bought at Aebischers Jewelers or Consign and Design. On the day of the event, theyll be sold at Poland Village Hall. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Mount Bachelor Community Inc.the local group seeking to purchase Mount Bachelor after the resort was put up for sale by its current owners POWDR Corporationhas launched a website. Mt. Bachelor, Oregon, is up for salea local group wants to buy it. Danita Delimont/Getty Images The site is divided into three main groups, each detailing aspects of Mount Bachelor Community Inc. The 'Contribute' tab provides several channels for those interested in getting involved with the project, whether thats volunteering or donating (Well soon be launching a GoFundMe campaign to support our effort to purchase Mount Bachelor as a community, the site reads). One field allows web visitors to share their personal Mount Bachelor story. Another tab details investment opportunities with Mount Bachelor Community Inc. and covers two investor types: accredited investors and community contributions. The final tab provides further details about Mount Bachelor Community Inc.s mission, which, according to the website, is to own and manage Mt. Bachelor with a focus on environmental care, supporting mountain enthusiasts, and reinvesting profits to boost the local economy. Mount Bachelor Community Inc. aims to achieve B Corp status, a designation offered by B Lab, a non-profit that recognizes companies for their commitment to various social and environmental criteria. Notable outdoor industry B Corps include Patagonia and Taos Ski Valley. The push for community ownership, helmed by Chris Porter and Dan Cochrane, is holding a kickoff event on October 12th. More details about the event are forthcoming. It's been an overwhelming amount of support from people who want to donate their time, donate their money, invest, just pledge their support, or be involved, Porter told POWDER last week, describing the community response to he and Cochranes effort. So many people have reached out to us. Mt. Bachelor offers one of the most unique skiing experiences on the entire continent. When all lifts are running, and snow conditions are favorable, skiers and riders can embark on 360 degree descents of the 9,068' peak. Photo: Chaney Swiney/Getty Images Further information about the status of the Mt. Bachelor sale isnt known. POWDR Corp. noted that theyve received interest in the resort, but hasnt named any specific parties. The sale doesnt have a timeline and will take as long as it takes, according to Stacey Hutchinson, POWDR Corp.s vice president of communications and government affairs. POWDR Corp.s latest planned saleKillington, Vermontwill result in local passholder ownership, but that exchange may not have any bearing on what the company intends to do with Mt. Bachelor. In the meantime, Porter and Cochrane are committed to returning Mt. Bachelor to local skiers and snowboarders. We've really caught lightning in a bottle here, said Porter. To check out the website and learn more about the project, click here. Related: The 6 Best New York Ski Resorts Be the first to read breaking ski news with POWDER. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of skiing. From ski resort news to profiles of the worlds best skiers, we are committed to keeping you informed. Submit your best clips for a chance to be featured on POWDER. Tune in and watch handpicked, high-quality ski videos streaming all day long on POWDER TV, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Local students get an inside look at how Eries government works Local students received first-hand instruction in how our government functions on Tuesday. The ninth annual Youth Civic Engagement Symposium was held by Gannon University and Erie Together, this coincided with the federally recognized Constitution Day. Erie is such a generous community Total donation numbers released for 2024 Erie Gives Day About 175 high school students from nine local schools toured the citys government institutions, spending time at city hall, at the county courthouse and at the federal courthouses. Well, that brings it bringing faces with the rolls makes it come to life for them. Students learn visually and they learn from the books. But to be able to put them together and see local people in those roles, in all of those roles really helps them make that connection, said Jennifer Pontzer, director of Career Street, Erie Together. OSHA fines company behind Ashtabula ship fire, says fate saved crew The free program is announced in the spring, and students and teachers work together to decide who will attend. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) Wednesday morning, we had the chance to speak with a local Vietnam veteran who got to go on an unforgettable trip on the Indy Honor Flight. The Indy Honor Flight transports WWII, Korea, and Vietnam veterans to see the memorials built in their honor in Washington, D.C. for free. Vietnam veteran James McDonald said he couldnt believe all the small details that went into making this trip unique. There were people and volunteers there to greet us along with other people in the terminal clapping for us and thanking us, said McDonald. They even had the airports fire department spraying arching water over top of the plane as it came into park. Clinton Township Water issued boil order for Blanford When these veterans land in Washington D.C., they are then taken to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider along with the Vietnam and Korean War memorials. McDonald said seeing the names of all the soldiers who lost their life during the war he fought in was very humbling. It was just really humbling to walk by the Vietnam Memorial, said McDonald. It is really sad to see all of those names of men and women that did not come back. McDonald said that this was such a moving experience and recommends it to all veterans. It was just a humbling experience, an emotional experience, and I cant thank them enough for what they accomplished, said McDonald. This program is really, really great. Anyone who is interested and qualifies for this flight can find a link for an application 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 MyWabashValley.com. (WKBN) Two local residents are being inducted into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame on Thursday. Dr. George Beelen, of Canfield, and Chaplain Minister Marcia Harmon-Walker, of Girard, will be honored. They are among five outstanding older Ohioans being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year for their lifelong contributions to their communities, their professions and their vocations, according to the Ohio Department of Aging. Beelen founded the Ohio Cultural Alliance (OCA), an organization dedicated to uniting people by exposing them to other cultures. He has also produced four culture-related films and published multiple written works, according to a news release from the Ohio Department of Aging. He also taught English and history at Poland High School and was selected as a John Hay Fellow in the Humanities a prestigious award open to high school teachers. Harmon-Walker is one of the first women in Youngstown to become president of the police chaplain corps. In the 1990s, as a chaplain with the Youngstown Police Department, Harmon-Walker began what she believes is her calling: getting drug dealers on Youngstown street corners to consider changing their ways while also introducing religion to their lives. A licensed minister since 2001, she also took a course from the Youngstown Citizens Police Academy to help bridge the gap between community and police, according to a news release. She has also worked as an employee for the Juvenile Justice Center. The Ohio Channel will live stream the induction ceremony around 1:30 p.m. Thursday on its website. The event is being held at the Statehouse Atrium in Columbus. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 story was updated to add new information.) UAW President Shawn Fain on Tuesday called CEO Carlos Tavares and Stellantis management "out of control" and pledged to force the automaker to honor its contract commitments as he laid out a process for upcoming strike votes against the automaker that owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands. The online address from Solidarity House in Detroit in many ways reflected the tone and approach that Fain took with similar sessions during last year's "Stand Up Strike" against Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis, except in this case the focus was solely on Stellantis. Fain, in between sips from a mug with the words, "BOSS'S TEARS," blasted the company and said the UAW is prepared to enforce contract provisions negotiated last year that allow the union to strike over product and plant investment commitments. "It is clear this company will not stop at Belvidere. They will not stop at the Durango. They are determined to beat down the UAW and devastate the American working class, and we will not let them," he said. UAW President Shawn Fain, shown in this screen shot, drinks from a cup with the words, "BOSS'S TEARS," during a social media broadcast Tuesday where he called out Stellantis and CEO Carlos Tavares and described how the union is moving toward strike votes at some locals. Fain said the company has confirmed its intent to move Dodge Durango production from the Detroit Assembly Complex-Jefferson, formerly known as Jefferson North Assembly Plant, to the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. He said it would kill "thousands of jobs in America" and called it "a flagrant violation of our contract. The mention of Belvidere was a reference to the idled Illinois assembly plant that formerly produced the Jeep Cherokee and was expected to reopen based on last year's negotiations. The company had also committed, according to the union, to build a mega parts hub and battery plant in Belvidere. Stellantis has described the situation as simply a delay. In a statement Tuesday night, the company said Fain's contention about the potential Durango move is not true and criticized his approach. "The company has confirmed no such thing. However, Shawn Fain continues to allege that the company has violated the contract, but to date has provided no data or information to back up his claims. Instead, he continues to willfully damage the reputation of the company with his public attacks which is helpful to no one including his members," according to the statement provided by spokeswoman Jodi Tinson. "We would all be better served if these issues were addressed across the table with productive, respectful and forward-looking dialogue. A strike does not benefit anyone our customers, our dealers, the community and, most importantly, our employees." Story continues Fain: 'We are fully within our right' The union has been threatening a national strike against Stellantis over product and plant commitments and has filed grievances against the company and unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. The company has issued statements saying the union cannot legally strike over these issues. But Fain pushed back on that argument and said the company was trying to intimidate and frighten workers even as the union had been asking for weeks to meet with Tavares. "We are fully within our right to enforce this agreement," Fain said, noting that it is not "charity" for Belvidere and that every plant is at risk if the company can violate its agreements. The process for strike authorization votes He also dismissed the company's recent announcement that it would invest $406 million in three Michigan facilities Sterling Heights Assembly Plant to build the first electric Ram pickup, Warren Truck to build an electrified Jeep Wagoneer and at Dundee Engine in battery-related production. Fain said that's far short of what the company committed to in the contract. However, the company noted that the agreement is just in its first year. "Like all our competitors, Stellantis is attempting to carefully manage how and when we launch new products in an electric vehicle market that is still highly volatile. Our focus remains on offering consumers affordable multienergy vehicles while ensuring our future sustainability, which are necessary to protect U.S. manufacturing jobs," according to the company statement. "The commitments we made during 2023 negotiations span the life of the 4-year, 7 -month agreement, so it is not surprising that they haven't been fully realized in the first year." As for the process ahead, Fain said 28 union locals have filed grievances, with most of them having already gone through multiple steps ahead of possible strike votes. Following those steps if the grievances aren't resolved, the locals would have 60 days to take a strike authorization vote and notify the company. That would not automatically lead to a strike but it would push the process forward if workers agree. In the coming days, we will be convening our Stellantis Council in Detroit. We will also be holding strike authorization votes at one or more Stellantis locals. And we will stand united to enforce our contract and save American jobs. And we ask the American people to stand with us, he said. Beyond the specifics about the grievance and strike authorization process, Fain took shots at Stellantis, which has been buffeted by criticism not just from union members but also from other key stakeholders. U.S. dealers issued a letter that said they'd been sounding the alarm over the company's direction, and shareholders have sued the automaker. The company, although still profitable, has seen a significant sales slide in the U.S. market this year along with declining profits. Fain stressed that the market is not the problem, "Tavares is the problem." 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: Fain: UAW will enforce Stellantis contract, says strike votes coming 'Mil Veces un Instante' ('A Thousand Times in an Instant') is by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles (JUSTIN TALLIS) (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/AFP) A new sculpture on London's Trafalgar Square, unveiled on Wednesday, will give "visibility to the trans community," its Mexican creator told AFP. Teresa Margolles' "Mil Veces un Instante" ("A Thousand Times in an Instant") comprises plaster casts of the faces of 726 trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The sculpture, commissioned by the mayor's office, will now occupy one of the four plinths in the central London landmark, in front of the National Gallery, for two years. Over that time, the sculpture will change shape due to the materials used. "Let it be known that there are no job opportunities and no health care" for trans people in Latin America, Margolles told AFP. "And above all, hate crimes, because in Latin America people migrate because of hate crimes. They try to get to the United States thinking that they will at least have a life," she added. The sculptor was inspired by a friend, a trans woman named Karla, who was murdered in 2015 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The crime remains unsolved. "She was the one who introduced me to dialogue with the community," explained the 61-year-old artist. Terry Holiday, a member of the trans community in Mexico, travelled to London for Wednesday's unveiling. Holiday, whose face is among the 726 casts, said that "for us, this visibility given to the situation of indifference and helplessness that trans women go through in Mexico and Latin America is very important". "We are people, we are all human beings, we deserve the same treatment," added Holiday, who is also an artist. Built in 1841, the fourth plinth was intended to house an equestrian statue of William IV but funds ran dry. Since 1999 it has hosted 15 temporary works. Previous installations have included a strutting horse skeleton displaying stock exchange share prices, a huge blue fibreglass cockerel and a bronze thumbs-up gesture standing 10 metres (35 feet high). jwp/phz/yad Longtime Frankfort restaurant on the river will close after distillery buys it A Frankfort dining institution apparently will be closing for good next month. Jims Seafood & Steaks, 950 Wilkinson Blvd., announced on social media that the restaurant, which overlooks the Kentucky River at Lock and Dam #4, has been sold to nearby bourbon distiller Buffalo Trace. Sign up for our LexGo Eat & Drink newsletters The latest on food, dining and bourbon delivered right to your inbox for free. See what's happening in the world of bourbon, including buying, tasting tips and more on Tuesday. Stick around for the biggest restaurant news in Central Kentucky on Thursday. Sign up here. Jims Seafood has been known for its fresh fish as well as fried banana pepper rings and Kentucky favorites such as the Hot Brown. The restaurant will continue to operate as usual through Oct. 13, according to a post by owner Gary Arnold. Jims Seafood overlooking the Kentucky River in Frankfort, Ky., Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. Jims has been in operation for over 35 years and is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Khalil Bishop, clockwise from lower left, Chris Powell, Lyle Turner, all of Frankfort, Ky., and Owen Bennett, of Owenton, Ky., joke while eating dinner at Jims Seafood in Frankfort, Ky., Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. From all the staff at Jims Seafood & Steaks, we want to say Thank You to all of our guests for the continued support throughout the last 50 years of serving Frankfort, Ky., the restaurant said on the post. To our regulars, (who have become Friends) you will be missed and we appreciate your support. House made crab cakes served with remoulade and garnished with cilantro at Jims Seafood in Frankfort, Ky., Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. The Mix and Match dinner platter with whitefish, gulf shrimp. frog legs, fried oysters, clam strips and hush puppies, served with a baked potato and cole slaw at Jims Seafood in Frankfort, Ky., Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. He said the restaurant will take gift cards through Oct. 13, but they cannot be exchanged for cash reimbursement. Reservations for parties of 10 or more will be limited to Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Arnold said in the post that they wouldnt comment on what Buffalo Trace plans to do with the property. Buffalo Trace issued a statement: Buffalo Trace Distillery is always looking into opportunities that support the growth of our business and local community. We can confirm there have been discussions with the owners of Jims Seafood, but the Distillery is not able to comment further until a deal is finalized. This embedded content is not available in your region. A new ice cream shop is opening in Richmond and it will sell a popular Lexington brand Chicken chain location demolished. Whats going onto busy Lexington corner? Student launched late-night burger business. Why wont UK let him have a sign? See inside, changes as legendary Lexington restaurant reopens in new location Tiktok-famous chicken chain opening not one but two locations in Lexington Another one of our childhood places gone: Oldest Lexington Tex-Mex restaurant closes Vincent Vitale, a former First District alderman in West Allis, died Sept. 14 at the age of 76. A longtime former alderman who served the city of West Allis for more than three decades has died, the city of West Allis announced Tuesday. Former First District Alderman Vincent Vitale retired in April after 36 years of service to the city, according to a news release from the city. He died Sept. 14 at the age of 76. For decades, Vince graciously dedicated himself to West Allis, West Allis Mayor Dan Devine said in the release. He served with distinction, and through his skills and commitment, made the City a more developed and enriching place to live, work and visit. Born on April 13, 1948, in Balestrate, Sicily, Vitale began his career as a barber at the age of 14, according to his obituary. He opened his own barbershop in his hometown before immigrating to the United States in 1966. He continued his passion for barbering and opened Vince Vitale Barbershop in West Allis, serving the community until 2008. Vince Vitale is shown cutting hair Nov. 1, 2007. Vitale owned a barbershop in West Allis until 2008 and served as a West Allis alderman for 36 years, from 1988 until 2024. He also worked at an assembly job at Ampco Metal and in inventory at Unit Drop Forge. In 1988, Vitale was elected as alderman of District 1 in West Allis, a position he held until 2024. Those who knew Vitale said he was deeply involved in his community. He volunteered often and gave back to the community by his participation in the Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, Holy Name Society and more. Devine said his fondest memory of Vitale was during the last election, when Devine was putting out yard signs for his campaign and said that Vitale wanted one. "As I got out of my car, I looked up to see Vince on the front porch getting the mail," Devine said in an email to the Journal Sentinel. 'Hey Dan, come on in,' he yelled. Within three minutes I was at his kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a plate of cookies in front of me. We talked about the City and him retiring. They made me take home the cookies I didnt finish and also sent me home with some (of) St. Josephs Bread." Vitale played a key role in the city's exterior property maintenance program. In 2001, the First District was the only district to approve the program. A few years later, after the program was a success, Common Council members implemented the program citywide. It's still in place today. Vitale was also a devoted parishioner of St. Barnabas Catholic Church (formerly St. Ritas). He cherished his family and known to be a devoted family man. He is survived by his wife, Vincenza, and their three children. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Sept. 20, at St. Ritas Church, 2318 S. 61st St., West Allis, with a Christian burial and entombment to follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery, 3801 W. Morgan Ave. Contact Adrienne Davis at amdavis@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Vince Vitale remembered for 36 years of service to West Allis The U.S. Air Force has released new video footage of its first pre-production B-21 Raider stealth bomber undergoing flight testing. The U.S. Air Force has released new video footage of its first pre-production B-21 Raider stealth bomber undergoing flight testing. The service just recently confirmed plans to field Raider squadrons at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, in addition to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota that is set to be the home of the first operational B-21s. The Air Force released the video above around the Air & Space Forces Associations main annual conference, which wraps up today just outside Washington, D.C. Today also happens to be the Air Forces 77th birthday. The footage again various distinctive features of the B-21, including its unusual cockpit window arrangement, which you can read more about here. Also prominently visible are the Raiders two swing-up auxiliary intake doors. These help suck in more air for the engines during take-offs and landings where high power settings, steeper angles of attack, and slower speeds can be too much for the bombers deeply-buried main inlets to handle alone. A previously released picture of the first pre-production B-21 highlighting its cockpit window arrangement and auxiliary intake doors. Photo courtesy of David Henry, Northrop Grumman Northrop Grummans B-21 is the most advanced aircraft ever built, at least that we know about, and is the most significant development for the U.S. Air Force in recent memory, as The War Zone has explored in detail in the past. The first pre-production Raider, which took to the skies for the first time from Plant 42 in Palmdale, California last November and is now at Edwards Air Force Base in the same state, is also said to be very representative of the final production configuration. Five more pre-production examples are in various stages of being built and work on an initial lot of production B-21s is underway. The Air Force currently plans to buy at least 100 B-21s, but there have already been discussions about a larger total fleet size. As already noted, the first operational Raiders are set to head to Ellsworth and the hope is that the bombers will be flying real missions before the end of the decade. The Air Force will then move to establish B-21 squadrons at Whiteman and Dyess. We continue to achieve B-21 production milestones; through digital engineering and open architecture design, we are getting an agile strategic deterrent that delivers a decisive response as required, Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), said in a statement last week. This accompanied the formal announcement that B-21s will be headed to Whiteman and Dyess. USAF Before then, the expanding force of pre-production B-21s based at Edwards will be put through extensive testing. We are in the flight test program, the flight test program is proceeding well, Andrew Hunter, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, told members of Congress in May. It is doing what flight test programs are designed to do, which is helping us learn about the unique characteristics of this platform, but in a very, very effective way. The new video underscores this important testing work as the Air Force moves toward fielding its first B-21s in the coming years. The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman have provided additional updates about the B-21 program, which you can find here. Contact the author: joe@twz.com WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) For over a century, the Eastern States Exposition has celebrated and honored the farms that supply our local populace. The Big E began as an agricultural fair, and agriculture remains a huge part of what the fair is all about. Agriculture is the Big Es culture and every year since 1914 the Big E honors the country folk that sow, harvest, and raise livestock in our region year-round with the utmost admiration. How attendees will celebrate Connecticut Day at The Big E Its literally the foundation of our roots and its what everybody comes here to celebrate, said Maureen Freniere, Deputy Director of Sales, Eastern States Exposition. The Big E is an opportunity for farmers like Katie Herd, to show off their beautiful animals like Tobasco, a two-year-old brown Swiss cow, and the work that they do every day to put food on our tables. Its important to understand that their food doesnt just come from the grocery store theres a lot that happens before it ever makes it there and without your farmers then you really have you know youll have to pay extra for your food because you dont have it locally, said Herd, owner of Corner Stone Farm in New Hampshire. The Big E is sometimes peoples first time interacting with livestock this closely. This state fair is more than just about the fried foods and musical performances its about educating people about these gorgeous animals and what these farmers do for us every day. Agriculture isnt just animals. There is wheat that goes into making those beverages that people enjoy on a Saturday night, and theres our state buildings that showcase all of those things as well and I think its just theres so many layers to agriculture and it is literally in every crevice of this property. If you know what youre looking for, said Freniere. The fair creates a space to honor those who have dedicated their lives to preserving agrarian legacies and what it is that makes agriculture their culture. 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. Looking for home-buying help? A Milwaukee event this weekend aims to knock down barriers. Interested in buying a home but face barriers like no down payment or poor credit? A three-day event may have the answers to help Milwaukee-area residents achieve the American dream of homeownership. The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is bringing its free Achieve the Dream event to the city from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday at the Hyatt Regency, 333 W. Kilbourn Ave. Achieve the Dream is intended as a one-stop experience that provides information and guidance on the home-buying process. The 36-year-old nonprofit community advocacy and homeownership organization has hosted these events across the country since 2018. The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America has traveled the country, hosting workshops that remove barriers to homeownership, especially among people of color. Residents go through a four-step process where they receive personalized housing advice from HUD-certified counselors and financial management counselors. They meet with mortgage specialists to see if they qualify for NACAs Best in America Mortgage or other lending products. Often, individuals can be preapproved for a mortgage in one day, the organization said. NACAs mortgage requires no down payment, no closing cost, no fees, no private mortgage insurance and has below-market fixed rates all offered without consideration for ones credit score. There are other requirements, though. What built the white middle class after World War II? It was the no-down-payment VA mortgage," said Bruce Marks, NACAs founder and CEO. "So it's not like it's a new concept the no-down-payment." But those Veterans Affairs loans often excluded people of color, he said. The goal of this event is to remove barriers to homeownership, especially for people of color. In Milwaukee, only 27% of Blacks own their homes, compared to 37.5% of Hispanics and 55.8% of whites, according to a 2021 Wisconsin Policy Forum report. The Black homeownership rate is abysmally low, Marks said. That's why we're doing an event in Milwaukee, because really it is an opportunity. The housing stock is there. It's affordable. Marks ticked off a litany of barriers to homeownership and how NACA works to remove those barriers. The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America hosts workshops that can remove barriers to homeownership. Number one, people work hard. It's tough to save. Number two, it overcomes the restrictive underwriting based on credit score, he said, noting NACA never considers credit scores, instead focusing on payment history over the last 12 months. If someone has a late medical bill, that's not a reflection of whether they're ready for homeownership," Marks said. "Its just we have a dysfunctional unaffordable health care system." Unaffordable terms are another barrier. NACA offers a fixed 30-year mortgage at 4.75% and 4.25% for 20- or 15-year mortgages. He said 99% of mortgage applications submitted to the lenders get approved. The event offers several mortgage options individuals can apply for, including traditional single-family homes, owner-occupied multi-unit buildings up to four units or purchase-rehab loans. A rehab loan funds both the renovation and purchase of a home using one single loan. For a city with older housing, Marks said, thats significant for Milwaukee. The housing stock in Milwaukee, a lot of it needs to be renovated. A lot of it needs to be repaired, Marks said. So you can purchase an affordable house and have the money set aside to do the renovations, whether it's structural or code or rehabbing whatever you need to bring that house up to a high standard. The event even offers assistance for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher holders. Marks said Section 8 holders can use the vouchers to pay the home mortgage. Bruce Marks, founder and CEO of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, addresses participants of one of the nonprofit's Achieve the Dream housing events. Now they can use that to generate wealth for themselves," he said. "That's the epitome of reducing the wealth disparity gap." People of color, he noted, make up 93% of the programs homeowners and have a less-than-one percent foreclosure rate, even during the housing bubble of 2008. It provides real hope for people who've been subjected to systemic racism, Marks said. Documents to bring to Achieve the Dream: Pay stubs for one month W-2s for the last two years Last two years of tax returns Bank statements for the last 90 days Credit card statements for the last 90 days For self-employed people, 12 months of bank statements Register at www.naca.com or call 425-602-6222 for more information. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee event this weekend to offer help for potential home buyers FILE - Downtown Los Angeles, above, is seen from the Topanga area of Los Angeles with the Century City area in the lower right Thursday, March 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) LOS ANGELES (AP) Health officials warned Wednesday that the Los Angeles area is seeing more dengue fever cases in people who have not traveled outside the U.S. mainland, a year after the first such case was reported in California. Public health officials said at least three people apparently became ill with dengue this month after being bitten by mosquitoes in the Baldwin Park neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles. This is an unprecedented cluster of locally acquired dengue for a region where dengue has not previously been transmitted by mosquitoes, said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Other cases that stemmed from mosquito bites originating in the U.S. have been reported this year in Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where officials have declared a dengue epidemic. There have been 3,085 such cases in the U.S. this year, of which 96% were in Puerto Rico, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases of dengue have been surging globally as climate change brings warmer weather that enables mosquitoes to expand their reach. Dengue fever is commonly spread through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes in tropical areas. While Aedes mosquitoes are common in Los Angeles County, local infections weren't confirmed until last year, when cases were reported in Pasadena and Long Beach. Before then, the cases in California were all associated with people traveling to a region where dengue is commonly spread, such as Latin America, said Aiman Halai, director of the department's Vector-Borne Disease Unit. So far this year, 82 such cases have been reported in L.A. County by people returning from traveling, Halai said. Across California, there have been 148 cases. Dengue can cause high fevers, rashes, headaches, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, and bone and joint pain. About one in four people infected will get symptoms, which usually appear within five to seven days of a bite from a dengue-carrying mosquito. One in 20 people with symptoms will develop severe dengue, which can lead to severe bleeding and can be life-threatening. Public health officials will be conducting outreach to homes within 150 meters (492 feet) of the homes of people who have been bitten. That's the typical flight range of the mosquitoes that transmit the virus, according to Ferrer. Ferrer recommended that people use insect repellent and eliminate standing water around their houses where mosquitoes can breed. Officials have been testing mosquitoes for the disease and so far have not found any in the San Gabriel Valley with dengue. Los Angeles car thefts remain steady in 2024, but still far cry from pre-pandemic lows Car thefts continue to be a problem for vehicle owners and law enforcement across Los Angeles, according to data from the Los Angeles Police Department. Independent news organization Crosstown LA analyzed the publicly available police data to get a better look on the citywide problem and how this year stacks up compared to years past. From Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, there were 16,964 stolen-vehicle reports in the city. That figure is about on par with last year, 53 fewer over the same time frame, and about 4.5% lower than in 2022. Year (Jan. 1 Aug. 31) Car theft reports in L.A. 2015 10,320 2016 12,121 2017 12,771 2018 11,747 2019 10,351 2020 14,114 2021 15,118 2022 17,771 2023 17,020 2024 16,964 But youll have to zoom out further to get the full picture regarding the stolen vehicle mess in L.A. In 2019, right before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles recorded a total of 15,724 stolen vehicles reports for the entire year a number already surpassed in 2024, with one-quarter of the year still remaining. It reflects a troubling nationwide trend that began during the pandemic. Initially thieves were targeting vehicles that sat for extended periods on the street. Yet even as the pandemic eased and people resumed old driving habits, counts never declined significantly, Crosstown wrote in its report. A major source of vehicles thefts can likely be linked to a viral trend in which thieves would target Kia and Hyundai vehicles, knowns as the Kia Challenge. Social media users would use online tutorials to learn how to steal certain model years of these vehicles and would share their results online. Automakers of affected vehicles have rolled out software fixes to address the problem, and law enforcement agencies across the country have hosted events for car owners to stop by and get the update installed. The LAPD participated in one of these events earlier this year in Eagle Rock. A Hyundai anti-theft safety update event is shown in this undated promotional image. (Hyundai) While the same makes continue to account for the majority of stolen vehicle reports in the city, progress has been made, officials said. The profiles of the vehicles that are being stolen still remain consistent, with Kias, Chevys and Hyundais, said interim LAPD Chief Dominic Choi during a Sept. 10 meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission. But weve seen a significant drop in the Kias and Hyundais. Of the total stolen vehicles in California last year, the vast majority were eventually recovered, typically not far from where they were taken. But only about half were still considered drivable and more than one-third were wrecked or intentionally burned, Crosstown reported. Teen girls in stolen vehicle cause 3-car crash in SoCal Due to some changes in how the LAPD reports its crime data, its harder now for Crosstown to obtain certain information about crime statistics, particularly neighborhood-specific data. Estimates, however, seem to indicate that the most populous communities in L.A. unsurprisingly fare worse when it comes to boosted vehicles. Downtown Los Angeles accounts for the most in the city, Crosstown says, with Van Nuys coming in a distant second. For the complete Crosstown LA report, as well as background about how Crosstown sources and analyzes the LAPD data, 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 KTLA. While Los Angeles County is reporting three locally acquired cases of dengue this year -- which is rare for the region -- there have been at least 3,085 cases nationally of locally acquired virus so far this year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There has been about double the number of locally acquired dengue cases so far this year nationally compared to last year, according to the CDC. Puerto Rico currently makes up the bulk of those cases with over 2,960 reported. The U.S. territory declared a public health emergency back in March. "The City of Baldwin Park is aware of the recent cases of locally acquired dengue in our community. While the risk of transmission remains low, we must take this situation seriously and act proactively," said Mayor Emmanuel J. Estrada. PHOTO: Biting Mosquito (STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images) Dengue viruses spread through mosquito bites. The most common symptom is a fever with aches and pains, nausea, vomiting and rash. Symptoms usually begin within two weeks after being bitten by an infected mosquito and last 2-7 days. Most people recover after about a week. MORE: Increased risk of dengue virus infections in the US: CDC Locally acquired cases mean that the people infected have no history of traveling to an area where dengue normally spreads. Local dengue transmission is typically common in tropical and subtropical areas of the world including Florida, and U.S. territories in the Caribbean. Last year, there were only two locally acquired cases reported in the state of California, the first local cases in the state reported in over a decade, according to CDC data. MORE: As mosquito-borne illnesses spread, here's how to tell West Nile, dengue and EEE apart The CDC issued a health alert in June warning health care providers of an increased risk of dengue virus infection this year. Globally, new cases of dengue have been the highest on record, according to the CDC. The agency also noted that cases are likely to increase as global temperatures increase. The best way to prevent dengue is to avoid mosquito bites, according to the CDC. Los Angeles County reports a rare handful of local dengue cases originally appeared on abcnews.go.com By Ella Cao and Ryan Woo BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese homebuyers on a tight budget have long sought out Hegang, an ex-coal boomtown on the Russian border. Now, as China's property crisis spreads, Hegang's basement prices are showing up in wealthier regions in a new threat to the economy. Average prices of new homes in 70 major cities including Beijing slumped for the 14th month in August despite dramatic reversals in China's once-restrictive purchase policies. Even prices in the economically vibrant south have sunk, stoking intense social media discussions on widening property deflation, with hashtags "Hegang-isation" and "HegangHomePrices" chalking up tens of millions of views. In Huizhou, a southern city with a once-thriving property market due to its proximity to Shenzhen and its abundance of sea-view apartments, newlyweds Wendy Ye and her husband in 2021 paid 11,000 yuan ($1,551) per square metre for a flat. The value of their home has since dropped by a staggering 45.5% to 6,000 yuan per square metre. The sharp decline has turned the couple's investment into a source of constant stress, made worse by a hefty 9,000 yuan monthly mortgage on a second flat in Shenzhen. With a recent cut in her salary compounding matters, Ye, a primary school teacher, said she was considering borrowing from her parents to ease some of the financial pressure. "I'm trying not to dwell on the diminished equity for now, but the mortgage pressure is heavy," Ye told Reuters. Across China, average home values have tumbled nearly 30% from their 2021 highs after authorities clamped down on excessive debt among developers in the summer of 2020. That sparked severe cash crunches and led to incomplete projects, defaults and even public protests by homebuyers, hammering market sentiment. REGIONAL IMPACT The protracted property downturn has eroded the wealth of Chinese households, which often count their homes as their single largest investment, chilling domestic demand and undermining growth in the world's second-biggest economy. Retail sales, a key gauge of consumption, rose just 2.1% in August, compared with around 8% growth pre-COVID. "It's very difficult to expect households to confidently spend if their biggest asset is falling in value every month," said Lynn Song, chief China economist at ING. Plunging prices of new and existing homes in southern China could also set off a chain reaction affecting the country's largest provincial economies including Guangdong, analysts warn. Story continues A new wave of reluctant homebuyers would hammer the sales of China's biggest developers, many of which are headquartered in Guangzhou and other southern cities, reining in their investment plans. "A drop of 10% in China's overall real estate investment a year could directly drag down gross domestic product by 1.5%," said Ma Hong, senior analyst at GDDCE Research Institution. The reluctance to invest will also slow developers' purchases of land from local governments. Reduced land sales will further weaken the financial positions of local governments, particularly hitting the funds available for investment in local economies, Ma said. 'NOT A UTOPIA' Once a bustling coal city that helped fuel China's industrialisation, Hegang has become its cheapest property market in recent years due to a decline in its mining and industrial sectors and a population outflow. Prices average 1,878 yuan per square metre, according to Anjuke, a major Chinese real estate pricing platform. Some still view Hegang's cheap homes as a paradise for young people on small salaries. Phrases like "30,000 to buy a suite in Hegang" and "come to Hegang to lie flat" remain popular hashtags on social media. But in the south, low property prices are seen not as an incentive to buy but as a sign of the broader economic malaise and a red flag for home buyers. In Guangdong, China's biggest provincial economy, prices in cities like Jieyang, a small textile centre, and Qingyuan, a local logistics hub, have already dropped to Hegang levels. A 132-square-metre flat in Jieyang can be had for 238,000 yuan (1,831 yuan per square metre), and a 110-square-metre unit for 148,000 yuan (1,345 yuan per square metre), local real estate agents told Reuters. In Qingyuan, average prices have slid 23.9% since late 2019 before the pandemic and prior to Beijing's clamp-down on debt among developers, according to Anjuke data. "Qingyuan is showing signs of becoming like Hegang," said a Qingyuan resident surnamed Yu, 20. "The city's reliance on a single industry and lack of job opportunities have led to a population outflow and a vicious cycle. Young people see it as a trap, not a utopia." ($1 = 7.0930 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Ella Cao and Ryan Woo; additional reporting by Ellen Zhang, Liangping Gao and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) A lost species which has eluded documentation for more than half a century has been photographed for the first time in 55 years, the World Wildlife Fund (WFF) reported. Tom Vierus, a photographer based in Fiji, was hiking in Papua New Guineas Nakanai Mountains back in March when he captured a photo of the exceedingly rare New Britain Goshawk. "I was on a scoping trip with WWF in Pomio [eastern New Britain], with three members of the local community guiding us through the forest, so we could better understand the presence of species," Vierus explained. "I photographed several bird species, including the New Britain Goshawk, but wasn't aware of the significance at the time," he admitted. The Red List of Endangered Species classifies the New Britain Goshawk as a vulnerable species, which is just short of endangered. As of 2016, the species numbered between 2,5009,999 "mature individuals." The rare New Britain Goshawk has been photographed for the first time in history! While there have been multiple sight-only reports of the bird, the goshawk has not been photographed or recorded in the 55 years since the last specimen was found: https://t.co/v5Yx1aPwrq. pic.twitter.com/0MuX00NNeF World Wildlife Fund (@World_Wildlife) September 17, 2024 According to John Mittermeier, the director of the Search for Lost Birds at American Bird Conservancy, the New Britain Goshawk hasnt been documented since 1969. But those documents do not include photos, making Vierus one of the first-ever of this lost species. Mittermeier marveled at how the bird "eluded photo, sound, and specimen documentation for 55 years. After the Goshawks recent sighting, the government of Papua New Guinea asked WWF to ramp up their conservation efforts in the region. "It is wonderful to see how conservation photography can help in safeguarding areas by documenting the existing biodiversity, Vierus said, noting that its also a good reminder of how important visual storytelling is." RARE FIND: The New Britain Goshawk, unseen for 55 years, was just photographed in ! This discovery, made possible by @WWFBelgique, highlights the urgent need to protect its habitat from logging & mining threats. Read more: https://t.co/n05PlVNdaT@pngcepa pic.twitter.com/liLQb4fKAM WWF-Pacific (@wwfpacific) September 13, 2024 Louisiana adds boards and commissions, even as some havent met for several years (Wesley Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) An annual review of boards, commissions and other state-created oversight entities shows Louisiana added eight such bodies since the previous fiscal year, despite calls from some circles for smaller government. As of June 30, there were 491 boards based on a Legislative Auditors count of listings on the Louisiana Division of Administrations website. Ten boards were added during fiscal year 2023-24 and two removed, resulting in a net increase of eight. The auditors report, released Sept. 11 when Hurricane Francine was approaching the states coast, identified 18 inactive boards, a dozen of which were also inactive the year before. The auditor recommends that the Louisiana Legislature dissolve these boards. A total of 13 boards failed to respond to the auditors request for information, which is required under law. Lawmakers should take steps to ensure boards comply with these requirements, the audit report suggests. The audit also found 34 boards with an active status that have not reported any meeting notices or minutes from meetings since Dec. 31, 2020, and six failed to identify any board members on the Division of Administration website. State officials should work with these boards to make sure they are posting required information online, according to the audit report. The Legislative Auditor also provided an accounting of the budgets for state boards and commissions, which totaled $6.7 million last fiscal year. Broken down, the numbers show$2.8 million in board member salaries, $2.3 million in travel expenses and $1.6 million in per diem pay. Gov. Jeff Landrys office did not respond to a request for comment on the auditors report. The Division of Administration falls under the executive branch. New boards The 10 state boards added to the Louisiana Division of Administration website include nine the Legislature created in 2023 and one that wasnt previously listed*: Acadiana Regional Juvenile Justice District Acadiana Watershed District Evangeline Economic Development Authority Louisiana Music Trail Commission Louisiana State University Economic Development District North Lake Charles Economic Development District; River Parishes Juvenile Justice District Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans* Southern University Economic Development District St. Martin Special Medical District Three more new boards have yet to be added to the states website because officials have yet to obtain their contact information. All three are security districts within Baton Rouge that were established to allow the neighborhoods to collect a fee from residents to pay for added patrols within their boundaries. Two boards were removed once the governors executive order that created them expired: The Broadband for Everyone in Louisiana Commission and the Mid City Economic Development District in New Orleans. Why some boards didnt respond There are varied explanations on why 18 boards didnt respond to the Legislative Auditors requests for information, including that some are defunct for all intents and purposes. Take the Bi-State Corridor Commission, for example. It was created in 1991 to provide input on the four-lane expansion of U.S. Highway 371, which runs from west-central Arkansas to Coushatta, Louisiana. Theres no record of the commission ever meeting, and the legislative Joint Committee on Governmental Affairs recommended dissolving the body in 2020. Except the full Legislature has yet to get around to doing so. Theres also no evidence online that the Rural Water Infrastructure Committee has ever convened since it was created five years ago. Two other boards the Instratate Community Aid Subcommittee and the Interoperability Subcommittee havent met in seven and five years, respectively, according to the audit report. A separate Water Management Advisory Task Force, created in 2003, hasnt met in 13 years. The panel was supposed to advise the state commissioner of conservation and the Water Resources Commission in developing a statewide groundwater resource management program. The Legislative Auditor and the commissioner of administration have sent joint letters to all boards identified. In addition, the administration staff has made numerous requests to the boards for the required information. Boards that did not respond were issued notices of noncompliance, which were copied to the state departments they report to as well as the Legislatures governmental affairs committees. Lawmakers could take action against the boards for failing to follow state law. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Defunct, dying or to be determined The following 18 boards were inactive, not fully organized or disbanded as of June 30. The year of their last meeting is included in parentheses. If that information wasnt available, (none) is listed next to the board: Inactive (last meeting) Advisory Subcommittee of the Accountability Commission (2015) Byways Commission (no record) Health Plan Board of Directors (2023) Housing and Transportation Planning and Coordinating Commission (2015) Hunting and Fishing Advisory Education Council (2017) North Bossier Levee and Drainage District Board of Commissioners (no record) Parks and Recreation Commission (2012) State Use Council for Purchase of Goods and Services by Individuals with Disabilities (2021) Water Management Advisory Task Force (2011) Disbanded (last meeting) Morehouse Parish Lake Commission (no record) Not fully organized (created) Baker Main Street Economic Development District (2023) Dew Drop-Americas Rock and Roll Museum Governing Board (2022) Floodplain Evaluation and Management Commission (2017) LaSalle Cultural Corridor District (2022) Medical Disclosure Panel (2012) Plank Road Business Economic Development Board (2021) Small Business Compliance Advisory Panel (1992) Vernon Parish Economic Development District (2021) On Tuesday, six days after Hurricane Francine smashed into Louisianas coast as the strongest storm of this years hurricane season, the Biden administration announced a major disaster declaration for the state and ordered federal aid to supplement the recovery process. How quickly states and local counties can help individual households largely depends on how quickly they can set up their programs, which depends on these kinds of declarations. By comparison, the Biden administration declared Hurricane Beryl, a Category 1 hurricane that hit Texas this summer, a major disaster the following day after it made landfall. As nearly half a million people went without power and experienced 100 mph winds and subsequent home damage in Louisiana after Francine, a majority of the areas that received the damage were rural counties, where a large share of the states Black population lives. As Black rural residents picked up the pieces while waiting for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which couldnt offer direct aid and recovery funds until Bidens declaration, they believed that the slow pace to declare a declaration had a lot to do with neglect of rural communities. I have a call to the Biden administration and the national media, because when people hear about Louisiana, they hear about New Orleans, but they dont hear all the little places, and that has to do with people not caring about our rural Black areas, said Ashley Gaignard, the founder of Rural Roots Louisiana, a community organization in rural Louisiana. Rural communities of color are overrepresented in FEMAs National Risk Index, which identifies the most at-risk communities for climate disasters, but at the same time, the federal Government Accountability Office says rural communities have the hardest time accessing aid from government recovery programs. Mary Landry, a resident of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, said it shows her, For little places, people like us, its like, we dont matter. Her home in Donaldsonville remains without power after a massive oak tree collapsed onto her roof. She initially reached out to FEMA immediately after the storm, but they turned her away, telling her to wait for an emergency declaration. She says no local agency or FEMA has come to assess damage in her community. (On Monday, FEMA told Capital B they were waiting for the federal governments disaster declaration before they began interfacing with impacted residents.) On her street, most homes are either without power or experiencing roof damage. The county nor the utility company, Entergy, said they could help. Read More: Will FEMAs New Rules Shorten Black Communities Road to Recovery? Studies show that homeowners in rural areas, particularly in Mississippi, New Mexico, and Louisiana, are the most likely to be without property insurance. Poverty rates in rural communities are also 25% higher than in urban ones, making out-of-pocket costs even more difficult to afford. Ultimately, Landry had to pay thousands of dollars to a group of men she saw doing recovery work down the road for them to remove the tree from her living room. A group of community organizations, Rural Roots Louisiana, the Louisiana Just Recovery Network, and Community Organized Relief Effort, then helped tarp her roof to the best of their ability. Now, she waits. That, to me, thats not fair, she said. You know, we are struggling as well, and it feels like theres a reason why were neglected. Pastor Harry Joseph helps attach a tarp to Mary Landrys home in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. (Adam Mahoney/Capital B) Across the state, more than 10,000 people remain without electricity, and hundreds of homes sit with gaping holes in their roofs and facades damaged by wind and tree damage. In addition, communities were whipped by rains, and subsequent drainage and canal issues, leading to hundreds of seriously flooded homes. Early estimates found that Francine caused $1.5 billion worth of damage in Louisiana. In comparison, the overall costs from Beryl are estimated to be double that amount, mainly because it hit a major city, Houston. As rural areas, we only have one or two people to advocate on our behalf. We have the parish president and our mayor, explained Gaignard. Some people have been left in their houses all these days without power and with damage, and now were seeing rain again. Her organization helped more than a thousand Ascension Parish residents receive meals, water, and ice in the two days following the storm. But we cant do everything, and we cant help everybody, she said. Like theres a few people that lost everything: home, car, and everything, and I dont have resources to help with that. Residents who sustained losses can begin applying for assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or by dialing (800) 621-FEMA (3362). Disaster-stricken households now qualify for $750 to cover immediate expenses automatically, although FEMA has said that their larger assistance funding pot has already been exhausted by the number of weather disasters this year. The agency, which Congress funds, has faced issues getting funding because of the highly partisan nature of the federal government. We try to keep it moving, that is all we can do, especially when the storms are out of our hands, Landry said. Still, its concerning when the people meant to help us are slow to come out. The post Louisianas Black Rural Communities Feel Neglected After Hurricane Francine appeared first on Capital B News. DENVER (KDVR) Louisville City Council approved an ordinance that will prioritize healthier drinks on kids menus in the city. On Tuesday, the city council approved Ordinance No. 1883, Healthy Drinks in Kids Meals Ordinance. The city council said the ordinance was spearheaded by the Louisville Healthy Kids Coalition. According to the ordinance, restaurants will be required to list healthy beverages, like water, dairy milk or non-dairy milk substitutes, to be the default beverage advertised on kids menus. The ordinance also says that restaurants would not be prohibited from selling sugary drinks if they are requested. Denver council voted to ban sugary drinks from kids menus: Does research show it helps? Louisville is joining cities like Lafayette, Longmont, Golden and Denver, which have all enacted similar policies. As a healthcare professional, I have seen the effects of excessive sugar consumption on children, including borderline diabetes and fatty liver disease, said Seth Kramer, a local physician and coalition member. By removing sugary drinks from menus, we prioritize the health and well-being of our communitys youth and promote a culture of wellness and mindful choices. According to the Healthy Beverage Partnership, a collaboration of Colorado health departments and community partners, consuming one sugary drink a day can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25% and dying from heart disease by 33%. Cancer advocates push for early detection screenings to be covered by Medicare The Boulder County government said local restaurants have voiced their support for the ordinance. We support removing sugary drinks from kids menus because nurturing young bodies with wholesome nutrition seeds a lifetime of healthy habits, said Kelli Gianopoulos, co-owner of Johns Table Kitchen and Bar. The ordinance will go into effect on April 1, 2025. In February, more than six months efore the ordinance was approved, 16 Louisville restaurants were commended for pledging their support and removing sugary drinks from kids menus. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Lucky lottery player wins $4.2 million prize in Washington. Where was the ticket sold? A lottery player tried their luck on a game in Pierce County, Washington, and ended up winning $4.2 million. The player bought a Lotto ticket during the Sept. 14 drawing at a Safeway in Puyallup, a spokesperson for Washingtons Lottery told McClatchy News by email Sept. 18. They hit the jackpot after matching all six numbers: 5, 9, 16, 24, 38 and 44. The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 6.99 million. The lucky person claimed the winning ticket three days after the drawing, lottery officials said in an email. Twenty players matched five numbers in the state, winning $1,000. The last Lotto jackpot was hit June 29 when someone won $1.2 million. Puyallup is about a 10-mile drive southeast from Tacoma. How to play Lotto A Lotto ticket costs $1 for two plays. A player must select two sets of six numbers between 1 and 49. Numbers can be chosen at random using Quick Pick. If a player matches six white balls, they hit the jackpot. The jackpot starts at $1 million. Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Pacific Time. Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families. If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website. Lottery player wins $2 million jackpot on $10 ticket in Florida. Where was it sold? Tourist from Texas spends $3.20 on slot machine then wins much more in Las Vegas Lottery player loses but thinks maybe the next ones a winner. He was right Lufthansa aircraft stand on the apron at Rhine-Main Airport. Andreas Arnold/dpa Airlines belonging to the Lufthansa Group and Air France have suspended flights to Israel for security reasons, the companies announced on Tuesday. At least nine people were killed and almost 3,000 injured in suspected coordinated explosions of hand-held telecommunications devices across Lebanon on Tuesday evening. Airlines belonging to the Lufthansa Group had suspended all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Iran's capital Tehran until at least Thursday, the company said. "During this period, the Israeli and Iranian airspace will also be bypassed by all Lufthansa Group Airlines," a statement said. "The Lufthansa Group continues to monitor the situation closely and will assess it further in the coming days." Passengers would be able to rebook for free or get a full refund. "We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers. The safety of our passengers and crews is always our top priority." Lufthansa Group airlines include Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings in addition to the German flagship carrier Lufthansa. Flights to the Lebanese capital of Beirut remain suspended due to the ongoing conflict in the region until at least September 30. Air France announced that its flights from Paris to Tel Aviv and the Lebanese capital Beirut had also been suspended, the Le Parisien newspaper reported. A child was among those killed when pagers in several Lebanese regions exploded earlier on Tuesday. Some 200 people are in critical condition. The Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah blamed Israel for the detonations, threatening retaliation. It was early last week when Sen. JD Vance turned to social media to tout a conspiracy theory that was ugly, false and racist in equal measure. The Republican senator specifically argued online that there were reports that showed Haitian immigrants abducting and eating household pets in Springfield, Ohio. We now know, of course, that these offensive claims were ridiculously untrue, but new reporting from The Wall Street Journal appears to shed new light on how Vance amplified the lie. City Manager Bryan Heck fielded an unusual question at City Hall on the morning of Sept. 9, from a staff member of Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance. The staffer called to ask if there was any truth to bizarre rumors about Haitian immigrants and pets in Springfield. He asked point-blank, Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten? recalled Heck. I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless. Before we proceed, lets pause to acknowledge an important problem: Vance and his team didnt pursue matters in the proper order. The GOP senator lent his support to the racist conspiracy theory, then a member of his team set out to determine whether Vance was telling the truth. Ordinarily, responsible officials especially those seeking national office try to learn facts first, not second. Nevertheless, the local city manager told Team Vance the truth, at which point the senator, Donald Trump and their 2024 operation decided to repeat the lie anyway, even during a nationally televised presidential debate. On CNNs State of the Union this past weekend, Vance defended himself by claiming, [A]ll that I have done is surface the complaints of my constituents. Except, the Wall Street Journal reporting puts this in a new light: The Republican vice presidential nominee amplified falsehoods, set out to learn the truth, discovered that the claims were baseless and then continued to echo the lie. Wait, it gets worse. Vance couldve helped put out the fire he helped start. He also couldve shifted his attention elsewhere and allowed the fire to burn out. But as recently as this week, a spokesperson for the senator provided the Wall Street Journal with a police report in which a Springfield resident had claimed her pet might have been taken by Haitian neighbors. The WSJs article added: But when a reporter went to Anna Kilgores house Tuesday evening, she said her cat Miss Sassy, which went missing in late August, had actually returned a few days later found safe in her own basement. Kilgore, wearing a Trump shirt and hat, said she apologized to her Haitian neighbors with the help of her daughter and a mobile-phone translation app. This is amazing for a few reasons, including the fact that eight days after Vances initial tweet, in the midst of the senators own scandal, his office is still, even now, actively trying to pretend that his lie had merit. Whats more, this anecdote pointed to a local woman who made a false claim, realized shed made a mistake, and then apologized to her neighbors. Or put another way, she showed the kind of decency and maturity that Vance and Trump have so far refused to even consider. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Those looking for evidence of Russia targeting U.S. elections, hoping to return Donald Trump to power, dont have to look very hard. NBC News reported: Russian disinformation peddlers are producing videos targeting the Harris-Walz campaign with false and disparaging claims, Microsoft said Tuesday. At least three Russian disinformation actors have been working to denigrate the Harris-Walz campaign, Microsoft said. One is a marketing firm that the Justice Department indicted this month, while Microsoft identified the other two only by pseudonyms. If it seems like this is the latest installment in a series, its not your imagination. Microsofts findings about Russian disinformation peddlers trying to help the Trump campaign came five days after Matthew Olsen, the head of the Justice Departments national security division, warned that foreign interference in the 2024 election posed a clear and present danger and he singled out Russian efforts to help the Republican Partys national ticket. Six days earlier, a senior official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence conducted a briefing on Vladimir Putins government and the Kremlins covert efforts to put Trump back in the White House. The day before that, the Justice Department indicted a contributor to a Russian state-run TV channel, charging him with violating U.S. sanctions and money laundering. The defendant, Dmitri Simes, also worked as an advisor to Trumps 2016 campaign. That same week, the public learned that federal prosecutors also accused employees of the Russia-backed media network RT of funding and directing a scheme that sent millions of dollars to prominent right-wing commentators through Tenet Media, a leading platform for pro-Trump commentary. (The commentators have denied any wrongdoing and characterized themselves as victims.) Theres no shortage of relevant angles to developments such as these, but on Capitol Hill, some Democrats are asking a good question: Does House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan care about any of this? One House Democrat in particular issued a press release along these lines last week. [Monday, Sept. 9], Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, wrote to Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) demanding an investigation into the Department of Justices recent announcement that it has indicted Russian actors attempting to interfere in the United States Presidential elections. In her written appeal, Plaskett told Jordan, I understand that it may be difficult for you and Committee Republicans to resist looking the other way when it comes to Russian efforts to bolster Donald Trumps candidacy. While this approach may be politically expedient for your party in the short-term, it will lead to severe consequences to the future of our democracy. We should all agree that any foreign interference, regardless of which political party benefits, is reprehensible and cannot be tolerated. I hope that you honor the solemn oath you took to defend the United States Constitution, from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that you will join me showing Russia, Iran, China and all other world countries that we are united in our resolve that Americans, not foreign actors, will determine the next leader of our great country. As best as I can tell, the letter did not spur Jordan into action. On the contrary, the day after Plaskett made her case, Jordan sat down with media personality Benny Johnson one of the commentators who allegedly benefited from the Russian payment scheme exposed by the Justice Department. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Todays installment of campaign-related news items from across the country. * Speaking to members of the National Association of Black Journalists, Vice President Kamala Harris said she intends to ensure that American families pay no more than 7% of their household income on child care an issue both members of the Republican ticket have struggled with of late. * At the same event, the Democratic nominee addressed the scandal surrounding Donald Trump and JD Vance peddling a racist conspiracy theory about Springfield, Ohio. * Hadley Duvall, a 22-year-old woman who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather when she was 12, shares her horrific experiences in a new ad from the Harris campaign. (Note: The music in the background comes by way of pop star Billie Eilish, who endorsed the vice president this week.) After a violation of their bodies, survivors of rape and incest are being told they cannot make decisions about what happens to them nextall because of Trump Abortion Bans. This is immoral. Women and girls like Hadley deserve better. pic.twitter.com/PA3EiYELA5 Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 18, 2024 * In Georgia, the latest Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll showed Trump leading Harris, 47% to 44%. The same poll showed the former president with a five-point advantage in June. (Click the link for information on the surveys methodology and margin of error.) * Democrats reclaimed their narrow majority in the Pennsylvania state House this week with two special election victories in the Philadelphia area. * Two failed Republican presidential candidates announced new jobs in media this week. Vivek Ramaswamy will anchor a program on the Fox Nation streaming service, while Nikki Haley will host a weekly podcast that will air on SiriusXM through Inauguration Day. * And members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus have chosen a new leader: Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland. Initially, it appeared Harris would face a challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, but Biggs withdrew from consideration ahead of the vote. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com HONG KONG An electronics manufacturer in Taiwan said Wednesday that a company based in Hungary made the pagers bearing its brand that were used by members of the militant group Hezbollah and exploded simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday. At least 12 people were killed and more than 2,750 others were injured in the blasts, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. In a statement Wednesday, the Iran-backed Hezbollah said there would be a severe reckoning over the blasts, blaming Israel. Israel has not commented directly on the explosions, but two U.S. officials and a senior diplomat in the Middle East told NBC News that Israel was behind the attack. Images circulating online show destroyed pagers in Lebanon whose features are consistent with those made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. The companys founder and president, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters Wednesday that the pagers were made by another company licensed to use its brand. There is an agent in Europe whom we have cooperated with for three years, they are the agent for all of our products, Hsu said at the companys offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei. We are not a big company, but we are a responsible company that cares about our products, he said. In a statement, Gold Apollo identified the other company as the Hungary-based BAC Consulting. The company is authorized to use Gold Apollos logo for product sales in certain regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC, the statement said. Reached by phone Wednesday, BAC Consulting Chief Executive Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono confirmed that her company worked with Gold Apollo. But when asked about the pagers and the explosions, she said, I dont make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong. Hungarian Justice Ministry records show that a firm with the name BAC Consulting was registered as a new company on May 21, 2022. Its main activities listed retail trade of telecommunications products, as well as management consulting, jewelry making and cultivation of fruit. A record from May 2, 2020, suggests that a company of the same name had existed in the past and was shut down in 2020. Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesperson for the Hungarian prime minister, said on X that authorities have confirmed that BAC Consulting was a trading intermediary that was not manufacturing or operating in Hungary and that "the referenced devices have never been in Hungary." He emphasized that "this case poses no national security risk" to the country. A spokesperson for Gold Apollo declined to comment further Wednesday, citing the ongoing investigation. Hsu Ching-kuang, the head of the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, said pagers that exploded in Lebanon were made by another company licensed to use his brand. Taiwans Economic Affairs Ministry said Wednesday that Gold Apollo had exported 260,000 pagers from 2022 to August 2024, primarily to European and American markets. In a statement, it said there had been no reports of explosions related to those products and that there were no records of the company exporting pagers directly to Lebanon. Was this batch of goods actually modified? ... Did another manufacturer produce them and simply label them with the Apollo brand? This part is still under investigation by the authorities, a ministry spokesperson told NBC News. The explosions Tuesday come amid rising concern that tensions between Israel and Lebanon could spiral into all-out war. Israel and Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and opposes Israels military assault on the Gaza Strip, have been engaged in cross-border attacks since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last October, displacing thousands of people in both countries. The Lebanese Foreign Ministry condemned what it called an Israeli cyber attack, saying that it would lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, said Tuesday that the explosions marked an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday that the U.S. was not aware of this incident in advance and not involved in it. However, two U.S. officials told NBC News that Israel was behind the attack, while a senior diplomat in the Middle East commented that this is undoubtedly an Israeli operation when asked about the pager attack. The U.S. and other Western governments are still gathering information about the attack and how it was carried out, two U.S. officials and a Western official said. It was unclear why Israel carried out the attack when it did and whether it was an opportunistic operation or something more strategic that would be followed by other actions, the officials said. The officials did not confirm reports about how the devices might have been tampered with and designed to detonate. Emergency medical staffers outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center on Tuesday. Videos suggest that explosive devices were integrated into the pagers, said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, a technical intelligence consulting firm. The scale suggests a complex supply-chain attack, rather than a scenario in which devices were intercepted and modified in transit, he said on X. Pagers are favored by members of Hezbollah who avoid using cellphones for fear that Israel could use them to track and monitor them. Lebanese officials warned the public Tuesday to stay away from their wireless communication devices pending further notice. Hezbollah said it was investigating the explosions and that there would be a severe reckoning that the criminal enemy must face for the massacre it committed on Tuesday against our people, our families and our fighters in Lebanon. The group said earlier that a girl and two brothers were among those killed by the explosions, some of which appeared to have been captured on closed-circuit TV video and shared on social media. Muhammad Mahdi, the son of Ali Ammar, a Hezbollah member of Parliament, was also reportedly killed. Hsu of Gold Apollo said he also felt he had been victimized and was considering filing a lawsuit. I am a businessman, he said. How did I get involved in this attack? This article was originally published on NBCNews.com On September 18, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov met with a delegation led by Joshua Haq, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Azernews reports. The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that bilateral and multilateral cooperation issues between Azerbaijan and the United States, as well as the regional situation in the post-conflict period and the prospects for the normalisation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, were discussed at the meeting. Azerbaijan-US cooperation was highly appreciated within the framework of preparations for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will be hosted by Azerbaijan this year. Despite efforts to create positive dynamics in bilateral relations and define cooperation prospects, it was noted that the biased opinions of some US officials negatively impact bilateral relations. In this regard, on September 16, it was referenced that statements made by Isobel Coleman, the deputy administrator of the International Development Agency, against Azerbaijan at the Armenian embassy in the United States disrespected the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, as well as the anti-terrorist measures that ended the illegal presence of Armenian armed forces in the sovereign territories of our country. It was emphasised that such statements aim to distort the facts. During the meeting, the other side was informed about the situation in the region in the post-conflict period, including the normalisation process and peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It was mentioned that Azerbaijan, as the initiator of the main elements of the peace process, is committed to establishing peace and stability in the region. The threats posed by mines in the region were noted, and possible cooperation in this area was discussed. Despite significant progress in the negotiations on the peace agreement, it was emphasised that the most serious obstacle to signing the final peace agreement is the continuation of territorial claims against Azerbaijan in several legal and political documents of Armenia, especially its Constitution. Additionally, it was stated that Armenia's policy of militarisation does not serve peace and stability in the region. During the meeting, views were exchanged on other bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration plans to convene a global safety summit on artificial intelligence, it said on Wednesday, as Congress continues to struggle with regulating the technology. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will host on Nov. 20-21 the first meeting of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes in San Francisco to "advance global cooperation toward the safe, secure, and trustworthy development of artificial intelligence." The network members include Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Singapore, Britain, and the United States. Generative AI - which can create text, photos and videos in response to open-ended prompts - has spurred excitement as well as fears it could make some jobs obsolete, upend elections and potentially overpower humans and have catastrophic effects. Raimondo in May announced the launch of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes during the AI Seoul Summit in May, where nations agreed to prioritize AI safety, innovation and inclusivity. The goal of the San Francisco meeting is to jumpstart technical collaboration before the AI Action Summit in Paris in February. Raimondo said the aim is "close, thoughtful coordination with our allies and like-minded partners." "We want the rules of the road on AI to be underpinned by safety, security, and trust," she added. The San Francisco meeting will include technical experts from each members AI safety institute, or equivalent government-backed scientific office, to discuss priority work areas, and advance global collaboration and knowledge sharing on AI safety. Last week, the Commerce Department said it was proposing to require detailed reporting requirements for advanced AI developers and cloud computing providers to ensure the technologies are safe and can withstand cyberattacks. The regulatory push comes as legislative action in Congress on AI has stalled. President Joe Biden in October 2023 signed an executive order requiring developers of AI systems posing risks to U.S. national security, the economy, public health or safety to share the results of safety tests with the U.S. government before they are publicly released. (Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Miral Fahmy) Tennessee MAGA Rep. Mark Greens daughter says her family is suffering through the loss of the person that we thought was our father after he was accused of having an affair with a mistress 27 years his junior. My dad sells himself in politics as being a Christian, conservative family man, Catherine Green told the Nashville Banner. His actions in the last, whatever, year have not been that. Scorned Wife: MAGA Rep, 59, Had Affair With 32-Year-Old Earlier this week, it was revealed that Greens wife of 30 years, Camilla Green, accused the 57-year-old of carrying out an affair with a 32-year-old woman in a text message and email to his GOP colleagues. He filed for divorce last month. As this is a deeply private matter, I ask for privacy, he said in a statement after the affair allegations became public. I will continue to serve this district with all Ive got, as I have the last five and a half years. In her text, Greens wife warned of readily available predators that would tempt men like her husband and accused D.C. politicians who espouse family values as having affairs and getting divorces, drinking, parties. Greens daughter told the Banner she also believes toxic D.C. culture led to her dads affair, divorce, and a change in his behavior. Over the last year and a half, two years, weve really noticed a difference in him, she said. So who knows if thats just the toxic environment that is D.C., but something has changed. Weve all had to basically grieve the loss of the person that we thought was our father. Catherine said the family became aware of Greens affair, which began in fall 2023, in January after her brother found a letter from his alleged mistress. He denied the affair, but the family later found additional evidence, she told the Banner. When the news site asked Catherine if she thought former president Donald Trump, who is alleged to have had several extramarital affairs and been accused of sexual assault or harassment by over a dozen women, was part of the negative influence on her MAGA father, she said: Yes and no. Trump doesnt lie about who he is, you know, hes upfront with you, she added, contrasting the former presidents style with her fathers family values-based public profile. You know [Trumps] an ass, but hes just good at what he does. Green announced he would not seek reelection in February, before changing his mind a month later. His daughter said his reservation was related to the familys financially struggling equestrian farm. He is, nevertheless, likely to win in his heavily Republican district. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Malaysias anti-corruption agency said Mahathir Mohamads two eldest sons declared their assets on time in a monthslong probe targeting the 99-year-old former premier, and its now seeking more information from them. Most Read from Bloomberg The investigation on the asset declaration is still ongoing, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Azam Baki said at a briefing on Wednesday. We are still engaging with them, to get more information. Back in January, the anti-graft agency ordered Mokhzani Mahathir and his elder brother Mirzan to declare their assets dating back to 1981, the year Mahathir became prime minister. The sons said in an interview with Bloomberg News in March that the agency ordered them to assist in an investigation into their father, revealing for the first time that the probe was into Mahathir. The brothers received a series of extensions of the original February deadlines to comply with the orders, with the final deadline set for the middle of September. The development comes after Daim Zainuddin, one of Mahathirs closest allies, and his wife were charged for failing to declare their assets under a similar order. Daim said in January that his prosecution was a vendetta by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, which the Malaysian leader and the MACC deny. Anwar, who finally became prime minister in 2022 after falling short of the top job for decades, is a former protege of Mahathir but later fell out with him. Mahathir dismissed Anwar from all government posts in 1998 and Anwar was later imprisoned on corruption and sodomy charges, which he denied. After he was removed from Mahathirs government, Anwar became a prominent opposition figure who pushed for democratic reforms and was courted by the West. But since taking power, his government has faced criticism from opposition parties for using a colonial-era sedition law to stifle dissent and after the attorney general withdrew criminal charges against a key coalition ally, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Anwar has repeatedly denied interfering in Zahids case or in the MACCs investigations. Mahathir, who led Malaysia for nearly a quarter century in two different stints, said at a press briefing in January conducted before Mokhzani was ordered to declare his assets that the probe involving his son Mirzan was politically motivated. He has denied wrongdoing. (Updates with details of probes by Malaysias anti-graft agency from third paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Election officials are warning that mail voting could face delays and disruption if the U.S. mail delivery system fails to fix persistent issues ahead of Novembers contests. In a recent letter to the Postal Service, groups representing election officials nationwide said serious questions remain about the agencys ability to deliver election mail in a timely and accurate manner, as Novembers elections rapidly near. Over the past year, mailed ballots that were postmarked on time were received by local election offices days after state deadlines passed, meaning they couldnt be counted, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors. Election mail that was properly addressed was returned as undeliverable, which could automatically turn voters to inactive status. And a pervasive lack of understanding and enforcement among Postal Service employees has resulted in inconsistent guidance to election officials and significant delays. Despite repeated engagement with the Postal Service, no improvements nor concerted efforts to address those concerns have occurred, and the delays and errors sometimes led to the disenfranchisement of voters, the groups said. We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service, the Sept. 11 letter reads. Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process. Though mail voting has been in use for more than a century and has been expanding for decades in the U.S., it saw an unprecedented boom in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the country. The process also came under heightened scrutiny amid baseless claims from former President Trump that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud. No evidence has surfaced highlighting significant mail voting fraud, though some allies of Trump are facing charges for pushing false claims about the election. About 43 percent of American voters cast their ballots by mail in 2020, and 31 percent voted that way in 2022. In response to the concerns, U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy said in a letter obtained by The Hill that in 2020, 99.9 percent of ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within seven days. Postal Service records show that number was closer to 99.89 percent. In 2022, there was a similar level of on-time performance at 99.93 percent, DeJoy said in the letter. Yet in some states, that may not be enough. In 32 states, mailed ballots must be received by Election Day in order to be counted. At least 10 other states require ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received by election officials in fewer than seven days, and several other states set seven days as the deadline. Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab told DeJoy earlier this month that nearly 1,000 ballots from his states Aug. 6 primary were not counted because they arrived too late or without postmarks and ballots keep rolling in. Kansas counts mail ballots received within three days of the election if postmarked before the close of polls on Election Day. Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Susan Beals said earlier this month that the Postal Services operational performance is her biggest concern with this years general election. Virginia will count mail ballots received before noon on the third day after the election, if postmarked by Election Day. Some of the newfound concern has stemmed from the Postal Services effort to modernize as it seeks to reduce costs. Part of that process has been the consolidation of dozens of local processing facilities into megacenters across the country. Though DeJoy said in May that the agency would pause further consolidations until after the election, processing facilities that have already merged could add days to the process and surpass state deadlines. An Postal Service inspector general report from April determined that the opening of a consolidated center in Richmond, Va., created worse service and increased employee absenteeism and late and canceled mail transportation trips. It also found the public was inadequately informed about the changes. When I was a county official, we had a processing center in the town right next door. I could go over there and meet with the postmaster, I could meet with staff and we could work through problems, said Kim Wyman, former Washington secretary of state. Now the USPS is being more efficient, and theyre sending the same ballots to regional facilities that may be out of state for cities or towns that are on a state border, she said. That can add one to two days of processing and transit time, so that could impact voters who live in a state that have an election day cutoff. Annie Norman, campaign manager at The Save the Post Office Coalition, said rules and regulations vary pretty widely from state to state, which puts burdens on state and local election workers while also causing unequal access to the ballot for voters. We just believe that somebodys ZIP code shouldnt determine their ability to participate in democracy, Norman said. In his letter response to the election groups, DeJoy said election mail routinely outperforms its regular service performance and that the agency believes many concerns raised by the election official groups have already been discussed and addressed. He said hes confident in the mail delivery systems preparations. Still, both Wyman and Kathy Boockvar, former secretary of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, urged voters to circumvent any delays by knowing their states deadlines and taking initiative to ensure their votes count. Voters should be advised: Dont wait, Boockvar said. Ignore the noise about litigation and postal delays and all the different challenges that we have little control over. The best way to solve these issues is for voters to apply for their mail ballots as soon as possible and cast your ballots as soon as possible, she added. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Central Maine Power is Maines largest utility with more than 636,000 customers in a state of fewer than 1.4 million people. (Getty Images) Maines high court affirmed on Tuesday a lower courts dismissal of a case in which Maine utility customers alleged financial harm and emotional distress from disconnection notices sent by one of the states two largest utilities. In 2020, the Maine Public Utilities Commission found that from 2018 to 2020 Central Maine Power had sent misleading communications to customers behind on their electric bills, threatening winter disconnection without providing accurate information about customers rights. Utility companies have the right to disconnect their services to customers who fail to pay their bills, however Maine law generally prevents such disconnections during the winter. Electric and natural-gas utility companies in Maine arent permitted to disconnect or send notices signaling they will disconnect customers from Nov. 15 through April 15 each year, known as the Winter Disconnection Period, unless they are granted permission by the PUC, which is rare. A PUC investigation found CMP violated its rule and CMP agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty. However, around the time of this investigation, three CMP customers who received the misleading communications also took personal action, suing to recover damages for injuries they allegedly suffered as a result of systematic and repeated deception and misrepresentation by CMP in the form of disconnection notices. On Tuesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled on the case, siding with the Business and Consumer Dockets previous decisions. The lower court concluded that the plaintiffs Brett Deane, Henry Lavender, and Joleen Mitchell failed to allege pecuniary harm, or monetary losses, which would be necessary to prove their misinterpretation claims. The lower court also dismissed the statutory cause of action. Lastly, the high court also upheld that the plaintiffs didnt demonstrate severe emotional distress as defined by law, and that CMPs conduct, while extreme and outrageous, did not warrant an inference of severe emotional distress, the decision read. This past legislative session, Maine lawmakers placed further limits on utility companies ability to disconnect customers. Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook) initially proposed statute changes around utility disconnections, barring utilities from disconnecting service remotely unless the company has made an in-person visit to a customer, as well as expanding the purpose of the PUC to include keeping rates affordable. However, the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee removed the provisions about in-person visits and expanding the purpose of the PUC and moved the rest of the legislation into the existing PUC rulemaking process rather than statute. The amended version, which became law, directs the PUC to stipulate that utilities raise the current $50 threshold in unpaid bills for when disconnections are permitted, as well as bar utilities from charging low-income customers with restoration or reconnection fees and require that the companies waive late fees accrued prior to disconnection for such people. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Update makes X available again to many in Brazil The logo of social media platform X is seen on a mobile phone next to a reflection of Brazil's Supreme Court in this illustration taken August 30, 2024, in Brasilia By Luciana Magalhaes SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Social media platform X became accessible to many users in Brazil on Wednesday as an update to its communications network circumvented a block order by the country's Supreme Court. Last month, after a months-long dispute between X owner Elon Musk and Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court had ordered Brazil's mobile and internet service providers to block the platform and users were cut off within hours. But Brazilians flooded back onto the platform on Wednesday, with some cheering what they called a maneuver by Musk to flaunt the law. But X later said that a switch in network providers had resulted in "an inadvertent and temporary service restoration" for Brazilian users. X's Global Affairs team, in a post to the social media platform, said the switch had been spurred by the shutdown, as it meant certain infrastructure for the rest of Latin America was no longer accessible. Brazilians' access to the platform, however, will likely be blocked again soon, X added. The Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers (Abrint) explained that the X update had routed some Brazilian users through third-party cloud services outside the country, allowing them to access the platform even without a virtual private network (VPN). Brazil's telecommunications regulator Anatel is working to notify content delivery network providers and telecom companies to block access again to X in Brazil, though it's not clear how long it will take for providers to comply with the order, according to a person familiar with the situation. Any revised order from Anatel, which is responsible for implementing the court ruling, will need to be worded carefully, said Basilio Perez, a board member at Abrint. Blocking cloud access is complex, and could jeopardize government agencies and financial services providers, he added. (Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes; Additional reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Rod Nickel and Stephen Coates) A man linked to Global Ikhwan Service and Business Holdings (GISB) covers his face as he is escorted by police officers after being charged in a court in Putrajaya A man linked to Global Ikhwan Service and Business Holdings (GISB) covers his face as he is escorted by police officers after being charged in a court in Putrajaya PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - A Malaysian man, who authorities say is linked to an Islamic conglomerate accused of running charity homes where children were allegedly abused, was charged with criminal intimidation in court on Wednesday, a court document sighted by Reuters showed. Mohamad Riza Makar, 39, pleaded not guilty to allegedly threatening a woman who used to work for the conglomerate to withdraw a police report, according to a charge sheet sighted by Reuters and confirmed by a police investigator. State news agency Bernama reported that Mohamad Riza, a businessman with three wives and 10 children, was released on bail of 10,000 ringgit ($2,360). If convicted of the criminal intimidation charge, he could face jail time of up to two years, a fine or both. Mohamad Riza and his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment after the hearing. A representative for the company, Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB) Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment. Last week, police rescued over 400 children during raids on 20 charity homes the authorities have said are owned by GISB. Many children showed signs of sexual abuse and neglect, police have said. GISB has said it did not manage the shelters and has denied accusations of widespread abuse, although its chief executive acknowledged on Saturday that "one or two" cases of sodomy occurred at the homes. Mohamad Riza is the second figure linked to the GISB investigation to be charged in court. A 19-year-old girl was charged last week with child abuse in connection with the case, Bernama reported. GISB has been linked to Al-Arqam, a religious sect banned by the government in 1994. The firm has acknowledged the link but now describes itself as an Islamic conglomerate based on Muslim principles. ($1 = 4.2340 ringgit) (Reporting by Mandy Leong and Danial Azhar; Writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by John Mair and Miral Fahmy) The coronation ceremony of Malaysia's new King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar at Kuala Lumpur By Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) - Malaysia's king Sultan Ibrahim will visit China from Thursday, the first by a Malaysian monarch in a decade, where he will meet President Xi Jinping and likely seek support for projects boosting connectivity to neighbouring Singapore. The ceremonial ruler from the southern state of Johor, will be accompanied by Malaysia's transport and housing ministers, a statement from the country's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. "His Majesty's visit provides an excellent opportunity for both sides to reaffirm a shared commitment in ensuring that Malaysia-China relations continue to remain forward-looking, dynamic and prosperous," Malaysia's foreign ministry said. Sultan Ibrahim was installed as the country's 17th king in January, under a unique system of monarchy where the heads of Malaysia's nine royal families take turns to sit on the throne every five years, and are supposed to stay above politics. But the 65-year-old has indicated he intends to weigh in on the country's political issues and proposed in a media interview before his ascension that Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas and the country's anti-corruption agency report directly to the king. The last time a Malaysian king visited China was in 2014. Ibrahim will also meet China's second-ranking official, Premier Li Qiang, Malaysia's foreign ministry said. Li visited Kuala Lumpur in June and backed Malaysian plans to develop its connectivity through a $10-billion rail link to other China-backed railways projects in Laos and Thailand. Li said that the initiative would realise plans for a proposed Pan-Asia Railway running from Kunming in China to Singapore, presumably through Johor, which is where the outspoken Sultan wants to develop a rail link, too. Ibrahim has spoken of plans to revive a stalled high-speed rail project between Malaysia and Singapore, with a border crossing in Forest City, a $100-billion joint venture between China's Country Garden and a private Malaysian company backed by the Sultan. Data compiled by the American Enterprise Institute think tank shows the embattled Chinese developer had invested just $110 million out of the total $26 billion Chinese firms have directed to Malaysia since 2010, the bulk of which was in its metals, energy and transport sectors. The two countries' commercial ties came under the spotlight earlier this month when Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said China had protest notes to stop Malaysia's oil exploration activities in the South China Sea, but stressed the two sides continued to communicate over the issue. China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory based on historic maps, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of Malaysia the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam. An international arbitration tribunal in 2016 said China's claim had no basis under international law, a ruling Beijing does not recognise. (Reporting by Joe Cash; Additional reporting by Liz Lee and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Kim Coghill and Michael Perry) CHICAGO A 54-year-old man was found fatally shot on the citys Southwest Side. According to police, the discovery was made on the 6500 block of South Claremont in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood just after 1 a.m. Wednesday. The man was found on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Remains of unidentified female from 1968 Will County cold case homicide exhumed, Coroners Office announces No one is in custody. Area One Detectives are 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 WGN-TV. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11) A 17-year-old boy was shot in Staten Island on Tuesday, according to the NYPD. It happened on Bowen Street around 5 p.m. The teen was shot in the leg and taken to a local hospital by EMS, police said. More Local News The suspect, a man last seen wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, fled the scene in a blue Hyundai, according to authorities. The car was later found abandoned, police said. Police did not confirm if the car was stolen. 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. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)- A man charged with attempted murder in connection to a New Years Day shooting in Evansville pleads guilty to lesser charges. Haubstadt student in custody after allegedly making verbal threats According to court documents, Jahray Garrett pleaded guilty to charges of criminal recklessness and unlawful carrying of a handgun. Garrett was arrested in February after Police say Jerry Hale was shot and killed in the 400 block of Riverside Drive. Investigators say that surveillance video shows Garrett going through the victims pockets and turning to another man, shouting Give me the gun prior to firing at a vehicle that was pulling into a parking lot. The alleged gunman Christopher Boyd Junior was later arrested in Georgia, and faces a murder charge in the case. A third person, Nykeia Baker was also arrested and is accused of assisting a criminal. Garrett has been placed on probation until his sentencing next month. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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). By Jeff Mason, Alexandra Alper and Katya Golubkova WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) -The U.S. national security panel reviewing Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel let the companies refile their application for approval of the deal, a person familiar with the matter said, delaying a decision on the politically sensitive merger until after the Nov. 5 presidential election. The move offers a ray of hope for the companies, whose proposed tie-up appeared set to be blocked when the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) alleged on Aug. 31 the transaction posed a risk to national security by threatening the steel supply chain for critical U.S. industries. CFIUS needs more time to understand the deal's impact on national security and engage with the parties, the person said on Tuesday. Refiling sets a new 90-day clock to review the proposed tie-up and make a decision. The review was expected to take close to the full 90 days, another person familiar with the matter said. Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday that Nippon Steel had refiled an application with the CFIUS for its U.S. Steel acquisition plan by Wednesday, quoting people familiar with the matter. Nippon Steel declined to comment. CFIUS and U.S. Steel did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. "Extending the timeline takes some pressure off the parties and, importantly, pushes the decision past the election in November," said Nick Klein, a CFIUS lawyer with DLA Piper. The deal has become a political hot potato. This month, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said at a rally in Pennsylvania, the swing state where U.S. Steel is headquartered, that she wanted U.S. Steel to remain "American owned and operated," echoing a view held by President Joe Biden. The White House reiterated that position on Tuesday. Harris' Republican rival Donald Trump has pledged to block the deal if elected. Both candidates have sought to woo union votes. Postponing the decision to after the U.S. elections will "dial down" the political temperature but does not guarantee approval, said David Boling, a former U.S. trade official who is now an analyst at Eurasia Group. "Regardless of the CFIUS review, Nippon Steel still must reach an agreement with the United Steelworkers," Boling said. "Without that, it's very hard to see this deal happening." The United Steelworkers Union, which vehemently opposes the deal, said on Tuesday "nothing has changed regarding the risks that Nippon's acquisition would pose to national security or the critical supply chain concerns that have already been identified." Story continues The deal is being closely watched in Japan, a close U.S. ally and its biggest foreign investor. "Further strengthening economic relations, including expanding mutual investment between Japan and the U.S ... are essential for both countries," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya told reporters on Wednesday. Nippon Steel shares were 1.1% up in afternoon trade in Tokyo. U.S. Steel shares closed 0.4% down on Tuesday. STEEL SUPPLY CONCERNS CFIUS is concerned Nippon Steel's merger could hurt the supply of steel needed for critical transportation, construction and agriculture projects, it said in its August letter to the companies, exclusively obtained by Reuters. It also cited a global glut of cheap Chinese steel, and said that under a Japanese company, U.S. Steel would be less likely to seek tariffs on foreign steel importers. Nippon's decisions could also "lead to a reduction in domestic steel production capacity," it said. In a 100-page response letter to CFIUS, also exclusively obtained by Reuters, Nippon Steel said it will invest billions of dollars in U.S. Steel facilities that otherwise would have been idled, "indisputably" allowing it to "maintain and potentially increase domestic steelmaking capacity in the United States." The company also reaffirmed a promise not to transfer any U.S. Steel production capacity or jobs outside the U.S. and would not interfere in any of U.S. Steel's decisions on trade matters, including decisions to pursue trade measures under U.S. law against unfair trade practices. The deal, Nippon added, would "create a stronger global competitor to China grounded in the close relationship between the United States and Japan." Robust CFIUS reviews take 90 days but it is common for companies to withdraw their filings and resubmit them to give them more time to address the panel's concerns. According to CFIUS's 2023 annual report, 18% of companies seeking deal approval refiled their applications last year. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel filed for the review in March, and CFIUS allowed them refile in June, starting a second 90-day clock that runs out on Sept. 23, Reuters reported on Friday. In December, CFIUS could approve the deal, possibly with measures to address national security concerns, recommend that the president block it, or extend the time table again. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Alexandra Alper in Washington; Katya Golubkova, Kaori Kaneko and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing by Chris Sanders, Sonali Paul, Miral Fahmy and Tomasz Janowski) GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) A man who authorities say shot four people in Grand Rapids last year has been sentenced to federal prison for being a felon in possession of ammunition. Craig Hunnicutt Jr., 43, of Grand Rapids, was sentenced to 10 years, 10 months, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a Tuesday release. Federal prosecutors say surveillance video from Aug. 12, 2023, shows Hunnicutt approach a group of people outside a convenience store on Madison Avenue SE near Dickinson Street and start shooting. Four people were hospitalized, dispatchers told News 8 at the time, but none of the injuries were considered life-threatening. Authorities said five spent bullet casings were found at the scene and a witness identified Hunnicutt as the shooter. At the time, the U.S. Attorneys Office said, Hunnicutt was still under federal supervision for a previous drug and weapons conviction. As a convicted felon, he should not have had a gun or ammunition. Hunnicutt was arrested five days after the shooting, the U.S. Attorneys Office told News 8. He was initially charged at the state level with three counts of assault and various weapons charges, but court records show those charges were dismissed in favor of pursuing the federal case. (Hunnicutts) brazen actions of firing a gun and shooting several victims in the parking lot of a convenience store put the public at great risk of harm. As we did here, my Office will continue to focus our limited federal resources on those few individuals driving violence in our communities, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. Man admits to selling fentanyl that resulted in death SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A Brown County man plans to plead guilty to selling fentanyl which resulted in someone dying. 29-year-old Carlin Mellette has signed federal court papers admitting to the crime. SF therapist sentenced for sexual assault on patient In February of last year, Mellette and a co-defendant met with the victim and told the victim the drugs they were buying were Percocet. They were in fact Fentanyl. The co-defendant then crushed the pills and snorted them with the victim, who died of a fentanyl overdose. A plea date and sentencing have not been set yet. He faces 20-years to life 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 KELOLAND.com. BALTIMORE A man allegedly entered Urban High School on Tuesday and assaulted a staff member there, according to the Frederick County Sheriffs Office. At about 11 a.m., a man entered the school through an exterior door and was noticed by a staff member, according to a news release from police. As the staff member escorted him out of the building, the suspect allegedly assaulted the staff member and left campus, the release says. The staff member did not seek medical attention, and the suspect didnt harm students or other staff. A school resource officer was immediately contacted and began investigating. The sheriffs office increased its presence around the school and in the Urbana area for school dismissal as they searched for the man, said Katie Robine, a spokesperson for the Frederick County Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs have identified a suspect, who was transported to a local hospital for evaluation, the sheriffs office said on its Facebook page. Criminal charges are pending. ------- A 26-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a North Texas Marine Corps reservist on Interstate 20 in June, officials said. Josue Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday in Fort Worth, Arlington police said in a news release. He faces a charge of collision involving death. Areauna Laws, of DeSoto, was on her way to drills the morning of June 23 when she experienced car trouble, police said. She stopped on the westbound shoulder of I-20 near Matlock Road. A pickup truck struck and killed the 21-year-old when she exited her vehicle. Witnesses described seeing a tan 1975 Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup driving erratically and veering onto the shoulder before hitting Laws, police said. Then the pickup drove over the median and onto the I-20 frontage road. Officers found the vehicle abandoned in a shopping center parking lot near the accident scene. Rodriguez, the registered owner of the pickup, initially denied being involved in the hit-and-run, according to the release. He told police hed attended a party in Benbrook the previous night and left his vehicle outside the venue. Surveillance footage from nearby businesses shows a person parking the Chevrolet at the venue and getting out, the release states. A few hours later, the same individual, believed to be Rodriguez, gets back in the pickup and drives away. Cell phone records also show Rodriguez made several calls near the scene of the accident, both before and after the crash, according to the release. Law enforcement officers from the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force located Rodriguez in Fort Worth on Tuesday and took him into custody without incident, police said. Rodriguez is currently being held in the Tarrant County Jail on a $40,000 bond, according to court records. Laws father, Lawrence, told the Star-Telegram a short time after the accident that his daughter loved the color green and watching tadpoles grow into frogs in a pond on the familys land. The 21-year-old was engaged to be married and considered the Marine Corps her second family. She was buried with full military honors June 28. If I could talk to that person, I would say we found you, and we are going to have justice for my Areauna and for every Areauna that is out there that has ever been raped, abused, murdered, or kidnapped using our sacred highways, Lawrence Laws said. More top stories from our newsroom: Parents & teachers critique Fort Worth ISD superintendent, board Woman shot her boyfriend to death in Fort Worth home, police say Fort Worth breakfast favorite will move to West 7th Street [Get our breaking news alerts.] MEMPHIS, Tenn. A man arrested in connection to the carjacking that led to a chase and shootout with police on Monday walked away free from jail without bond on Wednesday. Tadarius Nichols, 25, is charged with motor vehicle theft and evading arrest in the incident that ended with a fatal shooting by police near a school in Frayser. The state asked for bond to be set at $100,000, saying Nichols could face more charges. Nichols public defender asked that he be released with no bond and Judge Christian Johnson agreed. I dont see why ROR is not appropriate, Johnson said, saying hes not considering what could happen, but was only looking at the two current charges, one of which is a misdemeanor. Nichols long standing in the community led Judge Johnson to release him on his own recognizance, which means nothing has to be paid. That decision led to a Facebook from state Sen. Brent Taylor, a frequent opponent of ROR release. Taylor wrote, Im mad as hell! There is NO way a defendant connected to a violent carjacking and who is involved in a police shooting is not a danger to the community under my new bail law. District Attorney Steve Mulroy released a statement saying his office had argued for a higher bond. Our office strongly advocated for a higher bond in this case, as we believe the suspect posed a significant threat to both public safety and the safety of officers. However, the judge ultimately decided to release the suspect on their own recognizance. While we respect the courts decision, we disagree with it. After court, WREG spoke with Nichols sister, who says she came to court today defending her brother because He is not that type of person. He is a good outstanding person. She says he has worked for the City of Memphis for three years now. Hes not a bad person at all. He just tries to be too loyal to his friends and dont want to break off his connection with them, trying to be too loyal, his sister says. Suspects IDd after police shooting; 1 dead, other was city employee Nichols was allegedly driving a stolen Dodge Charger Monday afternoon with Tremayne French on the passenger side. Officers spotted the carjacked vehicle near Watkins Street and Dellwood and attempted a traffic stop at that time. But, the driver refused to stop. The Charger stopped at Frayser Boulevard and Adair Drive, where the suspects got out and ran east on Frayser Boulevard. As officers pursued them on foot, they say one of the suspects fired shots at officers. Officers returned fire, striking the suspect. French, 26, was pronounced dead on the scene by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and a weapon was found nearby. Nichols was caught after a brief pursuit. Family remembers loved one killed officer-involved shooting Records show French pleaded guilty to carjacking in 2019. He also pleaded guilty in a 2018 robbery and was sentenced to six years. Nichols was also a part-time City of Memphis employee. We can confirm that at the time of the incident, he was a part-time employee in our Parks division, a city spokesperson said Tuesday in an email. They had no further comment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Police arrested a man on murder charges this month, 14 years after he allegedly killed a man in Virginia, but the victim's body has never been found. Shane Ryan Donahue, a Virginia man, is presumed deceased, the Prince William County Police Department said Tuesday. He was last seen leaving his parents' home in Nokesville, Virginia, on March 22, 2010. Donahue, 23, was headed to his house in Nokesville, but never made it there. Donahue was added to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System after he vanished. According to records, Donahue did not have a car and regularly got rides from friends. He frequented Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Fauquier County, Virginia, and Northern Virginia. The case stumped investigators, who followed a number of leads over the years. This spring, detectives reactivated the investigation and started looking at every detail of the case from scratch, officials said. They revisited people who had been interviewed during the initial investigation and reviewed "digital evidence in greater detail due to advances in analytical technology and modern police investigative practices," according to a news release. Officers said Donahue was last seen leaving his parents' home with Timothy Sean Hickerson, now a 43-year-old Florida resident. Investigators connected Hickerson to a burglary at Donahue's home that happened just days before the Virginia man disappeared. Detectives got an arrest warrant this month and, with the help of Florida's Flagler County Sheriff's Office, Hickerson was taken into custody in Palm Coast, Florida. Hickerson was charged with murder and burglary, is now set to be extradited to Virginia. NASA's "Hidden Figures" awarded Congressional Gold Medal Tests show electric vehicles may pose safety threat to U.S. roads Why the Fed cut interest rates for the first time in 4 years RICHLANDS, VA (WVNS) A man is in custody in Richlands, Virginia after reportedly making threats towards a local church. According to a post on the Richlands Police Departments Facebook page, 54-year-old Andy Mullins was taken into custody for reportedly making threats towards a local church with an attached private school in the Richlands area of Tazewell County. Students charged after making false threats towards local high school Members of the Richlands Police Department, the Tazewell County Sheriffs Office, and the Virginia State Police responded to the church to offer security for the people at the church and private school. Mullins was arrested around 12:00 p.m. in Richlands and he was later charged with Threats of Bodily Harm or Injury, which is a Class Five Felony because of the church also being a private school. According to the Richlands Police Department, Mullins is being held without bond. I would like to thank the Tazewell County Sheriffs Office, the Virginia State Police, and the Bluefield Police Department for their rapid response and their willingness to provide manpower and technology that brought a quick resolution to this volatile situation. We would also like to thank the Commonwealth Attorney, Chris Plaster and his deputies for their support and assistance. Chief Ronald D. Holt II North Carolina woman sentenced to prison for role in counterfeit currency conspiracy in West Virginia The Richlands Police Department thanked the Tazewell County Sheriffs Office, the Bluefield Police Department, and the Virginia State Police for their support during the investigation. According to the post, the Richlands Police Department stated that the incident remains under investigation and that there is no ongoing threat at this time. Stick with 59News for more local news, weather, and traffic updates. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Man arrested after teen shot, killed in Greensboro on Godwin Court, police say Man arrested after teen shot, killed in Greensboro on Godwin Court, police say GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) A suspect was arrested on Wednesday after a fatal shooting in Greensboro earlier this year, according to a Greensboro Police Department news release. At around 9:31 p.m. on Jan. 31, police, the Greensboro Fire Department and Guilford County EMS came to Godwin Court after getting a report of a shooting. Man who fatally shot, helped dismember roommate in Rural Hall sentenced to decades in prison At the scene, police found the victim, 19-year-old Jalin Nisean Williams who died as a result of their injuries at the scene. On Wednesday, detectives with the Greensboro Police Department arrested Phillip Kenyarda Lytch, 22, in connection to the death of Williams. Lytch is charged with one count of first-degree murder and is in the Guilford County Jail with no 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 FOX8 WGHP. WESTERLY, R.I. (WPRI) A Hopkinton man has been charged with manslaughter after another man was killed by fireworks earlier this year. Richard Murray, 40, was indicted by the R.I. Attorney Generals Office on the felony charge, according to Westerly police. On May 12, police said 39-year-old David Ziegenfuss and others were messing around with fireworks at a home on Pound Road when a mortar-style firework was put on his head and set off. That type of firework is illegal in Rhode Island. Court documents obtained by 12 News say responding officers found a man and a woman performing CPR on Ziegenfuss, who was suffering from severe injuries to his head. He was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Witnesses said Ziegenfuss had been lighting off fireworks that evening and was adamant about shooting a mortar off his head, according to the court documents. [Murray] said Ziegenfuss placed two floor tiles on top of his head, believing they would function as a safety shield, the court documents said. Ziegenfuss then placed a loaded mortar tube on top of the tiles and Murray lit the fuse with a lit cigarette. Murray said that he did not want to partake in this but was continuously egged on by Ziegenfuss to light the fuse for him. Police say Murray admitted to lighting the fuse at the request of Ziegenfuss, while acknowledging it was a bad idea and mistake. Murray pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on Oct. 4. 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. Editors note: This story mentions suicide. The man accused of murdering a known acquaintance in Pismo Beach made his first court appearance Tuesday. Andrew Rodriguez, 34, of Santa Maria is accused of fatally stabbing 39-year-old Jonathan Perez in the 1200 block of Price Street on Wednesday evening, Pismo Beach police said in a Monday news release. Perez was declared dead at the scene, police said, and Rodriguez was identified as a suspect shortly after. He allegedly fled to Ventura and attempted suicide. He was then taken to the hospital under supervision of Pismo Beach officers, police said. Rodriguez and Perez were known acquaintances at the time, police said. Defense attorney Ilan Funke-Bilu represents his client, 34-year-old Andrew Rodriguez, during Rodriguezs first San Luis Obispo Superior Court appearance on Sept. 17, 2024. Rodriguez is accused of murdering 39-year-old Jonathan Perez. Rodriguez was released from the hospital Sunday and subsequently arrested on suspicion of murdering Perez. He was taken into custody at San Luis Obispo County Jail and is being held without bail. The San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office charged Rodriguez with murder Tuesday afternoon, court documents show, adding a sentencing enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon, in this case a stabbing instrument or knife. Rodriguez entered court wearing black and white striped jail clothing, which typically signifies an inmate is in a second-level security risk. He later changed into a dress shirt when the hearing went on the record. His right eye also appeared to have a bruise. Ilan Funke-Bilu, Rodriguezs attorney, requested his clients arraignment be pushed to Sept. 30, noting he had not had time to look through discovery. San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Kim Dittrich attends 34-year-old Andrew Rodriguezs first San Luis Obispo Superior Court appearance on Sept. 17, 2024. Rodriguez is accused of murdering 39-year-old Jonathan Perez. Barnard is the prosecutor assigned to the case. Perezs family was present in the courtroom during the hearing. According to the charge sheet, Rodriguez has three prior serious or violent felony convictions from a single incident on Sept. 17, 2009, in Ventura County, but five possible sentencing enhancements stemming from the convictions. He was convicted of one felony count of sexual intercourse with a victim who couldnt consent because of intoxication, one felony count of sexual penetration of an unconscious victim and one felony count of burglary in 2010. San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Rita Federman on Tuesday ruled Rodriguez stay in jail custody without bail. San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Rita Federman oversees 34-year-old Andrew Rodriguezs first San Luis Obispo Superior Court appearance on Sept. 17, 2024. Rodriguez is accused of murdering 39-year-old Jonathan Perez. Police said the investigation is ongoing and asks anyone with information to call Det. Jason Stingley at 805-773-2208. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 988. You can also call the Central Coast Hotline at 800-783-0607 for 24-7 assistance. To learn the warning signs of suicide, visit 988lifeline.org. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Yemen's Houthi rebels shot down two American MQ-9 Reaper drones in under a week, the United States military acknowledged Wednesday, further highlighting the regional spread of the Israel-Hamas war. As the one-year anniversary of the war approaches, Houthis continue a campaign to target ships traveling through the Red Sea as U.S.-led airstrikes pound their positions in Yemen. That's imperiled a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion of trade pass through it, as well as crucial shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and Yemen. The U.S. military said Houthis shot down the first Reaper on Sept. 10, and the second on Monday. Online video showed the downing and the flaming wreckage on the ground afterward in Yemen's Dhamar province. General Atomics Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the U.S. military and the CIA over Yemen for years. U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's press secretary, said authorities continue to investigate Monday's downing, but declined to elaborate. He added that a claim by the Houthis that they shot down 10 Reapers since the start of their campaign in November over the Israel-Hamas war was not accurate. For operation security reasons, Im not going to be able to provide a specific number, Ryder said Tuesday. Since Houthis seized the countrys north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has seen Reapers shot down in Yemen in 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024. Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israels campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. Those attacks include a barrage that struck the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea. Salvagers have towed away the burning oil tanker, hoping to avoid a catastrophic leak of its 1 million barrels of oil on board. MILLER COUNTY, Mo. The Missouri State Highway Patrol has arrested a man accused of leaving the scene of a fatal crash in Miller County early Sunday morning. Anthony Todd Floyd II, 23, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing physical injury and tampering with physical evidence in felony prosecution. Former Glendale offensive coordinator sues Springfield Public Schools According to online court documents, a Missouri state trooper arrived at the scene of the crash on MO 242 in Lake Ozark and was told by a passerby that a woman later identified as 35-year-old Larose Spencer had died. They said Spencer was thrown from a 2009 Harley Davidson Super Glide motorcycle that crashed and was run over by another vehicle that fled the scene. The driver of the motorcycle was later arrested on a DWI charge. At the crash site, the MSHP Major Crash Investigation Unit discovered a motor vehicle part belonging to a 2008-2012 Ford Escape that they believed was dislodged in the crash. On Monday, September 16, after the MSHP Troop F account on X notified the public about the crash, MSHP received an anonymous tip from a citizen identifying Anthony Floyd as a possible suspect and overheard that the family was trying to sell the vehicle he was driving that night. Later that day, troopers arrived at Floyds residence and observed a Ford Escape belonging to Floyd with damages consistent with the crash. They spoke with Floyds father, who admitted he was aware of the crash on MO 242 but declined to give any more details. Floyd was later located at his place of employment and was arrested by MSHP. He is currently in Miller County Jail with no 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 KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. Man in court after more than 300k seized in car chase More than 300,000 of cash was seized from the car [Pacemaker] A 44-year-old man has been remanded into custody after between 300,000-400,000 was seized following a high-speed car chase. Eoin Morrow, of no fixed abode, appeared at Newry Magistrates' Court on Wednesday morning via videolink from Musgrave police station in Belfast. He was been charged with possessing criminal property, dangerous driving, failing to stop for police and entering an arrangement which facilitated the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property on behalf of another person. The charges follow an incident that began on the Dublin Road in Newry on Monday afternoon. High-speed pursuit A detective constable told the court that at about17:27 BST police attempted to stop a black Audi car. The car drove off, in rush hour traffic, on the wrong side of the road. The vehicle then made its way onto the southbound carriageway of the A1 towards the Irish border. The car was driving at about 90mph when a mobile phone was seen being thrown from it across to the northbound carriageway. The detective constable said the car reached a top speed of 109mph but that three police vehicles managed to box it in and prevent it crossing the border. As well as recovering the phone that had been thrown onto the road, police found another phone in the vehicle. They also found two bags filled with pound sterling bank notes. When searched, police said the defendant had a note on him saying "389,740". The detective constable said the cash has not yet been counted but was estimated to amount to between 300,000 and 400,000. The police officer told the court Mr Morrows solicitor had said he was under duress but wouldnt elaborate on this during interview. During the short hearing Mr Morrow spoke only to confirm his name, age and that he understood the charges against him. No bail application was made and he was remanded into custody. He is due to appear in court again on 16 October. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Metro police believe a man in custody for a 2023 murder is connected to three other murders and was hired as a hit man for those who owed money in a loan fraud scheme, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned. Police filed three new open murder charges against Michael Coleman, 40, on Tuesday. Around 2 p.m., the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. Michael Coleman, 40, appears in a 2023 booking photo. (LVMPD/KLAS) Officers arrested Coleman in May 2023 for the murder of Kidada Stewart, 48. In that case, Coleman faces several charges, including first-degree murder. A trial was scheduled to begin in October. On Monday, Feb 27, 2023, officers responded to a 911 from a person who said they heard several gunshots near Fort Apache Road and Mountains Edge Way in the southwest valley, 8 News Now reported at the time. Officers later found Stewart deceased outside of a home. Police tracked Coleman to Stewarts murder from a traffic stop in Arizona 12 hours after the shooting. Officers arrested him in May 2023 after a standoff. Las Vegas police investigate a shooting in a southwest valley neighborhood Monday morning that left Kidada Stewart Dead | PHOTO: KLAS Las Vegas police investigate a shooting in a southwest valley neighborhood Monday morning that left Kidada Stewart Dead | PHOTO: KLAS Las Vegas police investigate a shooting in a southwest valley neighborhood Monday morning that left Kidada Stewart Dead | PHOTO: KLAS Throughout the investigation, police learned of a man named Carl Chester who allegedly defrauded the government of several Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, LVMPD Lt. Jason Johannson said Tuesday. Chester and his associates would disperse the money and Chester would take a cut of the money for his work and help to get them the loan. When Chester did not receive his cut of the money, he would threaten or use violence against the individuals to get his money, Johannson said. Chester would hire Coleman to kill those who shorted Chester of his money and if Coleman could not get to the targeted person, he would go after family members. While conspiring to commit the murder, Chester and Coleman often used physical and electronic surveillance to track their victims, police said. While in custody for the 2023 murder, police connected Coleman to the three others, Johannson said. May 2021 Benjamin McCarty, 49, was shot while working on his car in a parking lot in the 3900 block of Charleston Boulevard. Police said Coleman parked near McCarty and approached him before shooting and killing him. Early on in this investigation police identified the getaway driver as Ardlanders Gibson. The scene of a homicide investigation on the east side of the Las Vegas valley in 2021. Las Vegas police say a man who was shot multiple times at an auto repair shop in the east valley on Sunday has died. The victim has been identified as Benjamin McCarty, 49, of Las Vegas. On Sept. 17, 2024, Las Vegas police identified Michael Coleman as the alleged gunman. (KLAS) Gibson took a plea deal and was convicted in the case. McCartys murder was the only murder out of the four that had no connection to Chester, Johannson said. Police said that McCarty, Gibson and Coleman were all part of a gang and police believe the motive behind the murder was internal strife within the gang. November 2021 The second murder Coleman was connected to was the death of Marcus Larry, 39. Larry was shot multiple times inside the Teriyaki Madness on Charleston Boulevard near Town Center Drive. Police initially identified and arrested Oscar Richardson, Jr., Larrys cousin, as the suspect but he was later released once police obtained evidence that he was innocent. Marcus Larry, 39, was shot multiple times inside the Teriyaki Madness restaurant on Charleston Boulevard near Town Center Drive on Nov. 23, 2021. Police filed three new open murder charges against Michael Coleman, 40, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 which include allegations that he was the gunman in 2021. (LVMPD) Marcus Larry, 39, was shot multiple times inside the Teriyaki Madness restaurant on Charleston Boulevard near Town Center Drive on Nov. 23, 2021. On Sept. 17, 2024 Las Vegas police identified Michael Coleman as the alleged gunman. (KLAS) Richardson was exonerated of his charges and Coleman was facing charges as of Tuesday in this case. November 2022 William Hill Jr., 54, was shot and killed outside his home while working on his car near Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lake Mead boulevards. Police said the same red Hyundai that was used in Stewarts case dropped Coleman off and Coleman shot Hill before being picked up by the Hyundai. The getaway driver was identified as Demarcus Banks who is now deceased. William Hill Jr., 54, who was shot and killed outside his home while working on his car in the 1100 block of Hassell Avenue near MLK and Lake Mead boulevards in November 2022. (KLAS) Police said Hills murder was due to Hills son who is currently in prison on PPP loan fraud. Police said since Chester could not get to Hills son, they went after his father. Chester, who organized the murders of Stewart, Larry and Hill, was murdered in March 2024 by members of Hills family in retaliation, police said. Coleman has remained in custody on $250,000 bail since his 2023 arrest. In addition to the three added murder charges, Coleman faces charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. 8 News Now Investigator David Charns can be reached at dcharns@8newsnow.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 KLAS. Man killed after intervening in a fight between young girls in Florida City, cops say A man died after he was shot Tuesday while trying to intervene in a dispute among a group of young girls that quickly escalated, according to police. The altercation ended with the victim being shot by an unknown subject, Miami Dade Polic Det. Angel Rodriguez said in an email to the Herald. The exact circumstances of the shooting remain unclear. Police offer $5000 to anyone who can give a tip leading to an arrest. At about 5:30 p.m., officers arrived to the area of Northwest 14th Street & Northwest First Court after reports of a shooting, but found no victim, according to Florida City Police Sgt. David Hunsberger. A short time later, 47-year-old Johnny Lewis Stevenson arrived at Homestead Hospital where he was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center, said Hunsberger Stevenson died during surgery, according to police. Miami-Dade Police Homicide Bureau is investigating along with Florida City detectives. Anyone with information regarding the incident should call Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide Det. D. Morales at (305) 471-2400. Man fighting for life after being hit in three-car crash in Kansas City KANSAS CITY, Mo. One person is fighting for their life in a hospital after a three-car crash in Kansas City early Wednesday morning. According to the Kansas City Police Department, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) located a stranded driver whose Jaguar car had been stalled in a lane of traffic on southbound Interstate 435, just north of Eastwood Trafficway. Crash on Grandview Road leaves one dead in Kansas City The Jaguar reportedly had alternator issues. KCPD said MoDOT was able to get the driver and the Jaguar off the highway and onto Eastwood Trafficway. However, just after 5 a.m., the Jaguar returned to I-435 but became stalled in the second southbound lane of traffic. While in his car, he was hit in the rear by a Mercedes. After the crash, the driver of the Jaguar exited his car and stood behind the Mercedes in the second lane of I-435 to use the light on his cell phone and alert other drivers. About 10 minutes later, the driver of a Volkswagen reportedly did not see the car or the driver of the Jaguar and hit him, pinning him between the Mercedes and the Volkswagen. KCPD said the driver of the Jaguar was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Mercedes receieved minor injuries in the first crash, and the driver of the Volkwagen reported no injuries. Man killed in overnight shooting in Kansas City, Kansas According to KCPD, The highway was closed for approximately 2 hours, but one lane using exit and on-ramp to bypass crash was used for traffic movement. The crash is currently under investigation. This is a developing story. Stay tuned at FOX4 News for the latest updates and 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 FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. DENVER (KDVR) A man was found guilty by a federal jury of operating an illegal gambling business, according to a release Tuesday by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Colorado. Jonathan Arvay, 38, was found guilty of one count of conducting an illegal gambling business and one count of conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business. The release by the US Attorneys Office did not include information on how long the business operated or when Arvay was arrested or charged. Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather According to the release, Arvay operated Player One Arcade in Denver, which was part of a network of gambling parlors that extended from Greeley to Pueblo. The parlors offered several electronic forms of gambling, such as games that were made to look like arcade games and virtual slot machines. According to the release, after completing a game, customers would exchange credits for Obsidian Digital Asset Coin, a purported cryptocurrency. This currency was only used to exchange for cash at an ATM-like machine either inside or next door to the parlor. Customers had to pay a transaction fee in order to exchange these coins. These defendants created a large, complex illegal gambling operation, both online and in person in Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Lakewood, Denver, Aurora, and Greeley, FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek said. The release did not include the identity of other defendants in the case. Sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 12. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Man gets 10 years for tampering, manslaughter in 2020 Pflugerville case PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) A man previously charged with murder was convicted of tampering with evidence Aug. 5 following a plea deal in connection with a May 2020 incident. PAST COVERAGE: Murder suspect arrested in fatal shooting at Pflugerville apartment complex According to Travis County court documents, 34-year-old Kendric Knatte was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the third-degree felony tampering charge. A sentence of five years for the manslaughter charge will also run concurrently. The charges were related to the shooting death of 32-year-old Frankia Mathurin at a Pflugerville apartment complex on May 26, 2020. Toward his sentence, Knatte received a jail credit of 1,009 days. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. AUTHORS NOTE: This story contains details from court documents regarding sexual assault that some readers may find disturbing. Due to the content of this story, discretion is advised before reading. If you know or suspect that any child under the age of 18 is being abused physically or sexually, please call the Texas Child Abuse Hotline at 1 (800) 252-5400. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) A man facing a dozen charges for child sex crimes is sentenced to several decades behind bars on Tuesday afternoon after pleading guilty in the 78th District Court. PREVIOUS STORY: Child porn suspect rejailed on $1.1 million bonds Antonio Munoz pleads guilty in the 78th District Court (Photo credit: Josh Hoggard, KFDX/KJTL) Antonio Munoz, 39, of Wichita Falls, pled guilty to one count of online solicitation of a minor for sexual conduct and 11 counts of possession with intent to promote child pornography on Tuesday afternoon, September 17, 2024, with Judge Meredith Kennedy presiding. Judge Kennedy sentenced Munoz to a total of 60 years in prison for the 11 child pornography charges. The sentencing structure is as follows: Count 2 20 years in prison Count 3 20 years in prison, consecutive to the sentence for Count 2 Count 4 20 years in prison, consecutive to the sentence for Count 3 Counts 5 thru 12 20 years in prison, concurrent with the sentence for Count 4 READ MORE: Man arrested in online solicitation of minor sting back in jail As a part of the plea agreement, the charge of online solicitation of a minor against Munoz was dismissed. Antonio Munoz pleads guilty in the 78th District Court (Photo credit: Josh Hoggard, KFDX/KJTL) Munoz was initially arrested in October 2023 following a sting operation by the DPS in which one of the agents represented himself as a 14-year-old girl, digitally altering a photo of himself to appear as such. According to court documents, the DPS agent set up a meeting with Munoz after school. DPS agents were monitoring the meeting place and arrested Munoz when he arrived. Police said Munoz later admitted that he planned to have sex with a girl and that a contraceptive was found in Munozs vehicle. READ MORE: Man arrested in Texas Ranger online sting Following that arrest, police said Munoz admitted to being attracted to children, and that he used his phone to view child pornography. A search warrant of Munozs phone was obtained, revealing numerous images and videos of child sexual abuse material. Munoz pled guilty to the charges against him with less than a week remaining before his trial, which was set to get underway on September 23, 2024. 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. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) A 47-year-old man will spend years in prison after an armed robbery turned into a deadly stabbing. Omi Medina-Pagan was sentenced Wednesday to 26.5 to 60 years in prison for second-degree murder, 14 to 40 years for one offense of armed robbery and 15 to 40 years for a second offense of armed robbery. The sentences will run concurrently, the judge said at sentencing, and Medina-Pagan will receive credit for 268 days served. 2 accused of murder after body found near Plaster Creek You have three prior felonies and eight prior misdemeanors, 17th Circuit Court Judge Christina Elmore said Wednesday. And the convictions that youre here to be sentenced for today took place back in December of last year, where, apparently, you along with another person robbed two men in the park at knifepoint. And as a result of that robbery, there was an altercation which resulted in Mr. (Pacifique) Uwimana being stabbed and killed. On Dec. 16, police found the body of 26-year-old Uwimana at Roosevelt Park near Plaster Creek. His death was ruled a homicide. Im not sure what happened out there at the park, but obviously it ended very tragically in the death of this young man, Elmore said at sentencing. Attorney Cody Walker, who was representing Medina-Pagan, expressed regret on Medina-Pagans behalf. This unfortunate incident is one that Omi deeply regrets. He wishes that things had turned out differently, Walker said. He didnt intend for things to happen this way initially, and it kind of snowballed, got away from him. Medina-Pagan declined to address the court Wednesday. He is one of two people accused of murder in Uwimanas death. The case against Eliutd Lazaro is pending. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Man goes missing after moving to Spartanburg Co. Ross Alford (Photo/Spartanburg County Sheriffs Office) CORRECTION (9/18/2024 8:18 P.M.) The Spartanburg County Sheriffs Office issued a correction, stating that the man went missing on September 12, not August 12. SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) The Spartanburg County sheriffs office is searching for a man who left his home nearly a week ago, and has not been seen since. Deputies said Ross Dean Alford, 42, was last seen on September 12, leaving a home on Anderson Mill Road. Alford is 63 and weighs around 240 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. When the 42-year-old was last seen, the sheriffs office said he had a goatee and was wearing a dark t-shirt, khaki shorts, tan shoes and was carrying a plastic grocery bag. Alford had only lived at the Anderson Mill Road residence for a week, after moving to the area from Charleston. The man left home without any of his medications or cell phone. All efforts to locate him this far have been unsuccessful, the sheriffs office explained. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sergeant Kathryn Davis by calling (864) 503-4571, or emailing krdavis@spartanburgcounty.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 WSPA 7NEWS. Shares Logged Their Seventh Consecutive Higher Close on Tuesday Source: TradingView.com Key Takeaways Microsoft shares rose for the the seventh consecutive session on Tuesday, with the latest gains coming after the tech giant hiked its quarterly dividend by 10% and approved a $60 billion stock buyback. Bullish sentiment may carry into Wednesday after the tech giant and the worlds largest asset manager, BlackRock, jointly announced plans late Tuesday to launch a $30 billion AI infrastructure fund. The stock may potentially be carving out a head and shoulders top, a chart formation that predicts a bullish-to-bearish trend reversal. Investors should monitor important resistance levels on Microsoft's chart at $448 and $468, while eyeing key support areas at $410 and $385. Microsoft (MSFT) shares logged their seventh consecutive higher close on Tuesday, with the latest gains coming after the company hiked its quarterly dividend by 10% and approved a $60 billion stock buyback. Bullish sentiment may carry into Wednesday after the tech giant and the worlds largest asset manager, BlackRock, announced plans late Tuesday to launch a $30 billion artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fund to build data centers and energy projects aimed at meeting the growing demands for the technologys computing power. The fund, which will mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential when including debt financing, includes Abu Dhabi-backed investment company MGX as a partner, while AI heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) plans to contribute expertise. Below, well take a closer look at Microsofts chart and turn to technical analysis to identify important price levels to watch out for. Potential Head and Shoulders Pattern Since bottoming just below the closely watched 200-day moving average (MA) in early August, Microsoft shares traded mostly sideways before resuming another move higher earlier this month. However, its worth noting the stocks recent advance has occurred on declining trading volume, indicating a lack of participation from larger market participants. Moreover, the price may potentially be carving out a head and shoulders top, a chart formation that predicts a bullish-to-bearish trend reversal. Microsoft shares gained 0.9% on Tuesday to close at $435.15. Looking ahead, its worth keeping an eye on four key price levels that investors will likely be watching. Resistance Levels to Watch If the shares continue rising, they could initially meet overhead resistance around $448, where traders who bought earlier this month may look for exit points near a trendline that connects a period of narrow consolidation in June with a minor countertrend peak in July. Story continues A move above this level could see the shares retest the $468 area, where they would likely encounter selling pressure around their all-time high (ATH) set in early July. A breakout though this area would invalidate a head and shoulders formation. Support Levels in Play Amid share price weakness, investors should keep a close eye on the $410 area, a location on the chart just below the rising 200-day MA where the price finds support from a horizontal line linking a series of comparable trading levels from late January through to this month. Ongoing selling could trigger a decline to around $385, a region where bulls may look for buying opportunities near the November swing high and August swing low. A breakdown below this levels would confirm a head and shoulders formation on Microsofts chart. The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only. Read our warranty and liability disclaimer for more info. As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above securities. Read the original article on Investopedia. One man was killed in a shooting near Jersey Creek Park in in Kansas City, Kansas, Tuesday night. Officers responded around 10:42 to the area of North 7th Street and Parallel Parkway after reports of a person lying in the street. They found a man with apparent gunshot wounds in the road. Paramedics responded and pronounced the man dead at the scene, said Nancy Chartrand, a spokeswoman with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. Chartrand said police are investigating the incident as a homicide. Police were gathering evidence and canvassing for witnesses to determine what led up to the shooting. Police have not yet released the identity of the victim. The killing is the 19th homicide in Kansas City, Kansas of 2024, according to data maintained by The Star. At this time last year, the city had recorded 18 homicides. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the TIPS hotline at 816-474-8477. All tips remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward. A man accused of sex trafficking a woman and forcing her to help him rob several convenience stores across the Commonwealth was indicted on Wednesday. A federal grand jury indicted 26-year-old David Walker on one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, one count of coercing a person to travel for purposes of prostitution, five counts of robbery interfering with interstate commerce, and one count of possessing, using, and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. According to the federal indictment, Walker initiated a romantic relationship with his victim on social media and then pressured her to engage in commercial sex. When the victim refused, Walker reportedly became violent, slamming her to the floor and choking her. Police say Walker required his victim to make $800 a day selling her body for sex, taking all the money for himself. He would allegedly physically and sexually abuse her if she made less than the required amount. Charging documents say Walkers abuse of the victim included choking her until she lost consciousness, holding knives to her throat, and even holding a loaded gun to her head, as well as threatening to kill her and her family. Walker allegedly forced the victim to use drugs including crack, cocaine, mushrooms, and Percocet to make her less able to refuse his demands. The duo reportedly engaged in commercial sex trafficking from Massachusetts to Maine. In October 2023, Walker robbed four separate 7-Eleven convenience stores in West Roxbury, Cambridge, Watertown, and Pepperell and attempted to rob a fifth location in Everett with the assistance of the victim, according to the indictment. The victim was allegedly forced to drive Walker to Dorchester where he could pick up a semi-automatic handgun to engage in the West Roxbury robbery. Walker is currently in state custody on related charges and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. The acts of extreme violence Walker is charged with paint a nightmarish picture, said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol for Homeland Security Investigations in New England. The account from this survivor is heartbreaking and unfortunately, one we see too often from those who are trafficked. Benign romantic relationships can quickly be upended and turned into a relationship of abuse, violence, and coercion. The charge of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. This indictment is one of many we have brought against men who traffic women through force, fraud, or coercion, said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. The penalties for such conduct are rightly severe and this office is steadfast in its commitment to protecting victims of trafficking and ensuring that those who engage in such reprehensible conduct are brought to justice. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW JACKSON TWP., LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Police have identified a man who died after being struck by heavy equipment on Wednesday in Jackson Township. According to Jackson Township Police Chief Gerald Williams, around 9:30 a.m. first responders arrived at American Asphalt Paving located at 500 Chase Road. Details on crash killing bicyclist near Market Street Bridge Chief Williams said EMS found that 68-year-old David Brace, from Luzerne, was struck and killed by heavy equipment while in the yard. Investigators believe the incident was accidental, and no foul play is suspected. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to shooting a man last year during an argument in the Diggs Town neighborhood. On Sept. 8, 2023, Darius Malik Davis shot a man he was loosely acquainted with through his girlfriend, according to the Norfolk Commonwealths Attorneys Office. The two men began arguing inside Davis girlfriends apartment. The argument eventually spilled outside, where Davis shot the man before fleeing. Darius Malik Davis (Courtesy of the Norfolk Sheriffs Office) The bullet through went the victims hand and stomach, but he was able to call 911. When officers arrived on the scene, Davis girlfriend did not cooperate with police, prosecutors say. However, the victim was able to identify Davis as the person that shot him. In October, police arrested Davis while he was at work. His employer later notified police that he found a handgun in a bag that Davis had left behind during his arrest. Davis was charged with malicious wounding and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The Commonwealth agreed to dismiss additional charges from the same incident against Davis. Nobody gets to settle an argument with gunfire, said Norfolk Commonwealths Attorney Ramin Fatehi. Whatever Mr. Davis disagreement with the victim, he had no right to shoot him, and he is lucky that he did not kill him. We will continue to hold Mr. Davis accountable by seeking an appropriate prison sentence in 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 WAVY.com. LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) On Tuesday, a man pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing his roommate in Loudon County while the roommate was on the phone with his wife in 2022. 9th Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson shared a news release about the plea agreement on Wednesday. According to Johnson, Eric Giovanni Santano-Lopez pleaded guilty on Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter, a lesser charge than the first-degree murder charge he was indicted on, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Knoxville couple loses $750 in Facebook Marketplace rental scam Johnson explained that on Sept. 22, 2022, the victim, Daniel Cisneros, was in an argument with Santano-Lopez over his illegal drug use and unwillingness to pay his portion of the rent for the home they lived at on Old Lee Highway in the Philadelphia area. As Cisneros was talking on the phone with his wife, who was still living at the familys home in the Guanajuato region of Mexico, the argument between Cisneros and Santano-Lopez became physical, Johnson stated. He said Santano-Lopez then grabbed a knife and stabbed Cisneros multiple times, and Cisneros wife heard the altercation and Cisneros explaining what happened as he bled to death. Johnson stated that Santano-Lopez called 911, but dispatch had to ask a Lenoir City Police officer who was a native Spanish speaker to interpret the call. The officer also helped first responders and the Loudon County Sheriffs Office investigators who responded to the scene. Johnson said Santano-Lopez reportedly claimed the stabbing was done in self defense, adding that he also had a knife cut near his ear and his hand. Pigeon Forge Rod Run attendee says second car show nearby contributed to rise in arrests Cisneros body was taken to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center for an autopsy, where it was determined he died from blood loss from his multiple stab wounds. According to Johnson, Cisneros wife was in the courtroom for Santano-Lopezs plea. She addressed him in her victim impact statement, explaining how her husbands murder has affected their family. Johnson also explained that Santano-Lopez is not in the United States legally, and was informed during his plea hearing that he would most likely be deported at the conclusion of his 10-year sentence, which is set to be served at 100%. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Man seriously injured in motorcycle crash at Delaware, W. Utica BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) A man suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle crash in Buffalo on Wednesday, authorities said. Officials said the accident happened just before 12:45 p.m. at Delaware Avenue and West Utica Street. Police said the man who was injured is in his 30s. He was transported by ambulance to ECMC. The crash is still under investigation. Latest Local News Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can 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 News 4 Buffalo. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) A Shreveport man was convicted of federal wire fraud and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. According to the U.S. Attorney Louisiana Western District, Mario Maurice Hall, Jr., 38, was sentenced to six years and two months in federal prison. Shreveport man pleads guilty to illegal machine gun possession Prosecutors claim Hall pleaded guilty to his part in a scheme to defraud the government through a Payroll Protection Program loan issued by the Small Business Administration. He was approved for three separate loans totaling over $60K. The first application was submitted on February 24, 2021, and he was approved for $19,415. On May 26, 2021, the second loan, for $20,833, was approved for Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists. Hall applied for the third loan on May 26, 2021, using a business named Sound Recording Studios for $20,832. Hall admitted that he submitted fraudulent 1040 and 1099 tax forms and a false bank statement to qualify for the loans. Federal prosecutors proved that Hall had no legitimate qualifying income and did not meet the minimum qualifications. Narcotics received, tracked in the mail On March 9, 2023, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Shreveport Police Department intercepted a package shipped to a residential address in Shreveport. A federal search warrant was secured, and the package containing five pounds of marijuana was opened by law enforcement. It was then resealed, and a tracker was installed in it. Agents conducted a controlled delivery to the home, and a male retrieved the package at the house. A short time later, another individual arrived at the residence in a vehicle, went inside, and retrieved the package, which he put into the rear drivers side. Hall was seen removing the package from the rear of the first vehicle and putting it into his vehicle. The tracking device inside the package notified investigators that the package was opened and they approached Hall and his co-conspirator with a search warrant. Both men were found to have UV powder on their hands. Agents also said the Hall was gripping a dark colored object in his waistband, and he fled into the home and then came back out. During the subsequent search of the home, investigators found a Glock 23 .40 caliber pistol on the couch and over 1.4 kilograms of packaged marijuana; Hall admitted that the firearm was his. This defendant had no legitimate income or business but nevertheless decided to fraudulently obtain these funds during a time when America was at arguably one of her most vulnerable states, said U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. He is also a drug dealer, and the combination of the convicted crimes shows we were willing to utilize any statute necessary to hold those in this community accountable for such illicit activity. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. UPDATE: Family demands justice after man stabbed, shot in East Village SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A person who was shot and stabbed in the East Village neighborhood Tuesday died from his injuries, authorities said. Officers received a call around 7:39 p.m. reporting the incident, which took place in the 100 block of 14th Street, the San Diego Police Department confirmed to FOX 5/KUSI. Authorities say the victim, described as a 53-year-old man, was shot by one person and then stabbed by another. He was taken to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Man suspected of sexually assaulting women during massages The best information we have right now is that there was a group of people here on the sidewalk. There was some sort of altercation that broke out. One suspect shot our victim and another suspect stabbed him, said Lt. Jud Campbell with SDPD. The two suspects then reportedly parted and went opposite ways, police explained. The suspects were described as Black or Hispanic men in dark clothing. No further details were immediately provided. The area was closed off for several hours as the Homicide Unit investigated the death. That area has since reopened. An investigation remains ongoing. Detectives are analyzing physical evidence collected from the scene, attempting to locate and interview witnesses, as well as canvassing the area for surveillance footage. According to police, there were multiple bystanders who were in the group gathered on the sidewalk at the time of the homicide. Detectives are interested in speaking to these witnesses or anyone with information regarding this incident. Calls can be made to the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. FOX 5s Elizabeth Alvarez and Amber Coakley 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 FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Matt Capelouto and his wife, Christine, whose daughter, Alexandra, died from a fentanyl overdose, stand for a photo next to Alexandra's prom picture in Temecula, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) LOS ANGELES (AP) In 2019, Brandon McDowell was contacted by a sophomore in college who asked to buy Percocet, a prescription painkiller. What the 20-year-old sold her instead were counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that can be lethal in a dose as small as 2 milligrams. Hours later, Alexandra Capelouto, also 20, was dead in her Temecula, California, home. It is an increasingly common scenario as fentanyl overdoses have become a leading cause of death for minors in the last five years, with more than 74,000 people dying in the U.S. from a synthetic opioid in 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. McDowell has been behind bars since 2022 with a fentanyl possession conviction. But the Capeloutos have now won an additional $5.8 million judgment against him for the death of their daughter. Weve won the battle but not the war, said Matt Capelouto, Alexandra's father. We still have a long ways to go in terms of holding drug dealers accountable for deaths. Baruch Cohen, the Capeloutos' lawyer, said this was the first time a drug dealer has been held liable civilly for someone's death, to his knowledge. Here's the hope that this judgment will be the shot that's heard around the world, so to speak, Cohen said. Because if it inhibits another drug deal from going down, where the drug dealer ... realizes that besides the jail sentence, he is liable for millions of dollars of damages, maybe hell think twice. McDowell, now 25, first pleaded guilty in California federal court in 2022 for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, a charge that carries a 20-year minimum sentence if linked to death or serious injury and convicted by a jury. McDowell was sentenced to nine years in prison. Alexandra's father felt that wasn't enough. He and his wife, who was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer that year and has been battling it since, decided to sue McDowell for wrongful death. For taking somebody's life, that was not a fair sentence, he said. I was going to pursue every means possible to make sure justice was served. While McDowell filed for bankruptcy, the Capeloutos won a judgment of about $5 million against him. The Superior Court of Riverside County found he sold harmful narcotics with willful and malicious intent that lead to Alexandra Capelouto's death. A few months later, the Capeloutos filed another case in federal bankruptcy court to ensure that McDowell could not escape his debt under bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is designed for honest debtors, not crooked criminal debtors, Cohen said. This judgment will haunt him the rest of his life, and when he does make money, well garnish it. When he does buy property, well put a lien on it. Judge Mark Houle ruled in the Capeloutos' favor, ordering a $5.8 million judgment against Brandon McDowell that includes a year and half of interest in addition to the initial $5 million. Since his daughter's death, Matt Capelouto founded the non-profit Stop Drug Homicide to advocate for families and push for more legislation to hold drug dealers accountable. One is Alexandra's Law, which would require a formal warning be given to anyone with a drug-related conviction to inform them of the dangers of dealing drugs and that they could be charged with murder if they distribute drugs that lead to someone's death. In California, it can be difficult for prosecutors to charge drug dealers with someone's death because they must prove the dealer had knowledge that the drugs could cause death, Capelouto said. Having an admonishment on the record for dealers who have been convicted of a drug-related crime could be used as evidence in future cases if someone dies from the drugs they sold. Alexandra's Law is included in Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime ballot measure that Californians will vote on in November. Capelouto is also part of a group of 60 families suing Snapchat for its role in the distribution of deadly narcotics. Alexandra Capelouto and Brandon McDowell had communicated over Snapchat when she bought pills from him. Justin McDowell, Brandon's father, said it is unfair for his son to take all the blame. He said his son was struggling with drug abuse and had been in rehab, and he didn't live with him at the time because the McDowells had younger children. My son is no drug dealer at all. They were both users. They both had an addiction, he said. He was a stupid 20-year-old kid. Justin McDowell said he felt like the Capeloutos were seeking revenge through their lawsuits, and he did not have the money and resources to fight on his son's behalf in court. Brandon McDowell was being held at the federal prison in San Pedro during the lawsuit and did not have lawyers to defend himself in civil or bankruptcy court. I think that's sad, that shouldn't be allowed, Justin McDowell said. Well wait for him to get out of prison, give him a hug, and figure out how to deal with the situation ... the kid's never going to make $5.8 million in his life." Matt Capelouto said there was no evidence of his daughter having a drug addiction, and Brandon McDowell's addiction does not absolve him of responsibility in her death. When you go from drug user to drug dealer, you cross a line from needing help to needing to be held accountable, he said. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) A man who was stabbed Tuesday night in San Francisco was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Police officers were alerted to a report of a stabbing at around 8:45 p.m. on the 700 block of Natoma Street located in the South of Market district. Arriving police and San Francisco Fire Department personnel rendered aid to the stabbing victim, described as an adult male, before transporting him to an area hospital. Work to do: Mayor Breed responds to KRON4 poll showing low approval rating SFPD said the stabbing resulted in life-threatening injuries. As of Wednesday morning, no further update on the condition of the victim was released. Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department at (415)-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. It's no secret that excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) has helped propel technology stocks, and the entire market, to new highs over the last year. It's also no secret that semiconductor stock Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has witnessed unparalleled buying activity -- so much so, that it's now the third most valuable company in the world as measured by market cap. But with shares soaring 140% so far in 2024 and 160% over the last 12 months, could Nvidia stock possibly be headed even higher? Below, I'll explore some factors that could support the ideas of Nvidia stock moving both higher or lower over the next year. Let's dig into the full picture and assess what could influence Nvidia's price action. I'll make my final case for where I see Nvidia stock landing one year from now. Nvidia stock could be headed higher, but... Over the last couple of years, one of the biggest catalysts for semiconductor companies is demand for graphics processing units (GPUs). GPUs are an integral component for training large language models (LLMs) and myriad machine learning applications. As it stands today, Nvidia is widely perceived as developing the best GPUs on the market. Its hardware roster featuring H100 and A100 chips is used by some of the largest companies in the world. Furthermore, Nvidia's next-generation GPUs, the Blackwell series, are finally set to hit the market following a brief setback due to a design flaw. During Nvidia's second-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call, CFO Colette Kress said, "Demand for Blackwell platforms is well above supply, and we expect this to continue into next year." Kress said that Blackwell should generate "several billion dollars" of revenue during the fourth quarter. Considering the robust demand levels for Blackwell, I think it's reasonable to think that the bulk of these revenue tailwinds will trickle into fiscal 2026 (calendar year 2025). As a result, I would not be surprised at all to see Nvidia stock experience some revived buying activity throughout the latter half of 2024 and into early months of 2025. Image source: Getty Images. ...this rise could be short-lived Even if Nvidia shares experience a nice pop, I think concerns around competition could dent any euphoria surrounding the stock. While Nvidia faces direct competition from the likes of Advanced Micro Devices, the company is also looking at rising opposition from other megacap tech companies. Some examples include: Amazon: While Amazon is mostly known for its e-commerce marketplace, the company is a massive force in the world of cloud computing thanks to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Over the last year, Amazon has invested billions into AI-related initiatives. Two big areas where Amazon has doubled down on its AI vision are an $11 billion data center project in Indiana as well as developing its own training and inferencing chips. Meta Platforms: Meta is a known customer of Nvidia. Per comments made by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a good portion of Meta's capital expenditure (capex) budget has been geared toward buying H100 GPUs. However, Meta has also been designing its own chip, dubbed the Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA). I see this as a move to migrate away from Nvidia over time, and keep as much of Meta's technology stack internalized as possible. Tesla: Another known "Magnificent Seven" customer of Nvidia is Tesla. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, has referenced Nvidia's H100 GPUs as a critical piece of infrastructure in training the company's autonomous driving software. However, during Tesla's second-quarter earnings call, Musk stated that the company might have to compete with Nvidia in the future because "demand for Nvidia hardware is so high that it's often difficult to get the GPUs." Story continues There are a couple of important ideas to unpack here. First, as more chips enter the competitive landscape, it's natural to think that Nvidia's growth could continue slowing. Moreover, a potentially bigger issue is that many companies seeking to disrupt Nvidia's dominance are its own customers. To me, GPUs will eventually be seen as commoditized pieces of hardware. This will essentially force Nvidia to compete on price, and since many of its largest sources of growth are looking to move away from a reliance on its hardware, the company's sales and profits could start witnessing a dramatic deceleration. This could lead to a normalization of Nvidia's stock price as its growth prospects become less attractive. So, where will Nvidia stock be one year from now? In addition to competition, I see a couple of other things that could impact Nvidia's stock price. As I recently expressed, I have some major questions over the company's $50 billion share buyback. I do not see this as an efficient use of capital allocation, and I think it could permeate into a broader narrative that negatively impacts the stock. Furthermore, as murmurs continue about a possible investigation from the Department of Justice (DOJ) over antitrust concerns, it's very possible that some investors will dump Nvidia stock purely out of emotional fear. I will admit that the buyback and the possibility of government intervention are longer-term issues surrounding Nvidia, but I think the ideas of both could impact the stock in the near term. At the end of the day, I think Nvidia stock will experience a period of fleeting buying activity influenced by newfound growth inspired from Blackwell. However, I see these gains as short-lived as competition rises and question marks remain over the company's growth tactics. For this reason, I wouldn't be surprised if Nvidia stock is relatively flat overall one year from now. Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, 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 Nvidia 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 $715,640!* 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 September 16, 2024 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Spatacco has positions in Amazon, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Where Will Nvidia Stock Be in 1 Year? was originally published by The Motley Fool PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) Months after being on the run, the Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) has announced that a man wanted for the shooting death of an 18-year-old girl in Manassas was arrested in Massachusetts on Sept. 17. For about two months, detectives have been searching for 20-year-old German Joseth Torres Lizama, of Manassas, after 18-year-old Ashlin Yamileth Paz, 18, was found shot. On July 18, just before 8:30 p.m., officers were called to the area of Pineview Road and Cregger Lane in Manassas to investigate a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found Paz in a wooded area with multiple gunshot wounds to her upper body. She died at the scene. DC police searching for man in deadly alley shooting investigation As the investigation developed, detectives learned that Paz and Lizama knew each other and planned to meet in the area. PWCPD said the two were involved in an altercation before the shooting happened. In July, police obtained arrest warrants for Lizama and have been attempting to locate him since. On Sept. 17, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrested him in Lynn, Massachusetts. He was arrested for murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Police said Lizama would remain in custody in Massachusetts until he is extradited to Virginia. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Manatee County Commission could roll back controversial changes to wetland protections that were approved last year. In a surprise announcement during a recent meeting, Commissioner Jason Bearden proposed reversing course on the changes he voted in favor of after a series of contentious hearings. The move follows a primary election that saw two sitting commissioners lose races to maintain their seats on the board. I want to make a motion reversing the policy. Go back to the 50-foot buffer, Bearden said. Last October, the Manatee County Commission voted 6-1 to shrink the wetland buffer that Manatee County Government requires for development along environmentally sensitive lands. The change was suggested to county leaders by a building and development interest group. The updated policy matches the state standards, but environmental experts urged county officials to maintain the larger buffers, pointing to research that shows how it benefits water quality, flooding reduction and local wildlife. Larger buffers do more than smaller buffers. That is written in every textbook, said Abbey Tyrna, executive director of Suncoast Waterkeeper. But the county hired a private consultant, Daniel DeLisi, to argue the opposite position. DeLisi, a former member of the South Florida Water Management District, argued that the countys larger buffer rules were not a meaningful improvement over the state standard. I do want to say unequivocally that these changes do not cause impacts to wetlands, DeLisi told commissioners in a public hearing. At the time, most commissioners also argued that they could not support keeping the larger buffers because they believed it infringed on private property rights, preventing residents from taking advantage of the land they own. I dont believe in more government regulation, Bearden said during those hearings. I never have and never will. Commissioners ultimately voted for the change over the protest of hundreds of residents who submitted comments, attended public meetings and signed petitions opposing it. Views of the developments along El Conquistador Parkway on Sarasota Bay called Aqua and Cirrus. Manatee officials may restore wetland protections Beardens reversal drew criticism from some fellow board members who also voted in favor of the changes. Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge questioned whether going back would open the county to lawsuits. This isnt like it was before where were awarding people entitlements, Van Ostenbridge said. Now the government is coming and taking property rights and taking entitlements away from property owners. This is a very sensitive matter throughout Manatee County, not only for citizens but with the development industry and land owners too, so I think this would be my recommendation to workshop this, said Commissioner Mike Rahn. But Commissioner George Kruse, the only board member who voted against the wetland changes, quickly supported Beardens idea. He argued that a workshop would only cause further delay in a lengthy process. This isnt like were voting on it next meeting. This is the kind of thing that has to go through all the hearings, the Planning Commission again, Kruse said, noting that Novembers election will see three new commissioners elected to the board. Even best-case scenario, this isnt coming before the people sitting up here now, so why have a workshop with people who arent going to be here to vote for it? Local residents, environment advocates react During public comment, several residents applauded the boards decision to restore the buffers. Mark Van De Ree, an East Manatee County resident and spokesperson for the Waterline Road Preservation Group, blamed wetland destruction for some of the areas flooding issues. We are 100% in favor of going back to the original buffers, Van De Ree said. Water quality advocates who fought the countys campaign to remove the wetland protections were also happy with the reversal. Rusty Chinnis, chairman of Suncoast Waterkeeper, said he thinks voters sent a clear message about their concern for wetlands and other issues in the primary election. I always thought that the voters of Manatee County cared about the wetlands. I want to commend the board for listening to that, Chinnis said. It was the right thing to do. I think this is just a first step, Chinnis added. We need to do more, not less, to protect our wetlands. I was delighted by the decision, said 16-year-old Brice Claypoole in an email. I think this is a very important issue. Our wetlands are wonderful places. Theyre a home for our wildlife and serve many essential services such as filtering our water, housing economically important species, and buffering our community from flooding. I think Hurricane Debby really drove home the danger of destroying our wetlands. Last year, Claypoole helped organize a campaign of dozens of students who wrote to commissioners and asked them to reconsider removing the wetland protections. I think its pretty obvious that they saw the results of Augusts primary elections and realized that voters will hold them accountable for their decisions, Claypoole said. What happens next? The county attorneys office advised commissioners that a public hearing process will be required to revert the changes previously made to the countys Comprehensive Plan. Commissioners voted unanimously to begin the process. Their motion instructed county staff to bring back the necessary amendments to the Comprehensive Plan to restore the countys former wetland protections. The changes will require another set of public hearings, but a timeline for those meetings has not been determined. Commissioners discuss wetlands lawsuit The boards decision to begin rolling back the updated wetland buffer rules followed a debate over whether Manatee County Government should seek nearly $250,000 in attorneys fees from a former commissioner who filed a lawsuit against the decision. Joe McClash, a Republican commissioner who served from 1990 to 2012, filed a legal challenge earlier this year, but he voluntarily dismissed his case after a judge said he would not be allowed to depose commissioners. Despite the lawsuit being dismissed, a new Florida law means that McClash could be on the hook to cover the costs of the lawyers Manatee County hired to defend against his lawsuit. According to public records reviewed by the Bradenton Herald, those fees exceed $247,000. Just because the state gave us the right to manipulate the laws and go after people for exorbitant fees doesnt mean we have the obligation to do so, Kruse said. I personally have no intention of collecting that money from former Commissioner Joe McClash. Commissioner Bearden made a motion to drop the countys claim for attorney fees and received support from Commissioner Kruse. But when put to a vote, it failed 4-2. Commissioner Van Ostenbridge argued that the board should allow the case to proceed with the option to refuse to accept McClashs money if he loses. We can let the process run its course and then decline or accept a settlement at a later date, Van Ostenbridge said. The next hearing in the case is set for 9 a.m. on Oct. 15 in Tampa. NEW YORK Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sex crime charge on Wednesday, months after his 2020 conviction was thrown out by New Yorks top court. A frail Weinstein entered the Manhattan courtroom at 3:30 p.m. in a wheelchair, clutching a bible and wearing a suit and blue tie to face the new charges, after being medically cleared. The DAs office previously announced they had a new indictment against Weinstein at a court hearing last week but kept it under seal because Weinstein, 72, had just undergone emergency heart surgery and could not appear in court. He is currently being held at Bellevue Hospital. The details of the accusation were not immediately available pending public release of the indictment. Weinsteins retrial was scheduled to begin Nov. 12, but prosecutor Shannon Lucey said on Wednesday said that schedule was unrealistic and asked the judge to move the date to January. Aidala told the Daily News last week that his client was in extremely fragile condition. His heart condition and fluid around his heart and lungs were at the point where if there had not been emergency surgery, he would have expired, the attorney said. Earlier this year, the New York Court of Appeals overturned the film producers 2020 conviction for raping actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and sexually assaulting Mimi Haley, a former production assistant, in 2006. The court found the trial judge wrongly allowed the jury to hear testimony about uncharged incidents of sexual misconduct from three women. The testimony portrayed defendant in a highly prejudicial light, the 4-3 decision read. DA Alvin Bragg announced soon after that his office would re-prosecute the case with a new indictment. Mann had previously said she would be willing to participate in a new case against Weinstein. The significant new criminal charges leveled today against Harvey Weinstein show that this Grand Jury, like so many others, can see clearly through his facade for what he truly is: a predator who must be held accountable for his crimes, she said in a statement Thursday. Prosecutors were scrutinizing several alleged sexual assaults by Weinstein involving three women who were not included in his first trial, including incidents in 2016 and the mid-2000s. Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing, saying that any sexual activity was consensual. In 2022, he was found guilty in a separate rape case in California. -------- Map: New data shows how many Americans are going without homeowners insurance According to an analysis of new census data, 24.6% of homeowners in Miami-Dade County dont have meaningful homeowners insurance. In Florida, the figure is 18.3%, and nationwide its 13.4%. For thousands of homeowners in Louisianas Terrebonne Parish, where 94% of homes were left without power after Hurricane Francine crossed its shore Thursday, any storm damage could have been catastrophic. One out of 4 of the 31,000 homeowners in the coastal parish live there without homeowners insurance one of the highest percentages in the U.S. Across the country, 13.4% of homeowners about 1 in 8 are unprotected by homeowners insurance, according to an NBC News analysis of new Census Bureau data. Experts say that the number of households without meaningful insurance, which has rocketed in the past five years, is alarming and that it impedes recovery from natural disasters. The share without insurance is highest in the South, where 15.7% of homeowners lack insurance entirely or pay so little for it that experts say the policies wouldnt protect them. Thats a double bind in a region where households are both less financially able to weather severe climate events but in many cases more likely to experience them. Under-insurance rates are higher in counties with majority-minority populations. Twenty-two percent of homeowners are uninsured in majority Native American and Native Alaskan counties, and 14% are uninsured in counties that are majority-Black. Not having insurance at all is just the worst-case scenario, especially if you still have a mortgage, said Shannon Martin, an insurance analyst at Bankrate. If youre someone who cant afford to pay your policy, youre not someone who can afford to assume more risk. Its a double-edged sword. The census data shows how many homeowners pay less than $100 or nothing at all for homeowners insurance. Martin said the range reflects households who either dont have insurance or are so underinsured that it works out the same. According to the Census Bureau survey, which was taken last year, 20.8% of homeowners without mortgages also lack meaningful homeowners insurance. Among mortgage-holders, 8.5% dont have meaningful homeowners insurance and while banks require owners with mortgages to have homeowners insurance, gaps in coverage do happen. If youre looking at how do I feed my children, how do I pay for their clothes versus paying your insurance, its a no-brainer, Martin said. Compounding the issue is how much more expensive homeowners insurance policies have become. The rise in policy costs is driven by more catastrophic events and more people moving to high-risk locations, said Mark Friedlander, communications director for the Insurance Information Institute, a nonprofit research-focused trade organization. And what happens when catastrophe strikes the uninsured? It is very hard, if not impossible, to recover from a catastrophic loss event, like from hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, the big three categories, without proper home insurance, Friedlander said. Theres also an impact beyond the walls of a home. Insurance claim payments benefit not only those directly affected by loss, Friedlander said in an email. For example, many claim payments ultimately go to local auto repair shops, home improvement stores, contractors and health care facilities to fix cars, rebuild homes and provide medical treatment. On a broader scale, uneven recoveries can deepen existing divides. There will be many difficult decisions to make about who gets bailed out and who doesnt, said Daryl Fairweather, Redfins chief economist. And communities that tend to have more money, that are more valuable, are better able to lobby their politicians to help them. And it could intensify the housing cost crisis. We have a shortage of homes, Fairweather said. As long as theres a shortage, the homes that are spared [from natural disasters] will become even more valuable. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Marcellus Williams appeals to U.S. Supreme Court in series of efforts to stop MO execution Attorneys for Marcellus Williams, who faces death by lethal injection next Tuesday, have filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court questioning if his due process rights were violated. It is one of several avenues his legal team is pursuing in a push to save his life. The 55-year-old Missouri man was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1998 stabbing of Felicia Gayle in St. Louis County. In the years since his 2001 conviction, his case has presented unique legal challenges. Execution dates in 2015 and 2017 were halted to conduct further investigation and DNA testing. No forensic evidence ties Williams to the murder, and he has maintained he is innocent. In August 2017, former Gov. Eric Greitens convened a board of inquiry to look into Williams case. It was the third time in Missouris history that a governor had formed such a board. In June 2023, with little explanation, Gov. Mike Parson dissolved the board and lifted the stay of execution. Its unclear if the board, comprised of five retired judges, made findings or presented recommendations to the governor. Williams attorneys sued, but lost before the Missouri Supreme Court, which said he did not have due process rights within the clemency process. The petition filed Wednesday with the U.S. Supreme Court looks to a 1998 Ohio case that went before the high court, which issued a 4-4-1 split decision. Williams attorneys argue that the controlling decision gave capital prisoners some due process rights during clemency proceedings, and that the the Missouri Supreme Courts ruling conflicted with that decision. St. Louis County prosecutors support vacating Williams conviction. A 2021 law allowed them to intervene on Williams behalf and present evidence at a hearing in August. It was the first time the new statute had been used in a death penalty case. Their motion was struck down last week, but prosecutors are planning to appeal. Williams legal team on Tuesday filed a federal motion alleging that testimony at the August hearing proved there was racial bias in the initial trials jury selection process. They have also submitted a clemency application to Parsons office. Williams attorneys noted that his execution would be the first in Missouri opposed by both the prosecutors office and the victims family. On Wednesday, Rep. Cori Bush, a St. Louis Democrat, sent a letter to Parson urging him to grant clemency. Marcellus Williams has always maintained his innocence and his conviction is based solely on unreliable testimony contradicted by the available physical evidence, the letter said. Proceeding with the execution of Marcellus Williams would be a grave injustice and would do serious and lasting harm. Who is Maria Luis Albuquerque, the likely next financial services Commissioner? Who is Maria Luis Albuquerque, the likely next financial services Commissioner? Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has named former Portuguese Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque to direct the influential financial services portfolio, a proposal that's already raised concerns over conflicts of interest. Entrusted by von der Leyen on Tuesday with unlocking private investment as part of plans to create an EU "savings and investment union," Albuquerque, like all prospective Commissioners, must now be grilled and approved by MEPs. They're likely to examine her previous corporate work and the privatisation of TAP, the Portuguese national airline, during her tenure as finance minister from 2013 to 2015. Brussels-based corporate watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) said Albuquerques nomination was a major conflict of interest, noting that she had moved from her finance minister post to work in a UK-based agency that handled 300m of bad debts linked to Banif, a Portuguese bank bailed out in 2015. Those concerns have been brushed off by von der Leyen, who yesterday told reporters that "It strengthens the position of Maria Albuquerque" that she'd had private sector experience, something the Commission chief said was "very important." If she's successful, Albuquerque would succeed Ireland's Mairead McGuinness in charge of the Commission's financial-services department DG FISMA, pushing through some long-stalled reforms intended to build up the bloc's capital markets and safeguard its banking system. Related She'll have to introduce an EU-wide savings product and scale up green finance although the task of introducing a digital version of the euro has now been handed to Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis. Aligned with the centre-right European Peoples Party (EPP), Albuquerque, 56, is frequently associated with fiscal conservatism, favoring budget discipline, cutting public debt and economic stability. In 2016, she joined Arrow Global, the London-based European fund manager specialising in sour loans, and in 2022, she started working for Morgan Stanley Europe, in both cases as a non-executive director. As finance minister, Albuquerque also served as a member of the board of governors at the African Development Bank, the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent rescue fund created in 2012, and the European Investment Bank. Her political tenure was marked by admiration from allies and contempt from the opposition, with the latter accusing her of forcing the country into poverty, bailing out banks while ruining social services like healthcare and education. Related Reacting to the crucial portfolio assigned to Albuquerque, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said its a central issue for Europe and Portugal with a view to diversifying sources of finance to promote economic growth and investment. This is essential for progress, for the sustainability of Europes social and economic project, and for the Unions ability to meet the expectations, needs and interests of European and Portuguese citizens, Montenegro said in a statement published on Tuesday. Lawmaker Catarina Martins (Portugal/Left) criticised Albuquerque on X as an agent of the troika and the financial system", referring to the trio of Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund that enforced austerity programmes across the bloc. After Durao Barroso left the Commission for Goldman Sachs, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) once again embarrasses the country, with yet another revolving door scandal, added Martins, referring to the former Portuguese Prime Minister who was Commission President from 2004 to 2014. Maria van der Heide, head of EU policy at ShareAction, a charity promoting responsible investment, said the new Commissioner for financial services has a critical role to play in accelerating Europe's transition. This means recognising the crucial role of the financial sector in this transition and ensuring investments are directed towards activities that drive real positive change, said van der Heide. The stakes are high, and [Albuquerques] leadership will be crucial if the EU is to meet its ambitious climate and social goals and remain competitive without sacrificing environmental and societal needs, she added. The importance of her mandate cannot be overstated, said Brussels-based lobby group the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), noting the need for private investment to boost European competitiveness and fund the shift to a green, digital economy. Setting the right regulatory stage for future capital market success will be key and the next five-year mandate is a golden opportunity that should not be missed, EFAMA added. The Portuguese Commissioner-designate graduated in economics in 1991 from Universidade Lusiada, in Lisbon, and in 1997 gained a master's degree in Monetary and Financial Economics from ISEG, Technical University of Lisbon. A Marshall County court Tuesday dismissed a harassment charge against Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper that stemmed from a local land dispute. (File) A Marshall County court on Tuesday dismissed charges against Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper. The Tuesday order of dismissal says that the case was dismissed by agreement. Cooper had been arrested on harassment charges in June 2023, stemming from what Coopers attorney, George Barnett, said at the time was a land dispute with a neighbor. Barnett said Wednesday he could not comment, citing a confidentiality agreement. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Earlier Tuesday, an Assistant District Attorney had filed a motion to dismiss the cases, stating that the complainant has informed the State he no longer wishes to pursue this matter. In accordance with his wishes, the State moves to dismiss the case, Adam Culbert wrote. Cooper has been DOT director since 2011. According to his official biography, Cooper was the CEO of Avocent Corporation in Huntsville from 2002 to 2008. He was also the chairman from 2003 to 2008. From 1996-2001, he was the chief financial officer and senior vice president finance and administration of Adtran, Inc. in Huntsville. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE MARYLAND (DC News Now) Maryland State Police (MSP) said troopers from the Car Rally Task Force and other allied police agencies broke up seven unlawful driving events throughout the state last weekend. MSP said that on the night of Sept. 14, officers responded to several areas throughout Howard, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties to break up the events. 6 Maryland men arrested in crackdown on car rallies Up to 200 people gathered in parking lots to close down intersections in these areas: 10:20 p.m.: 9305 Snowden River Parkway in Columbia 11:44 p.m.: 415 George Clauss Blvd. in Severn 12:20 a.m.: 3750 Commerce Drive in Halethorpe 12:40 a.m.: 3030 Liberty Heights Ave. in Baltimore 12:50 a.m.: 2331 Cleanleigh Drive in Parkville 1:28 a.m.: 200-600 E. Pratt St. in Baltimore 1:50 a.m.: E. Fayette St. at Central Ave. in Baltimore MSP said some people were arrested, including two juveniles who had guns. Maryland Car Rally Task Force discovers 14 guns after arresting man in Prince Georges County According to police, the following people were arrested and charged: Dublen Sarceno Lima, 28, of Beltsville charged with driving/attempting to drive a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol per se, reckless driving and other traffic violations. Richard Garrett, 22, of Manassas Park, Va. charged with disturbing the peace/hindering the peace, disorderly conduct and malicious destruction of property. DeLontay Coles, 19, of Silver Spring charged with disorderly conduct, fireworks discharge without a permit, riot, unlawful assembly, negligent and reckless driving, willfully damaging a highway and other traffic violations. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. U.S. Census Bureau data shows 11,500 more people moved to the Bay State in 2022 and 2023. (Getty image) BOSTON While state leaders zero in on how to attract and keep people in Massachusetts, a new analysis from the left-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center argues that reports of the states population demise are greatly exaggerated. Or, at least, the waters are muddier than everyone is leaving, argues Kurt Wise, a senior policy analyst at MassBudget. He reviewed U.S. Census Bureau data showing a slight increase in overall population a slim 11,500 people added to the 7 million Bay State residents in 2022 and 2023 and also Internal Revenue Service data showing 45,000 more people left the state than arrived in 2021. In short, the picture that can be drawn from available official data is inconsistent, though in any case, it is not one of crisis, he wrote. Nevertheless, migration data often is used and misused to push an agenda of tax cuts for very high-income households, the ultrawealthy, and large corporations. Cutting such taxes, however, would do nothing to help most people who choose to leave Massachusetts. Instead, it would deprive the Commonwealth of much-needed revenue that otherwise could be used to address challenges that likely are a factor in some peoples decision to leave the state. Researchers and business groups have been openly grappling with the scale and causes of Massachusetts outmigration, seen as both a serious risk to and symptom of the states competitiveness. While the governor touts state rankings from personal finance website WalletHub with Massachusetts ranked number one top state to live in overall, narrowly beating out Florida the states cost of living remains a consistent drag in report after report, even as researchers forcefully disagree on tax policy grounds. The latest Competitiveness Index Report from the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation concluded the state does well by metrics like education level and labor force participation, but it ranks in the bottom 10 of states when it comes to metrics like domestic migration, housing and childcare costs, and state and local tax collections per capita. The rate of domestic outmigration in Massachusetts, compared to competitor states, is incompatible with long-term economic growth, the Tax Foundation reports authors wrote. Just as concerning, the outflow is more highly concentrated among wealthier residents. Massachusetts has always been reliant on taxes from high-wealth residents to support state government and that reliance has never been higher than after the passage of the income surtax. Losing high-wealth residents poses a clear and present economic and public finance threat to the Commonwealth. Boston Indicators the research arm of the Boston Foundation noted in April that the birth rate is slowing in Massachusetts, making migration to the state increasingly important. According to the Boston Indicators analysis, since about 2009, Massachusetts has been losing individuals at all income levels. These losses are more concentrated among middle- and high-income earners, whose paths diverged markedly from low-income earners around 2017. Migration data often is used and misused to push an agenda of tax cuts for very high-income households, the ultrawealthy, and large corporations. Kurt Wise, a senior policy analyst at MassBudget Likewise, the state is losing people from all educational attainment levels. But the most worrying trend from the Boston Indicators perspective is the flight of 25- to 44-year-olds, which in 2022 made up about three-fifths of the total losses by age group. They are recent graduates, young professionals, folks looking to start a family or buy a home, the reports authors wrote. Yet, many of these individuals are simply leaving, likely due in part to high housing costs. Another report in April, this one from Boston University faculty member Mark Williams, supported that outflow analysis, with an interesting wrinkle even as business groups argue that residents are fleeing for friendlier tax environs like Florida, over half of the departing Massachusetts residents stay in New England. This means the picture is more complicated than taxes alone, Williams wrote in a CommonWealth Beacon op-ed. Health care and housing costs are also impediments to young people trying to settle into their most productive workforce years, he wrote. Opponents of the recently passed Fair Share Amendment, or millionaires tax, argue that the surtax on those who make over $1 million per year is prompting the very wealthy to pack their bags and find a new home outside of Massachusetts. The surtax took effect in 2023, so outmigration analyses arent yet able to directly assess that claim. Since last year, Massachusetts dropped 12 places in the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation assessment and is now ranked 46th in tax competitiveness. The analysis uses data prior to the implementation of the income surtax and 2023 tax relief legislation, the report notes, so combined, these changes will likely worsen MAs rankings. In the MassBudget report, Wise argues that IRS data show that Massachusetts is actually growing its population of very high earners quickly. The number of Massachusetts households with million-plus incomes increased by 40 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to the IRS data, likely through a combination of in-migration of some wealthy residents plus natural median income growth over time which is occurring faster in Massachusetts than most other states. At the same time, about one in six residents leaving Massachusetts in 2021 had incomes over $200,000, with their average household income well below $1 million, Wise wrote. Among the 26-45 year old demographic, which accounts for over half of the people leaving Massachusetts in 2021, 80 percent of them had incomes below $200,000 a year. Again, Wise wrote, tax cuts for very high-income households are not a policy prescription that aligns with the income demographics of Massachusetts outmigration. This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A huge explosion has rocked the Tver region, in the west of Russia, with initial reports indicating that Ukrainian long-range attack drones targeted an ammunition depot there. Videos and pictures on social media from the scene show an initial explosion, with a very large fireball, followed by a significant visible shockwave, then several minutes worth of secondary explosions illuminating the night sky. A huge explosion has rocked the Tver region, in the west of Russia, after Ukrainian long-range attack drones targeted a sprawling ammunition depot there. Videos and pictures on social media from the scene show an initial explosion, with a very large fireball, followed by a significant visible shockwave, further explosions in the vicinity, and then several minutes worth of secondary explosions illuminating the night sky. Fires were still burning the day after the attacks. /2. A view of a Russian ammunition depot in Toropets, Tver Oblast, in the morning after the Ukrainian night drone attack. pic.twitter.com/HtW2aO9rHf Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) September 18, 2024 /6. Two minutes of fireworks on the Russian ammunition depot in Toropets pic.twitter.com/FUtaRnS7PU Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) September 18, 2024 Such was the power of the detonation that a light-magnitude earthquake was reported in the Tver region, registering at 2.8 on the Richter scale. IT WAS SEEN FROM SPACE HOLY SHIT https://t.co/zr3Goy9TSK pic.twitter.com/ImQDgJndw8 Mira of Kyiv (@reshetz) September 18, 2024 Earthquakes in Toropets are similar in magnitude to nuclear tests, i.e. there hundreds or even thousands of tons of explosives detonate at the same time. pic.twitter.com/a6qBBcOYwC MilitaryNewsUA (@front_ukrainian) September 18, 2024 The target was a massive ammunition depot in the town of Toropets, around 236 miles northwest of Moscow, and roughly 300 miles north of the border with Ukraine. The town has around 13,000 residents. The approximate location of the town of Toropets, in the Tver region. Google Earth A source in Ukraines SBU state security service confirmed that Ukrainian drones had caused an extremely powerful detonation, The Telegraph reported. Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian presidents chief of staff, acknowledged the attack, sharing a video of the explosion, commenting: The demilitarisation of Russia is necessary to end terror. The Toropets ammunition storage facility after the explosion, on September 18, 2024. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies A color infrared view of the Toropets ammunition storage facility after the explosion. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies Scale of damage to Russia's Toropets munitions depot following Ukraine strike indicated by @NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS)https://t.co/IdCBzTltSN https://t.co/6SbVBG577Y pic.twitter.com/8hk3rZqT4x Joseph Dempsey (@JosephHDempsey) September 18, 2024 Meanwhile, Igor Rudenya, the governor of the Tver region, ordered a partial evacuation of the population of Toropets and described a massive Ukrainian drone attack. Rudenya said that the emergency services in Toropets were trying to localize a blaze that he said was caused by falling drone wreckage. He did not say whether there were any casualties, nor how many people were being evacuated, although there are reports that they are being taken in buses to Zapadnaya Dvina, in the same region. The governor of the Tver region issued an official statement following the arsenal strike in Toropets. Amid the sound of exploding shells, he reassured the public that "work is proceeding according to plan," though he conspicuously avoided directly mentioning the target of the pic.twitter.com/7kTJpt3zsR WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) September 18, 2024 According to Russian state media, regional schools and kindergartens will be closed today, while there have also been reports of power outages in parts of the Tver region. On Russian social media channels, residents of Toropets posted photos and videos showing windows blown out and scorch marks on walls, while others described the complete destruction on local online chat groups described villages closer to the ammunition dump being completely destroyed. This is one hell of a photo. A view on the detonating ammunition depot from a damaged apartment in the Russian town of Toropets, last night. pic.twitter.com/ZjYjbvbX87 Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) September 18, 2024 Beautiful sunrise in Toropets, Tver region of Russia today. https://t.co/E2zO1dJmMo pic.twitter.com/F39jB0bDCO Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 18, 2024 The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the country came under attack from dozens of Ukrainian drones last night and that 54 of these were supposedly shot down over different Russian regions. However, the ministry did not mention the Tver region, with only Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Smolensk, and Belgorod being specified. Ukrainian sources quoted by the AFP and Reuters news agencies confirmed that an ammunition warehouse was struck. The military facility reportedly included multiple warehouses for ballistic missiles, Grad rockets, artillery shells, and other explosives, as well as fuel tanks. Other accounts state that guided bombs, artillery, and S-400 air defense missiles were also stored there. The Toropets ammunition storage facility before the explosion. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies A close-up of the Toropets ammunition storage facility before the explosion. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies Earlier reports describe an ammunition storage facility being built in Toropets in 2018, for missiles, ammunition, and explosives. According to Russian Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov, the then deputy minister of defense, the facility met the highest international standards. The arsenal in Toropets allows us to shelter reserves of missiles and ammunition from external influences and ensure their safety and fire and explosion safety, Bulgakov said at the time. The site covers an area of around two square miles, with an outside perimeter of roughly seven miles. The Toropets ammunition storage site, Tver region, in Russia is or better was in size an absolute unit, covering an area more than 5 square kilometers in size (2 square miles) and a perimeter more than 12 kilometers in length. Now, it is christmas tree on the NASA FIRMS maps. pic.twitter.com/E0U1yi7PNP (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) September 18, 2024 Intriguingly, the head of Ukraines Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said on Telegram that the facility in Toropets was also being used to store ballistic missiles supplied to Russia by North Korea. While this hasnt been independently verified, North Korean short-range ballistic missiles have been used by Russia since at least December 30, 2023. Although they make up only a very small fraction of the weapons used in Russian strikes on Ukraine, there has long been concern about the burgeoning military relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang. Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraines military intelligence chief, recently placed North Korea at the top of the list of countries that provided the most military support to Russia, saying that North Korea would be first, then there is no one for a long time, and then everyone else. A fragment of wreckage from a North Korean missile is presented after a Russian attack on Kharkiv, on March 14, 2024. Photo by Denys Glushko /Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Global Images Ukraine According to Russian reports, Toropets has been previously attacked, in May and June of this year. With Kyivs Western partners still refusing to allow the use of long-range weapons they have supplied to hit targets deep inside Russia, Ukraine has continued to make use of domestically produced one-way attack drones instead. The developing capabilities of its one-way attack drones have allowed Ukraine to strike targets at distances of more than 1,000 miles in the past. While long-range Ukrainian attacks against targets within Russian borders have had an important morale-boosting role, the campaign of drone strikes has increasingly concentrated on key energy infrastructure and military targets. With that in mind, the apparent level of destruction in Toropets should also have a positive impact for Ukraine both on the battlefield and as it seeks to defend itself against Russian long-range strikes. Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com The bursting of the electric vehicle bubble in America caught automakers, analysts, and even some customers by surprise. Though EV sales are still growing, the pace of that growth is nowhere near what automakers some of whom pledged to go fully electric by 2030 were expecting, especially when hundreds of billions of dollars are on the line for up-front investments in factories and developing new technologies. While the transition is taking longer than many expected, a few automakers have hedged their bets with a shared platform that can accommodate both gas-powered and electrified powertrains, as opposed to dedicated separate platforms for each. Stellantis pickup plan The Ram 1500 REV EV pickup (Stellantis) (Ram) Last week, Stellantis (STLA) announced something the industry hadnt seen in quite some time new investment in facilities making EVs. Stellantis said it would invest $406 million in three Michigan facilities and confirmed that its Sterling Heights plant will be the automakers first US factory to build a fully electric vehicle the Ram 1500 REV electric pickup, which is launching later this year. However, the 1500 REV, the hybrid range-extended Ram 1500 Ramcharger, and the pure gas truck are all going to be built alongside each other at the Sterling Heights facility; in addition, the 1500 REV and the hybrid 1500 Ramcharger will actually use the same platform underneath. Both of these electrified models are built on the STLA Frame architecture, which Stellantis says is specifically designed for full-size body-on-frame vehicles (like pickups) but can support fully electric, hybrid, gas-powered, and even hydrogen fuel cell powertrains. This means both the hybrid and full EVs can use a common platform. Stellantis other new platforms the STLA Small, Medium, and Large are also built to accommodate EV and gas powertrains. Creating a family of vehicles from a well-engineered set of components that is flexible enough to cover multiple vehicle types and propulsions, overperforming any of our current products, will address each of our iconic brands customers, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said earlier this year. While many in the industry transitioned to fully dedicated EV platforms right off the bat, Stellantis and others like BMW (BMWYY) didnt. And it might be the right call. A Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicle charges via a CCS DC fast charger from Electrify America at a shopping mall parking lot in Torrance, Calif., on Feb. 23, 2024. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) (PATRICK T. FALLON via Getty Images) Having the same chassis for gasoline, hybrid, and electric vehicles can be beneficial, particularly when the assembly line needs to be responsive to the electric vehicle demand volatility, Eleftheria Kontou, assistant professor at the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering, told Yahoo Finance. Story continues Kontou, an expert and researcher in electrified transportation systems, added that demand for EVs is also dependent on the policy landscape, with federal EV tax credits boosting demand, but an uneven deployment of charging infrastructure blunting EV desirability. There's also some uncertainty with respect to how the electric vehicle market is going, right? Consumers are a bit more uncertain nowadays, with respect to electric vehicles, so it's good to have an assembly line that can be responsive to such changes, she said. It absolutely is, added AutoForecast Solutions Sam Fiorani to Yahoo Finance on whether a shared or common platform is the right move. Developing a platform that allows you to bridge the gap with a variety of powertrain choices makes more sense than developing fully electric vehicles, and that looks like what Stellantis has done with the STLA platform. Fiorani added that the industry is trapped in a transitional period between fully gas-powered and fully electric vehicles, and its going to take at least a generation of vehicles before full EV sales start to really pick up steam. The transitional period will mean both gas-powered and electric versions of cars will be in the market at the same time, requiring automakers to build both, he said. Dedicated vs. shared platforms is one better than the other? The BMW i7 sedan, which comes in both a fully electric and gas-powered powertrain. (BMW) (BMW) The drawback of using a shared platform is cost inefficiencies. While the up-front cost is likely much higher for dedicated EV and gas-powered platforms, down-the-line efficiencies of scale and simplification in manufacturing may mean dedicated EVs will be cheaper to make. Companies like GM (GM), Mercedes (MBGYY), and Ford (F), among others, are currently going down the dedicated EV platform path, with Ford even pushing forward with an all-new smaller EV platform for use with a number of compact and midsize EVs in the future. But Mercedes rival BMW is not following that path, at least for now. BMW has been releasing vehicles for example, the new 7 Series in both traditional gas-powered and EV form, with both vehicles looking identical. Most other automakers' EVs appear starkly different from their gas-powered brethren, with companies basically offering different product lines. When I am visiting our dealerships, I am asking them, Is it an advantage or a disadvantage that we are offering the same vehicles with all different [gas-powered and electric] powertrains? said Frank Weber, BMWs chief technology officer and board member told Yahoo Finance at a media briefing earlier this year. And for us, it is really key that you find the right solution for the individual person, and I think what has helped ... [is] that we are very clear in our structure [in] that we say a 7 Series is a 7 Series, a 5 Series is a 5 Series, Weber said. Weber believes this structure helps customers select the car that best suits their needs. He used the example of a European customer who thinks he needs a BEV (battery electric vehicle), but ends up buying a diesel-powered car because he needs more range or lacks access to chargers. Even Jaguar Land Rover, back in 2022, decided its largest and greatest Range Rover would need to accommodate gas, hybrid, and fully electric powertrains on the same platform. The BMW Vision Neue Klasse X. (BMW) (BMW) Thats why the new platform was conceived from the start, having everything from a pure V8 through to a pure battery electric it was important for us to make sure we satisfy all those [customer] needs, said Rob Filipovic, Jaguar Land Rover director of product planning, in an interview with Yahoo Finance. BMW, for its part, intends to evolve its strategy as it sees the EV market maturing. Earlier this year, BMW unveiled a concept, dubbed Neue Klasse, that will closely resemble an actual model coming out in the second half of next year based on BMWs dedicated EV platform, which would be a split from its current dual-platform strategy. Despite this new class of EVs being on a separate platform, BMW said technology products like infotainment and electronics will still be shared across EV and gas-powered vehicles, as it keeps costs lower and maintains product consistency. That being said, it remains to be seen whether shared platforms may become more common as the industry tries to predict whats next. I am not necessarily sure about that, Kontou said when asked whether other automakers will follow suit with shared platforms. That depends on the decision making with respect to investing in more factories on that front, but I wouldn't rule it out, and in particular the BMW success ... can be a lesson learned for the rest of the auto manufacturers. Whether other automakers copy BMW, Stellantis, and others will likely depend on the success (or failure) of their competitors. The Ram will be the canary in the coal mine for everybody else, Fiorani said about Stellantis pickup experiment in Michigan. If it does well, expect to see a bunch of other companies following suit. StockStory aims to help individual investors beat the market. Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram. Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Brownsville, Brooklyn (PIX11) Mayor Eric Adams is commending the officers who opened fire on a subway platform over the weekend striking not only a suspect but two civilians and a fellow officer. The incident has raised questions about how and when officers should use deadly force. More Local News I think those officers should be commended for the great level of restraint, said Adams Tuesday. Its unfortunate people were shot, but they were shot because there was a dangerous repeat offender on our subway system. Adams doggedly defended not just the two officers who opened fire Sunday Afternoon on the elevated subway platform in Brownsville along the L-line but also the policing policies that led up to the shooting. The patrolmen had approached a suspect after he didnt pay the fare. This tactic has been a focus for the Mayor in his attempt to beat back subway crime. According to police, the man being pursued said he would kill the cops if they did not stop following him. Brooklyn man charged after subway knife attack on NYPD: police He eventually got onto a subway car where officers deployed their tasers, which didnt stop him. The NYPD said that the 37-year-old suspect went back onto the platform before brandishing this knife and charging the officers. The two cops opened fire striking not just the suspect, but two civilians and a fellow officer. I saw the [body camera] video, Adams said. I saw the steps those police officers implemented over and over again trying to reason with the perpetrator. The Mayor was repeatedly asked Tuesday why he would not release the video and insisted he had to balance legal questions and concerns it could set off public unrest. However, the actions of the officers and the Mayors defense of them are already being called into question by some including Comptroller Brad Lander, a longtime advocate of reforming the NYPD, running for the Mayors job. On-duty NYPD school crossing guard arrested: police He said the subway shooting is a symptom of bigger problems at the department under Mayor Adams. I do think its connected to the broader chaos at the NYPD when there is no accountability for brass at the top when theres not clarity that leadership matters, and that there will be accountability, Lander said. The Mayor dismissed all criticism from Lander as politically motivated. The NYPD is still seeking a suspect who somehow ran off with a knife following this whole subway incident. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said it is in the best interest of his party to avoid a government shutdown, adding that it would be politically beyond stupid for the GOP to go down this route ahead of the presidential election. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the lower chamber would hold a vote Wednesday on a government funding resolution tied to a voter fraud bill, which appears doomed to fail. Speaking to reporters inside the U.S. Capitol, McConnell warned that his party would be held responsible in the event that the government shuts down, suggesting Republicans could draw backlash from voters in November. My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown, he said. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly wed get the blame. Im for whatever avoids a government shutdown and thatll ultimately end up obviously being a discussion between the [Senate] Democratic leader and the speaker of the House, McConnell continued. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Johnson to drop his plan for a vote on the two measures this week, despite the Louisiana Republicans claims that he is not prepared to discuss any alternatives to keep the government open past Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends. The only thing that will accomplish is make clear that hes running into a dead end. We must have a bipartisan a bipartisan plan instead, Schumer said. Johnson originally tried to hold a vote on the six-month continuing resolution paired with the SAVE Act, which includes a provision requiring people to present proof of citizenship to register to vote, last week but was forced to postpone it due to bipartisan opposition. Given Republicans slim majority in the House, Johnson could only afford to lose a handful of GOP votes without having to rely on Democrats for the packages passage. At least one Democrat has so far signaled he would support it. Many hard-line Republicans have opposed the funding bill on the grounds that it doesnt go far enough in terms of federal spending cuts. Johnsons insistence on passing the voter fraud bill has drawn criticism given it appears to be a way to appease former President Donald Trump, who baselessly claims there is widespread fraud in U.S. elections despite no evidence to back that up. The GOP presidential nominee has encouraged Republicans to shut down the government if an agreement is not reached for the SAVE Act to be paired with the funding bill. Related... DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office is warning residents of several scams that have become prevalent in the area. Scammers are impersonating sergeants from the office. The scam begins with a call to a resident, where the scammer identifies themselves as either Sergeant Fasion or Sergeant Sullivan. Man ejected from motorcycle after landing in ditch After telling the resident that they have either failed to appear in court or that there is a legal matter that they need to discuss, the scammer demands a large financial sum from the resident, threatening an arrest warrant. The call ends with the scammer requesting that payment be made through a money order or through PayPal, Apple Pay, or another payment method. These scammers can be very convincing and while in hindsight it may be easy to blame the victims, please keep in mind that these ruthless scammers are very successful at targeting people from all walks of life and age groups, said Sheriff Rob Streck. Fraudulent callers are known to copy phone numbers to appear legitimate on the recipients caller ID. Rest assured, the phone number has been spoofed. The MCSO will never call residents to threaten arrests regarding unpaid fines, warrants, missed court dates, etc. These calls should be reported to local police. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Here are all the measures that will appear on Denver ballots in 2024 The Denver City and County Building is seen across Civic Center Park from the Colorado Capitol on Aug. 26, 2024. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline) Its a record year for direct democracy in Colorado, with a total of 14 referred and initiated measures appearing on ballots statewide a high thats only been reached twice before, in 2006 and 2008. And for Denver residents, the final number will be nearly twice as high, with a total of 11 municipal and regional ballot questions headed to voters when mail ballots are sent out beginning Oct. 11. A 12th measure will appear on ballots for residents within the boundaries of a proposed development district in downtown Denver. Just two of the Denver ballot measures were citizen-initiated. The rest were placed on the ballot through votes by the Denver City Council or other elected bodies over the course of this year, and they include several top priorities for first-term Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who took office last year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Ballot Issue 2Q asks voters to approve a 0.34% sales tax increase to fund Denver Health. City Council referred the measure to the ballot in June, aiming to shore up funding for the citys public hospital amid rising costs and patient counts. Ballot Issue 2R asks voters to approve a 0.5% sales tax increase to generate about $100 million annually for affordable housing programs. It was referred to the ballot by City Council and is a priority for Johnston, who says the funds will help the city build 44,000 units of affordable housing over the next 10 years. Referred Question 2S proposes to make the Denver Agency for Human Rights and Community Partnerships a cabinet-level agency. City Council referred the measure to the ballot. Referred Question 2T would eliminate citizenship requirements for Denver police officers and firefighters. Legal permanent residents and recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would be allowed to apply to become police officers and firefighters, but undocumented immigrants would still be ineligible. It was referred to the ballot by City Council and is supported by the Denver police and firefighters unions. Referred Question 2U proposes to grant all city employees collective bargaining rights. Under current law, only Denver firefighters, police officers and sheriffs deputies are allowed to unionize. City Council referred the measure to the ballot with Johnstons support. Referred Question 2V would make a change to the collective bargaining process for Denver firefighters. If the measure is approved, bargaining disputes would be resolved through binding arbitration, rather than through an advisory fact-finding process as under current law. The Denver Firefighters Union supports the measure, which was referred to the ballot by City Council. Referred Question 2W would make salary increases for Denver elected officials automatic, rather than requiring a city council vote to approve them. It wouldnt change the formulas the city charter uses to calculate salary hikes every four years, but council members, who say the change would resolve any potential conflicts of interest, referred it to the ballot in April. A ewe and her lambs rest in their pen on April 21, 2006. (Stephen Ausmus/USDA/CC BY 2.0 Citizen-initiated measures Two citizen initiatives qualified for the ballot after sponsors submitted the required number of petition signatures. Citizen-Initiated Ordinance 308 would prohibit the manufacture and sale of fur products within Denver city limits. The proposed ban would not apply to products sold for traditional tribal, cultural, or spiritual purposes by members of a recognized Native American tribe, and it would also exempt used fur products sold in second-hand stores and other select businesses. The measure is backed by the Pro-Animal Denver campaign committee, which has received over $200,000 in contributions from animal rights group Pro-Animal Future. An opposition campaign, Hands Off My Hat Denver, has raised a roughly equal amount from donors including the National Western Stock Show, Sue Anschutz Rodgers and Pete Coors. Another measure backed by Pro-Animal Denver, Citizen-Initiated Ordinance 309, proposes to ban slaughterhouses in Denver. Only one such facility, Superior Farms, is currently operating in Denver. The slaughterhouse currently accounts for 15-20% of the total lamb processing capacity in the U.S., and its closure would be likely to substantially impact the U.S.-based lamb supply chain, a Colorado State University analysis found. Opponents of the measure include a long list of livestock industry groups, local restaurant associations and unions. A campaign committee registered in opposition to the initiative, Stop the Ban Protect Jobs, has raised over $738,000 from donors including Superior Farms, the American Sheep Industry Association and the Colorado Livestock Association. Other measures In addition to measures pertaining to Denvers municipal code and the city charter, three measures will appear on the ballots of some or all Denver voters on behalf of another political jurisdiction. Ballot Issue 4A asks voters to approved a $975 million bond issue for Denver Public Schools. The money would be used to pay for a wide variety of improvements across the district, including $240 million for air conditioning at schools that dont have it; $241 million for new construction and upgrades to existing buildings; and $301 million for critical maintenance needs. Ballot Issue 6A proposes to expand the Downtown Denver Development Authority to include much of the area in and around the citys Central Business District between Union Station and Broadway. Its part of the Vibrant Denver plan unveiled last year by Johnston, who says the districts expansion will be accompanied by a $500 million investment in downtown revitalization. Ballot Issue 7A asks voters within the boundaries of the eight-county Regional Transportation District for the authority to permanently keep revenue raised in excess of a limit set under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Eliminating those caps, as hundreds of Colorado local governments have chosen to do since TABORs 1992 passage, requires voter approval of whats known as a de-Brucing measure, named after TABOR architect Douglas Bruce. RTD was previously granted an exemption from TABOR revenue caps, but that exemption expires next year. Without the passage of a de-Brucing measure, it could be required to refund tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually. Keep Colorado Moving, a campaign in support of Ballot Issue 7A, has been endorsed by a long list of transit and environmental advocacy groups. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) The extension of a Mecklenburg County road to pave the way for an industrial park passed on a split vote Tuesday night. There has been a rush of new and proposed development in one of the countys last frontiers between the Steele Creek area and Interstate 85. In an effort to delicately plan for future construction outside of for now the Charlotte city limits, commissioners accepted a bid by providing county-owned land for the extension of Garrison Road. With the vote, the road will connect West Boulevard to the north and Dixie River Road to the south near the future River District mixed-use village. Five industrial structures are planned on either side of the extension, and developer McCraney Property Company deems it necessary to alleviate traffic for the influx of vehicles coming for the businesses themselves and when new residents begin moving into the River District. The county is providing 2.5 acres at the southern end to extend the road that currently has a dead end. The motion passed 5-4. Rusty Rozzelle was one of the county staff members tapped for input on the project. The Water Quality Program manager told commissioners that voting against this project meant fewer environmental concessions for an area in the Beaverdam Creek watershed. Conservation elements include 21 acres preserved for potential greenways, 100 trees planted in an easement area, and more than 2,000 aquatic plants. The basin eventually flows into Lake Wylie. Beaverdam Creek is by far one of the most rapidly developing watershed areas in Mecklenburg County, Rozzelle explained. In seven years, the impervious area has increased to 34 percent. One-third of the area is paved over in the past 7 years. Thats unprecedented. If we dont do this, the grant easement, 100 added trees, 21 acres go away, and the land is going to be developed, water going to run into Beaver Dam Creek, Rozzelle said. Thats why we support it, thats the big picture. The agreement also was supported by Mecklenburg Park and Recreation Division Manager Chris Matthews, in addition to three neighbors from the area who spoke Tuesday night. (Mecklenburg County) The commissioners against it cited the environmental impact even the developer noted topographical challenges and development pushing out longtime residents. I dont see a plausible way for me to be supportive of this, since its displacing folks, said Commissioner Arthur Griffin. Ive walked the land. Folks are being impacted negatively with development in that corridor. I wish there was a win-win situation for development. There are old, African-American folks who want to stay in their homes. It really concerns me that we arent parenting with the people out there. The county just purchased the property last November from Dixie River Land Company. The project comes with a $17 million investment in infrastructure and is expected to bring between 1,000 and 1,500 jobs with an average salary of $64,000. In addition to the Garrison Road extension, there are also plans to extend West Boulevard to the Catawba River and build a western parkway that would roughly parallel West about a mile south. When we acquire land, were doing that to save the land, to keep it green, said Commissioner Laura Meier. This is not preserving land, when you build a road through parkland and an already fragile watershed. The River District community is already under construction off Dixie River Road and will span about 1,400 acres. Its developers also have added conservation aspects, planning for 500 acres of green space. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Mecklenburg sales tax for road, transit needs gets last local approval from commissioners A sales tax increase to pay for transportation projects advanced Tuesday after Mecklenburg County commissioners capped off rounds of votes from local governments to support draft legislation to put the measure on the ballot. The county board voted 6-3 on a resolution asking the General Assembly to consider draft legislation put together by the managers of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and the countys towns. Commissioners Laura Meier, Pat Cotham and Susan Rodriguez-McDowell voted against the resolution. Meier made a motion to delay the vote until local elected officials hold a summit proposed by Matthews Mayor John Higdon. But the delay was voted down Tuesday along the same lines. I just want to vote for this because I support it, Meier said of the resolution. But in the end, I need to know more. Now, the N.C. General Assembly will decide whether to allow Mecklenburg residents to vote on a referendum to increase the countys sales tax by 1 cent to pay for transportation needs. The draft bill would create a new 27-member transit authority that would take over governance of the Charlotte Area Transit System from Charlotte and the Metropolitan Transit Commission. It caps spending on light rail, commuter rail and streetcar projects at 40% of the new sales tax revenue. Spending on buses including bus rapid transit, micro-transit and mobility hubs would be capped at 20% of revenue, leaving 40% of the new money for roads. That funding breakdown could jeopardize the eastern portion of the Silver Line, rankling some in east Charlotte and Matthews. But other communities in the county touted the infusion of spending on roads as an opportunity. County Manager Dena Diorio told commissioners conversations about changing the funding breakdown or increasing the size of the sales tax increase were not received well by legislators. Heres how local municipalities voted on the plan and whats next: Charlotte backs deal, buys Red Line tracks The Charlotte City Council voted 10-1 Sept. 3 to support the legislation, with Council member Tariq Bokhari the only no vote. Bokhari, one of two Republicans on the council, questioned whether the GOP-dominated state legislature will sign off on the bill. We are setting ourselves up for failure by not being precise, he said. Multiple council members who voted for the draft bill said it was a difficult decision. They cited concerns about a lack of transparency during negotiations and the new governance model for public transit in the legislation, and frustration in east Mecklenburg about the future of the Silver Line rail project. Charlotte also voted to spend $91 million to purchase railroad tracks from Norfolk Southern for the Red Line commuter rail project. North Mecklenburg towns tout Red Line, roads investments North Mecklenburg communities have waited years for the Red Line, which will run to Mecklenburgs northern border with Iredell County. Leaders of all three of the regions towns Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville voted to back the draft legislation that could make it happen. The potential sales tax will deliver the Red Line A new sales tax will bring a vital resource to our community that reliably connects us to one another and to destinations like the airport and uptown Charlotte. This connectivity is crucial to our economic development, infrastructure development, and our quality of life, the towns three mayors said in a joint letter earlier this month. In the letter, the mayors said the sales tax revenue could also further progress critical road projects throughout the area and accelerate new road projects and many pedestrian and cyclist safety improvements. South Mecklenburg towns like roads, too To the south, both Pineville and Mint Hills town leaders voted to back the draft legislation. They also expressed excitement about the potential impacts of an expanded source of funding for transportation, particularly for roads. Pineville Town Manager Ryan Spitzer told town leaders the bill would lead to a really big investment on roads. Mint Hill leaders noted the 1-cent increase could generate as much as $6 million a year for road projects in the town. What about Matthews? Matthews is the lone municipality to vote against the transit deal. Commissioners voted unanimously in August to oppose the legislation, which they called an underfunded and reprehensible plan. Theyre concerned the funding breakdown will lead to the elimination of all or some of the Silver Line rail project, which is slated to run through east Mecklenburg into the town. 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, Higdon, the mayor, told the Observer after the towns vote. Buses dont work like they are promising. Bus rapid transit, which involves running buses in dedicated lanes or busways that often have traffic signal priority, elevated platforms and enhanced stations, has been floated as a potential alternative for the corridor. More than 20 elected officials and members of the business community traveled to Miami in late August to see progress on its BRT system, but Higdon declined to go on the trip. I just dont have any faith that a gold-rated bus rapid transit system could be built here, he said at the time. Whats next for transit deal? The draft legislation is now in the hands of the N.C. General Assembly, which needs a member to introduce the bill. Then itll have to pass through the House and Senate. 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 at the time. ... Its just very difficult to get our caucus behind a tax increase. Charlottes goal is to put the sales tax referendum on the ballot in November 2025. Charlotte City Council member Ed Driggs said during the councils vote in early September hes hopeful the bill will be taken up but is not taking anything for granted. If things move forward, itll be up to the Metropolitan Transit Commission or a new transit authority to decide what transit projects will be prioritized and what mode of transportation they will entail. A referendum, Driggs noted, ultimately leaves the decision on whether to increase the sales tax to voters. It will not pass unless the people in Mecklenburg like what they see, he said. When immigration opponents make the case for closing the country's borders, one common argument is the costs that immigrants incur. But recent statistics throw cold water on those claims, finding that the foreign-born actually use fewer public health dollars than people born in the U.S. "Immigrant households have much higher use ofMedicaid (42 percent vs. 23 percent)" than native-born households, according to a 2015 report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). "Prior research indicates that there are 5.8 million uninsured illegal immigrants in the country in 2019, accounting for a little over one-fifth of the total population without health insurance," CIS Director of Research Steven Camarota told a congressional subcommittee in January. "The costs of providing care to them likely totals some $7 billion annually," though he admitted that number could be lower since "immigrants in general tend to consume somewhat less health care than the U.S.-born, primarily because they are relatively young." Not so, says the data. The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is "a set of large-scale surveys" of Americans and their medical providers that "collects data on the specific health services that Americans use, how frequently they use them, the cost of these services, and how they are paid for," as well as the different ways in which those costs are amortized. MEPS recently released its latest survey, using data from 2022. "A key feature of the survey is that it reports the actual dollar amounts spent by birthplace, which no other survey does," writes David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. What this allows the survey to demonstrate is that between 20022022with the exceptions of 20042006 and 2013, in which no birthplaces were recordedforeign-born respondents accounted for 18.6 percent less Medicare and Medicaid spending than their native-born counterparts. On average, this amounted to $1,775 per person in 2022 dollars, compared to $2,180 per person among those born in the U.S. Bier breaks down the numbers even further to demonstrate that this trend holds across each year in the sample for which data was available: In 2022, the most recent year recorded, U.S.-born patients cost the health agencies $2,691 apiece, while foreign-born cost $2,116 each. The closest the two groups ever came to parity was in 2015, when the U.S.-born cost $2,312 and the foreign-born cost $2,233. "Despite their lower incomes, immigrants are less likely to use publicly funded health care for several reasons," Bier writes. "Most importantly, they are younger, but even controlling for age, immigrants tend to be healthier and participate in fewer high-risk activities. In addition, their eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid is more limited than for the US-born population.Finally, some eligible immigrants also do not enroll in these programs out of ignorance or fear about its immigration effects." In fairness, the numbers are not as straightforward as comparing immigrants to natural-born citizens: The survey only notes a respondent's birthplace, not their immigration status. So then, Sen. Ted Cruz (RTexas)who was born in Canada to American parents but is, legally speaking, a "natural born citizen"would be counted among the foreign-born, while the U.S.-born children of noncitizens would be counted among the native-born. Nonetheless, the numbers paint a stark portrait that counters the doomsayers' predictions that increasing the flow of immigrants across our borders would necessarily overwhelm our public health systems. "Democrats are going to destroy Social Security and Medicare because all of these people, by the millions, they're coming in," former President Donald Trump said in his speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention. "They're going to be on Social Security and Medicare and other things and you're not able to afford it. They are destroying your Social Security and your Medicare." As president, Trump signed a proclamation in 2019 barring any immigrants from entering the country unless they could provide proof of health insurance. "Immigrants who enter this country should not further saddle our healthcare system, and subsequently American taxpayers, with higher costs," Trump noted. (In May 2021, President Joe Biden revoked the order, after his administration had previously indicated it would no longer enforce the rule.) To be clear, this is to say nothing of the soundness of these programs as a whole: "The best experimental evidence indicates that Medicaid does not improve health outcomes for participants," Bier notes, and "when Congress eliminated Medicaid eligibility for many immigrants in the 1990s," those immigrants predominantly went out and got jobs that offered health insurance. But the MEPS study demonstrates that despite anti-immigration rhetoric, the foreign-born are not as much of a drain on public resources as we've been warnedat least, not nearly as much as those of us who were born here. The post Medicare and Medicaid Spend More on Native-Born Americans Than Immigrants appeared first on Reason.com. Veteran python hunter Donna Kalil was optimistic this year she would take home the $10,000 grand prize in the 2024 Florida Python Challenge. Kalil, a contract hunter with the South Florida Water Management District, is an enthusiastic snake chaser who has faced off with an estimated 18-footer in the dark, has been bitten several times, and was once yanked off a levee by a 13-foot python that left her tumbling onto her chin. She never let go of the snake, however. "I like to say I do a dangerous thing in a very careful way," she said in a 2020 interview with The Palm Beach Post. Her recipes for cooking with python meat and python eggs are educational, if not always appealing to every palate. (The Florida Department of Health recommends against eating python because of high mercury levels.) While she has participated in every Python Challenge since 2013, she said she can spend as much time chatting with fellow hunters and helping novices as she does actually hunting. This year, she asked her volunteer helpers if they had the ardor to take the top spot. They were eager to do so. Meet Donna Kalil, the veteran python hunter, who has caught many Burmese snakes through the years in the annual Florida hunt Donna Kalil captures a wild Burmese python in the Everglades west of Miami on Monday October, 28, 2019. She hunts several days a week and has notched hundreds of the invasive species. The pythons have invaded the Everglades and have caused havoc to the ecosystem. "I went out every night and I actually tried to win it this time," Kalil said. "It's a chess game, not checkers. You really have to plan your moves. It's a chess game, and then it's like whack-a-mole." Kalil ended up with 19 snakes, a bounty that several hunters interviewed ahead of Tuesday's announcement said they thought may be enough to snag the $10,000. She said she didn't know of anyone who had wrangled more. But she lost by a slim margin to Ronald Kiger of Marion County, who caught 20 Burmese pythons during the contest that ran Aug. 9 through. Aug. 18. Kalil didn't go home empty handed. She won $2,500 for bringing in the most snakes in the professional category after Kiger. In total, 857 participants competed in the 2024 snake hunt challenge from 33 states and Canada. They removed 195 pythons. Participants hunted in designated areas that stretch from western Palm Beach County to the Tamiami Trail in the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area. Other management areas included in the Python Challenge are Holey Land, Rotenberger and Southern Glades. Kalil's longest snake this year was 12 feet, 1 inch. She said she typically had two volunteers with her each night, including a friend from Canada. "It was a good challenge," she said. "You get tired, it's a push for sure." What is the Florida Python Challenge? The Florida Python Challenge is a python removal competition that happens in August. Participants have nine days to kill as many Burmese pythons as possible. The 2024 python removal competition begins at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 9 and ends at 5 p.m. on Aug. 18. The competition helps protect the Everglades habitat and all its native animals by removing the invasive Burmese pythons. Everything to know: Florida Python Challenge, the snake hunt with a cult-like following What were the prizes for the 2024 Florida Python Challenge? The $10,000 grand prize is awarded to the participant who removes the most snakes as part of the competition. There are also three competition categories including professional, novice and military. Each category includes a $2,500 price for most pythons caught, $1,500 for the second-highest number of pythons caught and $1,000 for the longest python. Participants may only win one prize, so if someone wins two, the person will be awarded the prize of the highest value and the next qualifying hunter will win the remaining prize. Why hunt Burmese pythons? Florida earnestly began hunting pythons in about 2012. It was the first year of the challenge and the same year a study in Everglades National Park suggested pythons were responsible for a decline of 85% to 100% of the population of medium-sized furry animals, such as raccoons and rabbits. Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Python Challenge 2024: Donna Kalil captures 19 Burmese pythons Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markles Archewell Foundation released a short statement in honor of National Voter Registration Day, which was on September 17. Voting is not just a right; its a fundamental way to influence the fate of our communities. At The Archewell Foundation, we recognize that civic engagement, no matter ones political party, is at the heart of a more just and equitable world, the statement, posted to the organizations website, reads. Together, lets make sure every eligible voter is informed and empowered to participate in shaping Americas future. The post also indicated that the foundation had held a get-together to write letters to potential voters encouraging them to get registered, calling it a meaningful volunteer activity to support and empower our communities, and adding that they used Vote Forwards impactful letter-writing tool to write personalized letters. Additionally, the post linked to websites where you can check your voter registration status and encourage others to do the same. Check out the post, which includes a handful of pictures, here. The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit Ireland Chris Jackson/Getty Images Since defecting to America, the couple have not been outwardly partisan, though they have used their platform to raise awareness about causes that are important to them. In a rare interview, Meghan Markle opened up about utilizing the impact that her fashion choices make on the industry. Times where I know there is a global spotlight, and attention will be given to each detail of what I may or may not be wearing, then I support designers that I have really great friendships with, and smaller, up-and-coming brands that havent gotten the attention that they should be getting, she told the New York Times. Thats one of the most powerful things that Im able to do, and thats simply wearing, like, an earring. Wear earrings and vote. I like that agenda! Originally Appeared on Glamour ST. LOUIS Two men have admitted robbing three U.S. Postal Service mail carriers at gunpoint in St. Louis County in 2022 in order to steal checks from the mail. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Roy Lee Jones, 22, and Xavier Sean Boyd, 20, confessed to being part of a group of five young people who, in the summer of 2022, plotted to steal checks from the mail, alter said checks, and deposit them into accounts belonging to third parties. Boyd pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of robbery and two counts of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery. Jones pleaded guilty on August 13 to one count of robbery, one count of theft of a mail key, and one count of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News According to prosecutors, a masked Jones approached a mail carrier on June 1, 2022, on Chambers Road. Police said he demanded an arrow key, which opens certain USPS collection boxes. About 18 minutes later, authorities said Boyd robbed a different mail carrier of his arrow key, a half-mile away from the first incident. The group used that arrow key four days to steal mail from collection boxes in Berkeley, West Florissant, Normandy, Overland, and Ferguson. However, they were unable to recruit a person whod allow their bank account to be used in the scheme. Boyd and Jones used their own accounts. Prosecutors said they deposited $19,199.60 in stolen checks into Jones credit union account on June 7, 2022, and unknown sum of money into Boyds account. They attempted to withdraw $19,200 in cash from Jones account the following day but could only withdraw $8,500. The remainder was reclaimed after the scheme was uncovered. No money could be withdrawn from Boyds account. Boyd robbed another mail carrier of his arrow key around 12:30 p.m. on June 9, 2022, near Lindbergh Boulevard and New Halls Ferry Road. He robbed a third mail carrier less than 20 minutes later, but police spotted Boyds SUV and arrested both he and Jones following a brief high-speed chase. Police located the arrow keys and guns inside the vehicle. Jones will be sentenced on November 15, while Boyd will be sentenced on December 18. Each count of robbery carries a 25-year maximum sentence. The theft charges carry a maximum 10-year term. And the firearm charges have a minimum sentence of seven years, which would run consecutive to all other 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 FOX 2. By Sheila Dang (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk has endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump in the race for the White House, but employees at his collection of companies are largely donating to Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris. Workers at Tesla have contributed $42,824 to Harris' presidential campaign versus $24,840 to Trump's campaign, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks U.S. campaign contributions and lobbying data. Employees at Musk's rocket company SpaceX have donated $34,526 to Harris versus $7,652 to Trump. Employees at the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, have donated $13,213 to Harris versus less than $500 to Trump. While the figures are relatively small for campaign fundraising, they indicate political leanings at odds with Musk's own. The world's richest man, Musk has boosted Trump on X and dismissed left-leaning ideas as a "woke-mind virus." Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He backed President Joe Biden in 2020 but has tacked rightward since then. Trump has said that if he wins the Nov. 5 election, he will appoint Musk to lead a government efficiency commission. The OpenSecrets data includes donations from company employees and owners and those individuals' immediate family members. Campaign finance laws prohibit companies themselves from donating to federal campaigns. Many of Musk's employees are based in California, a Democratic stronghold, said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, which is a Tesla shareholder. Gerber is also an investor in X. In July, Musk said he would move X and SpaceX headquarters to Texas from California because of a California gender-identity law he called the "last straw." Gerber said such a move would mean "losing out on a lot of potential talent" in California. (Reporting by Sheila Dang in Austin; Editing by Howard Goller) (WOODLAND PARK, Colo.) Merit Academy in Woodland Park partnered with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to provide a one-of-a-kind learning experience. On Monday, Sept. 16, ninth and tenth-grade students from Merit Academy captured 17 turkeys on a ranch near Divide. Six turkeys were given a GPS collar, and four had a satellite backpack attached, then they were released back into the wild. CPW said the remaining seven turkeys were released without any tracking devices. Over the next year, students will monitor mortality and where the turkeys move. According to CPW, students will be able to gain invaluable real-world scientific research and CPW will be able to use what they learn when making wildfire decisions. CPW said the experience was made possible for the students by Merit Academy teacher Tim Lundt, who secured a $10,000 private grant and worked alongside CPW to obtain a permit. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Metro-North could get $6B for new railcars, track upgrades under MTA capital plan (This story was updated to add new information.) Metro-North Railroad plans to spend $6 billion over the next five years to replace 40-year-old railcars, rehabilitate aging platforms and harden hundreds of miles of track to withstand extreme weather thats occurring with greater frequency. The funding will come out of a record $68.4 billion, five-year capital spending plan unveiled Wednesday by Metro-Norths parent agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It will be voted on by the MTA board at its next meeting on Sept. 25. Topping the railroads wish-list is the continued replacement of 1980s-era M3 railcars with 150 state-of-the art models on the Harlem and Hudson lines. A southbound train pulls into the Metro-North train station in White Plains, June 15, 2021. The M3s arrived in 1984 soon after Metro-North took over from Conrail and are more prone to breakdowns as they age. M8 models introduced in 2023 have an average mean distance of nearly 900,000 miles between failure, a rate six times better than the M3s, the railroad says. Nearly $1.7 billion of Metro-Norths $6 billion allocation will go toward replacing the railroads rolling stock, which totals 912 railcars. Verdict: Deadliest crash in Metro-North history happened at Valhalla crossing. Is it safer today? Will all projects be funded? It remains unclear how much of the new capital plan will receive funding. In June, Gov. Kathy Hochul decided to pause a congestion-pricing toll plan that would have directed some $15 billion to projects in the MTAs last capital plan, covering the years 2020-2024. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Wednesday the MTAs new capital plan assumes the $15 billion hole in the MTAs 2020-2024 capital program will be funded, creating uncertainty over which projects risk delays or cancellation if that money is not found, and how those choices would affect the new proposal. The comptroller said some $48 billion in planned spending for both capital plans do not have an identified funding source. Commuter groups continue to press the governor to back off her opposition to congestion pricing, which would toll drivers entering Manhattans business district at 60th Street and below. State of good repair the literal nuts and bolts of maintaining the system should always come out on top, but we are wondering whats left on the cutting room floor that would have benefited riders thanks to Governor Hochuls pause? said Lisa Daglian, the executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee for the MTA. Commuters prepare to board a Metro-North train at Croton Harmon train station in Croton-on-Hudson Aug. 9, 2024 as the region anticipates the arrival of Tropical Depression Debby. On Wednesday the governor vowed to press the federal government to deliver more infrastructure dollars to the MTA, while working with state and city lawmakers to determine priorities and capacity during the upcoming budget negotiations. From the moment I took office, Ive fought for public transit advancing major projects like the Second Avenue Subway and rescuing the MTA from the fiscal cliff last year. We will review the MTAs proposal for the upcoming 5-year capital plan and fight to secure as much funding as possible, Hochul said. Some $47.8 billion will go to fix New York Citys subways and buses. Metro-Norths $6 billion share would equal the total for the Long Island Rail Road, its sister commuter rail. In addition to new M9A cars on the Harlem and Hudson lines, locomotives will be added on West of Hudson lines, which serve customers in Orange and Rockland counties. Ferry: After backlash, MTA offers discounts for Lower Hudson Valley ferry, bus passengers And another $959 million will go to replace aging station platforms, upgrades to elevators and ramps, improved parking, and accessibility. Of concern are platforms at stations on the Harlem Line, where 19 of the 36 are in poor or marginal condition. Several concrete platforms built in the 1980s have a hollow core susceptible to deterioration from salt and freezing temperatures. A dozen stations will be upgraded under the new plan, in addition to three fixed in the MTA's previous $55 billion five-year plan. Another $1.7 billion will be spent fixing nearly 800 miles of Metro-North track in the state, 313 overhead bridges, 189 culverts and nine tunnels. Part of the wooden terraces from the rear yard of Judith Garan's home at 745 Warburton Avenue in Yonkers, have been cleared from the train tracks and placed on the banks of the Hudson River as pictured, Dec. 9, 2021. Fixing flooded track Drainage issues remain an ongoing problem for the nations second busiest commuter rail, which in recent years has been been forced to deal with service disruptions caused by storm damage and torrential rain. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in August 2021, service on parts of the Hudson Line was knocked out for days after rain fell at a rate of three inches per hour, washing out backyards in Yonkers and covering track below in in mud, trees and debris. Mud: Cleaning up after Hurricane Ida proves a costly problem for Metro-North, Yonkers During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, water from the Hudson River submerged platforms at stations in Tarrytown and Riverdale. The railroads ridership topped 60 million in 2023. Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Networks New York State team. Hes won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career thats included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com. This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Metro-North plan for railcars, track upgrades to be voted by MTA board Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, center, rides in a vehicle with top defense officials to review the troops before the start of the annual Independence Day parade in Mexico City on Monday. (Felix Marquez / Associated Press) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has dismissed allegations from his country's disgraced ex-security chief jailed in the United States and facing a possible life sentence for corruption that he has links to drug cartels. Its very simple, Lopez Obrador told reporters Wednesday at his regular morning news conference. "Show the proof." The president denied charges that surfaced in a handwritten letter from Genaro Garcia Luna sent Tuesday by his lawyer to a handful of news outlets, including The Times. A former public security minister, convicted last year of taking millions in bribes from leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, Garcia Luna alleged that the current Mexican leader has connections with organized crime. Former Mexican Public Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna, shown in 2009, is jailed in the U.S. and facing a possible life sentence for corruption. (Dario Lopez-Mills / Associated Press) Garcia Luna, 56, is among the highest-ranking former Mexican officials ever convicted of corruption in a U.S. court. He presented no proof to support his allegations but said "it is public knowledge" that Lopez Obrador has ties to "the leaders of drug trafficking and their families." Garcia Luna's attorney, Cesar de Castro, who also provided an English translation of the text, said his client asked to release the statement "given recent events in Mexico and here in the United States." I just received a handwritten letter from Genaro Garcia Luna, sent by his lawyer. Facing a life sentence for narco-corruption after his conviction last year in Brooklyn, he maintains his innocence and says he rejected a post-arrest deal that would have given him 6 months pic.twitter.com/lcJ4bbgD2T Keegan Hamilton (@keegan_hamilton) September 17, 2024 Garcia Luna is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 9 in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., before the judge who sentenced Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to life in prison in 2019. Garcia Luna, who witnesses testified took bribes to favor El Chapo's cartel while overseeing federal law enforcement operations under then-President Felipe Calderon, could face a similar fate. Lopez Obrador, 70, whose six-year term ends Oct. 1, has repeatedly rejected reports of having received campaign funds from drug traffickers. In my decades as a leader I have endured many accusations, the president said, noting that none had ever been proved. He challenged Garcia Luna to present evidence of corruption, alleging that the former security chief worked for previous governments that spied on him as a longtime leader of the political opposition. He writes that there are proofs, there are videos, calls, audios, the president said, citing allegations in the ex-officials letter. Its very simple, that he make them known. He has it all. The president has accused Calderon of committing election fraud to narrowly defeat him in the 2006 presidential race and of subsequently presiding over a "narco-state," with Garcia Luna as his corrupt top law enforcement wingman. Calderon has repeatedly denied the allegations. Meantime, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office Oct. 1, accused the ex-security chief of engaging in a political act designed to smear the reputation of her longtime political patron. President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, shown at an Independence Day parade this week, accused Garcia Luna of engaging in a "political" act designed to "smear" the reputation of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, her political patron. (Felix Marquez / Associated Press) Absolutely false, Sheinbaum said of the allegations. The president has never been involved in anything to do with any criminal. Evidence at Garcia Luna's trial showed he worked closely with U.S. authorities during his years in public office, which stretched back to the early 2000s, when then-President Vicente Fox put him in charge of a newly formed agency that was the Mexican equivalent of the FBI. He later rose to a Cabinet position under Calderon, and photos released in connection with his trial showed him meeting with prominent U.S. officials, including then-President Obama. Several former high-ranking cartel members, cooperating in exchange for reduced sentences in their own cases, testified that Garcia Luna and other top officials in Mexico's federal police were in the pocket of drug kingpins. Garcia Luna maintained in his letter that investigators had not found "a single peso-dollar" worth of payoffs in his bank accounts. The trial witnesses included a brother of Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who was asked on cross-examination whether he was aware of any bribes paid to Lopez Obrador. Jesus "El Rey" Zambada denied making any payments directly to the current president, but said under further questioning that he had given cash to a lawyer to help fund Lopez Obrador's 2006 campaign. I do remember paying [the lawyer] some money, that according to him, was for the campaign, but not [for] paying Lopez Obrador, Zambada testified. El Mayo Zambada, 76, was arrested by U.S. agents in late July along with a 38-year-old son of El Chapo. Zambada has claimed he was lured to what he thought was a meeting with political leaders in the state of Sinaloa only to be "forcibly kidnapped" by Joaquin Guzman Lopez and flown to a small airport near El Paso. Jesus "The King" Zambada, right, and other alleged Sinaloa cartel members appear before the media in Mexico City in 2008. (Alexandre Meneghini / Associated Press) After leaving office, Garcia Luna moved to the United States and was running a Miami-based private security firm when he was arrested in December 2019. He claimed that federal prosecutors in New York initially offered a deal that would have allowed him to walk free after six months and receive "financial benefits" in exchange for his cooperation in other investigations, a deal he refused to take. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, which handled his prosecution, declined to comment. McDonnell reported from Mexico City, Hamilton from San Francisco. Special correspondent Cecilia Sanchez Vidal in Mexico City 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. From the The Morning Dispatch on The Dispatch Happy Wednesday! Here at The Dispatch, were dedicated to cultivating the next generation of conservative thinkers and leadersthats why weve partnered with several student organizations to provide their members with access to all The Dispatch has to offer. At a time when about a third of Americans under 30 say they get their news from TikTok, you can help us in our goal to equip more young people with the tools they need to stay informed, think critically, and engage in meaningful discussions by sponsoring a student membership today. And if theres a student group you think would be a good fit for the program, please email members@thedispatch.com. Quick Hits: Todays Top Stories AMLOs Last Play Members of the National Association of Magistrates and District Judges take part in a protest at the Angel de la Independencia roundabout in Mexico City on September 11, 2024, following the Mexican Senate's approval of a judicial reform package. (Photo by RODRIGO OROPEZA/AFP via Getty Images) Earlier this summer, we wrote to you about the Mexican presidential election, which saw Claudia Sheinbauma leader in the ruling Morena partybreak the glass ceiling by securing the presidency in a landslide victory. But looming over her candidacy and, indeed, latent presidency was a big question mark: How much would she depart from the agenda of her predecessor and mentor, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO)especially regarding a package of highly contested constitutional and judicial reforms AMLO introduced in February? Perhaps the real question is: How much distance might AMLO tolerate? Sheinbaum had endorsed the reforms as a candidate, and enacting them would have marked her first major test as president after her inauguration, set to take place at the beginning of October. Due to a quirk in the timing of presidents swearing-in, the newly elected Congress took office on September 1, a month before Sheinbaums own inauguration. AMLO had previously hinted he might hold off on instituting the overhaul while he was in the lame-duck period butarmed with functional supermajorities in the lower Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, thanks to opposition defectionsinstead moved to push the reforms through. The necessary majority of Mexican state legislatures subsequently approved the changesMorena controls most state governmentswhich formally went into effect on Sunday. Domestic critics and international observers have argued the overhaul will undermine the rule of law and key civil institutions, potentially putting the country on a path back toward the corrupt, one-party rule that dominated Mexico for most of the twentieth century. What exactly are these reforms, and why are they so contentious? At the heart of the changes are measures introducing the direct election of judges at the state and federal levelincluding the Supreme Court. Currently, the Federal Judicial Council appoints federal judges and magistrates relying in part on a professionalized exam system, while the president nominates Supreme Court justices that the Senate confirms for 15-year terms. State and local judges and magistrates are selected by state legislatures or local councils. Now, some 1,600 federal judges will resign: Most will be replaced in elections next June, and the rest in 2027, when state judges and magistratesapproximately 5,000will also all be up for election. The measure shrinks the Supreme Court from 11 justices to nine and, instead of staggering the transition, all nine will be up for reelection in Junegiving Morena the opportunity to put forward candidates that could sweep control of the court. Absent the reforms, Sheinbaum would have only been able to nominate three justices. Such direct election of judges and justices could compromise judicial independence and autonomy. Popular direct election of judges is a major risk to the functioning of Mexicos democracy, Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and former Colorado attorney general, said in a statement last month that prompted the Mexican government to temporarily pause communications with the embassy of its closest partner. The damage that this reform will mean for the country is incalculable, argued opposition Sen. Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas. Stanford Law School scholarsalong with representatives of the Mexican Bar Association and the Inter-American Dialogue think tankconcluded that overhaul would compromise the foundation of the rule of law in Mexico. Proponents of the reforms argue that the elections will inject some much-needed popular accountability into a sclerotic judiciary that has struggled with outright corruption, particularly at the local level, and nepotism and graft at the federal level. Abraham Lincoln defined it like this: Democracy is government of the people, by the people, for the people, Sheinbaum tweeted earlier this month. The president is elected by the people, the legislature is elected by the people. If judges, magistrates and ministers are elected by the people, where is the authoritarianism? But elections may not solve the corruption issues. While the Mexican judiciary is in dire need of reform, it is not clear that the popular election of judges is the best way to address its shortcomings, argued Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University whose research focuses on Latin America. There is little evidence from international experiences that elected judges are less corrupt or less prone to serve special interests than non-elected ones. If electing judges is a questionable practice generally, the speed of Mexicos transition poses some unique problems. State governments have yet to sort out the exact details for their elections, but regardless, voters will be deciding on thousands of judicial candidates across the country in a single election for the first time. In Mexico City, for example, voters could have to choose from among 1,000 candidates for 150 judicial positions: Just filling out a ballot could potentially take up to 45 minutes, according to one estimate. Governance scholars argue that instead of giving people an effective voice in selecting their judgessomething that is done at the local level in states throughout the U.S.the large number of positions will overwhelm voters and could contribute to low voter participation. Beyond the elections, the reforms also created a new judicial disciplinary tribunal. The body, made up of five members elected by popular vote on the same schedule as presidential elections, will have the power to sanction members of the judiciary, including Supreme Court justices, with no process for appeal. The reforms are part of AMLOs efforts to accumulate state power in the executive branch and expand his partys authority. As we explained in June: AMLO came into power promising a Fourth Transformation of Mexicoa government agenda he defined as on par with transformational events in Mexicos history, such as Mexican independence from Spain in the early 19th century. Blending old-school leftist ideology with populism and a cult of personality, AMLO pushed the government in a more statist direction and away from what he described as a neoliberal model that he argued perpetuated corruption and social and economic inequality. He significantly expanded the governments role in the energy sector, boosting state-owned enterprises over their private competitors, and initiated huge public works projects. He also reimagined Mexicos social welfare system, raising the minimum wage and universalizing federal pensions. The federal judiciary and the Supreme Court had emerged as a foil to pieces of AMLOs agenda, shooting down many of his attempts to remake the government and consolidate executive power. Hence the judicial reforms, which he described as Plan Cafter Plans A and Bwere partly blocked by the courts. The judicial overhaul, combined with Morenas expanding power and influence, holds echoes of an erathe better part of a centurywhen the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) dominated all three branches of the Mexican government. One writer famously described PRI rule as the perfect dictatorship. Candidates competing in judicial elections over the next two years will have little chance of success without Morenas endorsement, which means Mexico will probably be left with a political-judicial monoculture, argued Quico Toro, a journalist covering Latin America. Morena congressmen making laws for a Morena president to execute and Morena judges to arbitrate. Indeed, some of the new changes appear intentionally structured to achieve that end. Candidates for judicial postings will have to submit applications and be nominated to run in an election by evaluation committees within the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, all of which are controlled by the governing party, Lila Abed, acting director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, explained last week. The imminent Senate approval of the reforms earlier this month sparked large-scale protests in Mexico City and a judicial strike. Thousands of protesters, including judicial workers and law students, took to the streets of Mexico City, with hundreds storming the Mexican Senate last Tuesday to interrupt the vote on the overhaul. The protesters chanted, The judiciary will not fall. The Senate recessed but nevertheless reconvened and passed the reforms early Wednesday morning, ultimately setting the stage for the measures final passage. Worth Your Time Prompted by a discovery made while cleaning his office, Neal B. Freeman recalled his two-decade journey to privatize an international communications company, Intelsat Ltd., that was set in motion by a documentary about Maggie Thatcher that made its way to then-President Ronald Reagan. What neither the Great Communicator nor his aides had bothered to tell me, however, was that Intelsat was not a commercial organization governed by contract, Freeman wrote in National Review. Its bylaws stated clearly that any material change in the organization would require the unanimous approval of the treaty signatories, all of which were sovereign nations. I dont know whether you have ever tried to persuade 146 sovereign nations to agree on a risky and consequential reform, but it can take some time. In my case, it took 20 years. The rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, targeted Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike. However, if you ask Republicans in the House and Senate whether theyre concerned at all that Donald Trump is laying the groundwork to once again claim mass voter fraud, many will hardly entertain the idea, Haley Byrd Wilt reported for NOTUS. For Rep. Brian Mast [of Florida], any unease about how he might react if he loses is inconceivableTrump wont have to complain about the election results for a simple reason: Hes going to win, Mast told Wilt. But if you ask Mast if Trump should have done anything differently, his answer is immediate: No. At this point, most GOP lawmakers are likewise more than comfortable siding with Trump and downplaying the violence of Jan. 6. And if you ask congressional Republicans about Trumps ongoing allegations of election fraudor if theyll vote to certify this years resultsyoull get a lot of lukewarm shrugs and noncommittal word salad. Presented Without Comment ABC News 6: Vivek Ramaswamy Announces Town Hall Event in Springfield Also Presented Without Comment Mediaite: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Swipes at [Kamala] Harris for Not Having Biological Kids So, my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesnt have anything keeping her humble. In the Zeitgeist Looks like its time for another career-defining performance from Cillian Murphy! The only question now is what light-hearted romp of a film itll be packaged with. Toeing the Company Line In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics crew checked in on the Senate race in Texas and Nick pondered whether there is a double standard for political incitement to violence. On the podcasts: Kevin joins Jonah on The Remnant to discuss his latest essay on the controversy over Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and Kevins claim that J.D. Vance is the most despicable human being in public life. On the site: Jonah weighs in against what he describes as Trumps cynical hypocrisy on extreme rhetoric. Let Us Know Do you think Mexicos reforms are a harbinger of democratic backsliding or a net win for democracy in Mexico? Neither? 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. Meyers is next top cop in Port Royal saying, the public needs to know whats going on Port Royal has hired a former Florida law enforcement officer to lead its police department after a nationwide search that drew 35 applicants who were narrowed last week to three finalists. Jeffrey Meyers was offered and accepted the job of chief of police, Town Manager Van Willis told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet Tuesday. I feel extremely honored, Meyers said. I did a lot of research prior to applying. Its a great city. During a meeting to introduce three finalists last week, the candidates were asked to pick one word that would best describe themselves. Meyers replied, transparent. Although transparency has become a catchy buzzword in law enforcement, he said, it applies to how he goes about his business. Many problems begin with miscommunication, he said. Police officers, he added, make mistakes because its a tough job but the public needs to know whats going on. At Fort Meyers, Meyers said, he helped to improve public trust by creating new levels of transparency and accountability while also boosting officer morale through better internal communications and training opportunities. Meyers was hired for the Port Royal job because of his entire working experience and knowledge of emergency management issues, Willis, the town manager said. I think a lot of the council and the public was super impressed with his presentation in person, Willis said. And his resume speaks for itself. An expansive background check was conducted and were pleased with everything we heard, Willis said. Meyers will start work Oct. 4. Meyers said his annual salary will be $110,000. Meyers, 55, was deputy chief for six years in Fort Myers, Fla., a 350-employee police department with a $56 million budget in the community of 86,395 on the west coast of Florida. His resume states that he developed and implemented the Fort Myers Police Departments Strategic Plan that helped achieve a 40% reduction in crime through data-driven proactive policing, decentralizing resources and improving community relationships. Meyers retired in August 2023, a few months after the Fort Myers department began the process of picking a successor of the late Chief Derick Diggs. Meyers did not apply for the job. I had 32 years in, Meyers told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet on why he retired. Thats a long time to be in law enforcement and I was ready to try other things. Meyers, who lives outside of Naples, took a year off and went to work as a consultant for Critical Response Strategies in Jacksonville on an as-needed basis. But, I found out Im just too young to retire, Meyers told the Town Council when members interviewed three finalists for the Port Royal chiefs job last week. Meyers said Tuesday that he wanted to return to smaller a law enforcement agency. He spent 23 years, from 1994 to 2017, with the police department of 37 officers in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of 22,000 on the east side of Cleveland. Port Royal, which has more than 16,000 residents, has a force of 32 officers. He chose to look for work in South Carolina because the Cleveland natives family vacationed on Hilton Head and he hopes to retire in the state following the end of his law enforcement career. Meyers replaces Alan Beach, who retired after 37 years with the department including the last 12 as chief. Besides Meyers, the other finalists for the chiefs job were Kevin Pierce, a former Pennsylvania State Trooper who retired two weeks ago as chief of South Coatesville, Pa., police department, and Capt. Andre Massey, an operations captain with the Port Royal Department. Finalists for the chief of police for the Town of Port Royal are, from left: Andre Massey, Jeffrey Meyers and Kevin Pierce. As photographed on Sept. 11, 2024 at town hall. When asked about community policing during last weeks interview of the finalists, Meyers said community policing is policing today. The days of rolling up the windows and leaving the AC (air conditioning) on are gone, Meyers said. Good police officers, he said, should be able to answer questions from the public and know all of business owners on their beat. Preferably, officers will live in the community where they work, Meyers said, but thats not always possible depending on area housing prices. On Wednesday morning at the Miami-Dade Library branch downtown, dancers in rainbow dresses and red ribboned braids stomped their feet and twirled their skirts. Mexican gritos punctured the air, which hummed with the sounds of the Spanish, English and Creole-speaking crowd. The folk dances were part of the county governments Welcoming Day, hosted by the Office of New Americans. It aimed to connect immigrants in South Florida to legal service providers, advocacy groups and county resources. Though some local governments across the U.S. are restricting resources and saying services are strained because of recently-arrived immigrants, Miami-Dade officials have taken a different approach. On Wednesday, they celebrated the presence and contributions of newcomers to South Florida. Half of our county is foreign-born. And that is how intricately woven immigration is to the fabric of who we are. And we are here to celebrate that, said Office of New Americans Director Kathy Bird, who introduced the event in Spanish and English along with County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, left, smiles as she visits another service provider during the Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Departments Office of New Americans Day of Welcome to honor the contributions of immigrants on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at the Miami-Dade County Main Library in Miami, Florida. Watching the performance were both recently-arrived immigrants as well as those who have lived for decades in Miami-Dade County. Among them was Gabriela Salles, a 44-year-old veterinarian who came to South Florida from Guatemala nearly a year ago. Most of her family here already has American citizenship and has lived in the United States for years. She was at the event looking for assistance to get her veterinarian degree and EMT training validated in the United States. Estimates to get her documents translated have so far been costly. I would like to focus on human medicine, she told the Herald of her professional aspirations in the United States. REALITY CHECK: Trump campaigns false claims about Haitians eating pets in Ohio stoke immigration fears Other immigrants looking to get their foreign degrees recognized were also at the event looking to validate their titles, including a pair of veterinarians who came from Venezuela four months ago and a civil engineer from Colombia who arrived in South Florida this month. He said his sister had applied to sponsor his green card in 2007, but it was only recently that his paperwork was approved. Haitians, Mexicans, Hondurans and other immigrants perused the tables of several organizations, including groups that offer low-cost and free legal services such as Church World Service and Miami-Dade Legal Aid. The Miami Workers Center and the Farmworker Association of Florida were also in attendance, as was the Opera Atelier, which offers art and music classes for seniors. READ MORE: Hardline border policy unlikely to cost Trump in Miami-Dade, a community of immigrants The maestro of the Haitian Aroze Twoubadou group, Jean Levelt Vital, wears a Haitian straw hat with designer sunglasses as he waits to perform during the Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Departments Office of New Americans Day of Welcome on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at the Miami-Dade County Main Library in Miami, Florida. Several participants said they came to get legal assistance with their immigration cases, including a woman who wanted to apply for citizenship and get assistance for her husbands green card case. Dennis Hernandez, a 51-year-old man from the Venezuelan city of Maracay, went from table to table looking for lawyers. He entered the United States 10 days ago, using a mobile phone application known as CBP One that offers appointments with border authorities. Already, hes hustling to set up his new life in South Florida. RELATED CONTENT: Why Hispanic immigrants who support Trump are embracing his hardline border stance I feel like a child starting to crawl, he said. But Im happy because I want to help my people who I left behind in Venezuela. Members of the Haitian Aroze Twoubadou group - Jean Levelt Vital, left, Wilson Emmanuel and Lovensky Dieudonne, right, pass the time while waiting to perform during the Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Departments Office of New Americans Day of Welcome to honor the contributions of immigrants on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at the Miami-Dade County Main Library in Miami, Florida. The events menu featured pastelillos and pastries from Venezuela, Haiti, and Jamaica, showcasing the different variations of flaky pastelillos filled with cheese, spicy fish and beef that exist in the region. Thai dancers in glittering brocade and pink flowers in their hair took to the stage, followed by a South Indian Bharatanatyam performer who interpreted a lullaby, a reflection of the states small Asian population that has brought its cultures to Florida. A Haitian band donning matching straw hats sung Ayiti Cheri, a patriotic song based on a poem considered a second unofficial national in the island. The bands guitarist led a train to Creole music. Haitians, Guatemalans, Indians, Thais and immigrants from all over the world swayed from side-to-side in line and sang along together. This is the flavor of Miami. This is what our community is about, said Bird. Attendees visit the tables of the various service providers as the Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Departments Office of New Americans hosted a Day of Welcome to honor the contributions of immigrants on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at the Miami-Dade County Main Library in Miami, Florida. Michel Barnier now most popular politician in France - as Macron languishes in 44th place Michel Barnier, the new French prime minister, is now the country s most popular politician - Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP Michel Barnier has become Frances favourite political figure, according to a surprise new poll, in a boost to the EUs former chief Brexit negotiator two weeks after president Emmanuel Macron appointed him prime minister. The poll comes as the 73-year-old conservative is struggling to cobble together a new government in the wake of snap elections in July, which left France with a hung parliament. It has been in legislative limbo ever since. With a 57 per cent approval rating, Mr Barnier shot to the top of the popularity rankings ahead of three of his predecessors: Edouard Philippe (55 per cent), Gabriel Attal (54 per cent) and Jean Castex (54 per cent), according to an Ifop-Fiducial poll for Paris Match and Sud Radio. By contrast, Mr Macron is languishing in 44th place on 31 per cent. Mr Macrons surprise appointment of Mr Barnier a relative unknown domestically despite his role in negotiating with Britain on its withdrawal from the EU ended nearly two months of deadlock but infuriated the New Popular Front coalition of Left-wing parties, which won the election but fell short of a majority. Marine Le Pens populist, Eurosceptic National Rally was the single party with the largest number of seats. She has reportedly issued assurances she wont automatically oppose a Barnier government in parliament. The election has split parliament into three blocs with Mr Macrons centrist allies making up the third. The poll comes as Mr Barnier and his predecessor, Gabriel Attal, are reportedly at daggers drawn after a meeting between the pair slated for Wednesday morning was postponed. Mr Attal is now in charge of pro-Macron MPs in parliament whose support Mr Barnier needs to command anything near a majority. One bone of contention is Mr Barniers intimation that he may have to raise taxes, a red rag to Macron supporters and Right-wing Republicans who are expected to form part of his cabinet. Within days of taking office in early September, Mr Barnier said in an interview that French people want more justice in terms of fiscal policy. Michel Barnier has been struggling tp form his cabinet in the wake of opposition from both sides of the political divide - JEFF PACHOUD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Interior minister Gerald Darmanin, a staunch Macron ally, said on Wednesday that it was out of the question to join, or even back, a government that raised taxes. On Wednesday morning Mr Barnier warned that Frances budgetary situation was very serious and would require responsible action. Frances public-sector deficit is projected to reach around 5.6 per cent of GDP this year and go over six per cent in 2025, which compares with EU rules calling for a three-per cent ceiling on deficits. The tax question is likely to deepen reported tensions between Mr Macron and Mr Barnier, who is said to have been irked that the president did not consult him about nominating foreign minister Stephane Sejourne to the EU Commission. Knowing where Michel Barnier stands on Europe and the loss of French influence, I think hes just suffered his first humiliation, one LR deputy told AFP on condition of anonymity. 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. Michigan girl, 2, fatally hit by car after being put to bed: 'Walked out of the house' Michigan girl, 2, fatally hit by car after being put to bed: 'Walked out of the house' The Michigan State Police are investigating how a 2-year-old girl was fatally struck by a vehicle after her parents put her to bed last week. Troopers responded on Sept. 13 to a "Car vs Pedestrian Traffic Crash" at 8:20 p.m. in Allen Township, 115 miles west of Detroit, police said. "Upon arrival on scene troopers found a 2-year-old female toddler lying in the road," a police statement read. The unidentified toddler was taken to Hillsdale Hospital, where she later died, authorities said. The girl's parents put her to bed inside their home before she got out, police said. NORTH TEXAS HIGHWAY CRASH KILLS 6, INCLUDING 2 CHILDREN "While the parents were working around the home, the child got out of her bed and walked out of the house.," police said. "The child walked out onto Chicago St and was struck by a 2012 VW Jetta being driven by a 38-year-old male from Allen, Mi[chigan]." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP TWO CHILDREN DEAD, MULTIPLE INJURED AFTER CAR SLAMS INTO MICHIGAN BOAT CLUB HOSTING KIDS' BIRTHDAY PARTY The Michigan State Police said a toddler was killed after being hit by a vehicle. Alcohol or drugs did not appear to play a factor in the deadly incident. An autopsy was expected to be performed, police said. The state police told Fox News Digital it had no new information. Original article source: Michigan girl, 2, fatally hit by car after being put to bed: 'Walked out of the house' LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) The Michigan Senate has passed the Michigan Voting Rights Act, a pack of 4 bills that legislators say will strengthen election security and make voting more accessible to the states residents. The Michigan Voting Rights Act is composed of Senate Bills 401, 402, 403, and 404: Senate Bill 401 would prohibit local governments and state agencies from enacting any practices that would create a disparity in political participation of any protected class and other citizens, as well as creating a process for handling violations of the Michigan Voting Rights Act. Senate Bill 402 would create a Voting and Elections Database that would function to make election and voting data accessible to the public. Senate Bill 403 would require local governments to provide comprehensive language assistance for elections and allow constituents to file a grievance if they fail to do so. Senate Bill 404 would amend Michigan election law in a variety of ways, including requiring a local government to provide timely notice regarding changes to election methods, prescribing a process for seeking voting assistance, and getting rid of the requirement that election inspectors reject the ballot of someone who allows someone else to see it. See the full descriptions of the bills below: MVRADownload Some state officials believe that these bills would make elections more accessible to Michiganders, including Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Every Michigan voter deserves access to fair, secure elections and no citizen should be unfairly denied the right to vote, said Secretary Benson. The Michigan Voting Rights Act will not only build on the federal Voting Rights Act but will add new protections at the state level to shield us from future attacks on our democracy. However, other state politicians believe that these bills would reduce voter privacy and place new burdens on local election officials, including former Secretary of State and current Michigan Senator Ruth Johnson (R-24). These bills would cost taxpayers millions of dollars and create new obstacles for our clerks and local units of government that are simply unnecessary, said Johnson. These bills go far beyond the voting rights protections already afforded to all of our citizens under both the U.S. and Michigan constitutions, and they would create a huge new bureaucracy under the secretary of state that would help interest groups sue our local units of government and our hardworking clerks. Johnson sponsored two amendments to Senate Bill 404: one that would prohibit candidates or family members from distributing food or beverages to voters inside of a polling location, and one that would only allow that distribution to happen outside of the polls. Both of these were defeated. Alarmingly, these measures would also set a dangerous precedent and eviscerate long-standing norms about the sanctity of polling places by allowing individuals who are not voters to actually polling locations and interact with voters waiting in line, said Johnson. Once voters are already inside a polling location, there is no good justification to say that allowing food and beverage distribution during the voters brief visit would outweigh the privacy rights of 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 WLNS 6 News. SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) Onondaga County admits theres a slight delay in the construction timeline for Microns promised megafab campus in the Town of Clay. At a hearing of the Onondaga County Legislature, the director of the countys Economic Development Office said construction is scheduled to begin in November of 2025. Microns original timeline called for work to have already begun, starting in the summer of 2024, and then was changed to early 2025. Latest local news A spokesperson for Onondaga County cites the slow environmental review process required by New York State and the Federal government basically taking a few months longer than the admittedly-aggressive timeline planned for. The environmental review process requires a plan for Micron to meet environmental standards as it relocates a species of endangered bats that live in the woods of the White Pine Commerce Park. The environmental review is slated to result in a draft environmental impact statement being submitted to the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency by the end of 2024, followed by a public comment period. The county spokesperson assures Central New Yorkers the project is moving forward and cites Microns recent decision to move into Downtown Syracuse office space. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith warned the danger of foreign interference in the US election will surge in the final two days of the presidential campaign. Most Read from Bloomberg The most perilous moment will come, I think, 48 hours before the election, Smith told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. Smith said that was the lesson to be learned from the Slovakian election last fall, in which fake audio of one of the top candidates circulated online days before the election. Foreign actors already have been spreading manipulated videos and false posts to sow discord around the US presidential election, Smith and other executives with the countrys largest tech companies testified. Smith said Microsoft earlier Wednesday had identified an AI-enhanced video from a Russian group showing Vice President Kamala Harris saying words she didnt say at a recent rally. Groups from adversarial nations including Russia, China and Iran have spread false information and news reports about both Harris and Donald Trumps campaigns, the executives said. The hearing featured testimony from Smith, Google parent Alphabet Inc.s president and chief legal officer Kent Walker, and Nick Clegg, Meta Platforms Inc.s president of global affairs. Those attacks are being shaped in part by new developments in artificial intelligence, Walker said. We are seeing some foreign state actors experimenting with generative AI to improve existing cyber attacks, like probing for vulnerabilities or creating spear phishing emails, Walker said. We see generative AI being used to more efficiently create fake websites, misleading news articles and robot social media posts. The Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, focused on foreign interference in US elections, comes on the heels of a Microsoft report that found Russian efforts to influence the US election have shifted to smearing Harris with doctored and misleading videos. Meta on Tuesday also announced it was banning Russian state media outlet Russia Today due to foreign interference. The Biden administration and the top tech companies stopped communicating about online threats to US elections over the past year as they waited for a ruling in Murthy v. Missouri, a case centered on whether it is constitutional for government officials to ask social media companies to take down certain posts. The US Supreme Court in June cleared the Biden administration to communicate freely with social media companies, an election-year ruling that bolstered the governments ability to seek removal of what officials see as misinformation. The justices, voting 6-3, tossed out court-imposed restrictions on contacts by the White House and several federal agencies. Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, several times expressed frustration that Elon Musks X Corp. declined to send a representative to testify at the hearing. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a rally in Wilkes-Barre. Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Technology giant Microsoft said on Tuesday that Russia operatives have targeted US presidential candidate Kamala Harris' campaign. "In the past two months, Microsoft has observed a notable shift in Russian influence operations tactics reflecting the changing U.S. political environment," Microsoft Threat Analysis Center general manager Clint Watts wrote in a blog post from the company. Microsoft had found Russia had pivoted towards the Harris campaign, with actors "disseminating fabricated videos designed to sow discord and spread disinformation" about her. The focus on the Harris campaign reflected a "strategic move by Russian actors aimed at exploiting any perceived vulnerabilities in the new candidates," Watts said. Harris replaced US President Joe Biden on the Democratic party ticket after the 81-year-old withdrew from the presidential race in July following a disastrous debate performance against Republican candidate Donald Trump. "Initially, Russian influence operations struggled to evolve their efforts following President Biden's departure from the 2024 US presidential race," Watts said. However, in late August and September, Microsoft observed two Russian groups, known as Storm-1516 and Storm-167, using videos designed to discredit Harris and stoke controversy around her campaign. One video depicted an attack by alleged Harris supporters on a supposed Trump rally attendee, while another used an actor to fabricate false claims about Harris's involvement in a hit-and-run accident. Another video depicted a fake billboard advancing false claims about Harris' policies. "As we inch closer to the election, we should expect Russian actors to continue to use cyber proxies and hacktivist groups to amplify their messages through media websites and social channels geared to spread divisive political content, staged videos, and AI-enhanced propaganda," Microsoft said. US intelligence agencies said in August that Iran was responsible for the hack of Trump's presidential campaign. Microsoft said a Chinese-linked influence actor had also created videos that criticized the Biden administration and Harris campaign. "Collectively, these three nation states Iran, China and Russia demonstrate the complexities of foreign interference that the US faces, and the need for the public to remain vigilant against these evolving threats," Microsoft said. "As we've said before, our goal in releasing these reports is to promote education and protect institutions from any form of foreign interference." Speaker Mike Johnson pushed forward with his doomed bid to avert a government shutdown on Wednesday, despite clear signs that the legislation was unpalatable to both conservatives in his own party as well as Democrats who control the upper chamber of Congress. The House voted early Wednesday evening on a continuing resolution to keep the government open laden with giveaways to the conservative right. Those included spending cuts and a piece of legislation stapled to the broader package aimed at preventing non-citizens from voting in federal elections something that is already illegal. Johnson of course, admitted this in a recent interview and has evaded acknowledging that Donald Trumps claims of massive numbers of undocumented immigrants voting are false. This is the play were running, the Speaker told The Hill this week. Ill be working around the clock to try to get it done. His failure was evident as the vote occurred shortly before 7pm on Wednesday. The yeas trailed the nays by 18 votes, with two members voting present. The speaker said he was disappointed after the vote failed, but refused to criticize his own strategy. That strategy has been unclear from the beginning. His party headed into the vote secure in the knowledge that the bill as written would not pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, nor would it be signed into law by President Joe Biden, who issued a statement insisting that he would veto the legislation if it reached his desk. And Trump, ever eager to throw a wrench into the machinery, wrote on Truth Social this week that Republicans should walk away from any discussions around passing a CR that do not include passing the SAVE Act, Johnsons piece of tagalong legislation on noncitizen voting a nonstarter for Democrats. As a result, the final vote included defections from Johnsons own party on top of near-uniform opposition from his Democratic rivals. The three exceptions included Maines Jared Golden, who previously said hed vote for the bill. Fourteen Republicans voted with their Democratic rivals against it. Maines Jared Golden, a Democrat, voted to support the GOP speakers government funding bill despite Joe Biden vowing to veto it and Senate Democrats planning to present their own package (Getty Images for Headstrong) The government is set to begin a partial shutdown of services in October if a deal to pass a funding bill is not cut before then. Democrats are insisting upon passage of a bill that keeps funding for all agencies at existing levels, minus the Secret Service, which they say needs a funding surge in the wake of two attempted assassinations of former President Donald Trump in as many months. Some conservatives oppose this, citing the agencys operational failures and claiming that the Secret Service doesnt deserve extended funding because of them. Others are unhappy that the bill does not increase funding for the Pentagon as well. Johnson now has less than two weeks to make that deadline. On Tuesday, he said he hadnt been having any conversations about alternative strategies for passing a funding bill. In the Senate, lawmakers remain at work on a stopgap bill that would keep the government open through mid-December, teeing up another fight before the holiday recess. Johnsons bill, by comparison, would fund the government for six months at his reduced levels. Speaker Mike Johnson has been pushing a government spending plan on Wednesday that is opposed by the White House, congressional Democrats, and many in his own party (AP) "Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government, and ensure the security of our elections," Johnson said in a statement the day prior to the vote. "Because we owe this to our constituents, we will move forward on Wednesday with a vote on the six-month CR with the SAVE Act attached. I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections." But he has failed to win over his partys most vocal members in the House, making Wednesdays vote all the more confusing of a strategy and one that, in the end, may give more power to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democratic caucus. Johnson has, in the past, relied on Jeffries and his caucus to provide votes for measures to keep the government open over opposition from his own party. That was the path trodden by former GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before he was ousted by a conservative rebellion in the fall of 2023. So far, Johnson has escaped that same fate in part due to the aversion lawmakers have shown to throwing the House back into the weeks of inaction and chaos McCarthys ouster began last year. The inability of the Republican caucus to settle on his replacement paralyzed the chamber for weeks. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the Republicans who has come out against Johnsons latest ploy to cut a government funding deal, attempted to lead a second ouster of the Speakers chair aimed at removing Johnson earlier this year. But the bid failed after Democrats rallied to Johnsons defense. "Johnson will NOT commit to standing up against the Democrats in a shutdown fight and will allow passage of a clean CR in order to fund the government because he believes a government shutdown will be blamed on Republicans and will hurt their elections," Greene said on Tuesday. "Johnson is leading a fake fight that he has no intention of actually fighting." (KRON) A San Francisco Bay Area military family lost all of their possessions after a thief stole the familys moving truck while it was parked in Oakland on Monday. Desmond Nelton and his wife were preparing to move with their three-month-old baby and four-year-old son from California to a military station in Florida. Their entire life was taken from them when their 26-foot budget truck, filled with their belongings, was stolen while parked for just six hours as they prepared for an active duty military permanent change of station, a verified GoFundMe page created for the family states. Neltons wife wrote, Everything we own is gone. My kids lost everything and thats what Im most upset about. The wife said she hopes when the thieves open the moving truck and realize they stole from children, their gut wrenches. The Nelton family (Photo courtesy GoFundMe) The page is raising donations to help the family rebuild. Vallejo familys belongings destroyed after moving truck stolen, crashes This truck wasnt just a vehicle; it held the essence of their lives their cherished memories, dreams, and hard work accumulated over the years. Its unimaginable to think of waking up one day to find everything youve worked so hard for simply gone, the GoFundMe page 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 KRON4. A still photo from security footage inside Club Paradise in Milwaukee, on April 9, 2004. Lawrence Paine and his legal team say the security footage bolsters his alibi defense and argue he was wrongfully convicted of a double homicide. A Milwaukee County judge denied Lawrence Paine's request for a new trial after the 47-year-old man imprisoned for nearly two decades for a double homicide alleged police and prosecutors withheld key evidence in his case. Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner released his written decision in the case Tuesday morning, canceling a scheduled in-person hearing Wednesday. "The court finds that the defendant has not met his burden to prove the existence of a reasonable probability that a different result would be reached in a trial even assuming, without deciding, that the defendant has shown the first four criteria of the newly-discovered evidence test by clear and convincing evidence," Wagner wrote. Paine's attorneys, Nicole Masnica and Jason Luczak, say they plan to appeal the decision, which they called "disappointing." "Mr. Paine asked the court for a new trial where all the relevant evidence could be put in front of the jury, but that request was sadly denied," the attorneys wrote in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Up until this point no jury has been able to view all of the relevant evidence, and that is a miscarriage of justice." IN-DEPTH COVERAGE: He says police and prosecutors withheld evidence in his homicide case. Now, he wants a new trial. Paine had told detectives he had been with a friend at a strip club before driving to Minnesota to visit family during the time frame of the shooting on April 10, 2004, that killed Janari A. Saddler, 28, and Aaron M. Harrington, 20. Some witnesses identified him as the shooter, though Paine's defense team noted the witness accounts were inconsistent and that someone else was later found with the likely murder weapon. No physical evidence connected him to the scene. His first trial ended with a deadlocked jury. At a second trial, a jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide after police and prosecutors said his alibi could not be corroborated. A judge sentenced him to life in prison. Paine has maintained his innocence. His other appeals were not successful. In the recent motions, Paine and his current attorneys cited security footage in police inventory that appears to corroborate Paine's account of visiting a strip club that night. The footage was never shown at trial, and Paine and his attorneys argue it was deliberately withheld from Paine's former defense team. The new attorneys also tracked down the original Minnesota hotel manager who reviewed hotel records still in police inventory. The manager confirmed that it was possible for Paine to have checked into the hotel early, off the books, which contradicted earlier trial testimony of another hotel employee who said another guest had been registered in Paine's room at the time, according to court records. The hotel manager had been interviewed by police at the time of the original investigation but had not been called to testify. Paine had told police he had checked into a hotel near the Twin Cities sometime between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. April 10, 2004, which he argued would not have left enough time for him to be in Milwaukee around 4 a.m. when the fatal shooting occurred. The drive from Milwaukee to Minneapolis takes about five hours. Wagner, the judge, noted the time issues in his decision. The strip club video showed two men leaving at 1:44 a.m. April 10, 2004, which prosecutors had argued left time for Paine to be at the scene of the homicide around 4 a.m. "Problematically for the defendants request for relief, none of the information presented in the current motion affirmatively puts the defendant in a different place at the time of the homicide," he wrote. "Furthermore, due to this conclusion, the court also finds that previous counsels were not ineffective for failing to investigate and present the alleged newly discovered evidence," the judge continued. Wagner also denied the Brady and due process claim, saying it was not proven that prosecutors knowingly used "false evidence, including false testimony, to obtain a tainted conviction." In earlier filings, Assistant District Attorney Paul Tiffin, who leads the homicide unit, had said that there was no basis for the court to conclude that the state presented false and misleading evidence at trial. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee judge denies wrongful conviction claim from Lawrence Paine A letter from a Milwaukee judges group put more pressure on the county sheriffs department to maintain court bailiffs staffing. The Milwaukee Trial Judges Association wrote a letter to the Milwaukee County Sheriffs Office on Monday supporting an order from the countys top judge and outlining violations by the office since. The letter, obtained by the Journal Sentinel, is the latest development in a dispute over the sheriffs office staffing of court bailiffs. It comes after the law enforcement office made the August move to stop using mandatory overtime in the courts amid a staffing and burnout crunch. The move prompted safety and efficiency concerns from county judges. These violations are disconcerting. This cannot continue, the letter reads. This is a matter of safety for litigants, courthouse staff, attorneys, and judges, which cannot be sacrificed because (1) the sheriff has a constitutional duty to fully staff the courts, and (2) budget challenges do not warrant a violation of that duty. The letter which outlines statutes that Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley cited in a Sept. 6 order telling the sheriffs office to maintain staff ends by detailing situations where bailiff shortages affected courts. It notes instances where a felony court only had one bailiff when two were required and when two misdemeanor courts had to share one bailiff, leaving each court unattended for periods during the court day. The judges letter said the lack of bailiffs means defendants cant be taken into custody and created a risk to the safety and confidence of court users. The Milwaukee County Sheriffs Office did not return a request for comment on the letter. Judge Kristy Yang, the president of the Milwaukee Trial Judges Association, declined to comment further on the letter. The trial judge associations letter and Chief Judge Ashleys order came after an Aug. 23 memo from Chief Milwaukee County Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Hughes announced the policy changes to bailiff staffing. The memo made it clear: no more mandatory overtime for the offices deputies. A subsequent press release from the sheriffs office detailed they would allow for deputies to volunteer for overtime. As part of the memo, the sheriffs office shifted deputies away from its patrol team to bolster the number of bailiffs working to the countys budgeted 90. That move isnt good enough, according to judges and Hughess own memo. The memo noted the budgeted number of bailiffs is not enough to meet court needs and Ashley previously said they would need about 114 bailiffs to fully staff the courts. At 90, while an improvement from the roughly 77 bailiffs working in the county courts prior to the memo, it only maintains the status quo, Ashley told the Journal Sentinel previously. That means if deputies have to call out for various reasons, it prompts absences from courts. Ashley previously said the sheriff's office was attempting to maintain bailiff staffing but hasn't been able to guarantee it, prompting his and other judges' concerns. The bailiff shifts come amid staggering overtime usage by the sheriffs office, leading to a $7.06 million budget deficit and a $7.6 million overtime deficit, according to budget reports. These numbers figure as a part of a broader Milwaukee County deficit that previously was projected as high as $19 million, according to county Comptrollers Office projections. In a sudden turn of events, last Thursday, County Executive David Crowley announced his proposed budget solution to the deficit, which would not include a tax hike and have little impact on county services. Part of that proposal included $300,000 to support a study of the Sheriff's Office operations by an external consultant to evaluate staffing and overtime needs. That budget will be voted on in the following months. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee judges group outlines bailiff violations in letter to sheriff's office JD Vances insinuation that pets are being swiped and eaten by Haitian immigrants has hit yet another embarrassing snag. Vances campaign, responding to scrutiny over the hoax, shared a police report with the Wall Street Journal this week that detailed a Springfield, Ohio, residents claim that her cat mysteriously vanished in August. Vances team suggested the report was proof there was reason to fear that pets in Springfield might actually be in danger. It turns out, however, that the missing cat named Miss Sassy was safe all along just like the kitty from Homeward Boundalso called Sassy. Her owner, Anna Kilgore, told the Journal that her feline had a somewhat shorter voyage home. She was hiding in her basement the whole time, re-emerging a few days after she called police to report her missing. Kilgore, who was photographed standing with a Trump 2024 flag and wearing a shirt with the same slogan, told the Journal she apologized to her Haitian neighbors with the help of her daughter and a translation app. Kilgore also made it a point to update a missing pet Facebook group to let them know that Miss Sassy, whom she described as being a Maine Coon, was home safe after emerging from our basement. That comment came two days after she made a plea for help finding her. She is part of the family, wrote Kilgore. Please if you have saw her or know where she is I will give you money bring her home alive. Springfield, a city of 58,000 situated about 45 miles west of Columbus, has had a chaotic September as unsubstantiated rumors about the stealing and eating of pets has spread like wildfire even in the absence of any evidence whatsoever. The hoax reached a fever pitch last week when Trump, mid-way through his primetime debate against Kamala Harris, parroted the conspiracy that dogs were being eaten by migrants in Springfield. Miss Sassy turned up safe a few days after she was reported missing to police in Springfield, Ohio. Facebook Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, has since begged Trump to not visit the city out of fears itd strain local law enforcement beyond their capabilities as it deals with a slew of threatsthat includes a staggering 33 bomb threatsand general chaos. Rue and other officials in Springfield have called the rumors meritless, but those assertions have done little to tame the rumor as Trump and Vance continue to use it as an attack line on Harris immigration record. That plan isnt sitting well with Republicans in Ohio, however. Its governor, Mike DeWine, dismissed the rumors as garbage. Chaos Dogs City Where Trump Says Haitians Eat Pets Vance has refused to retract his claims, but spokespeople for Trumps campaign have began pivoting to highlighting other perceived issues in Springfield as being reason to focus on the city. Very real problems plaguing the residents of Springfield, said Karoline Leavitt in a statement. Skyrocketing rent costs, stressed public health and education services, increased vehicular accidents and public safety concerns because a community of 60,000 Ohioans has been overwhelmed by a sudden influx of migrants. President Trump will continue to talk about making America safe again. 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. OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) The Miss Wisconsin competition has been a staple in Oshkosh, but organizers have opted to choose a new home after 61 years. According to a statement from Brenda Baudo, the executive director for the Miss Wisconsin competition, the event will move from Oshkosh to New Berlin. Georgia-Pacific holds grand opening ceremony for Green Bay Broadway Mill expansion We are so fortunate to have had a home for 61 years, said Baudo. This decision wasnt made lightly and was quite difficult. The Miss Wisconsin competition has called six cities in the state home, landing in Oshkosh in 1963. Before that, the competition was held in Milwaukee, Lake Geneva, La Crosse, Reedsburg, and Kenosha. There are countless memories and sentimental moments attached to Oshkosh that we will continue to cherish and carry with us, added Baudo. However, changing locations has been in the back of our minds for some time due to the growth of our organization and the needs presented by that growth. In the statement, Baudo continues by saying that the city of New Berlin, and specifically Mayor Ament, has been a longtime supporter of the Miss Wisconsin organization. New Berlins West Performing Arts Center will be the new location. West Performing Arts Center is a modern, state-of-the-art facility that can accommodate spectators and support our contestants with current technologies and comforts, stated Baudo. The capacity is the perfect size for our audience needs and bodes well for our live streaming events. Make reservations now while availability is good: Thousands of hotel rooms available for 2025 NFL Draft Additionally, being closer to the Metro Milwaukee area provides more accessibility for spectators and supporters who travel from outside the region. Baudo concluded by saying, We love this organization and value our volunteers and contestants so much, it was in our best interest to make a decision that would move our organization forward and provide as many opportunities as possible for advancement. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. CANTON, Ill. (WMBD) A Wisconsin man faces child abduction charges after police found a missing 16-year-old Canton girl in Arizona. According to police, Railyn Churchill was last seen in Canton on Sept. 6. On Tuesday, the department said, officers with the Phoenix, Ariz., Police Department located her. While investigating, they arrested Jack L. Daniels of Wisconsin on a Fulton County warrant. Canton police looking for missing teen Edward Glad of the Canton Police Department said more information would be coming later on the case. He did say that this wasnt a random incident, declining to comment. This investigation was a joint effort by the Canton Police Department, the Fulton County Sheriffs Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Phoenix Police Department, and the Green Bay Police Department. 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. JACKSON, Miss. (AP) The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied the latest appeal by a man who has been on death row for 30 years after he was convicted of killing two college students. The decision could clear the way for the state to set an execution date for Willie Jerome Manning, but his attorney said Tuesday that his legal team will seek a rehearing. The courts majority wrote in a 5-4 ruling Monday that Manning has had his days in court. Dissenting justices wrote that a trial court should hold a hearing about a witness who wants to recant his testimony against Manning, 56, who has spent more than half his life in prison. Mannings attorneys have filed multiple appeals since he was convicted in 1994 on two counts of capital murder in the December 1992 killings of Mississippi State University students Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller. Their bodies were found in rural Oktibbeha County, and Millers car was missing. The car was found the next morning. Prosecutors said Manning was arrested after he tried to sell items belonging to the victims. 3 charged in Mississippi neglect case after call for baby leads to horse, dogs Krissy Nobile, Mannings attorney and director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, said Tuesday that the justices majority ruling ignores newly discovered evidence with the recantation of several key witnesses, including one who said in a sworn statement that she was paid $17,500 for fraudulent testimony. With the witness recantations and debunked forensic science, there is no evidence against Mr. Manning, Nobile said. There is no DNA, fibers, fingerprints, or other physical evidence linking Mr. Manning to the murders or the victims. Chief Justice Michael Randolph wrote the majority opinion rejecting Mannings request for a trial court hearing to determine whether witness Earl Jordan had lied. Petitioner has had more than a full measure of justice, Randolph wrote of Manning. Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler have not. Their families have not. The citizens of Mississippi have not. Finality of justice is of great import in all cases. Nobile responded: What measure of justice is served if the wrong man is put to death? Justice James Kitchens wrote the dissent. Today the Court perverts its function as an appellate court and makes factual determinations that belong squarely within the purview of the circuit court judge, Kitchens wrote. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled decades ago that when a witness recants testimony, the defendant/petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the witness lied at trial or on his affidavit, Kitchens wrote. Former Sardis Water Department Clerk arrested for embezzlement Manning has maintained his innocence and sought to have evidence in his case reexamined. The latest appeal was based partly on Jordan saying he wanted to recant his testimony that while he and Manning were jailed together in Oktibbeha County, Manning had confessed to killing Steckler and Miller. Jordan said in a sworn statement that he gave false testimony against Manning in hopes of himself receiving favorable treatment from Dolph Bryan, who was then sheriff of Oktibbeha County. Jordan wrote that he was afraid to tell the truth while Bryan was sheriff. Bryan left the job in January 2012. In 2013, shortly before Manning was scheduled to be executed, the U.S. Justice Department said there had been errors in FBI agents testimony about ballistics tests and hair analysis in the case. Mannings attorneys asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to stop the lethal injection, and justices voted 8-1 to delay the execution to allow the testing of evidence. Mannings attorneys asked an Oktibbeha County circuit judge for permission to send items to a more specialized lab. The judge denied that request, and the ruling was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2022. 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. OXFORD, Miss. (AP) A new program in Mississippi is designed to help people who need mental health care services while they are jailed and facing felony charges. The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law announced Wednesday that it has a two-year collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. An attorney working for the MacArthur Forensic Navigator Program hotline will provide information to judges, prosecutors, sheriffs, public defenders and relatives of people in jail, said Cliff Johnson, the MacArthur Justice Center director. Everyone involved in our criminal legal system knows that Mississippi, like many states across the country, has for too long allowed people struggling with mental illness to remain locked up in our county jails when what they really need is access to quality mental health care, Johnson said in a news release. New program offers lifesaving care to Mississippians in rural areas Our hope is that this new program will bring an end to needless human suffering, take pressure off sheriffs who dont have the training or resources to handle these situations, and make families and communities more stable, he said. The hotline attorney, Stacy Ferraro, has represented people charged with capital offenses and juveniles sentenced to life without parole. She said people who need mental health services should not be left in jail to spiral deeper into darkness. My experience has taught me that many of the people arrested in our local communities arent people who knowingly disregard the law but instead are family members and neighbors who are off much-needed medications and are acting in response to fear, panic, or delusions caused by their mental illness, Ferraro said. The medical director for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, Dr. Thomas Recore, said the collaboration with the MacArthur Justice Center should help the department reduce waiting times to provide service for people in jails. By sharing a clear vision and our individual expertise, we are providing care that not only safeguards our communities but also creates lasting, positive outcomes for those at risk, Recore said. A grant from Arnold Ventures funds the navigator program, Johnson said. Itawamba County Sheriff Mitch Nabors said Johnson, Ferraro and Recore have already helped arrange inpatient care for a woman who was previously diagnosed with a mental illness and was charged with arson in the burning of her familys home. It is imperative to ensure that individuals in our correctional facility do not pose a risk to themselves or others, Nabors 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. Mississippi Supreme Court clears way for execution of man who killed two college students Willie Jerome Manning, sentenced to death for the murder of two Mississippi State University students 30 years ago, has had his days in court and now an execution date can be set, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Monday. Petitioner has had more than a full measure of justice, Chief Justice Michael Randolph wrote in the majority opinion joined by justices James Maxwell II, Dawn Beam, David Ishee and Kenneth Griffis. (Victims) Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler have not. Their families have not. The citizens of Mississippi have not. Finality of justice is of great import in all cases. The court wrote that unnecessary and unjustified delays affect justice and fairness owed to victims and defendants, and the Mississippi Constitution directs the court to balance the rights of both. Justices James Kitchens, Leslie King, Josiah Colemen and Robert Chamberlin did not agree and joined a dissent order. This paves the way for the court to set Mannings execution. Within 21 days after an entry of judgment and issue of a mandate to the trial court, the state will be able to proceed. That timeline could be delayed if there is a rehearing, which Mannings attorneys have said they plan to pursue. Krissy Nobile, executive director of the Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, reiterated Tuesday that an execution date has not been set for her client Manning and the case will remain open until the court issues a mandate. Last year, Lynn Fitchs office asked the court to set execution dates for him and Robert Simon Jr., who was convicted for the murder of members of a Quitman County family in 1990. Another stay blocked execution until the court considered Mannings petition for post-conviction relief. The state tried to set his execution in 2013, which was blocked by a stay. The court allowed Manning to seek DNA and fingerprint testing, but after six years the results were inconclusive. In its order, the state Supreme Court found multiple procedural bars prevented it from considering Mannings petition. Manning filed a petition for post-conviction relief in September 2023, and in it he maintained his innocence and raised new evidence about recanted testimony from three people and questionable firearms evidence used in his case. The court didnt accept arguments about newly discovered evidence, ruling his claims were already raised in previous petitions and rejected. Attorneys presented evidence about recanted testimony from Earl Jordan, Mannings cousin, who was in jail with him who said in court Manning confessed to killing the students. In the last twenty-six years, a majority of this court has never held that the evidence at trial was anything but overwhelming, the order states. Jordans recanted testimony would not have changed the verdict. Manning also presented a 2013 affidavit from a firearms expert that raised doubt about the scientific validity of firearms examinations and conclusions from them. Under Brady v. Maryland, it is a violation if the state fails to provide a defendant or their defense attorneys with evidence that can be favorable or helpful to their case. The court said Mannings claims of Brady violations through the recanted testimony have already been rejected in previous applications for post conviction relief. In an updated version of his petition, Manning argued the court is able to make exceptions to procedural bars like it did in two other death penalty cases, which the court denied in its order. In a four-page dissent, Kitchens wrote the court perverts its function as an appellate court and makes factual determinations that belong squarely within the purview of the circuit court. If the court finds an important witness like Jordan recanted testimony and offers a reason for giving false testimony at trial, defendants are entitled to an evidentiary hearing to find whether the witness lied at trial or in an affidavit. Kitchens writes that this did not happen for Manning but has happened in other cases. The court should remand the case to the circuit court for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether there could be a different outcome without Jordans testimony and the truthfulness and timeliness of his recantation, the dissent order states. Only then should this court consider -- under the appropriate standard of review -- the merits of Mannings request for post-conviction relief, Kitchens wrote. In 2015, Manning was exonerated of the 1993 murders of two women in Starkville. Mississippi woman convicted of shooting another in neck VICKSBURG, Miss. (WJTV) A Warren County woman was convicted of shooting another woman in the neck with a pellet rifle. Vicksburg Daily News reported Catheann Lee was convicted of aggravated assault with extreme indifference on Tuesday, September 17. The shooting happened on Old Highway 27 on Thursday, June 22, 2023. Body found in Ridgeland identified as Vicksburg man According to investigators, the victim went to a home and got into a confrontation with Lee. Authorities said the confrontation led to the shooting. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said a deputy was patrolling the community on June 25 and noticed Lee walking in the roadway. The deputy attempted to make contact with Lee, but investigators said she ran away and hid in a nearby mobile home. She was later arrested without further incident. Lee is expected to be sentenced in October. She faces 20 years in prison. 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. MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) The Mobile Police Department is asking for the publics help in finding a missing and endangered person. Prichard Police detective pleads not guilty to perjury charge: court documents 23-year-old Delvin Primm was last seen in the area of St. Emanuel Street last month. Delvin Primm. (Mobile Police Department) LOCATION: This embedded content is not available in your region. New OB-GYN office in Mobile aims to improve health care for women According to Mobile Police, he could be frequenting the downtown area and will need medical attention. Anyone with information on Primms whereabouts can contact the MPD non-emergency number. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) A Mobridge police officer is officially being punished for sexually harassing a female officer he was helping train. The South Dakota Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Commission on Wednesday revoked the certification of Nate Bratland. He cannot apply for re-certification for at least one year. Henry school addressing bullying and hazing During the hearing, Bratland didnt dispute that he acted inappropriately. In a soft voice, he admitted multiple times that he sent more than 20 sexually suggestive videos and messages to the woman over the span of about six weeks earlier this year. He appeared without an attorney. He stood by himself as the commission discussed the matter behind closed doors. His inappropriate behavior came to light after the female officer made a comment to another member of the Mobridge force. Bratland in turn sent an email on June 16 to the Mobridge police chief and a supervising captain saying that her claims werent true. Responding to the complaint, the state Division of Criminal Investigation sent a special agent to meet with Bratland. Going into the meeting, Bratland said, he could remember sending one message. A review of his phone with the agent showed that wasnt true. There was significantly more than I remembered, Bratland told the commission. That was on me. Asked what led him to more accurately recall what he had done, Bratland said he didnt know. Dressed in a blue suit, white shirt, green tie and brown shoes, Bratland presented a letter from Corson County Sheriff Alan Dale. The letter said the sheriff was willing to hire Bratland under certain conditions. Bratland said he has apologized to the Mobridge police chief but hasnt apologized to the woman, because he didnt want to be accused of witness tampering. Several times Bratland linked his lack of recall and short-term memory problem with a lack of adequate sleep and said that his Veterans Administration doctor has recommended he get more hours of rest. Only when asked did Bratland disclose that he had been diagnosed with a condition of insomnia after suffering near-fatal injuries during an August 16, 2006, attack on a military Humvee. Chief state prosecutor Brent Kempema asked Bratland what punishment he would recommend against himself. Bratland paused, then answered, Im torn, between a revocation and one-year suspension, at the very least. DCI director Dan Satterlee asked Bratland whether he had difficulty remembering anything else of significance during the same period. Bratland said no. Commission member Jessica Quigley recommended that Bratlands certification be revoked. Quigley, the Tea police chief, made no further comments and there was no public discussion. The vote was unanimous. In other action Wednesday, the commission denied the certification application of Samantha Hamm. She was convicted of prostitution in Colorado in 2010, a misdemeanor, and convicted of felony possession of marijuana in South Dakota in 2020. She received a suspended imposition of the marijuana sentence and now has full rights again. Hamm applied for certification through the reciprocity agreement that the Division of Criminal Investigation training program has with the law enforcement training program at Lake Area Technical College in Watertown. Hamm, who appeared without an attorney, told the commission that she was a teen-age runaway who got in with the wrong crowd and was forced into prostitution. She admitted to smoking marijuana for years in Colorado and claimed the eight ounces of marijuana that South Dakota Highway Patrol found in her vehicle during a 2020 traffic stop were for personal use. She said she quit marijuana after the 2020 arrest. Hamm told the commission that she wanted to be a law enforcement officer because it would be a better example for her young children. She said she wasnt asking for forgiveness but wanted to prove Im worthy of a second chance. The commission discussed her application in closed-door session. Commissioner Steve Allender, a former police chief and mayor of Rapid City, called for denial of her application. Allender explained that the 2020 marijuana arrest didnt represent a standard for law enforcement officers to uphold, especially because of the presence of a loaded 9-millimeter pistol and hundreds of dollars in cash that left him with a lot to digest. And so today, 2024, this doesnt seem to work, doesnt pass muster, Allender said. But, he added, her LATI law-enforcement degree wasnt wasted, her personal changes didnt go unnoticed and her desire to be a better person was admirable. Theres plenty of roles in law enforcement, in the justice system, where you can contribute, Allender said. He told Hamm that her story has value and will speak to many people. He commended all of the good she had done with her life and said the denial was not a condemnation of you or your abilities. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Mom Arrested After Newborn Found Dead in Hot Car with 'No Air Conditioning, No Ventilation': Coroner Andrea Luncsford, 25, was arrested and charged with endangering the health and life of a child, the Peoria Police Department said Peoria Police Department Andrea Luncsford An Illinois woman is facing criminal charges after her newborn was found dead in a hot car with no air conditioning or ventilation, authorities said. On Monday, Sept. 16, Andrea Luncsford, 25, of Chicago, was arrested and charged with endangering the health and life of a child, the Peoria Police Department said in a statement. Her son, identified as 1-month-old Grayson Luncsford, of Chicago, died of dehydration and exposure to extreme heat, Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said at a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 16, local outlet WCBU reports. The baby had been left in a vehicle without food or water for an extended period, Harwood claimed, WCBU reports. An autopsy on little Grayson demonstrates that he suffered gross neglect due to severe hyperthermia and profound dehydration, Harwood alleged, The Kansas City Star reports. Related: What to Know About Hot Car Deaths and How to Avoid Them On Monday, just after 7 p.m., police responded to a report about a dead baby at a home on the 2400 block of N. Peoria, police said in the statement. When officers arrived, they located a baby that was unresponsive and not breathing, police said. Harwood said he arrived shortly after. The baby was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:38 p.m., according to WCBU. The baby had been dead for quite some time when Harwood arrived, he said. Before police arrived, the babys grandfather pulled him out of a pickup truck and placed him in the yard, Harwood said, local outlet WEEK reports. 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. He said he didnt know how long the baby had been in the car or the exact time of death, WCBU reports. During the course of their investigation, detectives detained Luncsford, transported her to the Peoria Police Department for questioning and subsequently arrested her, police said in the statement. She was then transported to the Peoria County Jail, where she remains held, according to online jail records. It is unclear whether she has retained an attorney who can speak on her behalf. Leaving infants and children in hot cars without air conditioning or ventilation is dangerous, Harwood reminded people during the press conference. "We've talked about safe sleep and the safe sleep suffocations that are preventable," he said during the press conference, WCBU reports. "This, too, is a preventable death," he said. "When you have an infant or a kid in a car for any amount of time in this heat, the outcome is going to be as it is right now today, which is we have the death of a 1-month-old who has died because they were in a car with no air conditioning, no ventilation, no nutrition, no hydration." Related: Prevent Hot-Car Deaths: A Checklist for Parents Harwood added, Even an adult would suffer hyperthermia and dehydration. "It's going to happen a lot faster for an infant, unfortunately, because of body surface area and the makeup of their bodies and how fragile they are in their infancy anyway," he continued. This incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Peoria Police Department at (309) 673-4521, tip411 (anonymously) or Crime Stoppers (anonymously) at (309) 673-9000. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Mom of Baby Killed by Nurse Lucy Letby Says She Felt 'Uneasy in Her Presence' at Hospital The disgraced English nurse is serving 15 life sentences for murdering seven infants and attempting to kill six more EyePress News/Shutterstock Lucy Letby The mother of one of the seven infants killed by British nurse Lucy Letby says she became consumed with reviewing her childs medical records while trying to find out what happened to her newborn, who mysteriously died at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2018. I was just losing myself, the mother told British judge Lady Justice Thirlwall during the governments investigation into the murders. I was no longer a friend, or a daughter or a wife. Letby, 34, was found guilty last August of killing seven babies and attempting to kill six others between June 2015 and June 2016 while working as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, England, about 25 miles south of Liverpool. In July, Letby was convicted of attempting to kill another baby girl during a retrial. In total, the ex-neonatal nurse has been given 15 life sentences in prison. Letby was accused throughout the trial of killing babies and attempting to kill more by poisoning some with insulin and injecting others with air, PEOPLE previously reported. The former nurse has continued to maintain her innocence, despite being sentenced to life in prison. Im not guilty of what Ive been found guilty of, Letby said at her retrial earlier this summer, according to the BBC, who reported she was denied permission to appeal the verdicts. Related: Lucy Letby Trial: What to Know About the Nurse Convicted of Murdering 7 Infants in U.K. Hospital EyePress News/Shutterstock Lucy Letby Since then, the British government has launched the Thirlwall Inquiry to examine events at the Countess of Chester Hospital and their implications following Letbys trial, according to a government website. The inquiry began in September with witnesses and victims providing oral testimony and evidence to the court earlier this month, according to the inquiry, as officials examine the wider fallout from Letbys case. The Times has reported on the inquiry and the governments investigation since Letbys trial ended earlier this summer, including a report Tuesday, Sept. 17, that shared some of the testimony from the mother of Baby D, the third infant Letby was found guilty of killing. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. The mother described feeling like she was losing my mind after her childs death, according to The Times. She said her life crumbled after receiving the shocking news that the baby died in the middle of the night despite being in good health after being born. She told the inquiry that she recalled feeling uncomfortable with Letby in the room after her childs birth, adding that it felt like the former nurse was just watching us and waiting for something. I had what some would call instinct, the mother said, according to The Times. I felt very uneasy in her presence. Related: British Nurse Lucy Letby Given 15th Life Sentence for Attempted Murder of Baby Girl: 'No Remorse' Christopher Furlong/Getty Countess of Chester Hospital The mother accused the hospital of trying to shoo her away after her childs death, she reportedly told the inquiry, telling officials that it felt like they were just trying to file my case and I was not having it. The Times reported that the mother said the hospital needs to own up to its role in letting Letby take care of children, many of whom she tried to harm. If I wasnt failed in the first place by the Countess in dozens of ways and all against the protocol and guidelines they should have followed my daughter wouldnt have ended up in intensive care, I wouldnt end up poorly and destroyed, and she wouldnt end up in a place where someone is preying on babies, the mother reportedly said. As a strict minimum they owe us an apology, they owe the babies an apology and all the families who have suffered. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Mom of Elijah Vue Reacts Following Discovery of 3-Year-Old's Remains, as She Faces Neglect Charges The remains of Elijah Vue were found last week, months after he disappeared in February, according to authorities Manitowoc Co. court; two rivers police department/facebook Katrina Baur (left); and Elijah Vue The mother of 3-year-old Elijah Vue is reacting from jail after the childs remains were found several months after the boy's disappearance. Elijahs mother, Katrina Baur, was arrested alongside her boyfriend on child neglect charges after the child went missing, PEOPLE reported at the time, citing a statement from the Two Rivers Police Department in Wisconsin. On Sep. 7, police in Two Rivers found human remains only miles from where the child went missing, the department said at a press briefing on Sep. 10. The remains were positively identified to be of Elijahs, the department said. Days after the missing boys skull and bones were found, Baur, 31, who according to prosecutors' assertions in court sent the boy to her boyfriend as punishment right before his disappearance, reacted through her lawyer. Katrina Baur is devastated by the most recent news, identifying the remains found as Elijah, Baurs attorney, Amber Gratz, said in a statement to WFRV Local 5, FOX 11 and NBC 26. She had continued to have hope that her little boy would be found alive, Gratz said in the statement. At this time, she is mourning the loss of her son. Two Rivers Police Department Elijah Vue Related: Mom of Missing Boy, 3, Sent Him to Boyfriend for 'Disciplinary' Reasons Before Disappearance: Officials Elijah was last seen around 8 a.m. on Feb. 20 at his home in Two Rivers, investigators previously said. He was reported missing by his mother's boyfriend, 39-year-old Jesse Vang, who called 911 to report he couldn't find Elijah, PEOPLE previously reported, citing a criminal complaint obtained by FOX 11. Two days after Elijah was reported missing, police announced that the boys mother had been arrested on a charge of child neglect. Vang, who lived at the same address where Elijah was last seen, was also arrested on a charge of child neglect, Manitowoc County's online court records show. (Neither has been charged in connection with Elijah's disappearance or death). Manitowoc County Jail;Two Rivers Police Department Jesse Vang (left); and Katrina-Baur. Related: Remains of Elijah Vue, 3, Found in 'Thick Wooded Area' After Nearly 7 Months Missing: 'Devastated' In February, prosecutors alleged in court that Baur sent Elijah to Vang for "disciplinary" purposes right before the child went missing, Fox 11, NBC 26 and CBS 58 reported at the time. "She intentionally sent that child for disciplinary reasons for more than a week to the residence," Manitowoc District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre said in court, per NBC 26 and CBS 58. "She was aware of the tactics used and the lack of care provided. This was an intentional thing by her." Vang allegedly told authorities that he was helping Baur correct the childs bad behaviors, the criminal complaint stated. Prior to the disappearance, Vang allegedly expressed his anger to Baur, claiming Elijah had overfilled his diaper, per the complaint. 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. Vang allegedly told police that Elijah disappeared from his room while he was asleep, the complaint further stated. Both Baur and Vang have entered pleas of not guilty for their charges, Manitowoc County's online court records show. 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. The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling that allowed the states Green Party Senate candidate to remain on the ballot in November, a blow to Democrats efforts to prevent what they expect could be a spoiler in the close race between incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D) and his Republican challenger, Tim Sheehy. The Montana Democratic Party filed a lawsuit in late August contesting the nomination of Green Party candidate Robert Barb, who placed second in the states Green Party primary but replaced the top vote-getter after the winner dropped out of the race. The Green Party submitted the necessary paperwork to the secretary of state, Christi Jacobsen, declaring Barb the replacement candidate for the Green Party, but the state Democratic Party argued that the Green Party did not follow proper protocol and filed a lawsuit against the secretary of state and the state of Montana to block Barbs name from appearing on the ballot. In its ruling Tuesday, the states Supreme Court determined the Democrats failed to demonstrate that it is likely that the Montana Green Party violated its party rules when its state central committee appointed Barb to fill the vacancy. The court agreed with the defendants argument pointing out that the Green Party bylaws are silent on how the party should replace a candidate who drops out, making Democrats allegation that the Montana Green Party failed to appoint Barb in accordance with its bylaws merely speculative. The ruling affirms a lower court ruling denying the Montana Democratic Partys request for injunctive relief, arguing it did not follow the express and exclusive statutory process for contesting nominations and was therefore unlikely to succeed in making its case. The Montana Supreme Court disagreed with the lower courts reasoning but ultimately arrived at the same conclusion. Montana Democratic Party Chair Robyn Driscoll called the ruling disappointing and took aim at Barb and the states Republican Party in an emailed statement Wednesday. While todays ruling is disappointing, the Montana Democratic Party will continue to make sure that voters know the truth about Robert Barb: He is a well-known Republican who shares right-wing conspiracy theories and believes climate change is a B.S. fake narrative, Driscoll said in the statement. We strongly condemn the Montana Republican Partys blatant manipulation of voters and troubling refusal to follow Montana election law, and we will continue to share the truth from now until Election Day, Driscoll added. The secretary of state said she was pleased with the outcome. Im pleased that the Supreme Court unanimously rejected this hail mary attempt to undermine Montana election law, Jacobsen said in an emailed statement. From the start, this lawsuit was a baseless political game from Washington elites that showed complete disrespect for Montana and our election officials. The Hill has contacted the Green Party for a response. Tester is fighting to retain his Senate seat in the deep-red state that will prove critical in determining control of the upper chamber. The Cook Political Report recently made a major shift, moving the Montana Senate race from Toss Up, to Lean Republican, as Republicans increasingly like their odds of defeating the incumbent in the battleground state. Several recent polls have shown Sheehy, a businessman, leading Tester by a few points, within the margin of error but short of what Democrats would like. An AARP poll from last month showed Sheehy leading Tester by 6 points, while an internal poll from the Senate Republicans campaign arm had Sheehy up by 4 points. Story updated at 4:47 p.m. ET Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Montana Secretary of State's Attorney Austin James argues in front of Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike McMahon on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (Photo by Blair Miller, Daily Montanan) Montana Secretary of State's Attorney Austin James argues in front of Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike McMahon on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (Photo by Blair Miller, Daily Montanan) A five-justice Montana Supreme Court panel on Tuesday denied the Montana Democratic Partys request that the court take over its case challenging the appointment of the Green Partys U.S. Senate candidate, saying the party had not convinced the justices that a lower court erroneously allowed the Green Party candidate onto the ballot. The decision means U.S. Senate candidate Robert Barb remains on the ballot. While the court panel denied the partys request for a writ of supervisory control, it also found that the party had not shown it was likely to succeed on the merits of its argument for a preliminary injunction that would block Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen from certifying the November ballot to include Barb. The denial of the writ does not outright put an end to the Democratic Partys case; it has appealed Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike McMahons ruling from Sept. 3, which denied the Democratic Partys request for an injunction to keep Barb off the ballot. Barb and Libertarian Sid Daoud are the third-party candidates on the ballot alongside Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Tim Sheehy. But the court panel wrote in its opinion Tuesday that it would reach the same result as that court under a different analysis. In a statement, Jacobsen said she was happy with the courts decision and that her office had followed the law when it certified the November ballot to include Barbs name. Im pleased that the Supreme Court unanimously rejected this hail Mary attempt to undermine Montana election law, she said in a statement. From the start, this lawsuit was a baseless political game from Washington elites that showed complete disrespect for Montana and our election officials. The Democratic Partys attorney had argued in the request for supervisory control that McMahon had incorrectly interpreted statute that involves how a party replaces a candidate on the November ballot when the primary winner drops out of the race or dies prior to the election. Green Party U.S. Senate primary winner Michael Downey dropped out of the race on the final day he was allowed to, and the party appointed Barb as his replacement just ahead of Jacobsens deadline to certify the November ballot. The Democratic Party sued, arguing the party did not follow its bylaws in accordance with the law that concerns how parties replace their candidates. Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley originally granted a temporary restraining order less than an hour after Jacobsen certified the ballot, but after hearing arguments from the three sides in a preliminary injunction hearing a week later, McMahon vacated the restraining order and denied the Democratic Partys request for a preliminary injunction. Attorneys for the Democratic Party, Jacobsen and Barb all filed briefs with the court during the past week and a half, and a five-justice panel unanimously decided Tuesday not to grant the writ or preliminary injunction requested by the Democrats. Much of the argument has involved the words appointment and nomination, where they are contained in various election and candidate statutes, and whether the Green Party properly followed the law in replacing Downey with Barb. The court panel found the Legislature had made different procedures for challenging nominations than for appointing a replacement candidate. It also found that interpreting a section of law as requiring a party who wants to challenge the appointment of a replacement candidate to wait until after certification would be at odds with allowing ballots to be printed and distributed in a timely fashion. Although such would not be an absurd result, it would not give effect to the purpose of the statute, which in part requires political parties to comply with their own bylaws in appointing replacement candidates in the event of the death or withdrawal of a nominee after the primary election, the court wrote. But it found that the Democratic Party had not established that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its request for a preliminary injunction, for which four factors need to be met in order for one to be granted. The court also agreed with the states argument that the Democratic Partys contention that Barb was not appointed in accordance with the Green Partys bylaws was merely speculative. MDP has thus failed to demonstrate that it is likely that the Montana Green Party violated its party rules when its state central committee appointed Barb to fill the vacancy created by Downeys withdrawal, the court wrote. The panel ruled that while it disagreed with McMahons application of a portion of state law, the Democratic Party did not establish it was likely to succeed on the merits. MDP has not convinced us that the District Court erred in its ruling in its Sept. 3, 2024 Order, although we reach the same result as that court under a different analysis, the court wrote. Since we have not concluded that the District Court is proceeding under a mistake of law, this matter is not susceptible to writ of supervisory control. Barbs attorney, Rob Cameron, said he and his client felt the court got the decision correct that the Democratic Party was not entitled to an injunction. Were gratified and encouraged by the Supreme Courts prompt ruling here. Of course we agree that the Supreme Court got it right on the law, and that was the important issue that the Democratic Party did not meet its initial burden of proving a likelihood of success on the merits of the case, he said. Cameron said he views the separate appeal as essentially moot because of the time that has passed and the state laws requiring county election officials to mail out ballots to overseas and military voters by Sept. 20 this year. A spokesperson for the Democratic Party did not respond to a question of whether the party would continue with the appeal. Robyn Driscoll, chairperson of the Montana Democratic Party, said the party would focus on educating voters about Barb, whom the party contends is a Republican who swore to run as a Green Party candidate in an attempt to sway the Senate race between Tester and Sheehy. While todays ruling is disappointing, the Montana Democratic Party will continue to make sure that voters know the truth about Robert Barb: He is a well-known Republican who shares right-wing conspiracy theories and believes climate change is a B.S. fake narrative,' Driscoll said in a statement. We strongly condemn the Montana Republican partys blatant manipulation of voters and troubling refusal to follow Montana election law, and we will continue to share the truth from now until Election Day. Editors note: This story has been corrected to note that Libertarian Sid Daoud will be on the U.S. Senate ballot. mdp-green-mtsc-opinion MT. STERLING, Ky. (FOX 56) A Montgomery County student might face serious charges if an investigation finds they brought a gun to McNabb Middle School on Tuesday. Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Matthew E. Thompson sent a letter to families Wednesday informing them of the active investigation. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: According to the letter, around 6:50 p.m., McNabb administrators were informed that a few students reported that a student had brought a gun to school. Thompson said while the investigation is ongoing, there are no active threats to the school. The student reported to have had the weapon is not and will not be at school, he said. Possession of a firearm on school property is a felony, and the superintendent said the student would face severe charges and administrative consequences if the reports were found to be true. LATEST KENTUCKY LISTS AND RANKINGS: Montgomery County Schools asked parents to be vigilant and stressed the importance of knowing what children are doing. It is crucial that, as parents and guardians, you talk with your child and know what your children are putting in their backpacks and bringing to school. It is crucial that you know what they are posting on social media and who they are talking to online. It is crucial that if any of our students and adults see or hear something that doesnt sound right or is dangerous that they report it right away. If you see something, say something! We are very thankful for the students who ultimately reported the incident to an adult, reads the letter. Anyone can report unsafe or dangerous situations to the Safe School Helpline online, calling 1-800-418-6423 ext. 259, or texting TIPS to 66746. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. More than 100 former Republican officials back Harris over Trump in damning letter A group of more than 100 prominent former officials who served in Republican administrations have endorsed Kamala Harris, in a scathing letter that claims Donald Trump is unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust. The letter, obtained by The New York Times, counts signatories including former defense secretaries Chuck Hagel and William Cohen; former C.I.A. directors Michael Hayden and William Webster; and former Trump administration officials Miles Taylor and Olivia Troye, among others. The signatories admit they probably disagree with Harris on a number of issues but argue that Donald Trumps affinity for strongmen and behavior on January 6 disqualifies him from serving again. As President, he promoted daily chaos in government, praised our enemies and undermined our allies, politicized the military and disparaged our veterans, prioritized his personal interest above American interests, and betrayed our values, democracy, and this countrys founding documents, the letter reads. The GOP officials praised Harris for stated positions on defending Israel, supporting NATO, and sending more agents to the US-Mexico border. Prominent Republicans warned of Trumps affinity for strongmen and actions of January 6 in letter (Getty Images) These are the same people who got our country into endless foreign wars and profited off of them while the American people suffered, Trump campaign official Steven Cheung told The Independent via email. President Trump is the only President in the modern era not to get our country into any new wars. Many prominent anti-Trump Republicans have thrown their support behind the Harris campaign. Former U.S. representative Liz Cheney, one of Trumps sharpest (and only) GOP critics in Congress, announced earlier this month shed be voting for Harris as would her father, former Bush administration vice president Dick Cheney. As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, she told a crowd in North Carolina. Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris. Others have taken the Harris support a step further, with figures like former Illinois GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger appearing at the Democratic National Convention. Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong, Kinzinger said during the D.N.C. He is a small man pretending to be big. Hes a faithless man pretending to be righteous. Hes a perpetrator who cant stop playing the victim. The Harris campaign is likely hoping some of these endorsements will win them support from independents and moderate Republicans. A recent USA Today-Suffolk University poll found that Harris retains a 43-38 lead with independents in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, mirroring her projected lead in the overall presidential race thus far. More than 100 former Republican officials, mostly those who worked in national security or previously in various GOP presidential administrations, have penned a letter endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and warning about the dangers of a potential second Trump administration. "We appreciate that many Republicans prefer Donald Trump to Kamala Harris, for a variety of reasons. We recognize and do not disparage their potential concerns," the letter released Wednesday reads. "But any potential concerns pale in comparison to Donald Trump's demonstrated chaotic and unethical behavior and disregard for our Republic's time-tested principles of constitutional governance." The signatories insisted in their letter that when it comes to diplomacy, the former president's "unpredictable nature is not the negotiating virtue he extols." It added that Trump's demeanor "invites equally erratic behavior from our adversaries, which irresponsibly threatens reckless and dangerous global consequences." The Wednesday letter comes roughly three weeks after more than 200 former GOP officials, including people who worked for former President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, also came out in favor of a Harris presidency. The letter also comes shortly after former Vice President Cheney and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, both indicated they would be voting for Harris as well. KAMALA HARRIS: I HAVE THE ENDORSEMENT OF 200 REPUBLICANS John McCain, left, and Mitt Romney talk at a campaign rally in 2008. The letter on Wednesday was primarily signed by officials who had previously worked in either one of the Bush administrations or under former President Reagan. However, some former Republican members of Congress, including Illinois' Adam Kinzinger and Virginia's Barbara Comstock, also signed the Wednesday letter. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP In total, it boasted 111 signatures but did include at least two repeats from the August letter endorsing Harris. Another name appeared to be a third repeat from the August letter, but Fox News Digital could not confirm if it was the same person ahead of publication time. Meanwhile, there were also two signatories on the Wednesday letter who also signed the infamous October 2020 letter from dozens of intelligence community officials asserting that the Hunter Biden laptop story broken by the New York Post was "disinformation pushed by Russia." A Trump campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, slammed the Wednesday letter's signatories, arguing they are "the same people who got our country into endless foreign wars and profited off of them while the American people suffered." "President Trump is the only president in the modern era not to get our country into any new wars," Cheung said. HARRIS CAMPAIGN ORGANIZES TO TARGET REPUBLICAN VOTERS, TOUTS SUPPORT FROM GOP DISSENTERS The letter on Wednesday pointed to several reasons why its signatories are supporting Harris for president. Among them were that Harris has "consistently championed the rule of law, democracy, and our constitutional principles." The letter also said Harris has "pledged" to ensure the U.S. military will continue to be the most lethal fighting force in the world, and it highlighted her support for NATO, Israel and the bipartisan border security act that failed this year. The letter noted that Harris has pledged she will appoint a Republican to her Cabinet "in order to encourage a diversity of views and restore a measure of bipartisanship and comity to our domestic politics." On national security, the letter lauded Harris for what it described as her ability to "engage in orderly national security decision-making." It added that a Harris presidency would likely be absent "the constant drama and Cabinet turnover of the Trump administration." However, during Harris' tenure as vice president, she has come under scrutiny for creating a poor office culture and having a nearly 92% staff turnover rate. HARRIS-WALZ PRESENT CONFUSING FOREIGN POLICY THAT TOUTS SUCCESSES AMID CHAOTIC REALITY Meanwhile, the letter blasted Trump for cozying up to U.S. adversaries: "Donald Trump's susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making are dangerous qualities." On Monday, Trump surrogate Tulsi Gabbard praised Trump for the "tough work" he has done engaging with U.S. adversaries, which she insisted was a critical part of successful U.S. diplomacy. "President Trump did in his last administration what President Obama refused to do, what President Biden refused to do, what Kamala Harris has made clear she refuses to do, which is to go out and do that tough work that a president and commander in chief has to do in diplomacy," Gabbard said. "Not just hanging out with your friends and your allies and your partners, but actually going out and talking to your adversaries." The Wednesday letter concluded by saying Trump could not be entrusted "to support and defend the Constitution" against foreign and domestic enemies alike. "We believe that Kamala Harris can, and we urge other Americans to join us in supporting her," the letter said. It also said Trump should never be able to hold political office of any kind in the future. Currently, the Harris campaign is making a concerted effort to target vulnerable Republican voters, including through paid media and grassroots-driven digital efforts. Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams recently told Fox News Digital that Harris "has Republican momentum right now." "We are proud of the bipartisan groundswell behind Vice President Harris," Sams said. "And we will continue working every day to earn the support of Republican voters who want a president like her who still believes in patriotism, freedom, and our Constitution." Original article source: More than 100 former GOP officials from past administrations publicly endorse Harris over Trump By Kacper Pempel and Kuba Stezycki WROCLAW, Poland (Reuters) -Volunteers and emergency personnel raced to secure river banks and buildings in Poland and Hungary on Tuesday as flood waters that have wreaked havoc across central Europe began to rise in new areas and the Czech Republic reported another death. The worst floods to hit central Europe in at least two decades have left a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland, spreading mud and debris in towns, destroying bridges, submerging cars and leaving authorities and householders with a bill for damages that will run into billions of dollars. Authorities in the Czech Republic announced the death of a fourth person in that country on Wednesday, bringing the death toll across the region to at least 23. Seven people have been killed in Romania, seven in Poland, and five in Austria. Czech media reported the latest victim was a 70-year-old woman from a village near Jesenik who was found 20 metres from her house. She had been evacuated on Saturday but left the evacuation centre on Sunday to return home, Czech TV said. In the Czech Republic, water levels were mostly receding, but rivers were still peaking in some parts of southern Bohemia. DIFFICULT HOURS AHEAD In Poland's third-largest city Wroclaw, lines of people passed sandbags to fortify river banks and to protect buildings, while further south soldiers built walls of sandbags on the banks of the Oder. Authorities expect waters to peak in Wroclaw on Thursday. "We are concentrating on keeping the Oder within its banks," said Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak. "We have a very difficult dozen or so hours ahead of us." The Polish defence ministry said more than 14,000 soldiers had been deployed to flood-hit regions, with the armed forces using helicopters to evacuate people and strengthen flood defences, while drones monitored the situation from above. At a water level measurement station near Wroclaw, the Oder had already significantly exceeded the alarm level. Albert Wrotnowski, 29, an artist living nearby, was securing the riverbank with sandbags. "The mood is positive," he told Reuters. "I think people have such faith and hope, and you can see it." 'TRAGIC HARDSHIPS' Pope Francis talked about the "tragic hardships" caused by the floods during his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square. "I assure everyone of my closeness, praying especially for those who have lost their lives and their families." In Hungary, authorities opened a dam in the country's northwest to channel water from the Leitha river into an emergency reservoir in a bid to protect the city of Mosonmagyarovar. The water was allowed to flow onto agricultural land. In the capital Budapest, the Danube is still expected to peak around or slightly above 8.5 metres, likely on Friday or Saturday. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited the village of Kismaros, north of Budapest on the banks of the Danube, to see how preparations for rising waters were taking shape. In Kismaros, 70% of the defences were in place, with nearly 100,000 sandbags already used, government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs wrote on X. "We are waiting for the peak in Kismaros on Friday," Orban wrote in a post on Facebook. "It will be difficult, but our soldiers will stand their ground. We will do it!" FINANCIAL AID European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was due to visit Wroclaw on Thursday, where she will meet leaders from affected countries. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said they are calling on Brussels to provide financial aid. Poland's Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told a crisis meeting in Wroclaw that Poland had set aside 2 billion zlotys ($521 million) in funds to deal with the effects of the floods. Tusk said there had been reports of soaring prices for many products in flood-hit areas and he did not rule out the introduction of price controls. He also said the government would pay instalments of the mortgages of people whose houses had been flooded for a year. Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said on Tuesday he would like parliament to approve an amendment to the budget to make room for flood relief, even though the cost of the damage is still not known. Stanjura said it could perhaps be in the order of $4 billion. Mayors of some Czech towns in the Opava river area demanded that this weekend's elections for regional assemblies and one third of the upper house of parliament be postponed due to a lack of power and flooding of polling stations. However, the government has decided to carry on with the vote, saying that makeshift voting stations and other improvised solutions would be used. ($1 = 3.8385 zlotys) (Reporting by Kacper Pempel in Wroclaw, Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw, Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs in Budapest, Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet in Prague, Fedja Grulovic, Dragan Kastratovic in Venek, Crispian Balmer in Rome, Writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Angus MacSwan) Hezbollah leader vows to retaliate for 2 days of attacks on electronic devices in Lebanon Smoke rises from a mobile phone shop in Sidon, Lebanon, on Wednesday. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images) Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, vowed on Thursday to retaliate after two days of attacks on handheld electronic devices in Lebanon left at least 37 people dead and thousands of others wounded. Indeed, we have endured a severe and cruel blow, Nasrallah said in a televised address, accusing Israel of breaking all conventions and laws and red lines in what appeared to be coordinated explosions of pagers and radios carried by Hezbollah fighters. Israel has not directly commented on the attacks. But Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday described Israels war in the region as entering a new phase. On Thursday, the Israeli military launched a series of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon which it said were intended to "degrade Hezbollahs terrorist capabilities and infrastructure." Nasrallah did not say how, when or where Hezbollah would retaliate. I will not speak about time, or form or place, he said, adding: This retribution will come. How the attacks unfolded A mans bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut on Tuesday, in this screengrab from a video obtained from social media. (Reuters) On Tuesday afternoon, pagers started beeping on streets and sidewalks and inside cafes and grocery stores across Lebanon and Syria before heating up and exploding, killing at least a dozen people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding thousands of others. Videos from closed-circuit television shared on social media showed several of the explosions. Witnesses reported smoke coming from peoples pockets. Hospitals reported receiving patients with injuries to the eyes, hands and waist. A second wave of explosions, this time targeting walkie-talkies and handheld radios used by members of Hezbollah, was reported in Lebanon on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people and wounding hundreds more. According to the Associated Press, blasts were heard at the funeral of Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before. Who were the victims? Ambulances arrive at a hospital in Beirut following Tuesdays pager explosions. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters) Per the AP, most of those hit were members or linked to members of Hezbollah. But it was not immediately clear if other civilians were among the victims. Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said two children, including an 8-year-old girl, were killed in the initial attacks. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Irans ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amini, lost an eye when his pager exploded. Who was behind the explosions? Reuters reported that Israels Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers that were imported by Hezbollah months ago. Israel has not officially commented on the attack. According to the New York Times, the explosive material, as little as one or two ounces, was inserted next to the battery in each pager. Who manufactured the pagers? Multiple reports indicated that Hezbollah had ordered the pagers from a company in Taiwan called Gold Apollo. But Gold Apollo said in a statement that the pagers used in Tuesdays attack were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Budapest, Hungary, the AP reported. The Times later reported that BAC Consulting was "part of an Israeli front" that included shell companies created to "mask the real identities of the people creating the pagers: Israeli intelligence officers." Why is Hezbollah using pagers and walkie-talkies? A man holds a walkie-talkie after he removed the battery during a funeral in Beirut Wednesday for people killed in a mass pager attack the day before. (Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images) Hezbollah fighters have been using the low-tech devices instead of cellphones in an attempt to evade Israeli surveillance. In a speech earlier this year, Hassan Nasrallah, the militant groups leader, encouraged members to break their cellphones or lock them in an iron box. According to Reuters, the handheld radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time that the pagers were bought. The big picture Smoke rises from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on Wednesday amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (Karamallah Daher/Reuters) The attacks have renewed fears that mounting tensions between Israel and Hezbollah amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could explode into a full-scale war of its own. The Lebanese government condemned the pager attack as criminal Israeli aggression, and Hezbollah pledged to retaliate. Tuesdays attack came a day after Israeli leaders warned that they were considering stepping up their military campaign against Hezbollah, which backs Hamas. Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border clashes since the war in Gaza began. Hours before the pager explosions, the Times reported that the Israeli military had accused Hezbollah of attempting to assassinate a retired senior member of Israels security services with an explosive device that could be remotely detonated. White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said Wednesday that the United States was not involved in the attacks "in any way," and that it's "too soon to know" what effect they will have on ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel. The More Desperate Trump Gets, The More Toxic His Rhetoric Becomes A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. Of Course It Came To This Weve moved into the endgame stage of the 2024 campaign, and its now obvious that the pivot Donald Trump made when Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden was away from the bizarre, new-fangled Biden Crime Family conspiracies to the old tried and true racist and xenophobic attacks that have animated Trumps national political presence since 2015. The media coverage of the sustained Trump-Vance attacks on Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, has been remarkably clear-headed that the underlying claims around eating pets are baseless, fabricated, and continue to be disseminated in full knowledge of their falsity. What remains a challenge to the media coverage and the national conversation is that Trumps point isnt about eating pets, or Haitian immigrants, or Springfield. Its about othering entire segments of the population, largely based on skin color and national origin. Its about stoking fear in white people about these others. And it all reverberates and echoes in the context of othering Harris herself, whose bi-racial identity Trump hasnt hesitated to highlight in a disparaging way. Debunking the underlying supposed factual basis for the claims, while important, doesnt debunk the racism, the xenophobia, or the corrosive effects on American civic life. Those explicit racist messages not dog whistles, not coded, not euphemized come through loud and clear to all who are listening, from white nationalists on one extreme to Republican voters to immigrant communities now feeling isolated and under siege. Weve seen Trump play this game before with much-easier-to-substantiate claims of undocumented immigrants committing violent crimes, which was a consistent focus of his last two campaigns. The fact that that he picked a more outrageous falsehood to parade around is perhaps a sign of his growing desperation. His lead over Biden slipped away after Harris entered the race, and we should never let it drift too far from our awareness that Trumps own personal liberty is dependent upon winning this election. Down The Memory Hole! CNN: JD Vance got a former professor to delete a blog post Vance wrote in 2012 attacking GOP over anti-immigrant rhetoric More Incitement JD Vances apparent logic that the GOP ticket can only be blamed for actual bombs not bomb scares, and that any reporting on bomb threats is a lie and fake news serves merely as pretext for attacking the messengers: an angry JD Vance lashes out at reporters, calling them "sick," and claims every single bomb thread made in Springfield is a hoax (he was denouncing inciting rhetoric just minutes ago) pic.twitter.com/T1qMypQhpe Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2024 You Cant Have That Microphone Again In an appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered this remarkable extended answer on the virulent racist attacks that have become the central theme of the Trump-Vance campaign: Vice President Harris full response to Trumps attacks on Springfield, Ohio and his lifelong history of racism pic.twitter.com/spyJxC1bx9 Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 17, 2024 What Laura Loomer Represents To White Nationalists Laura Loomers suddenly higher visibility with Donald Trump just happened to coincide with Trump-Vance unleashing their attacks on Haitian immigrants. Its not a signal thats lost on the extreme right: White nationalist Nick Fuentes celebrates Trump's close connection to Laura Loomer because "Laura Loomer supports white nationalists and white identitarians. She has been a friend of mine for years and she has talked about white genocide consistently." pic.twitter.com/dyuAnzMvD5 Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) September 17, 2024 Its Not Just Trump-Vance Your occasional reminder that the entire GOP has made xenophobic attacks on immigrants the centerpiece of the general election campaign, most comprehensively with its fixation on the fake problem of non-citizen voting in federal elections. As TPMs Khaya Himmelman reports, in addition to its racist appeal, the non-citizen voting canard also serves the GOP purposes of delegitimizing any election that Democrats wins. And it started months in advance of a single vote being counted. Important Read Mother Jones: Over the last several years, the field [of disinformation research] has undergone a broadscale attack from politicians, right-wing media, and tech industry giants. As a result, research has been curtailed, people have been laid off, and academics working in the space even fear talking to one another, lest it leave them open to charges of conspiring by their adversaries. Election Threat Watch A series of suspicious mailings, some including unknown foreign substances, were sent to election officials in at least 14 states: Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Missouri, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Indiana, Rhode Island, Maryland, Colorado and Connecticut. Russia has retooled its election interference efforts to target the new Harris-Walz ticket, according to a new threat assessment report from Microsoft. Federal judge warns the judiciary that foreign actors could try to interfere in election-related cases. Trying To Flip The Script Since Sundays apparent assassination attempt against him, Donald Trump has been trying to leverage it into a political cudgel against Democrats, claiming that by calling him a threat to democracy they are inciting violence against him. CNN queued up clips of Trump using similar (although baseless) language against Democrats: CNN put together a rhetoric collection pic.twitter.com/BXQssMDDXh Acyn (@Acyn) September 18, 2024 GOP Still Targeting Childless Americans Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, at a Trump town hall event in Michigan yesterday, engaged in another pernicious way of othering Kamala Harris: Sarah Huckabee Sanders starts the Trump town hall by taking a shot at Kamala Harris for not having biological children. "So, my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble." pic.twitter.com/URV9FZBqhv American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) September 17, 2024 The Grifting Never Stops CNN: Donald Trump and his children unveiled a new cryptocurrency business Monday in a virtual address from his Mar-a-Lago estate, the latest venture that stands to benefit the former president as he seeks another four years in the Oval Office. Senate Republicans Again Block Bill To Protect IVF Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) forced another election-year vote on a bill to protect IVF nationally, and again Senate Republicans blocked it. Schumers maneuvering indirectly set up this bit of nationally televised screw-turning that Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) had to endure: Cotton: IVF is not at risk. The Alabama example proves the point. The legislature acted promptly Collins: Why did they have to act if it wasnt in peril? Cotton: Because of the Supreme Court decision Collins: That imperiled access to IVF pic.twitter.com/xViSNvv8IU Acyn (@Acyn) September 18, 2024 GOP Govt Shutdown Watch Ive been reluctant to put House Speaker Mike Johnsons flailing efforts to avoid a government shutdown on your radar, largely because it seems like such an insane self-own by Republicans to force the issue right before the election. Alas, insane self-owns remain a House GOP speciality. Editors Note Todays news happens to be a little more video heavy than usual, and that often prompts complaints about Morning Memos use of video embeds from X/Twitter. Your concerns are noted and largely shared. It continues to be a challenge to survey the news for you in this fragmented media ecosystem. Between cartoon villain owners turning their platforms into right-wing propaganda machines, dubious privacy practices, paywalls, and other barriers, its a jungle out there. There are no easy answers or perfect solutions to navigating this complicated terrain. As the media ecosystem evolves, Morning Memo continues to look for new and innovative ways to bring you the news without making you go Ick! about the sources of the news (cant promise how youll react to the news itself though). Its a imperfect work in progress, but your concerns are heard. Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know! After an outcry from neighbors, the Manatee County Planning Commission recommended denying a developers plan to build apartments and a shopping center in Parrish. The move came after dozens of residents spoke against the proposed Fort Hamer Commons development, which would include 496 residential units and up to 300,000 square feet of commercial space on 55 acres at the northeast corner of Fort Hamer Road and Mulholland Road. Ahead of the meeting, about 80 residents wrote to county leaders to complain about over-development in the area, according to public records. Many say they already have to deal with problems like congested roads and crowded schools. But the Manatee County Commission will have the final say on whether to approve or deny the proposed development at a future meeting. Jane Borsik, who lives in the River Plantation neighborhood, said she was struck by the size of the proposed development. The development is just too large, almost 500 dwellings, thats just outrageous, Borsik said. Residents push back on Parrish development Margi Dawson, who lives nearby, said she did not want a Walmart or another big box store to go up near Williams Elementary School, 3404 Fort Hamer Road, Parrish. All those children have to walk all the way to school in that surrounding area, she said. Thats really dangerous. Kurt Kraus, who lives in the Chelsea Oaks neighborhood, said the proposed development would worsen the traffic on Fort Hamer Bridge. Its a parking lot, he said. It moves very slowly. Planning Commission Member Paul Rutledge said he needed a clearer picture of what the developer would build on the proposed site. You have an extensive list of things you want to accomplish, and you give us no certainty, Rutledge said. Manatee Planning Commission raises traffic concerns Rutledge pointed out that a smaller project created more traffic in the area. I worked on the Walmart at I-75 and [State Road] 70, and I live around the corner, and I do use it, but that project was on about 40-some acres, and it is popping, he said. Its a massive traffic generator. Scott Rudacille, an attorney representing the developer of the project, argued that Manatee Countys development rules allow for this level of development at the intersection of two busy roads. Many of the comments that were submitted talked about how long it takes to get to stores and to get to places, and that is one of the reasons that its appropriate to put commercial here because you cut down those trips, said Carol Clark, a planner working on behalf of the developer. Planning Commission Member Lorraine Prosser also said she wanted to know more about the proposed development and how it could impact local traffic in the area. I dont feel like I have all the facts, she said. Prosser pointed out that there are busy roads near Williams Elementary School, which sits just north of the proposed development. I travel that road daily, morning, afternoon and evening, so I dont really need a traffic impact study to know what those roads are like, she said. Whats next? The Manatee County Commission will consider the Fort Hamer Commons development during a public Land Use Meeting on Thursday, Sept. 26. That meeting is set to begin at 9 a.m. at the Manatee County Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton. Even though evidence continues to build for a national catastrophic insurance fund this month's California wildfires a case in point U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Parkland, has doubts his proposal can successfully compete with other congressional priorities like protecting gas stoves. Moskowitz' legislation, which he introduced in 2023, would create a national catastrophe fund by which the federal government would guarantee part of the damage-related costs in the event of a natural disaster. The bill would allow states to opt in so that the cost of natural disasters to property owners and insurance companies is borne on a national level. Clearly we need to spread the risk around, said Moskowitz, a freshman lawmaker who is currently seeking re-election to represent congressional District 23. The district extends from Boca Raton to Fort Lauderdale. The legislation hasnt moved in the U.S. House, which is governed by a thin GOP majority, since its introduction and Moskowitz hasnt attracted a co-sponsor in spite of tornadoes, wildfires and hurricanes that keep grabbing headlines. U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz is up for reelection after his freshman term representing Florida's Congressional District 23, which stretches from Boca Raton to Fort Lauderdale. Republican Joe Kaufman is challenging the Parkland Democrat. Palm Beach Post Still, the idea makes sense, Moskowitz said, noting that former congressman and Florida governor Charlie Crist promulgated the same legislation during his terms in Congress. Crist chose not to continue representing the district in Pinellas County in 2022 to make an unsuccessful bid for governor. At the outset, a national catastrophe fund would relieve the existential threat of ruinous insurance claims when a calamity hits, and without costing the government anything. A national catastrophic insurance fund would eliminate the need for insurers to buy the most costly kind of reinsurance, which protects insurance companies' funds and reserves from getting wiped out by a crush of policyholder claims after a major disaster hits. A long-term fix? The way it works now, much of whats driving premium increases is because the reinsurance markets spooked by growing property damage bills from natural disasters have become increasingly expensive in states with high potentials for large-scale wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes and river flooding. Under Moskowitz's plan, the government would issue bonds to insurance companies after a 1-in-1,000-year catastrophe to cover claims so the insurers are no longer at risk for ruin from a natural catastrophe. A news release from Moskowitz's office last year estimated that threats from major catastrophes drive about 50% of current premium costs. Having the federal government ready to issue bonds in the event of a major disaster would allow insurers to plan for the most foreseeable disasters. Wildfires burning in Southern California has caused heavy smoke and poor air quality in the High Desert on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. Moskowitz, who led Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said the current Congress is fixated on issues that align with the "MAGA-verse" and will be as long as former President Donald Trump holds sway. His Republican colleagues are pushing to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for resisting a subpoena regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal, he said. Moskowitz added that legislation to protect gas stoves has seen more action than his catastrophic insurance fund legislation. The U.S. House in 2023 passed legislation that would stop the federal government from prohibiting the sale of gas stoves after it was announced that a federal agency was exploring the role of gas stoves in emitting indoor pollutants. But the federal government hasn't proposed any such prohibition and the U.S. Senate has not taken up the issue of banning the federal government from doing so. Were not making progress on anything, Moskowitz said. Moskowitz predicts continued insurance market problems In 2022 and 2023, the state Legislature passed a host of legal reforms aimed at addressing the insurance crisis. And, this year, Republicans have highlighted signs that the states insurance market is healing as a result of those reforms: more insurance companies setting up shop, fewer lawsuits filed and insurance premium increases slowed. Moskowitz offered somewhat sarcastic congratulations on any strides state Republicans have made and predicted that insurance is going to remain a big problem in the Sunshine State, at the top of voters' issues. Have you gotten your premium-going-down letter? Moskowitz asked rhetorically. Congrats to my colleagues, you convinced everyone this was all the lawyers fault. Now that youve done that, who are you going to blame? Anne Geggis is the insurance reporter at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at ageggis@gannett.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: MAGA priorities crowd out insurance fix via national catastrophe fund UPDATE: Mother charged with murder was acting erratically when officers arrived on the scene UPDATE (3:30 p.m.) When police arrived on North Peoria Avenue and saw a dead baby lying on a grassy lawn, they noticed the mother was acting erratically and could have been under the influence of some sort of substance. And Andrea Luncsford, 25, tried to drive away with her baby but was blocked by family members just before 7 p.m. Monday. They were able to block her U-Haul pickup and grab Grayson, who was one month old and likely had been dead for a while. Some of the swabs taken at the scene tested positive for cocaine, a Peoria County prosecutor said in open court. And almost prophetically, police found a text message from her father to her imploring her to leave the baby with them. The text message said, You know that baby can overheat and die, please let us help you, from dad to mom. Those are just some of the new allegations regarding Andrea Luncsford who appeared in Peoria County Circuit Court charged in connection with her sons death. Luncsford appeared by way of video conferencing from the Peoria County Jail. She wore a black T-shirt and orange jumpsuit pants that are normally seen on jail inmates. She stood quietly, with one hand on her face as Peoria County Judge Mark Gilles explained the charges first-degree murder and endangering the life and health of a child. She cried loudly and tried to walk away from the camera at the jail but was brought by the judge who urged her to maintain proper decorum. Neither of the charges are probationable which would mean that she would go to prison if shes convicted. The murder carries a maximum of 100 years behind bars. The stiff sentence is due to the age of her son. The other count, the endangerment count, would carry a maximum of 10 years behind bars. The judge found prosecutors had laid out enough evidence for the charges. The judge appointed the public defender after he heard she only had public aid benefits as her income. Luncsford did state that she used to make up to $500 a month from the website Only Fans. The detention hearing part, as is becoming more common, will be held Thursday afternoon. Thats usually being done to give defense attorneys more time to prepare for the detention portion as a person could be held pending the outcome of a case. Mother charged with murder and child endangerment for babys death. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) A Chicago woman faces up to 100 years in prison after being charged with murder in connection with the death of her 1-month-old baby on Monday. Andrea Luncsford, 25, is also charged with endangering the life and health of a child. UPDATE: Baby died after being in a hot car for a long period of time Its a special version of that charge due to the babys death that carries a possible prison term of up to 10 years. Probation is also an option. She will next appear in court in October for her arraignment. Its likely a grand jury will hear the case before then. Peoria County prosecutors also asked a judge to hold her at the Peoria County Jail pending the outcome of her case. That request will be heard at 3 p.m. In their request, they said Luncsford posed a real and present threat to the community. Luncsford has been at the county jail since early Tuesday, less than 12 hours after her son, 1-month-old Grayson, was pronounced dead at a grassy lawn in Peorias East Bluff. Just after 7 p.m., Monday, Peoria police were called the 2400 block of North Peoria Avenue on a report of a dead baby. Thats near the intersection of East Archer Avenue. A relative pulled the child out of the vehicle but he had already died, said Coroner Jamie Harwood, who estimated the baby had been dead for a few hours. He said the cause of death was dehydration and hyperthermia. The murder charge alleges Luncsford failed to provide basic nutrition and care in that she left the baby in the vehicle. Normally murder carries a 20-to-60-year prison range but the age of the child made it a stiffer sentence. Deborah Lopez, a spokeswoman with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, said her agency had been talking to Luncsford as early as Sept. 6 due to a pending investigation that involved substantial risk of physical injury or environment. That investigation originated in the Chicago area where she was living. Then, on Monday, the agency opened another investigation, saying they were investigating a death. These are active investigations, and we are not able to comment further; we are working with local law enforcement on both investigations, she said. 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. People carry the coffin of Hezbollah senior commander Taleb Sami Abdullah, 55, who was killed late Tuesday. (Bilal Hussein / Associated Press) Of all the mysteries surrounding a sophisticated and startling attack against an avowed adversary of Israel, one question stands out: Why? After hundreds of hand-held pagers used by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, including a child, and injuring several thousand others, analysts questioned what benefit Israel had derived if it indeed carried out the mass detonations, as it is widely presumed to have done. Those questions sharpened Wednesday as the attack intensified with a new round of deadly detonations of hand-held radios and other electronic devices. Lebanons health ministry reported at least 14 killed and hundreds injured, with the fresh explosions drawing condemnation from around the world. Israels government has refrained from any public comment, but U.S. officials, while denying advance detailed knowledge of the wave of blasts, told news outlets that Israeli intelligence clandestinely planted explosives in the pagers before they were shipped to Lebanon. U.S. officials, keen to distance themselves from the attack, also issued warnings to Israel and, through proxies, to Hezbollah and Iran to refrain from escalating military operations in retaliation. Both Israel and Hezbollah have long been threatening a broader war along the border between Israel and Lebanon, as the two exchange regular rocket fire. A broader war, however, would be dramatically different. On the face of it, the motivation of the electronic device attacks seemed clear enough: Hezbollah and Israel are archenemies, antagonists in a smoldering border war that for months has run parallel to the far more destructive and deadly confrontation between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Hezbollah has declared itself to be acting in solidarity with Hamas, which for months has tried to pull its Iran-backed allies into a wider war with Israel. The nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip, who do not differentiate between civilians and combatants in the toll. It has reduced much of the seaside enclave to ruins, and left Israel internationally isolated over the immense suffering of Palestinian civilians. Tuesdays attack did wreak havoc on Hezbollahs internal communication capabilities, analysts said. Speaking before the new round of blasts on Wednesday, they added that the setback to the militant group was probably limited in both scope and duration. Lebanese soldiers gather outside a damaged mobile phone shop after a walkie-talkie is believed to have exploded in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on Wednesday. (Mohammad Zaatari / Associated Press) The Tuesday attack undermines Hezbollahs operational capacity to communicate securely with its personnel, researchers Yaakov Lappin and Tal Beeri wrote on the website of Alma, an Israeli think tank specializing in the conflict on Israels northern border. Even so, they assessed that in all likelihood, the group could still engage in an extensive attack on Israel in the immediate time frame, if it wished. As a display of sheer technological prowess, the pager plot a sophisticated operation that analysts said would have required months of planning was seen by many Israelis as a much-needed image-burnishing for the countrys security establishment. Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, which triggered the current war in Gaza, was branded a massive intelligence failure on Israels part one for which a number of senior security chiefs, but notably not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have accepted responsibility. The Hamas-led attacks killed about 1,200 people inside Israel, and an additional 250 were seized as hostages and taken to Gaza. As the wars first anniversary approaches, the pager attack allowed Israels security officials to send a message: We messed up, but were not dead, French defense and strategy consultant Pierre Servent told the French news agency AFP. Aside from any perceived domestic morale boost in Israel, however, some observers questioned whether the pager blasts would ultimately backfire, earning yet more international opprobrium and setting the stage for retaliation by Hezbollah. This is not the kind of incident that ends quietly in the Middle East, military analyst Amos Harel wrote in the Haaretz daily newspaper. He cited the highly personal and humiliating nature of the pager strikes, which flooded Lebanese hospitals with wounded individuals, many with fingers blown off or injured eyes. Some suggested the pager plot was intended as an explicit message to Hezbollah that Israel has undisclosed technology-driven capabilities it can yet wield against the group, whose conventional military strength dwarfs that of Hamas. Firefighters stand outside the mobile phone shop in Sidon after the explosion. (Mohammad Zaatari / Associated Press) Such a warning comes as Hezbollah, too, edges into uncharted territory regarding remote attacks. The pager blasts came the same day that Israels Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency disclosed a failed Hezbollah-organized bid last year to assassinate a senior former Israeli official identified in news reports as ex-Defense Minister and army Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon using a powerful explosive planted in a Tel Aviv park. Another planned attack with a similar profile was also foiled, the Shin Bet said. But any notion of the pager explosions as a carefully timed and precisely calibrated message of deterrence was undercut by media reports Wednesday that Israel made a hasty decision to set off the blasts, believing that the plot was in the early stages of being uncovered. In a diplomatic context, the timing of the attack appeared to be yet another slap by Netanyahu at Israels closest ally, the United States. The blasts came as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken traveled to Cairo to try to nudge along Egyptian mediation for a cease-fire and hostage-release accord between Israel and Hamas. U.S. officials say that Israeli attacks in Lebanon or elsewhere weaken their hand as they attempt to negotiate with Arab allies and, through them, Hamas. The U.S. says it warns all sides they are playing with fire as they risk a wider escalation of warfare, but it is difficult to predict actions by any party. At a news conference, Blinken said the Biden administration was still gathering information about the episode. On the eve of Tuesdays attacks, the Israeli prime minister met with an envoy from President Biden, Amos Hochstein, who sought to steer Israel away from a major escalation in Lebanon, which Israel has hinted of in recent days. In that meeting, Netanyahu offered no clue of the chaos to be unleashed a few hours later, Israeli news reports said. Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington 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. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky says heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has been released after being detained at an airport in Poland, Azernews reports. A video posted on social media showed Usyk being led away in handcuffs by uniformed officials. "I talked on the phone with Oleksandr Usyk when he was detained," Zelensky wrote on Telegram. "I was outraged by this attitude towards our citizen and champion. "I've instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko to immediately find out all the details of the incident at the Krakow airport. "As soon as I was informed that everything is fine, our champion was released and no-one is detaining him anymore." UPDATE 9/23/24 The City of Mountain View has officially lifted the temporary boil advisory issued Wednesday for parts of the city. Original Story (9/18/24): MOUNTAIN VIEW, Mo. The city of Mountain View has issued a temporary boil advisory for parts of the city on Wednesday, Sept. 18, until further notice. Utility Clerk Tiffany Young says residents on East Third Street between Jackson and Marr Avenues are advised to boil water for consumption until the city receives a clean water test result from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Young said the advisory follows a water main break in that vicinity. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The project has been delayed multiple times due to budget restrictions and environmental concerns [WECA] Seemingly doomed plans to reopen the rail line from Bristol to Portishead could still go ahead, after the area's metro mayor said he was "quietly confident". Long-running plans to bring the railway back came under threat after the new Labour government announced it was axing the scheme funding it. But now Dan Norris has given fresh hope that it will be chosen from a list of railway schemes around the country similarly at risk. "I would argue our Portishead line is so close to starting that it puts it in a good position to go forward," he said. 'Shovel ready' After claiming to have found a 22bn black hole left in the countrys finances by the Conservatives, Chancellor Rachel Reeves scrapped the Restoring Your Railway programme to save 85m. However, a total of 152m had already been committed from the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), the Department for Transport and North Somerset Council for the shovel ready Bristol to Portishead scheme. The Portishead branch line shut in 1964 but the railway was never dismantled [Network Rail] Mr Norris told the Weca overview and scrutiny committee meeting on Monday: They were clearing the trackside of trees and various other foliage with a view to doing significant things in the spring and getting on with the tracks. Weve very close to doing it. That puts us in a strong position because were literally at the point of putting shovels in the ground. Economically it makes a lot of sense compared to the other lines that are in contention against us. A new station was due to be opened at Pill [WECA] According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the West of England mayor said another project, the Henbury line, was on track as much as these projects ever are". He said: Its been interesting being the regions mayor, because Ive learned how slow some of the organisations are. The deadlines are pretty meaningless, which is very frustrating because we work with our unitary authorities to try to make sense of these timetables so we can fit in other things." Mr Norris added he was "puzzled" as to why the UK could not operate as other countries in Europe do. Theyre able to build tracks, plan them, get on with them, fund them and anticipate them arriving with much greater accuracy than we ever seem able to do," he said. I suspect thats slightly above our pay grade to get sorted but we should rightly draw attention to our disaffection with that. Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. More on this story Related Internet Links MPD: Officers arrest man who broke into business, stole items in Northwest DC WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said officers arrested a man after he burglarized a business in Northwest D.C. on Wednesday. Police said that at about 1:05 a.m., the suspect broke into a business in the 500 block of D St. 4 injured in multi-vehicle crash in Southeast DC When the suspect got inside, he stole items and then left the area, according to police. Officers searched the area and arrested the suspect, identified as Duane Jacob, 39, of no fixed address. Authorities charged Jacob with Burglary Two. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TOPEKA (KSNT) Topekas West Ridge Mall is welcoming in a new addition to its food court area this weekend. KSNT 27 News spoke with Eric Alcantara, owner of Mr. Teriyaki, at the mall about the imminent opening of his new business. People will soon be able to purchase fried rice, vegetables, chicken and beef at Mr. Teriyaki. This type of food, I feel like everybody likes it, you know, Alcantara said. We have been having a lot of requests already, When are you guys going to open?, and I mean its finally here. Alcantara, who also owns local restaurants Buffalo Grill and Mexicali, said he plans to open to the public at noon on Sunday, Sept. 22. Mr. Teriyaki will follow mall hours and be open every day of the week. Topeka Boulevard intersection shutting down, what to know We want all of the community to support us, you know, Alcantara said. Were trying to get the mall back up and running. You can find West Ridge Mall at 1801 Southwest Wanamaker Road in west Topeka. You can learn more about the mall by checking out its website or by following it on Facebook. This embedded content is not available in your region. 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. Chayse Harmon died in a mass shooting in downtown Ocean Springs because authorities failed to prevent known crime in and around a city restaurant, a lawsuit says. In addition, the lawsuit claims Ocean Springs police and Jackson County sheriffs deputies violated the 19-year-olds rights by thwarting an attempt to save his life by an off-duty nurse who was performing life-saving measures on Harmon after the shooting at The Scratch Kitchen. Instead of continuing to render aid to Harmon after the May 5, 2023, shooting, the lawsuit alleges that authorities told the nurse to stop and step back. Afterward, authorities handcuffed Harmon. The mother and maternal grandparents of the young man shot dead at The Scratch Kitchen, 19-year-old Chayse Harmon, attended a hearing Friday about whether to close the Ocean Springs business. From right are mom Kimberly Harmon and her parents, Lena and Michael Harmon Sr., all of Moss Point. Harmons mother, Kimberly Harmon, filed the wrongful death lawsuit in federal court in Gulfport against the city of Ocean Springs and Mayor Kenny Holloway, the Ocean Springs Police Department and Police Chief Ryan LaMaire, Jackson County, the Jackson County Sheriffs Department and Sheriff John Ledbetter and other unnamed police officers and sheriffs deputies. The nurse was providing CPR and life-saving attempts and they (police and deputies) didnt take over and render any life-saving measures at all, Harmons attorney, Eric Tiebauer, of Waynesboro, said Friday. By failing to render aid after calling off the aid the off-duty nurse was providing the teen at the time, Tiebauer said, is a violation of the proper standards and protocols for policing. Harmon is asking for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. She accuses the defendants of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring, training, and supervision of Ocean Springs police and Jackson County deputies. Chayse Harmon The defendants have not yet responded to the allegations in the civil suit. A lawsuit represents one side of a story. The restaurants owner, Brittany Cruso Alexander, is not named as a defendant. FaDarius Davon Williams, now 24, is accused of shooting Harmon and six others during a Cinco de Mayo party at the Scratch Kitchen that brought in more than 200 people. He remains jailed in Jackson County on one count of first-degree murder and aggravated assault charges in the shooting. FaDarius Davon Williams Williams fled the scene after the shooting and went to Merit Health in Biloxi for a hand injury. From there, police he went to an Alabama hospital for further treatment. Authorities later identified Williams as the shooting suspect and took him into custody in Mobile. Ocean Springs police believe Williams was affiliated with a gang. In the aftermath of the killing, the city of Ocean Springs successfully pushed to have the restaurant closed because of ongoing problems with overcrowding and other issues. After a hearing in Chancery Court, Judge Neil Harris ordered the restaurant closed for good. City officials testified at the hearing that they had talked to Alexander multiple times about controlling the crowds at the restaurant and bar. In addition, police said, guns were present, and marijuana was being smoked there the night of the shooting. The crowds were well beyond capacity the night of the mass shooting. Alleged gunman went to Biloxi hospital after Ocean Springs mass shooting, police say Ocean Springs mayor calls mass shooting an intentional act Shirtless and covered in blood, he held a woman as her brother lay dead in Coast mass shooting Judge permanently closes Mississippi Coast restaurant after deadly mass shooting A photo of Trenin Bayless from a 2018 interview compared to video stills from one of TurnCoats YouTube videos posted in 2023. (Photos courtesy of Fash Free NW) A candidate for the Montana House of Representatives and a post-doctoral fellow at Montana Technical University in Butte has been reappointed to his position with the public university, even amid a request for an investigation by the states largest human rights organization because of concerns that he is an avowed white supremacist and neo-Nazi. The Daily Montanan requested and received the letter appointing Trenin Bayless through the end of 2024 as a post-doctoral researcher who will work with students, something that specifically concerned the Montana Human Rights Network, which provided a detailed dossier of social media activities and posts attributed to Bayless. MHRN provided that dossier to the university system as well as the Daily Montanan. The Montana Human Rights Network had earlier in the summer asked the Board of Regents of the Montana University System, which has oversight of all public colleges and universities in the state, including Montana Tech, to investigate the claims and, at a minimum, eliminate contact Bayless has with students. In previous interviews with Bayless, he has denied the connections that were first uncovered by FashFreeNW, a research organization that tracks, documents and publicly identifies white nationalists, supremacists, neo-Nazis and other radical groups in the northwest. Im not that, Bayless told the Daily Montanan in July, calling the accusations nonsense. However, in that same interview, Bayless declined to elaborate on his views, political or otherwise, saying that they could be misconstrued in a lawsuit he said he was planning against the Montana Human Rights Network. Bayless, a Republican, will appear on the ballot in a race in House District 74, which covers Butte. His challenger is Democrat Marc Lee. Previous calls to the Montana Republican Party went unreturned, and requests for any statement about Bayless candidacy have also gone unanswered. Montana Human Rights Network executive director Niki Zupanic said shes heard nothing from Bayless or attorneys since the organization went public with its concerns. However, after months of not hearing anything from the university system, Montana Human Rights Network reached out again to ask about the progress of the case and any information on the outcome. The Daily Montanan did the same, and university officials responded with a brief acknowledgment that they had received the complaint, but nothing about what actions, if any, the university took. We share your interest in ensuring that Montana Tech is a place to learn and work free from discrimination. We strive to provide an environment that is free from harassment and discrimination, while honoring the constitutional principles of free speech, said the letter, signed by Vanessa Van Dyk, Montana Techs head of human resources, which includes Title IX. It also encouraged any student who has felt theyve been discriminated against to file a complaint, and included a link to an online form. Officials at the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education in Montana did not respond to a list of questions from the Daily Montanan, instead only provided the letter, dated Sept.10. MHRN said thats the only correspondence between the university system and the human rights organization it has received. The letter came one day after the Daily Montanan had requested follow-up information. The Montana Human Rights Network had originally sent its concerns to the Board of Regents and the Commissioners Office on July 1, only to hear nothing in the intervening months. It also appears that Montana Tech Chancellor Les Cook re-appointed Bayless to his position, which pays an annual contract salary of $60,240, after the concerns of the Montana Human Rights Network had been brought to light. The original story concerning Bayless activity first appeared on July 11, and the appointment letter is dated July 24. Bayless accepted it the next day, July 25. The appointment outlines the various duties and terms, including that his end date is Dec. 31, 2024, not June 30, 2025, like most contracts, which follow the school year. It is not a tenure-track role and is dependent upon funding from outside research sources. Bayless duties include help(ing) the students with characterization and analysis as needed. It includes advising or working with four graduate students, whose names are redacted. He will work as a post-doc in the Army Research Laboratory. Also as part of the appointment process, Bayless had to sign off that he is subject to all institutional policies and procedures governing the conduct of employees. This would include the university systems institutional policies against discrimination. Leaders at the Montana Human Rights Network said they were doubly disappointed by the tardy response and inaction of the university system. It took over two months for Montana Tech to respond to our report about Trenin Bayless and his association with the white nationalist movement. Were disappointed that an institution that believes prejudice and discrimination are detrimental to human development and voices support for an environment in which everyone is respected, welcomed, and appreciated isnt taking seriously evidence that one of their staff is active in promoting white supremacy, antisemitism, and accelerationism. In his online writings, Bayless has stated that his main objective is to get as close to central leadership as possible in order to position himself and his like-minded friends to eventually seize control of both state institutions and groups of racist activists. On Substack, Bayless writes that We seize control by: showing up and making friends, then getting ourselves into useful positions, then getting more of /ourguys/ into useful positions. This post has since been deleted after the release of our report in June 2024. This information is deeply concerning considering that Dr. Bayless serves as an advisor to graduate and undergraduate students at Montana Tech. The university system has also repeatedly refused to outline or discuss what processes the system or Montana Tech took to either investigate the concerns or even exonerate Bayless. Why wasnt there even a response? What was it doing? asked Zupanic. In an ideal world, Zupanic said she would have hoped that the university would have acknowledged a complaint and then provided assurances that Bayless would not have contact with students. Zupanic also said that the Montana Human Rights Network was not necessarily calling for him to be unemployed, just not exposed to students. We think he has the right to free speech, and we believe in protecting that, Zupanic said. But this type of speech has a detrimental impact, and we want to make sure hes not in a position to impact negatively the students. doc05628020240910162407 Bayless Contract 2024_Redacted NEW YORK (PIX11) MTA officials and state leaders unveiled a $68 billion plan for improvements in the subway, bus and railroads on Wednesday, but questions loom as to how its being paid for. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber had no specific mention of congestion pricing in his initial opening remarks. The agency expressed confidence in funding from the state and other sources. More Local News The plan focuses on repairs and maintenance to the subway system. It also proposes 60 new accessibility projects and elevators at stations. Signals, power sources, new train cars, and upgrades to shops and yards are key items, according to MTA officials. More Transit News The agency releases a plan of investments to modernize and fortify the system every five years. In the past, the MTA has specifically mentioned congestion pricing and other funding sources. In June, congestion pricing was set to take effect. The fee to travel south of 60th Street in Manhattan would be used to fund transit. MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber says lawmakers and legislators will have to figure out the financing. We have to propose a capital plan to serve New Yorkers. Albany has to resolve how to fund the capital program, he said. The proposal is reviewed by a four-member board nominated by the Governor, the Mayor of New York City, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Assembly Speaker. The governor has the final say over the members appointments. Lisa Daglian is the executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee of the MTA. Theres only one real number to focus on and its the $15 billion dollar gap that was caused by the congestion pricing pause by the Governor. You cant bond an IOU and you cant bond figuring it out, she said. The Citizens Budget Commission is a non-profit and non-partisan watchdog. The group commended the MTA for focusing on projects that rebuild and improve the system. The MTA will continue to play catch-up given past underinvestment in core infrastructure and the billions of dollars still going to expansion projects that divert resources from essential rebuilding and improvement efforts. The biggest unknowns are the sources and amount of money to fill the gaping financing hole, the commission said. Governor Hochul called the pause temporary in June. She has said there will be developments when the legislature reconvenes. The governors office issued a statement that began by referencing previous investments in transit, including the Second Avenue Subway and funding the MTAs fiscal cliff and budget issues last year. We will review the 5-year capital proposal and fight to secure as much funding as possible. That includes pressuring Washington to deliver additional infrastructure dollars and working with our partners in the Legislature and City Hall to determine priorities and capacity during the upcoming budget negotiations, the governors office wrote in a statement. The agency submits the proposal to a review board in Albany by Oct. 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 PIX11. Former Republican Vice President Mike Pence told a Middle Tennessee State University audience Tuesday about his role in certifying Democrat Joe Biden as the 2020 presidential election winner despite threats from rioters at the U.S. Capitol. "I did my duty that day to support the Constitution of the United States," Pence told about 900 people packed into Tucker Theatre at MTSU in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Former Vice President Mike Pence, the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day speaker talks on Defining Democracy, the Constitution and other topics during the schools Constitution Week event Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, at Tucker Theatre. The event was organized by the universitys American Democracy Project. Although the former vice president faced questions challenging his conservative positions, the crowd gave Pence a standing ovation when he entered the stage to be the guest speaker of MTSU's Constitution Day celebration that's part of the university's Constitution Week activities. Some students including Aidan Ross and Alice Guo stood outside Tucker Theatre holding signs to protest Pence because of his positions on the rights of minority populations. "We're talking about the speech of everyone," said Ross, a junior audio production major at MTSU. "He's worked to silence the voices of LGBTQI+ and others. Democracy is the voice of everybody in America." "Pence doesn't really respect democracy," said Guo, a junior majoring in sociology and history. A week before Pence's speech, some student organizations on campus like MTSUs Young Democratic Socialists of America expressed disdain at the university scheduling him as speaker for the Constitution Day event. MTLAMBDA, the schools largest LGBTQ+ organization, also condemned the event in a social media statement, detailing a number of anti-LGBTQ+ positions Pence has taken over the years. More: Ex-VP Mike Pence to speak at Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday, stirring student pushback Pence: No one should feel mistreated for who they are or what they believe A small group of demonstrators held signs in front of Tucker Theatre at MTSU, the site where Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke as part of the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day event, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. MTSU history professor Mary A. Evins, the event moderator, asked Pence to speak to the concerns mentioned by the students. Pence responded by saying no one should feel mistreated for who they are or what they believe. The former vice president suggested he accepts the U.S. Supreme Court decision to legalize marriage for gay couples. Pence also supports the court's ruling that supports the First Amendment religious freedom on how people feel about the issue. Pence recalls Secret Service wanting him to leave Capitol during riot In addition to answering questions from the moderator, Pence responded to several audience questions. A journalism student asked Pence how he was doing following the death threats he faced for certifying Biden's election over former Republican President Donald Trump. "Jan. 6 is a tragic day," Pence said. "President Trump was wrong. I had no right to overturn the election." Former Vice President Mike Pence, the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day speaker talks on Defining Democracy, the Constitution and other topics during the schools Constitution Week event Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, at Tucker Theatre. Pence recalled the Secret Service advising him and his family to leave the Capitol. "I was determined at that moment to stay at my post," said Pence, noting he had a responsibility to certify the will of the American voters. "I had taken an oath. My duty was clear." Pence did agree to take shelter in a loading garage below the main floors of the Capitol during the riot. "I wasn't afraid," Pence said. "I was angry at what was happening at the seat of government." Pence praised the courage of police officers facing the rioters and expressed sadness for the "tragic loss of life" of one of the protesters. When the riot ended, the former vice president recalled reconvening with members of Congress to "complete our work" required by the U.S. Constitution to certify the presidential election. "We kept our oath that day," said Pence, who also told the audience he took his oath to serve as vice president using former President Ronald Reagan's family Bible. Pence declines to endorse Harris for president MTSU history student Nick Reile asks former Vice President Mike Pence if he was going to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential election, as Pence takes questions from the audience during the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day event, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, at Tucker Theatre. In addition to talking about certifying the election, Pence told the audience he could not vote for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed Biden as president. "She represents a radical left philosophy," Pence said. Pence also said he has differences in positions with Trump, including spending 85% of the national government budget on entitlements for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on a $35 trillion debt. Both Republicans and Democrats have walked away from being responsible with spending of tax dollars, Pence said. "The American people deserve better," Pence said. "I think it's a moral issue." The former vice president reiterated his concerns about the nation debt by mentioning his agreement with the late Nobel prize winning economist James Buchanan, an MTSU alumnus, about how wrong it is for the national government to pay for the needs of today by borrowing from future generations. "He shaped my thinking in profound ways," said Pence, adding that he worries about his three grand-daughters and those of other generations being burdened with the national debt. Pence wants national pro-life policy Former Vice President Mike Pence walks on stage and addresses the audience before participating in the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day event, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, at Tucker Theatre. Pence spoke on ODefining Democracy,O the Constitution and other topics during the ceremony. Pence also spoke in support of his pro-life positions that included the U.S. Supreme Court repealing the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that legalized abortion. He suggested laws that defend the cause of life through a compassionate approach to win hearts and minds should be returned to the American people to decide for the nation rather than for each of the states to determine as Trump supports. The former vice president also said he backs the nation's support to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty as a nation against the invasion by Russian military led by President Vladimir Putin. "America is the leader of the free world," said Pence, who worries Putin will decide to invade more countries if successful in defeating Ukraine. MTSU Student Government Association President Michai Mosby, left meets former Vice President Mike Pence, who spoke during the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day event, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. A Putin-ordered invasion of an ally NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) country would mean "our men and women have to go fight against Russia," Pence said. Pence said leaders of the free world should remember the lessons learned from what happened when Adolph Hitler led a NAZI Germany military that invaded other countries. "They didn't take a dictator seriously until it was too late," Pence said. Pence backs Israel A member of the audience asks former Vice President Mike Pence a question about Israel and Palestine during the question and answer section of the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day event, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. The former vice president also responded to a question about the war involving Israel. Pence said he visited Israel in January to see what happened Oct. 7, "a day of horror." "It was a terrorism invasion," Pence said. The former vice president said Hamas terrorists intended to "kill as many Jews as they possibly could" by murdering, brutalizing and kidnapping victims at a music festival and in Israeli communities. Pence said America stands with Israel, and audience members both applauded and booed. "I think Israel has no choice but to defeat Hamas," Pence said. The former vice president also said United States should grieve for victims, and support Palestinians seeking to rebuild cities and lives. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who was the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day speaker, signs a copy of his book "So Help Me God," for Murfreesboro City Councilman Austin Maxwell, at Tucker Theatre, following the Constitution Day event, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Among those in the audience included the following elected officials and county leaders: Murfreesboro Vice Mayor Bill Shacklett, Smyrna Mayor Mary Esther Reed, former Democratic state Sen. Andy Womack of Murfreesboro, MTSU President Sidney McPhee, university Provost Mark Byrnes, MTSU Board of Trustees Chairman Stephen Smith, Murfreesboro City Councilman Austin Maxwell, who's also chairman of the Rutherford County Republican Party, and former Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron, who's now a government relations specialist for the university. Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription. MTSU Alum Trey Jones takes a selfie with Former Vice President Mike Pence, following Pence speaking during the 2024 MTSU Constitution Day event, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, at Tucker Theatre. This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: MTSU Constitution Day: Former VP Mike Pence defends Biden 2020 victory TOPEKA (KSNT) The Shawnee County District Attorneys office is charging a man Tuesday with murder in connection to a recent deadly shooting in central Topeka. Katie Garceran with the Shawnee County District Attorneys office said in a press release that 23-year-old Caleb Horton has been charged with the following: Murder in the first degree. Discharge of a firearm at a occupied dwelling or structure great bodily harm. Murder in the second degree. Felon in possession of a firearm. These charges are in connection to the deadly shooting of 35-year-old Michael Sanchez on Sept. 6. Horton was arrested by police on Sept. 11 in connection to Sanchezs death. This marks the 14th homicide case for Topeka in 2024. Topeka Boulevard intersection shutting down, what to know Garceran said officers with the Topeka Police Department (TPD) were called on Sept. 5 to the 1300 block of Southwest Western for numerous reports of gunshots in the area. Police learned a body was found in the same area the following day on Sept. 6. Police found the body, later identified as Sanchez, at the scene. An investigation into the killing moved the TPD to arrest Horton in connection to the crime. 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. KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas - The family of a mother found dead in her Kaufman County home this weekend say it was her car at the center of a deadly police chase that ended in Dallas. 53-year-old Michelle Ingram has been identified as the murder victim out of Kaufman County. Her family says they didnt hear from her over the weekend and became concerned. After multiple welfare checks, some family members got inside of her home and found her body under a blanket. Ray Saffold is the one who found his aunt dead inside her Kaufman County home Sunday afternoon. "We finally pop the door open, and then we shot upstairs. It was dark. That gave me caution. Its dark. We dont know what is going on. We dont know if hes in there," he recalled. Ingram leaves behind a son of her own, but Saffold says she was a second mother to many. "She was a loving and caring person. I feel like that led to her demise," Ingrams nephew said. "She was just too caring, and she couldnt see the carelessness in other people sometimes." Once Kaufman County constables arrived on scene Sunday, they realized foul play was involved. Ingrams family says her husband of 20 years wasnt home, and her brand-new black Cadillac was gone. Nearly 24 hours later on Monday afternoon, Richardson police tried to pull over a black Cadillac with paper tags they say was a vehicle of interest in the weekend Kaufman County murder. A chase began. "I saw it on the news. And then I got a glimpse of the car, and he was in her car," Saffold recalled. "And that is how I knew it was him." Investigators say the driver of the Cadillac shot at a marked Richardson police vehicle multiple times, and the officer returned gunfire. The chase came to an end in Dallas when police say the driver shot himself before the Cadillac came to a stop at the frontage road of North Central Expressway near the I-635 interchange. Police have not confirmed the identity of that driver, but Ingrams family believes they do know who the driver was. Theyre calling this a case of domestic violence, and now theyre left with zero explanation. "It wouldnt change anything. But the fact that is why did you do that to her?" Saffold said. Police say a female passenger in the Cadillac was hospitalized after being shot multiple times by the driver. Three children, ages 5, 15 and 17, were in the backseat during the chase and the shootout. They were not harmed. Back in Kaufman County, neighbors noticed crime scene investigators at Ingrams home the last 48 hours. But on Tuesday, the dots were connected, and people living nearby were left shocked. "I knew something was going on because they had the tape around the house," said neighbor Curtis Kimmons. "Thats horrible. Thats horrible what happened to her." Dallas police and Richardson police are working the investigations. No officers were injured. The unidentified woman who was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac remains in critical condition Tuesday night at a Dallas hospital. Authorities are investigating a suspicious package addressed to the Colorado Secretary of State's Office. The package was sent with a return address to the "U.S. Traitor Elimination Army" and contained a white powdery substance, according to the Secretary of State's Office. Similar packages have been received by state election offices around the country this week. The package is being investigated by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Colorado State Patrol. Preliminary investigations indicate that the white powder is harmless. We cannot tolerate threats to election officials and public servants," said Secretary of State Jena Griswold. "These threatening mailings are unacceptable and we must condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms. As Clerk and Chief Elections Official for Denver, I take any threats on our democracy and offices very seriously," added Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez. "As elections professionals, we regularly train and implement measures to ensure voting in this election remains safe and secure. Ballots will be sent in the mail starting Oct. 11. All you have to do is fill out your ballot, sign and return it via mail or a 24-hour secure ballot drop box. Weve come a long was as a country for the freedom to vote and we will NOT be intimidated. Elon Musk has agreed to lead up a commission on reducing federal spending in a potential second Trump administration (Frederic J. BROWN) (Frederic J. BROWN/AFP/AFP) Elon Musk's fervent support for Donald Trump in the upcoming US election could extend far beyond incendiary tweets and campaign cash if the former president returns to the White House. The world's richest person has become increasingly present in Trump's campaign, essentially putting his personal X account, with its nearly 200 million followers, at the candidate's service. Following a second apparent assassination bid on Trump Sunday, Musk questioned why Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden have been spared such attempts on their lives. He later deleted the post. Musk has also used his personal account to endorse the unfounded conspiracy theory that a community of Haitian immigrants in Ohio had been stealing and eating the predominantly white population's pets. - Role in a Trump admin - Less publicized is Musk's agreement with Trump to lead a special commission on reducing federal spending, which would implement "drastic reforms," according to the former president. The idea originated from a freewheeling conversation between Musk and Trump broadcast on X in August. Musk proposed a "government efficiency commission" to ensure taxpayers' money would be well spent. Trump embraced the idea, praising Musk as "the greatest cutter," in reference to the Tesla and SpaceX founder's ruthless approach to running his companies. "When your employees stop working, you say 'That's OK... every one of you is gone,'" Trump said admiringly of Musk. While Trump didn't name the company, the reference was clearly to Musk's 2022 takeover of Twitter, which he later renamed X. In that acquisition, Musk eliminated 75 percent of staff, retaining only those willing to abide by his "hardcore" workplace ethos. The mass layoffs decimated its content moderation teams and ushered in Musk's reign over the platform, leading to a rise in misinformation and an exodus of advertisers. - No 'rule by fiat' - According to the New York Times, the two men have had regular conversations about Musk's workplace philosophy, with the hope that the multi-billionaire can impose it on the US government in a second Trump administration. When asked on the "All-In" podcast if this meant cutting as much as 5 percent of federal staff annually (about 150,000 workers), Musk replied, "I think we'd need to do more than that." He declined to be more specific, claiming doing so would put him at risk of being "assassinated," but said that workers would have time to find new careers. "The number of disgruntled workers, former government employees will be quite a scary number," he added ominously. Public policy scholars cautioned that Musk may be overestimating his potential influence. In the United States, the power to cut government jobs lies with Congress, which controls the government's purse strings. "Our system doesn't allow that concentration of power into any one office or any one individual that allows them to just rule by fiat the way that Musk can do at X, Tesla or SpaceX," said Casey Burgat, director of the legislative affairs program at George Washington University. However, others worry that a second Trump administration could reset the rules, especially now that a conservative-led Supreme Court has the final say over the laws of the land. The nine-member top court is now dominated by conservatives, including several Trump appointees, and has made recent decisions increasing the powers of the White House. Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor at Syracuse University, suggests that Trump could decide to "do whatever he wants and let somebody file a lawsuit and bring it to the Supreme Court, who have been pretty favorable to Trump on matters of executive power." - No fouls? - Neither Trump nor Musk seem to be bothered by questions of conflict of interest, which are glaring to many observers. Musk's diverse businesses are deeply intertwined with government, whether as a supplier to NASA in the case of SpaceX or as a subject of regulation as with Tesla, which often faces scrutiny over safety issues. Trump, meanwhile, has a history of appointing family members to top government positions and faces regular accusations of overlapping his business interests with his role as a public servant. Enforcing conflict-of-interest rules requires the political will of Congress, which Burgat said did little against obvious breaches in the first Trump administration. "There's no umpire calling fouls here," Burgat told AFP. arp/bfm RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Some Brazilian users regained access to X on Wednesday despite a nationwide ban put in place by the country's Supreme Court, a reunion apparently resulting from the social network changing the way its servers are accessed. But the renewed access may be short-lived. Late last month, Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X blocked nationwide after months of tension with the site's billionaire owner Elon Musk over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. De Moraes also set fines for anyone using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access the platform. That rendered X effectively inaccessible in the country until Wednesday, when an Associated Press journalist was among those who regained access. The number of X posts made in Brazil rose from 939,000 Tuesday to more than 2 million by late afternoon Wednesday, data analysis company Bites said. Experts examining X's IP addresses numeric designations that identifies sites' location on the internet said there are indications the company has begun routing users through the servers of Cloudflare, a content delivery network, en route to its own. The service that Elon Musks social network has started using works like a digital shield that protects the companys servers, Pedro Diogenes, Latin Americas technical director for CLM, a distributor that focuses on cybersecurity. It acts as a proxy between users and X's servers, filtering traffic and preventing the original IP address from being recognized, Diogenes told the AP. Brazils telecommunications regulator Anatel said it is looking into the situation and will report its findings to the Supreme Court, noting that there has been no change to de Moraes' ruling. A panel of fellow justices later upheld his decision, though it hasnt yet gone before the courts full bench. His fine for VPN users in particular has faced blowback, including from the nations bar association. The Supreme Court declined to comment on possible actions it could take. X said on its platform that the shutdown in Brazil affected service to Latin America as a whole, so it swapped network providers. This change resulted in an inadvertent and temporary service restoration to Brazilian users, the Wednesday evening statement said. We expect the platform to be inaccessible again shortly. Earlier Wednesday, former President Jair Bolsonaro celebrated the return of the social network with a post from his account. He has sided with Musk in the feud with de Moraes and sought to portray the ban as censorship from an overzealous judge. Some Brazilian X users also trumpeted the platform's return with several addressing de Moraes directly, vowing that they weren't using a VPN. There have been no reports of fines being levied against people using VPNs. Cloudflare, a security company that prides itself on providing services to websites regardless of their content, has a history of protecting sites other companies wont touch. But only to a point. In 2017, for instance, it dropped the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer as a customer following a deadly clash at a white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. And in 2022, it dropped the notorious stalking and harassment site Kiwi Farms citing an immediate threat to human life. But X is a mainstream social media platform even if it may be home to some extremist content and it is not yet clear whether Brazils ban would be enough for San Francisco-based Cloudflare to abandon it. Cloudflare has a reputation for cooperating with governments, however, and so may comply with an order from the Supreme Court to cease serving as X's proxy, David Nemer, who specializes in the anthropology of technology at the University of Virginia, told the AP. Ordering internet service providers to block Cloudflare would be impossible, since thousands of Brazilian companies depend on it, Nemer previously wrote on Bluesky, another social media platform. A person close to Cloudflare, who was not authorized to speak publicly about a business relationship, said the network services provider did not do anything specifically to help X get around Brazils ban. Rather, X recently switched to Cloudflare from another provider, which could be a reason the block is not working. This person added that the workaround likely won't last long. ___ Ortutay reported from San Francisco. AP writer David Biller reported from Rio. John-Paul Miller, the former pastor of Solid Rock Church and husband of now deceased Mica Miller, filed a libel lawsuit against a Myrtle Beach area woman for saying Miller was involved in Micas death. For damages, Miller is requesting $6 million, and for Melissa Mancari, the defendant, to delete all content related to him, according to the court complaint. In late April, Mica Miller committed suicide in a North Carolina state park. Following her death, rumors that her husband abused Mica began circulating due to social media posts by Mica before she died and from her family after she died. This sparked a #JusticeForMica movement that is attempting to bring awareness to domestic violence. Miller has denied abusing Mica and having a role in her death. He declined to comment Wednesday on the suit. Mancari also did not wish to comment on Wednesday. The suit, filed on Sept. 16, states that Mancari spoke with Robbie Harvey on his YouTube channel, which has over 100,000 subscribers, about her experiences with Miller as a paralegal at an unnamed law firm. An employee from Sarah E. Whatley Family Court Attorney said Mancari is no longer employed with the company. In the interview, she told Harvey that when working as a paralegal, John-Paul called the firm asking for marital legal advice, the complaint stated. She said John-Paul, told her he wanted to destroy his wife, and was seeking an attorney that would help pursue the endeavor. She also spoke about how she believes John-Paul either killed Mica or had a role in her death. Micas death was ruled a suicide and John-Paul was in Charleston the day of her death, according to police. Mancari also went on Stephs Case Files, a TikTok account, and said John-Paul was an abusive husband and is responsible for his wifes death, again citing her encounters with him as a paralegal. John-Paul also alleges that Mancari has been filming him coming in and out of his lawyers office and posting the videos online, the suit says. John-Paul confronted Mancari about the videos. Mancari went on TikTok again, saying that John-Paul harassed her at work, which he refutes in the lawsuit. In the lawsuit, John-Paul states that Mancari has knowingly made false statements on social media and to individuals and this harmed his and his familys overall safety. For damages, Miller is requesting $6 million and for Mancari to remove all social media posts related to John-Paul. Myrtle Beach Police officer involved in accident that causes car to crash into business A Myrtle Beach Police officer was involved in an accident Tuesday afternoon, resulting in the other vehicle crashing into an office building. The accident occurred on Broadway Street, according to police spokesperson Randolph Angotti. Angotti said the officer was taken to the hospital to be checked out. He was later released. Angotti would not release the officers name. This is the second time this year that an officer has been involved in an accident and police officials have declined to release the officers name. He did not have other details on the accident, saying that South Carolina Highway Patrol is investigating. It is not known if the other driver was also injured in the accident. Photos on Facebook of the police vehicle show significant damage to the front of the police vehicle. A Myrtle Beach Police officer was involved in an accident Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, that caused another vehicle to crash into the side of a business. The other vehicle crashed into the side of Pixel Fixer Cellphone MacPC Repair located at 417 Broadway St. A person answering the phone at the business said there is some damage to the building. A request for information from the SCHP was made. This embedded content is not available in your region. (NEXSTAR) House Speaker Mike Johnson hosted an event Wednesday recognizing several women who contributed to the space race. The Congressional Gold Medal was presented to the families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Christine Darden at the U.S. Capitol. Darden watched the ceremony from her Connecticut home. The women are often referred to as the Hidden Figures of the space race, and were the subject of both a book and film of the same name. A medal was also given to all the women who worked as mathematicians, engineers and human computers in the U.S. space program from the 1930s to 1970s. By honoring them, we honor the very best of our countrys spirit, said Hidden Figures author Margot Lee Shetterly. The push to honor them was first introduced by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on Feb. 27, 2019, with the Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act, which was signed into law later that year. At a time in America when our nation was divided by color and often by gender, these women dared to step into the fields where they had previously been unwelcomed. They excelled in science and math and made groundbreaking contributions in aeronautics, speaker Johnson said. But these women didnt just crunch numbers and solve equations for the space program, they actually laid the very foundation upon which our rockets launched and our astronauts flew, and our nations soared. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) A man accused of several violent crimes, including rape and kidnapping, is the newest addition to Nashvilles list of Most Wanted fugitives. This list is updated every Wednesday on the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Criminal Warrants Divisions Facebook page. According to detectives, those featured on the list are often considered to be some of the most violent offenders in the city. Metros Most Wanted: Woman in custody after alleged car chase, shooting Of the suspects on this weeks list, all but two are wanted for either homicide, murder or charges related to alleged sex crimes. The rest of Nashvilles Most Wanted suspects are accused of crimes such as aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and evading arrest. While the search for these suspects continues, the list has aided police in several arrests. Just last week, detectives were able to track down 27-year-old Quierra Spear, who had been on the list since August for warrants related to a shooting and car chase. According to investigators, a fight a few months earlier in July had led Spear to follow a woman in her car and fire shots at the victims vehicle, coming within feet of hitting the driver and two children that were in the car. Alliance raises $1.8M to improve public safety in Nashville In total, at least 134 Most Wanted fugitives have been arrested since the program was launched in October 2022. Investigators have largely attributed the programs success to tips theyve received from the public. Below is a list of the suspects who made the police departments Most Wanted list the week of Sept. 18, 2024. 1. Dadiri Muhina Dadiri Muhina (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) At number one, Dadiri Muhina, 23, is considered this weeks Top Most Wanted fugitive, according to the MNPD. This is the second week in a row Muhina has appeared on the list. Authorities said Muhina is wanted after having been indicted by a grand jury on multiple felony charges. The charges against him include first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder, attempted murder and tampering with evidence. You took away our happiness, grandmother of 16-year-old Nashville murder victim makes heartfelt plea Court records show the charges are related to a September 2021 shooting in which 16-year-old JaNiya Birdsong was killed, and a 17-year-old girl was injured. Family members told News 2 multiple young men were involved in an argument with the two teens before shots rang out. Birdsong was pronounced dead that night in the driveway of her grandmothers home in the Paragon Mills neighborhood. Her family said she was a junior at Hillsboro High School and hoped to one day become a hairstylist. The other teen reportedly survived her injuries. Initially, the only link to a suspect was a light-colored sedan that was seen leaving the area. However, six suspects, including Muhina, have since been identified. READ MORE: 16-year-old girl killed in South Nashville shooting As their investigation progressed, detectives said they found text messages between the suspects regarding their plans to destroy the car used in the alleged homicide. Muhina and the other suspects are also accused of conspiring to hire someone to kill a witness. At least one other suspect in the shooting was taken into custody. However, Muhina has remained at large. Anyone with information on Muhinas whereabouts is asked to contact the MNPD at 615-862-8600 or Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. 2. Adrian L. Cameron Adrian Cameron (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Adrian Cameron, 19, has reportedly been on the run since mid-April. Hes appeared at the top of the list for several months as police continue to search for him in connection with the death of 32-year-old rapper Chris King. King was shot and killed just before 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 20. According to investigators, King and his friends had been hanging out in an alleyway between Hayes Street and Church Street that night when three other men approached them. RELATED: 1 killed, 1 injured in shooting along Hayes Street Kings friends told police it started out cordial, but after some time, the three suspects allegedly tried to rob them. Thats when gunfire ran out, injuring King and his 29-year-old friend. Both of them were brought to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, but King did not survive. Cameron, who was out on bond for the 2021 murder of 50-year-old Josh Evans at the time, was identified as a suspect in the shooting only days later. Officials believe Cameron cut his ankle monitor shortly after the shooting. Cameron had just turned 17 years old when police said he turned himself in for Evans murder. Evans was found shot and wrapped in trash bags in the Cumberland River in Sept. 2021. Unbelievable: Mourning Lebanon family outraged teen murder suspect was out on bond, accused of killing again Cameron was arrested again for gun charges in Rutherford County less than four months after turning himself in for the 2021 murder. Hes now charged with criminal homicide in connection with Kings death, as well as failure to appear. However, efforts to locate him have been unsuccessful. Police said his last location is unknown. 3. Lagarrion L. Blacksmith Lagarrion Blacksmith (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Lagarrion Blacksmith, 35, has been near the top of Nashvilles Most Wanted list for several months as police continue to try to track him down. He was initially added to the list on Nov. 29, 2023, after investigators said they were able to connect him to a deadly shooting that took place outside a Dickerson Pike bar last year. Officers found 35-year-old Chancellor Eddins lying on the ground just outside of Trvth Lounge on Feb. 18, 2023. He had been shot and later died at the scene. Another man who had also been hit by the gunfire was able to give officers an account of what happened. RELATED: Man wanted for homicide, other charges following fatal February shooting on Dickerson Pike According to police, the injured man told them he and Eddins had gotten into an argument with the suspect inside of the bar. Then, shots were fired as they left the location. At the time, the identity of the alleged shooter was unclear. Months later, investigators announced Blacksmith had been identified as a suspect. On Nov. 22, 2023, officials said arrest warrants had been issued against Blacksmith for criminal homicide, attempted homicide, and felon in possession of a handgun. However, efforts to locate him have also reportedly been unsuccessful. His last location is unknown. 4. Raceme L. Crutcher Raceme Crutcher (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Police have been looking for Raceme Crutcher, 22, since July 2023, when he was named as one of two suspects in a deadly Fourth of July shooting. Officials said the shooting happened at the Fallbrook Apartments on Dellway Villa Road. Etabo Malanda, 16, was reportedly standing on the porch of an apartment when two armed individuals came from around the corner and confronted him. RELATED: Teen killed in shooting at East Nashville apartment complex Malanda allegedly tried to pull out a pistol that was inside his hoodie, but he was shot. Police said he died shortly after he was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. According to investigators, four guns were recovered from the apartment, including one that was reported stolen. Crutcher and 17-year-old Jaylin Brown were reportedly connected to the crime through witness accounts. Investigators also obtained surveillance footage and additional information from community members that they said pointed to Crutcher and Brown as suspects in the case. Officials believe the motive may have been an ongoing dispute between the suspects and Malanda. SEE ALSO: Teen wanted in connection with deadly Fourth of July shooting arrested Brown was taken into custody on Aug. 31, 2023, after police said they caught him driving a stolen car. However, Crutcher is still on the run. He was added to the Most Wanted list on Nov. 15, 2023. His last location is unknown. 5. Antonio Jiminez-Calderon Antonio Jiminez-Calderon (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Antonio Jiminez-Calderon, 56, was recently indicted by a grand jury on several charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of a minor, according to authorities. The charges against him include aggravated rape with bodily injury, statutory rape by an authority figure, aggravated kidnapping and sexual battery. Jiminez-Calderon was added to the list on Sept. 4. Officials said his last location is unknown. 6. Jamal S. Alhakari Jamal S. Alhakari (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Jamal Alhakari, 41, is wanted by the MNPD after having been indicted by a grand jury on multiple sexual abuse charges involving a victim who was unable to give consent. Number of teen homicide victims in Nashville continues to rise The charges against him include aggravated kidnapping, sexual battery and sexual battery involving a person with a mental defect or that was incapacitated, according to the police department. Alhakari was added to Nashvilles Most Wanted list last week. Officials said his last location is unknown. 7. Yoshua C. Simmons Yoshua C. Simmons (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Yoshua Simmons, 26, is a new addition to the list this week. Police said Simmons is wanted on multiple outstanding warrants for various felony charges. The charges against him include aggravated rape with bodily injury, especially aggravated kidnapping of a victim under 13 years old, aggravated kidnapping with bodily injury and aggravated assault with serious bodily injury. Authorities said his last location is unknown. 8. Adrian Abernathy Adrian Abernathy (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Adrian Abernathy, 31, is believed to have been behind the wheel of a stolen car in a deadly October 2022 crash on the Rosa L. Parks Boulevard exit ramp from I-65 North. Abernathy has outstanding warrants for vehicular homicide, three counts of aggravated assault, felon in possession of a weapon, theft of a motor vehicle, theft of a firearm, reckless endangerment and making a false report. RELATED: Man wanted after allegedly lying about driving stolen car involved in deadly crash According to police, Abernathy initially said he was a backseat passenger in the stolen Lincoln Navigator SUV. However, over the course of the investigation, detectives determined the seating positions were reversed, and Abernathy was the one driving the car. Authorities said he was traveling over 100 mph shortly before the crash, which killed 29-year-old Todd Bryant of Antioch. Abernathy has been featured on the Most Wanted list several times since early February 2023. He was added back to the list on May 1 after last being featured in November. Officials said he was last seen in Hermitage. 9. Magic E. Johnson Magic E. Johnson (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Magic Johnson, 36, is wanted on outstanding warrants for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault by strangulation and felon in possession of a weapon, according to officials. Court records show Johnson has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2006. He has previously been convicted of charges such as disorderly conduct, misdemeanor evading arrest, aggravated robbery, assault and multiple order of protection violations. Johnson was added to the list on July 31. However, efforts to locate him have been unsuccessful. 10. Joshua R. Starkey Joshua R. Starkey (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Joshua Starkey, 19, is among some of the youngest suspects to ever appear on Nashvilles Most Wanted list. Police said Starkey is wanted for one count of aggravated robbery with a weapon or object. He was added to the list on July 10. His last known location was in Hermitage. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee Anyone with information on any of the suspects listed is asked to contact the MNPD at 615-862-8600 or Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Angela Johnson, a Pulaski County voter, plans to vote early with her daughter this November. She attended the county clerk's Vote Fest on Sept. 17, 2024 in Little Rock. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate) An estimated 200 Pulaski County residents submitted voter registration forms at various voter drives across Arkansas most populous county Tuesday, according to preliminary data from the county clerks office. The Pulaski County clerks office organized a Vote Fest event near its Little Rock office on Tuesday to recognize National Voter Registration Day. Seven other pop-up events were also held at colleges, universities and a high school in the heavily Democratic county where local organizations encouraged new voters to register themselves for the upcoming general election, educated some on restoring their voting rights and checked the registration status of others. Arkansas deadline to register to vote is Oct. 7, which is about three weeks away. [2024 Voter Guide: The candidates, the ballot measures, and the tools you need to cast your vote.] The upcoming election is extremely important because voters will be casting ballots for not only the President of the United States, but also for local, county and statewide offices that have the most impact on their daily lives, Pulaski County Clerk Terri Hollingsworth said. Additionally, there will be local and statewide ballot issues to decide on, and your vote on these matters. Historically, Arkansas has reported low voter turnout. The state had the lowest voter participation in the nation during the 2020 U.S. presidential election, with 62% of eligible citizens registered to vote and 54% voting, according to the Arkansas Civic Health Index report. The national average is nearly 73% of citizens registered to vote and about 68% voting. Lets come together as a community and help our state move up from the bottom of that list by voting, Hollingsworth said. Its our civic duty. Reproductive rights and immigration policy were among topics county residents said were priorities when considering how they will cast their votes this November. Attendees to Tuesdays events also highlighted the importance of researching all candidates and voting for the person who represents their values. Angela Johnson, a 50-year-old Pulaski County voter, ate her lunch and danced to the DJs mixes while the nearby Vote Fest attracted onlookers. Johnson said she plans to beat the lines and vote early on Oct. 21 with her 29-year-old daughter. Johnson said she sometimes has to convince her daughter that her vote does count in Arkansas, a state that has voted Republican for the last decade. Johnson intends to vote for the presidential candidate with common sense, which she said is currently Vice President Kamala Harris. This cycle, [Im looking for] a president thats for the people, Johnson said. That their agenda is to not to turn our democracy into non-democracy. I dont want one ruler. I dont want to vote for anyone whos trying to take [our democracy] from us. Johnson said reproductive rights are most important to her this election. Arkansas voters, however, will not have the opportunity to vote on a proposed ballot initiative that would have restored some abortion rights in the state. In August, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that a paperwork issue would keep the measure off the ballot. The decision came after several back-and-forth arguments between the secretary of states office and the group that supported the measure, Arkansans for Limited Government. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Tobias Peoples, who also attended a Vote Fest event, said he thought the proposed statewide measure was thrown out for bull reasons. Peoples, 27, said he intends to vote for Harris in the upcoming election and doesnt think we could come back if former President Donald Trump was reelected. Peoples was one of 112 people who signed a card at Vote Fest indicating their intention to vote this November. At the local level, Peoples expressed dissatisfaction for the way the Republican-majority government was leading Arkansas. He said it is not working, and he hoped things would improve. With the abortion amendment out, 44-year-old Bryan McGee said he only intends to vote on the statewide initiative to expand medical marijuana access. As someone who uses cannabis for pain management, McGee said he is supportive of the proposed changes in the measure, especially extending the duration of valid medical cards. About eight years ago, McGees life was permanently changed after a motorcycle crash. He now has T-12 paraplegia and uses a wheelchair to get around. Medical marijuana helps his condition, he said. McGee said he may skip over some local races this year, but he plans to cast his vote for Harris in the presidential election. Victoria Stallings-Wright, a 38-year-old registered to vote in Pulaski County, said she will make a plan to vote early this year, with reproductive rights, affordable education and immigration at the forefront of her decisions. Stallings-Wright said that the United States is a country made up entirely of immigrants. Yet, the people who come from immigrants have a problem with immigrants, she said. I think that says a lot. Stallings-Wright did not want to say who she intended to cast her vote for in the presidential election. DeCarlos Nora Jr., a volunteer with the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at Philander Smith University, also said immigration and the way presidential candidates speak about related issues is important to him. Nora, 20, said he thought Trump was over fabricating things when it came to immigration. As a young person, Nora also spoke to the importance of getting to the polls. From my perspective, I feel like young people are the least likely to vote, he said. We are missing out on a lot of votes. I feel like young people have the most complaints on things that are going on in the world, yet they arent going out and voting to make those changes. Arkansans can check their voter registration status by calling their local county clerk or by visiting www.voterview.org. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A Nationwide customer ended up paying a strangers mortgage after the lender took money from the wrong account. Adrian Froggatt, 36, noticed at the beginning of May that almost 763 had been taken out of his account for a mortgage payment, despite the fact he has not got a mortgage with the building society. When the operations manager contacted Nationwide, with whom he has banked for more than eight years, to ask what had gone wrong, he was told that it was due to the sort code and account number being very similar. A mortgage broker had inputted the payment details incorrectly, switching around the last two letters, leading Nationwide to take the money from the wrong account. He was refunded the 763, and a few days later a payment of 500 was deposited into his account. Mr Froggatt called the bank again and asked what the second payment was. The building society told him it was compensation and that it was investigating how the mortgage payment was taken from his account. It also offered a further 150 compensation, which he accepted. But in a letter on August 16, the building society told Mr Froggatt that the 500, which he had been advised was compensation, was instead the cashback owed on the mortgage. It had again been paid to him in error, after the wrong details were used. Nationwide said that they would be taking back the 500. After he complained, a Nationwide representative admitted that he had been led to believe that the 500 was compensation, and offered a further 50 in compensation. The customer service agent apologised for not meeting expectations but said that Nationwide would still be taking 500 from the account. Mr Froggatt said: It popped me into my overdraft for a couple of days, until they had refunded someone elses mortgage payment. He said that while the missing money didnt cause him too much financial distress, having put an offer in on a house days before it went awol meant that it could have derailed his plans. He said: It was more just concern about how it was that they managed to take someone elses mortgage out of my bank account. The week before it had happened we put an offer in on a house, so I was getting bank statements ready and I had a mortgage adviser meeting a few days later, Mr Froggatt explained. He said that the mistakes meant that he had lost all faith in them as a bank. It bewilders me that theyve had this massive error, and then its flagged up and they have paid the cash back in, but theyve never fixed the original error. Its just ridiculous how it has all come about, he said. Mr Froggatt said that as soon as his mortgage, which is with another lender, is sorted, he will change banks. Usually payments made in error should be returned by the person who receives it. But Gary Rycroft, consumer lawyer, said that Mr Froggatt was justified in seeking to keep the cashback payment because it was reasonable for him to assume that it was compensation. Mr Rycroft said that it was also reasonable to assume that having made one payment in error that the bank would have updated their records and not made the same mistake again. He said: The concept of unjust enrichment is defeated by reasonable reliance on the actions of the other party and also the law is not there to protect parties who are reckless which you could say Nationwide have been in making the same error twice. A Nationwide spokesman said: We apologise to our customer after an error by a mortgage broker meant a direct debit was wrongly set up on his account. Unfortunately, the cashback our mortgage customers were due was also incorrectly sent to him. As the customer shouldnt have received the 500, we have requested the amount be re-debited from his account. However, we accept we should have been clearer on the initial phone call about the cashback. In recognition of the inconvenience caused by this issue, we have offered compensation of 200. But after The Telegraph contacted the building society, Nationwide told Mr Froggatt that it would no longer be pursuing him for the 500. Mr Froggat said that he was delighted by the result. 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. NATO Secretary General does not believe in Putin's red lines regarding Ukraine's long-range strikes on Russia NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is sceptical of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's threats, which come amid discussions about allowing Ukraine to launch long-range missiles deep into Russia. Source: Stoltenberg in an interview with The Times, as reported by European Pravda Details: Stoltenberg stated that allowing Ukraine to strike targets in Russia with long-range Western-supplied missiles does not imply that NATO allies will become involved. Quote: "North Korea and Iran are providing significant military support and providing missiles, drones to Russia without them becoming a direct party to the conflict." The Secretary General also dismissed Putin's threat that such an authorisation would be a red line that would bring Russia into conflict with NATO. "There have been many red lines declared by him [Putin - ed.] before, and he has not escalated, meaning also involving Nato allies directly in the conflict. He has not done so, because he realises that Nato is the strongest military alliance in the world," Stoltenberg said. NATO Secretary General stated that Putin understands that a nuclear war cannot be won and should not be waged, as NATO has "made that very clear to him several times". NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the decision to allow Ukraine to launch long-range strikes on Russian territory will depend on individual allies. He also stressed that there are always risks in war, but the biggest risk for Europe is a Russian victory in Ukraine. Ukraine seeks to use long-range missiles to hit Russian airbases and military facilities that are used to attack Ukrainian cities. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is convinced that the Allies should increase their support for Kyiv despite Russian leader Vladimir Putin's threats, as he does nothing beyond talking. Support UP or become our patron! A Navy SEAL unit that killed Osama bin Laden may be training Taiwanese forces to defeat a possible Chinese invasion, experts say A Navy SEAL unit is busy preparing for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the Financial Times said. It may be training Taiwan's forces to fight back against Chinese forces, retired Navy officers told BI. The US has become more hawkish about the possibility of defending Taiwan if China ever invades. An elite Navy SEAL unit may be preparing Taiwanese forces for reconnaissance operations and missions to repel a Chinese invasion, retired Navy officers said after a report said the unit had been training for such an eventuality for over a year. Last week, the Financial Times reported that SEAL Team 6 famous for killing Osama bin Laden in 2011 has spent more than a year planning and training at its Dam Neck base in Virginia for a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The unit conducts sensitive missions around the world, including battles in Afghanistan in 2002, a presence in Yemen, Syria, and Somalia in the early 2000s, and the 2011 nighttime raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. However, the unit's contingency plans like most of its missions are highly classified, and people familiar with its planning did not provide details to the FT about the specific missions it's preparing for. According to three retired Navy officers, the unit may be training Taiwanese soldiers to fight back against China should it invade Taiwan. Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expects SEALs to do two things. One, he told BI, "is training Taiwanese forces in reconnaissance and perhaps direct attack, focusing on missions that might be required to defeat a Chinese invasion." "Naval reconnaissance forces would locate Chinese forces for long-range attacks," he said, adding: "They might also launch attacks against offshore ships or shipping in Chinese ports." Another one, he said, is familiarizing themselves with the terrain so that they might be better employed if necessary. Bradley Martin, a retired surface warfare captain who served in the Navy for 30 years, said the SEALs' "broad" missions include intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and potential actions against an invading force. Those are "well-established in the SEAL mission set," he told BI. Sam Tangredi, a retired US Navy captain and surface warfare officer, made a similar assessment. He told BI that in a "conventional" war between the US, its allies, and China, SEALs would likely take on their "traditional" naval roles. These include direct reconnaissance of coastal areas before major amphibious-type operations, identifying naval mined areas and obtaining knowledge of capabilities and mine patterns, sabotage operations against enemy naval units and ports, and land operations from the sea, he said. "A 'great power war' which inevitably involved oceans or ocean access would require the traditional naval role," he said. "After all, Taiwan is an island. The bulk of PRC combat capabilities in an invasion would travel by sea," he said, using the initials of the People's Republic of China. Taiwanese forces launched a US-made anti-tank missile during a live fire exercise in Pingtung County, Taiwan, on August 26, 2024. SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images Preparing Taiwan for an attack For decades, the US has adopted " strategic ambiguity " toward Taiwan, positioning itself as the island's most steadfast ally while declining to explicitly say whether it would come to Taiwan's aid if China attacked. However, over the last few years, the mood in Washington, DC, has shifted toward greater hawkishness, Graeme Thompson, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider last November. President Joe Biden himself has repeatedly suggested the US would respond militarily if China attacked Taiwan. Reports have already given clues as to how the US is preparing for a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Last year, US officials told The Wall Street Journal that the US planned to quadruple the number of troops deployed to Taiwan compared to the year before, from about 30 in 2022 to between 100 and 200 soldiers in 2023. In January, US officials told Reuters the US is trying to spread its military logistics hubs across the Pacific, including warehouses in Australia. Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in June, Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, told The Washington Post that one of the US' plans is to launch thousands of uncrewed systems, from surface vessels and submarines to aerial drones, to fight any Chinese invasion as soon as it begins to cross the Taiwan Strait. According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, Taiwan is also one of the largest purchasers of US defense equipment. Martin said he would expect SEALs to be involved in a contingency response but added that didn't represent a change in current US policy. "There might be more attention than in previous periods, but contingency planning has been going on for decades," he said. Cancian said contingency plans were not policies or commitments. "The United States has not abandoned strategic ambiguity," he said. Taiwanese soldiers used the M110 American self-propelled howitzers during live-ammunition artillery training at a coastal area in Taichung, Taiwan, on August 8, 2024. Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images Preparations intensified after a US admiral predicted China could invade Taiwan by 2027 In its report on SEAL Team 6, the FT said preparations had intensified since Adm. Phil Davidson, then the US Indo-Pacific commander, said that China may invade Taiwan by 2027. During a 2021 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Davidson said Taiwan was "clearly" one of China's "ambitions" and that he believed the threat would be "manifest" in the "next six years." Since then, military experts and former defense officials have made similar assessments, some varying on China's timeline and means, while others focused on which allies Taiwan could rely on. Most say signs like China's rapid modernization of its armed forces over the past two decades and drills around Taiwan point to Chinese military action to seize the island by force, possibly in just a few years. A screen grab captured from a video shows the Chinese People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command launching large-scale joint military exercises around Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft in China on May 24, 2024. Feng Hao/PLA/China Military/Anadolu via Getty Images But experts from the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War said in May that an aggressive Chinese coercion campaign short of war but still threatening was more likely than a full-scale invasion and that the US needed to prepare for such an eventuality. Adm. Paparo told Japan's Nikkei newspaper in May that China's two-day drills around the island "looked like a rehearsal" for an invasion. A June report from the American think tank RAND Corp. said the US might have to defend Taiwan alone, as several of its biggest allies were unlikely to commit troops. Meanwhile, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said this week that he'd seen growing concern and alarm from other countries in the Indo-Pacific region over China's capabilities and intentions over the past 15 years. Speaking at a keynote address at an Air & Space Forces Association convention, he said that the threat of a war between the US and China was growing. "I am not saying war in the Pacific is imminent or inevitable. It is not," Kendall said. "But I am saying that the likelihood is increasing and will continue to do so." Read the original article on Business Insider A federal judge vented her frustration at a pair of civil rights attorneys last month for continuing to protest her finding that sanctions are warranted in the wake of their client's refusal to turn over evidence to the defense. On a cloudy morning this July, a sheriffs deputy pulled up to Edith Neals 1959 ranch home, carrying a summons to her doorstep in east Raleighs Woodcrest subdivision. Shed officially been served. Raleigh builder Steve Sypher is suing Neal, 61, over her propertys restrictive covenant. In fact, hes suing most of the neighborhood. Sypher wants to build 12 four-story townhouses across about nine-tenths of an acre at 524 and 528 Barksdale Drive next door to Neal. The city recently gave the green light. But Sypher faces another hurdle: removing the subdivisions decades-old covenant, tied to his properties as well as his neighbors, that restricts the lands use. On May 28, 1958, George Building Company, which developed the Woodcrest neighborhood, recorded in Book 1319 on page 253 of the Wake County Registry: Only detached, single-family, two-and-a-half-story homes allowed. To proceed, Sypher is now suing anyone whose property is subject to Woodcrests covenant, roughly 58 households spread across four streets. Its the latest in a string of lawsuits triggered by the citys 2021 missing middle housing reforms, pitting homeowners against the city and developers and underscoring the complex reality of implementing its policy on the ground. Neal is one of 87 defendants (some properties have multiple owners) named in the complaint filed by Steve Sypher Designs in Wake County Superior Court on July 1 and amended on Sept. 6. This largely blue-collar neighborhood includes a mix of young professionals, public servants and retirees, including a 95-year-old former police officer who is an original owner. He lives directly across from the proposed development. 528 Barksdale Drive, center left, in the Woodcrest neighborhood of Raleigh is photographed on Sept 5, 2024. In the lawsuit, he argues that the covenant is no longer binding due to the passage of time and the North Carolina Marketable Title Act, which helps clear old claims and defects from property titles, reducing the risks for disputes over property ownership. After meeting with a group of residents last year, Sypher calls it a real and existing controversy. He wants the declaration removed so that it no longer restricts development. Hes asking a judge to decide. Im really not trying to be the bad person in this situation, Sypher said in a phone call on Tuesday. I didnt create the zoning. My concept is not outrageous or over the top. This is what Im allowed to do. Im trying to do the right thing for our town and our city, he added. We need housing desperately. [Some on the street] dont want 1957 ranch houses with vinyl-siding to change, and its just impossible. But neighbors are fighting back, including Neal. Its mind boggling. I cant believe somebody would do this to our quiet neighborhood, said the manufacturing plant worker. For 30 years, Neal and partner Claudie Bennett have lived on this block, raising three children and now a granddaughter. Its where they planned to retire, until now. Neal worries about the projects impact on her property values and the neighborhood. The street is already crowded, she says, pointing to the cars lined up along her curb. We dont have anywhere to park as it is. This Woodcrest covenant states that only detached, single-family, two-and-a-half-story homes can be built in the subdivision. The George Building Company recorded the covenants in the Wake County Registry on May 28, 1958. The missing middle debate Starting in 2021, Raleigh began loosening zoning rules to incentivize developers to build what it calls missing middle housing like duplexes, townhouses and accessory dwelling units in single-family neighborhoods. Under the text changes to the citys unified development plan, adopted in 2013, Woodcrest is prime real estate for redevelopment. Just inside the Beltline, its about a 10-minute drive northeast of downtown Raleigh and in a frequent transit corridor. Part of a national trend, city leaders argue that higher-density housing is critical to grappling with the regions growing affordability crisis. Despite a post-pandemic construction boom, the Triangle is facing a massive housing shortfall. Demand and prices remain high as a steady influx of new and often well-heeled residents move here every year. The Raleigh metro area alone needs at least 17,000 more units, according to a 2023 Zillow study. Proponents say the policy boosts supply and is a more efficient use of land. They say it also creates more affordable housing options for young families, singles and seniors. But its also sparked backlash and lawsuits. A sign for the Woodcrest neighborhood at Dennis Ave and Timber Drive in Raleigh, photographed Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Critics argue its illegal and doesnt adhere to the rezoning process. They say it destroys the character and aesthetic of established neighborhoods and strains existing infrastructure, such as roads, schools and public services. Perhaps more to the point: It doesnt always guarantee affordable housing, they say. In March 2023, a group of Hayes Barton residents sued the city and a developer, arguing it didnt follow proper procedures when it approved plans to raze a 1925 home to build 17 luxury townhomes at $2 million a piece in one of the citys most historic and sought-after neighborhoods. The proposed project is stalled while the case is resolved. But as residents are quick to point out, Woodcrest isnt Hayes Barton. Unlike ZIP code 27608 where colonial and Tudor-style mansions with manicured lawns line the street and the median sale price hovered around $915,000 in August, according to Redfin Woodcrest remains a largely working-class neighborhood. Despite the citys surging growth, the median sale price in this ZIP code (27604) was around $475,000 in August, Redfin found. Raleighs overall median sale price was $425,000. Gateway Plaza on the 2200 block of Capital Blvd, photographed in September 1966. The Woodcrest neighborhood is seen at the top of the frame. In this latest lawsuit, the roles are also reversed. The developer is suing homeowners, not vice versa; and longtime residents say theyre getting pushed out and being left to fend for themselves. In this instance, they argue, the citys policy is hurting the demographic that it seeks to support: the middle class. I moved here because it was once one of the few affordable neighborhoods, said Ann Sun, 47, a designer, who paid $240,000 in 2012 for a three-bedroom ranch home on Barksdale, just a few houses down from Neal. Many homeowners purchased in this subdivision because of the covenants, Sun added. They believed and still do that the covenants are active and enforceable. Shes now spearheading a group to block Syphers project. Theyve hired a lawyer and plan to file a response to the complaint in the coming weeks, she said. Its expected to go to court in early 2025. Its our responsibility to uphold these covenants, Sun said. Whats the point of having a middle-class neighborhood with registered covenants if someones just going to come in and still do what they want? For a lot of us, its our only investment; weve got to protect our property values. On both sides of this oak-lined street, dozens of signs are now staked to the ground: No Barksdale townhomes. Ann Sun, Daniel McCoy and Edith Neal pose next to 528 Barksdale Drive in the Woodcrest neighborhood of Raleigh Monday, August 26, 2024. The existing home at 528 Barksdale has been torn down and new townhomes are planned at the site. For its part, the city remains on the sidelines. The issue regarding the restrictive covenants is a private matter that the city is not involved in, said Julia Milstead, the citys public information officer, in an emailed statement. The city does not enforce restrictive covenants, and they are not considered during the plan review process. Post-World War II subdivision meets missing middle Long before the citys push for higher-density housing spearheaded by outgoing Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, the trend was suburban sprawl. During Raleighs post-World War II housing boom, developers were incentivized to build entry-level starter homes in the citys outskirts. In the 1950s, subdivisions like Woodcrest offered affordable options: a mix of ranch-style homes and bungalows, featuring two- to three-bedrooms, from 1,100 to 1,700 square feet on quarter-acre lots. Most came with restrictive covenants. A relic from the Jim Crow era, these clauses in property titles became a common tool from the 1920s to the 1960s, preventing racial, ethnic and religious minorities from buying, leasing or occupying homes in certain areas. Most often, they targeted African Americans. After the 1968 Fair Housing Act, this practice is now illegal. However, covenants are still widely used today, though their purposes and applications have evolved. Even before he bought the two properties on Barksdale Drive, Woodcrest residents say Sypher should have known about the subdivisions covenant because he used to live there. Hed once been their neighbor for over a decade. Sypher, 52, is a custom builder who has worked in the area for almost 25 years and remodeled some 60 to 70 houses, by his estimates, in the neighborhood. In 2006, he paid $130,000 for the 1,732-square-foot ranch home at 2114 Woodview Drive, according to property records. As recently as 2021, Sypher lived on the street and still owns the property, records show. Its just around the corner from the Barksdale properties. In September 2021, Sypher paid $440,000 for 528 Barksdale, which has since been demolished. In May 2023, he paid $530,000 for 524 Barksdale. That house is standing but remains empty. Signs protesting proposed townhomes dot Barksdale Drive in the Woodcrest neighborhood of Raleigh, as seen on Monday, August 26, 2024. On the west side of North Raleigh Boulevard, Woodcrest is considered a frequent-transit zone, less than a mile from the citys first bus rapid transit line, currently under construction. The city would like to see more dense housing options along BRT lines. In June, the city approved Syphers plans for 12 townhouses across the two lots. Prices are expected to be from $600,000 to $800,000 per home, Sypher said. In a July 11 letter included with the subpoena to defendants, Syphers lawyer, Benjamin L Worley of Raleigh-based Longleaf Law Partners, said the proposed design would offer off-street parking and a design that [Sypher] believes would match the character of the neighborhood. Its far less dense than what might otherwise be developed, he added, pointing to zoning that allows for up to 20 units per property and contains no requirement for off-street parking. Thats not to say the developer wouldnt consider going bigger. Should the court only approve development on one of Syphers two Barksdale properties, he would most likely have to develop the property at full density allowed by the current zoning. What now would be 12 units across two properties might very well end up with 20 units on one property, Worley said. If a majority of owners consented to modifying the covenant, however, then this lawsuit can be dismissed, he said. Residents called it an extortion letter. And theyre not backing down. Do restrictive covenants hold up today? In Virginias Fairfax County, the Virginia Supreme Court overruled a zoning overhaul on procedural grounds. In a separate ongoing case, a group of residents has filed a lawsuit in Arlington Circuit Court arguing that missing middle zoning is illegal. Woodcrest homeowner Daniel McCoy, 38, is watching that case closely as he faces the battle at his own doorstep. Hes among the group of homeowners fighting Syphers lawsuit. Its something you think would never happen, said the risk analyst. Its stealing value from adjacent properties and adding to his. In 2021, a year before the citys zoning changes went into effect, McCoy purchased his 1,627-square-foot, three-bedroom brick home on a half-acre, directly across the street from the proposed development on Barksdale Drive. He and the vast majority of neighbors are not anti-density, he added. For example, roughly 500 feet behind his property, developers have applied to rezone 2321 Crabtree Boulevard for a mixed-use development. He didnt oppose the project because its appropriate for the location and not in the middle of a single-family home neighborhood. John Kitto also lives on Barksdale Drive with his wife. Speaking before the City Council in a 2023 recorded meeting, he called Woodcrest a case study in some of the unintended consequences of the citys policy. He wondered if it could be amended without throwing out the whole thing. Andrew Atkins, an attorney with Raleigh law firm Smith Anderson, wouldnt speculate on how the judge might rule in the case. In general, he said, covenants that have not been preserved by being re-recorded within the 30-year period will be extinguished under the North Carolina Marketable Title Act. In practicality, many have likely already expired and cannot be revived, Atkins said. The case law surrounding exceptions is relatively new, he added, despite the law being in existence for over 50 years. While only a few cases exist, Atkins said, the general theme is that the intent of the Marketable Title Act should be broadly construed, while the application of restrictive covenants is to be narrowly construed. That will lead to redevelopment, he said. City tweaks missing middle Even with multiple lawsuits under way, the city maintains its program is one of the nations most productive. However, its slowly revising the policy to address critics concerns. Since 2021, more than 2,800 dwelling units have been approved or are under review that would not have been allowed before zoning reform, planning director Patrick Young said in June. A majority of those approved, around 2,400 units, are new townhouses in northeast and southeast Raleigh. Of those, 203 are considered affordable. Based on those results, Eileen Taylor, an accounting professor in the Poole College of Management at N.C. State, said officials should find alternative solutions. In general, the effectiveness of missing middle policies isnt consistent, she said. In Raleigh, missing-middle options dont make a significant difference. The council has discussed possible tweaks. Among them: tree preservation; and the character impact of some high-density housing types on existing neighborhoods. Raleigh Mayor Pro tem Jonathan Melton maintains he wants to find some middle ground. Woodcrest residents say they hope he means it. NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) The clock is ticking for Gov. Roy Cooper to take action on a controversial immigration enforcement bill known has House Bill 10. The North Carolina General Assembly, led by state Senate and House Republicans, passed HB10 on Wednesday, which was packaged in the same legislation as the private school vouchers. Advocates speak against NC bill requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE The controversial immigration enforcement measure would force all sheriffs offices in North Carolina to cooperate with federal immigration officials in cracking down on crime. Specifically, the legislation requires that sheriffs offices temporarily holdup to 48 hoursinmates identified as being in the country without legal status and also considered violent criminals who are arrested for violent felonies or serious misdemeanors, such as assault on a female or violating a protective order. Republican Speaker of the House, Tim Moore said, North Carolina is dealing with border issues right now. Were dealing with thousands of people who are in this state who shouldnt be here. And were dealing with folks who shouldnt be here and committing serious crimes. HB10s Republican sponsors say the law will not mean just rounding people up if they are immigrants who are not committing crimes. But Democratic lawmakers opposed to HB10 are speaking the same language as many in the Latino community, questioning the constitutionality of HB10 of transforming sheriffs offices into the enforcement arm of ICE in order to oppress the undocumented community. Gubernatorial race looms over battle for NC General Assembly Its time for the Latino community to come together, said Iliana Santillan, a community activist with the nonpartisan, nonprofit El Pueblo. We hope that the governor will veto it. And we hope were able to do something about this bill next year and just really think through what we can do to protect our community. Many sheriffs in North Carolina won their 2018 elections on a promise to end any collaboration with ICE. Now many sheriffs, including in Wake and Durham counties, have gone on record in opposition of HB10. Cooper has until Saturday to likely veto HB10. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Michele Morrow, the Republican candidate to become state superintendent of public instruction, is under fire for homophobic comments saying the plus in LGBTQ+ includes pedophilia. Morrow made the anti-gay comment Monday in a social media post on X that talks about her Democratic opponent Mo Green being proudly endorsed by Equality NC, whose mission statement is to promote LGBTQ+ power. NEWSFLASHthe + includes PEDOPH*L*A!! Morrow added. Mo Green will NOT keep our children safe! We must keep EVERY student safe in ALL our schools! As Superintendent, I will work with the GA to enforce mandatory background checks for ALL public school staff and IMMEDIATELY suspend the license of any staff member arrested for crimes against children Mo Green has stated https://t.co/qWq65jCzHF MicheleMorrow (@MicheleMorrowNC) September 17, 2024 The social media post was condemned by Green as wrongly accusing the LGBTQ+ community of being pedophiles. This is another example in Michele Morrows long history of spreading hatred, encouraging violence, and proving shes unfit to lead our public schools, Green said in a statement Tuesday. Shes the wrong role model for North Carolinas 1.3 million students in public schools. Morrows campaign did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday from The News & Observer. Morrow is a homeschool parent, conservative activist, registered nurse and former Christian missionary who upset incumbent Catherine Truitt in the March Republican primary for state superintendent. She is running against Green, the former superintendent of Guilford County Schools. Hes also former executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a group that funds progressive causes. False claims of LGBTQ+ community supporting pedophilia The claim that the plus in LGBTQ+ stands for pedophilia has been falsely made for years. We follow the widely accepted understanding, as stated by our partners at the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) in their Glossary of Terms, that LGBTQ+ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, with a + sign to recognize the limitless sexual orientations and gender identities within our community, Equality NC said in a statement Wednesday. We encourage all candidates seeking office and their teams to familiarize themselves with these terms. Falsely claiming that the LGBTQ+ community supports pedophilia is part of a history of painting LGBTQ people as a harm to society, experts have said, according to ABC News. In 2016 and 2017, LGBTP became an online meme promoting the false claim that the LGBTQ community is adding a P for pedophile to its acronym. Most child molesters are heterosexual, according to the Zero Abuse Project, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting children from abuse and sexual assault. In most child sexual abuse cases, the alleged abuser is the heterosexual partner of a close relative of the child, a 1994 study found. Morrow accused of bullying students Morrows comments are hateful and bully vulnerable LGBTQ+ students, staff and families across North Carolina, according to Green. Every child deserves to learn, and every staff member deserves to work, in an environment that is safe, welcoming, and inclusive, Green said. Politicians like Morrow use schools as battlegrounds for their culture wars, and its simply unacceptable. Morrow is dangerous, charged Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. She is actively bullying children and shes creating unsafe environments, Clayton said in a statement Tuesday. This is the rhetoric of a hateful homophobic dark web internet troll who should never be in a position to oversee the education of North Carolina students. Not only does she not have any experience to oversee this department but with 49 days left in the election it is also truly disturbing that she thinks this is a winning message. Morrow: No pride in perversion Morrow made national headlines after CNN reported on her past social media posts that talked about killing former President Barack Obama and encouraged President Donald Trump to use the military to stay in power in 2021. During the campaign, Morrow has accused public schools of teaching children to hate our country and training students in transgender theory. Morrow has also made multiple anti-gay public comments at Wake County school board meetings. She unsuccessfully ran for the school board in 2022. As a nurse I want you to understand something, Morrow said at the June 6, 2023, board meeting as Wake marked Pride Month. There is no pride in perversion. What we should be proud about is that we are people of character. Also at that June 6 meeting, Morrow disputed the idea that children could be transgender. All children are trans, Morrow told the school board. Theyre transitioning from childhood to adulthood. They are the ones, there is no child that feels like a man or a woman, so allowing them to make decisions about their life or who theyre going to love or to know about the lifestyle choices of adults, is abusing the childrens mind at that time. Two weeks later, at the June 20, 2023 board meeting, Morrow responded to accusations that some speakers were making anti-LGBTQ+ comments at the meeting. They call us Marxists and hateful and bigots and everything else under the sun, Morrow said. Well let me tell you: Less than 5% of the entire population in North Carolina identifies as LGBTQ. Morrow went on to say that more than 50% of people in the state claim to believe in God, who made us male and female and who made marriage between a man and a woman. 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. NC voter registrations pick up as expert says state could see record turnout RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) With less than 50 days to go until the general election, events occurred across North Carolina Tuesday to coincide with National Voter Registration Day as the state is poised to play a crucial role in determining who wins the White House. Lily Barnett, a senior at Meredith College, was among those encouraging her classmates to register, noting the power young voters could have in shaping the outcome of the election. We dont vote as much as other age demographics, so were doing our best to get our voices heard, she said. North Carolina is a swing state. Our votes matter big time. North Carolina is seeing an uptick in registrations as the election draws closer. For more information on how to register to vote in North Carolina and the key deadlines click here: https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering Last week, registrations increased by about 19,000, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections. Of those, about 55 percent of people registered as unaffiliated. Since the 2020 election, there have been some significant changes in voter registration data. Unaffiliated voters now outnumber registered Democrats and Republicans, comprising 37.7 percent of the electorate. About 31.5 percent of voters are registered Democrats and 29.9 percent are registered Republicans. The number of registered Democrats has decreased by about 213,000 while the number of registered Republicans has increased by about 52,000 and the number of unaffiliated voters jumped by more than 430,000. More and more people are considering themselves to be independent at least in mindset. Their voting preferences tend to be very consistent. But, they consider themselves to be more independent, said David McLennan, an expert on state politics at Meredith College. Since President Joe Biden exited the race, U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC 13th) points out Democratic voter registrations have risen, which he says makes him very optimistic. The signs that weve seen with voter registration are very encouraging and show a campaign with a ton of momentum heading into November, he said. State Republican Party Chairman Jason Simmons said Republicans have been narrowing the gap in voter registration with Democrats since the 2016 election and expect that trend to continue. What weve seen of late has just been more of the historic norms, the late push by both parties to reach out to groups, to reach out to unaffiliateds to reach out to the new movers for voter registration drives, he said. Nothing that weve seen from the Democrat Party on their voter registration numbers alarm us. And, we continue to see Republicans outpacing Democrat registration. North Carolina saw record turnout during the 2020 election when about 75 percent of registered voters cast their ballots. McLennan said he thinks 2024 could exceed that. I think we could see even an increase from 2020. Across demographic groups, it seems like enthusiasm in the race has changed since Harris has entered. The Trump people have been enthusiastic since 2015, he said. I think theres enthusiasm across the board. So, we might see younger voters, older voters, rural, urban, this could be a record-breaking 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 Queen City News. Nearly 100,000 Arizona voters are in limbo thanks to an error in registration system Voters leave a precinct in Sun City West, Ariz., after casting their ballots in the state's primary election in July. (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press) The ability of nearly 100,000 Arizonans to vote in state and local elections is headed to court after election officials said they discovered an error in their system last week, throwing a chaotic wrinkle into the battleground state's voter registration roll less than two months before election day. At issue is Arizona's unique requirement that voters provide proof of citizenship for state and local elections. The subject has long plagued politics , despite very little evidence that noncitizens attempt to vote. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said Tuesday that 97,688 people statewide were listed as registered for the full ballot, although they had not actually provided proof of citizenship. All of these people have attested under penalty of law that they are U.S. citizens. And, in all likelihood, they [are] almost all U.S. Citizens, he said in a statement posted on X . But they have NOT provided documented proof of citizenship. Richer, a Republican, brought a lawsuit Tuesday against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, about whether the people in question should have access to a full ballot for Novembers election (there are approximately 4.1 million people registered to vote in Arizona, according to the secretary of state's office). The matter is urgent Arizona is scheduled to send its first ballots to military and overseas voters on Saturday. That is why we are going to the courts, Richer wrote. To get a clear answer. Read more: GOP targets 'noncitizen voting.' Experts agree it's not a problem Why does Arizona have a proof-of-citizenship law? Any voter in the United States may cast a ballot in federal elections simply by attesting to their citizenship under penalty of perjury. Arizona is the only state in the country that requires anyone who wants to cast a ballot in state and local elections to show documented proof of citizenship. As a result, Arizonans can fill out one of two forms when registering to vote: either as a federal-only voter with no documented proof of citizenship, or as a full ballot voter with documented proof. Arizonas saga over proof of citizenship began in 2004, when 56% of Arizonans passed Proposition 200, a measure designed after Californias infamous Proposition 187 . The Arizona measure, passed during a time of increased attention on illegal immigration through the border state, required Arizonans to present proof of citizenship to access a slew of public benefits, including voting. What was the error? Arizona has required proof of citizenship to get a drivers license in most cases since 1996. So, for most Arizonans registering to vote, having a drivers license was sufficient evidence of their citizenship the state's voter registration system would simply check to confirm the voter got a drivers license after 1996. However, that system had a snag. Unfortunately, the way the system was designed allowed for one group of voters through the cracks, Richer said in his statement. On a KTAR radio show Tuesday, Richer cited as an example someone who obtained a driver's license in 1992, but then lost it in 2012 and obtained a duplicate license. The system would show an updated license issuance date of 2012. Read more: Harris, in interview with Black journalists, calls Trump's attacks on Haitians 'a crying shame' "Then the voter registration system would think that accordingly, you have documented proof of citizenship on file," Richer said. "When, in fact, that was not the case." Richer said the Maricopa County registrar's office last week discovered a noncitizen who was registered to vote for a full ballot. "While the non-citizen had not cast any ballots in prior elections, the discovery prompted an urgent, collaborative review among county and state officials," Richer's lawsuit said. After Recorder Richer brought an erroneous voter registration record to my attention, my team identified and fixed an administrative error that originated in 2004, and affects longtime residents who received a drivers license before 1996, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement Tuesday. Read more: Abortion rights advocates in Arizona submit needed signatures to put issue on November ballot So what now? The back-end error is fixed, officials said. But elections officials are now divided about what to do with the roughly 97,000 Arizonans who are registered to receive a full ballot in Novembers election without having shown proof of citizenship. Fontes, the secretary of state, said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon that the people affected are primarily between 45 and 60 years old. Republicans are the plurality of voters, followed by independents and Democrats. Fontes said Arizona should maintain status quo until after the November election, allowing those voters to receive a full ballot. But Richer said that, legally, those registrants should get a federal-only ballot for November. He and I have a different legal perspective on what needs to happen here, Richer said of his friendly lawsuit against Fontes office. Several crucial state races in Arizona hang in the balance including a measure that would enshrine abortion access in the state Constitution. Both Richer and Fontes are urging the Arizona Supreme Court to issue a ruling as soon as possible. What should Arizonans do? Voters in Arizona can contact the secretary of state's office or their local county registrar for guidance. But for now, Fontes said, Arizonans should "hang tight." Depending on how the court rules, voters may not have to do anything or they may have to show proof of citizenship in order to vote in state and local elections. Voters who are on this list will be contacted soon, both Richer and Fontes said. Fontes added that his office is working to set up a portal for voters to submit their proof of citizenship, if the court deems it is needed before the November election. Regardless of the court proceedings, Fontes encouraged Arizonans to vote early. The politics of proof of citizenship Former President Trump renewed interest in recent years over the issue of proof of citizenship for voting, with his false claims that illegal immigrants are voting in droves. Election officials have repeatedly debunked the claims. Although there are occasional instances of noncitizens registering to vote, Arizonas secretary of state said, they are vanishingly rare. Read more: Amid Trump's incendiary rhetoric, radicals on both sides of political divide see violence as justified It's based on this mythology that there's an enormous amount of non-citizen voting that's happening that might skew an election one direction or another. It's crazy, Fontes told The Times in an interview last week. There's zero data behind this. While Arizona deals with the latest battle over its unique rules, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is seeking to make proof of citizenship for voting a nationwide issue. He said in a social media post Tuesday that he would attach the SAVE Act which would require proof of citizenship for voting to his next proposed congressional spending bill. I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this county rightfully demand and deserve prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections, he wrote. Johnson attempted the same thing last week, but ultimately pulled the proposal because it lacked support. Congress must pass a spending bill in the next two weeks to avoid a government shutdown. The ongoing proof-of-citizenship debacle coincides with National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday. 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. PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) Russell Reynolds claims his Forest Park neighbor, Eric Wimberly, filed a code enforcement complaint against him without warning for parking his camper in his driveway. When he looked at that house, he saw the drainage problems that the property had and he also saw a motor home sitting in my driveway. It did not affect him and stop him from purchasing the home, but now all of a sudden its a problem, Panama City local Russel Reynolds said. But Wimberly said he confronted Reynolds in person back in January. He told Reynolds the way the camper is parked blocks his view of people on the sidewalk, creating a safety hazard when backing out of the driveway. Legendary Spinnaker Beach Club in Panama City Beach has been completely demolished Wimberly also complained about the outdoor kitchen Reynolds was building and the rain gutter down-spouts draining from Reynolds yard into Wimberlys. I told him, youre building that on the property line. You need a permit to build the kitchen, and youre also going to need to control your drainage. While I was there, I also told him that your downspouts drain in my yard and your RV is parked incorrectly, Wimberly said. Wimberly said Reynolds addressed some issues, but not others. He did remove the roof off of the outdoor kitchen so theres no longer a drain to our backyard. The RV was removed for a couple of weeks and then brought back. For a while, he was blocking the sidewalk, Wimberly said. Wimberly filed a code enforcement complaint in February. Then on March 12th, Wimberly says he received a code enforcement letter of his own regarding his backyard shed, pool, and the RV parked on the side of his house. I had to tear down the fence, build a new fence, put the RV behind the fence, and submit pictures to code enforcement, Wimberly said. Wimberly filed a second complaint in May claiming Reynolds camper was still improperly parked. Bay County commissioners revitalize unused programs Wimberly said hes not the one trying to draw attention to the issue and cause problems for other recreational vehicle owners. I have made one complaint about one RV, and thats Mr. Reynolds. Hes the one whos drawing attention to every RV and every boat in this town. My biggest thing is its a safety hazard, and its arrogant to not comply and keep not complying, Wimberly said. Reynolds has a magistrate hearing on Thursday at city hall 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 mypanhandle.com. BEAVERCREEK, Ohio (WDTN) After searching, wildlife officials have been unable to locate an alligator or any other exotic creature at a local pond. The city of Beavercreek no longer believes there is an alligator or any other exotic animal in the pond at Dominick Lofino Park. According to the city, officials have not received any additional sightings of the creatures, even with the uptick of visitors. Beavercreek police officers were called Saturday to the park after James Bond, III, went fishing with his father. He believed he saw a large shadow near his fishing line in the pond, which prompted him to snap two photos. Safety remains a top priority for the city, said the city of Beavercreek. We remind park visitors to always exercise caution around bodies of water and to keep an eye on children and pets. If you are at a Beavercreek park and notice something out of the ordinary, you are asked to call the Beavercreek Parks Division at 937-427-5514. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nelson DeMille, a prolific author of action-packed adventures, has died at 81. "Nelson fought a valiant nine-month battle with esophageal cancer. True to form, he faced this ordeal with courage, grace, and good humor. We are grieving, but also celebrating his wonderful life and his lasting legacy as a father, friend, and storyteller," his family said in a statement to CBS News. Author Nelson DeMille / Credit: Courtesy of DeMille Family / John Ellis Kordes Photography DeMille authored 23 books, according to his website, including two he wrote with his son, author Alex DeMille. Born in New York City in 1943, DeMille moved to Long Island with his family and where he has resided ever since. After college, he joined the U.S. Army, serving in Vietnam. Following his discharge, DeMille started to write, publishing his first bestseller, "By the Rivers of Babylon," in 1978. DeMille wrote all of his manuscripts in longhand, and 17 of his books have been bestsellers. Seven books were New York Times bestsellers. He is survived by his wife and three children, Lauren, Alexander and James. Some Republicans shift on abortion ahead of Election Day Majority of Americans support mass deportations, poll finds Fear grows in Lebanon as device explosions enter 2nd day A Scottish white supremacist who wrote that the quickest way to someone's heart is with a high power 7.62mm round was convicted of plotting a terror attack on an LGBTQ+ group and other hate-related charges on Monday, the BBC and other media reported. Alan Edward, 54, of Falkirk some 25 miles west of Edinburgh, was convicted by a jury on four charges under the countrys Terrorism Act and other charges relating to anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial following an 11-day trial. Edward shared extreme racist and homophobic content online with the aim of stirring up hatred and spreading fear and alarm, Detective Chief Superintendent David Ferry, head of Police Scotlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said in a statement following the conviction. Edward had a mix of neo-Nazi and white supremacist views that expressed hatred for non-white people and the LGBTQ+ community. Police say he was plotting an extremely violent act of terrorism when he was arrested. He idolized Adolf Hitler and gave a Nazi salute during his trial. A document found on his computer referred to Norwegian neo-Nazi Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people on July 22, 2011, as Saint Anders. Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik who now calls himself Fjotolf Hansen raises his arm to make a Nazi salute as he arrives on the first day of the trial where he is requesting release on parole_RMwebinterior Edward idolized Adolf Hitler and Norwegian neo-Nazi mass murderer Anders Breivik (pictured) who killed 77 people on July 22, 2011 OLE BERG-RUSTEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images When he was taken into custody in September of 2022, police found what they described as an armory of weapons including a crossbow with hunting tips for arrows, a samurai sword, multiple machetes, a stun gun, an air pistol, an SS-styled skull mask with goggles and respirator, hardened fighting gloves and brass knuckles, pellets, and ball bearings. Edward had a social media following of almost 28,000 and once wrote that the quickest way to someones heart is with a high power 7.62mm round. Edward often communicated with followers on the WhatsApp messaging platform, and his messages reflected his disturbing views and plans. They have been pushing their luck for years, now they will pay in blood, Edward wrote about a local LGBTQ+ club in one message, the Herald of Scotland reported. Its time to kill. He also wrote, Its clearly time to hunt the f*gg*ts down and beat them. We used to sterilize mental defectives, he wrote of transgender people in another message. We now just convince them theyre trans so they ask to be sterilized. Reflecting his racist views, Edwards called George Floyd a Black animal and a n*gr* savage and called Jewish people satans filthy k*k*s in other messages. Police made clear they would not tolerate racist, homophobic, and violent extremists like Edwards to operate unchecked in Scotland. Promoting terrorism and extremism and sharing material that could endanger the public has no place in our society and Police Scotland will not hesitate to investigate this kind of behavior both on and off-line, Ferry said. Judge Fiona Tait set sentencing for Edwards on October 21 in the High Court in Edinburgh. California Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed back on bashing of the Golden State, trumpeting the state's economy after some high-profile companies including SpaceX and Chevron announced plans to move their headquarters to Texas. The governor's office this week touted the large number of California companies that Inc. magazine included in its recent ranking of fastest-growing private U.S. businesses. The publication scored companies based on their revenue growth rates from 2020 through 2023. California has the most dynamic, entrepreneurial economy in the country. Businesses that start and grow here change the world," Newsom said in a statement. The remarks come as Newsom has been fending off growing criticism about the homelessness crisis plaguing the state and rebukes a portrayal by conservative critics of an out-of-control liberal bastion. Some of the scrutiny has come from billionaire Elon Musk, who is supporting former President Trump's run against Vice President Kamala Harris. Musk announced in July he's moving the headquarters of his companies SpaceX and X to Texas. In deciding to bolt, Musk lashed out about a new state law that prohibits mandating that teachers notify families about student gender identity changes. He also said the decision was driven by what he described as rampant crime in San Francisco, where X was based, saying he had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building. Read more: 'A stab in the back.' How Elon Musk's decision to move X from San Francisco is stirring mixed emotions Other longtime California businesses are exiting the state as well. High-profile departures include Chevron, one of world's largest oil companies, which said in August it would relocate its headquarters to Texas. Oracle also moved from California to Texas, but announced plans this year to make Nashville, Tenn., the home of its global headquarters. More than 660 California companies made it on the Inc. 5000 list this year, more than any other state, the governor crowed. Collectively, the companies had created more than 81,000 new jobs to the state economy, according to the list. Some of the companies that were in the list's top 20, including luggage storage service Bounce in San Francisco; cyber insurance firm Cowbell in Pleasanton; Skyline Smart Energy in Downey; ad agency Marketcall in Pasadena; and marketing firm Ascend Agency in Irvine. Newsom's office, citing the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, said California is the 5th-largest economy in the world with a nominal GDP of nearly $3.9 trillion in 2023. Newsom's office also boasted that tourism spending in California reached an all-time high of $150.4 billion last year, and that the state created thousands of fast food jobs and is home to the most Fortune 500 companies in the United States. The governor reiterated some of those data points during Salesforce's "Dreamforce" conference on Tuesday in San Francisco. Commenting on Musk's plans to move SpaceX, Newsom said on stage he was "looking forward to how the hell he does that." California still dominates in so many categories, Newsom said. Its a point of pride and necessity that we maintain that dominance. Staff writer Wendy Lee contributed to this report. 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. In this photo provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, wildlife officials release five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County in December. Next stop, Oklahoma? Experts predict whether Harris or Trump will visit the Sooner State Oklahoma voters wondering if Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump will visit the Sooner State before the November presidential election should probably keep wishing. Because more than likely, it wont happen. Even though the 2024 presidential election is now at full speed, state voters probably wont see a visit from either candidate or their vice presidential picks because Oklahoma isnt a draw this cycle, political observers say. The state is already considered a bright red spot, and low numbers of residents go to the polls, so national campaigns will focus on other states where visits will have more impact, consultant and pollster Pat McFerron said. Oklahomas November election doesnt matter, he said, referencing the presidential race. And even if it were to matter, that would mean the rest of the nation has changed, and the race is over. Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris shake hands earlier this month at a presidential debate. Oklahomas small media market and number of Electoral College votes also make it a less than competitive area. I really dont see a reason why either one (Republican or Democratic candidate) would come here, McFerron said. If it were a national popular vote, maybe. But since its the Electoral College it doesnt work. History supports McFerrons prediction. Oklahoma has, for years, been a low priority for national campaigns. The state has reliably voted Republican for decades. National campaigns, seeking to get the biggest return for their investment, will skip a state like Oklahoma and focus on one such as Wisconsin where the entire state remains in play. More: Who won the presidential debate? We asked viewers, here's what they said Money is a factor, McFerron said. At the same time, because neither side participates in Oklahoma (because the state is already perceived as red), voter turnout remains low. Records show the state is currently 50th in voter turnout, he said. Political consultant Pat McFerron is pictured in July in Oklahoma City. What would prompt Trump to visit Oklahoma on the campaign trail? While McFerron remains skeptical that anyone on the presidential ticket will campaign in the Sooner State, former chair of the Oklahoma Republican Party Pam Pollard said she remains hopeful that either Trump or Vance will visit for a public rally. But she acknowledged that may not happen. Like McFerron, Pollard pointed to the campaign map as a basis for candidate visits. Georgia and Iowa are looking better for the GOP, she said, but the race remains tight. We as Oklahomans also have to think about the big picture, Pollard said. If President Trump comes here instead of going to Nevada, if that rally in Nevada could have put him over the top in the race, then Im willing to be a good American and a sad Oklahoman and realize that President Trump may not come here. Of course, fundraising is a different matter. While the need for Republicans to campaign in the Sooner State might not be as high as other states, traveling here could become more useful when money is at stake. That happened in July, shortly after Trump chose J.D. Vance as his running mate. Vance came to Oklahoma for a private fundraiser. If theres a chance to raise big money at an event then candidates will come to Oklahoma, McFerron said. More: Oklahoma's young voters are enthusiastic about voting in the election, teacher says Relatives of presidential candidates might make an appearance in Oklahoma Former Attorney General Drew Edmondson a Democrat agreed to a point. Edmondson said he didnt expect a high-profile candidate like Harris or Trump to come to Oklahoma but, he added, its possible that someone with close ties to a candidate might make a visit. My guess would be that a highest profile visit [we] would get would be from a Democratic spouse, Edmondson said. I dont think Trumps wife does anything, and I dont know if J.D. Vances wife is doing anything. But I think the second gentleman and Walzs wife may be more active. Edmondson pointed to the visit of Jill Biden four years ago as an example. Still, he said, most campaign strategists will focus their energies in states that are in play. Although a recent poll showed Trump and Harris are tied among voters in Oklahoma County, Trump still has a virtual lock on the statewide win. Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz makes a campaign stop Sept. 10 at the Mesa Convention Center in Arizona. Theres two reasons to visit, Edmondson said. One is carrying the state. and the other is to raise a whole lot of money. And neither one is going to happen on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, theyre gonna get it anyway so why come? This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Experts predict chances for Trump, Harris campaign stops in Oklahoma An effort in one North Texas city to rename a public street after former President Donald Trump has so far hit roadblocks, but supporters arent giving up. Some Republicans in Wise County have sought to change the name of Airport Drive in Decatur to Trump Way. The quarter-mile road leads to the Decatur Municipal Airport on the northern side of the city. The issue came up multiple times this summer at the Decatur City Council, including Sept. 9, but officials took no action. Several council members said its important that the council and the city remain nonpartisan. However, if supporters get enough signatures from registered voters, the proposal for Trump Way could come up for a vote on a future ballot. Rick Lifto, the chairman of the Wise County Republican Party, told the Star-Telegram that there are many streets, highways and buildings throughout Texas named for former presidents but not Trump. I thought well, if were going to recognize him in some way, what would be the most appropriate? It seemed appropriate that we should name something after Trump, Lifto said. The Metroplex has several highways bearing the names of former commanders-in-chief, most notably those who are from the Lone Star State. The 52-mile President George Bush Turnpike, honoring the 41st president, wraps around the northern suburbs of Dallas and happens to intersect with the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway. George H.W. Bushs name is also on Houstons airport. As for Bush 43, theres Bush Drive that leads to his presidential center at SMU, as well as an elementary school in Collin County and the southbound I-44 bridge at the Red River (which was a tribute bestowed by the state of Oklahoma, which also has a 20-mile stretch of U.S. 287 called Trump Highway in the Panhandle). Hundreds of thousands of people each day take Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway, also known as Interstate 20, through Arlington. And up in McKinney, theres a small neighborhood where ever street is named after presidents, including Clinton and Carter drives. Why not a Trump Way? In Decatur, population roughly 8,000, the would-be Trump Way is nowhere near as traveled as those other presidential roadways, nor does it have many addresses. Theres a Texas Army National Guard recruiting office on the corner, though technically its address isnt Airport Drive. Google Maps images show a few potholes along the short stretch of asphalt, which doesnt even have center striping. Lifto, the Republican county chair, said he first approached Wise County government leaders about renaming a road after the 45th president (who also hopes to become the 47th). In his view, Lifto said that Trump supported several pieces of legislation that benefited Wise County, including bills calling for high-speed Internet in rural areas. Wise County overwhelmingly supported the Trump-Pence ticket in 2020, voting 84% for the GOP candidates. But the county uses a numeric system for naming roads. He hasnt had luck with the city of Decatur, either. Officials have said theyre concerned by the potential legal consequences of using city resources to rename a road after a presidential candidate. City attorney Pam Liston said that public resources and money cannot be used to support or oppose any candidate. At the Sept. 9 meeting, Mayor pro tem Melinda Reeves said, I feel very strongly that a lot of problems in our world today are because of partisan politics, and I feel very proud that we are a nonpartisan council. And I feel very strongly that we should stay that way and not do anything that would influence things politically one way or another. Mayor Mike McQuiston agreed. I think we should remain a nonpartisan entity, period. Lifto has offered to spend his own money to put up the Trump Way sign. He said he spent a week in August gathering signatures supporting the change. He gave the council paperwork with 128 names. We passed around the petitions for one week. Imagine if we would have gone door to door, he said. Im all on board with it, I think its a nice gesture to rename the road. Why do they consider it offensive to let people vote on something? SUMMERSVILLE, WV (WVNS) The drought has taken a toll on many surrounding counties, but Nicholas County was experiencing some of the more severe conditions on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. Despite the rain that Nicholas County received, the county was in a state of emergency. State of Emergency declared in Nicholas County for water conservation, drought On Monday, September 16th, it was projected that Richwood would have around four days until their water supply ran out. That was according to a press release from the Nicholas County Commission. John McGinnis, the Nicholas County Director of Emergency Management told 59News that Richwood PSD has since found a way to stabilize their water supply. They have been working with their backup source, which is Summit Lake. So, there is still some water there and that is their safety net, said McGinnis. McGinnis said this fix is only for the time being and they are actively monitoring water levels. This water issue in Richwood has become a county-wide problem. To help conserve the water throughout Nicholas County, county officials instated a county-wide state of emergency. They urged citizens to use as little water as possible to help conserve their dwindling water supply. With some throughout the county not having access to the internet or social media, officials with Nicholas County are making sure they are communicating with their citizens. We also have an alert system that goes throughout every telephone throughout the county. And then, also, were staying in contact with everyone in Richwood, said McGinnis. Nearly 3/5 of West Virginia in moderate drought The county has also issued a burn ban, partially to limit the amount of water folks need to expend, but also to combat the other side effects that a drought may bring like fires getting out of hand. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Bloomberg) -- A US security panel has granted Nippon Steel Corp. permission to refile its plans to purchase United States Steel Corp., for $14.1 billion, likely pushing a decision on the politically contentious takeover past the US elections in November, according to people familiar with the matter. Most Read from Bloomberg The extension effectively allows them to restart the clock, keeping the proposed transaction alive, even as President Joe Biden has vowed that US Steel would remain American owned and is said to be preparing to kill the deal. Despite the delay, the president has given no indication that he is waffling on his opposition to the proposed purchase. The people familiar spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the review. Shares of US Steel rose 3.2% to $37.40 at 9:30 a.m. in New York. Nippon Steel shares rose as much as 2.2% earlier Wednesday in Tokyo. The takeover has become an election flashpoint, particularly in swing-state Pennsylvania, where both US Steel and the United Steelworkers union which opposes the sale are based. The transaction was first announced in December. Biden has opposed the acquisition for months, but stopped short of killing it, instead deferring to the review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius. Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, also oppose the deal. Trump has said outright he would kill it. The union downplayed the development. President Biden and Vice President Harris both stated unequivocally that they believe US Steel should remain domestically owned and operated and have maintained firm support for USW members and their jobs, United Steelworkers President David McCall said in a written statement. Ultimately, nothing has changed regarding the risks that Nippons acquisition would pose to national security or the critical supply chain concerns that have already been identified. US Steel didnt immediately reply to a request for comment. It has said only its deal would lead to investment in unionized plants. Nippon Steel has promised $2.7 billion in investment on top of the purchase price. A transaction with Nippon Steel is the best avenue to ensure that US Steel will be able to thrive well into the future, the company said in a statement this month. Japans Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya refrained from commenting on the report of extension during a press conference on Wednesday, but said that cooperation on economic security is key for both the US and Japan. Mired in Politics This whole deal has become a game mired in politics, said SBI Securities Co. analyst Ryunosuke Shibata. The extension doesnt guarantee the deal will materialize after the presidential election in November, he said. Nippon Steel made the request to resubmit its filing, and Cfius agreed, according to people familiar with the matter. Cfius needs more time to understand the full national security import of the transaction, including to the resilience of critical supply chains, and engage with the parties, one of the people said. Cfius is a secretive panel that scrutinizes proposals by foreign entities to purchase companies or property in the US. The panels reviews are typically aimed at adversaries such as China not allied nations like Japan. The existing deadline for a Cfius decision was Sept. 23, people familiar with the matter have said. The move to resubmit the application, which Cfius has to agree to allow, effectively starts a new 90-day clock, though a decision could come earlier. The presidents and the vice presidents position is that it is vital for US Steel to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated, White House spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said in a statement on Tuesday evening. The president told our steelworkers he has their backs, and he means it. There is no so-called delay. We have not received any Cfius recommendation. The Cfius process was and remains ongoing. US Steel has endured years of sluggish performance and has warned that its facilities require billions in new investment and that failing to complete the Nippon Steel sale could see some plants close and the company potentially moving its headquarters out of Pittsburgh. Nippon Steel has indicated it does not plan to walk away from the deal voluntarily.. --With assistance from Yui Hasebe, Sarah Hilton, Shoko Oda, Andrew Janes and Doug Alexander. (Adds US Steel shares in fourth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The last customer advocate resigned amid criticism that he acted more as a spokesperson for the agency. (Fran Baltzer for New Jersey Monitor) NJ Transit is close to hiring a customer advocate to fill an oversight post that has been vacant for nearly four years, one of the agencys board members said Wednesday. The post, created by a 2018 law meant to reform the transportation agency, has remained vacant since Stewart Mader resigned from it in October 2020 amid criticism that he acted more as a spokesperson for the agency than an advocate for its riders. I just want to say in response to the several people who raised the issue of the customer advocate that the hiring of a public advocate is in its final stages, and thats all the information I can give at this time, NJ Transit board member Shanti Narra said near the end of the boards monthly meeting, which included a public call for her resignation over the hiring delays. Under the 2018 law, the customer advocate is required to annually report to NJ Transit facility improvements, the results of customer surveys, and on-time performance statistics, among some other things. A job posting for the position which is now closed said the customer advocate would also be responsible for overseeing the agencys passenger advisory committees and act as a conduit for rider feedback. Riders have regularly urged the agency to fill the post at monthly meetings, calls that redoubled after the board approved fare hikes this spring and amid spotty reliability this summer. The NJ Transit Board stole our customer advocate. How dare you? Give us a customer advocate, Andy Weiss, a commuter, told the board Wednesday. Officials have for months said they were close to filling the post. Past pushes to fill the role the most recent attempt is the third in as many years have failed to draw qualified candidates, agency and state transportation officials have said. The board recommended a candidate for the position in March, and it isnt unusual for public-sector hires to take months to finalize. Former state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, who authored the 2018 bill, said she believes the delays are intentional and meant to limit rider feedback. The post was created to be a voice for the riders, so if its been left vacant all of these years purposefully because thats the only thing you can read out of this, that it was purposefully left vacant then you dont want such a position on behalf of the riders, she said. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of legislators is attempting to bolster independent oversight of NJ Transit. Committees in both chambers earlier this year unanimously advanced a bill that would create an independent Rider Advocacy Commission to oversee a new Office of the Customer Advocate akin to the Office of the Ratepayer Advocate, which lobbies for utility customers interests. That bill, which awaits budget committee hearings in both chambers, would remove the oversight position from NJ Transits corporate structure and expand the customer advocates authority, allowing them to hire staff, advocate on riders behalf on fare increases and service changes, and conduct investigations and studies. Under current law, the customer advocate reports to NJ Transits board. The position that exists now reports to the people theyre supposed to hold accountable. The whole point is to ensure that the customer advocate actually has autonomy and doesnt report to New Jersey Transit, but rather to the elected officials who have to answer to our constituents, said bill sponsor Sen. Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson). The extended vacancy in the existing customer advocate post was distressing because there was no other official whose sole purpose was to champion riders interests, Mukherji said. He has requested the bill be heard by budget panels this fall, adding he is optimistic that itll continue to advance once were back in Trenton. Weinberg said that having the customer advocate report to the NJ Transit board was done by design. But she added that a winnowing of dissident board members like James Adams who was frequently the lone no-vote on board matters and was not renominated when his term expired in late 2022 in the years since the laws passage had undercut the oversight the law added. The object, of course, was to create a New Jersey Transit board that would be independent and would hold the bureaucracy accountable, Weinberg said. That was completely undermined when some folks left on their own accord and others left because they knew they wouldnt be reappointed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Bonneville County residents fill out their ballots during the May 21, 2024, primary election at The Waterfront Event Center in Idaho Falls Bonneville County residents fill out their ballots during the May 21, 2024, primary election at The Waterfront Event Center in Idaho Falls. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) Idaho officials are taking steps to strengthen the states election security. At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane met with federal officials from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise to highlight the partnership between the two agencies. Established in 2018, CISA is the countrys newest federal agency. It was established after Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, which led to election infrastructure being designated as critical infrastructure, CISA director Jen Easterly said at the conference. Were Americas cyber defense agency, and were the national coordinator for critical infrastructure security and resilience, Easterly said. We protect and defend the systems that Americans rely on every hour of every day, for health care, water, power, transportation, communication, and those systems that Americans use to cast their ballots and to ensure that those ballots are counted. While elections are not run by the federal government, CISA serves to provide state and local governments with cybersecurity support ahead of elections with no cost cybersecurity assessments and training. Weve done a lot of work over the last 20 years but in particular over the last four years to continue to build the infrastructure of the system that we have so that Idahoans, when they head to the polls, can have absolute confidence that their vote will count and that nobody is tampering with the systems that we have here in our state, McGrane said. Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane gives a press conference on 2024 election security Foreign interference is a top concern for election officials A major concern for U.S. officials is the potential for election interference by foreign adversaries from Iran, Russia and China. We know (they) are very intent on doing two things: undermining American confidence in the security of our election and in our democracy, and trying to stoke partisan rancor and discord, Easterly said. There have been no specific attempts from foreign groups to interfere in Idaho elections, McGrane said, adding that one of the countrys greatest strengths is its diffuse election system that makes every state conduct its own elections. Another key security feature of the nations election system is that the systems used by Americans to cast their votes are not connected to the internet, Easterly said. I have high, high, high confidence that actors would not be able to hack into election infrastructure to change votes, she said. I do not think that that is a real threat at all, but I think we have to recognize that our foreign adversaries may attempt to make Americans believe that. Easterly said she recognizes there is skepticism about the security of U.S. elections, and she encourages skeptics to get more involved by becoming poll workers or connecting with local election officials. It really will take all of us to protect and preserve our democracy from very serious foreign adversaries, she said. Rural Idaho faces greater election challenges with limited resources In addition to foreign involvement, risks to Idahoans casting their vote are faced by those mostly in rural communities, McGrane said. Wildfires, power outages, limited cell service and even the absence of one information technology worker can hinder a rural countys election efficiency. By working with CISA, McGrane said he hopes to provide more resources to those areas. Other risks to Idaho elections include the possibility of active shootings and the rise of political violence, McGrane said. I think a perfect example of that locally is the damage to yard signs, McGrane said. This week, the Idaho Republican Party said more than a dozen signs in opposition to the Proposition 1 ballot initiative had been vandalized. The vandalism it feels small, but as things escalate, as the political tensions rise, both nationally and locally, I think one of the things we all need to be mindful of is that an important part of our democratic process is having a voice at the ballot box, McGrane said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) As the Nov. 5 election draws near, voters in Northwest Arkansas are having to overcome some language barriers. In Arkansas, polling sites are only required to print ballots in English. This stems from a federal law that only requires the multi-language ballots to be printed if more than 5% or 10,000 voting-age people do not speak English. One community organizer, Irvin Camacho, has been educating communities and helping people find their voices for over 14 years. Comacho says this is just another obstacle that minority communities have to face. For the past few years, Ive worked on registering people to vote. So, weve done that by going to peoples houses and registering people, or also just holding events in our community and to educate people on what the voting process looks like, said Camacho. For people like Camacho, the barriers to voting can seen firsthand. Every year theres an election, I go with my stepfather to go vote. I take him with me, and he doesnt speak much English, so I have to explain to him everything. We walk to the computer together to vote, and I feel like if I wasnt there, I dont think he would do it. He wouldnt feel comfortable going by himself and hes told me that several times, said Camacho. Camacho says that not providing the ballots in other languages seems like a prime example of oppression in the voting system. One of the things that I always tell my community is like, you cant allow other people to vote and make decisions for you. You have to show up, too because your vote is important, specifically in local elections, Camacho said. While they are not required to do so, both Washington and Benton counties say they are doing what they can to provide resources. We have done our due diligence and just trying to find poll workers that can help translate out of the polls. So, we have strategically placed those people in the areas that we usually see a higher turnout, said Kimberly Dennison, Benton County Election Coordinator. Weve been able to recruit poll workers who are bilingual. We use high school students from the Springdale High School area who are also bilingual and can assist us during early voting and Election Day, said Jennifer Price, Director of Elections in Washington County. Camacho says these efforts seem to be a step in the right direction. I think any time that you have bilingual poll workers, its really helpful because Ive seen it happen directly. People that have given me feedback that are saying, Hey, there was someone there to support my language, and it helped make the process better,' Camacho said. According to both counties, bilingual poll workers will be stationed at most voting sites in Springdale and Rogers, where the highest turnout for bilingual voters is expected. Additionally, you can bring someone to translate, and they do not have to be registered to vote. According to Dennison, one person can help up to six people. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A non-profit advocacy group on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging the states process of verifying voter-registration applications, alleging it violates federal laws. The lawsuit, filed in the federal Middle District of Florida, focuses on the process for verifying voter-registration applicants eligibility. Prospective voters are deemed eligible by election officials if certain identifying information entered the states voter-registration system lines up with data maintained by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or the federal Social Security Administration. Read: Polaris Dawn Crew returns to Florida coast for the first time since splashdown Applicants whose information does not produce an exact match are not allowed to vote unless they overcome burdensome bureaucratic hurdles, the lawsuit said. The process not only places the burden of verification on Black voters, but it also further disenfranchises Black eligible voters, lawyers representing Florida Rising Together, the plaintiff, wrote in the lawsuit. Read: From language barriers to math joy: An Orange County teachers journey to empowering students The group is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing economic and racial justice across Florida by building power in historically marginalized communities, according to the lawsuit. The states process is flawed, in part, because the federal database used to verify voter registration is widely known to routinely produce false and inconsistent results, the lawsuit alleged. The lawsuit also said, more than 43,000 individuals who submitted otherwise valid voter registration applications to Florida election officials since 2018 across 26 Florida counties have never been able to register to vote successfully solely due to the exact match requirement. Read: Snake hunter wins 10k in Florida Python Challenge The states process is compounded by a legacy of historic and deliberate disenfranchisement and interacts with the effects of racial and economic discrimination in access to the ballot that continue to plague Florida, the lawsuit said. Taken together, the exact match protocol denies Black and other voters of color an equal opportunity to register to vote and participate in Floridas political process and is a leading reason why voter registration applicants do not successfully make it onto Floridas voter rolls. Florida Rising is represented by a coalition including Advancement Project, Community Justice Project, the Dechert LLP firm, and Florida A&M University Law School professor Mark Dorosin. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. On Wednesday, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey announced a new attorney to lead the Commonwealths retrial of Karen Read after the first trial ended with a hung jury. Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan will lead the prosecutions team, according to a Norfolk DA press release. Attorney Brennan is a highly respected and skilled former prosecutor and long-time defense attorney with over 25 years of experience in state and federal courts and has expertise handling complex law enforcement matters. I look forward to Attorney Brennan working in concert with the trial team of Assistant District Attorneys Adam Lally, Laura McLaughlin, and Caleb Schillinger, said District Attorney Morrissey. Everything you need to know about the Karen Read case Brennan said he will assume full responsibility for prosecuting the case and will be meticulous and ethical in his work. He was one of Whitey Bulgers defense attorneys during his 2013 mob trial. I have two core obligations, Brennan said of his appointment, The first is to make certain that Karen Read receives a fair trial. Ms. Read will receive the dignity and fairness that every defendant deserves in our criminal justice system. The second is to ensure that the facts surrounding John OKeefes death are fully and fairly aired in the courtroom without outside influence. I guarantee that I will work tirelessly with the trial team to prepare this case for trial in January of 2025. In a statement, Reads attorney Alan Jackson said: The news that Michael Morrissey has decided to use taxpayer funds to hire an outside lawyer to prosecute this case speaks volumes about his confidence in his own team. They can bring anyone they want to court. We will beat this unjust prosecution, just like we did the last time. Like weve said to Mr. Morrissey previously, do your worst. Well see you in court. Her second trial is scheduled for January. Read is charged in the death of her Boston Police Officer boyfriend John OKeefe in Canton. The case has garnered national attention over allegations made by Read that shes been framed by law enforcement in an elaborate coverup involving first responders and relatives of the family that OKeefes body was found on the front lawn of. The prosecution maintains the evidence proves Read struck OKeefe with her SUV while intoxicated. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) Norfolk police are asking for the publics assistance with identifying a man that broke into multiple businesses. On Friday, Sept. 13 officers were called La Tapatia at 9606 Granby Street in response to a commercial burglary alarm. Upon arrival, police confirmed the business had been broken into and that several items had been taken. The next day, police responded to a commercial burglary at the Subway restaurant on 135 W. Ocean View Ave. just after 11 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 15, a break-in was reported to Lupitas Mexican and Latin American Restaurant at 9610 1st View Street. During the investigation, detectives collected security footage from each of the businesses which revealed the suspect. If you have any information about this case, you can submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-888-LOCK-U-UP, downloading the P3 tips app to a mobile device, or visiting www.P3tips.com and submitting a tip. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. Norman Ackroyd, who has died aged 86, was widely regarded as the finest British etcher of his generation. He called his medium painting with acid, and he was on friendly terms with a vast array of the chemicals, from the violent hydrochloric to the lively nitric, which bites in all directions. Into a bath of his chosen acid, or mordant, he would dip a copper plate, masked with an acid-resistant ground, such as wax, varnish or fine clouds of violin-bow resin. The barer the copper, the deeper the acids bite, the more ink it would hold, and the darker the tone on the eventual print. Each plate was painstakingly remasked and redipped, perhaps a dozen times, until Ackroyd was content. The public were enchanted, and his fellow etchers baffled, by the softness he could conjure from his muscular materials (sometimes you just kiss the plate with acid, he said), and the extraordinary range of tones in his smoky edge-of-the-world landscapes, of hazy clouds, cliffs veiled in mist and foamy seas. The Three Sisters, Dingle - Norman Ackroyd These were not Coleridgean opiate fantasies but his truthful record of the western fringes of the British Isles, a project called The Edge of Everything. It yielded more than 500 views, from Orkney to St Kildas to the Aran Islands, off Co Galway, of places that seemed to exist outside time not now, not then, as his friend and collaborator, the poet Douglas Dunn, put it. Theres a magic in the idea that youre seeing a place as the people who came before saw it, said Ackroyd, whether its monks who built their monasteries on remote islands or the cattlemen who used this drove road for centuries. He took to heart what William Blake had said of etching the infernal method by corrosives... melting apparent surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid and the advice of Yeats about art in general: God guard me from those thoughts men think/ In the mind alone;/ He that sings a lasting song/ Thinks in a marrow-bone. Marrow-bone thinking came easily to this butchers son, born on March 26 1938 in industrial south Leeds. It gave him a distinctive way of looking at the world: the chasms on Muckle Roe on Shetland would later remind him of the marks of a butchers cleaver. Downpatrick Head, Co Mayo - Norman Ackroyd Less obvious was a career as an artist, which seemed an outrageous idea for a boy from his neighbourhood. He began by drawing the surface of the water to pass the time on his brothers fishing trips in the Yorkshire Dales. His first encounter with modern art was a Henry Moore sculpture, much derided by the locals. But Ackroyd saw it through a butchers eyes: Youd maybe boil something to make potted meat and then the hip bone... something would come out, he recalled thinking. He began to see what Moore was doing with the perfectly natural, incredibly sensual forms of certain bones of the body... I started to get the point. After Cockburn High School he attended Leeds College of Art, and got his first taste of etching, which gave him a tingle an intellectual response thats in the hands as much as the mind. As the son of a man who worked with his hands, he believed in mastering a craft: If youre going to do it, do it well. Vale of York from Sutton Bank - Norman Ackroyd He went down to London aged 23 to study etching under Julian Trevelyan at the Royal College of Art. His fellow Yorkshireman David Hockney was making prints on the next-door table, and they swapped ideas with the industrial design students, including Mary Quant. Ackroyd dabbled in Pop Art and painting but everything seemed to bring him back to landscape. He was also glad of the restrictions of his chosen discipline, which he found perversely freeing like an anchorite who confines himself to a cell the better to feel the vastness of the universe. The greys you can get between the white paper and the blackest black are limitless, he said. He liked the magic of creating a sense of three dimensions on flat paper, from a flat press. He liked being confined to smallish works its got to be concise: theres no room for waffle and being slowed down by the acid baths, which forced him to be precise. He was proud never to have lost an eye or a finger. He was also proud to work in a democratic medium, and he kept his work correspondingly affordable. He was unsnobbish about engaging with television appearing on the BBCs Artists in Print and What Do Artists Do All Day? and he was a great defender of the Royal Academys Summer Exhibition, which he first helped to hang in 1989. In the 1970s he moved to the United States to teach etching in Richmond, Virginia, then Bloomington, Indiana. He was invigorated by the Americans willingness to buy art (they put it on their weekly shopping list, he said) but one day he woke up and knew he had to come back to the land of his birth, to be back standing on my own muck. His mind was voracious, and his head was filled with verse and music. Unusually for someone with such a pure and monkish dedication to his craft, he did not shut himself away from the world but hungrily courted the ideas of others. On his boat trips to record the Western Isles he would bring poets, historians and archaeologists to help him see things afresh. On these field trips, his idiosyncratic idea of perfect weather was a day when the sea was so rough it looked as though a million Alka-Seltzers were dissolving in it. The surface was just white froth. Ackroyd taking a break from hanging prints at the Royal Academy in May 1989 - Shutterstock When he needed to clear his head he would listen to Beethovens 17th Piano Sonata (The Tempest). He claimed never to have had any ambition to own a flash car but he always coveted a grand piano, and eventually he bought a Steinway, which he kept in his studio in Bermondsey. He compared etching to the music of the piano, and the rainbow of colours that can be coaxed from keys of just black and white. His works are held by many national institutions including the Tate, the British Museum, the National Gallery, MoMA in New York and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1991 and made a senior fellow of the Royal College of Art in 2000. He was appointed CBE in 2007. He married first, in 1963, Sylvia Buckland, with whom he had two daughters. That marriage was dissolved in 1975, and he married secondly, in 1978, Penelope Hughes-Stanton, with whom he had a son and a daughter. Norman Ackroyd, born March 26 1938, died September 16 2024 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 Republican candidate for public office in North Carolina spread anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda on social media this week, falsely claiming that pedophiles are included in the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Michele Morrow, the Republican nominee for North Carolinas Superintendent of Public Instruction, made the false statements on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. Morrow was attempting to attack her opponent, Democrat Mo Green, who has been endorsed by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality North Carolina. In her post, Morrow alleged that Green would not keep our children safe because he had accepted the endorsement. NEWSFLASHthe + includes PEDOPH*L*A!! Morrow falsely alleged, censoring the letter i. Numerous false statements like Morrows have been repeatedly debunked over the past decade, yet they remain a perennial favorite on the political right. Queer people have faced charges of recruiting children for decades, but the modern claim that LGBTQ+ groups welcome and accept pedophilia began as a trolling campaign on the infamous message board 4chan in 2016, when anonymous users created graphics advertising an LGBTP acronym that later gained traction offline. Ensuing years saw several variations of the falsehood spread online (like the posters that claimed the B stands for bestiality), which often originated on 4chan as well. In 2017, some accounts claimed to be spreading awareness of a new identity called clovergender, defined as an adult who identifies as a child and seeks minor-aged sexual partners. That claim boosted on Twitter by infamous pharma bro Martin Shkreli also came from 4chan, the site logo of which is a stylized four-leaf clover. Still, right-wing pundits and propagandists have continued to spread misinformation of this type into 2024, especially painting transgender and nonbinary people and their allies as groomers. The right-wing social media account RNC Research falsely claimed this August that Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz had signed a bill adding pedophilia to a list of sexual orientations recognized by his state. Republicans have adopted this disinformation vector on the federal and state levels over the past several years, and North Carolina is no exception: The GOPs gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson has referred to gay and trans people as filth and claimed homosexuality leads to pedophilia. Conservative state legislators pushed multiple anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law last year, including Senate Bill 49, a parents bill of rights measure that requires school staff to out trans youth to their parent or guardian. Sen. Amy Galey, one of that laws primary sponsors, accused schools of telling children to keep secrets last February in an allusion to popular anti-molestation messaging. (The Campaign for Southern Equality filed a complaint against SB 49 in January.) North Carolina's GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Has Referred to LGBTQ\+ People as "Filth" Mark Robinson has also argued that trans women should be arrested for using womens restrooms and cast doubt on the number of Jews killed by Nazis during the holocaust. Morrows campaign representatives did not respond to requests for comment, according to NBC affiliate WRAL. A former nurse and homeschool co-op teacher, Morrow came under fire last month after video resurfaced from a deleted Facebook livestream on January 6, 2021, in which Morrow advocated for the arrests of anyone who certified the 2020 U.S. election results as well as a military coup. And if the police wont do it and the Department of Justice wont do it, then [Trump] will have to enact the Insurrection Act, Morrow said, per a copy of the video reviewed by CNN. In which case the Insurrection Act completely puts the Constitution to the side and says, now the military rules all. In a statement to WRAL, Green said Morrows false statement demonstrated why she is the wrong role model to hold the position of superintendent. Every child deserves to learn, and every staff member deserves to work, in an environment that is safe, welcoming, and inclusive, Green told the station. Politicians like Morrow use schools as battlegrounds for their culture wars, and its simply unacceptable. Get the best of whats queer. Sign up for Thems weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them. After nearly a four-hour standoff, Boise police Wednesday arrested a woman suspected of breaking into a home in the North End and stabbing the homeowner, according to the agency. Police said a 23-year-old Boise woman broke into a home near North 14th and West Washington streets shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday. She stabbed the woman who lived there multiple times before the victim was able to run out of the house, according to a Boise Police Department news release. The suspect and victim knew each other, Boise police spokesperson Haley Kramer told the Idaho Statesman by email. Police closed both cross streets as they tried to get the suspect to come out of the home using Boise Police Special Operations Unit crisis negotiators, according to the release. Police said the suspect walked out of the home at about 5 a.m. Officers booked her into the Ada County Jail on felony aggravated battery and two counts of felony burglary, jail records showed. A local hospital treated the victim for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Boise police. Kramer declined to answer the Statesmans request for information on motive, saying that information would have to come through the court process. NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) Have you recently received a phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer asking for money? The North Kingstown Police Department warns that scammers are impersonating officers to defraud residents. Police emphasized that they will never call to request payments and urged residents not to give out any personal or financial information over the phone. If you receive such a call, hang up immediately and call police at (401) 294-3316. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking 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 WPRI.com. A man walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a station in Seoul (ANTHONY WALLACE) (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/AFP) North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles early Wednesday, Seoul's military said, Pyongyang's second such weapons test in a week. Leader Kim Jong Un's regime has staged dozens of launches this year, part of a testing spree that experts say could be linked to North Korea's alleged illicit supplying of weapons to ally Russia for use in Ukraine. Pyongyang has denied any sanctions-busting weapons trade with Russia, but with diplomacy long stalled, it declared South Korea its "principal enemy" this year and recently moved nuclear-capable weapons to border areas. The launch follows North Korea's recent dispatch of its foreign minister to Moscow -- a key supporter of Kim's regime -- for her second visit in less than a year. The North is also preparing for a parliamentary meeting in October that is expected to approve measures likely to escalate tensions with South Korea, including incorporating the hostile relationship between the two Koreas into its constitution. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it had "detected and (was) analysing several short-range ballistic missiles launched to the northeast around 06:50 (2150 GMT)". "In preparation for additional launches, our military has strengthened monitoring and vigilance, while closely sharing information," with allies Tokyo and Washington, it added. Tokyo also confirmed the launch, with the country's coastguard saying one missile had splashed down already. "Vessels please pay attention to information coming ahead and if you spot fallen objects please don't approach closer but report it to the coastguard," it said in a statement. Japan's Defence Minister Minoru Kihara later said the missiles "appear to have landed on around the eastern coast of North Korea's inland area," and therefore "are outside Japan's EEZ", adding no damage was reported. Seoul's military said the missiles were fired from the North's Kaechon area in South Phyongan Province, and flew about 400 kilometres (250 miles). "North Korea's missile launch is a clear act of provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and we strongly condemn it," Seoul's JCS said in a statement. Hours after the missile launch, the JCS said that North Korea sent more balloons believed to be carrying trash southwards. Pyongyang has sent nearly 1,500 balloons filled with trash across the border so far this month. One such balloon caused a fire when it landed on a rootop in Seoul this month. Others have caused fires near an airport and at a storage unit in the South. Last Thursday, the North fired what Seoul described as multiple short range ballistic missiles into waters east of the Korean peninsula, the nuclear-armed country's first major weapons test since early July. North Korean state media later claimed that this had been a test of a "new-type 600mm multiple rocket launcher" which was overseen by Kim. - Moscow ties - North Korea has recently bolstered military ties with Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin making a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, where he signed a mutual defence agreement with Kim. Experts have long said North Korean missiles are being deployed in Ukraine. "Considering the resurgence of the war in Ukraine and Shoigu's recent visit to North Korea, the latest missile launches could be for exports to Russia," Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP. "Today's missile launch may also be intended to strengthen anti-South sentiment among North Koreans as part of efforts to solidify the regime ahead of what is understood as the 'constitutional formalisation' of the hostile two-nation theory of the Koreas in October," he added. A report released last week by Conflict Armament Research employed debris analysis to show "that missiles produced this year in North Korea are being used" on the battlefield against Kyiv. Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang last weekend, state media reported, and met Kim for talks. Moscow is seeking ammunition to continue its more than 30-month offensive in Ukraine. - Trash balloons - Since May, North Korea has sent more than 5,000 trash-carrying balloons southward, saying they are retaliation for propaganda balloons launched by South Korean activists. Last week, the North released images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time, showing Kim touring it as he called for more centrifuges to boost his nuclear arsenal. The country, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and is under rafts of UN sanctions for its banned weapons programmes, has never publicly disclosed details of its uranium enrichment facility. "In light of the recent disclosures regarding its uranium enrichment facilities, (the latest missile launches) may be paving the way for North Korea's seventh nuclear test", said Yang of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes are banned by UN sanctions, but the country has long flouted the restrictions, thanks in part to support from allies Russia and China. cdl/ceb/dhw With just over 24 hours to go, the City of North Myrtle Beach sent out an email announcing a special meeting the next day. The primary agenda items for the Sept. 19 special meeting revolve around council approving a resolution to put current city manager Mike Mahaney on paid administrative leave, pending their final decision to remove him from that role based on South Carolina Code 5-13-70. Attempts to reach Mahaney Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful, with his office phone going straight to voicemail. Mahaney has worked for the city since he was unanimously selected by the council for the role in 2010 and currently makes $253,000 a year. Before getting his current job, he was previously fired from two similar positions with the city of Deerfield Beach, Florida and Nassau County, Florida, The Sun News previously reported. Mahaney told The Sun News at the time that both his past terminations were split decisions resulting from elections that brought in new leaders. If Mahaneys administrative leave is approved, the agenda said that current assistant city manager Ryan Fabbri will become the acting city manager. The special meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 19, 2024 at North Myrtle Beach City Hall. This sudden announcement from city council comes after years of controversy surrounding Mahaneys role as North Myrtle Beachs city manager. How can council remove Mahaney from his job? South Carolina Code 5-13-70 states that the term of employment of the manager shall be at the pleasure of the council and he shall be entitled to such compensation for his services as the council may determine. Under this law, if the council chooses to remove the manager, the manager must get a written statement that includes all of the reasons for the proposed removal. According to the statute, within five days after the notice of removal is delivered, the manager has an option to file a written request for a public hearing about it with the council. Does Mahaney have a new job in Florida lined up? This past summer, The Sun News learned that Mahaney had applied for another job doing the same role as City Manager in City of Fernandina Beach. I am very proud of the team I have assembled over the last 14 years and what we have accomplished, City Manager Mike Mahaney said in an emailed statement to The Sun News on July 16 . In my opinion, we have changed North Myrtle Beach for the better forever. Alongside a written statement to The Sun News on July 16, 2024, Mahaney also attached a document that lists his 31 top accomplishments as city manager. Some of them included building a 260-acre sports complex, developing the Christmas Lights Show, earning $1.4 million in parking fees from visitors, and managing a $208 million budget and 620 employees. The City of Fernandina Beach has not returned The Sun Newss repeated requests for comments on the current status of Mahaneys job application. Reports show he wore a body camera to a ceremony Last year, he wore the Axon device on his shirt during a Feb. 24, 2023 ceremony welcoming Pepsi Bottling Ventures to the citys Palmetto State Industrial Park. Later, reports said his body camera was never turned on. When asked by a reporter at the event why he wore a police-issued body camera, he and other high-level government officials failed to provide a reason why. If you do a story, you can say the city manager has no comment, Mahaney told The Sun News at the event last February. Results from an investigation with state law enforcement That incident followed a lengthy investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division after assault allegations arose against Mahaney from a local business owner in 2022. According to previous reporting, that May the local police department asked the state law enforcement agency to investigate Mahaney after he allegedly put his hands on Glass Bottom Kayak Tours co-owner Laura Weaver at a meeting in City Hall. Ultimately, 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said there was not enough information from the investigation to pursue criminal charges against Mahaney, causing them to drop. I cant see any scenario where the State would be able to more forward with an assault and battery charge against Mahaney especially with our standard being beyond a reasonable doubt, Richardson wrote in his November 2022 decision. If any further details emerge, I would be happy to look at them; however, at this time, we decline prosecution. Transparency issues and denying public records Recently, The Sun News attempted to get a copy of Mahaneys personnel file via the Freedom of Information Act. The information requested is exempt from disclosure pursuant to section 30-4-40(a)(2) of the Code of Laws of South Carolina because the information is of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy, North Myrtle Beachs email denying the request said. That denial is a violation of state FOIA laws, according to South Carolina Press Associations attorney Taylor Smith. Arguably, in the governance of a city, is no more important a figure to learn about concerning the performance of their public duties than that of a manager, he previously told The Sun News. Consequently, the publics interest in the right to learn those public activities is highly frustrating when efforts to get records of their job performance are denied by the city. It is a bastardization of the understanding of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to think that it would be an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy to understand what a public employee does in the performance of their public duties. NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) North Myrtle Beach council will try to remove its city manager on Thursday in a special meeting. The meeting is set for 1:30 p.m., with two specific agenda items geared toward the potential removal of City Manager Mike Mahaney. The council also called a special meeting in April for a performance review of Mahaney. The business items on the agenda include A Resolution of the City Council for the City of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to approve the Notice of Removal of the City Manager in accordance with the South Carolina Code of Laws 5-13-70 and to approve the document entitled, Notice of Removal Statement of Specific Reason(s). According to the resolution, Mahaney would have five days after the notice of removal to file a written request for a public hearing. The council could make assistant city manager Ryan Fabbri the acting city manager if Mahaney was placed on administrative leave. The full meeting agenda can be found by clicking here. Mahaney was arrested in May 2022 on an assault charge, but the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division declined to pursue charges against him in November of that year. Count on News13 for updates. * * * 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. FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) A Northwest Arkansas nonprofit organization is calling all high school artists for an annual competition with a $10,000 scholarship to the University of Arkansas on the line. Its hosted by Historic Cane Hill and is open to anyone in 10th through 12th grade. University of Arkansas students express concerns over campus parking availability Its free to apply and the deadline for entries is October 4. The winner will be decided on November 9 and even if you dont win that scholarship you could still take home a cash prize. For more information, visit the U of As 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 KNWA FOX24. Colstrip Power Plant (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan). As someone who helps people make financial decisions, I am worried about our states largest utility, NorthWestern Energy. NorthWestern provides electric and natural gas services to more than 400,000 households and businesses across the state. The utility, therefore, has a responsibility not just to provide energy on demand but also to consider the well-being of Montanas residents and environment. Indeed, NorthWesterns corporate-approved catalog detailing its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments and sustainability goals states that the company recognizes the privilege of being an energy provider and acknowledges the profound obligation and wonderful opportunity to be good stewards of the environment. However, Montanas citizens should not be swayed by NorthWesterns superficial corporate greenwashing. The utilitys actions dictate its reputation, and its current actions regarding public health air quality protections are reprehensible. Here in Montana, the Colstrip plant is categorized as a mega-polluter with substandard pollution control technology. According to the journal Science, hundreds of preventable deaths are attributable to emissions from the plant that could be avoided if it adopted modern pollution controls. In the last decade alone, the Colstrip plant has released 3 tons of lead, 1.5 tons of arsenic, 2 tons of chromium, 10 tons of manganese, 2 tons of nickel and 5 tons of selenium into the air, making it the most polluting coal plant in America. This pollution makes its way into the air we breathe and deposits into our beautiful Montana rivers and streams. Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency updated its pollution regulations for coal-fired electric generating plants. The regulations are a sorely needed modernization for air quality standards that havent been updated for more than a decade. If fully implemented, the EPA predicts the regulations will prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths across the U.S. The Colstrip plant could comply with the standards and save lives by simply installing a baghouse to reduce airborne toxins. This is not novel technology; 170 similar coal-burning units across the country operate with the same technology as the Colstrip plant. Every one of those coal plants except the Colstrip plant has modern pollution controls to specifically minimize particulate pollution and air toxics. Protecting clean air by installing industry-standard pollution controls should be a no-brainer for anyone who cares about human lives. Instead, NorthWestern Energy has chosen the cheap and dirty path to satisfy its shareholders at the expense of those who enjoy breathing. In his opening shot against the rules, CEO Brian Bird claimed that the public health regulations would require Colstrip to upgrade its facility with unproven technology under difficult timelines. These statements are demonstrably false, especially considering that every similar coal plant in the country is utilizing this unproven technology. Why Mr. Bird and NorthWestern Energy think the Colstrip plant should get a special exception, knowing that other coal plants have made the investments necessary to reduce pollution and protect public health, is perplexing and deeply concerning. In fact, NorthWestern has gone so far as to join Talen Energy in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to block this rule from being implemented. At the same time, the company is looking to acquire a majority share in the Colstrip plant, citing a desire to operate it until at least 2042. Continuing to operate this polluting plant while resisting efforts to upgrade pollution control technology entirely undermines its stated ESG principles. If NorthWestern is going to tout its commitment to these principles and protecting the environment and the people of Montana, its actions must speak louder than its words. The company cites a profound obligation to protect clean air and public health, yet it is likely the worst utility in the country when it comes to making the necessary investments to ensure its operations are not making people sick or killing them. Do not let NorthWesterns phony ESG statements fool you. Money talks and NorthWesterns money is chasing shareholder satisfaction, not protecting the Montana public. Peter Burns was born and raised in Montana. He has a PhD in Physics from the University of Colorado Boulder. He currently is helping Montana families plan for retirement as an investment advisor with the Sankala Group. I wonder which quality it is that the British hate most in their politicians? Vanity is certainly up there. Haughtiness undoubtedly is too. But I think the winning or rather losing quality may be hypocrisy. Christopher Hitchens famously said of the great moralising pastors of the American South that every time one of them preached a particularly obnoxious sermon, he would make note of their name and just wait for the inevitable day when they were found kneeling in an airport bathroom cubicle performing what the tabloids referred to as a sex act. Now is surely the time to do the same for the self-appointed moral guardians of our age. Each time you read of a Labour MP decrying Tory sleaze or a BBC journalist explaining how the corporations values make it superior to the grubby news available on the free market, each time a prolific moralising Twitterer posts a great thread of sensiblism showing how the most obvious moral judgement is wrong and bad, actually, make a note of their name. Because I can absolutely promise you that each and every one of them will prove exactly as (or possibly more) tawdry, sordid and corrupt than the people they delight to judge. Enter stage centre-Left, Sir Keir Starmer. I have to admit, there is a perverse delight in watching the man who spent all those hectoring years at the despatch box and in interviews making himself out to be a byword for moral probity sometimes actually placing his hand on his heart while preaching about virtue in politics being caught out as a wide-snouted little grubster who loves a freebie even more than the rest of us. It emerges that Starmer has accepted more gifts as leader of the opposition than all other Labour leaders combined since 1997, which given one of those was the well-known bastion of propriety Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, is saying something. Of course its a boon for those of us who enjoy well-earned mockery. The names emanating from the internet alone are worthy of listing; alongside Two-tier Keir theres Free gear Keir, Victoria Sponge, Free Garms Starms (ok, I might have made that one up). Yet the fact of Starmers venality isnt actually the funniest thing about this. Anyone with a brain knows that taking financial advantage of political office was not invented by Boris Johnson. Whats most enjoyable, or most tragic, is seeing the cavalcade of patsies so utterly devoid of dignity that they are happy to be sent out to talk in breathy Kenneth-Clark-in-Civilisation tones about how Sir Keir getting his mitts on a load of free knickers makes him, if anything, more impressive and not less. First over the top was Foreign Secretary David Lammy. In our country there isnt a budget for the Prime Ministers clothes, or his wifes clothes, he moaned on Sky News. New MP Paul Waugh came to Victoria Starmers aid with the old Captain Toms daughter defence. She works in the NHS, he said, and could hardly be expected to pay her own way. The latest charm offensive came from Angela Eagle a security minister with Van Goghs ear for diplomacy. Asked on a radio show about the PMs penchant for luxury glasses, she grew tetchy. Ok, youve had your rant she snapped at host Stig Abell. Eventually Eagle gave up on attempting to defend her boss altogether, with a terse Youll have to ask him. The foot-soldiers are already showing signs of fatigue. Its going to be a long five years. The sheer cack-handedness is also instructive. Would the government have made so many basic Politics 101 errors of timing and communications, like axing winter fuel payments then defending the receipt of freebies approximately two seconds later, were it not for a blithe assumption of the moral high ground at all times? They laboured under a long-running apprehension that only people with Right or centre-Right views could be bad or corrupt, as if having the correct opinions somehow cures you of all human fallibility. However, while politics might provide the most amusing example of governing class hypocrisy, there are other, far more serious cases. Between 1995 and 2018, more than 2,000 people were jailed for non-payment of the fine resulting from a BBC licence fee conviction. Huw Edwardss non-custodial punishment for possessing the worst possible category of child abuse images has understandably attracted opprobrium. Yet there is still no shortage of media establishment types and Very Clever People ready to explain why his sentence is only following legal precedent; as if this is what the law says also makes it morally right. In a report to the court, a leading psychiatrist attributed Edwardss low self-esteem in part to his having attended Cardiff rather than Oxford. Is there some sort of secret grading of universities which allows you to get away with crimes? Presumably people who went to a ringroad polytechnic can commit genocide, scot-free? We will no doubt get many more laughs over the years courtesy of Sir Keirs unique mixture of pomposity and greed. But perhaps the broader phenomenon we are witnessing is more tragedy than farce. 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 federal judge vented her frustration at a pair of civil rights attorneys last month for continuing to protest her finding that sanctions are warranted in the wake of their client's refusal to turn over evidence to the defense. Sasha Cronick is pursuing claims of unreasonable search and seizure and false arrest against Colorado Springs officers who handcuffed her minutes after she helped resuscitate a man who had stopped breathing from a drug overdose. This spring, the federal appeals court based in Denver agreed two officers will stand trial for their alleged constitutional violations. However, the officers separately argued Cronick deliberately withheld evidence relevant to the case including videos and comments on her YouTube channel that showed an inclination to provoke encounters with authorities, plus an online conversation specifically about the events surrounding her arrest. Consequently, on Jan. 4, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Christine M. Arguello agreed Cronick had disobeyed court orders to hand over information to the defendants. She believed Cronick's "inexplicably nonsensical reasons strongly suggest purposeful obstruction." The defendants' lawyers sought $18,000 in sanctions, claiming they spent 60 hours litigating the issue. In response, Cronick's attorneys, David Lane and Reid Allison, protested that there "has been no due process" and no "factual allegations counsel itself has engaged in misconduct." Not so, Arguello replied. "Ms. Cronick and her attorneys continue to rely on a fabricated excuse to justify disobeying a lawful discovery order," she wrote on Aug. 30. Further, "this Court already determined that Ms. Cronick by and through her counsel asserted excuses that are so clearly toothless, the only sensible explanation is bad faith on the part of the client-counsel duo." Arguello outlined multiple occasions on which Cronick's attorneys responded to or were present for discussions of the non-disclosure and the possibility of sanctions. After the defense accused Cronick of deleting her YouTube videos and certain online communications, U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell recommended imposing financial sanctions on Cronick and the plaintiff's attorneys. She pointed to her own order from April 2023 in which she expressed "concerns over obstruction," and was now "seriously troubled" by Cronick ignoring the directive to facilitate disclosure of evidence. "Plaintiff does not reconcile her current position that the account belongs to her husband with her husbands contrary testimony, that the account belongs to Plaintiff," wrote Dominguez Braswell in October 2023. "More importantly though, Plaintiffs own deposition testimony demonstrates that Plaintiff does indeed have direct access to, and control over, the YouTube account in question." Featured Local Savings Arguello, in reviewing Dominguez Braswell's recommendation, agreed financial sanctions were warranted to pay the defendants' costs of pursuing the evidence. In response, Cronick's attorneys protested that there was "no specific finding of wrongdoing" and that they were entitled to a hearing to present evidence. But Arguello was unmoved. "The motion for sanctions straightforwardly and explicitly explained that Ms. Cronicks position was so thoroughly contradicted by the record that she must be lying to continue avoiding her discovery obligations," Arguello wrote in her latest order. Cronick's lawyer, in objecting to Dominguez Braswell's recommendation, "used that opportunity to reassert debunked excuses rather than defend himself." Arguello reiterated that evidence showed the YouTube account was Cronick's. By disputing Cronick's ability to comply with the directive to disclose materials, her attorneys "are enabling and facilitating Ms. Cronicks ongoing disobedience of a lawful discovery order by giving life to an obvious lie." At the same time, Arguello could not verify the accuracy of the defense's time spent litigating the issue because of numerous redactions in the documentation. She also could not discern whether Cronick or her lawyers were "more responsible for the deceptive representations" made in court. Arguello scheduled a hearing for Sept. 26 to sort through the $18,000 in requested sanctions. She warned that Cronick's lawyers may be subject to further sanctions if they "continue to waste this Courts time relitigating an issue already decided." Lane told Colorado Politics there was never a hearing to determine whether his client was lying, as Arguello believed, or was simply "mistaken in her answers, deceptive or acting under duress from a family member." "Ms. Cronick is a Native American woman, and is indigent and has no ability to pay nor has she been given any due process to fight these allegations," Lane said. "This is a complete denial of due process of law and this, as well as any further unconstitutional orders by the court, will be appealed." The case is Cronick v. Pryor et al. With their pagers out of action after being blasted into tiny pieces on Tuesday, members of Hezbollah were forced to communicate via hand-held radios. Those devices also exploded Wednesday in a devastating one-two punch. A security source and witness told Reuters that the walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah were detonated Wednesday afternoon in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Among the latest explosions were multiple at the site of a funeral being held for three Hezbollah members and a child, who were killed the day before. Lebanese television station Al Jadeed News posted to X a video that it said shows the moment a radio detonated during the mourning. pic.twitter.com/jNYyKHhzDq Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) September 18, 2024 Two sources told Axios that Israel was behind the second round of secret attacks and that thousands of two-way personal radios were detonated Wednesday. The outlet reported that the radios were booby-trapped in advance by Israeli intelligence services. That echoes a New York Times report, citing U.S. and other officials, which said Israeli intelligence hid explosive material in a shipment of pagers that were imported to Lebanon from Taiwan. Experts Think Israel May Have Rigged 2,800 Pagers to Explode in Lebanon However, Taiwan-based Gold Apollo said in a statement on its website that the AR-924 pager model used in the Tuesday attack was manufactured and sold in Hungary by a firm called BAC Consulting, which licenses the Gold Apollo brand. There was no information immediately available about the brand of two-way radio used in the Wednesday attack. During yesterdays wave of detonations, pagers used by Hezbollah exploded over the course of an hour, many while their owners were in civilian areas. At least 12 people, including two children, were killed, hundreds more remain in critical condition, and at least 2,800 were wounded. No immediate casualties were available in relation to Wednesdays attack but explosions were also reportedly heard in civilian areas including homes. Israeli and Hezbollah officials have warned one another in recent weeks that they could escalate fighting. Israel began moving additional troops near the Lebanese border on Wednesday as a precaution, an official told the Associated Press. The AP also said that U.S. officials were briefed on Israels covert attack Tuesday after it was launched. 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. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Nursing homes in New York are being urged to protect residents with the updated COVID-19 vaccine. The NYS Department of Health sent letters out to nursing facilities about the updated vaccine to protect elderly residents from severe illness or death. This comes after the FDA recently approved the 2024-2025 Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax vaccines prior to the beginning of respiratory illness season. The CDC recommended for adults 65 or older to get the updated vaccine. Health leaders are also encouraging residents to get vaccinated against RSV and the Flu. You can find more information about these vaccines on the Monroe County Department of Healths 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 RochesterFirst. NYC Mayor Adams offers different response to questions about probes, says hes had enough of weekly updates NEW YORK Mayor Adams offered a somewhat different response Tuesday to questions about the swirl of federal investigations touching his administration, letting the press know hes growing weary of continuous updates. For the last several weeks, Adams and his top City Hall attorney maintained matter-of-factly they had received no indication he was the target of any of the federal investigations facing his administration. But on Tuesday afternoon in his first weekly press conference since the chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, resigned abruptly Adams offered a different take. Every week, Im not going to have an annual, you know, advisory of what Im classified in, he said when asked whether he has been told hes a target or a subject of any of the federal corruption probes ensnaring top officials in his administration. The investigation will take its course. It would be inappropriate for me to talk about an investigation. While several top administration officials have had their houses searched and phones seized, it still remains unclear whether Adams or anyone in his orbit are the targets of any investigations. The mayor has not been accused of wrongdoing. Prior to Tuesday, Zornberg and Adams affirmed several times they had no reason to believe the feds considered either the mayor or anyone in his administration targets of their probes. Investigators have not indicated to us the mayor or his staff are targets of any investigation, Zornberg said in a statement on Sept. 5 after federal authorities seized electronics from and raided the homes of five top Adams administration officials, including NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, who has since resigned. Asked by the Daily News at Tuesdays briefing how his new response might be interpreted, Adams said: You should interpret it any way you want. Im not going to keep having daily updates over and over and over again. Sources have confirmed one of the federal investigations that came to light this month are looking at whether the younger brother of Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks and Schools Chancellor David Banks engaged in a scheme involving unregistered lobbying and kickbacks on city contracts as well as whether any city officials played a part in such activities. The second probe that emerged this month is looking at whether ex-Commissioner Cabans twin brother squeezed nightlife venues in the city for cash in exchange for police favors. Federal prosecutors are separately investigating whether Adams 2021 campaign received illegal donations from Turkeys government. No one has been charged to date in the inquiries. Tuesdays press conference came after Zornberg resigned late Saturday, writing in a letter to the mayor she could no longer effectively serve in my position. As first reported by The News, Zornberg stepped down because Adams declined to follow her advice to fire several top aides, including senior public safety adviser Tim Pearson and Deputy Mayor Banks, who were among the officials who got their cell phones confiscated and homes raided by the feds this month. Adams didnt deny that Zornberg left because he didnt follow her advice, but said he wont discuss private conversations he had with her. There was only two people in that conversation: chief counsel and Eric Adams, he said. NYC woman, 81, walking dog feels 'lucky' to be alive after video shows man brutally punching her in the face An 81-year-old New York City woman is not going to let a random assault from a man who punched her in the side of the head on Friday stop her from walking her dog daily, according to reports. FOX 5 in New York City reported that the woman, who preferred to only go by the name Gloria, said she feels "lucky" to be alive after being randomly punched in the upper west side of Manhattan and being hospitalized. Gloria, who suffered bruises to her face and neck, spoke exclusively to FOX 5s Duarte Geraldino. She told the station she does not remember much about the incident because she suffered a concussion from the attack. Still, she described the incident as "scary." NYC WOMEN ARE PUNCHED IN THE FACE ON STREETS: TIKTOK SOUNDS ALARM ABOUT FRIGHTENING ASSAULTS An 81-year-old woman walking her dog was randomly attacked in the Upper West Side of New York City on Friday. "Thats the scary part, [it happened] in front of my building," she said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP In surveillance video obtained by FOX 5, Gloria is seen walking her dog on a sidewalk near W. 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue at about 7 p.m., when a man dressed in black appears to say something to her as he walks past her. Moments later, the man in black turns around and walks back toward Gloria from behind, then swings, landing a punch to her face. ACCUSED NEW YORK CITY SERIAL PUNCHER INDICTED ON HATE CRIME CHARGES An 81-year-old woman was randomly attacked in the Upper West Side of New York City on Friday. Although the station paused the video and did not show the full attack, it said Gloria hit her head on the side of the building before she lost her balance and fell to the ground. The next clip in the video shows Gloria on the ground with the man striding away as bystanders rush to her assistance. "I didnt want to see the tape and maybe because I feel so lucky, because he could have had a knife," she told the news station. "My neck was almost as fat as my face." 2 FORMER NYC FIRE CHIEFS CHARGED WITH BRIBERY, CORRUPTION FOR ALLEGED PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT An 81-year-old woman was randomly attacked in the upper west side of New York City on Friday. Despite being attacked, Gloria told the reporter she still walks her dog outside, saying, "Im not going to hide in my apartment." The NYPD continues to investigate the matter. The attack has been added to a growing list of violent assaults occurring in the Big Apple. MANHATTAN DA'S OFFICE SUED FOR RECORDS RELATED TO TRUMP PROSECUTION An 81-year-old woman was randomly attacked in the upper west side of New York City on Friday. In March, several young women came forward on social media and claimed they were punched in the face or head by strangers while walking in New York City. One of the women, TikTok user Olivia Brand, uploaded a video on March 17 after she was "punched by some man on the sidewalk." "He goes, Sorry! And then punches me in the head," she recalled. "Holy f- - -! What the hell just happened?" Several other women reported similar incidents. Fox News Digital has reached out to the New York City Police Department seeking information about the incident. Fox News Angelica Stabile contributed to this report. Original article source: NYC woman, 81, walking dog feels 'lucky' to be alive after video shows man brutally punching her in the face Police officers voluntarily surrendering their Tasers and firearms "risks London becoming less safe", the Metropolitan Police commissioner has warned. Sir Mark Rowley said a third of officers were giving up their Taser accreditation, and more than a quarter were surrendering their firearm tickets. In a speech on Wednesday night, he said "fewer officers [were] doing the high-risk jobs we need" in London. This, he said, was due to a "growing crisis in officers confidence to act" and an accountability process which had "got out of kilter". 'Emboldening thugs' Sir Mark told the event, organised by the Police Foundation, that the online abuse faced by officers was "shameful" and that violence against officers was increasing. "We should be very clear: when people, be they politicians or the public, throw accusations and slurs at the police, they put them in danger by emboldening thugs," he said. "Some people wont care about that the criminals but everyone else should. "I say to all those throwing insults: be very careful which side of the line you are standing." He said about 18 officers a day were "punched, bitten or racially abused, and two per week were seriously injured". "In one incident recently an officer was driven at while trying to stop a stolen car, leaving him requiring extensive surgery," Sir Mark added. 'Less safe' He added that the National Federation survey from earlier this year showed 95% of officers said how the police was treated by government had a "negative effect on their morale". "That is just one indication of how they feel," he said. "The consequence is a growing crisis in officers confidence to act. And that makes us all less safe. "It is not just about abuse and intimidation. The system we have created to hold officers to account has also got out of kilter. "The system that holds officers to account needs to pass the common-sense test. It should be timely, fair and respected by both officers and the public. It isnt." Sir Mark said a quarter had handed in their firearm tickets [PA Media] Sir Mark added the impact of "reduced confidence" in officers was being seen on the capital's streets. "Stop and search an important tactic when used well, which takes knives and weapons off our streets - has declined massively, and the arrest rate in London is also reducing," he said. "We know that a third of officers say that reduced confidence has led them to voluntarily surrender their public order accreditation, a third say they are giving up their Taser accreditation, and over a quarter their firearms tickets. "This means fewer officers doing the high-risk jobs we need them to do. That risks London becoming less safe." "Officers should know that when they follow their training and act in good faith, that from their sergeant to their commissioner they will be supported," Sir Mark said. "This is the approach in the health service. "It cannot be right that one part of the public sector, which also makes life and death decisions, should be held to a different standard to others." Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk More on this story Related internet links A fire burns at the gas station after an explosion on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2024 in Cardiff, Idaho. (Clearwater County Sheriff's Office via AP). BOISE, Idaho (AP) Authorities have identified two people killed when a gas station exploded and started a fire in a remote Idaho town last week. The Clearwater County Sheriff's Office said Brandon Cook, 53, of Orofino and Wesley Lineberry, 62, of Pierce were both killed in the explosion at the Atkinson Distributing station in Cardiff on Sept. 11. Two others were badly burned in the explosion and subsequent fire, and they remained hospitalized on Wednesday. Separate GoFundMe pages identified the injured as fuel tanker driver Donny Billeter and gas station attendant Roxann Hubbs. A fuel tanker semi truck was in the process of filling the above-ground tanks at the station when the explosion happened just after 3 p.m., said Idaho State Fire Marshal Knute Sandahl. The blast destroyed the tanker and sent debris including truck parts, piping, pieces of the tank and chunks from the gas station building flying across an area about the size of a city block, Sandahl said. Both the tanker truck driver and the gas station attendant were near the truck when the explosion occurred. The bodies of Lineberry and Cook were found just outside the gas station, but investigators have not yet confirmed if they were inside or outside the building when the disaster began, Sandahl said. It's not yet clear what caused the explosion, Sandahl said, and the National Transportation Safety Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are assisting in the investigation. We're digging deep and it's just going to take some time, said Sandahl. I'm hoping we'll have something a little bit more definitive to release in October sometime. Some nearby buildings were also damaged by the explosion and fire, and the remaining fuel at the site has been an obstacle for investigators. A regional hazardous materials response team was called in to help mitigate the danger. Gas station explosions are rare, Sandahl said. In my 19 years of being a state fire marshal here in Idaho, this is the first incident I'm aware of, he said. Offloading the process of moving fuel from a tanker truck to a station's storage tanks increases the risk somewhat but is still typically a very safe process because the drivers follow specific procedures, he said. Quite honestly, I think the most dangerous thing is fueling up your vehicle while smoking or filling plastic gas cans in the back of your pickup truck, which increases the risk of sparks from static electricity, Sandahl said. As we know from high school chemistry, it's actually the fumes that are volatile, and if there is a spark introduced, it can cause a problem." HONOLULU (KHON2) Officials are investigating after a drone contracted by Hawaiian Electric was purposefully targeted and down during the week of Monday, Sept. 9 on Maui. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Hawaiian Electric said the drone is is meant to inspect areas with a high-risk of wildfire. Officials said the drone program is an important part of wildfire mitigation. Inspect the condition of the electrical infrastructure that help us inspect, you know, look at areas where there might be a lot of vegetation growing, Hawaiian Electric spokesperson Darren Pai said. Honolulus Intertribal Powwow takes place this weekend Pai said one of their contracted drones was purposefully targeted and damaged mid-flight, which downed the machine as it was inspecting overhead lines on Maui. For, you know, safety and security reasons I cant get into all the specifics around the incident, Pai said. The Maui Police Department is investigating the incident. An owner of an unrelated drone company said he has been threatened at least a dozen times while flying his equipment. Firearms have been present in probably about three of those instances, said Mike Elliott, co-owner of Drone Services Hawaii. Ive never had anybody actually do anything. But it is a federal crime. With Halloween around the corner, Honolulu horror fans talk about why they love horror KHON2 asked Elliott if he has ever seen someone point a weapon at his drone. No, being psychically approached and someone having a firearm, yeah, Elliott said. The Federal Aviation Administration has not confirmed that they investigating the downed drone, but the crime of destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities which carries up to $10,000 in fines or up to 20 years in prison. Federal crime, federal time. I mean, thats the way it works, Elliott said. Theres a misperception as to, Well there was a drone flying by. So they must be looking at me, Not necessarily. Whats going on usually is a lot of mapping projects, lidar, thermography, checking solar panels, things like that. We just want to bring awareness to this and let people know that if you see our crews out there with a drone overhead, you know, it is a part of this program, Pai said. Check out more news from around Hawaii The drone program is active on Maui, the Big Island and Oahu and inspections are often accompanied by Hawaiian Electric-marked vehicles, or by ProEnergy Jeeps. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Haitian migrants residing in Springfield, Ohio, shared with ABC News their harrowing experiences of living in constant fear, expressing deep concerns about their safety that prevent them from venturing outside their homes. In a town of more than 58,000 residents, threats of bombings and shootings led to the closure of city buildings and schools for several days. Wittenberg University canceled all activities on Sunday and classes on Monday as a precautionary measure. James Fleurijean, a Haitian Community Help & Support Center member, stated that the continual spread of false and divisive statements from prominent politicians was fostering an environment of fear. PHOTO: Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. J.D. Vance speaks with media at the airport before he departs, Sept. 14, 2024, in Greenville, N.C. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images) "I know some parents like for this period of time they're trying to keep their children home, like, by the time they see how things gonna be, like, wait for a couple of weeks to see if things that are calm down, or if things gonna escalate," Fleurijean said. "You see, that's why, like some parents, they don't even send their children to school, like, for this week." Politicians, including former President Donald Trump, have heightened their fears. At the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last week, Trump claimed, "In Springfield, people are resorting to eating dogs, cats, and other household pets." Trump did not specify the ethnicity of the migrants he claimed were eating pets in Springfield, but on X, his running mate JD Vance continuously raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services. "Kamala Harris dropped 20,000 Haitian migrants into a small Ohio town and chaos has ensued," Vance said on X. MORE: Trump pushes false claim that Haitian migrants are stealing and eating pets Vance appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" and informed reporters that Ohio locals have been lodging complaints for at least a year now. VIDEO: Explaining Trump's false claims about immigrants eating pets in Ohio (ABCNews.com) "I have heard firsthand from multiple constituents people who made 911 calls a month ago, a year ago, who were making these complaints," Vance said. "I trust my constituents more than I do the American media that has shown no interest in what's happened in Springfield until we started sharing cat memes on the Internet." ABC News spoke with a 28-year-old Haitian man who wanted to remain anonymous. He said he had come to Springfield from New Jersey less than a year ago to search for work. While waiting for ABC News, a passerby yelled "TRUMP" at him, he said. The man mentioned that he used to see a lot of Haitians on the street, but he doesn't see them anymore. He believes they are afraid. He mentioned that the Haitian community has felt terrorized. Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has dismissed the rumors about Haitian immigrants eating pets as nonsense. He says the discussion has to stop and the focus should be on moving forward, not dogs and cats. "Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in," DeWine said. "These Haitians came in to work for these companies. They're very happy to have them there. And, frankly, that's helped the economy." The majority of the 12,000 to 15,000 migrants who have arrived in Springfield over the past four years are from Haiti, according to the city of Springfield. These Haitian migrants left their country due to gang-related violence and poverty, in search of stability, safety, and job opportunities. They came to the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status designation. Ohio Haitian immigrants say they are afraid to leave home after recent backlash originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Ohio man accused of holding Butler man captive inside his own home for days Police say a man was held captive inside his home in Butler for days. Jamel Patton of Youngstown, Ohio is accused of holding the victim captive. The victim told police that Patton was using the house to sell drugs. According to the criminal complaint, the victim told police Patton said he had better not leave, he was not allowed to leave and stated he would rip [the victims] head off if he left. The victim was able to escape from his house along Third Street on Friday and ran to Papa Johns on West Cunningham Street. Surveillance video shared with Channel 11 shows the victim coming inside the store and pleading for help. Channel 11 spoke with Jeffrey Taylor, the store manager, who described the frantic moments. The door went flying open and a man came in frantic saying he needed to call 911 and he was being held hostage and he was afraid for his life and that of his dog too, Taylor said. Patton is facing multiple charges, including false imprisonment and manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: North Versailles fish and chicken fast food restaurant ordered to close Titan implosion: Image of doomed submersible on sea floor released 2 people charged after man shot, killed over cleanliness of house in South Side Slopes, police say VIDEO: New resolution would allocate $1M in taxpayer money to fund 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Ohio Mayor Says He Would Be Fine If Trump Didnt Visit The mayor of Springfield, Ohio, said a visit to the region by Donald Trump would be an extreme strain on the citys resources, and he would be fine if the former president decided not to come. Springfield has become a nationwide name after Trumps running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R), spread lies that the citys Haitian immigrants were eating residents pets. Trump has shared those falsehoods in recent days, including on the debate stage against Vice President Kamala Harris. The former president was reported to be planning to visit the city soon, although its unclear if those efforts have firmed up in recent days. It would be an extreme strain on our resources, Mayor Rob Rue said during a news conference on Tuesday, per NBC. So itd be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit. Local officials have soundly debunked the claims, and Rue said last week such rhetoric was hurting citizens and the community. A mural is displayed in an alley downtown on Sept. 16 in Springfield, Ohio. Photo by Luke Sharrett/Getty Images Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has lashed out at the lies about Springfield and said while the state would normally be happy to welcome presidential candidates, right now, resources were stretched really, really thin. Springfield has since become the site of dozens of bomb threats: The Associated Press reports at least 30 have been made against schools, government buildings and city officials homes since the rumors began to spread. The city was also forced to cancel an annual diversity and arts festival in response to threats. DeWine recently sent state troopers to Springfield amid the rash of threats, who will be stationed at public schools. The city has seen an influx of immigrants, many from Haiti, in recent years. Haitians now account for about 15% of the population, and Rue has said the surge in population has strained the citys resources. Springfield is a community that needs help, Rue told The Washington Post last week, adding national leaders should not hurt a community like, unfortunately, we have seen over the last couple of days. Related... The Colorado Springs Police Department has arrested an adult male for allegedly shooting another individual and menacing the victim's child. On Aug. 30 at approximately 7 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting in the 200 block of Bijou Court. Upon arrival, officers located a male victim with a single non-life-threatening gunshot wound. The victim told law enforcement that an unknown male shot him. The victim further went on to tell police the suspect menaced his child and then fled in a dark-colored van. Detectives from the assault unit responded and assumed the investigation. On Wednesday, assault unit and armed violent offender unit detectives took 27-year-old James Patterson into custody without incident. Patterson was booked into the El Paso County Jail for first degree assault and felony menacing. NICEVILLE Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Patrick Maddox normally doesn't speculate about potential tropical systems in advance. Still, since the latest development could affect Northwest Florida, and social media has been in a firestorm over model runs since the beginning of this week, Maddox released a memo to local officials that focuses on calm preparation over fear and misinformation. The National Hurricane Center highlights the area in question in the northwestern Caribbean, between the western tip of Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula. It has a 20% chance of developing in the next seven days. Maddox suspects those chances will ramp up as time passes and could eventually be named Helene if no other tropical activity is seen. Public Safety Director Patrick Maddox urges "calm preparedness" ahead of a potential tropical system impacting Northwest Florida. While Northwest Florida waits for further development, Maddox emphasized that forecast model runs, especially a week out from a potential landfall, could add to further misinformation. "No one, and I mean no one, can tell you where this system will ultimately wind up at this point," he said. "Dont buy into social media single model; doomsday prophecy end-runs a week out from any potential land impact. If any of those solutions did verify, it would be luck at best." More weather: National Hurricane Center warns warm Caribbean waters could mean new storm ahead Maddox continues by saying that models are unreliable in giving public safety officials track or intensity guidance until the system "latches on" to a low center. Maddox emphasized the importance of staying calm: "Weather anxiety is real, and spinning people up for no reason is not beneficial," said Maddox. "If a low center were to form, there would be little time to prepare for any land or marine areas that could be impacted." Maddox says to monitor trusted, official news sources for expected local impacts. "Calm preparedness is always the key," Maddox added. "This is something to monitor for now, and reliable guidance may only be (coming) into focus a couple of days before any potential impacts, wherever they may be. If this system were to be a player for our area, its a next-week thing." "This is a good time to review plans and monitor for further updates." This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Okaloosa County official calms fears over "doomsday model runs" in the tropics The Tulsa County Courthouse pictured Aug. 20 in downtown Tulsa. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY A Tulsa prosecutor is accused of forcing domestic violence victims charged with crimes to give up their rights if they want plea agreements. A recently enacted law, Senate Bill 1835, known as the Oklahoma Survivors Act, lets domestic violence victims seek a sentence modification if they can show their abuse contributed to the crime. Victims rights advocates say Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler is requiring victims waive those rights if they enter a plea agreement. The idea that Tulsa District Attorney Kunzweiler would pressure domestic abuse survivors to give up their rights under this new law is appalling, said Colleen McCarty, co-founder of the Oklahoma Survivor Justice Coalition and executive director of the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. Domestic abuse survivors deserve full protection and support as they navigate the legal system not pressure from the District Attorney forcing them to relinquish their rights. We urge the District Attorney to cease this practice in the strongest possible terms. McCarty is representing April Rose Wilkens, who is asking a Tulsa County District Court to set her free after 26 years following the passage of the new law. Wilkens was convicted of going to the home of her former fiance Terry Carlton, an auto dealer, and shooting him eight times in 1998. She said she was raped and assaulted. She received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Kunzweilers office said Wednesday that he was not available for comment. His office issued a statement saying a significant amount of misinformation had been distributed to the media about the disposition of criminal cases handled by his office. Our office intends to memorialize whether someone is eligible under the Act at the time of sentencing, the statement said. If a defendant is eligible, the Act will be factored into their range of punishment and plea. If a defendant is not eligible, an acknowledgement of this fact should be filed at the time of the plea. The office will uphold the rights of victims in every setting while advancing common sense solutions to improve the efficiency of the process, the statement said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Earlier this year, Oklahoma state lawmakers passed a historic law requiring reduced sentences for survivors of domestic violence who could prove their crimes were related to their abuse. The Oklahoma Survivors Act, which passed with nearly unanimous support from state lawmakers, was inspired by women who faced harsh prison sentences for killing their abusers to protect themselves; who committed a crime while trying to flee abuse; or who were pressured by their abuser into breaking the law. It created a sentencing matrix that caps sentences for qualifying individuals at 30 years in prison. People who were sentenced prior to the laws passage can petition for resentencing under the modified rules. Now, less than three weeks after the law went into effect, prosecutors in one of the states most populous counties are considering a plan to exclude potential candidates from sentencing relief. The office of Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler has created a form for people entering plea deals that would require anyone who signs it to surrender their rights under the domestic violence bill. As a consequence of said negotiated plea, I am affirmatively stating that the Oklahoma Survivors Act and any of its benefits do not apply to me, states the waiver, which was obtained by HuffPost. I am waiving my ability to raise a claim under the Oklahoma Survivors Act both now at the time of plea, during a subsequent revocation hearing (if applicable), and after I have been sentenced in a post-conviction setting. The Tulsa County District Attorney's office created a form for people entering plea deals that would require signatories to forfeit their rights under the Oklahoma Survivors' Act. HuffPost The Tulsa County DAs office told a local ABC affiliate that it intends to memorialize whether someone is eligible under the Act at the time of sentencing, and that if a defendant is eligible, the Act will be factored into their range of punishment and plea. If a defendant is not eligible, an acknowledgment of this fact should be filed at the time of plea. The DAs office said the waiver is still under consideration. If it is put into use, its not clear in what situations the DAs office would deploy it. But asking any defendant to sign such a waiver would violate the legislative intent of the Oklahoma Survivors Act, according to lawyers and policy advocates who helped push the bill through the state legislature. It would effectively make a premature determination about whether someone experienced domestic abuse, potentially before a defendant even has a chance to present that evidence and people might nevertheless feel forced to sign the waiver in order to obtain a plea deal. Prosecutors are preying on survivors at their weakest moment, using a law meant to help them to coerce them into the plea that [prosecutors] want so they dont have to go trial, Alexandra Bailey, a senior campaign strategist at the Sentencing Project and a survivor of domestic violence, said in an interview. Under the law, survivors of domestic violence who have been charged with or convicted of a crime can present evidence of abuse to the court, including hospital records, police reports, protective orders, social service records or witness statements. If the court finds that the individual was subjected to violence or abuse that was a substantial contributing factor in causing the crime, it is instructed to follow the reduced sentencing matrix. It is not appropriate for the district attorneys office to determine who is and is not eligible under the law, said Colleen McCarty, executive director of the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice. Theyre not that persons attorney. How would they know that? McCarty said in an interview. Other than to say, Oh, you never called the police, so youre not a real victim. Or, You dont have an active case against your abuser, youre not really a victim. The Oklahoma Appleseed Center, which helped pass the bill, is currently representing 13 people who plan to petition for resentencing under the law, and investigating 60 additional cases. Studiesshow that most women who are incarcerated are survivors of physical, emotional or sexual abuse. State lawmakers first considered a version of the Oklahoma Survivors Act in 2023, but policy advocates pulled support after prosecutors pressured lawmakers into stripping language that would make it apply retroactively. In 2024, a version with retroactivity passed with near-unanimous support, only to be vetoed by Gov. Kevin Stitt (R). The Oklahoma District Attorneys Association supported the veto. Lawmakers quickly passed a slightly modified version of the bill, which Stitt signed into law. Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Related... Olympic gold medallist Emily Craig has unveiled a new playground at a school in Kent. Craig, who won gold in rowing at the 2024 Paris games, opened the newly-refurbished play area at Chiddingstone Primary School. The Pembury-born sportswoman spoke to pupils there about growing up in the area and learning to row at Bewl Reservoir nearby. She said: "If these kids can see it is possible, that we are just people that are dedicated, then who knows who's going to be inspired." Craig won gold with her rowing partner Imogen Grant [Getty Images] "They're so excited and inquisitive," she said of the children. She described their questions as "amazing", saying one pupil had asked her what would happen if she hit a duck while on the water. The new playground includes restored artificial turf which has been funded with 20,000 raised by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Its fundraising activities involved an all-school Olympics Day in June, where Craig gave a video address in which she promised to visit pupils in-person after Paris. Craig won gold with partner Imogen Grant in the lightweight double sculls category. The pair narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2021 Tokyo Games, coming in fourth place. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Related stories One of CSFDs own added to Wall of Honor ahead of annual ceremony (COLORADO SPRINGS) The 38th Annual Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial service is happening this Saturday, Sept. 21 at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs, and a local heros name that was recently etched into the wall, will be read aloud and honored, along with the names of more than 300 others who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) wrote in a press release on Tuesday, Sept 17, This will be a solemn milestone as this will mark the first time in over a decade a CSFD firefighters name has been etched into the [International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Wall of Honor]. In a recent video shared by the fire department, which can be viewed above, the name of fallen CSFD Driver/Engineer Bobby Keese was seen being added to the wall. One of the nicest guys in the job, honoring fallen firefighter Bobby Keese Bobby Keese passed away on Oct. 20, 2023, in relation to risks and exposures associated with firefighting duties, wrote CSFD. Keese joined CSFD in May 1993 and served 30 years with the department. He followed in his fathers footsteps, who joined the department in 1969 and also served as a Driver/Engineer. Courtesy: FOX21 News, photo shows a memorial for fallen CSFD Driver/Engineer Bobby Keese during his funeral service held on Nov. 2, 2023. Being the host city for the IAFF Fire Fighters Memorial, we have seen hundreds of names added to the wall from across the U.S. and Canada, said Fire Chief Randy Royal. Sadly, this year we will be even more intimately participating in the service by adding one of our own. Photo captured during the funeral service for Keese shows the fallen Driver/Engineer standing between Fire Chief Randy Royal and Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Jayme McConnellogue. Keese is remembered by CSFD as being a respected leader and mentor among his peers. Bobby Keese was all things great about firefighters, said Curt Crumb, Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters Local 5 President. His mentorship, dedication, and friendship touched and guided so many of our current firefighters. The loss of Bobby is a void that will not be filled. Photos captured during the funeral service for Keese show the many years of service the fallen Driver/Engineer had at CSFD. Crumb went on to thank their fallen comrades loved ones for allowing him to pursue the career his father took and for bringing Keese into their lives. We also want to extend our sincere condolences to the family knowing that what Bobbys chosen profession was, ultimately was what took him away from his family at home, and his fire family in the station, Crumb continued. Every September the IAFF holds the Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial service to honor the fallen at Memorial Park, located at 1315 East Pikes Peak Avenue. The ceremony honors all line of duty deaths, including those who died on scene or succumbed to occupational illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and suicide, wrote the IAFF. This years ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, will honor IAFF members who died or whose names were submitted between Jan. 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023. According to CSFD, the honor ride/procession before the ceremony will begin at 9:15 a.m. According to the IAFF, so far, the names of 9,532 firefighters, dating back to 1918, have been added to the Wall of Honor. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. One in custody after shooting in NE Oklahoma City One in custody after shooting in NE Oklahoma City OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) It was chaos in a northeast Oklahoma City neighborhood Tuesday morning. Somebody help! I just got shot, said a victim into a neighbors doorbell camera. Can you hear me? Somebody just shot me. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Multiple detained following shooting at NE Oklahoma City home Oklahoma City Police were called to a house on East Park Place, near NE 8th Street and Lottie Avenue around 4:30 a.m. The victim was frantically banging on neighbors doors, begging for help. Please open the door. Please open the door. Please, said the victim. According to OKCPD, earlier, the victim was inside a house with several other people when Art Ladd showed up and an argument began. Art Ladd. Image courtesy Oklahoma Co. Detention Center. Which led to the victim being shot. He had a gunshot wound to his lower leg or his ankle. He fled the house, said MSgt. Gary Knight, with the Oklahoma City Police Department. Neighbors called 911. The victim was rushed to a hospital. His injuries are not life threatening. LOCAL NEWS: Del City PD search for armed suspect after morning shooting, one injured He was able to point out the residence where the shooting happened. When officers got there, they began calling people out methodically, said Knight. It took a while, but eventually everybody came out. Witnesses were taken in for questioning. Ladd was arrested and booked into the Oklahoma County Jail on charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, having a gun after being convicted of a felony, and kidnapping. That is disturbing a little bit because we dont hear that around here, said Timothy Shelton who lives in the area. I got grandkids who stay here with me. This is a good neighborhood. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. JACKSON COUNTY (KSNT) Law enforcement has confirmed the identity of the person killed in a crash on Highway 75 in Jackson County Wednesday. Emergency workers, the Jackson County Sheriffs Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) were at the scene of a crash at 190th Road and Highway 75 on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Law enforcement at the scene told a 27 News reporter one person died in the crash while another was transported from the scene in a helicopter to a nearby hospital for treatment. This embedded content is not available in your region. Jodi Clary with the KHP told 27 News the crash involves two vehicles. Highway 75 was taken down to one lane going north with traffic being directed around the crash site. Sheriff Tim Morse with the Jackson County Sheriffs Office announced in a press release around 1:25 p.m. that deputies were informed of the crash around 11:15 a.m. on Sept. 18. The crash occurred when a northbound Dodge van on the highway was hit by an eastbound Chevrolet pickup truck. Murder charges filed against man accused in 14th Topeka homicide of 2024 Morse said a passenger in the Dodge van was killed in the crash. The driver of the van, a 26-year-old woman from Effingham, was life-flighted from the crash site to a Kansas City hospital for urgent care. The driver of the pickup truck, a 16-year-old boy from Holton, was treated by medical personnel at the scene. The KHP confirms the person who died in the crash is Scott E. Reaka 52, of Topeka. He was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. 27 News is working to gather more information on this crash. Additional details will be added here as they become available. (Photo By Tim Schoepflin) (Photo By Tim Schoepflin) (Photo By Tim Schoepflin) (Photo By Tim Schoepflin) 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. DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) As the homeless population in Morgan County continues to grow there is still no place available for overnight stays for those in need. Two years ago, the Salvation Army of Decatur closed its doors, and that closure left a hole in efforts to relieve the homeless population in Morgan County. MCSO arrest woman wanted on 88 warrants Sergeants Jim and Rebecca Lahman were assigned to reopen and maintain the shelter. Since then, the efforts to fully re-open the shelter have been a challenge. In November of 2023, things were looking better for the unhoused when officials announced that the outreach would soon reopen. The doors have remained locked and since then, according to homeless advocates, the homeless population in the city has nearly tripled. The Lahmans say that they expected both public support and enough funding from city officials would outweigh the need. Efforts to fully re-open the shelter have been a challenge. Man charged in attack that left corrections officer injured in Morgan County I dont believe that opening a homeless shelter brings more people here, said Sgt. Rebecca Lahman. Who wants to go to Decatur, Alabama to stay in a homeless shelter? I would say nobody does. Rebecca Lahman told News 19 that for the past two years, they have been looking at around $160,000 in support just to reopen. The money will go towards maintenance, staffing and transitional housing. We have seven apartments that families will live in, and they will learn what it is that caused them to be homeless and try over the next two years to save money and overcome those issues so that they can become successful out in regular housing, said Lahman. The Salvation Army is the only outreach with the available space to accommodate the entire homeless population in Morgan County. Ill do what I need to do if I have to be here 24 hours but, I cant do it by myself, Lahman said. Lahmans plan now is to face city leaders on Wednesday at the budget meeting at city hall. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Donald Trumps floundering presidential campaign is still reeling from his nightmare debate performance last week. And so from the depths of his insecurity, Trump has once again reactivated his sizable corps of yes-men and yes-women, to re-inflate his fragile ego. And from there comes the newest scandal. One of Trumps chief toadies, the racist social media influencer Laura Loomer, has worsened Team Trumps political migraine. After a string of posts last week in which Loomer dragged long-time Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and appeared to out South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) as gay, even Loomers fellow right-wing influencers began to turn against her in droves. Milo Yiannopoulos, known for his own hatespeechpeddling shtick, lobbed a flurry of accusations at Loomer in a web series he titled Moronica Lewinsky. His posts not only alleged that Loomer had been subject to multiple involuntary psychiatric holds, but he also questioned Loomers Judaism. This is hardly the portrait of the GOP that Republican Party officials hoped to project in the closing weeks of a massively consequential campaign. Loomer now occupies a unique place in the MAGA power map. Shes on the outs with many in the party base and disavowed by many of her influencer colleagues. Senior MAGA leaders have also tossed Loomer overboard, led by Greenes declaration that Loomer doesnt represent MAGA. For most of Trumps past ill-fated political allies, those public excommunications would be enough to end ones political career. Yet Trump has once again overruled all counsel and loudly defended Loomer against her growing army of Republican critics. He cant or wont explain why Loomer now accompanies him almost everywhere. I cant tell Laura what to do, Trump said at a news conference in Los Angeles on Friday. Shes a free spirit. Where Trump sees a free spirit, a growing number of his Republican colleagues see a chaos agent jeopardizing their hopes of winning back the White House while holding the House of Representatives. The result is a late-campaign rift that few GOP lawmakers saw coming one they fear could cost the party dearly in November. Republicans who are smart enough to recognize Loomer as a radioactive threat to Trumps campaign are largely powerless to remove her. With no official campaign role, Loomer exists in the Trump extended universe as a kind of emotional support pundit. None of this is new. In his worst moments, Trump has retreated into the familiar pattern of casting aside senior Republicans concerns while relying almost exclusively on far-right confidants like Tucker Carlson, Loomer and neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes. The writhing mess of scandal and controversy currently engulfing Mar-a-Lago is the MAGA movement in full bloom. Voters have seen this weirdness before: in 2020, when they rejected a Trump campaign that had devolved into the same erratic behavior and conspiracy theories on offer from the nominee this week. Trumps questionable relationship with Loomer is reminding voters why they benched the former president four years ago. The partys looming Loomer crisis is driven by another one of Trumps increasingly common political misfires. Just like his cringe-inducing rant about migrants eating Ohioans pets at last weeks debate, the mainstream American public is paying attention to Loomergate at a level Republicans didnt anticipate. They expected it, like so many other Trump scandals, to wash over exhausted voters. In fact, the opposite happened. Despite being a niche figure in the world of right-wing influencers, Loomers appearance at Trumps side aligns with Vice President Harriss plea last week for voters to evaluate Trumps judgment. Palling around with a bigot who recently called for Democrats to be executed in a second Trump administration doesnt exactly reassure the swing voters Trump has been shedding in recent weeks. Its also why Trump has proven so skilled at losing elections not just his 2020 re-election bid, but also presiding over a string of brutal midterm elections in 2018 and 2022. Trumps political allies now worry that his addiction to Loomers praise could cost him Georgia and North Carolina. Those losses would bite deep into the meat of Republicans red wall, likely costing them both the White House and the House in November. Republicans hope that they could mask the MAGA movements true toxicity until after Election Day didnt quite pan out. Instead, voters are getting a prime-time dose of pure, uncut Trumpian chaos. Donald Trumps latest circus of scandal might light up the phone lines on Charlie Kirks web show, but its a pretty lousy way to win an election. Just ask Republicans. Max Burns is a veteran Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. If the Christian right had not had its way at the Supreme Court, Amber Nicole Thurman would be alive today. She would have been able to get the medical care she needed in 2022. She would have lived to pursue her career ambitions and see her little boy grow up. Instead, the 28-year-old died a completely avoidable death in a Georgia hospital because the doctors treating her were terrified of committing a felony under the states abortion ban. The true crime is that Thurmans life was cut short because of ideologues who for 50 years trumpeted biblical values as they sought to make women pay for unwanted pregnancies, even with their lives. A new report in ProPublica reveals the details of Thurmans excruciating final days and death, which a state medical committee recently deemed preventable. Thurman learned she was pregnant with twins in the summer of 2022. Mother to a young son, she was hoping to attend nursing school and quickly decided she needed to preserve her newfound stability, her best friend, Ricaria Baker, told ProPublica. But three years earlier, Georgias Republican-controlled state Legislature passed a law prohibiting abortion at six weeks. After the Supreme Courts overturned Roe v. Wades constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, the ban went into effect. Georgia became one of the first places to close the door on virtually all abortions, and many other GOP-run states soon followed. The law with the dystopian title of Living Infants and Fairness Equality Act, or LIFE Act does has a vague exception to protect the life of the mother. But most exceptions in these laws, reports the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization supporting reproductive rights, are designed to be unworkable, containing vague and contradictory language and imposing cumbersome requirements. When Georgias ban went into effect, Thurmans pregnancy had just passed six weeks. According to ProPublica, Thurman scheduled a dilation and curettage in North Carolina, which still permitted abortion. But when traffic delayed her travel, the clinic inundated with women from other states where bans had taken effect could not keep her appointment slot. A clinic employee gave her legally obtained abortion pills to use instead. (Her pregnancy was well within the standard of care for that treatment, ProPublica reports.) Mother to a young son, Thurman was hoping to attend nursing school. Unfortunately, upon her return home, Thurman suffered a highly unusual complication, with increasing pain and heavy bleeding. The North Carolina clinic would have performed a D&C as a free follow-up, but it was too far away. Instead, Thurman went to a nearby hospital. Citing medical records, ProPublica says that doctors noted a foul odor during a pelvic exam, and an ultrasound showed possible tissue in her uterus. Usually, these signs of sepsis would be addressed with a D&C to remove the fetal tissue. But the LIFE Act prohibits administering any instrument with the purpose of terminating a pregnancy. That made performing this normally commonplace and safe procedure a possible felony for the doctors. Hospital staff delayed the procedure for nearly a day, as Thurmans condition worsened. Finally, hours after her organs began failing, she was taken in for surgery during which she died. Her mother recalled her last words: Promise me youll take care of my son. It was not Thurmans legal use of abortion pills that caused her to die. Deaths stemming from the use of abortion pills are exceedingly rare. Out of nearly 6 million women whove taken mifepristone in the U.S. since 2000, 32 deaths were reported to the FDA through 2022, regardless of whether the drug played a role, ProPublica reports. Of those, 11 patients developed sepsis. The cause of Amber Thurmans death was the Republican-led criminalization of healthcare when she developed a condition that demanded immediate lifesaving attention. The LIFE Act killed Amber Thurman. The LIFE Act is what happens when single-minded religious zealots seize political power. Anti-abortion activists, claiming to have a more pure and literal interpretation of Christianity than everyone else, and claiming to have a divine directive to make American law conform to it, insisted on this. They insisted on ending Roe v. Wade, chipping away at it for five decades until former President Donald Trump made their dream come true. He delivered on his promise of a right-wing Supreme Court majority. That majority, in turn, unleashed the sadistic laws that endanger the lives of women in dozens of states, restricting their rights to make their own decisions and get lifesaving care. When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law, he said, Georgia is a state that values life. He added, We stand up for those who are unable to speak for themselves. But when Amber Thurman lay in a hospital bed, none of these pro-life heroes were there to treat her as a person with even a shred of dignity, much less any rights. Trump knows that these kinds of stories and Thurmans is far from the only one are bad news for his campaign. So now hes gaslighting the public once again about the fallout from the Dobbs decision, his critical role in the criminalization of abortion, and his Project 2025 allies plans for another term. At last weeks presidential debate, he brazenly lied that all sides wanted this issue to be brought back to the states, where the people could vote. But Americans didnt ask for the issue to be brought back to the states so that Christian nationalist legislators could dictate the most intimate decisions of their lives. Amber Thurman didnt ask for a lecture on life from her governor. She only wanted to live. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Multiple local law enforcement agencies responded to several online threats being made against Colorado Springs-area schools Wednesday, and two local students face charges over false threats, officials said. The two students are from two separate local schools and are facing charges for their "participation in spreading false information regarding threats to schools locally and nationwide," according to an El Paso County Sheriff's Office news release. One student faces charges involving alleged interference of an educational institution, and the other faces charges for alleged false reporting and the interference of an educational institution. Their names were not released Wednesday because they are minors. The investigation stemmed from information received by the Sheriffs Office over threats against school staff and students in multiple school districts. School safety is a high priority for my office, and our commitment towards this mission extends beyond the hard work and dedication of our (school resource officers), said Sheriff Joseph Roybal. It is something at the forefront of the mind of every individual working in law enforcement." Earlier Wednesday, Colorado Springs police reported investigating the "nonspecific" threats to area schools and confirmed through social media that there was no credible threat. My grandfather was Delawares last Republican governor and lieutenant governor. Im named after him. Its a running joke in my family that if I ever hold public office, I wont be the first Dale E. Wolf to do it. Grandsons of President Jimmy Carter and President John F. Kennedy helped launch the second night of this years Democratic National Convention. If my own grandfather were still around, I have no doubt that hed be voting for the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. I wish the contemporary Republican Party were far more reflective of Granddads values. As Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware said in a statement after my grandfather passed away in 2021, It was an honor and a joy to know and work with Dale. After serving our state, he retired with no enemies something most of us can only aspire to. U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris speaks during her rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 20, 2024. Granddad retired from politics in 1993, the same year I was born. He never stopped being a Republican. I grew up to spend half a decade working in Democratic politics. I worked for a consulting firm and a PAC, plus various individual campaigns on the state, local, and national levels. In 2016, Granddad and I both voted for Hillary Clinton. That year, I asked him what he thought of Donald Trump. Granddad heaved an enormous sigh. He talked for a while about how parties can change, and sometimes change is huge. He made clear that he hadnt abandoned his party, but his party had abandoned him. Ive done a lot of research since 2016, trying to figure out what happened. During law school I took a course in immigration law. I learned in detail just how different the Republican Party used to be on that issue. Former Gov. Dale Wolf While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost. President Ronald Reagan delivered those words in 1989, during his final speech in office, after he spent nearly ten years pushing to make Americas immigration system both more controlled and more compassionate. During his 1980 campaign, Reagan declared that the United States and our neighbors, particularly our neighbor to the south, should have a better understanding and a better relationship than weve ever had, and he said that our government hadnt been sensitive enough to our size and our power. In office, he signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which both strengthened border security and offered amnesty to any undocumented immigrant who had entered the United States before 1982. My grandfather voted for Reagan twice. At the dawn of this millennium, Granddad wrote our entire family a letter in which he discussed his ancestors crossing the sea to immigrate to America. Accepting the Republican nomination in 1980, Reagan asked his audience to trust that American spirit which knows no ethnic, religious, social, political, regional, or economic boundaries; the spirit that burned with zeal in the hearts of millions of immigrants from every corner of the Earth who came here in search of freedom. Reagan stood clearly against what we would today call Trumpian policies. You dont build a nine-foot fence along the border between two friendly nations, he said during a 1980 campaign speech. An early draft of this same speech contained language which would have been particularly inflammatory during the Cold War: We cannot erect a Berlin Wall across the southern border. Accepting the Republican nomination in 2024, Trump reiterated his longstanding commitment to building such a wall. Accepting this years Democratic nomination, Kamala Harris declared that Americans can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system. We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border. Harris supports the bipartisan border legislation that Trump publicly torpedoed. In this, she echoes Reagans practicality. Im willing to take what I can get, he once said about politics. You have to take what you can get and go out and get some more next year. Today the best champion of a Reaganesque immigration vision is Vice President Harris. Im certain my grandfather would have recognized this, and he would have voted for her with joy. Dale Wolf is the grandson of former Delaware Gov. Dale Wolf. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Dale Wolf grandson: Voting for Kamala Harris NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonights 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here. State of play: 48 days to the election Decision Desk HQ average : Kamala Harris +3.7, as of around noon ET today. Click here to see the latest numbers. PredictIt betting odds: 57 to 46 in favor of Harris. Harris Strategy Explained Politicos tweet about their own reporters interview of Vice President Kamala Harris said it all: Harris formula for national media interviews: Dont make news. This, of course, is true, and its the polar opposite of former President Donald Trumps strategy. The difference is also in how the media covers both strategies: Harris and Walzs comical answer to any economic question of I grew up middle class or we are gun owners is celebrated in coverage of Harris-Walz rather than strictly scrutinized as is every word uttered by Trump. Unpopular opinion: The media should cover Harris the way they cover Trump not cover Trump the way they cover Harris. Thats the medias fault not hers. Its the medias job to get her (or any politician) offscript. Watch tonight: Frank Sesno will discuss if or when the coverage of Harris will change or if much of the media will deem defeating Trump more important than their credibility. Be fair: Team Harris discipline is phenomenally impressive well show you some examples tonight at Mar-a-Lago that they should study. The other side: During last nights town hall really a moderated rally with Sarah Huckabee Sanders babysitting Trump Sanders hit Harris for not having biological children by saying Harris doesnt have anyone to keep her humble. As if Trumps biological kids keep him humble?! More importantly : Why? Just why? With 48 days until the election, what voter who was voting for Harris will now vote for Trump after hearing that? Team Trump and Republicans seem far more interested in winning the Twitter (X) war than winning the election! Cheap Conspiracy Theories Republicans and the Biden administration appear hellbent on creating another JFK assassination theory. WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 16: A member of the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service police provides security as Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, is brought before a judge at the federal courthouse for an initial appearance on September 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. It has been reported that Routh is currently facing two charges: possession of a firearm by a prohibited person/convicted felon, along with possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. The FBI and U.S. Secret Service, along with the Palm Beach County Sheriffs office, are investigating the incident, which the FBI said appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump while he was golfing at Trump International Golf Club. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters, I am reaching the point of total outrage because the response from the Department of Homeland Security has been totally lacking. In fact, I think its tantamount to stonewalling in many respects. If necessary, Ill certainly support a subpoena. Thought bubble : Trump supporters, not Trump himself, are leaning into the questions surrounding both assassination attempts as if there is something nefarious within the Secret Service or Department of Homeland Security. Two things can be true 1. Massive incompetence or complacency inside the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security 2. Theres no conspiracy to withhold protective resources from Trump. Laura Ingraham last night leaned into the questions on Fox News. Its sad and dangerous. Watch tonight: Former acting secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf on what are the fair questions given the Secret Service and DHS keep playing hide the ball. Everything is Exploding! Evidently the Israelis also placed explosives inside Hezbollahs new two-way radios, so after all the pagers exploded, the radios started going off during funerals for those killed by the pagers. We have witnessed without peer the single greatest intelligence, covert action operation in the history of warfare nothing comes close. Master class: Erick Erickson delivered perhaps the best write-up I have seen of the Israeli move. Its worth a read. People and first responders gather at the scene of a reported device explosion in Saida in southern Lebanon on September 18, 2024. A second wave of device explosions killed three people in Hezbollah strongholds of Lebanon on September 18, raising fears of an all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed militants. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) Watch tonight: Well show you how Israel is replacing America as the dominant force in the Middle East its bad for America, but Israel has no choice. Why is Israel becoming so much more aggressive? Just watch Harris interview yesterday about putting pressure on the Jewish state. Weve said it for a year now the more isolated and pressured Israel feels, the more aggressive they will become That fact is totally lost on the Biden administration and their supporters people like David Ignatius, the Washington cocktail circuits favorite foreign policy thinker. He writes, An apparent masterstroke of Israeli sabotage could quash cease-fire talks in Gaza and spark a wider war. Please spare me. Ignatius, Blinken and Biden have been wrong about the Israel-Gaza war from the start. Its their singular focus on nonescalation that makes the Middle East far more dangerous. While Antony Blinken is stumbling around the Middle East trying to find a cease-fire for American political reasons, Israel keeps putting Iran in check. The United States keeps saying they didnt know about the pager attack. That makes us look worse, not better. Slow clap: The New York Times finds the one person who criticizes the most ingenious and successful intel operation in the history of warfare just so they can criticize Israel Georgia on My Mind A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll shows Trump up three points in Georgia thats good news for Trump but even better news when you consider how the AJC poll undercounted Trump support in both 2016 and 2020. FLINT, MICHIGAN SEPTEMBER 17: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event, his first since a man carrying a rifle was arrested Sunday near where Trump was playing golf at his club in Florida, in the Dort Financial Center on September 17, 2024 in Flint, Michigan. Trump was playing an unscheduled game with real estate developer Steve Witkoff at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach when the man was spotted by security. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Yet Chris Cillizza headlined today, Today is Kamala Harris best polling day of the campaign. Watch tonight: Cillizza joins for some tough questions on the Washington political class getting high on their own supply of Harris happiness and who is really ahead? Must read: Cillizza went deep on the sudden shift left by young women. Click here to read. Is it a gender gap, marriage gap, education gap? Will they actually vote and put Harris over the top? Tune into On Balance with Leland Vittert weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. On Tuesday, the executive director of the Arab American Institute, Maya Berry, appeared as a witness before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on an issue that should garner concern across the political spectrum: hate crimes. In both her prepared statement and her testimony, Berry apprised lawmakers of the need for stronger enforcement of the law to tackle the countrys growing "hate crime crisis." She acknowledged both Jewish and Arab American victims of hate crimes, and shared statistics on those crimes effects on all kinds of demographic groups, including Black Americans, Asian Americans and members of the LBGTQ community. Its difficult to imagine how a reasonable person could take issue with Berrys comments, other than to interrogate how effective the hate crime enforcement model is. But in a shocking display, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., demonstrated that he is not a reasonable person. Instead, Kennedy used the hearing as an opportunity to launch a series of racist attacks on Berry, centered around accusations that she supports terrorism. His repugnant broadsides were a stunning illustration both of why the panel was being held in the first place and how politicians use ad hominem attacks to try to silence criticism of Israel. Shortly after beginning to question Berry, Kennedy abruptly asked her: You support Hamas, do you not? Senator, oddly enough, Im going to say thank you for that question, because it demonstrates the purpose of our hearing today in a very effective way, Berry replied. Kennedy interjected: Lets start first with a yes or no. Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support, Berry responded, but you asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country. You support Hezbollah, too, dont you? Kennedy then asked implying that he didnt believe her answer on Hamas. Berry replied, "I find this line of questioning extraordinarily disappointing. Is that a no? Kennedy demanded. I dont support violence, whether its Hezbollah or Hamas or any other entity that invokes it, so no, sir, she said. You just cant bring yourself to say no, can you? Kennedy said, even though Berrys answer could not have been clearer. He continued his absurd line of questioning, asking her if she supports or opposes Iran "and their hatred of Jews? After Berry said she didnt support Iran, Kennedy questioned why she criticized the U.S. decision to cut funding to the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian civilians as a moral failure (a correct position, but one that should be irrelevant to a hearing on hate crimes) and then used that to circle back to deeming her a terrorist sympathizer. You cant bring yourself to say you dont support UNRWA, you dont support Hamas, you dont support Hezbollah and you dont support Iran, Kennedy shouted. You should hide your head in a bag. His declaration elicited gasps and cries of disapproval from the crowd in the room. What a shameful display. Berry was called in as an expert from a civil rights organization to talk about the domestic issue of hate crimes. But the Kennedy was only interested in smearing an Arab American witness as a supporter of foreign American adversaries. He did so not by referring to her past conduct or positions, but simply putting words in her mouth, and then refusing to accept any of her statements as true. In an interview with NBC News after the hearing, Kennedy said that he was correct to question Berry's positions because he claims that "her website says" she's a Democratic activist, that she believes Israel is committing genocide, and that Congress should fund UNRWA. True or not, none of those things have any bearing on whether she supports Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran. He also claimed again, falsely that she "never would answer" whether the supported those entities. The only reasonable explanation for Kennedys behavior is that he believes that her identity as Arab American is sufficient to define her as a supporter of terrorism. Kennedys grotesque bigotry undermines the very concept of democratic discourse, in which citizens interests are defined by their actions and their words, not their ethnic background or their gender or sexual orientation. Whether sincere or not, Kennedys refusal to take Berry at her word is a refusal to accept her as a legitimate citizen. And as Berry pointed out, Kennedys behavior underscored exactly why hate crimes are a problem in America too many Americans fall prey to the fallacy of generalizing about marginalized identities and vilifying them. Lastly, Kennedys rhetoric was a reminder of how many supporters of Israel in Washington will conflate any kind of support for Palestinians dignity in this case, funding for UNRWA with antisemitism. These smear campaigns are intended to discourage criticism of Israel through ad hominem attacks. Berry went before the Senate to discuss the important issue of hate crimes, only to receive a torrent of abuse. She should be commended for her sensitivity to how those crimes take a toll on people from all kinds of marginalized communities. And it is Kennedy, not Berry, who should hide his head for such a vile expression of hate. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Russian opposition leaders often present themselves as champions of freedom and democracy, and are often embraced as such by well-meaning but sometimes naive Western donors. However, a closer examination reveals that their advocacy largely revolves around maintaining Russia as a unified and powerful state. Far from being proponents of liberal values, these leaders are often pragmatic political operators vying for the position of successor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. They compete for funding and public support, which can lead to violent confrontations, as seen in the recent hammer attack on late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalnys supporters allegedly orchestrated by associates of Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In order to stay relevant, they emphasize protecting the interests of Russia and Russians. KI Insights Visit KI Insights to learn more and subscribe to the insider weekly newsletter visit ki insights Maintaining the idea of Russian imperialism There are those who advocate for the urgent decolonization of Russia, arguing to split our vast country into several smaller, safer states. However, these decolonizers cant explain why people with shared backgrounds and cultures should be artificially divided. Nor do they say how this process should even take place, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalnys widow, stated at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia earlier in September. Navalnaya raises a valid point about the lack of a unified strategy among the European Union and its Western allies regarding Russias future. However, its hard to overlook her strong endorsement of Russia as a state of consolidated peoples. Her stance on preserving Russia as a great and unified entity reflects a broader trend among Russian opposition figures, as echoed by Khodorkovsky at the Russia Beyond Putin panel at the GLOBSEC conference. It would be a mistake to say that the West is at war with the Russian nation. If the rhetoric claims we are against Russians, the Russians wont care. It is crucial to separate Russian people from Russian decision-makers; we need to say we are at war with Russian decision-makers, Khodorkovsky, formerly the richest man in Russia, said. Endorsing the idea of a unified Russia, even while opposing the Kremlin, ultimately supports the system of oppression that has long subjugated various ethnic groups and regions within its borders. Opposition figures who remain ambivalent about Chechnya, Tatarstan, or Crimea reveal their reluctance to confront the realities of Russian imperialism. "Endorsing the idea of a unified Russia, even while opposing the Kremlin, ultimately supports the system of oppression." While they may criticize Putins methods, they rarely challenge the underlying notion of a strong and unified Russia, which has persisted long before Putin and will likely continue unless fundamentally confronted. The problem extends beyond Putin and the Kremlin to the broader concept of Russia as an imperial entity, a notion deeply embedded in Russian political culture and perpetuated by both the regime and the opposition. Such positions inherently sustain the oppression of the numerous nations within the Russian Federation, as well as historically and currently abused neighbors. Rather than addressing the fundamental issues, these leaders primarily target Putin and his closest advisors as figureheads. This focus often misleads Western policymakers, who may assume that those fleeing Russia oppose the systems core values. Russian journalist and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza (L) and Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, address a press conference after meeting the Finnish prime minister in Helsinki, Finland, on Sep. 6, 2024. (Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP via Getty Images) Opposition activities through a political lens To better understand the Russian opposition in exile, consider that their primary motivation is political competition for leadership as an alternative or successor to Putin. This space is filled with diverse and often contradictory ideologies, from anarchists and fascists to communists and imperial monarchists. Within this environment, the Russian liberal opposition seeks to build broad support, constrained by the conservative and anti-Western attitudes of many Russians. In August 2024, research by the Levada Center revealed that 54% of Russians are satisfied with their lives, and 66% are confident about their future. Interestingly, the highest satisfaction levels are among young people under 24 (75%). Given this context, opposition leaders like Navalnaya and Khodorkovsky must cater to deeply conservative and anti-Western sentiments. They navigate a delicate balance between adopting a liberal facade to attract Western funding, while avoiding being outflanked by nationalists like Maxim Katz. They also compete with one another for funds and public support. To remain relevant to the 20-25% of Russians dissatisfied with life, opposition leaders often advocate for reforming, rather than dismantling, the imperial structures of Russia. They focus on corruption, a key weakness of the Russian state, and a point of contention with foreign elites. Similarly, they criticize sanctions, as seen in statements from recently released opposition figures like Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Andrei Pivovarov. Read also: Opinion: Putins red carpet in Mongolia was a betrayal of justice and accountability A more fruitful approach to engagement Pivovarov, known for his work with Open Russia, frames the struggle as one between the Russian people and the Kremlin, subtly deflecting responsibility from Russian society for enabling the Kremlins imperial policies. Despite these shortcomings, engaging with the Russian opposition and independent media can provide valuable insights into internal dynamics and FSB activities abroad. They still challenge the Kremlins monopoly on power and information, potentially limiting its unchecked operations. However, this raises questions about whom to support. Under Navalnaya, the Anti-Corruption Foundation has arguably shifted from a genuine political project to a grant-seeking NGO, which may impact its effectiveness. Moreover, recent internal conflicts, such as the attack on Navalnys aides Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov, may deepen divisions within the opposition, shifting focus from political activism to internal disputes. Western governments and civil society organizations might find it more strategic to support regional actors and grassroots movements, like the Free Idel-Ural civil movement, or others that are more attuned to local realities and less prone to centralization issues. Ultimately, the Russian opposition appears less concerned with justice or democratic values and more focused on advocating for the Russian nation under a different guise. Their inclination to prioritize Russias interests over universal principles of justice suggests that their goal is not the decolonization of Russian politics but the preservation of Russian influence in a more palatable form. If they were truly committed to justice, they would champion the causes of oppressed nations, rather than prioritizing the Russian one. Editors Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. Submit an Opinion Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. When A Nation at Risk was released in 1983, few expected the slim federal report to produce any significant impact. Its dire warnings of a rising tide of mediocrity, though, galvanized the country and led to four decades of determined efforts to improve the nations schools. What has been the result? The Hoover Institutions A Nation at Risk +40 project brought together a dozen scholars in an attempt to better assess the real-life impact of these efforts. Each author dug deep into a key education reform initiative standards-based accountability, new governance models, changes in teacher training and development, technology implementation and countless others with the goal of cataloging what was tried and what happened as a result. While each paper in the series speaks to a specific chapter of Americas school reform story, a critical added analysis was provided by the Hoover Institutions Margaret Macke Raymond, who took on the task of looking across this series of reports to better understand what, if anything, they collectively tell us about school reform more broadly. Her conclusions? Related A Lot Has Changed Over the Past 40 Years But Not Americas School System. Why? While 40 years of scattershot reforms, have on the whole, failed to improve student learning, she writes, there are indeed some high-level takeaways that hold the potential for illuminating future directions in school reform. Specifically, Raymonds findings suggest that policymakers can improve their odds of substantive and lasting policy impact by tackling six challenges related to planning, engagement, consensus building and implementation. Overcoming Impulsiveness: Policymakers are under pressure to act and can be quick to embrace a reform strategy that has found success elsewhere. It worked there, the thinking goes, so it should work here. The research suggests, however, that local policymakers do not always take the time to determine whether their chosen approach is a good fit. Were the factors that led to that success in place in the new locale? If not, then what? Policymakers need to resist the urge to move quickly, and instead devote the time and resources necessary to understand how reform success can be accomplished for the specific populations they serve. Moving Beyond the Margins: Policymakers who understand the challenges that come with large-scale reform sometimes focus on more marginal quick-win strategies, hoping these will prove easier to execute. Efforts of this kind can have impact and are typically cheaper and easier to launch. But policymakers can overlook that in their sheer death by a thousand cuts volume, marginal efforts can also produce reform fatigue and resistance. Worse still, the bandwidth they consume is then unavailable for broader, more systemic change. Small-scale approaches have their place especially when structured as pilots from which lessons can be learned but four decades of marginal reforms havent moved the needle. Approach them with caution. Creating Coherence: Policymakers seldom take the time to understand how a proposed reform will interact with or impact efforts that are already on the books. As Raymond notes, reforms tend to be bolted on one after another, without regard for how they fit together. Each one, then, has the effect of diluting the impact of the others. Before enacting something new, policymakers would do well to engage stakeholders in more fully understanding the potential impact of launching yet another reform approach. Better yet, they should undertake a detailed inventory of existing efforts, study their results both in the near term and over time, and aggressively phase out initiatives that no longer meet their objectives. Addressing Impatience: The steady drumbeat of electoral cycles creates pressure to demonstrate quick results. Policymakers seldom appreciate, though, that in some instances the adoption of new curricular materials, for example, or the creation of new teacher preparation programs measurable impact can take years to materialize. Impatience for results can undermine an initiatives long-term success and sends a message to the forces of the status quo that if they just hold out long enough, this too, shall pass. Policymakers need to maintain reform momentum over the long term, which typically requires sustained (and often bipartisan) coalition building and deep levels of ongoing engagement. Prioritizing Implementation: Raymonds findings suggest that countless education reform initiatives have been put to sea with great fanfare, only to be dashed to pieces on the rocks of implementation. The journey of a reform idea from the capitol steps to the classroom door is far longer and more hazardous than most policymakers realize. As a result, they hardly ever craft detailed implementation roadmaps identifying who is responsible for which mission-critical actions at various levels. They seldom build feedback loops to track implementation progress and rarely utilize small-scale pilots to identify potential roadblocks in advance. Absent unrelenting attention to the day-to-day work of implementation, policymakers should have little hope for sustained and meaningful change. Ensuring effectiveness. Apart from formal pilots, Raymond reports, most reforms launch without considering how to learn from them. New initiatives are rarely accompanied by a plan for research and analysis, and policymakers seldom conduct in-depth program evaluation. As a critical first step, policymakers need to determine the key metrics they intend to track as indicators of success. If they are making progress, how will they know? From there, procedures need to be put in place for regular reviews of the relevant data, including feedback from stakeholders. The critical question for policymakers: If their reform is clearly not on track to success, what do they do then? In the conclusion to her study, Raymond notes that the Hoover Institutions analysis of four decades of school reform has produced an impressive record of what not to do. To help policymakers put these lessons to good use, Hoover has crafted an education policy self-assessment tool that is organized around the six key challenges described above and asks policymakers a series of questions to help them test their thinking. The education reform movement has seen some successes over the past 40 years, but policymakers also have plenty to learn from failures. The Hoover Institutions new toolkit will help them do just that. The horrific gun violence Detroit experienced this summer has left families and the community devastated. Sadly, more than 150 people have been killed in Detroit homicides so far this year. Yet, both in Michigan and nationwide, its likely that just about half of those cases will be solved by police. This problem fuels a quiet crisis devastating communities across the country and in Michigan: the inability to solve or clear shootings. Disproportionately impacting communities of color, the clearance rate crisis helps drive a vicious cycle that fuels more gun violence. When theres a good chance youll get away with a shooting, the cost of pulling the trigger declines. It also erodes trust in policing, making it even harder for police to engage community members around shooting investigations. Detroit police investigate the scene where two people were shot and killed, following a fight during a Detroit Lions tailgating party at Eastern Market on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. This isnt a new problem. For decades, police agencies have struggled to solve gun homicides, in part because of the very nature of firearms. Guns allow perpetrators to commit their crimes from a distance, leaving fewer fingerprints, DNA samples, and close eyewitnesses. Its why homicides committed with guns are solved at a significantly lower rate than homicides committed with other weapons. Michigan, and Detroit specifically, have taken important steps to address gun violence - including actions that have significantly improved police-community relations - and they are leading to much-needed progress in reducing shootings across the city. (There were more than 180 criminal homicides at this time last year. And more than 200 in 2022.) But new research from the Joyce Foundation a Chicago-based group that invests in public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility uncovered a key reason why law enforcement is still struggling to solve shootings: nearly two-thirds of law enforcement agencies in the state are not leveraging the primary federal tools for solving gun crimes. In fact, Michigan falls near the bottom of the country in usage of these tools that analyze crime guns, shell casings and police records to reduce shootings and save lives. These tools are housed at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) including eTrace, Collective Data Sharing (CDS), the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), and the NIBIN Enforcement Support System (NESS) and they are incredibly effective. Collectively, they have contributed to closing thousands of firearm trafficking investigations, increasing firearm arrests and raising clearance rates for murder and aggravated assault nationwide. Yet, according to the Joyce Foundations report, only about one-third of law enforcement agencies in Michigan are participating in eTrace, an internet-based platform that allows law enforcement to trace the origins of recovered crime guns. Of those, only 19 (out of approximately 600 statewide) share their gun trace data with other agencies statewide through CDS, putting the state second to last in the nation. And, there are only 8 NIBIN terminals in the entire state, which slows down the ability to process ballistics recovered from crime scenes. Why arent these tools being used? The first reason is simple time. With constrained capacity, ATF takes about 16 days to complete the average standard police request to trace a gun to identify its original owner. This two-week lag time frustrates officers attempting to solve a case before it goes cold. Second, congressional roadblocks have made it extremely difficult for ATF to operate these tools efficiently. Years of chronic underfunding and restrictive legislation have cut off ATFs ability to digitize firearm data and modernize these tools. When completing trace requests, ATF employees still have to sift through boxes and boxes of paper records. Third, there's a general lack of awareness about these tools, and no federal mandate to use them. At the state level, policies requiring participation have yielded incredibly strong results that Michigan would be well served to replicate. These are solvable problems requiring collaboration and commitments from policymakers, law enforcement and ATF: ATF should integrate data across the intelligence tools and provide a comprehensive, national platform for law enforcement agencies. Concurrently, the Michigan Legislature should require all law enforcement agencies to enroll in and use the tools. Finally, Congress should increase funding and flexibility for ATF and the U.S. Department of Justice to support the expansion, improvement and usage of these tools. Theres more that all parties can be doing to leverage gun intelligence tools as a key component of Michigans work to solve gun crimes and save lives. Yes, there are barriers to overcome and resources needed to accomplish this goal - but, law enforcement and policymakers alike must address those challenges if we are to turn the tide in the gun violence fight. Kathleen OToole is a partner at 21st Century Policing Solutions. She is a former Boston police commissioner and former police chief of the Seattle Police Department. Tim Daly is director of the Gun Violence Prevention and Justice Reform Program at The Joyce Foundation. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: OPINION: These are untapped tools police need to help solve gun crimes PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians filed a lawsuit on Friday against the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to stop development of two proposed offshore Oregon wind energy projects. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court Eugene Division, challenges BOEMs environmental review of the projects near Coos Bay and Brookings and aims to stop further development. The federal challenge comes after officials announced in late August that approximately 195,000 acres will go up for auction, giving bidders a chance to build floating wind turbines. DONT MISS: Inside Oregons offshore wind energy project auction The Tribe argues that the auction includes areas within their ancestral territory with critical fish and marine habitat, viewsheds of cultural and historic significance to the Tribe and areas important for Tribal and commercial fishing. The Tribe has consistently urged that BOEM delay moving forward with wind energy development until a better understanding is made of the impacts to fish, wildlife, the marine environment, and cultural resources important to the Tribe, said Tribal Council Chair Brad Kneaper. No one, including BOEM has an understanding on how wind development will impact the fragile marine environment. BOEM developed an environmental assessment document that narrowly focused on the impacts of the lease sale and completely turned a blind eye to the inevitable impacts that construction and operation of these private energy facilities will have on Coastal resources, the Tribe, and other residents. Chair Kneaper explained that the intent behind the lawsuit is to stop the lease sale and force BOEM to conduct a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement that details the impact that wind energy will have on coastal resources. Portland pizzeria still one of the best in the world, but ranking changes Coastal Tribes have repeatedly met with BOEM urging BOEM to take its time to develop wind energy in a way that does not adversely impact Tribes and the resources which they depend upon. BOEM has repeatedly disregarded these requests telling the Tribes that wind energy development is being driven by the White House, Kneaper said. The timeframe for wind development appears to be driven by politics, rather than what is best for Coastal residents and the environmental [sic]. The Tribe alleges that BOEM violated the National Environmental Policy Act, including narrowly drafting an environmental assessment that did not consider the impact of future wind energy development, cumulative impacts of the project with other energy development on the west coast, or alternatives to the proposed wind energy projects. Additionally, the suit alleges BOEM issued its decision to auction the area before complying with legal obligations to protect cultural resources as required by the National Historic Preservation Act. Third set of human remains found in Gifford Pinchot National Forest since August The decision to file this legal action was not taken lightly, said Chair Kneaper. We would much rather work collaboratively with BOEM to determine where the best places are to develop wind energy, minimizing the impacts to the Coast and our people. Unfortunately, BOEM left us no other options. Prior to filing the lawsuit on Friday, we notified both BOEM and the Governors office that the Tribe is willing to withdraw its lawsuit if the October lease sale is delayed and BOEM commits to assessing impacts of wind energy development on the Coast. The Department of the Interior, which oversees the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, declined to comment on the lawsuit. KOIN 6 News also reached out to Oregon Governor Tina Koteks office for a statement. This story will be updated if we receive a response. Connie Chung, serious news anchor with potty mouth The acreage is set to be auctioned on Oct. 15 by BOEM, giving bidders the chance to build floating wind turbines. The auction marks the latest wind energy lease sale in the United States, with the Oregon projects projected to generate more than 3.1 gigawatts of renewable energy, which could power one million homes. Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Interior Department has worked diligently to support the undeniable enthusiasm for a clean energy transition that will help address the climate crisis and create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs in every corner of America, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the auction announcement in late August. The advancement of the first offshore wind sale in Oregon marks years of engagement with state partners, Tribes, ocean users and industry, and the Administrations commitment to building a thriving and sustainable clean energy industry. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Organization helps young voters register to vote at Washburn, and other campuses TOPEKA (KSNT) Tuesday, September 17, is National Voter Registration Day and one group hit up college campuses in Kansas, including Washburn, to make sure young voters are ready to vote for the General Election. Loud Light and other organizations set up camp in the union at Washburn. Here, they helped young voters register, update their registration, and spread the message that its important to go out and vote. Its really important that we do it as a sign of community care, and its especially important that we focus on young people because young people tend to vote at lower rates because it can be a very intimidating process, and we just want to help break down some of those barriers to access the vote, Chloe Chaffin with Loud Light said. According to the Kansas Secretary of State, Kansas has surpassed two million registered voters ahead of the November election. Over 83,000 new voters have registered since January. All of which is very important to Chaffin. Thats how we determine outcomes in our community, She said. Thats how we vote for elective representatives who are going to be responsive to the people and focus on the issues we care about, and are going to ultimately help us take care of our neighbors. While Loud Light helped young voters register Tuesday, thats not all they are doing to prepare people for the November 5 election. The group is making sure voters know what to expect. And so that people know where to go and vote, know theyre voting for and have nonpartisan resources to be, like, engaged around the election, Loud Light Vice President Anita Alexander said. The last day to register to vote in Kansas is October 15. If you would like to know about more events that Loud Light offers leading up to that deadline, 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 KSNT 27 News. Getty Images NEW ORLEANS As more health care providers come forward with concerns about a new Louisiana law reclassifying life-saving medication as a controlled dangerous substance, city officials in New Orleans are working to help doctors and investigating delay of care issues. The New Orleans City Council filed a request Monday with the citys health department to investigate and study any delay of care issues related to the classification of mifepristone and misoprostol as dangerous Schedule IV controlled substances. In May, Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation reclassifying misoprostol and mifepristone as Schedule IV controlled dangerous substances. Both drugs were targeted because they are used in medication abortion, but they have multiple other uses. Misoprostol is commonly used to treat postpartum hemorrhaging, and the new law has doctors and pharmacists scrambling to come up with new protocols before the law goes into effect on Oct. 1. City Council President Helena Moreno and her six colleagues have asked Avegnos department to establish a complaint-based reporting system so that patients, pharmacists and health care providers can report challenges with accessing the medications. The request, will go before a council committee Wednesday and the full council Thursday. We want to make sure that physicians and pharmacists have an outlet to report concerns or adverse events, Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans Health Department, told the Illuminator. Because what were hearing from them is that theyre often not comfortable going to their hospital, or if, even if the hospital knows about it, theyre not comfortable being public about it because of the fear of repercussions. Dr. Jennifer Avegno, New Orleans Health Department director (City of New Orleans photo) Avegno said she has heard from doctors, pharmacists and hospitals who are not comfortable going to a state agency given that they feel that this state has already established that it is looking to criminalize doctors. They really want a place where someone will listen, help them identify what the barrier was, and we are going to do that in the safest way possible, said Avegno, an emergency medicine physician, We are doing our due diligence to make sure that no one is put at risk because they want to elevate a concern, challenge, or a bad outcome. Some hospitals have preemptively pulled the lifesaving medication from their obstetric hemorrhage carts, the Illuminator previously reported. Our state already has some of the highest national levels of maternal mortality, and negative maternal outcomes, and this new state legislation will only exacerbate this crisis, Moreno said in a statement. I partnered with the Health Department to ensure that any delays of care that put womens lives at risk are immediately identified. Even a small delay when a patient is hemorrhaging, losing large amounts of blood, can have grave consequences. Attorney General Liz Murrill, however, thinks New Orleans is acting unnecessarily. Her office is tasked with defending state laws, and she has made clear her support for the new drug classification law. The New Orleans City Council is manufacturing a problem that doesnt exist, Murrill said in a statement to the Illuminator. The Louisiana Department of Health guidance is clear that no care should be delayed and the medication, as long as its secure and accounted for, can and should be used for emergencies. When asked about a response to Murrills comments, Avegno said, Maternal health is a very real problem in Louisiana, the entire state, not just New Orleans. That problem exists, and I think denying that problem is extremely problematic. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator) On Tuesday, Murrill also released a lengthy statement claiming that the media, political organizations and candidates have spread disinformation and attempted to sow confusion and doubt in order to further their own financial and/or political agendas. This legislation does not limit a healthcare providers ability to use, prescribe, or fill these medications for legitimate health purposes nor does it impose restrictive burdens on access for emergency purposes, Murrill said in her statement. To be clear: nothing in Louisiana laws stands in the way of a doctor providing care that stabilizes and treats emergency conditions. Any statements to the contrary are flatly incorrect. Avegno noted that Murrill is not a health care professional. Without being trained in how to care for medical emergencies, a layperson would not necessarily have the same understanding of how limiting access can affect them, she said. There is a real and palpable difference between accessing controlled substances and non-controlled substances. Most providers, physicians or pharmacists would agree. Avegno also pushed back on Murrills assertion that the Louisiana Department of Healths guidance on the new law is clear. LDHs letter has prompted a lot of questions from providers to us because they didnt know who to reach out to at LDH, the doctor said. It is not clear, so we want to do our best to be able to provide as many health professionals as possible with what we know based on how these drugs are used in legal maternal practice. We want to have a discussion so that everyone has a little bit better understanding of how to safely practice medicine after October 1. When the state health department first released its memo, doctors told the Illuminator they didnt find it helpful because it did not give specific guidance about workflow challenges hospitals encounter with controlled substances, including how to keep track of the drugs on the carts and how often to take inventory of them. It also did not detail what diagnosis codes are required in order to fill a prescription. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The New Orleans Health Department is hosting a virtual learning session Thursday for physicians and pharmacists on how to reduce barriers to access to misoprostol and mifepristone for medically necessary and legal use, and how to troubleshoot issues. Avegno told the Illuminator that last week, she invited the Louisiana Department of Health to participate but has yet to hear back. The argument that these drugs are fine if theyre locked up doesnt hold up, she said. If you lock something up down the hall in a cabinet, thats not immediate access. The maternal morbidity and mortality crisis is not manufactured, it is very real, and you can ask the loved one of any family that has suffered from that. URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) OSF Hospital in Urbana is celebrating a new breakthrough in how people with heart complications are treated. Its all thanks to a new pacemaker, which makes it easier on patients and their hearts. Its the first of its kind in the area. Think of it like a normal pacemaker but without the bulk. That means no wires, battery, or scars. UI med student leads team for helmet to help chemo patients keep their hair I put my head on my shoulder, and I would listen to my heart, and Id go about four beats and stop, said Michael Burk. Doctors at OSF in Urbana told 75-year-old Burk of Champaign that he needed a pacemaker after heart bypass surgery earlier this summer. They didnt suggest just any pacemaker though, but a new kind. Its smaller and of lower profile, said Dr. Michael Broman, Director of the Non-Invasive Cardiology at OSF Urbana. Following the successful surgery in August, Burk became the first person to have a dual wireless pacemaker procedure done at OSF Urbana or in Central Illinois. Flu season is almost here. Heres how to stay safe: Now, he doesnt have to worry about taking it easy with his arms. He doesnt have to worry about an infection at the battery site. He doesnt have to worry about bleeding or that stitch coming open, Broman added. The new technology works the same as a traditional pacemaker but is smaller and leadless, which makes for less-invasive installation for patients like Burk. Pacemakers usually look like this: a post-it note-sized battery with wires leading out to go on the heart. Now, just two of small pods inserted inside the top and bottom chambers of the heart will do the trick. Weve had leadless pacing for a while, but its the technology that allows the two batteries to talk to each other inside the heart that really has revolutionized pacing, Broman added. Broman said the cardiac electrophysiology community can benefit from this, adding that small and leadless is the way to go moving forward. Blood donations needed in Champaign, Iroquois Counties The goal is to be able to do this type of thing with multiple medical problems, not just a slow heartbeat, but be able to make peoples hearts stronger in the future as well with these devices, he added. But for now, Burk is feeling the benefits of this new technology one beat at a time. Things have improved considerably since then Ive been improving. Ive been able to walk in the store. In fact, if I have a car, I can do a little doing quite a bit of walking in the store, Burk said. Burk still has a road of recovery ahead of him, but its his hope and the doctors expectation that walking and breathing get a little easier for him moving 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 WCIA.com. UPDATE: Knight has been found safe as of Wednesday evening. The Colorado Springs Police Department is asking for the community's help in locating missing 16-year-old Bruce Knight Jr. Knight was last seen in the downtown area at approximately 3 p.m. Tuesday, police say. He was reported as wearing blue pants, a blue shirt and black dress shoes. Bruce is described as a black male, 511 and 110 pounds. If anyone knows of Knight's whereabouts, they are encouraged to contact CSPD at 719-444-7000. Outbound lanes of Dan Ryan reopen after crash involving overturned truck CHICAGO All outbound lanes of the Dan Ryan have reopened on the South Side following a crash involving a truck. The crash happened in the southbound lanes of the Dan Ryan at around 10:45 a.m. A truck tractor semi-trailer rolled over and dumped gravel and fuel across all lanes, according to Illinois State Police. All outbound lanes were blocked until approximately 1:40 p.m. SkyCam9 observed the truck being flipped over by authorities at around 12:40 p.m. No injuries were reported. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Outrage after 7th grade math teacher says the N-word during a social media rant Amy Banks, a teacher at the Woodbury School in Salem, New Hampshire, is off the job after a video of her using the n-word began circulating on social media in September 2024 (Salem School District) A teacher in New Hampshire has been taken off her teaching duties while her school investigates why she used a racial slur in a bizarre video she posted to social media. Amy Banks, who is listed as a 7th-grade math teacher at Woodbury School in the Salem School District reportedly used the N-word in a rant that has been making the rounds on social media. It's unclear if she was speaking to anyone in particular when she used the slur in the video. Reporters at Boston 25 News reached out to Banks for comment, but she declined to discuss the issue. The video was first publicized after a concerned viewer sent a copy to Boston 25 News. Amy Banks, a teacher at the Woodbury School in Salem, New Hampshire, is off the job after a video of her using the n-word began circulating on social media in September 2024 (Salem School District) "I'll make sure I bring all the evidence I've collected," she says in the video. She then says what sounds like "James" followed by the phrase "king n*****." Other troubling videos on her Facebook page seem to suggest she is involved in a custody dispute with a former partner for her children and that she has been receiving "wellness checks" from Manchester Police Department officers. The video in which she uses the slur is no longer available or is listed as private. School Committee Chair Mike Carney said on Tuesday during a meeting that the language is not reflective of the district's values. It was disturbing, Carney said. All I can say is its being investigated right now. Its a personnel issue, and its going through the proper channels. Bank's photo and job listing are still present on the district website, according to Boston 25 News. However, Carney told the outlet that she was not teaching and has not been at the school at all since the academic year began in August. We have hundreds of employees, and its an individual, Carney said. Theres things going on that I cant talk about, but that is by far not reflective of the Salem School District. As of this report, the "staff" section of the Salem School District's website was no longer functioning. Over $2K stolen from Pittsburgh seafood buffet, police asking for help identifying suspects Pittsburgh police are asking for the publics help identifying several people after a theft at Hokkaido Seafood Buffet in Squirrel Hill. Surveillance video from inside the restaurant on Browns Hill Road shows two women and two men enter the building on Sept. 14. Police said the two women then appeared to try and distract the employees so they would leave the counter where they were counting money. Police said the employees eventually walked into the restaurant with the women, leaving the unlocked register unattended. One of the men is then seen on the video going behind the counter and stealing around $2,400 from the counter. The second man, who was wearing all black and a ball cap, accompanied the females, according to police. All four of them left in a white car. Anyone with information about the people in the photos below is asked to call Zone 4 detectives at 412-422-6520. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW Can you overdose on Ozempic, other weight loss drugs? (NewsNation) With the rise in popularity of weight loss medications such as Ozempic, there has been an increase in reported side effects, with one of them being the potential for overdose. Kate Moss sister Lottie Moss revealed this week in a podcast that she was hospitalized for taking a high dose of the drug that was accidentally prescribed. Lottie Moss said she felt so dehydrated, she developed a seizure and had to go to an emergency room. The amount that I was taking was for people who were 100 kilos [220 pounds] and over and Im in the 50s [110 pounds] range, Lottie Moss said. FAQ: How do Ozempic, weight-loss drugs work? FDA cautions about overdoses In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that people are overdosing on compounded semaglutide injectable products. FDA-approved versions of the drugs come in pre-filled injection pens or oral tablets, but compounded semaglutide products are widely available on the market. The agency said compounded drugs pose higher risks than the FDA-approved versions, and should only be used for patients whose medical needs cannot be met by an available FDA-approved drug. Ozempic lessens odds of complications from kidney disease Why are people overdosing? The FDA said patients are self-injecting incorrect doses due to confusion on the parts of both patients and health care providers. In some cases, patients are incorrectly measuring doses of the injectable drugs from vials, or misunderstanding how multi-dose vials work. In other cases, health care providers themselves are miscalculating doses of the drug. Patients unfamiliarity with withdrawing medication from a vial into a syringe and coupled with confusion between different units of measurement (e.g., milliliters, milligrams and units) may have contributed to dosing errors, the agency said. The FDA also said health care providers should be vigilant about the different available concentrations of compounded semaglutide, and if uncertain, should contact the compounder about calculating the correct dose of medication to prescribe or administer. New weight loss drugs may lessen chance of some cancers How often do people overdose? The majority of adverse events reported involve patients drawing up more than the prescribed dose from a multiple-dose vial. Those patients self-administered five to 20 times more than the intended dosage. In some cases, patients were advised to use U-100 1-milliliter insulin syringes to draw small 5-unit, or 0.05 milliliter, doses. But the patients mistakenly drew 50 units instead. In one case, a patient reported receiving unclear instructions from a health care provider and turning to the internet instead. In one reported case, it was difficult for the patient to obtain clarity on dosing instructions from the telemedicine provider, who prescribed the compounded semaglutide, leading the patient to conduct an online search for medical advice and resulting in the patient taking five times the intended dose, the FDA wrote. Providers have also made dosing errors. In one case, a provider intended to dose five units but prescribed 25 units. Another prescribed 20 units instead of two units. Another health care provider who was also using the drug inadvertently self-administered 10 times the intended dosage. Data from Americas Poison Centers shows that between 2022 and 2023, overdose reports more than doubled, from 1,447 to 3,316. WHO issues global alert over fake Ozempic What are the symptoms? The American Pharmacists Association says symptoms can begin with increased heart rate, sweating, dizziness and irritability. Adverse effects of overdosing on semaglutide include severe nausea, severe vomiting and severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels). Some users who accidentally take high doses could also fall into a coma. Because of its long half-life, semaglutide can remain in the body for an extended period, leading to prolonged side effects for users. TMX 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 NewsNation. Oversight board says it will help speed up projects to fix Puerto Rico's electric grid SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) A federal control board that oversees Puerto Ricos finances announced Wednesday that it will step in to help speed up projects to fix the islands crumbling power grid as widespread outages persist. Only $1.2 billion out of more than $17 billion authorized by U.S. Congress to stabilize the U.S. territorys grid and improve reliability has been spent in the seven years since Hurricane Maria hit the island as a Category 4 storm, said Robert Mujica, the boards executive director. We need to move faster, he said at the boards public meeting. The current situation is not acceptable. A growing number of Puerto Ricans frustrated by the outages are demanding that the U.S. territorys government cancel its contract with Luma Energy, which operates the transmission and distribution of power. Several gubernatorial candidates have echoed that call, but Mujica rejected such a move. We cannot go back to the old system, he said as he recognized that Puerto Rico experiences too many power failures. He added that if a viable alternative is not immediately available, it would only lead to further delays. He characterized conversations about canceling the contract as premature and said officials need to prioritize projects that can be completed immediately as he urged federal agencies to expedite approvals and waivers. Every day that these funds are not deployed is another day that the people of Puerto Rico are at risk of being without power, Mujica said. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, who attended the meeting, said the more than $17 billion was not really available until mid-2021, and that his administration has been very creative in dealing with the bureaucratic hurdles" of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said his administration has been advancing money to contractors as one way to help speed up reconstruction of the grid, razed by Maria in September 2017. Overall, Pierluisi said the government has spent 46% of FEMA funds on Maria-related reconstruction projects. Not everyone can afford generators or solar panels on the island of 3.2 million people with a more than 40% poverty rate. Roughly 120,000 rooftop solar systems have been installed so far. The push to move toward renewable energy on an island where fossil fuels generate about 94% of its electricity has drawn increased scrutiny to a net-metering law. In late July, the board filed a lawsuit challenging amendments to the law, which compensates solar-equipped households for their contributions to the grid. As the board met on Wednesday, protesters gathered outside to demand that it withdraw the lawsuit, with organizers submitting a petition with 7,000 signatures in support. Mujica said that as a result of the amendments, the independence of Puerto Ricos Energy Bureau has come under attack. The amended law prohibits the bureau from making any changes to the net metering program until 2031, at the earliest, among other things. The board has said it is not seeking to end net metering as alleged, nor impose changes to the net metering program. It noted that if it wins the lawsuit, there would be no changes to the islands current rooftop solar program. The lawsuit states that the net metering terms would affect demand for the power companys service and revenues of Puerto Ricos Electric Power Authority, which is struggling to restructure more than $9 billion in debt. People walk near an ambulance outside American University of Beirut Medical Center, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded and killed when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut By Laila Bassam and Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah was bracing for the risk of Israeli military escalation when its old foe struck a blow it hadn't seen coming, plunging the Iran-backed group into hours of unprecedented disarray, sources familiar with Hezbollah operations say. The explosion of thousands of pagers carried by Hezbollah fighters, medics and others sparked confusion and panic in the group known for military discipline and order. Some tossed away their devices as blasts echoed through Hezbollah-controlled areas of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. Others buried them. A Hezbollah official said that as the attack began, the group quickly raised its level of military readiness in case it was the opening shot in a bigger offensive by Israel, which has stepped up warnings of escalation in the conflict which has been raging across the border for a year. Hezbollah leaders - who didn't carry the devices - turned to the group's internal phone network to find out what was going on. Families of Hezbollah members struggled to locate relatives as the wounded were ferried to scores of hospitals. Hezbollah officials have described the attack as the most serious security breach in the history of the group, which was established by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon that year. A source familiar with Hezbollah thinking said last week that the group had expected Israel to heighten its attacks in Lebanon, based on what the source described as Israeli "preparations for worse". In the opening moments of Tuesday's explosions, the group had initially entered a state of confusion before absorbing the "massive, unexpected shock", a second source familiar with Hezbollah operations said. The attack had not paralyzed Hezbollah, the source added. Hezbollah has vowed revenge. BODYGUARDS AMONG THE WOUNDED Hundreds of its fighters have been wounded, mostly in Beirut rathern than frontline villages in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah official said. The official said many of the casualties are medics or people with administrative roles in Hezbollah institutions - or their relatives who happened to be nearby. Some have lost their sight or had hands amputated, their attention having been drawn to their pagers by a buzzing sound before it exploded. "This is a sword that went through the organisation's guts," said Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director of research at the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center. The attack appeared to cause a pause in Hezbollah's cross-border attacks on Israel, which resumed on Wednesday afternoon with the group announcing it had fired rockets in retaliation for attacks on villages in south Lebanon and in support of Gaza. Hezbollah's media office could not immediately be reached for comment. Bodyguards of some of top Hezbollah figures are among the wounded, though there have been no reports of casualties among the leadership. Sources have said Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was unharmed. A top Lebanese security source and another source said Israel had planted explosives in 5,000 pagers imported by Hezbollah. Israel has not claimed responsibility. The explosions killed at least 12 people, including eight Hezbollah members - six fighters, a nurse and an engineer - in addition to children. The number of wounded stands at some 2,800, according to Lebanon's health minister. A senior Lebanese official said the situation was difficult for Hezbollah but the group could absorb the impact and had not been paralysed by the attack. The official, who is allied to Hezbollah but part of the group, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. Nasrallah is due to deliver a speech on Thursday. The sources said the speech had been timed to allow the group to build a fuller picture of the attack before the address. With several Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, it marked one of the deadliest days for the group since it began firing on Israel nearly one year ago in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. (Editing by William Maclean) The remains of exploded Hezbollah pagers are put on display at an undisclosed location in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the militant group (-) (-/AFP/AFP) The simultaneous explosion of hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members has massively hindered the group's communications and could undermine its operations against Israel in Lebanon's south, analysts said. The wireless devices used by Hezbollah combatants, health workers and administrative staff exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday killing 12 people and wounding around 2,800, according to official figures. The nationwide blasts marked the culmination of a series of escalating attacks on Hezbollah targets blamed on or claimed by Israel -- including a July air strike that killed senior military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut's southern suburbs. The pager blasts, described by a source close to Hezbollah as a "major blow", came hours after Israel said it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hezbollah on its northern border. Hezbollah blamed the attacks on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in Tuesday's explosions. - Parallel network - Hezbollah began trading near-daily fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war. Shortly afterwards, the group asked its members to avoid using mobile phones that could be compromised by Israel, which has for months been conducting targeted air strikes against its fighters. Tuesday's blasts hit a newly imported batch of pagers, a security source told AFP requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Hezbollah avoids using Lebanon's state-run telecommunications network because it has been breached by Israel, the security source said. The pagers are used "to summon fighters to the front lines, tell administrative officials or health personnel when they are needed, but also to warn of Israeli drones flying overhead," he said. Military analyst Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese general, downplayed the pagers' importance, because Hezbollah "has other secret means of communication". This includes "an internal telecommunications network" that runs parallel to Lebanon's public landlines and has been used for years by commanders and rank and file alike. But the security source said the group "suspects that part of this network could have been infiltrated by Israel in the south". Analysts said Hezbollah faced a massive task restoring confidence in the security of its communications. "It's clearly a technological and security breach," said Amal Saad, a Hezbollah researcher and lecturer at Britain's Cardiff University Hezbollah "will have to find ways to counter this," she said, but "it's not easy to find other sorts of very primitive means that Israel can't rig. You can rig anything." Heiko Wimmen, project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, told AFP Hezbollah "have to now evaluate their communications system, to what extent they can still rely on the pagers they still have... and find alternatives to it". - Personnel losses - The pager blast deaths add to Hezbollah's losses in exchanges of fire with Israel, which total 414 since October. "A lot of people were disabled, we're probably talking about hundreds of people that... will not be able to fill the roles that they have in the party. Of course, that is very disruptive," Wimmen said. Jaber said the casualties represented only a fraction of Hezbollah's fighting force, with no major political figure wounded in the blasts. "We are talking about nearly 3,000 wounded while the party has 50,000 fighters," he said. But the son of Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar was killed, while the sons of member of parliament Hassan Fadlallah and Hezbollah security chief Wafic Safa were wounded. A senior commander in the south was wounded and Hezbollah has yet to hear from some frontline fighters whose pagers exploded, the security source said. Experts agree the attacks will have an impact on the way Hezbollah conducts its operations. "In any war safe communication is key. If the enemy can penetrate your communication, you are in deep trouble," said Wimmen. "In terms of how will this affect Hezbollah's ability to conduct war, obviously this will have an impact," Saad said, adding: "it will obviously have an impact on its military calculus". at-aya/kir Matthew Brogdon, Ryan Bell, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Derek Monson take part in a panel discussion about Ballot Initiatives in Utah, in Orem at UVU on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News It was fitting that a discussion about a state constitutional amendment on Tuesday at Utah Valley University would be held in Utah on the same day 237 years ago that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia. Amendment D would change the Utah Constitution to explicitly say the Legislature has the power to amend laws that started as citizen initiatives. It would also prohibit foreign influence (out-of-country) on the initiative process. But at this point, it is unclear if voters will have their votes counted on the amendment. A district judge in Salt Lake City ruled the proposed amendment was void because she said the ballot language was inaccurate and the Utah Legislature did not publish the amendment language in newspapers in every county 60 days before the election. The decision to try to amend the state constitution came after Better Boundaries passed an anti-gerrymandering initiative in 2018 and Utah lawmakers were sued after making amendments to that law. Instead of using the maps from the independent redistricting committee as the initiative aimed to accomplish, lawmakers changed the law and adopted their own maps. Matthew Brogdon, director of Utah Valley Universitys Center for Constitutional Studies, moderated Tuesdays discussion between Ryan Bell, a Better Boundaries board member, Savannah Eccles Johnston, a Salt Lake Community College political science professor and Derek Monson, chief growth officer at the Sutherland Institute. Recalling the Constitutional Convention back in 1787, Brogdon raised a question: what if there was a representative process for drafting an initiative? Or in other words, should Utah have an Initiative Convention? Theres a real upside to that, said Bell. He explained the current process for drafting initiatives after an initiative is drafted, it is sent to the Lieutenant Governors Office, who can reject the initiative if it is unconstitutional or covers more than one subject. Then, there are public hearings, he said, and the initiative can be changed at that point. Johnston said it was a great idea, but only if you buy into the idea that, in fact, direct democratic methods are bad for the country. She said it was fine if people believe that, but she did not think it reflected the context the Utah Constitution was written in. The biggest concern Monson said he has about initiatives was the lack of deliberation that goes into what ultimately ends up on the ballot. When lawmakers draft a bill, legislative attorneys are involved in the process. Monson said he thinks a more representative process could potentially help resolve the discrepancy between initiatives and bills lawmakers advance. Audience members listen as Matthew Brogdon, Ryan Bell, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Derek Monson take part in a panel discussion about Ballot Initiatives in Utah, in Orem at UVU on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Direct democracy or representative government? Bell said direct democracy is necessary for a handful of different reasons. He said since primary candidates are chosen via delegates rather than a popular vote, representatives are less answerable to the people at large. He also said legislative power is consolidated through the drawing of legislative districts, and lawmakers need to follow leadership to get their bills through. Then, he said, money influences politicians. And one good fix is to place a check on that legislature through direct democracy, said Bell, adding the Utah Supreme Court did not prevent the Legislature from amending all initiatives. Monson said the Utah Supreme Court decision seemed to create some limits, but it was not clear where those limits were he said those who seek to pass initiatives will now try to couch them in terms of reforming the government. Only lawyers would look at two initiatives, like one on decriminalizing marijuana or one that is anti-gerrymandering, and not be able to see the difference between them, said Johnston. She thought there were some edge cases, but there were lines between initiatives that alter and reform the government, and initiatives that do not. Whats next for Utah? The judge voided the amendment and ordered the Lieutenant Governors Office to ensure the votes on the amendment are not counted, said Bell. But the Utah Legislature appealed the judges decision and a ruling could come within the next month. And so should the Supreme Court decide to overturn or reverse this district court decision, were all going to go vote on the Amendment, said Bell. He added he thinks there is a strong chance the Utah Supreme Court would uphold the district courts decision to void the amendment. Brogdon asked if Utah voters ended up voting on the amendment and approving it, would the amendment return Utah to a previous status quo or would it give the Utah Legislature authority it did not have before? On that point, Johnston and Bell disagreed with Monson. It increases the legislators authority by significantly decreasing the independence of the initiative process, said Johnston. She added the Utah Constitution allots power to both the people and the Legislature. The change would result in heavily favoring the Utah Legislature as the final arbiter of all law in the State of Utah. Bell cited the Utah Supreme Court decision and said at the time, it was understood that when the people spoke through an initiative, they would have the final say on the matter at issue, due to the peoples inherent sovereign authority. But Monson said it would bring Utah back to the way it was before. He said the normal process was the Utah Legislature would work with people who passed initiatives to make amendments to them. He said he thinks the Utah Legislature tried to signal that it would continue that process through passing a law requiring them to keep the general intent of initiatives intact when making decisions. Matthew Brogdon listens as Ryan Bell talks as they and Savannah Eccles Johnston and Derek Monson take part in a panel discussion about Ballot Initiatives in Utah, in Orem at UVU on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Derek Monson talks as he joins with Matthew Brogdon, Ryan Bell and Savannah Eccles Johnston on a panel discussion about Ballot Initiatives in Utah, in Orem at UVU on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News An audience member looks over a handout as Matthew Brogdon, Ryan Bell, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Derek Monson take part in a panel discussion about Ballot Initiatives in Utah, in Orem at UVU on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Savannah Eccles Johnston speaks she joins Matthew Brogdon, Ryan Bell and Derek Monson in a panel discussion about Ballot Initiatives in Utah, in Orem at UVU on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Matthew Brogdon, Ryan Bell, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Derek Monson take part in a panel discussion about Ballot Initiatives in Utah, in Orem at UVU on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Parents of 12-year-old girl shot and killed in her sleep speak out: Im a wreck Parents of 12-year-old girl shot and killed in her sleep speak out: Im a wreck DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A family in mourning is speaking out following the tragic death of their 12-year-old daughter. Isabella Amor Carlos was killed after being shot in her sleep on Aug. 23. Police say two men shot more than 37 bullets into three homes on Fairview Ave. that night, which struck and killed the little girl. Isabella, better known as Bella to her family was just 12 years old at the time of her death. A death her parents say they never expected and wish they didnt have to now mourn. Heck: Social media post led to murder of sleeping 12-year-old girl She played the violin. She loved to dance. She was just goofy. When she walked in a room, she lit up the room with her beauty and her smile, said Rene Gregory, Isabellas stepmother. The individuals responsible for her death were indicted and given a $1 million bond. Last week, the two men pleaded not guilty. I would just like to let them know that they took something from me so dear, so precious, said Emmanuel Carlos, Isabellas biological father. I just want to ask them, why? Was it that serious over a conversation across social media that you would take military-style weapons and shoot a house? Dayton Public Schools released a sentiment Tuesday saying in part: Charity Adams held a memorial for Isabella at the end of August. The mayor, Isabellas family, and many other families from the school attended. This event was a beautiful send-off, and we believe we memorialized her legacy in a way that she deserved. DPS Because of a custody ruling, the couple says they hadnt seen their daughter in five years. But they say they remember her energy and outgoingness. Student arrested after bringing gun into Wayne HS She was the eighth juvenile whose life was taken in Dayton due to gun violence this year. Im telling you to put these guns down, said Carlos. And as they continue on the journey for justice, they have faith shes looking down on them. Were grieving bad. Each and every day it gets closer and closer to a memorial, every day we break down more and more. Every day. Shes right here with us. But I know shes in a better place watching over us, cheering us on every step of the way, said Gregory. A public memorial event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21 at the church of Kings Ridge Road. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Parliament votes to increase state budget by $12 billion for defense expenditures Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted on Sept. 18 in support of increasing the state budget by Hr 500 billion ($12 billion) to spend on defense and military needs. In total, 298 lawmakers voted in support of the budget increase, and no lawmakers voted against. "This year's expenditures amount to a record Hr 3.73 trillion ($89.8 billion)," MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Telegram. The Verkhovna Rada's Budget Committee had recommended the draft law on increasing defense spending earlier in September. According to Roksolana Pidlasa, the head of the Budget Committee, the additional $12 billion will mostly be financed through the issuing of domestic government bonds and reducing expenses relating to repaying the state debt. Another Hr 30 billion ($722 million) will come from revenues from tax increases, and Hr 12.7 billion ($305.8 million) will come from an increase in the excise duty on tobacco and fuel. Read also: Why Russia still rakes in cash transporting gas through Ukraine: 4 key charts Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Heres what the partial lunar eclipse looked like in Fresno, California A partial lunar eclipse of the Harvest Moon, in tandem with a supermoon, lit up the skies Tuesday night in Fresno, a video shows. Supermoons appear larger that regular full moons because they happen during the lunar orbits closest approach to Earth. NASA said these moons appear 30% brighter and 14% larger than when the moons orbit is at its furthest distance from the planet. The harvest moon is the name for the full moon that occurs closest to the fall equinox, the official first day of autumn. In 2024, the fall equinox falls on Sunday, Sept. 22. The astronomical event was seen worldwide on Tuesday. The video from Fresno was shot by @officiallrahrah via Spectee. Supermoon will soon appear in sky over California along with partial eclipse. How to watch A boat stands in a canal after an accident. According to the fire department, several people were injured when a roof collapsed on a boat in Berlin-Mitte. Dominik Totaro/dpa Police in Berlin are investigating after 12 people were injured when the roof of a party boat collapsed in the German capital's central Mitte district. Around 120 people were celebrating on the boat late on Tuesday when the accident occurred, Berlin police said on Wednesday. The cause of the accident is under investigation, police said. A witness told the Bild tabloid that partygoers had been sitting on the roof shortly before it collapsed. "It was a concert on a boat, but you could also sit on the roof," the witness said. In total, nine women and three men between the ages of 22 and 31 years old were injured. Two of the women were taken to hospital, while several others were treated on site. Initial reports suggested that up to 30 people might have been hurt in the incident, while police also searched the waters surrounding the boat for casualties. The accident occurred on the MS Heimatland, an event boat on the River Spree, which flows through the German capital. The fire brigade said that a large number of its personnel were at the scene at Fischerinsel, part of an island in the Spree. The northern part of the island forms Berlin's world-famous Museum Island. Police and fire department are in action after a boat accident. According to the fire department, several people were injured when the roof of a boat collapsed in Berlin-Mitte. Dominik Totaro/dpa SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) The total number of registered voters passed 609,000 as of Sept. 3, according to the South Dakota Secretary of States Office. After ending 2023 in December with 146,135 registered voters, the number of registered Democrats dropped to 143,914 in July. But the numbers are inching upward to 144,023 as of Sept. 3. The number of registered Republicans has grown by about 10,000 voters since December of 2023 when there were 299,853 registered Republicans. As of Sept. 3, there were 309,869 registered Republicans. The combined number of independent and no-party-affiliation registrations meanwhile reached 152,986 as September began. That was up from 147,824 in December. I know that weve been registering more voters, said Dan Ahlers, the executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party. One of the goals we set was to do a better job of registering voters. The Democratic Party is targeting more potential Democratic voters, Ahlers said. We are looking for people who had been registered Democrats in the past, those who have moved here from another state. I think that has made a difference, he said. KELOLAND News left an email message and phone message with John Wiik, the chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party, but did not hear back as of publication. Social Media threats are leading to secure status for schools The most recent numbers are as of Sept. 3, so they do not include any new registration numbers after the debate between Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. They also do not include any new registration numbers after pop artist Taylor Swift encouraged her fans known as Swifties to do their research and register to vote, while she also endorsed Harris for president. CBS News reported on Sept. 12 that Swifts social media statement drove 405,999 visitors to vote.gov, which is a voter registration site that directs users to a registration site near them. Swift included a link to vote.gov in her post. Alhers said hes not sure Swifts statements will have an impact in South Dakota. The Democratic Party is not emphasizing it in South Dakota, because celebrity endorsements or that type of attention do not always do well in the conservative-leaning state, Ahlers said. Amendment H would establish top-two primaries in SD Still, it would be nice if Swifts statements had a positive impact in voter registration, particularly for Democrats, but we are not going to sit back and wait for it, Ahlers said. He does think the debate could have an impact on voter registration. There was an uptick after the Democratic National Convention, where Harris officially accepted the nomination for the presidency. Regardless of party, the seven ballot measures in the state will draw voter interest and possibly, more voter registrations, Ahlers said. States that have already voted on a Roe vs. Wade, or an abortion rights ballot measure did see some increases, Ahlers said. South Dakota has Amendment G, which would reinstate abortion access in the state. The state has been a Republican stronghold for the past several years. As the states population has grown over the past 10 years, so has the number of registered Republicans. In December of 2015, there were 238,642 registered Republicans. There were 169,135 registered Democrats. The state had a total of 517,220 registered voters. The state had 109,443 registered voters as Independents, no party affiliation and other, which were grouped together in that number. Salem to fill nursing home property with housing Although the state has three Republican lawmakers at the federal level, a Republican governor and a dominant Republican make up in the state Legislature, Ahlers said Democratic, or potential Democratic voters, cant let that discourage them. I remind people this is a long game, Ahlers said. We wont dig ourselves out of a hole overnight. It wasnt that long ago when Democrats served at the federal level, he said as an example. Democrat Tom Daschle served in the U.S. House from 1981 through 1986 and in the U.S. Senate from 1987 to 2005, while Democrat Tim Johnson served in the U.S. House from 1987 through 1996 and the U.S. Senate from 1997 to 2015. Republicans now hold all three of South Dakotas seats in Congress. If Harris hits 40 to 45% of the presidential vote in the state, thats a good sign for the Democratic Party, Ahlers said. In the future, South Dakota wont turn from a red state to a blue state, Ahlers said, it could turn purple with more of a mix of Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Following the passing of former sheriff for Fresno County, Richard Pierce, retired deputies and sergeants took the time to remember him across the country. Richard Pierce, who was the Fresno County Sheriff between 1999 and 2007, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loved ones on Aug. 21. We lost a good one: Fresno leaders on passing of former Fresno County Sheriff To show respect for the life he lived and the service he provided to the community of Fresno County, a memorial was held in Clovis. And while many of Pierces friends, family, and colleagues were able to attend, the ones that were not able to, still made the time to give grace to his name. Some retired members of the Fresno County Sheriffs Office embarked on the Central Valley Honor Flight in Washington D.C. to assist with escorts. Unable to attend the Clovis memorial, these retirees still made an effort to remember Pierce despite being across the country. The retired deputies and sergeants posed for a photo holding the Fresno County Sheriffs patch in front of the World War II Memorial. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 | CBS47 and KSEE24. Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. PEARL RIVER, La. (WGNO) A Pearl River man has been indicted on a second-degree murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of his father. Jefferson Parish deputies investigate fatal deputy-involved shooting in Marrero On May 26, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriffs Office reported that deputies began investigating a suspicious death in the 67000 block of Slaughter Drive, where 74-year-old Douglas LaFrance was found dead on his front porch. The death was ruled as a homicide after an autopsy was performed by the St. Tammany Parish coroner. On June 5, STPSO deputies arrested 53-year-old Vincent LaFrance in connection with the investigation. On Wednesday, Sept. 18, the Office of District Attorney Collin Sims reported that a St. Tammany Parish grand jury indicted Vincent LaFrance on a charge of second-degree murder. Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGNO. The U.S. House as it returns from a five-week recess is preparing to vote on a stopgap spending bill that also includes a provision to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) The U.S. House as it returns from a five-week recess is preparing to vote on a stopgap spending bill that also includes a provision to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) The U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass on Wednesday a Republican plan to fund the federal government past Oct. 1 and avert a government shutdown. The plan would have funded the federal government at present levels for six months, using a process known as a continuing resolution, and require voters to provide proof of citizenship in order to vote in federal elections. With House Republicans divided and unwilling thus far to negotiate with Democrats, the plan preferred by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana failed with 220 lawmakers voting against, 202 voting for it, and nine members either absent or voting present. Fourteen Republicans joined 206 Democrats in voting against the plan, while three Democrats voted for it. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, voted against Wednesdays proposal and said beforehand she prefers an alternative idea, one that would extend federal funding through December, buying Congress enough time to pass 12 funding bills that set budgets for various parts of the federal government. A six-month CR would effectively cut defense and military spending, Peltola said, referring to the proposal advanced by Johnson. We need to keep the government open and running but we cant keep kicking the can down the road either. We need a short-term CR so Congress can debate and reach agreement on final spending bills this year. The Houses divide on the budget illustrates the choices at play for voters in this falls U.S. House election. Polling indicates Alaska is one of a few tossup states that could choose either a Republican or Democrat, possibly tilting control of the House in the process. Peltolas chief opponent in the House race, Republican Nick Begich, hasnt taken a position on the government shutdown. A campaign spokesperson, when asked about Begichs position, replied by criticizing Peltola for missing votes in Congress. Its time for Congress to do the job that the American people elected them to do: Show up and get the job done to ensure we have a federal government that functions properly, said Bernadette Wilson, senior adviser to Begich. Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe and imprisoned out-of-state Democrat Eric Hafner are also on Alaskas U.S. House ballot. Congressional Republicans are divided in multiple ways, with some hardline Republicans saying they would prefer to shut down the federal government rather than pass another continuing resolution. Those resolutions, they say, contribute to the growth of the federal debt. Among those hardliners are members of the Freedom Caucus, which was among Begichs early supporters in this election. The current Republican mainstream in the House, represented by Johnson, is seeking a long extension of present spending, coupled with a voter ID requirement endorsed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Johnson and other top Republicans endorsed Begich after their first choice, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, withdrew from the U.S. House race following the primary election. It isnt clear whether Begich would side with Republican hardliners or the more mainstream group if he were elected. If House Republicans fail, as expected, to advance a shutdown-averting deal on Wednesday, it would open the door for House Republican leaders to negotiate with House Democrats on a compromise proposal that could be sent to the Senate for further work. Congressional Democrats, and President Joe Biden, oppose the proposed new voter ID requirement as unnecessary, and Biden has vowed to veto it if it reaches his desk. Editors note: This article has been updated to reflect Wednesdays vote. In addition, the description in the headline of Begichs position has been adjusted. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Penn State to pay $703K to resolve allegations it paid some women less than male colleagues Penn State is set to pay $703,742 in back wages and interest to resolve allegations the university paid dozens of women less than their male colleagues. A compliance review conducted by the U.S. Labor Department found the university paid 65 women employees less than men holding similar positions in facilities operations and maintenance, extension education and senior administration jobs. That included female faculty in research professor roles at the College of Engineering and the Applied Research Laboratory, as well as female faculty in teaching professor roles at the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. The review began in August 2021. The Labor Department said its allegations of gender pay discrimination dated back to at least July 2020. Penn State must make certain its employment practices comply with all federal law, including those that seek to eliminate gender-based barriers to equal employment, said Michele Hodge, the acting director of the federal contract compliance program office. Penn State did not admit any violations in the 22-page settlement, which was signed Monday by university President Neeli Bendapudi. Payouts to the dozens of underpaid women range from $2,432 to $47,241. Suzanne Adair, Penn States associate vice president for equal opportunity and access, said in a statement released Wednesday that the alleged violations that were found were unintentional pay discrepancies. While the number of affected employees was small relative to the overall campus population, the University takes such matters seriously and worked diligently with the government to reach a resolution that fairly compensated the affected women, said Adair, who led the universitys participation in the review. We appreciate the governments efforts and are pleased that the audit identified the pay anomalies so that corrective action could be taken. The university must also analyze the gender and race neutrality of its pay policies for all employees by conducting a compensation disparity analysis, the Labor Department wrote in a statement. Penn State received more than $178 million in payments from federal contracts last year. Employers that hold federal contracts must provide all employees with equal employment opportunities and audit their employment processes to make certain no barriers to equal employment exist, said Samuel B. Maiden, the mid-Atlantic regional director of the federal contract compliance programs office. In a press release, Penn State touted its recent $60 million investment in what it described as a compensation modernization initiative to better align staff salaries with market rates and equitable pay practices. The university also said the Labor Department identified only 65 women out of the nearly 14,000 women working on the campus whom it believed were underpaid relative to similarly situated men. The agencys review also did not identify any violations with respect to race or ethnicity-based pay equity, the university wrote. Those who believe they may be affected by the settlement can check their eligibility online at dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/classmembers. State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) speaks at a press conference alongside state Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-Allegheny in Pittsburgh Sept. 18, 2024 (Photo by Abigail Hakas for the Capital-Star) PITTSBURGH At a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Democratic state representatives and a local physician challenged former President Donald Trumps comment during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that he had concepts of a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. Trump has previously said that Republicans should never give up attempting to overturn the ACA after his attempts at a repeal during his presidency failed. The 2010 law remains popular; in 2024, some 435,000 Pennsylvanians have health care coverage through Pennie, the states health insurance marketplace established under the ACA, according to the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority. Nationwide, more than 20 million people signed up for ACA plans in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a record high. Pennsylvania state Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-Allegheny), who has been a practicing emergency physician in Pennsylvania for almost 25 years, said Wednesday that before the Affordable Care Act 20% of his patients had no health insurance. Thats not an abstract statistic, he said. Venkat recalled asking a patient who had breast cancer why she had not sought treatment earlier. She told him previous medical visits left her with debt, and she was scared of the cost of more visits. My patient died, he said. The only thing we could do was treat her pain and stabilize her, and that is a direct result of the lack of health insurance coverage that existed before the Affordable Care Act. In an interview after the press conference, Venkat pointed to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act which prevents Medicare-participating hospitals from refusing to provide treatment to patients. Before the Affordable Care Act, we saw millions of Americans who only could seek care in the emergency department. They did not get the necessary preventive care. They did not get the necessary ongoing care they needed, he said. Id love to say that the patient that I described who died because of delaying necessary care was unique, she wasnt unique. Pennsylvania state Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), chair of the House Health Committee, warned of the potential of a successful ACA repeal if Trump wins another term. Lets be clear. We know exactly what Trumps plans are. He has publicly promised that if he is reelected, he will terminate the ACA, Frankel said. While he was just one vote short last time, if he is reelected, he has plans to make good on this promise as part of his Project 2025 agenda. The Trump campaign pushed back on the Democrats claims. President Trump is not running to terminate the Affordable Care Act, the Trump campaigns National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to the Capital-Star. He is running to make healthcare actually affordable, in addition to bringing down inflation, cutting taxes, and reducing regulations to put more money back in the pockets of all Americans who have been robbed by Joe Bidens disastrous economic policies. Frankels reference to Project 2025 is a common refrain on the campaign trail this election, as Democrats try to tie the 900-page conservative policy proposal to Trump, who has denied being involved with it. Dr. Kristina Nicholson, a local trauma surgeon, said her daughter has medical needs that most kids dont and is terrified about what a second Trump presidency would mean for her and her family. I cannot imagine a world where my daughter would be denied health insurance when she grows up because Donald Trump took those protections away from her, Nicholson said. Update: This article was updated at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 19, 2024 with comment from the Trump campaign. HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) A Pennsylvania man was found with dozens of explosive devices along with cocaine and methamphetamine, according to Attorney General Michelle Henry. Robert C. Stull, 46, of Saylorsburg, was taken into custody after agents of the Office of the Attorney General and an FBI bomb squad conducted a search of his home. During an investigation into Stull, agents determined he was dealing meth, cocaine, marijuana and THC products, Henry reported. A thorough investigation and collaboration with law enforcement resulted in the arrest of a dangerous individual, who possessed guns and explosives as part of his drug trafficking operation, Henry said. The cache of firearms and explosives found at the scene put investigators and the community at great potential risk. I am thankful this arrest was carried out without anyone being hurt. During the search, agents found and seized: 4 pounds of methamphetamine 6 pounds of cocaine 3 firearms, including one with an obliterated serial number 24 improvised explosive devices $22,409 cash More than 10 pounds of marijuana and THC products Photo of evidence against Stull provided by the Office of the Attorney General Stull was charged with felony counts of possession with intent to deliver, illegal possession of firearms, weapons of mass destruction and related offenses. 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. He was arraigned and bail was set at $250,000 cash. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 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 WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. The mother of a woman allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador gave emotional testimony to lawmakers Wednesday about the moment she found out about her daughters death while testifying that U.S. borders are "not safe." Patty Morin, whose daughter Rachel was killed last year in Maryland, testified at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the border crisis. Police found Rachels body stuffed in a culvert and, after a months-long investigation, identified her suspected killer as an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who is also accused of murder in his home country and raping a mother and her 9-year-old daughter in Los Angeles. "It was such a complete shock to our whole family. It took ten months for them to find this suspected illegal immigrant," she told lawmakers. TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE SHREDS BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN ON BORDER CRISIS IN NEW REPORT: ASSAULT ON THE RULE OF LAW Patty Morin, whose daughter was murdered, testifies during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing at the U.S. Capitol Sept. 18, 2024 in Washington, D.C. "An illegal immigrant that was a gotaway from El Salvador had waited for her on the trail. I was told that they grabbed her, dragged her through the woods, raped her, strangled her, murdered her. We were told that her body was blanketed in bruises. And I can tell you from looking at her when I went to the funeral home that it was probably the most graphic thing that I've ever seen," she said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The hearing, "A Country Without Borders: How Biden-Harris Open-Borders Policies Have Undermined Our Safety and Security," saw lawmakers trade barbs over who was responsible for the crisis at the border, which saw a historic number of migrants hit the border and a number of criminals released into the U.S. as part of that wave. Ahead of the hearing, Republicans released a report slamming the Biden administrations policies and blaming it for the crisis and the consequences that followed. Rachel Morin was dragged off a hiking trail Aug. 5, 2023, and brutally murdered. "As we continue to witness Biden and Harris resistance to doing anything meaningful about this disaster, we have to ask why? Why did they let this crisis take place and why have they let it continue," Chairman Mark Green told the committee. BIDEN-HARRIS BORDER CRISIS: VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME TESTIFY IN HOUSE HEARING While Republicans blame the Biden administration for the crisis, the administration and Democrats say it is the fault of Congress for failing to pass broader immigration reforms to fix a "broken" system and provide additional funding. They have pointed, in particular, to a bipartisan Senate bill to provide more funding and limits on asylum entries. Republicans refused to back that bill, saying it would codify high numbers at the border. With that stalling, President Biden signed an order limiting entries into the U.S. in June. The administration says that has led to a sharp drop in encounters at the border since then. "While you probably won't hear it from those on the other side, border encounters are at their lowest level in years since the president's proclamation on June 4, and encounters along the border and ports of entry have decreased by 55%, with Border Patrol recording the lowest number of border encounters since September 2020," ranking member Bennie Thompson said. He also scolded Republicans for not backing the Senate bill. TRUMP MEETS WITH RACHEL MORIN FAMILY AT BORDER "At the direction of former President Trump, Republicans blocked the Senate bipartisan border deal, and they are refusing to move necessary border security funding. Republicans don't want border security solutions. They want a political issue," he said. But Morin had a warning for Americans watching the hearing. "They say that the borders are safe. We live 1,800 miles away from the southern border. They're not safe. They're not safe. If you have a sanctuary city in your state, you're not safe," Morin warned. Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report. Original article source: 'Our people are dying': Rachel Morin's mom sounds alarm about illegal immigration after daughter's murder By Fatima Latifova Yesterday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, emphasising the importance of achieving lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and stating that the United States will continue its efforts to reach this goal. Although the telephone call of the secretary of state to the Azerbaijani President reflects Washington's interest in signing a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan as soon as possible, in fact, it is clear that behind it there is concern about the presence of Russia. In recent years, attempts to push Russia out of the Caucasus have not yielded the desired results. President Vladimir Putin's visit to Azerbaijan in August and Moscows increased focus on the Zangazur Corridor have prompted the US to boost its influence in the region. Undoubtedly, Blinken plans to organise another meeting between the parties to prevent Russia from regaining its role between Azerbaijan and Armenia. This meeting is expected to take place in the coming days during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, which has already begun in New York, with a meeting likely between the foreign ministers of both countries. Why is Washington concerned? Last month, Russian President Putins visit to Azerbaijan, followed by a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, challenged the perceptions that had formed about Russia in recent years. After stepping away from mediating talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia for a while, Russia has returned to the region as an ideal mediator for both countries. The primary issue causing concern for Washington is Moscows growing interest in the Zangazur Corridor following Putins visit to Azerbaijan. Russia clearly supports the opening of the Zangeazur Corridor and is working to gain control over it. The USA, on the other hand, does not want the transportation route to fall under Russian control. This is why all efforts are currently focused on mediating between Azerbaijan and Armenia and ensuring that a peace agreement is signed quickly. This is also why USAID has been attempting to sway Armenia with financial aid and present the USA as a friend. However, if Washington wants a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia to be signed soon, it must first convince Yerevan to make the necessary changes to its Constitution. Nevertheless, the USA knows well that unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan cannot be bought. Washington's concern about Russia's growing interest in the Zangazur Corridor is understandable. This corridor, which runs through the Zangazur regionhistorically the Azerbaijani territoryis of strategic importance as it connects Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan and potentially establishes broader links with Turkiye. Moscow recognizes the significance of this corridor for regional transportation and economic relations and seeks to assert control over it. While the US views the opening of the Zangazur Corridor as positive for regional transportation and trade, it does not want Russia to dominate it. Notably, Irans stance on this issue is similar to that of the US. Tehran has taken several diplomatic steps to communicate its firm opposition to this project to Moscow. It is important to recall that on September 2, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Alexey Dedov. Following the meeting, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that Iranian official Mojtaba Demirchilou emphasised Tehrans vehement protest to any changes in internationally recognised borders or geopolitical shifts in the region. Media outlets like Britain's "The Guardian" and Irans "Tasnim" news agency framed this meeting as confirmation of the cooling relations between Moscow and Tehran regarding the Zangazur Corridor. Thus, it becomes clear that on the issue of the Zangazur Corridor, the US and Iran share a common perspective. In other words, it is clear from the issue that the red line for Tehran is not only the threat of the West and NATO, but also the expanding shadow of Moscow over the Zangazur Corridor. If it were not so, Tehran would not have been indifferent to the holding of NATO exercises in Yerevan, nor would it have coldly accepted the increasing military contingent of the West in the South Caucasus. But when it comes to the issue of Zangazur, Tehran is gripped by chronic pains... Ongoing negotiations and existing processes are already moving rapidly towards the realisation of the corridor. This is accepted by both the United States and Iran, even if it doesn't want to. However, the interests of Tehran and Washington regarding Russia are aligned once again in the Zangazur Corridor. People from other countries welcomed to Valley in ceremony CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN)- The Valley is welcoming new members to the community. On Wednesday morning, the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court conducted a Naturalization Ceremony for the first time since 2020. Judge R. Scott Krichbaum presided over it. A Naturalization Ceremony is the final step in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. During the ceremony, individuals take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States and receive their Certificate of Naturalization. This allows them to enjoy the full rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. It helps to impress upon them the great thing that theyre doing, becoming citizens of the greatest country on earth. Its just nice to be a part of it, for the court to be a part of it, said Judge Scott Kirchbaum. Seven people were a part of the Naturalization Ceremony. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BRIMFIELD, Ill. (WMBD) The group No to Peoria County Windmills met at the American Legion in Brimfield Tuesday night, informing residents about the potential drawbacks to wind turbine farms. This is in response to two proposed wind farms in the county, both of which are still in development. First is the Four Creeks Wind project by Repsol Renewables, which would span across Brimfield, Jubilee, Millbrook, and Princeville Townships. Repsols website states that the project would install around 400 megawatts of energy to the area and would power more than 130,000 homes in Illinois. The second project is the Goldrush Apple Wind farm project, which would cover parts of northern Peoria County and southern Stark County. On the projects website, it states that the direct financial impact of the project will be well over $200 million. Peoria County Board approves amending county code related to special use permits But for those such as Rick Porter, an attorney representing No to Peoria County Windmills, the projects would cause more harm than good to those living in the farms vicinity. In his presentation, he mentioned things such as shadow flicker, which occurs when the sun shines through the turbine blades, causing a shadow to flicker on the insides of peoples homes. This can lead to headaches and nausea, as well as general annoyance. The noise that the windmills generate also can be problematic, and Porter said that he knows people who have stopped living in their homes due to the noise. These turbines could be as tall as 700 feet and will have shadow flicker, noise, and property value impacts. So, we have some experts here to tell people about those impacts that happen when one lives by industrial wind turbines, he said. He added that the turbines being as tall as 700 feet is significant, comparing it to the Mendota Hills Wind Farm near Paw Paw, which are just over 200 feet tall. While neither of the projects has been discussed at a county government level, both sides of the aisle made their voices heard at the last Peoria County Board meeting. The group projects the county to discuss the Four Creeks project early next year, while the Goldrush project is projected to come up in 2027. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Fire Department is taking training to new heights. Literally. On Wednesday, a group of firefighters was working to complete a rope-rescue training program. The trainers come from the Illinois Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Peoria firefighters being honored statewide for their heroism The Illinois Fire Service Institute serves as the oldest continuous fire training institution in the United States. Since 1925, the IFSI has trained first responders all over the state. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the firefighters worked with ropes and rappelled down the side of the Bob Michel Bridge which carries Illinois Route 40 over the Illinois River. The training will help if the department ever needs to use lines in a rescue situation. For example, the ropes could be used in an elevator rescue, or a building collapse situation. The lead instructor for the IFSI, Jack Heitz, said the training helps firefighters stay prepared. Everybody needs to get really good training before they go out and do it, he said. This way they can get expert training, become experts, and then they can also share that with their department, he said. Heitz also said it is nice to teach these firefighters how to use ropes on the Bob Michel Bridge because its the environment the Peoria firefighters are used to. Twenty years ago, we taught in Peoria and it was a Peoria-only class. This class, weve got 36 students, he said. Half of them are from Peoria. So were teaching local guys locally instead of at a different site, like, say, Champaign or Orland Park, so they get hands-on on their environment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Somewhere in the Koesberg Mountains of South Africa, located deep in the arid Karoo region north-east of Cape Town, theres an exquisite cave painting of a curious creature. The creature, known as the Horned Serpent, bears no resemblance to any animal that lives in the region today; if anything, the creatures distinctive downturned tusks call to mind a walrus, but the South African desert is a long, long way from the Arctic regions that walruses call home. The Horned Serpent does, however, bear a striking resemblance to an animal that once did call the Karoo homea dicynodont, a prehistoric creature that inhabited the region some 200 million years ago. A new paper published September 18 in PLOS One argues that the painting, which dates to between 1821 and 1835 and was created by the now-extinct /Xan-speaking San people of the region, does indeed depict a dicynodontand that its based on the plentiful dicynodont fossils that can be found in the region. Western scientists didnt characterize dicynodonts until 1845, at least a decade after the Horned Serpent was painted. Julien Benoit, the papers author, explains to Popular Science that the painting is thus doubly significant: First for the history of science, as [it suggests] the San would have found dicynodonts before western scientists; and second, cultural [significance], as the San would have integrated fossils into their belief system. A possible later stone age painting of a dicynodont (Synapsida) from the South African Karoo. The Horned Serpent panel. A, general view of the Horned Serpent panel photographed in 2024 by the author. B, close up of the section figured in Stow and Bleeks plate 39. C, close up of the tusked animal. D, close up of the warriors painted below the Horned Serpent panel. E, close up of the warriors painted to the right of the panel. Credit: Julien Benoit, 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 Dicynodonts were herbivorous therapsids, notable for their mixture of reptilian and mammalian features, and for their two distinctive tusks. (The name dicynodont comes from the Latin for two dog tooth.) Their heyday came during the Late Permian era, which began 260 million years ago and ended with the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event some 250 million years ago. Like for many other animals, that event spelled disaster for dicynodonts, and while some species limped on into the Triassic Era, the last of them were well and truly gone by the end of that erasome 200 million years before homo sapiens first appeared. This means, as Benoit says, there is no chance that the San met a living dicynodont. However, given that fossils are relatively common in the Main Karoo Basin, where the cave is located, there is every chance that the San found dicynodont fossils and recognized them for what they were: the preserved remains of long-dead animals. Benoit says, This is also supported by the San myth that large brutes roamed the land a long time ago. Benoit concedes that skeptics might question whether the Horned Serpent is simply the product of a fertile imagination, rather than a relatively accurate depiction of an ancient creature. However, he notes that pure imagination may be safely ruled out as the San did not paint things that were completely imaginary. Their art was based on real-life elements, mostly animals. The new contribution adds fossils into the mix. As far as we know, Aristotle was the first Western thinker to suggest that fossils were once living organisms, setting the idea down around 350 BCE in his treatise Meteorology. While the Horned Serpent painting is only around 200 years old, the San are one of the oldest cultures on earth, having lived in Southern Africa for at least 20,000 years. How long they may have studied the plentiful fossils strewn around their homeland is unknown. While the San people still live in the Kalaharitheyre often referred to as Kalahari bushmenthat culture is not the one that created the Horned Serpent. The San have occupied South Africa for thousands of years, says Benoit. But [while] the San still live in the Kalahari, they belong to the !kung culture, whereas the San of the South African Karoo belonged to the /Xam culture. The latter is completely extinct. The /Xam language spoken by the San of the Karoo had no written script, so as with so many other sources of Indigenous knowledge, their millennia of accumulated knowledge died with them. Benoit says, Unfortunately, the /Xam culture was wiped out and we can only rely on archaeology and ethnographic recordings to study them. The side effect is that the more recent data is better preserved than the older ones, and as such, the further we go back in time, the more difficult it is to understand San culture. Nevertheless, there are tantalizing hints of the extent of palaeontological knowledge these cultures may once have possessed. One such piece of evidence is the Mokhali Cave, located in Lesotho. It houses another piece of San rock art, created around 1810, which depicts what are unmistakably dinosaurs: We know these are dinosaurs, explains Benoit, because they are depicted next to the painting of a dinosaur footprint, made in an area were fossil dinosaur footprints are commonplace. The San saw the footprints were not accompanied by handprints or tail drag marks, and as such, they imagined the dinosaurs as animals without arms and a short tail, quite similar to modern birds. As the paper notes, The study of African indigenous palaeontology is still fairly young, and the evidence remains accordingly sparse and debatable, especially given the scarcity of written accounts. Benoit says that he hopes this will change, and that we are able to recover some of the wealth of knowledge that was lost with the destruction of cultures like the /Xam San: I hope that in the future we would be able to trace this indigenous paleontology further back in time. Perry Jones: I had this virus spreading in my brain and like then like he gave me like at least a week and a half I probably had a fatal stroke or something. They called it like it was like spreading up from my airway to my throat like to my brain. That's why my mouth was like not opening and stuff like that. I wake up or whatever just in the bed I'm like yo what you all talking about. I lost I lost hell weight, I'm losing hell weight and stuff. I wasn't eating but it's this thing is causing me so this has been this was going on before this is going on before the shots in my mouth. We just didn't know but the shots like made it like noticeable. So I woke up, my mom crying, my homies right there, I'm like what's going on like they say you could have died. Source: YouTube More on this storyline Former Thunder player Perry Jones signed with Saudi team Al Ahli Jeddah for the 2024-25 season. -via HoopsHype / August 18, 2024 This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Perry Jones almost died from brain virus HENDERSON, Ky (WEHT) Eyewitness News has learned the identity of a person that died in a house fire last month in Providence. Webster County Coroner Darin Townsend said the identity of the person was Richard Parsley. Townsend also said a cause and manner of death has not been announced at this time. Providence Fire Chief Cameron Brown states at about 2:27 a.m. on August 25, Providence 911 Dispatch received a call reporting a fully involved structure fire in the 200 block of Oaklawn Drive. Brown states teams confirmed the structure was fully engulfed and suffered significant collapse. Brown says a 72-year-old that was identified as Parsley was found dead inside the home. Brown also says the State Fire Marshal ruled the cause as undetermined, and Kentucky State Police found no evidence of foul play. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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). In August, Ukrainian forces rolled over the Russian border into Kursk Oblast, an administrative district in Russia, shattering what was a quasi-stalemate that had been fought solely on Ukrainian territory. Ukraines incursion was the first time Russias borders had been crossed by a foreign army since World War II. While Kiev is keeping its exact intensions close to the vest, this is likely a strategy to make up for ground lost to Russia while U.S. munitions were held up by Congress: to trade captured land for captured land. A few days ago, the U.S. and the U.K. accused Iran of selling short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. As I write this, the Biden administration is considering lifting restrictions on the use of U.S. weapons, allowing the Ukrainians to fire them into Russia if needed. And yet, if there is a plan to actually achieve victory in Ukraine, the public has yet to see it. With the presidential election around the corner, voters should be concerned. To be sure, the Ukraine war was prominent in the recent presidential debate, and it gets substantial coverage in the media. But national security and foreign affairs consistently rate significantly lower than many other issues in terms of voters concerns, Ukraine included. This is understandable. Voters care more about their daily lives how much they pay at the grocery store, if they are getting clean water, if their taxes are going up and so forth than they would about what is going on in a foreign land few Americans have visited. Still, its a mistake. In five, 10 or 100 years, the outcome of the Ukraine war will likely have far more impact, on America and the world, than any other single issue before voters in 2024. Also, U.S. presidents have far greater impact on foreign policy than they do grocery prices. But grocery prices can be significantly impacted by foreign policy. Ukraine is rightly called the Breadbasket of the World, and the war has significant impacts on world food markets. Russian President Vladimir Putins goal is clear: the reconstitution of something resembling the Soviet Union. For decades, he has stated that he considers the collapse of the USSR the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century, something he reiterated frequently prior to 2022, all while the Kremlin claimed any notion that he was contemplating an invasion of Ukraine was fear mongering. Putin can be excused for being surprised at the level of resistance he ran into when he did so anyway. In 2008, Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia, 20% of which it still occupies. Putin paid little price for this. And 2014 was the true beginning of the Ukraine invasion, when Putin took Crimea. Rather than dole out serious punishments, then-President Barack Obama almost immediately stressed that Putin would not be dislodged from Crimea or deterred from further escalation by military force. Again, no meaningful price was paid. If endless references to Neville Chamberlains appeasement of Hitler have exhausted their effectiveness, these facts demonstrate the same fundamental truth: appeasement kills because, as chess master and Russian dissident Garry Kasparov once said, it raises the stakes, postpones the inevitable, and encourages aggressors to assume they can act with impunity. True, Putin has met stiff resistance, and the Biden-Harris administration deserves credit for continually pushing to fund Ukraine. But if Ukraine falls, or if Russia even maintains the ground it has gained, Putin, and other aggressors like him, will undoubtedly view the invasion as a victory. And Putin wants victory: first in Ukraine, and then to reconstitute the rest of the Soviet Union. Keep in mind: The Soviet Union once functionally owned half of Germany, and would have gone further if NATO hadnt stopped them. Should Russia continue its aggressive efforts, particularly if it targets NATO members, the war will inevitably involve America even more, likely with American boots on the ground. A Russian victory would be even worse. Most Americans cannot even imagine a world where Europe is dominated, directly or coercively, by Russia. But this scenario would profoundly affect what Americans buy and sell, how they travel, how they live, and how they govern themselves. The post-World War II, post-Cold War order that has been incredibly good to America would cease to exist. Our friends, and our foes, know it. No American president, no matter how strong or savvy, will dictate the outcome of the Ukraine war. But presidents have their greatest power in the area of foreign policy and national security, much more than their influence on domestic policy. Congresss power to appropriate funds and declare war are important, but it is the president that sends and accepts ambassadors. Its the president that appoints the secretaries of state and defense. Its the president that liaises with foreign heads of state, and who is Americas commander in chief. In other words, the next president will control the foreign policy of the United States to a degree of magnitude more than they do domestic policy, which is shared to a greater degree with Congress, governors, state legislatures and countless local officials. During the recent presidential debate, former President Donald Trump pointedly refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win. Shortly thereafter, his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, floated a plan that would seemingly hand Putin large chunks of Ukraine. This policy is catastrophically bad, and it would be inconceivable that any Republican since Eisenhower, prior to Trump, would ever have supported such a policy. Trumps former national security advisor H.R. McMasters was frank in his recent book, saying, I cannot understand Putins hold on Trump. Neither can I. But I do know, for the good of America, if he wins, we should all hope his position changes. Responsible Republicans should be doing whatever they can on this front. Harris, for her part, aggressively defended Ukraine and suggested the obvious: that Poland and other allies are in harms way. She deserves credit for that, as she does for her administrations savvy in convincing a reluctant Congress to approve Ukraine aid earlier this year. Its an odd turnaround for the Democrats to be the party most in favor of fighting Russia, but thats whats happening. Harris is even running ads in the swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that have large Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian and other Eastern European-origin Americans. However, the fact that we are still debating whether well allow the Ukrainians to use our weapons the same way the Russians use Iranian weapons shows that the Biden-Harris administrations handling of the war has been far from ideal. The aggressor still has the initiative. Standing by Ukraine is preferable to the alternative, but formulating a plan for victory is best. We arent there yet. Public discourse has reached a level of overstatement that is debilitating to our politics. But this is not hyperbole: The outcome of the Ukraine war, the first land war in Europe since 1945, will have massive, worldwide ripple effects, particularly if Ukraine is not victorious. And the next president will have significant say over what happens next. People should make their voice heard. And they should let it be known that Ukraine is a top priority. Cliff Smith is a lawyer and a former congressional staffer. He lives in Washington, D.C., where he works on national security-related issues. His views are his own. By Marco Aquino LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in three regions affected by devastating forest fires that have burned through swathes of the nation's Andean and Amazonian crop lands and left 16 dead. The heavily forested northern regions of Amazonas, San Martin and Ucayali will be under the new emergency measures, she said, following several requests from local authorities for more resources to be allocated to fight the fires. Forest fires are frequent in Peru between August and November, largely due to the burning of dry grasslands to expand agricultural frontiers and sometimes by land traffickers, according to data from Peru's environmental ministry. Boluarte urged farming communities to stop burning grasslands as thousands of hectares have gone up in flames, while noting that the fires are also a result of the lack of rainfall caused by climate change. Speaking at the government palace, the president said Peru had registered 238 fires across most of its regions, and some 80% of these were "controlled". Ucayali's regional governor had earlier called for military aircraft to help firefighters and volunteers put out the fires that have spread to rugged, hard-to-access terrains and are damaging the area's palm and cocoa crops. Satellite data analyzed by Brazil's space research agency earlier this month registered a record 346,112 fire hotspots so far this year across South America, surpassing the 2007 record of 345,322 hotspots in a data series that goes back to 1998. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Alistair Bell) Pete Weitzel, a journalist and prominent First Amendment advocate who served as the Miami Heralds managing editor during some of the newspapers peak years in circulation, staffing and influence, has died. Weitzel, who was 88, died Sunday in hospice care at home in Juno Beach. His wife, Linda Steckley, said he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a brain disorder that can severely impair cognition, movement and behavior. Known for his gruff and blunt style, Weitzel spent his entire 37-year newspaper career at the Herald. He was hired as a general-assignment reporter in 1958 straight out of college at the University of Illinois, where he majored in political science and had been editor-in-chief at the Daily Illini. Weitzel rose steadily through the reporting and editing ranks until he was named the Heralds managing editor in 1983. In that role, an online entry in his alma maters Hall of Fame says, Weitzel brought the Miami paper unmatched success in the next decade. Former Miami Herald managing editor Pete Weitzel, shown in an undated Miami Herald file photo, has died at age 88. The Herald won eight Pulitzer prizes and numerous other national and regional awards during his tenure. As managing editor and, later, senior managing editor, Weitzel decisively ran the day-to-day affairs of a sprawling newsroom whose staff numbered in the hundreds, including correspondents based around the world, at a time when Heralds print circulation reached a historic peak of nearly 450,000 daily copies. After years of explosive growth, the complex operation he oversaw, making both administrative and news coverage decisions under several executive editors and publishers, ranged across Florida with generously staffed bureaus in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Stuart and Fort Pierce, and reporters based in other major cities in the state. The Heralds foreign correspondents occupied posts in far-flung points around Latin America and the rest of the world, from Berlin to Jerusalem and Beijing. The Herald won eight Pulitzer prizes and numerous other national and regional awards during Weitzels tenure as managing editor. He retired from the Herald in 1995 as the newspapers fortunes began to wane amid drops in circulation and cuts in staff and resources mandated by its parent company, then Knight-Ridder, Inc. The newsroom, and his life in the newsroom, was the joy of his life, Steckley said. David Lawrence Jr., who was the Heralds publisher for about half of Weitzels time as managing editor, said in an email: Pete Weitzel was among the best in the more golden days of newspapering tough-minded in the best sense, a bulldog in pursuit of the facts and getting closer to the truth, hired great people and gave them the room to do their best, a teacher and role model for excellence. Weitzel, a founder of the Florida First Amendment Foundation while still at the Herald, then embarked on a second career as a vocal and effective advocate for press freedoms, citizens freedom of speech and laws mandating open government and open public records, both in the state and nationally. The foundation played a key role in passage of a state referendum in 1992 by voters that ensconced Floridians right to public records and meetings in the Florida Constitution. Pete Weitzel - Managing Editor The Miami Herald Weitzel subsequently helped start the National Freedom of Information Coalition, based in Virginia, which groups journalists with lawyers, public and elected officials and civic organizations to lobby for improved laws on government transparency. He still played an active role on the board of the Florida foundation even as his health deteriorated, Steckley said. I never met anyone more dedicated to open government and the publics right to know, said Bob Shaw, a retired top editor at the Tallahassee Democrat and Orlando Sentinel who worked with and for Weitzel at the Herald, and also sat with him on the First Amendment Foundation board of directors for decades. Pete hired and mentored hundreds of journalists over the course of his career. He was known for his aggressiveness, his smarts and the fact he always had your back, Shaw said. If there was a legitimate fight to be picked with senior management, we always looked to Pete. And he never failed us. Former Herald reporters and editors, many of whom Weitzel hired over the years, took to social media to lament his passing. Former Herald reporter Luis Feldstein-Soto sat just outside the offices of top executives for a decade before he left to practice law, covering everything from corrupt politicians to shoddy home-building practices exposed by Hurricane Andrew. We didnt speak more than a few dozen times over those years, but I always knew he had my back whenever my stories ruffled some powerful feathers in the community, Feldstein-Soto wrote in a Facebook post. He was a gentle giant with a hearty laugh and eyes that radiated wisdom and decency. Weve lost a good man. After leaving the Herald, Weitzel also taught at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, the University of North Carolina journalism school and Duke Law School. He also served as executive director of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, a nonprofit group that investigates cases of possible wrongful criminal convictions. Besides Steckley, his wife of 44 years, Weitzel is survived by sons Anthony Weitzel, Philip Weitzel and Mark Weitzel; stepsons Matthew Steckley and Adam Steckley; nine grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. Steckley said the family will be holding a celebration of Weitzels life in the near future in Juno Beach. The family is also suggesting donations in Weitzels memory to the Florida First Amendment Foundation. AUSTIN (KXAN) A Pflugerville Independent School District teacher is facing an injury to a child charge after reportedly fracturing two fingers of a 5-year-old student with autism, according to an arrest affidavit. That court document identifies the teacher as McKinzie Merrell, 31. Booking records showed Merrell was booked into the Travis County jail and also released Wednesday morning. No attorney information is listed for Merrell at this time, but KXAN will reach out for comment once those details are available. Mugshot of McKinzie Merrell (Pflugerville ISD via Austin Police Department) PfISD said the teacher had worked for the district since August 2023, and the incident, which happened on Sept. 4 at Pflugerville Elementary School, was reported to the Texas Education Agency. The TEA told KXAN it had received a report about the educator in question on Sept. 11. The agencys Educator Investigations Division is currently reviewing the report to determine appropriate next steps. Because the matter remains ongoing, TEA cannot comment further, the agency said in a statement. The district provided KXAN with a letter that was sent to families of the school to notify them of what happened. In it, PfISD confirmed the teacher was no longer employed by the district. We were informed by a fellow parent that there was an unfortunate incident where a student was injured during the school day, allegedly by a teacher. As soon as we were informed of this, we contacted our PfISD police and administration, and the teacher was immediately placed on leave while we conducted a thorough investigation. I want to reassure you that the teacher is no longer employed by the district. Campus staff has contacted all parents of students in the classroom individually. Letter from Pflugerville Elementary Principal Genia Antoine According to the affidavit, the investigation was carried out by Pflugerville ISD Police. Police said they met with the parents of the child and school leaders on Sept. 5, where one of the parents explained that the child said, Mrs. Merrell broke his fingers. The parents took him to the hospital where it was discovered two fingers were fractured, the affidavit said. Police reviewed surveillance footage from the day of the incident and saw around 10:21 a.m. an interaction between Merrell and the child, where Merrell had her left arm around the students shoulders and led him outside by his right hand, the affidavit stated. According to the affidavit, police saw on video that as Merrell led the child outside by his right hand, they stopped to speak. Merrell looks to be upset, the affidavit stated. Merrell releases the [child] and he solemnly walks along the fence. Police said Merrell then went to a bench to speak with another teacher. Police stated in the affidavit two teachers on the bench were interviewed about what happened, and they said Merrell told them the [student] hit her and kicked her in the shins and she scolded the [student] for doing so. Police noted in the affidavit this was not seen on surveillance video. Police said they also asked one of the teachers if the student couldve hurt himself playing outside, but the teacher said no, they had just come outside, and the student wouldnt go play, which was unusual for him, according to the affidavit. Police said in the affidavit that Merrell was also interviewed by Human Resources, and authorities spoke with other leaders in the school about the childs behavior. According to the affidavit, staff told police that physical aggression by the student was not reported. This is a developing story; stick with KXAN for updates. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A decade-old picture of a Philippine city flattened by Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely portrayed it as showing the damage caused by Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam. Yagi battered Vietnam -- as well as Myanmar, Laos and Thailand -- in September 2024 triggering floods and landslides that have killed more than 500 people according to official figures. The photo was shared in a Burmese-language Facebook post on September 6, 2024, where it was falsely described as showing "damage in Vietnam after the storm". The post read: "Storm Yagi has stronger winds than expected. The Thai side is constantly warning that the current gusts are around 240 to 250 miles per hour, where it was estimated at 90 to 120 miles per hour before entering." "For Myanmar, it is predicted to be only the tip of the storm, but there may be changes, so keep an eye on the news," it added. Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on September 12, 2024 The photo surfaced as Typhoon Yagi tore across Vietnam's densely populated Red River delta -- a vital agricultural region also home to major manufacturing hubs -- damaging factories and infrastructure, and inundating farmland (archived link). Authorities said it killed at least 292 people in the country. The storm also triggered the worst flooding in Myanmar's recent history according to the UN's World Food Programme, with the country's ruling junta reporting 226 fatalities (archived link). The photo was shared alongside similar false claims on Facebook here, here and here. A reverse image search on Google, however, found it was published by The Associated Press (AP) news agency on November 10, 2013 (archived link). The photo's caption read in part: "A woman walks past damaged houses in Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many complain of shortage of food, water and no electricity since the Typhoon Haiyan slammed into their province." Below is a screenshot comparison of the picture used in the false posts (left) and the AP photo (right): Screenshot comparison of the picture used in the false posts (left) and the AP photo (right) Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, whipped up tsunami-like waves that devastated central islands in the Philippines in November 2013, killing more than 6,000 people (archived link). Tacloban, the capital of Leyte province, bore the brunt of the storm's fury and was almost totally destroyed by five-metre-high storm surges that crashed over mostly poor coastal communities. The AP photo was also published in other reports about Haiyan here and here (archived link here and here). AFP has debunked other misinformation related to Typhoon Yagi here. CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) A photographer ended up being kicked off school property during picture day at a local school after making inappropriate comments to students. It happened on Monday at Chittum Elementary School in Chesapeake. Chittum Principal Bridget Outlaw said in a statement that school administration immediately addressed the issue after the comments were reported, and the photographer was escorted off school property. Parents of students who reported the concern were notified. The company management swiftly addressed the situation and started an investigation, Outlaw said. We want to commend our students for quickly reporting the incident. We are thankful that our message of see something, say something was effectively used in this situation. School officials did not elaborate on what exactly was said, or who the photographer was, but WAVY was able to review a Facebook post from someone claiming to be a Chittum parent that sheds some light on the incident. In the post, which has since been taken down, the parent says her child was asked several questions by the photographer, including can I steal your identity? and can I eat your soul? She said her son was uncomfortable with the photographers questions and cried after reporting the comments. The photographers employer, Lifetouch, shared this statement about the incident through a spokesperson: At Lifetouch, our number one priority is the safety of every student we photograph. We have numerous policies and procedures in place to ensure that safety, including training and background checks on all of our photographers. We take any allegation about a photographer very seriously, and are conducting a thorough internal investigation. In the meantime, the employee in question has been removed from all photography duties. WAVY also reached out to the woman who shared the Facebook post. Well update this story when we hear back. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WATE) Two car shows took place in Sevier County during the weekend of September 12: the Fall Rod Run and the Smoky Mountain Truck Fest. Rod Run attendees like Albert Pickett said the event has changed and not in a good way over the last 25 years. There are a lot more cars here now, they let a lot of things slide too, Pickett said. Now, the big problem is there are two shows running together, which puts us in a bind. We dont run around like they do. Its just rough. Knoxville residents express safety concerns over Schaad Road intersection Albert Pickett has been attending the Rod Runs for nearly three decades creating lifelong friendships along the way, including at the hotel he stays at the Vacation Lodge. You feel appreciated truly. We enjoy the customer service, you know, we love the hospitality, Vacation Lodge owner Akhil Banker said. We like those customers who have been patronizing this place such a long time. They are here for 20 years and some are coming for 30 years. Although there is a lot of good that comes from the Rod Run events, there is a fair share of incidents where law enforcement needs to step in. Over the weekend, September 12 to September 14, more than 850 citations were issued accompanied by 85 arrests. Those citations ranged from spinning tires to other miscellaneous moving violations. Pigeon Forge Police Chief Richard Catlett told 6 News officers also had to deal with fights and underage drinking. Albert Pickett told 6 News what he noticed during the end of last week. Take a look inside Knoxville Polices new immersive training simulator They [police] are standing in the middle of the road and just walk to the truck and pull them over, Pickett said. I mean, they didnt bother too many hot rods. It was all the big trucks walking up and talking and dumping their beer out and whatever they had to do. When the trucks werent here it wasnt a rowdy show, very peaceful. Were in bed by 9:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. the whole week then the weekends dont end. He added the atmosphere surrounding the parkway changes when a secondary show is happening at the same time as the Rod Run. He said he doesnt know how much longer he will be attending this event. See more top stories on WATE.com Im going to try one more and see. Shades of the past is gone so Im down to one week now, the Rod Run, Pickett said. We will see what next year brings. The numbers of arrests from this years Fall Rod Run doubled from last year and the number of citation issued nearly quadrupled. These numbers were also up from the 2024 Spring Rod Run 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 WATE 6 On Your Side. The Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office filed a lawsuit against a robotics toy company which they say did not fulfill over $2 million in orders to thousands of customers. When you Google Digital Dream Labs, it pulls up an address on Broad Street in East Liberty. The space is empty. Channel 11s Alyssa Raymond called the leasing agent who said the toy company has been gone for at least a year. Digital Dream Labs website touts developing the worlds best Ai Companion Robotics. If you click to purchase the Vector 2.0, it says the $400 dollar robot is sold out. Its one of several Digital Dream Lab robots listed in a recent lawsuit filed by the State Attorney Generals Office. It became clear that this was a very large issue that impacted thousands of consumers, and we realized we needed to take action on it, said Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General Jaimie George. Channel 11 found dozens of complaints on Google. One person wrote, Just like all of the others. Took the order 2 years ago, have never seen the robot. And customer wrote, This company refuses to refund a pre order that will never be finished. The AGs office says about 14,000 orders for the robots were placed between November 2020 and January 2024, most of which were not fulfilled. If were doing a preliminary estimation, we think it could be nearly $2 million of unfulfilled orders, said George. The CEO of the company, Harold Jacob Hanchar, is being sued too. He previously owned Klavons in the Strip District, but a 2022 Pittsburgh Business Times article said he decided to sell the ice cream shop to focus on Digital Dream Labs. Two days ago, an announcement about a new CEO was posted on Linked In. The first thing I looked for was if they filed for bankruptcy, said National Association of Consumer Advocates Executive Director Ira Rheingold. While they havent filed for bankruptcy but that may mean they dont have any assets. Does this look like a righteous case that the Attorney General is bringing, Absolutely. Does it mean theres a recovery from that company? Not if they dont have any money or have any assets. The fact that the AGs office sued the individual involved in this case, maybe theres some assets and income there that they might be able to recover. Were going to take every effort that we can to find every harmed individual, said George. Channel 11s Alyssa Raymond left messages for the owner but did not immediately hear back. Impacted consumers paid between $147 and $655 for each robot, with combined sales equaling more than $4 million. All of the orders were preorders, said George. And so at the time, the orders were placed, the individuals had some notice that the products didnt exist yet, and I think that is a big red flag. I think if youre going to buy something, and its a preorder for a piece of merchandise, you are taking a big risk at that point, and you should really hold off. I know its appealing because they always say that theres special pricing and a limited quantity sometimes. But you are taking a bigger gamble when you preorder a piece of merchandise. The fact that they required full payment including full shipping and everything ahead of time that would raise a red flag because that to me is a company that is low on cash and needs that money upfront, said Rheingold. The other thing I think people should think about to pay for these things is to pay by credit card and not by debit card. Any consumers who believe they may be a victim of these practices should file a complaint with the Bureau of Consumer Protection at www.attorneygeneral.gov, call 800-441-2555, or email scams@attorneygeneral.gov. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Time releases Worlds Best Companies, 7 are based in Pittsburgh Man who brought Juneteenth festivities to Pittsburgh speaks out about feud with city Pittsburgh womens soccer team unveils name, logo VIDEO: New resolution would allocate $1M in taxpayer money to fund 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Plainfield boy's death at the center of congressional hearing on hate crimes Plainfield boy's death at the center of congressional hearing on hate crimes WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee convened its first-ever congressional hearing on anti-Palestinian hate crimes on Tuesday, placing a spotlight on the tragic death of Wadea Al-Fayoumi, a 6-year-old boy from Plainfield, Illinois. Wadea was fatally stabbed by his landlord 11 months ago, an act that has drawn attention to the rise of hate crimes targeting Palestinians. Chaired by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the hearing aimed to address the growing concerns of hate-fueled violence. Wadea's mother was in attendance, joining family members of other victims of hate crimes, including Rose Mallinger, the oldest victim of the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting. In his remarks, Senator Durbin highlighted the threat posed by white supremacists in the United States. "Since 2000, according to federal law enforcement, white supremacists have been responsible for more homicides than any other domestic extremist group," Durbin said. He emphasized the responsibility of public officials, regardless of party affiliation, to avoid inciting hatred. The hearing builds on a resolution introduced by Illinois Senators Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, along with Representatives Delia Ramirez and Lauren Underwood, to honor Wadea's memory. However, the hearing also saw a partisan divide, with Republican members of the Judiciary Committee shifting the focus to anti-Semitism rather than addressing anti-Palestinian hatred specifically. SPRINGDALE, Utah (ABC4) Officials with the Zion National Park are advising parkgoers to plan ahead as the Zion Canyon Visitor Center parking lot will temporarily close Tuesday, Sept. 24. The parking lot will be closed to allow crews to re-stripe the asphalt. The visitor center lot will reopen in stages throughout the day as the re-striping is completed. National Park officials said this is the final step of a micro-sealing and repainting project, which helps improve conditions after years of wear and tear from visitors and weather. This is Utahs richest city, study says and its not Park City Visitors to Zion National Park should plan ahead for the closures. While the parking lot is closed, visitors are encouraged to park in Springdale and take the free Springdale Shuttle into the park. Traffic is also expected to increase over the next week as park visitors take advantage of the beautiful weather this time of year. In addition to the Zion Canyon Visitor Center closing next week, a few smaller parking areas will be re-striped. More details can be found below; Friday, Sept. 20 Weeping Rock, Emerald Pools Horse Corral, West Rim Trailhead, and Temple of Sinawava Monday, Sept. 23 Tunnel East (Canyon Overlook), Zion Lodge Visitor Parking Wednesday, Sept. 25 Kolob Canyons Visitor Center, Taylor Creek Trailhead, South Fork, Kolob Canyons Overlook For more information and the latest alerts, visitors can visit the Zion National Park 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 ABC4 Utah. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Planned Parenthoods Pacific Northwest leaders will transform their advocacy group into an organization that will help meet the need for reproductive and sexual health care services. On Tuesday, the organizations Columbia Willamette and Southwestern Oregon affiliates revealed they will restructure Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon later this year. PSUs Millar Library reopens after months-long closure due to protest damages According to the announcement, the new organization will further the groups commitment to maintaining reproductive rights by expanding services throughout Planned Parenthood facilities statewide. The nonprofit has reported a record demand for services, including a 50% rise in abortion services. When the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the landmark Roe V. Wade case in May 2022 thus allowing individual states to regulate abortion multiple states enacted total abortion bans. An official report spearheaded by Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell revealed there are at least 23 million women of child-bearing age who live in those states. As a result, places where abortion remains legal including Oregon and Washington have seen an uptick in out-of-state residents seeking care. Connie Chung, serious news anchor with potty mouth coming to Portland The Dobbs decision also impacts healthcare providers and students. Nearly two years ago, Oregon Health and Science University trained its first out-of-state medical student who wanted to learn how to perform abortion proceeds, but couldnt due to restrictions in their home state. But Planned Parenthood wont restructure its advocacy organization until after the November election, to [ensure] stability during this critical period. We recognize that we are at an important time for Planned Parenthood to adapt to the evolving landscape of sexual and reproductive health care post-Roe, and we need innovative ideas and approaches, PPCW Board Chair and PPAO Board Member Sally Brown said in a statement. Oregon Tribe files federal lawsuit against offshore wind energy projects The decision to reassess Planned Parenthoods advocacy efforts after this current election cycle reflects our commitment to making a more meaningful impact and being responsive to the changing needs of our community, Brown added. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) Zimbabwe and Namibia have announced plans to slaughter hundreds of wild elephants and other animals to feed hunger-stricken residents amid severe drought conditions in the southern African countries. Zimbabwe said Monday it would allow the killing of 200 elephants so that their meat can be distributed among needy communities, while in Namibia the killing of more than 700 wild animals including 83 elephants is under way as part of a plan announced three weeks ago. PHOTOS: Beautiful bird off course in NE Ohio Tinashe Farawo, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said permits would be issued in needy communities to hunt elephants and that the agency also would kill some of the overall allotment of 200 animals. We will start culling as soon as we have finished issuing out permits, Farawo said. The elephants will be taken from an area where the population has become unsustainable, Farawo said. The hunting will take place in areas such as Hwange National Park in the countrys arid west where there has been increasing competition between humans and wildlife for food and water as rising temperatures make the resources more scarce. Hwange has move than 45,000 elephants, but now has the capacity to sustain only 15,000, Farawo said. The countrys overall population of about 100,000 elephants is double what the countrys national parks can sustain, park officials say. The El Nino weather phenomenon has worsened the situation, with the parks agency in December saying that more than 100 elephants died due to drought. More animals could die of thirst and hunger in the coming weeks as the country enters the hottest period of the year, Farawo said. Zimbabwes Environment Minister Sithembiso Nyoni told Parliament last week that she had given the go-ahead for the culling program. SEE IT: Tiny bugs making giant webs in Ohio Indeed Zimbabwe has more elephants than we need, more elephants than our forestry can accommodate, Nyoni said. She said the government was preparing to do like what Namibia has done so that we can cull the elephants and mobilize the women to dry the meat, package it and ensure that it gets to some communities that need the protein. The Namibian government last month approved the culling of 723 animals, including 83 elephants, 30 hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 300 zebras and 100 elands, among others. The animals will be sourced from five of Namibias national parks, where it is also looking to reduce its elephant numbers amid conflicts between people and wildlife. This is necessary and is in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens, environment department spokesman Romeo Muyunda said. This is also a prime example that conservation of game is really beneficial. Botswana, which is between Zimbabwe and Namibia, has the worlds largest elephant population at 130,000, but unlike its two neighboring countries, it has not talked about slaughtering its elephants to feed its people. Guyo Roba, a food security and agricultural expert with the Kenya-based environmental think tank Jameel Observatory, said government measures in Zimbabwe and Namibia were understandable given the extent of the drought and the state of their animal populations. They are working against a wildlife population that is above their carrying capacity, Roba said. So it may seem controversial initially, but the governments are torn between remaining faithful to some of their obligations at an international level in terms of conservation and supporting the population, Roba 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 Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. An officer recruit fires a pistol during firearms training at the George S. Mickelson Law Enforcement Center in Pierre on July 8, 2024. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) An officer recruit fires a pistol during firearms training at the George S. Mickelson Law Enforcement Center in Pierre on July 8, 2024. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) Officers in South Dakotas Basic Law Enforcement Certification course will have an extra lesson on ethics and the role of the states police commission, starting with the current cohort. Hank Prim, director of law enforcement training for the state Division of Criminal Investigation, told the South Dakota Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Commission about the change at the start of the groups Wednesday meeting in Pierre. The new four and a half hour ethics session, Prim told the commission, will talk a little bit about the conditions that are important to you, the things that you all look for, and the expectations you have with new officers as they go out in the field. I think especially with the publicity of the commissions work over the last couple years, theres a new emphasis and interest by the officers in the basic class to understand what the commission does, Prim said. The commissions activities have received more media coverage recently. South Dakota Searchlight regularly covers the meetings, as does Bob Mercer of the KELO Capital News Bureau. Austin Goss of The Dakota Scout has also written about contested case hearings. The commission reviews training program changes, applications for renewed certification for officers who step away from the profession for a while, approves grant requests for training by local departments, works with technical colleges on their criminal justice programs, and reviews complaints of misconduct against officers. Many complaints are resolved informally, with officers voluntarily ceding their certification or the commission imposing remedial training and reprimands for poor performance. The commission also acts as a jury of sorts in contested hearings, when officers accused of misbehavior defend themselves in proceedings similar to those in a courtroom. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE An envelope containing a powdery substance was delivered to the Indiana Secretary of State's office yesterday, but law enforcement officials determined it wasn't hazardous. Indiana is one of 15 states that have reported suspicious packages delivered to election officials over the past two days, according to the Associated Press. More: Indiana voter guide: Who's running for Congress, Statehouse, governor, AG and school board After some employees reported the suspicious envelope, multiple state and federal agencies secured the State Government Center, conducted tests and removed the material. Tests on the scene preliminarily determined the substance is not harmful, and the envelope was sent to the FBI for forensic testing. The Secretary of State's office said in a news release that it had been warned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be on the lookout for suspicious election mail. No one was injured Tuesday. Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales speaks after being sworn into office Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. We take every precaution to ensure the safety of our employees and the public," Secretary of State Diego Morales said. "I want to especially thank members of my team; our law enforcement partners and other first responders for their swift and professional response. We are relieved that everyone is safe." Early voting in Indiana starts Oct. 8. The general election is Nov. 5. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'Suspicious' election mail found at Indiana Secretary of State's office Police investigate after second explosion in Cologne in three days Shards and pieces of clothing lie in front of a store on Ehrenstrasse in Cologne following another explosion in the city center early Wednesday morning. According to police reports, the detonation occurred at a clothing store around 5:00 a.m., with no injuries reported. This follows a previous explosion at a Cologne discotheque on Monday, which left a 53-year-old man slightly injured. Henning Kaiser/dpa Authorities in Cologne are investigating after a second explosion in three days was reported in the western German city. A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said police were alerted early on Wednesday after witnesses heard a loud detonation at a clothing shop in the city centre. The fire brigade quickly extinguished a fire in the building. No injuries were reported, but authorities cordoned off the crime scene, which was littered with fragments of glass from the shattered windows. It is unclear whether video surveillance footage of the latest explosion exists, a police spokesman said. The incident came just two days after a similar explosion hit a nearby nightclub in the city, with police currently searching for a suspect who was caught on camera carrying a blue shopping bag which subsequently ignited. Police are investigating whether the two incidents could be linked or connected to a spate of similar explosions in the state of North Rhine Westphalia that could be related to the Dutch Mocro Mafia gang. A police dog searches through the rubble of a store on Ehrenstrasse in Cologne following an explosion early Wednesday morning. According to police reports, the detonation occurred at a clothing store around 5:00 a.m. No injuries were reported. This incident follows an earlier explosion at a Cologne nightclub on Monday, which resulted in minor injuries to a 53-year-old man. Henning Kaiser/dpa A police dog searches through the rubble of a store on Ehrenstrasse in Cologne following an explosion early Wednesday morning. According to police reports, the detonation occurred at a clothing store around 5:00 a.m. No injuries were reported. This incident follows an earlier explosion at a Cologne nightclub on Monday, which resulted in minor injuries to a 53-year-old man. Henning Kaiser/dpa LEAWOOD, Kan. Two church parking lots were hit by thieves and Leawood police said theyre looking for more than one suspect in these cases. Investigators said the thieves stole cars from church parking lots, while parishioners were inside during services. One theft happened this past Sunday. Leawood police said thieves stole a car while it was parked at Cure of Ars and the Sunday before that, the same thing happened at Nativity. Were just scared, Carolina Shank said. We saw cops and then we got pretty worried. Hundreds of gift cards stolen from Lees Summit store in scam investigation Shank is a parishioner at Cure of Ars and thats where her kids go to school. Last Sunday, they saw police lights in the parking lot. This is not something we typically see here in Johnson County, so you worry a lot, you worry for your safety, your kids, for the whole community, Shank said. So, its scary. Leawood police said a thief stole someones car. They said the victim got to the church just before 10:45 a.m. Sunday, an hour later, the 2016 Hyundai Tucson was gone. Police said a week prior, on Sunday, Sept. 8, a thief stole 2012 Hyundai Sonata at the Church of the Nativity. It was just in the main church parking lot there, Community Outreach Officer Cody Morse said. He said at this point, theres no evidence the thefts are connected. Juveniles charged in Jackson County for alleged school threats Police recovered the vehicle stolen from Nativity. It was found in Kansas City, Missouri. Now, theyre looking for the suspect. Morse said investigators believe its a man in his early 20s. Morse said the suspect used credit cards he found inside the car he stole. Police shared a picture of the suspect snapped by the surveillance cameras. He said both victims locked their cars before the thefts happened. The overwhelming majority of these cases that were seeing are often still unlocked cars or valuables left in plain sight, although that is not the case in these two cases, Morse said. Both the victims still have keys to those vehicles, and we didnt find any broken glass on the ground or anything. Shank said Cure of Ars School sent a letter to parents, encouraging families to stay vigilant and lock vehicles. Our hope is that these victims can feel safe and that the thieves stop doing this, Morse said. Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android Leawood police offer free steering wheel locks if youre looking for an extra layer of protection. If you have any information about these crimes, call Leawood police or the TIPS Hotline 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. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Police say a man was shot and killed in northwest Grand Rapids Wednesday morning. The Grand Rapids Police Department said around 8 a.m. Wednesday, it received a report of a man with blood on him in the drivers seat of a parked car on Fremont Avenue NW near the intersection of Leonard Street NW and Alpine Avenue NW. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to GRPD. His name was not released. Its unknown what led to the shooting or whether any arrests have been made. Police have not released any suspect information. The shooting remains under investigation. This embedded content is not available in your region. Anyone with information is asked to Major Case Team detectives at 616.456.3380 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BRIARWOOD, Queens (WPIX) Police in New York City are searching for two suspects accused of stealing and crashing a subway train in Queens just after midnight on Thursday. The incident took place at the Briarwood subway station in the boroughs Briarwood neighborhood, the NYPD said. Police said the suspects accessed an unoccupied train sitting in the station and operated it, causing a collision and damage to the train. There were no reported injuries related to the incident. Now, police are asking the public to assist in identifying the two suspects: a male last seen wearing a blue tank top and red shorts, and a female wearing an all-pink ensemble complete with a pink shower cap, the NYPD said. Both fled after the crash, according to police. The NYPD released images of the suspects inside one of the train cars on Tuesday. The two had yet to be apprehended as of Wednesday morning, a representative for the NYPD confirmed to Nexstar. Anyone with information is encouraged to submit an anonymous tip online or call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), for English, or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Police Say Reports of Bomb Found at Long Island Trump Rally Are 'False,' 'Unfounded' The Nassau County Police Department on Long Island in New York said reports of an explosive device being found at Nassau Coliseum the location of a Sept. 18, 2024, campaign rally for former U.S. President Donald Trump are "false" and "unfounded." In messages shared on X and Facebook, Nassau police first stated, "Reports that an explosive device was found at the Nassau Coliseum are FALSE." Reports that an explosive device was found at the Nassau Coliseum are FALSE. #NassauCountyPD NCPD (@NassauCountyPD) September 18, 2024 Minutes later, the account posted a statement from Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder reading: "Reports of explosives being found at the site are unfounded. There is a person who is being questioned who may have been training a bomb detection dog near the site. The individual with the bomb dog falsely reported explosives being found and that individual is currently being detained by the police." By phone, a Nassau County police spokesperson told Snopes the department planned to release a new statement saying it determined Trump's rally posed "no threat to the public." Earlier in the day, billionaire Elon Musk amplified the rumor on his platform, X, reposting (archived) "wow" above a share of a post from the prominent @amuse account. The post from @amuse displayed the headline, "Bomb Found Ahead of Trump Rally in Long Island, NY." The story continued, "Police with a bomb sniffing dog working in coordination with the Secret Service discovered a bomb in a car near the location of Trump's rally today." Within hours, @amuse deleted their post. As of this writing, Musk's "wow" post was still available above a message reading, "This post is unavailable." CNBC anchor Carl Quintanilla posted (archived) remarks critical of Musk's amplification of the rumor along with a screenshot of Musk's and @amuse's post, prior to the deletion by @amuse. Here is that screenshot: The black Labrador dog displayed in the picture had no relation to the Trump rally. The photo dated back to at least 2016 and showed Bella, a bomb-sniffing dog who retired in May 2024 after eight years of service at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. The claim was shared by a number of other prominent accounts. A History of @amuse's Unreliability We have previously reported other times the user behind the @amuse account who said they are "a Baptist living in Texas" shared false or misleading information. For example, @amuse falsely claimed in August 2024 that a video showed U.S. President Joe Biden acting confused and boarding an empty plane. As of September, that false post was still available. Also, in April 2023, the account's owner claimed a Whole Foods location in downtown San Francisco announced its closure due to "hostile transgender customers." The @amuse user subsequently claimed the post was a joke. Even so, they also eventually deleted that original post. Sources: "After Eight Years of Dedicated Service, K9 Bella Will Be Retiring at the End of Her Shift." Facebook, WPI Police, 10 May 2024, https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1176440940194835. Ibssa, Lalee. "Trump to Hold Long Island Rally in Effort to Court New Yorkers." ABC News, 18 Sept. 2024, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-hold-long-island-rally-effort-court-new/story?id=113808593. LaMagdeleine, Izz Scott. "No, San Francisco Whole Foods Didn't Close Due to 'Hostile Transgender Customers.'" Snopes, 11 Apr. 2023, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/whole-foods-close-transgender-customers/. Liles, Jordan. "No, Biden Did Not Board 'Empty Plane' After Prisoner Exchange with Russia." Snopes, 3 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/biden-board-empty-plane/. McDermott, Jennifer. "Newest Members of College Police Departments: Bomb Dogs." Hendersonville Times-News via The Associated Press, 14 Dec. 2016, https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/news/education/2016/12/15/newest-members-of-college-police-departments-bomb-dogs/24251607007/. "Nassau County Police Department." Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/NassauCountyPD/. @NassauCountyPD. X, https://x.com/NASSAUCOUNTYPD. Racicot, Allison Marie. "Meet Bella WPI's Bomb-Sniffing K9." WPI, 7 Dec. 2016, https://www.wpi.edu/news/meet-bella-wpis-bomb-sniffing-k9. "Search with an Image on Google." Google Search Help, https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808. RILEY COUNTY (KSNT) Police in Riley County are warning drivers to avoid a section of road west of Riley Wednesday afternoon. The Riley County Police Department (RCPD) posted to social media around 4:05 p.m. on Sept. 18 that there is a crash blocking east and westbound traffic in the 13300 block of Madison Road. Police ask motorists to find alternate routes while the crash scene is cleared. This embedded content is not available in your region. Topeka man dead in Jackson County Highway 75 crash More information on this crash will be added here as it becomes available. Check back here for updates. 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. Police responded to a suspicious occurrence near the site of a Donald Trump rally set for tonight in Long Island, Newsweek reported. Contrary to rumors that swirled on social media, no explosive devices were found. The update comes amid heightened scrutiny of the former president and current Republican nominees security after a suspected second assassination attempt against him two days ago. We did respond to a suspicious occurrence in the vicinity of the Nassau Coliseum, however there was no validity of an explosive device being found, a representative of the Nassau Police Department told Newsweek. Were unsure where this information originated, but we can confirm that no explosives were discovered. The report contradicts what an independent journalist, James Lalino, had earlier said that a source within the Nassau Police Department told him. In a post on X Wednesday morning, Lalino wrote that police had found an explosive in a car near the Trump rally site. Source said During K9, doing their checks, they found an explosive device in one of the vehicles and that driver ended up running into the woods, he reported. No one saw if he had anything on him, they just saw him take off running. The local police had previously shared their commitment to cracking down on security for the rally following a suspected second assassination attempt on Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect, Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested on Sunday. This will be the safest place in the country on Wednesday, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told reporters at a Monday press conference. Nobody will be in the Coliseum. We do a complete sweep that night. Trump supporters had thronged to the coliseum as early as Tuesday to celebrate the former presidents arrival. 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. GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) Officers with the Greenville Police Department are seeking information regarding an unsolved homicide in 1978. 43-year-old Norma Lanyon Jackson was employed as a night clerk at the Cabana Inn on 407 North Main Street. Norma Jackson (Source: Greenville PD) On October 12, 1978, Jacksons body was discovered in the hotels lobby by a colleague during the routine shift change. The investigation revealed that Ms. Jackson had suffered multiple stab wounds, which ultimately led to her death. Officers said a motive for Jacksons death has yet to be determined. Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of Greenville at (864) 23-CRIME or the Greenville Police Department at 864-271-5333. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Fresno police arrested one of the departments own sergeants on Wednesday after he was accused of attempting lewd acts on a child. Sgt. Paige McQuay, 56, was placed in custody in Fresno after Roseville Police Department said he was the subject of a sex crimes investigation, according to a news release. He was accused of attempted lewd acts with a child and contacting a minor in an attempt to commit an offense, police said in a news release. McQuay has worked with Fresno Police Department since 1993, according to the department. He was promoted to sergeant in April 2023. Fresno Interim Chief Mindy Casto said Wednesday during a news conference she had limited details on the incident, but noted the penal code he was accused of violating was for a child under 14. Police confirmed after the news conference McQuay was arrested as part of a sting involving an officer who was posing as a child. He was placed on paid leave as the investigation is ongoing, police said. Casto said her department will cooperate with Roseville Police Department, which will pursue the criminal investigation. Fresno police would simultaneously conduct an internal investigation. She asked for the communitys support during a painful process. We have to let the process take its time, but again its painful, Casto said on Wednesday. We have so many officers out there doing the right thing and sacrificing for the community, and this is an embarrassment. McQuay worked in the northeast policing district, and supervised about 15 officers on a patrol unit, according to Casto. Roseville police said late Wednesday that McQuay was arrested as part of a sweeping undercover investigation to catch adults attempting to meet minors for sex. Details on the others caught in the operation were not immediately available, according to Lt. Chris Ciampa, a spokesperson with the Roseville Police Department. Detectives posing as children used messaging apps to catch adults allegedly in the act, Roseville police said. Ciampa also said McQuay will very likely be extradited to Placer County to face charges. But McQuay was not in Roseville when the alleged crime occurred. Paige McQuay, left, is seen with former Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama when McQuay was promoted to sergeant in a photo posted to the departments Facebook page on April 7, 2023. Fresno police Sgt. Paige McQuay, 56, was placed in custody in Fresno after Roseville Police Department said he was the subject of a sex crimes investigation, according to a news release on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Polish Border Guard Major Jacek Michaowski has explained that the use of handcuffs against Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk at the airport in Krakow was not a detention but a precautionary measure. They were later removed immediately. Source: European Pravda with reference to Polish news portal Dziennik Polski Details: Michaowski said that Usyk and another man were withdrawn from the flight, and as a result, they lost their passenger status. He said that the men did not want to go to the gate when airport security called for them. "They did not want to go to the gate when called by the airport security service, so we were called to deal with this issue," he added. The border guard reported that the use of handcuffs was due to the men's excessive gestures. "The handcuffing was related to the gentleman's posture; both men were gesticulating a lot because they were unhappy that they missed their flight. Therefore, the handcuffing was a completely precautionary measure; in the office, the handcuffs were removed immediately," explained Michaowski. After Usyk was transferred to the office, the handcuffs were immediately removed. Background: Boxer Oleksandr Usyk was detained at Krakow airport. Later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Usyk had been released. Earlier, Zelenskyy had written that he had a phone conversation with the detained boxer. Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha considers the measures taken by Polish law enforcement officers against Usyk at Krakow airport to be "disproportionate and unacceptable" and will send a note to the Polish side. Usyk himself commented on the incident, and the director of the Ukrainian boxer's team, Serhii Lapin, explained that the detention was due to the customs control service, which had neglected its duties. Support UP or become our patron! (This story has been updated to add new information.) A group of dozens of Polish American Wisconsinites, including current and former Democratic elected officials, released an open letter Wednesday criticizing former President Donald Trump's comments about Russia's war with Ukraine and backing Vice President Kamala Harris."Earlier this year, Trump said he would encourage Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' to our NATO allies, and during the debate last week he twice refused to answer a question about whether he wanted Ukraine to win their war," the letter reads. "Polish people in the U.S. and around the world know that our future is tied to Ukraines because after Ukraine, Putins next target is Poland." The letter was signed by more than 60 Polish American Wisconsinites, including Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza, Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz, Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Justin Bielinski and Portage County Board Supervisor Shaun Przybylski. The letter comes as both Harris and Trump are working to win support from Polish American voters. During last week's debate, held in Philadelphia, Harris appealed to the 800,000 Polish-Americans who reside in Pennsylvania as she criticized Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and comments about the war in Ukraine. And this weekend, Trump and Polish President Andrzej Duda are scheduled to attend the same event in Pennsylvania. The Trump campaign responded to questions about the letter by criticizing Harris' foreign policy experience and saying she and President Joe Biden had emboldened our adversaries" and worsened conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border. "Kamala Harris is dangerously liberal and there is zero doubt that America will be a more dangerous place if she was our Commander in Chief," Karoline Leavitt, Trump Campaign press secretary, said in a statement. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Polish Wisconsinites issue letter backing Kamala Harris Haitian residents of Springfield, Ohio, have spent the last week living in terror, their sense of normalcy upended by the wildfire-like spread of a right-wing conspiracy theory accusing them of killing and eating cats. Their small city, just 45 miles west of the state capital, Columbus, has received more than 30 threats of violence in the week since former President Donald Trump repeated the false claim on the debate stage in Philadelphia. In the face of those threats, schools have evacuated and closed, local colleges have canceled on-campus activities and temporarily moved instruction online, organizers of the city's popular annual CultureFest have canceled the event and many Haitian residents have confined themselves to their homes out of fear for their safety. "For now, I'm just careful because if I don't need [to go] outside, I don't go," said Evens Edouard, a Haitian resident of Springfield who works as a quality inspector for an automotive safety glass company in a nearby city. "I just go to drop my son at school and take him back, and then when it's time, go to work." Edouard told Salon that he feels the U.S. citizens in his community have a "negative view" of their Haitian neighbors that they didn't have before the conspiracy theory's spread. While some still welcome migrant residents in the community and encourage them to ignore the vitriol, he said others approach them to ask if they actually do eat cats and dogs, or cast blame on them. "I think we don't have the same value [to them], the same attitude [towards us], before we had this kind of speech about us," he said. "Now it's like they think we come here to take their jobs. We come here to eat animals, stuff like that. It's like we have a negative view in the town." Alongside the fears ignited by shooting and bomb threats, Trump's Friday pledge to start mass deportations in Springfield should he be elected have also left other Haitians in his community worried about their immigration statuses, Edouard said. Some are making plans to move, while others are hoping to save money before leaving town, he added. "I think everybody's scared," he said, adding: "If you're Haitian you're concerned. It's like feeling scared for everybody that's Haitian." The disruption has left Springfield's thousands of Haitian residents trapped in a fresh hell created by far-right conspiracy theorists and neo-Nazis, the situation enflamed by their very own senator, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, and the former president. These attacks are also part of a broader right-wing effort targeting all forms of immigration, legal or not and spearheaded by Trump's commitment to large-scale deportations. Allegations of what Trump claimed at the debate to be widespread "migrant crime" have also spread, fueling debunked claims of Venezuelan gangs commandeering apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado, and most recently, dredging up falsehoods about African immigrants in Dayton, Ohio, another city some 70 miles west from the state capital, were grilling cats. As the far-right conspiracy theories circulate and Trump and Vance continue to espouse anti-immigrant rhetoric, they further ostracize Springfield, Aurora and Dayton's immigrant populations, posing a threat to their safety and impacting their quality of life. That harm, experts warn, can reverberate out to other immigrant communities and people of color. "Trump and Vances comments reflect the ongoing stigmatization of migrants through the lenses of race, illegality, and crime," Jamella Gow, a professor of sociology at Bowdoin College whose research focuses on how immigration, race, and Blackness intersect for Black migrants, told Salon in an email. "By casting Haitians (and other migrants of color) as potential or already criminals, they continue a tradition in immigration policy and rhetoric that divides citizens and non-citizens (real or imagined) and in doing so allows for the production of more stringent and harmful immigration policies that have deep impacts on communities." Carl Lindskoog, a history professor at Raritin Valley Community College and author of "Detain and Punish: Haitian Refugees and the Rise of the World's Largest Immigration Detention System," said the xenophobic rhetoric serves to justify "both physical violence and exclusion," with white Americans encouraged to "take action" against a perceived threat to their way of life. Several Springfield officials have spoken out to dispute the false claims about their community. The city manager and the city's police division have both said there is no credible evidence of Haitian immigrants harming or eating pets. On Sunday, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine further denied the claims, admonished the accusers and defended the Haitian migrant community. "What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work," DeWine told ABC's Martha Raddatz. "Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in. These Haitians came in to work for these companies." Despite repeatedly being informed the claim was a lie, Vance and Trump both doubled down during a Sunday CNN appearance and Friday press conference in California, respectively, and further spread the claims. Lindskoog speculated that the Republican candidates' purpose in boosting these baseless claims is energizing a political base that still responds to racism and xenophobia. The move is one of the "calling cards of Trumpism and Trump's politics," he argued, referencing Trump previously claiming immigrants crossing the border were "rapists" and referring to Haiti, El Salvador and various African nations as "shithole countries." "It's the politics of fear," Lindskoog told Salon. "Anxious Americans who are concerned about issues of race and the economy and all these things respond to these lies, sometimes about immigrants and criminality. It's a long playbook going back a long time." That playbook extends back to the anti-Chinese sentiment of the late 19th century, when politicians were making similar false claims and sparking "tragic incidents of mob violence" against Chinese communities, he explained. Those attacks also "paralleled" acts or racial terror against Black Americans other migrant groups. "Spreading these lies and then doubling down on them is not just irresponsible, but it's very, very dangerous," Lindskoog said. Despite the turmoil roiling in Springfield, Trump has dismissed the community's concerns over the threats, claiming they are but a distraction from the border. But the harm the falsehoods have brought to the city's Haitian residents in the aftermath of the debate has been immense. One woman, granted anonymity out of fear of reprisal, told the Haitian Times that her vehicles had been vandalized twice in the middle of the night, having windows broken on one night and acid thrown on one of the vehicles during the other. Im going to have to move because this area is no longer good for me, she told the outlet last week. I cant even leave my house to go to Walmart. Im anxious and scared. Sophia Pierrelus, a community activist who has assisted Haitian migrants in Springfield, told the Columbus Dispatch that the daughter of a woman she knows "hasn't gone to school since this happened because at the school the kids are asking her about eating cats and dogs." She added: "They're afraid to go into the street because they feel they may be attacked." While Springfield's immigrant community is living through the immediate dangers posed by the rhetoric from Trump, Vance and other far-right Republicans, history suggests the impact will extend beyond the city's limits and affect other Black immigrants and migrants, Gow told Salon. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. The "demonization" of Haitian's migration to South Florida, especially in the 1970s and 80s, led to the U.S. implementing harsher laws policing migrants fleeing their nation by sea, she explained. Working-class Haitians and Cubans were also the first to "systematically be detained" as part of that immigration policy. Those practices carried over into the current detention and deportation strategies used against Central American migrants in the last decade and employed under the Trump administration, including Remain in Mexico program and Title 42, "all of which made it difficult for all migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to gain access." "By focusing on migrants as the so-called problem, politicians can distract focus from the real problems people in the U.S. are facing such as access to affordable housing, consistent employment, and a fair cost of living," Gow added "Setting up migrants and Haitians as a well-trod 'scapegoat allows politicians to skirt around real issues and ultimately make communities of color (migrant or not) less safe." Trump and Vance's comments also must be understood as part of a longer history of the nation's attitude toward Haiti, she explained. "At the island nations founding, policy-makers and thinkers saw the nation and its people as 'dangerous,' 'rebellious' Blacks who (as evidenced by the U.S. occupation of the nation from 1915-1934 and later interventionist missions in the 20th century) are deemed necessary to occupy, civilize and control." In Springfield, Haitian migrants comprise about a quarter of the population, amounting to over 15,000 of the blue-collar city's nearly 60,000 residents. The overwhelming majority live in the city legally, with many having settled there in recent years after receiving Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to political turmoil, economic instability and environmental disasters in Haiti. Haitians who've now built lives in Springfield were attracted to the area because of its relatively low cost of living and the wealth of employment opportunities bolstered by the city chamber of commerce's work to create jobs. City leaders have said the immigrant community has since boosted its economy and development. As his community and city continue to grapple with the vitriol, Edouard said he wants the rest of the country to understand that when Haitians leave their country to settle in the U.S. and elsewhere, they do so in search of a "better life," of jobs and economic opportunities, and a safe place to build a future not to participate in "bad activities" or crimes. In Springfield, they've been able to build a community much like what they had in Haiti, he explained. That includes supporting each other, helping each other find work and bringing with them the richness of their culture, including the "culinary art" one that he felt he had to emphasize does not include eating cats or dogs while contributing to the fabric and the growth of the city they now call home. "We are people," Edouard said. When other Americans see Haitians like him, he would like them to see "hard workers," he added. "That's it." PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Vice President Kamala Harris has established a commanding lead over former President Donald Trump in Rhode Island in the two months since she became the Democratic nominee, according to a new survey released Wednesday. The University of New Hampshire Survey Center Ocean State Poll of 738 Rhode Island registered voters found Harris at 58% and Trump at 38%, with Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 2% and almost no voters undecided. Harriss 20-point lead over Trump is on par with President Joe Bidens edge in Rhode Island in a previous UNH poll conducted in May, though both he and Trump scored lower support as then-candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took 6% of the vote. Harriss current lead is in line with the final results in Rhode Island in 2020, when Biden defeated Trump 59% to 39%. The last Republican to win the state was Ronald Reagan in 1984. This isnt a surprise, 12 News political analyst Joe Fleming said of the poll results. Since she announced, she has generated great enthusiasm around the country and in the state of Rhode Island. A separate UNH survey of Massachusetts voters, also released Wednesday, showed Harris with an even bigger lead over Trump, putting her ahead 62% to 31%. The survey of 738 Rhode Island voters was conducted online and by text message from Sept. 12 to Sept. 16, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. Unsurprisingly based on the overall poll results, the UNH survey finds Harris is significantly more popular than Trump in Rhode Island, largely due to her strong ratings among self-identified Democrats. The poll shows 54% of Rhode Island voters have a favorable opinion of Harris, while 36% say the same about Trump. His unfavorable rating is 62%, while hers is 42%. Broken down by gender, Harris holds an enormous 50-point lead over Trump in Rhode Island among women with a college degree, as well as a smaller but sizable lead of 28 points among men with a college degree. Trump is ahead by 13 points among men without a college degree, but Harris leads him by 27 points among non-college women. Fleming said Trump generally polls better with non-college men across the country. But because the other groups in Rhode Island are so strongly for the vice president, hes trailing greatly, he said. Self-described moderate voters in Rhode Island are also breaking for Harris, with 62% of them supporting the Democratic nominee. But Trump holds a slight edge among unaffiliated voters, 48% to 45%. And while Harris leads among all age groups in Rhode Island, the race is much closer among voters ages 35 and up. There has also been a major swing in sentiment among Rhode Island voters over the outlook for the election. In July, just 28% of voters said they thought Biden would win a second term, but today 55% say they expect Harris to take the White House in November. JULYS POLL: Biden unpopular in RI but still leads Trump; stronger in Mass. There was significant interest in last Thursdays televised presidential debate in Rhode Island, which scored high ratings locally. Half of Rhode Island voters in the UNH poll said they watched the entire debate, with another 20% saying they watched most of it. Harris scored high marks among those who watched, while 47% rated Trumps performance as very poor. Trump supporters in Rhode Island were significantly more likely than Harris supporters to say they shy away from expressing public support for their candidate, though in both cases, a majority of voters say most people they know are supporting the same candidate they are. The top issues among Rhode Island voters surveyed were immigration (cited by 18% of voters), the economy (17%), abortion and womens rights (14%) and defending democracy (11%). Rhode Island voters top issues in the 2024 election as of September 2024. (credit: UNH Survey Center) UNH also asked Rhode Island voters their opinions about election integrity locally and at the national level. Rhode Islanders were split about voter fraud nationwide, with 49% calling it a very or somewhat serious problem and 50% saying the opposite. They were more optimistic about the situation in Rhode Island, with just 33% calling voter fraud a very or somewhat serious problem in the state and 60% saying the opposite. Republican voters in Rhode Island are far more likely to say voter fraud is a serious issue, while independents consider it serious nationally but not locally, and Democrats are generally unconcerned about the issue at either level. The poll shows 37% of voters think fraudulent mail ballots are used frequently in Rhode Island, the highest score for any example of fraud. Ted Nesi (tnesi@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesis Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Threads and Facebook. Your Local Election HQ Latest Headlines Race Results Voter Guide Where They Stand Your Local Election Headquarters Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. New poll indicates whether Harris or Trump has the edge in this key battleground state A new poll conducted entirely after last week's debate indicates Vice President Kamala Harris holding a three-point edge over former President Donald Trump in the crucial battleground state of Wisconsin. Harris stands at 48% support among likely voters in Wisconsin, with Trump at 45% in an AARP poll conducted Sept 11-14 and released on Wednesday. The vice president's three-point margin over the former president is within the poll's overall sampling error of plus or minus four points. Democrat-turned-Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - who last month suspended his campaign and backed Trump - stands at 2% support in the poll, with Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 1%. One percent said they would back a different candidate, with 2% undecided. A Wisconsin judge on Monday denied Kennedy's request to drop his name from the presidential ballot, ruling that state law requires candidates to remain on the ballot unless they die. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLS IN THE 2024 ELECTION Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump debate on Sept. 10, 2024 in Philadelphia. Contributing to Harris' overall edge is an 11-point advantage among independent voters, as well as an 11-point lead among women voters compared to a 7-point advantage for Trump among men. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The poll also indicated a large geographic divide, with Harris far ahead among urban and suburban voters, while Trump enjoyed a large lead among rural voters. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE SHOW The poll's release also points out that "the educational attainment gap is large, with Trump leading non-college voters by 10-points, but Harris up 24-points among college+ voters." When the third party and independent presidential candidates are removed from the questionnaire, the poll indicated Harris at 49% and Trump at 48% in a head-to-head match up, with 3% undecided. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, hold a campaign rally in Milwaukee on Aug. 20, 2024. The AARP survey is the fourth straight poll conducted this month in Wisconsin to indicate Harris with a slight edge. Wisconsin, along with Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada, had razor-thin margins that decided the outcome of the 2020 election between Trump and President Biden. Additionally, these seven states will likely determine whether Harris or Trump wins the 2024 presidential election. The Badger State, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, are the three Rust Belt states that make up the Democrats' so-called "Blue Wall." HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN ROCKED AGAIN, WITH 50 DAYS TO GO UNTIL ELECTION The party reliably won all three states for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly captured them in the 2016 election to win the White House. Four years later, in 2020, Biden carried all three states by razor-thin margins to put them back in the Democrats' column and defeated Trump. Both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have made repeated stops in the state this summer. Trump was most recently in the state a week and a half ago, with a rally in Mosinee. Harris returns to Wisconsin on Friday for a rally in Madison, the state capital. Former President Trump departs a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport on Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wisconsin. The running mates are also making plenty of stops in the state, with Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. JD Vance holding a campaign event in Eau Claire on Tuesday and his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, visiting Superior last weekend. Besides the White House battle, Wisconsin is also home to a crucial Senate race that is one of a handful that will likely decide whether Republicans can win back the chamber's majority. According to the poll, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin edges Republican challenger Eric Hovde 50% - 47% with 3% undecided. The new AARP survey in Wisconsin was conducted by the bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward (Republican) & Impact Research (Democrat). The firms interviewed 1,052 likely voters, which included a statewide representative sample of 600 likely voters. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. Original article source: New poll indicates whether Harris or Trump has the edge in this key battleground state U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (left) and his Republican challenger, Maine Rep. Austin Theriault. (Campaign photos) The first public poll of the race for Maines 2nd Congressional District shows a tight race between U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and his Republican challenger Austin Theriault. The Pan Atlantic Research 64th Omnibus Poll, released Wednesday, found 47% of 2nd District voters in favor of Theriault, compared with 44% in favor of Golden, with 9% undecided. The survey has a margin of error of 3.5%. Those undecided voters were more likely to be younger and to be registered independents or Democrats, the poll found. The race for Maines 2nd District is one of the closest watched congressional races in the country. At a campaign event this summer, Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the race is one of the top five in the nation. The Cook Political Report currently has it listed as a toss up. Support for both candidates varied when broken down by demographic. For example, female voters were more likely to back Golden and male voters were more likely to back Theriault. When considering education level, those with a four-year degree or higher were more likely to indicate support for Golden, whereas more people with less than a four-year degree indicated support for Theriault. These findings are based on a sample of 812 registered and likely voters in the November election surveyed between Sept. 5 and 15. The poll also found Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, leading over Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, affirming the findings of another poll of Maine voters released last month. Statewide, the Pan Atlantic Research poll has Harris leading Trump by nine percentage points, with 50% in favor of Harris and 41% in favor of Trump. However, when broken down by congressional district, presidential support varied. In the 1st Congressional District, the poll found Harris leading Trump by 28 percentage points. However in the 2nd District, Trump led Harris by 7 percentage points. This varied support could impact Maines electoral votes, as the state awards two based on the statewide vote but one vote for each of the two congressional districts. Trump won the 2nd District in both 2016 and 2020. Statewide, 6% of voters said they were still undecided on their presidential pick, and third party candidates Cornel West, Jill Stein and Chase Oliver each had 1% of voter support. Respondents who said that they were undecided or who would back a candidate aside from Harris or Trump were more likely to be younger and to be registered independents, the poll found. The poll also asked voters about their support for the referendum questions that will be on the state ballot in November and the majority of respondents said theyd vote yes on every question aside from one the question about the state flag. Question 5 asks: Do you favor making the former state flag, replaced as the official flag of the State in 1909 and commonly known as the Pine Tree Flag, the official flag of the State? Poll respondents were split, with 40% indicating that they intend to vote yes and 40% indicating that they intend to vote no. However, 20% of respondents indicated that they were still undecided. While the majority of respondents supported the remaining four referendum questions, the largest difference in support was shown for Question 1, which asks, Do you want to set a $5,000 limit for giving to political action committees that spend money independently to support or defeat candidates for office? Most respondents (69%) said they intend to vote yes on this question, whereas 15% said they intend to vote no, while 16% indicated they were undecided. Support for the question was also stronger among Democrats and independents, compared with Republicans. While on its face the referendum seeks to limit contributions in Maine to independent political action committees, otherwise known as super PACs, the ultimate goal of the organizers behind the effort is to put Maine law in conflict with federal precedent in order to get the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that PACs should be regulated, as previously reported by Maine Morning Star. Voters also support the three bond questions, which are related to technology innovations, restoring historic buildings and a statewide trail system, according to the poll. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE A surge of pollen in spring can affect the formation of clouds and rainfall, according to a new study. The authors say that, as the planet warms, pollen counts are expected to grow, potentially giving rise to more springtime rainfall. In clouds, water condenses onto bits of dust, sea salt, soot, and even tiny particles of plastic. That water will freeze into ice crystals that eventually fall to the earth, melting into raindrops as they waft toward the ground. Scientists have previously shown in the lab that water will also condense onto pollen, but until now, they had never established a link between pollen and rainfall in the real world. For the new study, scientists analyzed pollen counts from 50 sites across the U.S. over a decade, finding that a boom in springtime pollen led to an uptick in cloud ice, which was linked to more frequent rainfall. The study was published in Environmental Research Letters. In light of the findings, the researchers call for incorporating the effect of pollen into climate models. As the planet warms and springs grow longer, pollen counts are edging upwards. More airborne pollen could lead to to more frequent and intense rainfall in the decades to come, said lead author Jan Kretzschmar, of the University of Leipzig in Germany. He added, If we can correctly simulate the effect of pollen and how it interacts with the climate, we will be able to make more accurate predictions. ALSO ON YALE E360 Can Cloud Seeding Help Quench the Thirst of the U.S. West? August represented the Port of Long Beachs (POLB) most productive month in its 113-year history, with retailers rushing to bring in cargo ahead of newly solidified tariff increases and ongoing labor disputes at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. The SoCal gateway reported that dockworkers and terminal operators moved a whopping 913,873 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) last monthbesting last years August performance by 33.9 percent. The tremendous haul of TEUs outpaced the POLBs previous one-month record, set in May 2021, by 6,657 TEUs. More from Sourcing Journal According to the Ports data, imports ballooned by more than 40 percent from August 2023, hitting 456,868 TEUs in total, and exports also increased at a slower rate of 12 percent to 104,646 TEUs. Empty containers, too, saw a significant bump, with 352,360 TEUsan increase of more than one-third from the same period last yearmaking their way through the gateway. The four-week stretch marked the POLBs third consecutive monthly year-over-year increase, it reported. August was also the second time in the Ports history that it exceeded 900,000 TEUs in a single month. Cargo diversions and concerns about upcoming tariffs are creating a busy peak season for us, said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. Were prepared for the uptick in shipments and continued growth through the rest of the year with a dedicated waterfront workforce, modern infrastructure and plenty of capacity across our terminals. The docks are bustling with record-setting activity as we continue to move cargo quickly, reliably and sustainably, added Long Beach Harbor Commission president Bonnie Lowenthal. As the premier gateway for trans-Pacific trade, the Port of Long Beach is delivering on its promise of outstanding service and facilitating the most efficient movement of goods across the supply chain. During the first eight months of this year, TEU traffic has grown more than 21 percent from the same period in 2023, totaling 6,087,875 TEUs. The increased Port traffic in Augustand throughout the summerpoints to a pulling forward of the peak season based on back-to-school and holiday sales, which have been inching earlier and earlier. But the relative rush seen by the POLB this August was also precipitated by a confluence of logistical conundrums, from roiling Red Sea attacks that have forced ships to reroute around Africa and potential strikes at other national gateways. Whats more, the Biden Administration last week finalized a plan to levy hefty new tariffs on China-made goods like electric vehicles, batteries and ship-to-shore cranes used at American ports. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) pushed back the implementation, which was set for Aug. 1, amid an outpouring of concern from the American business community. The tariffs will now take effect on Sept. 27. The countrys gateways, tooamong them, the POLBrallied against the 25-percent tariff increase on ship-to-shore cranes. Used to load and unload containers at port terminals, detractors said that the added duties could cost the countrys essential gateways up to $130 million. Importers are also likely looking to stockpile product as rhetoric surrounding tariffs ramps up around the presidential election. Former president Donald Trump has said he would raise Section 301 punitive duties on Chinese products up to 60 percent if re-elected, and would implement a 10 percent to 20 percent universal tariff that would impact all U.S. trading partners. Vice President Kamala Harris is unlikely to levy new tariffs if elected, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs, but she has also not indicated any intention to roll back or remove Biden-led duties on goods hailing from China. Porter County Circuit Court Judge Mary DeBoer will be the next member of the Indiana Court of Appeals, as Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Wednesday that she will fill the spot left vacant by retiring Judge Patricia Riley. Judge DeBoer is a person of immense integrity, intellect, and energy. Im proud to appoint her to the Court of Appeals, Holcomb said in a statement. Judge DeBoers commitment to the law and justice will serve her fellow Hoosiers with distinction as she joins the second highest bench in Indiana. Currently, DeBoer handles a variety of civil and criminal cases, as well as overseeing the juvenile justice center, as a Porter County Circuit Court Judge. She heads three problem-solving courts: juvenile and family drug court, truancy court, and a mental health court for teens. Everybody is here for the same goal. We want whats best for these kids and their families, DeBoer told the Post-Tribune last year about the teen mental health court. She also leads the Alternative Dispute Resolution program and the local Domestic Violence Committee. Holcomb previously appointed DeBoer to fill the remainder of Judge Mary Harpers term when she retired in 2019. Before that, DeBoer was a Magistrate Judge in Porter Superior Court for eight years. She also served as a Deputy Prosecutor in Porter County and Starke County, a Chief Probation Officer and Magistrate Judge in Starke County, an Associate Attorney in private practice, and an adjunct Instructor at Brown Mackie College. DeBoer graduated from Valparaiso University Law School in 1993 and served as an intern at the Porter County Prosecutors Office as a law student. She received a bachelors degree with honors in criminal justice and political science at Western Michigan University in 1989. The application and vetting process for the Court of Appeals is extensive and has been a labor of love for me for the past year, DeBoer said in an emailed statement. DeBoer said she was selected as one of three finalists for the position by the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission in July. Then she was interviewed by three attorneys making up the Governors General Counsel staff before meeting with Holcomb for a final interview on Sept. 10. Serving as the Circuit Court Judge has been the most fulfilling career Ive had to date, DeBoer said. I am eternally grateful that the people of Porter County elected me to be their Circuit Court Judge. I feel like I have hit my stride both in the courtroom and in my community. I cant wait to work with my colleagues on the Court of Appeals and to discover the many ways I can contribute to the court as well as to the entire State of Indiana. I am deeply honored to have been selected by Governor Holcomb for this appellate judgeship. With Judge Rileys retirement, I have big shoes to fill. I will continue to infuse my energy and enthusiasm into all I do in Indianapolis and throughout the state. The date for DeBoers swearing-in and robing ceremony has not yet been announced. DeBoer will join two other judges with Northwest Indiana roots on the Court of Appeals Portage native Nancy Vaidik was a Porter Superior Court Judge and Munster resident Elizabeth Tavitas was a Lake County Superior Court Judge. In Holcombs announcement, he spotlighted DeBoers compassion toward others and her approachable personality as qualities that would serve her well on the Court of Appeals. As far as filling DeBoers vacancy, a county judicial nominating committee typically interviews candidates before making three recommendations to the governor. The final decision lies with Holcomb or whoever succeeds him as governor in January. Post-Tribune Senior Content Editor Amy Lavalley contributed. The northern and central regions of mainland Portugal remain engulfed in flames, with the Aveiro district seeing the largest deployment of firefighting personnel, despite a calmer outlook. The fires in Sever do Vouga (Pessegueiro do Vouga and Sever do Vouga) and Albergaria-a-Velha have begun to ease. As of Wednesday morning, more than 1,000 firefighters, supported by 320 vehicles, were actively involved in the response. Joao Oliveira, the municipal coordinator of Civil Protection in Albergaria-a-Velha, told the Lusa news agency that the fire is "practically contained" but more than 40 houses have been affected by the flames. Around 400 firefighters were working to combat the fire that broke out in the municipality of Oliveira de Azemeis, in the early hours of Wednesday. Some roads remain closed as authorities monitor the spread of the flames. Evacuations in Gondomar Homes in the Branzelo area of Melres, in the municipality of Gondomar, are being evacuated due to the fires raging in the Porto district, according to the officials. More than 170 firefighters with 39 vehicles are battling the blaze. Gondomar's mayor, Marco Martins, said efforts to contain the fires are challenging, as multiple active fronts continue to spread across the municipality. Morocco sends two aircraft and Spanish firefighters arrive in Portugal Around 230 Spanish firefighters from the Military Emergencies Unit (UME) arrived in Portugal on Wednesday to assist with the forest fires. Morocco will also help Portuguese forces by sending two Canadair aircraft, which are set to arrive on Wednesday. According to Lusa news agency, citing a source from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the request was made by Minister Margarida Blasco to her counterparts in Spain and Morocco, as part of the bilateral agreements between Portugal and these countries. The European Commission has already deployed eight firefighting planes following Portugals request to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. More than 50 municipalities across nine mainland districts are at maximum risk of fire due to the hot weather, according to the Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute (IPMA). Over 62,000 hectares burned in mainland Portugal Tabua Town Council has declared three days of municipal mourning for Sonia Claudia Melo, Paulo Jorge Santos, and Susana Cristina Carvalho, firefighters from the Vila Nova de Oliveirinha Corporation who lost their lives on Tuesday while combating a fire in the region. Wildfire advances near Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. - Bruno Fonseca/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved Since the weekend, fires in Portugal have claimed a total of seven lives, including four firefighters and three civilians. Over 40 people have been injured, with two suffering serious injuries, as the fires have devastated homes in the north and centre of the country. The European Copernicus system says that since Sunday, over 62,000 hectares have been scorched across mainland Portugal with the north and centre regions borne the brunt, with 47,376 hectares affected. In response to the ongoing crisis, the government has declared a state of emergency in all municipalities affected by the fires in recent days. A fire rages on the hills around Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Tuesday night, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca) LISBON, Portugal (AP) More than 100 wildfires stretched thousands of firefighters to the limit in northern Portugal on Wednesday, with seven deaths since the worst spate of fires in recent years spread out of control over the weekend. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro declared a state of calamity for the hardest-hit areas late Tuesday, invoking powers to mobilize more firefighters and civil servants. He also called on police investigators to redouble their efforts to find those who started the fires and pledged help for those who have lost their homes or have been evacuated. We are well aware that these difficult hours are not over yet, Montenegro told the nation in a televised address. We have to continue to give everything we have and ask for help from our partners and friends so that we can reinforce the protection of our people and property. The European Copernicus satellite service said that over 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) were scorched and a combined 13 kilometers (8 miles) of fire fronts were detected as of Tuesday night. It added that an area home to 210,000 people was exposed to the fire risk. The hot, dry conditions behind the outbreaks in Portugal coincided with flooding in central Europe. The European Union said Wednesday that the juxtaposed extreme weather phenomena are proof of a climate breakdown. Spains military sent 240 soldiers and vehicles from its emergency response battalions specialized in combating fires to its neighbor. Four water-dumping planes from France, two from Spain and two from Italy were deployed after answering an appeal to help their fellow EU member. Morocco likewise responded to a request by Portugal with two water-dumping planes that arrived Wednesday. The thick smoke produced by most of these fires is making it very difficult for air units to operate," said Civil Protection official Andre Fernandes. We are still at high risk for forest fires over the next 48 hours. Thick grey smoke and the smell of burnt wood reached some 85 kilometers (50 miles) across the border into northwest Spain. Montenegro made a special call for security forces to pursue both arsonists and any individuals who started a fire out of negligence. Portuguese national police said they arrested seven men suspected of starting wildfires in recent days. Authorities have prohibited the use of heavy farming equipment to reduce the risk of inadvertently starting a blaze. Among the hardest-hit areas is the district of Aveiro, south of the northern city of Porto, but several major blazes were also raging out of control in other wooded areas. Authorities have yet to release figures for property damage or the number of evacuees, but Portuguese state broadcaster RTP has shown charred houses in rural villages and local residents trying to battle flames with buckets of water, hoses, and even large tree branches. Other televised images showed visibility reduced to a few meters (yards) as orange smoke enveloped the terrain. Three firefighters died Tuesday in their vehicle, while another succumbed to what authorities called a sudden illness while on duty over the weekend. Three civilians have also perished, according to civil protection authorities. Health services attended to 10 seriously wounded people and another 49 people with minor injuries, Fernandes said. Portugal was devasted by massive fires in 2017 that killed over 120 people. Experts link the fires to both climate change and the abandonment of traditional farming and forestry professions that helped keep rural areas clear of underbrush that is now fuel for fires. ___ Joseph Wilson wrote from Barcelona, Spain. Teresa Medrano contributed from Pontevedra, Spain. Post Office chief executive Nick Read will step down from the role in March next year, the company has said. Mr Read temporarily stepped back from the role in July ahead of the next stage of the Horizon scandal inquiry. He said: It has been a great privilege to work with colleagues and postmasters during the past five years in what has been an extraordinarily challenging time for the business and for postmasters. There remains much to be done for this great UK institution but the journey to reset the relationship with postmasters is well under way and our work to support justice and redress for postmasters will continue. More follows. 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. Workers at the Alaska Division of Elections' State Review Board consider ballots on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, at the division's headquarters in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Workers at the Alaska Division of Elections' State Review Board consider ballots on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, at the division's headquarters in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Officials with the U.S. Postal Service intercepted a threatening envelope sent to the Alaska Division of Elections on Tuesday, one of a number of similar packages sent to elections officials in other states, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced. Dahlstrom, who oversees elections work in the state, said in a written statement that the Postal Service notified the division that it had been targeted and that postal inspectors had seized a suspicious envelope and its contents for further investigation. Further details about the Alaska-bound envelope were not immediately available. Similar suspicious envelopes have been reported by elections officials in several states. In Nebraska, officials described a large yellow envelope containing white powder and whose sender was identified as the United States Traitor Elimination Army. That description was confirmed by Iowa officials, who briefly evacuated a public building after receiving a similar envelope. In Kansas, a suspicious envelope and a suspicious package prompted evacuations on Monday. No illnesses or other physical harm has been reported in connection with any of the packages. In Oklahoma, officials said a white substance contained within a threatening envelope turned out to be flour. No evacuations have taken place in Alaska. Our democracy is founded on the principle that every voice matters and every vote counts. Acts of intimidation, harassment, or violence undermine these core values and erode the trust in our electoral process, Dahlstrom said in a statement. We are committed to protecting our election workers and ensuring a safe and secure environment for them to carry out their duties. I urge everyone to respect the election process and those who make it possible. Threatening behavior, in any form, will be addressed swiftly and with the full force of the law. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The National Hurricane Center is monitoring an area of a potential tropical development in the Caribbean Sea that could potentially develop this weekend. It's not yet an area of low pressure or a tropical wave at this point, according to FOX 35 Storm Team Meteorologist Noah Bergren. But, a wave or disturbance could develop this weekend. Chances of development over the next seven days are low 20%. Here is the NHC's official guidance: An area of low pressure could form this weekend over the western Caribbean Sea. Thereafter, some slow development of this system is possible through early next week while the system moves slowly to the north or northwest over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Meteorologist Noah Bergren said water surface temperatures remain at record highs in the Caribbean sea, along with projected low wind shear two elements that could allow for some tropical development. If it does, it could allow for a tropical system to develop very quickly, especially if it were to develop before reaching the Cuba area. While it's too early to know if something will ultimately develop, FOX 35's Storm Team said Florida and the Gulf of Mexico should monitor this potential disturbance. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) After receiving nearly $2.9 million in grant money from the state of Illinois, the Peoria Police Departments co-response unit is looking to hire more employees. Currently, the unit is housed in the Peoria Township Building and only has one director and one social worker. The unit assists police officers on calls that may require the handling of mental or behavioral health issues. Nearly $2.9 million approved for Peoria polices co-response unit Derrick Booth is the Executive Director of community services for Carle Healths Trillium Place, a partner of the program. He talked about the services the unit provides. It could be anything from therapeutic services, whether its related to mental health concerns, substance use concerns. It could be with meeting their basic needs such as housing, food, some of those basic needs that individuals have that maybe are experienced in an immediate crisis, he said. Shamim Jaleel is the director of the unit, and she hopes to hire seven more social workers. A data analyst and administrative assistant are also on the list of positions to fill, but she said that there are already two candidates for the openings. Jaleel said the co-response model works in de-escalating situations. Social workers are trained how to assess in those situations, provide assessments, provide de-escalation techniques, help the person calm down, help the person focus so that they can perform at their best in a traumatic scene, she said. As for Eric Echevarria, Peorias Chief of Police, he said the unit is a step in the right direction for the department, as officers arent as well-trained to handle people with mental or behavioral health issues. One thing that we do need is that specialization in mental and behavioral health. Otherwise, were going to continue the same thing in policing. And were going to continue seeing us dealing with the same people all the time and its just a circle, and we want to interrupt that, 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. CAMDEN, Ohio (WDTN) The Ohio State Fire Marshal is investigating a string of camper fires that recently occurred in Preble County. The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal has ruled a series of camper fires as intentionally set. Investigators are now seeking information from the public to help identify those responsible. Exercise caution: Alligator reportedly spotted at Beavercreek park On Friday, Sept. 13 around 5 p.m., the Camden Fire Department was called to the Deer Run Property Owners Association Campground located on Free Short Pike in reference to a camper fire. Upon arrival, firefighters found a camper on fire at Buck-Rub Cove. Nearby, another camper had materials under it that had been set on fire, causing damage to that camper as well. Around 9 p.m. that same evening, the Camden Fire Department was again sent out to the same campground for another two camper fires on Antler Cove. A dog chained to one of the campers was seriously injured and taken to MedVet in Dayton to be treated. (Photo/SFM) (Photo/SFM) The State Fire Marshals Fire and Explosion Investigations Bureau is working with the Camden Fire Department and the Preble County Sheriffs Office to investigate the four camper fires. Anyone with information is urged to contact the State Fire Marshals tip line at 800-589-2728. Callers can remain anonymous, and all tips will be thoroughly investigated. Those with information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible could receive a reward of up to $5,000. 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 WDTN.com. (NewsNation) Leticia Alvarez didnt realize she was pregnant when she left Venezuela, determined like millions of other asylum-seekers to trade the political persecution and hardships for new opportunities elsewhere. Alvarez learned she was 13 weeks pregnant in Panama after she developed intense belly pain early in her familys trek to the Mexico-U.S. border. The news pushed the 25-year-old into a population of migrant women who navigate the already stressful process of giving birth while also seeking asylum in a new country. Abbott announces Texas crackdown on Venezuelan gang In 2021, President Joe Biden reversed a Trump-era policy that allowed pregnant women or nursing mothers to be detained by border officials. Despite the change, the American Civil Liberties Union submitted a petition with more than 900 signatures that called for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to change its policy to minimize harm to women who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing, saying that mothers-to-be continue to be mistreated. Yet for Alvarez, pregnancy and migrant-related challenges pale to what she would have faced had she remained home. If I would have been pregnant in my country, I would be dead with my baby, Alvarez told NewsNation in Spanish. Searching for a new life across the border Alvarez and her family needed 15 days to reach the U.S., traveling mainly by bus thanks to money she and her husband, Lisandro Escola, saved. But the couple, along with Alvarezs sister, niece and nieces father, also walked for two days, including through the treacherous jungles of the Darien Gap, a 60-mile stretch of rainforest that sits on the border of Colombia and Panama and connects Central and South America. The area is known to be dangerous, considering its tough terrain and steep mountains, but it has become a main thoroughfare for migrants making the journey to the southern border. It was exhausting because you fight to get out of the jungle, and (it was) traumatic because you see infinite amounts of things that are not told but are carried in the mind, said Alvarez, who fell several times in the jungle. Once you start the trip, you dont stop walking. Anxiety filled Alvarez once she learned she was expecting, including fears she could lose her baby. Leticia Alvarez gave birth to her first child, Sophie, at Cook County Hospital in Chicago after making the journey from Venezuela. (Photo courtesy of Leticia Alvarez) She and Escola were separated from her relatives, who remained in Mexico City after they ran out of money. Alvarez and Escola crossed near McAllen, Texas, and surrendered to border officials. Alvarez was immediately released but said Escola was held at the Joe Corley Detention Center for seven months. She says she doesnt know why. In late January, the Venezuelan government announced that it would halt repatriation flights from the U.S. as of Feb. 13 in response to the economic sanctions that the United States reimposed on Venezuela after previously lifting them in 2023, according to information provided by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico. With her husband in federal custody, Alvarez flew to Chicago and then traveled by car to Indianapolis, where she worked a construction job. She says she worked from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, cleaning and helping lay ceramic tiles and flooring in a newly constructed building along with other duties. She saw a doctor only once in three months, fearing the cost. Alvarez saw her first Chicago doctor in early January. Two months later, she gave birth to a baby girl, Sophia, who entered the world at 8 pounds, 9 ounces. Leticia Alvarez and her husband Lisandro Escola have been married since 2021 but were separated nearly all of Alvarezs pregnancy (Photo courtesy of Leticia Alvarez) Two weeks after that, Escola was freed from detention, but by then, Alvarez was carrying the emotional toll. Going through the pregnancy alone is very hard and very sad, Alvarez told NewsNation. All you want is to be accompanied at that moment, and I was alone. The costs of migrant pregnancy Over the past two years, the health system for Illinois largest county has treated more than 35,000 patients, including 670 pregnant women. The health system connects women to prenatal care and since 2022 has spent more than $30 million on migrant medical care, a spokeswoman for Cook County Health told NewsNation. Like Chicago-area locals facing economic hardship, migrants are eligible for financial assistance. Of those who apply, 99.5% receive a 100% discount, with the health systems operating budget absorbing the costs, the spokeswoman said. A migrant woman carrying a baby and DHS-issued release papers is led to the Humanitarian Respite Center in downtown McAllen, Texas, on July 20, 2021, by a volunteer. All migrants must show proof they are COVID-free before entering the migrant shelter. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report Photo) In New York, which has processed more than 225,000 migrants, NYC Health + Hospitals assisted 300 babies born to asylum-seekers in 2023 while also contributing 2.1 million baby wipes, 400,000 diapers and 100,000 bottles of baby food and formula, National Public Radio reported last year. Border arrests rose slightly in August; Encounters at ports of entry hold steady In Denver, city officials have budgeted $90 million for migrants this year when some new arrivals who have given birth since arriving in the Mile High City find difficulty adjusting. According to a city spokesman, Denver has spent $75 million on providing services for migrants and asylym seekers since December 2022. Denver Health, the citys safety net hospital, lost about $2 million in 2023, according to The Denver Post, which reported that the facility provided about $136 million in care it didnt receive compensation for. In the past year, the hospital provided medical care for 8,000 migrants from Central America, which made 20,000 visits to the hospital for care, including childbirth, the report said. The hospitals CEO told the newspaper that the facility isnt reimbursed by the state or federal government to cover the cost of migrant health care, which runs into the millions. Hospital officials did not immediately return an email from NewsNation seeking details on migrant childbirth costs absorbed by the health system. Ivanni Herrera was eight months pregnant when her familys shelter assignment in Denver ended. She was told she could seek care at a local hospital, where the costs of her appointments and the babys delivery would be covered by Medicaid, according to The Associated Press. She declined the help. How could I sleep in a warm place when my son is cold on the street? she told the AP. Denver city officials have committed to keeping families off the streets and, in turn, have helped thousands of migrants gain work authorization. As she waits, Herrera has no means of regular income. She told the AP she owes $18,000 in medical bills because she forgot to sign up for Medicaid. Im afraid theyre going to deport me, she said. What Chicago migrant care looks like Doctors working within Illinois Cook County Health System say they strive to provide the same care to migrants and asylum-seekers as anyone else. The biggest challenge, however, is higher levels of fractured care experienced by migrants because of the countries from where they came from and the amount of time that may have passed since their last appointment. A pregnancy really cant wait for you to be in the best possible place to get your care, Dr. Mary Arlandson, an attending physician and OBGYN at Chicagos Stroger Hospital, told NewsNation. Mexican drug cartels are operating in Southern Colorado, DEA says Doctors are not able to make up for lost time. But they can assess what care a woman needs at the time and help them navigate a pregnancy that is stressful even without challenges like learning a new city, a lack of work and finding transportation to appointments. The type of person who would take that journey is probably categorically different than the person who decides theyre not up for that, Arlandson said. Since Sophias birth, Alvarez has struggled at times with postpartum depression. The family resides in a rented room as they await permanent living conditions. While Alvarez remains home with the couples daughter, Escola said that her husband works construction from time to time and handles all of the young familys expenses. Alvarez says Sophia is adjusting as her parents wait for necessities like work authorizations and immigration court appearances. She says that ever since she learned she was pregnant, she has only thought about the opportunities that await her daughter if she and her husband can do their part. For now, things are as good as they can be. The baby is fine, thank God, 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 NewsNation. Pregnant Mother and Her Husband Drown While Snorkeling in Maui The couple's 18-month-old son was staying with his aunt and uncle at the time Shutterstock Ahihi-Kinua Nature Reserve in Muai, HI, USA A husband and wife, who was pregnant with their second child, drowned while vacationing in Maui over the weekend. The incident happened on Saturday, Sept. 14 at approximately 12:02 p.m., Maui County Fire Department confirmed in a statement on Monday, Sept. 16. Maui firefighters and ocean safety personnel responded to the report of swimmers/snorkelers in distress in the area along the north side of Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve, the fire department said. Related: N.Y. Newlyweds Drown on Island Honeymoon 4 Days After Wedding: 'It Does Not Feel Real' An official aboard a jet ski first located an unresponsive 26-year-old female who was pulled from the water and brought back to shore to receive CPR. While arriving firefighters focused their efforts on the woman, the jet ski returned to the water to search for the 25-year-old male the 26-year-old was reportedly with. According to the Maui County Fire Department, he was found on the bottom 100-150 yards from shore. Resuscitation efforts proved to be unsuccessful, and both parties were pronounced deceased at the scene by EMS," the fire department continued. PEOPLE reached out to the Maui County Fire Department for comment but did not immediately receive a response. A GoFundMe account organized by Andrey Tupikov identified the deceased as Ilya and Sophia Tsaruk. Yesterday, we lost a dear sister and brother, daughter and son, and beautiful niece, but we know that heaven received and gained the three of them with open arms, the Sept. 15 post began. 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. On September 14th, 2024, Ilya and Sophia Tsaruk tragically passed away together while on vacation in Maui. They were retrieved from the ocean by lifeguards who were unable to revive them after much effort, Tupikov wrote. The GoFundMe noted that the Tsaruks were expecting another child at the time of their deaths. Sophia was pregnant with a baby girl, and they leave behind their 18-month-old baby, Logan, who was staying with his aunt and uncle at the time, Tupikov continued. Related: Parents Drown After Getting Caught in Rip Current While Vacationing in Florida with Their 6 Kids Ilya and Sophia are remembered as people who loved the Lord and were always serving in the church and serving people around them. The husband and wife were also members of their church choir. As of Tuesday, Sept. 17, the GoFundMe had already surpassed its goal of $100,000, which will be used to transport their bodies from Maui and prepare for funeral services. The funerals are scheduled for Sept. 25. We are blessed to have had both of them in our lives and are left now with the sweet memories and moments that we shared together with them," the GoFundMe page reads. "Their serving spirit and warm company will never be forgotten, and may God help us all to love and serve one another as Ilya and Sophia served." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. President Joe Biden expressed concern about violence from the far right in an interview with the Washington Blade. What I do worry about is I do worry about violence, Biden said. I do worry about intimidation. I do worry about what the MAGA right will continue to try to do, but Im going to stay involved. The Republican Party has changed because of Donald Trump, he noted. Trump is a different breed of cat, the president said. I mean, I dont want to make this political, but everything hes done has been anti, anti-LGBTQ, I mean, across the board. I think there are a lot of really good Republicans that Ive served with, especially in the Senate, who dont have a prejudiced bone in their body about [LGBTQ+ people] but are intimidated, he said. He highlighted the need to pass the Equality Act, which would outlaw anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination nationwide, and the dangers posed by Project 2025, the blueprint for the next conservative presidency. Project 2025 is just full of nothing but disdain for the LGBTQ community, he said. And you have [Supreme Court Justice] Clarence Thomas talking about, when the decision was made [to overturn] Roe v. Wade, that maybe we should consider changing the right of gays to marry I mean, things that are just off the wall just pure, simple, prejudice. Biden has signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law; the legislation will protect marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples against future Supreme Court action. The president praised the bravery of the LGBTQ+ community. I was really impressed when I went to Stonewall, he said. And I was really impressed talking to the guys who stood up at the time. I think the thing that gets underestimated is the physical and moral courage of the community, the people who broke through, who said enough, enough, and they risked their lives. Some lost their lives along the way. Most of the openly gay people that have worked with me, that Ive worked with, the one advantage they have is they tend to have more courage than most people have, he added. He also said the nomination of transgender woman Sarah McBride to represent his home state, Delaware, in the U.S. House of Representatives indicates that were on the right track. She would be the first out trans member of Congress. Biden has known her for years, as she worked with his late son, Beau, who was attorney general of Delaware, and he congratulated her on her recent win in the Democratic primary. Other LGBTQ+ publications that have interviewed sitting presidents include The Advocate and our sister publication Out. The Advocate interviewed President Barack Obama in 2010, the first one-on-one, in-person interview with a sitting president by an LGBTQ+ publication, and Out interviewed him in connection with his designation as Ally of the Year in 2015. The Advocate also interviewed President Bill Clinton by facsimile in 1996 and interviewed Biden by phone when he was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020. Preventive care is free by law, but many Americans get incorrectly billed especially if youre poor, a person of color or dont have a college degree Even though preventive care is supposed to be free by law for millions of Americans thanks to the Affordable Care Act, many dont receive recommended preventive services, especially racial and ethnic minorities and other at-risk patient groups. The Affordable Care Act exempted preventive services from patient cost-sharing for large chunks of the population. This means that if you receive preventive screening and have private insurance, including through the ACA Marketplace, there should be no copay at time of service, and you shouldnt get a bill later on. Easy enough, right? Wrong. Our team of health economists has shown that patients spend millions of dollars every year on unexpected bills for preventive care. The main reason for this is that no specific regulations were put in place to determine exactly which services should be exempted, or for whom, or how often. This omission has left many people on the hook to pay for valuable health care they thought would be free. Now, in our recently published research in the journal JAMA Network Open, weve found that the burden of paying for what should be free preventive care disproportionately falls on some patient groups. Which health care services should be exempted from cost-sharing often isnt clear. Tetra Images/Getty Images Inequitable claim denials Looking at data from over 1.5 million patients, our study demonstrates that insurers deny preventive claims for patients from marginalized communities at higher rates than for those from majority groups. For example, low-income patients were 43% more likely than high-income patients to have their claims denied. In addition, Asian, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black patients were each roughly twice as likely as non-Hispanic white patients to have claims denied. Not only were these patients denied routine benefits, but they also saw large differences in rates of billing errors. For example, patients with a high school diploma or less experienced denials due to this kind of billing error almost twice as often than patients with college degrees. All of these services should have been covered by an insurer. Research on preventive care access is commonly based only on claims data, which doesnt typically have information on patient demographics. This limits a studys ability to detect differences across patient groups. Our study, however, uses a combination of linked claims data, remittance data containing information on why claims were denied and whether they were resubmitted, and demographic data from self-reports, purchase transactions and voter registries. Together, this richer dataset allowed us to examine differences in denials based on race and ethnicity, education and income, including reasons why patients were denied care. Preventive care is essential Equitable access to preventive health care is about more than just physicals, although those are important, too. Preventive health care includes key screenings for cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, access to contraceptives, and mental health checkups, among other services. Ensuring that insurers provide equal coverage for these services for all patients is important to improve health outcomes and quality of life for everyone while reducing future health care costs. Our results paint a picture of the kinds of hurdles patients face when they seek health screenings. Patients from underrepresented groups were not only more likely to be told their care wouldnt be covered. They were also more likely to have their claims processed incorrectly, leading to more frequent denials and, ultimately, larger medical bills. Unexpected bills can affect both a patients current health and their future use of health care services. These hurdles can exacerbate an already tenuous trust in a fragmented health care system, making patients less likely to return for follow-up screenings. Stacked coverage denials for patients who live with multiple marginalized identities or who are less able to advocate for themselves can further entrench racial and socioeconomic inequities. Ensuring equitable access Our study paints a compelling picture of where different patients may face hurdles for getting preventive care, but more research is necessary to identify how to ensure equitable access. As our study looked only at preventive services, we will also need to see how our findings generalize to other forms of health care. More research is also needed to understand how other vulnerable patient groups, such as LGBTQ+ patients or patients with multiple chronic conditions, fare when trying to access care. Our team is currently studying how actual bills for care differ across patient groups and how patients respond when bills arrive. In our study, more than two-thirds of denied claims were never resubmitted to insurers, meaning that many billing errors go uncorrected at patients expense. Equitable policy on multiple fronts can help rectify the way preventive care is inconsistently and inequitably provided. These include uniform coverage of preventive care by insurers, standardized billing practices for physicians and improved means for patients to advocate for themselves. This can help ensure that everyone has appropriate access to lifesaving health care. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Alex Hoagland, University of Toronto and Michal Horny, UMass Amherst Read more: Alex Hoagland receives funding from the Commonwealth Fund and the National Institute on Aging. Michal Horny received funding from the Commonwealth Fund, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. He also received speaker honorariums and travel support from Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic. PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) Prince William County police said it has charged a man, who was arrested in Florida, for allegedly murdering his acquaintance over 10 years ago. The Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) said back on March 24, 2010, officers went to a home located in the 14000 block of Arden Road in Nokesville to investigate a missing persons report. Cold case murder closed in Montgomery County; man arrested in DC There, officers learned that the family had not heard from the victim, Shane Donahue, 23, after he left his parents home on March 22, 2010. Over the course of the 14-year-long investigation, police looked into every lead they developed before the case turned cold. Then in Spring of this year, detectives reopened the investigation and reexamined the entire case from scratch because of advances in technology and newer police practices. PWCPD said Donahue was last seen leaving his parents home with his acquaintance, Timothy Hickerson. The pair were heading back to Donahues home, located in the 12000 block of Arden Road. Donahue was never seen or heard from again. His remains were never found but he is presumed dead. While police were investigating, they found out that Hickerson was involved in a burglary that happened at Donahues home just days before he disappeared, PWCPD said. DNA links man to cold case sex crimes in Fairfax County Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hickerson and deputies from the Flagler County Sheriffs Office arrested him in Palm Coast, Fla. He was awaited extradition to Virginia. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FILE - In this image provided by the North Fork Correctional Center in Sayre, Okla., on Tuesday, June 9, 2021, an inmate Byron Robinson works on a tablet, which are being provided for free to Oklahoma inmates as part of a new program by the Department of Corrections. (Lance West/Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) A top supplier of digital devices in U.S. prisons is launching a new program to help incarcerated individuals earn a high school diploma by using the companys tablets. Advocates say the expansion in virtual education is promising, especially since many inmates lack basic literacy skills. But some advocates have said there are limits to what that prison technology can accomplish. The company ViaPath, which sells secure devices and telecommunications services for use in the criminal justice system, has announced that inmates across the country will soon be able to enroll in virtual classes through a partnership with Promising People, an education technology company, and American High School, a private online school based in South Florida that will grant the diplomas. The asynchronous classes will be available for free on ViaPaths tablets, 700,000 of which the company says are already in use in nearly 2,000 prisons and jails. If you get a high school diploma, you get a secondary education along with some trades and skills. The likelihood of you recidivating back into our prisons are very small, said Tony Lowden, Chief Social Impact Officer for ViaPath. We believe theres an opportunity to help men and women come home differently. A meta-analysis by the RAND Corporation found that education significantly reduces recidivism, suggesting that every $1 invested in education in prisons could save $4-5 on reincarceration costs. Lowden said the high school diploma program will offer a more comprehensive education than existing GED courses and provide inmates with greater earning potential once theyre released. The company said it will also offer career and technical education through virtual reality headsets. ViaPath maintains that its tablets are free for inmates to use and that it wont charge for the educational programming. Still, prison telecoms is a lucrative industry, with state and local governments signing multimillion dollar contracts for phone services, tablets and apps that inmates can use to call loved ones, stream music or read e-books for a fee. Charges for those services can rack up quickly for incarcerated individuals who make just 25 cents an hour, if that, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. After being incarcerated for 11 years in Florida, Ryan Moser knows the conveniences of prison tablets and the shortcomings. Theres a lot of advantages to the tablet. You can study whenever you want, said Moser, whos now a freelance journalist and communications consultant. But using a tablet behind bars isnt like scrolling on an iPad at home, Moser said. The devices are generally charged or updated at a central kiosk inside the prison, and access can be inconsistent and unpredictable and is ultimately up to correctional officers. I remember it taking four days to get my tablet charged, Moser said. If you were a discipline problem or if you were someone that gave them an attitude, they might keep (your tablet) for a week, two weeks. Keri Watson heads the Florida Prison Education Project at the University of Central Florida, which offers college-level courses inside prisons. She has questions about the delivery of virtual instruction behind bars but said shes heartened by efforts to improve access. The more programs in as many modalities as possible, the better, Watson said. Digital infrastructure has helped prisons continue offering programming at times when volunteers cant get inside, such as through the COVID-19 pandemic or during a security lockdown. During the pandemic, Watson said her staff had to shift their in-person classes to virtual instruction through tablets provided by a different company. She said it was a difficult transition. The technology was not there, she said. So until it can be more like the technology that can be offered to non-incarcerated students, Im not sure its feasible. The devices' functions are limited by design for security purposes. Lowden, the ViaPath official, told The Associated Press that the company's tablets will not carry notetaking apps due to security risks like inmates communicating covertly. Still, advocates say inmates desperately need more access to education to prepare them for their release. According to the most recent annual report for Floridas state prison system, 1,339 inmates earned a GED in 2022, less than 2% of the states incarcerated population of more than 80,000 people. While participation in educational programming remains optional, overall inmate participation in these programs continues to rise, the Florida Department of Corrections said in a statement to the AP. The Department has focused its resources on programming that addresses functional literacy and vocational training. In his years as a GED tutor at a state prison near the Florida Everglades, Moser saw the impact that a basic education could have on his fellow inmates. I remember seeing the looks on guys faces, Moser said. Getting into education and accomplishing something there was one of the proudest moments for some of these guys in their life. Moser said the virtual high school diploma program could help meet the basic educational needs of inmates and let them sidestep waiting lists for in-person classes. But just like on the outside, he said theres no substitute for incarcerated students being able to sit in a real classroom and learn from a qualified teacher. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) Officials with Mississippi Blood Services (MBS) announced a new program will enhance emergency care across rural areas of the state. According to MBS, the RESCUE Program will partner with LifeCare Ambulance Services beginning September 18. Superbugs could kill 40 million people by 2050, study estimates The Rural Emergency Services Care, blood Utilization and Survival (RESCUE) Program is a collaborative program between MBS, local emergency responders, and the greater community to bring lifesaving prehospital blood to the communities that have limited access to traumatic care and have a high incidence of traumatic injury. Rural medicine has changed greatly in the past twenty years, and we are hoping to be one of the first rural counties in the southeast to provide lifesaving blood products on ambulances for critically injured patients before arrival to the hospital, said Dr. Daman Darsey, Chief Executive Officer of Paladin Emergency Services Consulting. The evidence is clear in other communities outside of the state of Mississippi, that prehospital transfusions for trauma victims improves the chances of patient survival in many cases and should be an option available to our community. Units of blood will be available on LifeCare Ambulance Service vehicles in the Sharkey County, Scott County, Winston County, Leake County, Kemper County and Noxubee County areas. 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. As Genghis Khan lay dying in August 1227, he commanded his heir, Ogedei, to continue the mission of conquest. During his 21-year reign, Genghis had forged the largest and most brutal empire that the world had ever seen, thanks to the military superiority of the Mongol horse archer, which Jack Weatherford describes as a mobile war machine unmatched in history until the invention of the modern tank. The khaganates territories stretched from the Pacific to the Caspian Sea; yet the most coveted prize of all, the agricultural and commercial territories of the Song dynasty in southern China, remained beyond his grasp. In Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China, Weatherford continues in his own decades-long quest to rescue the Mongols from their reputation as uncivilised marauders, giving us a history of grand scope that primarily covers the transition from the Mongol Empire into the Chinese Yuan Dynasty, presided over by Genghiss grandson Kublai Khan. Its boldly revisionist from the outset, pointing to achievements such as complex relay stations known as ortoo or yam arranged roughly every 30 miles across the khaganate. Through this, Genghis could communicate across the full breadth of his immense territory; yet it was fundamentally a land-based network. Giovanni Di Plano Carpini, a papal emissary to the Great Khans court, described one warrior nervously trying to stay upright as he was towed across the river, riding on a floating saddlebag tied to the horses tail. For all their prowess in combat, the marauding Mongols couldnt swim. The real civilising force would arrive in the form of Kublai and theres a great deal of drama in the story of his unlikely rise. His brother, the Great Khan Mongke, sent him to subjugate the Dali Kingdom in southern China, but Kublai was more interested in commerce and bureaucracy, hardly a natural leader for a warrior-people. When it came time to campaign against the Song Emperor, he excused himself, complaining of gout. Kublai only took power in 1260 after Mongkes death, and was immediately challenged by his brother Ariq Boke. He managed to win the ensuing civil war, but by then the empire had dissolved into warring khaganates, and Kublai was left to expand his northern Chinese territory, crowning himself the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty. Kublai Khan, who ruled the Mongol Empire until 1294 - Getty Among the many astonishing things that Weatherford captures in these early chapters is the prominence of noble women in Mongol society. Ogedeis wife Toregene served as regent for five years after her husbands death, while it was Kublais mother, the Christian princess Sorkhokhtani, who elevated Kublai to leadership over much of China, and helped to integrate Chinese and Mongol customs so that he might more effectively rule. Even for medieval history buffs, this is a dizzying and unfamiliar culture, but Weatherfords prose works hard to bring to life the smells and tastes of distant lands. The Khaganate had been administered from the yurt, the odour of wool lanolin, mutton fat, sour milk hanging alongside the sweet, pure smell of fires fuelled only by the dung of cows and animals. Kublai established his imperial capital in a city that his grandfather had razed 500 years earlier, and the palace he built was fundamentally Chinese in its style, a grand pagoda with new scents of oiled wood, incense and wood fire, or sometimes the choking fumes of coal. He named the rebuilt city Khanbaliq though we now know it as Beijing. Emperor of the Seas is published by Bloomsbury Turning his eyes south, Kublai saw naval power as his way of defeating the great water-wall of rivers protecting the Song Emperor in southern China. This led to the first of his attempts to invade Japan, which were ill-fated but succeeded in disrupting the southward flow of sulphur, vital for making gunpowder. The first half of Emperor of the Seas tackles Kublais battle with the Song, culminating in the naval Battle of Yamen. The second covers foiled efforts to take Japan, Vietnam and Java, and the expansion of maritime commerce across the rivers and oceans of Asia. Its a history of conquest, but Weatherfords real interest is in the many innovations of Kublais reign. The Great Khan saw in the popularisation of paper money, built a powerful court of intellectuals and bureaucrats, and preferred to exercise persuasion and the tactical use of compassion rather than military might. The weakest chapters arrive at the end, which whizzes across 400 years to take us to the arrival of the first American trade ship in 1789; this is slightly too much material in an already ram-packed narrative, but it helps to consolidate the case that Kublais legacy is still being felt today. Kublai had an estimated 17,000 ships built over the course of his reign. They moved spices, porcelain, textiles anything that could be imagined. Kublai made a united China the undisputed great power of the 13th century, and set the blueprint for the maritime empires that followed. Was this a pacification of his fathers highest ambitions? Not so, argues Weatherford. Kublai was not interested in conquering the oceans. He wanted to conquer the world, and the sea happened to be in his way. Emperor of the Seas is published by Bloomsbury at 25. To order your copy for 19.99, call 0808 196 6794 or visit Telegraph Books Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. (This story was updated to add new information.) Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy decided not to charge the man accused of fatally shooting two other men at Eastern Market on Sunday, saying he acted in self-defense. Jalen Welch, 25, and Rayshawn Bryant, 40, both of Detroit, were killed after police said an argument ended with gunfire during a Detroit Lions tailgate in the market's open-air shed known as Shed 6. Worthy explained her decision on Wednesday, saying evidence indicated Welch walked into the argument holding a pistol in a threatening manner and approached the shooter. The shooter then pulled out his weapon and shot Welch in the front of his head, according to Worthy. The bullet exited his head and that same bullet hit Bryant, an innocent bystander who was attempting to act as a peacemaker, Worthy said in a statement. Bryant's family members also told the Free Press that Bryant was trying to break up a fight between two men when he was shot. Bryant also goes by the last name of Palmer, the surname of his adopted family, according to his sister MingCorya Little. Both Welch and the shooter are licensed to carry, Worthy said. Worthy did not identify the shooter because that person has not been charged with a crime, In Worthys decision, she explained that Michigan law allows deadly force only when necessary to protect oneself and in defense of others. That person must honestly and reasonably believe deadly force was necessary to prevent more death or bodily harm to themselves or others, Worthy said. But some of Bryants family arent pleased with Worthys decision. I dont like it one bit, said Richard Malone, Bryants cousin who was at the tailgate and witnessed Sundays tragedy. Looking at the evidence now, I see why the decision was made but at the same time he couldve harmed multiple people. And Little, Bryants sister, heard the news on TV and said she couldnt stomach it. She turned it off. My brother was a great man and a loving one. When they took him, they took a legend, she said. I love you and I am going to miss you. Worthy provided more detail, explaining how an argument resulted in Sundays tragedy. Worthy said there was first a physical fight in Shed 6 that did not involve the 40-year-old shooter but was nearby. Shortly after, a group of about five men got into a verbal argument, and Welch allegedly walked into that argument holding a pistol in a threatening manner, Worthy said. Thats when the shooter took out his pistol, allegedly in self-defense, and shot Welch in the head and tragically shooting Bryant as well. In this case the shooter was not involved with the physical altercation, or any crime, when Mr. Welch pulled out his weapon and threatened him with deadly force, Worthy said. The shooting was justified. Worthy said there wasnt sufficient evidence to charge the shooter with a crime, but described the shooting as tragic and heartbreaking. "Perhaps the most heartbreaking of all is the fact that a completely and totally innocent bystander, Mr. Palmer was shot and killed with the same bullet that passed through the head of Mr. Welch. It could have been any one of us. We looked at all the applicable law and there is no crime that can be charged and proven beyond a reasonable doubt, she said. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Eastern Market canceled its upcoming home-game tailgate for the Detroit Lions on Sept. 30 against the Seattle Seahawks, the market's leadership announced on Tuesday. The decision was made out of respect for the victims and their families, officials said. Tailgates are expected to resume after Sept. 30. In the meantime, Eastern Market will implement additional security measures and safeguards. The market is working toward designating the area a "weapon free zone." Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at asahouri@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: No charges in Eastern Market Detroit Lions tailgate shooting The district attorney for Macon, Crawford and Peach counties said Tuesday that her office couldnt find legal justification for a Byron police officer to shoot a suspect during an alleged car theft last year, which is why she presented the case to a grand jury, and the grand jury decided to charge the cop. District Attorney Anita Howard defended her decision to take the case to a grand jury in a statement Tuesday. Byron Police Chief Wesley Cannon announced Carrolls indictment Monday and said he disagreed with the charges. Howard said in her statement that its not a police chiefs role to determine whether a grand jurys decision is appropriate or only support the criminal justice process when it finds law enforcement actions justifiable. James Ryan Carroll was the former police officer with the Byron Police Department who was indicted Friday. Hes charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath. Carroll allegedly shot a suspect, Kory Matyas Karpich, trying to drive off with a stolen car. Carroll fired into the car repeatedly and injured Karpich, according to an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Howard said in her statement that GBI agents shared concerns about the legality of Carrolls actions. She said Karpich had a criminal background, but that didnt justify Carrolls actions. Karpich initially faced charges stemming from the incident, but hasnt been indicted, court records show. Howard said prosecutors use the same process for reviewing every criminal case brought to their office by law enforcement. They must determine if the shooting was justified based on facts, evidence and applicable law. If they can determine its justified, theyll close the case. Howard could not establish the sufficient and unequivocal legal grounds necessary to justify this shooting, and thats why she took the case to a grand jury, She also said Carroll and GBI agents testified in front of the grand jury before the indictment was returned. Cops do not have unlimited protections Howard said the members of the grand jury represented the collective conscience of the community and they decided charges were necessary. Our system has checks and balances designed to ensure objectivity and a thorough review of the facts and evidence in this and every case, said Howard. There is a reason why (police shooting) investigations rely heavily upon independent objective agency peer reviews. She said she respects law enforcements service to the community, but they are trained to act lawfully, even during stressful situations. While they are offered significant protections under the law, they do not have unlimited protections and nor should anyone, she said. Since Howard took office in 2021, she has received 12 officer-involved shooting cases, she said. Only two of those, including the one against Carroll, resulted in criminal charges. The other 10 were deemed justifiable. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) The Providence School Board announced that the district experienced a network security breach, a week after the state-run school district said it detected irregular activity, that prompted them to shut it down. School Board President Erlin Rogel said the board is meeting in executive session Wednesday night to learn from the superintendent how the breach happened, what steps are being taken to resolve it, and how the district is supporting students and families. We also want to learn what liability resides with our network security vendor and what measures are being taken to ensure this doesnt happen again, Rogel added. Target 12 reached out to the school district again on Wednesday, but did not hear back. R.I. Department of Education spokesperson Victor Morente told Target 12 that the department is aware of the situation and in close contact with PPSD. BACKGROUND: Providence schools without internet as they deal with unprecedented network outage Providence Public School District spokesperson Jay Wegimont told Target 12 on Tuesday as part of standard operating procedure, the district and the third-party IT company it began working with had contacted RI State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security last Wednesday. Please note that this was also done out of an abundance of caution and that the analysis is ongoing, Wegimont said Tuesday. A forensic analysis is underway, according to Wegimont. In a letter Monday, Superintendent Dr. Javier Montanez wrote initial findings did not show evidence that district data was compromised. Patrick Laverty, a local cybersecurity expert, told Target 12 the analysis should help determine if any information has been compromised. He said hackers could be looking for personnel information, banking information, or other personally identifiable info, like social security numbers, birth dates or home addresses. All the types of bits of information that people need to identify themselves to other groups or agencies, Laverty said. State Police Lt. Col. Robert Creamer told Target 12 on Wednesday that there is an open investigation underway, but could not provide more specifics. I can say that through the Joint Cyber Task Force, which is hosted by the Rhode Island State Police, we have been able to recommend resources to the Providence School Department with respect to any mitigation and/or recovery matters they may be facing, Creamer said. At this time, it is my understanding that the FBI will be the lead agency on the investigation. Kristin Setera, a spokesperson for the FBIs Boston field office, told Target 12 on Wednesday that the agency declined to comment on the matter. A spokesperson for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at DHS told Target 12 on Wednesday that the agency was aware of the incident and is in communication with the school district and law enforcement. Mayor Brett Smiley told reporters on Tuesday that both police and the city had not been contacted, but that the city stood ready to help the district. Smiley said on Tuesday that the city took precautions in response to the network issues. Theres one connection on an accounting software that has been blocked to secure the citys computers. Theres been no issues with the citys IT infrastructure, Smiley said. Laverty said should this turn out to be a breach, the district may not have even been intentionally targeted, and that some sort of vulnerability was found in their network to make them an easy target. They find the vulnerability, they install their ransomware, they do whatever damage theyre looking to do, extract whatever type of data that theyre trying to get from it, and then see if they can get money from it, no matter who it is, Laverty said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News 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. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) After a months-long closure prompted by protest damages, Portland State Universitys library has finally reopened. The Fire Marshal previously determined the building was uninhabitable, according to the Millar Library website most recently updated on Monday. Is Portland one of the most rodent-infested cities in the US? The Library building suffered damage and loss, not just to paint, walls, floors, furniture, windows, doors, and offices but also to the fire system and other important safety elements, and technology like staff and lab computers and classroom projectors, PSU said. As many as 75 pro-Palestine protesters occupied the library as they called for a ceasefire in Gaza in early May. Following nearly three days of the occupation, the Portland Police Bureau cleared the building and ultimately arrested 22 people over the course of the day. This included just seven students. In a joint statement released later in the month, President Ann Cudd and the Associated Students of PSU said they were proud of the PSU students who have engaged in non-violent activism but they condemned demonstrators who participated in any violence, property destruction and harmful rhetoric. WNBA franchise confirmed for Portland The university initially estimated library repairs would cost about $750,000, give or take $125,000. Administration later revealed repairs would exceed $1 million. PSU hasnt launched a fundraiser exclusively for the library, but has welcomed donors to support to its general Library Fund. The on-campus, pro-Palestine protests first began in late April when hundreds marched through Portlands South Park Blocks. Demonstrators also released a list of 11 demands, several of which urged PSU to divest from Boeing due to the companys connection with the Israeli-Hamas war. STUDY: PDX ranks among Americas top airports of 2024 In response, Cudd announced the institution would pause receiving any gifts or grants from Boeing until the administration can come to conclusions about a reasonable course of action. A Committee on Socially Responsible Investment and Partnership is set to launch at the beginning of this fall. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WAIKAPU, Hawaii (KHON2) Maui police are reaching out to the public for information on a deadly shooting in Waikapu. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Officials said the early morning incident happened on Monday just after midnight near the intersection of Honoapiilani Highway and Waiolu Place. Woman found in storm drain identified The fatal shooting incident led to the death of 42-year-old Lahaina driver Shawn Lewis. The Maui Police Department extends our deepest condolences to Mr. Lewis family and friends. The cause of death is pending autopsy, said MPD in a press release. Maui investigators are now working on piecing together the sequence of events. Anyone who may have witnessed the incident should contact MPDs Criminal Investigation Division at (808) 244-6425 and reference the report number 24-026966. More information to come as details become 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 KHON2. Twenty-nine local nonprofits will receive $550,386 through the Quad Cities Community Foundations Operations and Program Grants. The Operations and Program Grants are made possible by generous donations to Field of Interest Funds as well as the Quad Cities Community Impact Fund. The grants make up the Community Foundations largest competitive grant-making cycle each year; this year, more than 100 organizations applied for $3 million in funding requests. The Quad Cities has a strong and innovative nonprofit sector, said Sue Hafkemeyer, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. To sustain that strength and grow, nonprofits need operational funding. Our donors recognize this need, and their generosity is helping to make our region a better place for everyone. Providing general operating funding and program support for successful ongoing efforts, awards cover a variety of focus areas, from basic needs and health to community development and arts and culture. Operations and Program Grants range in size from $5,000 to $20,000, with $40,000 available for two-year requests. Nonprofits touch every one of our lives, said Kelly Thompson, Community Foundation vice president of grant-making and community initiatives. Housing, health, recreation, education, and so much more rely on the contributions of these organizations. Each one has inclusivity, equity, and empowerment at the heart of their work, and they are making our community a better place. This years grants come from the following funds, with additional funding provided by the Quad Cities Community Impact Fund. An asterisk (*) denotes a grant paid over the course of two years. AFP IL QC Chapter$5,000 Aldridge Early Learning Center$20,000* Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley$10,000 Cafe On Vine$10,000 Child Protection Response Center$17,600 Childrens Therapy Center of the Quad Cities$5,000 Christian Care$10,000 Empower House$30,000* Fresh Films Dreaming Tree Foundation$30,000* Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce$40,000* Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities$20,000 Hand in Hand$30,000* Heart of Hope Ministries$20,000* Humble Dwellings$5,000 Inspire Next$5,786 LivWell CARES$10,000 Martin Luther King Jr. Center, Inc.$30,000* NEST Cafe$17,000 Palomares Social Justice Center$20,000* Quad City Arts$12,000 Safer Foundation Quad Cities$20,000 SBC Outreach Music and Arts Academy$10,000 School Health LINK, Inc.$40,000* Soles for Children, Inc.$15,000* St. Anthony Church$20,000* STEAM on Wheels$40,000* The Bloom Project$8,000 Youth Service Bureau of RI County$20,000 YWCA of the Quad Cities$30,000* Grants are made available thanks to the generosity of donors in the region through endowment gifts that support communities in the Quad Cities area: Amy Helpenstell Foundation Fund Barbara and W. Scott Tinsman Sr. Endowment Fund Basic Human Needs Fund Bill and Helen Iten Family Endowment Carol and John Willard Endowment Chip Sunderbrook Risk Management Endowment CommunityWorks Endowment Health and Wellness Fund Jean and Rex Hutchison Endowment Fund John J. Quail Endowment Joyce Paustian and Woody Perkins Endowment Fund Judith Berger Endowment Quad Cities Community Impact Fund Randi and Gary Segal Family Fund in Memory of Annabelle Richman Roy E. Murray Endowment Sekharan Family Fund Stephen and Annie Chan Charitable Endowment The Quad Cities Community Impact Fund is supported by donors from across the community and charitable funds gifted by Duncan J. and Dianne R. Cameron, Elise A. Brett, Henry and Linda Neuman, the Hofmann Family, Irma L. Jepsen, John & Pat Lujack, Louise Gerbers, Maggie Tinsman, Marsha and Don Pedersen, Mary Hubbell Waterman, Mary Rose Hawkinson, Paul and Beverly Eckert, the Potter Family, Ray and Jill McLaughlin, Richard and Sally Muller, Robert Cowles, and the Wilbert Schaff. Gifts to the Community Impact Fund and many Field of Interest Funds make a tremendous impact in the community. For more information, 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. SPOKANE, Mo. It was a full house at Gateway Cafe in Spokane on Tuesday, and the guests of honor were 11 United States Veterans. Quilts of Valor of the Ozarks presented each veteran with a quilt made especially for them. The veterans on hand were of all ages, ranks, and tours of duty. Veterans from WWII to Iraq were in attendance and honored. Three brothers also received quilts. Photos courtesy of Quilts of Valor of the Ozarks It made for a great day, says event organizer Shirley Haskins. Haskins has been with the club since May. She knew how to sew when she joined the club, but that was about it. After my husband passed away, I needed something to fill the time. A friend was a member and invited me to come with her, says Haskins. As Haskins began making her first quilt, she knew immediately who she wanted to give it to. Long-time friend and childhood neighbor, George Thomas. Thomas served in the Navy in the early 70s. Im extremely honored that I got to receive the first quilt she put together, explains Thomas, Shirley and I grew up together in a century farm near Monett. We went to church together, went to school together and were lifelong friends. George Thomas and Shirley Haskins / Photo courtesy of Shirley Haskins One by one Veterans received their quilts, as family, friends and strangers cheered them on. It was an honor that Thomas wont soon forget, Such a valuable service to recognize people like me. Haskins says their next event is on the calendar for Tuesday, October 8, 2024. Quilts of Valor of the Ozarks plans to give away 14 quilts to veterans. The event will be at Scramblers at 8:30 a.m. Quilts of Valor of the Ozarks meet on the first Monday of the month at the Presbyterian Church in Kimberling City, Mo. Since they formed in April, Quilts of Valor of the Ozarks has given away 64 quilts. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The Rhode Island Board of Elections voted 4-0 Wednesday to reject a challenge regarding the nomination of Lori Urso as the Democrat in the Senate District 8 race. (Screenshot) Lori Urso will remain on the November ballot as the Democratic candidate for Pawtuckets Senate District 8, after the state elections panel tossed a complaint challenging Ursos nomination. The 4-0 vote by the Rhode Island Board of Elections Wednesday came after a winding, and at times, convoluted debate, over the state statute governing the nomination process after a candidate drops out. Democratic Sen. Sandra Cano, who has held the seat since 2018, abruptly resigned and withdrew her candidacy on Sept. 12 two days after the primary setting off a scramble to fill the spot. Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Liz Beretta-Perik formally named Lori Urso as the appointed successor on Sept. 13. But independent candidate Cathyann Palocsik cried foul over the attempted coronation, pointing to a state statute that, in her interpretation, authorized the Senate District 8 Committee, not the state party chair, to name a replacement candidate. Our position is that the party missed its opportunity to place someone on the ballot, Nick Gorham, the attorney representing Palocsik, told the elections panel Wednesday. Its too late now. But Raymond Marcaccio, counsel for the Rhode Island Board of Elections, offered a different interpretation of the same statute, pointing to a separate clause that includes state legislative seats as state offices. Under that interpretation, the state party committee is the correct group to make a replacement nomination. It seems clear to me that theres a bifurcation, Marcaccio said. Not only does it read that way, but its also logical to have the statewide committee handle state offices, and the local committee handle local offices. Gorham was undeterred. Regardless of the interpretation, he argued that the law itself was flawed, since the state legislature enacted the clause defining its members as state officers. This violates the separation of powers doctrine under the state and U.S. constitutions, according to Gorham, a lawyer who also served 10 years as a Republican state representative. Its just wrong, Gorham said. Yet, when pressed by election panel members, Gorham was unable to cite specific case law supporting his point And constitution or not, the Board of Elections cannot overturn or remedy state statutes. The Board of Elections is a creature of the General Assembly, Board Member David Sholes said. We have to follow what the legislature says. Vice Chairman Louis DeSimone agreed. The only body that can confirm that question is the Supreme Court or the General Assembly, DeSimone said. As much as Id like to be able to change some parts of our election law, I dont think we have any ability to do that. Palocsik did not immediately return inquiries for comment Wednesday. Beretta-Perik said in an interview after the meeting that she was pleased the matter was settled. We followed the rules as they were explained to us, and the Board of Elections concurred, Beretta-Perik said. Time to move on to the election. Urso was also ready to ramp up her campaigning, undeterred by the controversy surrounding her initial nomination. Now, theres no question about the legitimacy of the appointment, she said. Its not unprecedented that theres been a challenge. Its part of the democratic process. Palocsik did not immediately return calls for comment Wednesday. Jennie Johnson, chair of the election board, along with members Marcela Betancur and Randall Jackvony were absent from the meeting. Recount request rejected Also Wednesday, the elections board rejected a recount request in the Rhode Island Senate District 17 Democratic primary. Candidate Alexander Azar, who lost the Sept. 10 primary to Cameron Deutsch, asked for the elections panel to recount the votes cast. However, the request was rejected because the margin between the two candidates was too large. State law authorizes manual re-feeding of ballots submitted into voting equipment if the losing candidate trails 200 votes or 2% of total votes cast, whichever is less. Azar lost to Deutsch by 68 votes nearly three times the 24-vote separation required by the 2% parameter. Neither candidate spoke at the hearing Wednesday. Deutsch will face Republican Sen. Thomas Paolino in the November election. Primary turnout cracks 10% More than 10% of registered Rhode Island voters participated in the Sept. 10 primary. Barely. The final tally of 80,546 ballots cast in the primary, certified by the Board of Elections Wednesday, represents turnout of 10.5%. More than two-thirds of voters cast their ballots in-person on Election Day, while the remainder were split evenly between mail ballots and early voters, according to information shared by Miguel Nunez, executive director for the Rhode Island Board of Elections. By comparison, the 2020 state primary drew 14.5% of registered voters to the polls. In 2022, which also featured a high-profile Democratic gubernatorial primary, turnout was 16.9%. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has revealed that hundreds of threats made against staff led to the festival taking the unprecedented decision to pull controversial documentary Russians at War from the lineup last week including threats of violence and sexual assault. TIFF said last Thursday it had been forced to pause three upcoming public screenings of Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimovas documentary, after being made aware of significant threats to festival operations and public safety. The doc was slated to have its North American premiere across the fests final Friday, Saturday and Sunday. More from The Hollywood Reporter This decision has been made in order to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers, the festival added in a statement. The announcement was met with some skepticism from Canadas documentary and media communities, with several publications speculating that TIFF had simply gotten cold feet in the face of public protests and political pressure. However, on Tuesday afternoon the festival made good on its promise to go ahead with the film, hosting afternoon and evening screenings at its own TIFF Lightbox. Introducing the documentary before an anxious crowd at 2 p.m. E.T., TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey told attendees of the vocal opposition his team had received to its decision to screen the film. Most of that was civil and peaceful, Bailey said. Some of it was terrifying. Bailey continued, In emails and phone calls, TIFF staff received hundreds of instances of verbal abuse. Our staff also received threats of violence, including threats of sexual violence. We were horrified, and our staff members were understandably frightened. We also learned of plans to disrupt or stop the screenings. Because last weeks screenings were scheduled at a 14-screen multiplex on some of the festivals busiest days, we determined that it would be safer not to go ahead with those plans. Bailey did not expand on the latter, but The Hollywood Reporter understands that a number of former TIFF staffers had received inquiries about theater floor plans, along with questions about where talent exactly enters and exits from. The screens at Torontos Scotiabank Richmond multiplex where the documentary was originally scheduled to play do not have side entrances for talent to enter for Q&As. They must use the same entrance as cinemagoers. The festivals own Lightbox multiplex, by contrast, has dedicated stage doors, typically used to whisk away A-list stars during the fest. Baileys comments will heap considerable pressure on Canadas under-fire Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has faced criticism for characterizing the documentary as propaganda. Its not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this, she told press on Sept. 10, despite having not seen the film at the time. Following the ministers comments, hundreds of Ukrainian Canadians took to the streets of Toronto to protest the first press and industry screening, waving placards and chanting shame on TIFF. In tandem with the protests, the board of Canadian public broadcaster TVO announced it would no longer be screening or supporting the film, in an unprecedented move that overruled the networks executive team and commissioning editors. However, the film was seen by a significant number of Canadian journalists during the fest, with press reaction unanimous in rejecting the deputy prime ministers characterization. Running the gamut from left-wing to -right, the countrys three national newspapers the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and the National Post all published pieces praising the film (which this writer has seen) as a powerful anti-war polemic that portrays Russias infantry as inept and unmotivated, feeling betrayed and confused about why they are actually fighting. Russians at War is a brave and exceptional documentary, wrote The Globe and Mail, in its review. It shows, unvarnished, the horrors of the war, including some of the most horrific footage you will ever see on a big screen. This documentary in no way glorifies Russia or its army or its war effort. This film in no way demonizes Ukraine or its people. Alluding to Minister Freelands remarks, Bailey told attendees: I believe that surrendering to pressure from some members of the public or from the government when it comes to presenting any cultural product, can become a corrosive force in our society. We were guided by TIFFs mission and its values when we selected the film, and I believe those principles and the principle of independent media in Canada are worth defending. Bailey reiterated that Trofimovas film (which is a France-Canada co-production seeking international distribution) went through a rigorous selection process and was invited based on its artistic merits and on its relevance to the horrific, ongoing war prompted by Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine. He added that TIFF screened a number of docs from Ukrainian filmmakers at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 festivals, offering firsthand insights into said horrors. We are deeply sympathetic to the pain felt by Ukrainian Canadians at the violence and destruction caused by Russias invasion, Bailey concluded. But verbal abuse and threats of violence, in response to the screening of a film, cross a dangerous line. Were presenting Russians of Wars to stand against that abuse, against those threats, and for the importance of media and curatorial independence. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A Rapid City man has been sentenced for an assault that happened in August 2023. The Pennington County States Attorneys Office says 34-year-old Timothy Upton was sentenced to 15 years in prison for an assault on his wife that was caught on camera. According to Pennington County officals, Seventh Circuit Judge Robert Gusinsky sentenced Upton to 15-years in the penitentiary, with three years suspended. The maximum sentence for aggravated assault in South Dakota is 15-years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine. SF therapist sentenced for sexual assault on patient Authorities say security camera video showed the victim being thrown around and struggling to breathe as Upton strangled her. According to Major Crimes Unit Senior Deputy States Attorney Roxanne Hammond, children were in the home as the assault happened. Aside from the mental, emotional, and physical trauma on the victim in an abusive relationship, the implications of children being exposed to this type of abuse are far-reaching. Mr. Upton is setting the children back years in their emotional development and setting them up for failure based upon his example, Hammond said in a news 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 KELOLAND.com. Nearly 350 artifacts have been unearthed during research at the ysa Gora archaeological site in Poland, including a rare 2,300-year-old Celtic helmet, providing further confirmation of the Celtic presence in northeastern Poland. The Celtic helmet was discovered on Aug. 10, 2024 in research conducted by the Archaeological Museum in Warsaw with participation from the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, Dr. Bartomiej Kaczynski, who led the excavations, told Fox News Digital in an email. "The discovery is important because it is the first such early (IV BC) La Tene helmet found on Polish soil, and the second in history," Kaczynski said, explaining that the first was found over 40 years ago in southern Poland and dated back to the 1st century B.C. In August, a rare ancient Celtic helmet was discovered, believed to have dated back thousands of years. 12-YEAR-OLD BOY STUMBLES UPON STUNNING ANCIENT FIND WHILE WALKING DOG IN ENGLAND: RELATIVELY RARE The Ancient Celts were a widespread group of people who occupied Western and Central Europe. Monumental relics uncovered, like the ancient helmet, further solidify the presence of the Celts in northern Poland. "Discovered in the northern part of Mazovia (northeastern Poland), it is a find completely isolated from the native lands of the Celts - southern Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Its presence, along with several dozen artifacts of La Tene provenance (tools, women's ornaments, clasps for fastening clothes), testify to the presence of Celts at this site," Kaczynski went on to say. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The reason for Celtic settlement in the north can be traced to amber, according to Kaczynski, which he described as a "desirable commodity in the Mediterranean world." The bronze helmet, originally lined with leather or fabric, was discovered in a charcoal pit, alongside four iron axes. The item likely belonged to a Celtic elite and served greater purpose than protection from harm in military battle. The Celtic helmet was one of hundreds of ancient artifacts unearthed at ysa Gora. MOM, SON DIG UP ANCIENT OBJECT OFTEN-FOUND NEAR BURIAL GROUNDS WHILE GARDENING "Helmets, especially bronze ones, did not have a military function only - thin sheet metal did not protect against the impact of spearheads, axes and swords. Visible and shiny from a distance, it indicated the exceptional position of the owner - most likely wealthy or in power - a kind of tribal 'crown.' This shows that far beyond the Celtic world there was a group of Celts, with a leader, administrator, who fulfilled a specific function - most likely guarding the trade route." During 2024 research of ysa Gora, the Celtic helmet was one significant find of nearly 350 that were found. Among other artifacts unearthed include iron tools and jewelry such as bracelets, necklaces and earrings, Kaczynski said. Other artifacts found included "harness elements" that pointed to horse breeding in the area. The Celtic helmet is currently being restored at the Museum Conservation Department of the PMA. As for the Celtic helmet, the artifact was found in poor condition, so restoration efforts at the Museum Conservation Department of the PMA are currently underway, which Kaczynski estimates to take around six months. Beginning in 2026, those who visit the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw will be able to see the ancient item on display. Original article source: Rare ancient Celtic artifact unearthed in Poland, 2,300-year-old metal object excavated from charcoal pit Ravaging our communities: Florida physicians speak out against six-week abortion ban, throw support behind Amendment 4 A group of Florida physicians spoke out Wednesday against the states six-week abortion ban and urged voters to approve Amendment 4 in November. That amendment would expand abortion access in the state. The doctors highlighted a new report that claims women are facing delays and health complications due to the current restrictions. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< That report published by Physicians For Human Rights consists of testimony from 25 health care professionals in Florida and documents their firsthand experiences under the current six-week abortion ban. These bans are dangerous, and they are ravaging our communities, said Dr. Chelsea Daniels during the virtual press conference Wednesday. Physicians who participated in the press conference argued the states six-week ban has put womens lives at risk. Daniels argued the bans exceptions for rape and incest up to 15 weeks dont work in practice. She highlighted the case of one rape victim who came to her clinic but was unable to get the proper documentation from police in time to get the procedure here in Florida. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] She now has to leave the state in order to access care because this exception has failed her, said Daniels. The Physicians for Human Rights report documents several similar stories from Florida medical professionals, who claim care has been delayed and women have been subjected to life-threatening conditions due to the states restrictions. All these, what you would call hearsay accounts I think, come from the abortion industry itself, said Andrew Shirvell with Florida Voice for the Unborn. Shirvell dismissed the report as biased. He argued Amendment 4 would eliminate all abortion restrictions in Florida law, including parental consent requirements for minors seeking abortions. Theyre purposely being vague and deceptive so that they can get this amendment passed and then their real objective will come to light when they return to the state courts, said Shrivell. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Despite the amendment not specifically mentioning parental consent, Keisha Mulfort with the ACLU of Florida claimed it will be protected if Amendment 4 passes. Amendment 4 will unequivocally a parents right to guide the care of their children and their families, said Mulfort. So, we are on record here stating that it does not change that piece. The consent piece. Action News Jax did reach out to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which regulates abortion clinics in the state, for a response to the claims made in the new report. So far, we have not heard back. 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. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) The Rochester Red Wings hosted their Annual Pride Night to celebrate the LGBTQ plus community. The event was rescheduled from earlier this summer due to a rained-out game. The first 1,000 fans through the gates received a pride night jersey! In attendance tonight Rainbow Seniors ROC, who are on their way to open the first LGBTQ senior center. Tuesday nights game was the Red Wings final home stand of the regular season against the Iowa Cubs. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. REEVES COUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- Election day is right around the corner, and on November 5th voters can head to the polls and cast their votes. This year, election ballots for Reeves County will include the federal, state, and local elections, however, there are no proposals, city office, or district hospital elections set to take place for the November 5th, 2024 election in Reeves County. Heres a look at what will be listed on your local ballot, excluding Federal and State elections for all Reeves County Precincts. Related: Need to register to vote or check your voter registration status? Heres how: County Attorney-Unopposed Alva Alvarez Sheriff-Unopposed Arturo Art Granado County Tax Assessor-Collector Kevin Conner Rosemary Chabarria County Commissioner, Precinct No. 1 Marcos Jake McKinney Louise Moore County Commissioner, Precinct No. 3 Paul Hinojos Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3 Liberty Ray Wofford Constable, Precinct No. 1 Jackie Hernandez Constable, Precinct No. 2 Jerry C. Matta Constable, Precinct No. 3 James Lewis Constable, Precinct No. 4 Cesario,Cesar Urias Cecil James Lee There will be no proposals on the Reeves County general election ballot. Also: Registered to vote? Here are some important dates you should know For more information on registering to vote, checking voter registration status and local elections, visit the Vote 2024 page on our website, or click here. Voters in Reeves County can also visit the Reeves County Election page for local voting information and 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 Yourbasin. Have you registered to vote yet? SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) As part of Louisianas Voter Registration Week, Shreveport Parks and Recreation (SPAR) and the City of Shreveport are teaming up to host a voter registration drive. The event will be held Saturday, September 21st, at the Valencia Park Recreation Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tips to properly fill out your absentee ballot This drive is aimed at first-time voters and those needing to update their voter information. The deadline for registering in person or by mail is October 7, and the deadline for registering online is October 15. Visit the Louisiana Secretary of States website to stay informed and ensure your voter registration is current. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A rejection of UNC-Chapel Hill digital IDs would present another hurdle to voting, students say Sydney Meeks, NextGen regional organizing director, and Logan Parke, Chapel Hill field organizer, talk to a UNC-CH student during a National Voter Registration Day campus visit. (Photo: Lynn Bonner) Theres a legal fight going on over whether UNC Chapel-Hill digital IDs that live on student, staff and faculty phones are legitimate IDs that can be used for voting. Democrats say they are. Republicans say they arent. The North Carolina Republican Party and the Republican National Committee are suing to prevent the campus digital IDs from being accepted as valid voter photo identification. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday. Republicans are asking the court to declare that digital IDs cant be used at polling places. The university this year issued only digital versions of the ID, called the mobileOne card, UNC-Chapel Hill students said this week. Depending on what the courts decide, students there may have to take an extra step to obtain college IDs they can use to vote. A common, all-purpose tool The all-purpose digital cards, which are used to unlock doors, pay for food, and get into parking lots, already have user photos. UNC-Chapel Hill added an expiration date to the mobile ID, a detail the state voter ID law requires of school identification cards. Thats one of the reasons the three Democrats on the state Board of Elections voted to okay the campus digital ID for use at the polls. Use of digital wallets is widespread, especially among younger people, Democrats argued. They pointed to a law the legislature passed this year allowing for digital drivers licenses to be issued starting July 1, 2025 as an example of the state endorsing digital versions of government documents. The digital licenses would be the legal equivalent of a valid license, according to the law. The state Board of Elections has approved more than 100 institutional identification cards issued by local governments and public and private schools for students and employees to use at the polls. The Boards party-line vote last month made UNC-Chapel Hills digital IDs the first non-physical school photo IDs eligible for use. A partisan divide Republicans on the Board opposed allowing the cards over concerns about security. Could screenshots be shared, they wondered. And Republican Board members contended that state law clearly requires presentation of a physical card in order to vote. The Republican lawsuit expands on that argument. Court papers filed on behalf of the Affirmative Action Coalition at UNC, a group that wants to join the case as an intervenor to defend using the digital cards, said they are now the default campus ID. Students are no longer automatically issued physical cards. College students who have moved away from home have more decisions to make on where to vote than many other voters. They have to decide whether to register using their college address or their parents home address. Students who dont intend to return home after graduation may register in the county where they live while in school, according to the state Board of Elections. Students who dont know where they will be after college can register at their school address or at their former home. Another voting complication Whether or not UNC-Chapel Hill students can use their digital IDs tosses in another complication as the states early voting period nears. The youth voting organization NextGen America advises students to make a plan to vote, have a back-up plan, and on what to do if they get turned away, said Brennan Steele, the organizations state director. NextGen fanned out to college campuses across the state Tuesday for National Voter Registration Day. If we can just use student ID across the board, fantastic, Steele said. But, lets be realistic here, theres going to be a lot of issues on campus with people not knowing the right regulations about what IDs they can use and not knowing how they can vote on campus. UNC-Chapel Hill did not respond this week to emailed questions about the digital IDs, including whether the school would provide alternatives for people who do not have physical cards. However, the school appears to be attempting to respond to the uncertainty surrounding digital IDs. In a Tuesday update on mobile IDs, a university website said that students, faculty or staff who need a physical card for identification can obtain a one that doesnt have the chip technology at no cost. UNC senior Sam Hiner, executive director and co-founder of the Young Peoples Alliance, said universities have moved to digital cards, so adapting to them will be critical. Voter access is a focus of the Young Peoples Alliance. First-year students dont receive physical cards anymore, he said. In fact, he communicated one student on Saturday who tried to get a physical card and was told they dont do that anymore. Hiner had not heard Wednesday morning about the offer of free physical cards. Its probably in direct response to this, I would imagine, he said. The chance to obtain a physical campus ID might come as welcome news to Erin Kim, a first-year UNC Chapel-Hill student who puzzled over what photo identification she could use to vote if her oneCard isnt accepted. Kim stopped by the NextGen voter registration table on Tuesday to ask about working with the group. She told organizers she is interested in voter empowerment. Ive been telling all my friends to early vote, she said. A successful challenge to the digital IDs would disadvantage new students and future students, she said in an interview. Emma Frost, a junior, usually uses the digital card on her phone but still has a physical card. I thought it still might have some purpose, she said. In any case, Its a fun piece of UNC memorabilia. Benjamin Cowen, a first-year student from Mooresville, said the mobile ID security features make it more secure than a physical ID. It should be a little bit easier to vote, especially for college students, he said. It kind of feels like college students are being suppressed. Rep. Jeff Dotseth, R-Kettle River, speaking on the House floor on May 2, 2024. YouTube screenshot. Minnesota Rep. Jeff Dotseth, R-Kettle River, allegedly mused that he would own slaves if it were allowed today and called his then-stepson Kunta Kinte, after the enslaved African character in Roots, according to a 2008 affidavit from the stepson. Dotseth also allegedly kicked and punched the familys 14-year-old dog, according to an affidavit from his then-wife. The new details came to light after the Star Tribune reported on parts of the affidavits about serial domestic violence that led to his 2008 arrest and a yearlong order prohibiting Dotseth from contacting his then-wife, Penny Dotseth, who now goes by Penny Kowal. He was also barred from using or possessing firearms and only granted supervised visits with their daughter. She filed for divorce in 2007, and in a blistering sworn affidavit described years of physical abuse. Kowals son also filed an affidavit detailing abuse. Following the Star Tribune story, Democratic leaders called on Dotseth to suspend his reelection campaign and asked that House Republicans expel him from their caucus. Kowal and her son did not immediately respond to the Reformers messages seeking comment. Dotseth did not respond to a request for comment about the additional allegations in the affidavits. Kowals 21-page affidavit, obtained by the Reformer, detailed years of domestic abuse including against their dog. This Christmas, our dog Misty, who is 14 years old, grabbed a small candy bar from one of Jeffs bags he had sitting on the floor, Kowal said in her 2008 affidavit. Misty came into the kitchen, I looked at her and said, What do you have in your mouth? Jeff was there and had seen she had a candy bar and punched her and was yelling at her to let go. He hit her again, (their daughter saw) this and was saying Dad stop, shes old. If the dogs are in his way, hell kick them to get out of his way. Kowals son in his sworn affidavit said that he and Dotseth would often get into fights about his views on slavery. Kowals son is not Dotseths biological son, according to the sons affidavit. The Reformer is not naming him because when reached by the Star Tribune for comment, he said he feared for his safety. (Dotseth) would say things like, if slavery was still around today, he would have slaves, the son said in his affidavit. I hated this because it showed his lack of care for humans and their basic freedoms. I was often referred to as Kunta Kinte in a joking manner. I felt like it was always a little more than a joke. Kunta Kinte is a character in Roots who was kidnapped from Gambia and sold into slavery in the U.S. Dotseth, in his sworn 2008 affidavit, denied the unfounded allegations of domestic abuse and said he agreed to the order of protection against him without making an admission to the abuse allegations. Dotseth said Kowal had become violent, alleging she had spit in my face, thrown objects at me, frequently hit me and pulled my hair. Dotseth also said he was concerned about Kowals mental and physical health. Dotseth told the Star Tribune in a statement that he now has cordial relationship with my ex-wife, and have worked to put this difficult chapter of my life behind me. In her affidavit, Kowal said she and Dotseth would frequently discuss divorce, but these conversations would turn into arguments, she said. In one episode, Kowal said Dotseth put his fist in her face, told her he wished she was dead and said she was a horrible wife. Then he backed up, held his fingers in the form of a cross (and) proceeded to dramatically yell at me, Get back Satan, get back, the devil is in you. I looked at him, shook my head, and laughed because what else do you do when someone does something so strange, comical, and disturbing at the same time, Kowal said in the affidavit. Dotseth at the time had a lot of guns, Kowal said. This concerned her, because the loaded guns were accessible to their young daughter, Kowal alleged. When we are up north, (Dotseth) keeps a loaded gun by the glass sliding door upstairs. Our beds are up there, and (our daughter) sleeps upstairs, but if you say something to him, he gets mad, Kowal said. (Our daughter) had said something about this also, his response (was) dont go by the guns. This is very dangerous, especially around kids This is not what a nonviolent person does to his family. House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, has not said whether she will remove him from the House GOP caucus. In a statement sent to the Reformer that was also provided to the Star Tribune, Demuth said that domestic violence is an absolute red line for me its never acceptable under any circumstances. But Demuth also said that the case was resolved through the legal process more than 15 years ago, concluding with no charge or conviction for domestic assault. I spoke with Rep. Dotseth and he reiterated the contents of what was in his affidavit denying the allegations that were made during the divorce proceedings. He was initially charged with domestic assault, and later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct. Rep. Luna says authorities investigating very serious shooting threat against her Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R) said she was the subject of a very serious shooting threat, and she blamed rhetoric coming from the left. Over the last few weeks, I have received an increasing number of threats and doxxing attacks. An online page was encouraging strangers to send threatening packages to my home, she said in a statement Wednesday. This weekend, it escalated to a very serious shooting threat, and we are taking every necessary step to ensure the safety of my family, staff, and our district. She said law enforcement was actively investigating the matter and that her office would provide updates. Luna says the threat against her came hours after former President Trumps second assassination attempt on Sunday. The left continues to push a radical agenda of hate and rhetoric that leads to violence. Just hours before this threat to my office, we saw how there was a second assassination attempt on President Trumps life, Luna said. We will NOT be threatened or intimidated by those using violence to push their narrative and try and win an election. She added that Democrats, keep directing hatred and violence toward Republicans but the GOP will never stop fighting for our great country and ensure those who feel unheard have a voice in Washington. The Florida Republican concluded by asking, Please keep us in your prayers. The Hill has reached out to Lunas 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 The Hill. STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WTAJ) Paul Takac and State College Leaders gathered in front of the State College Municipal Building Wednesday to slam Trumps Concepts of a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a law that was passed in 2010 to reform the health insurance market and make health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans. Following Donald Trumps pledging on the debate stage that he will repeal the Affordable Care Act, state Representative Paul Takac hosted the press conference highlighting the Vice President`s New Way Forward plan to lower health care costs and strengthen the ACA that 45 million Americans rely on, including over 1.5 million Pennsylvanians and a record number who signed up for ACA marketplace coverage this year. Just last week in the debate, Donald Trump told us once again that he plans to raise health care costs and gut the Affordable Care Act. On stage in front of millions of Americans, Trump called the ACA lousy and said hes working on a plan to get rid of it. One of the moderators pushed him on these so-called plans. He admitted he only had the concept of a plan. But lets be clear. We know exactly what Trumps plans are. He has publicly promised that if reelected, he would terminate the ACA, Takac said. Speakers at the press conference say the repeal of the ACA would mean a set back and many families having to make tougher and possibly life changing decisions. People with preexisting conditions like cancer could be denied care and coverage by insurance companies. Thats part of why Im so concerned about what Donald Trump has said. He wants to do it in repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with something that he just has a concept of a plan for at the moment, Christopher Calkins, a Teaching Professor of Health Policy and Administration said. Vice President Harris knows that no one should have to choose between health care and putting food on the table. She knows that no parent should have to think twice about taking their sick child to the doctor or to the hospital because theyre afraid of what it will cost. And as the vice president said on the debate stage, she is looking out for all Americans, Takac said. Takac also added that Trumps Project 2025 agenda would also raise prescription drug costs and allow insurance companies to deny coverage to Americans with preexisting conditions. He also says every American and both sides should be fighting for affordable health care. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DES MOINES, Iowa A Des Moines man is in custody after police say he led them on a high-speed chase that began with officers responding to a call about a drive-by shooting and ended in a crash near Mitchellville early Wednesday morning. Zander Mortale, 21, is charged with eluding, reckless driving, driving while barred, and other traffic offenses. He is being held in the Polk County Jail. Norwalk resident charged after admitting to contemplating school shooting Sgt. Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police Department said officers responded to the 1500 block of Guthrie Avenue around 3:48 a.m. after receiving a report of a drive-by shooting. Mortale was seen leaving the area at a high rate of speed and led officers on a pursuit that ended when he crashed into the median on I-80 near the Mitchellville rest stop. After investigating the scene of the original call at Guthrie Avenue, Sgt. Parizek said no evidence of gunfire was located. The investigation into the incident 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 who13.com. In an effort to quell monopoly concerns in the EU, Google reportedly offered to sell its AdX advertising marketplace. Sources told Reuters that European publishers rejected Google's offer, arguing that the company would have to divest more in order to dismantle the conflicts of interest in its online advertising operations. Lawyers familiar with the antitrust cases said this was the first time Google had offered to sell off an asset in response to this type of lawsuit. Despite this alleged sale offer, Google is publicly standing firm about its adtech business. "As we have said before, the European Commission's case about our third-party display advertising products rests on flawed interpretations of the ad-tech sector, which is fiercely competitive and rapidly evolving. We remain committed to this business," a Google rep told the publication. We've reached out to Google and will update this story if we receive any additional comment from the company. Google's control over online advertisements has raised concerns around the globe. Regulators have questioned whether the company's activity in multiple stages of the adtech supply chain allows it to favor its own businesses, creating an unfair advantage that could hurt competition and increase advertising prices. The European Commission began this push against the company's ad arm last June . The UK's competition watchdog also raised the alarm over a possible Google ad monopoly earlier this month . Google is also currently being sued by the Department of Justice over the same topic in the US. Troops exposed to toxic chemicals during their time in service wait on average more than three decades for full veterans benefits related to those injuries, according to a new study released by advocates on Wednesday. Officials from Disabled American Veterans and the Military Officers Association of America called the current toxic exposure system flawed and said their findings point to a critical need to overhaul how federal agencies identify, research and respond to the hazardous conditions faced by troops, for both vets already separated and those currently serving. Scientific, policy, political and fiscal challenges have too often delayed the establishment of [disability] presumptives, effectively denying justice for some veterans, their families and survivors, report authors wrote. While there have been some significant leaps forward, such as the enactment of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 and the PACT Act of 2022, significant obstacles have left and will continue to leave too many toxic-exposed veterans waiting for the health care and benefits they have earned. VA eyes more medical care for vets with toxic exposure issues The study lists 16 military toxic exposure events eventually recognized with presumptive benefits status for veterans. That status is key, because it recognizes all veterans who served in a certain area or certain time frame to skip complicated documentation of their illnesses, and instead concedes that their medical issues were likely caused by military service. The list includes problems like exposure to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, toxic burn pit smoke during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, poisoned water at Camp Lejeune in from the 1950s to 1980s, and radioactive materials at various sites throughout the Cold War. In some cases, the link between the toxins and veterans health problems was known within a few years, researchers found. But getting benefits fully sorted out took much longer. A veteran who served in Vietnam in 1962 and later developed hypertension had to wait 60 years from first exposure for the government to concede presumptive service connection, the report stated. Toxic-exposed veterans are waiting too long for the establishment of presumptives to ease their path to the benefits and health care they have earned. The groups are advocating for a clearer process of identifying military toxins, researching their effects and implementing care and benefits for veterans exposed to the chemicals. Were already getting more accurate information about service members and their specific exposures, said Cory Titus, MOAAs director of government relations for veteran benefits. Codifying some of those best practices that we are seeing will help ensure that we have a true system to take care of veterans into the future. Advocates briefed VA leaders and members of Congress on their findings ahead of Wednesdays report release. Peter Dickinson, senior executive advisor for DAV, said advocates hope to turn the report into legislation early next year. [The current White House] has run very hard and fast on part of this issue under their control, he said. But there is a historical waxing and waning of attention focused on veterans. We need to set up a system where we acknowledge problems early on, rather than saying were not going to acknowledge it until were ready to pay the bill. The proposed reforms include a clear framework with specific timelines for when VA officials must publicly acknowledge environmental hazard incidents, inform veterans about possible health impacts and begin the process of establishing presumptive rules surrounding those conditions. Report authors also noted that expanding scientific understanding of toxic exposures and environmental hazards is essential to support the VAs efforts to provide timely, comprehensive benefits and health care to exposed veterans. The full report is available on the DAV and MOAA websites. Ohio's youth prisons face chronic staffing shortages that hinder the ability to provide security, mental health treatment and other services to incarcerated children. Nearly a year after publication of an investigation into Ohio's youth prisons, new inspection reports show escalating violence and chronic staff shortages continue to hinder the state's ability to protect its employees and teens in the system. The Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and its professional staff, released reports this month on Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility in Massillon and Circleville JCF south of Columbus. In both reports, the committee said the Ohio Department of Youth Services failed to provide some of the requested data. Special report: Ohio's juvenile detention system struggles with violence, neglect Here are the key takeaways from the reports: Hours kids spend locked in their rooms increased in 2024 over 2023. The rate of violent acts each week increased slightly at Circleville and jumped 31% at Indian River in 2024 over 2023. Staff are physically restraining youths at both prisons more often this year than last. Employee vacancy rates are high, 21.5% at Circleville and 22.2% at Indian River, including open positions and people on leave. Employee churn is high, 58.6% of workers left Circleville and 44.1% left Indian River in 2023. Gangs continue to exert influence with more than half of kids joining a gang. Employees described low workplace morale, driven by mandatory overtime shifts every week and assaults by teens who throw bodily fluids urine, feces and semen on them. At Indian River, kids no longer have access to water bottles. Incarcerated teens described frustration at being locked in their rooms with nothing to do. At Indian River the rate of children being locked in their rooms due to staffing issues increased 40% in 2024 over 2023. At Circleville the rate increased 77%. An eight-month investigation by the Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository and other USA TODAY Network outlets published in November detailed how staff shortages, mandatory overtime and escalating violence plagued the youth criminal justice system. The investigation is a finalist for the prestigious Scripps Howard Journalism Award for Local/Regional Investigative Reporting. The investigation uncovered that employees and kids are injured sometimes seriously in fights and assaults that erupt without warning. Guards struggle to keep order and are often dealing with children they cannot control. Within three years of leaving a state youth prison, four in 10 teens are incarcerated again in either the juvenile or adult system. And those who don't return to prison face a higher likelihood of dying an early death. The youth prisons are operated by the Ohio Department of Youth Services, which reports to the governor, while most local juvenile detention centers are run by juvenile court judges. Just days after publication of the newspapers' investigation, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine launched a task force to examine the Department of Youth Services and the state's juvenile justice system. The task force made 26 recommendations, including closing the youth prisons and replacing them with smaller, closer-to-home facilities. Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Inspectors find Ohio's youth prisons struggle with vacancies, violence Newly appointed France's Prime Minister Michel Barnier looks on during the handover ceremony at the Hotel Matignon. Julien Mattia/Le Pictorium via ZUMA Press/dpa Newly appointed French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has clashed with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist camp over tax increases, according to French media reports on Wednesday. The disagreement centres around Barnier's consideration of tax hikes, a departure from the previous government's stance. Barnier, a former EU commissioner, cited the dire state of public finances as justification for his proposal, which has received criticism from within Macron's camp. "The country's budgetary situation, which I am now discovering, is very serious," Barnier told French media. "This situation requires more than small talk. It demands responsibility." The political landscape in France remains unstable following the recent snap parliamentary elections, which failed to produce a clear majority or coalition capable of forming a government. President Macron appointed Barnier as prime minister two weeks ago with plans to present a new Cabinet this week. Barnier's predecessor, Gabriel Attal, who took over the group presidency of Macron's centre camp, had demanded a meeting with Barnier to discuss Barnier's policy direction. However, reports indicate that this meeting was abruptly cancelled on Wednesday morning. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin also expressed reservations regarding Barnier's proposed tax increases targeting higher earners and corporations. Meanwhile, the European Commission has initiated deficit procedures against France due to rising new debt levels, making the goal of reducing borrowing below the EU-mandated 3% threshold increasingly unlikely. France currently faces a public debt equivalent to 110% of its gross domestic product (GDP), placing it among the weakest economies in the eurozone. Is Republican congressman in California tossup really pro-choice? What both candidates say Reality Check is a Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email realitycheck@sacbee.com. Rep. John Duarte, R-Modesto, said hes pro-choice in a CNN video circulated on Sunday. He also said that former President Donald Trump is fundamentally pro-choice by wanting the states rather than the federal government to regulate abortion law. Duarte is seeking to keep his congressional seat in whats considered one of the nations most closely-contested, closely-watched races in a Democratic-leaning district. Abortion rights is regarded nationally as a pivotal issue, and could sway a tight race. Duarte has made claims about being pro-choice before, saying he opposes federal efforts to curtail abortion access. In an interview with The Bee on Friday, Duarte said, Im pro-choice and its as simple as that. Ive got a pro-choice voting record in Congress. The term pro-choice is used routinely by abortion rights supporters to advocate for legal access to services. To abortion rights supporters, Duarte has not been completely pro-choice. He has voted on legislation with anti-abortion Republicans, and expressed support for the Supreme Courts 2022 decision overturning nearly 50 years of federal abortion rights policy. Still, his record in the eyes of abortion rights activists and anti-abortion advocates alike does not place him among far-right Republicans. Duarte earned 21% on Planned Parenthood Action Funds scorecard the higher the score, the more the organization deems the lawmaker is supporting sexual and reproductive health based on their voting record. Duartes score is higher than most Republicans; only a handful of GOP members scored the same or higher. He gets a C rating from the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a lower grade than most House Republicans: Only eight do not get an A or A-plus. Duarte said at The Modesto Bee debate in 2022 he thinks abortion should be accessible through three months of pregnancy, shorter than previous federal protections in place under the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the near 50-year precedent that set federal abortion protections through fetal viability, generally regarded at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. This 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization allowed states nationwide to enforce laws banning or restricting access to abortions. The decision is credited as a reason Democrats did well in the midterm elections that year. Rather than an anticipated red wave, Republicans won only a razor-thin House majority. California abortion protections California added a right to an abortion and contraceptives to the states Constitution through a widely-supported 2022 ballot initiative. Abortion is legal in California up until the point of fetal viability. After that it is is only legal to save the life or health of the parent. I will oppose a nationwide abortion ban, Duarte said in the interview with The Bee. I do believe abortion should be left to the states, and here in California, I dont think anyone is worried about overly restrictive abortion. Duarte criticized Democrats chastising his abortion position in Californias 13th Congressional District, where nonpartisan election analysts say one of the nations closest House races will unfold between the freshman congressman and former Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced. Their 2024 rematch election is a tossup. With the nationalization of elections and reduction of split-ticket voting where voters choose candidates from different parties for different offices on the same ballot analysts predict that issues such as abortion that are heavily discussed nationally will weigh on local races, including in the 13th district. Gray said in an interview with The Bee on Friday that Congress should codify rights previously set under Roe v. Wade. He said its cynical and wrong that some of these Republicans try to pretend that theyre pro-choice because theyre pro-states rights when it means some states enact highly restrictive abortion laws. Codify Roe v. Wade tomorrow and solve this problem and have protections in place for every American, he said. Duarte and abortion There are a few votes where that abortion rights advocates are particularly critical of Duarte. In 2023, Duarte voted for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would have required health care providers to try to preserve an infants life if born alive during or after an abortion, a rare circumstance. Health care providers who failed to do so could have faced fines or up to five years in prison if the legislation had been passed by the Senate and signed into law. It is already illegal to intentionally kill a baby that is born alive. Opponents of the bill said it was meant to intimidate health care providers who offer abortions. All House Republicans who cast a vote on the bill supported it. In 2023, Duarte voted for a failed agriculture-related appropriations bill that incorporated legislation to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Twenty-seven Republicans voted no, with many citing the mifepristone limitations. That year he also voted for a defense spending bill with an amendment to bar the Department of Defense from reimbursing service members for travel to receive abortion care. Duarte opposed the amendment, but still voted for the overall bill. Four Republicans voted no. Trump and abortion Trump previously took credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, writing on his social media platform Truth Social in May 2023, After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade. At this months presidential debate, Trump again praised the 2022 decision and took credit for placing three conservative justices on the Supreme Court to accomplish it. Im not signing a ban and theres no reason to sign a ban because weve gotten what everybody wanted, Democrats, Republicans and everybody else, and every legal scholar wanted it to be brought back into the states, Trump claimed. He declined to say if he would sign a national abortion ban when pressed by debate moderators. No, hes pro-choice, Duarte said of Trump in the recent CNN interview. He wants the states to make their policy themselves. He doesnt want to federalize abortion law. Neither do I. He opposes abortion rights, the reporter responded. No, he doesnt, Duarte said. He said the states are moving towards abortion rights, one by one. The Dobbs decision put it back to the states. I believe abortion belongs to the states. Gray: Codify Roe v. Wade As a Democrat in the California State Assembly, Gray helped write the 2022 ballot proposition that added a right to an abortion and contraceptives to the state Constitution. Gray served in the Assembly for a decade before giving up his seat to pursue a congressional bid in 2022. He lost to Duarte, a farmer and businessman, by fewer than 600 votes that year in one of the closest House races. The 13th district has more registered Democrats than Republicans. It is one of more than a dozen congressional districts across the country held by GOP congressmen where President Joe Biden would have beaten Trump in 2020 had current legislative boundaries been in place. Boundaries were redrawn to reflect the 2020 census. Voters in the new 13th would have picked Biden by 11 points in 2020. Its a Latino-majority voting-age district with a large population of young people. Compared to the rest of California, this district tends to have low turnout, leading older, white, more conservative voters to disproportionately impact elections there. Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance took the stage at Raleighs Union Station on Wednesday afternoon to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris record, particularly on energy and the economy. He also spoke at length about illegal immigration and said that we are allowed, under the First Amendment to this country, to tell our leaders that theyre doing a bad job, and were allowed, Kamala Harris, to tell you, you cant jack up the cost of housing by giving foreigners homes instead of American citizens. Were not bad people for loving this country. Throughout his speech, Vance blamed the increased cost of housing in the U.S. on immigrants in the country without legal authorization something he has done on numerous occasions, calling for mass deportations. Home prices spiked during the pandemic and have remained high. Economists who spoke with Forbes cited the need for mortgage rates to cool off and inventory to grow for prices to drop. Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance arrives for a campaign stop at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Vance, an Ohio senator, said Harris is a dangerous San Francisco liberal now pretending that she is a moderate. But the record, ladies and gentlemen, speaks for itself. Dont we know exactly who Kamala Harris is because shes been governing that way for the last three and a half years? he said. Harris was formerly the district attorney for San Francisco, the attorney general of California and a senator. She pretends now that she supports American energy, but for the last three and a half years, they have increased regulations on American energy, they refused to do permitting reform, they refused to do anything that would actually allow our great American energy producers to do their job, to lower prices, he said. Harris embraced U.S. oil and gas production during the presidential debate with Trump, who has been aggressively pro-fossil fuels. Vance also tied energy policy to Harriss economic policy, saying the cost of living is up in North Carolina and the way to lower costs on American consumers really is, drill, baby, drill. Rally-goers started chanting drill, baby, drill. Vance said Harris is practically just running on the Trump agenda right now. Vance took questions from reporters, after saying during his speech that he believes that if you want to be the American peoples president, you ought not be afraid of friendly American media. And thats exactly what they are, of course, to Kamala Harris. Rally attendees casts their eyes up a reporter, as Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance takes a few questions from the media during a campaign stop at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Harris has done a joint interview on CNN with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz but has faced scrutiny over lacking accessibility to media. Shifting to foreign policy, he questioned how Harris would work with American adversaries if she wont even sit down for a friendly media interview? A rally attendee records remarks by Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. After accusing Harris of talking too much about her past in response to policy questions, he began speaking on his own past, saying he grew up in a family where we very often lived paycheck to paycheck. He said he believed if you work hard and play by the rules, you ought to be able to afford a good life in the country that your parents and grandparents built. But he said, Harris made it harder to build homes. He said housing prices went up because interest rates have gone up and because of the Biden-Harris administration allowing people in the country illegally. We gotta get em out of here, he said. I think its the most disgraceful thing that Kamala Harris has done this cycle, is not just flood this country with cheap labor and people who are competing with you for homes, but to then tell you that youre a bad person for daring to speak up and to have a voice about whats going on in your own country, he said. Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance delivers remarks during a campaign stop at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Whats interesting about it is that very often, the people who have suffered the most from Kamala Harriss open borders are people of Latino descent, or theyre Black Americans whose family has been in this country for nine or 10 generations, he said. People starting chanting build the wall. Vance also claimed Harris wants to bankrupt Medicare by giving Medicare to illegal aliens. Harris co-sponsored in 2017 a Medicare for All proposal that would have established a national health insurance program and would have covered all U.S. citizens. The GOP has previously cited a Harris interview as proof of her support for coverage to those in the country illegally. In the interview, speaking on Medicare for All, Harris said she was opposed to any policy that would deny in our country any human being from access to public safety, public education, or public health, period. Joined by NC Republicans The program kicked off with state Republican Party Chair Jason Simmons and retired U.S. Army Colonel Alan Swain, who is running to represent North Carolinas 2nd Congressional District. Simmons spoke on the need to vote, encouraging people to get friends and family to head to the polls. Republican congressional candidates, North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, acknowledges the crowd upon his introduction by Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance during his rally at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Congressional candidates Mark Harris and Brad Knott were seated with Moore at the rally. We have great candidates up and down the ballot and back up again that are depending on you to make sure they get elected, he said, including Trump and the GOP gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Weve got a fight in front of us. Weve got a task. You know the challenges that our country is facing. You see whats going on. You see the out-of-control prices. You see whats happening at our southern border, he said. The GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, Republican Hal Weatherman, spoke shortly after Simmons. I love America but Im afraid were falling from within, he said, citing train derailments, rolling blackouts, attacks on electrical substations and actions by China. Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance delivers remarks during a campaign stop at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Immigration, economy key issues In answering questions from reporters, Vance: touted Trumps plan to eliminate taxes on Social Security income. called for expanding natural gas pipelines. spoke on the need to manufacture more products and grow more food in the United States. Asked how this increased production could occur while deporting migrant workers, Vance said, if you talk to farmers, farmers are as upset about the open borders as almost anybody else. I reject the idea that the only way to have a productive farm economy is to allow 25 million illegal aliens into this country. Asked about a plan for health care, Vance said health care works really well for most Americans and it works really poorly for a lot. Were going to actually implement some regulatory reform in the health care system that allows people to choose a health care plan that works for them, he said. Questioned about what a Trump-Vance administration would do with the Haitian migrants in Ohio who arrived legally, Vance said Harris used mass parole and temporary protective status to wave a wand and to say, were not going to deport those people here. Well, if Kamala Harris waves the wand illegally and says these people are now here legally, Im still going to call them an illegal alien, he said. He said parole under law can be used on a case by case basis and not en masse. Former Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison listens to remarks by Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Battleground state Vances visit comes as the Trump campaign attempts to shore up support in North Carolina, a critical battleground state. Despite initially leading in the polls, Trumps support began to drop after the change at the top of the Democratic ticket. Trump himself will speak in Wilmington on Saturday, marking his fifth trip to the state since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. Vicki Thompson, Teresa Langley and Eileen McIntyre show their support for Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance as he arrives at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Vances visit to Raleigh is his fourth trip to North Carolina since becoming Trumps running mate. In August, he rallied with Trump in Asheboro. He has visited Greenville twice this month, for a private fundraiser and an East Carolina University game. The rally comes just days after a second alleged assassination attempt on Trump. A North Carolina man, Ryan Routh, was arrested in connection with the incident. As supporters filled the station, several told The News & Observer that immigration and the economy were the key issues driving them to support Trump. Supporters of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance line up more than three hours before his rally to enter Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Ive lived through both administrations and I dont think our economy will do well under another four more years of basically Bidens policies, Christian Lockamy, a Raleigh-based graphics designer, said. He cited Harris decisive vote in passing the Inflation Reduction Act as one of the reasons he opposes her candidacy. Aura and Christopher Kenney, a couple based in Cary, said theyd never been to a campaign rally like this before, but they were excited to see Vance. Aura said shed just finished reading his book, Hillbilly Elegy. He seems genuine, for sure, he seems like hes bold, Christopher Kenney said. He came from nothing and really made something out of his life and hes a fighter. Republican Vice Presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance thanks his supporters at the conclusion of his remarks during a campaign stop at Union Station on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Republicans for Harris call Trump a threat to our democracy ahead of rally Prior to Vances rally, the Harris campaign held a virtual press conference featuring Republicans who say theyll vote for her over Trump. Robert Brown, a High Point attorney who served as the North Carolina state director for John McCains 2008 presidential campaign, said he didnt agree with Harris on everything, but he did agree that Trump and Vance are wrong for our country. Im speaking directly to Republicans when I say that Donald Trump poses a great threat to our democracy and to our economy and those are things that we may never recover from if hes elected, he said. Former Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh said more Republicans are abandoning Trump and supporting Harris instead. The Trump-Vance ticket is all about dividing us, Walsh said. ...Theres overwhelming opposition among a lot of Republicans nationally and locally, and the movement is growing everyday. Washington correspondent Danielle Battaglia contributed to this report. 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. Several Republican lawmakers have said they think the second assassination attempt of Donald Trump will give him a boost in the polls. Officers arrested Ryan Wesley Routh on Sunday for allegedly aiming an SKS-style rifle through the bushes at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the former president was playing a round. Officials say Routh lurked in the bushes for nearly 12 hours before he was arrested. The attempt came two months after Thomas Crooks opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, striking the former president in the ear. The 20-year-old, who was fatally shot by Secret Service agents, also killed one attendee and injured two others. I think people are going to rally to President Trumps side. Hes under siege on so many fronts, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told The Hill on Tuesday. Its a Republican today, it could be a Democrat tomorrow. The system is broken. While the South Carolina senator is allied with Trump, the two have had their disagreements. Graham opposed Trump in 2015 and 2016 before flipping to support him in 2017. Senator Lindsey Graham speaks as Donald Trump listens. Graham said the second assassination attempt against Trump will encourage people to rally to his side (AP) Graham appeared at campaign events for Trump earlier this year. But in April, the former president said he regretted endorsing the senator in his re-election bid after Graham criticized him for refusing to support a federal abortion ban, the Associated Press reports. Then, last month, Graham told NBC News Trump needs to focus on policy to win the election. President Trump can win this election. His policies are good for America, and if you have a policy debate for president, he wins. Donald Trump the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election, Graham said. Another Republican senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Hill the attempt on Trumps life will produce a rally-around effect. I think that casts him in a more favorable light. Thats probably helpful to him. Its something that breaks through with all voters. Who can not know about this? the Republican senator said. Its probably significant that way, but how long it will last, I dont know. Senator Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, also told The Hill that Sundays incident certainly helps. The thing thats helped him the most is his response, Cramer told the outlet. Polling still shows Harris leading Trump. The vice president has a 2.9-point lead over the former president, according to the latest average of national polls. Trump has blamed Kamala Harris and Democratic rhetoric for the attempt on his life on Sunday. He claimed that bullets are flying because of Communist Left Rhetoric in a social media rant on Monday. The former president then claimed that only consequential presidents get shot at during a town hall in Flint, Michigan on Tuesday. Its a dangerous business running for president, he said. Being president, its a little bit dangerous. Its... you know, they think race car driving is dangerous no. They think bull riding, thats pretty scary, right? No, this is a dangerous business, and we have to keep it safe. Meanwhile, Harris has condemned political violence against Trump and revealed she checked in on the former president after the assassination attempt. I checked on him to see if he was okay, and I told him what I have said publicly: There is no place for political violence in our country, Harris said on Tuesday. Im in this election, in this race, for many reasons, including to fight for our democracy. And in a democracy, there is no place for political violence. Eleven residents stayed in the audience until the final minutes of a four-and-a-half hour Sacramento City Council meeting Tuesday night to beg leaders to ensure that a possible state of emergency over dangerous roads would come with funding for infrastructure improvements. I am really thrilled that this is happening, said Deb Banks, executive director of Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates. But without funding, its just fake promises. Vice Mayor Caity Maple submitted the paperwork Tuesday to begin the process of proposing a state of emergency on pedestrian and cyclist safety on city streets; next, it will be heard at a committee meeting. On Sunday, the latest victim of what Maple called a crisis Azure Daniels, 48 died of her injuries in the hospital. She was fatally struck Thursday night while crossing Sutterville Road. The city has previously identified reducing driver speeds on Sutterville as a community priority, but has not yet done so. In 2017, Sacramento officials made a Vision Zero promise to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries on city streets by 2027, but the death toll remains high. In 2024, The Sacramento Bee has covered the deaths of 21 people on city streets, including 14 pedestrians and cyclists and two young women on scooters. The speakers who lined up for their turn during public comment Tuesday night said they supported a state of emergency but that the draft resolution included strategies police enforcement and public education which would not address the root of the problem: dangerous road design. Maples initial draft, submitted with the support of Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Councilwoman Karina Talamantes, includes language directing the Sacramento Police Department to step up enforcement on driver behavior that endangers pedestrians. Kiara Reed, executive director of the transportation advocacy organization Civic Thread, told council members Tuesday that such a strategy would be ineffective. Mary Murigi carries pictures of her daughter Michelle at a Sacramento City Unified press conference celebrating a new traffic signal on May 9, 2014. Murigis daughter was killed in 2012 while crossing Fruitridge Road on her way to school. Manny Crisostomo/Sacramento Bee file Commenters say police and public education are band-aids Isaac Gonzalez, vice chair of the citys Active Transportation Commission and founder of Slow Down Sacramento, pointed out that infrastructure can physically force drivers to slow 24/7, whereas police may influence drivers to slow down only when they are present and drivers notice them. When collisions happen at slower speeds, they are much less likely to result in death or debilitating injury. Research overwhelmingly points to roadway design as the most effective measure to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from traffic collisions. This should be the priority: Roadway design, Reed said. I urge you to reject an increase in policing. In a news conference with reporters on Monday, city staff provided reporters with data on more than 200 deadly pedestrian crashes over the past 12 years. The data showed that about two out of three fatal pedestrian collisions were considered the pedestrians fault in the eyes of police not the drivers fault. I urge you, Reed said, to dedicate general funds to the public works department. Currently, the city budget includes few outlays for the Department of Public Works to pursue safety projects. Street improvement projects are typically funded by competitive grants meaning staff must apply for and win money. In June, the city council declined to include $10 million in the budget to fund the Active Transportation Commissions 10 recommendations, most of which were directly related to improving the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. Another speaker, cyclist Sherry Martinez, said that after her serious crash, the criminal justice response was painfully slow. Martinez was severely injured when a driver ran her over in midtown last summer, but it took the Sacramento County District Attorneys Office almost a year to file criminal charges. Prosecutors filed charges after Martinez spoke at public meetings and to CBS13 in May. My faith in the justice system has been tested, she told the council. She added that bike trails also needed more funding. Dan Allison, a former Safe Routes to School coordinator and a transit advocate, also criticized the public education component of the draft resolution, which called for funding an awareness campaign. Drivers know theyre violating the law, and theyre encouraged to violate the law by our roadway design, Allison said. What we really need to fix is not drivers attitudes. We need to fix our roadways. Gonzalez and others asked the city to prioritize quick-build strategies, which include targeted, low-cost rapid interventions to address safety problems. The draft resolution calls for quick-build solutions, echoing prior calls from councilwoman Katie Valenzuela. The stakes are high, Gonzalez said. He referenced more than 100 people who have been killed in traffic collisions in Sacramento County this year. On city streets, The Bee has reported that Mattie Nicholson, 56; Kate Johnston, 55; Jeffrey Blain, 59; Aaron Ward, 40; Sam Dent, 41; Terry Lane, 55; David Rink, 51; Tyler Vandehei, 32; James Lind, 54; Jose Valladolid Ramirez, 36; Larry Winters, 76; Sau Voong, 84; Jose Luis Silva, 55; and Muhammad Saddique, 64; and Daniels, 48, were killed by drivers while walking or biking. Geohaira Geo Sosa, 32, and Kaylee Xiong, 18, were fatally struck while riding electric scooters. Restaurant reopening in Youngstown with new name, concept YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A new Italian restaurant is almost ready to open in Youngstown. Read next: Popular local clothing company coming to Eastwood Mall Signs are now up on the former Bistro, claiming its new name of Casa di Canzonetta. Its set to open to customers on September 30. Owner Mark Canzonetta says its the same space, same address, but a new chapter. Right now, the restaurant is hiring line chefs, dishwashers, and hosts or hostesses. You can stop by to apply in person Wednesday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Its located in the DoubleTree hotel on E. Federal Plaza. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Which restaurants should you check out in western Massachusetts on National Cheeseburger Day? CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) September 18th is National Cheeseburger Day, which honors Americas favorite sandwich with a slice of cheese. PHOTOS: Supermoon and lunar eclipse light up sky Tuesday According to the National Day Calendar, there are several theories as to when the cheeseburger was first created. One of the theories suggests that Lionel Sternberger invented the cheeseburger in 1926 while he worked at his fathers Pasadena, California sandwich shop called The Rite Spot. During one of his experiments, he dropped a slice of American cheese on a sizzling hamburger. Many others claim that they invented the cheeseburger, such as a restaurant in Los Angeles called ODells and how they placed the cheeseburger on their menu in 1928. It came smothered with chili, all for a quarter. To celebrate this food holiday, Yelp has put together a list of the top places to get a cheeseburger in western Massachusetts: 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. Oleksandr Usyk, the world heavyweight champion, made light of the incident when he thanked Polish police for conducting their obligations with no regards to height, weight, reach and regalia - AP/Jose Breton Oleksandr Usyk was detained by Polish police after protesting false accusations by Ryanair staff that a friend he was travelling with was too drunk to board a plane, his promoter has told Telegraph Sport. Footage of the Ukrainian heavyweight world champion being led away in handcuffs at Krakow Airport has sparked a diplomatic incident, with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky saying he was outraged at the treatment of one of his countrys biggest stars. Zelensky said he had ordered senior ministers to find out all the details about the detention of Usyk, who was released soon afterwards. Usyks promoter, Alex Krassyuk, has now given the boxers version of Tuesday nights extraordinary events in Poland, revealing an apology and compensation was now being sought from the airline. Krassyuk said Usyk, who beat Tyson Fury to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in May, and his friend had driven more than 11 hours from Ukraine capital Kyiv to Krakow to catch Ryanair Buzz flight FR2777 to Thessaloniki. He said Usyks friend had fallen asleep after arriving at the airport and that the boxer woke his companion when it was time to board the plane. But after Usyk had gone through the passport and boarding pass check, he found that his friend had been refused permission to join him. Krassyuk said that when Usyk sought an explanation from Ryanair staff, they would not provide one. The police were then called and Usyk refused to board without his friend, at which point he was threatened with detention. Krassyuk said Usyk voluntarily held out his hands and was cuffed and led away, while his friend was checked for alleged deep alcohol intoxication. According to Krassyuk, the check was negative. In the meantime, Ukraines consul general in Krakow arrived to come to Usyks aid, with Zelensky posting a picture of the pair shaking hands following the boxers release. I spoke with Oleksandr Usyk on the phone after he was detained. I was disappointed by this attitude towards our citizen and champion. I instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, to pic.twitter.com/LNKcH0OupR Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) September 17, 2024 The incident forced Usyk and his friend to spend the night in Poland before catching a flight on Wednesday afternoon to Thessaloniki. Krassyuk said: It is difficult to say whether the lunar eclipse clouded the consciousness of the employees of the airline and the police, or the desire to get to know the champion. So, thank God, the incident is over. We will wait for an official apology and compensation from the airline Ryanair and the explanations from the Polish law enforcement officers. Zelensky posted on X: I was outraged by this attitude towards our citizen and champion. Ive instructed the minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha and the minister of internal affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko to immediately find out all the details of the incident at the Krakow airport. As soon as I was informed that everything is fine, our champion was released and no one is detaining him anymore. Usyk thanks police for ignoring height, weight and reach Usyk himself made light of the incident, posting: Dear Friends. A misunderstanding took place. It was quickly resolved. Thanks to all who got concerned. Thanks to Ukrainian diplomats for the efficient support. And respect to Polish police for conducting their obligations with no regards to height, weight, reach and regalia. Ryanair declined to comment on the account provided by Krassyuk but said in a statement that Usyks friend had been correctly refused boarding due to his disruptive behaviour. It added: This passengers travel companion was not refused boarding [Mr Usyk]), however, chose not to board. Once boarding was complete, the airport gate agent called for assistance where these passengers were met by airport police. Usyk is expected to travel to London this week to attend Saturdays fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois for the IBF title the Ukrainian vacated this summer. Ryanair: Its not that easy to identify people who are inebriated The incident occurred three weeks after Ryanair chief Michael OLeary told The Telegraph he wanted a two-drinks-per-passenger limit imposed at airport bars to combat drunken disorder on flights. Instances of in-flight violence have surged this summer with attacks now occurring on a weekly basis, OLeary said. While assaults on cabin crew are of most concern, confrontations between passengers have become increasingly common, according to OLeary. He blamed a combination of alcohol with powder and tablets. OLeary said: Its not that easy for airlines to identify people who are inebriated at the gate, particularly if they are boarding with two or three others. As long as they can stand up and shuffle, they will get through. Then when the plane takes off, we see the misbehaviour. We dont want to begrudge people having a drink. But we dont allow people to drink-drive. Yet, we keep putting them up in aircraft at 33,000 feet. 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. Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, says allowing flexible working and working from home creates a more productive, loyal workforce. How does he know? Mr Reynolds is a solicitor by training and has never run a business as far as we can tell. Neither, indeed, have any of his Cabinet colleagues and yet they have taken it upon themselves to back a new deal for workers which will make it harder to make a profit and help grow the economy. Mr Reynolds is preparing an Employment Rights Bill, which includes measures such as a right to disconnect outside working hours, a ban on zero-hours contracts and allowing workers to compress their contracted hours into fewer working days. Mr Reynolds has dismissed the concerns of business leaders even though he has no real clue whether this will impact on productivity or not. In fact, in the public sector where remote working has been most prominent, productivity is six per cent below its pre-pandemic peak. Officials in parts of Whitehall like HMRC come in only one or two days a week to the frustration of people who need help. If it is more productive, why is it often harder to get in touch with someone working from home than in the office? Company executives and entrepreneurs are irritated to be lectured on wealth creation by a party whose entire focus seems to be on the public sector. There is always a role for hybrid working and some businesses thrive this way. More people work from home in the UK than elsewhere in Europe but these practices should be a matter between employers and staff, not for the state to decree. 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. RI offering rebates for home energy efficiency upgrades: Are you eligible? PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm was in Rhode Island on Tuesday to announce a new program to help residents make their homes more energy efficient. Granholm, Gov. Dan McKee and the states congressional delegation announced Rhode Island is receiving nearly $32 million in federal funding for the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) program. The goal, officials said, is to help reduce Rhode Islanders monthly energy bills, along with the states carbon footprint. RELATED: RI Energy electricity rates likely to spike again this winter; lower than last year The program is being administered by the R.I. Office of Energy Resources (OER). At first, it will be open to low-income households, but officials said rebates will eventually be available to moderate-income households as well. Participants will be able to get discounts for making home energy improvements and installing new energy-efficient appliances like heat pump clothes dryers and electric stoves, ranges and ovens. Residents can find out if theyre eligible by requesting a free home energy audit through their local Community Action Agency. Find your Community Action Agency The rebates will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis, officials said. The low-income rebates include: $2,500 for electric wiring $4,000 for electric load service centers $1,840 for ENERGY STAR appliances The moderate-income rebates include: $1,250 for electric wiring $2,000 for electric load service centers $420 for ENERGY STAR appliances For more information, call (401) 714-3484 or email karen.bradbury@energy.ri.gov. 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. EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) The R.I. Department of Transportation has stopped demolition on the defunct westbound Washington Bridge, which state officials said is necessary to preserve evidence in its ongoing legal battle. State officials didnt immediately provide a timeline for when the demolition could resume, casting a question mark over when the high-profile infrastructure project will get underway again. The goal is to be able to continue demolition as swiftly as possible while ensuring important evidence is preserved, RIDOT spokesperson Charles St. Martin explained. St. Martin added that the temporary closure of Waterfront Drive, which was slated to begin Tuesday, will not happen as a result. The work has stopped just weeks after a construction company began tearing down the structurally deficient bridge earlier this month, much to the dismay of some who live nearby. TARGET 12: Legal battle could reveal if RI officials share blame for Washington Bridge failure The evidence state officials said now needs to be preserved is tied to its ongoing lawsuit filed earlier this summer against 13 companies. State attorneys allege the companies, which all worked on the bridge over the past decade, failed to identify and address the bridges worsening structural issues over the years. The bridge closed abruptly without notice last December after an engineer discovered a structural issue state leaders determined could have resulted in an immediate failure. The estimated cost to demolish and rebuild the westbound bridge is quickly approaching $500 million. The Washington Bridge has been plagued by traffic backups in both directions for months, causing headaches for both commuters and lawmakers in charge of fixing the problem. The bridge needs to be completely rebuilt and is expected to be out of commission until at least 2026. Its unclear how the latest delay will affect that timeline. The westbound lanes have since been shifted onto the eastbound side of the bridge, since it is an entirely different structure that hasnt been impacted by the closure. The state still hasnt solicited bids for a development company to rebuild the westbound side. A first effort to hire a company failed earlier this year when no business offered to do the work. The state hired Aetna Bridge Co. to do the demo work at the same time its naming the company as one of the 13 defendants in the ongoing lawsuit. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking 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 WPRI.com. 'Like ripping my insides' - fears hysteroscopy guidelines not enough Wendy McLean was due to start her seventh round of IVF when her doctor said she needed a hysteroscopy a procedure to examine the inside of her uterus. It was sold to me as a smear test, basically. A thin narrow camera up through your cervix. "Itll take minutes. You wont need pain relief. Youll be absolutely fine, she said. Wendy, 38, took over-the-counter pain killers before the outpatient procedure at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in case it was uncomfortable, but this did not prepare her for what happened. 'Clawed, like sharp nails' It felt like getting a hot poker, like getting my insides ripped out. I think I described it to somebody before as like being clawed, like sharp nails, just ripping at my insides. Wendy said she lost consciousness twice, vomited and asked for the procedure to be stopped. It was only when searching online she discovered thousands of other women had had similar experiences of painful hysteroscopies without anaesthetic. NHS Grampian said they were sorry to hear about Wendys experience and encouraged her to get in touch with their feedback team. It shouldn't be happening, Ms McLean said. I never realised it was happening to so many people. I thought I was a rarity, I thought I was different and awkward and I was embarrassed. [BBC] What is a hysteroscopy? A hysteroscopy is a procedure to examine the inside of the uterus by passing a thin telescope-like device through the cervix. Its described as the "gold standard" in diagnosing gynaecological conditions including cancer. It is used to investigate problems like heavy periods and post-menopausal bleeding. Doctors can also perform biopsies and remove fibroids or polyps. According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), a third of those undergoing a hysteroscopy report pain levels of seven or above out of 10. It says patients should be offered local or general anaesthesia for the procedure and their medical history should be taken into account, including trauma or difficulty with smear tests. But despite RCOG producing new clinical guidelines promoting pain relief and choice, many women say they are not being offered it. Procedure was stopped May Hooper could not believe such a painful procedure was being done to women without pain relief [BBC] May Hooper was scheduled to have an ultrasound to investigate post-menopausal bleeding at Stobhill hospital in Glasgow in July 2022. During the procedure she was told further investigations were needed, but she said she was not told she was having a hysteroscopy or offered pain relief. Its indescribable, she said. I really felt as though I was in a medieval torture chamber. That's how it felt. It's just that, I can't believe you're doing that to women. I had every indication under the sun for them not to do that. Ms Hooper asked for the procedure to be stopped and it was rescheduled this time under general anaesthetic. The 73-year-old has complained to her health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC). She is now fighting for women to be given more information about the risk of pain and pain relief options including general anaesthetic. It is a very important diagnostic procedure, absolutely, but it does not have to be painful. This is 2024 - we're not living in the 1600s. NHSGGC told BBC Scotland News it would not comment on an individual case but said it followed all appropriate national guidelines while striving to ensure patients needs were met as treatments progress, with alternative pathways available if required. Dr Lucky Saraswat says the procedure is not painful for the vast majority of women but they should be allowed to make an informed choice [BBC] Dr Lucky Saraswat is a consultant gynaecologist in Aberdeen, who trains doctors on how to perform hysteroscopies. She says the procedure is not painful for the vast majority of women but its important for patients to know they are in control. She said: "We just have to help people make an informed choice of how they want to do it. "Some people wouldn't want to have an anaesthetic, as the anaesthetic is not without risks either. So, a lot of people choose to have it done in outpatient settings. Some will make a choice of having an anaesthetic." Campaigners claim the new clinical Green Top Guidelines minimise the risk of pain that patients may experience. Dr Geeta Kumar, consultant gynaecologist and vice president of RCOG, said they had listened to patients concerns. Clear accurate written and verbal information must be provided, both at the time of referral, and at the procedure appointment, she said. This will support a woman to make an informed choice, including whether they want to proceed with the procedure and if so, their preferences for treatment setting and pain relief options. Katharine Tylko, from the Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy, said: It will have no impact whatsoever, apart from a few very conscientious and compassionate fighting-types of gynaecologist - young women who will say We want decent care for our patients. "These guidelines are not mandatory. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Kevin Ritz announced his resignation Wednesday as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, two days after he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Ritz, a Memphis native, has served as the U.S. Attorney for the 22-county district since September 2022. He was nominated by President Joe Biden. In March, President Biden nominated him for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Congressman Steve Cohen, who recommended Ritz to Biden, praised his confirmation Monday. I have not known of an individual for judicial appointment that has had more superlatives brought to my attention from both Democrats and Republicans, Cohen wrote on his official website. His conduct as an attorney before the Sixth Circuit has drawn praise from the judges on that Court, one of whose Republican members told me he would be a perfect fit for the circuit. Ritz received his J.D. from the University of Virginia, his M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and his B.A. with High Distinction from the University of Virginia. He is a graduate of White Station High 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 WREG.com. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) The Rochester Museum and Science Center is hosting their Annual Fantastic Findings Sale. Everything from treasures and collectibles to jewelry and toys are up for grabs. Organizers described the two-fold purpose behind this sale helping guests discover beautiful furniture and art while supporting RMSC. The official sales dont start until Thursday, but folks can head over to the Museum and Science Center tomorrow night from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. for a preview sale. Entry for the preview sale Wednesday is $10, and then entry will be free for the rest of the event. For hours and more information, you can visit their 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 RochesterFirst. Milwaukee voters go to the polls on Election Day 2022 | Photo by Isiah Holmes Milwaukee voters go to the polls on Election Day 2022 | Photo by Isiah Holmes The Republican National Committee has filed a lawsuit against the city of Racine, claiming the city didnt hire enough Republican poll workers for the August primary election. The lawsuit comes as skirmishes between the two major parties over voting ramp up with less than 50 days before Election Day. Filed on Friday, the suit states that the city didnt allow 47 poll workers nominated by the Republican party and approved by the Racine Common Council to work the polls in August. The party nominated 55 people to serve as election workers in that election. Despite being qualified, nominated, and appointed, the Plaintiffs were neither contacted by the City Clerk nor scheduled by the City Clerk to work as election inspectors for the August 13th Partisan Primary, the lawsuit states. Republicans have promised a massive effort to watch the polls this fall after baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen spread through the partys leadership and voting base. Earlier this year, the party launched an effort to get 100,000 lawyers and volunteers watching elections to ensure transparency and fairness. After the election, the RNC filed an open records request with the city, learning that in the August election, the city used eight Republicans, seven Democrats and 90 people with no political affiliation to work the polls. The lawsuit names two people the party had nominated to work the polls but werent contacted by the city ahead of the election. It claims the Wisconsin Elections Commission has repeatedly instructed municipal clerks that election inspectors nominated by the Democratic and Republican Parties must be given priority before any unaffiliated individuals are selected or scheduled to work polling locations as election inspectors. In a statement, Racine City Clerk Tara McMenamin said the city is committed to hiring election officials who meet all statutory requirements, irrespective of political affiliation. In anticipation of potential increases in meritless litigation leading up to the presidential election, we are steadfast in maintaining consistent standards, the statement said. We will continue to adhere to all state and federal laws and provide comprehensive training to ensure that all election officials are fully qualified and well prepared to serve City residents on this upcoming Election Day. The lawsuit asks that the two nominated poll workers who werent asked to work in August be included in November. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A 44-year-old road construction worker was killed in a crash two miles east of Wessington on U.S. Highway 14 Tuesday afternoon. According to a news release from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, the crash happened at 12:55 p.m. involving two vehicles and a woman construction flagger. SF therapist sentenced for sexual assault on patient Officials say the flagger was directing westbound traffic to slow down and stop when a pickup truck stopped as directed before getting hit by a driver of another truck traveling the same direction. The larger truck collided with the pickup truck first, then struck the woman working as a flagger. The worker died from her injuries and the two drivers had minor injuries and were transported to a hospital. The crash remains under investigation. Officials did not say whether charges are pending in the crash. The name of the victim has not been released pending notification of family 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 KELOLAND.com. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Rochester police named their first suspect Wednesday in the shooting which left two dead and five others injured at Maplewood Park on July 28. Niger Johnson, 20, is wanted for reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon. Police said they had evidence that he fired a handgun in the park during the shooting, but as of Wednesday he was not directly accused of firing the shots which hit any of the victims. photo via RPD Rochester Police Captain Frank Umbrino said investigators identified at least 16 people who they believe were armed in Maplewood Park on the afternoon of the shooting. They believe 40 to 50 gunshots were fired from at least nine different handguns. Umbrino said the majority of those who police believe were armed at the scene have been identified, but so far only Johnson has been named as a suspect. When youre talking about this many guns, this many gunshots fired, its obviously very challenging, Umbrino said. With Mr. Johnson, we can prove that he was armed with an operable working handgun, and we can prove where he was when he actually fired that handgun. Umbrino said investigators believe Johnson is evading police. Anyone with information leading to his arrest can contact investigators at (585) 428-9910 and may receive a cash reward. Police have released a number of photographs from the scene in the weeks since the shooting, but investigators have declined to name any other suspects in that time, saying only that they wanted to find persons of interest. Watch the full police briefing Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DOUGLAS COUNTY, Mo. A man from Rogersville, Missouri was arrested by law enforcement in Douglas County after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend on Monday. Todd Chance mugshot courtesy of Douglas County Sheriffs Office Todd Chance, 38, is charged with six felonies, including first-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action, possession of a controlled substance, residing arrest for a felony, tampering with physical evidence in felony prosecution and delivery or possession of a controlled substance at a county jail. According to the probable cause statement, Douglas County deputies and Ava police responded to a report of a woman appearing disoriented and injured in the area of Rodeo Lane in Ava, with injuries to her face and neck. Newton County man charged with abusing infant The victim told police that she had exited from a moving vehicle on eastbound Highway 14 driven by her boyfriend, later identified as Chance, after he allegedly assaulted her and strangled her with a seatbelt and her purse. She was later taken to Cox South Springfield for her injuries. Officers located Chance at a family members residence on Highway Y in Douglas County. The property owner told law enforcement that they were told by Chance that he had beaten his girlfriend and she jumped from the truck. Chance was then transported to Douglas County Jail with a cash-only bond set at $100,000. A search of Chances truck revealed a glass pipe that tested positive for methamphetamine and that the seatbelt Chance allegedly used to assault the victim was wiped clean by a bandana. Online court records say Chance was previously charged with first-degree harassment, three counts of possessing a controlled substance, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tilvar says the countries of the Bucharest Nine (B9) "are deeply concerned" by numerous instances of Russian drones and missiles entering the Alliances airspace and a "decisive" response from NATO is required. Source: European Pravda, citing Romanian media outlet Digi24 Details: Tilvar made this statement at a press conference on 18 September following a meeting of the B9 defence ministers held in Romanias Palace of the Parliament. He said the B9 format "plays a key role in forming the collective approach of NATOs eastern flank". Tilvar confirmed that the security situation in the Black Sea region remains "concerning", referring to the "ever-changing set of threats" caused first and foremost by Russias aggressive actions: hybrid tactics such as disinformation, cyberattacks, and ongoing efforts to destabilise the Black Sea region and the entire eastern flank of NATO. "The B9 countries are deeply concerned by the numerous incursions of Russian drones and missiles into NATO airspace in Poland, Romania and Latvia, and by the escalation of tension along NATOs borders," Tilvar said. "This is why a decisive and well-coordinated decision at the Alliance level is needed, and NATOs Rotational Model for Integrated Air and Missile Defence must be urgently implemented." Tilvar noted that coordination related to support for Ukraine was discussed at the meeting, "so that Ukrainian armed forces have the resources they need for the front line". He also called for support for Moldova's integration into the EU, which he said was "an investment in the security of the Black Sea region and Europe". Background: Earlier in September, a Russian attack drone was recorded as having crashed in Latvia. The drone, which was equipped with explosives, had reportedly flown in from the territory of Belarus. Following this and other Russian drone crashes in Romania, NATO has once again reopened the discussion about how it should respond to such incidents in its airspace. Support UP or become our patron! Romania called on Sept. 18 for a "robust and coordinated" response by NATO to Russian drones violating allied airspace during attacks against Ukraine. Speaking at a meeting of the Bucharest Nine (B9) format, Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar called for "enforcing the rotational air defense and integrated anti-missile model as soon as possible." On several occasions, Romanian authorities have uncovered drone wreckage near their border with Ukraine in the Danube River region. Airspace violations by Russian drones or missiles have been reported also by Moldova, Latvia, and Poland. According to available information, none of the said countries attempted to intercept Russian projectiles. "The B9 states are deeply concerned about the repeated incursions of Russian drones and missiles into NATO airspace in Poland, Romania, and Latvia, as well as the escalation of tensions along NATO's borders," Tilvar said during a press briefing after a B9 meeting in Bucharest. "That is why a robust and coordinated response at the allied level is necessary, as well as enforcing the rotational air defense and integrated anti-missile model as soon as possible." The B9 format includes nine Central and Eastern European members of NATO and EU: Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Tilvar also noted a "worrying" situation in the Black Sea region and a "set of constantly evolving threats" connected mainly to Russia's hybrid warfare, disinformation, and cyber attacks. The B9 meeting discussed allied support for Ukraine so that "the Ukrainian Armed Forces have the necessary resources at the front," the minister added. Romania has supported Ukraine throughout the full-scale war, providing artillery, armored vehicles, ammunition, and other aid. Bucharest also hosts a facility for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and pledged to deliver a Patriot air defense system to boost Ukraine's sky shield. In his first official trip abroad since taking office, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visit Romania earlier on Sept. 18 as the first leg of his European tour. "We are grateful for Romania's steadfast support from the very start of Russian full-scale aggression," Sybiha said. Read also: Romania condemns Russias deliberate attack on cargo ship carrying Ukrainian grain Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Roy Rogers closes only Greater Cincinnati location after less than 2 years Roy Rogers has closed its sole Greater Cincinnati location after less than two years in business. The franchise's Cleves restaurant, at 151 Cooper Ave., opened in February 2023 returning to the Cincinnati area the Western-themed fast-food chain, named after the Cincinnati-born singer and actor. "However, despite the warm welcome and hard work from our team, sales have not met the expectations needed to sustain operations, Becky Matheny, a Roy Rogers franchise representative, said in a news release announcing the closure. The company said there are plans to open a Roney's restaurant in the former Roy Rogers location. The franchise previously announced plans for additional Roy Rogers locations in Hamilton, Butler and Clermont counties in Southwest Ohio; Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties in Northern Kentucky, and Dearborn County in Southeast Indiana. The release did not address whether the closure of the Cleves location will impact those plans. The chain has 37 restaurants, most of which are in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, according to its website. Who was Roy Rogers? Rogers was born in a tenement on Second Street in 1911, where Riverfront Stadium was later constructed. The stadium, later named Cinergy Field, was home to the Reds and Bengals for 30 years. Rogers often joked that he was born on second base. 1952: Roy Rogers, right, with is wife Dale Evans, left, and horse Trigger, center. He later became a Western star, appearing in over 100 films and numerous radio and TV episodes of "The Roy Rogers Show." Rogers died in 1998. Rogers lent his name to the fast-food chain, which was founded by Big Boy franchisees as RoBee's House of Roast Beef in 1968. They were acquired by Marriott and later sold to Hardee's parent company, Imasco. The remaining non-franchised Roy Rogers were converted into Hardee's restaurants. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Roy Rogers shutters only Greater Cincinnati location. Roney's planned KENNEBUNK, Maine Kennebunk High School Spanish teacher Laura Latinski said she has been teaching for a decade in the district and really wants "to stay here" with RSU 21, but it's getting harder. "My rent in the last five years has doubled, and currently, with the rising cost of everything else, groceries, my savings isnt growing Im 40 years old, she said. "I want to be able to contribute to my family, I want to be less vulnerable with my savings account if I have an emergency. I really want to stay, and its not too late to make a good contract that could help us want to stay and retain staff. I want to be here. Parents and teachers applauded comments given by the public in support of giving teachers raises and questioning the board's recent hiring of director of human resource with $138,000 annual salary. Latinski was one of nearly 50 teachers and parents who came out Tuesday for a special School Board meeting to voice their displeasure that teachers have been working without a new contract since Aug. 31. Negotiations for a new contract between the Kennebunk Arundel Kennebunkport Educators Association and the RSU 21 School Board began in December 2023. Both sides recently agreed to bring an outside mediator to help resolve their differences. School Board Chair Lesley Stoeffler said Tuesday that RSU 21 and the union have made progress in negotiations but noted that "it takes two to tango," which sparked groans from the audience. "I'm just saying it takes two parties to get to the end of the program," Stoeffler said. "So, having been in that room, I can tell you that we are making our best good-faith effort to get this resolved." Melissa McCue-McGrath carrying a neon pink sign calling for "Inclusion." Tuesday's meeting was called to allow the public to speak after they were silenced during last weeks workshop meeting, where public comment was restricted to agenda items. The board listened to 30 minutes of public comment as scheduled Tuesday, and then voted to extend the session by 15 minutes. After 45 minutes, Stoeffler called for a motion to adjourn. Despite some attendees wanting to speak and a few board members being open to continuing the discussion, Stoeffler adjourned the meeting without a board vote. Those who spoke, some dressed in red in support of the movement "Red for Ed," reiterated teachers are leaving the district at a high rate due to low pay and morale, even though the district says the number of staff departures are on par with other school districts in Maine. Parents of RSU 21 students created bright neon signs for teachers and other parents to hold during the School Board meeting Tuesday, Sept. 17. Others noted that teachers do not feel respected and supported by the administration and fear they will suffer consequences if they speak up and challenge the administration. Pay and "prep-time" before class appear to be the two main issues teachers want addressed in a new contract. Parent Melissa McCue-McGrath said, according to the school board agendas, there have been 50-plus departures from RSU 21 since June 2023. "We were told that many retired," she said. "Seven retired over 50 employees who departed this district. That is not many. That is less than 14%." More: Ex-RSU 21 principal speaks out against School Boards 'controversial' HR director hiring Erin Lehaine, a parent who was also in the RSU 21 school system, said she began noticing that teachers of the district werent being supported when she enrolled her daughter in middle school three years ago. She said it resulted in her taking her daughter out of the school system, which pains her greatly. The thing that Ive seen that has been the most disturbing is mostly around the lack of support for teachers, the lack of fair pay for teachers," she said. "These are the people with the hardest job in the community, they are vital for the children, they are vital for the community. The way that they have been treated in contract negotiations, the fact that they had to go to school without a contract the fact that these teachers are continuing to go to work and work as hard as they do for our kids is a testament to their commitment to this community. Lehaine urged the board to respect our teachers and finalize a contract that reflects their value, or just get out of the way. Kennebunk High School teacher Paula Reetz pointed out RSU 21 teachers of the same level are getting paid nearly $16,000 less than those in nearby Falmouth. She noted the enrollment is similar but noted RSU 21's school budget is nearly $10 million higher. Paula Reetz, a Kennebunk High School teacher, comparing teachers' salary and school budget between RSU 21 and Falmouth. This is one district, said Reetz. My colleagues, who were phenomenal teachers who walked out of Kennebunk High School, every one of them who didnt retire, left to go and earn between $10,000 to $20,000 more a year at neighboring districts with fewer students, with prep time that is written in their contract. Nearly 50 teachers, all dressed in solidarity in red and bright neon signs in hand, marching into the School Board Meeting Tuesday, Sept. 17. Public criticizes hiring of former school board member as new HR director Others criticized board members for their lack of communication and transparency, citing having to file FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests for yes or no questions, and accused Superintendent Terri Cooper of prioritizing human resources and public relations over supporting educators. They pointed to the recent "rush" hiring of former school board member Dawn Therrien as the new human resources director with a $137,917 salary. Parents of RSU 21 students created bright neon signs for teachers and other parents to hold during the School Board meeting Tuesday, Sept. 17. Kennebunk High School teacher Erin Boggs questioned the board about the kind of message they are sending to kids "about the value of education and those who provide that service." The district was able to rush for the hire for an HR position due to a sense of urgency because delaying the hiring of Harrisons (the former HR director) would have negative consequences for the district, she said. But simultaneously, we are lagging on negotiating teachers' contracts. Does that not have negative consequences for the district as well? Former school board member Bob Domine noted there are only three other school districts in Maine with a human resource director, Bangor, Lewiston and Portland. Tony Michaud, a music teacher at Mildred L. Day School, holding up a neon green "Equity" sign as other teachers enter the School Board meeting at Kennebunk Elementary School Tuesday, Sept. 17. RSU 21, he said, is one-third of the size of the Portland Community School citing the National Center for Educational Statistics. HR director salary in Portland Community School is $128,000, our RSU 21 human resources salary is $138,000, he said. Does it make any sense to anybody that a district a third the size of Portland has to spend more money trying to nail down the very basic HR function? Does it seem to any reasonable person, like the ringmaster of this circus, knows what shes doing?" Kennebunk Elementary School teacher Ashley Baker-Koch recounted a recent active shooter emergency training she and other teachers participated in. She said she was learning to put a tourniquet on herself in case she got shot when the school district's communications director who makes "double what I make" took her photo and posted it on social media. "It felt like PR, it didn't feel like it gave the gravitas to the subject matter of what we were learning that day from our school resource officers and local fire departments," she said. "We are coming to school without a contract to literally take bullets for the children if we had to. I just wanted to share that because I think it really puts things in perspective on how we should be valuing our students and teachers, and maybe spending a little less time on positive spin PR." More: RSU 21 chair defends hiring of ex-School Board member as HR director Public irked over the School Board ending meeting The abrupt ending of the meeting sparked criticism. One board member said she wanted to make a statement but was ignored by the chair. "We are finished," said Stoeffler. "Everyone has had their turn. Please sit down. We are done. It's been 45 minutes, and I want to say I'm pleased to hear a lot about the accomplishments of our district. We had this meeting in particular to talk about your concerns and we have done so. I realize that a lot of you, don't particularly, are for the adherence of policy, however, I want you to understand that's part of the deal. When you are on the board you are supposed to be adhering to policy." The board has scheduled an emergency meeting on Sept. 19 for an executive session to talk with the district's attorney regarding labor negotiations. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: RSU 21 teachers voice frustration over stalled contract talks RUSSELL SPRINGS, Ky. (FOX 56) Russell County has been shocked to its core after losing one of its own, and community members are picking up the pieces to honor Deputy Joshua Phipps life. In Jamestown, people have been laying flowers on Phipps truck throughout the day. Many of them were visibly heartbroken. Those who knew him said it would be difficult to move forward from this loss. Just to lose him; we lost a big part. We lost a big part, said Deputy Sheriff Jackie Grider. Grider told FOX 56 that he worked with Phipps for a few years. He said that he was so easy to get along with and a very hard worker. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: He had a passion for serving the people. He had a passion for what he did. And just a hero. Just a hero, but he was a very likable, very workable type of person. Not overzealous, just a great guy, Grider said. Russell County Schools Superintendent Michael Ford said the shooting incident unfolded about a mile down the road from the countys middle and high schools. Several of the students and their families live in that area. Due to the impact on those that live there, school leaders cancelled classes on Tuesday and instead opened their buildings to families in need of someone to talk to. Theyre ours many times for many hours a day, said Ford. And you never lose that. You know, if you see a student ten years from now, theyre still your student. And its just those connections with them that are a responsibility. Russell County Schools had counselors available for anyone who needed a safe space to process this tragedy. School personnel also visited nearby neighborhoods to check on families and provide a meal. We need them ready to learn, but they cant be ready to learn unless they know that they are loved, and they are safe and they are being taken care of, said Cindy Damron, director of pupil personnel. And we just wanted to express that to them today. Read more of the latest Kentucky news The district mental health specialist, Macayla Vaughan, said Deputy Phipps was very passionate about helping youth in the community. I can only say over and over again that you have people that care about you, but to have somebody embody that and show that to their community and show his heart every day means so much more because actions always speak louder than words, Vaughn said. Were going to carry on his legacy, and were going to push and take care of business, added Grider. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Russia claims large-scale drone attack: 54 UAVs shot down, but ammunition depot in Toropets not mentioned video A fire in Toropets after a drone attack. Local residents noted that an ammunition depot was attacked. Screenshot: video on Telegram The Russian Ministry of Defence has said that Russia was attacked by dozens of Ukrainian drones, 54 of which were supposedly shot down over different Russias oblasts. However, the ministry did not mention Tver Oblast, where drones targeted an ammunition depot, causing a fire and detonations. Source: Russian Ministry of Defence on Telegram Quote: "Another 54 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defence assets." Details: It is reported that 27 drones were supposedly shot down over Russias Kursk Oblast, 16 over Bryansk Oblast, 7 over Smolensk Oblast, 3 over Belgorod Oblast, and 1 over Oryol Oblast. It is noteworthy that the Russian Ministry of Defence did not mention Tver Oblast in its report, where explosions were heard at night. . pic.twitter.com/qTexy2D7t5 (@ukrpravda_news) September 18, 2024 Background: A fire and detonation occurred in the town of Toropets in Russias Tver Oblast, following a drone attack on the night of 17-18 September. Igor Rudenya, the governor of Tver Oblast, ordered a partial evacuation of the population. Local residents reported that an ammunition depot was attacked. Videos show a fire and sounds of detonations. In 2018, an arsenal for the integrated storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives was built in the city of Toropets, Russias Tver Oblast. Army General Dmitry Bulgakov, the then Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, said that the arsenal meets the highest international standards. Bulgakov claimed that each storage facility could hold up to 240 tonnes of ammunition. Support UP or become our patron! Thousands of people have been evacuated due to severe floods in Poland. Azernews reports citing Polish Minister of National Defense W?adys?aw Kosyniak-Kamy? announced this on social media. According to the minister, 4,000 people have already been evacuated with the support of the army. Currently, 14,000 soldiers, including 500 military gendarmes, have been deployed to the flood-affected region to combat looting. The Polish army is also forming a special unit of 300 specialists to disinfect flooded buildings. Due to unusually heavy rains, rivers have overflowed their banks in southern Poland, resulting in widespread flooding, as well as deaths and injuries. The Polish government has imposed a state of emergency in the affected areas. Russia is intensifying disinformation campaigns ahead of the US election in November, researchers say. (Jim WATSON) (Jim WATSON/AFP/AFP) Russian operatives are ramping up disinformation operations to malign Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign by disseminating conspiracy-laden videos, Microsoft said Tuesday, amid heightened alert over foreign influence operations targeting the US election. The report comes after the US government accused Russia's state news agency RT earlier this month of seeking to influence the presidential election in November and imposed sanctions on its top editors. Starting in late August, a Kremlin-aligned influence group called Storm-1516 produced two fake videos to discredit the campaign of Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, Microsoft said in a report. Both videos garnered millions of views. One video purported to show a group of alleged Harris supporters attacking a supposed Trump rally attendee, while the second featured an actor peddling fabricated claims that Harris paralyzed a girl in a 2011 hit-and-run case. This second video was disseminated through a website posing as a local San Francisco media outlet, the report said. A second Russian group, known as Storm-1679, pivoted its focus from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to publish false videos discrediting Harris. "The shift to focusing on the Harris-Walz campaign reflects a strategic move by Russian actors aimed at exploiting any perceived vulnerabilities in the candidates," said Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center. "As we inch closer to the election, we should expect Russian actors to continue to use cyber proxies and hacktivist groups to amplify their messages through media websites and social channels geared to spread divisive political content, staged videos, and AI-enhanced propaganda," Watts added. The Microsoft report comes a day before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on foreign threats to the upcoming election. On Monday, tech giant Meta said it was banning Russian state media outlets from its apps around the world due to foreign interference activity. The ban came after the United States accused RT and employees of the state-run outlet of funneling $10 million through shell entities to covertly fund influence campaigns on social media channels including TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube. Earlier this year, the Justice Department said the United States had disrupted a Russian disinformation campaign involving an AI-powered "bot farm" used to create fake profiles on the social media platform X. The campaign -- aimed at sowing "discord" in the United States -- was developed by a senior editor of RT, financed by the Kremlin and aided by an officer of Russia's FSB security service, it added. US officials have also warned of efforts by other foreign powers, including Iran, to meddle in the November election. In a separate report last month, Microsoft said Iran was ramping up efforts to influence the US elections by using fake news sites, hacking, and cyber attacks. ac/dw The total number of affected children may be higher, as Ukraine does not have data from temporarily occupied territories. Photo: Getty Images Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 575 Ukrainian children have been murdered and 1,609 injured as a result of Russian aggression. Source: Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada (Parliamentary) Commissioner for Human Rights, during a meeting with the German Bundestag delegation Quote: "It has been officially determined that 1,609 children were injured and 575 were killed. The real figures may be far worse because we do not have access to data from the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine," the ombudsman said. According to Dmytro Lubinets, Russia continues to cynically and repeatedly violate the Geneva Conventions, which are intended to protect civilians in times of war. In addition, the Russians disregard international standards regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. A sociological survey shows that hostilities had a direct impact on 99% of Ukrainian children. Experts say that such experiences make children more anxious about all aspects of life compared to their peers, including those from other countries that have not experienced such impacts. This significantly increases the feeling of insecurity at home (78%), concerns about their appearance (42%), the number of friends (39%), and the feeling of insecurity outside the home (35%). Support UP or become our patron! Editors note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. POKROVSK DISTRICT, Donetsk Oblast Marked by wide plumes of gray smoke on the horizon, the open fields stretching out southeast of the city of Pokrovsk dont resemble a front line that has stabilized. Following a dirt road between a treeline and a field of drying, unharvested sunflowers, the military car gains speed as it enters the range of enemy suicide drones. There is a safer road to the positions, says artilleryman Andrii, callsign Mazhor, from the front seat, but they take this one, as the smoother ride causes less damage to the units precious fleet of cars. In the absence of the small 3D-printed detectors that many soldiers carry, the artillerymen receive warnings of drones in the air on WhatsApp. For now, the sky is clear, but the longer one spends in the open and the closer one gets to the zero line, the risk from all kinds of threats from the sky as does the volume of the battles nearby only increases. Smoke rises over a field near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 9, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent) Throughout this third summer of Russias full-scale war in Ukraine, this area has consistently been where fighting is at its most intense. Struggling to consolidate resistance along unified lines of defense in the face of waves of infantry assaults covered by dense use of Russian artillery, glide bombs, and drones, Ukrainian forces have been losing territory at a rate not seen since 2022. Since the first break through of Ukrainian defense lines in April near the village of Ocheretyne, Russian forces have advanced over 20 kilometers towards Pokrovsk, with the key logistics hub once considered to be deep in the rear, now gradually coming in range of Russian artillery and suicide drones. Despite Kyivs attempts to draw away Russian forces from Pokrovsk with the surprise incursion into Kursk Oblast, Moscow made sure not to take its foot off the pedal, further intensifying its attacks over August. A map of the Russian offensive on the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast as of Sept. 17, 2024. (Nizar al-Rifai/The Kyiv Independent) Kyiv needed to act quickly and did, transferring brigades both from strategic reserves and less-active sectors into the fight. Andriis unit, Ukraines 15th National Guard Brigade, better known as Kara-Dag, is part of the rescue force. Deployed to Zaporizhzhia Oblast since its formation in early 2023, the brigade was rushed here at the beginning of September to stem the tide of the Russian offensive. At first, the deployment of fresh forces seemed to have a near-immediate effect: On Sept. 5, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed that the Russian offensive had been halted. On the ground though, the situation remains near-critical, and since Syrskyis claim, Russian forces have resumed their advances towards Pokrovsk, while also threatening to encircle a large grouping of Ukrainian forces south of the main salient. Speaking to the Kyiv Independent over a week spent in the area, soldiers testified that the offensive on Pokrovsk had indeed slowed somewhat, giving defending forces priceless breathing room to improve positions and better organize their work. In their words though, with systemic issues in the Ukrainian defense not going anywhere, and an overall manpower shortage that has only gotten more acute, the threat of a renewed Russian push to reach the outskirts of the city remains high. Risky business The howitzer is hidden away carefully from prying eyes in the sky by two layers of concealment: an array of camouflage netting as well as the slowly browning early autumn foliage. This artillery piece, a Msta-B 152mm towed howitzer that was captured from Russian forces during the Kharkiv counteroffensive in September 2022, is now playing a vital role in stopping its original owners. The name Violetta, scrawled in marker on the breech by Russian soldiers, is a stark contrast to the deadly power of the weapon: the 152mm shell was the munition of choice for heavy artillery bombardments on both sides until Ukraine began to transition to mostly NATO-standard ammunition. The availability of shells for guns like these is a problem that has plagued Ukraines artillery for the better part of the war, as old stocks of Soviet-era munitions run dry around the world. But here, in a testament to how important holding Pokrovsk is for Kyiv, the crew from Kara-Dag is supplied with a constant flow of shells, sourced from a number of different countries, including Ukraines fledgling homegrown production facilities. Since their deployment to Selydove a week earlier, rarely does much time go by without a fire mission. Selydove, a city with a pre-war population of about 21,000, forms a formidable physical roadblock to the attacking force. According to Andrii, Russian forces continue to attempt assaults on the city, gathering in the neighboring village of Mykhailivka but have not found success recently. Our work is to rain fire on enemy groupings before they get moving, he said. Because of that, the enemy hasn't moved forward here for two weeks, and the village is full of enemy bodies. At the moment, this crew has been assigned to provide counterbattery fire, targeting the very enemy artillery pieces and drone positions that make life for the Ukrainian infantry around Pokrovsk so perilous. Such an assignment exponentially increases the danger the team is under, as they themselves must push a lot further forward towards the line of contact to bring their targets in range. When the enemy took Memryk (a village just east of Selydove), our guys were working from only two kilometers away from them, said Andrii. On the day the Kyiv Independent visited, the crew had already damaged or destroyed two Russian howitzers that morning, a feat confirmed from the air by Ukrainian reconnaissance drones. Pushed to the limit At a moonlit firing range in an old quarry further in the rear, the silence is broken by the fearsome bursts of large-caliber automatic fire. Here, infantrymen from a fire support company of Ukraines 68th Jaeger Brigade are testing a new flash suppressor for their U.S.-made M2 Browning heavy machine gun. Operating heavy machine guns like the Browning from a kilometer or two behind the zero line, these men should, in theory, be in less danger than those who they are covering. But here in the Pokrovsk sector, Russian forces have advanced so quickly that they often found themselves under direct assault. The fighting is tough, it's very dynamic, said Oleksandr, a 32-year-old machine gunner who declined to give his callsign; very often, you simply have a situation where the front line is moving very quickly. It does seem like things have died down a little over the last two weeks, he added. Before, it felt like basically every mission ended up with us having to change positions, and in some cases, we came into direct contact with the enemy, even though we should be working from further back. An infantryman of the 68th Jaeger Brigade fires a heavy machine gun at a training range in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 8, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent) Deployed to the Pokrovsk sector around the time the Russian offensive accelerated in late spring, the brigade has borne the heavy burden of being at the tip of Moscows attacking spear. Their tactics never change: they attack with quantity, and we fight them off with quality, said Dmytro Volynets, another machine gunner in the company. If we had that many people, that much ammunition, we would have fought all of them off a long time ago, but instead, we have shortages. The infantrymens stories testify to the starkly attritional nature of the fight: although Russias relentless infantry assaults come at a high cost, with enough time and enough fire covering the defending positions, the defenders are inevitably overwhelmed. We can be fighting them off for a while, but eventually our ammunition runs out, said Dmytro, 32. And while they are getting resupplied constantly, we can't do the same, they cover all the routes, and because of that, we have to give up our positions. An infantryman of the 68th Jaeger Brigade poses for a portrait in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 8, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent) Often, as one incident recalled by Oleksandr demonstrated, localized withdrawals of the infantry in front of them, or of neighboring brigades on the flanks, are not reported to them before it is too late. We were at a position, but when our dugout started burning we had to move and dig in somewhere else, he said. We were waiting for a car to get us out, we were joined by two wounded guys from our unit, and suddenly we heard Russian voices. We prepared and soon we were in a close firefight; they came up to about 10 meters from us. In the end, Oleksandrs squad was able to escape by laying down suppressive fire and withdrawing under the cover of darkness. Bitter work With many different units all in various states of combat effectiveness deployed to the Pokrovsk front, effective communication between brigades is a crucial factor that is often lacking , soldiers from both brigades told the Kyiv Independent. One officer of the 68th, who asked not to be identified because of the nature of his comments, said that for months over summer, one of the neighboring brigades would consistently fail to report lost positions, leaving his own units vulnerable from the flank without knowing about it. In our area, there are a lot of different units, and communication between them becomes a big problem, said Oleksandr. You could have 3-4 units fighting in the same sector, but don't have proper communications between them; they have their radio stations encrypted for their own people. But we try, we look at the identification signs, and we always look to find out who it is that is posted next to us. Infantrymen of the 68th Jaeger Brigade load a heavy machine gun at a training range in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 8, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent) With time, fighting in a defensive operation that has been far from under control comes at a heavy cost. Asked about the manpower situation in their infantry battalions, officers from both brigades described it as critical. In the last two months here, to be honest, we have had serious losses. Killed, injured, and taken prisoner, said Olena Tarishchuk, a 39-year-old lieutenant responsible for monitoring the morale and mental state of the fire support companys personnel. We need rest, we need rotation, we basically need support. We don't have enough manpower to carry out our orders. Inevitably, extreme manpower strains, on top of the reluctance of Ukraines higher command to rotate exhausted units off the front line, take their toll on the infantrys morale. An infantryman of the 68th Jaeger Brigade in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 8, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent) In recent times, according to all our consultations and surveys, morale levels are in the worst category at the moment, said Tarishchuk, The guys are simply holding on with their last strength, it's tough, but still, nobody refuses to go or tries to sit out missions. Though the incursion into Kursk Oblast was praised for giving a sharp boost to morale among both soldiers and civilians across Ukraine, the feeling near Pokrovsk was bittersweet at best, according to Tarishchuk. There was no euphoria among us, she said. Sure, some of our guys were saying they really wanted to go and fight there (in Kursk Oblast), but most of them were saying 'Why didn't they send those reserves here, those same brigades; we could save the situation here quickly." Temporary relief Back at the artillery positions of the Kara-Dag Brigade, Andriis howitzer crew receives a fire mission. Upon the sharp words of Cannon, to battle! from the commander, the men spring into action in a split second, all with a clear vision of their role in the team. One retrieves the shell, another the charge; two men remove the camouflage netting from the Msta-Bs huge barrel, and two more begin raising it skywards, in preparation to aim and fire. As the crew gets to work, they dont know yet what the target is: all they have are coordinates, which are quickly converted by the commander into settings for the gun. Five shells are fired in total, each shot briefly igniting the sky in yellow and sending a wave of dirt in all directions. Artillerymen of the 15th National Guard Brigade operate a Msta-B towed howitzer near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 9, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent) As soon as the order to mask up is given, the team finishes their work as quickly as they started it: down goes the barrel, back goes the netting, as everyone shuffles into the trench in expectation of return fire. Its not long before the commander comes with good news: the five shells were enough, almost certainly, to knock out yet another Russian D-30 howitzer working out of a nearby village. Artillerymen of the 15th National Guard Brigade at positions near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 9, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent) According to Andrii, Kara-Dags defense of Selydove is firmly under control. But, in a story that seems to just keep on repeating itself over this summer, Andrii is concerned about the threats from the flanks. On the day of the visit, the commander told the Kyiv Independent that Russian forces had begun making new gains south of Selydove. A few days later, the changes in the line appeared on open-source mapping projects, part of an overall resumption in the Russian moves on Pokrovsk. Selydove is a good place to defend, all we need is a few strong points, and we can hold the line with no problem, said Andrii. But if the Russians go around, it means that our sector will get longer, and to hold that, we will need more forces. Note from the author: Hi, this is Francis Farrell, cheers for reading this article. This is the first of three stories that we will publish from our field trip to the Pokrovsk direction at one of the most critical times for the Ukrainian defense of Donbas since the start of this war. Whatever happens and however it is presented in the world's media, we see it as our job to bring you the reality from the grounded in its most raw and honest form. Please consider supporting our reporting. Read also: The Russian targets that could be on Ukraines long-range missile strike list Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Smoke and flames rise following a Ukrainian drone attack in Toropets in the Tver region, Russia [Reuters] Thirteen people have been injured in Russia's Tver region after a large Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire there, according to the Russian health ministry. Unverified footage has emerged purportedly showing a massive blast in the town of Toropets. Video footage circulating on social media showed detonations and smoke covering a large stretch of sky. A partial evacuation of the region was ordered after the strike in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The regional governor later encouraged residents to return, saying that all infrastructure in the town was working normally again. AFP and Reuters news agencies have quoted Ukrainian sources as saying a major ammunitions depot had been struck. The military site reportedly housed fuel tanks, as well as artillery shells, ballistic missiles, and explosives, in a series of warehouses. These are all weapons that have been used in Russias relentless full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This latest attack by Ukraine is the kind it has been wanting to carry out with missiles supplied by its western allies. However, in the absence of approval from the US and UK, it has once again hit Russian targets with drones it has made itself. The target this time, though, is significant. A military arsenal, worth almost 30m ($39m), has seemingly gone up in a series of explosions. Nasa reported a series of heat sources from satellite imagery. A light-magnitude earthquake was even reported in the surrounding Tver region. The head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said on Telegram that in addition to its own ammunition, including Grad rockets, Russia had also started to store North Korean missiles in Toropets. None of these claims have been verified by the BBC. Without naming any specific targets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his video address late on Wednesday: "There is a significant outcome from last night on the territory of Russia, and this is the type of action that weakens the enemy. "I thank all those involved. Such inspiring precision." Toropets lies about 380km (236 miles) north-west of Russia's capital Moscow, and some 470km north of the border with Ukraine. [BBC] Over the past few months, Kyiv has grown in confidence and ambition as it has ramped up drone attacks inside Russia. Its struck as far as 1,800km (1,118 miles) in the past, when a long-range radar was hit in the city of Orsk. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the authorities in Toropets said buses had already been prepared for the evacuation. They also claimed the situation was "under control" in the town of about 13,000 residents. The authorities did not say how many people were being evacuated. Meanwhile, Russia's state media reported that regional schools and kindergartens would be closed on Wednesday. The level of destruction in Toropets will give Ukrainian forces a much-needed morale boost. It is also hoped it sends the West a political message - that targeting sites inside Russia helps Ukraine defend itself, and will not cause an escalation with Moscow. Russia's defence ministry reported on Wednesday that it had destroyed a total of 54 drones in overnight attacks across five Russian regions - Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Smolensk and Belgorod. Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said four civilians were injured in a "drone attack on a minibus" in the city of Shebekino. Ukraine has not commented on the reported attacks. Also overnight, Ukrainian air defences were engaged against oncoming Russian drones near the capital Kyiv, city military administration head Serhiy Popko said. There were also reports of blasts in Ukraine's north-eastern city of Sumy, near the Russian border, and the regional authorities later 16 drones were shot down. However, the authorities were forced to use back-up power systems after energy infrastructure repeatedly come under fire. In total, the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 46 of 52 drones launched by Moscow over the country overnight. Local authorities said one person was killed in the central region of Kirovohrad, while a 90-year-old woman was wounded in Kropyvnytskyi. The claims by both Russian and Ukrainian officials have not been independently verified. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia uses social media to interfere with elections and destabilise situation around the world ISW The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has estimated that Russia is continuing to develop its ability to use information operations on social media platforms to cause kinetic activity, interfere with elections and carry out destabilisation activities and sanctions evasion schemes. Source: ISW Details: Leaked documents describing the Kremlin's large-scale disinformation campaigns against Ukraine and the West continue to demonstrate the Kremlin's desire to use its global information tools to promote Moscow's interests through social media. Quote: "Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, banned Russian state media outlet Russia Today (RT) and other related entities on 17 September for foreign interference activity. The US Department of State announced sanctions on 13 September against entities and individuals connected with RT, which the State Department accused of engaging in information operations, covert influence, and military procurement efforts for the Kremlin by targeting states in Europe, Africa, and North and South America." More details: Skhemy, an investigative project by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), has analysed thousands of leaked documents previously obtained by German and Estonian media describing the work of the Russian company Social Design Agency (SDA), which the US Department of Justice recently declared part of the Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as "Doppelganger". Skhemy reported that the SDA distributed fake official documents, including fabricated orders from the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as part of efforts to "discredit the military-political leadership of Ukraine and demoralise the Armed Forces of Ukraine". The SDA reportedly created fake documents supposedly from European governmental institutions, fake news supposedly from European media and anti-Ukrainian memes that were widely circulated on social media. To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 17 September: The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office opened an investigation into another case of apparent Russian abuse and execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war (POW). Leaked documents outlining large-scale Kremlin information operation campaigns targeting Ukraine and the West continue to demonstrate the Kremlin's commitment to leveraging its global information instruments to advance Moscows interests using social media. Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu arrived in Iran for an unannounced visit following recent visits to Syria and North Korea amid ongoing Russian efforts to secure military cooperation and support from non-Western allies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui in Moscow. Russian forces recently advanced near Toretsk and Pokrovsk and southwest of the city of Donetsk. Ukraine's Defence Intelligence reported on 17 September that Russia continues to recruit citizens from Syria to fight in Ukraine. Support UP or become our patron! Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least four civilians and injured at least 22 over the past day, regional authorities reported early on Sept. 18. The Ukrainian Air Force reported downing 46 out of 52 drones launched by Russia overnight. Russia also launched three Kh-59/69 guided air missiles. An attack on Kropyvnytskyi in central Ukraine's Kirovohrad Oblast killed one person and injured a 90-year-old woman. The woman "received minor injuries" and did not require hospitalization, Kirovohrad Oblast Governor Andriy Raikovych said. In Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported that 10 people had been injured by Russian attacks over the past day. A guided bomb attack on the city of Kharkiv injured nine people, including four emergency service workers and a 15-year-old boy, Syniehubov said. In Kherson Oblast, a 63-year-old man was killed and four others were injured by Russian attacks over the past day. The man was killed in a drone attack in the city of Kherson's Dniprovskyi district, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Two people died and five more were injured as a result of Russian shelling in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported. The casualties were reported in Komyshuvakha, a community located around 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the city of Zaporizhzhia. According to Fedorov, Russian forces carried out 197 strikes on 11 settlements in the region over the past day. One person was injured in Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, and another person was injured by shelling in Krasnopil in Sumy Oblast, the local authorities reported. Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts also came under attack, but there were no reports of civilian casualties. Read also: Ukraine war latest: 1 million killed, wounded in Russias full-scale war in Ukraine, WSJ reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Russians attacked energy facilities in the city of Sumy with Shahed drones on the night of 17-18 September. The aftermath of the strike is being addressed. Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration on Telegram Details: Early reports indicate that there have been no casualties. Quote: "Efforts are ongoing to address the aftermath of the enemy attack. We thank our power engineers for their prompt and coordinated work. The power system in the oblast is operating under strained conditions as a result of the enemy attacks." Details: Consumers are asked to reduce electricity consumption, especially during peak hours. Sumy Oblast Military Administration also reported that Sumy air defence forces had downed 16 Russian Shahed drones over the oblast. Background: On the evening of 17 September, Russian forces launched attack drones into Ukraine. Explosions were heard in the city of Sumy. Air defence systems were responding in Kyiv Oblast. Explosions were also heard in the city of Kropyvnytskyi. Support UP or become our patron! Russian weapons depot wiped off the face of the earth by Ukrainian drone attack, SBU source claims Ukrainian drones successfully targeted a weapons depot in Toropets in Russia's Tver Oblast overnight, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent on Sept. 18. Photos and videos shared on Russian Telegram channels early on Sept. 18 showed a number of explosions and a large plume of smoke purportedly at the site of an ammunition depot in the town of Toropets. Tver Oblast Governor Igor Rudenya reported that a fire had broken out in Toropets due to falling drone debris but claimed the situation was "under control." Allegedly, the huge stockpile destroyed by a drone overnight in Toropets consisted partly of newly arrived North Korean missiles.#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/6aYqmFpUbb olexander scherba (@olex_scherba) September 18, 2024 Rudenya later announced part of the town's population would be evacuated from the area where "air defense is operating and the fire is being localized." According to the source in the SBU, drones from the SBU, Ukraine's military intelligence, and Ukrainian Armed Forces struck a warehouse storing ballistic missiles, including Iskanders, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery ammunition, and KAB guided bombs. Read also: Too dangerous to ignore Russias malicious activity in the Baltics set to test NATO resolve The attack "literally wiped off the face of the earth a large warehouse of the main missile and artillery department of the Russian Defense Ministry," the source said. "After the arrival of Ukrainian drones, an extremely powerful detonation began" and the affected area is 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide, the source said. "The SBU, together with colleagues from the Armed Forces, continues to methodically reduce the missile potential of the enemy, with which it destroys Ukrainian cities." 107 - , 16 , . https://t.co/viG1KDBIoP pic.twitter.com/SQqH5aZUrD (@donbassrealii) September 18, 2024 The source said that there are plans to conduct similar attacks on other Russian military facilities. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that 54 Ukrainian drones had been downed overnight, but did not mention any drones downed over Tver Oblast. According to the Russian Defense Ministry's 8 a.m. report, 27 drones were downed over Kursk Oblast, 16 over Bryansk Oblast, seven over Smolensk Oblast, three over Belgorod Oblast, and one over Oryol Oblast. Read also: Ukraine destroys Russian ammunition depots near occupied Mariupol, Navy says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Russians attacked Malynivka and Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, injuring six people. Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutors Office on Facebook Details: The Russians struck the city of Kostiantynivka and the village of Malynivka in Donetsk Oblast, likely using tubed artillery, on the morning of 18 September. As a result of the attack on a farm in Malynivka, a 59-year-old father and his 36-year-old son were injured, along with a 33-year-old resident. Three city residents were wounded in Kostiantynivka. Quote: "A 34-year-old city resident, who was driving a car at the time of the attack, suffered shrapnel injuries and a blast injury, as well as a woman, 55, and a man, 68, who were near a shopping centre." Details: Three apartment buildings, two cars, and a power line were damaged in Kostiantynivka. Background: Russian troops attacked the city of Kropyvnytskyi, killing one person and injuring another one, on 18 September. The Russians attacked Ukraine with three aviation missiles and 52 kamikaze drones on the night of 17-18 September 2024. Ukrainian air defence destroyed 46 UAVs, another five disappeared from radar because of electronic warfare, and one flew back to Russia. Air defence responded to attacks in Mykolaiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Sumy and Poltava oblasts. Support UP or become our patron! Since the beginning of the day, the number of combat clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces has reached 103. The most intense combat actions were recorded on the Kurakhove and Pokrovsk fronts. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Telegram, information as of 16:00 on 18 September Details: The General Staff reports that fighting has been ongoing on most fronts since the beginning of the day. On the Kharkiv front, the Russians, supported by the aircraft, are attempting to assault the positions of Ukrainian units near the city of Vovchansk. On the Kurakhove front, the Russians attacked Ukrainian positions 26 times near the settlements of Tsukuryne, Ukrainsk, Heorhiivka, Dalnie and Kostiantynivka. On the Pokrovsk front, the Russians, supported by aircraft, made 24 attempts to push Ukrainian defenders back from their positions. On the Siversk and Lyman fronts, Russian troops keep looking for weak spots in Ukrainian defences. A total of 11 combat clashes were recorded. On the Toretsk front, the Russians tried to drive a wedge into Ukrainian defences near the settlements of Dachne, Shcherbynivka, Nelipivka and New-York seven times. The Russians struck the settlements of Shcherbynivka and Ivanopil with guided aerial bombs twice. On the Huliaipole front, Russian aircraft launched attacks with non-guided aerial missiles on the settlements of Piatykhatky and Zherebianky. The operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Russias Kursk Oblast is ongoing. Russian aircraft keep destroying Russian villages and towns. Russian aircraft have dropped 16 guided aerial bombs on Russian territory since the beginning of the day. Support UP or become our patron! Sweet Home High School was the target of a swatting incident the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 17. Swatting is the practice of reporting a false emergency to provoke a large law enforcement response. The call was quickly confirmed to be a hoax, according to a Sweet Home Police Department news release that cited swift cooperation between the school district and authorities. These incidents are not only illegal but also extremely dangerous, putting both our community and our emergency responders at risk, the release states. The school is operating normally, according to the release, which states there is no ongoing threat to students or staff. We understand that incidents like this can be unsettling, and we are actively investigating this case to identify those responsible, the release states. Our priority is the safety and well-being of our community, and we will take all necessary steps to prevent such occurrences in the future. The scare comes almost one week after a shooting threat that targeted Sweet Home High. A teenager believed to be behind the shooting threat at Sweet Home High was arrested last week. The threat was one of two posted on social media the day before, warning that two Linn County schools would be targeted: Sweet Home and South Albany high schools. Albany police determined the threat against South Albany High was not credible. Sweet Home community members were on high alert after a photo shared on Instagram showed a person appearing to hold a pistol. A video followed as part of the Instagram story showing a youth, who authorities say is not a Sweet Home High student, with what appears to be a gun in his waistband, along with a reference to the school. The teen suspected in the Sweet Home threat was arrested on the suspicion of first-degree disorderly conduct and unlawful possession of a firearm and was booked into the Linn Benton Juvenile Detention Center, according to a Sweet Home Police Department news release. Initially, the police agencies in Sweet Home and Albany indicated the two threats were not related. Then they said while they were posted by different people from separate locations, the culprit targeting South Albany High School meant to amplify the Sweet Home threat but confused the schools. The person behind the Albany threat, police say, is not from the area, while the suspect behind the Sweet Home post is believed to be a Sweet Home resident. Sweet Home Police Department encourages parents to discuss with their children the serious consequences of swatting and the importance of responsible behavior. If you notice anything suspicious or have information related to this incident, please report it to the Sweet Home Police Department immediately. Related stories: After the Army deployed 130 airborne soldiers to a far-flung Aleutian Islands base amid joint Russian-Chinese military tests offshore, Alaskan leaders warned the only response should be American strength. The Army sent the soldiers to Eareckson Air Station on Shemya Island, less than 300 miles from Kamchatka, Russia. The deployment occurred amid the "Ocean 2024" joint military exercises between two of the U.S.'s largest geographic foes. Russian state media said more than 15 warships in the region practiced missile launches, among other activities. The news follows a July incident in which U.S. F-16s and Canadian CF-18s were dispatched to intercept two Russian and two Chinese bombers off Alaska. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, commander of the 11th Airborne based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Anchorage, said in a statement reported by the Alaska Beacon that the U.S. response ensured Army capabilities. "[It] is critical to our nations defense and the preservation of a free and open Indo-Pacific," Hilbert said. "Our ability to deploy combat-credible forces quickly and effectively to any location, no matter how remote, is critical to supporting the nation and our strong relationships with allies and partner nations." IN THE ONLY STATE BORDERING RUSSIA, ALASKA GOVERNOR SAYS ITS DEFENSES ARE STRONG READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Meanwhile, Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Russia and his state are less than two miles apart at their closest point, between Big and Little Diomede Islands in the Bering Sea. The latter has a small Inupiaq village whose residents can see across to Russia. "We live in a dangerous neighborhood," Dunleavy said in a Tuesday interview. "Unlike just about every other state, we have flyovers close to our territorial zones. We have the Russians and Chinese going through the Bering Strait." Of the Ocean 24 drills that caused the U.S. response: "I think the Russians are sending a message. What that is, Im not sure, but certainly our folks in D.C. are receiving it and beefing up some of our personnel out there in the western Aleutians." However, Dunleavy said Alaska is prepared to defend its territory and the U.S., if need be. There are several high-end military bases across the vast state, from JBER to Clear Space Force Station in Fairbanks, to Fort Greely in Delta Junction, to the Near Islands station now receiving reinforcements. "We have incredible rapid deployment forces. ... So, if the question is: Are we concerned about Russia that they may do harm to Alaska? No. We [also] have a missile defense shield in place that guard against any North Korean missile launches." FLASHBACK: ALASKAN F-35s PREPARE FOR MAJOR SUB-ZERO ARCTIC WARFARE When asked about former President Trumps claim that such aggressive behavior from U.S. rivals wouldnt happen under his watch, Dunleavy said, "Its true." "We view the world as Americans. ... And that's not how the world views itself at times. It's a dangerous world. And I do think that once they perceive weakness, especially those folks in the Middle East and then the Chinese and the Russians, they take advantage of it." In televised remarks, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Ocean 24 exercises the largest in three decades, per Reuters. "We pay special attention to strengthening military cooperation with friendly states," Putin said. "Today, in the context of growing geopolitical tensions in the world, this is especially important." "[America is] trying to maintain its global military and political dominance at any cost," Putin added, saying the U.S. seeks to "inflict a strategic defeat" in Ukraine and upend the "established security architecture" in the Asia-Pacific. Such national security threats, however, are falling on too many deaf ears in Washington, according to Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, a Marine Corps Forces Reserves colonel with 30 years of active-duty service and deployments. "The Chinese and Russians in both the North Pacific and Arctic are escalating in ways we havent seen in decades," Sullivan said. "Actually, in ways weve never seen because theyve never really operated jointly like this." Alaska has seen its "fair share" of Russian "Bear" bombers menacing the state over the years, Sullivan said in a Tuesday interview. "[But] last summer, we had a 12-ship joint Russian-Chinese naval task force thats unprecedented off [our] coast." "The way the Russians and Chinese respond is they only really react to force. And what we need to do is continue to provide our military assets to meet them in our [territory]. This is America, and it might be far away for most Americans, but it's certainly America for me and my constituents." He noted the 11th Airbornes new presence on the Aleutian chain, adding that another task force would be arriving from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Olympia, Washington. Sullivan said that he has routinely hosted top military brass in Alaska and authored an NDAA provision to further examine the major Aleutian island of Adak, where the U.S. used to operate a submarine and airbase. Sullivan said Russian interests have reportedly approached Alaskan Native corporations who own land on Adak, which is not far from the well-known crabbing capital of Dutch Harbor. Anchorage, Alaska He blamed Democrats at present for holding up any substantive political response. "In the Senate, [Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer doesn't give a damn about national security," he said. "We have had the NDAA sitting around for three months. We're voting on district court judges, and there are even Democrat senators telling Schumer to bring the National Defense Authorization Act to the floor. He won't do it right now." Sullivan said Democrats have a custom of slashing defense spending or at least attempting to throughout the terms of Presidents Carter, Clinton, Obama and Biden. Meanwhile, he said the Republican administrations of Presidents Reagan, Eisenhower, both Bushes and Trump all did the opposite. "That's just the wrong signal to be sending adversaries like [Chinese President] Xi Jinping, adversaries like the ayatollahs [in Iran]. Weakness is provocative, and we're seeing a huge example of that," Sullivan said. In the past week, Sullivan said there have been four foreign incursions of the ADIZ (air defense identification zone) in Alaska, three by air and one by sea. While not a formal invasion, unannounced incursions into the ADIZ a hypothetical ring outside the nations true border wherein the U.S. tries to identify the craft coming toward it is alarming. Alaska Fox News graphic Sullivan said multiple refuelings are required for U.S. military craft to reach the western Aleutians, which are more than 1,000 miles from Anchorage. The Russians, meanwhile, only need to travel about the distance from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., to threaten U.S. soil. "Our military does a fantastic job, but we need more assets. We need more infrastructure to protect not just Alaska. But if [the U.S.] is going to be attacked in any way by cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, we are the avenue of approach for the rest of the country." "Defending Alaska airspace and Alaska water protects all of America." Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer for comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Russo-Chinese Arctic war games spur US response as Alaska officials warn only strength can deter crisis In the Spotlight is a Sacramento Bee series that digs into the high-profile local issues that readers care most about. Story idea? Email metro@sacbee.com. The Sacramento City Unified School District board will decide the fate of two charter schools operated by St. Hope Public Schools Public School 7 and Sacramento Charter High at a meeting Thursday evening. In many cases, charter renewal is a formality, but the charter school organization has faced scrutiny in recent months following the release of an audit report that alleged several major violations in the schools governance and fiscal structure which has made for a frustrating, public facing experience for both St. Hope and the school district. The notice to correct from the district came about one month before St. Hope schools were to have their initial public hearings on charter renewal, which St. Hope Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Ruda said overshadowed what is supposed to be a celebratory process. A month after receiving the report, St. Hope Public Schools submitted a 1,071 page response to the district that detailed a number of changes in response to the concerns within the audit, including personnel shifts and increased accountability measures for its vendors. Key aspects of the response include Cassandra Jennings resignation as school board president, the removal of a Chief Financial Officer with a troublesome past and a plan to recruit more credentialed teachers. District staff reviewed St. Hopes response and submitted a final report on the schools requests, recommending that both charter renewals be granted. They ultimately found that despite areas of concern outlined in the initial report, St. Hopes action plan is comprehensive and plausible enough to sufficiently correct those concerns and be eligible for renewal. However, it is ultimately up to Sacramento City Unified board members to decide whether St. Hope has sufficiently answered for the concerns outlined in the audit. They have three options to consider: denial, approval or conditional approval. Conditional approval would mean placing specific accountability measures on the school to ensure that it meets the goals outlined in the charters action plan. Trustee Chinua Rhodes did not say how he would vote Thursday evening, but did emphasize the need for a stronger relationship between the district and St. Hope to ensure that the charter is on track. St. Hope, in their letter back, addressed our concerns and has made significant changes, he said. I think its one thing to have a piece of paper that says hey, were going to do all these things, but its our responsibility as a board to make sure they implement those changes. For me, I think this is a start. After the the monthslong process of the audit and gaining responses from St. Hope, Rhodes said that it makes no sense for the board to at this point in time wash their hands of the issues with St. Hope by approving the charter and not continuing to diligently oversee that the changes are made. Trouble with oversight The St. Hope response questioned Sacramento City Unified and auditor Christy White for what it deemed a frustrating and disappointing process, saying that it felt the questions investigated in the audit report could have been answered in the standard annual charter oversight procedure. Trustee Taylor Kayatta agreed with this sentiment, saying that had annual oversight been done appropriately in past years, the fraught renewal process may have been avoided. I think the district is learning a lot from this experience, he said. If oversight is working properly, renewal should be something that we see coming years in advance, because weve already worked with them, and we know if there are issues and if theyre being addressed or not. Kayatta said that this is a lesson he plans to apply to the districts relationship with its other dependent charters, which he characterized as being more positive than is typically seen across the state. He believes in the value that St. Hope and other charter organizations bring students in the district. Rhodes also spoke to the need for a stronger relationship with the charter, but maintained the districts right as St. Hopes charter authorizing authority to conduct the independent audit. But we need to have better relationships with our charter so this doesnt happen often, he said. Kayatta said he plans to vote for unconditional charter approval, which would allow St. Hope to continue operations through 2030. St. Hope does a lot of amazing things for our Black students At Sac City Unified, weve acknowledged that were letting a lot of these kids down right now, and so its important that their charter school is able to focus on that they should be able to do that, he said. Its just that in doing so, they need to make sure that theyre following the charter law and all the best practices that need to be followed and that were making sure they are meeting the standards they committed to when they created their charter. Similarly, Rhodes praised St. Hope schools while emphasizing the need for continued oversight. St. Hope services a community that actually needs the help and services, but at the same time, its our responsibility to make sure theyre doing what they say theyre going to do, he said. So Sadiq Khan has decided that its a great idea to pedestrianise Oxford Street. I wonder if he has actually been there recently? For starters, Oxford Street is a key London east/west artery, the extension of the A40 its how buses not only get from one side of central London to the other, but also how shoppers duh, the lifeblood of Londons biggest shopping emporium access those temples of consumerism. On top of that, Oxford Streets pavements have already been so widened that the road itself is now incredibly narrow. No cars are allowed down it ever only buses and taxis. This is annoying as a motorist but useful if you are trying to get there, or get away (or indeed get home from the West End late at night although the competition for black cabs come 11pm is fierce). Block off Oxford Street and the centre of the West End will become even more impenetrable for any kind of vehicle. I know that London is at war with the motorist (all the rat runs of my youth have been closed off because of low traffic neighbourhoods, making main roads even more congested). I understand the push for greener transport, bike lanes, less traffic, etc. But what about disabled people who cant take public transport or an Uber bike? How will they access not just the shops but the offices and theatres which abound off Oxford Street? Already the closures of roads has made accessing Soho almost impossible. Stop buses and taxis going down Oxford Street and a bad situation will be even worse. But there is another problem too. I am often around Oxford Circus tube in the evening and it can be scary. Argyll Street is already pedestrianised, as is the area around Carnaby Street. Rather than making it bliss for al fresco dining and continental style civilised drinking, it too often means gangs gathering around speakers playing music and lurking on Uber bikes. I often see tourists being the victims of pickpockets and fights breaking out between rival postcode gangs who clash in the centre of town. Currently, the buses and taxis trundling along Oxford Street act as a deterrent at least then there are witnesses, people passing by. Late at night, the pedestrianised parts of central London can become scary easy territory for robbers on Uber bikes snatching phones or for criminal gangs to target theatregoers and tourists. Sadiq should think again before making Oxford Street the longest muggers paradise in the country. Eleanor Mills is the author of Much More to Come: Lessons on the Mayhem and Magnificence of Midlife, published by HarperCollins, and the founder of noon.org.uk home of the Queenager 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. Flagler County Fire Rescue is adopting new safety protocols in response to the arrest of a former Flagler County Fire Rescue Paramedic. Investigators arrested 37-year-old James Melady on charges of sexual battery and video voyeurism last week. Daytona Beach police detectives said that they discovered a video of Melady molesting an unconscious woman in Flagler County while on-duty and in uniform while performing his official duties. According to the police report, in October of 2021 Melady responded to a call for an unresponsive and intoxicated woman. Read: From language barriers to math joy: An Orange County teachers journey to empowering students Instead of transporting her to the hospital, investigators said Melady recorded himself violating the woman in the back of the ambulance. According to a news release issued by the Flagler County Sheriffs Office, James Tyler Melady, 37, confessed to his crimes during an interview with investigators. We want to express concern and extend our support to the victim and her family, said County Administrator Heidi Petito. The actions described are deeply disturbing and completely contrary to the values of our organization, and the principles we uphold in our service to the community. Read: State-run reform schools abuse victims can apply for compensation Flagler County Fire Rescue said they immediately implemented the following enhanced safety and security measures after Meladys arrest: Mandatory Two-Person Protocol All ambulances will now have two personnel riding in the back when patients are considered vulnerable or underage to ensure additional oversight and support. Psychological Evaluations Mandatory psychological evaluations will be conducted for all Fire Rescue new employees to support their mental health and professional conduct. This procedure was implemented before knowledge of this incident and will continue. Enhanced Surveillance Current external 360-degree cameras used for driver awareness will have an additional camera installed in the back of all vehicles for awareness of activities in the patient compartment for additional safety. Rescue Supervisor on All Ambulances In August, before awareness of this criminal allegation, Fire Rescue established the Rescue Supervisor position for all ambulances within the county to ensure oversight on all units. Read: Polaris Dawn Crew returns to Florida coast for the first time since splashdown These actions reflect our unwavering commitment to the safety and well-being of the people we serve, said Fire Rescue Chief Michael Tucker. We want to emphasize that the actions of one individual do not reflect the dedication and heroism of our entire team. According to Flagler County Fire Rescue, Melady had been with the department since June of 2018, but was put on an unrelated administrative leave back in May after failing a drug test. He resigned in the aftermath and had not worked for Fire Rescue for at least four months prior to his arrest. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Safety concerns prompt a proposal for more security in the Riverside area Jacksonville City Council legislation is working to address ongoing safety concerns in the Riverside area with an increase in security. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Lorie Len is the owner of Park Place Lounge at the corner of Post Street and King Street. She said theyve had a lot of people creating a ruckus after the bars close in the area and she said its a real safety issue that has to be addressed. There was fighting going on, right at close and after close and we are talking 2-3 oclock in the morning, said Len. These were not just drunk people leaving a bar. That type of behavior is what Len said is raising safety concerns on King Street in Riverside. There are a lot of King Street businesses here who care about security, said Len. And now the city is stepping in to help solve the problem. During a Jacksonville Neighborhoods Committee meeting Monday, City Council Member Jimmy Peluso said he is getting reports that people are drinking illegally and bringing weapons into some of the businesses. We need to make sure we have a police presence there, said Peluso. A lot of these establishments have bouncers but no official JSO presence. According to JSOs crime map, there were 98 incidents in the last three months, within a half mile of King street and College Street. Some of those include car thefts and assaults. Now as the city works with the business owners, a proposed legislation would set aside $10,000 to increase security in the area. Those dollars are matched by local businesses, and it will pay for up to two police officers on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 p.m. To 3 a.m. The security here is letting everybody know we care enough about King Street, said Len. This is expected to be voted on at a city council meeting on Tuesday, Sep. 24th. [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. It was disturbing: NH teacher under investigation after using racial slur in social media video A New Hampshire teacher is off the job and under investigation after using a racial slur in a video shared on social media. Amy Banks, who is listed on the Salem School Districts website as a seventh-grade math teacher at the Woodbury School, said the N-word in a video rant circulating online. It is unclear if the slur was directed toward anyone. Reached by phone Tuesday, Banks would not comment to Boston 25 News. School Committee Chair Mike Carney denounced the video before Tuesdays committee meeting, saying that language does not reflect the values of the district. It was disturbing, Carney said. All I can say is its being investigated right now. Its a personnel issue, and its going through the proper channels. Though Bankss picture remains on the district website, Carney told Boston 25 News she is off the job and has not been back to school at all for the new academic year starting in August. We have hundreds of employees, and its an individual, Carney said. Theres things going on that I cant talk about, but that is by far not reflective of the Salem School District. Superintendent Maura Palmer declined to comment on the incident or Bankss status with the district. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Salt Lake man accused of using toilet paper to set fire to his apartment SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A 38-year-old man has been taken into custody after allegedly using toilet paper to set fire to his apartment complex. Jeovany Perez was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail and faces one count of first-degree felony aggravated arson, according to court documents. Detectives say Perez was using a lighter to burn the toilet paper on Tuesday evening, Sept. 10 at his apartment complex located near Redwood Road and North Temple in Salt Lake City. He allegedly would discard the burnt toilet paper onto his couch in his living room. Utah parents arrested for allegedly stalking, kidnapping adult children after decade of abuse Perez reportedly told investigators the fire spread beyond his ability to extinguish, prompting him to leave the apartment. Detectives claim Perez did not warn his neighbors, despite knowing about the active flame. First responders with the Salt Lake City Fire Department were able to keep the fire contained to Perezs apartment before the flames could affect neighboring units. No injuries were reported. Perez has been ordered to be held at the Salt Lake County Jail without bail, pending a pretrial hearing. 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. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) The San Diego County Sheriffs Office is working to inspire the next generation during International Forensic Science Week, which began Sunday and concludes Saturday. SDSOs forensic toxicology lab plays a key role in analyzing evidence from crime scenes to detect the presence of alcohol or other controlled substances in people. Man suspected of sexually assaulting women during massages Forensic toxicology specifically is dedicated to analyzing bodily fluids such as blood and urine, said Marcela Velasco, a criminalist with SDSO. Then we interpret those results and relate to how could that have impacted or affected a persons behavior and relate that to a crime, Velasco added. Bird flu detected in San Diego County wastewater Crimes like DUIs and drug-facilitated sexual assaults are two of the most common they see in the lab. Velasco says the job involves a lot of testimony presenting evidence to a jury. It is a great opportunity for us to educate our community, specifically our jurors which are eventually the individuals who have a very tough decision to make, she said. Across the hall, David Martinez, another criminalist with the sheriffs office, analyzes prints. I look at link prints pretty much all day and do side-by-side comparisons with known print records, Martinez said. Two to four student worker positions are available for college or graduate students who are interested in forensic science and are willing to dedicate two years to the program. The application can be found online and there is no deadline to apply. Judge orders Sean Diddy Combs to be held without bail on sex trafficking, racketeering charges Its a paid internship and theyre specifically recruited for the toxicology unit to help us with some research projects, Velasco said. Though student workers will not work directly with evidence, the position will give them enough real-world experience to break into the field. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Under a new owner, attorney Zachary Hafer argued, Concord Casino would resume sharing thousands of dollars with charities and the state. (New Hampshire Bulletin) In a new filing, a lawyer for embattled casino owner Andy Sanborn said that contrary to the states arguments, there is significant public interest in giving Sanborn more time to sell the business the state shut down in December. Under a new owner, attorney Zachary Hafer argued, Concord Casino would resume sharing thousands of dollars with charities and the state; expand its operation and thereby taxes; and rehire people who lost their jobs in December. A sale, Hafer said, would also mean Sanborn could repay the $844,000 in federal pandemic loans the state alleges he misappropriated. Sanborn hasnt been charged but it was that allegation, made by the Attorney General John Formella a year ago, that led the state to order Sanborn to close and sell Concord Casino. Administrative Law Judge Gregory Albert is scheduled to take up Sanborns argument and the states counterarguments Thursday morning. He doesnt have much time to rule on Sanborns deadline extension request. If Sanborn does not sell the casino by Sept. 30, his charitable gaming license will be suspended for two years, rendering the casino virtually unsellable. Hafer indicated in his filing Tuesday that Sanborn doesnt need much more time. A buyer has signed a purchase and sale agreement with Sanborn, Hafer said. The unnamed buyer will close as soon as the New Hampshire Lottery Commission completes its background check and deems him suitable. According to Hafers filing Tuesday, lottery officials recently indicated they anticipate completing their review by Sept. 30 but cannot say for certain. Sanborn would still need a day or so to complete a closing. That means that, absent an extension, it is frighteningly possible that the states review of the buyer could end on October 1, 2024 or quite soon thereafter, Hafer wrote. Were that to happen, New Hampshire charities and taxpayers would forego millions of dollars of revenue, and the long list of other negative consequences listed above (including lost tax revenue and jobs) would come to fruition, all as a result of missing a deadline by hours due to factors entirely outside of (Sanborns) control. In his filing, Hafer referenced the Bulletins reporting this week on the losses charities have experienced since Sanborns casino was closed. Leaders of several charities told the Bulletin they have scaled back their giving or scrapped plans to expand. That included the Loudon Lions Club, which raised $7,000 through Concord Casino last year. The club donated that money to the local food pantry, Friendly Kitchen, Loudon Elementary School, and others. The 24-member group is looking for other opportunities and hopes to net $1,000 next month through a fundraiser with Texas Roadhouse. Unfortunately without any casino money were struggling, Friedrich said. If we can get back into a casino, the revenue generated from that would be really great. The Attorney Generals Office has noted that the original order in Sanborns case required him to sell by June 30 unless he had a pending sale. If a sale was pending, Sanborn could get a final three-month extension, until Sept. 30. Sanborn was granted the extension because he persuaded Albert in June that he had a serious buyer, something the Attorney Generals Office questioned. That buyer later backed out, in part because he was concerned about inheriting Sanborns legal problems. A new person stepped in, signed a purchase and sale agreement, and submitted a charitable gaming license application with the New Hampshire Lottery Commission. The Attorney Generals Office has argued that Sanborn should not be given more time to sell because his initial buyer walked away from a sale. Denying Sanborn more time to sell feels like spite, Hafer said. From the moment (the New Hampshire Lottery Commission) and the (Attorney General) preemptively labeled (Sanborn) a criminal through public press releases, (Sanborn) has suffered harm to his reputation and livelihood from which he will never recover, Hafer wrote. A cursory online search for Andy Sanborn reveals dozens of articles echoing (the states) claims that Sanborns has committed a crime (despite no charges being brought). From the start, this case has felt personal. Someone at (lottery commission) or the (attorney generals office) does not want Sanborn to sell its business and is willing to injure New Hampshire taxpayers and charities in the process. SANDY, Utah (ABC4) A Sandy scuba instructor has been indicted on four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child after he was accused of sexually abusing a former student, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney. David L. Butt, 41, was charged on Tuesday in the Third District Court after a former student reported being sexually assaulted by him when she was about 10 years old. The state of child abuse in Utah, and what we can do about it Documents state the charges stem from multiple incidents in February of 2021 when the minor told authorities that she was being touched inappropriately by Butt, who was instructing her. Police also interviewed another participant in the class who said Butt was more hands-on with the victim than other students. The same student also stated Butts behavior was creepy. This fellow student was concerned about Butts conduct toward [the minor] and told his father about his worries, documents state. Charging documents did not specify where he was working when this happened. No further information is available at this time. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Sorina Trauntvein contributed to this story Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Reigniting the childless cat lady discourse surrounding Donald Trumps campaign, a key ally of his went after Kamala Harris on Tuesday for not having biological children. During a town hall she moderated for Trump in Flint, Michigan, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders talked about her daughter innocently criticizing Sanders appearance, saying my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesnt have anything keeping her humble, Sanders said. The remark seemed to be a reference to Harris lack of biological children. Harris is a stepmother to two children from her husband Doug Emhoff. And his family, including his ex-wife, has spoken glowingly about Harris role in helping parent his now-adult children. Even one of Trumps senior campaign advisers, Bryan Lanza, took Sanders comment that way, joining other panelists on CNN after the town hall in condemning the remark. I found that comment to be actually offensive. I dont know what more to say about that, Lanza said. Im disappointed in Sarah saying that. Im sure Im going to get criticism from the campaign, but I have to sort of defend somebody whos a stepmom. Its a tough job. People step into that role. Sanders comment was the latest example of a prominent ally of Trump who long has struggled with women voters seemingly disparaging women who dont have children. His own running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, faced criticism and earned extensive negative news coverage for comments he made in a 2021 Fox News interview bemoaning that the country was, in part, run 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. Other past comments by Vance about adults without children have also drawn scrutiny, including Vance in 2021 calling for parents to be able to have additional votes for each child they have. Sam Dubke, a spokesperson for Sanders, said the governor was referring to Harris policy positions. Vice President Harris, without winning any votes, and after driving up prices by 20% and allowing nearly ten million illegal border crossings, is claiming she alone can solve Americas problems, Dubke said in a statement to POLITICO. Thats the lack of humility Governor Sanders was referencing. Trump has sought to defend Vance, while also making statements supportive of people who dont have children, telling reporters at the National Association of Black Journalists in July that some people without the family are far better theyre superior in many cases. Trump, who is locked in a close race with Harris for a small subset of undecided and independent voters in key battleground states, has also attempted to brand the GOP as protecting peoples rights to have families on their own terms including advocating for access to in vitro fertilization. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked a bill by Democrats to expand IVF access. Democrats, meanwhile, seized on Vances comments soon after he became the vice presidential nominee, making the childless cat lady trope something of a rallying cry for women supporting Harris, not unlike the nasty woman label Hillary Clinton supporters used in 2016. Taylor Swift signed her Harris endorsement post on Instagram as Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady, and included a photo of her and her cat. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders reignited the controversy over how allies of Donald Trump talk about stepmothers and childless women when she told supporters of the former president Tuesday night that Kamala Harris doesnt have anything to keep her humble. While introducing Trump at a Flint, Michigan, town hall, Sanders said her three children serve as a permanent reminder of everything that is at stake in this country ahead of the election. My kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesnt have anything keeping her humble, said Sanders, the first female governor of Arkansas and Trumps former White House press secretary. You would think after four years of straight failure, she would know a little humility. Unfortunately, she doesnt. The comments come as the Trump campaign attempts to narrow the gap with Harris among female voters. Sanders is one of several former Trump staffers who have attempted to vouch for the former president among women, despite his long history of sexual misconduct allegations and the fact that he was found liable of sexual abuse and defamation last year. During her time in the White House, Sanders, who at times faced sexist comments about her appearance, defended Trump after he was criticized for attacks on female politicians. Her remarks Tuesday, in which she argued that children serve as reminders of what matters in an election and alluded to the vice presidents lack of biological kids, are reminiscent of comments made by Trumps running mate, JD Vance, a longtime critic of those, particularly elected officials, without children. The Ohio senator has railed against a childless elite in Washington, who he has argued doesnt have a direct stake in the future of the country, and has said that the US was being run by childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that theyve made. Vance has also said the Democratic Party has become anti-family and anti-child. Those comments, made before he joined Trump on the Republican presidential ticket, have been widely criticized by members of both parties. Pop star Taylor Swift alluded to the Vance lines in her endorsement of Harris, signing off as a Childless Cat Lady. Trump has since said, I hate Taylor Swift. Sam Dubke, a spokesperson for Sanders, said the governor was referring to the Biden-Harris administrations economic and border security policies. Vice President Harris, without winning any votes, and after driving up prices by 20% and allowing nearly ten million illegal border crossings, is claiming she alone can solve Americas problems, Dubke said in a statement to CNN. Thats the lack of humility Governor Sanders was referencing. The Harris and Trump campaigns did not respond to requests for comment. But second gentleman Doug Emhoff, speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Brooklyn on Wednesday, defended our big, beautiful, blended family and tied Vances comments to what he said was Trumps agenda. We know what theyre really trying to do. Its Dobbs, its Project 2025, its spreading hate and trying to pit women against each other, trying to pit us all against each other, he said. But Ive got news for him. Women in this country are sick and tired of weak men trying to take away their fundamental rights and then gaslight you about it. He continued: The women in this country will never humble themselves before Donald Trump. While Harris does not have biological children, she has two stepchildren Cole and Ella Emhoff through her 10-year marriage to second gentleman Doug Emhoff. We might not look like other families in the White House, but we are ready to represent all families in America, Cole Emhoff said in a video introducing his father at last months Democratic National Convention. The second gentlemans former wife, Kerstin Emhoff, has continually defended Harris and her role in their blended family. Cole and Ella keep us inspired to make the world a better place. I do it through storytelling. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families, she wrote on social media Tuesday in response to Sanders remarks. That keeps you pretty humble. At the core of the Democratic backlash to the remarks by Vance, and now Sanders, however, has been that womens value and contributions to their communities shouldnt be based on whether they have had children. And Democrats slam the related GOP rhetoric as a distraction. When you have no substance, you have to resort to superficiality, said Donna Brazile, a Harris ally and veteran Democratic political strategist. Brazile pointed to Vance missing recent Senate votes to temporarily expand the child tax credit and to protect and expand access to in vitro fertilization, which Senate Republicans blocked. Members of Sanders own party have also balked at her remarks at the Flint event. Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist and CNN senior political commentator, said that he understood the value of stepparents, having been raised for several years by his stepmother. My kind of Republican Party welcomes everyone, Jennings said on CNNs NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Tuesday. We do encourage families, we encourage life, but we also encourage everybody to do whats best for themselves in their own personal situation and respect other peoples choices. Brian Lanza, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign who was also raised by a stepmother, told Phillip he was offended by the comment and disappointed in Sanders for saying that. Im sure Im going to get criticism from the campaign, but I have to defend somebody whos a stepmom. Its a tough job, Lanza said. We should reward that and speak of that in a high tone. This story has been been updated with comments from second gentleman Doug Emhoff. CNNs Aaron Pellish contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com During a campaign event for former President Donald Trump Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested Vice President Kamala Harris is not humble because she does not have biological children. The comments came during a town hall the governor moderated in Flint, Michigan, at first joking about how her childrens innocent remarks can make her feel humble despite her high-profile position. More: Trump jokes about 'dangerous business,' bashes Harris first rally since gunman arrested You can walk into a room like this where people cheer when you step onto the stage and you might think for a second that youre kind of special, Sanders said. Then you go home and your kids remind you very quickly that youre not that big of a deal. She kept on the theme of humility before pivoting to the Democratic nominee for president. So, my kids keep me humble, she said to the crowd, pausing for a few seconds. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesnt have anything keeping her humble. Harris has two stepchildren through her marriage to Doug Emhoff, Ella and Cole Emhoff, and has often spoken about her role as stepmom or, using her nickname, Momala. Kerstin Emhoff, the ex-wife of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, has been a vocal supporter of Harris campaign and has repeatedly celebrated Harris role as stepmother to her two kids. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families, she wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to Sanders comments. That keeps you pretty humble. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (center) applauds. with family members (from left) Greenley Littlejohn,Cole Emhoff, Ella Emhoff, Maya Harris, Tony West, and Meena Harris as Democratic Presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her acceptance speech during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. The crowds reaction was a mix of laughs and applause as well as some boos, though its unclear if they were directed toward Sanders comments or the mention of the rival nominee. A senior campaign adviser to the Trump campaign, Bryan Lanza, slammed the remark during a CNN panel shortly after the town hall. His on-air comments signal a clear effort by some to distance the party from blowback. I found that comment to be actually offensive. I dont know what more to say about that, Lanza said. Im disappointed in Sarah saying that. Im sure Im going to get criticism from the campaign, but I have to sort of defend somebody whos a stepmom. Its a tough job. People step into that role. Sanders brazen comments are not out of the norm, as the governor has become known for making bold claims and embracing culture war issues, especially concerning gender. She has fought against the Biden administrations IX updates, and last year signed an executive order banning what she calls woke, anti-women words in government. The order states that the government should reject language that ignores, undermines, and erases women, and should celebrate gender distinctions between men and womennot erase them. The Trump campaign has attracted ire over the last several weeks after a 2021 Fox News interview with running mate JD Vance resurfaced, during which he criticized Harris and other Democrats for not having biological children. He called them childless cat ladies, prompting bipartisan condemnation and morphing into a call-to-action by Harris supporters, echoing how women used Trumps nasty woman attacks in his 2016 race against Hilary Clinton as a feminist slogan. Kathryn Palmer is an elections fellow for USA TODAY. Reach her at kapalmer@gannett.com and follow her on X @KathrynPlmr. This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasts Harris for not having biological kids Sarasota resident arrested for trying to aid Russia in war against Ukraine, DOJ says Sarasota resident arrested for trying to aid Russia in war against Ukraine, DOJ says WASHINGTON (WFLA) A Russian citizen living in Sarasota was arrested Monday for allegedly sending electronics from the U.S. to Russia to assist in the countrys war on Ukraine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Denis Postovoy, 44, allegedly illegally exported microelectronic components that could be used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones after Russia invaded Ukraine, according to the DOJ. Postovoy illegally exported dual-use technology to Russia that could bolster its capabilities to wage its unprovoked war against Ukraine, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said in a statement. As alleged, he lied about the final destination for the technology he was shipping and used intermediary destinations to mask this illegal activity. Postovoy allegedly shipped items destined for Russia through Hong Kong, Switzerland and other places and was paid in U.S. dollars from foreign bank accounts, prosecutors said. The indictment alleges that Postovoy didnt have the required licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce to export the goods. He was charged with conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act, to commit smuggling, to commit money laundering, and to defraud the United States, according to the DOJ. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. The Skhemy project's investigative journalists have revealed satellite photographs of the Russian Ministry of Defence's weapons warehouse in the Russian town of Toropets, Tver Oblast, following the 18 September attack by Ukrainian drones. Source: Skhemy, an investigative reporting project by Radio Liberty Quote: "At the disposal of Schemes there are satellite images of Planet Labs, taken on September 18 at 11:30 Kyiv time. They show large-scale smoke on the territory of military unit No. 11777, which is responsible for the composition of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. " Snapshot before the September 16 attack Photo: Skhemy Snapshot after the September 18 attack Photo: Skhemy Background: On the night of 17-18 September, drones from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) and the Special Operations Forces (SOF) successfully attacked a large warehouse belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defence's Main Missile and Artillery Directorate in the Russian town of Toropets in Tver Oblast. The source reports that the warehouse stored missiles intended for Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition. Following the drone attack, a fire and detonation occurred in the town of Toropets. The fire covered an area 6 kilometres wide. Local authorities announced the evacuation of the population. In 2018, the Russian Ministry of Defence stated that the arsenal's integrated storage of missiles, ammunition, and explosive materials meets the highest international standards. Support UP or become our patron! Satellite images show the difficult mission to save a stricken oil tanker in the Red Sea The Houthis attacked an oil tanker last month, leaving it stranded in the Red Sea. The MV Sounion was finally towed to a safe area, a European naval mission announced this week. New satellite images highlight the effort to rescue the damaged tanker. Satellite imagery obtained by Business Insider captures the difficult mission to rescue an oil tanker stranded in the Red Sea nearly a month after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels first attacked the vessel. After an unsuccessful earlier attempt, hindered by a mix of challenging factors, the European Union's counter-Houthi mission said on Monday that the MV Sounion was "successfully towed to a safe area without any oil spill" under its protection. Operation Aspides stated that it would continue to monitor the situation while "private stakeholders" finish the salvage mission. It is unclear where the Greek-flagged Sounion is now. Satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies this past weekend show the salvage mission underway. European warships attached to Aspides helped secure the area, which has been subject to consistent Houthi attacks, providing safe passage for the tugboats. An overview of the Sounion with a salvage tug and support vessels in the Red Sea. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies. A close-up view of the Sounion with a salvage tug. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies. A French warship sails near the Sounion during the salvage operation. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies. "The completion of this phase of the salvage operation is the result of a comprehensive approach and close cooperation between all stakeholders committed to prevent an environmental disaster affecting the whole region," Aspides said on Monday. Another satellite image that was captured by BlackSky on Saturday shows a different view of the salvage operation, including several unidentified vessels and a Greek warship operating nearby, underscoring the European security efforts. Another image shows the salvage operation underway. BlackSky The Houthis attacked the Sounion multiple times in late August, leaving the tanker without power and stranded in the water and forcing the crew to abandon the vessel. The Sounion was transporting the equivalent of 1 million barrels of crude oil from Iraq to Greece. At one point, Houthi rebels boarded the tanker and detonated multiple explosives on the vessel, setting it ablaze and triggering fears of a catastrophic oil spill. The US warned that Sounion's unsustainable condition threatened an environmental disaster much worse than the notorious 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, considered one of the worst environmental calamities in American history. The MV Sounion is seen on fire in the Red Sea on September 9. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies. An initial attempt to salvage the Sounion was unsuccessful in early September, falling through over safety concerns. Rear Adm. Vasileios Gryparis, the operational commander of Aspides, told BI earlier this month that a successful salvage mission required meeting safety, technical, environmental, and weather considerations. He said at the time that among the challenges impacting the salvage mission were the fires onboard the Sounion and plans to transfer the oil from the vessel to another tanker. The Houthis have struck a number of vessels with missiles and drones since the Iran-backed rebels started attacking merchant shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden last fall. US and European naval forces have intercepted many of the Houthis' weapons, while others have failed to reach their targets or were destroyed in Yemen before launch by the Western forces, but attacks still sometimes get through. Read the original article on Business Insider DUBAI (Reuters) -Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday said the kingdom would not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state and strongly condemned the "crimes of the Israeli occupation" against the Palestinian people. "The kingdom will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that," the crown prince, known as MbS, said. After the eruption of war last October between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas that rules Gaza, Saudi Arabia put on ice U.S.-backed plans for the kingdom to normalise ties with Israel, two sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking said earlier this year, in a swift reordering of its diplomatic priorities. MbS, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, had said just weeks before the fighting broke out that Riyadh was getting closer to a deal. The two sources told Reuters there would be some delay in the U.S.-backed talks on normalisation of Saudi-Israel ties, which is seen as a key step for the kingdom to secure what it considers the real prize of a U.S. defence pact in exchange. MbS made the remarks at an annual speech to the advisory Shura Council, which he gave on behalf of his father, King Salman. The council swore an oath of office before MbS on Wednesday before he addressed it. (Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Nadine Awadalla; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Jon Boyle and Alex Richardson) The South Carolina Department of Education has partnered with the controversial, unaccredited nonprofit Prager University Foundation to provide students with supplemental classroom materials. We must focus on providing students the tools they need to be successful, state Superintendent Ellen Weaver said in a press release. These resources will inspire our students, broaden their horizons, and help them thrive in and out of the classroom. By empowering them with the real-life world knowledge and skills, South Carolina is building a brighter future for all. Weaver said age-appropriate materials provided by the organization including at least 70 different videos, lesson plans, worksheets, and books align with South Carolinas K-12 school standards and provide a range of topics from civics to financial literacy. The departments partnership with the group, known as PragerU, is meant to celebrate Americas rich history, according to a press release. The materials are optional for teachers to use, but will be easily accessible. PragerU was founded in 2011 by Dennis Prager, a conservative radio host. The organization, a right-wing advocacy group, claims to arm people with the intellectual ammunition to advocate for limited government, individual responsibility and economic freedom. When the Florida Board of Education approved the use of PragerU Kids videos to be shown in classrooms in 2023, it became the first state to have a formal partnership with the organization. Its now also an education partner in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Louisiana, Montana and New Hampshire. But some PragerU materials are considered controversial. Some historically inaccurate. Others offensive. A video about Frederick Douglass, which was widely shared online last year, depicted the slavery abolitionist saying that slavery was a compromise between the nations founding fathers and the southern colonies to achieve something great. NPR reported that one video called feminism a mean-spirited, small minded and oppressive philosophy, and another featured a historian saying no piece of land belongs to a single group of people in regard to colonization. NBC reported that a video about Christopher Columbus described Indigenous groups far from peaceful and defended slavery. Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, called the partnership with PragerU disturbing and a huge red flag. The history PragerU teaches is biased and absolutely controversial, she said. No one thinks its a good idea, East said. Im concerned young people will be indoctrinated ... we want to teach accurate history. She said she doesnt know of any teachers involved in the decision. State legislators have also been critical online of the state departments decision, including Richland County Democrats Reps. Jermaine Johnson and Todd Rutherford and Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine. Rutherford lamented Weavers election on social media, calling her unqualified. Now we have Candace Owens teaching history class, Rutherford wrote, referring to the conservative pundit. A spokesman for the state education department could not be reached for comment on the use of PragerU materials in public schools. According to The Washington Post, PragerU is neither paying nor receiving money from state partners. The partnership comes amid other changes made in South Carolinas public schools since Weaver took office in January 2023. A recently-approved policy allows statewide book bans in school libraries and classrooms, shifting the final say away from local school boards to the State Board of Education. And earlier this year, the education department discontinued advancement placement African American studies in the states public schools. The decision drew the ire from civil rights leaders, state representatives and students alike. Individual schools are allowed to teach the class as an elective. But students will not be able to earn the same college credit for the course that they might have previously. Created by the College Board, the African American studies curriculum was a rigorous, interdisciplinary approach to examining the African American experience, from the African diaspora and slavery to the civil rights movement of the 20th century. People are being deprived of their right to a free education, Johnson said in June. We cannot stand for this. We must teach the truth. If they remove this class, they are effectively whitewashing history. As time and avenues for his appeals run out, lawyers for Freddie Owens have asked federal courts to pause his execution. At question is whether South Carolina prison officials have provided enough information about the lethal drug thats expected to be administered to Owens in the state death chamber at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia at 6 p.m. Friday. The lack of information has raised fears that the execution will fail or cause Owens extreme pain and suffering, according to his attorneys. It would be the first time an execution is held in South Carolina since 2011, when the state ran out of the drugs used in lethal injections. Fridays planned execution is the culmination of a multi-year legislative effort to resume the death penalty, which included passing an ironclad shield law forbidding any disclosure about the sourcing, manufacturing, transportation, personnel and companies involved with the drugs used in lethal infections. On Tuesday, a federal court judge allowed Gov. Henry McMaster, a supporter of the death penalty, to become a party to Owens case. While South Carolinas Supreme Court agreed with the state Department of Corrections that the agency had provided the required information to show the drug met the departments legal obligations, Owens lawyers argue that the federal court should temporarily halt his execution until they can hold a hearing on his motion. Lawyers for Owens from the federal public defenders office in Charlotte, along with private attorney Josh Kendrick and Lindsey Vann from Justice360, a nonprofit law firm that defends death row inmates, have argued that they are not asking for information that would violate state shield laws. Instead, in last Fridays legal filings theyve said that they are only seeking information about the testing and properties of the drug as well as the professional qualifications of the execution team members, including those who will be inserting the IV. This information is to allow Owens reasonable information needed to make an informed decision about the method by which he will be put to death. After the South Carolina Supreme Court issued an order earlier this month saying that state Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling had adequately explained how the drug was tested, Owens attorneys said that they were compelled to select lethal injection as Owens method of execution to prevent him from being executed via the electric chair. Electrocution is the default method of death in South Carolina. Citing his Muslim faith, Owens designated his attorney Emily Paavola to select his method of execution for him because making the choice himself would be akin to suicide. As part of his conversion to Islam, Owens legally changed his name to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, but continues to go by the name Freddie Owens in his legal filings. In 1999, Owens was convicted of murdering gas station clerk Irene Graves during a robbery spree in Greenville when he was 19 years old. What are Owens attorneys saying? On Aug. 28, Stirling filed an affidavit testifying that lethal injection was available via a single dose of pentobarbital. A powerful barbiturate, pentobarbital is used medically as a sedative and kills by stopping breathing. In his affidavit, Stirling stated that two vials of the drug acquired by the department had been tested by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Divisions crime lab. SLED personnel confirmed that the drug was pentobarbital at a concentration of 50 milligrams per milliliter. This is sufficiently potent such that administration in accordance with the protocol will result in death, Stirling wrote. But in their filing, Owens attorneys argue that Stirlings affidavit falls short of the laws requirement that Stirling, as corrections director, provide basic facts about the drugs creation, quality, reliability and stability. In an earlier motion submitted to the state Supreme Court, Owens attorneys requested that the corrections department provide additional information including the actual test results, the testing method, the date that the drugs were tested, their method of storage and their beyond-use date. Citing Michaela Almgren, a professor of pharmacology at the University of South Carolina, Owens attorneys argued that the absence of this information meant that Owens ran the risk of being injected with expired or degraded drugs, which could cause unnecessary pain and suffering during his execution. This issue is particularly pressing, Owens attorneys argue, because over the past decade 18 executions have been botched nationally, five of which failed completely, according to information from the Death Penalty Information Center. Providing answers to this tailored request for information, much of which is not even barred from disclosure by state secrecy rules concerning executions, would not threaten South Carolinas ability to impose the death penalty, Owens attorneys argue. Why is Gov. McMaster seeking to weigh in? A prosecutor who served as both U.S. Attorney for South Carolina and the states elected Attorney General, McMaster has long indicated his support for the death penalty. In a statement released after he signed the states lethal injection shield law in May 2023, McMaster said, For over five years, (Corrections) Director (Bryan) Stirling and I have called upon the General Assembly to pass a shield law so South Carolina could resume the enforcement of a jurys lawful death sentence. This law will hopefully provide closure and justice for the grieving families and loved ones who have had to wait too long. On Monday, lawyers for McMaster filed a motion to intervene in Owens case, arguing that the governor should be included as a party. Owens federal case made no mention of McMasters opinions on the death penalty, it argued that the governors office had significant interests in being a party to the case and described Owens motion as an attempt to challenge and circumvent the states shield law. Failing to include him as a party would prevent him from defending the shield law, McMasters attorneys wrote. It would also challenge his exclusive right as governor to grant clemency. If a court were to grant Plaintiffs (Owens) their requested relief, it would also effectively grant an indefinite reprieve to inmates on death row via judicial decree rather than by executive clemency... which only the Governor is authorized by law to do. People protest the death penalty in a free speech zone set up near the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City just after midnight on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 as the state prepared to execute death row inmate Taberon Honie. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) South Carolina once again finds itself, tragically, on the wrong side of history. After a hiatus of 13 years, the state this week plans to resume the barbaric practice of putting human beings to death. Unless Gov. Henry McMaster intervenes, death row inmate Freddie Owens, 46, will be executed by lethal injection on Friday, Sept. 20. Death warrants for at least five other inmates could be issued over the next seven months. McMaster, as governor, has never faced the solemn decision of whether to allow the state to end a life, but he might seek guidance from two other governors who have hard-won experience. Republican Robert Bentley and Democrat Don Siegelman were both governors of Alabama. Both refused clemency to death-row inmates who were later executed during their tenures. Both are haunted by what they now consider their own acts of injustice. In a remarkable admission in the Washington Post last year, Bentley and Siegelman drew attention to the legally and morally troubling flaws in the justice system and death penalty laws. In particular, theyre concerned about prosecutorial misconduct, which could include withholding important information from defense attorneys. Owens, who changed his named to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, was convicted in 1999 of shooting and killing gas station clerk Irene Graves during a string of robberies in 1997. While in Greenville County jail, Owens killed one of his cellmates, Christopher B. Lee. But the only eyewitness to the 1997 crime was Steven Golden, Owens co-defendant, who said last month that he had a secret agreement with prosecutors saying Golden would avoid the death penalty if he testified against Owens, according to reporting by the Gazettes Skylar Laird. Golden said he made false claims at the instruction of prosecutors. Owens attorneys say prosecutors hid the deal from the defense and jury. Under the U.S. Constitution, prosecutors have a duty to disclose evidence favorable to the defense, including plea deals. In addition, a juror in Owens original trial told attorneys that she had seen a stun belt around Owens waist, which is against the law as it can prejudice jurors against a defendant. South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, a coalition of clergy and civil rights advocates, also points out that Owens was 19 at the time of the crime. In addition, Owens as a child had been the victim and witness of physical abuse in his home and later had been subjected to physical and sexual abuse in South Carolinas juvenile prison system, resulting in brain injuries. No one is arguing that Owens should be a free man. But based on extenuating circumstances and humane principles, the coalition is asking McMaster to grant clemency and reduce Owens sentence to life imprisonment without parole. McMaster said he will make his decision only minutes before Owens is scheduled to die. Standards of decency Beyond the details of Owens case, South Carolinas resumption of the death penalty would set our state morally apart from the nations and even the worlds evolving standards of decency. An ever-growing number of states recognize the inhumanity of the death penalty. Twenty-three states have abolished it. Six other states have gubernatorial moratoriums in effect, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Only five states conducted executions in 2023, the lowest number of states in 20 years. Seven states have so far this year, according to the center. The Biden administration, meanwhile, placed a moratorium on federal executions six months into his tenure. Americans in the past supported the death penalty, but that has changed. In 1999, 98 people were executed in the U.S. So far this year, only 13 have been executed. One reason is that half of Americans believe the death penalty is unfairly applied, according to the Gallup Crime Survey. In South Carolina, the racial disparity in executions is striking. Of the 284 people who have been executed since 1912, 209 (74%) were Black. Americans recognize that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. In addition, states spend far more money on death-penalty cases than on life-imprisonment cases. A stark reality about the death penalty is that it remains the only punishment that is irrevocable, and the justice system sometimes makes mistakes. Since 1976, 1 person on death row has been exonerated for every 8.3 executions nationwide, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. That represents a failure rate of 12%, and theres no room for failure in a death-penalty case. Executing an innocent person is not only a moral outrage; it often means that the guilty go free. South Carolina has a deeply troubling record of justice-system mistakes. Since 1988, at least nine people have been exonerated of violent crimes, most recently in 2020 for a murder conviction 18 years earlier, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. The most infamous case of wrongful conviction in South Carolina, of course, is the 1944 execution of George Stinney, who at age 14 was the youngest person to be executed in the 20th century and exonerated 70 years later. South Carolina has an opportunity to close that tragic, shameful chapter of its past and chart a more humane future. It would begin with a grant of clemency for Freddie Owens and should eventually include the abolition of the death penalty in our state. SC prepares for November with new ballot scanners, court incentive for poll workers Voting machines set up in 2023. (Provided by Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections) COLUMBIA All of South Carolinas ballot-counting machines are being replaced with new, faster versions ahead of the November elections. The State Election Commission on Tuesday announced the purchase of 3,240 updated ballot scanners. The new scanners are slightly smaller than the ones used since 2020 but otherwise look the same and are made by the same company. However, theyll start up, scan and upload results significantly faster, according to the agency. This upgrade reflects our commitment to providing a secure, accurate, and transparent voting process that is accessible to all eligible voters, Howie Knapp, executive director of the Election Commission, said in a news release. The total cost of the new scanners is about $29 million, paid for through a program of the state treasurers office that provides low-cost financing to upgrade state agencies equipment. Poll worker incentive Beyond being faster for voters and poll workers and hopefully providing results quicker the new equipment also offers greater security, to include data encryption and anti-tampering features, according to the agency. Other preparations underway for an election that will decide the next president and which party controls Congress include poll worker recruitment. The state will need somewhere between 13,000 and 17,000 people to work the polls, with the largest counties needing over 1,000 workers each. Criteria include being a registered voter. Counties will continue to recruit poll workers until they have enough. That may continue through late October, if necessary, said John Michael Catalano, spokesman for the state Election Commission. Last week, the South Carolina Supreme Court provided some extra incentive for lawyers to volunteer at the polls. Volunteering as election workers will count as six hours of credit toward attorneys mandatory continuing legal education training. That would shave off nearly half of the 14 hours of credits attorneys must acquire annually in South Carolina to keep their license. To count, attorneys must work the entire Election Day and forgo the poll worker stipend, reads the Sept. 11 order signed by all five state Supreme Court justices. Thats not giving up much. The state provides poll workers a total of $135 for Election Day, which includes $60 for mandatory training ahead of time. Poll clerks, who lead each precinct and undergo more training, get an additional $100. However, poll worker pay varies statewide, since counties often supplement the state rate. This will be the third time that South Carolinas high court has given credit to lawyers who assist at the polls. Still, lawyers are likely to be just a fraction of the total number of election workers. In 2020, 71 attorneys received the credit for participating, while just 35 did so two years ago, according to the Supreme Court Commission on CLE (continuing legal education) and Specialization. Voters confident in SC election administration Despite challenges in recruiting poll workers and keeping election administrators, residents of South Carolina seem confident in the states elections ahead of November. The State Election Commission commissioned a poll from the firm Chernoff Newman, which surveyed just over 500 registered voters in July. The poll showed that 87% of respondents were somewhat or very confident in the accuracy of state elections, compared with 72% who felt the same way about national elections. Over 90% of those polled rated their polling location somewhat or very positively on a range of metrics, including having enough poll workers and parking. The poll was also conducted in 2020 and 2022. The latest survey cost the state agency $10,200, according to a spokesperson with Chernoff Newman. The 2020 poll found just 60% of respondents were somewhat or very confident in national elections, a number that has grown steadily since, while confidence in the state elections has remained fairly consistent over the three polls. Under a picnic pavilion at Conestee Park, burgers were being grilled. A disc jockey and a live musician took turns entertaining the crowd. Upstate Democratic Party candidates spent time meeting and taking pictures with small-dollar donors and volunteers. It was a Greenville County Democratic Party candidate cookout where party activists listened to those running in Novembers elections and where party leaders showed they have energy on their side. That energy is what give Democrats in the Upstate hope they can rebuild the party and see success where Republicans dominate in general elections. The effort to rebuild has been seen in an increase in fundraising by the Greenville and Spartanburg County Democratic parties compared to previous cycles, and more candidates running for office in the Upstate. Like other regions in the state, its growing, but the population demographics in Greenville and Spartanburg counties are more conducive for Democrats. Those who run the Greenville and Spartanburg county Democratic parties concede results in Novembers elections mostly likely wont be what they ultimately want to see: Democrats ousting Republicans. But they at least are looking for results to be closer than what most political watchers expect. Democrats in the Upstate say there is a glimmer of hope to improve their fortunes at the ballot box, if not in November, but in future cycles because of who is moving into the area as the population grows. Still, donors and volunteers have certain expectations in order to continue investing time and money into the party. Were very clear with donors, at least I am, you know, as we might not win this year, but if we dont have a good quality candidate that people can believe in, and then reinvest in this same district in the next, you know, two, four, six eight years, then were never gonna get there, Greenville County Democratic Chairwoman Amanda McDougald Scott said. State Rep. Wendell Jones, D-Greenville, speaks to a Greenville County Democratic Party supporter at the partys candidate cookout on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. Greenville, Spartanburg Democrats see fundraising uptick Republicans have dominated the Upstate election cycle after cycle and Democrats trying to convince their voters to fight on is a daunting task. The Upstate is reliably Republican and districts are drawn to allow GOP candidates to win in the general election. Despite that dominance, the Greenville and Spartanburg county Democratic parties have seen fundraising increased this cycle and totals for the 2024 cycle are higher than in the 2020 and 2022 cycles. The Spartanburg County Democratic Party reported $30,000 raised in 2019-20, and $36,000 in 2021-22. It has raised nearly $90,000 in 2023-24. In 2019-20, Greenville County reported raising $116,000, and $118,000 in 2021-22. So far in 2024-24, Greenville County Democratic Party raised more than $185,000. What people werent really seeing, is that we needed to show that we were going to be doing something with the money, and that we were actually going to be working as a party towards something, McDougald Scott said. More Democrats are running in Upstate House districts in 2024 than in 2022, however, one fewer candidate for Upstate Senate seats in 2024 than in 2020. Democrats, at least in the Greenville and Spartanburg counties, think the Upstate is the place to try to make inroads. Its a fast growing area. The median age in Greenville of 38.5 years, and 37.9 years in Spartanburg, are both lower than the state median age of 40.5 years. The Hispanic population is higher in both those counties than the state average. A Democratic rebuild just may not be possible in other places in the state such as the Grand Strand. Horry County has seen lots of growth in recent years, but much of it is retirees and Republican dominated, with the median age in Horry County at 48.9 years Greenville County also has a higher percentage of people with bachelors degree than the state average. There are opportunities there (Horry County) but I think the candidates we have recruited or that have been recruited up here, this is prime real estate for us in 2024, said Phillip Ford, a Democratic consultant working in the Upstate. Part of the pitch is convincing donors and volunteers candidates have a chance to win. For instance, Greenville Democrats are excited about Taylor Cullivers race against state Sen. Ross Turner, R-Greenville, in Senate District 8. Turner has run unopposed in the last three general elections. The race is a longshot for Democrats, but they point to how Trumps vote share in the district dropped from 2016 to 2020 and how well Nikki Haley performed in the district against Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. I believe with Trump at the top of the ticket, were going to see more of a shift going forward, Culliver told volunteers and donors said in Zoom call. Culliver and his campaign manager Bre Spaulding laid out their goals. How many voters they need to turnout, which precincts the Cullivers campaign should knock doors, and which ones the party should focus on. And they even shared a budget of how much money they want to spend on outreach efforts such as paid calls or text messages, paid canvassing, direct mail and social media ads to increase Cullivers name ID. And the goal is to get at least 34,602 votes in Cullivers race, based on how many voters the campaign expects will turnout. They estimate 69,000 to 70,000 votes cast and will need to reach out to about 22,500 voters. Cullivers campaign wont spend much time on people they know will cast a ballot in their favor. The stars are aligning for something really special to happen in the Upstate this November. We are perfectly positioned and well prepared for what has occurred, Culliver said. State Senate District 8 Democratic nominee Taylor Culliver speaks to a supporter during the Greenville County Democratic Party Candidate Cookout on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. Rebuilding the parties will take multiple cycles For a long-term rebuild to be successful, candidates and donors will need to accept that wins most likely wont happen in heavily Republican districts in 2024. Theyll need to be prepared to keep working at it for two or three more cycles. We sat down with each of these candidates and said, This is your path, right (and) made sure they understood what was possible and then managed expectations, just like we said. This is whats gonna happen when we all do this together, said Kathryn Harvey, the Spartanburg County Democratic chairwoman. Harvey, who is also running for Congress in a long-shot campaign against U.S. Rep. William Timmons, R-Greenville in the 4th Congressional District, became the Spartanburg County chair in 2022, as the nation came out from the pandemic. She took over a county party that had not raised a lot of money to pay for its operations. I just knew that we needed to fundraise, build infrastructure and build community, Harvey said. By 23 we started the candidate pipeline, and the goal was to show the candidates that we were serious, so we could get them to run and then raise. Part of the coordinated (effort) is that we are actually supporting the candidates from a resource standpoint and strategy standpoint. Even though Harvey says shes running to flip the fourth district seat this year, she also says she has a 10-year vision of running consistent competitive races up and down the ballot. The Spartanburg party has raised money to do voter outreach to stay in contact with voters engage with voters outside election season as well. This is not ever going to be seasonal, ever again, Harvey said. Like it has to be a constant, and it has to have focused leadership. Candidates will need to see results trending in their direction. If Democratic candidates can narrow margins against Republicans, it may keep them willing to run in future elections, and keep donors willing to continue to contribute money. The growth has to be gradual, and it will be very gradual, and thats why you shouldnt give up just because theyre having a loss, said Kinard Johnson, an 80-year-old Greenville County Democratic Party donor and retired family court judge. Also, there does need to be some presentation of an alternative to the MAGA Republicans. But with the money that comes in, the county parties, who will be responsible for turning out the base, will have to use the money wisely for donors to continue to contribute and possibly even have smaller gaps than expected. I expect them to reach out and touch voters. And thats why we door knock, we phone bank we lit drop, said Kat Dunleavy, a volunteer coordinator for the Greenville County Democratic Party. Stephanie Leonard, 42, a health care executive who lives in Pelzer, is the precinct coordinator for the Greenville County Democratic Party and serves as its secretary and also is a small donor. It helps fund our local candidates. It helps getting the awareness out there. And if you want real change, its with the local elections, Leonard said. But if the money wasnt being spent wisely, she would probably donate her money to another states candidate, because I also donate outside of the state, Leonard said. Harvey said she, building a foundation, creating a candidate pipeline and having consistent competitive races is a 10-year plan. She says shes in year three of the 10-year plan. Were going to see so much incremental movement coming out in 24 that will pave a path forward that there is literally undeniable that its going to be possible. And its an act of proving the theory, Harvey said. State Senate District 12 Democratic nominee Octavia Amaechi (right) speaks to Janet Lomicka at the Greenville County Candidate Cookout on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. SEATTLE - After more than a decade, passengers will again be able to fly direct from Seattle to Copenhagen on Scandinavian Airlines. AIRPORT KRANEBITTEN, INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA - 2020/02/08: A Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) Airbus 320 NEO in new livery, just landed at Innsbruck Kranebitten airport. (Photo by Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) The flights will kick off on May 21, 2025 between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Copenhagen Airport. From there, Scandinavian says fliers will be able to hop on a connection to 39 cities in Europe. "We are excited to expand our North American network with Seattle. The route from Copenhagen will provide more travel options for our customers and strengthen the connection between Scandinavia and the Pacific Northwest, a region of growing economic importance with deep Scandinavian roots", says Anko van der Werff, President & CEO of SAS. Flights will take off five times a week throughout the summer season. The inaugural flight path from the airline was established nearly 60 years ago. It's return comes 15 years after operations between Seattle and Copenhagen were halted. Representatives with SAS cite growing demand for travel to the United States. Seattle will be one of their 11 nonstop destinations in North America. MORE NEWS FROM FOX SEATTLE New Idaho judge in Bryan Kohberger trial no stranger to brutal murder cases Key employee who called Titan unsafe testifies before Coast Guard 1 killed in crash on West Casino Road in Everett 'Could have gone much worse': Armed man involved in fight at Seattle movie theater How to register to vote in WA WA voter guide: What to know about the 2024 November general election New HOV ramps open for WA State Route 520 drivers Home Depot to pay nearly $2M penalty for allegedly overcharging customers To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle newsletter. (Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci projected record highs for Bitcoin fueled by a combination of interest-rate cuts and US crypto regulatory clarity in the wake of Novembers presidential election. Most Read from Bloomberg We are going to get pro-cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and stablecoin legislation in the first part of the next congressional term in the US, the founder of SkyBridge Capital LLC said in an interview Wednesday. At the same time, youre intersecting with rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Scaramucci said he prefers bipartisan legislation backed by Republicans and Democrats. Back in 2017, he was former President Donald Trumps director of communications for 11 days before being fired and becoming a vocal critic. Republican nominee Trump has pivoted to a pro-crypto stance in search of donations and votes amid a tight race for the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris, whose stance on digital assets is less clear. Scaramucci expressed optimism about the prospects for crypto rules under a Harris administration, citing discussions with the Democratic team behind her electoral push. Last month, an adviser to her campaign signaled Harris will back measures to help grow the industry while maintaining appropriate safeguards. SkyBridge was previously known for investing in other hedge fund managers. While it still has some of these investments, it began pivoting to digital assets beginning in 2020. The Fed will likely reduce borrowing costs by a half point on Wednesday, part of at least 150 basis points of cuts over the next 18 months, Scaramucci said. Thats going to be really good for asset prices in the US and globally, he said, adding that Bitcoin could hit $100,000 by the end of the year. He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore. The largest digital asset reached an all-time peak of $73,798 in March, lifted by demand for dedicated US exchange-traded funds. The rally subsequently moderated as inflows into the ETFs cooled. The token has climbed about 5% over the past two days ahead of the Fed policy decision, and was trading at $60,255 as of 9:18 a.m. in London. (Updates prices in the final paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Irvo Otieno, seen here in an undated photo, died March 6, 2023 at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County. after experiencing a mental health crisis. (Courtesy of Ben Crump Law) A newly released report by the disAbility Law Center of Virginia (dLCV) reveals that the death of Irvo Otieno, who was killed at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County during a mental health crisis while in police custody last year, could have been prevented had sheriffs deputies and hospital staff not used prone restraint, a controversial method of subduing individuals. In a presentation of the findings before the House Appropriations Committee at the state Capitol in Richmond Tuesday, Colleen Miller, the dLCVs executive director, urged lawmakers to end the criminalization of mental illness, remove law enforcement from the states response to people with mental health episodes and address the conditions in Virginias jails, where thousands of inmates with mental illness are being kept. There is serious reform needed in Virginia, because the events that happened to Mr. Otieno resulted in his death, and it got a lot of media attention. But people with mental illness are encountering these issues every single day in Virginia, and we need to do something about it, Miller told the panel. Otieno, a 28-year-old man with a history of mental health challenges, died on March 6, 2023, after being transported from the Henrico County Jail to Central State Hospital. The dLCV confirmed that sheriffs deputies and hospital staffs use of prone restraint a technique where an individual is held face down was a key factor in Otienos death. The thing that led to his death, the prone restraint, is prohibited in our state facilities, and yet at Central State Hospital he was placed face down, people piled on top of him, and it killed him. So we really need to think about how to eliminate the prone restraint, Miller said. Ten Henrico County deputies and hospital workers were initially charged with second-degree murder in Otienos death, which was captured on video. But prosecutors later asked a Dinwiddie Circuit Court judge to dismiss the charges against seven of the accused. The investigation by the dLCV, a non-profit designated by the federal government as the protection and advocacy organization for people with disabilities in Virginia, also found that while jailed in Henricos Regional Jail West for three days after suffering a mental health episode, Otieno was subjected to hours possibly days in an emergency restraint chair, and the jail failed to provide him with any psychiatric treatment. A restraint chair all by itself can be very dangerous, you are kind of caved in on yourself while you are in that chair, making it difficult to breathe. The correctional restraints require that someone be restrained only as long as necessary, while they are acting out, Miller said. From Otienos initial encounter with police and the hospital emergency room to his incarceration and transfer to Central State Hospital, the 27-page report details a complete breakdown of Virginias mental health crisis system, compounded by a culture of criminalizing individuals with mental illness, particularly communities of color. The system that was supposed to help Otieno utterly and completely failed him, the investigation concluded. Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, the committees vice chair, called the report disturbing. Weve been trying to work on this area, and law enforcement is getting training in many places, Sickles said. Maybe its not uniform, I dont know what happened in Henrico, but they are training law enforcement every day in dealing with people who have serious mental illness, and they need the appropriate training. Sickles emphasized the ongoing struggle to fill positions for mental health workers in Virginia, despite the legislatures approval of additional funding. We dont have professional staffers, we are trying to fund psychiatric residencies, there is a shortage of all these mental health workers. We would hire them, we have openings, he said. Sickles also pointed to housing shortages as a significant barrier, noting that many patients remain in hospitals longer than necessary due to a lack of community housing options. They shouldnt be in these situations, and we are working on this, he added. Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico, called Otienos death a tragedy on every level. Willett is the sponsor of House Bill 1242, also dubbed Irvos Law, that the General Assembly passed earlier this year. The measure allows family members and caregivers to access loved ones who are in crisis during their emergency room evaluations, unless the presence of a family member would create a medical or safety risk or if the patient objects to their presence. Irvos mom never got the chance to provide that information, Willett said. Its such an unfortunate situation, and its also unfortunate that we need to have these terrible situations to inspire action. But we already took action before Irvos terrible death, and we are certainly going to take more. The legislature this year also backed Gov. Glenn Youngkins Right help, right now initiative, which marked a major investment in building emergency room alternatives to care for patients experiencing a behavioral health crisis, among other measures to address mental health challenges in the state. But Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, said that Virginias jails, police and sheriffs departments still are not equipped to deal with situations involving mental health episodes. I talk often to my sheriffs in Richmond and Henrico County about these issues, and they are overloaded with individuals who have mental health challenges, and they really dont have a clue of what to do with them, McQuinn said. It is something that all of us must get to the table and bring some greater resolution to this, and I dont think its going to happen swiftly, its going to be some years to get where we are trying to go. The timeline of the dLCVs investigation shows the importance of removing law enforcement from mental health treatment, said Miller, the groups executive director. Everything that law enforcement is trained to do is contrary to what is necessary for a mental health response. They are trained to be intimidating, to be tough, to never retreat. Lawmakers and stakeholders should do some hard thinking about how to protect people and help them get the treatment that they need, Miller concluded. We have seen different places throughout the timeline where Mr. Otieno was determined to need medical and mental health care and was prevented from getting that, time and time again. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Scattered showers and possible storm on Wednesday in the Triad PIEDMONT TRIAD, N.C. (WGHP) Aside from some patchy fog, the weather for the morning commute looks great. A weakening area of low pressure is located over north-central South Carolina and we will continue to see clouds pushed into the Piedmont from the south. By lunchtime, partly cloudy skies are expected but the afternoon brings a 40% chance of scattered showers and perhaps a thunderstorm. Highs will be in the mid-70s. Overnight, skies remain cloudy with lows in the mid-60s. Well see more clouds around tomorrow with highs in the mid-70s. The chance of rain is a slim, 20%. Starting Friday, the sunshine is back, and temperatures will reflect the sunnier weather! Highs Friday and Saturday are going to be near 80 under mostly sunny skies. Sunday, highs will slip back to the upper-70s under partly cloudy skies. High pressure is going to slip down the Appalachians for the beginning of the work week, and high temperatures will cool to the mid-70s. Scattered clouds will continue to build across our skies both Monday and 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 FOX8 WGHP. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) The Sioux City Community School District has received reports of another social media threat, according to an email from the school district. In the email, the school district said that a non-specific social media threat was circulating among students at East High School. The school district said that they believe that this threat is not credible and is similar to a threat that was circulating around the school district earlier this week. The school said that all staff and students are safe and that the school day will be continuing as normal. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. School evacuated, bomb squad responds after threat made by student at Boylston school, police say An apparent bomb threat made by a juvenile student forced the evacuation of a school in Boylston on Wednesday morning. The State Police Bomb Squad, along with Boylston Police detectives, responded to the Tahanto Regional Middle/High School on Main Street and swept the school building and areas, police said in a statement. Investigators later determined the threat was not credible. The juvenile student was quickly identified and questioned, police said. Due to the students age, no information about their identity will be released. Police did not release the students age. At approximately 8:10 a.m. Wednesday, the Berlin Boylston Regional School District informed Boylston Police of a bomb threat made against the school. Officials evacuated the school per crisis protocols involving school, police, and fire officials and the towns public works departments, police said. Students and educators returned inside after the school building was deemed safe. Police said the incident was not related to any swatting calls effecting other municipalities. Wednesdays incident in Boylston happened as public school districts across the nation are evacuating school buildings and even canceling school due to bomb threats or threats of gun violence, after a deadly shooting at a school in Georgia that killed four people and injured nine others. Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student at Apalachee High School outside Atlanta, has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder, law enforcement officials in Georgia have said. Earlier this month, Methuen Police charged two 14-year-old students in connection with making multiple threats against public schools in that community. Several local and state agencies responded to Wednesdays incident, including Berlin Police and Fire, Boylston Police and Fire, Clinton Police, Worcester Police, and the Massachusetts State Police. Boylston is a small town northeast of Worcester. The towns population was 4,849 at the 2020 census. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Nearly ten school districts across the Kansas City metro have confirmed threats of violence over the past few weeks, mostly through social media, in the wake of a fatal mass shooting at a Georgia high school in early September. In that case, two teachers and two students were shot and killed at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, Sept. 4. Colt Gray, 14, was charged with four counts of felony murder, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. His father, Colin Gray, 54, has also been charged in connection with the shooting after investigators said he knowingly allowed his son to have a weapon. Since that time, the number of school threats has seemed to escalate across the Kansas City metro area, totaling at least 10 known threats. Nick Gooch, Grandview assistant superintendent, said in a news release that its crucial not to share or spread threats encountered on social media because it can lead to panic and make the investigation harder for authorities. Instead, students and parents should immediately report the threat to school administration or local law enforcement. We urged families to talk to students about the seriousness of making a threat like this, said Jennifer Brady, a spokeswoman with Blue Springs Police in an email. Threats will not be tolerated, even if it is intended as a joke. As of Tuesday afternoon, The Star has confirmed at least three individuals ages 18 and younger have been charged related to reported threats in the Kansas City metro. Heres what we know. Several arrested in connection to threats Three teenagers have been arrested, some of them students, in Lees Summit, Blue Springs and Leavenworth in connection to threats made against area schools. On Tuesday, Leavenworth police took an 18-year-old suspect into custody for posting a threat online against Leavenworth High School Monday night. The suspect who lives on Fort Leavenworth was not a student, said Dr. Kellen J Adams, superintendent of Leavenworth USD 453 schools, in a letter to parents. Police in Lees Summit were made aware of a Tik Tok posted Sept. 9, which included a detailed threat targeting East Trails Middle School at 1001 SE Bailey Rd, said Sgt. Chris Depue in a news release. A juvenile was taken into custody after an investigation by police, the FBI and Lees Summit R7 School District. A Blue Springs High School student was arrested Sept. 8 in connection with an alleged threatening message on Snapchat directed at the school. Blue Springs police said the post did not specifically imply a shooting, but insinuated the threat of violence sent to several students and was submitted to police and the school district by a concerned parent, Brady said in an email. Other threats of violence Capt. Heather Pate with the Bonner Springs Police Department said in an email Tuesday that the department received two tips last week about possible shootings at Clark Middle School, located at 420 N Bluegrass Drive. A suspect was identified for the first threat, which was found to be not credible. The second was submitted anonymously through a tip hotline Friday, Pate said. Police conducted a search of the school with the Shawnee Police Department and the FBI with canines. Though not believed to be credible, that threat is still under investigation. The Grandview C-4 district and Grain Valley received threats through social media posts, which officials called unsubstantiated. The Kearney School District also got an anonymous tip through the states Courage2Report system. None of those threats were substantiated by officials. Several threats were reported to the Independence Police Department regarding Truman High School on Sept. 13, according to Independence Police Detective Jack Taylor. Around 10:20 a.m. that morning, a call was placed about a student possibly armed in the restroom. Minutes later, another call came in saying there was a student armed in a classroom. A third call was placed at 12:24 from a parent who heard about a student with a gun inside the school, which police determined was related to the other two incidents from that morning. None of the calls were substantiated, and no threats were posed to the students at Truman High, Taylor said. An email sent out on Sept. 12 from Kansas City Kansas Public School officials said that there were several social media posts that targeted some of the schools in the district. Those who were associated with the threats were caught by police and will face disciplinary action, school officials said in a letter to parents and staff. The threats were found to be not credible. Sean 'Diddy' Combs, shown here at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, pleaded not guilty to racketeering and sex trafficking charges (ANGELA WEISS) (ANGELA WEISS/AFP/AFP) Rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs will remain imprisoned pending trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, after a judge denied his appeal Wednesday. Judge Andrew Carter upheld the previous day's ruling that the bail package proposed by his defense team -- which included a $50 million bond secured by his Miami home -- was insufficient given his history of violence and substance abuse, and the possibility of witness tampering. "It did not go our way," Combs's lawyer Marc Agnifilo told journalists outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan following the ruling. He vowed to keep pushing for Combs's release on bail and also said he would urge the trial to move forward "as quickly as possible." "Wherever he is, his resolve is the same. He believes he's innocent," Agnifilo said, adding that the prison conditions Combs is being held in are "inhumane." On Tuesday, the 54-year-old Combs was indicted on three criminal counts that allege he sexually abused women and coerced them into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence. Along with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, Combs is charged with one count of transporting victims across state lines to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors say Combs was the don of a criminal enterprise that ensnared women and forced them to commit sex acts under the threat of violence, financial insecurity and reputational ruin. Combs has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors are likening his crimes to those of the late Jeffrey Epstein, convicted sex cult leader Keith Raniere, and fellow musician R. Kelly, who received more than three decades in prison for racketeering, sex trafficking and child sex crimes. It's a remarkable fall from grace for the artist credited with playing a key role in the commercialization of hip-hop, who produced a constellation of famous proteges including The Notorious B.I.G. bur-mdo/sst Sean Diddy Combs to remain in custody after judge denies bail appeal in racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking case Sean Diddy Combs will remain in federal custody ahead of his trial on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges after his lawyers failed Wednesday to appeal a judges decision to deny him bail. Prosecutors had argued he was at risk of obstructing the case, and in his ruling Wednesday, Judge Andrew Carter said there were no conditions that reduced the risk of witness tampering or obstruction. The hip-hop artist is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday. Combs, 54, faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted. His next court appearance was scheduled for October 9. Combs attorney Marc Agnifilo told CNN he will again appeal the ruling. Im not going to let him sit in that jail a day longer than he has to, Agnifilo said. When asked about Combs apparent lack of reaction to the ruling, Agnifilo said: Hes a stoic guy in his manner. Hes been through a lot in his life. Prosecutors allege Combs created and ran a criminal enterprise through his business empire that engaged in crimes including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice, according to the federal indictment. The music mogul was being held by himself at the Special Housing Unit in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to a law enforcement official, after another judge denied bail Tuesday. Prosecutors opposed releasing Combs on any grounds, telling the court he has attempted to tamper with witnesses and saying the risk of danger is acute. They pointed to an alleged cache of weapons found in the closet of Combs bedroom and his access to millions of dollars in bank accounts and cash that make him a flight risk. To try to sway a federal judge to release Combs while he awaits trial, his lawyers submitted a new bail package Wednesday that proposed to restrict all female visitors to his home who are not family me mbers and limit all visitors to his Miami properties. The proposed bail package also included a $50 million bond co-signed by Combs, his mother and several family members; surrender of his passport; home detention; weekly drug testing; and a visitor log to be submitted nightly to pretrial services. But at the start of Wednesdays hearing, Carter said the package did not provide reasonable assurance Combs would return to court. My bigger concern deals with the danger of obstruction of justice and the danger of witness tampering, said Carter. Combs attorney proposed putting in place additional strenuous and maybe unusual conditions to address the judges concerns, including that Combs have no access to a cell phone or internet and to have an intelligence firm staffed with former state and federal officials monitor the residence 24 hours a day. Any witness intimidation would be completely nullified, he said in court. The judge, however, said the package was insufficient in ruling the government had met its burden of proof. Combs attorney pushes back against obstruction claims On Monday night following a slew of sexual assault lawsuits and a federal human trafficking probe in the past year Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan and taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations, a source familiar with negotiations for his surrender told CNN. The indictment states Combs abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct for more than a decade. Specifically, the indictment accuses Combs of working with other associates and employees, alleges he hosted drug-fueled freak offs what the indictment describes as elaborate and produced sex performances with victims and sex workers, notes instances of physical and sexual abuse and illuminates what law enforcement found in the March raids of his homes. Sean "Diddy" Combs and his defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo stand before US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky after prosecutors brought three criminal charges against him in federal court in New York on September 17. - Jane Rosenberg/Reuters In court Tuesday, Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson argued Combs should be detained because he is a serial abuser and a serial obstructor, adding pretrial services also recommended detention. Agnifilo asserted the case is about one victim an argument fiercely opposed by federal prosecutors. In a rebuttal, Johnson emphasized, There are multiple victims. Since last November, Combs has been hit with 10 lawsuits nine directly accusing him of sexual assault. Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, the indictment states. During Combs detention hearing, federal prosecutors said at least a dozen witnesses personally observed the music moguls violence against women or the injuries they sustained at his hands. Prosecutors also noted Combs had reached out to victims and witnesses, some of whom are scared of him. The attorney for Dawn Richard, a former member of the musical group Danity Kane, who is accusing Combs of sexual battery in a separate lawsuit, told CNN the federal prosecutors revelation about a witness in Richards own case receiving 128 phone contacts from Combs within the four days after the complaint being filed was shocking. That was jarring 128 phone contacts. Then, after the witness made the statement, not a single phone contact after from Mr. Combs, attorney Arick Fudali said. Agnifilo on Tuesday called Combs reach-out to the witness the furthest thing from obstruction and said the witness had a different experience that would play out at trial. Erica Wolff, another Combs attorney, denied the allegations in a separate lawsuit in a statement to CNN and accused Richard of having a financial motive. Agnifilo told CNN on Tuesday night he has flown around the country, interviewing a large number of men who are alleged witnesses in the case and argued the freak offs were consensual acts among adults. Im not a rag doll. Im someones child: Prosecutors read texts from women to Combs Federal prosecutors started their arguments against Combs appeal by focusing on his efforts to exert control over his victims. Combs influence makes it so difficult to get witnesses to trust the government can protect them, Johnson argued Wednesday. The prosecutor also read aloud in court a text to Combs written by an unidentified woman: When you get f*cked up the wrong way, you show me your power Im not a rag doll. Im someones child. Johnson said Combs contacted a witness in June and July shortly after she was served with a subpoena, despite not having spoken with her in several years, adding the risk of obstruction is heightened because of the defendants power. Witnesses universally have extreme fear of Combs, Johnson said. Combs defense attorney again argued Combs had no plans to flee and had earned the courts trust. The attorney said he took Combs and his family members passports and reported all of his domestic travel since he became involved in the investigation as a show to prosecutors they were taking this seriously. In addition, Combs is in treatment and therapy, which Agnifilo argued was a reason for release. Agnifilo said he knew the music mogul was going to formally face charges on March 25, when the Homeland Security Investigations agency led dramatic searches of his Los Angeles and Miami homes. By September, Agnifilo said he realized an indictment was coming down in a matter of weeks, maybe months, so he urged Combs to fly to New York. Agnifilo said he called federal prosecutors and said his client was willing to surrender an offer prosecutors said Wednesday they rejected because of the risk of evidence destruction and other obstruction. Combs can be trusted, Agnifilo said, because when he learned of the serious charges by April 1, he handed his passport to his attorney, stopped traveling internationally and made the government aware of his movements. The judge responded by saying that argument might not help his client if Combs already knew the gravity of the potential obstruction charges against him and subsequently contacted witnesses in June and July this year. There is a case now, Agnifilo said. Hes going to do everything right from this (point) forward. Sex trafficking charge centers on 2016 video The indictment accuses Combs of years of abuse that was, at times, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual. Combs engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals, the indictment states. Johnson told the judge Tuesday that the investigation uncovered evidence of Combs allegedly assaulting victims by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging victims. The physical abuse in particular was recurrent and widely known, the indictment states, and occurred on numerous occasions from about 2009 and continued for years. The sex trafficking charge is based on allegations against a single, unnamed Victim-I from about 2009 up to about 2018, the indictment states. Sean Combs and Casandra Ventura are seen in security video in 2016. - Obtained by CNN The indictment highlights a March 2016 incident, which was captured on video and later publicly reported, showing Combs kicking, dragging and throwing a vase at a woman. When a hotel staffer intervened, Combs attempted to bribe them for their silence, the indictment adds. The details match up with CNNs reporting in May of the video that showed Combs beating and kicking his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel. She is not named in the indictment. In November 2023, Ventura sued Combs and accused him of rape and years of abuse. In response, an attorney for Combs said he vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations. They settled the lawsuit a day after it was filed. The explosive surveillance video contradicted Combs earlier comments denying wrongdoing, and days afterward he posted an Instagram video apologizing. That video has since been deleted. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video, he said. Attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represents Ventura, said in a statement Tuesday: In response to the numerous inquiries we have received regarding the indictment of Sean Combs, neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment. Prosecutors on Wednesday again pointed to the 2016 video, arguing Combs should be denied bail because he tried to cover-up his conduct. Marc Agnifilo, lawyer for Sean "Diddy" Combs, speaks outside federal court after Combs' arraignment hearing on September 17 in New York. - Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images Johnson also read aloud text messages Combs sent after the 2016 incident that said, Call me. The cops are here I got six kids Ya gonna abandon me. The prosecutor argued Combs knew he did something to elicit a law enforcement response, and he had to cover it up. Three days after the lawsuit was filed, a woman sent Combs a text, saying: I feel like Im reading my own sexual trauma, Johnson said. Combs responded by trying to convince her she willingly engaged in the sex acts, according to Johnson. The woman replied that she felt manipulated, which Johnson said is evidence of Combs trying to tamper with witnesses. Combs attorney hasargued the 2016 video is not evidence of sex trafficking, as prosecutors suggested, but evidence of Combs having more than one girlfriend and getting caught. This was just a matter of personal embarrassment because he and the person in the video were in the midst of a 10-year relationship that was difficult at times, it was toxic at times, but it was mutually so, Agnifilo told CNN Tuesday night. Carter called the video quite disturbing and questioned Combs defense attorney about Combs kicking Ventura in the video. Whats love got to do with that? the judge asked. It was jealousy, Agnifilo responded. Moments before issuing his ruling, the judge asked why Combs doest pose a threat to the general public, citing the physical beating in the 2016 video. Agnifilo acknowledged it is an upsetting video to watch, and noted Combs went into rehab and is not the same person he was then. CNNs Eric Levenson, John Miller, Laura Dolan and Elise Hammond contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com UPDATE, 2:09 PM: Sean Diddy Combs will be staying behind bars until his trial for sex trafficking and more, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled today. In a just short of two-hour bail appeal hearing Wednesday at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, Judge Andrew Carter rejected the proposed defense pitch of a $50 million bond, regular drug tests, home detention in Miami, no female visitors and more to free the much-accused Bad Boy Entertainment founder. More from Deadline Arguing once again for the government, as she did on September 17, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson put another shiv into most of the defenses efforts. In essence, it came down to the twin blades of the threat Combs posed to others and his attempts, past and perhaps future, at obstruction of justice. The indisputable evidence makes clear you cannot take the defendant at his word, Johnson declared to the courtroom, with Combs seated nearby. Just before todays appeal hearing, the U.S. Attorneys office filed a reply to the defenses letter this morning to Judge Carter arguing for the release of Combs. Listing off the toxic trinity of dangerousness, obstruction, and risk of flight, the feds stated: Finally, it bears noting that within the first 24 hours of this cases unsealing, there are already new concerns about witness interference as well as interference with a fair trial based on the defendant and his counsels attempts to publicly discredit one of the victims (read the U.S. Attorney opposition to Combs defense bail appeal here). In his time at the lectern this afternoon, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo promised that his client would put up big bucks, essentially isolate himself, stay clean and be surrounded by security to stop him from meeting with almost anyone but his family and attorneys. The proposed private security firm is Sage Intelligence, led by Harvey Weinsteins P.I. Herman Weisberg. Agnifilo also promised that Combs would have no smartphone nor internet access so he couldnt contact witness or others digitally. Obviously, that wasnt enough for Judge Carter, who praised the governments efforts and case. After months and months of a federal probe, house raids and nearly a dozen civil suits, Combs was arrested on September 16 on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. Entering a not guilty plea on Tuesday, the 54-year-old rapper could spend the rest of his life in a federal prison if found guilty. With a few added enticements by the defense aside, the arguments today in front of Judge Carter reiterates the hearing yesterday in front of Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky. At the end of that session, after taking a brief break to confer with court officials, Judge Tarnofsky ruled to keep Combs in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. No trial date for Combs on the trio of charges has been set yet. PREVIOUSLY, 11:44 AM: Ahead of a pivotal hearing today, lawyers for Sean Diddy Combs are throwing everything and the kitchen sink at a federal judge in hopes of getting their client out on bail. Having failed Tuesday to secure freedom for the much-accused Its All About the Benjamins performer and producer with promises of a $50 million bond and with a plea deal a pipe dream, Marc Agnifilo and Teny R. Geragos this morning added further conditions to Combs proffered pre-trial proposed bail package. In a letter to Judge Andrew Carter (read the bail appeal letter here), the duo pledge that if Combs is released, they will restrict female visitors to Mr. Combs residence except for family, or mothers of his children. In addition to the $50 million bond, home detention with GPS monitoring, and travel restrictions, Combs also promises to undertake weekly drug testing and have no contact with known grand jury witnesses. As well, private security will keep a log of everyone who goes in and out of Combs primary residences in Miami and restrict access with the exception of family, property caretakers, and friends who are not considered to be co-conspirators. RELATED: A Photo Timeline Of The Accusations & Charges Against Sean Diddy Combs Feds have claimed capacious drug use by Combs and his crew for their illegally-filmed freak offs in order to weaken the resolve of reluctant participants. Part of the governments successful pitch to Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky yesterday to deny Combs bail was that the defendant poses an ongoing and significant danger to the community, and has tried to intimidate potential witnesses. Today, as in Tuesdays two-hour hearing, the defense pushed back against the feds position. Mr. Combs is entitled to gather witnesses to defend himself against the Governments allegations of sex trafficking and racketeering, Agnifilo and and partner Geragos (yes, Teny Garagos is renowned lawyer and cable news pundit Mark Geragos daughter). As part of that defense, he, with counsels blessing, has called potential defense witnesses to let them know that counsel would reach out to speak with them. Tellingly, the Government does not point tonor can theyany conversation Mr. Combs has had with a potential witness since he had knowledge of the criminal investigation where he pressured any witness to change their story. The hearing today by the defense and the U.S. Attorneys office before Judge Carter is set for 12:30 pm PT/3:30 pm ET at Manhattans Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse. In this courtroom sketch, Sean Combs, seated right, looks at his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, left, as he delivers his bail argument on Sept. 17, 2024 in Manhattan Federal Court in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) Arrested on September 16 on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, Combs entered a plea of not guilty on Tuesday. Looking at sentences of 15 years to life if found guilty of the charges, the 54-year-old self-proclaimed mogul is currently incarcerated at the notoriously-troubled Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Though it may seem incredulous for a man facing nearly a dozen civil suits for sexual assault and having been captured on a LA hotel security camera beating the daylights out of ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016 to lean on character as an argument, that is what Combs and his lawyers continue to do. Mr. Combs history and characteristics are best demonstrated by the way he has responded to this investigation from the very inception to his most recent decision to travel to New York when his lawyers told him that the case could soon be starting, todays bail appeal letter states. He has never run from a challenge, and he will not run from this one. Instead, he takes these challenges head on, he moves toward them confidently and with the assurance that right is on his side. These are not merely the words of his lawyer. Rather, the actions of Mr. Combs over the last several months conclusively prove this. It should be noted that among those actions the last several months has been Combs denial of all the allegations against him. Among those denials, at least initially, were those related to the claims in the quickly-settled suit from Ventura last November. Combs only copped to any malfeasance this spring when brutal footage from eight years ago surfaced of him blatantly attacking Ventura in a City of Angels hotel corridor. My behavior on that video is inexcusable, Combs said in a short video response he posted on social media on May 19. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. Im disgusted now, he added. What Combs did not cop to publicly was the fact that he paid out $50,000 for the surveillance footage the day after the vile incident against Ventura to keep the whole thing under wraps. Neither U.S. Attorney Damian Williams office nor Combs defense team had any comment when contacted by Deadline on this afternoons bail appeal hearing. If they do, this post will be updated. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Sean Combs request to overturn a prior ruling denying him release on bail has been turned down, a court has ruled. U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter on Wednesday ordered Combs, also known as Diddy, to remain detained after he pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He will stay at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where an inmate was murdered while awaiting trial this summer. More from The Hollywood Reporter I find that the government has carried its burden of persuasion, Carter said. He found that Combs could attempt to illegally tamper with the case, continues to present a safety risk to others and may decide to flee to escape prosecution. This came after the government unsealed a three-count indictment accusing Combs of crimes related to an alleged decades-long pattern of physical and sexual violence against people in his orbit. Federal prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy for directing a vast criminal enterprise through which he assaulted and trafficked women with the help of his various business associates from at least 2008. He was also charged with transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, Combs, 54, faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and maximum sentence of imprisonment for life. He attended the hearing in a black T-shirt with members of his family in the gallery behind him. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky on Tuesday ordered Combs continued detainment until trial, saying, My concern is that this is a crime that happens behind closed doors. She cited the power imbalance between Combs and his alleged victims. Combs had sought release on a $50 million bond, secured by equity in his Miami residence and that of his mother. His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, had suggested home detention with GPS monitoring. In addition to those terms, Combs attorney had also proposed taking away his phones and access to the Internet and having a private security company stationed at Combs residence in Florida to monitor him. He further proposed restricting visitors to his adjoining Florida homes to family, property caretakers and friends whore not considered co-conspirators to the alleged criminal enterprise. The only female visitors to his own home would be family or the mothers of his children, he added, but Agnifilo said the court could also approve the overall list of visitors. Combs also pledged not to contact grand jury witnesses, to undergo weekly drug testing and provide a visitors log. This combination of conditions will reasonably assure Mr. Combs appearance in Court and protect the Governments and the Magistrate Judges stated concerns with respect to the safety of the community, Agnifilo wrote in a Wednesday filing. The decision to detain Combs while he awaits trial largely swung on whether he continues to pose a safety risk and will return to court for further proceedings. During Wednesdays hearing, Carter pointed to a video that showed Combs in 2016 assaulting Casandra Ventura in a hotel. Agnifilo, who said that Combs has since sought treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, portrayed the incident as a domestic dispute between partners unrelated to the sex trafficking charge. Whats love got to do with that? Carter replied, citing violence depicted in the video that he said is quite disturbing. The government has argued that Combs tried to interfere in the prosecution by reaching out to witnesses, including one who received a grand jury subpoena, and victims. Recently, Combs and his associates allegedly contacted potential witnesses in the investigation and directed them to lie in an attempt to conceal his alleged crimes. During one of the calls, which took place just three days after he was sued by Ventura last year, the mogul reportedly asked for the victims friendship and told her she aint got to worry about nothing else if she went along with his version of events. In response, Combs claimed the conduct doesnt constitute obstruction of justice since hes entitled to query witnesses to defend himself. As part of that defense, he, with counsels blessing, has called potential defense witnesses to let them know that counsel would reach out to speak with them, Combs stated in a letter to the court. Tellingly, the Government does not point to nor can they any conversation Mr. Combs has had with a potential witness since he had knowledge of the criminal investigation where he pressured any witness to change their story. Replying to arguments that he could decide to flee, Combs stressed that his sons, mother and sister, among others, signed onto his proposed bond as assurance that hell return to court and that his passport had been taken by his lawyer, as had the passports of his family members. In a press conference after the hearing, Agnifilo said he wants to get the case to trial as soon as possible, but that his team is considering our next steps following the bail denial. He believes hes innocent. I believe hes innocent, Agnifilo said of the case. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Sean Diddy Combs arrest on Monday, Sept. 16 for racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his problems. The 14-page indictment spells out beyond troublesome behavior which is going to cost a pretty penny to defend himself against the serious charges. The legal bills are reportedly mounting quickly, and he may have significant financial issues already. In early September, Combs put his Beverly Hills estate up for sale for $61.5 million, per Realtor.com. The property was a part of the March Homeland Security raid when he was under investigation for sex trafficking and the house is curiously next to the home his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, is hoping to buy. If he sells the place for his asking price, he will stand to make a $20.5 million profit on the home he bought for $39 million just a decade ago. That cash would likely help him pay off his rising legal tab, according to In Touch Weekly. More from SheKnows Sean Diddy Combs at arrivals for Sean John Underwear and Loungewear Launch Party, Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, August 27, 2007. Defending him against these serious charges is a huge undertaking, and its gotten very expensive, an insider told the media outlet. He will hate to part with it, but he has no other choice. However, another source backtracked on the reason for the sale, claiming that Combs doesnt need the L.A. place despite the curious timing of the putting it on the market. No matter what the reason is, the 54-year-old music producer has a long legal battle ahead. Marc Agnifilo, Combs attorney, fought against the charges outside the courtroom on Tuesday, Sept. 17. He said, per NBC News, We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorneys Office. Sean Diddy Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. Combs pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and was denied bail because he is considered a flight risk. He offered up a $50 million bail proposal package that included his $48 million Miami property and his mothers $2 million residence as collateral, per reporter Meghann Cuniffs X post. He also stated that he would be willing to wear an ankle monitor and limit his travel to New York, New Jersey, and Florida, but the judge denied his request. If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more. Best of SheKnows Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Sean "Diddy" Combs will continue to be held without bail, a judge ruled Wednesday evening, on charges including sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. Judge Andrew Carter denied bail and ordered Combs remanded into custody, where his attorney said he would be held in the special housing unit of Metropolitan Detention Center-Brooklyn. Carter said the government had provided sufficient evidence Combs was a danger to the community and a danger to obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses. Carter said the defense's proposed bail package was "insufficient." Combs did not appear to react but had his eyes cast downward while seated at the defense table. Departing court Wednesday evening, the music mogul's attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said he planned to again appeal the judge's ruling. "The fight continues, we're not giving up by a long shot," Agnifilo told reporters outside the courthouse, adding, that while it's still up in the air whether Combs would waive his right to a speedy trial, as his lawyer he would "do everything I can to move this trial as fast as possible," though he'd "much prefer to do that with him out of jail." "Mr. Combs has maintained he's innocent," Agnifilo said. "He's a smart guy, he knows what he did and what he didn't do, he knows what he intended and didn't intend and I believe him... he's a man who knows what it's like to have a jury of 12 New Yorkers look at you and say 'not guilty' and he's looking forward to that happening again." Before making his ruling, Carter had appeared skeptical of the defense's claim that a 2016 video, in which Combs was seen kicking and dragging Cassie Ventura, was the product of a ten-year loving relationship dissolving because of her jealousy over his infidelity. "What's love got to do with that?" Carter asked. Agnifilo conceded that it was "a hard video to watch," but maintained that it "doesn't mean he should be incarcerated." Prosecutor Emily Johnson, in pushing for Combs to remain in custody, accused him of a "longstanding pattern of abuse," and said his victims have an "extreme fear" of Combs because of his influence in the entertainment industry. Johnson said Combs called a victim in November 2023 -- after Ventura's civil lawsuit was filed -- seeking to maintain this victim's public support. According to prosecutors, the victim told Combs that when she read Ventura's lawsuit, "I feel like I'm reading my own sexual trauma." Combs allegedly tried to convince her she willingly participated in the acts, but the woman pushed back, saying that was "not how she saw things," Johnson said. Diddy told the woman, whom prosecutors said he supports financially, that "she ain't got nothing to worry about" if she kept up her support of him. Prosecutors said it made clear Combs would use financial coercion to keep victims close. Mindful of the judge's stated concern about potential witness tampering, Agnifilo offered to place one or two retired police officers at Combs' house at all times to control who enters and keep a visitor's log. "What I am trying to fashion is a situation where any witness intimidation would be virtually impossible," Agnifilo said. MORE: Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with sex trafficking in sprawling indictment, held without bail Prior to Wednesday's hearing, Agnifilo appealed Judge Robyn Tarnofsky's Tuesday decision to detain the 54-year-old pending trial. In a letter to the court ahead of the Wednesday hearing, Agnifilo wrote that Combs is "eminently trustworthy" and should be released on a $50 million bond. The bond -- which would have been secured by his Miami home worth $48 million -- would've been co-signed by Combs, his mother, his sister, his three adult sons and the mothers of two of his daughters. The defense also proposed restricted travel, restrictions on female visitors and home detention among other conditions of release. Agnifilo took issue with prosecution comparisons of Combs to sex offenders like R. Kelly, Keith Raniere and Ghislaine Maxwell, all of whom were jailed for a time at the same place -- MDC-Brooklyn -- where Diddy is currently being held. He said the charges, while serious, are "eminently defensible" and pledged Combs would show up to court to defend himself. "Sean Combs has never evaded, avoided, eluded or run from a challenge in his life. He will not start now," Agnifilo's letter said. The attorney previously said Combs is trying to sell his private plane. Agnifilo said he took possession of his client's passport and those of five of his relatives. In this courtroom sketch, Sean Combs, seated right, looks at his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, left, as he delivers his bail argument on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Manhattan Federal Court in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) (Elizabeth Williams/AP) Combs is alleged to have run an "enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson and other crimes," according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said Combs "abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct" from 2008 to the present. The allegations mirror 11 civil complaints filed against him since 2023. Explaining the decision to deny Combs bail on Tuesday, Tarnofsky said, "My concern is that this is a crime that happens behind closed doors." MORE: Here's what's in the Sean 'Diddy' Combs indictment Federal prosecutors argued Combs poses an ongoing threat to the community. "The defendant also poses a significant risk of obstructing justice," prosecutors said. "During the course of the charged conduct, the defendant has attempted to bribe security staff and threatened and interfered with witnesses to his criminal conduct." "He has already tried to obstruct the Government's investigation of this case, repeatedly contacting victims and witnesses and feeding them false narratives of events." "There are simply no conditions that would ensure that the defendant's efforts to obstruct and tamper with witnesses will stop," prosecutors said. FILE PHOTO: Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala - Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between - Arrivals - New York City, U.S. - 01/05/17 - Sean 'Diddy' Combs. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) He also argued that when Combs took two trips -- to a graduation party for one of his children and a whitewater rafting trip -- "we told the government where he was going." "Trust has to be earned and we have earned it," he told the judge. Upon his arrival to jail on Tuesday, Combs had a psychiatric evaluation administered by Bureau of Prisons physiologists, according to sources familiar with his incarceration. The evaluation is meant to determine whether he needed to be placed in the Special Housing Unit or on suicide watch. Suicide watch requires around-the-clock care and hourly checks from corrections officers. Special Housing is an isolated part of the jail where other high-profile MDC inmates, like El Chapo, were kept. It's unclear whether Diddy, who has a history of abusing opioids, sources have said, is on suicide watch or in special housing, but he is not in with the general population at MDC, the sources told ABC News. ABC News' Luke Barr, Josh Margolin and Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report. Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail again in sex trafficking indictment originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Ben Hatto took "sentimental and irreplaceable items" including watches, earrings and a Tiffany gold ring [Cambridgeshire Constabulary] A second man has been jailed after breaking into a house through a dog flap and stealing valuables worth 5,000, including cash, jewellery, watches and a laptop. Ben Hatto, 43, of North Denes Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, burgled the house in Impington, Cambridgeshire, on 24 June 2021, while his victim was out shopping, police said. He admitted burglary at Peterborough Crown Court on Tuesday and was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison. His accomplice, Winston Papalaka, 28, from Harold Road, London, has already been found guilty of burglary and jailed. Fingerprint evidence linked Hatto to the crime, said Cambridgeshire Police, while the pair were spotted by "eagle-eyed residents". 'Huge impact' Their victim noticed the damage to the dog flap, which was in the back door, on her return home. The pair left through the front door, but Papalaka was spotted by someone who recognised him. He was seen throwing items out of a laptop bag around his neck and when officers checked the area, they found a post office seal bag. Forensic tests revealed it had Hatto's fingerprints inside. The pair also discarded some of the jewellery. Det Con Lisa Bacon said: "Burglary is an invasion of your home the place you should feel safest. "It can have a huge impact on victims, not only because of sentimental and irreplaceable items stolen, but also the devastation of no longer feeling safe." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. More on this story Related internet links Your trusted source for contextualizing abortion and Election 2024 news. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Senate Democrats on Tuesday tried and failed for the second time in just over three months to advance a bill to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF), highlighting a contrast with Republicans on issues of reproductive health care in the final weeks ahead of the November elections. All but two Republicans voted against the bill. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the running mate of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, was not present for the vote; he voted against the bill in June. Among other things, the bill would establish a statutory right to IVF and require employer-sponsored health insurance plans to cover fertility treatments. Unpopular abortion bans passed by Republican state legislatures and their consequences are top-of-mind for critical blocs of the electorate, and the potential impacts of the end of abortion rights on IVF were recently highlighted by a case in Alabama. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brought the IVF bill to the floor for a second vote Tuesday, knowing Republicans would likely block it again, even as the days dwindle for Congress to fund the government before an October recess. Heres what were asking our Republican friends: Do you support American families access to in vitro fertilization or not? Schumer said ahead of the vote. For many Americans, starting a family is one of the greatest joys there is, yet millions of Americans struggle with the defeating battle of infertility every single year. Sadly, as weve learned this year, access to IVF can no longer be taken for granted. November will be the first presidential election since the Supreme Courts June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization that ended the federal right to abortion. Fourteen states have full abortion bans in place, and four more cut off abortion at six weeks, before many people know they are pregnant. The conservative bloc on the court that overturned Roe v. Wade included three justices nominated by Trump. Dobbs also opened the door to the anti-abortion movements longtime goal of establishing fetal personhood, or redefining fetuses and even embryos or zygotes as a person with legal rights. IVF is a medical process in which an egg is fertilized in a lab and later implanted in the uterus and often creates more embryos than a patient intends to use. Fetal personhood creates a legal environment in which abortions or discarding frozen embryos could be considered a crime, like homicide. At least 11 states have either a specific law or language within other laws establishing some level of fetal personhood, according to the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice. Earlier this year, the Alabama Supreme Court cited fetal personhood language within state statutes to find that frozen embryos were people, temporarily halting the procedure in the state. The GOP-controlled Alabama legislature and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey rushed to restart IVF by enacting a bill that shields IVF providers from criminal liability. Democrats there said it was a quick fix that did not address the underlying issue. Many physicians agreed that the Pandoras box of fetal personhood laws would make it difficult if not impossible to ensure long-term protections for IVF and other forms of assisted reproductive technologies both in Alabama and across the country. Recent polling from The 19th and Survey Monkey showed that a majority of Americans do not believe that a fetus should have the same legal rights as a person and nearly half of those polled think the government should protect access to IVF. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of Americans believe IVF is morally acceptable, according to Gallup polling from over the summer. The legislation that the Senate voted on Tuesday was introduced in June by Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, with 48 total co-sponsors, or nearly all of the senators who caucus with the Democrats. In addition to establishing a right to IVF and addressing insurance coverage of fertility treatments, the bill would authorize individuals serving in the U.S. military to freeze embryos ahead of deployment or after an injury, improve military access more generally and mandate that health insurance plans that participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program cover other assisted reproductive technologies, along with IVF. When the Senate first voted on the legislation in June, Republicans said the process was too rushed and that Democrats were using IVF as a scare tactic ahead of the November elections, when a third of Senate seats and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be on ballots. Republicans tried to head off the June vote by holding one of their own on legislation introduced by GOP Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas. It would have prohibited states that receive federal Medicaid funding from banning IVF but did not address potential legal liability faced by IVF providers or patients for destroying unused embryos. Democratic Sen. Patty Murry blocked the legislation and said at the time the Republican bill was a PR tool, plain and simple. The only reason IVF is in jeopardy is because Donald Trump overturned Roe, something he has never stopped bragging about. Now, Republicans in Congress are playing the same game, posturing as pro-family, while voting down this bill to help families grow; pretending to support IVF, while championing fetal personhood, Murray said ahead of Tuesdays vote. IVF has only become more salient as a political issue in the months since the Senate first voted on the Democratic bill to protect it. The Republican National Committee approved a policy platform ahead of its convention that said the party supports state-level fetal personhood efforts, while also supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF. It did not address the legal contradiction that fetal personhood laws are widely interpreted as prohibiting IVF in practice. Trump, in a surprise twist last month, said that if elected he would ensure the government or health insurance companies fully pay for peoples IVF treatments. He did not provide details about how this would work or how his administration would pay for it or address the fact that his partys platform imperils IVF. The issue came up during the presidential debate earlier this month between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who in the months since the first IVF vote replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. Harris framed abortion, IVF and other types of reproductive health care as basic freedoms long enjoyed by Americans that need to be protected. Trump said that he was a leader on IVF, which is fertilization, the IVF. I have been a leader, noting he criticized the Alabama Supreme Court ruling. However, he did not provide any further details about his plan to protect IVF and instead reiterated disproven falsehoods about Democratic abortion policies. Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan said during a Harris campaign call ahead of Tuesdays vote that she has not had any outreach from Republican colleagues in the months between the first vote and the second to negotiate on IVF legislation. When Donald Trump says now that he wants all this to be free, and hes offering all these things, was he on the phone last night? Is he on the phone right now? The vote is this afternoon. Is he telling Sen. [Mitch] McConnell that he wants all the Republicans to vote yes on this because he now supports IVF? Stabenow asked. In a news conference in front of the Capitol ahead of the vote, Schumer, Murray, Duckworth and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, stood holding photos of constituents children that had been conceived using IVF in Duckworths case, it was her own two daughters. This morning, I got to pack their lunch boxes, and it sounds mundane but when I spend just a second thinking about it, even that kind of everyday moment with my girls isnt really mundane at all: Its a miracle. Because after 10 years of struggling with infertility, after being wounded in combat, I was only able to have my girls through the miracle of IVF, said Duckworth, a military veteran. The only reason there was PB&J for me to make this morning, and the only reason there is tiny sneakers for me to Velcro, is because after I came home from war, I had the freedom to seek the health care I needed to make my dream of going from Tammy to mommy a reality, she added. The post Second vote, same result: Senate Republicans block IVF protection bill appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter. BEIRUT (AP) Walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in an apparent second wave of attacks targeting devices a day after pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and officials for the militant group said. At least 14 people were killed and more than 450 wounded in the second wave, the Health Ministry said. The attacks which were widely believed to be carried out by Israel targeting Hezbollah but have also killed civilians have hiked fears that the two sides simmering conflict could escalate into all-out war. Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance. He made no mention of the exploding devices but praised the work of Israels army and security agencies, saying the results are very impressive. Lebanese Red Cross ambulance passes next of the families of victims who were injured on Tuesday by their exploding handheld pagers, at the emergency entrance of the American University hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) In Wednesdays attacks, several blasts were heard at a funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them. A girl was hurt in the south when a home solar energy system blew up, the state news agency reported. The new blasts hit a country still roiling with confusion and anger after Tuesdays pager bombings, which killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,800 others. The second wave also deepens concern over the potentially indiscriminate casualties caused in the attacks, in which hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby. While the pagers were used by Hezbollah members, there was no guarantee who was holding the device at the time it was detonated. Also, many of the casualties were not Hezbollah fighters, but members of the groups extensive civilian operations mainly serving Lebanons Shiite community. At least two health workers were among those killed Tuesday. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, charity workers, teachers and office administrators work for Hezbollah-linked organizations, and an unknown number had pagers. Mary Ellen OConnell, a professor of law and international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, said booby-traps are banned under international law. Weaponizing an object used by civilians is strictly prohibited, she said. The U.N. human rights chief, Volker Turk, called for an independent investigation into the mass explosions, saying, The fear and terror unleashed is profound. Iran-backed Hezbollah Lebanons strongest armed force has exchanged fire with Israels military almost daily since Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Since then, hundreds have been killed in strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced. Hezbollah said its strikes are in support of its ally, Hamas. Hezbollah announced three strikes on parts of northern Israel Wednesday, at least one of which took place after the latest round of explosions in Lebanon. Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must stop the exchange of fire to allow people to return to homes near the border. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. In his comments, Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top security officials at Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the countrys army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. is still assessing how the attack could affect efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. The pager bombings appeared to be a complex operation months in the making, with many experts believing Israel infiltrated the supply chain and rigged hundreds of pagers with explosives before they were imported to Lebanon. But little evidence has emerged so far. Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm, said it authorized a Hungary-based company, BAC Consulting KFT, to use its name on devices delivered to Hezbollah. But a Hungarian government spokesman said Wednesday the pagers delivered to Hezbollah were never in Hungary and that BAC Consultants merely acted as an intermediary. Hungarian national security services were cooperating with international partners, the Hungarian spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, posted Wednesday on X. Wednesdays new bombings came as Lebanese were mourning the dead from the day before. Two explosions went off at the edges of the funeral of two fighters, a young boy and a paramedic in southern Beirut. As ambulances screeched to the scene, the ceremony continued, with a senior Hezbollah official, Hashem Safieddine, telling mourners that Israels aggression will face its special punishment. Israeli drones buzzed overhead as they do often over Beirut and many parts of Lebanon as thousands of mourners marched in a procession with the four coffins to a cemetery. We will not despair and we will not surrender. We will continue as long as blood circulates in our veins, said one woman, who identified herself as Um Hussein, as she stood outside the cemetery with her four children. A Hezbollah official told the AP that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded in several parts of the country Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Lebanons official news agency said solar energy systems exploded in homes in several areas of Beirut and the south, wounding at least one girl. In the village of Nabi Sheet in the Bekaa Valley, dozens gathered to mourn 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah, another victim of the pagers. Her mother, wearing black and donning a yellow Hezbollah scarf, wept alongside other women and children as they gathered around the little girls coffin before her burial. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Mourners carry the coffins of people killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded across Lebanon the previous day. (Anwar Amro / AFP / Getty Images) A fresh wave of explosions caused by booby-trapped communication devices wracked Lebanon on Wednesday, the second such attack in as many days in what was believed to be an electronic sabotage campaign targeting Hezbollah. The latest attack, which affected hundreds of walkie-talkies across the country, killed at least 14 people and wounded 450 others, the Lebanese health ministry said. It comes on the heels of Tuesdays bombings, which saw thousands of handheld pagers detonate, killing 12 people including eight Hezbollah fighters, the group said, along with two children and a health worker and leaving thousands of others with bloodied and mutilated hands, eyes and torsos. Lebanons civil defense said its personnel were putting out fires inside homes, cars and stores in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanons south as well as in the capitals southern suburbs areas considered to be supportive of Hezbollah. The Red Cross said it had deployed roughly 30 ambulance teams. Read more: Taiwanese company Gold Apollo denies supplying exploding pagers in Lebanon The attack took place at roughly 5 p.m. local time, while Hezbollah officials were taking part in a large funeral ceremony for four victims of Tuesdays pager explosions, including the son of a prominent Hezbollah lawmaker and a young boy. Video from a funeral ceremony in the countrys south depicted an explosion inside an ambulance, leading bystanders to run away in panic. The Times could not independently verify the video. The Lebanese state-run National News Agency said the devices targeted were ICOM IC-82 handheld VHF transceivers. They are not usually used by fighters, but by ambulance and civil defense crews and administrators affiliated with Hezbollah. The devices are unrestricted and can be sold to anyone, and as such are used by other organizations in areas of poor signal. "No human being can express the savagery of this crime," said Lebanon's acting prime minister Najib Mikati in a televised press conference from the health ministry headquarters. "These are defenseless people, sitting in their homes, with death coming to them in this way." He added that he had asked for the U.N. Security Council to convene to discuss developments. Read more: How could pagers in Lebanon have been rigged to explode? It was unclear how the devices were booby-trapped. Tuesday's attack was believed to have involved interception and tampering with a shipment of some 5,000 pagers set to go for Hezbollah, and planted with a small amount of explosives. Observers said the walkie-talkies may have been ordered around the same time, but a report from the National News Agency said a three-year-old device had also blown up. Though not as widespread as Tuesdays round of sabotage, the walkie-talkies appeared to pack more explosive power. In Beiruts Haret Hreik neighborhood, Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollahs Executive Council, was giving an address when the thud of an explosion sounded nearby. The crowd convulsed in panic, with a voice on a loudspeaker telling people to remove batteries from their phones, according to live footage of the event. The blast, which hit an apartment a few blocks away, started a fire, shrouding the entire block with thick white smoke. Rescue crews equipped with tanks and gas masks worked to rescue residents inside, with three fire trucks and four ambulances shimmying their way through narrow streets crowded with onlookers. We were choking. I couldnt see anything, said one elderly woman, walking out of the chaos towards relatives on a nearby street. Others joined her, a stream of men and women in soot-covered clothes and bloodshot eyes. A few hours later, crews emerged with a man on a stretcher and loaded him into one of several ambulances waiting nearby. Read more: Motivation is a mystery in apparent Israeli pager attacks in Lebanon News of the second round of sabotage compounded panic across the country, with many fearing additional bouts of electronics tampering. Wednesday's attack is the latest salvo in a long-running conflict that has seen Israel land a series of palpable hits against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed paramilitary faction and one of the country's most powerful political parties. In the last few months, Israel has successfully assassinated the group's chief of staff, two regional division commanders, and dozens of officers in its special forces corps. Despite adopting heightened security measures, including substituting pagers for smartphones and proscribing internet-linked security cameras, Hezbollah operatives have struggled to evade Israeli surveillance. Hezbollah began a rocket campaign in solidarity with Gaza one day after Hamas' surprise assault on Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 Israelis. Israel responded with an attack against Gaza that to date has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say. The fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has displaced some 90,000 people in Lebanon and 60,000 in Israel. After the second round of explosions in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a cryptic video message in which he did not refer to the blasts, but promised to make the countrys northern border region safe for Israelis displaced by Hezbollah attacks. That was widely interpreted as signaling a potential military escalation against the group. Ive already said we will return residents of the north safely to their homes, the prime minister said. And that is exactly what we will do." Times staff writer Laura King contributed to this report from Tel Aviv. 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. Explosions were reported in southern Lebanon, including the city of Sidon, as well as Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley [AFP] At least 20 people have been killed and more than 450 wounded by a second wave of explosions from wireless communication devices in Lebanon, the countrys health ministry says. Walkie-talkies used by the armed group Hezbollah blew up in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon - areas seen as its strongholds. Some of the blasts took place during funerals for some of the 12 people who the ministry said were killed when Hezbollah members pagers exploded on Tuesday. Hezbollah blamed Israel for that attack. Israel has not commented. The attacks came as Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a "new phase in the war" and as an Israeli army division was redeployed to the north. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of the serious risk of a dramatic escalation and called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint. "Obviously the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation," he told reporters. There were already rising fears of an all-out conflict after 11 months of cross-border fighting sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Hours after Wednesdays explosions, Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to return the tens of thousands of displaced people from the north of the country securely to their homes. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant meanwhile said Israel was opening a new phase in the war and that the centre of gravity is shifting to the north through the diversion of resources and forces. An army division recently engaged in Gaza has been redeployed to the north, the Israeli military confirmed. Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas - which is also backed by Iran and proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel and many Western countries - and will only stop its cross-border attacks once the fighting in Gaza ends. An indication of what the group might be planning to do next could come on Thursday, when its powerful leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is due to give a speech. Hezbollah's media office on Wednesday announced the death of 13 of its fighters, including a 16-year-old boy, since the second wave of explosions. It also said the group targeted Israeli forces near the border and in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights during the day, firing rockets at Israeli artillery positions. The Israeli military said about 30 projectiles crossed from Lebanon on Wednesday, sparking a fire but causing no injuries. It said Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. Some of the blasts took place during funerals for some of the 12 people killed by exploding pagers on Tuesday, who included Hezbollah fighter Mohammed Ammar [Reuters] Wednesday's deadly explosions represent another humiliation for Hezbollah and a possible indication that its entire communication network might have been infiltrated by Israel. Many Lebanese are still shocked - and angered - by what happened on Tuesday, when thousands of pagers exploded at the same time, after people received a message they believed had come from the group. Twelve people - including an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy - were killed and 2,800 others were wounded by the blasts, according to the Lebanese health minister. A BBC team was at a funeral for four of those killed in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya on Wednesday when they heard a loud explosion around 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT). There was chaos and confusion among the mourners, and then reports started to come in of explosions happening in other parts of the country as well. One unconfirmed social media video showed a man falling to the ground following a small blast during what appeared to be a Hezbollah procession attended by large crowds. The Lebanese Red Cross said more than 30 ambulances had responded to explosions in the capitals southern suburbs, as well as in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. The health ministry said the deadly explosions "targeted walkie-talkies". A source close to Hezbollah also told AFP news agency that walkie-talkies used by its members had blown up. Lebanons state-run National News Agency (NNA) said one man was killed when a walkie-talkie exploded inside a shop selling cellular devices in Chaat, in the northern Bekaa Valley. It identified the device as an ICOM-V82 handheld VHF radio, which is a now-discontinued model made by the Japan-based electronics manufacturer ICOM. NNA said another ICOM-V82 exploded at a house on the outskirts of the nearby town of Baalbek. Video footage showed fire damage to a table and wall, as well as damaged parts of what appeared to be a walkie-talkie bearing the label ICOM. Photos on social media from two other locations appeared to show the same model. An ICOM-branded walkie talkie was destroyed by a blast at a house on the outskirts of Baalbek [Getty Images] Reuters news agency cited a Lebanese security source as saying the walkie-talkies were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago - around the same time as the pagers were bought. The Axios news website cited two sources as saying that Israeli intelligence services had booby-trapped thousands of walkie-talkies before delivering them to Hezbollah as part of the groups war-time emergency communications system. The BBC asked ICOM's UK arm to comment on the reports, but it referred all media requests to the company's press office in Japan. The BBC has reached out to ICOM Japan. US and Lebanese sources told the New York Times and Reuters that Israel had planted small amounts of explosives inside the pagers which blew up on Tuesday. An ophthalmologist at one hospital in Beirut told the BBC that at least 60% of the people he had seen had lost at least one eye, with most also losing a hand. Probably this is the worst day of my life as a physician. I believe the number of casualties and the type of damage that has been done is humongous," Dr Elias Warrak said. "Unfortunately, we were not able to save a lot of eyes, and unfortunately the damage is not limited to the eyes - some of them have damage in the brain in addition to any facial damage. FIRST ON FOX: Secret Service agents assured Butler County, Pennsylvania, law enforcement that they would secure the building that would-be assassin Thomas Crooks shot former President Trump and others from on July 13 during an outdoor rally, per an investigation by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. "Butler County law enforcement officials stated that at separate times during the walkthrough, when they reiterated their concerns to the agents and counter sniper about securing the AGR complex buildings, the agents responded: we will take care of it," Grassley's office revealed in a Tuesday letter to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe. Trump was shot in the ear during his July rally in the Pennsylvania town, and one attendee was killed while two others were critically injured. It was later discovered that the shooter had positioned himself atop a nearby building and had been known to law enforcement who observed him ahead of the event. SUSPECTED TRUMP GUNMAN PREVIOUSLY ARRESTED FOR HAVING WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION The Iowa senator questioned Rowe whether the Butler County law enforcement officials' claim is true and, if so, what the Secret Service did to secure the area with the AGR complex buildings. Grassley noted that in the weeks following the first assassination attempt, Rowe told senators during a hearing, "what was communicated is that the locals had a plan and that they had been there before," in regard to the roof of the AGR building where Crooks took his shots from. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP 'AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE': SENATE REPUBLICANS CONDEMN PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S UN BID TO UNDERMINE ISRAEL This, he said, was directly disputed by the law enforcement officials in interviews with Grassley's staff. The commitment from Secret Service agents to secure the AGR complex area allegedly came during a walkthrough on July 11 in preparation for the rally. The law enforcement officials claimed to have alerted the agents to their concerns about the area several times during it. TOP SENATE DEMOCRAT 'ANGRY' OVER BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN 'STONEWALLING' AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS The Republican further reiterated his various information requests to the Secret Service and noted that at least two had resulted in claims "that it would not provide responses to my requests due to other ongoing investigations and reviews." "Thats unacceptable and fails to take into consideration Congresss constitutional authority to conduct independent oversight. It also flies in the face of your congressional testimony about responding to Congress," the senator charged. GOP DEMANDS TRUMP HAVE 'SAME LEVEL' SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION AS BIDEN AFTER 2ND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. of the U.S. Secret Service addresses the media at a press conference with updates on the investigation into the apparent assassination attempt of former President Trump, West Palm Beach, Florida, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Grassley's ongoing independent investigation is probing several incidents, including the July 13 assassination attempt; the recently revealed plot by an alleged Iranian agent, Asif Merchant, to assassinate a politician or U.S. official, potentially Trump; and the second assassination attempt on the former president that took place in Florida on Sunday. The Secret Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. Original article source: Secret Service told locals they would take care of building used by Thomas Crooks to shoot Trump New Secretary General of Council of Europe says support for Ukraine is his first priority Alain Berset, the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who took office on 18 September, has called support for Ukraine his number one priority. Source: European Pravda, citing the new Secretary Generals inaugural address to representatives of the member states of the Council of Europe Details: In his address, Berset highlighted the vital importance of the Councils ongoing work, "the role of which is central to ensuring the equality and dignity of every individual". "During my mandate, I will work with you, tirelessly, and with passion and commitment, to deliver a future in which every European can live in the freedom that comes with democratic security," he said. Speaking about the challenges and priorities of his work, Berset stated that the top priority "is of course our need to support our member state, Ukraine". "Ukraine is fighting for its democratic future in the face of the Russian Federations war of aggression. Supporting that country will remain our number one priority," Berset stressed. Background: Alain Berset, a Swiss politician and former president of Switzerland, was elected as the new Secretary General by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 25 June. His predecessor, former Croatian Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric, decided not to run for a second term. Immediately after being elected, Berset said that supporting Ukraine would be his priority while in office. Support UP or become our patron! DUCK KEY, Fla. Florida wildlife officials said the grand prize winner of this year's Florida Python Challenge successfully snagged 20 massive python snakes during the summer hunting competition, earning the $10,000 grand prize. The goal of the yearly completion held since 2017 is to help reduce the number of invasive snake species in the Florida Everglades and raise awareness of the dangers invasive species pose to the local ecosystem. The giant Burmese python snakes are native to Southeast Asia but were introduced to South Florida through accidental escape or intentional release of pets. Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officials said that this year, 857 people from 33 states and Canada participated in removing 195 invasive Burmese pythons from South Florida. The winners were announced at the FWC's Commission meeting in Duck Key this week. WASP LARVAE BURST FROM ADULT FRUIT FLIES IN GRUESOME NEW DISCOVERY "Our python hunters are passionate about protecting the Everglades, and I am proud of their efforts to remove these invasive snakes from across this precious ecosystem. Every invasive python that is removed makes a difference for Floridas environment and its native wildlife," said South Florida Water Management District Governing Board Member "Alligator Ron" Bergeron in a statement. Ronald Kiger won this year's grand prize with 20 snakes caught over the 10-day challenge. The competition included winners from three categories: professional, amateur and military. Donna Kalil captured the second-most pythons, 19 in the professional category, earning the runner-up $2,500 prize. Novice python hunter Thomas Hobbs caught 16 snakes, also earning the $2,500 prize. SEE IT: NEW YORK MAN'S ILLEGAL PET SNAKE BECOMES A 13-FOOT PROBLEM All three military category winners are in the U.S. Army. Jeff Lince earned a $2,500 prize for capturing five pythons. Florida wildlife officials said amateur and professional python hunters have removed more than 14,000 pythons since the start of the challenge. Original article source: See the large python captured that helped a Florida man win $10,000 Seek help if you need it: Resources for veterans in East Tennessee LENOIR CITY, Tenn. (WATE) Several groups worked together to hold a Multi-County Veterans Resource Fair in Lenoir City on Tuesday. The event provided medical evaluations, legal services, housing assistance and more for those who have served. Bill Christian attended the event to see what services were offered and how the community is supporting veterans. I think almost every veteran thats not affiliated with a organization like the VA or the VFW, theyre struggling. They dont know where to go to. They dont know how to help themselves, he said. Take a look inside Knoxville Polices new immersive training simulator Serving 20 years in the U.S. Navy before retiring in 2000, Christian knows what its like to readjust to civilian life. Its really hard for a veteran because for 20 years weve only done one thing, and the world is exploding so much its hard to fit back in society, he said. Veterans oftentimes go through that struggle alone, but the event aims to change that. John Lacko is a member of the Tellico Village VFW and coordinated the event. What weve been doing is trying to find an avenue for veterans to come and have a one stop shop, so to speak, to get services, he said. A lot of the veterans that we try to work with are either unhoused or they dont have transportation. A handful of the veterans that attended the event Tuesday are currently unhoused, and were able to be connected with housing resources. A number of local employers also participated, providing job opportunities. Knoxville couple lose $750 in Facebook Marketplace rental scam Last year, we had over 50 veterans come into this, eight veterans fill out applications, two get hired on the spot and several got hired afterwards, Lacko said. For veterans who dont know where to start call your countys veterans service officer. They can connect you with resources like the ones at the event. Find the officer for your area here. Seek help. Go to a VFW. Stop and ask somebody. Seek help if you need it, even if you dont need it, maybe you can help somebody else, Christian said. Thats exactly why Lacko works to put on this event. Im a Vietnam veteran, Lacko said. Most people know by now that Vietnam was a disgrace to our country. When veterans came back, they didnt get the welcome homes that they should have. Simply, I just want to make sure that the veterans today get whats deserving. See more top stories on WATE.com Veterans who are homeless are encouraged to contact the VA National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. If Veterans do not have access to a phone or the internet, they should visit their closest VA medical 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 WATE 6 On Your Side. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Honeycombs are lining crosswalks as crews finish up construction on West Temple near the Salt Palace Convention Center. On Monday, the Salt Lake City Transportation, Engineering, and Streets Division said West Temple will have the uniquely designed crosswalks, curb extensions, bike lanes, and protected intersections once the work is completed. Benjamin Wood, the President of Sweet Streets, told ABC4.com it has been a long time coming. Sweet Streets is a Salt Lake City-based advocacy organization that aims to make cities safer for people to get where they need to go through walking, biking, and public transit. Wood said Salt Lake Citys streets have been car-focused, making it unpleasant for people to get around the city any other way. We have very wide thoroughfares and the decision was made decades ago to give all that space to fast-moving cars, Wood told ABC4.com. If youre trying to cross these streets, its terrifying. Wood said the wide streets can open the possibility of leaving pedestrians stranded in a sea of asphalt with cars speeding by. The West Temple project has helped reduce that possibility by adding islands halfway through the street, providing refuge, and shortening the crossing distance. For cyclists, new bike lanes provide a dedicated channel away from pedestrians and cars while also giving a route around people getting on and off buses. This is Utahs richest city, study says and its not Park City Wood said those who arent used to this kind of infrastructure might find it a little confusing at first. For example, Utahns have already expressed concerns about concrete pads that are separated from the sidewalks. Some of these are bus stops, Wood explained about the concrete pads. They provide a space for people who are waiting for the bus in a high visibility location so they are not just disregarded out of the way. It also forces cars when they are going around the corner to go slowly and take a 90-degree curve, instead of zipping around like a racecar. Wood told ABC4.com that it had been 10 years since Salt Lake City completed a project in downtown aimed to make the streets more pedestrian-friendly. Wood said everything costs money and most of that money is dedicated to fixing potholes and resurfacing car lanes. However, Wood said just about every intersection in Salt Lake City needs to undergo the same upgrades done on West Temple. More than installations, we just need to reduce the number of car lanes, said Wood. West Temple now has two lanes instead of three. It should have never had three, to begin with. So on streets like State Street, 700 East, Redwood Road theres just too many lanes. The single best thing we can do is reduce the number of lanes downtown. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. The Senate Armed Services Committee is looking to hold a UFO hearing after the November elections, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrands (D-N.Y.) office confirmed to The Hill. The hearing announcement follows an increase in sightings of whats officially known as unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, including one purportedly near Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. It would also come more than a year after an explosive House hearing in July 2023, when three former Pentagon officials testified about their experience with or sightings of UAP, warning that a lack of information on the phenomena could pose national security risks. Now Gillibrand, who in 2022 helped start the Pentagons All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) created to assess reports of UAP wants a progress update on the offices work. Its a priority for me. I think its very important that we continue to make things publicly available, Gillibrand earlier this month told Matt Laslos D.C. Ask a Pol podcast. She wants a progress report on how many unidentified aerial phenomena weve assessed and analyzed and for the office to give examples of what we have identified and give examples of what we havent identified. Gillibrand, who chairs the subcommittee under the Senate Armed Services Committee on emerging threats and capabilities, added that she wants AARO to continue to build credibility. Her office confirmed Tuesday to The Hill that there will be a hearing, likely in November. In last summers headline-making House hearing on UAP, during which former Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch alleged the government was hiding technology of foreign or even extraterrestrial origin, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) requested the inspector general of the intelligence community to investigate the claims further. But lawmakers have been frustrated with any progress since then, with Burchett suggesting in April that he believes the U.S. government was involved in a cover-up of information on UAP. A Pentagon report on UAP, released in March, concluded that there is no evidence the U.S. has reverse-engineered extraterrestrial technology, pushing back on claims that its hiding off-world spacecraft. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) A Senate Judiciary Committee intended to examine a steady rise in hate dividing the country, ultimately divided the hearing room Tuesday. While exiting the room, one attendee shouted, moron at Sen Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz used his speaking time to slam Democrats. Several Republicans complained Democrats ignored their wishes to hold a hearing focused solely on antisemitic threats on college campus. Several campuses have reported an increase in anti-Jewish rhetoric and acts of intimidation since the Israel-Hamas war began. Lets have a hearing focused on this problem not lumping this problem in with every other problem, said Sen Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Committee Chairman Sen Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) condemned antisemitic speech and all hate crimes, but said he believed the committee should not prioritize one group over another. Prioritizing which group is being discriminated against the worst, I dont believe is a valid exercise of our authority here, said Durbin. Maya Berry, the head of the Arab American Institute, defended Democrats position and the free speech of students, prompting a contentious back and forth with Sen John Kennedy (R-La.). Kennedy accused the Muslim American civil rights leader of supporting Hamas and went on to tell her she should, hide her head in a bag. According to FBI data, between 2015 and 2022, hate crimes increased 99% . Threats against Jewish and Arab Americans spiked significantly in the months after October 7th and theres been an increase in threats against Black, Hispanic and LGBTQ Americans in recent years. All targeted communities are being impacted so we have to have a response that acknowledges that, says Berry. Berry suggested lawmakers expand resources to combat hate fueled by misinformation online. The Head of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Dr. Mark Goldfeder, warned Democrats against ignoring the rise of hate specifically targeting Jews. What starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews, says Goldfeder. It did not take very long for the chants to more from death to Israel to death to America. To protect Jewish students from hate speech, Goldfeder is encouraging Congress to promote the education of anti-Jewish tropes. Goldfeder also called on Democrats to pass federal legislation expanding the definition of antisemitism to include criticism of Israel. The bill passed the House earlier this year with bipartisan support. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked passage of the Right to IVF Act a bid by Democrats that would federally protect access to in vitro fertilization treatments and mandate public and most private insurance companies to cover IVF and fertility care. This is the second time the GOP Senate has dodged the widely popular legislation, with Republicans claiming the bid is unnecessary and an effort to boost Vice President Kamala Harris on the presidential campaign trail as she highlights family access to IVF. During last weeks presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump insisted that he was a leader on IVF, which is fertilization. However, throughout his campaign, Trump has waffled on reproductive rights in an attempt to win over both moderate Republicans and religious conservatives a fact that was painfully clear during his first debate against Harris and has drawn backlash from within his own party. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who forced the vote Tuesday, called on his GOP counterparts to take a hard stance on the issue. Heres what were asking our Republican friends, Schumer said at a press conference. Do you support American families access to in vitro fertilization or not? Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) called the measure another show vote and stated that Republicans support IVF, full stop. Trumps own running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) skipped out on Tuesdays Senate vote to protect access to IVF. When asked to comment on the blocked legislation, Vance dismissed the bid as a show vote bill that had no chance of passing. Q: Senate Republicans just blocked the Right to IVF Act. What is your response? Vance: It had no chance of passing pic.twitter.com/OznXdXM1Ek Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 17, 2024 Following the news, Harris released a statement: Senate Republicans just blocked a bill to protect access to IVF nationwide. They made clear again that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments many couples need to fulfill their dream of having a child. Senate Republicans just blocked a bill to protect access to IVF nationwide. They made clear again that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments many couples need to fulfill their dream of having a child. https://t.co/UKTnJ2w0yr Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) September 17, 2024 More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The News Senators in both parties are open to the Biden administrations elusive defense agreement with Saudi Arabia, despite long-standing concerns about its human rights record and a high bar to Senate approval. Republicans and Democrats are demanding any such agreement arrive on Capitol Hill as a treaty, requiring a two-thirds majority. Getting that level of Senate approval would be a huge challenge, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen senators on the Foreign Relations Committee. Any deal offering Riyadh security guarantees and other benefits in exchange for normalizing its relations with Israel is almost certainly a task for a future commander-in-chief, not President Joe Biden, given the late hour in his final year in office, senators said. Still, their striking degree of openness to a future pact shows that either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump might take office next year with room to maneuver on the Middle East, despite Saudi Arabias checkered human rights record. On both sides of the aisle, senators are eager to reassert their role in foreign policy after the Obama administrations nuclear deal with Iran skirted the Senates treaty protocol. Nine years later, both parties see Saudi Arabia as a potential bulwark against Iranian aggression. Any US-Saudi defense pact would effectively require an end to the Israel-Hamas war, in addition to normalization of relations with Israel, and forward movement toward a state in Palestine. If a future administration could meet those terms the Biden administration has suggested a deal was close in recent months senators are willing to consider an agreement that could eventually put Americans at risk but also formalize Washingtons longstanding alliance with Riyadh. It sounds like something that could conceivably commit the United States to war in the future. And that most certainly would have to come before the United States Senate for ratification, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind, told Semafor. Getting 67 senators to support such a treaty would probably be challenging, Young added, but thats not to suggest at all that its not achievable. The US-Saudi relationship has endured for more than 80 years, and Riyadh remains a stable trading partner in a volatile region. But senators would face a serious debate over approving any Saudi treaty, given the on-camera fury that many offered after the US blamed Riyadh for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Still, even some of Saudi Arabias harshest critics in the chamber are not ruling out giving airtime to a future treaty, so long as its written to maximize their input. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, seen as a potential secretary of state pick if Harris holds the White House for Democrats, signed a letter in the days before Hamas Oct. 7 attack that warned any future Saudi pact would require a high degree of proof that it benefits the US. Today, Murphy said hes under no illusion that it wouldnt require a treaty debate in the Senate, but also left his door open to such a debate. Count me as skeptical regarding the wisdom of giving a security guarantee to a repressive, autocratic regime in the Middle East. But Ive said to the administration that I am still open to looking at the details of any agreement, Murphy said. It doesnt feel like I should be holding my breath over the course of the next two months. Across the aisle, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gave voice to the contingent of senators who maintain good relationships with the Saudis. I meet with them relatively regularly, Risch said, adding: Obviously, theyre a different country than us, but that they remain a valid and important ally in the region. The State Department did not comment on the possible future structure of any US-Saudi pact. Know More Faced with a similarly tricky situation in 2015, the Obama administration did not seek to enshrine its nuclear agreement with Iran as a treaty, because it probably would not have passed in that form, given GOP opposition. That decision carried its own consequences, including allowing Trump to rip up the deal. Ideally, its a treaty because its binding and strong and binds future administrations. Otherwise, its just a political agreement, said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Its impossible, I think, in the long term, to confront Iranian ambitions for the region without Saudi Arabia being a part of it. While Risch would take over the Foreign Relations panel if Republicans take back the Senate in November, the committee is also in for a new top Democrat, with New Hampshires Jeanne Shaheen set to take the role next year. She offered a note of optimism about a future US-Saudi agreement. If it really produced what people see as a long-term solution to the Middle East, and the Saudis were bought into that, and Israel bought into that, then I think there would be a real opportunity to build a lot of votes to pass it, Shaheen said. The View From Burgess and Elana No one we talked to thinks a treaty would be approved before the end of the year. And a change in administrations from Democratic to Republican could lead, at least, to a further delay. Regardless of how the agreement is structured in the Senate, its likely to face a disapproval vote on the Hill. The real obstacles remain in the region, where a long-negotiated ceasefire and hostage agreement has been elusive, sapping the urgency from the Saudi treaty talks. the entire set of agreements materializes, though, including side deals on both Israel and Palestine, theres a real possibility that the Senate eventually approves any US-Saudi defense pact. The chamber can take a long time to process treaties, but the list of rejected treaties is relatively short. Notable The US resumed offensive arms transfers to Saudi Arabia in August after briefing Congress, as the Washington Post reported. Before Trump became the GOP nominee, back in April, he talked with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and was seen as positioned to potentially either block any deal or greenlight it for congressional Republicans, per The New York Times. The US ambassador to Saudi Arabia sees any deal as a comprehensive package that must be negotiated and jointly signed, he told Asharq Al-Awsat. MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) The Morgan County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) says seven people were arrested Friday after a joint investigation between MCSO and Cullman Police. The sheriffs office said a joint investigation into a multi-state vehicle theft ring with the Cullman Police Department (CPD) led investigators to a residence on School Road in Eva Friday. MCSO arrest woman wanted on 88 warrants MCSO said at that residence investigators located and identified five vehicles that were stolen from various states including Ohio, Illinois and Florida. Investigators also found vehicle parts during the investigation. The sheriffs office said it arrested Stephen Dallas Wilhite, 40, of Eva and charged him with five counts of buying or receiving stolen property. CPD said Wilhite, along with six other people were arrested and charged with first-degree receiving stolen property and obstructing justice in Cullman County Cullman police identified the other six people arrested as: Jamarkiss Kylon Dangelo Weaver, 20, of Ohio Courage C. Wolugboms, 30, of Tennessee Mackqies Markus Teddy Raymond, 23, of Tennessee Quintin L. Clemmons Jr., 22, of Ohio Nikole Paulette Acree, 28, of Ohio Kahrese Tracy Lee, 28, of Ohio Stephen Dallas Wilhite (Morgan County Sheriffs Office) Jamarkiss Kylon Dangelo Weaver (Cullman Police Department) Courage C. Wolugboms (Cullman Police Department) Mackqies Markus Teddy Raymond (Cullman Police Department) Quintin L. Clemmons Jr. (Cullman Police Department) Nikole Paulette Acree (Cullman County Sheriffs Office) Kahrese Tracy Lee (Cullman Police Department Cullman police said the Cullman County Sheriffs Office and Cullman County District Attorneys Office were also involved 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 WHNT.com. Sheriffs office: No longer a threat at schools; MSCS: Students can dismiss after lockdowns Sheriffs office: No longer a threat at schools; MSCS: Students can dismiss after lockdowns 5 p.m.: Memphis-Shelby County Schools were locked down for hours Wednesday because of a threat made against Southwind High School that spread to other schools, Superintendent Marie Feagins said. See the latest coverage and video of Feagins press conference here. School superintendent says Southwind threat prompted lockdowns ***** MEMPHIS, Tenn. Multiple schools across Memphis and Shelby County were put on lockdown Wednesday due to threats. Memphis Shelby County Schools told parents, We are aware of a threat to several of our schools. As a precautionary measure, please do not go to your childs school as law enforcement is actively investigating. We will provide updates as necessary. The Shelby County Sheriffs Office posted this to social media: This morning, multiple threats were made against multiple Memphis Shelby County Schools within Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County. The Shelby County Sheriffs Office, in partnership with Memphis Shelby County Schools and local law enforcement, is focused on ensuring the safety of all students and faculty. We ask that parents refrain from coming to the schools to pick up their children while we investigate these threats. Your cooperation is appreciated. Sheriffs Department vehicles parked at Southwind High School on Wednesday Germantown Police also said they were responding to Germantown High School and other schools in the city: We are aware of the threat and current lockdown at Germantown High School. Officers are working with the Shelby County Sheriffs Office and the Department of Homeland Security to determine the legitimacy of the threat. We a have large contingent of personnel at the school and we will remain on-site out of an abundance of caution. In addition to Germantown High School, we have deployed additional officers to schools throughout Germantown for the remainder of the day. 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. By 2:15, the Shelby County Sheriffs Office posted, we no longer see an immediate threat. We have agreed with Memphis Shelby County Schools to proceed with student dismissal. MSCS said it will dismiss schools at normal times, and all after-school events are cancelled. MSCS is in cooperation with law enforcement, who are actively investigating todays events. As the investigation continues, we no longer see an immediate threat. We will continue with normal school dismissal times. Other schools in the Mid-South area that are not on lockdown have also issued statements in regard to the threat of violence to schools. Bartlett City Schools are not on lockdown but says, BCS/BPD are aware of a possible threat of violence to schools in the area. No threats have been made to any of our schools. Lakeland schools are not on lockdown, but says, We have informed parents and staff of the situation in other areas of the Mid-South. We continue to monitor the safety of our students and teachers. Collierville is not on lockdown, but they shared a message with parents saying, Collierville Schools Families, Collierville Schools, and the Collierville Police Department have been made aware of a possible threat to a school or schools in the Memphis/Germantown area. Please know that there have been no threats made to any Collierville school and the safety of our school community is our top priority. This situation appears to be part of a trend across the Mid-South. The Collierville Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriffs Office School Resource Officers are continuing to monitor the exterior areas of their respective campuses and CPD has asked patrol officers to extra patrol the area schools for any suspicious activity. We appreciate your understanding as we remain committed to student safety and a high-quality learning environment. Arlington schools shared a message with parents saying, Dear Parents & Guardians, we want to inform you that neighboring districts and recent reports have alerted us to a possible threat involving a school or schools in the Memphis/Germantown area. Rest assured, no threats have been made against any ACS campus. The safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority. We will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with the Shelby County Sheriffs Office to ensure continued safety. This appears to be part of a larger trend affecting schools across the Mid-South and throughout Tennessee. Thank you for your understanding. We will update you if there are any further developments concerning Arlington. WREG will update this story as we get 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 WREG.com. ALLEGAN, Mich. (WOOD) A sex offender who Allegan County prosecutors say cut his electronic tether and skipped a hearing has been found. Undersheriff Mike Larsen confirmed to News 8 Wednesday that Daniel Loew was in the Allegan County Jail. Larsen said the Michigan State Police Fugitive Team found and arrested Loew around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Allegan County prosecutor: Police searching for sex offender who cut tether Loew was expected in an Allegan County courtroom Monday for a bond hearing, but Prosecutor Myrene Koch told News 8 he never showed and had cut off his tether. A warrant was issued for his arrest. Loew has been at the center of a legal back-and-forth over his bond while he appealed his 2019 conviction on multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct for the abuse of a teen girl. Koch had filed several motions to try to get his bond revoked while that appeals process worked its way through the courts. This defendant should not have been on bond, she wrote to Target 8 Monday. Our office argued multiple times at multiple hearings that this defendant was a flight risk and a danger to the community. Dishonor and shame: West Michigan judge blasts colleagues over private emails in trial Loew was trying to get a new trial after it was discovered that Allegan County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker, while presiding over his initial trial, sent three brief, private emails to Koch questioning the quality of the investigation by Michigan State Police. An Allegan County judge initially granted him a new trial, but higher courts disagreed. Last week, the Michigan Supreme Court denied Loews motion to reconsider its prior decision not to afford him another trial. That reaffirmed Loews conviction, Koch said, setting the stage for his return to prison to serve out his 20- to 40-year 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 WOODTV.com. Chloe was 18 when she was assaulted by taxi driver Paul Bryan in 2017 [BBC] A young woman who was sexually assaulted by a taxi driver as she came home from a night out has said she saw "no remorse" when she faced her attacker in court. Chloe, who was 18 at the time of the assault in 2017, was collected by Paul Bryan in his taxi in Letterkenny, County Donegal after becoming separated from friends. Bryan, 63, from Newtowncunningham, County Donegal, admitted to two counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to four years, two in prison and two on license, last week at Londonderry Magistrates' Court. Chloe, from Derry, told BBC News NI there needs to be tougher sentences for sex offenders. As he was sentenced, Chloe said there was "not a single sorry, not a hint of remorse". She said she has decided to speak publicly as a survivor, and hopes others who have faced the same trauma will come forward. "It has changed my life completely," she said. "I didnt leave my house for a few years after the attack because I was petrified... now I am trying to learn that not everyone has hurt in their heart for people. "Its been very hard." Chloe added: "Life has changed. I have become stronger, become the woman I want to be, to petition for change. "But in terms of a victim, I am still in that taxi on that night, nothing has changed there." Chloe described the sentence handed to her attacker as "a joke". "He has two years in jail. I spent three times that waiting to find out what would happen, being called an alleged victim for seven years." The office of the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ) Dame Siobhan Keegan, Northern Irelands most senior judge, said in a statement: "The sentence imposed will depend on the specific circumstances in each case and a wide range of different factors will be considered." The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said it recognised "all parts of the criminal justice system can move slowly due to a variety of cross-system factors". It said it is "currently considering" whether there is a basis to refer the sentencing in Bryans case to the Court of Appeal for review. Chloe said she cant remember the full assault by Bryan. "I just remember trying to get home I was scared, I remember waking up to Bryan over the top of me for about three or four seconds," she said. "Sometimes you think of going to sleep just to escape everything, I cant escape anything when I am asleep, I still remember, feel what happened." 'No one deserves to live the life I have' On the night of the attack it was her mother who first called police. She was taken to Northern Irelands only rape crisis centre in Belfast, 75 miles from her home. Chloe said: "I remember being so lonely, in a room with a coffee machine, expected to wait, going through my story, it felt like they were trying to make sure my story added up even though I was the one at that rape centre." Chloe said CCTV footage passed by An Garda Siochana (Irish police) to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) showed her "being dragged" by him. She has never seen the footage, Chloe added, because it has been deemed too traumatising. "I didnt know what he looked like for seven years, once I did see him it confirmed everything," she added. Chloe said she never relented in her pursuit of justice, calling police and constantly seeking any updates to the case. "Its only because I am not willing to let this happen to someone else that I pushed so hard. "No one deserves to live the life I have been left with," she said. 'I wanted to stand and look at him' Last week, she faced her attacker in court, where Bryan admitted his guilt. I wanted to stand and look at him, Chloe said. I have done everything legally, fairly and without hate. He could only hold his head in shame that day. I shook the whole way through court. It was important my face was the last thing he seen because for seven years his taxi was the last thing I seen in my head, his face was blocked out but I recall everything. The LCJ statement said in calculating the appropriate sentence for a particular offence, the judge will consider all of the evidence provided to the court. It will also consider the relevant statute and case law including; the maximum sentence which the court can impose, any sentencing guideline judgments relevant to the offence committed, whether the offender pleaded guilty, the level of culpability, the offenders previous convictions, and any other aggravating or mitigating factors presented to the court by the prosecution and defence. The court may also take into account other evidence such as a victim statement, expert medical reports and a pre-sentence report, the LCJ said. The PPS said there had been no undue delay by the PPS at any stage in this case and that sentencing is a matter for the trial judge. If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, help and support is available at BBC Action Line. SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) Another threat was made against the Sioux Falls School District Tuesday night, according to an email sent to parents from the district. Social Media threats are leading to secure status for schools Police are in contact with the family of a middle school student who is believed to be the source of another social media threat that was circulating overnight, the email from the school district to parents said. There is no current threat to any of our schools and class will go on as scheduled thanks to our safety protocols and our partnership with the Sioux Falls Police. The district reminded parents that sharing threats can create misinformation and fear, and are never considered as jokes. The district encouraged parents to report threats, instead of reposting them 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 KELOLAND.com. A Vermont local official was found shot to death along with his new wife and stepson in their home over the weekend, state police have said. Brian Crossman, his wife Erica and her 13-year-old son, Colin Taft, were found in their house Sunday morning. A relative, whose clothes were soaked in blood, called the police, waited at a nearby school and led them to the grim scene, according to local paper the Bennington Banner. Police have ruled all three deaths homicides, but no arrests have yet been announced. Crossman was recently elected to the select board of Pawlet, Vermontthe small town of around 1,400 people where he lived. In the role, he was part of a council responsible for monitoring the towns spending and enacting new laws. Brian and Erica had married just months prior, in June. A neighbor and relative, who wished not to be named, told the Banner that the couple had been working to fix up Brians family farm. Its hard to even make sense of what happened, the neighbor said. I just know three people are dead, and thats not good. The five-person select board still met on Tuesday as usual, with flowers in Brians place at the table, NECN reported. Brian Crossman was a friend and neighbor, a hardworking community member who just this year stepped up to join the Pawlet Selectboard, the boards chairperson, Mike Beecher, said in a statement. This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss. 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. Nearly two years after Sheriff Robert Luna took office and promised to eradicate deputy gangs, and three years after state lawmakers greenlighted a measure requiring police agencies to ban the groups, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department unveiled a much-awaited anti-gang policy Wednesday to comply with the law. The controversial tattooed groups and their alleged misconduct have plagued the nations largest sheriffs department for decades, spurring oversight investigations, an FBI probe and a stream of lawsuits. But leaders have been hamstrung in their efforts to eradicate the inked groups, in part because being in a gang was never explicitly grounds for firing. The new policy could change that. "It's a huge step forward," Luna told The Times on Wednesday. "People thought it was going to be impossible for me to start shifting this culture, but its happening. I like where were going." When it takes effect in 30 days, officials say, the policy will ban being in a deputy gang or hate group and require department employees to participate in investigations into the groups. It also will require that allegations of gang membership be referred to the state commission responsible for certifying or revoking the certification of peace officers across California. Violating the policy could result in discipline, including termination. And, as Luna explained, it "lays out the expectations more clearly" and "shows that there are significant consequences if you violate this policy." Some deputy union leaders came out in support of the new policy Wednesday. "This policy enables the Sheriff's Department to address staff who do not meet the expected standards of conduct, while safeguarding the rights that are afforded to all workers in this country, Richard Pippin, president of the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, told The Times. Perhaps the 'defund the police' crowd won't be satisfied, but they never will be, shy of the complete end of any kind of effective policing. But the countys watchdog, Inspector General Max Huntsman, had a decidedly less rosy take. Im pleased that they have passed a policy that seems to minimally comply with the law, but it should have happened a long time ago, he said, adding that he was never allowed to review a draft of the policy and did not receive a copy until 1:05 p.m. Wednesday minutes before it was publicly released. It is a huge disappointment that they kept it secret" which is not in compliance with California oversight law," he said. Similarly Vincent Miller, an attorney who has represented several deputies suing the department including a former whistleblower who was demoted last week said the new policy would be "useless" as long as the county resists transparency and retaliates against employees who come forward to report misconduct. For five decades, the Sheriffs Department has been beset by allegations about rogue groups of deputies running roughshod over certain stations and promoting a culture of violence. The groups are commonly known by names such as the Executioners, the Banditos, the Regulators and the Little Devils, and members typically have matching, sequentially numbered tattoos featuring macabre imagery. Over several decades, L.A. County has paid out at least $55 million in settlements in cases involving sheriffs deputies alleged to belong to the inked groups. Several other cases are still pending, including one scheduled for trial next week. Another, brought by eight deputies who alleged that they were routinely harassed by the Banditos, is wending its way toward trial after a judge decided last year that the case could move forward. In early 2020, then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva adopted a new policy banning department employees from participating in any illicit groups of deputies that promote conduct that violates the rights of others. At the time, Villanueva said that made him the first sheriff to successfully implement a policy banning deputy cliques though he also said that he couldnt legally ban deputies from joining the groups and he has since repeatedly denied that deputy gangs exist . Almost from the outset, oversight officials and outside experts said Villanuevas 2020 policy didnt go far enough. Some said it lacked teeth and wasnt being enforced , and researchers at Rand Corp. suggested in a county-commissioned report that the department could improve its policy by defining more specifically what was prohibited and requiring deputies to disclose membership in organizations. Read more: Deputies accused of being in secret societies cost L.A. County taxpayers $55 million, records show Then in 2021, the state passed a bill explicitly banning law enforcement gangs , defined in Penal Code 13670 as any group of officers who may identify with a name and symbol and who engage in a pattern of on-duty behavior that intentionally violates the law or fundamental principles of professional policing. The law, which took effect at the beginning of 2022, also required all departments to have a policy prohibiting participation in gangs and making violations of that policy grounds for termination. Villanuevas policy, his critics said , did not fully comply with that law. But later that year, Luna a department outsider and retired police chief swept into office promising change. Unlike his predecessor, he admitted that deputy gangs existed and he vowed to eradicate them. To do that, he established a new Office of Constitutional Policing, run by a former federal prosecutor who once helped put ex-Sheriff Lee Baca behind bars. Under Lunas administration, officials began asking people promoting into the highest ranks of the department whether they had any tattoos linking them to the controversial groups. And last year, the Sheriffs Department used the policy as one of its reasons for firing two deputies who were involved in an off-duty confrontation with a teen and later admitted to having Industry Station Indians tattoos. Still, some said Lunas efforts to clamp down on the groups have fallen short. Roughly three months after Luna took office, the Civilian Oversight Commission released a scathing report detailing the history of gangs within the departments ranks. One week after that, questions surfaced about whether Lunas second-in-command Undersheriff April Tardy has a tattoo signifying allegiance to a deputy gang. Read more: Deputy cliques in L.A. County Sheriffs Department likely growing, study finds This year, oversight officials at the Office of Inspector General issued a 50-page report highlighting gaps in Lunas efforts to rein in gangs and criticizing the departments repeated failure to meaningfully investigate the groups. As the report pointed out, even when the department punished two deputies last year for violating the existing anti-gang policy, the men were fired without being forced to name other members of their alleged group. And when that investigation led to the discovery of another tattooed group linked to the Lakewood Station , the report said the resulting inquiry failed to ask the most basic questions and came to an end when deputies at the station said there was no tattooed subgroup there. (On Wednesday, Luna said that there are at least four deputy gang-related investigations underway, and that internal affairs investigators have done "several hundred" interviews and received additional training on doing more thorough investigations.) But in recent months, one of the most consistent criticisms focused on the delay in implementing a stronger anti-gang policy. The Sheriffs Department pointed to the drawn-out process of bargaining with deputy unions as one of the hurdles, but after nearly a year, it seems the parties involved have come to an agreement. Officials said department members have been notified of the new policy, which was posted online Wednesday. Within minutes, Villanueva the former sheriff began criticizing the "fake policy" on social media, alleging it would classify all personnel as gang members "if they have ink but no misconduct unless they are HIS undersheriff, chief, commander or staff!" In a post linking a local media article, he added: "This is what failed leadership looks like, with a healthy assist from local media." Later, in an email he added that the policy was "nothing more than a rehash" of his prior policy but "with an unconstitutional twist that will fail in court." Though current department officials say the new policy offers more precise language including clear definitions of gangs, hate groups and hate group membership and a more robust accounting of banned behavior and its consequences, Luna acknowledged it would have its critics. Read more: Cursory deputy gang probes at Lakewood, Industry stations criticized in watchdog report On Wednesday afternoon, he told The Times that he anticipated some oversight officials might take issue with the fact that it banned only deputy gangs and did not also more broadly ban the more loosely affiliated tattooed deputy cliques." Originally, he said, the policy was set to address both but the latter turned out to be more legally complicated, and Luna eventually decided to cleave that off into a separate policy that is still in the works. "My priority was the gang policy; now its cliques," he said. "We got the use-of-force policy signed off on in July, and were still in the process of implementing that. Now, tattoos and emblems will be something that we tackle next. It's one step at a time." Yet several members of the Civilian Oversight Commission expressed concern about the policy. Robert Bonner, the commission's chair, said it "does not go far enough." Commissioner Hans Johnson pointed out that the department implemented only six of the commission's 24 recommendations outlined in 2023. Commissioner Sean Kennedy, who has homed in on investigating law enforcement gang allegations, said that, although the new policy doesn't go as far as the commission asked, it is a "long overdue step" in the right direction. "The real challenge will be getting the LASD leadership to truly investigate and enforce the new policy," he said. "In the past, they have all turned a blind eye to internal gangs and cliques, which is how the gang culture became so pervasive within the department. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of the end of 50 years of deputy gangs in the LASD." 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. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Around the country, communities are being battered by a wave of school shooting threats, sparking emergency notifications, urgent group chats and heightened fears among parents that their childs school could be the next Parkland or Sandy Hook or Uvalde or any other town hit by mass shootings. On Florida's Atlantic coast, Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Volusia County said he got some of these same notifications after he walked his grandchildren to school this week. It just stuck with me because my cell phone was going off telling me about the other threats. Thinking to myself, how many parents in this country have done just what I just did, Chitwood said, and they never, ever, ever get to hold their loved one again. Fed up with school shooting threats in his community, Chitwood pledged to publicly identify students accused of making such threats. On Monday, he posted the name and mugshot of an 11-year-old boy arrested for allegedly threatening to carry out a shooting at a middle school in his county. The decision swiftly drew praise and criticism amid the ongoing national debate over what it would take to stem the gun violence plaguing the nation. On Wednesday evening he released another video online showing two more young people, identified as 16- and 17-year-olds, in handcuffs and being led to jail over what he called another school threat. The initial video posted by Chitwood online showed what an arrest report described as various airsoft style rifles and pistols, magazines, fake ammunition ... and several knives and swords that investigators say the 11-year-old boy gathered. The footage later cuts to an officer leading the handcuffed boy from a squad car before he's locked into an empty cell. The boys face is frequently visible in the video, which already has gained hundreds of thousands of social media views. Then on Wednesday, Chitwood was at it again, posting a message online: Two more students are in custody following a school shooting threat and adding of the teens, "We will introduce you to these two in the very near future. Hours later the sheriff posted a Facebook video showing two teens being led in handcuffs from a law enforcement van into separate empty cells. He is heard saying in the post: Go talk to the families who have lost a loved one in a school shooting. These little knuckleheads think its funny? Go talk to those parents and see how funny this is. The AP generally does not identify anyone under 18 accused of a crime or transmit images that would reveal their identity. Chitwood this week told The Associated Press he doesn't know if publicly shaming accused juveniles will be effective. But he had to act to get through to students and their parents. Since the school year started a few weeks ago in Volusia County, Chitwood said, his office has reported more than 280 school threats compared to 352 in all of last year. "Something has to be done," Chitwood said. Where are the parents? Under Florida law, juvenile court records are generally confidential and exempt from public release unless the child is charged with a felony, as in this case. Chitwood has a reputation of being a tough-talking figure and maintains he is within his rights to identify such young people. Im not worried about the 2% that might get handcuffed that somebody might get offended about," Chitwood said. "Im worried about the other 98% that are trying to go to school and live their normal lives not in fear to get an education. Daniel Mears, a criminology professor at Florida State University who researches school shootings, said the sheriffs actions are contrary to the spirit of the juvenile justice system. Juvenile records were supposed to be confidential for a reason. The idea was that kids would have a second shot in life, Mears said. Still, Mears said there have long been exceptions for particularly heinous crimes, noting school threats are treated differently. "School shootings are just really unbelievably scary and concerning to people," he said. Among those applauding the sheriffs actions is Max Schachter, whose son Alex was murdered along with 16 others in a 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. We had a culture of complacency that led to the Parkland school shooting. And we can't be complacent anymore, Schachter told AP. We should be holding the individuals that perpetrate these threats and become mass shooters to the highest extent of the law. And ultimately we should be holding their parents responsible." Chitwood has said he's investigating whether parents of kids who make threats can be held financially or criminally liable. The first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting Jennifer and James Crumbley were sentenced in April to at least 10 years in prison as a Michigan judge lamented missed opportunities that could have prevented their teenage son Ethan from possessing a gun and killing four students in 2021. The parents were convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier in the year. In Winder, Georgia, prosecutors have filed charges against the father of a 14-year-old boy accused of killing two students and two teachers in a recent high school shooting. Keri Rodrigues, president of the education advocacy group National Parents Union, said what's needed is gun control and sufficient psychological support for children in crisis. Surveys show American youth are in the throes of an unprecedented mental health crisis. I think parents across the country are struggling with what to do with kids, Rodrigues said. Its so difficult because we dont have enough social workers. We dont have enough school psychiatrists." Kathleen Miksits is the mother of two middle schoolers in Volusia County. She believes students and parents need to understand the toll these threats take on their community. Miksits kept her kids home one day this week after students at their school was targeted by a threat. Still, she struggles with the thought that this 11-year-old boy may never live this down. Kids say things that they dont mean. Or they dont understand what theyre saying, she said. But on the other hand, this is an extremely serious matter and we keep having kids die. ___ This story has been corrected to show an arrest report said the 11-year-old boy had various airsoft style rifles and pistols not airsoft rifles, pistols. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. The news is tragic for people who care about North Carolinas endangered red wolves, the worlds only known wild population. Five wild pups that lost their father earlier this year have died in Eastern North Carolina, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed. Their father, 2444M, was hit and killed by a vehicle in June on U.S. 64 near Buffalo City Road, more than a month after his mate had given birth to the five pups in April 2024. Its shocking to see how a single vehicle collision has ripple effects across the critically endangered wild red wolf population, Will Harlan, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. There are now only 16 known red wolves in the wild, with the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimating there could be just a few more they havent detected. Another 290 red wolves live in captivity. Conservation groups have identified traffic on U.S. 64 as a key threat to wild red wolves survival and support an effort to construct a wildlife crossing in the area. The highway to and from the Outer Banks bisects the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, a key habitat for the wolves, in Dare County. Despite prominent signs warning drivers to look out for red wolves in the area, four have been hit and killed by cars since September 2023. All three wolves that were killed on U.S. 64 were males, with 2444M and a wolf that was killed last September known to be breeding males for their packs. U.S. 64 has kind of single handedly kept the wild red wolf population from expanding, Ron Sutherland, the chief scientist for the Wildlands Network, said in an interview. A fourth wolf, a young female, was hit and killed on U.S. 264 in December 2023. Whats known about lost pups Red wolves in the wild are exclusively found on the Albemarle Peninsula. There are family groups on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare and Hyde Counties and on the Pocosin River National Wildlife Refuge in Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington counties. The pups that died were the first born to a wolf known as 2413F. She was likely unable to care for the pups without their father, says the Center for Biological Diversity release. Their litter is one of two that was born in the wild this year. A different litter of eight pups has not been seen on monitoring with remote sensing or visually seen since late June, which has raised concerns about their survival. No pup mortalities have been documented, however, pups approaching 5 months old are typically moving throughout the family groups home range with the adults and being seen on remote sensing cameras., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says on its webpage dedicated to red wolves. Efforts to fund wildlife crossing The N.C. Department of Transportation has applied for a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportations Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program to help animals cross U.S. 64. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission also worked on the grant, while nonprofits worked to raise $6.25 million in matching funds for the project. If fully funded, the project would address about 2.5 miles of U.S. 64 from just east of the East Lake community to just west of Robertson Landing Road. DOT would line the road with fencing to prevent wildlife from reaching the highway, then it would it would raise that section of road and install a planned 13 crossings underneath. Those would include 10 3.4-foot culverts for small creatures; two 7.6-foot pipes for mid-size mammals like deer and wolves; and a 10-foot pipe for large mammals like the black bears that live on the refuge. DOT anticipates that construction would take less than a year. Wildlife crossings can protect people and save red wolves from extinction, but we need to build them before its too late, Harlan, the Center for Biological Diversity scientists statement said. The DOT application notes that based on comments made to FWS employees and on social media, some of the red wolf vehicle strikes may have been intentional. Building a structure to allow red wolves to avoid the road will likely be the only effective way at reducing strike mortalities, the grant application states. While the red wolf would be the stated reason for the crossing, supporters say it would also help other species that live in the refuge. On Aug. 1, the Wildlands Network began to survey roadkill on 33 miles of U.S. 64 and U.S. 264 in Dare and Tyrrell counties. By August 23, they had found 1,029 dead creatures, including nearly 500 turtles, more than 300 snakes and more than 200 frogs. Surveyors had also found three coyotes, a bobcat and a bear. Its been kind of jaw dropping... Theres just tons and tons of animals out there getting killed, Sutherland said. This story was produced with financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and Green South Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. If you would like to help support local journalism, please consider signing up for a digital subscription, which you can do here. A shooting near my son's daycare center prompted us to move from California to Japan. I feel safer here. Doi and her family relocated from California to Osaka, Japan, in 2022. Genie Doi In 2019, a shooting near her son's daycare center reaffirmed Genie Doi's decision to relocate. Doi, 38, and her husband decided on Japan for several reasons, including its safety and affordability. Although Doi enjoys living in Japan, she struggled with its lack of diversity and societal expectations. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Genie Doi, an American who relocated to Osaka, Japan, with her family. She runs a law firm as an immigration attorney and works remotely. The following has been edited for length and clarity. My husband is Japanese and moving to his homeland was always an option. A shooting near my son's school in Los Angeles escalated our plans. In 2019, when my son was 2, a shooting took place at a shopping mall near his daycare center. The police shut down the whole area. For 40 minutes, I knew that there was someone with a gun near my child's school, and there was nothing I could do about it. I thought, the one thing I could do is just move out of here. So in 2022, after pandemic restrictions were lifted, we moved as a family to Osaka, Japan. Our kids were 5 years old and just 6 months at the time. We spend less on childcare and rent in Japan Raising young kids in the US was not sustainable even with two incomes. Despite our careers I work as a lawyer while my husband is a producer we found childcare expensive. At one point, my husband and I were spending around $1,700 a month for my kindergarten-age son and around $2,200 a month for our baby. In Japan, my son attends an international school because he's not yet fluent in Japanese. However, our daughter goes to a free childcare center. Where we live, the city subsidizes childcare costs for the second child. In California, we spent $3,700 a month on the mortgage of our 3-bedroom house. Our rent here is $1,200 monthly, and we live in a 5-bedroom home. Although we have no yard and only enough space to park one car, there are plenty of parks nearby. One car here is enough; public transportation is convenient, and my husband and I work remotely. I love the emphasis on healthy eating in Japan Doi appreciates the balanced lifestyle in Japan. Genie Doi My daughter's day care center provides her with a healthy and balanced lunch, afternoon snack, and tea. And all that's free; they even have a nutritionist who plans all of their meals. While my baby loves vegetables and fruit, my older child, who was mostly raised in the US, is not a huge fan. He prefers ice cream, chocolate, and processed foods. He also has no interest in tea, while his baby sister is a fan. The pace of life is slower The pace of life was much faster in LA. Everyone was focused on making money and working hard. I knew people working two or three jobs, and they drove fast to get from place to place and fill their time with activities. In Japan, I find that people are more focused on well-being and health. They maintain a balance between their lives and their homes, so I'm more conscious of my health here. Still, the lack of diversity is a challenge In the US, I went to school and worked with people from all sorts of backgrounds. But here, most of the population is Japanese or 97.5%, according to the CIA. It was a culture shock to see only one type of ethnicity all around me at all times. As a Korean American, I'm not Japanese, but I look Japanese. At times, other people will assume I'm local and expect a certain kind of behavior. For example, women dress conservatively in Japan. But if it's hot outside, I'll wear a tank top and shorts. And people will stare at me as if I'm a crazy person because most married women with children don't dress like that. In Japan, there are very clear lines on manners, respect, and what is acceptable and what is not. Coming from the US, this expectation that everyone has to follow certain rules was new to me. I feel that pressure to conform, but as an American, I also reject it. So whenever that pressure becomes too strong or stresses me out, I'll just leave for a break. We'll go to Hawaii for a week or return to California for the summer. We've also taken advantage of exploring the countries nearby. Hong Kong, China, and South Korea are all just a short flight away. Getting my kids out of the US helped with parental anxiety My son was upset when we told him our plans to move. "What about my friends, my school, my grandparents here, and my toys?" he asked. We tried to prepare him for a year by just talking about how exciting this change would be. We even visited the new school in Japan before we moved. In the end, it was a smooth transition for him, and he loves living here now. Doi's son was initially upset that the family was relocating but transitioned smoothly to the new environment. Genie Doi One thing I've had to get used to is how independent kids are encouraged to be. You'll see children go to the store alone to run an errand for their parents or get on a bus alone. Since we moved, over the past almost two years, gun violence in the US has continued. It just keeps happening. So I'm grateful that I could get my children out of that environment. In Japan, there's so much trust in safety that you can send your 5-year-old to the shopping mall by themselves, and they will be fine. We plan to stay in Japan until my kids finish high school, as I want them to have a stable community during their school-age years. But once they graduate and hopefully go off and do their own things as independent adults, my husband and I can do whatever we want and live wherever we want. We'll see. Do you have a story about moving abroad that you want to share? Get in touch with the reporter, Erin: eliam@businessinsider.com . Read the original article on Business Insider A photo of Nick DiCeglie in the Florida House in April 2021. DiCeglie is now in the state Senate. (Credit: Florida House.) Florida lawmakers may once again attempt to pass legislation tightening regulation of short-term vacation rentals next year but, if they do, the state senator who has sponsored those bills during the past two sessions wont be the one carrying it. No, said Pinellas County Republican Nick DiCeglie when asked Monday night in St. Petersburg about sponsoring a similar measure next year. I did two years in a row. I havent heard anything. I dont think theres going to be any effort to change anything from a local standpoint, but I dont know. I have no idea. But I will not have my name on it. DiCeglie resides in Indian Rocks Beach, a small coastal community in Pinellas that has been described as Ground Zero in the battle between vacation rental owners and their residential neighbors who resent such rentals. He sponsored a measure in the Florida House in the 2023 session that died on the last day of the session when the House refused to pick up last-hour changes made by the Senate. The measure went further in 2024, successfully getting though both chambers, although its nine-vote margin of victory in (60-51) was one of the closest tallies of any bill in the Florida House during the entire session. But it was vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in late June, just days before the legislation would have gone into effect. In his veto message, the governor noted objections raised by the many critics of the bill, saying that it would have created new bureaucratic red tape preventing local governments from enforcing existing ordinances or passing any new ones exclusively applying to vacation rentals. DiCeglie said he has no idea whether any other legislator would try to carry the bill next session. Similar proposals have been introduced virtually every year for a decade, yet the Legislature has failed to act since 2014, when it voted to allow local governments to regulate matters like noise, parking, and trash, but prevented them from prohibiting or regulating the duration or frequency of short-term rentals. He said certain provisions in this years bill garnered buy-in from most of the engaged parties, including data transparency provisions such as requiring that platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo submit quarterly reports to the state identifying all units listed on their sites, as well as their vacation rental license numbers and locations. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) would have created and maintained a vacation rental database for all those businesses across the state. Good, sound policy I think that was all good, sound policy, DiCeglie said. The minute we started getting into the local stuff, thats when things got a little hairy. DiCeglie noted that in Indian Rocks Beach, the city commission last month voted down a compromise that short term rental operators and city staff negotiated to settle a lawsuit filed by seven vacation rental owners after the city passed an ordinance in 2023. Its going to be interesting to see how that plays out, he said. What are the courts going to ultimately decide? Did they go too far? Was it a balance? Who knows? Out of step Kelly Cisarik, a resident of Indian Rocks Beach who has been critical of the state preemption of local governments regulation of short-term vacation rentals, said DiCeglie was out of step with the majority of his constituents regarding his 2023 and 2024 bills. Voters living in residentially zoned areas want local control of Short Term Vacation Rentals businesses, she said in an email. Tallahassee cant help us with problems at 2 AM. In his veto message of SB 280, DeSantis wrote, Under this bill, any such measure would apply to all residential properties. The effect of this provision will prevent virtually all local regulation of vacation rentals even though the vacation rental markets are far from uniform across all the various regions of the state. When Gov. DeSantis vetoed SB 280, he acknowledged that local governments should be able to continue to regulate Vacation Rental businesses, Cisarik wrote. That veto should have sent a clear message to any potential bill sponsor in 2025, and that message is: One size does not fit all. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) El Paso Police responded to reports of shots fired on Wednesday, Sept. 18, in Central El Paso. The Fire Department says the incident took place on East Nevada Avenue and Ange Street just before 1 p.m. and no injuries were reported. The scene was cleared at around 2 p.m. No further information has been reported. This story will be updated as soon as we learn more. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. The City Council again rebuked Mayor Brandon Johnsons plan to rid Chicago of ShotSpotter Wednesday, voting to keep the gunshot detection technology around just days before it was set to go offline. Aldermen passed in a 33-to-14 vote an ordinance supporters say would compel police Superintendent Larry Snelling to reach a contract to continue using the tool. However, Johnson appears poised to nonetheless move ahead with his plan to boot the technology from the city. He has previously sidestepped similar City Council decisions by arguing that only the mayor, and not the council, has power over the citys contracts. This is not an ordinance to keep ShotSpotter, the mayor insisted to aldermen during debate, nodding to his broad contract authority. After the meeting, city Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry joined the mayor at a news conference, where she said the ordinance violates the separation of powers in city government because it would constitute the legislative branch forcing the executive branch to take action. Johnson will therefore veto it, Richardson-Lowry said. The mayor said he will continue to seek ways to make residents safer, including considering gunshot detection technology. The technology that exists right now are people still afraid? Yes, Johnson said when asked whether Chicagoans will feel anxious that ShotSpotter is being removed. Johnsons council opponents meanwhile talked Wednesday about filing a lawsuit to keep the system in place. And at a City Hall news conference Wednesday morning, supporters of the sensors laid the groundwork to blame him for gunshot deaths that follow ShotSpotters termination. If certain people are allowed to make certain decisions without certain common sense, then all I can say is, there will be blood, said street pastor Donovan Price, known for working with gun violence victims. The mayor has cited expert reports to argue the technology does not work well enough to justify its cost. On Monday, he joked about ShotSpotter, describing the tool as little more than a walkie-talkie on a pole, and arguing the attempts to continue its use in Chicago were being pushed by corporate interests. But the City Council has fought hard to keep the sensors which Snelling has praised as an important aid for police in use. Aldermen passed with a veto-proof majority in May a measure to give themselves control over ShotSpotters future, but Johnson flatly rejected the vote by arguing the City Council does not have power over the citys contracts. That decision could ultimately pit aldermen against the mayor in court. Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, said Wednesday the coalition of aldermen backing the technology is willing to sue to enforce the ordinance. If we wind up in front of a judge, we have a very strong case to make, and ultimately we will prevail, Hopkins said. But the easy course of action is for the mayor to do the right thing and renew the ShotSpotter contract. Richardson-Lowry said she was hopeful the administration could meet with the aldermen to discuss their differences and forestall a court fight. The no-holds-barred effort to keep ShotSpotter supported by many aldermen and backed by the company behind the controversial technology, SoundThinking, included yet another contentious debate Wednesday. Most aldermen implored Johnson to keep it, even as many acknowledged the ordinances dubious legal footing. We should support this technology until we find a replacement. Its just a tool, said Finance Committee Chair Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd. I feel so strongly about this, To eliminate it? Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, said. Youre going to have to wear that. Even if Johnson ignores the City Councils vote, the effort to retain ShotSpotter could continue. Ald. Bill Conway, 34th, said there are a multiple of other ways to compel Johnson to keep the technology, including by forcing the issue during the citys upcoming 2025 budget process. But the clock is ticking. ShotSpotter is set to shut down Sunday at midnight after Johnson agreed in February to a final extension with the company to keep it running through the summer, according to SoundThinking Vice President Gary Bunyard. The company and city have not been in contact to discuss how the technology will be decommissioned, Bunyard said last week. The company will be responsible for the cost of taking down the over 2,000 acoustic sensors that underlie the technology, he added. Richardson-Lowry said city officials have spoken to SoundThinking representatives about shutting down the system. During the council debate Wednesday, other aldermen shared concerns that nothing sufficient will replace ShotSpotter. Standing alongside 15 other aldermen at the Wednesday morning news conference, Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, said the technology is only about saving lives. How can Brandon Johnson put a price tag on saving lives? the Southwest Side alderman said. That cost could be lowered, as SoundThinking sent a letter to the Johnson administration offering to cut the $10 million-per-year fee nearly in half if they agree to keep using it through 2025. ShotSpotter which uses acoustic sensors mounted on light poles, mostly on the South and West sides, to quickly alert police about the location of suspected gunfire has been in activists crosshairs for years. It gained notoriety in 2021 after a gunshot alert from a street in Little Village sent responding police running after 13-year-old Adam Toledo. An officer fatally shot him during the chase. The technology also faced harsh criticism in a 2021 report issued by the citys Office of Inspector General that found it rarely leads to evidence of crimes, investigatory steps and gun recoveries, while tainting officers interactions with residents of neighborhoods most affected by gun violence. Separately, the MacArthur Justice Center is suing the city over its use of the tool, which it called inaccurate, expensive and dangerous in another 2021 study. The 2021 inspector general report called for more data, as did the ordinance passed by the City Council in May. Recent data collected by the Police Department and publicized by ShotSpotter determined police respond 2.5 minutes faster to gunshot reports when an alert is made. Through August this year, police have rendered aid to 143 gunshot victims after ShotSpotter alerts, including seven people who were treated despite no corresponding 911 call being made, according to the CPD data. jsheridan@chicagotribune.com CHICAGO The City Council Wednesday could again rebuke Mayor Brandon Johnsons plan to rid Chicago of ShotSpotter, just days before the gunshot detection technology is set to go offline. Aldermen are set to vote on a long-shot ordinance some say would compel police Superintendent Larry Snelling to continue using the tool. As Johnson sticks to his plan, his opponents are already trying to pin him with blame for any gunshot deaths that follow, and threatening a lawsuit to try to force him to let them maintain the sensors in high-crime Chicago neighborhoods. If certain people are allowed to make certain decisions without certain common sense, then all I can say is, there will be blood, said street pastor Donovan Price, known for working with gun violence victims, at a City Hall news conference Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, Johnson poked jokes at ShotSpotter, describing the tool as little more than a walkie-talkie on a pole, and arguing the attempts to continue its use in Chicago were being pushed by corporate interests. But the City Council has fought hard to keep the sensors which Snelling has praised as an important aide for police in use. Aldermen passed with a veto-proof majority in May a measure to give themselves control over ShotSpotters future, but Johnson flatly rejected the vote by arguing the City Council does not have power over the citys contracts. That decision could ultimately pit aldermen against the mayor in court. Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd Ward, said Wednesday the coalition of aldermen backing the technology is willing to sue to enforce the ordinance. If we wind up in front of a judge, we have a very strong case to make, and ultimately we will prevail, Hopkins said. But the easy course of action is for the mayor to do the right thing and renew the ShotSpotter contract. The no-holds-barred effort to keep ShotSpotter supported by many aldermen and backed by the company behind the controversial technology, SoundThinking, will include another vote Wednesday. The City Council is set to consider ordinances designed to compel Snelling and, separately, the leader of the citys Office of Public Safety Administration to renew the ShotSpotter contract. If it passes, the ordinance will likely face a similar rejection by Johnson. But it might not be the end of the effort to retain ShotSpotter. Ald. Bill Conway, 34th Ward, said there are a multiple of other ways to compel Johnson to keep the technology, including by forcing the issue during the citys upcoming 2025 budget process. But the clock is ticking. ShotSpotter is set to shut down on Sept. 22 at midnight after Johnson agreed in February to a final extension with the company to keep it running through the summer, according to SoundThinking Vice President Gary Bunyard. The company and city have not been in contact to discuss how the technology will be decommissioned, Bunyard said last week. The company will be responsible for the cost of taking down the over 2,000 acoustic sensors that underlie the technology, he added. If ShotSpotter does in fact stop functioning over the weekend, opponents of the mayor are already moving to blame him for shooting deaths. Standing alongside 15 other aldermen Wednesday morning, Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, said ShotSpotter is only about saving lives. How can Brandon Johnson put a price tag on saving lives? Lopez asked. That cost could be lowered, as SoundThinking sent a letter to the Johnson administration offering to cut the $10 million-per-year fee nearly in half if they agree to keep using it through 2025. ShotSpotter which uses acoustic sensors mounted on light poles, mostly on the South and West sides, to quickly alert police about the location of suspected gunfire has been in activists crosshairs for years. It gained notoriety in 2021 after a gunshot alert from a street in Little Village sent responding police running after 13-year-old Adam Toledo. An officer fatally shot Toledo during the chase. The technology also faced harsh criticism in a 2021 report issued by the citys Office of Inspector General that found it rarely leads to evidence of crimes, investigatory steps and gun recoveries, while tainting officers interactions with residents of neighborhoods most affected by gun violence. Separately, the MacArthur Justice Center is suing the city over its use of the tool, which it called inaccurate, expensive and dangerous in another 2021 study. The 2021 Inspector General report called for more data, as did the ordinance passed by the City Council in May. Recent data collected by the Chicago Police Department and publicized by ShotSpotter determined police respond 2.5 minutes faster to gunshot reports when an alert is made. Through August this year, police have rendered aid to 143 gunshot victims after ShotSpotter alerts, including seven people who were treated despite no corresponding 911 call being made, according to the CPD data. _____ The Scene There are anniversaries that are celebrated and those that are marked. For the first three years after the Abraham Accords were signed on the White House lawn, officials from Israel and the United Arab Emirates celebrated. But in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and ensuing war in Gaza, the fourth anniversary of the landmark agreement that normalized relations between Israel and two Gulf countries, the UAE and Bahrain, has come and gone quietly. And yet: the accords are surviving. Trade between the two sides is still rising even amid the crisis. In the first seven months of 2024, bilateral trade stood at $1.92 billion 4% more than the same period last year. It is a loss of momentum trade rose 17% in 2023 compared to 2022 and this years figures move the countries off track to meet a $10 billion annual target by 2028 that is still a relatively modest goal for two half-trillion-dollar economies. The war makes private sector investments from the UAE into Israel more challenging, but the state was always the lead in the flows, Karen Young, a senior research scholar at Columbia Universitys Center on Global Energy Policy, said. Trade and investment continue. (The figures are drawn from Israels Central Bureau of Statistics, and dont completely account for sensitive sectors like cybersecurity or defense, a spokesperson for the Abraham Accords Peace Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit, told Semafor.) Know More A flurry of deals and milestones that would have once garnered attention have gone unnoticed since Oct. 7: The Abu Dhabi-backed Technology Innovation Institute, which focuses on AI development, plans to open a new center in Haifa; the UAEs FlyDubai and Etihad maintained direct flights to Israel despite the war; and Mubadala Energy continued its investment and support of an expanded gas field in Israel. The UAE-Israel relationship remains strong, despite regional tensions, Asher Fredman, director for Israel of the Abraham Accords Peace Institute, told Semafor. The pact has also allowed the UAE to play a central role in humanitarian efforts in Gaza, Fredman added, in coordination with Israel. The UAE has evacuated nearly 2,000 injured and ill Palestinian patients and their families, and delivered 40,000 tons of aid. One venture capitalist in Israel, who declined to be named citing sensitivities between the two countries, said that VC investment activity and knowledge exchange among Israeli and Emirati startups also remained a bright spot. No deals, the investor said, have been canceled as a result of the war, but no announcements are being made, either. Demonstrations are prohibited in the UAE, so the absence of pro-Palestinian protests is unsurprising. Still, a temperature change can be felt in other ways. Boycotts of popular brands over their ties to Israel have dented sales at McDonalds, KFC, and Starbucks, Al-Monitor reported. For a time, QR codes popped up on tables at McDonalds UAE franchises, directing customers to the chains corporate website for information about the Golden Arches stance on Israel and Palestine while munching french fries. Cafe BiBi, a Kosher restaurant in Dubai now has a sign that says: Cafe Habibi. Marcy Schwartzman, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote that one need only look at embassies social media accounts to notice a shift. The Israeli Ambassador to the UAE Amir Hayek mostly sticks to sharing holiday wishes. One of Emirati Ambassador to Israel Mohamed al-Khajas last substantial posts on X was last year, on the third anniversary of the Abraham Accords. Measured solely through trade, the Abraham Accords have held. But they were meant to usher in a wider peace in the region one that has failed to materialize. The war in Gaza has put Arab leaders on the diplomatic defensive and delayed the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, a deal that appeared close before Hamas Oct. 7 attacks, but which now is in limbo. Ahead of the UN General Assemblys high-level meetings next week, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan made clear the UAEs stance that a Palestinian state must be established in order to end the war in Gaza, a rare, explicit, high-level endorsement of a two-state solution. The Gulf states ambassador said the UAE wont contribute to rebuilding Gaza until that happens. (SIMLA, Colo.) At a Celebration of Life ceremony on Monday, Sept. 16, the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) joined the Simla Volunteer Fire Department in honoring the memory of a Simla volunteer firefighter. CSFD posted on Facebook about the memorial, which took place on Monday morning, for volunteer firefighter and certified EMT Dalton Hisle. CSFD said it was honored to be invited to fly the American flag at Hisles celebration of life at Simla High School. Courtesy: Colorado Springs Fire Department Courtesy: Colorado Springs Fire Department Courtesy: Colorado Springs Fire Department According to Hisles family, he was originally inspired to volunteer with the Simla Fire Department after the loss of his family home in 2017 due to a lightning strike. [Hisle] had a love for helping and caring for others in his community and surrounding communities, said CSFD. Our hearts are heavy for Daltons family and community We send our love and prayers. FOX21 News has reached out to the Simla Volunteer Fire Department to learn more and is currently waiting to hear back. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) Ginger Billy will be returning to Sioux City with two shows inside the Anthem. According to a release, Ginger Billy will perform on Friday, Jan. 10, with shows starting at 6 and 9 p.m. Films selected for 19th annual Sioux City International Film Festival Tickets go on sale on Friday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. They can be purchased online or in-person at the Rock Shop. The release describes Ginger Billy as a legend and internet sensation with a social footprint encompassing more than 17 million followers and more than a billion views. His live shows have sold out clubs and theaters across the nation. Harlem Globetrotters coming to Tyson Events Center Siouxlanders can expect Ginger Billy to bring an infectious comedic voice and captivating storytelling that reflects a down-to-earth family man with a passion for simple pleasures, the release states. For more local events across Siouxland, 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A Sioux Falls man will spend over two decades behind bars after admitting to his role in a drug conspiracy. SF therapist sentenced for sexual assault on patient 51-year-old Jesse Richmond was sentenced to just over 24 years in federal prison. Court documents say Richmond would get significant amounts of meth from someone in Colorado and would distribute it in South Dakota. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) The City of North Charleston has named six finalists in the search for a new police chief. A nationwide search began earlier this year after Chief Greg Gomes announced he would retire from the position at the end of June, after only serving as the departments leader for about a year. He had been with the North Charleston Police Department for three decades. David Cheatle, who serves as special assistant to the mayor, oversaw the selection process with assistance from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). The original pool of 34 applicants was narrowed down to six finalists two from within the department, one from the City of Charleston, and three from police departments across the country. North Charleston Police Department Chief of Police Finalists Internal candidates Deputy Chief Karen Cordray has been with the North Charleston Police Department since 1992. Deputy Chief Angela Johnson has worked within the North Charleston Police Department since 1996. City of Charleston candidate Captain Jason Bruder began working with the Charleston Police Department in 2002. National candidates Chief Ronald Camacho Chambersburg Police Department in Pennsylvania Deputy Chief Kyle Dowdy Farmington Police Department in New Mexico Jerri Sutton Chief of Staff for Chattanooga Police Department in Tennessee Final in-person interviews are scheduled for September 18 in front of a 10-person panel. Mayor Reggie Burgess will then decide the selection of the next chief. MEET THE CANDIDATES Jason Bruder Jason Bruder currently serves as a captain with the Charleston Police Department where he leads the Investigations, Data, and Intelligence Division. He has 23 years of law enforcement experience and previously led CPDs Patrol, Community Outreach, and Special Operation Divisions. He is a longtime resident of North Charleston who served as chair of the Charleston County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council from 2019 to 2024. Captain Bruder earned a Master of Science degree in Homeland Security Management from Long Island University, and he has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from Clemson University. Captain Bruder attended the 279th Session of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in 2020 and completed the Administrative Officers Management Program from NC State University in 2012. Ronald Camacho Dr. Ron Camacho currently serves as the Chief of Police for the Chambersburg Police Department in Pennsylvania and has 29 years of law enforcement experience. After leaving his post as patrol operations captain with the York, Pa. Police Department in 2013, he spent time as a police advisor in Afghanistan and was a deputy program manager on a training contract for the U.S. State Department in New Mexico. Chief Camacho graduated from the 239th session of the FBI National Academy. He holds a Doctorate in Criminal Justice from Penn West University and a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice from Liberty University. Karen Cordray Karen Cordray is a North Charleston native who has worked with the North Charleston Police Department since 1992. She is credited with implementing the departments Records Management System and establishing the Crime Analysis Unit. In 2018, she became the first woman to rise to the rank of deputy chief in North Charleston. Before that, she served in the Patrol Division, Office of Professional Standards, and Administrative Services Division. Deputy Chief Cordray attended the College of Charleston and graduated from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in 1993. She is also a graduate of the Southern Police Institutes Administrative Officers Course and is currently participating in the Excellence in Policing and Public Safety leadership program at the University of South Carolina School of Law. Kyle Dowdy Kyle Dowdy began his law enforcement career in 2004 and currently serves as a deputy chief for the Farmington Police Department in New Mexico. He previously served in positions in the Patrol Division, SWAT, Narcotics, Polygraph, Special Operations, Internal Affairs, Use of Force Review Board, Training, and Administration. He is also a member of the states task force for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and is the liaison to the LGBTQ+ community and Intelligence Officer for Farmington PD. Deputy Chief Dowdy graduated from Northwestern Universitys School of Police Staff and Command and the FBI National Academy. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from New Mexico State University, a Master of Arts Degree in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate, Graduate certificates in History from Western New Mexico University and Criminal Justice Education from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Marketing from New Mexico State University. He also teaches history as an adjunct professor at San Juan College and is a military veteran who led combat ground troops in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Angela Johnson Angela Johson, a North Charleston native, joined the citys police department in 1996 and currently serves as deputy chief of the Investigations Division. Her 28-year law enforcement experience includes positions in Patrol, the School Resource Officers Unit, the Narcotics Unit, the Office of Professional Standards, Investigations, and the Administrative Services Division. In 2022, she became the first Black woman to earn the rank of deputy chief at the North Charleston Police Department. Deputy Chief Johson graduated from Claflin University and holds a Masters in Business Administration, a Masters in Criminal Justice in 2020, and a Doctorate in Business. She participated in the Southern Police Institutes Command Officer Development Course and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Johnson also teaches as an adjunct instructor of business at Voorhees University in Denmark, S.C. Jerri Sutton Jerri Sutton is a 25-year member of the Chattanooga Police Department in Tennessee who is currently assigned to the Office of the Chief of Police as chief of staff. Prior to her appointment, she held positions in the Criminal Investigation and Special Operations Divisions and served as the departments Public Information Officer. Sutton was also the Director of Training and is credited with developing the departments first online training module. Sutton is the president of the Tennessee Chapter of the FBI National Academy, President of the Southeast Tennessee Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), and is an active member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, where she serves as the state of Tennessees Safety Coordinator. __ A timeline for when the new chief will be announced has not been given. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Almost 400,000 people have been forced from their homes by floods in Myanmar, piling misery on a population already struggling with more than three years of war (STR) (STR/AFP/AFP) Deadly floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi have affected nearly six million children across Southeast Asia, the UN said Wednesday, as the death toll from the disaster rose. Typhoon Yagi brought powerful winds and torrential rainfall to Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar when it swept across the region almost two weeks ago. Thailand reported three more deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll in the kingdom to 18, with a total of 537 fatalities now confirmed across the region. Six million children have been affected by Yagi, United Nations children's agency UNICEF said in a statement, with access to clean water, education, healthcare, food and shelter all compromised. "The most vulnerable children and families are facing the most devastating consequences of the destruction left behind by Typhoon Yagi," said June Kunugi, UNICEF regional director for East Asia and Pacific. In Vietnam, about three million people are facing the risk of disease due to a lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, UNICEF said. Almost 400,000 people have been forced from their homes by floods in Myanmar, piling misery on a population already struggling with more than three years of war between the military and armed groups opposed to its rule. Yagi worsened an "already dire humanitarian situation" in Myanmar, said UNICEF, and "pushed... already marginalised communities into deeper crisis". More than 100 flood victims near the capital Naypyidaw needed hospital treatment for food poisoning after eating donated meals on Tuesday, the junta said. The UN's World Food Programme said Wednesday it would launch an emergency response in Myanmar this week, distributing a one-month ration of emergency food to up to half a million people. Climate change and warming oceans, driven by human activities, are making extreme weather events like Typhoon Yagi more frequent and severe. Overlapping climate and humanitarian hazards disproportionately affect children in East Asia and the Pacific, where they are six times more likely than their grandparents to be affected, according to UNICEF. burs-pdw/sco A skull found in Thurston County in 1981 now has a sketch and description due to advancements in technology and genealogy. The Thurston County Sheriffs Office has released a new rendering of a human skull they found in 1981. The forensic sketch was produced with the assistance of a forensics genealogy company that helps with cold case investigations. According to TCSO, in 1981, deputies discovered a human skull near Reservation Road Southeast in the Nisqually Valley but did not have enough information to investigate. With advancements in forensics technology and genealogy, a forensic pathologist identified the deceased as a white or caucasian female, likely of Jewish Hungarian descent, between 20-30 years old at the time of death. The pathologist said the death likely occurred between 1966 and 1979. Deputies are asking anyone who might recognize this person or may have any information that could help identify her to contact them at TCSOColdCase@co.thurston.wa.us The roll-out of the new rules will be watched closely by other countries considering their own forms of legislation - iStockphoto Gold Coast restaurant owner Glen Day said he was enjoying breakfast one day last month when he was stunned to learn that Australia was introducing a new right to disconnect law for employees. It just came out of the blue, he said. I thought what? Where is that coming from? You just scratch your head and think havent they got anything better to do? The law, which came into force at the end of August, aims to protect employees from unreasonable out-of-hours contact, has triggered lively debate in Australia about how to safeguard mental health and prevent work-related stress without damaging company productivity. It does not strictly ban employers from contacting their workers by email or phone outside of defined hours, but it does preserve the rights of employees to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact or attempted contact outside their working hours, unless their refusal is unreasonable. Employment experts expect the roll-out of the new rules will be watched closely by other countries considering their own forms of legislation. The British government has already signalled its intent to address the question head on. Australias legislation adds to growing momentum around the world to tackle burnout among employees driven to exhaustion by the pressure to remain constantly accessible, particularly under post-pandemic hybrid working arrangements that blur the lines between office and home life. Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany and Canada are among the more pro-active countries already implementing varying degrees of rights for employees to ignore their employers, within reason, out of hours. Before the July election, the UK Labour Party promised to bring in the right to switch off, so working from home does not become homes turning into 24/7 offices. Moves by Ireland and Belgium to foster dialogue between workers and employees about best workplace practices have been mooted as possible models to follow. But debate over government intervention is likely to be contentious. An Institute of Directors survey of 687 business leaders in March found that 58 per cent objected to a right to disconnect, citing concerns about creating a culture of ambulance chasers and the need to contact people in extremis. Another bureaucratic waste of time Australias experience may provide valuable data as the UK finds its own path. Andrew McKeller, head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry described the new law as a triumph of stupidity over common sense in an ABC interview earlier this year, and its a view reflected by many business owners like Glen Day. Mr Day said he had a good relationship with the employees of his three Mexican and three pancake restaurants on Queenslands Gold Coast and saw the new law as another bureaucratic waste of time that hindered business. We have the cost-of-living crisis so [people] are not spending much and wages have rocketed up and the cost of goods, so its pretty tough times to be in hospitality. Then they throw something like this at you, he said. We cant protect everyone from everything in this world. Its getting out of control. But advocates of the right to switch off argue that businesses are crying wolf and that too many people are working unpaid outside of contracted hours. What were simply saying is that someone who is not being paid 24 hours a day shouldnt be penalised if theyre not online and available 24 hours a day, said Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, ahead of the law coming into force. Increasing alarm about the physical and mental impact of burnout caused by long working hours has also spurred governments into action. A joint analysis by the World Health Organisation and International Labour Organisation in 2021 of exposure to long working hours in 194 countries found sufficient evidence of higher risks of ischemic heart disease and stroke among people working over 55 hours a week. In Australia, a report earlier this year by government agency Safe Work Australia revealing that work-related mental health issues had risen by 36.9 per cent since 2018 also garnered support for measures to help employees turn off from the office. Dr Carys Chan, a senior lecturer in organizational behaviour and human resources at Griffith University said surveys showed work-related technological use after office hours was contributing to stress, anxiety and depression. The new law was a good reminder to force people to think whether that message or that communication has to go out after hours, she said. While there might be a period of adjustment to the legislation, respecting privacy and giving employees time to recover would benefit productivity, Dr Chan argued. Obviously in the long run if your employees are well rested and have the option to disconnect from work after hours, a lot of them will have better wellbeing, she said. And if you show your employees understanding I think they are also more likely to reciprocate through increased loyalty by staying. Proponents of the law also cite its limits. It does not currently apply to small businesses of fewer than 15 people and outlines factors that determine whether communications outside of working hours is reasonable, including the urgency of the situation, method of contact, seniority of the employee and adequate compensation. Dr Andrew Dhaenens, from the University of South Wales business school, predicted that industry objections would be very short lived. You wont really see a lot of changes for most workers, but you will start to see companies being a little bit mindful about how they are writing job descriptions to make sure that employees know where their responsibilities are as far as answering the phone off the clock, he said. Employers would likely better define working hours, work/life balance and compensation for responsibilities, he said. Whether we admit it or not its a sort of quiet working right and the right to disconnect law is a good way to enshrine an Australian working value that we all sort of take for granted and that we would expect most people to have, he said. Thats why it is so important to actually put it into legislation. 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. After four months, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has turned over a set of heavily redacted records involving an alleged murder of a childcare worker at a juvenile treatment center. (Photo illustration by Iowa Capital Dispatch from records provided by Iowa DHHS) Newly disclosed text messages and emails indicate state officials were asked to assist in handling what was expected to be a public uproar caused by a slaying allegedly committed by a youth in a juvenile treatment center. In May, 15-year-old Jovahn Mathis was charged with second-degree murder in the death of 50-year-old Kathleen Galloway-Menke at Ellipsis, a juvenile treatment center in Johnston where Mathis resided. Police allege Mathis ran up to Galloway-Menke on May 8 and shoved her, causing her to fall and strike her head. The fall resulted in severe brain damage and, ultimately, Galloway-Menkes death. Police claim Mathis had a history of threatening violence. The Iowa Capital Dispatch subsequently asked DHHS whether Mathis was qualified for placement at Ellipsis, and whether a particular employee in the state agencys Family and Well-Being Protection Division, Janee Harvey, was involved in that decision, and whether the DHHS director, Kelly Garcia, was aware of the transfer or had approved it. According to emails eventually released in response to Capital Dispatchs request, Garcia indicated that Harvey may have been too close to the situation but her relationship to the case has not been disclosed. An agency spokesman said in response to Capital Dispatchs questions that state law prevents DHHS from commenting on any matters related to child welfare without the proper authorization although, in the past, the agency has openly discussed its actions in child-welfare cases that have resulted in a death. The Capital Dispatch then filed an Open Records Law request with DHHS, asking for access to two weeks worth of emails and other written communications that involved Harveys actions and the death at Ellipsis. After four months, DHHS recently turned over a set of heavily redacted emails, many of which are duplicates of a single email string with multiple recipients, and a set of heavily redacted text messages between Garcia and Harvey. DHHS also opted to assert attorney-client privilege in withholding in their entirety 26 emails between unspecified individuals. Some of the disclosed emails are so heavily redacted that the subject line and all of the message contents, other than a signature, are obscured. Other documents consist of a page that is entirely black from top to bottom, with every typographical character or image redacted from public view. The messages show that at 12:17 p.m. on May 6, two days before the assault that resulted in the death of Galloway-Menke, Harvey sent an email to a colleague at DHHS, Jeremy Halverson, and copied court personnel and individuals at the Youth Law Center and Ellipsis. Aside from the emails salutation and signature, and a line of text referencing items for consideration/awareness, the entire contents of the email have been redacted. Presumably, the contents are related to Mathis since the redacted email was provided in response to the Capital Dispatchs request. At 6:53 a.m. on May 8, Harvey sent Halverson a high importance email. The subject line and all of the emails contents have been redacted from public view. About an hour later, a caseworker at Ellipisis sent Harvey an email with attachments. The text of her message and the contents of the attachments have been redacted. Harvey responded, Perfect! Thank you. That same evening, shortly after the assault at Ellipsis, Garcia texted Harvey and asked, How are things? How can I best support you? Want Chris to communicate with me on this because its too close? What else can I do? Most of Harveys response has been redacted from public view, other than, No need to intermediate with Chris. I want to be sure we are prepared for the public uproar we are certain to get about this situation... Chris Koepplin, CEO of Ellipsis The two exchanged more texts all of which are redacted from public view and then, at Garcias suggestion, Harvey emailed a colleague at DHHS, Karen Hyatt, and informed her that we had a significant assault on a staff member at a group home this evening and that the executive director of the program, Chris, is (looking) for some trauma support for her team. An hour later, Ellipsis chief executive officer, Chris Koepplin, wrote to Harvey and others and DHHS and said: I hate sending this message. I dont want to sound callous, but things are not looking great and I want to be sure we are prepared for the public uproar we are certain to get about this situation if KT doesnt come out of it like we hope I had a conversation with (Des Moines Police Chief Dennis) McDaniel a little bit ago and he is not optimistic about what will happen in the public discourse considering the issues that have already been happening with our kids in the community. I plan to talk to our board and communications people tomorrow to come up with a game plan on our end, but I do think it would be really helpful if we can come together on the messaging around this. Harvey responded, indicating shed be available the next day to discuss the matter and said shed also talk to Garcia about her availability. Koepplin replied by indicating she was already in discussions with Garcia via text messages. The next morning, Koepplin wrote to Harvey, Garcia and others at DHHS and said, I talked with my communications team and they plan to prepare a brief statement as a just in case we hear from media for today/tomorrow. There are clearly already a TON of people who are aware and are sharing both accurate and inaccurate information. That feels very out of control. Within a half-hour, Lori Frick, the director of Child Protective Services at DHHS, alerted Koepplin and her colleagues at DHHS that she was removing Harvey from the email string as it is as it is important that we separate her from this situation. DHHS records indicate Harvey and Garcia exchanged additional text messages about the situation over the next 11 days, but the contents of those messages have been redacted in their entirety. As recently as last month, Polk County prosecutors had yet to determine whether Mathis would be charged as an adult, a youthful offender, or a juvenile. A status conference on the case was scheduled to be held two weeks ago, although there is no public records of any case proceedings on Iowa Courts Online. SLED: More than 20 children charged for school threats COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division responded to dozens of school threats that have been made across the state on Tuesday. SLED officials reported that more than 60 threats have been made across 23 counties, with 21 juveniles being charged in connection to said threats. 4 Greenville Co. students charged with threats: school district Two children were charged with making threats against a Spartanburg middle school Tuesday. The agency said that many of the threats seem to have been shared through social media and digital messaging platforms. Chief Mark Keel added that school threats are not a joke. Law enforcement takes every threat seriously, and everyone needs to understand that there are serious consequences, Keel said. 6 students charged in connection to Spartanburg Co. school threats SLEDs Behavioral Science Unit has been asked to help with six investigations. Information regarding a school threat should be reported to local law enforcement, a SLED representative 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 WSPA 7NEWS. No lies told? If you want Taylor Swift to influence a persons vote, take into consideration that 90 percent of her hit songs are about choosing the wrong person. At it again It should be blatantly obvious to everyone by now that Vice President Harris campaign is intentionally avoiding any formal press conference where she might be exposed to unscripted, unplanned questions about her past and present policies, statements and accomplishments or lack thereof. This is equal to President Bidens bunker campaign which was to deceive Americans about his cognitive decline until it was impossible. Basically shes incapable of off-the-cuff of articulating or justifying her positions on issues, so theyll keep her as a cardboard cutout until she might win. Fooled you once, twice ought to work. Voter fraud My son moved away after college over 12 years ago. He has been working in his current location for over 5 years. I recently received a voter registration card in the mail here for him. Last night, I received a text stating they had mailed him a ballot to his Texas address and wanted to see if he had received it (he lived in Texas a short time for work). My concern is he also lived in Alabama and Georgia. How many ballots are floating around in the mail with his name on it and how many will be returned that he did not complete? Abortion access Leaving control of womens reproductive rights to a state like Mississippi to dictate, where there is not even recourse to a citizens referendum to rectify, is reminiscent of leaving the institution of human slavery to the states in the 1860s. We dont have to have a war today to solve the problem, but we do need be able to vote in a referendum. Debate issue Im not supporting Donald Trump, but I thought the debate was supposed to be same questions both candidates would answer. But it seemed to me questions were directed directly to Trump about Jan. 6 and other questions directed to him like an interview. It was a one-sided debate in Vice President Harris favor. Trump in 2024 Donald Trump is going to win in 2024, because of a wide open border and misuse of taxpayers money. Bidenomics is a disaster, and even liberal Democrats in South Mississippi know it. Fearful in Ohio Thanks to Donald Trump repeating the lie about Ohio Haitians eating pets, the Haitian people who live there are scared to death. People are threatening them, and Trump doesnt care who he hurts when he says crazy things to get attention. The AR AR style rifles (Armalite Rifle) are classified as assault rifles, are available in several calibers ranging from .22 to .30 caliber, designed around battle assault specifics, and have been more popular than knives for mass shootings and assassination attempts. Great post The post about the pretty sunsets lately was greatly appreciated. Someone has a wicked sense of humor and I hope the majority of readers got it. It made my day. Still them Boys? Who Dat think they gonna go to Dallas and put a beating on the Cowboys? Thanks I want to thank the Sun Herald for publishing deep, illuminating articles such as What is Federalism? and Supreme Courts zeal to curb agency power on Sept. 14. We need these lengthy, analytic pieces in addition to factual reports. Who is next? Replacing Donald Trump is not an option. Who would step in, Sen. Vance? The Republican partys only choice is to rebuild the party after Trump loses. Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com. The News JOHANNESBURG South Africas government plans to intensify discussions with billionaire Elon Musk about investing in his country of birth. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently said he had a call with the worlds richest man after Starlink, Musks satellite internet service, approached the government about securing regulatory approval. The president is looking forward to more talks with Musk as the government cranks up its efforts to attract investment, Ramaphosas spokesman Vincent Magwenya told Semafor Africa. The chat was not only about Starlink, it also covered a broader set of investments that could include Tesla and Space X, said Magwenya. Starlink delivers broadband internet from a network of more than 5,000 satellites deployed by sister company SpaceX. It currently operates in more than a dozen African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi, and Botswana. But it has failed to secure regulatory approval in a number of countries, including South Africa. Ramaphosa, addressing reporters in Pretoria last week, said he told Musk: I want you to come home and invest here. The president added that he and Musk are going to have a further discussion. Know More The Ramaphosa-led government has a dedicated program to cut red tape, and improve the ease of doing business as a way to attract investment. A deal with a high-profile investor like Musk could help ride the wave of positive sentiment gripping South Africa in the aftermath of the May election where there was no outright winner, prompting the formation of a coalition government. The countrys currency and stock markets have strengthened as has consumer confidence. Ratings agency Fitch last week said the coalition government had reduced the political uncertainty associated with the election. Fitch, in a statement on Friday, said it expects the government to continue its reform programme, which will contribute to a modestly increasing real GDP growth. Step Back Elon Musk will seem a strange bedfellow for the African National Congress, the party of liberation against apartheid. Musk, who left the country at 17 during white minority rule, rarely talks about Africa or South Africa in his daily tirade of posts on X. But last July he joined far right commentators in spreading misinformation on the platform he owns, by sharing posts and claims that white farmers were undergoing genocide in South Africa. In one post, reacting to firebrand politician Julius Malema singing an apartheid era anti-white farmer song, he called out Ramaphosa asking: They are openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa. @CyrilRamaphosa, why do you say nothing? In an essay about his Walter Isaacson-penned biography last November, the South Africa-based writer Eve Fairbanks accused Musk of perpetuating an exaggerated myth about the past and daily reality of white South Africans: South Africa is a deeply misunderstood country, and Musks statements thicken the clouds of misconceptions that swirl around it, Fairbanks wrote. FILE - This undated photo provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state's death chamber in Columbia, S.C., including the electric chair, right, and a firing squad chair, left. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP, File) COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) A South Carolina inmate scheduled to be executed Friday is asking Gov. Henry McMaster to spare his life, something no governor in the state has done since the death penalty was restarted nearly 50 years ago. Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is set to be the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. His lawyer chose lethal injection over the firing squad or electric chair after Owens turned the decision over to her. McMaster has said he will stick to the historic practice of announcing his decision on the phone with the prison minutes before Owens' lethal injection is set to start. Owens is being sent to the death chamber for the killing of Greenville convenience store clerk Irene Graves in 1997. While awaiting sentencing after being found guilty in her death, Owens killed a fellow jail inmate in a brutal attack, authorities said, Prosecutors read Owens' confession before the two juries and judge who decided he should die. He was never tried in the inmate's death. Owens' clemency request before Friday's execution states that prosecutors never presented scientific evidence that Owens pulled the trigger when Graves was killed because she couldn't open the store's safe, his lawyers said in a statement. A co-defendant who was in the store pleaded guilty and testified that Owens was the killer, but Owens' attorneys said the other man had a secret deal with prosecutors to avoid a death sentence or life in prison. They also said Owens was just 19 when the killing happened and that he had suffered brain damage from physical and sexual violence while in a juvenile prison. Because Khalils youth and traumas prevented him from functioning as an adult, it is unjust to punish him as one, Owens' lawyers said. Owens changed his name to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah while in prison, but court records continue to refer to him as Freddie Owens. Owens' lawyers have not publicly released the full clemency petition. The arguments are similar to ones the defense attorneys made last week when they asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to postpone Owens' execution. The justices rejected them, saying either they had been argued in the past or didn't rise to the level of stopping the execution after decades of appeals. Owens has been sentenced to death on three separate occasions after parts of his case were overturned and his capital sentence thrown out. Lawyers for the state Attorney General's Office said prosecutors showed during Owens final sentencing hearing that the man who pulled the trigger was wearing a ski mask while the other man had a stocking mask. They then linked the ski mask to Owens. But hanging over Owens' case is the other killing. Before he was sentenced in Graves' killing, Owens attacked a fellow jail inmate, Christopher Lee. Owens gave a detailed confession about how he stabbed Lee, burned his eyes. choked and stomped him, ending by saying he did it because I was wrongly convicted of murder, according to the written account of an investigator. Owens' confession was read by prosecutors each time a jury or judge was determining whether he lived or died. He was charged with murder in Lees death but never taken to court. Prosecutors dropped his charges a few years ago when he ran out of appeals in Graves's case with the right to restore them if they wanted. In South Carolina, the governor has the lone ability to grant clemency and reduce a death sentence to life in prison. However, no governor has done that in the states 43 executions since the death penalty was restarted in the U.S. in 1976. McMaster has repeatedly said that he hasnt decided what to do in Owens case and that he will review any information given to him thoroughly. He says that as a former prosecutor he respects jury verdicts and court decisions, When the rule of law has been followed, there really is only one answer, McMaster said. At least five other death row inmates in South Carolina are out of appeals and the state Supreme Court has ruled they can be executed in five-week intervals. South Carolina man accused of stealing and reselling tractor and trailer, Darlington County Deputies say DARLINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) A South Carolina man has been arrested after stealing and reselling a dump trailer and a tractor, the Darlington County Sheriffs Office said. Michael Gainey, of Bishopville, was arrested Sept. 10 and accused of two different instances of receiving and selling stolen goods, reports said. According to reports, Gainey received a stolen black dump trailer on Aug. 22 in the Society Hill area. He then sold the trailer for $1,000. He is charged with receiving stolen goods and obtaining a signature under false pretenses. In a second incident on Aug. 26, Gainey stole a 2021 John Deere 4044M tractor, trailer, front end loader, and box blade valued at $44,500 in the Timmonsville area, reports said. Gainey then sold the tractor in the Hartsville area, knowing that it was stolen. He was charged with grand larceny and obtaining a signature under false pretenses for this incident. Gainey is being held in the W. Glenn Campbell Detention Center on a $50,000 bond. * * * Jordan White is a Digital Producer at News13. She joined the News13 team in August 2024. Jordan, a Myrtle Beach native, graduated from St. James High School in Murrells Inlet and is a graduate of Coker University. Follow Jordan on Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read 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 WBTW. PIERRE, S.D (KCAU) The South Dakota Secretary of States Office has released an official Ballot Question Pamphlet to help voters prepare ahead of Election Day. According to a press release, the pamphlet is a tool for voters seeking to make informed decisions. It covers seven ballot measures that are on the South Dakota general election ballot this year. Amendment G would reinstate abortion access in South Dakota Voters are encouraged to review the pamphlet before heading to the polls and are welcome to bring it with them when casting their vote. In addition to the pamphlet, voters can also view and print their sample ballots, which may be brought to the polling place to assist during the voting process The Ballot Question Pamphlet is available on the South Dakota Secretary of States website. It is also available in large print, braille, or on tape by calling the South Dakota State Library at 1-800-423-6665. Voters may view their sample ballots on the Voter Information 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. TOPEKA (KSNT) City workers will be closing an intersection in southeast Topeka Wednesday until next month so repairs can be made on a water line. Joseph Harrington with the City of Topeka said in a press release that workers will close the intersection of Southeast 25th Street and Southeast Monroe Street on Sept. 18. Workers will be shutting this intersection down to make repairs on a broken water line. This embedded content is not available in your region. Harrington said work is expected to be complete by Wednesday, Oct. 2. Drivers can choose between two detour routes to get around the intersection. These include the following routes: Eastbound 25th Street Southeast 25th Street and Kansas Avenue south to Southeast 29th Street/Kansas Avenue, then east to Southeast Adams Street and north to Southeast 25th Street. Westbound 25th Street Southeast 25th Street/Adams Street south to Southeast 29th Street, then west to Kansas Avenue and north to Southeast 25th Street. Topeka Boulevard intersection shutting down, what to know Robert Bidwell with the City of Topeka said in a separate press release that workers will, starting on Monday, Sept. 23, begin replacing the curb and gutter on South Kansas Avenue. The outside southbound lane of South Kansas Avenue will be closed from 21st Street to 24th Street for about a week. 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. DES MOINES Donald Trumps formerly double-digit lead in Iowa is now just 4 percentage points, a new Iowa Poll shows. Published over the weekend, the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows Trump, the Republican former president seeking another term, with a lead of just 47 to 43 percent over Democratic candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. That 4-point margin is a significant drop from the 18-point advantage Trump held over Democratic President Joe Biden in June. In that Iowa Poll, Trump enjoyed an expansive 50-32 percentage advantage over Biden. Biden ended his re-election campaign in July, and shortly afterward Democrats nominated Harris to run against Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election. The latest Iowa Poll is the first since Harris became the Democratic nominee. The Iowa Poll is conducted for the Register by the Des Moines-based polling firm Selzer and Co. and is considered the gold standard in Iowa political polling. Selzer and Co. has a rating of 2.8 out of a possible 3 stars by the political data journalism website fivethirtyeight.com. There has been little polling on the presidential election in Iowa in 2024 because the state is expected to go comfortably to Trump, who has won the state both times he has been on the ballot: by 9 points over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and by 8 points over Biden in 2020. In 2016, the Iowa Poll showed Trump with a 4-point edge over Clinton in October and a 7-point edge just before the election. In 2020, the Iowa Poll showed Trump and Biden even in September before showing Trump with a 7-point lead in October. The new Iowa Poll also showed 6 percent support for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and 1 percent for Libertarian Chase Oliver. Kennedy late last month suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump. Abortion rights group puts $150K behind Iowa candidates The abortion rights group Iowans for Health Liberty announced a slate of endorsements of 52 Statehouse candidates all Democrats and pledged to donate roughly $150,000 to their campaigns. The endorsements include both incumbent Democrats and Democratic challengers. The group was formed in 2023 in response to Iowas passage of a new state law that restricts abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, which typically is at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman is aware of the pregnancy. The group said it has received contributions from more than 400 donors. Their generosity underscores the commitment to a shared belief that patients, in conjunction with their physicians, are best equipped to choose when to become pregnant or to end a pregnancy, as well as make other private medical decisions, Emily Boevers, an obstetrician and gynecologist and president of Iowans for Health Liberty, said in a statement. The group said it will donate $110,000 to candidates who can win on Nov. 5, and before the election will donate another $40,000. Hinson, Corkery to debate on Iowa PBS Republican incumbent Ashley Hinson and Democratic challenger Sarah Corkery in Eastern Iowas 2nd Congressional District will debate next month on Iowa PBS, the network has announced. The debate has been scheduled for 8 p.m. Oct. 14 at Iowa PBS studios in Johnston. Iowa Press host Kay Henderson will moderate with two yet unnamed Iowa political reporters. The debate will air live on Iowa PBS and be streamed on iowapbs.org, YouTube and Facebook. The Speakers Lobby: The same questions arise after second attempt to assassinate Trump The questions are always the same. Be they in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy walloping the northeastern U.S. Or the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Or following the second attempt to assassinate a former President. A DECISION TO MAKE: HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON'S GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL DIVIDES REPUBLICANS Do they have enough money and resources? READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Would the federal government provide sufficient money to help New York City and the Northeast recover after the massive hurricane spun through the most-densely populated corridor of the U.S.? Mudslides wiped out roads and bridges in Vermont. The storm drowned subway stations in the Big Apple. What will it take to rebuild the bridge in Baltimore? That bill will come due in a year or two. And so the question now lands on the Secret Service after a gunman tried to fire at former President Trump during a round of golf at Trump International in Palm Beach, Fla. Does the service have the money? Does it need more resources? Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said his agency has "done more with less for decades." Rowe says "we have immediate needs right now." Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. of the U.S. Secret Service addresses the media at a press conference with updates on the investigation into the apparent assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump, West Palm Beach, FL, Monday, September 16, 2024. President Biden agrees. "One thing I want to make clear. The (Secret) Service needs more help and I think that Congress should respond to their needs if they in fact need more services," said the president. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. chimed in. "We all must do our part to ensure an incident like this does not happen again. This means that Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement have the resources they need to do their jobs," said Schumer. "If the Secret Service is in need of more resources, we are prepared to provide it for them. Possibly in the upcoming funding agreement." Thats a reference to the looming interim spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, due at the end of this month. RUBIO CALLS OUT DEMOCRATS FOR 'CLEARLY' INFLUENCING SECOND WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN WITH INCENDIARY RHETORIC But on Fox, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., doubted this is strictly about financial resources. Johnson argued this was an issue specific to former President Trump. And it was a human resources problem. "He's the most attacked. Hes the most threatened. Even probably more than when he was in the Oval Office," said Johnson on Fox. "So we are demanding in the House that he have every asset available and we will make more available if necessary. I don't think it's a funding issue. I think it's a manpower allocation." By Tuesday, Johnson cooled to the concept of showering the Secret Service with additional money. "We don't just want to throw more money at a broken system," said Johnson. Other conservatives spoke out about boosting funding levels for the Secret Service. Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office, Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. of the U.S. Secret Service, and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office attend a press conference regarding an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on September 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. The FBI and U.S. Secret Service, along with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, are investigating the incident, which the FBI said "appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump" while he was golfing at Trump International Golf Club. "We don't need to throw more money at the Secret Service. We need new leadership," said Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., on Fox Business. "We need answers more than the Secret Service needs money. In the real world, when you don't do your job, you get fired. In the world of Washington, common sense is illegal. When you don't do your job, you get more money because obviously you need it. You don't have enough," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., "What the Secret Service needs to do right now is simple: do better." There was chatter that lawmakers might try to infuse the Secret Service with cash by latching it to a still-to-be-determined interim spending bill, known as a CR, to sidestep a government shutdown in two weeks. Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who called for former President Trump to drop the Secret Service and use private security, lambasted that idea. REPUBLICANS BLOCK DEM-BACKED IVF BILL REVIVED BY CHUCK SCHUMER "The American people are not stupid. They see it for what it is. They're trying to attach the shiny bill to this CR to try and get it passed when the reality is, that's not really what needs to happen. We need to stop the irresponsible spending," said Mills on Fox Business. "No. No. No. No. We don't need more funding," said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. "They've got plenty of personnel. They got plenty of money. They need to prioritize where to be placing these Secret Service agents." But, finding the right people and assigning them to the right places with the right tasks - isnt easy. "You dont hire them right off the street," argued Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. At a House hearing before she resigned following the Butler, Penn., shooting, former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified that she needed 9,500 employees. But the agency was only staffed at 8,000. Still, some Republicans were more sympathetic to a cash injection for the agency. "They seem to need more resources," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., adding former President Trump suggested he needed a bigger detail. "Theres only one way to do that: have enough money to hire enough agents. If you can even find enough people willing to do it." Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., chairs the Senate panel which controls purse strings for the Secret Service. He argues that the threat environment is so dangerous that lawmakers want the agency to get "creative" about getting appropriate resources to guard protectees. The House is on the precipice of rejecting an interim spending plan pushed by Johnson to fund the government through next spring. The bill also requires people prove their citizenship in order to vote. That measure likely fails. So the Senate may counter with a straight bill to fund the government tacking on some assistance to the Secret Service. Johnson denied that the House would "get stuck" by the Senate if the House faltered. But remember, members of Janes Addiction get along better than some House Republicans. Johnson lacks the votes to pass his own bill. So, if the Senate sends over legislation with Secret Service aid, the House might just have to eat it to avoid a government shutdown. "If increasing the funding is part of the solution, I'm for it," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "It would be politically beyond stupid for us to (shut down the government) right before the election because certainly, we'd get the blame." So this is the same question which arises after each crisis: could money solve the issue? Its natural that Congress often responds with money. Spending authority is the ultimate power on Capitol Hill. Will more dollars help? If Congress spends the money and there are no more security breaches, then lawmakers will argue the extra dough worked. But if Congress spends the money and something else happens, it will probably spend even more money. Original article source: The Speakers Lobby: The same questions arise after second attempt to assassinate Trump COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) The spotted lanternfly is taking over parts of Ohio. Franklin County is among 12 counties in the state under quarantine for this non-native invasive insect. According to the Ohio Department of Agricultures website, the spotted lanternfly, or SLF, is currently in its adult stage and will remain active until winter. Intels New Albany facility will be spun off into new company under restructuring plan Ohio State University Extension Educator, Amy Stone, said the insect was first identified in Ohio in 2020. Stone said adults are about one inch long and half an inch wide when at rest. Watch: Spotted lanternfly outbreak prompts quarantine in Ohio When they open their wings, they have this red wing underneath and part of their body is bright yellow, Stone said. So, theyre just very flashy and very obvious to look at. Stone said the SLF is not a strong flyer. She said it will often climb to a destination thats high and jump or glide off. The SLF is raising a number of concerns in central Ohio. Stone said it excretes a honeydew substance, making it a nuisance for homeowners. That honeydew is a sticky substance, Stone said. It has sugars in it. And so, everything kind of gets sticky underneath. Then a black, sooty mold can come in, and its also attractive to wasps and hornets. Spotted lanternfly in Ohio: What to do if you find one Stone said the SLF is also a plant stressor. It feeds on grapevine, Stone said. So, its a threat to the vineyards, it feeds on hops. It also likes apples and maple trees and so although, kind of in our urban landscapes, its often more of a nuisance, it is a threat to some producers. This, in turn, affects the states economy. Those producers are going to be treating those areas when spotted lanternfly arrive, Stone said. So, thats going to be another input into the price of that commodity. The SLF does not have native predators which is contributing to its rapid population in central Ohio. Stone said some predators like praying mantis and birds will eat them, but not in numbers high enough to keep the population in check. According to Stone, the extreme drought central Ohio is dealing with is not helping with the infestation. If youve got insects that are feeding, stressing that plant, and theyre also stressed because of the drought, is that going to put some plants over the edge?, Stone said. And SLFs are known to be hitchhikers. Were encouraging people once they get into an area thats highly infested and theyre leaving to go outside of that area, run their car through a car wash so theyre not spreading the insect wherever their travels may lead them, Stone said. Stone said adults start laying eggs between around the end of September to the beginning of October. Its another thing to be on the lookout for, Stone said. You can scrape and remove those egg masses as theyre being produced. Ohio governor encourages parents to send children back to Springfield schools The SLF does not bite or sting pets or people. Stone encourages anyone who finds one to stomp on it in an effort to reduce its population. If you find one outside a quarantine county in particular, the Ohio Department of Agriculture asks that you take a picture and report the finding to the ODA Plant Pest Control using the Ohio Plant Pest Reporter. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Which presidential tickets policies fit in the American mainstream? Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during a Tuesday rally in Asheville used gun rights and tax cuts as examples of how he and Vice President Kamala Harris are Democrats willing to compromise. Their Republican opponents promoted a conspiracy about immigrants eating pets to draw attention away from their policies, Walz told a capacity crowd at Ashevilles Salvage Station. Walz took jabs at Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, all while emphasizing his tickets policy decisions and beliefs he said fall more in line with Americans views. You know her story, Walz said of Harris. Took on the predators, took on the fraudsters, took on the transnational gangs, took on the big corporate interests, and never hesitated to work with anybody on either side of the aisle to do right for the American people. Considered a swing state, Democrats say flipping North Carolina this year could play a key role in swaying the election and are hoping to replicate former President Barack Obamas win in 2008.The RealClearPolitics average of polls currently gives Trump a lead of just 0.4% in North Carolina. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, rallied supporters Tuesday evening in Asheville, North Carolina. On stage, Walz called out Vance for his vicious, hurtful lies about Hatian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, posted on X that immigrants in the city are abducting and eating peoples pets claims Trump echoed during a presidential debate earlier this month. The claims have been debunked, and Ohio police said there have been no credible reports of such events. Vance told a CNN reporter that he is comfortable making up stories, like the one that claimed immigrants are killing and eating pets, in order to get the medias attention. You gotta ask, what other things are they making up stories about? Walz said. The reason you do that is because if you told what you really stood for no one would vote for you. Walz said hes committed to fighting for the common good, pointing to his bipartisan work in congress focused on Veterans Affairs, transportation, agriculture and rural economic development. Its about taking care of your neighbors. Its about looking out for somebody next to you. Its about understanding the common good, he said. I learned something really important, that you can compromise without compromising your values. Walz told the crowd he and Harris both own guns, repeating what Harris said during the debate. He said he supports the second amendment while wanting gun laws that prevent tragedies like school shootings. Walz also said he supports expanding abortion rights, noting that reproductive freedom also involves procedures like in vitro fertilization. You really want to have a federal agency run by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance giving Mark Robinson the authority to monitor your pregnancy? That stuff is so dystopian that Orwell wouldnt even write it, Walz said. But heres the thing, people live their lives differently and we respect that. Walz appeared to reference, as he has previously, Project 2025, a political initiative created by a conservative think tank. The proposal does not call for a new federal agency designed to monitor pregnancies, but asks states to submit abortion statistics to the federal government, according to Politifact. Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025 and claimed hes not affiliated with the plan created with the help of some of his former advisers. The Republican counterpoint to Walz: its the Democrats whose opinions are radical. His values are those of the radical far left and out of step with North Carolina and the American people, NC Republican Party Communications Director Matt Mercer said in a news release before the Walz visit. Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, State Rep. Lindsey Prather, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Asheville Vice Mayor Sandra Kilgore and local organizer Meredith Anderson spoke before Walz, each highlighting issues important to them from public education to abortion. Orr, a former Republican of nearly 50 years, said the GOP no longer cares about protecting freedom or democracy. No longer the party of those who care about protecting our freedoms, or about lowering costs, or working for middle class North Carolinians or about fighting for our democracy, he said. It Is the party of Donald Trump, J.D. Vance and Mark Robinson, the extreme Project 2025 agenda designed to rip away our fundamental freedoms, strangle our economy and undermine the very foundation of our democracy. Lee Stockdale, a 71-year-old Asheville resident said Tuesdays political rally was the first he has attended. The most important factor at hand this November is a reverence for democracy and morality, he said. Its the factor of morality. Morality and ethics in government, truth and honesty, Stockdale said. Its not a policy, its an attitude toward the truth and what facts are. Supporters gathered at Ashevilles Salvage Station to support Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, rallied supporters Tuesday evening in Asheville, North Carolina. Former President George W. Bush said in 2006 that Americans are "going to have to treat" immigrants with "dignity." In 2012, then-GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said the country should "grow our economy by growing legal immigration." Former President Donald Trump said in 2019 that he wants "people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally." Party leaders are now singing a different tune. Trump is promoting the false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio -- in the country legally -- are eating their neighbors' pets. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump's running mate, has echoed the same rhetoric, saying over the weekend that he'd be willing to "create stories" to get the media to pay more attention to the broader issue of immigration. To be certain, not all Republicans are singing from the same hymnal. But the growing popularity of conspiracy theories surrounding Springfield underscores a years long shift in rhetoric from underscoring compassionate policies to threatening immigrants in the country legally with deportation. MORE: Springfield, Ohio, parents ask Trump and Vance to stop using their child as 'political tool' "I don't think this kind of rhetoric would have ever been accepted other than in the crassest of ranks" in the pre-Trump GOP, said former Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz. "For the good of the party, that kind of rhetoric was really tapped down and made out to be what it was, ludicrous. I think that a lot of the comments that Trump has made have made the rhetoric more and more extreme over time." Yesteryear's GOP was one where Bush emphasized "compassionate conservatism," John McCain, the former Arizona senator and 2008 presidential nominee, was a bipartisan negotiator on immigration and the party determined in an autopsy after Romney's 2012 loss that it needed to have a more welcoming approach to immigration to expand its base. MORE: 'It's a crying shame:' Harris pans 'harmful' attacks on Haitian migrants in NABJ interview Trump turned that thinking on its head in 2015 when he launched his presidential campaign by calling some Mexican immigrants "rapists," vowing to build a border wall and pushing for a ramp up in deportations. Now, the rhetoric surrounding Springfield is more visceral than in the past -- besides the salacious claims of migrants eating their neighbors' pets, the barbs are targeting migrants in the U.S. who have received Temporary Protected Status, a renewable legal status granted to those who could be endangered if returned to their country of origin. Trump has threatened to deport them to Venezuela, which is not where they're from. When asked to explain that evolution, Asa Hutchinson, the former Republican governor of Arkansas who briefly challenged Trump for the Republican nomination and whose lengthy political career spanned five administrations, replied, "most significantly is Trump's leadership." "Trump has redefined the Republican Party, redefined the debate on immigration, and redefined how you communicate on the important issues of the day," he said. "And so, in every question that you're asking, whether you resort to the emotions of fear or thoughtful discussion of the issues, it's all about leaders." Trump has been particularly keyed into voter concerns about immigration. His political rise in 2016 was largely credited to a relentless message about the danger of illegal immigration and calls for a border wall which Mexico would supposedly pay for that found a receptive audience. He has since repeatedly highlighted violent crimes purportedly committed by undocumented immigrants, leading him to tout the threat of "migrant crime" in his speeches. "Immigration is an animating thing for him. It always has been since he first came down the escalator. He believes this is one of those base issues in which not only do we as a party win, but everyone secretly agrees with him," said a former senior Trump administration official. "He has always found these extreme examples and painted a broader brush with them." Republicans also chalked up the transformation to a bubbling over of frustration with the situation at the border, which has seen fewer undocumented crossings in recent months but saw a surge of migrant encounters for much of President Joe Biden's administration. That frustration has made immigration a top polling issue for Republicans -- and, some operatives said, any conversation bringing the election back to that issue is advantageous. "I think part of it comes out of frustration that we've been told for the last four years and even longer, 'Don't believe your lying eyes.' We've been told, 'Oh, there's no issue at the border there.' I mean, there clearly is," said GOP strategist Tricia McLaughlin. "Now we're talking about an issue. I mean, rightly or wrongly framed, we're talking about it, and that's on our turf," she added. Republicans dismissed the distinction about the Haitians in Springfield having legal status. The town, population just over 58,000 in 2022, has grappled with the influx of migrants, with the boom stressing local schools and health infrastructure. The protections Haitians enjoy are temporary but often renewed, leaving little light at the end of the tunnel for the town to be able to catch up with its growth -- and meshing perfectly with Trump's messaging. "They're here legally. OK, then the policy sucks," one Ohio GOP strategist said. "If you can over four years [bring in] 40,000, 45,000 and basically have a 50% increase in population without the accommodating funding for the services, that's bad policy. That policy needs to be changed." "This example in particular is the exact thing that Donald Trump himself worries about, but also the broader party does in that you've got a very small town that has a very large influx of people. That changes life there," the former senior administration official added. "And we can talk about whether it's good, bad, whatever. Objectively, it changes life there. And it's just something that he's always been concerned with." MORE: Why is the Haitian population of Springfield, Ohio, booming? Not every Republican is leaning into the same rhetoric as Trump. Ohio GOP Gov. Mike DeWine insisted that the migrants' employers have told him that "They're very happy to have them there, and frankly, that's helped the economy" while noting that "when you go from a population of 58,000 and add 15,000 people onto that, you're going to have some challenges and some problems." PHOTO: The sun sets behind St. Raphael Catholic church, which holds services in Creole for Haitian immigrants, in Springfield, Ohio, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Jessie Wardarski/AP) Trump's campaign, for its part, is insisting that its messaging aligns with voters' beliefs. "The Democrat Party has shifted from anti-illegal immigration to pro-open borders and amnesty for all. President Trump and the Republican Party stand for common sense and putting Americans first," said campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. Republican critics of the messaging, meanwhile, warned that the current rhetoric about migrants in Springfield and other places poses severe risks for the party's longevity. Mike Madrid, a California-based Republican strategist who has been critical of Trump and studied immigration, noted that the state GOP in the Golden State helped message its way into oblivion with hardline policies on abortion and immigration in the 1990s, when the state lost hundreds of thousands of laborers and saw an influx of Latin and Asian immigrants to the Los Angeles area. "What some of the Republican Party learned then was, if you play with this type of racial fire in a time of transformation instead of speaking about ideas and policy solutions, you will relegate yourself to irrelevancy. That is precisely what is happening nationally at this moment," he said. In an ever-changing presidential race and news cycle, it's unclear precisely how much longer Springfield will stay in the national spotlight -- but it has already outlived many other news cycles, leaving Republicans speculating when asked how much the rhetoric around the migrants there will escalate. "I would have never thought we'd be at this point," said Salmon, who saw the immigration debate evolve as a border-state Republican Party chair during the George W. Bush administration and during House stints during the Clinton and Obama administrations. "So, it's hard to say." Springfield conspiracy theories underscore the evolution of GOP rhetoric on immigration originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The mayor of Springfield, Ohio, doesnt want Donald Trump anywhere near the town. At a news conference Tuesday, Mayor Rob Rue said that a visit from the former president and convicted felon would be too much for local authorities to handle as they grapple with the fallout from false rumors about Haitian immigrants capturing and eatings pets, ducks, and geese. It would be an extreme strain on our resources. So itd be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit, Mayor Rob Rue said, commenting on a report that Trump was planning to visit the town in the near future. Even Ohios governor, Mike DeWine, who visited Springfield Tuesday, said that while a campaign visit from a former president is generally very, very welcomed, he had misgivings about a possible Trump visit. I have to state the reality, though, that resources are really, really stretched here, DeWine said. Neither Trump nor his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, have spoken to DeWine about visiting the town, he said. Trump and Vance have continued to defend their part in spreading and amplifying the conspiracy, with the Republican vice presidential nominee even admitting that he was using the story for political purposes. Trump brought up the story in last weeks presidential debate and refused to back down, even when fact-checked by ABC News moderators. Responding to Trumps words at the debate, Rue warned last week that we dont need this pushback that is hurting our citizens and hurting our communityI would say that to anybody who would take a mic and say those things. Indeed, the rhetoric from the right, led by the former president and his running mate, has led to schools, government buildings, hospitals, and even a local festival receiving violent threats. What Springfield needs is solution and calm, not more political opportunism at the expense of an innocent populace. GOP Mayor to Trump: Dont Come to Springfield After Your Dog-Eating Slurs Amid bomb threats to local schools and other city buildings that are leaving residents in fear, the mayor of Springfield, Ohio, says he would prefer Donald Trump didnt visit the beleaguered city after his inflammatory comments about immigrants eating pets. It would be an extreme strain on our resources, Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, said on Tuesday, speaking with members of the media at City Hall, reports NBC News. So itd be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit. Harris Slams Birther Trump for Dog-Eating Immigrant Conspiracies Rues frank comments follow repeated false claims by the former president and his running mate JD Vance that Haitians are kidnapping and eating the dogs and cats of local residents. NBC News also reported that plans are afoot for Trump to visit Springfield soon, prompting the mayor to voice his displeasure. Springfield authorities have denounced Trumps bizarre claims as false. His outrageous comments have led to bomb threatsso far proven to be fakeschool closures and other city buildings to be evacuated. Chaos Dogs City Where Trump Says Haitians Eat Pets Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, also a Republican, said at the news conference that a visit by Trump would be difficult for the city to handle. Though he said a visit would generally be very, very welcomed, he added, I have to state the reality, though, that resources are really, really stretched here, according to NBC. DeWine has said he will deploy extra police to protect Springfield schools. Vance hasnt yet confirmed if he is planning to visit Springfield. I havent made plans to go just in the last few days, he told reporters on Tuesday. I know the president would like to go but also hasnt made any explicit plans. 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 week after Donald Trump's comments at a presidential debate thrust this city in south-west Ohio into the national spotlight, people here are still struggling at times to separate fact from fiction. The cameras have mostly been put away, the Proud Boys have gone home, and the town of Springfield, Ohio seems to have reached a shaky, temporary peace. The only sign of the chaos of this past week is state troopers guarding local schools, called in by Ohio Gov Mike DeWine after nearly 30 bomb threats against schools and government buildings. State authorities say the threats have mostly come from outside the US, but their exact origin and whos behind them is still a mystery. If there is one thing that most people are certain about here, it's that the rumour that kicked everything off - that Haitians are regularly capturing and eating pet cats and dogs - is false. Everytown, USA [Getty Images] At first glance Springfield looks like a typical small midwestern city. Its virtues include stately homes from the city's heyday, a few busy downtown blocks, an art museum, a leafy campus and a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house. But not far away are areas full of decaying strip malls backed by blocks of boarded-up houses and threaded through with chewed-up, potholed streets. Springfield's population had been declining for decades before a few years ago, when Haitians were drawn here by the relatively low cost of living and the promise of work in local factories. City estimates of the number of Haitians here range from 12,000 to 20,000, in a city previously home to about 60,000, according to the 2020 census. Business owners and some residents have welcomed the newcomers, but some have complained about rent increases, strains on local schools and hospitals and dangerous drivers. Tensions were amplified last year when a car driven by a Haitian immigrant hit a school bus, killing an 11-year-old boy. And then in recent weeks came the cat rumours. They began with a YouTube clip containing a second-hand account and a Facebook post attributed to the friend of the daughter of a neighbour. The woman behind the post recently retracted her account, saying she looked further into the story and determined it wasn't true. But the idea that Haitian immigrants were eating pets - allegations that have long been lobbed at a variety of immigrant groups in many countries - had already gone viral. They spread to right-wing accounts with big followings, until they were repeated online by Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, and by Trump during last Wednesday's debate. "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs," he said. "The people that came in, they're eating the cats." Following the debate, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, told BBC Newsnight people need to better understand "the weight of their words and how it can negatively affect communities". It's unclear why Trump mentioned dogs - the online rumours focused on cats and also on wild ducks and geese. Local police have not recorded any cases of pets being devoured. Independent, right-wing and pro-Trump news sources searched for evidence, in some cases offering rewards for proof of cat abduction. So far no evidence of pet eating has come to light. Despite the false claims, Trump's comments put Springfield in the national spotlight, increasing tensions between the Haitian community and local residents. Trump told a rally in New York on Wednesday that he would hold an event in the Ohio city soon. "I'm going to go there in the next two weeks," Trump said. "I'm going to Springfield, and I'm going to Aurora" in Colorado, another city that his campaign has made the focus of claims about immigration. Mayor Rue told a news conference Tuesday that a Trump rally "would be an extreme strain on our resources". "So it'd be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit," he said. False rumours and real problems A mural outside a local business in Springfield [BBC/Mike Wendling] Haitians here talk of a sense of fear created by misinformation. Laura Koveleski, 26, grew up in the city and along with her Haitian mother runs a business providing translation and other services to the immigrants. She recounted a number of incidents of harassment - beyond the bomb threats - which she says have created a climate of fear and paranoia. "Haitians, who have just been minding their business, going to work and coming home, are now terrified to walk on the streets or to gather together," she said. She also said the immigrant community has been unfairly portrayed as "illegal". The city says most of the recent immigrants are legal asylum seekers who have been granted Temporary Protected Status, which gives them permission to work and receive social benefits. At the same time, many long-term residents fear their concerns are being dismissed out of hand because of the cat-eating falsehoods. One resident who did not want to give his name told the BBC that the Haitians were being taken advantage of, being charged high rent and offered lower wages - with corresponding knock-on economic effects for the existing population. "They're being used," he said. "They're not getting treated good at all." But "everybody's cats are safe, dogs are safe", he added. He suggested that Haitians, who have been encouraged to move here by some local businesses to help with post-pandemic labour shortages, are being exploited by businesses and government officials. Rumours that white vans have been transporting more migrants here continued to worry some residents. In reality, the vans are factory transportation vehicles taking workers to jobs. Complicated life Jacob Payen says the mood has shifted in Springfield [BBC/Mike Wendling] At Haitian restaurant Rose Goute in the south of Springfield, businessman Jacob Payen says life for Haitians like him has become "complicated" in the last week. "A lot of people are living in fear they don't even want to go out to the grocery stores, and that bothers me, because it wasn't like that before," he said. Mr Payen, 46, who runs a religious and spiritual goods store and helps out at Rose Goute, first emigrated to Florida where he lived for two decades before moving to Springfield three years ago. "The whole place was looking like a ghost town. It was abandoned," he recalls. When he first heard the rumours, he says, he thought "maybe somebody's joking, or maybe somebody is doing a prank on the community". "But then we hear it from the former president and his vice-president (nominee). Then it becomes serious," he said. Mr Vance, in an interview with CNN, said: "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." He then clarified that he based his statements about pet-eating on "first-hand accounts from my constituents". The Ohio senator, who grew up about 50 miles (80km) away from Springfield, has not given further details. His office did not respond to requests for comment. 'Go back, all of them' Vance and Trump's comments have brought a flurry of attention on this city that has only just started to let up. Dozens of bomb threats, many against schools, have set many Springfield families on edge. "I think they need to leave the schools out of it," said one mother outside Spring Hill Elementary School on Tuesday. A local cultural fest, which was supposed to celebrate diversity, has also been cancelled. Several far-right groups appeared here, including a weekend rally by the Proud Boys, but those groups seem to have moved on. Donald Trump, on the other hand, said he may return for a campaign rally, and some residents say they're worried that if that happens, it will start things up again. In a precautionary measure, police have been posted outside of Springfield's schools [BBC/Mike Wendling] But while these outside forces have been felt in the town, it's local conflicts that are on everyone's mind. Driving through town, I witnessed a car crash involving a Haitian woman and an elderly local. The Haitian woman's car flipped over. She and her small baby were taken to hospital for evaluation, but nobody involved was seriously injured. It was unclear who exactly was at fault but one of the women in the local's car was adamant that the Haitian driver had run a red light. Shaken from the car crash, she said: "Haitians, they need to go back, all of them." Ms Koveleski, who runs the translation and advice service with her Haitian mother, said she understands the concerns of long-time locals - she is one herself. But she recounted a number of stories of harassment and assaults against of Haitian immigrants since last Wednesday's debate. "There's a woman who came into my office with her small son, who's probably around four years old, and she just wanted a one way ticket (away from Springfield) because she's terrified of someone killing her son," she said. "She says in the area that she lives in she gets people yelling at her. She knows it's hateful, but she doesn't understand what they're saying." Springfielder Laura Koveleski is hopeful that the town might eventually benefit from nationwide attention [BBC/Mike Wendling] One possible positive outcome of the focus on Springfield, she said, is that it might prompt state and federal authorities to deliver funds to support projects, such as a youth center, that would benefit all residents. "Haitians are terrified and locals are angry, but now that we have national attention, we can seek federal help, and this can do big things for the town," she said. And Mr Payen said he feels heartened by the response from many non-Haitians. He's kept a careful eye on Rose Goute's clientele over the past week and says more than 90% have been non-Haitians. "They trying to see what the food tastes like," he says. "But they're also coming to support us as a community." [BBC] Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. [BBC] More on US election SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) The Springfield Museums partnered up with the Office of Public Works of Ireland to recognize and honor those who traveled more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic and made Springfield, Massachusetts their new home. Caroline Boland with the Dingle Peninsula Alliance said its important to acknowledge the Irish heritage. The Richard E. Neal Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Springfield opens Because of our context and the communication and the family connections between here and the Blasket Islands. I always say that tourism started with the Blasket Islanders because of the Irish language because scholars used to come from across Europe to go to the island and learn the Irish language, said Boland. Through this partnership, the Springfield Museums can bring in new exhibitions, and educational resources, and hold community events that will help to promote the cultural and personal ties between Western Massachusetts and County Kerry, Ireland. The Springfield Museums did just that with the new Gone Now, To Springfield: Celebrating the Legacy of the Blasket Islands exhibition. During the 19th and 20th centuries, many Blasket Islanders immigrated to Springfield and greater Western Massachusetts bringing their Irish culture and traditions. I think that the cultural links after all of these years is pretty remarkable for those of us whose relatives left the country and came here now the cultural links are as strong as ever, said Richard Neal, the U.S. Congressman. 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. SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WDTN) The city of Springfield continues to work with state government officials on funding to bolster its strained public services. Their calls for financial aid have finally been heard. 2 NEWS spoke with healthcare professionals in Clark County about the strain theyve seen and how theyre looking forward to getting back on track. Parents of 12-year-old girl shot and killed in her sleep speak out: Im a wreck This has been a unique challenge for a few years. I dont think any system, whether it be Springfield or anywhere else is built with extra headroom or extra capacity, said Chris Cook, Clark County Health District Commissioner. Springfields healthcare providers have been struggling for the last several years to accommodate longtime residents as well as new arrivals. Cook says there are many challenges when treating members of the immigrant community. One of the biggest areas theyre seeing the most strain is in infant care. Many new mothers and newborns in the immigrant community arent used to receiving both pre- and post-natal care. Another is translation services, which are expensive and can slow the treatment process down. Recently, Governor Mike DeWine announced a $2.5 million financial aid package over the next two years to bolster Springfields healthcare infrastructure. We looked at the healthcare situation in Springfield Specifically in regard to doing everything we can to make sure every person in Springfield has the opportunity to receive primary care, said DeWine. Tecumseh student apprehended after making school threat Cook says these funds are a welcome sight and theyre ready to start filling those needs as soon as possible. We are going to be very strategic when were working with the state to make sure that money goes to the biggest needs. Again, thats things like prenatal care, infant mortality, child health. Were just going to look across the spectrum and see how far we can get with that money and resources coming from the state, said Cook. Exact plans for how the money is distributed are still in progress. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. By Uditha Jayasinghe COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's presidential candidates wrapped up their campaigning on Wednesday, 48 hours before the election, pledging to fix the island country's ailing economy that is struggling to recover from a debilitating financial crisis. Over 17 million Sri Lankans will vote on Saturday to elect a new president for a five-year term, the first election since a severe shortfall of dollar reserves pushed the South Asian island into its worst financial freefall in decades. Supported by a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout the country has since posted a tentative recovery and is expected to post 3% growth this year. It is also working to finalise a $12.5 billion debt restructuring with bondholders. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, one of the three frontrunners, recapped his policy wins and debt restructuring efforts in the last lap saying he hopes to complete negotiations with bondholders on Thursday. "After that discussion we will be able to reach a decision and complete the debt restructuring process... I have the ability to complete this process and make the announcement before 21 September (election day)," he told a packed crowd in the southern town of Matara, about 157 km (98 miles) from the capital Colombo. "I have shown the people that when I take up a task I complete it. Now it's up to you to decide what kind of path we should take from Sunday." Marxist-leaning parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is leading the contest, according to the latest opinion poll, called for voters to back him to reduce poverty and fight corruption. "Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered with us because they hope for a better future. The first step of that journey will begin on 22 September," he told a gathering in Galle, a tourist hot spot in southern Sri Lanka. Sajith Premadasa, the current opposition leader, pledged to ease the cost of living for Sri Lankans and promote tourism and agriculture exports. "We will build a country that will give prosperity to everyone and give the millions who are now struggling a decent life," Premadasa said. The election's result is expected to be announced on Sunday with a new president sworn in shortly after. (Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; editing by Jonathan Oatis) HOPKINTON, N.Y. (WWTI) A pair from St. Lawrence County are facing charges after an alleged burglary. Around 8:10 p.m. Tuesday, New York State Police responded to Sheldon Road in the town of Hopkinton for a suspicious person complaint. 2 Adams men arrested for unlawfully taking two deer An investigation found that 32-year-old Barbara Brossoit and 50-year-old Matthew Bray, both of Winthrop, entered a residence through a window without permission. Brossoit and Bray were arrested and transported to he state police headquarters in Massena for processing. Both were charged with second-degree burglary. They were arraigned in the Town of Norfolk Court. The duo was remanded to St. Lawrence County Jail in lieu of $15,000 cash, $30,000 bond, and $60,000 partially secured 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 WWTI - InformNNY.com. ST. LOUIS The City of St. Louis plans to demolish the former Medium Security Institution, an abandoned jail more commonly known as The Workhouse, near the end of the year. Demolition is now scheduled for Dec. 16, 2024, according to a news release Wednesday from the St. Louis Mayors Office. Safety concerns have escalated since the Workhouse ceased operations and closed in 2022. Last year, authorities responded several break-ins at the facility, further exposing its vulnerability. More recently, the site has been used as overflow lot for junk cars from the citys tow yard, where piles of cars, including some reportedly set on fire, now sit. Additionally, several holes have been cut into the surrounding fencing and remain unrepaired. Large Ladue home destroyed after overnight fire St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones says most Workhouse structures, including guard towers and former womens housing facilities, will be included in this demolition. The fence will remain in place to offer security. The unacceptable and inhumane conditions that many detainees at the Workhouse suffered cannot be forgotten, said Jones. One of the first things I did as Mayor was close this jail. Our community deserves better than to see the facility continue to stand as it did, so I am pleased that we can now move forward with the demolition. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Jones says there will be two phases to redevelop the land of the Workhouse, the first consisting of demolition and memorialization. The second phase will likely be announced next year. City officials are considering and animal shelter, environmental services and relocation of the citys tow lot. The city is also collecting feedback for a memorial to commemorate the Workhouse. Locals can submit suggestions online through Nov. 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 FOX 2. Once the state launches licensing, future cannabis retailers will be allowed to open within about a block of St. Paul high schools and elementary schools. The St. Paul City Council voted 7-0 on Wednesday to adopt the recommendation of city staff and create a 300-foot buffer between cannabis shops and primary and secondary schools. The distance is equivalent to a short city block or half of a long one. The new zoning buffer which effectively regulates cannabis sales like liquor does not apply downtown, where some schools are situated inside multi-use commercial buildings, and its quite a bit shorter than the maximum allowed distance requirement under state law, which is 1,000 feet, or about three blocks. Anti-tobacco advocates like the Association for Non-Smokers had urged the city council to approve the states maximum distance requirement from schools, noting it would be easier down the line to reduce the buffer from 1,000 feet if desired than to expand it from 300 feet should problems arise. City Council Member Rebecca Noecker said Wednesday she had listened to the comments of a lot of the folks who were concerned about the distance requirements, and were asking us for further distance from schools and parks, but planning staff found that longer buffers and heavier restrictions would leave most of the citys business corridors off-limits, effectively funneling new cannabis shops into industrial districts and some parts of West Seventh Street. Its really important that these uses not be too concentrated in any one particular neighborhood, Noecker said. Given that risk of over-concentration, thats whats leading me to support staffs recommendation. Rules around daycares City planning staff found that of 29 cities they researched, six of them had no distance requirements, while the remaining 23 cities had requirements ranging from 200 feet to 1,000 feet from uses like schools, daycares, playgrounds and other cannabis businesses. Under state law, the maximum distance requirement from daycares and parks can be 500 feet, but the St. Paul Planning Commission did not recommend adding those limits during their review this year. Council Member Nelsie Yang said she would not introduce an amendment on Wednesday, but she urged the council to consider expanding the 300 foot distance requirement in the near future to include daycares, and not just schools. I dont want to delay the final vote, Yang said. Council Member Anika Bowie said the new zoning controls strike the right balance between embracing an emerging industry and safeguarding the public. Based on her discussions with city planning staff, she said, the new restrictions reduce the number of land parcels where a cannabis shop can open in her political ward, Ward 1, by 138 parcels. Having clarity around where shops can operate is really important for people who are looking to do retail and do business here in St. Paul, Bowie said. This is a critical step forward toward establishing a vibrant and responsible cannabis industry, said Mayor Melvin Carter, in a written statement issued after the council vote. State law In August 2023, Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize cannabis for recreational use. Under state law, municipalities are expected to create zoning rules around cannabis retail that do not block shops from opening in a city at all. Cities also are expected to register cannabis businesses and conduct compliance checks. Otherwise, some 13 to 16 different types of cannabis licenses governing everything from growing to transport will fall under state jurisdiction and be issued by the state. The state Office of Cannabis Management floated the first draft of wide-ranging rules for the cannabis industry from July 31 to Aug. 30, touching on everything from packaging, testing and labeling to fertilizers. A public comment period is likely to open this fall once the rules are further revised, with business licensing likely to get underway next year. We are really, really new in our implementation of the cannabis law in our state, said Council President Mitra Jalali, addressing the council. From there, we really rely on the Office of Cannabis Management to ensure theres a fair and (ample) licensing process. Production, cultivation, security Other aspects of the new zoning changes approved by the council on Wednesday include: Cannabis retailers must operate and maintain a closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance system. The CCTV video surveillance system must operate for 24 hours per day, seven days per week and visually record all sales areas and all points of entry and exit. Cannabis retail is prohibited from sharing a common entrance with a business licensed as a tobacco products shop. Restaurants, bars and other businesses already carrying hemp-derived edible products, such as low-potency gummies, can continue to operate as usual in mixed-use and commercial areas. Limited cannabis production and cultivation under 15,000 square feet can take place in mixed-use, commercial and industrial districts. Commercial outdoor cultivation, such as rooftop growing operations, will require a conditional use permitting process. Except in industrial districts, a conditional use permit will be required for new retail construction covering more than 15,000 square feet. Industrial zoned districts are the only areas of St. Paul where industrial-scale cultivation spanning more than 15,000 square feet can locate. More information about St. Pauls cannabis regulations are online at http://pipr.es/ZWM8drN. Related Articles ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) A St. Petersburg man is charged with killing another driver in a crash while street racing last week. Police said Charles Williams IV, 22, was racing a black SUV in a bus lane on 1st Avenue South at 51st Street South when he crashed into Corey Koeppens pickup truck. Koeppen was ejected from the truck and died at the site of the crash. Williams was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide in his death, St. Pete police announced 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 WFLA. WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) The St. Vincent DePaul Dining Hall on Niles Road in Warren needs an expansion as cars line up down the street to pick up meals served out the front door. Pre-COVID, five years ago, the dining hall, operated totally by volunteers, was serving 150 meals a day inside. Since then, all meals have been served curbside and with the need four times greater, theres a need for expansion. Times are hard and it doesnt look like its going to be easy any time soon, said Warren resident Karren Bryant. St. Vincent DePaul CEO Darlene Jones says a major expansion is necessary. Thered be no possibility that we ever get 500 to 600 people through here in an hour and a half, said Jones. There will be three phases: first a 128-person dining room with a bigger kitchen, second a larger prep area, and third more storage. The total cost of all three phases is $3.5 million. With a new dining room, curbside service will end. This is socialization for a lot of our senior citizens. The only time they have socialization is in this meal every day, Jones said. St. Vincent DePaul has around $400,000 already saved and early next year will start a capital campaign. The county at one point has also said if the city commits, well match those funds. And we also have some private donors who have agreed to match those funds, Jones said. They hope to have the dining area and kitchen set up within the next year, the prep area in two years and the storage facility ready in three 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 WKBN.com. Stanton hosts Summerland Co-Op in SportsZone Game of the Week, MetroSports TV streaming pair of exciting matchups SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) Our SportsZone Week 4 Game of the Week features a pair of undefeated teams in Nebraska as 3-0 Stanton hosts 3-0 Summerland Co-Op. Our friends at MetroSports TV will be live streaming the follow games on Friday night: Forest City at Spirit Lake 7pm Tri-Valley at Dakota Valley 7pm Tune in to metrosports.tv and siouxlandproud.com for the live stream followed by the highlights on SportsZone Friday night at 10 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. Sir Keir Starmer has scrapped plans to put Not for EU stickers on milk, butter, meat and fish being sold in British supermarkets. The Government is understood to have told UK food makers that it will indefinitely postpone new post-Brexit labelling rules, which had been drawn up by the previous Conservative government. The rules were set to require all meat, fish and dairy products in Britain to carry labels denoting they could not be sent to the EU and were expected to come into force from next month. The policy, part of the Windsor Framework to oversee the flow of imports between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, had been touted by Rishi Sunak as an effort to ensure that the same goods were on shelves across the entirety of the UK. Meat and dairy products being sent from Britain to Northern Ireland already have to carry the stickers. However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is understood to have told suppliers it has indefinitely delayed the need for all products to have stickers regardless of where they were being sent. Judith Bryans, chief executive of dairy group DairyUK, said: Dairy UK welcomes the announcement that the GB-wide Not for EU marking requirement will no longer be rolled out on 1st October this year. Had this initiative gone ahead with new labels being required on pack by the 1st of October, it would have resulted in chaos for dairy and added significant unnecessary cost and a huge admin burden to businesses. Were very pleased that the Government has listened to and reflected on the concerns we raised on behalf of our members. The comments follow months of pressure from food and drink makers to delay the plans. Companies had warned over huge uncertainty after the Government launched a consultation on the policy earlier this year. However, there had been no update since, with some businesses deciding against making any changes to their packaging on the assumption that the rule change would not be introduced. Industry groups have been warning that the proposals would cost food and drink makers hundreds of millions of pounds. Karen Betts, the chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, earlier this year said: It will lead to higher prices amid a cost of living crisis and to lower investment at a time when investment in our sector is already down. A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: Ministers are carefully considering the evidence provided in the recent not for EU labelling consultation. We are committed to taking all necessary steps to protect the UK internal market and are continuing to engage with businesses to ensure the smooth flow of goods to Northern Ireland. 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. LAURENS COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) An employee for the South Carolina Department of Education has been arrested after he reportedly brought a gun onto school property. According to the Laurens County Sheriffs Office, Desmond Nathaniel Williams, of Hampton, was arrested on Wednesday. He has been charged with with carrying/displaying a firearm in a public building. Williams is a bus driver training instructor, according to the Department of Education website. According to Laurens District 55, Williams held a presentation for the school districts bus drivers and conducted an active shooter simulation. During the training, the district said Williams pulled out a real, unloaded gun. Laurens District 55 said they checked with the Department of Education and were told that it was not protocol. The sheriffs office said the arrest stems from an incident at a Laurens County school on Friday. After reviewing the incident, the sheriffs office determined state laws which forbid people from bringing guns onto school property were violated. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the agency was deeply concerned about the incident. The Department is conducting a thorough review and is committed to following our established policies and procedures. As this is a personnel matter, we are unable to provide further comment at this time. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A citrus quarantine has been declared in Fallbrook after officials detected the presence of a citrus tree disease in a mandarin tree, adding to the quarantines already in place in Oceanside, Rancho Bernardo and Valley Center. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have confirmed a new citrus quarantine in Fallbrook started on Sept. 16, 2024 after agriculture officials detected the fatal citrus tree disease Huanglongbing (HLB). Citrus quarantine expanded to Valley Center HLB is one of the most destructive citrus diseases known worldwide and is caused by phloem-restricted bacteria, according to the CDFA and USDA. It is caused by the Asian citrus psyllid insects that spread the bacteria when they feed on the citrus trees. If left unchecked, fruit from HLB-infected trees can be small, uneven, and poorly colored, while the juice becomes high in acids and bitter, eventually killing infected trees, according to the Center for Invasive Species Research at University of California Riverside. Farmers turning to this ancient tree to replace Floridas old citrus groves There is no cure for the disease and tree removal is necessary to prevent it from spreading to other trees. Agriculture officials detected the citrus tree disease in one mandarin tree in a residential neighborhood in Fallbrook on Sept. 10 during regular inspections, according to San Diego County officials. There is now a five-mile quarantine in place surrounding the positive citrus tree. Citrus tree-killing bacteria found on insects for 1st time in county According to the county, the infected tree is being treated and removed and officials are surveying and treating a 250-meter area around the site. The county says this disease posses a major threat to San Diego Countys $138 million annual citrus crop, potentially affecting nearly 500 businesses, over 100 growers, 830 acres of commercial citrus, four commercial nurseries and a farmers markert in downtown Fallbrook. 2024 Huanglongbing (HLB) Quarantine Boundaries (Photo: Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Division and California Department of Food & Agriculture) View an interactive map of current citrus quarantines online here. Unfortunately, Huanglongbing is fatal to citrus, said San Diego Agricultural Commissioner Ha Dang. So our goal is to prevent this disease from spreading. By working together, we can all protect our food supply, local agriculture, and environment from this devastating disease. Partnering with state and federal regulatory partners, we are working closely with residents and agricultural operators and ask for everyones cooperation with the ongoing regulatory activities. San Diego County officials say the citrus disease is fatal to trees but not harmful to humans or animals. A California city is about to have all fruit trees stripped The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) says it will work with nearby residents to treat their citrus trees as a proactive measure. County officials are also working to notify area citrus growers, plant nurseries and any other impacted businesses. Some noticeable symptoms of the tree disease are mottled yellow leaves and asymmetrical fruit that may be partially green. Fallbrook residents in the quarantine area are urged by county officials to take the following precautions now that a citrus quarantine is in place: Do not bring citrus plants in or out of the quarantine area Wash any citrus grown in a backyard and remove all leaves and stems Dry or double bag plant clippings Work with officials inspecting trees, taking samples and treating for pests Residents can contact a tree removal service if they no longer want to care for a citrus tree Buy citrus trees only from reputable local nurseries Report citrus trees that seem to be sick or dying by contacting CDFAs toll-free Pest Hotline at 800-491-1899 or visit www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp Visit CaliforniaCitrusThreat.org to learn more For questions on moving commercial citrus and HLB quarantine regulations, contact the San Diego Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures at 760-752-4700 or visit www.sdcawm.org. State declares citrus quarantine in Fallbrook effective Sept. 16, 2024 (Credit: San Diego County and California Department of Food & Agriculture) The only exception to the citrus quarantine is if agricultural businesses follow specific requirements for treatment, cleaning, and packing commercial fruit before it can be transported into or out of the area. An HLB quarantine is currently also in place in the Oceanside, Rancho Bernardo, and Valley Center areas, as well as in parts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, where more than 8,600 trees have tested positive for the disease and have been removed since 2012. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. State leaders working on ways to help inexperienced drivers in Springfield amid immigrant surge State leaders are working on ways to help Springfield and the growing Haitian immigrant population, including tackling issues with inexperienced drivers. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Theres a lot of people that dont know how to drive, Mike Moyer, of Springfield, said. Moyer had his car totaled last year when he was hit head-on by a woman who did not have a license. She was a U.S. citizen, so it dont matter if youre a foreigner or an actual person from the U.S., Moyer said. Theres people out here that need to know how to drive. As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30, data shows that there have been more than 1,300 crashes in Springfield this year. TRENDING STORIES: Its an issue thats come to the forefront as Springfield works to adjust to its growing population of Haitian immigrants. We have some really serious concerns about driving, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said. DeWine has expressed his concerns with Haitian immigrants adjusting to American driving. Theres clearly some erratic driving that is going on beyond the norm that we expect to see. That should not surprise us. Many of these drivers probably never drove in Haiti, DeWine said. Ohios director of the Department of Public Safety has been looking into ways to address the problem. Their focus is education and have developed an adult Haitian Creole driving class. Now we need to find leaders within the adult Haitian community to get people to come to those classes, Andy Wilson, Department of Public Safety Director, said. Wilson met with business leaders in Springfield that employ the Haitian community. One idea has been setting up a driving mentorship program. We know the best way to teach somebody to drive or keep somebody safe behind the wheel, is to give them time driving that vehicle with somebody who knows how to drive with an instructor, Wilson said. Wilson said the classes could roll out as soon as next month. Another issue DeWine said this highlights is the process for any Ohioan getting a drivers license. We say when someone is 18 years of age, they do not have to have any drivers education. So what were seeing from our BMV is were having someone fail the test and then they just keep coming back, DeWine said. They come back day after day after day and finally they pass the test. It doesnt mean they are a better driver. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] (WJET/WFXP) Pennsylvania State Police in Corry have released the results from a sobriety checkpoint they conducted last week. Troopers conducted the checkpoint on Sep. 12 from 5 to 11 p.m. in the Corry area as part of an effort to curtail driving under the influence. Woman charged with murdering PA man ruled mentally competent to face trial The checkpoint resulted in two Act 64 arrests related to controlled substances, one driving while suspended arrest, 13 traffic citations and 21 written warnings. No number was given for the number of motorists stopped. PSP Corry previously announced they plan on conducting another checkpoint in their coverage area during September. 15 arrested after FBI, local police conduct several raids Wednesday morning State police continue to warn residents of the risks that come with driving under the influence. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Oregon State Police said they seized over four pounds of fentanyl headed to Portland during a traffic stop in Lane County last week. The suspect fled on foot during the stop, crossed lanes of freeway traffic, and escaped into the woods, authorities said. Kroger-Albertsons merger in hands of federal judge On Sept. 10 at 9:30 a.m., the traffic stop was conducted on Interstate 5 near milepost 181. The trooper reportedly recognized signs of possible drug activity during the stop, OSP said. A drug detection K-9 later alerted law enforcement of the possible presence of illegal drugs after searching the outside of the car. Once the K-9 alerted to the potential presence of illegal drugs, the driver fled on foot across all lanes of I-5 into a wooded area, OSP said in a release. A subsequent search of the vehicle led to the discovery of two kilograms of powdered fentanyl in the trunk. Authorities said a search for the suspect by law enforcement lasted several hours but to no avail. Officials said they think the suspect got a ride out of the area. Before fleeing, the driver presented a fraudulent Mexican consular card bearing the name Luis Angel Garcia Gonzalez (28) from Oakland, California, OSP said. It is unknown if this is the suspects true name. The seized fentanyl was handed over to the Drug Enforcement Administration due to the high quantity. The DEA assisted OSPs investigation and said the fentanyl was destined for the Portland metro 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 KOIN.com. A woman holds a newborn baby. Some states and hospital systems have updated their policies on drug testing for pregnant women and newborns, aiming to better support patients who are in recovery from substance use disorder and combat racial disparities in testing and reporting. John Moore/Getty Images Some states and hospital systems have updated their policies on drug testing for pregnant women and newborns, aiming to better support patients treatment and recovery from substance use disorder and combat racial disparities in testing and reporting. Under federal law, medical professionals must notify child protective agencies when an infant has been affected by the mothers substance use, including alcohol use. However, the federal rules which were updated in 2016 in response to the opioid epidemic emphasize that substance use disorder on its own doesnt constitute child abuse, and require states to develop their own plans of safe care to promote the long-term health of the newborn and the mother. But federal law doesnt define affected, and testing and reporting policies vary from state to state and even from hospital to hospital. As the opioid crisis continues, some of the nations most prominent hospital systems and a handful of states have enacted or are considering less punitive approaches, as long as the baby is in no imminent danger. One impetus for the shift is research showing that Black pregnant women are more likely to be drug tested and long-standing disparities in how Black and Indigenous families are treated by child welfare agencies. Mental health conditions and substance use have also emerged as leading causes of maternal death, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data about bias in child welfare reporting related to pregnant/birthing peoples substance use has been around for decades, Sarah Roberts, a legal epidemiologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote in an email to Stateline. Roberts tracks testing policies across the country. Whats changed, Roberts said, is a growing awareness of the harms of over-testing and over-reporting to child welfare agencies. Only two states, Minnesota and North Dakota, have laws that require drug testing of pregnant patients in certain circumstances, such as when there are complications during birth that point to the possible use of drugs or alcohol, according to an analysis by If/When/How, a reproductive justice nonprofit. And only four states (Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin) mandate the drug testing of newborns in certain circumstances. The data about bias in child welfare reporting related to pregnant/birthing peoples substance use has been around for decades. Sarah Roberts, a legal epidemiologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco But hospitals and clinicians are often confused about their own state laws, said Joelle Puccio, director of education at the Academy of Perinatal Harm Reduction, which provides information to pregnant women and parents who use drugs. What actually happens is always more punitive, more surveillance than what is actually required by the law, and it always falls more heavily on Indigenous, Black and other families of color, said Puccio, who has worked as a registered nurse in perinatal and neonatal intensive care for two decades. Mass General Brigham in Boston, one of the most highly respected hospital systems in the country, announced changes to its perinatal reporting policy in April as part of a broader effort to eliminate practices that might unwittingly perpetuate structural racism. Provided the baby isnt in imminent danger, the hospital will now conduct toxicology testing only with written consent from the pregnant patient and will only report positive results to child welfare authorities if clinicians determine the baby is suffering or in imminent danger. Mass General Brigham also will move away from considering a babys exposure to drugs or alcohol including a mothers medication treatment for opioid use disorder as automatic grounds for reporting abuse or neglect. This is to combat the stigma pregnant patients often report facing while on such medication treatment, leading them to fear health care settings. The single biggest deterrent for people engaging in care was the concern that if they went on buprenorphine or methadone, lifesaving treatment for their opioid use disorder, that they would have an open case with the Department of Children and Families, said Dr. Davida Schiff, director of perinatal and family-based substance use disorder care at Mass General Brigham. We know that buprenorphine and methadone reduce the risk of overdose. Dr. Allison Bryant Mantha, an OB-GYN and associate chief health equity officer at Mass General Brigham, said one priority of the policy change was to lessen room for bias. When you allow people to have a lot of their own discretion, that sometimes is where biases kind of creep in, she said. Sometimes minimizing variability gets you to equity. Legislation has been introduced in the Massachusetts Senate that aims to protect parents from scrutiny from child welfare authorities or criminal prosecution when their infant has been affected by in-utero substance exposure. Other states already have approved such policies. Since 2019, Connecticut has directed health care providers to shield the identity of the parents when reporting a positive test to child welfare authorities, and to instead offer supportive services. That year, New Mexico also passed a law that removes substance use disorder from being considered abuse or neglect on its own. And in 2020, Colorado updated its definition of child abuse and neglect to exclude cases in which a newborn tests positive for substance or alcohol exposure and the mother is on medication-assisted treatment. But hospital staff still express confusion about state law, said Britt Westmoreland, a doula and addiction recovery specialist at the University of Colorado College of Nursing. Ive had hospitals have policies that are more punitive than state law, Westmoreland said, and I have addressed that directly by educating them on what the state law is. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE A woman holds a newborn baby. Some states and hospital systems have updated their policies on drug testing for pregnant women and newborns, aiming to better support patients who are in recovery from substance use disorder and combat racial disparities in testing and reporting. (John Moore/Getty Images) Some states and hospital systems have updated their policies on drug testing for pregnant women and newborns, aiming to better support patients treatment and recovery from substance use disorder and combat racial disparities in testing and reporting. Under federal law, medical professionals must notify child protective agencies when an infant has been affected by the mothers substance use, including alcohol use. However, the federal rules which were updated in 2016 in response to the opioid epidemic emphasize that substance use disorder on its own doesnt constitute child abuse, and require states to develop their own plans of safe care to promote the long-term health of the newborn and the mother. But federal law doesnt define affected, and testing and reporting policies vary from state to state and even from hospital to hospital. As the opioid crisis continues, some of the nations most prominent hospital systems and a handful of states have enacted or are considering less punitive approaches, as long as the baby is in no imminent danger. One impetus for the shift is research showing that Black pregnant women are more likely to be drug tested and long-standing disparities in how Black and Indigenous families are treated by child welfare agencies. Mental health conditions and substance use have also emerged as leading causes of maternal death, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data about bias in child welfare reporting related to pregnant/birthing peoples substance use has been around for decades, Sarah Roberts, a legal epidemiologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote in an email to Stateline. Roberts tracks testing policies across the country. Whats changed, Roberts said, is a growing awareness of the harms of over-testing and over-reporting to child welfare agencies. Only two states, Minnesota and North Dakota, have laws that require drug testing of pregnant patients in certain circumstances, such as when there are complications during birth that point to the possible use of drugs or alcohol, according to an analysis by If/When/How, a reproductive justice nonprofit. And only four states (Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin) mandate the drug testing of newborns in certain circumstances. The data about bias in child welfare reporting related to pregnant/birthing peoples substance use has been around for decades. Sarah Roberts, epidemiologist But hospitals and clinicians are often confused about their own state laws, said Joelle Puccio, director of education at the Academy of Perinatal Harm Reduction, which provides information to pregnant women and parents who use drugs. What actually happens is always more punitive, more surveillance than what is actually required by the law, and it always falls more heavily on Indigenous, Black and other families of color, said Puccio, who has worked as a registered nurse in perinatal and neonatal intensive care for two decades. Mass General Brigham in Boston, one of the most highly respected hospital systems in the country, announced changes to its perinatal reporting policy in April as part of a broader effort to eliminate practices that might unwittingly perpetuate structural racism. Provided the baby isnt in imminent danger, the hospital will now conduct toxicology testing only with written consent from the pregnant patient and will only report positive results to child welfare authorities if clinicians determine the baby is suffering or in imminent danger. Mass General Brigham also will move away from considering a babys exposure to drugs or alcohol including a mothers medication treatment for opioid use disorder as automatic grounds for reporting abuse or neglect. This is to combat the stigma pregnant patients often report facing while on such medication treatment, leading them to fear health care settings. The single biggest deterrent for people engaging in care was the concern that if they went on buprenorphine or methadone, lifesaving treatment for their opioid use disorder, that they would have an open case with the Department of Children and Families, said Dr. Davida Schiff, director of perinatal and family-based substance use disorder care at Mass General Brigham. We know that buprenorphine and methadone reduce the risk of overdose. Dr. Allison Bryant Mantha, an OB-GYN and associate chief health equity officer at Mass General Brigham, said one priority of the policy change was to lessen room for bias. When you allow people to have a lot of their own discretion, that sometimes is where biases kind of creep in, she said. Sometimes minimizing variability gets you to equity. Legislation has been introduced in the Massachusetts Senate that aims to protect parents from scrutiny from child welfare authorities or criminal prosecution when their infant has been affected by in-utero substance exposure. Other states already have approved such policies. Since 2019, Connecticut has directed health care providers to shield the identity of the parents when reporting a positive test to child welfare authorities, and to instead offer supportive services. That year, New Mexico also passed a law that removes substance use disorder from being considered abuse or neglect on its own. And in 2020, Colorado updated its definition of child abuse and neglect to exclude cases in which a newborn tests positive for substance or alcohol exposure and the mother is on medication-assisted treatment. But hospital staff still express confusion about state law, said Britt Westmoreland, a doula and addiction recovery specialist at the University of Colorado College of Nursing. Ive had hospitals have policies that are more punitive than state law, Westmoreland said, and I have addressed that directly by educating them on what the state law is. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE This report was first published by Stateline, part of the States Newsroom nonprofit news network. Its supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X. A woman holds a newborn baby. Some states and hospital systems have updated their policies on drug testing for pregnant women and newborns, aiming to better support patients who are in recovery from substance use disorder and combat racial disparities in testing and reporting. (John Moore/Getty Images) Some states and hospital systems have updated their policies on drug testing for pregnant women and newborns, aiming to better support patients treatment and recovery from substance use disorder and combat racial disparities in testing and reporting. Under federal law, medical professionals must notify child protective agencies when an infant has been affected by the mothers substance use, including alcohol use. However, the federal rules which were updated in 2016 in response to the opioid epidemic emphasize that substance use disorder on its own doesnt constitute child abuse, and require states to develop their own plans of safe care to promote the long-term health of the newborn and the mother. But federal law doesnt define affected, and testing and reporting policies vary from state to state and even from hospital to hospital. As the opioid crisis continues, some of the nations most prominent hospital systems and a handful of states have enacted or are considering less punitive approaches, as long as the baby is in no imminent danger. One impetus for the shift is research showing that Black pregnant women are more likely to be drug tested and long-standing disparities in how Black and Indigenous families are treated by child welfare agencies. Mental health conditions and substance use have also emerged as leading causes of maternal death, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data about bias in child welfare reporting related to pregnant/birthing peoples substance use has been around for decades, Sarah Roberts, a legal epidemiologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote in an email to Stateline. Roberts tracks testing policies across the country. Whats changed, Roberts said, is a growing awareness of the harms of over-testing and over-reporting to child welfare agencies. Only two states, Minnesota and North Dakota, have laws that require drug testing of pregnant patients in certain circumstances, such as when there are complications during birth that point to the possible use of drugs or alcohol, according to an analysis by If/When/How, a reproductive justice nonprofit. And only four states (Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin) mandate the drug testing of newborns in certain circumstances. But hospitals and clinicians are often confused about their own state laws, said Joelle Puccio, director of education at the Academy of Perinatal Harm Reduction, which provides information to pregnant women and parents who use drugs. What actually happens is always more punitive, more surveillance than what is actually required by the law, and it always falls more heavily on Indigenous, Black and other families of color, said Puccio, who has worked as a registered nurse in perinatal and neonatal intensive care for two decades. Mass General Brigham in Boston, one of the most highly respected hospital systems in the country, announced changes to its perinatal reporting policy in April as part of a broader effort to eliminate practices that might unwittingly perpetuate structural racism. Provided the baby isnt in imminent danger, the hospital will now conduct toxicology testing only with written consent from the pregnant patient and will only report positive results to child welfare authorities if clinicians determine the baby is suffering or in imminent danger. Mass General Brigham also will move away from considering a babys exposure to drugs or alcohol including a mothers medication treatment for opioid use disorder as automatic grounds for reporting abuse or neglect. This is to combat the stigma pregnant patients often report facing while on such medication treatment, leading them to fear health care settings. The single biggest deterrent for people engaging in care was the concern that if they went on buprenorphine or methadone, lifesaving treatment for their opioid use disorder, that they would have an open case with the Department of Children and Families, said Dr. Davida Schiff, director of perinatal and family-based substance use disorder care at Mass General Brigham. We know that buprenorphine and methadone reduce the risk of overdose. Dr. Allison Bryant Mantha, an OB-GYN and associate chief health equity officer at Mass General Brigham, said one priority of the policy change was to lessen room for bias. When you allow people to have a lot of their own discretion, that sometimes is where biases kind of creep in, she said. Sometimes minimizing variability gets you to equity. Legislation has been introduced in the Massachusetts Senate that aims to protect parents from scrutiny from child welfare authorities or criminal prosecution when their infant has been affected by in-utero substance exposure. Other states already have approved such policies. Since 2019, Connecticut has directed health care providers to shield the identity of the parents when reporting a positive test to child welfare authorities, and to instead offer supportive services. That year, New Mexico also passed a law that removes substance use disorder from being considered abuse or neglect on its own. And in 2020, Colorado updated its definition of child abuse and neglect to exclude cases in which a newborn tests positive for substance or alcohol exposure and the mother is on medication-assisted treatment. But hospital staff still express confusion about state law, said Britt Westmoreland, a doula and addiction recovery specialist at the University of Colorado College of Nursing. Ive had hospitals have policies that are more punitive than state law, Westmoreland said, and I have addressed that directly by educating them on what the state law is. This article was first published by Stateline, 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. Write-In Space The two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station due to technical issues with Boeing's Starliner capsule plan to cast their vote in the November presidential elections, showing that Earth-bound American citizens have no good excuse for not voting. "Its a very important duty that we have as citizens and looking forward to being able to vote from space, which is pretty cool," said NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, as reported by NBC News, during a conversation with reporters on Friday. Her colleague and fellow Starliner passenger Butch Wilmore echoed those remarks. "I sent down my request for a ballot today," said Wilmore. "Its a very important role that we play as citizen including those elections, and NASA makes it very easy for us to do that." NASA sends a ballot prepared by election officials to the astronauts consisting of a PDF document that's password protected and has boxes for them to check off in order to make their choices. Having astronauts vote from space has been done before, according to NBC News, but there must have been last minute maneuvering to send ballots up to these astronauts, who unexpectedly saw their eight-day test flight extended until February of next year. Orbit Poll The development and production of Boeing's Starliner have been plagued with numerous problems, from delays to software issues, well before its first launch with a crew to the space station. It also costs twice as much as rival SpaceX's Dragon capsule, which NASA has tapped to rescue the stranded astronauts. NASA officials were leery of letting astronauts take the Starliner for a return home because the capsule had issues with its thrusters before it docked with the station. The Starliner finally made it home, empty handed, earlier this month though it experienced additional thruster issues on its way down, showing that NASA was right to be cautious. Further investigations and perhaps hearings will hopefully cast light on what went terribly wrong with a project that ate up so many tax dollars. More on astronauts: Stranded Astronaut Says He Just Wasn't "Comfortable" Getting "Back in the Starliner" After Safety Issues Street closures for the UN General Assembly NEW YORK (PIX11) The United Nations General Assembly is underway with some of its biggest meetings set for early next week. Hundreds of dignitaries will gather for high-level week at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, starting from Sept. 22. More Local News Among the high-level events include the Summit of the Future from Sept. 22 to the 23, the Sustainable Development Goals Moment on Sept. 24th, and the General Debate from Sept. 24 to the 30. In anticipation for the volume traffic expected around the UN Headquarters, police will close multiple streets to the public. UN General Assembly street closures: FDR Drive between Whitehall Street and 42nd Street Grand Army Plaza between 58th Street and 60th Street Grand Army Plaza between East Drive and Fifth Avenue Eighth Avenue between West 49th Street and West 44th Street Sixth Avenue between West 59th Street and West 46th Street Fifth Avenue between East 63rd Street and East 49th Street Madison Avenue between East 58th Street and East 42nd Street Vanderbilt Avenue between East 47th Street and East 42nd Street Park Avenue between East 62nd Street and East 45th Street Lexington Avenue between East 57th Street and East 42nd Street East 63rd Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue East 62nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue East 61st Street between Fifth Avenue and Lexington Avenue West 59th Street between Seventh Avenue and Fifth Avenue West/East 58th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue / Avenue of the Americas West/East 57th Street between Seventh Avenue and Dead End / FDR Drive West 56th Street between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue West 55th Street between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue West 54th Street between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue West/East 53rd Street between Seventh Avenue and FDR Drive West 52nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue West 51st Street between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue West/East 50th Street between Seventh Avenue and Dead End / FDR Drive West/East 49th Street between Eighth Avenue and FDR Drive Service Road FDR Drive Service Road between East 48th Street and East 49th Street East 48th Street between First Avenue and FDR Drive Service Road West 46th Street between Eighth Avenue and Sixth Avenue / Avenue of the Americas West/East 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and FDR Drive West/East 34th Street between Seventh Avenue and FDR Drive Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work 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 PIX11. Mental health experts are providing perspective on how people can deal with the political stress from a contentious presidential race. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: It can be a barrage of information from all fronts and it can result in more stress in a persons daily life. In fact, the American Psychological Association said 70 percent of adults reported having high levels of stress leading up to the 2020 election and the agency expects levels to be even higher this election cycle. Local mental health agencies are already seeing it. Its really stressful in our community. Theres a lot of people that are scared on all sides, and Ive heard that myself, like Ive heard people coming to us talking about these issues, Trystyn Ball, director of Prevention and Early Intervention Service for Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS). Ive heard social workers that are fearful, people that are living in communities that are fearful. So yes, there is certainly a lot of anxiety right now and feelings of just hopelessness. While expressing political views is nothing new, the amount of information were exposed to is higher than ever. Ball said its important to get away from the stressors as much as you can and if you choose to engage, do your best to keep an open mind. Sometimes I hear things and Im like, I dont agree with that at all, but its up to me to understand why that would be, because its going to bring my emotions down some, and I could see the humanity and in the other side, right? Ball said. So whether I agree with it or not, you dont have to change your opinion, but you can understand maybe what somebody else thinks or fears or is going through. Ball said it all comes down to a balance and its up to us to limit the stress were exposed to, which can mean spending more time with friends and loved ones and doing the things we enjoy. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Exposed portion of the Amargosa River in the Amargosa Valley. (Photo: Jesse Pluim/U.S. Bureau of Land Management) Climate change is battering my home in the Mojave Desert with megadroughts, scorching heat domes, and raging flood events. The need for our nation to transition quickly away from an economy powered by fossil fuels has reached a point of undeniability; transitioning to cleaner sources like solar power is imperative. In recognition of rampant climate chaos, the Biden Administration has recently released the results of an accelerated planning effort executed through the Bureau of Land Management to identify public lands in 11 western states to be prioritized or at minimum left open to potential solar energy production. The Western Solar Plan is an important step toward rapidly decarbonizing our society over the coming decades in hopes of avoiding even more severe climate change outcomes. However, while the plan makes meaningful strides toward meeting the nations clean energy generation goals, nearly 220,000 acres of the Amargosa River watershed have been left open to potential industrial-scale solar energy development. As this planning process reaches finalization, our organization believes it is crucial that decision makers do not lose sight of the magnitude of potential transformation of our public lands that will be required to accommodate the scale of the proposed solar energy areas. This planning process could determine the pattern of energy development on desert public lands in this extraordinary landscape for decades to come. Theyve got to get it right. Therefore, the push to develop solar energy on public lands in areas of the sensitive Amargosa River watershed in Nye and Clark Counties in Nevada raises significant concerns that cannot be ignored. Over 25 solar projects have already been proposed in this single watershed, encompassing some 60,000 acres or more of potential development. The draft plan as released would leave open an additional 160,000 acres of public land for potential solar development, leaving the Amargosa River highly vulnerable to extensive impacts resulting from groundwater depletion and alteration of surface flows that are critical factors of this desert river ecosystem. Amargosa River watershed is an extraordinarily biodiverse and scenic desert river ecosystem spanning western Nevada and eastern California about an hour west of Las Vegas. The watershed, containing iconic protected landscapes such as Death Valley National Park, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, and the Amargosa Wild & Scenic River, supports the highest local concentration of unique and rare species anywhere in the United States. Ash Meadows is located in the heart of the watershed, containing delicate ecosystems home to endangered species such as the famous Devils Hole pupfish, the most endangered fish species known on Earth. All up and down the River, from Beatty to Badwater as we say, the valleys wetlands and spring oases, sustained by an ancient groundwater system, are vital to these species survival. The Amargosa River watershed also holds deep cultural significance for several regional tribes, particularly the Timbisha Shoshone and the Southern Paiute. For millennia, these lands and waters have been a source of spiritual and physical sustenance. The large-scale industrialization required for solar farms threatens to disrupt the ecosystems, cultural resources, and water supply for desert communities irreversibly. Construction activities, habitat fragmentation, and the depletion of groundwater resources could spell extinction for the flora and fauna that have thrived in this extreme desert environment for millennia. A single solar project can require 1,000 acre-feet or more of water for construction thats enough water to sustain 2,000 households for a year. With groundwater overpumping being the chief threat to the Amargosa River, the basin simply cannot sustain a rush of solar projects. In fact, water depletion in the Amargosa Valley has a high likelihood of jeopardizing downstream communities such as the Timbisha Shoshone Tribes village in Furnace Creek, CA, threatening a continuance of historical erasure of these peoples from their homelands. Over the past year, our organization has partnered closely with this community to advocate for enhanced protections of the watershed from the harms of proposed exploratory drilling and mining operations. Though mining operations proposed near protected and culturally important landscapes like Ash Meadows pose a more acute and direct threat to groundwater resources, the cumulative impact of large scale solar energy development to sovereign Tribal water rights could be catastrophic. The Amargosa River watershed is also home to over 40,000 people spread across the rural communities of Beatty, Amargosa Valley, Crystal, and Pahrump in Nevada, and Furnace Creek, Shoshone, Tecopa, and Charleston View in California. These communities have poverty rates 15-30% above the national average, and median household incomes 30-55% less than the national average. Living near the Nevada Test Site, where atomic weapons were tested, and the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, they are the definition of environmental justice communities. These communities and their residents rely existentially on the groundwater of the Amargosa River for their lives and livelihoods, and so their future is inextricably tied to effective water conservation in the present. The Western Solar Plan must account for the cumulative impact to groundwater resources in landscapes like the Amargosa already experiencing stress from historic overpumping. Our organization sees an alternative vision for a balanced renewable energy transition in the Amargosa River watershed on the horizon. While the vast majority of the region is comprised of public lands, there are significant parcels of private lands currently being utilized for agriculture that could be transformed into solar energy projects. In addition to providing a direct benefit to local residents of these communities who otherwise have few opportunities for economic development, a change of use for these private lands stands to also provide a direct conservation benefit to wildlife and to protected landscapes like Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge by reducing pumping stresses on the regional aquifer. Such an approach to renewable energy presents an extraordinary win-win-win opportunity: a win for clean energy production, a win for rural and statistically disadvantaged communities, and a win for groundwater and wildlife conservation. Weighed against prioritizing sprawling development on biologically and culturally sensitive public lands, a private lands-centered approach is superior across virtually every metric. There are areas in the West that are less sensitive than the Amargosa River watershed, areas without endangered species or groundwater dependent ecosystems or vulnerable frontline communities. While no energy project is without impacts, prudent planning can minimize these impacts by siting them in the least harmful places. The Amargosa River watershed is not one of those places. The Amargosa River watershed is an irreplaceable part of our planets natural and cultural heritage. As we move towards a more sustainable future, we must not lose sight of the need to protect the places that represent our best chances to preserve extraordinary biodiversity. Solar energy is vital to our future, but it must be pursued in ways that respect and preserve the landscapes that make places like the Amargosa River watershed truly special. We owe it to future generations to find a balance between renewable energy development and conservation, and I trust these generations will judge us harshly should we get that balance wrong. The administration building on the University of Maryland College Park campus. File photo. University of Maryland student activists on Tuesday made good on their threat to sue the university after administrators blocked demonstrations on campus planned for the Oct. 7 anniversary of the bloody Hamas attack on Israel, which has led to a wider war in Gaza. The group University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, seeking an injunction that would bar the university from canceling the event. The lawsuit, which asserts that the student groups First Amendment rights have been violated, specifically targets the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, the University of Maryland at College Park and Darryll J. Pines, the university president. The university refused to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday, instead referring reporters to a statement that administrators issued on Sept. 1 outlining their decision to block the Oct. 7 rally. The controversy began when Students for Justice in Palestine and another student group, Jewish Voice for Peace, got university permission to hold a vigil on Oct. 7 on the campus McKeldin Mall to recognize lives lost in the previous year, especially the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict. But other Jewish student organizations and other individuals, both in College Park and off campus, called on the university to cancel the vigil, arguing that it would create undue suffering among Jewish students. Administrators canceled the event and announced that all campus activities on that day would be restricted to university-sponsored events. The University System of Maryland quickly issued a similar policy for all of the systems campuses for Oct. 7. In the Sept. 1 letter, Pines said that while there was no immediate and active threat associated with the Oct. 7 event, it was being canceled out of an abundance of caution. We concluded to host only university-sponsored events that promote reflection on this day. All other expressive events will be held prior to October 7, and then resume on October 8 in accordance with time, place and manner considerations of the First Amendment, Pines letter said. The lawsuit says thats unconstitutional. The First Amendment does not allow campus officials to establish free- expression-black-out days, even on occasions that may be emotional or politically polarizing, says the lawsuit, which was filed by attorneys from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C., and Palestine Legal in New York. The lawsuit further maintains that by canceling the event, the Government censors speech based on viewpoint, on content, and the identity of the speaker on a matter of vital public discourse and concern. It has no legally adequate reason to do so. The 19-page lawsuit offers an extensive history of campus activism and protest, both nationally and at the University of Maryland and outlines what student activists had planned for Oct. 7. In addition to seeking to lift the universitys ban on the activities that had been scheduled, the suit seeks a declaration from a judge that the ban was unconstitutional; seeks an unspecified damage award from the university for violating the students First Amendment rights; demands that the student groups are reimbursed by the university for their attorneys fees; and requests additional relief as the interests of justice may require. William J. Ford contributed to this report. SUTTON, W.Va. (WBOY) The Braxton County Prosecuting Attorney revealed Tuesday evening that the threat made within the countys school system on Monday was a 911 call that falsely reported a gunman was in a school. The prosecuting attorney said in a social media post that a Braxton County Middle School student, who has since been put into custody, called Braxton County 911 and reported that there was a gunman at Burnsville Elementary School. The student, who was not at school at the time, reported that a teacher from the school had contacted them and said they and their students were hiding from a gunman. There was no gunman at the school and the students and staff were not in danger, the prosecuting attorney clarified. The student was arrested and is facing charges of conveying false information regarding a terroristic threat and falsely reporting an emergency. The prosecuting attorney said that law enforcement took less than an hour to find and detain the juvenile, who now faces up to three and a half years in a juvenile detention facility. Why do people threaten violence against schools? WVU expert weighs in The Braxton County superintendent said in a Facebook post that the school district is going to double our school safety efforts, amid ongoing threat reports at schools across the region. Braxton County Schools is so very thankful for the quick response of law enforcement, and fast action on the part of the prosecuting attorney. The officers raced to our school thinking they would be confronting a gunman. They were willing to risk their own lives to protect our students. As your superintendent, I am humbled by the selfless service of our local law enforcement, the post said. Students from multiple other schools in West Virginia have been arrested over the past few weeks as threats continue to circulate, especially on social media. Officials have confirmed that students from Preston County, Sissonville Middle School, DuPont Middle and Weir Middle School have been put in custody as well as a number of other students throughout the region. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Police arrested a student after an anonymous post on social media threatened a school shooting. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] This comes after six straight days of threats to buildings in Springfield. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine spoke Tuesday about the states response to these threats. On Monday, he announced a trooper would be stationed at every single school in the city for the foreseeable future. He said parents are still so scared they are keeping kids home. Springfields superintendent joined DeWine and wanted to assure parents their kids are safe at school. News Center 7 obtained a copy of a screenshot of a frightening post Monday afternoon. A student is being charged with terroristic threats. News Center 7 talked to the state safety director at City Hall about the threat. TRENDING STORIES: The message to social media started out saying Nobody knows me, but were shooting up the Tecumseh Local Schools. It turns out that the student goes to school in the district. The Tecumseh Local School District was made aware of around 3:15 p.m. Monday afternoon. The post said they planned to shoot up several buildings in the district this week. The main targets were the middle school and high school. The district sent an email to parents letting them know of the threat. Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies worked quickly to find the original source of the post. The district told said the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the FBI worked together to get the Instagram username and trace it to an email account and phone number. That led to the arrest of the female student Monday night, who confessed to what she had done. According to the district. the student is charged with making terroristic threats. Harley Ward said when she was growing up these types of threats toward schools were not like it is now. With a two-year-old daughter, she is thinking of preparing for her school in this day and age. It makes my mama heart sad like having to send her to school cause I know that its coming up here shortly, Ward said. A parent leaving the middle school said when he saw the message he felt like it was a prank, and not a good one at that. DeWine said officials are taking these threats seriously. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (WHNT) Scottsboro City Schools (SCS) says a threat was made against Scottsboro High School on social media by a student Wednesday. According to the school system, the administration was made aware of the threat by law enforcement. SCS also said the student was not in attendance on Wednesday at Scottsboro High School and was arrested. SCS said the student has been barred from all school property and school events and will face significant disciplinary consequences. The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is of the utmost importance to us, and we take all threats seriously. We encourage parents to talk with their students about this and to stress to them how important it is that they not make any threatening comments. We appreciate the help of our law enforcement partners and of all of our families as we work to keep our campuses and students safe. If you or your students see anything that could be construed as a threat towards any school, faculty or staff member, or student, please share that information with your school administrator immediately. Scottsboro City Schools Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FAIRBORN, Ohio (WDTN) Parents have been notified that a student brought a replica gun into a Fairborn classroom last week. Fairborn Intermediate School Principal Tammy Gendreau sent a letter to parents on Tuesday regarding a student bringing a fake weapon to school. Tecumseh student apprehended after making school threat In the letter, Gendreau explains that the building administration was notified that a student brought a replica gun to school last week. After speaking with students, it was determined that the student did not have the weapon on Tuesday, but did bring it last week. The student was taken out of class and will not return to school pending the investigation. Gendreau says there is a recommendation for expulsion. Gendreau says the school has safety plans in place in order to handle situations like this quickly and effectively. She also reminds parents that this is a good time to discuss school policies with their children. The district has a strict no weapons policy on school grounds for the safety of students and staff. This is just one incident involving a student threatening a school in the past week. In Sidney, a student was arrested for threatening a shooting. In Huber Heights, a student was detained for bringing a weapon to 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 WDTN.com. Students at Gannon meet with prospective employers at first of three career fairs Students met with prospective employers on Tuesday for the first of three career fairs at Gannon University. These are industry-specific career fairs, and the first of the fairs connected employers in engineering, business and technology. Erie School District purchases 12 new electric school buses Next Wednesday, September 25, employers will be on hand representing nursing, laboratory sciences, rehabilitation services and radiology. That career fair is from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. in the Yehl Ballroom. McDowell Athletics announces 2024 Hall of Fame inductees The third career fair will be held in March with a focus on humanities and social sciences. Yeah, its great for the students to be able to, you know, so quickly have so many companies in their relevant fields. Its also great for the companies as well, you know, network before and after during lunch to, you know, find other ways that they might collaborate, collaborate with gain and as a whole or you know with our space as well, said Nick Devine, design and fabrication engineer at Gannon Universitys Makerspace. The university offers career fair prep sessions so students can learn the basics of resume development, interview attire and elevator pitches. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. "There was a three-day period where things could have gone either way... I went downhill so quickly," said Manolo Niembro, after he developed meningitis [Mousumi Bakshi/BBC] A student who said he almost died a few weeks after starting university has urged this year's undergraduates to check they have been vaccinated against meningitis. Manolo Niembro was studying at Bradford University when he began experiencing hallucinations and high fever, but he said the signs of the illness were missed by doctors at Bradford Royal Infirmary. The 21-year-old said it was the "worst experience of my life" and he was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in his home city of Cambridge for lifesaving treatment. The hospital in West Yorkshire has apologised for his care. The NHS said meningitis can spread quickly at university and students should make sure their vaccines are up to date. Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord and can be very serious if not treated quickly. Mr Niembro said he was studying at Bradford University when he became unwell in October 2022. "For me it was something that young children catch and it didn't occur my son was at risk at university," said Manolo's father Joe [Mousumi Bakshi/BBC] He said he started to get a sore back, which he put down to the bed at his accommodation, but he then developed a squint, hallucinations, high fever, double vision, migraines and became unsteady when standing. "[It was] the worst experience of my life," he said. After his first trip to hospital, he said he was recommended paracetamol, water, an eye patch and then sent home. On his second visit he said he felt "bullied out of the hospital", adding his girlfriend was "laughed at" by a staff member for suggesting a diagnosis of meningitis or sepsis. His parents then arranged a taxi to take him to hospital in Cambridge. The NHS says meningitis can affect anyone, but it is most common in babies, young children, teenagers and young adults, and can be very serious if not treated quickly. Children receive a number of meningitis vaccines at a young age - like Mr Niembro did - with a further MenACWY vaccine offered to teenagers, sixth formers and students going to university. According to Meningitis Research Foundation, many young adults are at risk from the disease which can be mistaken for freshers flu. 'Shell of a person' Manolo's father, Joe Niembro, said: "What went through my head was, I don't want to be one of those people who put the phone down and you don't hear from him again. "He was a shell of the person he was previously. I don't know how anyone could look at him and think he was OK, let alone medical staff." His mother, Juliet Niembro, said: "Nobody knows your child like you do. When things aren't right, get the right treatment if you're not happy with what a doctor says." Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it had apologised for Mr Niembro's care and treatment. A spokesperson said: "We expressed our sincere regret that the doctor and nurses didn't recognise how unwell Manolo was and for the additional stress and anxiety this caused him and his family. "Learning from Manolo's case was shared with the Emergency Department team, including the individuals concerned in his case. "We set high standards for ourselves and aim to get every patient's treatment and care right, and in most cases we do. "Please be assured we are committed to providing high quality healthcare for every patient." Mr Niembro has since started a new course at Sheffield University, studying engineering. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. More like this story Related internet links MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) Staff at Midland College want their students to know that they are there for them, both inside and outside of the classroom. Midland College hosted the West Texas Food Bank College Roadshow to support students and community members with a variety of resources and services. The event was free to the public and aimed to address some of the issues college students face including food insecurity. Hopefully, we can connect them and show them that theyre supported as they come to Midland College, and really address food insecurity, Nicole Cooper, Dean of Student Life at Midland College, said. Im over our new pantry and our emergency fund, and I think people would be surprised how many students, yes they want to get an education, yes they want better themselves. But, when youre worried about how youre going to put food on the table, how youre going to put food in your refrigerator for you and your kids, it makes it more difficult. So, as we have opportunities like this with the West Texas Food Bank, we are so excited to address that today. Several local organizations lent a helping as well, including Midland Colleges financial aid office, PermiaCare, Safe Place of the Permian Basin and more. An expert on SNAP food benefits also attended to help assist with paperwork and make the application process easier. RELATED: Midland ISD teaches parents and their kids the importance of pre-K Students at the event said they were happy to learn so many resources are available to them. Im just visiting the event today, Midland College student, Audrey Daye, said. I honestly didnt know what it was. I didnt know that these resources were available in Midland, so I think it was great to have it here on campus today. And it showed me that college students, a lot of us are in need of food or things like that, that its not always easy being a college student. So, it showed me that we can go out into the community and get these resources and they are here for us. You can find a full list of the resources Midland College has to offer on their 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 Yourbasin. New study makes disturbing revelation about one of the world's worst summers: 'We're racing against the clock' 2023 was the hottest year on record and had devastating effects on the global population. As The New York Times reported, excessive heat caused more than 47,000 Europeans to die in 2023. And that number would have been much higher without effective heat adaptation measures. What's happening? Researchers conducted a study about heat-related mortality in Europe and found that the death toll could have been 80% higher without newly implemented adaptations to rising temperatures. The statistics would have doubled for people over 80 without our advances in healthcare, cooling systems, and public information. The researchers published their study in Nature Medicine and wrote, "Our results highlight the importance of historical and ongoing adaptations in saving lives during recent summers and the urgency for more effective strategies to further reduce the mortality burden of forthcoming hotter summers." Communities are settling into extreme weather patterns as the new normal and are now more prepared to keep vulnerable populations hydrated, cool, and safe. But as temperatures continue to rise, we are pushing the boundaries of what we can adapt to. "We're quickly approaching the limits to what the human body can withstand," said Jordan Clark from Duke University's Heat Policy Innovation Hub. "We're racing against the clock." Why are increases in heat-related deaths concerning? This study demonstrates how deadly rising global temperatures are and how the problem is getting worse. Heat waves are becoming longer and more severe each year, and society's reliance on dirty energy is largely to blame. Our changing climate has made us more resilient to extreme weather, which is positive because this adaptation has saved lives. Yet the largest mortality risks tend to be in places with the most prolonged heat waves and where nighttime temperatures remain high. And some countries are more prepared for heat risks than others. "Europe is really ahead of the U.S. on many of these kinds of activities, like heat governance and early warning systems," said Duke University's Heat Policy Innovation Hub director, Ashley Ward. "The problem is growing faster than the data improvement is happening." What's being done about rising global temperatures? Fortunately, governments and environmentalists are taking numerous actions to help people be more prepared for extreme heat. For example, the Barcelona Institute created a website to alert vulnerable people about heat risks. Meanwhile, individual actions can make a significant difference when we collectively commit to a cooler, healthier future. We can curb rising temperatures by expanding green spaces, rethinking urban planning, investing in public transportation, and embracing renewable energy. You can also make small yet meaningful adjustments in the way you travel, how you care for your yard, and where you invest your money. 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. Josh Kevan, senior consultant for firm RVK Inc., presents a cash management study to lawmakers on the Government Finance Committee on Sept. 17, 2024. A key recommendation of the study was for the state to move its operating money out of the Bank of North Dakota. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor) A cash management study presented to lawmakers Tuesday recommends shifting state money away from the Bank of North Dakota to increase returns for state government. The state keeps most of its operating funding at the Bank of North Dakota, the nations only state-owned bank. A consultants report found that this relationship could be harming both parties, but it was met with criticism during a meeting of the Legislatures Government Finance Committee. The report, prepared by consulting firm RVK Inc., likened the state to a captive client to the bank and reasoned that state agencies are subsidizing the banks income by accepting lower returns on their assets. At the same time, this relationship also puts pressure on the Bank of North to return dividends to the general fund, said RVK senior consultant Josh Kevan. The consulting firm proposed removing the states funds from the Bank of North Dakota and having state agencies take over some of the cash management duties currently performed by the bank. That is in no way a recommendation to seize the operations of Bank of North Dakota, Kevan said. We assume that that continues to be a valuable part of your states infrastructure, but we do recommend exploring other ways to finance the banks balance sheet. The firm estimated that implementing its recommendations would bring the state an additional $9.5 billion over the next two decades. The reports findings drew skepticism and ire from legislators and some members of the banking community, who fear moving the money could hurt the Bank of North Dakota and other financial institutions in the state. Many questioned how the state would replace the funding if North Dakota were to move forward with the firms recommendations. Kevan said that this was beyond the scope of the report. Susan Sisk, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the studys steering committee recommends that lawmakers authorize an additional study that would research options for how the state could replace the Bank of North Dakotas capital if the states operating funds were moved elsewhere. Sisk told lawmakers that the steering estimates such a study would cost between $300,000 and $400,000. The study presented Tuesday cost $395,000, not including travel costs, according to the Office of Management and Budget. Bank of North Dakota CEO Don Morgan, who has led the bank for roughly a month, said he doesnt yet have a position on the recommendations. This could be a really sound business idea, he told the committee. It really could, or it could not. At this point in time, for me, a key point is just not enough information. Alexis Baxley, president of the Independent Community Banks of North Dakota, said the association opposed the recommendations because members viewed them as an affront to the Bank of North Dakotas mission. I think that removing the funding from the Bank of North Dakota would have a devastating impact on all of the rural communities, said Sarah Getzlaff, CEO of Security First Bank of North Dakota. Several people remarked during the meeting that they hadnt had time to digest the report, since it was only made public a day ahead of the committee meeting. Implementing the changes would require significant changes to state law, Kevan acknowledged. Gov. Doug Burgum has advocated for a cash management study, highlighting that North Dakota could be earning higher returns for its rainy day funds. The North Dakota Industrial Commission, led by the governor, oversees the Bank of North Dakota. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Study suggests how many cups of coffee per day may benefit your health NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) In todays health headlines, how much coffee to drink per day for health benefits, the outlook for antibiotic resistance in the future, and what to know about ultraprocessed foods and type 2 diabetes. Dr. F. Perry Wilson, associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, a Yale Medicine physician, and author of How Medicine Works and When It Doesnt, discusses these topics on Good Morning Connecticut at 9 a.m. Watch the interview in the video 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 WTNH.com. This embedded content is not available in your region. Nicola Sturgeon has predicted Scotland will become independent as part of a "wider shake-up" of UK governance, including Irish reunification. The former first minister also suggested further devolution for Wales in the coming years as part of a "very healthy realignment of how the nations of the British Isles are governed and co-operate together. Speaking to BBC Scotland News to mark the 10-year anniversary of the 2014 independence referendum, the ex-SNP leader said she believed a Yes victory was "within grasp" on the eve of the vote. Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson also claimed Sturgeon lost her opportunity to secure a second referendum by making her call "so fast, so hard and so early" after the 2016 Brexit vote. Although the Yes side lost the referendum, the SNP enjoyed unprecedented electoral success in the decade since. But it has also been rocked by the loss of 39 seats in July's general election, a public fallout between Sturgeon and Salmond and an ongoing police investigation into party finances. Asked about her future hopes for independence, Sturgeon said: I believe that, perhaps as part of a wider shake-up of UK governance, the reunification of Ireland, perhaps, more autonomy in Wales, that I think we will see Scotland become an independent country. "I'll certainly campaign and advocate for that for as long as I've got breath in my body. She declined to predict whether she thought Irish reunification or Scottish independence would come first, adding: It's not a matter for me, obviously, just as Scottish independence is not a matter for people in Ireland. But I do think that will happen." In May 2022, 10 months before she stepped down as first minister, Sturgeon met Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill at her official Bute House residence in Edinburgh to discuss Brexit. Nicola Sturgeon met Michelle O'Neill at Bute House House in 2022 [PA Media] Sturgeon said at the time that the departure from the EU had "brought to the fore some very fundamental questions" over governance in the UK. O'Neill became Northern Ireland's first nationalist first minister in February, fuelling debate about the possibility of a border poll. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement says that "the people on the island" should be able to exercise "their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland", subject to the principle of consent in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Act 1998 states that if at any time it appears likely" that a majority of those voting in a border poll would "express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland, the secretary of state will consent to a border poll. It is not clear exactly how this process would come about. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said last year that an Irish unity referendum was "not even on the horizon". Nicola Sturgeon says she was "unusually" optimistic about the result of the referendum [Getty Images] Speaking to BBC Scotland News, Sturgeon described herself as a natural pessimist but said that was not the case come polling day, 18 September 2014. "Unusually for me, in the final days, I was really optimistic," she told BBC Scotland News. "I definitely felt that victory was within grasp. The then deputy first minister had a leading role in the Yes campaign and spent the summer touring around Scotland. She returned to her home constituency of Glasgow Southside in the days before the referendum. The mood on the streets of Glasgow gave me perhaps a bit of an overly optimistic view of how the campaign was going right across the country," Ms Sturgeon said. The No side ultimately won by 55.3% to 44.7%. Sturgeon described the campaign as the "best of times and the worst of times". What I remember most about the campaign was just the energy, the sense of political awakening and in engagement that seemed to grip Scotland," she said. Debate 'disaster' Asked about any regrets, Sturgeon said she questioned whether the Yes campaign could have done some things differently. She cited a united front from Westminster parties in opposition to proposals for a currency union, and described as a "disaster" the first TV debate between her predecessor Alex Salmond and Better Together chairman Alistair Darling Darling was thought to have got the better of that exchange in early August 2014 after pressing Salmond on a plan B on currency plans. Ms Sturgeon added: "Because these things didn't lead to a haemorrhaging of Yes support, I think we comforted ourselves that they hadnt done any real harm. "Looking back, I think these were moments that probably slowed down what was quite a steady shift of opinion from soft No undecided voters to the Yes side. Later in August, Salmond was widely considered to have outperformed his opponent in the second televised debate. Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond faced off at the BBC debate in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum [PA Media] Two years after the independence referendum, the UK voted to leave the EU - despite Scotland voting in favour of Remain by 62% to 38%. The SNP's subsequent demands for a second referendum were thwarted by Westminster, leading to criticism from within the Yes movement of Sturgeon's leadership. The ex-SNP leader admitted she didn't get everything right, far from it". She said she "fervently" wished the SNP had made further progress on independence in the past decade. 'Westminster democracy denial' Sturgeon insisted while it may not feel like the Yes campaign was motoring forward, levels of support were stable, and especially high among young people. The former first minister added: I came up against a brick wall of Westminster democracy denial in refusing the right of the Scottish people to choose their own future. "Do I wish I had found a way around that? Yes, but that was the situation I faced. Had that right to choose been secured, I believe Scotland would have voted Yes. Prof Sir John Curtice, president of the British Polling Council, told BBC Scotland News that support for independence had stabilised at just under 50%, and had been unaffected by the SNP's recent issues. According to YouGov polling published on Tuesday, almost one in four (39%) of 16 to 24-year-old respondents said they would back Yes, with three in 10 (31%) in favour of No. Yes was also more popular than No among 25 to 49-year-olds, although there was a majority for the union in older age groups. Ruth Davidson, left, campaigned alongside Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont and Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie during the referendum [Getty Images] In the immediate aftermath, Sturgeon declared a fresh ballot on independence was highly likely - prompting her then deputy, John Swinney, to raise concerns about that strategy. Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who campaigned for Better Together a decade ago, said Sturgeon "probably" had an opportunity to secure a second independence referendum following the Brexit vote. Her appetite to go so fast, so hard and so early took that opportunity away from her," she told BBC Scotland News. She suggested Sturgeon should have put party politics aside and tried to work with the UK government to salvage what it could from Brexit. And then maybe six months down the line said, you know what I cant work with these people, Scotland has another opportunity, it has another choice, I think things could have been materially different," Davidson said. 'Overwhelmingly positive legacy' The former Tory leader said that while she would have argued against a second referendum, it would have been "incredibly hard" if Sturgeon adopted a different approach. Davidson claimed people who may have supported Sturgeon's call for another vote were "turned off by the idea that she wanted to use Brexit to immediately jump to this other thing". Swinney, who succeeded Humza Yousaf as first minister in May, will address independence campaigners in Edinburgh to mark the anniversary of the referendum. He is expected to say that while he was "devastated" by the result, he is "in no doubt" the referendum left "an overwhelmingly positive legacy" on Scotland. This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Suicide is a leading cause of death in the U.S., with over 49,000 people taking their own lives in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although most suicides stem from mental health disorders, statistics show that the behavior can sometimes be "contagious," leading to "suicide clusters." Suicide clusters are defined as "a group of suicides or suicide attempts that occur closer together in time, space or both than would normally be expected in a community," the CDC states. ON WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY, NEW REPORT IDENTIFIES THREE TOP FACTORS DRIVING SUICIDE RATES Dr. Caroline Fenkel, a licensed clinical social worker in Pennsylvania and the chief clinical officer at Charlie Health, confirmed that the act can have a contagion effect particularly among young people. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "When individuals hear about a suicide, especially someone close to their age or in their community, it can feel more accessible as an option in moments of distress," she told Fox News Digital. Although most suicides stem from mental health disorders, statistics show that the behavior can sometimes be "contagious," leading to "suicide clusters." "The more the details are shared, especially in sensational ways, the greater the risk." Up to 5% of youth suicides can be attributed to contagion, according to Jennifer Kelman, a licensed clinical care social worker in Florida who works with JustAnswer, an expert help on-demand platform. AMERICAN VETERANS WHO COMMIT SUICIDE ARE 95% MALE, CRISIS OFTEN DRIVEN BY FAMILY DISPUTES, SAY EXPERTS "It doesnt necessarily increase for everyone in that community, but rather for those who are struggling as well with depression, anxiety and other feelings that may be overwhelming," she told Fox News Digital. Dr. Deborah Gilman, owner and chief licensed psychologist at Fox Chapel Psychological Services in Pennsylvania, shared the following four factors that could contribute to suicide clusters. When people hear about suicides, it can normalize the idea of using it as a way to deal with problems, according to Gilman. Experts encourage people to talk openly and compassionately about mental health to help reduce the stigma. "People often look to others for cues on how to behave," she told Fox News Digital. "If they see that many others are choosing suicide, they may believe that it is the socially acceptable or correct thing to do." "Some individuals may feel a sense of connection or empathy with the person who died and may imitate their actions," Gilman said. "In close-knit communities, schools or social groups, the suicide of one member can lead to others in the same environment feeling similar distress or engaging in similar behaviors." Some individuals may imitate the behavior of someone who has died by suicide, especially if they are already struggling with their own mental health, she said. "This can be due to a sense of hopelessness or a desire to escape their own pain." People may believe that if others are choosing suicide, it must be a valid option for them as well, according to Gilman. "From social learning theory, if the observed behavior in this case, suicide is seen as a positive outcome or a solution to problems, it may be reinforced and more likely to be imitated." SLEEP DISORDER DROVE MY SON TO SUICIDE, NEW YORK MOTHER SAYS: BROKE MY HEART This risk can escalate when a celebrity or widely admired person dies by suicide, she added, as it can have a disproportionate impact on those who look up to that individual. "Individuals who are already struggling with mental health issues especially depression and anxiety may be more likely to experience suicidal thoughts or behaviors," Gilman warned. Those experiencing difficult life circumstances such as job loss, divorce or financial struggles may be more susceptible, she added. "Pulling away from friends, family or support groups can indicate that the survivor is struggling more than they can manage on their own," a mental health expert warned. "People tend to overestimate the likelihood of events that are easily recalled," Gilman said. "If a recent suicide has been widely publicized, it may make the idea of suicide more accessible and salient in people's minds." For those impacted by suicide, experts agreed that it's important to watch for signs of deep distress, including the following. "Experiencing recurring or intensifying thoughts of suicide is a critical warning sign that immediate professional help is necessary," Gilman advised. "For instance, the survivor may start having more frequent thoughts about ending their own life or making plans for it." NEW YORK TEEN STARTS NONPROFIT FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION THROUGH BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS: 'WANTED TO HELP' They may also express feelings of being overwhelmed to the point where they believe suicide is the only option, she said. People saying they feel like a burden is a "major red flag," according to Thomas Banta, a clinical mental health counselor in Jeffersonville, Indiana. "Many people who try to end their lives feel they are doing the people around them a favor," he told Fox News Digital. "When we hear that type of language, intervention is essential." "Difficulty managing daily responsibilities or activities can indicate that the emotional burden is too great to handle without professional support," Gilman said. "It's crucial to highlight help and hope, encouraging those who are struggling to seek support," a mental health expert said. The survivor may struggle to maintain a job, manage household duties or care for themselves due to their emotional state. Engaging in unsafe or self-harming actions is a serious sign that mental health treatment is needed, experts agree. "For example, the survivor may start harming themselves physically, such as cutting or burning, as a means of dealing with their emotional pain," said Gilman. "Or they may engage in dangerous activities, like reckless driving, promiscuous sex or substance abuse, which puts their health and safety at risk." Significant changes in behavior or mood that affect a survivors ability to function in everyday life can be a sign that they need help, according to Gilman. This might involve the survivor becoming unusually aggressive, withdrawn or apathetic, or displaying behavior that is significantly different from their "normal" demeanor. Participating in unsafe or self-harming actions is a serious sign that mental health treatment is needed, experts agree. "Pulling away from friends, family or support groups can indicate that the survivor is struggling more than they can manage on their own," Gilman warned. The person might avoid social interactions, decline invitations or isolate themselves from people who usually offer support. The signs arent always obvious, however, Banta noted. "We also see the opposite end of the spectrum, where somebody will make a plan, and their mood lifts because they feel like they have found an escape," he said. Experts offered the following tips to help reduce the risk of "clusters" following a suicide. "Its important to be cautious about how we discuss suicide publicly," Fenkel said. The best way to prevent contagion is through responsible communication, she advised. "This includes limiting the specifics around the method of suicide and focusing on the impact of the loss," she said. Offering access to crisis resources can help vulnerable individuals feel connected and supported, Fenkel said. The best way to prevent contagion is through responsible communication, an expert advised. "This includes limiting the specifics around the method of suicide and focusing on the impact of the loss." "It's crucial to highlight help and hope, encouraging those who are struggling to seek support," she said, noting that many schools and communities provide mental health services to help those who are grieving. Banta agreed, noting that intervention and higher levels of care can stabilize people and help them develop a robust support system. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER "In terms of public health communication, we must let people know that treatment works and that there is effective help out there," he said. "Stigma can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, which can contribute to suicidal ideation," Gilman warned. When people feel comfortable discussing their mental health concerns without fear of judgment, they are more likely to seek help from professionals, she noted. "I have worked with many people who felt hopeless and that their lives would never improve, but then they did," a therapist told Fox News Digital. Fenkel agreed, encouraging people to talk openly and compassionately about mental health. "Anyone experiencing thoughts of suicide should know that there is help available, and reaching out for support is a sign of strength, not weakness," she said. Suicide is a "fleeting state of mind," Banta pointed out. For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health "I have worked with many people who felt hopeless and that their lives would never improve, but then they did," he said. "So if you are struggling and reading this, there is help. Don't give up." Original article source: Is suicide contagious? Mental health experts warn of very real risk Summerville man arrested on multiple counts for sexual exploitation of minor CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of a Summerville man on multiple charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor. Christopher Michael McCoy, 45, of Summerville was arrested on 13 charges connected to McCoy distributing and possessing files of child sexual abuse material, according to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. Officials say McCoy was arrested on September 16 by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators with the Dorchester County Sheriffs Office. McCoy is charged with two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in the second degree, and 11 counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in the third degree. The Attorney Generals Office will prosecute the case, said 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 WCBD News 2. (The Hill) Superbugs that are increasingly resistant to infections could kill up to 40 million people between now and 2050, according to new research published in the journal The Lancet. During that time period, the extensive study forecasted that 169 million deaths would be associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The study was described as the first of its kind to present a comprehensive assessment of the threats AMR poses globally. The study found that over a million people died from AMR annually across the globe between 1990 and 2021. American cheese on burgers: Good or bad? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve and no longer respond to medicines. This makes infections more difficult to treat and increases the risk of disease transmission, serious illness, and death. The WHO said AMR is one of the top global public health and development threats and affects countries in all regions and at all income levels. Deaths from AMR, between 1990 and 2021, have dropped more than 50 percent among kids younger than 5 years old, but the numbers have increased by over 80 percent for those aged 70 and above, according to the study. The study also predicted that deaths from AMR will rise by 2050 if effective measures to address the issue are not set in place. Our analysis of trends in AMR mortality by age suggests that there is a need for interventions to tackle the increasing burden of AMR in older age groups going forward, the researchers wrote. Severe geomagnetic storm reported: Will it spark auroras, impact electrical grids? The researchers also wrote that 1.91 million people around the world could die as a direct result of AMR in 2050 alone. Around 8.22 million deaths associated with AMR could happen globally in 2050, according to the study. Given the high variability of AMR burden by location and age, it is important that interventions combine infection prevention, vaccination, minimisation of inappropriate antibiotic use in farming and humans, and research into new antibiotics to mitigate the number of AMR deaths that are forecasted for 2050, the researchers wrote. Next week, on Sept. 26, world leaders will gather at the United Nations General Assembly for a high-level meeting on how to combat AMR. Nexstars Ashleigh Jackson 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 Queen City News. Resistance to antibiotics has led to one million worldwide deaths each year since 1990, for a total of 36 million. It is expected to cause more than 39 million more fatalities by 2050 three per minute. Thats according to a large study led by the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) Project, a partnership between the University of Oxford and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. NEW ANTIBIOTIC KILLS DEADLY, DRUG-RESISTANT BACTERIA IN SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH After analyzing 520 million health records, the researchers provided future estimates for 22 pathogens, 84 pathogen-drug combinations and 11 infectious syndromes across 204 countries and territories, according to a GRAM press release. Resistance to antibiotics has led to one million worldwide deaths each year since 1990, for a total of 36 million. Findings from the study were published in The Lancet on Monday. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria and other types of germs become stronger than the medications given to treat them, creating so-called "superbugs." This can make infections difficult or impossible to treat, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). WHY ANTIBIOTICS MAY NOT HELP PATIENTS SURVIVE THEIR VIRAL INFECTIONS: NEW RESEARCH "In modern medicine, the use of antibiotics has allowed us to successfully perform organ transplants, complex surgical procedures and care for extremely preterm infants," Jasmine Riviere Marcelin, MD, a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and infectious diseases professor at the University of Nebraska who was not involved in the study told Fox News Digital. "These interventions have been successful because antibiotics have allowed us to prevent and treat infections in these critically ill patients." Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria and other types of germs become stronger than the medications given to treat them, creating so-called "superbugs." Now, antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a "significant health risk," she warned, because they prevent the ability to treat or prevent infections. "Not only will our advancements in medicine be at risk, but we may find ourselves back to where we were in the pre-antibiotic era, when mortality from simple skin/soft tissue infections was significant," Marcelin added. Maureen Tierney, MD, associate dean of clinical research and public health at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, was also not involved in the study, but confirmed that it is "the most comprehensive attempt to determine the burden of antimicrobial resistance [in terms of] disability and death." "This was an enormous effort using all different sources of data in countries around the world to estimate the number of deaths caused by microorganisms resistant to several types of antibiotics," she told Fox News Digital. Since 1990, the infection that caused the biggest increase was MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus), a type of staph bacteria that has become resistant to some antibiotics. Annual MRSA-related deaths increased from 57,200 in 1990 to 130,000 in 2021, the study found. Despite the overall increase in AMR-related mortality, deaths among kids younger than 5 were cut in half between 1990 and 2021. Since 1990, the infection that caused the biggest increase was MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus), a type of staph bacteria that has become resistant to some antibiotics. The researchers attributed this to childhood vaccination programs and wider access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene practices. The sharpest increase was among adults 70 and older, who saw a more than 80% uptick in AMR deaths. 'VACCINE FATIGUE' BLAMED AS ROUGHLY HALF OF PEOPLE IN US WILL SKIP COVID AND FLU SHOTS THIS YEAR "Researchers expect these trends to continue in the coming decades, with AMR deaths among children under 5 projected to halve by 2050 globally, as deaths among people 70 years and older more than double," the press release stated. Geographically, deaths rose the most in western sub-Saharan Africa, tropical Latin America, high-income North America, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Next week, global health leaders plan to meet at the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss new strategies for addressing AMR. Potential interventions include "infection prevention and control measures, such as new vaccines and antimicrobials, and improved access to water and sanitation as well as deeper investments across health systems in diagnostics, training and new technologies," the release stated. "The most important ways to decrease the incidence of antibiotic resistance are vaccination for pneumonia, influenza, COVID, measles and other diseases," an infectious diseases expert told Fox News Digital. "The most important ways to decrease the incidence of antibiotic resistance are vaccination for pneumonia, influenza, COVID, measles and other diseases," Tierney from Creighton University told Fox News Digital. Tierney also calls for "antimicrobial stewardship" which she defines as "the judicious use of antibiotics in humans, animals and farming" as well as infection prevention practices, especially in health care facilities, and the development of new antibiotics. While creating new drugs is one way to combat AMR, Marcelin warned that relying only on drug discovery would be "futile," given the length of time it takes for new medications to be developed, tested and approved. "The number of new or repurposed antibiotics in late-stage clinical development is very small, and no single antibiotic candidate claims to have activity against those bacteria resistant to all currently available drugs," she told Fox News Digital. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER "If we cant make new drugs easily, we can combat resistance by controlling the spread of resistant organisms, which is the principle of infection control." To prevent resistance, experts say that antibiotics should be prescribed and used "only when they are indicated, for the optimal duration, and at the right timing and dosing regimen." To prevent resistance, Marcelin agrees that antibiotics should be prescribed and used "only when they are indicated, for the optimal duration, and at the right timing and dosing regimen." She added, "Antibiotics are a shared natural resource that we must all protect, so that we can continue to live in a world where we make medical advances and reduce mortality from bacterial infections." For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health Fox News Digital reached out to GRAM researchers requesting comment. Original article source: Superbugs due to antibiotic resistance could kill 39 million people by 2050, large study finds Supporters of an at-risk youth program fired by Tarrant County say the move makes no sense A new contract to provide at-risk youth services was approved by the Tarrant County Juvenile Board on Wednesday, while some community advocates continued to criticize the decision to end the previous contract. The board voted unanimously to partner with My Health My Resources of Tarrant County to work with youth to help them rehabilitate. MHMR will replace Youth Advocate Programs Inc., whose contract was discontinued by the board in July over various concerns including language on its website about diversity initiatives and systemic racism. The nonpartisan Youth Advocate Programs, based in Pennsylvania, provided counseling, mentors and community service in an effort to reduce repeat offenders. The company worked with the county since 1992. MHMR, a local unit of government whose board is appointed by county commissioners, already holds other contracts with Juvenile Services including for mental health assessments and substance abuse treatment. Its new contract is worth up to $895,000. The CEO of Youth Advocate Programs, Gary Ivory, said the Juvenile Board unfairly ended the contract. Ivory told the Star-Telegram that he had met with County Judge Tim OHare in July after the contract was discontinued and showed OHare screenshots from the websites of MHMR and other organizations that do business with the county. They had the same language on their sites. MHMR previously had a web page dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion, according to an archived version of MHMRs website. The page no longer exists on MHMRs About Us tab. Community Frontline, an east Fort Worth advocacy group, and the Justice Network of Tarrant County, held a press conference Wednesday in support of Youth Advocate Programs. . My heart is broken because this is 2024, were fighting a program that has a 100% success rate of their kids, said Sharon Hines, an Air Force veteran and member of the Justice Network. They go to high school, they get their GEDs, they get jobs. Why would we be against that program? Tarrant County is scary. At a Juvenile Board meeting in August, public comments in support of Youth Advocate Programs Inc. were cut short when judges left the meeting. Kimberly Brandon, a vice president with the organization, was one of the people who wasnt allowed to speak to the full board. She said 90% of the participants in their programs were not adjudicated or convicted of new charges, and 100% stayed in school or graduated. The work that we do is impactful, its needed, Brandon told the Star Telegram. It doesnt have to ever be a competition, because it shouldnt. There is enough need to go around. Brandon said Youth Advocate Programs is still working on what will happen to employees and will graduate the last remaining youth participants in two weeks. Its last contract with the county ends Sept. 30. Ben Travis, director of development at Community Frontline, said the non-renewal of Youth Advocate Programs contract had little to do with merits of the program. Theres a lot of talk about not being anti-kids at that meeting, Travis said. I would ask you to really ensure you consider what your plan is, to ensure that these services are replaced with a program that will better sit with your kind of framework of what you care to see, but also ensure that youth are receiving those services that they need. This week, ProPublica reported on the story of Amber Thurman, a young mother from Georgia, whose death after being denied abortion care is heartbreaking and enraging and was completely preventable. As an emergency physician and a human rights attorney working to create access to quality reproductive health care, we know that this unnecessary tragedy is a direct result of banning abortion. According to ProPublicas in-depth coverage, in 2022 Thurman arrived at a Georgia emergency department seeking medical care shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion. She was experiencing a rare but life-threatening miscarriage complicationretained products of conception. This complication can occur after any pregnancy loss. Because Georgias abortion ban had gone into effect after the Dobbs ruling, Thurman, a single mother of a 6-year-old son, had traveled to North Carolina, where she received medication to legally terminate her pregnancy. After complications arose, she was unable to travel the distance back to the North Carolina clinic, so she sought care in her home state. On presentation to the emergency department, according to the time line in the article, she exhibited low blood pressure, a tender abdomen, and foul-smelling discharge during a pelvic examall evidence of abdominal infection. Doctors started her on fluids and antibiotics and called for an OB-GYN consult. They noted the possibility of a dilation and curettage, the procedure that would remove the source of her infection and is standard best medical practice to reverse the potentially fatal infection that was ravaging her body. Although the medical care Thurman needed is not new or controversial, timely delivery is critical to success. In emergency medicine, as soon as we identify a solvable problem, we must initiate that solution. An OB-GYN was called early in her care, but it took nearly a day for Thurman to get to the operating room for intervention. By that point, it was too late. Now, two years later, the state of Georgia review board on maternal mortality has ruled her death preventable. Georgia HB 481, the anti-abortion law that was initially passed in 2019 and enacted in 2022, became enforceable once SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade and eviscerated federal protection for abortion rights. This law bans all abortions after six weeks and includes an exception that any such act shall not be considered an abortion if the act is performed with the purpose of Removing a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion. That exception was apparently not enough for doctors to save Amber Thurmans life. The question about Georgias ban becomes: When and how is it legal to intervene to save a womans life if her abortion was induced versus her having a spontaneous abortion? Was this distinction what contributed to Thurmans preventable death? According to ProPublica, Thurman obtained medication abortion legally in a neighboring state and returned to her home state of Georgia to be with her family and complete her miscarriage. Lifesaving medical treatment for a patient who has had a miscarriage is the same regardless of what initiated it. In the Georgia abortion ban, the insertion of the medically unnecessary word spontaneous may be confusing physicians and delaying care that would otherwise be protected under the life of the mother exceptions that exist in every U.S. state. The lethal implications of patients lack of access to abortion follow-up care are real. This relates not only to elective terminations but also to terminations for fetal anomalies or a new cancer diagnosis. Thurmans story needs to be a clarion call to physicians to act on behalf of our patients, no matter where they live. We must pledge that we will not restrict lifesaving care for specific patients that we would provide to others. It is crucial that lawyers and hospital administrators, meanwhile, support clinicians in offering necessary medical care and refusing to work in an atmosphere where they fear for their job and even liberty. When care providers operate under confusing or vague laws, it is ultimately patients who are the most harmed. Legislators and courts have repeatedly ruled that it is on doctors, as experts, to deliver the care patients need. Its time for them to support us in doing that. It is too late for Thurmans family, but there are many more patients who seek emergency care, whose very lives will depend on it. The new Democratic ticket for U.S. president gained support among certain religious voters, while the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump maintains steady support among others despite recent fallout over abortion. Two new reports, one from Lifeway Research on Tuesday and another from Pew Research Center last week offer the first quantitative picture of religious voters views on the November election since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee instead of President Joe Biden. Just as the bid of Harris and that of her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, shifted attitudes within the electorate more broadly, so has it with religious voters. Out of all the descriptors of pastors, their own political party preference is the best predictor of how they will vote, said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, a subdivision for the publishing arm of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention, in a news release. Denominational groups often lean one way politically, but pastors must minister alongside many clergy who dont share their political views. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris debate for the first time during the presidential election campaign at the National Constitution Center on Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. The Lifeway Research report, based on responses collected between Aug. 8 to Sept. 3, specifically surveyed pastors across different Protestant denominations. The Pew report is based on a survey from Aug. 26 to Sept. 3 of voters representing various religious traditions. Here are key takeaways: Important context: Harris enters the race, Trump and abortion Some of the biggest questions lately on the role of religion in the November election have been about Harris support among various faith groups compared to Biden and about Christians attitudes toward Trump amid ongoing conflict over abortion. Abortion has been the single-most important issue for the evangelical alliance with Trump starting back in 2016. But that balance has shifted recently with Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, showing support for state autonomy in determining abortion restrictions and for in vitro fertilization, or IVF. For conservative evangelicals, who desire tighter abortion restrictions within every state and at the federal level and who are more explicitly opposing IVF, the Republican partys shifting stance on reproductive health is an outrage and for some feels like a betrayal. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump campaigns for the first time with his chosen running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, in Grand Rapids, Mich., on July 20, 2024. Before Biden dropped out of the race, Pew published a report in April that showed 81% of white evangelical Protestant voters and 61% of white Catholics supported Trump. In that same report, 77% of Black Protestants and 49% of Hispanic Catholics supported Biden. Harris entrance into the presidential race is expected to generate greater support among non-white faith groups, especially among historically Black church communities. Harris herself has been affiliated with a historically Black congregation in San Francisco thats aligned with the National Baptist Convention, USA, which is the nations largest Black Protestant denomination and is headquartered in Nashville. Recent and related: How a new effort aims to reclaim evangelical Christian label and bridge partisan divides New data: Harris vs. Trump The top-level statistics from the new Lifeway Research report and most recent Pew data are: The Lifeway Research survey of pastors found 50% of respondents planned to vote for Trump while 24% planned to vote for Harris. Among the pastors who planned to vote for Harris, 71% were Black and 21% were white. In the recent Pew report on religious voters, 86% of Black Protestants and 65% of Hispanic Catholics planned to vote for Harris. Compared to that same data for Biden in Pews previous report, Harris saw an uptick of 9 percentage points for Black Protestant voters and 16 percentage points for Hispanic Catholics. Comparing the two Pew reports, overall support for Trump among white evangelical Protestant voters and white Catholics didnt significantly change. Otherwise, the religious dynamics of the U.S. presidential campaign look about as they did in the spring, said Gregory Smith, senior associate director of research at Pew, in a Sept. 9 post. On the issues: immigration, abortion, personal character The new Lifeway Research and Pew reports show party affiliation is the factor most indicative of religious voters support for Harris versus Trump, meaning those voters care about a variety of issues important to Democrats and Republicans. According to the Lifeway Research report, the top issues in determining a pastor's vote are national security, religious freedom, foreign policy, the economy, immigration, abortion and personal character. Among those issues, the recent Pew report emphasized immigration and said the importance of the issue is highest among faith groups most likely to support Trump white evangelical Protestants and white Catholics. People bow their heads during a prayer during a Prayer Vigil for America Sunday, July 14, 2024 at Zeidler Union Square in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The park is located five blocks from Fiserv Forum, site of the Republican National Convention that starts Monday. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Via OlyDrop) Pastors are not single-issue voters. They care deeply about where presidential candidates stand on many issues, said McConnell in a news release about Lifeway Researchs findings. As a result, abortion doesnt seem to be the most dominant issue for evangelical Christians and white Catholics. Its unclear how much of that is a response to Trumps recent comments on abortion, which some conservative Christians have criticized as no less pro-choice than the Democrats. Pew said fewer Catholics and white Protestants rated abortion as a very important issue compared to more Democratic-leaning categories of religious voters, such as atheist, agnostic and Jewish voters. Lifeway Research found 29% of pastors planning to vote for Trump said abortion is an important issue. That group was mostly comprised of older, white, male, evangelical pastors. Meanwhile, instead of abortion, pastors who were women, Black and affiliated with mainline Protestant groups said personal character was important to determine which candidate they vote for. Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on social media @liamsadams. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: New poll reveals Harris, Trump support among religious voters A neighborhood is getting some answers after investigators discovered that two people found during a house fire were shot and killed. Now someone is in custody. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Cynthia Mitchell woke up to an unusual noise early last Monday morning. Pop, pop, pop, pop. My son thought it was gunfire. He woke me up, so I came outside looking on the porch, looking to see if I see anything. I saw the orange glow, I seen some fire, Mitchell told Channel 2s Candace McCowan. She thought that popping noise was just the beginning of a fire that engulfed the house on Cohassett Lane Sept. 9. It was hours later that she learned the two people who lived in the house, Brittany Hall and Derris Woods, died. And now investigators say it wasnt the fire that killed them, but instead gunshots. TRENDING STORIES: Neighbors didnt really think twice about the fire until they saw a sign that was posted in the front yard of the burnt-out home, saying Georgia Arson Control was offering a reward of up to $10,000. Thats when they began to worry. Because of the sign out there in the yard saying arson and the homicide detective so it has to be more than just fire, Mitchell said. DeKalb County Police detectives now say they were able to quickly identify the suspect, who was later arrested in Mississippi. The news has left Mitchell with mixed emotions. I havent been able to sleep to find out whats going on over there. Im so glad to hear that, somebody arrested, I may can rest tonight, Mitchell said. Its still scary. Its scary. Investigators have not released the name of the suspect or said what led to the murders. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A man suspected of running a drug trafficking ring in the Finger Lakes region was arrested in North Carolina last Thursday. The Ontario County Sheriffs Office began investigating the drug ring in November 2022. Sharif D Parker allegedly ran the ring. On June 23, 2023, deputies searched multiple locations, including Parkers home in Wayne County. While searching his home, deputies said they found illegal drugs, guns, and other weapons. Parker was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-and-third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree money laundering, fourth-degree conspiracy, and second-degree criminal using drug paraphernalia. Before the indictment was issued, it was alleged that Parker left the area to avoid prosecution. After pursuing several leads and tips, Parker was found last Thursday at a home near Charlotte, North Carolina. Parker was taken to the Cabarrus County Jail. Deputies are working to extradite him back to Ontario County to answer to these 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 RochesterFirst. A 14-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday after a threat was made to Helena High School, police said. Earlier in the day, the school was put under a Shelter in Place as a precautionary measure due to a threat made to the school via social media, Helena Public Schools district officials said. Helena police said Wednesday that officers received a report Tuesday of a person making threats toward Helena High School and met with the person. Another threat was received Wednesday morning related to the previous threat, authorities said. Wednesday morning's threat was posted on the social media platform SnapChat, school district officials said. The boy who made the threat was arrested for intimidation, Helena police said, and has been transported to a juvenile detention facility. Officers are still investigating but are not aware of any other active threats toward the schools. They declined to release further information. Officials did not provide details on what kind of threat was made. The "Shelter in Place" was lifted 10:49 a.m. and the school returned to its normal schedule, district officials said. During the "Shelter in Place," all exterior doors were locked and students and staff stayed in their current classrooms. The district said it asked the Helena Police Department to increase law enforcement presence at all of the schools. Superintendent Rex Weltz, in an update Wednesday afternoon to district families and staff, said students alerted counselors at Helena and Capital high schools early Wednesday to a social media threat. He said the threat, which was circulating on Snapchat, was immediately reported to local law enforcement. The threat did not name any specific schools in Montana and was deemed non-credible by law enforcement, Weltz said. Helena Police Chief Brett Petty shared with us that this post was already on the radar of the Montana Analysis and Technical Information Center (MAITIC), an arm of the Montana Department of Justice that tracks and analyzes social media threats. At the same time, students alerted staff at Helena High of a separate threat on Snapchat specific to Helena High and from a local source, Weltz said. He said it was made off of the Helena High campus. He said the district initiated a Shelter in Place at Helena High until law enforcement was able to locate a suspect. Police presence was increased at schools districtwide. Weltz said the Shelter in Place was lifted when police notified the district the suspect was in custody and Helena High students returned to their normal schedule for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, as a result of there being two school threats reported on the same morning one credible and one not a rumor started on social media, he said. Posts claimed that a school threat reported by students at Capital High was ignored by school staff and administration. This was not the case. Weltz said the threat referenced at Capital High was, in fact, the national threat circulating on Snapchat that was deemed non-credible by law enforcement. The threat states that fire alarms will be pulled at schools tomorrow and that students will be targeted as they evacuate, he said. I want to reiterate that this threat has been determined by law enforcement to be non-credible. There was no specific, credible threat made toward Capital High School. All Helena public schools will operate as usual Thursday. There will be increased police presence at schools throughout the district. Weltz thanked all who helped keep students and staff safe throughout the district Wednesday law enforcement, school staff, parents, community members and students. I especially want to thank the students who came forward to report the Snapchat threats, Weltz said. Supporting positive school environments, where students feel comfortable reporting concerns to a trusted adult, is one of the most powerful things we can do to protect our schools. To read the full update by Weltz, go to: https://go.helenair.com/o7vk0b. NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) A man wanted for murder in Mount Vernon, New York was arrested in Norfolk last month. Ronald Hechavarria (Courtesy of the Norfolk Sheriffs Office) Around 10:20 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1, officers from the Mount Vernon Police Department were called to Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital for the report of a stabbing victim. When officers arrived on the scene, they learned that 37-year-old Michael Clay, of Mount Vernon, New York, had suffered multiple stab wounds to his chest and arm. Clay was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Shortly after detectives began investigating, they identified 34-year-old Mount Vernon resident Ronald Eueu Hechavarria as a suspect. The investigation also revealed that Hechavarria had fled New York and was located in Norfolk. Hechavarria was apprehended on Aug. 12 at an apartment complex in Norfolk. Multiple law enforcement agencies including the Norfolk Police Department, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force in Norfolk, and the Westchester County FBI Safe Streets Task Force assisted with the arrest. The Westchester County Department of Public Safety Warrant Fugitive Unit transported Hechavarria back to Mount Vernon. He was charged with murder in the 2nd degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the 3rd Degree. On Friday, Sept. 13 Hechavarria was arraigned in Westchester County Court and was remanded to the Westchester County Jail. In a social media post, the Mount Vernon Police Department extended its heartfelt thanks to the Norfolk Police Department and the Norfolk FBI Safe Streets Task Force. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A man accused in connection to a shooting Monday on the campus of the Ohio State University is in custody. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Richard Patridge, 31, was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Columbus after being spotted by police, according to our news partner WBNS in Columbus. As previously reported by News Center 7 on Tuesday, police responded to a report of a shooting just before 8:30 p.m. Monday in the area of John Herrick Drive and Olentangy River Road, near the southern end of campus. Online jail records show Patridge is in Franklin County Jail on three counts of felonious assault, a felony count of abduction, and a misdemeanor count of failure to comply with order or signal of police. TRENDING STORIES: OSU confirmed the arrest in a public safety notice sent to campus. Police have the suspect in custody in relation to the shooting that led to the issuance of a Public Safety Notice on Monday, September 16. The suspect, Richard James Patridge, is charged with felonious assault against a known individual. Neither the suspect or the victim are affiliated with Ohio State, meaning neither are students, faculty, or staff. Patridge was a person of interest for The Ohio State University Police Division (OSUPD) and the Columbus Division of Police (CPD) related to multiple previous incidents. OSUPD would like to thank the CPD for assisting in the investigation and apprehension of the suspect. The investigation is ongoing. Patridge is scheduled to appear in Franklin County Municipal Court on Wednesday. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Suspects in federal New Mexico gun trafficking case to be held through trial NEW MEXICO (KRQE) Five men charged federally for selling guns through social media apps will be held through their trials. Micah Maestas, Dominic Ramirez, Daniel Garcia along with Jesus and Oscar Salmeron are all accused of using social media to advertise weapons over several months this year. Albuquerque man facing federal gun, drug charges Their indictment said they negotiated a sale, transported the gun to the buyer, and illegally sold it. Theyre also accused of selling cocaine and machine gun converters for handguns. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Suspicious mail containing a white powder substance was sent to election offices in at least 17 states this week, according to ABC News. Election offices in New York, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Colorado, and Massachusetts received those suspicious packages. Similar suspicious mail was addressed to offices in Arizona, Georgia, Connecticut, Maryland, and Maine, but investigators intercepted them before they reached their destination. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The package sent to Colorado contained white powder and was sent with a return address to the U.S. Traitor Elimination Army, the secretary of states office said in a statement. Election offices in Kansas and Wyoming were evacuated on Monday and the ventilation system in the Missouri secretary of states office in Jefferson City was briefly shut down as a precaution. The FBI issued a statement about the incidents: The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to election officials in several states. Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident and safely collect the letters. We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters. As this is an ongoing matter we will not be commenting further on the investigation, but the public can be assured safety is our top priority. We would also like to remind everyone to exercise care in handling mail, especially from unrecognized senders. If you see something suspicious, please contact law enforcement immediately. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: SUV rips ATM from Bank of America in Sacramento County (FOX40.COM) Two brothers robbed a bank in the Gold River area on Sunday by tearing an ATM from a Bank of America with a truck, according to the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office. Juan Rincon, 36, and Jose Rincon, 38, allegedly attached hooks and chains to the ATM and used a black Ford SUV to pull the ATM from its housing. Law enforcement received a burglary alarm around 4 a.m. from the Bank of America near Gold Country Boulevard and Coloma Road. The black SUV was spotted by deputies already in the area as it was driving through a grass field with its lights off. As deputies attempted to stop the vehicle the two brothers sped away in the SUV and led law enforcement on a short pursuit before they hit a raised curb and disabled the vehicle. Deputies apprehended the brothers after they attempted to flee on foot. The brothers were taken to the Sacramento County jail where Juan was set with a $50,000 bail and Jose with a $10,000 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 FOX40. Sweden's new foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard walks after the opening of the parliament (Riksdagen) in Stockholm STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - An airplane carrying Sweden's foreign minister and justice minister has returned to Stockholm after suffering a technical problem while on the way to Turkey, and a key security meeting will thus be postponed, Swedish officials said on Wednesday. The crew and passengers were not in any immediate danger, and a new date will be set for the meeting, Sweden's foreign ministry said. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard and Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer had been due to hold their first meeting with Turkish officials addressing a security pact agreed to ensure Ankara's approval of Stockholm's NATO membership bid. Turkey approved Sweden's bid to join the military alliance in January after a more than year-long delay over Ankara's concerns about Sweden's stance on groups and individuals it deems terrorists, and over an arms embargo that Stockholm later lifted. (This story has been corrected to say Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer, not Defence Minister Pal Jonson, in paragraph 3) (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik) Firefighters in Brazil were able to rescue a truly tiny victim from a forest fire in Pau Furado State Park, about six hundred miles northwest of Rio. In the video, one rescuer can be seen cradling a tiny baby marmoset, a type of tree monkey native to the region. In the video, the minuscule creature can be seen giving a little squeaky cry as well as a sip from a bottle cap filled with water. Its unknown whether or not the babys family was found during the rescue mission. But the monkey was transferred to a veterinary hospital for treatment after being discovered by firefighters working to stop the blaze. Related: Zoo Marmosets Get Hold of a Phone and Total Cuteness Ensues The tiny, finger-sized creature looks bedraggled but overall unharmed from its ordeal, and you cant deny that the itsy-bitsy baby is especially cute. But its futureas well as the future of its entire species, remains uncertain. All About Marmosets Marmosets are small, arboreal monkeys of the New World. They live in the tree canopies of tropical forests like the ones in Brazil, where they feed on fruit, insects, and tree sap. They are notable for living in large family groups. Female marmosets usually give birth to twins, and the entire family is very involved in carrying and raising them, including their fathers as well as older siblings. Thus, it is especially notable that this monkey was discovered without caregivers or its sibling. As such a young orphan, this babys chances for survival in the wild is very low, so its good that it was rescued in time. The Effects of Habitat Loss on Marmoset Survival This fire demonstrates the major threat to marmoset survival: habitat loss. As Brazils lowland rainforests are destroyed by human expansion into the territory as well as climate change, it becomes harder and harder for these precious animals to survive. Brazil is experiencing a significant drought season, with a record number of forest fires> Right now, there are over 50,000 forest fires burning across Brazil, and a third of these have been sparked by humans trying to clear land for development. Marmosets Are Not Good Pets In addition to habitat destruction, marmosets like this one are often victims of international and illegal pet trading operations. Though the cuteness of a marmoset seems to make it a desirable pet, they are actually not well suited to domestic life. Marmosets are highly social creatures used to living in large family groups and roaming extensive forested areas every day. They are very intelligent and need a lot of social interaction and enrichment, which humans keeping them as pets struggle to emulate. Marmosets can not be left at home alone for long periods, are difficult to train and entertain, need a lot of specialized care, are extremely territorial and aggressive once they reach sexual maturity, think of the humans around them as its family group and need constant interaction with them, and are extremely susceptible to human colds, viruses, and other illnesses. As adorable as this video is, remember, this is a wild animal. If you want a cute pet, stick to a cat. 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. Attached video is from when 12 News when to Fasnacht in Helvetia, WV in 2023. HELVETIA, W.Va. (WBOY) The U.S.s Embassy of Switzerland recently visited Little Switzerland in remote West Virginia and had a lot of good things to say. Helvetia, West Virginia is a small community in Randolph County with fewer than 100 residents, but its no ordinary Appalachian town. The community was settled by German and Swiss immigrants in 1869, and although the residents no longer speak Swiss German, they have evolved their own Appalachian versions of traditions that they brought from Switzerland. The most well-known is Fasnacht, a Swiss carnival that celebrates the end of winter. Attendees wear papier-mache masks to chase away the demons of winter, and ceremoniously burn Old Man Winter. Fasnacht masks 2023 (WBOY image) Fasnacht 2023 attendees in their masks (WBOY image) Fasnacht 2023 attendees in their masks (WBOY image) Fasnacht masks 2023 (WBOY image) Helvetia also celebrates Swiss National Day on August 1 and held a community fair just last week. Will the drought ruin West Virginias fall leaf change? Gathering places like The Hutte restaurant, which served traditional Swiss recipes, and hobbies like yodeling and cheese-making still hold onto Swiss heritage 150 years after the settlers left Switzerland. The iconic Hutte Restaurant in Helvetia, founded in 1968 (WBOY image) Pictures of early Helvetia residents at the Helvetia Public Library (WBOY image) Helvetia Historic Square (WBOY image) Tourism has also grown in the area in the past few years because of community initiatives and Helvetias inclusion in the Fallout 76 video game. Helvetia is worth a visit year-round for anyone seeking to enjoy the tranquility of the village, the unique nature surrounding it, and the friendliness of the locals. In no time, visitors will find themselves completely immersed in the villages history, traditions, and unique surroundings, discovering a little Switzerland far away from Switzerland much like the Swiss immigrants did in 1869, the Swiss Embassy said in a feature story. You can see photos from the visit on the Embassy of Switzerland in the United States of America Facebook page and 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. Sybiha to visit Romania in first official trip as Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will visit Romania on Sept. 18, paying his first official visit to a foreign state since entering office earlier this month, Ukraine's foreign ministry announced. Sybiha, a career diplomat, replaced Dmytro Kuleba as Foreign Minister on Sept. 5, amid a large-scale reshuffle of the Ukrainian government. According to the ministry, Sybiha will visit Romania to hold bilateral negotiations with his Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu and other high-ranking officials. After the negotiations, the ministers will hold a joint press conference. The diplomats will reportedly discuss support for Kyiv's defense capabilities, Ukraine's path to membership in the European Union and NATO, and the implementation of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula. The negotiations in Bucharest will also focus on Black Sea security and the protection of the legal rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens in Romania. The visit kicks off Sybiha's regional tour of several neighboring states, the ministry said. The tour is meant to signal Ukraine's determination to develop a "constructive ... mutually beneficial" relationship with its neighbors. Romania, a NATO member, signed a security agreement with Ukraine in June and has pledged to send Kyiv a Patriot air defense system. Throughout the full-scale war, Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River that separates Ukraine and Romania. Russian drone debris has crashed on Romanian soil multiple times. Read also: Too dangerous to ignore Russias malicious activity in the Baltics set to test NATO resolve Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Gold Apollo head Hsu Ching-kuang said the pagers were '100 percent not' made in Taiwan (Yan ZHAO) (Yan ZHAO/AFP/AFP) A Taiwanese company and its Hungarian partner on Wednesday reportedly denied making pagers that exploded while being used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon. The New York Times, citing American and other anonymous officials, reported that Israel had inserted explosive material into a shipment of pagers from Taiwan's Gold Apollo. Taiwanese prosecutors launched an investigation. Gold Apollo denied producing the devices and instead pointed the finger at its Budapest-based partner BAC Consulting KFT. Gold Apollo head Hsu Ching-kuang said the pagers were "100 percent not" made in Taiwan. "They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours?" Hsu told reporters in Taipei. The company said in a separate statement that it has established a "long-term partnership" with the Hungarian company to use its trademark and the model mentioned in media reports "is produced and sold by BAC". But BAC Consulting CEO Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono told US broadcaster NBC News that her company worked with Gold Apollo but did not make pagers. "I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong," NBC cited Barsony-Arcidiacono as saying on the phone. Barsony-Arcidiacono did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. The explosions in Lebanon killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others. Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack. - Sole employee - At BAC Consulting's registered postal address in a Budapest suburb, a woman there told reporters that the two-storey semi-detached building belongs to a company providing virtual business addresses. Barsony-Arcidiacono appears to be the only employee of the company founded in 2022, according to legal documents consulted by AFP, which also report an annual revenue of 210 million forints ($590,000) and profit of around 18 million forints. On an archived version of a currently inaccessible website, the consultancy described itself as "agents of change with a network of consultants", while Barsony-Arcidiacono touted her experience as a "strategic advisor" for international organisations. The Times reported about 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, mostly its AR924 model. "Our company only provides the brand trademark authorisation and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product," Gold Apollo said. The company declined to comment further, citing ongoing investigations. "We have assigned the case to the chief prosecutor of the national security team to actively investigate. Our office will clarify the facts of the case as soon as possible," Taipei's Shilin District Prosecutors Office said in a statement. "If there is any illegality involved, it will be severely punished in accordance with the law," the office added. Taiwan's economic affairs ministry said Gold Apollo's pagers made in Taiwan only have "a receiving function" and the capacity of their built-in battery "is about that of an ordinary AA battery that is not possible to explode to cause death or injury". "After reviewing media reports and pictures, we think it's very questionable that (the model used) is the company's product," the ministry said, adding that there is no record of the company directly exporting to Lebanon. A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, previously told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source". There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions. burs-jza/lth Gold Apollo head Hsu Ching-kuang said the pagers were '100 percent not' made in Taiwan (Yan ZHAO) (Yan ZHAO/AFP/AFP) Taiwan and Hungary on Wednesday denied making pagers that exploded while being used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, killing 12 people. The New York Times, citing American and other anonymous officials, reported that Israel had inserted explosive material into a shipment of pagers from Taiwan's Gold Apollo. Taiwanese prosecutors launched an investigation. Gold Apollo denied producing the devices and instead pointed the finger at its Budapest-based partner BAC Consulting KFT. But Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said the company "is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary". "The referenced devices have never been in Hungary," Kovacs said on X, formerly Twitter. He added the case "poses no national security risk" and Hungary was cooperating "with all relevant international partner agencies and organisations" in further investigations. - 'Not our products' - Earlier Wednesday, Gold Apollo head Hsu Ching-kuang said the pagers were "100 percent not" made in Taiwan. "They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours?" Hsu told reporters in Taipei. The company said in a separate statement that it has established a "long-term partnership" with the Hungarian company to use its trademark and the model mentioned in media reports "is produced and sold by BAC". Taiwan's economic affairs ministry said Gold Apollo's pagers made in Taiwan only have "a receiving function" and the capacity of their built-in battery "is about that of an ordinary AA battery that is not possible to explode to cause death or injury". "After reviewing media reports and pictures, we think it's very questionable that (the model used) is the company's product," the ministry said, adding that there is no record of the company directly exporting to Lebanon. But BAC Consulting CEO Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono told US broadcaster NBC News that her company worked with Gold Apollo but did not make pagers. "I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong," NBC cited Barsony-Arcidiacono as saying on the phone. Barsony-Arcidiacono did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. The explosions in Lebanon killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others. Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack. - Sole employee - At BAC Consulting's registered postal address in a Budapest suburb, a woman there told reporters that the two-storey semi-detached building belongs to a company providing virtual business addresses. Barsony-Arcidiacono appears to be the only employee of the company founded in 2022, according to legal documents consulted by AFP, which also report an annual revenue of 210 million forints ($590,000) and profit of around 18 million forints. On an archived version of a currently inaccessible website, the consultancy described itself as "agents of change with a network of consultants", while Barsony-Arcidiacono touted her experience as a "strategic advisor" for international organisations. The Times reported about 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, mostly its AR924 model. "Our company only provides the brand trademark authorisation and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product," Gold Apollo said. The company declined to comment further, citing ongoing investigations. "We have assigned the case to the chief prosecutor of the national security team to actively investigate. Our office will clarify the facts of the case as soon as possible," Taipei's Shilin District Prosecutors Office said in a statement. "If there is any illegality involved, it will be severely punished in accordance with the law," the office added. A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, previously told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source". There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions. burs-jza/rox People gather outside the American University hospital in Beirut where several men who were wounded by exploding handheld pagers were taken Tuesday. (Bassam Masri / Associated Press) A Taiwanese company denied responsibility for making and distributing a batch of exploding pagers branded with its name that killed at least nine people and wounded thousands more in Lebanon on Tuesday. According to media reports citing Lebanese and American officials, Hezbollah ordered more than 3,000 electronic pagers from Gold Apollo, a manufacturer of wireless communication devices based in New Taipei City. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for tampering with the pagers and causing them to explode. The companys founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters Wednesday that the pagers were made by BAC Consulting, a Budapest, Hungary-based company that licenses Gold Apollos logo and branding. The company said it had no involvement in the design or manufacturing of the product. Hsu said during a news conference that irregularities in BACs wire transfers to Gold Apollo had raised concerns. He provided no further details and defended the decision to license to BAC. When we were working with them, we were very careful, Hsu said. If signing a contract brings in business, why wouldnt we accept? Read more: Hundreds of pagers mysteriously explode in Lebanon; Hezbollah blames Israel Gold Apollo, which was founded in 1995 and employs about 30 people in Taiwan, said it held an emergency meeting and hosted government officials at its offices after news that some devices used in the attack were identified as Gold Apollos AR924 model, for sale on its website. An employee surnamed Lin who answered the phone at Gold Apollo but declined to provide her full name or title said the company did not directly fill the pager order from Hezbollah, and that BAC handles the vast majority of device sales from Middle Eastern customers. Read more: Israel vows retaliation after Houthi missile attack The BAC website said the firm cooperates with different countries to sell telecommunication products internationally, including in new markets for Asian businesses. The business and its founder Cristiana Arcidiacono-Barsony, named on the website, did not respond to emails seeking comment. Hungarian officials said Wednesday that BAC is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the devices were never in Hungary, tweeted Zoltan Kovacs, a government spokesperson. It is unclear how the unprecedented attack was carried out, but security experts said the shipment of pagers may have been implanted with explosives and set off remotely. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any role. Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group and one of Lebanons most powerful political parties. It has battled with Israel for decades, most recently firing rockets into northern Israel in support of ally Hamas, the armed Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip that accuses Israel of illegally occupying Palestinian land. Israel and Hamas have been at war since an Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 people and seized 250 hostages. The Israeli military responded by invading Gaza, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands. The war reignited conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with exchanges of rocket fire that have displaced thousands on the Israel-Lebanon border. Hezbollah started using pagers to avoid Israeli surveillance of its cellphones. Times special correspondent Xin-yun Wu in Taipei and Times staff writer Nabih Bulos in Beirut 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. The companys statement: Gold Apollo's founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, denied involvement, claiming the devices were made by a European firm that licensed its brand. I feel like a victim. Ive been going about my own business for 30 years, why am I suddenly roped into this? Hsu told reporters before police arrived to conduct an investigation. As Taiwan authorities are investigating the company's claims and exports, Gold Apollo emphasizes that their Hungary-based partner, BAC Consulting, is solely responsible for the manufacturing and sales of the implicated pagers in Budapest. Hsu called the situation "embarrassing," highlighting the firm's compliance with regulations and long-standing global distribution ties. According to a senior Lebanese security source and another source who spoke to Reuters, Israel's Mossad, known for its complex foreign operations, planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah, a Iran-backed militant group, several months prior to Tuesday's explosions. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) On Tuesday morning, the Sioux City Community School District released two statements regarding non-credible threats made on social media by students at two different schools. While these threats did not lead to a lockdown situation, the recurring threats can be a lot for a young student to handle. One student might experience a lockdown and they can really have some adverse effects to that, said Siouxland Mental Health Center child and adolescent therapy team lead Amy Small. Another student may experience three or four and it just be something that is part of their day. Bringing awareness to peripheral artery disease With an increase in access to social media and possible school threats, students are facing more and more alarming situations such as lockdowns. We need to prepare but not scare, Small said. What I mean by that is preparing them with this is how were going to handle this, this is who you can talk to, this is the safety protocol that we have in place, so that if something does happen that they feel confident that theyre going to be able to provide themselves safety. But even if the threat is non-credible, students feel the same amount of mental stress and worry. Its easy as a parent to say youre okay, its never going to happen in this area, its just precaution, Small said. Thats probably true in a lot of the cases, but validating the students feelings like yeah that would have been scary, talking to them at an age-appropriate and developmental level about what happened. Be as transparent as you can so that they dont feel like there are things that are hidden or that theyre missing out on. With the stress of a threatening situation, some students reactions may require more attention than others. If you are noticing symptoms of anxiety, maybe restlessness, especially in younger children, they may feel clingy, or not wanting to go to school, I would say those would be signs that your child needs additional support, Catholic Charities director of clinical services Benita Triplett said. For parents, having open communication with your child about the gravity of social media threats could be essential to preventing a future lockdown situation. Midwest Honor Flight receives large check from church Any time that you are on social media and there is a threat or a concern, take it seriously, Triplett said. Report it to a trusted person because then that can be investigated so that it can divert a disaster from happening. Your kid may be feeling this I dont want to get someone else in trouble, I dont want to get in trouble, I dont know what it is,' Small said. I think continuing to have a safe space, where your kid can continue to ask anything, youre not going to get in trouble, just come and talk to me first and we can figure it out. Click here for more resources on talking to children about school threats. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Cases of ballots and equipment at the Tarrant County Elections Administration building in Fort Worth on May 6, 2023. Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune Earlier this month, Tarrant County Judge Tim OHare proposed eliminating voting locations at some colleges because of their low turnout and to save costs. Critics pointed to the thousands of students who used the locations in the past many of whom favored liberal-leaning candidates and accused OHare of wanting to suppress votes for his partys benefit. OHare denied it and said college campuses were uninviting to older voters and had limited parking. Students could just go to another nearby location, he said. But in a recent rebuke condemning Republicans who helped block OHares measure, the countys party leaders dont mention OHares previous arguments. Instead, in an apparent validation of critics concerns, the local party unanimously signed a resolution noting officials believed OHares proposal wouldve helped improve Republicans odds in the upcoming elections. Tarrant County Commissioners Manny Ramirez and Gary Fickes, Republicans elected with the support of the Republican brand and the Republican base, voted with Democrats on a key election vote that undermines the ability of Republicans to win the general election in Tarrant County, the resolution reads. The resolution states that Tarrant County Republican voters expect their officials to work to advance policies that support free and fair election, that do not favor one party over other. But it also laments that Ramirez and Fickes decision to keep the college voting locations jeopardizes the party's ability to maintain robust, conservative leadership in local government. Voting rights advocates and Texas Democrats said the resolution amounted to a blatant admission of favoring party gains over a fair electoral process. They say its the same with other statewide efforts from top Republican leaders, who are trying to block other counties voter registration initiatives and spreading unproven claims of illegal voting. Travis County is suing top Texas officials, accusing them of violating the National Voter Registration Act. Tarrant County Republicans are saying the quiet part out loud, state Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat from Grand Prairie, told The Texas Tribune. The proposal to eliminate the college voting locations was only about making it more difficult for young people and people of color to vote, he said. The voter access debate comes as the county, once known as Americas most conservative large urban county, has become more purple in recent years. President Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Tarrant County since Lyndon B. Johnson in decades. Beto ORourke won the county in his failed 2018 bid to unseat U.S. Sen.Ted Cruz. OHare won his seat as county judge in 2022, when the county also favored Gov. Greg Abbotts reelection bid. "Tarrant is one of the most diverse, electorally competitive counties in Texas, said Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa. Texas Democrats know it, and Tim OHare knows it, too. Thats why he is deliberately targeting early voting sites in high-turnout locations. [GOP bid to remove polling sites from Tarrant County college campuses fails] During an emergency commissioners court meeting last week, county staff presented three lists of early voting locations, all of which included fewer colleges and total sites than in the past. About 10% of the ballots in Tarrant County during early voting in the 2020 presidential election were cast on college campuses, according to the county's data. Days before, Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French wrote in a newsletter that, Having these locations denied is a serious win for Republicans in Tarrant County. But before county commissioners could vote on any of the three proposals, Ramirez called for a vote on a list of early voting locations that instead added a new polling site. After four hours of public comment, OHare asked if Ramirez would amend his motion to carry one of three location lists county staff had presented. Ramirez declined, saying, Reducing the number is not a priority. Texas GOP Chair Abraham George criticized the vote on social media, saying, When Republican elected officials vote against their Republican constituents, they damage our brand and hurt our party. The resolution the Tarrant County GOP signed Friday calls on Ramirez and Ficke to publicly commit to supporting the countys Republican leaders, promote election integrity and ensuring the party's success in the November election. OHare, Sheriff Bill Waybourn, and District Attorney Judge Phil Sorrells created last year a county election integrity task force to focus on potential voter fraud. It has yet to file any charges. Ramirez responded to the resolution with a statement he sent to French, in which he defends last weeks vote. I took an oath to serve Tarrant County and defend the Constitution. To me, this includes ensuring free, fair, and equal access to voting in elections, Ramirez wrote. After prayer and reflection, I could not, in good conscience, support eliminating voting sites that served over 9,000 citizens in the last election. The first-year commissioner usually votes with the Republican majority on the commissioners court. He voted to pass the biggest tax cut in recent county history and to block funding to a nonprofit over concerns about its support of LGBTQ+ issues and abortion rights. Republicans win because we work hard and have the right message, not because we cheat, Ramirez added. Two Fort Worth Republicans, Mayor Mattie Parker and state Rep. Charlie Geren, defended Ramirez in social media posts. Democracy is meant to be an arena for ideas. When we resort to winning at the expense of voter turnout, weve all lost, Parker wrote on X. Manny Ramirez should be commended, not vilified, for doing his job and protecting our fundamental right to vote. Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of the voting rights group Common Cause Texas, said elections should be decided by the voters. While the Tarrant County GOP might wish otherwise, politicians abusing their power to alter the outcome of elections is not how our system for administering elections should work, he said. Disclosure: Common Cause has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. The leader of Youth Advocate Programs Inc., which has provided services to children in the Tarrant County juvenile justice system, said he feels the county unfairly ended contracts with his organization over language on its website, noting other organizations that do business with the county have had similar language on their websites. The Tarrant County Juvenile Board discontinued contracts with Youth Advocate Programs in July after a variety of issues were raised, including concerns from Judge Tim OHare about language on the organizations website about diversity initiatives and systemic racism. Gary Ivory, president and CEO of Youth Advocate Programs, said he met with OHare in July after the Tarrant County Juvenile Board voted to end contracts with his organization. Ivory said he showed OHare screenshots from the website of My Health My Resources of Tarrant County (MHMR) and other organizations that do business with the county that had the same language on their websites. Ivory said he did not show the screenshots to OHare to disparage the other organizations but wanted equal and equitable treatment. What we want to show is that other organizations in Tarrant County were also using the same language as we were, Ivory told the Star-Telegram. We had a contract terminated and they didnt. MHMR is being considered for a contract with Tarrant County Juvenile Services to replace services provided by Youth Advocate Programs. MHMR previously had a webpage dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion, according to an archived version of MHMRs website. The webpage said MHMR is committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment that represents our community. It also included a now defunct YouTube video with MHMR employees sharing their thoughts on diversity, equity and inclusion at MHMR. The webpage described diversity as the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin, and political beliefs. The webpage no longer exists on MHMRs About Us tab. MHMR did not respond to questions about the screenshots, including when and why the web page was taken down. MHMR has other contracts with Juvenile Services to provide such services as mental health assessments, residential substance abuse treatment and clinical management for behavioral health. The new proposed contract which is to be considered by the Juvenile Board Sept. 18 says MHMR would provide a holistic wraparound approach for rehabilitation and support services. MHMR would address the multifaceted needs of at-risk youth through coordinated services, enhancing their chances of rehabilitation, reducing recidivism and promoting positive youth development, according to the contract, which is worth up to $895,000. OHare made the motion to discontinue the programs with Youth Advocate Programs in July. He did not respond to questions about the screenshots on the MHMR page about diversity, equity and inclusion. Judge Alex Kim, chair of the Tarrant County Juvenile Board, said he voted to discontinue the contract with Youth Advocate Programs (YAP) because he said the organization uses taxpayer money for lobbying. Mr. Ivory directly stated that YAP hired lobbyists, and the Juvenile Board should not be sending tax dollars to lobbyists, Kim said in email to the Star-Telegram. YAP was contracted to provide services to youth, not advocate for legislative change which Tarrant County citizens may or may not agree with. Ivory said Youth Advocate Programs does not use Tarrant County taxpayer money for lobbyists. Payments to lobbyists are made from philanthropic donations, he told the Star-Telegram. The nonpartisan Youth Advocate Programs, based in Pennsylvania, provided counseling, mentors and community service opportunities to children in an effort to reduce repeat offenders. The company worked with the county since 1992. Nearly 70% of children under the supervision of Juvenile Services received services from Youth Advocate Programs, according to Bennie Medlin, the departments director and chief juvenile probation officer. The decision to end the contract with Youth Advocate Programs affected services for about 75 youth at the time the contracts were ended. The contracts provided for services for up to 423 youths per year. On Aug. 6, several Tarrant County residents attended the Commissioners Court meeting to speak on behalf of Youth Advocate Programs. Get a taste of Irish culture at The Big E! (MASS APPEAL) You can experience Ireland and the Dingle Peninsula without making a flight. Just a drive to The Big E. Caroline Boland, the Community Tourism Development & Marketing Consultant, shares a glimpse into the Irish culture that you can experience at The Big E. Irelands Dingle Peninsula Showcase Visit the exquisite Dingle Peninsula Showcase, located in the Young Building at The Big E, highlighting some of Irelands finest handcrafted products, and cultural and educational connections of County Kerry and West Springfield. For more information, visit thebige.com/p/thingstodo/dingle Sponsored by: Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau Sponsored content disclaimer: The information and advice displayed in this story are those of individual sponsors and guests and not Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) A Taylorsville man was formally charged Monday after he was accused of inappropriately touching a 13-year-old girl, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorneys Office. Juan Parra Reyes, 28, was indicted on two counts of sexual abuse of a child, both second-degree felonies. On Aug. 3, the 13-year-old victim was walking home from a park with another person when Parra Reyes allegedly grabbed her hand, stated his age, and asked for her age. Washington Co. prowler arrested by St. George Police after string of similar reports The victim did not tell Parra Reyes her age. He then reportedly inappropriately touched the teenager, leaving her shocked and scared, according to charging documents. The teenager got away and ran home to tell her parents about the incident, which prompted them to call police. The indictment said the teenager was still frightened when the officers arrived. Police say that she was crying [and] shaking and appeared very emotional. Police then found Parra Reyes and made contact with him. When asked if he had seen the victim, he allegedly told police that he had seen her and asked her how old she was. Police said in the probable cause statement that he changed his statement, claimed that he never saw the victim, and declined to answer if he inappropriately touched the girl. He was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on the aforementioned charges. 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. Teamsters decline to endorse Harris or Trump, saying both are too pro-"Big Business" The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a candidate for president on Wednesday, announcing that they'll throw their support behind no one in the upcoming presidential election. The decision not to endorse came shortly after the union released internal polling data that showed a strong preference for former president Donald Trump among the union's rank-and-file. Nearly 60% of the union's membership voiced their support for Trump in in-person straw polls that ran from April through September. Only 34% said they would vote for Kamala Harris. Our members are the union, and their voices and opinions must be at the forefront of everything the Teamsters do," Teamsters President Sean O'Brien said of the polls in a statement. The union shared that their decision not to endorse came after they couldn't secure promises from either candidate. Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business, OBrien shared. We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries and to honor our members right to strike but were unable to secure those pledges. The non-endorsement is the first time that the 1.3-million-member union has opted out of choosing a candidate in almost 30 years. It comes after O'Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention earlier this year, promising an openness to working with any candidate who would advance the goals of his union. "We want to know one thing: 'What are you doing to help American workers?'" he said at the time. "As a negotiator, I know that no window or door should ever be permanently shut." The move comes as a surprise, as the union endorsed the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020. The Biden Administration also secured a significant victory for retired Teamsters, protecting their pensions from cuts under their COVID-19 relief plan. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the most prominent and influential unions in the country, said Wednesday it will not endorse any presidential candidate this year -- a blow for both candidates. The 1.3-million-member union has historically thrown its weight around in presidential cycles and endorsed Democratic presidential candidates in recent cycles, with 1988 being the last time it supported a Republican, then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. However, hours before the union was set to announce its highly coveted endorsement on Wednesday, the Teamsters released polling of union members showing a nearly two-to-one preference for former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. "The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables. Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business," Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, who took on the role in 2022, said in a statement. MORE: Trump to hold Long Island rally in effort to court New Yorkers "Democrats, Republicans, and Independents proudly call our union home, and we have a duty to represent and respect every one of them. We strongly encourage all our members to vote in the upcoming election, and to remain engaged in the political process," he added. "But this year, no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters' International Union." Blue-collar union workers have been a mainstay of Democratic support for several cycles, but Trump has made inroads with voters without a college degree, a key demographic that helped eat away at Democrats' union advantage. PHOTO: In this photo illustration, an International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) logo is seen on a smartphone and on a pc screen. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Most of the country's largest unions, including the AFL-CIO and United Auto Workers union, endorsed President Joe Biden before he dropped out, and that support was reiterated for Harris after she took over as Democrats' nominee. The Teamsters, however, stayed out of the fray. The union sought to hold meetings with Biden and Trump, and it met with Harris earlier this week before making any decision. O'Brien ruffled Democrats' feathers when he addressed the Republican National Convention earlier this summer -- a move that was fiercely criticized by some of his counterparts -- and praised Trump, though he accused the former president of backing "economic terrorism" when he expressed support for firing striking workers, which is illegal under federal law. "I want to be clear. At the end of the day, the Teamsters are not interested if you have a 'D,' 'R,' or an 'I' next to your name," O'Brien said on the stage in Milwaukee. "We want to know one thing: 'What are you doing to help American workers?' As a negotiator, I know that no window or door should ever be permanently shut." MORE: Progressive organizations were forced to play defense in the 2024 primaries The union's decision Wednesday marks a blow for both candidates. Trump had wooed the union, inviting O'Brien to Mar-a-Lago and culminating in O'Brien's primetime RNC speech. Harris, meanwhile, has sought to shore up support among non-college educated voters, particularly in the industrial Midwest, a key region in this year's election where the Teamsters hold sway. The Biden administration has also repeatedly touted its pro-union bona fides, and Biden himself became the first sitting president in history to walk a picket line. However, unions were peeved at the role the administration played in averting a rail strike in late 2022. After the union's announcement, the Harris campaign said she has "stood strong with organized labor for her entire career." "As the Vice President told the Teamsters on Monday, when she is elected president, she will look out for the Teamsters rank-and-file no matter what -- because they always have been and always will be the people she fights for," Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement. Trump's campaign said while the Teamsters didn't endorse a candidate "they want President Trump back in the White House." "These hardworking men and women are the backbone of America and President Trump will strongly stand up for them when he's back in the White House," Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Later, Trump himself called the Teamsters decision to not endorse either candidate an "honor." "It's a great honor. They're not going to endorse the Democrats. That's a big thing. And this is the first time in I guess, fifty, sixty, years, that that's happened. Democrats automatically have the Teamsters," Trump said. This decision by the Teamsters isn't just a blow to the Harris campaign, which has the support of other powerful labor unions, it's also a blow to Biden, the self-declared "most pro-union president in history." The Teamsters backed Biden in 2020 and as president he put union labor at the heart of his economic policy, evident by his constant refrain that "the middle class built this country and unions built the middle class." And Biden delivered. He essentially saved their pensions two years ago, providing $36 billion to shore up union pension plans preventing drastic cuts to the retirement income of roughly 350,000 Teamster workers. Without this assistance, Teamster members could have seen their benefits slashed by 60% in coming years. Asked Wednesday if the president was surprised by their decision not to endorse a candidate, given everything the president has done, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded, "I'm not going to get into endorsements." "Let's not forget, he's brought American manufacturing back home, creating close to 800,000 manufacturing jobs. And by creating the first Made in America office. And so these are things that he's incredibly proud of," she said. The internal polling the Teamsters released earlier Wednesday showed that straw polls of members supported Biden over Trump by an 8-point margin, 44-36%. The methodology of this internal survey is not known. In explaining its decision, the Teamsters union cited the lack of "majority support" for Harris and "no universal support among the membership" for Trump. However, it did note that Harris had pledged to sign pro-union federal legislation and that Trump would not commit to vetoing national "right to work" legislation, which would allow workers to opt in or out of unions in unionized workplaces -- laws that are enacted in several states that national groups like the Teamsters say weakens collective bargaining power. Still, the Teamsters' National Black Caucus and several Teamsters' local chapters got out in front of the national organization and endorsed Harris on their own in recent weeks, including Local 623 in Philadelphia, which pointed to work done during the Biden administration, Harris' pledge to "expand union rights" and challenge "any anti-union 'right to work' legislation," and the "threat posed by Donald Trump." Teamsters National Black Caucus Chairman James Curbeam said he believes this lack of endorsement will galvanize more local union leaders to organize and rally around Harris. A Teamsters union endorsement could have given Harris a boost in key battleground states -- including Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. "It's a tacit endorsement of Trump," said John Palmer, a Teamsters executive board member, who added that this lack of endorsement "encourages right-leaning union workers to support Trump." ABC News' Oren Oppenheim, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will McDuffie, Selina Wang and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report. Teamsters union opts to not endorse any presidential candidate originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Teamsters will not endorse a presidential candidate ahead of the 2024 election. The announcement, made shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday, came just a day after rank-and-file members met with Vice President Kamala Harris at a roundtable to discuss several issues relevant to the unions 1.3 million members. More from Sourcing Journal But in the end, the union seemingly wasnt impressed with the conversation. A statement from the Teamsters says the union was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either Harris or her election opponent, former President Donald Trump. Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business, said president Sean OBrien in a statement. We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industriesand to honor our members right to strikebut were unable to secure those pledges. This marks the first time in 28 years that the Teamsters have not endorsed a presidential candidate, when the union endorsed neither President Bill Clinton or Republican candidate Bob Dole ahead of the 1996 race. The Teamsters endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020, and its backing of Democratic candidates goes all the way back to 2000. The union endorsed presidential aspirants including Al Gore, John Kerry and Hilary Clinton, as well as President Barack Obama ahead of his 2008 and 2012 victories. President George H.W. Bush was the unions last endorsed Republican candidate in 1988. OBrien himself had taken more of an approach to appeal to both sides of the aisle ahead of the election, appearing at the Republican National Convention upon getting an invitebecoming the first Teamsters boss to do so. But the attempt came amid reported deep internal divisions within the union, with a July report from Reuters first that the union may not endorse any candidate. Roughly an hour ahead of the endorsement, the union released its internal polling data, with two member polls showcasing a clear preference toward Trump. A national electronic poll held after Biden said he wouldnt seek re-election revealed that Trump led Harris by a substantial 59.6 percent to 34 percent of members. That voting window was held from July 24 to Sep. 15, and was independently managed by a third-party, BallotPoint Election Services. The Teamsters did not indicate how many members voted in the poll. This was a considerable shift from polling numbers of April, in which Biden held the lead in endorsements at 44.3 percent. Trump was behind at 36.4 percent, while third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. took in 5.6 percent of the vote. Nearly 300 Teamsters local unions conducted the straw polls. A phone-based poll held from Sept. 9-15 resulted in a similar outcome to the electronic ballot, with Trump having the commanding 58 percent lead against Harris 31 percent. Six percent of Teamsters respondents were undecided in their presidential preference, while 5 percent said they didnt know who to endorse. The union said that its member polling said that a lack of majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for former President Trump meant that there was no definitive support for either partys nominee. It appears the presidential roundtables may have done both candidates in, at least from the perspective of Teamsters leadership. During those meetings, which were also held with President Biden, the union shared feedback from members in the railroad and airline industries who work under the Railway Labor Act. A major point of contention for those workers was Bidens intervention in rail negotiations to close out 2022, which effectively forced Teamsters members and other union employees to accept a new contractdespite many not supporting the deal. In roundtable discussions with Trump in January and Harris this month, neither candidate promised not to intervene to force similar contracts, the union said. Harris agreed on some of the unions positions, pledging to sign the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. She also criticized right-to-work laws that the union says are enacted to bankrupt unions. In states where right-to-work laws exist, it is up to each employee at a workplace to decide whether to join the union and pay dues, even though all workers are protected by the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the union. But unions argue that they lose bargaining power since employees dont have to join. Teamsters leadership said Trump would not commit to veto national right-to-work legislation if he returned to the White House. Right-to-work laws only exist to try to kill labor unions, said Teamsters general secretary-treasurer Fred Zuckerman. It is a red line for the Teamsters and must be for any union when a candidate for elected office does not oppose such anti-worker legislation. Its too important an issue for the labor movement as a whole to be left up to state legislatures. Editors note: The story has been updated to reflect the number of times in recent election cycles that the union has not endorsed a candidate. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters will not issue an endorsement in the presidential election for the first time since 1996, and for only the third time since 1960. Teamsters General President Sean OBrien said, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business. We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries and to honor our members right to strike but were unable to secure those pledges, OBrien said. The Teamsters endorsed President Biden during the 2020 election, and has consistently supported Democratic presidential nominees in recent election cycle. The union notably waited to announce its endorsement decision far longer than other unions and labor organizations, including the United Auto Workers, National Education Association, Service Employees International Union and AFL-CIO, which all endorsed Biden, then Vice President Harris, after the president dropped out of the race in July. The Teamsters has endorsed GOP presidential candidates, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and OBriens flirtation with former President Trump and Republicans sparked speculation the union could once again break from the pack. OBrien has worked to build inroads with Republicans such as Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) as the union works to advance policy priorities including the Protecting Workers Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would strengthen workers ability to form a union and bargain, and opposition to the national right to work. The unions PAC also made its first contribution to the Republican National Committee this cycle since 2006, donating $45,000 to the committees convention fund about a week before Trump spoke at a Teamsters roundtable in late January, according to Federal Election Commission data. The union also hosted roundtable discussions with Harris, Biden and third-party candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West as part of the endorsement process. Harris has supported the PRO Act on the campaign trail, and OBrien told reporters Monday that there wasnt a whole lot of difference between Harriss roundtable and Bidens, who the union leader said has been great for unions. Some Teamsters locals and caucus members, including the National Black Caucus of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have also endorsed Harris. But OBrien also said his members input would be a significant part of the endorsement process, and recent polling shows members clearly support Trump in the presidential race. While 44.3 percent of union members polled between April 9 and July 3 backed Biden compared to 36.3 percent for Trump, polling in the wake of the Republican and Democratic Party conventions found the Teamsters members support Trump over Harris. In a union-commissioned survey conducted by an independent third party between July 24 and Sept. 15, 59.6 percent of Teamsters members voted to endorse Trump, compared to 34 percent for Harris. In a separate Teamsters-commissioned poll during the week ending Sept. 15, 58 percent of Teamsters members voted to endorse Trump, compared to 31 percent who voted to endorse Harris. The lack of an endorsement is a big blow to Trump, who invited OBrien to be the first Teamsters leader in the unions 121-year history to speak at the Republican National Convention in July. The move prompted backlash from labor leaders and antiunion activists alike but gave him a platform to take on corporate bosses, antiunion elites and the status quo in Washington. The Teamsters are doing something correct if the extremes in both parties think I shouldnt be on this stage, OBrien said. At the end of the day, the Teamsters are not interested if you have a D, R or an I next to your name. We want to know one thing: What are you doing to help American workers? OBrien rebuked Trump weeks later, however, after the former president floated firing striking workers during an interview with Elon Musk. 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. OBrien called such a proposal economic terrorism. Trumps campaign highlighted the results of internal polls later Wednesday. While the Teamsters Executive Board is making no formal endorsement, the hardworking members of the Teamsters have been loud and clear they want President Trump back in the White House! These hardworking men and women are the backbone of America and President Trump will strongly stand up for them when hes back in the White House, Trump national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The Republican Party has struggled to court union leadership broadly, and Americans are less likely to say the GOP best serves the interests of union members, according to a recent Gallup poll. According to the Gallup poll, 62 percent of surveyed Americans think the Democratic Party best serves labor union members, compared to 27 percent who said the same thing about the Republican Party. The labor union voting bloc is particularly important in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Michigan, swing states where the shares of union members are higher than the national average, Gallup noted in its analysis. But union members concerns in an election extend beyond labor issues, and large swaths of union members and Teamsters may still vote for Trump. Exit polls from the 2020 race found about 40 percent of voters in union households voted for Trump compared to 56 percent who voted for Biden. Harris had a 10-point lead over Trump among union households in a Fox News survey released last month. While OBrien said that no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters International Union, he noted the union strongly encourage[s] all our members to vote in the upcoming election, and to remain engaged in the political process. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents proudly call our union home, and we have a duty to represent and respect every one of them, OBrien said. Updated at 4:15 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. President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean OBrien speaks on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a candidate for president Wednesday, although both parties sought the support of the nations largest union. The groups General Executive Board voted Wednesday to abstain from an endorsement, citing a split among members and a lack of firm commitments from either major party candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, on labor issues. The refusal to endorse can be viewed as a loss for Harris, the Democrat. The union has endorsed the Democrat in every presidential election since 2000, including Trumps opponents, Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Each campaign sought the endorsement of the 1.3-million-member union, hoping it would buoy their candidate in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin the closely contested industrial states considered crucial to an Electoral College victory in November. And the unions leaders held in-person meetings with each candidate, seeking to extract policy commitments. But those commitments were not forthcoming, according to a statement from the union explaining the decision not to endorse. Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business, Teamsters General President Sean M. OBrien said in the statement. We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries and to honor our members right to strike but were unable to secure those pledges. OBrien encouraged the unions politically diverse membership to remain active during the election season. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents proudly call our union home, and we have a duty to represent and respect every one of them, OBrien added. We strongly encourage all our members to vote in the upcoming election, and to remain engaged in the political process. But this year, no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters International Union. However, by Wednesday night, locals in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Nevada and Michigan announced they would back Harris, along with other locals that had earlier issued endorsements. Along with these locals, the Vice President has received the overwhelming support of organized labor because, while she has spent her entire career championing labor, Donald Trump celebrated firing striking workers and his Project 2025 agenda would fundamentally undermine the right to organize, the Harris campaign said in a statement. Teamsters Joint Council 32 representing members in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin also endorsed Harris. Trump preferred in member poll In an electronic poll the union released Wednesday, rank-and-file Teamsters preferred Trump, the Republican, over Harris 59.6% to 34%. In a statement, the Trump campaign touted the poll results. While the Executive Board of the Teamsters is making no formal endorsement, the vast majority of rank-and-file working men and women in this important organization want President Donald Trump back in the White House, the unsigned statement read. The electronic polls results were a reversal from a previous straw poll that showed members supported President Joe Biden to Trump 44.3% to 36.3%. Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris in July. The mere question of whom Teamsters would endorse marks a significant shift toward Republicans. Unions, including Teamsters, have historically backed Democrats. Trumps populist appeal appears to have upset that tradition. OBrien had a prime-time speaking role at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this summer, though he did not endorse Trump. It was the first appearance by a Teamsters president at a Republican National Convention in the groups 121-year history. Harris running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was a teachers union member before entering politics. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Updated at 6:15 a.m. Thursday with local Teamsters groups endorsing Harris. Tech employees are divided over Amazons decision to bring workers back to the office Amazon is packing up their hybrid work model in the new year. This week, the companys CEO, informed corporate employees that theyll be required to return to the office full time beginning January 2nd. The current requirement is three days a week in-office. There will be difficulties, says employee, Neehal. He lives in Seattle and says the change will have little impact on him. But he believes the change will be difficult for fellow employees, especially those who live outside the city. In a letter to the company, CEO Andy Jassy writes, Im optimistic that these changes will better help us accomplish these goals while strengthening our culture and the effectiveness of our teams. Though, some worry the impact surpasses Amazon. It definitely worries me that it might set a precedent for other large tech companies, says Fred, an Apple employee. It really just takes one big company to start a domino effect. Currently, companies like Apple, Starbucks, and Meta require corporate employees to be in-office at least three days a week. CLARK COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN) A student in the Tecumseh Local School District is facing a criminal charge and possible expulsion in connection with an online threat. According to the school district, a student was arrested just before 10 p.m. on Monday night, after local, state and federal agents traced the threat to her social media account. Student arrested after bringing gun into Wayne HS Tecumsehs superintendent says the grandparent of another student in the district was the first to report the threat to school officials just after 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon. Many other people called in reports after that. See something, say something. They did that right away, said Paula Crew, Tecumseh Local Schools superintendent. We were inundated with texts and phone calls and messages. And I think thats one of the reasons that led us to being able to locate this person so quickly too. Tecumsehs School Safety Team says Mondays threat does not appear to be related to whats happening in nearby Springfield, where schools have face a number of faux bomb treats. This is just one incident involving a student threatening a school in the past week. In Sidney, a student was arrested for threatening a shooting. In Huber Heights, a student was detained for bringing a weapon to school. In Fairborn, a student brought a replica gun to class and could face expulsion. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Teen arrested for threat of violence at Centerville High School, police say CENTERVILLE, Iowa A 17-year-old has been arrested and charged in connection with a threat of violence found at Centerville High School. The teen has been charged with threat of terrorism, a Class D Felony. The Centerville Police Department said the teens Wednesday arrest was the result of an investigation into a threat reported on Tuesday. Norwalk resident charged after admitting to contemplating school shooting Police said they worked with the school districts staff throughout the investigation into the threat and also received tips from the public and the Safe+Sound Iowa website. The information helped confirm the name of the suspect and corroborate evidence gathered during the investigation. In a post to parents on social media Tuesday, Centerville School District Superintendent Mark Taylor said the threat had been, graffiti written on a classroom table at CHS that threatened school violence. In Wednesdays news release, police said they were able to determine the students name that was written with the treat was not responsible for writing it. Police did not release the name of the 17-year-old who was arrested. School officials and the Centerville Police Department encourage people to use the safeandsoundiowa.gov website to report safety concerns anonymously in schools. Latest Iowa 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 who13.com. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A teenager from Fort Leavenworth has been charged in connection to a threat involving Leavenworth High School. Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said his office filed a charge of aggravated criminal threat against an 18-year-old, Kaden Ray Bentley. Man killed in overnight shooting in Kansas City, Kansas Court documents said that on Tuesday, Sept. 17, Bentley made a threat of violence to commit a school shooting at Leavenworth High School. Neither this community nor my office will not tolerate threats of school violence, Attorney Thompson said. My office takes any threat seriously, especially threats of gun violence involving our area schools. Ray is scheduled to have his first court appearance at 1 p.m. 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 FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. MADISON, Wis. (AP) A judge on Tuesday ordered one of two inmates charged in connection with a Wisconsin youth prison counselors death this summer to stand trial. Online court records indicate that 17-year-old Rian Nyblom waived his right to a preliminary hearing and Lincoln County Circuit Judge Galen Bayne-Allison bound him over for trial. Nybloms attorney, Joseph Bauer, declined to comment when reached by telephone. Two Wisconsin teenagers injured after serious crash in northern Illinois The preliminary hearing is the step in the criminal justice process in which prosecutors must convince a judge enough evidence exists to justify a trial. Judges rarely end criminal cases at that stage, reducing the hearing to little more than a formality. Nyblom faces one count of being a party to felony murder-battery and one count of being a party to battery in connection with Lincoln Hills-Copper Lakes School counselor Corey Proulxs death on June 24. A 16-year-old inmate faces a first-degree reckless homicide charge as well as two battery-by-prisoner counts. According to court documents, the 16-year-old was upset with a female counselor whom he felt was abusing her powers. He threw soap at her, punched her and then punched Proulx, who fell, hit his head on concrete pavement and later died. He has been charged as an adult but The Associated Press is not naming him because his attorneys could waive his case into juvenile court, where proceedings are secret. Wisconsin State Patrol: One dead, another airlifted following crash on I-90 Nyblom told investigators that he knew the 16-year-old was upset with the female counselor and wanted to splash her with conditioner and then start punching her, according to a criminal complaint. Nyblom said about 15 minutes before the fighting began he got extra soap and conditioner from counselors and secretly gave it to the 16-year-old, the complaint said. Nyblom said that he didnt see the 16-year-old punch the female counselor but he watched as the boy punched Proulx and Proulx hit his head, according to the complaint. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Teen sent to prison for 14 years for crash that killed pregnant Milwaukee woman Monique Stewart, 32, couldnt wait for little Brenton to get here. Stewart was eight months pregnant and showing. It had become routine for her daughters, cousins and aunts to gently touch or even talk to her belly as anticipation of the young boys arrival drew near. She took pride in being a mother," recalled Robin James, her longtime friend. "She wore the mommy title with everything about her." Things took a tragic turn in January. Akol Riak made the choice to speed on a particularly troublesome stretch of Brown Deer Road. The decision resulted in the deaths of Stewart and her unborn child. Riak, 19, slumped back in his chair on Wednesday as Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner sentenced him to spend a total of 14 years behind bars in connection with the deadly crash. A jury convicted Riak in May of six felony charges, including two counts of second-degree reckless homicide, in connection with the Jan. 7 crash. Stewart was a passenger of a car with four other family members, including her mother and 8-year-old daughter, that was headed to a family get-together. Riak told investigators he was behind the wheel of a car that traveled more than 80 mph through the intersection of West Brown Deer Road and North Servite Drive and crashed into the vehicle carrying Stewart as it attempted a left turn. The posted speed limit on that stretch of Brown Deer is 40 mph. Everyone else in the vehicle with Stewart inside was hospitalized. Most suffered serious injuries. More: A Milwaukee man crashed into a school bus while fleeing police. How long will he be in prison? Emergency personnel worked feverishly to save Stewart, but she died at the crash site. An emergency cesarean section was performed in an attempt to save Brenton's life. He lived briefly just long enough for his father to hold him and say goodbye at a hospital. James said she is leaning on her faith as she continues to miss Stewart, her best friend. "I know if she was here, she would forgive you," said James, directing her comments to Riak, seated at the defense table just a few feet away. Anita Garrett described Stewart, her niece, as a ray of sunshine who was "the glue that held the family together" and put her children first. She and others in the family are still wrestling with enormous pain while also trying to process their loss, she said. "He killed someone who was so much to so many people a mother, a niece, a daughter, a friend. We've lost all of that," Garrett said outside the courtroom, after the verdict. "No one should go through what we're going through right now." Riak suffered nonlife-threatening injuries in the crash. Blood samples taken from him showed no alcohol or drugs in his system. Wagner ordered Riak to serve seven years behind bars in Stewarts death, followed by eight years of extended supervision when he is released. Riak also will serve seven years in connection with the death of Stewarts unborn child, along with an additional eight years of extended supervision. "You had your foot on the pedal. You had control of that vehicle," Wagner told Riak. "It's almost the same as putting a gun and shooting it at someone because of the damage is causes." The sentences will run consecutively. More: What's Milwaukee's most dangerous street? Here's what a city crash study found Riak will also have to serve another five years of probation after he completes those terms. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation estimates about 3,000 people are injured by a reckless driver every year in the state; 91 people in Milwaukee County were killed in 2023. The crash that took Stewarts life was the first of two fatal crashes at the Servite-Brown Deer intersection this year. On April 6, Velina Alexander was trying to make a left turn to head south on Servite from Brown Deer, when another vehicle entered the intersection and ran into her, according to a criminal complaint. First responders found Alexander, 53, on the sidewalk and attempted life-saving measures, but she died. Alanyas Margary-Ramos, 19, of Milwaukee, was arrested and charged with knowingly operating a vehicle without a valid license, causing death. Defense attorney Aneeq Ahmad, of Milwaukee, said the crime for which Riak was convicted was out of character for the teen, who came with family to the United States from Sudan after spending several years in a refugee camp in Kenya. He held solid grades while attending Vincent High School; teachers there referred to him as "a true gift" to the classroom. Riak had already set himself on a path to study agriculture after high school. "He'd be the last person anyone would expect to be involved in something like this," Ahmad said. Riak completed his studies behind bars and got his high school diploma in May. More than two dozen letters of support for Riak, many from classmates and teachers, were sent to the judge in recent weeks. More: Downtown Milwaukee hotel valet worker takes guest's car and causes fatal crash, complaint says One of them was from Seth Welch, a former classmate. He credited Riak with keeping him grounded and balanced, especially during his senior year. "He's more of a big brother to me, who always pushed me to do better," Welch said. At sentencing, Riak offered condolences to Stewart's family and said he understood the pain he caused them. He said he didn't intend to harm anyone, but was unable to say why he felt the need to speed that day. "I'm sorry that we've had to be connected by such a tragic event," he said. Milwaukee police have issued 3,020 citations for speeding so far in 2024, compared with 6,518 tickets in all of last year, city traffic data shows. Roughly a third of the citations this year were handed out to motorists who were stopped for driving more than 20 mph over the posted speed limit. Riak has 255 days of pre-trial custody credit that can be applied to his sentence. A GoFundMe page set up to help after Stewart's death on Wednesday had raised more than $2,800 of a $15,000 goal. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Teen gets 14 years for crash that killed pregnant Milwaukee woman Teenager charged with murder after one teen was killed and another hurt, SC cops say Weeks after a teenager was killed and another was injured in a shooting in South Carolina, a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with murder, according to the Sumter County Sheriffs Office. In addition to murder, Dalzell resident Jonathan Brown was also charged with five counts of attempted murder as well as single counts of discharging a firearm into vehicle while occupied, trafficking in fentanyl, possession of a stolen pistol, possession of a pistol by a person under 18 and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, the sheriffs office said Wednesday in a news release. The charges stem from a Sept. 3 shooting, when 16-year-old Hampton, Georgia, resident Jayvion Jones died, according to the release. Jones was one of six juveniles in a car that was targeted in the Dalzell-area shooting, the sheriffs office said. Another 16-year-old was also wounded in the shooting, according to the release. Further information on the surviving victims condition was not available, but following the shooting the sheriffs office said that teen was expected to make a full recovery. No other injuries were reported. Information about a motive for the shooting was not available. At about 8:30 p.m., Jones body was discovered inside a vehicle on Black River Road and Edens Road, Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker previously said. After identifying Brown as a suspect in the shooting, deputies searched his home and discovered fentanyl and a stolen gun, according to the sheriffs offices release. On Sept. 11, Brown was arrested for trafficking fentanyl and possession of a stolen gun and taken to the Sumter County Sheriffs Office Detention Center, the sheriffs office said. As the investigation continued, deputies said they linked Brown to the shooting and he was served additional warrants including the murder charge. Brown remains in the county jail and is being held pending a bond hearing before a circuit judge, according to the release. Despite Browns arrest, the sheriffs office said its continuing to investigate the death. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the sheriffs office at 803-436-2000, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip. In the case of an emergency, always call 911. With harvest beginning, it would seem the last thing farmers would want is rain. But in actuality, that might be the first thing they need. No, the corn and soybean crops need to begin their maturation, with corn kernels and soybeans losing their moisture. Most farmers would prefer Mother Nature take care of that function because artificial drying is too expensive relative to current low market prices. But why would rain be needed at this time of the year? The quick answer is the so-called flash drought that has developed from western Nebraska to eastern Ohio, the expanse of the Corn Belt. Earlier this spring, the rain would not stop, and planting was delayed in many areas. But it did eventually stop, and it parked, turned off its engine, and totally shut down like an angry toddler. Most of the middle two-thirds of the Corn Belt is now the driest it has been in over 100 years according to official weather data. A few spots in Illinois are the driest in over 80 years, not going all the way back to great grandpas time. While crops, except for pastures, do not really need moisture now, the critical issues are rivers, named Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio. When the Corn Belt has not had any rainfall for the past two months, there has been nothing to run out of field tiles into creeks, streams and rivers, particularly those three which are integral to commerce, specifically barge transportation. At St. Louis, the Mississippi River is at zero feet. There is still water flowing past the Arch, but there are restrictions on barge transportation, limiting how much grain they can carry to the Gulf grain terminals around New Orleans, and how many barges a river tow can push down river. The impact of that raises the cost of transporting grain, and farmers pay that cost, which could exceed 50 cents per bushel, deducted from the price being offered for grain that reaches the St. Louis grain terminals. Throughout much of the past year, the USDAs grain transportation economists calculated barges were the least cost when it comes to transporting grain down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Now it is more expensive than trucks or rail. The Mississippi is running low on flow, from its headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The Missouri River, with its vast watershed, explored by Lewis and Clark, is dry, and not contributing water flow of any significance to the Mississippi above St. Louis. The Ohio River is also low on its water flow, and while water releases from Barkley and Kentucky lakes create substantial variations in the water levels, Cairo will see the Ohio at its low threshold next week. Memphis, one of the primary locations to dictate barge restrictions, has been in its low threshold water level for several weeks. But southbound grain is not the only commodity of concern. Northbound fertilizer for fall application across the Corn Belt is also being impacted. That means prices will rise because fewer barges can be pushed upriver, with lighter loads. Are farmers hoping for good harvest weather or a lot of rainupriver? Mexico's floating gardens are ancient wonders of sustainable farming Mexico's floating gardens are ancient wonders of sustainable farming A centuries-old system One of the most productive agricultural systems in the world Chinampas could feed the city Mexico's floating gardens are ancient wonders of sustainable farming A teen is accused of starting a fire at a Middle Georgia high school Monday, and is connected to a burglary at the site weeks earlier, according to the Warner Robins fire and police departments. The 15-year-old boy allegedly broke into Warner Robins High School, damaged several areas ... and intentionally started a fire, according to an initial investigation, WRPD said in a news release. The incident was being investigated as arson, according to the police department. A detective identified the teen was linked to another burglary at the school on Aug. 29. Anyone with information related to either incident has been urged to contact detectives at easmith@wrga.gov or 478-302-5380. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Tempe police ask for public's help in solving Arizona Mills mall shooting Tempe police asked the public for help on Tuesday in solving a shooting at Arizona Mills mall. Two groups got into an argument in the food court of the mall before the shooting, which happened at about 7:30 p.m. on Friday, according to police. No one was injured, police said. Surveillance video of the incident, posted on social media, recorded shouting and several gunshots going off as people were ducking and running for cover. The Tempe Police Department has not said if anyone has been arrested or if any suspects have been detained. The department said in a statement that it would not be conducting interviews with the media about the ongoing investigation and has not responded to further questions about the shooting. Back in business: Arizona Mills mall in Tempe reopens after shooting incident Friday night The department asks if anyone has video or photos from the mall or food court area between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday to call 480-350-8311. Callers may remain anonymous, according to police. Deadly shooting: Tempe police fatally shoot man near Arizona Mills mall This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tempe police ask for public's help to solve Arizona Mills shooting Palestinians mourn their relatives who were killed in the Israeli attacks at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa At least eight people have been killed, including children, and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a former Gaza school building, the Palestinian civil defence said on Wednesday. The Israeli army said the air force targeted a command centre of the militant organization Hamas inside the former school. The military said that Hamas had used the building for planning and executing attacks on Israeli troops. At least two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the southern Gaza Strip, according to medics. Twelve more people were injured in the attack in Rafah, reported a doctor at the European Hospital in nearby Khan Younis. An Israeli military spokesman said they were examining the reports. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 41,270 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7. About a third of the dead are said to be children and adolescents under the age of 18. The authority generally does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Displaced Palestinians leave an area in east Bureij Refugee camp towards the west, after the Israeli attack on a houses at Bureij Refugee camp in Gaza Strip, Gaza. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Exactly ten years ago today, David Camerons big constitutional gamble failed. True, Scots rejected by a decisive majority independence and chose to remain part of the United Kingdom in a hard-fought and divisive referendum held on this day in 2014. But the assumption that Cameron and many others made that the result would draw a line under the decades-old debate once and for all proved to be a fantasy. The debate on independence did not begin in 2012 when Cameron gave the green light to the independence referendum. The current debate has its origins at least as far back as the 1987 general election, when Alex Salmonds election to the House of Commons injected fresh energy and mission into the SNP after the party had spent nearly a decade in the doldrums. Some might even place the genesis of todays constitutional debate 20 years earlier, at Winnie Ewings famous victory in the Hamilton by-election of 1967. And it did not end on September 18, 2014, when Scots voted by a margin of 55 to 45 per cent against independence. That turned out to be a mere semi-colon rather than a full stop. For the pro-independence movement was energised by its own defeat, while the campaign for the Union quickly collapsed in acrimony and self-doubt. Its with us yet, this seemingly never ending, circular obsession with the constitution, a debate that has eaten up countless hours, weeks and years of political capital on all sides, a debate that has served to inhibit and restrain any prospect of fresh thinking in the Scottish parliament. While devolved services wither, while Scotlands schools and school pupils fall further behind in international league tables, the people elected as stewards of their future have been allowed to avoid their responsibilities by pointing a perennial finger at Westminster and crying, Its all their fault! Independence has for too long been Holyroods Get Out of Jail Free card, wielded whenever ministers signally fail to deliver their own manifesto commitments. If only we were independent, everything would be fine, goes the mantra. Its taken a decade, but the signs are that the Scottish people are finally waking up to the facile nature of the SNPs excuses. But the opposition parties can no longer escape their own culpability either. It was Labour who promulgated the dubious claim that simply changing the UKs constitutional set-up, by giving Scots their own parliament, would be impetus enough to improve things. Only two factors policy and resources can hope to transform education, and those could have been provided just as efficiently by Westminster as by Holyrood. In fact, Scottish devolution meant that the forces of conservatism within Scotlands educational establishment were empowered to resist at least one positive innovation by Tony Blairs government academies (or free schools, as they later became) independent of local authority control which were never even tried in Scotland. But todays anniversary feels more like an opportunity than any of the previous nine. The first post-referendum decade was packed with incredible political drama: Scottish Labours wipeout at the 2015 general election, Brexit, the spectacular collapse of the relationship between Salmond and his successor as first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, numerous SNP triumphs and threats to hold a second referendum, the Supreme Court ruling that put paid to such ambitions, Sturgeons failed attempts to secure self-ID for trans people, her subsequent resignation, the police investigation into SNP finances, Humza Yousafs short and disastrous leadership of the SNP and, in July this year, the defeat of 37 SNP MPs at the general election, leaving them with a bewildered rump of just nine representatives at Westminster with the party facing removal from government at the next Holyrood elections. Can Scotlands politicians rise to the challenge of making the second post-referendum decade one of actual delivery rather than drama? The opportunity is certainly there. With the will to actually improve the lot of the Scottish people, rather than tell them made-up stories about how much better life would be in an alternative universe where Scots voted Yes in 2014, it is conceivable that the accumulated experience and skills of MSPs from across the political parties might actually be harnessed for good rather than stupidity. Its an attractive prospect. The key lies with the SNP. Following its heroic defeat at the referendum, it was flooded by new members more than 100,000 of them inspired by the referendum campaign and determined not to allow a little thing like democracy stand in the way of the dream they had nurtured for two years. That meant many new foot soldiers and new resources for the party, but it also hobbled it: the party was even less likely than before to concede that the independence campaign was over, at least for now. Only a new offer and a new campaign would satisfy the new hordes. Many of those same recruits have now left the SNP and there is an opportunity at last for its leadership to take time to consider the alternatives to a perpetual, and ultimately pointless, constitutional crusade. Could working with other parties to try to meet Scotlands many challenges using the existing powers of the Scottish Parliament be one of them? Its an enticing prospect. MSPs actually working full time to do the job they were elected to do? Stranger things have happened. If it doesnt happen now, in the next ten years, then it probably never will. And the dream, not just of independence but of devolution itself, will be proved to have been a pointless one. 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. Johnson City Medical Center, a flagship hospital for Ballad Health, has received a rating of one star out of five from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (Brett Kelman/KFF Health News) Ballad Health, an Appalachian company with the nations largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, may soon be required to improve its quality of care or face the possibility of being broken up. Government documents obtained by KFF Health News reveal that Tennessee officials, in closed-door negotiations, are attempting to hold the monopoly more accountable after years of complaints and protests from patients and their families. Ballad, a 20-hospital system in northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, was created six years ago through monopoly agreements negotiated with both states. Since then, Ballad has consistently fallen short of the quality-of-care goals, according to annual reports released by the Tennessee Department of Health. Despite these failures, Tennessee has given A grades and annual stamps of approval to Ballad that allow the monopoly to continue. This has occurred, at least in part, because Ballad is graded against a scoring rubric that largely ignores how its hospitals actually perform. Now that may change. In an ongoing renegotiation of Tennessees monopoly agreement, the state health department has pushed for an eightfold increase in the importance of hospital performance, making it the most heavily weighted issue on which Ballad would be judged, according to state documents obtained through a public records request. The negotiations appear to be the states most substantial response to residents who sound alarms about Ballad hospitals. After years of complaints from patients and their families, Ballad Health, the state-sanctioned hospital monopoly providing care for patients in a 29-county region of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina, may soon be required to improve care or be broken up. Dani Cook, a community organizer who has led efforts against Ballad for years, including an eight-month protest outside a Ballad hospital in 2019, said a renegotiated monopoly agreement could be a first step toward progress that locals have long sought, but only if it is enforced by the state. Cook also questioned why Tennessee took years to prioritize something as fundamental as good care. Thats what baffles me about this entire relationship: Ballad seems to never be held to account, Cook said. And thats why, when I look at this, I say, Oh that sounds great. But lets see what happens. Ballad Health was created in 2018 after Tennessee and Virginia officials waived federal anti-monopoly laws and approved the nations biggest hospital merger based on whats called a Certificate of Public Advantage, or COPA, agreement. Despite the warnings of the Federal Trade Commission, the regions rival hospital systems became a single system without competition. Ballad is now the only option for hospital care for most of about 1.1 million people in a 29-county region at the nexus of Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. In an effort to offset the perils of the monopoly, Ballad was required to enter agreements with the states that set expectations for the company and limited its ability to raise prices or close hospitals. Each year, Tennessee grades Ballad against this agreement on a 100-point scale. If the company performs poorly, Tennessee could in theory revoke the COPA, and then enforce a plan to split Ballad into separate companies, according to the monopoly agreement. The new negotiation documents offer a snapshot of how Tennessee hopes to reshape this agreement, detailing more than a dozen changes the health department proposed in February and a counterproposal from Ballad in May. It is unclear if or how these proposals may have changed in the subsequent months. Tennessee Department of Health spokesperson Dean Flener said the agency would not comment on Ballad or the ongoing negotiations. In a written statement, Ballad did not comment directly on the negotiations but said the company enthusiastically agrees that the most important thing to our patients is the quality of care they receive. The company said in 2023 that its hospital quality slipped due to the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic and that it was in the process of rebounding. We strongly support a shared focus on quality of care as it relates to the COPA, Molly Luton, a Ballad spokesperson, said in the statement. Historically, quality of care has been just a small part of how Ballad is held accountable. Twenty percent of Ballads annual COPA score comes from measurements of hospital quality, but the company gets full credit on three-fourths of those measurements if it reports any value even a terrible one. Only 5% of the annual score is determined by real-world hospital performance. If quality was weighted more, Ballad would have scored much worse in past years. Annual reports released by the Tennessee Department of Health over the last two years show that Ballad failed to meet more than 74% of the states quality-of-care benchmarks, including some about mortality rates, readmission rates, emergency room speed, surgery-related infections, and patient satisfaction. Under Tennessees proposed changes, all these metrics would matter much more. But Tennessee would also lower the overall standards for Ballads monopoly and ease a charity care obligation that Ballad has repeatedly not met, according to the negotiation documents. Ballad has said it hasnt met the charity care obligation because changes to Medicaid programs have left fewer patients uninsured and in need of charity. The documents show that: Tennessee has proposed increasing the share of Ballads annual score that is attributable to real-world quality of care from 5% to 40% and no longer giving Ballad any points for merely reporting quality statistics. In a counteroffer, Ballad proposed raising this percentage to 34%, with some points still awarded to the company just for reporting. Tennessee proposed lowering the minimum overall score that Ballad needs to obtain each year for its monopoly to be considered a clear and convincing public advantage. If Ballad falls below this threshold, the COPA agreement could be modified or terminated. Tennessee wants to lower the threshold from 85 out of 100 to 75. In its counteroffer, Ballad proposed 70. Tennessee would reduce or weaken a requirement for Ballad charity care spending that is largely moot. Ballad has been required to provide more than $100 million in free or discounted charity care to low-income patients each year under the current monopoly agreement, but it has failed to do so five years in a row, falling short by about $194 million in total. Tennessee has waived the requirement each year. Cook, who described the new documents as a rare glimpse into closed-door dealings that Ballad patients never get to see, said it was striking to witness the company push for lower standards. Why would they be pushing back on improving the quality of care that people receive? Cook said. If they are really among the nations best because thats what they tell the entire region why do you need the standards lowered? KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. Federal prosecutors arrested two individuals accused of trying to recruit white nationalist terrorists through a social media platform. When you find out what they were allegedly scheming, youll be disgusted. Monday, an indictment filed in the Eastern District of California was unsealed, revealing a list of charges against 37-year-old Matthew Allison and 34-year-old Dallas Humber. Each of them were slammed with fifteen crimes including hate crimes and plotting the murder of federal officials. The indictment says the two had been leading an initiative called the Terrorgram Collective on messaging app Telegram for the past two years instructing followers internationally to commit acts of racist violence. The Department of Justice claims Allison and Humber published a hit list inside the platform of people they wanted dead because of their racial, religious or sexual identity. These people included federal judges, U.S. states attorneys and other public officials described to be anti-white or anti-gun. What was even more frightening is that each person was given a description with their photo and even home addresses, per the DOJ. Federal officials said followers were promised a path to sainthood for assassinating any of the proposed targets. Allison and Humber were accused of instigating group followers to commit acts of violence with encouraging slogans like Take Action Now and Do Your Part. Officials also said the two offered instructions on how to make bombs, chemical weapons and other dangerous materials for attacks. Federal officials said the collective was motivated by their belief that society was so corrupt, political action couldnt save it, but a race war to accelerate the collapse of the government and the rise of white supremacy could do it. According to the DOJ, a few Terrorgram followers took these messages seriously. Read more from The Washington Post: According to authorities, in October 2022, a 19-year-old from Slovakia killed two people at an LGBT bar and then killed himself. The attackers manifesto thanked Terrogram for inspiring him. The Slovakian, authorities said, had contact with Allison and Humber in the year leading up to the attack, and about three months before the killings Humber told the attacker in a group chat that she would narrate the attackers books if the person murdered people in the name of Terrorgram. In August, a teenager from Turkey live-streamed himself stabbing five people outside a mosque after he had posted on Terrorgram that morning to Come see how much humans I can cleanse. In July, according to the indictment, an 18-year-old in the United States who was active in Terrorgram chats was arrested and accused of plotting an attack on an energy facility in New Jersey. Humber allegedly posted in a Terrorgram group chat later that the person arrested was 100% our guy. In a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in 2022, The Department of Homeland Security warned that extremist racist ideology is often bred on social media, per PBS. We have the track record to prove it considering the shooters behind the Buffalo supermarket massacre, the Jacksonville Dollar General massacre and the Charleston AME church massacre - each of which were born from extremist hate-filled ideals nutured on the internet. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. FILE - Timothy McCree Johnson's parents Melissa Johnson, center, and Timothy Walker, left, address reporters along with attorney Carl Crews, right, outside Fairfax County Police headquarters, March 22, 2023, in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat, File) FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) Opening statements and testimony began Wednesday in the trial of a former northern Virginia police sergeant charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man suspected of shoplifting sunglasses. Prosecutors say former Sgt. Wesley Shifflett recklessly discharged his service gun in the killing of Timothy McCree Johnson, 37, near a busy shopping mall on Feb. 22, 2023. Prosecutors say Shifflett and his team at the Fairfax County Police Department received a report from security guards that Johnson stole sunglasses from a Nordstrom department store in Tysons Corner Center. After identifying Johnson, Shifflett and another officer chased him into a densely wooded area near the mall, where Shifflett fired twice at the man. Barry Zweig, the lead prosecutor, said in opening statements that Shifflett had fired two shots after ordering Johnson to get on the ground but just before he shouted, Stop reaching. The other officer chasing Johnson shot at the victim after Shifflett opened fire, Zweig said, though Shifflett fired the fatal shot. Caleb Kershner, Shifflett's attorney, said his client feared for his life in the moments before the shooting. As Shifflett chased Johnson into the woods, Kershner said, Johnson tripped over some brush and crouched onto his knees, facing Shifflett. Kershner said Shifflett saw Johnson reaching into his waistband and believed he had a weapon. After the shooting, police searched for a weapon but found nothing. Unfortunately, Sgt. Shifflett doesnt have clairvoyance, nor does he have X-ray vision, Kershner said, adding: His training told him to do exactly as he did. Following the shooting, the Fairfax County Police Department fired Shifflett. Initially, a grand jury declined to indict him in the shooting, but the Fairfax County Commonwealths Attorneys Office received court approval for a special grand jury to reinvestigate. The second panel indicted Shifflett last October. In court, Lt. Michael Connor, who also worked on the Tysons team, said officers at the mall frequently encountered people concealing guns and chased suspects daily. On the night of the shooting, Connor said he was also responding to the suspected theft when he heard gunshots outside the woods. Connors body camera video, which was played in court, shows the lieutenant running toward Shifflett and checking him for injuries. In the moments after the shooting, Shifflett told him that he saw Johnson reaching, Connor testified. The video shows people gathered around Johnson while he cries, Hurry. Soon after, Johnson can be heard saying: Im not reaching for nothing. I dont have nothing. ___ Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Warning: The details of this case may be disturbing to some readers. WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) Testimony resumed Wednesday in the trial against former Warren Police Officer Michael Edwards, Jr. Edwards is accused of sexually assaulting six women while he was on the job. Hes charged with 24 counts including charges of rape, extortion, sexual battery and dereliction of duty. Wednesday afternoon, one of the alleged victims in the case took the stand. She described a sexual encounter she had with Edwards in 2023 in the midst of her addiction. She claims she was borderline blackout in her vehicle when it happened while he was on duty. I followed him willingly in my truck however I know that there was absolutely a power dynamic and I feel like I felt obligated to consent, said the alleged victim. He had been letting me drive around with my truck with no drivers license also my car with no drivers license. He told me drugs had been disposed of so its almost like I felt obligated to do whatever encounter was about to happen, she said. She said the encounter did not last long and she did not do it for her own personal pleasure. The trial will resume Thursday 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 WKBN.com. High school students walk to their next class after the bell rings at Elsik Ninth Grade Center in Houston on March 28, 2018. Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath on Wednesday said next year lawmakers should ban the use of cellphones in public schools across the state. Moraths endorsement of a statewide ban came during his testimony at a Senate Education Committee hearing, where he called the use of cellular devices extremely harmful to student progress. If it were in my power, I would have already banned them in all schools in the state, Morath said. So I would encourage you to consider that as a matter of public policy going forward for our students and our teachers. Moraths comments fall directly in line with a debate taking place in school systems across the country, a contentious subject that doesnt divide neatly along party lines. The commissioner brought up the topic of cellphones while testifying about student outcomes on national and state exams. On the most recent state exam, only 41% of Texas students demonstrated an adequate understanding of math, a significant cause for concern among lawmakers Wednesday. People supporting universal cellphone bans note that the devices distract students from learning and are harmful to childrens mental health. Others worry that banning cellphones prevents young people from exercising personal responsibility and communicating with their parents during emergencies a growing concern as mass shootings have become more common throughout the United States. During the Uvalde school shooting, where a gunman massacred 19 students and two teachers, children trapped inside the school used phones to call police for help. Still, some committee lawmakers on Wednesday responded to Moraths testimony with an openness to the idea. Mental health is becoming a bigger and bigger issue, said Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio. I like what you said about if we could get rid of the cellphones, you know. I mean, it would help all of us if we could do that. But we can't. I mean how would it look? Morath pointed out that many Texas school districts already ban cellphones in schools, some outright and others only allowing limited use during times like lunch or traveling in between classes. Administratively, this is a very doable thing, he said. Sen. Donna Campbell, a New Braunfels Republican, said that while we will make an attempt to ban cellphones from class during the next legislative session, it is ultimately the responsibility of school districts to take action. Everything doesn't take legislation, said Campbell, who proposed a bill during the last legislative session that sought to prohibit smartphone use during instructional time. It takes leadership. Seventy-two percent of high school teachers across the country say that cellphone distractions are a major problem in their classroom, compared with 33% of middle school teachers and 6% of elementary school teachers, according to Pew Research. Seven states thus far have passed laws that ban or restrict cellphone use in schools, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Legislators in California, which has the most students enrolled in public schools in the country, recently approved a bill requiring school districts to develop a policy restricting the use of cellphones by 2026. But it is unclear whether Texas, where more than 5.5 million children go to school, will soon follow suit. During The Texas Tribune Festival earlier this month, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, a Democratic member of the Public Education Committee from Austin, said she doesnt like the use of cellphones in the classroom, but it may be that we should leave it to school districts to decide that on their own. I don't know, Hinojosa said. Well have to hear the debate. Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, who also serves on the Public Education Committee, said most of the schools he represents have already restricted cellphones. I don't think we need law for everything, he said. Brian Wharton wears the worry on his face. He knows Robert Roberson is slated for execution in 30 days. He believes Texas is about to kill an innocent man, and the courts have declined to stop it. Two decades ago, Wharton had been wrong about this case, too. As the lead police detective handling this case in the East Texas town of Palestine, he played a key role in the arrest and conviction of Roberson over the 2002 death of Roberson's 2-year-old daughter, Nikki, believing the child had suffered from shaken baby syndrome. For the past six years, Wharton has tried to undo this terrible error, a case built on skimpy forensics and bad judgment calls. Now an Oct. 17 execution date looms. Time is running out. Robert Roberson, shown in December 2023 through plexiglass at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Polunsky Unit's visitor area, faces an Oct. 17 execution. New evidence has cast doubt on his conviction for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki. There has been no crime committed here. Nikki died of accidental and natural causes, Wharton told me and other journalists gathered Tuesday on a call organized by Roberson's attorneys. I will be forever haunted by my participation in his arrest and prosecution. He is an innocent man. A legion of advocates is urging the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Greg Abbott to grant clemency to Roberson, 57, who appears to be the only person in America facing the death penalty in a case involving the increasingly discredited theory of shaken baby syndrome. Regardless of our individual positions on the death penalty, I think we can all agree that putting a potentially innocent man to death for a crime that may not have occurred would be a grave miscarriage of justice," state Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, says at a news conference Tuesday at the Capitol. Among the advocates in Robersons corner: 84 Texas lawmakers from both parties, 34 scientists and medical experts, 70 attorneys who have represented people wrongfully accused of child abuse, eight advocates for parental rights, eight organizations that advocate for those with autism, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops and other faith organizations. In a statement released this week, state Rep. Joe Moody, DEl Paso, argued that the forensics used in the original trial are now widely seen as junk science. We simply can't move forward with an execution with these kinds of doubts hanging over it. State Rep. Lacey Hull, a Houston Republican, added, Regardless of our individual positions on the death penalty, I think we can all agree that putting a potentially innocent man to death for a crime that may not have occurred would be a grave miscarriage of justice." Robert Roberson is shown with his daughter, Nikki. Roberson was convicted of murder for Nikki's 2002 death, but numerous experts have argued the child died of complications from severe viral and bacterial pneumonia, not shaken baby syndrome. A perfect storm of failures and misunderstandings landed Roberson on death row. He took Nikki to see doctors twice in the days before her death in 2002, as the child battled infections and her fever spiked at 104.5 degrees. Doctors prescribed Phenergan and a cough syrup with codeine both drugs the FDA now warns against giving to young children, as they can cause serious and life-threatening breathing problems for small patients. When Roberson rushed his unresponsive daughter to the hospital on Jan. 31, 2002, doctors concluded the internal bleeding in Nikkis head and her brain swelling must have been caused by shaken baby syndrome. Experts who later scrutinized the case, however, found the tissue samples from Nikkis lungs showed she had a severe case of pneumonia that prevented her body from getting the oxygen it needed, and the infection led to sepsis. Nikki also had dangerous levels of the medications that we now know the doctors should not have prescribed. Research has also found that a short fall can produce head injuries that can be mistaken for shaken baby syndrome. Hours before he took Nikki to the hospital, Roberson awoke to find she had fallen out of bed. He picked her up and tucked her back in. But investigators dismissed Robersons story about Nikkis fall, and indeed grew more suspicious of him, because he seemed unemotional and detached at the hospital. It wasnt until years later that Roberson was diagnosed with autism, a condition that affects the way people process and express their emotions. Such a condition can lead to grave misunderstandings for those who come into contact with law enforcement officers. State Rep. Joe Moody, DEl Paso, shown at Tuesday's news conference, has argued that in the Roberson case, the forensics used in the original trial are now widely seen as junk science. We simply can't move forward with an execution with these kinds of doubts hanging over it. In court filings, the Anderson County district attorneys office stands by the evidence that convicted Roberson two decades ago, even though shaken baby syndrome has proven to be an overused and unreliable explanation for such injuries to children. At least 32 people in 18 states have been exonerated after wrongful convictions on the basis of shaken baby syndrome, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Even with the magnitude of errors in Roberson's case, however, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last week declined his request for relief. John Grisham, the bestselling author and longtime board member of the Innocence Project, shook his head over the courts refusal to intervene when the evidence of innocence is so compelling. But he applauded Wharton for his effort to keep fighting to free the man he helped put on death row. In almost none of these stories and I've met dozens of exonerees do you ever hear the policeman, the officers say, We got it wrong. We're sorry? Grisham told me and other journalists on the call organized by Robersons legal team. You never hear the prosecutor say, Hey, we got it wrong. We're sorry. We never hear the judges say, We got it wrong. There's a cover -up with every one of them. The mistakes are too big, and the stakes are too big, for people to say, We were wrong. But now, being wrong will mean executing a likely innocent man, an act that cannot be taken back. The stakes don't get bigger than that. The power to make this right rests with Abbott. Grumet is the Statesmans Metro columnist. Her column, ATX in Context, contains her opinions. Share yours via email at bgrumet@statesman.com or on X at @bgrumet. Find her previous work at statesman.com/opinion/columns. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: OPINION: Execution of Robert Roberson set even as evidence unravels Texas Man Allegedly Showed Up at His 6-Year-Old's Birthday Party and Fatally Shot the Child's Mother: Police Jalin J. Foreman, 27, is facing a murder charge in connection with the death of Jalen Whitlock Houston Police Department Jalin J. Foreman A Texas mother was fatally shot at her 6-year-old child's birthday party, according to Houston police. Authorities said Jalen Whitlock, 25, was shot at the front door of her townhouse on Locksley Road in Houston around 8:35 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, according to a criminal complaint. Jalin J. Foreman, 27, surrendered to Houston on Monday, Sept. 16 and was booked into the Harris County jail. He is facing a murder charge, per the complaint. A witness told police that during the party, Foreman drove up to the home, shot at least five times at the townhouse, and started screaming, Im not scared of you, I know where you live, and Come at me, according to the complaint. Foreman allegedly then drove off but came back moments later and yelled out, Were going to end this now," per the complaint. Whitlock's boyfriend told police that Foreman, the father of her two children, was trying to come to the house to give his daughter a birthday gift, but Whitlock told him, He cannot come to the house, according to the complaint. 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 the complaint, Whitlock's boyfriend said Foreman showed up at the home, and the boyfriend saw Foreman dropping off gifts at the front door. He told police that the children came downstairs to get the gifts and shortly after that, the two men got into a verbal altercation. Foreman, according to the boyfriend's claim, allegedly began taunting him and said things about fighting, shooting and to come to the back to fight," per the complaint. Foreman allegedly then went back to his truck. [The boyfriend] stated that he believes [Foreman] went back to his truck to get a gun because [Foreman] kept talking about shooting and fighting," per the complaint. "[The boyfriend] then retrieved to the kitchen to get one of the [victims] guns. [The boyfriend] stated that as he comes back to the front entrance door, the defendant shoots and thats when the [boyfriend] returns fire at the defendant. [The boyfriend] stated that he then shuts the door and observed [Whitlock] shot laying in the floor," the complaint claims. Police said Foreman then fled the scene. Foreman's attorney declined to comment. If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.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. AUSTIN (KXAN) Its becoming more common again to see vehicles with no drivers inside making their way autonomously through Austin neighborhoods, and Texas lawmakers are looking at ways to potentially make their operations safer since theyre tasked with regulating this growing industry. Ahead of next years regular legislative session, the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation held a hearing Wednesday, where the members discussed recommended changes for autonomous vehicles to follow in the state. Ariel Wolf, general counsel for the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, testified that Texas could require a first responder interaction plan so that operators lay out what to do in situations like the times when some Cruise vehicles inexplicably blocked traffic in Austin before the company suspended driverless operations. Waymo, Uber launching driverless rideshare services in Austin next year The idea would be that that plan would need to be submitted to (the Department of Public Safety) in advance of any operation or testing, and if it were not to be submitted and wouldnt contain the elements, we would potentially recommend having the authority to submit a cease-and-desist order, Wolf told lawmakers Wednesday. So that needs to be done in advance, and thats bedrock best practice for the autonomous vehicle industry. Wolf said Arizona now has a law regarding these kinds of plans from autonomous vehicle operators. State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, asked whether thats a place Texas should look to monitor which policies to pursue next. Because many of our first responder communities, this is new territory to them. Theyre not quire sure how to handle an AV (autonomous vehicle). Pulling over an AV, what do you do? AV in an accident, what do you do? Eckhardt said from the dais. So we could establish those protocols in advance. This idea already has support from the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation. David Dunmoyer, TPPFs technology policy director, wrote in a report earlier this year that the state should consider enacting first responder interaction plans, among other possible changes. Its a way to streamline the style of communication between companies and law enforcement, so both parties know what are the rules of the road, Dunmoyer said. As manual operators of vehicles, we know what to do when an officer pulls us over, and so those rules of the road should apply to self driving cars as well because some companies have a microphone in their car, so you can communicate with the the operator. Others dont maybe they have a QR code, so lets make it consistent so that law enforcement is trained prudently on how to interact with these companies. However, Selena Xie, president of the Austin EMS Association, seemed skeptical about how helpful that information truly would be when seconds matter. When were responding to emergencies, were trying to get to a patient in under eight minutes, Xie said. It would probably take much longer than that just to be able to find the right phone number, to get through the automated system, to get to somebody and then to have them actually help us. So that absolutely would not help our response times. Another idea discussed Wednesday included rules to require autonomous vehicle companies report crash data to the state. The federal government already tracks that kind of information. Whether any of these ideas will gain traction at the Texas Capitol remains unclear, but these debates will only help drive forward the debate when the session begins again on Jan. 14. These discussions are also happening a week after Waymo, the self-driving vehicle operation run by Alphabet, announced it would partner with Uber so that people could start requesting rides in fully driverless vehicles in early 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 KXAN Austin. Next month, the Supreme Court will consider whether to take up Villarreal v. Alaniz, a First Amendment case involving a Laredo, Texas, journalist who was arrested for asking questions. Although that is literally what happened to local crime vlogger Priscilla Villarreal in 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, echoing an appeals court ruling against her, calls that description "clever but misleading" in a brief opposing her petition for Supreme Court review. "Priscilla Villarreal was supposedly arrested just for asking questions," the brief says. In reality, Paxton argues, she was arrested for soliciting the commission of a crime: the unauthorized release of information about a public suicide and a fatal car accident. Villarreal asked Laredo police officer Barbara Goodman to confirm information about those incidents, and Goodman willingly did so. According to Laredo police and local prosecutors, the text messages that Villarreal exchanged with Goodman constituted two felonies under an obscure and abstruse Texas statute addressing "misuse of official information." Paxton's framing aims to avoid the obvious First Amendment implications of criminalizing basic journalism. He argues that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit was right to rule that the Laredo officials responsible for Villarreal's arrest were protected by qualified immunity, a doctrine that bars federal civil rights claims unless they allege violations of "clearly established" law. In a January 2024 decision, Judge Edith Jones concluded that arresting Villarreal for seeking information from Goodman was not "obviously unconstitutional." That assessment provoked four vigorous dissents authored or joined by seven of Jones' colleagues. "If the First Amendment means anything," Judge James C. Ho wrote, "surely it means that citizens have the right to question or criticize public officials without fear of imprisonment." The decision also dismayed civil libertarians and journalists across the country, who recognized the threat it posed to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Villarreal's Supreme Court petition, which the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed in April, has attracted supporting briefs from an ideologically diverse set of organizations and individuals (including me). The briefs emphasize the chilling impact of letting police punish people for doing what reporters do every day: seek and publish information from government sources. According to Paxton, however, there is nothing to see here. Dismissing "the doomsday scenario predicted by the [5th Circuit] dissents and adopted by Villarreal," he tries to obscure what happened to her by describing her questions as "akin to incitement." Without taking a position on whether Villarreal should have been arrested, he argues that it was reasonable for Laredo police to think she had broken the law and that, even if applying it in this situation was unconstitutional, they had no way of knowing that. Both of those arguments are highly dubious. Let's start with the claim that the cops reasonably believed Villarreal had committed crimes. A judge dismissed the charges against Villarreal after concluding that the law on which the cops relied, Section 39.06(c) of the Texas Penal Code, was unconstitutionally vague. It is not hard to see why. Under Section 39.06(c), "a person commits an offense if, with intent to obtain a benefit or with intent to harm or defraud another, he solicits or receives from a public servant information thatthe public servant has access to by means of his office or employment" when that information "has not been made public." Seven years after Villarreal's arrest, Laredo officials still have not satisfactorily explained exactly how her conduct fit the elements of that offense. The Texas Penal Code defines "benefit" as "anything reasonably regarded as economic gain or advantage." What "benefit" did Villarreal allegedly seek to obtain by asking Goodman about the suicide and the accident? According to the arrest affidavits, the benefit was a boost to traffic on the locally popular Facebook page where she posted her video reports. In the past, Jones noted, Villarreal also had received "free meals 'from appreciative readers,' 'fees for promoting a local business,' and 'donations for new equipment necessary to her citizen journalism efforts.'" This understanding of "benefit" is broad enough to encompass any journalist who receives any sort of compensation for his work or who hopes to attract readers or viewers. In other words, it is broad enough to encompass any journalist. That was not the only problem with the legal theory on which Laredo police relied to arrest Villarreal. Section 39.06(d) defines "information that has not been made public" as "any information to which the public does not generally have access" that is also "prohibited from disclosure" under the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA). On its face, that definition renders this provision a nullity. As the 4th District Court of Appeals noted in two 2005 cases, State v. Newton and State v. Ford, the TPIA does not "prohibit the disclosure of any information; rather, it provides a set of exceptions to required disclosure for certain categories of public information." It is therefore "readily apparent that the terminology used in the penal statute does not match the terminology" used in the TPIA. "In order to give meaning to the penal statute," the court read "prohibited from disclosure" to mean exempt from mandatory disclosure, which is by no means the same thing. The TPIA includes exceptions for more than 60 categories of information. In some cases, that information is confidential under other statutes. But the TPIA itself does not "prohibit" the disclosure of anything, and in many cases it gives agencies the discretion to disclose information that is arguably covered by an exception. For example, law enforcement agencies are not required to release information when doing so might compromise an ongoing criminal investigation. But they may choose to release that information anyway. The 4th District's interpretation of Section 39.06(d), in short, is at odds with the plain meaning of "prohibited." The 8th District Court of Appeals nevertheless adopted that interpretation in the 2013 case Tidwell v. State. "If the two statutes are construed literally and without any attempt to harmonize them, the second component of Section 39.06(d) could never be satisfied and no one could ever be prosecuted or convicted under Section 39.06(c)," the court reasoned. "This is contrary to the rules of statutory construction which require a court to construe statutory provisions in a manner that avoids illogical or absurd results." Alluding to those decisions, Paxton's brief says "Texas state courts have held that information 'prohibited from disclosure' refers to the exceptions to disclosure in the PIA." Yet that position contradicts the interpretation that Paxton's office embraced when Villarreal's case was considered by the 5th Circuit. "Texas courts have held that the distinction between exceptions and outright prohibitions on disclosing information is irrelevant for purposes of section 39.06(c)," Jones said in the majority opinion. But as Ho noted in his dissent, Paxton's office "disagrees with the majority," taking the position that "only outright prohibitions on disclosureand not discretionary exceptionswould trigger 39.06(c)." Notably, the arrest affidavits in Villarreal's case did not explain which "exceptions" or "outright prohibitions" covered the information that she obtained, which included the last name of the family involved in the car accident and the name and occupation of a man who had killed himself by jumping off a bridge in Laredo. In her majority opinion, Jones tried to fill in that blank. "The state has a longstanding policy to protect individual privacy in law enforcement situations that appear to involve suicide or vehicular accidents," Jones wrote. "Recently, the Texas Attorney General has stated that under the Texas Constitution, 'surviving family members can have a privacy interest in information relating to their deceased relatives.'Because Texas law protects the privacy of the bereaved family, the identity of a suicide or a deceased car accident victim may be considered confidential, especially when a law enforcement investigation has just begun or is ongoing.Texas law prevents the disclosure of certain personal identifying information of victims in accident reports and exempts disclosure of information related to ongoing criminal investigations." None of this information is "prohibited from disclosure" under the TPIA. The restrictions on accident reports, which are imposed by a different statute, allow access by a long list of interested individuals and organizations, including news outlets. The exception for "information related to ongoing criminal investigations" is discretionary. A brief from the Laredo officials whom Villarreal sued avers that "Texas law 'prohibits disclosure' by public servants of various types of sensitive information," such as "information that may 'interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime,'" "reports about traffic accidents," and "records concerning children." The respondents add that "Section 39.06(c) criminalizes solicitation intended to induce a public official to violate those restrictions." Again, the TPIA does not "prohibit disclosure" of information about an investigation. It merely says disclosure is not required in certain circumstances. The law regarding accident reports makes many exceptions, including for members of the press. The law dealing with "records concerning children" that the respondents cite addresses information regarding abuse or neglect investigations. It is not clear why they think that statute is relevant to the information that Villarreal obtained from Goodman. The officials who engineered Villarreal's arrest, in short, did not initially explain how she supposedly had violated Section 39.06(c). And to this day, their explanations fall short of justifying the arrest, even without considering the First Amendment implications. If the cops and prosecutors still cannot settle on a specific legal theory, how was Villarreal supposed to know she was breaking the law? Laredo's broad interpretation of Section 39.06(c) poses a problem for Paxton because it implies that anyone who asks for information deemed to be covered by a TPIA exception is committing a felony when he can be said to be seeking a "benefit." That happens thousands of times a year in Texas: Someone seeks information that an agency does not want to release, and it asks the attorney general's office for an opinion to back up that position. As the MuckRock Foundation notes in its brief supporting Villarreal's Supreme Court appeal, Laredo's reading of Section 39.06(c) would lead to "the absurd result of imposing liability not only on those who seek 'confidential' information, but on those who request information that the government may, but need not, make public." Paxton is keen to avoid that "absurd result." Since the TPIA "encourages individuals to ask for information," he says, it is "highly unlikely that a Texas court would conclude that merely asking for information that ultimately cannot be released is a crime." Villarreal's case is different, the Laredo officials argue, because she did not go through the proper channels. "Texas law establishes a careful structure for obtaining information from government bodies," they say. "These procedures protect the substantial government interest in ensuring both that the government promptly discloses information that should be disclosed and that it does not disclose confidential information protected from disclosure. Soliciting information from a government official that the official may not lawfully disclose circumvents the legitimate structure requiring inquiries to be directed through the public information officer." By this account, a Texas reporter risks arrest whenever he talks to a "back-channel" police source instead of a "public information officer." If the information he seeks is deemed exempt from mandatory disclosure under the TPIA, he is committing a felony. Contrary to Paxton's assurances, this understanding of Section 39.06(c) clearly criminalizes standard reporting practices, making it illegal to ask questions. Although Paxton implies that Villarreal encouraged Goodman to break the law, the officer was not charged with a crime. Instead, she was suspended for 20 days after her interactions with Villarreal came to light. If Goodman was not authorized to disclose the information she gave Villarreal, FIRE argues in its reply brief, that's on her: "Disciplining the employee, not the inquiring citizen, is the state's only constitutionally permissible path." Paxton "tries relabeling asking police for facts with criminal buzzwords like 'solicitation," 'incitement,' and 'leaks,'" FIRE notes. "The First Amendment is not so easily evaded: '[A] State cannot foreclose the exercise of constitutional rights by mere labels.'" Like the 5th Circuit, "Respondents and Texas miscast this case as one about 'access' to government information," FIRE says. "It is not. If it were, neither would scramble to mislabel Villarreal's polite questions to a police officer with scare-words like 'soliciting' and 'inciting.' No matter the government label, the First Amendment protects obtaining information from officials 'simply by asking.'" The post A Texas Reporter Was Arrested for Asking Questions. The State Says That's No Big Deal. appeared first on Reason.com. SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) If you were to do a head count on Texas State Universitys campus in 2024, youd tally up a few more people than last year. Thats because, for the first time in its 125-year history, the university enrolled more than 40,000 students for its fall 2024 semester. Thats a threshold weve been targeting for a long time, Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse told KXAN. What weve been doing is trying to work really hard to help prospective students understand the value of a four-year college degree in general, and then the value of a Texas State degree, in particular, he continued. The last time the university saw record enrollment was in 2016 when 38,849 students started classes. This fall, the university enrolled 40,678 students up by around 5% from 2023. TXST has worked hard to drive home the importance of a four-year college degree to first-generation students, Damphousse, who was the first person in his family to earn one, said. We have a great university thats prepared to welcome, [help] and support [first-generation students] through their process. About 41% of our students are first generation, he continued. About half of Texas State University are eligible for Pell Grants, which means they come from pretty challenging economic backgrounds. We believe that opening up the opportunity for a four-year college degree on our campus can change the lives of those students who are coming here, Damphousse added. Texas States San Marcos, Round Rock and online programs all have room to keep growing, Damphousse said. [The San Marcos Campus]can easily get to 50,000 students by 2030, he said. The ultimate cap could be larger if we continue to grow our online program. I think theres a great appreciation for what weve done here for 125 years, Damphousse said. [Students] when they come here, they believe that were invested not just in having the biggest freshman class, but also having the biggest graduating class in four years, that were invested in their success. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Texas takes aim at violent gang brought to US under Biden border policies: 'We will find them' Texas is taking matters into its own hands to crack down on members of Tren de Aragua a dangerous Venezuelan gang operating in the U.S. after the Biden administration allowed mass numbers of migrants to come into the country. "Texas is having to piece together from scratch a database of the background of all these people coming across our border from Venezuela," Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott told "America's Newsroom" Tuesday. "We look at tattoos. We look at other factors either on their body or in their modus operandi to help us identify a database of these TdA members. That allows us to better track them down and arrest them." MEXICAN GOVERNMENT BUSES MIGRANTS TO US BORDER AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BECOMES TOP ELECTION ISSUE Tren de Aragua is a violent Venezuelan gang that has been causing havoc in multiple states across the United States. The gang is believed to have originated in Venezuelan prisons and moved north over the last decade. But its reputation within the U.S. has grown this year, in part due to a number of high-profile crimes linked to the gang, with many believed to have arrived by coming across the southern border as part of the sharp increase in migration in recent years. Abbott will be declaring the gang a foreign terrorist organization and condemned the Biden administration for "allowing large numbers of Venezuelans to come into the United States." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released its latest statistics Monday, showing nearly 530,000 migrants flew into the U.S. and were paroled into the country as part of the Biden administrations controversial mass parole program for those migrating from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV). "We will bring the full weight of the government against the TdA," Abbott said Monday. "By declaring TdA a foreign terrorist organization, Texas will use the courts to halt their operations, use civil asset forfeiture to take the property and use enhanced criminal penalties to keep them in jail behind bars for longer periods of time." Abbott's declaration provides the state with tools to be more aggressive in going after the gang. "We have nine anti-gang units across the entire state of Texas," he said Tuesday. "They operate at the federal, state and local level collaborating against gangs. What I did yesterday was to elevate TdA as the number one gang that our anti-gang partners will be going against." "We are seeking them. We will find them. We will put them behind bars to make sure that Texas is hostile territory to this treacherous gang," he continued. "We must stop them in their tracks in the United States of America." The governor added that he has recently signed laws that directly target activity TdA is involved in. "If we get our hands on them, they're going to be subject to a mandatory minimum of at least 10 years behind bars," he said. Border officials told Fox recently they are targeting the gang as a priority, and officials in Dallas said they have seen gang activity in the north Dallas area linked to TdA. The gang hit the headlines over reports of a takeover of apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado. Fox News Digital reported in July that TdA members have been given a "green light" to fire on or attack law enforcement in Denver. The Biden administration designated the group a "significant transnational criminal organization" in July and offered up to $12 million for information leading to the arrest of three of its leaders. According to a recent report from the DHS Inspector General, ICE does not have the bodies to track and remove the additional population allowed under the Biden administrations programs, nor has any agency been monitoring the parole expiration. Abbott noted more than 100 gang members were arrested during a riot at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso earlier this year. On Tuesday, he said that strike teams were being formed to surge resources to areas where gang members are believed to be working. Original article source: Texas takes aim at violent gang brought to US under Biden border policies: 'We will find them' Texas tops nation in registered sex offenders, heres how to see if an offender lives near you MIDLAND/ODESSA, TEXAS (KMID/KPEJ)- As the rates for registered sex offenders in the country continue to climb since 2023, Texas consistently tops the nation with the largest list of registered sex offenders, accounting for nearly 13% of all registrants in the United States; which is why knowing if an offender is in your area through several registry databases remains one of the most crucial tools for increasing awareness and safety. There are several resources to know if a registered sex offender lives nearby, however, the sources vary depending on local law enforcement and the databases they use. Below are the different tools Midland and Ector County use to inform citizens about nearby offenders. Ector County Ector County uses Offenderwatch. OffenderWatch is the nations leading sex offender registry network and can be found here. According to the Ector County Sheriffs Office, there are currently 287 registered sex offenders living in Odessa, however, it is important to check the list regularly because over 80% of all addresses have a minimum of one offender within one mile and offenders are continually added to the ECSO database and often change their addresses. Be sure to frequently run address searches on places such as your home, your childrens schools, and local playgrounds. Texas Public Sex Offender Map: Odessa OffenderWatch can also be used via the OffenderWatch family safety app where parents can locate registered sex offenders nearby, track the location of their children, and get email alerts. The Ector County Sherrifs Office encourages using the OffenderWatch app or online database notification system because of the following information: 45% of sexual assault victims are under 12 years of age 75% of victims know their attacks Estimated 80% of ALL addresses have AT LEAST one offender within 1 mile More than half of rape/sexual assault incidents happened within a mile of the victims home Sex offenders cross socio-economic boundaries living in both the richest and poorest of neighborhoods. The ECSO Sex Offender page also stated that it is important to use the resources made available and have open communication between parents and children to promote family safety as a whole. If a picture is available from the local law enforcements website, show it to your family. In general terms, tell your children that this person has hurt someone before. Explain to them that they should stay away from this individual. Avoid scary details. Midland County According to the Midland County Sheriffs Office Public Safety page, sex offenders in Midland County can be monitored by neighbors through the Texas Public Sex Offender website, a widely used database for the state of Texas. Texas Public Sex Offender Map: Midland The information on the database comes from local criminal justice agencies that collect sex offenders reports and submit them to the state registry. To search for offenders, click here. Related: Shining a light on sexual abuse in Ector County and beyond The Texas Public Sex Offender Website also provides the following resources for those who would like to stay informed on offenders who may be nearby: Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Thailands new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has appointed a group of economic and legal experts as advisers after her administration pledged to tackle a raft of economic challenges facing the Southeast Asian nation. Most Read from Bloomberg The panel of advisers is headed by Pansak Vinyaratn, who served as an economic policy adviser to Paetongtarns father, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra during 2001-2006. Surapong Suebwonglee, who was the finance minister in a Thaksin-backed government in 2008, was named the deputy chairman, according to an order dated Sept. 16. Prominent economist Supavud Saicheua, who is currently chairman of the National Economic and Social Development Council, was also named as an adviser. Other members included Tongthong Chandransu, formerly an adviser to Paetongtarns predecessor Srettha Thavisin, and Phongthep Thepkanjana, who has headed many ministries in various governments of Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra. The board of advisers will help Paetongtarn analyze and study opportunities to improve the country, according to the appointment order. They will also make suggestions related to government policies, it said. Paetongtarn, the third member of the influential Shinawatra clan to lead Thailand and a relative newcomer to politics, is turning to Thaksin loyalists to help her steer the economic and legal challenges facing her multi-party coalition government. The selection also signals how the former premier is likely wield significant influence over his daughters government. Thailands youngest prime minister has vowed to revive Southeast Asias second-largest economy thats stifled by near-record household debt and high cost of living. Her government has proposed a sweeping debt restructuring to tackle the household debt pile, offer financial assistance to small businesses and accelerate fiscal stimulus to lift growth rate thats lagged its peers in the region. The advisory boards appointment came after Paetongtarn kept Pichai Chunhavajira as finance minister in a signal of policy continuity from Sretthas short-lived administration. Srettha was ousted last month in a surprise ruling by the Constitutional Court, which found him guilty in an ethics violation case. Paetongtarn also previously appointed Prommin Lertsuridej as the Prime Ministers Secretary-General, a post he had held under former leaders Thaksin and Srettha. On Wednesday, Paetongtarn met with the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand to discuss plans to promote the industry next year. Tourism remains a key driver of economic growth for Thailand, and the new government has pledged to promote it by revamping the visa structure, adding amusement parks, entertainment complexes that will house casinos and hosting concerts and global sporting events. (Updates with tourism meeting in final paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Thai restaurant scores 90 red points. Here are Thurston food safety inspections for Sept. 18 Comments are taken directly from the latest Thurston County Public Health and Social Services (PHSS) inspection reports, which are available for each food establishment, at the Thurston County Environmental Health Office and their website. For questions concerning these reports, contact the health office at 360-867-2667. Report restaurant, grocery store, deli or bakery complaints online via the complaint form here: https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/phss/Pages/eh-problem.aspx. Reading inspection scores: Attention should be given to the type of violation (red versus blue) and whether the establishment has a history of red violations or repeat violations. Red violations are those most likely to cause food-borne illness and must be corrected immediately if feasible or according to a compliance schedule established by the health officer. Example: not keeping food at the right temperature. Blue violations relate to the overall cleanliness and condition of operation and must be corrected according to a compliance schedule established by the health officer. Example: a worn floor that needs replacing. If red points exceed 45, the county will require a reinspection within 10 business days. A reinspection also is required if total red and blue points exceed 65. If red points exceed 100 and theres a lack of managerial control, the county will shut down the establishment for at least 72 hours. The establishment may reopen after management and employees complete retraining and demonstrate corrective action during a reinspection. Some common abbreviations: PHF/TCS is potentially hazardous food/time control for safety; RTE is ready to eat; PIC is person in charge; FWC is food worker card; CDI is corrected during inspection. E-San Zap Cafe 9323 Martin Way E., Lacey Sept. 9: 90 red points; 8 blue points. Comments: Active managerial control was not present for the first hour of the inspection. A hand-wash sink by a three-compartment sink was blocked. Cooked rice and tofu was cooled improperly. TCS foods must be cooled at 2-inch depths or less, uncovered, until the foods reach 41 degrees or below. Thai peanut sauce and rehydrated noodles were stored at room temperature. Products in the prep cold hold were measured at 55 degrees rather than at or below 41 degrees. No probe thermometer was available during the inspection. Multiple items were being cooled at the facility that were outside of their risk category. Establishments must operate under the conditions of their permit at all times. In-use utensils were stored in room temperature water. Such utensils must be stored in cold water (41 degrees), hot water (135 degrees) or outside on a clean surface. An in-use sanitizer solution was not strong enough. El Sitio 116 Legion Way SE, Olympia Sept. 10: 75 red points; 17 blue points. Comments: A person-in-charge was undesignated. Active managerial control was not being performed. The bar sink did not have hand towels. Whole shell raw eggs were stored above ready to eat foods. Improper cooling of various food items. Potatoes were wrapped despite still being warmer than 41 degrees. Large amounts of salsa were cooling on a counter. TCS food items must be cooled uncovered in shallow containers, no greater than 2 inches. TCs foods needed to be kept in temperature control or time should have been used as control. The menu lacked a proper consumer advisory. The establishment was cited for improper pest control and directed to contact professional pest management. A sanitizer solution was not prepared at the time of inspection. A hand-sink did not have hot water. The flooring in the bar was in disrepair. Panda Express 1320 Marvin Road NE, Lacey Sept. 3: 40 red points; 0 blue points. Comments: Orange chicken was measured at 112-136 degrees in the hot hold line. Hot held TCS foods must be at 135 degrees or above. Cut kale and cooled rice was measured at 43-47 degrees. Cold held TCS foods must be at 41 degrees or below. No probe tip thermometer was available during the inspection. Emerald City Smoothie 1140 Galaxy Drive NE, Lacey Sept. 3: 25 red points; 8 blue points. Comments: Pitchers were observed stored in a hand sink. Hand sinks must be kept clear at all times. Non-dairy milk was stored at 47-51 degrees. Cold held TCS foods must be kept at 41 degrees or below. The establishment did not have a thermometer on hand to monitor food temperatures. A measuring cup for ice was deposited in an ice bin with the handle touching the ice. A sanitizer solution for dishwashing and wiping towels was too strong as prepared. Villa Grove Foods Inc. 9200 Littlerock Road SW, Olympia Food Service Establishment (Deli) Sept. 3: 30 red points; 0 blue points. Comments: Employees had expired or invalid food worker cards. The hand wash sink was not properly supplied with soap and paper towels. The establishment did not obtain approval of a procedure to heat and cool meatballs for kabobs. Hops n Drops 4739 Avery Court SE, Lacey Sept. 6: 25 red points; 5 blue points. Comments: A food worker did not wash their hands properly after changing tasks. A can opener had evidence of food debris build up. K-Kitchen 4520 Lacey Blvd. SE, Lacey Sept. 4: 20 red points; 5 blue points. Comments: A hand-washing sink had objects stored in it. Hand-washing sinks must be clear of obstructions. An in-use chlorine solution was too strong as prepared. Containers of grilled chicken and cooked tofu were not date marked. Red Lion Inn and Suites 621 Capitol Way S., Olympia Food Service Establishment Sept. 10: 15 red points. 5 blue points. Comments: Food worker cards were expired. A hand-washing sink was not operational. An in-use chlorine solution was too weak as prepared. Nom Nom Deli and Bakery 513 Capitol Way S., Olympia Sept. 3: 10 red points; 10 blue points. Comments: Food worker cards were expired. Products in the single-door cold hold were measured at 44 degrees. Cold held TCS foods must be at 41 degrees or below. The handle of a handwash sink was broken. No test strips were available to verify the concentration of the chlorine sanitizer solution. The Landmark Tavern 313 Sussex Ave. W., Tenino Sept. 9: 15 red points; 0 blue points. Comments: Half and half was cold held at 44-47 degrees rather than at or below 41 degrees. The establishment cooled soups in a manner that did not comply with their permit. Meconis Bakery 5227 Lacey Blvd. SE, Lacey Sept. 4: 10 red points; 5 blue points. Comments: Potato salad stored in the walk-in cooler was measured at 43 degrees. Cold held TCS foods must be at or below 41 degrees. A can opener had evidence of food debris build-up. Nicoles Bar 109 Legion Way SW, Olympia Sept. 5: 5 red points; 8 blue points. Comments: Some cold held products were measured at 43-44 degrees rather than at or below 41 degrees. A chlorine sanitizer solution for a ware-washing machine was too weak as prepared. Two out of three restroom doors did not self-close. Zen Ramen and Sushi Burrito 3238 Capitol Blvd. SE, Tumwater Sept. 10: 10 red points; 0 blue points. Comments: Raw prepped shrimp in a prep fridge was held at 44 degrees rather than at or below 41 degrees. A sushi prep fridge did not have a thermometer. Pizza Hut 2521 Marvin Road NE, Lacey Sept. 3: 5 red points; 0 blue points. Comments: One worker was unable to present their food worker card. Kentucky Fried Chicken / Long John Silvers 8030 Martin Way E., Lacey Sept. 4: 5 red points; 0 blue points. Comments: Employees had expired food worker cards. Chicory 111 Columbia St. NW, Olympia Sept. 5: 0 red points; 5 blue points. Comments: Some food items, such as halibut-brandade and chicken bones, were not date marked. No violations Rocket . 102 College St. SE, Lacey. Deli, Grocery Stores and Confectioneries. Union Mills Grocery . 7431 Pacific Ave. SE, Lacey. Grocery Stores and Confectioneries. Whitewood Cider. 728 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia. Drinking Establishment. Carls Jr. 3816 Pacific Ave. SE, Lacey. Food Service Establishment. Fortune Casino Restaurant . 8318 Quinault Drive NE, Lacey. Food Service Establishment. Costco Wholesale . 5500 Littlerock Road SW, Tumwater. Deli, Food Sampling. Costco Wholesale . 1470 Marvin Road NE, Lacey. Grocery Stores and Confectioneries, Meat Market, Food Court, Deli. Taco Time . 8208 Quinault Drive NE, Lacey. Food Service Establishment. Cruzin Coffee . 12717 Old Highway 99 SE, Tenino. Eagans LLC . 472 Sussex Ave. E., Tenino. Food Service Establishment. MiSo. 4514 Lacey Blvd. SE, Lacey. Food Service Establishment. (Bloomberg) -- Thailands government pledged to ensure its $78 billion borrowing plan in the next fiscal year wont crowd out the private sector. Most Read from Bloomberg The government plans to raise its borrowing in the fiscal year starting October to 2.59 trillion baht ($78 billion), the Ministry of Finances Public Debt Advisor Jindarat Viriyataveekul told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday. Bloomberg News earlier reported the data. About 1.1 trillion baht will be fresh borrowing to mainly finance the budget deficit, while the rest has been earmarked for the refinancing and restructuring of existing debt, she said. Newly-appointed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatras government is raising the budget for the 2025 fiscal year to $112 billion to boost growth. Southeast Asias second-largest economy is facing near record-high household debt, sluggish exports and a manufacturing sector weakened by cheap imports, mainly from China. Read: Thai Cabinet Approves $4.4 Billion Cash Handout to Spur Economy The borrowing plan includes 1.25 trillion baht of sovereign bonds, 140 billion baht via bond switching, 520 billion baht of Treasury bills, and 120 billion baht of savings bonds. Promissory notes and term loans may make up the rest. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Thailand has proposed a new bill to regulate its cannabis industry and restrict marijuana uses to primarily health and medical purposes, the latest effort to rein in recreational smoking after several policy u-turns. Most Read from Bloomberg Under the draft legislation, cannabis or its extracts will be allowed for medical treatment and research by state agencies besides its use in herbal, food and cosmetic products. The new bill was published earlier this week by the Ministry of Public Health, just days after the new administration of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra took office. The draft bill appears to take a softer stance compared to previous government efforts to regulate the industry. For one, it no longer contains a clause that explicitly outlaws recreational use of cannabis, which was proposed in an earlier draft by ex-premier Srettha Thavisins administration. It also effectively means the new government has abandoned a bid to re-classify the plant as a narcotic. Still, anyone who consumes cannabis or its extracts for uses not specified in the bill will face a fine of up to 60,000 baht ($1,803). The sellers of cannabis or its products for uses not specified under the law faces a maximum one year jail term or 100,000 baht in fines, or both. Such rules may hamper free use of cannabis in the Southeast Asian nation, which was the first in Asia to decriminalize the plant in 2022. A legal vacuum has allowed more than 9,400 cannabis dispensaries to open nationwide, with many in popular tourist areas and business districts in Bangkok and beyond. The easy availability of the drug became a hot-button political issue during the national election last year, with the ruling Pheu Thai Party vowing to re-list marijuana as a narcotic to restrict its use to just medical purposes due to concerns over addiction. But opposition from Bhumjaithai Party, the second-biggest group in the ruling coalition, has forced Pheu Thai to walk back on its pledge and keep the plant legal. Compliance Challenges The draft legislation calls for licensing rules on cannabis planting, sales, exports and imports all to be tightened, with current growers, suppliers or related businesses required to have or apply for new licenses or permits or face hefty jail terms or fines. While the bill is a more favorable path for the cannabis industry, it may yet pose a compliance challenge for growers, dispensaries and a vast number of consumer-agro firms that have cropped up across Thailand. They sell everything from cannabis buds to oil extracts and weed-infused candy to baked goods that, according to the current law, must contain no more than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol the psychoactive compound that provides a high sensation. The bill provides for wider uses of cannabis to be in line with reality, but it still requires the supervision of licensed medical practitioners, Prasitchai Nunual, a pro-cannabis activist said in a Facebook post. Thats exclusionary and subjects an individuals rights to the permission of practitioners. What it should say instead is that uses must not infringe on others rights. The public and industry stakeholders have until Sept. 30 to submit feedback on the proposed bill. The health ministry may still make changes to the legislation before submitting it to the cabinet, which must then send it to parliament for approval. (Updates with comment from an activist in ninth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The reviews dont stop. This morning, were checking out how Apples latest wearable compares to its predecessors and competition. Deputy Editor Cherlynn Low says that, while the Series 10 is noticeably lighter, you wouldnt notice many differences compared to the Series 9 unless they were side by side. The latest Apple Watch is ever so slightly bigger (46mm), but if you need something even bigger, you should consider the Watch Ultra 2, which has a 49mm screen. Apple is also using a new wide-angle OLED to make its latest watch easier to read, even if your wrist is resting to the side. Again, the change is noticeable but not in a huge way. Upgraded charging should bring the Series 10 back to 80 percent in 30 minutes, but were still not hugely impressed with its battery life. You might notice we havent scored the Apple Watch Series 10. While shes sharing whats important for folks considering buying one, Cherlynn needs more time to test its sleep features. However, thanks to its similarity to its predecessors (and watchOS 11 bringing many similar features to the Series 9, Watch Ultra 2 and more), its hard to recommend to anyone wearing a Series 9 or Ultra. If youre coming from the Series 8 or older, the update might be worth it. Check out the full review. Mat Smith But theyre standalone AR glasses. No separate processor or battery. TMA (Snap) Snaps latest augmented reality glasses have a completely new and completely bonkers design, larger field of view and support for full hand tracking. But the company is only making the fifth-generation Spectacles available to approved developers willing to commit to a year-long $99/month subscription to start. These arent for consumers, but given how they look, I could have told you that. Karissa Bell tested them and was impressed. But competition is already on the horizon: Meta will show off the first version of its long-promised augmented reality glasses next week at its developer event. Continue reading. One made a fake video accusing Kamala Harris of a hit-and-run. Kremlin-affiliated Russian troll farms are running disinformation campaigns discrediting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz before this years US presidential elections, according to Microsoft. The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center noted several approaches: One video depicted a supposed attack by Harris supporters on Trump rally attendees. Another video used an actor to accuse Harris of being involved in a 2011 hit-and-run incident, which paralyzed a 13-year-old girl. A second troll farm shared a fake video showing a New York City billboard claiming Harris wants to change childrens gender. Microsoft warned we should expect more Russian-made disinformation materials online, including more staged and AI-edited videos, as we get closer to the election. Continue reading. Lake Oconee-area property owners complaining of exorbitant water rates urged Georgia lawmakers Wednesday to bring private water systems in Georgia under the same regulations that apply to municipal systems. Piedmont Water Co., the states second-largest private water system, is charging the second-highest water rates in Georgia, lower only than the private system serving the community of Big Canoe, property owner Mike Hartman told a Georgia House study committee at a hearing in Greensboro. Hartman said he was charged $19,250 to connect his new home to the Piedmont system in 2022. Private water systems must be regulated, he said. Thats the only way to fix this problem. State Rep. Trey Rhodes, R-Greensboro, chairman of the House Study Committee on Private Water Systems, introduced legislation this year requiring the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to regulate private water systems. The bill made it through the House Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications Committee but failed to reach the floor for a vote. City and county water systems have public oversight. Private water systems do not, Rhodes said Wednesday. We need them, but we need to see if there needs to be oversight. Brent Hurst, Piedmont Waters chief operating officer, said the company has spent almost $40 million on capital projects to keep up with growing demand for water in its fast-growing service area covering Greene and Putnam counties, including $15 million for a new water treatment plant. Hurst said much of that new investment has been driven by a huge spike in demand every summer for irrigation needs. You have to have the production capability to meet it, he said. It requires a lot of investment. Hurst said most of the complaints about Piedmonts water rates have come from irrigation customers who use a disproportionately large amount of water, a remark that drew laughter from the large crowd on hand for the hearing. This is not about just a few people, said Rhodes, pointing to the crowd. All I want for my people is a fair price. Hurst said giving the PSC jurisdiction over private water systems would force Piedmont to spend $500,000 to $750,000 to prepare a rate case study, driving up the companys operating costs. Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City, a member of the study committee, said Piedmont could recover those costs from customers, just as electric and gas utilities regulated by the PSC recoup such costs from ratepayers. Commission Chairman Jason Shaw, also a member of the committee, said adding private water systems to the PSCs responsibilities would require increasing the agencys budget to hire more staff. With the commission legally bound to set rates that provide regulated utilities a fair return on their investment, there would be no guarantee water rates would go down, he said. The regulated model is not always the cheapest solution, Shaw said. But Jacob Fried, who owns a car wash in Eatonton, said there are real-life consequences to allowing private water systems to set rates with no oversight. He said he was forced into bankruptcy during a legal dispute with Piedmont and had to sell his house. Fried urged the study committee to push for legislation that would provide that oversight. They have no rulebook to play by, he said. Give them a rulebook and some guidelines. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD Patch invited every candidate running for the Anne Arundel County Board of Education to complete a questionnaire on their campaign priorities. We are posting stories with their unedited, verbatim responses. Get to know District 5 candidate LaToya Nkongolo below. Voters can check what district they live in at this link. Early voting runs from Oct. 24 through Oct. 31. Election Day is Nov. 5. More information on voting locations, registration, mail-in ballots and dropbox ballots is posted here. Name: LaToya Nkongolo (newcomer) District: 5 Hometown: Severna Park Age On General Election Day: 46 Profession: Mental Health Therapist Campaign Website: https://latoya4boe.com/ Campaign Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaToya.Nkongolo 1. What are your three biggest policy priorities? Academic Excellence: In less than a decade, AACPS, once top-ranked in the State of Maryland, has faltered, now mediocre at best despite rising taxes and increased funding for public school education. I aim to restore academic excellence, equip students and teachers, and enhance parental involvement. My goal is to revive our schools' former greatness and ensure taxpayers' investment yields returns. Fiscal Oversight: My budgetary priorities revolve around ensuring adequate funding for essential educational resources, improving reading and math proficiency among elementary students and updating curriculum materials. To balance these priorities with the Maryland Blueprint for Education mandates, I would allocate resources strategically, prioritizing initiatives that align with the blueprint's goals while seeking innovative and cost-effective solutions to meet all educational needs. Safe, Supportive Environment: To secure safe, supportive, and conducive learning spaces, I would prioritize tackling physical safety measures foremost. I'd also hold individuals accountable for disruptions hindering teaching and learning, fostering a culture of respect to create an environment where teachers can teach effectively and students can learn without impediments. 2. What is the biggest educational issue in Anne Arundel County? I believe our school district could have handled the coronavirus pandemic much better. Anne Arundel was one of the last districts in the state to return to in-person learning, which had a profound impact on students, both academically and mentally. The extended closures and delays in reopening were mishandled and, ultimately, did more harm than good. We now need to take aggressive measures to get our students back to reading and doing math at grade level to address the learning loss caused by COVID. 3. What is the biggest educational issue in your district specifically? District 5 residents have voiced numerous concerns about decisions made over the past five years, including the effects of prolonged school closures, changes to start times, and decreased academic performance. The most pressing educational issue in our district is the redistricting process. Parents are seeking a process that minimizes academic and social disruptions for students, and I am committed to advocating on their behalf to ensure their concerns are addressed. 4. How will you address the teacher shortage? Attracting and retaining high-caliber teachers and staff across the district requires a multifaceted approach. Professional development must be a priority as this will enable teachers to refine their skills and excel in their profession, striving to become top-tier professionals in the field. Additionally, soliciting feedback from staff and implementing their suggestions can enhance job satisfaction and retention. 5. How will you approach balancing the budget? My budgetary priorities revolve around ensuring adequate funding for essential educational resources, improving reading and math proficiency among elementary students and updating curriculum materials. To balance these priorities with the Maryland Blueprint for Education mandates, I would allocate resources strategically, prioritizing initiatives that align with the blueprint's goals while seeking innovative and cost-effective solutions to meet all educational needs. 6. How will the end of pandemic-era funding affect your budgetary decisions? With a strong background in managing budgets, both as a county employee and as an entrepreneur, I plan to take a strategic approach to allocate funds most effectively. I will prioritize critical areas and use my established relationships with small businesses to seek partnerships and explore additional funding sources through grants and fundraising. 7. How will you approach school redistricting? If your district is part of this redistricting, what are some of your priorities? When approaching school redistricting, my main priority will be to ensure that the process is fair, transparent, and centered on the best interests of our students. My district is part of the next phase so I will focus on prioritizing minimizing disruptions to students both academically and socially. This decision will also involve soliciting community input and engaging in long-term planning to account for future growth and changes in our county. 8. If you are an incumbent, why do you deserve another term? If you are a challenger, why are you the best candidate? For nearly two decades, I have been deeply involved in Anne Arundel County, serving children and families from all backgrounds. In addition to my longstanding commitment to the county, I bring a range of skills and expertise that are currently lacking among our Board representatives. Every program Ive developed throughout the county has been successful and continues to serve as a vital resource for our community. As an entrepreneur with strong leadership and budgetary skills, combined with my data-driven decision-making, mental health expertise, and focus on academic achievement, I believe I am the most qualified and capable person to guide our schools toward academic success. 9. How will you handle LGBTQ+ and racial issues brought before the school board? I believe in ensuring that all students are treated with dignity and respect while also maintaining a primary focus on academic excellence and core educational values. I will advocate for policies that foster a positive and inclusive environment without allowing any agenda to detract from our primary mission: providing a high-quality education. My goal is to address these issues thoughtfully and constructively, ensuring that all voices are heard and that decisions are made with the best interests of our students in mind. 10. How will you handle book-banning issues brought before the school board? I do not support book banning, as I believe students benefit from exposure to a wide range of age appropriate ideas and perspectives. If concerns about specific books arise, I would approach these issues thoughtfully and with an open mind, ensuring that we have a balanced and respectful discussion. I believe in engaging parents, teachers, and educational experts to review the content in question. I support parents' rights to have a say in what their children are exposed to and believe that schools should collaborate with parents to make informed decisions that prioritize our students' best interests. 11. Please tell us about yourself. I am an award-winning mental health expert and entrepreneur who has served Anne Arundel County in various capacities for nearly two decades. As a former county employee, I developed many successful programs while effectively managing budgets. I have collaborated with the last two county executive administrations, state legislators, county council members and served on numerous boards. In 2020, I was honored with the Distinguished Leader Award by Leadership Anne Arundel. I also served as the Severna Park Representative for AACPS' Citizen Advisory Committee, where I effectively advocated for enhanced mental health resources in public schools. 12. Is there anything else we should know? I want to acknowledge the support Ive received from local elected officials, community members, and several sitting Board of Education members who encouraged me to run for the Board of Education. Having served in the county for nearly 20 years and developed many successful programs, I have been urged to apply my skills and experience to enhance academic success. I look forward to the opportunity to serve as the District 5 Board of Education representative. Therapist Nkongolo Aims To Improve Reading, Math In School Board Seat originally appeared on the Anne Arundel Patch DENVER (KDVR) Thornton police are looking for a driver accused of deliberately driving into a pedestrian, according to officers. On Sept. 13 at around 7:35 p.m., the Thornton Police Department said a pedestrian was walking in the 12600 block of York Street, west of East Lake Shores Park. This embedded content is not available in your region. According to police, a driver sped past the pedestrian who shouted at the driver to slow down. The driver then turned around and deliberately drove into the pedestrian, police said. The pedestrian suffered serious injuries. Police have not provided an update on the victims condition. Suspicious package intercepted, addressed to Colorado Secretary of States Office Now, police are releasing photos of the suspected vehicle, which they described as an early 90s Honda Civic. The car has mismatched wheels and a red and white sticker on the rear window of the drivers side. If anyone has seen this car or has information on the drivers whereabouts, they are asked to call the Thornton police tip line at 720-977-5069. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Thousands of L.A. tenants face eviction every year without lawyers. The city wants to fix that Alcira Ayala stands outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on Monday. She is fighting an eviction and hopes to get a lawyer to take the case. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) In a bustling hallway on the sixth floor of a downtown courthouse, Alcira Ayala sat on a bench with her husband and daughter, anxiously waiting for her eviction case to be called. She held a black cloth bag filled with neatly organized records that she hoped would help her win her case and stay in the apartment that she and her family have lived in for nearly two decades. Since learning this summer that her landlord wanted to evict them, Ayala had spent days calling and showing up at the offices of local nonprofit groups to ask for help. She had hoped to get a free lawyer, but quickly learned that there aren't enough in the city to represent everyone who needs help. To try to defend herself, she went to the L.A. Law Library to ask for guidance filing the legally required response to the notice. Then, she attended hours of online training hosted by the nonprofit Eviction Defense Network, which teaches tenants without lawyers how to prepare for court. Still, she was worried she would misunderstand something or say the wrong thing. And she tried to steel herself for the hearing. I cant let myself be intimidated," she said. "Im fighting for my family." Each year, thousands of tenants across the city show up in court and face eviction proceedings without the help of a lawyer. For years, advocates have urged the city to change that, arguing that ensuring lawyers for low-income renters would correct a power imbalance that occurs in eviction court, where landlords almost always have attorneys while tenants do not. Now, the city is moving toward making that change. This month, the City Council voted 11 to 0 in favor of directing the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would establish a city-funded program to provide lawyers for low-income tenants. The program would be phased in over five years, starting with high-need ZIP Codes. It would be funded through Measure ULA, also known as the "mansion tax," which requires that 10% of funds be allocated to offering legal services to low-income tenants threatened with eviction. The tax has collected $375 million in revenue since going into effect last year. Alcira Ayala, left, talks with daughter Anael Lopez, right, and husband Juan Lopez before her court appearance at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on Monday. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of a right to counsel program for low-income renters in unincorporated parts of the county. That program is set to launch in January. Some have criticized such efforts, saying they allocate money to lawyers when residents might be better off getting direct assistance so they don't fall behind on rent and face eviction in the first place. "It's a waste of money to spend what limited ULA funds the city is getting on private attorneys," said Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles. "The city should help tenants pay their rent so they can stay housed." But advocates say the experience of other cities shows that providing tenants with lawyers helps them stay in their homes and preserve affordable housing. In New York City, which in 2017 became the first city in the nation to guarantee lawyers for low-income renters facing eviction, the Department of Social Services reported that in 2023, 84% of households represented by lawyers in court managed to stay in their homes. Read more: In L.A., 13,000 complaints of tenant harassment led to four fines. Advocates call for stronger laws In 2018, Los Angeles began exploring its own right to counsel program and eventually approved funding to start a limited eviction defense program. In 2021, with the pandemic raging and residents falling far behind on rent, the city partnered with the county and local community and legal services providers to create Stay Housed L.A., which offers support for tenants facing eviction, including connecting them to free lawyers in a limited number of cases. But requests for assistance have far outpaced available help. Last year, for example, 7,446 tenants in the city applied for legal representation. The program was able to provide lawyers to represent 997 tenants in court. One of the biggest challenges has been a shortage of attorneys who are available to take eviction cases. Those who do provide free services for low-income clients are often stretched thin. So organizations started working to teach residents how to navigate the court system to try to defend themselves. "We walk them through their rights and how to create their own package of evidence and use the right language to go in front of a judge," said Sergio Vargas, co-director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE. "Weve been able to be successful at that. But its not sustainable." Ayala's landlord served her with a three-day notice in June, accusing her of blocking workers from removing plants and doing other renovations, impeding access to the garage and failing to provide a copy of her keys to the landlord. Ayala says she believes he was looking for pretexts to evict her. In court, the judge called Ayala's case shortly after 9 a.m. She and her husband sat together at the counsel table, with a translator behind them, whispering Spanish translations into a microphone. Her landlord, an older man, sat on the other side of the table. His lawyer wasn't in court that day but was on the phone. The hearing was over in a few minutes. With help at the law library, Ayala had filed a request for a jury trial before the hearing, hoping a trial would allow her to present evidence in her defense. The judge granted her request and set a date for trial in early October. She had managed to delay the case for three weeks and as she walked out of the courtroom she said she was happy with the outcome but knew it wasn't over. She planned to continue calling and showing up to as many legal organizations as she could find, trying to get a lawyer to take the case. Maybe, now that her trial was fast approaching, someone would agree to help her on a payment plan, she said. 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, Colo. (KREX) Colorado Secretary of States Office announced Tuesday evening that a suspicious package was intercepted which was addressed to Jena Griswold. In a press release, the secretary of states office said the package contained white powder and was sent with a return address of U.S. Traitor Elimination Army. This one was similar to packages sent to secretaries of state around the U.S. The initial investigation suggests the powder is harmless, according to the release. Griswold said in a statement, We cannot tolerate threats to election officials and public servants. These threatening mailings are unacceptable, and we must condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms. The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Colorado State Patrol are investigating the incident. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com. Three activists risking their lives for the planet 'This price must be paid': Activist Daniel has been assaulted and prosecuted (BAY ISMOYO) (BAY ISMOYO/AFP/AFP) Almost 200 environmental activists were murdered last year, with the toll especially heavy in South America, according to rights group Global Witness. Here are the stories of three campaigners who have faced violence and repression trying to stop wildcat gold mining in Ecuador, illegal shrimp farming in Indonesia and a controversial oil project in Uganda. - 'We have a responsibility' - Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan has been assaulted, arrested and prosecuted for his activism to protect a national park, but he is unbowed. "Why be afraid? Why back down? Your home should be defended," the 51-year-old told AFP in Jakarta, where is awaiting a new ruling in legal proceedings against him. Born and raised in the Indonesian capital, he "fell in love at first sight" with the remote Karimunjawa Islands National Park off Java on his first visit in 2011 and settled there. Daniel began to notice the growing impact of illegal shrimp farms, which began to proliferate around 2017. Run-off from the farms killed off seaweed and forced marine life to move further from shore, impacting the livelihoods of fishing communities, he said. In 2022, Daniel helped start the #SaveKarimunjawa movement, which pushed for a local zoning law banning the shrimp farms. But his activism made him a target -- he was threatened, assaulted and put in a chokehold, and fellow environmentalists received death threats. He was arrested in December 2023 over allegations of hate speech stemming from a Facebook post criticising illegal shrimp farming. A local court sentenced him in April to seven months behind bars. The conviction was overturned on appeal but prosecutors took the case to the Supreme Court, insisting he should not be recognised as an environmental activist. "This is a price that must be paid," Daniel said of the threats and legal battles. And his activism has had some success, with recent government inspections forcing many illegal operations to shut. "We have a responsibility to our children, grandchildren and future generations," he said. "If you give up... you say goodbye to your future." - 'Hell on Earth' - Abdulaziz Bweete grew up in Kawempe, a shanty town in the Ugandan capital Kampala, and saw first-hand the devastating impact of environmental change in poorer communities. "I have grown up seeing floods around but I had not interested myself in what is causing floods," he told AFP. It took two things to galvanise the 26-year-old -- going to university, and seeing the Uganda government's response to climate protests. Bweete was among a group of student organisers who marched on parliament in July with a petition opposing a multi-billion-dollar oil project that campaigners say will badly affect a delicate environment. He and several other young activists were arrested, charged with illegal assembly, and held in Kampala's maximum-security Luzira prison until August. He told AFP he and fellow protesters were beaten by police. The activist was previously imprisoned and arrested following rallies in the capital. "All I can say is prison is a hell on Earth," he said. "We don't have freedom of protest in this country," he said, glancing around nervously in Kyambogo University's lush campus setting. Demonstrations in Uganda -- ruled with an iron fist by President Yoweri Museveni for four decades -- are often met with a heavy-handed police response. Bweete said politics and climate change go hand in hand. "If we have good leaders, we can have good climate policies. This is a long struggle, but we are determined to win," he insisted. - 'Defend life' - Alex Lucitante, a leader of the Cofan Indigenous people on the border between Ecuador and Colombia, won a historic legal victory in 2018 over mining companies in the Amazon, striking out 52 gold mine concessions. It helped win him the Goldman Environmental Prize -- the Nobel of environmental defenders -- two years ago. But despite setting up a system of patrols and even drone surveillance, it has not stopped gold prospectors violating their territory. "The destruction is still going on all around our land, and the threat is stronger," he told AFP, telling of illegal mining, deforestation and threats from armed groups. "Today, the situation is particularly critical in our territories," said Lucitante. "It all happens in plain sight and with the knowledge of the authorities," which are "sometimes linked to illegal actors operating in the area", he added. The environmentalist has urged global leaders to listen to the "voice of Indigenous communities" and hear their plea to "defend life". mrc-gm-hba/ico/de/ju/fg Three arrested for pointing fake gun out of car Three men have been on suspicion of pointing an imitation gun out of a window of a car. Devon and Cornwall Police said it was called to reports of a firearm being pointed out of a vehicle traveling from Newton Abbot towards Torquay at about 17:00 BST on Tuesday. A National Police Air Service helicopter and armed police officers searched the area and found the car parked in Plympton with a replica assault rifle in it, police said. Three 19-year-olds from Plymouth were arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. Police said two of the teenagers were released on bail and one was the subject of no further action. Follow BBC Devon on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk. Related Internet Links A Black influencer named Tracy Renee Williams, her daughter Brandi, and friend Kristopher are suing high-end brand Louis Vuitton for allegedly racially discriminating against them as loyal customers. According to Daily Mail, Williams who is a VIP customer and social media influencer, claimed to have preordered $50,000 in merchandise to be delivered to her home in 2022 (which never came), but instead she received an appalling email. Dear Mrs. Tracy Williams: It has come to our attention that Louis Vuitton has been unable to satisfy your needs, the email allegedly reads. Please be advised that Louis Vuitton is no longer prepared to do business with you and we ask that you no longer patronize our boutiques or attempt to order our products via telephone, online, or in person at any Louis Vuitton store. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images It continued, Please do not make further attempts to contact the stores. Any further attempts to communicate with Louis Vuitton should be directed to our Legal Department in writing to: Attn: General Counsel, Louis Vuitton Americas, 1 East 57th Street, New York, New York 10022. After receiving the email, Williams said she visited a Beverly Hills Louis Vuitton storefront and was told by a white manager that she was no longer welcomed to shop at the store, and would be arrested if she returned. She then claimed to have sent her white assistant to the same store where he was treated drastically different than her. Per the suit, Williams stated, To the contrary, Louis Vuitton staff treated him respectfully and, even when the assistant stated he would (and did) pay for the items with several thousand dollars cash, he was not otherwise prevented from making the purchase. Williams also alleged her lucrative social media presence died down as she would usually showcase her luxury purchases from the brand. She claimed to have lost roughly $40,000 in revenue. Elsewhere in the legal documents, Williams also claimed that her daughter Brandi has been racially discriminated against by LV. She claimed that a white LV manager baselessly accused her daughter of spending drug money during a shopping spree last year. Brandi stated that she did the same tactic as her mom and sent a non-Black friend to the same store to purchase her items with a gift card under her name. However, Brandi claims she was contacted by an employee that the purchase was illegal, assuming it was because the purchase was for her. She also said that the store demanded her to return the items. Williams friend, Kristopher, is also suing as he claims a LV manager denied him a jacket that a non-Black customer wasnt interested in after it was shown to them. He stated that he told the staff that he wanted to purchase the jacket for Williams, but the employees claimed it was not available and didnt provide an explanation. Williams claimed to have reached out to the head of Louis Vuitton, but was directed to their legal team, which she says she hasnt received a response from. The three plaintiffs are suing for suing for race discrimination under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, business discrimination, tortious breach of contract, and theft. They are also hoping to plead their cases before a jury. More from VIBE.com Sign up for Vibe's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. DECATUR Richland Community College's enrollment has increased to 2,206 this fall, up almost 5% from fall 2023. That population includes 27% African American and 5.5% Hispanic/Latino. One-third of the student population is dual credit students thanks to dual credit course offerings and partnerships like the Decatur Public Schools' Prep Academy. Students are also taking more credit hours, with an increase of 6% more credit hours this fall over 2023. It is very heartening to, again, see enrollment increases at Richland, said Cris Valdez, president of Richland. Our faculty and staff have worked diligently to communicate and demonstrate that Richland offers a place of belonging, of support and success, and this falls enrollments reflect that work. At its regular board meeting Tuesday, Isaac Zuniga, executive vice president of Academics and Student Success, said Richland offers the support that students need to be successful, from wraparound services like the food pantry, free city bus transportation, tutoring and a scholarship program that awarded $1.75 million in scholarships last year, with 900 of them unduplicated students. Bus transportation is not only for getting back and forth to school, said Richland Community College Foundation Director Julie Melton. With a Richland student ID, students can ride the bus anywhere, anytime and the bill is sent to Richland. In other business, the Board of Trustees extended Valdez's contract until June 30, 2027, approving the action with a unanimous vote. Valdez will receive a salary of $259,407. The trustees also approved a three-year contract with the Richland Federation Teachers Local 4262 through 2027. Zuniga said the contract with faculty took seven months to negotiate with "colleagues." Trustee Wayne Dunning, before the vote, commented that Zuniga referring to the union as "colleagues" was commendable, as contract negotiations can sometimes be contentious. He said he was pleased that administration and faculty could complete the process and end with a good working relationship as "colleagues." Faculty will receive raises of 4.1% in the current school year, 4% in the 2025-26 school year, and 3.9% in the 2026-27 school year. The vote to approve that contract was unanimous. The Richland Community College campus in photos Library Speed read Bookstore Business Sign Tiffany Hill Child care Greenhouse Richland Is... Computer control Library scene Scholastic bowl Cafe Entrance Black Student Association Black Student Association retreat Black Student Association gathering NEOSHO, Mo. Three elementary schools in the Neosho School District receive national recognition. Benton, George Washington Carver, and South Elementaries have each earned Americas Healthiest Schools status from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon. The annual honor recognizes schools for implementing the best practices to support the health of students, faculty, staff, and families. Elementary schools nationwide are honored for strengthening social-emotional health and learning, cultivating staff well-being, and bolstering physical education and activity. They thought it was super cool, but then when I told em its just what we normally do, they were like, oh, its just thats just normal thats just what we do at Benton. We do those kinds of things. We have those times where we talk about our emotions. We talk about how to be regulated, and so its just cool. Its just part of our culture here, in Neosho, honestly, but specifically at Benton and South and Carver, said Dr. Joshua Depoe, Benton Elem. Principal. A total of 879 schools across 30 states received the honor 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 KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance were hit with a class action lawsuit on Tuesday from parents who say that the social media platform violated childrens online privacy laws. The suit alleges that TikTok collected personal information on users under 13, which goes against the rules and guidelines of the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, aka COPPA. According to court documents obtained by TheWrap, Plaintiffs seek to represent millions of American children whose personal information has been unlawfully collected and used by TikTok and to hold the platform accountable for repeatedly violating the rights of American children and to ensure that TikToks misconduct is finally stopped. The suit also claims that TikToks predecessor Musical.ly, which launched in 2014, also repeatedly and persistently violated COPPA (that app was merged into TikTok in August 2018 after ByteDance acquired it in November 2017). The docs cite a 2016 article by New York Times tech reporter John Herrman, who noted that the app does not collect or show the age of its users, but some of its top-ranked users appear from their videos and profile photos to be in grade-school. Until recently, the app had a feature that suggested users to follow based on their location. In New York, that feature revealed a list composed largely not just of teenagers, but of children. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice similarly sued TikTok and ByteDance over COPPA violations, alleging the popular social media app knowingly and repeatedly infringed on childrens privacy. The DOJ said the platform, which collects, stores and processes data from its users of all ages, knowingly allowed children under 13 to create and use TikTok accounts without their parents knowledge or consent, have collected extensive data from those children, and have failed to comply with parents request to delete their childrens accounts and personal information. TikTok denied the claims in a statement. We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform, the company said, per reports. To that end, we offer age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched features such as default screentime limits, Family Pairing and additional privacy protections for minors. In April, President Biden signed a law that gave ByteDance 90 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned nationwide. The law is set to go into effect on Jan. 19, 2025. On Monday, the company argued in front of a panel of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as to why the ban should not be implemented. Also on Tuesday, Instagram revealed wide-sweeping privacy restrictions for users under 18 in order to give parents peace of mind. Pamela Chelin contributed to this report. The post TikTok Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Repeatedly Violating Childrens Online Privacy Laws appeared first on TheWrap. From the Dispatch Politics on The Dispatch Happy Wednesday! Election Day is 48 days away. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst brought a prop to the GOP Senate leadership press conference Tuesday, a board game entitled Kamalas Twister, complete with a spinner. Up to Speed Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a 45-minute interview with the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday in which she spoke about her economic plan and condemned former President Donald Trump for spreading baseless claims of migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. Tonya Mosley of NPR, Eugene Daniels of Politico, and Gerren Keith Gaynor of theGrio pressed her for direct answers to their questions when she would ramble or deflect. She gave an indirect answer when asked if she would handle Israels war in Gaza the same way President Joe Biden has. I absolutely believe that this war has to end, and it has to end as soon as possible, and the way that will be achieved is by getting a hostage deal and the ceasefire deal done, and we are working around the clock to achieve that end, she said. Donald Trump on Tuesday seemed to promise that he would attempt to alter the cap he placed on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, commonly referred to as SALT, as part of the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul he championed as president and signed into law in December 2017. In a Truth Social post promoting a Wednesday rally on Long Island, the former president said he would get SALT back, referring to the deduction he capped at $10,000 as part of his signature Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. A generous SALT deduction is especially popular in blue states and locales with high tax rates. Congressional Republicans have largely opposed efforts by Democrats and some in their party to restore the full SALT deduction, calling it a subsidy for high-tax blue states. Senate Republicans once again rejected a bill from Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois that would forbid states from banning in vitro fertilization and mandate that insurance companies cover the procedure. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had hoped to put Republicans, who cited religious liberty concerns as reason to vote down the bill, on record after Trump proposed that either the government pay for IVF treatments or mandate insurers cover them. Last week, Republicans were open to Trumps intentions but generally favored a tax credit to help families cover such costs. Harris Campaign Focuses on Driving Dem Turnout in North Carolina Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets people as he attends a rally in Asheville, North Carolina, on September 17, 2024. (Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images) ASHEVILLE, North CarolinaThere are all the signs of a growing city nestled here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. Billboards advertising new home construction. Traffic jams at 2 p.m. Plenty of out-of-state license plates. Is anyone from Asheville? said one man, who declined to give his name and who moved here in 2011 from Louisiana. He was sipping a beer underneath an awning at Salvage Station, the outdoor music venue on the bank of the French Broad River downtown where Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, was set to appear on a drizzly Tuesday evening. Connie Parker and Beverly Grass really are from Asheville. The two sisters, 63 and 66, respectively, were born and raised here and have the accents to prove it. Parker still lives in town but Grass lives an hour and a half away in Iron Station, in the outer suburbs of Charlotte. Both are lifelong Democrats who are excited to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. Oh, honey, one month from today, we can early vote, Grass told Dispatch Politics while clutching her own beer (theres a lot of it in Asheville). We have a 90-year-old mother and its on her calendar. And will their mother be voting for Harris too? Oh yeah, Parker put in. Where do you think we got it from? Buncombe County, where Asheville is the largest city and county seat, is a blue island in a sea of red in the western arm of North Carolina. And while the region is small compared to the states metropolitan powerhouses of Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro, the Asheville area is clearly a key part of the coalition Harris is trying to assemble. Democratic presidential candidates have been achingly close to pulling off a repeat of Barack Obamas narrow win of the Tar Heel State in 2008Donald Trump won North Carolina four years ago by fewer than 75,000 votesand if Harris and Walz can pull it off, Asheville will be part of the story. North Carolina is certainly not going to [let] a little rain stop us from making Kamala Harris the next president of the United States, Walz told the cheering crowd of around 2,500. Asheville was a small city of about 60,000 throughout the latter part of the 20th century, but since 2000, its population and that of surrounding Buncombe County exploded by more than 30 percent. Tourismfrom the Vanderbilt familys Biltmore Estate to the proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains to the craft-beer trendmade Asheville a regional destination. Young people are attracted to the bohemian scene and lower cost of living, and older people found it an attractive place to retire or purchase a second home. But even as Trump has increased the GOPs margins in the surrounding rural counties, the Asheville area has become more solidly Democratic. Buncombe County gave both Obama in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 around 55 percent of the vote. In 2020, Joe Biden got roughly 60 percent. Democrats are hopeful they can bump those numbers up even more thanks to a healthy surge in voter registration, which has increased in Buncombe County by more than 13,000 votes between August 2020 and August 2024. The largest bump came from those who register as unaffiliated. That could be good news for the Harris campaign, since those newly arrived nonpartisan voters are more likely to lean left, not right. That would certainly apply to Emily Thomforde, 41, and Jamie Montgomerie, 45. The couple moved to Asheville just six months ago from California, and were excited to see so much support for the Democratic ticket from their new neighbors. Thomforde told Dispatch Politics she is a green voter and to the left of Harris and Walz on a number of issues, but she said the stakes of the election are too high to sit out. I know Im more to the left than even a lot of people in this rally, she said. But I see the consequence of like, as much as I want to go even more liberal than this and more environmental, the cost of not having Harris is too great, even if I dont agree with absolutely everything she does. These are the sort of voters Walz was here to encourage to come out. Despite his image as a white, Midwestern dad with a superficial resemblance to the average Trump voter, the progressive governor of Minnesota tends to deliver more red meat to Democratic audiences than he does appeals to Republicans curious about crossing party lines. In Asheville, he spoke not to the wavering Republicans but to their exasperated Democratic family members who hope their relations can snap out of supporting Trump. We have them in our families, dont we know? he said before briefly taking on the persona of someone rationalizing their support for the former president. I dont really like Donald Trump, but I like what he stands for. Oh, really? Suppressing womens reproductive rights? Is that the one you want? Or is it cutting taxes for billionaires while you get screwed in the middle class? Is that the one you like? Or is it ignoring real problems, like our children being shot dead in schools? Is it those things? As in other swing states, there is a serious effort in North Carolina to peel Republican voters away from Trump and toward Harris. But despite an appearance at Tuesdays rally by Bob Orr, the former Republican state Supreme Court justice who has endorsed Harris, the campaigns goal in Asheville seemed geared toward building on the wave of enthusiasm among Democrats for the change at the top of the ticket. And that newfound energy is certainly there. Connie Parker said her neighbors are more excited now that Harris is the nominee, and she pointed to her Harris for President T-shirt. Ive been wearing my shirt everywhere, and I get fist bumps, thumbs up, Parker said. I didnt know so many people looked at my chest! Eyes on the Trail Donald Trump will be on Long Island, New York, tonight for a rally at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. New York is not a presidential swing state, but there are a handful of key House races there, including at least two competitive races in districts on Long Island. Kamala Harris is scheduled to address the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes 47th Annual Leadership Conference, in Washington, D.C., today. Later, the vice president will participate in a virtual campaign event. President Joe Biden is scheduled to host a reception tonight at the White House celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio continues his tour of swing states today, this time giving remarks in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Republican vice presidential nominee is expected to talk about economics. After delivering remarks at campaign receptions virtually and in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, second gentleman Doug Emhoff will speak today at two similar events in New York City, including one in Brooklyn. Notable and Quotable Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented. Former President Donald Trump at a town hall in Flint, Michigan, September 17, 2024 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. Macon isnt the first place one might expect to see a presidential campaign repeatedly visit to rally supporters. Sure, its Georgias fourth largest city, but its much easier for a candidate to get national publicity in cities more likely to grab national attention such as Atlanta or Savannah. So why did Vice President Kamala Harris running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visit supporters in Macon Tuesday, the second visit by the campaign this month? Christopher Lawrence, political science department chair and professor at Middle Georgia State University, explained what he suspects is an internal strategy by the Harris-Walz campaign to reach the Middle Georgia market in a swing state that could be crucial for either Harris or former President Donald Trump to win the November election. Theres a broader kind of press to raise awareness here in Middle Georgia because I suspect they think Georgia is going to be one of the states they need to win so youre seeing a laser focus on where they think they can maximize their bang for their buck, Lawrence said. Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz speaks to a voter while phone banking at the Macon Bibb County Democratic Committee office on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Macon, Georgia. Walz visited the office on National Voter Registration Day and spoke on the phone with potential Middle Georgia voters as a part of his Macon campaign stop. Walzs stop in Macon where he spoke to voters at a local phone bank and greeted supporters at H&H Soul Food restaurant was covered by local media, raising awareness of the campaign. The Harris-Walz and Trump-Vance campaigns, like most presidential campaigns, have held rallies in cities where they know theyll be supported. For example, Trumps running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, held an event in Valdosta Aug. 23 a city with more Republican voters than Macon. He figured South Georgia, a pretty widely accepted Republican area, would be a receptive area for him, Lawrence said. Bringing Walz here to Macon is no different. Local Democratic politicians recently held events in Macon to voice their support for Harris, and bring attention to Harris abortion and union stances. This tactic could help display a positive atmosphere at their events, rather than visiting areas where they might anticipate non-supporters, protesters or counter-arguments, Lawrence added. Though Walz did have protesters present at his events Tuesday Trump supporters showed up outside both his appearances, holding signs and chanting. Its definitely partially optics on what sort of crowd youre going to attract, Lawrence told The Telegraph. The Harris-Walz campaign also recently stopped in areas which werent solely democratic during their bus tour along the east coast. This could be a way to rally undecided voters, or merely encourage people to show out to the polls, Lawrence suggested. The first thing you want to do is convert voters where you can, so independent voters, or those supporting the other party, Lawrence said. But a large part is mobilizing your base, the people who would be inclined to support your party but might not necessarily vote. Harris campaign didnt respond to request for comment for this story. Critics are taking Donald Trump to school after the former president made a bizarre claim about the impact of rising sea levels. Youll have more seafront property, right, if that happens, Trump told an audience in Michigan on Tuesday. Michigan would not have more seafront property as its not on the sea, nor is it near the sea. In fact, the entire state is hundreds of feet above sea level. However, climate change could lead to an increased risk of flooding, coastal erosion and other problems in the state, which borders four of the Great Lakes. Trump may have spoken more generally than specifically about Michigan, but the claim is still incorrect. If I have a little property on the ocean, I have a little bit more property, I have a little bit more ocean, the former president said. Trump does have property near the ocean, including his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. But rising seas there would not give him a little bit more property. Just the opposite: If the seas were to rise by 10 feet, hed lose about half of his Mar-a-Lago property... and at 25 feet, there would be nothing left of it at all. Climate scientist Michael E. Mann, a presidential distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has fact-checked Trump before, bluntly summed it up: Time to put gramps to bed https://t.co/r6Lg9r5m8V Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) September 18, 2024 Others also fired back at Trump: In Jacksonville, the army corps just spent $32.4 million to replenish the beach that eroded from the rising sea. We have houses falling into the ocean along the banks of N. Carolina, due to the rising sea, and he thinks rising water will increase seafront property? https://t.co/nmEnDO9Mk2 Kelly Lepley (@kclepley) September 18, 2024 You thought Trump wanted to take us back to the 1950s?! Try 385 MILLION years to the of the and land ! https://t.co/yl8t9DtA4fpic.twitter.com/rCKn5Q806v John Higgins (@blueicehiggins) September 18, 2024 For Michigan to gain any beachfront property from climate change, sea levels would have to rise 577 feet for the Atlantic Ocean to connect to the Great Lakes. Were this to happen, conservatively, 1.5B people would die globally from flooding, displacement, and starvation. https://t.co/OSv8d1gBDf Nick (@slothropsmap) September 18, 2024 Lake Michigan is 577 feet above Sea Level. The state currently has 0 feet of seafront. Maximum sea-level rise if all ice caps were to melt is about 230 feet. Michigan will never have seafronts in the history of humanity. Dutchie | (@DutchieHuigens) September 18, 2024 The world is truly laughing at us right now. Denison Barb (@DenisonBarbs) September 17, 2024 The future United States under Trump https://t.co/3FW5nO92gHpic.twitter.com/lom7DBuKuv Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) September 18, 2024 If all the ice caps just completely melted away, Michigan would still be far inland. (Florida would just be totally gone, though.) https://t.co/mkcAPF9Ku8https://t.co/oj7OLVn6eLpic.twitter.com/OXWxyynTtF Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) September 18, 2024 If the sea reached Michigan, this planet would be soo damn blue from outer space, a legit water world https://t.co/0AtksWeQr8 Vaquer, Iyo, Asuka and Shida enjoyer (broken szn) (@ortiz3570000) September 18, 2024 If Michigan is getting waterfront property because of climate change, we're all dead long before then. https://t.co/au9KE7dEUm Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) September 17, 2024 If Michigan is feeling the effects of sea level rising, I dont think beachfront property is on peoples minds. https://t.co/JMceNzhLXH ss ss (@The_HistOracle) September 18, 2024 Michigan's lowest elevation is the shore of Lake Erie, 571 feet above sea level. If the sea reached Michigan human civilization has already collapsed. FUCK, MAN! This dude is so fucking dumb!!! https://t.co/SiBYIS7BkI Elon Musk Blows Goats | @teleskiguy.bsky.social (@ballfootski) September 18, 2024 Donald Trump doesn't know that Michigan isn't on the sea, does he? Art Candee (@ArtCandee) September 18, 2024 Related... SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) Mayor Todd Gloria faced-off against his re-election challenger, independent police officer Larry Turner, in a recorded debate Tuesday. Ahead of the debate, FOX 5/KUSIs reporting partners at The San Diego Union-Tribune, along with 10News, conducted a poll via SurveyUSA to see where voters stand as of current. A total of 668 registered voters were surveyed Wednesday through Sunday of last week over landline phones, smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices. The candidates Last weeks poll shows that Glorias lead has significantly dropped since a previous poll conducted in July. It fell from 13 points to just four points. According to the recent poll, 37% of respondents support a second-term for Gloria, while 33% are choosing to back Turner. The other 28% of respondents were undecided. County Board of Supervisors adopts 2024 Climate Action Plan What can be attributed to Turners rise in support? As reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, voters have become more familiar with the candidate since the last poll. Back in July, 30% of voters said they were not at all familiar with Turner, while another 34% said they werent very familiar with him. Last weeks poll, however, shows a change. The amount of respondents not at all familiar with him dropped to 23%, while voters not very familiar with him fell to 31%. Our campaign has gained tremendous momentum as more voters learn about my vision for San Diego, Turner said in a news release about the new poll. Its evident that residents are dissatisfied with the direction the city has been heading under Mayor Gloria. People are tired of empty promises and want a mayor who will deliver real results. On the contrary, The San Diego Union-Tribune noted that Jen Tierney, Mayor Glorias campaign manager, expressed that she was skeptical about the recent SurveyUSA poll. She pointed to a previous survey conducted four years ago. In September 2020, SurveyUSA showed Todd losing the mayors race by three points, a race he ultimately won by 12, said Tierney in reference to Glorias then-runoff win over Barbara Bry. I have a lot more faith in our own polling, which shows Todd with a comfortable lead. Regardless, Todd wins by working like hes behind no matter what the polling says, and thats how he will win another four years as mayor. The issues When it comes to the issues, the poll narrowed down what appears to be the top two concerns on the minds of San Diegans: the cost of living (top issue by 52% of respondents) and homelessness (top issue by 27% of respondents). Another issue mentioned was the quality of the citys roads and sidewalks, with 76% of those surveyed saying San Diego needs to focus more on fixing them and just 21% saying the city is doing enough. Based on the poll, Turner has leads among conservative voters, Republicans, middle-income voters and those who voted to re-elect Donald Trump in 2020. On the other hand, Gloria holds leads among liberal voters and those who voted for President Biden in 2020. The debate San Diegans will be able to watch the recorded debate between the mayoral candidates at 7 p.m. Wednesday evening on local channel 10. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Five days after a toddler died of a suspected fentanyl overdose, Portland police say they are still searching for the little girls mother. Baby Auroras aunt and cousin spoke with KOIN 6 News on Tuesday, sharing that they are heartbroken and horrified by the news of her death. Victim dead, SWAT team still searching for suspect at large in SE Portland Family members shared Aurora Fernandez had big brown eyes and an even bigger smile, and hope she can be remembered for her happy demeanor not as another child who died from fentanyl. She wanted to be held, and her hair played with, and sang to, said Dominique Hodges, Auroras cousin. And she loved her dad so much. Still, they want to warn the public of the drugs dangers as well as the damage it has caused their family. Drugs are consuming, but its not that hard to choose your child, said Dominique Hodges, Auroras cousin. Aurora died of a fentanyl overdose at 2 years old, according to Portland police. (Courtesy: Dominique Hodges) (Courtesy: Dominique Hodges) (Courtesy: Dominique Hodges) (Courtesy: Dominique Hodges) (Courtesy: Dominique Hodges) (Courtesy: Dominique Hodges) Portland police said they were called to the Fox Run RV park in Northeast Portland around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday for a 2-year-old child who was in cardiac arrest. But at least an hour before officers were called, the childs mother had allegedly tried to perform CPR then fled, according to family members. Aurora died at the hospital later that evening. Portland pizzeria still one of the best in the world, but ranking changes If they would have called the cops a little bit earlier and not been so scared of what was going to happen to them, Aurora could still be alive, Hodges said. Because they were trying to hide the fact that they were using drugs in the house with children, it cost her her life. Police are still searching for the mother, whom they are not yet naming. Her family said she has three kids, a known history of addiction, and did not have full custody of Aurora when she died. I was really horrified that a mom would jump up and run away from her daughter while giving life saving measures, said Tina Thomas, Auroras aunt. For people to be so selfish their lives are non-negotiable. You dont get to negotiate their life for one high. Connie Chung, serious news anchor with potty mouth It is currently unclear where the toddler got the fentanyl. However, officers said at least two children including Auroras older brother and three adults were home at the time. No child should ever have to deal with that, Hodges said. She deserved to grow up and live a happy life and find herself. Anyone with information regarding the mothers whereabouts is encouraged to contact Portland police. In the meantime, a GoFundMe has been set up to support the remaining family. Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., scolded ABC News for failing to fact-check Vice President Kamala Harris' comment about U.S. troops during last week's presidential debate, accusing them of acting as a mouthpiece of the Harris campaign as new video appears to contradict her claim. "ABC allowing Kamala Harris to say no U.S. troops are in combat zones without any pushback or fact-checking is outrageous. This goes beyond bias--it's a media company effectively joining the Harris campaign," Cotton posted Tuesday on X. During the debate last week, Harris claimed, "There is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century." ABC MODERATORS SPARK FURY FOR AGGRESSIVE FACT-CHECKING OF TRUMP, EASY TREATMENT OF HARRIS ABC News' David Muir and Linsey Davis, who moderated the debate, fact-checked former President Trump multiple times while failing to fact-check Harris at all. On Sunday, ABC News' Martha Raddatz acknowledged that the network's fact-checkers found Harris' claim "to be false" despite the moderators not correcting her at the time. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "There are currently 900 U.S. military personnel in Syria, 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq. All have been under regular threat from drones and missiles for months. We also have action in the Red Sea. Also, every single day, the Navy SEALs, Delta Forces special operators can be part of any sort of deadly raid," she said. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the second presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on Sept. 10. MILITARY EXPERTS REJECT HARRIS' CLAIM OF NO US SOLDIERS IN COMBAT ZONES AS MISLEADING The fury over the moderators' one-sided fact-checking came back into focus after Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., on Tuesday shared footage of American soldiers "under fire" in the Middle East, arguing that it disproves Harris' claims U.S. troops are not currently in harm's way around the globe. "These attacks occurred within the last couple of weeks/months," Banks posted on X. "Reminder, Kamala Harris lied to the entire world last week when she said that we currently have no active duty troops deployed in war zones! Unfit to lead!" Cotton similarly accused Harris of lying in a weekend appearance on "Sunday Morning Futures," telling host Maria Bartiromo, "I don't know where those two moderators were fact-checking Kamala Harris with that lie I guess they were busy wrongly fact checking President Trump." Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., scolded ABC News for failing to fact-check Vice President Kamala Harris' comment about U.S. troops during last week's presidential debate. Cotton said Harris' comment likely came as a "surprise to the thousands of troops we still have in places like Iraq and Syria that are getting repeatedly hit by mortars and drones by Iranian-backed terrorists because Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have appeased and emboldened by the Ayatollahs for four years." "It's just one more example of why she's a weak, failed San Francisco liberal who is not up to the job of being our commander in chief," he said. Original article source: Tom Cotton scolds ABC News for 'outrageous' debate handling after new video surfaces: 'Beyond bias' Tom Tugendhat said the country has been shocked by the criminal activities of Huw Edwards - TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has urged the Attorney General to review the lenient sentence on Huw Edwards for child sex abuse offences. Mr Tugendhat, the shadow security minister, has written to Lord Hermer, saying that the disgraced former BBC presenters suspended sentence was inconsistent with official guidelines which recommended jail for possessing the most severe Category A child abuse images of the kind sent to Edwards. In his letter, Mr Tugendhat said: It is crucial that sentences serve as a deterrent and reflect the serious nature of these crimes. More so, as a national household name, the country has been shocked by the criminal activities of Mr Edwards. I am sure that they will be looking to the Government to lead by example and ensure that heinous crimes are punished swiftly and appropriately. I urge you to formally review this case under the unduly lenient sentence regime. A reassessment would not only address public concern but also reinforce our commitment to protecting vulnerable individuals and upholding justice. It is understood other complaints have been made by members of the public and politicians to Lord Hermer, urging him to refer the case to the Court of Appeal as being unduly lenient. Under the scheme, appeal court judges can increase the sentence if they rule that it is unduly lenient. However, the Attorney Generals office told The Telegraph on Tuesday that Edwardss case is ineligible under the scheme which is limited to sentences handed down by the Crown court. Because Edwards was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for two years, in the magistrates, Mr Hermer, KC, is powerless to be able to refer his case to the Court of Appeal. This has led to demands for the Government to rethink the unduly lenient scheme. Richard Tice, Reforms deputy leader, said: The Attorney General must take the appropriate legal steps immediately to review this weak pathetic sentence for Huw Edwards which reinforces to millions of Britons that we are subject to two-tier justice. There is little more serious than child sex crimes which devastate victims. I believe the Crown Prosecution Service or Attorney General can ask for retrial by Crown court judge acting as District Judge since it was wrongly allocated to magistrates court under section 66 of Courts Act 2003. If not then rules must be changed. Should never have been dealt with at such a low court. Workable scheme for lenient sentences Former Labour solicitor general Dame Vera Baird, who was also victims commissioner for England and Wales, said: It seems odd that there is a workable scheme for unduly lenient sentences in the Crown court which the public can ask the Attorney General to consider. Yet, there is nothing that could help a member of the public who was a victim of what could be a very serious assault or sexual abuse or any interested party to make a formal application on a sentence in the magistrates court. Edwards, who was the corporations highest-paid journalist and the man chosen to announce the death of Queen Elizabeth II to the nation, sent up to 1,500 to Alex Williams, a convicted paedophile, after receiving 41 indecent images of children via WhatsApp. Westminster magistrates court heard how the married father of five told Williams to go on when asked whether he wanted naughty pics and vids of someone described as young. The court heard that of the 41 indecent images viewed by Edwards, the majority of the children were aged between 13 and 15. But in one video sent to the BBC star, the child being abused was aged between seven and nine years old. More than 7,000 people caught with images of children being sexually abused avoided going to jail in the past three years, a Telegraph analysis of official data revealed on Tuesday. 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. Sean "Diddy" Combs was accused of being the leader of a criminal enterprise in a bombshell indictment unsealed hours after the disgraced media mogul was arrested in the lobby of the Park Hyatt New York City hotel. Combs, 54, appeared in Manhattan federal court Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. Not only was Combs denied a proposed $50 million bail, he was also remanded and sent to jail immediately after the hearing. Combs was officially charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty. United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams released the previously sealed indictment hours before Combs was due in court, which revealed a number of shocking allegations against the fallen "Bad Boy" entertainment tycoon. DIDDY DENIED BAIL AFTER PLEADING NOT GUILTY TO SEX TRAFFICKING CRIMES Sean "Diddy" Combs was indicted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges Tuesday in New York. While at the helm of the organization, officials claimed Combs and a number of un-named associates in the Combs Enterprise, used intimidation tactics to "lure female victims into Combs' orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP He would then use "force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that COMBS referred to as, among other things, 'Freak Offs,'" according to the indictment. DIDDY HIT WITH SEX TRAFFICKING AND RACKETEERING CHARGES FOLLOWING ARREST "Freak Offs" were "elaborate produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded." Combs and his staff allegedly transported commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally for the "Freak Offs," which regularly occurred and sometimes lasted multiple days, often including multiple sex workers. Sean "Diddy" Combs and his defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo stand before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky after prosecutors brought three criminal charges against him in federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York City. King Combs, son of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrived in court to support his dad. Combs allegedly distributed "a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims obedient and compliant. Sometimes unbeknownst to the victims, Combs kept videos he filmed of victims engaging in sex acts with commercial sex workers." Following the "Freak Offs," Combs and his victims "typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use," documents stated. San Diego criminal defense lawyer Ally Keegan told Fox News Digital that if the allegations are true, they're "deeply disturbing." "What is interesting about the indictment itself is how detailed it is; the government knew this would be high-profile case, and clearly took the time to paint a picture of how Combs allegedly used his media empire to exploit and abuse women," Keegan said. "That level of graphic detail helps those hearing the allegations for the first time to really picture the depth of the potential conspiracy." On March 25, Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided in connection to a federal human trafficking investigation, officials confirmed to Fox News Digital at the time. SEAN DIDDY COMBS ARRESTED FOLLOWING RAIDS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING INVESTIGATION During the search, authorities allegedly seized various "Freak Off" supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant. "Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise, including high-ranking supervisors, security staff, household staff, personal assistants, and other Combs Business employees, facilitated the Freak Offs by, among other things, booking hotel rooms for the Freak Offs; stocking the hotel rooms in advance with the required Freak Off supplies, including controlled substances, baby oil, lubricant, extra linens, and lighting," the indictment claimed. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams detailed the unsealed indictment Tuesday. WATCH: US ATTORNEY GIVES PRESS CONFERENCE ON DIDDY'S SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES The associates also cleaned hotel rooms following the Freak Offs to "try to mitigate room damage," arranged the travel for victims, commercial sex workers and Combs to and from the Freak Offs, and we're responsible for "resupplying Combs with requested supplies." The team members allegedly delivered large sums of cash to Combs to pay the commercial sex workers, and would also schedule the delivery of IV fluids. Priya Sopori, partner at Greenberg Glusker and a former federal prosecutor, was surprised by the mass quantities of supplies found at Combs' residence. "Generally speaking, the allegations of a vast criminal conspiracy effectively designed and perpetuated to fulfill the sexual peccadillos of one individual seem pretty shocking in this day and age," Sopori told Fox News Digital. "More specifically, the allegation that authorities seized over 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant definitely has that Ew factor, because its difficult to imagine a need to maintain those quantities on hand. Was there a massive Costco sale? Probably not." Members of the Combs Enterprise, including his personal security detail, at times carried firearms, according to the indictment. Combs was accused of carrying or brandishing a firearm to "intimidate and threaten others, including victims of and witnesses to his abuse." LIKE WHAT YOURE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Officials seized firearms and ammunition from Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami during the March 25 raid, which included three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, as well as a drum magazine. Sean Combs' LA home was raided by Homeland Security officials in March. Photos of evidence seized from the March 25 raids on Diddy's properties were revealed during Tuesday's press conference. Combs Enterprise members and associates allegedly witnessed the rapper's violence toward the victims, or the victims' injuries caused by Combs, without intervening. On occasion, Combs Enterprise associates "helped conceal the violence and abuse by, among other things, assisting COMBS in monitoring and preventing victims from leaving locations, such as hotels or COMBS' residences. These occasions included instances in which a victim was required to remain in hiding-sometimes for several days at a time-to recover from injuries COMBS inflicted, without being publicly observed." Under the racketeering conspiracy, Combs allegedly engaged in "multiple acts involving arson, chargeable under the following provisions of state law: California Penal Code 451 (arson), California Penal Code 21(a), 664 (attempt), California Penal Code 31 ( aiding and abetting), and California Penal Code 182 (conspiracy)." "When employees, witnesses to his abuse, or others threatened Combs' authority or reputation, Combs and members and associates of the Enterprise engaged in acts of violence, threats of violence, threats of financial and reputational harm, and verbal abuse," the indictment stated. "These acts of violence included kidnapping and arson. In addition, on multiple occasions, Combs threw both objects and people, as well as hit, dragged, choked, and shoved others." Combs' allegedly had associates on hand to help protect and promote the Combs Enterprise. Officials claimed Combs "relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice." Physical assaults at the hands of Combs were "recurrent and widely known," according to the indictment. Combs allegedly assaulted women by, among other things, "striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Surveillance video taken from a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 allegedly showed the billionaire publicly assaulting his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura. In the footage, Combs "kicked dragged, and threw a vase at a woman as she was attempting to leave," the indictment said. "When a member of the hotel security staff intervened, Combs attempted to bribe the staff member to ensure silence." Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers , told Fox News Digital that the video evidence helps present a strong case. "Weve all seen the video of Diddy beating Cassie, but US Attorney Damian Williams mentioned other video evidence during his press conference," Rahmani said. "Diddy reportedly videotaped the Freak Offs according to Cassie and the other civil plaintiffs. People can lie, but video doesnt." WATCH: 2016 SURVEILLANCE VIDEO ALLEGEDLY SHOWS ALTERCATIONS BETWEEN DIDDY AND CASSIE Combs allegedly maintained a network of people in his "Combs Enterprise" who helped facilitate his global business by "preserving, protecting, promoting, and enhancing the power, reputation, and brand of Sean Combs," the indictment said. Associates proved their loyalty and fulfilled obligations "through violence, use of firearms, threats of violence, coercion, and verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse." In addition, the members were available to help fulfill Combs' personal desires, particularly those related to "sexual gratification, including through the exploitation of women and the use of commercial sex workers." Cassie filed a sexual abuse suit against Diddy in November, which was settled one day later. "Even with a skilled lawyer, RICO charges can be difficult to overcome," Sopori said. "The government has to prove every element of a RICO case beyond a reasonable doubt, so the best strategy for Diddy may involve challenging the existence of the alleged criminal organization or that the alleged activity wasnt sufficient to create a pattern of alleged criminal activity." Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky decided there were "no conditions" she could impose on Combs in his plea for bail Tuesday. Tarnofsky pointed out sex trafficking is a crime that happens behind closed doors and the rapper would be hard to monitor even with pre-trial monitoring services. The judge considered alternatives to detainment, but found they were not sufficient. Tarnofsky conceded the weight of the evidence against Combs is significant. Combs' legal team plans to appeal the bail decision. "Mr. Combs is a fighter. He's going to fight this to the end," the rapper's lawyer said outside the courthouse following the arraignment. "He's innocent. He came to New York to establish his innocence. He's not afraid. He's not afraid of the charges." U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ordered Combs to be held without bail after prosecutors brought three criminal charges against him in federal court. Rahmani told Fox News Digital, "I dont think Diddy can win. Jurors may think one victim is lying to get money in a civil lawsuit, but when victim after victim is telling the same story, and that story is corroborated by video evidence, that is too much for jurors to disbelieve." Original article source: Top 5 Diddy indictment bombshells: What legal experts predict for future of fallen music mogul The House Homeland Security Committees ranking member has suggested that Republicans are spreading xenophobic rhetoric under the guise of concerns about the U.S. border stressing that their amplification of racist lies has increased threats to marginalized communities while the GOP hampers real solutions for improved border security. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) made the comments in his opening statement at a Wednesday committee hearing about these very issues, noting that the Republican White House campaign has doubled down on a widely debunked conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants abducting and eating peoples pets in Springfield, Ohio. Anti-immigrant rhetoric and racist tropes should have no place in our public discourse. They are un-American, Thompson said. And too often, they have helped fuel real-world violence against immigrants and minority communities across the country. Thompson cited the cases of a gunman who targeted a Hispanic community by shooting and killing 23 innocent people in an attack on a Walmart in the border town of El Paso, Texas; a gunman who targeted a Black community by killing 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York; and a gunman who targeted a Jewish community by killing almost a dozen worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) attends a hearing on how Republicans' anti-immigrant rhetoric poses a danger to communities while the GOP hampers solutions for border security, on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 in Washington. Tasos Katopodis via Getty Images Springfield has received at least 33 bomb threats against schools, hospitals and city facilities in recent days due to the continued spread of racist lies, Thompson said. City and state officials have repeatedly rebutted the lies, warning Donald Trumps presidential campaign that such rhetoric is hurting the local community. Theres been no evidence at all of anyone eating a dog or any Haitians doing any of that, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) told CNN of the migrants. These Haitians that are there are legal. They work very, very hard. DeWine this week deployed state troopers to bolster security at Springfield schools. He has also pledged $2.5 million to provide the city with more resources to better accommodate its population increase. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trumps running mate who currently represents Ohio in Congress, has suggested that their comments stem from concerns over border security. Trump has previously floated using the military to deport millions of undocumented immigrants by following the Eisenhower model a 1950s mass deportation initiative, named after a slur used for Mexican immigrants, that rounded up migrants and, in some cases, brown-skinned U.S. citizens under the guise of border security. Thompson said Wednesday that Republicans dont actually want to solve the issue of border security, bringing up how GOP lawmakers including Vance blocked the Senates bipartisan border deal while refusing to move necessary border security funding. Instead of partisan fearmongering and dystopian deportation plans, we need real solutions about how we can strengthen border security, fix our immigration system and grow our economy while upholding our American values, Thompson said. Rachel Reeves said from this autumn pensioners not on pension credit will no longer get winter fuel payments [PA Media] A Welsh Labour minister defended cuts to winter fuel payments for most pensioners in a debate on Wednesday. Conservatives challenged Labour in the Senedd to back calls for the UK government to reverse the plans, warning they will have a "devastating impact" with an estimated 500,000 not receiving up to 300 this winter. But Jane Hutt, Social Justice Secretary, said "difficult decisions" were being taken because of a 22bn "black hole" in UK public finances. Plaid Cymru supported the Conservatives' calls, but accused UK Labour of continuing Tory "austerity". Most Labour Senedd members were not present for the debate. Both the Conservatives and Plaid warned that pensioners could die as a result of the UK government policy. Under the plans announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, from this autumn pensioners not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the annual payment. Jane Hutt, who was one of only two Labour speakers in the debate, said it was "important to remember the context" for the changes. "There is a 22bn black hole in the public purse, and difficult decisions are now being taken by the new UK government as a result of 14 years of Tory austerity and economic mismanagement." The 22bn claim was disputed by Conservatives in the chamber - Janet Finch Saunders demanded evidence for it from the minister. Hutt said she was supporting a UK government campaign to encourage people to take up pension credit. She outlined a number of Welsh government schemes, including the emergency discretionary assistance fund, which she said not enough pensioners were taking up. Hutt's defence of the winter fuel payments cuts came despite having previously said that it risked "pushing some pensioners into fuel poverty". Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan previously said that "no one in Labour is happy" with the move but it needs to be done to help balance the books. Joel James, Conservative South Wales East MS, opened the debate telling Senedd members that the Labour government "will be taking vital income away from those who most need it. James said Labour Party research had said that scrapping universal payments would lead excess deaths to increase by almost 4,000. Why do they want to take a decision which, by their own research, will cause the death of thousands, he said. James said the UK government was ultimately paving the way for extremely painful fiscal policies and further tax rises. "They will argue that if vulnerable pensioners have to pay, then so will everyone else." Plaid Cymru South Wales West MS Sioned Williams said her party shared the Tory concerns, but accused the Labour Party of continuing the austerity agenda of the previous Conservative government in Westminster. "Austerity measures deepen inequality by exacerbating the hardship faced and felt by people on low incomes while enabling the wealthiest to shoulder the lightest burden," she said. Her party colleague Heledd Fychan added that people will die as a result of this decision. Other than the minister, Mike Hedges, MS for Swansea East, was the only other politician from Labour to speak. He appeared to accuse the Conservatives of hypocrisy, by reminding Darren Millar of his opposition to universal free prescriptions, and questioned why wealthy people should receive the payment. Do Paul McCartney, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, Sting, Mick Jagger need it? No. "I could go on for the next four minutes with naming people who are very wealthy, who dont need it. Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative Senedd leader, asked about the guy who works in our local iron mongers who is going to find himself 13 over the threshold" for pension credit, "so hes going to lose that 300?" After Mr Davies raised concerns about premature deaths, Mr Hedges added: We don't know how many people are going to die this winter. You cant know. He added that the cut off point for the receipt of pension credit is wrong, and said it would be fairer if all pensioners got it but that it was dependent on earnings. Under the changes those entitled to pension credit for at least one day between 16 and 22 September will qualify for the winter fuel payment. Until now, it has been paid to all pensioners to help with energy bills. This year, the winter fuel payment totals 200 for those on certain benefits and born between 23 September, 1944, and 22 September, 1958. For those born before 23 September, 1944, and on certain benefits, it is worth 300. What do UK ministers say? A UK government spokesperson said it was "committed to giving pensioners the dignity and security they deserve in retirement, which is why we are protecting the triple lock with the state pension set to increase by 1,700 over the course of parliament". "But given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, it's right that we target support to those who need it most." The spokesperson said that across England and Wales "over a million pensioners will continue to receive the winter fuel payment, many will benefit from the 150 Warm Home Discount scheme, and we urge others to check their eligibility for Pension Credit on gov.uk". Additional reporting by Adrian Browne and Mark Palmer. Andrew Douglass, who is homeless and lives on the streets of San Francisco, gathers his belongings as the San Francisco Police Department orders him to move off the sidewalk, where he has slept for months, or get arrested. Shortly after, he was arrested and cited for illegally camping on the sidewalk. (Angela Hart | KFF Health News) SAN FRANCISCO Andrew Douglass shoved his clothes and belongings into plastic trash bags as five police officers surrounded his encampment a drab gray tent overflowing along a bustling sidewalk in the gritty Tenderloin neighborhood, where homeless people lie sprawled on public sidewalks, sometimes in drug overdoses. Officers gave him a choice: Go to a shelter or get arrested and cited for sleeping outside. Douglass was trying to figure out what to do as he dismantled his tent. If he accepted temporary shelter, hed risk missing an important appointment with his street medicine case manager, who was due to meet him at his tent in the morning to help him secure a low-income housing unit with wraparound services and he worried about losing his medications, ID, and other vital documents again in another homeless sweep. Douglass, who didnt have a working cellphone, knew if he moved from where hed slept for months, his case manager might not be able to find him. Im so close to getting housing. I need to be here tomorrow morning so I can try and get inside, he said, trying to reason with officers as he was handcuffed and arrested for illegal lodging. California, the epicenter of the U.S. homelessness crisis, is cracking down on people living outside like never before, taking an aggressive new stance to dismantling and clearing homeless encampments in the wake of a watershed U.S. Supreme Court ruling in late June that makes it easier for government agencies to fine and arrest people for living on streets and sidewalks, in broken-down vehicles, or within public parks even if there is no shelter or housing available. From San Francisco to Los Angeles, communities are launching cleanup operations, ratcheting up enforcement of existing anticamping laws, and, in some places, passing new laws to try to prevent people from living outdoors. On the ground, health care experts and homeless service providers say the law enforcement crackdown is undercutting taxpayer investments in evidence-based treatment and housing services that are being deployed by cities and states around the nation as politicians look to the health care system to aggressively move people off the streets. The sweeps which have taken off under Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who issued an executive order in late July requiring state agencies to remove encampments and encouraging local governments to do the same have unleashed chaos for homeless people and are breaking crucial connections with health care providers, social service agencies, and housing navigators trying to help them get healthy and off the streets. Newsoms hard-line stance is undermining his signature Medicaid initiative, known as CalAIM, which dedicates $12 billion over five years in part to helping homeless people receive health care, housing, and social services. The experimental program, meant to stabilize the most vulnerable and keep low-income patients out of costly institutional care in hospitals, jails, and nursing homes, for instance, launched in early 2022 with backing from the Biden administration, and provides state and national health care funding to street medicine teams, hospitals, health insurance companies, community clinics, and other organizations to serve homeless people. It comes as Newsom announced this month that his health secretary, Mark Ghaly, who has spearheaded the states infusion of social services for homeless people into the health care system, would be stepping down. Encampment clearings are also upheaving long-standing federal health policies that provide billions of dollars each year to street medicine providers, case management teams, and front-line community clinic workers, including through the national Health Care for the Homeless program, which is also aimed at helping homeless people get healthy and navigate a path to permanent housing. Newsom has been emphatic that streets are not a home and that its unsafe to let people live outside amid public health hazards like rats, drug needles, and piles of trash. The second-term governor, who has threatened to withhold homelessness funding from communities that fail to show enough progress, argues that his policies are helping get people long-term housing and services. There are simply no more excuses, Newsom said in July. Health care providers and homelessness experts say the result is a slow-moving health care catastrophe instigated by the very Democratic politicians touting the need for care and services around California, home to more homeless people than any other state in the nation. No place is going as hard as San Francisco, a fiercely liberal city that has long embraced its reputation as a place where homeless people could find refuge and robust services. Now, case managers, housing navigators, and street medicine teams say vulnerable people are growing sicker amid the crackdown and that many of their patients have simply disappeared. Others have lost medications and critical documents like birth certificates and Social Security cards, setting back efforts to stabilize people with housing, mental health services, and addiction treatment. Front-line providers here say the city has become a glaring example of homelessness policy gone wrong. All the sweeps and arrests are doing is moving people to the next sidewalk and disrupting their continuity of care. Its a huge waste of resources, said Shannon Heuklom, a primary care provider and an expert in street medicine for the San Francisco Community Health Center, with a clinic nestled in the heart of the Tenderloin. Some portion of folks may end up in a shelter, but for the most part the city is just moving them all around and making them more unwell, making their mental health worse, making their physical health worse, she said. Disrupted care In the Tenderloin, Douglass was frantic. Police told him and his wife, Jasmine Byron, and another partner, Christina Richardson, that they could avoid arrest if they went into a massive congregate shelter. But theyd have to sacrifice most of their stuff, taking just two bags each. Theyd already lost lifesaving medications, including for epilepsy, in a previous camp clearing. And Douglass had finally replaced his ID and asthma medication; he didnt want more stuff thrown away amid the chaos. On this early August morning, Douglass opted to stay with his belongings. The trio are part of about 70 homeless arrests in San Francisco since the citys mayor, London Breed, ratcheted up cleanup operations in the beginning of August following the Supreme Courts decision in late June, according to San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Evan Sernoffsky. Were here to enforce the law, said Lt. Wayman Young, one of the five officers. We get a lot of complaints: People cant use the sidewalk; theres a lot of garbage. As the three were separated and cuffed, a woman driving by stuck her hands out her window and clapped, cheering the sidewalk arrest and yelled Thank you! A passerby in a wheelchair averted the tense standoff by rolling into a traffic lane, dodging vehicles as he looked for a vacant section of sidewalk to use. Douglass missed his housing appointment the morning after his arrest, confirmed his street medicine case manager, Justin Jackson from the San Francisco Community Health Center. Amid his tossed belongings were his ID card, which is required to get into housing, so he was back in line at the clinic the next day filling out a Department of Motor Vehicles voucher form to replace it for free. Because Douglass is homeless and on Medi-Cal, Californias version of Medicaid, he is eligible for CalAIM services that assist homeless patients with finding a permanent place to live, as well as helping to cover security deposits and utility bills. CalAIM also offers eviction prevention support, and next year California is expected to add a new Medi-Cal benefit providing up to six months of free rent or temporary housing. But with his documents thrown away, his eligibility for housing was delayed. Front-line workers are now spending immense time and resources helping people replace valuables like medications, Social Security cards, and birth certificates lost due to sweeps. They notice patients are skipping routine health care and spot an uptick in drug use, anxiety, and depression. This is just making homelessness worse, said Evelyn Pena, a CalAIM care manager at the Mission Neighborhood Health Center in San Francisco. Taylor Cuffaro, a nurse practitioner and street medicine provider with the San Francisco Community Health Center, trudged the streets of the Tenderloin with Eli Benway, a licensed clinical social worker who provides talk therapy and other behavioral health treatment on the street, searching for patients on a bright August afternoon. Some needed help managing chronic diseases and mental health conditions. Others were due for antipsychotic injectables that last longer than pill medications. Some needed refills of HIV medications. Health insurance companies arent just going to give you more medication, Cuffaro said. Thats not how it works, so people really are at risk of dying faster. Part of whats being squandered is trust, which is vital for getting people off the streets. These sweeps are just making our job impossible, Cuffaro said, searching unsuccessfully for a patient in an alley. Politics of homelessness The statewide crackdown is playing out despite a growing body of evidence showing that providing robust health care, along with social services and intensive case management, can effectively move homeless people off the streets and improve health, while also saving taxpayer and health care spending on costly institutional care. Democrats are embracing a get-tough approach as public patience wears thin over the intractable crisis. Newsoms stance is not entirely new: During his tenure as San Francisco mayor, from 2004 to 2011, he spearheaded controversial homelessness ideas, including an ordinance known as sit/lie, which made it illegal to sit or lie on public sidewalks. Newsom and local leaders, including Breed, say they must balance ensuring public safety and clean streets with a humane approach to clearing camps, while trying to get people indoors. Breed administration officials argue that while some homeless people do accept shelter, many are opting to stay on the streets while declining treatment. People wont accept shelter, and they wont follow up on their medical care or behavioral health treatment or any of that, often because they need to stay and monitor their belongings, some of which are totally soiled and becoming a health hazard, said David Nakanishi, a clinical social worker who heads the Breed administrations Healthy Streets Operation Center, which spearheads the sweeps. In Los Angeles, meanwhile, street medicine provider Brett Feldman is losing his patients amid the sweeps. It really undermines our housing efforts, he said. A city report released in May found that clearing camps and enforcing anticamping laws that ban people from sleeping, sitting, or keeping belongings on sidewalks in certain sensitive areas, including school zones, parks, or freeway underpasses, is not effectively helping people into housing. After spending roughly $3 million enforcing anticamping laws from 2021 to 2023, the report found, the city placed just two people into permanent housing and 81% of encampment sites have been repopulated. In one central Los Angeles district where law enforcement is not aggressively enforcing anticamping laws, street homelessness fell roughly 38% in a one-year period from 2023 to 2024, said Indu Subaiya, interim CEO for the nonprofit Healthcare in Action, which has been housing and treating patients there. Were starting to actually see results and reductions in unsheltered homelessness, Subaiya said. However, in Southern California counties aggressively enforcing Newsoms executive order and clearing encampments, were seeing our patients and their medical conditions set back profoundly. Once Douglass was released, he was back in the Tenderloin hunting for housing and popping his tent up the street from his previous hangout. Every time I try to get my documents to get housing, I get knocked backwards, he said. I guess the city thinks we all need to be in handcuffs. By the next morning, the encampment had grown twice in size. Healthbeat is a nonprofit newsroom covering public health published by Civic News Company and KFF Health News. Sign up for its newsletters here. This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. Subscribe to KFF Health News free Morning Briefing. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Take a tour of North Carolinas breweries by train with N.C. Ale Trail by Rail Take a tour of North Carolinas breweries by train with N.C. Ale Trail by Rail RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) If a state-wide bar-crawl sounds up your alley, North Carolina is debuting a new thing just for you. According to the North Carolina DOT, NC By Train is now partnering with the N.C. Craft Brewers Guild for the N.C. Ale Trail by Rail, which they say will combine the ease of traveling by train with the exploration of North Carolinas beer scene. NC By Train has experienced record ridership the past two years, and 2024 has been no different, Jason Orthner, NCDOT Rail Division director, said. This partnership is a great opportunity to encourage riders to explore everything North Carolina has to offer including the vibrant craft brewery market while supporting local businesses. Riders will be able to use the Piedmont and Carolinian trains to ride to stop in communities and tour the brewers in the area. The designated stops for the ale trail are Charlotte, Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham, Cary and Raleigh. We are delighted to partner with NC By Train to introduce this new and novel way for visitors and residents alike to explore the craft breweries of North Carolina, said Lisa Parker, Executive Director of the N.C. Craft Brewers Guild. As community gathering hubs, our North Carolina breweries offer welcoming taproom and tasting experiences. You can visit the N.C. Craft Brewers Guild online to find an interactive map of the participating breweries. All of the breweries are within five miles of a train station, which they say will make it easy for passengers to make multiple stops in one day. There are other special NC by Train programs running this fall, including stops to the N.C. State Fair and the Lexington Barbeque Festive in October and earlier train stops in Charlotte on the days of Carolina Panthers home games. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Tourist dies after losing her leg in shark attack off Canary Islands Tourist dies after losing her leg in shark attack off Canary Islands A German tourist died after being bitten by a shark on Monday while sailing off Spain's Canary Islands, the coastguard said. The 30-year-old woman lost a leg in the attack and died of a heart attack later while being transported in a Spanish rescue helicopter, a coastguard spokesman told AFP. She was sailing in a British catamaran in the Atlantic some 278 nautical miles southwest of the island of Gran Canaria when the shark struck. She was attacked while swimming beside the catamaran, Reuters reported. Emergency services received an alert at 1255 GMT calling for a medical evacuation and sent a military plane and helicopter after also contacting the Moroccan coastguard. The woman was taken on board the helicopter in the evening around 1800 GMT and was bound for hospital in the Gran Canaria town of Las Palmas when she died, the spokesman said. Boat-tracking website vesselfinder.comindicated that the boat, the Dalliance Chichester, had left the port of Las Palmas on September 14. Shark attacks are rare, with a total of 69 confirmed unprovoked attacks worldwide and 14 fatalities reported last year, according to the International Shark Attack File, which is administered by the Florida Museum of Natural History and the American Elasmobranch Society. The report noted that a "disproportionate" amount of people died from shark bites in Australia last year when compared with other countries, and Australia accounted for about 22% of the world's unprovoked shark attacks in 2023. The deadly attack comes less than a month after a shark killed a 16-year-old high school student in Jamaica. In July, a surfer lost his leg after a great white shark attacked him in Australia. The month before that, surfer Tamayo Perry died after sustaining fatal injuries in a shark attack off the island of Oahu in Hawaii. In January, a young fisherman diving for scallops was killed by a shark off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Kamala Harris courts immigrants, speaks to Hispanic conference Walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon, according to reports Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by 0.50 percentage points CARTHAGE, Texas (KTAL/KMSS) Police found the body of a tow truck driver after a crash in Carthage late Tuesday night. According to the Carthage Police Department, they were notified of a crash in the 800 block of S. Adams St. around 11:22 p.m., reportedly involving an out-of-county tow truck and a passenger car. When officers arrived, they found both vehicles unoccupied. Authorities said the officers found the tow truck driver deceased underneath the truck. The CPD contacted the Carthage Fire Department for assistance and asked the Texas Department of Public Safety to help reconstruct the crash scene. The crash remains under investigation. The CPD explained that the identity of the victim has not yet been released to allow time for all family members to be notified. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 U.S. Air Force is pushing ahead with experimentation that could lead to the transformation of KC-135 tankers into optionally crewed aircraft, as well as the development of other autonomous aerial refueling capabilities. U.S. military interest in autonomous airlifters, an area where China has been notably surging forward in the past few years, is also growing. The U.S. Air Force is pushing ahead with experimentation that could lead to the transformation of KC-135 tankers into optionally crewed aircraft, as well as the development of other autonomous aerial refueling capabilities. U.S. military interest in autonomous airlifters, an area where China has been notably surging forward in the past few years, is also growing. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, head of U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), discussed work on autonomous aerial refueling and airlift capabilities with The War Zone and other members of the media at a roundtable on the sidelines of the main annual Air & Space Forces Association conference yesterday. TRANSCOM serves as a centralized U.S. military-wide manager for logistical support in the air, as well as on the ground and at sea. So were actually in a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement [CRADA] on autonomous KC-135, Van Ovost said. So we are looking at that. US Air Force KC-135 tankers. USAF CRADAs provide the U.S. military with a mechanism to partner with industry, academia, and other organizations on projects outside of normal contracting processes and they typically involve an exchange of resources and data in lieu of traditional payment. Autonomous flight technology company Merlin has been leading the work relating to the KC-135 in cooperation with the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), a major aerospace firm that specializes in aircraft modification, and the U.S. Air Forces Air Mobility Command (AMC) and Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC). AMC oversees the vast majority of the services tankers and airlifters. Merlins efforts with regard to the KC-135 have been focused first on ways autonomous capabilities can help reduce the workload for aircrews. Starting [on] July 22, Merlin and SNC were granted a temporary military flight release by the United States Air Force (USAF). The team conducted real-time data collection and analysis to inform the Merlin Pilots integration design and flight control tuning for military aircraft, according to a press release from Merlin in August. The flights support an ongoing agreement with Air Mobility Command (AMC) and Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) to design, integrate, test, and demonstrate aspects of the Merlin Pilot on the KC-135. Merlin engineers also joined USAF pilots on data collection flights at MacDill Air Force Base in May 2024. The flights helped the team better understand crew workload drivers for military use cases, Merlins August release added. Together, these milestones signify Merlins progressive system design and integration work to achieve its goal of an in-flight demonstration of the Merlin Pilot in the next year. Autonomous capabilities that can be integrated into existing Air Force KC-135s and other tankers could also support other ongoing initiatives. In speaking yesterday, Gen. Van Ovost highlighted AMCs experimentation with aerial refuelers, as well as airlifters, flown by skeleton crews. The Air Force has presented this as a potential way to help increase sortie rates and overall operational capacity, especially in a potential future high-end conflict, such as one in the Pacific against China. Flight safety and other questions have been raised about these plans, as you can read about in more detail here. What Merlin, SNC, and the Air Force are working on now could help provide extra margins of safety to AMC aircrews in general. Greater autonomy or even pilot-optional capabilities could just help breathe new life into the Air Forces aging KC-135s, as well as feed into future aerial refueling developments. The service is currently in the process of refining core requirements for its Next Generation Air-refueling System (NGAS), which is expected to be a multi-layered system of systems. A rendering of a notional next-generation stealth tanker, something that could be part of the future NGAS family of systems. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works via Aviation Week Theres the Analysis of Alternatives for the NGAS thats coming out here at the end of this year. Its been almost two years of work and the initial insights are not surprising, Gen. Van Ovost said at yesterdays roundtable. How do you fly into a contested environment? How do you shrink the visibility of your airplane, right? How much does it have to carry? Van Ovost also highlighted questions about how NGAS platforms might refuel crewed and uncrewed aircraft, and do so in instances where the tanker and/or the receiver are operating autonomously to some degree. Crewed stealth tankers, as well as uncrewed aerial refuelers and new podded buddy store refueling systems with collapsible or retractable booms, have already been discussed as potential components of NGAS. The initiative is now directly tied to other major modernization efforts, including the fate of plans for a new crewed sixth-generation stealth combat jet, as you can learn more about here. Frankly, I think in air fueling, thats the place I would go to first [to integrate more autonomy], because were already seeing some capabilities for autonomous boom engagements, the head of TRANSCOM added. Both Boeing in the United States and Airbus in Europe have been actively working on and demonstrating capabilities to increasingly automate the process of boom-equipped tankers linking up receivers, including uncrewed ones. The boom method remains the Air Forces preferred way of getting gas into aircraft in flight, though it does have probe-and-drogue tankers primarily for refueling helicopters and V-22 Ospreys. The probe-and-drogue method is also predominant in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, as well as many other countries around the world. In addition to autonomous aerial refueling capabilities, Van Ovost talked about interest in autonomous airlifters, which the Air Force has also been experimenting with in recent years, at yesterdays roundtable. She did highlight additional complexities that come along with uncrewed aerial logistics platforms, especially when it comes to moving personnel, that arent necessarily considerations when talking about pilotless tankers. If I have an autonomous capability thats doing that last tactical mile, and it goes to an airfield or a road, how does it autonomously offload, turn around, and fly back? she asked rhetorically. So we are looking at what technologies that [it] would take to do that, what will be the concept of operations. could you launch it out of C-17? Would it then recover at a known airfield somewhere, in Australia or whatever? So were looking at all of that and that certainly is on the table. Van Ovosts mention of Australia underscores significant discussions ongoing now about what kind of new and novel logistics chains will be required to sustain future operations in a high-end Pacific fight where U.S. forces will be dispersed across broad areas many of which will be separated by large expanses of water. Distributed hub-and-spoke air mobility concepts incorporating cargo and potentially personnel-carrying drones, which would also be more employable in higher-risk environments, could be key elements of that equation in the future. China is looking at the same realities for future operations and, while the U.S. Air Force has been experimenting with uncrewed airlifters, there has been a much more substantial explosion in developments in this realm from Chinese aviation firms recently. Just this year, Chinese drone maker Tengden and the countrys state-run Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) announced the first flights of two new uncrewed cargo-carrying aircraft. Tengdens new design has a stated payload capacity of around 4,410 pounds (2,000 kilograms), larger than anything similar the U.S. Air Force has tested to date, at least publicly. Gen. Van Ovost has made clear that the U.S. Air Force and TRANSCOM remain very interested in autonomous aerial refueling, airlift, and other logistics capabilities. At the same time, U.S. developments in this regard still look to be in their infancy, despite how essential they could be in future conflicts. Contact the author: joe@twz.com (Bloomberg) -- Investors in India are shunning stocks that were expected to benefit from Prime Minister Narendra Modis re-election, and instead piling into defensive sectors. Most Read from Bloomberg An index of the so-called Modi stocks, a term coined by CLSA, has climbed only 2% as the prime minister completed his first 100 days in office after winning a third term in early June. In contrast, consumer and software stocks have rallied 20% and 34%, respectively. A few recent policy reversals highlight the element of uncertainty that investors must grapple with after a decade of certainty, as Modi increasingly leans on coalition partners. Thats led to concerns stocks tied to government policies may continue to trail the broader market. Theres a pronounced shift in focus from infrastructure to agriculture and consumer sectors, said Sonam Srivastava, founder and fund manager at Wright Research and Capital Pvt. The rotation has been aided by the recent volatility in global markets and the election outcome, she said. The government last month withdrew a policy aimed at hiring market experts for senior government positions and deferred a bill on broadcasting services. Modis party has also announced cash handouts in some states ahead of regional polls later this year. The administration is turning populist on the margin, Mahesh Nandurkar, a strategist at Jefferies Financial Group Inc., wrote in a note. Nandurkar said he expects the government may miss its target on capital spending, a significant headwind for sectors like infrastructure that have been benefited from large investments in recent years. To be sure, Modi stocks are still on pace to outperform the nations main equity indexes for the fourth straight year. An index of such stocks had rallied 24% in the first five months of 2024, as the prime minister prioritized building infrastructure capacity while retaining focus on driving efficiencies at the nations state-run companies. Read: Winners and Losers From Modis First Budget After Reelection That said, investors remain skeptical of stocks tied to government policies. Domestic mutual funds, the key drivers of local stocks this year, have cut their exposure to companies engaged in manufacturing capital goods in each of the three months since the June 4 election result, according to a note by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Foreign funds have also turned net sellers in sectors like utilities, cement, metals and financials in August, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence analysis. The unreasonable expectations about the Modi stocks are now being scaled back, said Sreeram Ramdas of Green Portfolio Pvt. Their underperformance may continue through the end of the year, he added. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN)- Your future plumber or electrician started training Wednesday in Canfield. Hundreds of area students are at the fairgrounds for the Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo, and it might be a record-setting year. The event kicked off yesterday with close to 1,700 middle school students in attendance. Wednesday and Thursday, its going to be filled with high school students. Theyre spending the day getting hands-on experience, and are taking an up-close look at various career paths. We have a workforce shortage across the country. Its not just in our industry, its in every industry, but across the country. We are about 2 million short. and the proper approach is to try to get younger individuals involved and interested in the trades at an earlier age, said Gary Hartman from the Builders Association of Western Pennsylvania. Some of the students are also participating in competitions and will be judged by a committee of local skilled trades professionals. The top three will walk away with prizes. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Train drivers have accepted a pay deal that will see the end of more than two years of strike action in England, Scotland and Wales. Aslef union members accepted an offer which included a 5% backdated pay rise for 2022-23, a 4.75% rise for 23-24, and a 4.5% increase for 24-25. The walk outs started due to a row over pay and working conditions. Union bosses sought better pay for drivers, but the previous Conservative government said changes to working practices were required in return. Industrial action has caused widespread disruption on the railways since strikes began in July 2022. The government has refused to release a figure of what the average salary of a train driver will be following the pay rises. In 2023, the average wage was 60,055 per year, according to the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies. Based on the pay increases announced by the union, the BBC has calculated an average salary is estimated to be about 69,000 in 2024/25. Aslef said that when compounded, the offer works out at 15%, is backdated, pensionable and includes drivers who retired or left the industry during the dispute. The breakthrough heralds the end of industrial action which saw drivers stage 18 strikes and take part in several overtime bans, leading to cancelled services. Some strikes caused an almost complete shutdown of railway lines in England and some cross-border services, including during major sporting and public events. 'No-strings deal' Mick Whelan, the union's general secretary, said the vote marked the end of the longest train drivers' strike in history. "It was not a fight we sought, or wanted. All we sought after five years without a pay rise, working for private companies who, throughout that period, declared millions of pounds in profits and dividends to shareholders, was a dent in the cost of living," he said. But Mr Whelan, told the BBC the biggest issue was not pay, but rather 55 proposed changes to working terms and conditions that ended up being dropped from the deal. The union has called the agreement a "no-strings deal", adding it was safeguarding working practices was something "it was not willing to give away for nothing". However, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said solving the row would also ensure a more reliable service but added the deal "crucially" cleared the way for "vital reform - including modernising outdated working practices - to ensure a better performing railway for everyone". She said the end of the dispute was "an important step towards fixing our railways and getting the country moving again". Under the new Labour government, senior officials began direct pay talks with Aslef bosses in July. A major stumbling block which resulted in previous talks breaking down was due to proposed changes to working conditions. 'Nothing to prevent future strikes' Aslef rejected previous deals, arguing drivers were being asked to sacrifice too much in exchange for too low a wage rise. But train companies and the previous Conservative government argued that changes to ways of working, for example to driver training and rosters were necessary to make the railway function more reliably and save money. They said hard-pressed taxpayers were having to contribute millions each week to keep services running. Conservative shadow transport secretary, Helen Whately, claimed the pay rise with "no strings attached for reforms" would "do nothing to prevent strikes in future". Whately said the government had "failed to take responsibility" and took an "easier" decision to " say yes to the unions and have taxpayers pick up the bill". A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said it welcomed the news that the dispute had been resolved. "The whole railway now needs to pull together and focus on delivering the best possible service for our customers," they added. The union, which claims to represent more than 21,000 train drivers, said 96.6% of its membership who voted backed the new offer. The turnout was 88.5%. YORKVILLE Hydroponic grower BrightFarms has opened a new greenhouse in Yorkville, about 50 miles outside Chicago, as part of a nationwide expansion it says will eventually increase its growing capacity seven times over. The greenhouse is the second in Illinois for BrightFarms, which grows leafy greens sold in grocery stores including Marianos and Jewel-Osco. BrightFarms, which is headquartered outside New York City in Westchester County, opened a greenhouse in Rochelle, about 80 miles west of Chicago, in 2016. The company has five other existing greenhouses, one each in New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The company also plans to open indoor farms in Macon, Georgia and Lorena, Texas, with construction of those greenhouses set to near completion by the end of the year. Because they are larger and more technologically advanced than its existing indoor farms, BrightFarms says, the three new greenhouses will increase the companys growing capacity by seven times. The Rochelle farm, for instance, can produce about 4 million salads a year, the company says. The Yorkville farm will produce as many as 25 million. All together, the company says, it will eventually be able to produce as many as 150 million pounds of leafy greens per year. The increased efficiency of the new greenhouses, CEO Steve Platt said, comes primarily from two areas: a climate control system that keeps the greenhouse at optimal growing temperature year-round and an automated planting system. No hands touch anything from seed all the way to harvest, Platt said. Its really advanced compared to what we started with over 10 years ago. BrightFarms, founded in 2011, was bought by privately held conglomerate Cox Enterprises in 2021. Subsidiary Cox Farms also owns greenhouse fruit and vegetable grower Mucci Farms. In the past, BrightFarms dabbled in vegetables it grew tomatoes at the Rochelle facility, for instance but has since narrowed its focus to leafy greens. The company also used to strike exclusive deals with grocery stores to build out its greenhouses; its moved away from that model too. When the company was starting, I think they needed something like that, Platt said. But now, weve proven the business model, weve proven the partnership with our customers. The company has netted dollar sales of nearly $60 million over the last year, marking growth of about 20%, Platt said. Overall, the packaged salad market saw more than $9 billion in sales over the last year, according to market research firm SPINS. Though growth in the industry as a whole remained more or less flat, sales of packaged salads grown in controlled environments which includes various types of indoor farming including hydroponics grew more than 30% over the year. Proponents of indoor growing tout its climate benefits, noting that produce grown locally in greenhouses needs to be driven much shorter distances to grocery shelves than produce grown, for instance, in California and shipped to grocery stores throughout the Midwest. In the Midwest, Platt said, BrightFarms tries not to truck its greens more than four hours away from where theyre grown. Some advocates have raised concerns about the energy usage required for indoor farming, and research about the overall climate impact of greenhouse farming is mixed. One study cited in an overview by The Washington Post found that indoor-grown tomatoes had carbon footprints six times larger than their traditionally grown counterparts, while another paper found greenhouse-grown lettuce had lower carbon impacts than lettuce grown outdoors, precisely because of the decrease in trucking miles. The Yorkville warehouse is located in the Upper Illinois River Valley Development Authority and BrightFarms received sales tax exemptions for building materials, the company said. The warehouse will gradually ramp up growing capacity, starting with about 70 workers and working its way up to 250 once it begins operating at full capacity. Wages start at $21 an hour. HONOLULU (KHON2) After months of waiting, Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines travelers said they are excited about the merger finally going through. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Travelers Jackie Pagan and Jesse Ropert both agree that the merger is going to be a good thing. I like the service on Hawaiian, said Bernadette Santana. I only rode Alaska maybe a couple of times, that was it. But mostly was Hawaiian. So I always had good service, so Im hoping for the same thing. Merger moves forward as Alaska-Hawaiian granted exemption Keeping things the same is key to the US Department of Transportation, which approved the merger. First, protecting customer rewards programs. Hawaiian miles would be directly transferred to Alaskas program. Alaskas miles are among the best in the industry, said travel expert Gary Leff. It gives them access to a lot of partners that will fly them all over the world through the one world alliance and other partnerships that Alaska has. The DOT will also require the combined airline to maintain robust levels of service for inter-island passenger and cargo service and preserve essential service in both Alaska and Hawaii. I just got called for something at Maui Memorial, so I gotta go over there for a case, so its just a constant, every day, said Ropert. Other requirements include waiving certain fees for servicemembers and their families, guaranteeing family seating for those with children under 13 years old and providing compensation for delays or cancellations when the airline is at fault. Alaska has been more generous with these things than Hawaiian has, said Leff. As long as they got the best service they have been giving, thats what counts, said Santana. We need our comfort, especially on long flights. Im never a huge fan of airline mergers, said Leff. They havent made me happy as a consumer in the past, but in terms of the mergers and their likely outcomes, this is certainly among the least bad ones that weve seen. There are still a few conditions that need to be met or waived, but that is expected to be done very quickly. Hawaiian and Alaska are expected to consummate this merger as early as 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 KHON2. In what feels like deja vu, Travis County commissioners again delayed passing a budget and tax rate for the county's hospital district, Central Health, as they continue to have questions about its $35 million in annual funding to the University of Texas Dell Medical School. In recent years, the commissioners have needed the full month of September before finally passing Central Health's financials on the last week of the month. The budget and tax rate must be passed before Oct. 1, when they would go into effect, to avoid a disruption of services. New this year, though, is a concern about the relationship between Central Health, a hospital district, and CommUnityCare, which runs what were the county and city of Austin clinics. Dr. Patrick Lee, Central Health CEO and president, speaks at the opening of Central Health's newly renovated Rosewood-Zaragosa Specialty Clinic in July. The fiscal 2025 budget, which Travis County has yet to approve, would include more direct care by Central Health, including specialty care at Rosewood-Zaragosa. After listening to Central Health's presentations and public comments that were mostly glowing about Central Health on Tuesday morning, commissioners went into executive session for three hours in the afternoon and emerged with the decision to seek more information in the coming week from Central Health. Commissioner Brigid Shea noted that in 2022, as a qualifier of the commissioners passing the Central Health budget and tax rate, Central Health officials "indicated they would provide details of clear reporting of the expenditures from the permitted investment of $35 million a year," Shea said. "So that's an adopted budget resolution by Central Health. We have yet to see that." How much does Central Health want? Central Health is proposing a tax rate of 10.7969 cents per $100 valuation property for fiscal 2025, which begins Oct. 1. That rate moves the average tax bill from $478.57 to $544.17 a year for the owner of an average valued home of $504,003. That's a $65.60 tax increase on average for 2025. Central Health's 2025 budget is $888 million compared with $744 million in 2024. Central Health expects to spend $158 million on purchased health care from collaborators and $60 million on direct care. The rest goes to administration and reserves. This year will be the second year in Central Health's seven-year health equity plan. In this fiscal year, a clinic in Del Valle will open as well as a remodeled respite center out of the old children's hospital at Interstate 35 and 15th Street. A remodeled Hancock Center, a new Colony Park clinic and a new Cameron respite facility will be under construction through fiscal 2026. Central Health expects to expand specialty care visits by 10 times over the previous year. The commissioners must approve the budget and the tax rate set by Central Health because Central Health's board of managers are appointed, not elected. In Texas, only an elected board can levy a tax rate. Read more: Big Central Health, Dell Medical School questions still linger after performance audit $35 million a year goes toward what? Many groups have tried to get an accounting from Dell Medical School about the $35 million it gets from Central Health annually, which was approved by taxpayers in 2012 for the creation of the medical school. The affiliation agreement between the medical school and Central Health surrounding this funding is designed to last 25 years with an automatic renewal of another 25 years. In 2017, a group of taxpayers sued Central Health, saying the $35 million is not consistent with the purpose of Central Health, which was created in 2004 to provide health care for people making less than 200% of federal poverty level $30,120 for an individual and $62,400 for a family of four. The lawsuit and critics contend that the $35 million is not being spent on care for poor people, but instead for salaries and recruiting. Central Health in 2022 also asked for this accounting from the medical school, but the school continues to offer broad strokes during its annual report to Central Health. That broad information includes the number of new doctors the medical school has brought to the community (almost 450), the number of residents and fellows it has trained (almost 600) and the number of students it has graduated (more than 230). The medical school has said the school's clinical practice, UT Health Austin, has treated more than 12,000 patients in 2023-24. About 38% are on Central Health's Medical Access Program, Medicare or Medicaid the type of population Central Health was created in 2004 to serve. UT Health Austin has separate contracts with Central Health to provide care that are not part of the $35 million. The county commissioners ordered a performance audit of Central Health in 2022, but the findings, which were presented last week, did not reveal the level of accounting of the medical school allocation that was the basis for the audit. Last week, Steve Herbst, a principal at Mazars USA, which was paid $845,000 to perform the audit, said the firm ran into problems trying to get granular details of how the funding is used, despite its requests. Dell Medical School provided a statement to Mazars with this answer: "... the funds have been applied to support the development and operation of Dell Medical School and its administrative infrastructure; attracting, expanding, and retaining faculty, clinicians, researchers, administrators, and staff to provide services; and care coordination and management services." Expanding access to care After Central Health's initial presentation Tuesday, Dr. Patrick Lee, president and CEO of Central Health, gave remarks he said were made after talking to Dell Medical School's dean, Dr. Claudia Lucchinetti, who was not able to be at the commissioners' meeting. Lee explained the $35 million is about expanding access. That funding helps create diverse medical school classes, as well as the ability for Central Health to co-recruit doctors to work with the patients served by Central Health and to teach at the medical school. Those doctors help to bring complex medical services to the community, he said. In a statement to the Statesman, the medical school said, "this work is transforming health care in our community, and we are grateful to the people of Travis County for the trust placed in us in 2012 an investment that continues to result in improved health." Putting conditions on this year's Central Health budget? A group of community members led by attorney Peck Young asked the commissioners Tuesday to support the tax rate and the Central Health budget, but to add a codicil to the budget that would obligate Dell Medical School to clarify the funding is not a gift and require the school to provide a detailed accounting of the funding for fiscal 2024 by the end of fiscal 2025. If those two things are not done, Peck said, Central Health should be able to renegotiate the affiliation agreement. Read more: Central Health CEO Dr. Patrick Lee puts head of CommUnityCare on leave Questions about another Central Health partnership Shea also mentioned Central Health's relationship with CommUnityCare as a second reason for not passing the budget or tax rate at this time. This month Lee put CommUnityCare CEO and President Jaeson Fournier on leave. Ann Kitchen, Central Health Board of Managers chairperson, center, and Travis County Judge Andy Brown get ready for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of Central Health's newly renovated Rosewood-Zaragosa Specialty Clinic in July. Brown and the Travis County commissioners have to approve Central Health's budget because its board of managers are appointed and not elected. That move was done without approval from the Central Health or CommUnityCare boards. Fournier came before the commissioners Tuesday to ask them to look at Central Health's actions, which Fournier said "seem more in line with consolidating power" than providing public transparency. "This limits true partnerships and transparency," Fournier said. He asked Central Health's leadership to be transparent with the CommUnityCare and Central Health boards about why he was put on administrative leave and allow those boards to do their due diligence. CommUnityCare as a federally qualified health center is required to be run by a board that is made up of at least 50% community members who are its patients. Central Health Board of Managers Member Cynthia Valadez said: "As a board member we must be given all the information to make responsible decisions. ... At no time have I been told there has been an issue with CommUnityCare. ... We cannot resolve this unless both of our groups meet together, and we come to some accord." Fournier also asked for Central Health to provide CommUnityCare with a formal written services agreement. About 31% of CommUnityCare's budget is funded by Central Health, he said. Last week, CommUnityCare staff members expressed concern that they were unclear how much money CommUnityCare could expect to receive in fiscal 2025 and how and when that funding would be provided. What will happen next? Central Health will return to the Commissioners Court on Tuesday. Central Health needs its budget and tax rate to be approved before the fiscal year starts Oct. 1. If those are not approved, Central Health will not have the funding it needs to operate its clinics or provide access to care through its Medical Access Program or MAP Basic. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Travis County commissioners delay vote on Central Health budget The fight over voter registration in Texas Democratic-leaning cities is heating up. In Tuesday, Travis County sued Texas state officials including right-wing Attorney General Ken Paxton over his repeated attempts to block the states urban counties from registering voters by mail. Today, Travis County, once again, fights back, county attorney Delia Garza told reporters on Tuesday, The Texas Tribune reported. Travis County is home to the states capital, Austin. The countersuit comes in the context of a tightening election and less than three weeks before the critical Oct. 7 deadline to register Texans to vote. In the suit, Garza asserts that Paxton and State Secretary of State Jane Nelson are in violation of Title 52 of the Voting Rights Act, which makes it the duty of the Federal, State, and local governments to promote the exercise of [the] right to vote. The Travis countersuit follows three weeks after Paxton sued Travis County itself, alleging that county leaderships use of a third-party voter registration company violated state law. The suit comes in the context of legal action in other major Texas cities. Travis County officials filed the suit the day after a state district court judge dismissed Paxtons suit against Bexar County, about 90 miles to the south of Travis and home of the similarly blue city of San Antonio. Paxton sued Bexar earlier this month on similar grounds legal action that came weeks after agents working for his office searched the homes and offices of local Democratic organizers and of a candidate for a crucial state representatives seat coveted by the GOP. It is in Harris County the states most populous and a key Democratic base that the GOP legal campaign has borne the most fruit. Paxton and Houston-area state Sen. Paul Bettancourt also threatened suits against Harris County, if the county proceeded with its own plan to send out registration forms by mail. That county was the center of a 2020 legal campaign by Paxton to block vote-by-mail during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he has credited with holding the state for Donald Trump. Harris County has now run out of time to send out its own registration forms, Houston Public Media reported. Texas Democrats in the House of Representatives have called on the Department of Justice to investigate Paxtons alleged violations of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Act. The legal wrangling happens as the intersection of two long-running political fights between the states GOP-dominated leadership and the largely Democratic-controlled metro areas where most of its population actually lives. Most immediately, Paxtons suits are part of a broader trajectory of unproven claims, largely based on conspiracy theories but echoed by the national party, that Democrats are trying to steal the election by importing undocumented voters. Travis County has blatantly violated Texas law by paying partisan actors to conduct unlawful identification efforts to track down people who are not registered to vote, Paxton said in a statement on the day he sued the county. Paxton has made variations of this argument since 2020 when he unsuccessfully alleged before the Supreme Court that Joe Biden had stolen the election from Donald Trump, earning an attempted censure from the State Bar. But Republicans have intensified those claims as the presidential race in Texas has tightened and Senate challenger Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) has closed to within the margin of error with incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R). The election fight is however a subset of a broader war within Texas: A decadelong attempt by a dominant but internally-divided GOP to strip authority from the states cities over issues from overseeing elections to running public schools to mandating rest breaks for construction workers in the states punishing 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 The Hill. Travis County prosecutors will not pursue a murder case against Austin police officer Christopher Taylor in the shooting death of a man in 2019, opting instead to seek a conviction on a lesser felony charge. The attorney for the family of Mauris DeSilva, a scientist and researcher who was shot and killed during what officials and family members said was a mental health episode, and attorneys for Taylor confirmed the development to the American-Statesman on Tuesday. The murder trial was set to start Monday. A spokesman for District Attorney Jose Garza said the prosecutor's office would not comment on the pending matter, adding that a pretrial hearing is set for Friday. Austin police officer Christopher Taylor leaves the courtroom after Judge Dayna Blazey gave additional instructions to the jury after they declared they could not reach a unanimous decision in his murder trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center on Monday November 13, 2023. Taylor is charged with killing of Michael Ramos in 2020. Prosecutors recently met with DeSilvas family, including his father, Denzil Desilva, to inform them of the decision to instead try Taylor on a deadly conduct charge, a third degree felony, attorney Brad Vinson said. Vinson said prosecutors told them: We think it is better for the case, better for juries in Travis County on these cases, and that is what we are going to be going forward with." It makes me think that maybe their office thought a Travis County jury would be more likely to convict (police officers), and what they are finding is that Travis County juries are more technical, Vinson said. They are very educated and technical in the way they evaluate evidence. The decision is the latest instance in which Garza has shifted strategy or outright dismissed a charge in a case dealing with police accountability, a major platform that helped the district attorney get elected in 2020 in the aftermath of George Floyds murder by a cop in Minneapolis. The murder charge against Taylor in DeSilvas death garnered national headlines as it marked the second time that the officer had been indicted for murder in an on-duty fatal shooting. The 2019 shooting happened when officers responded to the Spring condominium building in downtown Austin for a call about a man holding a knife to his neck. By the time officers arrived, the man had gone inside the building, and when officers confronted him, DeSilva did not obey their commands and moved toward the officers with the knife. Mauris DeSilva, in the photo above, was shot and killed by Austin police officers in July 2019. DeSilva's father on Friday filed an excessive force and wrongful death case against the officers involved and the City of Austin. DeSilvas family said the use of lethal force was not justified and that the shooting highlighted how officers must receive better training in handling calls with people suffering from mental illness. The following year, Taylor was among a group of officers who responded to the parking lot of a Southeast Austin apartment complex in a case that ended with police fatally shooting a man. When officers arrived, Michael Ramos did not obey their commands and instead got into a car and began driving when Taylor opened fire, killing Ramos. A jury was deadlocked last year over whether Taylor committed murder, and prosecutors have since said they are dropping the case. With forgoing a murder charge, prosecutors will no longer have to prove in court that Taylor intentionally killed DeSilva, but whether or not Taylor fired at DeSilva to defend himself or others likely will remain a central issue. DA Garza finally seems to be understanding hes bitten off more than he can chew with his police officer indictments, said attorney Ken Ervin, who along with attorney Doug OConnell, represents Taylor. But dropping the murder charge while proceeding on the deadly conduct charge shows he still has a long way to go in understanding basic Texas law. If it was legal to shoot and kill someone in self-defense, it was legal to shoot at that same person in the first place, he added. Vinson said his client was not upset by the case's latest development but instead is hopeful for a just outcome for the DeSilva family that results in Officer Taylor being held accountable for his reckless actions that resulted in the loss of Mr. DeSilvas life. Taylor would face a less severe punishment if he's convicted in his upcoming trial. He could have received up to life in prison if found guilty of murder, but he now faces up to 10 years behind bars if he's convicted of deadly conduct. I think abandoning the murder charge raises serious questions about the states ability to prove this case at trial, said Jorge Vela, a former federal prosecutor and Austin defense attorney who has followed the case. I think they are saying they overcharged this case, but in the end, I dont think it changes what the main issue is. This comes down to self-defense and the defense of others, he said. Garza's record prosecuting police In his first term as district attorney, Garza and his Public Integrity Unit have not obtained a conviction in any of the more than two dozen cases they have brought against police officers. Prosecutors have dropped all but four of 21 cases against officers over their use-of-force on demonstrators during the May and June 2020 protests and instead asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Austin Police Department. Garza issued the invitation to the Justice Department in February but the federal agency has not responded. In March, a jury found former Williamson County sheriffs Deputies Zachary Camden and James Johnson not guilty of manslaughter for their role in the death of Javier Ambler II. The verdict came just two days after Garza handily won the Democratic primary for district attorney, all but confirming his reelection in the upcoming November election. It was the third use-of-force trial under Garza to end without a conviction. In October 2022, a jury found former Austin police officer Nathaniel Stallings not guilty of misdemeanor charges from a 2017 arrest. Garza told the Statesman earlier this year that prosecutors face institutional hurdles in prosecuting police officers, including how law enforcement investigates such cases. He added that taking cases to the grand jury allows for community input in such matters. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Travis DA forgoing murder charge against Austin police officer The Rio Arriba County Courthouse in Tierra Amarilla, N.M. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) The trial for the man recorded on video shooting a climate activist during a prayer ceremony and protest in Rio Arriba County is set to begin in October. Ryan Martinez, carrying a concealed 9mm handgun, repeatedly tried to rush into an area where around 50 people were peacefully celebrating county officials decision to postpone resurrecting a statue of genocidal Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate. Martinez shot Jacob Johns, a Hopi, Akimel Oodham activist from Washington, in the chest. Martinez then allegedly turned the gun on Malaya Peixinho. The gun jammed, and he fled the scene. Martinez is being prosecuted for trying to murder Johns and assaulting Peixinho. State prosecutors have also added a hate crime and a firearm enhancement to the charges against him. Jury selection and a trial are set to happen Oct. 7 in First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyards courtroom in Tierra Amarilla. The first leg of the trial is scheduled for Oct. 8 through Oct. 11, when state prosecutors are expected to make their case and call their witnesses to testify. The second leg of the trial is scheduled for Oct. 16 through Oct. 18, when defense lawyers for Martinez will make their case and call their own witnesses. Typically, both sides make opening arguments at the beginning of a trial, and closing arguments at the end. For the record: 5:03 p.m. Sept. 20, 2024: An earlier version of this article misspelled the first name of Justice Department prosecutor Jonathan R. Hornok as Jonathon. The reputed Mexican drug lord known as El Mencho has spent more than a decade evading efforts by U.S. and Mexican officials to bring him to justice. His son, alleged heir to one of Mexico's biggest criminal empires, has not been so elusive. Captured by Mexican law enforcement in 2015 a month after henchmen allegedly operating under his orders shot down a military helicopter pursuing him and his father he is now on trial in Washington on drug trafficking and weapons charges related to his alleged role in the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, 34, better known as El Menchito, is part of a generation of "narco juniors" learning that the old-school codes of silence and family loyalty that once protected their fathers are increasingly relics of the past. He has faced damning testimony from a parade of former cartel members. Even his own uncle is expected to take the stand against him. While other sons of other prominent Mexican traffickers have struck plea agreements sometimes involving cooperation against cartel associates court filings show Oseguera Gonzalez rejected a deal last year. If convicted, he almost certainly faces life in prison. Read more: Kidnapping, capture, cover-up? Cremated body baffles Mexican officials in El Mayo arrest The case has highlighted a generational divide between boomer-aged cartel bosses and their millennial kids. The fathers often came from nothing and climbed the ranks to form their own cartels. Some of the juniors have attended private schools and rubbed shoulders with the future elites of their country. Now the privileged 30-somethings are increasingly taking on leadership roles as their dads or at least those not killed or captured near retirement age. The offspring don't have to look far to see that if they are caught and extradited to the U.S., choosing to go to trial is a high-risk, all-or-nothing gamble that rarely ends with walking free. Exhibit A: Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, longtime leader of the Sinaloa cartel, currently serving a life term under strict isolation at a remote Colorado prison dubbed the "Alcatraz of the Rockies." Among the more than a dozen former associates who testified against him were two family members of his longtime partner, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. Read more: From jail, drug lord El Mayo Zambada tells wild story of corruption and murder Now, five years after El Chapo's conviction, it seems two of his sons are seeking to avoid their father's fate by any means necessary. Mexican officials say Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 38, and his brother Ovidio, 34, who was extradited to the U.S. last year, plotted to abduct Zambada in an effort to receive leniency in their own cases. Zambada, who recently made his first court appearance in Brooklyn, N.Y., pleading not guilty to drug charges, has said he was "forcibly kidnapped" on July 25 when Joaquin hand-delivered him to U.S. agents at an airport near El Paso, where both men were arrested. A lawyer for the brothers has denied they are cooperating. Both have pleaded not guilty and remain in custody with cases pending in Chicago and Washington for their alleged leadership of a cartel faction called Los Chapitos. Read more: The secretive life and stunning downfall of Sinaloa cartel boss 'El Mayo' Zambada While El Chapo's sons await their fate, Oseguera Gonzalez is taking his chances before a jury. In an opening statement last week, Justice Department prosecutor Jonathan R. Hornok laid out seemingly damning evidence including anticipated testimony from a corrupt police chief who served as El Mencho's personal bodyguard and others who trafficked drugs for the cartel, the CJNG, as it is known by its initials in Spanish. "They are going to tell you about the birth of the CJNG, how they watched as the defendant's father created the cartel, and how the defendant led the cartel as No. 2 alongside his father," Hornok said. Oseguera Gonzalez's counsel responded by telling jurors they should be skeptical of key witnesses "who have made that deal with the government" an arrangement that he called "one of the underbellies of criminal justice." It's a wonderful system it's as perfect as it can get, but there are flaws, said the attorney, Jan Ronis. One observer of the narco-junior cases, David Weinstein, a former federal narcotics prosecutor in Miami, compared the wave of betrayals among Mexican cartel members to the erosion of New York's Mafia families in the 1990s under federal racketeering investigations. He cited the case of Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, an underboss in the Gambino crime family who turned witness for the prosecution, helping to finally stick murder charges and a life sentence on the Teflon Don, John Gotti. There are certain people who just won't testify, the family is thicker than anything: Im not going to be a rat and Im not going to testify, Weinstein said. Others say, It's not worth it. Even though its family, it's not worth it. Any chance of Oseguera Gonzalez reaching a deal seemed to evaporate last year when he backed out of a plea at the eleventh hour after changing attorneys. Read more: Soldiers and civilians are dying as Mexican cartels embrace a terrifying new weapon: Land mines Court filings show Oseguera Gonzalez signed documents admitting he ordered more than 100 murders. Anticipated testimony described in pretrial filings said several victims were drowned in a swimming pool. Witnesses were also also expected to say he "personally shot and killed two people a rival cartel member, and a subordinate who disobeyed orders." He oversaw a vast network of meth labs, prosecutors say, and allegedly procured weapons and military training from Russian mercenaries. After Oseguera Gonzalez canceled the deal, telling the judge at a hearing in April last year, "I just want a second opinion, prosecutors were barred from using the plea admissions during the trial. Arturo Hernandez, the defense attorney who took over representation of Oseguera Gonzalez as he nixed the plea, said his client signed the documents without a Spanish interpreter present. "That was absolutely unlawful," said Hernandez, who is not part of the trial defense team. He added that he thought the plea documents becoming public before the trial "poisoned the jury pool" and would create an appellate issue if Oseguera Gonzalez is found guilty. Oseguera Gonzalez's other alleged activities included stealing fuel from pipelines in Mexico, which was resold and used to pay CJNG hitmen to purchase weapons, equipment for methamphetamine production, and stolen cars for the cartel, according to one court filing. Prosecutors have said one witness will testify that Oseguera Gonzalez boasted of amassing an arsenal that included .50-caliber sniper rifles, 40-millimeter automatic grenade launchers and shoulder-fired rocket launchers. They also allege that he brokered and authorized the purchase of weapons from a Russian with a military background, who also was providing weapons training to the CJNG. Thousands of Blackberry Messenger communications obtained through wiretaps allegedly show Oseguera Gonzalez conducting cartel business under handles that included "Forrest Gump," Ice Man and Billy the Kid. In one message, intercepted in October 2013, Oseguera Gonzalez agreed to release a chemist who had been kidnapped so that he could manufacture oxycodone, a synthetic opioid often pressed into counterfeit prescription pills with fentanyl, according to prosecutors. Im going to release him, brother, the message said. Im just going to reach an agreement with him, so that he works with me. A bullet-riddled wall bears the initials of the criminal group Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion at the entrance of the community of Aguililla, state of Michoacan, Mexico, on April 23, 2021. (Enrique Castro / AFP via Getty Images) The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which has said the CJNG has presence in dozens of countries around the world and all 50 U.S. states, is offering a $10-million reward for the capture of 58-year-old Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes El Mencho. As for Menchito, Eduardo Balarezo, an attorney who worked on El Chapos defense team and has been following the recent cases, said theres only so much lawyers can do if a client insists on a trial when cooperators are lined up to testify. You can tell him what you think and give him your best advice, but sometimes theyre not listening to you, and that creates a problem, he said. Theyre going to try his father through him, basically, Balarezo said. And hes going to get hammered. I cant imagine they're going to fare any better than Chapo, quite frankly. 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. Troopers allegedly uncover more than 250 Lbs. of cocaine inside semi during search in northwest Indiana Troopers allegedly uncover more than 250 Lbs. of cocaine inside semi during search in northwest Indiana PORTER COUNTY, Ind. Felony charges have been filed against a Canadian man after authorities said they uncovered more than 250 pounds of cocaine in his semi during a major drug bust in northwest Indiana this week. According to Indiana State Police, 49-year-old Naseeb Chisty, who is from Canada, has been charged with two felonies, including dealing cocaine and possession of cocaine. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland The charges stem from a drug bust that unfolded at around 9:30 a.m. on Monday, along I-94. Troopers said they stopped Chisty at the eastbound I-94 scales for a motor carrier violation. The scales are located about two miles east of State Road 49 in Porter County. Felony charges have been filed against a Canadian man after authorities said they uncovered more than 250 pounds of cocaine in his semi during a major drug bust in northwest Indiana this week. Felony charges have been filed against a Canadian man after authorities said they uncovered more than 250 pounds of cocaine in his semi during a major drug bust in northwest Indiana this week. After stopping Chisty, troopers said their K9 did a free air test and alerted them to Chistys semi. Read more: Latest news and headlines from northwest Indiana Following a search of the vehicle, troopers allegedly uncovered 123.9 kilos (around 273 pounds) of white powder. Troopers conducted a field test on the powder and said it came up positive for cocaine. Following the positive test, Chisty was taken into custody. He is currently being held at the Porter County Jail. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Troopers seize $24K worth of meth on Ohio interstate (WJW) The Ohio State Highway Patrol is sharing details about a recent meth bust. According to a press release from the patrol, troopers stopped a Hyundai Sonata with Tennessee plates on Interstate 75 on Sept. 14, just after midnight. $100K scratch-off winner sold at local gas station Troopers said the vehicle had a moving violation, which is why they were pulling them over. When they did, a drug-sniffing K-9 alerted to the vehicle, according to a press release. Troopers seized 6 pounds of methamphetamine they said is worth $24,000. Troopers arrested three people in the vehicle. New plans announced for Geauga Lake Levi Eastgate, 24, of Virginia; Holly Ramey, 25, of Tennessee; and Damion Fryer, 29, of Detroit, were booked in the Shelby County jail. All three face charges of aggravated trafficking and possession. Troopers said, if convicted, they could each face up to 33 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 8 Cleveland WJW. Troopers surround 3-year-old boy with love after rescuing him from fiery crash months ago This week, some Georgia state troopers made a special stop at the Joseph M. Still (JSM) Burn Center in Augusta. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Georgia State Patrol troopers stopped by the hospital to visit 3-year-old, Bennett. In May, Joshua Dornellas was accused of kidnapping his son, Bennett in Anderson County, South Carolina before he started a chase with deputies who tried pulling him over. Investigators say during the chase, Dornellas intentionally set the trucks cab on fire, with Bennett inside. The suspect jumped out of the window while the car was going 55 MPH. He then hit an embankment and the truck went up in flames. RELATED STORIES: Several troopers and deputies jumped into action, extinguished the flames and rushed Bennett to the hospital. GSP said the troopers remained in close contact with Bennetts family ever since. Not only did the troopers deliver smiles, but Bennett and his family got a special care package, too! [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] The troopers joined in the celebration of Bennett returning home, Tuesday morning. Though he has a long recovery ahead, our agency is cheering him and his family on as they move forward, the department said. IN OTHER NEWS: MIAMI As tropical activity in the Atlantic Ocean quiets down again, attention is shifting back to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, where there are increasing signs of atmospheric conditions favorable for the development of possibly the next named storm sometime next week. The National Hurricane Center has again upped the odds of development within the next seven days to 50% with its Friday afternoon update. Further development may loom beyond seven days, according to the FOX Forecast Center. The growing concern is linked to a phenomenon known as the Central American Gyre, which has historically contributed to tropical storm formation in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico in the early spring or autumn. The gyre is a sprawling area of low pressure that feeds off moisture streaming in from the Pacific Ocean and forms near or over Central America. At its core, it is a heavy rain producer with impacts extending outwards hundreds of miles and leading to threats of torrential rainfall, flooding and landslides for more than a dozen countries centered in and around Central America. WHAT IS THE CENTRAL AMERICAN GYRE? Organized low-pressure centers can develop within the large gyre if water temperatures and upper-level winds become favorable for tropical development. And current water temperatures in the Caribbean are near the record-warm levels set last season. Both early and late in the hurricane season are more notorious for seeing a tropical disturbance break away from Central America and form into a tropical entity in either the Eastern Pacific, Bay of Campeche or western Caribbean Sea. "You can get showers and storms, and you can get some of that energy that can fall off of it, spin-off of it, and translate into something that maybe develops out of the Gulf of Mexico, out of the Caribbean," FOX Weather meteorologist Marissa Torres said. Many computer model forecasts indeed show large amounts of moisture from the Pacific Ocean streaming across Central America and heading into the Caribbean Sea sometime next week to form a potential gyre. Meanwhile, early indications suggest an upper-level dip in the jet stream parked over the central U.S. will move northward, removing a blocking feature that would prevent storms from entering the Gulf of Mexico and also allow the gyre to drift north into the southern Gulf of Mexico. "So if we see that broad circulation and if it does perhaps move into the southern Gulf of Mexico or at the very least pivots a little farther to the north, then that opens a window for possible (tropical) development," FOX Weather meteorologist Stephen Morgan said. "And assuming we don't have significant systems moving from land into the Gulf of Mexico notably fronts that would steer this thing away there will be an element of the Gulf of Mexico being at play." While storm formation is never guaranteed, the pattern suggests an active period of rain for the Caribbean, parts of Mexico and likely southern Florida by late next week, according to the FOX Forecast Center. Regardless of if or when any individual storms undergo tropical development, there will be a large plume of tropical moisture in the area by late next week, and it is likely to persist. "(When) you look at the Bay of Campeche, you look at the water temperatures there are a lot of other elements that are still way conducive for development," FOX Weather meteorologist Michael Estime said. "We'll have to watch what happens with the eyre something that we're certainly going to watch in the days ahead." On average, about once every other year, the Central American Gyre produces a tropical cyclone, some of which develop into full-fledged hurricanes if conditions allow. Due to their formation of hotspots in the Caribbean or regions in the southern Gulf of Mexico, many go on to threaten the Southeast coast. Tropical Storm Amanda (2020), Tropical Storm Cristobal (2020), Hurricane Michael (2018), Tropical Storm Andrea (2013) and Hurricane Ida (2009) are all examples of areas of disturbed weather that formed off the Central American Gyre. Central American Gyre-influenced tropical cyclones. Hurricane Michael struck the Florida Panhandle as a Category 5 hurricane in 2018 after spending a week embedded in the overall gyre off the coast of Central America. Usually, due to their formation in the early or late season, tropical cyclones directly influenced by the Central American Gyre tend to be weaker when impacting the U.S. due to the prevalence of inhibiting factors such as cooler water temperatures and hostile upper-level winds. Original article source: Impactful tropical threat could be brewing in Caribbean with potential track into Gulf of Mexico FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau casts his vote during the election of a new Speaker in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks set to survive a confidence vote next week after a rival party said on Wednesday it would not back an attempt to defeat his minority Liberal government. The official opposition Conservatives, who have a commanding lead in the polls, said they would try to topple Trudeau next Wednesday on the grounds that Canadians cannot afford the promised increase in an existing federal carbon tax. Trudeau will need support from other legislators to survive a confidence vote in the House of Commons and quickly found it from Yves-Francois Blanchet, leader of the separatist Bloc Quebecois, which seeks independence for the province of Quebec. "The Bloc Quebecois serves the people of Quebec. It does not serve the Conservatives," Blanchet told reporters, saying replacing Trudeau with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre would not suit Quebec's interests. The Bloc, which like the Liberals are a center-left party, could well insist on pro-Quebec concessions in return for keeping Trudeau in power. Trudeau, who first took office in November 2015, faces increasing unhappiness from voters over rising prices and a nationwide housing crisis. The confidence vote will be his first real test since the smaller New Democratic Party this month tore up a 2022 deal to keep the Liberals in office until an election that must be held by end-October 2025. Trudeau will have to survive a series of other confidence votes to make it that far. While working formally with separatists is generally seen as politically toxic in Canada, federal parties have in the past struck one-off deals to gain Bloc support. In 2009, the Bloc backed the then minority Conservative government on a confidence vote. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Alistair Bell) (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will likely face a vote of non-confidence next week in Canadas parliament, but it appears hell survive it after an opposition party rejected the idea of forcing an election now. Most Read from Bloomberg Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party, told reporters on Wednesday he plans to introduce a motion in the House of Commons as soon as possible that says lawmakers have no confidence in the prime minister. His first chance will most likely come Tuesday on whats known as an opposition day. But for the motion to pass, Poilievre would need the support of both the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois. Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet quickly knocked down the idea, saying hes more interested in securing Liberal support on policies around seniors benefits and dairy sector quotas. My response is no, Blanchet told reporters on whether hed vote for Poilievres motion. In Canadas parliamentary system, if a sitting government doesnt have the confidence of the majority of elected lawmakers, the government falls and a new election campaign usually takes place. At the moment, Poilievres Conservatives are far ahead in the polls and would likely secure a majority government in any national vote. Poilievre said he wants an election thats centered on the Trudeau governments carbon tax, which is scheduled to rise in price each year. He challenged the NDP which recently scrapped a power-sharing deal with Trudeaus Liberals to support his motion and have a carbon tax election. You have the motion, its in your inbox, Poilievre said, referring to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Singh has repeatedly said he is prepared to have an election any time, but will not be pushed into one by Poilievre. Trudeau has made it clear he intends to try to keep governing until the scheduled election date in October 2025. Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, speaking to reporters Wednesday morning, said he doesnt believe the NDP or Bloc want to trigger a campaign now. Im confident that they understand the mood of Canadians, and the mood of Canadians is not to get into an election, Champagne said, adding that lawmakers should focus instead on delivering results for people on housing affordability and other issues. (Updates with new information beginning in the first paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Trump adviser unpacks why former president is holding rally in deep-blue state weeks from election UNIONDALE, New York It's been 40 years since a Republican nominee has carried New York state in a presidential election. You have to go back to President Ronald Reagan, who won the state as part of his landslide re-election victory in 1984. But that's not stopping former President Trump from holding a rally Wednesday in his native state, which he has no serious chance of carrying in his election faceoff with Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump's rally in Uniondale is in Long Island's Nassau County, a longtime Republican stronghold in the reliably blue state of New York. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLS IN THE 2024 ELECTION Former President Trump is set to hold a rally at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on Wednesday. And it's Trump's second large campaign event this year, after drawing a big crowd in the New York City borough of the Bronx in May. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP While there was some chatter of New York potentially being in play as President Biden's poll numbers started cratering following his disastrous late-June debate performance against Trump, the conversation was fleeting and quickly dissipated when Harris replaced Biden atop the Democrats' 2024 ticket. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE SHOW So why with less than 50 days to go until Election Day and time becoming a very precious commodity is Trump holding a campaign rally just outside of New York City? "Quite clearly, New York is the biggest media hub in the country," Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told Fox News. Murtaugh emphasized that "when [Trump] delivers a message there, its piped directly into homes in every market in every battleground state. The most valuable commodity we have is President Trumps time. And that event is making efficient use of it." The rally is Trump's first since this past weekend's apparent second failed assassination attempt against the former president. And a number of people who lined up hours ahead of the rally to see the former president said they were attending to "show support" for Trump. Supporters of former President Trump line up hours ahead of his rally at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on Wednesday. While Trump is extremely unlikely to carry New York in the White House race, the rally may help Republicans down ballot, as they try to hold on to their House of Representatives majority in November's elections. Several GOP-controlled House seats in New York state are considered vulnerable this year, including one held by Rep. Anthony DEsposito of Long Island. Esposito, in an interview with Fox News' Bryan Ilenas live on the Fox News Channel, said "it is very clear - perhaps New York is not a battleground state, but what there is - is there's a battleground right here on Long Island. And when Trump wins on Election Night, he is going to need a House majority and that House majority runs through the Empire State." Fox News' Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. Original article source: Trump adviser unpacks why former president is holding rally in deep-blue state weeks from election Once it became clear to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) last week that he didnt have the votes to attach a bill that would require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote to a must-pass stopgap spending bill to keep the government open, he said he would spend the weekend having family conversations to build a consensus. Its unclear if Johnson was able to do that. But he did spend some time with Donald Trump this weekend. In the wake of another incident thats being investigated as an attempt on the former presidents life, Johnson tweeted saying he and his wife had just spent a few hours with President Trump and are thanking God for protecting him today. While the post on social media was obviously meant to signal Johnsons support for the former president in the wake of a possible attack, it also indicated that the two spent some time in conversation, perhaps about a certain funding bill with Trumps name all over it. Were not the only ones with suspicions about that conversations. Per the Hill: Johnson and his wife, Kelly, visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home Sunday in Florida, and some GOP aides suspect the Speaker asked Trump for his tacit blessing of a short-term government funding bill that does not include a proposal to tighten voter registration rules. It seems he may not have gotten it. To recap: Johnson had a plan to link the continuing resolution to keep the government funded at existing levels, for the most part, into 2025 to a bill that helps perpetuate Trumps baseless non-citizen voting scare, laying the groundwork for Trump to blame immigrants if he loses in the fall. But Johnson tentatively scrapped that plan after every faction of his conference vocalized issues with it. The stakes are becoming more dire by the day, as government funding is set to run out at the end of the month. I break down everyones various qualms with the package in detail here. In short, hardliners are unhappy with the legislation because they hate continuing resolutions, defense hawks are concerned about keeping military funding at current levels for six months, vulnerable Republicans who face tough reelections back home dont want to do Trumps Big Lie bidding. And while it seems none of those concerns were quelled over the weekend, Johnson is planning to move forward with a vote on the same linked-up pieces of legislation Wednesday. The voting bill is not just redundant its already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections but it also would require proof-of-citizenship to register to vote a sort of White Whale among conservative hardliners eager to suppress the vote by making the process more intimidating, especially to immigrants. Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government, and ensure the security of our elections, Johnson said in a statement Tuesday announcing his intention to hold a Wednesday vote on the six month CR and SAVE Act, the official name of the non-citizen voting legislation. Its unclear how that vote will go, though. Theres been no indication that those in his conference who were opposed to the bill last week have changed their minds. For example, from a far-right member upset about the CR can-kicking: Like an undead but doomed zombie, the CR+Save Act is back. Speaker Johnson is fake fighting by attaching a bright shiny object (that he will later abandon) to a bill that continues our path of destructive spending. I wont be any part of this insulting charade. Im a hell no. https://t.co/oY0LHVpYO4 Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 17, 2024 Republicans in the upper chamber are also reportedly frustrated with Johnson for bringing the same legislation to the floor for a vote tomorrow when it will be dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-majority Senate. Senate Democrats are ardently opposed to the SAVE Act for a variety of reasons. Its becoming a mess. Especially our military theyre suffering. Even if you do a (continuing resolution), you know they dont get the money theyd normally get. This whole things a debacle, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told the Hill. But its a mess that Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) clearly think is worth making ahead of the election, as they set themselves up to stoke hysteria and distrust in the election system if things arent going well for them in a few short weeks. Vance distinguished himself as one of the very, very few congressional Republicans in favor of Johnsons plan during an interview on the Shawn Ryan Show last week, when he suggested a shutdown might actually be in Republicans best interest, according to NBC News. Why shouldnt we be trying to force this government shutdown fight to get something out of it thats good for the American people? he said. Like, why have a government if its not a functioning government? The Best Of TPM Today New from Khaya Himmelman: This Year, Nearly Everyones On The Same Page: GOP Gets To Work Early To Delegitimize Election Before He Hated Her, Donald Trump Thought Taylor Swift Was Terrific Welp, Turns Out Police ARE Investigating Trumps Arlington Cemetery Fiasco Yesterdays Most Read Story Yes. Trump Started The Fire. And Everyone Knows It What We Are Reading JD Vance got a former professor to delete a blog post Vance wrote in 2012 attacking GOP over anti-immigrant rhetoric Foreign hackers could target election litigation, federal judge warns Flat Out Illegal: MAGA Sheriff Is Keeping Note of Homes With Harris Yard Signs Another unwell person sought to kill Donald Trump, according to the FBI and other officials. We should all be grateful that no one was hurt, and that the Secret Service and local law enforcement appear to have done their jobs properly. Im also grateful to former President Trump for assigning blame for the foiled assassination attempt to Democratic rhetoric, specifically that of Biden and Harris. On Monday, he told Fox News Digital, Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country both from the inside and out. Why am I grateful to Trump? For starters, because he saved me an enormous amount of time. I planned to address this claim using examples from Trump boosters. Dems Still in Stop Hitler Incitement Mode read one headline at Breitbart before it was edited to tone it down. But collecting such quotesoften from second- or third-rate MAGA sycophants and apologistsis tedious and it requires arguing with people Id rather not elevate by taking them seriously. But here we have the claim stated concisely by the presidential candidateand targethimself. Even better, it contains the fundamental cynicism and hypocrisy of much lengthier versions of this talking point. Trump believes that the threat to democracy charge against him is inciting people to violence. This could be possible, though there is little evidence that the would-be assassin in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July was motivated by politics; the latest assailant, a one-time Trump supporter turned critic, certainly seems to have been very political, whatever his specific motivation. Still, in a country of 337 million people, its always going to be the case that some tiny fraction of unwell people will be motivated to violence by extreme claims. And heres the problem with the argument as its made by Trump and his defenders. They are not against allegedly violence-inciting, rhetorical extremism, theyre against such rhetoric deployed against Trump. Similar rhetoric targeting Biden and Harris is just fine. Go back and look at Trumps complaint. They are the ones that are destroying the country, he insists. Later he adds, It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat. In other words, Trump believes the problem isnt apocalyptic rhetoric that incites violence. No, the problem is that people believe the rhetoric about him, when they should believe his similar rhetoric about his political opponents. Indeed, Trump routinely insists that if Harriswhom he calls a communist and fascistis elected, The country will be over. Few of the people, including Trump himself, who will blame hateful rhetoric constantly aimed at Trump, in the words of the New York Posts Miranda Devine, for Sundays assassination attempt, have any problem with Trumps hateful rhetoric. Its a remarkable double standard. We can wax Jesuitical about the differences between saying Harris will destroy the country and saying that Trump is a threat to democracy. But logically and empirically, the differences between the claims are nugatory. There is an objective divergence, however. Peopleincluding some unhinged onesfind the charges against Trump plausible. That might have more to do with Trumps past behavior (say, on January 6) or his stated positions (his call to terminate the Constitution so he can retake power, perhaps) than with the persuasiveness of his critics or the power of the media. Indeed, whether the claim that Trump is a threat to democracy is extreme depends largely on whether it is true. If he is a threat to democracy, then calling him one is merely an accurate description. Its irresponsibleor extreme in the colloquial argot of politics these daysto falsely shout, Fire! in a crowded theater. If you actually see a fire, its a defensible warning. This assassination attempt came amid a broiling controversy over baseless claims by Trump and J.D. Vance about Haitian immigrants feasting on pet cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. These claims resulted in school closures over bomb threats and shooting threats against Haitians in Springfield. Bear in mind that Trump routinely refers to migrants as blood-poisoning vermin. And yet, complaints and concerns from the handwringers about inciteful rhetoric aimed at Trump have not been forthcoming. Its worth recalling that conservatives used to denounce efforts to blame politicians for the actions of madmen. When then-Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in Arizona in 2011, many liberals ludicrously insisted that Sarah Palin was to blame, and conservatives rightly objected. Now, many conservatives sound like those liberals, only in defense of Donald Trump. If hypocrisy was helium, many people would have funny voices, and some would just float away. 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. Former President Trumps favorability rating has risen by 5 percentage points in the past month, according to a survey released Wednesday. The Gallup poll shows Trumps favorability has bounced back in September, returning to June levels before President Biden withdrew from the race. Roughly 46 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the GOP nominee in the latest survey, compared to 41 percent in August. Harris, who rose to the top of the ticket after Biden stepped aside, saw a dip in her favorability dropping from 47 percent to 44 percent in the recent poll. Despite the fluctuation in favorability, the pollster suggests both White House candidates are underwater Gallup found 53 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump, slightly lower than Harriss 54 percent. Both party nominees are seemingly unfavorable among the majority of independents, but the former president has a nearly 10-point lead. About 44 percent of independents said they had a favorable view of Trump, while 35 percent said the same for the Democratic nominee, the poll found. The pair have strong backing among their bases. Approximately 94 percent of Democrats had a favorable view of the vice president, while 91 percent of Republicans said the same about Trump, according to the survey. With Election Day just 48 days away, the vice presidential nominees Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) are still relatively unknown to a portion of Americans. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans did not have an opinion about Vance (17 percent) or Walz (19 percent). Among those who did know the Ohio senator, 47 percent viewed him as unfavorable while 36 gave him a more positive review. Walz had a narrower gap, with 41 percent viewing him in a favorable light compared to 40 percent who said the opposite, the survey found. Both vice presidential picks have strong support within their party, but independents preferred Walz. About 37 percent of independents said they had a favorable view of him, while 30 percent backed Vance, the first-term senator, the poll found. Harriss approval rating was the same as her favorability rating, sitting at 44 percent, marking a 3 point reduction from August. In The Hill/Decision Desk HQs polling index, Trump has garnered a 44.1 percent favorability rating compared to 53.3 percent unfavorability. The same aggregate shows Harris with 49 percent favorability and 47.3 percent unfavorability. The Gallup poll, conducted Sept. 3-15 among 1,007 Americans, has a margin of error of 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence 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 The Hill. I cant recall ever seeing presidential candidates condescend to the public on the subject of the economy to anything like the degree weve seen this year. There are two economies right now: the real one and the make-believe version that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris both pretend is realTrump, in order to trash the Biden-Harris record, and Harris to pacify voters who keep telling pollsters that inflation is out of control, which it isnt. Inflation is, in fact, so very not out of control that the Federal Reserve will almost certainly announce a cut in interest rates Wednesday for the first time in four years. Some Democrats have expressed hope that this action will persuade voters that the Covid-induced spike in the consumer price index that, to review, began with a 4.2 percent increase in April 2021, peaked at 9.1 percent in June 2022, started falling immediately thereafter, and stands now at a very civilized 2.5 percentthat this inflation surge has been over for some time. The Fed is worrying now not about inflation but about unemployment, which is still fairly low at 4.2 percent, but could become a problem as the economy cools. I have urged Harris to say: Wake up and smell the coffee, voters, this economy is thriving! The argument against this, which has thus far prevailed, is that many people are still hurting. Thats unquestionably true with respect to long-term unfavorable trends like the 45-year-long runup in income inequality (about which I published a book 12 years ago). But setting aside how unsatisfactory economic conditions have remained through the past half-century, most people are better off today than they were four years ago. Indeed, if discontent expressed to pollsters about the economy were limited to those who feel worse off today than four years ago, you wouldnt see, in a September 1112 Financial Times-University of Michigan Ross School of Business poll, fully 72 percent of registered voters saying economic conditions in the United States are negative even as the proportion who report personally experiencing difficulty in meeting expenses is a much lower 26 percent. What we have here is the familiar American habit of believing oneself better off than others, as documented in David Whitmans 1998 book, The Optimism Gap: The Im OKTheyre Not Syndrome and the Myth of American Decline and Gregg Easterbrooks 2018 book, Its Better Than It Looks: Reasons for Optimism in an Age of Fear. Paul Krugman of The New York Times has cited multiple instances lately of the Im OKyoure not mindset, noting, for instance, a Quinnipiac poll from May that showed a robust 65 percent rated their personal finances excellent or good even as only 35 percent would say the same about the economy, and an April Wall Street Journal swing-state poll showing 54 percent of voters in all seven states rated their own states economy excellent or good while only 36 percent would say the same about the national economy. When you judge local conditions to be favorable and distant ones to be unfavorable, youre likely to take a dim view of distant (i.e., federal) authority. The result is that both Trump and Harris are selling themselves as candidates of change. In Harriss case, shes selling herself mostly as a departure from the tiresome chaos of Trumps presidency, but shes also inviting voters to judge her a refreshing departure from the Biden administration (otherwise known as the Biden-Harris administration). In addition to lacking plausibility, this strategy obliges Harris to downplay the Biden-Harris administrations superb record on managing the economy, which ought to have particular appeal to the working-class voters she needs to attract. Is the strategy working? Possibly so. That same Financial Times poll showed for the second month in a row that more voters trusted Harris on the economy (44 percent) than Trump (42 percent), with Harriss advantage expanding from one percentage point to two. That trend coincided with a growing proportion of voters disapproving of how President Joe Biden handled the economy (59 percent in May, June, July, and August; 60 percent in September). Biden truly doesnt deserve this abuse. Most other polls continue to give Trump the edge over Harris on the economy, but a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Sunday showed Harris had a one-point advantage over Trump (43 to 42 percent) on which candidate would create an economic climate that is good for me and my family. The same poll had Harris leading Trump overall by five percentage points. What I dont see evidence for is that Harris is winning over working-class voters, without whom I believe Harris cant win. Biden, who was the first Democrat in a century to win the White House without a working-class majority (defined as non-college voters), had a deficit of four percentage points with this group. A Pew Research Center poll conducted August 26 to September 2 put Harriss working-class deficit at 13 percentage points. Last week Ruy Teixeira, co-author with John Judis of Where Have All the Democrats Gone?, cited a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted September 36 that put Harriss working-class deficit as 17 percentage points. Teixeira further noted that non-college voters were much more pessimistic about the economy than college voters, with 57 percent calling it poor (against 37 percent of college grads). What is Trump doing to seduce Americas working class? Is he promising to revive the labor movement? Proposing higher taxes on the rich? Endorsing a higher minimum wage? Fat chance. Hes promising to cut taxes, not only for corporations and rich individuals but also for Social Security retirees, tipped workers, and now people who work overtime. You say you dont like how the federal government manages the economy? Then Ill reduce how much it takes out of your wages. Ive written previously about the fiscal recklessness of Trumps Social Security and tipped-workers tax cuts. In the latter instance, Trump was presented with a regulatory problem: The government permits employers to pay tipped workers a scandalously low subminimum hourly wage of $2.13. The obvious solution, which Harris favors, is to pay tipped workers the same $7.25 hourly minimum as everybody else (and yes, $7.25 is too low). But Trump opposes regulations that impose additional costs on business. His solution: Redefine the regulatory problem as a taxation problem. Instead of mandating a higher minimum for tipped workers, eliminate taxes on their tips. This proposal was so popular with restaurant workers in Nevada that Harris endorsed it too. But scratch the glittering surface and you wont find much underneath. As Ernie Tedeschi of the Yale Budget Lab pointed out last June, tipped workers would derive little benefit from no longer paying income tax on their tips because they dont pay much income tax (on wages plus tips) to begin with. Fully 37 percent pay no income tax at all. Raising tipped workers pay from $2.13 to $7.25, on the other hand, would increase, quite tangibly, tipped workers income. Its sometimes suggested that when tipped workers get paid more, their tips go down. But a 2021 study by the Center for American Progress examined states that eliminated tipped wage minimums and found no evidence that tipping was lower there than in states where tipped minimums remained in force. Its employers, not tippers, who would likely pay less under Trumps plan, reasoning that the IRS had already given tipped workers a raise in the form of a tax holiday. Employers would also likely maneuver to expand opportunities for their workers to be paid in tips rather than in wages, letting Uncle Sam take up the slack. The same logic applies to Trumps proposed elimination of taxes on overtime. The regulatory solution to the problem set forth by the Obama administration and, later, the Biden administration, was to expand overtime eligibility to an estimated four million additional workers. As president, Trump rejected that approachexpanding overtime coverage, yes, but only to about one million additional workersagain, to pacify business, which is always his paramount concern. If Trump is reelected, hell likely scale back Bidens overtime regulation so that the expansion covers one million rather than four million additional workers. That would lower the very high cost to the taxpayer of Trumps tax holiday for overtime pay ($680 billion over 10 years, according to the Tax Foundation). But it would deprive three million workers of time-and-a-half pay when they work more than 40 hours in a given week. Once again, Trumps favored solution is to shift labor costs from employer to taxpayer. (And he calls Harris a Communist!) Exempting overtime from taxes would be more meaningful, financially, to workers than exempting tips. But both Trump proposals sidestep the real taxation problem for working-class voters, which isnt the progressive income tax at all. Rather, its the notoriously regressive payroll, or FICA, tax. The FICA tax is a flat 7.65 percent tax on employers and employees that funds Social Security and Medicare. Payroll taxes constitute one-third of all federal revenue, leaving most Americans paying morein many cases, a lot morein payroll tax than in income tax. Among people earning anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000, more than 70 percent pay more in payroll tax than in income tax. Up to $200,000, a clear majority pay more in payroll tax than in income tax, according to data assembled by the nonprofit Tax Foundation. That explains why Americans report feeling over-taxed when, historically, income taxes fall much less heavily on just about everybody. Theyre talking about the FICA tax. Above incomes of $200,000, the proportion of payroll tax to income tax falls precipitously. Partly thats because these taxpayers are now rising into higher marginal income tax brackets: 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent, and 37 percent. But its mainly because income above $168,600 escapes the Social Security portion of the FICA tax (i.e., most of it) entirely. The FICA tax is therefore regressive in two ways: Its a flat tax, and it exempts high incomes. (The Medicare portion, which accounts for only 1.45 percent of the 7.65 percent, has no income cap, and at very high incomes an additional tax on net investment kicks in, so its more progressive.) Because Social Security and Medicare are both projected to go bust a decade from now, sometime soon Congress will have to increase the FICA tax, and the only reasonable way to do that will be to make it more progressive. The fairest way to do that is to reduce it below 7.65 percent at the low end, eliminate the Social Security cap entirely, and raise the FICA tax well above 7.65 percent at the high end. That would make a much bigger difference for the working class than anything Trumps talking about. But Trump wont support it, and Harris wont likely talk about the payroll tax at all during this campaign because Social Security is the third rail of American politics. Still, as recently as 2019, Harris was one of four senators to co-sponsor, with Senator Bernie Sanders, the Social Security Expansion Act, which, among other things, would eliminate the cap on Social Security taxes. Thats a start, anyway. Pass it on. Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, on stage with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, right, during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. | Paul Sancya FLINT, Michigan Hours after Vice President Kamala Harris sat for an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists, former president Donald Trump made a pitch of his own to Black voters Tuesday night. Appearing in a town hall in Flint, a majority-Black city sixty miles north of Detroit, Trump focused his remarks on the economy, promising the audience they would be better off financially with him as president. Polls show that the economy is the key issue for African American voters. One national poll conducted by the NAACP, Hart research and HIT Strategies found that the economy is the top issue for Black voters, mirroring the result from an August Deseret News/HarrisX national poll. Now, race has become a central part of the election. Trump, during an interview with the NABJ in July, suggested that Harris changed her racial identity to help herself politically. I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? Trump said. (Harris, the daughter of a Black father and a South Asian mother, identifies as both.) Trump frequently mispronounces Harris first name, a gesture Harris allies say is racist. And he insists that undocumented immigrants are taking Black jobs, which he defines as any job where migrants are taking employment away from Black people. Meanwhile, Trump is running on the promise of a return to pre-pandemic economic conditions, which he claims benefit Black Americans in particular. I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln, he told the NABJ. To his Black supporters, that promise not his racial comments are what drive their support. That other stuff doesnt even matter, said Kenneth Malone, a Flint resident who was at the rally. Trump didnt even care about her race until the Democratic Party the first Black, female, woman of color theyre the ones that started it. Identity politics, Malone added, isnt effective anymore. Barack (Obama) didnt put no money in my pocket. Malone, 55, said, that was the last straw with me. More and more people are interested in policy, not identity politics. But when given the opportunity to explain just what his policies would do for middle- and working-class voters, Trumps answers were convoluted. Willie, a Black man who introduced himself as a contractor and lifelong Flint resident, asked Trump during the town hall what he plans to do on taxes. Trump responded by referencing policies that would likely affect only wealthier Americans: he solicited cheers by promising to end the estate tax, and he blasted Harris proposal to tax unrealized capital gains. I dont know how any rich person, or any person thats in business, can even think of supporting her, Trump said of Harris. The town halls major theme, plastered on screens and signs around the arena, was that America was better off with Trump. For Trumps Black supporters in Flint, the Trump era is remembered fondly. When Trump was in office, African Americans had the lowest unemployment rate, I believe, ever, Kian Johnson, a Flint resident, said. We all have our flaws, but as far as what I can see, what president I would rather have, Id rather have him. (Black unemployment reached a record low under Trump, but dipped even lower in 2023, under Biden.) Does Johnson, a Black man, think Trump is racist? Absolutely not, he said. Do I believe Trump is judgmental? I think we all are. Johnson added that Trumps comments about Harris race may turn off some Black voters, but only those that are not enlightened on whats going on, he said. Thats why Im here. Youve got to be active. You cant just listen to other people and what they say. To some, what Trump isnt saying is even more important. A small group of protesters gathered outside the event with signs reading RACISM HURTS EVERYONE and WATER IS A HUMAN RIGHT. The Rev. Matthew Hogue-Smith, who organized the demonstration, said he wanted Trump to stop listening to your pockets and start listening to the people that his policies are harming. Claire McClinton, a Black woman who joined the demonstration, added that a decade after the Flint water crisis, many Flint residents still do not have clean water. Lets start out by even acknowledging it, McClinton said. We havent heard a word about it (from Trump). Harris, meanwhile, seems to see small warning signs in her support among Black voters. Though the August NAACP survey found Harris leading Trump by a wide margin, 66% to 13%, the gap is much smaller among Black men under the age of 50: only 49% say they will vote for Harris, while 26% back Trump. In her appearance with the NABJ Tuesday, Harris acknowledged she has to earn support from that demographic. I think its very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybodys pocket, she said. To some undecided Black voters, the memory of the pre-COVID economy is tempting. I liked where America was going before, despite COVID and everything, said Chris Lafear, 55, who attended Tuesdays town hall as an undecided voter. Lately, I dont see anything that I like. FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump greets Polish President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in New York By Gram Slattery and Karol Badohal WASHINGTON/WARSAW (Reuters) -U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is planning to appear with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Sunday, according to two sources close to Trump and familiar with the plan. The joint appearance is not yet finalized, said one of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the plans. But if the appearance goes forward, it would mark a rare instance of a foreign leader appearing alongside a U.S. presidential candidate on the campaign trail. A who's who of world leaders is expected to arrive in the United States in the coming days for the 79th session of the UN General Assembly. Many foreign delegations have already reached out to allies of the former president in an attempt to connect with Trump or his foreign policy advisers, according to several people familiar with those conversations. A Polish official said Duda, a nationalist who forged close ties with Trump when he was U.S. president in 2017-21, will attend the unveiling of a monument at a Polish-American Roman Catholic shrine north of Philadelphia. That official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said if Trump did attend the unveiling, "there will definitely be an opportunity to exchange a few words and talk about the most important topics." These topics would include Poland's security and the war in Ukraine, the official said. An aide to Duda, Malgorzata Paprocka, said organizers had invited both Duda and Trump to the same event, though Trump's attendance was not yet certain. Neither the Trump campaign nor the event organizers responded to requests for comment. The potential joint appearance was first reported by LevittownNow.com, a local news site in Pennsylvania. Americans of Eastern European descent have become a sought-after voting bloc for both Trump, a Republican, and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. During a debate in Philadelphia earlier in September, Harris referred to Pennsylvania's significant Polish-American population, while implying that Trump would not be a strong defender of Poland if it were attacked by Russia. The Trump campaign has rejected that characterization and said only Trump can effectively negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Duda is a Ukraine ally and has long urged Washington to take a tough stance toward Russia, unlike Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, another right-wing European leader who has fostered good relations with Trump. Duda's stance contrasts with that of Trump, who has at various points characterized U.S. aid to Ukraine as a waste of money and has declined to say he wants Ukraine to win. Trump has met with various foreign leaders over the last few months, though mainly at his residences in New York and Florida. Trump and Duda, whose term in office expires next year, have described themselves as friends. The two men last met in New York in April. (Additional reporting by Barbara Erling in Warsaw editing by Ross Colvin, Edwina Gibbs, Gareth Jones and Jonathan Oatis) J.D. Vance attempted to fill in the gaps of Donald Trumps health care concepts of a plan over the weekend, but buried behind his pledge to protect those with preexisting conditions came the promise of policies that would actually jeopardize their access to care. And Trump is doing nothing to deny that this would be the case. During an appearance Sunday on Meet the Press, NBCs Kristen Welker asked Vance if he could assemble the breadcrumbs Trump has offered into an actual policy plan. Vance responded by pointing out that during Trumps first term, he chose to build on the Affordable Care Act rather than destroy it. The Ohio senator explained that this time around, Trumps elusive health care plan was actually quite straightforward and said that the former president would want to make sure that preexisting coverage conditions are covered. Vance also said Trump would want to implement some deregulatory agenda so that people can choose a health care plan that fits them. He criticized a one-size-fits-all approach that sorted people into the same risk pools. However, the kind of deregulation Vance refers to is exactly the kind that would make it practically impossible for those with preexisting conditions to get affordable health care, according to Semafor. When asked for clarification on this position, Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes declined to say whether Trump agreed with moving people with preexisting conditions into different risk pools. Senator Vance and President Trump share the underlying principles of using more choice in the marketplace and efficiency as tools for better, more affordable health care, Hughes told Semafor. In 2017, the GOP-led House passed the American Health Care Act, which included the proposal for a waiver that would do just what Vance had described: allow insurers to set premiums on the basis of an individuals health status, including preexisting conditions. The opposite of a one-size-fits-all solution, right? Theres only one problem: The Congressional House Budget Office issued a report analyzing the bill and predicting that the waiver would result in those with preexisting conditions inevitably being priced out of their insurance. The report estimated that as a result of those waivers, community-rated premiums would rise over time, and people who are less healthy (including those with preexisting or newly acquired medical conditions) would ultimately be unable to purchase comprehensive nongroup health insurance at premiums comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at all. As a result, the nongroup markets in those states would become unstable for people with higher-than-average expected health care costs, the report said. That instability would cause some people who would have been insured in the nongroup market under current law to be uninsured. With the waiver, healthier people could opt for non-group insurance plans, which would remain inexpensive, while less healthy people were pushed toward pricey community-rated options. The report estimated that the price of community-rated options would rise until those premiums would be so high in some areas that the plans would have no enrollment. The Senate rejected that waiver, and Trump was ultimately unable to make any substantial changes to the ACA. However, Vance has made clear that Trump would be willing to make the same mistakes all over again should he make it to the White House a second time. Its not yet clear what exactly the former presidents plan is. When asked, Trump said he didnt know because hes not president right now. But his refusal to flat-out reject the concept of separate risk pools should be a huge red flag. Donald Trump has been roasted after he bizarrely mixed up an Alaskan wildlife refuge and an Afghanistan airbase during a town hall in Michigan. The former president appeared on stage in Flint on Tuesday for the event which was moderated by his former White House press secretary and current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Along with declaring that only consequential presidents get shot at, and pledging to revive Michigans waning automotive industry, the former president boasted about his administration getting drilling approval in Alaskas oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). But the name of the vast swathe of mountains and forest in the Last Frontier escaped him and, instead, he mixed up the ANWR with the former largest US air base in Afghanistan located 5,000 miles east: Bagram Airfield which is now in the hands of the Taliban. Check that one out. Bagram. Check that one that. ANW its, its no, think about this, Trump said, tripping over his words. Between Bagram, between you go to ANWR Donald Trump has been ridiculed for his geographical blunder on stage in Michigan on Tuesday (Getty Images) Its not clear how Trump mixed up the two locations which are phonetically different and are in separate continents. Trump also over-inflated the size of the Alaskan wildlife refuge before touting his controversial oil-drilling deal secured just days before the end of his presidency in 2021 a deal that was swiftly culled by the Biden administration. We were energy independent, we were soon going to be energy dominant, and we wouldve been now having so much money coming out of the energy, Trump began. We just have the best. We have Bagram in Alaska, a confused Trump said. Trump still confusing Bagram airbase and ANWR.. Tries to clean it up: Check that one out. Bagram. Check that one out. ANW its its no no think of this. Between Bagram. Between you go to uhh ANWR pic.twitter.com/L1V4UFGF6o Acyn (@Acyn) September 17, 2024 ANWR, not Bagram, is described as Americas last great wilderness. Its 6,000 sq km stretch of coast holds the largest onshore reserves of oil in North America. They say it might be as big it might be bigger than all of Saudi Arabia. I got it approved. Ronald Reagan couldnt do it, nobody could do it. I got it done, he bragged. While Trump claims ANWR is bigger than Saudi Arabia, it spans across approximately 78,000 sq km, while the Middle Eastern country covers about 2,150,000 sq km. After the geographical blunder and butchering of stats, Trump faced a slew of criticism from social media users and political pundits. Stony-faced Trump photographed at his Flint, Michigan, town hall on Tuesday (AFP via Getty Images) They say it might be bigger than Saudi Arabia, they also say its in Afghanistan, not Alaska, former professor at the US Naval War College-turned staff writer at The Atlantic Tom Nichols quipped, as he shared a clip of Trump speaking at the town hall on X. Bagram was the airbase he [Trump] had in Afghanistan the same base where we kept hundreds of Taliban and ISIS prisoners that Trump released back out into Afghanistan in his final year in office, Amy McGrath, the former Marine fighter pilot and founder of the Democratic Majority Action PAC, wrote on X. He is CLUELESS folks. The hosts of MSNBCs Morning Joe also trolled the former president for the gaffe on Wednesday morning. Check it out, Willie. You got your Google machine? anchor Joe Scarborough teased. Bagram, Alaska. I hear there is some of the best moose hunting in all of the world in Bagram. Not a slip of the tongue either, co-host Willie Geist chimed in. He said it five or six times and then closed it with check it, Google it, find it, look it up, take it to the bank. Trump says he will meet with Indian PM Modi next week By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump said at a campaign event on Tuesday that India was a "very big abuser" of the U.S.-India trade relationship and that he will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week. The Republican candidate for the November presidential election, speaking in Flint, Michigan, gave no details on where they would meet. U.S. President Joe Biden will host a summit with leaders from Australia, India and Japan on Sept. 21 in Delaware. Analysts say Washington has increasingly seen New Delhi as a counter to China's rising influence in Asia. Some other world leaders who have visited the U.S. in recent months for meetings with Biden and other summits have ended up meeting Trump as well. The Republican faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election. Polls show a tight race between Trump and Harris, who is of Indian descent. Despite criticising India over trade without being specific, Trump called Modi "fantastic." Trump and Modi enjoyed warm relations while the former president was in office. When Trump visited India in 2020, Modi held a huge rally for him that also marked the opening of the world's largest cricket stadium. Rally attendees wore "Namaste Trump" hats to welcome the Republican. When Modi visited the U.S. in 2019, he and Trump showered each other with praise at a "Howdy, Modi!" rally in Texas attended by more than 50,000. Modi has also enjoyed good relations with Democratic presidents like Barack Obama and Biden. The White House rolled out the red carpet for him last year, touting deals on defense and commerce. (Reporting by Gram Slattery and Eric Beech, editing by Ross Colvin and Michael Perry) Donald Trump says he will 'probably' meet Zelenskiy next week Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Trump holds a campaign rally, in Tucson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would "probably" meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who will be in the U.S. next week to address a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Russia's war in his country. "Probably, yes," Trump said in response to a question from a reporter about whether he will meet the Ukrainian leader. Trump did not provide further details. In recent months, some other world leaders who have visited the U.S. for summits and meetings with President Joe Biden have ended up meeting with Trump as well. Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 U.S. election. Zelenskiy said in August he wanted to present a peace plan to Biden, Harris and Trump. While Trump and Zelenskiy talked over the phone in July, they have not talked in person since Trump's 2017-2021 term. Trump has consistently described U.S. aid to its eastern European ally as a waste of money and has declined to say he wants Ukraine to win. Trump is due to appear at an event alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda in the battleground state of Pennsylvania over the weekend. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Costas Pitas and Ross Colvin) Trump says he will tax Mexican auto imports by 200% and make them 'unsellable' in the US Former President Trump Tuesday said he would implement a 200% tariff on all Chinese auto imports from Mexico, which he said would make them "unsellable" in the U.S. "Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented," Trump said at a town hall event in Flint, Mich., hosted by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. "I took in $467 billion from China. Nobody else took in anything." Trump predicated his comments about implementing a 200% tax on Mexican auto imports with a story about one of his friends in the auto manufacturing industry. Trump said he asked that friend to show him a contemporary, top-of-the-line automaking plant located in the U.S. But, according to Trump, his friend told him that was not possible, because the U.S. only has smaller auto manufacturing plants, while the major ones are located in Mexico and are mostly run by China. AUTO WORKERS FOR TRUMP LEADER SAYS THOUSANDS POISED TO BREAK FROM DEMS OVER GREEN POLICIES, JOB KILLING REGS "They think they're going to make their cars [in Mexico] and they're going to sell them across our line and we're going to take them and we're not going to charge them tax," Trump said Tuesday evening. "We're going to charge them I'm telling you right now I'm putting a 200% tariff on, which means they are unsellable in the United States." A Toyota Hilux hydrogen fuel cell prototype vehicle at the IAA Transportation fair in Hanover, Germany, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Trump quipped after the declaration: "You wonder why I get shot." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP He noted that "when I say something like [taxing Chinese auto imports]" it puts a target on his back, adding "only consequential presidents get shot at." But, Trump conceded, "You have to do what you have to do." "We have to be brave otherwise we're not going to have a country left," the former president added. TRUMP: IF KAMALA BECOMES PRESIDENT, THERE WILL BE NO AUTO INDUSTRY Mexico is the largest export market for U.S. automotive parts, and the fourth-largest producer of automotive parts worldwide, according to the International Trade Administration. Meanwhile, multiple Latin American business news outlets reported this year that Mexico's share of the U.S. auto parts imports market increased from 38% in 2017 to 42.5% in 2023. Kenneth Rapoza works for the Coalition For A Prosperous America, a nonprofit representing exclusively domestic producers across many sectors in the U.S. He pointed out in July that since June 2022, a combined 29 Chinese auto parts manufacturers and carmakers, such as Chery and MG Motors, announced a total of $7.06 billion in investments in Mexico. Rapoza said that of the $14.2 billion in total Chinese corporate investment in Mexico, between 2022 and 2023, nearly half came from companies that make cars and car parts. Earlier this week, Brian Pannebecker, a retired autoworker who has spent a combined 36 years on the manufacturing floors at Ford, Chrysler and Stellantis, spoke to Fox News Digital about why he and other pro-Trump autoworkers are backing the former president over Kamala Harris. He said that besides the former president's pushback on Democratic efforts to implement electric vehicle mandates and other green regulations in the auto industry, Trump's replacement of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the stricter trade rules under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was also a factor. Brian Pannebecker, founder of Auto Workers for Trump 2024, speaks beside former President Trump during a "Get Out The Vote" rally in Waterford Township, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. " Kamala Harris is on record saying she would like to see all vehicles built in the United States reaching zero-emissions by 2035. She supported legislation to that effect when she was a U.S. senator," Pannebecker said. "She knows nothing about manufacturing. She knows nothing about the economy. She's a San Francisco liberal district attorney. And then she was California's attorney general. And we all know what's happened in California. They've ruined that state." Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, told Fox News Digital that "under dealmaker President Trump" it wasn't just autoworkers, but also farmers and other manufacturers, who "got the best trade deals in history." "President Trump successfully imposed tariffs and negotiated new trade deals that leveled the playing field for American agriculture and manufacturing allowing U.S. industries to send more made-in-America goods across the world," she said. Meanwhile, Kelly slammed Harris for opposing Trump's USMCA deal and for failing to open foreign markets for American manufacturers and farmers which she argued allowed America's trade deficit in goods to reach over $1 trillion annually. Original article source: Trump says he will tax Mexican auto imports by 200% and make them 'unsellable' in the US Trump says he would uncap the state and local tax deduction, a California favorite Days after mingling with wealthy donors in Beverly Hills and the Bay Area, former President Trump said that if he is reelected, he would reinstate a tax break that benefits residents of high-tax states such as California. A cap on the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT, was a controversial part of Trumps 2017 tax overhaul in states with high taxes and property values, such as California, New Jersey and New York, where the former president is scheduled to rally supporters on Wednesday. I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your Taxes, and so much more, Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social, his social media platform. Ill work with the Democrat Governor and Mayor, and make sure the funding is there to bring New York back to levels [it] hasnt seen for 50 years. Eliminating the cap is one of several tax proposals the former president had made recently, including not taxing Social Security, tips and overtime income for certain workers. The SALT proposal is unlikely to dramatically change presidential votes in the largely Democratic states most affected by the $10,000 deduction cap, but it could be a factor in critical congressional races in places such as Orange County and Long Island that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives. Read more: Trump says he won't tax your tips, OT or Social Security. Why critics see 'gimmicks' and a 'sham' Donald Trump took away your SALT [deductions] and hurt so many Long Island families, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote in response to Trumps post on X. Now, hes coming to Long Island to pretend he supports SALT. It wont work. Eliminating the cap also would likely please the former presidents donors. On Sept. 12, Trump headlined an evening fundraiser in Beverly Hills where the top tickets cost $250,000 per person. Trumps 2017 tax law slashed corporate taxes and reduced personal rates, while capping the deductions for state and local tax deductions, which were previously unlimited. It immediately prompted controversy in swaths of the country with high property values, and created strange bedfellows among Republican and Democratic lawmakers from these states. Nearly two-thirds of the benefit from repealing the cap would go to the top 1% of taxpayers, according to an analysis by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Still, many people affected by the cap, including in California, are middle-class workers. In 2015, more than 6 million Californians filed for the deduction, reducing their federal taxable income by an average of $18,438, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. The SALT cap is a legislative middle finger to the middle-class families in our community, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) said at an August town hall in his district. Its penalizing blue states, which I live in. Garcia's race against Democrat George Whitesides to represent northern Los Angeles County will be crucial in determining whether Republicans maintain their narrow majority in the House. Read more: President Trump signs a sweeping tax cut bill, his first major legislative achievement Whitesides said on his campaign website that he supports expanding the SALT deduction. For years, Garcia has said that repealing the deduction cap is one of his top priorities. He is vice chair of the House's SALT Caucus, a bipartisan group opposed to the cap. Other California members include Reps. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills), Anna Eshoo (D-Menlo Park), Katie Porter (D-Irvine), Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley Village), Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village), Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) and Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach). Garcia praised Trumps 2017 tax overhaul, saying it was a pro-growth bill that benefited families. But he said the cap on state and local tax deductions sucked for us as Californians and New Yorkers, even though it was put in place to pay for some of those things. In 2021 and 2023, Garcia introduced the SALT Fairness Act, which sought to eliminate the cap entirely. Neither version made it out of the House Ways and Means Committee. Panetta and Steel co-sponsored the legislation in 2021. Trump has flirted with doing away with the cap before, noted Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey). President Trump gutted SALT and raised taxes on hardworking middle class Jersey families, Gottheimer posted Tuesday on X. Now he wants to fix the problem he caused? And without any specifics? Sounds like the arsonist volunteering at the fire department." 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. An Ohio woman whose police report was used to power racist rumors about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating neighborhood cats has admitted her pet was found in her home, just days after she reported her Haitian neighbors to local police. Baseless reports about missing pets in Springfield, Ohio gained national attention after Donald Trump parroted the rumor during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris last Tuesday. In Springfield, theyre eating the dogs, he said. The people that came in, theyre eating the cats. Theyre eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is whats happening in this country. Despite the former president receiving an instant fact-check from moderator David Muir, his unfounded anti-immigrant rhetoric continued to circulate online and in the media, backed by several of his campaign surrogates. Trumps running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), doubled down on the misinformation during multiple media appearances this past weekend. But the day before the Trump-Harris debate, Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck had explicitly debunked the rumor to a Vance aide, according to a Thursday report from the Wall Street Journal. When the Journal approached Vances team about the cat-eating claim, a spokesperson provided a police report from a Springfield resident who accused her Haitian neighbors of being responsible for her cat going missing in late August. But when the outlet contacted the person who filed the report, Anna Kilgore, she told the paper that her pet, Miss Sassy, was found in her basement days after she contacted the police. Kilgore, who was wearing a Trump shirt and hat when the Journal spoke with her, told reporters that she had since apologized to her Haitian neighbors. While Miss Sassy was not in any harm, the same now cant be said about Springfield and the citys Haitian community. The morning after the debate, bomb threats forced multiple schools, City Hall and the local Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles office to be evacuated. In the past week, the city has logged an astounding 36 bomb threats total and state police were brought in to protect local schools, according to the Journal. Another Springfield resident, whose Facebook post began the pet-eating rumor that Kilgores police report ostensibly proved, has apologized for inciting a backlash against her city. Speaking to NBC News on Friday, Erika Lee admitted she had no firsthand knowledge of any pets being kidnapped by people from Springfields Haitian immigrant community, let alone being eaten. It just exploded into something I didnt mean to happen, she told the outlet. Related... If politicians loudly and publicly insist their opponents are existential threats to democracy who seek to impose a dictatorship, they run the risk that people will take them seriously. Particularly unhinged or hate-filled followers may choose to lash out at what they've been warned are dangerous political enemieseven to the point of attempting to assassinate opposition leaders like Donald Trump. Twice. Trump is guilty of his own overheated rhetoric, of course. But so far, he's been the one on the receiving end of those who take such language seriously. Well, Trump and regular people caught up in political tensions and a rising tide of violence have been on the receiving end. The very real risk is that people who perceive a need for bloody action against candidates and movements who might win the upcoming election will feel more desperately motivated to action once the ballots have been counted. Familiar Apocalyptic Rhetoric "@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose," Ryan Routh, the more recent of the two would-be assassins who targeted Trump, posted on X earlier this year. Democracy is on the ballot? That sounds familiar. "We must be stronger, more determined, and more committed to saving American democracy than MAGA Republicans are to to destroying American democracy," President Joe Biden insisted in a September 2022 speech ostensibly intended to challenge Trump's demagoguery, but which ended up just offering a different brand of authoritarianism. That came after he accused Trump supporters of "semi-fascism." "Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms," Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic presidential candidate, charged in March. She's since repeated such language. Democrats will respond that Trump started it, and they have a point. Trump is famously nasty. Among his statements are a claim in March that if he doesn't win the election, "we're not going to have a country anymore." When Harris took over from Biden as their party's standard-bearer, Trump warned that "she will destroy our country in a year," which he followed during his debate with his opponent by warning, "they're the threat to democracy." But it was Trump who was wounded by one assassin's bullet and targeted by another. Politics as a Struggle of Good vs. Evil None of this vicious verbiage is an overt call to violence. But talk of saving democracy or preserving our country presents the normal business of electoral politics as struggles between good and evil. If we take this language seriously, we're not debating taxes and healthcare, we're engaged in Manichean struggle. "Seekers have mistaken Leviathan for God, the will to power for the state of graceand, by exalting political action almost literally to heaven, they have succumbed to what might be called the transcendental temptation," former CIA analyst Martin Gurri, author of The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium, recently wrote. "Only politics, they believe, can save the earth." While everybody is susceptible to the unhealthy desire to search for deeper meaning in political activism, Gurri thinks the "progressive political class" has been especially effective at turning it into "a potent weapon of control." That means particular success in wielding apocalyptic language as a spur to fanatics who imagine themselves as holy warriors against evil. Ryan Routh, who appears to have been unbalanced from the beginning, would have been a likely convert to such a mission. Political Violence Hurts Regular People But prominent politicians aren't the only victims. Schools in Springfield, Ohio have been inundated with bomb threats amidst the controversy over the city's sizeable population of Haitian immigrants. In July, an 80-year old man putting up a Trump campaign sign was run over by a politically motivated attacker who later killed himself. Arsonists have targeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (IVt.), the offices of conservative organizations in Minnesota, and an Ohio church that hosted a drag event, among others. "Threats against public officials have steadily risen during the last decade," according to a May data review from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. "Indeed, in the last six years, the number of individuals who have been arrested at the federal level for making threats has nearly doubled from the previous four years." We have until November before ballots are finally counted in this election. But that's unlikely to settle matters. Americans live in a state of permanent political campaigning now, forever staring-down the "immoral" and "dishonest" people (as they describe them) across the political divide whom they increasingly despise and would, in many cases, resort to extreme measures to keep out of power. "One in 5 U.S. adults believe Americans may have to resort to violence to get their own country back on track," PBS reported in April of the results of a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. More Violence To Come That's not nearly a majority. But it only takes a few nuts with grudges to set things on fire. And that's exactly what a lot of Americans expect to happen. A January CBS News poll found that "half the country expects there to be violence from the side that loses in future elections." That share rose to three-quarters regarding this year's vote in an August Deseret News/Harris X poll. Elections should never be so important that people anticipate literally warring with their neighbors over the outcomes. If those who are drawn to political power are so dangerous that they threaten "our democracy and fundamental freedoms" or "will destroy our country in a year" and are poised to win on waves of popular support, then far too much power has been concentrated in government. In a free society, you can't guarantee that only angels will run for election. So, government and all of its offices should be stripped of the ability to do so much damage in the hands of the unfit. Until that happens, mutually loathing factions, prompted by their leaders, will fear and plot against each other's rise to power. That threatens more political violence in the weeks, months, and years to come. The post Trump Targeted Again Amid Rising Tide of Political Violence appeared first on Reason.com. A woman who is accused of political intimidation for being part of a convoy of former President Donald Trump supporters who surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a busy Texas interstate in 2020 says the incident was an exercise in free speech and was not intended to impede the progress of the bus. Randi Ceh and her husband, Steve Ceh, are among six people being sued for swarming the bus along Interstate 35 as it made its way to a campaign event on Oct. 30, 2020. "We used our first amendment right to drive down the highway," Randi Ceh said Monday, per the San Antonio Express-News, as the second week of the trial got underway. "We did a 'Trump Train' and it was cool." 'TRUMP TRAIN' TRIAL KICKS OFF WITH FORMER DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER TESTIFYING SHE FELT LIKE A 'HOSTAGE' She described the event as an "our team versus your team" political exercise and argued they were not trying to intimidate anyone. The trial kicked off last week, and the seven-person jury heard from plaintiffs, including former Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, who testified that she felt like she was being "taken hostage in a way," and the driver of the bus said he felt "under attack" and feared for his life. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Davis and the driver, along with a campaign volunteer and a staffer, are suing six Trump supporters who were part of a convoy made up of dozens of pickup trucks and cars adorned with large Trump flags that converged on the bus days before the 2020 presidential election. The plaintiffs say those Trump supporters are responsible for assault and political intimidation tactics, violating state law and the federal Enforcement Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. The law aims to stop political violence and intimidation tactics and was enacted by Congress during the Reconstruction Era to protect the rights of Black men to vote by prohibiting political violence. The plaintiffs say the group drove recklessly and attempted to run the bus off the road. In one incident captured on video, a "Trump Train" pickup truck and a Biden campaign SUV collided while trailing the bus, although nobody was hurt. The defendants have denied driving recklessly and argue that a campaign staff member in the white SUV initiated the collision along the highway. Video leading up to the collision shows the SUV repeatedly driving in between lanes. The lawsuit, filed in 2021, seeks punitive and compensatory damages. TRUMP-BIDEN HIGHWAY INCIDENT IN TEXAS MAY HAVE BEEN WHITE SUV'S FAULT, POLICE SAY; MORE INVESTIGATION PLANNED A pickup truck with former President Donald Trump flags flanks a Biden-Harris campaign bus. The defendants including the Cehs, as well as Robert Mesaros, Joeylynn Mesaros, Eliazar Cisneros and Dolores Park say they were merely supporting Trump "in a very loud way," an attorney said. The defense also argued that their clients actions were protected speech and that the trial is a concerted effort to "drain conservatives of their money." On Monday, Sam Hall, an attorney for the plaintiffs, attempted to show that Ceh was aware that the convoy was impeding the progress of the bus, pointing to posts on a Facebook group by others writing "SURROUNDED" and "They did not stop! Too much Trump support so they are going straight through to Austin." Hall asked Randi Ceh why she did not use her ability as the Facebook groups administrator to take down such posts, to which she cited users' First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. Hall also pointed to her using the hashtag "#BlocktheBus" in her posts, per the San Antonio Express-News. Randi Ceh, of New Braunfels, and her husband created the Facebook page in 2020 after they moved from Las Vegas, where they had previously taken part in "flag runs" in which they organized convoys of vehicles to support then-President Trumps re-election campaign, according to the outlet. She said they continued the tradition in New Braunfels, where their "Trump Trains" grew to include hundreds of vehicles, she said. One "Trump Train" on the evening of Oct. 29 the night before the incident with the bus, including nearly 1,000 vehicles, she said. "Every week it got bigger and bigger and bigger," she said, per the outlet. Hall asked Randi Ceh if prior "Trump Trains" had a target or were "organized to intercept something," but Ceh shot back, saying, "It sounds like youre saying something happened, but I dont know what youre talking about." A former President Donald Trump supporter in a pickup truck tails a Biden-Harris campaign bus in 2020. Randi Ceh said she expected the Oct. 30 "Trump Train" to be like the prior ones the husband-and-wife duo had organized and that she wasnt even meant to be part of the convoy and only briefly joined the group because it unfolded on her way home from work, per the San Antonio Express-News Hall, via text screenshots, also described how Ceh had updated members of the Facebook group with information about the whereabouts of the bus which she had received through a text message chain with other "Trump Train" organizers. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS AP He also produced posts she had made in the group referring to Democrats as "Demoncrats" and being the "epitome of evil," per the outlet. Steve Ceh also took the stand on Monday, when Hall showed a video of the defendant at a gathering of Trump supporters in which he referred to Oct. 30 as a "good day" and called the people on the bus "socialists." He described Trump Trains consisting of "a lot of prayer, a lot of faith, a family atmosphere," per San Antonio Express-News. The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday. Original article source: 'Trump Train' trial: Defendant says convoy using 'first amendment right' during highway clash Trump's 'Animals' Remark Referred to Migrants Who Entered US Illegally and Were Charged with Murder A rumor circulating online in September 2024 claimed that a seven-second video clip showed former U.S. President Donald Trump saying of immigrants in a blanket manner, "They're not humans, they're animals." Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN) originally broadcast the video from a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 2, 2024. Our examination of the full-speech video showed the literal context that Trump's "animals" comment specifically referenced migrants entering the U.S. illegally and who also later faced murder charges. Trump's April 2024 remark followed other instances of the former president mentioning the same word. For example, in May 2018, after Trump mentioned "animals" in reference to MS-13 gang members, then-U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Il., who is Latino, responded to a reporter for The Associated Press, saying, "Let's remember. You might make that distinction between members of MS-13 and the rest of the Latino community and the rest of the immigrant community. I assure you that most of Americans don't make that distinction when he says we're 'animals.'" For years, Trump placed immigration (and a Southwest U.S. border wall) as a focus of his political campaigns and rally rhetoric, including for the 2024 presidential election a race in which Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, vowed that, if elected, they would deport millions of migrants. During the September 2024 presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump baselessly claimed "millions of criminals" crossed the border into the U.S. In one of the more prominent examples of Trump providing his thoughts on immigration from 2015 while launching his bid for the White House at his Trump Tower in New York he said of Mexico and migrants, "They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." In this story, we've broken down all of the facts regarding the April 2024 "animals" quote, including a transcript and video. We've also noted that U.S. President Joe Biden's campaign originally promoted this rumor, prior to Harris accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2024 presidential election. We contacted the Harris-Walz campaign to ask about the clip's brief length and omitted context, and will update this report if we receive a response. Trump: 'They're Not Humans, They're Animals' Our examination of the Trump remark, "They're not humans, they're animals," began with a look at a Sept. 16, 2024, X post (archived) featuring the seven-second video and showed Trump delivering remarks at a podium. Several men dressed in law enforcement uniforms or suits and ties formed a line and stood behind the former president. The post's caption read, "Trump: Democrats said please don't call immigrants animals. I said, no, they're not humans, they're animals." Trump: Democrats said please don't call immigrants animals. I said, no, they're not humans, they're animals. pic.twitter.com/LV6rUxcEab The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) September 16, 2024 Following that post, other users also shared the same clip, including on Reddit (archived) in the r/WhitePeopleTwitter subreddit displaying over 67,000 points a very high mark for a Reddit post. Michael Hayden, the former director of both the CIA and National Security Agency, reposted (archived) a post showing the same video on X and questioned the people standing directly behind Trump, writing, "Law enforcement officers. Why are you doing this?" Hayden's repost displayed a different user's post (archived) claiming Trump said the words, "Immigrants are not humans. They are animals." The captions shared by these posts did not reflect the exact words spoken by Trump. He did not use the word "immigrants" during these specific statements. The brief length of the video clip and the incorrect transcription of Trump's remarks revealed that the user who originally uploaded the clip omitted context. That user was @KamalaHQ (formerly @BidenHQ) the official rapid response account for U.S. President Joe Biden's former campaign and Vice President Kamala Harris' subsequent campaign. The @KamalaHQ account's managers originally shared (archived) the video on April 2 the same day Trump delivered the remarks. The post featured the same caption from The Intellectualist's post with the word "immigrants." Trump: Democrats said please don't call immigrants animals. I said, no, they're not humans, they're animals pic.twitter.com/yJ7fFHEUlh Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) April 2, 2024 The RSBN YouTube channel previously live-streamed Trump's remarks in full. The context surrounding the "animals" comment showed that, just before his "animals" remark, the former president listed off crimes allegedly committed by migrants who entered the U.S. illegally, including the murders of Michigan resident Ruby Garcia, a young Michigan mother named Leah Gomez and Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, among others. He also referenced the MS-13 transnational gang minutes earlier. At the time of Trump's comments in April, The Associated Press correctly reported his "animals" remark pertained to "people in the U.S. illegally who are suspected of committing crimes." At the same time, the article's author noted the comment constituted "dehumanizing language that those who study extremism have warned increases the risk of violence." Reuters also reported the larger context of the same comment, adding that the former president frequently claimed migrants crossing the border with Mexico illegally have escaped from prisons and asylums in their home countries and are fueling violent crime in the United States. The story continued, "While available data on criminals' immigration status is sparse, researchers say people living in the U.S. illegally do not commit violent crimes at a higher rate than native-born citizens." Trump's 'Animals' Remark Video and Transcript The moment in the RSBN YouTube video when Trump made the remark in question begins at the 1:35:11 mark. We transcribed the relevant portion of Trump's speech, bolding the part featured in the seven-second video clip: And just a few weeks ago, I met with the grieving family of Laken Riley. You know Laken. She's, uh, she was incredible, top of her class. Everything was the top. She was the top of everything. She was incredible. I met her parents. Incredible people. The 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was barbarically murdered by an illegal alien animal. Uh, the Democrats said, "Please don't call them animals. They're humans." I said no, they're not humans. They're not humans, they're animals. Nancy Pelosi told me that. She said, "Please don't use the word 'animal,' sir, when you're talking about these people." I said, "I'll use the word animal, cause that's what they are." I'll never forget my vow to her wonderful mother, father and sister. Two weeks ago, and, uh, I said, "I will deliver justice for Laken." I said that. And now, today, I'm adding something. It's going to be for Laken and it's also justice for Ruby. We're going to deliver justice for Ruby. Trump's History of the Term 'Animals' In our research, we noted other examples of Trump mentioning the word "animals" in relation to immigration. For example, on May 18, 2018, NPR updated its earlier reporting to clarify the truth about remarks Trump delivered on the previous day. Following a comment from another person about MS-13 during a roundtable discussion at the White House, Trump said, "We have people coming into the country or trying to come in, we're stopping a lot of them but we're taking people out of the country, you wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals." The White House and Trump later said the "animals" remark pertained to MS-13 gang members. CNN anchor Jake Tapper published (archived) a transcript containing further context: Here is the full context of President Trump's "animals" comment during the immigration/sanctuary city roundtable, which came as a Sheriff was complaining about restrictions placed on ICE databases, and MS-13 gang members. pic.twitter.com/sI9uWXr1Sc Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 17, 2018 Then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chided Trump for the May 2018 remark, saying, "Every day that you think you've seen it all, along comes another manifestation of why their policies are so inhumane and why we have to continue the debate, striving for bipartisanship, with openness about what is, what is at stake and what the choices are, and to be unifying in every way possible. Calling people 'animals' is not a good thing." Trump later also called Pelosi an "animal" during a November 2022 campaign rally, just days after a man named David DePape brutally attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer at their San Francisco home. The incident left Paul Pelosi with a fractured skull and injuries on his right arm and hand. In a different example of Trump mentioning "animals," on March 17, 2024, Rolling Stone reported that Trump said at a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, held on the previous day, "some immigrants are 'not people ... these are animals.'" Again, the context of Trump's remarks revealed in a RSBN-hosted YouTube video of his full speech (beginning at 20:31) showed he specifically referenced MS-13 gang members less than 30 seconds before saying "animals." The Rolling Stone story did not mention MS-13 or gang members. Sources: Blake, Andrew. "Michael Hayden, Former CIA Boss, Warns against Impeaching Donald Trump." The Associated Press via Washington Times, 24 Aug. 2018, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-trump-investigations-michael-hayden-c9eddc09e97c1b4098387d63d9a1002d. Cappelletti, Joey, et al. "Trump Accuses Biden of Causing a Border 'bloodbath' as He Escalates His Immigration Rhetoric." The Associated Press, 2 Apr. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-crime-battleground-election-aa4b0912322dee09cf475ffad7c8cec7. "Donald Trump Presidential Campaign Announcement Full Speech (C-SPAN)." YouTube, C-SPAN, 16 June 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apjNfkysjbM. "FULL SPEECH: Pres. Trump Speaks at 'Buckeye Values PAC Rally' in Dayton, Ohio - 3/16/24." YouTube, Right Side Broadcasting Network, 16 Mar. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw6neh7WQnc. Hansen, Claire. "How Much of Trump's Border Wall Was Built?" U.S. News & World Report, 7 Feb. 2022, https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-07/how-much-of-president-donald-trumps-border-wall-was-built. Harmon, Zac. "Murderer to Spend Life behind Bars for Killing Leah Gomez." FOX 17 West Michigan News (WXMI), 17 Apr. 2024, https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/grand-rapids/murderer-to-spend-life-behind-bars-for-killing-leah-gomez. Layne, Nathan, et al. "Trump Calls Migrants 'animals,' Intensifying Focus on Illegal Immigration." Reuters, 3 Apr. 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-expected-highlight-murder-michigan-woman-immigration-speech-2024-04-02/. "LIVE REPLAY: Pres. Trump to Give Remarks on Biden's Border Bloodbath in Grand Rapids, MI - 4/2/24." YouTube, Right Side Broadcasting Network, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/live/9koRFDOEpqc. Martin, Jeff. "Killing of Laken Riley Is Now Front and Center of US Immigration Debate and 2024 Presidential Race." The Associated Press, 8 Mar. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/laken-riley-university-georgia-death-nursing-student-a88e92600ab4dcce1a88e121b7b9c722. Massman, Bradley. "Ruby Garcia's Death Became a National Story. Here's What We Know about Her Accused Killer." MLive.com, 28 May 2024, https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2024/05/ruby-garcias-death-became-a-national-story-heres-what-we-know-about-her-accused-killer.html. Neuman, Scott. "During Roundtable, Trump Calls Some Unauthorized Immigrants 'Animals.'" NPR, 17 May 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/17/611877563/during-roundtable-trump-calls-some-unauthorized-immigrants-animals. Oppenheim, Maya. "Trump Condemned over 'slice and Dice Beautiful Girls' Remark during Immigration Rant." The Independent, 1 Aug. 2017, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-illegal-immigrants-animals-slice-dice-young-beautiful-girls-us-president-a7861596.html. Pereira, Ivan. "JD Vance Says Mass Deportations Should 'start with 1 Million,' Defends 'Thought Experiment' Giving Parents Extra Votes." ABC News, 11 Aug. 2024, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jd-vance-mass-deportations-start-1-million-defends/story?id=112739447. Rodriguez, Olga R. "Paul Pelosi Testifies about Being Attacked with a Hammer at His San Francisco Home." The Associated Press, 13 Nov. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/david-depape-paul-pelosi-attack-trial-fb32db568be375e4c4fc26f41d283d7a. "'She's An Animal Too!': Trump Lets Loose On Pelosi." YouTube, Forbes Breaking News, 8 Nov. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-AhnW362ns. Spagat, Elliot. "Donald Trump Is the Most Prominent Politician to Link Immigrants and Crime but Not the First." The Associated Press, 16 July 2024, https://apnews.com/article/immigration-violent-crime-trump-republican-convention-bd40d14546bc7eb9a1dbbadfcb190950. Tapper, Jake. "Here Is the Full Context of President Trump's 'Animals' Comment..." X, 17 May 2018, https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/997086604152987648."Trump's 'Animal' Rhetoric Ignites Debate." YouTube, The Associated Press, 17 May 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0xY3oEuAEg. Wade, Peter. "Trump Escalates His Dehumanization of Migrants: Some Are 'Not People These Are Animals.'" Rolling Stone, 17 Mar. 2024, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-migrants-not-people-animals-1234989117/. Wolf, Zachary B. "Analysis: Trump Explains His Militaristic Plan to Deport 15-20 Million People | CNN Politics." CNN, 1 May 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/01/politics/trump-immigration-what-matters/index.html. Updates: Sept. 18, 2024: We updated this report to add a Trump quote from the Sept. 10, 2024, U.S. presidential debate. After once deriding cryptocurrency as a "scam," former President Donald Trump on Monday formally threw his support behind World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture whose business model remains largely unclear but has already drawn scrutiny as a potential ethics headache for his administration if he returns to the White House in January. Joined Monday by his two adult sons and others involved in the fledgling business, including billionaire donor Steve Witkoff, Trump declared in a livestream on X that "crypto is one of those things we have to do," and suggested that he would work to limit regulation of the industry if elected. "Right now, you have a very hostile [Security and Exchange Commission] ... they've been very hostile toward crypto," Trump said. "My attitude is different." MORE: Inside the 'crypto con' costing victims billions in losses as scam compounds spread globally: ABC News Investigates Details about the venture, including Trump's role and potential compensation, remain unclear. The company's website, which bears an image of a backlit Trump speaking at a podium, suggests the platform will have its own crypto token, called $WL, and aspires to "empower our users to operate their finances ... with no direct oversight of any government agencies or officials." Industry experts said the website provides few details about the company -- including what it will offer, who will have access to its profits, and how the Trump family stands to make money from it. James Butterfill, the head of research at CoinShares, a digital asset management firm, told ABC News that the website contains little more than "buzzwords." Government ethics watchdogs consulted by ABC News were quick to point out potential conflicts of interest posed by a candidate for president launching or becoming otherwise involved with a new business within weeks of Election Day -- particularly in an industry as polarizing and unregulated as crypto, in which users directly exchange digital currencies without the oversight of banks or the government. Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, said a future Trump administration would have wide latitude to impact crypto policy -- and Trump's own personal stake in the industry could potentially rub up against the best interests of the country. PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to a campaign rally at the Liacouras Center on June 22, 2024 in Philadelphia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) "We're still in the Wild West with crypto. It's clear there is going to be some kind of regulation, but to what extent and how friendly they are to the industry, we don't yet know," Libowitz said. "The president obviously appoints the people in charge of that." Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, rejected any suggestion that Trump's role in World Liberty Financial could pose an ethical dilemma if he's reelected, calling Trump "the most ethical president in American history." "When President Trump first ran for office, he stepped away from his very successful and lucrative businesses because the job of saving America was the most important job he'd ever have," Cheung said in a statement to ABC News. "Before he entered the White House, he ensured everything was done within the ethics guidelines set forth." In addition to Trump's adult sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who have for months been promoting World Liberty Financial on social media, a so-called "white paper" first reported by CoinBase indicated that Trump's youngest son, Barron, 18, would also play a role in the firm. Witkoff, who appeared Monday on the X livestream, said he introduced the Trumps to two other partners in the venture, Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, both of whom have a colorful business history. Herro, who previously called himself a "dirtbag of the internet" at a crypto conference in 2018, has said he has made millions from an ecommerce business after spending three years in jail for selling drugs when he was in high school. Folkman, who first joined forces with Herro in the ecommerce business more than a decade ago, has reportedly previously taught classes on "how to date hotter girls." On ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, Witkoff -- a longtime friend to Trump and one of his campaign's biggest financial supporters -- downplayed any potential conflict posed by Trump's foray into crypto. "If the president is elected, which I expect him to be, then everything that he -- all of his of his ownership, his businesses, will be put in some sort of a trust." Witkoff said. "His children, I would assume, will be involved in running it. And I doubt that, therefore, that there is any conflict." MORE: Internal chaos plagues Bannon-fronted $FJB cryptocurrency, critics say But Danielle Brian, the executive director of the Project On Government Oversight, said that would be nothing more than "window dressing." "A trust managed by family members will not eliminate the conflict of interest created by a sitting president owning any business," Brian said. Trump's announcement on Monday marked his transition from a vocal skeptic of digital currencies to one of the industry's most enthusiastic proponents. As president, he complained on Twitter that crypto markets were "highly volatile and based on thin air." In 2021, shortly after leaving the White House, Trump called cryptocurrencies a "scam." But during his 2024 bid for the White House, Trump has cozied up to crypto interests. In May, his campaign said it would begin accepting contributions in cryptocurrency. Trump has regularly hosted industry enthusiasts at his properties and, in July, at the annual Bitcoin Conference, he pledged to make the U.S. the "crypto super-power" of the world. Trump's new crypto venture is light on details, heavy on potential ethics landmines originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Vociferous campaigns had been held against the plan to close St Peter's Hospital [Hayley Edwards] Controversial plans to close a 150-year-old community hospital have been paused over wide backlash from patients. Birthing and stroke rehabilitation services at St Peter's Hospital in Maldon, Essex, were to be relocated elsewhere in Essex under the scheme. However, the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust announced on Wednesday that a final decision would be delayed for six months. "It is clear to me that more time is needed to thoroughly explore and evaluate the suggestions provided by the public and stakeholders," said chief executive Tom Abell. The hospital trust said an independent group would consult on the plans until March, before presenting its recommendations. The trust says the hospital's first floor has experienced a leaking roof and broken lifts in recent years [Hayley Edwards] Campaigners had raised concerns about the proposal since it was first suggested in August 2023, including stripping naked for an online video. The delay meant there would be no immediate changes to the 16-bed stroke and rehabilitation unit, nor the midwifery-led birthing department, the trust said. Mr Abell added that "significant input" had been taken onboard from the community. "This additional time will enable us to work with partners and local communities to develop comprehensive solutions that best meets the needs of our communities and makes the best use of taxpayers money," he said. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. More on this story Related internet links Donald Trump may want to take one more geography lesson before he decides to shutter the Department of Education. During a Fox News town hall in Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday, the Republican presidential nominee routinely mixed up two places that could not be more different: Alaska and Afghanistan. While speaking about domestic oil reserves and the potential for U.S. energy independence, Trump incorrectly claimed that we have Bagram in Alaskawhich is, actually, a military base in Afghanistan. We were energy independent, we were soon going to be energy dominant, and we wouldve been now having so much money coming out of the energy. We just have the best, Trump said. We have Bagram in Alaska. They say it might be as big, might be bigger than, all of Saudi Arabia. I got it approved. Ronald Reagan couldnt do it. Nobody could do it. I got it done. But Trump appeared to realize that he had made a mistake, suddenly swapping Bagram for the name of an arctic national wildlife refuge in the Last Frontier known as ANWR. Check that one out, Bagram. Check that one out. Its, itsno, think about this: Between Bagram, betweenyou go to ANWR, you take a look at the kind of things that weve given up. We should bewe should have that air base. We should have that oil, Trump said. Trump still confusing Bagram airbase and ANWR.. Tries to clean it up: Check that one out. Bagram. Check that one out. ANW its its no no think of this. Between Bagram. Between you go to uhh ANWR pic.twitter.com/L1V4UFGF6o Acyn (@Acyn) September 17, 2024 Politicos caught the weighty mistake, deriding Trump as clueless for mixing up the name of a foreign site that he had considerable influence over. Bagram was the airbase he had in Afghanistanthe same base where we kept hundreds of Taliban and ISIS prisoners that Trump released back out into Afghanistan in his final year in office, wrote Marine veteran and former Kentucky Democratic political candidate Amy McGrath on X. He is CLUELESS folks. ST. LOUIS A man from a Turks and Caicos island just north of the Dominican Republic appeared in St. Louis court on Tuesday for sextorting a Missouri teen. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Eastern District, Alexander Gardiner, 23, from Providenciales, is accused of attempting to coerce a minor into engaging in sexually explicit conduct between Sept. 24, 2018 and June 30, 2023. The U.S. Attorneys Office said Gardiner allegedly made contact with the Missouri minor through social media and enticing the teen to send him sexually explicit images. Man arrested after destroying the Angel of Harmony statue at the Cathedral Basilica According to his detention order, Gardiner demanded money from the minor by threatening to send those images to others and later did post an explicit video on social media. The U.S. Attorney Office said images of other teenage victims were discovered on Gardiners iCloud account. Court records said Gardiner used the screen names noahmonn on Snapchat, algardiner33 and algardiner22 on Google and jewelsbaits on X. Gardiner was arrested at the Miami International Airport on August 8. He was later indicted by a grand jury on May 22 for one count of coercion and enticement of a minor. He pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday. Enticement charges are punishable by at least 10 years in prison with a maximum term of life. The U.S. Attorneys Office says those who believe they may have been targets of a sextortion attempt should contact local law enforcement or the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, contacting a local FBI office, or reporting it online at tips.fbi.gov or cybertipline.org. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has detailed information on resources for sextortion victims, including videos and discussion guides to help explain the problem to children and adults. NCMEC also has a step-by-step guide on how to report pictures or videos of children to social media companies and flag pictures so that the companies will seek out and remove the images. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The fall festival season in the Twin Cities is getting packed. Cine Latino, the Arab Film Festival, and Sound Unseen are all on the schedule, as is the 15th annual Twin Cities Film Fest (TCFF), which just unveiled details for its 2024 event. TCFF runs from Oct. 1726 and plans to showcase more than 140 films in area theaters, with more than 70 of the films streaming online through its TCFF STREAMS platform as well. In addition to hosting in-person events at The Shops at West End, the festival has entered a partnership with the Marcus West End Cinema, putting nearly 90 programs around its St. Louis Park headquarters. 'Conclave' Access Entertainment This year, the festival will have a record number of Minnesota films, with TCFF saying that around 40% of the films were either shot in Minnesota or feature in-state talent behind or in front of the camera. From the very first year of this festival, our focus has been on showcasing, celebrating, and elevating local talent, TCFF Executive Director Jatin Setia says. For the 15th anniversary, our programming team cast the widest net in our history, seeking out the Minnesota productions, stories, actors, and producers who are reshaping the movie industry. I couldnt be prouder of the program theyve come back with, and I cant wait to experience these films alongside local audiences. TCFF will also have appearances from actors and filmmakers when it opens on Oct. 17 with Focus Features' thriller Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow. The festival's "centerpiece" film will be Magpie, which screens on Oct. 21. Actress and producer Daisy Ridley, best known for her leading role in the most recent Star Wars trilogy, will appear at the fest with producer and write Tom Bateman to accept the TCFF Indie Vision Award. Gage Skidmore, Flickr Actor and NorthStar Award Honoree Josh Duhamel will appear at the festival for one of its "in conversation" talks on Oct. 24. The festival will also spotlight Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator Joel Hodgson during an event on Oct. 19 where he presents A Thousand Clowns. Hodgson, who was born in Wisconsin but lived in Minnesota, has called the movie "one of my favorites," adding, "I think I saw it when I was in fourth grade, and it was just so witty and brilliant, and I just love it and I still love it." Twin Cities Film Fest with Executive Director Jatin Setia (center) Photo by Dallas Smith The closing night celebration will center around the Minnesota-connected film Days When the Rain Came. It's a film about an actress whose career is at a standstill as she struggles with the monotony of daily life with her family. She returns to her hometown to help care for a family, getting drawn into a heap of family drama. Writer and actress, as well as Minnesota native, Marisa Coughlan will be part of a post-screening discussion with actors Beau Bridges and Eliza Coupe. Other films screening include Steve McQueen's Blitz (Oct. 26), Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain starring Kieran Culkin (Oct. 22), A24's On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Oct. 23), Nightbitch (Oct. 18), Unstoppable (Oct. 19), and Don't Move (Oct. 25). Tickets for TCFF screenings range from $10 online to $13 at the door. Special events are $25 and a handful of matinee and select non-matinee screenings will be free. A streaming pass to the festival costs $60, with a variety of tiers ranging from $55$125. Related: Movies in the Twin Cities this week: 'Psycho,' Trash Film, and lots of Batman At least three people were wounded during a botched raid on the Moscow office of Russian retailer Wildberries (Alexander NEMENOV) (Alexander NEMENOV/AFP/AFP) Two people were killed in a shooting at the Moscow office of Russian retailer Wildberries on Wednesday, an incident the CEO blamed on a botched takeover attempt by her estranged husband. Wildberries said armed men accompanying Vladislav Bakalchuk, the husband of CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk, illegally entered the company's office building in central Moscow and opened fire. Videos on social media showed a scuffle breaking out at the entrance to the office, while gunshots rang out in the background. A man could be seen wielding a handgun in one video. The incident came weeks after Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, finalised a merger deal that Vladislav criticised and that strongman Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov vowed to stop. "Today a group of people led by Vladislav Bakalchuk, Sergei Anufriev and Vladimir Bakin attempted to seize Wildberries' offices in Moscow," said CEO Tatiana Bakalchuk, who is also Russia's richest woman. "To my deep regret, as a result of the armed attack on Wildberries, a security guard at our office was killed," she said. A second guard later died of his wounds, Russian state media reported. Seven people were injured in total, including two law enforcement officers, Russia's Investigative Committee said. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had opened a criminal case. One eyewitness, Nadezhda, told AFP she heard screams and shooting inside the building, a business centre that hosts other offices for other firms. "The wounded were moved out of the building and taken away by ambulance. Some of them were being carried," she said. - 'Brazen' takeover - Vladislav denied that he and his men were armed, saying on social media he came to the office to take part in negotiations and that the shooting came from "inside the building". Wildberries disputed his account, saying his men were the "first to open fire" and that he had no right to enter the building as a former employee. It also said there had been illegal attempts to enter two of its addresses at once, without providing detail. Tatiana Bakalchuk called her husband's claims "absurd". "No one agreed to any negotiations," she said on Telegram. AFP saw several police vehicles near the office in central Moscow. Ten people have been detained in connection with the incident, Russia's state RIA news agency said. Bakalchuk founded Wildberries together with her then IT technician husband in 2004, but in July she announced the two had separated and were getting a divorce. Vladislav owns one percent of the company, while his wife Tatiana owns the other 99 percent. The company had last month finalised a merger with Russian outdoor advertising giant Russ, a deal that has the Kremlin's blessing but that her husband Vladislav called a "huge mistake". In July, the leader of Russia's Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, denounced the deal as a "blatant and brazen" corporate raid and vowed to put a stop to it, after meeting with Vladislav in person. bur/yad Two Tallahassee residents have been accused of catching a baby alligator in Lake Talquin and keeping it alive in a cooler to eat later at home, according to an investigative report released this week. The men were charged with a second degree misdemeanor for taking or possessing any alligator or alligator eggs without a license. (The USA TODAY NETWORK Florida does not name defendants in misdemeanor cases.) According to the report, a family member of one of the men complained to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on July 29, saying the relative "had caught a baby alligator the night before and has been keeping it in a cooler in the yard ever since." When interviewed by state law enforcement, the man said he and another man were fishing on Lake Talquin when they saw the alligator, the report says. One of them caught the alligator, he said, and the other "put the rope on the alligator and drag(ged) it to the house." They each accused the other of wanting "to eat the alligator," the report says. An undated view of Lake Talquin from Ben Stoutamire Landing Park. Because both were in possession of the alligator at one point, both are being charged, the report says. The alligator was seized by FWC officers and returned to Lake Talquin, according to a preliminary report. Ana Goni-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida men arrested for catching baby alligator to eat: report Two people in Wisconsin arrested following armed robbery of a grocery store Two people in Wisconsin arrested following armed robbery of a grocery store WAUWATOSA, Wis. (WFRV) Police in southern Wisconsin say two people were arrested following an armed robbery at a local grocery store. According to a release from the Wauwatosa Police Department, the incident at a local grocery store began as a theft but then quickly escalated into an armed robbery. Fond du Lac Police Department warning of Sergeant Johnson scam With limited leads, Officials say the Wauwatosa Police Departments Investigative Division used technology and their expertise to identify a 57-year-old and a 48-year-old as the suspects in this incident. Police were able to track down the suspects, who are both from Milwaukee, and arrest them during a second theft attempt. The 57-year-old and the 48-year-old have both reportedly been charged by the Milwaukee County District Attorneys Office for their roles in the incident. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. Two UC Irvine professors and four students among those charged in spring protest on campus Scores of law enforcement personnel from various agencies gather at UC Irvine in May to displace hundreds of demonstrating students, faculty and supporters protesting the treatment of Palestinians and the UC system's investments in Israeli interests. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Orange County prosecutors on Wednesday filed misdemeanor charges against 10 demonstrators who were among dozens arrested in May during a pro-Palestinian protest on the UC Irvine campus. The charges are the first to stem from arrests at UCI in the spring. Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in a statement that the special prosecutions unit has spent months reviewing evidence related to the campus protest; up to 40 more people may still face charges, according to the district attorney's office. "The right to peaceful assembly is a constitutional right and we encourage protestors to exercise their right to peaceful assembly on any issue," Spitzer said in a statement. "However, criminal activity which transcends peaceful assembly will not be tolerated." Roughly 3,200 people were arrested at colleges and universities nationwide this spring, mainly during a wave of pro-Palestinian encampments erected by students and activists protesting the war in Gaza, according to an Associated Press survey of students, universities and district attorneys. At USC and UCLA, hundreds of people were arrested as students demanded the universities divest financially from Israel. Read more: Police arrested hundreds of pro-Palestinian students in L.A. The fallout continues At UC Irvine on the afternoon of May 15, police officers in riot gear descended on a pro-Palestinian encampment that had been erected on the campus weeks earlier. The police responded to the campus after university officials reported that some protesters had entered a university building. Police ordered the demonstrators to disperse, and at least 47 people were arrested in the hours-long showdown. The Council on American-Islamic Relations was among several groups that sent a letter to the district attorney in June requesting that prosecutors decline to file charges related to the protest, said Amr Shabaik, the organization's legal director in Los Angeles. Shabaik called the charges a "political move" and said they're part of a larger effort to silence speech and intimidate students who offer support of Palestine. "We hope that they do not pursue the charges further and they recognize that these are students engaging in free speech. They should be listened to and addressed by their colleges," he said. "Law enforcement should not be sent in to violently crack down and then intimidate them through criminal charges." Read more: Apology letters. Suspensions. After protest citations, students face campus consequences Two of those charged Jonathan Brook Haley, 51, and Tiffany Herard, 50 are listed on the UCI website as staff members. Four students are also facing charges. A campus spokesperson declined to say whether the staff members were still working at the university. Herard, an associate professor of global and international studies, is charged with failure to disperse at the scene of a riot, resisting a peace officer with the threat of violence and resisting arrest, according to the district attorney's office. Haley, a lecturer in the school of humanities, and seven others, ages 20 to 40, were each charged with failure to disperse at the scene of a riot. One additional demonstrator, age 27, was charged with failure to disperse at the scene of a riot and resisting arrest, according to the district attorney's office. The individuals could not immediately be reached by The Times for comment. It is not clear whether any have retained attorneys. They are expected to appear in court Oct. 16. Read more: Police arrest 47 at UC Irvine after sweeping protest camp, clearing barricaded building A spokesperson for the university declined to confirm the status of any students charged. The university wrote in a statement to The Times that the college "has a long history of supporting free speech and peaceful protest." "All members of the UCI community remain subject to all applicable laws, policies, and relevant codes of conduct while engaging in protest activities. As part of ongoing efforts across the University of California system, UC Irvine is clearly communicating with all members of the university community regarding campus policies, their enforcement, and the balance between free expression and campus safety," the university wrote. Many students arrested at campuses across the country have already seen charges dismissed. Still, hundreds of cases remain unresolved, according to analyses conducted by The Times, the Associated Press and other newsrooms in August. 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. Two Wisconsin residents arrested for alleged drug possession charges after search unveils meth in vehicles, residence GAYS MILLS, Wis. (WFRV) Two Wisconsin residents were arrested at their home following a search that revealed multiple illegal substances. The Crawford County Sheriffs Office reported that they contacted 42-year-old David Heisz and 29-year-old Anastaisa Anderson at their home in the Gay Mills. Searches of their vehicles and residence were performed, which unveiled meth, meth paraphernalia and a controlled substance. A teen inmate is bound over for trial in a Wisconsin youth prison counselors death Both were arrested and taken to the County Crawford Jail for the following charges: Possession with intent to deliver meth Possession of drug paraphernalia Possession of a schedule II-controlled substance Child neglect Heisz also had an additional charge of probation violation. No more details are available at this time. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Its been nearly two weeks since anyone has seen or heard from Tyler Weathersby. The Sioux Falls man disappeared after going on a walk on September 4. Now, two of his family members are telling us what you can do to help. Tyler Weathersby is a husband, father, brother and entrepreneur. Hes an artist. Hes a creative. Hes big into fashion and wanted to change the culture of streetwear fashion. He built amazing platforms that hes continuing to build on social media involved with the fashion industry, Tylers wife, Monalisa Perez, said. Tyler is an all around go getter. Tyler is a very hard worker. He works and works and works and works. Tyler has big dreams. Hes always dreamed to be in the fashion industry, the music industry, Tylers brother, Greg Weathersby said. Perez says he left for a walk the morning of September 4 and left his wallet and cell phone at home. When Tylers older brother got a text the next day, he immediately became worried. I could see Tyler may have left his house without his wallet, but not his cell phone is not normal. Its not normal at all, Greg Weathersby said. Since his disappearance, friends and family have been doing everything they can to bring Tyler home. My main focus is finding Tyler and getting him home safe and just figuring it out. Ive been in close communication with the detectives. Weve hired a private investigator to locate where he may have gone, Perez said. Tylers brothe is also looking into hiring a private investigator. Its been 13 days, and me personally, Im not trying to discredit the Sioux Falls Police Department, but I know how things are handled in bigger cities, and Im not sure if they have the resources they need to get the job done, Greg Weathersby said. I can assure you that detectives are exploring pretty much every lead, every possibility we have that has come in. We cant go into details on what weve done or what we need to do. At this point in time, its not a criminal investigation, but certainly things could change, Sioux Falls spokesperson Sam Clemens said. In the meantime, there are things you can do to help find Tyler. My main thing is if you have fliers, please go hand them out to people. There is going to be another search party coming up; I want to say sometime this weekend. If anyone isnt doing anything, please come out and help, Perez said. I started a go fund me. I started a go fund me link account where people can send donations there, Greg Weathersby said. If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe, click here. Those funds will be used for legal accommodations to help find Tyler. To visit the South Dakotas missing persons page, click here. Tyler is one of more than a hundred people currently listed as missing 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 KELOLAND.com. A Claremont man pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation involving a teenager from Maryland. Cameron Deshan Harrison, 28, will serve 12 to 24 years in prison for two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Harrison pleaded guilty to the charges during Catawba County Superior Court on Tuesday, District Attorney Scott Reillys Office said in a news release. The Catawba County Sheriffs Office received an Internet Crimes Against Children tip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children against the defendant in April 2024, alleging that he was in possession of images that showed child sexual abuse, the district attorneys office said. Harrisons phone was confiscated by the sheriffs office with a search warrant. Investigators found text messages between Harrison and a teenage female in Maryland, the district attorneys office said. Investigators found multiple pictures made by the victim at Harrisons request. Harrison also left North Carolina and went to Maryland where he met the victim, the district attorneys office said. The sheriffs office found two other cell phones belonging to Harrison that showed text messages revealing he continued contact with the victim, the district attorneys office said. Harrison will serve his sentence in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction. He will be required to register as a sex offender for 30 years, the district attorneys office said. Emma Moore investigated the case for the Catawba County Sheriffs Office. Assistant District Attorney Jessica Phillips prosecuted the matter for the State with aid from Legal Assistant Dea Crowe, the district attorneys office said. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A city man was arrested Tuesday by members of the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force on charges he fired several rounds last month at a woman he was arguing with and hit her in the head with a chair. Andrew Smith, 36, was taken into custody at a home in the double-digit block of Hilton Avenue on the South Side on a warrant for a felonious assault charge. He is expected to be arraigned Wednesday in municipal court. The woman was not hurt in the incident, which reports said happened about 11:40 p.m. Aug. 26 at the same address where Smith was arrested Tuesday. Reports said officers were already on another call on the street when they received an alert for a gunshot sensor activation. When they went to the area the sensors detected gunfire, they were waived down by a woman in a car who said she was arguing inside the home with Smith when he hit her in the head with a chair. After he hit her, the woman told police she decided to leave, and as she left, she heard at least two shots. Police went to the home but could not make contact with Smith, reports said. Reports said police found two .40-caliber shell casings in the driveway. A warrant was issued Aug. 30 for Smiths arrest, but he was not found until 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 WKBN.com. A plurality of the worlds students and students-to-be agree: The United States is the place to be. In the latest edition of a major biannual study, the U.S. reclaimed the top spot as the most preferred study destination of international business students, swapping places with the United Kingdom. Over two-fifths of respondents (42%) selected the U.S. ahead of the UK (32%) the latest Business of Branding study by CarringtonCrisp in association with EFMD, compared to the 2022 study in which the UK (40%) was No. 1, with the U.S. (35%) in second place. CURRENT EVENTS HAVE BIG IMPACT ON STUDENT PREFERENCES But the studys author cast doubt on whether the U.S. advantage will last, suggesting that an improved political landscape in the UK and a divisive presidential election in the U.S. may boost the former countrys numbers while driving down the latters. The comparison with the previous study shows that countries perceptions can alter quickly, with politics having a big influence, Andrew Crisp says. Negative headlines about UK government policy on international students impacted sentiment in 2023. With the new government in the UK making more positive noises around international students and a potentially divisive U.S. election in November, attitudes to these two countries as study destinations may change again. Canada (30%), Australia and New Zealand (26%), and Germany (18%) are the next most popular destinations in the survey conducted among 1,934 prospective business school students from over 30 countries. Says Crisp: Recently announced international student number caps in Australia may mean more students look to the UK again, but they may consider other locations, such as Canada, which offer courses taught in English. U.S. SEEN AS MOST EXPENSIVE, UK MOST WELCOMING The U.S. is the most popular with those considering an MBA (44%) and among men (41%). Canada is more popular amongst women (29%) compared with men (25%). The UK and Germany are more popular with prospective postgraduates than undergraduates: 23% and 13% respectively choose each country for undergraduate study, but rising as high as 34% among prospective postgraduates. The UK (45%) is viewed as the most welcoming to international students followed by Canada (44%), the U.S. (41%), Australia (32%), and Germany (31%). The countries perceived to be least welcoming are China and India (both 16%). The U.S. is seen by nearly half (49%) as the most expensive study destination followed by the UK (41%) and Germany (26%). In comparison, the countries perceived to be least expensive are India (11%), China (13%), and Spain (16%). CAREER CONCERNS TRUMP ALL The study also analyzed student perceptions of the aspects of business schools seen as the most valuable. International study opportunities (27%) are perceived as the most important, followed by business start-up/small business accelerator programs (25%), working on live consulting projects with businesses (24%), undertaking an internship/work experience (24%), and acquiring digital skills, such as coding (21%) The most important aspects are all career-related, Crisp says, and it is noticeable that development in coding and other digital skills is in demand. This is reflected in other studies by CarringtonCrisp that show that students are looking to business schools to help them with the technology knowledge that many employers are seeking. DONT MISS IN DRAMATIC ABOUT-FACE, MOST MBA CANDIDATES NO LONGER CRAVE ON-CAMPUS LEARNING and COVID-ERA GRADS SHARED TRAUMA CREATED STRONGER TIES WITH THEIR B-SCHOOL: SURVEY The post U.S. Reclaims Most Desired Study Destination: Survey appeared first on Poets&Quants. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) Handmade bowls will be sold to help an Evansville university. Officials say for the 22nd year, the University of Evansville (UE) Clay Club and Department of Art has announced the annual Chili Bowl Sale that will take place on October 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the East Terrace Lawn near Ridgway University Center. UE says this event will allow the community to purchase handcrafted ceramic bowls created by UE faculty, staff and students, with a large portion of the proceeds supporting a food agency to fight local hunger. West Side Nut Club Fall Festival named best fall festival for second year This tradition offers the community the chance to own one-of-a-kind, handmade bowls, all while supporting our students and community, said Todd Matteson, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Art. Its a wonderful way to showcase our creativity and craftsmanship, while giving back to the community. The funds raised allow us to continue fostering innovation and hands-on experiences in changing the world. Gov. Holcomb, officials break ground on Indiana ORX approach corridor Officials say the bowls will be available for purchase, priced from $10 to $100. Each purchase includes a complimentary serving of chili sponsored by Chartwells Dining Services. Attendees are encouraged to buy a bowl, enjoy some chili and spend time with friends. Some of the funds raised help the Clay Club with materials and travel to conferences and exhibitions. UE explains in the event of rain, the Chili Bowl Sale will move indoors to Eykamp Hall in Ridgway University Center. Please note that cash or checks are the only forms of payment accepted for this event. For additional information, people can call the UE Department of Art at 812-488-2043. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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). NAPLES, Utah (ABC4) The Uintah School District went on a district-wide lockdown on Tuesday afternoon after a student received a threatening text message from an unrecognized number, the Uintah School District said in a release. The district said a student showed the message to a school administrator who notified a school resource officer, and it was decided that a district-wide lockdown would be implemented by officials. False threats to a school could receive federal punishment School officials said they were able to identify who sent the message. Officials said the student attends Vernal Middle School. Superintendent Dr. Rick Woodford said the student who saw the threat made the right decision by showing the text to an administrator. Im grateful to the Uintah Middle School student who chose to quickly tell someone about the threat they received today, Woodford said. We encourage all of our students to immediately talk to a trusted adult or use the SafeUT app if they are threatened or know about a threat. The district-wide lockdown was lifted just before 2 p.m. after police told district officials that the student who sent the threatening message was in custody. An investigation into the text message is ongoing and is being handled by Vernal City Police. Vernal PD released a statement on Facebook about the incident. Investigators obtained evidence showing that this juvenile acted alone and that there is no active threat to the community at this time, the post said. The Vernal City Police Department continues to maintain a zero-tolerance approach toward these situations. This case will be sent to the County Attorneys Office for charges in juvenile court. Vernal Police thanked the community and Uintah School District for a swift and appropriate response to the threat. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Ukrainian drone attack launched overnight destroyed an ammunition depot in the western Russian region of Tver, a source from Ukraines Security Service (SBU) told CNN on Wednesday, causing a massive blast. The Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian defense ministry-operated warehouse in the city of Toropets, which was storing Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition, the source said. Large fires broke out from the debris of drones repelled by local air defenses, the regional government said, prompting the governor, Igor Rudenya, to order a partial evacuation of the area during the early hours of Wednesday. Earthquake monitors now believe explosions from the drone attack may have generated seismic activity. Ben Dando, a seismologist at the Norwegian seismology research foundation NORSAR, told CNN that its sensors detected seismic signals, of magnitude 2.5 to 2.8, in northwest Russia which look to be associated with the drone attack launched by Ukraine. NORSAR, which has been using seismic monitors since 2022 to evaluate the impact of the war in Ukraine, is currently analyzing the preliminary data to capture the full extent of the blast, Dando added. Satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies on Wednesday morning showed huge plumes of smoke rising up from several depot buildings, as well as extensive damage to the buildings and nearby forest. Fires continue to burn, as seen in the Maxar Technologies images. Russian state news agency TASS reported that a drone attack had been launched on the city of Toropets overnight causing a fire due to the fall of debris, without specifically mentioning any targeting of a weapons facility. Videos circulating on social media, verified by CNN, showed loud detonations and multiple buildings in the depot complex on fire. Affected residents, including 11 children, have already been evacuated to the settlements of Kunya and Velikiye Luki in the neighbouring Pskov region, TASS said. No civilians are thought to have been injured in the drone attack, the news agency reported, citing Rudenya. Now we are engaged in evacuating the population, residents, maintaining public order, Rudenya said in a later video statement, stressing that multiple emergency service units were involved in the response. Rudenya made the call to evacuate so emergency services at the scene could work fully to bring the blazes under control, the local government said in a post on its official Telegram channel. The Ukrainian security source told CNN that attacks of this nature are being used methodically to reduce Russias missile potential, adding that plans for further attacks on similar Russian military facilities are proceeding. Toropets is located around 300 miles from the Ukrainian border and about 250 miles west of Moscow. Ukraine has been pushing its key allies, including the United States, to give the go-ahead to carry out missile strikes on targets deeper into Russian territory. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned NATO members that lifting restrictions on Ukraines use of long-range missile systems would mean entering into war with Russia itself. CNNs Anna Chernova contributed to this report For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Smoke rises following a Ukrainian drone attack in Tver region in Russia KYIV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone attack destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition in Russia's Tver region, a source in Ukraine's SBU state security service told Reuters on Wednesday. The drones caused an "extremely powerful detonation" at a large warehouse of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defence in the town of Toropets, the source said. "The warehouse contained missiles intended for Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition," the source said. After the attack, a fire covered an area six km (3.7 miles) wide, the source added. Firefighters were trying to contain the fire, the Tver region's governor said, without specifying what was burning. War bloggers and media reported earlier on Wednesday that a drone attack on Russia had triggered a giant blast and forced the partial evacuation of residents near the site of a large Russian arsenal. Ukraine's SBU and armed forces continued to "methodically reduce the enemy's missile potential, which it uses to destroy Ukrainian cities," the SBU source said. Both sides deny attacking civilians in the war fought since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. (Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Tom Balmforth, Editing by Timothy Heritage) Ukraine isn't flying the most dangerous missions with its F-16s because the pilots are still new to the fighter, US general says Ukraine isn't flying the most dangerous missions with its F-16s, a top US general said this week. Kyiv flew its new aircraft in combat for the first time at the end of August. But the air-defense mission turned deadly when one of the F-16s crashed underscoring the risk. A top US Air Force general said that Ukraine is not using its F-16s for the most dangerous missions because the pilots flying them are still new to the fighter jet. Ukraine's F-16s flew in combat for the first time at the end of August when they helped repel a large Russian missile and drone attack. This use was consistent with expectations. Given the vulnerabilities of more offensive missions, it was thought that Kyiv would use the fighter jets in an air-defense role. Gen. James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces in Europe and NATO Allied Air Command, said this week that Ukraine's F-16 pilots haven't spent much time in the aircraft, limiting them in the missions they can fly. "The pilots are new to it, so they're not going to put them at the riskiest missions," Hecker said at Tuesday's Air & Space Forces Association's Air, Space & Cyber conference. "Ultimately, that's a Ukrainian decision. But I think that's the approach that they're taking," Hecker said, according to a report by Air & Space Forces Magazine. Before Ukraine received its long-sought-after F-16s from NATO, one of the big questions surrounding the much-hyped transfer of the fighter aircraft was how Kyiv would actually go on to use them in combat. When Ukraine debuted its newly acquired F-16s to the world in early August, initial imagery of the aircraft and their missile loadouts suggested Kyiv would use them in an air-to-air role, likely on defense, rather than for missions like close-air support or suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses. A Ukrainian F-16. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi had said that he didn't want the new F-16s flying too close to the front lines, where they could be threatened by Russia's formidable surface-to-air systems, and asserted that they could strengthen Kyiv's air defenses instead. The Ukrainian F-16s flew their first combat mission in late August as they helped defend the country against a massive Russian aerial bombardment. It was later revealed that one of the country's fighter jets had crashed during the engagement and killed a top pilot. It's still unclear what caused the crash, but Ukraine dismissed the commander of its air force and said it would investigate the incident. Former US military pilots with experience flying the F-16 told Business Insider after the fatal crash that even though Ukraine's air-defense missions may be safer than the offensive ones that Kyiv could run, they are still dangerous and high stakes. Beyond the challenging operating environment of an air-defense mission, where different missiles and drones are flying around, the Ukrainian pilots also work with an aircraft very different from the Soviet-era jets they're used to flying, requiring them to override past training and muscle memory in the heat of the moment. Read the original article on Business Insider Ukraine says it wiped a key Russian missile and artillery arsenal 'off the face of the earth' in long-range strikes Ukraine says it wiped a key Russian missile and artillery arsenal 'off the face of the earth' in long-range strikes Ukrainian forces used drones to strike a key arsenal in Russia's Tver region overnight. The attack destroyed a warehouse that stored ballistic missiles, artillery, and bombs. The hit marks the latest Ukrainian long-range strike inside Russia. Ukrainian forces used long-range drones to strike a key Russian ammunition depot overnight, destroying missiles, bombs, and artillery. A source in the Security Service of Ukraine told Business Insider on Wednesday that the attack targeted a large warehouse in the town of Toropets, in Russia's western Tver region. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operations. The source said the warehouse belonged to the Russian defense ministry's main missile and artillery department, adding that Moscow stored Iskander and Tochka ballistic missiles, artillery ammunition, and bombs at the site. The drone attack appeared to trigger powerful blasts, setting the surrounding area ablaze, and forced the local population to evacuate. The warehouse was "literally wiped off the face of the earth," the source said, according to a translation of their remarks. Footage circulating on social media early Wednesday showed a massive fireball and plumes of smoke in Toropets, located north of Ukraine near Russia's border with Belarus. Overnight, Ukrainian strikes hit the biggest Russian ammunition depot since the beginning of the war - 107th Arsenal GRAU near Toropets in Tver Oblast of Russia. The arsenal was totally obliterated due to secondary explosions and raging fires. pic.twitter.com/X7GwW4JGgN Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) September 18, 2024 Russia's 107th GRAU Arsenal in Toropets is covered in a series of infernos and secondary explosions after a Ukrainian drone attack last night. The facility, which houses thousands of tons of Russian ammunition, continues to burn into this morning. pic.twitter.com/wEoiFGOvp5 OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 18, 2024 Business Insider could not independently verify the video footage. "The SBU, together with its colleagues from the Defense Forces, continues to methodically reduce the missile potential of the enemy, with which it destroys Ukrainian cities," the SBU source said, adding that "we are working further to organize a similar 'picture' at other Russian military facilities that are working for the war against Ukraine." Satellite imagery captured by Maxar Technologies of the facility before and after the Ukrainian attack revealed extensive damage to the site and underscored the ensuing fire. An image of the Toropets facility on September 7. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies. The facility after the Ukrainian attack on Wednesday. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies. Russia's defense ministry said it shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones on Wednesday, although it did not specify where. A former Ukrainian military officer who goes by the social media handle Tatarigami called the Toropets attack "a very significant achievement." "We're likely looking at the loss of thousands of tons of explosive materials, shells, and rockets," they wrote in a post on X. "In events of this magnitude, replacement can't be quick." Another image of the aftermath of the Ukrainian attack. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies. The attack marks Ukraine's latest long-range strike targeting an important military installation inside Russia. Key airbases have also been struck in recent weeks. Ukraine is barred from using its arsenal of powerful, Western-provided missiles to strike inside Russia, so it has relied heavily on domestically produced attack drones to work around these limitations. However, Kyiv has long argued that such restrictions curb its ability to fight Russia as effectively as it could without them and continues to push for their removal. "The only way to counter [Russian] terror is with a systemic solution, and that solution is long-range capabilities," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a nationwide address over the weekend. Read the original article on Business Insider Ukraine war analyst says Russia keeps surprising him with just how bad its soldiers are: 'The bar is very, very low' The level of training for Russian forces has gotten progressively lower throughout the Ukraine war. A war expert said he's surprised by "how poor the Russian individual soldier quality is." "The bar is very, very low at this point," he said. A Ukraine war analyst told Business Insider that while watching this conflict, he's been continually surprised by how poorly trained Russia's soldiers are. Even when he thinks they can't get any worse, they somehow find a way. "I find myself being surprised with the new depths of how poor the Russian individual soldier quality is," George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Insitute for the Study of War, a US think tank, said. Each batch of new recruits gets progressively worse as Russia rushes them off to battle, he said. "It's becoming really difficult for me to see what other additional shortcuts they could take, other than maybe deploying just people unfit for service," such as people with disabilities or who are too old. "But the bar is very, very low at this point," Barros said. Captured Russian soldiers, war experts, Ukrainian troops, and Western intelligence have all pointed to Russian troops being poorly trained and treated as disposable throughout the war. The poor training, coupled with the intensity of the war, has resulted in quick deaths: In October 2022, only one month after Russia announced a mobilization of 300,000 Russian citizens, some of those new soldiers were already dead, having only received days of training before being sent to Ukraine. Russia's losses have risen recently as Russian troops continue to suffer from deficiencies in training. Russian Army soldiers riding an armored vehicle toward positions in Ukraine. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP US intelligence estimated in December that Russia had lost 87% of the troops it had before the start of its full-scale invasion, meaning it started the new year without the vast majority of its professional army, which had its own problems. It is now largely fighting with a replacement force that's been hastily thrown together. Russia's losses, while they have been high since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, appear to have soared in recent months. The UK Ministry of Defence said in July that more than 70,000 Russian troops were likely killed or wounded between May and June. It blamed "an effective Ukrainian defense and a lack of Russian training" as Russia fought in multiple sectors. That rate more than 1,100 casualties a day appears to have continued, with Ukraine regularly reporting similar Russian losses every day, including 1,140 casualties reported in 24 hours last Wednesday. Business Insider could not independently verify the reported Ukrainian figures. In addition to the poor training Russian troops receive, Barros also said Russia has been running operations at a fast tempo across multiple sectors of the front for almost a year now. It "has been just sort of sprinting for a very long time," he said. Quantity, not quality In some ways, Russia's high losses have been part of its strategy: Russia has a much larger population and military than Ukraine, and it can use those soldiers to try and overwhelm Ukraine's forces. Barros said that Russia's "whole theory of victory is based on mass, not individual excellence." He said Russia was inspired by the Soviet army victories in World War II. "They won their wars not because of the individual excellence of soldiers or units," Barros said. "It's because the Soviet Union found a way to be able to wage effective operational war with large masses of essentially uneducated, individually ineffective soldiers, but together with mass, were able to achieve what they needed." A Russian soldier firing a 152-mm "Giatsint-B" howitzer. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP In its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly used "meat wave" tactics rooted, in some ways, in the Soviet "Not a step back!" doctrine. These brutal Russian tactics have involved sending waves of untrained, poorly equipped soldiers forward to overwhelm Ukrainian positions before sending more skilled soldiers forward. Russia has been able to reconstitute and sustain losses, replacing killed or wounded troops with new recruits, but there are challenges. Russia can't take severe losses indefinitely. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not made any attempt to launch a mass mobilization since 2022. Russia experts and Western intelligence have said the move is a politically risky one that he appears unwilling to take. That limits its pool of new soldiers. Instead, Russia has recruited prisoners, used citizens of allies and partner countries like Cuba, and used men already in military service in a reserve capacity. Matthew Savill, a military-strategy expert at the Royal United Services Institute think tank and a former intelligence analyst at the UK Ministry of Defence, told BI that Russia's weak response to Ukraine's attack on its Kursk region, which started last month, may partly be because "Russian reserves aren't as extensive as we think they are." Read the original article on Business Insider Ukraine war latest: Drone attack 'wipes Russian weapons depot off the face of the earth,' Kyiv says Key developments on Sept. 18: Russian weapons depot wiped off the face of the earth by Ukrainian drone attack, SBU source claims Russia's Kursk counteroffensive halted, Kyiv claims Ukraine's French Mirage jets will be able to hit ground targets, media reports WSJ estimates of Ukraine's casualties 'exaggerated,' lawmaker believes 1 dead, 4 injured after Russian attacks in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Ukrainian drones successfully targeted a weapons depot in Toropets in Russia's Tver Oblast overnight, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent on Sept. 18. Photos and videos shared on Russian Telegram channels early on Sept. 18 showed a number of explosions and a large plume of smoke purportedly at the site of an ammunition depot in the town of Toropets. Tver Oblast Governor Igor Rudenya reported in the morning that a fire had broken out in Toropets due to falling drone debris but claimed the situation was "under control." Allegedly, the huge stockpile destroyed by a drone overnight in Toropets consisted partly of newly arrived North Korean missiles.#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/6aYqmFpUbb olexander scherba (@olex_scherba) September 18, 2024 According to the source, drones from the SBU, Ukraine's military intelligence, and Ukrainian Armed Forces struck a warehouse storing ballistic missiles, including Iskanders, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery ammunition, and KAB guided bombs. The attack "literally wiped off the face of the earth a large warehouse of the main missile and artillery department of the Russian Defense Ministry," the source said. "After the arrival of Ukrainian drones, an extremely powerful detonation began," and the affected area is 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide, the source said. "The SBU, together with colleagues from the Armed Forces, continues to methodically reduce the missile potential of the enemy, with which it destroys Ukrainian cities." The source said that there are plans to conduct similar attacks on other Russian military facilities. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that 54 Ukrainian drones had been downed overnight but did not mention any drones downed over Tver Oblast. According to the Russian Defense Ministry's 8 a.m. report, 27 drones were downed over Kursk Oblast, 16 over Bryansk Oblast, seven over Smolensk Oblast, three over Belgorod Oblast, and one over Oryol Oblast. Read also: Arms depot in Russias Tver Oblast built to withstand nuclear explosion heavily damaged by Ukrainian drones Ukraine's French Mirage jets will be able to hit ground targets, media reports French Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets destined for Ukraine will be modified to enable them to hit ground targets, the French media outlet Sud-Ouest reported on Sept. 18. In an article detailing the work being carried out at the Cazaux air base, the outlet said modifications for the aircraft will be performed at the facility. The Mirage 2000 is a multirole aircraft designed in the late 1970s and introduced in 1984. The 2000-5 version has upgraded radar systems and can carry fuel drop tanks, greatly increasing its range. It is a fourth-generation fighter jet, meaning it is in the same class as the U.S.-made F-16. French President Emmanuel Macron announced on June 6 that an unspecified number would be transferred to Ukraine, but did not provide a timeline. Speaking to French TV after the end of the 80th anniversary of D-Day commemorations in Normandy, Macron also said his country would train Ukrainian pilots. "Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine, made by French manufacturer Dassault, and train their Ukrainian pilots in France," he said during a live interview. Read also: What are Frances Mirage 2000-5 jets, and how can Ukraine use them? Russia's Kursk counteroffensive halted, Kyiv claims Russia's counterattack in Kursk Oblast aiming to retake Ukrainian-held territory has been stopped, a spokesperson of the Ukrainian military administration in the region told AFP on Sept. 18. The statement comes a week after Moscow launched a counteroffensive against the western flank of Ukrainian troops in the Russian region. "They tried to attack from the flanks, but they were stopped there," spokesperson Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi told AFP. "The situation was stabilized and today everything is under control, they are not successful." The spokesperson admitted only "some minor successes" by Russia. "The Russians entered one of the settlements. They started fighting for another settlement, but that was it," he said. Russia claimed to have recaptured 10 settlements only on the first day of the counteroffensive, announcing further advances since then. The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the claims. Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in early Aug. 6, allegedly seizing around 100 settlements and over 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles). Moscow's troops launched a counterattack last week in an effort to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their positions on Russian soil. Russia has not yet commented on Dmytrashkivskyi's statement but did not mention any new settlements recaptured in its regular update on Sept. 17. Moscow claimed the same day it had repelled several fresh attempts by Ukraine to cross the border in Kursk Oblast west of the Ukrainian salient. Read also: They attack with quantity: With Ukrainian soldiers desperately defending Pokrovsk WSJ estimates of Ukraine's casualties 'exaggerated,' lawmaker believes The Wall Street Journal's recent claims that 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died during the full-scale war with Russia are "exaggerated," secretary of the parliamentary defense committee Roman Kostenko told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Sept. 18. The U.S. outlet wrote on Sept. 17 that according to a "confidential Ukrainian estimate from earlier this year," Ukraine has suffered 80,000 soldiers killed and 400,000 wounded. Russian losses were estimated at 200,000 killed and 400,000 wounded, putting the overall casualties of the war to over 1 million. "I think that these are exaggerated data. Definitely... Namely when talking about the recorded number of (Ukrainian soldiers) killed," Kostenko said. Ukraine has largely avoided commenting on its losses, though President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February that 31,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed. "If we look at the past two years, we had roughly the same number 19,000 each (year). And this is considering only those who were issued official death certificates," Kostenko said, adding that many are still considered missing. The lawmaker suggested that 50,000 soldiers killed could be an approximate figure, though he admitted he does not have the most accurate data and that even his number could be an overestimation. Regarding Ukraine's ability to continue to defend itself despite the losses, Kostenko believes that the country still has enough men to mobilize and that everything depends on the ability to enlist more troops. Ukraine has sought to replenish the ranks of its military as the war has been ongoing for two and half years. Kyiv adopted new legislation on mobilization in the spring, lowering the conscription age from 27 to 25 and imposing stricter penalties for dodging draft. Read also: African POWs on how they ended up fighting for Russia 1 dead, 4 injured after Russian attacks in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast One person has been killed, and four people, including a nine-year-old boy, have been injured during Russian attacks in the Nikopol district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in southeastern Ukraine, Governor Serhii Lysak said on Sept. 18. The child and two women, aged 43 and 69, were injured during shelling in the city of Marhanets. Lysak earlier reported that a "kamikaze drone strike" in the city of Nikopol had injured a 42-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman. In an update later on Sept. 18, Lysak reported the injured man had died. "Sincere condolences to family and friends," the governor added. The Russian army regularly fires on the civilian infrastructure of Ukrainian cities, targeting hospitals, among other facilities. Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least four civilians and injured at least 22 over the previous day, regional authorities reported early on Sept. 18. Read also: Too dangerous to ignore Russias malicious activity in the Baltics set to test NATO resolve Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade publishes video of destruction of Russian equipment in Kharkiv Oblast The Ukrainian military has destroyed a Russian tank and an armoured personnel carrier during a Russian attack in Kharkiv Oblast. Source: the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade on Telegram Quote: "The tank was hit from the sky instantly. The armoured personnel carrier, which started to back down, was caught up. Even before the kill shots took place, the Russian infantry started to run away." Details: The Ukrainian defenders destroyed a Russian convoy moving towards Ukrainian positions using Ukrainian drones. The time of the operation is not specified in the report. Background: It became known on 10 May that the Russian troops had intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast. Russians managed to drive Ukrainian defenders out of some settlements in Kharkiv Oblast within a few weeks. On 22 August, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade published a video of its offensive in Kharkiv Oblast. Support UP or become our patron! Ukraine's defence minister provides US with information on country's operations and needs US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has discussed battlefield developments and the tools needed for victory in the fight against Russian aggression with Ukraines Defence Minister Rustem Umierov. Source: Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder during a briefing; Umierov on (Twitter) Details: According to the US Department of Defense, Umierov provided updates on Ukraines operations and needs. The two leaders also reviewed the outcomes of the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group held on 6 September at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Austin reaffirmed the USs commitment to working with allies and partners to equip Ukraine with the necessary tools for victory against Russian aggression. Both leaders pledged to stay in close contact. Quote from Umierov: "Held a productive weekly call with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. I provided the Secretary with an update on the latest battlefield developments. We discussed Ukraines critical defence needs and explored ways to further strengthen Ukraines defence capabilities." Support UP or become our patron! Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has suggested signing a bilateral security agreement with Slovakia at a meeting with Prime Minister Robert Fico and Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar in Bratislava. Source: Sybiha at a press conference cited by Ukrinform, as reported by European Pravda Details: Sybiha revealed that he had discussed the Ukrainian peace formula and Slovakias potential contribution to its implementation with the top Slovak officials. "I also proposed to the Slovak side that they join the G7s Vilnius declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine and sign a bilateral security agreement," Sybiha added, noting that Kyiv has signed 26 such agreements. Sybiha also urged Slovakia to support Ukraines EU and NATO membership, noting that "Ukraine in the EU is in the joint interest of Kyiv and Bratislava". "Im also convinced that Ukraines NATO membership is in the interest of both our countries and the whole of Europe, as it will lead to a lasting peace and strong security. We are counting on Bratislavas support," Sybiha added. Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar stated at the same press conference that in his view, Ukraines NATO membership would "create more conflicts". Background: Andrii Sybiha was visiting Slovakia as part of his first foreign tour since his appointment as Ukraines Foreign Minister. Support UP or become our patron! Ukraine's Security Service searches monastery of Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kyiv UP source, photo Representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine. Photo: Ukrainska Pravdas source On 18 September, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) searched the Sviato-Vvedenskyi Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in the Pecherskyi district of the city of Kyiv. Source: Ukrainska Pravdas source in law enforcement Details: The source reports that SSU operatives have been conducting searches in the Sviato-Vvedenskyi Monastery since the morning. Representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine Photo: Ukrainska Pravdas source in law enforcement The investigative actions are related to suspicion of spreading Kremlin propaganda and supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine by churchmen. Support UP or become our patron! All points of Ukraine's victory plan that Kyiv aims to present to Washington have been worked out, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Sept. 18. Zelensky plans to discuss the plan with U.S. President Joe Biden during his visit to the U.S. later this month. While not revealing all the details, the president previously said that the plan is composed of four main points and a fifth related to the post-war situation. It focuses on Ukraine's security and geopolitical position, foreign military assistance with the freedom to use it without restrictions, and economic support. Ukraine's cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, which left a chunk of Russian territory under Kyiv's control, is also part of the strategy, Zelensky said. "The most important thing now is the determination to implement it," the president said in his address. "There isn't and cannot be any alternative to peace, no freezing of the war or any other manipulations that will simply postpone Russian aggression to a later stage." Read also: They attack with quantity: With Ukrainian soldiers desperately defending Pokrovsk Ukraine is open to suggestions from the U.S. to strengthen the plan, he added. U.S. officials said they had been acquainted with elements of Zelensky's strategy and voiced belief "that (it) can work." Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Sept. 17 that the plan does not in any way include ceding territory to Russia. "(Freezing of the conflict) will not lead to the end of the war but will only lead to Russia gaining the opportunity to accumulate additional resources and proceed to the third stage (of the war) with more mass killings of civilians in Ukraine," Podolyak said. During the evening address, Zelensky also thanked soldiers "who ensure Ukraine's long-range capabilities... for an important outcome last night on Russian territory." The president praised the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), and the Special Operations Forces for "inspiring precision." An SBU source told the Kyiv Independent that Ukrainian drones attacked one of the largest arsenals in Russia overnight on Sept. 18, causing a powerful detonation in the town of Toropets in Russia's Tver Oblast. Read also: US Ambassador Brink: We have some sense of contours of Zelenskys victory plan Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will on Tuesday address a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Russia's war in his country, said Slovenia's U.N. mission - president of the 15-member body for September. The meeting will be held while world leaders are in New York for their annual gathering at the U.N. General Assembly. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. It was overwhelmingly denounced by the 193-member General Assembly, which also demanded Moscow withdraw its troops, but the Security Council has been deadlocked as Russia is able to veto any action. Zelenskiy is traveling to the United States with a "victory plan" that he wants to present to U.S. President Joe Biden. His trip comes at a critical juncture in the war, with Russian troops continuing to inch forward in eastern Ukraine despite Kyiv's forces launching a surprise incursion last month into Russia's Kursk region. The U.N. Security Council meeting on Tuesday was requested by the United States, Britain, France, Japan, South Korea and Malta, said diplomats. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) The Russians attacked Ukraine with three guided air-launched missiles and 52 kamikaze drones on the night of 17-18 September 2024. Ukrainian air defence destroyed 46 UAVs, another five disappeared from radar because of electronic warfare, and one flew back to Russia. Source: press service of the Ukrainian Air Force Command Details: It is reported that the Russians struck with three Kh-59/69 guided missiles from the airspace of the occupied part of Kherson Oblast and 52 attack UAVs from the Russian cities of Kursk and Yeysk. The Ukrainian defence forces' aircraft, mobile firing groups, and electronic warfare units were involved in repelling the Russian air attack. As a result of combat efforts, 46 attack UAVs were shot down. In addition, five UAVs disappeared from radar due to active counteraction by the electronic warfare units of the Ukrainian defence forces, and one attack drone flew to Russia. It is also noted that the guided missiles did not reach their targets due to the defence forces' active counteraction. Some damage was caused to agricultural equipment, but there were no casualties. Air defence responded to attacks in Mykolaiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Sumy and Poltava oblasts. Support UP or become our patron! Ukrainian drone strike on Russia causes earthquake-sized blast picked up from space Ukrainian drones allegedly attacked a massive arms depot some 240 miles west of Moscow on Wednesday, causing an earthquake-sized blast and forcing the evacuation of thousands from the area. Ukrainian officials have not yet claimed responsibility for the attack, though sources in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reportedly confirmed the attack to the Kyiv Independent and other reports pointed to military bloggers and local officials who said Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the Tver region in Russia, where a known military arsenal was located. Video footage obtained by Fox News Digital depicted a huge blast erupting during the early morning hours on Wednesday, though the cause of the explosions or the targets could not be independently verified. A cloud rises after an explosion in Toropets, Tver region, Russia, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on Sept. 18, 2024. TOP RUSSIAN OFFICIAL LANDS IN IRAN AMID US, UK CONCERNS OVER ALLEGED NUCLEAR DEAL Intense heat sources were reportedly picked up by NASA satellites emanating from an area of roughly five square miles, where a "weak" 2.8 magnitude earthquake was detected causing "light shaking near [the] epicenter" in the Tver region, just 55 miles away from the border with Belarus. Russian state media, tightly regulated by the Kremlin, did not appear to report on the explosion as of Wednesday afternoon Moscow time. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The governor of the Tver region, Igor Rudenya, said a fire had broken out and that Ukrainian drones had been shot down, though he did not confirm what was burning, first reported Reuters. Rudenya also said some residents had been evacuated, though reports by East2West said some 3,000 Russians had fled the area. Fox News Digital could not immediately reach Ukraines military intelligence agency, GUR, for comment. Flames rise during an explosion in Toropets, Tver region, Russia in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on Sept. 18, 2024. PUTIN WARNS US, NATO RISK WAR WITH RUSSIA IF LONG-RANGE STRIKE BANS LIFTED FOR UKRAINE Russian defense units were reported to have destroyed 54 drones launched across five Russian regions, though Moscow did not mention any drone strikes over the Tver region, and it is unclear where the drone strikes levied by Ukraine originated. The explosions at the arms depot are reported to have occurred in the town of Toropets, which is nearly 480 miles from Kursk in southwest Russia, where Ukrainian forces launched an invasion last month, and roughly 400 miles from Ukraines northernmost border with Russia. Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on Aug. 12, 2024. Ukraine has ramped up its attacks against Moscow in recent months by increasingly hitting targets against its homeland, and Kyiv has called on the U.S. and NATO allies to allow it to use Western-supplied long-range missiles to hit military targets deep inside Russia. These strike bans have not been lifted, and it is unclear how Ukraine was able to target a top military site using drones without detection hundreds of miles into Russian territory. Original article source: Ukrainian drone strike on Russia causes earthquake-sized blast picked up from space In this photo released by Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, Tver region governor Igor Rudenya, center, arrives to attend a meeting of the operational headquarters in Toropets, following the strike by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Toropets, Russia. (Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia via AP) KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian drones struck a large military depot in a town deep inside Russia overnight, causing a huge fire and forcing some residents to evacuate, a Ukrainian official and Russian news reports said Wednesday. At least 13 people were injured, Russia's Health Ministry added. Meanwhile, a senior U.S. diplomat said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a workable plan to end the war, now in its third year, although its details have not been publicly disclosed. Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russias Tver region about 380 kilometers (240 miles) northwest of Moscow and about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine. The attack was carried out by Ukraines Security Service, along with Ukraines Intelligence and Special Operations Forces, a Kyiv security official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the operation. According to the official, the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs and artillery shells. He said the facility caught fire in the strike and was burning across an area 6 kilometers (4 miles) wide. Among the destroyed ammunition were North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, another official, in Ukraines Intelligence Office, told AP. He also was not authorized to comment publicly and didnt provide evidence to support his claim. Russia and North Korea signed a landmark pact in June that envisioned mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang. More than 100 domestically produced exploding drones were deployed in the attack on the depot, the Ukrainian intelligence official added. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted regional authorities as saying air defense systems were working to repel a massive drone attack on Toropets, which has a population of about 11,000. The agency also reported a fire and the evacuations, and the Health Ministry said 13 people were hospitalized in the region after the attack. Tver regional Gov. Igor Rudenya later said all evacuees could return home. Successful Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia have become more common as Kyiv developed its drone technology. Zelenskyy also is seeking approval from Western nations for Ukraine to use the sophisticated weapons they are providing to hit targets inside Russia. Some Western leaders have balked at that, fearing they could be dragged into the conflict. Part of Kyivs strategy is targeting of military equipment, ammunition and infrastructure deep inside Russia, as well as making civilians feel some of the consequences of the war that is being fought largely inside Ukraine. The swift push by Ukrainian forces into Russias Kursk border region last month fits into that plan, which apparently seeks to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down. Putin, however, has shown no signs of that and has been trying to grind down Ukraine's resolve through attritional warfare and also sap the Wests support for Kyiv by drawing out the conflict. That has come at a price, however, as the U.K. Defense Ministry estimates the war has probably killed or wounded more than 600,000 Russian troops. On Tuesday, Putin ordered the countrys military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million by Dec. 1. Zelenskyy announced his war plan in his nightly address on Monday, saying its 90% ready and will be presented to allies over the next week. He said Ukraine's plan for victory includes not only battlefield goals but also diplomatic and economic wins. The plan has been kept under wraps but the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said at a news conference Tuesday that Washington officials have seen it. We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work, she said, adding that the United States will bring it up with other world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. She did not comment on what the plan contained. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Data presented by The Wall Street Journal suggesting that 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war with Russia is overstated, Colonel Roman Kostenko from Ukraine's Security Service has said. Kostenko is an MP from the Holos (Voice) party and secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence. Source: Kostenko on Radio Liberty Quote: "I think these figures are exaggerated. Definitely. This is particularly evident if we consider the number of confirmed deaths. If we take the last two years, about 19,000 of our troops were killed in each year. And thats only those [whose deaths were] officially confirmed and who had death certificates issued. We know there are other people who are missing. I think the figure estimated here is the same. I don't have the most accurate data to say these figures are 100% correct. I think they are approximate [here Kostenko is referring to the figure of 50,000 losses ed.]." Details: Kostenko believes the figure of 50,000 Ukrainian military personnel killed in action may also be overestimated or approximate, though he noted that he does not have precise information about Ukrainian losses. With regard to whether Ukraine will be able to continue to defend itself given the losses, the MP believes that the country still has enough mobilisation resources. He says everything depends on Ukraine's ability to enlist more troops and the challenges posed by Russia. Quote: "It will depend on what kind of hostilities the Russian Federation conducts against us and what kind of direct response we need to give to what the Russians are doing. If Russia goes for mobilisation, we will also need to carry out mobilisation and draw on mobilisation resources. We do have these. We have soldiers, we have people who can fight. They just don't want to join the Armed Forces at the moment." Background: The Wall Street Journal has estimated that the combined losses of Russian and Ukrainian forces since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 could surpass one million troops. Support UP or become our patron! The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) has adopted draft law no. 11417, which increases the 2024 budget by UAH 500 billion (roughly US$12 million) for military needs. Source: MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak Details: The bill was supported by 298 MPs. Quote from Zhelezniak: "Thus, this year's expenditures amount to a record UAH 3.73 trillion (roughly US$89,23 million) for Ukraine." MPs voted in the first reading on 3 September for the bill to increase budget spending by UAH 500 billion (roughly US$12 million). Roksolana Pidlasa, Chair of the Budget Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, explained the sources of the additional UAH 500 billion (roughly US$12 million) for defence: UAH 115.4 billion (roughly US$2,76 billion) reduction of expenditures on servicing and repayment of the state debt; UAH 216 billion (roughly US$5,17 billion) additional placement of domestic government debt bonds; UAH 100 billion (roughly US$2,39 billion) over-fulfilment of the tax collection plan; UAH 30 billion (roughly US$718,7 million) tax revenues from tax increases; UAH 12.7 billion (roughly US$303,35 million) increased excise tax rates on tobacco and fuel. On 17 September, the Verkhovna Rada passed in the first reading draft law no. 11416d, which provides for tax increases, including: increasing the war tax from 1.5% to 5%; establishing a war tax rate of 1% of the income of single taxpayers of the third group; increase in taxes for Group 1 and 2 individual entrepreneurs; advance payments for petrol stations; setting the corporate income tax rate for banks at 50% for 2024; setting the corporate income tax rate for non-bank financial institutions (except for insurers) at 25%. These tax changes will bring UAH 58 billion (roughly US$1,39 billion) to the state budget in 2024 and UAH 137 billion (US$3,28 billion ) in 2025. Support UP or become our patron! Drones from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) and the Special Operations Forces (SOF) successfully attacked a large warehouse belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defence's Main Missile and Artillery Directorate in the Russian town of Toropets in Tver Oblast on the night of 17-18 September. Source: Ukrainska Pravda source in SSU Details: The source reports that the warehouse stored missiles intended for Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition. The Ukrainian drone strike caused an extremely powerful explosion. The fire covered an area six kilometres wide. Local authorities announced the evacuation of the population. , "" ... pic.twitter.com/6Rhr5Rah6H (@ukrpravda_news) September 18, 2024 Quote: "The SSU, together with its colleagues from the defence forces, is continuing to methodically reduce the enemy's missile potential, which it uses to destroy Ukrainian cities. We are continuing to work to organise a similar situation at other Russian military facilities working for the war against Ukraine." Background: The Russian Ministry of Defence reported in 2018 that the arsenal for the integrated storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives met the highest international standards. It was reported that "the arsenal makes it possible to shelter stockpiles of missiles and ammunition from external influence and ensure their safety and explosion and fire safety. The full load of each arsenal storage facility is up to 240 tonnes." It was stated that a system for storing missiles, ammunition, and explosive materials that would "meet the highest international standards" was being created. Support UP or become our patron! By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demands Israel end "its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" within 12 months. The resolution received 124 votes in favor, while 43 countries abstained and Israel, the United States and 12 others voted no. The action isolates Israel days before world leaders travel to New York for their annual U.N. gathering. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to address the 193-member General Assembly on Sept. 26, the same day as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The resolution welcomes a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that said Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal and should be withdrawn. The advisory opinion - by the highest United Nations court, also known as the World Court - said this should be done "as rapidly as possible," although the General Assembly resolution imposes a 12-month deadline. The General Assembly resolution also calls on states to "take steps towards ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel ... where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." The resolution is the first to be formally put forward by the Palestinian Authority since it gained additional rights and privileges this month including a seat among U.N. members in the assembly hall and the right to propose draft resolutions. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged countries to vote no on Wednesday. Washington - an arms supplier to and ally of Israel - has long opposed unilateral measures that undermine the prospect of a two-state solution. The ICJ advisory opinion is not binding but carries weight under international law and may weaken support for Israel. A General Assembly resolution also is not binding, but carries political weight. There is no veto power in the assembly. "Each country has a vote, and the world is watching us," Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly on Tuesday. "Please stand on the right side of history. With international law. With freedom. With peace." Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon criticized the General Assembly on Tuesday for failing to condemn the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants that sparked Israel's assault on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. He rejected the Palestinian text, saying: "Let's call this for what it is: this resolution is diplomatic terrorism, using the tools of diplomacy not to build bridges but to destroy them." Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem - areas of historic Palestine which the Palestinians want for a state - in the 1967 Middle East war and has since built settlements in the West Bank and steadily expanded them. The war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's military has leveled swaths of the Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing more than 41,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. The General Assembly on Oct. 27 last year called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza with 120 votes in favor. Then in December, 153 countries voted to demand - instead of calling for - an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in December. The Palestinian Authority represents the Palestinian people at the U.N., where it is a non-member observer state and the delegation is known as the State of Palestine. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Howard Goller) Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour cheers as the UN General Assembly passes a vote on a Palestinian resolution demanding an end to Israel's occupation in Gaza and the occupied West Bank on September 18th, 2024 in New York City. The vote had 124 countries in favor, 43 abstaining and 12 voting against including the United States. Laura Brett/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa With a clear majority of 124 votes, the UN General Assembly has called for Israel's withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories within a year. Forty-three countries, including Germany, abstained from voting on the corresponding resolution in the largest UN body, which has 193 member states. Israel itself, along with the United States, voted against the draft resolution together with 12 other countries. Some states did not vote. Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour cheers as the UN General Assembly passes a vote on a Palestinian resolution demanding an end to Israel's occupation in Gaza and the occupied West Bank on September 18th, 2024 in New York City. The vote had 124 countries in favor, 43 abstaining and 12 voting against including the United States. Laura Brett/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa With a clear majority of 124 votes on Wednesday, the UN General Assembly has called for Israel's withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories within a year. Forty-three countries, including Germany, abstained from voting on the corresponding resolution in the largest UN body, which has 193 member states. Israel itself, along with the United States, voted against the draft resolution together with 12 other countries. Some states did not vote. The resolution is intended to enforce a legal opinion on the Middle East conflict issued by the UN's highest court. In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague had ruled that the occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and must be ended as soon as possible. Israel had ignored this, and this is also expected in the context of the resolution that has now been adopted. Europe was divided in the vote, as in previous votes. While France, Portugal, Malta, Belgium, Spain and Norway voted in favour, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Britain, Austria and the Netherlands, among others, abstained. The Czech Republic and Hungary voted against the resolution. Traditionally, there is a large majority in the United Nations in favour of Palestinian and against Israeli concerns. Israel took control of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967. The Palestinians claim these territories for a separate state, which was to be created alongside Israel and which most countries in the world, including Germany, still support today. In 2005, Israel left the Gaza Strip, but continues to control the land, sea and air borders. Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour cheers as the UN General Assembly passes a vote on a Palestinian resolution demanding an end to Israel's occupation in Gaza and the occupied West Bank on September 18th, 2024 in New York City. The vote had 124 countries in favor, 43 abstaining and 12 voting against including the United States. Laura Brett/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa With a clear majority of 124 votes on Wednesday, the UN General Assembly has called for Israel's withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories within a year. Forty-three countries, including Germany, abstained from voting on the corresponding resolution in the largest UN body, which has 193 member states. Israel itself, along with the United States, voted against the draft resolution together with 12 other countries. Some states did not vote. The resolution is intended to enforce a legal opinion on the Middle East conflict issued by the UN's highest court. In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague had ruled that the occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and must be ended as soon as possible. Israel had ignored this, and this is also expected in the context of the resolution that has now been adopted. Europe was divided in the vote, as in previous votes. While France, Portugal, Malta, Belgium, Spain and Norway voted in favour, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Britain, Austria and the Netherlands, among others, abstained. The Czech Republic and Hungary voted against the resolution. Traditionally, there is a large majority in the United Nations in favour of Palestinian and against Israeli concerns. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas praised the states that voted in favour of Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories, saying that they stood by the Palestinian people in their quest for justice. He called for measures to oblige Israel to implement the resolution. Israel's Foreign Ministry, in turn, criticized the resolution for not mentioning Palestinian terrorist attacks such as the one carried out by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement in Israel on October 7 last year. It said the resolution ignored the security needs of Israelis, strengthened Hamas and sent the message that terror pays off. The conflict, it said, can only be resolved through negotiations between the parties involved. Israel took control of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967. The Palestinians claim these territories for a separate state, which was to be created alongside Israel and which most countries in the world, including Germany, still support today. In 2005, Israel left the Gaza Strip, but continues to control the land, sea and air borders. The resolution 'demands' the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories (Omar AL-QATTAA) (Omar AL-QATTAA/AFP/AFP) UN member states voted Wednesday to formally demand an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories within 12 months and the imposition of sanctions for non-compliance. The non-binding resolution, which Israel claimed would fuel violence, calling it "distorted" and "cynical," is based on an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) saying the occupation since 1967 was "unlawful." There were 124 votes in favor, 14 against and a notable 43 abstentions, with the Palestinian delegation heralding the adoption as "historic." Arab countries called the special session just days before dozens of world leaders meet at UN headquarters to address the kick-off of this year's General Assembly. The move also comes weeks ahead of the one-year anniversary of Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel, which unleashed the devastating and ongoing retaliatory war in Gaza. The resolution -- the first introduced by the Palestinian delegation itself under new rights gained this year -- demands Israel "brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." It calls for a withdrawal "no later than 12 months" from the resolution's adoption. A previous draft gave six months. "The idea is you want to use the pressure of the international community in the General Assembly and the pressure of the historic ruling by the ICJ to force Israel to change its behavior," said Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour on Monday. Israel firmly rejected the resolution. "This is what cynical international politics looks like," foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said on X. He said it was "a distorted decision that is disconnected from reality, encourages terrorism and harms the chances for peace." Hamas said it "welcomes the adoption", saying it reflected "the international community's solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle." - 'To live, not survive' - The resolution "demands" the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories, a halt to new settlements, the return of seized land and property, and the possibility of return for displaced Palestinians. It also calls on states "to take steps toward ceasing" arms provisions to Israel when there are "reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." "The Palestinians want to live -- not survive. They want to be safe in their homes," Mansour said ahead of the vote Tuesday. The United States voted against the resolution as did Hungary, the Czech Republic and several smaller island nations. While the Security Council is largely paralyzed on the Gaza issue -- with the United States repeatedly vetoing censures of its ally Israel -- the General Assembly has adopted several texts in support of Palestinian civilians amid the current war. No country in the General Assembly has veto power. In May, the assembly overwhelmingly supported a largely symbolic resolution on full Palestinian membership at the UN, garnering 143 votes in favor and nine against, with 25 abstentions. The push had previously been vetoed by Washington at the Security Council. The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which includes hostages killed in captivity. Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 97 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 33 who the Israeli military says are dead. More than 41,272 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable. According to the Israeli military, 348 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza military campaign since the start of the ground offensive on October 27. Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said "Israel should immediately heed the demand of an overwhelming majority of UN member states." abd-gw/aha United Nations members voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to demand that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months. The resolution was adopted in the UN General Assembly after receiving 124 votes in favor. Fourteen countries voted against, including the United States, Hungary, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Fiji, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, and Tuvalu. Forty-three nations abstained from the vote. The vote comes after the UNs top court, the International Court of Justice, said in July that Israels presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal and called on Israel to end its decades-long occupation of territories claimed by Palestinians for a future state. In its advisory opinion, the ICJ said Israel should end its occupation as rapidly as possible. The UNs resolution gives a 12-month timeline. Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the UN, called the vote a turning point in our struggle for freedom and justice. The resolution was put forward by observer state Palestine, which was granted new privileges including the right to submit proposals in the assembly in May. Danny Danon, Israels ambassador to the UN, meanwhile slammed the vote outcome as a a shameful decision that backs the Palestinian Authoritys diplomatic terrorism. Neither the ICJ advisory opinion nor the assembly resolution are binding, however the two decisions could further isolate Israel as world leaders prepare to meet next week in New York for the annual UN General Assembly. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are expected to address other world leaders at the UN on September 26. Monitoring group Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed Wednesdays resolution. Israel should immediately heed the demand of an overwhelming majority of UN member states to abide by the World Courts historic ruling on Israels decades-long occupation, Louis Charbonneau, UN director at HRW, said in a statement. Amnesty International also welcomed the resolution and called on Israel to abide by it. This resolution vindicates long-standing calls from the Palestinian people and many countries around the world, by pursuing the implementation of the ICJs historic advisory opinion which confirmed Israel has a legal obligation to end its unlawful occupation of the OPT and its systemic discrimination against the occupied Palestinian population, said Amnesty secretary general Agnes Callamard said. During the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan heights from neighboring Arab states. Soon after, it began establishing Jewish settlements in these territories. The Palestinians want the West Bank and Gaza for a future state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel considers the entirety of Jerusalem as its eternal capital. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com UNs pact to protect future generations will be undermined by Security Councils veto and its use in cases of mass atrocity World leaders will gather at the United Nations on Sept. 22-23, 2024, where they are set to adopt the Pact for the Future an ambitious plan for how to best reform the U.N., and other institutions, to address the current problems of the world and protect future generations. It couldnt come at a more pressing time. As presidents, prime ministers and top diplomats prepare to meet in New York, mass atrocities genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing are taking place or alleged in several countries around the world. The pact and an accompanying Summit of the Future serve as an opportunity for the U.N. to make structural changes that will better empower the international body to prevent and respond to such crimes and protect populations under threat. As U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted, the summit is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate global action, recommit to fundamental principles, and further develop the frameworks of multilateralism so they are fit for the future. As a scholar-practitioner of mass atrocities prevention and human rights, I share Guterres hope that the summit and pact can lead to a change. The existing frameworks have failed time and time again to prevent or end mass atrocities. But to have a real chance of success, I believe the summit will have to look at reforming the U.N.s principal body on peace and security: the Security Council. The council is not only unrepresentative, but its five permanent members France, the United Kingdom, United States, Russia and China all stand accused of being directly or indirectly complicit in some of the worst mass atrocities currently taking place. A forgotten responsibility The Summit for the Future comes nearly 20 years after the last major push for U.N. reform at the 2005 World Summit. Staged in the aftermath of genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica, the summit saw 170 governments adopt the Responsibility to Protect, or R2P, pledging to take on individual responsibility to protect their own populations from mass atrocities. States also accepted collective responsibility to protect people in other countries. In cases when a nation fails to prevent mass atrocities, or commits them directly, world leaders agreed to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council. Such actions could include everything from sanctions and arms embargoes to coercive military action. Two decades on, it is clear that U.N. member states and the Security Council have failed to live up to their commitment to R2P. In the intervening years, the world has seen mass atrocities in Sudan, South Sudan, China, Ethiopia, Yemen, Myanmar and Syria with limited effective interventions by the U.N. Perpetrators or protectors? Part of the problem, I believe, is with the Security Council itself. Not only has this crucial body not ensured populations were protected, but that task is undermined by the fact that all five permanent members of the Security Council are either accused of directly committing or assisting mass atrocities. China has been accused of committing genocide and crimes against humanity against its Uyghur ethnic minority. Russia has been accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine. Both China and Russia supply arms to regimes in Syria and Myanmar both accused of committing mass atrocities. The United States, United Kingdom and France the three permanent Western members on the council have armed, and continue to arm, Israel, which has been accused of committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and the West Bank. Such complicity undermines the authority of the Security Council as the U.N. body charged with taking action to prevent and respond to mass atrocities. Additionally, the five permanent members have veto power, unlike the 10 rotating nonpermanent members of the council. This means whenever one of the permanent members votes no on a Security Council resolution, it does not pass. Rohingya refugees gather on Aug. 25, 2023, to mark the sixth anniversary of Genocide Day. Tanbir Miraj/AFP via Getty Images Since the Responsibility to Protect was adopted, the veto has been used to block action on mass atrocities several times. Russia and China have used their veto to block action in cases related to the crisis in Syria. Meanwhile, the U.S. has repeatedly vetoed action over Israels treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories. The power to veto also acts as a deterrent, preventing issues from being brought before the Security Council. If member states believe a permanent member will block a resolution, they may decide not to bring the issue before the council for a vote. Vetoing the veto The idea of reforming the council so that the five permanent members do not have veto powers on resolutions related to mass atrocities is not new. It gained traction in 2013 after Frances then-President Francois Hollande addressed the U.N. General Assembly and stated that whenever [the United Nations] proves to be powerless, its peace that pays the price. Hollande called for a code of good conduct whereby the permanent members could decide to collectively renounce their veto powers regarding mass atrocities. In 2015, Mexico joined France in formally calling for the suspension of veto powers in such cases. As of 2023, 106 states have expressed support for this effort. Separately in 2015, the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group 27 states that work to enhance the Security Councils effectiveness proposed a Code of Conduct on Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes. It called on states to voluntarily commit themselves not to vote against a draft resolution of the Security Council in which the Council takes measures to end these crimes. The key difference between the two proposals is that the ACT Groups code of conduct would apply to both permanent and nonpermanent members of the Security Council. As of 2023, 129 U.N. members and observers have signed. The issue of the Security Council veto has come up during the drafting of the Pact for the Future. An earlier version of the draft pact held that member states encourage a collective and voluntary agreement among the permanent members of the Security Council to refrain from the use of the veto when the Security Council intends to take action to prevent or halt genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. But this paragraph was removed in a subsequent revision. The latest version due to be discussed at the summit references the need to address veto reform and intensify efforts to reach an agreement on the future of the veto, including discussions on limiting its scope and use. But achieving true veto reform has proven difficult in the past, as permanent members have been reluctant to relinquish this extraordinary power. Less representative, but no less power The veto debate forms part of a larger discussion that many states, especially in the Global South, want to have over the shape of the U.N.s highest body. Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. In the conferences that preceded the creation of the U.N., the allied victors of World War II negotiated to give themselves permanent membership on the Security Council and veto power. But the world looks very different today than it did in 1945. The five permanent members are no longer all allies, and membership of the U.N. has grown significantly from 51 original members to 193 members today. As the U.N. has grown, it has added more members to the Security Council, expanding from 11 to 15 members in 1963. But the number of permanent members has not changed. And while in 1945 they represented close to half the worlds population and 10% of member states, that has dwindled to about a quarter and 2.5%, respectively. Despite becoming less representative, this five-member club still has the power should it find the willingness to use it to exert pressure to end many mass atrocities that are causing incredible suffering and death and driving the highest level of global displacement in history, with more than 120 million people forcibly displaced in 2024. But it has failed to do so. And while there are several challenges that need to be addressed in the Pact for the Future, any efforts to safeguard the safety of peoples now and in the future will be undermined without reform of the Security Council and its veto powers. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Mike Brand, University of Connecticut Read more: Mike Brand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. The United Nations on Wednesday passed a Palestinian-drafted resolution demanding Israel withdraw from the "Occupied Palestinian Territory" within 12 months, with Israels new ambassador calling the measure "shameful." "This is a shameful decision that backs the Palestinian Authoritys diplomatic terrorism," Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said after the vote. "Instead of marking the anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre by condemning Hamas and calling for the release of all 101 of the remaining hostages, the General Assembly continues to dance to the music of the Palestinian Authority, which backs the Hamas murderers," Danon added. The draft proposal received support from 124 countries, with 43 abstaining from voting and 14 others voting against it. The U.S. voted against the resolution and was joined by Argentina, Czech Republic, Fiji, Hungary, Israel, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga and Tuvalu. AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE: SENATE REPUBLICANS CONDEMN PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S UN BID TO UNDERMINE ISRAEL The resolution has no legally binding effect, but the General Assembly has also called on members to "take steps towards ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP This is the first resolution proposed by the Palestinians after gaining additional powers as a member following a vote in May, including granting them the ability to propose resolutions. The Palestinian territories pushed for the resolution on the back of a July advisory opinion by the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) that determined Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal and should be withdrawn. UN AMBASSADOR CRITICIZES ISRAELI MILITARY, CALLS FOR FUNDAMNETAL CHANGES Andrew Tucker, the director general of The Hague Initiative for International Cooperation, told Fox News Digital ahead of the resolution vote that the proposal would essentially seek to implement the ICJ advisory opinion with a hard timeline, whereas the ICJ merely said it should be done "immediately." "The court came out with an opinion in July," Tucker explained. "It's an opinion: It's not a ruling, it's not a criminal case. They're not deciding a dispute. It's a legal opinion that the court is being asked to give by the General Assembly." "But it goes to the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict," Tucker said. "In essence, the court is being asked to give its opinion on really the key issues that have been disputes between Israel and the Palestinians for decades, and the General Assembly is now implementing that opinion." ISRAEL'S UN AMBASSADOR SLAMS WORLD BODY, SAYS UNRWA TAKEN OVER BY HAMAS TERRORISTS IN GAZA "The court [is] saying: [It] doesn't matter what Israel's security concerns are, doesn't matter [that] there's a war going on in Gaza," Tucker continued. "It doesn't matter that Hezbollah is threatening to attack from the north. All of these things are irrelevant." The International Court of Justice handed down its view, on July 19, 2024, declaring "illegal" Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967, amid growing international pressure over the war in Gaza. "The Palestinians have a kind of absolute right to self-determination, and that means that Israel's presence in the territories has become illegal," he added. "Now, legally there's a lot to be said about this. For example never before has the right to self-determination been given this level of priority." Tucker argued that the implications of such a decision could lead to "greater conflict" because Israels expedited exit could leave open the chance for Iran to dig into the West Bank the same way it did with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians march during the funeral of terrorists killed in clashes the previous day in the Israeli military operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, on July 5, 2023. "If Israel withdraws from these territories It's only 10 kilometers from there at the smallest [point] between the West Bank and Tel Aviv," Tucker said. "So whoever gets control of these territories, if it's hostile toward Israel, which is unfortunately the case, we're facing a highly, highly volatile security situation," he added. Reuters contributed to this report. Original article source: UN resolution demanding Israel exit 'occupied territories' can hurt 'highly volatile' situation, expert says It could be argued that Cabarrus County Schools does more with less than most other districts across North Carolina. Despite the district receiving the lowest per-pupil funding of any district in the state, CCS still outpaced most other districts when it comes to student test scores. CCS in 2022-23 received $10,714 in per-pupil expenditure (PPE), which is defined as the average amount of money spent to educate a child in our public schools, including local, state, and federal funding. The $10,714 in per-pupil funding ranked CCS 115th in the state, according to the allocation data, which was released in February. Neighboring counties also received low PPE: Stanly County ranked 112th with $10,956 and Union County ranked 113th with $10,863. CCS received less in per-pupil funding in 2022-23 than it did the year prior, when it received $10,807 and was ranked 111th in the state. Karl Sain, CCS chief of technology and accountability, put the funding disparity in proper context for the school board Monday. CCS received $300 less in local funding per student compared with Union County Schools ($2,580 vs. $2,880). But that $300 difference, when multiplied by roughly 35,000 students, equates to over $10.5 million in funds that CCS is not receiving to help educate its students. Cabarrus ranked 50th out of the 115 districts in local funding ($2,580), but really struggled with state and federal funding. It received $6,961 in state funding, which ranked 113th, and it received $1,172 in federal funding, which ranked 112th. Despite the fact that every other district in North Carolina received more funding per student, CCS still continues to outpace most other districts when it comes to statewide testing results. As part of his presentation, Sain explained that 61.6% of students were proficient on state tests last year, a higher percentage than most other large school districts, many of which received much more funding. Of the 12 largest districts in the state, only Union and Wake County Schools had a higher share of students achieving proficiency. Wake received $900 more in local funding per student than Cabarrus. If CCS received the same amount of local per-pupil funding as Wake, it would have an additional $32 million. CCS overall proficiency score ranked it 15th among North Carolinas 115 school districts. Sain told the board he believes CCS has every opportunity in the near future to surpass Union and Wake in proficiency scores. The districts share of schools receiving an A grade also was much higher than the statewide percentage: CCS had 21% of its schools (9 in total) receive an A grade, compared with only 7% of public schools across North Carolina. CCS also performed better when it comes to its schools exceeding growth. The district had roughly 37% of its schools (15) exceed growth, compared with 29 percent of schools across North Carolina. Points of pride Some other key points of pride regarding the test results that were shared with the board: CCS ranked ninth in the state for third-through-eighth grade reading proficiency (58.4%) CCS ranked eighth in the state for all subjects in College/Career Readiness Academically or intellectually gifted (AIG) students ranked first on EOG/EOC proficiency scores compared with other AIG students across the state The encouraging thing of this data is that youre seeing consistent improvement across the board pretty much everywhere, Superintendent John Kopicki said, noting much of the credit goes to the teachers. There is always room for improvement and the district has to be intentional with what areas it prioritizes for the upcoming year. We have to pick and choose what we focus on and being last in per-pupil spending is a factor in that, Sain said. While the data is encouraging, school board members could not help but wonder how much better the district could do if it received more funding. What could we do for our children if we were fully funded? Brian Floyd asked. The News The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution Wednesday that demands Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank within 12 months. Some 124 members voted in favor, with 14 voting against, including the US, and dozens abstaining. The resolution is the first to be put forward by the Palestinian Authority since it gained a seat among UN members in the assembly hall this month. The Palestinian UN ambassador called the vote a turning point in the struggle for freedom and justice, meanwhile the Israeli ambassador described it as diplomatic terrorism. SIGNALS Israel becomes more isolated on the world stage Sources: The Associated Press, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera The resolution, though not legally enforceable, is symbolic of the growing global pressure on Israel to reach a ceasefire and hostage return deal in Gaza. The consensus also reinforces Israels isolation on the international stage and demonstrates a desire to ratify the power of the International Criminal Court, on whose advisory the Palestinian-drafted resolution was based. The EU said in a statement that the UN General Assembly had forcibly reaffirmed its commitment to Palestinian self-determination. The US keeps up its defense of Israel Sources: The Associated Press, The Economist The United States UN ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, opposed the resolution, arguing that it undermined the two-state solution and failed to address Hamas role in the conflict in Gaza. The US is Israels most powerful international ally but has come under increasing pressure from other nations to oppose Israels deadly offensive in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack. The votes passage, The Economist argued, signaled the US weakening clout over the UN, even as it remains its biggest financial contributor, suggesting that the Americans stretched by multiple crises domestically and internationally are losing their diplomatic supremacy. The outlet argued that resolution or not, Israel was unlikely to be dissuaded from continuing its military offensive in Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli soldiers take up positions next to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. General Assembly strongly supported a nonbinding Palestinian resolution Wednesday demanding that Israel end its unlawful presence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year. The vote in the 193-member world body was 124-14, with 43 abstentions. Among those in opposition was the United States, Israels closest ally. The resolution was adopted as Israels war against Hamas in Gaza approaches its first anniversary and as violence in the West Bank reaches new highs. Troubled efforts to broker a cease-fire deal in Gaza are pressing ahead, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting fellow mediators Wednesday in Egypt, even as attacks elsewhere in the region raise fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, called the vote a turning point "in our struggle for freedom and justice. It sends a clear message that Israels occupation must end as soon as possible and that the Palestinian peoples right to self-determination must be realized, he said. Israels U.N. Ambassador, Danny Danon, slammed the vote as a shameful decision that backs the Palestinian Authoritys diplomatic terrorism. Instead of marking the anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre by condemning Hamas and calling for the release of all 101 of the remaining hostages, the General Assembly continues to dance to the music of the Palestinian Authority, which backs the Hamas murderers, Danon said. The U.S. mission to the U.N. called the resolution one-sided, pointing to its failure to recognize that Hamas, a terrorist organization, still exerts power in Gaza and to state that Israel has a right to defend itself from acts of terrorism. This resolution will not bring about tangible progress for Palestinians, the U.S. said. In fact, it could both complicate efforts to end the conflict in Gaza and impede reinvigorating steps toward a two-state solution, while ignoring Israels very real security concerns. While the resolution is not legally binding, the extent of its support reflects world opinion. There are no vetoes in the General Assembly, unlike in the 15-member Security Council. The resolution also demands the withdrawal of all Israeli forces and the evacuation of settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories without delay. And it urges countries to impose sanctions on those responsible for maintaining Israels presence in the territories and halt arms exports to Israel if theyre suspected of being used there. In addition, the resolution calls for Israel to pay reparations to Palestinians for the damage caused by its occupation and urges countries to take steps to prevent trade or investments that maintain Israels presence in the territories. It comes in response to a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israels presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end. The courts opinion also is not legally binding. In the sweeping condemnation of Israels rule over the lands it captured during the 1967 war, the International Court of Justice said Israel had no right to sovereignty over the territories and was violating international laws against acquiring the lands by force. The General Assemblys consideration of the resolution began Tuesday with Mansour stressing that any country that thinks the Palestinian people will accept a life of servitude or that claims peace is possible without a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not being realistic. The solution remains an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side in peace and security with Israel, he said. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International also urged Israel to heed the call to end its occupation. The resolution asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to submit a report to the General Assembly within three months on putting the resolution in place, including any actions taken by Israel, other states and international organizations, including the United Nations." We fully abide by the decisions of the International Court of Justice," Guterres told reporters. "I will implement any decision of the General Assembly in that regard. Mansour said most likely Israel wont pay attention to the resolution and that the Palestinians will then follow up with a stronger one. ___ Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) As the one-year anniversary of the hostage crisis approaches, families of Americans held in Gaza are continuing to plead for their release. Its a fate that I would not wish upon an enemy, Jonathan Dekel-Chen said. Dekel-Chen is the father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 35-year-old American husband and father, who was taken hostage. During an event at the National Press Club on Wednesday, the families of seven American hostages shared stories about their loved ones and called on the Biden administration to do more. We are, to the degree that we can as private citizens, are going to be urging the U.S. government to rethink perhaps the approach and rethink how pressure can be applied to both sides, Dekel-Chen said. The families of the hostages are expected to meet with lawmakers and senior administration officials in Washington, D.C. this week. They emphasized that the U.S. has been communicative, but there is continued concern with Hamas and the Israeli government reaching a deal. Its unacceptable. Its almost a year and its time. We have to get them back, Ronen Neutra said. Almost a year later, we havent seen our children, our husbands, and sisters and grandfathers coming back. And were urging the administration to think out of the box and to come up with a strategy that will enforce both sides Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement that is so much needed. Neutras 22-year-old son, Omer, is an American member of the IDF who was defending the Gaza border on Oct. 7. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently in Egypt, which is a partner with the U.S. in efforts to mediate the Gaza war. Blinken said recent surprise escalations threaten to derail ceasefire talks. 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 DC News Now | Washington, DC. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Crews worked to put out a fire inside a home on Meredith Street in Springfield. Springfield leaders urge drivers to slow down on Boston Road Springfield Fire Captain Drew Piemonte told 22News that there was minor damage to the home located on the corner of Meredith and Washington Streets. They determined that the fire was caused by cooking left unattended. No injuries were reported. According to Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts President Chief Michael Newbury, unattended cooking is the leading cause of kitchen fires. Officials are reminding residents to remember to stay in the kitchen when cooking, and have a lid nearby so if there is a fire, they can put a lid on the pan and turn the burner off. When baking, use a kitchen timer if you must leave the kitchen to remind you that there is something in the oven, but dont leave the house. The Massachusetts Red Cross is also urging people to test their smoke alarms and practice their escape plan. 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. Pennsylvania Capitol Building. May 24, 2022. Harrisburg, Pa. (Photo by Amanda Berg, for the Capital-Star). Pennsylvania Capitol Building on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (Photo by Amanda Berg, for the Capital-Star). Democrats Keith Harris and Andre Carroll won uncontested special elections for two Philadelphia state House districts on Tuesday, according to unofficial results, meaning Democrats will maintain a one-seat majority in the state legislatures lower chamber. Harris and Carroll each received about 3,100 votes in the elections for the 195th and 201st legislative districts, respectively, according to election returns published by the Pennsylvania Department of State. The results are unofficial until certified by Philadelphia election officials and the Pennsylvania Department of State. Former Rep. Donna Bullock (D-Philadelphia) resigned from her 195th Legislative District seat to become CEO of the nonprofit homeless support group Project HOME. Bullock has represented the 195th Legislative District since 2016. Former Rep. Stephen Kinsey (D-Philadelphia) announced in January that the current legislative session would be his last. Kinsey has served as state representative for the 201st Legislative District since 2013. Both officially resigned in July. Their northwest Philadelphia districts were considered safe for Democrats, who hold a 102-seat majority in the House, which the caucus has maintained through a series of special elections this session. The House is scheduled to return to session Sept. 23 but will not hold votes until Oct. 1. According to his campaign website, Harris began his work in community service in 1984 with the Philadelphia anti-graffiti network, served as 28th Ward leader, and as Philadelphia City Councils sergeant at arms. Carroll says on his campaign website that he was raised by his grandmother because his father was incarcerated and his mother struggled with substance abuse. His grandmothers lessons of hard work, perseverance and identifying opportunity gave him the motivation to graduate from school, earn a degree while working full time and become a teacher in the public school system. (This article was updated at 3:55 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, to include information about certification of the election results) Books by Toni Morrison are among those pulled from school libraries in Rutherford County. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector) Books by Toni Morrison are among those pulled from school libraries in Rutherford County. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector) (This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters) Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessees free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools. Jennifer Edwards was a teenager in Arizona when she first read Beloved, Toni Morrisons haunting novel about sexual violence and the brutal realities of American slavery. It had a profound effect on me, she said, citing the empathy, historical understanding, and critical thinking skills the book imparted. Now a mother of two sons and living in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Edwards wants teens in her community to have access to her all-time favorite book. But under a recently revised state law broadening the definition of what school library materials are prohibited, her local board of education is set to vote Thursday on whether to pull the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and six other books with mature themes from the shelves of Rutherford County Schools. Banning books is not OK, Edwards told the board last month as it began reviewing the materials. Just because you dont like what the mirror shows you doesnt mean you put the mirror down. This weeks vote comes after the district, south of Nashville, already removed 29 books from its libraries this year under a previous policy, part of a wave of purges on campuses across Tennessee and other states. In Tennessee, that wave started under Gov. Bill Lees 2022 school library law requiring periodic reviews of catalogs to ensure materials are appropriate for the ages and maturity levels of the students who can access them. Librarians and teachers had to publish their inventories of book collections online for parents to view. Early removals included books about marginalized groups, including people who identify as LGBTQ+, and descriptions of slavery and racial discrimination throughout U.S. history. This spring, scrutiny escalated. Republican lawmakers added a definition of whats suitable and, based on the states obscenity law, prohibited any material that in whole or in part contains descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse. Banning books is not OK. Just because you don't like what the mirror shows you doesn't mean you put the mirror down. Jennifer Edwards, mother of two Rutherford County Schools students In the absence of state guidance on how to interpret the changes What constitutes excess violence, for instance? Are photographs of nude statues allowed? What about Shakespeares Romeo & Juliet? some school boards like Rutherford Countys are putting questionable material to a vote. Educators in many other districts are quietly culling their shelves of certain books. A recent survey of members of the Tennessee Association of School Librarians found that more than 1,100 titles have been removed under the changes, with more under review. One librarian anonymously reported pulling 300 titles at a single school since the start of the academic year. Only a sixth of the organizations members responded to the survey. We may never truly know the level to which books have been removed from school libraries in Tennessee, the organization said in a statement, noting that large-scale removals may cause some libraries to fall under the states minimum standards for collection counts. A literal interpretation of this law may have the unintended consequences of gutting resources that support curriculum standards for fine arts, biology, health, history, and world religions, to name a few, especially in high schools, where AP curriculum and dual enrollment courses require more critical texts, the group said. Lindsey Kimery, one of the organizations leaders, said the laws rollout has created chaos and confusion for school librarians. Some librarians have received guidance from their central office; some have not, she said. Some boards are updating their policies for handling book challenges to align with the laws changes. Some districts have interpreted the law to mean they should preemptively go through their collections and pull anything they think has one of the prohibited topics in it. Its all over the map, Kimery added. Seven books that could be banned Seven books are under review by Rutherford County Board of Education for possible removal from the districts library shelves: Beloved by Tony Morrison Queen of Shadows by Sara J. Maas Tower of Dawn by Sara J. Maas Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Skin and Bones by Sherry Shahan The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Shbosky Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire Phantom book banning: Censorship in the shadows The quiet censorship is being noticed by First Amendment advocates, from the ACLU of Tennessee to Julia Garnett, who graduated last spring from Hendersonville High School in Sumner County, north of Nashville. Garnett started a free speech club at her high school during her senior year. Now a freshman at Smith College in Massachusetts, she is the youth spokesperson for the American Library Associations Banned Books Week, Sept. 22-28. Last week, she searched her alma maters online library catalog to look for books by Sarah J. Maas and Ellen Hopkins, whose popular young adult novels are frequently challenged or banned due to their mature themes and sexual content. None were listed. They used to be there, but theyve disappeared, said Garnett. I call it phantom book banning, where libraries are being censored, but not in a public way. I think thats what scares me the most. The law is vulnerable to a federal challenge on First Amendment grounds, said Kathy Sinback, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee. The statutes vagueness, a lack of compliance guidance from the state, and the uneven way the law is being applied across Tennessee are among issues that open the door to a lawsuit. But wed love to see the legislature fix the problems next year without having to pursue litigation, Sinback said. Wed like to see it made constitutional in a way that will ensure our children have access to the literature they deserve. Legal precedents support students First Amendment rights The House sponsor of the laws recent revisions, Rep. Susan Lynn of Mt. Juliet, did not respond to emails asking if shed be open to revisiting the law. Some of her critics worry the goal is ultimately to take a legal challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court, where conservatives hold a majority. The Senate sponsor, Joey Hensley of Hohenwald, said he believes the law is constitutional. Im always open to making laws better, he said, but I dont think this interferes with peoples First Amendment rights, and Im personally not hearing about problems with it. The laws intent is simply to ensure public schools do not give children access to materials that are not appropriate for their ages. A display in New York's Strand Bookstore, Jan. 30, 2022, after the McMinn County Board of Education voted to remove the graphic novel about the Holocaust from school libraries. (Photo: Cindy West) Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Associations Office for Intellectual Freedom, said higher courts have consistently sided with First Amendment advocates on challenges to content in school libraries, even as efforts to ban books in public schools and libraries reached an all-time high in 2023. The school library is supposed to be a place of voluntary inquiry a safe space for students to explore ideas under the supervision of adults instead of alone on their cellphones. This gets to the core of the First Amendment, she said, the idea that libraries are a marketplace of ideas, and elected officials should not be able to dictate their contents. But its also possible that another school library case could someday reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Two book ban cases from Iowa and Texas are already making their way through the federal courts. Current legal precedent stems from the high courts 1982 ruling involving a school board in New York state that wanted certain books removed from its middle and high school libraries. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled against the board and held that the right to receive ideas is a necessary predicate to the recipients meaningful exercise of his own rights of speech, press, and political freedom. Justice William Brennan wrote that while local school boards have a substantial legitimate role to play in the determination of school library content, the First Amendment doesnt give government officials the power to ditch books because they dont like them or disagree with their viewpoints. Ken Paulson, director of the Tennessee-based Free Speech Center and a former editor-in-chief of USA Today, also cites the importance of a 1969 Supreme Court ruling establishing that students have constitutional rights, too. The case involved students in Des Moines, Iowa, who wore black armbands to their public school in silent protest of the Vietnam War. The court sided with the students. Because someone is 12 or 14, we sometimes think they dont have constitutional rights, Paulson said. But they do, and theyre surprisingly robust. Students are not just students; they are citizens. Middle Tennessee district is a book ban hotspot In Murfreesboro, a college town that is home to about 50,000 students in Tennessees largest suburban K-12 district, most titles removed so far were in high school libraries. They generally were contemporary young adult novels containing sexual content and other mature themes, from child abuse and suicide to substance abuse and LGBTQ+ issues. The books were flagged as sexually explicit material by school board member Caleb Tidwell and removed this spring without going through the districts library review committee that includes a principal, teachers, librarians, and a parent. Rutherford County School Board Member Caleb Tidwell says "most" of the books removed "lack educational value." (Photo: Rutherford County Schools) Xan Lasko, who recently retired as a high school librarian in Rutherford County, said the directives she received from Superintendent James Sullivan bypassed the districts usual review process for handling complaints. Instead, Tidwell cited a provision of board policy requiring the immediate removal of sexually explicit material. Sullivan concurred, according to their email exchange obtained from the district through a public records request from Nashville TV station WSMV. Tidwell, a Republican who was reelected to the school board in August, said he made the requests on behalf of individuals who have expressed concerns but who feared retaliation from the media and individuals in the district. In his opinion, all of the materials in question violate both the states obscenity law and local board policy. Most, he said, have education value near zero, or very low. For those that provide historical context, other books that go into those topics but without sexually explicit language are available. Its a very contentious topic, said Tidwell, who has three school-age children. But if we focus on the content, most of this stuff is pretty clear. Yes, there is some subjectiveness to it, but theres also a line. We need to determine what the line is, and then hold it. Lasko, the former librarian, said thats what librarians and educators do. My biggest issue is that a small number of people were making the judgment to curtail what students are able to read using a vague law, said Lasko, who now chairs the intellectual freedom committee of the Tennessee Association of School Librarians. We have masters degrees in library science. We know what were doing, she said. But a lot of times, we werent being consulted. New library policy diminishes the role of librarians In advance of this weeks vote on Tidwells latest request to remove more books, the board revamped its library materials policy to add language from the revised state law. It also eliminated the 11-member review committee appointed annually by the board to consider book complaints. Instead, materials that district leaders deem to be in violation of the states obscenity law are to be immediately removed from all school libraries and then reviewed for a final decision by the board. A second avenue for removal through complaints filed by a student, parent, or school employee also requires a board vote after receiving recommendations from the principal and superintendent and a review by an ad hoc committee. Before, said the ACLUs Sinback, there was a thorough process where every person on the review committee had expertise and would read the book. Theyd look at the questionable content but also the overall quality of the material and how it could impact kids exposed to it in both a positive and negative way. My biggest issue is that a small number of people were making the judgment to curtail what students are able to read using a vague law. Xan Lasko, former Rutherford County high school librarian Now, she said, the decision rests completely with board members. The changes concern school librarians like Brian Seadorf, who oversees the collection at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro. He asked board members and parents to just talk to us if they have concerns about certain books. We are educators, we are parents, we are grandparents. We are good people, Seadorf told the board on Aug. 22. Angela Frederick, a Rutherford County resident and school librarian in a neighboring district, added: The titles youre considering removing are for older students approaching adulthood. It is developmentally appropriate for teenagers to mentally wrestle with difficult topics. It is also excellent preparation for higher education. Shielding them from books like these does not prepare them for anything but ignorance. Edwards, the Rutherford County parent who also spoke to the board about the proposed removals, is upset that Beloved is on the chopping block, even though she knows its a deeply sad and painful book to read. (Morrison, who died in 2019, said she was inspired to write the novel based on the true story of an enslaved woman, Margaret Garner, who killed her own daughter in 1856 to spare her from slavery.) I remember it took me several weeks to finish Beloved when I was 15, because I had to put it down every few days, recalls Edwards, now 42. I had to have time to process what I was reading. But to restrict literary genius, she continued, it just doesnt make sense to me. Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org . Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Correction: This story has been updated to correct a misattribution. When a dive center in a flooded quarry near Bristol, in the UK, was suddenly shut down in early 2022, many recreational scuba divers were left scratching their heads. Almost two years later, they got some answers. DEEP, a UK-based ocean technology company that purchased the dive spot as a research hub and company campus, came out of stealth mode last September, revealing its mission to make humans aquatic. The cornerstone of its plan is an underwater habitat called the Sentinel system, which it says will allow people to live and work at a depth of 200 meters (656 feet) for up to a month. The Sentinel system is comprised of interconnected modules and can be used for purposes ranging from collecting data about the oceans chemistry to excavating historical shipwrecks. The scalable habitat can be configured in different shapes, making it as suitable for a six-person mission as a 50-person research station, according to DEEP. The company hopes that its habitats can catalyze a permanent human presence underwater, like an International Space Station (ISS) which, since 2000, has allowed humans to live and work in space for the ocean. Last week, DEEP announced a precursor to the Sentinel, a smaller underwater habitat which the company will use to develop systems for the Sentinel but will also be released as a separate product. Vanguard, a 12-meter (40-feet) by 7.5-meter (25-feet) habitat with enough space for three people to stay underwater for up to a week, will be ready to go into the water at DEEPs UK campus in early 2025. A view into a mock up of the Vanguard, DEEP's pilot subsea habitat. - DEEP A full-scale representation of a Sentinel is under construction. It will be used to train divers. - DEEP The pilot habitat could have important uses when quick deployment is needed, like the search mission in August for survivors of a superyacht that sank off Sicily, Sean Wolpert, DEEPs president, told CNN. With the vessel sinking to a depth of 50 meters (164 feet) divers could only stay underwater for about 12 minutes before resurfacing. An underwater habitat placed on the seabed near the wreck could have served as a base for divers instead, said Wolpert. Today, there is only one operational undersea research lab in the world, run by Florida International University, which is used by everyone from researchers studying corals to NASA astronauts undergoing extreme environment training. If all goes to plan, Sentinel will be ready to go by 2027, and Wolpert hopes to see them deployed in locations across the world. But DEEP acknowledges that itll take a major effort to reach its ambitious goals. Why hasnt it been done before in the way were trying to do it? asked Wolpert. Because its very hard. So, we have been working tirelessly. DEEPs 50-acre campus near Bristol in the UK is home to a flooded limestone quarry, once used as an inland dive site. Its Vanguard habitat will be tested there in 2025. - DEEP A catalyst for new careers Sentinels modules will be 3D-printed by a group of six robots, using steel reinforced with a nickel-based superalloy called Inconel, which can withstand extreme conditions and has been used in components for the Space Shuttle and SpaceX rockets. Depending on what pressure its operating at, the Sentinel system can be accessed either by submarine, which locks with the habitat, or divers can enter via a moon pool opening at the bottom. A support buoy on the surface will be equipped with a Starlink interface for connectivity, and the habitat will be powered with renewable sources like wind turbines and solar panels on the surface. The company is pre-revenue but is engaged in advanced discussions with organizations and governments around the world, said Wolpert, who is a former hedge fund manager. Customers can lease, buy, or just share space in a habitat, depending on their needs.. The habitats, he added, could act as a catalyst for new careers and new investments related to the ocean, very much like what the International Space Station did in terms of making space sexy again. Other uses might include monitoring and repairing critical subsea infrastructure, tourism, training for space, coral restoration, naval dive training, and medical research. When its job is done, the habitat can be redeployed in a new location. Today, Aquarius, in the Florida Keys, is used by everyone from marine biologists studying corals to astronauts preparing for space. - OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP); Fairleigh Dickinson University DEEPs work comes at a time of growing interest in utilizing the oceans resources from offshore wind energy to deep sea minerals. But the habitats could also allow marine biologists to get an understanding of the ocean not possible during shorter visits, via scuba diving or using submersible vessels. Bill Dennison, a professor of marine science at the University of Marylands Center for Environmental Science, spent time studying seagrasses aboard Hydrolab, an early undersea research habitat active until 1985 in the US Virgin Islands. I learned more about the ocean in that one week of my life than all the other thousands of dives Ive done, he said. You just get a sense of the flow of life undersea. Still, he understands why there arent more subsea habitats. Theyre dangerous and expensive, said Dennison. You need a lot of up-to-date, good equipment, and you need up-to-date, qualified personnel. What gives DEEP a competitive advantage, according to Wolpert, is the support of its founder, who he wont name besides saying hes a North American tech entrepreneurwho likes to be quite private, and wanted to increase the understanding of the oceans, and their critical role for humanity. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations SUV-sized Hydrolab, used between 1970 and 1985, allowed four people to stay underwater for days or weeks at a time. But it had only three bunks, so occupants had to rotate sleeping. - OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) Aquarius replaced Hydrolab after it was decommissioned. It had a few extra comforts, like a toilet. This photo shows the bunk room of Aquarius, which sleeps six people. It's still in operation today in the Florida Keys. - OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) Dennison, of the University of Maryland, said Hydrolab was damp, cramped, lacked indoor plumbing, and had only three beds for four occupants. By contrast, Sentinel will feature soundproofed bunks, and a communal hall for eating and socializing. Its not going to be a Four Seasons suite, but when you leave, youll want to come back, Wolpert said. It may sound like a sci-fi fantasy, but some are impressed by the companys progress. They are assembling a very good group of people. This seems to be a well-informed undertaking, Craig McLean, the former assistant administrator for research at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who is not involved in DEEPs work, told CNN. The start of a new wave Public interest in undersea habitats was first piqued by renowned French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, who in the 1960s sought to determine if oceanauts could live and work in the water. His missions to build underwater villages dubbed Conshelf I, II and III captured media attention amid the space race. A series of other underwater habitats followed, but public interest in the oceans subsequently waned, said McLean, the former NOAA official. NOAA operated Hydrolab, its first undersea lab, from 1970 to 1985. It deployed another, Aquarius, in 1988 in St. Croix, also in the US Virgin Islands. The habitat, which is slightly larger than a school bus, has six bunks and features a microwave, toilet, refrigerator, shower and internet access. Today, it is located in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, where it remains the worlds only operational underwater lab dedicated to research. But it hasnt all been smooth sailing. McLean had to make the tough decision to transfer Aquarius operations from NOAA to the Miami-based Florida International University, which took over operations in 2013. Its unfortunately what I had to do based on the finances available, said McLean. Ocean investment by society has been underfunded. More recently, wealthy individuals have thrown their resources behind ocean exploration. OceanX, backed by hedge fund founder Ray Dalio, has brought subsea missions into living rooms via its media arm. Financier Victor Vescovo, the first human to travel to the deepest points in all five of Earths oceans, also captured his quests for television. Initiatives like DEEP, and Proteus an underwater observatory and research station announced in 2020 by the ocean tech company founded by Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of the legendary explorer are likely to help drive more public interest and excitement in the oceans, McLean added. Wolpert said that DEEP is more than a habitat, its also a platform for engaging the next generation. DEEP is working on a US Office of Naval Research-funded STEM outreach program, which will engage students in a series of habitat technology design challenges. The company is also rolling out an institute and curriculum to train future Sentinel occupants. If people cant productively and safely use the habitats, they are just shiny objects that sit on the seabed, said Wolpert. He hopes DEEPs holistic approach will help sustain the wave of interest in the oceans. Theres a very large disconnect between the human race and the ocean, said Wolpert. Our goal is driving that generational shift and reconnecting humanity with the sea. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The Royal Exchange in Manchester had been due to stage A Midsummer Night's Dream for five weeks [Getty Images] Arts union Equity has criticised a "growing culture of censorship" after a play was cancelled, reportedly in a dispute over references to the Israel-Gaza war and trans rights. The Royal Exchange, Manchester's main producing theatre, has scrapped its entire five-week run of a modern retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Equity said it was "deeply frustrated" at the lack of transparency over the cancellation, and that it was speaking to theatre bosses to "protect the principle of artistic freedom". The theatre has said it wants "to work with artists who address complex issues" but the play faced "a number of challenges". It said those challenges included "injuries, a delayed technical week and changes late in the process". The Manchester Evening News reported that the show, set in the city's present-day rave scene, was axed after managers objected to a song with lyrics that referred to trans rights and the phrase "free Palestine". Theatre news outlet The Stage reported that one of the points of contention was "free Palestine" being daubed on the set as well as featuring in a rap. Equity said union officials met the theatre's management on Wednesday and "received assurances that they take our concerns seriously". A statement said: "While we welcome the engagement, we remain deeply frustrated by the lack of transparency regarding the events leading to the cancellation of A Midsummer Nights Dream. "For Equity, this is an issue of dignity at work and freedom of expression. We absolutely back the rights of our members performers, stage management, creative team and all involved in the production to be treated with dignity and respect at work. "We reject the growing culture of censorship created by funders and pressure groups. We are fighting for artistic integrity, as well as dignity for our members, and all working people. "We remain in conversation with Royal Exchange management to protect the principle of artistic freedom, guarantee our members dignity at work, and ensure the integrity of our collective agreements." A theatre spokesperson said: "At the Royal Exchange Theatre we want to work with artists who address complex issues. "Sadly, in A Midsummer Nights Dream a number of challenges occurred which led to a decision to cancel the production - including injuries, a delayed technical week and changes late in the process. "Despite our best efforts we were unable to get the show on as planned and took the difficult decision to cancel the production. Every effort was made to get the production on stage." The show's director Stef O'Driscoll and cast have not commented on the reasons for the cancellation. The decision has damaged the theatre's credibility among some observers. Actor Giovanni Bienne, a member of Equity's LGBT+ committee, wrote on X: "Every director worth their salt who wants to address 'complex issues' will laugh and spit in the @rxtheatre's face whenever they try to hire them. "Working there will make you an establishment stooge. And who wants that reputation." Denise Fahmy, who co-founded the group Freedom in the Arts, wrote: "The production sounds dreadful - perhaps thats the reason @rxtheatre cancelled it - but once commissioned, shouldnt audiences decide whether to see it or not?" The venue receives 2.4m a year from Arts Council England, the body's third-highest annual theatre grant, behind the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. A spokesperson for Arts Council England said all recipients of funding "remain fully responsible for their operations, artistic programme, and the day-to-day management of their activities". The Greater Manchester Combined Authority, one of the theatre's other main funders, did not respond to a request for comment. Last year, the Royal Exchange scrapped its artistic director post and replaced it with a less senior creative director role. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) One Champaign nonprofit is trying to spread a message on National Voter Registration Day. United Way of Champaign County took to social media to encourage people to register to vote. Your voice matters, and voting is one of the most powerful ways to create change in your community and beyond, the organization said. Champaigns Bike to Work Day is back The next chance for people to vote is in 48 days, when U.S. House and Presidential elections take place. Sue Grey, United Ways president, said that even if one is already registered, they should check their personal information before heading to the polls. Maybe theyve moved or got married and their name changed or something like that, Grey said. So its a good day just to remind yourself to get out there and get registered so when the day comes and you want to go vote, youre all ready to go. Anyone who wants to register to vote in Champaign County can find information on how to do so 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. MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, ALABAMA Holding a green stenciled dinosaur, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin smiled widely as 4-year-old students fed letters to the flat critter, in an alphabet learning exercise. Austin visited Maxwell Elementary Middle School last week along with first lady Jill Biden to highlight the launch of universal pre-kindergarten classes available to all 4-year-olds at 80 installations with elementary schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity. We heard loud and clear that families juggling work and raising kids need affordable child care and quality early childhood education, Austin said, speaking to airmen, their families and school staff. Austin highlighted the pre-kindergarten launch as one of the Defense Departments efforts to make life easier for troops and their families. DOD also announced seven new initiatives, including another effort to increase access to quality child care, with a $33.5 million budget request specifically for the child care workforce, to improve recruitment, retention and the work environments in DODs child development program. Like many civilian child care programs, the military has faced shortages of child care workers for years. About 4,000 four-year-olds attend pre-K classes at the 80 schools where its being offered. Officials anticipate about 6,000 students will attend once the program is rolled out to all 90 elementary schools. Enrollment in the program is optional. The remaining 10 elementary schools in the DODEA system will get pre-K over the next several years, pending construction and renovation. The Department of Defense Education Activity, which manages schools on U.S. military bases around the world, launched its universal pre-K program in 2023 with a cohort of 65 4-year-olds at one school M.C. Perry Primary School at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. US military to expand universal pre-K at dozens more bases this fall It was a success, said Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, who became director of the defense school system June 1. The families there were so grateful and so excited, and just saw their children flourishing in the program, Narvaez told Military Times in a recent interview. That was a great indicator about how important this is. And for military commanders, theyve asked us for nearly a decade, and told us how important this is for readiness. Theyre so appreciative. " Narvaez said universal pre-K is her top priority this school year. The startup costs for universal pre-K this year are about $65 million, and total annual expenditures, including teachers salaries, are expected to be about $45 million, said DODEA spokesman Will Griffin. Officials were able to accelerate the timeline for bringing pre-kindergarten to the schools this year because of the determination of local school officials. In 2023, defense school officials said they expected the program would be phased in gradually over a five year period. They were initially slated to start universal pre-kindergarten this year in 47 schools. But school leaders wanted the programs to come to their schools sooner, and worked to make it happen. They did that on their own because they know how important this initiative is, Narvaez said. People were so excited and realized how important this was, that they walked their buildings, they looked to see if they had viable space, they worked with military commanders to find the space to do it They looked in every nook and cranny to see if theres appropriate space. The student/teacher ratio for pre-K is 18 to 1. Every pre-K classroom has a full-time, certified early childhood educator and a full-time educational aide. Any child who will be age 4 on or before Sept. 1 of a coming school year may enroll. Parents can register through the DODEA Student Information System, but theres no registration deadline because military families move throughout the year. Parents can visit dodea.edu/upk for more information and to enroll their child. The Defense Department operates about 160 schools around the world, with nearly 70,000 students. The vast majority of military children attend schools outside the gate. Universal pre-kindergarten programs are a defining issue for the United States, first lady Biden told told an audience of service members at Maxwell AFB. Whats happening at Maxwell is part of the blueprint for making quality preschool available to every three- and four-year-old in America, she said. Descendants of WWII Japanese invaders apologize for atrocities and call for peace Xinhua) 08:22, September 18, 2024 Kuroi Akio, descendant of WWII Japanese invader Kuroi Keijirou, removes his shoes and socks and kneels down to kowtow before the Chinese people in Gongzhuling, northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Tang Mingze/Xinhua) CHANGCHUN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Under the Chinese national flag, 76-year-old Japanese man Kuroi Akio removed his shoes and socks and knelt down to kowtow before the Chinese people. In this way he sought to offer an apology on behalf of his father at a historical site in northeast China's Jilin Province, where Japanese forces once committed atrocities during the invasion of China. Ahead of the anniversary of the September 18th Incident, Kuroi, along with eight other descendants of Japanese soldiers who invaded China, embarked on a five-day journey of remorse and apology. On Sept. 18, 1931, Japanese troops bombarded the barracks and began the bloody invasion in China, foreshadowing WWII and making the country the first to resist fascism. The Japanese army had deployed 1.86 million troops in China, accounting for more than 50 percent of a total of 3.58 million Japanese troops sent overseas. During the war of resistance against Japanese aggression that lasted until 1945, China suffered a total of 35 million military and non-military casualties, accounting for a third of the total casualties of all the countries in WWII. Kuroi's father, Kuroi Keijirou, had participated in two separate campaigns in northeast China in 1932 and 1941. These campaigns included violent acts against civilians, something Kuroi Akio is determined to address and atone for. Kuroi Akio, descendant of WWII Japanese invader Kuroi Keijirou, cries after attending an apology ceremony in Gongzhuling, northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Tang Mingze/Xinhua) Walking through former sites of the Japanese military occupation, including the command headquarters and barracks, Kuroi reflected on the horrors his father's unit had inflicted. "They carried out assaults on the farmers and residents of Gongzhuling City, depriving them of their lives and robbing their property. The actions of my father were inhumane, and as his son, I offer my sincerest apologies to the people of Gongzhuling. What he did can never be forgiven," Kuroi said. Okayama Teruaki, 70, another member of the group, noted that the countless Chinese people who lost their lives to the Japanese military should have had the futures they had hoped for. He emphasized that ignoring these innocent souls and attempting to find solace by "honoring" Japanese soldiers who died in the war is futile. The true way to "comfort the souls" is to acknowledge the invasion, offer sincere apologies and compensation, mourn the victims, and renounce war. According to Li Suzhen, vice president of the Chinese and Japanese Oral History Culture Institute, Okayama's two uncles died in the invasion. After the war, Japan's disregard of the facts of invasion deeply disappointed Okayama, leading him to dedicate his life to anti-war activism. Okayama used his position as a teacher before retirement to tell high school students in Tokyo about Japan's war crimes. His outspoken activism has resulted in multiple reprimands from the Japanese government. Kuroi Akio, descendant of WWII Japanese invader Kuroi Keijirou, delivers an apology speech in Gongzhuling, northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Tang Mingze/Xinhua) While they apologized at the site, the group members held white flags with characters that read "white flags against war, reconciliation through dialogue" in a poignant act of calling on the international community to remember history and cherish peace. In addition to their acts of atonement, the descendants brought with them a trove of historical documents collected in Japan related to the Japanese invasion of China. These materials were presented to Changchun Normal University (CNU) to support academic research and deepen the understanding of this painful period in history. Professor Zhang Xiaogang from the School of History and Culture at CNU said that the personal stories and testimonies shared by the group offer a new dimension to the study of Japan's war crimes. "Their visit is a positive step towards shaping an accurate and honest historical memory for both nations," Zhang noted. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) MIDLAND Gov. Roy Cooper visited Bethel Elementary School in Cabarrus County on Tuesday as part of the Year of Public Schools education tour and delivered supplies collected from the Governors School Supply Drive. The governor was joined by teachers, students, local and state education leaders and local elected officials as he highlighted the outstanding work taking place in North Carolinas public schools and the devastating impacts the Republican voucher scheme will have on rural communities across the state. Cooper called for a stop to state spending on vouchers for unaccountable and unregulated private schools until North Carolinas public schools are fully funded. Republicans in the General Assembly voted last week to expand the private school voucher program, bringing the total amount of new funding for this year to $625 million. The governor also called for fully funding K-12 education as well as meaningful investments in early childhood education and teacher pay. Republican legislators have neglected to provide any substantial investments in teacher pay or early childhood education. Republican legislators are prioritizing taxpayer dollars to private school vouchers for the wealthiest North Carolinians over better pay for public school teachers, Cooper said. Schools like Bethel Elementary are providing wonderful opportunities for our students and they deserve substantial investments so they can continue to serve their community. Our schools are more than buildings; they are hubs of our communities. Public education brings people together, uniting students, families, teachers, and community members around the shared goal of lifting up the next generation, Dr. John Kopicki, Cabarrus County Schools superintendent, said. Our schools serve as spaces where students can explore new ideas, build relationships, and discover their passions. They are places of inclusion, where diversity is celebrated, and where every child can find their voice. Public education is a collective effort, one that involves everyone parents, teachers, administrators, and community leaders. Not only am I the proud principal of Bethel, but I am also a proud product of this school and Cabarrus County Schools, Bethel Elementary School Principal Julie Barbee said. When you stop to think about it, public schools are one of the few institutions accessible to everyone. Public schools create a level playing field for all members of our community, and they are undeniably successful. Bethel Elementary is a shining example of this success. Over 52% of our students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and yet they are exceeding state growth expectations by 3 times! Public schools are undeniably successful! Cooper has declared 2024 The Year of Public Schools. In April, he announced his FY24-25 budget that includes investments in North Carolina public schools and early childhood and child care system. The governors budget would raise teacher pay by 8.5% and invest more than $1 billion in public schools while placing a moratorium on taxpayer-funded private school vouchers. The impact on Cabarrus students The governor has spent the year visiting communities across the state highlighting the wonderful things happening in North Carolina public schools. In Cabarrus County, 86.2% of school-aged children attend public schools, and public schools in Cabarrus County and across the state excel at preparing students for success from cradle to career. The 2023 high school graduation rate for Cabarrus County Schools was 89%. In 2023, North Carolina public school students earned more than 325,000 workforce credentials while in high school. More than 4,715 of those workforce credentials were earned by students in Cabarrus County. In 2023, more than one-third of North Carolina high school graduates and 42% of graduates from Cabarrus County Schools took a college course for credit while in high school. North Carolina has the highest number of National Board-certified teachers in the country (more than 24,000), including 255 in Cabarrus County. According to a press release from Cooper, Republican legislators continue to push policies that undermine and politicize public education. Last year, the General Assembly expanded the states taxpayer-funded private school voucher program to be open to any K-12 student, regardless of family income or whether the student had previously attended a public school. The budget enacted by the legislature last year expanded the private school voucher program by $250 million over the next two years, for a total of $4 billion over the next 10 years. Last week, Republicans in the General Assembly voted to spend an additional $463 million on their voucher scheme. These funds could be used to invest in public schools, including providing a substantial pay raise for teachers. Under the expanded voucher program, public schools in Cabarrus County could lose more than $2.1 million in state education funding just in the first year of the expanded program. That loss in funding not only impacts students, but also the Cabarrus County workforce. Public schools are the largest employer in Cabarrus County. During his final year in office, Cooper said he is committed to prioritizing public schools and to hearing from the many communities across the state who know that strong public schools ensure we have strong communities. COLLEGE PARK, Md. (DC News Now) Free speech advocates were talking to students Tuesday night at the University of Maryland (UMD). It comes after the university paused all social activities for Greek life last spring. Nearly 200 Students attended the event at the Hotel at the University of Maryland. It was hosted by the Fraternity and Sorority Action Fund on its inaugural Constitution Day. UMD student Jackson Hochhauser was glad he came. We are really excited to hear from officials to learn some creative ways we can defend ourselves on campus. So it is very cool to hear from these folks who are here who came down to take time to educate all of us. Hochhauser said. Court documents detail hazing allegations at University of Maryland Several speakers discussed the topic of what happened last year including former Congressman Dennis Cardoza who is a UMD graduate. I came here to talk about the constitution to these students, I was invited to come here to talk about their rights that I believe were violated and the University of Maryland shut them down and they didnt have due process and that was not right. Cardoza said. (Tim Reid/DC News Now) (Tim Reid/DC News Now) UMD ordered fraternities and sororities to stop holding social activities after allegations of misconduct. The order comes after concerns over hazing during pledge events, Cardoza disagreed with the universitys decision. I love this university and think its a wonderful school but I am also willing to call them out when I feel they did something that was not right. We need to stand up for these students to help them defend themselves, Cardoza said. Cardoza told DC News Now that he is planning to continue to monitor the University of Maryland moving forward to make sure the rights of students are not violated. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. University of Southern Indiana's enrollment is up and down, figures show EVANSVILLE The University of Southern Indiana touted increases in its overall and first-time freshmen enrollment on Monday. That uptick, though, doesnt extend to its number of undergraduates. In a news release, USI tallied its total enrollment undergrad, graduate and dual-credit at 9,489: a 2.2% increase from last year. There were also jumps in first-time freshmen (up 3%), the number of students transferring from other schools (up 6.6%) and graduate enrollment itself (up 1.7%). One figure the release doesnt specifically state, though, is undergraduate enrollment. When the Courier & Press reached out to USI, spokeswoman Kaylee Johnson put that number at 5,347: a slight drop from the same time in 2023, when the university counted 5,409 undergrads. That continues years of undergrad decreases at USI which, like schools across the country, has fielded fewer students since the 2010s. In 2022, school officials reported 5,539 undergraduates a 9.1% decrease from the 6,093 a year before. That itself was a 9.6% drop from the 6,739 in 2020. When did USI enrollment peak? The university set a record for total enrollment in 2011, when 10,820 students were counted on the rolls, according to Courier & Press archives. That was a more than 1,800-student increase from 2000, when the official enrollment hovered just over 9,000. And it was a giant leap from 1990, when total enrollment stood at 6,480. But that boom in higher education has deflated across the U.S. in the last decade or so. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, total undergraduate enrollment nationwide dropped 15% between 2010 and 2021. The majority of that came in the teeth of the COVID-19 pandemic, when enrollment plummeted at some institutions especially two-year colleges. Those numbers have started to creep up again in the last two years, the Washington Post reported in January. In the past, USI officials have attributed recent dips to everything from being more selective in its admissions USI is focusing on admitting students more likely to succeed here, then-director of admissions Eric Ott said in 2012 to the pandemic to fewer Indiana high school grads choosing to attend college. Mondays release, however, was optimistic, with officials praising the uptick in certain enrollment areas and lauding an increasingly diverse student body. This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: University of Southern Indiana's enrollment is up and down TechCrunch Physics Wallah, an Indian edtech startup, has secured $210 million in fresh financing amid a tough funding environment for edtech companies in the country following the collapse of Byju's, once the biggest company in the space. Physics Wallah said on Friday the Series B round was led by the hedge fund Hornbill Capital, a venture between China's Orchid Asia and India's Hornbill, with Lightspeed Ventures Partners "significantly" participating, alongside existing backers WestBridge and GSV. The round values Physics Wallah at $2.8 billion, a substantial increase from the previous $1.1 billion valuation it scored in June 2022. Families and students tour a new building on the campus of Temple Christian School in Lima, Ohio, in August. The expansion will accommodate increased enrollment thanks to families using vouchers. (Photo courtesy of ProPublica. Photo by Mackenzi Klemann, The Lima (Ohio) News.) This story was originally published in ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The state of Ohio is giving taxpayer money to private, religious schools to help them build new buildings and expand their campuses, which is nearly unprecedented in modern U.S. history. While many states have recently enacted sweeping school voucher programs that give parents taxpayer money to spend on private school tuition for their kids, Ohio has cut out the middleman. Under a bill passed by its Legislature this summer, the state is now providing millions of dollars in grants directly to religious schools, most of them Catholic, to renovate buildings, build classrooms, improve playgrounds and more. The goal in providing the grants, according to the measures chief architect, Matt Huffman, is to increase the capacity of private schools in part so that they can sooner absorb more voucher students. The capacity issue is the next big issue on the horizon for voucher efforts, Huffman, the Ohio Senate president and a Republican, told the Columbus Dispatch. Huffman did not respond to ProPublicas requests for comment. Following Hurricane Katrina and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some federal taxpayer dollars went toward repairing and improving private K-12 schools in multiple states. Churches that operate schools often receive government funding for the social services that they offer; some orthodox Jewish schools in New York have relied on significant financial support from the city, The New York Times has found. But national experts on education funding emphasized that what Ohio is doing is categorically different. This is new, dangerous ground, funding new voucher schools, said Josh Cowen, a senior fellow at the Education Law Center and the author of a new book on the history of billionaire-led voucher efforts. For decades, churches have relied on conservative philanthropy to be able to build their schools, Cowen said, or theyve held fundraising drives or asked their diocese for help. Theyve never, until now, been able to build schools expressly on the public dime. This breaks through the myth, said David Pepper, a political writer and the former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. Pepper said that courts have long given voucher programs a pass, ruling that they dont violate the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state because a publicly funded voucher technically passes through the conduit of a parent on the way to a religious school. With this latest move, though, Ohio is funding the construction of a separate, religious system of education, Pepper said, adding that if no one takes notice, This will happen in other states they all learn from each other like laboratories. The Ohio Constitution says that the General Assembly will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state. Yet Troy McIntosh, executive director of the Ohio Christian Education Network several of whose schools received the new grants recently told the Lima News that part of the reason for spending these public dollars on the expansion of private schools is that we want to make sure that from our perspective, Christian school options are available to any kid who chooses that in the state. When they were implemented in the 1990s, vouchers in Ohio, like in many places, were limited in scope; they were available only to parents whose children were attending (often underfunded) public schools in Cleveland. The idea was to give those families money that they could then spend on tuition at a hopefully better private school, thus empowering them with what was called school choice. Over the decades, the state incrementally expanded voucher programs to a wider and wider range of applicants. And last year, legislators and Gov. Mike DeWine extended the most prominent of those programs, called EdChoice, to all Ohio families. It was the ultimate victory for Ohios school-choice advocates. The problem, though, was that in many parts of Ohio and other states, especially rural areas, parents cant spend this new voucher money because private schools are either too far away or already at capacity. This, in turn, has become a major political liability for voucher advocates in many states, with rural conservatives becoming increasingly indignant that their tax dollars are being spent on vouchers for upper-middle-class families in far-off metropolitan areas where there are more private schools. In April, the Buckeye Institute, an Ohio-based conservative think tank affiliated with the Koch brothers political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, recognized the problem. In a policy memo, the institute said that it was offering lawmakers additional solutions to address the growing need for classroom space in private and charter schools, given the success of the Ohio EdChoice program. Among its recommendations: draw funding from the Ohio One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund, which provides grants of state money for the construction and repair of buildings, as well as other capital projects. Within months, the Legislature did precisely that. Led by Huffman, Republicans slipped at least $4 million in grants to private schools into a larger budget bill. There was little debate, in part because budget bills across the country have become too large to deliberate over every detail and, also, Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers in Ohio. According to an Ohio Legislative Service Commission report, the grants, some of them over a million dollars, then went out to various Catholic schools around the state. ProPublica contacted administrators at each of these schools to ask what they will be using their new taxpayer money on, but they either didnt answer or said that they didnt immediately know. (One of the many differences between public and private schools is that the latter do not have to answer questions from the public about their budgets, even if theyre now publicly funded.) The total grant amount of roughly $4 million this year may seem small, said William L. Phillis, executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding. But, he noted, Ohios voucher program itself started out very small three decades ago, and today its a billion-dollar system. They get their foot in the door with a few million dollars in infrastructure funding, Phillis said. It sets a precedent, and eventually hundreds of millions will be going to private school construction. Mollie Simon contributed research. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) Upshur County Sheriff Mike Coffman has provided details to 12 News regarding a 38-mile multi-county police chase Tuesday afternoon that ended with a suspect being arrested in Harrison County. Sheriff Coffman told 12 News that just after 3 p.m., law enforcement officers attempted to perform a traffic stop on a blue Mazda sedan on West Virginia Route 20, near Hodgesville. Coffman said the sedan then took off at a high rate of speed, leading law enforcement on a chase that at times exceeded 100 mph. The sedan eventually found its way onto Interstate 79, where it began traveling north. Coffman said spike strips were successfully deployed on the vehicle in Lewis County, which struck the front-end wheel of the vehicle. 2 students flown to hospital after school bus went airborne in Lewis County Coffman said the vehicle then left the interstate and went into Stonewood, where the suspect got out and ran into the woods. Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies began a manhunt with K9 units and eventually located the suspect at about 5 p.m. and identified him as Zachary Michael Shook, of Mt. Clare. As of Tuesday evening, Shook does not appear in the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation database. Coffman told 12 News that Shook was already out on bond in Harrison County, and he believes the charges are drug related. Law enforcement officers from the Upshur County Sheriffs Office, Buckhannon Police Department, Lewis County Sheriffs Office, West Virginia State Police, Harrison County Sheriffs Office, Anmoore Police Department, Bridgeport Police Department, Clarksburg Police Department, Nutter Fort Police Department, Shinnston Police Department, Stonewood Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration all assisted in this incident. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) An Upstate woman is on a mission to bring comfort to every child fighting cancer in the region. Emily White is a childhood cancer survivor who launched the Cuddles of Courage campaign to provide stuffed animals to children currently fighting the disease. I thought about later on in life, how I could give back to the community because the Upstate community here in South Carolina really helped when I was going through cancer and treatment and helped with my family, said White. White launched the campaign through her non-profit KidsKicknCancer in mid-August. Shes partnered with local treatment centers to provide teddy bears and other fluffy items to child cancer patients. White told 7NEWS she was diagnosed with stage 4 thyroid cancer at nine years old, and its important for her to help lift the spirits of those going through what she did. I want to be able to bring smiles to childrens faces that are going through the things that Ive gone through before and let them know that youre not alone. It might be a stuffed animal, but something they can keep near and dear to their heart, White also said. White said she was able to raise $1,500 in two days to support her initiative. Her goal is to raise $8,000 so she can help the families of child cancer patients get food and clothes. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 U.S. has officially accepted 36 new Lockheed Martin-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighters since lifting a yearlong delivery halt in July, 29 of which have so far been ferried to their new homes. Beginning in July 2023, the Pentagon refused to accept enhanced F-35s due to problems with the aircrafts upgraded Technology Refresh 3 hardware and software, which include new and improved displays, computer memory and processing power. The modifications are also needed for a more expansive upgrade package known as Block 4 that will allow the F-35 to carry more weapons, better identify targets and conduct electronic warfare. Those restrictions were lifted after the development of a truncated version of the software that would allow the delivery of the jets and enable them to fly combat training missions. Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, the F-35s program executive officer, said on Tuesday that those aircraft are now being safely rolled out from their storage at Lockheed Martins facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The military has not said exactly how many F-35s were built and then stored during the delivery halt, but the jets number in the dozens. But with the militaries of multiple nations and three U.S. services awaiting their long-overdue F-35s, its not easy figuring out who should get their aircraft first, Schmidt said at the Air and Space Forces Associations Air Space Cyber conference outside Washington. You could have quite the debate on how that order should look, Schmidt said. After such a long delay, following the established contract order might not be the most efficient and effective way to organize deliveries, Schmidt said. So, Schmidt brought together officials from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as international partners flying the F-35, to sort out a revised delivery schedule based on each of their training and capability requirements. However, the new fighter aircraft are not yet able to fly in actual combat. Schmidt said he is hopeful these F-35s will be combat-capable in 2025, but noted there is a little bit of work to do to make sure such issues dont arise again. We need to hold the industry accountable, and we need to change the future for the F-35 program, Schmidt said. Participants in the F-35 program havent properly invested in labs to develop capabilities for the jet, he said. Fixing that is a priority. The F-35 Joint Program Office in February brought in an independent review team to analyze the status of the F-35 programs software development and assess how to expand its capabilities. The JPO earlier this year told Lockheed to kickstart its investment in software development as part of the negotiations over the truncated software. I really wanted to make it clear to everybody that we need to change the way we do development in the F-35 program, and get ourselves to a place where we can truly deliver on our promises, Schmidt said. The JPO is also withholding about $5 million in payments, per aircraft, from Lockheed Martin until TR-3s combat capability is qualified and delivered. But the TR-3 holdups have had ripple effects on the F-35 program. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said at a July air show in England that Block 4 upgrades have been delayed substantially. And the F-35 program is rethinking Block 4 to ensure it has the right strategy for the upgrades. Some of the roughly 80 capability requirements making up Block 4 are crucial for the jet, Schmidt said, but are also uniquely challenging. So, the F-35 program is taking another look at each capability to reassess what kind of technical maturity they would need, whether the program can deliver them and how much they will cost, he said. Schmidt said he hopes to have a Block 4 plan next spring that will meet the needs of warfighters, but there are still program costs and capacity constraints to overcome. This is the best fighter in the world, he said. We need to continue to keep it the best fighter in the world. By Costas Pitas and Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -Iranian hackers sent emails containing stolen material from Republican former President Donald Trump's campaign to people involved in Democratic President Joe Biden's then re-election campaign, part of an alleged broader effort by Tehran to influence the U.S. election, U.S. agencies said on Wednesday. "Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trumps campaign to U.S. media organizations," the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement. "This malicious cyber activity is the latest example of Irans multi-pronged approach ... to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process," the agencies said. They added that there is currently no information indicating those recipients replied. They did not provide further details on the nature of the stolen material. In August, the United States accused Iran of launching cyber operations against the campaigns of both U.S. presidential candidates and targeting the American public with influence operations aimed at fanning political discord. Iran has denied interfering in U.S. affairs. On Wednesday its permanent mission to the United Nations in New York said the latest U.S. allegations were "fundamentally unfounded, and wholly inadmissible." It added: "Iran neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election." Malicious cyber actors sent unsolicited emails to individuals in Biden's campaign in late June and early July that contained a text excerpt from stolen material from the Republican presidential candidate's campaign, the agencies said. Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21 and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate. Polls show Trump and Harris are in a tight race. In a statement, the Trump campaign said Harris and Biden should disclose whether they used the hacked material "to hurt" Trump. The former president later said in a rally on Wednesday night that Iran hacked into his campaign to help Democrats, calling it foreign election interference. "Were not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign," a Harris campaign spokesperson said after the statement by U.S. agencies. "A few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what looked like a spam or phishing attempt." Tehran also says Washington has interfered in its affairs over decades ranging from a 1953 coup of a prime minister to the 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. (Reporting by Costas Pitas and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Diane Craft and Stephen Coates) David Pressman, US Ambassador to Hungary, has criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for openly supporting one of the contenders in the US presidential race, Donald Trump. Source: Politico, as reported by European Pravda Details: According to Pressman, Orban does not conceal whose victory in the US presidential election he would like to see. Quote: "Fidesz continues to ... stake its relationship with the United States on the outcome of one election in November. And if that election doesnt go the way they hope, their strategy is to wait. In the words of one senior official, 'there is no Plan B.'" Along the way, he criticised Orbans so-called peacekeeping efforts, claiming that they "risk reducing a security alliance between two great nations into a political alliance between two big personalities". Quote: "The United States has alliances with countries, not personalities within them. Hungarys government has been signalling and signalling loudly distance from its allies, distance from Europe, and distance from the United States." He believes that given Hungary's increasingly close relations with Russia and China, the West should reconsider relations with Budapest. "Hungary criticises NATO from within the comfort of the NATO security umbrella, and Hungary criticises the EU under subsidy of the EU's economic umbrella. We [Hungary's allies and partners] ... have to recognise that what we used to dismiss with an eyeroll requires us to look at it directly, and respond to it unflinchingly," the diplomat concluded. US President Joe Biden has appointed David Pressman as ambassador to Hungary in 2022. Pressman, a former human rights lawyer, is an outspoken critic of Orban and his government. He had previously criticised Hungary's prime minister for publicly backing Donald Trump. Support UP or become our patron! US Army soldiers were deployed to a remote island southeast of Alaska last week as part of a force protection operation amid an expected increase in Russian and Chinese military exercises in the region, according to an Army statement. The North American Aerospace Defense command (NORAD) intercepted Russian military aircraft flying near Alaska four times over the last week as Russia conducted military exercises in the area. The Army sent elements of the 11th Airborne Division to Shemya Island, Alaska on September 12 in response to the planned drills as a show of ready, lethal force, according to the Army statement. The division is known as the Arctic Angels and they are normally stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Fort Wainwright in Alaska. As the number of adversarial exercises increases around Alaska and throughout the region, including Junes joint Russian-Chinese bomber patrol, the operation to Shemya Island demonstrates the divisions ability to respond to events in the Indo-Pacific or across the globe, with a ready, lethal force within hours, said Maj. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division. So far, the Russian aircraft has not entered US or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD said, but the Pentagon has been tracking the exercises. These activities are not unusual and are not seen as a threat, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Monday. The US has been tracking these planned exercises for some time, and they pose no threat to the US homeland or the NATO alliance. Though the new US deployment is not a sign of a significant escalation in tensions, relations with the US two main military adversaries remains fraught, particularly as the Ukraine war continues. Though the Biden administration has worked to resume high-level communications with China, including between military leaders, Beijing remains the US major military competitor. Managing relations with both nations will be a key challenge regardless of whoever wins the presidential election in November. Republican nominee former President Donald Trump has signaled he will take a different approach to the Biden-Harris administration, suggesting he will settle the war between Russia and Ukraine when he takes office. And earlier this week, he suggested that China and the Russia are not necessarily adversaries. I dont know that theyre enemies, he said on Monday, suggesting that, if elected, well get along great with both countries. Trump was asked in a conversation on X Spaces while launching a new cryptocurrency business whether he thought there was a force out there to get you after the second apparent assassination attempt against him. Well, you have a radical left force. And we have forces, you know, I say that we have a lot of evil in the world. The world is a nasty place, and you can see that some with some of the things that have happened. Weve been treated, I think, very unfairly, but Ive done so well. Its an amazing country in some ways but we have evil forces, Trump said. The former president continued, You have the outside forces with the enemies, and you know, you call them Russia, China, various places, I dont know that theyre enemies. I think well get along great with China. I think well get along great with Russia. I want to get Russia to settle up with, with Ukraine and stop this. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com When it comes to data integrity, there are few companies that have been in the business as long as Precisely. And with Gartner reporting only 4% of companies have data that's AI-ready, Precisely is more relevant than ever. Precisely has been in the data business a long time - since 1968, in fact, originally known as Syncsort. The company has been a leader in data integrity around the globe, and with more than a half century of experience in data integration, data quality, data governance, location intelligence, data enrichment, and customer engagement solutions. Artificial intelligence is the new big thing - and with good reason; it is a strategic enabler that can help you do more with less, supporting customers, summarising documents, recommending next best actions, accelerating content creation, and so much more. Yet while 91% of businesses have ongoing investments in artificial intelligence, Gartner reports only 4% of companies actually have data that is currently AI-ready. If that's your situation, you might think you need help expert help. Well, that's precisely so, and here's where Precisely comes in. The company rebranded under the Precisely moniker in 2020 bringing together a strategic blend of tech from Syncsort, Trillium, Pitney Bowes, Infogix, Winshuttle, and others. It employs 2,500 staff and supports more than 12,000 customers worldwide including the bulk of the Fortune 100. Locally, these customers include Sky New Zealand and Heinz Watties Australia. Precisely EVP and GM of Customer Engagement Solutions Greg Van den Heuvel, and Precisely chief product officer Christopher Hall took time from their busy schedules to speak with iTWire and explain how data is driving next-generation customer experiences and why data quality and observability are critical for organisational growth. The name Precisely "plays in with our product offering," Van den Heuvel said. "We help customers produce consistent, accurate, contextually relevant data that is used to power business decisions." "It starts with accurate data; the better the data, the better the customer experience and outcomes." The data journey means "a lot of different things to a lot of different companies, depending on where they are," Hall said. "Their data journey moves from origination and generation, whether mainframe, automation into SAP, or something else, through to integration and replication, moving data from one system to another." "Our customers want to collect, validate, catalogue, and govern data." Now, so far that may sound like regular run-of-the-mill data engineering. However, Precisely takes it several steps further and deeper. Hall continued, "we help them augment their data with third-party data on risk, school zones, fire risks, social media portfolios, spatial data, routing, last mile delivery, best drive time, and a raft of other things." Then, "we help customers monitor that. Our data observability detects if there is a change, or data drift, or any kind of gap that might impact decision making." And, "finally, we help customers activate and engage data into customer experiences, bills, statements, interactions with chatbots, even creating data-driven videos based on clean, accurate, and precise data." "Some customers may want to just work with us on governance, enrichment, or strategic services," he said. "If they don't know what best practices are if working with high quality data or how to transform their business, we can help them operate and operationalise." And then, "we see a lot of people want to get their data AI-ready. It has to be precise, or it's garbage in / garbage out. If you're not using accurate data then you get bad outputs." To give a specific example, Van den Heuvel explained how Precisely works with customers to deliver a great customer experience with billing and renewals. "When we speak about contectually relevant, we will take a feed from core banking or core insurance and take that feed and cleanse it, enrich it, and integrate it into their communication platform." This drives the many documents and communications the customer receives; "these types of communications fuel business today. If you get it wrong you can lose a customer. It's why most CIOs list one of their top three goals as improving customer experience. It has to be highly interactive and personalised to the individual." Further, all companies want to reduce churn, he said. "Churn is real." For any given company "5 to 20% of customers churn from their current provider. The only way to affect that is to get more relevant, interactive, and personalised communications - which is fueled by data." "We might send out a communication," he said. "It could be paper-based, email, SMS, or so on, but since COVID it's all really about self-service. It's about the customer's experience to go in through whatever channel - web, portal, etc. - to get access to past history, make plan changes, alter payment methods, and take some sort of action." Again, "in order to do that, the data must be relevant, and contextual to the customer." "We have a mid-tier retail bank with 370 locations and 80 years of business," Hall said. "They had a very low adoption of digital experiences and wanted to move from 7% to 50% digital adoption over three years. Imagine the mail and print costs saved." "We provided them with a way to consolidate all their communications whether SMS, PDF, or other, and to greet the client with something highly interactive and personal. It started with video, which analyses the data in two seconds and creates that personalised experience for the end customer." "When they see it and hear it, it results in three times the comprehension than simply reading alone. The video view time is six minutes per video, and captures interest, with the customer comprehending exactly what the bank is trying to communicate." This specific solution used the Customer Engagement Solutions business unit inside Precisely, and leveraging the business' RapidCX communication platform. "We built it on top of one of the hyperscalers with backend integrations into ERPs and CRMs to get their source data, leverage our data integrity suite, mesh it with on-prem systems, manage content and rules for customers," Hall said. "It's important to understand how customers want the communications delivered, how to interact with it, and then leverage our APIs for delivery services to track the events and data behind them for regulatory governance reporting and archiving. Records are retained for five years, seven years, whatever is needed to give exact proof of what was delivered, whether email, PDF, video or something else." "Imagine a regulator asking for all communications and customers having to query five or six or more systems. It creates confusion with regulators and takes time. RapidCX allows us to consolidate all comms into one platform and have governance." Another example; "we have a huge multinational bank with more than 10 million accounts. It's one of the top five online bankers. Typically when a change request comes in, such as to change communications, it would take 104 days to execute that change request." "The market drifts quickly in 104 days." "We took them over to our RapidCX product. We showed them how to manage, operate, and support the platform, and we trained non-technical people to make changes. It reduced their 104 day change request time down to two days. It saved this multinational over $6.3 million per annum in change requests, and freed their IT department to focus on strategic works." Whatever the industry, whateveer the scenario, whatever the customer need, "it really all starts with data," Hall said. "One of the things we found is that most people's data is not ready for AI. Only 4% are ready. If you want to look at a business case or objective it's imperative to have the right data. Is it standardised, normalised, the right context? Can you make models?" "We interviewed the C-suite," Van den Heuvel said. "91% said they had specific AI investments, but only 4% were ready to do something with it." "Like data and customer experience using AI models, one of the big issues in CX is how to migrate all the templates, libraries, preferences, workflows and items built up over 20 years to produce things like bills customised for the individual." "Frankly," he said, "for the longest time people sweat the asset to the tune where they develop security risks. They have legacy apps which people are no longer able to support." Early on Precisely determinaed it could migrate a company's mass stores of data - thousands of billing templates, for example - into RapidCX within six months to a year. However, though leveraging AI internally the company has now accelerated this to only two to three days. "Typically it would take 65 days to migrate libraries, templates, and workflows. Now we can do it in an hour and a half, and then spend a couple of days doing cleanup." While billing is a regular use case, "another request we get is for 'next best'," Van den Heuvel said. "For example, a bank producing credit cards wants us to analyse the data and inform the next best service to sell. For instance, if a customer spends in a DIY store, it might be a good time to promote home equity or a new mortgage." "These are the kind of insights customers are asking us for." Ultimately, Hall said, "data is lifeblood." "We want people to trust their data and make confident business decisions. Everyone is often frustrated with their data. Precisely can help them build quality and trust in their data." "We get them to love their data again," he said. The News US officials will today raise complaints over Beijings alleged economic overcapacity in talks with their Chinese counterparts. Washington and other Western capitals argue Chinese companies are manufacturing too much, leading to a flood of underpriced goods that undercut their own domestic companies. Those worries are amplified by Chinas slowing economy, which makes it harder for the country to absorb its own production: Each year, it manufactures as much steel as the rest of the world combined, and exports are suddenly surging, up by 35% on the previous year. Beijing dismisses such concerns, arguing that Washington simply wants to constrain its growth. SIGNALS Global South braces for redirected cheap Chinese goods Sources: Foreign Policy, Rhodium Group Western resistance to Chinas export-heavy economic model has emerging economies like Indonesia, Thailand, and India which once viewed China as a crucial partner worried that excess production will harm their markets instead, an Asia expert noted in Foreign Policy. Being flooded with Chinese goods could exacerbate the problems of premature industrialization in these countries, making it more difficult for them to reach advanced levels of income, he argued. Chinas dominance is bad for competition, and makes other countries vulnerable to changes within its domestic environment, two China experts argued for the Rhodium Group. Emerging economies have less to offer a more developed China Sources: Atlantic Council, Financial Times Emerging economies previously benefited from Chinas rapid export growth by supplying it with food and fuel for energy production, but may struggle to ride the wave this time around, the Atlantic Council argued. Beijings move up the value chain requires advanced technologies that emerging economies typically dont produce, and theres little domestic demand for low-value-added goods from low- and middle-income countries. This can create a vicious cycle: In Pakistan, for example, businesses are turning to cheap rooftop Chinese-made solar panels as electricity prices rise, but mass adoption risks making the power provided by the countrys own grid unaffordable, Pakistans energy minister told the Financial Times. US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller has said the departments representatives were briefed on elements of Ukraine's victory plan during their visit to Kyiv last week. Source: Miller during a briefing Quote: "We were briefed on elements of the plan when we were in Kyiv last week, and yes, we shared Ambassador Thomas-Greenfields [US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield] assessment. As President Zelenskyy has said, he looks forward to presenting that plan in detail to the President [Joe Biden] in the coming days and weeks, and I think well await that meeting before offering any kind of further conclusions about it." Details: Answering the question of whether there were any timelines associated with the implementation of the plan, Miller responded, "I think I ought to let President Zelenskyy, whose plan ultimately this is, speak to the details of it." Background: On 16 September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine's peace plan is 90% complete. He also noted that Ukraine plans to present this plan to its international allies next week. Later, the Ukrainian leader said that the plan contained four points on strengthening military support for Ukraine "plus another one that we need after the war". US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the American side had already seen the new peace plan by Zelenskyy. Support UP or become our patron!Support UP or become our patron! WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. law enforcement has disrupted a second major Chinese hacking group nicknamed "Flax Typhoon" and wrested thousands of compromised devices from its grasp, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday. Wray, at a cybersecurity conference in Washington, said Flax Typhoon was being run by a Chinese company called the Integrity Technology Group that posed as an IT firm but also "collected intelligence and performed reconnaissance for Chinese government security agencies." In an advisory also made public Wednesday, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cyber officials also accused the Integrity Technology Group of being behind the malicious cyber operation and said that, as of June, it had compromised more than 250,000 devices around the world. In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Washington accused U.S. authorities of having jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations against China, claiming that Beijing cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks. A previously known hacking group dubbed "Volt Typhoon" has been the subject of increasing concern by Western officials since it was first identified last year as cyber sabotage group focused on establishing a foothold in critical U.S. infrastructure. U.S. officials have said it is a China-backed group, while Beijing has said it is a ransomware gang. Wray said the operation against Flax Typhoon took place last week "as part of our ongoing efforts to take China's botnets offline." Like Volt Typhoon, he said that Flax Typhoon was targeting critical infrastructure, but also corporations, media organizations, universities, and government agencies. To help camouflage their operations, Flax Typhoon routed their malicious traffic through something called "a botnet," a network of hijacked devices that in this case included cameras and digital storage devices, Wray said. When the FBI tried to take control of the botnet's infrastructure, the hackers responded with a cyberattack before abandoning the fight, he said. Wray warned that the FBI would continue to clash with China's hackers. The action against Flax Typhoon was "just one round in a much longer fight," he said. (Reporting by Raphael Satter; editing by Susan Heavey, Philippa Fletcher and David Gregorio) The News The US Department of Justice filed a $100 million lawsuit on Wednesday against the owner and operator of the container ship that crashed into Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, killing six workers and halting operations at one of the countrys busiest ports. DOJ officials said that the two Singapore-based companies, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, were well aware of mechanical issues with the Dali ship that led to a power outage, causing the crash. The companies actions leading up to the accident were outrageous, grossly negligent, willful, wanton, and reckless, the lawsuit alleged. Know More The US is seeking damages to cover the cost of the emergency response and federal aid to port employees who were put out of work because of the collapse. The lawsuit alleged that because of jury-rigged maintenance onboard the ship, none of the four means available to help control the Dali her propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate this disaster. Families of three of the six construction workers killed in the collapse said Tuesday they would be filing separate lawsuits. According to court filings, Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine said their liability should be capped at $44 million. Maryland officials said that it could take up to 4 years to rebuild the bridge at a cost of up to $1.9 billion. US President Joe Biden speaks with reporters while leaving the White House in Washington. Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa US President Joe Biden on Tuesday called on the warring parties in Sudan to end their bloody power struggle, which has been raging for a year and a half. "For over 17 long months, the Sudanese people have endured a senseless war that has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises," Biden said in a statement. The US leader highlighted the kidnapping and sexual assault of women and girls as well as the famine in the region of Darfur as he pleaded for negotiations to end the conflict to recommence. "I call on the belligerents responsible for Sudanese sufferingthe Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)to pull back their forces, facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and re-engage in negotiations to end this war," Biden said. A power struggle between the de facto president Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's SAF and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's RSF has been raging in Africa's third-largest country since April 2023. More than 10 million people have been displaced, 2 million of whom have fled across the borders to neighbouring countries, according to the UN. Humanitarian organizations are warning of famine. Last week, the aid organization Doctors Without Borders warned that thousands of children could soon die of hunger in North Darfur region due to a blockade of a site for internally displaced people. In late August, the latest US efforts to negotiate a ceasefire failed. With aid payments of $1.6 billion, Washington is, by its own account, "the world's largest provider of assistance to the Sudanese people." "We call for all parties to this conflict to end this violence and refrain from fueling it, for the future of Sudan and for all of the Sudanese people," Biden said. A government funding package championed by Republican House speaker Mike Johnson failed to pass on Wednesday, with less than two weeks left to prevent a shutdown starting 1 October. The final vote was 202 to 220, with 14 House Republicans and all but three House Democrats opposing the bill. Two Republican members voted present. The bill was not expected to pass, as a number of House Republicans had voiced criticism of the proposal before the vote. Given Republicans narrow House majority and Democrats widespread opposition to the bill, Johnson could only afford a handful of defections within his conference. Johnson delayed a vote on the funding package last week in the hopes of consolidating Republicans support, but those efforts could not get the bill across the finish line. Johnsons proposed bill combined a six-month stopgap funding measure, known as a continuing resolution, with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (Save) Act, a controversial proposal that would require people to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote. Donald Trump, who has championed baseless claims of widespread non-citizen voting, has pressured Johnson to reject any funding measure unless it includes election security provisions, a stance that the former president doubled down on hours before the vote. He said Wednesday on his social media platform, Truth Social: If Republicans dont get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form. Critics of the Save Act note that it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote, and they fear such a law would hinder legitimate voters efforts to cast their ballots. House Democrats remain overwhelmingly opposed to the proposal, and only three of them supported Johnsons bill on Wednesday. Speaker Johnson must reject the most extreme voices in his party and quick move toward a four corners agreement so we can avoid a costly Republican-led shutdown, said Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic caucus chair, on Wednesday. The American people want to see an end to the chaos and division. Related: US House clashes over Harriss role in 2021 Afghanistan troop withdrawal With Johnsons bill defeated, the speaker must find a new way to avoid a government shutdown weeks before election day. Members of both parties expect that Johnson will now turn his attention to a clean continuing resolution without the Save Act attached, although the speaker dismissed questions about any contingency plan before the vote on Wednesday. Lets see what happens with the bill, Johnson told reporters. Were on the field in the middle of the game. The quarterback is calling the play. Were going to run the play. A number of the hard-right Republicans who voted against Johnsons bill have signaled that they will reject any kind of continuing resolution, and they accused the speaker of holding a doomed vote only to justify his expected pivot to passing a clean funding bill. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Republican representative from Georgia who ultimately voted present on Wednesday, attacked Johnsons strategy as a classic bait-and-switch that will enrage the base. Johnson is leading a fake fight that he has no intention of actually fighting, Greene said Tuesday on X. I refuse to lie to anyone that this plan will work and its already [dead on arrival] this week. Speaker Johnson needs to go to the Democrats, who he has worked with the entire time, to get the votes he needs to do what he is already planning to do. Even if Johnsons bill had passed the House, the Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, made clear that the proposal faced no chance of passage in the upper chamber. In a floor speech delivered Wednesday, Schumer reiterated that only bipartisan, bicameral cooperation would prevent a shutdown next month. For the last two weeks, Speaker Johnson and House Republican leaders have wasted precious time on a proposal that everyone knows cant become law. His own Republican conference cannot unite around his proposal, Schumer said. I hope that, once the speakers [continuing resolution] fails, he moves on to a strategy that will actually work: bipartisan cooperation. Its the only thing that has kept the government open every time we have faced a funding deadline. At a press conference on Tuesday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell issued a severe warning to House Republicans that a shutdown so close to election day could jeopardize the partys standing with voters and thus cost them seats in Congress. The one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown, McConnell said. It would be, politically, beyond stupid for us to do that. The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 12 Iranian officials for human rights abuses, including violent crackdowns on protesters, torture of prisoners and targeting Iranian dissidents abroad. The sanctions were unveiled around the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Irans morality police. Her death sparked massive protests throughout the country. Ahead of the anniversary, the Iranian government once again increased its crackdowns on peaceful protesters. In the two years since Mahsa Zhina Aminis senseless killing in the custody of Irans so-called Morality Police, the Iranian regime has continued to systematically violate the human rights of the Iranian people, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. The United States remains committed to exposing and sanctioning Iranian officials responsible for human rights abuses. A top State Department official told CNN ahead of the anniversary its important to remember that while we have a new Iranian president, a new Iranian leadership, were seeing continuity in this kind of human rights abuse. Its important for the international community to judge this government by its actions and not by its words, said Victoria Taylor, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran. The new sanctions target four members of the Irans security forces who were involved in the violent crackdowns in 2022. One of those sanctioned, Hamid Khorramdel, is the commander of an IRGC unit responsible for arresting and coercing confessions from activists, according to the Treasury Department. Another, Mustafa Bazvand, led forces responsible for killing at least one individual and arresting several journalists covering the violence. They also target four officials who the US said perpetrated human rights abuses within Irans prisons, including one, Alireza Babaei Farsani, who oversees the province of prisons where Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi was tortured with the goal of forcing him into a televised confession. A second official, Ahmad Reza Azadeh, heads a prison where at least one person who participated in the Amini protests is facing imminent execution for their participation. During Azadehs time as head of Shiban Prison, prison guards on several occasions used live ammunition and tear gas on prisoners protesting inadequate conditions in the prison, the Treasury Department said. Prisoners in Shiban Prison were subject to torture and other ill-treatment, denied medical care, and blamed for the deaths of prisoners killed by security forces. The final four officials were sanctioned for their involvement in targeting Iranian dissidents abroad. One of them, Yahya Hosseini Panjaki, played a role in the attempted bombing of a gathering of Iranian dissidents in Paris, among other operations in Europe, the Treasury Department said. Another, Javad Ghaffarhaddadi, is the head of Irans Intelligence Organizations Special Operations division. That unit, according to the Treasury Department, has played a key role in targeting critics of the Iranian regime abroad, including the 2019 kidnapping of France-based journalist and political refugee Ruhollah Zam, which ultimately led to his execution in Iran. In addition to sanctions, Taylor told CNN the US is also very focused on has been seeing how we can ensure that the Iranian people have access to the free flow of information and to the internet. In 2022, amid internet shutdowns by the Iranian government in the face of the widespread protests, the US government took steps meant to allow technology firms to help the people of Iran access information online. Thats been a major pillar of our work, and something were going to remain active on, Taylor said. CNNs Kylie Atwood contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com US Marines just added a new long-range missile to their arsenal that will keep their fighter jets out of reach of enemy air defenses during strikes US Marines just added a new long-range missile to their arsenal that will keep their fighter jets out of reach of enemy air defenses during strikes US Marines added a new long-range cruise missile to their arsenal. The AGM-158A joint air-to-surface standoff missile was loaded on an F/A-18 Hornet in late August. The missile can strike targets up to 230 miles, well outside enemy air defenses. The US Marine Corps has a new long-range weapon in its arsenal, the AGM-158A joint air-to-surface standoff missile (JASSM). The addition is a boost in firepower, the Marines said, as the weapon's long range allows it to strike targets from well outside the reach of enemy air defenses. Late last month, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11 and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 became the first in the service branch to conduct ordnance operations with the AGM-158A, loading the weapon on an F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, per a press release. The "conventional, stealthy, air launched ground attack cruise missile," the Marines said, boasts a range of 230 miles. It saw its first use in combat back in 2018 when US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers fired AGM-158As to destroy a Syrian chemical weapons manufacturer. The AGM-158 first saw combat in Syria in 2018. US Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jennifer Sanchez The weapon's range is particularly valuable amid a growing need for stand-off capabilities. "The integration of the AGM-158A joint air-to-surface standoff missile into the F/A-18's arsenal significantly enhances the Hornet's capabilities, enabling it to strike targets from well beyond the reach of enemy air defenses," Maj. Bradley Kirby, an aviation ordnance officer with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said. Stand-off weapons, like the AGM-158, are useful for striking the enemy from further distances without exposing aircraft to air defense systems, and in this case, the weapon's stealth and programming capabilities make them difficult to shoot down. There are two other variants of the AGM-158, one for extended range and the other for anti-ship capabilities. US Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jennifer Sanchez There's a reason for the interest in the JASSM for Ukraine as it battles the Russians, though it's unclear at this time if that capability is on the table. "The JASSM not only surpasses the capabilities of any other weapon currently in the Hornet's extensive weapons portfolio, but also the Marine Corps at large," Kirby said. The AGM-158 is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, and can also be used on F-35B and F-35C aircraft. It has an extended range version, the AGM-158B, and an anti-ship version, the AGM-158C. The Marines are in the process of acquiring both of those variants. Read the original article on Business Insider The US has deployed more than 130 soldiers, mobile rocket launchers, and radar capabilities to a remote Alaskan island, amid increased Russian military activity in the region. The Coast Guard said it located four Russian Federation Navy vessels, including two submarines, 57 miles off the coast of Alaska on Sunday. In the past week, officials have also detected four separate incursions of Russian military aircraft into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), an area beyond US airspace where aircraft are nonetheless expected to identify themselves. The Indo-Pacific represents more than 50 percent of the worlds population, and some of the most diverse environments on Earth, the U.S. Army 11th Airborn Division wrote on Facebook on Sunday, sharing photos of soldiers, mobile rocket launchers, and transport planes being used in the deployment. Shemya Island sits in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, and the soldiers of Task Force Geronimo, made up of units from across U.S. Army Pacific landed there last week with long range fires and radar capabilities. Last week, Russian began Ocean-24, its largest joint naval and air drills since the Cold War, comprising over 400 warships, submarines, and transport vessels, and more than 90,000 troops across the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic Seas. The exercises follow joint Russia-China exercises that took place near Alaska in July, which led to the first-ever Russian-Chinese bomber task force incursion into the Alaska ADIZ, according to U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the U.S., Russia, and China, he said in a statement Tuesday. Authoritarian regimes are testing the United States, he added. Dictators like Vladimir Putin see through a lens of either strength or weakness, which is why Ive long encouraged our senior military leaders to be ready and to respond with strength. For years, Russian has been conducting slow-boiling intelligence operations and exploratory military activity in the Arctic Circle, as tensions grow between it and its neighbors amid conflicts like its invasion of Ukraine. US says challenges posed by China exceed those of Cold War By Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The challenges to the U.S. posed by China exceed those of the Cold War, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday, charging that Beijing's support for Russia's defense industry came directly from China's leadership. President Joe Biden's administration has been explicit that it is not seeking a cold war with China, but increasingly analysts and members of the U.S. Congress have said escalating global competition between the two superpowers resembled a different but new style of cold war. Campbell told a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that Washington needed to maintain a bipartisan focus on China and step up the speed of U.S. naval shipbuilding and the capacity of the U.S. defense manufacturing base. "Frankly, the Cold War pales in comparison to the multifaceted challenges that China presents. It's not just the military challenges. It's across the board. It's in the Global South. It is in technology," Campbell said. Foreign crises, including Russia's war in Ukraine and the Israel-Gaza conflict, have created distractions for Biden's efforts to focus on China and the Indo-Pacific region. Biden vowed early in his administration to not let China surpass the United States as global leader. China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin, the leaders of the United States' two most powerful rivals, in May pledged a "new era" of partnership, and cast Washington as an aggressive Cold War hegemon. Campbell, the State Department's No. 2 diplomat, said increasing the speed of U.S. warship output should be of the highest priority over the next decade. "This is a naval time," Campbell said, calling increasing the speed with which U.S. Navy ships are designed and built "the most important thing that we need to do over the course of the next 10 years." "The Navy has to step up. We have to step up with them," he said. Campbell, who met with NATO and EU officials earlier this month to provide allies with details of China's "substantial support" to Russia's military industrial base, has said Russia was in return supporting Beijing with submarine and missile technology. "The most worrisome thing is that it comes from the very top," Campbell said, referring to senior Chinese leaders' support for Moscow. He added that China has been supporting Russia's drone activity in Ukraine. The Republican chair of the committee, Michael McCaul, was critical of the extent of the so-called excluded technologies list for the AUKUS defense project with Australia and Britain that is part of efforts to stand up to China, including restrictions covering unmanned underwater vehicles. Campbell called relaxing U.S. curbs on technology sharing vital for AUKUS, but said the list did not ban sharing particular technologies, just that each case would have to be reviewed. At the same time, he said, "we need to make this usable for defense planners and others that are making billion-dollar investments." Campbell said a summit of the Quad countries - Australia, India, Japan and the United - that Biden will host on Saturday would include "big announcements" showing substantial progress to help Pacific and Southeast Asian nations track illegal fishing fleets, most of which were Chinese. He also mentioned plans for discussions on stepped-up security cooperation in the Indian Ocean involving India and other countries. He said U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo had been asked to help "fuse together our national military approach, security approach" there."This is the new frontier, working more closely with a partner like India in the Indian Ocean," he said. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis) Nokia has announced the availability of its AI era, Event-Driven Automation (EDA) platform. According to Nokia the EDA platform raises the bar on data center network operations with a modern approach that builds on Kubernetes to bring highly reliable, simplified, and adaptable lifecycle management to data center networks. Aimed at driving human error in network operations to zero, Nokia says the new platform reduces network disruptions and application downtime while also decreasing operational effort up to 40%. Ongoing digital transformation and the rise of AI applications, coupled with data center workforce shortages and skills gaps, are driving webscalers, enterprises, and service providers to scale and adapt their data center infrastructures to meet exponential demand and evolving workload requirements, notes Nokia. As more critical workloads move to the cloud, interruptions in cloud services can have significant economic, safety and social implications. Increasing automation in cloud and networking operations is essential to respond to demand while reducing service disruptions. Nokia notes that despite the benefits of network automation, a study by Enterprise Management Associates shows that most organizations have automated less than half of their data center network management tasks - andbarriers to adopting automation include a lack of scalable, open, multi-vendor solutions; legacy systems and complexity requiring skilled resources; and a lack of trust in fully automated systems delivering the right outcomes. Nokias new infrastructure automation platform is designed to overcome these barriers while providing a new path to addressing key challenges in todays data center network environment. The risk of human error and associated network downtime is mitigated through EDAs integrated digital twin, pre- and post-deployment checkpoints, highly responsive multi-dimensional observability, and a robust CI/CD methodology with revision control. Simplicity in operations is enabled through intent-based declarative automation, GenAI assistance and a low-code/no-code approach to building customized dashboards. EDA easily integrates into multi-vendor, multi-domain environments with support for a wide range of IT service management systems, event notification systems, and cloud management platforms. As a modern software platform, EDA builds on Kubernetes, a cloud automation and orchestration environment with millions of users worldwide, for its cloud-based microservices architecture. The platform adopts Kubernetes constructs to bring an intent-based, event-driven, and declarative approach to network automation, and complements it with network-wide transactions. Further, through leveraging Kubernetes resource model, APIs and toolchain, EDA enables network resources to be easily consumed in the same fashion as other data center applications, concludes Nokia. Nokia says EDA is available through on-prem and cloud-based as-a-service subscription models, while the EDA app store, a cloud-inspired approach, allows operators to easily customize their automation environment. The new Nokia platform complements the companys Service Router (SR) Linux network operating system and extensive portfolio of data center switching and routing platforms to provide webscale and enterprise organizations access to fully modernized data center networks. By breaking down barriers for organizations to adopt automation in the data center, EDA ushers in a new era of highly reliable, simplified, and adaptable lifecycle management to data center networks designed for an AI world. Roy Chua, Founder and Principal at AvidThink, said: Nokias decision to leverage Kubernetes for its EDA platform is a smart move. Enabling the network to be managed and orchestrated in the same manner as compute will be a ground-breaking innovation for data center operations staff. EDAs focus on enabling network-wide transactions at speed with enhanced reliability is a key differentiator for automation in swiftly evolving, business-critical data center environments. Vach Kompella, Senior Vice President and General Manager of IP Networks business at Nokia, said: Our next generation EDA platform is a game-changer for data center networks. By leveraging the power of Kubernetes, we are enabling our customers to access a modern approach to network automation that significantly reduces operational effort and helps eliminate human error. This is a major step forward in our mission to deliver the worlds most trusted networks. Join our Networking Field Day Exclusive event streaming from our Sunnyvale office on September 24th at 9:00am PDT for a deep dive into new innovations in data center networking and live demonstrations of Nokia EDA. Watch the event here: https://techfieldday.com/event/nfdxnokia24/. Aftermath of an Israeli strike on a house in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip Aftermath of an Israeli strike on a house in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday he would file legislation seeking to block the sale of offensive U.S. weapons to Israel, citing the toll on civilians of Israel's campaign against Hamas. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said he intended to file Joint Resolutions of Disapproval next week. The U.S. Arms Export Control Act gives Congress the right to stop a major foreign weapons sale by passing a resolution of disapproval. Although no such resolution has both passed Congress and survived a presidential veto, the law requires the Senate to vote if a resolution is filed and they have at times led to angry debates embarrassing to past presidents. "Providing more offensive weapons to continue this disastrous war would violate U.S. and international law," Sanders said in a statement. President Joe Biden has faced calls from his fellow Democrats throughout Israel's campaign in Gaza to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to ease the devastating humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. In his announcement, Sanders noted that the Biden administration last month approved arms sales to Israel totaling more than $20 billion that included systems tied to tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza. He said exporting such weapons would violate human rights provisions in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and Arms Export Control Act. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sanders' announcement. The war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing some 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's military has leveled swaths of Gaza, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing more than 41,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. The U.S., Israel's biggest ally and weapons supplier, has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound (900-kg) bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October, U.S. officials told Reuters in June. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Jonathan Oatis) US special ops cuts armed overwatch buy, still needs to justify need U.S. Special Operations Command cut its desired purchase of 75 armed overwatch aircraft to 62 following a recommendation last year from a government watchdog to slow down the programs acquisition. Now, in a recent update to its recommendation, the Government Accountability Office noted that while the number of requested aircraft had been reduced, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, or AFSOC, officials still hadnt justified why they need that many aircraft. The armed overwatch program aims to field fixed-wing aircraft for AFSOC to deploy to austere locations, Defense News previously reported. The current aircraft at the programs center is the AT-802U Sky Warden, a single-engine, two-person platform made by L3Harris Technologies and Air Tractor. The command expected to spend $2.2 billion to buy the originally requested 75 aircraft, which replaces the U-28 Draco. Here's the Air Force's plan to train armed overwatch pilots SOCOM had purchased 16 Sky Wardens as of last year, with plans to purchase another dozen this year, Defense News reported. The most recent update, published Sept. 5, notes SOCOM has plans to divest two of its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, platforms. However, those platforms were used to support armed overwatch. The watchdog found that SOCOM has not taken steps to plan for, or add, critical ISR capabilities provided by soon-to-be divested aircraft, according to the GAO report. SOCOM also failed to address risks associated with losing those capabilities if the new armed overwatch aircraft didnt have them as part of the platforms fielding, the report found. The armed overwatch programs austere mission means that developers must provide an aircraft with minimal logistics and support needs. The aircraft itself must be able to give ground troops close air support, precision strike and ISR capabilities, according to the report. Its primarily expected to be used in such roles in counterterrorism and irregular warfare missions, according to program information. The GAO report stated SOCOM concurred or partially concurred with its six major recommendations. Those recommendations included reevaluating the number of aircraft needed; limiting procurement to the minimum needed for testing until the fleet size is determined; assessing risks to missions if the ISR capabilities are not added; identify challenges to operate and deploy the aircraft; and assess whether the program remains an affordable priority; and update concepts for the types of operations the aircraft might conduct. Fiscal 2026 is marked in the GAO report as a key year for deadlines such as completing the operational test and evaluation, making a full rate production decision and reaching initial operational capability. The U.S. Air Force began a capability assessment in 2017 to evaluate potential light attack aerial platforms for use with coalition partners. At the time, then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told Congress that the purpose was to free up more advanced and costly assets for other tasks. Wilson cited an example of F-22 fighter jets being used to strike a drug laboratory in Afghanistan a mission that could have been accomplished with a less sophisticated platform at a lower cost. After a series of experiments, the program transferred to SOCOM. In 2021, the command filed its request for 75 aircraft, according to a Congressional Research Services report. The per-hour operating cost of an aircraft like the Sky Warden is about 2% to 4% of that of advanced fighters, the report noted. The Dali stuck under the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in March. Photograph: Maryland National Guard via AP The US justice department on Wednesday sued the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the deadly collapse of a huge road bridge in Baltimore earlier this year, seeking to recover more than $100m that the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the citys port. The companies recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel, the lawsuit alleged. The lawsuit was filed in Maryland and alleges that the electrical and mechanical systems on the ship, the Dali, were improperly maintained, causing it to lose power and veer off course in the darkness before striking a vital support column on the Francis Scott Key bridge in March and causing a substantial portion of the massive bridge to crumple into the river, killing six road construction workers. This tragedy was entirely avoidable, the government alleged in the lawsuit. The collapse snarled commercial shipping traffic through the port of Baltimore for months before the channel was fully opened in June. With this civil claim, the justice department is working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the port of Baltimore are borne by the companies that caused the crash, not by the American taxpayer, the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said in a written statement. The case was filed against the Dali owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd, and its manager, Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore. The companies filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history. The ship was leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss. Six members of a roadwork crew on the bridge were killed in the collapse. Police had very quickly managed to stop traffic driving on to the bridge; otherwise, the death toll would likely have been much higher. Still, although police blocked the approach roads, they did not have enough time to warn the road crew so that they could evacuate. The men were working an overnight shift filling potholes on the bridge deck when it suddenly crumbled beneath them, sending them tumbling into the water. This accident happened because of the careless and grossly negligent decisions made by Grace Ocean and Synergy, who recklessly chose to send an unseaworthy vessel to navigate a critical waterway and ignored the risks to American lives and the nations infrastructure, said Chetan Patil, the acting deputy assistant attorney general. The tragedy was not averted because the companies facilitated an ill-prepared crew on an abjectly unseaworthy vessel, the complaint said. They did so to reap the benefit of conducting business in American ports. Yet they cut corners in ways that risked lives and infrastructure, it added. Justice department officials refused to answer questions on Wednesday about whether, in addition to a civil action, a criminal investigation into the bridge collapse remains ongoing. Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for Grace Ocean, said the owner and manager had no comment at this time but look forward to our day in court to set the record straight. On Tuesday, the victims families declared their intent to file a claim seeking to hold the ships owner and manager fully liable for the disaster. Several other interested parties, including city officials and local businesses, have filed opposing claims accusing the companies of negligence. The families are also calling for more robust workplace protections, especially for immigrant workers. All the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the United States in search of better-paying jobs and opportunities. The Associated Press contributed reporting Linda Carter, of Grayson, Ga., kneels near Apalachee High School to place flowers as she mourns for the slain students and teachers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. | Brynn Anderson Once again, there are lessons to unpack in the wake of a deadly school shooting. Earlier this week, the Utah Legislatures School Security Task Force reviewed a school shooting on Sept. 4 in Winder, Georgia, that killed two students and two teachers. Nine others were hospitalized after they were allegedly shot by a 14-year-old student who also attended Apalachee High School. Task force chairman Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, said while there is some controversy over a new Utah law that will require armed school guardians in every public school, the presence of armed, trained school resource officers in Apalachee High School halted the school shooting before more people were injured or killed. The suspect was taken into custody without the officers having to fire their weapons. That almost never happens, never. I cant even think of another scenario where its happened. Im glad the SRO didnt have to pull the trigger for that kid to stop. Thats miraculous on its own, somehow. It ended because of that SRO, said Wilcox. Thats awesome. Thats the best case scenario for us in such a disaster. Alyssas Law may have also helped to keep students and staff safe during the mass shooting, Wilcox said. Alyssas Law legislation that has been adopted by a number of states, including Utah. It requires public schools to have silent panic alarms that connect directly to law enforcement in the event of an emergency. The law is named after Alyssa Alhadeff, one of 17 people killed during the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The goal of the law is to improve school safety and response times. While systems and processes help to enhance school safety, the alleged shooter used a semiautomatic assault rifle purchased for him by his father. In 2023, law enforcement officers in Georgia interviewed the then 13-year-old boy about online posts threatening a school shooting, but investigators didnt have enough evidence for an arrest. That same boy opened fire at his high school on Sept. 4, officials said. The Georgia case is particularly egregious. The parent purchased the firearm after the FBI interview. So, yeah, for the kid. I dont even know what to say, Wilcox said. Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, said media reports indicate six minutes elapsed between the first gunshots and officers taking the shooter into custody, which emphasizes the critical need for intelligence gathering before to try to head it off, and then for the quick, quick response. The teens mother called the school prior to the shooting to warn officials, which shows as in most school shootings, there is leakage in advance of a shooting or other mass casualty event. Theres somebody that knows, he said. The teen faces four adult counts of felony murder charges while his father faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Eliason said school shooters using family members weapons or using guns given to them by family members is a typical theme. In Utah, the No. 1 cause of death for children is suicide. The most common method used is a firearm and the most frequently obtained source of those firearms is parents, he said. Parents who do not to store their weapons securely or risk criminal and civil penalties if the weapons are used in the commission of crimes. In April, parents of a school shooter in Michigan were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison after they were convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The pair was charged for not securing the newly purchased gun at home and acting indifferently to signs of their sons deteriorating mental health. Their 15-year-old son used the gun to kill four students at Oxford High School in 2021. At a bare minimum, there needs to be public education campaigns about proper storage of firearms that every group can get behind. I think we need to explore how can we enhance that in other ways? Again, it (the Georgia school shooting) just followed the typical pattern. If he couldnt have gotten access, then we wouldnt have been talking about this, Eliason said. Utahs school safety bill, HB84, passed by lawmakers earlier this year, states that in the absence of a school resource officer or security guard, a school employee can volunteer to be an armed guardian to respond during an emergency. Schools have until the end of the year to conduct needs assessments to determine their needs and deficiencies regarding appropriate school safety personnel. The law calls for districts or charter schools to have either a school resource officer, a volunteer school guardian or an armed school security guard in their schools. House Speaker Mike Schultz speaks during a press conference to announce state action for Utah public lands at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News The state Legislatures Management Committee voted Tuesday to file a friend of the court brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Utah Attorney Generals lawsuit filed in August over 18.5 million acres of unappropriated public lands under federal ownership. A tie vote of 4-4 was broken by leadership, as per rules, when House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, voted once again in favor of supporting the unique lawsuit. Both Schultz and Adams said it is well past time that Utah do something about the vast amount of land controlled by the federal government that they say is often left in disarray and neglected. Ive had the opportunity to watch Utahs public lands over the last almost 40 or almost 50 years, Schultz said. And what is happening to our public lands kills me. As a conservationist at heart, who spends a lot of his own money, a lot of my own money, on improving land and making it better to see the mismanagement thats happening on our Forest Service lands, on our BLM lands, on all of the federally managed lands, is sickening, and we should all be ashamed of it. Its going backwards. The amicus curiae, or friend of the court brief, comes in response to a lawsuit announced last month in a press conference by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, joined by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. The countrys highest court has yet to take up the case. But if it were to rule in Utahs favor, control of a significant portion of public lands would shift to state capitals like Phoenix, Boise and Salt Lake City, instead of the nations Capitol 2,000 miles away. It is those people, Schultz added, in charge of those lands in Utah bureaucrats far removed from the state who are out of touch with what is going on with the landscapes. It is not right and it is not fair, he asserted. Adams said the lawsuit leaves untouched places already under active management by federal agencies such as national parks, wilderness areas, national forests, monuments, tribal lands or military properties land he describes as appropriated and serving a designated use. That amounts to 18.8 million acres. But 18.5 million acres of federal land is unencumbered for a special purpose, land that the state fears will soon change with public land restrictions that no longer make the land public multiuse and for purposes of sustained yield something etched in stone under the Federal Lands Policy Management Act passed in 1976. The land ownership by the federal government puts Utah at a distinct disadvantage, Adams said. In comparison the federal government owns less than 1% of the ground in Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island. Our Founding Fathers took care of those three states, Adams said. If you move on, less than 3% of the land is federally owned in Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and yet they own 70% of the land here in Utah. Look but dont touch Some GOP lawmakers have said the federal government is whittling away access to land they control, via restrictions that include 500 miles of roads closed and more to come. Grazing allotments are at risk as well, due to a new position by the Bureau of Land Management that nongovernment organizations are on an equal footing when it comes to being granted leases but for conservation purposes lawmakers say have the potential to decimate public access. It takes a hands off, dont touch, stay out approach, and theyre going to continue to close down more roads. This is access to some of those of us that love to get out and recreate, camp and climb or whatever it is, Schultz said. Hiking in our public land, theyre no longer going to have access to some of their favorite areas unless theyre willing to walk in 15 to 20 miles to get ... to this area or to the area where they historically had access and that is not fair to people with disabilities and that is not fair to people who cant hike that far in. Several Democratic members of the Legislative Management Committee made clear their objection to Utahs involvement, citing the costs that will run into the millions and the small chance of any tangible victory. I think itll be taxpayer money being lost in another fruitless litigation. But we will lose outdoor recreation opportunities. We will lose habitat for wildlife, and this will provide us with an opportunity to privatize some of the 70% of the land we all recreate on, said Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights. Rep. Jen Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, also wanted her name put on record as opposing the legal action. But if the state is successful, it would take over leasing on those federal lands. Utah has hired former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement and leading Supreme Court advocate Erin Murphy to argue the case, which could add up to $14 million in costs. Support for victims and survivors of domestic violence is available 24/7: 1-800-897-LINK (5465). If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or in an emergency, please call 911 immediately. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A Logan couple was arrested and booked into jail after allegedly stalking and kidnapping their adult children and arrest documents claim their children have experienced abuse for more than a decade. Jimmy Dean Stewart, 49, and Jean Elizabeth Stewart, 48, were each arrested on two counts of aggravated kidnapping, all first-degree felonies; and two counts of stalking, which are third-degree felonies. Jean Stewart also faces one charge of violation of a protective order, which is a class A misdemeanor. UCSO arrests trailer park assault suspect, his mother All charges against the Stewart couple were given domestic violence enhancements, according to arrest documents. Logan City Police responded to what the arresting officer called a delayed abuse case in May 2024. Jimmy and Jean Stewart were arrested on Sept. 9, 2024. The couples two adult children both around 30 years of age spoke with officers in June 2024 about the alleged abuse they experienced as children, both physical and emotional, as well as recent instances of being held hostage. One of the victims described a history of abuse dating back at least 2011, saying the suspects would tie them to a chair and tell them they had been possessed. The other victim said the abuse got worse after the family moved from Missouri to Logan, Utah. One victim described being stabbed with forks and knives, being beaten, and being locked in a basement, arrest documents said. The victim said the abuse happened for about 10 years off and on, but they also were locked in a basement as recently as May 2024. The victim also told officers they have never obtained a drivers license and they do not have higher than a seventh-grade education level. The parents also allegedly took one victims phone and medications away as a form of punishment while locking them in the house for several days, documents said. The arrest documents also alleged the parents of the victims would repeatedly drive past a victims new residence after the victim moved away, with videos of the occurrences dating back to April 2023. One of the victims was granted a protective order against one of the parents in July 2024, and one of the conditions of the order was no further contact. That condition was allegedly violated, leading to another charge for one of the parents. Sorina Trauntvein contributed to reporting. 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. NEW HARTFORD, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) A Utica man faces larceny charges after several alleged fraudulent credit card purchases, according to New Hartford Police. On Sunday, September 16, New Hartford Police received a complaint regarding several unauthorized credit card transactions within the city of Utica and the town of New Hartford. Further investigation by police found that the credit card was used fraudulently and without the consent of the holder. The investigation also found that the card was allegedly used at the Wal-Mart in New Hartford, as well as several smoke shops within the city of Utica. Police also say the identity thief allegedly bought a television from the New Hartford Wal-Mart. An investigation into the credit card charges found that the user of the cards was 20-year-old Jamare Blanco of Utica. Blanco was apprehended with the assistance of the Utica Police Department and the New York State Division of Parole the next day. Blanco is being charged with: Fourth-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, a Class E Felony, Second-degree Identity Theft, a Class E Felony, and Petit Larceny, a Class A Misdemeanor. Blanco was processed at the New Hartford Police Department and was turned over to New York State Parole Officers, who had a warrant for violation of his parole. He is scheduled to appear in the Town of New Hartford Court later in the month. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Objects left at Robb Elementary School to commemorate the anniversary of the shooting that killed 19 pupils and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images Uvalde Police Department Sgt. Donald Page resigned a day after the police department announced that it had placed an unnamed officer on paid leave after learning that not all bodycam footage from the 2022 mass shooting was given to the state for investigation. Page, who joined the Uvalde Police Department in 2006, declined to answer the Uvalde Leader-News question on Wednesday about whether his resignation was related to the unnamed officer being put on leave last week. However, the city confirmed to the Uvalde Leader-News on Wednesday that Page was the officer who had been placed on paid leave. Neither the Uvalde Police Department nor the city immediately responded to HuffPosts requests for comment. In a text message to HuffPost, Page said no comment when asked about his resignation. Page was one of the first officers on the scene the day a shooter killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022. Nearly 400 police officers were at the school that day, and they waited more than 77 minutes to confront the shooter. An independent investigation commissioned by the Uvalde City Council found that Page did not commit any misconduct and had acted in good faith. You knew that it was definitely an AR, Page said in an interview with investigators after the school shooting, according to the Texas Tribune. There was no way of going in. We had no choice but to wait and try to get something that had better coverage where we could actually stand up to him. Last month, an Uvalde police officer told Uvalde Police Department Chief Homer Delgado that his bodycam footage wasnt included in an Aug. 10 release to media outlets of records related to the mass shooting. Delgado immediately ordered an audit of all of the departments servers, and several additional videos from the day of the shooting were discovered, according to an emailed news release from the City of Uvalde. Delgado has opened an internal investigation into how the oversight happened, according to the city. Upon assuming the role of Chief of the Uvalde Police Department, I instituted the Guardian Initiative which, among other principles, promises full transparency to our community, Delgado said in a statement in the release. In the spirit of our ongoing commitment to full transparency, I have ordered an immediate review of all footage collection and storage protocols within UPD and will institute a new process to ensure our department lives up to the highest standards. The Uvalde community and the public deserve nothing less. Delgado said in a statement Wednesday that the police department doesnt think the footage was withheld intentionally, according to the Uvalde Leader-News. In June, Pete Arredondo, the former police chief for Uvalde schools, and Adrian Gonzales, another former school officer, were indicted for child endangerment and abandonment for their alleged inaction on the day of the mass shooting. CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a prior version of this story misstated the year of the Uvalde shooting. Related... Vance kept up false claims about Haitian migrants after aide was told they were baseless An aide to Ohio Sen. JD Vance was informed by a top Springfield, Ohio, official earlier this month that claims about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs were false but the vice presidential nominee went ahead with spreading the rumor anyway, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by ABC News. City manager Bryan Heck, in a Sept. 9 phone call, told a Vance staffer the "claims were baseless" when asked if they were true. A city spokesperson confirmed to ABC News the accuracy of the Wall Street Journal's reporting about the call. Still, Vance did not delete a post on X he wrote that same morning asserting "reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country." One day later, former President Donald Trump amplified the claim on the ABC News presidential debate stage with millions of viewers tuned in. MORE: Springfield conspiracy theories underscore the evolution of GOP rhetoric on immigration PHOTO: Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance speaks at a campaign event, Sept. 17, 2024, in Eau Claire, Wis. (Abbie Parr/AP) The Vance campaign, in an effort to defend the vice presidential pick, provided the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday with a police report to try to substantiate his claims. But the woman in the report, Anna Kilgore, told the Journal she was mistaken. ABC News spoke with Kilgore, who lives near downtown Springfield, on Wednesday afternoon. Kilgore said her cat Missy Sassy went missing and they believed their Haitian neighbors were to blame for the disappearance. After filing the police report, Kilgore's cat returned home safely several days later. She told ABC News that she apologized to her Haitian neighbors who have lived next door for the past year, and they were very gracious and there seemed to be no hard feelings. ABC has requested the police report but has not independently obtained it. When asked what led her to believe her neighbors were behind the cat's disappearance, Kilgore said, "because of rumors I heard." When pressed on where she heard those rumors she continued with, "on Facebook and TikTok." PHOTO: A man walks through Downtown Springfield, Ohio, Sept. 16, 2024. (Jessie Wardarski/AP) MORE: Timeline of unsubstantiated claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio Kilgore is a Trump-Vance supporter with signs and flags outside of her home. She was also wearing a "Trump 2024" t-shirt while speaking to ABC News. When asked what she would say to Vance and his campaign, she simply said, "I wish I could take it all back." ABC News also asked her if this situation would have any impact on her vote in November, to which she simply said, "No." ABC News has reached out to Vance's campaign for a statement on the Wall Street Journal report but has not yet received a response. Vance appeared on several talk shows on Sunday where he was pressed about the Springfield controversy, which has led to the community experiencing threats. He largely defended bringing national attention to the issue of immigration in Springfield. The Ohio town did experience an influx of 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian immigrants who are legally authorized to live and work there, and as a result some city resources have been strained. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recently announced measures to expand primary care access, allocate funds for translation services and more. "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast," Vance said on CNN. CNN anchor Dana Bash followed up with Vance about what he said about having to "create stories," and Vance responded: "It comes from firsthand accounts from my constituents. I say that we're creating a story, meaning we're creating the American media focusing on it." "I didn't create 20,000 illegal migrants coming into Springfield thanks to Kamala Harris's policies. Her policies did that," Vance added. Harris on Tuesday said it was a "crying shame" what was happening to the Springfield community and criticized Trump and Vance for engaging in "that hateful rhetoric." Vance kept up false claims about Haitian migrants after aide was told they were baseless originally appeared on abcnews.go.com During a campaign event in Wisconsin on Tuesday, J.D. Vance told supporters that its not his job to check if a story is true before broadcasting it to his millions of supporters. The media has a responsibility to fact-check, Vance said of false claims hes spread accusing illegal Haitian migrants in the town of Springfield, Ohio, of killing and eating local pets. Well, members of the media did fact-check Vance. As it turns out, the Ohio senator and his vice presidential campaign knew there was no credibility to the claims hours after he first aired them publicly, but chose to keep pushing them anyway, plunging the town into chaos. According to a Wednesday report from The Wall Street Journal, on Sept. 9 the day Vance first posted on X claiming local cats were being eaten by Springfields Haitians most of which are in the town legally his office called local authorities to verify the claim. A Vance staffer asked point-blank, Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten [true]? City Manager Bryan Heck told the Journal. I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless. By the time that phone call took place, Vances post had already gone viral online. The senator did not take it down in response to the denial from Springfield officials. Instead, Vances office issued a statement late that night claiming that his office had received a high volume of calls and emails over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield: his tweet is based on what he is hearing from them. Unlike the liberal media, JD takes his constituents concerns seriously, his office added. The next day, Sept. 10, Donald Trump repeated the lie during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris and propelled Springfield into the center of a right-wing firestorm that has residents fearing for their safety. Vance and Trump have continued to plow forward with the false narrative. Over the weekend, Vance told CNNs Dana Bash that hes willing to create stories in service of a narrative, but behind the scenes the senator was still trying to find concrete evidence to back his claims. Vances spokesperson provided the Journal with a copy of a police report made by a Springfield woman who claimed her cat had been abducted by her Haitian neighbors. But when the Journal spoke to the woman who filed the report, she clarified that the cat, Sissy, was found by the woman in her basement. The woman added that she had apologized to her Haitian neighbors for the false accusation. No such apology has been issued by Vance or the former president, even as dozens of bomb threats have rocked the town. Instead, Trump has promised mass deportations from Springfield and is reportedly planning an in-person visit. Ohios Republican Governor Mike DeWine told PBS News on Tuesday that while the issue of immigration and border security is typically fair game in politics, the claims being made about Springfields Haitian residents have gone too far. If you want to talk about these individuals, these Haitians who are in our cities, our city, look, theyre legal. They came here because they want to work, DeWine said. So those comments are about eating dogs and things, theyre very hurtful. Theyre very hurtful for these men and women who work very, very hard. Theyre obviously very hurtful for their children. DeWine has authorized the deployment of members of the Ohio National Guard to Springfield to help sweep schools and public buildings amidst the avalanche of threats being leveled at the city. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, also a Republican, has publicly pushed back on the line being taken by the GOP ticket. We need to have federal leaders that are supporting communities like ours, and understand the weight of their words and what theyre saying when theyre on a stage like this and how it can devastate and hurt communities like ours, he told NBC News earlier this week. When asked how he would feel about Trump coming to his town, Rue issued as polite of a rejection as he could muster. It would be an extreme strain on our resources. So itd be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit, he said at a press conference Tuesday. During his Wisconsin speech on Tuesday, Vance preached kindness towards the people in ones community. We want our public policy to be motivated by the wisdom of loving thy neighbor, that we want our public policy to be motivated by an understanding that family is the most important thing in this country, he said. Its clear that for Vance, the wisdom of loving thy neighbor has a few conditions. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. SaaS security provider Obsidian Security, founded by a Telstra former cybersecurity chief, has expanded its presence in APJ to accelerate security deployments for local businesses. The expansion will support the regions leading enterprises that use Obsidian to protect their critical cloud-based applications. Obsidian has appointed executives Tom Tokic as regional executive APJ and Andrew Latham as senior sales engineer APJ to spearhead this growth. Tokic and Latham joined the company, driven by the urgent need to secure critical SaaS applications. Since starting at Obsidian, they have been actively investing in the Australian market, launching a local partner program with foundation partners CyberCX, Baidam, and The Missing Link. Obsidian pointed out tight security is needed more than ever as SaaS attacks are increasing in frequency and the consequences growing more severe, as demonstrated by this years Ticketek breach. It also stated that regulations like SOCI impose stricter mandates for securing critical IT infrastructure. Obsidians investment in Australia will boost SaaS security adoption for regional businesses. "Australian businesses are often at the forefront of cyber security due to their strong focus on protecting users and data," said former Telstra CISO and Obsidian Security chief product officer Glenn Chisholm. "With more business-critical information migrating to SaaS every day, these applications have become the new frontline for cyber threats. However, the implicit trust many organisations have in their SaaS providers to configure the applications for them often leaves sensitive data unknowingly exposed, Chisholm added. Unawareness of the shared responsibility model can leave SaaS applications unsecured, posing a huge risk to businesses, as well as individuals, data. Obsidian Security tackles unaddressed blind spot of SaaS security. Obsidian shields SaaS applications from identity threats, 3rd- and 4th-party integrations and data movement risks, and automates SaaS security posture management and compliance. Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) sharply criticized Vice President Harris over immigration and public safety in a Wisconsin rally Tuesday afternoon. Speaking to a crowd in Eau Claire, Wis., Vance said Harris has taken away an American birthright, which is public safety. Its time to give it back to people, he said. Vance told a story about Anne Fundner, a mother who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July after losing her 15-year-old son to fentanyl, which she blamed on the Biden administrations border policies. Dont all of us want to raise our children in communities where they can make childhood mistakes and not have it claim their life? Vance said. He added that hes a father to three young children, who will likely grow up to do something that really pisses me off. But, I want them to grow up in a country where the streets are safe enough, where they can make a mistake and learn from it, rather than have it take their life, Vance said. And that is what we need. We got to get back to public safety in this country now. The Ohio senator and former President Trump have been criticized by a father whose son was killed in a bus crash last year. He called for them to stop using his sons death as a political tool to spread hate against immigrants. Vance turned his focus to a more local story, about Mexican drug cartel members being arrested outside of Milwaukee. The issue of immigration is not limited to the countrys Southwest, he argued, because every community is a border community due to the problems that Kamala Harris has imported. Now, I think the contrast here between President Trumps policies and Kamala Harriss policies, its really just unbelievable. Kamala Harris wants to suspend deportations. Donald Trump wants to reimplement deportations, Vance said. He argued that migrants who arrive in the country illegally and commit crimes should never have been in the United States to begin with. And when Donald J. Trump is president, all of them are going home, Vance said. Were going to deport the criminal migrants from this country. Its just so simple. This is not rocket science. Americas immigration system has been a huge focus of this campaign cycle. Republicans are seeking to hit both President Biden and Harris over the fentanyl crisis, migrant crime and the influx of migrants arriving at the southern border, though border crossings have been down. Vance has come under fire recently for amplifying a false claim about Haitian migrants eating peoples pets in Springfield, Ohio. During the presidential debate last week, Trump also spread the false claim. The city has seen fallout in the days since, including a bomb threat with harmful messaging toward migrants and school evacuations. Harris said it was a crying shame that Vance and Trump amplified the fake comments about migrants in Springfield. She added that they were leaning into racist tropes. The Eau Claire rally was Vances second stop of the day. Earlier Tuesday in Michigan, he addressed the apparent assassination attempt on Trump, citing Democrats and the media for the uptick in security issues for the former president. The Hill has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Vance used a police report about a stolen cat to justify pet-eating rumors. Miss Sassy was hiding in the basement Vance used a police report about a stolen cat to justify pet-eating rumors. Miss Sassy was hiding in the basement Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance tried to prove his baseless claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets by pointing to a police report from one resident in Springfield, Ohio, that alleged her cat may have been stolen by her Haitian neighbors. Turns out the cat, Miss Sassy, had been hiding in the basement the whole time, and Anna Kilgore had apologized to her neighbors for the mix-up with the help of a translation app, she told The Wall Street Journal this week. Vance and his running mate Donald Trump, along with GOP allies, have spent days repeating baseless rumors that Haitian immigrants were stealing Springfields dogs and cats and eating them, in an effort to further push their hardline agenda on immigration. The claims have been repeatedly debunked by Springfields police department, city officials and Ohios Republican governor Mike DeWine. Local officials have also made it clear that Haitian immigrants who recently arrived in the city did so legally. Anna Kilgore in Springfield, Ohio with a Trump-Vance hat and flag. The Springfield resident told police last month that her Haitian neighbors may have stolen her cat Miss Sassy. The cat turned out to be hiding in her basement the whole time, and she apologized to her Haitian neighbors (Kris Maher/The Wall Street Journal) Trump even raised the conspiracy theory during last weeks presidential debate and pushed back against a live fact-check by debate moderator, David Muir. Well, Ive seen people on television, Trump replied. People on television say, My dog was taken and used for food, so maybe he said that and maybe thats a good thing to say for a city manager. The WSJ also reported on Wednesday that Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck had told a Vance staffer directly on September 9 that the pet-eating rumors were not true, when he called to verify. He asked point-blank, Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten? Heck told the WSJ. I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless. Vance had shared the conspiracy theory on X to his 1.9 million followers that day, and did not remove the post even after his staffer was told there was no truth to them. The VP candidate has doubled down on the claims, telling CNN on Sunday that if he has to create stories so that the America media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then thats what Im going to do. A Springfield police officer talks to a parishioner after a service in support of the Haitian community at St Raphael Catholic church in Springfield on September 15 (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) When the WSJ asked Vance about the rumors this week, his campaign shared Kilgores police report from late August. The woman had told officers that she believed her Haitian neighbors may have stolen her cat. However, Kilgore told a WSJ reporter who visited her at home that she had discovered Miss Sassy in the basement a few days after filing the report. A Vance spokesperson told The Independent the media is ignoring real concerns and purposely twisting Senator Vances words. Senator Vance has received countless messages from residents of Springfield on the disastrous effects Kamala Harriss immigration policies have created for their hometown: a shortage of affordable housing, stressed public resources, declining public safety, and spikes in communicable disease, the spokesperson wrote. As the pet-eating rumors have spread, Springfield has faced an increasing number of threats. A bomb threat last Thursday forced the evacuation of city hall and two schools. Local officials said the threat explicitly used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community. On Monday, two more schools in Springfield were evacuated while two nearby college campuses moved classes online and canceled on-campus events due to threats. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, also called the conspiracy theory about pet-eating a piece of garbage that was simply not true during a news conference earlier this week (AP) Haitians living in Springfield have said theyre afraid for their safety. Some parents had resorted to keeping children home from school, James Fleurijean, a Haitian community member, told ABC News. Despite the pushback, a significant number of Republican voters have bought into the baseless claim. A new poll from YouGov surveying voters after the Trump-Harris debate revealed that 52 percent of Trump voters said that the claim is definitely or probably true. Some 81 percent of Harris voters said the claim is definitely false. This story was updated on September 18 to include a statement from Vances spokesperson. "The Angel of Harmony" sculpture damaged outside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 in St. Louis. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) ST. LOUIS (AP) A man used construction equipment to drop a heavy boom lift onto a sculpture that has stood for 25 years outside St. Louis' Cathedral Basilica, badly damaging it, police said. It wasnt immediately clear whether the Angel of Harmony, which stood 14 feet (4.3 meters) tall and depicts a Black angel protecting three children of various races, could be saved. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that part of one of the children was broken off and the angel's wings appeared to be damaged. The motive for Tuesday nights vandalism was unknown, said police, who arrested a 35-year-old suspect. The Angel of Harmony, created by Polish sculptor Wiktor Szostalo, was installed in 1999, months after Pope John Paul II's visit to St. Louis. The angel's wings include more than 100 wind chimes and the children are playing instruments. The pedestal is inscribed with quotes from the New Testament, Pope John Paul II and Martin Luther King Jr. The Angel of Harmony has graced the grounds of our citys Cathedral Basilica since 1999, as a joyful reminder that our diversity is something to be celebrated, that truth, beauty and goodness unite us all, St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski said in a statement. We need to be reminded of that daily. We are still learning about the extent of the damage, with great hope that this special sculpture can be restored." Police arrived at the ornate Catholic cathedral in St. Louis' Central West End neighborhood after a caller reported that a man was tampering with construction equipment. The statue had been knocked off its pedestal. Police said the suspect also apparently fired a gunshot into an unoccupied car. It was not clear why. Surveillance video helped point officers to the man. Officers spotted the him, but he ran off. A police dog helped find the suspect hiding a few blocks from the cathedral. The man was charged Wednesday with institutional vandalism, two counts of property damage, tampering, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest. Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia said Wednesday he had been coerced into signing a letter distributed by Venezuelan authorities in which he supposedly conceded election defeat to strongman Nicolas Maduro. In the letter, dated September 7 and addressed to National Assembly leader Jorge Rodriguez, Gonzalez Urrutia said "I respect" the regime-aligned CNE electoral council's proclamation of Maduro as the winner of the July 28 vote. But on Wednesday, the 75-year-old retired diplomat published a message on X from Madrid, where he was given asylum after weeks in hiding in Venezuela, saying he was made to sign the letter in exchange for being allowed to leave. Maduro aides brought him the letter at the Spanish embassy in Caracas and, he wrote, "I had to either sign it or deal with the consequences." Gonzalez Urrutia added "there were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure. At that point, I considered I could be of more use free than if I were imprisoned." The letter, he said, was worthless as it was tainted by "coercion." Within hours of polls closing, the CNE declared Maduro the victor with 52 percent of votes cast. The opposition immediately cried foul and dozens of countries refused to recognize Maduro's claim to a third six-year term unless the CNE published a detailed vote breakdown, which it has not. The United States has said there was "overwhelming evidence" that Gonzalez Urrutia had won. The opposition presented its own figures based on polling station-level counts which it says proves Gonzalez Urrutia won by a landslide. - 'Will not be silenced' - Gonzalez Urrutia vowed on Wednesday that "as the president elected by millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy and peace, I will not be silenced." He left for Spain under the cloud of an arrest warrant -- condemned by the international community -- for "serious crimes" related to his insistence that Maduro had stolen the vote. Gonzalez Urrutia had ignored three successive summonses to appear before prosecutors investigating him for alleged crimes including "usurpation" of public functions, "forgery" of a public document, incitement to disobedience and sabotage. The charges stem from the opposition's publication of voting results, which the government says only authorized institutions have the right to do. The CNE has said it cannot publish the voting records as hackers had corrupted the data, though observers have said there was no evidence of such interference. Gonzalez Urrutia's lawyer Jose Vicente Haro told AFP on Wednesday his client had been the victim of "blackmail" by the Maduro government. In the hours leading up to his departure for Spain, Haro said he saw a man "under a lot of pressure, in a situation of coercion, under a situation of urgency, with little chance of speaking" in a video call. "I saw a person broken psychologically, emotionally," he added. Gonzalez Urrutia replaced opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she was barred from running by institutions loyal to the Maduro regime. She, too, has been mostly in hiding since the vote, except for appearing at a handful of organized demonstrations. Maduro has said both Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado belong "behind bars," blaming them for the deaths of 25 civilians and two soldiers in protests that broke out spontaneously after his alleged victory was announced. Nearly 200 people were injured and more than 2,400 arrested. Maduro has managed to cling to power despite sanctions stepped up after his 2018 reelection, also dismissed as a sham by dozens of countries. pgf/mlr/sst Venezuela's Gonzalez says he was forced to sign letter accepting court ruling of Maduro victory CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuela opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who stood against President Nicolas Maduro in July's election, on Wednesday said he was forced to sign a letter accepting a ruling from the country's top court which recognized Maduro's victory. "Either I signed or I faced the consequences," he said in a statement. Gonzalez is currently in Spain, where he was granted political asylum earlier this month following the issue of a warrant for his arrest in Venezuela. The national electoral council proclaimed Maduro the victor of the presidential election, which took place on July 28, prompting allegations of fraud and widespread protest as the opposition published vote tallies online which they said showed Gonzalez had won. Earlier this week, a U.N. report said Maduro's government escalated repressive tactics to crush peaceful protests and keep power in the aftermath of the South American country's disputed election. The declaration by Venezuela's top electoral authority was approved by the country's Supreme Court, even though officials have not published vote tallies showing Maduro's victory. Gonzalez said he was met at the Spanish embassy in Caracas by Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and her brother Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly, who gave him the letter to sign. "There followed very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure," Gonzalez said, adding he felt he would be more useful in freedom than locked up. "A document produced under duress is totally worthless, due to a serious lack of consent," the statement added. In Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez presented a two-page letter signed by Gonzalez and said the former presidential candidate, 75, had 24 hours to retract his claims. "If you don't deny that in 24 hours, I'm going to release the audios, it's up to you, Mr. Gonzalez," Rodriguez said, referring to the meetings he and his sister held with Gonzalez. (Reporting by Vivian SequeraWriting by Oliver GriffinEditing by Brendan O'Boyle and Diane Craft) Veterans benefits across the Carolinas hang in the balance as Senate weighs funding bill Veterans benefits across the Carolinas hang in the balance as Senate weighs funding bill CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Tuesday night brought some good news for veterans in the Carolinas whose monthly benefits remain in limbo after the federal agency serving them announced it had a $3 billion gap in funding in its budget. In the early evening hours, the House passed a bill which would help fill that gap but would require more transparency from the agency as to how it ended up in such a deep financial hole. It demands accountability, which is desperately needed here, stressed California House Republican Mike Garcia. Concourse A expansion debuts at Charlotte Douglas International Airport Garcia introduced H.R. 9468 which will now head to the U.S. Senate for final approval. The funding bill would have to be passed by Friday, or there could be significant delays in monthly benefits for veterans across the country, beginning on Oct. 1. Officials with the Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress in July that it expected a budget shortfall due to record demand for benefits and that there have been significant increases across a variety of claims that veterans can file. There are also projections that the 2025 budget will have a shortfall of $12 billion, which this bill will not address. Before Tuesdays vote, Queen City News reached out to half a dozen U.S. representatives and senators in North and South Carolina. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who is on the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, sent a statement that said he knew this would happen. For years, Ive been warning that the VAs mismanagement and Congress unfunded mandates would put veterans benefits at risk, and that is exactly whats happening, Tillis said. North Carolina veterans deserve an immediate explanation for the VAs $3 billion shortfall, which will only get worse in the coming years. That is why two months ago, I demanded the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hold a hearing to get answers from VA leaders and make sure this doesnt happen again. Im glad we will finally have that hearing tomorrow. Our veterans deserve a VA that offers full transparency and accountability, and we cannot afford to continue to write blank checks to cover up for poorly written legislation and bureaucratic incompetence. U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia introduced HR 9468 to help fill a gap in veterans funding. On Wednesday, that hearing will happen, when VA officials will speak directly to an oversight committee on the budget shortfalls. Before the vote passed through the House Tuesday, Rep. Jeff Jackson told Queen City News, I strongly support the efforts to ensure veterans get all the benefits they deserve. These men and women stood up to defend our country, we need to uphold our obligation to them. I look forward to supporting it when it is considered in the House this week. Sen. Ted Budd also sent a statement to Queen City News: The Biden-Harris administration failed to properly estimate the funds necessary for veterans benefits. Im calling for swift passage of the Houses bill to provide $3 billion to cover the short-term funding gaps, but there needs to be accountability at the VA. We need regular reports to Congress until the Departments fiscal house is in order. Fort Mill, South Carolina, veteran Deedee Legette said she was done with both sides putting the blame on the other. Were not pawns Theyre putting peoples lives at stake and in jeopardy, and were not even on the battlefield anymore, she explained. Senate Republicans again block legislation to guarantee womens rights to IVF Legette served in the U.S. Air Force for two decades, which included a deployment to Afghanistan. She now is 100% disabled and relies on her monthly benefits from the VA. The money goes toward her mortgage, for her sons future, her new grandchild, and all of the groceries she buys for her family. While shes in good enough health and is fit enough to physically work, she said there are older veterans who will be left abandoned if their benefits dont come. They have to rely on these retirement checks, she explained. A lot of them are really broken down where they cant do anything physically. A lot of my disability is mental [older veterans] are panicking. What are they going to do? They dont have any other alternatives. She went on and said it was disheartening to have to fight for benefits after two decades of sacrifice. Queen City News reached out to the Salisbury VA Health Care System for insight into how this will impact its services to local veterans. They sent the following statement from VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes: Right now, due in large part to the historic PACT Act, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before and earning Veteran trust at record rates. These results are life-changing for Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, and VA will continue to push to make sure that they get the care and benefits they deserve. Key examples include: More Veterans are trusting VA: Veteran trust in VA has reached an all-time high of 80.4%up 25% since the survey began in 2016. For outpatient care, Veteran trust has reached 91.8%also an all-time record. More Veterans are enrolling in VA health care: More than 412,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA care over the last 365 days, the most since 2017. More Veterans are using VA health care: VA is on pace to deliver approximately 130 million health care appointments in 2024, surpassing last years all-time record of 120 million appointments. More Veterans are receiving disability compensation benefits than ever before: VA has granted benefits to more than 1.1 million Veterans and their survivors this fiscal year, an all-time record with 2 weeks remaining in the fiscal year. In total, VA has awarded $154 billion in benefits, including $142 billion in compensation and pension benefits, to Veterans and survivors this year. What happens if VA doesnt get the funding? If the Veterans Benefits Administration does not receive additional funding from Congress by September 20, compensation and pension benefit payments and readjustment benefit payments scheduled for delivery on October 1, 2024, are at risk of being delayed. If the Veterans Health Administration does not receive additional funding, VA will continue to provide high-quality health care to Veterans but will make adjustments to remain within the current budget for fiscal year 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 Queen City News. ARLINGTON, Virginia (KSEE/KGPE) Tuesday was another busy day for the veterans traveling with the 29th Central Valley Honor Flight. Their morning started early, with an escort over the Potomac River by the United States Capitol Police. The escort stopped traffic on the highway allowing the charter busses to cut through the congestion and get from Arlington to the United States Capitol in a matter of minutes. WATCH: Central Valley Honor Flight veterans sing God Bless America in U.S. Capitols rotunda The group walked through the halls of the United States Capitol building and the Rotunda, all the way to the House floor. Usually, only members of Congress are allowed inside but an exception was made for the members of the 29th Central Valley Honor Flight. Veterans on Honor Flight sing 'God Bless America' in U.S. Capitol's rotunda Congressmen David Valadao, Jim Costa and Vince Fong spoke with the group on the House Floor. To come here and actually see what their sacrifices were all about and then to remember those who are no longer with us, said Costa, who represents Californias 21st Congressional District. David Valado, representing Californias 22nd Congressional District, echoed a similar message. For them to be able to see for themselves, what they fought for, see what they defended, its the symbol of freedom across the world, our Capitol, Valadao said. The group then went on to explore the monuments and memorials, including the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. From the memorial, you have a view of the Pentagon, the worlds second-largest office building and the United States headquarters for the Department of Defense. At the World War II memorial, the five women veterans on the Honor Flight gathered under a message honoring the women who stepped into service during the war. Sandy Byrd from Tulare reflects on those words written into stone, as shown in the picture above. Its just amazing that we do have a lot in common, Im very proud that we were willing and able to serve when it wasnt something women really did, Byrd said. Byrd served in the Air Force, starting as a medic but eventually evaluating veterans for mental and physical disabilities as they left Vietnam. We were told when you take the plane home you might not want to wear your uniform, but my family was so proud of me for what I had done and how I had served my country, she said. Over at the Marine Corps Memorial, veteran Tom Mitchell from Sanger recounted his time in Vietnam, thinking about his friends who never made it home. Some guys are still not wanting to talk about it. They just want to keep it inside here, and its not the best thing to do and I know I did it for a long time, still doing it and getting it out is making it better, he added. The group also got to visit the National Museum of the United States Army in Virginia. On Wednesday, the group is scheduled to visit Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam War Memorial. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 | CBS47 and KSEE24. A $3 billion hole in veterans benefits funding is closer to being filled, but the Friday deadline to fix the issue without potentially disrupting payments to veterans is fast approaching, with lingering questions about whether the Senate can act quickly enough. The House on Tuesday easily approved a bill to provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with $3 billion the agency says it needs in order to ensure benefits checks due Oct. 1 can go out on time. But the Senate still needs to approve the bill, and doing so before Friday will require the consent of every senator -- and at least one senator is raising the possibility of objecting. Veterans have been urging Congress to move quickly to remove any doubt that they will get their benefits on time. Read Next: Neo-Nazi Group Led by 2 Ex-Marines Pushed and Cheered Haitian Pet-Eating Claims Gripping Ohio City "Every day that we get closer to Sept. 20 is another 24 hours of uncertainty for thousands of veterans whose financial lives depend on this, and every member of Congress has a moral obligation to protect these crucial benefits that our nation's veterans have earned through their service to our great nation," Julia Mathis, national legislative director at the American Legion, said at a news conference last week. In July, the VA informed Congress that it was short about $3 billion of what it needs for disability and education benefits for this fiscal year, which ends at the end of the month. Officials attributed the shortfall to higher-than-expected benefits claims under the PACT Act, the sweeping law that expanded benefits for veterans exposed to toxins during their military service. GI Bill payments have also exceeded the department's earlier projections for this year, officials have said. The VA gave Congress a Sept. 20 deadline to cover the shortfall, warning that benefits payments that are supposed to be sent Oct. 1 could be delayed if the funding isn't approved by then. The department chose that date because that is when it is supposed to send the Treasury Department a list of payments that need to go out at the end of the month, VA officials told House lawmakers in a hearing last week. While Republicans bristled at what they characterized as VA "mismanagement" contributing to the shortfall, they also said they wouldn't punish veterans over their anger at department leadership. The bill was approved by voice vote in the House, meaning any opposition was negligible. In addition to providing funding to cover the shortfall, the bill would require the VA to submit a report to Congress "detailing corrections the department will make to improve forecasting, data quality and budget assumptions." The VA's inspector general would also be required to review the "circumstances surrounding and the underlying causes" of the shortfall. "I've been getting half-answers from executives at VA for two months about this shortfall," House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., said on the House floor Tuesday. "This legislation is a step in the right direction, and it upholds the House Republicans' commitment to always care for men and women who have served our military." Senators had tried to quickly approve the funding patch before leaving town for summer recess at the end of July. But several Republicans objected to fast-tracking the legislation without first holding a hearing on the shortfall. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee was scheduled to hold that hearing Wednesday afternoon. Still, it's unclear whether the hearing will be enough for every senator to drop their objections, allowing the bill to be approved by the end of the week. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who frequently delays funding bills, would not rule out objecting to approving the VA benefits bill before Friday. Paul is seeking an amendment that would pay for the $3 billion by cutting money elsewhere in the federal budget, he told Military.com on Tuesday. The PACT Act, he added, was "poorly designed." "We're all for funding veterans benefits," Paul said. "There were people who were around burn pits who breathed in fumes and who have lung damage and lung problems. I'm all for taking care of them, but if you treat everybody who has hypertension with government money, you don't have enough money left for the people who actually were injured by the burn pits." Pressed on whether he is concerned about veterans benefits being delayed if the bill isn't approved by Friday, Paul said he is "very much concerned about bankrupting of the United States." "And we will do everything possible to try to make sure any new expenditure is paid for by an expenditure somewhere else," he said. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said talks are ongoing to address Paul's concerns, but he also warned about the consequences of not approving the funding by Friday. "There's a lot of people who are harmed -- people who have served our country or their family members -- who are harmed if the check is not in the mail when it's supposed to be," Moran said. While Friday is the deadline the VA gave Congress, officials have also suggested there is some flexibility in that date. The VA's timeline for sending Treasury the list of payments includes a cushion to correct any mistakes before money is sent to veterans, Joshua Jacobs, the VA under secretary for benefits, said at last week's House hearing. "We have the ability to accelerate the timeline for direct deposit," Jacobs said. "It does come with additional risk. The real challenge and the real length in process is those veterans and survivors with checks because that process is time consuming and, particularly for veterans and survivors in rural areas, there may be a delay of up to two weeks." Related: VA Warns Congress that Benefits Payments Are at Risk Due to Projected $15 Billion Budget Shortfall Political tensions escalated during Dorals second budget meeting on Tuesday night as disagreements over employee salary increases left the council deadlocked. With Vice Mayor Oscar Puig-Corve absent and no agreement on allowing his remote participation, all votes ended in a 2-2 tie, forcing the city to delay the approval of the next years budget until Sept. 30, when Puig-Corve is expected to attend. Puig-Corve, currently in Japan, had sent an email to the City Clerk on Sept. 4, according to public records, notifying that he would be unable to attend the budget meeting because of a personal commitment. Mayor Christi Fraga did not support his participation online, referring to the vice mayors trip as a vacation. Councilman Rafael Pineyro sided with the mayor in rejecting his remote involvement. The heated debate, lasting over an hour and a half, primarily centered around Fraga and Councilwoman Maureen Porras, who clashed over proposed salary increases. During the first budget hearing on Sept. 3, City Manager Rey Valdes proposed a 7.5% cost-of-living increase along with a 3% merit raise across the board for all staff. However, Porras argued it wasnt fiscally responsible, noting that the citys current salaries are already above market averages and that the pay range for certain positions exceeds the market standard. At that time, the council approved amendments requested by Porras, which would result in a 3.5% cost-of-living increase but no merit raises. On Tuesday, during the second budget hearing, Porras again proposed a 3.5% cost-of-living adjustment for all employees but added the possibility of allowing up to a 7% merit increase. She also proposed a 7.5% cost-of-living increase for police officers specifically. Additionally, Porras called for proposed cuts to the mayors outreach coordinator position, as well as trimming roles in the public affairs department, including a salary adjustment for the department director. And she recommended reducing funding for promotional activities and advertising, while pushing for the creation of a grant writer position and raising the salaries of the Public Works and Parks & Recreation directors. Porras justified the staff reduction in the mayors office by questioning the production of materials like the mayors podcast, In the City con Christi. The city is being used to host some sort of podcast, and I dont think the taxpayers should pay for that, she said. I think that if you want to use private funding, you should. In fact, you have used private funding to try to keep candidates off the ballot. Fraga responded that not a single public dollar is used to produce the podcast, saying that all contributions come from private funds and that her office discloses every gift it receives. City of Doral Mayor Christi Fraga listens to Councilwoman Maureen Porras during the budget discussions on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, which ended in a recess without an agreement, prompting a rescheduling for Sept. 30. Fraga proposed a 3% cost-of-living adjustment and a 3% merit increase, while opposing the staff cuts suggested by Porras. She argued that the proposed cuts were politically motivated and accused Porras of engaging in political maneuvering that ignored critical issues, such as the need for additional police department positions. Fraga also pointed out that, just months before the budget discussions, council aides had received a significant 40% funding increase. The mayor suggested that Porras was unhappy the city manager had not proposed the cuts himself and that he was not living up to the expectations of Porras and the two other council members who had appointed Valdes in June over Fragas objections, Puig-Corve and Digna Cabral. They wanted a political operator, which is what they expected in bringing in a hand-picked person. Thats why I didnt support it, Fraga said. The mayor pushed to move forward with the councils agreement following the first hearing, which included the approval of amendments requested by Porras that would result in a 3.5% salary increase or cost-of-living being set, pending further discussion at the second hearing. I showed here today that I was willing to find consensus, and they were not willing to find consensus, Fraga said. In response, Porras accused Fraga of grandstanding. Doral City Councilwoman Maureen Porras addresses Mayor Chirsti Fraga as they discuss the citys budget on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 READ MORE: Doral strengthens election qualifications after candidate won residency challenge At one point of the deadlocked discussion Tuesday, Porras said she wasnt going to support any amendment of her proposal or any other proposal that wasnt hers. Fraga told el Nuevo Herald that the three council members who typically vote against her proposals Puig-Corve, Porras and Cabral, who supported Porras budget proposals were being politically manipulated. They came today with a political agenda of cutting key positions, communications, transparency and public safety infrastructure, she said. Porras stated that they were stuck in an impasse after the mayor and Pineyro decided that Puig-Corve could not participate. We want to ensure that the budget reflects the input of all five council members, and when the vice mayor was excluded, it undermined the effort to pass a unified budget, Porras said. The budget proposal approved during the first reading was set at $137.5 million, reflecting a 25.3% increase from the $109.8 million approved in 2023, with a $7 million increase in operational budget, $12 million increase in general fund and $8 million increase in capital improvement. Ironically, Fraga supported the city managers budget despite not backing his appointment in June, whereas the three council members who approved his hiring now oppose his budget. City manager faces potential salary reduction An hour before the second budget hearing, a special meeting was scheduled to discuss and evaluate City Manager Rey Valdes salary and performance in his three-month tenure. However, the meeting was canceled because of a lack of quorum. Fraga and Pineyro were attending a Miami-Dade County Commission discussion on the countys garbage incinerator, which ended with a deferral until Nov. 6. READ MORE: Doral floats idea to pay Miami-Dade at least $20M in taxes to relocate trash incinerator Porras called the special meeting to address concerns about Valdes salary and performance. Public records show his salary, set at $245,000 in June, is nearly $7,000 higher than that of his predecessor, Barbara Barbie Hernandez, who was fired in January over conflict of interest allegations. City Hall sources told el Nuevo Herald that the proposed reduction would slash Valdes salary by more than $40,000, representing an 18% cut if approved by the council. That salary was initially approved in June by Porras, Puig-Corve and Cabral when they voted to hire Valdes. At the time, Porras defended the salary, saying the council was prepared to pay even more than that, up to $300,000 for the right candidate. We wanted to attract talented, professional people, and we didnt want to leave anything out, she told el Nuevo Herald. City of Doral Manager Rey Valdez (right) talks with Francisco J. Rios, deputy city manager, during a meeting to discuss the budget for years 2024-2025, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. The special meeting Tuesday was strategically planned before the budget hearing to prevent Valdes from receiving an automatic 5% raise, scheduled for Oct. 1 as part of his contract. Porras mentioned that the meeting would be rescheduled before the final budget hearing on Sept. 30, where the council is expected to reduce his salary. Although Porras expressed confidence in Valdes ability to fulfill the position given his experience as deputy city manager, she noted on Tuesday night that he needs a little guidance and should take the time to learn and listen to certain things. Valdes, a retired major from the Miami-Dade Police Department with 33 years of service, including in the narcotics bureau and homicide division, served in Doral from 2018 to 2022 after his retirement. He initially worked as the police departments spokesperson, later becoming a special assistant to the city manager and eventually deputy city manager under Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez. Valdes resigned in December 2022 after Fraga took office. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A man who was shot in an incident in Sioux Citys west side last week has been arrested and charged with burglary. According to the Sioux City Police Department, Liem Wabashaw, 18, of Sioux City, was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 18. He is charged with second-degree burglary. SCCSD dealing with another social media threat Police say they received a report of a shooting at 1908 Helmer Street on Monday, Sept. 9 at about 12:53 p.m. There, Wabashaw was found with a gunshot wound to his neck and was taken to a hospital. Later, after an investigation, detectives found that Wabashaw had entered the home through a window and did not have permission to be inside, police say. He was then shot as he approached another family member. Police are still investigating the situation. Anyone with more information is asked to call the police department at 712-279-6440 or their anonymous tip line at 712-258-TIPS (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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure, and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), is reinforcing its commitment to enhancing IT operations with its new generation of the Hitachi EverFlex infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) portfolio. Hitachi EverFlex is designed to simplify and optimise IT capacity and operations by managing diverse and distributed infrastructure through advanced heterogeneous automation and flexible service options, meeting the evolving needs of enterprises seeking scalable, adaptable, and economical IT infrastructure for business outcomes. As enterprises increasingly turn to hybrid cloud environments to meet their diverse IT needs, there is a notable shift towards consumption-based models that offer greater agility, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), and simplified operations management. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global IaaS market is expected to grow from US $156.93 billion in 2024 to US $738.11 billion by 2032, driven by the demand for scalable, cost-effective IT solutions and the surge in cloud adoption. Hitachi EverFlex addresses these needs with adaptable IaaS solutions that leverage AI to enhance efficiency and rapid decision-making. The portfolio of services helps organisations tackle key IT challenges with a consumption-based model that aligns costs with actual business usage. This approach not only reduces initial capital expenditures but also ensures IT expenses are directly tied to business needs. 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Hitachi EverFlexs key capabilities include: EverFlex Control: At the heart of Hitachi EverFlex, this software-as-a-service (SaaS) portal provides services management, extensive integration, advanced observability, process automation, real-time insights, and intelligent alerting. It enables administrators and operations users to dynamically scale their IT resources and manage their infrastructure efficiently, whether they choose a self-service model or a fully managed solution. At the heart of Hitachi EverFlex, this software-as-a-service (SaaS) portal provides services management, extensive integration, advanced observability, process automation, real-time insights, and intelligent alerting. It enables administrators and operations users to dynamically scale their IT resources and manage their infrastructure efficiently, whether they choose a self-service model or a fully managed solution. EverFlex Service Catalog: Hitachi EverFlex offers a comprehensive Service Catalog with modular options such as storage-as-a-service (STaaS), data protection-as-a-service (DPaaS), compute-as-a-service (CaaS), converged infrastructure-as-a-service (CIaaS) and financial operations (FinOps). These options are designed to meet specific business needs, helping organisations control costs, streamline operations, and handle the complexities of modern IT environments. Hitachi EverFlex offers a comprehensive Service Catalog with modular options such as storage-as-a-service (STaaS), data protection-as-a-service (DPaaS), compute-as-a-service (CaaS), converged infrastructure-as-a-service (CIaaS) and financial operations (FinOps). These options are designed to meet specific business needs, helping organisations control costs, streamline operations, and handle the complexities of modern IT environments. 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Hitachi Vantaras partner ecosystem, including strategic collaborations with industry leaders like Cisco, extends the capabilities of Hitachi EverFlex, providing customers with scalable, resilient, and cost-effective infrastructure options. The collaboration with Cisco on the joint Hitachi EverFlex with Cisco Powered Hybrid Cloud offering strengthens hybrid cloud expertise by providing integrated networking, computing, and storage solutions with adaptable consumption models. The Hitachi EverFlex portfolio offers a practical solution for infrastructure consumption services, helping businesses manage hybrid cloud environments amidst evolving technology demands, said Scott Sinclair, practice director for cloud, infrastructure and DevOps at Enterprise Strategy Group. As organisations navigate the complexities of hybrid cloud environments and face IT staffing challenges, Hitachi EverFlexs flexible model and extensive services provide key advantages. Its comprehensive approach enhances agility and supports digital transformation, making it essential for adapting to rapidly changing market demands. To learn more about Hitachi Vantaras services offerings, click here: https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/services/professional-services Additional Resources SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) Two shooting victims who were killed in Barrio Logan over the weekend have been identified by authorities. A suspect has also been taken into custody. According to the San Diego Police Department, gunshots rang out in the 1700 block of Newton Avenue around 9:40 p.m. Saturday night. Central Division officers responded to the area after a call came in reporting the violence. The officers located two men suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Homicide investigation underway in the East Village The first victim, identified as a 28-year-old Osnaider Silveira, was pronounced dead at the scene. The second victim, identified as 23-year-old Junior Alastre, was transported to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries. Police said both victims are believed to be recent immigrants from Venezuela. Homicide detectives launched an investigation into the double shooting. Authorities discovered that the two victims, along with a third person, were in and around a parked vehicle when someone approached them and started shooting. From there, the suspect, who was described as a man in his 30s with short hair and a full beard, entered a white 2012 Kia Forte that belonged to one of the victims. Once in the car, the man realized there was a woman in the backseat. Police said the suspect demanded that she get out of the car before fleeing the scene in the Kia. The next day, the vehicle was located in the Los Angeles area. Police said it was occupied by a man matching the suspects description. The man, identified as 23-year-old Guillermo David Gonzalez of National City, was taken into custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department without incident. Gonzalez has been booked into the San Diego County Jail on suspicion of two counts of murder, one count of carjacking and one count of robbery. Hes scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 18 at 1:30 p.m. An investigation into the double shooting remains ongoing. Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. 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 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Vietnam's top leader Lam to meet Google, Meta in US next week, sources say By Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's president and ruling Communist Party chief To Lam is set to meet representatives from several U.S. corporations, including Google and Meta, during a visit to the United States next week, two people briefed about the plans told Reuters. Meta's Facebook has in the 100-million-people country one of its largest user bases worldwide, and Google makes its smartphones there through suppliers and plans a large data centre, according to a Reuters report last month. In his first trip to the United States since he was named in early August as head of the party, the country's most powerful job, Lam is scheduled to meet representatives of Google and Meta, the two people said, with one noting each of the companies would have a separate meeting with him. Neither said what will be discussed. Another two people familiar with the plans said Lam will also attend on Sept. 23 a business forum with other U.S. business representatives. All the four sources declined to be identified because the information was not public. The US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), which is one of the organisers of the Sept. 23 event, declined to share a list of participants. Google and Facebook did not reply to requests for comment. In two large U.S. business missions the USABC lobbying group organised in Vietnam over the last 18 months, it brought in dozens of top U.S. corporations including defence firms, energy and tech companies. Among firms who attended both recent missions to Vietnam, are power company AES, aviation giant Boeing, payment company Mastercard and Amazon, including its cloud computing subsidiary Amazon Web Services, according to lists of participants seen by Reuters. U.S. companies see Vietnam as a manufacturing hub and a market for their products. Apple's suppliers complete many of the company's products there, Intel has a large chip assembling factory, and defence firms have been long in talks to sell security equipment to Hanoi. BIDEN MEETING? Lam's trip to the United States has not been formally announced, but officials said he would travel there on Saturday to speak at the United Nations General Assembly where global leaders meet for their annual get-together on Sept 22-23. He will fly to Cuba later in the week in the final leg of his trip. Columbia University has announced an event with Lam on Sept. 23 in New York. The U.S. and Vietnam boosted their diplomatic ties last year as Washington sees the Southeast Asian nation as a strategic partner to reduce reliance on Chinese manufacturing. The U.S. is also seeking closer ties with Hanoi on sensitive industries, including undersea cables. However, it is not clear whether Lam will meet U.S. President Joe Biden. A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment about Lam, but said Biden planned to meet several foreign leaders at the United Nations. Vietnam's foreign ministry and the president office were not immediately available for comments. Lam met Chinese President Xi Jinping last month in his first trip abroad after his appointment as party chief. He also plans a state visit to France in early October, an official told Reuters. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Kim Coghill) A full Harvest moon and the Aurora Borealis made for some beautiful scenes last night and tonight. The full moon and some clouds diminished the intensity of the Northern Lights, but Chris Gaglianos picture from the beach in North East is still stunning. Unfortunately, the severe phase of the geomagnetic storm that caused the Aurora last night is over. Not to be outdone, Roseanne Staub from Espyville shot a shot of what are called moondogs. The reflection to the right and left of the moon are caused by cirrus clouds that are so high up in the atmosphere, that they are made up of ice crystals. Those crystals act like prisms, refracting the moonlight to the dogs left and right of the moon. This can also happen during the day with the sun producing sundogs. Finally, it is the Harvest Moon and Becky Linton from French Creek, NY shot this picture of the September full Moon in all its glory. And others, in the past 24 hours, have seen a ring or halo around the moon, again caused by the high thin cirrus clouds. Lots of pretty viewing in many areas going on. The partial lunar eclipse peaked at 10:44 pm also. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Vilnius is cheap, safe, and fun no wonder it's the world's happiness capital for Gen Z From left to right: Goda Ponomariovaite, Ignas Kazlauskas, and Ricardas Pranculis. Joshua Nelken-Zitser/Business Insider Lithuania topped the World Happiness Report for people under 30, surprising some locals. But many Gen Z Lithuanians agree that its capital, Vilnius, is a great place to live. They cited its green spaces, affordable living, and safety. When Lithuania topped the World Happiness Report ranking for people under 30 earlier this year, it came as a bit of a shock even for those who live there. "It was a surprise," said Valdas Benkuskas, the mayor of its capital, Vilnius, when Business Insider visited in August. But, he added: "We who are living here, we know what a wonderful city it is." Vilnius is Lithuania's most vibrant and populous municipality, a Baltic city of thousands of students, tech start-ups, and greenery. And it has increasingly looked at ways to tailor itself to younger generations. When the weather conditions allow, hot air balloons can be seen over Vilnius. Angel Villalba/Getty Images Benkuskas, an older millennial himself, says he's on a mission to attract young professionals from abroad to come and live in Vilnius, and believes that just one visit to the city will be enough to show its appeal. "If you spend a week or more here, you can understand that we have a lot of advantages compared with other European cities," he said. Small city, big advantages The World Happiness Report ranks countries based on a survey conducted by Gallup, where respondents evaluate the quality of their lives. Lithuania's under-30s rated themselves 7.76 out of 10, notably higher than their US counterparts (6.392), with locals citing factors to BI such as low rent, free education, and a vibrant nightlife. Ignas Kazlauskas, a 28-year-old who runs a sustainable architecture firm and previously lived in the UK, told BI that Vilnius holds its own against other European capitals. Vilnius offers a stark contrast to London's hustle and bustle, he said less densely populated, not overwhelmed by tourists, and about half the city is made up of green spaces. "The city is pretty laid-back, which is nice," he added, sipping a filter coffee at a trendy Old Town cafe where other patrons sat reading in the sun-drenched courtyard. For a capital city, it's relatively small about the size of Denver, which means that everything is within easy reach. "You can basically walk across the whole center of Vilnius in half an hour," Kazlauskas said. Ignas Kazlauskas has lived in London, Newcastle, and Vilnius. Joshua Nelken-Zitser/Business Insider The city's 90-or-so lakes, ideal for kayaking, and some of the largest forests in the country are also nearby. When the weather allows, Kazlauskas pilots a hot air balloon as a hobby. "People are definitely much happier when they can spend time outdoors and relieve the stress of work, relationships, or whatever," he said. Immigrant inflow For decades, organized crime and a struggling economy led hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians, especially the young, to move abroad. However, many are coming back, with returning Lithuanians representing a quarter of all immigrants last year. Tens of thousands of immigrants from outside the EU, many from Ukraine and Belarus, are also moving to a transformed Vilnius. The mayor and Lithuania's tourism board want others to follow suit. Part of their pitch is that Vilnius, despite rising housing costs, still remains one of Europe's most affordable capitals in which to rent. According to Eurostat, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Vilnius in 2023 was equivalent to $876 almost half the price of Berlin and about a third the price of London. It can be even cheaper for students. 20-year-old Ricardas Pranculis pays only 65 a month, or about $94, for student accommodation. Even on a student budget, he said he doesn't struggle to make ends meet. "I like living here," he added. "Wages have been increasing, more young people can work and earn money, so more people can try different hobbies." Ricardas Pranculis, who lives in student accommodation, finds Vilnius very affordable. Joshua Nelken-Zitser/Business Insider According to an affordability index by the personal finance website Finasvalp, Vilnius is the fourth most affordable capital in Europe. Elizabeth Avgusta, 24, a senior fund accountant from Indonesia who moved to Vilnius four years ago, said her salary goes a long way. She told BI that it's easy to find meals for under 10 euros, or about $11, though the city also offers plenty of upscale dining options, including four Michelin-starred restaurants. Colleagues Elizabeth Avgusta, left, and Adriana Doroskeviciute, right, enjoy the opportunities for European travel that Vilnius offers. Joshua Nelken-Zitser/Business Insider She also said she appreciates how inexpensive and convenient it is to travel from Vilnius. The airport is just a 15-minute drive away from the center, and several budget airlines operate from the city. With many European destinations in easy reach, Vilnius is an ideal base. Avgusta said she's considering a trip to London soon, having found round-trip flights for 30 euros. And her colleague, Adriana Doroskeviciute, 23, had just booked a cheap trip to Berlin. But Doroskeviciute says that even when traveling, she finds herself longing for Vilnius. "Whenever I travel, I always want to come back," she said, describing Vilnius her hometown as a city that's comfortable to live in and full of things to do. Goda Ponomariovaite at Baltasis Tiltas Skate Park, which is a popular hangout spot in Vilnius for young people. Joshua Nelken-Zitser/Business Insider Outside a food hall beside the Baltasis Tiltas, or White Bridge, 22-year-old Goda Ponomariovaite looks for a place to sit. The area, a vast green space, is teeming with young people blasting music at the skate park, shooting hoops, and playing beach volleyball on a patch of fake sand. On a sunny day in August, LA's Venice Beach comes to mind. It's also all free to use, probably why it has become such a popular hangout for the city's youth. Alongside the River Neris, there's a food hall, a free-to-use outdoor gym, a skate park, and beach volleyball courts. Joshua Nelken-Zitser/Business Insider According to Ponomariovaite, Vilnius has plenty of free or affordable hangout spots. One of her favorites is a former prison, transformed into a vibrant cultural center. It attracts artists and aspiring musicians and regularly hosts free concerts and film screenings. "We have so, so many bars and nightclubs," Ponomariovaite said. However, she says that what sets Vilnius apart from other cities she lived in, like Amsterdam, is how safe it feels. "It's very safe, especially for women, to be in Vilnius and Lithuania at night,' she said. "If you are walking, you don't need to worry that somebody will kidnap you or something." On an evening in mid-August, youthful influencer types lined up outside trendy restaurants, while bars overflowed onto the cobbled streets with businesspeople clinking beer glasses. Meanwhile, an older crowd dispersed after attending a free show in the town square. Vilnius is trying to offer something for everyone or, as the mayor confidently puts it, everything for anyone. "You can find here everything you need for a high quality of life," he added, "and that makes the city attractive." Read the original article on Business Insider Vinton moving ahead with plans to clean up land, turn it into park EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The Village of Vinton is moving forward with a project to clean up and remediate more than 11 acres of contaminated land and turn it into a community park, the Village said in a news release. The land, located at 475 Vinton Road, would be cleaned up using a $2 million Brownfields cleanup grant that the Village received from the U.S. Environment Protection Agency in 2023. Vinton gets $2M grant to be used for cleanup for planned park site So far, project activities have consisted of the completion of background grant administration documents, planning, and award of the Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) team to oversee project activities, the Village said. This month, the Village of Vinton will host a public meeting on the project at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25 at Vinton City Hall, 436 E. Vinton Road. This parcel of land in Vinton will be cleaned up and turned into a park. Courtesy of Village of Vinton The public meeting will consist of a brief educational presentation describing the site and the Brownfields Cleanup Project, which will then be opened to comments and questions from any meeting attendees. The Village has envisioned development and use of the site as a community park since the contaminated property was acquired in 1992, the Village said. Plans for the park were updated in 2017 to include a 25,000-square-foot community/multi-purpose center to be constructed at the south end of the site and a concession stand to serve two proposed softball fields, the Village said. The Village has not said what previously was on that land in any of its releases to the media about the project. Walking trails within the park will serve as the starting point for a planned network of trails connecting the site to Vinton neighborhoods and schools providing a safer off-road means for grade school children to walk to Bill Childress Elementary School, and a recreational trail serving all residents, the Village 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. VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) Virginia Beach leaders say theyre frustrated and were blindsided with Something in the Water organizers abrupt decision to postpone the festival less than a month before it was supposed to take place. They say theyre going to need more concrete assurances from the SITW team ahead of any future festivals, including when date announcements, a list of performers and more information will be released. They also want to be at the table in the internal decision making process, rather than having to wait for festival organizers to announce news and then reacting from there. Virginia Beach City Council members shared those thoughts in Tuesdays informal council session, four days after Pharrell Williams and the Something in the Water team made the surprise decision. That announcement came down at 4:22 p.m. Friday, hours after presale tickets went on sale for Virginia residents. Hundreds waited in line for hours for the tickets, some driving as far away as Virginia Tech, only to find out it was all for nothing. Councilwoman Jennifer Rouse, one of the two council liaisons for the festival along with Councilwoman Amelia Ross-Hammond, says the decision to postpone came as a surprise. It was all rolling until it wasnt, said Rouse, who got the call from festival organizers just before 3:30 p.m. Friday. During a meeting with the festival team over the weekend, she says she relayed all of the disappointment shared by constituents, including the many complaints on social media. Ticketholders and businesses frustrated after Something in the Water postponed So for the public who felt caught off-guard, we were caught off-guard as well, Rouse said. For the public who felt frustrated, we shared those frustrations with the [Something in the Water] team and with the city. Rouse added the SITW team wants to make an intentional effort to rebuild credibility and trust and all these things. That includes having a concrete plan set within this calendar year, according to a new statement from SITW organizers to the city. City Manager Patrick Duhaney relayed the letter to council Tuesday, adding that organizers said the festival planned for April, which still needs approval from council, will be stronger than ever. In response, Councilwoman Barbara Henley said this is more than just a disappointment, this is costly. She said the city must take it as a learning experience. I think we wanted [Something in the Water] to happen so much that weve just been willing to go along, Henley said. Henley also echoed Mayor Bobby Dyers comments about needing to be proactive, and not being reactive, to the Something in the Water teams decisions. We determine what our standards are going to be and what were going to expect, Henley said. And we cant just do it on good faith. Weve got to do it with certainty. Its cost our citizens a lot of money. Councilman Chris Taylor added he got a slew of negative feedback from stakeholders, including that there was very little communication and vagueness from the Something in the Water team and a lack of concern for citizens. This is not a game, this is not about Legos, this is not about a movie, we have a brand as Virginia Beach, Taylor said. Hours volunteers, business[es] prepared, hotels, some non-refundable rates, some people stood in line for hours upon hours, only to find out three hours later it was canceled I know we want to be friendly and cordial and all of that, but this is impacting hundreds and thousands of people. Ross-Hammond said she agreed with Taylors criticisms, and added that she was told as late as 1:15 p.m. Friday that everythings still a go. [Councilman Rouse and I] felt what you call blindsided at that point, Ross-Hammond said. And theyre trying all they can right now to try to correct this. They have to build trust back with this city, because were not a toy. Ross-Hammond also touched a bit on the why behind the decision from Williams and his team, who said the festival just isnt ready yet and that it has to be the best. Theyre bringing great acts, but sometime you have to cut off how many groups you have, referring to the lineup that was never publicly released. And just say hey, we promised the city.' Councilwoman Sabrina Wooten said it seems like were at the table, but were not really at the table. Because were not in a position to be in communication, and the important details about whats happening. They tell us what happened. Dyer meanwhile shared that going forward, a deal with Something in the Water could include a stricter and long-term agreement (3-5 years). This one, lets call it like it is a major snafu right now I applaud Pharrell for wanting to do the utmost quality, but once again, theres also the reality of that when you have so many, literally thousands of people that are impacted [by] this. Dyer though said hes hopeful the city and organizers can be proactive partners and bring the festival back. Through this adversity, we can find the opportunity to move forward and truly make this a legacy event we can all look forward to, Dyer said. Duhaney said that plans for the festival on the citys end were on track and can be used for future festivals. Also, he said city funds set aside to sponsor Something in the Water ($2 million planned in the citys budget) can be redirected, and none of that money has been spent. An analysis of the 2023 Something in the Water found the festival has an economic impact of at least $26 million for the region, with Virginia Beach seeing between $1.04 and $1.18 spent for every dollar invested. 10 On Your Side will keep you updated on the latest Something in the Water developments. You can watch the full meeting 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. VBCPS Families and Staff, The purpose of this message is to address a rash of social media threats that have been circulating across the country for the past two weeks and have now reached VBCPS. In the last 24 hours, several of our schools have received general social media threats that have been viewed by students, parents, and staff. These messages are alarming and intended to create fear and disrupt the learning environment. As your superintendent, I want to assure you that the safety of our students, staff, and school communities is our top priority. Our schools remain safe, and we continue to work diligently to create a welcoming and conducive environment for teaching and learning. I also ask for your help in responding appropriately if a threat whether verbal, written, or on social media is discovered. Together, we can set the standard of how our community stands united against such threats. Here are some key points about our safety measures and the role you can play in maintaining a safe school environment: Comprehensive Safety Measures: VBCPS has robust safety protocols in place to protect students and staff. This includes the Office of Security and Emergency Management (OSEM), a dedicated team of professionals who work in close collaboration with the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD). Each secondary school has a school resource officer (SRO). We also have armed security officers who are former law enforcement professionals. Trained security assistants monitor all buildings, and each school is equipped with the Raptor visitor management system. All exterior doors remain locked, with security personnel stationed at main entrances. Surveillance cameras provide 24/7 monitoring of school grounds. Additionally, all staff members undergo crisis management training. Threats Are Taken Seriously: All threats whether verbal, written, or circulated on social media are thoroughly investigated by both VBCPS and VBPD. Those responsible will face serious consequences. Threats not only violate school policies but also local laws, and violators will be held accountable. Impact of Threats on School Operations: Threats, regardless of their credibility, cause substantial disruptions to school operations. They impede teaching and learning for both students and staff, creating unnecessary anxiety and fear. Instead of uniting us, these threats serve to divide our community at a time when we should be working together. Safety Is Everyones Responsibility: Students: It is critical that students never forward a written or digital threat. Instead, they should immediately inform a school official or parent. Sharing such messages only contributes to the disruption and violates the Code of Student Conduct. Parents: Please talk to your children about the importance of reporting concerns directly to you or a school official without spreading the information among peers. Additionally, we encourage you to monitor your childs social media activity and reinforce the importance of responsible online behavior. Staff: Every member of our staff has a professional duty to report any potential threat immediately to the school administration, SRO, or security team to ensure a swift and appropriate response. We are grateful for your support in maintaining a safe and secure learning environment for all students. Let us work together to ensure our schools remain places where every student can thrive without fear. Vivek Ramaswamy will enter the chat on immigration in Springfield. The Cincinnati-area native, biotech billionaire and former Republican presidential candidate will hold a town hall in Springfield Thursday evening. The event, open to the public, will take place in the industrial Ohio town at the epicenter of the nation's immigration debate and presidential race. Ramaswamy's team is "inviting diverse voices from the local community, including Haitian immigrants," to the town hall, according to the press release. The cofounder of Moms for Liberty, Tiffany Justice, sent out a press release on Wednesday that she'll take part in the town hall. Moms for Liberty, a national nonprofit and dark money group based in Florida, has chapters nationwide with activists known for their strong opposition to school curriculum that promotes diversity and the LGBTQ community. Its members often object to book offerings in school libraries. Since ending his presidential campaign in January after a fourth-place finish in the Iowa Caucuses, Ramaswamy hasn't announced his future political plans. During the Republican National Convention, said he'd "strongly consider" running for senator in Ohio if Sen. JD Vance should become vice president. Raised in Evendale, outside Cincinnati, Ramaswamy now lives in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington. What's happening in Springfield, Ohio Since President Donald Trump and his running mate, Vance, amplified debunked rumors about Haitians eating pets, bomb threats have closed buildings around town, including Springfield City Hall and multiple elementary schools. Town officials have said there's no evidence of any Haitians eating people's pets. The Haitians in Springfield emigrated legally and "no government entity is responsible for the influx," according to Springfield's own immigration FAQ page. The immigrants came for the city's "lower cost of living and available work," Springfield officials have said, per the immigration FAQ page. Local officials denounce misinformation Springfield Mayor Rob Rue and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine have urged politicians to stop spreading misinformation about the town and the Haitian population. "We did not have threats seven days ago," Rue said on Tuesday at a press conference with DeWine. "We did not have these concerns seven days ago. We did not have these hundreds and hundreds of dollars spent in Springfield from the state of Ohio in support seven days ago. We do today." After word spread that Trump might visit the town, Rue, in a press conference with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, urged the presidential candidates not to come, saying Springfield's resources are stretched thin. "If either one of the candidates wanted to come Springfield, it would be very, very difficult to have them here, Rue said. "It would be an extreme strain on our resources. So it would be fine with me if they decided not to make that stop right now." If you go What: Vivek Ramaswamy town hall Where: Bushnell Events Center, Edward Wren Room, 22 N. Fountain Ave, Springfield, OH When: 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Vivek Ramaswamy to hold town hall in Springfield, Ohio Voices for Independence came to the Warner Theatre on Tuesday for their 30th anniversary celebration and fundraiser. Shona Eakin, the CEO of the advocacy organization, said the money raised will help them serve more people with disabilities in the community. To be honest with you, anybody can become a person with a disability at any moment in time, and until you experience disability, whether it be personally or through a loved one, you dont understand the barriers that exist, said Eakin. Eakin said fundraisers like this help Voices for Independence teach people how to navigate living with a disability. Erie is such a generous community Total donation numbers released for 2024 Erie Gives Day Hundreds of people joined the celebration at the theatre to show their support for the disabled community and tune in for a concert. At the Warner Theatre, they had all kinds of food, drinks and activities to do, but the main attraction Tuesday night was a show from an exceptional performing arts group. INSPIRE is a special needs theatre program housed at Millcreek School District that gives people with disabilities an opportunity to perform on stage. Its truly very important for people to see how empowered people with disabilities are today, and its a gorgeous compliment to our world that we can allow them to be expressive and themselves, said Mary Hoffman, co-director of INSPIRE. Fans gather to cheer on Erie SeaWolves as baseball playoffs begin The 60-person performing arts group joined with Beatles cover band Abbey Road to entertain, playing popular songs like A Hard Day Night and I Wanna Hold Your Hand. People need to see their abilities and not their disabilities, and thats exactly what we do. Weve put on almost 30 shows in our career and people who come, come back repeatedly, said Mary Ellen Lieb, co-director of INSPIRE. Voices for Independence are in the process of building a new training facility and are looking for workers to provide home care for people with disabilities. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Volunteers needed to help in the 2024 International Coastal Cleanup, remove debris from shorelines Sept. 21 The City of Jacksonvilles Keep Jacksonville Beautiful is calling on residents to participate in the 2024 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), part of the worlds largest volunteer effort to protect oceans, lakes, and rivers. The cleanup will take place on Saturday, September 21, at various locations across the First Coast. Volunteers will spend a few hours removing debris from shorelines, contributing to the Ocean Conservancys global marine debris report. In 2023, Jacksonville volunteers collected 7,000 pounds of debris, with 523 participants donating 1,083 hours of their time. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Event Details: Date: Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 Where: Various locations across the First Coast (list below) Time: 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. (times vary by location) Local residents can join this international initiative to help clean beaches and waterways, reducing harm to wildlife and improving boater safety. Volunteers do not need to pre-register; site captains will provide supplies and register participants on-site. Students can also earn community service hours, with certificates available from site captains. Cleanup Locations and Times: 7 a.m. 9 a.m. 16th Avenue South - At the Ocean Atlantic Boulevard - At the Ocean Beach Boulevard - At the Ocean Seagate/20th Avenue - At the Ocean [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] 9 a.m. 11 a.m. Boone Park South - 3725 St. Johns Ave. Charles Reese Park - 1200 Ken Knight Dr. Fishweir Park - 3925 Valencia Rd. Five Points - 1028 Park St. Ft. Caroline National Memorial - 12713 Ft. Caroline Rd. Hogans Creek - 701 E. Beaver St. Hollybrook Park - 319 Cherokee St. Klutho Park - 204 W. 3rd St. Leonard Abess Park - 12743 Leonard Abess Park McCue Park and Boat Ramp - 2510 Second Ave. North Mandarin Park - 14780 Mandarin Rd. Riverside Arts Market - 715 Park St. Riverside Park - 753 Park St. Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park - 7000 Roosevelt Blvd. Willow Branch Park - 2870 Sydney St. Additional Times: Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park (8 a.m. 10 a.m.) - 500 Wonderwood Dr. Lonnie Wurn Boat Ramp (8 a.m. 10 a.m.) - 4131 Ferber Rd. Reddie Point Preserve (8 a.m. 10 a.m.) - 4499 Yachtsman Way Riverview Community Senior Center & Park (8 a.m. 10 a.m.) - 9620 W. Water St. All Wet Sports/Beach Boulevard Boat Ramp (10 a.m. 12 p.m.) - 8505 Beach Blvd. For more information, visit the City of Jacksonvilles Keep Jacksonville Beautiful website. Volunteers of all ages are encouraged to take part in this meaningful event to protect Jacksonvilles natural environment. [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. COMPANY NEWS: Asia-Pacific (APAC) is experiencing a surge in tokenization projects, particularly in the real estate sector, bringing a significant change in the market. By leveraging blockchain technology to tokenize properties, companies are streamlining the buying and selling process and expanding investment opportunities. This innovative approach is breaking down traditional barriers and making real estate investment more inclusive and accessible, says GlobalData , a leading data and analytics company. Vaibhav Gundre, Practice Head of Disruptive Tech at GlobalData, comments: Tokenization is transforming the traditional real estate market by enhancing liquidity and accessibility. Converting property ownership into digital tokens allows investors of all sizes to participate in the market, lowering the entry barriers. Additionally, this democratization of real estate investment can promote more balanced economic growth by allowing a wider range of investors to participate. It is a significant step towards inclusivity in a market that has traditionally been exclusive. Rahul Kumar Singh, Senior Disruptive Tech Analyst at GlobalData, comments: The push towards tokenization highlights the innovative use of blockchain for buying, selling, and managing real estate. By using smart contracts, transactions are becoming faster, more secure, and less costly. This technological adoption also creates a more resilient market by ensuring transparency, efficiency, and reducing fraud. This simplifies buying and selling, allows fractional ownership, increases market liquidity, and broadens access to real estate investments. An analysis by GlobalDatas News Database reveals highlights the rise of real estate tokenization projects in APAC. In July 2024, Kenedix, SMBC Trust Bank, Nomura Securities, and BOOSTRY launched Japan's first real estate security token offering under the Kolet brand, representing beneficiary rights for 462 smart rental homes. This blockchain-based initiative aims to enhance accessibility and transparency in property investments, with Kenedix planning a significant expansion of its tokenized real estate portfolio by 2030. In March 2024, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company Limited (SMFL) initiated a pilot real estate tokenization project with US-based Vertalo. This project integrates blockchain with SMFLs asset tracking platform, AssetForce, enhancing data accuracy and security in real estate transactions. In September 2023, Singapore's regulated tokenization platform, ADDX, announced plans to expand into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Since its inception in 2017, it raised a total funding of $140 million from major Asian financial institutions such as SGX and SET to facilitate blockchain-based fundraising for pre-initial public offer (IPO) companies and boost investment flows between the APAC and MENA markets. Singh concludes: Real estate tokenization in Japan is increasingly focused on innovation and sustainability. As this area develops, it is expected to bring greater investment, liquidity, and efficiency. However, there are challenges, particularly with regulatory compliance and security. Addressing these will require cooperation between industry players and regulators to develop a secure, standardized framework. Overcoming these barriers is key to fully realizing the benefits of tokenization in the real estate market. About GlobalDatas Disruptor Intelligence Center Disruptor Intelligence Center decodes emerging tech-enabled opportunities with must-have information on promising start-ups, technology-led innovations, latest sector trends, consumer insights, and venture capital portfolio investments. It helps to monitor competitor strategies, predict emerging trends, monetize disruptive innovation, decode smart money, mine thought leadership, and capture digital consumers. About GlobalData 4,000 of the worlds largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalDatas unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalDatas mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, financial, technology and professional services sectors. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) Local organizations and community leaders are investing in revitalizing Shreveports Far End District with a planned clean-up day. Organizers say the goal is to breathe new life into the Texas Avenue neighborhood and continue to attract small businesses to the area. The Far End District Clean-Up Project will occur from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 5th. The public is invited to join volunteers at Eleven Events, located at 1529 Texas Avenue. Shreveport Green has donated the supplies needed for the cleanup, and refreshments will be provided. Mayor Arceneaux picks Bill Sabo for role of Director of Economic Development The Far End District Clean-Up is about much more than just picking up trash, said LeMar Flukers, organizer of the project. Its about community pride, economic opportunity, and preserving our citys history. Our goal is to create a walkable experience that showcases the best of North Louisianas culture while providing space for small businesses to thrive. Several local businesses, including Up For Brunch, Louisiana Daiquiri Cafe, West End Throttle Bar, and Eleven Events, have already established themselves in the Far End District. Community groups have hosted art walks, music festivals, and cultural fairs to showcase local talent and to celebrate the cultural diversity of North Louisiana. We want Texas Avenue to once again be a destination, added Flukers. The clean-up is the first step in a larger vision to reawaken the potential of this historic area and create a space where our community can come together to celebrate our unique heritage. Contact LeMar Flukers at (318) 458-8690 for more information on Far End District revitalization efforts. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard as people queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Bellow, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin) SRINAGAR, India (AP) Voting for the first phase of a staggered election to choose a local government concluded Wednesday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modis government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago. Turnout was about 59%, the region's chief electoral officer said in a statement, as voting was incident-free and peaceful. Authorities had deployed thousands of additional police and paramilitary soldiers for security in the seven southern districts of the region, which has been roiled by an insurgency against Indian rule for decades. Over 2.3 million residents are eligible to cast their votes to choose 24 lawmakers out of 219 candidates in the first phase of the election. Wearing riot gear and carrying assault rifles, troops set up checkpoints and patrolled constituencies as long lines of voters stretched around the polling booths. The second and third phases are scheduled for Sept. 25 and Oct. 1. The process is staggered for logistical reasons and to allow troops to move around to stop potential violence in the Himalayan region. For the first time, authorities limited access to polling stations for foreign media and denied press credentials to most journalists working with international media, including to The Associated Press, without citing any reason. India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhis rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict. The vote is the first in a decade, and the first since Modis Hindu nationalist government in 2019 scrapped the Muslim-majority regions semi-autonomy, downgraded the former state to a federally governed territory and stripped its separate constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs. It was also divided into two federal territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi, allowing it to appoint administrators to run the territories along unelected bureaucrats and security personnel. Many people said they knew their votes wont solve the dispute over Kashmir, but provided a rare window to express their frustration with direct Indian control. Aamir Ahmed, a first-time voter in Pulwama town, said it was important to elect a local representative who does not condone wrongdoing. We have witnessed a lot of suffering in the last 10 years, Ahmed said. Another voter, 80-year-old farmer Ali Mohammad Alai, said he had been reduced to penury by the Modi government after authorities took away his land given to him decades ago for cultivation by the local administration. All I want is to get that land back, he said. Our own government can do that. People in the Kashmir Valley had layered rights to use of land since reforms in the 1950s that mainly gave Muslim farmers possession of land they tilled for the minority Hindu rulers and its elite. Some of those rights were rescinded after 2019 changes. In Kishtwar town, multiple voters said they hoped the polling would culminate in a government that cared about economic development and addressed their main issues. Be it BJP or some other party or a coalition, we urgently want development and better life. Politics can wait, said Chander Jeet Sharma, 49. The multistage election will allow Kashmir to have its own truncated government and a local legislature, called an assembly, instead of remaining under New Delhis direct rule. A chief minister will head a council of ministers in the government. However, there will be a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly as Kashmir will continue to be a Union Territory directly controlled by the federal government with Indias Parliament remaining its main legislator. The elected government will have partial control over areas like education, culture and taxation but not over the police. Kashmirs statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states of India. Multiple local parties have campaigned on promises to fight for reversal of 2019 changes and address other key issues like rising unemployment and inflation in the region where locals have struggled amid curtailed civil liberties particularly after the revocation of the special status. India's ruling BJP, however, has vowed to block any move aimed at undoing those changes but promised to help in the regions economic development. The regions last assembly election was held in 2014, after which Modis Bharatiya Janata Party for the first time ruled in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party. But the government collapsed in 2018, after BJP withdrew from the coalition. Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism. ___ Follow AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific Stacks of boxes holding mail are seen at a U.S. Postal Service sorting center. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Originally published by The 19th. Top election officials last week sounded the alarm about ongoing delays within Americas mail delivery system and the potential effect on mail-in voting in the upcoming presidential election, a warning that comes as former President Donald Trump continues to sow distrust about how some of those ballots will be counted. Some people who vote by mail may be disenfranchised this fall if the issues are not addressed, the officials said in a letter to the head of the United States Postal Service that detailed challenges with the delivery of mail-in ballots over the past year. We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service, officials said in the letter, which was signed by representatives for the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors two organizations that include state and local election officials in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process. Election officials, who are overwhelmingly women, have long highlighted the challenges of running the countrys decentralized elections, particularly after 2020 challenges that include debunking ongoing lies about election security. Trump and some Republicans have for years spread disinformation about elections, including how and when mail-in ballots are counted. A handful of secretaries of state also testified to members of Congress last Wednesday that they continue to deal with the ramifications of those lies, including responding to threats of violence. In the letter, dated Sept. 11, election officials said mail-in ballots have at times been erroneously held for remediation, significantly delayed or otherwise improperly processed. Election officials in nearly every state have received postmarked ballots well after Election Day and well outside the three to five business days USPS claims as the First-Class delivery standard. In multiple states, election officials reported receiving anywhere from dozens to hundreds of ballots 10 or more days after postmark. There is no amount of proactive communication election officials can do to account for USPSs inability to meet their own service delivery timelines, said the letter. Election officials also reported instances in which mail that was sent to and from voters was marked as undeliverable at higher-than-usual rates. The potential ripple effect, they cautioned, was voters being placed on inactive voter rolls or getting their registration record canceled, and ballots not reaching voters or being delivered to election offices. The letter was addressed to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who came under scrutiny in 2020 for his handling of mail services around the last presidential election. In August, DeJoy told The Associated Press that he is confident in the Postal Services delivery of election mail. Adrienne Marshall, director of election mail and government services for the Postal Service, told The 19th that the agency has been in close communication with the National Association of Secretaries of State, the National Association of State Election Directors and other election officials throughout the year. She said each time they have brought up an issue, it has been promptly addressed and will continue to be. We are ready to deliver. We were successful in 2020 delivering a historic volume of mail in ballots; also in 2022 and will do so again in November 2024, she said in an email. The Postal Service said it encourages people to mail back ballots at least a week before their states deadline to receive them. While election officials in the letter acknowledged some efforts that the Postal Service will take around the election, they added: Temporary measures will not be sufficient to address the persistent issues highlighted by election officials. Maria Benson, senior director of communications for the National Association of Secretaries of State, told The 19th that the organization is not trying to dissuade people from voting by mail if their state allows it. We do encourage voters, however, to give themselves plenty of time to return their ballot via USPS, she wrote in an email. Amy Cohen, executive director of the National Association of State Election Directors, told The 19th that rules around voting by mail vary by state, so its important that eligible voters be proactive. They should request a mail-in ballot early, track the ballot if possible and put it in the mail early or be prepared to return the ballot in person (if permissible). Most importantly, if you have a question about receiving or returning your ballot, ask your election officials, Cohen said in an email. Election officials are the most reliable source for information about how to participate in the upcoming election. The use of mail-in voting has risen in recent years, spiking during the coronavirus pandemic when public health guidance forced more people to consider voting options outside of Election Day. But while it used to be popular among both Democrats and Republicans, Democrats are now more likely than Republicans to say it should be more accessible. Now in his third bid for office, Trump has at times seemed to change his position on mail voting. During the Republican National Convention, the party repeatedly aired a video that showed the former president encouraging his supporters to vote by mail. But Republicans are also still challenging how vote-by-mail ballots are counted, especially in battleground states like Nevada and Pennsylvania. In 2020, Trump tried to sow doubt about legally cast ballots that arrive by mail at vote-counting sites after Election Day, which is legal in some states, though deadlines vary. Now, Republican voters are more likely to trust Trump and his campaign than information from the government about election results, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts. The survey also found a majority of Americans have at least a moderate amount of trust in official election results. According to a new 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll, Americans are more likely to trust that elections in their precinct will be run securely compared with their trust in the countrys elections overall. The largest difference was with Republicans, with 76 percent saying they trust elections in their precinct and 43 percent saying they trust elections in the country. The 19th is committed to covering the unfinished business of voting rights. Read more about how were approaching that in this pivotal election. Earlier this year a federal judge struck down Washington states 30-day waiting period for new voters. Now, Franklin Countys auditor and the state GOP are suing to stop the change from going into effect for the Nov. 5 presidential election. U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright decided in March that a rule enshrined in Washingtons 1889 constitution saying new voters have to be residents of the state for at least 30 days before being able to vote was a violation of the Voting Rights Act. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs agreed with Cartwrights ruling, which required compliance by Aug. 1, with the intent of the changes being made in time for the November election. Last week, Auditor Matt Beaton and Washington Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh filed a motion to intervene in hopes of putting a stop to the change. Matt Beaton Theyre asking the court to either reopen the case, dismiss it entirely or grant their motion to intervene and consider a motion to dismiss. The filing says that they are only now coming forward because Washington state did not previously make them a party to the lawsuit, especially Beaton whose office it impacts, and have faced first a trickle, then a flood of concerns from constituents. Their attorney, Joel Ard, argues that the state picked its opponents, all Democrats, with care to ensure no one would protest. U.S. Supreme Court rejects GOP challenge to WA voter act. How it affects Latinos Ard is a well-known Seattle attorney who has litigated several voting rights related lawsuits across the state. This is an urgent election integrity issue that needs to be fixed immediately before the General Election in early November, Walsh said in a news release. We are asking the court to reverse a devious scheme to destroy the State Constitutions good rule that a person has to live in Washington for at least 30 days before registering to vote, he wrote. Walsh said in the news release that the crux of the problem is that state Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Hobbs concocted a phony consent decree to end the the 30-day residency requirement, claiming it was the necessary results of a lawsuit. They believe the lawsuit was merely an excuse to undermine an important constitutional guarantee of election integrity, he wrote. State. Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen The lawsuit in question was filed in 2023 by the Washington State Alliance for Retired Americans, who argued that the rule was unfair to senior citizens who move often. They argued that it had a particularly harmful impact for their members who not only moved to Washington within a month of an election, but also those who were just moving to a new county or precinct, even if they were already a resident of the state. New members join the Alliances ranks each month, including in the month before each federal election, as retirees frequently move to Washington for a variety of reasons, including to be close to family, attorney for WSARA wrote in the initial filing. Existing Alliance members also regularly move within the state. Because of the Durational Residency Requirement, such members who would otherwise vote in Washington and in their current county and precinct will be unable to do so. The court will consider the motion to intervene at an Oct. 11 hearing. The general election is Nov. 5 and residents can visit any state auditors office up until 8 p.m. that day to register to vote in that election. (Bloomberg) -- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared what he called a new phase in the war with regional Islamist groups and said troops would be diverted to the Lebanese border, an indication that long-held fears of a wider conflict may soon be realized. Most Read from Bloomberg More military resources will be deployed to the north of the country, where Israel has been exchanging rocket fire with Hezbollah militants for almost a year, Gallant told forces at the Ramat David airbase on Wednesday. His comments came after waves of exploding telecommunications devices in Lebanon killed 26 people over two days and wounded more than 3,000, according to Lebanons health ministry. The attacks were widely seen as an escalation of hostilities by Israel, which didnt take responsibility for what was a complex sabotage of pagers and walkie-talkies, gadgets considered obsolete in much of the world. The center of gravity is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena, Gallant said. We are at the start of a new phase in the war, and we must adapt. Israeli-Hezbollah tensions were ramped up on Tuesday, when a large number of telecommunication devices used by Hezbollah militants detonated in tandem, followed by a second, smaller wave on Wednesday. The assault made headlines across the world, in part due to the unusual nature of a technologically advanced operation. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government both blamed Israel for the audacious assault, with the former vowing to retaliate. Israel hasnt commented on the events, while making clear in recent weeks that gaining the upper hand over Hezbollah is a top priority, with the war against Hamas in Gaza drifting inconclusively. Iran, which provides financial backing to both Hezbollah and Hamas, vowed to retaliate as its ambassador to Lebanon was seriously injured in one of the explosions. The Islamic Republics envoy to the United Nations said in a letter to the Security Council that Iran reserves its rights under international law to take required measures deemed necessary to respond to such a heinous crime and violation. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are designated terrorist organizations by the US. Lebanons Civil Defense said firefighters were called to several homes in various parts of the country on Wednesday, including Beirut neighborhoods. In the southern town of Nabatiyeh, they put out fires in 60 homes, 15 cars and dozens of motorcycles as a result of exploding telecom devices, as well as two items for detecting fingerprints. Lebanese Information Minister Ziyad Makari told Al-Jazeera TV that his country didnt fear Hezbollahs response, but we fear Israel and its crimes. What happened is a new kind of warfare, and investigations are ongoing by the state and Hezbollah, he said. There will certainly be coordination between the state and the group to investigate, because the attack is on Lebanese sovereignty as a whole. Tens of thousands of civilians have had to flee their homes in northern Israel and southern Lebanon amid cross-border missile and drone strikes. Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters have been killed as well as about 50 Israelis. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said Monday that the security cabinet had made returning evacuees home a formal objective of the war. The prime minister told one of US President Joe Bidens senior Middle East envoys this week that an all-out conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah is becoming more likely. Diplomacy has stumbled, and war may be the only way to stop Hezbollahs attacks and enable Israeli civilians to return to the northern border area, Netanyahu told Amos Hochstein. Meanwhile, talks to pause the war with Hamas have been deadlocked for months, with certain sticking points proving impossible to resolve. The US is trying to calm the situation. Hochstein, who handles the Israel-Lebanon file for the White House, told Netanyahu that a deeper conflict is not in Israels interest and would only risk a regionwide war, Bloomberg reported. --With assistance from Augusta Saraiva and Sherif Tarek. (Updates with Gaza war in sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Hezbollah fighters carry one of the coffins of one of their four comrades who was killed Tuesday after their handheld pager exploded in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. More explosion occurred on Wednesday. | Bilal Hussein Just one day after the pagers of hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon and Syria, a second wave of device explosions Wednesday left at least nine more dead and 300 injured, Lebanons health ministry stated. Tuesdays deadly pager bombings killed at least 12, including two children, and wounded thousands more, The Associated Press reported. In the second round of explosions, walkie-talkies, as well as solar devices, detonated in multiple locations across Lebanon, including at a Beirut funeral for three people killed in the Tuesday attack, according to The Associated Press. Two sources with knowledge of the operation told Axios that the goal of the second wave of explosions was to convince Hezbollah that it is in its interest to disconnect itself from Hamas and cut a separate deal for ending the fighting with Israel regardless of a cease-fire in Gaza. Reports: Israel behind pager explosions Israel is refusing to comment on the explosions. Hezbollah holds Israel fully responsible for this criminal attack, at the Deseret News previously reported. Multiple news organizations, including CNN and The New York Times, have reported that Israel is behind the attack. CNN has learned Tuesdays explosions were the result of a joint operation between Israels intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military, CNN reported Wednesday. Lebanese security officers stand next to a partly damaged car after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. | Mohammad Zaatari The New York Times reported that American and other officials briefed on the operation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Israel hid tiny explosives inside a batch of Taiwanese-branded pagers imported to Lebanon. Over 3,000 pagers were ordered from the Gold Apollo company in Taiwan, said several of the officials, the Times report reads. Hezbollah distributed the pagers to their members throughout Lebanon, with some reaching Hezbollah allies in Iran and Syria. Israels attack affected the pagers that were switched on and receiving messages. An American official, also anonymous, told The Associated Press Israel briefed the U.S. on the operation in which small amounts of explosive hidden in the pagers were detonated on Tuesday after it was concluded. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Wednesday that the U.S. did not know about nor was it involved in these incidents. In response to a question about Tuesdays attack, Blinken warned against escalations that could derail cease-fire talks. Weve been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that were trying to resolve in Gaza. To see it spread to other fronts its clearly not in the interest of anyone involved to see that happen, Blinken said Wednesday, per The Hill. Israel says a new phase in war has begun The targeted attacks are just the latest escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia that is a U.S. State Department-designated terrorist organization. Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets at Israel since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, and Israel has retaliated with strikes against Hamas fighters. After Wednesday explosions, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant spoke to Israeli troops, but did not mention the explosions. Instead, he praised Israels army and security agencies: The results are very impressive. The center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces, Gallant stated per The Associated Press. We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance, he said. A young boy holds a candle in front of the Lebanese Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. | Vahid Salemi Walkie-Talkies, Pagers Explode Across Lebanon in Series of Apparent Attacks amid Tension with Israel The country's defense force said on Sept. 18 that officials were working to extinguish fires that broke out "inside homes, cars and shops" MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty People gather as fire fighters put out the flames at the scene of a reported device explosion in Saida, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024 Walkie-talkies used by members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exploded across southern Lebanon on Sept. 18, a day after simultaneously detonating pagers killed a dozen and injured thousands more, according to reports. The country's health minister said 14 people were killed and 450 were injured in the latest explosions, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, the death toll from the initial pager blasts rose to 12, including two children, with about 3,000 injured. At least one of the detonations on Sept. 18 happened near a funeral organized by Hezbollah for those killed in the previous day's attacks, when the thousands of pagers used by the group exploded, according to the outlet. Lebanon's Red Cross said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) after the second attack that they were responding with "30 ambulance teams to multiple explosions in different areas including the South of Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley." Related: Angelina Jolie Says 'Humanity Demands an Immediate Ceasefire' in Israel-Hamas War The country's civil defense force said in a translated post on X that officials were working to extinguish fires that broke out "inside homes, cars and shops." There are buildings burning right now in front of me, Mortada Smaoui told The New York Times after the explosions rocked his neighborhood in the Sept. 18 attack. Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty 18 September 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Hezbollah supporters carry the coffin of a victim who was killed in electronic pagers explosion, during a funeral procession in Beirut southern suburb. Thousands of people were wounded in the cyberattack and 12 were killed so far in the latest toll announced by the ministry of health. Though Israel declined to comment on the first explosions, CNN reported that Israels Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to reference the blasts on Sept. 18. We are at the beginning of a new era in this war and we need to adapt ourselves, Gallant said. 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. A senior Lebanese security source and another source alleged to Reuters that Israel's spy agency Mossad planted the explosives inside the pagers imported by the terror group months before the explosions. Despite the blasts, Hezbollah vowed to continue its campaign against Israel until it ends its war in Gaza, according to the Times. The confrontation between Israel and Lebanon has caused over 150,000 to flee their homes. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. What do you want to know about Idahos Prop 1 ballot initiative? Ask and we will answer An initiative to end closed primaries and switch to a ranked choice voting system in Idaho will appear on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane approved Proposition 1 in July after the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition collected more than 70,000 signatures in support of it. Tell us what you want to know about the ballot measure and about how the top-four primary and ranked choice voting in the general election would work. Fill out our survey, and we will answer your questions. Buses owned by First Student are seen in a lot on East Main Road in Portsmouth. (Ken Castro/Rhode Island Current) Unionized school bus drivers in Warwick and Jamestown have reached a tentative four-year contract agreement that goes up for a vote Thursday evening. ATU (Amalgamated Transit Union) Local 618 represents over 1,300 employees working in Rhode Islands transportation sector. About 100 of those drivers are included in the contract with First Student, the Cincinnati-based bus company which services school districts across the state. The tentative agreement which offers higher wages and enhanced health care and retirement options could be ratified by ATU 618 membership on Thursday. The contract came after two days of intense bargaining, according to a news release from ATU, but the union and First Student have been in talks since April. Negotiations slowed to a standstill this summer, leading the bus drivers union to vote Aug. 6 in favor of authorizing a possible strike. After months of negotiations, this contract recognizes our members for the heroes they truly are, Walter Melillo, the Local 618 president and business agent, said in a statement. The unions last contract expired on June 30, 2024. The new contract will expire on June 30, 2028. We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that recognizes the hard work and dedication of our employees, said Frank McMahon, a spokesperson for First Student, in a statement Wednesday. We look forward to a successful ratification vote on Thursday. We want to extend our sincere gratitude to all of our school bus drivers and monitors for their continued commitment to serve families in Warwick and Jamestown during this time. First Student is one of three school bus service providers contracted by the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), and one of the largest providers nationwide. The other two companies contracted by RIDE are Amaral Bus Co. and DATTCO. Together, they service about 300 routes across the state for both public and non-public school students. First Student recently took over 31 routes assigned to DATTCO when the Connecticut-based company failed to cover its assigned routes in the first two weeks of school. DATTCO workers are not unionized. Job postings on First Students website for drivers in Warwick boast wages starting at a little over $24 an hour. Drivers working routes for Jamestown schools might make between $23 and $26 for their starting wage. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Washington Co. prowler arrested by St. George Police after string of similar reports ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) St. George Police arrested a man on Tuesday after a female resident reported a man followed her home Monday in the 100 block of South 1000 East, near Utah Tech University. This arrest follows a string of similar reports in that area of St. George. The man arrested, identified as Christopher Lee Coulter now faces charges of criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct, possession of drug paraphernalia, and drug possession schedule 1, 2, or controlled substance analog. Coulter allegedly followed a woman to her home while shouting at her near Utah Tech University Monday afternoon. Sandy scuba instructor indicted on 4 counts of sexual abuse of child Coulter was located again on Tuesday in the same area, and St. George police arrested him just before 2 p.m. on Sept. 17. He was booked into Washington County Jail on the previously mentioned charges. This is not SGPDs first incident that involved Coulter in the past few days. St. George Police report in Tuesdays probable cause statement that his last incident was over the prior weekend. On Sept. 14, Coulter was arrested by SGPD for burglary of a vehicle, criminal trespassing, and public intoxication. He was indicted for these crimes on Monday, Sept. 16. According to Tuesdays affidavit of probable cause, Coulters criminal history showed the following: Total Number of Incidents: 8 Total Number of Incidents With Convictions: 3 Total Number of Incidents With a Felony: 3 Total Number of Incidents With a Felony Conviction: 2 Total Number of Incidents Without Dispositions: 5 The St. George Police Department urges anyone with additional information regarding similar behavior to contact the police department, the department posted online. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Matthew Drachman contributed to this story Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. COMPANY NEWS: The NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program is this week celebrating its 3,400 participants raising $134.8 million in total while creating 40 new companies, launching 64 cutting-edge products, and initiating 31 new clinical trials in 10 years. It has also helped participants engage 304 mentors and experts, and benefited over 23,000 patients during this period, helping to position New South Wales as a leader in global health innovation. The program is a cornerstone initiative funded by the Office for Health and Medical Research (OHMR) , in collaboration with,NSW Health, and delivered by Australias flagship deep tech incubator Cicada Innovations. The health innovation ecosystem gathered at an event held earlier this week at Cicadas Eveleigh headquarters to honour these remarkable achievements of the states clinicians, researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. The 10th Anniversary Showcase, NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program was attended by a broad range of healthcare stakeholders, and highlighted the critical ways the program is transforming patient care and addressing some of the worlds most pressing challenges in healthcare. The OHMR, in conjunction with NSW Health, has been unwavering in its commitment to nurturing innovation and fostering a vibrant and resilient ecosystem, driving healthcare innovation that will shape the future of Australias health sector. According to The Hon. David Harris, MP, Minister for Medical Research: This years showcase was extra special as we celebrated the 10th anniversary of this fantastic initiative. I was pleased to honour the 2024 participants, as well as recognise the alumni who have achieved great success thanks to this program. The Commercialisation Training Program ensures the NSW Government can continue supporting clinical research to enable safe, evidence-based development of cutting-edge treatments from bench to bedside. The programs success shows the difference we make when we accelerate the commercialisation of medical technologies in NSW healthcare, to ensure innovative life-saving treatments come to market. By bringing clinicians and researchers together with experts in key areas including industry, funding and regulation, this program helps us to harness and grow the incredible wealth of knowledge and expertise in our state. According to Sally-Ann Williams, CEO of Cicada Innovations: The remarkable impact of this program is a testament to the strength of our ecosystem and the vision of NSW Health, accelerating the journey of 3,400 health innovators. Together, we are laying the foundation for a more resilient healthcare system and building a future where innovation is at the core of healthcare improvement. But the impact of these achievements will be felt beyond individual success stories or any single industry. By helping to bring incredible research and early-stage innovation in healthcare to market, we are laying the foundation for long-term economic resilience for the nation as a whole, and creating new opportunities for a broad range of industries that will shape the nation's future. So by fostering deep tech innovation in healthcare, we are not only improving patient outcomes but also building Australias economic backbone and contributing to the growth of Australias sovereign capabilities. Program Alumni: Two Case Studies Tetratherix is tackling the global challenge of vaccine wastage, which currently sees nearly 30 percent of doses lost due to storage challenges. Its proprietary biostealth matrix technology, Tetramatrix, is a fully synthetic and biocompatible platform that improves therapeutic delivery without triggering foreign body reactions, offering versatile applications across multiple clinical needs. Founder and CTO, Dr Ali Fathi, developed the core technology during his PhD at the University of Sydney and founded Tetratherix in 2015. With 40+ peer-reviewed publications, Ali has led the company to raise over $8 million and expand into the US market. Tetratherix is now on a mission to impact 10 million lives globally within a decade by ensuring widespread and inclusive access to its technology, revolutionising regenerative medicine and targeted mRNA delivery. SDIP Innovationsis redefining bone regeneration through its proprietary bioresorbable bone implant and scaffold that mimics the natural bone remodeling to heal fractured bones while completely converting to bone. Born through NSW Healths Medical Device Commercialisation Training Program, SDIP has secured over $11 million in funding, developed a robust IP portfolio, and established a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in NSW. Co-founder and CEO, Dr Maryam Parviz, has over 16 years experience in medical devices and biomaterials, and was awarded a commercialisation fellowship by NSW Health. She spent three years in San Francisco-based incubators, expanding her team and testing business scalability in the US. FOOTNOTE: The NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program (website) is a cornerstone initiative designed to support health tech innovators across New South Wales. Launched in 2014, through the Office for Health and Medical Research, the program has assisted 350 medical entrepreneurs to develop the business skills to successfully commercialise their products. Delivered by Cicada Innovations, this program offers free, stage-specific training tailored to researchers, clinicians, entrepreneurs, and innovators who are committed to transforming their ideas into viable biomedical and health tech solutions. Through a flexible blend of online modules, one-day seminars, and in-depth courses, the program equips participants with the essential skills and knowledge needed to successfully navigate the complexities of the health tech landscape. Topics covered include intellectual property, regulatory affairs, clinical trials, and customer discovery, ensuring that innovators are well-prepared to bring their solutions to market. In addition to foundational commercialisation training, the program offers specialised courses that delve into the unique challenges of different health tech sectors, such as medical devices, software, therapeutics, and diagnostics embarking on their path to market in Australia and overseas. Participants gain valuable insights from industry experts, engage with mentors, and build connections that are crucial for the success of their ventures. By providing this comprehensive support, the NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program plays a vital role in advancing health tech innovations that improve patient outcomes and contribute to the growth of the health sector in NSW. Cicada Innovations (www.cicadainnovations.com) was founded in Sydney, and has a 24-year track record of developing deep tech ventures that tackle some of the worlds most pressing problems. Cicadas national incubators, commercialisation training, and community brings together the entrepreneurs, scientists, business leaders, and policymakers to solve complex challenges with deep tech like the future of human health, food security and the climate crisis. Cicada has seen an unprecedented $1.3 billion in exits from six deep tech ventures, and has helped over 400 companies raise more than $2.5 billion in funding. Named the Top Incubator in the World by the International Business Innovation Association. WASHINGTON, N.C. (WNCT) An arrest has been made in relation to the death of a 6-week-old child in Washington. The childs mother, Briasia Somerville, 21, of Washington, has been charged with first degree murder and felony child abuse. Somerville was also charged with felony child abuse for injuries to a 5-year-old child of hers. Washington police officers were notified of the death on Sept. 2. The child was treated at ECU Beaufort County and transferred to ECU Medical Center where he later died. An autopsy confirmed the child died due to injuries consistent with abuse and the death was ruled a homicide. An investigation led to warrants being taken out for the arrest of Somerville. Somerville was jailed in the Beaufort County Detention Center 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 WNCT. WATCH: ASP releases dash camera footage of Interstate 49 arrest; prosecutor says he will not charge trooper ROGERS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) Arkansas State Police released dash camera footage from a July traffic stop on Interstate 49 in Rogers that ended with the arrest of a Guatemalan man. Angel Zapet-Alvarado, 26, was booked into the Benton County Detention Center on speeding, reckless driving, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, no drivers license, resisting arrest and second-degree battery. Angel Zapet-Alvarado, 26 (Courtesy: Benton County Detention Center) ASP said around 7:43 p.m. on July 27, a trooper attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Zapet-Alvarado on I-49 southbound after he passed a marked patrol unit at 114 miles per hour near mile marker 83. Zapet-Alvarado did not initially stop even after the trooper activated her siren and emergency lights, the release said. ASP: Guatemalan man accused of resisting arrest, assaulting trooper on Interstate 49 in Rogers After he stopped, the trooper told Zapet-Alvarado to get out of the vehicle. A probable cause affidavit said Zapet-Alvarado refused to get out of his vehicle after the trooper told him he was under arrest. The release said the trooper saw Zapet-Alvarado had his hand on the gearshift and took his keys to stop him from driving away. The trooper grabbed her taser after Zapet-Alvarado allegedly refused to comply but the man wrestled the taser away and threw it into traffic. Zapet-Alvarado reportedly kicked the trooper in the head multiple times. A motorist witnessed the incident and tried to help the trooper, according to the release. The trooper fired one round at Zapet-Alvarado and wounded him in the right temple. The release said Zapet-Alvarado continued to resist arrest and refused the troopers instructions. Zapet-Alvarado was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated and released to law enforcement. Toxicology reports showed Zapet-Alvarados blood alcohol content was .16 and that cannabinoids were present. New details released on man accused of assaulting ASP trooper on Interstate 49 in Rogers The trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries from the incident. Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson announced on Wednesday that the trooper will not be charged with a crime in connection with the incident. ASPs Criminal Investigation Division presented the case file to the prosecutor on August 9. Robinsons full letter can be found below. Duncan-Alexandria-OIS-PA-Determination-Letter_signedDownload Zapet-Alvarado is being held in the Benton County Detention Center on a $350,000 bond and has been placed on hold for Homeland Security Investigation (HSI). He has a court date set for September 23. KNWA/FOX24 has reached out to Zapet-Alvarados lawyer for comment. He said: Mr. Zapet-Alvarado was stopped for excessive speed by an Arkansas State Trooper. The trooper pulled open his vehicle door and immediately began giving commands in English for him to exit the vehicle. Mr. Zapet-Alvarado does not speak English. Within seconds, the trooper went hands-on, deployed her taser, forcefully placed her hand on his throat while tasing him again, and struck him in the face with the taser prongs. She then asked a bystander to move out of the way before announcing to Mr. Zapet-Alvarado that she was going to shoot him. The trooper proceeded to shoot him in the head with her service pistol as he was attempting to stand up. Mr. Zapet-Alvarado did not use a weapon, strike the trooper, overpower her, or grab her firearm. The trooper later claimed that Mr. Zapet-Alvarado had attempted to put the vehicle in drive while still in the car. She also made the contradictory statement that he actually did place the vehicle in drive and that she had to put it back into park. However, video evidence shows that Mr. Zapet-Alvarado never placed the vehicle in drive after stopping. In fact, the reverse lights are visible when he initially puts the car in park, and they never come on again. Mr. Zapet-Alvarado was unarmed, and the situation did not justify the use of deadly force. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A California man discovered he has been mistakenly paying his neighbor's power bill for up to 18 years. Ken Wilson, who has lived in the same apartment since 2006, said he recently noticed his Pacific Gas and Electric bill was going up, so he took steps to try to reduce his energy usage. He reached out to PG&E when his bill failed to go down. "I thought there was a leak or someone was stealing my electricity or the meter was faulty because something wasn't right," he told CBS Sacramento. A utility company employee came to examine Wilson's meter and discovered the company had been charging him for the unit next door, instead of his own apartment. Wilson said the mix-up may have been happening for the entire 18 years that he has lived in the apartment. "We acknowledge an error occurred in this instance, and we are fully committed to rectifying the situation with the customer and make the customer whole," PG&E said in a statement. WASHINGTON (KSEE/KGPE) On their first full day on the East Coast, the 67 veterans of the 29th Central Valley Honor Flight visited the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. On Tuesday, the group received a police escort to take them to the United States Capitol building. They met with Congressmen David Valadao, Jim Costa and Vince Fong. They then received a tour of the building. Its always a huge honor for us any time, even as a member of Congress, after whatever number of years, its still a big deal for us, said Congressmember David Valadao. To be here for people who have fought for our country, who have put their lives on the line for our country, to experience, to see themselves what they fought for, what they defended. The symbol of freedom across the world our Capitol. Im thrilled to be a part of it. Members of the Central Valley Honor Flight in front of the Marine Corps War Memorial The group of veterans then went on to tour the memorials in Washington D.C., including the World War II Memorial, the Marine Corps War Memorial and the United States Navy Memorial. The members of the 29th Central Valley Honor Flight will be visiting other sites in the Washington D.C. area on Wednesday before flying back to Fresno. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 | News from CBS47 and KSEE24. Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A Connecticut man shared video of his close encounter with a black bear he found lurking in a garage. Andrew Hart of Hart Curb Appeal LLC said he was at a work site in Bloomfield when he encountered the unexpected garage guest. Security camera footage shows Hart walking up the driveway toward the garage when the bear suddenly pokes its head out from the open garage door, causing Hart to flee. "Safe to say I need new pants after that one," Hart told WFSB-TV. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said the local black bear population has sharply increased in recent years, with sightings reported in 165 of the state's 169 cities and towns in 2023. WATCH: Florida burglary suspect gets stuck in Corvette, begs owner for help getting out WATCH: Florida burglary suspect gets stuck in Corvette, begs owner for help getting out MIAMI, Fla. (WFLA) Video shows the moments after a Miami Beach driver discovered an intruder in his Corvette. My brother, this is not your car. This is my car, Julio Solano, the cars owner, said. The suspect, Ravesh Rabindranauth, 33, asked Solano for help getting out of the car. No, you cant get out. Were calling the cops, Solano said. Solano discovered Rabindranauth in the car while returning to the parking garage after breakfast on Tuesday. He told WPLG he was stunned to find someone trapped in the vehicle. The Corvettes electrical components will not work unless the person inside the car has the key. The video, filed by Solano, shows Miami Beach police arresting Rabindranauth after Solano unlocked the vehicle. Rabindranauth was charged with one count of burglary. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. How to watch the Trump rally on Long Island How to watch the Trump rally on Long Island UNIONDALE, N.Y. (PIX11) Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will hold a rally at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island Wednesday night. Trumps rally in Uniondale is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The doors opened at Nassau Coliseum at 3 p.m. More Local News Tickets are required to attend the rally in person. People can register for the free tickets here. However, a ticket will not guarantee entry to the rally inside Nassau Coliseum. More than 60,000 tickets have already been reserved and the arena only fits around 16,000 people, according to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. Entry into the arena is first come, first served. Get there early, Blakeman said. People who cant get into the arena can watch the rally on big-screen TVs in the parking lot outside Nassau Coliseum. Trumps campaign will also livestream the rally online on YouTube and Rumble. 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. PIX11s Emily Rahhal 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 PIX11. HONOLULU (KHON2) Water is something many of us may take for granted, its all around us and usually flows freely from our faucets. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Recent contamination, droughts and concerns about climate change are proving the importance of paying attention and protecting our water resources for all who depend on it. Forecasting our Future | Empowered Hawaii Severe Weather Empowered: Water is Life gathered the experts to discuss some of these hot topics, including water rights and access, the impact of pollution, and how we can all be part of conservation and solutions. Ernie Lau: Chief Engineer of the Board of Water Supply Jonathan Scheuer: Water Rights Expert Kim Falinski: Water Quality Strategy Lead at The Nature Conservancy Check out more news from around Hawaii For more information on water conservation, and to participate in the Board of Water Supplys water survey, visit their 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 KHON2. WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) A Waterbury man was arrested on Tuesday after a months-long retail theft investigation, according to Connecticut State Police. This embedded content is not available in your region. Police said that they seized $7,000 worth of merchandise that was shoplifted/stolen from several area retailers at a business located at 76 Hill St. Ismael De Jesus Payano, 41, was arrested and charged with larceny and organized retail theft. He was released on a $50,000 bond and is set to appear in court on Oct. 8. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. AUSTIN (Nexstar) Just weeks into the school year, school districts across Texas are responding to numerous threats of violence from students and outsiders alike. Nexstar stations across Texas have reported threats to at least 20 schools just this month. Central Texas On Tuesday, four Bastrop Middle School students were arrested after a threat toward the school was posted on social media. Bastrop ISD police determined the threat was non-credible, according to a letter Bastrop Middle School Principal Tiffany Peirson sent to families. On the same day, two Pflugerville ISD students were arrested in connection with threats made to several campuses in the district, including Weiss High School. Last week, Austin ISD police announced they would increase patrols at Hill Elementary School after a reported threat to the campus. Austin Police arrested a person for making a terroristic threat last Thursday. Hays Consolidated Independent School District said a sixth grader was detained Thursday in connection with a threat. The Hays County Sheriffs Office confirmed to KXAN it charged a minor with felony false report. Hays CISD: 3 students arrested, charged in connection with social media threats Last week, a Westlake High School student was arrested and accused of making threats against the school and students last Sunday. Eanes ISD Superintendent Jeff Arnett said at least four students alerted administrators about a student making concerning comments on Snapchat. Students used the districts Westlake Watch reporting system to alert officials of the threats. The student was then charged with making a terroristic threat. Marble Falls ISD also increased patrols on some of its campuses, following reported threats. Llano ISD said Thursday a person was in custody after making threats on social media. Weapon seized from student at Del Valle High School, letter says Lubbock Last Monday, DPS responded to potential bomb threats made against Coronado High School and Frenship High School. Last Tuesday, DPS and FBI investigators learned the same suspect made more threats against Lubbock High, Monterey High, and Lubbock Cooper High. Five juvenile suspects from the Lubbock area were interviewed for their alleged role in perpetuating the false threats, DPS said. Juveniles under investigation after Lubbock area schools receive threats of violence Amarillo The Dalhart Police Department received a photo on Tuesday describing an unspecified school shooting threat. Police described it as a nationwide threat/hoax circulating in multiple states, but said they will not rely on hopes it is fake. Dalhart ISD Superintendent Jeff Byrd said they did not find a credible threat but will maintain a heavy police presence on campuses for the week. KAMR: Dalhart ISD releases hold after reported threat investigation Rio Grande Valley Edinburg and McAllen school districts were the target of an online threat traced to an FBI arrest of a Kansas City teenager on Saturday. Separately, the Progreso Police Department arrested a former security guard on Friday after he reportedly discussed shooting teachers and blowing up Progreso High School. Roberto Hernandez, 20, was arrested and accused of making a terroristic threat. And last Monday, a teen and a minor were arrested and suspected of making terroristic threats through social media posts depicting firearms. Valley Central: Police say security guard threatened to blow up Progreso High School Wichita Falls A City View High School student was charged with making a terroristic threat on Sept. 10. Jessie Tinsley, 17, was arrested and subsequently released on bond after allegedly posting a photo on Snapchat depicting an AR-15 rifle, shell casings, and knives, captioned with **** City View, I dont claim yall as a student anymore. KFDX: City View student charged with terroristic threat San Angelo Last Wednesday, the San Angelo Police Department announced it is investigating potential threats against Central High School. San Angelo ISD said rumors spreading about the school are unsubstantiated and untrue. Concho Valley Homepage: SAPD identifies students in rumors regarding Central High School Lawmakers respond In Austin on Wednesday, state lawmakers tasked with keeping students safe are reviewing the impact of House Bill 3, the major school safety law passed last year in part to respond to the Uvalde massacre. Lawmakers and superintendents identified shortfalls in the law. It imposes broad security mandates on school districts, including infrastructure and training upgrades and a required armed officer or security personnel on every campus. But the bill did not come with enough money to implement those requirements. Rep. Steve Allison, R-San Antonio, said Texas has created another unfunded mandate for something very important. The law provides $15,000 per campus for school security, but that does not come close to paying for a full-time armed officer, one school official told the committee Wednesday. Dr. Kathy Martinez-Prather with the Texas School Safety Center said the increase in threats could be due to the contagion effect, in which schools see an uptick of threats after a high-profile mass casualty event, like the recent school shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. More people in 2023 were charged with weapons violations in South Carolina than in past years, contributing to a growing 10-year trend. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division reported Tuesday that gun related charges were up 1.8% in 2023 compared to 2022. Nearly 91% of those weapon infractions included firearms, with at least 75.1% being handguns, the report said. The number of Weapon Law Violations are going up at a rapid pace, SLED Chief Mark Keel said in a news release. The number of these offenses has more than doubled in the last decade. Law enforcement continues to encounter offenders with guns every day, many of whom are young. The rate of weapon violations per ten thousand people increased by 11.1 percent from 2021 to 2022. From 2014 to 2023, violations rose 129.7 percent, with a total increase of 624. 4 percent in the last thirty years, according to the report. Of the 13,687 people charged with gun violations in 2023, 11,723 were adults and 1,964 were juveniles. As far as weapon violations offenses, 8,549 were cleared last year out of 11,410 reports, data shows. Still, the rate of violent crime across multiple categories including murder, sexual battery, robbery and aggravated assault were down in 2023 compared to 2022. SLEDs annual crime report is complied by crime rates reported by state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Of 277 agencies, 204 or 73 percent reported all 12 months of crime data while 10 agencies reported no data, the report said. I want to thank our law enforcement partners for sending in their data so everyone can see these trends, Keel said. This information helps us better understand the challenges our communities face. Dollywood is one of the most popular theme parks in the country, and its location plays a big role in drawing visitors. Thanks to the famous Exit 407 near Pigeon Forge along Interstate 40, Dollywood is easily accessible for millions of people in the South and along the East Coast. Families from Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati and other nearby major cities who are looking for a quick getaway flock to the park. And a road trip through the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains is just a bonus. But for folks further out north and west, flying in is the more efficient option to enjoy all the fun Dollywood offers. So, which airport do you need to book your ticket for? Where is Dollywood located? Dollywood, along with its two resorts and water park, is in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The theme park honoring Dolly Parton is nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, just a few miles from where Parton was born and raised in Sevierville. It was Partons dream to build a theme park in East Tennessee to honor her parents and all the people who live in the Smokies. I'm proud to be a Smoky Mountain girl, Parton told Knox News in 2023. Home is in my heart. These mountains, Ive always cared (about them). Whats the nearest airport to Dollywood? The nearest commercial airport to Dollywood with flights from across the country is not in the Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg area. Its over 35 miles away from the park, near Knoxville. More specifically, the airport is in Alcoa. The nearest airport to Dollywood is McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in Alcoa. The hub serves the East Tennessee region with flights via American Airlines, Delta, United, and budget airlines Allegiant, Avelo and Frontier. McGhee Tyson has over 25 nonstop flights to and from major cities including Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New York and Phoenix. How to get from the airport to Dollywood? Dollywood is about 37-47 miles away from McGhee Tyson depending on the route you take. Ground transportation is needed to get to the theme park from the airport. And because the drive is from the Tennessee Valley into the mountains, the ride can be around one hour. Rental cars, taxis and ride-sharing services are readily available from McGhee Tyson Airport. Dollywood does not have a shuttle service connected to the airport, but shuttles and trollies are available to and from Dollywood resorts, theme park and water park. Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Dollywood: What airport do you fly into for a Pigeon Forge adventure? Whelan says he spent last five days in Russian detention in solitary confinement Paul Whelan, who spent five-and-a-half years wrongfully detained in Russia, revealed Tuesday that he had spent the final five days leading up to his release in solitary confinement. I couldnt leave my cell, but I made it home, he said in his first public comments since returning from Russia and completing the US government readjustment program known as PISA. It was due to people like my parents, who grew up in England during the war. It was that kind of, you know, resiliency that saw them through their childhood in England, and thats how I grew up. So when the Russians abducted me from my hotel room, I just put that same sort of resiliency into action, he said at a press gaggle on Capitol Hill. He continued: I went toe-to-toe with them. They were probably glad to see me leave, to be quite honest. But you know, here I am, and Im starting a new chapter of my life. Whelan, a former US Marine, was released in early August as part of a sweeping prisoner exchange carried out between the United States and Russia. A total of eight people were returned to the Kremlin in exchange for the release of 16 people who were held in Russian detention, including four Americans, in the historic swap that was the result of years of complicated behind-the-scenes negotiations involving the US, Russia and Germany. Whelan said it was great to be back but theres a lot ahead. One of the things Im focused on is getting a new car. So its that sort of minutiae that you have to focus on, he said. But, you know, I have some plans. Well see what materializes. But for now, Im just kind of getting back into the swing of things, you know, getting adjusted with my parents, getting things in line personally, but, yeah, its great to be back. Asked by CNN the most surprising part of readjusting to his life after detention, Whelan said it was trying to navigate the technology. The technology thats available, electric cars, people being conveyed around with driverless vehicles, electric vehicles, all that sort of thing, he said. I was in a really remote part of Russia. I used to call it Camp Lostinthewoods. I mean, it was really remote, he recounted. We really didnt have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment, he continued. And, you know, coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but its a good shock. Whelan was on Capitol Hill to meet with and thank the lawmakers who helped advocate for his release, including members of the Michigan congressional delegation. Whelan also expressed gratitude for the government agencies who helped secure his release. Asked what his message is for Marc Fogel, an American who remains imprisoned in Russia, Whelan replied, Were coming for you. The United States is not going to let people like me, Marc, Trevor (Reed), Brittney (Griner), languish in foreign prisons. It might take time, but were coming for him and everybody else, he said. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Where is Diddy currently being held after arrest? Where is Diddy currently being held after arrest? (NewsNation) After being arrested Monday on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, music producer Sean Diddy Combs will likely be held in Manhattans Metropolitan Detention Center. A law enforcement official told CNN that Combs is being held by himself in a special housing unit inside the Brooklyn jail. Both on Tuesday and Wednesday, Combs was denied bail, meaning he will remain in custody as he awaits trial. Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said he will now ask the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling and release Combs. The Metropolitan Detention Center has been the primary federal detention center since 2021, when the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan closed after a number of issues that were exposed after disgraced financier Jeffrey Epsteins death. Problems plaguing the facility included lax security and crumbling infrastructure, the Associated Press reported. Federal prosecutors Tuesday indicted Combs, alleging he abused, threatened and coerced women to fulfill his sexual desires. Combs pleaded not guilty. Timeline: Sean Diddy Combs sexual misconduct allegations, lawsuits Diddy at MDC Brooklyn There are 1,218 people at the Metropolitan Detention Center, which is located in the Eastern New York Judicial District, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Like the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the MDC is also plagued by chronic understaffing, constant lockdowns, outbreaks of violence, delayed access to medical care, and a rash of suicides and death, The Daily Beast reported. Several courts in this District have recognized that the conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center are not fit for pre-trial detention, Combs lawyers said in a motion they filed for bail Tuesday, per the news outlet. Who else could be charged in the Diddy investigation? Mentioned by Combs attorneys in their filing was a June 7 incident where Uriel Whyte, a man who had been at MDC for gun charges, was stabbed to death in the facility. Spectrum News New York reported that Whyte was awaiting trial on gun charges for two years. A second man named Edwin Cordero died after being injured in a jail fight in August. Corderos lawyer, The New York Times reported, wrote about the awful conditions his client faced in a June letter to a federal judge. The prison, Corderos lawyer said, is an overcrowded, understaffed and neglected federal jail that is hell on earth. Along with the deaths this past summer, suicides and an electrical fire in 2019 that caused those in the prison to be without heat and power for days have been reported at MDC. Judges and advocates have called out the Bureau of Prisons for dangerous, barbaric conditions in MDC, and pressed the agency to make improvements. In a statement to the Associated Press, the federal Bureau of Prisons said it is addressing the staffing and other challenges at MDC Brooklyn. An agency team is working to fix problems, the bureau said, by adding permanent correctional and medical staff, remedying more than 700 backlogged maintenance requests and answering judges concerns, among other actions taken. The Associated Press has investigated and reported on deep, previously unreported flaws at other facilities within the Bureau of Prisons, including dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides. 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 NewsNation. The Biden administration submitted a special request to congressional committees in August asking for a boost to funding for the US Secret Service in the weeks leading up to and after the 2024 election, according to sources familiar with the matter, warning of insufficient resources for the agency if the request isnt granted. The Office of Management and Budget submitted the so-called anomaly request, which includes the White Houses proposed additions to the standard contents of a short-term funding bill, after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, the sources told CNN. Congress and the White House are largely expected to negotiate a deal in the coming weeks to fund the government for a period of several months, lasting at least through the election, through a package known as a continuing resolution, or CR. The White Houses funding request, sources said, notes that if the change is not granted, the Secret Service would have insufficient resources to sustain and enhance protective operations during that period of time. A detailed amount of ramped-up spending was not specified in the request, which called instead for more flexible language that allows the Department of Homeland Security to provide funding at a rate of operations necessary to continue protective and presidential campaign operations during the CR period. Federal agencies customarily submit such requests to the Office of Management and Budget ahead of negotiations over short-term government funding. They detail an administrations desired sidebars to the standard language of a continuing resolution, often serving as a warning that certain programs could be under-resourced if funding stayed at the prior years levels, even for a short period of time. In prior years, the administration has bundled these requests with supplemental funding for disaster relief, Covid-19 and military aid for Ukraine, which made them more politically unpalatable on Capitol Hill. The language proposed by the Biden administration for enhanced Secret Service funding through the 2024 election has appeared in at least one Republican-sponsored funding bill, lending credence to the belief that such an effort would see bipartisan support on the Hill. In a radio interview that aired Tuesday, President Joe Biden reiterated his belief that the Secret Service needs more personnel to handle an elevated threat environment for political candidates. One of the things is we need more resources, Biden said. We need more agents, we need more protection, we need to expand the availability of help. Biden described the climate as up across the board, describing how increased security had changed his style of campaigning. Everythings frightening, he said. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Mayor Karen Bass said she would conduct a nationwide search for the next chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, but in the end it seems she found three finalists close to home. Deputy Chief Emada Tingirides and Robert "Bobby" Arcos, a former LAPD assistant chief who works in the L.A. County district attorney's office, were seen arriving at Getty House, the mayor's residence, for their candidate interviews over the span of a few hours Tuesday. The third candidate is said to be former Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, who also served in the LAPD, leaving as first assistant chief. McDonnell was not seen at the Getty House on Tuesday, but according to multiple sources he is also being considered by the mayor to replace interim Chief Dominic Choi, who has run the department since Michel Moore retired unexpectedly in February after 5 years on the job. The sources asked not to be identified because the final stages of the search process have been kept confidential and they were not authorized to discuss it. Read more: Who will be L.A.'s next police chief: A guide A spokesman for Bass declined to comment when asked by The Times if she interviewed chief candidates on Tuesday. All three of the contenders have deep ties to the LAPD even amid growing calls from within the department for an outsider to bring change. On Tuesday, Bass released a report detailing the results of a months-long survey about what civil rights groups, neighborhood council members, LAPD officers and others want in their next chief. Some who met with Bass called for a chief attuned to the distinct and often at odds challenges of policing in a city as vast and diverse as L.A. Others spoke of the importance of picking an innovator willing to prioritize de-escalation and transparency. For rank-and-file cops, the top issue at the department is low morale, driven in part by a disciplinary system that they view as unfair, the report said. Officers also reported what they see as a lack of operational experience among command staff, which leads to "a disconnect in understanding what officers deal with daily." Read more: LAPD union leader faces complaints that his security company hires and underpays problem cops Bass seemed willing to consider candidates with ties to her former mayoral opponent, Rick Caruso. McDonnell once appeared in a campaign ad for the billionaire developer, and both Tingirides and Arcos are on the board of directors of Operation Progress, a Watts-area nonprofit of which Caruso is a founding board member. Arcos, who left the LAPD in 2021, is the chief of the Bureau of Investigation in L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascon's office. When approached by two Times reporters outside the mayor's residence on Tuesday, Arcos said that being considered for the position "really is an honor of a lifetime." He said he wouldn't comment further out of respect for the mayor's wishes to keep the search private. "The mayor and her team have been really strict about confidentiality," he said. "It's completely up to the mayor, and I respect that process." A third-generation Mexican American, Arcos grew up in Texas and moved to L.A. with his mother and siblings at the age of 10 to flee an abusive relationship, eventually settling in Atwater Village. Xiomara Flores-Holguin, a longtime social worker who teaches at Cal State Northridge, said Arcos rejected the traditional LAPD "nobody-but-us" mindset in favor of working closely with child protective services and community groups to solve crime problems. "We weren't always welcomed into these spaces because we were civilians," she said. During his career at the LAPD, Arcos was a lieutenant in the department's elite Metropolitan Division, and was in command during a May Day melee in 2007 in which police were accused of using excessive force to clear immigration rights demonstrators and journalists from MacArthur Park. He later served as the deputy chief over Central Bureau, earning high marks for promoting officer de-escalation training while also tackling homelessness and assuaging fears of deportation among the city's immigrant residents. Read more: Who disciplines LAPD officers? Records show same lawyers picked repeatedly for process In 2006, Arcos' daughter killed two people in a drunk driving accident on the 5 Freeway. Soon thereafter, allegations surfaced suggesting that Arcos, then an LAPD lieutenant, pressured the probation department to alter a report in his daughter's favor. He denied the allegations and was cleared after an Internal Affairs investigation. Arcos, who was also among the finalists for the LAPD chief job in 2018, remained at Getty House for nearly two hours before departing in a black SUV. Less than an hour later, Tingirides arrived and made her way inside, where she also remained for roughly two hours. Tingirides joined the LAPD in the early 1990s and gained national prominence for her community policing efforts in 2015, when she and her husband attended the State of the Union address at the invitation of then-First Lady Michelle Obama. A Watts native who spent her teens in the San Fernando Valley, Tingirides enjoyed an unusually brisk rise through the department ranks. After stints in the stations that patrol downtown and southwest L.A., she was promoted to sergeant in 2006 and went to work in the Harbor area. She soon took over the community relations office at the police station that patrols Watts and surrounding areas. While there, she worked for her future husband, when both were married to other people. Moore promoted her from captain to deputy chief in 2020, placing her in charge of the newly formed Community Safety Partnership Bureau, which has been credited with reducing violent crime and improving relationships in some of the citys most troubled housing developments. She said in a panel discussion that she joined the police force soon after the "Rodney King incident," donning the uniform with the goal of helping "heal mistrust between law enforcement and community" after LAPD officers were filmed beating the Black motorist. Read more: L.A. gang interventionists got better pay. They're still searching for respect. Fernando Rejon, a longtime gang interventionist, said that Tingirides possesses a "cultural fluency" that allowed her to work in communities where many residents don't trust law enforcement over past abuses. Such credibility was hard-earned, he said, recalling Tingirides showing up at homicide scenes to console grieving parents and talk down upset neighbors. "The credibility and support she had in Watts was earned, and that's because of years of being willing to engage, and not backing down, and being able to engage the community in difficult conversations, and also being able to apologize when needed," Rejon said. In an panel discussion in 2021 moderated by actor-director Nate Parker, Tingirides said that reverence for human life should be a central pillar for all policing, and that relationships were vital to her work. Her relative lack of command experience has drawn concern from some within the department, as has the potential influence of her husband, retired Deputy Chief Phil Tingirides, if she were to become chief. The only presumed finalist not seen at the mayor's house Tuesday was McDonnell, who has been an LAPD chief candidate twice before, in 2002 and 2009. He was with the department for 28 years, sometimes serving as the department's public face while working as former Chief William J. "Bill" Bratton's second-in-command. McDonnell helped implement the federal consent decree that arose largely out of the Rampart corruption scandal, in which dozens of officers were accused of serious misconduct, including perjury and evidence tampering. He left to take the chief's job in Long Beach in 2010, before being elected sheriff, where he went toe-to-toe with the department's union over disciplinary issues. Read more: Family of Trader Joes store manager killed by LAPD receives $9.5-million settlement He served one term before being replaced by Alex Villanueva in a stunning electoral upset for a seat that hadn't seen an incumbent lose in more than a century. He later joined an exodus of high-ranking law enforcement officials moving into academia, taking a job at USC, where he worked alongside Police Commission President Erroll Southers. While with the university, a group of researchers began looking into the possibilities of using artificial intelligence to assess officer behavior and improve training. Some inside the department have questioned whether McDonnell has been away from the department too long, and whether he is up for handling the demands of modern-day policing. Keith Swensson, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff's commander, said that McDonnell had the rare quality for a leader of seeking out and heeding opposing points of view in the name of improving the department. But he also lost the support of some beat cops by taking a far more aggressive approach to discipline, Swensson said. "I think the mayor and the City Council would absolutely love him. I don't know about the rank and file. That is the big question mark in my mind," he said. "That's serious tightrope walking." 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. Smart meters, for many owners, have failed to live up to the name. Online forums are filled with complaints from people who have received huge bills or ridiculous consumption figures after energy suppliers installed the internet-connected meters in their homes. In one case, a customer was billed over 1,000 a day for gas when his smart meter ignored the decimal points in his reading. In another, a smart meter in a communal hallway, home to just two lightbulbs, led to an estimated annual charge of 6,150. The charity Citizens Advice says it has received complaints of shock bills of more than 1,000 after smart meters failed to send updates to energy suppliers, leading to people dramatically underestimating their usage. In most cases, customers are able to resolve huge bills caused by faulty meters after some hassling. But now, the Government has been accused of significantly understating the problem. Martin Lewis, the consumer champion, has written to Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, claiming that 19pc almost one in five smart meters in operation do not work. Statistics from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero claim the number is much lower, at around 9pc. However, this only includes meters which are not sending readings to energy providers, excluding other faults. Lewis said the official statistics did not include potentially millions of devices which were not communicating with displays, that are sending incorrect readings or failing to record top-ups. Martin Lewis, the consumer champion, claims that almost 7m or one in five smart meters do not work - Credit: Andrew Crowley His figures would suggest that almost 7m of the 36.2m smart meters installed in Britain today are malfunctioning in some way. Non-functioning meters risk becoming a bigger problem in the coming years. Around 7m meters rely on 2G or 3G mobile connections that are scheduled to be switched off by the end of 2033 and will need their communications modules replaced so they can use modern phone networks. The issue of smart meters turning dumb is alarming not just to consumer campaigners such as Lewis but also to the industry. A spokesman for Octopus Energy said: Customer experience with smart meters is essential to building confidence in this transition. Satisfied customers with working smart meters also often advocate for them, helping to drive overall installations and confidence. The company has said it is focusing on fixing any broken meters it finds as a priority. Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive of Energy UK, which speaks for the industry as a whole, agreed that authorities should look at energy suppliers targets. She said: As we complete the smart meter rollout, its going to be very important to look at the role of targets and ensuring these are properly serving customers interests and hitting the right balance between installation of new meters and maintenance of existing ones. Failing smart meters are more than just an inconvenience for homeowners they also threaten to undermine the Governments net zero push. The devices will play an ever-more crucial role in managing the electricity system as the nation shifts to renewable energy, say experts. Lewis has taken issue with the fact that while energy suppliers were under binding targets to install smart meters, they had few responsibilities to maintain existing ones. He called for targets to be overhauled to cover the number of working meters, rather than simply targeting the number that were installed. Smart meters, done right, offer an exciting future, he wrote. Its just a shame the overly-long history of the smart meter rollout is one of sloth, poor decisions, poor technology and over-expense. Miliband is the architect of Britains smart meter rollout. As energy secretary under the last Labour government, he announced in 2008 that every home in Britain would have a smart meter by 2019. The target has repeatedly been delayed and watered down the current target is three-quarters of households by the end of 2025. Even that target may be unobtainable. Although 64pc of homes had a smart meter at the end of June, installations have dropped dramatically. Large energy suppliers installed 663,167 in the second quarter of the year, down by 15pc year-on-year. Outside lockdowns, this was the lowest quarterly figure for more than eight years. The slowdown comes despite electricity prices soaring, which should make the financial benefits of smart meters more apparent. The devices give households real-time data on their consumption. The displays only have a marginal effect on electricity and gas usage, according to government research. The real benefits lie in sending half-hourly updates to the grid, which allows suppliers to balance out electricity usage by charging more during peak hours and less during quieter periods. A growing number of energy suppliers has launched tariffs allowing households to take advantage of cheaper electricity during off-peak times, such as when charging electric vehicles at night. Last winter, 1.6m households took advantage of schemes rewarding homeowners for cutting electricity usage at peak times. In fact, Octopus Energy, the UKs largest electricity supplier, now pays people to use electricity at certain times in response to a quirk in how the grid buys energy. The troubled smart meter rollout has an impact beyond individual households it will also influence net zero. The types of energy management schemes employed by Octopus and other energy providers are likely to become more crucial as Labour seeks to make Britains electricity network run entirely on clean power by the end of the decade, relying more on intermittent sources such as wind and solar. Its small now, but it will become increasingly important, especially as we get through the 2030s and into the 2040s, says Matthew Lockwood, of the Sussex Energy Group at the University of Sussex. With smart meters, what governments have tried to do is to get the infrastructure to facilitate all of this in place ahead of mass demand. He predicts that while consumers have been slow to take advantage of the devices, that will change with a more digitally-literate population. Lewis, however, says the number of malfunctioning devices is deterring uptake. Too many smart meters dont work, he told Miliband. The industry can pump all the money it likes at marketing them, but when word of mouth is often saying dont bother, its tough to shift the dial. An Octopus spokesman said the company prioritised fixing broken meters over installing new ones. The company said: Installing meters that dont function properly not only undermines customer trust but also delays the larger transition to a smarter, more sustainable energy system. The Government called on suppliers to fix problems more quickly and called on Ofgem, the energy regulator, to step up enforcement. While over 90pc of smart meters are operating normally, the number in traditional mode is still too high meaning many households are missing out on cheaper, flexible tariffs, a spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said. We expect energy suppliers to resolve any issues with their customers meters at a much faster pace, with Ofgem responsible for holding them to account. If Labour intends to follow through on its net zero commitments, homeowners will not only have to be sold on the benefits of smart meters they will need more confidence that the devices actually work. 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. Why holding kids back fails and what to do about it Children struggle with shame and alienation when they are forced to repeat a grade in school. (Maskot via Getty Images) For decades, schools have allowed children to advance to the next grade even when theyre not reading at grade level. But more and more states are adopting policies to hold students back if they fail standardized tests in reading. As of now, 26 states have such policies, compared with just 18 states five years ago. This month, Maryland lawmakers will consider their own policy to hold back third graders who struggle with reading, while allowing parents to opt out as long as they agree to get their child extra reading support. The looming decision in Maryland, where 69 percent of students are not reading at grade level, has reignited a century-long debate about the consequences of flunking students. Based on what the research shows, we believe parents and guardians would be wise to explore their options to opt out of the retention policy. We say this because of what we know to be the negative effects associated with forcing a child to repeat a grade. While giving struggling learners another year to master essential skills may seemingly make sense, evidence suggests that holding kids back often does more harm than good. Not only do these students have a higher risk of dropping out before graduating high school, but the practice also reinforces historical inequities in education. As researchers who study grading and education policy, we offer five reasons why we dont see holding students back as an effective educational strategy. 1. Hinders academic progress Students held back in the early elementary grades show lower academic achievement in year-end reading scores compared with their promoted peers both during and after the retention year, according to a multiyear study published in 2018. This lag in students performance persists through their middle school years. Even more concerning, any short-term academic gains from retention often disappear after the student is promoted the following year, another comprehensive study found. This is partly because students encounter the same teaching and grading methods that didnt work for them the first time around. 2. Limits social and emotional development Students held back in elementary school experience increased feelings of shame and alienation, research shows. These feelings linger into adolescence. These students also grapple with lower self-esteem and more anxiety compared with their promoted peers, which could limit their overall social and emotional development. 3. Increases dropout risk Students held back in elementary grades were 60 percent less likely to graduate high school by age 20 compared with their similarly achieving peers who were not held back, one study found. A 2018 study corroborated these findings, even after controlling for prior achievement and socioeconomic status. 4. Costs more for school districts The estimated cost of retention is $13,000 to $35,000 per student a year, depending on the school district. The total cost to U.S. taxpayers is over $18 billion every year. The costs continue to add up over a lifetime, too, since holding students back is associated with increased dropout rates and reduced lifetime earnings. 5. Disadvantages poor and minority students As do other policies in education, holding students back affects poor and minority students significantly more than their higher-income and white peers, research has found. Retention policies are also often associated with greater rates of suspension and less access to advanced classes. Decisions about whether a student should be held back often rely on measures such as standardized test scores. But research shows theres a long history of racial bias in these tests, which tend to favor white, Asian and higher-income students. Reliance on high-stakes tests reinforces bias in education and creates a system that simultaneously hamstrings teachers and blames them for test results that are beyond their control. Another path forward Its not fair to penalize students when educators and policymakers have the power to address student reading issues before and throughout third grade. Instead, we believe less weight should be placed on high stakes tests, and teachers should be trusted and taught to implement more effective ways to help students who are behind in reading. Here are a few ways that teachers can better support students in reading: Identify learning gaps regularly: Kindergarten through third grade teachers should regularly evaluate their students academic performance and adjust their teaching methods based on what they conclude. Recent research demonstrates that this approach can lead to significant improvements in reading outcomes. Use standards to guide learning: By focusing on students individual growth rather than comparing them with their peers teachers and parents can better understand how well a student is doing in reading. When students need help, teachers can provide more targeted interventions. Separate behavior and academic performance: Teachers should separate students behavior, including effort and participation, from their academic performance in the grade book. This gives a more accurate picture of students actual reading skills and areas where they can improve. Enhance teacher training: The above recommendations work only if teachers understand how to interpret and regularly use their students classroom assessment data. This is what allows them to personalize lessons for struggling students. Many teacher preparation programs in the U.S. fall short in this area. Some innovative universities, however, are preparing educators to design and implement effective classroom assessment and grading practices that are fair, accurate, and meaningful for all students. These classroom-based, teacher-driven practices can not only benefit individual students, but they can also reduce the financial and emotional costs associated with grade retention. The path forward lies not in holding students back but in pushing these educational practices forward. Education leaders can ensure that every student receives proactive support instead of experiencing the shame and setbacks associated with having to repeat a year in school. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Credit - CravetigerGetty Images In the near future, I want you to learn how to ride this new horse of artificial intelligence (AI) rather than be left behind with the old one. Let me explain the revolutionary changes approaching our lives. Sam Altman, whom I consider the Steve Jobs of this generation, called me 18 months ago. He had met with President Biden about AI, and now he was calling me to help organize a meeting of key community leaders in Atlanta. Three days later, with the help of Dr. George French, President of Clark Atlanta University, we pulled off that meeting. What I learned there blew my mindit was both exhilarating and frightening. One thing was clear: everything was about to change. We are standing at the edge of a technological revolution with AI, on a scale not seen since America transitioned from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles in the early 20th century. Like that moment in history, AI is generating both excitement and fearconcerns about job displacement, societal disruption, and ethical dilemmas. To navigate this new frontier, we must look to history, particularly the transition from the horse and buggy to the automobile between 1850 and 1910. This analogy offers valuable lessons for managing the challenges of AI and seizing its opportunities. When automobiles emerged, the world faced significant disruption. People feared the loss of jobs tied to horses, stables, and carriages. Yet, the automobile brought about new industries, jobs, and growth. The rise of oil and gas, automotive repair, and road infrastructure transformed society. Despite initial fears, the automobile sparked economic expansion. Today, AI elicits similar fears of job loss. Automation and AI are reshaping industries and displacing workers. According to McKinsey, up to 375 million workers globally may need to change occupations by 2030. The change we once saw over 50 years is now happening in five or six. But as with the automobile, AI presents tremendous opportunities for new jobs and industries. We must approach AI like the automobilerecognizing its potential to transform industries and create opportunities. AI is a tool, not inherently good or bad. Its impact depends on how we use it. If we focus on enhancing human capabilities, we can turn uncertainty into opportunity. Read More: The Promise and Peril of AI New industries are already emerging around AI ethics, AI-driven healthcare, and environmental sustainability. Like the automobile, these fields will create jobs we havent even imagined yet. But realizing this potential requires equipping people with new skills through education and training. AI also has the power to democratize access to information, education, and economic opportunities. For underserved communities, AI could be transformative. Personalized education powered by AI can adapt to individual learning needs, breaking barriers to quality education. In healthcare, AI can bridge gaps by enabling remote diagnoses and treatments, improving access to care for communities that traditionally lack resources. However, to fully unlock AIs potential, we must take a deliberate, inclusive approach. Education and training should go beyond traditional STEM fields, encompassing digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. We must also ensure AI development is ethical, prioritizing fairness, transparency, and accountability. As co-chair of the new AI Ethics Council with Sam Altman, and founder of Operation HOPE, I believe its our responsibility to ensure AIs benefits are shared equitably. We need to prevent the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few tech giants. Instead, we should foster a diverse and inclusive AI ecosystem. This requires advocating for digital inclusion policies that provide underserved communities with the tools and resources to participate in the AI economy. Just as horses were once the most valuable asset for a family in the 19th century but were economically obsolete by the 20th, we must embrace the new AI-driven economy. As Van Jones, also a member of the AI Ethics Council, says, 99% of Black peopleand 99% of white peoplehave no real idea what AI is. This is our chance for a level playing field, potentially bringing social justice through economic change. Public-private partnerships are crucial in making this vision a reality. Governments, businesses, and civil society must work together to create a regulatory framework that encourages innovation while safeguarding against risks. This means setting standards for data privacy, AI transparency, and accountability. We must also invest in research to understand the ethical implications of AI. The transition from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles was challenging but ultimately led to a more prosperous and connected world. Similarly, AI presents risks but also extraordinary opportunities. AI and robotics will effectively zero out jobs requiring a high school education in basic retail customer service, like fast food restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. And those with higher education, in accounting and say law, are also vulnerable to the powers of automation and general AI. You can see many of these changes happening right now, right in front of your very eyes. Likewise, AI and robotics will make the doctor in a rural village in Kenya, Africa, a superstar life saver, possessing the same life saving tools, knowledge and real time problem solving and applications as the cutting edge team at Emory University in Atlanta. And then there are the entirely new jobs and skills areas that will be created from AI maintenance and oversight roles, to AI assisted content creators, fashion and experience designers, where human creativity flourishes right along side AI tools, combining high tech with high tough. By learning from history and approaching AI with inclusivity and responsibility, we can create jobs, uplift underserved communities, and build a future that benefits all of humanity. While concerns about AI are real, we must not lose sight of its tremendous potential. Like the automobile revolution, AI has the power to drive economic growth and social progress. But this requires optimism, foresight, and a commitment to ensuring its benefits are shared by all. Lets seize this moment to shape a future where technology serves as a force for good, empowering individuals and creating new opportunities. Contact us at letters@time.com. Why Ogden was chosen as one of 8 newly designated WWII Heritage Cities OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) The National Park Service announced its designation of Ogden, Utah as a World War II Heritage City, along with seven others, 79 years after the end of the world war. An American World War II Heritage City is an honor awarded to communities across the United States for their contribution to the war effort during that time, according to the press release. There are 38 designated cities total, eight of which were designated this year on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Only one city can be designated per state or territory. The other recently designated cities are as follows: Calhoun and Ouachita Counties, Arkansas Plymouth Township, Michigan Valley City, North Dakota Municipality of Tinian & Aguiguan, Northern Mariana Islands Ponca City and Kay County, Oklahoma North Kingstown, Rhode Island Sumter City and County, South Carolina The program looked at several historical factors as well as current endeavors to memorialize the citys contribution to the war efforts. NPS Director Chuck Sams said, Its important we remember that cities and towns made major contributions at home to the war effort. World War II not only impacted those who went to war, but also those who carried on the life and work of the home front, he said. Why Ogden? In the early 1940s, Ogden had one of the United States largest war supply depots as well as an operating prisoner of war camp. According to the NPS, the Utah General Depot was located in northwest Ogden and at one point employed more than 7,500 civilians. The site stored military supplies, held prisoners, and fed military personnel. World War II soldiers and sailors stop at the Red Cross canteen at Ogden Union Station. (Courtesy of the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service via the National Park Service) Because the city was strategically located in the middle of the country, a total of more than one million service members passed through Ogden Union Station during the war, according to NPS. In addition to the depot and railroad station, female students from Ogden High School became Red Cross-certified and served as messengers for the civilian defense organization. Employment in the area skyrocketed due to Ogdens busy depot, Red Cross canteen, and railroad station. The federal government addressed this by deeming it an over-crowded war production area and leasing homes and buildings to defense workers, the NPS said. READ NEXT: Sugar House construction at apex Heres whats coming this winter In order for the NPS to designate an area as a World War II Heritage City, it has to have a historical connection as well as meet current-day criteria of preserving the legacy of the citys war contributions. Ogden City met this requirement through its World War II Memorial, remembrance ceremonies, and oral history projects. For more information, see the NPS 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 ABC4 Utah. Why are we still talking about cat memes in the 2024 campaign? A version of this story appeared in CNNs What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. Far be it from anyone to identify a defined strategy in the cat memes that have overtaken the American political conversation in a pivotal election year. But its worth considering why, rather than move on from insults against childless cat ladies and false stories about Haitian migrants eating cats in Ohio, former President Donald Trumps campaign and his allies keep the controversies simmering. Beyond Trumps general refusal to ever admit an error, do they see an upside in stirring the pot? Ramaswamy to hold event in Springfield Why else, the day after the Republican mayor of Springfield, Ohio, said at a press conference that hed prefer neither campaign turn his city into a background for a political event, would Vivek Ramaswamy, the Ohio-based businessman who is one of Trumps most vocal and spirited supporters, announce he would hold a town hall in the city? Never mind the states Republican governor, who also counseled against a campaign visit, called out state troopers to city schools to ease concern about scores of bomb threats. A police officer and his dog return to their vehicle after sweeping the Springfield City Hall grounds for explosives after bomb threats were made against buildings earlier in the day in Springfield, Ohio, on September 12, 2024. - Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images/File Why else, rather than move on from mean critiques of women without biological children, would Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders open a town hall event with Trump in Michigan on Tuesdaywith a not-so-subtle reference to Vice President Kamala Harris personal life? Sanders seems to criticize Harris over children Sanders began what could have been a touching anecdote by noting that her own children keep her humble. But then she aimed a barb at Harris, who, unfortunately, according to Sanders, doesnt have anything keeping her humble. Harris is a stepmother. Intentional or not, the insult cued a new round of stories about how the Trump campaign doesnt seem to mind turning off women voters. The Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson said on CNN that she views Sanders as somebody whos a potentially really great messenger to women, to young moms, across the country. Thats probably why Trumps campaign picked Sanders to interview the former president during the town hall event. Women voters have shifted away from Trump since Harris entered the race, according to polls. But the need to twist the knife in a little bit to Vice President Harris contradicts that message, according to Anderson. Very few undecided voters Perceptions of the election are so set in stone that it may not matter who Trump, his running mate Sen. JD Vance or any other Republican offends. CNNs senior data reporter, Harry Enten, said in an appearance on CNN Tuesday that pretty much everyone has made up their minds. In fact, its the lowest level of undecideds that weve seen in polling at this point this entire 21st century. He was referring to an aggregate of polling, but Enten later pointed me to a September New York Times/Siena College poll that tells a similar story. How do you reach someone who sees the election as NBD? Enten argued that one difficulty in speaking to this tiny but consequential sliver of voters is that the campaigns might not know what theyre looking for. While most, 30%, cite the economy as their top issue, a large chunk of the undecided voters, 28%, he pointed out, say they dont have a top issue. What exactly are you going to talk about to the folks who say, Wait a minute, we dont have a top issue? Enten wondered. Will the cat memes pierce through? Another thing that separates this sliver of undecided voters from the rest of the country, Enten noted, is that large majorities of Harris supporters (70%) and Trump supporters (72%) say this is the most important election in their lifetime. Only about a quarter of undecided voters see this election as the most important in their lifetime. Any discussion of immigration could benefit Trump Theres also an argument that, in particular when it comes to the Springfield story, any coverage of the immigration issue benefits Trump even when hes saying things that are untrue about Haitian migrants, drawing the gentle rebuke of Ohios governor or unintentionally misgendering a Puerto Rican reggaeton star, as Trump did at one recent rally in Las Vegas. Trump assumed that the musician Nicky Jam is a woman. Hes not. So it was somewhat uncomfortable when Trump said of Jam, Shes hot!, and was then joined by a tattooed man in a MAGA hat. Jam, by the way, is not the only Puerto Rican musician to endorse Trump something that has not gotten as much attention as Taylor Swifts or Billie Eilishs endorsements of Harris, but could in hindsight have an effect in Philadelphia, where there is a Puerto Rican population. Pennsylvania doesnt have the largest Puerto Rican population in the continental US, but it is a major swing state. Every day the political conversation is tied to immigration is a winner for Trump, argued Lance Trover, who was an adviser to the short-lived presidential campaign of North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. In an appearance on CNN Wednesday, Trover noted that polling suggests a majority of Americans support the idea of mass deportation, for instance, even though the Haitians in Springfield are in the US legally. Im guessing the Trump campaign is wagering that Americans have moved on from the dogs and the cats and the memes, and they are wagering that Americans as a whole are looking at this community and asking themselves a foundational question: What if 10, 20, 30,000 people moved into my community? And thats a fair discussion to have across the country, Trover said. Bold wager Pushing verifiably incorrect stories seems like a bold wager, even if it does keep the focus on immigration. Insulting women seems even bolder in an election that could come down to relatively few votes in a handful of states. Anderson wrote in The New York Times that while Harris may have an edge in nationwide polling and Democrats remain fired up and united behind Harris after her strong debate performance, its not yet clear that the race has materially changed. Polling still suggests super tight races in those pivotal states. Its of course better to have your side more energized than your opponents, but an enthusiastic vote doesnt count more than a begrudging one so long as they both turn out, Anderson wrote. If this is a strategy, seems like it could backfire While Trump and Vance frequently gripe about which comments get coverage in the media, its hard to ignore that they keep teasing out these controversies with their comments and actions. There is evidence that the attacks on Harris personal life are having an effect, but not a good one for Trump, according to the anti-Trump Republican strategist Sarah Longwell, who appeared Wednesday on The Lead with CNNs Jake Tapper. Every time I do a focus group with swing voters, they bring up JD Vance talking about childless cat ladies. Like, this is the kind of thing thats breaking through and is really causing, I think, independent voters to say Why do they keep attacking women? Ive never seen a campaign do more to alienate the single largest voting bloc in an election, Longwell said. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Maria del Carmen Castellon, stands with a photo and the welding gear of her late husband, one of six workers killed in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. At a Sept. 17, 2024, news conference, she called for better working conditions for workers. Photo by Danielle J. Brown On the afternoon of March 25, Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez stopped to give his wife a kiss before heading to his construction job, when she noticed a photo of the two of them on his phone. That afternoon, before heading into work, he stopped by and gave me a kiss. I noticed in his screensaver, a picture of us, and I was happy, Maria del Carmen Castellon said Tuesday. I was not to know that these are the last moments I would share with my husband. Hours after that kiss, Gonzalez, a welder, was working on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it was struck by the container ship Dali, sending the center span of bridge plunging into the Patapsco River, killing him and five other workers. That day, a wound was opened in my heart that will never heal. Something I do not wish to anyone, Castellon said through a translator at a Tuesday press conference hosted in Baltimore by the immigrant-advocacy group CASA. She spoke at the event to announce that family members of the victims plan to pursue legal challenges against Grace Ocean Private Ltd., the owner of the Dali, for alleged negligence that led to it striking the bridge on early morning hours of March 26. The ship was headed out of the Port of Baltimore when it lost power as it approached the bridge. Without power to steer, the 984-foot, fully loaded container ship drifted into a column of the Key Bridge, causing it to collapse. Six of the eight workers on the bridge at the time died. The victims were all immigrants from Latin America. Shortly after the bridge fell, Grace Ocean Private Ltd. filed a petition in federal court to limit how much it could be held responsible for financially for the accident. Matthew Wessler, an attorney representing three of the families, explained that there are no specific damages at this time in the claims from the families. Right now, all the proceeding is designed to do is focus on whether the ship can limit its liability, Wessler said Tuesday. His firm, Gupta Wessler, is also representing the families of Jose Mynor Lopez and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, who also died in the bridge collapse. Wessler said that if the families claims are successful at this stage, that would open the way to sue for damages. If the shipping company is successful, then any financial recovery could be limited. The families have until Sept. 24 to file a claim that the companys negligence led to the deaths of their loved ones. Wessler said that the three families hes representing will file claims. He said he is coordinating with other law firms that are representing the other three families, who also plan to file claims against the shipping company. Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, said that in the nearly six months since the bridge collapse, the families are seeking justice. Months have passed since the disaster, and today we can finally say that we will hold Grace Ocean Private accountable, Torres said. We will not let Grace Ocean escape the consequences of the negligence. But Torres and Castellon dont just want financial compensation for the lives lost. They also called for stronger worker protections and regulations so that people are safer when working dangerous jobs. Castellon said she and her husband had ambitions for a different future. That wound in my heart is because he was a companion to me for over 14 years. Six of them, I was blessed to say, we were married for them. We had dreams and aspirations, she said. Castellon said that they were hoping to open a restaurant together and had just looked at a potential location the day before the bridge fell. Miguel never stopped showing me love and affection through his love letters, she said. His love letter ended with I love you, words that I carry in my heart that I now carry with anxiousness. They fill me with anxiousness because I long for the love that now can never be. She said one of the goals now is to make sure that no one else has to suffer this tragedy that we have, and justice means preventing future tragedies. Real justice would have meant that my husband never died, where he would be here with me, continuing the life of joy and laughter, Castellon said. Real justice means that no son has to miss their father, no wife has to navigate this world alone, and no grandchild has to know their grandfather through a distant picture. We ask to be able to provide jobs that do not run the risk that we will be separated from our loved ones, she said. Former poppy farmer Asadullah works his field in Sangin, Helmand province. The 65-year-old says his income has plummeted since Taliban authorities banned the growing of poppy (Wakil KOHSAR) (Wakil KOHSAR/AFP/AFP) Asadullah was a prosperous poppy farmer in southern Afghanistan for 20 years until Taliban authorities abruptly began enforcing a long-standing ban on the crop. From four acres (1.6 hectares) in Helmand -- long the heartland of poppy production -- the 65-year-old earned between 250,000 to 500,000 Afghani ($3,500 to $7,000) per season from the plant, which is used to produce opium and heroin. Forced by the authorities to switch to other crops, he is now struggling to make ends meet. "We are finished. We don't have anything to eat for dinner," laments Asadullah, his weathered face and long white beard showing his hardship. "Now we barely make 25,000 Afghani." Like his neighbours in the village of Torma -- sweltering in heat and criss-crossed by streams where boys play -- Asadullah first tried planting corn, which failed. "We didn't have money for fertiliser," he said, adding most people turned to the hardier mung bean, which is easier to grow but yields a fraction of the profit of poppy. - Growers hit hard - The decree from Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in April 2022 banning poppy production in the world's top producing country caused a 95 percent drop in harvests last year. But it also hit the growers hard, and according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the eradication of poppy inflicted losses of over a billion dollars on Afghan farmers last year. Lala Khan, 40, switched to growing cotton when it became clear the authorities were determined to enforce the ban -- but his annual income plummeted. "We used to eat meat once every three days, now it's once a month," he says. Khan says he received only "a sack of flour and a sack of fertiliser" as compensation for stopping poppy production. "What can we do with that?" he asks. Ehsanullah, another former poppy grower, can barely conceal his anger at his current plight. "We buy all our daily needs on credit. And when we harvest, we repay the debts and have nothing left." - Secret stash - In the neighbouring village of Khumarai, the local imam known as Bismillah explains that 80 percent of the land in the area was previously used to grow poppy, and 20 percent for wheat, corn, beans and cotton. In Afghanistan, where huge families are the norm, one of the biggest expenses for households is a dowry to marry off daughters. "We could pay it with opium, but not with corn and beans," he says. Some people, like Bismillah, still have a stash of poppy resin left over from their last crop -- an Afghan equivalent of cash stuffed under the mattress. "Most people keep some at home, but they avoid saying it for fear of thieves," Bismillah says, showing AFP a basin containing around half a kilogram (one pound) of the sticky brown resin. "We are waiting for the price to go higher... we are hoping to pay (the dowries) with it". In Maiwand, in the neighbouring province of Kandahar, the former opium market is now deserted and Hunar, 40, has turned to selling sugar, oil, tea and sweets instead. "For us, obeying the order of the Emir (the supreme leader) is obligatory," he said. But he warned people were struggling so badly, there was a risk they would return to growing poppy. Not all provinces have been as compliant as Helmand in stopping poppy production. In May, clashes between farmers and brigades sent to destroy their poppy fields resulted in several deaths in northeast Badakhshan. "Death to the Emirate (Taliban-ruled Afghanistan)," some shouted in video of the clashes seen on social media. - Uncertain future - According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), the strict enforcement of the ban has created enormous hardship for a huge swath of rural Afghanistan. "Implemented with growing seriousness, the Taliban's anti-narcotics campaign has profoundly affected a country that ranks among the world's largest suppliers of illegal drugs," a report released this month said. But it warned the ban's future was uncertain. "Although the Taliban are adamant about implementing it, it could collapse under the weight of economic hardship," it said. The ICG says while huge investment was needed to help farmers produce profitable crops such as pomegranates, figs, almonds, or pistachios, that was still a short-term fix. "Licit crops will not offer sufficient employment, so the focus should be on job creation in non-farm industries," the report said. Meanwhile in Maiwand, another former opium seller said while the open market had been shut down, deals were still being made. "Everyone has opium," he says. "People generally have 10 to 15 kilos of opium from previous harvests, which they only sell to their contacts. It's sold in small quantities, under the counter." pt-qb/sbh/jma/fox MEMPHIS, Tenn. A former bookkeeper is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from her employer to shop online and make a car payment. Stephanie Cavender, 40, has been charged with theft of property, forgery, identity theft and fraud. Shelby Railroad Services said they discovered Cavender had taken over $19,000 from the company after she used a work computer to shop on Amazon with the companys credit card. According to an affidavit of complaint, Cavender is accused of using the company card to make $5,575 worth of purchases online and pay a $562 car note. Longtime employee accused of stealing $81k from Peabody Hotel Investigators said Cavender also forged company checks totaling $13,231. Shelby Railroad Service administrators said Cavender embezzled money by writing checks and predating them to before she started working for the company. Cavender told WREG she wanted to tell her side of the story but wasnt sure how much she could say about the case right now. What I can say is, the truth will come out in court, and the allegations are false, said Cavender. Cavender was released from the Shelby County Jail on a $75,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. Court records show in 2020, Cavender pleaded guilty to theft of less than $1,000 and received a suspended 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 WREG.com. BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) A woman has been charged after allegedly throwing a knife at a victim and hitting him in the stomach in Buckhannon. On Sept. 16, troopers with the Upshur County detachment of the West Virginia State Police were dispatched to a residence on Vio Randy Lane in Buckhannon for a reported stabbing, according to a criminal complaint. Emily Hamner-Spacklen While troopers were en route, they were informed that Emily Hamner-Spracklen, 36, had brandished a knife and threatened to stab multiple people and had thrown a knife at the original caller which resulted in a gash to his side. Troopers were also told that the victim had fired a shot in Hamner-Spracklens direction to get her away, the complaint said. When troopers arrived, they entered the residence through an open door and were able to detain Hamner-Spracklen, who said: He just came in my yard and threatened to shoot me. When troopers asked her where the knife was she told them I threw it at him because he was pointing a gun and charging me in my yard, according to the complaint. Upshur County Sheriff gives details following multi-county police chase Troopers then spoke with the victim, who said that his children were walking their dog when Hamner-Spracklen came out of her residence brandishing a knife and threatening to stab them. The victim said that when he confronted Hamner-Spracklen about threatening his kid, Hamner-Spracklen began chasing him with a knife, troopers said. The victim then told troopers that he went into his residence and retrieved his firearm before telling Hamner-Spracklen several times to drop the knife. At that point, the victim said Hamner-Spracklen began chasing after another individual and threw the knife at him, which struck him in the left abdomen, according to the complaint. Troopers said they saw a cut to the victims abdomen and arm, which he stated was from being struck with the knife. Troopers also said they saw a cell phone video that showed the assault. In another cell phone video, which was recorded prior to the incident, troopers saw Hamner-Spacklen standing in her yard with a knife stating, I got a f***ing knife, motherf***er. Ill f***ing cut you, according to the complaint. Hamner-Spacklen has been charged with malicious wounding and is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 woman charged with murdering a Summit Township man in the spring of last year will now stand trial for the allegations. Marisa Rodriguez, 36, of Erie, will face first-degree murder charges after being formally arraigned on Monday, Sept. 9. According to Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz, Rodriguez was cleared mentally to face a trial. This comes after a judge deemed her mentally incompetent to be tried. Rodriguez was charged on June 13, 2023, with criminal homicide and abuse of a corpse, among other charges, after troopers were able to find evidence linking her to the death of 66-year-old Michael Maisner. Police found Rodriguez hiding in the attic of the victim, and was later named as the main suspect after finding strange writing on the walls, pieces of body tissue and human bone fragments in a burn pit at Maisners home in the 7000 block of Crestview Drive in Summit Township. Pennsylvania State Police also said Google search history and photos found on Rodriguezs iCloud account show Maisner dead on the floor. DA Hirz added that the trial will begin in January. Related Coverage: Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. If the 9mm hollow-point bullet fired directly into her face a quarter century ago had proved fatal, Natania Reuben would be long dead, and there would have been no teenage daughter to call to her from the top of the stairs on Monday night. She says, mommy, guess whos in custody? Reuben later told the Daily Beast. I asked her if it was somebody locally in town that we know. And shes like, No, hes bigger. Reuben then saw something akin to bewilderment in the eyes of her daughter, Nirvana. Reuben realized that she was talking about the hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, also known as Puffy and Diddy. I said, Are you kidding me, really? She said, Yes! I just screamed out to God, Thank you, merciful father! Inside the Hellhole NYC Prison That Will House Diddy Until His Sex Trafficking Trial Back on Dec. 27 of 1999, Reuben had been at Club New York in Manhattan, helping a friend promote an upcoming New Years event. Combs had arrived with Jennifer Lopez, his girlfriend at the time. He was also accompanied by his bodyguard, Anthony Wolf Jones, and a rap protegee, Shyne Barrow. Combs got into a verbal dispute with a drug dealer. Reuben says she clearly saw Combs with a gun in his hand, and she was in the line of fire when she saw him fire. She recalled the muzzle flash. I watched him, she told The Daily Beast. I saw him with my own eyes, She somehow survived being hit directly between the eyes, straight-on into the nose. It felt like I was hit with Paul Bunyans flaming hot sledgehammer, she recalled. She thought of her two young sons and was determined to survive. I called out to God and said, Dont take me. Im not finished raising my kids, I have work to do, she recalled. Lopez joined Combs, Shyne, and Jones in fleeing. The police gave chase and they were pulled over a short distance away. A stolen pistol was found in the car. Surrounded by police officers, rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs leaves State Supreme Court in New York City 15 March, 2001, after a jury failed to reach a verdict for the second straight day. Combs faces weapons and bribery charges stemming from a New York night club shooting in December 1999. Matt Campbell/AFP via Getty Images The three men were charged with gun possession and went to trial. Combs arrived in court wearing a light gray overcoat that looked like it had been cut from a cloud. He held out his shirt sleeves and dropped two platinum cufflinks on the defense table. His attorneys, Ben Brafman and Johnnie Cochran (of O.J. Simpson fame) hurried to affix them. Reuben testified. So did the surgeon who had managed to save her at St. Vincents Hospital. He recounted to the jury what Reuben had been screaming. Puffy shot me! The surgeon had been unable to remove all the fragments without endangering Reuben, and investigators did not have enough to make a ballistics match with the recovered pistol. Combs was acquitted, as was the bodyguard. Burrows was convicted and did nine years in state prison. He was then deposited to his native Belize, where he is now a politician serving as leader of the opposition. Reuben continued to suffer the aftereffects of being shot in the head. Ive had a host of problems, not the least of which is a traumatic brain injury, because the bullet scarred my brain, she reported. But worse was a sickening feeling that celebrity and wealth had enabled Combs to escape justice. He went on to become a billionaire and he seems to have taken the acquittal as proof that he could do anything he wanted. Reuben continued to speak truth to power even when it seemed nobody was listening. Telling everybody in no uncertain terms, there was never any dispute that he shot me in my face, she said. Combs seemed even more unassailable two-and-a-half years ago, when Reuben announced that she had received a message from on high that it was all going to catch up with him. I said this to some girlfriends of mine and a couple of family members, she recalled. I said, God told me that this was going to happen. And they were like, That is not going to happen. I said, Im telling you, it is. And they just were like, Oh, shes wilding out. Shes bugging out. Then, beginning in November of last year, a series of civil lawsuits were filed by women who alleged Combs had sexually abused and attacked them, in some instances subjecting them to drug fueled freak-offs with male escorts while Combs watched and videoed and masturbated. Diddy Seen Assaulting Cassie in Newly Released Surveillance Video The whole world got to see Combs in May, after CNN released a 2016 hotel surveillance video that shows him battering and dragging his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. When all of this stuff started coming out [friends and family members] came back to me and said, You know, we thought you were kind of losing it when you were saying that a few years ago, but you were right. Federal agents began investigating and the result was a 14-page indictment for sex trafficking and racketeering, unsealed Tuesday. Combs knew it was coming and he flew from Miami to New York to turn himself in. Homeland Security Agents went ahead and arrested him at a Manhattan hotel at 8:25 p.m. on Monday. Reuben survived to raise her sonsand 17-year-old daughter Nirvanainto fine young people. Reuben was in the living room on Monday night when Nirvana appeared at the top of the banister from the second floor and announced the news about the big person in custody. One of the best days ever, Reuben later said. She counted it as a personal victory that Combs might finally be brought to account, if not in her case then in the new one. [Combs] was somebody with power, prestige, fame, money and all of that, she said. It was the biblical David and Goliath story. I know my sling and my stone might be 25 years old, but She could not help but think things might have been different for the many victims in this case if she had prevailed a quarter century ago. These people in subsequent cases, all of these people who've been abused by him subsequently, would probably not have had to endure any of it, she said. And thats the saddest part of all. Rapper Sean Puffy Combs leaves the New York Supreme Court January 17, 2001 in Manhattan, New York. The singer attended the first day of his trial in connection with a shooting at a New York City night club in December 1999. The trial began with jury selection. Robert Mecea/Newsmakers via Getty Images Combs was arraigned on the 26th floor of Manhattans federal courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. He came before Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky in a black T-shirt and gray sweatpants with a black stripe on each leg. He had none of the flash and swagger of years past. Puffys face was simply puffy. He looked tired and dissipated. Not guilty, he said when asked how he pleaded. The prosecution team consisted of five women, all clad in black. The lead, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnosn, described Combs as a serial abuser and a serial obstructor. When the question of bail arose, defense attorney Marc Afgnifilo argued that Combs had earned the courts trust by doing everything from assembling his familys passports and putting his plane up for sale to paying off his mortgage so his home could be part of a $50 million bail package. Johnson responded by addressing Combs directly. I dont think you can trust yourself, she said. Sean "Diddy" Combs stands before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky after prosecutors brought three criminal charges against him in federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., September 17, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. Jane Rosenberg/Reuters After a brief recess, the judge reunited and ordered Combs to be remanded. Combs turned toward several family members who sat in the third row and placed his hand over his heart. To his right was a spectacular view of the late afternoon sun shining on the streets and towers of Manhattan, where it had once seemed he could do whatever he wanted. He had the look of somebody peering up from a deep, lightless hole as he turned to his left and began the journey to the dreaded Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He faces a maximum of life in prison. Word that he had been remanded quickly reached Reuben. That is absolutely great news, she said. 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. Woman found dead in parked car in Greenville Co. PELZER, S.C. (WSPA) The Greenville County Sheriffs Office is investigating after a woman was reportedly found dead in a vehicle parked in front of her home. According to the sheriffs office, deputies were called to a home on Highway 8 after a person noticed an unfamiliar vehicle parked outside of the home. The Greenville County Coroners Office identified the woman as 41-year-old Mindy Lee McDonald. The woman was found dead in the front passenger seat with at least one gunshot wound. We will update this story 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 WSPA 7NEWS. MEMPHIS, Tenn. A woman is now in jail after police say she held her property manager at gunpoint while she was in the process of being evicted from her Northeast Memphis apartment on Tuesday. Lekeshia Hill, 38, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and assault on a first responder. Officers say they responded to an armed party call during an eviction at the Stella apartments on 1236 East River Trace. At the scene, police say several people were in a loud disturbance over an eviction process. One of the eviction servers stated that after the eviction papers were signed, he went into the apartment and was met with an uncooperative male minor. Man arrested for carjacking, police chase, shootout released without bond That is when a woman, later identified as Lekeshia Hill, allegedly came inside the apartment, got a black handgun from the bedroom, and threatened to blast the victim if he or anyone else tried to remove anything from the apartment. The victim continued with the eviction and had three coworkers begin to move property from the home. However, during that time, the minor allegedly locked the door and did not allow two of the workers to leave the apartment. One of the workers says he jumped the balcony fence and saw another worker pushed up against the door. As he began to open the sliding door on the balcony, police say Hill approached him aggressively while pointing the gun at him. Several schools on lockdown across Shelby County The property manager says she came to the apartment and got into a verbal argument with Hill. When she left the apartment, police say Hill approached her on the north side of the building and pointed a gun at her. Officers detained Hill at the scene and said she had gotten a cell phone in the back of the squad car and was talking on it. Officers say when they told Hill she could not be on the phone, she squirted water on the officer from an open clear plastic water bottle she was drinking from. Lekeshia Hill is held in jail on a $75,000 bond and is due back in court on Thursday morning. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. AKRON, Ohio (WJW) A Cleveland woman indicted in the murder of Cleveland State University professor Todd Morgan last year at his Hudson home has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison Thursday morning. Terreionna Paschal, 32, of Cleveland, was set for trial Wednesday morning in Summit County on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence, among others. Troopers seize $24K worth of meth on Ohio interstate But before heading to court, she pleaded guilty to a count of aggravated murder with a firearm specification, according to a court spokesperson. In court on Thursday, Paschal was sentenced to prison for 23 years to life. FOX 8 News was in court for the emotionally charged sentencing. Family members of the victim gathered to plead for a maximum sentence. Before the sentencing, family members of the victim addressed the court. I pity you for the emptiness of your existence. You have lived a life devoid of love, support and purpose and now you face a future devoid of any chance for redemption. What should have been some of the best days of your life will instead be spent in a repetition of regret, the mother of Morgans daughter said. Paschal eventually addressed the victims loved ones saying, To his family, Im very sorry and I hope that one day you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. Thats it. Judge Alison Breaux noted that the guilty plea avoided a traumatic and difficult trial for the family of the victim. Paschal will spend at least 23 years in prison before she is eligible for parole, but that is not guaranteed. Todd Morgan, CSU professor On April 19, 2023, police officers visited Morgans West Streetsboro Street home after the 41-year-old father of two had failed to pick up his daughter from school, the FOX 8 I-Team reported. They found Morgan inside with gunshot wounds. The Summit County Medical Examiner determined Morgan had been shot in the head and torso and ruled his death a homicide. Investigators discovered several shell casings inside the home, as well as a bloody shoe print on the back deck of the home. Witnesses told police they heard several gunshots early that morning and saw a light-colored vehicle in the driveway and a person with long, dark hair leaving the home. Police arrested Paschal five weeks later, on May 27, in Akron. No motive for Morgans murder has ever been publicly revealed. Morgan and Paschal only knew each other for a limited time before the shooting, according to a Wednesday news release from county Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich. Hudson detectives looked at phone records, mobile apps and DNA and ballistics evidence to link Paschal to the crime, according to the release. FOX 8 News has learned they met and communicated through an online app, but the day of the murder was the first time they had ever met in person. Browns Michael Hall pleads no contest to reduced charge Assistant Summit County Prosecutior Brian Loprinzi on Thursday told the court that he could have taken the case to trial hoping to get more convictions on additional charges, but there was a chance that even if that happened the resulting sentence would be about the same. We made the decision that a life sentence with parole eligibility would be a fair sentence based on the other sentences in this courthouse for similar acts, said Loprinzi at sentencing. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys believed the plea and the agreed sentence was in the best interest of all parties to avoid putting the victims family through the trauma of a trial. During sentencing, the court heard from relatives of Morgan, who preferred that the court give Paschal the maximum sentence. The most emotional of the statements came from Morgans mother as she showed the court photos of the son she will never see again. Todds not here to tell his story, said Sandy Morgan. Only God, Todd and you know the truth of what happened on April 19. All I know, he was brutally murdered by you, and he basically died for nothing, she said, addressing Paschal. You didnt even know him. Your actions to take my sons life changed my life forever. Its changed all of our lives. Even more so: you took a father from two beautiful children. They were his world. And he was theirs, she added. He made mistakes in his life and he was always so upset when he did. However, the evening of April 18, 2023, he made a fatal mistake. And he allowed you in his home. You brutally took his life. The children will never experience their favorite things with daddy again. Your honor, I would like to see Ms. Paschal pay dearly for taking my sons life, for the pain she has caused for so many, especially his children. I want justice for Todd, and I hope you will sign the maximum sentence to her, said Sandy. SEE IT: Cedar Points next record-breaking coaster Morgan was an assistant business professor at Cleveland State University, where he earned his tenure and another award for his research, but he never lived to learn of the accolades, his family said on Thursday. He joined the CSU Department of Management faculty in 2021, according to the Monte Ahuja College of Business website. Todd was fun and energetic, and intelligent, and strong-willed. He was an excellent student and an overachiever. He had great ideas and he was driven. Even as a young boy, he was adventurous, said his mother. I think the sentence and plea agreement reflects the facts and circumstances of this case. I think that any time you have a case, theres going to be something that you remember and take with you, and with this one, its going to be that it was not discovered until he didnt pick up his daughter at school, said Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich, speaking for the family following the sentencing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Woman shot while driving on Chicagos South Side: police CHICAGO A 26-year-old woman was shot while driving a vehicle on the citys South Side. The shooting happened around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday on the 7200 block of South Damen in the Englewood neighborhood. Police said the woman told officers she was driving when someone inside a gray SUV, possibly a Dodge Durango, opened gunfire, striking the victim in the armpit and forearm. The woman was transported to Insight Hospital in good condition. Man, 54, found dead on sidewalk in Chicago Lawn neighborhood No one is in custody. Area One Detectives are 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 WGN-TV. Misoprostol, used to treat post-delivery hemorrhages, will become a Schedule IV controlled dangerous substance in Louisiana effective Oct. 1 under a new law. The designation means the medicine will have to be securely stored, raising concerns among doctors who say they rely on immediate access to the medication in life-threatening situations. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) NEW ORLEANS Doctors and local elected officials alike vehemently decried a new Louisiana law that will reclassify the pregnancy care drugs misoprostol and mifepristone as controlled dangerous substances. The legislation takes effect on Oct. 1 and is the first of its kind in the nation. Women are not safe in Louisiana, New Orleans City Councilwoman Lesli Harris said at a committee meeting Wednesday. Child bearing women are not safe in Louisiana. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill in May to reclassify the two drugs because of their association with medication abortion, but they have numerous other medical uses. Misoprostol, in particular, is used daily by OB-GYNs for miscarriage management, postpartum hemorrhaging and intrauterine device (IUD) insertion. The law, authored by state Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, was originally meant to create the crime of coerced abortion. But, at the last minute and with Louisiana Right to Lifes support, Pressly introduced amendments to reclassify the drugs as Schedule IV medication, which will affect how they are stored and prescribed. New Orleans City Councilman JP Morrell Councilman at-large JP Morrell criticized the legislation, which has been described as confusing and unnecessary by doctors across the state. The law is just so ill-written and unclear, and it really was a hatchet job done at the last moment, said Morrell. Council President Helena Moreno has requested the New Orleans Health Department investigate the impact of the legislation in the hopes that a data-driven approach will persuade legislators to reverse these restrictions in the future. Ive heard a lot of different politicians talk about how theres no problem with these restrictions, that everythings just fine, no big deal, theres not going to be any problem with access, but were hearing something very different from the medical community, from physicians, from doctors who are there every day, treating women, Moreno said. Upon learning of Morenos plans Attorney General Liz Murrill told the Illuminator that New Orleans is manufacturing a problem that doesnt exist. In her explanation Wednesday to members of the councils Governmental Affairs Committee, Moreno likened Louisianas new law to a measure that would make airline pilots jobs harder and potentially lead to crashes. I guarantee you that we would see quite an uproar from everyone to try to reverse course, she said. This isnt that different we are hearing from the medical community [that] this is a problem. We should be listening to them. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Potential public health crisis During public comments, Dr. Emily Holt, a New Orleans family physician said she uses misoprostol in her clinic to help patients with pain ahead of IUD insertion. However, come Oct. 1, she said she would no longer be able to offer it in her clinic even though it remains legal to prescribe. Keeping controlled substances in my clinic the barrier is too high, Holt said. She joined a handful of people who testified in person at the committee hearing, and 53 more filed comments online in support of Morenos proposal. Dr. Jennifer Avegno, city health director, will lead the investigation into what she described as a public health crisis. She told council members about how when a medication is placed on a controlled dangerous substances schedule, it creates additional, tightly regulated requirements in terms of reporting, storing and monitoring the drugs. Its why doctors are worried about the effect the new law will have on delaying postpartum hemorrhage care some hospitals have already pulled it off their obstetric carts. Physicians dont follow politics. Physicians are trying to do their job, Avegno said. There are a lot of physicians that were hearing are just learning about this, and some that probably have no idea. The Illuminator previously spoke with a doctor in one of the states rural areas who had no idea the drugs were being reclassified until speaking with a reporter. She said others practicing in her area were also likely in the dark, having received no information from their employers or officials until just recently. Women dressed in black stand in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in protest against laws that restrict access to reproductive care drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol. (Getty Images) Some doctors dont have access to attorneys Avegno said her investigation is about health care, not politics. When we talk about these medications, every physician in Louisiana is very aware that abortion is highly restricted, and no one no one has a desire to do elective terminations outside of the law, said Avegno, an emergency room physician. The city health department will host a webinar on Thursday to help educate health care providers on how to troubleshoot the new misoprostol protocols. Avegno said shes fielded reports from local care providers about pharmacies refusing to fill misoprostol and mifepristone prescriptions for miscarriage management because they are afraid theyll be criminalized even though the drugs remain legal. We are going against the standard of care for hospital providers all over the country. These are facts, Avegno said. Morrell, who was in the Louisiana Legislature before taking a City Council seat, raised concerns about how medicine is being politicized based on ideology. Even when legislators say things like, Dont worry if youre doing the right thing, its going to work out. I mean, thats not really true, Morrell said. You could have medical professionals who have people who wish them ill because they dont agree with their political alignment or their beliefs, file frivolous complaints over stuff like this, highly subjective, life-altering decisions. And, as abortion rights advocate Michelle Erenberg with Lift Louisiana testified before the committee, not every doctor has immediate access to an attorney. Patients are coming to New Orleans when they have these health emergencies, Erenberg said, because doctors in other parts of the state maybe dont have access to lawyers or theyre worried about going to jail. Even for well-resourced doctors who do have easy access to lawyers, Avegno pointed out they shouldnt have to constantly request legal advice when they need to use misoprostol. She noted that the Louisiana Department of Health has advised doctors to consult their hospitals lawyers in its recently issued guidelines on the new law. Most hospital attorneys are not well versed in this, she said. This drug is used every day all day. Its not practical to call the attorney every single time. Morrell underscored Avegnos point, saying a hospital lawyer is trained to do whats best for the hospital from a liability perspective. A doctor making a decision at a patients bedside is prioritizing whats best for the patient, he added. its a horrible, horrible, horrible idea Louisianas pregnancy care debate is now part of the national conversation on the impact of abortion bans, now that more than two dozen states have restrictions or an outright prohibition against the procedure. Critics are pointing out the detrimental effects this has had on pregnancy care overall. The deaths of two women in Georgia are being attributed to its abortion ban, ProPublica recently reported. Amber Thurman experienced an extended delay in care because the hospital where she sought treatment was afraid to perform a surgical procedure.Candi Miller avoided going to the doctor for fear of legal repercussions. A team of state doctors deemed both of their deaths preventable. Thurman and Miller were Black women, who face more than three times the risk of dying from postpartum hemorrhage compared with white women. At Wednesdays committee hearing, council members said they dont want to wait for women to die in Louisiana in order for legislators to reverse course on the controversial law. I dont want to see a woman sacrificed who is hemorrhaging, Harris said. Hopefully we can sway the people at the state level who think that this is a good idea because its a horrible, horrible, horrible idea that will cost peoples lives, cost womens lives. If women who are miscarrying or who are hemorrhaging after childbirth dont have easy access to this drug, they become the sacrificial lambs that have to change hearts and minds, and thats what I dont want to have to see. Nobody should have to put themselves in that position for some state legislator to change their mind on this issue. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A request for changes to Woodbury Countys commercial wind energy ordinance brought several people in front of county supervisors Tuesday afternoon. The request comes following an April town hall meeting in Lawton and a petition drive completed in August, collecting more than 160 signatures of county residents who say the current ordinance is no longer relevant. The petition asks for several changes to the countys wind turbine setback guidelines as well as other requirements concerning the development of wind energy. During Tuesdays meeting, supervisors asked for a show of hands of those wanting changes made. All but a representative of MidAmerican Energy raised their hand. Among the changes being requested are a three-mile buffer between turbines and towns, county parks and airports, as well as a 40-decibel limit on sound. City council votes no on proposed rezoning of 3700 Jefferson Street In the event of fire or natural disasters, tornadoes or otherwise, what risk are we taking? resident Tim Hoy said. And we need to ask ourselves, how does an industrial wind farm situation unduly effect all of the county? One thing you brought up was that these wind turbines are going to keep farms in the families, resident Kim Alexander said. With all due respect, sir, if it takes a wind turbine to keep a farm in a family, theyre a poor farmer and they need to get out of the way and let somebody else farm that land and make it profitable. Following a public hearing, supervisors voted 5-0, approving the first reading of amendments to the countys ordinance regulating commercial wind energy conversion systems. The second and third public hearings and readings of the ordinance are scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 24 and Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 4:45 pm at the courthouse. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DES MOINES, Iowa (KCAU) Two Disaster Recovery Centers in Iowa will be closing permanently soon. According to a release from FEMA, the Pottawattamie and Woodbury County DRCs will both close on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. Pre-online giving begins for the Siouxland Big Give The Woodbury County Disaster Recovery Center is currently located at Morningside Lutheran Church. Anyone who would like to check on their application status or needs to register for disaster assistance can do so by calling FEMA directly at 800-627-3362, visiting the disaster assistance website, or using the FEMA 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. The Kemp's ridley sea turtle, the smallest and most endangered sea turtle in the world, is making history in Florida. Despite facing a myriad of challenges, including habitat loss, accidental capture in fishing gear and climate change, this tiny reptile is breaking nesting records, offering a beacon of hope for its survival, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. WORLDS RAREST SEA TURTLE LAYS EGGS IN UNUSUAL PLACE ON TEXAS BEACH According to the agency's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, statewide preliminary totals as of Aug. 31 showed a staggering 24 confirmed Kemp's ridley nests. This represents a significant increase from the 10 nests recorded last year and the eight nests recorded in 2022. "We are happy to share that 2024 is shaping up to be a record-breaking year for Kemps ridley nests in Florida and for leatherback nesting on the Florida Gulf Coast," the institute said. "Additionally, loggerheads and leatherbacks had a good season, but green turtle nest numbers remain low." SOMETHING TO SHELL-EBRATE: 26 REHABILITATED SEA TURTLES RELEASED BACK INTO THE ATLANTIC While the decline in green turtle nesting numbers to 12,928 is notable, it is not unexpected or alarming to researchers, given their record-breaking 74,823 nests in 2023. "A big thank you to all our partners involved in this incredible community science effort to monitor sea turtle nesting activity across the state," the agency added. PICKLES THE SEA TURTLE BATTLES FOR SURVIVAL AFTER LIGHTNING HITS NEW JERSEY SANCTUARY Kemp's ridley sea turtles are the only sea turtle species that primarily nest during the day. They are also known for their synchronized mass nesting events, called "arribadas." The tiny giants weigh only 85-100 pounds and measure 2-2.5 feet in length of shell. They were named for Richard M. Kemp, a fisherman interested in natural history who submitted the type specimen from Key West, Florida. Kemp's ridley sea turtles are primarily found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the U.S. Atlantic coast, from Florida to New England. However, their range is not limited to these areas, as occasional sightings have been reported in the Azores, Morocco and the Mediterranean Sea, according to NOAA Fisheries. SEA TURTLE NORMALLY FOUND ALONG US COAST WASHES ASHORE IN UK Nesting season is between April and July. Females will lay two to three clutches each season, with 100 eggs per clutch. Beyond Florida's shores, Kemp's ridley sea turtles can also be found nesting on beaches in South Texas. Original article source: World's rarest sea turtle finds hope in Florida after record-breaking nesting year The Wall Street Journal's recent claims that 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died during the full-scale war with Russia are "exaggerated," secretary of the parliamentary defense committee Roman Kostenko told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Sept. 18. The U.S. outlet wrote on Sept. 17 that according to a "confidential Ukrainian estimate from earlier this year," Ukraine has suffered 80,000 soldiers killed and 400,000 wounded. Russian losses were estimated at 200,000 killed and 400,000 wounded, putting the overall casualties of the war to over 1 million. "I think that these are exaggerated data. Definitely... Namely when talking about the recorded number of (Ukrainian soldiers) killed," Kostenko said. Ukraine has largely avoided commenting on its losses, though President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February that 31,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed. "If we look at the past two years, we had roughly the same number 19,000 each (year). And this is considering only those who were issued official death certificates," Kostenko said, adding that many are still considered missing. The lawmaker suggested that 50,000 soldiers killed could be an approximate figure, though he admitted he does not have the most accurate data and that even his number could be an overestimation. Regarding Ukraine's ability to continue to defend itself despite the losses, Kostenko believes that the country still has enough men to mobilize and that everything depends on the ability to enlist more troops. Ukraine has sought to replenish the ranks of its military as the war has been ongoing for two and half years. Kyiv adopted new legislation on mobilization in the spring, lowering the conscription age from 27 to 25 and imposing stricter penalties for dodging draft. Read also: Ukraine war latest: 1 million killed, wounded in Russias full-scale war in Ukraine, WSJ reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ELKINS, W.Va. (WBOY) The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) stopped by Davis & Elkins College (D&E) on Tuesday to hold one of its ICA On-Campus events, which gives students a first-hand look at what the court does and how it operates. Were very grateful that its basically a living and learning lab that theyre creating, not only for our students, but for local high school students as well as the community at large, said D&E President Chris Wood. To see civics in action, in this case, the judicial branch of our government coming here. And we couldnt be more happy than to be hosting them. This is the first ICA On-Campus event to come to D&Es campus and marks the first time that the ICA has stopped by a private institution. This visit was also particularly important because it took place on Constitution Day, which Wood described as a bill that was passed by West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd several years ago where schools focus educational programming on our constitution. Fire ban in effect in Dolly Sods Wilderness According to ICA Chief Judge Thomas Scarr, ICA On-Campus is an outreach program of the court. He added that the Supreme Court visits Marshall University and West Virginia University each year, so it decided to begin visiting other colleges and universities across the state as well. Hopefully people get a better idea of the court system, understand how it operates and hopefully appreciate how it operates, said Scarr. Recognizing that its not perfect, but also recognizing that it is a part of our overall government systemsseparation of powers, checks and balances. During the event, students got to participate in conversations with the attorneys from both sides where they got to engage with them and answer their questions. The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals was officially opened on July 1, 2022, which according to Scarr, made West Virginia the 42nd state to have an ICA. He said that the court is of limited jurisdiction and although they handle cases all over the state, they specifically focus on civil cases, family court cases, workers compensation cases, as well as administrative cases. Scarr added that if somebody is unhappy with a decision made by the ICA, they can move the case along to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. However, they dont handle criminal law, or any cases pertaining to abuse or neglect. On top of that, Scarr said that all cases heard by the ICA, as well as the state Supreme Court are webcast while theyre occurring. He said that after the meetings are over, the videos are archived and are available online after a few weeks. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A development in the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, July 22, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) When Minneapolis, then Oregon, then other local and state governments began stripping away exclusive single-family-home zoning over the past five years to allow the construction of multifamily housing, many development advocates predicted the start of a pro-YIMBY revolution. But the yes-in-my-backyard movement has stumbled even before its really gotten started. In court challenges around the country, opponents have cited spikes in traffic, strains to infrastructure, displacement of low-income residents, hits on property values and changes to neighborhood character. Multifamily zoning advocates, however, counter that opponents are resisting changes that will yield broader societal benefits. The debates are challenging elected leaders, planning specialists, homebuilders and advocates, pitting long-established homeowners against a system desperate to get a handle on the nations growing crisis of housing affordability and homelessness. People want to maintain their neighborhood character, but it should be about ensuring quality of life for everyone, said Natali Fani-Gonzalez, a Democratic member of the Montgomery County Council in Maryland who has endorsed changes to zoning laws. Youre part of a community you dont own it. We need to evolve with society. I dread the possibility The most recent ruling arrived this month, when the Montana Supreme Court issued a decision paving the way for a pair of state laws to take effect over the objections of homeowners. In 2023, Montana lawmakers were lauded for a bipartisan effort dubbed the Montana Miracle, a collection of measures that overrode local zoning ordinances to encourage more multifamily homes and accessory dwelling units, or ADUs smaller secondary cottages or in-law apartments within or on a lot of a single-family home. The laws, championed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, were supposed to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024. But in December, a consortium of single-family homeowners from across the state called Montanans Against Irresponsible Densification, or MAID, filed a complaint. The group argued that the state had unconstitutionally taken away homeowners property rights and would wrest local control from cities and counties. The lawsuit warned, in part, that the laws meant new construction could begin down the block without notice. I dread the possibility of waking up one morning and finding that one of my neighbors has sold her property to a developer who is then erecting a multi-unit building or a duplex, or an accessory dwelling unit right next to our nice and carefully maintained single-family dwelling, wrote Glenn Monahan, a Bozeman resident and managing partner of MAID, in an affidavit filed with the initial lawsuit and quoted in the courts ruling. If such development aimed at increasing density in my neighborhood happens, I believe it will seriously and adversely affect the economic value of my property, Monahan wrote. More important than economic value is the moral, aesthetic neighborhood values that my wife and I share with the neighbors Representatives for MAID did not return calls for comment. Wealthier and whiter Berkeley, California, first established a residential zone exclusively for single-family homes in 1916 just as racist covenants banning home sales to non-whites were gaining steam nationally and other workarounds to preserve neighborhood segregation were being tested. Today, around 75% of residential land in the United States is zoned exclusively for single-family homes. These neighborhoods are typically wealthier and whiter, according to a 2023 research report by the Urban Institute. Minneapolis is credited as the first major U.S. city to enact substantial changes to increase density when it abolished single-family-only zoning citywide in 2019, allowing up to three dwelling units on any residential lot. People want to maintain their neighborhood character, but it should be about ensuring quality of life for everyone. Natali Fani-Gonzalez, a Democratic member of the Montgomery County Council in Maryland That same year, the Oregon legislature passed a law with two so-called upzoning provisions: allowing duplexes in single-family zoning areas of cities with at least 10,000 residents, and allowing townhouses, triplexes and fourplexes in cities of at least 25,000 residents. Upzoning encompasses a range of policy tools such as building more missing middle housing in the range between single-family homes and apartment buildings, focusing on transit-oriented development, lifting parking requirements, and increasing floor-to-area ratios. But researchers and planners told Stateline that it can take years for these policy changes to address current housing needs or undo the harms of restrictive zoning. The largest challenge is that zoning reform takes a really long time to implement. From the start of reform to actually seeing effects, it takes about 10 years, said Stephen Menendian, assistant director and director of research at the University of California, Berkeleys Othering & Belonging Institute. Even the Minneapolis reforms, which happened at warp speed, will take another four years to fully assess the effects, Menendian said. Its been less a revolution and more of a slow shift. UC Berkeleys Zoning Reform Tracker, last updated in November, provides an overview of municipal zoning reform efforts across the U.S., documenting 148 initiatives in 101 municipalities over a span of 17 years. Other local governments have passed ordinances taking aim at single-family-only zoning in various ways, including Austin, Texas; the city of Alexandria and Arlington County in Virginia; Sacramento, California; and Portland, Oregon. Many have been challenged in court. In Minneapolis, the 2040 plan, as the citys long-term planning blueprint is known, was held up after its passage in 2019 by years of environmental lawsuits and back-and-forth rulings, delaying implementation. Finally, state lawmakers in May passed a bill exempting comprehensive housing plans from environmental review, a measure aimed squarely at preserving the 2040 plan. Even then, a county judge issued an injunction, forcing the city to halt parts of the plan and revise it. Talking it out Diana Drogaris, outreach coordinator for the National Zoning Atlas, a research organization that works to demystify zoning laws across the U.S., thinks city leaders are improving their communication with residents during public hearings and input sessions. However, she notes that leaders must balance transparency with managing valid fears of zoning changes. A zoning change is going to have an effect on the public. It will affect the store they go to, their commutes, what type of resources are available, Drogaris said. And I think community leaders are getting better at having these conversations. The public doesnt need to know every nook and cranny of these outdated codes, she said, but enough to understand how that one zoning change is going to change how that land is being used in their community. Menendian argues that misconceptions on both sides among housing advocates and concerned community members fuel much of the anger. Theres a lot of misnomers about zoning reform, he said. Homeowner groups also are expected to challenge a recent series of upzoning changes in Austin, approved at the end of 2023 and this spring. In 2022, a group of citizens successfully sued the city over a handful of ordinances designed to streamline housing development. When a lawsuit is filed, work toward new housing developments may stop. California enacted a law in 2021 allowing property owners to split their lots and build two new homes in certain cities. In April, a Los Angeles judge ruled the law unconstitutional. In June, the state filed its notice of appeal. Meanwhile, in Northern Virginia just outside the District of Columbia, the city of Alexandria and Arlington County, which also passed zoning changes last year, are facing their own legal challenges. The full impact of Alexandrias zoning overhaul even if it clears its legal challenges may not do much to affect housing outcomes. According to the city managers estimates, allowing up to four units in zones that are currently limited to single-family dwellings would only create a net new 178 units over 10 years. Absolutely some sort of backlash This fall, both Montgomery County, Maryland, and Berkeley, California, will be considering upzoning proposals, following a summer filled with contentious public hearings. Fani-Gonzalez, the Montgomery County councilmember, said that modernizing the countys zoning, in conjunction with other policies such as rent stabilization, will help keep residents in their homes while creating new housing to accommodate the growth associated with being just outside Washington, D.C. We need more housing, but we cannot get stuck with building cookie-cutter houses that only certain folks can actually afford, said Fani-Gonzalez. In California, the city of Berkeleys proposal to end exclusionary zoning in its neighborhoods is part of a broader effort to undo its racist legacy. The Berkeley City Council took its first steps in examining that legacy by denouncing the racist history of single-family zoning in 2021, a largely ceremonial move that gained steam when the city council asked the city for a report on missing-middle housing. The citys latest upzoning plan was scaled back this summer after a five-hour public hearing. Lori Droste, a Berkeley councilmember from 2014 to 2022, told Stateline that she had been advocating for major upzoning changes since 2016 but struggled to get the votes. What changed, she said, was linking the need for zoning changes to the national consciousness raised by 2020 protests around systemic racism and racial injustice. Zoning reform is going to take time. Its probably going to take 20 years before anyone notices real changes. But if we dont start now, the housing crisis will only get worse, she said. When asked by Stateline if she expects any legal action if the upzoning proposal is successful, Droste responded, I imagine there will be. Im not in the city attorneys office, but absolutely theres going to be some sort of backlash. 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. DORCHESTER, Mass. (WWLP) A New York resident is the winner of a $1 million prize in the Massachusetts State Lotterys $100X Cash instant ticket game. What this Massachusetts $4M lottery winner plans to do with the money According to the Massachusetts Lottery, Jose Carrasco of Corona, New York chose the cash option and received a one-time payment of $650,000, before taxes. Carrasco is a baker whos been visiting a friend in Massachusetts for the past week. He said that he has no plans for his winnings at this time. The winning ticket was purchased at American Food Markets on Blue Hill Ave. in Mattapan. The retailer will receive a $10,000 bonus for the sale of the ticket. The 100X The Cash is a $10 Massachusetts lottery scratch ticket. 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. Don't Allow Christianity to Disappear From Iraq August marked the 10th anniversary of the ISIS genocide perpetrated on the Christians, and other minority communities, of Northern Iraq. For the Christians there, this occurred primarily in the Nineveh Plain, and in nearby cities such as Mosul. In 2014, many of these families had only a few hours to flee their homes, taking precious little besides the clothes on their back, and whatever they could carry. Many retreated to nearby safe-haven cities further east, such as Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. From there began a three-year displacement of despair and uncertainty. Many were assigned to displacement tent encampments, and fewer were taken in by local churches, eventually relocated to temporary housing. Others were taken in by relatives or by kind neighbors. Food and shelter were provided as best it could, mostly through the efforts of relief organizations. Work was sporadic and arduous, with many finding jobs as day workers, truck drivers, hotel workers, and the like. This became the norm for many Christian families for far longer than any had hoped and prayed. After ISIS was defeated militarily in 2017, many displaced Christians were finally able to return to their homes. This, however, created a whole new hardship. Upon retreating, ISIS had burned the homes of Christians, destroyed and looted their businesses, and even poisoned their water wells. The returning Christian families had nothing; they were forced to start from scratch. Compounding their efforts, the Iranian-backed militias, who were initially welcomed to fight the spread of ISIS, have remained, exerting their influence and exploiting the disputed territories claimed by both the Iraqi Central Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). These territories, which include the Nineveh Plains, have been poorly funded by both sides, and are characterized by weak governance and inadequate security. Many of the returning minorities have reported harassment and corruption at checkpoints, with the militias demanding bribes and threatening local politicians, further thwarting the local economies. We encountered this uncomfortable situation first hand, in several ways; it creates anxiety and disruption for those trying to maintain a livelihood. To make matters worse, once the immediate crisis was over, many of the relief organizations ceased funding these communities, while much of the hard work was still ahead. Since 2017, Stand With Iraqi Christians (SWIC), and other NGOs operating on the ground, have provided thousands of beneficiaries with family farm funding and small business grants to help get their lives and livelihoods back. With our help and their unwavering faith, these families strive to re-establish their once-proud and flourishing communities. Ten years hence, it's been a long road back. Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Christians of Iraq numbered more than 1.6 million. Today, by most recent counts, there are less than 165,000; that's about a 90 percent decimation. The Christians modern-day Iraq are amongst the oldest Christian communities in the world, dating back to the 1st century, when the Apostle Thomas spread the Gospel throughout Mesopotamia. Even today, these Christian communities speak Aramaic, the native tongue of Jesus. As Christians, we can't allow Christianity to disappear from Iraq, a land that is so rich in biblical history. More critically, as human beings, we can't abide this suffering to continue. Most recently, during a trip to Iraq in May 2024, SWIC and its partners performed a needs assessment survey to understand how best to serve these communities that have endured so much over the past decade. We were present on the ground to talk with these community leaders and hard-working citizens. We listened to their thoughts and concerns. They welcomed us into their homes with open hearts and warm meals. They were thankful and hopeful. They praised God for everything they have. My heart soared for these faith-tested families whose unwavering devotion made me feel more than a little ashamed of some of my own concerns back home in the U.S. These are grassroots Christians with love and faith pervading all aspects of their daily lives. Their chief concerns today are security and employment, especially for the younger generation. Many of the young adults today were children when ISIS attacked. All they've known is strife, displacement, and hardship. They love their country, for which they've worked hard and sacrificed everything to secure a safe return. What they yearn for most now is the ability to stay and raise their families in their homeland. SWIC is committed to answering their call by funding employment opportunities with a focus on the younger generation. Many require vocational training to address the ever-changing technological needs of the agricultural landscape. Other vocations include IT training for programming, coding, and other disciplines. A better educated and more informed workforce could attract more businesses to these communities. These are just some of the innovative ways these needs can be addressed. This will require more funding, more attention, more love. A decade ago, SWIC entered into a love covenant with the Christians of Iraq and promised to be with them every step of the way; that includes the hopes and dreams of their children. There's more work to be done for these ancient Christian communities; now is not the time to leave them behind. The Apostles' work can only continue through us. Will you help answer the call? To learn more on how to you can help, please visit us at: www.swic.org Joe Lipuma serves as co-chairman of Stand With Iraqi Christians. ASTORIA, Queens The state of New York City public schools was the topic that its leader, Schools Chancellor David Banks, discussed in his second annual State of Our Schools address. It occurred a week and a half after federal agents seized Bankss phone, as well as that of his domestic partner, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, at their home. More Local News That controversy was far in the background as the chancellor addressed education leaders, administrators, and teachers from the stage of a performing arts high school on Tuesday. His audience made clear that their focus was on Bankss mission, and not his legal problems. The chancellor, now in his third year heading the nations largest school district, was met with a standing ovation at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. It was a strong endorsement of his efforts so far in his tenure. At the center of his educational focus, since he became chancellor, has been literacy. In his Tuesday morning presentation, he said that effort is growing in New York City public schools, in both its reading and math programs. Weve expanded NYC Reads to every elementary school, and to every childhood classroom citywide, Banks said, to applause, using the title of the school systems literacy program. He said that its math skills program is also growing. We launched NYC Solves into 400 high schools, and approximately 100 middle schools, Banks said. The moves come a month after the city learned that its test scores for reading last year dropped in all racial and ethnic groups, in grades three through eight. Keeping children safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids The chancellor, though, has pointed to a rise in literacy scores in the earliest grades as part of a reason to expand his programs. Those include partnerships, especially for high schools and their students. About 30 high schools citywide have partnerships with colleges and offer university-level credits. Banks announced a new, historic early college high school partnership, set to open next academic year in southeast Queens. And check this out, the chancellor said from the podium, its called HBCU Early College Prep. It is set to be the first of its kind nationwide: a major city school districts school paired with a historically Black college or university. In this case, the HBCU is Delaware State University. The chancellor also talked a lot about artificial intelligence, both in his address and afterward, saying that it needs to be harnessed to help in education, and not be feared. In a press gaggle after his presentation, Banks said that hes set up a meeting with A.I. leaders, that he and his department are calling a technology council. The chancellor said that the tech council meeting will have about 30 A.I. leaders from Microsoft, IBM, universities, and other entities. Together, he said, theyll start to craft A.I.-related school programs. By engaging these folks in this council, Banks said, theyre going to give us their best expertise. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) On Friday, September 13, five members of New Yorks congressional delegation explicitly committed to respecting election results, regardless of the winner. Alongside 27 other Congressmembers, they signed on to a Unity Commitment put together by Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Don Bacon, who represent New Jersey and Nebraska, respectively. In our country, we hash out our ideas at the ballot box and then come together to govern once all votes are counted, said Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican representing New Yorks 17th Congressional District. As the leader of the free world, we must continue to lead by example at home by respecting the will of the people. Im proud to join alongside colleagues in both parties to reiterate this fundamental commitment that lies at the heart of our democracy. New Jerseys Gottheimer is a Democrat, while Bacon, from Nebraska, is a Republican. In addition to Lawler, the other New York representatives are from downstate: Anthony DEsposito, a Republican from New Yorks 4th Congressional District Nick Lalota, a Republican from New Yorks 1st Congressional District Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New Yorks 3rd Congressional District Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from New Yorks 15th Congressional District he commitment stems from Jan. 6, 2021, when Reps. Gottheimer and Bacon joined with the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucusthen co-chaired by former New York Rep. Tom Reedto release Principles on Elections and the Electoral College. Those principles were: We are committed to combating attempts to undermine the will of the American people as expressed through the legitimate results of a democratic election. We are united in our commitment to prevent fraud by protecting the integrity and security of elections in America. As the greatest democracy in the world, the United States prides itself in its adherence to the peaceful transition of power as a core pillar of a functioning, fair political system. Congress must begin its work on January 20 with the Biden Administration, and work in a bipartisan fashion to restore the publics confidence in our governing institutions. Members who signed the Unity Commitment on Friday essentially promised to attend the inauguration in January 2025 regardless of the outcome of the vote. Even so, the majority of the signatories were Democrats: Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Democrat Ed Case (HI-01), Democrat Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05), Republican Jim Costa (CA-21), Democrat Angie Craig (MN-02), Democrat Don Davis (NC-01), Democrat Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Democrat Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Republican Jared Golden (ME-02), Democrat Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34), Democrat Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Democrat Greg Landsman (OH-01), Democrat Susie Lee (NV-03), Democrat Kathy Manning (NC-06), Democrat Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), Democrat Frank Mrvan (IN-01), Democrat Wiley Nickel (NC-13), Democrat Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Democrat Chris Pappas (NH-01), Democrat Scott Peters (CA-50), Democrat Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Democrat Hillary Scholten (MI-03), Democrat Elissa Slotkin (MI-07), Democrat Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), Democrat Haley Stevens (MI-11), Democrat In recent history, election denial has come from the political right. After the 2020 election, the New York Times and NPR both counted close to 150 legislatorsmostly in Congress and all Republicanwho voted to overturn election results or objected to the electoral college count. And an analysis from UCLA found that over 200 candidatesagain, mostly congressionalwere elected during the 2022 midterms who could be considered election skeptics or deniers. Their list included Rep. Lalota. An election denier watchdog group counts three election deniers among New York Republicans in Congress: Reps. Nicole Malliotakis of District 11, Elise Stefanik of District 21, and Nick Langworthy of District 23. Theyre all up for reelection in November. Also running in November is Republican Tina Forte, an election denier hoping to unseat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez in New Yorks 14th Congressional District. Lawler, meanwhile, appears to be banking on bipartisanship. An analysis from the Lugar Center found him to be among the least partisan members of Congress. In New York, only Rep. Marc Molinaro scored higher. Bucking the apparent trend of his party, his office warned last week against spreading fake news on social media. Lawler is proud to represent one of the largest Haitian-American diasporas in the country, and has worked tirelessly to address issues important to the Haitian communityincluding working to resolve the unstable situation in Haiti, said Lawler spokesperson Nate Soule. Lawler has not seen independent verification of the wild claims that have been spread by some about the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio. He encourages his colleagues to exercise great restraint when spreading unfounded theories and claims based off of posts 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 ABC22 & FOX44. New York man admits to selling guns from Macon in Syracuse. Others accused in the case A Syracuse, New York, man has admitted he traveled to Macon to purchase guns and then transport them back to Syracuse to sell them, court records show. Julius Anderson of Syracuse pleaded guilty to conspiring with accomplices Veronica Williams, who is also from Syracuse, and Raeneisha Evans, a Macon man who bought the guns for Anderson to sell illegally. He also pleaded guilty to possessing the weapons from Macon in Syracuse, court records show. All three were indicted last year. According to the indictment, Evans bought, transported and sold guns between May 25, 2021, and Feb. 26, 2023. Those guns were recovered by Syracuse police between September 2021 and February last year. Williams was charged with criminal possession of guns, attempting to sell the firearms from Macon, as well as the sale of those firearms and also conspiring with Anderson and Evans. Her case is still pending. Court records show Evans pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring to sell the guns in Syracuse alongside Anderson and Williams, attempting to sell firearms and possessing a loaded gun, but no sentencing date has been scheduled. Police Chief Joseph Cecile of the Syracuse Police Department told media outlet Syracuse.com that Evans purchased 52 guns in Macon and 16 of those guns were recovered in Syracuse. Some of the guns were being used by gang members, Cecile told Syracuse.com. Four of the guns were used during crimes, one was used during a murder-suicide and some other guns were used in multiple crimes, he said. Anderson is expected to be sentenced on Oct. 16 in Onondaga County Court in upstate New York. Young Americans want to feel listened to by an authentic and genuine political candidate, according to a new survey from American Universitys Sine Institute of Policy & Politics, providing insight into the key voting demographic weeks out from the presidential election. The results were unveiled at the Sept. 17 event Whats America Thinking: Young Voters of Today, Political Leaders of Tomorrow, hosted by The Hill and the Sine Institute, which included a discussion with lawmakers, researchers and human rights and voter organizations. This is the Sine Institutes third annual survey focused on young voters, with over 1,200 Americans ages 18-34 participating in this years survey and oversampling for Hispanic, Black and LGBTQ+ respondents. The results show that 51 percent of young Americans value integrity and 47 percent value authenticity in a political candidate. Other important traits included inclusivity (46 percent), compassion (44 percent), compromise (40 percent), and idealism (36 percent). The survey, designed in collaboration with Future Caucus and Close Up Foundation, featured audio clips from an AI-generated, gender-neutral voice that focused on different attributes to determine which leadership styles were most attractive to young voters. One of the chief complaints is that young Americans feel like elected leaders and candidates arent listening to them, said Molly ORourke, Sine Institute Senior Advisor and executive-in-residence in the American University School of Communication. She encouraged active dialogue with, and active listening to, young Americans to overcome that barrier. The issues on the top of the ballot for young Americans were the economy, healthcare, cost of living and other issues that affect their daily lives. Layla Zaidane, President and CEO of Future Caucus, participated in a panel discussion for the event, where she emphasized the importance of tangible impact and voter trust. You cant talk your way out of a situation you behaved your way into, she said. Its very true when it comes to losing the trust of voters. To earn that trust back, you have to behave in a way that earns it back and deliver results. The survey also found that, while optimistic about their own individual futures, young Americans are much more pessimistic about the future of the United States, with 83 percent of survey participants expressing concern over the state of the countrys democracy. ORourke said that while both campaigns induce anxiety about the state of the nation, in an era of increased digital connections, the Harris-Walz campaign has made more of an effort to listen to young Americans and engage them in their bid for the White House. When Harris became the nominee, part of her opening week was listening and understanding, she said. Shes developed an agenda around housing and other things. The survey also showed that only 49 percent of all young Americans are certain or likely to vote, with Harris voters outpacing Trump voters 59 to 46 percent. In a previously recorded interview with Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), who also serves on the House Future Forum Caucus, moderator and Hill reporter Julia Manchester discussed the historical low outcome of young voters. I dont think its realistic to flip the script entirely in one election cycle. This is a generational project, Auchincloss said. But we can boost turnout in this election and then going forward. Auchincloss cited early voting, vote-by-mail and grassroots organizing as ways to mobilize younger voters. While there is no shortcut to reach young voters, social media and a strong digital presence are important means to connect with the next generation. Youve got to do all of it, he said. That is what campaigning is about. You have to go where voters 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 The Hill. YouTube personality Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is facing a class-action lawsuit. (Michael Tran / AFP via Getty Images) Contestants on MrBeast's upcoming competition series have sued the popular YouTube star's production company and Amazon for sexual harassment, failure to pay minimum wages and negligent infliction of emotional distress, among other allegations. The plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit on Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accusing Amazon Alternative, MrB2024 and another production company, Off One's Base, of subjecting them to "unreasonable, unsafe, and unlawful employment conditions." The complaint identifies several of the contestants as Los Angeles County or California residents. The plaintiffs allegedly were hired to appear on "Beast Games," billed by Amazon as "the biggest reality competition series," boasting 1,000 contestants and a $5-million prize. The show was set to premiere on the Seattle-based tech company's streaming service, Prime Video. Read more: YouTuber MrBeast admits to 'inappropriate language' in past videos amid controversy "Defendant production companies and Amazon shamelessly exploited the labor of ... people who served as contestants" on the program, the 54-page complaint reads. "Unfortunately, the supposedly magnanimous MrBeast did not want to use ... alleged unconstrained resources to provide fair wages, or even bare-minimum-legal working conditions, to the contestants whose labor comprised the core commercial value of Beast Games." A substantial amount of detail in the lawsuit is redacted in what the complaint describes as "a good faith effort to comply with" the defendants' "overbroad confidentiality provisions ... as well as to preserve the confidentiality and privacy interests of the plaintiffs who wish to avoid opprobrium." Representatives for Amazon and MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment. Read more: MrBeast claims he was invited to join that Titan voyage. Why some fans aren't buying it The lawsuit alleges that the companies failed to compensate the contestants with minimum wages or overtime pay while denying them mandatory meal and rest breaks, among other provisions. The employers also stand accused of "fudging" the production's labor costs in documents submitted to the Nevada Film Commission to qualify for the state's tax credit program. While filming the series, the contestants were allegedly "held under strict control and surveillance for days on end" and denied "all privacy and access to the outside world." The complaint further alleges that the contestants "were fed sporadically and sparsely" and "not given adequate access to hygienic products or medical care." According to the lawsuit, female contestants "particularly and collectively suffered" under a "hostile work environment" pervaded by "misogyny and sexism." The companies allegedly did nothing to protect female contestants from sexual harassment. Read more: Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video cut hundreds of jobs Additionally, the complaint alleges that contestants were forced to go without sleep and "participate in games that unreasonably risked physical and mental injury." The plaintiffs are demanding that the court require the companies to implement workplace reforms and employee training programs "to prevent future harassment," and to pay punitive damages and all wages owed to the contestants. This is not the first time MrBeast has faced allegations of misconduct. In August, the online content creator whose YouTube channel has more than 315 million subscribers admitted to using "inappropriate language" in past videos after clips surfaced of him engaging with racist comments and repeatedly uttering a homophobic slur. Read more: Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video DEI head to leave company A spokesperson for MrBeast, 26, said in a statement at the time that the YouTuber had "repeatedly apologized and has learned that increasing influence comes with increased responsibility to be more aware and more sensitive to the power of language." After making some bad jokes and other mistakes when he was younger, as an adult he has focused on engaging with the MrBeast community to work together on making a positive impact around the world," the rep added. Times staff writers Meg James and Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report. 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. Ukraine's attack on an ammunition depot in Russia last night was highly effective and has weakened Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated. Source: Zelenskyy's evening video address on 18 September Quote: "First of all, today, I want to thank our warriors who ensure our Ukrainian long-range capability. There is a significant outcome from last night on the territory of Russia, and this is the type of action that weakens the enemy. I thank all those involved. Such inspiring precision. Our special services: the Security Service, Defence Intelligence, the Special Operations Forces thank you!" Details: Zelenskyy also commented on reports by Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, on changes in the situation in Kursk Oblast and Ukraine's response. Zelenskyy said particular attention is being paid to the fronts in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts, which encompass Ukraines east. Quote: "Today, I also spoke with the Minister of Finance of Ukraine and the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council regarding funds for key state needs, for defence. We must provide everything Ukraine requires. Today there was a lot of work with our team of international experts we are preparing meetings with partners and negotiations. The priority is not only to implement everything we have already agreed upon, and which is still being hindered at the logistics stage, but also more strategic things. We have clear tasks for manning the brigades this includes equipment and training. All the promises made at the Washington Summit regarding air defence have not yet been fully realised. And it is crucial to achieve more results for our air shield right now, in early fall." Details: Zelenskyy also revealed that Ukraines Victory Plan is complete: "All the points, all the key emphases and the necessary appendices with details to the Plan have been identified. Everything has been worked out. The most important thing now is the determination to implement it." Support UP or become our patron! Although flying is a convenient way to travel, it can be majorly damaging to the environment due to the pollution from burning jet fuel. As more countries are committing to becoming net zero by 2050, innovators in the world of aviation are coming up with new creative aircraft that could not only reduce pollution but also completely transform how we travel. 01. Planes that barely need a runway "We've proven that our eSTOL aircraft has the capability to do what we said it could do." In a video posted to its YouTube channel, next-gen aerospace company Electra has shared footage from the test flights of its first hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft, called the EL-2 Goldfinch. The Goldfinch was able to take off and land in under 170 feet, around 10% of the typical length of conventional runways. Read more 02. High-flying electric planes "As the entire aerospace industry struggles with its goals ... I hope Helios Horizon sends a clear signal." Helios Horizon is on a mission to prove that electric planes can perform just as well as (if not better than) traditional airplanes, and test flights of its electric-converted Pipistrel Taurus prove just that. Not only has the plane been able to reach altitudes of up to 24,000 feet breaking records for an aircraft of its type and size it did so by only using 60% of its battery capacity. Helios believes it can have electric planes flying as high as 44,000 feet by early 2026. Read more 03. Supersonic wingless jets Designer Oscar Vinals could be considered a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci, at least when it comes to imagining the future of human flight. Designer Oscar Vinals used computer software to conjure up a design for a futuristic-looking new plane. His concept, called Sky OV, is a wingless, supersonic, hydrogen-powered jet that could fly from London to New York in less than five hours instead of eight. Vinals holds no engineering degree and thrives on speculative technologies, so this idea is likely much further away than the other planes on our list. That said, several hydrogen planes are currently in testing phases and could become a reality sooner than we think. Read more 04. 'Noiseless' private planes These VTOLs are perhaps best suited to address the pollution generated from personal aircraft usage. Sirius Aviation AG is developing a hydrogen-powered plane that is technically vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), meaning it needs very little runway to take off. There are two current designs in development: the CEO Jet and Adventure Jet both of which produce very little noise and are intended to replace small-party air travel like private jets. Read more 05. The 'world's largest' aircraft The huge aircraft is required to deliver the increasingly larger wind turbine blades. Startup wind energy developer Radia unveiled what it calls the "world's largest aircraft," which is designed to transport giant wind turbines. Radia has been developing longer wind turbine blades than ever before for their GigaWind project, which would allow for wind energy to be collected in more areas across the country. Read more 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. FILE PHOTO: Illustration picture of Chinese and U.S. flags with semiconductor chips BEIJING (Reuters) - Shares in several Chinese companies linked to the semiconductor industry surged on Wednesday, driven by investor excitement over a government list that some interpret as signaling progress in China's efforts to develop domestic chipmaking technology. Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development and Shanghai Highly Group both hit their daily limit of 10% gains by market close. Sanhe Tongfei Refrigeration , which has a wider trading band, reached its 20% daily limit. Shenyang Blue Silver Industry Automation Equipment ended the day up 10.7%. The surge follows a Sept. 9 release by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of a guide promoting the use of major domestic technical equipment. The MIIT guide specifically mentioned two lithography machine models and recommended their use by state-linked organizations. Chipmaking tools have become a focal point in China's push to develop its domestic semiconductor industry. This sector has faced significant challenges due to U.S. and allied restrictions on exporting advanced equipment to China, part of ongoing efforts to limit Beijing's technological advancement. ASML, a Dutch firm and one of the few global manufacturers of advanced lithography machines, has been barred from selling its most sophisticated equipment to China. Chinese companies, including Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE), have been actively developing domestic lithography capabilities. However, industry experts say progress has been limited, underscoring the technological challenges China faces in this sector. The more advanced of the two lithography machines mentioned in the list, for which MIIT did not specify a supplier, has a resolution of 65 nanometers or better. Resolution determines how small the features on a semiconductor chip can be made. Smaller resolutions allow for more advanced, powerful chips. For comparison, ASML's most advanced lithography machines currently achieve resolutions of 8 nanometers and less. The 65-nanometer resolution machine mentioned in the MIIT list lags behind international competitors by at least 15 years, according to Leslie Wu, chief executive of consulting firm RHCC. (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Keith Weir) When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Apple On Monday, Apple officially launched iOS 18. Although Apple Intelligence is missing from the first iOS 18 release, there's another long-awaited feature that you can use day one: more home screen customization. With the new home screen customization features in iOS 18, it's much easier to create a personalized look. You can remove app labels, change app icon colors or give them a darker background, and darken just your background here's how to do it. How to customize your iOS 18 home screen To access all the new customizations iOS 18 has to offer, you'll first need to enter editing mode: 1. Long-press on any open space within your home screen. You'll know this action is successful when your apps begin to wiggle. 2. Tap Edit in the top left corner of your screen. This Edit button replaces the old + button in iOS 17. 3. From the dropdown menu that pops up, select Customize. Other options here include Add Widget and Edit Pages. After you click Customize, you'll see an editing panel appear at the bottom of your screen. This will be your go-to spot to get your home screen looking the way you want it to. To remove app labels in iOS 18, you need to make the apps bigger. In the editing panel at the bottom of your screen, tap Large to toggle app sizes from the Small default option. In my opinion, this is a much cleaner look and most of us recognize an app by its icon anyway, right? From the editing panel, you can tap the new Tinted option to experiment with making all of your app icons your favorite color. If you chose red, for example, it would make all of your apps black and red, and cast a red gradient over your wallpaper. You can use the sliders at the bottom to select a custom color, or tap the eyedropper icon in the top right corner to select a matching color from your wallpaper. Alternatively, you can tap Dark to see your apps transform into a dark-mode friendly version, if available. Apple's proprietary apps Messages, Safari, Phone, Calculator, and so on will change their backgrounds to a dark gray, almost black color in this mode. Or, if you want to darken just your background and not your app icons you can tap the sun icon in the top left corner of the editing panel at the bottom of the screen. It's also worth seeing if your favorite apps have any new widgets to use with the iOS 18 update. Customizing your home screen can be a very long task, depending on how picky you are. Take a gander at X if you need some inspiration. Happy experimenting! iOS 18 is available for all and it reveals how dumb iPhone 16 will be on day one! When will AI come? When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Apple The iOS 18 update is now live, so iPhone owners no longer need to risk being on a 'beta' to try out exciting new features like the focus adjusting torch and customizable icon colors, or get stuck in with the more sophisticated changes to the Photos tool. You will find, though that even if you have what is until Friday at least the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max, that very little of the Apple Intelligence demonstrated at WWDC 2024 is on display. In fact Apple simply note that it is "Making iPhone more personal and capable than ever" and emphasizes the customization options. There is a notable re-design of the Photos app, and it is clearer and easier to see what is going on. New "Recent Days, People & Pets, and Trips" albums, among others, are created by on-device intelligence. Photographers looking for the Apple Intelligence feature "Clean Up" to remove unwanted subjects from their photos, however, will be disappointed. Apple say "The first set of Apple Intelligence features will be available next month, delivering experiences that are delightful, intuitive, easy to use, and specially designed to help users do the things that matter most to them. These features will come not with iOS 18 / iPad OS 18 / Mac OS Sequoia but is expected "in October" when iOS 18.1 (and equivalents) is released. The full list of features (which we might have expected this time) currently in the Beta version of iOS 18.1 are, according to MacRumors: Clean Up photos feature Siri enhancements, including follow-up requests and ability to cope with stutters/stmbles Text writing & summarizing Suggested replies in Messages & Mail Memories movie in Photos Phone call recording & transcription "Reduced Interruptions" variant of Focus Mode which will let important notifications through Article Summaries That's it though, and Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro model or any iPhone 16 model. Apple have a lot of promises for the future to do with imagery too: "More Apple Intelligence features will roll out later this year and in the months following. Image Playground will allow users to create playful images in moments. Image Wand will make notes more visually engaging by turning rough sketches into delightful images. When a user circles an empty space, Image Wand will create an image using context from the surrounding area. Emoji will be taken to an entirely new level with the ability to create original Genmoji by simply typing a description, or by selecting a photo of a friend or family member." Some might be in iOS 18.2 this is being tested internally at Apple. This is expected in December and is when Apple Intelligence will come to the OG home of English, the UK, as well as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. Is the iPhone 16 the best camera phone for you? Quite possibly, but don't get hung up on the smarts just yet! Who still uses pagers anyway? Pagers on display at a meeting room in the Gold Apollo company in New Taipei City (Reuters) -As mobile phones became the world's main communications tool, pagers, also known as beepers because of the sound they make to notify users about incoming messages, were largely rendered obsolete, with demand plunging from their 1990s heyday. But the tiny electronic devices remain a vital means of communication in some areas - such as healthcare and emergency services - thanks to their durability and long battery life. "It's the cheapest and most efficient way to communicate to a large number of people about messages that don't need responses," said a senior surgeon at a major UK hospital, adding that pagers are commonly used by doctors and nurses across the country's National Health Service (NHS). "It's used to tell people where to go, when, and what for." Pagers grabbed headlines on Tuesday when thousands used by members of militant group Hezbollah were detonated simultaneously across Lebanon, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others. According to a senior Lebanese security source and another source, explosives inside the devices were planted by Israel's Mossad spy agency. The UK's NHS was using around 130,000 pagers in 2019, more than one in 10 of the world's pagers, according to the government. More up-to-date figures were not available. Doctors working in hospital emergency departments carry them when they are on call. Many pagers can also send out a siren and then broadcast a voice message to groups so that whole medical teams are alerted simultaneously to an emergency, a senior doctor in the NHS said. That is not possible with a mobile phone. Britain's Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) uses pagers to alert its crews, a source familiar with the lifeboat service told Reuters. The RNLI declined to comment. BURNER PHONES Pagers can be harder to track than smartphones because they lack more modern navigation technologies like the Global Positioning System, or GPS. That has made them a popular choice among criminals, especially drug dealers in the United States, in the past. But gangs are using mobile phones more these days, former FBI agent Ken Gray told Reuters. "I don't know if anyone uses them (pagers)," he said. "They all went to cell phones, burner phones" which can be easily disposed of and replaced with another phone with a different number, making them difficult to trace. Gray, who served 24 years at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and now teaches criminal justice and homeland security at the University of New Haven, said that criminals changed with the times and newer technology. The global pagers market, once a major source of revenue for companies like Motorola, amounted to $1.6 billion in 2023, according to an April report by Cognitive Market Research. That amounts to a tiny fraction of the global smartphone market, which was estimated at around half a trillion U.S. dollars as of end-2023. But demand for pagers is rising as a larger patient population creates more need for efficient communication in the healthcare sector, the report said, forecasting compound annual growth of 5.9% from 2023 to 2030. It said North America and Europe are the two biggest pager markets, generating $528 million and $496 million in revenue respectively. (Reporting by Michael Collett-White and Josephine Mason in London, Miyoung Kim in Singapore and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Catherine Evans) T-Mobile forecasts adjusted free cash flow up to $19 billion in 2027 By Harshita Mary Varghese (Reuters) -T-Mobile said on Wednesday it expects adjusted free cash flow between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2027 as the telecom operator laid out a three-year growth plan at its Capital Markets Day event in San Francisco. The company outlined its expectations for growth on the back of strong customer additions, as well as new tech collaborations with AI chip firm Nvidia and ChatGPT maker OpenAI. T-Mobile, one of the top three carriers in the U.S., has seen increased adoption of its premium plans that offer streaming packages along with unlimited offerings. It plans to return up to $50 billion to shareholders through 2027 through share buybacks and dividends. T-Mobile also forecast service revenue to be between $75 billion and $76 billion, and core adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) between $38 billion and $39 billion for 2027. Analysts had expected the company to report adjusted free cash flow of $18.9 billion for 2027, according to Visible Alpha. MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said the company's outlook was "more or less" in line with expectations. "There was nothing in the guidance one way or the other that is going to change anyone's perspective on the stock," he said, adding that T-Mobile is "easily the best breed in Telecom." T-Mobile expects to add 12 million 5G broadband customers by 2028, CEO Mike Sievert said. The company plans to launch a new AI decision-making platform called IntentCX, in partnership with OpenAI, for more personalized customer solutions. It will collaborate with Nvidia, Ericsson and Nokia to design mobile networks using AI. "The investments we make in all of our future network capabilities fit within the $9 to $10 billion capex envelope that we're outlining," Sievert added. T-Mobile's shares, which have gained more than 20% so far this year, closed down 3%. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Shounak Dasgupta) Editor's Note To make informed decisions, voters need accurate, timely and impartial information, and they need it in the language they speak. So, with generous support from the Yakima Free Press Fund, the Yakima Voter Project is providing free access to general election coverage by the Yakima Herald-Republic and El Sol de Yakima. To contribute to the Free Press Fund, visit www.yakimafreepress.org. Eastern WA woman injured after hitting a deer and another driver slammed into her car Hungarians travelling abroad bought nearly 139,000 travel insurance policies during the summer, up 14pc from the same period a year earlier, data compiled by insurance broker Netrisk show. The average premium for travel policies rose 4.5pc close to HUF 13,000. Around 30pc of policy holders travelled to Croatia, 21pc to Italy and 9pc to Greece. About 55pc drove abroad and 34pc took a flight. Source: MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881. ********************************* 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! Around 88pc of Hungarians between the ages of 16 and 74 use the internet on a daily basis, a study by the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) shows. The rate puts Hungary in tenth place among European Union member states, ahead of Austria, where the rate was 84pc, putting the country in 16th place, NMHH said. Heading the ranking was the Netherlands, with an internet usage rate of close to 98pc. Denmark and Sweden were also frontrunners, with rates over 95pc. Among Hungarians between the age of 55 and 74, just 71pc used the internet on a daily basis, well under rates of over 90pc in Scandinavian countries. In terms of the scale of fibre optic infrastructure, Hungary was in twelfth place in the EU, the data from 2023 show. Source: MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881. ********************************* 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! The government has spent around HUF 30,000bn on healthcare since coming to power in 2010, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said on Tuesday, at the inauguration of a trauma centre at a big hospital in Budapest. Varga said the government had allocated resources for infrastructure developments, pay rises for doctors and nurses, and investments in healthcare industry manufacturing, putting the sector "back on its feet". He added that HUF 3,200bn had been earmarked for healthcare in this year's budget, HUF 2,000bn more than in the 2010 budget. In spite of a government decision to postpone HUF 675bn of projects, the government will plough about HUF 2,000bn into investments this year, Varga said. He noted that GDP growth reached 1.5pc in the first half and said the government counted on the economy expanding 3-3.5pc for the full year. The government is working to boost growth over that, and healthcare investments can help, he added. Peter Takacs, the state secretary for healthcare, noted that HUF 133bn in government funding had been channeled to the Healthy Budapest Programme. That funding was complemented with close to HUF 100bn for hospital renovations during the pandemic, he added. Zsolt Ralovich, the director of Saint John's Hospital, where the investment was made, said the trauma department there had taken in over 60,000 patients last year. MTI Stock Photo - for illustrative purposes only Source: MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881. ********************************* 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! She is 44 years old and has a 14-year-old son named Sam. She earned her bachelor's degree in Graphics and has worked for 25 years as a teacher at a conservatory (art school). However, her true passion lies in painting rather than graphics. She considers herself more of a painter, working with various techniques, especially watercolour, and focusing on themes of nature and daily life. Currently, she is pursuing a master's degree in Art and Design Management at Budapest Metropolitan University. 1. When did you arrive in Hungary and what brought you here? I arrived on September 7th. 2. Have you ever been an expatriate elsewhere? Ive traveled to several countries before, but only for short stays, about 2 to 4 weeks each. 3. What surprised you most about Hungary? Im really amazed by the Danube and the historical sites around it. I cant get enough of watching the river. Also, the kindness and supportive nature of the people have made me feel confident about being here. 4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekendwhat must they absolutely see and do? Theres so much to do in Budapest, but Id recommend starting with the Danube and the historical sites. Visiting museums like the Museum of Fine Arts is a must, not just for the artworks but for the architecture as well. There are also several festivals throughout the year, like the Wine Festival, which are fun and worth experiencing. 5. What is your favourite Hungarian food? Ive only been here for about two weeks, and so far Ive tried kurtos kalacs, which I loved. Im excited to try langos because I love bread, and also Porkolt and Paprikas, as they remind me of dishes from my own country. Im curious to compare them. 6. What is never missing from your refrigerator? Bread. 7. What is your favourite Hungarian word? I only know one so far: koszonom. 8. What do you miss most from home? I miss my son and my mom the most, and I also miss my students, as Im a teacher in my country. 9. What career other than yours would you love to pursue? Id love to pursue tattooing, and Im already learning it. 10. What's a job you would definitely never want? Id never want to be a banker. 11. Where did you spend your last vacation? I spent it in my home country with my family, visiting a beautiful mountain village. 12. Where do you hope to spend your next holiday? At Lake Balaton during the hot spring season here. 13. Apart from temptation, what can't you resist? Buying clothes. 14. What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen? Pink Floyd was my favorite band, and I loved making handicrafts, especially dolls. 15. Red wine or white? Red. 16. Book or movie? Movies. 17. Morning person or night person? Night. 18. Which social issue do you feel most strongly about? Im very concerned about social apathy, both towards other people and the environment. 19. Buda or Pest side? Buda. 20. What would you say is your personal motto? A poem by the great Iranian poet Saadi Shirazi: All human beings are in truth akin; All in creation share one origin. When fate allots a member pangs and pains, No ease for other members then remains. If, unperturbed, another's grief canst scan, Thou are not worthy of the name of man. Potential For Exporting Electric Two-Wheelers From India: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari highlighted the significant potential for exporting electric two-wheelers from India, particularly to markets where Indian manufacturers are already supplying conventional engine models. Exports of electric two-wheelers from India has a lot of potential, especially to markets where Indian manufacturers are already selling conventional engine counterparts, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday. Speaking at the launch of Revolt Motors' electric commuter motorcycle, Gadkari said that 50% of motorcycles produced in India are exported, and major players like Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, and TVS have a large presence in the international markets. The minister asked Revolt Motors to explore markets in the neighboring countries as well as Africa and Latin America. Anjali Rattan, Co Founder and Chairperson of Rattan India Enterprises -- the promoter firm of Revolt Motors -- said the company has firmed up plans for exports to Sri Lanka to start with. The company is exploring export opportunities in Nepal, Africa, and Latin America as well. Revolt Motors on Tuesday launched its commuter bike RV1 with introductory prices of Rs 84,990 and Rs 99,990 for two variants with battery options of 2.2 kwh battery with 100 km range and 3.24 kwh with 160 km range, respectively. While sitting a step below the companys RV400 BRZ and RV400 electric motorcycles, RV1 comes with a retro theme design, featuring a round-shaped LED headlight setup and sleek indicators. It gets a small black-colored visor and a digital cluster. The company has commenced the booking for the RV1 nationwide. In an interaction, Anjali Rattan said Revolt Motors plans to introduce one product every year in the next five years. She said the company is expanding the sales network to 500 outlets in the next 12-18 months from 125 at present. Rattan said the dealership count is expected to rise to 250 outlets by the end of this fiscal year. New Delhi: As the nation celebrates National Cinema Day on September 20, 2024, audiences will have the chance to enjoy Kareena Kapoor's 'The Buckingham Murders' for just 99 at cinemas across the country. Ever since its release, Kareena Kapoor Khan's The Buckingham Murders has been winning hearts across the nation. With rave reviews and high ratings, the film is cementing its position as a successful mystery thriller. The film is touted as Kareena's career-best performance. The way she has shown her emotional range and portrayed a grieving mother is unparalleled; no other actress could have pulled off this character so brilliantly. Since the film is available in both Hindi and Hinglish, audiences can choose to enjoy it in either of the languages. Moreover, for those who missed the film in theaters during the festive season, National Cinema Day offers a perfect opportunity to experience it at such an affordable price. The Buckingham Murders features an ensemble cast, including Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Ranveer Brar, and Keith Allen. Directed by Hansal Mehta and written by Aseem Arrora, Kashyap Kapoor, and Raghav Raj Kakker, it is a Mahana Films and TBM Films production, presented by Balaji Telefilms and produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ektaa R. Kapoor, and first-time producer Kareena Kapoor Khan. The mystery thriller hit theaters exclusively on September 13, 2024. New Delhi: Tech giant Cisco has announced another round of layoffs, affecting about 5,600 employees which accounts for around 7 per cent of its global workforce. This follows a similar downsizing in February, when Cisco laid off over 4,000 employees earlier this year. Cisco, in August 2024 hinted at plans to cut staff. However, the company did not specify which individuals or departments would be affected. This lack of clarity made the recent wave of layoffs surprising for many. Employees were only informed in mid-September, leading to nearly a month of uncertainty. This delay has caused growing discontent among the workforce, with many feeling they were kept in the dark throughout the process. A report from TechCrunch reveals that the work environment at Cisco has been worsening. SEveral employees have described the atmosphere as toxic. citing poor communication as a major issue. One of the employees mentioned that this was the worst work environment they had ever experienced at Cisco. The report also indicates that the layoffs have impacted Talos Security, Cisco's threat intelligence and security research division. Cisco in a statement from August explained that its second round of layoffs this year would allow the company to "invest in key growth opportunities and drive more efficiencies." Despite the job cuts, the company reported that 2024 was its "second strongest year on record," with an annual revenue of approximately 54 billion dollars. This financial report was released on the same day as the layoff announcement. Company records also show that CEO Chuck Robbins received a compensation of around 32 million dollars in 2023. New Delhi: Since Indias economic liberalization, southern states have outperformed northern states in GDP contribution and per capita income. A recent report from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, featured in a Business Today article reveals how the southern region has surged ahead, reflecting a major shift in the country's economic dynamics. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu collectively contribute 30 per cent of the countrys GDP, as highlighted in the report. Which States Contribute Most and Least to Indias GDP? Maharashtra continues to be the largest contributor to Indias GDP, although its share has dropped to 13.3 per cent from over 15 per cent previously. Despite this reduction, Maharashtra's per capita income has risen to 150.7 per cent of the national average as of March 2024. Delhi and Haryana have consistently performed well with Delhi boasting one of the highest per capita incomes. In contrast, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have seen their GDP contributions decline notably. Uttar Pradeshs share dropped from 14 per cent in 1960-61 to 9.5 per cent. Meanwhile, Bihar, despite being the third-most populous state, contributes just 4.3 per cent. Odisha, however, has made notable progress, improving its economic standing. West Bengal, once a top contributor with 10.5 per cent of GDP in 1960-61 now accounts for only 5.6 per cent. Further, its per capita income has decreased from 127.5 per cent of the national average to 83.7 per cent, falling behind states like Rajasthan and Odisha. New Delhi: Reliance Power Limited has announced that the entire obligations of the Company as a Guarantor on behalf of Vidarbha Industries Power Limited (VIPL) stand fully settled resulting in release and discharge of Corporate Guarantee, Undertakings and all obligations and claims thereunder in relation to the outstanding debt of VIPL amounting to Rs 3872.04 Crore. Shares of Reliance Power hit the 5 percent upper circuit. At 11:02 am Reliance Power shares were trading at price Rs 32.98 apiece, higher by 5 percent from the previous closing price. "Reliance Power has settled all disputes with CFM Asset Reconstruction Private Limited (CFM). 100% shares of VIPL have been pledged in favour of CFM against the release and discharge of Corporate Guarantee given by Reliance Power," said the company. Meanwhile, Reliance Infrastructure Limited announced that Invent Assets Securitisation and Reconstruction Private Limited, a lender to the Company, has novated certain charged securities to recover its dues. "As a result, Invent ARC's entire fund based outstanding amount has been reduced to Zero. Additionally, Reliance Infra has cleared its funded outstanding dues to Life Insurance Corporation of India, Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited, ICICI Bank, Union Bank, and other lenders. The Companys external debt liability is down to INR 475 crore. Consequently, the net worth of the Company will stand at Rs 9,041 crore," it added. One Nation One Election: In a big development towards simultaneous elections, the Union Cabinet today approved the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal for holding Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in one go and urban body and panchayat polls within 100 days of the parliamentary polls. The recommendations were made in a report of a high-level panel committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind. "In the first phase, Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections will be held and in the second phase, local bodies elections (Gram Panchayat, Block, Zila Panchayat) and urban local bodies (municipality and municipal committees or municipal corporations)," said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Which Opposition Parties Are In Support While 15 opposition parties have rejected the move, there are many opposition parties who have extended their support to the decision to hold simultaneous polls. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav have supported the move. As per the panel report, other opposition parties in support include Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress of Jagan Mohan Reddy, Biju Janata Dal of Naveen Patnaik, Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by K Chandrashekar Rao, Sukhbir Badal's Shiromani Akali Dal, and Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party. Opposition Parties Against Simultaneous Polls The parties who have opposed the idea of 'One Nation, One Election' include Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), CPI, CPIM, Congress, AIUDF, Trinamool Congress, AIMIM, DMK, Naga People's Front, MDMK, VCK and SDPI. The Congress and TMC have termed it a 'cheap stunt'. "One Nation, One Election is only a BJP issue to divert attention. This is against the Constitution. This is against democracy. This is against federalism. The country will never accept this," said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Land For Jobs Case: Trouble doesn't seem to end for former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family in the 'Land For Jobs' scam case. A Delhi court on Wednesday issued fresh summons against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his son and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, and six others in the 'Land For Jobs' money laundering case. Special Judge Vishal Gogne directed the accused persons to appear before the court on October 7. The judge took cognizance of a supplementary chargesheet and passed the order. The final report was filed before the court by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 6. The central probe agency filed its case based on an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The case pertains to Group-D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Lalu Prasad's tenure as the railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo's family or associates, the ED said. This is the first time Tej Pratap Yadav has been called in connection with this case. The court said that Tej Pratap Yadav's involvement could not be ruled out. Although he was not initially charge-sheeted, he was a director at AK Infosys Ltd. and has now been summoned. Other charge-sheeted individuals have also been summoned. The court has included Akhileshwar Singh and his wife, Kiran Devi, in its summons. The ED filed a supplementary charge sheet on August 6, listing 11 accused. Four of these individuals have since died. The court has directed Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejaswi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, Akhileshwar Singh, Hazari Prasad Rai, Sanjay Rai, Dharmendra Singh, and Kiran Devi. The court also clarified that while Akhileshwar Singh was made an accused by the ED, his wife Kiran Devi was not initially charged. However, she is involved in the case for selling land to Misa Bharti in exchange for a job for her son, Abhisek. The court said that there is sufficient material to proceed further against the accused persons. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court granted bail to Lalu Prasads close aide Amit Katyal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged scam case in the Indian Railways, while deprecating the pick and choose policy adopted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court noted that despite there being no arrest of any other accused in the case and irrespective of the fact that Katyal had joined the probe, he was arrested unceremoniously from the Indira Gandhi International Airport while he was travelling to Ranchi. (With ANI, PTI Inputs) Haryana Congress Manifesto: In the lead-up to the Haryana Assembly elections, the Congress party unveiled seven guarantees on Wednesday, which include a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a caste census if they come to power. The announcement was made in the presence of notable Congress leaders including President Mallikarjun Kharge, Haryana Congress Chief Udai Bhan, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and AICC senior observers Ashok Gehlot, Ajay Maken, and Partap Singh Bajwa. Additional guarantees cover the empowerment of women, enhancement of social security, securing the future of youth, family welfare, and housing for the impoverished. During a press conference, Kharge stated, "We are committed to fulfilling these guarantees, hence the campaign 'Saat Vaade, Pakke Irade' (Seven Promises, Firm Intentions)." For women's empowerment, the Congress has pledged gas cylinders at Rs 500 and a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000 for women aged 18 to 60 years. To bolster social security, the party has committed to a monthly pension of Rs 6,000 for seniors, the disabled, and widows, along with the restoration of the old pension scheme. The Congress also aims to provide 300 units of free electricity and free medical treatment up to Rs 25 lakh. In the agriculture sector, the party has promised a legal guarantee for MSP, a caste survey, and an increase in the creamy layer threshold from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The election for the 90-seat assembly is scheduled for October 5, with the vote count set for October 8. Seven Guarantees By Congress For Haryana Elections Explained: Prosperity for Families - 300 units of free electricity to every household - Free medical treatment up to 25 lakh Empowerment for Women - 2000 monthly stipend for women - Gas cylinders at a subsidized rate of 500 Secured Future for Youth - Recruitment for 2 lakh vacant government posts - Launch of a 'Drug-free Haryana' initiative to tackle substance abuse Strengthening Social Security - 6000 monthly pension for senior citizens, handicapped individuals, and widows - Restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to ensure financial security Rights for Backward Classes - Conducting a comprehensive caste census - Raising the creamy layer limit to 10 lakh to expand benefits for underprivileged communities Prosperity for Farmers - Legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) to safeguard farmers' interests - Immediate compensation for crop damage Housing for the Poor - Allocation of 100-yard plots for economically disadvantaged families - Construction of 2-room houses costing 3.5 lakh These promises come ahead of the Haryana Legislative Assembly elections, scheduled to take place on October 5, 2024 . The Congress party aims to address key issues affecting the state, including unemployment, farmers' concerns, and social welfare. SRINAGAR: A voter turnout of 61.13 pc was registered in the first phase polling in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, which were held on 24 constituencies in seven districts. According to Election Commission data, the voting percentage was 61.13 per cent till 11.30 pm. Voting started across 24 seats at 7 am today, including 16 seats in the Kashmir region and eight seats in the Jammu region. The voting was peaceful. There was not a significant change from 2014 in the voter turnout in the 24 segments that voted in phase one of Jammu and Kashmir polls on Wednesday, the first assembly elections since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. According to the Statistical report of the Election Commission of India on the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly polls, the voter turnout in these districts was 60.19 per cent. "Building on the successful foundation of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, peaceful and enthusiastic voting marked the beginning of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir," EC said in a release. "Voters from all sections of society responded to the 'call of democracy' wholeheartedly, reaffirming the confidence expressed by CEC Rajiv Kumar during the announcement of assembly elections that the people of J-K will give a befitting reply to the nefarious forces attempting to disrupt the electoral process," it added. The poll panel said that the long queues of voters at the polling stations showcased to the entire world, the deep trust and confidence of the people of J-K in the democratic exercise. Kishtwar district recorded the highest turnout at 80.14 per cent followed by Ramban at 70.55 per cent, Doda at 71.34 per cent, Kulgam at 62.60 per cent, Anantnag at 57.84 per cent and Shopian at 55.96 per cent. The Pulwama district recorded the lowest at 46.65 per cent. J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also expressed happiness over a good voter turnout in the first phase. In a post on X, LG Sinha said, "Congratulations J-K for a historic voter turnout! I would like to thank all voters, who exercised their franchise in 1st Phase. Record polling in the peaceful, free and fair election attests to the strength of Indian democracy and people's faith in democratic values. I must congratulate all my sisters & first-time voters for participating in large numbers to celebrate the festival of democracy. Heartfelt gratitude to outstanding security forces, JKP & Election Officials. Approx 59% polling in the first phase shows 'Jamhooriyat' (democracy) is flourishing in J-K." "Long queues of voters in Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, and Anantnag demolished the motivated propaganda of the adversaries. People have also rebuffed the agenda of divisive elements and reaffirmed their faith in democracy," LG Manoj Sinha added. Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing an interesting contest with several political parties and independents in the fray. National Congress and Congress have allied, though they are also in friendly contest on some seats. This is the first election in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. Leaders have held hectic campaigns to boost the prospects of their party candidates. Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, getting interim bail from a Delhi court has added another dimension to the election with his Awami Ittehad Party contesting the polls. Rashid contested the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent and defeated National Conference leader Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla seat. The National Conference and PDP leaders have taken digs at the BJP following Rashid's release from jail on bail. Voting for the second and third phases in J-K will be held on September 25 and October 1, respectively. Votes will be counted on October 8. (With PTI Inputs) In a record-breaking event, voter turnout in South Kashmir exceeded all previous levels, reflecting a significant change in the region's political landscape. For the first time in ten years, assembly elections are being held in Jammu and Kashmir, with the first phase witnessing a high voter turnout, especially among the youth and first-time voters. According to the Election Commission, the tentative voter turnout for the 24 assembly seats spread over seven districts stood at 59 per cent. Polling stations across South Kashmir saw long queues of voters from early morning. Despite four decades of boycott politics, this election cycle saw renewed faith in the democratic process, particularly among young voters. Zahid Rashid, a first-time voter, expressed the sentiments of many, saying, "We have hundreds of educated youths here who have nothing to do and want jobs. Its time to choose a representative who will work for our betterment." This election marks the first assembly election in the Union Territory after a decade-long gap. Polling is currently being held across 24 constituencies, with 16 in Kashmir. Historically, regions like Kulgam and Shopian, known for boycotting past elections due to security threats, recorded nearly 62,46% and 53.64% voter turnout respectively, signaling a dramatic shift. Voters, especially the youth, emphasized the importance of using their vote to ensure peace, development, and jobs. In places like Bugam village, which has abstained from voting for years, democracy appeared to take root. Anwar Parry, an economics postgraduate, highlighted the growing disillusionment with boycott politics, stating, "What did we achieve from boycotts? Elections still happened, and leaders were elected. Its better to vote and choose someone who can turn our dreams into reality." This election is set to be a competitive contest in South Kashmir, with candidates from various parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, Engineer Rashids AIP, and long-established parties like the National Conference, Congress, and the People's Democratic Party (PDP), vying for support. Iltija Mufti, representing the third generation of the Mufti family, is contesting from Bijbehara and believes she will continue her familys legacy. "I am happy with the love and connection I received from the people. Ive seen a change in the youth, and I am confident they will vote for me," she said. PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti also expressed optimism about her partys chances in South Kashmir, saying, "The feedback I received from all districts that went to the polls in South Kashmir today indicates that the PDP will emerge as the single largest party in the region." Among the key candidates in this election are CPI(M)'s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, contesting for the fifth consecutive time from Kulgam, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir contesting for the third time from Dooru, National Conferences Sakina Itoo from Damhal Hajipora, and Waheed Parra from Pulwama. Tarigami, a four-time MLA, took a jab at Jamaat-e-Islamis participation in the election, stating, "Earlier, they were controlled by Lahore; now their remote is in Nagpur. People here know who has done what." Despite concerns over security, the first phase of the election was peaceful, thanks to well-planned security arrangements. A total of 219 candidates are contesting in the first phase, with voting taking place in 16 constituencies in Kashmir and 8 in Jammu. As Jammu and Kashmir move forward, this election marks a pivotal moment, as the region transitions from boycott politics to active participation in democracy, giving hope for peace, development, and a brighter future. In the latest updates pertaining to the case of Air India crew member Suraj Mann's murder, the partner of the jailed gangster Kapil Mann has been arrested for allegedly plotting the killing that took place in January earlier this year. A reward of Rs 25,000 was offered for her arrest. Suraj Mann, 30, was shot dead inside his car after he stepped out of a gym in Uttar Pradesh's Noida. The killers came on a bike. Kapil Mann's partner Kajal Khatri, also known as Lady Don, has been arrested for allegedly ordering the hit on Suraj Mann, the brother of gangster Parvesh Mann, on the instructions of the gangster, as per an NDTV report. Kapil Mann, who is currently lodged inside jail, had plotted Suraj Mann's murder to avenge his father's death, allegedly on the instructions of Parvesh Mann. Both Kapil and Parvesh Mann are in Delhi's Mandoli jail. Watch: Kajal Khatri, accused in a high-profile Noida murder case, was arrested by Delhi Crime Branch after evading capture since January 2024. A reward of 25,000 was offered for her arrest. She is linked to notorious gangster Kapil Mann pic.twitter.com/Zb8Poi6nMc IANS (@ians_india) September 18, 2024 After Suraj Mann was murdered, police discovered that he did not have a criminal history. It has been learnt that the accused suspected that he was helping his jailed brother financially, the NDTV report stated. Speaking on Kajal Khatri's arrest, senior Delhi Police officer Sanjay Bhatia said that the northern range team of the crime branch had arrested Lady Don. "Her real name is Kajal Khatri. She was wanted in a murder case, and there was a bounty of 25,000 on her head. On January 19, airline crew member Suraj was murdered in Noida. He was the brother of (gangster) Parvesh Mann. On the instructions of Kapil Mann, two people killed him and were arrested later. Kajal Khatri was part of the conspiracy and was on the run. Both Delhi and Noida police were looking for her. This is a big success for the crime branch. We have handed her over to Noida police," he said, as quoted by the NDTV. The officer said that with Kapil Mann in jail, Kajal Khatri was managing his gang. He said the enmity between Parvesh Mann and Kapil Mann goes back many years. "Parvesh Mann was behind the murder of Kapil Mann's father. Kapil Mann got his brother killed as revenge." According to the officer, Kajal Khatri introduced herself as Kapil Mann's wife. "Even Kapil Mann's jail record names Kajal Khatri as his wife. We are questioning her," he said. Earlier in January, the police arrested a man accused in connection with the crew member's murder after a brief exchange of fire. The accused was identified as Naveen Sharma and had a reward of Rs 25 thousand on him. "The accused, along with two others, was caught for shooting dead Air India crew member Suraj Mann in broad daylight at an upscale market in Noida's Sector 104," an officer said, as quoted by ANI. "Naveen was injured in a brief exchange of fire with the police and arrested from the scene," the officer added. According to the police, the murder was orchestrated by gangster Kapil alias Kallu and was linked to a long-standing family rivalry between the Parvesh Mann and Kapil Mann gangs. (With ANI Inputs) Kerala Lottery Results Thursday 19-09-2024 LIVE: The Kerala Lottery Department, on behalf of the Keralan government, announces the "Karunya KN-539" Lucky Draw Result today Karunya KN-539, September 19, 2024. The draw will be held at Gorky Bhavan near Bakery Junction in Thiruvananthapuram. The Kerala Lottery Result 2024 for "Karunya KN-539" will feature 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 Karunya KN-539 results right here to see if youre the first-place winner of 80 Lakhs. Stay tuned to this website for the live update of Kerala Lottery Karunya KN-539 results today. Kerala Lottery Result 19-09-2024 Sept: FULL LIST OF WINNING NUMBERS FOR KARUNYA PLUS KN-539 Draw LUCKY TICKET NUMBER FOR 1ST PRIZE OF RS 80 LAKHS IS: PX 178754 LUCKY TICKET NUMBER FOR 2ND PRIZE OF RS 10 LAKHS IS: PV 918087 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 3RD PRIZE OF RS 1 LAKHS ARE: 1) PN 276148 2) PO 601976 3) PP 626242 4) PR 249148 5) PS 310485 6) PT 610583 7) PU 686818 8) PV 259261 9) PW 359527 10) PX 318727 11) PY 740803 12) PZ 995566 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR CONSOLATION PRIZE OF RS 8,000 ARE: PN 178754 PO 178754 PP 178754 PR 178754 PS 178754 PT 178754 PU 178754 PV 178754 PW 178754 PY 178754 PZ 178754 (For The Tickets Ending with The Following Numbers below) LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 4TH PRIZE OF RS 5,000 ARE: 0023 0942 1608 2105 2984 3579 3592 4121 4345 4532 5393 5524 5525 6637 6850 7794 8740 8878 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 5TH PRIZE OF RS 1,000 ARE: 0111 0122 0186 0608 1386 1513 1966 2195 2836 2895 3452 4183 4263 4403 4492 4610 4863 5511 5581 5862 6465 6538 6753 7091 7651 7779 7900 8243 8383 8588 9061 9152 9410 9754 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 6TH PRIZE OF RS 500 ARE: 0128 0270 0464 0500 0577 0854 0873 1020 1116 1447 1472 1659 1995 2888 2959 3089 3286 3330 3449 3589 3635 3756 3831 3840 3901 3927 3944 3998 4095 4150 4202 4251 4295 4298 4393 4435 4593 4700 4716 4919 5023 5337 5473 5484 5549 5861 5976 6038 6072 6176 6415 6501 6639 6672 6710 6783 6787 6815 6851 7059 7538 7685 7763 7834 7928 7977 8203 8260 8303 8329 8515 8782 8977 9017 9031 9056 9064 9265 9371 9931 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 7TH PRIZE OF RS 100 ARE: 0009 0127 0134 0148 0348 0371 0542 0582 0683 0756 0772 0786 0913 1181 1307 1317 1385 1429 1431 1591 1843 1938 1946 1965 2009 2190 2204 2272 2583 2601 2691 2699 2718 2745 2749 2869 2926 2946 2971 2982 2992 3010 3176 3188 3250 3335 3549 3553 3624 3630 3724 3930 3972 3984 4010 4065 4165 4371 4390 4398 4497 4741 4830 4914 5016 5062 5104 5255 5285 5426 5455 5543 5569 5625 5832 5886 5887 5938 5983 5986 6000 6069 6124 6138 6517 6561 6570 6593 6679 6716 6769 6953 6997 7060 7171 7390 7427 7429 7430 7541 7556 7624 7636 7647 8044 8221 8348 8453 8779 8875 8913 8920 8938 9055 9200 9430 9468 9782 9784 9789 9794 9833 9882 9918 9935 9960 KERALA LOTTERY RESULT TODAY 19-09-2024 September: KARUNYA PLUS KN-539 LOTTERY PRIZE DETAILS 1st Prize: Rs 80 Lakhs 2nd Prize: Rs. 10 lakhs 3rd Prize: Rs. 1 Lakh 4th Prize: Rs. 5,000 5th Prize: Rs. 1,000 6th Prize: Rs. 500 7th Prize: Rs. 100 Consolation Prize: Rs. 8,000 (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.) AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Wednesday said that former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind will move out of his official residence in the national capital's Civil Lines area within a week. While conducting a press conference, Singh stated that Kejriwal would also give up all the facilities he enjoyed as the chief minister. "Yesterday after tendering his resignation, Kejriwal said he will leave all the facilities that a chief minister gets, including security, and live as a commoner among the people...,' Singh said, PTI reported. The AAP MP further stated that they tried to convince him, emphasising that there had been attempts to harm him. "We tried to persuade him, saying a lot of attempts to harm him physically have taken place in the past but he was not deterred. He said, 'I have lived in jail for six months, God saved me then, God will save me now,'" Singh said, PTI reported. Kejriwal, along with a delegation of AAP legislators, visited the L-G Secretariat to submit his resignation on Tuesday. He officially claims the formation of a new government in Delhi under Atishi's leadership. The AAP leader said it was yet to be decided where Kejriwal will live. One Nation One Election: In a significant move towards implementing simultaneous elections across India, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the One Nation, One Election proposal, following the recommendations of the Ram Nath Kovind-led high-level panel. The move has gained support from the NDA allies and some opposition parties but a total of 15 opposition parties including Congress has rejected the proposal. Committee's Report and Cabinet Approval. The high-level committee, chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its findings on the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal earlier this year, just before the Lok Sabha elections were announced. The Union Cabinet unanimously accepted the report during its meeting, marking a crucial step in the law ministrys agenda for the first 100 days. The committee proposed that Lok Sabha and state assembly elections be conducted simultaneously, followed by aligning local body elections within the next 100 days. After the Cabinets clearance, the proposal will be presented in Parliament during the upcoming winter session. The government needs a majority in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to turn the proposal into law. Political Support and Opposition The high-level committee reached out to 62 political parties for their views. Of the 47 parties that responded, 32 supported the simultaneous elections, while 15 opposed it. The 32 parties in favour include NDA allies as well as some opposition parties including Sharad Pawar's NCP and Mehbooba Mufti's PDP. Numbers In Lok Sabha The BJP and its allies have a total strength of 293 MPs in Lok Sabha. The BJP needs a two-third majority -364 MPs - to get the bill passed in the Lok Sabha. With the support of the Samajwadi Party, the NDA will have 330 MPs in favour and it will then need 34 more to get the bill passed. On the opposing side, the INDIA bloc, consisting of parties like the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Trinamool Congress (TMC), collectively holds 203 MPs. The combined strength of the 15 parties that opposed the proposal stands at 205 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Thus, the passing the bill in Lok Sabha will also be a challenge for the NDA. Challenges in Rajya Sabha The proposal needs to be passed by both Houses of Parliament. In the Rajya Sabha as well, the NDA needs a two-third majority to get the bill passed. Out of the 245 seats in the Rajya Sabha, the NDA holds 112, while the Opposition parties control 85. To secure a two-thirds majority, the government will need a minimum of 164 votes. With the support of an independent and six nominated MPs, the NDA has a total 120 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, not enough to get the bill passed. Support and Resistance from States Another challenge lies in obtaining ratification from state governments, as the proposal touches upon state subjects under the Constitution. "Since these amendments touch upon State subjects (Entry 5) of Schedule VII, Part IX and Part IX A of the Constitution of India, ratification by no less than half of the States will be required under Article 368(2) of the Constitution of India," said the High-Level Committee in its report of 'One Nation One Election'. Out of the 31 states and UTs including Jammu and Kashmir which have legislatures, the BJP-led NDA rules 20 while the Congress-led INDIA bloc rules nine. Thus, getting approval from the state legislature won't be an issue for the NDA. Even if Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir go to INDIA bloc post-polls, the NDA will still rule 18 states, enough for ratification of the bill. The 'One Nation, One Election' initiative is a bold step toward streamlining Indias election process, aiming to reduce costs and bring uniformity to governance. However, political opposition and the need for state-level ratification pose significant challenges that the ruling coalition will need to navigate in the coming months. One Nation One Election: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the 'one nation, one election' proposal, as per the Kovind committee's recommendation. The high-level committee's report on 'one nation, one election' was presented to the Union Cabinet the same day. The committee, led by ex-president Ram Nath Kovind, had initially submitted its findings in March, just before the Lok Sabha election dates were declared. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the Cabinet's decision. On the Cabinet nod to One Nation, One Election', Union Minister Giriraj Singh said that it is needed for the development of the country and also to maintain law and order "PM Narendra Modi was always in favour of one nation one election. Discussions were held with all previous Chief Justices, political leaders, political parties, Chamber of Commerce, and today finally the cabinet has approved the recommendations... One nation one election is needed for the development of the country and also to maintain law and order. Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi should tell whether one nation one election was in place before 1966," Singh said. However, the Center's nod for One Nation One Election received flak from the opposition, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying that 'One Nation, One Election' cannot work in a democracy. While responding to queries pertaining to the decision of the Union Cabinet to accept recommendations of the high-level committee on 'One Nation, One Election,' he said, "We don't stand with this. One Nation One Election cannot work in a democracy. Elections need to be held as and when required if we want our democracy to survive". Congress leader KC Venugopal said that the proposal is not practical. "It is not practical in this country. They want to divert attention from present issues," he said. Responding to a query on Kharge's remarks, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. who briefed the media on decisions of the union cabinet, said the opposition might start feeling internal pressure. "The opposition might start feeling internal pressure (about One Nation One Election) as more than 80 per cent of respondents who responded during the consultation process have given their positive support, especially the youth, they are very much in favour of this," Vaishnaw said. Senior TMC MP Derek O'Brien on Wednesday slammed one nation, one election, dubbing it just "another cheap stunt" of the BJP. His remarks came after the report of the high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' was accepted by the Union cabinet. "One Nation, One Election is just another cheap stunt from the anti-democratic BJP. Why were Maharashtra elections not announced along with elections in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir? Here's why. The Maharashtra government announced the Ladki Bahin scheme in the budget this June," he said in a statement, as quoted by news agency PTI. On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet accepted recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. The Committee recommends that 'One Nation, One Election' be implemented in two phases. In the first phase: Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to be conducted simultaneously. In the second phase, local body elections (panchayats and municipalities) are to be conducted within 100 days of general elections. There should be a common electoral roll for all elections. The committee recommends initiating detailed discussions throughout the country and the constitution of an implementation group. (With ANI, PTI Inputs) In a big development, the Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for 'One Nation, One Election' as recommended by a High-Level Panel headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The committees report, presented earlier this year, suggested that the first phase of simultaneous elections should involve synchronizing the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections. Within 100 days, local body elections could also be synchronized. What Is One Nation-One Election? 'One Nation, One Election' refers to the concept of holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha (Parliament), state legislative assemblies, and local bodies such as municipalities and panchayats. The idea aims to streamline the electoral process by ensuring that all elections across the country take place at the same time, rather than being staggered over different periods. So, if the proposal is implemented, all the state and Union Territories would go to the polls along with the Lok Sabha polls. Then, the local body polls would be held within 100 days. The concept has gained momentum in recent years, especially under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Unified Electoral Process: The core idea is to hold elections for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and local bodies all at once, minimizing the need for frequent elections. This would result in a more stable governance structure, feels the government. Reduced Financial Burden: Conducting elections on different timelines leads to significant expenses, including logistical costs, security measures, and administrative overhead. Simultaneous elections could drastically reduce this financial strain on the public treasury. Boost to Governance and Development: Frequent elections often hamper policy continuity, as the government enters into "election mode" repeatedly. Holding elections at the same time could allow for uninterrupted governance and development efforts across the country. Constitutional Amendments: Implementing this idea would require significant changes to the Constitution, including amendments related to election timings and terms of legislatures. The Kovind panel recommended 18 such amendments, most of which would need approval by Parliament but not necessarily from state legislatures. Common Electoral Roll: The Election Commission of India (ECI), in consultation with state election commissions, would prepare a common electoral roll and voter ID system, ensuring uniformity across all elections. This would also enhance the efficiency of voter management. Phased Implementation: The Law Commission has suggested starting simultaneous polls by 2029, allowing time for the necessary legal, constitutional, and logistical frameworks to be put in place. The government has stated its commitment to evolving a consensus on this issue, working to address the concerns of opposition parties and state governments. "One Nation, One Election" is an ambitious proposal that seeks to overhaul India's electoral system for greater efficiency, reduced costs, and uninterrupted governance. While the idea has received strong support from the ruling party and its allies, it faces legal, logistical, and political hurdles before becoming a reality. Known for being the ultimate couple goals, Priyanka and Nick once again wowed fans with their strong relationship. Priyanka attended one of Nick's concerts with their daughter, and the family moments she shared are simply heartwarming. Along with the photos, Priyanka posted a heartfelt note reflecting on the significance of the venueit was the same arena where she was crowned Miss World 24 years ago, a pivotal moment in her life filled with both excitement and challenges. On September 17, Priyanka took to Instagram to post these special moments from the concert. The first photo melted hearts everywhere, showing Priyanka and Nick sharing a sweet kiss while Priyanka held Malti, who adorably covered her eyesa moment that's both cute and endearing. Another precious shot features Malti holding a sparkling microphone, looking ready to join the performance, with headphones securely on. Malti is also seen sitting on the stairs, captivated by the Jonas Brothers as they perform. One of the most touching moments is a father-daughter interaction, where Malti tries to grab Nicks microphone while holding her own tiny mica beautiful, candid scene of family love. Priyanka also shared a video of herself enjoying the concert, fully immersed in the music. Theres also a romantic photo of Priyanka and Nick embracing, radiating affection and happiness. To top it all off, Malti was seen clapping along to the music, capturing the hearts of everyone around her. In the photos, Priyanka dazzles in an orange bodycon dress, exuding confidence and grace. Nick, in a blue jacket paired with trousers and a white graphic tee, complements her perfectly. Little Malti steals the show in a cute brown and white dress, complete with two adorable ponytails and her headphones, thoroughly enjoying the concert experience with her family. Along with the pictures, Priyanka reflected on a personal milestone, sharing her nostalgia about returning to the same venue where she won the Miss World title 24 years ago. Known as the Millennium Dome back then, the venue held deep memories for Priyanka, who recalled her excitement and nervousness, even humorously admitting that she struggled with a wardrobe malfunction during the event due to her anxiousness. Now, years later, returning to the same place with her husband and daughter, Priyanka expressed her gratitude for the journey her life has taken. To be back here watching my husband and his brothers perform with my daughter, family, and friends is such a full circle. Life has been good. Gratitude, she wrote in her post. Fans flooded the comments section, praising Priyanka for the touching post and sharing their love for the beautiful family. Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra, who married in 2018 in a grand ceremony that blended Christian and Hindu traditions, welcomed their daughter Malti Marie Chopra Jonas via surrogacy in January 2022. Their family moments continue to inspire and delight fans worldwide. Known for his charismatic presence both on and off the screen, Shah Rukh once again captivated fans with his casual yet cool ensemble. The actor was spotted on September 18, 2024, at the Mumbai airport, dressed in a black t-shirt paired with ice-blue denim featuring a unique design. His look was cool airport look was elevated with a brown leather jacket and a black cap adorned with a red X. He carried a brown sling bag as he made his way to his car, all while being escorted by heavy security. Have a look at the video: Earlier this month, SRK marked the first anniversary of his blockbuster 'Jawan'. In celebration, he shared a heartfelt message on social media, expressing gratitude to the films director Atlee, co-stars Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara, Deepika Padukone, and the entire cast and crew. He also thanked fans for their overwhelming support, writing, The film that we made with a lot of heart has turned one year old today or shall I say one year Jawan. Without the storytelling, skill and vision of @atlee47, this film wouldnt have been possible and of course massy massy massy!!! Shah Rukh added, Sending my love to the team that toiled away to make this film what it is @nayanthara @actorvijaysethupathi, @deepikapadukone, all the Chiefs girls and @redchilliesent!! And thank you to the audiences for accepting our film with such love and happiness!!! #1YearOfJawan. Exciting news for 'Jawan' fans came with the announcement that the film is set to release in Japan on November 29, 2024. Shah Rukh shared this update with his fans, writing, The fire & action you all loved is making a massy massy massy arrival in Japan! On the professional front, SRK has lent his voice to the Hindi version of 'Mufasa: The Lion King', directed by Barry Jenkins, which is scheduled for a December 20, 2024 release in Indian theaters. He is also preparing to begin work on 'King', a highly anticipated film that marks his first on-screen collaboration with his daughter Suhana Khan. Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, the movie is produced by Gauri Khan and Siddharth Anand, with Abhishek Bachchan rumored to play the antagonist, and Abhay Verma in a significant role. Viral Video: In a shocking incident at a private hospital in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, a doctor was brutally attacked by the family members of a patient after he requested them to remove their slippers before entering the emergency room. The altercation, which occurred on Saturday in Sihor, was caught on CCTV and has since stirred outrage. The doctor, identified as Jaideepsinh Gohil, was attending to a woman who had suffered a severe head injury when the attack took place. As seen in the video footage, Gohil politely asked the family members of the patient to remove their footwear before stepping into the sterile environment of the emergency room. This simple request, meant to maintain cleanliness and hygiene, quickly escalated into a heated exchange. Young Doctor assaulted at Sihor hospital in #Bhavnagar district; Altercation erupts over removing shoes. A verbal altercation turned violent when relatives of a female patient were instructed to remove their footwear before entering the emergency ward."#MedTwitter @JPNadda pic.twitter.com/b91PU6eECD Indian Doctor__ (@Indian__doctor) September 16, 2024 Within moments, three men accompanying the injured woman identified as Hiren Dangar, Bhavdeep Dangar, and Kaushik Kuvadiya turned violent, lunging at the doctor. Despite efforts from the hospital staff and even the injured woman to defuse the situation, the men continued their assault. The scuffle left the emergency room in disarray, with medical equipment and medicines scattered across the floor. Authorities were called immediately after the attack, and the police arrested all three accused. They have been charged under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections 115(2) for acts intended to cause hurt, 352 for intentional insult with the intent to provoke breach of peace, and 351(3) for criminal intimidation. This incident adds to growing concerns about the safety of healthcare workers across India. Just last month, the nation was gripped by outrage over the rape and murder of a resident doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The assault in Bhavnagar has once again highlighted the urgent need for stricter laws and protections for medical professionals, especially those working in high-stress environments like emergency rooms. The hospital administration has condemned the attack and reiterated the importance of maintaining hygiene protocols in critical care settings, where even minor lapses can lead to severe health risks. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel following a series of pager explosions across Lebanon that killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000. The blasts, which primarily affected members of the Shia militia, occurred amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and have sparked international concern regarding further escalations in the ongoing conflict. Here is all you need to know about Lebanon pager attacks in 10 points: 1. Hezbollah has pledged to retaliate after simultaneous explosions of pagers used by its members rocked Lebanon, killing at least nine individuals, including a 10-year-old girl, and injuring approximately 2,750 others. 2. Lebanon's Health Minister, Firass Abiad, reported that more than 200 injuries are considered critical, with victims suffering wounds primarily to their faces, hands, and stomachs. 3. The Israeli military has refrained from commenting on the explosions, which occurred just hours after Israel announced a broader aim in its military operations to include Hezbollah along the Lebanese border. 4. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller indicated it was "too early to say" how the explosions might affect ceasefire talks regarding Gaza, asserting that the US was not involved and was gathering information on the incident. 5. The explosions represent a significant escalation, interrupting a period of relative calm following a limited Hezbollah response in late August to Israel's assassination of its top military commander, Fuad Shukur. 6. Hezbollah has held Israel responsible for the explosions, terming it "criminal aggression". It asserted that two of its fighters were killed, and the son of a Hezbollah MP also died in the blasts. Israel "will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression," a Hezbollah statement said. 7. Reports indicate that Iran's ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, was among those injured, adding another layer of complexity to the regional dynamics and potential for conflict. 8. The US continues to stress the need for a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing conflicts, linking the situation in Lebanon to the broader issues in Gaza, emphasizing that a ceasefire in Gaza could facilitate stability in the north. 9. Lebanese hospitals are currently overwhelmed with casualties from the blasts, prompting the Health Ministry to declare a maximum alert status and establish a field hospital in Tyre to accommodate the influx of patients. 10. The explosions have raised concerns about a potential large-scale military operation by Israel against Hezbollah, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly holding high-level security consultations following the blasts. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a telephonic conversation with his Lebanon counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib on Tuesday. During the phone-call, he blamed Israel for a series of pager explosions in Lebanon, labelling it "Israeli terrorism." Araghchi asked about the condition of Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, who was injured in the explosions, and thanked Lebanon for his treatment, CNN reported, citing Press TV. He offered solidarity with victims and expressed willingness to provide aid to victims. In a post to X, Abbas Araghchi stated, "In call with my Lebanese counterpart, strongly condemned Israeli terrorism. Expressed solidarity with victims--including a 10-year-old--and readiness to provide any aid. Also thankful for treatment of our injured Ambassador, emphasizing need for serious follow-up by Lebanese Govt." Araghchi also spoke with Mojtaba Amani's wife, ensuring Iran's support for his recovery and offering assistance for his possible transfer to Tehran. The phone call between Foreign Ministers of Iran and Lebanon came after at least nine people were killed and 2,800 injured in an attack that targeted pagers held by members of Hezbollah across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's health minister. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for pager explosions and pledged retribution. Meanwhile, Lebanese officials urged people who possess pagers to discard them. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have refused to comment on the matter. In its first statement after the explosions, the IDF said there were no changes in its advice to people. Following the pager explosions in Lebanon, Jordan on Tuesday expressed willingness to provide "any medical assistance needed by the Lebanese medical sector to treat thousands of Lebanese citizens who were injured." During the telephonic conversation with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi reiterated "Jordan's support for Lebanon's security, sovereignty and stability," according to Jordan's Foreign Ministry statement, CNN reported. Safadi emphasised the need to "stop the dangerous escalation witnessed in the region, through an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression on Gaza." Hamas blamed Israel for the explosions in Lebanon and expressed solidarity with Hezbollah and the Lebanese people, CNN reported. In a statement, Hamas said, "We, in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), strongly condemn the Zionist terrorist aggression that targeted Lebanese citizens by detonating communication devices in various areas of Lebanese territories, as well as civilian and service facilities." Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said that at least 170 people injured in the explosions in Lebanon are in critical condition, CNN reported, citing Al Jazeera. While addressing a news conference in Beirut, he said that the majority of those injuries are in the abdomen, hand, and face, especially the eye area. He further said that many hospitals in southern Lebanon have exceeded capacity due to the number of injured people coming for treatment. Over 100 hospitals in Lebanon -- largely in the southern suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon and the Beqaa valley -- received injured people. Earlier on Tuesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health directed health workers to urgently report to work considering the "large number of injured people being transferred to hospitals" after the pager explosions, CNN reported. Officials have also urged people to donate blood in anticipation of increased need. On September 17th, members of the terrorist organization Hezbollah suffered casualties when their pagers exploded, leaving nearly 3,000 people injured. Now, reports of new explosions through radio sets in Lebanon are emerging. Both incidents are being blamed on the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad. In today's DNA, Zee News analysed how pager bombs reached Hezbollah. Watch Full DNA Report Here For the past 24 hours, the world has been asking two key questions: Is Israel behind the pager and radio set explosions in Lebanon, and what technology was used to detonate thousands of pagers simultaneously? As always, Israel has not claimed responsibility for the pager attacks targeting Hezbollah members. However, global consensus seems to suggest that Mossad is indeed behind this attack, which targeted over 4,000 Hezbollah militants. Several theories have surfaced regarding the attack, but one seems more plausible than others: the idea that explosives were pre-planted in Hezbollah's pagers. How did Mossad carry out such a shocking mission? Read More: What Is A Pager? The tension between Israel and Hezbollah continues to rise. In response to Hezbollah's drone attacks, the Israeli military targeted senior Hezbollah commanders with missile strikes and bombings. Suspecting that their location was being tracked via mobile phones, Hezbollah shifted to using pagers. Around four months ago, an order was placed for 5,000 pagers for Hezbollah through proxy companies. Following the explosions, the Lebanese Defense Ministry issued a statement revealing that the pagers were manufactured by a Taiwanese company. However, the Taiwanese company clarified that the pagers were actually produced by a Hungarian company licensed to manufacture the brand. This has led to speculation that the explosives were planted in Hungary itself. According to a report by the American newspaper, The New York Post, the pagers were fitted with PETN, a highly lethal explosive, before reaching Lebanon. One major question remains: even if the explosives were planted months in advance, how were they detonated simultaneously? A new theory has emerged suggesting that a malware was embedded in the pagers, causing the batteries to overheat and explode, which then triggered the PETN. In intelligence operations, this type of sabotage is known as Supply Chain Infiltration." Mossad has been accused of conducting such operations in the past as well. Former president Donald Trump has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet him next week during his upcoming three-day visit to the US. While the Republican presidential candidate slammed India as an "abuser" on the issue of import tariffs, he described Modi as a "fantastic man". PM Modi will be visiting the US from September 21 to 23. Speaking on Tuesday at his first public appearance following the recent apparent assassination attempt, Trump said Modi will meet him next week when he is in the US. So when India, which is a very big abuser. He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic," Trump said, reiterating that India imposes heavy tariffs on imports. The former president revealed the information as he spoke about trade and tariffs while responding to a question at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan. He went on to say, These people are the sharpest people. They're not a little bit backwards...You know the expression, they're at the top of their game, and they use it against us. But India is very tough. Brazil is very tough.China is the toughest of all, but we were taking care of China with the tariffs. So we're going to do a reciprocal trade. If anybody charges us 10 cents, if they charge us USD 2, if they charge us a hundred per cent, 250, we charge them the same thing. And what's going to happen? Everything's going to disappear, and we're going to end up having free trade again. And if it doesn't disappear, we're going to take in a lot of money, he said. Modi will begin his trip with the Quad Leaders' Summit being hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. The summit will be attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. Modi will then travel to New York and address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22. He will address world leaders at the landmark Summit of the Future event at the UN headquarters the next day. Modi's visit comes less than two months before the US heads into presidential elections with Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the top job. The US general elections will take place on November 5. Military warfare has peaked with the countries adopting new and cutting-edge technologies. The pagers and walkie-talkies explosion in Lebanon has killed several while injuring thousands of Hezbollah militants and the workers. However, when the news of the pager explosion broke, many were surprised to find that pagers were still being used in the world where smartphones have captured the attention of people across the globe. What Is A Pager? Pagers, once a common communication tool before the rise of mobile phones, are small wireless devices used to receive short messages. Widely utilized in the 1990s and early 2000s by medical professionals, emergency services, and businesses, pagers played a significant role in instant communication. The same gained popularity among terrorists and security establishments due to their privacy feature as messages can't be encrypted easily. Hezbollah vs Israel In an interesting twist, pagers have found themselves at the center of military tactics during the conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. Israeli intelligence reportedly exploited bugged pagers to trap Hezbollah militants and explode them at the same time using single command. Though largely obsolete today, pagers once served as an essential communication tooland, in this case, a strategic instrument in modern warfare. Nebraska Wesleyan University is attempting to address Nebraska's brain drain with the launch of its new innovation and entrepreneurship degree. The new degree at NWU aims to equip students with the skills to thrive in the modern workforce and contribute to the states economic growth. "We want and need to be a part of the solution to the states brain drain issue," NWU President Darrin Good said in a news release. "Our innovation and entrepreneurship program will prepare our students to be successful in the workforce and help them keep their talents in Nebraska." NWU's degree offers students access to a network of innovators, entrepreneurs and alumni providing hands-on learning experiences, internships and networking opportunities. The curriculum focuses on critical thinking, problem-solving and real-world applications across areas such as science and technology disruption, sustainability, creative design, policy, business, marketing and sports. Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Sarah Spitsen brings more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience in Nebraska to her new role. "I really want to train (students) on getting in the habit of getting down to the root cause of issues, Spitsen said. Instead of putting Band-Aids on problems, we can really make some impactful change happen. The degree was made possible by a $2 million gift from NWU alumnus Philip Mullin, who transformed Garner Industries into a world-class manufacturer. "Every student that graduates the program will have something incredibly tangible on their resume, whether its a business theyre operating, a prototype theyre developing, or a process theyve implemented in an organization," Spitsen said. More than 35 companies throughout the Midwest have committed to participating in the program, providing employees as guest speakers or mentors. Classes begin this fall. The first introduction class called Innovation 1000 has already hit its capacity with 25 students, a large class size at NWU, according to Spitsen. I am really excited to move forward, because obviously there are a million things in the works, and I am very excited to see what sticks and how it evolves, said Spitsen For more information on the new Innovation and Entrepreneurship degree, visit the NWU website. Top Journal Star photos for September 2024 The new rooftops visible from U.S. 77 in southwest Lincoln represent a new model for affordable housing in Lincoln a whole neighborhood with a mix of affordable and market-rate apartments and homes, some for rent, some available to buy. There will be small parks and a fitness center, walking trails and community spaces eventually, but on this windy Tuesday, the new neighborhood was populated by a large group of elected officials, community leaders and housing advocates there to cut the ceremonial ribbon on the project. This is a comprehensively designed neighborhood with affordability as the core background and core component, Jake Hoppe, managing partner of Hoppe Development, told the group. Hoppe Development is the company that created Foxtail Meadows, a 600-unit mixed-income neighborhood near South Folsom Street and West Pioneers Boulevard. The first phase of the project includes 166 rental units that are a combination of traditional apartment and row homes affordable to families with incomes at 60% of the Area Median Income or below and are open for leasing. Eventually, there will be another 30 row-style homes for sale. Thirteen of them being built by Habitat for Humanity will be targeted to families at 60% of Area Median Income; 17 will be built in collaboration with Nebraska Housing Resource and Scheele Kayton Construction and targeted to families at 80% of Area Median Income. There are commercial lots available for a convenience store and small-scale commercial businesses, and the plans include future development of another 400 units affordable to families at 80% of Area Median Income. When Hoppe returned to Nebraska to work with the family business, he researched some cutting-edge urban design concepts that mixed scales of housing around walkability and various amenities, but none of them included affordable housing, he said. So they started looking for a place to create such a neighborhood. Part of the idea of that was questioning the paradigm that affordable housing had to be in sort of overlooked infill lots that werent suitable for market-rate housing, but ... could be in areas of high economic growth with sort of strong community infrastructure and that's what we found on this site, and what we were trying to experiment with," he said. They wanted to come up with the right mix of housing so that anyone would want to live there, but that also were affordable for lower-income residents, he said. They found a spot near Hope Community Church, 4700 S. Folsom St., and asked church officials how they felt about having new neighbors. Pastor Jon Garbison said Tuesday they are excited and promised to help make the new rooftops a neighborhood where everyone belongs and can thrive. We purchased this land over 20 years ago and at that point had no idea what would grow up around us, but we built a church right in the middle of this property and just kind of waited patiently, he said. Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said the city is pleased to have partnered with Hoppe Development on affordable housing a priority of her administration. Thanks to projects like this theyre ahead of their benchmarks to create or rehabilitate 5,000 affordable housing units by 2030, she said. The city contributed $3.74 million to the project, including $2.59 million in tax-increment financing, which allows developers to use future property taxes the redevelopment generates to pay for certain up-front costs; and $1.15 million from its affordable housing fund and an annexation agreement that included infrastructure improvements. Shannon Harner, executive director of Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, said the project also includes $26.7 million in federal and state low-income housing tax credits. An additional $1.5 million came from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. Other funding for the project came from the Lincoln Community Foundation, Community Development Resources and financing from a consortium of financial institutions. Developers also worked with Lincoln Electric System to provide solar energy. Fred Hoppe, principal of housing development, said Foxtail Meadows is one of the first neighborhoods in southwest Lincoln to make high-quality architectural design and first-class amenities accessible to families below the poverty level. "Foxtail Meadows represents a novel way of considering neighborhood development, where affordability is considered a community asset and is integrated in a new suburban neighborhood design," he said. "If we are going to address the affordable housing challenges of our communities, we have to build affordable housing at scale alongside market-rate housing, in highly desirable areas of town with strong schools, and supportive community infrastructure. This project delivers on these goals." Top Journal Star photos for September 2024 MOUNT PLEASANT If kringle fans need another special occasion to enjoy their favorite treat, O&H Danish Bakery is celebrating a milestone. The home of award-winning kringle marked its 75th anniversary in business Saturday by presenting patrons a virtual mountain of the beloved Scandinavian pastry. Fans lined up outside the bakery at 5910 Washington Ave. to sample special commemorative flavors prepared for the anniversary event. Greg Gottfredsen of Racine, who is partial to pecan-flavored kringle, said he keeps a stockpile frozen at home so he can bring some to family gatherings or other special occasions. Its the best, Gottfredsen said. Aint nothing like it. O&H Danish Bakery was founded in 1949 when Danish immigrant Christian Olesen settled in Racine and introduced southeastern Wisconsin to his unique Nordic variation on pretzels. The business, which helped to make kringle part of Racines identity, is operated today by Olesens great-grandson, along with a team of bakers who produce 18 kringle varieties at five different locations. Company President Peter Olesen said marking 75 years in business makes him feel both proud and humble, knowing that his familys specialty is so widely appreciated. The best part about kringle, Olesen said, is that it is created for the specific purpose of sharing with other people. As a result, the oval-shaped delicacy has become a staple at weddings, birthdays and holiday celebrations. Weve been fortunate to be a part of so many special moments, he said. Olesen recently took over O&H after the retirement of his father, Eric Olesen, who continues as president emeritus. Peter Olesen credited the companys longevity to its core values of working hard, treating employees well, caring for customers and striving for perfection. O&H currently produces kringle with fillings that include cherries, blueberries, apples, almonds, cheesecake, custard, raspberries, pecans, cinnamon and other combinations. For the anniversary event, bakers rolled out four varieties commemorating different periods in the companys evolution: apricot sugar, pineapple pecan, custard almond poppyseed, and cherry almond macaron. Employees made hundreds for the throngs of customers, friends and supporters who turned out for Saturdays celebration at the Mount Pleasant headquarters. Employee Terri Mason, who has been with O&H for 36 years, said she knows many customers by name, and she enjoyed seeing the community gather to celebrate Racines renowned morsel. Something about kringle just seems to make people happy, she said. Look at these smiling faces, she said. Who doesnt love kringle? Photos: Kringle fans indulge at O&H Danish Bakery anniversary event Employee Sadie Griffiths serves up kringle during O&H Bakery's anniversary event Peter Olesen with his son, Nolan, 2, at O&H Danish Bakery anniversary Guitarist MIke Gleason of the band North Cape Express entertains at O&H Bakery Kringle samples at O&H Danish Bakery during the company's 75th anniversary event Nikki Capece and her daughter, Elowyn, 15 months, enjoy kringle at O&H Danish Bakery Greg Gottfredsen enjoys kringle at O&H bakery's 75th anniversary event Sandy Caprile and Lisa Edmunds load up on kringle at O&H Danish Bakery in Mount Pleasant O&H Danish Bakery headquarters at 5910 Washington Ave. in Mount Pleasant RACINE The Republican National Committee announced Tuesday that it is suing the City of Racine for allegedly failing to hire the appropriate number of Republican election inspectors for the Aug. 13 primary. Racine deliberately excluded Republicans and violated the law, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in the news release. We are suing to hire the number of Republicans that Wisconsin law requires, stop Democrat interference and uphold election integrity for our countrys most important election. Two Republican community members filed the lawsuit in Racine County Circuit Court on Sept. 13 alleging that they were appointed by Common Council to serve as election inspectors but were not scheduled for service during the August primary. The lawsuit specifically names City Clerk Tara McMenamin as responsible for the breach of Wisconsin statute. The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction that would prohibit the city clerk from violating the state election law in question. It also seeks to ensure that the two Republican plaintiffs, as well as the rest of the Republicans approved for work as elections inspectors in 2023, be allowed to serve as such during the Nov. 5 general election. The City of Racine is committed to hiring election officials who meet all statutory requirements, irrespective of political affiliation, McMenamin said in a statement. In anticipation of potential increases in meritless litigation leading up to the presidential election, we are steadfast in maintaining consistent standards. We will continue to adhere to all state and federal laws and provide comprehensive training to ensure that all election officials are fully qualified and well-prepared to serve City residents on this upcoming Election Day. Documents attached to the lawsuit show both major parties submitted lists of nominees to Common Council in accordance with state law. On Dec. 5, 2023, the council approved and appointed the nominees to serve as election inspectors for a two-year term. The Republican Party of Racine County nominated 55 individuals, and the Democratic Party nominated 40. According to an open records request filed by the law firm suing the city, eight Republicans, seven Democrats and 90 unaffiliated individuals worked at polling locations across the city on Aug. 13. The allegations assert that Wisconsin law requires all available election inspection positions be first filled by workers who are affiliated with the two major parties. Guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission echoes this. When there are no more eligible, partisan election inspector nominees, the city can appoint unaffiliated individuals to serve. Appointments must be made from the lists submitted by the parties for as long as election inspector positions are available, reads WECs Election Administration Manual. If party lists have been timely received, positions must be filled from the lists until the names on those lists have been depleted. The Wisconsin Elections Commission did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday. The allegations come just a week after the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral arguments concerning a case alleging Racines use of a mobile voting van in a 2022 primary election violated state law. The mobile van allowed voters to cast absentee ballots in the two weeks leading up to the election, according to a report from the Associated Press. McMenamin said that the intention behind the mobile van was to make voting accessible to as many voters as possible. 1. Yes. They look better and require less maintenance. Most high-end housing areas have them. 2. Yes. Wood fences can weather and look unsightly, plus masonry walls help to block sound. 3. No. Residents should have a choice of what kind of barriers are put up near their homes. 4. No. Allowing a variety of materials will be better for aesthetics, and costs may be lower. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say. Masonry walls may be sturdier, but mandating them is problematic. Vote View Results On 17 September Chilean police searched the home of, a justice on the supreme court who has been suspended over her alleged involvement in the Audios case a corruption and influence peddling scandal that has shaken Chiles judicial and political circles. End of preview - This article contains approximately 358 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options On 17 September Colombias Presidentsaid that a suspected attack earlier that day by the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) guerrilla group on a military base in the eastern department of Arauca has brought peace talks with the ELN to a bloody close. End of preview - This article contains approximately 588 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options United States law bans noncitizens from voting in federal elections, such as elections for president, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Like many states, Pennsylvania also bans noncitizens from voting in elections for state offices. A 1996 federal law permits fines and imprisonment for up to a year for noncitizens who vote in federal elections. Violators can also be deported. When people in the U.S. register to vote, they swear officially that they are U.S. citizens. In Pennsylvania, as in other states, people must meet requirements, including citizenship, to register to vote. The state constitution says a voter must "have been a citizen of the United States at least one month." They also have to prove that they live in the state and voting district. Ellen Lyon is a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State. Lyon said, if a noncitizen did try to vote in a Pennsylvania election, they would face punishment, including imprisonment and deportation. The department is "not aware of any instances of noncitizens registering to vote or voting in any recent elections," Lyon said in an email to The Associated Press (AP). Ron Hayduk is a political science professor at San Francisco State University in California who studies voting laws for noncitizens. He said that studies show noncitizens are not illegally voting in big numbers. There have been some reports of noncitizens illegally casting ballots, Hayduk said, but such incidents are very rare. The Brennan Center for Justice is a research group at New York University. In 2017, the group studied 42 voting areas across the United States in the 2016 election. It reported that of 23.5 million votes cast, election officials found about 30 cases of possible noncitizen voting that they referred, or reported, to law enforcement. The state of Georgia examined its voter lists in 2022 and found fewer than 2,000 times when noncitizens tried to register to vote over the last 25 years. None of those people were registered because they did not qualify. Millions of new Georgia voters registered during that time. In 2017, Pennsylvania said that it had to fix a mistake that permitted noncitizen immigrants to register to vote when getting a driver's license. State election officials said noncitizen immigrants might have cast 544 ballots illegally out of more than 93 million ballots in elections dating back 18 years, going back to 2000. Daniel Mallinson is an associate professor of public policy and administration at Penn State University in central Pennsylvania. He said claims that noncitizens are voting in large numbers have been "clearly debunked over and over and over again." The AP says no state constitutions clearly permit noncitizens to vote. But some cities and towns in the states of California, Maryland and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, do permit voting by noncitizens in some local elections such as for school board and city council. Im Jill Robbins. The Associated Press reported this story. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. ______________________________________________ Words in This Story deport v. to force (a person who is not a citizen) to leave a country district n. an area set up by a government for a special purpose aware adj. to know about something or to know that it exists cast v. to officially complete a ballot and offer it in an election license n. a document that gives the holder permission to do something like operate a vehicle debunk v. to show that something (such as a belief or theory) is not true; to show the falseness of (a story, idea, statement, etc.) What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments Section. Some police departments in the United States are experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help them produce incident reports. Police officers who have tried the AI chatbots praise the technology as a time-saver. Yet some government lawyers, legal experts, and others have expressed concerns about the AI-produced reports. A game changer One chatbot police are testing uses the same technology as ChatGPT. The company that sells it, Axon, is best known for developing the electroshock weapon called the Taser. It is also the leading supplier of body cameras in the U.S. Matt Gilmore is a police officer in Oklahomas capital, Oklahoma City. He describes the AI chatbot as a game changer for police work. Recently, Gilmore and his police dog, Gunner, searched for a group of suspects for almost an hour. In the past, after completing a search, the officer would spend another 30 to 45 minutes writing up a report about the incident. But this time he used AI. The tool considered all the sounds and radio talk recorded by the microphone attached to Gilmores body camera. Then it produced a report. The process took eight seconds. It was a better report than I could have ever written, and it was 100 percent accurate. It flowed better, Gilmore said. The report even documented an event he did not remember: Another officer identifying the color of the car from which the suspects fled. The new AI product is called Draft One. Axons founder and CEO Rick Smith said it received the most positive reaction of any tool the company has offered. They become police officers because they want to do police work, and spending half their day doing data entry is just a tedious part of the job that they hate, Smith said. But he also noted legal and ethical concerns about the tool. He said government lawyers prosecuting criminal cases want to be sure that police officers are responsible for writing their reports. Sometimes, officers are called to testify in court about cases they worked on. Prosecutors never want to get an officer on the stand who says, well, The AI wrote that, I didnt, Smith said. AI technology concerns AI technology is not new to police agencies. American police already use such tools to read license plates, identify suspects faces, recognize the sounds of gunshots, and predict where crimes will happen. In Oklahoma City, police showed the tool to local prosecutors before using it for criminal cases. The lawyers advised the police to be careful with the tool. For now, it is used only for minor incident reports that do not lead to arrests. So no arrests, no felonies, no violent crimes, said Oklahoma City police Captain Jason Bussert, the head of information technology for the 1,170-officer department. Police in the city of Lafayette, Indiana, have a different policy on the new tool. Police Chief Scott Galloway told the Associated Press that officers can use Draft One for every incident. He said the tool is very popular with the city force. It began using the tool earlier this year. Police in Fort Collins, Colorado, are also permitted to use the AI tool on any kind of report. However, the head of the forces technology department said the tool does not work well in very noisy parts of the city. Axon will not say how many police departments are using Draft One. Other companies including Policereports.ai and Truleo offer similar tools. Experts and police officials expect AI-generated reports to become more common in the coming months and years. Some experts and observers are calling for public discussion about the use of AI tools to write police reports. Chatbots that use AI technology are not mistake-free. Sometimes these chatbots can produce false information. That issue worries Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at American University. I am concerned that automation and the ease of the technology would cause police officers to be sort of less careful with their writing, he said.. Ferguson said a police report is important in determining whether an officers suspicion supports someones loss of liberty. It is sometimes the only testimony a judge sees in a court case, particularly for minor crimes known as misdemeanors. Human-created police reports also have problems, Ferguson noted. He said it is not yet known which kind of report writer, human or AI, is more dependable. Im John Russell. Sean Murphy and Matt OBrien reported on this story for the Associated Press. Quiz - US Police Try AI for Help with Crime Reports Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ___________________________________________ Words in This Story prosecutor n. an attorney who conducts proceedings in a court on behalf of the government tedious adj. tiresome, boring felony n. a serious crime for which the punishment in federal law may be death or imprisonment for more than one year automation n. automatically controlled operation of a process, or system by electronic devices that take the place of human labor The government anticipates that Chinas National Day Golden Week holiday will be the next peak period for Macau tourist arrivals, forecasting an average of 100,000 visitors per day. Golden Week in mainland China will last for seven days from Oct. 1 to 7. After the Spring Festival Golden Week and the May Day Golden Week, National Day Golden Week is considered the third most important period for tourism in the annual calendar. In a recent interview with local media, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), stated, This years National Day Golden Week will be marked by an international fireworks display, which is expected to attract more tourists to Macau. She added, Although the government has not yet compiled the statistics, we hope that the National Day Golden Week will attract a daily average of 100,000 visitors to Macau. According to the governments provisional figures, Macau saw 3.66 million visitor arrivals in August, reflecting a 13% increase over the same period last year. Senna Fernandes described summer holiday visitor numbers as very encouraging, with a daily average of 118,000 arrivals in August. This exceeds the daily average of 117,000 during the same period in 2019. MGTO data shows Macau welcoming nearly 6.685 million visitor arrivals during this years summer holiday months of July and August, with a combined daily average of 108,000 arrivals. During last years National Day Golden Week, which lasted for eight days from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, Macau recorded a total of 931,000 visitor arrivals, averaging around 116,000 visitors per day. The travel industry anticipates this years figure could surpass that, suggesting MGTOs forecast may be conservative. Additionally, the Mid-Autumn Moon Night Fun festival kicked off yesterday at Areia Preta Park, attracting a lively crowd. Activities included lantern riddle guessing and a grapefruit peeling competition, delighting participants of all ages. The event was held at 203 Estrada de Marginal da Areia Preta. Children expressed excitement about their plans, with one mentioning a family dinner followed by lantern play with friends. Another shared that her parents brought her to the festival after school to enjoy the festive atmosphere. Hosted by the Amizade dos Moradores da zona de Nordeste de Macau, the event aims to foster community connections and create a harmonious neighborhood during this cherished festival season. In China, the country expected to see an average of 1.8 million daily cross-border trips around this years Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, a 21.9% increase from the same period last year, official data shows. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of Chinas most important traditional holidays. Taking place annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, it will be observed on Sept. 17 this year. Nadia Shaw Some public figures are honored with namesake buildings or monuments. Veteran broadcaster Connie Chung has a strain of marijuana and hundreds of Asian American women as legacies. Chung was contacted five years ago by a fellow journalist, Connie Wang, whose Chinese immigrant parents gave her the chance as a preschooler to pick an Americanized first name. She thought of Connie, after the pretty woman she saw on TV, and also suggested some random cartoon characters. Her parents chose wisely. After reaching college, Wang learned she was part of a special sorority. There were all sorts of Asian American Connies around her, many given the name by parents who saw Chung as a smart, accomplished woman whose professional success their daughters could aspire to. Until Wang told her this, Chung had no idea. I was flabbergasted, she said. Im not a crybaby, and I really bawled. Clearly, a career in television news had a greater impact than she knew. Chung, now 78, tells stories about her life in a new memoir 10 years in the writing and on sale Tuesday, titled what else? Connie. She dishes and names names Chungs career took her from Washington reporting for a fabled CBS News bureau in the 1970s through anchor jobs in Los Angeles and at NBC News and an ill-fated partnership with Dan Rather at the CBS Evening News in the 1990s to dodging the Barbara Walters-Diane Sawyer rivalry at ABC News. She dishes and, yes, names names. The presidential candidate who made a pass at her. The actor who gravitated to Asian women. The male anchor (not Rather) who long held a grudge against her. Off the air for several years now, she lives a comfortable retired life with her husband, television personality Maury Povich. Between her absence, the Rather episode and a tarring with more of a reputation as a celebrity journalist than she ever wanted, Chung is often overlooked. Not by Wang and other Connies. Few Asian Americans had the name before Chung and few since, but from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, thats the Connie generation, she said. A frequent argument for diversity in the workplace is so young people can see themselves in prominent roles; rarely do you come across such a tangible example of its effect. Shortly after writing about the phenomenon, Wang said she personally heard from at least 100 Connies with similar stories, likely a small sample of whats out there. There was quite literally no one else like her, Wang said. She was very professional, she was tough but also beautiful. What drew my mother to her was also her style. She cared so much about her appearance. She always had to prove herself Chung was the 10th child the only one born in the United States of Chinese parents whose marriage had been arranged when they were 12 and 14 and met five years later on their wedding day. No son survived past infancy, so her father beseeched her to bring honor to the family name when she began her career. Instead it turned out to be Connie shortened from Constance that became inspirational. Quickly out of college and two years in local news, Chung earned a job at CBS, in part because there was pressure in the late 1960s and early 1970s to make television a little less of a white mans world. I always had to prove myself, Chung recalled. Every day was a test, because I was a woman and because I was a minority, but more because I was a woman. There were no skirts in my business. Her hustle earned respect, with her willingness to stay up virtually all night covering George McGoverns 1972 presidential campaign resulting in a scoop on his vice presidential choice. She had to prove herself to older men and dodge predators, once publicly rejecting a sodden suitor with a sly nod to an old cliche about Chinese food not keeping one sated for long: You dont want to go to bed with me, she said. Youll just be horny an hour later. She feels that young people need to hear stories about sexism and racism she encountered. Weve come a long way, but the thing that is disturbing to me is that we really havent come that long a way, she said. The sexism still exists. The racism for Asians has reared its ugly head in a most depressing way. Looking back, its important to me that women and minorities know that things have changed, but not enough. I cooperated a lot From the memoir, its clear that she remembers most fondly those days of covering hard news, from Watergate to Nelson Rockefellers brief tenure as vice president. Chung became a news anchor locally in Los Angeles and, in the 1980s, at NBC News. Yet she said she was saddled too often with what were considered womens stories, about miniskirts at the beginning of her career to celebrity profiles and tabloid fodder like Scared Sexless, about AIDS, at NBC. Too often, she says, she accepted assignments that she really didnt want to cover. Her reputation suffered. Secretly she agreed with some of the criticism, but it wasnt easy seeing influential critic Tom Shales call her Connie Fun. I never wanted to be called the b-word, she said. I never wanted to be called a diva. So I cooperated a lot. I think thats a Chinese thing and a woman thing. I was a double dose of dutiful, so it was as much my own doing by agreeing to do things that my higher-ups wanted me to do. She moved back to CBS News and, with Dan Rather struggling in the ratings as CBS Evening News anchor in 1993, was named his co-anchor. It seemed like a career peak, but Chung wrote that she had an inkling of what was to come in her first meeting with Rather, when he said, now you are going to have to start reading the newspaper. Chung writes in Connie: I wanted to believe I had been chosen because I deserved the job. I must have been dreaming. They wanted me to put a bow around Dan Rathers neck that would make him appear friendly and cuddly and normal. But instead, it was I who ended up in a noose. The partnership lasted two years before Chung got the ax. She chose not to accept CBS offer of a face-saving role, instead throwing herself into raising Matthew, the infant she and Povich adopted. Later moving on to ABC News, she found some satisfying work with some newsier investigations, ones where she didnt have to get involved in the titanic struggles between Sawyer and Walters. She accepted a prime-time anchors job at CNN, but that proved short-lived. Her TV career was winding down. She has one more namesake Chung recently found out, from her niece, about her other namesake the Connie Chung strain of marijuana. Ever the journalist, she dove into research, finding a pack of five pre-rolled joints available online for $22. Asked if Connie Chung has tried the Connie Chung brand, she politely demurred, then later volunteered that she hadnt smoked marijuana since college, effectively answering the question. But she took pride in reading about the characteristics of Chung weed. Im easy to grow, she said. I create a lovely flower and one of my favorite parts is that Im low-maintenance. I find that very admirable, although I dont think Maury would agree that Im low-maintenance. DAVID BAUDER, NEW YORK, MDT/AP The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is shutting down two of its hard-won offices in China, The Associated Press has learned, a move that comes even as the agency struggles to disrupt the flow of precursor chemicals from the country that have fueled a fentanyl epidemic blamed for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. These closings reflect the need to harness DEAs limited and strained resources to target where we can make the biggest impact in saving American lives, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told agents in an email last week that also included plans to close a dozen other offices worldwide to trim DEAs current footprint of 93 offices in 69 countries. Though rumored for months, it was unclear exactly why DEA is shutting down its offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou, leaving only those in the capital Beijing and the autonomously-governed city of Hong Kong, and how that could affect its efforts on fentanyl. DEA said only that the move followed a data-driven process intended to maximize the agencys impact. Americans have a right to know why this decision was made and where DEA intends to reallocate taxpayers hard-earned dollars, said Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. DEA veterans say it marked yet another setback in the often-halting cooperation between the two geopolitical rivals. Even though China has added dozens of fentanyl-producing chemicals to its list of controlled substances and warned companies against shipping them, the country remains the worlds largest source of precursors in a fentanyl crisis blamed for nearly 100,000 U.S. deaths a year. We need to work with the Chinese and get them to help stop the flow of precursor chemicals, said Mike Vigil, a former head of DEAs foreign operations, and its hard to develop those relationships with less representation in the country. It took years of U.S. requests before China even agreed to allow the DEA to open offices outside of the capital of Beijing in 2017. Hopes were high for its two-agent office in Guangzhou, a major center for trade and organized crime, and a similar outpost in Shanghai, the countrys financial hub. But a U.S. official familiar with the closures who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter said Chinas cooperation was largely in name only, and that the agents assigned to the field offices faced difficulties obtaining visas and numerous restrictions as U.S.-China relations soured. China suspended anti-narcotics cooperation in 2022 in retaliation for then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan. Those efforts appeared to improve more recently, however, following President Joe Bidens meeting last year in San Francisco with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The DEAs Milgram traveled to China in January with Todd Robinson, the top anti-narcotics official at the State Department. A few months later, authorities in Beijing arrested a Chinese national who fled the U.S. after being named in a criminal indictment out of Los Angeles federal court for fentanyl trafficking. Milgram has increasingly emphasized how such cooperation could help disrupt Chinas trade in precursors and its role as a magnet for the laundering of illegal drug proceeds worldwide. This work has been constructive so far, but I believe its too early to know whether well see the results that we want to see, Milgram told a congressional panel earlier this year. If we could stop the flow of precursors from China, we could have a significant impact. China would not comment on what it said was a DEA internal matter. However, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for Chinas Embassy in Washington, praised recent cooperation between the two countries on fentanyl, citing the recent visit to DEA headquarters by a delegation led by the director general of the Chinese Narcotics Control Bureau. China hopes that, the U.S. side can work with China in the same direction and continue the pragmatic counter-narcotics cooperation based on mutual respect, managing differences and mutual benefits. Collectively, the 14 offices DEA has slated to close account for more than 100 agents and employees, and include some, including in Russia, Cyprus and Indonesia, that are home to flourishing criminal underworlds with connections to Latin American cartels who smuggle the bulk of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl sold in the U.S. Other offices slated to close are: Bahamas, Egypt, Georgia, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Senegal. Milgram also announced plans to open offices in Albania and Jordan. The actions come 18 months after an outside review of the DEAs global footprint that followed an AP investigation into a foreign corruption scandal involving Jose Irizarry, a disgraced former DEA agent in Colombia who confessed to skimming millions of dollars from drug money laundering operations to fund a worldwide joyride of partying and prostitutes. That review noted the now-50-year-old agency had never conducted such an assessment to reflect changing threats, and recommended a rightsizing of resources to fight fentanyl. Four of the offices slated to close the Bahamas, Haiti, Myanmar and Nicaragua are in countries that, along with China, were designated by the White House as major drug producing or transit zones. JOSHUA GOODMAN & JIM MUSTIAN, MDT/AP Time seems to stop here. Women sit in a small circle, quietly, painstakingly stitching patterns on balls the size of an orange, a stitch at a time. At the center of the circle is Eiko Araki, a master of the Sanuki Kagari Temari, a Japanese traditional craft passed down for more than 1,000 years on the southwestern island of Shikoku. Each ball, or temari, is a work of art, with colorful geometric patterns carrying poetic names like firefly flowers and layered stars. A temari ball takes weeks or months to finish. Some cost hundreds of dollars (tens of thousands of yen), although others are much cheaper. These kaleidoscopic balls arent for throwing or kicking around. Theyre destined to be heirlooms, carrying prayers for health and goodness. They might be treasured like a painting or piece of sculpture in a Western home. The concept behind temari is an elegant otherworldliness, an impractical beauty that is also very labor-intensive to create. Out of nothing, something this beautiful is born, bringing joy, says Araki. I want it to be remembered there are beautiful things in this world that can only be made by hand. Natural materials The region where temari originated was good for growing cotton, warm with little rainfall, and the spherical creations continue to be made out of the humble material. At Arakis studio, which also serves as head office for temaris preservation society, there are 140 hues of cotton thread, including delicate pinks and blues, as well as more vivid colors and all the subtle gradations in between. The women dye them by hand, using plants, flowers and other natural ingredients, including cochineal, a bug living in cacti that produces a red dye. Outside the studio, loops of cotton thread, in various tones of yellow today, hang outside in the shade to dry. The arduous process starts with making the basic ball mold on which the stitching is done. Rice husks that are cooked and then dried are placed in a piece of cotton, then wound with thread, over and over, until, almost magically, a ball appears in your hands. Then the stitching begins. The balls are surprisingly hard, so each stitch requires a concentrated, almost painful, push. The motifs must be precise and even. Each ball has lines to guide the stitching one that goes around it like the equator, and others that zigzag to the top and bottom. These days, temari is getting some new recognition, among Japanese and foreigners as well. Caroline Kennedy took lessons in the ball-making when she was United States ambassador to Japan a decade ago. Yoshie Nakamura, who promotes Japanese handcrafted art in her duty-free shop at Tokyos Haneda airport, says she features temari there because of its intricate and delicate designs. Temari that might have been everyday in a faraway era is now being used for interior decoration, she said. I really feel each Sanuki Kagari Temari speaks of a special, one-and-only existence in the world. Araki has come up with some newer designs that feel both modern and historical. She is trying to make the balls more accessible to everyday life. YURI KAGEYAMA, KAWARAMACHI, MDT/AP Indonesian authorities said yesterday that they have arrested six people on drug charges on the tourist island of Bali since July. Four could face execution under the countrys strict drug laws. Two Thai nationals, Rachanon Jongseeha, 33, and his girlfriend Woranawan Wongsuwan, 31, were arrested upon arrival at Balis Ngurah Rai airport on Sept. 8, with 1.9 kilograms of methamphetamines mixed with ecstasy powder packed in 108 sachets of a fruit-flavored collagen drink, and 20 pills of the party drug ecstasy, according to provincial anti-narcotics chief Rudy Ahmad Sudrajat. Police later arrested two Indonesians on accusations of ordering the drugs from Thailand. All four could face execution by firing squad if charged and found guilty. Authorities also announced the July arrests of two European men on drug charges. A Latvian man, carrying 450.41 grams of hashish and 977.83 grams of marijuana concealed in his suitcase. Sudrajat said VS had a tattoo indicating affiliation with organized crime groups in the former Soviet Union. And a Swedish man identified by the initials SUE was captured on July 31 when police raided his villa in Gianyar, a popular tourist spot, and seized 201.28 grams of hashish. The Macau Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system has faced criticism for its slow return to service after Typhoon Yagi, raising concerns about its capacity to meet residents transportation needs in severe weather events. Lawmaker Ma Io Fong criticized the LRTs relatively weak capacity to resume operations compared to public buses, which undermines public confidence. Typhoon Yagi brought strong winds and rain to Macau, triggering tropical storm signal No. 8. While authorities downgraded the warning to No. 3, allowing bridges and buses to reopen, the LRT did not resume service until two hours later. Many frustrated commuters waited at the Barra station for trains as buses became overcrowded. The Macau Government had proposed a Macau transit policy in which the LRT would play a leading role and buses would play a secondary role. However, after the passage of tropical cyclone Yagi, the recovery capacity of the LRT service was relatively low and it failed to represent the appropriate transport capacity, said Ma. According to Ma, the delay in resuming LRT service may be due to the time-consuming need to conduct a thorough inspection of all outdoor facilities before operations can resume. With the opening of more LRT stations in the future, Ma expressed concern that post-typhoon inspections will take even longer, exacerbating the issue. Ma urged the Macao Light Rapid Transit Corporation to adopt electronic or other intelligent means of conducting safety inspections, to reduce the time required to detect and remediate issues. Victoria Chan Sands China Ltd supported the 19th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Macau Urological Association (MUA), held at The Parisian Macao last week. This event brought together over 250 experts from cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong, highlighting Macaus role as a hub for medical conferences and the Big Health industry. Founded in 2006, the MUA is Macaus first professional organization for urologists. Its annual meeting has become a significant event for professionals in the Greater Bay Area. Dr. Ian Lap Hong, chairman of the MUA, expressed gratitude for the support from local and international experts. Kris Kaminsky, senior vice president of Hotel Operations at Sands China Ltd., emphasised the significance of this event, stating, Our commitment to the MICE sector is deeply intertwined with supporting initiatives that drive long-term growth for Macaus economy and its healthcare ecosystem. Six panels of the lightbox show a myriad of activities that artist Reginald Baylor gleaned from talking to residents in the Allied Drive area. The lightbox, created by artist Reginald Baylor, is the third art project funded by the Verona Road reconstruction project. It is located at the top of Allied Drive. Three "action figure" murals catch the sunlight on their mirrored outlines. To see them well, one must be on foot rather than in a moving vehicle trying to negotiate the roundabout under Verona Road. The finished marsh mural, visible from the West Beltline Frontage Road near Whenona Drive, features birds and plants found in the Dunns Marsh Neighborhood. More than 50 people participated in creating the tile mosaic murals during five and a half months of workshops in the Dunns Marsh Neighborhood under the tutelage of artist Marcia Yapp, far left. Four girls who traced themselves at an earlier workshop point to their images on the finished mural located at the roundabout under Verona Road near McDonalds. These four girls made the tracing that resulted in the largest glass mosaic mural. In all, 77 tracings were done. Artist Elizabeth Doyle narrowed them down to 11 figures in five different murals. The mosaic tile Flora mural overlooks Britta Parkway and can be seen from the pedestrian/bike path on the south side of the Beltline, or at a distance from the north side of the Beltline. The Verona Road area "people mural" features people and typical activities in Marlborough Park and other locations in the Dunns Marsh Neighborhood. Shown here are dog-walking, soccer, basketball, a Little Free Library, a community garden, barbecuing and biking. Figures of three neighborhood children in action poses is one of five glass mosaic murals located at the roundabout under Verona Road near MacDonalds. The mosaic artist is Elizabeth Doyle. The Freedom tile mosaic mural, one of four between the Beltline Frontage Road and Britta Parkway, was designed by community mosaic artist Marcia Yapp and created by Yapp and community residents. Photos: Mosaic murals brighten new Verona Road intersection As part of Wisconsin DOTs Beltline/Verona Road project, several new public artworks are now on view, created over the past year by artists and community members. The works, "Abundance (2015)" by Marcia Yapp, "The Light Box (2015)" by Reginald Baylor Studio, and "Feed the Dream (2015)" by Elizabeth Doyle, were created with community participation through both the Allied Dunn's Marsh Neighborhood Association and the Dunn's Marsh Neighborhood Association. Locals, from young students to seniors, helped with both concept ideas and construction. The works were unveiled earlier this year and can be seen from various points near the Verona Road/ Beltline intersection. It's best to see them while walking, to appreciate the detail in the mosaics. Photographer Mary Mullen, president of the Dunns Marsh Neighborhood Association, extensively documented this public art process, from idea to installation. These are her images and captions, shared from hundreds of photos taken over a series of months. Lindsay Christians A judge on Tuesday ordered one of two inmates charged in connection with a Wisconsin youth prison counselors death this summer to stand trial. Online court records indicate that 17-year-old Rian Nyblom waived his right to a preliminary hearing and Lincoln County Circuit Judge Galen Bayne-Allison bound him over for trial. Nybloms attorney, Joseph Bauer, declined to comment when reached by telephone. The preliminary hearing is the step in the criminal justice process in which prosecutors must convince a judge enough evidence exists to justify a trial. Judges rarely end criminal cases at that stage, reducing the hearing to little more than a formality. Nyblom faces one count of being a party to felony murder-battery and one count of being a party to battery in connection with Lincoln Hills-Copper Lakes School counselor Corey Proulxs death on June 24. A 16-year-old inmate faces a first-degree reckless homicide charge as well as two battery-by-prisoner counts. According to court documents, the 16-year-old was upset with a female counselor whom he felt was abusing her powers. He threw soap at her, punched her and then punched Proulx, who fell, hit his head on concrete pavement and later died. The 16-year-old has been charged as an adult but The Associated Press is not naming him because his attorneys could press to move his case into juvenile court, where proceedings are secret. Nyblom told investigators that he knew the 16-year-old was upset with the female counselor and wanted to splash her with conditioner and then start punching her, according to a criminal complaint. Nyblom said about 15 minutes before the fighting began he got extra soap and conditioner from counselors and secretly gave it to the 16-year-old, the complaint said. Nyblom said that he didnt see the 16-year-old punch the female counselor but he watched as the boy punched Proulx and Proulx hit his head, according to the complaint. The Dane County Sheriff fired back on social media after two congressmen from Wisconsin questioned whether he failed to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, 26, was arrested Sept. 5 by Prairie du Chien police and accused of sexually assaulting a juvenile girl. He is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of domestic battery and one count each of strangulation/suffocation and physical abuse of a child. Chief Kyle Teynor announced that Coronel Zarate was taken into the Crawford County Jail and placed on detainer so the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can take custody since he is in the country illegally. Teynor also noted Coronel Zarate has a warrant out for his arrest in Dane County on charges of strangulation/suffocation, false imprisonment, battery and disorderly conduct stemming from an incident late last year in Madison. After Coronel Zarates arrest in Prairie du Chien, U.S. Reps. Tom Tiffany and Derrick Van Orden questioned whether the Dane County Sheriffs Office was noncooperative with ICE and whether they ever received a request from federal authorities to detain Coronel Zarate. Tiffany, of Minocqua, and Van Orden, of Prairie du Chien, in the letter noted the Dane County Jail, run by the sheriff, is listed by ICE as a non-cooperative institution. Sheriff Kalvin Barrett fired back on social media. In a Facebook post, Barrett noted that Coronel Zarate was never in custody at the Dane County Jail. This is an unsubstantiated and distasteful attempt to gather votes in a battleground state for the upcoming presidential election, he wrote. Spokeswoman Elise Schaffer said the sheriffs office does not have a non-cooperation policy in regard to cooperating with ICE. But she also said the sheriffs office does not notify ICE when an undocumented immigrant is arrested. She said its the federal agencys responsibility to figure out when undocumented immigrants end up in the jail. Its up to them to either get the information through the fingerprinting database or by looking at our in-custody residents, which is available on our website and on our app, she said. Once they submit the proper paperwork, the hold is placed and we inform them of the persons release date. ICE then has until 11 a.m. the day of release to pick up the person. Right now, Coronel Zarate is in the Crawford County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond. An initial appearance in the Dane County case is set for Thursday. The debate over Coronel Zarate brought to Wisconsin a national debate over immigration. Van Orden quickly blamed horrible democratic policies for unsecure borders. Last week, former President Donald Trump during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris made false claims about Haitian immigrants eating cats and other pets in Springfield, Ohio. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said five Japanese companies with substantial investments in the Philippines plan to expand their operations in the country in anticipation of the implementation of the CREATE MORE bill. DTI acting Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque identified the five companies as Japan Institute of Design and Promotion, Itochu Corp., MinebeaMitsumi, Aeon Co. Ltd. and Marubeni Corp. which indicated plans for expansion. - Advertisement - The bicameral conference committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives recently approved the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) bill which aims to lower taxes on domestic and foreign companies to 20 percent from 25 percent and eliminate value-added tax (VAT) on essential services. They said that the Philippines is very important to them now, and their business with the Philippines is growing, and they look forward to more investments in our country, especially now that the CREATE More Bill will soon be signed by the President, Roque said, highlighting the potential of generating more jobs for Filipinos. She said with the approval of the bill, Itochu sees significant potential in the Philippine food sector. Itochu Corp. has expressed particular interest in increasing the production and import of various food products from the Philippines, including dried mangoes, banana puree, and other processed fruits, Roque said. Roque was in Japan to inaugurate the Tatak Pinoy SME Hub at the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Tokyo. The first SME hub in Tokyo showcases a diverse range of Philippine SME products. Tegucigalpa, Honduras An anti-mining activist was shot and killed in Honduras, President Xiomara Castro said, vowing justice for the latest such murder in one of the worlds most dangerous countries for environmentalists. Juan Lopez, 46, was gunned down as he left church Saturday in the northeastern town of Tocoa, his widow Thelma Pena told AFP. - Advertisement - Castro condemned the vile murder in a post on the social media platform X late Saturday and said she had ordered an investigation. Justice for Juan Lopez, Castro wrote. Lopez, who belonged to the ruling Libre party, campaigned against open-pit iron ore mining in a forest reserve in the vicinity of Tocoa, where he worked in the town hall. In an interview with AFP in 2021, Lopez discussed the risks that he said environmental activists face in this poor and violent Central American country. If you start defending common interests in this country, he said, you clash with major interests. If you leave home, you always have in mind that you do not know what might happen, if you are going to return, said Lopez. At a recent news conference, the activist called for the resignation of Libre officials caught on video negotiating bribes with drug traffickers in 2013. That video recently ensnared Carlos Zelaya, a brother-in-law of the president. He resigned his seat in congress after admitting he took part in that meeting with drug gangsters. The UN country representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Isabel Albaladejo, urged investigators to consider possible reprisals against Lopez for his demand for a local mayor to resign for alleged links to organized crime. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had ordered protective measures for Lopez due to threats against him and other environmentalists from Tocoa. Fellow rights defender Joaquin Mejia paid tribute to the environmentalist, calling him a comrade committed to social change. Mejia accused authorities of failing to fulfill their obligation to protect Lopez. Honduran Attorney General Johel Zelaya said the reprehensible murder would not go unpunished, and paid tribute to Lopezs activism. His life was an example of struggle. He never gave up in his incessant battle, hand-in-hand with the people to preserve natural resources, Zelaya said on X. The NGO Global Witness says Honduras is one of the worlds most dangerous countries for environmental activists. In 2023 it was ranked third in the world for the number of killings of such activists at 18, tied with Mexico. The top two were Colombia and Brazil. The organization said that from 2012 to 2023, 148 environmental campaigners were killed in Honduras. They include Berta Caceres, a high-profile opponent of a controversial hydroelectric dam who was murdered in 2016. A council of Indigenous organizations co-founded by Caceres said that the Honduran state and Castros government were responsible for this new murder by not guaranteeing Juans life. DAVAO CITY Former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, a key figure in the 2020 Pharmally scandal during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was arrested in Davao City on Wednesday. The PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said its tracker team served an arrest warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan on September 12 at Laos house in Obrero, Davao City. - Advertisement - The graft charges stemmed from the complaint filed by former Senator Richard Gordon and Senator Risa Hontiveros before the Office of the Ombudsman over Laos role in facilitating about P4 billion in public funds into the Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation for the questionable purchase of medical equipment. Sandiganbayan First Division chairperson Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega set the recommended bail at P90,000. In August, the Office of the Ombudsman filed graft charges against Lao and former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III over the alleged illegal fund transfer during the COVID-19 pandemic from the DOH to the Procurement Service of the DBM (PS-DBM) The Sandiganbayan said the transfer of public funds for COVID-19 supplies was illegal and without basis. Duque earlier told the House Committee on Appropriations that former President Rodrigo Duterte directed the transfer of the funds. Publicly this was made by the President in our weekly meeting or talk to the people, Duque said when asked to confirm Dutertes role in the transfer of funds. Pharmally won at least P8.6 billion in government contracts for face masks and COVID-19 test kits during Laos term at PS-DBM. Some senators earlier raised questions if Pharmally was favored due to its links with Dutertes former economic adviser, Michael Yang. For her part, Hontiveros said Lao should be prompted to reveal the identity of the mastermind behind the corruption of COVID-19 funds. Time to face the music, Atty. Lao. It is time for you to face the cases against you, Hontiveros said in a statement. She said Lao and his associates have exploited and plundered public funds while many Filipinos suffered from illness, hunger, and unemployment during the height of the pandemic. Laos arrest, Hontiveros said, should serve as a lesson for those who misuse their positions of authority for nefarious purposes. No matter how much you hide and do magic, you cannot avoid your responsibility to the law and the people, the senator said. Editors Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Pharmally player Christopher Lao arrested in Davao. GLASGOW, United KingdomWhen the Taliban banned women from attending university in Afghanistan, Zahra Hussaini thought her dream of becoming a doctor was over. Now, she is continuing her medical degree in Britain. Coming to Scotland, it changed everything. It has given me hope for a better future, the 20-year-old told AFP in Glasgow, where she arrived last month to resume her studies. - Advertisement - I can become a doctor, I can become independent financially and I can serve my family, my community to the best of my ability, she added. Hussaini is one of 19 female medical students from Afghanistan who landed in Scotland on August 21 following a three-year campaign by the Linda Norgrove Foundation. Norgrove was a 36-year-old Scottish aid worker who was kidnapped by Islamist militants in Afghanistan and killed during a failed rescue attempt by US special forces in 2010. The foundation, formed by her parents in her name, said that the students had often been confined to their homes since the Taliban issued its ban on women studying at universities in December 2022. The Taliban authorities have implemented an austere interpretation of Islamic law since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US forces. Women have borne the brunt of restrictions that the United Nations has labelled gender apartheid. They didnt allow me to get my specialisation in Afghanistan, said 25-year-old medical student Fariba Asifi, who is also now studying at Glasgow University. Now I consider I am the luckiest person that I am here and I can continue my education and I achieve this opportunity to continue my education and follow my dream. Im so excited and Im really happy. The woman arrived in Scotland after the devolved Scottish government in Edinburgh amended funding legislation to ensure that they would be treated like Scottish students and be eligible for free tuition. A 32-year-old computer geek from Australia has been arrested on suspicion of being the mastermind behind an encrypted messaging app used by criminals worldwide to facilitate drug deals and order killings, local police said Wednesday. Australian Federal Police said the app known as Ghost was marketed as unhackable and was used by hundreds of suspected criminals from Italy, the Middle East and Asia. - Advertisement - But, unbeknownst to users, global policing authorities had hacked the network and were watching as the criminals discussed trafficking illicit drugs, money laundering, homicides and serious violence. Authorities finally made their move on Tuesday and Wednesday, arresting criminals from Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Australia including the 32-year-old mastermind of the app. Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle said law enforcement from nine countries had been involved in the international sting. Today we have made it clear that no matter how hidden criminal networks think they are, they cant evade our collective effort, she said. The policing agency is expected to provide an update on the matter on Wednesday. The Ghost app a kind of WhatsApp for criminals was created nine years ago and could only be accessed via modified smartphones that sold for about Aus$2,350 (US$1,590). The hefty price tag included a six-month subscription to the Ghost app and tech support, Australian police said Wednesday, and users were required to purchase an ongoing subscription. French Gendarmerie traced the creators location to Australia and joined forces with local police to target the platform. The apps creator regularly pushed out software updates just like the ones needed for a mobile phone but in 2022, Australian police were able to modify those updates and access the content on devices. For two years, authorities watched as Ghost became more popular and criminals exchanged messages including 50 threats of life which Australian police said they were able to thwart. In one case, police intercepted an image of someone with a gun to their head and were able to save that person within the hour, Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Kirsty Schofield said. Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner Ian McCartney said Wednesday it was a particularly serious challenge for law enforcement to get access to encrypted messages. Yes we have had success, but I think the threat and the challenge still continues, he said. There were 376 phones with the Ghost app installed in Australia. McCartney said the 32-year-old app creator from New South Wales lived at home with his parents and did not have a criminal history. The computer geek was driven by profit and was slightly surprised when police arrested him Tuesday, McCartney said. Schofield added that police had to act quickly given the man had the ability to wipe the communications on the system. So its very important that we could enter that house quickly and our tactical teams were able to secure him and the devices within 30 seconds of entry, she said. The 32-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with five offences, including supporting a criminal organisation which carries up to three years imprisonment. Another 38 people have been arrested across Australia. Exhibition To Launch in London on 13 September, With Equivalent Exhibitions to Follow in Over 10 Cities Around the World 18 September 2024, PHILIPPINES Global apparel retailer UNIQLO today announces the launch of a major global photography exhibition. Created in close partnership with internationally renowned photographic cooperative Magnum Photos, Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL will be held in over 10 major world cities, hosted in public locations over several weeks, and freely accessible to all. The global initiative launches in London on Friday, 13 September, with other participating cities to soon follow. Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL is a creative photography exhibition to tell a unique story. The exhibition features a curated collection of striking, joyful, profound photographs from Magnum photographers Cristina de Middel, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, and Olivia Arthur, who travelled to Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Romania to capture moments of PEACE FOR ALL-funded support activities from their own perspectives. The project is intended as a worldwide reflection on the value of peace, to showcase the real-world impact of UNIQLOs ongoing PEACE FOR ALL project. - Advertisement - The exhibition of 63 works, combining UNIQLOs power of clothing with Magnum Photos power of photography ideals, shows the impact of ongoing customer support for UNIQLOs PEACE FOR ALL charity T-shirt project, which in 2024 celebrates two years and over 1.5 billion yen (approx. US$10 million) raised to date. All profits from sales of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts are donated to three international humanitarian organizations UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), Save the Children, and Plan International whose ongoing projects are captured in the exhibition. The exhibition photographs shine a light on everyday lives of real people in Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Romania who are beneficiaries of funds raised through PEACE FOR ALL, powerfully illustrating how each partner makes good use of funds raised through the initiative. Moreover, Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL presents an important opportunity for UNIQLO customers everywhere to witness the positive impact of their kind participation in PEACE FOR ALL. Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL is set to launch first in Londons Kings Cross at Coal Drops Yard, from Friday, 13 September. This will soon be followed by similar exhibitions in other world cities, including New York, Tokyo, Hanoi, Paris, Milan, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Stockholm. More exhibition details will soon be announced locally in each city. New Designs Unveiled to Celebrate Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL To mark the collaboration between UNIQLO and Magnum Photos, three new PEACE FOR ALL designs will be available from 20 September at UNIQLO stores and through uniqlo.com, showcasing photos used around the world at Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL. Each design depicts moments of PEACE FOR ALL-supported humanitarian activities in Vietnam, Romania, and Ethiopia, as seen from the perspective of Magnum photographers involved in the exhibition. All profits from sales of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts are donated to international humanitarian organizations UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), Plan International, and Save the Children. Comments from photographers Cristina de Middel It is well known that creativity sits in our capacity to subvert the given order of things and the meanings we learned in our journey to adulthood. In my work, I reconnect to the absolute power that we are born with and use while we are still children. Its the same power that turns a folded piece of paper into a boat or a pencil into a rocket and I believe that looking at the world as a place you can change and modify is an essential skill to remind the next generation if we want to make a change. Working with these children in Vietnam gave me plenty of hope for what was to come and it was also a lot of fun. Olivia Arthur The most powerful tool that children have is their imagination. So I wanted to create a space where these children could come and express themselves and play with whatever came into their heads. There was a lot of giggling and some inventive creatures and poses. Lindokuhle Sobekwa I learn so much from the people I photograph. Working with people in Aw-barre Camp, Hope, Dreams, and Resilience became a central conversation I wanted my work to represent. I wanted to play with metaphors of the rainbow that symbolize hope and promise of a better time to come, as well as a powerful quote from one of the people I worked with. The image is set in a landscape on a border that separates the Ethiopian Jijiga from the Somali border, inhabited by Somalian refugees. On the morning of September 17, 2024, Malis capital, Bamako, was hit by attacks targeting a gendarmerie school in the Faladie district and a military zone at Bamako-Senou airport, where army drones are stationed. The al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the assault. Gunfire began around 5 a.m., lasting three hours at the gendarmerie school, while clashes at the airport zone continued into the afternoon. The Malian army stated that the situation was under control and launched search operations in the area. The attack coincided with the upcoming trial of suspects over the overpriced military equipment, tied to the presidential plane purchase scandal and who are detained at the gendarmerie school. JNIMs Katiba Macina claimed in two communiques that they had seized control of the military airport, caused significant casualties, and destroyed numerous vehicles and aircraft, including setting fire to the presidential plane. Videos circulated by the jihadists showed them firing into the airport and attacking empty areas. A few casualties were reported by the authorities, while Jnim claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on Wagners mercenaries and destroyed numerous aircraft and vehicles. According to eyewitness accounts, the attack left a large number of people dead, and dozens of wounded flocked to hospitals in the capital. This attack occurred a day after the first anniversary of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and shortly after a speech by Malis transitional president, Colonel Assimi Goita, who had declared terrorist groups considerably weakened. The assault demonstrated that JNIMs reach extends beyond northern and central Mali, shaking the security landscape in Bamako and other key cities. 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: In the early stage of implantation (Day 4.5), DP, EP2, and EP4 receptors are expressed in the luminal epithelium (LE), contributing to epithelial breakdown through the actions of PGD 2 and PGE 2 , produced by COX-2. By the later stage (Day 5.5), DP and EP4 receptors are found in the mesometrial and anti-mesometrial stroma, respectively, promoting decidualization in cooperation with PGD 2 and PGE 2 . Credit: Yukihiko Sugimoto, Tomoaki Inazumi, Kumamoto University A team from Kumamoto University has uncovered a new mechanism that could revolutionize infertility care by promoting embryo implantation. The discovery focuses on prostaglandin (PG) receptors in the uterus that enhance the critical process of decidualization, which is necessary for a successful pregnancy. This finding opens the door to developing new fertility treatments that target these receptors. Prostaglandins are bioactive lipids known for their role in the body's response to injury by causing fever and pain, but they are also crucial in reproductive processes like childbirth. Until now, the exact role prostaglandins played in embryo implantation was unclear. A research team led by Professor Yukihiko Sugimoto and Assistant Professor Tomoaki Inazumi, found that two types of prostaglandinsPGD 2 and PGE 2 produced in the uterus during the early stages of pregnancy, activate specific receptors, DP and EP4, to promote the formation of the decidual tissue that supports embryo implantation. The team discovered that when either the DP or EP4 receptor is stimulated, decidualization is enhanced, allowing the embryo to implant more effectively, further implying that both PGD 2 -DP and PGE 2 -EP4 receptor pathways compensate for each other's function. The findings are published in the Journal of Lipid Research. This discovery suggests that boosting these pathways with specialized drugs, called DP/EP4 agonists, could help women struggling with infertility due to implantation issues. Professor Sugimoto, the leader of the research team at the Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, said, "This approach may provide new possibilities for fertility treatments, offering hope to couples facing implantation challenges." This novel understanding of how PG receptors aid in implantation paves the way for innovative infertility therapies, potentially transforming reproductive medicine by improving the chances of pregnancy for many individuals. More information: Risa Sakamoto et al, Uterine prostaglandin DP receptor induced upon implantation contributes to decidualization together with EP4 receptor, Journal of Lipid Research (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jlr.2024.100636 Journal information: Journal of Lipid Research 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: Characterization of matched aneuploid and pseudo-diploid clones. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52176-x Two complementary studies from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, have extensively examined the characteristics of cells with an abnormal number of chromosomesknown as aneuploid cellsand raised findings that may advance new cancer treatments. According to the researchers, "A significant portion of cancer cells are aneuploid, and this trait distinguishes them from healthy cells. Our work focuses on the vulnerabilities of aneuploid cells, with the aim of promoting new strategies for eliminating cancerous tumors. In our studies, we found that aneuploidy increases the sensitivity of cancer cells to certain types of anticancer drugs." The studies were led by Prof. Uri Ben-David and doctoral student Johanna Zerbib from the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Professor Stefano Santaguida and doctoral student Marica Rosaria Ippolito from the University of Milan in Italy, along with researchers from both laboratories. Additional contributors included research teams in Israel, Italy, the U.S., and Germany. Two articles based on the research were published in the journals Cancer Discovery and Nature Communications. Prof. Ben-David explained, "In the nucleus of a healthy human cell, there are 23 pairs of chromosomeshalf from the father and half from the mother, totaling 46. One of the characteristics of cancer cells, which distinguishes them from healthy cells, is an abnormal number of chromosomes, resulting from improper cell divisiona phenomenon known as aneuploidy. We believe that if we can identify specific vulnerabilities of aneuploid cells, we can promote new cancer treatments that target these weaknesses and do not harm healthy cells. "About three years ago, we published a comprehensive study in the journal Nature, in which we classified approximately 2,000 malignant cells from various cancer types according to their level of aneuploidy, and examined how they respond to a variety of existing treatments. In that study we found new vulnerabilities of aneuploid cellshowever, the study had a limitation: because the cells came from different types of cancer, it was difficult to isolate the impact of aneuploidy itself from the effect of other genetic differences between the tumors." Consequently, the researchers chose to conduct a new study using human cell cultures that are all genetically identical (i.e., derived from the same individual). The researchers added a substance to the cultures that disrupts the separation of chromosomes, causing some of them to become aneuploid. Since the cells were genetically identical, the only difference between them after the procedure was the level of aneuploidyi.e., the number of chromosomes. To thoroughly examine the effects of aneuploidy, the cells underwent various characterization processes: DNA and RNA sequencing, measuring the levels of all the proteins in the cell, assessing the response to 6,000 different drugs, as well as a process known as CRISPR screeningsystematically impairing each gene in the genome to identify genes that are essential in the cells. The researchers noted, "In this way, an extensive and unique database of the characteristics of aneuploid cells was established, which can serve as a foundation for future studies, as well as for developing biological markers that predict cancer patients' responses to specific drugs and treatments." As part of the comprehensive survey, a mechanism called MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) was observed, which is especially crucial for repairing DNA damage in aneuploid cells. The study also showed that this mechanism is relevant for various types of aneuploid cellsamong them cancer cells in cultures and in human tumors. Prof. Ben-David said, "We found that aneuploid cancer cells increase the activity of DNA repair mechanisms due to the large amount of DNA damage present; and we discovered a mechanism that could allow us to exploit this characteristic to target these cancer cells." To test their hypothesis, the researchers disrupted the MAPK pathway in the cells and then examined their sensitivity to chemotherapy. The findings were promising: aneuploid cells in which this mechanism was disrupted were much more sensitive to chemotherapy (which causes DNA damage) compared to cells with a normal number of chromosomes. The researchers then sought to determine whether there is a correlation between this pathway and the clinical response of cancer patients to chemotherapy treatments. For this purpose, they relied on data from clinical treatments and experiments where human tumors were implanted in mice, and the results were clear: the higher the activity of the pathway in the aneuploid tumors, the greater their resistance to chemotherapy. The comprehensive characterization of aneuploid cells also revealed another significant finding: these cells, which contain more chromosomes than normal cells, also necessarily contain a larger amount of DNA, leading to excess production of RNA and proteins. The cell, seeking to compensate for this overproduction, attempts to silence and degrade excess RNA and proteins. Johanna Zerbib noted, "We found here another vulnerability of aneuploid cells, based on our hypothesis that these cells are more sensitive to existing drugs that inhibit protein degradation. To validate this hypothesis, we exposed cell cultures to such drugs and analyzed clinical data from patients treated with a drug that inhibits protein degradation in the cells. The findings supported the hypothesisaneuploidy increases the sensitivity of cancer cells to these drugs." Prof. Ben-David concluded, "In our research, we identified two significant vulnerabilities characterizing aneuploid cellscells with chromosomal changes that are commonly found in cancer cells. The first is a mechanism essential for repairing DNA damage, where impairment significantly increases the sensitivity of aneuploid cells to chemotherapy; the second is the increased degradation of excess RNA and proteins, which can be targeted, among other things, with inhibitors that are already in clinical use. "We also created an extensive database of characteristics of aneuploid cells that can serve for predicting cancer patients' responses to various drugs and treatments. We believe that our research findings will benefit many researchers, oncologists, and patients in the years to come." More information: Marica Rosaria. Ippolito et al, Increased RNA and protein degradation is required for counteracting transcriptional burden and proteotoxic stress in human aneuploid cells, Cancer Discovery (2024). DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-23-0309 Johanna Zerbib et al, Human aneuploid cells depend on the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway for overcoming increased DNA damage, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52176-x Journal information: Cancer Discovery , Nature Communications , Nature 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 In an opinion article published September 18 in Trends in Molecular Medicine, physician-scientists argue that with most placentas discarded after birth, placental pathology is underutilized clinically, should be a routine part of obstetric and neonatal care, and also deserves more research attention. "Placentas should not be considered a waste tissue," says senior author Mana Parast, MD, Ph.D., professor of pathology at University of California San Diego School of Medicine. "They can teach us a lot about not just what went wrong in a pregnancy, but also inform about subsequent pregnancies for the health of the pregnant person and baby." The placenta is critical for the exchange of nutrients and waste products between the developing offspring and the pregnant person. If the placenta becomes diseased, it can impact the parent and offspring, both during pregnancy and later in life. At its most severe, placental pathology can cause stillbirths, and this is the medical scenario in which placentas are most often examined clinically. However, different types of placental pathology are also associated with small birth size and neurological issues in infants, and with hypertension (preeclampsia) and other cardiovascular issues in the parent. "Placental pathology can potentially identify not just the cause of an adverse outcome in the baby, but also insight into why something happened in the mom, and what that means for their health in the future," says Parast, perinatal pathologist and director of the perinatal pathology service at UC San Diego Health. "For example, we're learning that a particular lesion in the placenta called decidual arteriopathy is potentially a marker for future cardiovascular disease in women, and other lesions can tell you whether preeclampsia or stillbirth is likely to recur in subsequent pregnancies." Examining placentas of preterm babies can also inform their immediate care by helping to detect fungal infections that would otherwise take days to identify. "Preterm babies that go to the neonatal intensive care unit usually receive antimicrobial antibiotics to prevent bacterial infections that might have taken hold, because premature babies don't have a very good immune system, but they're not given antifungals," says Parast. "Culturing for fungal infections in blood takes a few days, but if we quickly examine the placentas of preterm babies for signs of fungal infection, we can immediately alert the NICU team to add an anti-fungal to the regimen." Despite the wealth of information that they provide, placentas are underutilized clinically. To start to remedy this, the researchers suggest that clinicians begin by incorporating placental pathology into the care for complicated pregnancies. "There are hospitals in the United States where all placentas are examined by pathologists, even for uncomplicated pregnancies, and sometimes that evaluation prompts additional examination, but that definitely takes a lot more resources," says Parast. Though the implications of some patterns of placental pathology are known, others remain unclear, and very little is known about why these placental issues occur. For these reasons, the researchers say that placental research deserves more research funding and needs to be incorporated into prospective clinical trials. "Incorporating placental evaluations into ongoing clinical trials will provide even more information about how different placental lesions relate to the patients' current and future health, and the underlying pathophysiology behind these lesions," says Parast. "If placental pathology isn't incorporated into these trials, it's kind of like if a cancer trial was conducted without pathologythey would just be driving blind." More information: Incorporating placental pathology into clinical care and research, Trends in Molecular Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2024.08.002 Journal information: Trends in Molecular 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: BCL2 protein expression is enriched in AR-negative disease and associates with poor prognosis. Credit: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2024). DOI: 10.1172/JCI179998 Scientists have discovered that a protein linked to prostate cancer is associated with more aggressive diseaseit could be a new target for treatment and be used to help predict who will become resistant to hormone therapy. In new research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a team at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, showed that the BCL2 protein was abundant in a subtype of advanced prostate cancer which has stopped responding to hormone therapy. The researchers estimate that about 10% of people with prostate cancer have high levels of this protein. The team proposed a new treatment strategy to target BCL2a protein responsible for preventing cell death. A clinical trial for prostate cancer testing the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclaxa drug approved for types of leukemiawith the hormone therapy enzalutamide has already begun. Patients with high levels of BCL2 have a shorter overall survival Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is an advanced type of cancer which remains fatal, and new treatments are urgently required. In one of the largest studies of its kind, the researchers examined 427 biopsies from 245 patients with mCRPC in two independent cohorts. They found that patients with higher levels of BCL2 had a significantly shorter overall survival from the time of diagnosis of mCRPC, of 20.4 months compared with 53.0 months. In the second cohort, they found a significant difference in response to common hormone therapy treatments, depending on the cancer's level of BCL2. The PSA levela marker of prostate cancerfell by more than 50% in only 12.5% of those with higher levels of BCL2, compared with 47.6% of patients with lower expression of BCL2. The overall survival from starting therapy was also markedly different, at 9.7 months for those with higher levels of BCL2 compared with 24.3 months. Discovering potential alternative treatments However, the researchers found no difference in overall survival or PSA response when cancers were treated with the chemotherapy docetaxel, suggesting this could be a more beneficial treatment than hormone therapy for patients with high levels of BCL2. In the lab, the team attempted to target BCL2. They found the best anti-tumor response in cells when they targeted the BCL2 "family" of proteins togetherBCL2, BCLXL and MCL1due to the interactions between these proteins in the body. The researchers suggest that in humans, drug delivery technologiessuch as antibody-drug conjugateswhich target cancer cells specifically and spare healthy tissue, would be needed to safely target these three proteins together. 'Large disparity in outcomes' Dr. Adam Sharp, Leader of the Translational Therapeutics Group at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said, "We urgently need new treatments to help improve the quality and quantity of life for patients living with advanced prostate cancer. "Our results have shown that there's a large disparity in outcomes for people whose cancers have high levels of the BCL2 protein, and that their cancers respond less well to hormone therapies than others. Further research could provide evidence for more personalized treatment plans, as these cancers may respond better to docetaxel than enzalutamide or abiraterone. "The researchers Daniel Westaby, Juan Jiminez-Vacas and Ines Figueiredo, played a critical role in understanding the connection between the BCL2 protein and this subtype of prostate cancer, as well as uncovering the regulatory mechanisms of the protein." Professor Johann de Bono, Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said, "BCL2 is a protein that promotes cell survival, and we have shown that cancers with higher levels of the protein cause significantly worse outcomes for patients. "If targeting BCL2 proves effective in clinical trials, patients with advanced prostate cancer will be able to look forward to better, personalized treatments. Our research has also suggested a combination strategy for therapies which should be explored and may prove even more effective than targeting BCL2 alone." 'Finding ways to tackle treatment resistance is essential' Professor Kristian Helin, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said, "We know that while a drug may keep one person's cancer at bay for a long time, unfortunately it may quickly stop working in another person. Finding ways to tackle treatment resistanceand to provide alternatives earlier onis essential. "This research has helped to identify a subset of patients who might respond better to alternatives to hormone therapy, and who may benefit even further from a BCL2 inhibitor. I look forward to seeing tests which pick out these patients and am hopeful these findings will lead to new treatment strategies for patients with advanced prostate cancer." More information: Daniel Westaby et al, BCL2 expression is enriched in advanced prostate cancer with features of lineage plasticity, Journal of Clinical Investigation (2024). DOI: 10.1172/JCI179998 Journal information: Journal of Clinical Investigation 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: One potential model for specialised geriatric hospitals could be dementia hospitals. Credit: Jsme MILA /Pexels Australia is facing a surge in hospital presentations in older adults. Between 201516 and 201920, hospitalizations among people aged 7584 increased by an average of 3% annually, the largest rise of any age group. This growing demand places significant pressure on the health-care system, contributing to poor patient flow, extended stays in emergency departments (EDs), and even ambulance ramping. This is when paramedics are made to wait at the hospital's entrance and can't transfer their patient into the ED within an appropriate time frame. In response, some health system leaders recently called for the creation of standalone geriatric hospitals to specifically cater to the needs of older patients. But is this a good idea? While there may be some benefits, the call for specialized geriatric hospitals signals Australia's failure to provide adequate aged care. Geriatric care in Australia Across Australia, geriatric care is often delivered in hospitals as a sub-acute admission, in specialized wards, units and clinics, following the acute care part of a hospital stay. One pathway is geriatric evaluation and management services, which target the functioning of patients with age-related medical conditions, such as frailty and cognitive decline, after a surgery or other medical episode. In most states, geriatric evaluation and management services can also be delivered in the home. Looking at data from public hospitals around the country, we can see the level of services vary from state to state. We calculate that in 202021, geriatric evaluation and management services involving at least one overnight stay represented 45% of admitted sub-acute care in Victoria and 20% in South Australia, but only around 8% in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. These sorts of hospital-based services take a holistic view to assess multiple aspects of an older person's health, such as mobility, mental status, medication management, nutrition and social support, to tailor individualized care plans that help older people to live at home for longer, with a greater quality of life. On the flip side, lack of access to community-based aged caresuch as home care packagesis often thought to drive the need for specialized geriatric care in hospitals and longer hospital stays. We know the current waiting time for a level 4 package (the highest level) is nine to 12 months, though the government has pledged to reduce this with new aged care reforms. Without adequate support at home, older adults often end up in hospital where they can sometimes spend weeks or months awaiting a transfer to aged care. Pros and cons of geriatric hospitals A specialized geriatric hospital could be designed around the needs of older patients. This might include specialized medical and support services, but also a tailored physical environment, such as clear signage and quiet spaces. It's important to think about who would staff these standalone geriatric hospitals. Geriatric patients would still need specialists other than geriatricians, so this would necessitate cardiologists with a specialization in geriatric cardiology, for example. Alternatively, separating care in this way could mean geriatric patients receive lower quality cardiology care (and that of other specialties). Would additional capacity in a standalone hospital help with health system pressures? The simple answer is yes, but, as with adding any new capacity into the hospital system, if it unlocks unmet demand and attracts even more patients into hospitals from the community and aged care, then it would be unlikely to help with ED congestion. It's also worth considering whether a standalone hospital would include its own geriatric ED. It's unlikely an ED in this context would achieve the patient volumes EDs require to maintain quality and efficiency. But without one, transfers from existing EDs would further stretch scarce ambulance resources. So, would a standalone geriatric hospital be more cost-effective than spending the same budget required to build it, in other ways? By focusing on specific populations for whom the impact would be greatest, we could make the business case stack up. Dementia care: a potential focus for specialized hospitals Psychogeriatric carethe mental health care of older peopleis a prime example of where federal funding gaps fail patients. This is especially the case for people with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Families are not well supported in the community to manage the huge care burden, and community care is not tailored to provide appropriate support for these people. Consequently, patients end up stuck in the social safety net that is a public hospital bed. These beds often provide non-specialized care for dementia patients. Unfamiliar and overstimulating environments, coupled with staff who may misinterpret these patients' behaviors, only worsens challenging behavior. This in turn makes it harder for aged care providers to accept the person. Currently in SA, there are anecdotally 50 to 70 patients with symptoms suggestive of dementia stuck in hospital, with no pressing medical reason to be there, waiting for somewhere they can be safely discharged, such as aged care. Our experience is that, on average, the length of stay for these patients is 50 to 60 days and contributes to bottlenecks within the ED. These numbers will only grow as the population ages. A standalone dementia hospital could bring the states and Commonwealth together on care for people with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. It cannot replace residential aged care, but could help with the transition by improving the hospital experience for people with specific age-related needs. However, it would be essential to retain existing multidisciplinary approaches, such as geriatric evaluation and management services, to avoid isolating or segregating care for those who are already vulnerable. Improving existing hospitals for older people While the call for standalone geriatric hospitals may have some merit, ultimately it signals Australia's failure to provide adequate and integrated hospital and aged care. The Commonwealth government recently announced significant changes to aged care funding and new supports for home-based care. Existing hospital services would certainly function better with more options for patients to be referred to once their hospital stay is due to finish. The forthcoming Commonwealth Aged Care Act is expected to reform many aspects of the care of older Australians. But without further detail and cooperation between the federal government and states and territories, integrated service planning is impossible. In the meantime, existing hospitals could begin to recast themselves as places better suited to the needs of older people. 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: GS lens opacity is reversed during the hypothermia-rewarming cycle. Credit: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2024). DOI: 10.1172/JCI169666 Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their collaborators have identified a protein, known as RNF114, that reverses cataracts, a clouding of the eye's lens that occurs commonly in people as they age. The study, which was conducted in the 13-lined ground squirrel and rats, may represent a possible surgery-free strategy for managing cataracts, a common cause of vision loss. The study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. "Scientists have long searched for an alternative to cataract surgery, which is effective, but not without risk. Lack of access to cataract surgery is a barrier to care in some parts of the world, causing untreated cataracts to be a leading cause of blindness worldwide," said Xingchao Shentu, M.D., a cataract surgeon and the co-lead investigator from Zhejiang University, China. This new discovery was part of ongoing research at NIH's National Eye Institute (NEI) involving a mammalian hibernator, the 13-lined ground squirrel. In these ground squirrels, the light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina are mostly cones, which makes the ground squirrel helpful for studying cone-related properties, such as color vision. In addition, the squirrel's ability to withstand months of cold and metabolic stress during hibernation make it model for vision scientists to study a range of eye diseases. Researchers learned that during hibernation, the ground squirrel's lenses became cloudy at around 4 degrees Celsius but quickly turned transparent after rewarming. By comparison, non-hibernators (rats in this study) developed cataracts at low temperatures, but they did not resolve with rewarming. Cataract formation in hibernating animals exposed to low temperatures is likely a cellular response to cold stress and is one of many changes their bodies undergo as their tissues adapt to freezing temperatures and metabolic stress. Humans do not develop cataracts when exposed to low temperatures. "Understanding the molecular drivers of this reversible cataract phenomenon might point us in a direction toward a potential treatment strategy," said the study's co-lead investigator, Wei Li, Ph.D., senior investigator in the NEI Retinal Neurophysiology Section. The main job of the lens is to focus light onto the retina at the back of the eye. As we age, cataracts form when proteins in the lens start misfolding and forming clusters that block, scatter, and distort light as it passes through the lens. For reasons that are not clear, aging can disrupt protein homeostasisa process that maintains the balance of newly made proteins and the turnover of old proteins. To explore the ground squirrel's reversible cataracts at the molecular level, the team developed a lab-based, lens-in-a-dish model using stem cells engineered from ground squirrel cells by the Li Lab at NEI. Using this platform, the researchers zeroed in on a part of an extensive network that maintains protein homeostasis in part by breaking down old proteins, known as the ubiquitin proteasome system. Specifically, RNF114 was significantly elevated during rewarming in the ground squirrel, compared with the non-hibernating rat. RNF114 had previously been shown to help identify old proteins and facilitate their degradation. To look further at RNF114's effect, they again used a non-hibernator (rat) cataract model by incubating its lenses at 4 degrees Celsius. Normally, such cataracts would not resolve with rewarming. However, when the lenses were pretreated with RNF114, there was a rapid clearing of the cataract upon rewarming. According to the scientific team, these findings are proof-of-principle that it is possible to induce cataract clearance in animals. In future studies, the process will need to be fine-tuned so scientists can stimulate specific protein degradation to see how to precisely regulate protein stability and turnover. This mechanism is also an important factor in many neurodegenerative diseases, they said. More information: Hao Yang et al, Reversible cold-induced lens opacity in a hibernator reveals a molecular target for treating cataracts, Journal of Clinical Investigation (2024). DOI: 10.1172/JCI169666 Journal information: Journal of Clinical Investigation 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: University of Michigan Research from the University of Michigan suggests that one day a phone app could be able to detect the development of hepatic encephalopathy in patients just by listening to them speak. The resulting paper, "HEAR-MHE Study: Automated Speech Analysis Identifies Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy and May Predict Future Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy" was published in Hepatology. Hepatic encephalopathy, a brain dysfunction caused by the liver's failure to filter toxins out of blood, often affects quality of life in patients with cirrhosis. Minimal hepatic encephalopathy, a more subtle form of the condition, can portend overt hepatic encephalopathy, which can lead to complications such as comas. Minimal hepatic encephalopathy can lead to confusion, sleep disturbance and personality changes, among other symptoms. Despite its effects on quality of life, however, the minimal version can be hard to detect. "Ten to 20% of patients with cirrhosis could have minimal hepatic encephalopathy, but as a doctor you won't know it, because you would need to administer a psychometric hepatic encephalopathy-score test to diagnose them," said Patricia Bloom, M.D., assistant professor of hepatology at U-M and lead author of the study. "But that never happens in clinical practice, so these people go undiagnosed." A new idea Hepatic encephalopathy often also affects speech. Hoping to create an easier test, researchers recorded 200 patients with cirrhosis performing speech tasks. The recordings were then analyzed for hundreds of speech variables. Those analyses led to the development of a multi-variable model, called Hear-MHE, which was compared to verified psychometric tests to determine its ability to identify moderate hepatic encephalopathy . Hear-MHE was highly correlated with the validated tests and showed promise at predicting the time to development of overt hepatic encephalopathy. The speech tasks included a paragraph reading, a picture description and an animal naming test. The paragraph reading test proved the most effective, and its relative simplicitypatients are recorded reading for 3040 seconds, in lieu of a 1520-minute pen-and-paper testleads researchers to hope one day streamlined testing could lead to more diagnoses and better treatment for those previously diagnosed. "Let's say a patient had overt encephalopathy and you've started them on treatments, but you don't quite know how well those treatments are working," Bloom said. "Are those symptoms creeping back up again? This tool could potentially perform outpatient long-term monitoring to check on progress or detect recurring symptoms." The paragraph reading test has the additional advantage of consistency, allowing for easier comparison between a patient's tests or interpatient comparisons. Next steps for the researchers include testing the tool in larger, more diverse clinical settings to validate its efficacy at detecting hepatic encephalopathy. They also hope to develop an in-home web app version of the test that could be sent to patients via text message. "We are creating an app that patients can use easily at home," Bloom said. "We hope this app allows for earlier diagnosis of HE and improved treatment." More information: Patricia P. Bloom et al, HEAR-MHE study: Automated speech analysis identifies minimal hepatic encephalopathy and may predict future overt hepatic encephalopathy, Hepatology (2024). DOI: 10.1097/HEP.0000000000001086 Journal information: Hepatology This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain The accessibility of at-home DNA testing means that practically anyone can send away for a kit and learn about their family history, genetic ancestry and medical information. But some people get more information than they bargained for. According to some reports, online DNA testing has revealed secret fathers, incest, and the use of donor (egg, sperm and embryo) conception. These can all be emotional and distressing discoveries. Our ongoing research explores how the increased accessibility of online DNA tests affects donor-conceived adults, their parents and donors themselves. We have found that the combination of secrecy around donor conception, the continued (albeit partial) legislative support for anonymity and the rise of online DNA testing has led to growing numbers of people discovering they are donor conceived through late or shock discoveries. UK law on assisted conception, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, took effect in 1991, when there was a presumption that donation should be anonymous. Although attitudes have changed, the law still provides for donors to remain anonymous until any children born from their donation are adults. But the act only regulates the disclosure of information by the fertility regulator, the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Online DNA testing is a service marketed directly to consumers, and falls outside the HFEA's remitgiving people a way to circumvent donor anonymity and search for information about genetic relatives. In 2023, the HFEA consulted on modernising UK fertility law, acknowledging the disruptive effect of online DNA testing. Noting that children benefit from being told at a young age that they are donor conceived, the HFEA has proposed that the law should be changed so that donor anonymity is removed from the birth of any donor-conceived child, rather than when they are 18 (which is currently the case). This proposal would be a significant change, and the HFEA has indicated that a gradual approach may be appropriate. For now at least, online DNA testing will remain the only possible route to the information for many people. Why people want to know As our research has has found, for many people affected by donor conception, access to information about their genetic heritage is of great significance. People may be worried about hereditary medical conditions, or simply curious about their family history. And, for many donor-conceived people, knowledge about their donor is fundamental to understanding their identity. Unexpectedly discovering that you are not, genetically, who you think you are can have profound implications. One participant in our ongoing research said, "I couldn't look at my face in the mirrorI could [only] think, 'what the hell has happened?'. It felt like my whole childhood was a lie Every single thing I believed about who I was and what I was." The legal protection of donor anonymity feels wrong for many donor-conceived people. As one person put it: "My family history's been hidden from me my whole life. I've done nothing wrong. I'm just trying to find out who I am." Some feel there is no option but to use a DNA test to search for that information, but are conscious about upsetting others. The terms and conditions of online DNA testing providers vary, but often require users to be adults. However, age verification is typically limited to customers stating their date of birth. Providers often allow parents to submit a child's sample and manage their account. While participants described easily being able to circumvent age restrictions, deciding when to do a DNA test for a child was sometimes experienced as a moral conundrum: "It's still this balance of, does [child] turn round to me in 10 years, and [say], 'Oh, you gave away my DNA,' versus, 'Oh, you could have done a DNA test and I could have found my genetic family earlier.' I feel the weight of that." What are you signing up for? Often, simply by visiting an online DNA test website and browsing its pages, you agree to be legally bound by extensive terms and conditions. Many people don't know what they have agreed to, or what the full implications might be. For example, if you sign up for DNA services, your DNA sample might be stored in an overseas biobank (a large collection of human biological samples held predominantly for use in health and medical research). Your DNA data may be used for research or the development of commercial products, or shared with law enforcement agencies. In 2018, use of DNA databases helped solve the "Golden State Killer" case in California. Some countries have tighter privacy laws than others so what is permissible varies, and changes over time. Under new data protection laws in the UK and Europe, for example, sharing DNA data with law enforcement agencies is more tightly regulated now than in the past. Storing DNA data securely can also be difficult. 23andMe, one of the larger online DNA test providers, experienced a hack in 2023. Reports suggest that this data breach affected nearly 7 million customers, and an ongoing investigation is examining whether 23andMe had adequate safeguards in place to protect the highly sensitive information within its control. There are also potential issues relating to the reliability of online DNA testing for health and wellbeing purposes. Results might be inaccurate, or need interpreting to ascertain what the information means for the individual, sometimes causing stress and upset for no reason. If you decide to use online DNA testing, you should consider reading the legal information offered. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has published some guidance about what to look out for. Or, watch the following video produced by our colleague carrying out research in New Zealand: 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: Coen van Hasselt and Ilona den Hartog. Credit: Leiden University Effectively treating a severe case of pneumonia is often challenging. Identifying the pathogen behind it can be difficult. Ph.D. candidate Ilona den Hartog tried something new: "We searched for answers in substances our own body produces." Den Hartog's dissertation defense was Sept. 17. When someone is admitted to the hospital with severe pneumonia, doctors immediately administer antibiotics effective against various bacteria. Den Hartog says, "But in a significant number of cases, a virus is the cause, or it's a bacterium that's less or not at all sensitive to the chosen antibiotics. In both situations, the antibiotics don't work well. It's a shame that they are still given." It's a shame for the patient because the antibiotics are ineffective, and a shame for society as they can lead to bacteria becoming resistant to these commonly used antibiotics. A culture often doesn't provide a clear answer To identify the pathogen causing the pneumonia, doctors culture some lung mucus from the patient. The results take about two days and often don't provide a clear answer. "In more than half of the cases, the pathogen is never found, which makes it impossible to tailor the treatment further to the patient," says Den Hartog. "We wanted to fill that gap." Den Hartog's supervisor, Coen van Hasselt, received a grant from ZonMw to research this using the relatively new field of metabolomics. This research was conducted using a set of blood samples from pneumonia patients, made available through a collaboration with St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein. Van Hasselt explains that diagnostic tests have so far focused on finding bacteria to identify the cause of pneumonia. "We wanted to determine the cause through substances that our own body produces in response to the infection. Could we tell, for example, whether a virus or bacterium is involved?" Which organism is the pathogen? The researchers wanted to find out which organism was the pathogen and looked for clues in the substances our body produces. This required expertise from various fields. Van Hasselt comments that they needed someone who could bring all those areas of expertise together. "Ilona studied Biomedical Engineering and enthusiastically and pragmatically tackled the clinical problem of pneumonia in the hospital. She was the true linchpin." That network included expertise from the clinic, with previously collected blood samples from pneumonia patients. Den Hartog also collaborated with the Leiden Metabolomics & Analytics Center, led by Professor of Analytical Biosciences Thomas Hankemeier, who has extensive experience in identifying metabolites, i.e., substances produced by the body. Den Hartog says, "We identified 347 metabolites in blood samples from three groups of several dozen patients. These were people with a pneumococcal infection, an infection from an atypical bacterium, and a viral infection." Hopes for a rapid test Naturally, Den Hartog had high hopes of developing a simple test that could quickly and cheaply detect one or a few metabolites in the blood and immediately indicate the type of pneumonia. This would allow doctors to start the appropriate treatment straight away. "Although we did find three metabolites that provide relevant information, the test required to measure them is no better than the one currently used in hospitals." That was disappointing, but thankfully the disappointment didn't last long, Den Hartog says. "Colleagues helped me through it. When I was feeling down, talking about it and brainstorming on how to proceed was really helpful. I was able to see the value of the research again." And there certainly is value, Van Hasselt emphasizes. "Although our test is not better than the current one, combining the two could prove very useful. It's an interesting basis for further research. Additionally, this research has clarified much about what happens biochemically in our body during such an infection and why some patients become much sicker than others." 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: Atherosclerosis is a condition affecting the cardiovascular system. If atherosclerosis occurs in the coronary arteries (which supply the heart) the result may be angina pectoris, or in worse cases a heart attack. Credit: Wikipedia/CC BY 3.0 Metal exposure from environmental pollution is associated with increased buildup of calcium in the coronary arteries at a level that is comparable to traditional risk factors like smoking and diabetes, according to a study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The findings support the fact that metals in the body are associated with the progression of plaque buildup in the arteries and potentially provide a new strategy for managing and preventing atherosclerosis. The results are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "Our findings highlight the importance of considering metal exposure as a significant risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease," said Katlyn E. McGraw, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research scientist in Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Mailman School and lead author of the study. "This could lead to new prevention and treatment strategies that target metal exposure." Atherosclerosis is a condition where the arteries become narrowed and hardened due to a buildup of plaque, which can restrict blood flow and cause clots to form. It's an underlying cause of heart attacks, strokes and peripheral artery disease (PAD), the most common forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Atherosclerosis causes coronary artery calcium (CAC), which can be measured non-invasively over time to predict future cardiac events. Exposure to environmental pollutants like metals is a newly recognized risk factor for CVD, but there isn't a lot of research on its association with CAC. Researchers in this study sought to determine how urinary metal levels, biomarkers of metal exposure and internal doses of metals impact CAC. The researchers used data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), tracking 6,418 men and women aged 4584 from diverse racial backgrounds free from clinical CVD, to measure urinary metal levels at the beginning of the study in 20002002. They examined non-essential (cadmium, tungsten, uranium) and essential (cobalt, copper, zinc) metals, both common in U.S. populations and associated with CVD. Widespread cadmium, tungsten, uranium, cobalt, copper, and zinc pollution occurs from agricultural and industrial uses such as fertilizers, batteries, oil production, welding, mining, and nuclear energy production. Tobacco smoke is the main source of cadmium exposure. Results provided evidence that metal exposure may be associated with atherosclerosis over 10 years by increasing coronary calcification. Comparing the highest to lowest quartile of urinary cadmium, CAC levels were 51% higher at baseline and 75% higher over the 10-year period. For urinary tungsten, uranium and cobalt, the corresponding CAC levels over the 10-year period were 45%, 39%, and 47% higher, respectively. For copper and zinc, the corresponding estimates dropped from 55% to 33% and from 85% to 57%, respectively, after adjusting for such factors such as cardiovascular risk factors like blood pressure and blood pressure medications, high cholesterol, and diabetes mellitus. The urinary metal levels also varied by demographic characteristics. Higher urinary metal levels were seen in older participants, Chinese participants and those with less education. Participants from Los Angeles had markedly higher urinary tungsten and uranium levels, and somewhat higher cadmium, cobalt, and copper levels. An earlier paper on atherosclerosis (MESA) by the research team studied the methodology for validating ultra-trace element concentrations in urine for small sample volumes in large epidemiological studies. "There are small amounts of these metals found really everywhere but this study truly highlights that even low exposure affects cardiovascular health," said Kathrin Schilling, Ph.D., assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Mailman School. "Even with efforts to control metal exposure in water, air and food, we need to pay more attention to analyzing toxic metals in populations for prevention and intervention of exposure." "Pollution is the greatest environmental risk to cardiovascular health," McGraw said. "Given the widespread occurrence of these metals due to industrial and agricultural activities, this study calls for heightened awareness and regulatory measures to limit exposure and protect cardiovascular health." Limitations of the study include the unavailability of plaque transition measures in MESA, changes in exposure sources and other factors causing variability of certain measured metals, and the potential for residual and unknown confounding of time-varying exposure measurements. More information: Urinary Metal Levels and Coronary Artery Calcification: Longitudinal Evidence in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2024.07.020 Journal information: Journal of the American College of Cardiology This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The relationship between long-term exposure to air pollutants and the increased risk of various cardiac arrhythmias. Credit: Eco-Environment & Health (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eehl.2024.05.006 Arrhythmias, a group of disorders that disrupt the normal rhythm of the heart, can lead to serious health complications such as heart failure, stroke, and sudden death. The global prevalence of arrhythmias, particularly atrial fibrillation, is on the rise, contributing to substantial health and economic burdens. While the cardiovascular dangers of air pollution are well-documented, the long-term effects of different pollutants on arrhythmia subtypes remain insufficiently explored. Addressing this knowledge gap is crucial for advancing prevention and management strategies. A new study, conducted by the Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, was published in Eco-Environment & Health on June 11, 2024. Leveraging data from a UK Biobank cohort of over 442,000 participants, the research examined the association between long-term exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 2.510 , NO 2 , and NO x and the incidence of various arrhythmias. The findings highlight the critical need to consider air pollution as a modifiable risk factor in arrhythmia prevention. The study revealed that prolonged exposure to air pollutants, especially PM 2.5 , is linked to a higher risk of arrhythmias. A 10 g/m increase in PM 2.5 corresponded to a 26% rise in the hazard ratio (HR) for arrhythmias, while NO 2 and NO x increases were associated with 3% and 2% higher risks, respectively. The composite Air Pollution Score (APS), which aggregates exposure levels to these pollutants, indicated that individuals in the highest quintile of exposure faced significantly elevated risks of atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, and other less studied arrhythmias such as supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular premature beats. Notably, women, older adults, and those with preexisting conditions were particularly susceptible. Dr. Renjie Chen, the study's principal investigator, commented, "Our results underscore the critical public health implications of air pollution. The clear associations between air pollutants and a broad range of arrhythmiasnot just atrial fibrillationsuggest that current preventative measures should be expanded to address broader cardiac risks. Reducing exposure to harmful pollutants could play a significant role in lessening the burden of these potentially severe heart conditions." The study highlights the pressing need for stringent air quality control measures, especially in densely populated urban areas where pollution exposure is highest. By curbing emissions of hazardous pollutants such as PM 2.5 and NO 2 , significant progress can be made in preventing arrhythmias and reducing related health care costs. Targeted public health strategies should focus on protecting vulnerable groups, including the elderly and individuals with cardiovascular conditions, to mitigate the far-reaching health impacts of air pollution. More information: Lu Zhou et al, Long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence risk of various arrhythmias: a prospective cohort study, Eco-Environment & Health (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eehl.2024.05.006 Provided by TranSpread 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: S5 mutations disrupt RyR1 channel function, influencing both channel activity and gating mechanisms. This impacts the release of calcium and affects muscle contractions, leading to severe muscle diseases such as malignant hyperthermia and central core disease. Credit: Associate Professor Takashi Murayama from Juntendo University, Japan and Associate Professor Haruo Ogawa from Kyoto University, Japan The type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) is an important calcium release channel in skeletal muscles essential for muscle contraction. It mediates calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, a calcium-storing organelle in muscle cells, a process vital for muscle function. Mutations in the RyR1 gene can affect the channel's function in extremely contrasting ways, leading to severe muscle diseases such as malignant hyperthermia (MH) and central core disease (CCD). MH is an inherited disease that causes high fever and muscle contractures in response to inhalational anesthetics in patients with gain-of-function RyR1 variants. CCD is one of the inherited myopathies that leads to muscle weakness and myopathy due to loss-of-function RyR1 variants. These effects emphasize the critical role of RyR1 and the optimal functioning of the calcium channels for muscle health. While recent research has focused on the large cytoplasmic region of RyR1, where many disease-associated mutations are found, the specific role of the fifth transmembrane segment (S5) in channel gating and the pathogenesis of muscle diseases was not well understood. Fortunately, in a new study published on 18 September 2024, in Communications Biology researchers from Japan addressed this knowledge gap by investigating how mutations in the S5 segment of the RyR1 contribute to MH and CCD. The research team comprising Associate Professor Takashi Murayama with Associate Professor Nagomi Kurebayashi from Juntendo University and Associate Professor Haruo Ogawa with Graduate student Yuya Otori from Kyoto University, set out to unravel how S5 mutations lead to muscle disorders. "The S5 segment is crucial for pore formation in the RyR1 channel. However, we found numerous disease-associated mutations in S5 reported in the literature, which motivated us to study the role of S5 segment in regulating the RyR1 channel," explains Associate Prof. Takashi Murayama. Researchers utilized HEK293 cells (a commonly used human embryonic kidney cell line) engineered to express RyR1 proteins with specific mutations. They measured caffeine-induced calcium release to assess the effects of mutations on calcium release dynamics. Further, they monitored resting cytoplasmic and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium levels using Fluo-4 AM (green-fluorescent calcium indicator) and R-CEPIA1er (a genetically encoded calcium indicator), respectively. [3H]Ryanodine binding assays were performed to evaluate the binding affinity and activity of RyR1 channels. Additionally, the depolarization-induced calcium release (DICR) platform was used to assess calcium release in the RyR1 channel. The study focused on mutations in the S5 and S5-S6 regions of RyR1, identifying three mutations linked to MH and eight associated with CCD. For MH mutants, they observed increased caffeine sensitivity, elevated resting cytoplasmic calcium levels, and reduced ER calcium levels. Ryanodine binding and DICR assays confirmed enhanced channel activity. In contrast, CCD mutants exhibited a loss-of-function phenotype, marked by reduced caffeine sensitivity, minimal calcium release, suppressed ryanodine binding, and reduced DICR. Notably, some CCD mutants displayed no detectable channel activity despite confirmed expression, indicating severely impaired channel function. The structure of the RyR1 channel and the mentioned mutations can be visualized in a video created by the authors. Mutations in S5 of the RyR1 alter its activity and gating mechanisms, further impacting muscle health. These mutations lead to severe muscle disorders such as malignant hyperthermia and central core disease. Credit: Associate Professor Haruo Ogawa from Kyoto University, Japan Next, the results were interpreted with respect to the RyR1 structures. The researchers identified several potential interactions between the residues responsible for the disease-associated mutations, and the other transmembrane segments. The importance of these interactions was validated by mutating the interaction partners. Associate Prof. Haruo Ogawa says, "We discovered a novel regulatory mechanism of the RyR1, in which the S5 segment plays a dual role in channel gating, and elucidated molecular mechanisms of channel alterations by disease-associated mutations." This study clarifies how mutations in S5 impact channel function, thereby improving the understanding of calcium signaling in muscle physiology. Explaining the potential implications of their current research, Associate Profs. Murayama and Ogawa share, "Our research findings provide new insights for the development of novel drugs to cure muscle diseases caused due to RyR1 mutations." More information: Dual role of the S5 segment in type 1 ryanodine receptor channel gating, Communications Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06787-1 Journal information: Communications Biology Provided by Juntendo University Research Promotion Center 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: Gain control in the visual cortex via serotonergic receptors. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51861-1 A serotonin-specific receptor can determine how important visual stimuli are perceived. This explains the effects of certain drugs and could help in understanding psychiatric diseases. Signals in our brain are not always processed in the same way: Certain receptors modulate these mechanisms, influencing our mood, perception, and behavior in various ways. One of these is the 5-HT2A receptor, which has a recently discovered unique characteristic: It dampens incoming visual information, giving our brain more space for internal processes and interpretations. This discovery by a research team from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, could also help explain the effects of drugs like LSD. When this receptor is overactivated, external sensory input is suppressed, and the brain generates more internally-driven images. "It's a bit like our brain is increasingly talking to itself," explains Professor Dirk Jancke. The findings, published in Nature Communications on September, 14, 2024, provide new insights into our understanding of perception and psychiatric disorders. In the jungle of serotonin receptors Receptors mediate the transmission of information between nerve cells. The release of serotonin alters nerve cell activities throughout the brain. At least 14 types of serotonergic receptors can be distinguished. "The situation is particularly tricky because these receptors can be both inhibitory and activating," says Jancke. "Additionally, they are expressed in different cell types, which in turn have mutual inhibitory or excitatory effects on the entire network." Using light against the darkness in the brain Investigating the effects of receptors in the brain is therefore not a simple task. Conventional pharmacological methods for elucidating the function of receptors upon the neural network are limited. They are usually not specific enough and, crucially, operate on a slower timescale. The research group led by Professor Stefan Herlitze has therefore developed alternative methods. Light-sensitive receptor proteins are introduced into nerve cells using viruses. The light-sensitive receptor proteins are genetically modified, such that they can mimic the functions of a selected receptor type. This allows the selected receptor type to be turned on and off like a light switch, precisely and within milliseconds. For this purpose, ultra-thin optical fibers are implanted in mice, delivering light of the desired wavelength to the appropriate brain region via LED control. Dirk Jancke (left) and Ruxandra Barzan from the Bochum research team. Credit: RUB, Kramer 5-HT2A receptors regulate sensitivity to sensory input Through this method, the researchers discovered that the 5-HT2A receptor selectively suppresses the strength of incoming visual information. "Surprisingly, this happens without inhibiting other parallel processes," reports Dr. Ruxandra Barzan, the study's lead author. Thus, the brain reduces the importance of current sensory input in favor of internal communication and interpretation processes. "This means that we've discovered a mechanism that regulates how much importance is attached to incoming information," says Barzan. Understanding hallucinations, developing therapeutic approaches Hallucinations induced by drugs like LSD could therefore be interpreted as a form of self-dialogue, according to Jancke. "Through overactivation, the 5-HT2A receptor suppresses external sensory-driven activity, and the brain creates perception independent of external stimuli." In a healthy brain, serotonin activates different receptor types simultaneously, which ensures that the flow of information is weighted in a balanced way. In the case of psychiatric diseases, this balance can be disrupted. The researchers hope that their recent findings could contribute to the development of new therapies in which specifically selected receptors are activated in low doses in order to restore such balance. Psychedelic drugs that selectively target the 5-HT2A receptor, for example, could be used for therapeutic purposes under medical supervision and in defined learning contexts in order to compensate for abnormal imbalances in receptor activation in the long term. Artificial Intelligence meets neurobiology To better understand the complex interactions between different cell types and receptors in the brain, the researchers used computer models that simplify key features of neural circuits. They tested the hypothesis that the receptor only shows the observed effects when it is activated simultaneously in both inhibitory and excitatory nerve cells. This hypothesis was supported by their model. The research group led by Professor Sen Cheng found in their simulations that only the simultaneous receptor activation in inhibitory and excitatory cells leads to network interactions that replicate the experimental findings. More information: Ruxandra Barzan et al, Gain control of sensory input across polysynaptic circuitries in mouse visual cortex by a single G protein-coupled receptor type (5-HT2A), Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51861-1 Journal information: Nature Communications China opens 12 nuclear research facilities to global scientists Xinhua) 08:25, September 18, 2024 This file photo taken on Dec. 5, 2021 shows a part of the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory in northwest China's Gansu Province. (Photo by Wang Ju/Xinhua) The involved facilities span areas such as basic nuclear research, isotope production, nuclear environment simulation, equipment testing, and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. VIENNA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will open 12 nuclear research facilities and testing platforms to international scientists and institutions to enhance global cooperation, a senior Chinese official said here on Monday. These include the China Advanced Research Reactor, the new-generation tokamak device Huanliu-3, and the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory, Liu Jing, vice chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA), said at a meeting on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) annual general conference. The facilities span areas such as basic nuclear research, isotope production, nuclear environment simulation, equipment testing, and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. Monday's meeting, themed "Share for Development," was organized by the CAEA to promote international cooperation in nuclear technology research and development, as China marks the 40th anniversary of its accession to the IAEA. This photo taken on Aug. 10, 2023 shows the assembly site of the core module of the world's first commercial small modular reactor, Linglong One, in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, south China's Hainan Province. (China National Nuclear Corporation/Handout via Xinhua) Yu Jianfeng, chairman of China National Nuclear Corporation, said at the event that the company aims to deepen cooperation with the IAEA and expand international collaboration. He expressed hope that opening China's nuclear research facilities will contribute to advancing nuclear technology globally. IAEA's Deputy Director General Mikhail Chudakov commended China's remarkable achievements in nuclear energy development and highlighted the long-standing, fruitful relationship between the IAEA and the CAEA. Welcoming China's decision to open up more of its nuclear research and development facilities, Chudakov said the move will further strengthen the agency's technical capacity to support its member states. On Monday evening, the CAEA and China's permanent mission to the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations in Vienna jointly held a reception at the UN headquarters in Vienna to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's accession to the IAEA. More than 200 participants, including IAEA representatives and foreign envoys to Vienna, attended the event. Li Song (R, front), China's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), speaks during a special meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria, on April 11, 2024. (Chinese Permanent Mission to UN and other International Organizations in Vienna//Handout via Xinhua) Li Song, China's permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, said at the reception that China and the IAEA have expanded practical cooperation and jointly promoted the development of nuclear energy over the past 40 years. China, he said, will continue to strengthen collaboration with the IAEA and its member states to address emerging challenges in international security, safeguard the global non-proliferation regime, and promote the use of nuclear energy and technology for the benefit of the Global South. At the reception, Liu, Li and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi jointly unveiled a bronze statue of Qian Sanqiang, a renowned Chinese nuclear physicist and one of the founders of China's nuclear industry. The statue, donated by China, will be permanently displayed at the IAEA headquarters, alongside sculptures of Polish-French physicist Marie Curie and other prominent figures who have made significant contributions to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) This photo taken on Sept. 15, 2024 shows the scene of American rapper Kanye West's "world tour listening party," in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. [Photo/Xinhua] American rapper Kanye West rocked Wuyuanhe Stadium in Haikou, capital of south China's island province of Hainan, with a live music show on Sunday, not only firing up his fans, but also sparking a surge in the local holiday tourism economy. The show on the first night of the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday marked Kanye West's return to China since his 2008 concerts in Beijing and Shanghai, and it was his only stop in China on a world tour. Dubbed a "world tour listening party," the live event attracted nearly 40,000 fans, with 95 percent coming from outside the island, most of whom were from Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Beijing. Some fans even came from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and abroad. The city of Haikou had made full preparations for the event. Hotels, scenic spots, restaurants, shopping malls and retail stores offered over 100 discount services for fans to maximize the economic benefits of the show. Partly thanks to the show, the city's average hotel occupancy rate rose to over 83 percent on the first day of the holiday, up 41.82 percent from last year, according to data from the municipal bureau of tourism. It is estimated that the show could generate about 373 million yuan (about 52.6 million U.S. dollars) in total tourism revenue for the city. Li Qi, a fan from Chengdu in southwest China, arrived in Haikou a day before the concert. Besides attending the show, she also planned to spend her Mid-Autumn Festival holiday there, visiting the iconic tourist attractions, enjoying local delicacies, and doing some shopping at the duty-free stores. "I'm going to buy some duty-free goods for my family," said the excited visitor. "The show had a significant influence, with the vast majority of attendees coming from outside the island, bringing a large influx of tourists to Haikou," said Lyu Xiaolei, deputy mayor of Haikou. "These visitors are engaged in duty-free shopping and various cultural and tourism activities, which will greatly boost Haikou's holiday consumption," she said, adding that the city will attract more international and domestic concerts in the future to build itself into an international city of performing arts. Kanye West's performance wasn't the only high-profile event during the holiday. Across China, concerts and musical festivals featuring domestic and international stars drew large crowds. In Beijing, Mariah Carey's 2024 concert on Sunday and Monday attracted fans from across the country. "I've been to Beijing many times, but this time I came just for Mariah Carey," said Geng Bo, a fan from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, located about 1,700 kilometers away. "Concerts like this are rare. Fans from all over the country and even around the world flew in to see her." Geng said he had already made plans with other fans from across the country to gather at various restaurants and cafes in Beijing. According to Wang Jiansheng, head of the Hainan Tourism Development Research Association, due to China's development and globalization, an increasing number of Western musicians have been coming to perform in the country. "Attending concerts has become a new form of social interaction," said Wang. "Fans, mostly young people, are also the main consumers in the tourism market." The growing integration of performing arts events with tourism, dining and retail has stimulated cultural tourism consumption and proved that the fusion of culture and tourism has enormous vitality, Wang added. 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 Eight years after an independent state watchdog agency harshly criticized the state for failing to provide dental care to low-income children, California has failed to remedy the problem or fully implement the commission's recommendations, according to a follow-up review. The Little Hoover Commission found that less than half of the children in Medi-Cal received an annual dental visit in 20223% higher than when the initial report was released in 2016, which implored the state to do more to ensure that children have access to needed care. "California is still doing a miserable job," said Pedro Nava, chair of the commission and a former member of the state Assembly. "We have failed generations of children. We and they deserve better." The 2016 report was one of the most scathing reports that the commission had generated in years, Nava said. It found that only 44.5% of children in the Medi-Cal program had a visit with a dentist in 2016, a key indicator of whether children are receiving the care they need to prevent painful dental decay, and recommended that the state increase the rate to 66%. Lawmakers responded with a law requiring the health department to set a target of at least 60% of children. Last fall, after the publication of an L.A. Times story on high rates of dental disease among California children, the commission initiated a follow-up review of the state's progress. It found that the state had fallen far short of the goal; in 2022, the most recent data provided in the report, 47.6% of children with Medi-Cal visited a dentist, a 3-percentage-point increase from 2016. "If you were an investor in a private company, and that was the best they could do, you'd sell your stock and invest it somewhere else," Nava said. "It is a disappointment that low-income families with children have to shoulder the burden of this every day." California has made some improvements since 2016, the report said, fully implementing one recommendation and partially implementing seven of the commission's eight others. The state health department, however, disputes those findings and said they have fully implemented all of the recommendations from the 2016 report. The percentage of kids going to the dentist had been increasing significantly, they saidup to 49.6% in 2019but the pandemic interrupted that growth. "California, along with every other state in the nation, was profoundly impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtually every state within the U.S. decreased and had a recovery period that lasted at least two years to return to pre-COVID figures," the Department of Health Care Services wrote in a statement provided to The Times. Since 2016, the department has made a number of important changes, the department wrote, including expanding the use of tele-dentistry to reach members across the state, increasing provider networks and creating a public education and outreach media campaign for Medi-Cal patients and providers. In 2023, the percentage of children who visited the dentist "recovered to 2019 levels. Even higher utilization is projected in 2024," the health department said, although data have not been been released on this upward trend. "I don't think this response really questions the fact that they have not come close to reaching the recommendation set by the Legislature of 60% of kids getting in to see the dentist, let alone our rate of 66%," said Ethan Rarick, executive director of the Little Hoover Commission. "Kids' dental health is among the worst in the country, and much more needs to be done." California children have among the worst rates of dental disease in the nation. A national survey from 2020 to 2021 found that 14.8% of the state's children ages 1 to 17 had decayed teeth or cavities in the last 12 months studiedranking 47th out of 51 among all the states and the District of Columbia, with only Louisiana and Wyoming faring worse. "I don't understand," Nava said. "If you're the fifth-largest economy in the world, you ought to be a leader in children's health." Nationwide, more than half of children develop cavities by the age of 8, usually because of poor nutrition, bad hygiene habits or a lack of dental care. The reality of dental disease can be devastating to children, causing pain and difficulty eating, sleeping and focusing in school, and low-income children of color are at greatest risk. L.A. County's Smile Survey, which was conducted by the public health department, found that on any given day, more than 4,500 Los Angeles County kindergarten and third-grade children need urgent dental care, which means they may be experiencing mouth pain or a serious infection. The state increased the payment rate for evaluating a child's teeth, for example, from $15 to $45, and up to $100 if a dentist sees the same child two years in a row, according to the California Dental Assn. The reimbursement for a filling increased from $48 to $67.20. These rate increases were funded by Proposition 56, a 2016 tobacco tax that raised money for Medi-Cal payments, and by CalAIM, a state initiative to transform Medi-Cal. The Proposition 56 money was also used to fund county oral health plans and repay student loans for new dentists. The state has made it easier for dentists to enroll as Medi-Cal providers by simplifying the enrollment forms and putting them online, the report said. It also began a pilot program for telehealth to help bring care to health care deserts through the Dental Transformation Initiative. Between the Medi-Cal payment rate and fewer administrative burdens, dentists appear to have taken note: 40% of all California dentists in the state now take Medi-Cal, a 34% increase since 2017, according to the dental association. "The program had such a huge hole to dig out of, and COVID really derailed everything," said Brianna Pittman-Spencer, senior director of government affairs at the California Dental Assn. "There have been improvements but obviously still a long way to go for the impact we want." Eileen Espejo, who leads the oral health project at Children Now, said she was pleased to see that the state had at least started to implement most of the recommendations, but that the numbers suggest the approach may not be working. "If we're going to do better, it doesn't seem like we should do more than the same," she said. In particular, she worries about children in far northern counties and those bordering Nevada, where dentists are hard to find. Twenty-one counties have five or fewer dental providers that take Medi-Cal, the report found. "How are we going to get providers to live in parts of the state where they aren't yet?" she asked, adding that using more telehealth dentistry and allowing dental hygienists to provide more care could be part of the solution. "Hopefully this report will light a fire and get more people engaged," Espejo said. "I certainly think it opens the pathway for advocates to ask for more resources to help improve the program." 2024 Los Angeles Times. 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: Using a multi-step screening scheme that strikes a balance between the least burden on the pregnant women and high test sensitivity, the Kobe University obstetrician Tanimura Kenji and his graduate student Tomimoto Masako measured how many women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus would have been missed had they used only the widely used, convenient casual blood glucose test. Credit: Kobe University When screening pregnant women for gestational diabetes, casual blood glucose testing misses 70% of the cases. This Kobe University study should encourage obstetricians to depend on more reliable tests to help prevent pregnancy complications and the development of type 2 diabetes in mothers and children. Gestational diabetes mellitus is a condition where previously healthy women exhibit high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. If treated, most women deliver healthy babies, but if left unmanaged, this can lead to pregnancy complications, babies growing larger than usual, and increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later for both the mother and the child. Therefore, the International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups recommends that all women who have not been diagnosed with diabetes previously undergo a so-called oral glucose tolerance test between weeks 24 and 28. This multi-step procedure requires women to fast for 812 hours before a baseline blood sample is taken, then they drink a solution containing a standardized amount of glucose, and after a set amount of time another blood sample is taken to see how well the body metabolizes the sugar. However, a large fraction of health facilities use a much simpler "casual" blood glucose test for which blood is taken and analyzed for glucose levels only once and at any time without consideration to what or when the women have eaten before, making this both cheaper and quicker. Only if women test positive in that simple screening, they are asked to undergo the more rigorous glucose tolerance test. The Kobe University obstetrician Tanimura Kenji and his graduate student Tomimoto Masako were concerned that this two-tier approach potentially misses cases with diabetes in the first screening. Working in the perinatal center of Kobe University Hospital, they combined the casual blood glucose screening and another standard test for gestational diabetes, the much more sensitive glucose challenge test, into a single protocol for all participating women visiting their center. Tanimura, Tomimoto and their team then asked women who tested positive in the glucose challenge test to also take the actual glucose tolerance test, which allowed them to ascertain how many positive cases would have been missed had they used only the convenient casual blood glucose screening. Their results, published in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation, showed that out of the 99 women who in the end were diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus, 71.7% had blood sugar levels in their first blood sample that would have resulted in a negative (no diabetes) diagnosis. Tomimoto explains, "Although there have been studies showing that the casual blood glucose test is less sensitive than others, no studies have directly compared the results in the same individuals. Our study confirmed that this screening method, which is widely used in practice, frequently misses the condition it is meant to detect." To see how widespread this issue is, the team also conducted a survey among health care facilities in Hyogo Prefecture, where Kobe University is based. They found that 43% of the respondents who used blood glucose tests relied only on the casual screening. "In Japan, where about half of all deliveries take place in obstetric clinics rather than in hospitals, the more accurate but complicated and time-consuming tests are not widely used," says Tomimoto. However, this is not a problem unique to Japan, as similar surveys showed that in the UK, 48% of clinics also rely on only the casual blood glucose test for the first screening. Tanimura says, "We would like to educate health care professionals and patients about this danger and encourage them to promote the use of the more accurate glucose tolerance screening method. We hope that our data can contribute to improvements in the management system and to the revision of the guidelines for gestational diabetes mellitus screenings. "The goal is to protect more mothers and babies from gestational and childbirth issues caused by this form of diabetes, and in general reduce the risk of developing the disease in the future." More information: Problems in screening for gestational diabetes mellitus by measurement of casual blood glucose levels at 2428 gestational weeks, Journal of Diabetes Investigation (2024). DOI: 10.1111/jdi.14310 One person was killed early Wednesday morning and two more injured after a vehicle rolled over into a field near West Liberty. The names of the subjects have not been released, according to a minimal crash report from the Iowa State Patrol. The report said that at 12:43 a.m. Wednesday, a 2006 Chevy pickup was travelling northbound in the 1200 block of Elder Avenue in rural West Liberty. The vehicle failed to negotiate a curve and left the roadway to the east. The vehicle struck a field drive, vaulted and came to rest in a bean field. One subject, age 24, was pronounced dead at the scene. The subject had not been wearing a seatbelt. A second subject, age 23, from Lone Tree, and a third subject, age 18 from Wapello, were transported to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City by West Liberty Fire and Ambulance. The vehicle was towed by Midtown Towing. The Iowa State patrol was assisted by the Muscatine County Sheriffs Office, the West Liberty Police and Fire departments, and Midtown. Federal mandates meant to make trucking safer, so why have fatal truck accidents increased? Federal mandates meant to make trucking safer, so why have fatal truck accidents increased? Truck-involved fatal crashes up slightly since ELD mandate Acting Inspector General Gilbert Masengeli reported on Tuesday that the security officers assigned to Justice Lawrence Mugambi have been replaced, not withdrawn. Masengeli stated that two VIP protection officers from the Judiciary Police Unit have taken over the duties of the previous officers. He clarified that all officers seconded to various government institutions remain under the command of the National Police Service. He further explained that the two general duty officers assigned to Justice Mugambi were recalled for VIP security training and replaced with specialized VIP protection officers. Police Officers seconded to all government institutions, remain serving officers of the National Police Service and their deployment or reassignment remains the mandate of the IG, Masengeli said during a press briefing at the Police Pavilion in South C, Nairobi. In the case of Justice Mugambi, the two security officers in question are general duty officers and were therefore recalled to attend VIP security training, and were replaced by two VIP protection officers from the Judiciary Police Unit, he said. Masengeli strongly refuted claims suggesting that the security changes were made to intimidate Justice Mugambi, who had recently sentenced Masengeli to six months in prison for contempt of court. He described such allegations as misleading and ill-intended. The controversy followed remarks by Chief Justice Martha Koome, who condemned the removal of Justice Mugambis security detail as a direct assault on judicial independence. Koome said the officers were disarmed and removed over the weekend, raising concerns about the National Police Services respect for the judiciary. The High Court has intervened to prevent the seizure of alcoholic products produced by Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL) from the Kenyan market by state agencies. KWAL, a reputable manufacturer established in 1969, produces popular brands such as Hunters Choice whisky, Kibao vodka, Kingfisher, Viceroy brandy, Best Cream, Best Whisky, and Best Vodka. The company operates depots in major cities, including Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Nyeri, Kisumu, and Eldoret. Justice Chacha Mwita granted this order following an application filed by KWAL. Advocate Peter Wanyama represented KWAL in court, emphasizing that his client is not a backstreet manufacturer but a longstanding player in the industry. Wanyama revealed that since April, KWAL employees and depot owners have faced verbal threats regarding the closure of their business. He noted that these threats originated from individuals claiming to be officers of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), part of a multi-agency task force created to combat illicit alcohol. During the hearing, Wanyama informed the court that on September 4, Kebs officers had visited distributorship outlets and seized KWALs products. He expressed frustration over this action, asserting that it occurred despite government clearance for their products following thorough inspections. Wanyama cited a letter from the Principal Secretary of Interior, dated May 14, which confirmed that KWAL was compliant and permitted to resume production. The seizure is unlawful given that the PS granted us the green light for our manufacturing business. That decision has not been revoked, Wanyama argued. On Monday, Mwita instructed Wanyama to serve his application to the respondents before Tuesdays hearing. However, only the Attorney General attended. Justice Mwita remarked, Ive considered the concerns raised and noted that the respondents had the opportunity to address us but failed to appear. He directed the respondents to file their responses within 14 days and scheduled a follow-up hearing for December 4 to highlight submissions. Kenya and Austria are finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on skilled labor migration, according to a statement from the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary (OPCS) Press Service on September 17, 2024. The agreement aims to enhance managed legal migration and facilitate mutually beneficial exchanges of skilled labor between the two countries. Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi stated, We also pledge to strengthen high-level bilateral engagements, including more frequent and substantive exchanges at the highest levels of government. During a sideline meeting with Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg, Mudavadi agreed to set up a formal mechanism for regular and structured political consultations between Kenya and Austria. Mudavadi emphasized that the two nations are also committed to boosting bilateral economic cooperation, leveraging the success of the Austrian trade mission to Kenya in October 2023. The meeting included Maurice Makoloo, Kenyas Ambassador to Austria, and Robert Zischg, Director of the Department for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Austrian Foreign Ministry. This move to strengthen migration and labor exchanges with Austria follows a similar agreement Kenya signed with Germany last Friday. Kasarani Sub County detectives have received a 30-day custodial order from the Chief Magistrates Court at Makadara, allowing them to continue holding Pascaline Peter, the main suspect in a multi-million Shylock and real estate fraud case. This complex scheme has affected over 300 Kenyans who lost significant amounts of money, leading to a wave of complaints and investigations. Pascaline Peter, also known as Passy Ma Trevor, has been accused of defrauding unsuspecting individuals by promising substantial returns on investments through her real estate firm, Pafrim Investments Ltd. Following her arrest, detectives have recorded statements from more than sixty victims, with the expectation that this number could quadruple as investigations progress. The joint operation, involving detectives from both DCI headquarters and the Kasarani branch, culminated in Peters capture after she reportedly fled, taking with her approximately Kshs 350 million from her victims. This elaborate scheme involved convincing individuals to deposit large sums of money into four different bank accounts across Equity Bank, Coop Bank, Stanbic Bank, and Kingdom Bank, promising returns of up to 30% per month. Once the payments were made, Peter allegedly switched off her mobile phone and went into hiding, leaving her victims in despair. Many individuals realized they had fallen victim to a Ponzi scheme that cost them dearly. Consequently, they united to file complaints with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), prompting the authorities to launch an extensive investigation that eventually led to Peter being located in her hideout in Kantafu, Machakos County. Preliminary investigations reveal that the 36-year-old displayed a lavish lifestyle on her social media platforms, which contributed to her ability to attract and defraud over 200 individuals. So far, 106 formal complaints have been lodged against her, and detectives are diligently working to gather comprehensive evidence to ensure a solid case is presented in court. As the investigations continue, authorities urge the public to remain vigilant and cautious of similar fraudulent schemes to protect themselves from financial losses. The case highlights the importance of conducting due diligence before investing money, particularly in ventures promising unusually high returns. With ongoing efforts to bring Pascaline Peter to justice, investigators hope to serve as a warning against such deceptive practices in the future. Kenyas Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu clarified that the recent labor deal signed between Kenya and Germany does not specify the number of available jobs. In an interview with NTV, she stated, The question of whether it is 250,000, 30,000, or 10,000 is irrelevant because the opportunities depend on how many qualify. Njogu emphasized that this agreement is non-quota-based, distinguishing it from others that limit the number of visas a country can receive. Germany has opened its market to Kenyans, provided they meet the necessary qualifications under its laws, she explained. Last Friday, Nairobi and Berlin formalized an agreement covering various aspects, including labor mobility, apprenticeships, student training, labor market needs, employment, employee welfare, and the readmission and return of workers. This deal emerged during a meeting between President William Ruto and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. Also Read Kenya-Germany Labor Agreement: Recruitment for First Batch Starts September 27 In a statement to the German broadcaster DW, Ruto highlighted that the agreement would unlock 250,000 job opportunities for young Kenyans. He added, It is a win-win situation; Germany faces a significant labor deficit while Kenya has a labor oversupply. PS Njogu further clarified that the figure of 250,000 jobs reflects the number of opportunities discussed between Ruto and Scholz. One of the issues President Ruto and Chancellor Scholz discussed was the size of the market and how many opportunities exist. The 250,000 is the size of the market, she noted. Njogu concluded by urging Kenyans to focus on how to prepare themselves for success in this emerging market rather than fixating on the number of jobs available. What Kenyans ought to be concerning themselves with is not whether there are 250,000 jobs it is how to prepare themselves to play in this market. I. Introduction Nairobi, the vibrant capital of Kenya, has long been recognized as a major center for economic and cultural activity in East Africa. Over time, it has transformed into a bustling metropolis, drawing entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals from around the world. Central to Nairobis success as a business hub is the pivotal role of the English language. As a former British colony, Kenya adopted English as one of its official languages, which has deeply influenced its social and economic development. In todays global economy, fluency in English is not just an asset but a necessity for businesses aiming to succeed in international markets. This language proficiency has helped Nairobi emerge as a regional business hub, enabling smooth communication, collaboration, and innovation. English is the language that connects local businesses to global markets, making it crucial for fostering strong client relationships and expanding business opportunities. This article takes a closer look at the history that cemented Englishs role in Nairobi, its current importance in the business world, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Understanding the relationship between language and commerce in Nairobi helps provide deeper insight into the citys ongoing economic growth and its future potential. II. Historical Context To understand the importance of English in Nairobis business community, its essential to explore the historical factors that established its presence. This section highlights the colonial roots, post-independence shifts, and the effects of globalization that have solidified English as a key part of Nairobis business world. A. Colonial Influence The spread of English in Nairobi dates back to Kenyas colonial period, when the British ruled from 1895 to 1963. During this time, English was introduced as the language of government, education, and business. It wasnt just a tool for governance but also for cultural control. English became the language of instruction in schools and the preferred medium for conducting business transactions. By the time Kenya gained independence in 1963, English had already become deeply embedded in the nations social and economic structure. B. Post-Independence Evolution After independence, Kenya saw a gradual transition rather than a complete departure from colonial influences. Swahili was promoted as the national language to foster unity, but English remained the official language. This dual-language policy reflected the importance of English for diplomacy, legal systems, and economic growth. In Nairobi, English quickly became associated with progress and upward mobility, particularly in business and education, as the city developed into Kenyas economic center. C. Globalization Impact As globalization accelerated in the late 20th century, English became even more critical to Nairobis business community. The citys strategic position as a hub for international corporations, NGOs, and investors solidified Englishs role as the common language for conducting business. The rise of digital technology and cross-border trade required a shared language, and English provided the necessary platform for Nairobis business community to connect with the world. As a result, English for professionals gained increasing importance, with business leaders and employees alike recognizing the need for fluency to thrive in international markets. Whether through formal presentations, negotiations, or everyday communication, mastering English became essential for career growth and maintaining a competitive edge. In short, Englishs prominence in Nairobis business scene can be traced to its colonial legacy, post-independence policies, and the demands of globalization. These factors have shaped the citys economic environment and positioned English as a key element of its success. III. Current Business Environment Nairobi has grown into a major hub for business and innovation in East Africa. Central to this growth is the widespread use of English, which plays a crucial role in the citys business landscape. A. English as a Lingua Franca Nairobi is home to over 40 ethnic groups, each with its own language or dialect. English serves as the common language that bridges these linguistic differences. Its the language of choice in corporate settings, networking events, and business meetings, ensuring that everyone can communicate effectively without language barriers. This shared platform not only smooths transactions but also promotes inclusivity and mutual understanding among business leaders. B. Language in Corporate Communications Beyond everyday conversations, English is essential for corporate communication in Nairobi. Emails, reports, presentations, and marketing materials are almost exclusively written in English. English proficiency is often a job requirement in Nairobis top companies, reflecting its significance in maintaining professionalism and clarity in business operations. English-language media outlets also play a vital role in keeping the business community informed of local and international developments. C. Role in Multinational Corporations For multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Nairobi, English is crucial. These companies, which often use English as their primary language, benefit from the citys high English proficiency. English facilitates communication between local employees and global teams, ensuring efficient operations. The presence of MNCs also raises the bar for local businesses, as they are often required to communicate in English, further embedding the language in Nairobis business culture. In conclusion, English serves as the bridge that connects Nairobis diverse business community, facilitates corporate communication, and enables the citys participation in global markets. As Nairobi continues to grow, English will remain a key factor in its success. IV. Challenges and Opportunities As Nairobi continues to evolve into a leading economic hub, the relationship between English and the business community presents both challenges and opportunities. A. Language Barriers Although English is widely spoken in Nairobi, there are still language barriers. Many people in Kenya speak Swahili or indigenous languages as their first language, which can create communication challenges in business settings. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often face difficulties engaging with international partners due to limited English proficiency. Additionally, businesses may favor candidates with strong English skills, unintentionally sidelining otherwise qualified individuals. B. Educational Initiatives To address language barriers, there has been a rise in English language training programs aimed at improving the skills of the workforce. Nairobis schools and private institutions are placing greater emphasis on English proficiency, but the quality and accessibility of these programs vary. Urban areas like Nairobi tend to have better resources compared to rural regions. Efforts to ensure that language education reaches all parts of the country are essential for narrowing the urban-rural divide. C. Future Prospects Looking to the future, English will continue to play a crucial role in Nairobis business community. As the city attracts more multinational corporations, the demand for English proficiency will grow. This could lead to increased investment in language education, creating a more skilled and competitive workforce. Technological advancements, such as translation apps and AI-driven communication tools, also offer innovative solutions to language barriers. These tools can help businesses overcome communication challenges and make it easier for Nairobis business community to engage with international partners. In conclusion, while Nairobi faces challenges related to language barriers and education, the opportunities for growth are substantial. Through targeted educational initiatives and technological innovation, Nairobi can continue to harness English as a powerful tool for economic growth. V. Conclusion English plays a central role in Nairobis thriving business community. Its historical significance, current importance, and future prospects make it an indispensable asset for the citys economic growth. As Nairobi continues to expand its global reach, investing in English education and addressing language barriers will be key to ensuring continued success. By embracing the opportunities that come with English proficiency, Nairobi can solidify its position as a major business hub in East Africa, connecting local businesses with global markets and fostering long-term economic development. Flash The paddy fields located on a mountain in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region once only produced rice for locals, but today, they are a unique tourism resource. It is said that the Longji Rice Terraces were first discovered by backpackers in the 20th century when they saw the staggered rice paddies coiled in the karst mountains at an altitude of several kilometers and proclaimed them to be a breathtaking sight. The rice fields have evolved into a world-class tourist attraction thanks to the locals' continuous efforts over the past decade. The terraced fields already existed during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), says Pan Baoyu, former Party secretary of Dazhai village in the Longsheng multinational autonomous county, who first protected and developed the fields. From the 1980s, many young people chose to leave the village for work due to low farming incomes and the large terraced fields were abandoned, Pan says. "At that time, we thought that the rice farming methods handed down from our ancestors should not be abandoned and we could rely on the unique terraced landscape to develop tourism so that the village could be revitalized," Pan recalls. Around 2008, Dazhai organized volunteer farming teams with village officials taking the lead in helping poor families and unemployed locals cultivate the fields. It also cooperated with a company for tourism development. In 2019, 1.5 million visits were made to the Longji Rice Terraces from China and abroad. In 2022, Dazhai was named among the Best Tourism Villages of the year by the World Tourism Organization for its breathtaking agricultural views. In early 2024, Dazhai held its annual tourism dividend conference where 282 households won a total of 7.25 million yuan ($1.02 million) in year-end bonuses, each receiving an average of over 25,000 yuan. China is the birthplace of rice culture. The earliest artificially cultivated rice was grown 10,000 years ago and discovered at the Yuchanyan site in Daoxian county, Hunan province, located more than 200 kilometers from Longsheng. Today, China is the world's largest rice producer, with 60 percent of its population eating rice as a staple. Experts say that rice culture, which originated in southern China, is one of the core elements of Chinese civilization, not only supporting economic and social development but also influencing philosophy, art and other areas. Thanks to a targeted poverty alleviation strategy implemented in 2013, which included tourism development, Dazhai was lifted out of poverty in 2015 and the Longsheng county bid farewell to poverty in 2019. The super-hybrid rice cultivated by scientist Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice", not only helped to solve the food shortages of the Chinese people but also made great contributions to solving the same problems facing humankind. Yuan visited Longsheng and conducted experiments in the fields. Dazhai no longer plants traditional high-stalk rice, but late-maturing high-quality hybrid rice that has a full growth period of 150 days and produces higher yields. Its harvest time can be delayed until late October, giving visitors more time to enjoy the beauty of the terraces. "We use drones to monitor rice growth and all the villagers know that we should protect the terraced fields," says Pan Dexiong, a villager who quit his job in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in 2012 and returned to Dazhai. He later opened a bed-and-breakfast business, whose occupancy rate can be "80 percent in the peak season", and a restaurant with an annual income up to 500,000 yuan. Many young people like him have returned home to farm their own land and find a new way to profit. Dazhai village has also become the "sister village" of one in Laos, helping locals there plant rice and sharing methods to gain wealth through tourism development. Updated at 3:32 p.m. Tuesday The owner of the Calistoga-area Clover Flat landfill, the target of years of scrutiny about fires and working conditions, may permanently close the facility. Messages between Waste Connections, the firm that owns Clover Flat, and the county indicate company plans to shut down and cap the landfill since at least the spring, according to emails the Napa Valley Register obtained Tuesday afternoon. There have been some internal developments on our end for the Clover Flat site, including early closure of the landfill the details are still being worked out, Waste Connections state regional engineer Dave Brown wrote to the countys supervising planner Dana Morrison in a May 8 email. In an email to local media, Napa County Public Works Director Steven Lederer said his understanding is that Waste Connections is considering closing the landfill for business reasons. "I think key points include that Waste Connections has not made a formal application, only an inquiry at this point, and there are many questions to resolve, which will occur over time as more information becomes available," Lederer said. Waste Connections could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. Napa County's Local Enforcement Agency expects to receive a closure plan for the landfill by year's end, the county's solid waste program manager Peter Ex wrote in a Tuesday email to Anne Wheaton, a longtime opponent of Clover Flat. "The closure process would take approximately 3-4 years allowing time for permitting, filling of the site to allow for proper drainage, and final closure grading and cover," Ex wrote. "There are no planned future operations proposed following closure other than long term monitoring and maintenance." The disclosure of the landfills possible closure apparently evolved from a discussion of a request to modify Clover Flats land use permit. In a Sept. 11 email, Morrison wrote that Waste Connections has informed the countys Local Enforcement Agency of its plan to file a landfill closure plan to share with state regulators, but had not shared a timeline for shuttering the facility. Lederer said the closure process, if it occurs, is entirely in the hands of Napa County and CalRecycle. However, how to handle the waste of Upvalley customers is within the purview of the Upper Valley Waste Management Agency. The agency's board of directors is scheduled to next meet Oct. 21, and Clover Flat's future is to be on the agenda. Board meetings are open to the public. "We may not have all the information yet to be making decisions (such as timing and possible disposal options), but it will be a good time to start having the discussion and identify all the questions/issues," Lederer, who serves as the Upper Valley agency's manager, said in an email to board members. Margie Mohler is both chair of the Upper Valley agency board and the mayor of Yountville. Trash from Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga is disposed of at the Clover Flat Landfill, which is located in the hills near Calistoga. I have ratepayers in my town," Mohler said. "If there were any significant changes (in rates), which Im not expecting, I think that would be my concern. The agency's franchise agreements for upper valley waste disposal has various what-if clauses, she said. "Whatever happens at the landfill up there, I am sure without a doubt our garbage will still be collected," said Mohler, who added the town receives good service now and that she expects that to continue. In recent years, Clover Flat has come under steady criticism from opponents pointing to a string of fires at the site, as well as water quality problems and complaints of unsafe conditions for workers. Landfill gases burned from damaged on-site wells after the September 2020 Glass Fire, according to Napa County emails from the time. In August 2022, a sportfishing nonprofit sued Clover Flat for alleged violations of the U.S. Clean Water Act, saying that polluted stormwater runoff from the landfill containing nitrates, nitrites, metals and sediment flowed into a creek that connects to the Napa River. The complaint also claimed that PFAS substances, commonly called forever chemicals because of their resistance to breakdown, were detected in surface water half a mile downstream of Clover Flat. A December 2023 federal lawsuit, filed by two dozen current and former employees of Upper Valley Disposal and Clover Flat, alleged that workers contamination, unsafe conditions and racial discrimination. Workers said they were told to use contaminated wastewater to quench hot spots during the Glass Fire, were pressured to operate trucks and heavy equipment without proper training, and feared retaliation for speaking out. More recently, FBI agents on Aug. 7 visited the Upper Valley office in St. Helena and left a few hours later carrying out boxes, workers told the Register at the time. The reason for the agents visit remains unclear. This is a developing story and will be updated. The business of selling food is a business of hustle. Carlos Mata, the owner of the food truck Tacos Don Carlos, knows this well. Hes been serving up burritos, tacos and his own unique twists on traditional dishes by adding hot Cheetos to them on Soscol Avenue for about five years. But he hasnt always been doing it legally. People gotta do what they gotta do to make ends meet; whether you're selling tacos on the corner or oranges or whatever, I respect the hustle, Mata said. At the end of the day, bills dont wait. Whether you got a permit or not, you gotta pay life by any means necessary. "Everyone has to make a living," he added. "I wish there was some type of explained pathway to get permits for street vendors, to get it rocking and rolling." Prior to getting his licensed truck, Mata was selling food without a permit. When the police came, Mata had to stop selling tacos and go by the book, which wasnt easy. His parents helped him take out a loan to start his truck, but he wishes the process had been easier. The county can do a better job in educating on this; educating is key, Mata said. If there are loans for first-time homeowners, why not for first-time business owners and street vendors? For the last two months, tent-style street vending in Napa has become a hot topic after taco tents began dotting the heart of wine country, famous for its Michelin-starred restaurants and high-end wines. When the summer sun went down, taco tents would go up at Napas busiest intersections, from Imola Avenue to Jefferson Street. At Mothers Tacos, a Jefferson Street brick-and-mortar restaurant owned by Benedict Koenig IV, an order of three asada tacos is $14.71, including tax. The same order at Tacos Y Chisme is about $9.68, also including tax. By comparison, a typical taco tent stand offers the same meal for about $7, highlighting the price differences between the various vendors. Koenig, via email, said all permitted businesses are feeling the impacts of unfair competition. "Owning and operating your own restaurant, whether it is a food truck or a brick and mortar, especially in today's economic environment and the hyper competitive local landscape, is hard enough on its own," he said. "Needing to now contend with a network of vendors who arent held to the same standards isnt right or fair for those of us who employ locals, live locally and pay sales taxes and fees to support the local economy." Koenig added he believes the unpermitted vendors are not locals trying to scratch out a living, but members of a larger network that is intentionally breaking the rules. "Their ability to exist, without needing to play by the same rules as everyone else and serve safe food, hurts not just the local business owners, but more importantly, the local people who rely on those businesses for their living, he said. But Napa local Eric Layman doesnt see the problem with taco tents or food trucks, especially when places in town arent as affordable. I have not yet tried taco tent food stands, but I am so open to it, especially when I see those long lines, Layman said while waiting for his tacos beside Tacos Y Chisme earlier this month. Fellow Napan Alex Young, who was waiting beside Layman for tacos, said taco stands and food trucks fill a gap in the local landscape. We wouldnt be able to have this kind of authentic tacos at this affordability at a brick-and-mortar (eatery), so its nice to have taco trucks and other stands, Young said. The topic even sparked heated debate on the social media platform NextDoor after a Napa Valley Register reporter asked about their whereabouts. The best al pastor tacos I ever had, Carmen Montiel commented. It doesnt matter if the food is good; they need to do things the right way legally with a license and a health inspection clearances, Tina Z. responded. Like Koenig, local business owner Eduardo Chavez see the tents as unfair competition. At a July 16 Napa City Council meeting, business owners urged city officials to do something. Chavez was one of a handful of local Hispanic restaurant and truck owners to direct their concerns to council members. My father opened his food truck in 1972. Since then, weve been subject to many requirements, conditions and fees set up by the city and county, Chavez said. We have complied with no hesitation. All were asking for is to be treated equally and penalize the ones that dont comply. Mayor Scott Sedgley assured the business owners in attendance that their concerns were being addressed, and that the pop-up stands are a risk to public safety. Councils aware, and its not being ignored, believe me, Sedgley said. Sometimes things dont happen as quickly as wed like it to happen. Two days after the meeting, the city of Napa said in a Facebook post it was collaborating with the county to ensure that local food vendors are in compliance with these rules and regulations to help ensure public safety and to main(tain) fair business practices among those applying resources to maintain compliance. Since that city council meeting, the usual taco stands at busy intersections have disappeared in the city of Napa, but that doesnt mean the root of the problem isnt still there and wont crop up again unpermitted food vending. Who is really to blame: food vendors or the permitting process? Local agencies and elected leaders appear to be divided on how accessible the permitting process is. Bernie Narvaez, Napas vice mayor and the president of the Napa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, believes the main problem with some unpermitted vendors is that they are aware that what theyre doing is illegal. This is not somebody who doesnt understand the (permit) process, he said. They know what they need to do. According to Narvaez, sellers come from places like Sacramento or Southern California to sell street food and move on when cities begin to crack down on their operations. Narvaez explained that Napa Police works with Napa County to cite unpermitted vendors and confiscate their kitchen equipment. In a public records request jointly filed by the Napa Valley Register and Highway 29 Media, the county's Environmental Health Division responded by saying it (does) not give citations for illegal unpermitted food vending. Napa County spokesperson Linda Weinreich stated that since this March, there have been 10 incidents when the county has impounded equipment and food from an unpermitted vendor. The equipment is held for up to 30 days and each piece of equipment costs $105 to get back. The county has also gone out 11 times to address the unpermitted vendors and has issued 15 warnings focused on educational awareness about how to bring a business operation into compliance. Weinreich said the city of Napa has the power to cite vendors, but it appears none have been given out. Officials, in response to a public records request about citations, said the requested records do not exist at the City of Napa. Still, Alonso Corona, the executive director of the Napa County Hispanic Chamber, said there is a greater need to simplify and clarify the permitting process for food vendors. This could encourage more vendors to go through the process legally and make a positive contribution to our community, he said via email. To make matters more complicated, state Senate Bill 946, passed in 2018, prohibits local authorities from regulating street vending except if the vendor is causing health, safety or welfare concerns. The path to getting a permit Between applying for a vendor permit, obtaining a business license, getting inspected and gaining approval, the process can last more than a month, according to Napa Countys environmental health manager Stacy Harrington. Sometimes it takes longer than that because people come in and dont know what they need, so we have to sit and explain the process, Harrington said. There are many challenges in getting permitted from obtaining the approved equipment to finding a commissary, but plenty take this legal route. Napa County Sheriff Oscar Ortiz sees both sides of the coin. He understands that people are just trying to make an honest living, but sees the problems of lacking any guardrails to safeguard food safety. I would like to see some type of educational effort by stakeholders to help bring them into proper business and health-safety compliance, Ortiz said. About 117 mobile food facility permits are currently permitted in Napa County, according to Harrington. Obtaining a food vendor permit can cost nearly $500 with additional operating costs. Vendors also need to obtain a business license and peddler's permit from the city of Napa, along with a Napa County health permit. We just want sellers to provide safe food to the public, whether its in a compact cart or in a brick-and-mortar, said Harrington, whose team goes out to enforce the food code. The county Environmental Health Division staff goes out with Napa Police officers to conduct food safety checks, but has not cited a vendor so far. However, all vendors they have encountered have been issued a warning, Harrington said. Could Napa County adopt a sidewalk vending program? The expanding cultural landscape of food, reaching beyond traditional brick-and-mortar establishments, is a trend that is emerging not only Napa but across California, from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. Counties are ramping up culturally competitive sidewalk vending programs, with Los Angeles County as a recent example. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted its first-ever sidewalk vending ordinance, which took effect last month. It was designed to create economic opportunities for vendors while ensuring public health, safety, and harmony with brick-and-mortar businesses. The program, administered by the county's Department of Economic Opportunity, implemented free first-year registration, and vendors receive assistance in accessing compliant vending carts, legal aid and other business services. This milestone provides a pathway for entrepreneurs and small businesses, particularly those historically marginalized and disconnected, into a newly legalized open-air economy, read the news release from Los Angeles Countys public works department earlier this year. Offering economic opportunity for vendors as well as conditions for better public health, safety, and well-being for all vendors, brick and mortar businesses, and community members. Funded by a $3.5 million investment from the American Rescue Plan, the initiative adopts a "care-first" approach to enforcement, aiming to balance the needs of the community and vendors. The question then arises: Will Napa County follow suit by waiving first-year vendor registration fees and providing support for accessing compliant vending carts, legal assistance, and other essential business services in both English and Spanish? As it stands in Napa Countys most populous city, Napa Mayor Sedgley said the cost of permits would have to be lower across the board to be fair to all food vendors. I think it has to be consistent, Sedgley said of permit pricing. For them, its economics. Theyre making an honest living, Sedgley said. But governments role is, when youre making an honest living, you make sure the public is safe. -- For the record: An earlier online version of this story included delivery costs in an order from Mothers Tacos. It now reflects in the dine in or takeout price. The cost of the same order at Tacos Y Chisme has also been updated. Mothers Tacos, Super Duper Burgers, new fast, casual options open in Napa Mothers Tacos Mothers Tacos Mothers Tacos Mothers Tacos Mothers Tacos Flash This file photo taken on Dec. 5, 2021 shows a part of the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory in northwest China's Gansu Province. [Photo/Xinhua] China will open 12 nuclear research facilities and testing platforms to international scientists and institutions to enhance global cooperation, a senior Chinese official said in Vienna on Monday. These include the China Advanced Research Reactor, the new-generation tokamak device Huanliu-3, and the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory, Liu Jing, vice chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA), said at a meeting on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) annual general conference. The facilities span areas such as basic nuclear research, isotope production, nuclear environment simulation, equipment testing, and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. Monday's meeting, themed "Share for Development," was organized by the CAEA to promote international cooperation in nuclear technology research and development, as China marks the 40th anniversary of its accession to the IAEA. Yu Jianfeng, chairman of China National Nuclear Corporation, said at the event that the company aims to deepen cooperation with the IAEA and expand international collaboration. He expressed hope that opening China's nuclear research facilities will contribute to advancing nuclear technology globally. IAEA's Deputy Director General Mikhail Chudakov commended China's remarkable achievements in nuclear energy development and highlighted the long-standing, fruitful relationship between the IAEA and the CAEA. Welcoming China's decision to open up more of its nuclear research and development facilities, Chudakov said the move will further strengthen the agency's technical capacity to support its member states. On Monday evening, the CAEA and China's permanent mission to the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations in Vienna jointly held a reception at the UN headquarters in Vienna to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's accession to the IAEA. More than 200 participants, including IAEA representatives and foreign envoys to Vienna, attended the event. Li Song, China's permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, said at the reception that China and the IAEA have expanded practical cooperation and jointly promoted the development of nuclear energy over the past 40 years. China, he said, will continue to strengthen collaboration with the IAEA and its member states to address emerging challenges in international security, safeguard the global non-proliferation regime, and promote the use of nuclear energy and technology for the benefit of the Global South. At the reception, Liu, Li and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi jointly unveiled a bronze statue of Qian Sanqiang, a renowned Chinese nuclear physicist and one of the founders of China's nuclear industry. The statue, donated by China, will be permanently displayed at the IAEA headquarters, alongside sculptures of Polish-French physicist Marie Curie and other prominent figures who have made significant contributions to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Flash People conduct clean up work at a UN-affiliated school after an Israeli attack in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of Gaza Strip, on July 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] The UN General Assembly on Tuesday resumed its 10th emergency special session on the issue of Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with member states deliberating a draft resolution introduced by the State of Palestine. Introducing the draft resolution demanding an end of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land within 12 months, Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, said the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has fulfilled its mandate by unequivocally identifying the legal consequences for Israel, urging the General Assembly to uphold its mandate. "Delayed justice is denied justice," he said, calling for the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He stressed that the Palestinian people have been steadfast in the pursuit of their inalienable rights, just like all other citizens worldwide who seek self-determination. "The Palestinians want to live, not survive -- they want to be safe in their homes, they want their children to go to school without fear. They want to be free in reality as they are in spirit." The General Assembly is expected to vote on the draft resolution, which was co-sponsored by more than two dozen nations, on Wednesday. Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, said the draft ignored the truth and did not mention Hamas, and the process to table it "has been politicized." "This resolution is diplomatic terrorism," he said, adding that more than 150 resolutions have been adopted at the United Nations against Israel. "Perhaps you have forgotten, but we did not start this war -- nor did we choose it," he said. In his remarks, General Assembly President Philemon Yang said "it is incumbent on the General Assembly and the Security Council to bring to an end the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." Lebanese Ambassador Hadi Hachem said his delegation is at the "top of the list" supporting the draft resolution and the State of Palestine. The historic ICJ decision stresses the unlawful nature of Israel's occupation and the need to put an end to the illegal presence in Palestinian territory, he said. The 10th emergency special session of the General Assembly was convened for the first time in April 1997. The session has resumed multiple times since then, including shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the current ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. India's trade data for August 2024 has drawn mixed reactions from industry experts, reflecting both optimism and concern. The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) praised India's resilience in exports, highlighting a robust 5.3 per cent year-on-year growth in overall exports between April and August 2024. The cumulative value of merchandise and services exports during this period reached USD 374.3 billion, up from USD 350.1 billion in the same period in 2023. PHDCCI's President, Sanjeev Agrawal, attributed this growth to rising exports of electronic goods, tea, coffee, spices, and cereal preparations, projecting continued export strength as India's supply chains grow stronger. "We look forward to a great export growth trajectory in the current financial year. As India's supply chains become stronger, the export trajectory is expected to perform robust in the current financial year" said Aggarwal. However, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) painted a more cautious picture regarding August's goods exports, which declined by over 9 per cent year-on-year to USD 34.71 billion. FIEO President, Ashwani Kumar, pointed to global economic uncertainties, falling commodity prices, and logistical challenges as key factors behind this sharp decline. He also highlighted that disruptions in international trade, coupled with falling crude and metal prices, have hurt merchandise exports. Additionally, higher freight costs and shipping difficulties have pushed some exporters to focus on domestic markets instead. "The ongoing international trade disruptions along with drop in crude and metal prices have also played key role in bringing down the value of exports" added Kumar. In the engineering sector, optimism persisted. The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India Chairman, Arun Kumar Garodia, reported a 4.36 per cent growth in engineering exports in August 2024, reaching USD 9.44 billion. Cumulatively, engineering goods exports totaled USD 46.41 billion for the April-August period, marking a 4.22 per cent year-on-year increase. However, Garodia noted that the overall performance could have been stronger if not for the decline in iron and steel exports, which he attributed to competitive pricing from China, geopolitical conflicts, and protectionist policies in major markets like the US and EU. "This could be partly attributed to very competitive pricing from China, geopolitical conflicts in Europe and West Asia, and protectionist policies in the USA and EU. Additionally, there is growing concern among the exporting community about Chinese steel entering India through FTA routes, bypassing tariffs intended to protect domestic production" said Garodia. Looking ahead, he also expressed cautious optimism for the engineering sector, citing positive measures from the 2024 Budget and the potential for improved global economic conditions. He also urged a review of free trade agreements (FTAs) to address concerns over Chinese steel entering India through FTA routes. As industry experts weigh the pros and cons of the latest trade data, the path forward for India's export sector remains dependent on both global market conditions and domestic policy interventions. (ANI) PNN Surat (Gujarat) [India], September 18: Suvarna Mahotsav 2.0, a campaign by India's favourite jewellery destination Kalamandir Jewellers, received an overwhelming response from customers. The campaign, celebrating timeless style, elegance and unbeatable offers, ran across all Kalamandir Jewellers stores. The Suvarna Mahotsav 2.0 featured up to 100% off on making charges on all types of gold and diamond jewellery. This exclusive offer allowed customers an excellent opportunity to explore an array of over 36,000 stunning designs, perfectly blending tradition with modernity and showcasing the regality and grandeur that Kalamandir Jewellers represents. The campaign's grand success underscores the trust and loyalty Kalamandir Jewellers has earned over the years as India's favourite jewellery destination. Speaking on the success of the campaign, Milan Shah, Director of Kalamandir Jewellers, said, "We are immensely grateful to our customers for making Suvarna Mahotsav 2.0 such a remarkable celebration. Their love and trust have made this event a phenomenal success, and we could not be more thankful. At Kalamandir Jewellers, our goal is to continually offer our customers exceptional shopping experiences, and we are humbled by the overwhelming support. We thank our customers and look forward to creating more memorable shopping experiences and moments together." Kalamandir Jewellers is renowned for its exquisite designs and superior craftsmanship, with showrooms in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vapi, Bharuch and Kosamba. The Suvarna Mahotsav 2.0 offered customers an extraordinary opportunity to indulge in their passion for jewellery while enjoying significant savings, especially during the festive season and the forthcoming wedding season. Kalamandir Jewellers' extensive jewellery collection includes bracelets, chains, rings, mangalsutras, kadas, necklaces, pendants, earrings, pendant sets and much more. It has carved a special place in the hearts of customers, offering jewellery that caters to all generations and occasions. Kalamandir Jewellers prioritises transparency and quality and prides itself on being the jewellery destination of choice for every member of the family Kalamandir Jewellers expresses its deepest gratitude to all customers for their support and their love that made Suvarna Mahotsav 2.0 an unforgettable success. Kalamandir Jewellers is excited to continue serving customers with even more exceptional collections and offers. (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) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday shared his experience of interaction with the beneficiaries of the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. During the PM Modi's recent Gujarat visit he interacted with Jagshibhai Suthar and his family, who have been directly benefitted from the scheme. In a social media post on 'X' PM Modi stated, "During my recent Gujarat visit, I went to the home of Jagshibhai Suthar. He and his family have benefitted from the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. I also met other beneficiaries of this scheme. Here are the highlights." PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijlee Yojana is a central scheme that aims to provide free electricity to one crore households in the country, who opt to install roof top solar electricity unit. The Government of India has approved the scheme on 29th February, 2024 to increase the share of solar rooftop capacity and empower residential households to generate their own electricity. The scheme has an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore and is to be implemented till FY 2026-27. The scheme will be implemented by a National programme Implementation Agency (NPIA) at the National level and by the State Implementation Agencies (SIAs) at the state level. The scheme provides for a subsidy of 60% of the solar unit cost for systems up to 2kW capacity and 40 percent of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3kW capacity. The subsidy has been capped at 3kW capacity. At current benchmark prices, this will mean Rs 30,000 subsidy for 1kW system, Rs 60,000 for 2kW systems and Rs 78,000 for 3kW systems or higher. The Distribution Utility (DISCOMs or Power/Energy Departments, as the case may be) shall be the State Implementation Agencies (SIA) at the State/UT level. Under the scheme, the DISCOMs shall be required to put in place several facilitative measures for promotion of rooftop solar in their respective areas such as availability of net meters, timely inspection and commissioning of installations, vendor registration and management, interdepartmental convergence for solarizing government building etc. (ANI) PNN New Delhi [India], September 18: On 15 September 2024, the International Youth Development Foundation (IYDF) and Flying Unicorn Wearings hosted a special charity event at the New Infotech Educational Welfare Society in Kanpur, India. The initiative aimed to provide educational materials to 30 children from underprivileged communities while also inspiring their creativity and enthusiasm for learning through activities like drawing, crafts, and interactive discussions. This event offered both tangible assistance and much-needed motivation to support the children's growth. Dedicated Volunteers: A Testament to Commitment and Passion The event was organized by Farhan Ali, who led a team of six dedicated volunteers: Shahrukh Khan, Faizan Khan, Osama Khan, Adil Ansari, Asif Ansari, and Shavez Khan. Their involvement was key in helping the children acquire new skills and build meaningful connections throughout the event. Flying Unicorn Wearings, the supporting company, demonstrated its deep commitment to social responsibility by not only donating resources but also actively participating in volunteer services to support the children in Kanpur's impoverished communities. Donated Supplies: Enriching Learning and Growth A variety of educational supplies were donated during the event, offering comprehensive support for the children's learning. These supplies included backpacks, lunch boxes, water bottles, notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, rulers, geometry sets, desks, clipboards, correction fluid, and pencil cases. These items not only enhanced the children's study conditions but also provided them with better tools and a conducive learning environment. The joy on the children's faces upon receiving these supplies underscored the impact these materials had on their daily lives. Event Highlights: Creativity and Engagement in Focus At the event, volunteers organized a series of engaging and educational activities designed to teach the children new skills and stimulate their creativity. These included drawing and crafting sessions where the children, guided by the volunteers, used various materials to create their own art pieces and express their imaginations. Interactive discussions also took place, allowing volunteers to understand the children's interests and learning needs. Inspirational speeches were given, conveying messages of positivity and the importance of pursuing one's dreams. Through these activities, the children not only gained new knowledge but also bolstered their confidence and teamwork abilities. Volunteers' Reflections: Sharing Knowledge and Care Following the event, Farhan Ali and the other volunteers shared their experiences. Ali expressed his joy in seeing the children learn new things through crafting, stating, "I am delighted to share all I have with them and look forward to introducing more about painting, like how to blend colors to create new shades, in the next event." Other volunteers echoed this enthusiasm, finding the opportunity to help these children and engage with them to be deeply meaningful. They cherished the interactive process and were gratified by the children's enthusiastic participation. Ongoing Acts of Kindness: Extending Support to More Children The collaboration between IYDF and Flying Unicorn Wearings has provided valuable educational resources and opportunities to 30 children in Kanpur's underprivileged communities. The interactions and shared experiences during the event not only enriched the children's knowledge but also helped them build stronger self-confidence. IYDF aims to continue partnering with various companies and volunteers to organize more charitable activities, bringing care and support to even more children in need. Through ongoing efforts and dedication, IYDF hopes to create a brighter future for the growth and development of these children. The success of this event brought not only improvements in the children's learning and living conditions but also a profound sense of accomplishment and fulfillment for the volunteers. Through their combined efforts, IYDF and Flying Unicorn Wearings have conveyed love and care, offering hope and motivation to those children who need it most. (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], September 18: Adsparkx, a leading disruptor in the MarTech industry, recently celebrated its 10th Founders' Day on the 22nd of June at the grand venue of Aurum Conventions in Gurugram. The event featured a Gatsby theme, reflecting the magnitude of Adsparkx's achievements in a chic and sophisticated manner. This celebration marked a significant milestone for Adsparkx, showcasing its sustained growth and success in the highly competitive MarTech sector for over a decade now. Idea behind ElevateX They say, "A business is simply an idea to transform people's lives for the better"- and Adsparkx has carried this thought now for a decade, and the company's conquest within the industry is a testimony to its endeavors fueled by integrity, teamwork, and unity. For Sparkians, ElevateX stands as a symbol to rise beyond and to the elevation to new possibilities that highlight their shared dedication and hard work. As a decade has gone by, there is a sense of nostalgia and pride for the memories they have created and the milestones they have reached together. This 10th anniversary not only embraces their past but also sets the stage for an empowering and excelling ambitious future. Lighting Up Hopes The celebration saw a green light as the Adsparkx team made their grand entrance into a venue decorated beautifully that perfectly encapsulates the 'ElevateX' theme subtly encompassing the gatsby theme. An extraordinary moment unfolded with the presence of Adsparkx's founders, Vipul and Nipun's parents, Achla Taneja and Avinash Taneja, who performed the ceremonial lamp lighting and marked the beginning of the event. As the evening progressed, the stage got set for presentations from business leaders of 10 diverse teams of Adsparkx. They successfully conveyed what their respective teams achieved in the last year & also showcased the areas of potential milestones as well as their goals for the future. The segment saw an end with the Founders' parents addressing the people of Adsparkx, highlighting how their children, now two of the most prominent personalities in the MarTech Industry, did not let the setbacks in their journey stop them from taking Adsparkx to Global heights. And how their blessings are always with them. Elevating the Spark Vipul and Nipun Taneja graced the stage to share their inspirational journey and unveil Adsparkx's ambitious future plan following last year's project RISE and lifting to ELEVATE to new horizons. ElevateX focuses on leadership and development across all areas, with the belief that words can ignite action and elevate performance resonating deeply with every Sparkian in attendance. Both founders emphasized the importance of teamwork in driving a brand to success. Vipul Taneja expressed his gratitude to the Sparkians for their contributions, saying, "Adsparkx is becoming a recognized name in the MarTech Industry, thanks to our work in the US, Canada, UK, and now Mexico. This is just the beginning of a bright future. With our fantastic team, seeing Adsparkx as a global performance marketing pioneer doesn't seem far-fetched." Nipun Taneja echoed his thoughts, reflecting on their decade-long journey: "The past ten years have been miraculous. Starting with just Vipul and me in a garage, we've grown beyond our wildest dreams. With our knowledge and experience, we're confident about our future direction." Acknowledging Smartwork The event highlighted the achievements of Sparkians, recognizing both new talent & seasoned members for their hard work & dedication. In line with the 'ElevateX' theme, Adsparkx is setting foot for further growth, promoting learning & leadership initiatives to build a stronger team. The evening concluded with a live performance by Delhi's renowned Kube The Band, which had everyone dancing. A casino night added to the fun, giving Sparkians a chance to win exciting prizes. Eyes on the Future Adsparkx's 10th Founders' Day was a celebration of the company's incredible journey and its promising future. The company stands as a source of pride for the dynamic founder brother-duo and the entire team. Looking ahead, Adsparkx envisions a future filled with continued growth and innovation. The company has already expanded its presence in the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, and along with its technological capabilities, it plans to widen its existence and drive transformative change within the MarTech industry. By investing in cutting-edge technology and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, Adsparkx also aims to set new benchmarks and achieve unprecedented success. With a clear vision and a dedicated team, Adsparkx is poised to Elevate to new heights and create a lasting impact on the industry. Adsparkx's 10th Founders' Day celebration was a gala of the company's extraordinary journey and its promising future. With the dedication to unity, innovation, and expansion, Adsparkx continues its journey to new horizons. (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 Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 18: Riyo Advertising, a leading newspaper advertising and digital marketing agency with offices in Mumbai and Bangalore, announces the opening of its new branch in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The branch will officially open on 2nd October, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti, marking a significant milestone in the company's two-decade journey in the advertising industry. The new Chennai office expands Riyo's presence across India, enabling the agency to offer enhanced newspaper advertising, digital marketing and press release distribution services to a broader client base, with a special focus on regional language advertising. Narendra Bhanushali, Chief Executive Officer of Riyo Advertising, emphasized the agency's dedication to meeting the changing needs of its clients. "Our goal has always been to serve our clients with dedication and excellence. The new branch in Chennai not only allows us to extend that commitment but also enables us to offer our expertise in newspaper advertising, digital marketing, and press release distribution to a wider audience in South India," he stated. "We are also excited to support local businesses in Chennai by providing tailored advertising solutions that help them grow and thrive." Founded in 2004, Riyo Advertising agency has established itself as a leader in newspaper advertising, offering services across sectors such as BFSI, real estate, recruitment, statutory legal notices, and business advertising. With a vast network of over 200 newspapers in English and regional languages, Riyo ensures that clients can reach diverse audiences across both urban and rural India. Rajesh Bhanushali, Deputy Manager of Riyo Advertising, spoke on the strategic importance of the expansion. "With Chennai's growing importance as a business hub in South India, this new branch enhances our ability to deliver personalized services across newspaper advertising and digital marketing. It strengthens our ability to serve clients in emerging and established markets, particularly in industries such as real estate, education, and technology." In addition to its core offerings, Riyo Advertising provides comprehensive Press Release Distribution services to help brands boost visibility. These services enable businesses to circulate their press releases to online publications, newswires, and key media outlets. Yogita Ghogare, Head of Riyo's Digital Team, will oversee the press release distribution services nationwide, ensuring that clients achieve enhanced brand promotion across digital platforms. As part of its commitment to sustainability, Riyo Advertising has actively reduced paper waste by promoting digital marketing solutions and reducing its environmental impact. Shaukat Ali Shaikh, General Manager of Riyo Advertising, highlighted the significance of these eco-friendly practices: "Sustainability has always been a priority for us. As we expand, we remain dedicated to adopting practices that benefit both our clients and the environment. By promoting digital-first advertising strategies, we're not only driving innovation but also reducing paper usage in line with global sustainability goals." Riyo Advertising is also known for its expertise in regional language advertising, helping brands communicate effectively with audiences in Tamil, Kannada, and other regional languages, ensuring maximum impact for businesses targeting both urban and rural markets. Looking ahead, Riyo Advertising agency has ambitious plans for further expansion across India. "We are continuously exploring new ways to integrate cutting-edge technology, including AI-driven ad targeting and programmatic buying, to offer our clients next-generation advertising solutions," said Narendra Bhanushali. "As we open the Chennai branch, we're excited to further strengthen our pan-India presence and contribute to the growth of the advertising industry nationwide." With a clear vision for the future, Riyo Advertising plans to continue expanding its footprint, driven by a commitment to innovation, sustainability, and client satisfaction. The company has been recognized with multiple industry awards for its leadership and excellence in the advertising field, and it remains focused on providing unparalleled service to its clients. To celebrate the opening of our new branch, Riyo Advertising is offering a complimentary consultation to all new clients in Chennai. Contact us today to learn how our newspaper advertising, digital marketing, and press release distribution services can help your business grow. For more information, visit riyoadvertising.com Riyo Advertising Founded in 2004, Riyo Advertising is a leading agency specializing in newspaper advertising and digital marketing solutions. With offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, and now Chennai, the agency offers clients the ability to book ads in over 200 newspapers across India and provides comprehensive press release distribution services. Known for its innovation, sustainability, and client satisfaction, Riyo Advertising has built a strong reputation as a trusted partner in the advertising industry. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) With the World Bank forecasting India's growth at 7 per cent for FY25 a number of business houses are looking to do business in the country. George Kapsch, Chairman and Global CEO of the Kapsch Group, belives this is the right time to enter India, expressing his eagerness to expand the groups business in the country. "India is doing very well now, and we are keen to enter the market. We tried several years ago and weren't that successful, but this time we believe it's the right moment with the right partners," said Kapsch, Chairman and Global CEO of the Kapsch Group. Kapsch Group, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, employs 4,000 people worldwide and operates in 50 countries. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Kapsch noted India's rapid growth and modernization, emphasizing its ability to progress without losing its cultural roots. "This is very important because many countries compromise their identity for economic advantage. India, in my view, perfectly balances modernization with preserving its culture." This was Kapsch's first-ever visit to India. Kapsch TrafficCom is a global expert in GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) tolling technology. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is working on a hybrid, unbundled, and interoperable GNSS-based tolling solution. Recently, MoRTH Secretary Anurag Jain revealed that the department is preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP), expected to be issued by the last quarter of FY 2024. Kapsch Group is partnering with the Indian company Comvision to enter the Indian market. Discussing the partnership, Kapsch said, "We met recently and connected from the very beginning. We believe this partnership has great potential. When it comes to GNSS tolling, we have extensive global experience, and our partners bring local market expertise. It's a perfect fit." Kapsch elaborated on the company's two decades of experience in GNSS tolling, noting their innovation in developing more cost-effective solutions. "The first GNSS implementation was in Germany, and it was extremely expensive. We focused on creating more affordable options, which became our competitive advantage. GNSS adoption has been slow, with only a few countries using it, but its uptake is increasing. India is now emerging as a front-runner in this technology outside of Europe, making us excited to support the Indian government in implementing a nationwide GNSS solution." In Europe, Kapsch explained, four countries currently use GNSS for tolling. There is also a European Electronic Toll System that covers the entire continent using GNSS. "You have regional solutions based on DSRC, and an overlay network based on GNSS," he added. Addressing India's tollbooth congestion and safety issues, Kapsch stressed that GNSS would help alleviate traffic problems. "By eliminating tollbooths and allowing free-flowing traffic, you can reduce congestion and prevent accidents around toll plazas." On managing congestion, Kapsch said, "There are two key approaches--intelligently routing cars and controlling traffic signals adaptively. By combining these, we can optimize traffic flow. Additionally, introducing congestion charging for vehicles entering downtown areas could be a valuable solution." (ANI) PNN Dubai [UAE], September 18: NIFD Global is delighted to announce the remarkable achievements of its students who recently embarked on a 10-day residential program in Dubai. As part of the implementation team for the entire Dubai Fashion Week, NIFD Global students were actively involved in organizing and executing various aspects of the event. This incredible opportunity allowed them to contribute behind the scenes and, as a result, gain exclusive access to participate in both the Roberto Cavalli Finale and the Michael Cinco show. Their hands-on involvement provided invaluable experience in the fast-paced world of high fashion, marking a significant milestone in their professional growth. The experience was nothing short of transformative, combining hands-on exposure to runway events with extensive learning experiences. Hailing from various NIFD Global centers, including Hyderabad Himayatnagar, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Vapi, Patiala, Roorkee, Pune Kothrud, Vadodara, New Delhi Pitampura, Gandhinagar, Kanpur, Kolkata Salt Lake, Indore, Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Mumbai Borivali, Mumbai Bandra, Kohlapur, Mumbai Andheri, Bangalore MG Road, Pune Koregaon Park, and Mumbai Ghatkopar, the students showcased their creativity, discipline, and talent at one of the world's most exciting fashion events. Students took on key responsibilities behind the scenes, including guest hospitality, logistical support, and event arrangements, gaining invaluable hands-on experience, allowing them to understand the mechanics of a high-stakes fashion show and contribute to its success. Before their big moment at Dubai Fashion Week - Dubai's premier fashion event, the students participated in not one but two impactful workshops on brand building, led by Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation and delivered by Professor Elmar Schuller. These workshops covered critical elements of brand development, from mastering the art of storytelling to creating a unique brand identity in a saturated market. These workshops not only elevated the students' understanding of fashion design but also gave them a strategic edge in building bigger and bolder brands in the future. In addition to the brand-building workshops, the students indulged in an exclusive luxury experience workshop at the opulent Palazzo Versace Dubai. This session exposed them to the luxury side of the fashion world, offering insights into the importance of luxury branding, client experience, and the finer details that distinguish high fashion from the mainstream. By interacting with luxury fashion experts and absorbing the sophisticated atmosphere of Palazzo Versace, the students were able to take away invaluable lessons about how luxury fashion operates, from the importance of exclusivity to the attention to detail that goes into every aspect of a luxury product. The diversity of NIFD Global's student body was another highlight of this Dubai experience. With students representing centers pan-India, the residential program fostered collaboration, cross-cultural exchanges, and the opportunity for students to work together toward a unified goal. NIFD Global's comprehensive fashion education goes beyond the classroom, offering students real-world experience that prepares them for the challenges and opportunities of the global fashion industry. The Dubai trip is just one example of the institute's commitment to providing its students with unparalleled learning experiences. The opportunity to work at Dubai Fashion Week and, in particular, on both the Roberto Cavalli Finale and the Michael Cinco show was a massive stepping stone for NIFD Global students. It placed them at the heart of one of the most prestigious fashion events in the world, allowing them to learn from industry leaders and witness the behind-the-scenes workings of a major fashion house. Reflecting on the success of the event, renowned designer Ihab Jiriyis praised the students, saying, "Your academic excellence and dedication have been outstanding. We are proud of your contribution and look forward to working with you again next year." As NIFD Global students return, they carry with them invaluable experience and knowledge from their thrilling Dubai adventure, preparing them for future success in the global fashion industry. For more information about NIFD Global School of Design, Beauty, Management and its transformative programs, visit our website at www.nifdglobal.com (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] September 18: A Historic Moment for the North Indian Community in Mira Bhayandar: The long-awaited hopes of the North Indian community were realized today with the successful foundation ceremony of the Shri Gangotri North Indian Bhavan in Mira Bhayandar. This historic event took place under the spiritual guidance and blessings of Dharma Chakravarti Padma Vibhushan Tulsi Peethadhishwar Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Shri Rambhadracharya Ji Maharaj. The foundation ceremony was conducted by Swami Ji himself, marking the auspicious beginning of the construction work. MLA Geeta Jain also participated in the ceremony. Swami Shri Rambhadracharya Ji said on the occasion, "This building will not merely be a structure of bricks and stones, but a symbol of unity, culture, and values for the North Indian community. The religious and cultural programs held here will inspire future generations. I have performed the foundation ceremony, and I will also inaugurate this building." A large number of North Indian community members and prominent city citizens were present at the event. The construction of the building will provide a new platform for the community's religious, cultural, and social activities. MLA Smt. Geeta Bharat Jain, who played a key role in the project, expressed her happiness by saying, "This building was a long-standing demand of the North Indian community. Today, with this foundation ceremony, we are beginning the construction of a lasting legacy for the community. This building will become an inspiring place for future generations." The building will feature state-of-the-art facilities, including an auditorium, spaces for cultural programs, and accommodations. On this occasion, Smt. Geeta Jain urged all community members to be part of this historic initiative. The building will be constructed by Mr. Sunil Jain, the developer of the land. Key Highlights of the Program: - The foundation ceremony was conducted by Swami Shri Rambhadracharya Ji Maharaj.- MLA Smt. Geeta Jain highlighted the significance of the building for the community.- A large number of North Indian citizens attended and appreciated this historic initiative. (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) You are here: World Flash European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks at the opening of the Bled Strategic Forum in Bled, Slovenia, on Sept. 2, 2024. [Photo/STA handout via Xinhua] European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen revealed the long-awaited lineup for the new European Commission in France's Strasbourg on Tuesday, after weeks of negotiations with member states over candidates and their portfolios. "Together, we have defined core priorities. They are built around prosperity, security, democracy," von der Leyen said at a news conference, adding, "The entire college is committed to competitiveness!" Among the 27 posts in the proposed college, 40 percent being held by women, are six executive vice-presidents, of which four are female. The executive vice-presidents include Teresa Ribera of Spain, Henna Virkkunen of Finland, Raffaele Fitto of Italy, Roxana Minzatu of Romania, Stephane Sejourne of France and Kaja Kallas of Estonia. Stephane Sejourne was appointed as the executive vice president overseeing industrial strategy after Thierry Breton, who was France's initial nominee for the new European Commission, resigned on Monday. Breton's departure followed several public disputes with von der Leyen. Last week, Slovenia also put forward a new candidate for the European Commission after its initial nominee, Tomaz Vesel, withdrew. Vesel cited disagreements with von der Leyen's vision for how the Commission should operate. The proposed commissioners will face tough scrutiny in the coming weeks as EU lawmakers must approve each nomination. The nominees need a two-thirds majority in the relevant European Parliament committees to move forward. Some appointments are already facing resistance. French member of the European Parliament Valerie Hayer, leader of the EU Liberals, said, "We have already warned of this political decision by Ursula von der Leyen. She has confirmed it. We take note of that." India PR Distribution New Delhi [India], September 18: Australia's La Trobe University and India's Biotechnology Industry Research Association Council (BIRAC) have today signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to establish a Bio Innovation Corridor to support the development of research and innovation. La Trobe University is ranked in the top one per cent of the world's universities. It has a proud and successful history in India, partnering with tertiary institutions and organisations on projects that benefit both countries, and helping develop India's brightest minds through joint education opportunities. The Bio Innovation Corridor between India and the Australian state of Victoria will open access and provide landing pad opportunities to entrepreneurs, startups and researchers from both countries. The LOI will enable La Trobe and BIRAC to scale up and foster collaboration with knowledge-based technologies and ideas leveraging biotechnology, with applications in agtech, food tech, medtech, and for human health and wellness purposes. La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor Professor Theo Farrell said the University was delighted to announce the creation of the Bio Innovation Corridor. "This exciting new partnership will offer the skills, infrastructure and capabilities of La Trobe University to Indian startups, entrepreneurs and researchers that have ideas and technologies that can be scaled up for applications and commercialisation in Indian and Australian markets," Professor Farrell said. "It is part of our vision to develop an ecosystem of research and innovation through co-location opportunities, including at our University City of the Future at our Melbourne campus in Bundoora and our four Victorian regional campuses. "Here, promising start ups, entrepreneurs and corporates from India can establish their R&D, innovation, product development and commercialisation facilities in conjunction with La Trobe through a range of innovative business partnership models." The LOI was signed by Prof Farrell and Dr. Jitendra Kumar, Managing Director of BIRAC, during the Victoria Connect event, which was attended by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. Premier Allan said Victoria was a prime location for both international students and collaboration on important research and innovation. "The agreement between La Trobe University and BIRAC offers immense opportunities to entrepreneurs and researchers from India through access to La Trobe's world-class facilities at its campuses in regional Victoria and Melbourne," the Premier said. Dr Jitender Kumar from BIRAC said: "Today's signing of the Letter of Intent between India and La Trobe University represents a significant milestone in the realm of biotechnological advancement. This formalizes our commitment to fostering collaborative research and innovation at the global level. The Bio Innovation Corridor will open new avenues for entrepreneurs by fostering cross-border collaboration and leveraging our collective expertise. This partnership exemplifies the potential of international synergy in advancing cutting-edge solutions for global scientific progress." La Trobe recently launched a purpose-built Bio Innovation Hub (BIH) that will help startup companies develop new technologies in med tech and drug delivery. "Facilities like the Bio Innovation Hub and our Digital Innovation Hub are opportunities where Karnataka-based startups and new technology players will be encouraged to co-locate and work in a vibrant biotechnology-based ecosystem for building their businesses," Professor Farrell said. The Victoria Connect event in Delhi organised on 17 September 2024, is showcasing the opportunities between Victoria and India in the higher education and value-adding technology sectors. Contact: Amit Malhotra Megan Fisher, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Industry Engagement, La Trobe University (+61 9479 2070) Sid Jain, Director of Precinct Development & Operations, La Trobe University (+61 408 764 036) Bio-Innovation-Hub-April-24-WEB-.pdf (latrobe.edu.au) About the Biotechnology Industry Research Association Council (BIRAC) Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a Not-for-profit, Section 8, Public Sector Enterprise set up by the Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. BIRAC's mandate is to strengthen and empower emerging Biotech enterprises. The organization is committed to promoting, nurturing and enabling the Biotech Innovation Ecosystem to develop globally competitive affordable products to address the unmet needs of society at large. BIRAC through Public Private Partnership has taken up a multitude of activities from providing funds for high-risk translational research, supporting nascent ideas, capacity building through creating bioincubation centres as shared infrastructure, handholding through mentoring and training, to policy advocacy for empowering the biotech ecosystem in India. About La Trobe University For more than 50 years, La Trobe University has been transforming people and societies. Located in Melbourne, Australia, the University works collaboratively across disciplines and with partners to develop fresh ways of thinking and conducting research - constantly seeking new ways to engage with and better serve its partners and communities, to build relationships and develop solutions for the issues facing society. Along with holding its top 300 ranking in Times Higher Education's World University Rankings 2024, La Trobe earned the prestigious 'Most Improved - Oceania Award' in the QS World University Rankings 2025, rising 183 places over the past five years to claim its new spot at 217 of the 1,500 universities evaluated. Read more about La Trobe here. La Trobe University media enquiries Charisse Ede c.ede@latrobe.edu.au, 0404030698, media@latrobe.edu.au (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by India PR Distribution. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) VMPL New Delhi [India], September 18: The Awards Trust of India (ATI) is all set to organize one of the most prestigious and eagerly awaited award ceremonies of the year. This spectacular event, honoring exceptional individuals and organizations for their contributions to society, will take place aboard a luxury cruise off the scenic coast of Kerala on Saturday, October 19, 2024. With a backdrop of the tranquil Arabian Sea, this celebration promises to be a memorable evening filled with recognition, inspiration, and purpose. About Awards Trust of India (ATI) The Awards Trust of India (ATI) is a renowned organization dedicated to recognizing and rewarding excellence in various fields, from social work, healthcare, sports, science, innovation and education to environmental sustainability and women's empowerment. With a mission to highlight the remarkable efforts of individuals, organizations, and activists who contribute to societal betterment, ATI strives to create a platform where unsung heroes can be celebrated on a national stage. ATI's key objectives include facilitating social awards for welfare initiatives, organizing CSR and social events, and collaborating with the Government of India to support programs like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Right to Education, and Atmanirbhar Bharat. Through these initiatives, ATI aims to inspire more individuals to contribute to these causes and promote the values of social responsibility, sustainability, and community empowerment. Event Highlights and Purpose The ATI Awards Ceremony will gather an elite group of distinguished individuals, renowned personalities, and prominent figures from various sectors to acknowledge and honor their contributions to the welfare of society. From social reformers to environmental activists, from educators to healthcare advocates, the awards will span several categories, each designed to celebrate innovation, dedication, and excellence. Hosted on a luxurious cruise liner off the breathtaking coast of Kerala, the event promises an evening of celebration with high-profile attendees, inspiring speeches, and a grand award distribution ceremony. In addition to honoring prominent personalities, ATI's purpose is to inspire further contributions to society by encouraging others to follow the path of service, excellence, and social awareness. Call for Nominations for Awards Trust of India on a Cruise in Kerala As part of the pre-launch of this grand event, the Awards Trust of India is inviting individuals, organizations, and activists to submit nominations for various awards. This is an opportunity to recognize exceptional contributions in areas such as: * Education * Business Empowerment * Women's Empowerment * Environmental Sustainability * Social Welfare * Sports * Civic Responsibility * Healthcare Initiatives * Science and Innovation * Professional Accomplishments Nominations are open to those who have made a significant impact in their respective fields, and ATI encourages the public to put forward the names of deserving candidates for this prestigious honor. This is a chance to bring to light the contributions of those who work tirelessly for the betterment of society, often behind the scenes. In addition, ATI welcomes bulk registrations from corporates, educational institutions, and organizations looking to participate or contribute to this grand event. Bulk registration provides an opportunity for institutions to engage with ATI's mission, network with like-minded leaders, and amplify their role in fostering societal change. Be Part of This Momentous Occasion As we approach October 19, 2024, ATI welcomes the participation of individuals, organizations, and corporates from across the nation. With Kerala's serene beauty providing the perfect setting for this grand event, it is an occasion not to be missed by those passionate about contributing to and celebrating social good. Join us on this inspiring journey aboard the ATI Awards Cruise, where the spirit of giving back and recognizing achievement will shine brighter than ever. For nominations or more details about the ATI Awards Ceremony, visit our official website, check out the list of Awards by Award Trust of India, fill out the Nomination Form or contact us at info@awardstrustofindia.org Together, let's honor those who have dedicated themselves to making our world a better place! (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) The central government will take all necessary steps to protect the domestic steel sector, including addressing the challenges posed by cheap Chinese steel, said H.D. Kumaraswamy, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel. Speaking at the Domestic Alloy Industry Conference organised by the Indian Primary Alloy and Ferroalloy Association (IPAFA) in New Delhi on Wednesday, the minister responded to a question about the uncontrolled import of steel from China. He mentioned that the government will soon discuss the possibility of imposing higher import duties on Chinese steel with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, stressing that the domestic steel sector will not be allowed to face any danger. He added, "It is our responsibility to protect both the domestic steel and alloy industries. We must safeguard the industry from challenges, and in this regard, we will discuss with the Finance Minister the imposition of a minimum import duty on steel. Preliminary discussions are already underway, and efforts will be made to convince the Finance Minister." "Steel is the backbone of the country's economy, and we will work to strengthen it. The ministry is engaged in continuous discussions on this matter," he said. When asked about the ongoing protests against the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam National Steel Plant (Vizag Steel), the minister responded, "I am aware of the situation. We face challenges, but we are making every effort to stabilize and save the plant." Earlier, in his inaugural speech at the Domestic Alloy Industry Conference, the minister mentioned that the Prime Minister has set a goal of achieving 300 million tons of annual steel production and that efforts are ongoing to realise this vision. Ajit Kumar Saxena, Chairman and Managing Director of MOIL (Manganese Ore India Ltd.), and Manish Sarda, President of IPAFA, were also present at the event. (ANI) India and Denmark's maritime relations continue to strengthen, with both nations working closely to advance sustainable maritime practices. Under the India-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership, the collaboration has expanded across key areas such as Quality shipping, Cooperation on Port State Control, Maritime training and education, research and development, Piracy, Green maritime technology, shipbuilding and green shipping. "Denmark, a global leader in sustainable maritime technologies, has been sharing its expertise in green and digital solutions, aligning with India's goals under the Sagarmala initiative and the Maritime India Vision 2030" said a statement by Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Scope of the MoU signed in 2019 and revised in 2022, has been widened by adding a dedicated clause for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in India. This underscores the commitment to deepening expertise in green maritime technologies and fostering knowledge exchange between the two nations. Additionally, Denmark's expertise in port digitalization, automation, and cybersecurity has been instrumental in helping India achieve its vision of becoming a global leader in smart ports. Both countries are focusing on decarbonisation efforts, with joint projects aimed at developing hydrogen and ammonia-based fuels for ships. India's Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 aims to decarbonize its ports, and Denmark's success in offshore wind energy is expected to further contribute to renewable energy solutions in Indian ports. Denmark's leadership in maritime training and polar navigation also opens up opportunities for collaboration, with plans to upgrade Indian seafarer training programs in line with global standards. Commenting on the growing partnership, Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, stated, "India and Denmark's collaboration in the maritime sector is a testament to shared commitment towards sustainable development and innovation. Together, we will not only enhance port infrastructure and shipping capabilities but also setting a global benchmark in green maritime practices. This partnership will play a pivotal role in India's journey towards achieving a carbon-neutral maritime industry." As part of the Joint Action Plan on Green Strategic Partnership (2021-2026), both countries are set to continue their collaboration on port modernization, maritime digitalization, green fuel development, and advanced seafarer training. With Denmark's leadership in green maritime technologies and India's growing maritime infrastructure, this partnership is poised to drive global innovation and sustainability in the maritime sector. (ANI) Actor Eva Mendes, who is known for films including '2 Fast 2 Furious', 'Hitch', 'Ghost Rider', and many others, recently talked about her debut children's book, 'Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries' and if she is willing to return to acting after taking a gap of almost 10 years, as per The Hollywood Reporter. "I don't know. If there's interesting roles. I left at a time where, 10 years ago, I kind of felt like I did it, ya know, I just worked with Ryan Gosling. He's like the best," she said. Eva continued, "It was such a high off my career to work with him and what we created together that I was like, this is a good time to Seinfeld it and just walk out. So, who knows?" (Seinfeld ended abruptly after season nine, despite being popular, as co-creator and star Jerry Seinfeld felt it was the right time to end the series). Mendes has been part of several other projects including 'The Other Guys', 'The Place Beyond the Pines' and many more. However, to fulfil her responsibility as a mother and to raise her two daughters Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 7, she took a break from acting. However, she continued working and exploring other options. As she mentioned, "It was like a no-brainer. I'm so lucky, and I was like, if I could have this time with my children and I still work, I just didn't act, because acting takes you on location. It takes you away. It was almost just like a non-verbal agreement that it was like, 'OK, he's (Ryan Gosling) going to work and I'm going to work. I'm just going to work here," according to The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI) Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) President Engineer Rashid, said on Tuesday that he will file an application against Sajad Gani Lone in a court in Delhi over his "not in jail" allegations. People's Conference President Sajad Lone reportedly alleged on Monday that Engineer Rashid "was not in jail for the past two months." "... I am going to file an application against him (Sajad Lone) in Delhi court that he has said all this about me... How is it possible? Answering this question is like reducing my stature...," Rashid, who is out on bail till October 2, told reporters in Kupwara on Tuesday. He was responding to the queries on filing a case against Sajad Lone over his allegations. Rashid added, "If his allegations are found to be true, then action would be taken against the jail officials, and if not, then action would be taken against him (Sajad Lone)." The first phase of three-phase assembly elections in the Union Territory will be held on September 18. 24 Assembly constituencies across the Union Territory will go to polls in the first phase. The second phase will be held on September 25 and the third on October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8. There are 47 assembly seats in Kashmir and 43 in Jammu. Out of which seven seats are reserved for SCs and nine seats are reserved for STs. Assembly polls are being held in Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of nearly ten years. According to the Election Commission of India, Jammu and Kashmir has 88.06 lakh eligible electors. In the previous Assembly elections, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, the BJP secured 25, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) won 15, and the Congress won 12. (ANI) Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday reacted to the AAP's decision to appoint Atishi as the new Chief Minister of the national capital, saying that the public of Delhi is very troubled by the AAP government and that there is a strong desire among the public to oust the AAP from power. "The public of Delhi is very troubled by the AAP government, and they are regretting it. He has ruined Delhi after winning the elections by telling lies," Rijiju told ANI. Adding further, Rijiju said, "Atishi's surname suggests she is a leftist. The family members of Atishi supported Afzal Guru and even criticised the Supreme Court. AAP has ruined Delhi, and now they are ruining Punjab. The public of Delhi has made up their mind to remove AAP from power. The public of Delhi has made a big mistake by electing such anarchists. Now they are regretting." BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj on Tuesday took a dig at the AAP government as she congratulated Atishi for being elected as the successor of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. "Many congratulations to Atishi Marlena. But it is Delhi's misfortune that there has been the AAP government here for the last decade. The full stop on Delhi's development will continue till the time there is an AAP government here. A double-engine government is very important for the development of Delhi," Swaraj said. Reacting to Atishi being the new Delhi CM, BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, "Many congratulations to Atishi for being the new CM. We will support her in the development of Delhi. We hope that she will use our experience also for the benefit of Delhi. The condition of Delhi is very bad. People don't have drinking water, the roads are broken, and our public transport system has collapsed. I hope that these problems will be solved when Atishi becomes the CM." BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla also took a swipe at the AAP government for electing Atishi as the new face of the Delhi Chief Minister and said, "Unfortunately, first Delhi had a 'jailwala' CM who ran the government from jail, and became the 'bailwala' CM later. Now there will be a dummy CM. The word 'dummy CM' is not mine, it is of Saurabh Bharadwaj and Somnath Bharti." "The AAP party has been saying that the new CM will be a 'Khadau' CM, a stopgap arrangement for Arvind Kejriwal, and a night watchman CM. You made a woman CM but she is a proxy and a dummy CM also. The face has changed but will the character of this government change?" said Poonawalla. "There have been scams in all departments held by Atishi. The new person on the CM chair would be someone whose family advocated for Afzal Guru. AAP and Atishi must clarify if they agree with such thoughts or not," added the BJP leader. Earlier, in the day, Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal alleged that Delhi Minister Atishi's parents had written mercy petitions to cancel the death sentence of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Calling Atishi a "Dummy CM," Maliwal said, "May God protect Delhi." She also shared a purported letter, which she claimed was the mercy petition written by Atishi's parents. After being elected as the leader of the Delhi AAP legislative party and the new Chief Minister, Atishi expressed gratitude to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for handing her over the responsibility and for placing trust in her. Addressing the media, Atishi said, First of all, I would like to thank the popular CM of Delhi, the AAP national convener and my guru, Arvind Kejriwal. He gave me such a huge responsibility and trusted me for it. This can be done only in AAP, only under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, that a first-time politician becomes the CM of a state." "I come from an ordinary family. Had I been in any other party, perhaps I would not have been given even an election ticket. But Arvind Kejriwal trusted me, made me an MLA and a minister and today gave me the responsibility of the CM. I am happy that Arvind Kejriwal placed such trust in me," said Atishi. The Delhi CM designate also said that she was sad that Arvind Kejriwal had tendered his resignation. "I am also sad because Delhi CM and my elder brother, Arvind Kejriwal, is resigning today. On behalf of all AAP MLAs and the 2 crore people of Delhi, I would like to say that there is just one CM of Delhi - Arvind Kejriwal," said Atishi. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday met Lt Governor VK Saxena and tendered his resignation as the Chief Minister of Delhi. Senior AAP leader and minister Atishi, who was chosen by the party legislators to be the next Chief Minister, met LG Saxena to stake claim to the post. Speaking to the media after meeting the Lt Governor, Atishi said, "This is the first time in the democratic history of the world that a Chief Minister has decided that the decision of the Supreme Court is not enough for him. Until the court of the people gives its verdict, he will not sit on the Chief Minister's chair." "The people of Delhi want to see Arvind Kejriwal ji as the Chief Minister, so they have vowed to make him win in the next elections too. The whole Delhi is saddened by Kejriwal's resignation," she added. Atishi's name was proposed by Kejriwal at the meeting of the legislature party, and it was unanimously accepted by the AAP MLAs. Sources said there would be no Deputy Chief Minister and Atishi, who represents the Kalkaji constituency, would take oath during a special Assembly session on September 26-27. Speaking on her appointment, Delhi minister Gopal Rai said, "The responsibility has been given to Atishi in testing times. Agencies were being misused against AAP to destabilise the government. AAP has frustrated these attempts." Rai said Atishi, who has been with the AAP since its inception, had two major responsibilities--to work for the two crore people of Delhi and stop the BJP's conspiracies. Kejriwal, who was granted bail in the liquor policy case last week, sent shockwaves through Delhi's political circles after his announcement to resign on September 15. (ANI) 9 people have been rescued so far from the spot. Fire brigade and police officers are present at the spot and the firefighting operation is underway. Further details awaited. (ANI) Acting on a tip-off, police on Tuesday conducted a search near the 13th rail track on the Agartala to Jirania route, near Agartala Railway Station. During the operation, authorities recovered 44 kg of dried cannabis from bushes alongside the tracks. The narcotics were allegedly being smuggled out of the state via train. According to the police, the seized cannabis has an estimated market value of approximately Rs 2.52 lakhs. The Agartala GRP (Government Railway Police) station has launched an investigation to identify the individuals responsible for this illegal consignment. Further action will be taken based on the findings of the investigation. Earlier, on Monday, three accused were arrested after the recovery of 1.20 lakh Yaba tablets and 537 grams of heroin, the total market value of seized drugs being Rs 42 crore, from a vehicle in Assam's Karimganj district. Partha Protim Das, Superintendent of Police of Karimganj district, told ANI that the accused had tried to carry the seized narcotics to the rest of the country through Guwahati. The accused were identified as Hanif Uddin of the Ratabari police station area and Jabrul Hussain of the Patharkandi police station area of Karimganj district. (ANI) The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Zameer Ahmed Khan A total of 47.76 crores will be spent on the establishment of 15 establishments of pre-degree colleges. He said that women's colleges will be established in Bagalkote, Chitradurga, Bidar, Bellary, Koppal, Mysore, Bangalore, Chikkaballapur, Vijayanagar, Kalaburagi, Udupi, Vijayapur, Kolar, Davangere and Dharwad. In addition to this, 80 crore rupees will be allocated to the Kalaburagi sub-district in the ratio of 50:50 by the Karnataka Housing Board. Out of a total of 286.28 acres at a cost in the first phase, Khan said, adding that the Cabinet has approved the construction of a new barangay on 87.34 acres of land. The Karnataka Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, held a meeting in Kalaburagi on Tuesday, approving projects worth Rs 11,770 crore related to 46 issues concerning the Kalyana Karnataka region. The cabinet also approved the upgrading of Bidar and Raichur towns to city municipalities and sanctioned a Rs 7,200 crore drinking water project for villages in Bidar and Kalaburagi. Speaking at a press conference after the cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah said, "In today's meeting, 56 issues were discussed, of which 46 were related to the Kalyana Karnataka region. The cabinet has considered projects worth a total of Rs 12,692 crore. The water project, to source water from Narayanapura Dam, is under a central government partnership, with half of the Rs 7,200 crore funding expected from the central government." (ANI) According to Mumbai police, the incident occurred when Nawab Malik's daughter and son-in-law were returning after a routine check-up at a hospital. "When they were getting into the car, the car driver accidentally pressed down the accelerator, and the car hit a wall. Sameer Khan sustained injuries on his head and is currently in ICU," informed Mumbai Police. Further details were awaited. (ANI) The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Zameer Khan said, "In a historic special cabinet meeting, the Karnataka Waqf Board has approved the establishment of women's pre-graduate colleges in fifteen districts of the state." A total of 47.76 crores will be spent on the establishment of 15 establishments of pre-degree colleges. He said that women's colleges will be established in Bagalkote, Chitradurga, Bidar, Bellary, Koppal, Mysore, Bangalore, Chikkaballapur, Vijayanagar, Kalaburagi, Udupi, Vijayapur, Kolar, Davangere and Dharwad. In addition to this, 80 crore rupees will be allocated to the Kalaburagi sub-district in the ratio of 50:50 by the Karnataka Housing Board. Out of a total of 286.28 acres at a cost in the first phase, Khan said, adding that the Cabinet has approved the construction of a new barangay on 87.34 acres of land. The Karnataka Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, held a meeting in Kalaburagi on Tuesday, approving projects worth Rs 11,770 crore related to 46 issues concerning the Kalyana Karnataka region. The cabinet also approved the upgrading of Bidar and Raichur towns to city municipalities and sanctioned a Rs 7,200 crore drinking water project for villages in Bidar and Kalaburagi. Speaking at a press conference after the cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah said, "In today's meeting, 56 issues were discussed, of which 46 were related to the Kalyana Karnataka region. The cabinet has considered projects worth a total of Rs 12,692 crore. The water project, to source water from Narayanapura Dam, is under a central government partnership, with half of the Rs 7,200 crore funding expected from the central government." (ANI) An infiltration attempt was foiled by the Border Security Force (BSF) as they killed a Pakistani intruder alongside the international border in the Amritsar district of Punjab, said BSF in a release. According to the release from BSF, the intruder surreptitiously crossed the international boundary at around 09:13 pm on Monday, September 16, and started approaching towards the border near Ratankhurd village. The official said that the man took advantage of darkness, and security forces fired at him as he did not stop and continued to move towards the border fence, the BSF official added. BSF has recovered Rs 270 Pakistani currency in various denominations with one half-torn Pak 10 Rupees "On 16th Sept' 2024, during the night hours, alert BSF troops on duty observed suspicious movement of a Pakistani intruder at about 09:13 pm, who surreptitiously crossed the IB (International Boundary) and started approaching towards border security fence, taking advantage of darkness, in the border area near Village- Ratankhurd of district Amritsar," the BSF said in release. "BSF troops immediately challenged the intruder, but he did not stop his advance towards the border security fence, and showed agressive gesture. The troops on duty fired upon the advancing intruder neutralizing him on the spot. Pak currency of Rupees 270/ in various denominations with one half torn Pak 10 Rupees note were recovered from his possession. The dead body of the Pak intruder has been handed over to PS- Gharinda for further action," BSF added. The dead body of the Pakistani intruder has been handed over to the Gharinda police station for further action. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary Tarun Chugh on Tuesday said that it was a divine coincidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday coincided with his 100 days in office for the third consecutive term. Speaking to media persons, Chugh said these hundred days have opened many new horizons for the people of the country and have reaffirmed the prime minister's commitment to the "nation first" ideal that he has followed for the last 10 years. Describing it as a significant milestone towards the realization of 'Viksit Bharat 2047', Chugh said the prime minister has laid a strong, forward-looking foundation for the nation with epochal decisions. Further praising his leadership as 'unprecedentedly dynamic'. He also expressed gratitude for Modi's 'visionary' approach, which continues to drive India's 'growth and prosperity'. "The Modi government's unwavering commitment to national progress, infrastructure development, agricultural reforms, and social welfare has ushered in an era of unprecedented growth," he said. "I express my heartfelt appreciation to Prime Minister Modi for his leadership that continues to transform India," Chugh said. Chugh underscored the Modi government's focus on agriculture, saying that "farmers remain central to the Prime Minister's vision for a self-sustaining India. The recent increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif crops demonstrates a commitment to ensuring fair prices and improving farmers' incomes. Additionally, the government's removal of the Minimum Export Price (MEP) on onions and basmati rice underlines its dedication to enhancing agricultural exports. Moreover, the disbursement of Rs20,000 crores under the 17th instalment of the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi, benefiting 9.3 crore farmers, has boosted rural livelihoods. These measures reflect Modi's vision of strengthening the agricultural sector." Chugh also emphasized the government's massive infrastructure projects worth Rs3 lakh crore, including the linking of unconnected villages to road networks, which are transforming rural areas by enhancing connectivity and supporting economic growth. Chugh applauded the significant progress in the defence sector, with an allocation of Rs1.45 lakh crore for defense procurements. "The induction of INS Vikrant into our naval fleet exemplifies India's growing capabilities to protect national interests," he stated. The government has also revised 'One Rank One Pension' to support the welfare of defense personnel while taking a strong stance on 'national security' by combating terrorism and fostering peace in Jammu and Kashmir." Regarding social welfare, Chugh praised the government for "uplifting millions through its flagship schemes. Under the 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana', over one crore houses have been sanctioned with a subsidy of Rs 2.30 lakh crore, empowering the middle class and marginalized communities. The expansion of 'Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY)' to cover senior citizens above 70 years has ensured health insurance for 4.5 crore families, significantly improving healthcare access for the elderly," he said. Focusing on the future workforce, Chugh pointed out that the "government has unveiled a Rs 2 lakh crore package for employment generation and skill development, aiming to benefit over 41 million youth. This initiative promises to enhance the skills of young Indians, offering them internships, vocational training, and job opportunities in technology, industry, and innovation." Chugh lauded the government's legal reforms, which he said are poised to revolutionize India's justice system. The introduction of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023, replacing outdated colonial-era laws, aims to make justice more accessible, effective, and citizen-centric, he said. Chugh also hailed the government's efforts in the space and technology sectors. "India's space program is witnessing a new dawn with the establishment of a Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund for space start-ups, positioning the country as a leader in global space exploration," he remarked. (ANI) As the first phase of polling starts in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, a large queue of voters waited outside a polling booth in Pulwama to cast their vote. People Democratic Party (PDP) leader and spokesperson Mohit Ban said that queues formed during the polls are the testimony of the decisions that Delhi took on August 5, 2019, and the way they have been inhumane to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking to ANI, Ban said, "The queues formed during the polls are the testimony of the decisions that Delhi took on August 5, 2019, and the way they were inhumane to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Once these queues end and the results are out on October 8, you will see the verdict of the people is against the decision of 5th August 2019." Further, he said that the people have seen how their resources, their lands, their jobs and their identities have been under attack for the last five years. "The people have seen how their resources, their lands, jobs and identities have been under attack for the last five years. The way there are queues across all booths, we see anger and emotions pouring in from the people," he added. Further, he said that the party has been clear with their manifesto. Ban said, "I think our party has made the manifesto pretty clear and our leaders have been campaigning for a month now. I think the people are not happy with the way they are being dealt with, they are the stakeholders, they are not being taken into account, and they do not have a say in the decision. That is the anger among the people and that is why they are coming out to vote." Polling for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections began at 7 am today amid tight security arrangements. The voting will conclude at 6 pm. Long queues of voters were seen at polling stations in the morning. In the first phase, 24 assembly constituencies across the Union Territory are voting today, which includes 16 seats in the Kashmir region and 8 seats in the Jammu region. Voting for the second and third phases in J-K will be held on September 25 and October 1 respectively. The counting of votes will be held on October 8. This marks the first Assembly elections in J-K since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. (ANI) A Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW). They had already challenged the LOC. Justice Sanjeev Narula allowed the couple to travel abroad after considering their plea. Justice Narula granted them permission to travel abroad after considering the submissions of the parties. Grovers sought permission to travel to the United Kingdom from September 28 to October 7. The to Doha from October 17 to 20. He is scheduled to speak at the UK and Doha. The plea was opposed by the advocate Rishikesh kumar, SPP for Delhi police. They were earlier granted to travel to the USA. Delhi police's EOW is investigating a case related to alleged fraud of Rs. 81 crores. (ANI) An 85-year-old man from Malabar Hill, has been accused of molesting a 20-year-old domestic help working at his residence. The incident came to light after the young woman, who started working for the family on September 9, filed a complaint at the Malabar Hill Police Station. The police registered a case based on her statement but have not yet made any arrests. However, a notice has been issued to the accused as per legal procedure. According to the police, the victim had previously worked in Santacruz for three years but decided to find employment closer to her home. A relative introduced her to the accused's 45-year-old daughter, and she began working for the family. In her complaint, the victim said, "The old man was sitting at the dining table. I went to the kitchen to get a cloth to clean something. Then he came, touched me inappropriately, and grabbed me from behind." She further alleged that the accused followed her to the hall, grabbed her again, and kissed her. The victim told the police that after the incident, she informed the accused's wife, who at the time was in the bathroom. The wife reportedly scolded her husband and apologised to the maid, the victim added. Following the complaint, the police have started an investigation into the matter. Meanwhile, another incident occurred on Wednesday in the Mira Road area of Thane district, North Mumbai. A 58-year-old sanitation worker, Rajendra Tusabar, allegedly molested a 12-year-old girl while she was returning home from tuition. According to sources, the accused entered the lift and committed the act, then threatened to harm her if she spoke out. The girl reported the incident to her parents, who immediately filed a complaint at the nearest police station, sources added. The police registered a case and arrested Rajendra Tusabar.(ANI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha called upon the voters to turn out in record numbers as the first phase of voting for assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Wednesday. In a post on X, the J-K LG urged the youth, women, and first-time voters to exercise their franchise. "J&K Assembly elections commence today. I call upon all the voters whose assembly constituencies are voting in the first phase today to turn out in record numbers & exercise their democratic rights. I especially urge youth, women and first-time voters to vote in large numbers," the office of the LG said in a post on X. The first phase of voting in Jammu and Kashmir saw a cumulative voter turnout of 11.11 per cent as of 9 am, as per the Election Commission of India. As per the ECI, Kishtwar recorded a voter turnout of 14.83 per cent followed by Doda 12.90 per cent, Ramban 11.91 per cent, Shopian 11.44 per cent, Kulgam 10.77 per cent, Anantnag recorded 10.26 per cent and Pulwama recorded 9.18 per cent. Doda District Election Officer Harvinder Singh said that a very good polling exercise is going on in a free and fair manner. "Voting has started in polling stations. We are getting to see a lot of enthusiasm from the people. I hope that this time we will be able to record the voter turnout well. Those who are sitting at home, they should come out of their houses and exercise their voting rights," Singh said while speaking to ANI. Kulgam District Administration Kulgam set up an election control room to monitor the election process in the district. Kulgam Deputy Commissioner Athar Aamir said that elections are happening very smoothly everywhere and that there are long queues at several polling stations. "Voting is happening at our 372, 372 polling stations. Mock poll was completed at 7 AM at 100 per cent polling stations. We have kept webcasting camera stations as well and we monitor them from the district level control room. We also monitor every polling station from here. We are expecting a very good voter turnout. All arrangements are in place. Over 1300 polling agents are present at different polling stations across J&K." Polling for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections began at 7 am today amid tight security arrangements. The voting will conclude at 6 pm. In the first-phase, 24 assembly constituencies across the Union Territory are voting today; that includes 16 seats in the Kashmir region and 8 seats in the Jammu region. Voting for the second and third phases in J-K will be held on September 25 and October 1, respectively. Vote counting will be held on October 8. (ANI) A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu. The petition, filed by Surjeet Yadav, President of Hindu Sena (S), alleges that Bittu used derogatory language against Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The PIL seeks action against Bittu, stating that his remarks have the potential to incite widespread violence and unrest. The petitioner has urged the court to take necessary steps to address the situation, as the PIL claims Bittu's statement could pose a threat to public peace and harmony due to Bittu's comments. The PIL calls for action against Bittu, arguing that his remarks could lead to widespread violence and unrest. The petitioner has asked the court to take steps to address the situation and prevent potential threats to public peace and harmony caused by Bittu's comments. Meanwhile, Congress workers staged a protest in Chandigarh on Tuesday against the Union Minister over his recent statements about Gandhi. Harmohinder Singh Lucky, the state president of Chandigarh Congress, condemned Bittu's remarks, saying they were unacceptable. "The remarks made by Minister Ravneet Bittu on the orders of the BJP and Modi are quite below the belt. We strongly oppose those remarks. He has forgotten what Rahul Gandhi has done for him. Wherever he has reached in politics, he has only reached that position because of Rahul Gandhi and Congress. Congress had decided to support the youth, and because of that he had progressed in politics," Lucky told ANI during the protest. Bittu had criticised Rahul Gandhi for his comments made during a visit to the USA, saying, "Rahul Gandhi is not an Indian; he has spent most of his time outside. He doesn't love his country much because he goes abroad and says everything in the wrong way. The people who are most wanted, separatists, and experts in making bombs, guns, and shells have appreciated what Rahul Gandhi has said. The enemies of the country who try to blow up planes, trains, and roads are in support of Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is the country's number 1 terrorist. The biggest enemy of the country whom the agencies should catch is Rahul Gandhi today." Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit also criticised Bittu, saying, "We can only pity such people. His political career in Congress was also a mess. He used to praise Rahul Gandhi, and now, after resigning from Congress and joining the BJP, he is showing his loyalty to the BJP party." Punjab Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring added, "He is saying anything to please his masters. This public knows that Rahul Gandhi's father was martyred, and his body was torn to pieces. You call him a terrorist." Bittu's remarks followed Rahul Gandhi's comments during his USA visit, where he highlighted issues related to the rights of Sikhs in India, saying, "The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India. Or he as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a kada in India. Or a Sikh is going to be able to go to Gurdwara. That's what the fight is about and not just for him, for all religions."(ANI) Congress leader Ajay Maken on Wednesday arrived at the Tughlaq Road Police Station here to file a complaint against the Union leader Ravneet Singh Bittu over his remarks on the Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Sunday. Bittu had made these comments in response to Rahul Gandhi's claim that Sikhs were not being able to wear the kada or the Turban in the country. Maken said that Indira Gandhi was hit with 34 bullets and had died and he further added that Rahul Gandhi's father was killed for trying to maintain peace. Speaking to the media, Maken said, "Bittu had told Rahul Gandhi that he would be in the same condition the way his grandmother was. We all know that Indira Gandhi was hit with 34 bullets and Rahul Gandhi's father was killed for trying to maintain peace. These comments are being made against someone whose father and grandmother sacrificed their lives for the nation. Politics in India cannot stoop lower than this." Further, he added that despite the remarks made, the BJP party did not try to even silence or condemn his remarks. "Despite the horrible comment made by him, the BJP party did not even try to silence or condemn his remarks. Rather, another BJP leader said that anyone who cuts Rahul Gandhi's tongue will be rewarded Rs 11 lakh. Is this politics? You don't like Rahul Gandhi because he talks about the minorities, Dalits, backward classes and the backward constitution," he added. Maken added that the Congress party is not scared of any death threats and no matter what happens, the voice of their leader cannot be suppressed. "I want to tell the BJP that we are not scared of any death threats. The Congress workers will not let the voice of their leader be suppressed. We have filed a complaint against Bittu and demand strict action against him. His threat to kill him in public is illegal. We have filed a complaint against ex-Delhi BJP MLA (Tarvinder Singh Marwah), Shiva Sena MLA (Sanjay Gaikwad), Union Minister and BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan (Ravneet Singh Bittu) and UP minister Raghuraj Singh," he said. (ANI) Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Maken on Wednesday approached a police station in the national capital to lodged a complaint against BJP leaders over threats to Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Maken in his letter for registering an FIR at the Tughlak Road police station has named Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, Delhi BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marvah, Shiv Sena (Shinde) Sanjay Gaikwad, and Uttar Pradesh Minister Raghuraj Singh. The Congress leader in his complaint stated that Tarvinder Singh Marwah had on September 11 during a BJP event threatened Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in which he said "Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja, nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua" (you better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother) reference to the Gandhi's grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This statement was captured on video, which Maken said he has attached as evidence. Maken also names Sanjay Gaikwad, an MLA from Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena who the Congress leader stated had on September 16 publicly offered a bounty of Rs 11 lakh for anyone who will "cut the tongue" of Rahul Gandhi. The complaint further named Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu and claimed that Bittu referred to Rahul Gandhi as the "number one terrorist of the country" during a public statement on September 15. Maken claimed that this statement was intended to incite violence and was in breach of public peace. According to the Rajya Sabha MP, the statement was widely circulated on TV channels and social media. BJP leader Raghuraj Singh is also named in Maken's complaint."Similarly, on September 16, 2024, BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Minister Raghuraj Singh also publicly said that Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi is the 'number one terrorist of India'." The complaint added that these statements are attempts to undermine Rahul Gandhi's safety and disrupt public peace, particularly in light of the ongoing elections in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana. It said that the statements are part of a deliberate campaign to incite aggression and hatred against Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. The complaint also alleged that these leaders used inflammatory language to create unrest and obstruct Gandhi's ability to perform his duties as the Leader of the Opposition. Maken has requested that an FIR be registered against the named individuals under relevant sections for criminal intimidation and public mischief. Maken in his letter addressed to the SHO, Tughlak Road Police Station has requested the registeration of an FIR, inter-alia, under sections 351, 352, 353, 61 of BNS, at the earliest, against the persons named in his letter and their associates. Addressing reporters in the national capital , Maken said, "...You are making these kinds of remarks 'Aap sambhal jao aap bolo mat nahin toh aapka bhi wahi haal hoga jo aapki dadi ka huya hai'...against a person whose father and grandmother sacrificed their lives for the nation. Politics can never stoop to this level...The leader of the BJP neither tried to silence him nor condemn his remarks..." "A leader of an ally of BJP said that 'jo Rahul Gandhi ki zubaan kaat ke laaega usko Rs 11 lakh milenge'...You don't like his comments because he speaks about minorities, Dalits, backward class, workers, saving the constitution...We will not be afraid of death threats...," Maken said. The Congress leader said, "We have filed a police complaint against him and demanded strict action against him...We have demanded FIR should be filed against ex-Delhi BJP MLA (Tarvinder Singh Marwah), Shiva Sena MLA (Sanjay Gaikwad), Union Minister and BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan (Ravneet Singh Bittu) and UP Minister..." (ANI) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) congratulated Asif Khan for winning the Ganesh laddu auction in Bhatpally, Asifabad. Taking it to a social media post on X, KTR wrote, "Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb! Congrats Asif Bhai for winning Bhatpally, Asifabad Ganesh laddu auction." KTR further praised the auction as a symbol of Telangana's harmonious culture, saying, "This is the 'real' culture of Telangana. Let's pray for a peaceful and harmonious future." Earlier on September 17, BRS Working President and MLA KT Rama Rao hit out at Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy over the inauguration of the Rajiv Gandhi statue outside the state Secretariat on National Integration Day, while also challenging the CM to fulfil all the promises made during the polls. Speaking on the importance of National Integration Day, he said that BRS has always wished for unity between the people, "BRS for the past 10 years has been celebrating this day as National Integration Day as this was the day that Telangana was integrated into the Indian Union. I extend my wishes to everyone on the occasion of National Integration Day. Today, many people who don't know history are politicising this day for their political gains. BRS always wishes that there should be Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb in Telangana and the people should live above castes and religion." While speaking to the reporters at Telangana Bhavan, he added, "I am again saying, after coming to power, with all due respects, BRS will send the statue of Rajiv Gandhi to Gandhi Bhavan. If you have that much love, then place it at your residence in Jubilee Hills or anywhere else. This place is meant only to install the statue of Telangana Talli. I am telling this on this day of Ganesh Visarjan." KTR further said that the Telangana CM has installed the Rajiv Gandhi statue because the CM was trying cover up the past abuses he had hurled at Sonia Gandhi. "When we said let's install Telangana Talli who is everyone's mother, in front of the BR Ambedkar Secretariat, he is saying he will only install Rahul Gandhi's father's statue there. To cover up all the earlier abuses that he had done, like calling Sonia Gandhi as 'Balidevatha' and others. Yesterday he said that Rajiv Gandhi had invented the computer. This shows how much knowledge you have. Revanth Reddy, you don't know and also you don't even know that you don't know. The computer was not invented by Rahul Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi, it was Charles Babbage. He also says that Rajiv Gandhi introduced computers to India. Rajiv did not introduce computers to India. In 1955, Tata Group brought the first computer to Mumbai. Rajiv Gandhi was only 10 or 12 years old at that time. This is your knowledge," he added. He further asked Telangana CM to fulfil all the promises made before the elections instead of constantly criticising KCR. "I ask Revanth Reddy, people have been watching when you are doing timepass for the past 9 months by just abusing KCR. If you can, implement the 420 promises that you have made. If you can, give proper electricity and Rythu Bandhu. You made tall claims that KCR is only giving 10,000 and you will give 15,000. There is only 14 days left in this crop season. If you can and have guts, give Rythu Bharosa. If you can, give the Rs 2500 you have promised to our women. If you can, give Rs 4000 pension to our senior citizens as promised," he said. (ANI) The immersion of Lord Ganesha (Bappa) idols began on Ananta Chaturdashi is still going on amid the safe and sound arrangement along with keeping cleanliness in mind in the state capital Bhopal on Wednesday. At Prempura Ghat in the city, the immersion of Bappa has been going on smoothly since yesterday night and the idols gathered here are being immersed one by one. Four big cranes have been placed for immersion of big idols while a separate space (Kund) has been prepared for small idols. The district administration has made all the necessary arrangements keeping cleanliness in mind. Puja material is also being collected separately and people are prohibited going near the pond and throwing puja material in it. "Special arrangements have been made by the Police administration, PWD and Bhopal Municipal Corporation for immersion of idols here at Prempura Ghat. Four big cranes and two poclain machines have been placed here through which immersion is going on. Proper barricades have been placed so that no people can go near the water," said Chandra Shekhar Pandey, Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP, TT Nagar). "Idols are placed on sliders with the help of cranes and then they are released into the water. Along with this, a kund has been prepared where immersion of small idols are performed. Proper Police force has been deployed here for the safety measures," he added. Ganesh Chaturthi festival commenced on September 7 and came to an end with Anantha Chaturdashi. This festival is also known as Vinayak Chaturthi or Vinayak Chavithi. During Ganesh Chaturthi, Lord Ganesha is worshipped as the god of new beginnings and the remover of obstacles. Devotees across India and abroad celebrate Lord Ganesha's wisdom and intelligence. During Ganesh Chaturthi, Lord Ganesha is worshipped as the God of new beginnings and the remover of obstacles. Devotees across India and abroad celebrate Lord Ganesha's wisdom and intelligence. Homes and pandals are adorned with elaborate decorations, and the air is filled with prayers, music, and festive chants. The streets come alive with vibrant processions and traditional rituals as people prepare delicious offerings and visit the beautifully decorated pandals. (ANI) Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, while addressing a jansabha (public gathering) in Sanghour of the Ladwa assembly on Wednesday, slammed the Congress ahead of the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. He dismissed their allegations of infighting within the BJP and Congress claims of winning more seats than in 2005. He accused the party of corruption and losing touch with the public. Saini said, "Congress is dreaming. People are thinking about their corruption, the way they tortured people, the way they made people stand in queues." The CM added People used to get gas cylinders after three days. How are they claiming this? They are going to be wiped out." Saini also attacked the Congress for focusing more on internal matters than serving the people. "They get busy pleasing their son-in-law. They don't please people; they please their son-in-law," he added. He expressed confidence that the BJP would win a historic number of seats and form the government for the 30th time. Responding to Congress' allegations of infighting within the BJP, Saini stated, "There is conflict in Congress. No one is angry with the BJP. Everyone should work for the lotus flower." Regarding former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation and Atishi Marlena's appointment, Saini congratulated Atishi but urged her to prioritise the people of Delhi over her predecessor. "I would like to tell Atishi to take decisions in the interest of the people of Delhi and not in the interest of Kejriwal. Kejriwal has done the opposite of what he promised. He has taken votes by deceiving people," Saini added. Addressing a gathering earlier in Ladwa, Saini urged people to support the BJP in the upcoming elections. He praised the government's development work in the region, highlighting efforts over the past decade. "I am thankful that you all came to give your blessings; I am grateful for that. On October 5, press the button in front of the lotus symbol to take blessings for this state," Saini said. He assured people that their issues would be addressed without any obstacles. The CM also visited the nearby Balmiki temple. (ANI) Members of the Indian Youth Congress on Wednesday held massive protests in the national capital against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and other BJP leaders over their statements against Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.The protesters shouted slogans, burned effigies, stood on barricades and protested against the BJP as the police tried to control the crowd.The protest against Ravneet Singh Bittu extended beyond the national capital, with party members staging demonstrations across the country.Andhra Pradesh Congress President YS Sharmila along with party workers staged a protest in Vijayawada against Ravneet Singh Bittu. "Today Andhra Pradesh Congress party protested in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue against the comments made against opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. Isn't the BJP party scared of Rahul Gandhi today? Because he is exposing the BJP party not only in our country but also abroad. They are calling Rahul Gandhi a terrorist. But who are the real terrorists of this country? BJP is a party that doesn't even respect the Constitution of India...BJP party is scared that Rahul Gandhi is winning the hearts of the people of India," Sharmila said while speaking to ANI. Led by Chandigarh Pradesh Congress president HS Lucky, the Congress party workers in Chandigarh staged a massive protest in Chandigarh.The state president of Chandigarh Congress, Harmohinder Singh Lucky, condemned the remarks of the minister, saying that such below-the-belt remarks are strictly opposed by the party. "The remarks made by Minister Ravneet Bittu on the orders of the BJP and Modi, are quite below the belt, we strongly oppose those remarks. He has forgotten what Rahul Gandhi has done for him, wherever he has reached in politics, he has only reached that position because of Rahul Gandhi and Congress. Congress had decided to support the youth, and because of that he had progressed in politics," he told ANI during the protest.Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu.The petition, filed by Surjeet Yadav, President of Hindu Sena (S), alleges that Bittu used derogatory language against Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The PIL seeks action against Bittu, stating that his remarks have the potential to incite widespread violence and unrest. The petitioner has urged the court to take necessary steps to address the situation, as the PIL claims Bittu's statement could pose a threat to public peace and harmony due to Bittu's comments.Bittu had criticised Rahul Gandhi for his comments made during a visit to the USA, saying, "Rahul Gandhi is not an Indian; he has spent most of his time outside. He doesn't love his country much because he goes abroad and says everything in the wrong way. The people who are most wanted, separatists, and experts in making bombs, guns, and shells have appreciated what Rahul Gandhi has said. The enemies of the country who try to blow up planes, trains, and roads are in support of Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is the country's number 1 terrorist. The biggest enemy of the country whom the agencies should catch is Rahul Gandhi today." Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit also criticised Bittu, saying, "We can only pity such people. His political career in Congress was also a mess. He used to praise Rahul Gandhi, and now, after resigning from Congress and joining the BJP, he is showing his loyalty to the BJP party." (ANI) "Under the leadership of PM Modi, our nation is moving forward keeping ecology and economy together. A lot of work is being done to increase the capacity and market of renewable energy and provide clean energy to future generations," Bhupender Yadav told reporters on the sidelines of the fourth Global Renewable Energy Investor's Meet (RE-INVEST 2024) in Gujarat's Gandhinagar. "This conference will provide knowledge and help people in moving forward. This will be a milestone to fulfil the resolution of Viksit Bharat," he said. The three-day conference will conclude on Wednesday. PM Modi inaugurated the conference on September 16. The fourth Global Renewable Energy Investor's Meet is hosted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The three-day conference drew over 10,000 delegates, including influential figures from government, industry, and financial sectors. Key international partners for this year's event included Australia, Denmark, Germany, and Norway. Additionally, Indian states such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh will actively participate. High-level delegations from the US, UK, Belgium, the European Union, Oman, UAE, Singapore, and Hong Kong attended, with some delegations led by ministers from Germany and Denmark. The conference featured an extensive agenda across 44 sessions, including a Chief Ministerial Plenary, a CEO Roundtable, and discussions focused on renewable energy innovations and opportunities specific to various countries and states. Noteworthy sessions addressed the role of women in accelerating energy transitions and providing a platform for start-ups, including pitches by the ten winners of the Solar X Challenge. The central theme of RE-INVEST 2024 is the Mission 500 GW, which underscores India's strategic goal to expand its renewable energy capacity significantly by 2030. As the 4th largest country globally in installed renewable energy capacity, India aims to further consolidate its leadership in the global energy transition. RE-INVEST's inaugural edition was held in February 2015 in New Delhi, followed by subsequent editions in October 2018 in Delhi NCR, and a virtual edition in November 2020. (ANI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been regularly reviewing the security situation in Manipur, ensuring necessary action in the last 100 days, according to government sources. The sources told ANI that continuous dialogues are being held with both the Meitei and Kuki communities to restore peace in the region as soon as possible. As per the sources, two battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed in Manipur in addition to around 200 teams of central police forces deployed there. As a new initiative, Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB) has been opened from September 17, 2024, to provide essential commodities to the people of Manipur at fair prices. In addition to the 21 existing Police Kalyan Bhandar, 16 new Kalyan Bhandar are being opened. Out of the 16 new Police Kalyan Bhandar, eight will be in the valley, and the remaining eight in hilly areas. The sources further said that the Manipur government has started 25 shops/mobile vans to provide essential commodities at fair prices to the general public. These shops/mobile vans are operating in all districts of Manipur.The central government has ended the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the India-Myanmar border. The Cabinet Committee on Security has, in principle, approved the construction of border fencing and roads along the 1,610-kilometre-long international border between India and Myanmar, at a cost of approximately Rs 31,000 crore. About 10 km of fencing have been completed over Moreh, and work is underway to fence another 21 km of the border in other areas of Manipur, the sources added. On September 17, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the BJP-led central government is working to control the situation in Manipur and has created a roadmap to resolve the issue.He added that the violence in Manipur is racial and can only be solved through dialogue between the affected groups, and the central government is in talks with both the Kuki and Meitei groups to find a solution Addressing a press conference on the first 100 days of the third term of the PM Modi government, Shah said, "Recently, violence went on for three days, other than that, in the last 3 months, no major incident took place. We are hopeful to bring the situation under control. We are in talks with both the local tribes. Because this is racial violence, there cannot be any solution until there is a dialogue between them. We are speaking to the Kuki groups and the Meitei groups. We have created a roadmap to solve the issue." Shah said that the main cause of the problem in Manipur is the India-Myanmar border. He added that the central government has started fencing this border and has completed 30 km so far, with CRPF deployed at key points to prevent infiltration. "We have started the fencing of the root cause of the problem, the India-Myanmar border. 30 km of the fencing has been completed. The central government has approved a budget to fence the whole 1500 km border. We have successfully deployed CRPF at strategic locations. To stop the infiltration, we have nullified the agreement between India and Myanmar which allowed the movement of the people, and now entry into India is allowed only by visa," Shah said. (ANI) Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu condemned the recent protests by the Indian Youth Congress in response to his statements, drawing parallels to the 1984 Sikh riots. The Former INC leader who quit the Congress party ahead of the general elections in 2024, accused the the party of resorting to "old tactics" "Congress is back to its old tricks. Anyone who exposes the Gandhi family faces threats of arson and violence, reminiscent of the 1984 Sikh riots. Is this what they call their 'mohabbat ki dukan'?" Ravneet Singh Bittu wrote in a post on X, reacting to the recent outrage by the Congress leaders over his comments on Rahul Gandhi.Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu stoked a controversy by calling Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi a "number 1 terrorist"."Rahul Gandhi is not Indian; he has spent most of his time abroad. He does not love his country because he goes overseas and criticises India. His words have been praised by separatists and those involved in making bombs and weapons. Those who try to blow up planes, trains, and roads are supporting Rahul Gandhi. He is the country's number one terrorist and the biggest enemy whom the agencies should catch," Bittu had said. Members of the Indian Youth Congress on Wednesday held massive protests in the national capital against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and other BJP leaders over their statements against Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.The protesters shouted slogans, burned effigies, stood on barricades and protested against the BJP as the police tried to control the crowd. Meanwhile, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Maken on Wednesday approached a police station in the national capital to lodged a complaint against BJP leaders over threats to Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.Maken in his letter for registering an FIR at the Tughlak Road police station has named Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, Delhi BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marvah, Shiv Sena (Shinde) Sanjay Gaikwad, and Uttar Pradesh Minister Raghuraj Singh. The complaint added that these statements are attempts to undermine Rahul Gandhi's safety and disrupt public peace, particularly in light of the ongoing elections in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana.It said that the statements are part of a deliberate campaign to incite aggression and hatred against Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. The complaint also alleged that these leaders used inflammatory language to create unrest and obstruct Gandhi's ability to perform his duties as the Leader of the Opposition. Maken has requested that an FIR be registered against the named individuals under relevant sections for criminal intimidation and public mischief. (ANI) Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Union Minister Ravneet Bittu's "terrorist" statement on Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and said that the remarks from the BJP leader had a "violent instigation" and reflected the mentality of the party. The Congress leader also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence to the BJP leader's statement and said that if the same remarks had been made against a cabinet minister or a BJP leader, the reaction would have been different. Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Congress' Sandeep Dikshit said, "This is a very low statement. There is violent instigation in it and they are showing their mentality. They are displaying that they have no character or culture. There is no reaction from the Prime Minister when such statements are made against the Leader of the Opposition. If this statement were made against any minister of the cabinet, then they would have been charged with sedition, NSA, UAPA and others." Meanwhile, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu condemned the recent protests by the Indian Youth Congress in response to his statements, drawing parallels to the 1984 Sikh riots. The Former INC leader who quit the Congress party ahead of the general elections in 2024, accused the party of resorting to "old tactics" "Congress is back to its old tricks. Anyone who exposes the Gandhi family faces threats of arson and violence, reminiscent of the 1984 Sikh riots. Is this what they call their 'Mohabbat ki dukan'?" Ravneet Singh Bittu wrote in a post on X, reacting to the recent outrage by the Congress leaders over his comments on Rahul Gandhi. Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu stoked a controversy by calling the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi a "number 1 terrorist." "Rahul Gandhi is not Indian; he has spent most of his time abroad. He does not love his country because he goes overseas and criticises India. His words have been praised by separatists and those involved in making bombs and weapons. Those who try to blow up planes, trains, and roads are supporting Rahul Gandhi. He is the country's number one terrorist and the biggest enemy whom the agencies should catch," Bittu had said. Members of the Indian Youth Congress on Wednesday held massive protests in the national capital against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and other BJP leaders over their statements against Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. The protesters shouted slogans, burned effigies, stood on barricades and protested against the BJP as the police tried to control the crowd. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Maken on Wednesday approached a police station in the national capital to lodge a complaint against BJP leaders over threats to the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Maken in his letter for registering an FIR at the Tughlak Road police station has named Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, Delhi BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marvah, Shiv Sena (Shinde) Sanjay Gaikwad, and Uttar Pradesh Minister Raghuraj Singh. The complaint added that these statements are attempts to undermine Rahul Gandhi's safety and disrupt public peace, particularly in light of the ongoing elections in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana. It said that the statements were part of a deliberate campaign to incite aggression and hatred against Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. The complaint also alleged that these leaders used inflammatory language to create unrest and obstruct Gandhi's ability to perform his duties as the Leader of the Opposition. Maken has requested that an FIR be registered against the named individuals under relevant sections for criminal intimidation and public mischief. (ANI) Opposing the government's 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, the opposition parties attacked the "impractical and unrealistic" proposal of the Union government and said that it is not in the "favour" of the country. CPI leader D Raja said that many experts have pointed out that under the current Constitution, this cannot be taken forward. "One Nation, One Election is impractical and unrealistic. Many experts have pointed out that under the current Constitution, this cannot be taken forward. When Parliament meets we must get details on this. If it is pushed, then we need to study the consequences," D Raja said. Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari said, "BJP and their ideology never adopt democracy, the reason is that elections never take place in their own institution... Whatever will be the statement of our party on One Nation, One Election, that will be our statement too," Patwari said. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat termed the Union Cabinet decision "gimmick" and said that 'One Nation, One Election' will need many constitutional amendments. "This decision is a gimmick. They can see an inevitable defeat in Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana and also in by-elections. I have heard that the BJP has got the information that even RSS top leadership thinks that the BJP is going to lose in Maharashtra and Jharkhand... It (One Nation, One Election) will need many constitutional amendments, but they can't pass it, either in Lok Sabha or in Rajya Sabha on their own... This is not acceptable as it is not in the favour of the country or the federal structure that we have," Rawat said. Congress leader TS Singh Deo said, "This is not possible in today's time and under the Constitution... Suppose - One Nation One Election has been implemented from January 2025, now elections will be held simultaneously for the Legislative Assemblies and Lok Sabha of the entire country. If the government of a state or the Center falls after two years and this government is elected for five years, that is, its next election will come in 2032 (where the government has collapsed) and elections will be held in 2030 at other places, then what will happen to One Nation, One Election in this situation? This is not possible at all... What will happen to those provisions of the Constitution that say that it is mandatory to conduct elections in those vacant seats that have remained vacant for six months? This provision will also have to be amended again." AAP MP Sandeep Pathak questioned the government and queried is this a sinister plan to destabilise states? "Few days ago, elections for four states were to be announced, but they (BJP) announced elections for only Haryana and J&K and left Maharashtra and Jharkhand. If they cannot conduct elections in four states simultaneously, how will they manage simultaneous elections in the whole country... What if a state government falls before completing its full term? Will the President's rule be imposed in that state? Is this a sinister plan to destabilise states?" Pathak said. BRS leader KT Rama Rao said, "We will have to see how they go forward with this." Samajwadi Party leader Ravidas Malhotra suggested the BJP call an all-party meeting if the government wanted implement 'One Nation, One Election'. "If BJP wants to implement 'One Nation, One Election', then it should call an all-party meeting on national presidents of all opposition parties and leaders of different political parties in Lok Sabha," Malhotra said. JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said that the government decisions are pushing us towards imperialism. "This country is run by federal structure. These decisions are pushing us towards imperialism. It's neither possible nor practical... It's an attack on the constitution, "Bhattacharya said. Earlier today, the Cabinet approved the government's 'One Nation, One Election' proposal which proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, with urban body and panchayat polls to be held within 100 days. The recommendations were made in a report of a high panel committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The report, comprising 18,626 pages, is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work over 191 days, since the constitution of the High-Level Committee on September 2, 2023. The proposal will now be tabled in Parliament and must be cleared in both houses the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - before it becomes the law. (ANI) The implementation of three new criminal laws, integrating the use of technology to seamlessly aid in criminal justice, to bringing amendments to the Disaster Management Act, and a plan to eradicate Left Wing Extremism by March 2026, the first hundred days of Modi 3.0 government has been filled with various achievements, a senior Home Ministry official said on Wednesday. The Home Ministry has also updated the Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) application to incorporate the new criminal laws "Software patches have been designed and deployed in ICJS Pillar Applications to incorporate the new criminal laws. The key changes in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), e-Prisons, e-Forensics, e-Prosecution are use of audio-video electronic means and electronic communication among others," the official said. Additionally, reportedly around more than 8 lakhs officers have been trained by various organisations including the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), National Informatics Centre (NIC) for the criminal laws, which has allowed the officials to register a total of 5.56 lakh FIRs under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) The Ministry also highlighted the use mobile and web application 'NCRB SANKALAN' and e-Shakshya, which is meant to aid users in navigating the new criminal laws. "'NCRB SANKALAN of Criminal Laws,' has been designed to help users navigate the new criminal laws and till date has been downloaded approximately 5.85 lakh times. Also, CCTNS Technical Support Call Centre with helpline number has been set up by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) to assist States and Union Territories. Development of various apps such as e-Sakshya for capturing, storing, and retrieving evidence through videography and photography, which has been onboarded by 22 States/UTs and tested by 24 States/UTs," the official added. Speaking on the amendments to the Disaster Management Act, 2005, which are meant to provide clarity on the roles of different organisations working to aid in disaster management. The officials said, "The aim of the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was to bring more clarity and convergence in the roles of different Central Government organisations: the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Executive Committee (NEC ), to provide statutory status to certain pre-Act organizations like National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) and High-Level Committee (HLC), to create a database at the national and state level, to make provision for creation of Urban Disaster Management Authority, make provisions for the creation of a State Disaster Response Force and to align the provisions of the Act with the recommendations of 15th Finance Commission." A total of Rs 12,554 crores has been sanctioned so far from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund, National Disaster Response Fund, State Disaster Mitigation Fund and State Disaster Response Fund to various States for urban flood management, fire services, glacial lake outburst flood risk mitigation and other disaster mitigation. Additionally, to facilitate an integrated urban flood management project, Rs2514 crores have been sanctioned, with the implementation of 'Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme' approved, to train community volunteers to be first responders during disasters. "Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme approved as an extension of existing program of 'Upscaling of Aapda Mitra Scheme with an outlay of Rs 470.50 Crore. Moreover, 2.31 lakh volunteers exclusively from National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS) Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and Bharat Scouts and Guides (BS&G) and 1300 trainers will be trained in disaster response under Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme. Till now, approximately 1 lakh community volunteers trained and equipped in 350 multi-hazards disaster prone districts, covering all Stats/UTs under Aapda Mitra Scheme," the official said. Highlighting the various efforts to ensure peace in disturbed regions in the country, the government has till now signed a Memoramdum of Settlement (MoS) with the government of Tripura and representatives of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF). "A Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) was signed among Government of India, Government of Tripura and representatives of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) ending 35-year-long conflict in the State of Tripura. With the signing of this historic agreement, more than 328 armed cadres of NLFT & ATTF will give up violence and join the mainstream of society. The agreement is a significant milestone to fulfil Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of a peaceful, prosperous and insurgency-free North East. About 328 cadres of ATTF and NLFT of Tripura will be rehabilitated and benefitted under the surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy," the official added. Additionally, a special development package of Rs 250 crores was also approved to be given over a period of four years for the overall development of tribal population in Tripura. Additionally, the last phase to end Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in states like Chhattisgarh was started in August 2024, with the aim of complete eradication of LWE by March 2026. The official said, "Filling up of security vacuum and intelligence-based operations. Speedy investigation and prosecution of LWE cases. Targeting the LWE ecosystem saturation of Govt. Schemes in Core areas. Home Ministry and Chhattisgarh Government will jointly run a campaign to educate people left illiterate due to LWE. The Chhattisgarh government will soon bring a new surrender policy so that youth will be able to give up arms and join the mainstream and a complete eradication of LWE menace by March, 2026." The Ministry has also launched new initiatives to tackle cybercrime, by creating a special wing of 'Cyber Commandos'. The official added, "A Special Wing of trained 'Cyber Commandos' in States / UTs and CPOs will be established to counter threats of cyber security landscape in the country. Trained Cyber Commandos will assist States/UTs and Central Agencies in securing the digital space. 5,000 Cyber Commando to be trained in period of Five years. The training of senior Police officers has commenced at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), Hyderabad with effect from 2nd September 2024." (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav condemned the sexual harassment case of three-and-half-year-old girl by her school teacher in Bhopal and ordered to take strict action against the accused. CM Yadav posted a video on his official X handle on Wednesday and wrote, "A case of rape of a three-year-old girl by a school teacher in Bhopal has come to my notice. I have instructed to take strict action. Along with this I will try to get the justice served in this case through a special court. This act is extremely disgusting, shameful and condemnable." "A case of rape of a three-year-old girl by her school teacher in Bhopal has come to my notice. The accused has been identified as Kasim Rehan who was posted in the school. I condemned this incident, and have directed to take strict action into the matter. I have also instructed the chief secretary to try to hear the matter into a special court and serve justice," CM Yadav said in the video. Earlier in the day, Bhopal Commissioner of Police (CP), Harinarayanchari Mishra said that a school teacher was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a three-and-half-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal. "A complaint was filed in the Kamla Nagar police station regarding sexual harassment with a 3.5-year-old girl. Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case against the accused under section 74 and 75 of Bharatiya Nyay Sahita (BNS) and POCSO act. The accused in the incident is the teacher of the school where the girl studies. He was identified and has been arrested by the police," Mishra told ANI. "The family members complained about the matter to the police, the team investigated the matter and arrested the accused. Since the age of the victim is quite less, it took a bit of time to know the incident but as soon as the police received the complaint, it immediately swung into action and arrested the accused. The accused has been identified as Kasim Rehan," he added. (ANI) According to Election Commission data, Kishtwar recorded the highest turnout at 77.23 per cent followed by Doda at 69.33 per cent, Ramban (67.71 per cent), Kulgam (59.62 per cent), Shopian (53.64 per cent), and Anantnag (54.17 per cent). Pulwama recorded the lowest voter turnout at 43.87 per cent. Twenty four assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir went to the polls in the first phase. These include 16 seats in the Kashmir region and eight seats in the Jammu region Voting for the second and third phases in J-K will be held on September 25 and October 1, respectively. Votes will be counted on October 8. Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing an interesting contest with several political parties and independents in the fray. National Congress and Congress have formed an alliance though they are also in friendly contest on some seats. This is the first election in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. Leaders have held hectic campaign to boost the prospects of their party candidates. Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, getting interim bail from a Delhi court has added another dimension to the election with his Awami Ittehad Party contesting the polls. Rashid contested the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent and defeated National Conference leader Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla seat. National Conference and PDP leaders have taken digs at BJP following Rashid's release from jail on bail. (ANI) People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate from the Bijbehara Assembly constituency, Iltija Mufti, stated on Wednesday that a significant number of people had come out to vote, urging the central government in Delhi to respect the mandate and ensure a free, fair, and transparent election. Mufti said, "I am pleased to see people coming out to vote. I have been visiting polling booths since morning, and both the young and elderly have come out to cast their votes. Delhi must honour this mandate and ensure that the election is free, fair, and transparent... We have received reports that the opposition may be attempting to engage in malpractice, though these claims are yet to be verified. We also have complaints about the National Conference (NC) and how they have been handling people." Meanwhile, in the first phase of the Assembly polls in the Union Territory, voter turnout stood at 50.65 per cent as of 3 pm. Kishtwar district recorded the highest turnout at 70.03 per cent, while the lowest was recorded in Pulwama at 36.90 per cent. Voting, which began at 7 am, is continuing across the Union Territory and will conclude at 6 pm. Notably, Kashmiri migrant voters cast their ballots under tight security at the ITI College campus in Jammu. BJP's Kishtwar candidate, Shagun Parihar, on Wednesday launched a strong attack on opposition candidates from the PDP and National Conference, accusing them of attempting to undermine her by alleging that she was playing the victim card to garner sympathy. In the first phase, 24 Assembly constituencies across the Union Territory are voting today, with 16 seats in the Kashmir region and 8 in the Jammu region. Voting for the second and third phases in J&K will be held on September 25 and October 1, respectively. Vote counting is scheduled for October 8. (ANI) Claiming "corruption, unemployment and anarchy" in Haryana, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge here on Wednesday said the BJP has "ruined" the state during the last 10 years of its rule in the state. Launching the party's manifesto for the upcoming Haryana assembly polls, Kharge assured the people that the Congress will work to "rectify" the state. "The way the BJP has ruined Haryana in 10 years, the Congress party will work to rectify it. Today, Haryana is surrounded by corruption, unemployment, deteriorating law and order and anarchy. Rahul Gandhi ji met the people in 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' to understand their problems. But Modi ji does not go among the public; he only meets selected people," Kharge said. He further said that the Congress has announced seven guarantees divided into seven sections that will be fulfilled once they form the government in the state. Kharge also announced pensions for the elderly, specially-abled and widows through the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), with each category receiving an amount of Rs 6,000 each. Besides this, he announced 2 lakh permanent jobs for the youth. "We are announcing seven guarantees that we will fulfil once we form government in Haryana... We have divided our seven promises into seven sections. Women will be given Rs 2000 every month. We will give Rs 500 every month for gas cylinders... Pensions for the elderly, pensions for specially-abled, and pensions for widows as per the old pension scheme will be thoroughly implemented, and each category will get Rs 6,000 each as pension money... We will give 2 lakh permanent jobs to youth," he said. Additionally, Kharge announced free electricity of up to 300 units for each household as well as Rs 25 lakh of free medical service under their election promise. Moreover, he guaranteed the minimum selling price (MSP) for the farmers of the state as well as conducting a caste census in the state. "Every household will be given 300 units of free electricity and free medical treatment of up to Rs 25 lakh... The poor will be given a 100-square-yard plot each and Rs 3.5 lakh as construction cost... We guarantee MSP to the farmers of the state... We will also conduct a caste census," Kharhe added. Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan, among other leaders, were also present at the manifesto launch at the AICC headquarters in Delhi. Voting for the 90-member legislative assembly in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the last date for filing nominations is September 12. Votes will be counted on October 8 along with that in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI) The Congress on Wednesday announced seven guarantees for Haryana assembly polls which will be part of its election manifesto, promising restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, two lakh jobs, caste survey, 300 units of free power and free medical treatment upto Rs 25 lakh. Making the announcement about the guarantees, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said here that guarantees pertain to women, social security, youth, the poor, and the farmers. Senior party leaders, including general secretary KC Venugopal, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan were among those present on the occasion. Kharge said the party has 'seven vade, pakke erade'. The Congress has promised Rs 2000 per month to women above the age of 18 as well as the availability of gas cylinders at Rs 500. As part of steps to strengthen social security, Kharge said old age pension, disability pension and widow pension will be Rs 6,000. Even as the Centre has announced the Unified Pension Scheme as an option to the New Pension Scheme, the Congress has promised restoration of the Old Pension Scheme. For the youth, the party has promised 2 lakh confirmed jobs and a drug-free Haryana. Under the promise of "happiness to every family", the Congress has promised 300 units of free electricity and free treatment of up to Rs 25 lakh. The farmers have been promised legal guarantee of a minimum support price and immediate compensation for crop loss. The party talked of 'Rs 10 gaz plot' for the poor and a two-room flat at a cost of Rs 3.5 lakh. Talking of rights of backwards, the party has promised caste survey and increasing limit of creamy layer to Rs 10 lakh. Kharge expressed confidence that Congress will win Haryana polls slated for October 5. "Haryana was a prosperous state; it was considered number one in India, but the BJP ruined it. People are going to elect the Congress party. Our promise is that as soon as we come to power, we will fulfil our seven promises," Kharge said. Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan said that the party is determined to make Haryana number one state again. "When there was a Congress government in Haryana, it was number one in sports, agriculture, infrastructure, and per capita investment. Congress is determined to make Haryana number 1 again," Bhan said. Voting for the 90-member legislative assembly in Haryana will be held on October 5. Votes will be counted on October 8 along with that in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday hailed the Union Cabinet's decision to approve the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal a "milestone" step that will ensure political stability in the country. Emphasising the cruciality of political stability, CM Yogi in a post on 'X' said, "Political stability is vital for a flourishing democracy. The approval given to the One Nation, One Election proposal by the Union Cabinet today under the successful leadership of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi is commendable." "This decision will prove to be a 'milestone' in ensuring political stability, sustainable development and prosperous democracy in the country. On behalf of the people of Uttar Pradesh, heartfelt gratitude to the respected Prime Minister for this revolutionary decision!" CM Yogi added. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami also praised the union cabinet for approving the proposal of a One Nation, One Election. "Today, the union cabinet has given its approval to the proposal of One Nation One Election under the leadership of PM Modi. It's a welcoming step. It is a much-awaited demand in the country. Due to simultaneous elections, the expenditure and time will be saved and that money can be used for other fundamental things like health, education," CM Dhami said. CM Dhami also called the decision of One Nation One Election "historic" and said that the proposal will make Indian democracy more strong and effective. "Approval of the proposal of 'One Country - One Election' by the Union Cabinet will make Indian democracy more strong and effective under the able leadership of respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. 'One Nation One Election' will save government money and time spent during elections and it can be used more effectively in development works like education, health and infrastructure," CM Dhami posted on X. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the One Nation, One Election will bring stability, determine terms for the governments, and save resources. "Bringing in and implementing reforms for the development of the nation is the commitment of the Union Cabinet led by Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Union Cabinet accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee chaired by Former President of India Ram Nath Kovind, on simultaneous elections i.e. One Nation One Election in the country. The biggest electoral reforms shall bring stability, determine terms for the governments, and save resources. I wholeheartedly welcome this decision," the Goa CM posted on X. HD Kumaraswamy, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'One Nation, One Election' initiative as a historic step towards improving India's electoral system. He further mentioned that the Janata Dal (Secular) welcomes the 'One Nation, One Election' system. Speaking to the media after attending a meeting on electric vehicles organised by the Ministry of Heavy Industries at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Wednesday, Kumaraswamy supported the government's decision. "Today, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, the cabinet approved the One Nation, One Election Bill, drafted under the leadership of former President Ramnath Kovind... We support this decision by the government," Kumaraswamy said. He added that within the first 100 days of its third term in office, the Narendra Modi government has delivered on its election promise by taking this historic decision. Meanwhile, Congress leader Manish Tewari questioned the government's move. "Federalism is a part of the basic structure doctrine conceptualised in Re: Kesvananda Bharti by Supreme Court? How will One Nation One election square up with this construct? Moreover, States are a separate part of the Indian Constitution- Part VI. Local bodies are within the State Remit," Tewari posted on X. Earlier today, the Cabinet approved the government's 'One Nation, One Election' proposal which proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, with urban body and panchayat polls to be held within 100 days. The High-level Committee on Simultaneous Elections, constituted under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu earlier this year. The government said that the Report, comprising 18,626 pages, is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work of 191 days, since its constitution on September 2, 2023. The proposal will now be tabled in Parliament and must be cleared in both houses the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - before it becomes law. (ANI) According to NCB India, Garg was previously serving as the Additional Director General in the Border Security Force (BSF) at its headquarters in New Delhi. An order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Garg, a 1993 batch Indian Police Service officer from the Himachal Pradesh cadre, as the NCB DG "on deputation basis, with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post till May 23, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier." The post of NCB head was formerly held in an additional capacity by CRPF DG Anish Dayal Singh following the retirement of incumbent S N Pradhan in August. The Narcotics Control Bureau is an Indian central law enforcement and intelligence agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Established in 1986, the agency is tasked with combating drug trafficking and the use of illegal substances under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. (ANI) The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday held a protest march in Nag Bazar in Kolkata against RG Kar medical college and hospital rape-murder case. West Bengal BJP General Secretary Agnimitra Paul, who took part in the march alleged that the Police Commissioner was to be expelled as demanded by the protesting doctors, but instead, he has been given a posting in the State Task Force. "It's been one month since the horrific incident but the victim hasn't got justice. The Chief Minister, the main accused in the case has been trying to protect those involved in this crime... Among the five demands put forward by the junior doctors, one was to expel the Commissioner of Police. Instead, he has been given a prize posting in the STF," Paul said. Meanwhile, a delegation of Junior doctors of the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front arrived at Nabanna to meet the Chief Secretary. Junior doctors had requested to meet the Chief Secretary as according to them, some of their demands remained unresolved. Following the meeting with the protesting doctors on Tuesday, the West Bengal government accepted some of their demands including the removal of the police chief of Kolkata and two senior health officials. "There have been repeated attempts to politicize our cause, false accusations of seeking positions of power rather than justice, and efforts to create divisions among us through emails, audio clips, and to malign our movement. Yesterday, in a long discussion with the Honorable Chief Minister, our five-point demands were discussed, and some of them were partially fulfilled," Junior Doctors Front said in a press release issued on Tuesday. Following the meeting with the doctors, Dr Kaustav Nayak and Dr Debashis Halder have been removed from the posts of Director of Medical Education (DME) and Director of Health Services (DHS) from the Department of Health and Family Welfare of the West Bengal Government on Tuesday. Along with these changes, the Director of the Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Suparna Dutta, and Joint DHS, Dr Swapan Soren, have also been removed from the posts. The body of the 31-year-old doctor was found at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. Since then thousands of junior doctors in the state have been on a strike. (ANI) Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Ramban, Kishtwar, and Doda Range, Shridhar Patil, stated that long queues of voters were visible outside polling stations since voting began on Wednesday morning in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. As polling continues for 24 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, DIG Patil told ANI, "Polling is underway in the three districts of Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban. People have been enthusiastic since voting began this morning. Almost 60 per cent of voting has taken place peacefully, with large queues outside polling stations. People are truly celebrating the festival of democracy." Addressing a query regarding security arrangements, DIG Patil said, "Adequate security has been deployed in vulnerable and sensitive areas. Alongside the state police, we have sufficient deployment of the CAPF. The outer areas are dominated by the Army. All security forces are working in synergy." On the recent terror attacks in Jammu, he added, "So far, we have succeeded in preventing any impact on the elections. The large voter turnout indicates that terrorists have not succeeded in their plans. People have responded to them." Meanwhile, Kishtwar district recorded the highest voter turnout at 70.03 per cent by 3 pm in the first phase of the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, according to data provided by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday. The ECI further reported that Doda recorded a turnout of 61.90 per cent, Ramban 60.04 per cent, Kulgam 50.57 per cent, Shopian 46.84 per cent, and Anantnag 46.67 per cent. Pulwama district registered the lowest voter turnout at 36.90 per cent in this first phase. The total voter turnout stands at 50.65 per cent. Voting, which commenced at 7 am today, is taking place across the Union Territory and will conclude at 6 pm. Voting was briefly halted at a polling station in Bagwan Mohalla, Kishtwar, following a protest over the identification of voters. However, the situation was resolved, and voting resumed. Kishtwar DM Rajesh Kumar Shavan clarified that the incident was due to confusion, and the situation returned to normal. Notably, Kashmiri migrant voters also cast their ballots under heavy security at the ITI College Campus in Jammu. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir and National General Secretary Tarun Chugh praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that the people of the Union Territory turned out in large numbers, displaying enthusiasm each time the PM visited the region. BJP's Kishtwar candidate, Shagun Parihar, criticised opposition candidates from the PDP and National Conference, accusing them of attempting to undermine her by claiming she was playing the victim card to gain sympathy. In this first phase, 24 assembly constituencies across Jammu and Kashmir are voting today, comprising 16 seats in the Kashmir region and 8 in the Jammu region. Voting for the second and third phases in J&K will take place on September 25 and October 1, respectively. Vote counting is scheduled for October 8. (ANI) The injured including 6 men and 4 women were rushed to a primary health centre at Sihora. Sihora MLA Santosh Singh Badkare also arrived at the spot along with police and officials of the official administration to check up on the matter. Financial assistance has been sanctioned to the families of the deceased and the injured. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has announced ex-gratia financial assistance for the families of those who lost their lives and were injured in a recent accident. Each family of the deceased will receive Rs 2 lakh, with an additional Rs 15,000 from the road accident fund. Beneficiaries of the Sambal Yojana will receive an extra Rs 4 lakh. Sihora MLA Santosh Singh Badkare has contributed Rs 5,000 to the family of the deceased. Injured individuals will receive free medical treatment along with Rs 7,500 in assistance from the Road Accident Fund. (ANI) Congress leader Sachin Pilot said that the issue of restoration of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir is connected with the dignity and self-respect of its people. He also said that the BJP violated the emotions of the people of the Union Territory (by abrogating Article 370). Polling was held for the 24 seats in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. "...INDIA alliance performed well in the Lok Sabha elections...There has been a change on the ground...The BJP snatched the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir without any reason. We have mentioned in our manifesto to restore the statehood as it is connected with the dignity and self-respect of people," Pilot told reporters in Jammu. "BJP has violated the emotions of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," He added, referring to the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. He also alleged that the BJP is "fighting the elections through its proxies since it was unable to contest them on its own." He also recalled that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had accepted the message of love through the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi. "The government had asked Rahul Gandhi to suspend his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir due to security reasons. Still, he culminated the Yatra in Srinagar. A ray of hope had been rekindled in the people here. He gave a message of love through the Yatra which was accepted by the people," Pilot added. Earlier in the day, Sachin Pilot alleged that "development has been stalled" in Jammu and Kashmir and said "people are looking for a government that will meet their expectations." Meanwhile, a voter turnout of 58.19 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir held on Wednesday. The second phase will be held on September 25 and the third phase on October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8. The National Conference and the Congress have formed a pre-poll alliance. Elections are being held after a gap of nearly ten years and are the first since the abrogation of Article 370. (ANI) Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said on Wednesday that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi should provide Rs 1 crore compensation to the people who lost their lives due to the building collapse in the Bapa Nagar in Karol Bagh earlier today. In a press statement, Kapoor said that Rs 5 lakh should also be provided to the people who were injured in the incident. This came after three people lost their lives while 14 others sustained injuries in a house collapse incident that took place in the Karol Bagh area on Wednesday morning. According to Atul Garg, Director of Delhi Fire Services, the DFS received information about the building collapse in Bapa Nagar at 9.10 am. "As soon as they received the information, the officials from the Delhi Fire Services, with 5 fire tenders, rushed to the site," Garg said. In the statement, Kapoor expressed his grief over the building collapse in Bapa Nagar and stated that he had been constantly writing to the MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi to conduct a survey of dangerous buildings and to make "appropriate issuance" for repair work as well as to provide vacation notices to occupants in Delhi, especially in City Sadar Pahar Ganj and Western Extension Area Karol Bagh areas. However, Kapoor stated that Oberoi has ignored his "repeated requests for surveys" and held her responsible for today's building collapse incident. "Unfortunately the Mayor has ignored our repeated requests for surveys of dangerous buildings, and her callousness is responsible for today's fatal building collapse at Bapa Nagar," Kapoor said. "In view of the heavy monsoon, I had been urging the mayor to order a proper survey of dangerous buildings and appropriate vacation or repair notices but she didn't take any action," he added. (ANI) The Indian Army signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tiranga Mountain Rescue (TMR) on Wednesday at Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), Delhi Cantt, in the presence of Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Army Staff. Major General Manish Luthra, Additional Director General Military Operations (A), signed the MoU on behalf of the Indian Army, while Hemant Sachdev, a dedicated mountaineer and Mt Everest Summiteer, signed it on behalf of the TMR. This understanding marks a pivotal step in advancing the Indian Army's rescue and survival operations in mountainous terrains. The MoU stipulates that TMR will collaborate with the Indian Army in conducting customised training programs for Army instructors, aimed at improving their ability to mentor troops in avalanche rescue and survival skills. General Upendra Dwivedi commended the efforts of TMR and appreciated the collaboration between the Indian Army and TMR. He acknowledged their efforts by awarding Chief of Army Staff Commendation Cards to two team members of TMR's Rescue Team. Lieutenant General Tarun Kumar Aich, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy), lauded the MoU as a mutually advantageous agreement for both organisations. He further said that for the past nine years, TMR has done yeoman service in saving numerous lives by providing unwavering support in training and rescue efforts. Hemant Sachdev highlighted that 15 Teams of TMR are already deployed in various regions alongside Indian Army. He also mentioned that the rescue teams of TMR have been able to save a large number of precious lives in avalanche-prone areas. This MoU builds on the initial agreement made with Northern Command in 2016, which established dedicated avalanche and rescue support by the TMR. Subsequent agreements with Eastern and Central Commands in 2021 and 2024 further expanded this collaboration. The latest MoU will further utilise TMR's expertise to boost the Indian Army's capabilities in executing effective rescue operations under demanding conditions. This partnership highlights a commitment to further enhance the readiness of personnel operating in mountainous terrain besides enhancing the standards of training and rescue operations in high-altitude environments. (ANI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu inaugurated the two-day meeting of the National Task Force under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program in Shimla on Wednesday and said that the efforts made by the state government in tackling TB have been recognized at the national level. The Chief Minister launched the offline mode of the 'Meri TB Ki Kahani Phase-II' initiative, aimed at dispelling stigmas associated with TB and creating public awareness about the disease. Himachal Pradesh is the first state in the country to launch the second phase of this campaign besides being host to the meeting for the second time. TB experts across the country participated in the event on this occasion. The Chief Minister expressed confidence that valuable recommendations in the workshop would be instrumental in combating this dreaded disease. "The Himachal Pradesh government is extending all possible support to eradicate TB, with around 15,000 TB patients being treated annually in the State. The efforts made by Himachal Pradesh in tackling TB have been recognized at the national level," CM Sukhu remarked. "Over the past two years, molecular testing facilities have been introduced in the State for early detection of TB, and artificial intelligence-enabled portable X-ray machines have been made available in five districts of the State this service will also be expanded to remaining districts soon," he stated. Highlighting the favourable climate of Himachal Pradesh for TB patients, particularly in pine forests, the Chief Minister said that the State was also working to promote health tourism, capitalising on its natural environment. CM Sukhu emphasised the need to adopt modern technology to provide better healthcare services and said that the State Government has signed an agreement with AIIMS Delhi for the latest medical equipment. He said that the health facilities at Tanda Medical College and IGMC Shimla were being strengthened and efforts were underway to create a conducive environment for the health staff for their efficient functioning. "The process for filling up 2,700 posts in the health department is underway to further improve healthcare services," he added. The Chief Minister said that special attention was being paid to the healthcare needs of elderly citizens above the age of 70, with plans to introduce a scheme that would provide doorstep medical testing facilities. He also expressed concern over the increasing number of cancer patients in the state. He said that initiatives like promoting electric vehicles and renewable energy are in progress, including the establishment of a one-megawatt green hydrogen plant in Nalagarh of Solan district. Health and Family Welfare Minister Colonel (Dr) Dhani Ram Shandil said that the changing societal perspective on TB was largely due to the efforts of the National Task Force. He stressed the need for greater public awareness and outlined the steps being taken in the State to eradicate the disease. He said that TB patients in Himachal Pradesh receive financial assistance of Rs 1,500 from the Government, and the State was working diligently to enhance healthcare facilities, especially in remote areas. Health Secretary M Sudha Devi, NHM Mission Director Priyanka Verma, Director of Health Services Dr Gopal Berry, National Task Force Chairman Dr Ashok Bhardwaj, Joint Director of the Central TB Division Dr Sanjay Kumar Mattu, and DDG-TB Dr Urvashi Singh were also present on the occasion amongst others. (ANI) Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday that people have voted in large numbers and excitement among them is palpable in the first phase of the assembly polls in the Jammu and Kashmir. Singh asserted that all the credit goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has mainstreamed democracy in the Union Territory. "People have voted in large numbers and excitement among people is palpable... This is a festival of democracy in its true sense and the people of J-K can experience it for the first time. All the credit for this goes to PM Modi. He has mainstreamed democracy in Jammu and Kashmir. There was good voting in the recent Lok Sabha elections as well. At one point in time no one was ready to become a candidate in Kashmir Valley but today there are so many candidates," Jitendra Singh said. Meanwhile, the Kishtwar district has recorded the highest voter turnout at 70.03 per cent till 3 pm in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, as per the data provided by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday. According to the ECI, Doda recorded a 61.90 per cent turnout followed by Ramban at 60.04 per cent, Kulgam at 50.57 per cent, Shopian at 46.84 per cent, and Anantnag at 46.67 per cent. Pulwama district has recorded the lowest voter turnout at 36.90 per cent in the first phase of the assembly polls. The total voter turnout stands at 50.65 per cent. Voting, which commenced at 7 am, concluded at 6 pm. Notably, Kashmiri migrant voters also cast their votes under high security at ITI College Campus in Jammu. Meanwhile, lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) incharge of Jammu and Kashmir and Party National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said that the people of the union territory came out in large numbers and showcased enthusiasm every time the PM paid a visit here. In the first phase, 24 assembly constituencies across the Union Territory voted today; that includes 16 seats in the Kashmir region and 8 seats in the Jammu region. Voting for the second and third phases in J-K will be held on September 25 and October 1, respectively. Vote counting will be held on October 8. (ANI) The Indian Army held a two-day 'Him-Drone-A-Thon 2' event at Wari-La in Ladakh with an aim to showcase drone solutions for high-altitude applications. The vendors said that they followed the instructions of the government not to use Chinese components in their drones. A vendor, Shankha Subhra Mukherjee from MISTRAL XHERPA drone, said, "Earlier we had no regulation for Chinese components. But now a days, chinese components are banned. We can't say that everything is designed by MISTRAL. We depend a lot on the ecosystem: ecosystem partners in the US, ecosystem partners in Europe, Even the Indian ecosystem has become powerful, and in Bangalore we have capabilities, so with the help of these ecosystems, we made our drone." Further, he added, "We have strictly gone ahead with no Chinese policy. And this was something which was about two years ago. We have designed India's smallest flight controller unit, which is called Eagle Kit. We have not used any Chinese components in my Drone". Another drone vendor, Zain Saeed Co-founder Enord, said, "We followed guidelines that were recently developed in our defence. Our drone's major components are designed in India, and few components we import from Taiwan. Another drone vendor and managing director of VECTORWINS Dr C S Murti said, "We have MoU with the Indian Institute of Science, so we manufacture our own components and systems, and the Indian Institute is patented for these products, so we are slowly and steadily gaining self-reliance and local manufacturing of all the components and systems of our drone." The Indian Army unveiled the 'Him-Drone-A-Thon 2' yesterday to revolutionise high-altitude operations through the use of drones. This pioneering initiative aims to tap into the power of cutting-edge indigenous technology, focusing on enhancing operational efficiency and tactical superiority in some of the most challenging terrains on the planet through the use of drones within the ambit of Atmanirbhar Bharat. The event held on September 17-18 in Wari La, near Leh, where indigenous innovators showcased their development in military technology in high-altitude and challenging terrain. Over 20 indigenous drone manufacturers demonstrated their capabilities in real high-altitude battlefield condition ranging between 4,000-5,000 metres. (ANI) Speaking to media persons on Wednesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, "We welcome 'One Nation, One Election' cleared by the Union Cabinet because it will save time and money". He further stated that developmental works get affected after the code of conduct comes into force during elections. "The developmental work gets stopped when the code of conduct comes into force before any election. A lot of money and manpower also get engaged in it," Maharashtra CM said. This came after the Union Cabinet approved the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, which proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections, with urban body and panchayat polls to be held within 100 days. The High-level Committee on Simultaneous Elections, constituted under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu earlier this year. The government has said that the report, comprising 18,626 pages, is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts, and research work of 191 days, since its constitution on September 2, 2023. Earlier today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the Union Cabinet's decision concerning 'One Nation, One Election', saying it reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong will to bolster democracy "through clean elections and accelerate growth through more productive allocation of resources". He said in a post on X that Bharat has been witnessing transformative reforms under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. (ANI) South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch. However, it did not give further details and said that the analysis is being conducted. Earlier on September 12, North Korea test-fired a new 600mm multiple rocket launcher, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing its state media. In August, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for the development and production of more "suicide drones" to enhance war preparedness, amid tensions brewing in the Korean peninsula. On August 24, Kim Jong-un had overseen a performance test of various drones, Yonhap News Agency reported. It cited a report by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) about the North Korean Supreme Leader supervising test organised by the Drone Institute of the Academy of Defence Sciences. During the testing, the drones flown along preset courses destroyed designated targets. The drones have the ability to attack enemy targets on the ground in air and in the sea. Kim called it necessary to develop and produce more suicide drones "to be used in tactical infantry and special operation units, as well as strategic reconnaissance and multi-purpose attack drones," Yonhap News Agency reported, citing KCNA. The North Korean leader also raised the need for proactively introducing artificial intelligence technology into the development of drones. Yonhap published photos carried by the KCNA showing two white suicide attack drones hitting and destroying mock targets of what look like K-2 tanks stating that North Korea has unveiled photos of such weapons for the first time. (ANI) Abu Dhabi [UAE], September 18 (ANI/WAM): The UAE Ministry of Interior is hosting the GCC Strategy for Combating Drugs (2025-2028) workshop. This groundbreaking regional initiative, a collaborative effort between the General Secretariat of the GCC and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is taking place from September 16-19 at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi. The workshop aims to enhance international cooperation and develop a unified approach to drug control within the GCC region. Key figures at the workshop included Jasim Al-Badawi, Secretary-General of the GCC, Major General Khalifa Hareb Al Khaili, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Judge Hatem Aly, Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for the GCC, and Brigadier Mubarak Saeed Al Khaili, Head of the GCC Police Force. Representatives from GCC nations' anti-drug authorities, UN consultants, and a number of experts and specialists were also in attendance. The workshop commenced with a speech by Al-Badawi, who extended his gratitude to the UAE for hosting this significant regional event. He commended the efforts made by all involved parties in drafting the unified GCC Strategy for Combating Drugs, in line with the resolutions of the 40th meeting of GCC Interior Ministers, held on November 8, 2023, in Muscat, Oman. Al-Badawi emphasized, "Our presence today reflects our joint commitment at the regional and international levels to address one of the biggest challenges facing our societies--the phenomenon of drug smuggling and its devastating effects." He noted that this workshop comes at a crucial time, as GCC nations are working to unify efforts in combating the drug threat, which affects not only individuals but also families and entire societies. He added, "Drugs represent a threat not only to health and social security but are also a key factor undermining economic and political stability. This workshop represents an advanced step toward strengthening regional cooperation in tackling the scourge of drug smuggling, a menace that primarily targets our youth and puts our societies at risk." Al-Badawi continued, "Drugs are not just an individual problem but a societal crisis that requires all of us to stand united in our efforts and plans. The devastation of addiction is not borne solely by the addict but threatens families and the peace of society as a whole." He stressed the collective responsibility in drafting this unified GCC Strategy, which seeks to protect the youth and counter the threats they face. He also highlighted that the strategy tackles addiction's effects through several key areas, including awareness, treatment, and rehabilitation. In this regard, he pointed out the vital role of universities and research centers as key pillars in implementing the strategy, where awareness campaigns increase societal understanding of the risks, and treatment and rehabilitation facilitate the reintegration of individuals into society. He further emphasised that cooperation among GCC countries is essential to the success of their joint efforts. Each country brings unique experiences and innovations that can contribute to developing new, effective solutions, thus enhancing collective action. This meeting, he said, serves as a valuable platform for exchanging ideas and perspectives, and collaborative work will lead to practical strategies that will bear results in the near future. Major General Khalifa Hareb Al Khaili, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, also welcomed attendees to the UAE and expressed his satisfaction with the progress in creating a unified GCC Strategy. He noted that this strategy aligns with the aspirations of the region's leaders and ensures the safety and stability of GCC societies. Al Khaili stated, "The UAE Ministry of Interior is committed to adopting the best security practices to combat this societal scourge, which poses a serious threat to security and disrupts societal stability. Under the wise leadership's vision, the UAE is making dedicated efforts in drug prevention through pioneering policies, procedures, and initiatives. These efforts include utilizing advanced technologies, enforcing an integrated work system, and implementing proactive measures supported by law, all while adhering to international treaties and agreements. Our strong relations with countries worldwide further strengthen these efforts." He added that this interactive workshop is pivotal in establishing a unified strategic framework for leading integrated efforts across the GCC to combat and prevent drug-related issues. Through cooperation and coordination, the workshop aims to develop effective legislation, exchange information, share practical experiences, and apply best international practices to curb the spread of drugs, thereby ensuring safer and more secure societies. Judge Dr. Hatem Aly, Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for the GCC countries, shared his enthusiasm for participating in the workshop. He conveyed greetings from Ghada Wali, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UNODC, and expressed his gratitude to the GCC Secretary-General and the UAE Ministry of Interior for their longstanding collaboration and for hosting the Strategic Forum. Dr. Hatem remarked, "This event is the first of its kind in the region, marking the culmination of the GCC countries' sustained efforts to combat drugs, a scourge that continues to impact our youth and even children, both regionally and globally. Today, we witness the fruits of our labor, developed through partnerships with various GCC countries in capacity building and technical assistance in drug prevention and control. We aim to unify efforts and leverage regional and international expertise to create the first comprehensive GCC Strategy for combating drugs." He added, "The high-level interest from leaders across the region reflects a genuine GCC commitment to tackling the drug problem. As the GCC office on drugs and crime, we pledge to apply all our practical expertise and scientific tools to support GCC representatives in drafting a strategy that aligns with international standards and best practices. We will ensure it is adapted to the national contexts of each GCC state while addressing common regional challenges. Our goal is to provide technical support for developing regional strategies and policies, build capacities for prevention and control in accordance with international standards, and work toward implementing the GCC Strategy for Combating Drugs." The workshop's first session explored international and regional frameworks and standards for addressing the drug problem, including systems used by the United Nations and the GCC. The initial focus was on international agreements, ministerial declarations, and political frameworks that guide drug control efforts globally and regionally. The session also delved into the General Secretariat of the GCC's work system for tackling the drug issue effectively. The second session concentrated on drug markets, trends, policy developments, and strategies for combating drugs. Topics included key issues from the 2024 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the current state of the drug problem in GCC countries, scientific foundations for creating drug control strategies, and the development of strategies that adhere to United Nations standards. The workshop will continue until September 19, addressing numerous proposed strategic objectives, partnerships, and mechanisms for building effective strategic partnerships across the region. (ANI/WAM) From tradition to innovation -- Japanese Gen Z discover charm of modern China Xinhua) 08:33, September 18, 2024 BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The night before leaving Beijing, 19-year-old Japanese university student Matsufuji Aimi went shopping in Wangfujing with several companions. Dolls, osmanthus oolong tea-flavored sandwich cookies, Shaoxing rice wine and more. An hour later, her canvas bag was filled with goods she and her friends had chosen. Her bag is adorned with "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains," the famous landscape painting characterized by the depiction of blue and green colors. The painting is attributed to 18-year-old genius Wang Ximeng during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). "This painting captures the majestic feeling of the continuous mountains, and realizing that the artist who created this Chinese national treasure was about my age makes me wonder about the life he led," said Matsufuji, who plans to use this bag for her commute to school after returning to Japan. "The biggest difference in shopping between China and Japan is that you can pay with a QR code. A Chinese friend told me that it has been three years since she last used cash, which to me is unbelievable," said Matsufuji. She found the brightly lit cityscape of Shanghai stunning and glamorous, even more developed than Tokyo, while in Beijing she almost gave up while climbing the Great Wall, but thinking of the ancient Chinese gave her renewed strength which enabled her to reach the top. "China is a place where tradition and innovation blend, and at different locations in China, you can see their unique characteristics," she told Xinhua. This month, at the invitation of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, four Japanese youth delegations visited China, adopting different themes and routes. Some visited Shaolin to experience Chinese kung fu, while others went to the Shanghai Museum, Sanxingdui, the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City to witness the depth of Chinese civilization. Another delegation explored the Museum of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Olympic venues, tracing China's modernization journey. The remaining delegation entered universities such as Tsinghua and Beijing International Studies University (BISU) to interact with their Chinese peers. Close to 400 Japanese youths participated in this initiative -- the majority of whom were born after 2000 and were visiting China for the first time. Matsufuji was part of this initiative and this trip was the first time she had traveled outside Japan. "CONFUCIAN TEACHINGS READILY ACCESSIBLE IN CHINA" On the flight from Shanghai to Shandong, Manoa Arai, a student at Chuo University majoring in Chinese language and culture, was pleasantly surprised to find excerpts from "The Analects of Confucius" decorating the cabin. Shandong Airlines has, since 2017, adorned every aircraft with 16 selected passages from "The Analects." "In Japan, most people study 'The Analects' in high school," said Arai, noting that the encounter with an excerpt she studied at school had warmed her heart. "It made me realize that Confucian teachings are readily accessible in China," she added. "I love this country and had a wonderful time," said Murakami Miku, a student of German literature at Sophia University, who found that the Confucian quotes provided new inspiration to her, a scholar typically engaged with German philosophers like Hegel. "Confucius' words are full of philosophical depth, allowing me to examine myself more objectively and become more productive." At BISU, Gakushuin University student Hayakawa Nazuna donned Peking opera attire to experience the art of sleeve dancing. She expressed a desire for more such opportunities in the future. "Japan and China have various historical exchanges, and many elements of Japanese culture also originate from China. I want to experience the culture created by ancient Chinese and the culture that influenced Japanese culture, to feel the exchange and history between China and Japan," Hayakawa said. Sajiki Mai from Kaichi International University, born into a family that has practiced calligraphy for three generations, came to China based on her calligraphy teacher's recommendation. "Many ancient buildings still stand, showing the importance people place on preserving fine traditional culture," Sajiki noted, expressing her hope to return to China to witness and study famous Chinese calligraphy steles firsthand. "Seeing Chinese stone monuments is a dream for students studying calligraphy in Japan!" "A week is long enough to get accustomed to life in China, and now that I am returning to Japan, I feel reluctant to leave," said Ueda Haruhi, a ceramics major at Aichi University of the Arts. Her professor holds the history and techniques of porcelain making in Jingdezhen in high regard, which has made her even more eager to visit there. "Next time I come to China, I hope to go to Jingdezhen. I am interested in studying there!" "I DEEPLY FEEL THE POWER OF CHINA" Wang Yifan, a graduate student at Beijing Foreign Studies University, was struck by the enthusiasm of some Japanese youths for new experiences in China. "While climbing the Great Wall, one student showed me her mobile payment screen while saying that 'last night, I went out on a shared bike for the first time.' There are no shared bikes in Japan, so I could feel her excitement about experiencing something new." Fuchigami Rion from Toyama Prefecture, currently a high school sophomore, was the youngest member of the four delegations that visited China. Inspired by books about China's Three Kingdoms on her father's bookshelf, Fuchigami developed a deep interest in Chinese history and began self-studying Chinese in the seventh grade. During the past year, she won first place in the high school division of the All-Japan Chinese speech contest and a bronze medal in the 16th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics. Her next ambition is to study medicine at the University of Tokyo. Wolfberry bread, tangerine peel latte, honey collected from ginseng flowers and much more. Such products, aimed at young consumers, dazzle at a flagship Tongrentang store. Tongrentang is Beijing's most time-honored Traditional Chinese Medicine pharmacy. This makes Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) more accessible in daily life and injects new vitality into it, said Fuchigami, adding that TCM is a crucial part of the field of medicine and she hopes to further study both Chinese and Western medicine. On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, 97 students and members of the faculty of Soka University visited the Museum of the CPC, exploring China's development since 1949. After watching two short films showcasing scenery and technological achievements across China, the group responded with enthusiastic applause. "Many Japanese people's impressions of China are still based on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but China has developed greatly since then. They are unaware of the huge natural landscapes, beautiful cities and numerous skyscrapers that China has," said Hirabayashi Masaru, a student from Soka. Through visiting the Museum of the CPC, he said he was able to feel the charm of China's leaders and how the Party has built and governed modern China. He recommended that all Japanese people who want to understand China should visit the museum. Ishikawa Sakura, who is about to graduate from Soka, said she sensed China's rapid development and the grandeur of its modern architecture, and she looks forward to China achieving even greater progress. Akiya Yoshihide, Soka's vice board chairman, said the university's founder had a strong desire for friendship between the two countries, and the students are committed to inheriting this legacy. To achieve this, they hoped to seriously study the history of China and Japan during their visit, he added. "I deeply feel the power of China," said Akiya, who had visited China several times, but who was entering the CPC museum for the first time. "China respects history and looks towards the future. This is truly admirable." He believes that the Japanese students will have gained a deeper understanding of history and a better comprehension of how China continues to record new advancements under the leadership of the CPC. "I BEGAN TO SEE CHINA AS A VERY CHARMING COUNTRY" In 2004, at just 19 years of age, Japanese author Wataya Risa won one of Japan's most prestigious literary honors, the Akutagawa Prize. Twenty years later, she led 90 Japanese youths on a journey through Shanghai, Shandong Province and Beijing via both airplane and high-speed rail. "I believe that by personally experiencing the different styles and climates of various Chinese cities, the kids personally appreciated the vastness of China. China cannot be summarized in a single sentence and I hope everyone can have their own feelings and understanding," said Wataya, adding that her initial visit to China didn't leave a deep impression, but that she grew fond of Chinese culture over time, watched many Chinese films, and began learning Chinese. "Actually, I had lived in China for a little while. Until I was five years old, I was in China because my dad was stationed in Shanghai. At that time, my Chinese was probably better than my Japanese, and I thought I was a Shanghainese," said another Japanese student Kuramoto Inori, who also noted that the skyscrapers of Shanghai and the uncles and aunties there who were especially good to kids had remained vivid in her memory. Some delegation members deepened their affection for China through this visit, while others truly realized what this land they had never set foot on before represents. "To be honest, before coming here, I didn't have a very positive impression of China. For example, many Japanese people think that Chinese are cold. But after arriving, I found that Chinese people were very kind and extremely friendly to us," said Mori Ryota, a computer programming student at Toyo University. Hence, he hopes to study Chinese and courses related to China in the future. Shiroko Junna, a "post-2000" Japanese woman from Tokyo, started learning Chinese in high school because "the pronunciation of Chinese is very beautiful," and her interest grew over time. In university, she majored in Chinese and was the top performer in the university division of the All-Japan Chinese speech contest. "In Japan, it's easy to hear negative views about China, but I know there definitely isn't just a bad side. Just like among Japanese, there are all kinds of people in China," she told Xinhua. Shiroko was moved by China's advanced technology and long history, and each experience piqued her curiosity, while she was also hoping to deepen connections with Chinese friends through such activities. Peers from both countries also enhanced their mutual understanding through face-to-face exchanges. At BISU, Hayakawa from Gakushuin University, Miyazaki Hayao's alma mater, said she loved manga, which quickly helped her find common ground with Chinese university students around her. "During this trip, I learned about the traditional culture of Chinese cities, the friendliness of the people, and their vitality. This is something I couldn't have felt without visiting China myself," said Sajiki. During the exchange initiative at China Communication University, Hirabayashi Daiki from Osaka University led a group of Japanese Gen Z students, born between 2001 and 2006, in singing the well-known Chinese folk song "Jasmine Flower" in beautifully pronounced Mandarin. "By learning to sing a song that every Chinese person can sing, we wanted to deepen our understanding of Chinese culture and at the same time express our respect for China. To improve our singing quality, we started practicing before coming to China," said Hirabayashi. "Whether I was lost, couldn't speak the language, or was confused by cultural differences, there was always someone who offered help," Hayakawa said. "I deeply experienced the warmth of the Chinese people and began to see China as a very charming country," she told Xinhua. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has fixed the hearing of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) intra-party election case for today, Geo News reported. The supervisory body of ECP issued notices to PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and the party's information secretary Raoof Hassan to present their arguments before the ECP's bench hearing the matter. The case dates back to 2023, when the electoral watchdog revoked PTI's bat symbol over unlawful polls in the Imran Khan-founded party, according to Geo News report. Notably, PTI held the intra-party elections on June 9, 2022. The ECP annulled PTI's intra-party polls in December 2023 as the case was dragged for around one and a half year. Later, the Supreme Court upheld the electoral watchdog's decision to deprive the opposition party of its symbol 'bat' that forced the PTI candidates to contest the general elections on February 8 as independents. Later, the PTI then held another intra-party poll in March 2024, which was also challenged in the ECP. Earlier this month, PTI faced a setback after the electoral watchdog rejected its petition seeking delay in the hearing of the case about its intra-party elections till the clarification is issued by the Supreme Court on its July 12 ruling on the reserved seats case. In its verdict, the ECP stated that the Imran Khan-founded party had already delayed the issue of intra-party polls a lot and it wouldn't be appropriate to defer the matter any further. The 10-page ECP order written by ECP member Sindh Nisar Ahmed Durrani, rejected all four applications of the PTI, Geo News reported. In its four separate applications, the PTI raised questions over the ECP's jurisdiction to look into intra-party elections and asked the electoral watchdog to issue directions to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to return the record taken away during a raid at the party's central secretariat and requested adjournment of the intra-party polls case till the detailed judgement of the Supreme Court in the reserved seats case, and receipt of the guidelines from the Supreme Court sought by the ECP to implement the verdict in the same case. On September 14, PTI founder Imran Khan launched a scathing attack on Pakistan's ruling coalition and the country's institutions, comparing the current situation with the era of military ruler Yahya Khan and alleged that the country's institutions are being "destroyed.' Condemning the crackdown on PTI, Imran Khan called the current 'establishment' as "Yahya Khan part 2". A social media post on Khan's X account read, "The country is currently experiencing Yahya Khan's (Martial Law Dictator) rule all over again. (General) Yahya Khan conducted an operation against the country's largest political party. Yahya Khan Part Two is doing the same and destroying the country's institutions."Further, he launched a scathing attack at the ruling coalition, terming them "Yahya Khan part two." "The tout caretaker government of Yahya Khan Part Two gifted Judge Humayun Dilawar with land worth billions of Rupees and illegal NOCs (No Objection Certificate) in return for delivering a guilty verdict that led to my imprisonment. Even the other day, the judge was given instructions for three hours before he gave the verdict against Bushra (Khan)," he added. Imran Khan, in his post, further alleged that Qazi Faez Isa has been given an extension because he is giving them "protection from accountability" for their role in human rights violations and election rigging. Stepping up his attack, Imran Khan said there is "no point" in calling Shehbaz Sharif the Prime Minister, as he is merely a "tout" and his decisions are subject of approval from the 'establishment.' "There is no point in calling Shehbaz Sharif the Prime Minister. He is merely a tout whose decisions are subject to approval from the establishment. Who knows, this tout may end up being forcibly disappeared tomorrow," he stated. (ANI) Lori Trahan, leader of Massachusetts' Third District, condemned the desecration of BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in New York's Melville and said that it goes against Americans who respect the right of every person to practice their religion. Trahan said that she condemns this and all forms of hatred. In a post on X, she said, "This vile act of intimidation targeting Hindus in Melville, New York, goes against everything we stand for as Americans who respect the right of every person to practice their religion free from persecution. We must forcefully condemn this and all forms of hatred." https://x.com/RepLoriTrahan/status/1836036112743010415 Earlier in the day, the Consulate General of India in New York condemned the desecration of BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Melville. In a post on X, the Consulate General of India in New York stated, "The vandalism of the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Melville, New York, is unacceptable ; The Consulate @IndiainNewYork is in touch with the community and has raised the matter with U.S. law enforcement authorities for prompt action against the perpetrators of this heinous act." https://x.com/IndiainNewYork/status/1835733692162965877 In a post on X, the BAPS stated, "Deeply saddened by the desecration of our BAPS Mandir in Melville, NY, an act aimed at inciting hatred against Hindus. Today, local, state & federal leaders gathered to promote peace, respect & unity. Guided by our faith, we stand united against hate with compassion & solidarity." https://x.com/BAPS_PubAffairs/status/1835788491315089814 Several US lawmakers condemned the desecration of BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in New York's Melville with messages of hatred and demanded accountability from the authorities. The Congressmen also raised concerns about repeated incidents of hate and violence in the country. Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar strongly condemned the "hideous act" and stressed that such acts of "vandalism, bigotry, and hate" must be fully investigated. https://x.com/ShriThanedar/status/1835861498897293449 "This is totally unacceptable. I strongly condemn the hideous acts of vandalism targeting the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Melville. Such acts of vandalism, bigotry, and hate must be fully investigated. The BAPS community deserves answers and justice," he stated on X. (ANI) Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan's crimes alone were enough to keep him in prison, Geo News reported. His remarks came in response to Imran Khan's comments that the government was pushing to amend the constitution to keep him behind bars. Speaking to Geo News, Asif said, "Given PTI founder's long list of crimes, constitutional amendments won't be necessary." He stated, "The incarcerated former premier wants to attach himself not just to constitutional amendments but to everything [that's happening] in Pakistan as he considers himself the centre of everything," according to Geo News report. Earlier on Monday, former Pakistan PM Imran Khan said that the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) government's constitutional amendment package was made to prolong his incarceration and termed the proposed changes disastrous for the country and the judiciary. Khawaja Asif said, "The PTI founder should reflect on what chaos he created in the last four years. There was an attempted rebellion [against the state] on May 9 [last year]." He said, "Some individuals from armed forces, who were in cahoots with ex-ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed. were also involved in the May 9 mayhem." Pakistan's Defence Minister said that the PTI founder has been in custody and has repeatedly said that he will speak to the establishment. "Since the PTI founder has been in custody, he has repeatedly -- like three to four thousand times-- said that he will talk to the establishment," Geo News quoted Asif as saying. Rejecting opposite parties' allegations of keeping the amendments under wraps, he said that the draft legislation was "a public document whose contents are not a secret." Asif has expressed optimism regarding the passage of new legislation through the parliament. His remarks came despite Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government's failure to get the number needed for passage of amendments, which resulted in the indefinite postponement of its tabling on Monday. He also defended the government's decision to make judiciary-centric constitutional amendments and added the changes were aimed at maintaining a balance of power among institutions, not just at ensuring accountability. Khawaja Asif said that PTI was ready to support the constitutional package and added that the Imran Khan-founded party has urged the government to postpone the amendment until December," Geo News reported. In response to Asif's statement, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that Pakistan's Defence Minister was not part of the parliamentary special committee. Gohar Ali Khan said, "Neither have we been involved in any discussions with Asif, nor has PTI assured support for the government's constitutional amendments until December." He categorically rejected Asif's claims that PTI supported the constitutional amendment package, stressing that any statement about PTI's approval would be false, as the "draft, suggestion, or package has not yet been disclosed." He said that PTI's lawmakers had requested the draft of the proposed changes from the government. However, the Imran Khan-founded party has not promised to support the new legislation, Geo News reported. Treasury and opposition benches have been involved in a tug-of-war in both houses of the parliament over the government's constitutional amendment legislation that allegedly aims to extend the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire in October this year and the retirement age of the judges. However, the government needs to secure a two-thirds majority in parliament for passage of the constitutional amendment. PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have been making efforts to get the support of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for the proposed amendments, the report said. The leaders of the two parties have held multiple meetings with the JUI-F chief. Meanwhile, PTI and JUI-F have criticised the government for being secretive about the content of the constitutional amendments. The two opposition parties have demanded that the original draft should be presented in Parliament for debate before approval. (ANI) The interim government of Bangladesh has issued an order late on Tuesday, granting the army magisterial powers. This directive enables the armed forces to exercise greater authority to ensure internal security within the country. The Ministry of Public Administration has issued the order, which discusses the powers of Special Executive Magistrates as outlined in Sections 12 (1) and 17 of The Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. This delegation of authority means that only commissioned officers of the Bangladesh Army are permitted to use these powers across the entirety of Bangladesh for the coming 60 days, according to the order. A copy of the order has been obtained by ANI, confirming the expansion of the army's role in maintaining order. The Bangladesh Army has acknowledged the receipt and implementation of these magistracy powers. "The news of magistracy power is right," confirmed Ltd Col Sami ud Doula Chowdhury, who serves as the director of the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR). Previously, under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina's government, a curfew was imposed on July 19 to assist civil authorities, and the army was deployed throughout the country. A month ago, a student-led movement led to the ousting of Sheikh Hasina from her position as Prime Minister of Bangladesh. This shift followed weeks of intense protests and clashes that claimed over 600 lives. Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5, leading to the formation of an interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. A senior army general elaborated on the expanded role of the army, stating, "The main responsibility of the army is to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bangladesh." He added, "But they also perform duties in nation-building activities, disaster management inside Bangladesh and beyond, and internal security duties in aid to civil power." The General also highlighted the Army's international reputation, noting, "Bangladesh army has gained a reputation in UN peacekeeping and beyond," emphasising the global acknowledgement of the army's contributions. (ANI) President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is scheduled to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City from September 23 to 25, as per an official statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. During this event, Biden will address the assembly on September 24, outlining his administration's priorities and vision. His speech will focus on fostering international cooperation to address global threats, promote economic prosperity, and uphold human rights. In addition to his address, Biden will meet with various world leaders to discuss strategies for enhancing global security and advancing shared goals. These discussions are expected to cover a broad range of topics, including international peace efforts, global economic stability, and the protection of human rights. The meetings reflect the ongoing commitment of the Biden administration to strengthen international partnerships and address pressing global challenges. This visit comes shortly after President Biden's announcement of the fourth in-person Quad Leaders' Summit, which he will host in Wilmington, Delaware on September 21. The summit will include leaders from Australia, India, and Japan, with a focus on reinforcing strategic cooperation among the Quad countries. The Quad partnership--comprising Australia, India, Japan, and the United States--aims to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region and tackle critical issues such as health security, maritime security, and climate change. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre highlighted the significance of this summit, noting that it will be President Biden's first time hosting foreign leaders in Wilmington. "This will be President Biden's first time hosting foreign leaders in Wilmington as president--a reflection of his deep personal relationships with each of the Quad Leaders, and the importance of the Quad to all of our countries," Jean-Pierre said. The summit underscores the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to the Quad, following the first-ever summit at the White House in 2021 and subsequent annual meetings. As the next Quad Summit is scheduled to be hosted by India, the outcomes of these discussions are anticipated to further enhance the strategic alignment among Quad nations and address key regional and global issues. (ANI) North Korea has fired short-range ballistic missiles as per local media reports in South Korea and Japan. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches at about 6:50 am from the North's Kaechon area in north of Pyongyang, and the missiles flew about 400 kilometers, as per Yonhap news outlet. "We strongly condemn North Korea's missile launches that are clear acts of provocation seriously threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the JCS said in a statement to media. The projectiles are believed to have fallen into the sea, according to the Japan Coast Guard, reported Japanese state media which cited government sources as saying the missiles went down outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. The US Indo-Pacific Command in statement said it was aware of Pyongyang's "ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely" with South Korea and Japan, as well as other regional allies and partners. "The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts. While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel, or territory, or to our allies, we continue to monitor the situation," it said in a statement. "The US commitments to the defense of the ROK and Japan remain ironclad," it added. The development comes in the wake of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seen inspecting a uranium enrichment facility last week. On September 12, North Korea test-fired a new 600mm multiple rocket launcher. In August, Kim Jong-un called for the development and production of more "suicide drones" to enhance war preparedness, amid tensions brewing in the Korean peninsula. Earlier the same month, 250 new tactical nuclear capable ballistic missile launchers, which serve as "pivot military hardware" were unveiled by Kim Jong Un to the country's forces. In his speech to military troops at the event, Kim said the US-led alliance has changed into a military bloc based on nuclear power and that Pyongyang will have enhanced nuclear readiness to deter nuclear threats and protect itself to respond to any challenges. A New York Times report said that US President Joe Biden had in March this year approved a classified document ordering US forces to prepare for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea. Also in July this year the foreign ministers of Quad-a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States- criticised North Korea for using ballistic missile technology and continuing its pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs), and urged the country to comply with all UNSCRs. Meanwhile, the latest launch of the ballistic missiles is suspected to have involved missiles similar to the North Korea's Hwasong-11 family of missiles, previously launched in July, Seoul based news outlet Yonhap reported. North Korea fired two ballistic missiles in a northeastern direction on July 1, including one that landed in the East Sea and another that flew 120 km before disappearing off the radar and possibly falling inland, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff JCS. Yonhap cited North Korea's state media the next day as saying that the country had test-fired the new Hwasong-11Da4.5 missile at its maximum and minimum ranges, noting they are capable of being tipped with a 4.5-ton "super-large" warhead. (ANI) Health facilities in Karachi have reported an increase in cases of mosquito-borne diseases such as chikungunya and dengue. Experts have warned that the number of such cases is expected to rise further with the arrival of winter, Dawn reported. They have stressed the importance of vector-control measures to address mosquito breeding grounds and other sources of disease. Officials from Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) revealed that there has been a noticeable uptick in patients visiting their emergency and outpatient departments (OPDs) with symptoms of chikungunya, dengue, malaria, and viral fever. Imran Sarwar G Sheikh, the head of the emergency department at CHK, noted, "We are getting a combination of these patients, though the number of patients presenting with signs and symptoms of chikungunya is slightly higher." On average, about 50 patients with chikungunya and dengue report to the hospital's emergency department daily, reported Dawn. Sheikh attributed the recent rise in chikungunya cases to stagnant water in local areas following recent rains. He added, "We also receive around a dozen malaria cases and a significant number of viral fever cases daily." Senior general physician Altaf Hussain Khatri shared that about 80 per cent of his daily patients exhibit symptoms of chikungunya. "Its diagnostic test costs around PKR 4,000, which the majority of patients can't afford. Hence, we make an assessment on the basis of the patient's signs and symptoms as well as their medical history in most cases. We also get their CBC [complete blood count] done, which gives us an idea about the disease pattern and helps us decide treatment," he explained. Khatri noted that a few patients had tested positive for chikungunya about a month ago when the cases began increasing at his clinic. Officials from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre have also acknowledged the rise in mosquito-borne illnesses but were unable to provide specific data, Dawn reported. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, a senior general physician in Shirin Jinnah Colony, observed that viral fever cases with flu-like symptoms have increased, followed by suspected cases of chikungunya and dengue. "The majority of patients don't opt for laboratory tests due to financial reasons. Hence, we can't be hundred percent sure about the viral illness they suffer from. In some cases, it could be Covid," he noted, adding that doctors typically recommend symptomatic treatment, with patients recovering in five to seven days. For some, he mentioned, a CBC test and a chest X-ray are advised. (ANI) Taiwan Ministry of National Defence detected 9 Chinese military aircraft, 13 naval vessels, and one official ship around its territory from 6 am (local time) on Tuesday till 6 am (local time) on Wednesday, Taiwan News reported. According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND), of the nine People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, six crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the country's northern air defence identification zone (ADIZ). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed coastal-based missile systems to monitor PLA activity, as per Taiwan News. https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1836209185568231447 "9 PLA aircraft, 13 PLAN vessels, and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 6 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," Taiwan's MND said on X. https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1836252540322877643 Further, the ministry also shared another post in which they reported a significant increase in People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft activity near Taiwan. According to the MND, a total of 15 PLA aircraft were detected. The aircraft, which included J-16 and KJ-500, were observed operating in various areas. Twelve of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the northern, central, and southwestern Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). "Overall 15 #PLA aircraft in various types (including J-16, KJ-500, etc.) were detected from 0820hr today. Out of which, 12 crossed the median line of the #Taiwan Strait and entered the northern, central, and southwestern ADIZ," said Taiwan MND on X. This latest Chinese military activity adds to a series of similar provocations by Beijing in recent months. China has increased its military activities near Taiwan, including regular air and naval incursions into Taiwan's ADIZ and military exercises near the island. So far this month, Taiwan has tracked 260 Chinese military aircraft and 141 ships. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval vessels operating around Taiwan. Gray zone tactics are defined as "an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one's security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force." Taiwan has been governed independently since 1949. However, China considers Taiwan part of its territory and insists on eventual reunification, by force if necessary. Earlier in July, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te accused the Chinese government of misinterpreting a United Nations resolution to justify its military activities against Taiwan and drawing an inappropriate linkage to its "One China" principle, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported. Beijing claims that the UN resolution confirmed its one-China principle, which implies that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China. (ANI) Samir Somaiya, Chancellor of Somaiya Vidyavihar University, discussed the institution's efforts in fostering intercultural and inter-civilisational dialogue, highlighting its contribution to multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, and multi-cultural societies. His comments came during an interview with the Embassy of Kazakhstan, where he also spoke about the global relevance of interfaith forums like the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. Somaiya emphasised the diverse atmosphere on the university's campuses, with students and faculty from various religious and cultural backgrounds. He noted the role of interfaith dialogue seminars in promoting mutual understanding among the 39,000 students and 2,000 faculty members. "This culture of understanding is an outcome of a series of 14 Interfaith Dialogue seminars in which participants from various parts of the world have profoundly influenced the students creating an awareness in them about the existence of multiplicity of religions as well as cultures and the values they proclaim," he said. When asked about the importance of platforms like the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, Somaiya pointed to the words of Kazakhstani parliament chairman, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, who expressed confidence that the Congress would become a central space for global interdenominational dialogue. Somaiya reflected on this, stating, "The Congress proved to be a multipurpose platform for the increasing number of stalwarts from the diverse cultures, religions and ethnicities that added to the value of the Congress not only in number but in quality." Somaiya also discussed the unique significance of the Congress, saying it sends a message of peace and harmony to the world. "Coexistence among diverse people and faiths and respect for each other is necessary," he noted during the interview with the Embassy of Kazakhstan, highlighting how the Congress serves as a model for other nations and institutions. On the topic of interfaith dialogue in today's world, Somaiya stressed its role in addressing global challenges like resource scarcity and conflict. "Dialogues help remind us of these shared hopes and responsibilities," he said, advocating for discussions on themes such as inequality, pollution, and peace. Summing up his perspective on the Congress, Somaiya highlighted the importance of common goals and leaving a better planet for future generations. (ANI) Vadhwana is an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 2010 batch. He is presently serving as Deputy High Commissioner at the High Commission of India in Nairobi, Kenya. In a statement, the MEA said, "Rohitkumar R. Vadhwana (IFS: 2010), presently Deputy High Commissioner, High Commission of India, Nairobi, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Plurinational State of Bolivia." The ministry also noted that Vadhwana is expected to take up the assignment shortly. India and Bolivia enjoy friendly and cordial relations. The bilateral exchanges, trade and investment are promising with potential for increasing mutually beneficial cooperation. Both sides are working to improve the level of engagement and forge a partnership in sectors like minerals, infrastructure development, health & pharmaceuticals, Information Technology, capacity building and development cooperation. The Indian Embassy in Lima is concurrently accredited to Bolivia since April 1981. Bolivia opened a resident Mission in New Delhi in 2012. There are two Honorary Consuls General in Bolivia in La Paz and Santa Cruz. A bust of Mahatma Gandhi gifted by Government of India was unveiled in La Paz on 31 August 2021 by the Mayor of La Paz and Ambassador of India. Indian community in Bolivias engaged in retail trade, transportation, agriculture, service sector, etc. An India Bolivia Friendship Association called Asociasion de Amistad Bolivia India (AABI) was formed in 2017. (ANI) During the 57th session of the regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council held in Geneva, Sammi Deen Baloch, General Secretary of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, joined the conference virtually and raised the issue of the humanitarian crisis arising in Balochistan due to the actions of Pakistan's armed forces. Sammi Deen wrote in a post on X, "During the 57th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, I briefed the Council on the human rights abuses and enforced disappearances in Balochistan. Despite the unannounced travel restrictions imposed on me, aimed at barring me from attending the event and silencing my voice, I am grateful to Front Line Defenders for ensuring my voice was heard and enabling me to fulfil the purpose of my advocacy." https://x.com/SammiBaluch/status/1836108910085742783 In her video statement, Sammi Deen said, "My name is Sammi Deen Baloch. I am the daughter of fifteen-year-enforcedly disappeared Dr. Dean Mohammed Baloch. I am a human rights advocate against imposed disappearances. I am from Balochistan, and we have been witnessing severe human rights violations and a humanitarian crisis in Balochistan caused by Pakistan's forces and security intelligence agencies. For many years, the people of Balochistan have suffered intense and constant human rights violations, including enforced disappearances on a large scale." She further stated, "This situation has profoundly affected our community.", "This has deeply affected our community. We have reached out to the justice system, but it has failed to deliver justice. We are seeking assistance from the international community to locate and bring back our enforced disappeared loved ones. We urge you to take action against human rights abuses in Balochistan and help the oppressed community receive the justice they deserve." An earlier report by The Balochistan Post, published in August, highlighted ongoing enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the region. It noted that nine individuals were released, while six bodies were discovered. The issue remains persistent, particularly in districts like Kech, Quetta, and Panjgur, where such incidents continue unabated. Kech reports the highest number of cases with fourteen incidents, followed by Quetta with seven, and other districts experiencing fewer occurrences. This crisis has been a persistent issue for over twenty years, impacting students, activists, journalists, and politicians. The ongoing turmoil is exacerbated by severe distress among families, especially women and the elderly, who endure great suffering over the fate of their missing relatives. (ANI) The stamps were released in the presence of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Romanian Ambassador to India, Daniela-Mariana Sezonov in the national capital. Jaishankar in a social media platform on X said the stamps showcase the deep bonds of friendship and cooperation between India and Romania. He said the stamps are a perfect tribute to the celebrations of 75 years of diplomatic ties. The release of the stamp celebrates the long-standing friendship and cooperation between the two countries since they established diplomatic ties in 1948. The stamp signifies the enduring partnership and shared values that have shaped the bilateral relationship over the decades, an official press release by the Ministry of External Affairs stated. The milestone also comes as part of the broader celebration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of their extensive partnership, as highlighted by a Joint Declaration issued earlier this year. The EAM also noted the strategic importance of Romania in the context of India-Europe relations. Jaishankar discussed efforts to enhance connectivity between India and Europe, including the planned India-Middle-East-Europe corridor. He mentioned that Romania's location plays a crucial role in these trade routes and that strengthening these connections is a priority for India. Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Romanian Ambassador Daniela-Mariana Sezonov highlighted the importance of celebrating such milestones, which reinforce the historical and cultural ties between the two nations. (ANI) A 60-year-old former Chinese navy officer surnamed Ruan was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday for illegally entering Taiwan, Taiwan News reported. Ruan travelled from the Chinese province of Fujian by speedboat and arrived at the Tamsui ferry pier in New Taipei 12 hours after his departure, on June 9. Further, he claimed that he wanted to escape the communist-ruled country and claim political asylum in Taiwan. When he was detained, he told police the authorities in China had found news items critical of the government when they looked at his phone in May, as per Taiwan News. Appeals against the verdict by the Shilin District Court are still possible. The suspect did not appear in court. The court found him guilty of illegal entry, Taiwan News reported, citing Liberty Times. China had ordered him to delete the items from the phone and restricted his movements, barring him from leaving the country, he said. During his court case, he reportedly handed over a drawing of Chinese naval positions along the Fujian coast. According to Taiwan News, investigators in Taiwan found Ruan had once served as a captain in the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The verdict came less than a week after another Chinese man arrived in Taiwan's Linkou by inflatable boat after a trip from Ningbo. The coast guard said that due to its small size and slow speed, it had been difficult for radar to spot the intruder. Meanwhile, recently a debt-ridden Chinese man illegally tried to enter Taiwan. The man was found on a rubber dinghy in waters near the northern city of New Taipei on Saturday, Focus Taiwan stated. An official from Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said that they got information at 6:30 am (local time) from the New Taipei Fire Department that a person was spotted near the Houkeng River estuary in New Taipei's Linkou District, which is along a coastal expressway. The official said that on reaching the spot, they discovered a rubber dinghy about 100 metres from the shore, Focus Taiwan reported. Around 7 am, CGA personnel, along with New Taipei firefighters, brought the 30-year-old Chinese man, Wang, to the shore from the dinghy. He was sent to the hospital as he was suffering from severe dehydration, Focus Taiwan quoted the CGA official as saying. Wang said that he came to Taiwan to start a new life as he was heavily in debt back home in China. (ANI) Jaishankar also expressed gratitude to Hamed for his "contribution in advancing" India-Egypt ties. Sharing a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, "Pleased to receive Egyptian Ambassador Wael Hamed for his farewell call." "Thank him for his contribution in advancing ties. Wish him the best for his future endeavours," he added. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1836345828023111790 India and Egypt, both possessing rich histories as among the world's oldest civilisations, have enjoyed close ties dating back to ancient times. Their collaboration extends across various domains, including political cooperation on bilateral, regional, and global issues. Prime Minister Modi's landmark State Visit to Egypt in June 2023 further reinforced the bilateral ties, culminating in the conferment of Egypt's highest civilian award, the "Order of the Nile," upon him. In July, Jaishankar participated in a commemorative event in New Delhi alongside Egypt's Ambassador to India Wael Hamed, commemorating Egypt's National Day. During the event, Jaishankar emphasised India's unwavering commitment to bolstering the bilateral partnership between the two nations. Describing Egypt as a crucial and esteemed strategic partner, Jaishankar conveyed his best wishes to Egypt's leadership and citizens, highlighting the deepening of ties in recent years. He referenced President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's visit as the Chief Guest during India's 74th Republic Day celebrations in 2023, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's subsequent official visit to Egypt, which elevated bilateral relations to a strategic level. (ANI) Around 50 Burmese Americans gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington to protest China's interference in Myanmar's internal affairs, VOA reported. This demonstration was part of a global campaign urging China to withdraw its support for Myanmar's military junta and to respect the wishes of the people striving for democracy since the February 2021 coup, as reported by Voice of America. The protest featured demonstrators holding signs that read "Reject Junta's Sham Elections" and "Solidarity with the People of Myanmar." It was sparked by a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar that day, in which the embassy claimed that China was not meddling in Myanmar's internal matters and would continue to promote peace and stability. Yin Aye, a leader of the protests and an organiser in the Washington area since the 2021 coup, was quoted in the VOA report saying, "We reject the Chinese Embassy's assertion that they're not interfering in Myanmar's internal affairs. If they stopped supporting sham elections and truly pressured the military to end the suffering of our people, we might believe them." Yin highlighted China's close ties with Myanmar's military junta and its alleged interference in the activities of ethnic resistance groups in northern Shan State, actions that have drawn significant criticism from Burmese and pro-democracy organizations. On August 29, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an armed ethnic group opposing the junta in north-eastern Myanmar, reported receiving a warning letter from Chinese authorities in the border town of Ruili. The letter urged the TNLA to halt its offensive in northern Shan State, where key Belt and Road Initiative projects are located, or face repercussions. Hla Kyaw Zaw, a veteran observer of China-Myanmar relations, stated that China's recent actions, especially its warning to the TNLA, have provoked outrage among the Myanmar public, who view it as a direct threat to ethnic resistance forces fighting for democracy. He remarked, "The language used in the letter was undiplomatic and threatening." A TNLA spokesperson told VOA that the letter from Chinese authorities urged the group to stop fighting, maintain stability along the China-Myanmar border, and protect Chinese citizens. The letter warned that failure to comply would result in China "teaching them a lesson" and holding the group accountable for any consequences. When asked about the letter during a regular press briefing in late August, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jian neither confirmed nor denied that Beijing had sent it. Liu stated, "China is closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar and the developments in northern Myanmar, and has been working to promote peace talks and a ceasefire. As Myanmar's largest neighboring country, China has always sincerely hoped for Myanmar's stability and development and has actively worked towards this goal." Since then, members of the Myanmar diaspora have intensified protests outside Chinese embassies worldwide, accusing China of supporting Myanmar's military coup. Saturday's protest in Washington was part of a coordinated series of demonstrations by Burmese diaspora communities globally. Earlier in July, activists in Washington, New York, San Francisco, London, and Tokyo protested outside Chinese embassies and consulates. (ANI) Rifat underscored the CAA's objective to offer a pathway to citizenship for religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Specifically, the Act benefits Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who entered India before December 31, 2014. According to Rifat, the CAA addresses an urgent need by providing refuge and legal status to those who have historically faced persecution in their home countries. Highlighting recent developments in Bangladesh, Rifat argued that the CAA's implementation is crucial as the Hindu minority in Bangladesh faces ongoing persecution and selective violence. The Act, she contended, provides these individuals with a vital option for migration to a safer environment and allows them to live with dignity. Rifat further explained that the CAA helps differentiate between genuine refugees fleeing persecution and illegal immigrants. She said, "The CAA helps distinguish between genuine refugees fleeing persecution and illegal immigrants, thereby ensuring that those with legitimate claims to asylum are granted citizenship while curbing illegal migration." This distinction, she argued, enables the Indian government to more effectively address illegal activities, such as drug trafficking, particularly in sensitive border regions. Emphasising the humanitarian dimension of the Act, Rifat described the CAA as a protective measure for vulnerable minorities, shielding them from exploitation and ensuring their safety within India's borders. Despite the ongoing debate surrounding the CAA, she stressed its role in safeguarding persecuted minorities and contributing to India's broader goals of security and social stability. (ANI) Jaishankar appreciated Suzuki's contributions in deepening India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership. "Glad to receive Ambassador Hiroshi Suzuki of Japan for a farewell call. Appreciate his contributions in deepening India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership. Wish him all success in future endeavors," Jaishankar said in a post on X. Japan has named a new enovy to India. India-Japan relations were elevated to 'Global Partnership' in 2000, 'Strategic and Global Partnership' in 2006, and 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership' in 2014. Regular annual summits have been held between India and Japan since 2006. Apart from the annual summits, regular exchanges take place at other high levels including Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and National Security Adviser (NSA). India-Japan Defence and Security partnership forms an integral pillar of bilateral ties. India-Japan defence exchanges have gained strength in recent years due to growing convergence on strategic matters and its significance is growing from the common outlook on issues of peace, security and stability of the Indo-Pacific Region Bilateral trade totalled USD 21.96 billion during FY 2022- 23. Exports from Japan to India during this period were USD 16.49 billion and imports were USD 5.46 billion. (ANI) Gerard Mestrallet, French President Macron's Special Envoy for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC), undertook a visit to Gujarat, on September 16-17 to better understand India's infrastructures and development strategy, in particular the port of Mundra as the IMEEC project will connect ports in India, the Middle East and Europe, an official release said. During his visit, Mestrallet, accompanied by his diplomatic advisor, military advisor, and Jean-Marc Sere-Charlet, Consul General of France in Mumbai, went to the Mundra port as it is one of the main points of this corridor, and met economic actors involved in this project. They visited the terminals and renewables energies facilities recently built in Mundra, the statement added. India and France, being at the entry and end points of this transnational rail and shipping route, have a shared interest and responsibility to develop this project to enhance trade accessibility and economic cooperation, the statement said. As per the statement, France is the first signatory country of the project to have officially appointed a dedicated special envoy. Mestrallet undertook his first official trip, in this capacity, as part of the official visit of President Emmanuel Macron for India's 75th Republic Day in January 2024 as chief guest. On this occasion, IMEEC was identified as a strategic area of cooperation between France and India. During his second visit, Mestrallet highlighted that the "existing direct shipping line between Mundra and Marseille is an asset which displays competitive time for export and import flows". The delegation also underlined the strategic role that some major French and European companies could play in the project - for instance, CMA-CGM, headquartered in Marseille and with an important footprint in Mumbai, is already operating one terminal in Mundra and has boosted sea-connectivity across India. Speaking on the project, special Envoy Gerard Mestrallet said, "IMEEC will allow to substantially step up our cooperation in key focus areas such as low carbon energies, digital data and port-to-port partnerships". As IMEEC also has a European dimension, this project could become a flagship project of the EU's "Global Gateway" connectivity strategy, per the statement. In the coming months, France will actively work with Indian government officials and companies to find a common ground to facilitate the IMEEC pre-project phase. The special Envoy will return to India for a series of official meetings in New Delhi in November to demonstrate France's strong commitment to this initiative. (ANI) The 1996 batch Indian Foreign Service officer is presently the Ambassador of India to Bulgaria, the statement said on Wednesday. Rana is expected to take up the assignment shortly. He will replace Rajesh Vaishnaw. Meanwhile, Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to the Republic of Albania, the Ministry of External Affairs said. Jaiswal, an Indian Foreign Service officer of batch 1999, presently serves as Joint Secretary in the Ministry, MEA said. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly. India and Albania established diplomatic relations in 1956. Meanwhile, V Venkataraman has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rohitkumar R Vadhwana, IFS officer of batch 2010, who is presently the Deputy High Commissioner of India in Nairobi has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Bolivia. (ANI) Over five thousand Tibetans, including foreigners from different parts of the world, gathered here at the Main Tibetan Temple, Tsuglagkhang, and offered prayers for the long life of the Dalai Lama. Tibetans feel very happy and delighted to be a part of this event today. Tashi Palmo, a TWA official, said, "It's a lifetime opportunity for every Tibetan, and I am feeling great and honoured to be here." Tenzin Yingsel, a TWA official, said, "I am feeling very happy and blessed, as it's a memorable day for me." Karma Yeshi, Ex-Students of CST Dalhousie and chairman of the Tibetan Public Service Commission told ANI, "Today Tibetan Women's Association, Ex-Students of CST Dalhousie and Lhasa community are offering long life prayers for his holiness the Dalai Lama and people from all over the world have gathered here. It is a very important event for all of us." Recently, the Dalai Lama gave a general one-day teaching to around 5000 people, including Tibetans and other nationals, at the monastery in Dharamshala on Thursday morning. The teaching session was held at the Main Tibetan Temple of Tsuglagkhang monastery, at the request of a group of Southeast Asians. Around 5000 people, including Tibetans, Indians, and Buddhist followers from different parts of the world, gathered to attend the spiritual discourse. At the beginning of the teaching, Theravada monks chanted mantras. Dalai Lama spoke about the importance of peace, love, and compassion. The participants said they felt privileged and blessed to be a part of this event. (ANI) Shafi Burfat, the Chairman of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) commonly known as the Sindhudesh National Movement (SNM) has called upon the members of the Sindhi community to unite for getting their social rights and freedom. He said that everyone should be part of the national movement and historical struggle for Sindh, regardless of which linguistic, ethnic, or religious community they belong to. Burfat in the statement released on Tuesday urged, "The people of the motherland Sindh, the time has come for us to claim our homeland Sindh's freedom, sovereignty, dignity, and independent national future. Let us stand shoulder to shoulder in the resolute national struggle for our basic national rights and the independence of Sindhudesh. The freedom of our homeland is embedded in our strength, unity, determination, and unwavering belief in our cause's righteousness. Everyone should be part of the national movement and historical struggle for Sindh, regardless of which linguistic, ethnic, or religious community we belong to." He further stated that the people of Sindh must remove their linguistic differences of speaking Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi, Bengali, Kutchi, Lasi, Memoni, or Dhatki claiming that they are all the sons and daughters of Sindh, its sacred soil, the water of the Sindhu River, the history, the national Sufi spirit of tolerance, and the great human civilization of Mohenjo-Daro. "We must rise above linguistic, racial, and religious divides and immerse ourselves in Sindh" he added. The statement also said, "We must accept Sindh as our homeland, recognise ourselves as citizens of Sindh, and embrace it as our nation. We are Sindhi because the holy stream and historic land of Sindh have made us Sindhi. We are a modern political nation, not a linguistic, racial, or tribal group." According to Burfat, the Sindhi nation must unite and struggle for an independent and sovereign Sindhudesh for the sake of a free future for the generations to come. They must move towards a fearless and unshakable future, where freedom reigns, and in independent Sindhudesh, we all stand as equal citizens, he said. Burfat's statement claimed if people unite irrespective of colour, race, language, religion, sect, or gender, every citizen will have equal and guaranteed access to housing, education, healthcare, employment, and justice. There will be no landlords or feudal lords, and no racial or linguistic divisions. The state will be secular, where every religion is free to practice within its places of worship, and there will be no interference of religion in politics. In this 'Sindhudesh', there will be no space for religion in political matters. He urged everyone to rise above linguistic, racial, and sectarian thoughts, to acknowledge each other as citizens, sons, and daughters of Sindh and to play a political role for its freedom. "Sindh is our mother, and we are all its sons and daughters," he said. (ANI) Nepal's former Vice President Paramananda Jha held a meeting with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda at his residence in Bengaluru's Padmanabhanagar on Wednesday. The two leaders warmly greeted each other and held talks. Paramananda Jha presented a bouquet to HD Deve Gowda. Notably, Paramananda Jha served as Nepal's first Vice President from 2008 to 2015. Notably, the age old civilisational and cultural ties that exist between India and Nepal are exemplified by the strong people-to-people link between the two nations, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Nepal is a priority partner of India under its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. The bonds of friendship is strengthened by regular exchanges at high-level between India and Nepal, said MEA. Since May 2014, there have been 17 exchanges at the level of Head of State/ Head of Government, according to MEA. On September 17, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli extended wishes to PM Narendra Modi on his 74th birthday. Oli wished PM Modi a year filled with health, happiness and continued success in his leadership. "Happy Birthday, Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji! Wishing you a year filled with health, happiness, and continued success in your leadership. May you achieve great milestones and inspire many," Oli posted on X. In response to his wishes, PM Modi stated that he looks forward to closely working with him to advance partnership between India and Nepal. "Thank you, PM @kpsharmaoli, for your warm wishes. I look forward to working closely with you to advance our bilateral partnership," PM Modi posted on X. Nepal's Foreign Affairs Minister Arzu Rana Deuba also wished PM Modi on his 74th birthday. She noted that India and Nepal share a "deep bond of friendship and cooperation" and she looked forward to strengthening the ties between two nations. In a post on X, Arzu Rana Deuba stated, "Warmest birthday wishes to Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi. May this special day bring you happiness and continued strength in serving your nation. Nepal and India share a deep bond of friendship and cooperation, and I look forward to further strengthening our ties in the days ahead." Earlier in August, Arzu Rana Deuba held a meeting with PM Modi in Delhi to discuss the multifaceted diversity of India-Nepal ties. She had also handed over an invitation from Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for PM Modi to visit Nepal. (ANI) The Quad Summit set to be hosted by US President Joe Biden for the first time in Delaware's Wilmington will be more strategically aligned and relevant than ever before, said US National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby on Wednesday. A robust agenda can be expected aimed at delivering concrete benefits to the people of the region, said Kirby ahead of mega summit. Kirby said that the President looks forward to showing them a place in a community that has shaped him as a public servant and the leader that he has become. John Kirby said that Biden will meet Quad leaders--Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida individually and the four together in a larger plenary session where they will discuss expanding cooperation on various critically important issues. Speaking about the upcoming Quad Summit set to be held on September 21, Kirby said, "This weekend as Karine noted in Wilmington, Delaware, the President will host the leaders of Japan, Australia and India for the 4th Annual Quad Leaders Summit. Over the last three-plus years, President Biden has made it a priority to invest in rebuilding our network of alliances and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific. And in the process of doing that, he has strengthened not only existing relationships, but he's helped forge new ones altogether. So, think about AUKUS, for instance, or the trilateral Camp David Summit with Japan and South Korea or the first-ever US Japan Philippines Leader Summit in April, and of course, the Indo-Pacific Quad." He noted that US President Joe Biden elevated the Quad to the leader level in 2021 as he understood that four leading Indo-Pacific democracies that share priorities, mutual interests and strong bonds of friendship between the people would make the region safer and prosperous. John Kirby said, "Back in 2021, President Biden elevated the Quad to the leader level for precisely those reasons. He understood that bringing four leading Indo-Pacific democracies which share priorities, mutual security interests, and strong bonds of friendship between our peoples would make for a safer and more prosperous region and quite frankly, a safer and more prosperous United States." "Now this particular Quad summit will be the first time we've hosted foreign leaders in Wilmington, President's hometown, and he's very excited about that about showing them a place in a community that shaped so much of the public servant and the leader that he became. It's also a reflection of his belief that like politics, foreign policy is also personal and the President is enormously proud of the personal relationships that he has with each of these three leaders - Indian Prime Minister Modi. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Albanese," he added. Kirby said that the US believes that Quad out of this summit will become more strategically aligned and relevant than ever before. He said, "The President will meet individually with each of them and then we'll also gather together in a larger plenary session where they will discuss expanding cooperation across a range of critically important issues. We believe that you'll see coming out of this summit that the Quad is more strategically aligned and more relevant than ever before." "I think you can expect a robust agenda aimed at delivering concrete benefits to the people of the region as they all identify priorities such as health, security, natural disaster response, maritime security, quality infrastructure, critical and emerging technologies, climate and clean energy, and cybersecurity. You'll also see some announcements that demonstrate our intention to make sure that this special partnership the Quad endures and in fact thrives over the long term. We'll have more details, of course to share on the specific deliverables as we get a little closer to the weekend," he added. PM Modi will be in the United States from September 21 to 23, during which he will take part in the Quad Summit and address the 'Summit of the Future' at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. PM Modi will take part in the fourth Quad Leaders' Summit in Wilmington, Delaware. Following the request of the US side to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025. At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last one year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations, a Ministry of External Affairs release said. PM Modi will address 'Summit of the Future' at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. The theme of the Summit is 'Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow'. (ANI) SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Tuesday was National Voter Registration Day. Southeast Tech student Zach Geditz is one step closer to casting his ballot in the general election. The 20-year-old filled out a South Dakota voter registration form on campus Tuesday. I think its a really big need in our country right now. The way this country is going, I think we need as many, especially young voters, to have their voice, especially in a state like South Dakota, thats like the only way we get to do that, Geditz said. KELO Sioux Falls voting election ballot vote voters KELOLAND News election resources The Sioux Falls League of Women Voters also brought the voter registration event to three other Sioux Falls campuses, including Augustana. Salem to fill nursing home property with housing We make it super easy for them. All they have to do is complete the form and we take it from there and the secretary of state will send them a little card in the mail that has their polling location and everything they need to know before they go vote, Sioux Falls League of Women Voters Youth Vote Coordinator Quincy Hanzen said. Bailey Wolfgang is already registered to vote, but the Augie senior is encouraging other college students to get it done. For a lot of college kids, transportation is a big issue, so being able to do it here on campus makes the process a lot easier for college students, Wolfgang said. I think its a very important thing to do, Geditz said. The general election is on November 5th. For information on how to register in South Dakota, 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 KELOLAND.com. Drone attack by Ukraine 'destroys bombs and missiles warehouse' in Russian town forcing evacuations Smoke and flames rise following a Ukrainian drone attack in Toropets, in the Tver region of Russia (via REUTERS) A massive Ukrainian drone attack destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition in Russia, say security sources in Kyiv, The air strike sparked a giant blast in the town of Toropets in the western part of Russias Tver region. It also forced the partial evacuation of residents, regional authorities said on Wednesday. Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting high into the night sky and detonations thundering across a lake in the region that lies northwest of Moscow and not far from the border with Belarus. Epic detonations at a Russian munitions depot in the Tver region following yet another Ukrainian drone attack. Russian authorities have announced partial evacuation of the city of Toropets. The depot can have up to around 30,000 tons of munitions in store. pic.twitter.com/z2fC3A2Q10 Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) September 18, 2024 NASA satellites picked up several sources emanating from the site in early Wednesday hours and earthquake monitoring stations picked up what sensors thought was a minor earthquake in the area. Security sources in Kyiv said the drone strike had destroyed an ammunition warehouse. Firefighters were trying to contain the fire, said Igor Rudenya, the governor of the region, after the massive drone attack. He added that the emergencies services were trying to "localise" the blaze believed to have been caused by falling drone wreckage. The size of the main blast shown in the unverified social media video was consistent with 200-240 tons of high explosives detonating, according to George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California. Russia was reported in 2018 to be building an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets, a 1,000-year-old town, which has a population of just over 11,000. Russian state media had suggested it was a major arsenal for conventional weapons. There was no information about casualties as a result of the Wednesday attack on Tver. Schools and kindergartens were moved online in the Zapadnodvinsky district, which borders the Toropetsky district, the administration of the district said on the social VKontakte network. Russias air defence units destroyed 54 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting five western Russian regions, according to defence officials. Regional governors reported no damages from those attacks. But the defence ministry report did not mention the Tver region. Kyiv has previously said its strikes on Russia target military, energy and transport infrastructure key to Moscows war efforts. Russian officials rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks. As Ukraine has ramped up its domestic drone production over the past two years, it has increased attacks on Russian territory. Ukraines biggest-ever drone attack targeted the Russian capital in September, killing at least one, wrecking homes and disrupting flights at Moscows airports. A residential building was also damaged following a drone attack in Ramenskoye in the Moscow region earlier this month. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading with the US to allow missiles supplied by the West, including British Storm Shadows, to be fired at targets deep inside Russia. Vladimir Putins regime has been unleashing waves of glide bombs at towns and cities in Ukraine from planes taking off from air bases far from the frontline. But a meeting between Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer in Washington last week stopped short of announcing that Kyiv was being given such permission for long range attacks with missiles from the West. Meanwhile, Russian drones attacked energy facilities in Ukraines northeastern city of Sumy, the regional authorities said on Wednesday. No people were injured in the attack based on preliminary information but repeated strikes on the regions energy facilities have strained the system, they added. Regional authorities said that air defences shot down 16 drones over the Sumy region during the overnight attack. The local officials said on Tuesday that Russia fired missiles at energy infrastructure in the city of Sumy after an overnight drone strike on the region reduced power in some areas and forced authorities to use back-up power systems. Ukraines energy ministry said Russias Tuesday attacks had caused a fire at a power substation in the Sumy region and cut power to more than 281,000 consumers. Power was later partially restored, it added. Al-Qaeda-linked group says it was behind Mali attack Bamako reportedly remained tense after authorities said they had thwarted the attack [EPA] An al-Qaeda-linked group has said it was behind an early morning attack in the Malian capital, Bamako. Armed men targeted a military training school and other areas in the city, the authorities said, blaming a group of terrorists for the assault. Jihadist group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility, saying it had inflicted heavy human and material losses. The attack was the first of its kind in years to hit Bamako. Before Tuesday, the city had largely avoided the Islamist insurgency that has wracked Mali for more than a decade. JNIM is considered to be one of the most active militant groups in the wider Sahel region, having staged numerous attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. It said "special operation" on Tuesday struck both the training centre and Bamako's military airport, leading to casualties on the military's behalf. The New York Times also reported losses - members of Mali's security forces told the US paper "several" officers had been killed or injured. The sources also said that a dozen ambulances had carried the troops to hospital. The government did not mention any such losses, but said the military training school was among a number of "sensitive points" "targeted by terrorist attacks" at dawn. A military statement issued at about 08:00 local time (08:00 GMT) said the situation "was under control", while a statement from the security ministry said residents could go about their business as normal. AFP news agency later reported "heavy exchanges of fire" had taken place in the early afternoon near a police station controlling access to the civilian airport terminal. At a similar time, JNIM said that it had taken complete control of the nearby military airport. The BBC has not been able to verify this claim. Earlier, Mali's state television channel broadcast footage appearing to show roughly 20 prisoners. The men all had blindfolds on and their wrists tied. "The terrorists have been neutralised. The sweep is continuing," army chief-of-staff Oumar Diarra said during the ORTM news report. The news report also showed footage of three unmoving bodies laying on the ground. International organisations such as the UN have reportedly advised their staff to restrict their movement. Videos posted earlier on social media showed black plumes of smoke rising from a part of the city. As shots rang out, people heading to the mosque for morning prayers had to turn back, news agency Reuters said. Bamako's Modibo Keita International Airport was closed following the attack. The military seized power in a coup in 2021, accusing the government of failing to do enough to quell the insurgency. The junta expelled French troops and UN peacekeepers and brought in Russia's Wagner group to help fight the jihadists, but there is no sign of the insurgency ending. Footage shows plumes of smoke rising above the city [AFP] More BBC stories from Mali: [Getty Images/BBC] Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica BBC Africa podcasts Israel is blocking more than 80% of food deliveries from entering a starving Gaza, according to data compiled by more than a dozen humanitarian groups warning of the dire consequences of the militarys almost year-long siege on the Palestinian territory. Alongside Israels nonstop bombing that has flattened entire neighborhoods and shredded Palestinian bodies, the ongoing obstruction of aid food, water, medicine, hospital supplies, fuel is contributing to Gazas worsening humanitarian disaster, with the enclaves entire population of 2.2 million people facing hunger and disease. The situation was intolerable long before last Octobers escalation and is beyond catastrophic now, Jolien Veldwijk, Gaza and West Bank director for aid group CARE International, said on Monday. Israels military offensive following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants that killed about 1,200 people has so far killed more than 41,000 people in Gaza, according to health officials. Over 11 months, we have reached shocking levels of conflict, displacement, disease and hunger, Veldwijk continued. Yet, aid is still not getting in, and humanitarian workers are risking their lives to do their jobs while attacks and violations of international law intensify. Palestinians, including children, wait in Gaza City as aid workers distribute food amid mass starvation in the territory on Sept. 12, 2024. Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images CARE is one of 15 aid organizations working in Gaza that gathered and analyzed data on the consequences of Israels aid blockade, providing its methodology here. In August, Gaza received a record-low average of just 69 aid trucks per day, while half the Palestinian population in south and central Gaza didnt receive any food rations. By comparison, the enclave received 500 aid trucks per working day in August 2023, a number aid groups say was still inadequate. In northern Gaza, there is an absence of fresh vegetables, fruits, poultry or meat. And for us as humanitarian workers, its impossible to deliver aid at scale because we are facing many challenges, Mahmoud Alsaqqa, a Gaza aid worker with Oxfam International, said in a Monday video. We have shortages of the cooking gas and the fuel that disrupts the operation of bakeries, community kitchens and the transportation of aid and teams. And also, the situation changes every day. The crossing is open one day, its closed the next. And even items are allowed to enter in on one day, its not allowed in the day after, he continued. Once inside Gaza, the aid workers are facing a deadly obstacle course in order to get goods to their intended destination. They risk their lives every day. According to the aid groups data, 83% of required food aid does not make it into Gaza, a sharp increase from 34% last year. This translates to Palestinians in the territory going from having access to an average of two meals a day to just one meal every other day, the aid groups say. An estimated 50,000 Palestinian children ages 6 months to 4 years need urgent treatment for malnutrition a statistic in line with doctors warnings that children are hardest hit by starvation. What I can tell you is that even in the south, where extremely limited amounts of humanitarian aid is entering, people are wildly malnourished, Dr. Tammy Abughnaim, an American emergency physician who recently volunteered in Gaza, told HuffPost last month. Starving people cannot recover from traumatic injuries. Starving children will have their growth stunted for years. Starving mothers cannot breastfeed their children. All of that is a direct result of Israels blockade and siege of the Gaza Strip. A spokesperson for the Israeli military directed HuffPost to request comment from Israels Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories, which oversees the humanitarian efforts in Gaza and the West Bank. COGAT did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request, though the Israeli government has maintained that there are plenty of aid trucks entering the strip. Atef Tayeh, a 6-month-old Palestinian baby photographed on Sept. 12, 2024, who fled with his family from northern Gaza to Deir al-Balah due to Israeli attacks, is in danger of dying of malnutrition. Ibrahim Nofal/Anadolu via Getty Images Earlier this month, a report by the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food said that Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as a means to exterminate the population and annex the land. The report by Michael Fakhri argues that the most well-recognized starvation act is weaponizing humanitarian aid, either by blocking said aid or by leveraging it for political negotiations related to the impacted population. By destroying and poisoning agricultural land, decimating ports and fishing vessels, Israel has destroyed approximately 93 per cent of the economy of the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, Fakhri wrote in the report, joining the growing number of voices in the international community calling Israels actions genocidal. Military necessity can in no way justify such destruction, since the intended and achieved result has been a complete halt of the production of agricultural products, forcing the entire population to depend on humanitarian assistance for food, he continued. In turn, Israel then used humanitarian aid as a political and military weapon to harm and kill the Palestinian people in Gaza. Fakhri will present his report next month before the U.N. General Assembly, which is also meeting this week in New York. The aid groups stressed that member states must demand Israel end all aid obstruction and immediately implement a permanent cease-fire. Italy next to face storm after 21 killed in Europe floods Intense storms battering central Europe are now reaching Italy, where warnings for heavy rain, strong winds and floods have been issued for much of the country. Floods are already reported in the central city of Pescara, while the Italian meteorological service's weather alerts apply from the northern coast of Emilia-Romagna to the far-south. The warnings come as flooding has devastated parts of Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Austria this week, leaving at least 21 people dead. Authorities in Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia are also warning of flooding in the coming days. The significant flooding has been caused by Storm Boris, which brought vast amounts of rain and snow at the weekend. More than 5,000 soldiers have been deployed to help people in southern Poland, including the 40,000 residents evacuated from the town of Nysa. The flood waters are receding in some places in the region and spreading in others, with the extent of the damage revealed in Polish towns like Glucholazy. The town's main bridge collapsed after being damaged by the swollen river, while many of its streets have been covered in mud. Polish police on Tuesday confirmed at least six people have died, cautioning against false information following media reports that put the total number of people killed at more than a dozen. The country's prime minister, Donald Tusk, has declared a month-long state of natural disaster - with the worst flooding expected to hit the city of Wroclaw on Wednesday. [BBC] [BBC] Areas along the Czech-Polish border are among the worst-hit, where 15,000 people have been evacuated in Czech Republic as well. The country has experienced the worst flooding in over 27 years, according to local NGO Clovek v tisn. Ostrava has been one of the most-affected towns, after the river Oder burst its banks following heavy downpours on Tuesday. Meanwhile, water levels are continuing to rise fast on the River Danube in Slovakia and Hungary, with the Slovak capital Bratislava and its Hungarian counterpart Budapest preparing for possible flooding. Emergency services and volunteers, in some places backed up by the army, are also working round the clock to protect low-lying settlements in the region. Watch on BBC iPlayer A drone view of a flood-affected area in Ostrava, Czech Republic [Reuters] Austrian authorities have closed sections of the Danube to shipping traffic over the elevated water levels along the vital waterway, according to reports in local media. The Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service has warned the river could experience an "extremely rare" water increase - and confirmed plans are in place to put up flood barriers if necessary. In Italy, the country's National Civil Protection Service has also issued yellow alerts for nearly 50 regions tomorrow, warning there is a risk of storms, landslides and floods. Prof Hannah Cloke, a meteorologist from the University of Reading, told the BBC that river levels had peaked in most of the smaller, upland rivers of flood-hit eastern Europe. "Some bigger rivers, such as the Danube and Oder, are still rising in parts and will not start to go down again until late Tuesday or Wednesday, and will remain much higher than normal," she added. BBC Weather forecasts are pinpointing the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions as areas of greatest concern. The region could see one or two months' worth of rainfall in the next three days alone, and there are major concerns over the prospect of flooding. Firefighters in Pescara, Abruzzo say they have already received more than 200 calls for help after heavy rainfall triggered flooding. In Romania, more rain is forecast in the eastern Carpathians, endangering towns and villages in Galati and Vaslui counties, which have already been hard hit. Hungarian soldiers in the village of Leanyfalu helping erect flood barriers with sand bags [Getty Images] Extreme rainfall is becoming more frequent and intense across central Europe, as across much of the world. While events in central Europe fit with expectations of more extreme rainfall in a warming world, it is not yet possible to quantify exactly how much of a role climate change has played. To know for certain, that requires a full scientific analysis of the natural and human influences - which can take weeks or months. But climate scientists have been warning for years about extreme rainfall events like these occurring as the planet warms. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, leading to more intense rainfall. Warmer oceans also lead to more evaporation, feeding storm systems. For every 1C rise in the global average temperature, the atmosphere is able to hold about 7% more moisture. Prof Cloke told the BBC experts expect climate change to lead to worse flooding in the coming years if global temperatures continue to rise, as "extreme summer downpours are heavier and fill up rivers more quickly". She also noted: "Only a few weeks ago, parts of southern and eastern Europe were suffering from droughts, heatwaves and fires". "We have gone out of the frying pan and into the hot water." 'Lost Species' that Eluded 'Documentation for 55 Years' Is Finally Photographed on an Island The last documented New Britain Goshawk sighting was in 1969 WWF-Pacific / Tom Vierus New Britain Goshawk Over half a century after its last sighting, a "lost species" of bird has been foundand this time, there is photographic evidence. On Sept. 13, the World Wildlife Fund reported that a New Britain Goshawk was photographed in Papua New Guinea. Tom Vierus, a photographer from Fiji, captured the rare bird with his camera in the Nakanai Mountains. "I was on a scoping trip with WWF in Pomio [eastern New Britain], with three members of the local community guiding us through the forest, so we could better understand the presence of species," Vierus shared in a WWF release. He had been on a trip with WWF in March when he documented the New Britain Goshawk. "I photographed several bird species, including the New Britain Goshawk, but wasn't aware of the significance at the time," the photographer added. The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species categorizes the bird as vulnerable, a step above endangered. As of 2016, there are an estimated 2,500-9,999 "mature individuals." WWF-Pacific / Tom Vierus New Britain Goshawk Related: Rare Bright Pink Bird Spotted in Wisconsin for the First Time in 178 Years John Mittermeier, the director of the Search for Lost Birds at American Bird Conservancy, told WWF that the last time someone documented an observation of the New Britain Goshawk was in 1969. This documentation, which doesn't include photos, is kept at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Otherwise, Mittermeier noted that the bird has "eluded photo, sound, and specimen documentation for 55 years. " 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. After the 2024 New Britain Goshawk sighting, the local government asked the WWF to expand its conservation efforts for Papua New Guinea wildlife to Pomio in East New Britain. "It was such a great surprise to hear that this photo seems to be the first-ever of this 'lost species!' It is wonderful to see how conservation photography can help in safeguarding areas by documenting the existing biodiversity and also a good reminder of how important visual storytelling is," Vierus said of his New Britain Goshawk photo. Related: Texas State Park Uncovers Identity of 'Mystery Animal' After Asking Internet for Help Martha Eimba, the Pomio landscape manager of WWF-Papua New Guinea, said that the WWF has "begun a process of collaboration to understand the threats, livelihood opportunities, and social contexts" to protect Papua New Guinea's rare species and create a conservation program. This isn't the first time a species has been rediscovered in Papua New Guinea, which has the "third-largest intact tropical rainforest in the world." In 2022, a rare pigeon species was photographed, marking the first time a human documented the bird in 140 years. Mittermeier called the documentation of the black-naped pheasant pigeon "the kind of moment you dream about your entire life as a conservationist and birdwatcher." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. BERLIN Community group Citizens to Save the Allegheny Mountain wants to have as many people as possible attend a meeting hosted by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) next week to fight its Allegheny Mountain Realignment plan. At a media event held Monday on the Mountain Field and Stream Club property along the Allegheny Mountain ridge, members of the group presented their case for pushing back against the plan. PTC's public meeting on the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel realignment project is from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 26, at the Somerset Church of the Brethren, 606 Berlin Plank Road, Somerset. How the Pennsylvania Turnpike wants to reshape the highway The PTC plans to construct a new stretch of mainline roadway to reduce congestion and increase access and mobility through Allegheny and Stonycreek townships to the south of the Allegheny Tunnel, according to the PTC website. The Allegheny Mountain Realignment project will add a new stretch of mainline roadway to increase safety, regional access and mobility, while reducing congestion. While we work through preliminary engineering and final design, every effort will be made to minimize environmental impacts in coordination with state and federal environmental agencies, said Marissa Orbanek, PTC press secretary, in an email. Randy Musser, chairman of the Citizens to Save the Allegheny Mountain group, points to the ridge where the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission proposes to cut through to increase the turnpike to three lanes to alleviate growing traffic pressure. The selected alignment was chosen to reduce the frequency and severity of accidents in the vicinity of the tunnel, eliminate rerouting of vehicles carrying hazardous materials, accommodate existing and future traffic volumes and minimize environmental impacts, the website says. An alternatives analysis phase of the project was completed and the preferred alternative was selected. Opponents say plan will drastically harm wildlife The citizens group says carving a massive trench through the mountain, about 250 feet deep, 1,000 feet wide, and nearly 4 miles long, would destroy 6,117 feet of streams, relocate 1,564 feet, and culvert another 802 feet, impacting a total of 8,483 feet of stream channels, according to an Environmental Assessment. It shows that the project would also wipe out 211.81 acres of forested habitat and encroach on critical wetlands, as well as impact public and private water supplies on all sides of the mountain. The group says the proposed "Gray Cut" would destroy critical wildlife habitats, disrupt migration patterns and endanger species that rely on the unspoiled wilderness of the Allegheny Mountain. The natural springs and deep wells providing clean water to nearby communities are at risk of being polluted or permanently altered by the construction, according to the group. Somerset County Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes, left, was the master of ceremonies at the media event conducted by the Citizens to Save the Allegheny Mountain at the Mountain Field and Stream Club grounds Monday morning. The commissioners have been opposed to the project for "six boards of commissioners, and will continue to oppose this project." Also participating in the program are from left: Traci Horning, representing Berlin Borough Municipal Authority; Commissioner Irvin Kimmel Jr., Stacey Magda, representing the Mountain Watershed Association; Tom Shuster, Sierra Club; state Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar; Tim Resh, representing the Mountain Field and Stream Club; and Randy Musser, chairman of the group. Neighboring watersheds in addition to the Stonycreek River, include the Raystown branch of the Juniata River and the Indian Lake watersheds. They say alternatives such as rehabilitating the existing tunnels or creating additional tunnel tubes have been proposed but not fully explored. Looking for fresh produce? Here's some farmers markets in Somerset County The purpose of this briefing is to provide an update to the community on the status of the project and explain what is anticipated for the next four years of preliminary engineering, as field studies progress on the selected alignment, according to the PTC website. The public will be limited to 2 minutes per person to speak. The website schedule includes: 66:15 p.m. registration with plans display; 6:156:45 p.m. project update presentation; 6:458 p.m. question and answer session. A recording of the briefing and the comment form will be posted to the project website following the meeting. "We are just kicking off the preliminary design and there will be additional opportunities for public comment," Orbanek said. "For example, we will share information with public at the end of preliminary design as we do for all of our construction projects. During this time, we provide an opportunity for the public to ask questions and provide feedback. Preliminary design lasts approximately four years; final design will begin after that and is an additional four years. We will continue accepting feedback throughout the duration of the project." Who is leading this effort against moving the highway? Speaking at Monday's media event were Randy Musser, Citizens to Save the Allegheny Mountain; Tom Shuster representing the Sierra Club; Irv Kimmel, Somerset County Board of Commissioners; state Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar, Stacey Magda, Mountain Watershed Association; Tim Resh representing the Mountain Field and Stream Club, and Traci Horning representing Berlin Borough's Municipal Authority. Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes introduced each speaker after presenting the commissioners' opinion of the plan. Tokar-Ickes said six boards of commissioners have opposed this project over the years. Together with Irv Kimmel, they said the commissioners will continue to oppose this cut. Tom Shuster said the proposed project will potentially shave 20 seconds of the motorists' trip. "The rationale isn't good enough," he said. "When you go under a mountain everything above it goes on." Tim Resh said the water from springs will disappear. Horning, executive secretary of the Berlin Borough Municipal Authority, said so many businesses in town as well as borough residents rely on the water coming from the mountain. More: Somerset County Commissioners adopt resolution to help separate true from AI right-to-know requests "If they take this water from us, we have no other water source," she said. "I'd like to hear they'd do a study to see if there's any other option. Is there another way to get water? People support us because we can't lose our water. A road is not worth a means of water supply." Looking at the Allegheny Mountain Range and Pennsylvania Turnpike from Huckleberry Highway. State rep. calls for 'less intrusive' solutions Metzgar, state representative of the 69th District, said this cut through the mountain is a nonstarter. "It's not necessary. There have to be better solutions much less intrusive. We're going to fight this thing," he said. "We want to work with the Turnpike Commission. The turnpike is a financial bonus, but to say that we're going to cut an enormous gash through the mountain rather than a tunnel? Why would we allow this to happen? There's no reason why the turnpike can't go with an extra tube for the lane." Ed Will from the audience said he is the secretary of the New Baltimore Sportsmen's Club. He said the town has water buffaloes to supply clean water because every time it rains, New Baltimore's water turns brown from turnpike runoff. A letter from Somerset County Conservancy written by Jeff Payne, president, was distributed to the audience. In the letter, Payne said the conservancy is "perplexed and dismayed" that after they have commented on the proposal several times over the years, the PTC nor the agencies responsible for environmental protection have requested a third, new tunnel option to be studied. They request the option of building one new eastbound gray tunnel while maintaining the existing tunnels for westbound travel be given a full, unbiased review. The PTC website says the the Bowman Consulting Group Team was selected in 2023 and the preliminary design phase began in March 2024. It is expected to take four years to complete the preliminary design. Randy Musser, chairman of the Citizens to Save the Allegheny Mountain group (far right) talks about why this has become such an important project to the group as well as people of Somerset County and beyond. According to the website, the preliminary design phase will conclude with a public meeting where the community can review the proposed design for the new alignment and the required right-of-way impacts. At this meeting, the public will have the opportunity to provide comments. All feedback will be recorded and considered during the final design phase of the project. This public meeting is anticipated for 2028. "The turnpike commission already decided it was going to put a gray cut through the mountain to get rid of the tunnels," Musser said. "It would be a disaster. The fight has just begun. The turnpike commission is in its design phase. They need permits. The public can influence the permits. If they go through with the permits, we can appeal them. We need the public to show up." Madolin Edwards has been a journalist at the Daily American for 37 years, covering school boards, borough councils, sports and new stories. Contact the Daily American reporters at news@dailyamerican.com. This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Highway realignment through Allegheny Mountain draws protestors Jude Simion, originally from Sri Lanka, is a member of the Refugee Highway Partnership global leadership team and heads-up a refugee support charity called Philoi Global based in Sydney, Australia. In an exclusive interview, Simion says innovative solutions are urgently needed to address escalating challenges endured by migrating Christians. He said that the West could no longer be relied upon as the primary option for millions of refugees needing a resettlement, deeming the idea unrealistic. Jude Simion grew up during the civil war in Sri Lanka and migrated to Australia in 2007, where he founded Philoi Global to support refugees, working in 11 countries to date and helping at least 2,000 individuals. Philoi means friend in Greek and reflects Simions vision to walk in friendship with forcibly displaced Christians and minority groups. He is particularly concerned about finding solutions to accommodating forcibly displaced people. Simion defines resettlement as helping these individuals move to a permanent country; rather than relocation, which means moving them to a safer location that is not necessarily permanent. We are looking at where we can support people, where they can find safe locations to study, work and thrive, Simion says. Thats where we are concentrating, not only looking at the traditional method of resettling them in the Western world because its not sustainable. Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up Simion points out that for some Christians fleeing countries such as Afghanistan or Iran, there were few options to live in a neighboring country because of persecution. The preference is a final destination where you can be settled but he opines that international bodies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees downplay these risks. Simion points to latest United Nations figures showing 2.4 million needing resettlement this year, 2024. However, he says that only 100,000 people were resettled in a third country last year. Using that scenario as a projection calculation, it would take 24-plus years to resettle all of this years vulnerable peoples. Therefore resettlement under the current scenario is not a sustainable solution. Simion also says that large secular global agencies often overlook the presence of local churches as gateways to providing help for refugees. When people are displaced, the church goes with them or when people arrive at a destination, there is a church to host them. And often their capacity is very limited and the host or displaced church needs support. Our focus is to work with those churches, building their capacity and helping them. Aid agencies will come but after a crisis period is over, they leave, but the church remains with the people. Simion and his team work with refugee churches hosting forcibly displaced people, such as the Afghan underground church in India and Pakistan, consulting, connecting, facilitating support for them. They go under the radar but that also makes their life difficult and miserable because the Home Office of the U.K. or the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Australia will simply come and say that there are no Christians among Afghans. But for security reasons, [the Afghan Christians] dont tell where they are and the composition of the community. Its only in the South Asian context, outside Afghanistan, that we can responsibly say there are nearly 2,000 Afghan Christians displaced in the subcontinent, and that includes Pakistan and India, which are two major countries where Afghan Christians are scattered. Building the capacity of local churches helps them to integrate such displaced people. However, there remains a challenge of cultural ghettos in Christian communities. Simion cites Australia as an example where churches need to better engage with refugees and migrants, helping them with cultural transition. We create either ethnic congregations, or we create so-called multiculturalism, as a silos approach, not really creating the space for people to integrate and be part of the society. It goes to the other extreme of saying people need to assimilate. You have come to this country. You need to live like us. Theres a big difference between integrating and assimilating. That is why Philoi Global is working with Australian churches to help them understand the cultural issues for refugees arriving in the country. This work is being replicated under the Churches in Cultural Transition project created by Philoi Global in other countries such as New Zealand, Brazil and Canada. We want to see how we can do things differently, says Simion. And there are possibilities in the resettlement space. One of these possibilities is focusing on skilled refugee migration helping churches to sponsor skilled refugees for permanent resettlement. The charity is also looking at whether refugees fleeing to neighboring countries can utilize student visas legally to study, live and be safe for a transitional period. Another innovation by Philoi Global is a learning management system, providing online and informal learning resources free-of-charge to refugees, and those who help them. All they need is a device and an internet connection. Refugees need understanding that they bring skills, which can be utilized if helped with cultural transition. We have this perception that a refugee coming to a country, this is the only job they could do. But they come with vast levels of experience and helping them to realize their dreams is one of the things we really need to do. The charitys approach is to give a hand-up rather than a hand-out, by providing livelihood assistance for refugees in host countries. Simion points out that 99 percent of refugees get stuck in a second host country with nowhere to go. That requires a different way of thinking when it comes to church missions, thinking outside the box of the traditional way of doing it. The way we respond to them has to be different, he says. And so being in a displaced context becomes an opportunity for the church to reach out to them. And that is the difference we fail to see most of the time. The displacement becomes an opportunity and our neighborhood and communities become a mission ground. Handouts are needed from churches to help refugees in the initial stages of resettlement but if I summarize it," says Simion, "I would say there needs to be a tailor made approach by churches to refugee settlement, not having a cookie cutter approach that this is the only thing we provide. Refugee needs are diverse. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk says more than 1 billion of funding will be needed for relief efforts after widespread flooding has caused devastation in Poland. His call for support came after days of heavy rainfall in Central Europe caused severe flooding in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Austria. Speaking at a joint news conference with the head of Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity charity Jerzy Owsiak in Wroclaw, Tusk said "it will be well above 1 billion, 1.5 billion. Not for Poland but in an emergency fund in the European Union, from which we will be able to draw means." He added that financial aid from the EU should be expected after the floods are over, and that Poland will have to apply to receive it. Domestically, the Polish government will provide 1 billion zlotys (about 234 million) in immediate payouts to victims. Tusk added that he expects an imminent visit from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in order to start making arrangements for relief funds. Meanwhile, von der Leyen called for solidarity in Europe, saying, "this is something where we really have to, together as Europeans, to decide how we can manage and finance the growing need of adaptation and repair that we will see in the years to come." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks at a press conference at the European Parliament. - Jean-Francois Badias/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved. Flooding has swamped parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania as a low-pressure system crossing the region has unleashed record-high rains for days. At least 18 people have been killed in the floods so far, and large evacuations have taken place in Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria. The flooding in Poland has burst dams and embankments while receding waters left streets covered in piles of debris and mud. It prompted a hospital in the southwestern Polish city of Nysa to evacuate about 40 patients. Flooding expected to spread Other places are now bracing for the flood waves to hit them, including Budapest, the Hungarian capital on the Danube, and Wrocaw, a city in southwestern Poland on the Oder. Hungary's government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban deployed soldiers to reinforce barriers along the Danube, and thousands of volunteers helped fill sandbags in dozens of riverside settlements. In Budapest, authorities closed the citys lower quays, which are expected to be breached by rising waters later in the day. The lower half of the citys iconic Margaret Island was also closed. In Wrocaw, firefighters and soldiers spent the night using sandbags to reinforce river embankments. The city zoo, located along the Oder, appealed for volunteers to fill sandbags on Tuesday morning. In Italy, warnings have been issued for heavy rainfall and intense storms, with the National Civil Protection Service warning this could lead to flooding and landslides. A four-day sitting of the European Parliament kicks off on Monday, but last-minute cancellations and unforeseen hurdles risk throwing the agenda into disarray. Hungary's Viktor Orban will not address the European Parliament this week after cancelling his international obligations due to intense flooding that has hit parts of central and eastern Europe, including Hungary. Question marks also hang over the appearance of European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who has been convened to unveil her 26-strong team of nominated European Commissioners - and the policy portfolios she will ask them to steer - during a meeting with the parliaments president and political leaders on Tuesday morning. But on Monday, Thierry Breton - the French European Commissioner who had been nominated for another term - abruptly resigned from his post and pulled out from the race, accusing von der Leyen of personally lobbying France to withdraw his candidature. "You asked France to withdraw my name - for personal reasons that you have in no instance discussed directly with me - and offered, as a political trade-off, an allegedly more influential portfolio for France in the future College," Breton's resignation letter, shared on X, reads. Political infighting in Slovenia, where the opposition is blocking the legally required confirmation hearing of the governments candidate, Marta Kos, also risks derailing the formation of von der Leyens next Commission and trapping the powerful executive in limbo. The Commission has so far insisted von der Leyen will attend the meeting, which has already been postponed once due to delays, despite the possibility she will not be able to divvy up portfolios unless Kos's candidature is signed off. Its a long time until Tuesday. They say 24 hours is a long time in politics and it certainly applies to institutional procedures, the Commissions chief spokesperson, Eric Mamer said on Friday, adding that the executive was following developments in Slovenia closely. The intention is to go to the Conference of Presidents on Tuesday and to present the college, Mamer added, despite the prospect of von der Leyen divvying up the portfolios before Slovenia confirms its candidates remaining unlikely. Von der Leyen in the crossfire Von der Leyens rendez-vous with parliamentary political leaders is part of revamped rules to allow the parliament more oversight of how the Commission chief pieces together her team. It piles the pressure on von der Leyen to divvy up the portfolios in a way that doesnt alienate the mainstream, pro-European parties that lent her their support during her re-election bid, namely the Liberals, the Socialists and the Greens. Regardless of whether the political deadlock in Slovenia will allow her to unveil her full range of policy portfolios and roster of candidates, von der Leyen is likely to come under pressure from political leaders over the power roles in her next executive. The centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group has already fired warnings over leaked reports that nominees hailing from her own EPP group will be handed the most influential portfolios, including key social beats in the groups sights. The group has also censured leaked plans to make Italys nominee, Raffaele Fitto of the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), an executive vice president with a heavyweight economic mandate. The socialists had made their support for von der Leyens second term conditional on keeping the institutional guardrails on Giorgia Meloni and her hard-right allies. A raft of other concerns could be voiced from all sides of the political spectrum - including the lack of female candidates. Orbans face-off called off Orbans address to plenary - originally pencilled in for the July plenary session but pushed back amid outcry over the Hungarian premier's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin - has now been called off for the second time. The planned speech is routine for the government that holds the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Heavy floods that hit swathes of central Europe over the weekend have prompted the premier to cancel his Strasbourg trip. It means EU lawmakers will no longer have the opportunity to directly confront Orban over a raft of recent statements and actions that have brought tensions between Budapest and Brussels to a boiling point. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers a speech at Tusvanyos Summer University, in Baile Tusnad, Harghita county, Romania, on July 27, 2024 - Alexandru Dobre/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved. On Tuesday, MEPs will debate the Hungarian decision to open up its National Card worker visa scheme to Russian and Belarusian nationals, paving the way towards permanent residency. The EU executive fears the scheme could undermine the security of the passport-free Schengen travel zone, allowing "potential Russian spies and saboteurs easy EU access, and has asked for clarifications in a letter to Budapest. The Hungarian government has responded to that letter, a Commission official told Euronews. An escalating spat over migration policy, which has seen Budapest threaten to bus irregular migrants from the Hungarian-Serbian border to Brussels, has also inflamed exasperation with the Hungarian premier. The EU executive has denounced the plans as a clear violation of EU law, vowing to use all powers to ensure Budapest complies with its legal obligations. Hungarys threats are a direct retaliation for a 200-million lump-sum fine imposed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in June for the countrys failure to guarantee the right to asylum. The Court has also asked Budapest to pay 1 million per day until it brings its asylum policies in line with EU laws. Hungary has so far missed one deadline to pay the 200 million, with the second deadline set to expire on Tuesday. Orban claims the EU owes his government money for failing to cover the 2 billion it has spent on protecting the EUs external borders. Venezuela vote July's disputed presidential poll in Venezuela will be debated on Tuesday, with lawmakers expected to vote on a non-biding resolution on Thursday. The blocs 27 foreign ministers have jointly rejected Nicolas Maduro's claim to re-election, but stopped short of joining the US in recognising opponent Edmundo Gonzalez as the legitimate President-elect. Gonzalez has since claimed political asylum in Spain, where the socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez is refraining to recognise his victory due to a lack of verified evidence, despite the Spanish Congress of Deputies passing a motion recognising Gonzalez as the legitimate winner. The same political divides will likely emerge in the Strasbourg chamber. According to a draft seen by Euronews, the centre-right EPP group - the biggest in the hemicycle - will table a motion that "recognises Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the legitimate and democratically elected president of Venezuela" and urging all EU countries to do the same. The motion also "calls on the EU and its member states to request an international arrest warrant against Nicolas Maduro for crimes against humanity for all the grave violations of human rights he committed." OSAKA, Sep 18 (News On Japan) - In Osaka's bustling Minami district, a place exists where young people can seek advice on sensitive issues that they cannot discuss with their parents or at school. This location has become a haven for those facing concerns related to sexual health. As the new school term begins after summer break, an increasing number of young people express fears about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unplanned pregnancies. The concerns, particularly common after long holidays, were heard from youth in the area. Many openly discussed their experiences. "I contracted an STD at the end of September," one person shared. "I didnt realize it at first but later got checked and found out." Such confessions highlight the growing need for awareness. According to recent data, the number of STD cases reported by the end of August is on track to surpass last years high, with those in their 20s representing a significant portion of the cases. Experts suggest that the increase in sexual encounters during long vacations, like summer holidays, is partly responsible for the surge. At the same time, concerns over unplanned pregnancies remain prevalent. A young woman mentioned her worries, saying, "He said he didnt have a condom, and sometimes I give in, though Im always a little anxious afterward." This anxiety over contraception and unplanned pregnancy mirrors the fears of many other young people. To address these concerns, a place called "Sumaruna Station" in Shinsaibashi offers a unique solution. Midwives are on-site, available for face-to-face or LINE consultations, all free of charge. Whether it's questions about pregnancy, contraception, or STD symptoms, Sumaruna Station provides a welcoming environment for young people to seek answers. Additionally, a nearby clinic specializing in obstetrics and gynecology is available for urgent cases. One couple visited the station together, concerned about the womans irregular menstrual cycle. Her boyfriend shared, "I was worried. It didnt seem like something serious enough for a hospital, but it felt important to talk to someone." In a time filled with information from various sources, having access to accurate, reliable advice is crucial. Sumaruna Station serves as a safe space for young people to protect their bodies and gain the correct knowledge. Looking back on her teenage years, one commentator said, "I remember how difficult it was to visit a gynecologist back then. Having a place to go for advice, even before taking that step, can provide significant relief." This initiative is part of a broader effort to create environments where young people feel comfortable seeking help with issues that might otherwise be too difficult to discuss. The station not only offers immediate support but also connects those in need with medical professionals, ensuring comprehensive care. As the need for such services grows, especially after long breaks like summer vacations, experts advocate for more access points and resources. Perhaps with better awareness and preparation before holidays, young people can navigate these sensitive issues more confidently. For those feeling overwhelmed by their worries, seeking advice from places like Sumaruna Station could provide much-needed peace of mind. Source: KTV NEWS TOKYO, Sep 18 (News On Japan) - This year, many popular restaurants from Hokkaido have begun expanding into Tokyo. With their unique flavors cultivated in Hokkaido, these businesses are making a big splash in the capital. These eateries, known for their specialty dishes like Genghis Khan lamb, miso ramen, and artisan bread, have attracted long lines of eager customers. Businesses such as "Hokkaido Soul Food," a seafood izakaya in Shibuya, and the renowned Sapporo-based restaurant "Daruma," have found success by introducing authentic Hokkaido cuisine to Tokyo, with both seeing high demand since their openings. In addition to restaurants, Hokkaido-based bakeries are also making their mark in Tokyo. Penguin Bakery, known for its use of locally sourced wheat and azuki beans, opened its first Tokyo store, marking its 53rd overall location. The bakery, famous for its award-winning curry bread, drew large crowds on its first day. The expansion is part of a broader trend, as Hokkaido businesses look to capitalize on the growing popularity of their products among international visitors. The decision to expand into Tokyo is driven by the growing interest in Hokkaido cuisine among foreign tourists. Restaurants like Penguin Bakery have seen increasing numbers of international customers at their Hokkaido locations, boosting their confidence to enter Tokyos competitive market. According to industry experts, many Hokkaido-based eateries are looking to tap into the broader Tokyo market to further grow their businesses and cater to both local and international demand. Source: ANN BEIJING, Sep 19 (NHK) - A ten-year-old boy who was attacked on his way to a Japanese school in southern China has died of his injuries. The Japanese Consul-General in Guangzhou, Kijima Yoshiko, revealed early Thursday that the boy, who was Japanese, died before dawn at the hospital where he had been receiving treatment. The student was on his way to school, accompanied by his parent, when he was assaulted by a knife-wielding man in Shenzhen in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Wednesday morning. Local police say the 44-year old suspect, who was apprehended at the scene, is likely to be undergoing interrogation. His motive remains unknown. Kijima said the boy had been stabbed in the abdomen, adding that Chinese authorities will determine the exact cause of his death. She also said she wants Chinese authorities to continue to safeguard Japanese nationals in the country. The school the victim attended will be closed for the rest of the week. Japanese consular officials will keep in touch with the school while offering support to the boy's family, his schoolmates and their families. In June, another knife-wielding man attacked the bus of a Japanese school in Suzhou in the eastern province of Jiangsu. A Japanese woman and her child were wounded. A female Chinese bus attendant who tried to stop the attack was stabbed to death. HOKKAIDO, Sep 19 (NHK) - A regional headquarters of the Japan Coast Guard has arrested the head of the operating company of a sightseeing boat that sank off the coast of Hokkaido, northern Japan, in 2022. The sightseeing boat, "KAZU I," sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido in April 2022, killing 20 people and leaving six others missing. Katsurada Seiichi, the company's president, was arrested by the 1st Regional Coast Guard Headquarters on Wednesday on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death and another charge. The regional coast guard bureau said Katsurada failed in his responsibility to ensure the safety of the passengers and crew of the boat. A report on the cause of the accident released last year by Japan's Transport Safety Board said that the company did not have a proper system in place to ensure safe and sound operation. The report said an unlocked hatch cover on the boat's forward deck is likely to have opened in bad weather, allowing seawater to flow in. It said other factors contributed to the flooding and sinking of the vessel. The coast guard bureau interviewed Katsurada on a voluntary basis as part of its investigations. Sep 19 (NHK) - Japan's ruling coalition partner Komeito is getting a new leader for the first time in 15 years. Komeito is the junior partner to the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Chief Representative Yamaguchi Natsuo announced last week that he is stepping down when his eighth term expires on September 28. On Wednesday, the party began accepting candidates for the election to choose Yamaguchi's successor. Secretary General Ishii Keiichi was the only one who registered, so he was chosen without a vote. The 66-year-old Ishii is currently serving his tenth term in the Lower House. He is from the North Kanto proportional representative bloc. Ishii served as land, infrastructure and transport minister and as head of the party's policy research council. He has been the party's secretary general since 2020. Speaking at a news conference, Ishii vowed to spearhead efforts to implement various policies as a partner in the ruling coalition. He also said he plans to appoint more young people and women to key party posts. Ishii said he assumes the next Lower House general election to be held as early as October 27 or November 10, and he will make preparations accordingly. NARA, Sep 19 (News On Japan) - Tanzan Shrine in Nara Prefecture holds deep ties to one of Japans most pivotal moments -- the Taika Reform. According to legend, this secluded shrine is where Emperor Tenji (then Prince Naka no Oe) and Fujiwara no Kamatari (then Nakatomi no Kamatari) plotted the downfall of the powerful Soga clan, particularly Soga no Iruka, during the 645 coup. The shrines origins trace back to a wooden thirteen-story pagoda built by Kamataris son to honor his father. To this day, the grounds and surrounding areas remain filled with artifacts closely tied to the Fujiwara clan, including many important cultural properties. The site is located deep in the mountains of Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture. It takes about five minutes by foot from the Tou-no-mine bus stop to reach the shrine, following a historic path lined with ancient stone lanterns and centuries-old bridges. Visitors are greeted by the East Main Gate, a magnificent structure dating back over 220 years, originally constructed during the Edo period. Remarkably, the shrine itself was once a Buddhist temple, known as Myoraku-ji, until the Meiji Restoration mandated the separation of Shinto and Buddhism. This blend of religious elements is still evident today. Within the shrine, one can find several notable structures, including the worlds only surviving wooden thirteen-story pagoda, which stands as a testament to the shrines ancient legacy. Built by Fujiwara no Joe, Kamataris eldest son, the pagoda marks the birthplace of Tanzan Shrine. Nearby, there is a stone marker, said to be where Kamatari and Prince Naka no Oe first discussed their strategy to overthrow the Soga clanan act that would ultimately reshape Japanese history through the Taika Reform. As visitors walk through the grounds, they will encounter other cultural landmarks, including a stone lantern believed to have been donated by Emperor Go-Daigo, and a series of buildings dating back to the Muromachi and Edo periods. The main hall of Tanzan Shrine, with its elaborate architectural design, is said to have inspired the construction of Nikko Toshogu Shrine. In addition to its historical significance, Tanzan Shrine is also a scenic destination, especially in autumn when over 3,000 maple trees burst into vibrant red and orange hues. This stunning backdrop adds a serene atmosphere to the shrines spiritual and historical legacy. Source: YOMIURI (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)ASSOCIATED PRESS By Bassem Mroue, Johnson Lai, and Justin Spike BEIRUT (AP) Walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in an apparent second wave of attacks targeting electronic devices a day after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and Hezbollah officials said. At least nine people were killed and more than 300 people wounded in the second wave, the Health Ministry said. The attacks, which were widely believed to be carried out by Israel targeting Hezbollah, have hiked fears that the two sides' simmering conflict could escalate into all-out war. Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, We are at the start of a new phase in the war it requires courage, determination and perseverance. He made no mention of the explosions of electronic devices but praised the work of Israels army and security agencies, saying the results are very impressive. In Wednesday's attacks, several blasts were heard at a funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them. A girl was hurt in the south when a solar energy system blew up, the state news agency reported. The new blasts hit a country still roiling with confusion and anger after Tuesdays pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members that caused civilian casualties, too. Tuesdays bombings killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,800 others. The second wave also deepens concern over the potentially indiscriminate casualties caused in the attacks, in which hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby. While the pagers were used by Hezbollah members, there was no guarantee who was holding the device at the time of the blast. Also, many of the casualties were not Hezbollah fighters, but members of the groups extensive civilian operations mainly serving Lebanons Shiite community. At least two health workers were among those killed Tuesday. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, charity workers, teachers and office administrators work for Hezbollah-linked organizations, and an unknown number had pagers. The U.N. human rights chief, Volker Turk, called for an independent investigation into the mass explosions. The fear and terror unleashed is profound, he said in a statement, urging world leaders to step up in defense of the rights of all people to live in peace and security. Iran-backed Hezbollah Lebanon's strongest armed force and Israel's military have exchanged fire almost daily since Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Since then, hundreds have been killed in strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced. Hezbollah said its strikes are in support of its ally, Hamas. Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must put a stop to the exchanges to allow people to return to homes near the border. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. In his comments, Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top security officials at Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the country's army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. is still assessing how the attack could affect efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas. New details on the pager bombings began to emerge. An American official said Israel briefed the United States after the attack, in which small amounts of explosive had been hidden in the devices. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly. The AR-924 pagers used in Tuesday's attack were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, which is based in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, according to a statement released by Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm that authorized the use of its brand on the pagers. Gold Apollo's chair, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists Wednesday the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years. "But the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC, Gold Apollo said in a statement. At the headquarters of a building in a residential neighborhood of Budapest, the names of multiple companies, including BAC Consulting, are posted on pieces of paper on a window. A woman who emerged from the building and declined to give her name said the site provides headquarter addresses to various companies. BAC's parent company is registered to Cristiana Rosaria Barsony-Arcidiacono, whose describes herself on her LinkedIn page as a strategic advisor and business developer. The Associated Press has attempted to reach Barsony-Arcidiacono via the LinkedIn page and has been unable to establish a connection between her or BAC and the exploding pagers. The attack in Lebanon started Tuesday afternoon, when pagers in their owners' hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that most of those hit were members or linked to members of Hezbollah whether fighters or civilians but it was not immediately clear if people with no ties to Hezbollah were also hit. The Health Ministry said health care workers and two children were among those killed. In the village of Nadi Sheet in the Bekaa Valley, dozens gathered to mourn the death of one of the children, 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah. Her mother, wearing black and donning a yellow Hezbollah scarf, wept alongside other women and children as they gathered around the little girls coffin before her burial. Hezbollah said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza. This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday, it said. This is another reckoning that will come, God willing. A Council Bluffs man will spend more than 18 years in federal prison for possessing a large quantity of methamphetamine. Philip Duane Sales was sentenced to 220 months imprisonment on Tuesday, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa. After prison, Sales will be on supervised release for five years. There's no parole in the federal system. The release, citing public court documents, said law enforcement used a confidential informant to purchase meth from the 54-year-old in fall 2023. A search warrant at Sales' residence that was executed Dec. 20, 2023, found about 70 grams of meth along with money that was used in a controlled buy. Council Bluffs police invested the case along with the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement and Iowa State Patrol. Two decades after the U.S. government designated Vietnam as Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for tolerating or engaging in religious rights violations, religious freedom has deteriorated despite the designations initial successes, a new report states. Vietnams 2004 designation as a CPC led to a binding agreement to improve religious rights the following year, but international religious freedom (IRF) policymakers have noted backsliding since then, states a report this month by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Vietnam is a challenging case for IRF policymakers as the government met nearly all conditions of the 2005 agreement, the USCIRF report states. Yet, inconsistencies in the application of these policies mean that religious freedom conditions have broadly deteriorated. The United States has maintained a strong level of discourse with Vietnamese leaders, but additional guardrails are needed to secure robust religious freedom in the country, the report states. Vietnams CPC designations in 2004 and 2005 marked the only time that such an action led to a binding agreement for religious rights, according to the report. The CPC designations, combined with waivers on presidential actions such as sanctions and efforts toward the binding agreement, show how the State Department can encourage a violating government to take visible, constructive action, USCIRF notes. Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up Under the May 2005 binding agreement with the State Department, Vietnam committed to implement new religious rights legislation, instruct local authorities to obey the new laws and facilitate processes for religious groups to open worship venues. Vietnamese officials were also bound to reopen churches closed in the Central Highlands, outlaw forced renunciations of faith and issue guidelines to speed up registration of congregations. USCIRF noted in 2005 and 2006 annual reports that Vietnam responded to the designation, diplomacy and engagement by international civil society organizations by releasing from prison several prominent advocates for democracy, free speech and religious freedom and issuing instructions that included prohibiting officials from forcing people to renounce their faith. The prohibitions of forced renunciations, however, did not specify criminal penalties for those who carry out these practices. Vietnam also issued Decree 22, which streamlined processes for registration and obtaining permits, deadlines for official responses to applications by religious groups and, in some cases, religious groups can expect a written explanation on why their application was denied, according to the report. The CPC designations offer evidence against the argument that the United States should let national interests and security concerns keep it from designating a strategically important country as a CPC, USCIRF states. As one interviewee who was a senior State Department official at that time noted, rather than breaking the relationship, the extensive engagement with the Vietnamese around the CPC designation and the development of the binding agreement led to deepening relational ties and mutual respect, the report states. The official recalled that in his subsequent engagements with other countries, he could cite Vietnam as an example of the positive outcomes of engaging with the United States and seeking substantive changes to protect religious freedom. Vietnam registered an unprecedented number of religious groups, and within a year of the withdrawal of CPC in 2006, the United States granted permanent normal trade relations status and approved Vietnams accession to the World Trade Organization. While these policies dramatically improved Vietnamese economic conditions, and the government made clear improvements on some religious freedom issues, USCIRF and other observers argued that the CPC withdrawal and trade normalization had been premature, the report states. In the years to follow, enforcement of new laws governing religion in Vietnam remained regionally uneven, while overarching rights abuses against dissenters and minorities continued. In its 10-year retrospective, USCIRF suggested that elements of the U.S. administration pursuing trade goals in Vietnam rushed the withdrawal of the CPC status as human rights sanctions would have undermined those goals. When Vietnam passed a new Law on Belief and Religion in 2016, stakeholders observed that while the law does include language on rights to freedom of religion and belief, it further entrenches the states firm grip on defining allowable practice and stifling dissent, the report stated. In 2022, the State Department placed Vietnam on its Special Watch List for the first time and repeated the designation in 2023. Sanctions are among the actions the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) calls on U.S. administrations to impose on CPCs, but Vietnam is among those countries that have been granted presidential waivers from sanctions. Backsliding Vietnams control over religious registration processes and its persecution of unregistered groups have led to continued religious rights violations, according to the report. Although Vietnam is a highly religiously diverse society, state authorities have frequently opposed the registration of minority religious organizations, often for perceived political reasons, the USCIRF report states. Groups enduring frequent legal and administrative abuses include Montagnard and Hmong Protestants, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao and Unified Buddhists, Duong Van Minh, and the Falun Gong, the report states. Lack of oversight on local authorities has created significant imbalances in how Vietnam has applied laws and regulations on religion and belief to these groups. Even among registered groups, state authorities have near total control over the approval and content of religious activities, gatherings, and appointment of leaders, USCIRF reports. Dissidents, including religious leaders, have faced harassment, physical abuse, imprisonment, and surveillance. The governments interference has extended to the confiscation of property, closure of religious institutions, and censorship of religious materials. Open Doors 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report notes that Vietnamese officials are not sure how to react to increased international scrutiny of their freedom of religion record. The 9.6 million Christians out of a population of 100 million mainly Buddhist people saw a slight decrease in pressure from families and local communities according to the 2024 WWL, with Vietnam dropping to 35th place from 25th the previous year among the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. However, there has also been an increase in violent attacks on believers and church buildings, and in the number of church leaders arrested, the WWL report notes. But despite such intense pressure to renounce Jesus, many hold on to their newfound faith with remarkable courage. Protestants and converts from Buddhism or indigenous religions face intense pressure and violence for their faith, especially in the remote areas of central and northern Vietnam, according to the WWL report. Most believers belong to ethnic minority groups, like the Hmong, and face social exclusion, discrimination and attacks, the report states. Their homes are sometimes destroyed, and they are forced to leave their villages. Church meetings face constant surveillance and frequent raids. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley accepted the American Fraternal Alliances first-ever Fraternal Ally Award for his work to support fraternal benefit societies. The Iowa Republican is a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, according to a news release. Fraternal benefit societies are deeply rooted in the fabric of our nation. For centuries, theyve made an impact by living out their core principles of membership, community and volunteerism. Im glad to offer my continued support to this vital part of the financial sector and honored to accept this award, Grassley said in the release. We are honored to present Sen. Grassley with our first-ever 'Fraternal Ally'award for his steadfast support of our sector, Allison Koppel, CEO of the American Fraternal Alliance, said in the release. Sen. Grassleys continued support allows fraternal benefit societies to continue enriching our communities, while providing financial protection for families in need. Sam Dutcher had just finished running errands when the 18-year-old's Honda Pilot suddenly began to accelerate, even though his foot wasn't on the gas pedal. The brake wouldn't work, he couldn't shift into neutral, and before long, the runaway SUV was speeding into the western Minnesota count Malis capital Bamako got a rude wake-up call Tuesday when Islamic militants launched a daring attack on a military training camp and the airport. Its not every day the big city sees action like this, and it caught everyone off guard. The army scrambled to respond, eventually getting the upper hand. They managed to neutralize the attackers at the Faladie military police school. At least 15 suspects are cooling their heels in custody now. Sadly, some soldiers didnt make it. The army is being tight-lipped about the numbers, but they confirmed trainee deaths at the camp. The al-Qaida crowd, JNIM, were quick to claim responsibility for the attack. They even posted videos of a plane going up in flames, bragging about the damage they caused. This attack is a big deal. It shows these militants can hit hard, even in the capital. It has got people worried, especially since Mali has been struggling with insurgencies for over a decade. The junta in charge, led by Col. Assimi Goita, has its hands full. They have kicked out the French and cozied up to Russian mercenaries, but attacks are still on the rise. For Bamako folks, it is a scary reminder that no place is truly safe. As one expert put it, the militants are showing they can strike anywhere, anytime. It is a game-changer, and everyone is on edge, wondering whats next. Senegals new president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, is walking a financial tightrope. Just five months into the job, he has called for snap elections on November 17, dissolving the opposition-led parliament. But this political shake-up could not come at a trickier time for the economy. The numbers are not looking great. Economic growth has slowed to 6%, down from the rosy 7.1% prediction earlier this year. The governments piggy bank is looking lighter too, with revenue taking a nosedive in the first eight months. To make matters worse, the next chunk of cash from a $1.9 billion IMF loan might be delayed until December. That is like waiting for your paycheck while the bills keep piling up. Faye got his work cut out for him. He is pointing fingers at the old parliament for blocking budget reforms and refusing to axe wasteful state bodies. Now, with elections looming, he is hoping to get more of his party members into seats to push through his agenda. But it is not all doom and gloom. Senegals just started pumping oil, and gas production is set to kick off soon. These new resources could be the lifeline Faye needs to patch up the countrys financial leaks. As Senegal heads to the polls, voters will be weighing Fayes promises against the economic realities. It is a high-stakes game, and the whole worlds watching to see if this newcomer can pull off an economic miracle. When results of the latest Algerian presidential election were announced, few Algerians believed the regimes figures as they have long lost faith in voting as a way to choose freely and democratically their leaders, said an American academic quarterly journal. In an analysis published on Algerian presidential election held Sept.07, which unsurprisingly yielded a second term for incumbent President Abdelmajid Tebboune, World Politics Review said this election simply exacerbated further Algerians disillusionment with army ruling behind an imposed democratic facade. The blatant contradictions in the preliminary figures released by the countrys electoral commission showed a picture of an authoritarian regime that has become too sloppy at rigging elections, said the American analysis published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Presidential elections in Algeria are merely used to appoint an army-approved politician to head the government, while Algerias generals continue to rule over the political system form behind the scenes, said the WPR. As the Algerian military regime becomes increasingly unpopular, rigging elections is no longer just about determining who should serve as the civilian stand-in for the generals. More and more, it is about pumping up participation numbers in an attempt to give the whole exercise a trace of legitimacy, underlined the American publication. Several Algerian presidents have attempted to reduce the weight of the army and the security services in the ruling system. All have failed. At least one of them, Mohamed Boudiaf, who was likely assassinated for it. The Algerian military-led regime, which has governed the country since its independence from France in 1962, vets and orchestrates the cast of characters that run the countrys civilian government. Despite embarrassing statements made by Tebboune during his campaign, the ruling Generals relied on him to maintain themselves in power and preserve their interests. Today, discussions about irregular migration dominate family meals, churches, and aid agencies. Governments are struggling to address the crisis of migrants and refugees crossing their borders, continuing to become a major political issue. Churches and Christians are unsure how to respond, while the media often spread misinformation, adding to the confusion. It is therefore not surprising that many believers have become disconnected from or numb over ideological arguments. Despite all the misconceptions surround refugees, 99% of the forcibly displaced are not trying to cross into Western countriesnor do they have the resources to do so. Here are some revealing statistics: As of 2023, around 120 million people have been forced to leave their homes. This is roughly 1.5% of the global population! At least half of those are stuck within the borders of their own countries, becoming Internally Displaced People (IDPs). The remainder are refugees or asylum seekers languish in neighboring countries. Less than 1% of the forcibly displaced get the chance to resettle in Western nations or are willing to take dangerous journeys to reach places like Europe, United Kingdom, North America, or Australia. This 99% of the forcibly displaced have been struggling for decades in regions like Africa, Asia, and the Middle East with no clear solutions for their long-term well-being or livelihood. While we might recognize the desperation and bravery of those who make these perilous journeysmany of whom die at sea or in the desertthe majority remain trapped without safe alternative options or hope for the future. This raises the question: How can we compassionately and wisely respond to the migration crisis as the global Church? Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up We can reduce the number of people taking dangerous, irregular routes and falling victim to human smugglers and traffickers. Solutions An immediate solution is to focus on proactively helping the other 99% find pathways to either return to their home countries or resettle in safer environments. In this way we can reduce the number of people taking dangerous, irregular routes and falling victim to human smugglers and traffickers. Of course, not all refugees will be able to return home. Some experience persecution or systemic oppression due to ideological beliefs that make it impossible for them to go back to a place without religious or political freedom. But, if we act early, I have seen how possible it is to create opportunities for many to return or relocate, to rebuild their lives and provide a future for their family. At Philoi Global, in collaboration with the Refugee Highway Partnership, one of our primary goals is resettlement. Obtaining international protections to enable this, however, is not always possible. Furthermore, we acknowledge that it is unsustainable for Western countries to just take in millions of refugees. That is why we collaborate with churches and partners to address forced displacement at its early stages. This happens through: Advocacy influencing policies at the UN level and advocating at forums like UNHCR and UNHRC. influencing policies at the UN level and advocating at forums like UNHCR and UNHRC. Educationequipping and informing displaced young people about the dangers of irregular migration, pointing them to safer options, other potential avenues, and helping make them make legal transition possible. Long-term transition options include educational pathways, labor mobility programs, family reunification, and community sponsorship programs. With the help of churches, ministries, and individuals around the world, we can provide education and/or employment opportunities for the forcibly displaced. These avenues will support them in building a better future for themselves and their families. Once established they will be free to return to their homelands, relocate within their new host nation, or migrate elsewhere internationally through safe and legal channels. We invite you to partner with us as an individual or a church to make a meaningful and sustainable difference in the forcible displacement sphere. Join in on the conversations challenging common narratives that lead to apathy about forced displacement issues and anger concerning migration. If you would like to stay informed or find ways to help, please email info@philoiglobal.org or contact the Refugee Highway Partnership so we can discuss ways to work together to make a difference for the 99%. Originally published by Philoi Global in collaboration with the Refugee Highway Partnership. Republished with permission. Jude Simion is CEO of Philoi Global and serves on the Core Leadership Team of Refugee Highway Partnership. Philoi Global responds to the humanitarian gaps of persecuted minorities through relief, relocation, and resettlement; cultivating compassion, unity, and support for the displaced. Moroccos Royal Air Forces deployed two Canadair firefighting planes and a Casa support aircraft, this Wednesday Sept. 18, to Monte Real in Portugal, to help the Portuguese authorities fight forest fires in the north of the country, in a joint action also involving Spanish, French and Italian aircraft. Pursuant to the high instructions of King Mohammed VI, Supreme Commander and Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces, four crews and a technical team from the Royal Air Forces 3rd Air Base fire-fighting squadron have also been mobilized as part of this mission, which comes in response to a request for support from Portuguese authorities, a statement by the Royal Armed Forces General Staff said. Since 2012, Royal Air Force Canadair aircraft have taken part in the fight against forest fires in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. In Portugal in particular, where Morocco has intervened for the 3rd time since 2016, Moroccan aircraft carried out around 70 sorties in 230 flight hours during their interventions in 2016 and 2017. Moroccos recurrent participation in the fight against forest fires in Portugal bears witness to the deep ties of solidarity and cooperation between the two countries, covering several areas of common interest, the FAR statement added. Morocco has a large fleet of Canadair CL415 and CL215 water bomber aircraft. Since 2011, when the first aircraft were delivered to Morocco, these aircraft have demonstrated their effectiveness in fighting forest fires both inside and outside the Kingdom. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images Donald Trump has been repeating his claims that the 2024 election is already rigged, and we know what this led to in the last presidential election. So its important to pay very close attention to potential preparations by Trumps campaign and his allies for another assault on an adverse election result. Yes, thankfully, Congress closed off many of the avenues pursued by the former president on and before January 6, 2021, when it enacted the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022. And the courts and other key institutions in our system of laws and norms did prove resilient in stopping any 2020 coup, which is why Trump wound up relying on a mob to try to stop Congress from confirming the election results. All in all, election-law expert Rick Hasen is right in reassuring us that it wont be remotely as easy for Trump to get as close as he did in 2020 to a purloined presidency in the name of stopping the steal. But you get the sense in considering the massive resources of dollars, people, and rhetoric the Trump campaign is devoting to election integrity that MAGA folk are probing the system for weak spots at every point in the process that leads from Election Night to the inauguration of the 47th president. The likelihood of a very close election with delayed counts in key battleground states (notably Michigan and Pennsylvania, where election officials are banned from opening mail ballots until Election Day, and Georgia, where a Republican-majority state election board appears to be engineering delays in county vote certifications) makes it quite possible Trump will again claim victory on Election Night even if the pattern of returns makes it clear hes actually losing. Whats unclear is the MAGA endgame for tampering with the results. Thanks to ECRA, fake electors arent an option. Team Trump can try to delay certifications, but ECRA provides for federal judicial intervention to force certifications, and so do state laws in most battleground states. The vice-president who will preside (with significantly diminished discretion, per ECRA) over the joint session of Congress that will confirm the winner is Trumps opponent, Kamala Harris. So which lawmaker can be relied on to do whatever the former president wants? Mike Johnson, thats who. All else being equal, if Trump loses, Republicans will probably lose control of the House, making Johnson an ex-Speaker (and probably exparty leader via a postelection defenestration). But its still possible Trump will lose while his party hangs onto the House and flips the Senate. The vengeful former president might look to his congressional allies to find a way to block a Harris confirmation. If he does, hell be looking mostly at Johnson, a man who is not only a fierce MAGA warrior of long standing but was the chief congressional strategist for the January 6 effort to stop Joe Bidens confirmation, and who is and definitely will be totally dependent on Trumps goodwill to keep his gavel. Its worth noting that Johnson is more personally identified than any of his troops with the voter-fraud fables that are the most likely grounds for some Trump claim that the election was systemically rigged and illegitimate. Indeed, at this very moment, the Speaker is steering the House toward a potential government shutdown if Democrats refuse to accept the SAVE Act (which provides redundant and highly disruptive protections against already illegal and extremely rare noncitizen voting). No wonder, as Politico tells us, Democrats are worried at what Johnson might do on the next January 6: [T]he following concerns have circulated on Capitol Hill: That Johnson could try to rewrite the rules that govern the Jan. 6 vote-counting session. For the past century or so, the two chambers have unanimously adopted boilerplate, bipartisan procedures for the count. Johnson could decide to try to write his own, inserting provisions that would open up new avenues to challenge the results, or simply refuse to adopt a process at all, creating ambiguity and doubt. That Johnson could muster enough Republicans to object to certain contested slates of electors and, if the GOP also holds the Senate, possibly gather the votes to throw those slates out. If neither candidate receives 270 electoral votes, the House could have authority under the 12th Amendment to choose the winner. That Johnson could delay the vote-counting session. While the Jan. 6 date is written in law, its the speaker who has to call the House to order first. Democrats worry that Johnson could essentially push pause That Johnson could challenge the Electoral Count Act entirely. Under a novel legal theory, he could ask a court to rule that the law on the books cannot bind Congress from exercising its power under the Constitution. Its unclear whether any of these stratagems, if deployed, would work, but if the electoral-vote count is preceded by two months of Trump agitprop imploring MAGA activists to somehow stop a monstrous theft of the presidency by hordes of criminal immigrants brought into the country by Democrats precisely in order to cast illegal votes a lurid claim the former president has been making since 2016 the chaos could stress-test the system and the Constitution. Mike Johnson could be the kind of trustworthy agent Trump thought he had in Mike Pence in 2021 until the veep flaked out. Ambulances in Beirut, Lebanon, following Israels apparent attack on Hezbollah using bombs hidden in thousands of pagers. Photo: Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images The wave of exploding pagers that injured nearly 3,000 and killed at least nine, including a 9-year-old girl, in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday was a stunning and unexpected blow against Israels longtime foe, Hezbollah. While the sheer number of casualties will put a damper on the terrorist groups ability to wage offensive action, physical incapacitation of enemy fighters likely wasnt Israels primary goal. Rather, the move was likely aimed at creating fear and internal suspicion that would more significantly undermine the groups ability to fight. It promulgates fear, says Dr. Patrick Sullivan, director of the Modern War Institute at West Point. It demonstrates to their enemy, Hey, we can reach out and touch you anywhere, anytime. I would imagine that Hezbollah is significantly questioning who is in their ranks, who are their suppliers, and what vulnerabilities they have. In military science terms, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is described as asymmetric. Israel is a nation with a standing army and all the resources of a modern economy. Hezbollah is a paramilitary organization whose members are dispersed among the population of Lebanon. While they have fewer men and weapons than Israel, they can attack by surprise then melt away. (Hezbollah has used these sorts of hit-and-run tactics most recently in its ongoing shelling of Israels north.) You cant destroy a guerrilla organization through the kind of direct, tank-on-tank attritional slugfest that Russia and Ukraine are currently waging. Instead, the core struggle is waged in the informational domain and the strategic objective is to degrade the psychological state of the enemy, according to Sullivan. Its a way to target internal unity of purpose within an organization, he explains. Not everyone is as committed as the leaders are. You have a rank and file who can potentially leave the organization if they assess that their personal risk is too high. You have financiers who might reconsider how theyre supporting the organization if theyre creating too much exposure for themselves. A wavering of commitment is apt to be intensified by uncertainty about an adversarys capabilities. The sudden, simultaneous explosion of thousands of electronic devices is something that has never occurred before and could never be expected; it implies that Israel can strike in ways that are impossible to anticipate, let alone prevent. That may be extremely demoralizing for those on the receiving end of it. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, as surveillance videos showing sudden explosions and victims laid out on the ground circulated across social media, it wasnt entirely clear how the attack had been carried out. But within hours, Reuters was reporting that up to three grams of explosive material were hidden inside devices that looked like AP924 pagers sold under the name of Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo and manufactured under license by a Hungarian company. The devices were apparently designed to be triggered by an incoming message. Somehow, Mossad, Israels spy agency, managed to infiltrate the supply chain and booby-trap the pagers that Hezbollah purchased as an alternative to cell phones, an undertaking that must have required not just imagination and skill but also patience. Israel is demonstrating that it can identify and target members of Hezbollah regardless of their location or position in the organization. This is indicative (again) of a sophisticated Israeli intelligence apparatus, which despite its failures leading up to the October 7 Hamas massacres can execute complex and audacious attacks, writes retired Australian Army general Mick Ryan in The Interpreter. Barely 24 hours after the pagers exploded, a second wave of attacks hit Hezbollah, this time with exploding hand-held radios, according to Reuters. The AP reports multiple explosions went off Wednesday at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before. Christiaan Triebert of the New York Times visual investigation unit posted images on Twitter of fragments of an ICOM IC-V82 model radio handset marked Made in Japan. Reuters reports that the radios had been bought by Hezbollah around the same time as the pagers, five months ago. (The death toll in the attacks is at least 12, according to Lebanese authorities.) Another series of explosions has been reported across Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, this time involving ICOM communication devices that appear to be exploding. https://t.co/RPSq41NWFS pic.twitter.com/750OO7qB5Q Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) September 18, 2024 The difficulty of the achievement itself can have a profound psychological impact. In asymmetric guerrilla warfare, ultimate success lies not in destroying the enemys physical war-making capacity but in shaping the political environment. The goal is to achieve a decisive effect in the information domain so you can create the perception that youre winning or that you have the initiative, then try to cohere a political effect off of that, Sullivan says. Its a direct assault on the enemys will and morale, trying to make the other side give up just because theyre worn out. They dont see an end game, so abandoning the fight to lick their wounds to survive another day seems to be the better outcome. Seen through the lens of political struggle, a side that is deeply committed has an advantage because the prospect of defeating it will seem discouragingly unrealistic to its adversary. This has always been a strength of groups including Hezbollah whose core purpose is to fight for existential stakes, such as destroying Israel. An operation like Mossads pager attack is extra effective because it demonstrates that Israel, too, is bringing a similar level of patience and persistence to the fight. When the Israelis do stuff like this, they signal that theyre matching that level of commitment, Sullivan says, and so theres real informational power in what Israel has done, and that might affect the strategic thinking of not just the terrorist groups but also their supporters in Iran and some of the other Gulf states. Israel made a similar demonstration earlier this year with its assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, whom it blew up using a remote-control bomb it had planted months before inside a heavily guarded guesthouse in Tehran. The audience for this kind of sophisticated surprise attack isnt just external enemies but also the Israeli public, which was demoralized by the catastrophic failure of its military and intelligence services in the run-up to the October 7 attack. These operations demonstrate that Israeli leadership is not, after all, entirely feckless. But, as with much else in the ongoing struggle between Israel and its adversaries, the ultimate impact is not clear now and may never be. Having amazing capabilities does not make a strategy, former Israeli intelligence officer Miri Eisin told The New York Times. The perennial conundrum of guerrilla warfare is the possibility that instead of sapping the enemys resolve an attack can steel it. However badly Israel may have degraded Hezbollah as a fighting force by putting thousands of its members in the hospital, it certainly increased pressure on the group to respond with an attack of its own, as it has already vowed to do. Then theres the issue that Israel has shot its wad. Having invested the resources to put thousands of devices into the hands of an unwitting enemy, Israel acquired for itself a devastating secret capability, but it was a onetime deal. Once it used it, it no longer possessed it, nor could it ever again achieve that particular kind of surprise. The onus was on Israel, then, to time the deployment for maximum strategic effect. The extent to which it managed to do that is unclear; Axios is reporting that Israel decided to trigger the attack because it feared that its plans had been exposed, leaving it in a use it or lose it position. In the days and weeks to come, Israeli intelligence will be carefully monitoring the response among Hezbollah and its allies, anticipating a response, and planning its own subsequent countermoves. Maybe those aftereffects are ready to go, Sullivan says, but were not going to know until we see them deployed. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; MadMusclesPlans/X Its an exciting time at the cutting edge of AI research. Massive companies are spending tens of billions of dollars to build, train, and deploy new AI models with which they hope to automate a wide range of tasks currently relegated to thinking humans. Researchers are considering questions about whether, and how, computers can reason or what it might mean for software to be meaningfully intelligent. Its interesting and sometimes bracing stuff, and you really get the feeling, talking to people in the industry, that some of them feel as though theyre not just building the future but manifesting destiny, which is the sort of belief that might lead one to start telling eager customers to show gratitude: how about a couple of weeks of gratitude for magic intelligence in the sky, and then you can have more toys soon? Sam Altman (@sama) September 12, 2024 While the future of AI is the subject of vigorous, stimulating, and productive debate, the rest of us on the internet, a few miles downstream from research labs, are confronting AI-related questions of our own, about the present and recent past. Questions like Is that image AI, or is it just sort of ugly? Is my students essay AI-generated, or is it just repetitive, low effort, and full of cliches? Is this menu AI, or is the food just kind of disgusting? Is this photo AI, or is her face just that symmetrical? Is this book AI, or was it just written by a cheap ghostwriter? (Or both?) Is that post from a stranger on social-media AI, or are people really just that dull? Is this email AI, or has my co-worker started taking lots of Adderall? In the two years since the launch of ChatGPT, the general publics dazzling introduction to generative AI, the tech industry has managed to keep the discourse in the future tense: New capabilities are imminent; new models are coming; todays AI tools are the worst youll ever use. This is going to change everything. Maybe so! In the meantime, these in-progress, worst-ever generative-AI tools, many rushed into popular products by the big AI firms themselves, are very much being used, not just by people who want an early taste of new technology but by millions of people for the thousands of reasons people might want to quickly and cheaply generate text, images, or video clips. The result is mounting dissonance. Maybe your first experience with AI is an encounter with a chatbot that uncorks decades of sci-fi anticipation and fear around machine intelligence, prompting runaway sequences of thought maybe optimistic, maybe apocalyptic about an utterly changed world. But then maybe your next experiences with AI are a scammy Instagram weight-loss ad, a questionable AI-generated Google answer, a maybe-AI low-quality search result after the Google answer, and a customer-service chatbot that seems as if it might be human for the first messages in your exchange. Maybe its a post from a presidential candidate accusing immigrants of eating pets, hastily illustrated with synthetic kittens. Or maybe youre just going to pick up a gallon of milk at the store and you see this: i'm obsessed with this obviously AI printout my local bodega hung up to say they don't have a bathroom pic.twitter.com/fswVhcdLTT Jon Eiseman (@Jon_Eiseman) September 8, 2024 Exciting, fast-changing tools with enormous theoretical potential are being used, in the real world, right now, to produce near-infinite quantities of bad-to-not-very-good stuff. In part, its a disconnect between forward-looking narratives and hype and lagging actual capabilities; it also illustrates a gap between how people imagine they might use knowledge-work automation and how it actually gets used. More than either of these things, though, its an example of the difference between the impressive and empowering feeling of using new AI tools and the far more common experience of having AI tools used on you between generating previously impossible quantities of passable emails, documents, and imagery and being on the receiving end of all that new production. Im not really talking about AI slop here. Garbled and obviously generated AI garbage is abundant but by definition easy to spot and dismiss; as widely available AI tools have improved, the generation of egregious, attention-grabbing mutant content in 2024 is often a deliberate engagement strategy rather than the result of flawed tools and low effort. Nor am I talking about a scenario like the ones predicted with the rise of deepfakes and the subsequent availability of AI-powered image and video generators, in which the general public is defenseless against synthetic media, never sure if what everyones seeing is real or fake, manipulable by machines that can manufacture new realities, destroying the original in the process. What Im talking about is something in the middle: the association of AI with content that nobody particularly wants to create or consume but that plays a significant (if ambient) role in daily life online. This is, in one sense, a success story for AI. Its proof that current-generation tools can be used for the unglamorous but economically valuable task of completing busywork and filling voids. Its evidence that AI capabilities are moving up the value chain from spam and slop to, well, the stuff right above spam and slop. The flip side of this success is that AI is becoming synonymous with the types of things its most visibly used to create: uninspired, unwanted, low-effort content made with either indifference toward or contempt for its ultimate audience. That AI tools can produce marketing emails or filler illustrations that are hard to pin down for sure as generated by AI is, again, a fairly remarkable development in technological terms. Whats distinctly unremarkable is the content itself. Apples recent iPhone announcement, which also marked the release of its new AI-centric iOS, focused on the companys state-of-the-art AI models and powerful new tools for users, including image generation. The first demo of its image-generation tools did indeed represent a rare accomplishment: Apple has devised a novel, compute-intense way to generate generic-looking puppy illustrations that arent quite cute: Shared exclusively with WIRED, this Image Playground creation is the first that Apple has released outside of marketing materials. https://t.co/giXYk9lTot WIRED (@WIRED) September 11, 2024 Earlier this year, researchers charted a drift in the use of the word bot on social media from 2007 to the present day. For years, it was most often a literal accusation of bothood, a suggestion that the subject was a machine. More recently, however, the word is intended as a general insult: to suggest that another user is botlike, unable to think for themselves and not worth engaging with. AI is undergoing a similar transformation: To describe a piece of media as AI-generated is just as often a claim about its aesthetic qualities as it is about its actual mode of production. To say that music is like AI is to say that its unoriginal; to suggest that a movie seems AI-generated is to say that its pandering and derivative. the trailer for the new transformers movie looks like ai even though its not, thats probably not a good sign K. Thor Jensen (@kthorjensen) September 8, 2024 Something might look like AI because its a little bit unbelievable, a little bit generic, or more generally off or bad. Its a critique that aligns fairly well with the way generative AI works and gets trained: by recognizing and then replicating patterns in enormous amounts of data that already exist. Whether this alignment holds whether the tendency of generative AI to reproduce cliche and banality remains as perceptible as it is today is as relevant to the future of the technology as any benchmark. In the tech world, for now, AIs brand could not be stronger: Its associated with opportunity, potential, growth, and excitement. For everyone else, its becoming interchangeable with things that sort of suck. Sign Up for John Herrman column alerts Get an email alert as soon as a new article publishes. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images In the aftermath of a second thwarted assassination attempt against Donald Trump, Republicans have again begun to point fingers at their Democratic counterparts, blaming their words for the attempts on Trumps life. Among those making this claim most forcefully is Ohio senator J.D. Vance, who, this past weekend, argued that the lack of assassination attempts directed at the Democratic ticket is proof that liberals are wielding more harmful rhetoric than their counterparts. I know its popular on a lot of corners of the left to say that we have a both-sides problem. And Im not going to say were always perfect. Im not going to say that conservatives always get things exactly right. But, you know, the big difference between conservatives and liberals is that we have no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months, Vance said to the crowd at the Georgia Faith & Freedom Coalition dinner in Atlanta. During those same remarks, Vance said he would do my part to lower the temperature, but in recent days the senator has continued to ratchet up his criticism of Vice-President Harris, looking to tie her to the most recent attack. In a lengthy social-media post, Vance noted that the alleged suspect in Sundays attempt, Ryan Routh, donated to Democratic causes multiple times and used similar wording as Harris in the past, when he once wrote on his now-suspended X account that democracy is on the ballot. How do you think the Democrats and their media allies would respond if a 19-time Republican donor tried to kill a Democratic official? Its a question that answers itself, Vance said. Rouths political leanings are not as clear-cut as Vance suggests. The 58-year-old suspect, who is currently facing two federal charges, previously expressed support for former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and indicated that he backed Trump in 2016. The shooter in the July attempt on Trump, Thomas Crooks, was a registered Republican and was said to have researched politicians and figures on both sides of the aisle, including President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland, before his attack. Vance is largely echoing the words of his running mate, who is also placing the blame for the attempts on his life on his Democratic rivals. Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country both from the inside and out, Trump said during an interview with Fox News on Monday, citing no specific evidence of his claim. In the immediate aftermath of Sundays arrest, Biden and Harris both issued statements denouncing political violence and expressing relief that Trump was unharmed from the incident. I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today. As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence, Harris said. The intensifying rhetoric following Sundays incident has extended beyond the Republican presidential ticket. Elon Musk deleted a highly criticized post on his social-media platform, X, that questioned why there havent been any attempts on Bidens life or Harriss. And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala, he wrote in response to a user who asked why someone would try to kill Trump. In subsequent posts, Musk insisted his deleted comment was a joke, but the White House later condemned his words, calling them irresponsible. CNN reports that the Secret Service, which investigates any and all potential threats against its protectees, has seen Musks post. 10 items in this article Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers, Joe McKendry Strategist Brain is a series where staffers share the stores theyve stopped into, stuff theyve spotted, and extra tidbits from stories theyve worked on. Youll hear from a different writer every week. Im getting married this weekend, so if you ask whats on my mind, its 99 percent wedding-related. Even though Im having a casual backyard wedding with just under 70 guests, the overwhelm of planning, organizing, and packing for it has taken over my waking thoughts and some of my dreams, too. Getting ready for the big day has involved browsing all kinds of things (table runners! cake toppers! ties!) for so many hours and buying a lot more stuff than I normally would. But Ive still been trying to shop intentionally, for the sake of both my budget and sustainability. Ive tried to thrift as much as I can, but even when buying new, Ive made it a mission to choose things I can continue using after the wedding itself including my dress, which I fully intend to wear again. Magnolia Cream Scalloped Cake Stand $40 $40 Particularly because Im having a pretty DIY affair, Ive ended up purchasing several items I didnt originally anticipate needing like this cake stand. I spent hours scouring Etsy and eBay for cool vintage ones, because most of the wedding ones I found online either looked cheap or didnt fit my style. But I ended up choosing this scalloped design from Magnolia because it wasnt too expensive and I liked the simple but charming design. Its also versatile enough that I can hang onto it for any future dessert-displaying needs. $40 at Magnolia Buy Heres everything else Ive seen recently Vintage Murano Cake Stand $45 $45 Heres a vintage glass floral cake stand I found on Etsy that I didnt end up buying. Someone else should, though, because its gorgeous. $45 at Etsy Buy Calpak Hue Carry-On Luggage $195 $195 Right after the wedding, were heading to Greece for our honeymoon. As a wedding gift to myself and my fiance, I bought each of us one of these Calpak carry-ons to bring on the trip. Theyll replace a shared hand-me-down suitcase that is slightly too large for most airlines specifications and doesnt have 360-degree spinner wheels, making it basically a nightmare to actually use. After a lot of research, I chose the Calpaks because of the price, the design, and the cute color options. I got the orchid purple one for me and the key lime green for him. $195 at Calpak Buy Fenty Beauty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil Highlighter $42 $42 Because Im doing my own makeup for the wedding, I decided to upgrade some of my products. I found this Fenty highlighter at Ulta, and its hard to even describe how beautiful it is it gives the most dainty, delicate sparkle. I think if you ground up diamonds into a fine powder, it would look like this highlighter, but in a not-too-flashy way. $42 at Fenty Beauty Buy $42 at Ulta Beauty Buy Solid Gold Birth Flower Bud Charm $105 $105 I briefly got really fixated on the idea of a wedding necklace that has both of our birthstones. The vibe of the wedding is very nature- and wildflower-inspired, which is why I nearly bought these flower charms with tiny birthstones. I ultimately passed because all my other wedding-jewelry pieces are silver or white gold, and these only come in yellow gold. But I still think they are absolutely darling, so maybe Ill get them as an anniversary gift or something in the future. $105 at Local Eclectic Buy La Roche Posay Lipikar AP+M Triple Repair Body Moisturizing Cream Unscented - 2.5 fl oz $10 $10 This is my favorite moisturizer that I recently went back to after trying a cheaper one and my skin got super dry and flaky. Its ultrathick formula is key to keeping my skin from drying out while using prescription tretinoin. I was excited to find the travel size in Targets display of mini beauty products, because it will be super easy to bring to Greece. $10 at Target Buy COCO-MAT Meliora Mattress When I was searching for places to stay for the honeymoon, I kept noticing that lots of Greek hotels advertise the fact that they have COCO-MAT mattresses. As a sleep writer, this piqued my interest. Turns out COCO-MAT is a Greek company that specializes in natural mattresses made with a variety of materials, including latex, cactus fibers, horsehair, wool, cotton, seaweed, and eucalyptus leaves. It sounds kinda like the Greek version of Avocado, but with even more interesting materials. Not only is the brand all over the Greek hotel market (you can search for places that use its mattresses here), it even has its own hotel in Athens. I ended up booking a place that features the mattresses, and even though Im hoping to turn my work brain off on vacation, Im really excited to sleep on one. (COCO-MAT doesnt sell its mattresses online, but the brand does have two New York showrooms where you can test out and purchase their mattresses.) Book visit to Coco Mat Buy Ostrichpillow Hot & Cold Eye Mask $39 $39 Ostrichpillow sent me this weighted eye mask that you can heat up in the microwave or chill in the freezer. Ive tried heatable, weighted eye masks before and felt like they mostly made my face sweaty, but this one doesnt seem to get steamy, just warm. Ive actually been loving it even more when its cold, though. It comes with a zipper-sealed pouch, which you close it in before freezing so it doesnt get wet or icy in the freezer. Then you pop it out, stick it on your eyes, and let the stress relief sink in. Its filled with clay beads, which apply a very gentle amount of pressure. And the coldness is so refreshing on my eyes and lower forehead like putting on an ice pack, but without the inevitable burn of too cold. Pre-wedding, its been getting a lot of use. $39 at Ostrichpillow Buy Raspberry Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip $13 $13 Heres something non-wedding-related: I recently visited a friend in Vermont, which naturally required several trips to the Vermont Country Store, a country general-store-inspired haven of all things charming, rustic, and dairy-based. We picked up an array of cheeses and crackers to eat for dinner, along with this pretzel dip. My friends hyped this stuff up, and I didnt know what to expect, but its delicious tangy, sweet, and mustardy. $13 at Vermont Country Store Buy get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Auburn City Board of Education held its second budget hearing for fiscal year 2025 and approved it on Tuesday. The general fund projected ending fund balance as of Sept. 20, 2025, is $39,471,237. This represents 32.65% of expenditures and approximately 3.92 months of operations in the General Fund. The general fund is the primary operating fund of the school district. The fund includes the majority of state and local revenues and related expenditures, except for those required to be accounted for in a different fund type. The primary source of state revenues is derived from the State of Alabama Education Trust Fund, stated in the Fiscal Year 25 online packet. The Foundation Program During the 2024 regular legislative session, the Alabama State Legislature passed Act # 2024-351, which appropriated $9.35 billion of the Education Trust Fund in support of public education for the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2025. K-12 public schools received 68.06% of the total appropriations, which reflects an increase in funding for the Foundation Program of $152.33 million. ACSs state allocations through the Foundation Program increased by $324,518. All school systems must provide a 10.0 mill property tax equivalency match in order to receive funding from the State Education Trust Fund through the Foundation Program. The school systems match to participate in the program increased by $2,324,140 to $15,937,470 for the fiscal year 2025. State, Local and Federal revenues Budgeted revenues and other financing sources in the general fund decreased by $10,793,457 (8.13%). State revenues decreased by $10,817,023 due to decreases in supplemental funding such as the ETF Advancement and Technology Fund and the K-12 Capital Grant Program. Local revenues increased by $514,377. Budgeted General Fund expenditures and other funds used decreased by $10,702,200 (8.13%) due primarily to an increase in salary and benefits expense amounting to approximately $7.55 million offset by decreases in expenditures related to state supplemental grants. The rise in salary and benefits expense is because of the state-mandated 2% raise, new positions added to address enrollment growth, salary schedule step increases, increases to the required retirement match percentages and the transfer of 42 full-time positions from the Special Revenue Fund (Federal COVID Relief Funding) to the general fund. Employee salaries and benefits costs Employee salaries and benefits costs represent 75.64% of the general fund budget. Employee benefits represent 19.77% of the general fund budget. The employer cost of PEEHIP is unchanged at $800 per month per employee, or $9,600 annually. Teachers Retirement System increased from 12.59% to 13.57% from fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2025. Retirement matching benefits in the General Fund are budgeted at approximately $8.75 million in fiscal year 2025, which is a 17.03% increase. For more details on the Auburn City Board of Education fiscal year 2025 budget, visit www.auburnschools.org. Around one year since an anonymous document detailing various allegations against the Smiths Station Fire Protection District was published online, the SSFPD Board of Directors has effectively closed the accountability committee that was formed in response. On Sept. 9, the SSFPD Board of Directors voted 3-0 to close the resolution that created the accountability committee as the district continues to move forward and implement changes. SSFPD Board of Directors Vice Chairman Shane Blankenship was not present at the meeting. SSFPD Fire Chief Blake Green said in his latest meeting with the committee that they were mostly satisfied with the changes the district has enacted and their biggest concern was the fire fees. "Everything else to to their opinion was, it was resolved through the audit. It's been resolved through the resolutions. It's been resolved through the open meetings, the unlocking the door," Green said. "The changes that the department has madethe district has madesince September of last year. They've seen enough of a change that they didn't feel like it warranted them going back over the financials that the accountant just went over, recommending changes to the board, that kind of thing." The accountability committee was started after the publishing of a 22-page document that levied several accusations against the SSFPD, particularly regarding the use of public funds. The document was posted online anonymously on Sept. 2, 2023, and it cited several complaints and allegations against SSFPD leadership and government officials and said the allegations came from "Smiths Station Fire Protection District (SSFPD) coverage area taxpayers, homeowners, residents, current and past SSFPD firefighters, and SSFPD Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel." On Sept. 5, 2023, former SSFPD Fire Chief Joe Walden resigned from his position with the district. His wife Susan Walden, who was the board's secretary, resigned as well. The accusations in the document were spread across 15 issues, and they include allegations of improper financial accountability standards, an intent to commit fraud, financial misconduct, ethical misconduct, unauthorized use of government property, disregarding the Alabama Open Meetings Act, toxic leadership, favoritism, nepotism and using positions for personal gain. Following that, the SSFPD Board of Directors saw significant changes with Walter Cox taking over as chairman and Blankenship, Scott Flowers and Aric Andrade all being appointed to the board. The board also established the accountability committee, which is made up of Randy Mauldin, Jacob Geiger and Joe Crawford. The board also brought in CPA abd business advisory firm Machen McChesney to perform an audit of the SSFPD, which was presented with nine recommendations in June. None of the members of the accountability committee were present during the Sept. 9 meeting and Green summarized the committee's most recent meeting, which was on Aug. 8. Green said in that, the main thing that came up was the fire fee rates. Green said the SSFPD's rates are the lowest among the fire protection districts in this area, and he said they're not going to raise the rates for the next two years. When the rates are raised, he said they plan to over communicate it to people that will be affected. He also said the members of the accountability committee expressed interest in remaining involved with the SSFPD, through something like an advisory board. Green said while he could not officially create that, he would support it. "I do believe that they have some good insight and could help us communicate changes in the future," Green said. "So there could be some benefits to having some type of working committee like that in the future." No action was taken by the SSFPD Board of Directors on that, though there was an indication that they would discuss it more in the future. On closing the resolution that formally created the committee, Cox said it felt like the right move. "I don't think it requires an official closing, but it was such a big deal a year ago," Cox said. "I think that we should...my opinion would be that we should have a resolution that actually closes that out." During the meeting, the board also approved the 2025 fiscal year budget. The board also approved entering an agreement for Dr. Samantha Lawson to serve as the SSFPD's new medical director. They also tabled further action on repairs to Station 5. As exhaustive as our vetting process is, this protective order did not surface in our searches, a source tells VF. so exhaustive that the other finalist is an alleged rapist? Reply Thread Link Like, where are they searching if not court records??????????!!???? For domestic violence???????????????? Reply Parent Thread Link Those allegations didn't surface until after he was cast and there is no criminal record against him, just to be perfectly fair (though he doesn't deserve it.) Reply Parent Thread Link Totally true, but the allegations surfaced before they shot FS and a producer could have warned her! Reply Parent Thread Link It says in the post that the affidavit that detailed the actions precipitating the restraining order was public. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Jesus fucking christ. Reply Parent Thread Link Hmm, maybe vetting people based on thirst traps on instragram doesn't always work.. who would've... Reply Thread Link they looked him up on Facebook too!!!1 Reply Parent Thread Link Y'all remember background checks? LOVE background checks Reply Thread Link they need to fingerprint these people for real Reply Parent Thread Link I believe it. Those teeth/gums would make me a furious asshole, too. No, obviously this isn't funny. Sorry Reply Thread Link Oh, it still is. Reply Parent Thread Link Dead. Buried. Rotting. Worm food. the circleee of liiifee. And it moves us allll. Through despair and hope. 'Til we find... our place. On the path unwindinggg. In the ciRrRicle. The circle of liiiiiife! Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO Reply Parent Thread Link Men aint shit Reply Thread Link Im fairly certain they DO find out this information and they just dont care. Theres no way a massive corporation like ABC isnt finding things that out that takes Reddit mere days to discover. Jenn had the worst set of guys, I feel so bad for her! Reply Thread Link Jenn deserves a do-over season to make up for ABC serving up so many terrible men to her. If she didn't already need therapy before she did this show, she definitely needs it now. Reply Parent Thread Link He gave me the Ick from day one, now I know why Reply Thread Link In addition to being a crazy violent asshole- this motherfucker is EXTREMELY fucking ugly (outside & in). He was whacked with an ugly stick. Reply Thread Link He looks like a more demented version of Pete Davidson. Reply Parent Thread Link The Ariana DeBose curse got you too? It's spreading Reply Parent Thread Link Lol I didn't even notice it was a different person than usual until you said something. Reply Parent Thread Link How did it start? Reply Parent Thread Link bakemonos Not you putting that in your subject line!!!!!can sue! Reply Parent Thread Link They absolutely found his arrest record and just didn't care, which is baffling. From a legal standpoint, if he did something on the show and it was discovered that they were aware of his history, wouldn't that be incredibly damaging for them? Reply Thread Link Wild to me how many total psychopaths with actual documented crimes in their background are like "You know what would be good for me? Going on reality TV". ended up humiliating her and ghosting her I mean she dodged a bullet. I feel sorry for this guy's ex, showing up at her home to light the restraining order on fire is top tier batshit. Reply Thread Link I actually think reality and psychopaths go hand and hand. Its instant attention and fame and all you have to do is be charismatic to get on. Reply Parent Thread Link Bro what!? I gave up on this show after episode 2. The bachelorette was boring, the guys were only on the show for the all inclusive travel ( I mean duh!) It sucks that she got treated shitty. Can she file a grievance or sue or something? Also, someone is getting fired since they didnt do a thorough investigation. Unless the records were sealed. Reply Thread Link she probably has some ironclad contract and no one will whistleblow but i wish she could sue. Reply Thread Link This is insane. If I - someone who used public records and other FREE means - can find info on my creepy neighbor then a multibillion dollar show should have proper background checks to make sure their contestants arent inviting psychopaths into their homes/lives. What the fuck. Reply Thread Link he's ugly on both the inside and outside. Jen deserved better. Reply Thread Link doesn't surprise me a bit. i always hated him. he very clearly only cares about proving his worth to other men and i would believe he hates women. the bachelorette casting/producers really need to answer for this. jenn was allowed to get as far as the fantasy suites with two violent men. this show disrespected her from the beginning and ultimately even put her in danger. Reply Thread Link who is the other violent men? this is disgusting Reply Parent Thread Link I thought this had a cut; add one, please. Reply Thread Link I really just get true theater kid from him. However 4 months off? Thats it? Damn. Reply Thread Link Thats the usual for broadcast tv. They also get most weekends and holidays off as well so seems pretty great to me considering the money they make. Reply Parent Thread Link Would he have played Smith's role? Reply Thread Link Yes Reply Parent Thread Link I unfortunately can't see him as anyone but Ross so the idea of him in that role... It could have still been a fun/funny movie but COMPLETELY different style and direction. More bumbling buffoon than cool rogue-ish newbie Reply Parent Thread Link what part would he have done? outside of maybe the alien i really can't imagine him in it Reply Thread Link What role? All I can picture is him walking up to an alien and going Hi in his sad Ross voice. Reply Thread Link The Pallbearer walked so Dear Evan Hansen could fall out of a tree. Reply Thread Link being a successful hollywood actor must be the world's longest game of what-could've-been. you miss out on a role that becomes a surprise oscar winner (but would you have gotten that nom?) or you think this'll be the next big action movie only for it to flop (or vice versa) Reply Thread Link yeah and we usually only really hear about the almost roles from actors who went on to be very successful anyway and have the opportunity to talk about it, but less often - and more brutal - are the ones where it legitimately could've been someone's big break and then it wasn't and they faded into obscurity Reply Parent Thread Link He didn't drop people he'd made a commitment to? Someone send this to Joaquin. I'm wondering which part he would have played. It couldn't have been Smith's. I just can't imagine him having that kind of energy. Reply Thread Link I know not everyone gets into acting to become rich or famous, but it's not like he lost out on a huge career? I'm sure his Friends residual checks are pretty nice Reply Thread Link I can honestly say first hand that he has had an excellent reputation with the theater/comedy scene here in Chicago for an extremely long time. His decision does not surprise me at all. Reply Thread Link No way he would have been Smith's character. David Schwimmer couldn't have done the men in black song/dance Reply Thread Link Damn this guy. First he bonds the cast together to make sure they all get paid the same and now he doesn't abandon people who quit their jobs for him. This guy. Well done. Yes, these are the only two stories I really know about him, but they are both really good. Reply Thread Link There was another story of when he fist blew up after friends and did an interview in a hotel. He knew the interviewer was a woman and might not have felt comfortable meeting a guy in a hotel for an interview so he said actually had another woman in the room, who i believe was his agent at the time, to make sure she felt safe. I believe the reporter was the one that shared this anecdote. Reply Parent Thread Link I read nice stories like this about him and then I remember his misogynistic Paris Hilton dude bro rant and it makes me wonder if theyre the same guy. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link And this is all what a lot of people don't understand about leadership. It's not just about lording over people and bossing them around, it's taking responsibilities for their failures and going out of your way to bat for your team because it's your job to protect them and help them thrive. Reply Parent Thread Link He's a zionist, unfortunately. Reply Parent Thread Link I wish he had turned down Band of Brothers. His acting was atrocious in it. I didn't believe him for one minute. Yet he's not generally a bad actor. Reply Thread Link Im not a stan, Ive never given his acting (or him in general) any thought but Ive watched BoB a million times and hes actually really good in the role imo? Sobel is supposed to be fake, forced, ridiculous, a pathetic little man constantly performing because command never comes natually to him, not an actual villain that youd take seriously, but someone delivering an inadequate performance as a CO, and thats exactly how he comes across I think. Reply Parent Thread Link I hear you and totes understand what you're saying - I think he just misses the mark. And so I feel ticked off (not at the character-only) every time I have to endure his performance when he's on-screen. Could be worse - could be MF Jimmy Fallon. Wtf at that casting!??!? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i thought he was great in it, honestly. Reply Parent Thread Link I think he seems like a really cool guy. He was so funny on Friends but he always gave me serious actor vibes. I'm surprised his film career didn't take off. Reply Thread Link Hes a major zionist. That honestly cancels everything good hes ever done (and hes done plenty good, so it sucks). Reply Parent Thread Link Shit I had no idea. That very much sucks. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, he has done a lot of activist work against sexual violence, which I so respect him for, but apparently that grace doesn't extend to Palestinians. The disconnect is fucking unreal. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Fresh data coming in has revealed that Canada's newly expanded Trans Mountain pipeline (aka TMX) is indeed delivering on its promise to diversify the countrys crude oil markets. According to data from Vortexa via Bloomberg, Canadian oil producers have shipped about 28 million more barrels of crude off the countrys west coast since the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline kicked off operations in June compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Meanwhile, shipments from the U.S. Gulf declined by 1.68 million barrels over the timeframe. This encouraging trend proves that TMX is working as intended by lowering the Canadian oil industrys reliance on US-bound pipelines and American refiners, which forced Canadian producers to accept deeper discounts for their crude as well as leaving them exposed to oil price shocks. As expected, the vast majority of the TMX crude is headed for the Asian market with nearly two-thirds going to China, India, South Korea and Brunei, with the remainder going to U.S. refiners. China has emerged as TMXs biggest customer, purchasing 8.24 million more barrels of Canadian crude since June. That figure marks a 11.6 million increase in volume of barrels shipped off Canadas west coast, along with a reduction of 3.35 million barrels via the Gulf. South Korea was the second biggest buyer, purchasing 3.91 million more barrels via Canadas west coast, while India took 1.53 million more barrels. Chinese private refiner Rongsheng Petrochemical purchased two Canadian Access Western Blend (AWB) crude cargoes from ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Vitol on top of another two AWB cargoes it bought via a tender. Cold Lake and AWB are heavy sour crude containing 3.5-4% sulfur and with API gravity of 21-22 degrees. Related: Why No Major Oil Company Is Rushing To Drill Pakistan's Huge Oil Reserves South Korean refiner GS Caltex split a 550,000-barrel Cold Lake crude cargo with Japan's top refiner ENEOS, with GS Caltex taking 300,000 barrels while ENEOS will get 250,000 barrels. South Korea's top refiner SK Energy, a unit of SK Innovation, bought a 550,00-barrel cargo from Unipec while Hengyi Petrochemical, a refinery operator in Brunei, also purchased a similar volume of crude from PetroChina Co (OTCPK:PCCYF). All the cargoes were sold at discounts of between $5 and $6 a barrel to ICE Brent. The expanded TMX pipeline will triple the flow of crude from landlocked Alberta to Canada's Pacific coast to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd). TMX provides Asian refiners an opportunity to diversify their imports while also giving Canadian producers more access to U.S. West Coast and Asian markets. TMX crude exports are expected to clock in at ~350,000-400,000 bpd, and will compete with heavy grades from Latin America and the Middle East. According to Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at analytics firm Kpler, Cold Lake crude is about $10 per barrel cheaper than Iraq's Basra Heavy for deliveries to China. "Canada's TMX crude attracts interest from Asian buyers who are keen to secure cheap supplies of heavy grades but do not have access to U.S.-sanctioned Venezuelan crude," XU told Reuters. "It will still take some time for refiners to experiment with and test TMX crude as the first few cargoes have just arrived," she added. U.S. Gulf Coast Still Important That said, the U.S. Gulf Coast is likely to continue seeing brisk business in the near future. According to Vortexa analyst Rohit Rathod, the Gulf Coasts biggest attraction remains the ease of loading very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil, a feature that has helped maintain high levels of Canadian exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast. For instance, Indias Reliance Industries shipped 2 million barrels of Canadian crude via a VLCC in May from Vancouver to its refinery in Jamnagar. In comparison, smaller Aframaxes that typically carry up to 800,000 barrels are limited to loading only about 550,000 barrels at Vancouver due to port draft restrictions. In other news, the Canadian government is seeking to privatize TMX. Trans Mountain Corp., owner of TMX, is arranging a bond sale to refinance part of its debt ahead of the Canadian governments eventual sale of the oil pipeline operator. The company had C$25.3 billion ($18.4 billion) debt as of March 31, including credit agreements with a syndicate of lenders containing two facilities totaling C$19 billion. The Canadian government bought and nationalized the original pipeline from a unit of Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE:KMI) in 2018 to ensure that the expansion would be built. In effect, the federal government acquired its corporate owner Trans Mountain, which became a federal Crown corporation with Ottawa framing this decision around the desire to secure a key Canadian asset. TMX ended up witnessing massive cost overruns, with the project costing C$34 billion, more than six times the original estimate. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Central Asian leaders sent German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a clear and consistent message during his three-day visit to the region: to get, youve got to give. The five Central Asian heads of state gathered in the Kazakh capital Astana on September 17 for a meeting with Scholz, with discussions focusing on expanding trade between the West and Central Asia. Germany is particularly interested in boosting natural gas imports from the region as part of a continuing pan-European Union effort to pivot away from Russian energy. No specific deals were announced at the meetings conclusion, but all sides were upbeat about the future, holding out the possibility that agreements can be reached in the not-too-distant future. Exchanges between our societies have never been so close, and they are constantly growing, the DPA news agency quoted Scholz as saying. The meetings host, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, reciprocated the goodwill, saying the thorough exchange of views that took place reinforced the mutual interest of the leaders in further deepening cooperation. He also emphasized that energy issues will play a key role in guiding relations. Tokayevs remarks during the meeting offered a rough roadmap for future trade relations. He indicated Kazakhstan and other regional states would be more than happy to help Germany, along with other EU states, meet its energy needs. But Central Asia is looking for something more than just money in return for energy exports. Describing Germany as a world leader in the field of economic and technological innovation, Tokayev said Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states want to tap into German know-how with the aim of promoting the localization of production and the production of products with high added value. Among the economic sectors he mentioned that could benefit from German technology transfers were finance, agriculture, transit logistics and information technology. Tokayev also made it clear that Kazakhstan sought German expertise, along with investment, to develop Central Asias green energy agenda, specifically mentioning an initiative undertaken by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to develop solar- and wind-power plants to generate electricity for export to the EU. We invite our German partners to consider the possibility of participating in this strategic project, Tokayev dropped a not-so-subtle hint. Before visiting Kazakhstan, Scholz stopped in Uzbekistan, where a similar give-get dynamic governed his talks in Samarkand with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The chief outcome was a politically expedient deal under which Germany can send would-be Afghan migrants to Uzbekistan for eventual repatriation to Afghanistan; in return, Berlin agreed to accept Uzbek skilled workers to fill employment opportunities in Germany. With our agreement we are enabling people with great talents to enter our country. Also, we committed to un-bureaucratic processes so that those who cannot stay in our country must go back, Scholz wrote on his X channel. For Scholz, the agreement shows that his embattled Social Democrat-led government is addressing the migration issue at home. Simmering dissatisfaction with the governments handling of migration has caused an erosion of popular support for his coalition and was widely cited as a major factor in the strong performance of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party in recent state elections. The deal is also a win for Mirziyoyev, whose administration is trying to shift Uzbekistans economic orientation from being mainly a producer of raw materials to a manufacturer of finished goods. As part of the overhaul, the government is attempting to reorganize the countrys labor market, in particular labor migration, by creating more opportunities for skilled workers abroad. By extension, the German-Uzbek agreement can potentially benefit the militant Taliban leadership in Kabul, which, since regaining power in 2021, has sought to gain international recognition of its rule. Tashkent, of late, has sought to engage the Taliban, aiming to stabilize conditions along Uzbekistans southern border, as well as gain some say over the completion and operation of the controversial Kosh-Tepa canal project. As part of its engagement drive, Uzbekistan has agreed to process comparatively small amounts of Afghan crude oil to help meet domestic needs in Afghanistan. The Uzbek government also recently agreed on a investment deal worth potentially up to $2.5 billion with the Taliban. If the Taliban accepts the return of Afghan nationals sent from Germany to Uzbekistan, the militant movement would demonstrate that it can act as a responsible international actor, potentially helping its efforts to legitimize its rule. By Eurasianet.org More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The UK, with a more flexible approach to AI development, could benefit from the EU's regulatory overreach and become a global leader in AI. EU regulatory overreach has gone from a Brexiteer conspiracy theory and source of ridicule to something that EU leaders themselves acknowledge and are trying to address. But when it comes to AI, theyre already behind, says James Price If youve bought a plastic drinks bottle in recent months, you may have noticed a maddening change the lid can no longer be detached from the rest of the bottle. You may find this rather annoying; you may even pretend to yourself that you like the increase in spills and mess in order to help save the environment. Regardless, it represents one of the major regulation-led innovations emanating from the European Union. At the same time, the United States has fostered companies that have created large language models like ChatGPT, self-driving cars, drones, commercial space walks, and many, many other things that Im not smart enough to understand. This shocking gap in competitiveness across Europe has, like many ideas, gone from a crazy Brexiteer conspiracy theory and source of ridicule to something that EU leaders themselves acknowledge and are trying to address. This has come to a head with the recent publication of former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghis long-awaited report into the EUs competitiveness gap. Whilst correctly diagnosing some of the problems, the remedies it offers are inevitably more European integration, government spending and decarbonisation. That means more expensive energy, less competition or experimentation between member states, and higher taxes. Good luck with that! But Mr Draghis first lament in a piece he wrote on the report focuses on something even the layman knows is a potentially enormous growth area, artificial intelligence (AI). This new wellspring of technologies could prove to quite literally be a deus ex machina for the economic and governmental ills of the world, and theres no reason why Europe shouldnt be able to be a leader in it. Mr Draghis report literally proposes making it easier for researchers to commercialise ideas. But the EU has been blocking some of the biggest tech companies who are investing in AI from training its products on user data inside the bloc. This means less innovation, and products that are not as useful inside the EU as they are outside. At the same time, Thierry Breton, an EU Commissioner, decided that the major tech challenge in Europe was Elon Musks Twitter removing blue ticks from celebrities. Threatening to ban Twitter across the EU has at least seen Monsieur Breton quit his post after being told he would lose it. Barmy EU priorities These barmy EU priorities are proving another Brexiteer talking point that was called crazy at the time: the idea that over time the UK could benefit from diverging from statist EU rules. The UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has recently decided NOT to intervene to prevent user data training AI models in the UK. Partly thanks to the beefed-up guidance on regulators duties to promote growth, instituted by the Conservative government back in May, companies like Meta will be able to release and develop exciting new AI products that will benefit users in the UK, but will be absent across the Channel. This was such a divergence from the EU that Meta President of Global Affairs and former EU MEP (oh, and former Deputy Prime Minister) Sir Nick Clegg has acknowledged the deep damage the EU is doing to itself here. Sir Nick is a serious man who has spent enough time amongst the geniuses of Silicon Valley to know which way the world is turning. He will also understand that the UK can be a world leader in these new techs, thanks to its university talent, access to capital markets and the sheer good luck of having Google Deepmind based here. The potential benefits are enormous, and other countries are already stealing a march. When the UAE appointed a minister for AI in 2017 others laughed at it as a gimmick. They arent laughing now as the Gulf state pioneers all manner of new tech. There are some great European AI companies, from defence firms like Helsing in Germany to Mistral AI in France who are world-leaders, but they risk being left behind by the American primes because of the EUs backwards take on regulation. If you dont trust politicians not to mess up a bottle of fizzy pop, dont trust them not to strangle the world-changing, life-saving tech of AI. By CityAM More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Israels intelligence service planted explosives in several thousand pagers that Hezbollah had ordered from Taiwan, Reuters has reported in the wake of deadly pager explosions that killed nine in Lebanon earlier this week. Among those injured in the Tuesday explosions was Irans envoy to Lebanon, which might prompt another threat from Iran to Israel in what would be the latest step in a long escalation dance and one more bullish factor for oil amid a scarcity of bullish factors. According to Reuters sources who remained unnamed, The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner. Such a code was sent to 3,000 of the low-tech devices that Hezbollah uses for communication and those exploded simultaneously, the Reuters sources said, with one noting that Mossad had concealed up to 3 grams of explosive material in each pager. This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades, a former U.S. deputy national intelligence officer for the Middle East told Reuters. Following the attack, Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah itself blamed it on Israel, even before the information about the pagers emerged, and Hezbollah said it would retaliate. The Lebanese authorities noted that there were civilians among the victims. It sends a significant message to Hezbollah leadership that, We can get you anywhere, Randa Slim, a director at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington, told the Wall Street Journal. And it very much affects morale. The war on the border is no longer on the borderwith this attack it has expanded into their homes and shopping places around Lebanon, Slim also said. Israel has already signaled it does not mind using forceful means to return people evacuated from the northern part of the country, which borders Lebanon, to their homes, to which end Hezbollah attacks in the area must be stopped. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The Biden Administration is undermining U.S. energy security and global climate efforts by seeking to halt LNG export permitting and lacking a cohesive policy to help allies in need of American energy, executives at some of the biggest U.S. oil and gas companies said at the Gastech conference in Houston. The U.S. Administration paused new LNG export capacity permits in late January, under pressure from climate activists. Those claimed that LNG was even worse for the environment than coal and any new export capacity would aggravate what they see as an already grave situation with the earths climate. In July, a Louisiana federal judge blocked President Bidens pause on new LNG export capacity approvals, ruling in favor of 16 states that sued the federal government for the pause. Yet, the pause in LNG permitting has enraged the industry, which criticized the Administrations policies at the ongoing Houston conference. Instead of imposing a moratorium on LNG exports, the administration should stop the attacks on natural gas, Chevrons CEO Mike Wirth said at the event. When it comes to advancing economic prosperity, energy security and environmental protection, an LNG permitting pause fails on all three, he added. ConocoPhillips chief executive Ryan Lance noted the slow pace of project approvals, commenting We absolutely need permitting reform, and we need more infrastructure. At Gastech, the U.S. executives also pointed out that natural gas would be critical to support the surge of AI and data centers. AIs advance will depend not only on the design labs of Silicon Valley, but also on the gas fields of the Permian basin, Chevrons Wirth said. As the AI boom is driving a significant increase in demand for electricity in the United States, natural gas-fired power generation is on the rise to meet higher consumption. In response to the attacks, Brad Crabtree, an assistant secretary for fossil energy and carbon management at the U.S. Department of Energy, pointed out that the administration's Infrastructure Bill has made billions of dollars available for new energy projects. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Rosneft is likely to fail in its legal challenge against a planned sale of a minority stake in a German refinery that it used to control before Germany took over the Russian oil giants assets in the country. Rosneft has a 54% stake in the Schwedt refinery, the fourth-largest refinery in Germany, which gets its oil from the Druzhba oil pipeline from Russia. The Schwedt refinery supplies 90% of the fuel needs of Germanys capital city Berlin. Shell, which holds a 37.5% interest in the refinery, announced at the end of last year plans to sell its stake to the Prax Group. Rosneft has challenged this planned stake sale in a German regional court. The Russian oil firm has argued that the agreement among the Schwedt refinery shareholders has a clause giving the current shareholders the right of first refusal in case of a sale. But the Higher Regional Court of Duesseldorf, where the Russian firm filed the legal challenge, said in a preliminary assessment on Wednesday that the complaint is unlikely to succeed. We see little chance of success for the complaint, Reuters quoted Anne Frister of the court as saying. Earlier this month, Germany extended its trusteeship over the German assets of Rosneft for another six months. In September 2022, a few months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany put the local business of the Russian oil giant under trusteeship, handing control over the Schwedt refinery to the countrys energy market regulator. The extension of the trusteeship, the fourth six-month extension, is reportedly in anticipation of the negotiations for the sale of the Rosneft assets in Germany to Qatar. In late August, reports emerged that Qatar is reportedly in talks to purchase Rosnefts stake in the PCK Schwedt refinery. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, owns a 19% stake in Rosneft. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Russian firms increased insurance cover for Indias oil imports to 60% of all cargoes in July, significantly higher than 40% in December 2023 as the two nations continue cementing their energy ties, Reuters reported on Wednesday. India has become the top buyer of Russian oil, with more than 60% of Russia's seaborne oil exports going to India. By using Russian insurers, Moscow is able to sell its oil above the $60 per barrel price cap the West imposed on Russian crude in a bid to limit Russia's oil revenue following its invasion of Ukraine. Western shipping and insurance services are only allowed for Russian cargoes sold at or below the price cap. Last month, India became the world's biggest importer of Russian oil surpassing China,. Data on Indian shipments from trade and industry showed that the country imported 2.07 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude in July, good for a 4.2% M/M and 12% Y/Y increase. That exceeds China's July oil imports of 1.76 million bpd via pipelines and shipments, based on Chinese customs data. Indian refiners have been buying Russian crude at a discount to Brent ever since Western nations curtailed imports of Russian energy commodities following its invasion of Ukraine. Indias purchase of Russian ESPO Blend crude jumped in July to 188,000 bpd as larger Suezmax vessels were used. Refiners in northeast China are typically the biggest ESPO buyers thanks to their close proximity to Russia; however, they are now buying less due to tepid fuel demand. "India's requirement for Russian oil is going to go up as long as there are no further tightening of sanctions," an Indian refining source told Reuters. Indias oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has revealed that the country is prepared to keep buying oil from Russian companies that are allowed to make such sales, citing cheaper prices. If an entity is not under sanctions, there is no question I will buy from the cheapest supplier, he said By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Turkeys ambitions to become a regional gas hub just received a fresh boost after the country signed a 10-year agreement with French energy giant TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE), Turkeys Daily Sabah reported on Wednesday. Under the terms of the deal, the oil and gas supermajor will supply Turkish state energy firm BOTAS with 1.1 million metric tons annually (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 10 years starting in 2027. This marks the fourth long-term import deal BOTAS has signed with non-state-owned firms this year, having signed a similar deal with Shell Plc (NYSE:SHEL), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) and Oman. According to Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, the supply deals will give Turkey 25 billion cubic meters (bcm) of surplus gas above the country's annual consumption of 50 bcm. "We can supply to European markets, particularly to the ones in south-east Europe that are in need of gas," said Bayraktar, who was in Houston to sign the deal, as reported by Reuters. The surplus gas gives Turkey extra flexibility to negotiate better terms or even cut gas imports from Russia and Iran, with contracts with Gazprom Export and the National Iranian Gas Company set to expire in 2025 and 2026. "Turkey has two goals in its gas import drive: one, to lower the import volumes from Russia and Iran. Second, Turkey hopes to position itself as a gas supply hub ... since European buyers have not signed sufficient long-term gas contracts," Professor Brenda Shaffer, an energy expert at the US Naval Postgraduate School, told Reuters. Back in July, Turkey said it was prepared to significantly increase natural gas exports to the European Union. Ankara is keen to play the role of savior and boost its leverage with respect to Brussels, but it wants some demand guarantees before it starts spending on the necessary infrastructure. In an interview with Bloomberg, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar pushed hard for a Bulgaria route, noting a potential for increasing volumes to the EU up to 10 billion cubic meters per year, while sending a clear message to Brussels: It wont happen without some demand guarantees. According to Bayraktar, the capacity to export via Bulgaria right now is only around 3.5 billion cubic meters a year. But from a technical point of view, Turkey is capable of boosting this interconnection. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Omaha police are investigating two separate shootings that have led to the death of a man and left a woman injured. Officers responded to the downtown area of 16th and Farnam Streets shortly after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for a 911 report of a shooting. They located Ramon Tramble Jr., 26, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Police reported Wednesday evening that Tramble had died and that his death was being investigated by the Omaha police homicide unit. Police were later called to a North Omaha home near 36th Street and Hawthorne Avenue about 2 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a drive-by shooting, a police spokesman said. Officers found a 42-year-old woman inside the home who had gunshot wounds. The woman's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, police said late Wednesday morning. Anyone with information about either incident is urged to contact the Omaha Police Department directly at 402-444-5656 or Omaha Crime Stoppers anonymously at 402-444-STOP, at www.omahacrimestoppers.org or on the P3 Tips mobile app. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a $10,000 cash reward for information leading to a shooting arrest. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won the national election, giving him a record fifth term in office despite running neck-and-neck with his challenger Benny Gantz. With 97 percent of the votes counted, the countrys three main television channels gave Netanyahu victory on Wednesday, although neither of the candidates parties had captured a ruling majority. Netanyahu was believed clearly in a strong position to form a coalition government with other right-wing factions that have backed him. The closely contested race was widely seen in Israel as a referendum on Netanyahus character and record in the face of corruption allegations. He faces possible indictment in three graft cases, and has denied wrongdoing in all of them. The veteran right-wing leaders Likud party and Gantzs new centrist Blue and White party both won 35 seats, according to the Knesset website and the Israeli TV channels. That would mean a five-seat gain for Likud. It is a night of colossal victory, the 69-year-old Netanyahu told cheering supporters in a late-night speech at Likud headquarters, while cautioning that a long night and possibly day lay ahead awaiting official results. Fireworks flared behind him as his wife Sara applauded and kissed him. Hes a magician, the crowd chanted. Final results were expected by Friday, though the provisional results showed 65 of the Knessets 120 seats would go to the right-wing bloc of parties led by Netanyahu, against a total of 55 seats for centre-left factions. Netanyahu, 69, is on track to be the longest-serving prime minister in Israels 71-year history. Netanyahu said he had already begun talks with prospective coalition allies. He had a first term in the 1990s and then returned to power in 2009. Rival Gantz, a popular 59-year-old former general, had also claimed victory earlier, citing preliminary exit polls published soon after voting ended on Tuesday that showed his party had won more seats than Likud. We are the victors, said Gantz, a former military chief fighting his first election. We want to thank Benjamin Netanyahu for his service to the nation. Despite both men claiming victory on Tuesday night, a clearer picture emerged by Wednesday morning as the results began streaming in, painting Netanyahu as the winner. During the campaign, the rival parties accused each other of corruption, fostering bigotry and being soft on security. Netanyahu highlighted his close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who delighted Israelis and angered Palestinians by recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital in 2017 and moving the American Embassy to the holy city last May. Post Views: 62 Federal government has approved the rules that will guide the operations of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) disciplinary tribunal. The tribunal is expected to sanction bankers that breached the industrys operational guidelines. The approval, the CIBN said in a statement, has further strengthened members/customers confidence in the industry. Abubakar Malami, attorney general of the Federation and minister of Justice, consented to the rules on behalf of the Federal Government. The rules prescribe the proceedings to be observed by the tribunal in the hearing and determination of complaints as well as recommending appropriate sanctions to be meted out to erring members of the institute upon establishment of a prima facie case by the investigating panel. The tribunal which also looks into cases of ethical and professional misconducts by members of the institute, will be involved in the appointment of chairman and other members of the Disciplinary Tribunal; reference to the Disciplinary Tribunal; convening of the Tribunal; composition and proceedings of the Tribunal; parties to the proceedings before the Tribunal, service of processes, among others. It will also look into directions and case management practice directions, failure to comply with rules, practice directions or tribunal directions, general powers of the tribunal, lead compliant, petition or matter; consent Orders, amendment of processes before the tribunal and withdrawal. Other provisions of the rules include striking out of a case brought before the tribunal, fixing of listing of hearing date and service of notice, etc by the secretary, legal representatives, holding proceedings in public or private hearings among other provisions. The rules stated that any complaint, written allegation or petition that relates to professional or ethical misconduct or breach of any of the provisions of the Bankers Code of Conduct in the Nigerian Banking Industry, shall be addressed to the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. The disciplinary tribunal adjudicates on cases of ethical and professional misconduct by members of the institute. The rules are expected to further improve and promote ethical practice and professionalism in the Nigeria banking industry. The Chief Registrar of the Lagos State Judiciary, Mrs Taiwo Olatokun Wednesday denied a news report that she instructed Magistrates to deny bail to #RevolutionNow protesters. She said the report published on Sahara Reporters yesterday was untrue and was could mislead the public. In a statement to The Nation, the Chief Registrar noted that the six #RevolutionNow protesters arraigned by the police at an Ebute-Meta Magistrates Court yesterday were granted bail by Chief Magistrate A.O. Komolafe and were in the process of fulfilling the bail terms. The statement reads: The attention of the Lagos State Judiciary has been drawn to a news report in Sahara Reporters that the Chief Registrar has ordered Magistrates in the state not to grant bail to persons arraigned by police over Monday protest in Lagos. We wish to state that there is no iota of truth in the report as no such instruction was given by the Chief Registrar. We also wish to state that Magistrate Komolafe of Ebute Meta Magistrate Court in whose court some of the protesters were arraigned actually granted the defendants bail. However, in line with generally known and established procedure, admission to bail by the court requires affected individuals to subsequently fulfill the conditions of bail for the bail to take full effect. This is purely at the instance of the defendants after the court has done its part and in this particular case, the defendants are in the process of complying with the bail conditions. We reiterate that there was no instruction from the Chief Registrar to refuse them bail and employ media organisations to always verify their report to avoid misleading the public. Wednesday, a lawyer and five other persons, who allegedly partook in the #RevolutionNow protests convened by the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, were yesterday brought before Chief Magistrate Komolafe. First to sixth defendants Ehis Omoshomio, 35; Gabriel Ojumah (Esq), 51, Juwon Sanyaolu, 22; Stanley Anobi, 28; Elias Ozikpu, 30; Kenechukwu Ukachukwu, 25, were arraigned by the police on a two-count charge of unlawful assembly and conduct likely to cause breach of the peace. The State Criminal Intelligence and Information Department (SCIID) Panti alleged that the defendants unlawfully assembled themselves in such manner as to cause fear and disturb the public peace. Prosecuting Counsel Anota Oluseye said the defendants committed the offence on August 5, at 10am, at Surulere Stadium, Lagos. He alleged that the six defendants assembled at the National Stadium Surulere to protest, adding that the gathering was unlawful and caused fear to the public. The offences, the prosecutor added, infringed sections 44 and 168(1)(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. Each defendant pleaded not guilty. Following a bail application by their counsel, Mr Stanley Imhanruor, Chief Magistrate A.O. Komolafe admitted Ojumah, a lawyer, to bail on self-recognizance and the other five defendants to N100, 000 bail each with two sureties in the like sum. Komolafe adjourned further proceedings till September 26. According to Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the February 2019 General Election, #RevolutionNow, is a protest against bad governance in Nigeria. He is under Department of State Services custody having been arrested on Saturday morning. The Agbowu of Ogbaagba, Oba Dhikirullahi Akinropo, has dragged Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, before an Osun State High Court, demanding N100 million damages for an alleged assault against him by the Iwo monarch. KanyiDaily had reported that Oluwo of Iwo allegedly assaulted the agbowu of Ogbaagba during a peace meeting summoned by an assistant inspector-general of police. In a writ of summons dated 27th of February, 2020 issued by his counsel, Soji Oyetayo, Oba Akinropo asked for perpetual injunction restraining Oba Akanbi, his servants and or agents from committing further act of assault on him. The monarch is also asking the court to award N1m against the defendant as cost of hiring legal service for the action. Also in the writ supported by a 39 paragraphs statement of claims, Oba Akinropo alleged that the Oluwo attacked him at the AIGs office in the presence of other monarchs and some members of the state executive council and inflicted injury on him which was later treated at the Osun State Specialist Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo. Six other monarchs from the three Local Government Areas, who claimed to have witnessed the faceoff also deposed to affidavits to testify on behalf of the Agbowu. Agbowu explained that his crises with the Oluwo started when the monarch directed that before anyone could sell more than 10 acres around the three councils of Iwo, OlaOluwa and Ayedire, his approval must be sought, otherwise the transaction would be invalid. He said other monarchs and their subjects in the affected Local Government Areas disagreed with the directive, insisting that the Oluwo lacked the power to issue such directive. The monarch asked the court to compel Oba Akanbi to desist from any action that could cause a breach of peace anywhere in Iwo, Ayedire and Olaoluwa local government areas of the state. This is coming one week after Oluwo of Iwo was suspended for six months by the Osun State Traditional Rulers Council during an emergency meeting held in Osogbo. Forty-four officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) were involved in an auto accident while on their way for election duties. The incident occurred on Friday at Gwagwalada Area Council of Abuja. The officers were attached to the Operations Department of the FCT Police Command, and were visited by Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police, at the hospital on Saturday. While 33 injured officers have been discharged, 11 are still on admission at various hospitals in Abuja. Speaking on the incident, IGP Adamu said: It is because of the election that we decided to deploy our men to polling units. On their way, a team that was deployed to Gwagwalada had an accident and a lot of them were seriously injured. You can see that we are at the trauma section of the National Hospital, where some of them are admitted. They have various degrees of injury, ranging from fracture to head injury that requires further investigation. I have ordered that they be taken to another hospital with the necessary equipment to treat them. We are here to make sure that they are given proper treatment to recover. The IGP also noted that the Force would take care of their medical bills, then we can talk about their entitlements. Invest & Get 20% In Just 90 Days Click HERE >> To Buy Cheap MTN & GLO Data Click HERE >> A Quick Loan Without Collateral Click HERE >> Boeing workers wave picket signs as they strike Sunday near the companys factory in Everett, Wash. CEO Kelly Ortberg says the company will begin furloughing a large number of employees to conserve cash during the strike. Lindsey Wasson/Associated Press Boeing Co. will begin furloughing a large number of employees including in San Antonio to conserve cash during the strike by union machinists that began last week. Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg said Wednesday the workers who will be required to start taking time off without pay in the coming days include executives, managers and others based in the United States. The aerospace company employs about 3,000 people in San Antonio. While this is a tough decision that impacts everybody, it is in an effort to preserve our long-term future and help us navigate through this very difficult time, Ortberg said in a companywide message to staff. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Boeing didnt say how many people will face rolling furloughs, but the number is expected to run into the tens of thousands. The aerospace giant had 171,000 employees at the start of the year. READ MORE: Boeing factory workers go on strike after overwhelmingly rejecting contract offer In San Antonio, Boeing is easily the largest employer at Port San Antonio and one of the largest in the city. Its local workforce is among about 5,700 employees the company has at operations across the state. Other key locations are in Plano, Irving and Dallas. About 33,000 Boeing factory workers in the Pacific Northwest began a strike Friday after rejecting a proposal to raise pay by 25% over four years. They want raises of at least 40% and other improvements in the deal that they voted down. The strike is halting production of several airplane models, including Boeings best-selling plane, the 737 Max. The company gets more than half of the purchase price when new planes are delivered to buyers so the strike will quickly hurt Boeings cash flow. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Rolling furloughs Ortberg said selected employees will be furloughed for one week every four weeks while retaining their benefits. The CEO and other senior executives will take pay cuts during the duration of the strike, he said, without stating how deep the cuts will be. All work related to safety, quality, customer support and certification of new planes will continue during the furloughs, he said, including production of 787 Dreamliner jets, which are built by nonunion workers in South Carolina. READ MORE: Boeing considering temporary layoffs to save cash during strike Ortberg said in a memo to employees that the company is talking to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers about a new contract agreement that could be ratified. Advertisement Article continues below this ad However, with production paused across many key programs in the Pacific Northwest, our business faces substantial challenges and it is important that we take difficult steps to preserve cash and ensure that Boeing is able to successfully recover, he said. Boeings chief financial officer warned employees earlier this week that temporary layoffs were possible. The company is based in Arlington, Va., but has most of its commercial-airplanes business in the Pacific Northwest. In San Antonio The employees in San Antonio are not represented by the machinists union and not on strike, but the furloughs and other cuts announced earlier this week will hit them, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We do not have numbers to share regarding how many employees will be impacted, she said. In addition to furloughs, the company on Monday announced it would freeze hiring, cut nonessential travel, paused manager and executive pay increases from promotions, cut back outlays for air shows and charitable donations, and would make significant reductions in supplier expenditures. Boeings facility on the Ports South Side campus has multiple responsibilities. It is the service depot for the militarys Boeing C-17 Globemaster transport planes and for maintenance of the Air Force One fleet. The company also has upgraded F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets at the site and outfits the presidential aircraft there. Early last year, a concert and esports venue that opened in 2022 as the Tech Port Center + Arena was rebranded the Boeing Center at Tech Port after the company struck a seven-year deal for naming rights. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Though local employees arent represented by the machinists union, it is working to organize them. A website titled Boeing Union provides information to the companys San Antonio employees and seeks union authorization cards. Talks resume Company and union representatives met with federal mediators Tuesday to restart negotiations and were expected to meet again Wednesday. In a website post addressed to members, the union said it was frustrated by the first day of new talks. The company was not prepared and was unwilling to address the issues youve made clear are essential for ending this strike: Wages and Pension, the union said. The company doesnt seem to be taking mediation seriously. Striking workers are picketing at several locations in the Seattle area, Oregon and California. The union, which recommended the offer that members later rejected by a 96% vote, is surveying the workers to learn what they want in a new contract. The unions last strike at Boeing, in 2008, lasted about two months. Boeing has lost more than $25 billion since the start of 2019 and burned through $4.3 billion in the second quarter of 2024 alone as it stood poised to post another money-losing year. The strike will delay deliveries of new planes, which are an important source of cash for the company. RBC Capital Markets analyst Ken Herbert estimates Boeing will burn about $500 million in cash each week that workers remain on picket lines. A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja yesterday ordered that a cleric, Pastor Dennis Ogbede, be remanded in prison custody. Justice Modupe Osho-Adebiyi gave the order shortly after Ogbede was arraigned on a three-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Justice Osho-Adebiyi ordered that Ogbede be kept in prison until he meets the conditions attached to the bail granted him. Ogbede, the director of Alidenco Systems Nigeria Ltd, was arraigned for allegedly defrauding Maje Umar Nafiu of Maje Investment and Construction Company Ltd to the tune of N35million in land acquisition in 2009. The EFCC also accused the defendant of presenting to Nafiu, fake land titles for Wumba area of the FCT. The commission alleged that Ogbede agreed to refund N25million through three post-dated Zenith Bank Plc cheques, which all failed to clear upon presentation at the bank in December, 2015. The offences violate Section 1(1) of Dud Cheque Offences Act and punishable under section (i) (i) of the same Act. Ogbede pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him. After Ogbedes arraignment, prosecution lawyer, Samuel Ugwuegbulem, sought a date for the commencement of trial. Defence lawyer Isaac Imo applied for bail for the defendant. Imo said the defendant is a religious leader and also has a pending civil suit in court, challenging the refund of the N35million. Ugwuegbulem said he would not oppose the bail application, because it was the discretion of the court to grant bail. Ruling, Justice Osho-Adebiyi granted bail to the defendant at N2million and two sureties in the like sum. The judge said the sureties must be civil servants, one which must be of the rank not less than Grade Level 14, with landed properties in the FCT. She adjourned till May 30 for trial. The Lagos State Police command has uncovered a factory where e-waste is assembled and exported to China and Vietnam. Detectives also arrested two brains behind the e-waste company. It was gathered that the visas of the two suspects, one Lin Piehao, 22 and Li Ruoneng, 27, had since expired but continued to stay in the country unperturbed. Operatives stormed the No 19 Sule Abuka Street, Opebi, Ikeja factory which had no signboard and arrested the suspects with several cartons of the e-waste already billed to be exported to China and Vietnam through air cargo. We got a tip-off about their activities and we stormed there and arrested them. We also discovered that the two brains behind the company are staying in Nigeria illegally. . They came to Lagos in May and they have issued a 1-month visa but they exceeded their stay and working in Nigeria illegally, police source said. One of the suspects, Lin said: We buy phone panels (Android and Nokia panels). We buy them from phone repairers and scrap sellers. We remove the panel I.C. with a machine and then ship it to China and Vietnam. We have some Nigerian casual workers in our factory but we give them the rules and urge them to be discrete before they join us. We have been enjoying Nigeria and did not want to go back despite the expiration of our visa. I dont have a work permit. . . I know it is a crime to work without a work permit, but the e-waste business is very lucrative. We do a lot to ensure that the smoke from the e-waste doesnt affect the environment where we operate. Police authorities vowed to arraign them in court to serve as a deterrent to some foreigners who embark on illegalities unhindered. The study had revealed that e-waste is injurious to human beings. BLOOMINGTON A Chicago man pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic battery in McLean County as his felony charges were dropped. Carl L. Wadley, 27, appeared in court Friday before Judge William Yoder, during which he submitted his guilty plea. In response to his plea, Assistant State's Attorney Emily Young dismissed the remainder of his charges. Initially, Wadley was charged with aggravated domestic battery with strangulation, unlawful restraint and domestic battery after he was accused of choking and restraining a woman in July of last year in Bloomington. The woman told police Wadley had pinned her down and choked her until she passed out, and police observed corresponding injuries, a prosecutor previously said. Wadley was sentenced to 14 days in the McLean County jail, with credit for seven days already served. He was also ordered to complete 24 months of conditional discharge, pay all fines and fees and follow domestic violence protocol, according to court records. William Wolf, Wadley's defense attorney, did not immediately responded to a request for comment. Nana Serwaah Bossman, Manager, Youth Banking at Stanbic Bank, has urged young women to cultivate a strong savings culture, emphasizing its importance for achieving financial independence and building wealth for future generations. She made these remarks at the WiSTEM GH KNUST Girls Bootcamp held in Kumasi. Nana Serwaah explained that a solid financial plan aligns ones efforts with long-term goals, giving a clear sense of purpose and direction. She highlighted the importance of prioritizing spending and saving, and making intentional financial decisions that reflect ones objectives. She encouraged the young women to take control of their finances by creating and sticking to a budget. She said While its fine to enjoy what we earn, the key is to spend wisely. Prioritizing your expenses toward what truly matters, and making informed choices, helps you stay on track toward your goals. A budget is your financial plan. It guides you on how to spend and save. Planning your needs before your wants ensures you can manage your money effectively. By separating needs from wants and understanding that needs are essentials like health care, while wants are things like sneakers or luxury items, you gain control over your finances. Stanbic Banks commitment to empowering young women is reflected not only in its financial education efforts but also in its support for STEM education. The bank has distributed 250 laptops to enhance STEM learning at KNUST and continues to support various educational institutions, including Takoradi Technical University, Sunyani School of Professional Studies, and Blessed Holy Child Academy. This years WiSTEM event, which is the 5th of its kind was held under the theme Accelerating Progress: Investing in Girls through STEM. The initiative forms part of Stanbic Banks broader efforts to foster gender parity in STEM fields and empower young women. WiSTEM is a global initiative that supports over 20,000 high school students. Its mission is to bridge the gap between social justice and STEM, through pillars of Networking, Mentorship, and Outreach. With a student-led model, WiSTEM is committed to creating equitable and inclusive engagement opportunities in STEM. The initiative aims to challenge societal attitudes toward women in STEM, providing the support needed for high school girls to thrive in the sciences. Source: King Edward Ambrose/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 bankruptcy trustee wants a judge to sanction Cinch Wireline Services President Frank Thomas Tom Shumate Jr. more than $8 million for violating court orders. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News The president of a bankrupt San Antonio-area oil field services company who allegedly ordered the burning of business records may be facing nearly $8.2 million in sanctions for violating court orders. We think monetary sanctions are warranted against Mr. Shumate given all of the criminal activity, the fraud, the lying, the stealing, all the bad acts, Boyd said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He represents bankruptcy trustee John Patrick Pat Lowe, who is administering Marion-based Cinch Wirelines bankruptcy case. Gargotta plans to rule later on the request, which comes more than four months after he ruled that Shumate failed to cooperate with Lowe by not providing him the companys books and records or giving access to its assets as required by law. In May, Gargotta issued an interim order granting a motion for sanctions against Shumate for the intentional violation of a temporary restraining order and an order compelling production of business records. The judge directed Shumate to allow Lowe or his representatives full access the companys offices to access records. The judge had postponed Lowes request for monetary sanctions until Tuesdays hearing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Burned and buried Prior to the May order, Lowe alleged that thousands of pages of books and records belonging to Cinch Wireline were burned and then buried at the companys Corpus Christi yard after a subpoena was issued for them to be turned over. In addition, he has alleged that almost all data were erased from mainframe storage devices and hard drives. Lowe has sued Shumate and other defendants for allegedly conspiring to strip all of Cinch Wirelines assets ahead of filing bankruptcy to make it a no asset case. The company has been damaged in excess of $30 million from the theft of all its cash, accounts receivable, assets, employees and customers, Lowe added in his complaint. Cinch Wireline filed for bankruptcy liquidation in December, listing no assets and about $3.2 million in liabilities. Austin lawyer Jameson Watts, who represents Shumate, countered that monetary damages were not appropriate to either compensate an aggrieved party or to obtain future compliance with the courts orders. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Much of the conduct alleged by the trustee goes to the merits of Lowes case, which should be addressed at trial rather than at a sanctions hearing, Watts added. Settlement offer On Monday night, a day before the sanctions hearing, he made a settlement offer to the trustees lawyers. Without admitting any liability, Shumate and his companies agreed to pay 100% of all timely and allowed unsecured claims and all allowed administrative claims in the bankruptcy. Boyd said the settlement was contingent on the judge ruling a certain way at a hearing set for Thursday in another matter in the case. I think its unethical, he told the judge. Watts disagreed. Gargotta said he had not seen the settlement offer and chose to disregard it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If the judge were to sanction Shumate the more than $8 million the trustee is seeking, Boyd said the money would go to Lowe and the bankruptcy estate. The lawyers representing the trustee stand to receive 40% of any recoveries under a contingency fee agreement with Lowe. We dont have $8 million in claims in this case, the judge said. So what does he do with the leftover pot of money? My job is to go get the assets, Boyd said later. This courts job and the trustees job is to determine how thats going to be paid out, first to creditors and then to equity (holders). But we have a long way to go before we get to that conclusion. Boats, house for sale Shumate, who lives in Florida and has a house in Alabama, did not attend the hearing. It came out during the hearing that he was planning to travel to Alaska. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Meanwhile, Shumate is trying to sell some of his assets. He has listed for sale a 116-foot yacht known as the Boss for almost $3.6 million and a 45-foot sportfishing boat dubbed the Bitch for $499,000. He also has his waterfront house in Orange Beach, Ala., on the market for almost $1.6 million. In addition, a personal aircraft is available for lease. We believe hes liquidating every asset that he has to flee the country because the FBIs investigating him, Boyd told the judge. Stanbic Bank Ghana has provided a USD5-million debt financing facility to Fido, a digital microfinance company, to expand its financial services to unbanked populations across Ghana. Fido, which leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning for credit scoring, has been instrumental in providing micro loans to individuals and small businesses that typically lack access to traditional banking services. Founded in 2015 and operational since 2016, Fido has significantly grown in popularity, especially for its use of cutting-edge technology to make real-time lending decisions. This growth prompted Stanbic Bank to offer additional funding in 2024, building on an initial loan provided in 2021. According to Melvin Akaba, Head, Corporate Financing Solutions, Corporate and Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank, the decision to support Fido stems from the strategic alignment between both organizations. Fidos innovative model allows them to reach customers that traditional banks often cannot serve, particularly due to regulatory and structural limitations. Stanbic Banks funding to Fido is part of the Banks broader commitment to financial inclusion, a key priority for the financial services institution. As Mr. Akaba explains, many individuals at the lower end of the economic pyramid are excluded from formal banking due to lack of financial history or collateral. Fidos AI-driven platform addresses this gap by enabling these individuals to access small loans and build a digital financial footprint, thus creating a path toward eventual inclusion in the formal banking sector. Alon Eitan, Group CEO of Fido, expressed appreciation for Stanbic Banks continued support, noting how pivotal the deal will be in enhancing their mission. This new USD5-million facility allows us to continue providing capital to individuals and small businesses that need it the most. With this funding, we can reach tens of thousands of customers with the potential to create up to 100,000 jobs. Mr. Eitan highlighted that Fido serves a largely unbanked population, with 90% of its customers having no prior financial history. Half of these customers use the credit for business purposes, with a significant portion of them being women-led businesses. Fidos digital-first, mobile-app-based model also enables them to serve rural populations who lack access to physical bank branches, further extending financial services to the most remote areas of the country. There is a significant gap in access to financial services between rural and urban areas in Ghana. Recent data shows that while 51% of the urban population has access to physical bank branches, only 3.3% of rural communities enjoy the same convenience. Urban residents are also more likely to have a bank within two kilometers of their homes, unlike those in smaller towns and villages. Although there are 147 registered rural and community banks as of January 2023, the availability of banking services in rural areas remains insufficient. Fidos innovative model therefore becomes a perfect solution to close the distribution gap. With the infusion of new funds from Stanbic Bank, Fido is also looking to significantly expand its Research and Development (R&D) team. This expansion will enable them enhance their product offerings and improve their platforms capabilities, ensuring that they continue to meet the evolving needs of their customers efficiently. Over the past decade, however, discussions on financial inclusion have expanded, with a focus on low and moderate-income communities in both rural and urban areas. Partnerships between banks and fintech companies have played a pivotal role in this progress, leveraging consumer data to better serve customers and rebuild trust in communities that have faced financial discrimination. As these collaborations deepen, the financial services industry becomes more capable of addressing the needs of those historically excluded from the banking system. Sebastian Quansah, CEO of Fido Ghana, who plays a pivotal role in leading the team, expressed his appreciation for Stanbic Banks support in driving Fidos financial inclusion agenda. Stanbic Banks financing is expected to play a crucial role in supporting Fidos continued growth in Ghana and beyond. The Fido model has proven successful in Ghana and is already being replicated in other African markets, such as Uganda, where similar challenges exist. This partnership demonstrates the growing role of fintech in driving financial inclusion and the willingness of traditional banks like Stanbic Bank to collaborate with innovative digital platforms to reach underserved populations. Source: King Edward Ambrose/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 In a bid to support and empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Stanbic Bank has organized a series of SME Clinics in Kumasi. The initiative, which had the theme Building Resilience in Businesses: Strategies for Sustainable Success intends to provide local businesses with expert financial advice, industry insights, networking opportunities and tailored banking solutions to enhance their growth and sustainability. Head of Enterprise Bank at Stanbic Bank Ghana, Eric Tsiri, (IS ERIC Head, Enterprise Clients Enterprise Direct Propositions OR ENTERPRISE BANK(ING)???? highlighted the importance of SMEs to the Ghanaian economy and the need to support them to succeed. He said, Businesses today face numerous challenges, but within those challenges lie significant opportunities. As obstacles grow, so do the possibilities for businesses to adapt, innovate, and thrive. This is why sessions like these are essential. Statistics clearly show that without SMEs, the foundation of our national economy would falter. Despite the difficulties, SMEs consistently demonstrate remarkable resilience, playing a critical role in sustaining and driving our economic growth. We have brought together a team of seasoned experts, ranging from accounting and bookkeeping to risk management, all with extensive experience supporting SMEs. Our goal is to help you navigate challenges in todays dynamic business environment. We are here to reinforce our collaboration and partnership with SMEs, empowering you to turn obstacles into opportunities and transform your aspirations into achievements, Eric Tsiri added. Hamza Mumuni, Manager of the Incubator, Enterprise Direct Propositions, Business and Commercial Banking at Stanbic Bank Ghana also spoke on the motivation behind the clinics. According to him, We are here to strengthen the collaboration and partnership between Stanbic Bank and the SMEs we work with. This initiative is a direct response to valuable feedback from the sector, aimed at equipping SMEs with the insights, skills, and resources necessary to thrive in todays dynamic business environment. He continued that At Stanbic Bank, we are deeply committed to supporting the SME sector because we believe in its immense potential to drive economic progress. We understand that access to financial resources and networking opportunities can make a significant difference in the growth and success of your businesses. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are, without question, the backbone of Ghanas economy. Representing about 92% of businesses in the country, SMEs contribute roughly 70% to the nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and account for about 85% of manufacturing employment. They drive over 80% of the total workforce employed in this sector, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas, where they foster economic inclusion and resilience. However, despite their critical role, SMEs continue to face significant hurdles that hinder their growth and sustainability. It is within this context that clinics aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and overall success of SMEs become critically important. The first of the series of the SME clinics was held in Kumasi with plans to hold more of such clinics in other regions of the country in the coming months. Source: King Edward Ambrose/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 USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) is set to organize the National Technical Universities Cooking Competition on September 20, 2024 in Accra. The event, designed to promote the use of U.S. poultry products, will feature student chefs from eight leading technical universities across Ghana, competing to showcase their culinary expertise. Participants from Accra, Bolgatanga, Cape Coast, Koforidua, Sunyani, Tamale, Takoradi, and Dr. Hilla Limann Technical Universities will take part in the highly anticipated contest. Each university will field two students who will battle it out. The competition will air over two episodes, with four schools competing in each episode. The top team from each round will emerge as the episode winner, advancing to claim the grand prizes. Winning schools will be rewarded with kitchen equipment worth 15,000 Ghana Cedis, while the individual contestants will receive trophies, certificates, and shopping vouchers valued at 2,200 Ghana Cedis. An Awards Brunch will follow on September 21, 2024, at Nsuomnam Seafood and Fish Restaurant, where participants and stakeholders will celebrate the winners and all competitors. USAPEEC, a non-profit organization headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is committed to increasing global exports of U.S. poultry and egg products. The council works to promote the quality and safety of U.S. poultry, which is inspected by both the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Ghana Food and Drug Authority (FDA) to ensure it meets the highest standards. With U.S. poultry products already enjoyed in over 130 countries worldwide, USAPEEC hopes this competition will further enhance the appeal of American chicken in Ghana by highlighting its superior quality, nutritional benefits, and versatility in local dishes. 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 The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) regrets the decision by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) Division of the Public Services Workers' Union (PSWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), to embark on strike action on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, especially as negotiations are still ongoing. The Commission in a statement dated Monday, September 17, 2024, said it has been "engaging with the NCCE Division of PSWU in good faith as part of the negotiation process to conclude the negotiation on the Conditions of Service for NCCE staff. The FWSC has not employed any "delay tactics" as described by the union but has been engaging the union since the rules of engagement were signed on July 23, 2024. The Commission further stated that it remains committed to the negotiations and urges the NCCE Division of PSWU to reconsider its decision to embark on strike action. Below is the FWSC statement Fair Wages and Salaries Commissions Response to Announced Strike Action by NCCE Division of PSWU The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has taken note of the announced intention of the Divisional Executive Council (DEC) of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) Division of the Public Services Workers' Union (PSWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), to embark on an indefinite strike action set to begin on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. The FWSC regrets the decision by the NCCE Division of PSWU to embark on strike action, particularly at a time when negotiations are still ongoing. Chronology of events between Government and PSWU on the current negotiation: 1. On July 23, 2024, a pre-negotiation meeting was held where all parties agreed to the terms of the Rules of Engagement, including negotiating in good faith and expeditiously without setting particular timelines. 2. On the same July 23, 2024, the Government Team, consisting of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and Management of NCCE, began negotiations with the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) on behalf of the NCCE staff. After some deliberations, the Government Team informed the Union that they needed to study the proposals submitted by PSWU and obtain the necessary mandate from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to conclude negotiations. 3. On August 1, 2024, among other allowances, an agreement was reached on the Professional Development Allowance, which was renamed to "Professional Development Support". 4. Another meeting was convened on September 4, 2024, to continue negotiations where the FWSC presented counterproposals on the outstanding items based on the mandate received from the Ministry of Finance. The Union, however, rejected the Government Team's counterproposals and maintained their initial position on the allowances. 5. While the FWSC was engaging the MoF to obtain a new mandate, the Divisional Union of NCCE, on September 13, 2024, served notice to embark on a strike action effective September 18, 2024, citing delays by the Government Team in concluding negotiations. The Commission wishes to state that it has been engaging with the NCCE Division of PSWU in good faith as part of the negotiation process to conclude the negotiation on the Conditions of Service for NCCE staff. The FWSC has not employed any "delay tactics" as described by the union but has been engaging the union since the rules of engagement were signed on July 23, 2024. The Commission remains committed to the negotiations and urges the NCCE Division of PSWU to reconsider its decision to embark on strike action. The FWSC wishes to assure the public that it will continue to engage with the NCCE Division of PSWU and other stakeholders to resolve the current impasse and ensure that the welfare of NCCE staff is protected. We appeal to the union to rescind its decision to embark on strike action and return to the negotiating table to conclude the process. Emelia Ennin Head of Public Affairs Fair Wages and Salaries Commission Contact details 0557142525 [email protected] Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/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 Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has announced that the final phase of the Appiatse redevelopment project will commence in October 2024. This marks a crucial step in the governments mission to rebuild the community following the tragic explosion in January 2022. The project, which has been ongoing for the past two years, is aimed at providing modern housing, infrastructure, and essential services for the affected residents. The ministry highlighted that this final phase will focus on completing key infrastructure such as housing units, roads, and social facilities, including schools, hospitals, and recreational spaces. In a press release dated Tuesday, September 17, and signed by the Chairman of the Appiatse Reconstruction Implementation Team, Benito Owusu-Bio, the Ministry assured that the government remains committed to delivering quality infrastructure to improve the lives of the people of Appiatse. The statement also emphasised that the government is working closely with contractors and local authorities to ensure the project is completed on time. The Appiatse Reconstruction Implementation Team is set to commence the third and final phase of the Appiatse redevelopment project in October this year, 2024. "This phase will complete the resettlement of the affected residents. We wish to put on record that the Government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is committed to ensuring that the 3rd and final phase will be completed in good time," the statement said. The redevelopment initiative is part of a larger effort to rehabilitate communities that have suffered from disasters and accidents. The Appiatse explosion, which was caused by a truck carrying explosives, led to significant loss of life and property, leaving the area in devastation. To finance the reconstruction efforts, the government set up the Appiatse Support Fund, drawing contributions from both local and international donors. 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 Over 521,000 traditional and alternative medical practitioners operating in the country are unregistered and unlicensed, the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC) has revealed. The figure includes about 321,000 unregistered or unlicenced traditional medicine practitioners and over 200,000 complementary alternative medical practitioners. The practitioners and institutions who are operating illegally constitute more than 80 percent of the local traditional and alternative medicine industry. The industry comprises health shops that trade in traditional and alternative medicines, spas, wellness centres such as gyms, massage parlours, healing camps, psychic healers, herbalists, medical herbalists, training institutes, homeopathic clinics, chiropractic clinics, acupuncture clinics and centres, Ayurvedic clinics, naturopathic clinics organic shops etc as regulated by section 38 of Act 575 of the Traditional Medicine Practice Act 2000 as per ministerial policy and administrative guidelines in the regulations of complementary/alternative medicine in 2010. The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the TMPC, Dr Michael Kyeremateng, indicated to the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview in Accra last Friday that out of about 95,000 traditional and alternative medicine practitioners and institutions captured in the councils database, just about 15 to 20 percent of them were registered, licensed and in good standing to operate in the country. The council was birthed by the Traditional Medicine Practice Act, 2000 (Act 575) to regulate the practice of traditional medicine, to register practitioners and license practices, to regulate the preparation and sale of herbal medicines and to provide for related matters. It was set up in 2010, the year the Act became operational. Section 9(1) of Act 575 states that: A person shall not operate or own premises as a practitioner or produce herbal medicine for sale unless that person is registered in accordance with this Act. The council has since been the sole regulator of traditional and alternative medical practice in the country. Its scope of authority stretches across naturopathy, a system of alternative medicine based on the theory that diseases can be successfully treated or prevented without the use of drugs; homeopathy, a medical system based on the belief that the body can cure itself; caropathy, which involves diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal issues through spinal adjustments; acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medical practice most commonly used to treat pain; psychic healers; traditional birth attendants, among others. The regulatory authority of the council includes the power to certify herbal medicine, license gym operators and instructors, and license the various treatment centres. Dr Kyeremateng said the alarming rate that unauthorised practitioners flooded the airwaves in particular to advertise their institutions and products was even more concerning. Currently, in Ghana, we know that we have over 60 to 70 per cent of our population accessing traditional and alternative medical centres for primary health care. Issues escalate before they move on to any other allopathic centres for emergencies. You realize that the life of the average Ghanaian is at risk because of so many mushroom clinics and hospitals, and practitioners occupying our airwaves without the requisite licence and certification, he said. Dr Kyeremateng added that the uncontrolled springing up of unlicensed practitioners posed a national security threat because it puts the lives of the many Ghanaians who seek medical care from these mushroom premises and practitioners at risk. The Registrar said the council had started a national campaign to clamp down on unauthorized operators. Over the past two weeks alone, he said, the council had clamped down on 75 operators within the Greater Accra and Eastern regions for non-compliance with regulatory requirements. He said the council would begin to publish the list of institutions and practitioners in good standing in the dailies and on its website as part of measures to alert the public about safe practicing individuals and institutions in the traditional and alternative industry. Advocacy, arrests Dr Kyeremateng said the TMPC had commenced an advocacy campaign to sanitise the system, and to streamline the services in collaboration with the media for the public to be aware of the dangers of seeking medical attention at unregistered centres. We have taken steps to do monthly publication of all certified practitioners and their premises on our website and in major newspapers to inform Ghanaians so that before they buy any product or enter any facility, they should make reference to www.tmpcghana.com or the newspapers that will be doing the publication of these certified practitioners and their premises, he said. He said a recent random enforcement exercise conducted by the council revealed that more than 1,000 of them were operating in the Greater Accra Region alone without licensing from the Ministry of Health and the TMPC. He added that the menace was actually rife in all 16 regions of the country. Dr Kyeremateng indicated that the council had since 2020 arrested 121 unregistered practitioners across the country, and had over 50 cases currently pending in court within the same period. He added that the council would also introduce a special identity digital licence and QR code for the public as part of measures to help the public identify the certified operators and practitioners. Dr Kyeremateng explained that all practitioners, all attendants are not eligible to practise as medical herbalists, medical homeopatsh, medical chiropractors without a certified licence from the Ministry of Health and the TMPC. Source: graphiconline Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Three more groups have reiterated the call for immediate clampdown on illegal mining. They are the Coalition of Muslim Organisations, Ghana (COMOG), the Ghana Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) and the Ghana Affiliate of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA). In separate statements issued by their respective leaders and copied to the Ghanaian Times, they asked the government to immediately stop the destruction of the countrys river bodies and forest cover. The COMOG statement issued by its President, Abdel-Manan Abdel-Rahman, condemned strongly the illegal mining activities and their threat to the countrys environment, economy, and national development. It said the activities contravened Islamic principles of environment serenity and social responsibility and also undermine the entire mining industry likewise poising national security risks. It, therefore, called on the government to increase enforcement and monitoring of mining activities; strengthen regulations and laws to prevent illegal mining and use community engagement and education to raise awareness about the risks of illegal mining. COMOG is committed to promoting Islamic values of environmental serenity, social responsibility, and economic justice in Chana. We urge all stakeholders to join us in condemning illegal mining and work towards a solution that protects the environment, economy and the health conditions of our people, it said. Similarly, the IAIA statement issued by its President, Ebenezer Appah-Sampong, condemned the practice and called for immediate action including strengthening community and institutional involvement. Other measures, it recommended, included the enforcement of a nationwide moratorium on all small-scale mining, and designating No-Go Areas to protect sensitive ecosystems. They also proposed confiscating illegal mining sites for restoration and regulating mining equipment to curb illegal activities and urged political parties to publicly condemn galamsey to raise awareness. The IAIA said solving this crisis required urgent, decisive measures and collaboration to ensure a sustainable future for Ghana. The GAWU statement issued by its General Secretary, Andrew Tagoe, said food security in Ghana had been increasingly threatened by illegal mining, evident by the widespread destruction of farmland, water pollution, and forest loss. This, it said, had led to significant economic and environmental challenges, including food scarcity, high crop prices, and climate change effects. It cited research which highlighted that over 7,400 galamsey sites had damaged 2.5 million hectares of forest, leading to the loss of cocoa and oil palm plantations, which undermined biodiversity and agricultural productivity. It reiterated calls for a state of emergency to address the galamsey crisis and demand immediate government action to reclaim destroyed lands, restore polluted water bodies, and prosecute those responsible for illegal mining activities. The statement said this was important because the crisis had not only led to substantial economic losses, estimated at over US$ 4 billion annually, but also posed severe health risks to citizens. If not addressed, the Union said the practice could exacerbate unemployment, health issues, and food insecurity, making the agricultural sector increasingly untenable. The statements by the groups come days after heated advocacy from various groups and individuals compelled the government to direct regional ministers to enhance enforcement actions in addition to the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee on galamsey. Source: Ghanaian Times 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 Solidaire Ghana, a pro-democracy advocacy group, has condemned the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana for its handling of the 2024 voter register. The group accuses the EC of showing belligerence and disregarding calls for transparency, following revelations of errors in the provisional register. The controversy began when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) raised concerns over discrepancies in the voter register, a claim initially denied by the EC. In a statement on August 29, 2024, the EC assured the public that the register was robust and credible and dismissed assertions to the contrary. However, just days later, the EC admitted to mistakes in the register on September 2, following pressure from the NDC. According to the group, despite this admission, the EC has refused calls for a forensic audit of the register, a stance that Solidaire Ghana describes as irrational and troubling. In a press release, Solidaire Ghana expressed shock at the EC's unwillingness to allow stakeholders to review the voter register, calling the Commissions position baffling and lacking logic. The advocacy group pointed to the views of prominent legal and political figures in Ghana, including Professor Kofi Abotsi, Dean of the UPSA Law School, and Franklin Cudjoe of Imani Africa, who both criticized the ECs refusal to conduct an independent audit of the register. The advocacy group has called for the immediate revocation of visas granted to EC staff by the U.S. Embassy, the British High Commission, and the European Union, arguing that this would send a clear message that the peace and stability of Ghana should not be jeopardized by the ECs actions. We at Solidaire Ghana, join the millions of Ghanaians to demand that the right thing be done by the EC as early as possible. The decision of the EC to risk the peace and stability of this country must not be countenanced. We call on all peoples desirous of enhancing our democratic process to do so in accordance with law. 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 United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a 500,000 (US$ 628,000 contribution from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to support ongoing policy reform and strengthen the viability of Ghana's food fortification industry. With this funding, WFP will help improve the quality of school meals for 55,348 vulnerable children in 59 schools across both the North and Transition Zones of Ghana, with special focus on drought-affected areas. WFP will also support market development activities such as strengthening the capacity of rice millers to stimulate investments in food fortification in Ghana. WFP welcomes this support from the FCDO, as it is essential in addressing inequality and provides a social safety net for the most vulnerable people in underserved communities. School meals are an incentive for children to stay in school, support better academic performance and pave the way for brighter futures, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty. said WFP Deputy Country Director in Ghana, Anna Mukiibi-Bunnya. This funding also empowers market development initiatives, spurring vital investments in the demand and supply of fortified local rice in Ghana strengthening both the health of children and Ghanas economic growth. The UK is committed to supporting global efforts to achieve sustainable food security and improve nutrition worldwide said Lord Collins of Highbury, UK Minister for Africa, during his recent visit in Ghana. This announcement demonstrates the UKs ongoing dedication to working with Ghana to tackle the challenges we face from climate change and build a healthier, more food-secure future for all. In Ghana, WFP programmes help highly vulnerable people to access lifesaving food and nutrition through cash transfers. The UK remains one of the most reliable WFP partners in Ghana and beyond, helping support crisis-affected families to fight hunger, improve nutrition and rebuild their lives. Source: Alex Ofei-Kwayisi/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 Federal Government, on Tuesday, said it was concerned that the majority of the people giving the country bad names in the diaspora are foreigners that only carry Nigerian identity. Consequently, it said that plans are underway to harmonise the citizenship database for effective individual and corporate identity management. The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed at the opening session of a three-day national training workshop on counter-terrorism financing, organised by the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa, GIABA. He said the database harmonization would ensure that the identities of Nigerians are easily verified from any part of the world, saying it would be a boost to the war against money laundering and terrorism financing, both in the country and in the West African region. According to him: There are two things I think we must get right. Number one that we must get right is what I call individual and corporate identity management. The identity of everybody in Nigeria must be seen. Identity fraud must be nil. It must be impossible for one person to be able to open different accounts or for one person to have an account in this name and have insurance in another name. We must make sure that if you are James Kelly anywhere, you are James Kelly everywhere. We must be able to understand corporate identity, corporate companies, entities, and different people. It is very important. Not until we can get that, that we will be able to be ahead and be able to forecast trends. If you cannot forecast trends, if you cannot project, if you cannot be able to predict, believe me, you will always be reactive. The era when somebody carries a Nigerian passport with a name, that same Nigeria goes to Gambia and gets a passport with another name. He opens an account in Nigeria with a name, he opens an account in another country with another name. We arrested somebody some months ago. The case is in court. The person came to Nigeria with a Nigerian passport with a name and when she wanted to leave, her British passport carried another name. Yes, that is what happened, because the database, the passport biometric database of Nigeria is not being shared with any other world. So, you can claim to be anybody anywhere else in the world and carry two different passports of two different countries with different names. And thats what I tell people. I am convinced that the majority of the people giving Nigeria bad names in diaspora, most of them are not Nigerians, they only carry Nigerian identity and that is something we must solve. So, individual and corporate identity management solutions are very, very key. We must be able to harmonize that, at least at a regional level. That is the number one. Because no country can fight terrorism on its own. We must come together. It has gone beyond a single domain. It is now a regional thing. Continuing, the Interior Minister assured that Nigeria would be the first country to launch what he called the Centralized Citizens Integrity and Document Authentication System. Anything issued in Nigeria, anywhere in the world, in real time, we will harmonize the database and we will verify it everywhere in the world. We will do that. We are on the verge of completing that. I tell people my biggest asset. The biggest gift of my life is my citizenship of this great country and I will not allow anybody to brand me with an identity that is not mine. We are not fantastically corrupt. We are fantastically intelligent, brilliant, hardworking people. But in a scenario where you do not provide the opportunity for authentication in real-time, you will be subject to guesswork. And when your identity and your integrity are subjected to guesses, then you should know that abuse will become inevitable. So we are doing that very soon, he added. In her remarks, the Director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, Mrs Hafsat Bakari, said the workshop provided a unique opportunity for analysts, investigators and prosecutors to enhance their knowledge and improve their techniques in tracing licit and illicit funds that are channelled to financing terrorism and building strong cases against the financiers of terrorism. Without funds and finances that enable their activities, terrorists and terrorist organisations would not be able to carry out the dastardly acts they do. Funds, supplies and other material assistance are therefore central to terrorists ability to operate and that is why this workshop by GIABA is critical, she stated. On his part, the Director-General of GIABA, Mr. Edwin W. Harris Jr., in his address, said the organization would continue to support countries in the West African region to strengthen their capacity to fight against money laundering and terrorism financing. GIABA is a specialised institution of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, responsible for facilitating the adoption and implementation of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) strategies in West Africa. Source: Vanguard 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